# Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD - HDTV



## AntAltMike

*Listing of Digital stations in the Washington / Baltimore Region:* (Revised January 10, 2020) 

002-01 (38) ABC WMAR-HD HDTV DD5.1 *Local news in HDTV*
-----02 ----------- WMAR-DT1 LAFF
-----03 ----------- WMAR-DT Bounce TV
-----04 ----------- WMAR-DT Court TV Mystery Formerly Escape
-----05 ----------- WMAR-DT Court TV Crime theme, coverage of prominent cases
004-01 (48) NBC WRC-HD HDTV DD5.1 *Local news in HDTV*
-----02 ----------- WRC-SD CoziTV / Washington Non-stop
005-01 (36) FOX WTTG-DT HDTV DD5.1 *Has local news in HDTV*
-----02 -----------WTTG-DT Buzzr: FremantleMedia Game Library
-----03 -----------WTTG-DT MeTV
007-01 (07) ABC WJLA-HD HDTV DD5.1 *Has local news in HDTV*
-----02 ----------- WJLA-ME Charge! (MGM Library) Action movies and shows.
-----03 ----------- WJLA-COM CometTV Mostly from from MGM library: Sci. fi., adventure, fantasy
-----04------------ WJLA-TBD TBD Network
009-01 (09) CBS WUSA-HD HDTV DD5.1 *Has local news in HDTV*
-----02 ----------- WUSA-DT Justice
-----03------------ WUSA-DT Quest  Adventure programming
011-01 (11) NBC WBAL-DT HDTV *Has local news in HDTV*
-----02 ----------- WBAL-SD MeTV / WBAL Plus
013-01 (13) CBS WJZ-TV HDTV DD5.1 *Has local news in HDTV*
------02------------WJZ-DT START TV: female audience appeal
------03------------WJZ-DT  Dabl Lifestyle programming
014-01 (15) UNI WFDC-DT HDTV
-----02 ----------- WFDC-DT GetTV: Sony Picture Entertainment: feature films
-----03 ----------- WFDC-DT GRIT
-----04 ----------- WFDC-DT Bounce TV
020-01 (36) -----WDCA-HD FoxFive Plus
-----02 ----------- WDCA-DT MOVIES!
-----03 ----------- WDCA-DT Heroes & Icons: 1950s-1990s Drama/Action
022-01 (42) PBS WMPT-HD HDTV Maryland Public Television
-----02 ----------- WMPT-DT MPT 2/Create: PBS Encore
-----03 ----------- WMPT-DT PBS Kids
-----04 ----------- WMPT-DT MPT NHK World - Japanese news and information
024-01 (46) MyNet WUTB-DT HDTV
026-01 (27) PBS WETA-HD HDTV DD5.1
-----02 ----------- WETA-UK (British)
-----03 ----------- WETA-DT Kids
-----04 ----------- WETA-DT TV 26
032-01 (33) PBS WHUT-HD HDTV
-----02 ----------- WHUT-SD PBS Kids
044-01 (48)------ WZDC-HD Telemundo, Washington, DC
-----02------------ WZDC-SD TeleXitos, Dramatic programming, dubbed in Spanish
045-01 (46) FOX WBFF-HD HDTV DD5.1 *Has local news in HDTV*
-----02 ----------- WUTB-DT WUTB-DT MyNet
-----03 ----------- WBFF-DT TBD Network SD
-----04 ----------- WBFF-DT (MPEG-4) Stadium Intertational Sports
050-01 (15) CW WDCW-HD HDTV DD5.1
-----02 ----------- WDCW-DT  AntennaTV
054-01 (25) CW WNUV-HD HDTV SD
-----02 ----------- WNUV-DT WDCW-DT  AntennaTV SD
-----03 ----------- WNUV-COM CometTV SD Mostly from from MGM library: Sci. fi., adventure, fantasy
-----04-------------WNUV-COM Charge! (MGM Library) Action movies and shows.
062-01 (28) PBS WFPT-DT HDTV Maryland Public Television
-----02 ----------- WFPT-DT MPT 2/Create: PBS Encore
-----03 ----------- WFPT-DT MPT PBS Kids
-----04-------------WFPT-DT MPT NHK World - Japanese news and information
066-01 (34) ion- WPXW-DT Ion Television Network
-----02 ----------- WPXW-DT  qubo
-----03 ----------- WPXW-DT  ion Life
-----04 ----------- WPXW-DT ShopTV
-----05 ----------- WPXW-DT Home Shopping Network
-----06 ----------- WPXW-DT QVC
067-01 (29) PBS WMPB-HD HDTV Maryland Public Television
-----02 ----------- WMPB-DT MPT 2/Create: PBS Encore
-----03 ----------- WMPB-DT MPT PBS Kids
-----04------------ WMPB-DT MPT NHK World - Japanese news and information
068-01 (9)-------- WJAL-DT SonLife Jimmy Swaggart Ministries


Hyphenated numbers, formatted 0XX-0X, are "virtual" channel numbers
Numbers in parenthesis, (XX), are actual, FCC broadcast channel assignments
DD5.1 indicates Dolby Digital 5.1 capable stations


*Low powered stations* (incomplete list)

23.1------(23)--------WDDN-LD Daystar (720p) - Religious programming
23.2-------------------WDDN-LD Daystar (480i)
31.1------(32)--------WRZB-LD Escape
31.2-------------------WRZB-LD LAFF
31.3-------------------WRZB-LD HSN2: Time shifted Home Shopping Network
31.4-------------------WRZB-LD ShopLC: Shopping/jewelry
31.5-------------------WRZB-LD Decades: Historically grouped programming
47.1------(44)--------WMDO CD UniMás. Affiliated with Univision
47.2-------------------WMDO-CD LATV Latino Alternative Television
49.1------(14)--------WWTD-DT MBC Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation South Korean Ent. and Drama.
49.2-------------------WWTD-LD Start TV Classic 1980s to 2000s TV dramas
49.3-------------------WWTD-LD QVC Over Air
49.4-------------------WWTD-LD Retro TV / National Schedule
49.5-------------------WWTD-LD SonLife Jimmy Swaggart Ministries 
49.6-------------------WWTD-LD JTV
58.1------(44)---------WIAV-CD Faith Television Network
60.1----- (12)---------WPXW-DT Ion Television Network
60.2 -------------------WPXW-DT  qubo
60.3 ------------------ WPXW-DT  ion Life
60.4 ------------------ WPXW-DT ShopTV
60.5 ------------------ WPXW-DT Home Shopping Network
60.6 ------------------ WPXW-DT QVC
*

TV Band Repack Channel Destinations:*
(Note: Unlike the 2009 Repack/Transition, there is no single transition date. Schedule information will be added as it becomes available)

WMAR-ABC 2.1 moves from UHF 38 to UHF 27
WRC-NBC 4.1. moves from UHF 48 to UHF 34
WTTG-Fox 5.1 stays on UHF 36
WJLA-ABC 7.1 stays on VHF 7
WUSA-CBS 9.1 stays on VHF 9
WBAL-NBC 11.1 moves from VHF 11 to VHF 12
WJZ-CBS 13.1 moves from VHF 13 to VHF 11
WFDC-Uni 14.1 stays on UHF 15
WDCA-MyTV 20.1 moved from UHF 35 to UHF 36
WMPT-PBS 22.1 moves from UHF 42 to UHF 31
WUTB-MyTV 24.1 moves from UHF 46 to UHF 25 (?)
WETA-PBS 26.1-4 moves from UHF 27 to UHF 31
WHUT-PBS 32.1 stays on UHF 33
WBFF-Fox 45.1 moves from UHF 46 to UHF 26
WDCW-CW 50.1 moved from UHF 50 to UHF 15
WNUV-CW 54.1 moved from UHF 40 to UHF 25
WPXW-ion 66.1 moves from UHF 34 to UHF 35
WMPB-PBS 67.1 moves from UHF 29 to UHF 22

*
Online HDTV Program Guides:*
HDTV Magazine - Lists only HDTV channels. 
Titan TV -Also contains an antenna direction page like antennaweb. 
Zap2it - Online channel lineups. 

*Other Links of Interest:*
DCRTV.COM - DC Radio/Television News site. 
VARTV.COM- Comprehensive Virginia media news and information
TV Fool - This site has a signal analysis template that calculates signal strength and expresses it in engineering terms. Also has Google Broadcast coverage maps for each station and terrain analysis.
Antenna Web - A less technically sophisticated antenna aiming and selection tool.
2150 - Calculates Distance and Direction to nearby TV stations. Inoperative: "Site under construction"
Urbana Electronics - TV Repair / Antenna service. 
Mark Electronics - Electronics Store in Beltsville. Sold and closed, December 30, 2016
Radio Shack - Parts and accessories. 
Solid Signal - Online Antenna retailer *

Local Antenna Installers:* 
Fairfax Antenna/Video Integrators - Formerly Fairfax Antenna 
Action Antenna - Washington/Baltimore DMA, plus...

*Local Cable Companies:*
RCN Cable - (DC, Bethesda, Gaithersburg) Formerly StarPower 
COX Cable - Cox in Northern Virgina. 
Comcast -  Maryland Comcast/Xfinity Verizon Fios - Verizon's TV service. 
Antietam Cable - Serves Hagerstown, Maryland *

Satellite Companies:* 
Dish Network - DISH Network carries the most foreign language channels. 
Direct TV - DirecTV carries the most premium sports channels, including the NFL Sunday Ticket. 

*Links to the previous Washington/Baltimore threads: * 
Wash / Baltimore Thread. March 2005 - January 2007. 
Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD - HDTV. July 2003 - March 2005. 
DC Metro HD Thread Kickoff. March 2002 - June 2003.

*Local broadcast television station notifications submitted by members (2001-2012):* *Warning: Spoiler!*


Spoiler




1/4/2012: _aptt_: New Channel 8 is now available in HD
12/6/2011: _Marcs Carr_: NewsChannel 8 will go HD in early January 2012.
10/4/2010: _Cyclone_: WMAR-DT ABC2 in Baltimore becomes the final local news broadcaster to switch to High Definition.
4/21/2010: _aptt_ WRC-HD NBC4 became the 4th channel in the area to carry their local news in High Definition.
3/30/2010: _Marcus Carr_: WRC NBC4 in Washington DC will begin to air their local news in HDTV in Late April.
1/10/2010: _Marcus Carr_: Dish Network has added Indieplex, Retroplex, Tru TV, BBC America, E!, Hallmark, Sportsman, Showtime West, and Fox Soccer Channel to their HD channel line up.
10/26/2009: _HDTV Sparky_: WJZ-DT CBS 13 in Baltimore now has local news in HDTV.
6/18/2009: _Marcus Carr_: Cox announces that they have added Disney Channel and ABC Family HD channels to their line up.
6/12/2009: _Cyclone_: Digital Transition day. Numerous Analog TV signals were terminated today.
5/24/2009: _Knicks_Fan_: DirecTV has added WETA-DT to their HD lineup.
5/8/2009: _Cyclone_: Dish network has added Speed, FX, Logo, MavTV, and Fashion HD Channels to their lineup.
4/17/2009: _affigatt_: WFPT-TV Frederick Public TV - MPT has shutdown their analog signal on channel 62.
4/9/2009 _Cyclone_: Dish Network adds numerous Viacom HD channels today including: VH1, MTV, CMT, Comedy Central, BET, Spike, and Nickelodeon.
4/7/2009 _cpldc_: WJLA-DT ABC 7 has switched from 720p to 1080i.
4/7/2009: _Marus Carr_: Comcast in Baltimore has added WETA-HD.
3/24/2009: _afiggatt_: Verizon has added MASN-HD to their FiOS HD lineup.
2/24/2009: _afiggatt_: Verizon has added MLB-HD to their FiOS TV lineup.
2/18/2009: _Cyclone_: WBFF-TV and WNUV-TV have both shutdown Analog broadcasts.
2/4/2009: _Cyclone_: Dish Network has added Fox Business News to its HD lineup.
2/2/2009: _Marcus Carr_: Dish Network adds Fox News HD to their lineup. More HD expected later this week.
2/1/2009: _Cyclone_: Dish Network removed Smithsonian and substituted The "Crime and Investigation" channel.
1/31/2009: _Knicks_Fan_: WTTG-DT launches their local newscast in HDTV.
1/27/2009: _euckersw_: COX adds Fox Business, Cartoon Network, WE, IFC, Comedy Central, E!, Biography, and MLB HD channels to their lineup.
1/23/2009: _machpost_: RCN adds Tennis Channel HD to its lineup.
1/21/2009: _Cyclone_: DirecTV adds Comedy Central HD to their lineup.
1/6/2009: _markbulla_: WBFF returns 45.2 to the air on 1/12 with ThisTV featuring MGM programming.
1/4/2009: _AntAltMike_: RTN Retro TV has gone off the air on WJLA's 7.3 sub-channel. It returned later the next day.
1/3/2009: _djp952_: WBAL-DT has launched the 2nd local HDTV News broadcast in Baltimore.
12/30/2008: _machpost_: RCN (also FiOS & DirecTV) have added MLB-HD to their lineups.
12/17/2008: _Marcus Carr_: MPT-HD has been added by DirectTV for its Baltimore customers.
12/16/2008: _SUOrangeman_: Cox in Fairfax has added AMC, WGN, Fox News, FX, and Speed to their HD Lineup.
12/8/2008: _Cyclone_: WJLA-DT ABC 7 becomes the 2nd station in the Wash DC market to present their local newscasts in HD starting at the 12pm newscast today.
12/3/2008: _Cyclone_: Dish Networks Carries both Versus-HD and Golf-HD now that the two channels have separated. Same with DirectTV, FiOS, and Comcast.
12/2/2008: _Cyclone_: Test Day! At 5:28pm today the local broadcasters of Wash DC will perform a "DTV Test" by turning off their analog signals for 2 minutes to show viewers what the world will be like at the end of February. Participants are: WRC 4, WTTG Fox5, WJLA 7, WUSA 9, WDCA 20, WDCW 50, WETA 26, WHUT 32, WPXW 66, and WFDC 14.
11/20/2008: _someone_: Comcast has added Fox News, Fox Business News, FX, and Speed HD channels to their lineup.
10/30/2008: _prth8machine_: Verizon FiOS added several HD channels including: FX, Fox News, Fox Business, Speed, ESPN News, Disney, Toon Disney, ABC Family, WGN, Tennis, World Fishing, MAV, Biography, QVC, Planet Green, Travel, Hallmark Movie, & MGM.
10/29/2008: _Steve_AA_Co_MD_: Comcast in Anne Arundel has added Fox News HD, FX-HD, and the Speed Channel HD to their lineups.
10/17/2008: _Marcus Carr_: DirecTV adds Fox News Channel HD.
10/8/2009: _markbulla_: WBFF-DT has dropped the Good TV channel 45.2.
9/21/2008: _parkay57_: Verizon FiOS added the following channels to its HD lineup. TBS, Big10, Vs/Golf, OutdoorCh2, CNN, CNBC+, Weather, Science, History, Smithsonian, Animal Planet, TLC, Lifetime, SciFi, and Bravo.
9/13/2008: _machpost_: RCN has added ESPNU-HD to their lineup.
9/8/2008: _Cyclone_: A number of Syndicated programs premiered in HD today for the new fall season. Oprah, Ellen, Entertainment Tonight.
9/4/2008: _cpldc_: WRC-DT has added Universal Sports as a 2nd sub-channel. Ch 4.3.
9/3/2008: _Scott Scherr_: WUTB-DT 24 MyNetwork in Baltimore broadcasted for the first time in HD.
9/3/2008: _afiggatt_: WNVC-DT 57 Mhz has gone off the air for antenna replacement for its eventual move to UHF 24 next year. They will not return until WUTB 24 in Baltimore vacates UHF24 next February.
9/1/2008: _someone_: MHD changed their name to Palladia.
8/28/2008: _prth8machine_: FiOS has added ESPNU-HD.
8/14/2008: _Marcus Carr_: DirectTV adds Planet Green, ABC Family, Showtime Showcase and Showtime Extreme to its HD lineup.
8/8/2008: _Cyclone_: Most major providers (D*, E*, Comcast, COX, etc..) have added two new HD channels for Olympic coverage from Bejing. A Soccer HD and a Basketball HD channel have each been added to provide HD coverage along side of NBC-HD, Universal-HD, CNBCHD+, and USA-HD. additional SD coverage also available on Oxygen and MSNBC. Each provider also has special Olympic VOD programing.
8/1/2008: _Cyclone_: Dish Network added the Following HD Channels to their lineup today: Planet Green, Lifetime, Lifetime Movies, CBS College Sports, Encore, Action Max, Starz [West Comedy Edge Kids], and HBO [West, 2, Comedy, Latino, Signature, and Zone]. Dish also begins support for 1080p VOD movies today.
7/28/2008: _Cyclone_: WJLA-DT has dropped its locally produced "Local Point TV" experiment and favor of "Retro TV" on its 7.3 digital sub-channel.
7/9/2008: _Marcus Carr_: Comcast in Baltimore adds Disney, ABC Family, Science, and WGN to their HD lineup.
6/30/2008: _Marcus Carr_: Comcast in Baltimore adds digital WUTB-DT to their HD lineup. It is currently a 480i SD digital channel.
6/11/2008: _Cyclone_: Dish Networks adds WGN to its HD lineup.
6/3/2008: _dcrtv_: WBFF-DT Fox45 launched Baltimore's first local HDTV Newscast today.
5/30/2008: _jaxjaggywires_: COX in Va has added Bravo, CNBC HD+, USA, SciFi, & Lifetime to their HD channel lineup.
5/28/2008: _dtv4u_: WUTB-DT 24.1 MyNet in Baltimore is performing a "pre-transition full power test" at this time. Post feedback about your reception quality.
5/15/2008: _Cyclone_: Voom has had Dish network remove the remaining five Voom channels from their HD lineup.
5/15/2008: _Berto1020_: Comcast adds Disney, ABC Family, AMC, and Science Channel.
5/15/2008: _kenrowe_: Comcast in Montgomery County has added Disney, ABC Family, and Science Channel to their HD lineup.
5/13/2008: _Cyclone_: Dish network removed 10 of their 15 Voom channels at midnight. The Deleted channels are: HDNews, Ultra, Gallery, Animania, FilmFest, World Sport, Voom Movies, Family, Treasure, and Gameplay. The retained channels are: Rush, Rave, Monsters, Equator, and Kung Fu.
5/12/2008: _Cyclone_: Dish network added new HD channels to their HD Lineup today including the following channels: ABC Family, Biography, Bravo, Cinemax West & 5 Star, Disney, Toon Disney, ESPN News, Cartoon Network, MGM, Hallmark Movie, Tennis, Travel, CNBC HD+, and The World Fishing Network.
4/18/2008: _Marcus Carr_: Dish Network as added Sci-Fi and USA Network HD channels to their lineup.
4/16/2008: _tonyd79_: Dish network has added Baltimore HD channels to their line up. They also added CNN-HD.
4/9/2008: _Marcus Carr_: Comcast in Baltimore adds CNN-HD, Animal Planet-HD, TLC-HD, History-HD, and AMC-HD to their HD lineup.
4/4/2008: _bucnasty_: COX in Fairfax added Comcast Sports Net HD to their HD lineup.
4/2/2008: _Marcus Carr_: DirecTV added ESPNews, Disney, & Toon Disney HD channels to their lineup.
3/31/2008: _Cyclone_: MASN-HD has been added to DirecTV, Comcast, COX, Millennium, RCN, and many other local MSO systems. No word from FiOS or Dish yet.
3/26/2008: _machpost_: WUSA-DT will be showing 2nd NCAA tournament game on their 9.2 digital sub-channel (Usually 24/7 Doppler radar) on Thursday 3/27. link.
3/17/2008: _afiggatt_: WDCA-DT begins broadcasting syndicated "Everybody Loves Raymond" in HDTV.
3/12/2008 _FineWare_: DirecTV has added WDCW-DT ch 50 to their HD line up.
3/11/1008: _chandler1818_: RCN adds Discovery, TLC, Science, and Animal Planet HD channels to its HD lineup.
3/4/2008: _BillyGreen23_: Comcast in Arlington/Alexadria has added CNN, SciFi, USA, History, Food, HGTV, Discovery, TLC, and Animal Planet HD channels to their HDTV lineup.
2/29/2008: _mapper_: Cox adds the Travel Channel HD and Cinemax-HD to their lineup.
2/28/2008: _machpost_: RCN has added WDCA-DT to their HDTV Lineup.
2/23/2008: _machpost_: dcrtv is reporting that Fox 5 news on WTTG-DT will go to High Definition sometime in May for sweeps.
1/7/2008: _Marcus Carr_: Dish Network announced that they will be adding Baltimore HD locals to their lineup in 2008.
1/3/2008: _gary michaels_: WJAL-DT 68 (digital 16) in Hagarstown has increased their power from 6 to 50kw.
12/28/2007: _Marcus Carr_: DirecTV has added The Tennis Channel HD, and CSTV HD to their HD lineup.
12/18/2007: _raidbuck_: Comcast has added TLC, Discovery, History, Sci-Fi and USA to their HD lineup.
12/11/2007: _rob base_: Comcast has added Comcast Sports Network HD to the New Market area. (formerly Adelphia turf)
12/3/2007: _Marcus Carr_: COX has added 11 HD channels to their HD lineup. Included are: Discovery, TLC, Animal Planet, Science, CNN, TBS, HGTV, Food, NHL, History, Vs/Golf. This may be SDV channels which require a COX Set Top box, so Cable Card customers may not receive these channels.
11/27/2007: _Marcus Carr_: DirectTV has added The Biography Channel to their HD lineup.
11/26/2007: _GoIrish_: Baltimore Comcast will add Discovery, TLC, History, USA, SciFi, CNN, & History HD channels on January 8th 2008.
11/20/2007: _machpost_: RNC in DC has added NFL, Food Network, HGTV, and MOJO to their HDTV lineup.
11/16/2007: _SteveJB_: WHUT-DT has corrected a PSIP issue and it now working for Dish Network and other receivers.
11/15/2007: _Marcus Carr_: Comcast in Frederick will add SciFi & USA networks to their HD lineup on Dec 8th.
11/14/2007: _Cyclone_: Direct TV adds Nickelodeon, Spike, CMT, MTV, & VH1 channels to their HDTV lineup.
11/8/2007: _bfdtv_: Verizon FiOS added Comcast Sports Net HD to their lineup. Channel 829.
11/7/2007: _afiggatt_: Verizon FiOS has added Discovery-HD to their lineup.
10/31/2007: _Marcus Carr_: DirectTV has added NHL-HD to their line up.
10/30/2007: _kurkbidc, kenrowe_: Comcast has added A&E-HD, Food-HD, HGTV-HD & Universal-HD to some additional DC area markets.
10/29/2007: _Marcus Carr_: Dish Network and DirectTV have added NBA-TV to their HDTV lineups.
10/17/2007: _Cyclone_: Dish Network has added NHL-HD to their lineup.
10/15/2007: _afiggatt_: Verizon has added A&E-HD to their lineup.
10/15/2007: _Cyclone_: Direct TV has added six more HD channels today. Fox Business News, HGTV-HD, Fuel TV, FX-HD, Speed Channel HD, and Cartoon Network HD. They also added 7 HD-PPV channels and some RSNs for other regions.
10/10/2007: _Cyclone_: DirectTV added Food-HD, National Geographic Channel HD, MGM-HD, and CNBC-HD+ today.
10/5/2007: _Cyclone_: Dish Network has added TBS-HD for MLB play off action.
10/4/2007: _gary michaels_: WHUT-DT was spotted on the air today broadasting in 480i. It was off the air later that evening.
10/4/2007: _Marcus Carr_: DirecTV has added MHD to their lineup.
10/3/2007: _Marcus Carr_: DirectTV adds Bravo-HD, SciFi-HD, USA-HD, HBO West, Cinemax E&W to their HD lineup. Also Comcast Sports Net is now available to Baltimore area customers.
10/2/2007: _machpost_: RCN has added TBS-HD to their HD lineup.
10/1/2007: _Berto1020_: Comcast has added TBS-HD ch 232 to their lineup. Food-HD was added in Baltimore.
10/1/2007: _mapper_: The Tube Music network has stopped operations and is no longer shown on 50.2 WDCW-DT.
9/26/2007: _Marcus Carr_: Dish Network has added Comcast Sports Network-HD to their HD lineup.
9/26/2007: _Marcus Carr_: DirectTV added 21 new HDTV channels today. This includes: A&E-HD, AnimalPlanet, BigTen-HD, CNN-HD, Discovery-HD, History Channel-HD, TLC-HD, TMC-HD, NFL-HD, Science-HD, SHO-W, SHO-TOO, Smithsonian-HD, 5x Starz, TBS-HD, WeatherChannel-HD, & Vs/Golf-HD. More is expected by the end of the year.
9/25/2007: _jaxjaggywires_: COX has added NFL-HD to their lineup.
9/20/2007: _SJKurtzke_: WDCW-DT says that they are to be included in DirectTV's HDTV lineup by Jan 2008.
9/20/2007: _Marcus Carr_: Cox to add Discovery-HD, TLC-HD, Science-HD, and Animal Planet-HD in Oct.
9/12/2007: _GoIrish_: Comcast has announced several HD additions for 10/1 including TBS-HD & Food-HD. Also A&E-HD for DC area.
9/12/2007: _Cyclone_: Dish Network added 8 HD-PPV channels and Big10-HD to its lineup.
9/12/2007: _machpost_: RCN in D.C. has added Golf/Vs-HD to their lineup.
9/11/2007: _billodom_: WDCW-DT has the syndicated show Two & a Half Men showing HDTV. Aside from Jeopardy and WoF, this is the first time a syndicated show is shown in HDTV.
9/10/2007: _Cyclone_: A fire has taken NFL-HD, History-HD, and A&E-HD off the air for Dish Network & other providers.
9/4/2007: _Marcus Carr_: Dish Network has added The History Channel-HD to their HD lineup.
8/21/2007: _tanfan_: MPT-HD will now only show PBS-HD programming only when "True HD" shows are on the schedule. PBS-HD has in the past consisted of mostly SD widescreen shows. Expect to MPT-HD to only be HD on a part time basis, even during primetime.
8/15/2007: _Cyclone_: Dish network has added Discovery-HD, Animal Planet-HD, TLC-HD, Discovery Science-HD, Versus/Golf-HD, & MTV-HD to their HD lineup today.
8/8/2007: _dcrtv_: DCRTV has an update from the latest FCC documents on where our local channels will broadcast from when analog cutoff happens in 2009. Back to original channel: WJLA on 7, WUSA on 9, WBAL on 11, WJZ on 13, and WDCW on 50 Remain on current digital channel: WRC on 48, WTTG on 36, WFDC on 15, WDCA on 35, WMPT on 42, WUTB on 41, WETA on 27, WHUT on 33, WBFF on 46, and WNUV on 40 Change to a new digital channel: WMAR on 38 (WJZ's current digital channel), WPXW on 34 (WUSA's current digital channel), and WNVC on 24 (WUTB's current analog channel)
7/28/2007: _zebras23_: Verizon will upgrade the guide software for their STBs in this area on 8/23.
7/28/2007: _poppagene_: WETA-DT appears to have gone to full strength. Perhaps they have finally relocated to their new Tower.
7/20/2007: _stuffedmonkey_: RCN in D.C. has added ESPN2-HD as well as TNT-HD and National Geographic HD.
7/10/2007: _Marcus Carr & GoIrish_: Comcast in Baltimore Hartford County has added A&E-HD and HGTV-HD to their lineup.
7/6/2007: _Knicks Fan_: WJLA-DT has begun showing Wheel of Fortune & Jeopardy in HDTV.
7/5/2007: _chandler1818_: RCN has added ESPN2-HD in Montgomery County.
6/30/2007: _mdviewer25_: WUSA-DT's Doppler radar on 9.2 has returned.
6/26/2007: _voltore_: WUSA-DT's Doppler Radar on 9.2 will be off the air for the new few days for some tests that requires its bandwidth.
6/25/2007: _SUOrangeman_: Cox in Fairfax Va added NatGeo-HD, A&E-HD, WDCA-DT, and WUSA-DT's supper Doppler radar (ie 9.2) to their HD lineup today.
5/31/2007: _Parkay57_: Cox announces that they will carry A&E-HD, NatGeo-HD, and WDCA-DT My20 HD on June 25th.
5/26/2007: _Robert Forsthe_: WJLA-DT ABC7 will begin to show Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy in HDTV in July.
5/25/2007: _Marcus Carr_: Comcast in Baltimore announced that they will be adding A&E-HD & HGTV-HD to their lineup on July 10th.
5/16/2007: _Frank Black_: Comcast is going to acquire Millenium cable. _Update: Deal was called off_
5/15/2007: _Cylclone_: Comcast in Montgomery County has added WDCA-DT and Universal-HD.
5/4/2007: _Cyclone_: Dish Network has added Cinemax-HD to their HD lineup.
5/1/2007 :_Cyclone_: INHD changed their name to Mojo today.
4/30/2007: _gccjr_: Comcast sent a message to the STB today stating that WDCA-DT and Universal-HD will be added to their lineup on May 15th.
4/16/2007: _lobozooma_: Verizon Fios added Food-HD, HGTV-HD, and Lifetime Network Movies HD to their HDTV line up today. Wives rejoice!
3/6/2007: _Cyclone_: Looks like both WDCA-DT & WNUV-DT will both carry the HDTV broadcast of this weekend's ACC tournament.
3/4/2007: _Cyclone_: DirectTV has picked up the National Geographic Channel HD on a part time basis. Ch 77.
2/12/2007: _Pyrr_: Comcast in former Adelphia Turf (Frederick) has removed HDNet and HDNet Movies from their lineup. NGC-HD has been added.
2/1/2007: _Cyclone_: Dish Network has added A&E-HD to their HD Lineup.
1/24/2007: _Robert Forsythe_: WJLA has launched Local Point TV on the 7.3 sub-channel. Offers local oriented programming.
1/19/2007: _bbt_: Comcast posted in the Frederick Post that on Feb 12, 2007 that HDNet and HDNet movies would be replaced with TNT-HD, CSN-HD, and NGC-HD.
1/11/2007: _Marcus Carr_: Comcast has added National Geographic - HD (ch 224) and Versus-HD/Golf Channel HD (ch 255) to their HD lineup.
1/1/2007: _markbulla_: The Tube has been discontinued on 54.2. Its still on in D.C. on WDCW 50.2.
12/21/2006: _markbulla_: WNUV-DT will cease running The Tube on 54.2 at the end of the year.
12/11/2006: _wmcbrine_: WRC hinted tonight on their newscast that they would changing news studios and that they will be in HDTV when they return by the end of the year.
12/4/2006: _Marcus Carr_: MHD (MTV-HD) has replaced INHD2 on the Comcast lineups.
11/28/2006: _PaulGo_: Montgomery County has approved the Franchise agreement for Verizon's FIOS TV.
11/28/2006: _CuseHokie_: Cox Cable has added ESPN2-HD.
11/20/2006: _fmsjr_: WMAR-DT has begun to broadcast Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy in HDTV tonight. This is the first syndicated programming to be offered in HDTV in the area.
10/7/2006: _afiggatt_: WMAR-DT is working on getting the equipment needed to show Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy in HDTV. Looks to be available in a few weeks.
10/3/2006: _dg28_: WDCA-DT has fixed their HDTV problem and is finally showing MyNetwork programming in HD.
9/16/2006: _Clubdeluxe_: Fox Owned WTTG-DT (Fox5) & WDCA-DT (My20) have started broadcasting from their new (and higher) antennas.
9/16/2006: _dipdewdog_: Comcast in D.C. has added MHD (MTV HD) to its lineup. INHD2 persists also.
9/13/2006: _kenrowe_: Verizon and Montgomery County have finally reached a FiOS TV franchise agreement. No word on when service will become available.
9/12/2006: _Cyclone_: WNVC-DT and WNVT-DT both now have programming on their MHz3 & MHz4 channels. These had been banners before.
9/6/2006: _SJKurtzke_: NBC O&O WRC-DT will be producing local news in HDTV "soon" according to a Broadcast and Cable article. WTTG-DT Fox5 is also rumoured to be going HDTV "soon".
9/6/2006: _Cyclone_: MyNetwork launched last night on the former UPN affiliates of WDCA and WUTB. The HDTV launch on WDCA My20 was a bust with the signal having to be switched to SD after the HD audio was pure static. WUTB remains SD only and stretched their image.
9/2/2006: _various_: WDCW-DT's The Tube has begun to appear on numerous Cable Networks.
9/2/2006 :_afiggatt_: WDCA-DT has switched from 1080i to 720p for its HDTV format. The station will be changing from UPN to MyNetwork network affilations soon.
9/1/2006: _SJKurtzke_: WETA-DT has changed from running 1 HD + 1 SD channel during prime time and 4 SD sub-channels during non-primetime to running 1 HD and 3 SD channels full time. Expect HD picture quality to never be the same again.
8/23/2006: _afiggatt_: WDCW-DT has added "The Tube" on ch 50.2 on its Digital signal.
8/16/2006 _Cyclone_: Dish Network has added Food-HD to its HD lineup.
8/6/2006: _JohnG_: Millennium has added ESPN2-HD to its lineup.
8/1/2006: _jsh5771_: DirecTV has added Comcast Sports Net's HDTV channel to its line up. CSN-HD is on ch 629. Which oddly is the same number as the SD channel. There are two 629s at this time.
7/27/2006: _SJKurtzke_: DirectTV has added WDCA-DT to its HD Line up. This station will be an affiliate of the new "My Network" starting in the fall.
7/10/2006: _dg28_: DirectTV has announced that they will begin to carry Comcast Sports Net Mid-Atlantic's HDTV channel in August. DirectTV also now offers Baltimore Locals in HDTV.
7/2/2006: _Steve_AA_Co_MD_: Finally WDCA-DT has gone to full strength. This is the final hold out of a top station in the Metro area. Only Howard University WHUT-DT is absent from the airwaves.
7/1/2006: _Marcus Carr_: Comcast in Baltimore reports that WNUV-DT's 54.2 "The Tube" will be added to its lineup.
6/15/2006: _CuseHokie_: Cox in Herdon has added MHD & WDCW-DT to their HD Lineup today.
6/9/2006: _Cyclone_: Dish Network has added National Geographic HD, NFL-HD, HGTV-HD, and Starz-HD to their lineup today.
6/9/2006: _Marcus Carr_: ESPN2-HD has beed added to numerous Comcast systems today. Just in time for the begining of the World Cup. Ch 253.
6/8/2006: _GoIrish_: Comcast reports that it will be adding ESPN2-HD for Comcast customers in Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Harford County and Howard County. They should have ESPN2-HD by 8:00 p.m. tonight. Channel 253.
5/9/2006: _markbulla_: WNUV-DT has removed the 54.3 sub-channel from their broadcast stream. The tube remain on its new home at 54.2.
5/4/2006: _mdviewer25_: WBDC has changed their call letters to reflect their new affilation. They are now WDCW.
5/2/2006: _markbulla_: The Tube has been moved from 54.3 to 54.2 (along with some of the bandwidth), and WBFF-DT has put their "Good TV" programming on 45.2. If everything pans out, 54.3 will be removed.
5/2/2006: _ht-movie-guy_: Verizon has added NatGeo-HD, HDNet, and MTV-HD to their Fios TV lineup.
4/28/2006: _markbulla_: FOX45 in Baltimore will launch new programming on 45.2 in the format of "Good TV". They will cease with SD digital simulcast. Also sister station WB54 will drop its SD simulcast and bump "The Tube" over to 54.2 and shutdown 54.3. Changes to occur on Monday. Its reported that Comcast in the Balt region will carry the WBFF-DT channel.
4/18/2006: _Cyclone_: Dish Network has moved Baltimore SD locals from the 105 Super Dish slot to the Dish500 110 slot. DC area customers can now get EPG info for Baltimore OTA channels.
3/16/2006: _Marcus Carr_: Verizon's FIOS TV is now available in Howard County, MD. This is the first area in MD where FIOS TV is available.
3/9/2006: _kenrowe_: WB50 will be adding "The Tube" this summer.
3/8/2006: _Cyclone_: NBC 4 has continued to carry DD5.1 now that olympics have concluded. So hopefully this is permanent.
2/28/2006: _Cyclone_: Washington HD Locals have been spotted on Dish Network's 61.5 satellite. No word yet on their availability. Seen: NBC4, Fox5, ABC7, & CBS9.
2/27/2006: _euckersw_: Comcast has removed Universal-HD from its lineups now that the 2006 Winter Olympics have concluded. Except in Anapolis where its still available for some reason.
2/17/2006: _Cyclone_: DirectTV has added TNT-HD to their lineup. Ch 75.
2/8/2006: _Marcus Carr_: Comcast has added Universal-HD just in time for the Olympics. This may be a temp channel, and its pre-empting INHD2 in some areas.
2/6/2006: _fmsjr_: WMAR-DT's sub-channels are back on the air.
2/1/2006: _Cyclone_: Dish Network has added ESPN2-HD, Universal-HD, and 5 new Voom channels to their HD lineup. Bad news is that it requires: A new Pricing tier, Replacement of your HD STB with a new MPEG-4 STB, and if you lease... a 18 month commitment.
2/1/2006: _drkashner_: WMAR-DT has both of its sub-channels 2.2 & 2.3 off the air.
1/24/2006: _someone_ CBS and WB have announced that they will be merging the UPN and WB networks into a single network to be called "CW". Tribune owned WB50 will the DC affiliate for this new CW network. No word on what will happen in Baltimore, or what will happen to Fox owned WDCA UPN 20.
1/23/2006: _Cyclone_ ESPN-HD and ESPN2-HD have switched from SRS surround sound to DD5.1.
1/17/2005: _HDBeat_: MTV-HD has launched on certain Verizon and Cox cable systems in California and Florida.
1/3/2006: _Marcus Carr_: Howard County has granting permission to Verizon to offer Fios TV service. Hopefully the dominos will fall fast in MD.
1/1/2006: _BillyJB_: Millinium has swapped CBS HD affiliates. Baltimore's WJZ-DT has been dropped in favor of Washington's WUSA-DT. Considering that WUSA produces all of their local news and studio shows in HD, this is good news for Millinium customers.
12/21/2005: _cawgijoe_: First reported installation of DirectTV's local HDTV channel hardware. Looks good. post.
12/20/2005: _dt_dc_: Cox in Va has added WRC-DT's Weather plus to its lineup as ch 803.
12/8/2005: _Cyclone_: DirecTV is now offering Local Washington D.C. HDTV channels via its satellites. NBC-4, FOX-5, ABC-7, and CBS-9 are now available. Customers will need have a DirecTV MPEG-4 compatible HDTV receiver as well as one of DirectTV's new 5 LNB Satellite Dishes to receive these channels.
12/6/2005: _BillyJB_: Millennium Cable has added WMPT-DT (HD & Sub-channels) digital programming to their lineup.
11/23/2005: _Mark Bulla_: WNUV-DT has pulled the AccuWeather.com feed from 54.2. It is now a SD simulcast of 54.1.
11/23/2005: _kenrowe_: Ken posted a link to a pdf containing Verizon's Herdon FiOS TV lineup.
11/19/2005: _dg28_: DirectTV has announced that they will carry the Washington D.C. locals in HD in December.
11/19/2005: _Cyclone_: Verizon FiOS TV is now available in Herdon, Va according to this article in the Wash Post.
10/17/2005: _DCRTV_: Comcast in Baltimore has added WBAL-DT's Weather Plus to their lineup. Ch 208.
10/15/2005: _ZIZ3259_: Millennium Cable has added WBAL-DT's Weather Plus to their lineup. Ch 400.
10/12/5: _Hoopnoop_: Adephia in Loudon County has added WETA-HD ch 726 to its HDTV lineup.
10/11/05: _CuseHokie_: COX in Northern VA has added TNT-HD as ch 714.
9/29/2005: _DCRTV_: RCN (ie formerly Starpower) has a deal to add WBDC-DT WB50 to their HDTV lineup.
9/9/2005: _Cyclone_: Verizon has released their Fios TV Lineup for Keller, TX. It includes the following HDTV channels: TNT-HD, ESPN-HD, ESPN2-HD, NFL-HD, HDNet, HDNet Movies, Universal-HD, Discovery HD Theater, Wealth-HD, HBO-HD, SHO-HD, MAX-HD, Starz-HD, & TMC-HD. It also included local HD network affiliates too.
9/8/2005: _Cyclone_: DirectTV has added ESPN2-HD to its HDTV lineup as ch 72.
9/3/2005: _gary michaels_: WHUT-DT was spotted testing. Will the final analog-only TV station in the DC market go Digital soon? Looks like it.
9/2/2005: _Cyclone_: WBAL-DT has changed their 11.2 sub-channel to NBC's Weather Plus format.
9/2/2005: _Cyclone_: Dish Network has added the HDTV NFL channel to its lineup as ch 9464. It is not a full time channel and will time share with HD-PPV.
9/1/2005: _markbulla_: WNUV-DT has added sub-channel 54.3 to its line up. It a music video channel called "The Tube".
9/1/2005: _Marcus Carr_: WBAL-DT has stopped stretching their digital signal and now uses Gray side bars like WJZ, WBFF, & WNUV.
8/31/2005: _Marcus Carr_: Comcast in Baltimore city has added WNUV-DT (ch 214) to their HDTV lineup.
8/29/2005: _Peter A Dionne_: WNUV-DT has started a Weather channel on 54.2 with a very low bitrate. Mark Bulla hints that a cool surprise is coming soon to 54.3 too.
8/29/2005: _mjones73_: CBS premiered Late Night with David Letterman in HDTV last night.
8/21/2005: _Marcus Carr_: Comcast in Baltimore has added The NFL Network in HDTV on channel 254.
8/16/2005: _Cyclone_: ESPN2-HD will begin on DirecTV on September 6th. Also ABC will not have HDTV during the period of Aug 23rd - 26th due to network upgrades.
8/15/2005: _KenH_: CBS will premier Late Night with David Letterman in HDTV next Monday Aug 29th.
8/7/2005: _whjeffs_: Millinium now offers the Dual Tuner 6412 HDTV DVRs.
8/5/2005: _MrMike6by9_: Comcast in Baltimore County has announced that they will carry WB54 WNUV-DT begining on Aug 31st.
7/23/2005: _gary michaels_: WRC-DT has the sub-channel 4.3 on the air. No programming on the channel though. Some material was spotted during the testing. The sub-channel was later removed.
7/19/2005: _dneily_: Comcast in P.G. County has finally added TNT-HD to its lineup.
6/30/3005: _Marcus Carr_: Comcast in Baltimore city has moved their HD channels in the lineup. They have also added WMAR's Digital WeatherNet.
6/14/2005: _jgantert_: Comcast in Howard County has added WMAR-DT's Weather Net channel to its lineup.
5/23/2005: _BillJB_: Starz-HD is now available on Millenium Cable. Must call to activate.
5/18/2005: _jgantert_: Comcast in Howard Co. has swapped Fox5 for Fox45. Baltimore area Comcast system which had carried Fox5 in HD during the negotiations with Sinclair appear to be replacing them with Fox45 now that a agreement is in place. Annapolis reports to currently have both.
5/14/2005: _Steve_AA_Co_MD_: WFDC-DT 14.1 (on UHF 15) is now on the air.
5/9/2005: _f44_: Comcast in Montgomery County MD has added TNT-HD.
5/3/2005: _JoeInNVa, afiggatt & zurchguy_: Comcast in Arlington, Alexandria, Prince William and Reston have added TNT-HD to their lineups. Ch 249.
5/2/2005: _jerwin_: MPT has re-numbered their sub-channels moving the Main MPT channel to x.1, the HD to x.2, and the others to the remaining x.3, x.4, & x.5.
5/2/2005: _Cyclone_: WUSA-DT begins the D.C. Area's first HDTV local newscast. WUSA-DT is one of only a handful of local TV stations nationwide to produce local news in HDTV.
5/2/2005: _Foxbat121_: COX after a quick tease, has included WETA-DT to its HDTV lineup along with the daytime two SD sub-channels.
5/1/2005: _Cyclone_: Dish Network has added 10 of Voom's 21 HDTV channels to their lineup, while the Voom DBS service has now gone off the air. The Voom channels will be available to other DBS and Cable system as well.
4/30/2005: _bullwinklehdtv_: Not HDTV, but DirectTV has added MASN to its lineup to provide Nats games.
4/29/2005: _Cyclone_: Dish Network has announced that they will begin to carry 10 of the former Voom exclusive channels starting on Sunday May 1st. The *VoOm* DBS service is scheduled to shutdown at the end of April.
4/26/2005: _tahoerob_: Adelphia in Winchester has added Cinemax-HD, ESPN2-HD, DiscoveryHD, and the NFL-HD channels.
4/26/2005: _Cyclone_: NBC premiered Conan O'Brien in HDTV tonight.
4/26/2005: _rshear_: COX in Fairfax has added WETA-DT PBS to its HDTV lineup, and then pulled them later that night. This had included the HD channel as well as the 3 SD sub-channels.
4/25/2005: _f44_: WUSA has a "Coming in 7 Days" banner for their HDTV newscasts on their site.
4/22/2005: _Marcus Carr_: *C*omcast in Baltimore City (and Howard County) have added TNT-HD to their lineups.
4/21/2005: _Bill Johnson_: WJLA-DT & WUSA-DT are back on the air and with very strong signal strengths.
4/21/2005: _Cyclone_: *C*omcast is buying up Adelphia in the area west of DC. Unknown as this time what changes this will bring. Time Warner will also get some of Adelphia, but its likely to be outside of the Balt/DC market.
4/21/2005: _robertforsyth_: Installation work on the WJLA-DT/WUSA-DT tower appears to have been completed. The WJLA-DT signal may return to the air tonight at low power to shake out the new equipment. If all checks out, the stations could be back at full strength as early as tomorrow evening.
4/16/2005: _Cyclone_: WJLA-DT & WUSA-DT are now off the air while a new combiner (to allow WETA-DT & WHUT-DT to share the tower) is installed. The two stations will be off the air for several days. Comcast has a fiber feed for WJLA & WUSA, so their customers will be Ok. Not sure if any of the other cable companies have fiber feeds also.
4/15/2005: _sgtjim_: Comcast in Southern MD sent out a message that WMAR-DT's Weather radar will appear in the lineup as Ch 204 on May 14th.
4/12/2005: _robertforsyth_: WJLA-DT and WUSA-DT will be off the air starting Apr 16 for about 7 - 12 days. This is due to the work of installing a new combiner which will allow WETA-DT and WHUT-DT to be broadcast from the same tower. The signals will have to be down during the entire time. WETA-DT is currently broadcast at lowish power from a tower in Arlington, while WHUT-DT is not currently on the air.
4/12/2005: _bullwinklehdtv_: MASN (Mid Atlantic Sports Network), home of the Nationals has its name listed in the DirecTV channel lineup as Ch 626. Not HD and not yet available to customers.
4/8/2005: _Cyclone_: Cablevision has announced that it will discontinue the *VoOm* HDTV heavy DBS satellite service at the end of April.
4/7/2005: _Marcus Carr_: Both WUSA-DT and WJZ-DT CBS affiliates will be showing coverage of the Masters on Thur/Friday on their HDTV channels only. Their SD channels will have normal programing. SD Masters coverage in on the USA Network.
3/30/2005: _tahoerob_: Adelphia in Winchester now has the SA 8300HD HDTV DVR available.
3/26/2005: _Marcus Carr_: WBFF and WNUV have added gray side bars to their 4:3 broadcasts. WJZ appears to have darkened their gray pillars.
3/16/2005: _Marcus Carr_: *C*omcast has returned Sinclair owned Fox45 to its HDTV lineup. Sinclair's WB affiliates are to be included later on this year.
3/15/2005: _fmsjr_: Millennium Cable has added WB54 to its HDTV lineup as ch 403.
3/8/2005: _Cyclone_: WTTG-DT has made another PSIP change. This appears to correct the tuning/mapping problems that many people have had since the begining of February.
3/7/2005: _zafar_: Cox Cable in Fairfax appears to have added StarZ-HD to their lineup. ch 714.
3/3/2005: _dg28_: Gannett owned WUSA-DT CBS 9 in D.C. has announced that they will begin broadcasting their local news in HDTV soon. Sister station KUSA-DT in Denver currently does local news in HDTV.
3/1/2005: _TahoeRob_: Voom has given its 4 week notice. The HDTV heavy DBS service may discontinue service at the end of March. Efforts are underway to save it.
2/23/2005: _GoIrish_: Sinclair has pulled Fox45's HDTV channel from Comcast's HD lineup. It was added just a few week ago for the Superbowl.
2/18/2005: _joblo_: The DC/Balt area stations have decided on which VHF/UHF frequencies they will likely use after the Analog signals are shut off. Check in this post for details. Looks like we will need a VHF antenna for 7, 9, 11, & 13.
2/4/2005: _GoIrish_: *C*omcast Balitmore adds Sinclair owned WBFF-DT Fox45 to its HDTV lineup just in time for this weekend's Superbowl. It can be found on channel 213.
2/3/2005: _Cyclone_: Since FCC mandated PSIP changes took effect on Feb 1st, Dish Network 811 & 6000 along with some other brand ATSC tuners have had problems with WTTG-DT. Contact them if you are experiencing this to let them know of this problem.
1/28/2005: _Cyclone_: ABC has decided to pull the plug on ABC News Now. It is now off the air. WMAR-DT's 2.2 has returned to the SD 480i broadcast. WJLA-DT has launched Weather Now on 7.2. This appears to be much like WRC's Weather Plus specializing in local weather content.
1/20/2005: _f44_: Comcast has added WRC-DT's NBC Weather Plus to its digital cable lineup as ch 227.
1/17/2005: _Cyclone_: NBC Weather Plus has been localized on WRC-DT's 4.2. Washington weather is now shown frequently on the L-Bar, and Bob Ryan video updates loop regularly in the video pane.
1/10/2005: _zafar_: WJLA-DT's *DD5.1* encoder is now active.
1/6/2005: _Cyclone_: ESPN2-HD launched today. Agreements in place for DirectTV & Adelphia systems, but not yet in the channel lineups.
1/6/2005: _Cyclone_: DirectTV announced that Washington D.C. will be among their 12 initial HDTV local markets to launch in the 2nd half of this year.
1/3/2005: _Cyclone_: WRC-DT's Weather Plus sub-channel is now active on 4.2. Also after a year plus, WRC-DT's PSIP ID is now fixed from "CH1" back to "WRC-DT".
12/31/2004: _Cyclone_: DirectTV adds ABC's NYC & LA HDTV feeds to their distant network offering. Neither Washington nor Baltimore are ABC O&O markets, so not many people around here are going to qualify for these channels.
12/30/2004: _BillinVA_: WRC-DT has been spotted broadcasting a 4.2 Weather sub-channel today. It was later withdrawn from testing.
12/20/2004: _Cyclone_: Direct TV now carries FOX-HD East & West. WTTG-DT is a Fox O&O so some people around here should qualify for it.
12/17/2004: _FlipFantastic_: COX in Fairfax has added UNI-HD to its HD line up.
12/16/2004: _Mad Maximus_: *C*omcast in Montgomery County now has the Dual Tuner HDTV DVR in stock. The remote is missing the "swap button" though.
12/13/2004: _aaronwt_: CBS airs the Primetime Drama CSI:Miami in *DD5.1* for the first time tonight. Both WUSA and WJZ carried it correctly in *DD5.1*. I still wonder why NBC O&O WRC-DT can't do the same.
12/3/2004: _asterix2112_: COX in Fairfax will begin carrying Universal-HD on Dec 15th, and on Jan 1st Discovery HD Theater will become part of the HD package instead of requiring its own subscription. _Update: according to Devin, its Uni-HD is already available._
12/2/2004: _robertforsyth_: WJLA-DT has received their DD5.1 Equipment, look for the *DD5.1* indicator on your A/V receiver sometime next week. _Update: Robert has posted a pic of their installed DD5.1 encoder in this post_
11/30/2004: _PaulGo_: *C*omcast announced today that they are now offering HDTV OnDemand for the DC metro area. This includes HD programs & PPV movies that range from $4 to $6 per 24hr viewing.
11/29/2004: _Cyclone_: The NBA-TV HDTV channel now appears to available to all HD package subscribers Dish Network (ch 9466).
11/16/2004: _TimothyP_: *C*omcast in Baltimore now offers the Motorola model 6412 Dual Tuner HDTV DVR.
11/16/2004: _tahoerob_: Adelphia in Winchester, VA has added the HD+ tier of channels like Loudoun, VA and Frederick, MD.
11/16/2004: _DCRTV_: DCRTV is reporting that NBC Owned WRC will be launching a 24/7 Weather Channel on cable systems and as a sub-channel on their digital signal within 90 days.
11/15/2004: _Cyclone_: WB50 will air six Wizards games in HDTV this season. See this post for the schedule.
11/10/2004: _Pyrr_: Adelphia in Frederick adds the HD+ channels (HBO-HD, ESPN-HD, INHD, & INHD2) to its lineup and matches up with what they just rolled out in Loudoun county.
11/8/2004: _leesweet_: Lee eports in this post that UPN 20 likely will not have their digital signal up to full strength until mid 2006.
11/8/2004: _pigatc_: Adelphia in Loudoun County, VA has activated their HD+ package. This includes: NBC4, FOX5, ABC7, CBS9, ESPN-HD, INHD & INHD2, HDNet, HDNet Movies, HBO-HD, SHO-HD, & Starz-HD.
11/7/2004: _Cyclone_: The WB network initiated *DD5.1* tonight with the Network Premier of Lord of the Rings. Looked and sounded great on WB54. WB50 however went dark during the broadcast. WB50 does appear to have *DD5.1* enabled full time now on their Digital channel, even when the broadcast material isn't *DD5.1*. Just like WB54 does.
11/5/2004: _pigatc_: Adelphia in Loudoun County, VA has added WTTG-DT Fox5 ch 705.
10/28/2004: _robertforsyth_: WJLA ABC 7 has ordered their *DD5.1* encoder and it will hopefully arrive and be active by the end of next week. _Update: on backorder, end of year more likely._
10/15/2004: _Cyclone_: Dish Network's model 811 HDTV STB with firmware Rev 2.81 now supports the EPG for OTA channels.
10/7/2004: _pigatc_: Adelphia in Loudoun County, VA has added WJLA-DT ABC 7 ch 707 and HBO-HD ch 750.
9/28/2004: _Cyclone_: WFPT-DT 62.x Frederick's MPT affiliate returned to the airwaves today.
9/22/2004: _dg28_: WB54 in Baltimore began broadcasting HDTV & *DD5.1* tonight.
9/19/2004: _Cyclone_: WB50 has dropped their 50.2 sub channel. There is only the 50.1 channel now. At one point in time, WB50 had 50.1, 50.2, 75.1, & 75.1 channels all running at the same time. Each was a identical copy of the same single program.
9/16/2004: _Cyclone_: DirectTV has added NBC-HD to its HDTV offerings. WRC NBC4 is an NBC O&O station, but you will need a waiver from WBAL if you are within their Grade A or B range. Check the DirectTV Eligibility website for qualifications & costs.
9/15/2004: _JoeInNVa_: *C*omcast in Alexandria has added Discovery HD Theater to its HD lineup. Ch 205.
9/14/2004: _Cyclone_: WB54 has added a HD subchannel. 54.2 has appeared running 1080i. Its showing SD programming at this time though.
9/12/2004: _Cyclone_: The Fox Network switched from EDTV to HDTV today. Both Fox affiliates carried the HDTV programming.
9/8/2003: _Cyclone_: WFPT-DT has gone off the air. Other MPT stations are still on the air.
9/8/2004: _Cyclone_: Sinclair owned WBFF-DT Fox45 in Baltimore broadcasts Fox Widescreen & *DD5.1* for the first time tonight. Looks like they're ready for HDTV this weekend.
9/3/2004: _steeler_: WNUV-DT WB54 & WBFF-DT Fox45 in Baltimore have gone to full power.
9/3/2004: _dt_dc_: COX cable in Fairfax has added WTTG-DT Fox 5 to its lineup just in time for the start of the NFL season.
9/2/2003: _Cyclone_: The FOX network aired Big Momma's house in *DD5.1*. This was the first Fox movie ever with *DD5.1*. _Update: It appears that all Fox network programming will have *DD5.1* activated. Content will be *DD5.1* simulated if not native._
8/31/2004: _kenrowe_: *C*omcast in Mont County has added WBDC-DT WB50 & Discovery HD Theater today.
8/30/2004: _Cyclone_: DirectTV has added BravoHD+ to their HD package today.
8/28/2004: _Cyclone_: Frederick MPT station WFPT-DT Digital 62.x (UHF 28) has gone on the air today.
8/28/2004: _Wreckless_: Adelphia in Frederick has added WTTG-DT FOX5 to its HD lineup.
8/18/2004: _johnqpixel_: Fox5 Washington WTTG-DT has shown up on Howard County's Comcast Digital lineup.
8/13/2004: _Cyclone_: The Olympics opened tonight. WRC-DT 4.1 premiered *DD5.1* while WBAL-DT 11.1 HDTV & 11.2 SD remained with DD2.0 audio. The Olympics in HDTV are also available on Dish Network, DirectTV, and Voom with special NBC-HD feeds.
8/12/2004: _xbgamer_: WRC-DT was spotted transmitting *DD5.1* tonight. More Olympic preparations?
8/12/2004: _BillyJB_: Millenium Cable in Anne Arundel county has added Baltimore ABC, NBC, CBS, & FOX channels to their HDTV lineup today. Just in time for the Olympic Coverage.
8/4/2004: _steeler_: WBAL-DT has started a 480i sub-channel 11.2. This will likely be used for the SD Olympic feed while 11.1 carries the separate 24hr delay 1080i HDTV Olympic feed from NBC.
7/30/2004: _Devin Clancy_: StarPower cable has added Cinemax-HD & Starz-HD to their HDTV lineup.
7/30/2004: _Scott R. Scherr_: Reports are that Fox45 may be installing their new FOX splicer soon. Also WNUV-DT WB54 in Balt will likely go Full Power, HDTV, and *DD5.1* next Month.
7/29/2004: _Andun_: *C*omcast in Montgomery County adds a HDTV InDemand PPV channel to its lineup as HDPPV Ch 195 or Ch 185. _Note: This was just be for that weekend's Mike Tyson fight._
7/26/2004: _jeffthurmont_: Fox 45 WBFF-DT appears to be HD/ED 720p capable today. There is a 45.1 and a 45.2 subchannel. They did not however show Fox Widescreen programming tonight.
7/26/2004: _Cyclone_: WMAR-DT launches the ABC News Now Political coverage on their 2.2 subchannel a few hours after WJLA-DT.
7/26/2004: _Cyclone_: WJLA-DT launches the ABC News Now Political channel on their 7.2 subchannel.
7/24/2004: _steeler_: WUSA-DT steps up and has put their Live Doppler 9000 radar feed up on a new 9.2 sub channel to fill the void created while WJLA-DT has their feed offline for political coverage. WUSA-DT had last used 9.2 for election coverage back in November of 2002.
7/23/2004: _Cyclone_: WJLA-DT has stopped their Super Doppler feed on 7.2 and has put a banner announcing that starting Monday at noon, that they will begin airing the ABC News Now political channel on 7.2. This channel is due to run through the 2004 Presdential election. This channel will be carried by numerous cable providers in the region.
7/21/2004: _Pyrr_: Adelphia in Frederick MD has begun HDTV service. WRC-DT NBC 4, WUSA-DT CBS9, SHO-HD, Starz-HD, HDNet, & HDNet Movies are now available.
6/30/2004: _dneily_: *C*omcast in P.G. County has added WB50's HDTV station as channel 184 to their lineup today.
6/16/2004: _pg12204_: Discovery HD Theater has begun to appear *C*omcast systems today. Baltimore, Hardford, and Howard counties.
6/13/2004: _Cyclone_: The WJLA-DT trouble continues. This time for Game 4 of the NBA finals. The signal is fluctuating so bad that no one can tune it in. Comcast's signal for WJLA-DT is also down. The fun begins with this post.
6/10/2004: _Cyclone_: WJLA-DT has trouble again. Their Picture is frozen again this week for about an hour ruining the begining of 2nd NBA final game this week. Lucky are folks who can get WMAR-DT.
6/8/2004: _JafCo_: WJLA-DT is at it again, Tonight's NBA Final game was a frozen screen for the first part of the second half. When it did return it was in SD for a while.
6/4/2004: _JBlacklow_: WTTG-DT aired "Cats and Dogs" in 720p tonight. It was still a 480p copy, but it appears that FOX 5 is now HDTV capable.
6/4/2004: _Foxbat121_: COX now offers CableCard Service for $2.50/mo. here
5/21/2004: _Cyclone_: TNT-HD lauched today. Carriage by Dish Network and Voom. Not yet available on Local Cable or Direct TV.
5/19/2004: _Cyclone_: D.C. United's soccer game tonight will be in HDTV on both HDNet & Comcast Sport's Net.
5/16/2004: _Cyclone_: Today's *Orioles* game is on *ESPN-HD* for Sunday Night Baseball.
5/11/2004: _steeler_: WJLA-DT might have caught on quick. SD is no longer stretched.
5/7/2004: _Cyclone_: WJLA-DT has begun to stretch its SD shows in 7.1. Hopefully, they will learn what WB50 learned and will stop this ugly practice.
5/4/2004: _Cyclone_: WJLA-DT once again had more fun with their 7.2 subchannel. This time showing web surfing in the AM, and tracking UAL200 in the evening. It was fixed in time for the 11pm new's weather segment.
4/30/2004: _Cyclone_: *VoOm* has added *ESPN-HD* to their HD Lineup.
4/20/2004: _zebras23_: *C*omcast in Arlington has added WBDC-DT WB50's HDTV as channel 184 to their Digital Lineup.
4/15/2004: _DCRTV_: COX to add WETA-DT to its digital cable lineup.
4/10/2004: _Cyclone_: D.C. United vs L.A. MLS Soccer is on *HDNet* tonight. They play on *HDNet* again on May 19th, and July 14th.
4/10/2004: _ND40oz_: Millennium Cable serving North Anne Arundel County has begun HD service. 4 Channels; HBO, SHO, MAX, and *ESPN-HD*.
4/10/2004: _mfranke_: COX in NoVa will have their 8000HD DVR available on May 3rd.
4/6/2003: _Cyclone_: It appears that *NBC* ran a *DD5.1* test in NYC on Sunday's broadcast of American Dreams. Will that come to DC/Baltimore anytime soon?
4/5/2004: _LewisD_: Comcast Sports Network HD (CSN-HD) has been added to StarPower channel lineups on Channel 168.
4/5/2004: _vbjeff_: WBAL-DT has now resumed HDTV broadcasting. They had reverted to SD for a few months while replacing equipment.
4/2/2004: _Cyclone_: The *Orioles* TV schedule has been posted. Most games on Comcast Sports Network will be in HDTV. The Sunday May 16th Game on ESPN will be in HD on *ESPN-HD*. There are also a few games on FOX. SD broadcasts will also been seen on WJZ 13, WDCA 20, & WNUV 54.
3/30/2004: _BruceL_: *WUSA-DT* has stated that they will broadcast the HDTV USA Network Coverage of the Masters Golf Tourn.
3/21/2004: _aaronwt_: WJLA-DT strikes yet again. This time Alias is shown in SD and again, the frozen picture of a Carival cruise ship is seen.
3/18/2004: _Banal_: WJLA-DT Frozen screen: During ABC's Kingdom Hospital, The picture was frozen with the 4:3 SD shot of a Carnival Cruise ship commerical. The audio was till working. The first 15 minutes of the show were fine. here
3/10/2004: _Scott G_: *VoOm* has announced that they are adding Encore-HD to their lineup when it launches on March 22nd.
2/18/2004: _Cyclone_: *VoOm* has added HBO-HD East & West and Cinemax-HD East and West to their HD Lineup.
2/18/2004: _various_: Death of the Bugs. It has been noted that *WTTG-DT*, *WMAR-DT*, & *WUSA-DT* have all stopped putting station id bugs on their screens 24/7. These bugs had only occured on their Digital stations, and were not present on their analog stations. *WJZ-DT* and *WBAL-DT* still have their bugs up full time. _*Update:* WUSA-DT still shows their bug momentarily when returning from comercial breaks, and WMAR-DT's bug is back._
2/7/2004: _mrtwister_: *WJLA-DT* is now reportly airing its Super Doppler Radar on subchannel 7.2.
1/28/2004: _RalphArch_: *C*omcast in Montgomery County is now offering an HD DVR for $9.95/mo.
1/21/2004: _DaveST_: *COX* in Fairfax has added *WUSA-DT* CBS to its HDTV lineup as channel 709.
1/21/2004: _Cyclone_: Maryland and Duke play Men's Basketball tonight on *ESPN-HD* at 9pm.
1/20/2004: _Cyclone_: The *State of the Union Address* was presented tonight on the Major Neworks in HDTV for the first time.
1/13/2004: _raidbuck & mfranke_: Both *WTTG Fox5* DC and *WBFF Fox45* Baltimore have sent emails out stating that they intend to broadcast HDTV this fall.
1/4/2004: _Cyclone_: Today's Wizards game on *WB50* is in HDTV.
12/21/2003: _Tahoerob_: *WRC-DT* is now correctly mapping to 4.1, but their station id is now CH1 instead of WRC-DT. Wonder how long before they fix it.
12/21/2003: _Cyclone_: *Comcast* has added CBS Owned and Operated *WJZ-DT* Channel 13 in Baltimore to their Baltimore HDTV area line ups.
12/8/2003: _carltonrice_: *WB50* Digital is off the air. So if you can't detect their signal, its not just you. _Note, it returned to the air at 8:05pm on 12/9._.
11/28/2003: _bughunt_: INHD & INHD2 are to be added to Cox in VA's lineup starting on Dec 1st. Also *ESPN-HD* will be part of the HD package and not a separate fee.
11/22/2003: Caps vs FL. Panther's game in HDTV on *WB50*. Next week the Wizards are in HDTV on WB50.
11/21/2003: _JoeInVa_: Cinemax-HD is now reported to be on Comcast channel 318 in Alexandria Va.
11/19/2003: _tahoerob_: *WJLA-DT* is now running a 7.2 sub channel. I was able to tune it in, but I don't see anything on there.
11/4/2003: _SonomaSearcher_: It is being reported that the Terps basketball game on 12/6 BB&T Classic will be carried on *HD*Net. I don't know what blackouts might apply.
11/4/2003 : _WA2CHI_: WNVT-DT UHF 30 is now on the air. 4 sub channels, might be the same as the other MHz WNVC-DT on UHF 57.
10/31/2003: _kenrowe_: Comcast in Montgomery County has finally added *WTTG-DT Fox5* to its line up on Channel 183.
10/25/2003: _Cyclone_: Something has happened over at *WRC-DT*. Their PSIP encoder must be broken since they are now tuning in at 48.1 instead of the normal 4.1. They transmit on UHF 48 and PSIP remaps it normally to 4.1.
10/16/2003: _Cyclone_: *WB50* has provided us with a schedule for their HD broadcasts of the Wizards and the Capitals games that they will carry. Capitals: 11/8, 11/22, 01/01, 01/31, & 2/21 Wizards: 11/29 & 01/04
10/16/2003: _Cyclone_: *ESPN-HD* had a leak on their HD schedule and they showed that the University of MD Terps will have two HDTV games. 12/10 vs Florida & 1/21 vs Duke
10/15/2003: _Cyclone_: WDCA-DT UPN20 will not have HDTV ready for UPN's HDTV Premier tonight. They will have the HD equipment ready Thursday however. Expect a DC UPN HD Premier next Wednesday Oct 22nd. A HD movie "Double Take" is supposed to air on Oct 24th. No word on their intentions to increase the wattage of their broadcast.
10/11/2003: _dg28_: The Washington Caps game was carried in HDTV by WB50. No DD5.1 this time. I'm going to try to get a listing of WB50 HDTV Sport events if I can.
10/8/2003: _joblo_: Looks like WNVC-DT 57 is on the air. This appears to add 4 sub channels. No word on any High Definition broadcasts.
9/16/2003: _Cyclone_: The weekends Redskins game vs the Patriots will be the CBS HDTV game of the week.
9/16/2003: _Cyclone_: DishNetwork launches their HDTV package today. Included are ESPN-HD, DiscoveryHD Theater, HDNet, & HDNet Movies for $9.99/mo.
9/15/2003: _Cyclone_: INHD & INHD2 have been added to Comcast's HDTV lineup.
9/9/2003: _Cyclone_: I noticed new Multicast sub channels on MPT. Three new SD sub channels appear to have been added.
9/8/2003: _Cyclone_: Dish Network has announced a new HDTV package. It includes HDNet, HDNet Movies, Discovery HD Theater, and ESPN-HD for $9.99/mo.
8/27/2003: _maximu360_: It is being reported that WTTG-DT FOX 5 Digital Station has been added to the Comcast Digital Lineup. Also InHD has also been added.
8/11/2003: _CycloneGT_: FYI: The Redskins openning game will be on ABC on Thursday September 4th in HDTV. This will be a home game against the Jets at FedEx field. Note: All ABC Monday Night Football games will be HDTV this year. CBS will have one game a week in HD. ESPN will have their Sunday night games in HD. FOX will have two of their Sunday games in EDTV.
7/25/2003: _DCRTV_: *ESPN-HD* has been added to the Comcast HD Lineup in Montgomery County. Expect it to be added to other Comcast areas quickly, possibly even today.
7/25/2003 : Dish Network announces that it will carry the CART Road America Race on HDNet on its Events channel. DirectTV users already have HDNet. No word yet from the Cable MSOs.
7/14/2003 : Dish Network Tech Chat reveals that all new HDTV channels (including HDNet & HDNet Movies) from Dish Network will require a new SuperDish satellite Dish. This dish will likely not be available until this fall.
7/13/2003 _jeffthurmont_: WMPB-DT MPT in Baltimore was spotted transmitting on 29. This showed up as 67.1 SD & 67.2 HD. No audio or video was transmitted, just signal. _Update_: Now transmitting MPT audio & video.
7/3/2003 _Billodom_ : WETA-DT HD Showcase has been increased from 8pm - Midnight to 7pm - 6am on Weekdays and 4pm - 4am on Weekends. More HD is good. 26.1 is SD at other times.
7/1/2003 _CycloneGT_ : DirectTV Launches HDTV package - ESPN-HD, DiscoveryHD, HDNet Entertainment, HDNet Movies.
6/30/2003 _Billodom_ : WMPT-DT 22.2 & 22.6 is now reported to be at full power.
6/22/2003 _Hampster_ : WBAL-DT 11 in Baltimore replaced their PSIP Encoder. The station is now on 11.1 instead of 59.1 and it is reported that their PSIP is now displaying program information.
6/2/2003 : Star Power launches their HDTV service. Includes several locals, ESPN-HD, Discovery HD Theater, HDNet, HDNet Movies. HBO-HD & SHO-HD are also available via subscriptions to their respective packages
5/10/2003 Glenn54: Comcast begins HD service in PG County.
4/29/2003 : WMPT-DT is now on 22.2 SD & 22.6 HDTV instead of 80.3.
4/12/2003 : WBDC-DT airs a NBA Washington Wizards (in old Bullets uniforms) game in HDTV & DD5.1. It was a Comcast Sports Net production.
2/13/2003 Gerald C: WBDC-DT now maps to both 50.1 & 50.2 as well as 75.1 & 75.2 for Dish 6000 users with firmware rev 7.77.
2/10/2003 dmbatch: WJLA-DT is now mapped to 7.1 instead of 39.1. Bad news is that 39.2 is gone (color bars)
1/1/2003: : WBDC-DT has first HDTV broadcast with the Rose Parade.
12/26/2002: : WBDC-DT begins digital broadcasting on 51.
11/5/2002: _elinter_: WDCA-DT UPN20 is broadcasting at very low power. 480i SD only.
11/5/2002: _cosdog_: WUSA-DT is using 9.2 for Election Coverage and 9.1 for regular station programming. Good use of their subchannel. It was removed a few days after the election.
11/1/2002: _cosdog_: WETA-DT 26.x begin multicasting 4 SD sub channels during the day, and reducing to a single HD and single SD channel in the evening.
10/26/2002: _John_D_: WNUV-DT WB54 goes on the air at low power in Baltimore on UHF 40. Only 480i SD programming.
10/16/2002: _catvjim_: *C*omcast announced that it has launched HDTV programming in the DC area.
10/13/2002: _albertso_: HDTV channels have been spotted on Comcast Mont County's digital lineup.
10/2/2002: _Hampster_: WMPT-DT has increased their transmission power.
9/26/2002: _carltonrice_: WJLA-DT 39.1 begins ABC HDTV programming.
9/18/2002: _Chuck Linder_: WRC-DT has replaced their DTV encoder today. This should fix audio sync problems.
5/17/2002: _Tim McCune_: WETA-DT is on the air at UHF 27.
5/3/2002: _Hampster_: WUTB-DT UPN24 Baltimore has begun broadcasting at low power.
3/26/2002: _tpfarr_: WMPT-DT in Anapolis had begun low power broadcasting. UHF 42, shows up as 80.3.
8/1/2001: CBS-HD is now available from Dish Network for those who qualify.


----------



## buri

Hello,


I'm trying to receive OTA signals in the Church Mills subdivision of Sterling, VA (near Church Rd & Sterling Blvd) but am not having any luck. I'm up on a hill and can receive analog just fine, but don't pick up a single digital channel.


I have the "TERK HD-TVS Slim Profile Outdoor HDtv Antenna" (medium directional) attached to a Sony Bravia TV. I've tried the roof of my two-story house as well as the attic, using the orientations specified by AntennaWeb, as well as pretty much every angle in the general direction of D.C.


Has anyone in my area had luck with OTA? What should my next step be, a pre-amp?


Thanks for helping out a newbie!

BU


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## CycloneGT

I am going to add the VHF conversion info soon. Mushusker was asking me about that just last month. I'm also going to pull Adelphia out of the grid soon and that should make it easier to read. I've already done this in the nationwide grid over in the HD Programming forum. (Of course I'm going to add AT&T over there so I don't gain much space there).


Buri, There are several Sterling posters here, so I'm sure you will get an answer soon. I do know that Terk antennas have terrible reputations. You may want to try an antenna from Radio Shack. A good outdoor UHF only antenna is only about $25 from there. And if you can return it if it does't help. Just make sure to keep the packaging in good shape. (you'll also need a 75oh transceiver (a ~$5 part) to connect that antenna to a coax-cable.


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## Mike20878

A friend of mine recently got FiOS and did a cost comparison. I'd attach the original Excel spreadsheet but it's not a valid file type I can upload.

 

FiOS vs Cox.pdf 9.6728515625k . file


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## ashutoshsm

Rock on ... thanks for settling this nicely, Cyclone, Mike, David


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## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mjones73* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> In case you all of you having problem with WBAL last night missed it in the short lived thread, markbulla posted that WBAL's PSIP problems appear to be fixed but 11-2 at the time doesn't have audio.



I currently don't have audio on 11-1 either... I tried deleting the channel and re-adding it, and I had audio for a couple of seconds, but it went away... Strange.


Mark


I just checked on another receiver, and the audio was there. It's got to be some sort of PSIP problem that effects some receivers and not others...


----------



## subwoofer




> Quote:
> 1/19/2007: bbt: Comcast posted in the Frederick Post that on Feb 12, 2007 that HDNet and HDNet movies would be replaced with TNT-HD, CSN-HD, and NGC-HD.



Will this be for Comcast subscribers in Harford county?


I really wish that I had OTA DishTV since they have so many HD channels and I also wish that I had Verizon FIOS for their 15Mbps internet connection. Hopefully Comcast will step it up over the next few months or they will start losing subscribers.


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## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *buri* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I'm trying to receive OTA signals in the Church Mills subdivision of Sterling, VA (near Church Rd & Sterling Blvd) but am not having any luck. I'm up on a hill and can receive analog just fine, but don't pick up a single digital channel. ... What should my next step be, a pre-amp?



No, not that. Either you have multipath or signal overload. Tell me, is there "ghosting" on the analog channels (duplicate images to the right of the primary picture)? If so, there's your problem.


Not a lot of DTV tuners in TVs can handle multipath too well. Go and try the RadioShack VU-75 XR antenna for $40 (though it's pretty much designed for attic use only), and yes, do retain the packaging. I suggest trying the Samsung DTB-H260F HD tuner if a new antenna doesn't work. Though they're hard to find, you might have luck finding one at a Circuit City store.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> A good outdoor UHF only antenna is only about $25 from there. ... (you'll also need a 75oh transceiver (a ~$5 part) to connect that antenna to a coax-cable.



Man, you go around talking about VHF conversions then tell buri to get a UHF-only antenna? Are you an alien out to take scrap antenna metal, so you can build a flying saucer?










CycloneGT, I don't want you to relinquish your entire post, just the OTA info once my list is relatively done.







I'm working on the Baltimore list and will further enhance the DC list a bit. The Baltimore list should be up by the State of the Union address tonight. No, it won't be total vaporware like 7-3/SportsNow. (I know, I know, it's supposed to be available tomorrow, but didn't Mr. Forsyth say it was going to come on some Monday months ago?







)


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *buri* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I'm trying to receive OTA signals in the Church Mills subdivision of Sterling, VA (near Church Rd & Sterling Blvd) but am not having any luck. I'm up on a hill and can receive analog just fine, but don't pick up a single digital channel.
> 
> 
> I have the "TERK HD-TVS Slim Profile Outdoor HDtv Antenna" (medium directional) attached to a Sony Bravia TV. I've tried the roof of my two-story house as well as the attic, using the orientations specified by AntennaWeb, as well as pretty much every angle in the general direction of D.C.



You should be getting at least some of the DC stations with that antenna. I assume you have done a digital channel scan with flat face of the antenna aimed at DC?


However, if you can return the Terk HDTVs antenna, I would. There are zero specs on the Terk website on this antenna, but that is Terk for you. There are much better antennas available at lower costs. For example, I can get the DC stations with a $25 indoor Silver Sensor UHF antenna, if I set it up with a clear view towards DC.


I live in the northeast part of the Cascades in north Sterling, only several miles from you. I have a Channel Master (CM) 4221 4 Bay bowtie in the attic crawlspace of my townhouse and I get 17 digital TV stations - the DC stations, six Baltimore stations, the MPT stations in Frederick and Hagerstown(!), and several others. I also have a CM 7777 pre-amp, but I don't need the pre-amp to get the DC stations. I have the pre-amp to make up for local obstructions including the top of 3 townhouses down the row between my antenna and the direction of Baltimore.


I'm happy with the performance of the CM 4221. The CM 4221 is around $25 online plus ~$15 shipping from on-line dealers solidsignal.com and warrenelectronics.com. BTW, Lowes is useful for antenna mounting parts and RG-6 cables.


If you want to buy locally and are only interested in getting the DC stations, try Radio Shack or Lowes. The only antennas at Best Buy and Circuit City that I would recommend are the Philips and Terk copies of the Silver Sensor. Check http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ISSUES/erecting_antenna.html for info on antennas.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I currently don't have audio on 11-1 either... I tried deleting the channel and re-adding it, and I had audio for a couple of seconds, but it went away... Strange.
> 
> 
> Mark
> 
> 
> I just checked on another receiver, and the audio was there. It's got to be some sort of PSIP problem that effects some receivers and not others...




Mark, do you have any contact info for WBAL if and when this happens again. Very hard to get hold of...I tried last night.


----------



## paulstefano




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Mark, do you have any contact info for WBAL if and when this happens again. Very hard to get hold of...I tried last night.



I sitll have no audio on WBAL 11.1 or 11.2 on my HR10-250 receiver.


Is there something I should do to restore it?


----------



## buri

mikemikeb: I don't get any noticeable ghosting -- actually the analog channels are almost comparable to what I get with my normal Comcast cable service.


afiggatt: I did a digital scan at 5 degree increments all the way around the 180 degree field pointing at DC on successive days and got nothing.


Thanks, Cyclone, mike, and afiggatt for your purchase suggestions. I'll give them a shot!


Regards,

BU


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## mdyoung

I was going to post this as response to Washington Post story about the guy's $1,399 HDTV, but the thread was closed before I could get to it. I thought this was funny as well.


http://www.baltimoresun.com/features...ome-columnists


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *buri* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> mikemikeb: I don't get any noticeable ghosting -- actually the analog channels are almost comparable to what I get with my normal Comcast cable service.



I'd say that you're having overload issues. With that in mind, try an attenuator at RadioShack. That might be all that's needed, not a new antenna. Speaking of the antenna, mount your current one indoors to maximise the attenuator's effect.


afiggatt, any UHF-only antenna, like the Silver Sensor, might have difficulty receiving channels 7 and 9. The 4221 isn't too good with gain for channels 7 and 9, according to the HDTVPrimer site you linked to.


Anyway, the Baltimore list is preliminarily up, although I'm not done with it. For example I have some questions:


1. Is 2-3 a weather radar only like 9-2, or is it a multipurpose channel like 7-2 / Doug Hill's WeatherNow?

2. Is the order of the MPT channels correct? If not, what is the correct order?

3. Are people watching WMPB or WFPT getting their HD programming in DD5.1? I know that WMPT viewers can.


----------



## fmsjr

I really doubt that overload is an issue in Sterling, especially with a Terk. Weak signal is more likely the issue.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Look to the skies on Wednesday.



I assume the test pattern on 7.3 means that something might actually happen tomorrow.


----------



## CycloneGT

I still hold out hope for NewsChannel8. But there is no way that will happen.


----------



## cjghome




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *buri* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hello,
> 
> 
> I'm trying to receive OTA signals in the Church Mills subdivision of Sterling, VA (near Church Rd & Sterling Blvd) but am not having any luck. I'm up on a hill and can receive analog just fine, but don't pick up a single digital channel.



Buri, I live across the Blvd from you, I'm on the street in front PVHS...


I have 2 UHF Antennas, 1 is a Channel Master #4228 & the 2nd one is the cheap UHF antenna that came in the box with my ATI HDTV Wonder Tuner Card,


I have the #4228 (not ampified) mounted outside on the chimney & connected to my STB & my computer and I'm getting all Digital signals from DC & Balt'more..


I have the cheap antenna (inside on dresser) connected to my Vizio HDTV in the Bedroom and I'm getting all the DC stations crystal clear....


I have both pointing to 115 degrees ..


I once had a problem with the brand new coxial cable that E* used when setting up my dish service, found out there was a unseened break on the copper line in the cable and give me bad reception. You might want to make sure your coxial cable to up to par...


If your need help setting up just drop me a note, I have all the necessary devices to find out the best signal for you...



Charlie


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I'd say that you're having overload issues. With that in mind, try an attenuator at RadioShack. That might be all that's needed, not a new antenna. Speaking of the antenna, mount your current one indoors to maximise the attenuator's effect.
> 
> 
> afiggatt, any UHF-only antenna, like the Silver Sensor, might have difficulty receiving channels 7 and 9. The 4221 isn't too good with gain for channels 7 and 9, according to the HDTVPrimer site you linked to.



I agree with fmsjr. Overload at the 16+ miles distance to Sterling is unlikely. The Terk antenna should be receiving at least some of the DC stations. Heck, I got most of the big four DC stations with a UHF loop antenna when I was starting out with OTA.


buri, I would check everything starting with a read of the manual. Verify that the antenna is connected to the correct digital RF port, the cable connections are good, that the antenna is aimed at DC at around 110 to 115 degrees (from magnetic north), and that do a full digital scan with the ATSC over the air tuner. Another possibility is that the digital tuner in the Sony is defective. I think you will want to get a better antenna, but that Terk should be at least detecting the big four in DC.


mikemikeb, the CM 4221 is a UHF antenna, but it has decent performance for the upper end of upper VHF. I get WWPX-DT 60 which broadcasts on VHF 12 out of Martinsburg at 46 miles to the rear. I also get good picture quality for the analog signals WJLA 7 and WUSA 9 out of DC. The analog reception for WBAL 11 and WJZ 13 is rather noisy, so I expect I may need to add a upper VHF antenna to get those 2 stations in 2009. But the CM 4221 should be ok for the DC stations in 2009.


----------



## tonyd79

WBAL is still a mess.


My TV (Sony) has no sound on 11.1 and 11.2 but 59.1 and 59.2 are still coming in clear.


My HR10 (DirecTivo HD) has no sound on 11.1, 11.2, 59.1 and 59.2.


My HR20 (DirecTV DVR) has sound on 11.1 and 11.2. (Can't tune 59.1 or 59.2 because it is not in the guide.)


What a mess.


Does ANYONE know how to contact WBAL Engineering? Somehow I doubt they know things are broken (and may think it is all fixed).


----------



## mikemikeb

OK, last I checked during the State of the Union speech, 7-3 was a test pattern, as biker19 reported. Looks like Mr. Forsyth's fulfilling his Wednesday promise.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmsjr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I really doubt that overload is an issue in Sterling, especially with a Terk. Weak signal is more likely the issue.



So his analogs are clean and yet he can't pick up any digitals? Wow, digital signals must not be too robust! And the fact that his analog signals are comparable to those from the cable company? Wow, those cable signals must be really snowy.










Now that I think about it, buri, two things: What year was your Sony HDTV made, and what's its model number? The reason you're not getting HD signals might be amazingly simple: your TV might not have a digital OTA tuner!


If you're sure that your Sony has a DTV tuner, do channels 26, 32, and 50 have multipath, or are those signals clean? See, if your PQ for the big 4 nets are good, and the UHF signals have multipath, then there's the issue, as all DC locals currently digitally broadcast over UHF, not VHF like the Big 4 analogs. Perhaps it's an overload issue, and a refundable way to find out is to get a three or six dB attenuator at RadioShack. Maybe the attenuator will control any multipath and deliver a lock, or maybe not. Who knows? In any case, I still contend that if it's not a matter of having a tuner in the Sony, it's a matter of overload at your place.


According to the HDTVPrimer website, afiggatt, the CM 4221 has better gain over channels 11 and 13 than 7 and 9, so it's probably a matter of weak signal over distance that provides the analog signal situation with WJZ and WBAL. That said, maybe the CM 4221 would do for buri IF channels 7 and 9 could be digitally received in 2009. I hope they are, and it seems like it.


----------



## mjones73

I will try mailing the person who responded to me from WBAL today when I get to work in the morning, I don't have the address at home. I contacted them via the form on their website this morning and got a response fairly quick and also a follow up when they had the PSIP generator back online.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mjones73* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I will try mailing the person who responded to me from WBAL today when I get to work in the morning, I don't have the address at home. I contacted them via the form on their website this morning and got a response fairly quick and also a follow up when they had the PSIP generator back online.



I did the same and got no response.


----------



## ArcCoyote

I wonder if WBAL's PSIP problems have anything to do with why my Media Center box thought it recorded Heroes but somehow spit out an empty file.


Didn't get any warning about signal loss or system problems, and I could still watch 11-1 OTA live. Strange.


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *subwoofer* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Will this be for Comcast subscribers in Harford county?
> 
> 
> I really wish that I had OTA DishTV since they have so many HD channels and I also wish that I had Verizon FIOS for their 15Mbps internet connection. Hopefully Comcast will step it up over the next few months or they will start losing subscribers.



Comcast Harford Co. customers already have those channels.


GoIrish


----------



## jimrobinette

Mike,


You DO come across like that! An example is your "help" to Robert Forsyth by telling a station engineer how to encode his DT streams last Nov and not letting go of it. And then calling his 7-3 "vaporware" is just down right rude. The fact that he posts anything here at all is his way of feeding the DT junkies like us and your pushing him on engineering and calling him out as vaporware are not going to endear him to post anything more and give us heads up of what is going on.


And then the "gravity" threads were a little out there.


Anyway, why is it necessary to try and hijack the thread. Go start another if this one doesn't work for you.


Jim



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I do thank CycloneGT for his original post. I doubt my list could be done without his.
> 
> 
> 
> Sorry if I came across like that. I don't intend to be one; I just want to help people.


----------



## captain_video

I'm also not getting audio on 11.1 or 11.2. I didn't discover the channel was missing until I tuned into the last part of Studio 60 and found I had a blank screen on all three of my HDTivos. I ended up missing Heroes and Studio 60 as a result. I found the predecessor thread to this one yesterday and discovered the PSIP issue. I then rescanned all of my local channels on all three HDTivos and can now receive 11.1 and 11.2, but still no audio as of last night. Fortunately, I also have a Channel Master 4228 aimed at DC so I changed over all of my HDTivo season passes for 11.1 to WRC-4 (4.1) until they get the problem ironed out. Apparently WBAL is still having issues that have not been resolved yet.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *captain_video* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Fortunately, I also have a Channel Master 4228 aimed at DC so I changed over all of my HDTivo season passes for 11.1 to WRC-4 (4.1) until they get the problem ironed out. Apparently WBAL is still having issues that have not been resolved yet.



I am not currently setup to get WRC but I may have to consider it if WBAL can't get their act together (and if they don't stop doing that dumb stretch thing on SD broadcasts).


----------



## MrMike6by9




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdyoung* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I was going to post this as response to Washington Post story about the guy's $1,399 HDTV, but the thread was closed before I could get to it. I thought this was funny as well.
> 
> 
> http://www.baltimoresun.com/features...ome-columnists



That's just plain mean .... hehehehe


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 1. Is 2-3 a weather radar only like 9-2, or is it a multipurpose channel like 7-2 / Doug Hill's WeatherNow?



I haven't looked at 7-2 in a while, but channel 2-3 is called "WeatherNet Digital", and has the seven day forecast at the bottom, current temps at different locations on the left, and a window at the right that has different things - local radar, "live" forecasts, national radar, local and national temperature maps, etc., so it's probably more like 7-2 than 9-2.


Mark


----------



## yangc

I recently picked up Radio Shack's $50 Model 15-1892 indoor antenna and, to my surprise, it really works great! I live in the Olney, MD area in a townhouse and my home theater room is on the first floor. With the antenna hooked up to my Sony KDF-60XS955 I pick up the following HD stations without a problem:


2.1 WMAR

4.1 WRC

5.1 WTTG

7.1 WJLA

9.1 WUSA

13.1 WJZ

20.1 WDCA

45.1 FOX45

50.1 WDCW

54.1 WNUV


I used to have Comcast's dual-tuner HD STB, the Motorola DCT6412. Being much more of a DVD/HD DVD watcher than a TV watcher (and, like many, not being a huge fan of Comcast's high prices and poor customer service), I had been contemplating dropping Comcast for some time -- So when my Motorola box started acting up again (I was already on my third one), I decided to take the plunge and cancel my Comcast service. I had been and still am considering getting Verizon FIOS TV when it becomes availabvle in my area, but I thought I'd give an indoor antenna a shot in the meantime. I honestly did not expect it to work as well as it does.


----------



## badgerdms

I've noticed som audio dropouts on Fox HD (5.1) on 24 the last couple of weeks. I've upgraded to the D* H20-700 DVR so that may have something to do with it, but I was curious if anybody else was having any issues. I've never had issues with FOX before.


----------



## ashutoshsm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *badgerdms* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I've noticed som audio dropouts on Fox HD (5.1) on 24 the last couple of weeks. I've upgraded to the D* H20-700 DVR so that may have something to do with it, but I was curious if anybody else was having any issues. I've never had issues with FOX before.



I assume you ARE talking about OTA 5.1, not the DirecTV rebroadcast HD version? I don't know the specs on that (so-called, but that's my opinion







) "DVR". Does it have an OTA tuner? Do the discussions relating to that piece of hardware make any comparisons of the quality of the OTA tuner?


FWIW, I'm picking up flawless 5.1 OTA with a little Terk Silver Sensor clone on my S3 TiVo's OTA tuner.


----------



## mikemikeb

badgerdms,


Yeah, I had similar A/V issues during American Idol last night with a non-D* OTA receiver, but I thought it was multipath-related. 24 came in cleanly for me.


The funny thing is that in Houston, another Fox-owned station has had similar issues, where one receiver seems to have audio dropouts, while others have no issues. Odd.


jimrobinette,


Yeah, I remember that 30fps thinger. I brought it up twice, maybe three times, and after he knocked the idea down I didn't bring it up again. 7-3 served a decent purpose for a while, and I do appreciate his efforts, both at the station and in these threads. Yet, he did promise something different for 7-3 a long time ago, and it didn't come for all that time. The "vaporware" thing was more of a playful thing than you would think, as I sort of believed him that it would come today, and it would be good if it did. I wonder how the product, whatever it might be, will be received here. Do people like sports, and would they watch that kind of a subchannel? Or is it going to be of something else? Hmmmm....


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *captain_video* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I'm also not getting audio on 11.1 or 11.2. I didn't discover the channel was missing until I tuned into the last part of Studio 60 and found I had a blank screen on all three of my HDTivos. I ended up missing Heroes and Studio 60 as a result. I found the predecessor thread to this one yesterday and discovered the PSIP issue. I then rescanned all of my local channels on all three HDTivos and can now receive 11.1 and 11.2, but still no audio as of last night. Fortunately, I also have a Channel Master 4228 aimed at DC so I changed over all of my HDTivo season passes for 11.1 to WRC-4 (4.1) until they get the problem ironed out. Apparently WBAL is still having issues that have not been resolved yet.



WBAL is still working on their PSIP issue. Right now, I don't have 11-1 or 11-2 at all, but it's coming in fine on 59-1 and 59-2 with audio.


Apparently, their PSIP generator is more of a pain than mine is to set up (and mine's not easy...)...


Mark


----------



## bornyank1

Hey all, I'm a student at Georgetown University, on the 8th floor of a dorm (my windows face basically due East). I have a Sceptre X42 HDTV, and I'm trying to receive OTA HD channels. However, no matter what I try, I can only get reception for 6 channels:


26-1 W26HD

26-2 WETA2

26-3 WETA3

26-4 WETA4

50-1 WDCW-DT

50-2 WDCW-D2


I have tried with a GE Optima Antenna, and more recently, with a Phillips Silver Sensor. I can't get more than these same 6 channels no matter what I try. I've tried moving the antenna around to face different directions, messing with the rabbit ears on the Optima, etc. I don't get it...I'm basically in the heart of a big city, shouldn't I be able to get more channels than this? I saw a lot more on AntennaWeb. I'd at least like to get the networks, so I could watch some primetime shows and sports in HD. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.


----------



## captain_video




> Quote:
> WBAL is still working on their PSIP issue. Right now, I don't have 11-1 or 11-2 at all, but it's coming in fine on 59-1 and 59-2 with audio.



How do you tune to 59-1 or 59-2? I have HDTivos and they scan for OTA channels and set them up based on the VHF appended channels (i.e. ch 11, 13, etc.) and not the actual UHF channels.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *captain_video* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> How do you tune to 59-1 or 59-2? I have HDTivos and they scan for OTA channels and set them up based on the VHF appended channels (i.e. ch 11, 13, etc.) and not the actual UHF channels.



On the Samsung receiver I have in my office I just type in "59" on the remote, and viola! there it is. If the PSIP is correct, the receiver will know that it's on "channel 11" from then on.


This process works on my Dish receiver at home, as well.


Mark


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bornyank1* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hey all, I'm a student at Georgetown University, on the 8th floor of a dorm (my windows face basically due East). ... I'm trying to receive OTA HD channels. However, no matter what I try, I can only get reception for 6 channels



Sorry, but the other stations broadcast from an area toward Friendship Heights, to the NNW, and therefore your building blocks 'em. 50 broadcasts from NE DC, so you wouldn't have issues with that one. I don't know why you get 26 (must be on the southern area of the eastern side), but when it transfers to the new tower site with all the other stations you don't get, you won't get 26, either. So enjoy it while you can.


Good luck with your studies.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *captain_video* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> How do you tune to 59-1 or 59-2? I have HDTivos and they scan for OTA channels and set them up based on the VHF appended channels (i.e. ch 11, 13, etc.) and not the actual UHF channels.



It depends on the tuner. Some work differently than others and therefore you might be lucky, or not. Might as well try markbulla's trick.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *captain_video* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> How do you tune to 59-1 or 59-2? I have HDTivos and they scan for OTA channels and set them up based on the VHF appended channels (i.e. ch 11, 13, etc.) and not the actual UHF channels.



Even though you don't get the channel in the guide, the HD Tivo should accept you entering 59-1 and tune to the channel. If you want to record on it, you need to set a manual recording. That is the way it works on my HR10. It should work the same way on a Series 3 (you didn't say which you had).


----------



## SJKurtzke

So, it's Wednesday....what's on 7.3?


(Less importantly) What channel number is it for FiOS?


I'm guessing it's some kind of ABC News Now/NewsChannel 8 hybrid.


----------



## mjones73




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WBAL is still working on their PSIP issue. Right now, I don't have 11-1 or 11-2 at all, but it's coming in fine on 59-1 and 59-2 with audio.
> 
> 
> Apparently, their PSIP generator is more of a pain than mine is to set up (and mine's not easy...)...
> 
> 
> Mark



I received an e-mail at 1:04 PM that the audio problem was fixed but I'm not home to confirm it, is it still a problem?


----------



## bornyank1




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Sorry, but the other stations broadcast from an area toward Friendship Heights, to the NNW, and therefore your building blocks 'em. 50 broadcasts from NE DC, so you wouldn't have issues with that one. I don't know why you get 26 (must be on the southern area of the eastern side), but when it transfers to the new tower site with all the other stations you don't get, you won't get 26, either. So enjoy it while you can.
> 
> 
> Good luck with your studies.
> 
> 
> 
> It depends on the tuner. Some work differently than others and therefore you might be lucky, or not. Might as well try markbulla's trick.



Is there some kind of omnidirectional antenna I could get that might pick it up? Or one powerful enough to get the signal...I'm not that far from the other side of the building.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So, it's Wednesday....what's on 7.3?
> 
> 
> (Less importantly) What channel number is it for FiOS?



I doubt FIOS will have it for some time.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mjones73* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I received an e-mail at 1:04 PM that the audio problem was fixed but I'm not home to confirm it, is it still a problem?



Yep - I have video and audio on 11-1, and 11-2. I'm still showing errors on their PSIP, so they may (should) still be working on it, but currently it's working on my Samsung receiver.


Mark


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bornyank1* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hey all, I'm a student at Georgetown University, on the 8th floor of a dorm (my windows face basically due East). I have a Sceptre X42 HDTV, and I'm trying to receive OTA HD channels. However, no matter what I try, I can only get reception for 6 channels:
> 
> 
> 26-1 W26HD
> 
> 26-2 WETA2
> 
> 26-3 WETA3
> 
> 26-4 WETA4
> 
> 50-1 WDCW-DT
> 
> 50-2 WDCW-D2
> 
> 
> I have tried with a GE Optima Antenna, and more recently, with a Phillips Silver Sensor. I can't get more than these same 6 channels no matter what I try. I've tried moving the antenna around to face different directions, messing with the rabbit ears on the Optima, etc. I don't get it...I'm basically in the heart of a big city, shouldn't I be able to get more channels than this?



Yes, you should be getting more stations than this - in theory. I don't know how good the ATSC tuner is in the Sceptre X42 TV. It may be poor at handling multipath or fluctuating signals. Also, you are getting only 2 stations, not 6. The sub-channels only count as 1 station. The sub-channels are all part of the data streams from WETA-DT 26 and WDCW-DT 50.


You have a good UHF antenna with the Silver Sensor. Some ATSC tuners allow you to directly enter the digital channel number and will map to the station if it can lock onto whatever it finds. Do you get anything on the signal strength meter for channels 34, 35, 36, 39, 48? (check the 1st post in this thread to see which stations these are under the orange colored column).


The Silver Sensor is moderately directional so find the best clear spot with the least obstruction and aim it towards NW DC. If you have a tall building behind you, you could aim the antenna at that to try to pick up reflected signals. The rabbit ears won't help as those are for longer wavelength VHF channels and all the local stations currently digitally broadcast on UHF channels.


Just how far are you from the broadcast towers in NW DC? Enter your actual street address into antennaweb.org and report back here on the miles and direction. One possibility is that the signal is too strong and you are overloading the Sceptre ATSC receiver. If all else fails, you can get an antenuater at Radio Shack and give that a try.


----------



## badgerdms




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ashutoshsm* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I assume you ARE talking about OTA 5.1, not the DirecTV rebroadcast HD version? I don't know the specs on that (so-called, but that's my opinion
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ) "DVR". Does it have an OTA tuner? Do the discussions relating to that piece of hardware make any comparisons of the quality of the OTA tuner?
> 
> 
> FWIW, I'm picking up flawless 5.1 OTA with a little Terk Silver Sensor clone on my S3 TiVo's OTA tuner.



Yeah, it's the OTA tuner on the DVR. I double checked on my "direct line" from the antenna to the TV's tuner ( I built some redundancy into my system) and that also seemed to have a little multipath issue. The DTV rebroadcast is fine.


----------



## ashutoshsm

I can confirm that the Sceptre TV has a Rockin' Awesome (and this is official terminology) ATSC tuner. It picks up every channel my S3 TiVo does, OTA, and the S3 TiVo has, going by word-of-mouth comparisons, one of the best OTA tuners available!


I do agree on the Silver Sensor being moderately directional - from here in loudoin County, with my Silver Sensor istting on the TV stand in the basement, I had to turn it 10-15 degrees whenever I wanted to enhance reception between sets of channels. Now, sitting in a window sill one level above the basement, it works perfectly, though!


I bet the issue here is that the (good) Sceptre tuner is being overloaded - try a couple of splitters/attenuators in the path.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So, it's Wednesday....what's on 7.3?
> 
> 
> (Less importantly) What channel number is it for FiOS?
> 
> 
> I'm guessing it's some kind of ABC News Now/NewsChannel 8 hybrid.



We had a major networking/viri issue today that is keeping me busy. It will launch tomorrow.


----------



## bornyank1




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yes, you should be getting more stations than this - in theory. I don't know how good the ATSC tuner is in the Sceptre X42 TV. It may be poor at handling multipath or fluctuating signals. Also, you are getting only 2 stations, not 6. The sub-channels only count as 1 station. The sub-channels are all part of the data streams from WETA-DT 26 and WDCW-DT 50.
> 
> 
> You have a good UHF antenna with the Silver Sensor. Some ATSC tuners allow you to directly enter the digital channel number and will map to the station if it can lock onto whatever it finds. Do you get anything on the signal strength meter for channels 34, 35, 36, 39, 48? (check the 1st post in this thread to see which stations these are under the orange colored column).
> 
> 
> The Silver Sensor is moderately directional so find the best clear spot with the least obstruction and aim it towards NW DC. If you have a tall building behind you, you could aim the antenna at that to try to pick up reflected signals. The rabbit ears won't help as those are for longer wavelength VHF channels and all the local stations currently digitally broadcast on UHF channels.
> 
> 
> Just how far are you from the broadcast towers in NW DC? Enter your actual street address into antennaweb.org and report back here on the miles and direction. One possibility is that the signal is too strong and you are overloading the Sceptre ATSC receiver. If all else fails, you can get an antenuater at Radio Shack and give that a try.



According to Antenna Web, I'm about 2-4 miles from them...at least 9 of them are very, very close. I get 0 signal strength for every one of those channels you suggested. If the problem is an overly strong signal, would that still result in 0 signal strength? I looked for attenuators on Radioshack's site and nothing came up...is there another name for them? If it's just a splitter, I have one or two lying around...should I just connect them and use 2-3 coax cables to get the signal into the TV? Also have a couple feed-thru connectors.


----------



## mdyoung

Two nights in a row I was watching Comcast channel 214 WNUVDT between 10 and 11 pm and it seemed to me that the volume was going slightly up and down by itself. I tried the SD channel 14 and it seemed to be OK. Anyone else notice this or care to check it out?


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bornyank1* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> According to Antenna Web, I'm about 2-4 miles from them...at least 9 of them are very, very close. I get 0 signal strength for every one of those channels you suggested. If the problem is an overly strong signal, would that still result in 0 signal strength? I looked for attenuators on Radioshack's site and nothing came up...is there another name for them? If it's just a splitter, I have one or two lying around...should I just connect them and use 2-3 coax cables to get the signal into the TV? Also have a couple feed-thru connectors.



Do you get any analog chs? Do you get WHUT on 32? You are so close you should get something.


----------



## howie14




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yep - I have video and audio on 11-1, and 11-2. I'm still showing errors on their PSIP, so they may (should) still be working on it, but currently it's working on my Samsung receiver.
> 
> 
> Mark



Hi folks,


I'm fairly new to this whole thing. I got my HDTV last month. Tonight, I'm not getting anything from WBAL-DT. My signal meter shows strong signal, but "weak signal or channel not available" keeps popping up.


I watched NBC on WRC instead, but I just want to make sure it's them and not me. I'm receiving all my other Washington and Baltimore stations as usual.


Thanks.


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bornyank1* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> According to Antenna Web, I'm about 2-4 miles from them...at least 9 of them are very, very close. I get 0 signal strength for every one of those channels you suggested. If the problem is an overly strong signal, would that still result in 0 signal strength? I looked for attenuators on Radioshack's site and nothing came up...is there another name for them? If it's just a splitter, I have one or two lying around...should I just connect them and use 2-3 coax cables to get the signal into the TV? Also have a couple feed-thru connectors.



I think someone in Georgetown had problems with overload a while back. In this case attenuators might be the solution (although multipath reflections could be the issue too.) I use a splitter for attenuation. A 2-way splitter will drop 3 or 4 dB, a 4-way about 7.5 dB. But any unused taps should be terminated to avoid reflections on the coax. I terminated extra taps on the FM receiver, a DVD recorder and an old TV in another room. (Or you could go buy another 50" plasma as a terminator.)


----------



## bornyank1

I hooked up two splitters and 2 feed-through connectors...had coaxial cable all over the place. I picked up channel 22 briefly, that was the only improvement. Where can I get attenuators? Don't see 'em on Radioshack's site.


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> We had a major networking/viri issue today that is keeping me busy. It will launch tomorrow.



I was hoping the test pattern was it!







I'd even settle for a webcam of the WJLA lobby... or the nearest Starbucks... maybe even Jiffy Lube bay #3.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bornyank1* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> According to Antenna Web, I'm about 2-4 miles from them...at least 9 of them are very, very close. I get 0 signal strength for every one of those channels you suggested. If the problem is an overly strong signal, would that still result in 0 signal strength? I looked for attenuators on Radioshack's site and nothing came up...is there another name for them?



I would not read too much into the zero signal strength. The TV has both an analog NTSC and digital ATSC tuner and it is probably defaulting to the analog tuner when you enter a "unscanned" channel number. I can enter the actual digital channel for a station not picked up during a scan in my Samsung SIR-T451 ATSC receiver, but the Samsung has only a digital tuner, no analog. So it uses the digital tuner when I enter a channel number. OTOH, my Sony HDD250 DVR has NTSC and ATSC tuners. It can only add digital channels using a channel scan.


You may be getting an overloaded signal, but the problem is most likely your building. If it is a steel frame and concrete building, you may be in a dead zone for picking up the station signals coming in from the NW on the eastern side. You should try some experiments with different antenna locations. Can you add a 25' RG-6 cable and move the antenna to a different spot. Or move the TV temporarily to a room on the western or northern side and try to get the DC stations from there. The purpose is to confirm that you can get the local stations with your set up, not that you have to keep it in another dorm room.


Another alternative is get a simple NON-AMPLIFIED UHF loop antenna and stick that in the window. The GE Optima is an amplified antenna and amplified antennas are a bad idea when you are only 3 or 4 miles from 1000 KW transmitters. The Silver Sensor may be too directional to pick up the reflected signals. A UHF loop has a very broad pickup beam pattern (see http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/Loop.html ).


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bornyank1* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> According to Antenna Web, I'm about 2-4 miles from them...at least 9 of them are very, very close. I get 0 signal strength for every one of those channels you suggested. If the problem is an overly strong signal, would that still result in 0 signal strength?



On some tuners, yes. Those things in general are wonky and not based on any specific science.


By the way, after looking at a map of the area, I didn't know that the campus was so close to the towers. Yeah, you probably have overload, especially if you can get in analog channels 26 and 32 with the Silver Sensor in just fine. But you could have a weak signla no matter what. To find out, see if you can pick up analog channels 26 and 32 in fine. If you can't, then you probably have a weak signal issue with the digital stations. But, if those come in fine, then you have an overload and perhaps multipath-based issue, though it would be good to work on the overload-based one first.


Regardless, at that sort of distance, with a Silver Sensor, an attenuator probably won't pad the signal enough to bring in any overloaded Big 4 stations. Also, in 2009, the local CBS and ABC affiliates will be moving to the VHF band, and the Silver Sensor isn't designed for that band. I suggest going to a RadioShack and picking up a 15-1838 antenna for $15, and when you get home, don't plug in the amplifier! From personal experience, you don't need it at that distance, as even without the amp plugged in, it's a fine antenna for short-range reception of both VHF and UHF channels.


Good luck.

_____________


Thanks for the update, Mr. Forsyth. I'm glad gravity didn't cause any air to bend into the equipment and break it.


----------



## mikemikeb

Thanks, markbulla, for the info about 2-3. I'll slightly reflect that in a general (and I think final for now) update to my OTA station list tomorrow, where I'll also update 7-3's final identity.


The other questions I had weren't clearly-worded, so I'll clarify them and allow anybody to answer:


1. Is the order of the MPT subchannels correct (for example, is MPT Select on channel xx-3)? If not, what is the correct order?

2. Are people watching WMPB/Baltimore or WFPT/Frederick getting some of their HD programming in DD5.1, or is it all stereo like WETA? I know that WMPT/Annapolis viewers can get DD5.1 if the program supports it (Great Performances?).


By the way, just for the record, because I'll remove the "guess" area of the list after it goes online: I'm locking in my guess of a sports theme for 7-3.


----------



## AntAltMike

Bornyank1 should try a paper clip for an antenna and see how that does. Seriously.


To clarify bornyank1's situation, he isn't getting 6 channels, he is getting two. The 26.X channels are being broadcast on channel 27 from his south, and his 50.x channels are being broadcast on channel 51 from the tower that looks like the Eiffel tower on the corner of Georgia Ave and Peabody, to his east.


Channels 20, 26 and 32 analog come from the River Road tower, which is surely to his Northwest. The network digital transmitters are to his north, so his 20/26/32 analog performance tells us virtually nothing regarding his prospects of getting the digital commercial transmissions from his north.


An analog tuner will generally handle input signals up to about 35dBmV or even 40dBmV, but I don't have reliable information on what the maximum input is for digital tuners. It will actually vary a good deal depending on the tuner design. Bornyank should be able to get something on 34, 35, 36, 39 and 48 by moving his antenna around, regardless of what he has for reflections and signal levels. (If you want to introduce 20 to 25dB of attenuation cheap. then connect the antenna to one output of a two way splitter, and the TV to the other input. it won't be as flat across the channel as an attenuator pad will, but flatness is not as critical with ATSC channels as it is with NTSC.


----------



## bornyank1

I really appreciate all the thought you guys are putting into this problem, let me try to sum up what you seem to all be saying.


Right now I have the antenna hooked up to my TV with 3 coax cables...1 from the antenna into a splitter, one from the splitter to a feed-through connector, and one from the connector to the TV. Is that as much drain as an attenuator would be? I can go to Radioshack if they have them there (again, I don't see it on the website) and pick one up if it would be more effective than this 3-coax-cable setup I have right now. Maybe I need even more signal drain if the problem is overloading.


Someone suggested I get a simple loop antenna. Do you mean something like this?
http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=search 


I could pick one of those up if I go to Radioshack to get the attenuator. The TV is pretty large, and it's hooked up to a million things, so I don't know if I can carry it to someone else's room on the other side of the building to see if it works. I'll see what I can pick up of the analog stations. Thanks.


----------



## CycloneGT

Yeah, thats a cheap loop antenna. May be exactly what you need.


----------



## bornyank1

OK, if you don't think I should get that antenna, speak now, or forever hold your peace.










Also, can anyone find an attenuator on the site? There isn't a Radioshack right near me, and I don't have a car...might just order it online, and it would be nice to get everything together. Thanks.


----------



## bornyank1

On second thought, I might get this stuff from Amazon, since they have plenty of attenuators. How about these antennae:

http://www.amazon.com/RCA-ANT120-Ind...&s=electronics 

http://www.amazon.com/RCA-ANT115-Ind...&s=electronics 

http://www.amazon.com/Magnavox-MANT-...&s=electronics 


Which of those would you go for? Also, they have a large selection of attenuators...what dB should I use?


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Channels 20, 26 and 32 analog come from the River Road tower, which is surely to his Northwest. The network digital transmitters are to his north, so his 20/26/32 analog performance tells us virtually nothing regarding his prospects of getting the digital commercial transmissions from his north.



Good point. Of course, if he can still get 32 and 26-analog, then it still means that he has an overload issue. It's if he can't get them, then the matter's irrelevant.










That said, I just remembered that there's an analog station more proper to test with: WFDC channel 14 broadcasting from WRC-DC's tower, which is the westernmost tower that the Big 4 digitals broadcast from.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bornyank1* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Right now I have the antenna hooked up to my TV with 3 coax cables...1 from the antenna into a splitter, one from the splitter to a feed-through connector, and one from the connector to the TV. Is that as much drain as an attenuator would be?



You might want to double-check that all those components are working properly, as one of those components may be internally broken. Try a direct cable connection from the Silver Sensor to the TV and see if that corrects anything. Do the testing of analog 14 while you're at it.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bornyank1* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Someone suggested I get a simple loop antenna. Do you mean something like this?
> http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=search



Something like that, but not that exact antenna. One of the antenna's specs concerns me:



> Quote:
> 36" 300-ohm flat lead wire



What's the big deal with that? 300-ohm wire is _highly_ unshielded cable, and is very susceptible to multipath. In analog, this causes ghosting. In digital, this can cause a lack of any picture.


At my house, there's a 50-year-old (or older?) 300-ohm setup to two TVs. With the basement TV, I can significantly affect how much an analog UHF channel is ghosting by simply moving the cable by as little as four inches. This is in a basement at over double the distance between your dorm and the towers. The point is, you're going to want the best of the best: quad-shielded RG-6 cable. RadioShack sells that stuff under the "Gold Series" moniker. It's a tad expensive, but well worth it.


The 15-1838 I mentioned earlier has a connector that accepts RG-6 and RG-59 cable (they share the same connector). If I remember correctly, the antenna comes with a short bit of RG-59 cable, and if it's RG-59, it's not as good as RG-6.


Another good thing about the 15-1838: Unlike many other cheap antennas, there's no cable that's permanently fixed to the antenna; you can always upgrade to more robust cable. The cable usually on these things aren't too shielded or that long.


By the way, for maximum reception with any antenna, have it by a window, and have enough cable length to get to the TV with the antenna there.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey

I don't know if this has been posted yet, I have FIOS TV and they just sent me a letter to let me know about some channel realignment effective 2/20/2007.


They will add CSN HD and it looks like more. ESPN, ESPN2, NFL HD were 811,812, and 814 respectively. Next month they will be moved up to the upper 820s along with newly to be added CSN HD(really happy now I will get to see the Wizards and Caps in HD). It will be great if somehow MASN starts going HD before the season starts, because now they have both Nats and Orioles.


Not sure, but it looks like FIOS guys are making some room for more channels to be added(I heard about them adding some VOOM channels but no confirmations), or it could be that they are just being pain in the behind.


----------



## ArcCoyote




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *howie14* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hi folks,
> 
> 
> I'm fairly new to this whole thing. I got my HDTV last month. Tonight, I'm not getting anything from WBAL-DT. My signal meter shows strong signal, but "weak signal or channel not available" keeps popping up.
> 
> 
> Thanks.



WBAL-DT is having PSIP issues, and it's causing my Windows Vista box to do the same thing. Media Center maps 59-1 in the EPG to channel 1111, but it still wants a PSIP of 11-1 or it gives "No TV Signal" In true Microsoft fashion, there's no way to override this. WatchHDTV will manually tune 59-1 and get video, but I can't do much with it.


Try tuning your set to 59-1, or rescan and see if it adds 59-1. That should be WBAL-DT


----------



## davidwb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I don't know if this has been posted yet, I have FIOS TV and they just sent me a letter to let me know about some channel realignment effective 2/20/2007.
> 
> 
> They will add CSN HD and it looks like more. ESPN, ESPN2, NFL HD were 811,812, and 814 respectively. Next month they will be moved up to the upper 820s along with newly to be added CSN HD(really happy now I will get to see the Wizards and Caps in HD). It will be great if somehow MASN starts going HD before the season starts, because now they have both Nats and Orioles.
> 
> 
> Not sure, but it looks like FIOS guys are making some room for more channels to be added(I heard about them adding some VOOM channels but no confirmations), or it could be that they are just being pain in the behind.




i posted about this last week...but the real question is whether howard and ann arundel counties will lose access to the dc hd channels...they are not listed on the lineup sheet that accompanied the letter (only the baltimore hd channels are)...but i've called three different fios numbers and each tells me that there is no plan to remove the dc hd channels...of course, they have no explanation as to why those channels are no longer listed on the lineup sheet.


i guess we'll see on 2/20.


----------



## howie14




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ArcCoyote* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WBAL-DT is having PSIP issues, and it's causing my Windows Vista box to do the same thing. Media Center maps 59-1 in the EPG to channel 1111, but it still wants a PSIP of 11-1 or it gives "No TV Signal" In true Microsoft fashion, there's no way to override this. WatchHDTV will manually tune 59-1 and get video, but I can't do much with it.
> 
> 
> Try tuning your set to 59-1, or rescan and see if it adds 59-1. That should be WBAL-DT



Thanks. I tried both suggestions. Manually entering 59-1 redirects to 11-1 and scanning didn't produce a 59-1.


I guess I'll be watching WRC for the immediate future.


----------



## captain_video

I've got sound on both 11-1 and 11-2 as of 6:30 AM this morning. It looks like WBAL got the PSIP problem worked out.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bornyank1* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> OK, if you don't think I should get that antenna, speak now, or forever hold your peace.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Also, can anyone find an attenuator on the site? There isn't a Radioshack right near me, and I don't have a car...might just order it online, and it would be nice to get everything together. Thanks.



Don't get that antenna. It has a flat lead rather than a coaxial. Flat leads can pick up all kinds of crap that will lead to errors.


----------



## zman8

I've got the Samsung HDTV tuner and was considering gettting the Comcast Basic (non-digital) package here in DC.


I was wondering, aside from the local stations, what other HD stations can I get QAM (ie can I get "Comcast Sports Net HD", "ESPN HD", or any others)?


Please let me know (especially ESPN HD).


Thanks


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zman8* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I've got the Samsung HDTV tuner and was considering gettting the Comcast Basic (non-digital) package here in DC.
> 
> 
> I was wondering, aside from the local stations, what other HD stations can I get QAM (ie can I get "Comcast Sports Net HD", "ESPN HD", or any others)?
> 
> 
> Please let me know (especially ESPN HD).
> 
> 
> Thanks



Whatever they don't encrypt. It's hit or miss and changes a lot. Just do a rescan every week to see if anything pops up.


----------



## zman8




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Whatever they don't encrypt. It's hit or miss and changes a lot. Just do a rescan every week to see if anything pops up.



I am aware of this, but I was hoping that perhaps another forum member who uses the DC Comcast could more specifically answer my question.


----------



## howie14




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *captain_video* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I've got sound on both 11-1 and 11-2 as of 6:30 AM this morning. It looks like WBAL got the PSIP problem worked out.



Ugh. I was still looking at black screen as of 7:30 or so this morning.


I'm going to hope they are still tweaking something my tuner doesn't like instead of panicking about the problem.


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bornyank1* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> OK, if you don't think I should get that antenna, speak now, or forever hold your peace.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Also, can anyone find an attenuator on the site? There isn't a Radioshack right near me, and I don't have a car...might just order it online, and it would be nice to get everything together. Thanks.



You should try ANTALTMIKE's suggestion of a paper clip as an antenna. I tested this on my OnAir USB tuner, and observe signal levels from 4 to 28db on different OTA channels. Signal levels below 18 db are not useful, but if you really have overload the paper clip antenna should work as a test.


Good luck


----------



## bornyank1




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> You should try ANTALTMIKE's suggestion of a paper clip as an antenna. I tested this on my OnAir USB tuner, and observe signal levels from 4 to 28db on different OTA channels. Signal levels below 18 db are not useful, but if you really have overload the paper clip antenna should work as a test.
> 
> 
> Good luck



Should I just wrap it around the prong of the coax cable?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *howie14* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Ugh. I was still looking at black screen as of 7:30 or so this morning.
> 
> 
> I'm going to hope they are still tweaking something my tuner doesn't like instead of panicking about the problem.



The bad PSIP info may have messed up the channel settings. If entering channel 59 or 59.1 does not work, you may need to do a rescan in case the receiver is now messed up on where to tune to WBAL-DT.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> You ....I tested this on my OnAir USB tuner, and observe signal levels from 4 to 28db on different OTA channels. Signal levels below 18 db are not useful, but if you really have overload the paper clip antenna should work as a test.



I believe you mean that your self test indicated "signal to noise ratios" (SNR) of 4 to 28dB.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmsjr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I was hoping the test pattern was it!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'd even settle for a webcam of the WJLA lobby... or the nearest Starbucks... maybe even Jiffy Lube bay #3.



After all this hype it better be something good.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ArcCoyote* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WBAL-DT is having PSIP issues, and it's causing my Windows Vista box to do the same thing. Media Center maps 59-1 in the EPG to channel 1111, but it still wants a PSIP of 11-1 or it gives "No TV Signal" In true Microsoft fashion, there's no way to override this. WatchHDTV will manually tune 59-1 and get video, but I can't do much with it.
> 
> 
> Try tuning your set to 59-1, or rescan and see if it adds 59-1. That should be WBAL-DT



My Samsung T451 receiver doesn't have any issues with 11-1 and 11-2. Shows up to date guide info for both channels. My USDTV receiver OTOH says 'No program information available.'



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So, it's Wednesday....what's on 7.3?
> 
> 
> (Less importantly) What channel number is it for FiOS?
> 
> 
> I'm guessing it's some kind of ABC News Now/NewsChannel 8 hybrid.



So, now it's Thursday and what's on 7.3? A Test pattern, wow!!!


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *davidwb* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> i posted about this last week...but the real question is whether howard and ann arundel counties will lose access to the dc hd channels...they are not listed on the lineup sheet that accompanied the letter (only the baltimore hd channels are)...but i've called three different fios numbers and each tells me that there is no plan to remove the dc hd channels...of course, they have no explanation as to why those channels are no longer listed on the lineup sheet.
> 
> 
> i guess we'll see on 2/20.




Well, I know this, those customer service reps don't know squat. Just 2 days before I received the letter to tell me about CSN HD, I actually called them and asked them how come we are not getting that channel. She told me because Comcast won't give it to them, and after calling and email Comcast and talking to them again, the second rep told me he doesn't know why.










Also I wouldn't trust that sheet, mine says that we will be getting the CSN Philadelphia. I am sure we are getting the DC CSN, so don't worry about the sheet. Don't bother calling them either, the reps don't know much at all, they need to get ones that specialize in FIOS TV only and actually have an idea of what they are telling their customers.


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bornyank1* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Should I just wrap it around the prong of the coax cable?



No, you should plug the paper clip into the center terminal of the cable connector with the other end free in the air. This is a very weak antenna, but if it shows a weak signal you know the receiver is functioning.


----------



## jerwin

Last night, I watched the Magic Flute on 26-1-- great visuals, but the sound was decidedly subpar. I was listening to on B&W DM601 speakers in stereo mode, and I found it to be muffled, lacking dynamic range. and not at all engaging. I was curious as to the (lack of ) plot, so the subtitles helped me through. I was getting the odd audio dropout, but it seemed to lack any engaging qualities whatsoever-- quite unlike my CD collection.


Does WETA starve the audio stream for bits? Do I need a better antenna?


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jerwin* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Does WETA starve the audio stream for bits? Do I need a better antenna?



WETA starves its video stream. I don't know if they do that with the audio stream, but they might.


The way digital TV works, a "better" antenna won't improve the sound.


----------



## SJKurtzke

What's on 7.3?


(drum roll)


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> What's on 7.3?
> 
> 
> (drum roll)




Who's on First????



Its called LocalPoint. I'll let the content speak for itself. It is very out-of-the box thinking, 100% local, and I believe a really, really local alternative for television.


And no, I don't own a chunk, I just created the technology.


----------



## mikemikeb

What's the LocalPoint web address (if any)?


Anyway, I'm glad that 7-3 is online, whatever it is. I guess I'll have to check it out. And if it were sports content, I think we'd know by now.










Edit: By the way, I've made my general update to the OTA list, except for the link to the LocalPoint website. If there is none, I'm done for now. What are everybody's thoughts on it? Is it easier to navigate than the old list?


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The bad PSIP info may have messed up the channel settings. If entering channel 59 or 59.1 does not work, you may need to do a rescan in case the receiver is now messed up on where to tune to WBAL-DT.



Good news! I just checked WBAL's PSIP info, and there were no errors. I'm getting it fine in my office now. Last time I checked (lunch time) there were still issues, but now it's OK.


Mark


Added: OK, I posted too soon... I was checking something else, and it turns out that they aren't sending program guide info currently...


----------



## zebras23




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Who's on First????
> 
> 
> 
> Its called LocalPoint. I'll let the content speak for itself. It is very out-of-the box thinking, 100% local, and I believe a really, really local alternative for television.
> 
> 
> And no, I don't own a chunk, I just created the technology.



How long does it take Comcast, FiOS etc to add these stations to their line-ups? Are the considered "have to carry" under the law?


Thanks for keeping us updated.


----------



## biker19

Well, that 7.3 material is certainly different. For now, I'd say it's a better alternative to the weather ch.


----------



## yekim54




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> What's the LocalPoint web address (if any)?


 http://www.localpointtv.com


----------



## Pyrr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Well, that 7.3 material is certainly different. For now, I'd say it's a better alternative to the weather ch.



Take a snap shot for us non-OTA people. Is it using the wxbug stuff?


Jeff


----------



## mikemikeb

Thanks, yekim54. I've updated the list to reflect Local Point's website and make a couple of other slight improvements. Until any new developments occur, the list has been completed.


My list is equally comprehensive and easier to use than CycloneGT's list.


Improvements over the standard:


1. Easier to spot station call letters / links to their websites

2. Baltimore and Washington stations are separated into their own lists.

3. Notations on which stations will move to the VHF band in 2009

4. Notations on which stations broadcast at lower power

5. Recognizes WFDC as a Univision affiliate and not the former Telefutura affiliation

6. More links to subchannels' websites

7. No redundant numbers. For example, no notation of "6" referring to WTTG. Also, "007-02" on CycloneGT's list is labeled in mine as "7-2", etc.

8. No redundant notations of affiliation in subchannels (7-2 isn't labeled as ABC like 7-1)

9. Local Point is noted and linked

10. More colorful










Any constructive criticism to either of our lists is appreciated.


----------



## CycloneGT

My list goes to 11.


----------



## Eben

I'm seriously considering having an ISF calibration done to my Toshiba 57h84 rptv. Has anyone used any of the following:

http://www.homecentric.com/video.htm 
http://www.infinitesightandsound.com...ication__q.php 
http://displaycalibrationonline.com/ 


TIA


----------



## jacindc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> My list is equally comprehensive and easier to use than CycloneGT's list.
> 
> 
> Any constructive criticism to either of our lists is appreciated.



Is "my goodness gracious, what is your problem?" considered constructive?


That first sentence comes off as unbelievably snotty. "Comprehensive and easier to use" is our decision, not yours.


Stop already!


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 2. Baltimore and Washington stations are separated into their own lists.



Hey! What do you mean Annapolis is a "Baltimore area" station! We're ANNAPOLIS!


----------



## mr b

Well, PG County folks...I was able to successfully submit an order for FIOS TV tonight via the website. Gave me a 2/7 install date.


Just a heads up, only central offices that are currently equipped for TV will be able to offer the service at this point.


Tony


----------



## mikemikeb

I've been watching Local Point occasionally tonight. Yeah, it's different than what I've seen before, to the point of culture shock. It reminds me of MHz, actually, with more of a local perspective.


I could only see the top half of the 9 PM legal ID. The bottom half was blocked by the video. Also, at times there were four scrolling banners on the screen at once. It was difficult to read them all simultaneously.


7-2 and 7-3 both are now pretty low-motion. Of course, stat mux would be the best option to increase HD bandwidth when needed, but that money was spent building Local Point.







However, 7-3's, and especially 7-2's, bandwidth could be lowered toward 2.25 mbps video, and 7-1's bandwidth could be set in the 14-14.3 mbps video range (and the more the better). Yeah, that comes from the same guy who once suggested 30 fps 720p, but I'm sure others would support me this time, at least on _this_.


----------



## Loudoun50

I noticed some changes to the unencrypted QAM channels. While I didn't have time to check them all out, here's what I could find quickly:


103.1 NBC HD

116.1 CBS HD

116.2 FOX HD

117.10 DISCOVERY HD THEATER


ABC and PBS are still MIA. Anyone seem them?


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I've been watching Local Point occasionally tonight. Yeah, it's different than what I've seen before, to the point of culture shock. It reminds me of MHz, actually, with more of a local perspective.
> 
> 
> I could only see the top half of the 9 PM legal ID. The bottom half was blocked by the video. Also, at times there were four scrolling banners on the screen at once. It was difficult to read them all simultaneously.
> 
> 
> 7-2 and 7-3 both are now pretty low-motion. Of course, stat mux would be the best option to increase HD bandwidth when needed, but that money was spent building Local Point.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> However, 7-3's, and especially 7-2's, bandwidth could be lowered toward 2.25 mbps video, and 7-1's bandwidth could be set in the 14-14.3 mbps video range (and the more the better). Yeah, that comes from the same guy who once suggested 30 fps 720p, but I'm sure others would support me this time, at least on _this_.



The next step is to purchase and install NetVX from Harris and replace our 10 year old Flexicoder. This will allow for dynamic bitrate shifting and MUCH BETTER encoders on the input side. The cash outlay is steep ($200K), but I the owner convinced that we need this to ensure the PQ on 7-1 is the best we can provide.


I can then pull back a little on WeatherNow an LP at night and increase them during the day. Harris can actually get (2) 720P HD streams and (1) SD stream to work in NetVX, although I ain't seen it yet.


----------



## dg28

Thanks Robert for your innovation with 7.3 and for keeping us up to date here. Just watched for a little bit yesterday and it is definitely something different. My first comment is that it's always a good thing to see Allison Starling get more air, she's quite easy on the eyes. Substantively, the key will be to keep the information fresh and up to date. It would be a complete waste of bandwidth if the information presented was "yesterday's news." Keep up the good work.


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> However, 7-3's, and especially 7-2's, bandwidth could be lowered toward 2.25 mbps video, and 7-1's bandwidth could be set in the 14-14.3 mbps video range (and the more the better).



Someday I sincerely hope there will be a concerted effort to improve HD PQ because of economic pressure. Until then, pressure will be in the opposite direction, the WOW factor will just be a fond memory, and HD Lite will reign supreme!


----------



## jimrobinette

I agree!




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jacindc* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is "my goodness gracious, what is your problem?" considered constructive?
> 
> 
> That first sentence comes off as unbelievably snotty. "Comprehensive and easier to use" is our decision, not yours.
> 
> 
> Stop already!


----------



## blambert

An Update on AA county local Fios.


I was able to order the cheapest local Fios package with the HD-DVR box. After the install, I have all local HD channels for both Baltimore and Washington, as well as all of the On demand content for the channels not included in the local package. It is a great deal for people who are only interested in HD content.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *blambert* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> An Update on AA county local Fios.
> 
> 
> I was able to order the cheapest local Fios package with the HD-DVR box. After the install, I have all local HD channels for both Baltimore and Washington, as well as all of the On demand content for the channels not included in the local package. It is a great deal for people who are only interested in HD content.



Yeah, for folks that watch mainly network material (but don't want to deal with OTA) an HD DVR+local service at $26+tax/mo is a decent deal. Any "extra" clear QAM chs?


----------



## CycloneGT

Will Local point always been a "short story" format, or will they cover local events live? A lot of potential here. I agree that its "out of the box" thinking.


----------



## JoeInNVa

Any chance you can make WeatherNow all Weather?


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Any chance you can make WeatherNow all Weather?



besides the news headlines in the lower left, what is not weather?


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Will Local point always been a "short story" format, or will they cover local events live? A lot of potential here. I agree that its "out of the box" thinking.




LP will never be 'an always - something'. It will evolve. What you see now is just the VERY TIP of the iceberg I have barrelling down the hill towards the viewers. The technology is so different from traditional broadcasting, it allows us to get creative with the content.


I will continue to post more as we roll out features, for certain reasons, I have to keep those close to the vest.


----------



## Mike20878




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> LP will never be 'an always - something'. It will evolve. What you see now is just the VERY TIP of the iceberg I have barrelling down the hill towards the viewers. The technology is so different from traditional broadcasting, it allows us to get creative with the content.
> 
> 
> I will continue to post more as we roll out features, for certain reasons, I have to keep those close to the vest.



Someone asked, but I didn't see a response yet. Is this on Comcast?


----------



## essay




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Loudoun50* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I noticed some changes to the unencrypted QAM channels. While I didn't have time to check them all out, here's what I could find quickly:
> 
> 
> 103.1 NBC HD
> 
> 116.1 CBS HD
> 
> 116.2 FOX HD
> 
> 117.10 DISCOVERY HD THEATER
> 
> 
> ABC and PBS are still MIA. Anyone seem them?



As far as I remember:


83.1 PBS (WETA-HD)

83.5 ABC HD


Anyone get any other unencrypted QAM channels?


----------



## armand1

For those of you have have been struggling with OTA reception problems within metro DC due to various multipath and interference problems I've found a solution that works in Chevy Chase/Bethesda area. I have a Winegard PR-4400 4-Bay antenna on the roof and had been trying two different tuners the Samsung SIR-T451 and an older SIR-TS360 with limited success. I just purchased the new Samsung DTB-H260F at Circuit City and it solved all my problems. Reception is great, colors are perfect, and much easier to channel surf than older tuners. Now I receive all stations within 15 mile radius perfectly without any dropouts and without rotating the antenna.


So those of you out there go out and get the Samsung DTB-H260F it'll solve most of your reception problems. Finally, I won't need Comcast cable anymore.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Mike20878* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Someone asked, but I didn't see a response yet. Is this on Comcast?




Not yet.


----------



## HankV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Good news! I just checked WBAL's PSIP info, and there were no errors. I'm getting it fine in my office now. Last time I checked (lunch time) there were still issues, but now it's OK.
> 
> 
> Mark
> 
> 
> Added: OK, I posted too soon... I was checking something else, and it turns out that they aren't sending program guide info currently...



I know many of you have called or e-mailed over the past several days and we have not had a chance to return many e-mails or answer phones.


The problem was caused by an upgrade of our encoding software from Triveni. The new version caused issues with our Harmonics Transport Stream Encoder that caused a conflict. Although the PIDS for 11-1 and 11-2 were correctly assigned (0x31, 0x34, 0x41, 0x44) and the PMT was correct (0x30, 0x40). the Harmonic was confused by the PSI stream and encoded them as Program 1 (0x10) and Program 2 (0x20) which are not allowed anymore by the ATSC standard. Furthermore, as Program 1 and Program 2, the PIDS were incorrect.


Triveni support took several days of between phone calls and complete software changeouts correct the problem.


Some receivers were not affected, some could tune to 59-1 and recover, some went to black. An old DTC-100 worked perfectly while an Accurian wouldn't see the signal. The demodulators of course worked fine (being high-end units). Comcast and Verizon FIOS were unaffected. Comcast is OTA, Verizon is a direct MPEG-2 transport stream feed.


I hope that helped answer your questions.


Hank Volpe

Director of Engineering

WBAL-TV/WBAL-DT /WBAL-AM/WIYY-FM/HD

Baltimore MD


----------



## ashutoshsm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Loudoun50* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I noticed some changes to the unencrypted QAM channels. While I didn't have time to check them all out, here's what I could find quickly:
> 
> 
> 103.1 NBC HD
> 
> 116.1 CBS HD
> 
> 116.2 FOX HD
> 
> 117.10 DISCOVERY HD THEATER
> 
> 
> ABC and PBS are still MIA. Anyone seem them?



Thanks for the update ... I'll try QAMing a few channels this evening. Ever since I got the S3 TiVo, I don't even have cable connected to my TV directly










I DO remember getting PBS and ABC, though ... let me ee if I cana ccess my home system and tell you the date/channel assignments from abck in November/December (pre Comcast, of course) for those two ...


Here's the comprehensive list of what my TiVo's QAM tuner picked up in the first week of November before I installed the CableCards (which now hide the channel assignments) ...
Code:


Code:


100 onwards (Cable QAM)
  100s          Nothing
  101-1,2
        101-3   Fox HD                          CC
  102s          Nothing
        103-1   NBC-HD                          CC
        103-2   CBS-HD                          CC
        103-3   ABC-HD                          CC
  104s          Nothing
  105s          Nothing
        106-21to28      Music No Video          !CC
  107s          Nothing
        108-1   PPV Inset Box Top Right         !CC
        108s    VOD, Various!!!
  112s          Nothing
  113s          Nothing until ...
        113-20to33      MusicChoice
  114s          Nothing until ...
        114-19to33      MusicChoice
  114-114 Nothing
  115s Nothing

Oh - missed this section in my file ...
72-1 onwards (Cable QAM)

  72-1to14      Nothing
        72-21to25               Music No Video
  72-60,67      Nothing
  73-1to14      Nothing
        73-21to25               Music No Video
  73-67         Nothing
  74-all        Nothing
  75s, 76s      Nothing
  77-1to13      Nothing
        77-21to40               Music No Video
  77-67         Nothing
        78-2    inDemand Ad Channel
  78s (rest)    Nothing
  79s           Nothing
  80-8          Nothing
  81s           Nothing
  82s           Nothing
        83-1    PBS-HD (WETADT-HD)
  83-2to4       Nothing
  84s           Nothing
  87s           Nothing
  88s           Nothing
  92-1to13      Nothing
        92-19to33       MusicChoice
  92-14         Nothing (yes, occurs out of order, not uncommon)
  93s           Nothing
        94-1to53        Music Choice (53 chnnels!)
  94-54,61      Nothing
  95s           Nothing

Comparing it t your list - it seems NBC is unchanged, Fox & CBS have moved, PBS & CBS have vanished? Sheesh! Buy an S3 TiVo









Jokes aside - that isn't good - you should call in and complain, and let me know what number you call - I will too, to help my S3 TiVo deprived neighbors










added another section - PBS is, or was, on 83-1


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Harris can actually get (2) 720P HD streams and (1) SD stream to work in NetVX, although I ain't seen it yet.



That's a bunch of marketing hooey. One 720p + two 480i subs is more realistic IF you want the PQ to be good across the board.


I know that this won't get done for a long time for very understandable reasons, but if Allison Starling is easy on the eyes now, then what if she was in HD...?


----------



## CycloneGT

Welcome Hank, its great to see you posting here.


----------



## buri

Hi folks, back again.


I originally posted my OTA woes a few days back (post #10, page 1) Based on the advice I got, I swapped out the Terk for the Channel Master 4221. Analog quality improved immediately (7 and 9 look exactly like what I get out of normal cable service), but I still receive no digital signal at any orientation/elevation.


The antenna is connected to a Sony Bravia KDL-46V25L1. Its specs include:

ATSC (8VSB terrestrial) -- ATSC compliant 8VSB


Regards,

BU


----------



## Bill Johnson

OK, somebody needs to help buri here. Quite a tv he has. 1080p, ATSC tuner, QAM capability. Have you done a channel scan? Connected via component or HDMI and not composite? Any difficult to find settings on tv blocking UHF? A defective tuner? Other suggestions?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *buri* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I originally posted my OTA woes a few days back (post #10, page 1) Based on the advice I got, I swapped out the Terk for the Channel Master 4221. Analog quality improved immediately (7 and 9 look exactly like what I get out of normal cable service), but I still receive no digital signal at any orientation/elevation.
> 
> 
> The antenna is connected to a Sony Bravia KDL-46V25L1. Its specs include:
> 
> ATSC (8VSB terrestrial) -- ATSC compliant 8VSB



There is something wrong. You should be getting a number of digital stations with the ATSC tuner, if you are picking up the analog stations.


I assume your TV is identical to the Sony KDL-46V2500. That is the closest match I can find on Sony's website. I downloaded the manual which shows that the TV has a single RF coaxial input connector - correct? Some TVs have 2 RF input, one for analog/cable, one for digital, that is why I looked it up. The specs in the manual show that the Sony can handle analog NTSC, ATSC OTA, and clear QAM cable channels up to 135 (which means it can handle 850 MHz digital cable systems).


Scanning the manual, you have gone into digital setup menu and done the Auto Program scan as outlined on page 38, correct? You have to do a scan for it to find the digital channels. The antenna is connected through the coaxial cable and the antenna is aimed east to south-east? I just to make sure that you have covered the basic steps here. Because if you have and it still does not work, you may have a bad ATSC tuner.


----------



## buri

This model has a single RF input. I'm not using anything other than the coax input for the OTA testing.


What I've been doing is running the Auto-Program at 5 degree intervals around 114 degrees in three different locations, one outside a second floor window, and two up in the attic. I've swapped the coax-cable as well. I guess it's looking more and more like the tuner itself might be defective, which is a shame since everything else about the TV is excellent.


Are there any commercially available tools for checking the tuner?


Regards,

BU


----------



## rustycruiser




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> My list goes to 11.


----------



## flyingtoaster

I have Verizon FiOS in Anne Arundel County. Does anyone else notice what looks like translucent, rolling dark horizontal bars (hum bars?) on channel 13 (WJZ-SD)? Any idea where in the system these are being inserted?


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *buri* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> This model has a single RF input. I'm not using anything other than the coax input for the OTA testing.
> 
> 
> What I've been doing is running the Auto-Program at 5 degree intervals around 114 degrees in three different locations, one outside a second floor window, and two up in the attic. I've swapped the coax-cable as well. I guess it's looking more and more like the tuner itself might be defective, which is a shame since everything else about the TV is excellent.
> 
> 
> Are there any commercially available tools for checking the tuner?
> 
> 
> Regards,
> 
> BU



Use WETA 26 analog ch to adjust your antenna. Once you have that coming in pretty good if you don't get any digital chs then indeed something might be wrong with the tuner.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *flyingtoaster* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I have Verizon FiOS in Anne Arundel County. Does anyone else notice what looks like translucent, rolling dark horizontal bars (hum bars?) on channel 13 (WJZ-SD)? Any idea where in the system these are being inserted?



Rolling shaded horizontal bars are a classic symptom of a ground loop. A ground loop occurs when the TV, STB, A/V boxes, or an input line is not or poorly grounded to same ground as the rest of the gear. The most common cause of ground loop from avsforum post appears to be a poorly grounded cable line (which happened to me when I was connected to Comcast in Reston but was easy to fix). But since Fios runs glass fiber to the ONT, the problem is not a poorly grounded cable line coming into the house. Do these shaded bars show up on any other channel? Analog or digital channels? I will check my Verizon analog channels for this in case the ground problem is at the source.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *buri* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> This model has a single RF input. I'm not using anything other than the coax input for the OTA testing.
> 
> 
> What I've been doing is running the Auto-Program at 5 degree intervals around 114 degrees in three different locations, one outside a second floor window, and two up in the attic. I've swapped the coax-cable as well. I guess it's looking more and more like the tuner itself might be defective, which is a shame since everything else about the TV is excellent.
> 
> 
> Are there any commercially available tools for checking the tuner?



Your problem is likely a bad ATSC tuner, but this is difficult to confirm if you don't get any digital stations at all. Check your private messages as I am willing to bring over a Accurian ATSC receiver I have sitting around for some fault isolation.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *HankV* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I know many of you have called or e-mailed over the past several days and we have not had a chance to return many e-mails or answer phones.



Hank. thanks. Welcome to the forum. Hope you hang out often.


----------



## yekim54




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdyoung* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I was going to post this as response to Washington Post story about the guy's $1,399 HDTV, but the thread was closed before I could get to it. I thought this was funny as well.
> 
> http://www.baltimoresun.com/features...ome-columnists



The author of that Washington Post story (Howard Bryant) posted a _mea culpa_ in today's Business section on page F3. He says he got over 100 emails chastising him for misleading readers with his story about buying and installing his HDTV that appeared in the 1/21/2007 issue of the Post.


----------



## jerry78bug




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *badgerdms* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I've noticed som audio dropouts on Fox HD (5.1) on 24 the last couple of weeks. I've upgraded to the D* H20-700 DVR so that may have something to do with it, but I was curious if anybody else was having any issues. I've never had issues with FOX before.



I have the same problem with the D*tv FoxHD from Baltimore. I would explain it as a digital stutter. I have an optical connection to a JVC audio receiver. The problem doesn't occur on the non-HD channel.


----------



## ashutoshsm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *yekim54* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The author of that Washington Post story (Howard Bryant) posted a _mea culpa_ in today's Business section on page F3. He says he got over 100 emails chastising him for misleading readers with his story about buying and installing his HDTV that appeared in the 1/21/2007 issue of the Post.



What's sad is it is the article that is noticeable, and the mea culpas get posted as an afterthought, hidden deep in some unrelated section, usually. The article has had its impact and convinced many ont he verge to hold back on their tech purchases, while further reinforcing to those in the know that newspaper tech writers will do anything, and research as little as possible, to get an article out the door. Usually!


----------



## subwoofer

I know I've posted this question before but I want to get a fresh answer:


What website do you use to know what HD content is available on TV? I use: http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/01/28...nuary-28-2007/


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *subwoofer* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I know I've posted this question before but I want to get a fresh answer:
> 
> 
> What website do you use to know what HD content is available on TV? I use: http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/01/28...nuary-28-2007/



http://tvlistings5.zap2it.com/tvlist...cessZipcode.do


----------



## inlogan

Well I know some of us get frustrated in about month when it's the ACC basketball tournament and we have to deal with SD because of Raycom and the ESPN blackout. Well I emailed Raycom last night asking about HD and got a quick reply:


>Richard:


>Thank you for your feedback. Currently, Raycom Sports and Lincoln

>Financial Sports are testing "non-network" HD delivery of our ACC

>Basketball telecasts with our local stations throughout the ACC

>Territory. If the tests are successful, we have plans in place to

>produce and deliver the entire ACC Basketball Tournament in HD.


>Thank you,

>Raycom Sports & Lincoln Financial Sports


I'm not sure what non-network means, but I'm sure one of you could tell me







At least this sounds promising!


----------



## rosh400




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *yekim54* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The author of that Washington Post story (Howard Bryant) posted a _mea culpa_ in today's Business section on page F3. He says he got over 100 emails chastising him for misleading readers with his story about buying and installing his HDTV that appeared in the 1/21/2007 issue of the Post.



I was one of the 100. I never got a response and figured the guy blew me off. As another poster pointed out -- the damage is done but at least he owned up to the fact that he made some mistakes. Many news outlets never do.


I was pleased that one of my comments made it into his article.

_Check your settings: Your comment about having to buy HD DVD or Blu-ray to have a correct aspect ratio is completely misleading. You probably had a setting in either the DVD player or the TV that was wrong. If you correct your settings, you won't have that problem. Do yourself a favor and read your user manuals and check your settings._


One can only hope that he actually tried this at home and is now enjoying DVD's played in their correct aspect ratio on his new TV.


----------



## MrMike6by9




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *subwoofer* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I know I've posted this question before but I want to get a fresh answer:
> 
> 
> What website do you use to know what HD content is available on TV? I use: http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/01/28...nuary-28-2007/


 www.titantv.com 


YMMV


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jerry78bug* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I have the same problem with the D*tv FoxHD from Baltimore. I would explain it as a digital stutter. I have an optical connection to a JVC audio receiver. The problem doesn't occur on the non-HD channel.



I got an e-mail from one D* viewer last week about the same problem. Since it's happening on both 45 and 5, it would seem as though it would be a FOX network issue, but I haven't found the problem yet.


Mark


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rosh400* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I was one of the 100. I never got a response and figured the guy blew me off. As another poster pointed out -- the damage is done but at least he owned up to the fact that he made some mistakes. Many news outlets never do.
> 
> 
> I was pleased that one of my comments made it into his article.
> 
> _Check your settings: Your comment about having to buy HD DVD or Blu-ray to have a correct aspect ratio is completely misleading. You probably had a setting in either the DVD player or the TV that was wrong. If you correct your settings, you won't have that problem. Do yourself a favor and read your user manuals and check your settings._
> 
> 
> One can only hope that he actually tried this at home and is now enjoying DVD's played in their correct aspect ratio on his new TV.



I also wrote to him about the DVD part of his article being wrong. But the rest of it was pretty good, especially for a mainstream publication. I complimented him on his article overall.


Also, if you read what he says, only SOME of the 100 emails were critical. Not all.


----------



## STANLEY02

I've had the same problem over the last couple weeks with the audio on FOX 45-1 & 5-1. I noticed it on 45 and switched over to 5 and the same thing was happening. I think it has only happened on the national TV shows and not the local shows.


----------



## Ladd

Any local HD PBS/MPT station showing Live at the Met "The Magic Flute" tonight (repeat from last Saturday) in 5.1 audio? WETA had stereo the first time ...


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *STANLEY02* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I've had the same problem over the last couple weeks with the audio on FOX 45-1 & 5-1. I noticed it on 45 and switched over to 5 and the same thing was happening. I think it has only happened on the national TV shows and not the local shows.



Out of curiosity, are you watching on DirecTV also?


Mark


----------



## rosh400




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I also wrote to him about the DVD part of his article being wrong. But the rest of it was pretty good, especially for a mainstream publication. I complimented him on his article overall.
> 
> 
> Also, if you read what he says, only SOME of the 100 emails were critical. Not all.



I thought his comments on not being able to play SD DVD's was especially harmful given that in my mind and the limited amount of HD programming, DVD playback is one of the best uses for an HDTV. It's not HDTV but with a good display, a good player, and proper calibration, it's close.


I also thought that his comment about only 6 percent of programming is HD. That's true if one looks at all the channels but that channel total includes many channels that many of us never watch. I have about 50 channels on my favorites list which brings the percentage up to 25.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *STANLEY02* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I've had the same problem over the last couple weeks with the audio on FOX 45-1 & 5-1. I noticed it on 45 and switched over to 5 and the same thing was happening. I think it has only happened on the national TV shows and not the local shows.



I've also noticed that problem and I'm watching OTA. The audio for the show would seem too low and then it would go back to normal for the commercials.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> besides the news headlines in the lower left, what is not weather?



Well, the lower 1/3 of the screen is all "news". The right upper 1/3 has a current temp in a city, while the lower half of that right 1/3 is all an Ad. Relegating the radar to about 1/4 of the screen, which most of us want to see.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *subwoofer* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I know I've posted this question before but I want to get a fresh answer:
> 
> 
> What website do you use to know what HD content is available on TV? I use: http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/01/28...nuary-28-2007/



I don't...I use the Comcast Guide and if I see anything I like, I either watch it or DVR it.


----------



## hoyty

I was curious where the imaginary line is drawn between DC locals and Balt locals for DirecTV. I have lived south of DC and now North of Baltimore and in each case have only gotten one or the other. However if you live in someplace on 95/295 corridor in between can you get both? Also is it the same on Dish and the cables?


----------



## Scott R. Scherr

Mark:


I am not the original poster. I had the same audio problem with D's HD feed of American Idol on channel 45 Wednesday night. I have the HR 20-700 also.


Scott



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Out of curiosity, are you watching on DirecTV also?
> 
> 
> Mark


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hoyty* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I was curious where the imaginary line is drawn between DC locals and Balt locals for DirecTV. I have lived south of DC and now North of Baltimore and in each case have only gotten one or the other. However if you live in someplace on 95/295 corridor in between can you get both? Also is it the same on Dish and the cables?



Not in Laurel - depending on which county you live in, Dish will either give you DC or Baltimore, but not both.


Mark


----------



## HDDAVID

Hello Hoyty..Do you have D* where you live? If so, how has your experience been with them? Currently i live in Columbia, but will be moving to Parkville in a few months,and already purchased the D* HR-20 HD DVR. I'm just waiting to move before I hook everything up.

Right now I have Comcast and get all the DC and Baltimore locals, but only the Baltimore locals in HD


----------



## dneily




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ladd* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Any local HD PBS/MPT station showing Live at the Met "The Magic Flute" tonight (repeat from last Saturday) in 5.1 audio? WETA had stereo the first time ...



WETA still has no DD 5.1 encoder, but WMPT does. I watch all PBS HD music programs on Maryland Public TV. The DD 5.1 makes a big difference.


----------



## hoyty




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *HDDAVID* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hello Hoyty..Do you have D* where you live? If so, how has your experience been with them? Currently i live in Columbia, but will be moving to Parkville in a few months,and already purchased the D* HR-20 HD DVR. I'm just waiting to move before I hook everything up.
> 
> Right now I have Comcast and get all the DC and Baltimore locals, but only the Baltimore locals in HD



Yep I have D* currently. Moved to Parkville almost 2 years ago and been working without issue. I have older 3 LNB dish and don't get HD locals over dish. I am able to get everything except 22 well with my roof antenna.


----------



## buri




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *buri* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hi folks, back again.
> 
> 
> I originally posted my OTA woes a few days back (post #10, page 1) Based on the advice I got, I swapped out the Terk for the Channel Master 4221. Analog quality improved immediately (7 and 9 look exactly like what I get out of normal cable service), but I still receive no digital signal at any orientation/elevation.
> 
> 
> The antenna is connected to a Sony Bravia KDL-46V25L1. Its specs include:
> 
> ATSC (8VSB terrestrial) -- ATSC compliant 8VSB



afiggatt was kind enough to come out this afternoon with an HD tuner and I was able to immediately pick up quite a few channels without any issues. Apparently the ATSC tuner in the new TV is defective, so I'll be contacting Sony next to see what my repair options are.


Regards,

BU


----------



## ashutoshsm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> http://tvlistings5.zap2it.com/tvlist...cessZipcode.do



That's the only one I'd recommend, too, and the only one I ever use.


It is Tribune Media Services' official listings site, and is where all my TiVos (including the S3 HD TiVo, keeping thi post on topic) get their guide info, and it rocks!


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hoyty* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I was curious where the imaginary line is drawn between DC locals and Balt locals for DirecTV. I have lived south of DC and now North of Baltimore and in each case have only gotten one or the other. However if you live in someplace on 95/295 corridor in between can you get both? Also is it the same on Dish and the cables?



The Patuxent is the boundary. The water absorbs the signals!


----------



## tonyd79

fmsjr's attempts at humor notwithstanding, the Patuxent is mostly the line. Howard County and Anne Arundel are Baltimore markets. PG County and Montgomery are DC markets. DirecTV follows those lines for the most part (if not totally).


----------



## Ladd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dneily* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WETA still has no DD 5.1 encoder, but WMPT does. I watch all PBS HD music programs on Maryland Public TV. The DD 5.1 makes a big difference.



I just spent 20 minutes on the MPT site and couldn't find any show on any MPT station that listed a show as being 5.1 audio. Lots of HD shows, many listed as "stereo" but nothing more than that.


Could you point me to a station or show that broadcasts in 5.1 so I can look it up?


----------



## Sun Ra

Does anybody else have problems getting a strong signal from WBAL? Even after the channel came back online recently, I I geting occasional signal drops for a couple seconds, I get a much better signal from WRC in DC currently, and I am in northern baltimore (parkville). just seems odd that the station 6 miles away comes in far poorer then the one 40 miles away.


----------



## attgig

I'm trying to figure out QAM tunings to the unscrambled channels via comcast baltimore city. Does anyone have this list or know where i can find it?


I have CBS - 91-13

espn - 128-2

and espn2 - 128-1



anyone have a full listing?


tia


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ladd* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I just spent 20 minutes on the MPT site and couldn't find any show on any MPT station that listed a show as being 5.1 audio. Lots of HD shows, many listed as "stereo" but nothing more than that.
> 
> 
> Could you point me to a station or show that broadcasts in 5.1 so I can look it up?



Sounds more like a problem with MPT's website than with their broadcastsing. You'll just have to watch MPT and wait for the DD5.1 indicator on your receiver to light up.


----------



## HDDAVID

Thanks Hoyty for the reply. I've had Comcast for the past 5 years with no problems(believe it or not) and signing up for D* is going to be a leap of faith for me. Guess I'm most concerned about interuptions in service during bad weather(like I've seen on before). Also I bought the new HD-DVR and I've heard and read its somewhat buggy.

Sun Ra, I agree with your comments about WBAL and Parkville reception.


----------



## hoyty




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Sun Ra* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Does anybody else have problems getting a strong signal from WBAL? Even after the channel came back online recently, I I geting occasional signal drops for a couple seconds, I get a much better signal from WRC in DC currently, and I am in northern baltimore (parkville). just seems odd that the station 6 miles away comes in far poorer then the one 40 miles away.



I don't have any problems with WBAL (that I have noticed). However I am curious what your antenna setup is? I have an 8-bay channel master on the roof and I can't really get any DC channels. I found this interesting since I could get Baltimore stations when I used to live in Alexandria.


----------



## hoyty




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *HDDAVID* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Thanks Hoyty for the reply. I've had Comcast for the past 5 years with no problems(believe it or not) and signing up for D* is going to be a leap of faith for me. Guess I'm most concerned about interuptions in service during bad weather(like I've seen on before). Also I bought the new HD-DVR and I've heard and read its somewhat buggy.
> 
> Sun Ra, I agree with your comments about WBAL and Parkville reception.



With a properly mounted dish and no trees you shouldn't have problems with D*. I have only had an hour or two total over 6 years of D* use with bad reception due to weather. If you want any information on the HR20 check out dbstalk.com.


----------



## MapMaker18

Quick question for you Comcast subscribers out there.


Can comcast provide digital cable boxes with component outputs even though you don't subscribe to there HD service? The reason I'm asking is because I use an antenna and my QAM tuner to get HD channels, but watch regular cable through the cable box. The highest output it has is S-Video. Its decent, but will a box with component outputs look better?


Thanks!


----------



## dneily




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ladd* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I just spent 20 minutes on the MPT site and couldn't find any show on any MPT station that listed a show as being 5.1 audio. Lots of HD shows, many listed as "stereo" but nothing more than that.
> 
> 
> Could you point me to a station or show that broadcasts in 5.1 so I can look it up?



MPT always broadcasts _Soundstage_ in DD 5.1 every Thursday at 10:00 p.m.


----------



## bornyank1




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> No, you should plug the paper clip into the center terminal of the cable connector with the other end free in the air. This is a very weak antenna, but if it shows a weak signal you know the receiver is functioning.



I actually got pretty much the same channels, 26 and 50, with the paper clip as I did with the GE Optima and the Silver Sensor. Do you think I should try a UHF loop atenna or an attenuator, or should I just give up on those OTA HD Superbowl dreams?


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bornyank1* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I actually got pretty much the same channels, 26 and 50, with the paper clip as I did with the GE Optima and the Silver Sensor. Do you think I should try a UHF loop atenna or an attenuator, or should I just give up on those OTA HD Superbowl dreams?



The test with the paper clip indicates your problem is not likely to be from overloading. Therefore, don't use an attenuator. You need to find a way to obtain a stronger signal.


----------



## AntAltMike

Did you try looking at channel 14 analog? It comes off the same tower as 48 NBC digital. Move your antenna around until 14 analog looks as clear as you can make it, and then try 48 digital again with the antenna in that position.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bornyank1* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I actually got pretty much the same channels, 26 and 50, with the paper clip as I did with the GE Optima and the Silver Sensor. Do you think I should try a UHF loop atenna or an attenuator, or should I just give up on those OTA HD Superbowl dreams?



I think your problem is that you are on the wrong side of a steel frame and concrete building which is blocking the direct signals from the towers. IIRC, you have a directional UHF antenna - aim it out the window at the flat face of buildings in the opposite direction of the broadcast stations to see if you can pick up a reflection of the signals. I would also try putting a basic non-amplified UHF loop antenna with a 75 Ohm connection in the window to see what analog and digital stations it picks up. Radio Shack, Best Buy, Circuit City, and other stores should have one.


----------



## Dizzy

Anyone have any idea when Verizon Fios is actually gonna start offering service in Montgomery County? I know they got the County Council approval last fall....AFTER Verizon sused the county..lol. And I remember them mentioning that it will start this year...but when???


I'm waiting to see if their initial offering is worth it for me to jump from D*. Thanks for any answers.


----------



## philo77




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dizzy* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Anyone have any idea when Verizon Fios is actually gonna start offering service in Montgomery County? I know they got the County Council approval last fall....AFTER Verizon sused the county..lol. And I remember them mentioning that it will start this year...but when???
> 
> 
> I'm waiting to see if their initial offering is worth it for me to jump from D*. Thanks for any answers.



Verizon started installing FiOS TV in parts of MoCo, including Bethesda, in December.


You may be able to get TV service now, depending on which central office you're connected to. Go to the FIOS website at http://www22.verizon.com/content/fiostv 

Enter your phone number and it will tell you if TV service is available. The website lists the various packages and prices.


If service is available, and you want to place an order, I suggest you do it by phone rather than on the website. There have been some scheduling mix-ups with the website ordering system lately. You may also be able to find out about special offers, haggle for a better deal, etc.


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *philo77* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> You may be able to get TV service now, depending on which central office you're connected to. Go to the FIOS website at http://www22.verizon.com/content/fiostv
> 
> Enter your phone number and it will tell you if TV service is available. The website lists the various packages and prices.
> 
> 
> If service is available, and you want to place an order, I suggest you do it by phone rather than on the website. There have been some scheduling mix-ups with the website ordering system lately. You may also be able to find out about special offers, haggle for a better deal, etc.



I plugged my phone number into this website and for the first time, it indicates that FiOS TV is available to me. I live in Prince George's County just outside of the Laurel city limit. I don't know if I'm ready to ditch my DirecTV for it just yet, but it's interesting that the website says it's available here. I would have expected a phone call or a mailing from VZ to get my business, but maybe that will come soon.


I see the price for the basic 200 channel service is $43 a month. What does the HD service and DVR add to that price? How much are the movie channels in HD?


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bornyank1* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I actually got pretty much the same channels, 26 and 50, with the paper clip as I did with the GE Optima and the Silver Sensor. Do you think I should try a UHF loop atenna or an attenuator, or should I just give up on those OTA HD Superbowl dreams?



Have you tried using the cable and tuning with the Qam option in your TV? You should find many Qam channels connecting your TV directly to the cable outlet without the cable box. I get all of the local digital HD channels this way.


----------



## Newmie




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I plugged my phone number into this website and for the first time, it indicates that FiOS TV is available to me. I live in Prince George's County just outside of the Laurel city limit. I don't know if I'm ready to ditch my DirecTV for it just yet, but it's interesting that the website says it's available here. I would have expected a phone call or a mailing from VZ to get my business, but maybe that will come soon.
> 
> 
> I see the price for the basic 200 channel service is $43 a month. What does the HD service and DVR add to that price? How much are the movie channels in HD?



In Va the HD box alone is $10., HD w/DVR is $13. Movie channels run between $13. - $16. depending on what you want.


Basic with HD/DVR and Internet costs me about $96. (w/o tax). Thats still less then Cox without the DVR, and my Internet speed more then doubled.


I just had Verizon installed this weekend, and I'm very happy with the installation and service. Only wish I had done it sooner.







. Its nice being able to compliment a cable provider on here for once.


----------



## attgig




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *attgig* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I'm trying to figure out QAM tunings to the unscrambled channels via comcast baltimore city. Does anyone have this list or know where i can find it?
> 
> 
> I have CBS - 91-13
> 
> espn - 128-2
> 
> and espn2 - 128-1
> 
> 
> 
> anyone have a full listing?
> 
> 
> tia




everything that i found after painstakingly flipping through a bunch of channels.

91-67 mpt hd

91-167 bbc

92-2 abc hd

92-11 nbc-hd

91-13 cbs-hd

124-07 nba tv

126-2 fox hd



Anyone get discoveryhd? tnthd? am i alone from baltimore using comcast?


----------



## riffjim4069

 Full Article 


LAUREL, Md., Jan. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- An innovative, reliable and competitive alternative to cable TV is now available to consumers in more than 30 Prince George's County communities as Verizon expands its all-fiber FiOS TV offering in the region.


Verizon delivers FiOS TV over the nation's largest digital, all-fiber network. Only this network has earned the certification of the independent Fiber to the Home Council for providing fiber all the way to customers' homes.


FiOS TV now is available to nearly 56,000 households in parts of the following Prince George's County communities: Accokeek, Beltsville, Calverton, Camp Springs, Capitol Heights, Clinton, District Heights, East Riverdale, Fairland, Forestville, Fort Washington, Friendly, Glenn Dale, Goddard, Greenbelt, Hillandale, Kettering, Lake Arbor, Landover Hills, Lanham, Largo, Marlton, Maryland City, Mitchellville, New Carrollton, Oxon Hill, Rosaryville, Seat Pleasant, Walker Mill, Woodlawn and Woodmore.


----------



## ashutoshsm

Ohh, the spin machine in full blast ... 'innovative, reliable & competitive' !!!


Does it also cure cancer?


----------



## rosh400




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I plugged my phone number into this website and for the first time, it indicates that FiOS TV is available to me. I live in Prince George's County just outside of the Laurel city limit. I don't know if I'm ready to ditch my DirecTV for it just yet, but it's interesting that the website says it's available here. I would have expected a phone call or a mailing from VZ to get my business, but maybe that will come soon.
> 
> 
> I see the price for the basic 200 channel service is $43 a month. What does the HD service and DVR add to that price? How much are the movie channels in HD?




From the post's I've read, their mail and door to door efforts lag behind the availability database on their website so I am not surprised.


----------



## rosh400




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MapMaker18* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Quick question for you Comcast subscribers out there.
> 
> 
> Can comcast provide digital cable boxes with component outputs even though you don't subscribe to there HD service? The reason I'm asking is because I use an antenna and my QAM tuner to get HD channels, but watch regular cable through the cable box. The highest output it has is S-Video. Its decent, but will a box with component outputs look better?
> 
> 
> Thanks!



In general, the rule of thumb is that component is better than S-Video but SD programming on an HDTV may be the exception. The higher quality feed offered by component may also be more revealing of the flaws of the SD feed. S-Video may do a better job at masking these flaws.


As far as the availability of non-HD boxes with component out, you should call Comcast directly.


----------



## kevinstu




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Out of curiosity, are you watching on DirecTV also?
> 
> 
> Mark



I am experiencing the audio dropouts on 5-1 as well, only during House, Conviction, and other national shows.


It's happened both on the HR10-250 and the HR20 receivers, both through OTA.


Sound drops out for 2-3 seconds (with no noticable video impact), and there is often slight video digital pixilation on its return.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ashutoshsm* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Ohh, the spin machine in full blast ... 'innovative, reliable & competitive' !!!
> 
> 
> Does it also cure cancer?



No, but it might help with ED depending on which channels you subscribe too.


----------



## Riley9208




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kevinstu* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I am experiencing the audio dropouts on 5-1 as well, only during House, Conviction, and other national shows.
> 
> 
> It's happened both on the HR10-250 and the HR20 receivers, both through OTA.
> 
> 
> Sound drops out for 2-3 seconds (with no noticable video impact), and there is often slight video digital pixilation on its return.



This is a common problem with the HR10-250 software ver 6.3a. Keep forcing phone calls until your box updates to ver 6.3b, this cleared up all FOX audio drop outs for me so far. I can't explain the problem on your HR20


----------



## dneily




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *riffjim4069* /forum/post/0
> 
> Full Article
> 
> 
> LAUREL, Md., Jan. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- An innovative, reliable and competitive alternative to cable TV is now available to consumers in more than 30 Prince George's County communities as Verizon expands its all-fiber FiOS TV offering in the region.
> 
> 
> Verizon delivers FiOS TV over the nation's largest digital, all-fiber network. Only this network has earned the certification of the independent Fiber to the Home Council for providing fiber all the way to customers' homes.
> 
> 
> FiOS TV now is available to nearly 56,000 households in parts of the following Prince George's County communities: Accokeek, Beltsville, Calverton, Camp Springs, Capitol Heights, Clinton, District Heights, East Riverdale, Fairland, Forestville, Fort Washington, Friendly, Glenn Dale, Goddard, Greenbelt, Hillandale, Kettering, Lake Arbor, Landover Hills, Lanham, Largo, Marlton, Maryland City, Mitchellville, New Carrollton, Oxon Hill, Rosaryville, Seat Pleasant, Walker Mill, Woodlawn and Woodmore.



I had an Encore Verizon technician at my house today to install FIOS TV. Unfortunately, I discontinued my FIOS Internet service two weeks ago, and just learned that I must have FIOS Internet to use FIOS TV !! This is unlike COMCAST cable, which has a "cafeteria plan" by which you can select cable internet or TV or both. It makes me wonder what people do if they have no computer or no desire for internet.


So I have put in a new order to resume FIOS internet, which will take two days to "flip the switch." Then I'll need to request that a technician return to complete the FIOS TV installation.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Riley9208* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> This is a common problem with the HR10-250 software ver 6.3a. Keep forcing phone calls until your box updates to ver 6.3b, this cleared up all FOX audio drop outs for me so far. I can't explain the problem on your HR20



The HR10 dropout was always 9 seconds. 9 seconds of silence, then a picture jitter and sound comes back. Software 6.3b does fix it.


Folks on dbstalk have reported some short dropouts on the HR20 on OTA. I have not seen one that I didn't think was signal related.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I plugged my phone number into this website and for the first time, it indicates that FiOS TV is available to me. I live in Prince George's County just outside of the Laurel city limit. I don't know if I'm ready to ditch my DirecTV for it just yet, but it's interesting that the website says it's available here. I would have expected a phone call or a mailing from VZ to get my business, but maybe that will come soon.



A friend in Bowie and another in Clarksville both said Verizon literally paper-bombed them for installation. However, my experience was quite different. I got one of those generic envelopes that kind of looks like it came from a messenger service like Fedex or UPS or the Post Office that just said it was to the resident at my address. I almost threw it away but decided to see who had spent all this money to be non-descript.


Turned out it had a nice letter and two sheets of information (printed on high quality glossy paper) including the channel lineup. It said Verizon Fios was now available to be installed at my address.


The website still says no.


BTW, my sister is being installed in Bethesda next week.


----------



## ashutoshsm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> BTW, my sister is being *installed* in Bethesda next week.



Most people use the 'moved' verb or a conjugated variant thereof ... but whatever floats your boat!

post 5pm humor


----------



## CycloneGT

For Dish customers who don't read the other forums regularly. Dish has added A&E-HD today.


----------



## riffjim4069




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ashutoshsm* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Ohh, the spin machine in full blast ... 'innovative, reliable & competitive' !!!
> 
> 
> Does it also cure cancer?



No, but it does solve the problems with HD-Little, HD-Lite...


----------



## riffjim4069




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dneily* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I had an Encore Verizon technician at my house today to install FIOS TV. Unfortunately, I discontinued my FIOS Internet service two weeks ago, and just learned that I must have FIOS Internet to use FIOS TV !! This is unlike COMCAST cable, which has a "cafeteria plan" by which you can select cable internet or TV or both. It makes me wonder what people do if they have no computer or no desire for internet.



I wonder if Verizon will continue this practice...I hope not! Comcast (formerly Adelphia) recently announced there would be no increase for their 4Mb/384Kb HSI for cable customers in our area, however the price will be increased $17 (more than 39%) for those with Internet Only. Apparently they've decided to gouge the 95% of customers who cannot yet get FiOS, or have found better service with satellite, while they have the opportunity.


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> ...I see the price for the basic 200 channel service is $43 a month. What does the HD service and DVR add to that price? How much are the movie channels in HD?



Unlike other providers, Verizon doesn't charge extra for HD... but of course the HD STB costs more than an SD box.


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *attgig* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Anyone get discoveryhd? tnthd? am i alone from baltimore using comcast?



Discovery & TNT will almost always be encrypted. Once in a while they pop up in the clear on a scan, but don't last.


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> A friend in Bowie and another in Clarksville both said Verizon literally paper-bombed them for installation. However, my experience was quite different. I got one of those generic envelopes that kind of looks like it came from a messenger service like Fedex or UPS or the Post Office that just said it was to the resident at my address. I almost threw it away but decided to see who had spent all this money to be non-descript.
> 
> 
> Turned out it had a nice letter and two sheets of information (printed on high quality glossy paper) including the channel lineup. It said Verizon Fios was now available to be installed at my address.
> 
> 
> The website still says no.
> 
> 
> BTW, my sister is being installed in Bethesda next week.



We got a doorknob hanging saying FiOS was available a week or two after our initial installation... a couple more weeks went by and we started getting the FedEx envelopes, for what seemed like a month. I was tempted to call and say stop sending them, and take the cost of the mailing off of my monthly bill!


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmsjr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Unlike other providers, Verizon doesn't charge extra for HD... but of course the HD STB costs more than an SD box.



My biggest question is that I understand that the VZ FiOS DVR can be hooked up to multiple TVs, so you can run up to 3 TVs off of one DVR in your home which is appealing. But does that mean you can power two HDTVs off of one box or only a single HDTV and the other sets must be SD.


----------



## Sun Ra




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hoyty* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I don't have any problems with WBAL (that I have noticed). However I am curious what your antenna setup is? I have an 8-bay channel master on the roof and I can't really get any DC channels. I found this interesting since I could get Baltimore stations when I used to live in Alexandria.


 http://www.pcalchemy.com/product_inf.../hdtv-antennas 


this guy... WBAL seems to be doing better for now...


SunRa


----------



## MapMaker18




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmsjr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Discovery & TNT will almost always be encrypted. Once in a while they pop up in the clear on a scan, but don't last.



I can get TNT-HD (98.2) in the clear, but don't get Discovery. I guess it all depends on your location and jurisdication. What other channels can people get in the clear in Howard County?


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Comcast received a retransmission-consent extension to continue carrying Sinclair Broadcast Group TV stations until March 1, the end of the February sweep period.
> 
> 
> The nation's largest cable company, which is in the midst of negotiating a retransmission-consent deal with Sinclair, earlier this month sent out notices to subscribers in cities where it has out-of-market Sinclair stations that it might lose those signals as early as Feb. 5.
> 
> 
> Under Federal Communications Commission rules, Comcast couldn't drop Sinclair's stations in February, one of the sweeps periods when viewership is used to set ad rates.
> 
> 
> But Comcast subscribers who are considered out-of-market aren't covered by the FCC prohibition, which is why the cable operator would have been able to drop Sinclair's signals in those areas in February.
> 
> 
> But now Sinclair granted Comcast an extension to continue carrying all of its stations -- in-market and out-of-market -- until March 1


 http://multichannel.com/article/CA64...=Breaking+News 



Not sure if this affects HD for in-market stations.


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> http://multichannel.com/article/CA64...=Breaking+News
> 
> 
> 
> Not sure if this affects HD for in-market stations.



I would expect it covers all Sinclair channels.


GoIrish


----------



## bmfc1

Nats President Stan Kasten participated in a "chat" yesterday at Nationals.com. Here's the bad news about HD on MASN for this upcoming season:


natsrgr8: How are things going at MASN? Will there be any high def broadcasts in the future? I've read that the studios for MASN are in Baltimore. Will there be a D.C. presence for MASN?


Kasten:MASN is a very new business and is growing right alongside the Nats. There almost certainly will be high def in the future, but not in 2007. And whether or not the studios wind up being located in one place or another, you can count on a real and growing D.C. presence on the broadcasts and through all of the other programming.


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bmfc1* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Kasten:MASN is a very new business and is growing right alongside the Nats. There almost certainly will be high def in the future, but not in 2007. And whether or not the studios wind up being located in one place or another, you can count on a real and growing D.C. presence on the broadcasts and through all of the other programming.



Instead of hearing him hem and haw about whether they will or won't, it's nice to see him just come out and say, SORRY, not this year. Now, if for some miraculous reason they DO have some towards the end of the year, it's a bonus. I suspect they didn't want to even try since they can build a dedicted studio for HD at the new stadium.


Deez


----------



## zyvo23




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> http://multichannel.com/article/CA64...=Breaking+News
> 
> 
> 
> Not sure if this affects HD for in-market stations.



So theoretically, it could fall through and we could get channel 5 (DC) back in Howard County? that would be...AWESOME!


----------



## ahsan

Comcast Loudoun just added a new channel in their HD range. Channel 776 is now showing Versus but the content that I saw last night (a Survivor rerun) was not in HD. I am not that familiar with this channel but assume it will be showing some content in HD since its in their HD lineup (770s).


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Riley9208* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> This is a common problem with the HR10-250 software ver 6.3a. Keep forcing phone calls until your box updates to ver 6.3b, this cleared up all FOX audio drop outs for me so far. I can't explain the problem on your HR20



I just made a change in the audio data rate that might help this problem, but it's a good idea to update the software, too.


It turns out that FOX knows about the problem, and they gave me this audio data rate thing to try.


Mark


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zyvo23* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So theoretically, it could fall through and we could get channel 5 (DC) back in Howard County? that would be...AWESOME!



Geez - that only makes me feel a little bad. I'm sure that it's not because of the quality of the signal that I give you - it's just that you like the Redskins.


Mark


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ahsan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Comcast Loudoun just added a new channel in their HD range. Channel 776 is now showing Versus but the content that I saw last night (a Survivor rerun) was not in HD. I am not that familiar with this channel but assume it will be showing some content in HD since its in their HD lineup (770s).



That would be the Versus / Golf HD channel which will have NHL games and PGA golf events (Thursday, Fridays IIRC) in HD. Comcast owns or is a part owner of both the Versus and Golf channels so they started up this HD hybrid of the two channels. There are discussions on this recent start-up channel in the HDTV programming forum.


If I follow this, this would be the first added HD channel to Comcast Loudoun? As opposed to replacing HDNet, HDNetM & INHD2 with 3 other HD channels. But they still have not added Comcast Sportsnet HD?


BTW, Verizon FiosTV in Loudoun yesterday added to the info description for every single channel that is getting moved a notice of the new channel number for that channel effective February 20, 2007. I assume the February 20 dates applies to the Washington Metro line-up while other areas are getting moved on February 27. If the mailer was correct (ignoring the typo they had on sheet for Comcast Sportsnet Philadelphia), we should be getting Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic HD on Feb. 20th or soon thereafter. The word is that that other national HD channels will be added to FiosTv this quarter, so we may see them added soon after the channel re-shuffle is done.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zyvo23* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So theoretically, it could fall through and we could get channel 5 (DC) back in Howard County? that would be...AWESOME!



No chance of that here in Baltimore. No DC stations allowed.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ashutoshsm* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> That's the only one I'd recommend, too, and the only one I ever use.
> 
> 
> It is Tribune Media Services' official listings site, and is where all my TiVos (including the S3 HD TiVo, keeping thi post on topic) get their guide info, and it rocks!



I just noticed that they have the MPT HD schedule at 220 instead of 200. They had the 22-1 and 22-2 schedules reversed for a long time.


----------



## ahsan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> That would be the Versus / Golf HD channel which will have NHL games and PGA golf events (Thursday, Fridays IIRC) in HD. Comcast owns or is a part owner of both the Versus and Golf channels so they started up this HD hybrid of the two channels. There are discussions on this recent start-up channel in the HDTV programming forum.
> 
> 
> If I follow this, this would be the first added HD channel to Comcast Loudoun? As opposed to replacing HDNet, HDNetM & INHD2 with 3 other HD channels. But they still have not added Comcast Sportsnet HD?



Yes I too am surprised that they chose to add some other channel before their own property Comcast Sports Net HD. What gives? I first thought it was a capacity issue but with the addition of this new channel, it seems that is not the case. Why would they withhold CSN-HD? I can't speak for all, but isn't basketball more popular than hockey across the US, and especially in DC? Give me some Wizards and college basketball in HD!


----------



## ashutoshsm

I thought Comcast DOES, in fact, own VS/Golf, or at least a stake in the channel?


----------



## i5hawn

hmm my qam tuner isn't picking up comcast hd, espn or espn2 hd. tells me i'm not authorized. maybe comcast figured out how to block those high channels?


----------



## SJKurtzke

We knew that WRC's decision to delay HD would come back to hurt us...


NBC has announced that NBC Nightly News will go HD in March

They expect to have HD remotes phased in in 2008


WRC (NBC 4) delays the Nightly News broadcast until 7PM, most affiliates air it at 6:30, so...

They would need to have some kind of HD tape-delay equipment, which most affiliates that don't have a strong HD push don't have.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> My biggest question is that I understand that the VZ FiOS DVR can be hooked up to multiple TVs, so you can run up to 3 TVs off of one DVR in your home which is appealing. But does that mean you can power two HDTVs off of one box or only a single HDTV and the other sets must be SD.



Not multiple TVs but multiple SD STBs. You can connect whatever you want to the STBs. But as the STB name implies, for now, only SD material is available.


----------



## bullwinklehdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Deezul* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Instead of hearing him hem and haw about whether they will or won't, it's nice to see him just come out and say, SORRY, not this year. Now, if for some miraculous reason they DO have some towards the end of the year, it's a bonus. I suspect they didn't want to even try since they can build a dedicted studio for HD at the new stadium.
> 
> 
> Deez



Considering ESPN has broadcast Nats games in high definition from RFK, I don't think that's the problem - I don't think they have any cable or satellite providers who will carry MASN HD.


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bullwinklehdtv* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Considering ESPN has broadcast Nats games in high definition from RFK, I don't think that's the problem - I don't think they have any cable or satellite providers who will carry MASN HD.



I don't think that's the case. I believe it's more an economic decision on the part of MASN, not local interest.


GoIrish


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bullwinklehdtv* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Considering ESPN has broadcast Nats games in high definition from RFK, I don't think that's the problem - I don't think they have any cable or satellite providers who will carry MASN HD.



I think D* would jump and providing it if it were available in HD. Once the started rolling out their MPEG4 receivers, they started putting up the HD feeds of the regional sports networks.


Deezul


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> http://multichannel.com/article/CA64...=Breaking+News
> 
> 
> 
> Not sure if this affects HD for in-market stations.



We got a postcard from Comcast today, saying that if an agreement isn't reached by Monday, Anne Arundel will lose the HD feeds for WBFF FOX-HD and WNUV CW-HD (channels 213 & 214.) And if no agreement by 3/1, at that time we'll lose the SD channels (5 & 14.) But we'll continue to get WTTG on 75 and WTTG-HD on 255.


----------



## MapMaker18




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmsjr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> We got a postcard from Comcast today, saying that if an agreement isn't reached by Monday, Anne Arundel will lose the HD feeds for WBFF FOX-HD and WNUV CW-HD (channels 213 & 214.) And if no agreement by 3/1, at that time we'll lose the SD channels (5 & 14.) But we'll continue to get WTTG on 75 and WTTG-HD on 255.



We got the same postcard for Howard County yesterday. We'll just see what happens...


----------



## mikemikeb

 http://www.baltimoresun.com/business...home-headlines 


The Sun clarifies that the Comcast-Sinclair extention applies to both SD and HD retransmissions.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WRC (NBC 4) delays the Nightly News broadcast until 7PM, most affiliates air it at 6:30, so...
> 
> They would need to have some kind of HD tape-delay equipment, which most affiliates that don't have a strong HD push don't have.



To be frank, I don't know why Nightly News will be going HD so soon. I can understand March of '08, complete with HD field cams, but not this. With the current cost of HD equipment, and semi-lack of HD hookups, there's not much financial gain to be had by doing this now, if any, especially with NBC's ratings lead that has no end in sight.


So, don't be surprised if Nightly News stays SD in DC. BUT -- since WRC is owned by NBC, who knows if they'll pay for the tape-delay equipment? Maybe orders will come to trim the 6 PM news to 6:30 and do a 7 PM newscast to make up for it. But again, how will this benefit HD viewers over SD viewers, and vice versa? Will top brass care either way?


----------



## attgig




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *i5hawn* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> hmm my qam tuner isn't picking up comcast hd, espn or espn2 hd. tells me i'm not authorized. maybe comcast figured out how to block those high channels?



Yeah, just got scrambled yesterday :-(


----------



## jcorwin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> To be frank, I don't know why Nightly News will be going HD so soon. I can understand March of '08, complete with HD field cams, but not this. With the current cost of HD equipment, and semi-lack of HD hookups, there's not much financial gain to be had by doing this now, if any, especially with NBC's ratings lead that has no end in sight.
> 
> 
> So, don't be surprised if Nightly News stays SD in DC. BUT -- since WRC is owned by NBC, who knows if they'll pay for the tape-delay equipment? Maybe orders will come to trim the 6 PM news to 6:30 and do a 7 PM newscast to make up for it. But again, how will this benefit HD viewers over SD viewers, and vice versa? Will top brass care either way?




It's not a tape delay at 7:00 by the local station. The network does 2 feeds of the show, at 6:30 and 7. Unless there's something to update, the 7:00 feed is usually a tape, but it's from the network.


----------



## JoeInNVa

*Golf/VS HD is on channel 254 of Comcast Alexandria/Arlington*


----------



## i5hawn




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *attgig* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yeah, just got scrambled yesterday :-(



looks like its time to get the hd cablecard for me


----------



## MapMaker18




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *i5hawn* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> looks like its time to get the hd cablecard for me



what area are u in? i'm still able to get a lot of channels through QAM.


----------



## Red Dog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Golf/VS HD is on channel 254 of Comcast Alexandria/Arlington




Yeah, that was a surprise. Does it actually air anything in HD? I suppose hockey games at night?


----------



## mdviewer25

Why isn't North Carolina vs. NC State in HD on WMAR or WJLA?


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Red Dog* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yeah, that was a surprise. Does it actually air anything in HD? I suppose hockey games at night?



It had golf last night when I noticed it. There will also be the VS Games of the week in HD. Normally Monday or Tuesday or both.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Why isn't North Carolina vs. NC State in HD on WMAR or WJLA?



Not sure, was it supposed to be? Not a lot of ABC College games are in HD.


----------



## rustycruiser




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *HankV* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hank Volpe
> 
> Director of Engineering
> 
> WBAL-TV/WBAL-DT /WBAL-AM/WIYY-FM/HD
> 
> Baltimore MD



Hank,

Welcome to the thread.


With that said, can you please stop stretching SD content on WBAL-DT? It really stinks. Also, is there a timeline for WBAL switching to 5.1 sound?

Thanks


Ross


----------



## rustycruiser




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *attgig* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yeah, just got scrambled yesterday :-(



Took them long enough. I have been enjoying ESPNHD and ESPN2HD through QAM for over two months. I have two 6412s downstairs, it was just nice to have them available in my bedroom.


Oh well


----------



## guadalupegrande4




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *subwoofer* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I know I've posted this question before but I want to get a fresh answer:
> 
> 
> What website do you use to know what HD content is available on TV? I use: http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/01/28...nuary-28-2007/




Like MrMike6by9, I use TitanTV.

I had actually been using tv.yahoo.com until they upgraded their site and required cookies/logins (and I had previously used tvguide.com until they did the same).


Not that they separated HD listings, and I was looking more for specific shows rather than if it was in HD or not.


I specifically like TitanTV because, unlike all the rest, it doesn't ask for cable or service provider, it seems to just do OTA (which is all I have).

Plus, it color codes each show, and easily shows wether a show is HD or not (and includes an option to ONLY show HD). What more could you want?


----------



## guadalupegrande4




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rustycruiser* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hank,
> 
> Welcome to the thread.
> 
> 
> With that said, can you please stop stretching SD content on WBAL-DT? It really stinks. Also, is there a timeline for WBAL switching to 5.1 sound?
> 
> Thanks
> 
> 
> Ross



I concur.


(Hi Hank).



As for the stretch-o-vision, it irks me enough that I will avidly avoid WBAL unless its an HD show now. I'll even avoid commercials because often they'll be stretched out of proportion too.

Its odd watchign a weight loss commercial stretched out. You think "Gee, she sure doesn't LOOK like she lost weight!"










Thanks again though for the info about the PSIP software and hardware hiccups.


----------



## MrMike6by9




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *guadalupegrande4* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Like MrMike6by9, I use TitanTV.
> 
> I had actually been using tv.yahoo.com until they upgraded their site and required cookies/logins (and I had previously used tvguide.com until they did the same).
> 
> 
> Not that they separated HD listings, and I was looking more for specific shows rather than if it was in HD or not.
> 
> 
> I specifically like TitanTV because, unlike all the rest, it doesn't ask for cable or service provider, it seems to just do OTA (which is all I have).
> 
> Plus, it color codes each show, and easily shows wether a show is HD or not (and includes an option to ONLY show HD). What more could you want?



Correction

When you set up your account on TitanTV, you can specify your cable provider, DBS provider, and OTA. I had it set up for all 3, a page tab for each, until I dropped D*. I've also seen, but haven't used, the shortcut to only show the upcoming HD fare.


YMMV


----------



## mnestheus

Two questions here:


1. Has anyone figured out how to view FiOS TV on their PC? I ask because with my ATI video card, I have been able to use the PVR function with cableTV to my satifaction. I'm not looking for anything too fancy, just watch and record FiOS TV on my PC in addition to in the livingroom (using VZ's DVR). While VZ's FiOS installation in my building (one of the first large MDUs in Arlington (Clarendon) to get it) stumbles toward completion, I'm wondering how I might get TV service in my bedroom without having to use yet another, space-wasting box.


I know that ATI also makes a standalone interface for digital cable: http://ati.amd.com/products/tvwonderdigital/index.html . My preference is for the video card to be able to do this...


2. Are their any others in large condo/apartment complexes who are getting FiOS installed? If so, how has the install gone? I'm going to be firing off a letter to VZ about how sloppily things have gone here. The main beef that many in this area seem to have is that ComCast offers poor service. From what I've seen with VZ in this FiOS fiasco, switching with the expectation of better service from them would be a huge mistake!


Thanks in advance for any input here!


----------



## pennstatefan

Is the broadcast of Veronica Mars on 54-1 WNUV supposed to be in HD today? My Dish 622 PVR box appears to be showing it with Grey bars on the sides. Picture looks good, just not in widescreen format. Since the original broadcast was bumped for a basketball game, it re-scheduled the recording for today.


----------



## nelsona

Is anyone else having problems with CBS's OTA HD? Normally I have a rock solid signal in the 90's, but today its all over the place with the picture cutting in and out.


----------



## Ad-Rok




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nelsona* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is anyone else having problems with CBS's OTA HD? Normally I have a rock solid signal in the 90's, but today its all over the place with the picture cutting in and out.



Yes, I am actually, and it's frustrating as heck! I want my superbowl!


Question: does anyone know what channel WUSA-9 (HD) is on Comcast digital cable rebroadcast? I need an alternate for the OTA broadcast, and it's not coming through on physical channel 9-1.


Using the MyHD MDP-130. Help appreciated!


Thanks much,

Adam


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nelsona* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is anyone else having problems with CBS's OTA HD? Normally I have a rock solid signal in the 90's, but today its all over the place with the picture cutting in and out.



Which CBS station? WUSA-DT 9 or WJZ-DT 13? I checked the OTA signal for WUSA 9 and oddly enough, the signal is a bit weaker than normal from Sterling, but steady. WJZ-DT 13 signal strength looks normal signal strength.


----------



## bigtyme




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ad-Rok* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yes, I am actually, and it's frustrating as heck! I want my superbowl!
> 
> 
> Question: does anyone know what channel WUSA-9 (HD) is on Comcast digital cable rebroadcast? I need an alternate for the OTA broadcast, and it's not coming through on physical channel 9-1.
> 
> 
> Using the MyHD MDP-130. Help appreciated!
> 
> 
> Thanks much,
> 
> Adam



i think channel 212 might be what your looking for


----------



## Onazuka




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nelsona* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is anyone else having problems with CBS's OTA HD? Normally I have a rock solid signal in the 90's, but today its all over the place with the picture cutting in and out.



I'm normally in the 90s but I can't watch the super bowl because it's so bad. I had the same problem last weekend with 9-1 too.


----------



## wkearney99

Apparently the way MCE2005 gets guide data won't let it show listings for local OTA ATSC subchannels. Things like WETA-2 through -4 don't have any guide listing data. Supposedly it's a throwback to the days when there wasn't ATSC data, regardless, it's not there now and I'd like to find a way to get it.


Anyone out there in the DC area have MCE setup for OTA digital channels and have a way to get WETA guide data loaded for it?


----------



## bornyank1

I wasn't able to get anything except channels 26 and 50 before with the Silver Sensor. I tried several times. Now tonight I tried, on the off chance that my luck changed, and it did. I'm watching the Superbowl on WJZ-DT 13 in perfect 1080i. Did they boost the signal strength for the game or something?


----------



## nelsona




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Which CBS station? WUSA-DT 9 or WJZ-DT 13? I checked the OTA signal for WUSA 9 and oddly enough, the signal is a bit weaker than normal from Sterling, but steady. WJZ-DT 13 signal strength looks normal signal strength.



WUSA-DT 9. Whatever the problem was, it was fixed before the game, as it has been a rock solid signal the whole game. Thought my superbowl party was gonna be a bust there for a while.


----------



## Ad-Rok




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nelsona* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WUSA-DT 9. Whatever the problem was, it was fixed before the game, as it has been a rock solid signal the whole game. Thought my superbowl party was gonna be a bust there for a while.



Likewise. WUSA techs must have cleaned up / boosted the OTA signal immediately before the game, because things were perfect for the remainder of the broadcast for my superbowl party. I was one scared host for a while, but WUSA came through. Got some big "oohs and ahs" from the first-time HD, first-time front projection crowd I had over. Always satisfying for us AVSers to see our work appreciated, eh? 


Cheers,

Adam


----------



## aaronwt

Did anyone see the ad for the WUSA news? They were touting how it was in HD but the commercial was only SD on a very big HD broadcast. It made no sense to have it in SD when even most of the commercials were in HD. This is much better than 5 years ago. Although I guess in 2002 it was actually broadcast in 480P(Fox crappy widescreen 480P) while in 2001 it was 1080i.


----------



## i5hawn




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MapMaker18* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> what area are u in? i'm still able to get a lot of channels through QAM.



Baltimore City, Downtown to be exact. I still get all the OTA HD channels, and some PPV and digital channels but ESPN, ESPN2 and CSN HD are all gone


----------



## MapMaker18




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *i5hawn* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Baltimore City, Downtown to be exact. I still get all the OTA HD channels, and some PPV and digital channels but ESPN, ESPN2 and CSN HD are all gone



Oh ok. That happened to me the other day, but I did a rescan and found them on a different channel. Doesn't hurt to try and do a rescan ever so often, maybe they will come back.


----------



## zman8

I just got the Samsung DTB-H260F.


Well I got my Comcast Cable installed this weekend and connected it to my Samsung. I did the auto-discover of channels, and while it found some, it did not find any of my "basic cable" stations like SciFi and MTV and ESPN regular.


It only gives me a couple of the stations properly (NBC, CBS, ABC) and none of the guide functions.


Anyone know why this is, or what I need to do to get these channels? Or does the box just not find them?


----------



## riffjim4069




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zman8* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I just got the Samsung DTB-H260F.
> 
> 
> Well I got my Comcast Cable installed this weekend and connected it to my Samsung. I did the auto-discover of channels, and while it found some, it did not find any of my "basic cable" stations like SciFi and MTV and ESPN regular.
> 
> 
> It only gives me a couple of the stations properly (NBC, CBS, ABC) and none of the guide functions.
> 
> 
> Anyone know why this is, or what I need to do to get these channels? Or does the box just not find them?



I am not sure since most cable favorites are analog and should be picked up during scan. Has you Comcast recently migrated to an "all digital" system? If so, only your local broadcasters (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC) are typically in-the-clear. I sure wish our local Comcast (formly Adelphia) would migrate to ADS here in the Fredericksburg area.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zman8* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I did the auto-discover of channels, and while it found some, it did not find any of my "basic cable" stations like SciFi and MTV and ESPN regular.
> 
> 
> It only gives me a couple of the stations properly (NBC, CBS, ABC) and none of the guide functions.
> 
> 
> Anyone know why this is, or what I need to do to get these channels? Or does the box just not find them?



You might think those are "basic cable" but Comcast doesn't share that view. It's unlikely you'll ever get those in clear QAM. You'll only get the locals in clear QAM.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pennstatefan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is the broadcast of Veronica Mars on 54-1 WNUV supposed to be in HD today? My Dish 622 PVR box appears to be showing it with Grey bars on the sides. Picture looks good, just not in widescreen format. Since the original broadcast was bumped for a basketball game, it re-scheduled the recording for today.



If we have to time-shift a program out of prime-time, it won't be in HD. We currently have no way to record or play back an HD program.


Mark


----------



## jhillard

Did anybody else have any problems with the Super Bowl OTA? I kept having the picture freeze for a few seconds at a time. The signal meter would go from 93% to below 49% when this occured. It would happen in cycles, and then disappear for 10 or 15 minutes. It almost seemed like a wind-related problem, but it was not blowing at our house when this happened.


Same problem on both Channel 9-1 and 13-1. And the problem occured on two TV's hooked to two separate tuners (albeit the same model tuner). Same antenna feed for both.


I am guessing it is a problem with the antenna and I will need to call Fairfax antenna back again. Of course it never happened while watching 9-1 in the days leading up to the game, or even during the pre-game show.


Any thoughts? I am located in Falls Church.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zman8* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I just got the Samsung DTB-H260F.
> 
> 
> Well I got my Comcast Cable installed this weekend and connected it to my Samsung. I did the auto-discover of channels, and while it found some, it did not find any of my "basic cable" stations like SciFi and MTV and ESPN regular.
> 
> 
> It only gives me a couple of the stations properly (NBC, CBS, ABC) and none of the guide functions.
> 
> 
> Anyone know why this is, or what I need to do to get these channels? Or does the box just not find them?



The Samsung DTB-H260F is a digital only ATSC receiver which can also receive unscrambled digital QAM cable channels. All of those basic channels are either analog or scrambled on the digital simulcast. The H260F has no analog tuning capability. The DTB-H260F is specifically sold as a ATSC OTA receiver which has a throw-in capability for QAM. It is not a cable box.


If you want to get all the basic cable channels, you need a cable ready TV or analog tuner or if you want the digital channels beyond the local broadcast stations, a cable STB or a TV / STB with cable card capability.


----------



## dneily

For about a week, the schedule on the WETA website for HD programming has shown only about 3 or 4 programs per day.


I would inquire by e-mail to them, but they have not responded to my e-mails.


----------



## JoeInNVa

*Comcast of Alexandria/Arlington will begin Airing National Geographic HD on February 28. It will air on Channel 224.*


----------



## yekim54




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jhillard* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Did anybody else have any problems with the Super Bowl OTA? I kept having the picture freeze for a few seconds at a time. The signal meter would go from 93% to below 49% when this occured. It would happen in cycles, and then disappear for 10 or 15 minutes. It almost seemed like a wind-related problem, but it was not blowing at our house when this happened.
> 
> 
> Same problem on both Channel 9-1 and 13-1. And the problem occured on two TV's hooked to two separate tuners (albeit the same model tuner). Same antenna feed for both.
> 
> 
> I am guessing it is a problem with the antenna and I will need to call Fairfax antenna back again. Of course it never happened while watching 9-1 in the days leading up to the game, or even during the pre-game show.
> 
> 
> Any thoughts? I am located in Falls Church.



The wind was gusting to 30+ mph at my place in Vienna during the Super Bowl, so I'm pretty sure it would have been similar conditions near your house. I had some occasional minor dropouts during the wind gusts, but they only lasted a second or two on 9-1 via OTA.


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Did anyone see the ad for the WUSA news? They were touting how it was in HD but the commercial was only SD on a very big HD broadcast. It made no sense to have it in SD when even most of the commercials were in HD. This is much better than 5 years ago. Although I guess in 2002 it was actually broadcast in 480P(Fox crappy widescreen 480P) while in 2001 it was 1080i.



They just did a "Tonight at 11" promo in HD on their 7PM newscast, and I think it's the one that will air throughout the night, but we'll see.


I think they've been trying to get these in HD for a while, but something has been preventing them from doing so. (They tried squeezing a 16:9 image into the 4:3 frame for one of the promos last week)


----------



## iontyre

WBAL seems to be broadcasting in stretched SD, or else its compressed real bad. Heroes looks like crap (Comcast Harford County)


----------



## Theauwolf

What the heck is wrong with NBC HD out of Baltimore. Heroes is completely un-watchable in Howard County. Wind maybe?


----------



## Humnahey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *iontyre* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WBAL seems to be broadcasting in stretched SD, or else its compressed real bad. Heroes looks like crap (Comcast Harford County)



Watching it OTA. Definetly stretched SD on WBAL


Edit- Fixed now!


----------



## dustdevil

Like previous posters, I am also having trouble with WUSA-DT. The SB was unwatchable last night, and I'm still having problems tonight.


The odd thing is that all other OTA channels are coming in rock solid, while WUSA fluctuates between 10-70%.


----------



## sullidc

Did anybody else have any problems with the Super Bowl OTA? I kept having the picture freeze for a few seconds at a time. The signal meter would go from 93% to below 49% when this occured. It would happen in cycles, and then disappear for 10 or 15 minutes. It almost seemed like a wind-related problem, but it was not blowing at our house when this happened.




I had OTA problems with the Super Bowl all evening. Maddening! My house isfour blocks from the transmitter. It wasn't wind related since none of my other channels had a problem.


----------



## mikepinkerton

I'd say the wind (though I'm on D*). When I was on OTA, wind would wreck havoc with the signal.


-Mike


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dustdevil* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Like previous posters, I am also having trouble with WUSA-DT. The SB was unwatchable last night, and I'm still having problems tonight.
> 
> 
> The odd thing is that all other OTA channels are coming in rock solid, while WUSA fluctuates between 10-70%.



I'm also seeing a weak signal for WUSA-DT 9. All the other stations are ok, but WUSA-DT is constantly breaking up. I think they must be having a broadcast problem on the digital signal tonight.


----------



## ashutoshsm

With an indoor Terk Silver Sensor clone antenna in(side) a window facing in the general direction of DC, WAY out west of Dulles Aiport, I hosted a succesful and flawless OTA-viewed SuperBowl Party










The difference (other than non-susceptibility to wind) in my setup, compared to most you folks'? The glorious Series3 TiVo. Yes, the KoolAid is good, and my guests absolutely loved it too










Jokes aside, they definitely put a rock-solid OTA tuner in this baby. Good job, TiVo!


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Humnahey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Watching it OTA. Definetly stretched SD on WBAL
> 
> 
> Edit- Fixed now!



I was going to time shift it (on Comcast), but luckily I saw the beginning and was able to switch to WRC (OTA).


----------



## jimrobinette

I saw a similar ad last night where they squeezed a 16X9 to 4X3. Even the wife thought it looked funny. And during the SB, my buddy and I were both perplexed that they would show an ad for their news in SD. Doesn't make sense, so I suspect they had some kind of problem.


Jim



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> They just did a "Tonight at 11" promo in HD on their 7PM newscast, and I think it's the one that will air throughout the night, but we'll see.
> 
> 
> I think they've been trying to get these in HD for a while, but something has been preventing them from doing so. (They tried squeezing a 16:9 image into the 4:3 frame for one of the promos last week)


----------



## rosh400




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dneily* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I had an Encore Verizon technician at my house today to install FIOS TV. Unfortunately, I discontinued my FIOS Internet service two weeks ago, and just learned that I must have FIOS Internet to use FIOS TV !! This is unlike COMCAST cable, which has a "cafeteria plan" by which you can select cable internet or TV or both. It makes me wonder what people do if they have no computer or no desire for internet.
> 
> 
> So I have put in a new order to resume FIOS internet, which will take two days to "flip the switch." Then I'll need to request that a technician return to complete the FIOS TV installation.



I'm not sure that the tech was correct. I think you can have TV without internet.


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rosh400* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I'm not sure that the tech was correct. I think you can have TV without internet.



The FiOS TV service is based on IPTV (Internet Protocol TV), where your STBs are basically IP addressable, so it makes sense that an Internet router would be needed for TV. But, I was under the impression that FiOS TV would provide the router whether or not you were actually subscribing to FiOS Internet.


----------



## biker19

Only the VOD portion of FIOS is IP based. But, yeah, I don't see why one couldn't have the TV service without the IP service. And with MOCA built into the new ONT you wouldn't even need the router.


----------



## CycloneGT

Yeah, the TV portion of FiOS is still DOCIS like the CableTV, only its delivered via Fiber rather than COAX.


----------



## tonyd79

Problems with INHD and MHD on Comcast Howard County. All other channels are okay. Big time breakup/meltdown.


----------



## wkearney99

Also bear in mind the issues of bandwidth. If you're not on one of their own networks there are a whole host of delays that can disrupt the service. Higher bandwidth applications like video will certainly benefit from being delivered through a controlled network. Both from a performance and a reliability standpoint. Unfortunately that also means getting stuck with Verizon's draconian restrictions against using your IP connection the way you choose.


If having FiosTV requires having Verizon internet we will NOT make the switch. That and several of our friends have left Verizon's DSL services (going to speakeasy) because they're had absolutely HORRIBLE support experiences from Verizon.


Verizon's just not a company worth trusting if you want actual choice, good service and reasonable treatment.


----------



## Newmie




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wkearney99* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Verizon's just not a company worth trusting if you want actual choice, good service and reasonable treatment.



I'd have to disagree with that. Before verizon I had no choice in high speed internet or cable TV. It was either COX or Comcast depending on which part of Va I was in. Having been vary disappointed with both C. & C. basic bandwidth speeds and over all Cust. service (COX being the worst) I'm SO thankful for the option to choice Verizon.


The install went Perfect for once. My bandwidth speed is double that of COX for less $$. I also get a HD DVR box for the same price I was paying COX without one.


With all that said its nice just having one bill for the above and phone.

IMHO- Verizon may not be perfect but its better then the other cable options available in Va.


----------



## rosh400




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wkearney99* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Also bear in mind the issues of bandwidth. If you're not on one of their own networks there are a whole host of delays that can disrupt the service. Higher bandwidth applications like video will certainly benefit from being delivered through a controlled network. Both from a performance and a reliability standpoint. Unfortunately that also means getting stuck with Verizon's draconian restrictions against using your IP connection the way you choose.
> 
> 
> If having FiosTV requires having Verizon internet we will NOT make the switch. That and several of our friends have left Verizon's DSL services (going to speakeasy) because they're had absolutely HORRIBLE support experiences from Verizon.
> 
> 
> Verizon's just not a company worth trusting if you want actual choice, good service and reasonable treatment.




I know this is a TV not an internet thread but I think it is important to respond. FIOS Internet and DSL are completely separate animals. We've had FIOS internet service for 14 months and haven't needed to deal with support because we've never had a single problem. This is completely different from our previous experience with Comcast which varied between bad and acceptable and dialup before that. We have the 15/2 internet service and using the speakeasy speed test we are routinely at 15.2 down and 1.8 up.


I would doubt that VZ requires FIOS internet to have FIOS TV but I think you would be pleased with FIOS internet service.


----------



## ashutoshsm

wkearney, with FiOS, and ALL that unused bandwidth, VZ seems to have dropped all their draconian restrictions of the past.


I doubt even port 80/21 etc are blocked/disallowed! Run a web server. They don't care. Yet!


----------



## sgtjim




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The Samsung DTB-H260F is a digital only ATSC receiver which can also receive unscrambled digital QAM cable channels. All of those basic channels are either analog or scrambled on the digital simulcast. The H260F has no analog tuning capability. The DTB-H260F is specifically sold as a ATSC OTA receiver which has a throw-in capability for QAM. It is not a cable box.
> 
> 
> If you want to get all the basic cable channels, you need a cable ready TV or analog tuner or if you want the digital channels beyond the local broadcast stations, a cable STB or a TV / STB with cable card capability.



C


I believe you previously answered a question of mine wherein I wondered why I was unable to tune in the Comcast Music Channels with the Samsung when several neighbors that have integrated ATSC/QAM/NTSC tuners are able to receive the music channels. I believe you stated it was because the cable Co uses a filter on my cable line.

Could it be because the Samsung does not have an NTSC tuner? The music channels are in the channel 107 range which I guess is for digital channels. As all of the neighbors and myself are on the same cable run[There are several boxes along the route which could indeed have a filter) I just think there is another answer and the only way I could know for sure is to connect an integrated tv with QAM tuning.

Thanks for your thoughts.


----------



## SJKurtzke

9 is now running a promo advertiesing HDTV...in SD.









I guess they're also adopting more CBS mandates...they're using "We are" before everything ("We are CBS" was the slogan put on the promotional material at the 2006-2007 upfronts)


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wkearney99* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Verizon's just not a company worth trusting if you want actual choice, good service and reasonable treatment.



Compared to Comcast, that loses most of its thrust. At least in my experience anyway, down here in former Adelphia territory. Now, if we're talking in comparison to Cox, you may have a point. I hear nothing but good things about Cox and I have had a few hiccups with Verizon customer support since I switched to FiOS.


Anyway, as has been stated in this thread, Verizon FiOS and Verizon DSL are completely separate services. FiOS Internet is like cable broadband on crack.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Problems with INHD and MHD on Comcast Howard County. All other channels are okay. Big time breakup/meltdown.



No one else having this problem in Howard County? Or elsewhere?


I an loathe to deal with Comcast because they always assume every problem is at the customer end and don't bother checking for a systemic problem. And their solution is always to send out a repairman.


----------



## cfkillers

i get the same problem for comcast in prince georges county. i get it late night early morning. i get it on discovery hd inhd mhd and espn2hd. my screen gets real pixelated and no sound. i called comcast and they reset box and it cleared up but started 5 min later. i think im get a new hd dvr box but i still havent watched all my recordings


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> No one else having this problem in Howard County? Or elsewhere?
> 
> 
> I an loathe to deal with Comcast because they always assume every problem is at the customer end and don't bother checking for a systemic problem. And their solution is always to send out a repairman.



That's because they usually are at the customer end.


GoIrish


----------



## Marcus Carr

FiOS Construction Locations Feb 1st thru Feb 28th



Anne Arundel County Schedule:

http://www22.verizon.com/about/commu...acountyfeb.doc 


Baltimore County Schedule:

http://www22.verizon.com/about/commu...es/bacofeb.doc 


Howard County Schedule:

http://www22.verizon.com/about/commu...les/hcofeb.doc 


Montgomery County Schedule:

http://www22.verizon.com/about/commu...es/mocofeb.doc 


Prince George's County Schedule:

http://www22.verizon.com/about/commu...es/pgcofeb.doc


----------



## aaronwt

 FIOS construction in VA(FEB2007) 

Verizon Virginia Community Page


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *sgtjim* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> C
> 
> 
> I believe you previously answered a question of mine wherein I wondered why I was unable to tune in the Comcast Music Channels with the Samsung when several neighbors that have integrated ATSC/QAM/NTSC tuners are able to receive the music channels. I believe you stated it was because the cable Co uses a filter on my cable line.
> 
> Could it be because the Samsung does not have an NTSC tuner? The music channels are in the channel 107 range which I guess is for digital channels. As all of the neighbors and myself are on the same cable run[There are several boxes along the route which could indeed have a filter) I just think there is another answer and the only way I could know for sure is to connect an integrated tv with QAM tuning.
> 
> Thanks for your thoughts.



There is another possible explanation. I know that Channel 107(Music channel) is using QAM (64) while most clear digital channels use QAM (256). It is possible that the Samsung tuner is not capable of decoding QAM (64). I use an LG LST-4200A which provides a good signal from Channel 107, as well as from all the other clear digital channels from Comcast Basic.


----------



## pablopbb

I too am in Elkridge/Howard County, but have never seen TNT HD or Discovery HD in the clear. I only get a PBS, CBS, ABC, NBC and the Comcast Sports Net in HD (I get more digital channels, but they are SD, not HD). Recently, I rescanned, and now the channel assignments are somewhat garbled (PBS is showing up at 13-2 or 13-1, can't remember which one... but it definitely shouldn't be, and now CBS HD is missing. And, I started miraculously getting Fox HD at 45-2 (I only got Fox HD via OTA before)).


Anyways, other than ComcastSportsNet HD, I've never gotten anything other than the local OTAs (and even then, FOX HD hasn't typically been on my Comcast feed as unencrypted).


I have a Vizio VX37L set with NTSC/ ATSC/ QAM tuner built-in.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GoIrish* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> That's because they usually are at the customer end.
> 
> 
> GoIrish



That is a pretty bad generalization. If they research the problem and find no issue, then it is at my end. You don't just ASSUME and cause a customer to sit out work to fix a problem that may or may not have a systemic cause.


But noooooo, Comcast just says, "We'll send out a tech." No checking to see if there is an issue on their end. Just knee-jerk.


Just like your unhelpful answer to my question.


What would cause two stations on MY box to go bad without a general fault?


----------



## Hoopnoop

I have a question about getting FIOS channels in the clear. I recently cancelled the FIOS TV service and now only get OTA along with FIOS internet. I tried to see which FIOS channels I could get through QAM but was unable to get any through my old cable line. Can I get the FIOS channels in the clear if I only get their internet service? If so, how do I do this?


thanks in advance for any help


----------



## wagsgt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *HDDAVID* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hello Hoyty..Do you have D* where you live? If so, how has your experience been with them? Currently i live in Columbia, but will be moving to Parkville in a few months,and already purchased the D* HR-20 HD DVR. I'm just waiting to move before I hook everything up.
> 
> Right now I have Comcast and get all the DC and Baltimore locals, but only the Baltimore locals in HD



When I lived in Crofton,MD. I also recived both Balt and DC channels. Now in Frederick with crappy Adelphia for now, hoping more HD channels will come soon.


----------



## Devin Clancy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Hoopnoop* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I have a question about getting FIOS channels in the clear. I recently cancelled the FIOS TV service and now only get OTA along with FIOS internet. I tried to see which FIOS channels I could get through QAM but was unable to get any through my old cable line. Can I get the FIOS channels in the clear if I only get their internet service? If so, how do I do this?
> 
> 
> thanks in advance for any help



No, you have to actually pay for them.


Unlike analog cable, Fios can be shut off at the software level without cutting the cable.


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> That is a pretty bad generalization. If they research the problem and find no issue, then it is at my end. You don't just ASSUME and cause a customer to sit out work to fix a problem that may or may not have a systemic cause.
> 
> 
> But noooooo, Comcast just says, "We'll send out a tech." No checking to see if there is an issue on their end. Just knee-jerk.
> 
> 
> Just like your unhelpful answer to my question.
> 
> 
> What would cause two stations on MY box to go bad without a general fault?



An RF issue in your home, a bad box, ingress from a neighbor, a bad splitter. Those are some examples of what can be wrong.


My qualified generalization is based on experience and information.


You asked the general population of AVSForum if they have a problem such as yours. I didn't see any responses from any other Howard County customers affirming your same issue even though though there are many members from Howard County on this forum regularly. I get the same SA feed in Harford County and I have no problems.


To be a common problem affecting all customers as you want to infer, you don't think they would have repaired it ? Perhaps all the other customers in Howard County that have this issue sought the advice and counsel of people on the internet as well, rather than simply call the cable company. That could explain why they all have a problem and the company doesn't know about it and fixed it.


When I say that these types of issues are usually at the customer end it's because on a vast percentage basis they are. Yours certainly could be the exception to the rule, but we won't know that until you call the company for a service call.


GoIrish


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> That is a pretty bad generalization. If they research the problem and find no issue, then it is at my end. You don't just ASSUME and cause a customer to sit out work to fix a problem that may or may not have a systemic cause.
> 
> 
> But noooooo, Comcast just says, "We'll send out a tech." No checking to see if there is an issue on their end. Just knee-jerk.
> 
> 
> Just like your unhelpful answer to my question.
> 
> 
> What would cause two stations on MY box to go bad without a general fault?



I kept losing UHD and could not figure out why. I had it fine on one TV but the other it would show up for a few seconds then be gone for a while...I thought about calling Comcast to figure it out, but figured I needed to check something out...Guess what? The connector to the back of my box was a little loose. I tightened it up and BAM guess what I saw? Yup, UHD...


So, yes it can be at your end...And if there was an issue on their end, don't you think there would be more than 1 person calling in?


----------



## hoyty

First I wanted to post a more general link to Verizon's Maryland Construction page as a follow-up to Marcus Carr's post. Second according to a story in the Sun about the progress Verizon is making in Baltimore County. Lastly, can someone more familiar with the area tell me if the construction plans for Balt Co are anywhere near the Harford Rd / Parkville area? I am hoping to get FIOS sooner than later.


----------



## bornyank1

Hey all, Georgetown OTA HD guy again here...I just got a loop antenna, as many of you suggested. This is the model I got: http://www.amazon.com/RCA-ANT120-Ind...826271-6082209 .


My question is, what position should I turn the UHF/VHF knob on the top to get the best reception? Thanks.


----------



## hokiefan

I want to burn JP/Raycom sports / wdca to the ground. How the F is the duke unc game blacked out in the DC area? In fact, I'm really in the BALTIMORE market. These media rules are GODDAMN RIDUCLOUS.


----------



## Onazuka




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hokiefan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I want to burn JP/Raycom sports / wdca to the ground. How the F is the duke unc game blacked out in the DC area? In fact, I'm really in the BALTIMORE market. These media rules are GODDAMN RIDUCLOUS.



And don't get me started on JP/Raycom Sports not broadcasting the ACC Basketball Tournament in HD and blacking out ESPN who does show it in HD so I have to watch it in SD from them !


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bornyank1* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hey all, Georgetown OTA HD guy again here...I just got a loop antenna, as many of you suggested. This is the model I got: http://www.amazon.com/RCA-ANT120-Ind...826271-6082209 .
> 
> 
> My question is, what position should I turn the UHF/VHF knob on the top to get the best reception? Thanks.



Put the antenna in or close to the window with the open face of the loop facing out the window for starters. Set the "fine-tuning" knob to a middle position and don't worry about it too much although you could try a couple of settings for it.


----------



## wkearney99

I've had great success this past week setting up a Winegard SS-1000 Square Shooter mounted on a tripod inside my attic.


I've noticed the ATSC tuner in the Pioneer Pro-1140HD picks up quite a few stations. The HDHomerun networked tuner feeing a Media Center 2005 PC gets the same ones at just about the same signal strength. The tuners in the DirecTV HR10-250 comes nowhere near as close and just barely gets the same signals. I get 4,5,7,9,14,26 and 50 ATSC stations reasonably well. I'm in zip 20817 and apparently being 'close' to the transmitters is worse than a little farther away.


Once the weather warms up a bit I'm going to try moving the antenna outside of the attic to see if that improves reception. It's a 1950's house with an asphalt shingled roof that's not very steep (about 10yrs old The local stations are between bearings of 130 to 150 degrees. Baltimore stations are closer to about 20 degrees and that's outside the pickup of the SS-1000. I don't expect moving outside the attic will improve that. But hopefully it'll allow picking up 32.


There there's the idea of using two antennae.... anyone done this around here?


----------



## Tendril




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Onazuka* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> And don't get me started on JP/Raycom Sports not broadcasting the ACC Basketball Tournament in HD and blacking out ESPN who does show it in HD so I have to watch it in SD from them !



I was so pissed off at that last night.


Does anyone know if the game was available in Howard County? A friend of mine was having trouble finding it and not sure if he ever did.


----------



## Red Dog

If Howard Co. gets Baltimore channels, then it was available on WNUV-54.


Don't get me started about the ESPN-blackout in ACC markets. I'm already dreading the tournament coming up.


----------



## inlogan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Red Dog* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> If Howard Co. gets Baltimore channels, then it was available on WNUV-54.
> 
> 
> Don't get me started about the ESPN-blackout in ACC markets. I'm already dreading the tournament coming up.



I just posted this about a week ago and apparently no one noticed. I emailed Raycom and asked. Maybe Mark Bulla can shed some light on this since I think WNUV is the Baltimore affiliate, right? I doubt we'll get much info from WDCA.


>Thank you for your feedback. Currently, Raycom Sports and Lincoln

>Financial Sports are testing "non-network" HD delivery of our ACC

>Basketball telecasts with our local stations throughout the ACC

>Territory. If the tests are successful, we have plans in place to

>produce and deliver the entire ACC Basketball Tournament in HD.


>Thank you,

>Raycom Sports & Lincoln Financial Sports


----------



## Red Dog

Like I've said before - I'll believe in Raycom-HD when I see it.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Red Dog* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Like I've said before - I'll believe in Raycom-HD when I see it.



Agreed. I got the same canned response as inlogan. I'd like to believe it, but I'm waiting until I hear something a little more definitive... I mean, the least they could do is not black out the HD stations until they have an HD feed. And it's not like their SD quality is even that good to begin with! What's an ACC fan to do?


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *inlogan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I just posted this about a week ago and apparently no one noticed. I emailed Raycom and asked. Maybe Mark Bulla can shed some light on this since I think WNUV is the Baltimore affiliate, right? I doubt we'll get much info from WDCA.
> 
> 
> >Thank you for your feedback. Currently, Raycom Sports and Lincoln
> 
> >Financial Sports are testing "non-network" HD delivery of our ACC
> 
> >Basketball telecasts with our local stations throughout the ACC
> 
> >Territory. If the tests are successful, we have plans in place to
> 
> >produce and deliver the entire ACC Basketball Tournament in HD.
> 
> 
> >Thank you,
> 
> >Raycom Sports & Lincoln Financial Sports



Well, good news and bad news - I participated in the test, and am able to receive the HD signal with no problem. I have a dedicated HD satellite receiver on a dedicated satellite dish, and it all works!


Unfortunately, I currently have no way to put the signal on the air... The equipment that I use to put the CW network HD signal on the air doesn't have another input for audio. I might be able to use the HD video with the analog audio, if they are in time with each other, but I would have to test that...


Something to think about, I guess.


Mark


----------



## SUOrangeman

Is the original poster (CycloneGT), the only one of us who can modify the first post?


I've tried to update the "Who Has What" table to add:


ABC 2.3 to OTA columns (any reason not to do so?)

CW 50.2 to VA Cox (I'm assuming this is the source of The Tube on Ch. 804)

ESPN2-HD to VA Cox

Univeral-HD to Wash Comcast (per JoeInNVa in the next message)


If I get really adventurous one day, I'll move the FiOS column so that it appears before the Baltimore columns. I'd also move RCN to the other side of Cox (and possibly, the other side of the now-moved Verizon FiOS). I guess I'd finish it all off by adding the PBS sub-channels.


So, here goes my update:

Code:


Code:


Local      OTA    OTA    Wash    Wash     VA               Balt     Wash
Channel   DishTV Direct Comcast   RCN     COX  Millenium  Comcast  Verizon
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
ABC  2      X      X                              X         X
ABC  2.2    X      X
ABC  2.3    X      X                                        X
NBC  4      XS     XS      X       X       X                          X
NBC  4.2    X      X       X       X       X                          X
FOX  5      XS     XS      X       X       X                          X
ABC  7      XS     XS      X       X       X                          X
ABC  7.2    X      X       X       X       X                          X
ABC  7.3    X      X
CBS  9      XS     XS      X       X       X      X                   X
NBC 11      X      X                              X         X
NBC 11.2    X      X                              X         X
CBS 13      X      X                                        X
TFA 14      X      X
MyN 20      X      XS                                                 X
MPT 22      X      X                              X         X         X
MyN 24      X      X
PBS 26      X      X       X       X       X                          X
MHz 30      X      X
FOX 45      X      X                              X         X
FOX 45.2    X      X                              X         X
CW  50      X      X       X       X       X                          X
CW  50.2    X      X       X               X                          X
CW  54      X      X                              X         X
MHz 57      X      X
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Network   Dish   Direct  Wash             VA               Balt     Wash
Channel  Network   TV   Comcast   RCN     COX  Millenium  Comcast  Verizon
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
ESPN-HD     X      X       X       X       X       X         X        X
ESPN2-HD    X      X       X               X       X         X        X
DiscoveryHD X      X       X       X       X       X         X        X
UniversalHD X      X       X               X       X         X        X
TNT-HD      X      X       X               X                 X        X
NatGeo-HD   X              X                                 X        X
Food-HD     X                                      X
HGTV-HD     X                                      X
NFL-HD      X      X       X                                 X        X
HDNet       X      X               X                                  X
HDNetMovies X      X               X                                  X
INHD                       X               X                 X
MTV-HD                     X               X                 X        X
WealthHD                                                              X
CSN-HD             X       X       X                         X
A&E-HD      X
-
HBO-HD      X      X       X       X       X       X         X        X
SHO-HD      X      X       X       X       X       X         X        X
CMax-HD                    X       X               X         X        X
StarZ-HD    X              X       X       X       X         X        X
TMC-HD                             X                                  X
- Part Time
OnDemand-HD                X                                 X
NBATV-HD    X      X
Versus-HD   X              X                                 X
Golf-HD                    X                                 X
PPV-HD      X      X
HDEvents    X      X       X                                 X
- Voom
Rush-HD     X
Rave-HD     X
HD-News     X
Ultra-HD    X
Equator-HD  X
Gallery-HD  X
Monsters-HD X
Animania-HD X
FilmFest-HD X
KungFu-HD   X
WldSport-HD X
WldCinma-HD X
Family-HD   X
Treasure-HD X
GamePlay-HD X
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

OTA Channels require antenna for reception.  Reception varies by location.

Did I miss anything (given that I only know Cox)?


-SUO


----------



## JoeInNVa

Orange---


Washington Comcast has Universal HD.


----------



## gant22

Can anyone tell me if Comcast Woodbridge (Prince William County) has clear digital channels from Comcast Basic (analog) that can be picked up with a QAM tuner.


Thank you.


----------



## ahsan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hokiefan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I want to burn JP/Raycom sports / wdca to the ground. How the F is the duke unc game blacked out in the DC area? In fact, I'm really in the BALTIMORE market. These media rules are GODDAMN RIDUCLOUS.



Hey! I agree with a Hokie! The ACC needs to re-do their local TV contracts. I hope the JP contract is set to expire soon. I wrote to John Swofford (ACC commish) and the UVA AD Craig Littlepage a while back but never heard back from them regarding the bogus deal we get in ACC territory with the local broadcasting rights.


I'm somewhat confused because I had always thought that ESPN could pick which games to broadcast from the ACC schedule and then Raycom/JP gets the leftovers. I don't know how Duke @ UVA was able to be shown on ESPN-HD locally in Northern VA but then UNC @ Duke was blacked out and shown on JP. Of course one of the few times I was able to watch my Hoos in HD, I was actually at the game LOL.


At the very least, if Raycom is not ready to do HD, the ACC should put language in the next contract which guarantees HD broadcasts when available.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GoIrish* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> An RF issue in your home, a bad box, ingress from a neighbor, a bad splitter. Those are some examples of what can be wrong.
> 
> 
> My qualified generalization is based on experience and information.
> 
> 
> You asked the general population of AVSForum if they have a problem such as yours. I didn't see any responses from any other Howard County customers affirming your same issue even though though there are many members from Howard County on this forum regularly. I get the same SA feed in Harford County and I have no problems.
> 
> 
> To be a common problem affecting all customers as you want to infer, you don't think they would have repaired it ? Perhaps all the other customers in Howard County that have this issue sought the advice and counsel of people on the internet as well, rather than simply call the cable company. That could explain why they all have a problem and the company doesn't know about it and fixed it.
> 
> 
> When I say that these types of issues are usually at the customer end it's because on a vast percentage basis they are. Yours certainly could be the exception to the rule, but we won't know that until you call the company for a service call.
> 
> 
> GoIrish



Okay.


MY POINT was that Comcast didn't bother to even check if anyone else was having a problem, they just KNEE-JERK said they would send someone out. THAT is bad triage.


AND, no one has said that they DON'T HAVE the problem either so your "analysis" and assumption is bad.


BTW, I DID ask the company to check on it. Their reaction was to want to send a repairman out rather than EVEN CHECKING IF THEY HAVE ANY OTHER CALLS ON THE ISSUE.


THAT was the point.


But of course it was lost in your arrogant answer to a question I didn't ask. Now, if you don't live in Howard County, your information is useless to me.


And, to Joe, I have no idea if more than one person called in. Neither did they. They didn't bother to check!


Why is this nuance missing on you guys. If they get ZERO calls, then it might be on my end. If they don't check how do they know?


A GOOD customer service organization checks to see if there is a pattern, doesn't ASSUME that you need a service call.


But go ahead and defend Comcrap. They want to send someone out if the wind changes direction.


----------



## Theauwolf

Anyone else noticed major breakups on most of the Howard County Comcast HD channels? Super Bowl was great, but since then it's been really bad. Even the "analog" ones have been choppy.


----------



## VARTV

_NBC's to Be First National Newscast in Format_


"NBC Nightly News" is about to become the first national evening news broadcast to go hi-def.


The show will begin broadcasting in the format in March; an exact date is not yet decided. (read more - TV Week )


----------



## Red Dog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Well, good news and bad news - I participated in the test, and am able to receive the HD signal with no problem. I have a dedicated HD satellite receiver on a dedicated satellite dish, and it all works!
> 
> 
> Unfortunately, I currently have no way to put the signal on the air... The equipment that I use to put the CW network HD signal on the air doesn't have another input for audio. I might be able to use the HD video with the analog audio, if they are in time with each other, but I would have to test that...
> 
> 
> Something to think about, I guess.
> 
> 
> Mark




I'll settle for video only on 54.1 if available. If someone really wants to hear Tim Brant and whomever babble on about something, then let those people watch on 54 analog.


----------



## ahsan

from "Kay, Frank"

to ***

date Feb 8, 2007 3:41 PM

subject RE: High Definition


A Message From Raycom Sports / Lincoln Financial Sports:


We apologize for having to blackout the HD feed of ESPN's UNC-Duke game in your area. R/LF's broadcast contracts with the local TV stations that carry ACC Basketball provide them with full exclusivity in their markets, as per FCC requirements for syndicated content. Without these affiliates we would not be able to broadcast the other 35 regular season ACC games we have on the R/LF schedule. As a result, we will have to continue to black-out ESPN's SD & HD feed of any games that we share with ESPN.


Raycom Sports and Lincoln Financial Sports have been testing "non-network" or syndicated HD delivery of our ACC Basketball telecasts with our local stations throughout the ACC region. The tests are have been fairly successful thus far, with about half of our local stations having the ability to downlink and broadcast a HD feed from R/LF. Because of this promising statistic, we will most likely be producing and distributing the entire ACC Basketball Tournament in HD this season. We are also looking into the feasibility of broadcasting other regular seasons games (such as the UNC-Duke match-up) in HD during the 2008 season. Thank you for your patience and your support of ACC Basketball.



Raycom Sports & Lincoln Financial Sports



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

from Ahsan ***

to [email protected] 

date Feb 8, 2007 3:33 PM

subject High Definition



When will you be bringing us ACC basketball in High Definition? I do not appreciate that ESPN-HD is blacked out for low quality Raycom/LFS productions. ACC Basketball deserves to be shown to its fans in the highest quality broadcast standards. What are your near future plans? At the very least, you should allow ESPN-HD and ESPN2-HD to be displayed while blacking out ESPN. It is also a travesty that the ACC Tournament is blacked out on ESPN-HD in the mid-Atlantic region and shown on analog cable. It is really fuzzy!


Thank you,

--

Ahsan


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Okay.
> 
> 
> MY POINT was that Comcast didn't bother to even check if anyone else was having a problem, they just KNEE-JERK said they would send someone out. THAT is bad triage.
> 
> 
> AND, no one has said that they DON'T HAVE the problem either so your "analysis" and assumption is bad.
> 
> 
> BTW, I DID ask the company to check on it. Their reaction was to want to send a repairman out rather than EVEN CHECKING IF THEY HAVE ANY OTHER CALLS ON THE ISSUE.
> 
> 
> THAT was the point.
> 
> 
> But of course it was lost in your arrogant answer to a question I didn't ask. Now, if you don't live in Howard County, your information is useless to me.
> 
> 
> And, to Joe, I have no idea if more than one person called in. Neither did they. They didn't bother to check!
> 
> 
> Why is this nuance missing on you guys. If they get ZERO calls, then it might be on my end. If they don't check how do they know?
> 
> 
> A GOOD customer service organization checks to see if there is a pattern, doesn't ASSUME that you need a service call.
> 
> 
> But go ahead and defend Comcrap. They want to send someone out if the wind changes direction.



Tony, there are people on this forum that really do know what they are talking about and aren't merely speculating when they respond to people. For example, the fact I live in Harford is not irrelevant to the answer I gave you. The fact that you don't understand that doesn't make my information incorrect. The fact you don't understand why the question and scenario you propose is illogical is also something I can't help you with either. So my efforts to inform you will end.


If you're this pleasant with the cable people who try and help you, I would expect they have an equally juvenille name for you as you ascribe to them. I would.


GoIrish


----------



## dneily




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I kept losing UHD and could not figure out why. I had it fine on one TV but the other it would show up for a few seconds then be gone for a while...I thought about calling Comcast to figure it out, but figured I needed to check something out...Guess what? The connector to the back of my box was a little loose. I tightened it up and BAM guess what I saw? Yup, UHD...
> 
> 
> So, yes it can be at your end...And if there was an issue on their end, don't you think there would be more than 1 person calling in?



Joe,


I had a problem with reception of UHD from COMCAST also. As you know, the Moto 6412 DVR has a duel tuner. Well, one tuner would not receive UHD but the other would !! The trick is to set the DVR to record on the "good" tuner. Since I couldn't specify which tuner to use, it got a little tricky. I developed a work-around though. Let me know if this becomes a problem for you, and I'll share my work-around.


----------



## opaque




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gant22* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Can anyone tell me if Comcast Woodbridge (Prince William County) has clear digital channels from Comcast Basic (analog) that can be picked up with a QAM tuner.
> 
> 
> Thank you.



Yes, they do. I'm on the Dale City system and we get 4,5,7,9,26,56(I think) plus others I can't remember. I don't think we get 20 yet. If you're interested, the on-demand shows are transmitted in the clear on digital 77, 78, 79 channel range.


----------



## guntherd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Theauwolf* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Anyone else noticed major breakups on most of the Howard County Comcast HD channels? Super Bowl was great, but since then it's been really bad. Even the "analog" ones have been choppy.



I've had issues with this in the past, the free QAM channels specifically. My analog channels up around 75 have interference too. I had a tech come out to try and fix it a long time ago because it was messing with the cable modem as well. He wasn't much help at all. The one thing I did learn is that temperature has an effect on the signal and he offered to turn it down to the house because it was too strong. (Cold makes it stronger.) It was working since the visit up until a couple weeks ago.


That said, now my TV says the the signal is too low. I think it might be too high, actually, because it has been so cold recently. My cable modem is fine, and I am watching everything OTA, so I could care less. I don't need Comcast to come out and waste my time (again) and possibly make things worse.


Also recently, I removed a 4-way splitter that was unneeded because it fed rooms that don't have TV's. (I needed the splitter for something else and I didn't want to go to the store.) It wasn't between the main line and the QAM TV, but if I understand things right, it could affect the whole house. That might have had something to do with it. I need to do some experimentation to be sure.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wkearney99* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I've noticed the ATSC tuner in the Pioneer Pro-1140HD picks up quite a few stations. The HDHomerun networked tuner feeing a Media Center 2005 PC gets the same ones at just about the same signal strength. The tuners in the DirecTV HR10-250 comes nowhere near as close and just barely gets the same signals.



From what I've read, that's an issue with the D*'s DTV tuner before anything else. Don't try to be the hero until 2009, when you'll post about not getting mo&%^#%&^@*ng WJLA and WUSA...









______________


On a side note, if you think that WETA's HD PQ is bad now, imagine this on a WETA subchannel....

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...94#post9721094 

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...63#post9724763 


My response from the Chicago OTA thread:



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Here in DC, our PBS-HD channel, WETA, already has three SD subchannels to go along with their 1080i HD channel, and even with my SDTV, I can see macroblocking on many an occasion. I wonder if they'll add this Spanish channel, and if they'll down-resolve the HD to 720p to cope...
> 
> 
> To think, the other PBS station in town, WHUT, isn't digitally broadcasting, yet. This "V-me" would be a great channel for them...


----------



## guntherd

I recently bought a CM 4221 to replace my Terk HDTVa (amplified) to get perfect reception in Columbia, MD thanks to the suggestions on this board. The Terk was doing an OK job, but it wasn't always perfect (especially with wind) and it was making me nervous that it wasn't tied down to anything and could be easily bumped out of alignment. (Though it wasn't in a place where this could readily happen.)


I mounted it in the attic and it is getting better reception than the Terk without even being amplified. I've aimed it at DC (which I prefer) but I wasn't really successful in getting Baltimore off the back side. I have tall trees in that direction which probably doesn't help. I saw a suggestion to remove the wire grate off the back and that worked wonderfully. I get basically everything but 24 (jeez, get some juice already) and 26. I get 67 which is a surprise, but 22 comes in much better. Most everything is a very strong signal.


So far I have no multipath issues, but it's only been a day.







I'll see what happens when the wind starts picking up because that always doomed Baltimore with the Terk.


I'm hoping this will get the VHF well enough in 2009. We'll see.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> From what I've read, that's an issue with the D*'s DTV tuner before anything else. Don't try to be the hero until 2009, when you'll post about not getting mo&%^#%&^@*ng WJLA and WUSA...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ______________
> 
> 
> On a side note, if you think that WETA's HD PQ is bad now, imagine this on a WETA subchannel....
> 
> http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...94#post9721094
> 
> http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...63#post9724763
> 
> 
> My response from the Chicago OTA thread:



Why will the DirecTV tuner have problems with VHF in 2009?


----------



## Onazuka




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ahsan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> from "Kay, Frank"
> 
> to ***
> 
> date Feb 8, 2007 3:41 PM
> 
> subject RE: High Definition
> 
> 
> A Message From Raycom Sports / Lincoln Financial Sports:
> 
> ...
> 
> The tests are have been fairly successful thus far, with about half of our local stations having the ability to downlink and broadcast a HD feed from R/LF. Because of this promising statistic, we will most likely be producing and distributing the entire ACC Basketball Tournament in HD this season.




I also emailed them and got the same email back. What do you want to bet that WDCA 20 is one of the half of the stations that don't have the ability to downlink and broadcast HD. WDCA was like the last station to go digital.


----------



## JohnGZ28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ahsan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> When will you be bringing us ACC basketball in High Definition? I do not appreciate that ESPN-HD is blacked out for low quality Raycom/LFS productions. ACC Basketball deserves to be shown to its fans in the highest quality broadcast standards. What are your near future plans? At the very least, you should allow ESPN-HD and ESPN2-HD to be displayed while blacking out ESPN. It is also a travesty that the ACC Tournament is blacked out on ESPN-HD in the mid-Atlantic region and shown on analog cable. It is really fuzzy!
> 
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> --
> 
> Ahsan



At least you said thank you.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Why will the DirecTV tuner have problems with VHF in 2009?



It won't: Your SquareShooter will have the issue. It's vertically polarized for VHF , while the antenna is horizontally polarized for UHF. This means that you'll have to tilt it in a way that _maybe_ you'll get VHF and UHF signals at once, if it's possible to get the VHF ones at all (the link'll help you how). You _might_ have a chance on your two other tuners, but I suspect that it's a lost cause for the D* receiver. But it won't have total blame.


Anybody with a SquareShooter will be prone to reception issues in 2009. Many will learn that the hard way.


----------



## Onazuka




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It won't: Your SquareShooter will have the issue. It's vertically polarized for VHF , while the antenna is horizontally polarized for UHF. This means that you'll have to tilt it in a way that _maybe_ you'll get VHF and UHF signals at once, if it's possible to get the VHF ones at all (the link'll help you how). You _might_ have a chance on your two other tuners, but I suspect that it's a lost cause for the D* receiver. But it won't have total blame.
> 
> 
> Anybody with a SquareShooter will be prone to reception issues in 2009. Many will learn that the hard way.



I have a SquareShooter that I like a lot. I don't really care about the move to VHF because my AppleTV will be here in a couple of weeks and I hope by 2009 I will be getting all my content off the internet


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Onazuka* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I don't really care about the move to VHF because my AppleTV will be here in a couple of weeks and I hope by 2009 I will be getting all my content off the internet



This is a good possibility, but if it doesn't pan out, I wonder what power WJLA and WUSA will be transmitting at. Given that they are currently transmitting at the UHF digital max of a MW, perhaps they will do what -- 60 some odd kW for VHF digital max.


My, that seems awfully weak and perhaps the FCC will drastically increase that ceiling following analog shutdown! Otherwise, I don't see how I could continue to digitally pull these stations in.


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DavidWB* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> update as of this morning (1/17): I spoke to the customer service folks at Verizon fios, and they called the tech folks who told them that the DC HD stations would remain in the system for the Howard/Anne Arundel County subscribers. That would be a huge relief if it's accurate. I guess we really won't know until the channel line-up changes. I'll be holding my breath!



We received another new lineup for AA/Howard counties today, and a letter from Verizon:

_"... It has come to our attention that a few of the new Hi-Def channels were omitted from the updated channel lineup we sent you . Those channels are:_
_801 FOX - WTTG HD_
_802 CBS - WUSA HD_
_803 ABC - WJLA HD_
_804 PBS - WETA HD_
_807 NBC - WRC HD_
_Please note that these channels, along with the ones outlined in our previous lettter, will change positions in the lineup on 2/20/07..."_


Now they just need a correction to the correction







... those channels aren't new, and they aren't changing positions (based on the revised list titled "AA/HC-1pg-1/07".)


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bill Johnson* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I wonder what power WJLA and WUSA will be transmitting at.



A few months ago, I asked four questions about WJLA and WUSA in that sort of regard. With an FCC-released document ( Excel version ) ( pdf version ), I have the answer to three of the questions.


(By the way, there's no note of call signs in the document, but search the document for "washington", and there's "references" to both channels 7 and 9 there.







)


Short version:


* WUSA and WJLA will both broadcast at 254 meters above average terrain. This is the tallest tower location in town, at least in terms of HAAT, and higher than their current analog location.

* WUSA will broadcast at 17,000 watts

* WJLA will broadcast at 15,000 watts


I don't know if either will have a directional array, because I don't know where I can go to get info on an "Antenna ID" number. WUSA has 74506, and WJLA has 74539. I suspect that means that the two won't share the same antenna, though I may be wrong.


Mr. Johnson, I don't know if you'll get WUSA, let alone WJLA, but I do know that they'll have a good clean feeling in their power bills.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey

quick question, do people from Baltimore get Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune in HD or not. I know here in NoVA we are not because of WJLA not having the right equipment.


Also, FIOS sent us letter about the change in lineup, but next to Comcast Sports Net HD it says Philadelphia. You guys think it is a typo or we are getting the PA CSN. Because I remember reading an article that in late December FIOS reached an agreement with CSN Philadelphia, not sure if that includes the Baltimore/Washington one.


Thanks in advance


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> quick question, do people from Baltimore get Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune in HD or not.



WMAR shows them in HD.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> quick question, do people from Baltimore get Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune in HD or not. I know here in NoVA we are not because of WJLA not having the right equipment.



WMAR-DT ABC 2 broadcasts Jeopardy and WOF in HD. Assuming you are not blocked by terrain or local circumstances, you can get WMAR-DT in almost all of NoVA with a good UHF antenna.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Also, FIOS sent us letter about the change in lineup, but next to Comcast Sports Net HD it says Philadelphia. You guys think it is a typo or we are getting the PA CSN. Because I remember reading an article that in late December FIOS reached an agreement with CSN Philadelphia, not sure if that includes the Baltimore/Washington one.



Typo. Can you imagine what Peter Angelos would do if Verizon started showing the Philly regional Sport network with the Phillies on almost every day during baseball season in HIS market?


----------



## henry296

Did anyone else notice lots of breakups on WNUV-DT. My wife noticed it during Gilmore Girls on Tuesday and I saw it during the Duke-Carolina game on Wednesday (upconverted). We were watching via Comcast Baltimore County.


----------



## Red Dog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Typo. Can you imagine what Peter Angelos would do if Verizon started showing the Philly regional Sport network with the Phillies on almost every day during baseball season in HIS market?




I actually had a related question to this. With the Extra Innings package very likely going to D* exclusively and CSN-MidAtl having no baseball in the summer, is there anything to stop Comcast from buying rights for FSN-regional (or NESN or YES) baseball games from other markets and putting them on CSN?


It would seemingly be a good counter-programming idea (vs MASN and D*), but I assume there is some MLB rule that prevents teams from selling rights to regional broadcasts outside their geographic territory?


----------



## Dan-Wolfe




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gant22* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Can anyone tell me if Comcast Woodbridge (Prince William County) has clear digital channels from Comcast Basic (analog) that can be picked up with a QAM tuner.
> 
> 
> Thank you.





Yes. I pick up Comcast's HD in-the-clear offerings on a MyHD tuner. So yes, they are indeed available!


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GoIrish* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Tony, there are people on this forum that really do know what they are talking about and aren't merely speculating when they respond to people. For example, the fact I live in Harford is not irrelevant to the answer I gave you.



Think what you want. Harford County is Howard County, how? They are feeding the signal from a central spot? Skipping over Baltimore county and city? And even if they were doing that, there are no connection problems between those two locations.


Guess what? The channels are fine now and I did nothing. Hmmm.


Now explain to me again how you are missing the POINT I was making, which was that Comcast IMMEDIATELY wanted to send out a tech without even CHECKING if the problem existed on their end. THAT is what ticked me off with them.


It happened again today. My internet connection could not get to THIS website. Even though it was happening on TWO computers and that I could connect via my work connection on those same computers, the drone at Comcast tried to push on me that it was MY PC's that had a bad setting. And then when I told him that the problem was not solved, he reached the end of his script and asked me if there was anything else he could help with. Didn't even ask what sites I was trying to get to.


Yup, that is great. ASSume that the problem is on the customer's end (as you did) and then you get to roll thru "tickets" quickly so it looks like you are good at your job.


That is the Comcast you are defending. And I stick to the original point...you were unhelpful to me. You just stuck your nose in (and in what came off as an arrogant way).


----------



## guntherd

Update. The problems I was having with Comcast clear QAM channels went away on its own when I checked last night. This is why I haven't gone to digital cable. Now if only ESPN became an OTA station...


----------



## JohnGZ28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> That is the Comcast you are defending. And I stick to the original point...you were unhelpful to me. You just stuck your nose in (and in what came off as an arrogant way).



You may want to back off the caffine and take it down a thousand.


----------



## kenrowe




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Red Dog* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I actually had a related question to this. With the Extra Innings package very likely going to D* exclusively and CSN-MidAtl having no baseball in the summer, is there anything to stop Comcast from buying rights for FSN-regional (or NESN or YES) baseball games from other markets and putting them on CSN?
> 
> 
> It would seemingly be a good counter-programming idea (vs MASN and D*), but I assume there is some MLB rule that prevents teams from selling rights to regional broadcasts outside their geographic territory?



What you describe wouldn't be possible. Individual teams own the TV rights to their games only in their geographic regions. They cannot sell their games outside of these defined markets. MLB owns the out of region rights in which take the form of the ESPN, TBS (Sunday afternoon) and Fox contracts along with the Extra Innings.


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Onazuka* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I also emailed them and got the same email back. What do you want to bet that WDCA 20 is one of the half of the stations that don't have the ability to downlink and broadcast HD. WDCA was like the last station to go digital.



Yeah, but FOX 5 has the ability to do HD synidcation (kind of), they aired those NFL Network games in HD. And, for an event like this, one could assume that FOX 5/My20 has syndication equipment shared between the two.


Not saying any of that will hold up, but it does shed some light on WDCA.


And, just to bring it up, what ever happened to FOX 5 upgrading their local news to HD? They ordered the equipment last July, but since then, nothing has been said, with the exception of sister station WTXF in Philly upgrading to HD.


----------



## sfm529

Comcast in Montgomery County now has Golf/Versus on channel 258 and National Geographic HD on channel 224


----------



## gant22

I currently receive my HD channels OTA, but due to several dropout problems lately I have been considering using my QAM tuner to pick up the clear HD channels on Comcast's basic cable, or upgrading to their digital package and using their digital converter/DVR.


I love the uncompressed signal that I receive OTA and was wondering if I will see any degradation in the picture quality going to cable for HD. I have heard that there is a certain amount of compression with digital cable.


My question is for anyone who has looked at both OTA HD and Comcast's HD. Am I going to be able to detect any difference?


Thank you.


----------



## inlogan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yeah, but FOX 5 has the ability to do HD synidcation (kind of), they aired those NFL Network games in HD. And, for an event like this, one could assume that FOX 5/My20 has syndication equipment shared between the two.
> 
> 
> Not saying any of that will hold up, but it does shed some light on WDCA.
> 
> 
> And, just to bring it up, what ever happened to FOX 5 upgrading their local news to HD? They ordered the equipment last July, but since then, nothing has been said, with the exception of sister station WTXF in Philly upgrading to HD.



I also think there's a good chance WDCA will be able to do it.


I made a post back when MyNetworkTV was just starting on WDCA about how it looked like they had the ability to record and playback HD. It was a non-network time of the day and they were playing around with the digital signal and showing a recorded version of their network telenovelas. Here's the link from then.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...&post8527882


----------



## thejunks71

I've been having very strange sound problems with my KD-E42A10. On any of the WBAL OTA HD channels I lose sound whenever I turn the TV off, or switch to another channel. To get the sound back I must purposely move the antenna (silver sensor) so that the channel loses its signal, then move the antenna back to its original position. This "fix" works 100% of the time.


We also have another HD set in the basement connected via a 2-bay outdoor antenna through a HD Tivo box that does not have this issue.


I'm guessing it's been about a month this way, and the symptoms have been exactly the same every time. No hit-or-miss.


Any ideas?


----------



## davidwb

and note that in the latest revised channel lineup they sent, verizon took out channel 829: comcast sports net hd.


oops. reprint!






> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmsjr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> We received another new lineup for AA/Howard counties today, and a letter from Verizon:
> 
> _"... It has come to our attention that a few of the new Hi-Def channels were omitted from the updated channel lineup we sent you . Those channels are:_
> _801 FOX - WTTG HD_
> _802 CBS - WUSA HD_
> _803 ABC - WJLA HD_
> _804 PBS - WETA HD_
> _807 NBC - WRC HD_
> _Please note that these channels, along with the ones outlined in our previous lettter, will change positions in the lineup on 2/20/07..."_
> 
> 
> Now they just need a correction to the correction
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ... those channels aren't new, and they aren't changing positions (based on the revised list titled "AA/HC-1pg-1/07".)


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gant22* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I currently receive my HD channels OTA, but due to several dropout problems lately I have been considering using my QAM tuner to pick up the clear HD channels on Comcast's basic cable, or upgrading to their digital package and using their digital converter/DVR.
> 
> 
> I love the uncompressed signal that I receive OTA and was wondering if I will see any degradation in the picture quality going to cable for HD. I have heard that there is a certain amount of compression with digital cable.
> 
> 
> My question is for anyone who has looked at both OTA HD and Comcast's HD. Am I going to be able to detect any difference?
> 
> 
> Thank you.



Depends on the TV and your eyes, but it's unlikely you'll see any diff - I can't on a Sony 30XS955. It's a big jump from lifeline basic to just about any other package.


----------



## lastplace

Just a quick question. Does Comcast/Baltimore broadcast any local HD's over basic cable?


----------



## HokieNav




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lastplace* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Just a quick question. Does Comcast/Baltimore broadcast any local HD's over basic cable?



We get the Baltimore locals in HD here in AA County, I would presume that Baltimore proper would get the same.


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lastplace* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Just a quick question. Does Comcast/Baltimore broadcast any local HD's over basic cable?



All locals are unencrypted on basic.


GoIrish


----------



## henry296




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *henry296* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Did anyone else notice lots of breakups on WNUV-DT. My wife noticed it during Gilmore Girls on Tuesday and I saw it during the Duke-Carolina game on Wednesday (upconverted). We were watching via Comcast Baltimore County.



A quick follow-up. I tried to watch my recording of ER from WBAL and it was unwatchable with audio drops and tons of blocking. I assume this wasn't a national issue, since it would've been on the Programming forum. Was it WBAL issue? Or is it possibly a bad sector on my DVR?


----------



## wheninva1

This morning I was channel surfing and stopped to look at Viva Pinata (only because I have it for the 360, I swear!) It looked like it was broadcast in 4:3 but at the very top of the screen was a thin strip that extended across the whole screen. When I looked closely, I could see that the part of the strip that was above the black bars was actually a continuation of of the picture and showed the very top of what should be behind the the black bars. So, in a moving scene, if a tree passed, you would see the very top of it go by above the black bars. So basically, either FOX, Cox, or my cable box is taking a 16:9 picture and putting black bars over it to make it look like 4:3. Any other Cox user notice this?


----------



## lastplace




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GoIrish* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> All locals are unencrypted on basic.
> 
> 
> GoIrish



Thanks


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> * WUSA and WJLA will both broadcast at 254 meters above average terrain. This is the tallest tower location in town, at least in terms of HAAT, and higher than their current analog location.
> 
> * WUSA will broadcast at 17,000 watts
> 
> * WJLA will broadcast at 15,000 watts
> 
> 
> I don't know if either will have a directional array, because I don't know where I can go to get info on an "Antenna ID" number. WUSA has 74506, and WJLA has 74539. I suspect that means that the two won't share the same antenna, though I may be wrong.
> 
> 
> Mr. Johnson, I don't know if you'll get WUSA, let alone WJLA, but I do know that they'll have a good clean feeling in their power bills.



I have some thoughts/questions here:


1. These are proposed allotments and after reading accompanying FCC notices I found elsewhere, I see that licensees can request changes following finalization.


2. Therefore, I wonder if 7 and 9 may want to request a change to UHF given that (a) 15 and 17 kW seem awfully weak, (b) they currently are operating at max. for UHF digital (1,000 kW), (c) even now with analog and digital totalling more than 1,300 kW, they apparently have no problem with current power bills, and (d) their main competitors will stay at 1,000 kW.


3. I know stations now rely heavily on cable, audience-wise, but OTA these power levels -- apparently necessary for hi-VHF and perhaps mandated by the FCC because of potential interference problems -- the levels seem ridiculous. Out here, WVIR analog-wise touts itself as the 5,000,000 watt voice of Virginia. What's 7 and 9 going to do in 2009: Tout themselves as the little DC stations that could!


4. I wonder why both are currently at only 316 kW analog when they could be 5,000. Seems kind of coincidental and perhaps again an FCC mandated thing because of potential interference for analog hi-VHF.


5. You're right! Even at almost 1800 ft. elevation, I can kiss these stations goodbye being 125 miles away. That's probably why I'm ranting along here, especially since 7.1 often brings Nittany Lions football when the other ABC stations I get invariably bring ACC games. Putting my attic 4228 on the roof probably wouldn't even help. 1,000 kW to 15 -- Man oh man! Perhaps sanity will prevail at these stations and they'll say an electric bill of only a few hundred dollars a month is beyond the pale.

















P.S. Many many thanks mike, for getting this info, terrible for me tho it is.




























.......


----------



## J-D-H

Hi-


I'm new to the forum, so I hope it will be okay to drop this message into an ongoing thread. If not, sorry -- please let me know the correct procedure....


Two days ago we bought a Sony KDL-32S20L1 32" LCD TV set. Setup has been uneventful but for one glaring problem -- we absolutely cannot pick up WETA's digital channels over the air.


We live in Silver Spring MD, close to Wash DC. Antennaweb says we are 6 mi NNE of the River Rd tower and 11 mi NNE of their other tower (Arlington?). Our antenna is a medium-high gain Channel Master VHF/UHF (11 ft boom) on a chimney approx 30' above ground. We're not in a hole (310 ft elevation). The antenna feeds an RF amplifier (a Channel Master model with a high overload point). As we swing the rotator, we get noise free and ghost free reception of all the main analog channels in DC, Baltimore, and Annapolis. Analog ch. 26 comes in perfectly (strong and no ghosts), yet digital ch.s 26.1 to 26.4 are just not there.


After exhausting every test I could think of yesterday, a second tier Sony tech rep and I spent 2 hrs on the phone until he ran out of ideas too. We tried many antenna related trials -- various bearings, disabling the amp, even a set of inside rabbit ears. The tuner locked on ~every~ digital station except for WETA even though analog ch 26 was always fine. We did the digital tuner auto-chan search over and over again, but no luck. We did an overall TV reset twice -- no help.


To be missing one station like this seems odd. Or is it? Can anyone comment on how likely it is for a tuner to be broken such that it cannot receive one and only one digital station. With all the antenna tests and the good analog signal from WETA, the Sony guy said he could only conclude that the tuner is faulty. Does that sound likely? Or is there something odd about WETA? Are they known to be doing anything atypical which could lead to a problem like this?


One last idea... I've read that WETA broadcasts analog from the River Rd tower, but the digital signal comes from the other tower which is farther south. The bearings I have suggest that we just happen to live where we are almost directly in line with the two towers -- the digital tower is behind the analog tower, and at twice the range. Could it be that the strong signal from the nearby analog tower is somehow precluding the tuner from "seeing" the farther away digital source, effectively interfering with the simulcasting?


Clutching at straws here.... Sorry about the long message, but if anyone can help, thanks!


----------



## ericlhyman

I am also in Silver Spring. WETA digital broadcasts are flaky, even with a good rooftop antenna (a 4-bay or 8-bay bowtie type is best). I can only get them consistently at night from late fall to early spring. During this period, I can sometimes get them irregularly during the day without too much dropout.


The WETA website program schedule for channels 26.1, 26.3, and 26.4 is riddled with errors in the listings it shows. Also, no listings are shown for 26.2 at all or for 26.1 outside of the HD broadcast hours at night. The website listings are not consistent with what shows up in program listings for DirecTV HD-Tivo program guide, which is somewhat more accurate, but not too accurate either.


----------



## ericlhyman

The WETA website program schedule for channels 26.1, 26.3, and 26.4 is riddled with errors in the listings it shows. Also, no listings are shown for 26.2 at all or for 26.1 outside of the HD broadcast hours at night. The website listings are not consistent with what shows up in program listings for DirecTV HD-Tivo program guide, which is somewhat more accurate, but not too accurate either.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ericlhyman* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I am also in Silver Spring. WETA digital broadcasts are flaky, even with a good rooftop antenna (a 4-bay or 8-bay bowtie type is best). I can only get them consistently at night from late fall to early spring. During this period, I can sometimes get them irregularly during the day without too much dropout.



WETA has been somewhat flaky from my house, which is at a similar distance to you. However, I've gotten it so that I can get consistent reception of it with my indoor antenna. I think the digital antenna they use could be old, and not refined enough vs. newer ones. WETA was one of the pioneers in local DT broadcasting...


Fortunately, they _should_ move to a new tower in Tenleytown pretty soon, so you shouldn't have issues then. In the meantime you can try for WMPT 22-1 from Annapolis.


----------



## jimrobinette

JDH,


Simply solution, but most likely not what you are looking for. If you are looking for the HD subchannel, just pick up an MPT station. I live way out in Haymarket, and I got a CM 4228 just to get MPT, as WETA's HD feed is sub-optimal due to the amount of bandwidth the allot. The HD feeds are the exact same programming, but MPT only does HD from 4 pm -sometime early in the morning, whereas WETA is 24/7. I sacrifice the 10 hrs a day of HD from MPT in order to get a better pic and sound from MPT.


But...I understand your frustration with not being able to get WETA. Not being able to get something I should would drive me crazy, even if I don't watch it. Such is the life for us HD junkies.


Jim



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *J-D-H* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Two days ago we bought a Sony KDL-32S20L1 32" LCD TV set. Setup has been uneventful but for one glaring problem -- we absolutely cannot pick up WETA's digital channels over the air.


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *henry296* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> A quick follow-up. I tried to watch my recording of ER from WBAL and it was unwatchable with audio drops and tons of blocking. I assume this wasn't a national issue, since it would've been on the Programming forum. Was it WBAL issue? Or is it possibly a bad sector on my DVR?



I DVR'd ER off of WBAL-DT on Thursday night and had no problems. I receive the station off air on my DirecTV HR20.


----------



## J-D-H




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ericlhyman* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I am also in Silver Spring. WETA digital broadcasts are flaky, even with a good rooftop antenna (a 4-bay or 8-bay bowtie type is best). I can only get them consistently at night from late fall to early spring. During this period, I can sometimes get them irregularly during the day without too much dropout.
> 
> 
> The WETA website program schedule for channels 26.1, 26.3, and 26.4 is riddled with errors in the listings it shows. Also, no listings are shown for 26.2 at all or for 26.1 outside of the HD broadcast hours at night. The website listings are not consistent with what shows up in program listings for DirecTV HD-Tivo program guide, which is somewhat more accurate, but not too accurate either.



WETA has a detailed coverage map on their website. Maybe it's half science and half their advertising department' wishful thinking, but the Four Corners area of Silver Spring is ~very~ close to the center of their coverage areas. Heck, they show both their digital and analog TV, as well as their FM radio footprint extending all the way to Baltimore city, and meanwhile my set's tuner won't even lock on them from this short distance.


Any ideas on WETA's problem? If they're low in power, maybe I should consider getting a better antenna to combat that? If it's reflections, a higher gain antenna would fight that too. But what really, really bothers me about all this is that the analog ch 26 signal is flawless here. No ghosts, good signal, low noise, etc., so I figured the digital signal ought to be comparable -- not so.


Getting back to my TV set, maybe Sony tuners are known to be insensitive or finicky in operation? I haven't read this anywhere, but if the Sony tuners have a limited range of acceptable signals (insensitivity combined with poor overload performance), that would be a deadly combination. If this is the case, I can return this set and exchange it for something else. Any idea if there's a certain brand whose digital tuners are known to be well done?


On the program guides and published schedules, as someone once said, "I feel your pain" . My wife and I do a lot of time shift recording, and it drives us nuts how frequently inaccurate the various guides seem to be (not just WETA). If you haven't already done so, check out the Titan TV website. They have a TV Guide-like grid you can access, and it seems more accurate than many others.


----------



## J-D-H




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WETA has been somewhat flaky from my house, which is at a similar distance to you. However, I've gotten it so that I can get consistent reception of it with my indoor antenna. I think the digital antenna they use could be old, and not refined enough vs. newer ones. WETA was one of the pioneers in local DT broadcasting...
> 
> 
> Fortunately, they _should_ move to a new tower in Tenleytown pretty soon, so you shouldn't have issues then. In the meantime you can try for WMPT 22-1 from Annapolis.



Ch 22 and ch 26 often have different shows at different times, so we really would like to have access to both digital stations (as we do now for their analog feeds).


Chan 22 comes in here like gangbusters. If the antenna is pointed at them (due East), they are flawless. But they even come in almost as well (slight breakup, occasional digital pixelization) off the side or back of the antenna when it is pointed SSW to aim at the DC stations. Under this latter circumstance with the antenna not aiming at them, the ~analog~ ch 22 signal looks like a total mess -- tremendous ghosting, low signal, sound dropping in and out -- completely unwatchable. Yet you flip over to their digital signal and it's amazing that it's as good as it is (again, assuming the analog signal is representative of the digital one).


So it's mostly these ch 22 performance tests which make me suspicious of this set's tuner and the trouble it's having with WETA. How can it lock on to digital ch 22 when it's apparently so rotten a signal (35 miles off the back of the antenna, etc.), yet it can't even see nearby WETA (6-10 miles) with a beam antenna pointed right at them? I don't get it. Is this somehow an apples-oranges comparison?


Let me ask ask the same question I just posed in another reply. Do Sony ATSC tuners have a bad reputation? Are they good, bad, average, or what? If they are on the poor side (at least the one in this model set), and if some other brand is more well thought of, I would think very seriously of returning this set in exchange of that better brand.


Bottom line: I have to sort out -- is this TV set broken or substandard in design, is it WETA, is it our specific location and, whichever, is there a fix?! Boy oh boy, I just love these exercises which sometimes seem like crystal ball gazing.....


----------



## J-D-H

Hi Jim-


We currently watch the three main PBS stations in our area (analog ch.s 22, 26, and 32). Certainly their programming overlaps, but they also frequently broadcast different shows. Okay, maybe we're spoiled , but since ch 32 seems not to broadcast digitally, we just dropped from 3 stations to one by shifting to digital reception.


Of course we'll live with that if it's the only choice, but the question is whether there's a fix for this WETA problem. I'd hate to lose their station (how many subchannels do they have -- isn't it 4 or 5? That's a bunch....).




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jimrobinette* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> JDH,
> 
> 
> Simply solution, but most likely not what you are looking for. If you are looking for the HD subchannel, just pick up an MPT station. I live way out in Haymarket, and I got a CM 4228 just to get MPT, as WETA's HD feed is sub-optimal due to the amount of bandwidth the allot. The HD feeds are the exact same programming, but MPT only does HD from 4 pm -sometime early in the morning, whereas WETA is 24/7. I sacrifice the 10 hrs a day of HD from MPT in order to get a better pic and sound from MPT.
> 
> 
> But...I understand your frustration with not being able to get WETA. Not being able to get something I should would drive me crazy, even if I don't watch it. Such is the life for us HD junkies.
> 
> 
> Jim


----------



## J-D-H




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WETA has been somewhat flaky from my house, which is at a similar distance to you. However, I've gotten it so that I can get consistent reception of it with my indoor antenna. I think the digital antenna they use could be old, and not refined enough vs. newer ones. WETA was one of the pioneers in local DT broadcasting...
> 
> 
> Fortunately, they _should_ move to a new tower in Tenleytown pretty soon, so you shouldn't have issues then. In the meantime you can try for WMPT 22-1 from Annapolis.



Sorry, I forgot to ask in my original reply.... If we are roughly the same distance from WETA, and you can get them via an indoor antenna (what? just a loop or bowtie?), does it make any sense that my roof top beam cannot give this tuner a signal it likes for this one channel when this setup works for ~every~ single other station within 30-35 miles of here? We're not in a hole. WETA analog TV is perfect. I'm just amazed by all this and find it hyper curious ! Yet it seems so odd to envision a TV tuner which has a block against only one station yet sees all the others (maybe it dislikes PBS pledge week!).


----------



## zebras23

TV Sports

Here comes ACC HD

By Mark Washburn Charlotte Observer


Raycom/Lincoln Financial will announce next week that ACC basketball is going high definition.For the first time, the ACC tournament -- which begins March 8 -- will be broadcast in HD on the syndicated network.


Although the penetration of high-definition sets is still relatively low, those who get the broadcasts are growing increasingly vocal. They want their ACC in HD.


But technical problems have kept the network from switching to high def.


Ken Haines, Raycom's president, says affiliates aren't set up to receive syndicated programming in HD. They get their network programs in HD, but aren't set up to receive feeds from other sources.


Of the 35 stations that get ACC basketball from Raycom/Lincoln Financial, about a third will be equipped to receive the HD feed by tournament time. That includes WBTV (Channel 3) in Charlotte as well as other major markets, including Greensboro and Raleigh.


"We're looking at adding some regular-season games next year," says Haines. "I don't know how far away we are from doing all the games in HD."


Costs are part of the problem. While it is more expensive to do HD games -- cameras, a high-def studio truck and other equipment must be added -- there is no increase in ad revenues.


"It costs a lot more to produce in HD than standard definition. We haven't found anyone willing to pay more to be broadcast in HD," Haines says.


----------



## mikemikeb

*J-D-H*,


Something that you might want to know about WETA-DT: They broadcast from a tower in Arlington that is about 70 meters lower above average terrain vs. stations like WUSA and WRC. Only the WETA analog tower is in the height and location range of the Big 4. Also, WETA-DT broadcasts at 75,000 watts vs. 813,000 for WRC and 1,000,000 for WJLA. So maybe downtown Silver Spring buildings block the WETA-DT signal or something.


Remember, WETA should move in the future to the WJLA tower...

_________________


Watching WJLA-DT (and analog) OTA, it looks like the game has a red cast. All other stations look fine, like the b-ball was on WUSA. Maybe it was the ABC feed, but it wouldn't hurt to check up on things.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ericlhyman* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The WETA website program schedule for channels 26.1, 26.3, and 26.4 is riddled with errors in the listings it shows. Also, no listings are shown for 26.2 at all or for 26.1 outside of the HD broadcast hours at night. The website listings are not consistent with what shows up in program listings for DirecTV HD-Tivo program guide, which is somewhat more accurate, but not too accurate either.



How do you get listings for your TV? I have a Samsung DLP and all that it shows in programing guide is "Local Programing".


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *J-D-H* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> We live in Silver Spring MD, close to Wash DC. Antennaweb says we are 6 mi NNE of the River Rd tower and 11 mi NNE of their other tower (Arlington?). Our antenna is a medium-high gain Channel Master VHF/UHF (11 ft boom) on a chimney approx 30' above ground. We're not in a hole (310 ft elevation). The antenna feeds an RF amplifier (a Channel Master model with a high overload point). As we swing the rotator, we get noise free and ghost free reception of all the main analog channels in DC, Baltimore, and Annapolis. Analog ch. 26 comes in perfectly (strong and no ghosts), yet digital ch.s 26.1 to 26.4 are just not there.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *J-D-H* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Sorry, I forgot to ask in my original reply.... If we are roughly the same distance from WETA, and you can get them via an indoor antenna (what? just a loop or bowtie?), does it make any sense that my roof top beam cannot give this tuner a signal it likes for this one channel when this setup works for ~every~ single other station within 30-35 miles of here? We're not in a hole. WETA analog TV is perfect. I'm just amazed by all this and find it hyper curious ! Yet it seems so odd to envision a TV tuner which has a block against only one station yet sees all the others (maybe it dislikes PBS pledge week!).



Which specific Channel Master antenna do you have? If I follow this, you don't get WETA-DT at all, even if you rotate the antenna towards Arlington and do a scan, correct? Depends on how your tuner works, but do you get anything if you enter channel 27 (the actual broadcast channel for the digital signal for WETA-DT)?


The Sony HD TVs have been reported to have good ATSC tuners. Given the Sony -Samsung collaboration on the LCD plant, it is likely that the Sony uses the same chipset as in Samsung ATSC tuner STBs. So you should be ok on the ATSC tuner.


For starters, I wonder if your Channel master is too directional for your location. In Silver Spring, Baltimore is in close to the opposite direction. With the right antenna, you should be able to aim the front of the antenna at Baltimore and pick up the DC stations in the backlobe without having to use a rotator most of the time.


I can get WETA-DT along with the rest of the DC and the Baltimore stations (and other stations in the region) from out here in Sterling with a Channel Master 4221 4 Bay bowtie UHF antenna without a rotator. The 4221 4 Bay is multi-directional with a broad pickup pattern to the front, but can also pick stations from the backside. I get WWPX-DT Pax/i 60 (DT=12) station way out in Martinsburg at 46 miles with my CM 4221 aimed in the other direction just south of Baltimore.


If you can't get WETA-DT at all from where you are, you may be blocked by the terrain, the city between you and the not that high a broadcast tower. If WETA-DT is still at Arlington, then the station is only at 75 kW, which would normally put you withing range, is not that powerful a signal for UHF. The FCC database for WETA is at http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?call=WETA if you want to look at the locations and tower heights. There is a lack of information over when WETA-DT will move it's digital broadcasting to the same DC area as the other DC towers. But I may be wrong and they already have. Maybe I should break out the very directional Radio Shack U-75R and find out where WETA-DT is broadcasting from just to be sure.


----------



## Enze6997

Baltimore City Comcast has chanced their local ota broadcast list...


NBC dissapeared (was at 92-11) now is abc.


91-13 cbs

91-67 mpt

91-167 mpt

91-267 mpt kids

91-367 mpt select

91-467 mpt learner

92-2 abc? gone!

92-11 abc hd (was nbc)

92-15 abc weather

126-2 fox hd

105-3 CW hd


Anyone know where NBC went? Please append this list if you are in the baltimore city area.


Thanks


----------



## mikemikeb

On WJLA (DT only) during the Cavs game. It looks like the colors are fainter than usual -- like there's not enough red. Odd contrast there between the two games.


EDIT: By "DT only" means I only looked at DT that time. Sorry if I unnecessarily wasted anybody's time.


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Which specific Channel Master antenna do you have? If I follow this, you don't get WETA-DT at all, even if you rotate the antenna towards Arlington and do a scan, correct? Depends on how your tuner works, but do you get anything if you enter channel 27 (the actual broadcast channel for the digital signal for WETA-DT)?
> 
> 
> The Sony HD TVs have been reported to have good ATSC tuners. Given the Sony -Samsung collaboration on the LCD plant, it is likely that the Sony uses the same chipset as in Samsung ATSC tuner STBs. So you should be ok on the ATSC tuner.
> 
> 
> For starters, I wonder if your Channel master is too directional for your location. In Silver Spring, Baltimore is in close to the opposite direction. With the right antenna, you should be able to aim the front of the antenna at Baltimore and pick up the DC stations in the backlobe without having to use a rotator most of the time.
> 
> 
> I can get WETA-DT along with the rest of the DC and the Baltimore stations (and other stations in the region) from out here in Sterling with a Channel Master 4221 4 Bay bowtie UHF antenna without a rotator. The 4221 4 Bay is multi-directional with a broad pickup pattern to the front, but can also pick stations from the backside. I get WWPX-DT Pax/i 60 (DT=12) station way out in Martinsburg at 46 miles with my CM 4221 aimed in the other direction just south of Baltimore.
> 
> 
> If you can't get WETA-DT at all from where you are, you may be blocked by the terrain, the city between you and the not that high a broadcast tower. If WETA-DT is still at Arlington, then the station is only at 75 kW, which would normally put you withing range, is not that powerful a signal for UHF. The FCC database for WETA is at http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?call=WETA if you want to look at the locations and tower heights. There is a lack of information over when WETA-DT will move it's digital broadcasting to the same DC area as the other DC towers. But I may be wrong and they already have. Maybe I should break out the very directional Radio Shack U-75R and find out where WETA-DT is broadcasting from just to be sure.



I normally watch WETA through my Comcast Basic cable with a QAM digital tuner,but the recent comments led me to try my indoor loop antenna. The digital OTA signal for WETA 26 is not as strong as that of MPT 22, but no problem obtaining a good signal tonight .


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Okay.
> 
> 
> MY POINT was that Comcast didn't bother to even check if anyone else was having a problem, they just KNEE-JERK said they would send someone out. THAT is bad triage.
> 
> 
> AND, no one has said that they DON'T HAVE the problem either so your "analysis" and assumption is bad.
> 
> 
> BTW, I DID ask the company to check on it. Their reaction was to want to send a repairman out rather than EVEN CHECKING IF THEY HAVE ANY OTHER CALLS ON THE ISSUE.
> 
> 
> THAT was the point.
> 
> 
> But of course it was lost in your arrogant answer to a question I didn't ask. Now, if you don't live in Howard County, your information is useless to me.
> 
> *And, to Joe, I have no idea if more than one person called in. Neither did they. They didn't bother to check!*
> 
> 
> Why is this nuance missing on you guys. If they get ZERO calls, then it might be on my end. If they don't check how do they know?
> 
> 
> A GOOD customer service organization checks to see if there is a pattern, doesn't ASSUME that you need a service call.
> 
> 
> But go ahead and defend Comcrap. They want to send someone out if the wind changes direction.



And I guess you know how they run things there? Or how they run their Com Center? You come here asking for help, and when someone tells you what MIGHT be the problem, you go off on them.

It doesn't matter what they did to fix it, someone weighed in on what the problem might be, and you went off on them. There was no reason for that. If you are looking for a specific answer, please spell it out in the question, otherwise, accept what possible answers might come your way.


----------



## henry296




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I DVR'd ER off of WBAL-DT on Thursday night and had no problems. I receive the station off air on my DirecTV HR20.



Thanks for the info. Did anyone else record on Baltimore County Comcast?


I just tried to watch Friday Night Lights and Law and Order from this week and they were exactly the same.. unwatchable. My recording of CSI seems fine from CBS.


----------



## ahsan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zebras23* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> TV Sports
> 
> Here comes ACC HD
> 
> By Mark Washburn Charlotte Observer
> 
> 
> Raycom/Lincoln Financial will announce next week that ACC basketball is going high definition.For the first time, the ACC tournament -- which begins March 8 -- will be broadcast in HD on the syndicated network.
> 
> 
> Although the penetration of high-definition sets is still relatively low, those who get the broadcasts are growing increasingly vocal. They want their ACC in HD.
> 
> 
> But technical problems have kept the network from switching to high def.
> 
> 
> Ken Haines, Raycom's president, says affiliates aren't set up to receive syndicated programming in HD. They get their network programs in HD, but aren't set up to receive feeds from other sources.
> 
> 
> Of the 35 stations that get ACC basketball from Raycom/Lincoln Financial, about a third will be equipped to receive the HD feed by tournament time. That includes WBTV (Channel 3) in Charlotte as well as other major markets, including Greensboro and Raleigh.
> 
> 
> "We're looking at adding some regular-season games next year," says Haines. "I don't know how far away we are from doing all the games in HD."
> 
> 
> Costs are part of the problem. While it is more expensive to do HD games -- cameras, a high-def studio truck and other equipment must be added -- there is no increase in ad revenues.
> 
> 
> "It costs a lot more to produce in HD than standard definition. We haven't found anyone willing to pay more to be broadcast in HD," Haines says.



Nice find! Now does anyone have any idea if WDCA 20 is one of the stations that can receive syndicated HD content? I'm also curious to know what providers around here actually carry Ch. 20 in HD?


----------



## Pyrr

Looks like Frederick's Adelphia/Comcast has added new channels and removed the hdnet channels. Just check my guide and now i'm on NGC HD



Pyrr


----------



## CycloneGT

Comcast was supposed to add TNT-HD and CSN-HD to the Frederick lineup as well.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ahsan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Nice find! Now does anyone have any idea if WDCA 20 is one of the stations that can receive syndicated HD content? I'm also curious to know what providers around here actually carry Ch. 20 in HD?



Its always been pretty hard to get HD information out of Ch 20. Good luck.


I think that FiOS has WDCA-DT, maybe even DirectTV does too.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I think that FiOS has WDCA-DT, maybe even DirectTV does too.



Verizon FiosTV does carry WDCA-DT MNT 20 on the HD local set at channel 805. But the regional cable coverage for WDCA-DT 20 in HD is very sparse as far I know. Checking the cable line-ups for some of the local cable systems: Comcast in Reston - nope. Cox cable for Fairfax county - nope. RCN cable for MD and DC - nope.


Does Comcast carry WDCA-DT on it's HD tier anywhere in the DC area? Besides Verizon, are there ANY cable systems in the greater DC area that have WDCA-DT on their HD tier?


The poor cable carriage says something about how much Fox cares about the My Network startup. My Network may have 2 hours of cheesy soap operas / telenovels every night, but they are in good looking HD. (My Network will be cutting back on the soaps with new programming starting up in March, IIRC). But here you have Fox owned WDCA-DT which did finally go full power last summer, but only because the FCC made them. At least they are in HD. Then you have the Fox owned WUTB-DT 24 in Baltimore still broadcasting at a mere 550 watts and in SD only.


Based on their history, the odds have to be against WDCA-DT 20 showing any of the ACC tournament in HD. But if they do and you are a hoops fan, OTA is the only way to get it for most HD TV owners in the DC area.


----------



## J-D-H

Hi Mike-


Earlier today I found some of the things you just mentioned re WETA on the FCC website. It wasn't obvious whether the data were current, but they listed WETA's analog station as 2290 kw ERP, the digital as 75 kw ERP (but later on the same page as 90 kw ERP). Even using the higher number, I was amazed to see how tiny the digital power was in comparison to the analog counterpart.


The ERP ratio of 2290/90 is about 25 to 1. And even if the two towers were identical, Arlington is twice the distance from me as the analog tower, so another 4 to 1 loss for the range doubling. Overall, a 100 to 1 difference, or a 20dB power loss . Then throw in those Silver Spring buildings and the digital tower's poor elevation.... It sounds like you've nailed the problem -- I'm getting a very sinking feeling about whether there's a cure.


Do you have any idea whether another mfgr's tuner might be able to cope with this magnitude of a signal level problem any better than my existing Sony tuner does? In reading downloaded manuals last night, I noticed that some Samsung sets have a low noise amplifier the user can switch on and off on a per station basis. That would help, but would it be enough?


You mentioned WETA's antenna site may be moving. Something like that was said here yesterday, but a Tenleytown tower was mentioned. Is that the same as the WJLA tower you referenced? I ask because while trying to confirm the earlier Tenleytown tower comment, I kept finding articles about a lawsuit resulting in a half finished tower being torn down. I hope this and the WJLA tower are completely different subjects.


Thanks for your helpful comments....


John







> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/0
> 
> *J-D-H*,
> 
> 
> Something that you might want to know about WETA-DT: They broadcast from a tower in Arlington that is about 70 meters lower above average terrain vs. stations like WUSA and WRC. Only the WETA analog tower is in the height and location range of the Big 4. Also, WETA-DT broadcasts at 75,000 watts vs. 813,000 for WRC and 1,000,000 for WJLA. So maybe downtown Silver Spring buildings block the WETA-DT signal or something.
> 
> 
> Remember, WETA should move in the future to the WJLA tower...
> 
> _________________
> 
> 
> Watching WJLA-DT (and analog) OTA, it looks like the game has a red cast. All other stations look fine, like the b-ball was on WUSA. Maybe it was the ABC feed, but it wouldn't hurt to check up on things.


----------



## AntAltMike

J-D-H's problem isn't signal strength, nor is it signal differential. It is multipath. WETA is on a short tower, Its signals bounce all around. He'll have to get lucky with an antenna positioned such that develops some usable gain on the desired signal line while rejecting what might be the next strongest but undesired multipath signals of which there will be several. There is no scientific way to do this. You buy a few cheap antennas, you try lots of different positions. Don't spend much money trying to buy a solution for this situation unless you have money to burn.


As has been said many times in this thread, WETA digital is moving from Arlington to Wisconsin Ave. If you can't reliably get it now, you might as well wait.


----------



## J-D-H




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Which specific Channel Master antenna do you have? If I follow this, you don't get WETA-DT at all, even if you rotate the antenna towards Arlington and do a scan, correct? Depends on how your tuner works, but do you get anything if you enter channel 27 (the actual broadcast channel for the digital signal for WETA-DT)?
> 
> 
> The Sony HD TVs have been reported to have good ATSC tuners. Given the Sony -Samsung collaboration on the LCD plant, it is likely that the Sony uses the same chipset as in Samsung ATSC tuner STBs. So you should be ok on the ATSC tuner.
> 
> 
> For starters, I wonder if your Channel master is too directional for your location. In Silver Spring, Baltimore is in close to the opposite direction. With the right antenna, you should be able to aim the front of the antenna at Baltimore and pick up the DC stations in the backlobe without having to use a rotator most of the time.
> 
> 
> I can get WETA-DT along with the rest of the DC and the Baltimore stations (and other stations in the region) from out here in Sterling with a Channel Master 4221 4 Bay bowtie UHF antenna without a rotator. The 4221 4 Bay is multi-directional with a broad pickup pattern to the front, but can also pick stations from the backside. I get WWPX-DT Pax/i 60 (DT=12) station way out in Martinsburg at 46 miles with my CM 4221 aimed in the other direction just south of Baltimore.
> 
> 
> If you can't get WETA-DT at all from where you are, you may be blocked by the terrain, the city between you and the not that high a broadcast tower. If WETA-DT is still at Arlington, then the station is only at 75 kW, which would normally put you withing range, is not that powerful a signal for UHF. The FCC database for WETA is at http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?call=WETA if you want to look at the locations and tower heights. There is a lack of information over when WETA-DT will move it's digital broadcasting to the same DC area as the other DC towers. But I may be wrong and they already have. Maybe I should break out the very directional Radio Shack U-75R and find out where WETA-DT is broadcasting from just to be sure.



I've visited the FCC database but, frankly, got confused about what I was reading re WETA. There were three antenna entries for them, not two. Maybe two of the listings were on the same tower -- not sure. From the lat and long data, they have at least two towers, but it wasn't clear to me if the digital site is in Arlington. If it is, you might have a line of sight to it, and maybe I do not.


Sorry, but I can't quote a model number for my antenna since the documentation is long gone. All I know is that it's a combo VHF/UHF log periodic with a boom length of 11-12 feet. Channel Master called it a "fringe" or "deep fringe" (like that's a lot of help ), but judging by what we've seen over time with analog station reception, it seems to be a decent array.


Right... I cannot get the digital WETA no matter what. Just as you said, it so happens that two days ago I experimentally tried pointing the ant toward Balt and found we could get every VHF and UHF digital station up there while still maintaining perfect reception of all the DC area stations off the back of the antenna (but not WETA). Then we tried moving the antenna slightly east of Balt and found we could also receive digital Ch 22 in Annapolis perfectly along with all the rest. When analog ends on 2009, that compromise antenna bearing is so convenient, like you suggested, we may never need to use the rotator again.


In all the above, WETA is always impossible to get. I've tried auto-program scans and rescans so many times, the menu key on the TV's remote is in danger of wearing out. Instead of auto-program, I've tried entering via the numeric keypad every channel number in and around 26.1. No matter whether 26.1, 26.2, 26.3, etc., 27.x, etc., the tuner never finds WETA.


While doing this last night, I decided to keep looking higher in frequency. WETA never appeared, but when I got up to 34.1, the tuner locked onto what appeared to be a simultaneous UHF broadcast of VHF CBS channel 9.1. According to the TV set's diagnostics, this signal at 34.1 was super loud. After spending a lot of time on the internet I could not verify if CBS is actually transmitting on that UHF channel, but I'm suspicious that they are not. So once again, I'm wondering if this tuner is somehow defective.


Here's another symptom... I wondered why all the auto-scans had never picked up this 34.1 station, so I tried auto-programming several more times. The tuner ~never~ finds 34.1, but if I manually enter 34.1 via the keypad, it is always reliably there, almost pinning the scale on the signal strength diagnostic screen. Whether this station is real or some kind of overload product, I'd have thought that the tuner should find it during an auto-scan.


Getting back to the antenna, I've tried pointing it to every bearing, with and without a relatively low noise/high overload point Chan Master preamp, with and without a 4:1 splitter (6-7 dB loss), and even tried an inside bow tie as well as a loop. The other stations can be received in most of these tests, but never WETA. Still suspecting a tuner that's fouled up in some odd way, we even tried an auto-programming scan in Cable mode, but of course this was a waste of time. But now I find this powerful station at 34.1 and can't seem to verify if it's "real" or not.


Thanks for the info about the Sony ands Samsung tuners having much in common. That's good to know. However one thing they seem not to share is a user-electable low noise RF amplifier that's part of some Samsung DTV sets. I couldn't find any technical specs on this amp, but the fact that it might help my situation has me wondering about returning this Sony and instead getting a Samsung.


Prior to this odd channel 34.1 discovery, I was starting to accept that this is probably a low signal problem without a fix. We are up high (305 ft), but maybe we are co-level with downtown Silver Spring and the buildings there are blocking the wee little signal that WETA seems to be sending out. But the ch 34.1 thing gives me pause about there being no fix. As does the fact that a Samsung set with the LNA just might make the difference.


If you have any more thoughts/advice on all this, I'd sure appreciate hearing it! Thanks....


----------



## J-D-H




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I normally watch WETA through my Comcast Basic cable with a QAM digital tuner,but the recent comments led me to try my indoor loop antenna. The digital OTA signal for WETA 26 is not as strong as that of MPT 22, but no problem obtaining a good signal tonight .



If you're in Beltsville, your location may make the difference. I'm not sure how to confirm it, but I may be looking into a wall of buildings in downtown Silver Spring, a few miles south of me. I thought we were looking over those buildings, but maybe not. Even if this is so, I wish I knew how to determine how far we are below an acceptable situation. If we are within a few dB of reception, a slightly better tuner might do the trick. If 20 dB below the edge for WETA, we'll just have to forget it (unless a tower move is in the works).


----------



## J-D-H




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> J-D-H's problem isn't signal strength, nor is it signal differential. It is multipath. WETA is on a short tower, Its signals bounce all around. He'll have to get lucky with an antenna positioned such that develops some usable gain on the desired signal line while rejecting what might be the next strongest but undesired multipath signals of which there will be several. There is no scientific way to do this. You buy a few cheap antennas, you try lots of different positions. Don't spend much money trying to buy a solution for this situation unless you have money to burn.
> 
> 
> As has been said many times in this thread, WETA digital is moving from Arlington to Wisconsin Ave. If you can't reliably get it now, you might as well wait.



I have no way to measure it, but I bet you are correct. And if those buildings in Silver Spring are in fact a co-level screen between us and WETA, I assume that would make matters even worse resulting in a multipath mess. I had originally assumed otherwise based on the complete lack of ghosting on the analog WETA signal here (it's strong and clean), but that was before finding out via this forum about the digital antenna's location and other analog/digital differences.


Regarding the WETA digital antenna move, I've tried to find out more about this, but my search strings haven't gotten me very far. Based on the original reference made here about Tenleytown, I found a lot of data on a lawsuit causing a half-built tower to be torn down, but no specific info regarding WETA's plans.


----------



## J-D-H

To all....


After loading the Google Earth program, just now I was finally able to explore this area while watching the indicated elevation. It turns out that downtown Silver Spring has a base elevation of 335 ft, while our house is a few miles north of them at an elevation of 305 ft. So looking south, we're 30 feet below the roadway elevation at the intersection of Georgia Ave and Colesville Rd -- an over the horizon situation (and that does not even take into account the downtown buildings).


Evidently the antennas for all the other TV stations in that direction are high enough and/or their signals strong enough so as not to be a problem here, but WETA may be a lost cause for the time being. If and when WETA digital actually moves, I hope it'll be way higher and closer than it is now.


Oh well.... luckily WETA isn't the only PBS station in the area!


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *J-D-H* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> While doing this last night, I decided to keep looking higher in frequency. WETA never appeared, but when I got up to 34.1, the tuner locked onto what appeared to be a simultaneous UHF broadcast of VHF CBS channel 9.1. According to the TV set's diagnostics, this signal at 34.1 was super loud. After spending a lot of time on the internet I could not verify if CBS is actually transmitting on that UHF channel, but I'm suspicious that they are not. So once again, I'm wondering if this tuner is somehow defective.
> 
> 
> Here's another symptom... I wondered why all the auto-scans had never picked up this 34.1 station, so I tried auto-programming several more times. The tuner ~never~ finds 34.1, but if I manually enter 34.1 via the keypad, it is always reliably there, almost pinning the scale on the signal strength diagnostic screen. Whether this station is real or some kind of overload product, I'd have thought that the tuner should find it during an auto-scan.



There is nothing wrong, channel 34.1 is the digital simulcast channel for WUSA 9. All the digital broadcasts are done on other channels from the analog channels that you know the station as. They can not broadcast on the same channel as the analog signal as they would severely interfere with each others. ATSC provides a header field, called the PSIP, which tells the receiver to display channels 9.1, 9.2 for the channel 34 broadcast. WTTG-DT Fox 5 is broadcasting on UHF 36, for example. Look at the first post in this thread. The column of numbers in orange are the current digital broadcast channel for the station.


Digital broadcast provides for automatic channel remapping. The actual digital broadcast channel is useful to know when selecting an antenna. It can also help when a station messes up it's PSIP information and the digital station can only be found at it's actual broadcast channel. This happened recently with WBAL-DT 11 in Baltimore. Tune to channel 11.1 and the receiver switched to displaying channel 59.1 and in the case of my Samsung SIR-T451, wiped out the entry mapping it to channel 11. To get the station, I had to enter channel 59.


In February, 2009 when the analog shutdown occurs, we will get a reshuffling of the digital broadcast channels. The upper VHF (7 to 13) DC stations 7 & 9 and the Baltimore stations 11 & 13 will switch their digital broadcast to their current analog channels. You may have seen the recent posts discussing what power levels they will use when then do this. The low VHF (2 to 6) stations, 2, 4, and 5 have elected to avoid low VHF for digital broadcast as many large city stations have elected to do across the US and will stay at UHF. However, WMAR-DT 2 will move from ch 52 to ch 38. 2009 will be the year of the great broadcast channel reshuffle dance. So we will have no local stations at low VHF after 2009 unless a low power start-up applies for one of the unused low VHF channels.


----------



## Pyrr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Comcast was supposed to add TNT-HD and CSN-HD to the Frederick lineup as well.




Yah it's there,

21 - CN8

770 - TNT-HD

771 - VS HS

778 - NGC-HD


Pyrr


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Verizon FiosTV does carry WDCA-DT MNT 20 on the HD local set at channel 805...



Really! Not in Anne Arundel, yet we get all of the other DC locals, HD and otherwise. Even the DC weather sub-channels are on Vz FiOS here. We don't even have WDCA analog.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Pyrr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yah it's there,
> 
> 21 - CN8
> 
> 770 - TNT-HD
> 
> 771 - VS HS
> 
> 778 - NGC-HD
> 
> 
> Pyrr



So, is that CN8 in HD also?


BTW: its good to see you posting here again Pyrr.


----------



## Onazuka

Does anybody know the Comcast Clear QAM channels available in Howard County ?


----------



## ericlhyman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *J-D-H* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WETA has a detailed coverage map on their website. Maybe it's half science and half their advertising department' wishful thinking, but the Four Corners area of Silver Spring is ~very~ close to the center of their coverage areas. Heck, they show both their digital and analog TV, as well as their FM radio footprint extending all the way to Baltimore city, and meanwhile my set's tuner won't even lock on them from this short distance.
> 
> 
> Any ideas on WETA's problem? If they're low in power, maybe I should consider getting a better antenna to combat that? If it's reflections, a higher gain antenna would fight that too. But what really, really bothers me about all this is that the analog ch 26 signal is flawless here. No ghosts, good signal, low noise, etc., so I figured the digital signal ought to be comparable -- not so.
> 
> 
> Getting back to my TV set, maybe Sony tuners are known to be insensitive or finicky in operation? I haven't read this anywhere, but if the Sony tuners have a limited range of acceptable signals (insensitivity combined with poor overload performance), that would be a deadly combination. If this is the case, I can return this set and exchange it for something else. Any idea if there's a certain brand whose digital tuners are known to be well done?
> 
> 
> On the program guides and published schedules, as someone once said, "I feel your pain" . My wife and I do a lot of time shift recording, and it drives us nuts how frequently inaccurate the various guides seem to be (not just WETA). If you haven't already done so, check out the Titan TV website. They have a TV Guide-like grid you can access, and it seems more accurate than many others.




The problem is probably not with the tv's tuner. To check this, get the latest model LG or Samsung HD receiver with the 5th generation OTA tuner. Research this to be sure not to get an older model. You will probably need a good rooftop antenna.


I am not far from 4 Corners either. Digital channels are harder to get than analog and you either get a picture, highly pixellated picture, or nothing at all.


At some point, WETA digital channels will be transmitted from the WJLA tower instead of the current N. Virginia location. I don't think it has happened yet. Whenever I email WETA at its website, as I last did about a month ago, they say this will happen in a few weeks, but they have been saying this for over a year. When it does, if you get WJLA-HD well, you should get WETA digital.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *J-D-H* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I've visited the FCC database but, frankly, got confused about what I was reading re WETA. There were three antenna entries for them, not two.



One of them is for the analog station, one is for the current DT facility, and one is for the digital CP at the new tower, which also hosts WJLA-DT's digital facility.


The lawsuits referred to another tower. The tower WETA has applied for isn't affected.


Just for fun, click here , and you can see the tower that the lawsuit is all about. (If you can't see them all well, double-click just below the green arrow and it'll enhance the towers.) One is very tall and built, one is shorter, with red stripes, and the third is short and without red stripes. This third one is the tower referred in the lawsuit.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *J-D-H* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I'm getting a very sinking feeling about whether there's a cure.



WETA has the cure. It's called Tenleytown. That 90 kW thing you mentioned applies to the CP for the Tenleytown site. Yes, WETA-DT will only be 90,000 watts ERP, compared with the one million from WJLA, but it'll come from an antenna over 200 meters in the sky, and it'll be closer to you. Therefore, I suspect that WETA will come in one day with your current setup. The question is this: _When?_ Last year, WETA promised that they'd do it by the end of that year, and they apparently still haven't delivered. If I remember correctly, the CP for the Tenleytown site expires this summer or fall, so it should arrive this year. However, I suspect that they'll wait until the last minute. See, they like to save their money: They have to pay the people who go on the air during pledge drives.











> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *J-D-H* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WETA never appeared, but when I got up to 34.1, the tuner locked onto what appeared to be a simultaneous UHF broadcast of VHF CBS channel 9.1. According to the TV set's diagnostics, this signal at 34.1 was super loud. After spending a lot of time on the internet I could not verify if CBS is actually transmitting on that UHF channel, but I'm suspicious that they are not. So once again, I'm wondering if this tuner is somehow defective.



34-1 (9-1) is DC's CBS affiliate, via WUSA-DT, as *afiggatt* said. CBS is notorious for loud sound. I have to turn the volume down over other stations like WJLA and WTTG with my tuner. As for not having it remap, my own tuner, a Samsung DTB-H260F, remaps it correctly, so perhaps you do have a defective tuner. However, it's not a huge issue.


Keep it on DT 34 (9-1) for local news in HD. It's pretty good stuff.


----------



## ericlhyman

Local CBS affiliate, channel 9.1, is actually broadcasting from UHF channel 34. There is nothing wrong with your tv tuner. Some tuners map this to 9.1, others to 34. Similarly 7.1 is really channel 39, if I recall correctly.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *J-D-H* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I've visited the FCC database but, frankly, got confused about what I was reading re WETA. There were three antenna entries for them, not two. Maybe two of the listings were on the same tower -- not sure. From the lat and long data, they have at least two towers, but it wasn't clear to me if the digital site is in Arlington. If it is, you might have a line of sight to it, and maybe I do not.
> 
> 
> Sorry, but I can't quote a model number for my antenna since the documentation is long gone. All I know is that it's a combo VHF/UHF log periodic with a boom length of 11-12 feet. Channel Master called it a "fringe" or "deep fringe" (like that's a lot of help ), but judging by what we've seen over time with analog station reception, it seems to be a decent array.
> 
> 
> Right... I cannot get the digital WETA no matter what. Just as you said, it so happens that two days ago I experimentally tried pointing the ant toward Balt and found we could get every VHF and UHF digital station up there while still maintaining perfect reception of all the DC area stations off the back of the antenna (but not WETA). Then we tried moving the antenna slightly east of Balt and found we could also receive digital Ch 22 in Annapolis perfectly along with all the rest. When analog ends on 2009, that compromise antenna bearing is so convenient, like you suggested, we may never need to use the rotator again.
> 
> 
> In all the above, WETA is always impossible to get. I've tried auto-program scans and rescans so many times, the menu key on the TV's remote is in danger of wearing out. Instead of auto-program, I've tried entering via the numeric keypad every channel number in and around 26.1. No matter whether 26.1, 26.2, 26.3, etc., 27.x, etc., the tuner never finds WETA.
> 
> 
> While doing this last night, I decided to keep looking higher in frequency. WETA never appeared, but when I got up to 34.1, the tuner locked onto what appeared to be a simultaneous UHF broadcast of VHF CBS channel 9.1. According to the TV set's diagnostics, this signal at 34.1 was super loud. After spending a lot of time on the internet I could not verify if CBS is actually transmitting on that UHF channel, but I'm suspicious that they are not. So once again, I'm wondering if this tuner is somehow defective.
> 
> 
> Here's another symptom... I wondered why all the auto-scans had never picked up this 34.1 station, so I tried auto-programming several more times. The tuner ~never~ finds 34.1, but if I manually enter 34.1 via the keypad, it is always reliably there, almost pinning the scale on the signal strength diagnostic screen. Whether this station is real or some kind of overload product, I'd have thought that the tuner should find it during an auto-scan.
> 
> 
> Getting back to the antenna, I've tried pointing it to every bearing, with and without a relatively low noise/high overload point Chan Master preamp, with and without a 4:1 splitter (6-7 dB loss), and even tried an inside bow tie as well as a loop. The other stations can be received in most of these tests, but never WETA. Still suspecting a tuner that's fouled up in some odd way, we even tried an auto-programming scan in Cable mode, but of course this was a waste of time. But now I find this powerful station at 34.1 and can't seem to verify if it's "real" or not.
> 
> 
> Thanks for the info about the Sony ands Samsung tuners having much in common. That's good to know. However one thing they seem not to share is a user-electable low noise RF amplifier that's part of some Samsung DTV sets. I couldn't find any technical specs on this amp, but the fact that it might help my situation has me wondering about returning this Sony and instead getting a Samsung.
> 
> 
> Prior to this odd channel 34.1 discovery, I was starting to accept that this is probably a low signal problem without a fix. We are up high (305 ft), but maybe we are co-level with downtown Silver Spring and the buildings there are blocking the wee little signal that WETA seems to be sending out. But the ch 34.1 thing gives me pause about there being no fix. As does the fact that a Samsung set with the LNA just might make the difference.
> 
> 
> If you have any more thoughts/advice on all this, I'd sure appreciate hearing it! Thanks....


----------



## DCFan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmsjr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Really! Not in Anne Arundel, yet we get all of the other DC locals, HD and otherwise. Even the DC weather sub-channels are on Vz FiOS here. We don't even have WDCA analog.



Fios in NoVa has WDCA on channels 6 and 805.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmsjr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Really! Not in Anne Arundel, yet we get all of the other DC locals, HD and otherwise. Even the DC weather sub-channels are on Vz FiOS here. We don't even have WDCA analog.



Looking at the Fios channel line-ups, WDCA-DT 20 is on the Washington Metro line-up, but not the Anne Arundel-Howard County line-up. Interesting that all of the other DC stations are shown in the AA-HC HD line-up, but not WDCA-DT 20. All of the current FiosTV channel line-ups can be found at http://www22.verizon.com/content/fio...nel+lineup.htm . Wonder if because the WUTB 24 transmitter is located in Catonsville, that affects the area between DC and Baltimore that they have exclusive rights to.


----------



## ng5783

Is anyone in the Annandale/Springfield area using a Channel Master antenna? I'm debating between the 4-bay and 8-bay models and am wondering if the 8-bay model is overkill for someone who lives close to the beltway (but would be trying to hide it in the attic rather than above the roof). I'd appreciate hearing anyone's experience - thanks!


----------



## Belcherwm

Anybody else have horrible breakups on 24 from Fox5 via Comcast?


----------



## mikemikeb

*ng5783*, I don't suggest either antenna, as they both may have channel 7 reception issues in the attic after analog shut-off in 2009, though you might be fine since you're so close to the WJLA transmitter. However, the power of the 8-bay might do, if you want CBS via WJZ in Baltimore. They, unlike WUSA, have full-bandwidth HD, making the picture look a little better. If you want a Channel Master antenna for reception of only DC channels, a 3016 VHF/UHF combo unit is more appropriate.

*Belcherwm*, OTA WTTG reception tonight was 100%, a.k.a. a little too intensely, clean.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Pyrr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yah it's there,
> 
> 21 - CN8
> 
> 770 - TNT-HD
> 
> 771 - VS HS
> 
> 778 - NGC-HD
> 
> 
> Pyrr



Wow, if Comcast has VS HD, I think FiOS might get it as well. At least that is what I hope.


Does anyone know if FiOS is adding more channels or is it just CSN HD. I mean why else would they realign all the channels?


I also hope that they would move WTTG-DT to 805, and WJLA to 807 and so on, but apparently they are sticking to the same numbers. It is cool for the NFL season, one click to switch between Fox and CBS.


----------



## aaronwt

You can already do that. You just hit the last channel button and switch between two channels. That's been around for decades.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ng5783* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is anyone in the Annandale/Springfield area using a Channel Master antenna? I'm debating between the 4-bay and 8-bay models and am wondering if the 8-bay model is overkill for someone who lives close to the beltway (but would be trying to hide it in the attic rather than above the roof)



Are you looking to get the major stations in both DC and Baltimore? Fortunately from Annandale/Springfield, the major Baltimore stations are the close to the same direction at the DC stations. The CM 4228 is a long range very directional antenna intended for 50+ mile situations which is overkill for the DC stations. It can probably get the DC and Baltimore stations at the same time with the right aim, but you might have to add a rotator to get one of the MPT stations and the other local stations such as MHz and Pax/i (if these matter at all).


The CM 4221 4 Bay is much less directional. I have a CM 4221 in the attic and I can get the Baltimore stations at 43 miles and the DC stations at ~ 16 miles without a rotator, even though they are over 50 degrees apart in azimuth from where I am. I have to add a pre-amp to get several of the weaker Baltimore stations, but the direction to Baltimore is blocked by the tops of three townhouses looking down the row.


The tradeoff is that the CM 4228 has good gain for upper VHF channels, so it should get ch 7, 9, 11, 13 after the digital switchover in 2009. The CM 4221 is not as good for upper VHF, so I may have to add a upper VHF antenna in 2009 in my attic. But this will be pretty easy to do. OTOH, I get analog 7 & 9 pretty well with the CM 4221. See the diagrams and charts under the commercial antenna comparison link at http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ISSUES/erecting_antenna.html for useful info.


You need to look at the possible obstructions in your attic, nearby buildings, and terrain to determine if you have a need for the greater gain of the CM 4228. My advice would be to give the CM 4221 4 Bay a try. The CM 4228 is much heavier, larger, and more directional, so it has those drawbacks. The advantage of the CM 4228 is that you would be set for 2009 while with the CM 4221, you might to add a upper VHF antenna in 2009. You have to weigh the tradeoffs.


----------



## PaulGo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Belcherwm* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Anybody else have horrible breakups on 24 from Fox5 via Comcast?



In Montgomery County I was getting breakups on all channels between 7:15pm to 7:45pm but then it cleared up and reception on all channels was great.


----------



## J-D-H




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> There is nothing wrong, channel 34.1 is the digital simulcast channel for WUSA 9. All the digital broadcasts are done on other channels from the analog channels that you know the station as. They can not broadcast on the same channel as the analog signal as they would severely interfere with each others. ATSC provides a header field, called the PSIP, which tells the receiver to display channels 9.1, 9.2 for the channel 34 broadcast. WTTG-DT Fox 5 is broadcasting on UHF 36, for example. Look at the first post in this thread. The column of numbers in orange are the current digital broadcast channel for the station.
> 
> 
> Digital broadcast provides for automatic channel remapping. The actual digital broadcast channel is useful to know when selecting an antenna. It can also help when a station messes up it's PSIP information and the digital station can only be found at it's actual broadcast channel. This happened recently with WBAL-DT 11 in Baltimore. Tune to channel 11.1 and the receiver switched to displaying channel 59.1 and in the case of my Samsung SIR-T451, wiped out the entry mapping it to channel 11. To get the station, I had to enter channel 59.
> 
> 
> In February, 2009 when the analog shutdown occurs, we will get a reshuffling of the digital broadcast channels. The upper VHF (7 to 13) DC stations 7 & 9 and the Baltimore stations 11 & 13 will switch their digital broadcast to their current analog channels. You may have seen the recent posts discussing what power levels they will use when then do this. The low VHF (2 to 6) stations, 2, 4, and 5 have elected to avoid low VHF for digital broadcast as many large city stations have elected to do across the US and will stay at UHF. However, WMAR-DT 2 will move from ch 52 to ch 38. 2009 will be the year of the great broadcast channel reshuffle dance. So we will have no local stations at low VHF after 2009 unless a low power start-up applies for one of the unused low VHF channels.




Thanks for the short, but very helpful primer on the conversion from analog to digital - excellent. I had no idea it was so complex (should have guessed).


I'm still wondering about this new Sony set we just bought. Okay, good, so channel 34.1 is proper and expected, but the only way it can be seen on our set is by manual keypad entry. It is ~never~ picked up when the set is asked to auto-scan for digital channels. I figured that if the set can tune to 34.1 manually, it ought to be able to find it during an auto-scan as well., but maybe this depends on the PSIP information you mentioned. Or maybe this Sony set is somehow not handling that PSIP info correctly.


I looked at the chart you mentioned on pg 1 of this thread. Of all the many UHF chan assignments shown in that chart, the only duplicates (if that's the right way to put it) I've found are 9.1 and 34.1. After laboriously entering each and every UHF channel (no sub-channels, just the xx.1 channels) manually via the remote control keypad, chan 34.1 appeared, but none of the other Wash DC based station VHF channel - UHF actual transmission channel pairs were evident. Sorry, in case that's not worded well: we can get 4.1, 5.1, 7.1, 9.1, etc., but not 48.1, 36.1, or 39.1 - only WUSA on 34.1 is there. Is all of this to be expected? Is this part of the PSIP topic you referenced?


----------



## J-D-H




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ericlhyman* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The problem is probably not with the tv's tuner. To check this, get the latest model LG or Samsung HD receiver with the 5th generation OTA tuner. Research this to be sure not to get an older model. You will probably need a good rooftop antenna.
> 
> 
> I am not far from 4 Corners either. Digital channels are harder to get than analog and you either get a picture, highly pixellated picture, or nothing at all.
> 
> 
> At some point, WETA digital channels will be transmitted from the WJLA tower instead of the current N. Virginia location. I don't think it has happened yet. Whenever I email WETA at its website, as I last did about a month ago, they say this will happen in a few weeks, but they have been saying this for over a year. When it does, if you get WJLA-HD well, you should get WETA digital.



Thanks for the tip on the Samsung tuners. There may be a couple of Samsung sets available at the store we're dealing with, so I'll try to see if there are any reviews available on those models and hope that they speak to the generation of tuners they use.


It's good to hear that the WETA move ~may~ be soon (the check's in the mail....). We get every other station just fine -- WJLA is very strong -- so it sounds like we'll be all set if they ever get this move done.


----------



## J-D-H




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> One of them is for the analog station, one is for the current DT facility, and one is for the digital CP at the new tower, which also hosts WJLA-DT's digital facility.
> 
> 
> The lawsuits referred to another tower. The tower WETA has applied for isn't affected.
> 
> 
> Just for fun, click here , and you can see the tower that the lawsuit is all about. (If you can't see them all well, double-click just below the green arrow and it'll enhance the towers.) One is very tall and built, one is shorter, with red stripes, and the third is short and without red stripes. This third one is the tower referred in the lawsuit.
> 
> 
> 
> WETA has the cure. It's called Tenleytown. That 90 kW thing you mentioned applies to the CP for the Tenleytown site. Yes, WETA-DT will only be 90,000 watts ERP, compared with the one million from WJLA, but it'll come from an antenna over 200 meters in the sky, and it'll be closer to you. Therefore, I suspect that WETA will come in one day with your current setup. The question is this: _When?_ Last year, WETA promised that they'd do it by the end of that year, and they apparently still haven't delivered. If I remember correctly, the CP for the Tenleytown site expires this summer or fall, so it should arrive this year. However, I suspect that they'll wait until the last minute. See, they like to save their money: They have to pay the people who go on the air during pledge drives.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 34-1 (9-1) is DC's CBS affiliate, via WUSA-DT, as *afiggatt* said. CBS is notorious for loud sound. I have to turn the volume down over other stations like WJLA and WTTG with my tuner. As for not having it remap, my own tuner, a Samsung DTB-H260F, remaps it correctly, so perhaps you do have a defective tuner. However, it's not a huge issue.
> 
> 
> Keep it on DT 34 (9-1) for local news in HD. It's pretty good stuff.



First, thanks for the link. I knew the new tower was going to be quite tall, but I had not known it was nested among two other existing towers. For me anyway, this puts a different slant on the eyesore factor which was supposed to be the basis of that lawsuit. Regardless, I'm glad to hear that the WETA move isn't impacted by any of that controversy.


Though it's not certain when the WETA move will actually happen, I'm just happy to hear that it's likely to be this year. Even if it's an 11th hour thing, it's great to know that we'll eventually be able to receive them (maybe as well as we now get WJLA).


WUSA isn't remapping from 9.1 to 34.1 in our Sony set, it's being mapped to both channel numbers at the same time. So far this is the only station we've found via this tuner which is apparently in two places at once. I don't know whether this is a Sony problem or some oddity of how WUSA has implemented the PSIP header mentioned earlier, but I don't know how to sort that out. If it is the details within the PSIP, shouldn't WUSA appear at both 9.1 and 34.1 on ~every~ tuner made?


If not, and if this implies a problem with this set, it's out of here (maybe to be replaced by a Samsung). If we decide to go with a Samsung (a 5th gen tuner model as recommended), I only hope we don't find out the hard way that there's a significant difference in reliability between Sony and Samsung. I've read that they're both reputable, but who can tell anymore now that regardless of brand everything seems to be made in unexpected countries.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 34-1 (9-1) is DC's CBS affiliate, via WUSA-DT, as *afiggatt* said. CBS is notorious for loud sound. I have to turn the volume down over other stations like WJLA and WTTG with my tuner. As for not having it remap, my own tuner, a Samsung DTB-H260F, remaps it correctly, so perhaps you do have a defective tuner. However, it's not a huge issue.
> 
> 
> Keep it on DT 34 (9-1) for local news in HD. It's pretty good stuff.



Analog channel 9 is loud for me on Comcast but the digital channel OTA is normal for me on 9-1. Compared to 13-1 it's too low and 66-1 on the rare occasion I turn to it is much louder than 9-1.


----------



## Mntneer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Belcherwm* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Anybody else have horrible breakups on 24 from Fox5 via Comcast?



Comcast has done something to their systems, because for the past couple weeks I keep getting breakups on Fox. Don't experience them on other channels, but on Fox, it's sometimes impossible to watch shows like 24 without having sound dropouts ect.


It was so bad last night my wife and I actually missed a few minutes of the program, specifically the discussion about removing Palmer from office.


I've just been chalking it up to Comcast taking over ADelphia's systems for this area, but it's becoming more and more frustrating.


----------



## Belcherwm

I don't know who to complain to, WTTG or Comcast so I did both. We aren't in an Adelphia transition in my area.


----------



## zoyd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/0
> 
> *ng5783*, ... if you want CBS via WJZ in Baltimore. They, unlike WUSA, have full-bandwidth HD, making the picture look a little better.



Can you point me to a summary of the various stations OTA HD bitrates, does such a resource exist?



thanks


----------



## CycloneGT

No there isn't a resource for the bitrates. Usually folks who can record with a PC card can calculate the bit rate and post them from time to time for channels.


MikeyMike's response is due to the known fact that WUSA-DT has a sub-channel and WJZ-DT does not. So WJZ gets the full bandwidth of its broadcast while WUSA-DT is sharing.


----------



## zoyd

ok, thanks. The reason I ask is that I constantly see compression artifacts on WRC that I don't on the other networks so I am assuming they are overcompressing. I see they also have one sub-channel.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *J-D-H* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I'm still wondering about this new Sony set we just bought. Okay, good, so channel 34.1 is proper and expected, but the only way it can be seen on our set is by manual keypad entry. It is ~never~ picked up when the set is asked to auto-scan for digital channels. I figured that if the set can tune to 34.1 manually, it ought to be able to find it during an auto-scan as well., but maybe this depends on the PSIP information you mentioned. Or maybe this Sony set is somehow not handling that PSIP info correctly. [snip]



I think you are confused on how this works. You should enter channel 9 or 9.1 to get WUSA-DT (DT means this is the digital station). Depending on how the receiver firmware is designed, your TV should display 9.1 when you enter channel 34 or 34.1 after a momentary display of 34.1. (don't know whether your TV differentiates between the analog and digital tuners). I have not noticed any PSIP issues with WUSA-DT 9.


When you do an auto scan, only the mapped channel numbers should be displayed such as channels 4,5,7,9,20,50 with their sub-channels. The real channel numbers may be shown in one of the channel list menus, but that is all. By manually entering 34.1, the firmware may have been written to save that entry.


I think you are getting way off into the weeds here. Your issue, if I follow it, is that you have been unable to receive WETA-DT 26. I suggest you clear your TV channel list by disconnecting the antenna cable from the back of the TV and do an full auto scan (not an update scan if the TV has that option). Then reconnect the antenna, aim it at Baltimore or whatever and do a full auto scan to repopulate the channel list.


If you can not receive WETA-DT after all this, I suggest you contact the station and tell them that you can not get their digital signal from Silver Spring. Maybe add that you will not donate a dime until they fix their digital broadcast situation, just to nudge them a little. The more complaints they get, the more management might be motivated to move the digital transmission to the higher tower and boost their signal strength.


----------



## SJKurtzke

JSYK


WUSA is streaming their news---*IN HD*--over the internet. I think this is the first time it's happened. There's a topic in HD Programming about it. Video looks pretty good, streaming at 720p and 3.18 Mbps. Although, even with a 5Mbps FiOS connection, I'm getting some breakups.


----------



## Onazuka




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> JSYK
> 
> 
> WUSA is streaming their news---*IN HD*--over the internet. I think this is the first time it's happened. There's a topic in HD Programming about it. Video looks pretty good, streaming at 720p and 3.18 Mbps. Although, even with a 5Mbps FiOS connection, I'm getting some breakups.



Can you post a link, I can't find it ?


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Onazuka* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Can you post a link, I can't find it ?



They took it down around 5:15. They had some test videos up there, too, but I guess those were taken down as well.


----------



## shortstop11_jeff

I got the flier the other day about Adelphia switching to Comcast soon. They gave a website to go to for customers to get info about the switch. My wife accidentally threw the flier away and I cannot remember the website. Does anyone have it handy? Thanks

Jeff


----------



## markbach




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *shortstop11_jeff* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I got the flier the other day about Adelphia switching to Comcast soon. They gave a website to go to for customers to get info about the switch. My wife accidentally threw the flier away and I cannot remember the website. Does anyone have it handy? Thanks
> 
> Jeff


 http://www.comcast.com/welcomeadelphia/


----------



## shortstop11_jeff

Thanks mark


----------



## Pyrr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So, is that CN8 in HD also?
> 
> 
> BTW: its good to see you posting here again Pyrr.



Unfortunately no, it's SD.


Thanks










Pyrr


----------



## Pyrr

I don't think adelphia in Frederick has completely converted, if you still go to the website and put in 21701 it still shows adelphia, plus the line up shows all the new channels except for CN8. Also my VOD still says adelphia. Hopefully it convert over to the rest of the channels soon.


Pyrr


----------



## ashutoshsm

Ugh.

Adelphia Comcast Loudoun - Discovery HD is gone. Both on the Series 3 TiVo with CableCards & the Motorola 6412 (so-called-)DVR.


Both error messagea re to the 'channel not authorized' effect. And Versus/Golf still lacks Guide information (on the Moto as well as on Tribune's Zap2It website, and hence on the S3 TiVo)


Anyone else privy to any ongoing Comcast HD channel changes? Earlier this week I received their new updated fleecingpricing sheet, I wonder whwther they're reworking more channels in too. I'm back on the fence again, assuming FiOS lights up that last one-two miles to my place soon!


----------



## gtroan

I live in the Sleepy Hollow are of No Virginia (near Seven Corners). I have a Sony Wega 50" LCD projection HDTV and a relatively high gain Weingard HD7082p VHF/UHF antenna on the roof. The problem is that I get dropouts on many of the local HDTV stations whenever there's any wind. The problem seems to be a large number of trees about 300' away that tower 100' above my antenna. Is there a solution to this problem? Am I better off with a different antenna, a different tuner, or a pre-amp? Most of the stations are less than 15 miles away. I am not currently using a pre-amp, and my coax lead-in is about 40' long. Thanks for any help.


----------



## markbach




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ashutoshsm* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Ugh.
> 
> Adelphia Comcast Loudoun - Discovery HD is gone. Both on the Series 3 TiVo with CableCards & the Motorola 6412 (so-called-)DVR.
> 
> 
> Both error messagea re to the 'channel not authorized' effect. And Versus/Golf still lacks Guide information (on the Moto as well as on Tribune's Zap2It website, and hence on the S3 TiVo)



InHD is broke too...


What channel is VS/Golf? Wasn't aware we were getting it.


----------



## mikemikeb

*gtroan*, I suggest a Samsung DTV-H260F tuner. They're hard to find, but are sometimes available at Best Buy and especially Circuit City stores. I suggest trying one of both, starting with Circuit City. If your local stores are out of stock, they can find other locations with units in stock.


If that alone doesn't work, get an attenuator, as this could remove the multipath. Careful, though: Too much attenuation and you lose your signal. Too little attenuation and the dropouts don't go away. Go somewhere where you can return something if it doesn't work.

__________________________

Would Robert Forsyth be proud? 


Top of that thread here


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey

I don't know if anyone here posted about HD VOD on FiOS but I just leaned today that FiOS has started it. Yes, you can watch it by going to VOD >> All Free >> Marketplace >> Ambient.tv HD


Currently they only have two shows about art and desert. That is not important, all I care about is that finally there is HD VOD.


Also here is screenshots of the new IPG of FiOS:

Screenshot 1 
Screenshot 2 
Screenshot 3


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/0
> 
> *gtroan*, I suggest a Samsung DTV-H260F tuner. They're hard to find, but are sometimes available at Best Buy and especially Circuit City stores. I suggest trying one of both, starting with Circuit City. If your local stores are out of stock, they can find other locations with units in stock.
> 
> 
> If that alone doesn't work, get an attenuator, as this could remove the multipath.



Get an attenuator because his digital signal gets drop outs when it is windy??










The Samsung DTB-H260F is a possibility, but if the Sony is a recent model, it may have the same chipset as the H260F. Don't know. Also an expensive suggestion.


gtroan, which stations drop out when it is windy? Just Baltimore or do the closer major DC stations - channels 4, 5, 7, 9, 50 drop out as well? You have a good somewhat directional antenna, but do you have a rotator to tweak the aim? Also, does the antenna move much in the wind? If the antenna is twisting around, the aim is moving around. A pre-amp might help with overall reception, but you probably want to get a medium boost pre-amp to avoid possible overload of the front end for the powerful DC stations.


----------



## Mntneer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ashutoshsm* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Ugh.
> 
> Adelphia Comcast Loudoun - Discovery HD is gone. Both on the Series 3 TiVo with CableCards & the Motorola 6412 (so-called-)DVR.
> 
> 
> Both error messagea re to the 'channel not authorized' effect. And Versus/Golf still lacks Guide information (on the Moto as well as on Tribune's Zap2It website, and hence on the S3 TiVo)
> 
> 
> Anyone else privy to any ongoing Comcast HD channel changes? Earlier this week I received their new updated fleecingpricing sheet, I wonder whwther they're reworking more channels in too. I'm back on the fence again, assuming FiOS lights up that last one-two miles to my place soon!




Well, I figured it would finally happen. Comcast (formerly Adephia here) has taken away HDNet and HDMovies and replaced them with MHD and UHD. UHD I don't mind, as I'll enjoy getting to finally see Galactica in HD, but I have ZERO use for MHD and wish they still have HDNet.










Also, for some reason I can't tune in Discovery HD with the QAM tuner in my LG set at home. What's odd is I can at my office just a few miles away though. I'm not sure if they've decided to encrypt it and no longer offer it unencrypted QAM, or if it's just my cable signal experiencing issues. I can still tune in the VIdeo On Demand channels with the QAM tuner though, so I don't know what to think.


----------



## CycloneGT

I can understand that Comcast has dropped the HDNet channels because they don't have an agreement with them, but DiscoveryHD? That has been on Comcast for a very long time. Are you sure that it just didn't get reassigned to a different channel number? I know that Comcast likes to maintain the same channel numbers throughout the areas.


----------



## rosh400

My wife gave me a ride to work today so I didn't have to wait for a bus that was likely never to come. Anyway, we are on Mass Ave. southbound approaching Wisconsin Ave when all traffic has to squeeze into the left lane because a WJLA van is set up in the right lane. Very nice and considerate WJLA.


I know this is way off topic but this kind of behavior really p's me off. Hope WJLA is monitoring this thread.


----------



## knnirs

I received a letter from Comcast yesterday with the following statement:

“As a special benefit only available to current analog basic customers, we’re going to provide you a Digital Self-Install kit which includes your Digital box FREE for one year!”

I am skeptical but I will call them as soon as the phone is free to accept their offer, which includes free shipment of the kit.

I have been using a digital QAM tuner connected to the cable for more than two years to receive the clear channels, which include the D.C. Baltimore and Annapolis channels. I will report on the progress next week.


----------



## aaronwt

I hope they do this everywhere so they can eventually wean people off the analog channels. They really need to get rid of all the analog channels since they hog so much bandwidth. 95% of what I watch is HD. The sooner they get rid of the analog channels the better.


----------



## CycloneGT

I'm guessing that Cable Companies nationwide will try to convert over to Digital Only when the OTA analog cut off happens. That way they can captialize on the confusion and make it seem that they "had to" do it. Which of course they aren't required to do.


----------



## J-D-H




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ericlhyman* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Local CBS affiliate, channel 9.1, is actually broadcasting from UHF channel 34. There is nothing wrong with your tv tuner. Some tuners map this to 9.1, others to 34. Similarly 7.1 is really channel 39, if I recall correctly.



I now understand the basics of this remapping done for digital channels. I was just trying to ask about the at least atypical way my Sony tuner handles the 9.1/34.1 channel pair for WUSA, and only for WUSA. With all the other digital stations, the actual channel number the station is using (in this case, like ch 34.1) is effectively "hidden" from the user -- when you enter the actual channel you get "no signal". But it's not this way for 34.1. No big deal -- it just seemed odd and I wondered if it implied the tuner was sick. Maybe not. Maybe it just has to do with how WUSA has implemented the PSIP (if that the right acronym), mentioned earlier.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Hopefully this is in preparation for adding more HD channels by dropping analog channels. I have no objection to them converting to digital only. The satcos have been like that for a long time. Of course there is the question of how much they are going to charge for these boxes. (But I already have DVRs for both TVs anyway.)


----------



## Mntneer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I can understand that Comcast has dropped the HDNet channels because they don't have an agreement with them, but DiscoveryHD? That has been on Comcast for a very long time. Are you sure that it just didn't get reassigned to a different channel number? I know that Comcast likes to maintain the same channel numbers throughout the areas.




I still get DiscoveryHD on my DVR box, I just don't get it through a QAM tuner anymore.


I was hopeful that they'd keep HDNet for a little while longer, but oh well...










They have though drastically increased the amount of available Video On Demand programing. Before, with Adelphia it was basically the PPV movies, the HBO, Cinemax, Showtime and Movie CHannel programs, and then a couple special HGTV type programs. Now they offer all kinds of channel, including Comedy Central.


----------



## ashutoshsm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbach* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> InHD is broke too...
> 
> 
> What channel is VS/Golf? Wasn't aware we were getting it.



Discovery HD in Loudoun's Comcast is still out!


InHD (770) was (only) out last night because the NBA game was subject to blackout rules.


VS/Golf is right after the batch of current HD channels - 776. WHOA - its gone again now! The S3 TiVo's new guide doesn't show the number at all, the Moto 6412 DVR can't tune it either - blank screen or last frame from previous channel shows up, as the case may be.


Hopefully VS/Golf being dumped in favor of a REAL channel - preferably Universal HD.










Time to call Comcast and complain again.


The last time I called to speak to them, they gave me the whole 'we are having CableCard issues in your area' line. Which was an outright lie I had to call them out on - their stupid DVR & digital boxen had the same missing channels too!


----------



## J-D-H




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I think you are confused on how this works. You should enter channel 9 or 9.1 to get WUSA-DT (DT means this is the digital station). Depending on how the receiver firmware is designed, your TV should display 9.1 when you enter channel 34 or 34.1 after a momentary display of 34.1. (don't know whether your TV differentiates between the analog and digital tuners). I have not noticed any PSIP issues with WUSA-DT 9.
> 
> 
> When you do an auto scan, only the mapped channel numbers should be displayed such as channels 4,5,7,9,20,50 with their sub-channels. The real channel numbers may be shown in one of the channel list menus, but that is all. By manually entering 34.1, the firmware may have been written to save that entry.
> 
> 
> I think you are getting way off into the weeds here. Your issue, if I follow it, is that you have been unable to receive WETA-DT 26. I suggest you clear your TV channel list by disconnecting the antenna cable from the back of the TV and do an full auto scan (not an update scan if the TV has that option). Then reconnect the antenna, aim it at Baltimore or whatever and do a full auto scan to repopulate the channel list.
> 
> 
> If you can not receive WETA-DT after all this, I suggest you contact the station and tell them that you can not get their digital signal from Silver Spring. Maybe add that you will not donate a dime until they fix their digital broadcast situation, just to nudge them a little. The more complaints they get, the more management might be motivated to move the digital transmission to the higher tower and boost their signal strength.



No confusion (at least not now). Right, I first brought up the inability to receive WETA 26.1, and then later the WUSA 34.1/9.1 topic.


The 26.1 concern was, given our near-in location, I wondered why we weren't able to receive them. Was there a fix for this (new antenna setup, etc.), was it typical not to get them in my area, or was this somehow an indication that our 3 days old Sony set was defective and should be returned. As of a few days ago, the consensus seems to be that the problem is our location.


Then, while in the midst of the above discussion, I found channel 34.1 while doing some manual tuning via the remote's keypad. So I asked about it here and this lead to the explanation about remapping, 34.1/9.1, etc. Good, got that.


However this Sony set seems to handle the WUSA 34.1/9.1 pair oddly (or at least differently than the way it handles every other remapped pair and differently than the way other sets I've been able to try). So I wondered why.


Your description of what usually happens when entering 34.1 is what I've seen with other sets too. But the Sony does not do that. You enter 9.1, you get digital WUSA as expected. If you enter 34.1, you get the same station, and the channel display remains at 34.1. It does not change in a short moment to 9.1. Obviously I have by now tried this with every other channel pair, and none of the others act this way. Example: I put in 7.1, I receive WJLA. I input either 39 or 39.1, the set says "no signal". Only the WUSA pair works differently.


Is the above meaningful? Don't know. Overall resets have changed nothing; neither have multiple auto-programming scans. Sony agreed that this is strange and unexpected behavior, but they wouldn't commit to saying that the set is defective. You say the PSIP seems okay, so I have no idea why it does what it does.


Bottom line: The WETA issue has been more or less laid to rest, but this WUSA thing has not. Maybe what the set does with 34.1 is just a slight idiosyncrasy, one to be ignored, but so far no other Sony users have jumped in and said "yeah, mine does that too.....".


----------



## rob base

I live in Frederick, MD with Adelphia/Comcast and they added:

770- TNTHD

771- VSGLF

778- NGCHD

and

21 - CN8 not HD and not CSNHD but a Comcast channel

Just like Pyrr stated.

They also added a lot of ON Demand Channels too.

My overall bill will be about $15 more a month with the same packages. Will wait and see if

they are worth staying with because the only other real options are dish or directv. Will check with my bro, and compare to his directv options.

Also, on the Adelphia website for Fred. zip, it showed 777 as CSNHD. Called them on it and they said it was just a test run. Hopefully it will be added soon! Directv has it already, so they better step up quick.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *J-D-H* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> Maybe what the set does with 34.1 is just a slight idiosyncrasy, one to be ignored, but so far no other Sony users have jumped in and said "yeah, mine does that too.....".



Mine does that too on a 30XS955. When I put in 39.1 (or any other digital ch) I get a No Signal (even tho in the menu I get the signal strength of the WJLA ch). I assume it's an issue with PSIP and the tuner.


----------



## rob base

Just checked Adelphia Channel lineup for 21701 and it says CSNHD on 771. That is VSGLF right now. Also TNTHD 770 is not on there, but 778 NGCHD is. Maybe another test run?


----------



## Mntneer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rob base* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I live in Frederick, MD with Adelphia/Comcast and they added:
> 
> 770- TNTHD
> 
> 771- VSGLF
> 
> 778- NGCHD
> 
> and
> 
> 21 - CN8 not HD and not CSNHD but a Comcast channel
> 
> Just like Pyrr stated.
> 
> They also added a lot of ON Demand Channels too.
> 
> My overall bill will be about $15 more a month with the same packages. Will wait and see if
> 
> they are worth staying with because the only other real options are dish or directv. Will check with my bro, and compare to his directv options.
> 
> Also, on the Adelphia website for Fred. zip, it showed 777 as CSNHD. Called them on it and they said it was just a test run. Hopefully it will be added soon! Directv has it already, so they better step up quick.



What's VSGLF and NGCHD? We didn't get those. We did get TNTHD when they dropped INHD2.


----------



## rob base

VSGLF is a combination of Versus channel that has alot of hockey games and the Golf Channel. Great for hockey in HD and golf in HD. They choose what programs to show from their regular dig. cable channels. NGCHD is national geograhic channel in HD. Still waiting for CSNHD.


----------



## J-D-H




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Mine does that too on a 30XS955. When I put in 39.1 (or any other digital ch) I get a No Signal (even tho in the menu I get the signal strength of the WJLA ch). I assume it's an issue with PSIP and the tuner.



No, I'm saying the opposite. Your tuner is doing what I would have expected, and mine does the same as yours for most stations. But in the case of WUSA's channel remapping, I receive their station regardless of how it's entered -- I can key in either 9.1 or 34.1 and the station comes in. If I key in 34.1, it does not say "no signal".


The above is probably no big deal, but it just struck me as odd that manually entering channel 34.1 does work, while this set handles the other remapped channel pairs differently. If it's not the WUSA PSIP, I guess it's something slightly weird in the Sony's firmware, programming, etc. So far no guru has jumped in saying that this 34.1 symptom implies a serious fault.... Good!


----------



## markbach




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ashutoshsm* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Discovery HD in Loudoun's Comcast is still out!
> 
> 
> InHD (770) was (only) out last night because the NBA game was subject to blackout rules.
> 
> 
> VS/Golf is right after the batch of current HD channels - 776. WHOA - its gone again now! The S3 TiVo's new guide doesn't show the number at all, the Moto 6412 DVR can't tune it either - blank screen or last frame from previous channel shows up, as the case may be.
> 
> 
> Hopefully VS/Golf being dumped in favor of a REAL channel - preferably Universal HD.



You mean 774 for InHD, right? And it's working for me now, so you're right, probably was an NBA blackout.


Discovery HD still down for me as well.


GolfHD is coming in on 776 (1080i 4:3 with black bars) for me on the S3 TiVo. No guide info or anything though. Not sure if the show itself is HD or not.


----------



## ahsan

I don't understand how or why Comcast Loudoun chose to add Versus HD before adding Comcast Sports Net-HD. Its not like they need to buy the rights to their own property. Is Comcast Reston the only local franchise that carries CSN-HD?


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ahsan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I don't understand how or why Comcast Loudoun chose to add Versus HD before adding Comcast Sports Net-HD. Its not like they need to buy the rights to their own property. Is Comcast Reston the only local franchise that carries CSN-HD?



All of Alexandria City and Prince William County have CSN HD and FiOS is adding it the 20th of this month. I wish FiOS had VS HD, they will be showing NHL playoff games in HD.


----------



## ArcCoyote

Well, it seems Comcast has managed to fark up the clear-QAM worse than ever. This is on their Harford County Sci-Atlanta system, but might affect other counties with the Baltimore locals. I'm convinced whoever runs the headend around here has no idea how digital TV works.


What's happened is they are now passing PSIP data from the OTA locals. That's a good thing, right? Program guide and all that...


Problem is, they are retransmitting what they grab without converting it for QAM! This is causing the channel numbers and guide for one channel to end up on another. Not only that, Comcast is using 2+ programs on the same physical for different channels, but the OTA PSIP says there's only one. This WILL cause problems for a lot of TVs/STBs.


Example: Raw QAM channel 101-1 is MPT, 101-2 is WJZ HD, etc.. Comcast started transmitting the WJZ PSIP for 101, causing my tuner to show 101-1 as "13-1 WJZ"... but it's MPT! (because MPT is the -1 subchannel...)


Even worse, WJZ's PSIP only defines 13-1, so both 13-2 and 101-2 give me "NO PROGRAM". WJZ is gone! The scan finds 101-2, but most ATSC/QAM tuners will always use the PSIP data to map subchannels, so it's ignored.


The same thing happened with WBAL/WMAR. They were both on 111, but now I just get "11-1 WBAL" and WMAR (111-2) is gone. "FOX45 HD" is really 54 HD.. at least "FOX 45.2" is 45... when they are working. I liked it better when they were just 80-1 and 80-3.


The only way around this, as far as I can see, is to have a QAM tuner you can manually configure (HDHomeRun, etc..) Or, as Comcast would recommend, you need to get HD Digital service. There is "no such thing as clear QAM..."


Never attribute to conspiracy that which can be explained by incompetance


----------



## DCFan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> All of Alexandria City and Prince William County have CSN HD and FiOS is adding it the 20th of this month.



FiOS is adding CSN Philly HD to its DC area channel lineup in addition to the analog CSN Mid-Atlantic which it has always carried.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DCFan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> FiOS is adding CSN Philly HD to its DC area channel lineup in addition to the analog CSN Mid-Atlantic which it has always carried.



I have never heard of a out of market RSN being offered on Cable. Are you sure about this? I can see CSN-Philly being added to... well Verizon's Philadelphia markets (East PA, South NJ, DE, Maybe NorthEast MD). But DC is way out of Philadephia's turf, not to mention that Comcast owns way too many pieces of this puzzle.


----------



## DCFan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I have never heard of a out of market RSN being offered on Cable. Are you sure about this? I can see CSN-Philly being added to... well Verizon's Philadelphia markets (East PA, South NJ, DE, Maybe NorthEast MD). But DC is way out of Philadephia's turf, not to mention that Comcast owns way too many pieces of this puzzle.



It does seem strange to get an out of market RSN but that's what the Fios mailing says. Last month I got a new Washington Metro Channel Lineup in the mail from Fios for the upcoming channel switcheroo and it's got CSN Mid-Atlantic on channel 66 and CSN Philly HD listed on channel 829.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DCFan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It does seem strange to get an out of market RSN but that's what the Fios mailing says. Last month I got a new Washington Metro Channel Lineup in the mail from Fios for the upcoming channel switcheroo and it's got CSN Mid-Atlantic on channel 66 and CSN Philly HD listed on channel 829.



This was already discussed as an obvious typo. Verizon almost certainly would not be allowed to show Philly teams in the protected Baltimore-Washington markets.


As for Comcast Sports Network Mid-Atlantic HD, as far as I know, it is carried on all the Comcast systems in the Balt-Wash area that pre-date the recent Adelphia acquisitions. Comcast is just taking their time in adding CSN-MA in SD & HD to the now ex-Adelphia systems.


----------



## bbt

Frederick Adelphia posted in the Frederick News Post this morning the following programing changes effective 3/21/07:


New Channels- Service Level-

97 MASN2 Basic

184 CSPAN2 Basic (digital converter required)

297 ESPN Desportes Adelphia en Espanol (only applicable in Mt Airy)


Deleted Channels-

289-296 Latin Digital Music Adelphia en Espanol


----------



## DCFan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> This was already discussed as an obvious typo. Verizon almost certainly would not be allowed to show Philly teams in the protected Baltimore-Washington markets.



Sorry, I'm a new poster and haven't read thru the entire thread.










The only reason I can think that Comcast would allow another RSN to be shown is because they lost the O's games to MASN. But even if that's true the Phillies games would be blacked out in the DC/Baltimore areas. So we'll chalk it up to a typo.


----------



## guntherd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ArcCoyote* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Example: Raw QAM channel 101-1 is MPT, 101-2 is WJZ HD, etc.. Comcast started transmitting the WJZ PSIP for 101, causing my tuner to show 101-1 as "13-1 WJZ"... but it's MPT! (because MPT is the -1 subchannel...)
> 
> 
> Even worse, WJZ's PSIP only defines 13-1, so both 13-2 and 101-2 give me "NO PROGRAM". WJZ is gone! The scan finds 101-2, but most ATSC/QAM tuners will always use the PSIP data to map subchannels, so it's ignored.
> 
> 
> The same thing happened with WBAL/WMAR. They were both on 111, but now I just get "11-1 WBAL" and WMAR (111-2) is gone. "FOX45 HD" is really 54 HD.. at least "FOX 45.2" is 45... when they are working. I liked it better when they were just 80-1 and 80-3.



Looks like I've got the same issue here in Howard County. I used to have the channels you listed on those channel numbers on my TV, but they just stopped coming in and a rescan won't pick them up. I had posted a couple weeks ago that I lost the signal, then it came back, now it is gone again as of a few days ago.


I've been tempted to see how my TiVo S3 tunes them (as opposed to the TV's tuner) but I've got a great OTA setup going with it and I don't want to mess with it. And if I can't get reliable clear QAM from Comcast, then why bother? I do still get random ON DEMAND channels ironically enough.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *J-D-H* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> No, I'm saying the opposite. Your tuner is doing what I would have expected, and mine does the same as yours for most stations. But in the case of WUSA's channel remapping, I receive their station regardless of how it's entered -- I can key in either 9.1 or 34.1 and the station comes in. If I key in 34.1, it does not say "no signal".
> 
> 
> The above is probably no big deal, but it just struck me as odd that manually entering channel 34.1 does work, while this set handles the other remapped channel pairs differently. If it's not the WUSA PSIP, I guess it's something slightly weird in the Sony's firmware, programming, etc. So far no guru has jumped in saying that this 34.1 symptom implies a serious fault.... Good!



What I was saying is that that is what happens on my Sony - when I put in 34.1 or 9.1 I get WUSA.


----------



## indishock

My sister works in the call center and I sent her your post. Hopefully they will fix it.


----------



## J-D-H




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> What I was saying is that that is what happens on my Sony - when I put in 34.1 or 9.1 I get WUSA.



Oh sorry, it sounded like you were saying the reverse when you said earlier:


"When I put in 39.1 (or any other digital ch) I get a No Signal (even tho in the menu I get the signal strength of the WJLA ch)."


So we both can key in 34.1 and get WUSA just the same as if we had keyed in 9.1, and we don't see the same for any of the other remapped channel pairs (that is, we get a "no signal" indication for them)". Well I have no clue whether this is an oddity of Sony TV sets (at least yours and mine) or something not quite right within the PSIP information for WUSA, but at least it doesn't sound like my set is defective. Good - thanks for jumping in and letting me know this!


Another matter... You mentioned earlier that you read a signal strength for ch 39.1 even when the set said "no signal". If your Sony is similar to mine, I assume you're referring to the bar graph signal strength display shown on the diagnostics screen. If so, I have to wonder about the validity of the data on that screen (signal strength, AGC %, signal to noise ratio, etc.) when the set is tuned to a channel it cannot lock onto and displays "no signal". In watching my diagnostics, it looks like the strength number is stuck at around "41" for all "no signal" channels. In general, it would be nice to know more about that screen, how it works, how accurate it is, etc., but for now I suspect it shouldn't be taken too literally.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> This was already discussed as an obvious typo. Verizon almost certainly would not be allowed to show Philly teams in the protected Baltimore-Washington markets.
> 
> 
> As for Comcast Sports Network Mid-Atlantic HD, as far as I know, it is carried on all the Comcast systems in the Balt-Wash area that pre-date the recent Adelphia acquisitions. Comcast is just taking their time in adding CSN-MA in SD & HD to the now ex-Adelphia systems.



MASN told me that they are requiring cable companies to dedicate two receivers and channels to MASN because of the multiple conflicts during baseball season. They also told me that they had to be channels that were in a tier that at least something like 85% of the customers subscribed to, which is to say, Basic Cable.


At the very least, a cable company would have to drop another analog channel to force an opening for one full time basic MASN channel. I suspect that the cable system requirements for accommodating the second MASN channel might be negotiable by large cable systems, whereas the systems I service that only reach a couple hundred customers will be facing a, "my way or the highway" choice.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *J-D-H* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Oh sorry, it sounded like you were saying the reverse when you said earlier:
> 
> 
> "When I put in 39.1 (or any other digital ch) I get a No Signal (even tho in the menu I get the signal strength of the WJLA ch)."
> 
> 
> Another matter... You mentioned earlier that you read a signal strength for ch 39.1 even when the set said "no signal". If your Sony is similar to mine, I assume you're referring to the bar graph signal strength display shown on the diagnostics screen. If so, I have to wonder about the validity of the data on that screen (signal strength, AGC %, signal to noise ratio, etc.) when the set is tuned to a channel it cannot lock onto and displays "no signal". In watching my diagnostics, it looks like the strength number is stuck at around "41" for all "no signal" channels. In general, it would be nice to know more about that screen, how it works, how accurate it is, etc., but for now I suspect it shouldn't be taken too literally.



I should have said "or any other ch besides 34.1".


My signal strength meter is not a bar but simply a number up to 100. On 39.1 it hovers around 90, the same as for 7.1. For any ch that truly has no signal it's at 41 or lower.


----------



## DCFan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> MASN told me that they are requiring cable companies to dedicate two receivers and channels to MASN because of the multiple conflicts during baseball season.



Correct. On days when the Nats and O's are on at the same time, one of them will be on MASN and the other will be on MASN Plus. I suspect that MASN Plus will be dead at all other times.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast channel numbers for MASN and MASN2:

http://www.masn.tv/programming/index.cfm?ID=124 


In Baltimore City, MASN 2 will be on channel 17, which is normally CSPAN2.


----------



## jasonblair

Question... I am moving from Alexandria to Frederick next week. My DirecTV mover's connection won't be there to hook me up until March 2nd. Any chance I will be able to tune in some stations (analog or digital) with an amplified indoor antenna in the meantime? I don't want to miss Jack Bauer scream "DAMMIT!" any more than I have to!


----------



## mikemikeb

*jasonblair*, I'd be very surprised if you could pick up WTTG-DT or a strong analog channel 5 signal with any indoor antenna anywhere in Frederick Co. That is, unless you go to the woods of Burkittsville...


----------



## mikemikeb

HD is dropping out during The Office OTA on WRC.


----------



## gtroan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> .
> 
> 
> gtroan, which stations drop out when it is windy? Just Baltimore or do the closer major DC stations - channels 4, 5, 7, 9, 50 drop out as well? You have a good somewhat directional antenna, but do you have a rotator to tweak the aim? Also, does the antenna move much in the wind? ... A pre-amp might help with overall reception, but you probably want to get a medium boost pre-amp to avoid possible overload of the front end for the powerful DC stations.



Thanks for your input. WRT your questions, it's the Washington digital stations (4,5,7,9,26,50) that dropout. It's usally not all of them at once, however, unless the wind is very strong. They all lie between 42 and 47 degrees N except 50 that lies at 55 degrees. I rarely pick up 50.1 without lots of dropouts. I do not have a rotator. I rarely get 22.1 from Annapolis at 80 degrees with the rooftop antenna. However, I have a smaller antenna in the attic that I can go to (via A/B switch) that often picks up 50.1 and 22.1 without dropouts when there's no wind. It's pointed more to the South (around 60 degrees) than the rooftop antenna. It's still affected by the wind, though. I am not very successful at picking up any Baltimore stations with either antenna. I was hoping to find the optimum antenna to bring in everything without dropouts and without a rotator since all the stations lie between 42 and 55 degrees and are within about 10 miles. Is it likely that a better tuner that the one in the Sony WEGA could solve this problem?


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey

Quick question for those who already have CSN HD.


Beside the home games, is there anything else that is shown in HD, like talk shows or programs?


NFL Network HD rarely does stuff in HD, I mean what is the point? You would think for an organization with so much money and so many followers who care about the HD content they would be the first to anything that has to do with HD.


----------



## Red Dog

I've never seen anything other than games shown in HD on CSNHD, and they don't even show all the FSN-HD network games in HD (certainly not college football anyhow).


----------



## ArcCoyote




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *guntherd* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Looks like I've got the same issue here in Howard County. I used to have the channels you listed on those channel numbers on my TV, but they just stopped coming in and a rescan won't pick them up. I had posted a couple weeks ago that I lost the signal, then it came back, now it is gone again as of a few days ago.
> 
> 
> I've been tempted to see how my TiVo S3 tunes them (as opposed to the TV's tuner) but I've got a great OTA setup going with it and I don't want to mess with it. And if I can't get reliable clear QAM from Comcast, then why bother? I do still get random ON DEMAND channels ironically enough.



I just got my HDHomeRun yesterday. This thing is the holy grail for HTPCs: Works with MCE, SageTV, MythTV, can be made to work with anything. It's a dual-tuner network device, so any number of HTPCs can share both tuners on any number of units. It can do OTA, but the real killer is the ability to remap QAM channels to ATSC. This allows systems that only support ATSC (Windows MCE) to finally use QAM!


Well, anyway, I scanned with this thing and discovered the program data now appears to be correct. 101.1 is "67-1 WMPT SD", 101.2 is "13-1 WJZ HD", etc.. Wouldn't matter if it wasn't tho, because you can set up the channel map by hand. Even found TNTHD and CSNHD in the clear. I haven't had a chance to rescan with my TV, but if it still can't find them, it must be a limitation of JVC's tuners. (From what I've gathered here, it seems Sony and Panasonic have the best QAM support.)


Even if the Tivo S3 can find them, I don't know how well it would map the QAM channels to their OTA equivalents. I thought you needed a CableCARD to make the guide work.


----------



## RichmondOTABaby




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Quick question for those who already have CSN HD.
> 
> 
> Beside the home games, is there anything else that is shown in HD, like talk shows or programs?
> 
> 
> NFL Network HD rarely does stuff in HD, I mean what is the point? You would think for an organization with so much money and so many followers who care about the HD content they would be the first to anything that has to do with HD.



SportsNite/SportsRise are also shown in HD.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Red Dog* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I've never seen anything other than games shown in HD on CSNHD, and they don't even show all the FSN-HD network games in HD (certainly not college football anyhow).



It is funny that you mentioned FSN HD because when I first received a letter from FiOS to let me know it is available, they had FSN HD included. After getting it and not seeing FSN HD in the line up, I called and asked about it, and they said it is only available in other FiOS markets, like Tampa and San Fransisco.


----------



## Ladd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jasonblair* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Question... I am moving from Alexandria to Frederick next week. My DirecTV mover's connection won't be there to hook me up until March 2nd. Any chance I will be able to tune in some stations (analog or digital) with an amplified indoor antenna in the meantime? I don't want to miss Jack Bauer scream "DAMMIT!" any more than I have to!



Unless you get a reply from someone who lives next door to where you are moving, you're probably going to have to wait and see what happens. It all boils down to location, location, and location.


I live a few miles outside of Frederick and I'm up on a hill with a roof antenna and I get get everything in DC and Baltimore just fine. Not that this success will help you much as you situation sound very different, but have hope!


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RichmondOTABaby* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> SportsNite/SportsRise are also shown in HD.



They're actually WS SD.


----------



## J-D-H




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I should have said "or any other ch besides 34.1".
> 
> 
> My signal strength meter is not a bar but simply a number up to 100. On 39.1 it hovers around 90, the same as for 7.1. For any ch that truly has no signal it's at 41 or lower.



I don't know how much your set and mine have in common, but it sounds like the signal strength indicator is handled slightly differently. No matter though, the more important issue was hearing how your Sony handled WUSA and channel 34.1. Again, thanks for passing that info along!


----------



## mike442




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jasonblair* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Question... I am moving from Alexandria to Frederick next week. Any chance I will be able to tune in some stations (analog or digital) with an amplified indoor antenna in the meantime?



As others have said, it depends on excatly where in Frederick you are, and your elevation. I've gotten WBFF DT 45.1 (HD) as well as WTTG-DT 5.1 (HD) via a Silver Sensor. For me, 45 comes in stronger. According to Google Earth, my house is at 525 feet above sea level....


-Mike


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> MASN told me that they are requiring cable companies to dedicate two receivers and channels to MASN because of the multiple conflicts during baseball season. They also told me that they had to be channels that were in a tier that at least something like 85% of the customers subscribed to, which is to say, Basic Cable.
> 
> 
> At the very least, a cable company would have to drop another analog channel to force an opening for one full time basic MASN channel. I suspect that the cable system requirements for accommodating the second MASN channel might be negotiable by large cable systems, whereas the systems I service that only reach a couple hundred customers will be facing a, "my way or the highway" choice.



This has to be why MTV2 is no longer on analog channel 58 in Prince George's County. Can't get a straight answer from Comcast on the topic.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> They're actually WS SD.



At least it is in WS format, that way you don't see the sidebars. I don't understand why most stations don't do that with their HD broadcast even if they don't have the HD equipment.


Fox has been doing that for the last two years with their Saturday baseball games.


The thing that killed me today was as I flipped through the channels, I noticed The View is actually in HD. Why is that stupid show, at least IMO, is in HD and ESPNEWS and Total Access on NFLN are not?


----------



## RalphArch




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> At least it is in WS format, that way you don't see the sidebars. I don't understand why most stations don't do that with their HD broadcast even if they don't have the HD equipment.
> 
> 
> Fox has been doing that for the last two years with their Saturday baseball games.



Please - I hope the station managers and engineers spare us from these type comments. I don't want my SD fare stretched to fit someone's 16:9 display, and lose a significant portion of the available display via station cropping. Let them (viewers) stretch it on their own it they don't mind the distortion.


We need more STB's with native passthrough. I bought equipment that senses the input signal and properly adjusts aspect ratios. I don't want to be fed a 16:9 down chopped display of a 4:3 field. My displays can upscale and display 4:3 material fine.


If it bothers you buy equipment that is more capable of displaying 4:3 material.


This is a natural consequence of many folks blindly buying 16*9 "HD" displays and not considering what those will do to the fairly more common 4*3 material - which will be around for hundreds of years.


No - I don't want a a 4:3 HD Imax movie cropped to 16:9 so please don't suggest that the stations do this.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RalphArch* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Please - I hope the station managers and engineers spare us from these type comments. I don't want my SD fare stretched to fit someone's 16:9 display, and lose a significant portion of the available display via station cropping. Let them (viewers) stretch it on their own it they don't mind the distortion.
> 
> 
> We need more STB's with native passthrough. I bought equipment that senses the input signal and properly adjusts aspect ratios. I don't want to be fed a 16:9 down chopped display of a 4:3 field. My displays can upscale and display 4:3 material fine.
> 
> 
> If it bothers you buy equipment that is more capable of displaying 4:3 material.
> 
> 
> This is a natural consequence of many folks blindly buying 16*9 "HD" displays and not considering what those will do to the fairly more common 4*3 material - which will be around for hundreds of years.
> 
> 
> No - I don't want a a 4:3 HD Imax movie cropped to 16:9 so please don't suggest that the stations do this.



I'm not sure if he was saying that but nevertheless I agree with you 100%!


----------



## dg28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I'm not sure if he was saying that but nevertheless I agree with you 100%!



CSN HD is not stretching or cropping anything. They are shooting their studio shows in 16x9 SD and broadcasting them in 16X9 SD. So the proper aspect ratio remains intact.


----------



## RalphArch




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> CSN HD is not stretching or cropping anything. They are shooting their studio shows in 16x9 SD and broadcasting them in 16X9 SD. So the proper aspect ratio remains intact.



I stand corrected if that was the approach being discussed. I just don't want stations cropping 4:3 material to fit it into a 16:9 box, or stretching it.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gtroan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Thanks for your input. WRT your questions, it's the Washington digital stations (4,5,7,9,26,50) that dropout. It's usally not all of them at once, however, unless the wind is very strong. They all lie between 42 and 47 degrees N except 50 that lies at 55 degrees. I rarely pick up 50.1 without lots of dropouts. I do not have a rotator. I rarely get 22.1 from Annapolis at 80 degrees with the rooftop antenna. However, I have a smaller antenna in the attic that I can go to (via A/B switch) that often picks up 50.1 and 22.1 without dropouts when there's no wind. It's pointed more to the South (around 60 degrees) than the rooftop antenna. It's still affected by the wind, though. I am not very successful at picking up any Baltimore stations with either antenna. I was hoping to find the optimum antenna to bring in everything without dropouts and without a rotator since all the stations lie between 42 and 55 degrees and are within about 10 miles. Is it likely that a better tuner that the one in the Sony WEGA could solve this problem?



In your earlier post, you stated that you live in Sleepy Hollow area near Seven corners and you have a Winegard 7082P VHF/UHF antenna. First, looking at the maps, you have terrain issues in that you appear to be down at a lower elevation with the 7 Corners shopping center located over a 100' higher to your NW. That is why they call the street a hollow I assume. So you are in a challenging terrain situation.


For starters, the Winegard 7082P is a good antenna but may well be too narrowbeam for your location. Check the beam patterns for the 7082p at http://www.winegard.com/offair/antennas/hd7082p.htm . The higher in channel frequency you go, the narrower the beam pattern. WDCW-DT 50 broadcasts on UHF 51 so the combination of it being off in azimuth and the narrow reception beam pattern make it difficult to pick up when the antenna is aimed at the other stations. Two of the Baltimore stations, WMAR-DT 2 and WBAL-DT 11 broadcast at UHF 52 & 59 so they are up there in the narrow beam area for the 7082p as well. But you may be blocked by terrain from picking up the Baltimore stations even with the serious long range gear such as the AntennasDirect 91XG or the Channel Master 4228 8 Bay.


What model is the smaller antenna in the attic? My suggestion would to try a broad multi-directional antenna in the attic. The Channel Master 4221 4 Bay UHF antenna performs very well in this area with all the digital stations currently on UHF. But I don't know if it has the gain you need to pick-up the stations through the trees. The switch of channels 7 & 9 of their digital signals to their analog channels in 2009 will be an issue, but let's put that aside for now (even though the CM 4221 can get upper VHF 7 to 13 stations to some extent) and get your current reception problems fixed.


What type of cable are you using to connect to the 7082p? RG-59 or good quality RG-6? If the cable is RG-59, that has higher loss than RG-6 and I would replace it.


Which model year Song WEGA TV do you have? I have seen mostly positive reports for the ATSC tuners in the Sony HD TVs. But depending on how much you want to spend, the Samsung DTB-H260F ATSC receiver STB ($180 list) has gotten high marks for improved reception in marginal conditions. But the H260F is hard to find at local stores; Circuit City is the best bet. Check the long H260F thread in the HDTV hardware reception forum.


If you have not looked at this website, do so as there is a lot of useful stuff on antennas: http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ISSUES/erecting_antenna.html 


Good luck!


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> HD is dropping out during The Office OTA on WRC.



Was doing it on WBAL, too (aside from the snow announcement periods).


It looked like it was NBC doing it because the peacock was still way down in the corner and when I zoomed the picture it still was pretty detailed.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RalphArch* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I stand corrected if that was the approach being discussed. I just don't want stations cropping 4:3 material to fit it into a 16:9 box, or stretching it.



LOL...now take a deep breath and calm down. NO that is not what I meant by what I said earlier.


I don't know if you have seen the morning show on Fox, it is 16x9 SD. I think Fox is cheap, but that is another subject. I heard Oprah will be doing the same thing before she goes fully HD. I don't mind that at all. It is better than 4x3 with black or gray sidebars.


I don't select the stretch option for the SD stations because I can't stand looking at it that way. Yes a lot of the old stuff will remain in 4x3 SD format, like the Seinfeld, and I will keep watching it.


P.S. you can CROP a 16x9 to 4x3 but you will STRETCH 4x3 to 16x9.


----------



## RalphArch




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> P.S. you can CROP a 16x9 to 4x3 but you will STRETCH 4x3 to 16x9.



For 4:3 the stretch you are referring to really doesn't matter as the resolution isn't affected horizontally. What bothers is the loss of the top and bottom of the frames by cropping, unless its distorted (the stretching I was referring to, even if done intelligently).


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RalphArch* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> For 4:3 the stretch you are referring to really doesn't matter as the resolution isn't affected horizontally. What bothers is the loss of the top and bottom of the frames by cropping, unless its distorted (the stretching I was referring to, even if done intelligently).



I've never heard of any station cropping like that, it doesn't even make any sense as to why they would. Most HDTVs now give you the option of stretching, why would stations do it on their own?


----------



## ahsan

I just received a strange postcard from Comcast stating the arrival of a channel we've had here for a couple weeks now (albeit sans guide data). Strangely, the postcard calls this channel "Comcast Sports HD". The postcard initially got me excited as I thought we were finally going to start receiving CSN-HD (mid-atlantic), but you can see that this is an entirely different channel. Note the "Net" missing from "Comcast Sports HD". What gives? I am surprised that this channel was even added before CSN-HD which is available in other local pre-transition Comcast franchises.


Also, Why send this postcard if this channel is already available? And why the similar name to CSN-HD? I frankly don't care much for this channel and would much prefer CSN-HD over this.

February 1, 2007


Dear Valued Customer:


Comcast is pleased to announce the addition of*Comcast Sports HD* effective Tuesday, March 6th, to our High Definition Line-up on channel 776.


Comcast Sports HD will feature the best of HD sports programming from *Versus* and *The Golf Channel*, including the NHL, PGA Tour and more!


Comcast values your business and viewership, and we reaffirm our pledge to bring you the finest quality programming and customer service.


Sincerely,

Comcast


----------



## jasonblair




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Was doing it on WBAL, too (aside from the snow announcement periods).
> 
> 
> It looked like it was NBC doing it because the peacock was still way down in the corner and when I zoomed the picture it still was pretty detailed.



Just confirmed with my dad. It did it in Indianapolis too... so it was an NBC issue.


I thought the switch was rather flawless. Usually when the local affiliate "flips the switch" there is an audio pop. Last night's switch was seamless.


----------



## ArcCoyote




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ahsan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Comcast Sports HD will feature the best of HD sports programming from *Versus* and *The Golf Channel*, including the NHL, PGA Tour and more!
> 
> 
> Comcast values your business and viewership, and we reaffirm our pledge to bring you the finest quality programming and customer service.
> 
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Comcast



So THAT's what that channel is. It's not in my county's digital lineup yet, but it's clear-QAM and my TV found it. I was wondering why it was Versus HD one day and Golf Channel HD the next. I didn't think comcast switched QAM channels around THAT much!


On that note, they did start encrypting ESPN-HD







CSN-HD is now in it's place.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Was doing it on WBAL, too (aside from the snow announcement periods).
> 
> 
> It looked like it was NBC doing it because the peacock was still way down in the corner and when I zoomed the picture it still was pretty detailed.



I was doing the same thing...


----------



## ahsan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ArcCoyote* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So THAT's what that channel is. It's not in my county's digital lineup yet, but it's clear-QAM and my TV found it. I was wondering why it was Versus HD one day and Golf Channel HD the next. I didn't think comcast switched QAM channels around THAT much!
> 
> 
> On that note, they did start encrypting ESPN-HD
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> CSN-HD is now in it's place.



So you have both the new "Comcast Sports HD" (i.e. Versus HD and The Golf Channel HD), as well as CSN-HD MidAtlantic (i.e. the channel that carries the Wizards in HD)?


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ahsan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So you have both the new "Comcast Sports HD" (i.e. Versus HD and The Golf Channel HD), as well as CSN-HD MidAtlantic (i.e. the channel that carries the Wizards in HD)?





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ahsan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I just received a strange postcard from Comcast stating the arrival of a channel we've had here for a couple weeks now (albeit sans guide data). Strangely, the postcard calls this channel "Comcast Sports HD". *The postcard initially got me excited as I thought we were finally going to start receiving CSN-HD (mid-atlantic), but you can see that this is an entirely different channel.* Note the "Net" missing from "Comcast Sports HD". What gives? I am surprised that this channel was even added before CSN-HD which is available in other local pre-transition Comcast franchises.
> 
> 
> Also, Why send this postcard if this channel is already available? And why the similar name to CSN-HD? *I frankly don't care much for this channel and would much prefer CSN-HD over this.*



So I am going to guess and say NO.


A question for the ones who have CSN HD, does Comcast broadcast ANY away game in HD at all? I mean when they play Boston, for instance, we know they have an HD feed on NESN HD.


----------



## ahsan

Comcast Loudoun Ch. 776 is now listed as VSGLF and is now displaying guide data.


----------



## tonyd79

Still not displaying guide data in Howard County.


----------



## mikepinkerton

On the topic of Verizon showing another RSN in the DC market, it's not crazy at all. On D*, I can pay extra to get all the RSNs if I wanted. There's nothing that prohibits them from giving me whatever channels they want in that regard. I don't believe it's anything like local networks. Am I wrong? They've got the bandwidth, we should be asking for more like this!










-Mike


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikepinkerton* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> On the topic of Verizon showing another RSN in the DC market, it's not crazy at all. On D*, I can pay extra to get all the RSNs if I wanted. There's nothing that prohibits them from giving me whatever channels they want in that regard. I don't believe it's anything like local networks. Am I wrong? They've got the bandwidth, we should be asking for more like this!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -Mike



The problem is blackout restrictions, especially with baseball. That's at least one limiting factor.


----------



## dg28

In an absolutely shocking development, the Washington Post has finally begun including a HD notation for programs broadcast in HD in their weekly TV Guide. Now whether it's accurate is another story...


----------



## Red Dog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikepinkerton* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> On the topic of Verizon showing another RSN in the DC market, it's not crazy at all. On D*, I can pay extra to get all the RSNs if I wanted. There's nothing that prohibits them from giving me whatever channels they want in that regard. I don't believe it's anything like local networks. Am I wrong? They've got the bandwidth, we should be asking for more like this!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -Mike




Yeah but based on a related previous question I had, they can't air much of the game content (like MLB, NBA, etc.). Don't know how much value it adds without actual game coverage.


----------



## rachurch

Question on Fox on QAM...


I have an HDHomeRun box and live in Anne Arundel County. I can see most channels with the box, but can't find Fox for either Baltimore or DC. Anyone else with this box in AACO that can tell me where it is? or is there an issue with Fox on QAM? I seem to recall Comcast fighting with Fox about something and thought maybe they aren't carrying it on unencrypted QAM now? But that doesnt seem right.


Thanks!


----------



## rachurch

I found them. They're not labeled, but looks like both WBFF (134, 1) and WTTG (132, 3) are there.


----------



## mdviewer25

66-3 is no longer the West Coast version of the ion tv network (ionW). It will soon change to ion Life (??). Now I can't see Growing Pains at 10:00pm *eastern* and Mama's Family at 11:00pm *eastern*. This channel has been through a lot of changes in the year that I've been watching HDTV.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 66-3 is no longer the West Coast version of the ion tv network (ionW). It will soon change to ion Life (??). Now I can't see Growing Pains at 10:00pm *eastern* and Mama's Family at 11:00pm *eastern*. This channel has been through a lot of changes in the year that I've been watching HDTV.



The ion affiliate in SE VA carries ion on 49-1, qubo (e/i programming) on 49-2 and Worship (just scenes with phrases of worship) on 49-3. The station is also leasing bandwidth to cable alternative USDTV which runs two SD channels for that service...


----------



## Marcus Carr

WBAL is showing the Washington-Pittsburg NHL game in SD and Chicago-New York in HD. But they are both being broadcast in HD.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The station is also leasing bandwidth to cable alternative USDTV which runs two SD channels for that service...



Run that by me again. For what service is USDTV running two SD channels?


----------



## david4788

Was looking for FOX in Howard County on QAM....no luck. Sometimes it's hidden in multiple channels of 0 I get...but no.


----------



## DCFan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikepinkerton* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> On the topic of Verizon showing another RSN in the DC market, it's not crazy at all. On D*, I can pay extra to get all the RSNs if I wanted. There's nothing that prohibits them from giving me whatever channels they want in that regard. I don't believe it's anything like local networks. Am I wrong? They've got the bandwidth, we should be asking for more like this!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -Mike



Mike, because of MLB's blackout restrictions, baseball games are blacked out on those other RSN's from 7-10pm except for the one you're assigned to (based on your zipcode). At 10 they lift the blackout and if any of those games are still going you'll be able to catch the end. D* Network offers that same optional sports package.


----------



## gtroan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> In your earlier post, you stated that you live in Sleepy Hollow area near Seven corners and you have a Winegard 7082P VHF/UHF antenna. First, looking at the maps, you have terrain issues in that you appear to be down at a lower elevation with the 7 Corners shopping center located over a 100' higher to your NW. That is why they call the street a hollow I assume. So you are in a challenging terrain situation...
> 
> 
> What model is the smaller antenna in the attic? My suggestion would to try a broad multi-directional antenna in the attic. ... What type of cable are you using to connect to the 7082p? RG-59 or good quality RG-6? If the cable is RG-59, that has higher loss than RG-6 and I would replace it.
> 
> 
> Which model year Song WEGA TV do you have? ... depending on how much you want to spend, the Samsung DTB-H260F ATSC receiver STB ($180 list) has gotten high marks for improved reception in marginal conditions. But the H260F is hard to find at local stores; Circuit City is the best bet. Check the long H260F thread in the HDTV hardware reception forum.
> 
> 
> Good luck!



Thanks, you've given me some good things to try. The antenna in the attic is a Phillips MANT900 VHF/UHF antenna. It occassionally picks up HD stations satisfactorily when the rooftop antenna does not, but I think it's because it's pointed in a different direction. Both antennas have RG-6 cable into the house that was installed by the cable company many years ago (before I lived here). They ran double coax into each of the rooms because that's what was needed then. Could age of the coax be a factor? Also, I am on the top of a hill in Sleepy Hollow, so I would not think that terrain shadowing is that bad. I had originally placed the Phillips antenna on the roof, but I then went to the Wiengard antenna thinking that the higher gain would cut down on the multipath and the dropouts. Now I'm torn between trying a different antenna or a new tuner. I am currently using the tuner in a Sony KDF-50 WE655 television. I guess the tuner might be easier if I can return if there's no improvement.


Maybe I'm missing something really simple, but I am surprised at the trouble I have had receiving digital stations without dropouts. How many upset consumers are there going to be when the stations go completely digital and the stations dropout when the wind blows? (Assuming that you have trees in the way, as I do.) You can see the effect of the wind on the analog stations as a small amount of speckle noise and it's hardly noticable, but when the digital stations start dropping out every few seconds, they're unwatchable. This situation does not seem to bode well for all-digital OTA television.


----------



## wkearney99

Let's see, few stations on analog with ghosting pictures. Versus more stations on digital with a significantly sharper and more detailed picture. And all it takes is using a better antenna. Given the added expense of a higher resolution, usually larger TV, the cost adding a better antenna is pretty trivial.


Yeah, it'd be nice if RF worked like magic, but it doesn't.


----------



## DCFan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gtroan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Both antennas have RG-6 cable into the house that was installed by the cable company many years ago (before I lived here). They ran double coax into each of the rooms because that's what was needed then.



That was in the Media General days, pre Cox Cable. I had them also but that double cable isn't RG-6. I'm not certain they even made RG-6 then.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I've never heard of any station cropping like that, it doesn't even make any sense as to why they would. Most HDTVs now give you the option of stretching, why would stations do it on their own?



Ah - I see you're from VA. Up here in MD, WBAL (channel 11 in Baltimore) stretches all of their SD programming horizontally. Not all the way to 16:9, but close.


I don't think that anyone has gotten a good answer as to why they do that. The only answer I remember seeing is that their viewers preferred it that way. It makes me watch another channel, except for during prime-time.


Mark


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Run that by me again. For what service is USDTV running two SD channels?



USDTV is a service of about 12 non-broadcast channels for $20/mo. Customers receive the mpeg4 digital service over the air with a regular antenna. Obviously, all the local DTVs are available because of the antenna. A digital TV is NOT required. In our area, USDTV was using bandwidth from the ion affiliate, NBC station (augh) and from two strong digital low-powered TV stations...


----------



## lastplace

Went up to balto to my parents and was able the scan their digital channels. Picked up abc, nbc, cbs & pbs in HD via qam tuner & comcast. I did notice the wbal strech-o-vision. Channels worked great on friday night but would not work until late saturday. Was comcast having problems?


Another strange thing was a channel in the low 80's. I think it was 80.11, 80.12, 80.13, 80.14 & 80.15. Most of the time there would be no signal. Every once in a while you could tune in a see what looked like a PPV movie, one time a couple getting it on nude







. Good thing my 85 year old mom didn't see that!


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Ah - I see you're from VA. Up here in MD, WBAL (channel 11 in Baltimore) stretches all of their SD programming horizontally. Not all the way to 16:9, but close.
> 
> 
> I don't think that anyone has gotten a good answer as to why they do that. The only answer I remember seeing is that their viewers preferred it that way. It makes me watch another channel, except for during prime-time.
> 
> 
> Mark



If I'm not mistaken, Hank Volpe of WBAL once told me that their corporate parent (Hearst) insisted upon it because in the earlier days of DTV, one of their stations was sued for burn-in on the sides. I always thought that eventually they would see the light and go with the generally accepted practices of other stations, but perhaps not.


On a different note, any bets as to which Baltimore affil will be first to air with a local HD newscast?


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lastplace* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Another strange thing was a channel in the low 80's. I think it was 80.11, 80.12, 80.13, 80.14 & 80.15. Most of the time there would be no signal. Every once in a while you could tune in a see what looked like a PPV movie, one time a couple getting it on nude
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . Good thing my 85 year old mom didn't see that!



Par for the course on cable systems - you can usually see all the neighbor's VOD and PPV in clear QAM. Very few people know about this, although I'm not sure it would affect people's viewing habits even if they knew the neighbors are watching along.


----------



## zyvo23




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Par for the course on cable systems - you can usually see all the neighbor's VOD and PPV in clear QAM. Very few people know about this, although I'm not sure it would affect people's viewing habits even if they knew the neighbors are watching along.




How does that work? I noticed one night that I could see _Superman Returns_ on what looked like PPV/VOD then it paused, rewound a little and resumed playing. Was that the neighbor doing that? How am I getting their PPV?


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> If I'm not mistaken, Hank Volpe of WBAL once told me that their corporate parent (Hearst) insisted upon it because in the earlier days of DTV, one of their stations was sued for burn-in on the sides. I always thought that eventually they would see the light and go with the generally accepted practices of other stations, but perhaps not.
> 
> 
> On a different note, any bets as to which Baltimore affil will be first to air with a local HD newscast?



Yeah - I heard that too, but I checked with some other areas in the AVS Forum (other cities) that had Hearst stations, and they said that their pictures weren't stretched.


Also, a lot of stations have grey bars on the sides to help alleviate the burn in problem. Personally, I would prefer that than seeing everyone looking short and fat.


Mark


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Ah - I see you're from VA. Up here in MD, WBAL (channel 11 in Baltimore) stretches all of their SD programming horizontally. Not all the way to 16:9, but close.
> 
> 
> I don't think that anyone has gotten a good answer as to why they do that. The only answer I remember seeing is that their viewers preferred it that way. It makes me watch another channel, except for during prime-time.
> 
> 
> Mark



The Sinclair station in SE VA does the same thing. It, too, makes me watch another channel...


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yeah - I heard that too, but I checked with some other areas in the AVS Forum (other cities) that had Hearst stations, and they said that their pictures weren't stretched.
> 
> 
> Also, a lot of stations have grey bars on the sides to help alleviate the burn in problem. Personally, I would prefer that than seeing everyone looking short and fat.
> 
> 
> Mark



Our CW affiliate (in SE VA) uses gray bars. Slightly distracting since everyone else in the market uses black...


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The Sinclair station in SE VA does the same thing. It, too, makes me watch another channel...



Is that WTVZ in Norfolk?


Mark


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is that WTVZ in Norfolk?
> 
> 
> Mark



Yep! Our MNT affiliate...


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> USDTV is a service of about 12 non-broadcast channels for $20/mo. Customers receive the mpeg4 digital service over the air with a regular antenna. Obviously, all the local DTVs are available because of the antenna. A digital TV is NOT required. In our area, USDTV was using bandwidth from the ion affiliate, NBC station (augh) and from two strong digital low-powered TV stations...



I'm familiar with USDTV, but your locality, Virginia Beach, does not fall within the regions of any of their four acknowledged markets listed on its website. For what it's worth, Norfolk and Milwaukee had previously been named as a likely fifth USDTV city.


I plugged in a randomly selected zip code for Virginia Beach into Antennaweb and analyzed reception from a 200' tower, but its list did not include the Inspiration transmitter you have alluded to.


I have long speculated that when the flash-cut from analog to digital takes place on February 17, 2009, the value of the low-powered transmitters in major cities, especially the ones co-located so as to minimize the likelihood of their being overwhelmed by adjacent local transmitters, will skyrocket. For example, analog channel 47 moved from somewhere in the boonies to Washington, DC, where it is presently, absolutely unwatchable because of powerful digital channel 48, but we can reliably tune a digital station that is 15dB below an adjacent one, as we commonly do with channels 51 in Washington and 52 in Baltimore, so these low powered stations may wind up being able to reliably service maybe 3/4s of a metropolitan area's population.


The paradox facing USDTV will, of course, be ESPN. Basic cable prices are inflated by the cost of ESPN and the regional sports network. For USDTV's niche to work, there will have to be an audience that demands ESPN but can be satisfied without the RSN. ESPN adds glamor to the suite, but the cost of it may be its undoing.


So to clarify, are you saying that if I in what you refer to as "your market" (Norfolk? Elsewhere?), I can now subscribe to USDTV? Do you know of any other USDTV markets that are not announced on their website, which presently only list these four markets:


Dallas/Ft Worth

Albuquerque

Salt Lake city

Las Vegas



How much 8VSB bandwidth does USDTV require?


----------



## lastplace




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Par for the course on cable systems - you can usually see all the neighbor's VOD and PPV in clear QAM. Very few people know about this, although I'm not sure it would affect people's viewing habits even if they knew the neighbors are watching along.



Funny, My parents live in a retirement home, I guess your never to old for porn


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> On a different note, any bets as to which Baltimore affil will be first to air with a local HD newscast?



Technically, CBS 13 already has plans due to CBS upgrading all their local stations to HD.


And, just to bring it up again, where is FOX 5's HD newscast?


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Technically, CBS 13 already has plans due to CBS upgrading all their local stations to HD.
> 
> 
> And, just to bring it up again, where is FOX 5's HD newscast?



Yes... I remember reading about the CBS O&Os, but where does WJZ fit on that schedule. And when NBC Nightly News goes HD next month, will that include NBC O&O WRC? And I thought the FOX 5 was just a rumor, but I was just fishing to see if there were any hard dates to these supposed upgrades to HD News.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zyvo23* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> How does that work? I noticed one night that I could see _Superman Returns_ on what looked like PPV/VOD then it paused, rewound a little and resumed playing. Was that the neighbor doing that? How am I getting their PPV?



Yes, that was probably the neighbor doing the pause and rewind. The cable systems routinely send out PPV and VOD on one or two unscrambled QAM channels. Apparently channel 80 is widely used for this. So someone with a QAM tuner can see these programs. There must be technical reasons why they don't encrypt those channels; perhaps waiting on newer generation of STBs and firmware to make sure the PPV & VOD gets to the paying customer if they encrypt it. This is one of those little known features of hooking up a QAM tuner to cable. I'm surprised that as more people get HD TVs with built-in clear QAM tuners that there are not complaints from the social conservatives interest groups or stories in the paper about how someone's 12 year old found p0rn by channel surfing with the digital TV. The VOD and PPV stuff is locked out with the cable company STB and I would imagine with cable cards.


----------



## opaque




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lastplace* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Funny, My parents live in a retirement home, I guess your never to old for porn



Actually, not just neighbors... you are seeing VOD from your entire local cable system. My wife and I frequently watch free VOD via clear QAM and we surprisingly get a good variety of movies; we just can't choose them or control them. We have seen a particular individual who watches the naughty stuff... we have a hoot betting on when he'll slow down or rewind the clip. Oh and how many times he rewinds it ;-)


----------



## guadalupegrande4

As to the WBAL situation, I can kind of understand them wanting to protect themselves from a lawsuit. I'm not happy about it, and I have recently saw something that kind of changed my mind.
 

That is a screenshot from another channel. I don't know what station or city its from, but its a HD broadcast (well, SD with a background). I would imagine that'd be better than a standard grey/black bars. And if it would alternate, it would greatly help against burn in, right?


AT THE LEAST its better than stretch-o-vision.


I know that atleast Cox says they are not responsible for such burn-in.
http://www.cox.com/support/digitalca...dtv-manual.pdf 


Why couldn't WBAL do the same?


I don't think I've ever seen anythign like WBAL's stretching. It's brain-rattling. It's off-putting. I can't stand to watch anything on it that's stretched as it is. Even some of teh commercials are stretched, so I often don't even pay attention to them (sad news for WBAL because their advertisers aren't getting my hard earned money).


I have also seen pictures and read about the possibility of inserting pictures into the sidebars so as to possibly lessen the efffect of burn-in.

"A typical strategy is to up-convert the SDTV content to HDTV as a center-cut 4:3 image, however this type of aspect ratio conversion leaves the outer edges of the 16:9 HDTV image unused.

Broadcasters realize that this unused space is extremely valuable and presents an opportunity to both insert additional content and generate incremental revenue.

This additional content can include: commercial content, static or animated background graphics, "stock ticker" data display, or public service announcements. "
http://www.leitch.com/resources/appl...nMarch2006.pdf 


Once upon a time WBAL simulcast an SD broadcast, non-stretched, but now its just HD/stretch-o-vision or weathernet. If they did simulcast, I'd probably watch more WBAL.

:\\


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gtroan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Thanks, you've given me some good things to try. The antenna in the attic is a Phillips MANT900 VHF/UHF antenna. It occassionally picks up HD stations satisfactorily when the rooftop antenna does not, but I think it's because it's pointed in a different direction. Both antennas have RG-6 cable into the house that was installed by the cable company many years ago (before I lived here). They ran double coax into each of the rooms because that's what was needed then. Could age of the coax be a factor? Also, I am on the top of a hill in Sleepy Hollow, so I would not think that terrain shadowing is that bad. I had originally placed the Phillips antenna on the roof, but I then went to the Wiengard antenna thinking that the higher gain would cut down on the multipath and the dropouts. Now I'm torn between trying a different antenna or a new tuner. I am currently using the tuner in a Sony KDF-50 WE655 television. I guess the tuner might be easier if I can return if there's no improvement.
> 
> 
> Maybe I'm missing something really simple, but I am surprised at the trouble I have had receiving digital stations without dropouts. How many upset consumers are there going to be when the stations go completely digital and the stations dropout when the wind blows? (Assuming that you have trees in the way, as I do.) You can see the effect of the wind on the analog stations as a small amount of speckle noise and it's hardly noticable, but when the digital stations start dropping out every few seconds, they're unwatchable. This situation does not seem to bode well for all-digital OTA television.



For me, digital reception works extremely well from Sterling with a CM 4221 4 Bay and pre-amp. I can get 17 digital stations OTA, although several of them are weak distant stations and prone to dropping out in poor weather. But I can get solid reception for all the DC stations at ~ 16 miles and solid reception for all but 1 Baltimore station at 43 miles (WBAL 11 is the iffy one at times but this is the weakest of the major commercial stations in Balt). The analog picture for many of the distant UHF stations is noisy and in several cases would be pretty much unwatchable on analog, while I get a nice solid digital picture.


Trees for UHF channels and multi-path are problems for digital reception. That was part of the trade-offs that were taken into consideration when 8-VSB modulation was chosen back for the ATSC standard back then.


I think you have several issues. One, possibly more minor than serious, is that your co-axial cables are very likely RG-59 and cheap RG-59 at that. RG-59 and RG-6 are both co-axial cables, but RG-6 is thicker and has less signal loss per foot. RG-59 is cheaper and was commonly put in for cable for a long time. My townhouse was built in 1998 and it has RG-59 in the walls. RG-59 in most cases is good enough for the cable system because they drive a boosted signal through the lines. For OTA reception, your receiver is picking up a signal off of an antenna and you want to minimise signal loss. So for longer cable runs, shielded RG-6 is recommended for antenna connections. But for a 10' or 20' run, the difference between RG-6 and RG-59 is pretty small. See http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/g...A.html#coaxial for a chart on signal loss per 100' of line. You may note that the signal loss increases as you go up in UHF channels. Anyway, replacing the lines in the walls can obviously be a major task. One experiment you could try is to buy a 50' or 75' run of RG-6 (at Lowe's or Home Depot or equivalent, not the overpriced cables at the Best Buys and CCs) and run a direct connection up the side of the house or up the stairs to the antennas & see if you get better results.


On your antennas, the Philips MANT 900 looks to be a conventional UHF/VHF antenna, but the UHF yagis in these antennas can be very directional. You have a spread in azimuth for the local stations which might be the biggest issues with the 2 antennas you have. If you are willing to spend $40 on-line, you can order a Channel Master 4221 4 Bay from solidsignal or warrenelectronics and give it a shot. On the ATSC receiver end, Circuit City does carry the Samsung STB-H260F, but it has been only staying in stock for a day or two. If you go to the CC website and look up the DTB-H260F, you can keep an eye out for a local store getting some in stock. But I don't know if the H260F will work that much better in your case than the ATSC tuner in the Sony TV.


I hope this is of some help!


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yes... I remember reading about the CBS O&Os, but where does WJZ fit on that schedule. And when NBC Nightly News goes HD next month, will that include NBC O&O WRC? And I thought the FOX 5 was just a rumor, but I was just fishing to see if there were any hard dates to these supposed upgrades to HD News.



The CBS O&O thing got delayed until 2007, as most of the big-market stations were in the middle of moving to new facilites, so CBS decided to wait until those were finished. I guess the station technically could go HD at any time, but I would wait until the big 4 (or 5) markets are finished before any realistic timetable is implemented for the rest (CBS owns around 30 stations, so it will take a while for every station to be done)

NBC Nightly News will be carried in HD when it goes HD next month on WRC

News 4 was supposed to go HD when they moved back into their new studio, but they've put it off for mid-to-end of the year

All I've really heard about FOX 5 is that, back in July-ish, they ordered HD equipment from Panasonic, which was pretty extensive, including HD rooftop cams, HD field cams, etc. It was posted on DCRTV.com, but then there was never a follow up. I've noticed an improvement in the quality of the studio newscasts, so they probably have some of the equipment installed, and sister stations in Philadelphia and somewhere else already upgraded to HD.


----

BTW, got around to watching Grey's from last week, and I just wanted to remark on how awesome the picture looked, a lot like the better CBS dramas. Did WJLA get some new equipment or something?


----------



## cjghome

Could this be true?


My neighbor says he order basic service with "Adelphi/Comcast"...The tech ran the line to his only TV which was a Vizio 37" w/qam tuner and he states that he is getting Local HD channels free...


Is he pulling my chain...


Could this be?



Charlie


----------



## lastplace




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cjghome* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Could this be true?
> 
> 
> My neighbor says he order basic service with "Adelphi/Comcast"...The tech ran the line to his only TV which was a Vizio 37" w/qam tuner and he states that he is getting Local HD channels free...
> 
> 
> Is he pulling my chain...
> 
> 
> Could this be?
> 
> 
> 
> Charlie



My parents get abc, nbc, cbs & pbs HD with basic comcast and qam tuner.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cjghome* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Could this be true?
> 
> 
> My neighbor says he order basic service with "Adelphi/Comcast"...The tech ran the line to his only TV which was a Vizio 37" w/qam tuner and he states that he is getting Local HD channels free...
> 
> 
> Is he pulling my chain...
> 
> 
> Could this be?
> 
> 
> 
> Charlie



When I had Cox, they told me that all the HD channels are free, you are just paying for the HD STB if you do get one. So, if you had HBO, for instance, you will get HBO HD at no charge, which is true.


Also, when my friend first got his HDTV, he asked me to help him to set it up right. Cox gave him a regular box, not the HD one, but when I decided to hook up the coax to the back of his HDTV, he got some HD channels, all the local ones. He even got Showtime and Discovery HD (he didn't even have showtime subscription).


I have FIOS and no matter what I do, I can't get passed channel 49 without a STB, and we all know why.


----------



## riffjim4069




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cjghome* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Could this be true?
> 
> 
> My neighbor says he order basic service with "Adelphi/Comcast"...The tech ran the line to his only TV which was a Vizio 37" w/qam tuner and he states that he is getting Local HD channels free...
> 
> 
> Is he pulling my chain...
> 
> 
> Could this be?
> 
> 
> 
> Charlie



Yep, just as long as you have basic cable subscription or Internet service, the local broadcast channels are typically passed through in-the-clear (unencrypted) on most cable systems.


----------



## SJKurtzke

No CSN HD yet on the new FiOS....


Plus that new info channel they advertise appears to be MIA as well


Anyway, at least the recordings switched over automatically


----------



## carltonrice

Now that VZ FiOS is available to me, I'm trying to compare the features to those of DirecTV, my current provider. There are two areas where I'm not sure what FiOS has to offer.


With my DirecTV HR20 DVR, I get both programming from the satellite as well as OTA. This works out well because while DirecTV will only provide me with DC stations, I can also pick up Baltimore via an antenna. With VZ FiOS, can I assume that I would only receive DC stations as offerred and that there would be no way to watch/record things OTA?


DirecTV has yet to offer Comcast Sportsnet HD. Should I assume that since this is part of Comcast, that FiOS also doesn't offer it?


FiOS has a DVR that can power multiple sets, but only one of those can be HD. I have two HD sets so I'd have to have two HD DVRs. Is that correct?


I think the advantage of the FiOS would be that they offer StarzHD, TMCHD, and CinemaxHD. And they offer some locals like NewsChannel8 and access that DirecTV doesn't. The advantage of DirecTV would be that they offer NBAHD and apparently have plans to offer a lot more HD soon.


Am I missing anything of note?


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> No CSN HD yet on the new FiOS....
> 
> 
> Plus that new info channel they advertise appears to be MIA as well
> 
> 
> Anyway, at least the recordings switched over automatically



yeah, NO CSN HD here either. There is a game on tonight, they better fix it by then







.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> No CSN HD yet on the new FiOS....
> 
> 
> Plus that new info channel they advertise appears to be MIA as well
> 
> 
> Anyway, at least the recordings switched over automatically



Just got off the phone with FiOS, and man that is one big negative thing about them. Their CSRs are just clueless about their products.


I mean I am calling him about something they have advertising for a while now, CSN HD, and the guy is just lost. First thing he says"WOW, COMCAST sports net??? You know you have called Verizon, right?"


Of course, the best thing he can do is tell me to check the online channel lineup.


----------



## dg28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Now that VZ FiOS is available to me, I'm trying to compare the features to those of DirecTV, my current provider. There are two areas where I'm not sure what FiOS has to offer.
> 
> 
> With my DirecTV HR20 DVR, I get both programming from the satellite as well as OTA. This works out well because while DirecTV will only provide me with DC stations, I can also pick up Baltimore via an antenna. With VZ FiOS, can I assume that I would only receive DC stations as offerred and that there would be no way to watch/record things OTA?
> 
> 
> DirecTV has yet to offer Comcast Sportsnet HD. Should I assume that since this is part of Comcast, that FiOS also doesn't offer it?
> 
> 
> FiOS has a DVR that can power multiple sets, but only one of those can be HD. I have two HD sets so I'd have to have two HD DVRs. Is that correct?
> 
> 
> I think the advantage of the FiOS would be that they offer StarzHD, TMCHD, and CinemaxHD. And they offer some locals like NewsChannel8 and access that DirecTV doesn't. The advantage of DirecTV would be that they offer NBAHD and apparently have plans to offer a lot more HD soon.
> 
> 
> Am I missing anything of note?



D* does offer Comcast Sportsnet HD. It's been up with the DC MPEG4 HD locals for quite some time. If you have the HR20 and the 5lnb dish you should be getting it on channel 629 (the second channel 629; first one is SD). But then again, if your locals are from Baltimore, I don't think CSNHD is currently available to you.


As far as OTA, I'm pretty surew the FIOS box does not have that capability, although if your HDTV has an ATSC tuner you could always use that, though not for recording.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> When I had Cox, they told me that all the HD channels are free, you are just paying for the HD STB if you do get one. So, if you had HBO, for instance, you will get HBO HD at no charge, which is true.
> 
> 
> Also, when my friend first got his HDTV, he asked me to help him to set it up right. Cox gave him a regular box, not the HD one, but when I decided to hook up the coax to the back of his HDTV, he got some HD channels, all the local ones. He even got Showtime and Discovery HD (he didn't even have showtime subscription).
> 
> 
> I have FIOS and no matter what I do, I can't get passed channel 49 without a STB, and we all know why.



But you won't get that HBO HD in the clear - you need an STB. Anything you get in clear QAM above the locals is an oversight by the cable co.


FIOS is designed that way and the rest of the cable cos will get to the same config soon enough.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The Sinclair station in SE VA does the same thing. It, too, makes me watch another channel...



Out of curiosity, are they still doing that? Apparently, the director of engineering for Sinclair sent them an e-mail yesterday telling them not to do the stretching thing any more...


Mark


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey

Does anyone have a pdf file of the new Verizon FiOS lineup that was mailed about a month ago?


I want to send it to FiOS the next time I call, because they sound like they've never heard of such a thing.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Does anyone have a pdf file of the new Verizon FiOS lineup that was mailed about a month ago?
> 
> I want to send it to FiOS the next time I call, because they sound like they've never heard of such a thing.



What, you want the CSRs to know anything beyond the few scripted pages sitting in front of them?







What good is that going to do? I called Verizon back in early January about the lack of captioning for UnivHD and WDCA-DT 20 on 805. I did get a call back, but I did not get a sense that the CSR had a clue about what I was complaining about. They have knowledgable people, but they are probably keeping them busy building out the system, not answering the phones.


Checking the Verizon website, they have not yet updated the PDF channel line-up for the Washington Metro area. I think we all got the new channel line-up snailed mailed to us, so probably no one has a PDF file for the new Washington Metro line-up. If you want the channels, you could go to the NY line-up which will be the almost the same except for the SD & HD locals and the regional sports networks.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Now that VZ FiOS is available to me, I'm trying to compare the features to those of DirecTV, my current provider. There are two areas where I'm not sure what FiOS has to offer.
> 
> 
> With my DirecTV HR20 DVR, I get both programming from the satellite as well as OTA. This works out well because while DirecTV will only provide me with DC stations, I can also pick up Baltimore via an antenna. With VZ FiOS, can I assume that I would only receive DC stations as offerred and that there would be no way to watch/record things OTA?



You list your location as Laurel, MD so you may get both the DC and Baltimore HD locals. But you need to check with others who live in Laurel or with Verizon on whether you qualify for the Anne Arundel - Howard County line-up.


Do you own or lease the HR20 DVR? If you own it, you can still use it for OTA reception and recording after you drop DirecTV. Or buy a Series 3 Tivo, a used Sony DHG-HDD250 or -HDD500 DVR, or build a PC DVR. Or wait a few months for some new HD-DVRs to hit the market.



> Quote:
> DirecTV has yet to offer Comcast Sportsnet HD. Should I assume that since this is part of Comcast, that FiOS also doesn't offer it?



Fios carries Comcast SportsNet MA and MASN in SD. Fios in the Philadelphia area has the CSN Philly HD RSN. CSN MA HD is expected to added to the DC area line-ups soon. How soon? Don't know.



> Quote:
> FiOS has a DVR that can power multiple sets, but only one of those can be HD. I have two HD sets so I'd have to have two HD DVRs. Is that correct?



For the current software, yes. The multi-room DVR only supports SD for the other TVs connected to the STBs. They are supposed to add HD capability from the DVR to the other STBs with software updates later this year. I should add that the Verizon Fios 6416 HD-DVR works, but it is limited by a 160 GB HD. The external SATA port which would allow adding more HD capacity is not enabled, although it is also supposed to be enabled later this year with a software update. I find the 160 GB HD capacity of around 22 to 25 hours of HD to be the biggest drawback. They should be shipping these DVRs with 250 GB HDs if they are not going have the eSATA port enabled.



> Quote:
> I think the advantage of the FiOS would be that they offer StarzHD, TMCHD, and CinemaxHD. And they offer some locals like NewsChannel8 and access that DirecTV doesn't. The advantage of DirecTV would be that they offer NBAHD and apparently have plans to offer a lot more HD soon.
> 
> Am I missing anything of note?



Yes. Picture quality for SD and HD channels will be better. I switched from Adelphia in Loudoun, so I don't have the hands-on experience with DirecTV. But you should notice better picture quality for all the Mpeg-2 channels.


----------



## jacindc

Any other Comcast DC subscribers find their MyDVR button suddenly nonfunctional this evening?


I can get to the DVR recordings by hitting Menu, then DVR of course.


Firmware is 12.31 - is this the "upgrade" that destroys the one-click access to the Recordings list? What genius ever thought this up?


I unplugged and replugged, but alas nothing's changed.


On the flip side, for the first time I'm seeing guide listings for WETA World (channel 202). Of course, the listings aren't *RIGHT*, but they're there. The other two WETAs (Channels 200 and WETA Kids on 201) still show nothing but To Be Announced.


ETA: The Moto 3412 thread tonight is seeming to indicate this is widespread.

Moto 3412 Discussion


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> DirecTV has yet to offer Comcast Sportsnet HD. Should I assume that since this is part of Comcast, that FiOS also doesn't offer it?



Verizon doesn't have it yet.


DirecTV has it in a limited DC market area. Laurel is kind of a gray area.


Go to this link and see what it says:

http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global...setId=P3000004


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Do you own or lease the HR20 DVR? If you own it, you can still use it for OTA reception and recording after you drop DirecTV.



I haven't tried but I believe that you need a satellite dish to download data or the HR20 won't finish booting. I'd try dbstalk.com to see if it would work without an active account.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> If you want the channels, you could go to the NY line-up which will be the almost the same except for the SD & HD locals and the regional sports networks.



I wanted the PDF of NoVA so I can send it to them, they keep telling me that they don't know about the channel, or that it must've been a typo. I had a print out sent to me via snail-mail but I didn't keep it, along with it was a letter telling me I will be getting CSN HD.


The funny thing is that people in Delaware now have CSN HD (Mid Atlantic).


----------



## yekim54

Anybody know why ABC Ch. 2 WMAR did not broadcast Boston Legal in HD tonight via OTA?


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jacindc* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Any other Comcast DC subscribers find their MyDVR button suddenly nonfunctional this evening?
> 
> 
> I can get to the DVR recordings by hitting Menu, then DVR of course.
> 
> 
> Firmware is 12.31 - is this the "upgrade" that destroys the one-click access to the Recordings list? What genius ever thought this up?[/url]



Same thing in Baltimore with the 3412 and 3416.


Hitting My DVR and OK brings up the recordings also. So now what was one step is now two.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Out of curiosity, are they still doing that? Apparently, the director of engineering for Sinclair sent them an e-mail yesterday telling them not to do the stretching thing any more...
> 
> 
> Mark



Hahaha. They did change it again! WTVZ had stretch-o-vision on 33-1 and nothing (previously The Tube) on 33-2. Now it's zoom-o-vision on 33-1 and 4:3 480i SD on 33-2...


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Do you own or lease the HR20 DVR? If you own it, you can still use it for OTA reception and recording after you drop DirecTV. Or buy a Series 3 Tivo, a used Sony DHG-HDD250 or -HDD500 DVR, or build a PC DVR. Or wait a few months for some new HD-DVRs to hit the market.



Any DVR from D* will not work unless you have an active account. The receivers WILL work as just OTA receivers without an account.


Deezul


----------



## pmccaffrey

For FIOS in Howard County - last night it didn't look like any of the Balt/DC stations were broadcasting in HD, channels 800 - 814. Did anyone else experience this?

Verizon wasn't showing any other reported problems of this nature. Resetting the boxes didn't have any effect.


----------



## indishock




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Same thing in Baltimore with the 3412 and 3416.
> 
> 
> Hitting My DVR and OK brings up the recordings also. So now what was one step is now two.



Trying unplugging your DVR and rebooting the box. After you do that go to the DVR using the menu button on your remote. This is apparently a national problem with TV guide that is being worked on.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *indishock* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Trying unplugging your DVR and rebooting the box. After you do that go to the DVR using the menu button on your remote. This is apparently a national problem with TV guide that is being worked on.



I'm going to wait a few days to see if they fix it. I can still get to my recordings. I'd rather not unplug the box if I don't have to because it takes forever for the guide data to load.


I called Comcast and a recorded message said they were working on it.


----------



## MrMike6by9

The phenomenon appears to be comcast-wide throughout the country. Someone posted a link to a DSLReports discussion last night. Users have reported that unplugging results in a temp fix that becomes "unfixed" after the guide data fully loads again. Fortunately, many have reported that the saved content remains on the hard drive.


YMMV


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pmccaffrey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> For FIOS in Howard County - last night it didn't look like any of the Balt/DC stations were broadcasting in HD, channels 800 - 814. Did anyone else experience this?



Yes, apparently everyone who's supposed to get Baltimore locals. Check out the thread in the Fios TV forum over on DSLReports.com.



> Quote:
> _Verizon wasn't showing any other reported problems of this nature._



BS. They just don't have any reps who know how to take a report properly.


----------



## indishock




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrMike6by9* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The phenomenon appears to be comcast-wide throughout the country. Someone posted a link to a DSLReports discussion last night. Users have reported that unplugging results in a temp fix that becomes "unfixed" after the guide data fully loads again. Fortunately, many have reported that the saved content remains on the hard drive.
> 
> 
> YMMV




I just unplugged my DVR and it has resolved the issue. My recording are still there ...


----------



## matt91

I've recently purchased a HDTV w/ a QAM tuner. I've looked all around for a list of the stations that Comcast (in DC) is broadcasting in clear QAM. The list at the beginning of this thread covers the NBC/CBS/etc channels. But what about the remainder? If there someplace that has a list? I realize that the list might be small, but I'm curious what else is out there.


THanks

Matt


PS I have looked around the various Washington DC threads here, but didn't see one.


----------



## 4HiMarks




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yeah, the TV portion of FiOS is still DOCIS like the CableTV, only its delivered via Fiber rather than COAX.



Does anyone know if it's possible to pick up any channels via QAM from the coax if you only have FiOS Internet and not FiOS TV? I'm locked in to E* for 18 months, and I think the 622 is probably a better whole-house solution than the VZ DVR anyway. I just have a couple of QAM tuners available, and might give it a try if there's a chance.


-Chris


----------



## CycloneGT

Matt,


The QAM in the clear stations vary from location to location. Also the channel numbers can change without warning. Admistratively, its too much of a nightmare to keep track of. Ever once in a while, someone will post the list that they are receiving. Comcast DC would likely be one of those lists, but it would require some searching (which isn't that easy on this site).


Chris, Hmm. I haven't heard if that is possible. I have FiOS internet and a QAM tuner on my MyHD-130. But since FiOS isn't available here in Mont County, I haven't even bothered to try. Perhaps I'll look up my ONT to the house's cable feed and see what I get.


----------



## afiggatt

*New Verizon FiosTV Channel Line-up posted*


The updated Verizon FiosTV channel line-up PDF file for the Washington Metro area has been posted to the Version website ( http://www22.verizon.com/content/fio...nel+lineup.htm ). It now has the new channel assignments with the HD national channels starting at 825. However, this line-up does NOT show Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic HD at 829 or any CSN HD channel there. Since the date at the bottom of the PDF file is 3/1/07, I take this to mean that CSN-MA-HD won't be added to the line-up until sometime in March at the earliest. I suspect Verizon won't be adding any new national HD channels or RSN HD channels until after they have completed the channel re-assignments for all their regions with Texas the last to be done on March 6.


----------



## Devin Clancy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> *New Verizon FiosTV Channel Line-up posted*
> 
> 
> The updated Verizon FiosTV channel line-up PDF file for the Washington Metro area has been posted to the Version website ( http://www22.verizon.com/content/fio...nel+lineup.htm ). It now has the new channel assignments with the HD national channels starting at 825. However, this line-up does NOT show Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic HD at 829 or any CSN HD channel there. Since the date at the bottom of the PDF file is 3/1/07, I take this to mean that CSN-MA-HD won't be added to the line-up until sometime in March at the earliest. I suspect Verizon won't be adding any new national HD channels or RSN HD channels until after they have completed the channel re-assignments for all their regions with Texas the last to be done on March 6.



With all the reorganization, why couldn't they put the HD channels in the right order? NBC should be 801, followed by Fox, etc.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Devin Clancy* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> With all the reorganization, why couldn't they put the HD channels in the right order? NBC should be 801, followed by Fox, etc.



or for that matter NBC should be at 804...Fox at 805...ABC at 807 and so on...but I guess it would be asking too much out of Verizon and its engineers and programmers.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *4HiMarks* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Does anyone know if it's possible to pick up any channels via QAM from the coax if you only have FiOS Internet and not FiOS TV? I'm locked in to E* for 18 months, and I think the 622 is probably a better whole-house solution than the VZ DVR anyway. I just have a couple of QAM tuners available, and might give it a try if there's a chance.
> 
> 
> -Chris



Unlike the cables cos which have to filter out other content when one of the services is provided, FIOS can do so remotely without filters - they just flip a switch. The only way you'd get any video service (regardless of what other service is in the fiber pipe) is if their people made a mistake and forgot to turn it off. There's only one way that you might get more than intended - you might get more than just basic when you order basic.


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> or for that matter NBC should be at 804...Fox at 805...ABC at 807 and so on...but I guess it would be asking too much out of Verizon and its engineers and programmers.



LOL. NY and LA already do that for FiOS channel numbers.

NBC is 804, FOX is 805, etc.


----------



## cjghome

Update for western side of Sterling Blvd & Sugarland residents..


I went to the actual Verizon CO (NOT-HRNDVAST).building on the corner of Potomac View & Rt 7, That serves the western side of Sterling Blvd & Sugarland, to find out If they are capable of provided Fiber Optics and if they were, when are they going to lay the lines.


I was told that the construction plans show that the western side of Sterling Blvd "should" be completed by August 2007 & Sugarland would be done by 12/31/2007..


I was also told that they are having some problems with some new underground switching that is being installed at the building. (Which i witnessed new construction at the Building)


So I just wanted to bring some encouraging news to some of us that live in Sterling.


Charlie


----------



## rustycruiser




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Ah - I see you're from VA. Up here in MD, WBAL (channel 11 in Baltimore) stretches all of their SD programming horizontally. Not all the way to 16:9, but close.
> 
> 
> I don't think that anyone has gotten a good answer as to why they do that. The only answer I remember seeing is that their viewers preferred it that way. It makes me watch another channel, except for during prime-time.
> 
> 
> Mark



I too watch another channel, even in prime time. The stretch on WBAL stinks. Plus WRC 4 in DC has 5.1 sound. Thank god for OTA.


----------



## rustycruiser




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Same thing in Baltimore with the 3412 and 3416.
> 
> 
> Hitting My DVR and OK brings up the recordings also. So now what was one step is now two.



3416? Did you have to request it, or did you just happen to get it? I would love to have an extra 40gb.


----------



## lax01

Major Break-ups on WJLA during Lost via Comcast....sucks.....


----------



## Ben




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lax01* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Major Break-ups on WJLA during Lost via Comcast....sucks.....



I was watching it over the air and also had break-ups every few seconds, it was frustrating.


----------



## lax01

must have been WJLA...maybe Robert can comment on what happened...I wonder if it was National...


----------



## Mntneer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ben* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I was watching it over the air and also had break-ups every few seconds, it was frustrating.



Comcast as a whole has been REALLY sucking lately. Ever since they started making changes to channels and services, I've been getting horrible drop outs and break-ups on some of my HD channels, mostly Fox and NBC. So bad where I've missed minutes of 24.


I'm also getting dropouts that make watching HD through my QAM tuner on my LG to be impossible. The problems come and go, and it's begining to get more and more annoying. I'm just hoping this just a temporary problem caused from the switch over, but if it's not, then I don't konw what I'll do, because it's becoming unacceptable.


----------



## ArcCoyote




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Mntneer* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Comcast as a whole has been REALLY sucking lately.



Comcast may, I repeat may, have unrecoverably corrupted the digital tuner in my JVC. It's totally dead and being replaced under warranty.


It was working fine when I did a channel-scan and discovered Comcast finally had correct IDs for the clear-QAM locals.... all except for PBS HD. It was still channel 0.


My tuner died the _instant_ I tried to tune it. It was probably just coincidence, because Comcast QAM works fine on my PC.


----------



## Marcus Carr

My Comcast Motorola boxes just rebooted and the My DVR buttons are now working properly.


----------



## davidwb

howard county fios channel move update: last night the dc hd stations were in hd, while the baltimore hd stations appeared to be in sd...at least they're making progress from a couple of nights ago when they were all sd!


----------



## VARTV

Washington, D.C. (February 21, 2007) -- The Weather Channel is spending "tens of millions of dollars" on its launch of a High-Definition channel this fall.


That's according to an article in Broadcasting & Cable magazine. (read more - TVPredictions.com )


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Washington, D.C. (February 21, 2007) -- The Weather Channel is spending "tens of millions of dollars" on its launch of a High-Definition channel this fall.
> 
> 
> That's according to an article in Broadcasting & Cable magazine. (read more - TVPredictions.com )




That is one of the HD channels that DirecTV has signed a contract with to start carrying this fall after they launch their new Satellites. Without TiVo though I'm taking my $110+ a month to another provider.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lax01* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Major Break-ups on WJLA during Lost via Comcast....sucks.....



I had only minor breakups with my TiVo series 3 boxes. I recorded both the OTA HD and Comcast HD WJLA recording. Several minor audio glitches and some minor pixelation. Not enough to detract from the viewing though. The Comcast broadcast had the same minor glitches in the same locations.


----------



## jasonblair

Can someone tell me how to contact Adelphia cable in Frederick??!?! I am moving there next week, and want to order internet service. I call the 888 number on their website, and it asks me for my home phone number. I don't have a home phone, so I didn't press anything. After repeated requests, the number hung up on me. So I called back. This time, I put in my cell phone number. It transferred me to Time Warner Cable of Southern California. I looked in the Frederick phone book, and it lists that stupid 888 number. HOW ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO CONTACT THEM!??!?!!?


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The updated Verizon FiosTV channel line-up PDF file for the Washington Metro area has been posted to the Version website ( http://www22.verizon.com/content/fio...nel+lineup.htm ).



I was surprised when I read this, because it hadn't been updated when I checked it earlier today. But then I saw you were in Virginia -- sure enough, if I select "VA", and then "Washington Metro", I get the new lineup; but if I pick "MD", and then "Washington Metro", it's still the old one.


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jasonblair* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Can someone tell me how to contact Adelphia cable in Frederick??!?!



Dial 1-800-266-2278 and then they give a service menu selection. I got this number by dialing the 888 number and by not responding at all to the four requests for home phone number. Oh, those Adelphia, no Comcast folks!


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bill Johnson* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Dial 1-800-266-2278 and then they give a service menu selection. I got this number by dialing the 888 number and by not responding at all to the four requests for home phone number. Oh, those Adelphia, no Comcast folks!



If it's easier for you to remember this way, 266-2278 = COM-CAST.


----------



## jasonblair

Update... I was able to contact Adelphia, and was told that they no longer service Frederick, and that Comcast has taken over operations.


So I called Comcast... same issue with getting re-routed over and over again because I have no home phone number. Finally, I was transferred to a guy who barely spoke English. He told me that Comcast was in the process of taking over Adelphia, but that they didn't yet service Frederick, so call Adelphia. WHAT THE HECK?!?!? Does anyone know what's the real scoop?


These experiences with the cable companies make me REALLY happy with DirecTV. No wonder they have the highest customer satisfaction ratings. I thought they were bad, but this is gettign rediculous. (If only they offered internet. Verizon told me no DSL available at my new place.)


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Scott R. Scherr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Mark:
> 
> 
> I am not the original poster. I had the same audio problem with D's HD feed of American Idol on channel 45 Wednesday night. I have the HR 20-700 also.
> 
> 
> Scott



Just a heads-up: I'm going to be working with DirecTV after 8:00 PM this evening, seeing if I can do anything here to fix the audio problem on FOX 45 (WBFF). Sorry to inconvenience everyone, but I'm going to have to go in and out of HD a couple of times. I'll probably have to do it twice.


Please bear with me. I'm trying to fix this thing.


Mark


----------



## ashutoshsm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jasonblair* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Update... I was able to contact Adelphia, and was told that they no longer service Frederick, and that Comcast has taken over operations.
> 
> 
> So I called Comcast... same issue with getting re-routed over and over again because I have no home phone number. Finally, I was transferred to a guy who barely spoke English. He told me that Comcast was in the process of taking over Adelphia, but that they didn't yet service Frederick, so call Adelphia. WHAT THE HECK?!?!? Does anyone know what's the real scoop?
> 
> 
> These experiences with the cable companies make me REALLY happy with DirecTV. No wonder they have the highest customer satisfaction ratings. I thought they were bad, but this is gettign rediculous. (If only they offered internet. Verizon told me no DSL available at my new place.)




If you know (or someone can post) the address of your local Adelphia (now Comcast) office, walk in, and have them set you up - they'll know what to do. Heck, follow the next AdelCast truck/van you see and flag down the contractor/employee to find it, if you must










One of my neighbors in Loudoun County had to do that last month after getting this same run-around. His net/cable was set up within 48 hours.


----------



## Pyrr

Adelphia in Frederick


442 W Patrick

Frederick, MD 21701

(301) 662-6822


Customer Service

1-888-683-1000



BTW, you can get DSL in Frederick. You might want to think about that. Right now Cablemodem doesn't give you that good of a down here. It might be my connection. My DSL is pretty solid.


Maybe when comcast completely takes over it might be better


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Just a heads-up: I'm going to be working with DirecTV after 8:00 PM this evening, seeing if I can do anything here to fix the audio problem on FOX 45 (WBFF). Sorry to inconvenience everyone, but I'm going to have to go in and out of HD a couple of times. I'll probably have to do it twice.
> 
> 
> Please bear with me. I'm trying to fix this thing.
> 
> 
> Mark



Well, after calling DirecTV at 8:00, the tech told me that they wanted to monitor the audio for a while before I made any changes. When they called me back after 9:00, the tech told me that he heard the audio break up problem near the end of American Idol, but he determined (somehow) that there were no changes that I needed to test last night.


Kinda wish that they would have determined that before I had to stay at work until 9:30, but what can you do? Guess that's why I make the big bucks.


Anyhow, the tech told me that they had a big group working on the problem now. I predict that there will be a software upgrade in the not too distant future (I'm just guessing though).


Mark


----------



## jasonblair




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Pyrr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Adelphia in Frederick
> 
> 
> 442 W Patrick
> 
> Frederick, MD 21701
> 
> (301) 662-6822
> 
> 
> Customer Service
> 
> 1-888-683-1000
> 
> 
> 
> BTW, you can get DSL in Frederick. You might want to think about that. Right now Cablemodem doesn't give you that good of a down here. It might be my connection. My DSL is pretty solid.
> 
> 
> Maybe when comcast completely takes over it might be better



Thanks for the info! Apparently I live too far away from a station to get DSL.


In any case, this is going to be a real drag. I currently get a 15Mbps connection from Cox here in Alexandria. I guess I will be saying goodbye to downloading HD versions of TV shows from the newsgroups!


----------



## carltonrice

DirecTV recently upgraded my HD Tivo to their HR20 to solve a problem. The HR20 has been pretty reliable, but lately I've noticed a tremendous amount of audio breakup on OTA reception of WMAR-DT. It could be that I don't watch WBFF-DT enough to notice the issue there. I have found with WMAR-DT, however, that if there is an audio break, if I back up a bit and replay, the break up is not there. In effect, it seems that if the DVR is playing the station "live" and in real time, I get the audio break up, but a solution for this is to simply back up a bit and play the station on a slight delay. Odd software stuff going on with the HR20, I guess.


I'm thinking about switching from DirecTV to VZ FiOS and wondering if their DVRs have similar software issues. One disadvantage of going with VZ or Comcast would be that I would no longer have the luxury of DVR'ing OTA channels. I would be limited to the channels that they provide and where I live (Prince George's County part of Laurel), I would not even have access to the Baltimore stations.


----------



## danboot

Has anyone else experienced issues with their DVR breaking recording up into segments? This happened to me about 6 months ago, Comcast switched my box to 8300 and the problem went away. Now it is back.


Also on some HD shows the sound gets dropped. This happens frequently.


Any input.


----------



## Mntneer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jasonblair* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Update... I was able to contact Adelphia, and was told that they no longer service Frederick, and that Comcast has taken over operations.
> 
> 
> So I called Comcast... same issue with getting re-routed over and over again because I have no home phone number. Finally, I was transferred to a guy who barely spoke English. He told me that Comcast was in the process of taking over Adelphia, but that they didn't yet service Frederick, so call Adelphia. WHAT THE HECK?!?!? Does anyone know what's the real scoop?
> 
> 
> These experiences with the cable companies make me REALLY happy with DirecTV. No wonder they have the highest customer satisfaction ratings. I thought they were bad, but this is gettign rediculous. (If only they offered internet. Verizon told me no DSL available at my new place.)



I thought Frederick was an Adelphia center of operation. At least I thought that's where all calls I used to make the 800 number went to.


Try digging up the local office address and stopping in for a visit. That may be the best way of getting ahold of someone that knows what's going on.


----------



## sgtjim

Since the Comcast 3416 dvr had the software glitch, I have noticed that NBA basketball in HD on TNT and ESPN seemed to exhibit some type of motion problem as if the picture was missing a frame ever so often. If I switch to an analog channel, I don't notice it. Are my eyes going bad or has anyone else noticed a stutter in the picture. I am watching in Charles Co, Md on Comcast.


The Wizards game on ESPN & Comcast HD seem to be fine tonight with no motion aberrations.


----------



## zebras23




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *danboot* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Has anyone else experienced issues with their DVR breaking recording up into segments? This happened to me about 6 months ago, Comcast switched my box to 8300 and the problem went away. Now it is back.
> 
> 
> Also on some HD shows the sound gets dropped. This happens frequently.
> 
> 
> Any input.



Yes, this has started again. For me it is again limited to SD Channels. Let all do the call in mass (which worked well last time) to 703-841-7700 and complain.


----------



## guntherd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I had only minor breakups with my TiVo series 3 boxes. I recorded both the OTA HD and Comcast HD WJLA recording. Several minor audio glitches and some minor pixelation. Not enough to detract from the viewing though. The Comcast broadcast had the same minor glitches in the same locations.



I was beginning to think it was me. It annoyed me so much that I flipped over to channel 2 on my S3 to watch Lost. I had noticed the problems earlier in the evening when I was checking signal strength. (Can't miss Lost!) Last night I checked back and it was still doing it, although not as much. I hope they know it is going on and can fix it.


----------



## gmucklow

Does anyone know where to get a schedule for WBFF-DT channel 45-2? I get it over the air. The station web site links to Titan TV which says it is off the air at night, but it is broadcasting. I saw sone information saying it was broadcasting Good TV. I tried to find Good TV, but the schedule is different from what is on the air on 45-2.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *danboot* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Has anyone else experienced issues with their DVR breaking recording up into segments? This happened to me about 6 months ago, Comcast switched my box to 8300 and the problem went away. Now it is back.
> 
> 
> Also on some HD shows the sound gets dropped. This happens frequently.
> 
> 
> Any input.



The sound problem I do not have. The recording problem I do have. It seems to only happen on channels under 100 i.e. USA on Channel 13 or Sci Fi. It has never happened to any channels in the HD range.

I beleive they just updated their Firmware again and it caused the issue to come back. There were a few postings about this problem over the summer and fall but we think a Firmware update made it go away.


Please call Comcast and report it. Them exchanging your box will most likely not resolve the issue.


----------



## mjw703




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *danboot* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Has anyone else experienced issues with their DVR breaking recording up into segments? This happened to me about 6 months ago, Comcast switched my box to 8300 and the problem went away. Now it is back.



I talked to Veronica Santos, Community Relations Manager at Comcast and she said that Comcast and Scientific Atlanta are working on the problem, and hopefully will be fixed by this weekend. Let's keep our fingers crossed!


----------



## ArcCoyote




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gmucklow* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Does anyone know where to get a schedule for WBFF-DT channel 45-2? I get it over the air. The station web site links to Titan TV which says it is off the air at night, but it is broadcasting. I saw sone information saying it was broadcasting Good TV. I tried to find Good TV, but the schedule is different from what is on the air on 45-2.



This is where my EPG gets the listings:
http://tvlistings5.zap2it.com/tvlist...n&stnNum=50339


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast is adding *WUTB* to its HD lineup (channel 215) on March 26. Maybe they will start showing true HD soon?


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Comcast is adding *WUTB* to its HD lineup (channel 215) on March 26. Maybe they will start showing true HD soon?



Not in a million years.











FYI... I now have FIOS-TV and killed Comcast like a bad boil on my butt. I have two HD DVRS and an HD reciever. The PQ is good (on most channels) and the HD looks phenom! I still have my OTA setup downstairs and use it for monitoring.


I cannot recommend FIOS more highly.


----------



## Bill Johnson

This is huge! To be able to infer that perhaps a multicasting station acquiesces that there may be such a thing as true HD! Who knows? Today: 14.5 Mbps, tomorrow: 19.39!


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bill Johnson* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> This is huge! To be able to infer that perhaps a multicasting station acquiesces that there may be such a thing as true HD! Who knows? Today: 14.5 Mbps, tomorrow: 19.39!



True as far as not upconverting SD at least. Otherwise it's a rather pointless addition to the lineup, even without considering the questionable entertainment value of their network programming. (They don't multicast, by the way.)


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> (They don't multicast, by the way.)



Give them time! A station that transmits at 500 watts (or at least did early on) is really concerned about costs. It'll probably find it hard to resist the siren call of multicasting and the additional revenue it generates. Plus never mind the 2 or 3 percent of its audience with HD of whom perhaps only 5 or 10 percent of that small sliver have 57" sets or above and who can clearly see the difference between 14 and 19.39 Mbps.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bill Johnson* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Give them time! A station that transmits at 500 watts (or at least did early on) is really concerned about costs. It'll probably find it hard to resist the siren call of multicasting and the additional revenue it generates. Plus never mind the 2 or 3 percent of its audience with HD of whom perhaps only 5 or 10 percent of that small sliver have 57" sets or above and who can clearly see the difference between 14 and 19.39 Mbps.



They can multicast all they want if they're not going to show any HD. If they're so concerned with cost they may never show any HD, in which case I have no interest in their channel anyway.


----------



## Bill Johnson

A slight clarification to avoid confusion: My post #603 was not referring to WUTB, as this thread could go we know not where!


----------



## billodom

Sorry if this has been posted here recently, but I did want to publicly thank NBC 4 for correcting their audio problems. I tuned into Las Vegas last night and heard the proper 5.1 audio. Beginning sometime last fall, they had only been transmitting 3.1 audio with nothing coming from the rear surrounds. I know NBC Universal has put some effort into 5.1 audio so it's nice to see one of their O&O's getting on board. Check out this link from Dolby Laboratories: http://www.dolbylabs.com/about/news_...6_vol7no5.html .


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bill Johnson* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> A slight clarification to avoid confusion: My post #603 was not referring to WUTB, as this thread could go we know not where!



So, let's see if I have this straight. Your post #607 is about post #603 which in turn was a reply to the most excellent WJLA's director of engineering post in #602, correct?







With multiple lines of conversation going through a long thread like this, it is always a good idea to quote at least a small piece of the post you are replying to.










As for WUTB-DT 24, why wouldn't they be going HD on their very low power signal? There was a post a while back that WUTB-DT was planning to finally put up a new antenna and go full power on their digital signal in the May timeframe. They may be upgrading the broadcast equipment for HD and providing that signal to the local cable systems. What I don't get is why the FCC granted WUTB-DT 24 such a long waiver on going full power? WUTB is owned by Fox, so they could not claim the financial hardship that a small market independent or one of the over-extended financially smaller broadcast companies such as Nexstar. Was there a regulatory and construction permit issue with putting up a new antenna?


WUTB is My Network so there is not much HD value on the network unless you want to watch their cheezy soaps. My Network has dropped the Saturday night rehash programming of their prime time soaps and is now showing a Saturday night movie at 8 PM. But the movie last Saturday was not in HD, so they are not taking advantage of their HD capability. With the dismal ratings for their prime time (HD) soaps, My Network is revamping their programming, cutting back their soaps to 1 night a week for each series with some new reality & game shows, IIRC. Which probably won't be in HD.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So, let's see if I have this straight. Your post #607 is about post #603 which in turn was a reply to the most excellent *WJLA's director of engineering* post in #602, correct?



Is that true? If WJLA director of engineering does read any of the posts here, I just want to ask, WHY are we not getting Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune in HD?


----------



## afiggatt

*Current HD channel line-up for Comcast/Adelphia Loudoun*

What are the current HD channels on the Comcast/ex-Adelphia system in Loudoun? I have lost track of the changes that were posted here and Comcast still does not provide a line-up for Loudoun county on their website.I dropped Comcast/Adelphia for Verizon Fios in October, so I'm not on their system anymore. I'm asking both out of curiosity and because someone on the Verizon Programming thread elsewhere is upset about Verizon not yet offering Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic HD. But I think he is Loudoun and may not realize that Comcast did not add CSN MA HD right away.


Is Comcast still only providing 704, 705, 707, 709, 726 for the locals? No WDCW-DT 50 or WDCA-Dt 20 in HD, correct?


I know they dropped HDNet, HDNet Movies, and INHD2 went dark. What did they replace them with and what have they added so far? CSN MA HD or not?


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So, let's see if I have this straight. Your post #607 is about post #603 which in turn was a reply to the most excellent WJLA's director of engineering post in #602, correct?



Correct and sorry for the confusion! I thought it was apparent what my reference was to, but you're absolutely right, I should have quoted it.


In the past, I've taken issue with the "most excellent WJLA's director of engineering" often enough about multicasting; and it seemed like suddenly he may have been somewhat coming around regarding true HD. So I probably too hastily posted in a knee-jerk fashion!


----------



## markbach




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> *Current HD channel line-up for Comcast/Adelphia Loudoun*
> 
> What are the current HD channels on the Comcast/ex-Adelphia system in Loudoun?



704 - WRC-DT

705 - WTTG-DT

707 - WJLA-DT

709 - WUSA-DT

726 - WETA-DT


750 - HBO HD

751 - Showtime HD

752 - Starz HD (or maybe Cinemax HD, not 100% sure)


770 - Discovery HD Theater

771 - TNT HD

772 - ESPN HD

774 - iNHD

775 - ESPN2 HD _(I've not seen a single program in HD since they added this, everything is in 4:3 with the "HD" grey bars on the side)_

776 - Comcast Sports HD (Versus / Golf) _(I got a postcard saying this would start 3/6, but it was already active as of several days ago)_


So basically we lost HDNet/Movies (and iNHD2 was shut down) and got Discovery HD (decent, but a lot of content is repeated frequently), TNT HD (ok, some crime dramas and stuff, and crappy streched movies), ESPN2 HD (useless), and Comcast Sports (not exciting to me unless they show HD NFL games in the fall).


Still no NFL Network (SD or HD), or any of the other HD channels (A&E, National Geographic, Comcast Sports*net*, Food Network, etc) that other places get. And also no WDCW-DT or WDCA-DT.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is that true? If WJLA director of engineering does read any of the posts here, I just want to ask, WHY are we not getting Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune in HD?



We lack the equipment to record HD content and cannot find the business justification to purchase said equipment at a 6-figure cost.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bill Johnson* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> In the past, I've taken issue with the "most excellent WJLA's director of engineering" often enough about multicasting; and it seemed like suddenly he may have been somewhat coming around regarding true HD. So I probably too hastily posted in a knee-jerk fashion!



I can tell you, since I developed the technology for WeatherNow and LocalPoint, that multicasting is here to stay. Even more so, now that I am making money on WeatherNow.


Relief is coming though, as we probably will sh!^can our 10 year old Flexicoder, to make room for a NetVX from Harris. Better encoders and more ability to dynamically adjust bandwidth on the fly (read: choke .2 & .3 to under 2mbs at night) to make more room for the HD stream from ABC.


I hope to have it online this summer.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is that true? If WJLA director of engineering does read any of the posts here, I just want to ask, WHY are we not getting Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune in HD?



They do look nice in HD!


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I can tell you, since I developed the technology for WeatherNow and LocalPoint, that multicasting is here to stay. Even more so, now that I am making money on WeatherNow.



We true HD fanatics with big sets showing gnats' eyelashes may never come to grips with this. But why oh why for example when the SB is on (if ABC ever gets it again) or PSU -- I can dream can't I -- is playing Notre Dame for the 2010 BCS championship, why oh why can't contracts be written to shut it down for a few hours? It would be a good PR gesture generating many kudos.


Doug Hill wouldn't mind and the 3 or 4 of us weather fanatics that frequently pull up WeatherNow also wouldn't mind.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> We lack the equipment to record HD content and cannot find the business justification to purchase said equipment at a 6-figure cost.



How come? You mean to tell me your affiliate in Baltimore does have those equipments, and WJLA, the one in the heart of the action, in the nation's capital can't?


How come you show other programs and sports in HD? I believe you do have the equipment. Just dont' show some of those stupid shows, like Ugly Betty or Dancing with the Stars, in HD instead.


BUSINESS JUSTIFICATION? If you take a hard look at all the HD programing, you won't find justification to airing most of them in HD. I read in an article that businesses pay the same whether you air their commercials in HD or SD. My point being, that didn't stop any of the stations from showing prime time in HD. According to you, showing programing in B/W will cost less, what a brilliant business idea, why don't we do that?


Anyways, I know we can't change your mind about having Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune in HD. Ever since ABC lost MNF, it isn't worth watching, especially after the LOST hiatus. Now, they have just added to the list of negatives, at least for me, ABC is hanging on by a thread. I hope more and more people do the same I do. I watch WUSA9, where even the news are in HD.


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> We lack the equipment to record HD content and cannot find the business justification to purchase said equipment at a 6-figure cost.



But, I assume that you are working on that justification for the higher ups, right? Because it sounds like if you have two HD DVRs and an HD receiver via FiOS in your home that you'd definitely want to see Jeopardy and WOF in HD if it was available that way.


I have two HD sets in my home and I want everything in HD I can get!


But this is an interesting discussion. What would be the normal priority for a local station. Would it be upgrading to do the local news in HD or being able to support syndicated HD material?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> How come? You mean to tell me your affiliate in Baltimore does have those equipments, and WJLA, the one in the heart of the action, in the nation's capital can't?
> 
> 
> How come you show other programs and sports in HD? I believe you do have the equipment. Just dont' show some of those stupid shows, like Ugly Betty or Dancing with the Stars, in HD instead.



You should do some reading on the subject. Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune are syndicated programs. When they offered a HD version last September, that was a big deal, because they were the first syndicated programs to go HD - and as far as I know are still the only syndicated programs in HD. To show a syndicated program in HD, the local station needs HD recorders, satellite equipment for the syndicated feed, and in the case of a 720p station, cross-converters. For the network programs, the local station passes on the network live feed so they don't need expensive HD tape/server machines.


WMAR ABC 2 in Baltimore already had the HD recording equipment, but had to buy cross converters (for 1080i to 720p), satellite gear, and some audio equipment to show Jeopardy & WOF in HD. I emailed WMAR's station engineer back in September and, IIRC, they had to spend around $20K to be able to show Jeopardy & WOF in HD, which they started doing in late November. I have not kept up on the number of stations that are showing Jeopardy in HD, but I think it is still only around 40 or so stations in the US. Check the Jeopardy & WOF thread for some background: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=709567 . It would be nice if WJLA-DT 7 were to provide these two shows in HD as we will see more syndicated programs go HD in the future. But the owners of the station have to spend money to do this - the station engineer can only ask for a budget and spend what they give him. The good news that Robert Forsyth posted is that WJLA will get a new encoder this summer which should improve picture quality and will probably offer some other benefits.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *billodom* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I did want to publicly thank NBC 4 for correcting their audio problems. I tuned into Las Vegas last night and heard the proper 5.1 audio. ... Check out this link from Dolby Laboratories: http://www.dolbylabs.com/about/news_...6_vol7no5.html .



Thanks for the double-heads-up and the link.


My 5.1 receiver is in for servicing, so I can't personally confirm this. However, I trust this enough to have taken that notice down. I've also made a few other tweaks to the list.

______________________________



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> What I don't get is why the FCC granted WUTB-DT 24 such a long waiver on going full power? WUTB is owned by Fox, so they could not claim the financial hardship that a small market independent or one of the over-extended financially smaller broadcast companies such as Nexstar claims.



A bribe?


If I were a cable operator, I wouldn't be putting any version of Myxx-HD on the system with the ratings it has.

______________________________


If I were general manager at WJLA, I wouldn't clear the HD playback equipment right now, as there aren't many syndicated shows on WJLA that are available in HD. As *afiggatt* mentioned, it's just Wheel and J! right now, and, at least for a while from now, how many people will stop watching the shows, or catch on, because it's in HD? If Oprah goes HD, and WJLA's contract to show the program would be ending in that time frame, I might reconsider, considering its ability as a prime money-demo-based lead-in to local news (I might even push up the date of HD local news implementation). If WUSA matched any offer of WJLA, and added "We can broadcast the program in HD, and WJLA can't", that would be a dagger right there. But that's another day.


Barring an Oprah-check, I expect HD playback stuff at WJLA to be ready to go when WJLA starts HD news. When will that happen? Be happy if it's sometime before next year's general election! Think more 2010, or MAYBE early 2009 due to the analog shutoff, at least with me playing fantasy manager. Either way, in the meantime, I believe that if the quality of the journalism is better than the other stations, most people will look past the lower resolution, at least until 2009 or 2010 or 2011. That viability is up for each viewer to decide upon. Today, the only station with HD local news is WUSA, with anchors that are questionable in quality to some people. WRC and WTTG are rumored to be preparing for HD news, and so until those options come up, WJLA has nothing much to worry about, at least with HD news.


WJLA has recently emphasized paying for on-air talent before technical equipment. With the possible exception of the new encoder system, I suspect that trend will continue for the foreseeable future.

______________________________



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Relief is coming though, as we probably will sh!^can our 10 year old Flexicoder, to make room for a NetVX from Harris. Better encoders and more ability to dynamically adjust bandwidth on the fly (read: choke .2 & .3 to under 2mbs at night) to make more room for the HD stream from ABC.
> 
> 
> I hope to have it online this summer.



Option 1: Harris NetVX with one ENC-H11 [pdf] HD and two ENC-S21 [pdf] SD modules

Option 2: Harmonic MV500 HD + two MV100 SD encoders + DiviTrackIP or DiviTrackXE stat-mux system

Option 3: ????


I'm not here to sound like a Harmonic PR guy, since I'm not, but see if the Harmonic system, or any other high-quality encoder manufacturer, if such a company exists, is cheaper than Harris, as I've read that Harmonic's just as good at making encoders as Harris is, if not better. Harmonic might take up less rack space than Harris, too. Harris uses five rack units, and Harmonic will take up at least four if properly configured, but possibly no more than that.


Part of me wants to start a company that would make way better encoders than anyone out there. I want an encoder that can actually make a 1080i channel look good with a single (low-motion?) subchannel, or 720p good on two subchannels, instead of just one. They would have iPod-like ease of use, take up two rack units for everything instead of four or five, and cost less than what's from Harris or Harmonic. I'm pretty sure that it's possible, just how do I get things started?


/end wishful thinking


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mjw703* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I talked to Veronica Santos, Community Relations Manager at Comcast and she said that Comcast and Scientific Atlanta are working on the problem, and hopefully will be fixed by this weekend. Let's keep our fingers crossed!



Wow, she is still around...I remember talking to her 4-5 years ago when Alexandria was piloting the HD.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I can tell you, since I developed the technology for WeatherNow and LocalPoint, that multicasting is here to stay. Even more so, now that I am making money on WeatherNow.
> 
> 
> Relief is coming though, as we probably will sh!^can our 10 year old Flexicoder, to make room for a NetVX from Harris. Better encoders and more ability to dynamically adjust bandwidth on the fly (read: choke .2 & .3 to under 2mbs at night) to make more room for the HD stream from ABC.
> 
> 
> I hope to have it online this summer.



With Weather Now can you make it so the Ad's and the News are non existent? The Radar map is SO small and the news is more prominent than the actual weather forecast which is relegate to a scrolling banner across the bottom of the screen.

How about making Temperature of certain cities and towns ones that are in the Area? Do we need to know the temperatures of Farmville? Greensboro? Newport News? Ocean City?


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> But this is an interesting discussion. What would be the normal priority for a local station. Would it be upgrading to do the local news in HD or being able to support syndicated HD material?



As far as WJLA goes, apparently neither.




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> But the owners of the station have to spend money to do this - the station engineer can only ask for a budget and spend what they give him. The good news that Robert Forsyth posted is that WJLA will get a new encoder this summer which should improve picture quality and will probably offer some other benefits.



First, let me thank you for the thorough explanation. It made a lot more sense than "we don't have equipment" and "business decision".


I am not blaming Robert, or any employee at WJLA for that matter, for not having Jeopardy and WOF in HD. I am sorry if it came out that way, but I was merely expressing my frustration with the local channel and ABC itself. Like I said before, I stopped watching ABC for a while now, seriously, to me, their shows aren't anywhere as good as FOX's or NBC's.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbach* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So basically we lost HDNet/Movies (and iNHD2 was shut down) and got Discovery HD (decent, but a lot of content is repeated frequently), TNT HD (ok, some crime dramas and stuff, and crappy streched movies), ESPN2 HD (useless), and Comcast Sports (not exciting to me unless they show HD NFL games in the fall).
> 
> 
> Still no NFL Network (SD or HD), or any of the other HD channels (A&E, National Geographic, Comcast Sports*net*, Food Network, etc) that other places get. And also no WDCW-DT or WDCA-DT.



Thanks for the update. So Comcast in Loudoun is up to a total of 14 HD channels. As for the added HD channels, TNT-HD does show a fair amount of real HD programming. It is their use of stretch-o-vision on all SD material and no indication in advance of when the movies will really be in HD that drives people crazy. ESPN2-HD is in real HD tonight for the NASCAR event. I don't follow NASCAR, but ESPN2-HD does show major league baseball games during the season, so it will be nice to get those games in HD because MASN won't be showing any baseball games in HD.


Hopefully Comcast will add more HD channels soon for Loudoun and the other local ex-Adelphia systems. Of the HD channels they have not added, WDCW-DT 50, UniversalHD, CSN-MA HD, and National Geographic would be the most useful. Well, there are the 2 HDNet channels, but Comcast management apparently has this thing about HDNet.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I was merely expressing my frustration with the local channel and ABC itself. Like I said before, I stopped watching ABC for a while now, seriously, to me, their shows aren't anywhere as good as FOX's or NBC's.



The local decisions against HD news and HD syndicated shows weren't made by ABC itself, but the owner of WJLA, which is a company called Allbritton Communications. They relay ABC network programming to WJLA's viewers, but outside of that, they can air what they want, when they want to, and ABC can't do anything about it.


HD local news is still a relatively new phenomenon. Gannett stations WUSA in DC and KUSA in Denver now have HD news. Chicago's WLS, which just happens to be owned and operated by the ABC TV network, started HD news early this year. Belo has had a liking to HD news, and has started HD news in at least Dallas and Houston.

There's a thread dedicated just to HD local news . From what I've read so far, HD syndicated programming doesn't seem to be included in this thread, but still, it's probable that there's the ability for almost all HD news stations to air HD syndicated shows.


I can't help you with the quality of ABC network shows.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The local decisions against HD news and HD syndicated shows weren't made by ABC itself, but the owner of WJLA, which is a company called Allbritton Communications. They relay ABC network programming to WJLA's viewers, but outside of that, they can air what they want, when they want to, and ABC can't do anything about it.
> 
> 
> HD local news is still a relatively new phenomenon. Gannett stations WUSA in DC and KUSA in Denver now have HD news. Chicago's WLS, which just happens to be owned and operated by the ABC TV network, started HD news early this year. Belo has had a liking to HD news, and has started HD news in at least Dallas and Houston.
> 
> There's a thread dedicated just to HD local news . From what I've read so far, HD syndicated programming doesn't seem to be included in this thread, but still, it's probable that there's the ability for almost all HD news stations to air HD syndicated shows.
> 
> 
> I can't help you with the quality of ABC network shows.



Once Billy Graham starts putting out his specials in HD, you can be sure that WJLA will get the needed equipment.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Once Billy Graham starts putting out his specials in HD, you can be sure that WJLA will get the needed equipment.



He's done at least one in HD already. I saw it on WMAR.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Once Billy Graham starts putting out his specials in HD, you can be sure that WJLA will get the needed equipment.



No, it won't. By adding HD rec/play equipment to my plant (today and foresable 12 months out), what would be the return on the 6-figure investment??? Ahhh...the key question again.


some points (let the flames begin) :

- National commercials sent to the local level are not in HD, and wont be soon due to storage limitations at the local level.


- Showing Jeopardy and WOF in HD will not increase viewership or ratings. For those of you who say 'I'll watch it in Baltimore', those numbers are too small to be measured, since we use local meters, and won't grow by leaps and bounds soon.


- Showing Jeopardy and WOF in HD will not increase the number of commercials we can play. After all guys, this is a business.


- Although Gannett has done well at KUSA (already #1 in the market before HD), doing news in HD has not helped WUSA in news ratings or news revenue (still 4th and 5th place most nights), especially enough to offset the 7-figure cost that transition incurred.


- Since we are going to have to redo our infrastructure at WJLA to do full HD (we are even thinking 1080i) in-house, it does not make since to add hardware now that may not work (or work well) early next year (wink wink).


- NETVX (with 2 HD cards and 1 SD card - wink wink) will allow us to better manage the whole 19mb more efficiantly, making really perty pictures during prime time.


- I love to watch HD content at home (Showtime, Discovery and HDNet are my favs). Besides Lost at 24P, my wife does not go out of her way to tune to the HD channels when here shows are on. She could care less.


as I conclude...


- I'm not a low hanging fruit at the station and I talk to the owner of the company 3-4 times a week. In my opinion, and my opinion has not wavered in 3 years (besides the Dolby thing when I took over), it does not make since to transition today. There is a HUGE investment with NO increase in revenue or ratings in the near future. Every day we wait, we save money, the cost to do HD today is half of what it cost 2 years ago.


As I step off my soapbox and appeal to the RATIONAL side of the HIGH level of intelligence of you, I yield the floor...


----------



## wkearney99

Sure, why bother giving viewers a reason to see your station as providing something a lot better than the others in the market. It's just plain easier/cheaper to rest on your laurels and wait for everyone else to make the first move, right? Meanwhile that viewers will jump ship to watch their programming off cable and satellite services instead. And once satisfied with that range of content the viewers won't bother coming back to OTA/locals.


And given the considerable sums of revenue that flow through the broadcast channels you can imagine why I'm less than sympathetic about the expense of equipment.


But hey, ignore the audience and they'll go away. Oh wait, that's what they've already done!


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wkearney99* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> But hey, ignore the audience and they'll go away. Oh wait, that's what they've already done!



No they have'nt. In fact, local Nelsien data shows just the opposite.


----------



## Onazuka




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> ...
> 
> - Although Gannett has done well at KUSA (already #1 in the market before HD), doing news in HD has not helped WUSA in news ratings or news revenue (still 4th and 5th place most nights), especially enough to offset the 7-figure cost that transition incurred.
> 
> ...



Interesting because I never used to watch WUSA news and ever since they switched to HD that's the only new station I watch. I know 4-5 friends who did the same thing. I don't know how they measured this but from my perspective WUSA's move to HD news had a significant increase in number of viewers.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wkearney99* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Sure, why bother giving viewers a reason to see your station as providing something a lot better than the others in the market. It's just plain easier/cheaper to rest on your laurels and wait for everyone else to make the first move, right? Meanwhile that viewers will jump ship to watch their programming off cable and satellite services instead. And once satisfied with that range of content the viewers won't bother coming back to OTA/locals.



The erosion to cable has nothing to do with HD. Content is king, not presentation.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Onazuka* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Interesting because I never used to watch WUSA news and ever since they switched to HD that's the only new station I watch. I know 4-5 friends who did the same thing. I don't know how they measured this but from my perspective WUSA's move to HD news had a significant increase in number of viewers.



It is pretty, or well it used to before they applied the talent-demanded softening filters). But it has NOT helped them the SLIGHEST bit over the past year the ONLY place where it counts...revenue and ratings. In the last ratings book, their news finished 4th and 5th in most time periods.


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> - Since we are going to have to redo our infrastructure at WJLA to do full HD (we are even thinking 1080i) in-house, it does not make since to add hardware now that may not work (or work well) early next year (wink wink).
> 
> 
> - I'm not a low hanging fruit at the station and I talk to the owner of the company 3-4 times a week. In my opinion, and my opinion has not wavered in 3 years (besides the Dolby thing when I took over), it does not make since to transition today. There is a HUGE investment with NO increase in revenue or ratings in the near future. Every day we wait, we save money, the cost to do HD today is half of what it cost 2 years ago.
> 
> 
> As I step off my soapbox and appeal to the RATIONAL side of the HIGH level of intelligence of you, I yield the floor...



Just curious, what is the thinking about moving to 1080I? How would that work with ABC's commitment to 720P?


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Just curious, what is the thinking about moving to 1080I? How would that work with ABC's commitment to 720P?



NetVX can switch/handle both.


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Just curious, what is the thinking about moving to 1080I? How would that work with ABC's commitment to 720P?



Actually, I was kind of wondering about this as well. I think it could go over well, the station in Dallas is an ABC affiliate doing 1080i, and ABC only has like a little note about it on their site, nothing really flaming the station. Plus, by this time next year, I guess there would be a way to do 1080i at a local level and then switch to 720p for network. I would actually prefer a newscast in 1080i anyway, as you usually don't have much fast-motion objects on-screen, and it would allow for greater detail.

As for the Wheel and Jeopardy thing, I would like to see them in HD, but, as he said, it makes no economic sense to go out and spend $20k on something that a) won't draw in significantly more viewers or MAKE the station any money and b) could be obsolete when they rebuild their infrastructure for HD.

Now, on the graphics side, that's where I feel WJLA needs to start making an investment. They look pretty dated, and there seems to be two sets of graphics going on over there, one for promos and one for the actual newscast. (And, if you guys are shopping for new graphics, go for Giant Octopus, it's what WUSA got and they look fantastic (until, of course, they ruined it by rebranding to 9 News Now))


One last thing I was wondering is if you're feeling any pressure to go HD from the network? With WCVB going HD soon, I think that would make WJLA the largest ABC affiliate without HD news.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It is pretty, or well it used to before they applied the talent-demanded softening filters). But it has NOT helped them the SLIGHEST bit over the past year the ONLY place where it counts...revenue and ratings. In the last ratings book, their news finished 4th and 5th in most time periods.



Do the local Nielson ratings even take into account HD?


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> One last thing I was wondering is if you're feeling any pressure to go HD from the network? With WCVB going HD soon, I think that would make WJLA the largest ABC affiliate without HD news.



No, they understand the business pretty well. They need to focus on audience retention right now.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> No, they understand the business pretty well. They need to focus on audience retention right now.



Any by audience retention, you mean hiring all the personalities that WWRC fired a few weeks ago...


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Onazuka* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Interesting because I never used to watch WUSA news and ever since they switched to HD that's the only new station I watch. I know 4-5 friends who did the same thing. I don't know how they measured this but from my perspective WUSA's move to HD news had a significant increase in number of viewers.



Interesting, I am not saying this because of WJLA or anything, but I , too, am watching their news because it is in HD. I have to admit, their news staff is questionable and can definitely use an upgrade. But I usually watched FOX's news before WUSA9 went HD news. In all fairness, WJLA has Harris, who I think is good, but that is about it.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Interesting, I am not saying this because of WJLA or anything, but I , too, am watching their news because it is in HD. I have to admit, their news staff is questionable and can definitely use an upgrade. But I usually watched FOX's news before WUSA9 went HD news. In all fairness, WJLA has Harris, who I think is good, but that is about it.



Derrik McGinty is pretty good. The thing is, most of WUSA news casters are young and not established. They went younger a few years ago and have been reeling ever since. There is nothing wrong with that but people like their newscasters to have the grizzled veteran look, or people that work well together. I am happy with WUSA and watch their HD news almost all the time. I liked Channel 4 but I am tired of Pat Collins, who I LOATH, Barbara Harrison, who should have been let go and Wendy Reiger. I am also REALLY PO'd they let Susan Kidd go. She might not have been the most telegenic personality, but I liked her newscasting abilities.


----------



## VARTV

I kind of see what Robert is saying...


Of course, from a viewer's stand-point it stinks. This is interesting and kind of on the same topic because in SE VA, there's one group that truely believes in HD Radio and there's another group that has the complete opposite thinking.


I don't think every station "thinks" like WJLA...


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I don't think every station "thinks" like WJLA...



Very true. We are a small, family-owned television group. We don't have the same demands and 'financial appearances' that a publically traded company has to project. If you compare Allbritton to other television groups our size, you'll find we lead the way from a technology point of view.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Derrik McGinty is pretty good.



You are right, I do like McGinty and I like his segment where he responds to viewer's emails at the end. Now I didn't know who McGinty was or about his segment until I started watching their HD News, that is all I am saying.


----------



## SJKurtzke

JC Hayward's pretty good at newscasting as well, she seems to give a very personable feel to anchoring. That being said, of all the people who could use a filter...


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Very true. We are a small, family-owned television group. We don't have the same demands and 'financial appearances' that a publically traded company has to project. If you compare Allbritton to other television groups our size, you'll find we lead the way from a technology point of view.



And you want to tell me that family that owns WJLA is a poor one? That they don't make millions off us the viewers watching their station? that They live in a house that cost less than 500k, they eat the same food we do? I am not asking you to reveal their financial position.


I don't get it, you are trying to make us feel bad for wanting more HD content. How dare us, the viewers, ask for more HD content? Because that would mean that the POOR family would need to invest in its business, god forbid if that happens.


Also, what is this comparisons with other stations, why should we care? I mean if you compare yourself to a TV station in Europe you guys are doing great as far as HD goes; and if you compare yourself to a TV station in Africa, MAN OH MAN, you guys are off the charts.


----------



## aaronwt

I watch WUSA news specifically because they broadcast in HD. After 5.5 years of watching and recording HD I rarely watch SD now. 95% of what I watch is HD. That said, the reason Robert gave makes perfect sense and it is a business and the whole purpose is to make a profit. They are broadcasting Primetime in HD which is what I'm mainly concerned about. I don't watch WOF or Jeopardy but when it is finally broadcast here in HD I will start to watch it occasionally. I will look forward to next year or whenever WJLA starts broadcasting their news and other things in HD. I will definitely tune in.


----------



## CycloneGT

Hey Monkey! I realize that you are new around here, but we don't beat up on each other. So cut it out.


You don't have an entitlement to get the JLA folks to spend money on what you want. And even if they have deep pockets, that is no excuse to throw a fit. The smart money knows that the cost of HD is going down year by year. No need to rush in, especially when you are spending your own money.


Robert is a long time contributor and a welcomed friend here, your rants won't change our opinion of him, but it will establish an opinion of you.


----------



## Ladd

As another data point:


after watching WJLA news daily since I moved here in January of 1987, I started watching WUSA news the day they went HD and stopped watching WJLA news completely two weeks later. I miss "the family" but the "pretty picture" is what HD is all about ...


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ladd* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> As another data point:
> 
> 
> after watching WJLA news daily since I moved here in January of 1987, I started watching WUSA news the day they went HD and stopped watching WJLA news completely two weeks later. I miss "the family" but the "pretty picture" is what HD is all about ...




It was pretty on day one...now it looks like its shot through pantyhose.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Robert is a long time contributor and a welcomed friend here, your rants won't change our opinion of him, but it will establish an opinion of you.



Cyclone, if you thought I was trying to change your opinion about Robert through what I said, then you have yourself to blame, that was never my intent. I keep repeating it over and over again, I have nothing against Robert or any employee of WJLA. Robert on the other hand is the one that keeps defending WJLA and all I am doing is respond.


Robert, I apologize if you were offended by any of my comments but believe me when I say I got nothing against you.


I personally will drop the subject since I know none of the talks here will affect anything.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> [on WUSA] But it has NOT helped them the SLIGHEST bit over the past year the ONLY place where it counts...revenue and ratings. In the last ratings book, their news finished 4th and 5th in most time periods.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Onazuka* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I never used to watch WUSA news and ever since they switched to HD that's the only new station I watch. I know 4-5 friends who did the same thing. I don't know how they measured this but from my perspective WUSA's move to HD news had a significant increase in number of viewers.



The mass majority of TV viewers, and probably Nielson viewers, either a) don't have an HDTV, or b) don't care if the news isn't in HD. Over time, both situations will probably change, but for now, it is what it is. With that in mind, what's the point to having WJLA-HD news right now? I watched WJLA's news on occasion while the SD refeed was on 7-3, and it was very sharp for 480i.


Some people with HDTVs have switched to WUSA, as well as their friends, but they have HDTVs. Other people/groups of friends don't have HDTVs, and in their world, the quality of the journalism is what sets one station apart from another. WJLA has arguably the greatest pool of talent in the DC area, from Gordon Peterson, to Maureen Bunyan, to Doug Hill, to Allison Starling, and more. The only mediocre person at that station (that I can think of right now) is Leon Harris, and I seem to be one of about six people who believe that.

___________________________________



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> - NETVX (with 2 HD cards and 1 SD card - wink wink) will allow us to better manage the whole 19mb more efficiantly, making really perty pictures during prime time.



Can two HD modules on the NetVX perform encoding for one HD channel? Can one SD module perform encoding for two SD channels? If two HD cards would be needed to make one HD channel look good, what are the chances of an SD channel looking good at under 2 mbps each on one SD card? Point is, you may need 2 HD + 2 SD cards if you're correct about the two HD cards for one HD channel issue.


Also, here's something else to think about: saving money. At least investigate the Harmonic system like you have the NetVX system, and check the prices between the two companies for an optimal setup, even if two HD encoders would be purchased on either end. (Hint: If you're going to buy two Harmonic HD encoders to encode one HD channel, buy two MV450s over two MV500s.) If the Harris system is cheaper, go with them. Is Harmonic is cheaper, and it can do a similar, if not a better job, than Harris, why not make your bosses at least a little happy by saving a little money on a new encoder system?

___________________________________



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Just curious, what is the thinking about moving to 1080I? How would that work with ABC's commitment to 720P?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> NetVX can switch/handle both.
Click to expand...


WJLA might as well broadcast news in 720p, as that will reduce, or even eliminate, the "need" for the pantyhose effect.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Very true. We are a small, family-owned television group. We don't have the same demands and 'financial appearances' that a publically traded company has to project. If you compare Allbritton to other television groups our size, you'll find we lead the way from a technology point of view.



I don't mean to be combative, but what does that buy _me_, the consumer? I really don't care about your bottom line or financial viability. I don't care about your ratings or your revenue either.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Robert, I apologize if you were offended by any of my comments but believe me when I say I got nothing against you.
> 
> 
> I personally will drop the subject since I know none of the talks here will affect anything.



No apology needed, I heard worse. As for dropping the conversation...I think the stations have listened to the boards somewhat ( I know I use it as a test bed), and we are constantly tweaking and adjusting DTV to make everyone happy.


----------



## RichmondOTABaby

I, too, exclusively watch WUSA news because it is in HD.


----------



## Marcus Carr

The Cavs-Heat game is in SD on WMAR, even though the previous game was HD. A rare mistake or technical problem. It's in HD on WJLA.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Now in HD on WMAR. (Are they reading this thread right now?







).


----------



## RichmondOTABaby

WJLA needs to flip the switch again. SD for several minutes now. HD on WRIC in Richmond.


----------



## carltonrice

I am sure I'm not the average Joe, but I've almost totally stopped watching the news on television and see very little journalistic differences between all of the choices in the market here. I prefer to read my news (especially local news) online in the Washington Post or Baltimore Sun. TV for me is for entertainment purposes mainly.


So, if the picture is HD and looks great, I'm more apt to watch. The content counts as well... but there are some shows, that I watch in HD that I wouldn't dream of wasting time on in SD. On a couple of occasions, there've been instance where I've DVR'd a show only to find that it was in SD instead of HD. When that happens, I usually just delete the show rather than waste the time watching it. There are some shows that because I like their content, I'll watch in SD. But the number of shows I'll watch in SD is shrinking by the week as my time becomes constrained.


----------



## Bill Johnson

HD takes me to WUSA News almost exclusively & often the clarity of live close-up shots in the studio almost makes me overlook multicasting.


----------



## wkearney99

I agree regarding local news. These days it's the calibre of their weatherman that makes the difference for me. Channel 4 is the 'least annoying' most of the time.


What's irritating is not having a 16:9 picture. I don't give a damn if it's 480 or 1080, if it's got the sidebars it's not going to get watched. I suspect that's what most folks are thinking when they ask for Jeopardy, et al, in HD. Seeing Alex's bad haircut at 1080p ain't exactly high on my list.


So really, put out a picture that's 16:9, and not a 4:3 one just wrapped in fancy graphics.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Unwatchable picture on WBFF right now. Switched to WTTG.


----------



## JohnGZ28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Unwatchable picture on WBFF right now. Switched to WTTG.



I don't mean to be combative, but what does that buy me, the consumer? I really don't care about your bottom line or financial viability. I don't care about your ratings or your revenue either.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JohnGZ28* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I don't mean to be combative, but what does that buy me, the consumer? I really don't care about your bottom line or financial viability. I don't care about your ratings or your revenue either.



WTF?


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JohnGZ28* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I don't mean to be combative, but what does that buy me, the consumer? I really don't care about your bottom line or financial viability. I don't care about your ratings or your revenue either.



What are you trying to say? You just copied and pasted what URFloorMatt said earlier.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It was pretty on day one...now it looks like its shot through pantyhose.




Do you think that Gordon Peterson or Maureen Bunyon would want the filters? I would think they would and you would oblige...


----------



## JohnGZ28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> What are you trying to say? You just copied and pasted what URFloorMatt said earlier.



Just wanted to make sure it sounded just as stupid now as it did when it was originally posted.


----------



## mikepinkerton

Can't WJLA just get an HD Tivo?
























-Mike


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Unwatchable picture on WBFF right now. Switched to WTTG.



Sorry - weather issue... We were in all during the snow, then left. Around 6:30 we got a thin layer of freezing rain on the dish covers, and that was enough to screw up our reception.


Mark


----------



## sgtjim

Comcast in Charles Co has announced via DVR message that effective 3/21/07 they will add MASN 2; A&E HD and Nat'l Geo HD to their lineup That's what we get for their $5 amonth increase including $2 increase in the DVR fee to $11.95.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JohnGZ28* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Just wanted to make sure it sounded just as stupid now as it did when it was originally posted.



Gee, thanks.










I understand that some people are interested in the politics, the behind-the-scenes work, and the lobbying that are involved in transforming a local broadcast from SD to HD. And maybe it's interesting to read occasionally, if only to provide some insight on when HDTV will be coming to a given broadcast. But Robert was presenting an argument for not going HD that was based on revenue and expenses. Why should I care about those things? WJLA goes HD six weeks from now and let's say it costs them an extra $100,000. How would that negatively affect me? Not in the least. Now, let's say they go HD a year from now when it costs them a little less. How does that benefit me? None. In point of fact, I've lost 46 weeks of HD content that I could've enjoyed in the first scenario.


If you personally are concerned with how WJLA runs its business, then I really hope you've got some skin the game. Money invested somewhere. It is _absurd_ to otherwise defend a company pushing an inferior product because they don't have the resources to upgrade.


Most consumers are concerned with getting the product they want, not with the success of the company that produces the product. The fact that WJLA can't justify the HD expense in the near future doesn't get me anything but two useless black pillarbars on my HDTV. Thanks for the effort I guess, but I'll take my eyes elsewhere.


Seriously, justify to me right now how I wouldn't be better off if someone with the resources moved in and hypothetically offered to buy WJLA tomorrow and planned to roll out an HD broadcast in nine weeks. I guess you could make some weak-ass argument about "good newscasting," but that'd be such a farce I'd probably laugh my way right out of my chair. All the Washington newscasts have been journalistic garbage for a while now.


(This isn't meant to be an attack on WJLA. They've just provided a convenient example since they'll effectively be the last Washington newscast to go HD.)


----------



## aprest

Did anyone else have problems with severe breakup and pixelation watching the Acedemy Awards last night on WJLA Channel 7.1? I am getting all the other local OTA HD channels fine on my DirecTV HR10-250 STB except for WJLA.


----------



## davidwb

verizon fios in howard county is only showing weta and not mpt (beginning a couple of days ago), even though the new channel lineup shows both and both were being shown for a few days after the channel realignment.


----------



## MrMike6by9




> Quote:
> ... But Robert was presenting an argument for not going HD that was based on revenue and expenses. Why should I care about those things? ...



Please don't shoot the messenger just because you don't like the message. Bottom line, it *IS* a business and a business has to be concerned about return on investment or they cease to exist. I would guess a fair percentage of people watching syndicated fare don't really notice the difference except when those shows are letterboxed into a 4:3 screen for then the complaint is about "those black bars". Heck, count yourself lucky that the network shows are HD since there are still parts of this fair land where people don't have that choice.


Please give the guy a break, at least he participates in these decussions and has contributed to our collective knowledge from a unique perspective. I'm not even in his service area but I'm glad he stops by.


YMMV


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrMike6by9* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Please don't shoot the messenger just because you don't like the message.



The way I've always looked at it is Robert is gracious enough to engage here in the give and take and easily holds his own. And he knows there are some of us that are pretty fanatical about HDTV. So he seems to be fairly tough-minded and is not going to be intimidated in the least by anything we say.


Having said that, I must avoid calling people names or casting aspersions.


But now about Robert's awful multicasting...............


----------



## bobharp




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aprest* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Did anyone else have problems with severe breakup and pixelation watching the Acedemy Awards last night on WJLA Channel 7.1? I am getting all the other local OTA HD channels fine on my DirecTV HR10-250 STB except for WJLA.



I noticed some pixelation artifacts during the show. HD Tivo'd it and only watched about an hour. Audio seemed a bit high on the bass as well. Had to turn my sub down. Comcast Mont. MD.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bill Johnson* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> But now about Robert's awful multicasting...............



et tu brut'e?


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> et tu brut'e?



See what I mean? Here's a person with a real sense of humor or at least's on top of it. And we think we'll offend or intimidate him with a few silly posts about his PQ!


But still, back to that multicasting...........


----------



## yekim54




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aprest* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Did anyone else have problems with severe breakup and pixelation watching the Acedemy Awards last night on WJLA Channel 7.1? I am getting all the other local OTA HD channels fine on my DirecTV HR10-250 STB except for WJLA.



Although WJLA normally gives me the poorest reception via OTA of all the local stations, last night it was essentially perfect during the Academy Awards show. Kudos to Robert (or maybe it was just favorable meteorological conditions).


----------



## dg28

To those of you who have "switched" to WUSA news when they went HD, as Robert says, it hasn't helped their ratings one bit. If any one of us thinks that we (AVSers) represent the views of the general public when it comes to HD, then I refer you to a statement Michael made when assessing one of his employees on "The Office" a few weeks ago..."What a total lack of self-awareness..."


----------



## markbulla

Hi all -


I'm trying out some different settings on WBFF-DT tonight that I'm hoping will fix the on-going problem that DirecTV has with the audio portion of the FOX HD signal. Since we don't have a DirecTV HD receiver here at the station, would someone please take a look at the signal and let me know if there is any improvement?


Thanks!


Mark


----------



## RalphArch




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> To those of you who have "switched" to WUSA news when they went HD, as Robert says, it hasn't helped their ratings one bit. If any one of us thinks that we (AVSers) represent the views of the general public when it comes to HD, then I refer you to a statement Michael made when assessing one of his employees on "The Office" a few weeks ago..."What a total lack of self-awareness..."



This may be off somewhat (ratings accuracy) I was selected by Nielson - and considered it; but with a Satellite box into projector and three computer tuners

there was no easy way to hook me up so I opted out - even with much pressure from Nielson.


I believe many others may be in a similar situation and that maybe they (Nielson) get less than totally accurate results. Personally I have gone from 95% WRC to 95% WUSA - and need I mention that they don't track computer card tuners anyway


----------



## ashutoshsm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aprest* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Did anyone else have problems with severe breakup and pixelation watching the Acedemy Awards last night on WJLA Channel 7.1? I am getting all the other local OTA HD channels fine on my DirecTV HR10-250 STB except for WJLA.



I had a few flurries of HD dropouts (when it went from HD to SD, usually after an ad break but once in the middle of a presenter's speech) - and I compared OTA as well as Comcast Loudoun's retransmission at least one of those times - both had reverted to SD. So it sounds like a source issue.


Neither (incident) lasted over 10 seconds, though, and the overall clarity & quality were excellent. Kudos!


----------



## huesmann

What are the models of STB (SD, HD and HD DVR) that Verizon is giving out with the FIOS TV service? Just wondering if it's worth switching over from Comcrap.


----------



## carltonrice

Back in the fall, I bought a Polaroid LCD HDTV that I've been pretty happy with. There's only one on-going issue I've noticed which is kind of minor, but nonetheless, a bit troubling. When the DTV tuner in the set does a scan for channels, it detects the channels on their UHF frequencies and then places them in the channel list at their PSIP channel numbers. The only station that it won't do this for is WJZ-DT. It picks up a strong signal, but does not map the channel to 13-1. I can only tune it in by inputting 38-1. Does anyone else have this problem with WJZ-DT OTA either with the Polaroid tuner or another DTV tuner? Is WJZ-DT transmitting PSIP and the program info like the other stations? Any ideas on what could be causing this problem just with that station?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *huesmann* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> What are the models of STB (SD, HD and HD DVR) that Verizon is giving out with the FIOS TV service? Just wondering if it's worth switching over from Comcrap.



The DVR that Verizon currently hands out is the Motorola 6416 with a 160 GB HD. Works better than the Motorola 6412 I used to have with Adelphia in Loudoun, but the 160 GB storage capacity is not very large for HD at around 20 hours or so of HD programs.


Verizon does post a fair amount of useful info on their FiosTV website at http://www22.verizon.com/content/FiOSTV/ including prices, channel line-ups, and equipment. Check the active Verizon threads in the HDTV Reception hardware, HDTV Programming ( http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=590208 ), and HDTV Recorders (sticky thread on the 6416 DVR) forums.


There are those who have been unhappy with switching to Verizon Fios TV and Internet, but some of the stuff that is getting posted smells like a low key FUD campaign from cable companies to me (but I could be wrong on that). The biggest issue lately has been when will Verizon add Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic HD along with adding other HD national channels to the HD tier. The CSN Philly HD channel has been added to the Philly area systems, so we should be getting CSN MA HD here eventually.


I had 13 HD channels with Adelphia Loudoun (which still has only 14 in total now under Comcast) and went to 23 available HD channels (of which I get 22 as I don't subscribe to Cinemax), so I'm ahead on HD channels. Verizon is supposed to be adding 5 or 6 more national HD channels before the end of March, but this is not confirmed. Picture quality for the SD and HD channels on Verizon Fios is better, especially for the SD channels that were basic analog channels on Adelphia system. When comparing the costs, you need to figure on getting a STB or DVR for each TV, as Verizon is essentially an all digital system with only the local stations provided in analog.


----------



## ashutoshsm

Saying the HD is better is likely FUD or a placebo effect - Comcast (Adelphia) Loudoun does NOT rate-shape or compress the OTA-quality HD broadcasts of the locals (at least) and the cable-only (premium) channels look no worse, leading me to believe they aren't doing anything 'bad' (like HD-Lite) to those either.


This is borne out by the file sizes for recordings made on any HD channel, per my S3 HD TiVo - OTA and COmcast HD channels are always within 1% of the same size, and premiums are in the same size range as well.


I won't dispute the potentially better SD (until simulcasting kicks in for Comcast), though


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *davidwb* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> verizon fios in howard county is only showing weta and not mpt (beginning a couple of days ago), even though the new channel lineup shows both and both were being shown for a few days after the channel realignment.



And just try reporting it.







They're hopeless. I don't have your problem, because I'm a little further south, in the Washington Metro lineup. But The Tube (OTA 50-2) has been missing since the lineup change on Tuesday -- they were supposed to move it from 853 to 863, but instead, 863 is showing a duplicate of WDCA-DT (OTA 20-1, normally 805 on Fios) -- while the guide data they provide is for WDCW-DT (50-1, not 50-2). I've been through three CSRs, and none of them understood what I was talking about. Two of them didn't even believe we got a channel 863.


They also lost The Soundtrack Channel, which was supposed to move to 199. Instead, 199 is just a black screen.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Back in the fall, I bought a Polaroid LCD HDTV that I've been pretty happy with. There's only one on-going issue I've noticed which is kind of minor, but nonetheless, a bit troubling. When the DTV tuner in the set does a scan for channels, it detects the channels on their UHF frequencies and then places them in the channel list at their PSIP channel numbers. The only station that it won't do this for is WJZ-DT. It picks up a strong signal, but does not map the channel to 13-1. I can only tune it in by inputting 38-1. Does anyone else have this problem with WJZ-DT OTA either with the Polaroid tuner or another DTV tuner? Is WJZ-DT transmitting PSIP and the program info like the other stations? Any ideas on what could be causing this problem just with that station?



On the two tuners (HR10 and Sony SXRD TV) that scan for channels, I get WJZ on both 13.1 and 38.1. My other tuner (HR20) doesn't scan so I only get it on the predetermined (by DirecTV) station, 13.1.


Contact WJZ with the problem. They have a PSIP error that my tuners "forgive" but yours does not. (WBAL had a similar problem a few weeks back and my three tuners all acted differently.)


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> But The Tube (OTA 50-2) has been missing since the lineup change on Tuesday



Of course, as soon as I post this here, it's fixed. But it was out for six days. Posting to the "Verizon Direct" forum over on dslreports.com seems to have made the difference.


The Soundtrack Channel is still out.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey

Did anyone catch the beginning of Jay Leno and had the same problem with WRC-NBC4 or was it just my TV and/or STB?


Mine had a problem with the colors and then it went 4:3 for a while.


----------



## hokiefan

Is it me, or do WTTGs local commercial inserts during prime time fox programming go off the charts in terms of volume? The last couple of weeks during 24 my speakers are blaring whenever the local commercials come on.


Also, has anyone figured out if any local stations will be broadcasting the ACC tourney in HD?


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hokiefan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Also, has anyone figured out if any local stations will be broadcasting the ACC tourney in HD?



that will be MyNetwork TV 20.


----------



## riffjim4069




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Did anyone catch the beginning of Jay Leno and had the same problem with WRC-NBC4 or was it just my TV and/or STB?
> 
> 
> Mine had a problem with the colors and then it went 4:3 for a while.



Yep, I noticed the same problem...


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hokiefan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is it me, or do WTTGs local commercial inserts during prime time fox programming go off the charts in terms of volume? The last couple of weeks during 24 my speakers are blaring whenever the local commercials come on.



That's partially because 24 seems to always have its volume padded to the level of NBC's 5.1. For whatever reason







, Fox won't pad the volume of commercials and local promos.


Not that Fox's other programs have some volume divide between programs and commercials, it's just they don't have as much.









> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hokiefan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Also, has anyone figured out if any local stations will be broadcasting the ACC tourney in HD?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> that will be MyNetwork TV 20.
Click to expand...


Has it been double-super-fudge confirmed that My20 WILL carry it _in HD_, and not just SD?


----------



## ahsan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> that will be MyNetwork TV 20.



Has it been confirmed that WDCA 20 can handle syndicated HD content?


----------



## mdviewer25

The past few nights when I've tuned to 45.2 there was something on called NOYZ.tv showing music videos and a bunch of text messages on the bottom of the screen. Is this a new channel that's being tested or is it just filler material for late night?


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ahsan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Has it been confirmed that WDCA 20 can handle syndicated HD content?



Not by Raycom-Lincoln Financial sports, but I read that the big markets like DC, Atlanta, Raleigh...etc do have the capabilities. I will try to find that article and post a link.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The past few nights when I've tuned to 45.2 there was something on called NOYZ.tv showing music videos and a bunch of text messages on the bottom of the screen. Is this a new channel that's being tested or is it just filler material for late night?



It is programming on 45.2 It runs from midnight to 2AM, Monday thru Friday mornings.


Mark


----------



## pepperpot




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *riffjim4069* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yep, I noticed the same problem...



I freaked out thinking I had too many beers. Was sitting on the couch working on the laptop when I looked up Jay had two sets of hands in and out of his pockets and one set was a weird red!!! That was my last beer for the evening.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It is programming on 45.2 It runs from midnight to 2AM, Monday thru Friday mornings.
> 
> 
> Mark



went to www.noyz.com to find out more info about it. It is a 24 hour music channel that targets ages 12-29. Music videos in one box, text messages that are run on the screen in another box, and ads in a third box. So basically, it's a 24 hour version of what Total Request Live was like when it first started on MTV. Could this become a subchannel for CW54?


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> went to www.noyz.com to find out more info about it. It is a 24 hour music channel that targets ages 12-29. Music videos in one box, text messages that are run on the screen in another box, and ads in a third box. So basically, it's a 24 hour version of what Total Request Live was like when it first started on MTV. Could this become a subchannel for CW54?



As far as I've heard, there are no plans to make that a dedicated subchannel.


Mark


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey

My niece came to my house and she took a penny and scratched the heck out of my 50 inch Samsung DLP.


Would someone *PLEASE* tell me that this could be fixed, without getting a new TV. Is there are local store in Northern VA that fixes that or sells the plastic part so I can do it myself?


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> Would someone PLEASE tell me that this could be fixed, without getting a new TV.



Googling tells me you have to replace just the screen. Cost???


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> My niece came to my house and she took a penny and scratched the heck out of my 50 inch Samsung DLP.
> 
> 
> Would someone *PLEASE* tell me that this could be fixed, without getting a new TV. Is there are local store in Northern VA that fixes that or sells the plastic part so I can do it myself?



Ouch! Hope you don't have to get a new niece. You would get better answers in the Rear Projection TV forum on how and where to replace the projection screen. A phone call to Samsung should also help.


----------



## CycloneGT

Ouch. Someone posted pics of a smashed plasma once. A sad sight.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Ouch! Hope you don't have to get a new niece. You would get better answers in the Rear Projection TV forum on how and where to replace the projection screen. A phone call to Samsung should also help.



Thanks, that was one of the obvious ones that I didn't think of, calling Samsung I mean, and I wish I didn't. It will cost me $400 just to get the part to my house and in my opinion it is not worth it. Now I just have to learn to love my niece VERY VERY VERY much every time I see her.


----------



## TimGoodwin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Just a heads-up: I'm going to be working with DirecTV after 8:00 PM this evening, seeing if I can do anything here to fix the audio problem on FOX 45 (WBFF). Sorry to inconvenience everyone, but I'm going to have to go in and out of HD a couple of times. I'll probably have to do it twice.
> 
> 
> Please bear with me. I'm trying to fix this thing.
> 
> 
> Mark




Just wanted you to know that 24 was totally unwatchable this week because of all the sound problems from 45 on Directv. I know that you are working on it so I wanted to give you a heads up.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TimGoodwin* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Just wanted you to know that 24 was totally unwatchable this week because of all the sound problems from 45 on Directv. I know that you are working on it so I wanted to give you a heads up.



Thanks for the feedback. Sorry there is still a problem... The symptoms are pointing at the receiver that DirecTV is using to pick up our signal here in Baltimore. It seems to be having an issue with the 448 kbps audio data rate that FOX sends out during prime time.


Here are the clues so far:

1: Our (WBFF) audio data rate is 384 kbps, and there is less of a problem with the audio glitches during non-prime time.


2: It was suggested that I change my audio data rate to 448 kbps to match FOX's so that when the FOX splicer switches between my signal and Fox's, there wouldn't be a "pop", but when I did that there were audio break-ups during non-prime time also, so I switched it back and the problem went away again.


3: When I was here last Thursday night and was talking with a tech out at the DirecTV network operations center (NOC), he mentioned that he was getting the FOX audio at a 384 kbps data rate. At the time, I assumed that FOX had changed the rate to address the problem, but I've talked with the people at FOX, and found out that they didn't change, and they always send out the audio at 448 kbps. This is telling me that, either their receiver has a setting wrong, or (more likely) their receiver just has a problem with 448 kbps audio.


I just got that last info yesterday. The VP for Engineering of FOX was going to be getting in touch with DirecTV, so I didn't call them yesterday. If there is still a problem, I'll call them today.


Mark


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Comcast viewers face cutoff*


Sinclair may halt TV programs to cable giant tomorrow if talks fail



By Hanah Cho

Sun reporter

Originally published February 28, 2007


To collect cash for its television programming, Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. played hardball last month by pulling its stations from cable systems in the Midwest and South and sending a strong message to the industry that its payment demands are serious.


The stakes are higher for the Hunt Valley broadcaster in a fight to obtain similar fees from Comcast, the nation's largest cable operator and the biggest player in the Baltimore area.


A source familiar with the negotiations said yesterday that Sinclair is prepared to cut off its programming to Comcast systems at 2 a.m. tomorrow because talks between the two sides have stalled. Negotiations are expected to continue today.


Pulling the stations would mean viewers in the Baltimore region and elsewhere would not be able to watch popular shows such as American Idol, 24 and Gilmore Girls on their cable systems.


That's because without a deal, Sinclair could order Comcast to remove 30 network-affiliated stations - including Baltimore's WBFF-Fox 45 and WNUV-CW 54 - from cable systems that reach 3 million customers in 23 markets from Tampa, Fla., to Pittsburgh.


Denying the stations to Comcast means Sinclair could lose a lot more than it did the last time it made a similar decision, particularly advertising revenue in some key markets, industry analysts and observers say. But Sinclair is known for its unpredictable nature, so few are predicting the outcome.


"Given their scale, [Comcast has] the economics and influence," said John Blackledge, an analyst at J.P. Morgan Securities, who covers Sinclair. "It'll be interesting to see" how the negotiations turn out.


Comcast said yesterday that "it will continue to offer Sinclair's broadcast stations unless they demand that those stations be removed."


"Our first goal is to protect our customers from being charged extra for free TV," said Comcast spokeswoman Jenni Moyer.


The showdown is the latest salvo in an increasingly loud and bitter battle pitting station owners against cable operators.


Sinclair has been at the forefront of demanding cash to retransmit its stations's content, arguing that cable companies should pay for popular programming that they essentially resell to customers. Comcast, like other cable companies, traditionally have not paid retransmission fees. Cable operators maintain they should not pay for channels like NBC, ABC and Fox that are available free over the airwaves.


But CBS announced last week that nine smaller cable operators agreed to compensate the network for the right to carry its programs, including the NCAA basketball tournaments and shows such as CSI.


CBS did not say whether cash was involved or name the cable companies, but Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves has said publicly that the network would seek payments for its content.


"At the end of the day, these ... negotiations boil down to who could cause whom the most pain," said Craig Moffett, a senior analyst of U.S. cable and satellite broadcasting industry at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.


When talks over a price failed with Middletown, N.Y.-based Mediacom Communications Corp. in January, Sinclair pulled more than 20 local stations it owns from the cable operator's systems, including in Des Moines, Iowa. The impasse left 700,000 customers without popular shows such as the Simpsons and Desperate Housewives.


Nearly four weeks later and two days before the Super Bowl, Mediacom "caved in to their demands," Mediacom Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rocco B. Commisso said last week during a conference call with analysts.


Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Mediacom said it is paying to carry Sinclair's stations for the first time.


Mediacom executives said Sinclair used its leverage to hurt the cable operator: The blackout affected half of Mediacom's 1.4 million cable subscribers while affecting only 3 percent of Sinclair's viewing audience.


Both sides lose when signals are shut down. Subscribers can drop cable service, while viewers and advertisers can abandon television stations.


Mediacom said last week that it lost 7,000 basic cable customers in the final three months of 2006, during which Sinclair threatened to pull its programming. Mediacom said it lost additional subscribers when Sinclair stations were not on the air last month.

Sinclair executives said recently that what the company lost was "immaterial" compared with what it got in return from Mediacom. Sinclair said viewers would find other ways - either by using an antenna or switching to competitors - to watch its programs.


Overall, the company expects to double to $48 million this year revenue it receives from cable operators and others who pay to retransmit its television signals.


Analysts say Comcast, with some 24 million subscribers, has more leverage in its talks with Sinclair because of its size compared with Mediacom.


For one thing, the affected Sinclair stations are in markets with larger viewership such as Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Nashville, Tenn.


"My prediction is that it will not be as acrimonious as the Mediacom dispute was simply because Sinclair has much more to lose," said Matthew M. Polka, president and chief executive officer of the American Cable Association, of which Mediacom is a member. "Comcast is the largest operator in the country ... and it is a lot more highly penetrated in Sinclair markets than Mediacom."


Indeed, if Sinclair were to pull six stations off Comcast's systems - including in Baltimore and Pittsburgh - the broadcaster could lose nearly 12.5 percent of its entire viewer base, according to Moffett's research. And Sinclair would feel the pain immediately in the form of lost advertising revenue, Moffett said.


"Mediacom just isn't large enough to stand toe-to-toe with a broadcaster like Sinclair," said Moffett, the Bernstein analyst. "By the same token, Sinclair isn't large enough to stand toe-to-toe with a cable operator like Comcast."


The last time Sinclair and Comcast squared off on a similar issue was in 2005 when Sinclair sought cash for its digital signals in several markets, including Baltimore.


The dispute almost prevented cable subscribers in the Baltimore region from watching the Super Bowl on high-definition televisions they bought exclusively for that day. Two days before the Super Bowl, the sides reached an agreement.


In its latest talks with Comcast, Sinclair had extended the contract until tomorrow. Sinclair Chief Financial Officer David B. Amy said recently that the company was optimistic about reaching an amicable agreement.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business...ness-headlines


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> *Comcast viewers face cutoff*
> 
> 
> Sinclair may halt TV programs to cable giant tomorrow if talks fail
> 
> 
> 
> By Hanah Cho
> 
> Sun reporter
> 
> Originally published February 28, 2007
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "Our first goal is to protect our customers from being charged extra for free TV," said Comcast spokeswoman Jenni Moyer.
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.baltimoresun.com/business...ness-headlines



Being a Sinclair employee, I won't/can't comment on most of the article, but this statement made me snicker a bit, for a couple of reasons:


Cable rates going up again


Cable co's charging to receive our free HD broadcasts


Cheers -


Mark


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Cable co's charging to receive our free HD broadcasts



Amen brotha! Amen.


----------



## CycloneGT

I fear the day that Dish Network either disables the OTA Tuners on their boxes in markets where they provide HD:LIL, or removes the OTA tuner all together. Most of my HD viewing remains OTA at this time.


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I fear the day that Dish Network either disables the OTA Tuners on their boxes in markets where they provide HD:LIL, or removes the OTA tuner all together. Most of my HD viewing remains OTA at this time.



Same here precisely, regarding D* and with OTA's lesser shortcomings.

But couldn't we buy separate tuners and use an A/B switch or something to overcome this?


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> *Comcast viewers face cutoff*
> 
> 
> Sinclair may halt TV programs to cable giant tomorrow if talks fail
> 
> 
> 
> By Hanah Cho
> 
> Sun reporter
> 
> Originally published February 28, 2007
> 
> 
> To collect cash for its television programming, Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. played hardball last month by pulling its stations from cable systems in the Midwest and South and sending a strong message to the industry that its payment demands are serious.



Pot Meet kettle.


Both sides are just as bad...And when it's all said and done, it's really the viewer that is screwed over by both.


----------



## CycloneGT

Tell me more about how these OTA channels which don't charge me a penny are screwing me. I don't want to be putting out and not know about it.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Tell me more about how these OTA channels which don't charge me a penny are screwing me. I don't want to be putting out and not know about it.



Not everyone is in the ideal placement to receive OTA signals. There are terrain issues or other issues that make getting OTA nearly Impossible. These same problems also keep the person from getting SAT signals and their only fallback is Cable.

So they can either get cable or break out the Little Orphan Annie Radio Show.


Maybe I should have said Some viewers are being screwed.


----------



## danboot

Does anyone know if Comcast came out with the fix for the sound problems, sound cutting in and out, and have the fixed the problem with the DVR breaking shows up into segments?


----------



## HDFatom

I have checked the previous posts and was unable to find a similar situation..

One of the FIOS STB I had installed was the HD box (Moto) and I have only paid for the HD service. Since my installation of FIOS I've decided to upgrade to the DVR functionality and since there are no local drop areas for Verizon I contacted the customer service number to inquire about upgrading. They told me they can make the change from the HD service to the HD DVR service by basically flipping a switch.no exchanging of STB or anything like that. If I wanted the multi room DVR they would need to change STB. Is this accurate or was the VZ CS rep. providing incorrect information?


----------



## biker19

You got bad info - you need different hardware - it's the multi room feature for which they can flip a switch. And as you found out, none of this can be done by yourself - you'll need a tech visit at xxx cost.


----------



## mjw703




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *danboot* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Does anyone know if Comcast came out with the fix for the sound problems, sound cutting in and out, and have the fixed the problem with the DVR breaking shows up into segments?



Sort of. The digital simulcast has been turned off in Arlington on all but a few channels, so everything is back to fuzzy analog, but the recordings have stopped breaking up. So I guess in Arlington, we will never have full ADS. I had forgotten how bad those analog channels look on my tv.


----------



## ahsan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Not by Raycom-Lincoln Financial sports, but I read that the big markets like DC, Atlanta, Raleigh...etc do have the capabilities. I will try to find that article and post a link.



I just received an email from Frank Kay of Raycom Sports that WDCA 20 indeed has the capability to broadcast the ACC Tourney in HD:
*Ahsan,


We have received confirmation that WDCA will carry the entire ACC Tournament in HD from us.


Frank Kay

Director of Media Relations

Raycom Sports*


----------



## mikemikeb

Good. Now since My20HD isn't carried by many cable co. headends, let's see which cable-only people can put up their antennas and ATSC tuners the fastest!


----------



## HokieNav




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ahsan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I just received an email from Frank Kay of Raycom Sports that WDCA 20 indeed has the capability to broadcast the ACC Tourney in HD:
> *Ahsan,
> 
> 
> We have received confirmation that WDCA will carry the entire ACC Tournament in HD from us.
> 
> 
> Frank Kay
> 
> Director of Media Relations
> 
> Raycom Sports*



Hot diggety, thanks for the great news - time to watch my Hokies in HD!


LET'S GO HOKIES!!!


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ahsan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I just received an email from Frank Kay of Raycom Sports that WDCA 20 indeed has the capability to broadcast the ACC Tourney in HD:
> *Ahsan,
> 
> 
> We have received confirmation that WDCA will carry the entire ACC Tournament in HD from us.
> 
> 
> Frank Kay
> 
> Director of Media Relations
> 
> Raycom Sports*



Thanks for checking that...that beats my news which I got from an article. I am so happy to hear that, now I will be able to see VT in HD. Also, for those who care, VT is playing UVA tomorrow night on ESPN HD.


GO HOKIES.


----------



## HDFatom




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> You got bad info - you need different hardware - it's the multi room feature for which they can flip a switch. And as you found out, none of this can be done by yourself - you'll need a tech visit at xxx cost.



Thanks for the info Biker19.

Yeah, bad info and a little good luck. About 2 hours after calling VZ to "have the switch flipped" for DVR service I returned home and a VZ tech was waiting out front of my house to swap out the box, that's right 2 hours after a call to CS......

After apologizing for him having to wait and explaining the story the tech he told me he would make sure there would be no charge for the swap of boxes.









Used the new DVR last night for the first time to record Lost while I was watching the Maryland game on ESPN HD which by the way had some issues late in the game with the feed.


----------



## ahsan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *HokieNav* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hot diggety, thanks for the great news - time to watch my Hokies in HD!
> 
> 
> LET'S GO HOKIES!!!



Naw its time for some Wahoos! I'm going down to Charlottesville tonight. $ean $ingletary is gonna break some ankles tonight!


----------



## ahsan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Thanks for checking that...that beats my news which I got from an article. I am so happy to hear that, now I will be able to see VT in HD. Also, for those who care, VT is playing UVA tomorrow night on ESPN HD.
> 
> 
> GO HOKIES.



I may be mistaken but I heard that ESPN isn't bothering to bring their HD trucks to this game. Its all good for me though as I'll be there to watch my Hoos put a hurtin on them Hokies!


----------



## Red Dog

I'll celebrate the DC-20 ACC news when I actually see it.


----------



## maandrew




> Quote:
> I'll celebrate the DC-20 ACC news when I actually see it.



I agree, although I am very encouraged by the reports that we _should_ get these games in HD. I may have to consider taking off work to watch more of these games after all...


Go Hokies!


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ahsan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I may be mistaken but I heard that ESPN isn't bothering to bring their HD trucks to this game. Its all good for me though as I'll be there to watch my Hoos put a hurtin on them Hokies!



Well they keep saying ESPN HD when they mention the game, and when the game is not in HD, they don't put the HD tag next to ESPN. Plus I have seen ESPN take their truck to Charlottesville for the Duke vs UVA game. Either way, I , too, will be watching them HOkIES knock your cavs around at their own house.


Update: It looks like it is NOT in HD, HD Sports Guide .


----------



## Belcherwm

Thought I'd pluck these down here. I always have trouble finding this on Comcast's website.

 

Comcast rates.PDF 393.3427734375k . file


----------



## dg28

Great news on WDCA being able to do the ACC tournament in HD. Remember, WDCA is owned by Fox, so they share resources and hardware with FOX5. This leads me to believe they do have the necessary equipment to pull this off.


On another note, last night during Friday Night Lights on WRCDT, I noticed that the rear surrounds were active and the DD5.1 seemed to working correctly. First time in a long time I've heard DD5.1 coming from WRC.


----------



## mdviewer25

Is 'Watch Over Me' really so important that they move tonights game to little watched 66.1 WPXW? I thought all ACC games were supposed to air on My20.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

After reading all the forum entries about why WJLA won't spend the money to have the ability to show Jeopardy! and Wheel in HDTV, it makes me wish Allbritton would sell the station to someone else, better yet make the station an ABC O&O. There are stations in far smaller markets that have made the investment in the needed equipment to not only air these shows in HDTV, but have also made the switch for their local news as well.


Maybe when _Oprah_ makes the move to HDTV... The way that show is overpromoted over there.!


Of course, This is the same station that pre-empts ABC programming at times for old movies, local news shows, Oscar "specials" and the like (extra commercials at the end of _Jeopardy!_) to generate even more ad revenue.


Robert, please convince your cheap bosses at Allbritton to get with the plan, please. If this was 1965. I bet they would be fighting you to go color.


----------



## CycloneGT

It will come, just not today.


----------



## HokieNav




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ahsan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I may be mistaken but I heard that ESPN isn't bothering to bring their HD trucks to this game. Its all good for me though as I'll be there to watch my Hoos put a hurtin on them Hokies!



I'm not sure which part of that statement hurts me more...










May the best team win (and by that I mean "GO HOKIES!")


I can't believe that ESPN is going to screw us like that - 2 teams tied for first in the ACC playing the second to last game of the season, and we get nothing...


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It will come, just not today.



or tomorrow.











I love how easy people find it to spend other company's money.


----------



## Onazuka




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *maandrew* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I agree, although I am very encouraged by the reports that we _should_ get these games in HD. I may have to consider taking off work to watch more of these games after all...
> 
> 
> Go Hokies!




For the past 14 yeaars I have had a party at my house from noon until midnight to watch all 4 games, drink beer, eat pizza, play foosball, etc. Last year I "moved" my service to Oklahoma for a week so I could get the ESPN games in HD. I really didn't feel like going through that this year so I'm hoping that WWDC comes through. They already let me down by not having Star Trek Enterprise in HD so the least they can do is broadcast the ACC tournament on Friday in HD. Right now the DirecTV guide does not have the HD icon for those games.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

to raise the money for poor Joe Allbritton to move into the 21st century (perhaps another run of _Ghost_ on a Saturday evening, loaded with ads from Koons, Empire Today, and Room Store can pull in the funds needed). A third-rate company (with a lot of great news talent) in a first-rate market.. I'm sorry Robert, but we deserve better here. I hope your bosses read these forums and know many of their viewers are frustrated. I do appreciate your posting here as you can never get an answer by calling or e-mailing the station.


----------



## SJKurtzke

Just putting it out there:

Isn't WJLA becoming like a network within an affiliate--with ABC7 News, News8, and, now The Politico/.com? Plus, they're becoming the black hole of DC news, sucking up every great newscaster as soon as they become available.

Now, although it would be great for them to do an HD push like (every) ABC affiliate in higher markets, I'd much rather them spend their money on building a news organization that has begun competing with its network than spend it on getting Wheel of Fortune/Jeopardy in HD. It will be awesome when they finally go HD--but for now, I'll just flip to 9 when I need HD coverage.


----------



## SJKurtzke

Remember when WUSA had that awesome news graphics/music/opening up until the "9 News Now" change? They've apparently redone the opening to be very low-key on the graphics, but it does include lots of HD references. It basically goes over the top news stories, using very low-key music, and then goes basically says "this is 9 News Now in HD".


----------



## SJKurtzke

......._WJLA has begun zooming to 14:9_..........

It's...OK, but they're going to make changes to the graphics, half the date/time is cut off.


Edited to make the announcement seem less intesne.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> .......WJLA has begun zooming to 14:9..........
> 
> It's...OK, but they're going to make changes to the graphics, half the date/time is cut off.




We had to reset our Flexicoder this morning...and we are having issue with an exciter at the transmitter.


Stand by.......................


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> We had to reset our Flexicoder this morning...and we are having issue with an exciter at the transmitter.
> 
> 
> Stand by.......................



It's fixed.


(I actually kind of liked it better 14:9, but I knew that would spew an onslaught here had I actually said that)


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It's fixed.
> 
> 
> (I actually kind of liked it better 14:9, but I knew that would spew an onslaught here had I actually said that)



Yes it would...


----------



## RalphArch




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It's fixed.
> 
> 
> (I actually kind of liked it better 14:9, but I knew that would spew an onslaught here had I actually said that)



Frankly I am more worried about post's like your's - with its emphsis - will turn off the station personnel. Did you really need 60 point - why not purple instead of red?


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It's fixed.
> 
> 
> (I actually kind of liked it better 14:9, but I knew that would spew an onslaught here had I actually said that)



Do you walk around wearing fun house glasses so everything is stretched sideways all day long?


The WBAL stretch gives me a headache.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> MASN will not offer HD telecasts this season due in large part to channel capacity of the cable systems. The goal is for HD to come in 2008 for all Orioles and Nationals home telecasts.


 http://www.examiner.com/a-583183~MAS...ame_value.html


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> http://www.examiner.com/a-583183~MAS...ame_value.html



Ouch, that is one way to take a shot at Comcast...


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> MASN will not offer HD telecasts this season due in large part to channel capacity of the cable systems. The goal is for HD to come in 2008 for all Orioles and Nationals home telecasts.



MASN HD in 2008, more promises, we are getting used it by now. What I am hoping is these rich people, I mean the station owners, to get together and have a deal. Why can't stations exchange the HD feed so that way almost all sports game will be in HD, home or away. If MASN does eventually get the O's games in HD, and NESN does have the Red Sucks games in HD, then why can't fans of both markets enjoy both HD feeds.


Last night, HDnet had Tampa at Washington NHL game in HD. I couldn't watch that game in HD, instead I had to watch CSN's SD channel. Blackouts should be applied, but they should always give priority to HD.


Anyways, those are my two wishes, and I know that they won't get no where, but I am just throwing my two cents in.


----------



## zoyd

I wouldn't expect too much until this number grows quite a bit:

17 Percent of US Households Have High Def Capable TV Sets


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> MASN HD in 2008, more promises, we are getting used it by now. What I am hoping is these rich people, I mean the station owners, to get together and have a deal. Why can't stations exchange the HD feed so that way almost all sports game will be in HD, home or away. If MASN does eventually get the O's games in HD, and NESN does have the Red Sucks games in HD, then why can't fans of both markets enjoy both HD feeds.
> 
> 
> Last night, HDnet had Tampa at Washington NHL game in HD. I couldn't watch that game in HD, instead I had to watch CSN's SD channel. Blackouts should be applied, but they should always give priority to HD.
> 
> 
> Anyways, those are my two wishes, and I know that they won't get no where, but I am just throwing my two cents in.



Why couldnt you get CSN-HD?


----------



## Clarence




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jerwin* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Does WETA starve the audio stream for bits? Do I need a better antenna?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> WETA starves its video stream. I don't know if they do that with the audio stream, but they might.
> 
> 
> The way digital TV works, a "better" antenna won't improve the sound.
Click to expand...




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *essay* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 83.1 PBS (WETA-HD)
> 
> 83.5 ABC HD
> 
> 
> Anyone get any other unencrypted QAM channels?



Before the switch from Adelphia to Comcast a couple of months ago, all of the channels recorded as 25 MBps, except WETA, which showed up as 12.5 MBps.


The motion blocking was always noticeable on PBS HD... it looks as bad as D*










I assume it must be due to multi-casting other sub-channels, but other networks multi-cast subchannels too, right?


With the switch to Comcast, the PQ hasn't changed, but the other HD channels now are showing up as 38.8104 MBps. Except WETA-HD (Comcast channel 726) is showing up as *9.47 MBps*.










Bottom line, *WETA-HD is much worse PQ than all of the other Comcast HD channels.* It ruins great programming like SoundStage and Austin City Limits.










I used to use a DVICO OTA HDTV card with a SilverSensor OTA antenna when we lived in Herndon and it worked great. We moved out to Western Loudoun 3 years ago and we're too far from the DC OTA broadcast towers, but I've never tried QAM over cable.


If I bought a QAM card (like the DVICO FusionHDTV5 or MyHD MDP-130 ), *would the QAM feed for WETA-HD from the Comcast cable be any better than what my Motorola 6412 HD DVR is displaying?*


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zoyd* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I wouldn't expect too much until this number grows quite a bit:
> 
> 17 Percent of US Households Have High Def Capable TV Sets




"...Only one-third of adults have heard of the digital TV transition, scheduled for February 17, 2009..."


I wonder how many people will be surprised in 2009 when the analog channels go dark. 33% is pathetic.


----------



## aaronwt

The WETA OTA picture is crap compared to what it used to be a few years ago. The problem is with the broadcast not the cable company. In 2001 the picture was gorgeous from WETA, now I never want to tune in since it's so bad.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Clarence* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Before the switch from Adelphia to Comcast a couple of months ago, all of the channels recorded as 25 MBps, except WETA, which showed up as 12.5 MBps.
> 
> 
> The motion blocking was always noticeable on PBS HD... it looks as bad as D*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I assume it must be due to multi-casting other sub-channels, but other networks multi-cast subchannels too, right?
> 
> 
> With the switch to Comcast, the PQ hasn't changed, but the other HD channels now are showing up as 38.8104 MBps. Except WETA-HD (Comcast channel 726) is showing up as *9.47 MBps*.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Bottom line, *WETA-HD is much worse PQ than all of the other Comcast HD channels.* It ruins great programming like SoundStage and Austin City Limits.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I used to use a DVICO OTA HDTV card with a SilverSensor OTA antenna when we lived in Herndon and it worked great. We moved out to Western Loudoun 3 years ago and we're too far from the DC OTA broadcast towers, but I've never tried QAM over cable.
> 
> 
> If I bought a QAM card (like the DVICO FusionHDTV5 or MyHD MDP-130 ), *would the QAM feed for WETA-HD from the Comcast cable be any better than what my Motorola 6412 HD DVR is displaying?*


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> In 2001 the picture was gorgeous from WETA, now I never want to tune in since it's so bad.



Does anybody care to hazard a guess why? There's no doubt in my mind!


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> "...Only one-third of adults have heard of the digital TV transition, scheduled for February 17, 2009..."
> 
> 
> I wonder how many people will be surprised in 2009 when the analog channels go dark. 33% is pathetic.



Don't forget that most people get their TV from either cable or satellite. So those people won't be effected. Still, there should be some fun reading come conversion time.


Considering the political nature, I expect a whole lot of talking heads to flare up, and not to mention the whole "they (_insert enemy of choice here_) are trying to screw us" crowd. Especially fun will be watching the misinformation fly, as well as the complaints here from everyone who has bought a UHF only antenna, even though we have all know from day one that many channels will switch back to VHF eventually.


----------



## Clarence




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The WETA OTA picture is crap compared to what it used to be a few years ago. The problem is with the broadcast not the cable company. In 2001 the picture was gorgeous from WETA, now I never want to tune in since it's so bad.



antennaweb.org shows I'm now closer to WFPT PBS in Frederick MD.


Maybe I'd have better luck with WFPT from OTA instead of WETA via QAM. Any opinions as to whether the WPFT HD feed would be worth buying a HD card and OTA antenna for? Does WFPT broadcast 5.1 audio?

LIST OF DC AND BALTIMORE OVER-THE-AIR DIGITAL STATIONS 


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Are people watching WMPB/Baltimore or WFPT/Frederick getting some of their HD programming in DD5.1, or is it all stereo like WETA?


----------



## ashutoshsm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The WETA OTA picture is crap compared to what it used to be a few years ago. The problem is with the broadcast not the cable company. In 2001 the picture was gorgeous from WETA, now I never want to tune in since it's so bad.



Not to mention the ridiculously inaccurate guide info PBS/WETA provides Tribune (whence the TiVo S3 and the cable company seem to get it). I've given up on trying to record anything - I occasionally channel surf to WETA-HD (eitehr cable or OTA) but switch away quickly moments later because the PQ is atrocious.


----------



## bullwinklehdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zoyd* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I wouldn't expect too much until this number grows quite a bit:
> 
> 17 Percent of US Households Have High Def Capable TV Sets



There was another part of that study quoted in the Wall Street Journal that said of the 24 million HDTVs in the country, half were connected to an HD source. Of the 12 million that weren't, half (6 million sets or people, I'm not sure which) thought they were watching HDTV anyway because they had an HDTV. All you people complaining about WJLA and HD news don't equal a fraction of the number who think they are watching the news in HD.


----------



## JohnGZ28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bullwinklehdtv* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> There was another part of that study quoted in the Wall Street Journal that said of the 24 million HDTVs in the country, half were connected to an HD source. Of the 12 million that weren't, half (6 million sets or people, I'm not sure which) thought they were watching HDTV anyway because they had an HDTV. All you people complaining about WJLA and HD news don't equal a fraction of the number who think they are watching the news in HD.



I think dg28 said it best:



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> To those of you who have "switched" to WUSA news when they went HD, as Robert says, it hasn't helped their ratings one bit. If any one of us thinks that we (AVSers) represent the views of the general public when it comes to HD, then I refer you to a statement Michael made when assessing one of his employees on "The Office" a few weeks ago..."What a total lack of self-awareness..."


----------



## mrtwister

Looks like DirecTV is setting up National Geographic HD on ch. 77 -


----------



## tonyd79

You know, it is interesting. MASN went live with DirecTV and a couple of very small cable companies.


Now for HD, they are waiting for who? Comcast?


DirecTV would find space for at least live broadcasts.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Why couldnt you get CSN-HD?



Apparently talks between Verizon and Comcast over CSN HD did not end the way they wanted it to, and who suffers, the customers of course. We are still waiting for the promised CSN HD in northern VA.


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> You know, it is interesting. MASN went live with DirecTV and a couple of very small cable companies.
> 
> 
> Now for HD, they are waiting for who? Comcast?
> 
> 
> DirecTV would find space for at least live broadcasts.



It's not a space issue for Comcast. I believe it's simply MASN evaluating the cost and deciding they don't want to do HD for now and laying this at the feet of cable and satellite operators.


MASN wouldn't answer whether they were committed to doing HD for how long ? I still haven't heard them say they were willing to commit to it. Which in my opinion is a shame. No O's HD in '07


GoIrish


----------



## ahsan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Apparently talks between Verizon and Comcast over CSN HD did not end the way they wanted it to, and who suffers, the customers of course. We are still waiting for the promised CSN HD in northern VA.



I wouldn't be surprised if FIOS gets CSN-HD before Comcast Loudoun. Heh!


----------



## Ladd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The WETA OTA picture is crap compared to what it used to be a few years ago.



My lovely bride, whose interest in the quality of TV programming has her barely caring if a show is in color vs black and white (much less SD versus HD) was watching WETA's showing of the "America's Ballroom Challenge" and absolutely stunned me when she said "this is a really terrible picture"


I, of course, had been biting my tongue for weeks, barely able to watch the show because of the massive pixelization.


Trust me, WETA, if my wife says your picture is terrible, you really have a problem because this is not the opinion of some videophile dandy that you can brush off because they're a tiny percentage of your viewing audience.


----------



## zoyd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ladd* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Trust me, WETA, if my wife says your picture is terrible, you really have a problem because this is not the opinion of some videophile dandy that you can brush off because they're a tiny percentage of your viewing audience.



Please send your observations to WETA here (be polite) Maybe if they get enough feedback they will up the datarate.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Yet another SD game shown here: Maryland trashing NC State (that hurts enough typing that). Meanwhile a *tripleheader over on CBSall in 1080i HD*, , although the 3rd game, Ohio St. vs. Michigan, was breaking up at times on DirecTV. I know this is a network issue, but perhaps Robert has more information on this.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yet another SD game shown here: Maryland trashing NC State (that hurts enough typing that). Meanwhile a *tripleheader over on CBSall in 1080i HD*, , although the 3rd game, Ohio St. vs. Michigan, was breaking up at times on DirecTV. I know this is a network issue, but perhaps Robert has more information on this.



Also, just two nights after, another game of Washington Caps on HDnet and we can't watch it in HD because CSN HD has the rights to that game. Congress, the FCC, or whoever is in charge of this should have law that say you can't black out HD for SD.


It hurts to know that you can be watching 1080i only to settle for 480i.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zoyd* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Please send your observations to WETA here (be polite) Maybe if they get enough feedback they will up the datarate.



Maybe I'm being pessimistic, but I suspect that if they did that with their current multicasting situation, the PQ of the SD subchannels would be affected too much for their comfort. Maybe they care about SD PQ more than HD PQ.


I suspect that the only way that they'll up the HD bitrate is if a subchannel is deleted. They have two localized subchannels right now, which wouldn't be missed, at least by me, if both were replaced with analog programming on 26-2, and then Create could be put on 26-3. The bandwidth from 26-4 could then be applied to 26-1.


Can't they get a 5.1 encoder in there?


----------



## knnirs

Comcast Digital Cable Self-install Kit.


I commented two weeks ago that I had ordered the FREE Digital Kit for my basic Comcast cable. The kit was delivered Thursday evening, but I found it required a phone call to Comcast to activate the box, and I gave up after waiting on the phone for more than forty minutes for a connection to a technician. I called again in mid-morning Friday, and after a thirty minute hold I was connected to a technician to start the activation. The technician recorded the serial number of my box, and informed me the activitation was started and would take about forty five minutes. He said to call back if the unit was not performing after the activation time.

Sure enough the light on the box changed to red after the alloted time, and I could now determine what I had received as connected to my analog TV. I have decided that I now have a box which converts the available digital signals to analog, so that when they turn off the analog stations I can still use my analog TV. I assume that when the switch is made Comcast will provide their basic customers one of these converters, at some small fee.

The box does work, and I can now connect my TV directly to the cable input or through the digital box and receive the same cable channels. The box does offer the option to connect to channels not available without the box, but most of these require a fee.


Using this box demonstrates that Comcast is presently duplicating their analog and digital signals, which must be expensive to the company.


I have been quite happy with my digital QAM tuner for the non-encrypted digital channels, and I expect I will be returning the Digital Kit to Comcast fairly soon, even thogh it is free.


----------



## dneily




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ladd* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> My lovely bride, whose interest in the quality of TV programming has her barely caring if a show is in color vs black and white (much less SD versus HD) was watching WETA's showing of the "America's Ballroom Challenge" and absolutely stunned me when she said "this is a really terrible picture"
> 
> 
> I, of course, had been biting my tongue for weeks, barely able to watch the show because of the massive pixelization.
> 
> 
> Trust me, WETA, if my wife says your picture is terrible, you really have a problem because this is not the opinion of some videophile dandy that you can brush off because they're a tiny percentage of your viewing audience.



My wife and I watched all five segments of America's Ballroom Challenge on WETA-HD via COMCAST. We saw no pixelization. IMO, WETA's biggest problems are that they no longer carry much of the national programming, and the schedule on their website has turned to yogurt.


----------



## mdviewer25

Wizards vs. Warriors on WDCW 50 at 1:00pm Sunday. Should be in high-def on HD signal since it is a home game?????


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Wizards vs. Warriors on WDCW 50 at 1:00pm Sunday. Should be in high-def on HD signal since it is a home game?????



I always check HD sports guide usually it is accurate, this time it is listing NBA/INHD. I have watched HD Wizards games on WDCW before, so I wouldn't be surprised.


Does anyone know which carriers have NBA HD?


----------



## mikepinkerton




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Also, just two nights after, another game of Washington Caps on HDnet and we can't watch it in HD because CSN HD has the rights to that game. Congress, the FCC, or whoever is in charge of this should have law that say you can't black out HD for SD.



Last week there was a Caps game on both HDNet and CSN-HD and I was able to switch between the two on D*. Maybe they screwed up the blackout rules, but I was glad because the HDNet commentators were less annoying, and I like "Sounds of the Game".


-Mike


----------



## dg28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Wizards vs. Warriors on WDCW 50 at 1:00pm Sunday. Should be in high-def on HD signal since it is a home game?????



Should be. Keep your fingers crossed.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> Using this box demonstrates that Comcast is presently duplicating their analog and digital signals, which must be expensive to the company.



That's been known for a long time and all the other cable cos, including FIOS, do it. It's even more expensive for FIOS since they have nothing analog in their pipe, where as traditional cable cos always passed along the analog feed they got.


Imagine if this was around the time Comcast decided to turn off the analogs and everyone got one of these free install kits - the activation wait time would be days.


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Wizards vs. Warriors on WDCW 50 at 1:00pm Sunday. Should be in high-def on HD signal since it is a home game?????



Not if you're on DirecTV


----------



## djw99

Penguins - Flyers game isn't in HD. Is their a switch that needs to be activated or something? I think it's broadcast in hd.


J


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Does anyone know why DirecTV does not carry WETA and CW in HD? Or will this come when the new bird is launched, since "Doc Brown" is promising triple the HD channels?


Then again, "Karate Kid II" is on over on ABC-7 (vs. Arena Football on the network).


----------



## zoyd

Hockey game on 4 (OTA) says HD in the TVGOS menu but it's SD.


----------



## djw99




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zoyd* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hockey game on 4 (OTA) says HD in the TVGOS menu but it's SD.




Whats up with that. Doesn't make sense. Supposed to be broadcast in hd. Whats the reason for the sd?


----------



## Clarence




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zoyd* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Please send your observations to WETA here (be polite) Maybe if they get enough feedback they will up the datarate.



Done. Thanks.


----------



## zoyd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djw99* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Whats up with that. Doesn't make sense. Supposed to be broadcast in hd. Whats the reason for the sd?



Who knows, maybe tech problems. On the other hand, the wizards game is HD.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Does anyone know why DirecTV does not carry WETA and CW in HD? Or will this come when the new bird is launched, since "Doc Brown" is promising triple the HD channels?
> 
> 
> Then again, "Karate Kid II" is on over on ABC-7 (vs. Arena Football on the network).



Guess they wanted to save money and show the less costly Karate Kid II.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast SportsNet will show the Wizards game at 7:00 in HD. INHD is of course blacked out right now.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

The DirecTV listing says "HD" for Penquins/Flyers.


I am wondering if WRC is having problems - portions of Friday's telecast of "Las Vegas" were not in HD, and I have seen the "Today" show pop out of HD (usually a minute or two before the local weather insert).


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The DirecTV listing says "HD" for Penquins/Flyers.



SD on WBAL also. At least one city is getting it in HD. Probably an NBC problem.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=814689


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey

 HD Sports Guide says it should be in HD. NBC, WRC in this case, is being cheap and letting us have the HD feed.


The Wizards game is in HD on WDCW.


----------



## SJKurtzke

In response to the DirecTV thing for WDCW-HD

They said that it was up to the local affiliate to sign on to be carried in HD, and this was done on a station-by-station basis, and not, despite KTLA and WGN-HD being added, done as an agreement with the entire Tribune company. I'm going to try and contact WDCW and make sure they know this, and that there are DirecTV subs who would love to see it in HD.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> HD Sports Guide says it should be in HD. NBC, WRC in this case, is being cheap and letting us have the HD feed.
> 
> 
> The Wizards game is in HD on WDCW.



Like stated above, it looks to be a problem with a majority of NBC Stations.


----------



## JoeInNVa

Anyone know why WJLA showed Karate Kid 2 instead of Arena Football? Seems really stupid to me...But then again, it does not surprise me...


----------



## RichmondOTABaby




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Anyone know why WJLA showed Karate Kid 2 instead of Arena Football? Seems really stupid to me...But then again, it does not surprise me...



I'm sure it was cheaper. It's just sooooo easy for you to spend that poor station's money, isn't it?


----------



## aaronwt

Anyone have Comcast in Prince William? They were supposed to add NAtional Geographic HD to channel 224 on Feb. 28th but so far nothing has showed up.

It does look like DirecTV will be adding it to their channel 77.

Comcast around here must have finished upgrading their system because they are suppsoed to start offering Digital phone service and 16mbs download speeds this month. I'm hoping they also add all the HD channels that Comcast carries in other areas. And maybe they can work out a deal with HDNet so I can completely drop DirecTV soon.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RichmondOTABaby* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I'm sure it was cheaper. It's just sooooo easy for you to spend that poor station's money, isn't it?



I know, who are we to say what we want to watch. WJLA knows that we really want over a decade old movie instead of watching AFL. We are in no place to ask WJLA to spend the money we, as viewers, help generate on something interesting.


Just when you think this station can't get any cheaper, it comes back and totally redeems itself.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Anyone know why WJLA showed Karate Kid 2 instead of Arena Football? Seems really stupid to me...But then again, it does not surprise me...




We scheduled the movie 3 months ago when ABC had TBD scheduled for this weekend. Usually the first weekend after a ratings period is over becomes a dumping ground for the network. The AFL game was not scheduled to be aired in this market until mid February. By then, we had commitments to other advertisers that needed to be honored. Yes, we make more money, but we try to be sensitive to not preempting programming coming from the network, because we are only allowed a set number of preemptions a quarter.


Not a great answer, but an honest one.


----------



## Belcherwm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Anyone have Comcast in Prince William? They were supposed to add NAtional Geographic HD to channel 224 on Feb. 28th but so far nothing has showed up.



We've got it out here in Western PW. Might try powering down your box and let it reboot.


----------



## Belcherwm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Clarence* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I used to use a DVICO OTA HDTV card with a SilverSensor OTA antenna when we lived in Herndon and it worked great. We moved out to Western Loudoun 3 years ago and we're too far from the DC OTA broadcast towers, but I've never tried QAM over cable.
> 
> 
> If I bought a QAM card (like the DVICO FusionHDTV5 or MyHD MDP-130 ), *would the QAM feed for WETA-HD from the Comcast cable be any better than what my Motorola 6412 HD DVR is displaying?*



Clarence,


Don't know about QAM, but maybe trying for OTA with an attic or roof mount antenna would work for you.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Belcherwm* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> We've got it out here in Western PW. Might try powering down your box and let it reboot.



I'll give it a try William. Thanks.


----------



## Clarence




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Belcherwm* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Quote:
> If I bought a QAM card (like the DVICO FusionHDTV5 or MyHD MDP-130), would the QAM feed for WETA-HD from the Comcast cable be any better than what my Motorola 6412 HD DVR is displaying?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Don't know about QAM, but maybe trying for OTA with an attic or roof mount antenna would work for you.
Click to expand...


Sounds like it wouldn't matter how good my antenna is, the WETA-HD output has low broadcast datarate bandwidth even if I was sitting in the shadow of the tower.


I might get an external USB HD card and try WETA-HD OTA on my laptop next time I go downtown.


And then I'll try WFPT PBS in Frederick MD.


Can anybody in Frederick let me know if WFPT is even worth trying to get? Is it 5.1? The PQ can't be any worse than WETA.


----------



## CycloneGT

WFPT-DT is identical to WMPT. They do have DD5.1, but I'm not sure how often they use it. (My old sony AV receiver used to have big blue light that lit up whenever it was decoding DD5.1. My current Yamaha, just lights up a few small "surround speaker" indicators which are near impossible to see from my sitting position).


I will say that I think that WFPT-DT's tower is a directional antenna. Meaning that it points its signal in a specific direction. The antenna itself if located right behind a weight station on Southbound I-270 just after the RT-109 exit. So its aims North and West for its signal. I am about 7 miles directly south of that tower, and my signal is no stronger than it is for towers that are 30 miles away. So I do not know how good your reception will be in No.Va. Hopefully some others in your area can testify on this.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GoIrish* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It's not a space issue for Comcast. I believe it's simply MASN evaluating the cost and deciding they don't want to do HD for now and laying this at the feet of cable and satellite operators.
> 
> 
> MASN wouldn't answer whether they were committed to doing HD for how long ? I still haven't heard them say they were willing to commit to it. Which in my opinion is a shame. No O's HD in '07
> 
> 
> GoIrish



Maybe. That is what MASN is saying but then again, I was asking why. It doesn't add up to me either.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*A Comcast-Sinclair cash deal would set a major precedent*


Contract extended to March 10; experts predict cable operator will pay

By Hanah Cho

Sun reporter

Originally published March 2, 2007


Some analysts say any deal between Sinclair Broadcast Group and Comcast Corp. to carry networks such as Fox on Comcast's cable systems would likely include cash payments for the television programming in what would mark a major precedent in this growing industry battle over fees.


Comcast, the nation's largest cable operator, and Hunt Valley-based Sinclair, one of the country's largest television station owners, extended yesterday their current contract hours before it was set to expire. The March 10 deadline allows Comcast to continue carrying popular shows such as American Idol in the Baltimore region and elsewhere while the two continue negotiations on a new deal.


Both companies said they are having "productive discussions," even though Sinclair had threatened to pull its stations from Comcast's lineup before the extension was granted early yesterday.


Philadelphia-based Comcast maintains it will not pay for programming that is available for free over the airwaves because it would mean higher rates for its customers. In turn, Sinclair has not backed away from its subscriber fee demands.


But analysts say a payment seems inevitable, considering the recent shift toward cash in such deals.


"Comcast is going to end up paying Sinclair some cash," said Marci Ryvicker, a senior analyst at Wachovia Capital Markets, who covers Sinclair. In doing so, Ryvicker said, Comcast would "set the precedent and open the gate for the rest of the industry" in establishing retransmission payments as the norm.


Barry M. Faber, Sinclair's vice president and general counsel, said yesterday that he was optimistic the two companies would strike a "mutually acceptable economic arrangement." But he declined to elaborate on those terms.


"We were able to find creative ways to bridge the gaps that existed between us," Faber said. "Based on the things we've been able to agree on, I'm confident that we will be able to put in place a long-term deal prior to the end of the extension."


Comcast agreed but insisted its position remains the same.


"We continue to pursue our priority to protect our customers from having to pay cash for retransmission consent," said spokeswoman Jenni Moyer.



30 stations involved

The dispute between the two companies involves 30 network-affiliated stations - including Baltimore's WBFF-Fox 45 and WNUV-CW 54 - from cable systems that reach 3.4 million customers in 23 markets from Tampa, Fla., to Pittsburgh to Flint, Mich.


For decades, cable providers picked up local broadcast signals without paying cash. In exchange, cable operators compensated broadcasters in other ways. For instance, cable operators agreed to pay to carry NBC Universal's new channels such as MSNBC while retransmitting NBC stations for free. Companies such as Sinclair typically received advertising slots and better channel locations on cable systems for the free signals.


"The cable operators felt that was fair because at least they were getting some benefit for their customers in the process," said Steve Effros, a Washington-based cable industry analyst and consultant. "Now, the Sinclairs of the world are saying, 'We don't care about giving you anymore benefits.'"



Sinclair takes lead

Sinclair has been at the forefront of this growing industrywide battle. The company expects to double to $48 million this year the revenue it receives from cable operators and others who pay to retransmit its television signals.


Last month, it secured a cash deal from Mediacom Communications Corp. after pulling for almost four weeks more than 20 stations it owns in the Midwest and South from Mediacom's cable system.


In January, Sinclair cut a "mutually acceptable economic" agreement with Time Warner Cable, the nation's second-largest cable operator, for Sinclair's 35 stations. Terms weren't disclosed, but analysts estimate that the deal involved some cash.


Besides Sinclair, other station owners are looking for compensation, including CBS. Network Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves has said publicly that it would seek payments for its content.


With more cable operators giving in, analysts say the fight might not be about whether to pay or not, but about a price.



'How much'?

"[Comcast] may not be adverse to paying something," said Craig E. Moffett, a senior analyst of U.S. cable and satellite broadcasting at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. "What really matters is how much cash for retransmission. More important is how much relative to what their competitors are paying."


The prospect of not being able to watch Fox had left some Comcast subscribers on edge.


Without Sinclair's WBFF-Fox-45, Carl and Lora Hobbs of Mount Airy could not watch their favorite show, 24. They were prepared to use an old-fashioned antenna to pick up the station's signal, but they won't need it for at least a little while longer.


While pleased with the extension, Carl Hobbs said he believes customers are getting stuck in the middle of a fight between two corporate heavyweights.


"We'll have to deal with the consequences," he said. "It'll be where I have to use my antenna, or my [cable] price goes up. It's lose-lose for the customer."

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business...ness-headlines


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Clarence* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> And then I'll try WFPT PBS in Frederick MD.
> 
> 
> Can anybody in Frederick let me know if WFPT is even worth trying to get? Is it 5.1? The PQ can't be any worse than WETA.



I get WFPT-DT 62 (DT=28) from the north end of Sterling, VA just fine. The broadcast tower is 15 miles from me. The station is digitally broadcasting at 30 kW for UHF 28, so it is not that powerful a signal. The broadcast pattern shown on the FCC database for WFPT is not directional. See http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=40626 . Check the "Service Contour Map (41 dBu)" link under the DT 28 entry to see the reception map for the station.


If you are in northern or eastern Loudoun county or northern end of Fairfax county, you have a good shot at getting WFPT-DT 62.


As for the picture quality, one has to be careful in deciding whether MPT is any better than WETA because much of the "HD" programming material on PBS is upconverted wide screen 480i/p SD. There is no doubt that the 26-1 HD sub-channel for WETA is very soft with all the SD sub-channels they have on all day long now. But MPT looks soft to me as well. Just no wow, HD! to either channel anymore. I should compare WFPT OTA, MPT via Verizon Fios (not sure which MPT station they are getting their HD signal from), and WETA when WETA and MPT are showing the same true HD programming.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> We scheduled the movie 3 months ago when ABC had TBD scheduled for this weekend. Usually the first weekend after a ratings period is over becomes a dumping ground for the network. The AFL game was not scheduled to be aired in this market until mid February. By then, we had commitments to other advertisers that needed to be honored. Yes, we make more money, but we try to be sensitive to not preempting programming coming from the network, because we are only allowed a set number of preemptions a quarter.
> 
> 
> Not a great answer, but an honest one.




So basically it was a money saving move...One where you put the interests of the Advertisers above those of the viewers...


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So basically it was a money saving move...One where you put the interests of the Advertisers above those of the viewers...



Well... it is the advertisers that pay for the light bill over there...


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Well... it is the advertisers that pay for the light bill over there...



And without the viewers, how much do you think advertisers would pay?


----------



## derwin0

With the ACC Tournament starting on Thursday, I wonder if one of the covering affiliates (WDCA, WHAG, & WNUV) will be broadcasting the games in HD, especially since ESPN2-HD will be blacked out.


----------



## Belcherwm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So basically it was a money saving move...One where you put the interests of the Advertisers above those of the viewers...



Boy, that gave me a chuckle.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> And without the viewers, how much do you think advertisers would pay?



Works both ways...  Your point was made...


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *derwin0* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> With the ACC Tournament starting on Thursday, I wonder if one of the covering affiliates (WDCA, WHAG, & WNUV) will be broadcasting the games in HD, especially since ESPN2-HD will be blacked out.



It was discussed here before, a couple of days ago. A member from this forum contacted WDCA 20 and was told that MyNet20 will be having the games in HD.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ahsan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I just received an email from Frank Kay of Raycom Sports that WDCA 20 indeed has the capability to broadcast the ACC Tourney in HD:
> 
> 
> Ahsan,
> 
> 
> We have received confirmation that WDCA will carry the entire ACC Tournament in HD from us.
> 
> 
> Frank Kay
> 
> Director of Media Relations
> 
> Raycom Sports


----------



## Belcherwm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *derwin0* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> With the ACC Tournament starting on Thursday, I wonder if one of the covering affiliates (WDCA, WHAG, & WNUV) will be broadcasting the games in HD, especially since ESPN2-HD will be blacked out.



Try a little search on the thread. Post# 723


----------



## derwin0




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Belcherwm* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Try a little search on the thread. Post# 723



Unfortunately that's only WDCA. I can only receive WNUV reliably, and WHAG occasionaly. Blasted off an email to WNUV, so hopefully they will supply an answer.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *derwin0* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Unfortunately that's only WDCA. I can only receive WNUV reliably, and WHAG occasionaly. Blasted off an email to WNUV, so hopefully they will supply an answer.



WHAG-DT is still at low power and SD only, as far as I know. Unless WHAG has added HD to their weak digital broadcast signal, they won't be carrying the ACC Tournament in HD.


The head station engineer for WNUV posts here, so he can provide a reliable answer for WNUV-DT 54 status for the ACC broadcasts.


----------



## zebras23

Is there any particular reason that Comcast hasn't added MY20 in HD? I thought there were must carry provisions. I may have to go out and buy an HDTV for the upstairs that has an OTA tuner so I can watch the ACC this weekend (fortuantely the wife is an UNC alumni and I've been looking for a reason to add a 2nd HDTV).


----------



## HokieNav




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So basically it was a money saving move...One where you put the interests of the Advertisers above those of the viewers...



You missed this key phrase:


"By then, we had commitments to other advertisers that needed to be honored."


You make it sound like a choice they made. Once a contract is inked, it needs to be adhered to.


I don't understand all the WJLA hate around here (maybe I'm too new). I don't watch their news (I grew up watching back in the days of WDVM and Glenn Brenner and old habits die hard), but can't see where they're any different than any other station (other than the fact that Robert is kind enough to grace us with his presence).


I'd be willing to bet that the story is the same at just about every other TV station in town.


(on a more content related note, my CM 4221 is set for delivery tomorrow - getting the ACC tourney in HD finally put me over the fence on buying one)


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WHAG-DT is still at low power and SD only, as far as I know. Unless WHAG has added HD to their weak digital broadcast signal, they won't be carrying the ACC Tournament in HD.
> 
> 
> The head station engineer for WNUV posts here, so he can provide a reliable answer for WNUV-DT 54 status for the ACC broadcasts.



Hi guys -


I'm 95% certain that we will have the ACC tournament in HD on WNUV. I've got all of the equipment in and tested, I've got the equipment programmed and tested. I have two things that I still need to test, but I won't be able to test these until Wednesday afternoon.


Mark


----------



## SJKurtzke

WDCW in HD on DirecTV by Jan 08 at latest, probably sooner:

Received this email from 50:


Thank you for contacting us! DirecTV was able to get some of the stations

on HD DirecTV this year. All Tribune stations will be on HD DirecTV by next

January. We are hoping it happens sooner.


Please feel free to check back for an update in a few months.


Sincerely,

Tanya Pavluchuk

Programming


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It is pretty, or well it used to before they applied the talent-demanded softening filters). But it has NOT helped them the SLIGHEST bit over the past year the ONLY place where it counts...revenue and ratings. In the last ratings book, their news finished 4th and 5th in most time periods.



Maybe it doesn't work for WUSA, but in Dallas apparently...
*
http://www.tvpredictions.com/wfaa030307.htm *

*Does HDTV Boost Local News Ratings?*

A Dallas station says the switch to high-def news made a big difference in February.

By Phillip Swann


Washington, D.C. (March 3, 2007) -- WFAA-TV's 10 p.m. newscast in Dallas-Fort Worth got the highest ratings for its time period in February for the first time in more than five years.


Why?


Could be High-Definition TV, says Dave Muscari, the station's vice president. WFAA-TV, the ABC affiliate in the Dallas area, began broadcasting its news programs in high-def on February 2.


Muscari calls the switch to high-def news a big reason for the improved ratings for the 10 p.m. newscast. However, he adds there are always many factors involved when a station's ratings rise.


"It's been a busy 60 days," Muscari tells the Dallas Morning News. "We've launched a lot of things in a short period of time. And so, if you said, what's the one major factor in this, I think it's a combination of a lot of things."


WFAA's 10 p.m. newscast had a 8.7 household rating in February, says the newspaper. KXAS, channel 5 in Dallas, finished second with a 8.2 rating.


----------



## URFloorMatt

Gah. And here I am bitching about WJLA. Looks like the color is blown out AGAIN on WRC.


I hate them so much.


----------



## zoyd

ugh, what is that, it looks awful.


----------



## lax01

WTF? NBC GET YOUR CRAP TOGETHER


This is your highest rated show! FIX THIS NOW


----------



## DCDeac

Wow. Thought it was my TV for a second. Looks awful. Bleeeechhhhhh.


----------



## waitingtobuy

It's like they want us to watch it wearing 3d glasses or something with all the red and blue separation, this is horrible.


----------



## lax01

so freaking annoying....this is ridiculous


----------



## afiggatt

The tri-color spread on WRC 4 is bizarre. The picture for WBAL-DT 11 in Baltimore is not doing this, so this problem is with WRC. But I'm getting dropouts for WBAL-DT, as I sometimes do, so that is not a viable option at the moment. Argh!


----------



## URFloorMatt

HD feed just dropped completely.


----------



## waitingtobuy

Even the weird colors were better than no HD and no Dolby Digital.


----------



## lax01

*bangs head on table*


----------



## lax01

back to HD


----------



## mikepinkerton

LOL, I love this thread


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The tri-color spread on WRC 4 is bizarre. The picture for WBAL-DT 11 in Baltimore is not doing this, so this problem is with WRC. But I'm getting dropouts for WBAL-DT, as I sometimes do, so that is not a viable option at the moment. Argh!



Glad I have a backup from DirecTV and the NewYork HD feed for NBC. I was afraid I was having some kind of HDMI problem until I realized the picture looked the same from Comcast as from OTA. So I watched the NY feed for most of the show.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *HokieNav* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> You missed this key phrase:
> 
> 
> "By then, we had commitments to other advertisers that needed to be honored."
> 
> 
> You make it sound like a choice they made. Once a contract is inked, it needs to be adhered to.



Actually, they could move things around or offer them points somewhere else...


----------



## derwin0

Dear Mr. XXXXX,


We have just gotten in our HD equipment in-house and installed. We have

one more test to run to see if we can show the games in HD. We have

been

working very hard all season to try to make this happen, but until

Raycom sends a test on Wednesday afternoon, we will not know for sure

that everything is set up correctly for the tournament. Hang in

there...

we are working as best we can to make the ACC tournament viewable in

HD.


Thanks for your question!

Sincerely,

Lisa Lupis

Program Director / Webmaster

WBFF / WNUV

Baltimore, MD


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *derwin0* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Dear Mr. XXXXX,
> 
> 
> We have just gotten in our HD equipment in-house and installed. We have
> 
> one more test to run to see if we can show the games in HD. We have
> 
> been
> 
> working very hard all season to try to make this happen, but until
> 
> Raycom sends a test on Wednesday afternoon, we will not know for sure
> 
> that everything is set up correctly for the tournament. Hang in
> 
> there...
> 
> we are working as best we can to make the ACC tournament viewable in
> 
> HD.
> 
> 
> Thanks for your question!
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Lisa Lupis
> 
> Program Director / Webmaster
> 
> WBFF / WNUV
> 
> Baltimore, MD



She forgot to write that the WNUV chief engineer is a very smart guy, and that she's sure that he will be able to get it going in time for the ACC tournament.


Oh well...


Mark


----------



## derwin0




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> She forgot to write that the WNUV chief engineer is a very smart guy, and that she's sure that he will be able to get it going in time for the ACC tournament.
> 
> 
> Oh well...
> 
> 
> Mark



hahaha, a little self promotion?









Either way, thanks for getting it going for us Southern York Countians.


----------



## PGHammer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Comcast Digital Cable Self-install Kit.
> 
> 
> I commented two weeks ago that I had ordered the FREE Digital Kit for my basic Comcast cable. The kit was delivered Thursday evening, but I found it required a phone call to Comcast to activate the box, and I gave up after waiting on the phone for more than forty minutes for a connection to a technician. I called again in mid-morning Friday, and after a thirty minute hold I was connected to a technician to start the activation. The technician recorded the serial number of my box, and informed me the activitation was started and would take about forty five minutes. He said to call back if the unit was not performing after the activation time.
> 
> 
> Using this box demonstrates that Comcast is presently duplicating their analog and digital signals, which must be expensive to the company.
> 
> 
> I have been quite happy with my digital QAM tuner for the non-encrypted digital channels, and I expect I will be returning the Digital Kit to Comcast fairly soon, even thogh it is free.



I have both a digital STB (connected to a non-cable-ready TV in one bedroom) and a QAM-equipped HDTV (my 42" Philips plasma in my bedroom) and, in practically every case (the only exception so far involves MHz Networks), digital is kicking analog's butt (where the same material is available both ways), and naturally, the QAM-powered plasma shows this best of all (as the plasma is the only TV showing both the analog *and* DS versions of the signal). In fact, CNN Digital is the most obvious of the butt-kickers, and it's not that the analog picture is bad; it's just that the digital picture is (for whatever reason) so much *better*.


However, the reason for the duplication is the large number of cable-ready (but analog) TVs in their customer footprint; a lot of these customers have zero interest in digital cable for *any* reason; hence, until the drop-dead date, they have to duplicate the carriage. (If said customers are a large enough block, they will have to maintain the duplicate coverage for a large portion of the foreseeable future; there has been some talk by those not wanting to use any sort of STB, even a subsidized or free one, of requiring just that.)


----------



## PGHammer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RichmondOTABaby* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I, too, exclusively watch WUSA news because it is in HD.



Same here (no offense, Robert). I'm the only person in the house that owns an HD-equipped TV (and I had a PC with an OTA HD tuner before that). The fact that WUSA-DT now broadcasts *all* their local news in HD (and, to be quite honest, the 1080i feed absolutely kicks the fecal matter out of the analog 480i feed; yes I compare them heads-up, and I get both over Comcast in addition to OTA, so I'm comparing apples to apples) is why.


It can't simply be *age*; otherwise, how does J. C. Hayward look as good as she does compared to her longtime buddies Andrea Roane and Maureen Bunyan (Maureen is now at WJLA). However, I can understand not only Robert's position, but even that of Joe Albritton. The shame *should* be primarily reserved for WTTG-DT and WRC-DT, as both are not mere affiliates, but network-owned (and in WRC-DT's case, they are owned by that rather large lightbulb company) and neither does their local news in HD, either.


----------



## dg28

ACC Tournament in HD: http:/ www.raycomsports.com/07ACC-HD.pdf Note the "official" HD affiliates list does not yet include Baltimore, but thank goodness we have Mark around for the inside information.


----------



## PGHammer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> A few months ago, I asked four questions about WJLA and WUSA in that sort of regard. With an FCC-released document ( Excel version ) ( pdf version ), I have the answer to three of the questions.
> 
> 
> (By the way, there's no note of call signs in the document, but search the document for "washington", and there's "references" to both channels 7 and 9 there.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> )
> 
> 
> Short version:
> 
> 
> * WUSA and WJLA will both broadcast at 254 meters above average terrain. This is the tallest tower location in town, at least in terms of HAAT, and higher than their current analog location.
> 
> * WUSA will broadcast at 17,000 watts
> 
> * WJLA will broadcast at 15,000 watts
> 
> 
> I don't know if either will have a directional array, because I don't know where I can go to get info on an "Antenna ID" number. WUSA has 74506, and WJLA has 74539. I suspect that means that the two won't share the same antenna, though I may be wrong.
> 
> 
> Mr. Johnson, I don't know if you'll get WUSA, let alone WJLA, but I do know that they'll have a good clean feeling in their power bills.



They share tower space (to the physical right of WUSA-TV/DT's studios, from the sidewalk that goes past it), but not antenna space (which makes sense, as they are not owned by the same company; WUSA is owned by Gannett, while WJLA is owned by Albritton Communications). I have no idea if either station actually owns the tower.


A surprising fact: the WUSA-TV/DT studios are directly across Wisconsin Avenue from the Tenleytown-American University subway station (Robert, does WJLA-TV/DT still occupy the building catercorner to the tower on Tilden Street, or did they follow the studios to Rosslyn, VA?).


----------



## zoyd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PGHammer* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Same here (no offense, Robert). I'm the only person in the house that owns an HD-equipped TV (and I had a PC with an OTA HD tuner before that). The fact that WUSA-DT now broadcasts *all* their local news in HD (and, to be quite honest, the 1080i feed absolutely kicks the fecal matter out of the analog 480i feed; yes I compare them heads-up, and I get both over Comcast in addition to OTA, so I'm comparing apples to apples) is why.



I haven't watched local news in years, until I got my HD plasma, now I watch WUSA pretty much every night.


----------



## MikeStJ

In recent weeks I've been having problems receiving both Channel 4 and Channel 11 - both of which were rock solid prior to this point. About 3-4 weeks ago, channel 11 became marginal - signal bouncing in and out. Now channel 11 is mostly fine, but channel 4 is showing breakups, pixilation, bouncing signal levels - and its driving my series 3 tivo to distraction.


I thought perhaps my in-line amp had started to pack up, so I just swapped it out. Still the same problems. I had thought about things like multipath, but everything else being broadcast from the same place as channel 4 is rock solid.


I'm in Germantown near the intersection of 118 and Richter Farm Rd. Anyone else seeing a similar pattern of disruption?


----------



## dg28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MikeStJ* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> In recent weeks I've been having problems receiving both Channel 4 and Channel 11 - both of which were rock solid prior to this point. About 3-4 weeks ago, channel 11 became marginal - signal bouncing in and out. Now channel 11 is mostly fine, but channel 4 is showing breakups, pixilation, bouncing signal levels - and its driving my series 3 tivo to distraction.
> 
> 
> I thought perhaps my in-line amp had started to pack up, so I just swapped it out. Still the same problems. I had thought about things like multipath, but everything else being broadcast from the same place as channel 4 is rock solid.
> 
> 
> I'm in Germantown near the intersection of 118 and Richter Farm Rd. Anyone else seeing a similar pattern of disruption?



I live very near you and haven't had any problems with channel 4. I've never been able to get 11 in consistently with my attic antenna so I can't offer you much there.


----------



## CycloneGT

I live only about a mile from you. I used to have NBC problems as well until I went with an outdoor antenna. They just seem to have reception issues. What is your antenna situation?


----------



## dt_dc

Cox Fairfax granted Petition for Determination of Effective Competition by FCC.

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_publi...A-07-944A1.pdf 
http://www.cedmagazine.com/article/CA6421942.html 


In a nutshell ... with this ruling ... the local franchise authority can no longer regulate Cox Fairfax's (basic) cable rates, equipment prices, and so forth. It also exempts them from certain other pricing regulations (like the tier buy-through prohibition).


----------



## rustycruiser

Glad to see the franchise approval. The Verizon trucks have been stringing the fiberoptic cable for the last two weeks on the road by my house. I can't wait for the 2Mbps up speed internet (torrent junkie).


I seem to remember reading that Comcast raised the internet from 384 kbps to 768 kbps in areas where Fios has gone live to try retain customers? Can anyone confirm this?


http://www.sys-con.com/read/345500.htm 


Baltimore County Residents to See More Choice, Competition as Verizon Obtains Cable Franchise

County Council Approves Franchise Covering 312,000 Households; Verizon Will Begin Rolling Out FiOS TV Mid-Year


By: PR Newswire

Mar. 6, 2007 01:49 PM

Digg This!



TOWSON, Md., March 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Residents of Baltimore County are a major step closer to having some long-awaited choice for their cable television services, thanks to a vote by the County Council Monday night (March 5) authorizing Verizon to offer its fiber-optic-powered FiOS TV.


The cable franchise covers approximately 312,000 households in Baltimore County. Verizon plans to begin offering FiOS TV by mid-year to parts of the Owings Mill, Cockeysville and Reisterstown areas.


Verizon is providing FiOS services on the nation's most advanced digital, all-fiber-optic network. Only Verizon's FiOS network has earned the certification of the independent Fiber to the Home Council for providing fiber all the way to customers' homes.


"This agreement represents great progress for Baltimore County consumers who are eager for a true competitive choice in video service providers," said William R. Roberts, president of Verizon Maryland. "FiOS TV offers an innovative, reliable and competitive alternative to the incumbent cable provider - powered by our lightning-fast fiber-optic network.


"Maryland residents are saying 'yes' to FiOS TV and FiOS Internet services in rapidly growing numbers, and we're eager for Baltimore County consumers to join the FiOS family."


Baltimore County joins numerous other Maryland jurisdictions that have awarded franchises to Verizon, including Anne Arundel, Howard, Montgomery and Prince George's counties and more than 30 independent municipalities. These franchises cover approximately 1.2 million households.


More than 291,000 households in 12 of these jurisdictions now can order FiOS TV, and that number is growing rapidly.


In addition to Maryland, Verizon currently offers FiOS TV in parts of nine other states: California, Delaware, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia.


FiOS TV offers a broad collection of all-digital programming, 20 or more high-definition channels, 8,600 video-on-demand titles and more. It is delivered over Verizon's fiber-to-the-premises network, which has industry- leading quality and reliability. Fiber delivers amazingly sharp pictures and sound, and has the capacity to transmit a wide array of high-definition programming that is so clear and intense it seems to leap from the TV screen.


In addition to FiOS TV, Verizon's fiber network also allows the company to offer consumers and businesses crystal-clear voice service and high-speed FiOS Internet Service at download speeds of up to 30 Mbps (megabits per second) and upload speeds up to 5 Mbps.* FiOS Internet Service currently is available to many consumers and small businesses in the Owings Mill area of Baltimore County.


* NOTE: actual (throughput) speeds will vary.


----------



## chrisherbert

Has anyone heard an update about Arlington getting digital simulcast again? My analog reception is extremly poor, to the point where I don't even get about 1/3 of the channels below 100. Techs have come out but can't do anything about it. A return to ADS is my only hope!


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> She forgot to write that the WNUV chief engineer is a very smart guy, and that she's sure that he will be able to get it going in time for the ACC tournament.
> 
> 
> Oh well...
> 
> 
> Mark



Hey, Mr Smart Guy Chief Engineer!
























The CW sitcoms on WNUV were in glorious 4:3 this weekend. With very stylish gray bars on the sides, of course. What up wid dat?


Hope it is back by the next Smallville.


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PGHammer* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The shame *should* be primarily reserved for WTTG-DT and WRC-DT, as both are not mere affiliates, but network-owned (and in WRC-DT's case, they are owned by that rather large lightbulb company) and neither does their local news in HD, either.



Oh, but they will..


NBC 4 has said that they would be upgrading sometimes in 2007, as part of a corporate mandate to upgrade the O&Os to HD. (The same goes for CBS 13 in Baltimore, although maybe not in the same timeframe)

FOX 5 has put in an equipment order for an ALL-HD newscast, and, judging by the looks of some of the shots, have installed most of it.


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PGHammer* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It can't simply be *age*; otherwise, how does J. C. Hayward look as good as she does compared to her longtime buddies Andrea Roane and Maureen Bunyan (Maureen is now at WJLA).



JC Hayward....

She's a great newscaster, and I'm sure a great person, but she _has_ become the laughingstock of my HD viewing. She doesn't seem to have aged as gracefully as the other two (although one is still hiding behind (I want to say, composite?) SD.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

"Home Team" will be tonight's ABC-7 pre-emption, making four in the last ten days. Will that be enough money raised in extra local ad dollars to purchase the needed HD equipment down in Rosslyn or is the money just going into someone's pocket?


Robert - what is the explanation for tonight from Albritton (and I appreciate the response back to the forum about why the Arena game and NBA pre-game were not shown vs. a bad 1980s movie sequel)? It looks as though the "Videos" show is a repeat, but the constant pre-emptions don't make WJLA look good.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hey, Mr Smart Guy Chief Engineer!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The CW sitcoms on WNUV were in glorious 4:3 this weekend. With very stylish gray bars on the sides, of course. What up wid dat?
> 
> 
> Hope it is back by the next Smallville.



Hey! I like those grey bars!


Anyhow - unless someone changed it and didn't tell me, CW has never supplied HD signals on the weekend. Hence, I am unable to supply them to you.


If that changes, it's pretty easy for me to change that though.


Mark


----------



## MikeStJ




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> What is your antenna situation?



I've got a pair of fairly large Yagi's in the attic - one pointed at DC, the other at Baltimore. Since the Yagis have pretty good side and back rejection, a simple splitter/combiner has worked pretty well for me over the years.


Both channel 4 and 11 seem to be coming in fine today. With luck murphy's gremlins have moved on from my house.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MikeStJ* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> In recent weeks I've been having problems receiving both Channel 4 and Channel 11 .... showing breakups, pixilation, bouncing signal levels - and its driving my series 3 tivo to distraction. ... Anyone else seeing a similar pattern of disruption?



I've had very similar issues with WRC (don't have enough signal for WBAL reception) for a while now.


WRC broadcasts on channel 48. while WBAL broadcasts on 59. These higher UHF frequencies are more susceptible to multipath-related dropouts, especially in heavier wind conditions, like those that we've been having recently, but not today, at least as much as it was.


----------



## ashutoshsm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MikeStJ* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I've got a pair of fairly large Yagi's in the attic - one pointed at DC, the other at Baltimore. Since the Yagis have pretty good side and back rejection, a simple splitter/combiner has worked pretty well for me over the years.
> 
> 
> Both channel 4 and 11 seem to be coming in fine today. With luck murphy's gremlins have moved on from my house.



'at 'would be Murphy's Leprechauns. Don't get your stories confused










I'm considering combining a new outdoor antenna from RadioShack (15-2187 - it's a something-else-quite-good clone - some ADX1000) through a combiner with my indoor Silver Sensor for more rock-solid reception on those windy/snowy days. Good idea, or bad, folks?


In Ashburn., 20+ miles LineOfSight to Tenleytown, way more to Baltimore!


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hey! I like those grey bars!
> 
> 
> Anyhow - unless someone changed it and didn't tell me, CW has never supplied HD signals on the weekend. Hence, I am unable to supply them to you.
> 
> 
> If that changes, it's pretty easy for me to change that though.
> 
> 
> Mark



You should check your sister station WDCW-DT 50 on Sunday. They play CW programs in HD on Sunday afternoon from 4 to 7 or 8 PM, IIRC. Mostly repeats of the sitcoms, from what I have noticed. I'm pretty sure this is a CW network feed that is available to affiliates. Didn't WB used to do this or was it UPN?


BTW, I've been meaning to get back to you on the closed captioning problem with WNUV-DT. I see CCs for some of the local programming, but neither of my ATSC receivers (Samsung SIR-T451, Sony HDD250 DVR) show CC for the prime time CW network programming. The CCs are there for the same programs on WDCW-DT 50. But I have not checked recently to see if this has changed.


----------



## chefklc

Is WDCW showing up as encrypted via QAM for anyone else with Comcast in Arlington?


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hey! I like those grey bars!
> 
> 
> Anyhow - unless someone changed it and didn't tell me, CW has never supplied HD signals on the weekend. Hence, I am unable to supply them to you.
> 
> 
> If that changes, it's pretty easy for me to change that though.
> 
> 
> Mark



My mind must be going. I was sure I've seen the CW sitcoms in HD on the weekend before.


Maybe something clicks automatically?


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> My mind must be going. I was sure I've seen the CW sitcoms in HD on the weekend before.
> 
> 
> Maybe something clicks automatically?



I am not sure what people watch on the CW, nothing really interesting ever on that channel, except for Wizards and Caps games.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I am not sure what people watch on the CW, nothing really interesting ever on that channel, except for Wizards and Caps games.



Smallville.


----------



## derwin0




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Smallville.



and Supernatural


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I am not sure what people watch on the CW, nothing really interesting ever on that channel, except for Wizards and Caps games.



Veronica Mars

Gilmore Girls

Supernatural

Everybody Hates Chris


I watch more on The CW than I do on FOX, but maybe that's just me











---------

And, yes, The CW supplies thier Easy-View block in HD on Sunday from 5-7 PM. (It's actually kind of scary that hardly anyone knew that, The WB did it for years)


----------



## Red Dog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chefklc* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is WDCW showing up as encrypted via QAM for anyone else with Comcast in Arlington?




I did a scan last week and it came in - it was 113.something for me if I recall correctly.


----------



## wkearney99




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rustycruiser* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Glad to see the franchise approval.



Just as long as you realize you're selling yourself down the river against long-term choices. Verizon's conned Congress into letting them exclude the fiber wiring from having to be shared with other services. And if you let them lie to you and insist they pull down your copper wiring you'll have to actually PAY to have it reinstalled in order to get choice again. So be sure you're willing to sell your soul to get fiber...


----------



## Red Dog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I am not sure what people watch on the CW, nothing really interesting ever on that channel, except for Wizards and Caps games.




I watch more stuff on CW than I do FOX. Smallville, Everybody Hates Chris, One Tree Hill, Beauty and the Geek.


----------



## drkashner




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hey, Mr Smart Guy Chief Engineer!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The CW sitcoms on WNUV were in glorious 4:3 this weekend. With very stylish gray bars on the sides, of course. What up wid dat?
> 
> 
> Hope it is back by the next Smallville.



My daughter watches Reba at 7:00 and 7:30 on Sun. evenings and they were both HD before, this past Sun. they were SD with gray bars. The episodes were reruns, but reruns are always HD, if they are in primetime.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *drkashner* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> My daughter watches Reba at 7:00 and 7:30 on Sun. evenings and they were both HD before, this past Sun. they were SD with gray bars. The episodes were reruns, but reruns are always HD, if they are in primetime.



Oh, SUNDAY! See, I consider Sunday the beginning of the week, so that's why I misunderstood...


Actually, I forgot that the CW has HD programming on Sunday evening (I'm always watching The Simpsons, et al, my other channel). Fortunately, I do have the timer set for Sunday. I'm not sure what's happening. I've checked everything except the master control switcher contacts (which I can check at 3:00 this afternoon) and the HD receiver (which I just rebooted). I'll make sure it's working by tonight.


Mark


BTW, thanks for the input. I'm not sure why no one from master control (or anyone else from work, for that matter) mentioned it to me...


----------



## zoyd

Dear markbulla,


Thanks for reading and responding in the forum. I have a question, and forgive me if this has been asked before, why do broadcasters put grey bars up with SD content instead of dropping down to 480p? It would make life easier for consumers so we wouldn't have to keeping hitting the stretch button when changing channels.


thanks


----------



## drkashner

[


BTW, thanks for the input. I'm not sure why no one from master control (or anyone else from work, for that matter) mentioned it to me...[/quote]


Thanks for being here, and answering questions.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Oh, SUNDAY! See, I consider Sunday the beginning of the week, so that's why I misunderstood...



Ah, a simple miscommunication. Good! I didn't think I was crazy and I didn't think you were out to lunch either.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> ACC Tournament in HD: http:/ www.raycomsports.com/07ACC-HD.pdf Note the "official" HD affiliates list does not yet include Baltimore, but thank goodness we have Mark around for the inside information.



I just tested (and fixed - it's a good thing that I checked it...) the HD switch system that I installed for the ACC tournament, and it worked. I feel confident in saying that we will carry the tournament in HD on WNUV.


Mark


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I just tested (and fixed - it's a good thing that I checked it...) the HD switch system that I installed for the ACC tournament, and it worked. I feel confident in saying that we will carry the tournament in HD on WNUV.
> 
> 
> Mark



Any way you can come down here and "fix" WTVZ??


----------



## chefklc




> Quote:
> Is WDCW showing up as encrypted via QAM for anyone else with Comcast in Arlington?





> Quote:
> I did a scan last week and it came in - it was 113.something for me if I recall correctly.



Thanks Red Dog, but last week the CW was fine. It was in the clear at 729 MHz, at 113-9, but since last night it's been showing up as encrypted or scrambled for me on a couple of different QAM tuners. Anyone else?


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Oh, SUNDAY! See, I consider Sunday the beginning of the week, so that's why I misunderstood...
> 
> 
> Actually, I forgot that the CW has HD programming on Sunday evening (I'm always watching The Simpsons, et al, my other channel). Fortunately, I do have the timer set for Sunday. I'm not sure what's happening. I've checked everything except the master control switcher contacts (which I can check at 3:00 this afternoon) and the HD receiver (which I just rebooted). I'll make sure it's working by tonight.
> 
> 
> Mark
> 
> 
> BTW, thanks for the input. I'm not sure why no one from master control (or anyone else from work, for that matter) mentioned it to me...



Well... I checked everything except the HD receiver (which I rebooted earlier), and everything worked, so I guess I'll probably stay late and figure out what the problem is (if it still exists). The HD receiver was picking up another HD signal earlier with no alarms (CBS sometimes uses the same transponder for their own distribution), so I think that's working.


Mark


----------



## Rfutscher

Some receivers only change modes after a scan. WMPT changes modes twice a day and there are always complains that their signal is bad when in fact it is the receiver. If the signal is bad a channel scan would not fix the problem.




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zoyd* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Dear markbulla,
> 
> 
> Thanks for reading and responding in the forum. I have a question, and forgive me if this has been asked before, why do broadcasters put grey bars up with SD content instead of dropping down to 480p? It would make life easier for consumers so we wouldn't have to keeping hitting the stretch button when changing channels.
> 
> 
> thanks


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Well... I checked everything except the HD receiver (which I rebooted earlier), and everything worked, so I guess I'll probably stay late and figure out what the problem is (if it still exists). The HD receiver was picking up another HD signal earlier with no alarms (CBS sometimes uses the same transponder for their own distribution), so I think that's working.
> 
> 
> Mark



Mark,

Just as a note, I believe that the Monday evening CW lineup was also in SD instead of HD. I remember it because when I started watching Everybody Hates Chris, I noted it was not in HD and watched something else.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I just tested (and fixed - it's a good thing that I checked it...) the HD switch system that I installed for the ACC tournament, and it worked. I feel confident in saying that we will carry the tournament in HD on WNUV.
> 
> 
> Mark



BTW, before it happens, I should mention that we're right in the middle of the spring sun outages. Because there is no backup satellite for the HD signal, we'll lose it for about 15 minutes or so. This will occur around 1:45 each day. We will be switching to the upconverted SD signal during the outage time.


The sun outage occurs because we're in the northern hemisphere looking "down" (to the south) at the satellites that are over the equator. Twice a year, when the sun is south of the equator, it ends up directly in line with our satellite dish and the satellite. Because of the movement of the sun during the day, the sun outages occur at different times during the day, so most networks use two satellites to send programming - only one of which is out at a time.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zoyd* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Dear markbulla,
> 
> 
> Thanks for reading and responding in the forum. I have a question, and forgive me if this has been asked before, why do broadcasters put grey bars up with SD content instead of dropping down to 480p? It would make life easier for consumers so we wouldn't have to keeping hitting the stretch button when changing channels.
> 
> 
> thanks



Our HD encoders don't allow us to do that.


Mark


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey

Well, after many calls and confirmations, it is finally clear now. Another member contacted FiOS and was told that FiOS made a mistake with adding CSN-MA HD to northern VA and MD lineup. Here is what the rep sent him.



> Quote:
> Thank you for your patience. I just got word back from my supervisor and unfortunately, that was an error in our channel lineup card. The channel lineup card we have on the website is up to date with all the channels we are currently offering in your area until further notice. If you'd like to place a suggestion or request for improving our channel lineup please go to our website verizon.net/fiostv and click on "About FiOS TV" on the menu (left side of the page). Once there, on the right side you'll see a picture with the words "Love your FiOS TV? Share your input here". Click there and fill out the survey. I apologize for the inconvenience and for the incorrect information you had received.
> 
> 
> Sincerely,



I am not surprised at all, FiOS got off to a great start and instead of trying to compete in its current markets, it is expanding to more markets.


----------



## DCFan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Well, after many calls and confirmations, it is finally clear now. Another member contacted FiOS and was told that FiOS made a mistake with adding CSN-MA HD to northern VA and MD lineup.



And you (and plenty of others here) compounded that mistake by *assuming* they meant CSN-MA HD when the channel lineup that Verizon mailed out said CSN-Philly HD channel 829.


----------



## xbgamer

I noticed recently WUSA changed their 9 news now HD slogan from "the first and only local news in high definition" to "the first..."


is there another station that's prepping to do local HD news?


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DCFan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> And you (and plenty of others here) compounded that mistake by *assuming* they meant CSN-MA HD when the channel lineup that Verizon mailed out said CSN-Philly HD channel 829.




Well first, that is because when I received the letter and called them, I was told they meant CSN MA. Second, MD area received the letter that said CSN MA and some people posted the mailing on another forum ( MD channel lineup ).


----------



## davidwb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Well first, that is because when I received the letter and called them, I was told they meant CSN MA. Second, MD area received the letter that said CSN MA and some people posted the mailing on another forum ( MD channel lineup ).




that's correct -- those of us in howard county with fios received a mailing from verizon with CSN-HD MA on channel 829 (that particular channel lineup sheet is right next to my pc).


it would be nice to get it sooner rather than later, even if it's not right now.


----------



## DCFan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Well first, that is because when I received the letter and called them, I was told they meant CSN MA. Second, MD area received the letter that said CSN MA and some people posted the mailing on another forum ( MD channel lineup ).



Thanks for the clarification.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Well first, that is because when I received the letter and called them, I was told they meant CSN MA. Second, MD area received the letter that said CSN MA and some people posted the mailing on another forum ( MD channel lineup ).



Is that lineup for real?


I know that the CSN-HD could be wrong, but if thats a Baltimore area lineup its way out of wack. It has Baltimore HD affilates, but then in the Local Plus area (usually containing digital subchannels) is has WUSA Radar, WJLA Weather, WETA channels... Plus it has WUTB on the line up. Any FiOS Balt area customers want to chime in and clear up whats really on up there?


----------



## Red Dog

Won't get home until halftime of the Maryland game today, so I hope some folks can give us a report on the Raycom HD coverage on 20.1 and 54.1 for the early game (FSU/Clem).


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is that lineup for real?
> 
> 
> I know that the CSN-HD could be wrong, but if thats a Baltimore area lineup its way out of wack. It has Baltimore HD affilates, but then in the Local Plus area (usually containing digital subchannels) is has WUSA Radar, WJLA Weather, WETA channels... Plus it has WUTB on the line up. Any FiOS Balt area customers want to chime in and clear up whats really on up there?



I am not too familiar with MD so I could be wrong, but this lineup is fir Anne Arundel/Howard County. Baltimore's lineup could be different.


Also, if FiOS is adding more channels, and like most of us though that they cleared up channels from 810 to 824 for that, then why is that MD lineup has locals channels there? I think FiOS has made a mistake somewhere and it is in way over its head.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Red Dog* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Won't get home until halftime of the Maryland game today, so I hope some folks can give us a report on the Raycom HD coverage on 20.1 and 54.1 for the early game (FSU/Clem).



It just started and the PQ is great, much better than CSN-HD. The sound however keeps breaking up. Is it just my set or anyone else experiencing that as well?


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It just started and the PQ is great, much better than CSN-HD. The sound however keeps breaking up. Is it just my set or anyone else experiencing that as well?



Mine is good.


Mark


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Mine is good.
> 
> 
> Mark



Mine is 4:3 now, I think it is a problem with MyNet20.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Mine is 4:3 now, I think it is a problem with MyNet20.



Makes me feel better about all of the time and effort that I went thru to get it right! I've had 0 problems so far on WNUV.


Remember though, there will be a time that we have to switch off the HD and go to an upconverted SD picture during the sun outage. It's too early for that to be the problem down in DC, though.


Mark


----------



## lax01

How come they aren't showing the ACC games in HD on Comcast MyNetwork20???


----------



## Red Dog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lax01* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> How come they aren't showing the ACC games in HD on Comcast MyNetwork20???




Comcast doesn't carry 20.1 on its cable systems. You need to go OTA to get it.


----------



## mr b

WDCA FIOS DC area - The sounds seems to be breaking up when they go to commercial, and eventually clears up after they return to the game...maybe they are doing some work when it goes to commercial. Otherwise it's fine.


----------



## wmcbrine

Sound issues aside, I think this was the first time I was able to directly compare the same programming on a 720p station (20-1, Fios 805) and a 1080i station (54-1). It looked distinctly sharper on 54-1, even though I have the Tivo's output set to 720p fixed, and my set is an EDTV. Maybe this originated as a 1080i signal, and WDCA's cross-conversion just isn't as good as the Tivo's?


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Sound issues aside, I think this was the first time I was able to directly compare the same programming on a 720p station (20-1, Fios 805) and a 1080i station (54-1). It looked distinctly sharper on 54-1, even though I have the Tivo's output set to 720p fixed, and my set is an EDTV. Maybe this originated as a 1080i signal, and WDCA's cross-conversion just isn't as good as the Tivo's?



It is indeed 1080i off the satellite.


Mark


----------



## Red Dog

Looks good, Mark, even if the Terps don't. Nice job.


----------



## yekim54




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Sound issues aside, I think this was the first time I was able to directly compare the same programming on a 720p station (20-1, Fios 805) and a 1080i station (54-1). It looked distinctly sharper on 54-1, even though I have the Tivo's output set to 720p fixed, and my set is an EDTV. Maybe this originated as a 1080i signal, and WDCA's cross-conversion just isn't as good as the Tivo's?



I agree, using OTA, 54.1 looks better than 20.1, and the sound is definitely better. I'm glad I can get both of these stations because it gives me a backup in case one of them develops a transmission problem (like the sound problem on 20 during the FSU-Clemson game).


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *yekim54* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I agree, using OTA, 54.1 looks better than 20.1, and the sound is definitely better. I'm glad I can get both of these stations because it gives me a backup in case one of them develops a transmission problem (like the sound problem on 20 during the FSU-Clemson game).



I spent a few minutes comparing the two channels and agree that the picture quality on WNUV-DT 54 looks better than WDCA-DT 20. This is for OTA. I only get WDCA-DT 20 via Verizon Fios (Washington Metro line-up), so the comparison is strictly OTA. This is on a 42" 1024x768 plasma, so the difference between 720p and 1080i should not be that obvious. I may mess with the output settings on my two ATSC receivers tonight to see if I can get a better picture for WDCA.


However, Mark, I'm getting closed captions for the game on WDCA-DT 20.1 on both ATSC receivers (Samsung SIR-T451, Sony DHG-HDD250), but none for WNUV-DT 54.1. There are captions for the analog WNUV 54, BTW. This is unexpected because the last I looked I never got captions for 20.1, so maybe they fixed something. I imagine you are rather busy, but maybe you could look into it. The pattern is that I sometimes see captions for the local programming on WNUV 54.1, so that part works, but not for the CW network programming. WDCW-DT 50.1 has captions for the national CW programming, so the CC data is there. Maybe the fact that the digital captions are not getting passed for the syndicated ACC feed is a clue you can use to hunt down the problem. Good job on getting the ACC in HD in the first place!


----------



## HokieNav

It looks great, Mark - that's for all the hard work!


I'm getting Dolby Digital from 54.1 and not from 20.1 which is why the sound is so much nicer. WNUV's PQ is definitely much better too (both OTA, so I'm comparing apples to apples).


I just need to futz with the antenna a bit, my new CM 4221 is doing a great job, but I still need to tweak it a bit to get WNUV solid.


Now if my Hokies will look this good tomorrow night, everything will be good!!!


----------



## AcuraCL

Since Dish killed the local guide for 811 users who don't subscribe to local channels, I'm thinking about getting a Samsung ATSC tuner.


Can anyone tell me if Baltimore/Washington channels send out an advanced program guide in PSIP, or give me an idea of what to expect to be included in the PSIP data?


Thanks much for any help you can provide.


----------



## JoeInNVa

Bonus Coverage on the Deuce right now, though no HD


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> edited -
> 
> 
> WDCW-DT 50.1 has captions for the national CW programming, so the CC data is there. Maybe the fact that the digital captions are not getting passed for the syndicated ACC feed is a clue you can use to hunt down the problem. Good job on getting the ACC in HD in the first place!



Sorry about the closed captioning problem. I'm checking on it.


Mark


----------



## 2dogz




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It just started and the PQ is great, much better than CSN-HD. The sound however keeps breaking up. Is it just my set or anyone else experiencing that as well?



I also had sound breakups on both of my Direct tivos on 20.1 ota. Many of them. Putzed around with the antenna direction, but that didn't seem to help. Sound was fine on channel 20 off of the sat, so seems to be something to do with local broadcast.


I also noticed a problem with sound levels of the games (seemed low) and the commercials (high), something like 15db difference.


The picture was fine. Glad that 20 is finally starting to get HD. Maybe now I won't automatically groan when I see a game scheduled on it.


Mike


----------



## Marcus Carr

On Wednesday morning Comcast did a software download in Baltimore City that made several changes to my Motorola DVRs:



The Main Menu consolidated onto one page instead of two.


The ability to make and label up to five favorites lists (using an on-screen keyboard).


After hitting Guide button and Favorites button, the guide only displays favorite channels.


Mini-guide can be set to display two channels or three channels.


A timed screen saver (only covers the 4:3 area of the screen).


HD programs labeled as HD in the guide.


Hitting Rec button records everything in the buffer istead of starting at the current time.


A menu comes up after hitting My DVR button, brings up a menu of all DVR options, not just the list of recordings.


Manual recording can be set to "Mon-Fri".


A "Welcome to On Demand" screen after hitting the On Demand button.


"New" or end dates displayed for On Demand selections instead of "LC" (Last Chance).


A time bar while watching On Demand, just like the one for watching broadcasts and recordings.


Faster response time for On Demand controls.



Most of the changes are listed above. Here's a web page about the "improved guide":

http://www.comcast.com/improvedguide/ 


And the user guide:

http://www.comcast.com/MediaLibrary/...VodOspg_46.pdf 


Firmware is version 16.35.


On another note, DVR rental has gone from $10 to $12 a month. (Coincidence?)


----------



## dneily

Marcus:


Thanks for the list.


Note that "Hitting Rec button records everything in the buffer istead of starting at the current time." has always been available.


----------



## URFloorMatt

Now that I'm watching Duke/NCST on ESPN2, it seems like the color was a bit washed out coming from WDCA. The ESPN2 broadcast is much better picture-wise than the WDCA broadcast, but I'm not going to complain too much since it seems like only ESPN can get college basketball right, and even they only manage it some of the time.


Anyone with the Baltimore station want to compare the ESPN2 broadcast to this afternoon's games?


----------



## markbulla

Sorry guys - My PSIP generator just took a dump. I'm on the backup, but everything isn't set right...


I hope that people are still getting the game...


Mark


----------



## zoyd

Looks great here, OTA.


----------



## HokieNav




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Sorry guys - My PSIP generator just took a dump. I'm on the backup, but everything isn't set right...
> 
> 
> I hope that people are still getting the game...
> 
> 
> Mark



Everything is good OTA here in Odenton!


Edit:I swear that wasn't there when I started!


Edit 2: PQ still kicks 20.1's tail and Mark, you're the only one that has DD working right (from here, at least).


----------



## zoyd

54 has 5.1, 20 does not. ?


----------



## HokieNav




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zoyd* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 54 has 5.1, 20 does not. ?



That's what my receiver is telling me.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *HokieNav* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> That's what my receiver is telling me.



We have a 5.1 simulator. It takes the stereo in and magically makes 5.1 out of it. If it detects 5.1 coming in, it just passes it through.


It's an expensive box, but it does a good job.


Mark


----------



## HokieNav




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> We have a 5.1 simulator. It takes the stereo in and magically makes 5.1 out of it. If it detects 5.1 coming in, it just passes it through.
> 
> 
> It's an expensive box, but it does a good job.
> 
> 
> Mark



It's well worth it today - you sound much, much better than your cousin to the south...


----------



## billodom

Two subjects:


I have not had a chance to see any of the ACC tournament games as of yet--too busy trying to catch up on this thread







. But I've got to say, I could have predicted that WNUV would absolutely smoke My20 in their HD presentation. I'm surprised nobody who watched the Redskins-Giants game back in December has commented here. I was fortunate enough to get that game on NFL Network through FiOS but the OTA on Fox5--or was it My20 (same thing)--was washed out and not anywhere near the NFL Network quality for what should have been an identical feed. I'm glad I kept my OTA setup. I know where I'll be watching the tournament--and it darn sure won't be on My20.


Switching gears, I had a chance to catch some of the Wizards-Warriors game last Sunday on 50. I'm again surprised that nobody has commented on the horrendous PQ. Almost every time there was any transition shot, the picture became blurry and there was what I would term macroblocking throughout the game. The color didn't even look right--like it was slightly washed out. Is CSN HD's feed that poor? Say it ain't so. I'm thinking it's something in WDCW's equipment that's causing the degraded PQ. Can any CSN-HD viewers comment on the PQ when watching through their Comcast system? Thanks.


----------



## zoyd

Mark, can you comment on what data rate the OTA signal is delivered at? Are there any broadcast standards for data rate?


----------



## CycloneGT

Bill, I remember tried to record some Wizards material last year on WB50, and the PQ was terrible too. Now CW50 doesn't have a sports dept and just broadcasts Comcast's production. But I don't why it looks so terrible.


About the ACC, I also add my voice that WNUV is superior in PQ and Audio by a considerable margin over My20. Mark your hard work has paid off. My Dish 622 was locking up around 9pm when trying to tune in 54.1. Typical of PSIP issues in the past, so I'm glad to hear there was an issue on your end (ie my box isn't broken).


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zoyd* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Mark, can you comment on what data rate the OTA signal is delivered at? Are there any broadcast standards for data rate?



Currently, because I no longer have a second digital channel, my encoder is pretty much running flat out at 17-18 Mbps (I have to set a range of data rates due to the software that I have in the encoder). The total data rate for ANY digital channel is 19.36 Mbps, which includes the video, audio, PSIP and whatever other data you are sending. You have to share that 19.36 Mbps between all of your digital subchannels. If you only have one channel, it all goes there.


There are no standards for data rates for HD channels or SD channels. How the picture looks really depends on how much motion there is in the picture. I could send out an HD test pattern at, say, 1 Mbps, and after a second or so, you probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between it and a test pattern that I sent out at 17 Mbps. It makes a difference in a basketball game, though.


Mark


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Sorry guys - My PSIP generator just took a dump. I'm on the backup, but everything isn't set right...
> 
> 
> I hope that people are still getting the game...
> 
> 
> Mark



PSIP is fixed. Had to take apart the PC and reseat the card.


Mark


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> PSIP is fixed. Had to take apart the PC and reseat the card.
> 
> 
> Mark



Just wanted to mention that although I noticed the PSIP issue, it did not impact my ability to pick up the game(s) OTA. Thanks a lot for your work on bringing this game to us! I really appreciate it, and I'm sure others do as well. I'll be sure to tune in tonight when the Hokies dismantle Wake.










As a sidenote, I noticed that the channel was appearing as 40-3 when the PSIP was presumably broken. Whether it's a coincidence or not, the channel switched over to calling itself 54-1 at precisely the moment that RLF ceded control for a local commercial break (ie, the grey bars appeared instead of the black ones). I know RLF does their syndication a little differently than other programs, hopefully that information is useful (unless it was a coincidence)...


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Just wanted to mention that although I noticed the PSIP issue, it did not impact my ability to pick up the game(s) OTA. Thanks a lot for your work on bringing this game to us! I really appreciate it, and I'm sure others do as well. I'll be sure to tune in tonight when the Hokies dismantle Wake.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> As a sidenote, I noticed that the channel was appearing as 40-3 when the PSIP was presumably broken. Whether it's a coincidence or not, the channel switched over to calling itself 54-1 at precisely the moment that RLF ceded control for a local commercial break (ie, the grey bars appeared instead of the black ones). I know RLF does their syndication a little differently than other programs, hopefully that information is useful (unless it was a coincidence)...



It was a coincidence.


I was screwing around with stuff during the commercials so that it wouldn't impact your viewing of the game, if something went wrong.


Don't tell the boss, because the commercials pay the bills. Fortunately, what I did made it better during the commercial, not worse.


Mark


----------



## JohnGZ28

Is anyone picking up the TK show on News Channel 8? If so how are you pulling it in?


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Don't tell the boss, because the commercials pay the bills.



Your secret is safe with me.


----------



## Red Dog

Interesting - ESPN2 is blacking out ESPN2HD, but not regular ESPN2. I was actually hoping they would simulcast ESPNU on ESPN2 so I could catch some of the Big XII quarters this afternoon.


----------



## kenrowe

Comcast and Sinclair Enter into Four-Year Extension of Analog and Digital Carriage Agreement

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070309/clf119.html?.v=8


----------



## raidbuck




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GoIrish* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It's not a space issue for Comcast. I believe it's simply MASN evaluating the cost and deciding they don't want to do HD for now and laying this at the feet of cable and satellite operators.
> 
> 
> MASN wouldn't answer whether they were committed to doing HD for how long ? I still haven't heard them say they were willing to commit to it. Which in my opinion is a shame. No O's HD in '07
> 
> 
> GoIrish



I'm very upset that MASN won't have HD in 2007. I asked them how HD customers should feel good about MASN taking over the Orioles when we lose 50-60 HD games this year. Of course, they gave no response.


Rich N.


----------



## CycloneGT

The funniest thing is that they are young RSN. You would have thought that the would have bought HD equipment from the beginning to keep from having to replace it in a few years.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fredfa* /forum/post/0
> 
> *The Business of Television*
> *Comcast, Sinclair Reach Retrans Deal*
> 
> By Mike Farrell *MultiChannel News* 3/9/2007
> 
> 
> With barely one day to spare, Comcast and Sinclair Broadcast Group reached a retransmission-consent agreement for Sinclair stations representing about 3.4 million of the cable operator's subscribers Friday.
> 
> 
> While terms of the deal were not disclosed, *Comcast said it did not pay cash for the right to carry Sinclair's television signals.*
> 
> 
> Comcast has achieved its objective of not paying cash for broadcast carriage that would need to be passed on to our customers, executive vice president David Cohen said in a prepared statement. Consistent with our existing agreement with Sinclair and all of our other retransmission-consent agreements, comparable value is being exchanged.
> 
> 
> The four-year deal -- it expires March 1, 2011 -- also calls for Comcast to carry digital-multicast channels Sinclair is currently broadcasting in Richmond, Va., and Baltimore, as well as certain other multicast channels in Comcast markets that the stations may broadcast in the future.
> 
> 
> And the new deal involves advertising and co-marketing agreements, including Web opportunities, as well as advertising and cross-promotion opportunities on both companies' properties.
> 
> 
> We have always been willing to discuss exchanges of value with broadcasters, Cohen said in an interview. Those exchanges of value vary from deal to deal. We have had with Sinclair an existing exchange of value where we're paying cash but receiving marketing and advertising benefits back from Sinclair that are of comparable value to the payments we're making. We were able to make a deal consistent with that model.
> 
> 
> Comcast's existing deal with Sinclair was set to expire March 10. If the two parties hadn't reached an agreement, Comcast was in danger of losing the right to carry Sinclair's 37 stations in 23 markets -- mostly affiliates of Fox, MyNetworkTV and The CW -- in markets such as Baltimore; Pittsburgh; Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.; Nashville, Tenn.; Richmond, Va.; and Tampa. Fla.
> 
> 
> Cable operators across the country were keeping a close eye on the negotiations. Sinclair -- just off a three-month battle with midsized cable operator Mediacom Communications, where Mediacom agreed to pay an estimated 40-50 cents per subscriber, per month for stations representing about 50% of its total footprint -- has been one of the more aggressive station groups pressing for cash for retransmission consent. Several operators have said in the past that if Comcast agreed to pay cash for the Sinclair signals, it would represent a paradigm shift in retransmission-consent negotiations.
> 
> 
> Operators apparently have dodged that bullet for now.
> 
> 
> I think you can draw a deeper line in the sand, Cohen said. Those who would say that there is a sea change occurring in retransmission consent are premature in their assessment.
> 
> 
> While terms were not disclosed, Sinclair had more to lose in a protracted battle with the nation's largest cable operator. Sinclair stations represented just 15% of Comcast's total 24.2 million-subscriber footprint, while the Comcast markets accounted for more than 30% of Sinclair's total advertising revenue. In addition, Comcast carries another Fox station in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C., market, so losing Sinclair's Baltimore Fox affiliate would have had little effect on the cable operator.
> 
> http://www.multichannel.com/article/...=Breaking+News



.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *xbgamer* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I noticed recently WUSA changed their 9 news now HD slogan from "the first and only local news in high definition" to "the first..."
> 
> 
> is there another station that's prepping to do local HD news?



If there is, it would be either WRC-DT NBC 4 or WTTG-DT Fox 5. But there have little concrete information for either as to when they will go HD on local news.


WRC is an NBC owned & operated (O&O) station. NBC announced last fall that they were upgrading the local news for all their O&O stations to HD, starting with their flagship WNBC station in NYC which went HD at that time. But the upgrades were to take place over the next 18 months or longer, and the report was that WRC was near the end of the upgrade list. WRC did a studio lighting overhaul last December while they moved to the backup studio and indicated that this was part of an upgrade process for going to HD. The only public word since then was that the switch to HD would not happen for a while.


However, NBC has announced that their nightly news program with Brian Williams will be going HD in March. You would think that they may want their Washington DC affiliate news operation to have HD capability for breaking news stories and live feeds. But I don't know if there is much interaction between the WRC local news operation & their field equipment and the network news operation.


It was reported last summer that WTTG was buying HD equipment for their local news operation. But I think that was it for any concrete info on them upgrading to HD for the local news programs.


If there is solid information on when either of these stations will upgrade to HD for the local news, I expect it will be posted here rather quickly. Of course, the first we learn about it may be the day the station switches to HD for local news.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> 
> However, Mark, I'm getting closed captions for the game on WDCA-DT 20.1 on both ATSC receivers (Samsung SIR-T451, Sony DHG-HDD250), but none for WNUV-DT 54.1. There are captions for the analog WNUV 54, BTW. This is unexpected because the last I looked I never got captions for 20.1, so maybe they fixed something. I imagine you are rather busy, but maybe you could look into it. The pattern is that I sometimes see captions for the local programming on WNUV 54.1, so that part works, but not for the CW network programming. WDCW-DT 50.1 has captions for the national CW programming, so the CC data is there. Maybe the fact that the digital captions are not getting passed for the syndicated ACC feed is a clue you can use to hunt down the problem. Good job on getting the ACC in HD in the first place!



Captions galore on 54.1!


Turns out that I got a box a couple of months ago that would fix my captioning problem that I forgot about until we got the bill for it today.


Basically, it takes the captioning data from our analog channel and inserts it into the HD encoder, bypassing all of the rest of the switching/processing/etc. equipment.


Geez - you look at the last couple of days on this forum, and it looks like all I do is read and post to it...


Mark


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Captions galore on 54.1!
> 
> 
> Turns out that I got a box a couple of months ago that would fix my captioning problem that I forgot about until we got the bill for it today.
> 
> 
> Basically, it takes the captioning data from our analog channel and inserts it into the HD encoder, bypassing all of the rest of the switching/processing/etc. equipment.
> 
> 
> Geez - you look at the last couple of days on this forum, and it looks like all I do is read and post to it...
> 
> 
> Mark



Now what will you put your lunch on?


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Red Dog* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Interesting - ESPN2 is blacking out ESPN2HD, but not regular ESPN2. I was actually hoping they would simulcast ESPNU on ESPN2 so I could catch some of the Big XII quarters this afternoon.



NO blackouts here as far as I know, eve for the ACC games which I thought Raycom and Lincoln Financial would have exclusive rights to. I also stopped watching WDCA MyNet20 since ESPN and ESPN2 HD have the ACC games and they look MUCH better. I didn't know until I switched to ESPN HD and saw the hardwood floor, when you watch it on MyNet20, you won't recognize it.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Captions galore on 54.1!
> 
> 
> Turns out that I got a box a couple of months ago that would fix my captioning problem that I forgot about until we got the bill for it today.
> 
> 
> Basically, it takes the captioning data from our analog channel and inserts it into the HD encoder, bypassing all of the rest of the switching/processing/etc. equipment.
> 
> 
> Geez - you look at the last couple of days on this forum, and it looks like all I do is read and post to it...
> 
> 
> Mark



Mark, yes, the captions are there on both ATSC receivers for WNUV-DT 54.1 OTA! I just checked it. Thanks for fixing it, although this is obviously a work-around approach. Now you have two years to figure out what is wrong with the digital signal path for the CC data before the analog feed goes away!










I did some more picture comparison when I realized that I was getting the ACC game in HD on no less than 3 channels: WNUV-DT 54.1 OTA (1080i), WDCA-DT 20.1 OTA & Verizon Fios (720p), and ESPN2-HD via Verizon Fios (720p)! Three different HD channels all with slightly different times on the feed. Wild.


The game looked sharper with better colors on ESPN2-HD than it did on WDCA-DT 20.1. ESPN must have better converters or a better setup than WDCA for dealing with a 1080i signal source. Anyway, my ranking for the picture based on a short comparison of all three with a considerable amount of channel and input source flipping: 1. WNUV-DT 54.1, 2. ESPN2-HD, and clearly trailing although still ok HD, 3. WDCA-DT 20.1.


----------



## Marcus Carr

The Comcast-Sinclair deal was just mentioned on WBFF news.


----------



## Johnnycanal

so on my h20 and hr20 there is no HD feed from wdca 20??


am I missing something?


D* says I am crazy and they need to send one of their crack techs out... uh no, I don't think so...


anyone know what is going on? the sd version is there, but no hd feed


----------



## ahsan

sweet no blackout on ESPN2-HD...yet *fingers crossed*. UVA gonna rock this!


----------



## zoyd

Question: The 54-1 feed is clearly superior to the 20-1 feed for OTA. Is this due to 720p vs. 1080i or due to bitrate?


----------



## Red Dog

Cool. ESPNU simulcast on ESPN2 during the blackout.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

I am getting the same "Channel Not Purchased" on WDCA HD right now like Johnny - am on the phone with DirecTV. The nice lady in *India* had me reboot the receiver, to no avail. Now I have someone else here looking into it. All the other HD channels are working except ESPN2 (legitimately, with the blackout).


This has to be on DirecTV's end, not mine. They have something messed up with this ACC tournament.


UPDATE: No luck. I lost all channels for awhile, now everything is back except WDCA-HD.


----------



## Red Dog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Red Dog* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Cool. ESPNU simulcast on ESPN2 during the blackout.



So much for that. C'mon ESPN - just give us the constant U feed.


----------



## shortstop11_jeff

Got the same message- 721- channel not purchased. Of course I came here to check things before I make a call to cust. service. It must be on their end, which is a relief to me. Switching to OTA till they get it straight.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

I got a better idea - lift the ESPN 2 blackout instead of the Raycom crap which I have had to put with since I moved into an ACC market in 1989. Call D* and ask to speak to a tech in the US. The guy I talked to was named Rick in Oklahoma City.


----------



## shortstop11_jeff

But Raycom is in HD this year- I actually think the HD is better quality than what we get on ESPN.


----------



## shortstop11_jeff




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ahsan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> sweet no blackout on ESPN2-HD...yet *fingers crossed*. UVA gonna rock this!



Uh oh.................tide is turning, and the wolves are howling!!!!


----------



## Knicks_Fan

ESPN in HD beats Raycom in SD right now. DirecTV really screwed this up. You can't impress upon them the problem *is on their end*. I don't have a OTA alternative. Starting to sound like a good idea.


I kept telling them last night's game was coming through just fine (bangs head on well).

*GO PACK* - if only they played like this earlier in the year, they'd have an at-large bid to the big dance.

*UPDATE: And the WDCA-HD problem continues*


----------



## shortstop11_jeff

damn- my bad- yeah no way I would want to watch 48" of SD from Raycom. You should just switch over to the ESPN2 game with Gtown and ND- just to get your eyes back in HD mode.....


----------



## Knicks_Fan

And WRC is messed up again this week with "Las Vegas" - no HD feed right now.


Off to the Big East. DirecTV customer service went down the toilet when they outsourced most of their call center help over to India to save money (which is now in Hughes execs' wallets!)


----------



## dneily




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Red Dog* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Interesting - ESPN2 is blacking out ESPN2HD, but not regular ESPN2. I was actually hoping they would simulcast ESPNU on ESPN2 so I could catch some of the Big XII quarters this afternoon.



I have both Verizon FIOS and COMCAST. Verizon has the ACC Tournament on both ESPN2HD and WDCA-HD. Meanwhile, ESPN2HD is blacked out on COMCAST. Ironically, WDCA-HD is a station that COMCAST does not carry.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

WDCA HD is coming thru now - for a infomercial. I asked over on a DirecTV forum and someoone there thinks it is a incorrectly applied sports blackout. Let's see what happens later today.

*UPDATE*

Both WDCA and ESPN-HD are available today. Go figure. Picture looks better on ESPN and production more professional than Raycom. Yes, Vitale is doing color, but Mike Patrick is far superior to Tim Brandt.


And the Pack are one game away from the big dance


----------



## Chip Chanko

EDIT: Coming in at 86.4 now.


Not coming in for me. I hadn't tuned it in since the last run of America's Next Top Model. I had it at 113.10 then but now it just shows a blank screen. 113.9 doesn't work, either. Anyone know more about this?



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chefklc* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Thanks Red Dog, but last week the CW was fine. It was in the clear at 729 MHz, at 113-9, but since last night it's been showing up as encrypted or scrambled for me on a couple of different QAM tuners. Anyone else?


----------



## SJKurtzke

World Music Awards is in SD....


Clearly they were supposed to be HD.


(This is actually the first thing I've felt mildly compelled to watch on MyNetworkTV. At least it's a start)


----------



## mikemikeb

Let me explain.


I was flipping through the channels during the 11 PM news programs, and when I got to Fox 5, I noticed some interesting stuff going on over there.


The first thing of interest is that there was a "Fox 5" logo at the bottom right of the screen. This is the same logo that I usually see during primetime programming. That programming is delivered via the Fox splicer system in NY. Remember that the splicer can deliver many different feeds of different programming all at once, all in HD. WTTG probably has its own downlink from NY, especially since the station is an O&O. The fact that WTTG is an O&O also gives them the added benefit of being able to do as they please concerning uplink and downlink to and from NY.


And the news looked sharper than usual tonight compared to previous nights when I caught glimpses, even if it was SD. Usually, it's somewhat blurred, due to a poorer-quality upconverter at the local level, which manifests itself with all the other SD material played from the WTTG studios.


Yes, I can tell the difference. I'll use WJLA as an independent example. With them, even if it's SD material, I can tell the difference between whether or not it's flipped to the "local" setting, so they can insert local ads and promos. Tonight during The Sixth Sense, there were premature flips to the "local" settings, and when that happened, the PQ of the ABC show promos, et al, got blurrier, and there was added bass in the sound. I've always noticed those two symptoms at WJLA, and it's due to older, mediocre equipment at the station.


Anyway, back to Fox 5. Even with my SDTV, the upscaler at WTTG delivers slightly blurry content compared to SD material coming from NY. Fox HQ has VERY good upscalers, as shows like Nanny 911 have the sharpness of a conventional HD show. Only, it's filmed in widescreen SD. Another SD show, "Trading Spouses", which is filmed in 4x3, looks spectacularly sharp for SD. I've never seen Fox 5's news look as sharp as it did tonight. It was about on par with Trading Spouses, which is impressive for live material.


I believe that WTTG is testing their HD uplinking capabilities to NY, and that when they feel that it'll work well for HD, they'll flip the HD switch at the studio level.


So, WTTG may be going HD for their local news VERY soon, and WUSA, through its mole, has found out. That's why WUSA doesn't have their voiceover saying that they're the "first and only" local news in HD anymore.


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Let me explain.
> 
> 
> I was flipping through the channels during the 11 PM news programs, and when I got to Fox 5, I noticed some interesting stuff going on over there.
> 
> 
> The first thing of interest is that there was a "Fox 5" logo at the bottom right of the screen. This is the same logo that I usually see during primetime programming. That programming is delivered via the Fox splicer system in NY. Remember that the splicer can deliver many different feeds of different programming all at once, all in HD. WTTG probably has its own downlink from NY, especially since the station is an O&O. The fact that WTTG is an O&O also gives them the added benefit of being able to do as they please concerning uplink and downlink to and from NY.



The same thing happened around 2 months ago. But, this time, the newscast looks so much sharper than last time, fueling the rumors of HD equipment being present at the station now. I emailed FOX 5 about it, hopefully I'll hear back from them.

And, if you look at the DCRTV post concerning FOX 5's equipment order last summer, it quotes a WUSA employee (when they changed to 9 News Now) saying that they had to change their branding because they weren't going to be the "First and ONLY" in HD anymore. They knew about it long beforehand, and that must have been how that equipment order got leaked.


----------



## melted

I've noticed that over the last few days that Discovery HD via Cox has not looked as sharp as usual. Lots of jagged edges. Anybody else noticed this?


----------



## arterich

I just ran into this problem today and was wondering if it has happened to anyone else. I live in the Baltimore, MD area and can no longer seem to tune channel 24-1 WUTB-DT after viewing any other digital channel. For example, if I'm view another digital channel and I use CH+ or CH- to reach 24-1 the screen remains black as though there is no usable data in the signal. The same happens if I enter "24-1" then hit the "TUNE" button. The antenna level I get on that channel has a strength of 84% - 86%. Hitting the "DISPLAY" button on the remote shows evertying grayed out where it normally displays the video signal type(480p, 720, 1080i, etc).


However, if I hit the "D/A" button to switch to the analog tuner then hit "D/A" again to switch back to the digital tuner, channel 24-1 now shows up correctly with a 720p video signal and audio. But if I use CH+/CH- or directly tune to another digital station then try to tune back to 24-1, I get no usable data in the signal again. Hitting "D/A" twice to cycle from digital tuner to analog tuner to digital tuner allows 24-1 to show correctly again. Turning the TV off, letting it sit for a while then turning it back on hasn't fixed the problem.


I wonder if it's related to the Daylight Saving Time switch. I've no clue how the ATSC signal format works, but maybe all the other stations are broadcasting the new correct time in their stream but channel 24-1 is still broadcasting the old time in its stream. Maybe this in turn is messing up the ATSC tuner and only cycling the tuners resets the time glitch.


I'm cross-posting this in "The Official JVC - ILA - XXG787/887 Owners Thread" forum since I'm not sure if this is an issue with my JVC ILA 52787 or the signal that channel 24-1 WUTB-DT is sending out.


----------



## drwissing

I have gotten two things in the mail now indicating that I should have NGC-HD on my system. I also went to the Comcast website and looked up the channel line up for Howard County and it lists NGC-HD on the channel line up. Yet it still has not appeared on the Howard County system.


Does anyone know the status of when we can expect to see NGC-HD on Howard County Comcast cable system? Multiple phone calls to Comcast have yielded no answer.


----------



## mikepinkerton

Odd, why is ESPN blacked out now (1pm?) They aren't supposed to start showing the game until 1:30, and are showing other programming (college gameday). How can they be blacked out from showing non-ACC content?


-Mike


EDIT: bizarre, my guide says the game starts at 1:30pm on the Tivo, but obviously it's started now (1:07). I wonder if espn or D* got the wrong info somewhere. 20.1 looks ok, i guess over D*. Oh well.


----------



## riffjim4069

Sunday's NHL HD game, Bruins vs. Wings, in not in HD on WRC-DT. It's a good I have other sources because it is being show in HD in Richmond, Detroit and Seattle. I hope WRC fixes this problem before they drop the puck for the 2nd period.


----------



## mikepinkerton

Does anyone else on D* have problems with WUSA breaking up when switching camera angles? I'll see some garbage near the top and bottom of the screen that's not related to normal motion artifacts. It only seem to happen with their college basketball coverage, and it's really annoying.


No other channels do this, I wonder if it's something with my (relatively new) HR20 and MPEG4, but I've only seen this on WUSA while watching basketball (WDCA's ACC coverage doesn't do this).


Am I going crazy?

-Mike


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *arterich* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> However, if I hit the "D/A" button to switch to the analog tuner then hit "D/A" again to switch back to the digital tuner, channel 24-1 now shows up correctly with a *720p* video signal and audio. But if I use CH+/CH- or directly tune to another digital station then try to tune back to 24-1, I get no usable data in the signal again. Hitting "D/A" twice to cycle from digital tuner to analog tuner to digital tuner allows 24-1 to show correctly again. Turning the TV off, letting it sit for a while then turning it back on hasn't fixed the problem.



I thought WUTB-DT 24 was an SD only station. Were they previously sending out a 480i signal? Can anyone confirm this? If they switched to a 720p signal, I wonder if the problem is that the TV tuner still has the station as an 480i SD only in it's internal database. What happens when you selected digital tuner only and enter channel 41 - the actual broadcast channel for WUTB-DT?


The usual step is when you get this type of odd behavior when tuning trying to tune to a digital station is to do a re-scan. If the TV has an update scan option, try that first. If a full re-scan does not clear the entry, what sometimes works is to disconnect the antenna, do a channel scan to clear all stations; then re-connect the antenna and do a full scan.


If WUTB-DT MNT 24 is sending out a 720p signal, perhaps this explains earlier posts about local cable in Baltimore adding it to the HD tier. For those few who can get the 550 Watt signal for WUTB-DT 24 OTA, could you check WUTB-DT this week to see if the My Network programming that is HD this week is sent out in HD by WUTB-DT? MY Network has revamped their schedule, cutting back on the telenovel soaps, so they won't have HD for some of their prime time programming, so check the schedule.


----------



## rosh400

What's up with that?


----------



## SJKurtzke

Did anyone else experience several audio dropouts on WUSA tonight during the end of the NCAA Selection Show?


They weren't the "hard" audio dropouts that used to happen on 7 and 4, but more soft cutouts that would quickly go back into place.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rosh400* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> What's up with that?



They ahve been pretty lax lately with their showing of HD stuff. Seems they can only get weeknight shows right, and that is not always the case.


----------



## arterich




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I thought WUTB-DT 24 was an SD only station. Were they previously sending out a 480i signal? Can anyone confirm this? If they switched to a 720p signal, I wonder if the problem is that the TV tuner still has the station as an 480i SD only in it's internal database. What happens when you selected digital tuner only and enter channel 41 - the actual broadcast channel for WUTB-DT?
> 
> 
> The usual step is when you get this type of odd behavior when tuning trying to tune to a digital station is to do a re-scan. If the TV has an update scan option, try that first. If a full re-scan does not clear the entry, what sometimes works is to disconnect the antenna, do a channel scan to clear all stations; then re-connect the antenna and do a full scan.
> 
> 
> If WUTB-DT MNT 24 is sending out a 720p signal, perhaps this explains earlier posts about local cable in Baltimore adding it to the HD tier. For those few who can get the 550 Watt signal for WUTB-DT 24 OTA, could you check WUTB-DT this week to see if the My Network programming that is HD this week is sent out in HD by WUTB-DT? MY Network has revamped their schedule, cutting back on the telenovel soaps, so they won't have HD for some of their prime time programming, so check the schedule.



Thanks for the suggestion. I ran the Auto Tuner setup and it added channel 41-1 and removed 24-1. I can now switch to 41-1 WUTB-DT whenever I like and it works fine. The 41-1 channel is broadcasting in 720p according the station display info. I'm currently watching WUTB's simulcast of WTTG's Fox 5 News at 10 and the quality certainly seems better than it used to be. It looks as though WUTB is getting a 480p signal from WTTG and upscaling that to 720p. You can tell by how the image is horizontally stretched. I don't get WTTG-DT OTA so I'm not sure how they normally broadcast the news. I'll post back monday or tuesday after I get a chance to see if the My Network programming is show in actual HD as opposed to just a low-def signal upsampled to 720p. I've often wondered why digital stations show up in the channel scan using their analog version's station number when the digital station number is actually something else. Case in point up until now WUTB was available via 24-1 when it was actually being broadcast on 41-1.


----------



## ahsan

Darn UVA (with an inflated 4 seed) gets the early game on CBS out of Columbus, OH on Friday according to cbs.sportsline.com. Will probably MMOD it and then catch it on DVR when I get home. Or does anyone know of any sports bars with HD in Falls Church at which I could take an extended lunch break?


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *arterich* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> I've often wondered why digital stations show up in the channel scan using their analog version's station number when the digital station number is actually something else. Case in point up until now WUTB was available via 24-1 when it was actually being broadcast on 41-1.



The reason that the stations do it is simple: it's required by the FCC.


If 24.1 is only showing up as 41.1, they must be having an issue with their PSIP data or settings.


Mark


----------



## Red Dog

Great news for local college hoops fans. DC is guaranteed 5 games instead of the usual 4 1st Round Thursday with GW playing at 5:10 p.m.


Also Thursday:

Maryland vs Davidson, 12:20

Georgetown vs Belmont, 2:55


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The reason that the stations do it is simple: it's required by the FCC.
> 
> 
> If 24.1 is only showing up as 41.1, they must be having an issue with their PSIP data or settings.
> 
> 
> Mark



I wonder if PSIP is "standardized" enough to be properly implemented by all the stations and set manufacturers. I know that on my set, sometimes stations map properly, provide guide info, and sometimes they don't. Today, I plan to take the set in for a repair issue and discuss this with a tech expert with the set's manufacturer.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I wonder if PSIP is "standardized" enough to be properly implemented by all the stations and set manufacturers. I know that on my set, sometimes stations map properly, provide guide info, and sometimes they don't. Today, I plan to take the set in for a repair issue and discuss this with a tech expert with the set's manufacturer.



What is supposed to be sent out from the station is standardized.


What the receivers use to tune in the channel is not. When a station has a PSIP problem, some receivers have issues, while others do not, depending on what the PSIP problem is. I don't have enough info to tell you what receivers have problems with which part of the PSIP, though.


Mark


----------



## dg28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *billodom* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Two subjects:
> 
> 
> I have not had a chance to see any of the ACC tournament games as of yet--too busy trying to catch up on this thread
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . But I've got to say, I could have predicted that WNUV would absolutely smoke My20 in their HD presentation. I'm surprised nobody who watched the Redskins-Giants game back in December has commented here. I was fortunate enough to get that game on NFL Network through FiOS but the OTA on Fox5--or was it My20 (same thing)--was washed out and not anywhere near the NFL Network quality for what should have been an identical feed. I'm glad I kept my OTA setup. I know where I'll be watching the tournament--and it darn sure won't be on My20.
> 
> 
> Switching gears, I had a chance to catch some of the Wizards-Warriors game last Sunday on 50. I'm again surprised that nobody has commented on the horrendous PQ. Almost every time there was any transition shot, the picture became blurry and there was what I would term macroblocking throughout the game. The color didn't even look right--like it was slightly washed out. Is CSN HD's feed that poor? Say it ain't so. I'm thinking it's something in WDCW's equipment that's causing the degraded PQ. Can any CSN-HD viewers comment on the PQ when watching through their Comcast system? Thanks.



It aint so. CSNHD's broadcasts of Wizards games are nearly flawless, whereas WB50s HD Wizards games are a ton blur and macroblocking.


----------



## jmahone




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Did anyone else experience several audio dropouts on WUSA tonight during the end of the NCAA Selection Show?
> 
> 
> They weren't the "hard" audio dropouts that used to happen on 7 and 4, but more soft cutouts that would quickly go back into place.



For the first time in the two weeks that I have owned a D* HR20, I noticed audio issues while watching both the Selection Show and another channel (sorry, cannot remember). The sound would kinda buzz, but in a digital sense (obviously), not an analog static-y way. Sorry for the lame description, but I know what I'm talking about







It reminds me of how computer audio sometimes get jumbled for a brief moment. It would last for about a quarter to a half second, then the audio would be fine again. This happened 6-7 times I'd say during the Selection Show, and it seemed like I noticed it most with Greg Gumbel.


I'm still in careful watching mode with this HR20 to make sure it is a good box, so my heart dropped a bit when we heard this. I know we were recording at the time; I was recording the Selection show (and watching it) and the Paris-Nice race on VS.


So, I do not know if what I heard was a D*, HR20, or my connections issue.


Anyone else?


----------



## paulstefano

Did anybody else watch the Maryland vs. Towson Lacrosse game on Saturday? I recorded it, and when I watched it, WMAR switched out to coverage of the NASCAR race with 3 minutes left in the 3rd period of the game. They never went back. I only recorded the OTA feed, so maybe the re-transmission was different.


I contacted WMAR and they told me the game was aired in it's entirety.


Now, either I'm crazy, or WMAR is wrong.


Anybody else notice this?


----------



## Skeptic Tank




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> What is supposed to be sent out from the station is standardized.
> 
> 
> What the receivers use to tune in the channel is not. When a station has a PSIP problem, some receivers have issues, while others do not, depending on what the PSIP problem is. I don't have enough info to tell you what receivers have problems with which part of the PSIP, though.
> 
> 
> Mark



Maybe you can help with this one.


I've heard that the FCC requires cable companies to pass through the PSIP data on their unencrypted QAM channels.


But since they can have subchannels from different broadcasters on the same physical QAM channel, whose virtual channel number should they use, and how should receivers react to it?


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It aint so. CSNHD's broadcasts of Wizards games are nearly flawless, whereas WB50s HD Wizards games are a ton blur and macroblocking.



That is great to hear, because I thought the GS Warriors at Wizards game on CW was horrendous. Every time there was a motion, the blur was really bad. I thought that all CSN HD games looked like that. Now if I could only get CSN-HD, it would be nice.


----------



## zebras23

I noticed that my Panasonic VCR's did not change time yesterday. They are set to auto time mode, which I believe uses a signal encrypted in PBS signals. Did anyone else have problems w/ non-digital equipment? Do you suspect an equipment issue and/or a WETA issue?


Thanks.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Skeptic Tank* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Maybe you can help with this one.
> 
> 
> I've heard that the FCC requires cable companies to pass through the PSIP data on their unencrypted QAM channels.
> 
> 
> But since they can have subchannels from different broadcasters on the same physical QAM channel, whose virtual channel number should they use, and how should receivers react to it?



Sorry - I've never looked into that. I really have no idea.


It's a good question, though.


Mark


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zebras23* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I noticed that my Panasonic VCR's did not change time yesterday. They are set to auto time mode, which I believe uses a signal encrypted in PBS signals. Did anyone else have problems w/ non-digital equipment? Do you suspect an equipment issue and/or a WETA issue?
> 
> 
> Thanks.



VCR? What's that?


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> What is supposed to be sent out from the station is standardized.
> 
> 
> What the receivers use to tune in the channel is not. When a station has a PSIP problem, some receivers have issues, while others do not, depending on what the PSIP problem is. I don't have enough info to tell you what receivers have problems with which part of the PSIP, though.
> 
> 
> Mark



But if some receivers properly decode this info and others don't it seems to me that the broadcasters will have a major issue on their hands when the shutoff occurs. If you are advertising yourself as Network 25, but on some sets you are mapped to channel 25-1 and on others you are not mapped and appear as 31-1, then your branding initiatives become iffy at best.


The broadcasters and the manufacturers need to solve this issue and do it soon wouldn't you say?


----------



## EricRobins

Has WUSA or WJZ (or even WCBS) announced which NCAA first round games they were planning on showing?


The WUSA site only lists "NCAA Tournament" game (or something like that).


Is it safe to assume WUSA will show G-town, GW, UVa, UMD, and Va Tech? Are any at the same time?


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The broadcasters and the manufacturers need to solve this issue and do it soon wouldn't you say?



The broadcasters are doing their thing properly. Some of the recievers in the world don't work well outside of the lab, and are more sensitive to errors. If we were not holding up our end of PSIP, no one would get the signal.


This is not a widespread issue, just some recievers are not built as well as others. You can't expect a Hyundai to run at 150 mph like a Porsche, but they are basically the same machine, operating under the same principles.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Skeptic Tank* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I've heard that the FCC requires cable companies to pass through the PSIP data on their unencrypted QAM channels.
> 
> 
> But since they can have subchannels from different broadcasters on the same physical QAM channel, whose virtual channel number should they use, and how should receivers react to it?



If they pass the PSIP data through, then the PSIP data should map to the broadcast station number. Just the same as OTA, I would think, but the station source PSIP data field presumably has the broadcast channel number, such as 35, and that would be different for the cable signal.


Verizon Fios apparently passes the PSIP though for the major local digital stations. I hooked up a recently acquired Samsung DTB-H260F ATSC receiver with QAM capability and did a channel scan for the Fios signal to see what showed up. The local HD stations were mapped to the broadcast channel, WRC-DT showed up at 4.1, 4.2, WTTG-DT showed up at 5.1, got 7.1, 7.2, 9.1, 9.2, 20.1, 26.1 and so on. Made it easy to find the local HD stations and their sub-channels using a clear QAM tuner. However, the rest of the channels, including the Univision channel 14 which is a digital SD station showed up at packed QAM channel numbers like 66.something. Got 100s of sub-channels that I could not tune to, so this is a messy process.


However, when I did a scan with my older Samsung SIR-T451 receiver, it did not map the HD stations. Figuring out where all the unscrambled channels are is time consuming, more so when trying it out with different receivers. I started on putting together a list of unscrambled local QAM channels for Verizon Fios. I should finish that effort and post it.


Can't speak for what the FCC actually requires. When I was on Loudoun Adelphia, I did a clear QAM scan and the local channels did not get remapped. But maybe the newer ATSC/QAM receivers have newer software for handling PSIP data via QAM that the earlier generation model does not. All very complicated. I'll have to read up on PSIP data format to understand what info it provides.


----------



## opaque




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dneily* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I have both Verizon FIOS and COMCAST. Verizon has the ACC Tournament on both ESPN2HD and WDCA-HD. Meanwhile, ESPN2HD is blacked out on COMCAST. Ironically, WDCA-HD is a station that COMCAST does not carry.



Actually, WDCA-HD will be added to Comcast Cable in PW County this Wednesday along with a ton of new channels. Don't know about the rest of the Balto/Wash area, but I got the mailing a few weeks ago and they have been in our area doing fiber work in the last few months. DIY, nat'l geo-HD, espn2-hd, CSN-MA, etc (recalling from memory) are to be added as well as digital phone.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *arterich* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Thanks for the suggestion. I ran the Auto Tuner setup and it added channel 41-1 and removed 24-1. I can now switch to 41-1 WUTB-DT whenever I like and it works fine. The 41-1 channel is broadcasting in 720p according the station display info. I'm currently watching WUTB's simulcast of WTTG's Fox 5 News at 10 and the quality certainly seems better than it used to be. It looks as though WUTB is getting a 480p signal from WTTG and upscaling that to 720p. You can tell by how the image is horizontally stretched. I don't get WTTG-DT OTA so I'm not sure how they normally broadcast the news. I'll post back monday or tuesday after I get a chance to see if the My Network programming is show in actual HD as opposed to just a low-def signal upsampled to 720p. I've often wondered why digital stations show up in the channel scan using their analog version's station number when the digital station number is actually something else. Case in point up until now WUTB was available via 24-1 when it was actually being broadcast on 41-1.



WUTB-DT MNT 24 should not be showing up as channel 41-1. The station is putting out an incorrect PSIP header; possibly with an incorrect field. You or someone else who actually receives the weak DT signal OTA should contact them and let them know that they need to double check their PSIP settings.


Looking at the My Network schedule, tonight they are showing IFL Battleground (??), which I guess is some sort of pro wrestling show. The odds of this being in HD are very small. Tuesday night is two hour block for their new telenovel soap series which should be available in HD. I would expect it to be HD on WDCA-DT 20. But we don't know if WUTB-DT is ready to pass on a network HD feed yet. All we know is that apparently they are sending out a 720p sub-channel. If they do start passing on HD, we will have another HD station in the Balt-DC area, albeit one with a very low power signal. Besides it's My Network, which has been getting lower ratings than a lot of cable channels.


----------



## CuseHokie




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *EricRobins* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Has WUSA or WJZ (or even WCBS) announced which NCAA first round games they were planning on showing?
> 
> 
> The WUSA site only lists "NCAA Tournament" game (or something like that).
> 
> 
> Is it safe to assume WUSA will show G-town, GW, UVa, UMD, and Va Tech? Are any at the same time?



I don't know if anyone has realized it, but GW plays at 5pm on one of the days (Thursday?).


Historically, that is always when the east coast news will come on for local/natl.


However, with GW playing then, I'd have to believe they'd override their newscasts?


However, wusa's webpage doesn't say...


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The broadcasters are doing their thing properly. Some of the recievers in the world don't work well outside of the lab, and are more sensitive to errors. If we were not holding up our end of PSIP, no one would get the signal.
> 
> 
> This is not a widespread issue, just some recievers are not built as well as others. You can't expect a Hyundai to run at 150 mph like a Porsche, but they are basically the same machine, operating under the same principles.



Well, WJLA-DT comes in fine on my cheap receiver with channels mapped to 7.1, .2, .3 and program guide info. Are you speaking for all of the stations in the Baltimore and Washington market or just yours?


From what I've read online, there are at least (5) manufacturers who make PSIP HW and SW. Does every station buy their PSIP HW and SW from the same vendor or is there a split? Do all those vendors have properly functioning SW or do they sometimes send out updates to correct/fix bugs? Is it not possible that there are also some problems on the broadcasters' side? If not, then why have there been issues discussed in the past on these forums where a station engineer made a PSIP change and suddenly folks couldn't get the channel or it didn't map?


OK. Let's assume that the broadcasters are all doing things properly and that I have a cheap receiver. Then why do you suppose that the cheap receiver decodes some channels correctly and others not? And when the masses of Americans switch over to the Digital Age in 2009, don't we suspect that a lot of us will do so with "cheap" receivers?


Has anyone got a list of the receivers (cheap or otherwise) that are compatible with the streams that are being put out by the different broadcasters and their different HW and SW all being configured/set-up by different engineers?


It seems to me that the very concept of PSIP and the sheer amount of HW/SW involved makes it possible for an error to occur in more places than just in the "cheap"receivers.


----------



## howie14

Hi everyone,


I'm having an audio sync problem I assumed is the fault of the OTA tuner in my Hitachi 42HDT79, but Hitachi swears it is a broadcast problem.


I live in Carroll County MD 21784 and can easily pick up both Washington and Baltimore OTA signals with my Radio Shack outdoor antenna and Channel Master preamp, both about 12 years old.


I recently started using the monitor out set to "TV tuner" to record signals from the Hitachi tuner to a DVD recorder and discovered that if I tried to watch another source, such as DISH Network, while the DVD was recording an OTA program from the monitor the OTA audio would go out of sync-quite drastically by the end of an hour program.


Even without recording to the DVD, I find that if I surf between a satellite program and an OTA program and I watch the satellite program for any length of time, the OTA program will be out of sync when I return to it. The audio stays in sync as long as I continue to watch OTA only.


So far, I've noticed the problem on the DT signals of WRC, WBAL, WJZ, WDCA, and WBFF.


As I stated at the beginning, Hitachi swears the problem is in my reception of the OTA signals or in the stations' broadcasts but not in the Hitachi tuner.


Does anyone know if this could be a "broadcast issue" as they claim?


----------



## PaulGo

"Does anyone know if this could be a "broadcast issue" as they claim?"


From what you describe it does not seem to be a broadcast problem. It certainly appears to be a hardware related problem where the hardware gets out of sync. Several years ago Samsung had a problem with the sound getting out of sync on their HLN model DLP sets they finally issued a hardware fix. To me it appears the delay is different on the satellite feed and when you go back to OTA it does not re-sync.


----------



## Skeptic Tank




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> If they pass the PSIP data through, then the PSIP data should map to the broadcast station number. Just the same as OTA, I would think, but the station source PSIP data field presumably has the broadcast channel number, such as 35, and that would be different for the cable signal.



If I understand you correctly, then if the cable company does it right, different subchannels on the same QAM channel can cause the receiver to map them to different broadcast station numbers?


Looks like Comcast isn't as careful in setting this up as Verizon is. My DTB-H260's

QAM scan missed a subchannel which my SIR-T451 found by (I think) ignoring the PSIP data.


----------



## Red Dog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *EricRobins* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Has WUSA or WJZ (or even WCBS) announced which NCAA first round games they were planning on showing?
> 
> 
> The WUSA site only lists "NCAA Tournament" game (or something like that).
> 
> 
> Is it safe to assume WUSA will show G-town, GW, UVa, UMD, and Va Tech? Are any at the same time?




I believe it is safe to assume that. None are in the same timeslot.


I bet that WJZ shows these same games except for GW, since that is in the odd timeslot (only areas of local interest get those games).


What is interesting is that if GW and GTown both win, they are scheduled for the same timeslot on Saturday, so I don't know what WUSA would do in that case.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*

FiOS Construction Locations Mar 1st thru Mar 31st*


Anne Arundel County Schedule

http://www22.verizon.com/about/commu...es/aacomar.doc 


Baltimore County Schedule

http://www22.verizon.com/about/commu...es/bacomar.doc 


Howard County Schedule

http://www22.verizon.com/about/commu...es/hocomar.doc 


Montgomery County Schedule

http://www22.verizon.com/about/commu...es/mocomar.doc 


Prince George's County Schedule

http://www22.verizon.com/about/commu...es/pgcomar.doc


----------



## Red Dog

From Sue Baldwin at WUSA 9



> Quote:
> Thursday's games are as follows:
> 
> 
> On 3/15/07, W*USA 9 will air the following games on our analog and
> 
> digital channels:
> 
> 
> (same game will air on both)
> 
> 
> Daytime Games (scheduled 12:10-7pm)
> 
> 
> Game #1 12:20pm Maryland vs. Davidson
> 
> 
> Game #2 2:45pm Georgetown vs. Belmont
> 
> 
> Game #3 4:55pm Vanderbilt vs. George Washington
> 
> 
> Nighttime Games (scheduled 7pm-12mid)
> 
> 
> Game #1 7:10pm Duke vs. VCU
> 
> 
> Game #2 9:40pm North Carolina vs. Eastern Kentucky
> 
> 
> Friday's games are not yet confirmed.


----------



## EricRobins

Did Ms Baldwin indicate which games would be in HD?


----------



## Red Dog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *EricRobins* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Did Ms Baldwin indicate which games would be in HD?




All are supposed to be HD, but with this crazy stuff I'm hearing in the thread in the programming subforum, who knows.


----------



## dg28

All games are boradcast in HD. The only time you may not see a game in HD is when the channel you're watching switches from its scheduled game to another game.


----------



## Red Dog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> All games are boradcast in HD. The only time you may not see a game in HD is when the channel you're watching switches from its scheduled game to another game.




Not according to the sticky thread in the programming sub-forum.


----------



## howie14




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PaulGo* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> "Does anyone know if this could be a "broadcast issue" as they claim?"
> 
> 
> From what you describe it does not seem to be a broadcast problem. It certainly appears to be a hardware related problem where the hardware gets out of sync. Several years ago Samsung had a problem with the sound getting out of sync on their HLN model DLP sets they finally issued a hardware fix. To me it appears the delay is different on the satellite feed and when you go back to OTA it does not re-sync.



Thanks. That's what this layman had assumed.


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The reason that the stations do it is simple: it's required by the FCC.



Most stations would do it as long as they were _allowed_ to -- because they build their branding around their analog channel assignments.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Red Dog* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Not according to the sticky thread in the programming sub-forum.



According to HD Sports guide, all the first round games are in HD. In that thread, a lot of people say the same thing, that all games will be in HD, except if the station switches from its scheduled game to another game.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Most stations would do it as long as they were _allowed_ to -- because they build their branding around their analog channel assignments.



OK, there's that, too.


Although, I agree with the previous poster who brought up the point that things are going to wierd after the analog shutoff. People going to have to call the station to find out what channel I actually am broadcasting on, if their TV doesn't pick it up when they are auto-programming it (unless they look it up on the web).


Mark


----------



## Red Dog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> According to HD Sports guide, all the first round games are in HD. In that thread, a lot of people say the same thing, that all games will be in HD, except if the station switches from its scheduled game to another game.




I believe it is the other way around.


If it is a constant feed, like the Georgetown, Maryland, and GW games will be in DC, we will get upconverted SD, which makes no sense whatsoever.


----------



## Red Dog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Red Dog* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> From Sue Baldwin at WUSA 9
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Quote:
> Thursday's games are as follows:
> 
> 
> On 3/15/07, W*USA 9 will air the following games on our analog and
> 
> digital channels:
> 
> 
> (same game will air on both)
> 
> 
> Daytime Games (scheduled 12:10-7pm)
> 
> 
> Game #1 12:20pm Maryland vs. Davidson
> 
> 
> Game #2 2:45pm Georgetown vs. Belmont
> 
> 
> Game #3 4:55pm Vanderbilt vs. George Washington
> 
> 
> Nighttime Games (scheduled 7pm-12mid)
> 
> 
> Game #1 7:10pm Duke vs. VCU
> 
> 
> Game #2 9:40pm North Carolina vs. Eastern Kentucky
> 
> 
> Friday's games are not yet confirmed.
Click to expand...



Here are the Friday games according the WUSA website:


Daytime Games (scheduled 12:10-5pm)


Game #1 12:15pm - UVA vs. Albany

NOTE: Constant status is pending for this game.


Game #2 2:35pm - Notre Dame vs. Winthrop


Nighttime Games (scheduled 7pm-12mid)


Game #1 7:10pm - Virginia Tech vs. Illinois

NOTE: Constant status is pending for this game.


Game #2 9:30pm - Kentucky vs. Villanova



*And most importantly:

CBS is not offering our local games as constants in High Definition. To contact their audience services department send e-mail to [email protected] *


http://www.wusa9.com/news/news_artic...vMHUOQNueCQ%3D


----------



## CuseHokie

What does that constant jargon mean?


Does it mean the local game will be in SD, and the HD channel will just have something else on it (whatever the national audience is seeing)??


If so, I'm assuming that is to allow us to see two games at a time?


----------



## Red Dog

No. Same game on both channels.


Constant means that the game will never be switched, even if it is a blowout. You'll see it from beginning to end.


----------



## CuseHokie




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Red Dog* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> No. Same game on both channels.
> 
> 
> Constant means that the game will never be switched, even if it is a blowout. You'll see it from beginning to end.



Duh, I realize that...


But what does "CBS is not offering our local games as constants in High Definition" mean?


I figure it means the local games will not be on HD, and in place of them, some other game will be?


----------



## Red Dog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CuseHokie* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Duh, I realize that...
> 
> 
> But what does "CBS is not offering our local games as constants in High Definition" mean?
> 
> 
> I figure it means the local games will not be on HD, and in place of them, some other game will be?




Like I said before it is the same game on both channels and based on the thread in the programming forum, the digital channel will be an upconverted SD feed, even though the areas of the country that get the game non-constant will have a HD feed. So simply put, since the Maryland, Georgetown, and GW games (and possibly VT and UVA games) are "local games as constants," we will not get these games in HD and will not get a different game on the digital channel.


----------



## mikemikeb

The reason that constants will be in SD makes sense to me. Remember that CBS only has the ability to downlink four HD feeds at once now, and during the first two rounds, four games may be occurring at once. Most people will get a non-constant feed, and CBS will want to switch between games for those viewers. Apparently, it would be too difficult to independently switch each HD feed in a manner that will allow a constant area to view the whole game in HD, so all constants are being sent in SD to save CBS the trouble.


Maybe in later rounds, where only two games will occur at once, will there be constants and non-constants in HD.


----------



## dg28

I mean seriously, if this is going to happen as some of you and some of the stations are saying (upconverting SD in order to get a constant feed) this is a joke. I understand the technical limitations of CBS. But really, why can't we just have the constant feed on the SD channel and the HD feed on the HD channel. When CBS switches the HD feed to another game, I can just flip to the SD channel. Am I missing something here? Does this make sense? It may be time to overwhelm WUSA with e-mails about this.


----------



## bmfc1

*dg28 nails it.* The "constant" means that if Georgetown is beating whomever by 50, WUSA stays with it because it's a local team. I get that but for those of us that are more interested in the tournament overall than any local team, why not keep the SD feed as the constant and switch the HD feed to a closer game? Does WUSA _have_ to have the same game on both? They didn't last year!


----------



## Red Dog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bmfc1* /forum/post/0
> 
> *dg28 nails it.* The "constant" means that if Georgetown is beating whomever by 50, WUSA stays with it because it's a local team. I get that but for those of us that are more interested in the tournament overall than any local team, why not keep the SD feed as the constant and switch the HD feed to a closer game? Does WUSA _have_ to have the same game on both? They didn't last year!




In other thread, some touched on that. Not sure - they might have to.


Otherwise, I agree with you - they could go constant on the SD channel and flex on the HD and if they flex out, WUSA could easily run a crawl on 9.1 telling people to tune to 9 if they want to continue watching the local interest game.


Yeah, it royally bites. One more reason why I'll be spending the entire weekend at a friend's house with D*. But I'll still be screwed out of watching the Maryland game in HD.


----------



## dg28

Ok, I just fired off an email to WUSA about this. I encourage others to do so. Strength in numbers.


----------



## EricRobins




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Ok, I just fired off an email to WUSA about this. I encourage others to do so. Strength in numbers.



Email address?


----------



## dg28

 [email protected]


----------



## ahsan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/0
> 
> [email protected]



E-Mail sent. If the locals (I have rooting interests in UVA, Gtown, and GW) are not in HD, I will be really disappointed. How did WUSA handle local teams last year in the first couple rounds?

To whom it may concern,


I have just come to find out that WUSA Ch. 9 may not be showing the games of highest interest (local schools) in HD, in the Washington Metro Area. This is a horrible policy for fans of UVA (myself), Georgetown (my 2nd team), GW (my father's alma mater), UMD, and Virginia Tech. I have been looking forward to watching my teams play in HD, especially on CBS. CBS tends to have the best picture out of all networks/cable stations in HD especially for sports (NFL, SEC football, and SEC basketball). However, after reading numerous posts on local Hi-Def boards and sports boards, people are stating that our local teams are going to be broadcast as constants (despite blowouts). The fact that they are being broadcast as constants is a PLUS because we want to watch our teams all the way through. But, I believe this is the reason you are not going to be broadcasting these games in HD! This will be a great travesty and I would hope WUSA/CBS pulls out all the stops to show the premiere sporting event of the year in full HD glory! Do whatever it takes!


----------



## ahsan

I found the following link/quote off a UVA bball forum (although it refers back to an article in the Houston Chronicle).

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...n/4621084.html 
*HD compromises*


Unlike last season, CBS will show every Tournament game in HDTV. The advantage is that every game will be in HDTV. The disadvantage is that stations no longer have the option, as they did last season, to show different games on standard-def and HD channels.


For example, any game assigned to KHOU (Channel 11) will air on both its standard def and its HD channel, which is Channel 31 for those of you using an antenna and channel 311 for Time Warner Cable customers.


There may, however, be an occasional wrinkle for HD purists. Texas or Texas A&M games will be "constant" games for the Houston market. HD programs, however, will be "flex" games, which means they can be switched to

another location at CBS' discretion.
There seems to be a contradiction in the first and last paragraph above. The first leads one to believe stations are forced to show both, while the latter allows for switching on the digital feed.


----------



## Red Dog

I sent an e-mail suggesting they go with the flex HD feed for the local teams and if the network center flexes off the local game in HD, then WUSA could switch to the upconverted SD constant transmission.


----------



## Mike20878




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The tri-color spread on WRC 4 is bizarre. The picture for WBAL-DT 11 in Baltimore is not doing this, so this problem is with WRC. But I'm getting dropouts for WBAL-DT, as I sometimes do, so that is not a viable option at the moment. Argh!



I'm catching up on this thread now and just getting to this section... I watched Heroes on DVR a week or so late and I was panicking at first that my rear projection had bought the farm.


----------



## CuseHokie




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Red Dog* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Like I said before it is the same game on both channels and based on the thread in the programming forum, the digital channel will be an upconverted SD feed, even though the areas of the country that get the game non-constant will have a HD feed. So simply put, since the Maryland, Georgetown, and GW games (and possibly VT and UVA games) are "local games as constants," we will not get these games in HD and will not get a different game on the digital channel.



Why would they do SD twice, on the regular SD channel and on the HD channel, for the same game?


That makes absolutely no sense.


Am I missing something?


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CuseHokie* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Why would they do SD twice, on the regular SD channel and on the HD channel, for the same game?
> 
> 
> That makes absolutely no sense.
> 
> 
> Am I missing something?



Because CBS never does that with SD programming.


----------



## arterich

As a follow up to the issue with WUTB-DT, the station has since re-appeared correctly on digital channel 24-1. The stream also claims to be coming in at 720p.


During the primetime programming of My Network TV, the image appears to be a 16:9 video stream matted to fit a 4:3 aspect ratio. The 4:3 matted video is then stretched horizontally to fit a 16:9 aspect ratio. Unfortunately this leaves the image on the screen looking distorted because of the extra matting bars on the top and bottom that really shouldn't be that in an HD feed. On my 16:9 HDTV, the active video area has an aspect ratio of 64:27 or 2.37:1 instead of the usual 16:9 or 1.78:1 of most HD feeds. The picture quality doesn't look like 720p so I think they're simply taking a 16:9 video matted to 4:3 in SD and simply upsampling the entire 4:3 frame to 16:9 and using that for their HD feed.


----------



## jcole66

Is anyone else in the Comcast/Arlington area having issues with HD Channels tonight? Fox/CBS/NBC and ABC are completely un-watchable. Video breakups and either audio drop outs or no audio at all. HBOHD is completely blank with no video or audio but Sho/Starz and most of my other HD channels are just fine.

Comcast says there are no signal problems and they beleive it's the DVR box but I have my doubts..


----------



## paragon

Does anybody have a scan of the new Comcast Arlington/Alexandria price list? I just moved into the area, and I remembered seeing it in my roommate's mail, but he must have thrown it out.


I'd like to make sure that my bill is adding up to what it's supposed to be, and the price list would really be helpful.


Thanks in advance!


----------



## mikepinkerton

Wait, so people watching HD care only about the tournament as a whole, and those watching SD only care about seeing the local team? Huh?


Personally, I only care about the tourney as a whole, but why would only HD customers (

-Mike


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikepinkerton* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Wait, so people watching HD care only about the tournament as a whole, and those watching SD only care about seeing the local team? Huh?
> 
> 
> -Mike



Yes, I can careless if the VT Hokies game is in HD or SD I don't want to watch any other game, even it is a blowout, just in case they make a miraculous comeback. The same thing goes for UVA, but for a different reason, I want to keep watching them lose even if it is a blow out. I do care about the tournament, but first I want to see my school's game before I watch UCLA's or UNC's.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *arterich* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> As a follow up to the issue with WUTB-DT, the station has since re-appeared correctly on digital channel 24-1. The stream also claims to be coming in at 720p.
> 
> 
> During the primetime programming of My Network TV, the image appears to be a 16:9 video stream matted to fit a 4:3 aspect ratio. The 4:3 matted video is then stretched horizontally to fit a 16:9 aspect ratio. Unfortunately this leaves the image on the screen looking distorted because of the extra matting bars on the top and bottom that really shouldn't be that in an HD feed. On my 16:9 HDTV, the active video area has an aspect ratio of 64:27 or 2.37:1 instead of the usual 16:9 or 1.78:1 of most HD feeds. The picture quality doesn't look like 720p so I think they're simply taking a 16:9 video matted to 4:3 in SD and simply upsampling the entire 4:3 frame to 16:9 and using that for their HD feed.



I'm not clear on what you are describing. The telenovels soaps are shot to 16:9 and are shown letterboxed on the Sd channel. If they are showing the SD version, then it would be window boxed on the HD channel. Was WUTB-DT 24 stretching the SD feed?


When I was channel surfing pass WDCA-DT 20 both on Tuesday and tonight, I noticed that they were not showing the new soaps in HD. They were upconverting the SD feed, so the shows were letterboxed. WDCA-DT 20 has been showing the My Network soaps in HD. But the movie last week that was reported to be shown in true HD in other markets was not in HD on WDCA-DT. But have they now gotten so sloppy, that WDCA-DT is not bothering to switch to the HD feed from the network?


----------



## dg28

Anyone get a response from WUSA regarding today's games? I did not. I guess our e-mails haven't gotten us very far, but we'll find out for sure today. If they stick to their decision, which apparently is what the network is telling them to do, they are going to be overwhelmed by phone calls beginning at about 12:20pm today.


Regarding WJZ, there is nothing specific about this issue on their website (though their online guide does list the games as in HD). Maybe they'll do something different? However, I'm not optimistic since WJZ is an O&O.


----------



## chefklc




> Quote:
> Is anyone else in the Comcast/Arlington area having issues with HD Channels tonight? Fox/CBS/NBC and ABC are completely un-watchable. Video breakups and either audio drop outs or no audio at all.



jcole66--last night I had no problem recording Bones, Jericho and Lost in HD via QAM in Arlington. I just bounced around to 4 or 5 spots within each show, everything seemed fine, no problems with digital audio dropping out.


I asked this question previously and no one answered--so I'll try again:


Anyone in Arlington with a QAM tuner having a problem with WDCW? It has always been in the clear for us at 113-9 and at 729MHz--now it's showing up as encrypted for me--can anyone else verify and/or confirm if it's been moved?


----------



## Red Dog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chefklc* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> jcole66--last night I had no problem recording Bones, Jericho and Lost in HD via QAM in Arlington. I just bounced around to 4 or 5 spots within each show, everything seemed fine, no problems with digital audio dropping out.




Neither did I watching Jericho and Lost.


----------



## zebras23




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paragon* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Does anybody have a scan of the new Comcast Arlington/Alexandria price list? I just moved into the area, and I remembered seeing it in my roommate's mail, but he must have thrown it out.
> 
> 
> I'd like to make sure that my bill is adding up to what it's supposed to be, and the price list would really be helpful.
> 
> 
> Thanks in advance!



I had some serious issues - VSHD (254) and Discovery HD (225) where unwatchable (even after a reboot). Also my wife records CBS (212) every afternoon from 12:30 to 4 and it was unwatchable (but better - w/ still some breakups that evening). I called Comcast - they asked me to reboot (standard answer). They are sending someone out tomorrow morning.


What Comcast doesn't know is while I was on hold waiting for a Comcast CSR - Verizon called on the other line and said "You can now get FiOS TV". W/o major concessions from Comcast (and I doubt they can meet my demands) - I'm gone.


----------



## JoeInNVa

I had no problems with Comcast last night.


----------



## tonyd79

Watching UMD on WJZ. Is that really upconverted SD? If so, it looks pretty damned good.


----------



## dg28

A pleasant surprise - both WJZDT and WUSADT are in full, glorious HD! If only Maryland was playing as pretty as the picture...


----------



## Red Dog

Definitely a pleasant surprise.


----------



## ahsan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> A pleasant surprise - both WJZDT and WUSADT are in full, glorious HD! If only Maryland was playing as pretty as the picture...



Wonderful! Thanks for the update. Looking forward to UVA in HD tomorrow.


----------



## derwin0

has WJZ published a schedule anywhere for the tournament?


----------



## zebras23

As I mentioned earlier today I can get Verizon FiOS installed (the fiber was run to the curb in front of my house in Nov. 05 - South Arlington). Is anyone aware of any "special packages/deals" I should be looking for? Are they offering anything similar to the Comcast "Tripleplay"? I went on the web and can get TV/Interent for 100.95/mo (3 boxes/1DVR no premium channels or packages). This is about $10 less than my current Comcast, but if I were a new subscriber to Comcast I could get the triple play for $100 (not including Boxes/DVRs).


Any good thoughts here?


Thanks


----------



## derwin0




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> A pleasant surprise - both WJZDT and WUSADT are in full, glorious HD! If only Maryland was playing as pretty as the picture...



"Fear The Turtle", was great to see in HD


----------



## Red Dog

Guess the pleasant surprise is over. No HD for G-Town.


----------



## yekim54




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Red Dog* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Guess the pleasant surprise is over. No HD for G-Town.



No HD for Georgetown on WUSA 9.1, but yes HD on WJZ 13! Belmont is giving them all they can handle through the first 8 minutes.


----------



## VARTV

_So-called 'HD Lite' to Continue_


Starting in September, DirecTV plans to add 100 HD channels, but subscribers shouldn't expect a change in their HD signal quality.


The HD feeds will continue to feature the same transmission strength the satellite TV provider currently offers, spokesman Robert Mercer said. (read more - TV Week )


----------



## Red Dog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *yekim54* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> No HD for Georgetown on WUSA 9.1, but yes HD on WJZ 13! Belmont is giving them all they can handle through the first 8 minutes.




That's cool. Normally I get that (from my hi-rise in Arlington), but I am over a friend's house with D* in DC (brought an extra TV over with my antenna), and I can't pull in the WJZ signal from here.


----------



## yekim54




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Red Dog* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> That's cool. Normally I get that (from my hi-rise in Arlington), but I am over a friend's house with D* in DC (brought an extra TV over with my antenna), and I can't pull in the WJZ signal from here.



About an hour ago a weather front moved through with some wind gusts that caused both WUSA and WJZ to break up. But all is good now and WJZ HD is coming in loud and clear. Georgetown finally came alive over the last 10 minutes and look to be in control of the game at the half.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/0
> 
> _So-called 'HD Lite' to Continue_
> 
> 
> Starting in September, DirecTV plans to add 100 HD channels, but subscribers shouldn't expect a change in their HD signal quality.
> 
> 
> The HD feeds will continue to feature the same transmission strength the satellite TV provider currently offers, spokesman Robert Mercer said. (read more - TV Week )



I didn't read it the same way.


I read the quotes as saying "We are good, we will stay good."


Doesn't say jack about actual numbers.


Assuming anything from those quotes is questionable reporting.


----------



## ashutoshsm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I read the quotes as saying "We are good, we will stay good."



Doesn't affect VARTV's interpretation, though ... seeing as we all know that means "We CLAIM we were good, and don't intend to bother to improve" and we all know they're bad.


To paraphrase a certain now jobless sports luminary ... "DirectTV is who we Thought they were. now if you want to crown their A$$ ..."


----------



## Mike20878




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wkearney99* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Just as long as you realize you're selling yourself down the river against long-term choices. Verizon's conned Congress into letting them exclude the fiber wiring from having to be shared with other services. And if you let them lie to you and insist they pull down your copper wiring you'll have to actually PAY to have it reinstalled in order to get choice again. So be sure you're willing to sell your soul to get fiber...



Are you saying they DON'T have to pull down the copper to install FiOS?


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *yekim54* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> No HD for Georgetown on WUSA 9.1, but yes HD on WJZ 13! Belmont is giving them all they can handle through the first 8 minutes.



Both are in SD now.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ashutoshsm* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Doesn't affect VARTV's interpretation, though ... seeing as we all know that means "We CLAIM we were good, and don't intend to bother to improve" and we all know they're bad.
> 
> 
> To paraphrase a certain now jobless sports luminary ... "DirectTV is who we Thought they were. now if you want to crown their A$$ ..."



Great quote.


I don't think that was VARV's take. It was in the original article...


I still don't read it as they won't improve. Why would they not? If they have the bandwidth, why hoard it?


They will NOT say they will be better as they are claiming they are the best but they sure as shootin can say they got even better when they do.


People are reading too much into PR statements.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Both are in SD now.



Yeah. this is the behavior I am seeing on WJZ and D*:


They are using the HD feeds (which are flex). But if the station (either a D* 700 channel or WJZ or WUSA for local teams) is constant, they drop to SD when the HD feed flexes away to another game.


Not a horrible strategy but still, CBS needs to get its act together on multiple feeds since they support sports like this and the NFL.


----------



## Red Dog

GW game in SD on WUSA. Ridiculous since this is the only game in this timeslot.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> GW game in SD on WUSA. Ridiculous since this is the only game in this timeslot.



..that HDTV programming in this country is still back in the GEICO Caveman days. CBS needs to get its act in gear, they spent billions for the NCAA rights, they can spend a few more bucks when it comes to all HD feeds.


And do we really need a "halftime news" edition instead of NCAA highlights of games I did not see earlier?


----------



## ashutoshsm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I still don't read it as they won't improve. Why would they not? If they have the bandwidth, why hoard it?
> 
> 
> They will NOT say they will be better as they are claiming they are the best but they sure as shootin can say they got even better when they do.



I have no problem with DirecTV making the effort to improve the PQ - heck, even if they do it by going all MPEG-4. As long as I can use a TiVo (not their awful NDS junk)










I doubt I'll ever switch to a satellite provider, though - I love my combined internet/cableTV discount (and I MAY experiment with FIOS/FIOSTV when available) and don't like to pay separate bills


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ashutoshsm* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I have no problem with DirecTV making the effort to improve the PQ - heck, even if they do it by going all MPEG-4. As long as I can use a TiVo (not their awful NDS junk)



The HR20 seems to have matured to the point where it is close to the Tivo in performance. It has some features that are better and a couple glaring ones that are worse (like a lack of dual buffers). I am running both and pretty happy with both.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ashutoshsm* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I doubt I'll ever switch to a satellite provider, though - I love my combined internet/cableTV discount (and I MAY experiment with FIOS/FIOSTV when available) and don't like to pay separate bills



Good points and why they make different flavors of ice cream. Different features/deficiencies mean different things to different people.


----------



## ashutoshsm

All I hear (even in fresh reviews) si the HR20 is still primarily a pile of turd, with DVR capabilities










But we digress ... it ain't a TiVo, won't enter my house.


----------



## dg28

WUSA switched to HD towards the end of the first half for the GW game. The laugher of a game was hardly worth watching though.


----------



## CuseHokie




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikepinkerton* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Wait, so people watching HD care only about the tournament as a whole, and those watching SD only care about seeing the local team? Huh?
> 
> 
> Personally, I only care about the tourney as a whole, but why would only HD customers (
> 
> -Mike



You missed my point.


If we aren't going to get the local game in HD, but just an SD picture on the HD channel, then what is the point of that?


I can just tune to the regular SD channel to see the game in SD. Why reproduce the same SD feed on the HD channel?


----------



## mikepinkerton

Ah yes, sorry.


I'm sure they want us to buy the March Madness package to see other games







I would have, but i'll be out of town for 2wks right in the middle.


-Mike


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Red Dog* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> GW game in SD on WUSA. Ridiculous since this is the only game in this timeslot.



No point in watching any games in Sd. 95% of what I watch is in HD. I'm definitely not watching any sports unless it's in HD.


----------



## philo77




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Mike20878* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Are you saying they DON'T have to pull down the copper to install FiOS?



I had FiOS installed in December and Verizon did not physicaly remove the copper aerial drop to the house, nor did they remove the NIM. They just disconnected it from my internal wiring and connected the ONT in its place.


----------



## aaronwt

Does Comcast do they same thing for their phone service?


----------



## CycloneGT

Comcast isn't allowed to remove Verizon's wiring. They can hook theirs up in place at the NID. I was lucky, when I had FiOS installed, I had two Verizon accounts. One for work, the other for the household. Only the work account was switched to FiOS, the household line remained on copper. When I canceled the work phone numbers, I kept the FiOS internet, and my household line remained on copper.










I saw openned big green box on a phone poll near my house last week it was stuffed with Car batteries. I'm guessing they power FiOS incase of an power outtage. I don't know how well Comcasts network survives in a power outtage. Heck, now that I think about it, it could be Comcast's batteries up on that pole.


----------



## aaronwt

I know my CATV and internet never goes out during a power outage. Even an extended one.


----------



## arterich




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I'm not clear on what you are describing. The telenovels soaps are shot to 16:9 and are shown letterboxed on the Sd channel. If they are showing the SD version, then it would be window boxed on the HD channel. Was WUTB-DT 24 stretching the SD feed?



Yup, it looked like they were simply stretching the SD feed and broadcasting that upsampled to 720p.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> No point in watching any games in Sd. 95% of what I watch is in HD. I'm definitely not watching any sports unless it's in HD.



are you serious? If there is a game I like, I can careless if it is HD or SD, I am going to watch it. Now that is not the same as saying I don't want HD, but if I want to see the game I will, SD won't stop me. Raycom/LF did not have the ACC games in HD, I kept watching the games. I wish that ALL the sporting events would be in HD, but right now it is not the case, that is not going to stop me from watching the Nationals on MASN which is only SD.


----------



## TimGoodwin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> are you serious? If there is a game I like, I can careless if it is HD or SD, I am going to watch it. Now that is not the same as saying I don't want HD, but if I want to see the game I will, SD won't stop me. Raycom/LF did not have the ACC games in HD, I kept watching the games. I wish that ALL the sporting events would be in HD, but right now it is not the case, that is not going to stop me from watching the Nationals on MASN which is only SD.




I agree 100%! But it would be nice to have MASN in HD. At least it would help a little when the Nats lose a hundred games this year.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> are you serious? If there is a game I like, I can careless if it is HD or SD, I am going to watch it. Now that is not the same as saying I don't want HD, but if I want to see the game I will, SD won't stop me. Raycom/LF did not have the ACC games in HD, I kept watching the games. I wish that ALL the sporting events would be in HD, but right now it is not the case, that is not going to stop me from watching the Nationals on MASN which is only SD.



Yes. I'm serious. After almost 6 years of watching and recording HD, I would rather not watch anything, especially sports, in SD. Sd is very hard on the eyes. So blurry and no detail. Once you get used to HD, why would you want to watch SD? I can't even bring myself to watch a DVD, it's got to be HD DVD or BD for me to watch it from a disc.


----------



## ahsan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yes. I'm serious. After almost 6 years of watching and recording HD, I would rather not watch anything, especially sports, in SD. Sd is very hard on the eyes. So blurry and no detail. Once you get used to HD, why would you want to watch SD? I can't even bring myself to watch a DVD, it's got to be HD DVD or BD for me to watch it from a disc.



Guess you're not a die hard fan of any sports teams.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yes. I'm serious. After almost 6 years of watching and recording HD, I would rather not watch anything, especially sports, in SD. Sd is very hard on the eyes. So blurry and no detail. Once you get used to HD, why would you want to watch SD? I can't even bring myself to watch a DVD, it's got to be HD DVD or BD for me to watch it from a disc.



I understand where you are coming from but it seems extreme when you won't even watch a good DVD upconverted. I think you are just more aware of the artifacts because you know the source is SD or DVD.


SD programs (like comedies) aren't so hard but sports does look horrible in SD on an HD set. The only SD sports I will watch are my favorite teams. (I had to for most of the Ravens season this year.)


----------



## EricRobins

Is WUSA or WJW HD for the UVa-Albany game?


----------



## Red Dog

WUSA is not HD for the UVA. A-holes.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *EricRobins* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is WUSA or WJW HD for the UVa-Albany game?



WUSA is SD. Doesn't matter TOO much, as even though it's the middle of the first half, I can already see how it's going to end.


As for WJW, I didn't know that a) Fox aired any NCAA tourney games, or b) we could regularly pick up OTA signals from Cleveland.










If you mean *WJZ*







, I don't know -- I don't have a strong enough signal.


----------



## Theauwolf

On Howard Co. Comcast.


WJZ has Memphis vs. N. Texas HD

WUSA has ALB vs. UVA, 19 point blowout SD


Thank you WJZ for switching!


----------



## tonyd79

WJZ is on the flex feed (UVA is not local for Baltimore) so they are HD (right now on the N Texas/Memphis game).


Edit: They were HD for UVA when it started.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Theauwolf* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> On Howard Co. Comcast.
> 
> 
> WJZ has Memphis vs. N. Texas HD
> 
> WUSA has ALB vs. UVA, 19 point blowout SD
> 
> 
> Thank you WJZ for switching!



In Howard County, you don't get WUSA HD on Comcast, so it will always be SD.


Oh, and WJZ didn't switch. CBS did the switch for them.


----------



## Theauwolf

So in the Flex option they can carry other games that aren't local? Guess I can check their website.


----------



## mdviewer25

Will WUSA be using the HD flex feed for the next game when this UVA debacle is over?


----------



## bmfc1

In MoCo, we're stuck with the VA blow out but 10 minutes away, up 29, they can see the other games? How does this make sense when Charlottesville is hours away from DC?


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bmfc1* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> In MoCo, we're stuck with the VA blow out but 10 minutes away, up 29, they can see the other games? How does this make sense when Charlottesville is hours away from DC?



Technically, it is local since they have campuses in Northern Virginia. My question now is why is WUSA still in SD?


----------



## mikemikeb

Notre Dame v. Winthrop in HD on WUSA. Of course it would be a flex game, anyway, but still. This one might be a good, exciting game, though.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> are you serious? I wish that ALL the sporting events would be in HD, but right now it is not the case, that is not going to stop me from watching the Nationals on MASN which is only SD.



I'm not going to watch any Nats or O's games this year if they are not in HD. I won't attend a game, listen to them on the radio or anything. I'm going to do to them what they did to HD. Give them the big F-U.


----------



## ashutoshsm

*YAWN*


[rhetorical]

When will March Madness end? This discussion is SO boring.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I'm not going to watch any Nats or O's games this year if they are not in HD. I won't attend a game, listen to them on the radio or anything. I'm going to do to them what they did to HD. Give them the big F-U.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yes. I'm serious. After almost 6 years of watching and recording HD, I would rather not watch anything, especially sports, in SD. Sd is very hard on the eyes. So blurry and no detail. Once you get used to HD, *why would you want to watch SD?* I can't even bring myself to watch a DVD, it's got to be HD DVD or BD for me to watch it from a disc.



Like some members said before, you are not die hard sports fans, or even a sports fan for that matter. If there is a good game on TV, my favorite team or not, I will watch it. If the NYY play BOS and I can't get the HD feed I will still watch it. If NE Patriots play the Indy Colts, I will watch it on a SD channel. How is HD TV changing the gameplay? Isn't that why you watch the sport to begin with? If that is not why you are watching the sport, the game itself, then you were misled this whole time.


I DON'T want to watch SD, but if it is the only thing available I will watch it. It was not too long ago that HD did not even exist. Yes, we should be moving forward and embracing new technology, but sometimes it is difficult. If you apply to a company and their systems only have Windows 2000, not even XP, would you refuse to work for them because they are not up to date?


I am not asking either one of you to watch SD games, each one of us can do whatever we like.


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I saw openned big green box on a phone poll near my house last week it was stuffed with Car batteries. I'm guessing they power FiOS incase of an power outtage.



Fios is a "passive" network -- TTBOMK, the only power is at the CO, and at the other end: your house. They do install a backup battery (inside your house) for the ONT.


----------



## mikemikeb

Attention all Hokie fans: The VT-IL game is in HD on WUSA.


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *philo77* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I had FiOS installed in December and Verizon did not physicaly remove the copper aerial drop to the house, nor did they remove the NIM. They just disconnected it from my internal wiring and connected the ONT in its place.



Well in a sense that's "removing" it. The copper is no longer active and part of it between your house and the CO might get reused for some else's line. If you were to try to get DSL from another provider, you'd likely have to pay to have the copper reactivated.


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I know my CATV and internet never goes out during a power outage. Even an extended one.



Comcast goes out here after about 6-8 hours... if the power outage is wide-spread, or a mile or two up the road. They must have some kind of regen or distribution facility in the area (we're about 10 miles from the head end.)


----------



## Onazuka




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yes. I'm serious. After almost 6 years of watching and recording HD, I would rather not watch anything, especially sports, in SD.



I agree. I also can't watch anything that's not widescreen.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Attention all Hokie fans: The VT-IL game is in HD on WUSA.



Probably not constant coverage.


I know it was undetermined as of yesterday.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Onazuka* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I agree. I also can't watch anything that's not widescreen.



Including a movie made in 1942?


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yes, I can careless if the VT Hokies game is in HD or SD I don't want to watch any other game, even it is a blowout, just in case they make a *miraculous comeback*.



I know the game was not a blow out, but when I said the Hokies might have a miraculous comeback, I did not think it was going to be the first game. Nice thing it was in HD, otherwise I would have changed the channel to House on Fox which was in HD.


----------



## SJKurtzke









A Sign of Progress.










It says "promo", but I suspect they've installed it for full-time use, which would explain the improved PQ lately.

http://www.inv3.com/newse.html 

WTTG-FOX5 Washington D.C. Introduces


"The Edge" Promo in v3




Shelia Smith shoots the FOX5 "The Edge" promo with


v3/Angenieux 26x7.8 HD Lens




CONTACT

Walter Pollard/ Vision III Imaging, Inc.

Phone: (703) 478-5270

Fax: (703) 478-5274
[email protected] 


WTTG - FOX5 in Washington D.C. recently collaborated with Vision III Imaging, Inc. for their new on-air promotion of the The Edge news show at 11. FOX5, using the v3/Angenieux 26x7.8 ENG HD zoom lens, produced a promotion with the v3 look that achieves a three dimensional enhanced broadcast image. This introduction into the local Washington D.C. market included on-air promotions and was incorporated into FOX5 sponsored jumbo screen ads at FEDEX field during ******* games, as well as other advertising venues.


Shelia Smith, a local Director of Photography in the Washington D.C. market, used the lens for the first time on the shoot. She thought it integrated seamlessly into the production process and was very enthusiastic about using the lens in future productions.



- END -


----------



## JohnGZ28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Like some members said before, you are not die hard sports fans, or even a sports fan for that matter. If there is a good game on TV, my favorite team or not, I will watch it. If the NYY play BOS and I can't get the HD feed I will still watch it. If NE Patriots play the Indy Colts, I will watch it on a SD channel. How is HD TV changing the gameplay? Isn't that why you watch the sport to begin with? If that is not why you are watching the sport, the game itself, then you were misled this whole time.



I'm with you on this.


I've got a 7" B&W in my garage that I watch sports on when I'm tinkering with the car. Talk about a crappy picture.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Fios is a "passive" network -- TTBOMK, the only power is at the CO, and at the other end: your house. They do install a backup battery (inside your house) for the ONT.



Hmm. That makes sense. Perhaps it powered a remote DSLAM.


----------



## Red Dog

SD for Maryland again. Ridiculous - no excuse since there is only one other game in this slot.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

CBS is really screwed up, they did not cut away for the

start of the Maryland game, they went to commercials

before joining the game in progress, and the freaking

game (like this narrow post) *is in SD*


----------



## skinsfan64

"SD for Maryland again. Ridiculous - no excuse since there is only one other game in this slot".



I think this is the local CBS that is presenting the game in SD. The last minutes of the Ohio State game was also SD. What is up??


----------



## bmfc1

The biggest fans, the ones with the constant, get the lesser signal. How does this make any sense? CBS should be prohibited from carrying any sports unless and until every single game is in HD.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

so go spend a few more bucks and get the HD equipment needed, for God's sake, CBS.


----------



## Tom Cheney

It's in HD on 13, SD on 9. Why?


----------



## Ronin_R6




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bmfc1* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The biggest fans, the ones with the constant, get the lesser signal. How does this make any sense? CBS should be prohibited from carrying any sports unless and until every single game is in HD.



Because CBS cant supply all the games in HD simultaneously. Therefore they make the flex feed, the one with the MOST VIEWERS, the HD feed and the areas that are locked into one game get the SD feeds.


How does it not make sense?


----------



## bmfc1

How about having more more HD feeds? If that's not feasible, not even possible, I'll retract my comment.


----------



## Tom Cheney




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ronin_R6* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Because CBS cant supply all the games in HD simultaneously. Therefore they make the flex feed, the one with the MOST VIEWERS, the HD feed and the areas that are locked into one game get the SD feeds.
> 
> 
> How does it not make sense?



Then how do you explain the fact that the MD game is now on in HD on Channel 13 out of Baltimore?


----------



## Ronin_R6




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bmfc1* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> How about having more more HD feeds? If that's not feasible, not even possible, I'll retract my comment.



From what I have read, currently for CBS that is not possible to show all the games in HD at once, so our options here are to either watch the flex feed in HD, and hope that they stay with the MD game, or watch the SD feed.


I suspect that 13 is showing the flex feed, but monitoring it, so if the Network switches games they will then go to the SD feed, but I am no expert so thats just a guess.


For a while MD was the only game on, so the flex feed was showing it, but as more games tip off, they may jump ship at halftime.


----------



## tjman

WUSA's own website says that the game should be in HD.


----------



## bmfc1

Thanks Ronin. It's obviously frustrating to know that this game is available on HD everywhere but here (and Indiana).


----------



## hokiefan

I called WUSA and when I asked for engineering the guy on the phone immediate said "are you calling about the basketball game?" I then explained that it was HD on WJZ and not on WUSA.


He said it was a technicality that they had to show the SD feed, but it would help if we emailed the general manger at [email protected] to express our thoughts.


----------



## Ronin_R6




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hokiefan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I called WUSA and when I asked for engineering the guy on the phone immediate said "are you calling about the basketball game?" I then explained that it was HD on WJZ and not on WUSA.
> 
> 
> He said it was a technicality that they had to show the SD feed, but it would help if we emailed the general manger at [email protected] to express our thoughts.



He is right, we were deemed as a constant coverage area for this game by the network, therefore they are supposed to switch to the constant feed. Is seems like we should not so much be mad at wusa, but commend wjz for doing the smart thing as holding the HD flex feed as long as they can.


the question is, now that the other games have started does the flex feed come back to the MD game after the half, or will WJZ have to go to the sd constant feed.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

If this is the case, the next few hours will be SD as Georgetown is playing, meaning another "constant feed" and SD for us and Boston (and probably Providence) I'll have to go look at the local forums there later today and see if WBZ and WPRI viewers are having the same issues.


----------



## hokiefan

What I dont get is CBS has 2 or 3 HD video paths. There are only TWO games on right now. Confirmed both are in HD as I was watching the feed out of NYC which is showing the Lou/txa&m game in HD and WJZ is showing the MD game in HD. Why not show the HD feed, and if it ever switches to another game, then goto the SD?


----------



## Knicks_Fan

I wish I knew, checked the Indanapolis forum and the same SD thing is happening on their end.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ashutoshsm* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> *YAWN*
> 
> 
> [rhetorical]
> 
> When will March Madness end? This discussion is SO boring.



To answer your rhetorical question







, I expect the amount of posts to dwindle once we get pass this weekend. I would think that all the games from the Sweet 16 on will be in HD, so there won't be all this yes, it is in HD, nope, it's SD discussion.


We have also been discussing the effect of sports being available in HD or SD. Put me down as one person who will not be watching the Nat or the Os on MASN very often specifically because they will not be in HD. I don't go very often to the SD channels anymore with the exception of a few programs or to watch the cable news channels. I have rarely checked to see what is on Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic SD or MASN. I'm not even sure what their exact channel numbers are. I will probably occasionally look at some Nats or Os games on MASN, but that's it. If MASN is actually going to take a huge step backwards by having the Os home games go from HD for those who had Comcast MA HD last year to SD only and not provide any HD at all for the Os and the Nats, then the heck with them (the clean family friendly way of putting it). If I was the owner of the Nats, I would be unhappy about this MASN / Peter Angelos deal, but I guess there is little the Lerners can do about it.


----------



## markbulla

Sorry for posting what I know has been asked before, but I searched and couldn't fond it...


My brother purchased an HD tv, and has Comcast cable. I was telling him that he can hook the cable directly to the TV and do a channel search to find the HD channels.


Can someone please provide a link to the qam channel numbers for the HD channels in Baltimore County?


Thanks!


Mark


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Someone at WUSA BROADCAST HOUSE is asleep at the wheel.... wake up!


HOKIEFAN - call the station up again!
*

Update:* I called the news line and they said the engineering dept can't switch to HD, again something about the constant feed issue and the upcoming Hoya game which will also be in SD. I asked why they could not switch back and show the Cardinals-Aggies in HD as time permitted. Sounds like CBS, not WUSA is the problem. I was given the same e-mail address given earlier by Hokiefan.


----------



## Red Dog

So I assume we can look forward to the Georgetown game in SD on WUSA.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Someone at WUSA BROADCAST HOUSE is asleep at the wheel.... wake up!
> 
> 
> HOKIEFAN - call the station up again!



It's in HD up in Baltimore.


Mark


----------



## pmturcotte




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Red Dog* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So I assume we can look forward to the Georgetown game in SD on WUSA.



Just pathetic










So glad I have this great TV to watch all the wonderful HD programming in. A full day of sitting in front of SD games. Terrific job by CBS, welcome to the 21st century.


Oh well, at least the NBC golf was on in HD today.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Red Dog* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So I assume we can look forward to the Georgetown game in SD on WUSA.



It's in SD in Baltimore... :-(


----------



## zoyd

Anybody know why weta-hd sound is so totally screwed up.


----------



## iflyga

Hoyas on SD, NOT HD in Frederick...at least at the 11:30 mark of the 1st half.


----------



## Red Dog

Anybody else with the D* package seeing the VCU/Pitt game blacked out on 705, while the Georgetown game (local) is not blacked out on 706?


----------



## Ronin_R6




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Sounds like CBS, not WUSA is the problem.




True. its the networks issue with trying to distribute 3 or 4 games simultaneously.


Baltimore has gone SD as well because the HD Flex feed is still showing the A&M-Lou game, and the only way to see Gtown is on the constant SD feed.


----------



## iflyga

Ok, a non NCAA / sports question . I have a QAM capable HDTV. I'm in Frederick where Adelphia is on the way out, and Comcast is on the way in. I've been viewing the QAM HDTV channels w/Adelphia for the past year. Can I expect this to change when Comcast is our provider, or does Comcast offer the same feature? Can anyone point me to a post where the COMCAST QAM programming is? Thanks


----------



## zoyd

Gtown just switched to HD


----------



## Red Dog

Now the Georgetown game is in HD on WUSA. No rhyme or reason to this.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Nope, or the fact a "constant feed" also ends up cutting away to the end of another game. Exciting finish, but a lot of BC and G'town fans still screaming.


----------



## Pyrr

My DVR now says Comcast on it. Looks like adelphia is bye bye


Pyrr


----------



## iflyga




> Quote:
> My DVR now says Comcast on it. Looks like adelphia is bye bye
> 
> 
> Pyrr



Thanks. I might re-scan for new channels tonight....hope for the best and expect nothing new.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *iflyga* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Ok, a non NCAA / sports question . I have a QAM capable HDTV. I'm in Frederick where Adelphia is on the way out, and Comcast is on the way in. I've been viewing the QAM HDTV channels w/Adelphia for the past year. Can I expect this to change when Comcast is our provider, or does Comcast offer the same feature? Can anyone point me to a post where the COMCAST QAM programming is? Thanks



Comcast should leave the local HD broadcast channels unscrambled. They may change the location of the channels, if they have not done so already. Do the local HD stations show up as 4-1, 5-1, 7-1, etc or are they at QAM channels such as 97.1, 105.3? Adelphia in Loudoun scrambled the national HD and SD channels, so I assume you are asking about the local broadcast stations.


----------



## SJKurtzke

It's almost like we need a seperate thread for March Madness....


For those that don't care (like me), you'll be interested to know that WTTG was on the splicer for a good part of the news tonight. (Still SD though)


----------



## ashutoshsm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Adelphia in Loudoun scrambled the national HD and SD channels, so I assume you are asking about the local broadcast stations.



umm, no they didn't. Until my CableCards arrived, my S3 TiVo was able to tune them all in just fine (NBC, FOX, CBS, ABC, PBS - all HD). And my TV likely still would, if I cared to try!


They did, as expected, scramble all premium/package HD channels, but left MusicChoice channels and a few PPV frequencies (by design) in the clear.


Last I checked - January.


----------



## Ronin_R6




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ashutoshsm* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> umm, no they didn't. Until my CableCards arrived, my S3 TiVo was able to tune them all in just fine (NBC, FOX, CBS, ABC, PBS - all HD). And my TV likely still would, if I cared to try!
> 
> 
> They did, as expected, scramble all premium/package HD channels, but left MusicChoice channels and a few PPV frequencies (by design) in the clear.
> 
> 
> Last I checked - January.



Right, as afiggatt said they did not scramble the networks, just the National channels, i.e. ESPN, HDNet, INHD etc.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It's almost like we need a seperate thread for March Madness....
> 
> 
> For those that don't care (like me), you'll be interested to know that WTTG was on the splicer for a good part of the news tonight. (Still SD though)



What is a splicer if you don't mind me asking? I keep reading about WTTG using some special lens or focus equipments so the picture looks better, which does look better. BTW, I do care about March Madness.


----------



## ashutoshsm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ronin_R6* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Right, as afiggatt said they did not scramble the networks, just the National channels, i.e. ESPN, HDNet, INHD etc.



Whoops - interpretation short circuit on my part









I tend to think of the 5 networks as National channels (seeing as *I* never watch any local news/programming) and of the ESPNs et al as the 'Cable' or addon channels. SHO/HBO etc as the premiums, of course.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ashutoshsm* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> umm, no they didn't. Until my CableCards arrived, my S3 TiVo was able to tune them all in just fine (NBC, FOX, CBS, ABC, PBS - all HD). And my TV likely still would, if I cared to try!
> 
> 
> They did, as expected, scramble all premium/package HD channels, but left MusicChoice channels and a few PPV frequencies *(by design)* in the clear.
> 
> 
> Last I checked - January.



What do think they wanted to do by leaving those channels in the clear, the PPV I mean? I tried to help a friend who got a new HD set and when we hooked up the coax to the back of his TV, there were at least a couple of porn channels that were picked up along with SHO HD. The TV was Olevia and the cable was Cox. I have FiOS and it will only let you have up to channel 50(the locals)







.


----------



## dg28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It's in HD up in Baltimore.
> 
> 
> Mark



Keep the phone calls and e-mails going to WUSA. We need to keep the pressure on, and in high volume. They need to realize the percentage of HDTVs has increased significantly, and they need to pay much more attention to this now. The fact that WJZ was able to show yesterday's MD game in HD says it all for WUSA.


----------



## yekim54




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Keep the phone calls and e-mails going to WUSA. We need to keep the pressure on, and in high volume. They need to realize the percentage of HDTVs has increased significantly, and they need to pay much more attention to this now. The fact that WJZ was able to show yesterday's MD game in HD says it all for WUSA.



Wouldn't it also be prudent to CC: your emails to CBS Sports since they are the ones dictating the SD/HD issues in the first place? Anyone have the email contact for CBS?


----------



## ahsan

I would hope/think that UVA will be in HD at noon today since there are no other games to switch to. I'm taking a chance by only DVRing CBS-HD since I'm low on space. Hope this game doesn't cut out at the end by switching to a flex feed. I highly doubt it would since the next tip off would occur when this game is ending and there's no reason to switch to a game that's just beginning in favor of the local.


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> What is a splicer if you don't mind me asking? I keep reading about WTTG using some special lens or focus equipments so the picture looks better, which does look better. BTW, I do care about March Madness.



The splicer is the way the FOX Network distributes its HD feed. It has really good upconverters, and it's very rare that local programming would end up on it. You can tell when the splicer is being used when the FOX 5 logo is present in the right pillarbar area. Some have suggested earlier that they could be testing out HD equipment if they're using the splicer (I don't know why, but I guess people have their reasoning, and it would be nice to know while everyone else is busy watching the basketball games)


----------



## dg28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *yekim54* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Wouldn't it also be prudent to CC: your emails to CBS Sports since they are the ones dictating the SD/HD issues in the first place? Anyone have the email contact for CBS?



Good idea, but if WJZ was able to show yesterday's Maryland game in HD and WUSA did not, it doesn't sound like it was CBS that caused the problem.


----------



## Theauwolf

Okay, I've looked everywhere and I can't find the Qam channels available on Comcast, Howard County. I know this has been discussed before. Anyone? Thanks!


----------



## knnirs

I was watching the G.T.\\B.C. game on digital QAM Channel WJZ on P.G. Comcast last night and about 7:30 pm the screen went blank with a "NO SIGNAL' message. I checked the Analog and it was also dead, so I placed a call to Comcast. Received a message that all lines were in use "call back later".

This convinced me that the problem was not in my house, so I switched to OTA and my attic antenna to watch the finish of the game. The Cable system became active after about 15 minutes, but it went dead again at about 8:00 pm for a couple of minutes. Since then the Cable has been fine.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Good idea, but if WJZ was able to show yesterday's Maryland game in HD and WUSA did not, it doesn't sound like it was CBS that caused the problem.



Well, carboning CBS does two things:


1. They are the reason things are messed up in the first place since they don't have enough HD feeds and don't have a quality plan in place to make up for it.


2. WUSA is part of the CBS network. They can put pressure on WUSA or help them if there is an issue. In the end, it is a CBS product that is looking shabby.


The email I have for them is: [email protected]


----------



## rustycruiser

Now why would WJZ not show the Hokie game? They have shown all the other regional teams games so far. Thank goodness for OTA and WUSA overing the VT game.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rustycruiser* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Now why would WJZ not show the Hokie game? They have shown all the other regional teams games so far. Thank goodness for OTA and WUSA overing the VT game.



Maybe because VT is over a 6 hour drive from Baltimore? If that is regional, then so are UConn and Ohio State.


----------



## iflyga




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ronin_R6* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Right, as afiggatt said they did not scramble the networks, just the National channels, i.e. ESPN, HDNet, INHD etc.



Thanks so much for the info. I re-scanned last night here in Frederick, and with comcast, it looks like the WETA channel which was on 86.1 is also now at 1.1. I'll have to look during a weekday to see if any subchannels are active on WETA. Other than that, the CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX and Discovery HD Theater are in the 80's...like CBS is 81.1 and the audio channels. I may succomb to a cable card for espn though. Will look into prices...


----------



## Knicks_Fan

VT/SI in HD 1st half, then SD for part of the 2nd half and now back in HD! what the hell is going on at CBS. Why would WUSA have the constant feed for this game? And they are shoving enough commercials down our throats. If i see the "NO STAN" lady one more time...



and back and forth again... Someone at WUSA must be a Hokie fan and has decided to carry VT's last gasp of air in the dance so back to the SD feed.


Looks like DC is getting the flex of Kansas-Kentucky. Hopefully, once we get to third round games, this crap should stop. My eyes are tired from all the back and forth.


----------



## bmfc1

With about 5 minutes left in the second half, get ready for the guy who has named his grumbling stomach "Charlie."


----------



## bmfc1

K_F: what I don't understand is that we apparently have the VT game as "constant" because it's SD, but they were able to switch to another game which contradicts having a "constant."


----------



## bmfc1

and now it switches back to HD.


----------



## bmfc1

and back to SD within 2 minutes.


----------



## pmturcotte




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bmfc1* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> and back to SD within 2 minutes.



WTF is going on over there? Pick one or the other, but some games have made the switch between SD and HD 4 or 5 times in the course of the game.


Memphis / Nevada now showing in beautiful standard definition. Welcome to 1997.


----------



## Ronin_R6




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bmfc1* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> K_F: what I don't understand is that we apparently have the VT game as "constant" because it's SD, but they were able to switch to another game which contradicts having a "constant."



Having the constant feed, doesnt mean they wont send us to another game for a short period of time, such as the last minute of a close game, but what it does mean is that they wont switch permanently.


Just because we are a constant area, doesnt mean we dont care about the other games.


If you really think about the whole situation it does make sense I promise.


The real problem is with CBS not their affiliates.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey

That switch from HD to SD and back and forth so many times made the game even harder to watch. I was already frustrated with VT being so pathetic at the FT line and that switch was just annoying. Also, they kept going to the FL and Purdue game, I thought we were supposed to have a CONSTANT feed, I guess VT is not a local team here.


----------



## rustycruiser




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Maybe because VT is over a 6 hour drive from Baltimore? If that is regional, then so are UConn and Ohio State.



Except that ther is a large number of VT grads in the greater Baltimore/Washington area. Can't say the same for Uconn and OSU. Plus, they are an ACC team and WJZ serves an ACC market.


----------



## balmeida

Anyone in the Woodbridge area else been having weaker OTA signals with WJLA recently? I tried doing a channel scan on my Samsung T-451 today and lost 7.* ... I checked on my MythTV box and signal strength is around 55-60%. WTTG, WUSA and WRC are all in the high 90s. I used to get WJLA at about the same strength as the others.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rustycruiser* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Except that ther is a large number of VT grads in the greater Baltimore/Washington area. Can't say the same for Uconn and OSU. Plus, they are an ACC team and WJZ serves an ACC market.



Most of the VT grads are in the Washington area and WUSA is carried on the cable in Blacksburg.


My point wasn't just Ohio State and UConn. My point was the VT is just another school to the Baltimore market.


There are literally several dozen schools within the driving distance of VT.


As for that ACC garbage. I am soooo tired of getting saddled with games just because team so and so is in the ACC. And VT is barely an ACC team.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *balmeida* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Anyone in the Woodbridge area else been having weaker OTA signals with WJLA recently? I tried doing a channel scan on my Samsung T-451 today and lost 7.* ... I checked on my MythTV box and signal strength is around 55-60%. WTTG, WUSA and WRC are all in the high 90s. I used to get WJLA at about the same strength as the others.



No problem here with WJLA. I just checked and I'm still getting in the low 90's on my Series 3 TiVo for WJLA which is where it's been for me since I started using the series 3 in December.


----------



## yekim54




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *balmeida* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Anyone in the Woodbridge area else been having weaker OTA signals with WJLA recently? I tried doing a channel scan on my Samsung T-451 today and lost 7.* ... I checked on my MythTV box and signal strength is around 55-60%. WTTG, WUSA and WRC are all in the high 90s. I used to get WJLA at about the same strength as the others.



I'm in Vienna and WJLA-7 has always been my most local difficult channel to receive OTA, especially when the wind blows because their transmitter is located directly through my neighbor's big silver maple tree. It was windy over the weekend, and my reception on WJLA was lousy. Luckily WMAR-2 in Baltimore comes in very well so I still can watch the ABC lineup plus Jeopardy and WOF in HD. Right now the wind is calm and WJLA is coming in fine but at a signal strength of only 50%, whereas WMAR is at 80%.


----------



## pmturcotte

Personally I'm THRILLED that rather than spend money to upgrade their HD capabilities/feeds etc, CBS spends whatever money they can to get blimps at all of these indoor basketball games. FASCINATING to see all the cars in the parking lot and nice shots of the various roofing architectures that these arenas have employed....


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The splicer is the way the FOX Network distributes its HD feed. It has really good upconverters, and it's very rare that local programming would end up on it. You can tell when the splicer is being used when the FOX 5 logo is present in the right pillarbar area. Some have suggested earlier that they could be testing out HD equipment if they're using the splicer (I don't know why, but I guess people have their reasoning, and it would be nice to know while everyone else is busy watching the basketball games)



A couple of clarifications about the splicer -


The splicer, which is actually a Terayon BP5100 (here's a link to info about it: http://www.terayon.com/tools/static_...0&cat_id=9.2.8 ), is used by FOX to switch between HD sources, and put the FOX logo over the picture without having to bring signal down to baseband HD video and audio. That allows FOX to send you a very high quality picture, because it doesn't have to be decoded and re-encoded in order to switch it into the program stream. Because of that, the splicer has no up, down, or any other kind of converters in it.


In our case (WBFF, FOX 45), we have an external box made by Miranda that makes our SD video into upconverted HD video, which is then fed into a Harmonic HD encoder, which compresses the signal down so that it will fit into the part of the 19.36 Mbps transport stream that we are using for our HD channel. That goes into a multiplexer with the PSIP data and our 45.2 SD subchannel, and comes out as the full 19.36 Mbsp ASI transport stream, which is fed into the splicer. Also going into the splicer is the ASI output of one of our FOX satellite receivers. This ASI output is about 49 Mbps, and has the HD signal in addition to a number of SD signals and other data multiplexed together. During prime-time, the splicer magically removes the HD portion of our ASI stream, and inserts the HD portion of FOX's ASI stream - no downconverting or re-encoding, which would reduce the resolution of the picture due to decompression/recompression of the HD picture. The splicer also inserts the bug in the lower right corner of the picture. That is the only place on the picture where there is some modification of the HD video.


Anyhow, local programming is always going into the splicer. Our programming is upconverted externally, WTTG's may be native HD, I don't know. Because the local programming is always going through the splicer, the logo can be turned on and off in the picture locally, at any time (I've never seen us do that, but that function is available). The logo is normally turned on during prime time by FOX (BTW, I've tried to come up with something that would turn off the logo after a short time, and am able to do that when we turn it on locally, but nothing I can do will allow me to turn it off during prime time...). It's conceivable that WTTG is turning on the logo locally during their news (although I doubt that they are doing that). My point is, just because the logo is in the picture, it doesn't necessarily mean that the signal is coming from FOX.


OTOH, the way that WUTB (channel 24 in Baltimore) does their programming is that they send it to NJ via fiber, and they (the FOX network operations center) switch the shows in and out for them, and send it back down to the WUTB transmitter on another fiber. Recently, as mentioned elsewhere in this forum, WUTB has gotten their HD fiber feed going, so they are broadcasting (maybe not so "broad" since they are still low power...) in HD. I wouldn't be surprised if WTTG has gotten the same thing. This would allow even an SD digital program to look pretty good (I haven't actually watched the channel 5 news recently...), since it could be upconverted at FOX NJ, and kept in an HD format all the way through. It would also allow them to put the logo into the picture easily.


Cheers!


Mark


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *yekim54* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I'm in Vienna and WJLA-7 has always been my most local difficult channel to receive OTA, especially when the wind blows because their transmitter is located directly through my neighbor's big silver maple tree. It was windy over the weekend, and my reception on WJLA was lousy. Luckily WMAR-2 in Baltimore comes in very well so I still can watch the ABC lineup plus Jeopardy and WOF in HD. Right now the wind is calm and WJLA is coming in fine but at a signal strength of only 50%, whereas WMAR is at 80%.



I live in Oakton and have tried getting WMAR but I don't know where to point my antenna. I even used a signal amplifier but that didn't help either. Then thing is, I used to get it with Dish HD receiver, but now I don't. Where do you point your antenna, north east?


----------



## danboot

Can anyone tell me if Verizon FIOS is available in Arlington VA? And if so is it the entire Arlington area?

Thanks


----------



## pmturcotte




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *danboot* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Can anyone tell me if Verizon FIOS is available in Arlington VA? And if so is it the entire Arlington area?
> 
> Thanks



You can go to Verizon's site somewhere (google verizon fios I imagine) there's a page in there where you can put your phone # and it will tell you if its available in your area.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *danboot* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Can anyone tell me if Verizon FIOS is available in Arlington VA? And if so is it the entire Arlington area?
> 
> Thanks



You can go to Verizon FiOS website and put in your phone number to see if it is available. You also might want to try qualifying your address. Sometime it will tell you that it is not available, like my case, even though I had FiOS before and switched all 3 to cable. I called FiOS and they told me that I could get it but my phone number was not in their system that is why I kept getting the "FiOS is currently unavailable in your area" message.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I live in Oakton and have tried getting WMAR but I don't know where to point my antenna. I even used a signal amplifier but that didn't help either. Then thing is, I used to get it with Dish HD receiver, but now I don't. Where do you point your antenna, north east?



Go to www.antennaweb.org , enter your zip code and look at the azimuth for the stations in Baltimore. If the Baltimore stations don't show up because antennaweb is very conservative on digital reception (and because just the zip code will put you at some random spot near the center of the zip), go back and click on the options link & enter an antenna height of 300' or more.


To make it easy, using a zip of 22124 for Oakton, the Baltimore stations are a compass azimuth of 59 degrees, the DC stations are 81 to 84 degrees. This is the azimuth with a compass to compensate for the around 9 degree offset between magnetic north and true north for our area.


----------



## bbt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *iflyga* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Thanks so much for the info. I re-scanned last night here in Frederick, and with comcast, it looks like the WETA channel which was on 86.1 is also now at 1.1. I'll have to look during a weekday to see if any subchannels are active on WETA. Other than that, the CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX and Discovery HD Theater are in the 80's...like CBS is 81.1 and the audio channels. I may succomb to a cable card for espn though. Will look into prices...



I've had to do several re-scans over the last few days. Sometimes the HD channels are all at 1.#, other times where they were previously (80 & 81). Only DiscoveryHD seems constant (85.2).


----------



## SJKurtzke

Literally stumbled on this. Gives an insight into the distribution of MyNetworkTV:

(BTW, here's the link http://satelliteanalysis.com/ , which also gives info on the splicer.)

Attention HD Affiliates: Please manually check your Tandberg 1280 receiver(s) to insure Service 2 is selected. In menu 2, it should display MyTV HD with a 0005 in the upper right hand corner.


Attention SD Affiliates: Please manually check your Tandberg 1260 receiver(s) to insure Service 1 is selected. In menu 2, it should display MyTV SD with a 0001 in the upper right hand corner.


If the services are incorrect, press Edit and change the stream number to 0005 for HD and 0001 for SD. Then press Save to save the configuration. You may have to go to menu item 7.1 on the 1280 receivers, and menu 6.1 on the 1260 receivers to place your receiver in the Front Panel Operation Mode to allow editing.



Note all MNTV transmissions delivered via Galaxy 16, transponder 19 are digital and at the parameters of: Modulation: QPSK, 42.669 Mbps, FEC 5/6, encrypted (Scrambled) on Galaxy 16 transponder 19 (horizontal pol), 4080 MHz.


Approximate test times (Eastern Time) are as follows as of September 7, 2006. All start times are approximate and may be delayed up to five (5) minutes.


Mondays: 1200-1300 ET, 1800-1930 ET

Tuesdays: 1200-1300 ET, 1900-1930 ET

Wednesdays: 1200-1415 ET, 1800-2000 ET

Thursdays: 1200-1415 ET, 1800-2000 ET

Fridays: 1200-1415 ET, 1800-1930 ET


In each receiver box is a three page Quick Start guide. An online copy of the guide can be found by click on Quick Start text.


For technical information regarding RF engineering questions, or to have your receiver authorized, please call 631-439-6855 or 631-439-6828.


----------



## mchaney

Over the last week or so, the signal strength on the spot beam from Dish network has dropped to 68-70 in signal strength. Does anyone else here get Baltimore Dish locals and could you go to something like channel 2 (WMAR) and then check signal strength? I've been getting a dozen or more dropouts for every 30 minutes show on all the locals lately and the drop in signal strength coincides. All other transponders on the 110 satellite are 95 to 105 on my VIP 622. It's just the transponder 23 (spot beam) that is messed up so I don't think it's my dish alignment or anything here. I think Dish did something to kill signal strength to the Baltimore spot beam!


Mike


----------



## paragon

Does anybody have a scan of the new Comcast Arlington/Alexandria price list? I just moved into the area, and I remembered seeing it in my roommate's mail, but he must have thrown it out.


I'd like to make sure that my bill is adding up to what it's supposed to be, and the price list would really be helpful.


Thanks in advance!


----------



## bjy20716

Does anyone else live in Bowie, MD 20716? What antenna are you using? I live off of mitcheville road and have a small hill to the west where I need to point towards for DC channels. I currently am using just a philips tv top 410 antenna from walmart and can get 4, 5 and 50 well but 2 and 7 come in and out and I really want to watch Lost.


The Antenna is in the attic and I live in a townhouse.


I was thinking of getting the antennasdirect DB8 and putting that in the attic. Would that be overkill being around 25 miles from the towers?


Also would I need to ground that antenna if it is in my attic?


Thanks


----------



## zoyd

I'm about 5 miles south of Upper Marlboro (15 miles south of you). I pull in all the DC stations with a CM4228 and pre-amp mounted a 2nd story deck.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bjy20716* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Does anyone else live in Bowie, MD 20716? What antenna are you using? I live off of mitcheville road and have a small hill to the west where I need to point towards for DC channels. I currently am using just a philips tv top 410 antenna from walmart and can get 4, 5 and 50 well but 2 and 7 come in and out and I really want to watch Lost.
> 
> 
> The Antenna is in the attic and I live in a townhouse.
> 
> 
> I was thinking of getting the antennasdirect DB8 and putting that in the attic. Would that be overkill being around 25 miles from the towers?



Is the antenna that you have the Philips Mant-410? This is a cheap amplified rabbit ear and UHF loop antenna.


The AntennasDirect DB8 is a long range and very directional antenna for 40 to 50+ mile range. You are around 16 to 20 miles? from the DC stations. What you want is a more multi-directional antenna to get the DC stations in NW DC, WETA-DT down in Arlington, and from where you are something that has a shot at picking up the Baltimore stations as well. The almost 90 degree angle from Bowie between the DC and the Baltimore stations makes this tough however with a single antenna.


I suggest you give the Channel Master 4221 4 Bay bowtie UHF antenna a shot first. Should get you all the DC major stations, some others and maybe the stronger Baltimore stations when aimed at DC. It is a good antenna for this area with it's broad pickup in azimuth. Fits in an attic better than the DB8 as well. Goes for around $25 plus shipping from on-line deals such as solidsignal.com or warrenelectronics.com. The CM 4221 is UHF with some performance for upper VHF, so you may need to add a upper VHF antenna in 2009 when WJLA and WUSA switch their digital signal to channels 7 and 9. But adding a upper VHF antenna is not hard with a UHF/VHF combiner.


----------



## AntAltMike

Does anyone ever hear anything reliable regarding WHUT's digital plans/progress?


----------



## gr8one626




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bbt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I've had to do several re-scans over the last few days. Sometimes the HD channels are all at 1.#, other times where they were previously (80 & 81). Only DiscoveryHD seems constant (85.2).



Comcast moved everything (except discovery) to 1.#... the problem is, sometimes a get a "poor signal quality" error on some channels... does anyone know how to fix this?


----------



## hil357

ive attached the channels which im supposed to be picking up from antennaweb. im new to this so be easy... but i just got the philips indoor hdtv antenna from circuit city and i only pick up 4.1/4.2 if i can position it right and even then the stations aren't clear. am i doing something wrong?! i have the antenna hooked directly into my atsc coax...


is there another antenna that works better or are they all this 'fickle'? im thinking maybe i should just go w/ a tv w/ qam-seems a lot simpler!


im in fairfax (right off of exit 60/123)


thanks!!


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hil357* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> ive attached the channels which im supposed to be picking up from antennaweb. im new to this so be easy... but i just got the philips indoor hdtv antenna from circuit city and i only pick up 4.1/4.2 if i can position it right and even then the stations aren't clear. am i doing something wrong?! i have the antenna hooked directly into my atsc coax...
> 
> 
> is there another antenna that works better or are they all this 'fickle'? im thinking maybe i should just go w/ a tv w/ qam-seems a lot simpler!
> 
> 
> im in fairfax (right off of exit 60/123)



Have you tried different locations for the antenna? Placed it facing a window in the direction of the DC broadcast towers? You need to think about what in the house may be blocking the signal. If you have the Philips Silver Sensor, aim it towards the DC stations, but try aiming to the left and right a bit.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Go to www.antennaweb.org , enter your zip code and look at the azimuth for the stations in Baltimore. If the Baltimore stations don't show up because antennaweb is very conservative on digital reception (and because just the zip code will put you at some random spot near the center of the zip), go back and click on the options link & enter an antenna height of 300' or more.
> 
> 
> To make it easy, using a zip of 22124 for Oakton, the Baltimore stations are a compass azimuth of 59 degrees, the DC stations are 81 to 84 degrees. This is the azimuth with a compass to compensate for the around 9 degree offset between magnetic north and true north for our area.



Tried that, I did pick up WJZ CBS13 but that is it. For some reason I can't get ABC2 from Baltimore. I hooked up the E* receiver and scanned for channel and got ABC2. The thing is since I don't have E* services anymore, it won't tune in to that channel. I can only watch Dish info channels.


----------



## hil357




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Have you tried different locations for the antenna? Placed it facing a window in the direction of the DC broadcast towers? You need to think about what in the house may be blocking the signal. If you have the Philips Silver Sensor, aim it towards the DC stations, but try aiming to the left and right a bit.



yeah i tried the clock method too. i think i may just return the tv and get one w/ QAM! it's kind of frustrating....


i'm in an apt building too so maybe that's affecting it. thanks for your help though!


----------



## bjy20716




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is the antenna that you have the Philips Mant-410? This is a cheap amplified rabbit ear and UHF loop antenna.
> 
> The AntennasDirect DB8 is a long range and very directional antenna for 40 to 50+ mile range. You are around 16 to 20 miles? from the DC stations. What you want is a more multi-directional antenna to get the DC stations in NW DC, WETA-DT down in Arlington, and from where you are something that has a shot at picking up the Baltimore stations as well.
> 
> I suggest you give the Channel Master 4221 4 Bay bowtie UHF antenna a shot first. Should get you all the DC major stations, some others and maybe the stronger Baltimore stations when aimed at DC.



Thank You

Yes, I have the Philips Mant-410.

Will I need any pre-amp?

Also the Channel Master 4221 says it is directional with 45 degrees on solidsignal but the DB4 says multi directional with 90 degrees.

Would that be better because I want to pick up both DC and Baltimore.

Or could I use two Channel Master 4221s and a combiner?

What combiner would be good?


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hil357* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> yeah i tried the clock method too. i think i may just return the tv and get one w/ QAM! it's kind of frustrating....
> 
> 
> i'm in an apt building too so maybe that's affecting it. thanks for your help though!




Are you in a building that has digital cable? Is that why you're talking about using QAM?


Don't most newish TV's tuners do both QAM and ATSC? If you are in a building with digital cable, you could hook your TV up to it, and do a channel scan to see what you get.


Mark


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bjy20716* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Thank You
> 
> Yes, I have the Philips Mant-410.
> 
> Will I need any pre-amp?
> 
> Also the Channel Master 4221 says it is directional with 45 degrees on solidsignal but the DB4 says multi directional with 90 degrees.
> 
> Would that be better because I want to pick up both DC and Baltimore.
> 
> Or could I use two Channel Master 4221s and a combiner?
> 
> What combiner would be good?



You should try this in stages because a single CM 4221 might work. Combining two antennas is tricky. The CM 4221 has slightly better performance numbers than the DB4 and is less expensive. See the "comparing some commercially available antennas" link at this useful website for antenna and OTA reception: http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ISSUES/erecting_antenna.html .


Get one CM 4221, put it up in the attic and try aiming it at DC, Baltimore and places in between to see what stations you can get. Attics have null spots, so you also need to not fix the antenna into place until you have found a good spot.


I have a CM 4221 in my attic crawlspace mounted on a flat piece of scrap wood so I could slide it across the beams. I also have a CM7777 pre-amp, but I can get several of the Baltimore stations at 43 miles without it. I have local obstructions in the direction of Baltimore which made me add the pre-amp to boost the signal.


Bowie puts you roughly around 25 miles from the Baltimore towers and 20 miles from the DC towers. Hold off on getting a pre-amp as well. You may not need to spend the $50 and up on a CM or Winegard pre-amp. You can add a pre-amp later if some stations are weak or borderline.


----------



## Red Dog

Here is the Regional Semis coverage that WUSA has listed so far:



> Quote:
> These games will be seen on our analog and digital channels.
> 
> 
> Thursday, 3/22
> 
> 
> 7:10 p.m. - Kansas vs. Southern Illinois
> 
> 
> 9:57pm - Ohio State vs. Tennessee
> 
> 
> Friday, 3/23
> 
> 
> 7:27 p.m.- Vanderbilt vs. Georgetown
> 
> 
> 9:57 p.m. - UNC vs. USC
> 
> 
> Local games will not air through conclusion in High Definition.



Looks like they still will be dealing with HD issues in the Georgetown game. Can't understand why.


Anybody have any idea of what WJZ will be airing? They don't list anything on the website.


----------



## yekim54




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I live in Oakton and have tried getting WMAR but I don't know where to point my antenna. I even used a signal amplifier but that didn't help either. Then thing is, I used to get it with Dish HD receiver, but now I don't. Where do you point your antenna, north east?



As afiggatt suggested, I used antennaweb.org and determined that the direction to the Baltimore stations from my house was N55E and the direction to the DC stations was about N74E (referenced to magnetic north). I pointed my CM4221, which is mounted outside on the chimney, about midway between the Baltimore and DC at about N64E. I also have a CM7775 preamp that greatly helps pull in the Baltimore signals.


----------



## Belcherwm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paragon* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Does anybody have a scan of the new Comcast Arlington/Alexandria price list? I just moved into the area, and I remembered seeing it in my roommate's mail, but he must have thrown it out.
> 
> 
> I'd like to make sure that my bill is adding up to what it's supposed to be, and the price list would really be helpful.
> 
> 
> Thanks in advance!



I posted Western PW County's earlier this month. Should be pretty close if not the same.

Post# 733


----------



## Mike20878

WDCW finally aired Smallville in 5.1 last week! I think it was the first episode since the switch to the CW to broadcast 5.1, though my center channel was down for the count until the past week so I had surround sound turned off for a while.


----------



## bjy20716




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Bowie puts you roughly around 25 miles from the Baltimore towers and 20 miles from the DC towers. Hold off on getting a pre-amp as well. You may not need to spend the $50 and up on a CM or Winegard pre-amp. You can add a pre-amp later if some stations are weak or borderline.



I got the 4221 today and hooked it up in the direction that antenna web told me (285 degrees). I have not adjusted it yet but most stations come in at 60-75%.

If moving the antenna around does not improve the strength what else could I do?


----------



## jandk95

Over the last few nights I've noticed that my reception for WJZ (CBS) on Comcast has been somewhat grainy. I thought it might be the TV but I switched over to Fox and the picture was crystal clear. Did anyone else notice this or are my eyes deceiving me?

Specifically I am referring to the 2.5 Men, CSI Miami, and NCID shows.


----------



## ArcCoyote




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gr8one626* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Comcast moved everything (except discovery) to 1.#... the problem is, sometimes a get a "poor signal quality" error on some channels... does anyone know how to fix this?



the 1.xx is a virtual channel number. The 1.x subchannels could be all over the place in terms of frequency and therefore signal strength.


There are three ways a QAM station could be displayed:


Physical channel and program number: This is what you were seeing when the channels were 80.x, 81.x, 85.x, etc... this is the actual RF channel (2-151) and program ID the stream is on. You see this when there's no program ID data.


ATSC virtual channel and subchannel: When a cableco is rebroadcasting OTA digitals, they might copy the PSIP information so your tuner (hopefully) presents the QAM program as the OTA station: 2.1, 11.1, 13.1, etc. If your QAM stations have all become 1.x, that's them screwing with the virtuals. They could make it whatever they want it to be. (...but apparently never 0.0: That will crash or even brick some tuners. Thanks a lot, Comcast. )


Channel number and name: If your cable company is really really nice, they might even provide the full program ID field. If they do this, the channel should appear exactly the same as it does on the digital boxes. Riiiiight.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bjy20716* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I got the 4221 today and hooked it up in the direction that antenna web told me (285 degrees). I have not adjusted it yet but most stations come in at 60-75%.
> 
> If moving the antenna around does not improve the strength what else could I do?



Which digital stations are you getting? Channels 4,5,7,9,20,26,50 in DC? Are you getting any of the Baltimore stations?


Try adjusting the aim at several different spots moving north towards Baltimore to see if there is a spot where you can get the DC and Baltimore stations. The angle from Bowie may too big to get all the DC and Baltimore stations, but it is worth the shot. If the antenna mount is not fixed, move it around several feet in the attic to see if that improves reception.


BTW, antennaweb provides the compass direction with respect to magnetic north. If you use a map and the framework of the house to aim the antenna, you have to add around 10 degrees to the antennaweb azimuths (magnetic north is approx 10 degrees east of true north in the DC area).


----------



## gr8one626




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ArcCoyote* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> the 1.xx is a virtual channel number. The 1.x subchannels could be all over the place in terms of frequency and therefore signal strength.
> 
> 
> There are three ways a QAM station could be displayed:
> 
> 
> Physical channel and program number: This is what you were seeing when the channels were 80.x, 81.x, 85.x, etc... this is the actual RF channel (2-151) and program ID the stream is on. You see this when there's no program ID data.
> 
> 
> ATSC virtual channel and subchannel: When a cableco is rebroadcasting OTA digitals, they might copy the PSIP information so your tuner (hopefully) presents the QAM program as the OTA station: 2.1, 11.1, 13.1, etc. If your QAM stations have all become 1.x, that's them screwing with the virtuals. They could make it whatever they want it to be. (...but apparently never 0.0: That will crash or even brick some tuners. Thanks a lot, Comcast. )
> 
> 
> Channel number and name: If your cable company is really really nice, they might even provide the full program ID field. If they do this, the channel should appear exactly the same as it does on the digital boxes. Riiiiight.



So how come they don't work on the Physical channel address (80.x, 81.x, 85.x) and only on the virtual channel?


And is there a way to fix "poor signal quality"? When I do a rescan, it fixes it, but it goes the error comes back randomly a few days later....


----------



## iflyga




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gr8one626* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So how come they don't work on the Physical channel address (80.x, 81.x, 85.x) and only on the virtual channel?
> 
> 
> And is there a way to fix "poor signal quality"? When I do a rescan, it fixes it, but it goes the error comes back randomly a few days later....



Interestingly, in Frederick the COMCAST QAM channels have stayed rock solid in the 80's. The WETA is on both the 80.X (can't recall what it is) and now at the same time its on 1.1...at least that's what it was yesterday and last night. When I re-scanned most recently I did pick up more audio channels. There are lots of those.


Hopefully it stays stable, and doesn't flip around as you describe, and I guess it's too much to ask to get the Baltimore affliliate's via COMCAST QAM too huh? An OTA is not an option where we live.


----------



## bjy20716




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Which digital stations are you getting? Channels 4,5,7,9,20,26,50 in DC? Are you getting any of the Baltimore stations?
> 
> BTW, antennaweb provides the compass direction with respect to magnetic north. If you use a map and the framework of the house to aim the antenna, you have to add around 10 degrees to the antennaweb azimuths (magnetic north is approx 10 degrees east of true north in the DC area).



I used a compass.

I am getting all the channels DC and Baltimore. 2,4,5,7,9,11,13,14,20,22,26,45,50,54,67


However they just don't come in well enough I guess; because the audio drops out sometimes and none of them are 80+ % on the TV's signal meter.


What is the recommended strenth that you need for a channel to come in without dropping?


Thank You


----------



## Red Dog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Red Dog* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> Anybody have any idea of what WJZ will be airing? They don't list anything on the website.




Got an e-mail from WJZ. Same games as WUSA...."games are "Swing" and in HD"


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bjy20716* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I used a compass.
> 
> I am getting all the channels DC and Baltimore. 2,4,5,7,9,11,13,14,20,22,26,45,50,54,67
> 
> 
> However they just don't come in well enough I guess; because the audio drops out sometimes and none of them are 80+ % on the TV's signal meter.
> 
> 
> What is the recommended strenth that you need for a channel to come in without dropping?



You are doing pretty well given the large difference in angle between DC and Baltimore from the Bowie area. Have you tried to tweak the aim of the CM 4221 towards Baltimore and points in between the direction to the two cities? What do you get if you aim the antenna at DC for signal strength for the DC stations and what do you get if you aim the antenna at Baltimore?


The meaning of the percentage on the signal meter varies between different ATSC tuners. The Samsung SIR-T451 ATSC receivers displays up to 10 vertical bars and generally needs around 4-5 bars to get a good lock. Check the manual, they may have interpretation for the percentages in there.


If tweaking the aim does not get stable reception for all the stations you want to get, then a pre-amp is the next step. A pre-amp is a bit of a nuisance as you have to leave it powered up all the time unless you are willing to turn it on or off manually or have a power plug on the back of a stereo receiver which turns off when the receiver is off. But if you have a OTA DVR like I do, it stays on all the time.


You are far enough away from the broadcast towers that a pre-amp should not overload the front end of the ATSC tuner as can be a problem if some stations are too close. Avoid the Radio Shack amps and pre-amps as they are generally not very good. Channel Master and Winegard make outdoor pre-amps that are widely used. The CM 7777 pre-amp is the most powerful model, but is likely more than you need. The pre-amps that have separate inputs for VHF and UHF are more flexible as you may want to boost the UHF signal while not doing so. Here is a comparison page for the Winegard and CM pre-amps from solidsignal: http://www.solidsignal.com/antennas/preamplifiers.asp .


----------



## kenhartsell

This afternoon all of WETA's OTA digital channels have disappeared. Reprogramming did nothing. Anybody else having this problem? I checked their website but they have no info posted on this.


----------



## zoyd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kenhartsell* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> This afternoon all of WETA's OTA digital channels have disappeared. Reprogramming did nothing. Anybody else having this problem? I checked their website but they have no info posted on this.



I've got them here but I lost all the TVGOS data for some reason.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Belcherwm* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I posted Western PW County's earlier this month. Should be pretty close if not the same.
> 
> Post# 733



I'm surprised many of the rates for Eastern PW are less than the rates for Western PW. Although we also only have one standard service for $52.50 with the new rates. We don't have the options for limited basic and expanded service.

The diferences seem to be between $1 and $7 for the different packages, all lower for Eastern PW.


----------



## kenhartsell




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zoyd* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I've got them here but I lost all the TVGOS data for some reason.



I changed from my attic antenna to my rooftop antenna,reprogrammed my set. Joy, now I am getting WETA's digital OTA channels!


----------



## Theauwolf

WJZ is a flex feed though, correct? So at anytime if CBS switches off the constant feed from WUSA then we can have 2 different games. Hope that happens!


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kenhartsell* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> This afternoon all of WETA's OTA digital channels have disappeared. Reprogramming did nothing. Anybody else having this problem? I checked their website but they have no info posted on this.



WETA-DT is on the air tonight. Can anyone else confirm whether WETA-DT 26 appeared to be ff the air this afternoon? The reason why I ask is that there has this been long standing question of when WETA-DT would move from Arlington to the broadcast tower in NW DC. If WETA-DT was off the air for a while, perhaps that is a sign that they are doing some checkouts in prep for moving to the new tower. Or perhaps they moved, but I don't notice a stronger signal.


Also, I see WDCA-DT My 20 is broadcasting the telenovel soap Saints & Sinners in HD tonight. (Mel Harris is in this??) Can anyone who is able to receive WUTB-DT My 24 OTA see if WUTB-DT is providing a true HD picture tonight or not?


----------



## emreardon

I also noticed WETA DT off the air here in Leesburg this afternoon - was back up tonight.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Also, I see WDCA-DT My 20 is broadcasting the telenovel soap Saints & Sinners in HD tonight. (Mel Harris is in this??) Can anyone who is able to receive WUTB-DT My 24 OTA see if WUTB-DT is providing a true HD picture tonight or not?



Saw this too late. Seinfeld is on 24 now. 720p in full stretch mode.


I'll try to check tomorrow when the HD stuff is supposed to be on.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast made some changes yesterday:


ESPN Deportes was added on channel 604.

DMX music channels 450-457 were dropped.

CSPAN2 is now also on channel 186. On channel 17 it will share with MASN2.


----------



## aaronwt

what is ESPN Deportes?


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> what is ESPN Deportes?



Spanish ESPN.


Still no NGHD in Howard County. ;(


----------



## aaronwt

So deportes means sports in Spanish? so it's called ESPN sports?

So the title means Entertainment and Sports Programming Network Sports? That doesn't make much sense.


----------



## raidbuck

We've had VS/Golf HD for over a month in Harford County, but still no program guide. Does any other area have a program guide for that channel?


Oh, and whatever happened to A&EHD?


Thanks,


Rich N.


----------



## Red Dog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Theauwolf* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WJZ is a flex feed though, correct? So at anytime if CBS switches off the constant feed from WUSA then we can have 2 different games. Hope that happens!




WUSA should only have 1 constant game - the Georgetown game. Otherwise, they should behave the same way as WJZ.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *raidbuck* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> We've had VS/Golf HD for over a month in Harford County, but still no program guide. Does any other area have a program guide for that channel?



Baltimore City does.


----------



## rosh400

FIOS TV is now available for parts of Montgomery County, MD served by the BTHSMDBD wire center (CO) at the intersection of Bradley Blvd. and Seven Locks Rd. This inlcudes parts of North and West Bethesda and Potomac. Phone exhanges include 301-365 301-299 301-469 301-765 301-767 and 301-983. My install date is 3/27. If you don't already have FIOS data service, your install date may be a week later or more.


----------



## lax01




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rosh400* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> FIOS TV is now available for parts of Montgomery County, MD served by the BTHSMDBD wire center (CO) at the intersection of Bradley Blvd. and Seven Locks Rd. This inlcudes parts of North and West Bethesda and Potomac. Phone exhanges include 301-365 301-299 301-469 301-765 301-767 and 301-983. My install date is 3/27. If you don't already have FIOS data service, your install date may be a week later or more.



oh snap, its here!







thanks for the update


----------



## derwin0




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Theauwolf* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WJZ is a flex feed though, correct? So at anytime if CBS switches off the constant feed from WUSA then we can have 2 different games. Hope that happens!



If you're close enough the northern MD/PA border, WHP is showing the Pitt-UCLA game instead of Ohio St.-Tenn, otherwise they're the same.


----------



## afiggatt

WETA-DT 26 appears to be off the air again. Hmmm.


----------



## dmulvany




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WETA-DT is on the air tonight. Can anyone else confirm whether WETA-DT 26 appeared to be ff the air this afternoon? The reason why I ask is that there has this been long standing question of when WETA-DT would move from Arlington to the broadcast tower in NW DC. If WETA-DT was off the air for a while, perhaps that is a sign that they are doing some checkouts in prep for moving to the new tower. Or perhaps they moved, but I don't notice a stronger signal.



The OTA WETA-DT appears to have been off during the day several days this week, but back on at night. I imagine the engineers are possibly doing some troubleshooting.


Dana


----------



## simpsonps121

Hi Guys,

Newb here....

Just downgraded my Comcast service to standard service only (Saving $100 a month for now...)... What cheap HD antenna would you suggest to receive HD signals? If I can get local HD and save money, I will be thrilled. (I am in Howard County - Columbia)


Thanks,

Matthew


----------



## Theauwolf

Anyone know a timeline on us getting NGCHD in Howard County on Comcast? Also still looking for someone who knows the QAM channels for this area.

Thanks!


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So deportes means sports in Spanish? so it's called ESPN sports?
> 
> So the title means Entertainment and Sports Programming Network Sports? That doesn't make much sense.



Si.


I mean, yes.


It is just the way they show it is espanol.


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Theauwolf* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Anyone know a timeline on us getting NGCHD in Howard County on Comcast? Also still looking for someone who knows the QAM channels for this area.
> 
> Thanks!



NGC in Howard is this month, If I recall correctly next Mon/Tues. Going on memory here so sorry I can't be more specific. On qualm assignment I will have to defer to the cable card users for help.


GoIrish


----------



## bbt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ArcCoyote* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> ATSC virtual channel and subchannel: When a cableco is rebroadcasting OTA digitals, they might copy the PSIP information so your tuner (hopefully) presents the QAM program as the OTA station: 2.1, 11.1, 13.1, etc. If your QAM stations have all become 1.x, that's them screwing with the virtuals. They could make it whatever they want it to be. (...but apparently never 0.0: That will crash or even brick some tuners. Thanks a lot, Comcast. )





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dmulvany* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The OTA WETA-DT appears to have been off during the day several days this week, but back on at night. I imagine the engineers are possibly doing some troubleshooting.



This might explain some of the problems I've seen recently that requires a re-scan. Some of the PSIP info might be mapped to the same channel/sub-channel. Sometimes WETA will be on and I won't have WUSA or WTTG. I re-scan and have WUSA and WTTG on CH/SUB that WETA was on, but no longer have WETA. It's unreliable right now, but thankfully I have OTA.










BBT


----------



## chrisherbert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *simpsonps121* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hi Guys,
> 
> Newb here....
> 
> Just downgraded my Comcast service to standard service only (Saving $100 a month for now...)... What cheap HD antenna would you suggest to receive HD signals? If I can get local HD and save money, I will be thrilled. (I am in Howard County - Columbia)
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Matthew



Keep the HD box and you'll probably continue to receive the networks in HD (plus the guide, free on-demand content, etc). I have basic cable ($10/month) and receive all that. The box is less than $5/month.


----------



## Late2Bass




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Si.
> 
> 
> I mean, yes.
> 
> 
> It is just the way they show it is espanol.



Plus a completely different line up of shows and the sports they cover. International Futbol, for instance. It's a completely different channel, not just ESPN with Spanish language.


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So deportes means sports in Spanish? so it's called ESPN sports?
> 
> So the title means Entertainment and Sports Programming Network Sports? That doesn't make much sense.



Just about as much as Cable News Network News.

ESPN technically doesn't "mean" anything. Networks rebranded themselves a while ago, those initials ARE the brand name now (in most cases), not American Broadcasting Company, Colombia Broadcasting System, United Paramount Network, etc.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chrisherbert* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Keep the HD box and you'll probably continue to receive the networks in HD (plus the guide, free on-demand content, etc). I have basic cable ($10/month) and receive all that. The box is less than $5/month.



Or just use the QAM tuner of the TV.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey

Anyone watching the AFL game on ESPN 2 HD? It looks too good for SD, is it available in HD?


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bjy20716* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I used a compass.
> 
> I am getting all the channels DC and Baltimore. 2,4,5,7,9,11,13,14,20,22,26,45,50,54,67
> 
> 
> However they just don't come in well enough I guess; because the audio drops out sometimes and none of them are 80+ % on the TV's signal meter.
> 
> 
> What is the recommended strenth that you need for a channel to come in without dropping?
> 
> 
> Thank You



Those levels are pretty good... the dropouts might be due to multipath, especially since your aren't pointing directly at either set of transmitters. You could try re-aiming directly towards Baltimore or DC to see if the dropouts go away. A preamp might help (and may be needed for Baltimore anyway...) but it could also make multipath reflections worse.

We combined two 4221s which are mounted on the same mast at right angles to each other. Just used a 2-way splitter in reverse & it works well. Oh and the combiner is followed by a preamp.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Also, I see WDCA-DT My 20 is broadcasting the telenovel soap Saints & Sinners in HD tonight. (Mel Harris is in this??) Can anyone who is able to receive WUTB-DT My 24 OTA see if WUTB-DT is providing a true HD picture tonight or not?



Sorry. I tried to check tonight but 24 is not doing any HD stuff according to my HR20 guide. No HD until next week. I thought the MyNetwork shows were Monday thru Friday?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Sorry. I tried to check tonight but 24 is not doing any HD stuff according to my HR20 guide. No HD until next week. I thought the MyNetwork shows were Monday thru Friday?



The movie Insomnia with Al Pacino and Robin Williams is in HD on WDCA-DT My 20 tonight. Guides are unreliable as to whether a program will be in HD or not. The question is what is WUTB-DT My 24 sending out on their 24.1 channel: true HD, stretched SD, or 4:3 SD ?


----------



## aaronwt

SO does WDCA always broadcast in 720P? I haven't looked at 20-1 in a while, I see the Insomnia movie looks like it's zoomed in and in 720P.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> SO does WDCA always broadcast in 720P? I haven't looked at 20-1 in a while, I see the Insomnia movie looks like it's zoomed in and in 720P.



Well, yes. WDCA-DT 20-1 is always a 720p signal. Because My Network only provides 2 hours of programming a day, the station is usually sending out upconverted SD. Last week I noticed while channel surfing by that the new telenovel soaps and movies were upconverted SD on WDCA-DT. So this week, they are paying attention to their HD feed.


Checking imdb, Insomnia is a 1.85:1 movie so it is not cropped (much) for the 16:9 HD presentation. I noticed it has a lot of close-ups which is presumably intentional to give a closed-in feel to the movie. Which is about a detective who can't sleep. Pretty good movie.


----------



## Dwight Shrute

Just reposting this hear, see if anyone else is having a problem:



> Quote:
> I didn't know who to talk to about this. And hopefully this is the right place.
> 
> 
> I'm part of a sports forum, and some of the people there capture NBA highlights, but usually it was only local stations. I wanted to get in on the action so I took the necessary steps, in getting HD service, a firewire, and CapDVHS. When I went to record this to my Computer (which I also purchased a 320 gig external HD for so I could capture shows to rewatch), I was disappointed to find out that nearly all my channels were encrypted (couldn't capture). Now I know thats ok for cable stations like TNT, Discovery and others.... but even local channels like Fox, and CBS were blocked.
> 
> 
> So my question is, is there something I should mess with on my computer or TV? Maybe it just needs some fine tuning to pick up these channels (some work like National Geographic, ABC, and NBC). Or if nothing helps, what should I do legally? As I hear encoding local channels is in violation of FCC rules.
> 
> 
> Also if it helps I have a Motorola HD cable box provided by Comcast Cable.
> 
> 
> Thank you for any help, and if this is the wrong section, I apologize.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dwight Shrute* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Just reposting this hear, see if anyone else is having a problem:



Thank you.


Michael Scott

Regional Manager

Dunder Mifflin Paper Company, Inc


----------



## chrisherbert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Or just use the QAM tuner of the TV.



...if the TV has one, sure. The box may be simpler though. The channels won't move around, you get on-demand, the guide, etc.


----------



## Dwight Shrute




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Thank you.
> 
> 
> Michael Scott
> 
> Regional Manager
> 
> Dunder Mifflin Paper Company, Inc



Haha, touche. I actually tried to sign up as Michael Scott but it was taken.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The movie Insomnia with Al Pacino and Robin Williams is in HD on WDCA-DT My 20 tonight. Guides are unreliable as to whether a program will be in HD or not. The question is what is WUTB-DT My 24 sending out on their 24.1 channel: true HD, stretched SD, or 4:3 SD ?



I have no idea what is MyTV and what is just crap 24 puts on (since I watch like 0% of it).


For what it is worth, Insomnia was stretched garbage.


24 stretches everything like WBAL does. (Except for about 10 glorious minutes of Scrubs this week where they broke the stretch-o-vision.)


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey

I see that some people here did watch Insomnia last night. WDCA had some problems during the movie. More than once, right before the commercials, it would cut to WTTG and then quickly back to commercials. Did anyone else experience that? I have FiOS in northern VA, I don't know if it was just FiOS or WDCA itself.


----------



## mikemikeb

GTown-Vanderbilt game begins in HD on WUSA-DT.


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I see that some people here did watch Insomnia last night. WDCA had some problems during the movie. More than once, right before the commercials, it would cut to WTTG and then quickly back to commercials. Did anyone else experience that? I have FiOS in northern VA, I don't know if it was just FiOS or WDCA itself.



It was either WDCA or MyNetworkTV. I saw no FOX 5 branding in that, and it appeared to be the SD feed of FOX.


BTW, now FOX 5's field cameras are starting to have the HD look. It could be imminent.


And, does anyone know what's going on with WRC? Normally, their pillarboxes look thinner than others, but tonight, they look barely there.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It was either WDCA or MyNetworkTV. I saw no FOX 5 branding in that, and it appeared to be the SD feed of FOX.



It might have been the HD feed since both shows, Are you smarter than a 5th grader and Family Guy, have pillarboxes.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> And, does anyone know what's going on with WRC? Normally, their pillarboxes look thinner than others, but tonight, they look barely there.



Doesn't it also look better, or is it just me? You are right the pillarboxes were smaller than usual tonight.


----------



## simpsonps121




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chrisherbert* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> ...if the TV has one, sure. The box may be simpler though. The channels won't move around, you get on-demand, the guide, etc.



Wow guys - thanks. We have moved into my parents - they have basic only.


1. Hooked my box up - It gave me all the channels, + HD + premium channels... + all the on-demands.

2. Unhooked that, hooked up my TV. Got all the local channels in HD. 13.1 was the Vanderbilt vs GT game. 


Now, why would I get all of the channels with the box? That does not make any sense...


Thanks,

Matthew


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It might have been the HD feed since both shows, Are you smarter than a 5th grader and Family Guy, have pillarboxes.



No, the FOX logo was present in the 4:3 area.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Doesn't it also look better, or is it just me? You are right the pillarboxes were smaller than usual tonight.



Yes, WRC has some of the best SD I've ever seen. Their news looks like 4:3 HD.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> All of CBS' 17 stations are at some stage of shifting to hi-def news...WCBS New York rolls out HD news next month, and stations in San Francisco and Miami, among others, are also slated to make the leap in the near future. Says Kane, Over the next year or so, all of CBS' [O&Os] will do HD news.


 http://www.broadcastingcable.com/in...cleID=CA6427588


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *simpsonps121* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 1. Hooked my box up - It gave me all the channels, + HD + premium channels... + all the on-demands.
> 
> 2. Unhooked that, hooked up my TV. Got all the local channels in HD. 13.1 was the Vanderbilt vs GT game.
> 
> 
> Now, why would I get all of the channels with the box? That does not make any sense...



Cause the STB decrypts the rest of the stuff a direct TV connection can't.


----------



## simpsonps121




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Cause the STB decrypts the rest of the stuff a direct TV connection can't.



Ok, but then how can I "rent" a box? They should not allow that since I will obviously get more channels than I am suppose to.


Matthew


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> http://www.broadcastingcable.com/in...cleID=CA6427588



Link is broken.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Link is broken.



The full link is http://www.broadcastingcable.com/ind...leID=CA6427588 . The article was posted in the local news in HD thread in the HDTV Programming forum. The gist is that four CBS owned & operated (O&O) stations are upgrading to local news in HD very soon - KCBS & KCAL in LA on April 21, KYW in Philadelphia on April 2, and WCBS in NYC in the next month. The part of "Over the next year or so, all of CBS' [O&Os] will do HD news. that applies to our area is that WJZ CBS 13 in Baltimore is a CBS O&O station.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *simpsonps121* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Ok, but then how can I "rent" a box? They should not allow that sense I will obviously get more channels than I am suppose to.
> 
> 
> Matthew



That's a morality issue - do you fess up and tell them that? Eventually the cable cos will find out about this and fix it. Yet another reason they're going to a mostly encrypted QAM lineup.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Boston-Pittsburgh NHL game is HD on WRC, SD on WBAL.


I hope WBAL knows to flip the switch on NBC Nightly News tomorrow.


----------



## biker19

Has everyone lost their clear QAM feed of WETA chs on COX cable?


----------



## mikemikeb

WETA-DT OTA is out (all four channels).


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WETA-DT OTA is out (all four channels).



WETA is fine on Comcast QAM, all channels at 7:50 pm.

Earlier there was a message at the bottom of the screen noting that antenna work was keeping WETA off the air, but this did not affect the cable signal.


----------



## mikemikeb

Antenna work? Perhaps they're finally moving to the Tenleytown tower?


----------



## gr8one626




> Quote:
> WETA is fine on Comcast QAM, all channels at 7:50 pm.
> 
> Earlier there was a message at the bottom of the screen noting that antenna work was keeping WETA off the air, but this did not affect the cable signal.



You guys have 4 weta channels on comcast? Here in frederick, I only get one weta, and all my HD channels are on 1.1 .... anyone know how to make them go back to their original (81.1 etc.)?


----------



## aaronwt

4 channels with three being SD which I will never watch. I only have 2% of the SD channels available progammed into the channel guide.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

CBS audio/video of yesterday's GU-UNC game on WUSA was riddled with pixelation, splotches, and dropped audio volume on DirecTV. Did anyone else have this problem? When they were back in the studio, things looked fine, so I don't think its my setup. CBS seems to be far worse when it comes to HD video quality during sporting events than anyone else.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*High-definition TV still elusive for O's games on MASN*


Baltimore Business Journal - March 23, 2007by Ryan SharrowStaff


With the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network gearing up to air more than 150 Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals games this upcoming season, officials are still not sure whether it will provide viewers with high-definition broadcasts.

*Fewer than 10 days from the start of the 2007 season, officials from the young network say they have not yet ruled out the possibility of high-definition, commonly known as HD, coverage. MASN, however, is still sorting through a number of technical issues related to airing programming in HD, said network spokesman Todd Webster.*


MASN opting to not air Orioles and Nats game in HD would be a blow to the increasing number of fans and bar owners who have made the investment in high-tech televisions, analysts say.


HD experts say broadcasting sporting events in HD gives a boost to the sport, its fans and -- perhaps most importantly for a fledgling television network -- advertisers.


And MASN has a competitive reason to consider high-definition broadcasting: Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, its top competitor for regional sports programming, annually broadcasts more than 200 live sporting events in HD, including games played by the Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals. Last year, the station broadcast around 90 Orioles games, including more than 50 in HD.


A program produced in HD quality displays higher resolution and images on HD televisions, and is also capable of sound that rivals movie theater quality.


MASN, owned primarily by the Orioles, broadcasts in 4.8 million households on 16 different cable and satellite providers ranging from Harrisburg, Pa., to Charlotte, N.C.


Producing a baseball telecast in HD, including transmission expenses, can double the cost for networks, industry experts say, from about $35,000 for standard TV to $70,000 for HD, depending on the market.


Production costs have decreased in the last several years, however, as equipment prices continue to drop, said Dale E. Cripps, founder and co-publisher of HDTV Magazine, an online publication focusing on developments in HD.


"Baseball is a big shot in the arm with HD," he said. "In standard definition, unless you're a die-hard fan, [the game] can grow tedious. It's just more captivating" in high definition.


Scott Langerman, vice president of business development for Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, said the investment in HD can serve as a boost when it comes to landing new advertisers.


HD is "very compelling when you're doing a sales presentation," he said, noting that HD viewers tend to be young and affluent. "It's a demographic that advertisers are going to want to hit."



Comcast SportsNet began producing live coverage of sporting events in HD in February 2003. It took network engineers nine months to build a production truck with HD capabilities.


If MASN, which began airing round-the-clock programming in August, chose not to provide viewers coverage of Orioles games in HD, it would be one of the few regional sports networks across the country to do so, network executives say.


Both the New England Sports Network, home to the Boston Red Sox, and the Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network provide live HD coverage of games to their viewers over the course of the season. Fox SportsNet, which airs Major League Baseball on 18 of its regional sports networks, also provides viewers in 16 of those markets with HD coverage throughout the season, said Chris Bellitti, a spokesman for FSN.


As high-definition televisions become more common, producing in HD will enable networks to easily rebroadcast games -- something regional sports networks already feature on the programming -- down the road, Cripps said.

http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2007/03/26/story2.html?page=2&b=1174881600^1436249


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> CBS audio/video of yesterday's GU-UNC game on WUSA was riddled with pixelation, splotches, and dropped audio volume on DirecTV. Did anyone else have this problem? When they were back in the studio, things looked fine, so I don't think its my setup. CBS seems to be far worse when it comes to HD video quality during sporting events than anyone else.



Had the same problem and was wondering myself if it was my setup or the channel.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> *High-definition TV still elusive for O's games on MASN*
> 
> 
> Baltimore Business Journal - March 23, 2007by Ryan SharrowStaff
> 
> 
> With the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network gearing up to air more than 150 Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals games ......



Yes, they are not ruling it out, but I very much doubt they will add an HD channel mid season. To think about it, for the O's games, it shouldn't be that hard at all since CSN had games in HD last year.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WETA is fine on Comcast QAM, all channels at 7:50 pm.
> 
> Earlier there was a message at the bottom of the screen noting that antenna work was keeping WETA off the air, but this did not affect the cable signal.



All 4 DT chs were out both cable and OTA. The analog was still available. I hope they get all this right before 2/09.


----------



## bmfc1

If MASN had the capability to provide an HD broadcast, Comcast could show it on 229. That channel hasn't had anything on it since the NFL season ended.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bmfc1* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> If MASN had the capability to provide an HD broadcast, Comcast could show it on 229. That channel hasn't had anything on it since the NFL season ended.



Channel 229 isn't an actual channel. It is a virtual channel. During football season, the cable company probably offers less PPV choices on Sunday afternoon to make bandwidth available for its additional NFL programming. I doubt it would be willing to give up that much PPV capacity to MASN for 300 or HDTV so baseball games a season.


----------



## Marcus Carr

I have An HD special events channel that Comcast has been using for UFC PPV about once a month. They could use that bandwidth for MASN games.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I have An HD special events channel that Comcast has been using for UFC PPV about once a month. They could use that bandwidth for MASN games.



I'm still skeptical. Your HD special event channel. like all digital channels, is a virtual channel. It may be using no bandwidth except during the intervals when it is used fo UFC.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> *Fewer than 10 days from the start of the 2007 season, officials from the young network say they have not yet ruled out the possibility of high-definition, commonly known as HD, coverage. MASN, however, is still sorting through a number of technical issues related to airing programming in HD, said network spokesman Todd Webster.*



If MASN is still wavering on whether to offer HD for baseball games this season, they must have HD capable studios and production equipment ready to go. This is not the sort of thing that is done on short notice. If they brought all new equipment as part of starting up a new regional sports network last year, it would make sense that they would get HD cameras and HD capable studio equipment. I assume they rent the production trucks for the games?


These articles on MASN not sure whether they will offer HD this year or not this close to the start of the season are just odd. This smacks of the indecisiveness and backtracking that you see constantly with the O's in deciding whether to make a trade or tries to sign one of their players to a long term contract because of Peter Angelos. Just how closely involved is Peter Angelos with the business decision process at MASN?


Besides the cost issue, the obvious bottleneck is getting the local cable companies to add another HD channel. With two baseball teams, they will have to find a way to offer a 2nd game in HD, although Comcast can use INHD (soon to be Mojo) for the 2nd games. All very complicated, especially with Comcast being the dominant cable company in the area and likely still very unhappy about losing the O's games for CSN-MA. This is the year that the HD bandwidth crunch really hits for the cable companies.


This could offer an opportunity to Verizon and/or DirecTV to offer to add MASN-HD the day it goes live to try to draw some customers away from Comcast. I hope Verizon would already have put in a land line or the equipment necessary for a MASN-HD channel from MASN. I don't know if DirecTV has the bandwidth available on their local HD spot beam or would have to wait until the new satellite goes up.


----------



## chrisherbert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> That's a morality issue - do you fess up and tell them that? Eventually the cable cos will find out about this and fix it. Yet another reason they're going to a mostly encrypted QAM lineup.



If he just got a new box, chances are that the premium channels will disappear in a day or two. New boxes don't block anything for the first day or two. Even after that it will still be preferable to to QAM since he'll still likely get ESPN HD, TNT HD, Discovery HD, etc.


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Channel 229 isn't an actual channel. It is a virtual channel. During football season, the cable company probably offers less PPV choices on Sunday afternoon to make bandwidth available for its additional NFL programming. I doubt it would be willing to give up that much PPV capacity to MASN for 300 or HDTV so baseball games a season.



Kind of a mute point to discuss if a cable company will carry it until MASN decides to produce it.


GoIrish


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I'm still skeptical. Your HD special event channel. like all digital channels, is a virtual channel. It may be using no bandwidth except during the intervals when it is used fo UFC.



And when there is no UFC they could show MASN games.


----------



## tonyd79

Well, if they followed the CSN model, they would have home games in HD which would be more like 150 games (max 162).


Seems like a good time to override Mojo.


----------



## EricRobins

Does anyone really think that MASN is actually contemplating HD this season????


C'mon, be realistic. This is just their way of deflecting any flack they would get by stating their actual intentions, NO HD FOR YOU.


Remember, this is Angelos. Where is the $$$ in HD for the Nats/O's?


----------



## Marcus Carr

NBC Nightly News is in HD on WBAL.


----------



## markbach




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> NBC Nightly News is in HD on WBAL.



Yeah, looks pretty spiffy...










I don't usually watch the network news... is the 7:00 news on WRC a seperate newscast, or a rerun of the 6:30 newscast?


----------



## Marcus Carr

Also HD on WRC. It's the same newscast.


Of course WUSA's local news looks much better.


----------



## Marcus Carr

And now, a Random Thought(TM):


Local OTA HD, weekdays:


5:00-7:00 WUSA news

7:00-10:00 Today Show


11:00-12:00 The View

12:00-12:30 WUSA news

12:30-1:30 The Young and the Restless

*5:00-6:30 WUSA news

6:30-7:00 NBC News

7:00-7:30 Jeopardy

7:30-8:00 Wheel of Fortune

8:00-11:00 network primetime

11:00-11:35 WUSA news

11:35-12:35 Letterman

12:35-1:35 Conan*


3:05-4:00 Leno


----------



## aaronwt

So this is the first HD broadcast for NBC Nightly News? I'll have to set up a season pass for it. He just made a comment about going to HD not being as big a deal as going from B&W to color. Probably not but going to HD is a big deal for me. If I had my way all SD would disappear immediately.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> And now, a Random Thought(TM):
> 
> 
> Local OTA HD, weekdays:
> 
> 
> 5:00-7:00 WUSA news
> 
> 7:00-10:00 Today Show
> 
> 
> 11:00-12:00 The View
> 
> 12:00-12:30 WUSA news
> 
> 12:30-1:30 The Young and the Restless
> 
> *5:00-6:30 WUSA news
> 
> 6:30-7:00 NBC News
> 
> 7:00-7:30 Jeopardy
> 
> 7:30-8:00 Wheel of Fortune
> 
> 8:00-11:00 network primetime
> 
> 11:00-11:35 WUSA news
> 
> 11:35-12:35 Letterman
> 
> 12:35-1:35 Conan*
> 
> 
> 3:05-4:00 Leno



We haven't come as far as I would like during the last 5.5 years since I went HD. But hopefully the conversion will happen very quickly over the next couple of years.


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 3:05-4:00 Leno



The second Leno showing is HD?

And is it a week-old show, or the same as the night before?


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GoIrish* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Kind of a mute point to discuss if a cable company will carry it until MASN decides to produce it.
> 
> 
> GoIrish



The mute point is right next to the volume control.









I think you mean moot point.


I have to agree with Eric... they aren't serious about HD, this is just their attempt at spin control.


AFA Comcast bandwidth - isn't PPV IP-based? I'd tend to think so because PPV is community-based... and I can't imagine a separate dedicated HD pipe to every distribution point.


----------



## bullwinklehdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> *High-definition TV still elusive for O's games on MASN*
> 
> 
> Baltimore Business Journal - March 23, 2007by Ryan SharrowStaff
> 
> 
> If MASN, which began airing round-the-clock programming in August, chose not to provide viewers coverage of *Orioles* games in HD, it would be one of the few regional sports networks across the country to do so, network executives say.
> 
> 
> http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2007/03/26/story2.html?page=2&b=1174881600^1436249




What, the Orioles in HD and the Nationals in SD?


----------



## gomo657

ne else getting a&e QAM on Comcast DC but not through the cable box?


----------



## TimGoodwin

 http://www.tvpredictions.com/wizards032607.htm 


Directv already has Comcast Sports Net in HD in D.C. I hope maybe it is in Baltimore?


----------



## SQUIDWARD360




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bullwinklehdtv* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> What, the Orioles in HD and the Nationals in SD?



Elusive not exclusive.


----------



## raidbuck




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bullwinklehdtv* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> What, the Orioles in HD and the Nationals in SD?



No, thanks to MASN getting the Orioles in 2007, neither the O's or the Nats will have any HD games at all. None. MASN didn't want to spend the money to have an HD channel.


What a rip.


It is a shame because MASN did do a good job getting lots of quality College basketball games this winter, albeit all in SD.


Rich N.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TimGoodwin* /forum/post/0
> 
> http://www.tvpredictions.com/wizards032607.htm
> 
> 
> Directv already has Comcast Sports Net in HD in D.C. I hope maybe it is in Baltimore?



Whats up with that story, hasn't D* had CSN-HD for several months now? I had to double and then triple check the date of that story to make sure I wasn't missing something.


----------



## SSUNBRN

I noticed over the weekend that Comcast has added 2 new HD channels to my line-up: A&E and NG. FYI: I'm in Charles County MD.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Whats up with that story, hasn't D* had CSN-HD for several months now? I had to double and then triple check the date of that story to make sure I wasn't missing something.



He probably saw it on http://DCRTV.com and decided to run with it...


And why do people read that site? All it is is news pulled from other sites that he contributes to himself.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Local OTA HD, weekdays:
> 
> 7:00-7:30 Jeopardy
> 
> 7:30-8:00 Wheel of Fortune



Not in DC - where *cheap WJLA/Allbritton* refuses to buy the equipment to record the shows in HD. I would bet we are the largest market now airing these shows in SD.



> Quote:
> We haven't come as far as I would like during the last 5.5 years since I went HD. But hopefully the conversion will happen very quickly over the next couple of years.



I would have thought a lot more syndicated shows like _Oprah_, _Live With Regis & Kelly_ and _Millionaire_ would have made the jump by now.


----------



## TimGoodwin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> He probably saw it on http://DCRTV.com and decided to run with it...
> 
> 
> And why do people read that site? All it is is news pulled from other sites that he contributes to himself.




It was on tv predictions before it was on DCRTV.com


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TimGoodwin* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It was on tv predictions before it was on DCRTV.com



Well, good for Swanni...Now how bout he post some NEWs.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *raidbuck* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> No, thanks to MASN getting the Orioles in 2007, neither the O's or the Nats will have any HD games at all. *None*.....



That is not true at all. You will still be able to watch some Nats and Orioles games in HD, the only difference is the channel. ESPN, InHD(or MoJoTV), and Fox will have nationally televised HD games. Some of them are exclusive so MASN doesn't even have the right to air those games which means no black outs.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> And now, a Random Thought(TM):
> 
> 
> Local OTA HD, weekdays:
> 
> 
> 5:00-7:00 WUSA news
> 
> 7:00-10:00 Today Show
> 
> 
> 11:00-12:00 The View
> 
> 12:00-12:30 WUSA news
> 
> 12:30-1:30 The Young and the Restless
> 
> *5:00-6:30 WUSA news
> 
> 6:30-7:00 NBC News
> 
> 7:00-7:30 Jeopardy
> 
> 7:30-8:00 Wheel of Fortune
> 
> 8:00-11:00 network primetime
> 
> 11:00-11:35 WUSA news
> 
> 11:35-12:35 Letterman
> 
> 12:35-1:35 Conan*
> 
> 
> 3:05-4:00 Leno



You forgot

7:00-9:00 Good Morning America

9:00-10:00 Morning Show with Mike & Juliet(?)


Although the second one may not last too long


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> You forgot
> 
> 7:00-9:00 Good Morning America
> 
> 9:00-10:00 Morning Show with Mike & Juliet(?)
> 
> 
> Although the second one may not last too long



I was covering the time slots, not trying to name each HD show. I also didn't include the 11:35 Leno episode or NBC news on WRC.


----------



## raidbuck




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> That is not true at all. You will still be able to watch some Nats and Orioles games in HD, the only difference is the channel. ESPN, InHD(or MoJoTV), and Fox will have nationally televised HD games. Some of them are exclusive so MASN doesn't even have the right to air those games which means no black outs.



True, national games could be in HD, but I wasn't considering those because the issue was local Comcast Sportsnet, which won't have the Orioles but had home HD games when they did, and MASN, which has all the non-national games for the Orioles and Nationals (2 channels) and has no HD. Sorry if I was unclear.


Rich N.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Orioles games are televised exclusively by MASN, the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. Viewers in Maryland, the District of Columbia, Virginia, Delaware, North Carolina and Pennsylvania can find their MASN and MASN2 channel numbers by visiting www.masnsports.com .
> 
> 
> Viewers in Baltimore will be able to watch 25 over-the-air games via "MASN on WJZ." WJZ-TV in Baltimore will serve as MASN's Baltimore affiliate and will simulcast these select games. However, all games aired outside of Baltimore can only be seen on MASN.


 http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/sch...t.jsp?c_id=bal


----------



## CycloneGT

Ok I went to the first post and saw that D* added CSN-HD to its Lineup on 8/1/2006. (I knew I kept all of the previous items around for a reason).


----------



## tonyd79

It is like Christmas today in Howard County.


NGCHD turned on and Vs.HD has guide data!


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> That is not true at all. You will still be able to watch some Nats and Orioles games in HD, the only difference is the channel. ESPN, InHD(or MoJoTV), and Fox will have nationally televised HD games. Some of them are exclusive so MASN doesn't even have the right to air those games which means no black outs.



Doubtful.


Based on last year (yes, I know contracts have changed) but unless the ESPN game was Sunday night, it was blacked out locally. Also, Fox Saturday games were not in HD. They were widescreen SD. And InHD (Mojo) was blacked out for Orioles and Nats last year.


I don't know the details of ESPN, TBS and Fox contracts....


Edit: Fox says no Orioles games. And one Nats game (July 21)

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6524072


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Based on last year (yes, I know contracts have changed) but unless the ESPN game was Sunday night, it was blacked out locally. Also, Fox Saturday games were not in HD. They were widescreen SD. And InHD (Mojo) was blacked out for Orioles and Nats last year.
> 
> 
> I don't know the details of ESPN, TBS and Fox contracts....
> 
> 
> Edit: Fox says no Orioles games. And one Nats game (July 21)



IIRC, Fox announced a while back that many (most?) Saturday afternoon games this year will be in true HD, not the (lousy looking) SD widescreen they did last year. But, yea, unless either the Nats or the Os suddenly become competitive and are in the hunt for the playoffs, they are not going to show up on the ESPN Sunday night or Fox Saturday games very often. They might make some of the weeknight ESPN2-HD games, but I suspect those will be blacked out if MASN is carrying the game.


Maybe we should have a pool for when MASN will stop it's Hamlet act and announce they will be adding a HD channel. Have a 2nd set for when MASN-HD will go live and for when the various local service providers - Comcast, Cox, RSN, Verizon - will actually add the channeL


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SSUNBRN* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I noticed over the weekend that Comcast has added 2 new HD channels to my line-up: A&E and NG. FYI: I'm in Charles County MD.



Got a voice mail from CC yesterday that they would be adding those two in Anne Arundel tomorrow.... but they're already there. (Ch. 223 & 224)


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Doubtful.
> 
> 
> Based on last year (yes, I know contracts have changed) but unless the ESPN game was Sunday night, it was blacked out locally. Also, Fox Saturday games were not in HD. They were widescreen SD. And InHD (Mojo) was blacked out for Orioles and Nats last year.
> 
> 
> I don't know the details of ESPN, TBS and Fox contracts....
> 
> 
> Edit: Fox says no Orioles games. And one Nats game (July 21)
> 
> http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6524072



Out of the 162 games, you will see that MASN has the right to about 140 close to 150 of those. That means that some other station will have the rest, and most probably in HD. I watched the Nats in HD last year on ESPN.


----------



## JoeInNVa

After watching some of the Nats Game last night on MASN, I can't see myself watching many games. The Production just plain stinks and it always looks like it's cloudy and raining. To put it plainly, the channel just stinks...


----------



## bmfc1




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> After watching some of the Nats Game last night on MASN, I can't see myself watching many games. The Production just plain stinks and it always looks like it's cloudy and raining. To put it plainly, the channel just stinks...



Thank you for that post, Joe. Everytime I watch MASN, I'm stunned at the poor picture quality. I thought that perhaps I'm getting spoiled by HD but maybe it's really MASN!


----------



## bjy20716




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> You are far enough away from the broadcast towers that a pre-amp should not overload the front end of the ATSC tuner as can be a problem if some stations are too close. .



What happens if you 'overload the front end of the ATSC tuner'?


Also if I want to split the anntenna should I use a powered splitter such as the Terrestrial Digital DA2 Dual Output Distribution Amplifier?


And does that need a pre-amp with it? Would that be better to place near the TVs or near the antenna?


I am going to get an OTV HD tuner to use with MCE.


thanks


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bjy20716* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> What happens if you 'overload the front end of the ATSC tuner'?
> 
> 
> Also if I want to split the anntenna should I use a powered splitter such as the Terrestrial Digital DA2 Dual Output Distribution Amplifier?
> 
> 
> And does that need a pre-amp with it? Would that be better to place near the TVs or near the antenna?
> 
> 
> I am going to get an OTV HD tuner to use with MCE.
> 
> 
> thanks



It's one of the fun things with digital reception - if you put too much signal into an ATSC tuner, you get no picture or sound. It's as bad as not having enough signal.


If you are far enough away from the transmitters, you could probably use an amplifier. You put the amplifier as close to the antenna as you can, so that you are amplifying the signals, not the noise that you pick up on the antenna line.


If I were putting in your system, I would use a separate amplifier and splitter. If the amplifier fails for some reason (which they do, occasionally), it would be cheaper to replace than the whole amplified splitter. Also, the splitter can be anywhere in the house but, as mentioned above, the amplifier should be as close to the antenna as possible.


Cheers!


Mark


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Out of the 162 games, you will see that MASN has the right to about 140 close to 150 of those. That means that some other station will have the rest, and most probably in HD. I watched the Nats in HD last year on ESPN.



A Sunday night game? Or a special game? All my local games (O's or Nats) are blacked out on ESPN unless they are Sunday night games or Opening Day.


----------



## gr8one626

I've asked this question before, but I no one has posted a solution so I'll ask it again (please bear with me)...


In Frederick, Comcast (formerly Adelphia) moved all of my QAM channels from (81.1 etc) to 1.1. I was told this was a virtual number, and that the actual numbers (ie 81.1) should still work... but they don't.... does anyone know how I can move them back to their original numbers?


Also, does anyone know if I buy a digital box off ebay, will I be able to use the guide feature (even though I'm only subscribed to analog)?


----------



## iflyga




gr8one626 said:


> In Frederick, Comcast (formerly Adelphia) moved all of my QAM channels from (81.1 etc) to 1.1. I was told this was a virtual number, and that the actual numbers (ie 81.1) should still work... but they don't.... does anyone know how I can move them back to their original numbers?
> 
> 
> 
> Have you tried to manually tune those old channel numbers? I can do that on my Sony... go to the channel like 81.1 and "add" channel manually even if it isn't caught in an automatic scan.
> 
> 
> If you need a list of the QAM I get from non-cablecard, non-STB in Frederick let me know and I will post it later tonight. And BTW, except for WETA, my QAM are still at the adelphia channel numbers not 1.1... WETA is at both the Adelphia channel and a new channel of 1.1 same content at the same time.
Click to expand...


----------



## ashutoshsm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It is like Christmas today in Howard County.
> 
> 
> NGCHD turned on and Vs.HD has guide data!



Tell Santa to make a stop at Loudoun County. he dropped off the unwanted VS earlier, but forgot to leave me NGCHD and UniHD


----------



## chrisherbert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Not in DC - where *cheap WJLA/Allbritton* refuses to buy the equipment to record the shows in HD. I would bet we are the largest market now airing these shows in SD.
> 
> 
> 
> I would have thought a lot more syndicated shows like _Oprah_, _Live With Regis & Kelly_ and _Millionaire_ would have made the jump by now.



I thought that the ability to show syndicated shows in HD was very rare, and that only a handful of stations in the country could do it.


----------



## hokiefan

One step closer to having MASN on Dish Network..


Earlier today a source emailed me to say that channel 421 (TEMP9) has uplinked video from MASN. Previously the channel only had EPG guide data. Of course the channel is not available to subscribers and is only in "testing" mode. It could or could not go live at any time.


----------



## biker19

WETA-DT out again.










Antenna moving time?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chrisherbert* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I thought that the ability to show syndicated shows in HD was very rare, and that only a handful of stations in the country could do it.



It not that rare anymore. Someone posted last fall a list of the stations that were providing Jeopardy & Wheel of Fortune in HD to the "Wheel Of Fortune and Jeopardy in HD" thread in the HDTV programming forum. Out of curiosity, several weeks ago I did a search of other local threads covering the top 30 DMAs that were not on that list. I also posted inquiries to the threads that were not clear on whether Jeopardy and Wheel were in HD in their market. Using the power of avsforum to get information! The updated list is here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...&post9960860 .


As it currently stands, stations in 8 out of the top 10 DMAs, 16 out the top 20, and 20 out of the top 25 are broadcasting Jeopardy & Wheel in HD. More than I think most people on avsforum realize. The only station in the top 10 DMAs other than WJLA (DMA #8) not in HD is WSBK in Boston (DMA #7). The station engineer for WSBK has posted to the Boston OTA thread that they are acquiring the equipment to be able to broadcast those two syndicated shows in HD. When that happens, this will leave WJLA-DT as the only station in the top 13 DMAs not broadcasting Jeopardy and Wheel in HD with KOMO in Seattle (DMA #14) as the next smaller market not in HD. I realize that WJLA does not have the deeper pockets of the network O&O stations, but they are falling behind the curve. The number of stations offering the local news in HD in the major cities is going to jump significantly this year as well with WRC and WTTG likely to join that list.


Wheel and Jeopardy were the trail blazers for regularly scheduled syndicated programming in HD. Reports are that Oprah will go HD later in 2007. It will take a while, but once the HD distribution system is in place and enough stations have the equipment, you can expect the higher budgeted syndicated programs to go HD over the next several years.


----------



## twelvepbrs

does anyone know if the SD version of MASN/MASN2 is analog or digital or encrypted digital for comcast around elkridge, MD?


----------



## aaronwt

WJLA was late to the game in broadcasting HD and then 5.1

They will eventuallly get the equipment for it. It is a business and the purpose it to make money.


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It not that rare anymore. Someone posted last fall a list of the stations that were providing Jeopardy & Wheel of Fortune in HD to the "Wheel Of Fortune and Jeopardy in HD" thread in the HDTV programming forum. Out of curiosity, several weeks ago I did a search of other local threads covering the top 30 DMAs that were not on that list. I also posted inquiries to the threads that were not clear on whether Jeopardy and Wheel were in HD in their market. Using the power of avsforum to get information! The updated list is here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...&post9960860 .
> 
> 
> As it currently stands, stations in 8 out of the top 10 DMAs, 16 out the top 20, and 20 out of the top 25 are broadcasting Jeopardy & Wheel in HD. More than I think most people on avsforum realize. The only station in the top 10 DMAs other than WJLA (DMA #8) not in HD is WSBK in Boston (DMA #7). The station engineer for WSBK has posted to the Boston OTA thread that they are acquiring the equipment to be able to broadcast those two syndicated shows in HD. When that happens, this will leave WJLA-DT as the only station in the top 13 DMAs not broadcasting Jeopardy and Wheel in HD with KOMO in Seattle (DMA #14) as the next smaller market not in HD. I realize that WJLA does not have the deeper pockets of the network O&O stations, but they are falling behind the curve. The number of stations offering the local news in HD in the major cities is going to jump significantly this year as well with WRC and WTTG likely to join that list.
> 
> 
> Wheel and Jeopardy were the trail blazers for regularly scheduled syndicated programming in HD. Reports are that Oprah will go HD later in 2007. It will take a while, but once the HD distribution system is in place and enough stations have the equipment, you can expect the higher budgeted syndicated programs to go HD over the next several years.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Has anyone archived HBO recordings from Comcast to D-VHS? I have the Star Wars movies on my Motorola 3416.


----------



## SJKurtzke

Just thought we'd have a little game over here, after reading the takeover of "Is Your Local News in HD?" by some DC people:

Hedge your bets!

Will WDCW be as HD as they can be BEFORE WJLA?


For WDCW, this means:

Being able to playback and record HD

Having promos in HD

The ABILITY to show syndicated content in HD


----------



## bjy20716

Does anyone know the Comcast QAM channels for Prince Georges County / Bowie, MD?

I get alot of channels in the 100s that go from 100.1 - like 100.50 and then 101.1 - 101.50.


The only channels I was able to find was TNT and CW.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Just thought we'd have a little game over here, after reading the takeover of "Is Your Local News in HD?" by some DC people:
> 
> Hedge your bets!
> 
> Will WDCW be as HD as they can be BEFORE WJLA?
> 
> 
> For WDCW, this means:
> 
> Being able to playback and record HD
> 
> Having promos in HD
> 
> The ABILITY to show syndicated content in HD



I'm more interesting in when the rumored Fox5, NBC4, & WJZ13 are going to get their news in HD. It seems like its been a year since the "news" of these three going HD started to float around.


----------



## gr8one626




iflyga said:


> gr8one626 said:
> 
> 
> 
> In Frederick, Comcast (formerly Adelphia) moved all of my QAM channels from (81.1 etc) to 1.1. I was told this was a virtual number, and that the actual numbers (ie 81.1) should still work... but they don't.... does anyone know how I can move them back to their original numbers?
> 
> 
> 
> Quote:
> Have you tried to manually tune those old channel numbers? I can do that on my Sony... go to the channel like 81.1 and "add" channel manually even if it isn't caught in an automatic scan.
> 
> 
> If you need a list of the QAM I get from non-cablecard, non-STB in Frederick let me know and I will post it later tonight. And BTW, except for WETA, my QAM are still at the adelphia channel numbers not 1.1... WETA is at both the Adelphia channel and a new channel of 1.1 same content at the same time.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Even when I manually tune to the channels, nothing appears...
> 
> 
> can you please post your channels? Thanks!
> 
> Click to expand...
Click to expand...


----------



## raidbuck




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Out of the 162 games, you will see that MASN has the right to about 140 close to 150 of those. That means that some other station will have the rest, and most probably in HD. I watched the Nats in HD last year on ESPN.



I just saw an ad for MASN that said every game for both the O's and Nats will be on MASN/MASN2. I don't know how MASN can make that claim, but there it was.


Too bad the picture quality is so bad.


Rich N.


----------



## Skeptic Tank




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bjy20716* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Does anyone know the Comcast QAM channels for Prince Georges County / Bowie, MD?
> 
> I get alot of channels in the 100s that go from 100.1 - like 100.50 and then 101.1 - 101.50.
> 
> 
> The only channels I was able to find was TNT and CW.



Assuming you're in the same Comcast region as I am in P. G., the HD locals start

at 122 through 125. There are also some more above 125 beyond the range of my

SIR-T451.


In addition, I've found these SD stations:

102.7 - CNN

83.13 - CW50

93.7,8 - MHZ

106.11 - MHZ

106.12 - ShopNBC

117-10 Religious programming


So, where did you find TNT?


----------



## bjy20716

TNT was close to CW I believe. And it was showing ER in HD. I am going to have to scan again and flip through all the channels because I lost the page were I wrote them down.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> As it currently stands, stations in 8 out of the top 10 DMAs, 16 out the top 20, and 20 out of the top 25 are broadcasting Jeopardy & Wheel in HD. More than I think most people on avsforum realize. The only station in the top 10 DMAs other than WJLA (DMA #8) not in HD is WSBK in Boston (DMA #7). The station engineer for WSBK has posted to the Boston OTA thread that they are acquiring the equipment to be able to broadcast those two syndicated shows in HD. When that happens, this will leave WJLA-DT as the only station in the top 13 DMAs not broadcasting Jeopardy and Wheel in HD with KOMO in Seattle (DMA #14) as the next smaller market not in HD.



That's more than I thought would be showing these two shows in HD.

I sent WJLA an e-mail with this page and the J!/WOF HD list. *Perhaps a few more pre-emptions of network shows for moldy movies, extra commercials (where they should not be during Oprah and J!) and the like will bring in the added revenue needed to buy the blasted equipment.* They will really look bad once WTTG and WRC make the switch to HD news.


If enough pressure was applied, perhaps they'd open up their wallets.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Hedge your bets!
> 
> Will WDCW be as HD as they can be BEFORE WJLA?



My bet is on CW 50.


And of course, eagerly awaiting WRC and WTTG's HD local news conversions as well.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> That's more than I thought would be showing these two shows in HD.
> 
> I sent WJLA an e-mail with this page and the J!/WOF HD list. *Perhaps a few more pre-emptions of network shows for moldy movies, extra commercials (where they should not be during Oprah and J!) and the like will bring in the added revenue needed to buy the blasted equipment.* They will really look *even worse than they are now bad* once WTTG and WRC make the switch to HD news.
> 
> 
> If enough pressure was applied, perhaps they'd open up their wallets.



FIXED!


----------



## chrisherbert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It will take a while, but once the HD distribution system is in place and enough stations have the equipment, you can expect the higher budgeted syndicated programs to go HD over the next several years.



I'm going to pray that "Cheaters" goes HD soon. I'd love to see Joey Greco get stabbed in 1080i.


----------



## mdviewer25

Has anyone else noticed that the sound is way too low on Fox 5 when they air the shows *'Til Death* and *The War at Home*? I think the problem may be with Fox and not the local affiliate (WTTG).


----------



## mikemikeb

The same sort of thing occurs with "24".


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Skeptic Tank* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Assuming you're in the same Comcast region as I am in P. G., the HD locals start
> 
> at 122 through 125. There are also some more above 125 beyond the range of my
> 
> SIR-T451.
> 
> 
> In addition, I've found these SD stations:
> 
> 102.7 - CNN
> 
> 83.13 - CW50
> 
> 93.7,8 - MHZ
> 
> 106.11 - MHZ
> 
> 106.12 - ShopNBC
> 
> 117-10 Religious programming
> 
> 
> So, where did you find TNT?



Would also like to know where you found TNT? I also have CW50 on 83.13 and NFL Network on 86.4


----------



## Devin Clancy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *raidbuck* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I just saw an ad for MASN that said every game for both the O's and Nats will be on MASN/MASN2. I don't know how MASN can make that claim, but there it was.
> 
> 
> Too bad the picture quality is so bad.
> 
> 
> Rich N.



Indeed, MASN (and 2) have 161 Nats games and 162 Orioles games. The only possibility for an Orioles game on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball is July 1, but they can select between three games for that night. The Nationals are also one of three candidates for an ESPN2 Sunday game on Sept. 2.


However, some Monday nights (and possibly Opening Day afternoon) ESPN will be co-existing with the local telecast, so if they are doing and Orioles or Nationals in HD it should be available on ESPN. (They can co-exist without blackouts three times per team this year)


Essentially, that gives a maximum total of about 3-5 HD games for both teams combined, down from 40- or 60ish (mostly Orioles home games) last year.


----------



## gr8one626

Can anyone post the available qam channels in Frederick (comcast, formerly adelphia) and what channel number they are? thx.


----------



## pablopbb

Update for Howard County/Elkridge area with Comcast Digital / Elllicott City as the provider:


On a QAM in the clear tuner on my HDTV, I just this past week started getting TNT HD and National Geographic HD in as sub-channels of channel 97, and the Fox HD and CW HD channels now seem to consistently be there as sub-channels in the low 80 range (sorry, can't remember the exact # while I'm posting here from work). The FOX thing still burns me up since it wasn't "in the clear" back during college/pro football when I really wanted it!


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *twelvepbrs* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> does anyone know if the SD version of MASN/MASN2 is analog or digital or encrypted digital for comcast around elkridge, MD?



Didn't see anyone answer this.


They should be analog (and digital encrypted).


MASN is on 44 and MASN2 is going to be on 16 (17?) which are sent out in analog (and are also sent out digital encrypted? for the digital STBs).


----------



## fmsjr

WASHINGTON - Beginning Friday (March 30), Verizon FiOS TV subscribers in the Washington metro area will be able to tune to a new local television channel, FiOS1, a one-stop shop for local weather, traffic, news, sports and community features. FiOS1 is Verizon's first owned-and-operated television channel in the United States, and the company expects to launch similar channels in other markets this year....


...FiOS1 is on Channel 1 in the FiOS TV channel lineup and is available at no extra cost to FiOS TV digital subscribers in Northern Virginia and parts of Maryland.

http://newscenter.verizon.com/press-...rst-local.html


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The same sort of thing occurs with "24".



That's what the volume knob is for. I only have to turn mine up a little for 24. For CBS shows I need to turn it down some since those are too loud. WRC and WJLA seem to be just right. But either way, it's nothing the volume control can't fix.


----------



## bjy20716




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Would also like to know where you found TNT? I also have CW50 on 83.13 and NFL Network on 86.4



127.1 is TNT. The NBA game is in HD.


I am in Bowie and they have a separate franchise agreement. I do not know if that makes any difference.


The golf channel 130.2 (was broadcasting some Shell golf match in HD)

134.1 CW (HD)

134.4 FOX45 (HD)


----------



## twelvepbrs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Didn't see anyone answer this.
> 
> 
> They should be analog (and digital encrypted).
> 
> 
> MASN is on 44 and MASN2 is going to be on 16 (17?) which are sent out in analog (and are also sent out digital encrypted? for the digital STBs).



so, without a stb, just the plain old ntsc tuner in my tv should be able to tune MASN/MASN2, but if i get the box i can watch it in SD-digital?


----------



## SJKurtzke

Mildly amusing:


One of FOX 5's HD plasmas has a bad case of burn-in. The video showing the tornado had a ghost of the FOX 5 logo on it.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Mildly amusing:
> 
> 
> One of FOX 5's HD plasmas has a bad case of burn-in. The video showing the tornado had a ghost of the FOX 5 logo on it.



Saw that one too and was afraid that it was my TV acting up.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> My bet is on CW 50.
> 
> 
> And of course, eagerly awaiting WRC and WTTG's HD local news conversions as well.



Same here, I can't wait to see WTTG and WRC news in HD.


As for WJLA, I think that Fairfax County Public Schools channel 21 will be full-time HD before WJLA.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> .....
> 
> As for WJLA, I think that Fairfax County Public Schools channel 21 will be full-time HD before WJLA.



That's cold!


----------



## dt_dc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> That's cold!



They've already got the HD editing systems:
http://avid.com/profiles/060731_fair...008&marketID=1 


And I would assume Fairfax County Public School's $2+ Billion budget pretty easily dwarfs WJLA's.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dt_dc* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> They've already got the HD editing systems:
> http://avid.com/profiles/060731_fair...008&marketID=1
> 
> 
> And I would assume Fairfax County Public School's $2+ Billion budget pretty easily dwarfs WJLA's.



I would hope that equipment was donated and they didn't waste the taxpayers money on an HD capable system that they've only been using for Sd editing. Prices are dropping very quickly and it would be a waste of taxpayer money to purchase it without using it for HD. When if they waited they could probably get a better and less expensive system when they're ready to actually perform HD editing.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dt_dc* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I would assume Fairfax County Public School's $2+ Billion budget pretty easily dwarfs WJLA's.



I wonder how much of the county $$$ goes to engineering vs. WJLA. I suspect that WJLA gets a little more.

_______________________


Speaking of WJLA, within the past day, I had a eureka moment involving a concept to news set design that they could use for when they go HD. If it were implemented properly, I can imagine it bypassing the current HD set leader in my eyes (WRC, to refresh your memory) for overall design.


First, a backstory. The current WJLA broadcast center is in the same building as the old Newseum. I went there on a few occasions, and the one thing I best remember is this multi-story-high wall at one end of the building. On the bottom level was an area where people could view the front pages of most every major paper in America. Above it was a wall of screens that aired various programming to those on the second and third floors, and people would hear the sound coming from the program that was on the screen directly in front of them.


If at least some of that area were still around, it would be great for the implementation of a WJLA-HD set.


So was the area dismantled for office space? Or, is there still some, or even all, of that space left for use? If not, is there any other area in that building that's two, preferably three, or more stories high that's just empty space, and would be large enough for a news set, even if there was only one story available for use?


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> First, a backstory. The current WJLA broadcast center is in the same building as the old Newseum.



We are across the street from the old location of The Newseum, which will be torn down soon. Also, the TV set inside Te Newseum was pretty small.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Speaking of WJLA, within the past day, I had a eureka moment involving a concept to news set design that they could use for when they go HD



Save that eureka for around 2010 at the rate that station is going. They are more obsessed with how many times they can plug _Oprah_ and the local news (enough of Tim Brandt) each day. Only WJLA would pre-empt ABC shows like _Grey's Anatomy_ for twenty-year old movies and infomercials posing as "Extreme Makeover" wanna bes.


Robert,

Are the posts here swaying WJLA station management at all (do they read this page or dcrtv.com)? Their "business logic" defies explanation. Will it take _Oprah_ syndicating her show in HD to finally get them to cough up the dough? Allison Starling in HD should be enough reason alone!


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *twelvepbrs* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> so, without a stb, just the plain old ntsc tuner in my tv should be able to tune MASN/MASN2, but if i get the box i can watch it in SD-digital?



Yes. The pic quality will be slightly better with the stb but MASN picture still stinks either way.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yes. The pic quality will be slightly better with the stb but MASN picture still stinks either way.



it's past stink, more towards RANCID...

I could not watch the game Tuesday Night vs the Mets because it was just terrible and rancid...


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> it's past stink, more towards RANCID...
> 
> I could not watch the game Tuesday Night vs the Mets because it was just terrible and rancid...



MASN's PQ is horrendous. Also the lighting, it always looks like it is midnight (even at 6 or 7 o'clock) and that only half of the stadium lights work. I have been to the ballpark and it is not as bad as it looks on MASN.


----------



## afiggatt

Verizon has added their new Fios1 local news channel to channel 1 today. It is an SD channel and I assume only on the digital tier. So we have one new channel from Verizon Fios, but no sign yet of any additional national HD channels such as FoodHD or HGTV-HD.


No sign of Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic HD either, but Verizon today added the NESN-HD (New England Sports Net) up in MA and SNY-HD in northern NJ areas. So Verizon is making some progress with the regional sports nets in HD. I assume Comcast is stalling Verizon on the contract for CSN MA - HD until the basketball & hockey seasons are over and there is little HD programming of value on CSN MA-HD until the Wizards & Caps start up in the fall.


----------



## zebras23




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Verizon has added their new Fios1 local news channel to channel 1 today. It is an SD channel and I assume only on the digital tier.



I saw in the paper where FiOS will carry MASN 2 on Channel 1 as well.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by JoeInNVa
> 
> it's past stink, more towards RANCID...
> 
> I could not watch the game Tuesday Night vs the Mets because it was just terrible and rancid...



It is so bad it makes WJLA look state of the art. MASN is probably using hand-me-down everything Angelos bought at a garage sale someplace outside of Baltimore.


And when the "squeezebox" sports ticker appears, it is totaly unwatchabale. Why can't the Lerners kick in for some new equipment?


----------



## Belcherwm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> We are across the street from the old location of The Newseum, which will be torn down soon. Also, the TV set inside Te Newseum was pretty small.



Robert,


Cory showed me the "new" Newseum under construction. Set is going to be pretty cool with the Capital building as a backdrop.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> We are across the street from the old location of The Newseum, which will be torn down soon.



Gotcha. Does Allbritton have control of what will get built there? If so, is it possible to build the multi-story high area as previously described + maybe an HD control room? Is that kind of thing possible anywhere in your current building?


(Note: A fiber connection can be installed between the new set area and the main engineering studio, sort of like how NBC Nightly News is being broadcast from the 3-A studio at 30 Rock, yet uses the 1-A control room, located at 10 Rock(efeller Center), because it's HD-capable.)


----------



## andy.s.lee

For anyone interested, coverage maps for the local OTA transmitters have been posted in this thread .


Best regards,

Andy


----------



## bjy20716




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Would also like to know where you found TNT? I also have CW50 on 83.13 and NFL Network on 86.4



I rescanned all the cable channels again and now CW is 83.7. Last night it was 83.13, why would it change?


Also would I be picking up my neighbor's On Demand feed?

This evening I was getting 87.4 which said it is TLC On Demand but now nothing is coming in on that channel.

Also There was some movie channels earlier but now do not come in.


I have Basic 1-26 analog cable in Bowie, MD (Prince George's County)


This is the list of channel I found. 83.7 CW - 87.1, 87.2, 87.3 Movie - 87.4 TLC on demand - 87.5 Discovery HD Theatre ON Demand - 88.1, 88.3 ? - 90.7 CNN - 92.1, 93.1 PPV ads - 93.7, 93.8, 116.11, 116.3 MHZ - 106.12 Shop NBC - 107.xx Music - 117.10 ? - 118.12 cspan2 - 119.1 national geographic - 119.2 ? - 119.5 ewtn? - 119.8 GAC - 120.11 ABC2 Weather - 127.1 TNT - 128.1 A+E - 130.2 Golf Channel - 131.5 SHopNBC - 131.9 Zee TV? - 134.1 CW - 134.2 ? - 134.4 Fox45


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bjy20716* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I rescanned all the cable channels again and now CW is 83.7. Last night it was 83.13, why would it change?



Cable cos. can change frequency positions of QAM channels at any time, and their boxes will instantly pick up on it, yet non-Comcast boxes like yours won't. So they might change frequencies to attempt to compel people to get their STBs (or at least cable cards).


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bjy20716* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Also would I be picking up my neighbor's On Demand feed?
> 
> This evening I was getting 87.4 which said it is TLC On Demand but now nothing is coming in on that channel.



On Demand feeds are unencrypted and ever-changing in location and programming type. You'll never know what'll come next, if it comes at all. And yes, your neighbor may have a love for TLC -- and you got some side care as a result.










> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bjy20716* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Also There was some movie channels earlier but now do not come in.



Either they were also On Demand feeds, or Comcast encrypted the feeds.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *andy.s.lee* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> For anyone interested, coverage maps for the local OTA transmitters have been posted in this thread .
> 
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Andy



This is possibly the coolest thing that I've seen posted here in the last 3 years. I did something similar with some "tiger" U.S. Geological site.


Its cool that this guy did DC. Someone be sure to get screenshots.


----------



## Marcus Carr

I went to CJ's Crabhouse in Owings Mills tonight. The have several HDTVs and were showing the Final Four in HD.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> This is possibly the coolest thing that I've seen posted here in the last 3 years. I did something similar with some "tiger" U.S. Geological site.
> 
> 
> Its cool that this guy did DC. Someone be sure to get screenshots.



His database is missing some DC and Baltimore digital stations which I pointed out in his thread, so I hope he will update it. But the combination of the color reception maps with Google Earth is very cool indeed. I can zoom in on my neighborhood, switch between the various stations, and watch the color map change. The map shows the weak spots with poorer reception because of shadowing by the terrain. The distant ridges with the purple reception zones stand out.


Anyone who has trouble getting WETA-DT 26 (27) might want to give the reception maps a look. You need Google Earth and also uTorrent to download the kmz files. The database only has the current location for WETA-DT antenna in Arlington. Would be interesting to compare to the new location in NW DC which will boost the power to 90 kW and add 70+ meters to the antenna height.


I hope he updates the kmz file with the current power levels and height for WUTB-DT 24 in Baltimore. I'm curious to see the map for a 530 watt station.


----------



## markbach

Holy crap, I'm able to get WUTB-DT 24.1 down here in Ashburn this morning!










Coming in at 80% strength on my TiVo S3!



april fools!


----------



## adams828

Okay so I just got my TV with QAM.. how can I see whether nor not my RCN is letting me access HD channels (like FOX, ABC, etc)??


----------



## twelvepbrs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *adams828* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Okay so I just got my TV with QAM.. how can I see whether nor not my RCN is letting me access HD channels (like FOX, ABC, etc)??



do a channel scan and then you'll probably have to go through all the channels manually, unless they map properly using PSIP data, if you're lucky your tv will identify which ones are unencrypted, also if the PSIP data works correctly they might appear on the same channel #'s that they'd show up on with your cable-box, you should probably also ask for someone else in your area who already knows the clear-qam channels to post what they've found


----------



## adams828

Anyone in Silver Spring know the channels? Right now I just have RCN coming in through the cable (no box yet), and no antenna, so not sure if I can get anything via QAM or not...?


edit: I did the channel scan, but still just seem to have the same channels as before.. if for example I can pickup ABC-HD.. would it replace the standard ABC channel number (ie channel 7) or would it appear as a totally new channel (ie. 92?)


----------



## cmburke99

Was wondering if anyone was having some issues with TNT HD on Fios this weekend. Seems like the audio and picture are out of sync by a second or less...it is happening on both my cable boxes, so it is not an issue with one of the boxes. Anyone else having this problem on TNT HD (Channel 825)? Other HD channels seem to be in sync.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cmburke99* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Was wondering if anyone was having some issues with TNT HD on Fios this weekend. Seems like the audio and picture are out of sync by a second or less...it is happening on both my cable boxes, so it is not an issue with one of the boxes. Anyone else having this problem on TNT HD (Channel 825)? Other HD channels seem to be in sync.



Nothing here, I watched the channel for a couple of hours with no problems.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cmburke99* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Was wondering if anyone was having some issues with TNT HD on Fios this weekend. Seems like the audio and picture are out of sync by a second or less...it is happening on both my cable boxes, so it is not an issue with one of the boxes. Anyone else having this problem on TNT HD (Channel 825)? Other HD channels seem to be in sync.



This is not a problem with Fios, but with TNT-HD on a national level. They have been having lip sync issues for some programs for weeks which has been the topic of discussion in this thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=815243 . TNT-HD's lip sync can get so bad, it is like watching a badly dubbed asian martial arts movie.


----------



## SJKurtzke

Anyone else experiencing issues with WRC-DT1 last night/today?


It's like macroblocking hell.


D* HR20/WRC-DT/Through D*


----------



## elove




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> FIXED!




Does this mean WJLA is/will be broadcasting J/WOF in HD?


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *elove* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Does this mean WJLA is/will be broadcasting J/WOF in HD?



NOPE


IS wjla broadcasting j/wof in HD? NO, not to my knowledge.


WILL wjla broadcast j/wof in HD? Sure, but then again I bet CSPAN has plans for broadcasting in HD. WHEN is the real question, and for WJLA, it doesn't look like it is going to be anytime soon.


----------



## dg28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Anyone else experiencing issues with WRC-DT1 last night/today?
> 
> 
> It's like macroblocking hell.
> 
> 
> D* HR20/WRC-DT/Through D*



Yup, noticed this yesterday. Looks horrible!


----------



## MClever

I've lost OTA WJZ DT 13 this past weekend and it was my strongest Baltimore station. Does anyone know what happened?


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> FIXED!
> 
> Does this mean WJLA is/will be broadcasting J/WOF in HD?



I am not sure what JoeInNova's Fixed comment meant to my post.


CSPAN 2 will go HD before WJLA does for their news and syndicated programming as Joe L Allbritton continues to count his pennies. We are so blessed to have a small-town owner run a big-town station. Ol' Joe wouldn't air Jimmy Kimmel for the first year or so either until he got his way with the network for the lost ad revenue.

_Ghost Dad_ was on one of the HD movie channels over the weekend, isn't it time for another airing in primetime?


----------



## Knicks_Fan

It is safe to say Mr. Angelos will ensure ESPN2 HD will be backed out so we can see his lovely MASN coverage in SD.

*Blacked out on 72 - thanks for nothing*


Who is tighter with the dough, Angelos or Allbritton?


----------



## jgantert

No MASN2 on Verizon TV? I'm in JHoward County, and masn.tv lists MASN2 as channel 1. But I don't get channel 1 on any of my boxes. So is the O's game tomorrow not going to be broadcast here?


MASN really needs to get their act together. No HD, no second channel. They suck.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I am not sure what JoeInNova's Fixed comment meant to my post.
> 
> 
> CSPAN 2 will go HD before WJLA does for their news and syndicated programming as Joe L Allbritton continues to count his pennies. We are so blessed to have a small-town owner run a big-town station. Ol' Joe wouldn't air Jimmy Kimmel for the first year or so either until he got his way with the network for the lost ad revenue.
> 
> _Ghost Dad_ was on one of the HD movie channels over the weekend, isn't it time for another airing in primetime?



Read what I quoted and you will see what was fixed.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It is safe to say Mr. Angelos will ensure ESPN2 HD will be backed out so we can see his lovely MASN coverage in SD. Who is tighter with the dough, Angelos or Allbritton?



Yes. According to ESPN's website , our only HD game of the year will be blacked out. Fantastic.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MClever* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I've lost OTA WJZ DT 13 this past weekend and it was my strongest Baltimore station. Does anyone know what happened?



I flipped thru channel 13 OTA last night at home, and it was good there.


Could be that it's spring, and the foliage is blocking out the signal. You might have to move the antenna around a bit.


Mark


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> No MASN2 on Verizon TV? I'm in JHoward County, and masn.tv lists MASN2 as channel 1. But I don't get channel 1 on any of my boxes. So is the O's game tomorrow not going to be broadcast here?
> 
> 
> MASN really needs to get their act together. No HD, no second channel. They suck.



Have they added the Fios1 local news (and infomercial) channel to channel 1 yet in the Howard - Anne Arundel region? It was added to the Washington Metro line-up on Friday. Verizon will use this as the extra channel for MASN2. If they have not added Fios1 in your area, I would still check channel 1 during the game to see if the game is on there because they may just activate the channel for the game.


OTOH, perhaps Verizon plans a different Fios1 for the Baltimore market and they may simply be skipping the 2nd game until the Baltimore Fios1 is up and running. You can always call the CSR and ask. Just don't expect a quick and accurate answer.


----------



## adams828

Anyone else with RCN in montgomery county?? I'm trying to identify all my QAM channels..


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It is safe to say Mr. Angelos will ensure ESPN2 HD will be backed out so we can see his lovely MASN coverage in SD. *Who is tighter with the dough, Angelos or Allbritton?*



And the award goes to......drum roll...Allbritton. WJLA makes a lot more money in ads revenue because of the type of programming it airs. MASN is mainly a RSN and as of right now, can only carry the O's and Nats games. Still, that is no excuse for MASN to not have HD broadcast when you cover not one but TWO major league teams.


----------



## MClever




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I flipped thru channel 13 OTA last night at home, and it was good there.
> 
> 
> Could be that it's spring, and the foliage is blocking out the signal. You might have to move the antenna around a bit.
> 
> 
> Mark



Thanks..... I think I'll do a tuner reset since it's only that one BAL station. The rest of them have the same signal strength before I lost 13.1.


I'm in PA, so the leaves are not out yet.







I'm not looking forward to losing some signal strength as I'm on the edge now.


----------



## DulacLancelot

hello.


i'm now using (as of yesterday) xmltv and BladeRunnerPro 3.5 to import guide listings into MCE 2005. i'm doing this because, as you may know, MCE does not provide the guide information for OTA digital tv subchannels.


the impetus to make me actually do this was that i finally was managing to get WETA-DT and the programming looked very interesting so i wanted to be able to know what was going on on all the subchannels so i could record stuff. on the subchannel front i am successful. i get nice guide listings for the 3 WETA subchannels, 26.2, 26.3, and 26.4.


However, the guide listing i get for 26.1 seems to be inaccurate. But i do see that if i go to www.zap2it.com and look at the WETA programming zap2it IS accurate. So zap2it does have accurate listings, i guess i'm just not retrieving the right listings. In fact, it seems to me that the listings i am retrieving match the programming zap2it displays on its webpage for 22.2 WMPT-DT2.


so finally my questions:


the channel id i'm using (found from the original ChannelInfo.xml file created by xmltv upon downloading guide listings) for the main WETA-DT channel is "I19581.labs.zap2it.com".


1) is that the same id you are using for 26.1?

2) if yes, are you getting the correct guide listings?

3) if no, what channel id are you using?

4) is that the same id any of you are using for 22.2?



thanks for any help.


----------



## wheninva1

Was anyone else watching Brothers and Sisters last night on ABC? It seems someone at the station was playing a prank, because five times during the show, a still image of Eva Longoria in a bra came up. The first time it was for about 10 seconds, than after that only one or two, then after the show ended it came up and stayed for about 30 seconds. I quickly changed channels to non-hd ABC, and it wasn't there, it only happened on the HD channel.


----------



## ashutoshsm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DulacLancelot* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> hello.
> 
> 
> i'm now using (as of yesterday) xmltv and BladeRunnerPro 3.5 to import guide listings into MCE 2005. i'm doing this because, as you may know, MCE does not provide the guide information for OTA digital tv subchannels.
> 
> 
> the impetus to make me actually do this was that i finally was managing to get WETA-DT and the programming looked very interesting so i wanted to be able to know what was going on on all the subchannels so i could record stuff. on the subchannel front i am successful. i get nice guide listings for the 3 WETA subchannels, 26.2, 26.3, and 26.4.
> 
> 
> However, the guide listing i get for 26.1 seems to be inaccurate. But i do see that if i go to www.zap2it.com and look at the WETA programming zap2it IS accurate. So zap2it does have accurate listings, i guess i'm just not retrieving the right listings. In fact, it seems to me that the listings i am retrieving match the programming zap2it displays on its webpage for 22.2 WMPT-DT2.
> 
> 
> so finally my questions:
> 
> 
> the channel id i'm using (found from the original ChannelInfo.xml file created by xmltv upon downloading guide listings) for the main WETA-DT channel is "I19581.labs.zap2it.com".
> 
> 
> 1) is that the same id you are using for 26.1?
> 
> 2) if yes, are you getting the correct guide listings?
> 
> 3) if no, what channel id are you using?
> 
> 4) is that the same id any of you are using for 22.2?
> 
> 
> 
> thanks for any help.




Zap2It is a Tribune Website - they report precisely what the station send them. PBS DC is obviously sending them a bunch of gobbledygook, and it shows when I try to play a nice HD recording of Nature on my Series 3 HT TiVo (they get guide info via Tribune) and instead some nonsensical Opera starts up. Sigh.


Between this and their immensely awful overcompression of the "HD" signal they broadcast, I've ive up on teh channel altogether and get my fix from Discovery DH instead.


Where should we complain - what's the WETA contact info?


----------



## ahsan

Anybody in Loudoun sign up for the Comcast Triple Play yet? I am wondering if 16mbps is indeed available from Comcast. Also, what is the latest DVR that Comcast Loudoun has? Are they still on the 6412's? I have had the same two 6412s for at least a couple years now. I don't think mine are even the III series. Is it easy to swap out if newer gear is available? I'd be interested in the 160gb 6416.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

The only thing WETA is really good about: endless mailers shilling for money.


----------



## jandk95

I know everyone has probably already discussed this, but I am so completely disgusted by the quality of the MASN picture. I was getting all ready to watch the O's opener in HD on ESPN2 and I guess it is blacked out because it is being shown on MASNin sub SD quality. I would probably watch 90% of the O's game if they would transmit a decent signal but it is so painful to watch that I don't know if I will even watch half. I am utterly depressed.


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jandk95* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I know everyone has probably already discussed this, but I am so completely disgusted by the quality of the MASN picture. I was getting all ready to watch the O's opener in HD on ESPN2 and I guess it is blacked out because it is being shown on MASNin sub SD quality. I would probably watch 90% of the O's game if they would transmit a decent signal but it is so painful to watch that I don't know if I will even watch half. I am utterly depressed.



I agree.

And has anyone SEEN that poor excuse for a studio?! The anchors are STANDING behind a desk, the picture makes WJLA look like WUSA, and the set must not be bigger than a janitor's closet.


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Have they added the Fios1 local news (and infomercial) channel to channel 1 yet in the Howard - Anne Arundel region? It was added to the Washington Metro line-up on Friday. Verizon will use this as the extra channel for MASN2. If they have not added Fios1 in your area, I would still check channel 1 during the game to see if the game is on there because they may just activate the channel for the game.
> 
> 
> OTOH, perhaps Verizon plans a different Fios1 for the Baltimore market and they may simply be skipping the 2nd game until the Baltimore Fios1 is up and running. You can always call the CSR and ask. Just don't expect a quick and accurate answer.



Heck no... not here in AA anyway. I fear the same... that Baltimore would (eventually) have its own channel, and they don't want use to get hooked on the DC version. Boo hiss for many AA and Howard residents who work or play in DC... which is easily 50% of our neighborhood.


----------



## JoeInNVa

I agree the MASN picture is TERRIBLE. The pre game stuff is HORRIBLE. It makes me think of old WCW programming on TBS, except the WCW product is better...


----------



## adams828




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *adams828* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Anyone else with RCN in montgomery county?? I'm trying to identify all my QAM channels..



Allo??


----------



## Clarence




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> There is no doubt that the 26-1 HD sub-channel for WETA is very soft with all the SD sub-channels they have on all day long now... Just no wow, HD! to either channel anymore.
> 
> 
> I should compare WFPT OTA, MPT via Verizon Fios (not sure which MPT station they are getting their HD signal from), and WETA when WETA and MPT are showing the same true HD programming.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The only thing WETA is really good about: endless mailers shilling for money.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zoyd* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Please send your observations to WETA here (be polite) Maybe if they get enough feedback they will up the datarate.



I finally got a response to my very polite observations on the low-bandwidth and resulting poor quality of WETA-HD...











> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *WETA* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Thanks for watching WETA, and for taking the time to write. I'm sorry for the delayed response. Our Engineering Department has been quite busy with some changes happening with our digital broadcasts and I have only recently been able to gather more information for an informative response.
> 
> 
> WETA and most other television broadcasters began multicasting several years ago. If you were an early adopter of the medium, you may have a first or second generation HD television. By the third generation of HD TVs, multicasting had become the norm and the PSIP (Program System Protocol) within the newly-manufactured televisions changed. From the third generation forward, *one should see no difference in the quality of the HD signal even while a station is multicasting*. However, if you have a first or second generation set with an older PSIP that was not designed with multicasting in mind, the quality of the picture may indeed suffer.
> 
> 
> If you have a third generation or newer set and still receive a dimished signal, we would not be able to determine why. *We are not showing any diminished quality from our end, and other viewers do say they get a crystal clear picture from us.* I hope this helps to provide some insight into the difficulty you have been experiencing.
> 
> 
> Thank you again for watching WETA.
> 
> 
> Best,
> 
> 
> Daniel P. McCoy
> 
> Audience Services Coordinator
> 
> WETA













Should I send Mr McCoy a .ts file from WETA OTA, QAM, and/or HD DVR compared to the same program from a decent PBS station?


DC is PBS's Headquarters! Do they even watch their own broadcasts?


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I agree.
> 
> And has anyone SEEN that poor excuse for a studio?! The anchors are STANDING behind a desk, the picture makes WJLA look like WUSA, and the set must not be bigger than a janitor's closet.



You know what makes it look really cheap, I don't know if anyone watched the post game Xtra, but the little 22 inch LCDs were showing commercial of the channels like TBS as well as the game. This is stupid, it shows that MASN probably subscribed to MLB EI and is not editing anything.


----------



## aprest




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wheninva1* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Was anyone else watching Brothers and Sisters last night on ABC? It seems someone at the station was playing a prank, because five times during the show, a still image of Eva Longoria in a bra came up. The first time it was for about 10 seconds, than after that only one or two, then after the show ended it came up and stayed for about 30 seconds. I quickly changed channels to non-hd ABC, and it wasn't there, it only happened on the HD channel.



This happened to me when watching Desperate Housewives on WJLA 7.1 in Maryland. I was amazed since I had just spent an hour adjusting the antenna to maximize the signal from WJLA 7.1 to 90-92 on my DirecTV HR10-250 HD Tivo STB. WJLA in DC seems to be plagued with problems periodically.


----------



## iflyga

Is audio cutting out for about 1-2 seconds every 60-90 seconds for anyone else? I'm watching on Comcast in Frederick. The game looks good except but the audio breaks are annoying.. thanks.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Clarence* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> ...Should I send Mr McCoy a .ts file from WETA OTA, QAM, and/or HD DVR compared to the same program from a decent PBS station?...




Yeah, Tell him it's The Real McCoy.


Trivia question (don't look it up): Who played Luke McCoy?


----------



## JoeInNVa

How does MASN look on D*? Is it as bad as it is on Comcast?


----------



## jimrobinette




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The only thing WETA is really good about: endless mailers shilling for money.



When I get the envelopes asking for money from WETA, I write a little note that I will contribute money when they get a decent HD pic on 26-1. I then enclose a copy of the canceled check I sent to MPT (and I live in Haymarket, VA!).


Jim


----------



## davidwb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yeah, Tell him it's The Real McCoy.
> 
> 
> Trivia question (don't look it up): Who played Luke McCoy?




richard crenna -- a very good actor.


----------



## davidwb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmsjr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Heck no... not here in AA anyway. I fear the same... that Baltimore would (eventually) have its own channel, and they don't want use to get hooked on the DC version. Boo hiss for many AA and Howard residents who work or play in DC... which is easily 50% of our neighborhood.



i just called verizon to ask about this...and they are supposed to have one of their folks call me back with an answer about fios1 in howard/ann arundel counties. if i get an answer. i'll post it here.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Clarence* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I finally got a response to my very polite observations on the low-bandwidth and resulting poor quality of WETA-HD...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Should I send Mr McCoy a .ts file from WETA OTA, QAM, and/or HD DVR compared to the same program from a decent PBS station?
> 
> 
> DC is PBS's Headquarters! Do they even watch their own broadcasts?



Perhaps they ONLY watch their own broadcasts, and have nothing to compare them to...


I kinda feel sorry for the guy - he's getting technical info, but either it's the wrong information, or he's misunderstanding it. PSIP actually stands for Program and System INFORMATION Protocol, and is information that we, the broadcasters send out, and is data about the broadcasts, not something that would effect the picture quality. Here's a pretty good explanation about it: http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/info.as...Q#_Ref28770294 


He is correct that later "televisions" (actually, they started out as external boxes since the official standard was not set for a while) were better than the early ones, but only in the fact that they are able to lock on to the signal better. That really didn't effect the quality of the picture - just how it was received.


I expect that television manufacturers have been, and still are, working on making the picture better with less data, but I've found that the quality of the video that the viewer sees really depends on the amount of video data that you are sending out and, to a lesser extent, the encoder that you are using. The more data, the more quick movements and finer detail the viewer sees (up to a point - where the viewer sees the full resolution of the video).


If there is too much movement, or not enough video data, you start to see blocks in the picture. It's not because of the television that you are watching, but the fact that there isn't enough data to fill in all of the picture. If there's no movement the picture resolution would eventually fill in, pretty much no matter what data rate you're sending out. You would see big blocks first, then smaller and smaller ones until you saw the full resolution (but who wants to watch a test pattern?).


The trick with multicasting is to find the data rate that fills in the resolution in a reasonable amount of time, and still leaves you enough data "bandwidth" for another channel. There are a couple of things that help - statistical multiplexing, for example, lets you steal data "bandwidth" from your lower resolution channel(s) when it doesn't (they don't) need it, so that you can use it for your HD channel. Also, newer encoders are better at compressing the video, so that you don't need as much data to send the same resolution. I have no idea how that works, but some forum members probably remember that we (WNUV) did a test last year with 2 HD channels and one SD channel with new loaner encoders and statistical multiplexing, and the feedback that I got was that it looked pretty good. I don't know if I would want to do that during basketball season, but for the programming we were sending, it worked OK.


Well, I gotta get to work -


Cheers!


Mark


----------



## 4HiMarks




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aprest* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> This happened to me when watching Desperate Housewives on WJLA 7.1 in Maryland. I was amazed since I had just spent an hour adjusting the antenna to maximize the signal from WJLA 7.1 to 90-92 on my DirecTV HR10-250 HD Tivo STB. WJLA in DC seems to be plagued with problems periodically.



I saw it too, on a E* re-broadcast of the 7.1 signal. I thought it was a glitch in my DVR recording since I was watching it about 10 minutes delayed.


-Chris


----------



## rosh400




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cmburke99* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Was wondering if anyone was having some issues with TNT HD on Fios this weekend. Seems like the audio and picture are out of sync by a second or less...it is happening on both my cable boxes, so it is not an issue with one of the boxes. Anyone else having this problem on TNT HD (Channel 825)? Other HD channels seem to be in sync.




It's TNT not the provider. It happened with Comcast. Now it happens with FIOS. I think the problem is mostly with Law and Order but I could be wrong.


----------



## rosh400

This is over 24 hours old but I did not get a chance to post before. Opening night broadcast: audio would drop for a second or 2 randomly. Did anybody notice this?


----------



## mdviewer25

WMAR's SD subchannel 2-2 is out of sync. The sound is ahead of the video.


----------



## ashutoshsm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ahsan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Anybody in Loudoun sign up for the Comcast Triple Play yet? I am wondering if 16mbps is indeed available from Comcast. Also, what is the latest DVR that Comcast Loudoun has? Are they still on the 6412's? I have had the same two 6412s for at least a couple years now. I don't think mine are even the III series. Is it easy to swap out if newer gear is available? I'd be interested in the 160gb 6416.



I've been wondering about this as well - I intend to call them this weekend and make sure 16/1 or 16/2 is REALLY available, and let them know that without those speeds, I plan to wait for FiOS (should be a short wait ... but I've been saying that for over 10 months now!)


From teh broadbandreports disucssion you also posted in, it seems they offer higher speeds ONLY after FiOS is confirmed to be available. Oh well.


As for your 64xx questions - I picked up a 6412 Phase III over 10 months ago - wroks fine, but it's a real dog (features, reliability et al are inferior - that's a given, but even PQ is bad!) compared to my Series 3 HD TiVo. I'm holding on to it because I can't afford a second S3 yet (only one HDTV and no MRV yet too!), and I'm hoping the TiVo software on the 6412 shows up soon.


----------



## ashutoshsm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Clarence* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I finally got a response to my very polite observations on the low-bandwidth and resulting poor quality of WETA-HD...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Should I send Mr McCoy a .ts file from WETA OTA, QAM, and/or HD DVR compared to the same program from a decent PBS station?
> 
> 
> DC is PBS's Headquarters! Do they even watch their own broadcasts?




Thanks for posting that! I'll write to him as well to skew their whole "customers love our fecal matter" stand!


( Done.)


markbulla, thanks for the addon and explanations!


----------



## Knicks_Fan

 http://www.tvpredictions.com/baseballhd040307.htm 


Is there something in the water here that makes our RSN and three of the big four locals not to fully use HD (or use it at all)?


And DCRTV is reporting more morale sinking over at WJLA - the VHS tape look is out, Joe, despite some of the star news talent you have.
http://www.3io.com/~dcrtv/


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Mark,

Any chance you could come down to Alexandria and show the "experts" at WETA a few things?


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ashutoshsm* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I've been wondering about this as well - I intend to call them this weekend and make sure 16/1 or 16/2 is REALLY available, and let them know that without those speeds, I plan to wait for FiOS (should be a short wait ... but I've been saying that for over 10 months now!)
> 
> 
> From teh broadbandreports disucssion you also posted in, it seems they offer higher speeds ONLY after FiOS is confirmed to be available. Oh well.
> 
> 
> As for your 64xx questions - I picked up a 6412 Phase III over 10 months ago - wroks fine, but it's a real dog (features, reliability et al are inferior - that's a given, but even PQ is bad!) compared to my Series 3 HD TiVo. I'm holding on to it because I can't afford a second S3 yet (only one HDTV and no MRV yet too!), and I'm hoping the TiVo software on the 6412 shows up soon.



It's not availabe yet in Alexandria. No matter how many times I keep rebooting my Cable Modem thinking it will be there, it isn't.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *davidwb* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> i just called verizon to ask about this...and they are supposed to have one of their folks call me back with an answer about fios1 in howard/ann arundel counties. if i get an answer. i'll post it here.



No one knows.


MASN insists it is on Channel 1 for zip 21045 (Howard County). 1-877-469-6276 and 410-625-7100


Verizon CSR says no Channel 1 in Howard County. 1-888-553-1555


Does anyone know WTF is going on? Heads up their @sses!


Did Comcast get MASN2 yet?


-John


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> No one knows.
> 
> 
> MASN insists it is on Channel 1 for zip 21045 (Howard County). 1-877-469-6276 and 410-625-7100
> 
> 
> Verizon CSR says no Channel 1 in Howard County. 1-888-553-1555
> 
> 
> Does anyone know WTF is going on? Heads up their @sses!
> 
> 
> Did Comcast get MASN2 yet?
> 
> 
> -John



Yeah, it pushes CSPAN2 off the air when they air something on it.


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> No one knows.
> 
> 
> MASN insists it is on Channel 1 for zip 21045 (Howard County). 1-877-469-6276 and 410-625-7100
> 
> 
> Verizon CSR says no Channel 1 in Howard County. 1-888-553-1555
> 
> 
> Does anyone know WTF is going on? Heads up their @sses!
> 
> 
> Did Comcast get MASN2 yet?
> 
> 
> -John



Comcast launched MASN 2 earlier this month. In Howard it shares time with CSPAN2, ch 16. This way it's not a blank channel when games aren't on. They also dup CSPAN 2 on ch 104 to keep the CSPAN fans happy.


GoIrish


----------



## Ladd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Clarence* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I finally got a response to my very polite observations on the low-bandwidth and resulting poor quality of WETA-HD...



Agreed that he is either passing on wrong information that he simply doesn't understand or he has only seen a WETA HDTV show that is connected via cable directly to the control room or something.


I have a six-months old seventh-generation Pioneer plasma so I should meet their requirments for receiving a quality broadcast. WETA is reliably unwatchable by me for any program with movement in it. This is via OTA or cable.


As noted in this forum before, the series "American Ballroom Dancing Championships" (or something very close to that name) was painful for me to watch and elicited comments by my lovely bride on its poor quality and she normally doesn't care one way or another if a show is in color or black and white, much less get wound up about digital quality. For her to comment on a TV broadcast's quality is stunning to me and while I realize that WETA doesn't know me or my wife and they probably have lots of balls in the air trying to please all sorts of masters, they are really burying their heads in the sand on this subject ...


----------



## bmfc1

I live in MoCo but was visiting Howard County last night. My friend flipped by Deal Or No Deal and it was in HD on the Baltimore/NBC station. In DC, it's not in HD. Or was I imagining it due to matzah overload?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bmfc1* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I live in MoCo but was visiting Howard County last night. My friend flipped by Deal Or No Deal and it was in HD on the Baltimore/NBC station. In DC, it's not in HD. Or was I imagining it due to matzvah overload?



This is an easy question to answer. Deal or No Deal is NOT in HD. NBC does not spend the money to have this show done in HD. What you presumably saw on WBAL-DT NBC 11 was a stretched SD version because WBAL likes to stretch 4:3 SD programming to a 14:9 or 15:9 aspect ratio because management at the station decided a while back that was the way to go. It looks stupid, but that is what they (and TNT-HD) do.


I can guarantee you that if NBC decided to go HD for Deal or No Deal, there would be a busy thread on this in the HDTV programming forum.


----------



## bmfc1

Thank you afiggatt.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Mark,
> 
> Any chance you could come down to Alexandria and show the "experts" at WETA a few things?



Believe it or not, I actually applied for the chief engineer position there four or so years ago.


I never heard a thing from them.


Actually, I'm kinda happy about it - I don't think my jeans and flannel shirts (in the winter) would go over too well among all of the jackets and ties...


Mark


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> How does MASN look on D*? Is it as bad as it is on Comcast?



Complete crap. Has been since Day 1 (even on my SD TV which doesn't show up as much as my HD).


As with almost any channel I get on both Comcast and D*, one may be better than the other each day.


But MASN looks like they got all their equipment as a surplus store.....


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WMAR's SD subchannel 2-2 is out of sync. The sound is ahead of the video.



Why are you watching that waste of bandwidth? Everything is on 2-1 and even SD is clearer.


----------



## yekim54




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jimrobinette* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> When I get the envelopes asking for money from WETA, I write a little note that I will contribute money when they get a decent HD pic on 26-1. I then enclose a copy of the canceled check I sent to MPT (and I live in Haymarket, VA!).
> 
> 
> Jim



LOL! I'm gonna steal your idea the next time I get one of those WETA begging letters. I started to open up my checkbook to write a donation when they put classical music back on WETA-FM, but at the time 26.1 was experiencing sound sync problems in addition to the horrible PQ, so I snapped the checkbook closed. No point in rewarding them for their inept OTA signal.


----------



## davidwb

no masn2 in howard county tonight, so no oriole's game (at least we get the nats on masn1)...verizon says it's a "technical" issue. :-(



the masn folks said that i can go on their web site and register a complaint. i'm sure that would do a lot of good.


----------



## bullwinklehdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> How does MASN look on D*? Is it as bad as it is on Comcast?



Yes, its terrible. I can understand Peter Angelos not caring, but why the Lerners put up with this is a mystery to me. I guess if you have an owners box, you really don't care what the commoners see (you're supposed to be at the game anyway). Clearly no one connected with either team watches, we know none of them owns an HDTV.


----------



## tonyd79

The Nats are in limbo this year on the field, why not on TV? I'll bet they will demand HD for their glorious movement to the new ballpark.


----------



## bullwinklehdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The Nats are in limbo this year on the field, why not on TV? I'll bet they will demand HD for their glorious movement to the new ballpark.



Only because those wonderful suites will have HDTVs next to the bidets


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bullwinklehdtv* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yes, its terrible. I can understand Peter Angelos not caring, but why the Lerners put up with this is a mystery to me. I guess if you have an owners box, you really don't care what the commoners see (you're supposed to be at the game anyway). Clearly no one connected with either team watches, we know none of them owns an HDTV.



The Lerners don't have much leverage with the MASN situation. MLB & DC made the deal with Peter Angelos to give the TV rights to the Washington Nats to MASN to make him happy about the Nats infringing on what he saw as his market well before Lerners were in the picture. IIRC, the Lerners have a minority piece of the TV deal, so they may be trying to improve things behind the scenes. We can only hope so.


As for MASN, the picture quality for both SD channels was poor tonight (Verizon Fios). I saw fringing effects and poor edge definition. The color was not very good either. Perhaps, the real TV engineers can answer this, but MASN looks to be using low quality composite video hookups. I compared MASN with the other SD sport channels: CSN MA and the ESPN channels. They all looked better than the MASN live coverage. The commercials on MASN had better picture quality so it is the live hookup that looks lousy.


And just how much money did they spend on that studio?? Good grief. The good news is that it can only get better from here. Maybe.










BTW, who are local broadcast stations for Nats and Os games this year? There must be a few OTA games, right?


----------



## mikemikeb

Interesting news. From DCRTV :



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DCRTV Dave* /forum/post/0
> 
> *Morale Sinks At 7 As Lord Tries To Boost News Numbers* - 4/3 - From a mole at Channel 7: "As if morale at WJLA couldn't get any lower, management is planning a major shakeup over the next few weeks in an attempt to boost ratings after a disappointing February sweeps. The ABC station was down across the board, even coming in a distant fourth in two of its newscasts. Just six months ago they held the number two spot. WJLA veterans blame the drop in ratings on the influx of inexperienced reporters, and rotating anchors in the evening since the departure of Kathleen Matthews last fall. Now everyone is seeing their schedules juggled as management tries to beef up their morning and late shows... Insiders say if the ratings don't improve during May, news veep Bill Lord will be looking for a new job".....



Time to take it to the HD streets? Or is this ratings drop happening for reasons beyond lack of HD (as is usual at WUSA and other stations)?


I wonder where 7's viewers went? Channel 9 because it's HD? Nah, probably 5 and 4. Still, can anybody please post sweeps data? Thanks in advance.


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> BTW, who are local broadcast stations for Nats and Os games this year? There must be a few OTA games, right?



I think there will be some Nats games on My20, and the O's will have games on 50 and WJZ. Of course, none will be in HD.


----------



## bullwinklehdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The Lerners don't have much leverage with the MASN situation. MLB & DC made the deal with Peter Angelos to give the TV rights to the Washington Nats to MASN to make him happy about the Nats infringing on what he saw as his market well before Lerners were in the picture. IIRC, the Lerners have a minority piece of the TV deal, so they may be trying to improve things behind the scenes. We can only hope so.
> 
> 
> BTW, who are local broadcast stations for Nats and Os games this year? There must be a few OTA games, right?



Not many and they won't be in HD. I know the official line is the deal was done before the Nationals sale, but I can't believe at the price the Lerners paid in the larger market, they didn't have leverage. They simply don't care.


----------



## TimGoodwin

I think it is a shame that they just don't really care about the product on the field this season. The Nationals will be awful this year and all we keep hearing about is wait until we get the new stadium next year! It is going to be a long painful season in the Washington area.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> As for MASN, the picture quality for both SD channels was poor tonight (Verizon Fios). I saw fringing effects and poor edge definition. The color was not very good either. Perhaps, the real TV engineers can answer this, but MASN looks to be using low quality composite video hookups. I compared MASN with the other SD sport channels: CSN MA and the ESPN channels. They all looked better than the MASN live coverage. The commercials on MASN had better picture quality so it is the live hookup that looks lousy.



Oddly, the PQ on the highlights from MASN on ESPN looked good.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GoIrish* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Comcast launched MASN 2 earlier this month. In Howard it shares time with CSPAN2, ch 16. This way it's not a blank channel when games aren't on. They also dup CSPAN 2 on ch 104 to keep the CSPAN fans happy.



Thats cool. I might have to switch back.


----------



## tripleM

Finally dipped a toe into the 720p era last nite with a TV purchase.

Hope you all could answer some local questions:


1) The new TV has a built in QAM tuner. Can it get HD from the Comcast analog signal (no stb) for the local HD stations (free stations) or is it all SD?


2) If I get the limited expanded basic (no stb), channels > 20 I believe, will I also be able to get ESPN-HD or TNT-HD? Or does that have to be "turned on" by Comcast?


3) Briefly read about the moving channel numbers/assignments? Why is that happening?


4) How is Comcast service in this area specifically Loudoun Cty?


Thanks for any advice or info!


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Why are you watching that waste of bandwidth? Everything is on 2-1 and even SD is clearer.



Was watching just for the news and I wanted the full screen without the black bars on the sides.


----------



## ashutoshsm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Finally dipped a toe into the 720p era last nite with a TV purchase.
> 
> Hope you all could answer some local questions:
> 
> 
> 1) The new TV has a built in QAM tuner. Can it get HD from the Comcast analog signal (no stb) for the local HD stations (free stations) or is it all SD?
> 
> 
> 2) If I get the limited expanded basic (no stb), channels > 20 I believe, will I also be able to get ESPN-HD or TNT-HD? Or does that have to be "turned on" by Comcast?
> 
> 
> 3) Briefly read about the moving channel numbers/assignments? Why is that happening?
> 
> 
> 4) How is Comcast service in this area specifically Loudoun Cty?
> 
> 
> Thanks for any advice or info!



1. Yup. All the locals, PBS, all the MusicChoice channels, and snippets of free pr0n as folks VOD through it

2. Not sure. Back in Adelphia-era, you *could*, but now they may require you to be on a digital tier 9and pay a buttload extra and rent a box). And in ANY case, your TV won't be able to tune those - they ARE blocked in our area. You'll need a (mythical) HD box. Mycthical because they'll force an HD DVR down your gullet.


3. Because they can. So they can force you to rent their boxes.


4. Excellent - barring their anticompetitveness and inept hardware. My work-around - I use a Series 3 HD TiVO with two Comcast Motorola CableCards


----------



## markbach




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ashutoshsm* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> You'll need a (mythical) HD box. Mycthical because they'll force an HD DVR down your gullet.



I have a Moto 5100 which I got from the office on Red Rum (back when they were still Adelphia) after I turned in my 6412 DVR to them. I really should get rid of it, since I think I'm paying something like $12/month for it, and I really only use it once in a while to watch OnDemand or verify a problem is not limited to just my TiVo/CableCards.


Not sure if they still stock them or not, but I would assume they have SOME type of non-DVR HD box. Go into the office and ask, the CSRs there are very friendly and if you know what you want, they won't try to upsell you to crap you don't need.


BTW, anyone on Adelphicast in Loudoun able to sign up for the $99 Triple Play? I got the $159.99 offer in the mail, and the 16 Mb internet would be nice, but I really don't need the premium movie channels (and I'm not sure what the "Sports Entertainment Pack" is, but I probably don't want it either). Heck, I don't even want their phone service, but $99/mo is still cheaper than what I'm paying now for just digital cable / internet.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Was watching just for the news and I wanted the full screen without the black bars on the sides.



I take it your TV cannot stretch or crop/zoom 16x9 pictures.


----------



## compuwizz

I'm new to the area and have my MythTV machine setup on Adelphicast (I like that term BTW we're not Adelphia but not yet fully integrated to Comcast) in Sterling, VA. Things are going well getting HDTV over QAM via an HDHomeRun however WETA-HD seems to have bad programming data. Zap2it's programming matches with my Mythtv however that doesn't match up to what is on Titantv.


PS. I wish they had Smart Travels in HD up here. I miss that from my Roanoke, VA station.


----------



## DCFan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> IIRC, the Lerners have a minority piece of the TV deal, so they may be trying to improve things behind the scenes. We can only hope so.



The Lerners have a 10% stake in MASN and it will eventually increase to 33%.


ps - the Nats OTA station is channel 20.


----------



## chiliman

Is anyone having issues with OTA NBC out of DC (4.1)? My signal keeps going from 70's to 0 to 70's to 20's etc etc. My signal for 4.1 has always been weaker (out by Gainesville, Va) but I haven't had problems like this.


Randy


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chiliman* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is anyone having issues with OTA NBC out of DC (4.1)? My signal keeps going from 70's to 0 to 70's to 20's etc etc. My signal for 4.1 has always been weaker (out by Gainesville, Va) but I haven't had problems like this.



No problems with WRC-DT 4 from here in Sterling. It is very windy tonight, so you may getting interference from trees and leaves moving around. What antenna and setup are you using?


----------



## aaronwt

I had a problem. It's from the wind. The leaves are starting to grow and with the wind blowing it affects the signal on 4.1. All the other stations are always solid for me but when the foilage comes back I always have problems with 4.1. I guess I'll need to change my NBC season passes to WRC from Comcast.


----------



## shortstop11_jeff

Checking to see if anyone knows if WUSA 9 will be showing the Masters in HD at 4pm today? Would much rather watch it OTA for best quality then watch it on Universal HD 74. It is not showing on my guide for USA9 but CBSE is showing it scheduled. If no one on here is sure- who can I email- call for confirmation- thanks.


----------



## JTBurner

The HD Sports Guide lists the following:


The Masters -- 1st round - Augusta National 4:00 PM CBS (1080i)

The Masters -- 1st round - Augusta National 4:00 PM UniversalHD (1080i)


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Channel 9's program guide shows _Millionaire_ and _Inside Edition_. Om this CBS page http://www.sportsline.com/cbssports/schedules/page/golf it does not show any 4pm coverage.


----------



## SJKurtzke

Emailed WUSA about the issue.


Hopefully, we'll get a response before 4PM.


----------



## tripleM

New to the area: what local stations are HD?

from the posts above it seems slim & none?


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> New to the area: what local stations are HD?
> 
> from the posts above it seems slim & none?



They all are...Well, all the ones you would want to watch...


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> New to the area: what local stations are HD?
> 
> from the posts above it seems slim & none?



You are in a major metropolitan area with two cities with a full set of the broadcast networks in both cities. Of course, there are a lot of HD broadcast stations. Check the 1st post of this thread for a list of the local stations and which ones broadcast in HD.


----------



## fastep

What can hd fans do that want baseball in hd? It's pretty pathetic that 27 out of 30 baseball markets broadcast in hd (next year it will be 28 out of 30) and masn may not even go hd next year. Total BS if you ask me. The terrible sd pq only rubs salt in the wound.


It's ok that the o's don't spend $$$ on quality players (pitchers especially) but at least let us watch the damn game in hd! I only hope that penny-wise and pound foolish decisions eventually catches up with that (those) cheap $#&^%$#s!


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> New to the area: what local stations are HD?
> 
> from the posts above it seems slim & none?



If you're talking about news, WUSA 9 (CBS DC) does fantastic HD news. They're actually streaming in HD over the internet (wusa9.com) right now.


It's kind of well-known that WTTG 5 (FOX DC) WRC (NBC DC) and WJZ (CBS Baltimore) will go HD sometime soon.


----------



## Red Dog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Channel 9's program guide shows _Millionaire_ and _Inside Edition_. Om this CBS page http://www.sportsline.com/cbssports/schedules/page/golf it does not show any 4pm coverage.




No coverage on 9-1 but it is on 13-1.


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fastep* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> What can hd fans do that want baseball in hd? It's pretty pathetic that 27 out of 30 baseball markets broadcast in hd (next year it will be 28 out of 30) and masn may not even go hd next year. Total BS if you ask me. The terrible sd pq only rubs salt in the wound.
> 
> 
> It's ok that the o's don't spend $$$ on quality players (pitchers especially) but at least let us watch the damn game in hd! I only hope that penny-wise and pound foolish decisions eventually catches up with that (those) cheap $#&^%$#s!



Complain to MASN I would expect. Thay are the ones that will decide when we can get HD games. And I'm with you on this. Going from 60 + games last year on Sportsnet to 0 on MASN is pretty hard to swallow.


GoIrish


----------



## Red Dog

If a MASN-HD comes to fruition, is Comcast even going to carry it? After the pissing contest last year, it wouldn't surprise me if they don't.


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Red Dog* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> If a MASN-HD comes to fruition, is Comcast even going to carry it? After the pissing contest last year, it wouldn't surprise me if they don't.



Last year there wasn't a contract with MASN. This year there is no contract issues to work through so I believe they would.


GoIrish


----------



## fastep




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GoIrish* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Complain to MASN I would expect. Thay are the ones that will decide when we can get HD games. And I'm with you on this. Going from 60 + games last year on Sportsnet to 0 on MASN is pretty hard to swallow.
> 
> 
> GoIrish




Actually I have and I encourage EVERYONE that feels screwed to do the same.


Here is the link: http://www.masnsports.com/contactus/Index.cfm 



There is strength in numbers so please take 2 minutes and let masn know how you feel!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> If you're talking about news, WUSA 9 (CBS DC) does fantastic HD news. They're actually streaming in HD over the internet (wusa9.com) right now.
> 
> 
> It's kind of well-known that WTTG 5 (FOX DC) WRC (NBC DC) and WJZ (CBS Baltimore) will go HD sometime soon.



And that leaves WJLA (ABC/DC) as the lone SD holdout later this year. The VHS look went out years ago. Between Allbritton and MASN...


----------



## Knicks_Fan

I am trying to watch MASN on DirecTV and have noticed the sound of the ball hitting the catcher's glove occurs 1/2 to 1 second before we see the ball in the mitt. Bad enough they are losing again.

MASN:
*M*r *A*ngelos' *S*hitty *N*etwork

http://www.masnsports.com/contactus/Index.cfm 


The Yankees are on in HD on 731 (MLB Extra Innings Free Preview), the hell with MASN


----------



## twelvepbrs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I am trying to watch MASN on DirecTV and have noticed the sound of the ball hitting the catcher's glove occurs 1/2 to 1 second before we see the ball in the mitt. Bad enough they are losing again.
> 
> MASN:
> *M*r *A*ngelos' *S*hitty *N*etwork
> 
> http://www.masnsports.com/contactus/Index.cfm
> 
> 
> The Yankees are on in HD on 731 (MLB Extra Innings Free Preview), the hell with MASN



if i was a knicks fan i'd cling to the yankmees too


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fastep* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> What can hd fans do that want baseball in hd? It's pretty pathetic that 27 out of 30 baseball markets broadcast in hd (next year it will be 28 out of 30) and masn may not even go hd next year. Total BS if you ask me. The terrible sd pq only rubs salt in the wound.



I think that that MASN will almost certainly offer a HD channel by next year. Given the the news stories that they are thinking of offering a HD channel this year, they must have most of the equipment they need. My read is that the problem was getting carriage of the HD channels with their late start by enough service providers to make it worthwhile.


By next season, DirecTV should have their new satellites up with all the new HD channels and the capacity to carry MASN HD and the part time MASN2 HD channel. Comcast has to have a plan to add a lot more HD capacity by 2008 in order to keep up with DirecTV and Verizon. My best is that Comcast will make a big push to move some analog channels to the digital tier only by next winter to free up bandwidth. By 2008, Verizon Fios will have wider availability and should have enough customers in the MASN market to matter. I have not kept up with what E* is planning to do to expand HD capacity.


But for 2007, we can hope that MASN will at least try to improve the SD picture quality. But beyond some tweaks, I doubt it.


----------



## henry296

I know there aren't HD games on Comcast as part of Extra Innings, but I though there was a free preview for the SD games. i can't find them in my guide on Baltimore County Comcast. What channels should I be looking for?


----------



## Red Dog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *henry296* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I know there aren't HD games on Comcast as part of Extra Innings, but I though there was a free preview for the SD games. i can't find them in my guide on Baltimore County Comcast. What channels should I be looking for?




My guess is that they will be on the NHL Center Ice channels (I think they traditionally have shared those channels in the past with MLBEI) because those channels were all available tonight.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> You are in a major metropolitan area with two cities with a full set of the broadcast networks in both cities. Of course, there are a lot of HD broadcast stations. Check the 1st post of this thread for a list of the local stations and which ones broadcast in HD.



Duh. The 1 place I didn't read. Thanks!


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I think that that MASN will almost certainly offer a HD channel by next year. Given the the news stories that they are thinking of offering a HD channel this year, they must have most of the equipment they need. My read is that the problem was getting carriage of the HD channels with their late start by enough service providers to make it worthwhile.
> 
> 
> By next season, DirecTV should have their new satellites up with all the new HD channels and the capacity to carry MASN HD and the part time MASN2 HD channel. Comcast has to have a plan to add a lot more HD capacity by 2008 in order to keep up with DirecTV and Verizon. My best is that Comcast will make a big push to move some analog channels to the digital tier only by next winter to free up bandwidth. By 2008, Verizon Fios will have wider availability and should have enough customers in the MASN market to matter. I have not kept up with what E* is planning to do to expand HD capacity.
> 
> 
> But for 2007, we can hope that MASN will at least try to improve the SD picture quality. But beyond some tweaks, I doubt it.



That they may be prepared to offer HD by 08 may indeed be correct. That they are not offering it because of carriage constraints with cable and satellite outlets is absolutely not correct.


Right now MASN does not offer HD because they are not prepared to. That may change within the season, but is the case at the moment.


This has nothing to do with D*, Comcast or anyone else as MASN hasn't offered HD game carriage to anyone.


GoIrish


----------



## jandk95

I know this topic somewhat spans different threads but I figured I would start with the folks here since this is somehwat of a local issue:

1. Can the folks who live in AA county (or actually any of the areas on this thread) that have switched from Comcast to FIOS give me their opionions on whether they made the right choice? Verizon stopped by the other night and made an offer that would save me some money but I do not know if it is worth the hassle of switching over.

2. If I kept my Comcast service, did a side by side comparison after the install, and decide that I liked Comcast better, will Verizon let me out of the contract? Is there a grace period or is it that once the install is complete you're stuck?

2. The one thing about FIOS that bothers me a little is that they do not offer HD VOD. Has anyone heard whether this is in the works or not? We love the Discovery channel HD VOD and would hope that Verizon woul do something similar.


There are many pros and cons for switching and I am trying to weigh them; however, since FIOS TV is so new, I do not know anyone that has switched from Comcast to Verizon and I have not been able to see it in action.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> if i was a knicks fan i'd cling to the yankmees too



34 years and still waiting for another championship (old enough to remember the good old days of 1970 and 1973). The Wizards have a pretty long dry spell too.


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Red Dog* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> No coverage on 9-1 but it is on 13-1.



Got an answer back yesterday.

No coverage on 9.1 today either.


Just a reminder:

USA Network and Universal HD will be carrying this.


----------



## jandk95

All,

In addition to sending comments to MASN about their lack of HD coverage there is also an on-line petition that you can sign up for. Here is the link
http://www.**************.com/masninhd/


----------



## afiggatt

*Comcast To Go All-Digital in Chicago, Room For "120 HD Channels"*


Since Comcast is a major cable company in the Balt-Wash area, I thought this article and thread in the HDTV Programming would be of interest: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=830402 .


Appears that Comcast is using Chicago as the test location for going all digital, except for a small number of local analog channels (which would be digital simulcast). Given the likely high percentages of customers with digital STBs already in this area (compared to a national average of 52%), Comcast may start this conversion for the more up to date franchise systems in our area sooner than many people would have expected.


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 34 years and still waiting for another championship (old enough to remember the good old days of 1970 and 1973). The Wizards have a pretty long dry spell too.



I grew up and still am a Cubs fan....99 years and counting since the last world series win, but, I'll always be loyal.


GoIrish


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jandk95* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I know this topic somewhat spans different threads but I figured I would start with the folks here since this is somehwat of a local issue:
> 
> 1. Can the folks who live in AA county (or actually any of the areas on this thread) that have switched from Comcast to FIOS give me their opionions on whether they made the right choice? Verizon stopped by the other night and made an offer that would save me some money but I do not know if it is worth the hassle of switching over.
> 
> 2. If I kept my Comcast service, did a side by side comparison after the install, and decide that I liked Comcast better, will Verizon let me out of the contract? Is there a grace period or is it that once the install is complete you're stuck?
> 
> 2. The one thing about FIOS that bothers me a little is that they do not offer HD VOD. Has anyone heard whether this is in the works or not? We love the Discovery channel HD VOD and would hope that Verizon woul do something similar.
> 
> 
> There are many pros and cons for switching and I am trying to weigh them; however, since FIOS TV is so new, I do not know anyone that has switched from Comcast to Verizon and I have not been able to see it in action.



I can't contrast the products side by side but am sure someone here can for you.


I don't believe the contract has a grace period though beyond what's required under law which I think is only a few days from when you sign up.


I do recommend calling your current provider and letting them know you are evaluating Verizon and see what offers they can make you. From what I have read the VZ and Comcast packages are very similar in price and a package option from Comcast is probably available.


Once you know that number and have the other input from the members here about their experiences, you can make an informed decision.


GoIrish


----------



## mikemikeb

I ask for WUSA viewers to do the same thing I did: I sent an email off to Sue Baldwin at WUSA Programming , asking to remove the subchannel on WUSA for the Masters.


Here's what I wrote:



> Quote:
> The Masters is considered by many to be the best-looking HD there is. However, the combination of heavy motion at times, and the additional amounts of green in the picture (which is a more difficult color than usual to encode without macroblocking and/or pixelization) may cause more artifacting or macroblocking than usual with the one radar subchannel. Since no heavy precipitation is forecast for Sunday (and Saturday afternoon), please make sure that at least Sunday's, and preferably also Saturday's, coverage of the heavily-watched Masters is subchannel-free.
> 
> 
> Thanks in advance.
> 
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Mike B. / [my hometown]



I should have added the term "9-2" in there somewhere, somehow (referring to the subchannel). You guys can add that in.


Maybe if enough of you e-mail her, this will get done.


----------



## rob base

When is CSN-HD going to be available on Comcast? It was posted earlier that it would come Feb. 12th. The company's name is COMCAST isn't it. You would think this would be the first HD channel added


----------



## Ladd

I may be the last to figure this out, but Baltimore WJZ (13.1) has the second round of the Masters on OTA in HD even though all the online TV schedules show WJZ broadcasting regular programming ...


----------



## carltonrice

Even though they're probably not the hot ticket in town anymore without Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler, I guess that the Wizards will be in HD tonight on ESPN-HD and Comcast SportsNet. For those who get both channels, it might be interesting to compare the two broadcasts for picture quality.


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rob base* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> When is CSN-HD going to be available on Comcast? It was posted earlier that it would come Feb. 12th. The company's name is COMCAST isn't it. You would think this would be the first HD channel added



I believe the issue is a fiber connection to Frederick County. Sportsnet HD comes via fiber, not satellite. Adelphia never had it so there was no connectivity between them.


Unfortunately, those things don't happen right away. I would have to think it's in their plans.


GoIrish


----------



## gr8one626

Any idea why all my Comcast (formerly Adelphia) Frederick HD's are now showing on 1.1/1.3? How can I move them back to their native channels (81.1 etc..)..


Also, sometimes on the 1.1/1.3, I get a "poor signal strength" error, which I never used to get on the natives... PLEASE HELP!


----------



## twelvepbrs

although i live in LA, i have just seen MASN2 through mlb.tv and it looks WAY chittier than any of the other streams i've seen so far...i feel your pain


----------



## Knicks_Fan

MASN 2 on DirecTV 671 is blacked out here in Loudoun County! Perhaps this is a blessing. DirecTV screws up again


MASN:
*M*r *A*ngelos' *S*hitty *N*etwork


----------



## twelvepbrs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> MASN 2 on DirecTV 671 is blacked out here in Loudoun County! Perhaps this is a blessing. DirecTV screws up again
> 
> 
> MASN:
> *M*r *A*ngelos' *S*hitty *N*etwork



maybe you should've just gone to the game, then you could see the nat's get blown out in person!


----------



## robinsmw




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> MASN 2 on DirecTV 671 is blacked out here in Loudoun County! Perhaps this is a blessing. DirecTV screws up again
> 
> 
> MASN:
> *M*r *A*ngelos' *S*hitty *N*etwork



I'm in Loudoun, have D* and MASN2 is blacked out also. I'm on the phone w/ CSR now. Says that it's b/c a local cable company bought the rights for the game. ??? I've never heard of that. I've asked for written documentation and am still on hold (33 min total length of call).


Anyone have any idea what this is about?


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> MASN 2 on DirecTV 671 is blacked out here in Loudoun County! Perhaps this is a blessing. DirecTV screws up again
> 
> 
> MASN:
> *M*r *A*ngelos' *S*hitty *N*etwork



Same here.

My dad's on the phone with a CSR that's trying to fix it.

DirecTV Level 2 Support

888-713-7772


----------



## Knicks_Fan

LOL - Ted Lerner is still at the RFK gate shilling for customers.. Sit downstairs for 1/2 price adn I will throw in a stale hot dog.


And the YES HD feed is also blacked out. Thanks Mr. Angelos



> Quote:
> I'm in Loudoun, have D* and MASN2 is blacked out also. I'm on the phone w/ CSR now. Says that it's b/c a local cable company bought the rights for the game.



Is that what the kindly CSR said (most likely based in Bangalore, INDIA)!! "Amazing. It is a "incorrectly applied sports blackout"


MASN:
*M*r *A*ngelos' *S*hitty *N*etworks


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is that what the kindly CSR said (most likely based in Bangalore, INDIA)!! "Amazing. It is a "incorrectly applied sports blackout"



Really, there's no need for that. I'm really amazed nobody's just skipped to L2 CSRs, they can actually help.


Are there any non-DirecTV customers that can check the game, please?


----------



## robinsmw




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Really, there's no need for that. I'm really amazed nobody's just skipped to L2 CSRs, they can actually help.
> 
> 
> Are there any non-DirecTV customers that can check the game, please?



I'm at the supervisor level know. Still sticking to the same story. I'm asking for any written documentation. 46 min now....


----------



## aaronwt

It's on Comcast here. Time for you to get cable. I'll be dumping DirecTV completely very soon. I'm keeping it for now because of the HDNet channels.


----------



## SJKurtzke

I heard this is going to be a story in the Washington Post tomorrow.


You baseball guys really go crazy when you can't see the games. The Iraq War had just about as much drama as the MASN vs Comcast issue of 2006.


----------



## aaronwt

This MASN2 channel looks pretty bad, even for SD. How can anyone watch this?


----------



## robinsmw




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I heard this is going to be a story in the Washington Post tomorrow.



So this blackout is legit, not just a screw-up?


I've had Sunday Ticket football blacked out b4 when they weren't supposed to be, partly my fault, b/c I hadn't hooked the reciever up in a while. When I called, they could fix it. I thought that's what this was, but maybe it really is a blackout.


I got $10 off my basic pkg for 6 months and $25 credit for MLB extra innings. Have fun!


----------



## SJKurtzke

We're now being told it's a MASN issue (in that MASN is having problems with DirecTV, like they did with Comcast the other day), and that the MASN people are aware of it and are trying to fix it.


----------



## kenrowe




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robinsmw* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So this blackout is legit, not just a screw-up?



It is a screw up. Other providers in DC are carrying MASN2 without a problem and have been since the beginning of the pre-game show.


----------



## twelvepbrs

you would hope that this is the type of thing that MLB would stick their nose in, but i'm sure MLB doesn't give a f*ck if their product is not properly distributed, as long as the check from MASN and D* doesn't bounce


----------



## SJKurtzke

*It's Back*

It will be a glorious day when Comcast SportsNet finally buys out MASN.


----------



## kenrowe




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> *It's Back*
> 
> It will be a glorious day when Comcast SportsNet finally buys out MASN.



Directv could just as easily screw up blackout rules with CSN as it did with MASN tonight. Any experienced Directv customer knows that it frequently messes up blackouts.


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kenrowe* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Directv could just as easily screw up blackout rules with CSN as it did with MASN tonight. Any experienced Directv customer knows that it frequently messes up blackouts.



...that cares about sports. I've had D* for 7 years.


CSN would at least get the games in HD, and wouldn't have a studio that makes WJLA's look state of the art.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gr8one626* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Any idea why all my Comcast (formerly Adelphia) Frederick HD's are now showing on 1.1/1.3? How can I move them back to their native channels (81.1 etc..)..
> 
> 
> Also, sometimes on the 1.1/1.3, I get a "poor signal strength" error, which I never used to get on the natives... PLEASE HELP!



This is very odd. I assume you have done multiple re-scans with whatever you are using for a QAM tuner. Have you disconnected the cable line, done a full re-scan to clear the channel line-up, then re-connected the cable, and done a scan? If there is a hidden reset option for the tuner, you should try that as well. But if Comcast is messing up the PSIP info rather than passing it through or stripping some of it off, then you need to somehow get pass the CSRs to someone at Comcast who can determine what the cause is. Good luck in dealing with Comcast, because you will need it.


----------



## robinsmw




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> *It's Back*



I got mine back too.


Where do they come up with this stuff, "A Local Cable company bought the rights to the game?" Do they train them to tell the customers lies?


At least I got $85 out of the stupid CSR's.


----------



## Marcus Carr

The Wizards are on Comcast SportsNet and ESPN. No blackout.


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robinsmw* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I got mine back too.
> 
> 
> Where do they come up with this stuff, "A Local Cable company bought the rights to the game?" Do they train them to tell the customers lies?
> 
> 
> At least I got $85 out of the stupid CSR's.



That's why you always use the L2 support. The L1 is for stuff like "where did my favorites go?", "what's HD?", and "how do I set up a season pass?"

I never heard that excuse, it must have been a misconception among the L1 CSRs.


How did you get money out of that? I'm jealous.










If it's not already there, we should put that phone number at the beginning of the thread. It's also in the first page of "Hot Off the Press" in HD Programming.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

This arrived tonight in my e-mail (even though I am a DirecTV customer):


We wanted you to be the first to know that Dish has agreed to carry MASN - effective immediately.


Sincerely,


Your friends at MASN


As for my comment above regarding India, my experience with DirecTV reps has been less than satisfying since they outsourced their call center there. Sorry - I am also in the IT profession which has been ravaged by offshoring.


And another Nats loss


----------



## CycloneGT

Yeah, Dish has both MASN & MASN2. You just beat me to the post.










They have ESPN News running on now. BTW: Did you know that Scott Van Pelt went to Sherwood High School in Sandy Spring MD? Class of 84 I think.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *andy.s.lee* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> For anyone interested, coverage maps for the local OTA transmitters have been posted in this thread .
> 
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Andy



Andy has generated an updated transmitter file for the DC and Baltimore area in the sticky thread in the reception forum. It now includes all the DC stations, the stations in Hagerstown and Martinsburg, and the low power and translator stations out in the northern end of the Shenandoah & WV pan handle. I have downloaded the file and it is really neat looking at the coverage maps using Google Earth down to a neighborhood level for all these stations. These maps should be of high interest to those who live well away from DC in the further fringes of the DC reception area. I may post a couple of small snapshots tomorrow.


----------



## robinsmw




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> That's why you always use the L2 support. The L1 is for stuff like "where did my favorites go?", "what's HD?", and "how do I set up a season pass?".
> 
> 
> I never heard that excuse, it must have been a misconception among the L1 CSRs.
> 
> 
> How did you get money out of that? I'm jealous.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> If it's not already there, we should put that phone number at the beginning of the thread. It's also in the first page of "Hot Off the Press" in HD Programming.



I got a card w/ a support # from D* saying I was a preferred customer and the # they were giving me was only for preferred customers and the wait would be less. I'm a sucker I guess. Anyway, I always know where that card is for the frantic dials at 1:00pm in the fall when they have blocked NFL games they shouldn't have. I usually get right through and I'm pretty sure those times are very busy for them with idiots calling saying they can't find their games in the ST pkg when they are on the locals. I dialed b4 I came on here and found the L2 #. I'll know better next time.


I had never heard of that excuse either. I couldn't find anything to substantiate it on their site or the web. This was what their site said (no mention of local cable companies buying the rights and blocking D*): http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global...ssetId=1100045 

She said that was what it said in their system and she couldn't provide me any documentation.


I have an HD Tivo, Reg Tivo and 2 Reg receivers. The 2 reg recievers I really only use during the fall for ST when I set up 3 TV's in my family room. I HATE calling them and so I still had the 2 reg recs active from the fall. I had her de-activate the 2 reg recs, told her that if local cable had better coverage of the Nats then I would have to consider moving to cable (she didn't know I'm hopelessly addicted to ST) and if I couldn't get my local team then they should upgrade my Extra Innings pkg to SuperFan. She said they couldn't do that but could give me $10 off for 6 mos and $25 off Extra Innings. At that point, I'd been on the phone over an hour and thought it was better than nothing so I took it.


----------



## robinsmw




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I heard this is going to be a story in the Washington Post tomorrow.



And here's the mention:


Some DirecTV customers, however, missed much of last night's game because DirecTV thought it should be blacked out. A MASN spokesman said the company called DirecTV after it received complaints, and DirecTV turned the game on midway through. . . .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...040602138.html


----------



## PaulGo

Last week Comcast in Montgomery County reset all my Motorola DCT-6200 boxes (I have three and my mother-in-law has one) this wiped out all personal settings. So if you had any PIN numbers for purchases or for content protection it needs to be reset along with marking what content should be protected. This reset did not affect my DCT-6416 DVR.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Extra Innings is back on Comcast. (SD only)


----------



## zebras23

I made the jump Friday. So far much happier w/ PQ, options, multi room DVR etc. I'll post a more detailed description later on the install (long but very neat job) and other observations. Biggest complaint is the inability to "page up, page down" in the channel guide but everyone says that will be addressed in next software push.


Three other homes on my cul-de-sac are switching next week.


----------



## riffjim4069




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yeah, Dish has both MASN & MASN2. You just beat me to the post.



According to the press release it is available to everyone with America's Top 100+ and greater programming package. I am down in Fredericksburg (Washington DC DMA) are they are not currently in my channel lineup. Late last night, I was initially told the MASN channels were based on zipcode and that they were not available to those us in Fredericksburg/Spotsy. Anyway, I called tech support this morning and, after going through a series of technical techs on my equipment, they sent an authorization signal to my receivers. The channels were to appear in my guide after about 15 minutes.


Well, I came home this afternoon and still no MASN/MASN2. I called tech support once again and all they could tell me was there was some sort of an "incomplete process" preventing MASN from being added to my account, and that I would have a wait another 15 minutes while they "hit" my receivers. It has been close to 30 minutes and still no MASN.


The tech wasn't sure about the "zipcode issue" but he did mention the channels appear on my account. He also couldn't provide any useful information about the "incomplete process" affecting my ability to receive the MASN channels...or if others were experiencing the same issue. Is anyone else having a problem receiving MASN and MASN2, channels 432 and 433?


----------



## afiggatt

*Sample WMAR-DT ABC 2 Coverage Map for Northern Virginia Area*


Using Google Earth and the 67 MB kmz file for the Washington-Baltimore region TV transmitters, I generated a reception map image for WMAR-DT ABC 2 (DT=52) in the DC & northern Virginia area. See the first 2 posts at http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=821480 on how to do this yourself. We have people here picking on WJLA-DT 7 in DC for not broadcasting Jeopardy or Wheel of Fortune in HD. I have been uncomfortable with the tone of some of these posts, because the chief engineer at WJLA is kind enough to post to this thread. WJLA is making a business decision on not spending money at this time on the equipment to provide syndicated programming in HD and I can't fault them much for that.


But if you really want to watch Jeopardy in HD, WMAR-DT is viewable over much of the DC Northern Virginia area with the right UHF antenna. The attached image covers a large area so it loses a lot of detail. But those in the deeper blue or purple areas have a good shot at getting WMAR-DT (and the rest of the full power Baltimore stations) with an attic or better yet, a rooftop antenna. At the outer fringes, a CM 4228 or AD 91XG UHF antenna is probably needed.


The real power of the data comes in with the zoom to down to the neighborhood or street level. I have zoomed in on my immediate neighborhood and clicked through all the digital stations. The color maps matches pretty well what stations I can get with a CM 4221 in my attic aimed at Baltimore.


The coverage map for WUTB-DT My 24 at 530 Watts is interesting. I asked Andy to put the station in at it's current power of 530 Watts, rather than the full 220 kW power it is authorized for because I was curious at what the coverage would look like. The map is probably optimistic, but it does show a large green reception area where people could likely get WUTB-DT if they aimed their attic/outdoor antennas right at the station. I have added the cropped map for WUTB-DT 24 as well. [if this works...]


----------



## Chip Chanko

Anyone know the current QAM location for WETA DT on Comcast, Arlington? It disappeared for me a week ago and hasn't come back (although the sub-channels are still there).


----------



## mapper

I hope WJLA will get their syndicated programming in HD soon, but the viewing of WMAR is a good idea in the meantime.



By the way, did anyone see yesterday's MASN blackout "mandated" by the FCC?


----------



## kenrowe




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> By the way, did anyone see yesterday's MASN blackout "mandated" by the FCC?



It was because the game was on WDCA.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kenrowe* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It was because the game was on WDCA.



Yeah, in an odd setup, MASN and MASN2 will carry the games but if the Orioles are on WJZ, then viewers who get WJZ on their systems will not get the game on MASN/MASN2 and when the Nats are on MY20, viewers who get MY20 on their systems won't get the game on MASN/MASN2.


This has and will lead to confusion by systems on what to black out.


Then add that WJZ had the Orioles on their analog station and the Masters on their (only) digital station on Friday!


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> ... WJZ had the Orioles on their analog station and the Masters on their (only) digital station on Friday!



I thought this was a big no-no. Could JZ have gotten special permission to do this? Was it an error?


----------



## OldHud




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> But if you really want to watch Jeopardy in HD, WMAR-DT is viewable over much of the DC Northern Virginia area with the right UHF antenna. The attached image covers a large area so it loses a lot of detail. But those in the deeper blue or purple areas have a good shot at getting WMAR-DT (and the rest of the full power Baltimore stations) with an attic or better yet, a rooftop antenna. At the outer fringes, a CM 4228 or AD 91XG UHF antenna is probably needed.



I can receive WMAR-DT dependably here in the Northern Neck - just south of the Potomac and well outside your coverage map. Of course, I do have the aforementioned AD 91XG antenna as well as a CM 7777 preamp mounted atop a nearly 50 foot mast.


----------



## JoeInNVa

Anyone have Comcast in Arlington/Alexandria and NOT getting INHD? I have nothing on 226 though the guide says it's there, nothing is showing up.


----------



## sfm529




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Extra Innings is back on Comcast. (SD only)



Any word if MLB Extra Innings is coming to FIOS?


----------



## davidwb

MASN2 and verizon in howard/ann arundel counties:


verizon csr supervisor told me today that it would be available on april 12.


we'll see.


----------



## Belcherwm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *OldHud* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I can receive WMAR-DT dependably here in the Northern Neck - just south of the Potomac and well outside your coverage map. Of course, I do have the aforementioned AD 91XG antenna as well as a CM 7777 preamp mounted atop a nearly 50 foot mast.



Yes. I've got a Radio Shack VHF/UHF antenna on the roof and I pick up all the Baltimore stations from Haymarket, about 60 miles away. Height is everything.


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I thought this was a big no-no. Could JZ have gotten special permission to do this? Was it an error?



WCBS did it last Thursday for the Masters.


----------



## biker19

Anyone scan for clear QAM chs on Cox lately?


----------



## ECH

nvm


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ECH* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> If you live in the MD area:
> 
> 1. Does channel 20 (DC channel) still exist? Every since I went OTA the only channel I couldn't get is channel 20.



WDCA-DT My 20 (digital channel 35) has been on the air at 500 kW since they moved to the same tower as WTTG-DT Fox 5 and went full power last summer.



> Quote:
> 2. Why is is that channel like 5-1, 6-1, 7-1 only work for me during the AM and about 1pm they simply loss signal? Do they actually decrease the signal strength in the afternoon. I understand that channel 67-4 is only a daytime channel (because they actually tell you).



How far are you from the DC towers? Long range reception of TV signals is often better at night because the signals travel further. But this is typically a phenomena that affects reception at the deep fringe ranges such as 70 or 80 miles, depending on the circumstances.


If you can provide your zip code, describe your situation (house, condo, surrounded by trees, down in a valley or up on a hill, etc.), and tell us what antenna you are using, we should be able to provide some suggestions on what to do for better OTA reception.


----------



## ECH

nvm


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ECH* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 1. I am not sure how many miles from DC. I"ll check
> 
> 2. I have a twin UHF antenna in the actic (3rd floor) pointing correctly using antenna web . I have one pointing north and the other south (more or less) do to my location.
> 
> 3. There are trees and taller buildings in the area.
> 
> 
> Edit: I have channel 5 now (36) that use to go off at noon as well. Currently still scanning.
> 
> Edit2: Ok I think I figured out the problem. Some of those DC stations are using VHF now. That means I have to buy a VHF/UHF antenna. I knew this day was coming!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It makes no sense why I can get channel 5 and not channel 20.



Please post your zip code so we can see approximately where you are! Also exactly which UHF antennas are you using?


All of the digital stations in DC and Baltimore are currently broadcasting on UHF. See the 1st post of this thread for the broadcast channels listed in orange. WJLA-DT 7 (DT=39) and WUSA-DT 9 (DT=34) will switch their digital signals to VHF 7 & 9 after the analog shutdown in 2009, but they are currently at UHF. WRC-DT 4 and WTTG-DT 5 will stay at their current UHF channels. If you are losing the signal in the afternoon, then you have a marginal signal that you are losing as the afternoon air heats up which can create ducting phenomena. Can you get the stations in the afternoons on cloudy days?


----------



## zebras23

This is similar info. to other installs if you want to skip:


I had my install done on Friday 4/6 in Arlington, VA. On Monday 4/2 a crew ran the fiber from the central box to my house underground. This was very clean and barely noticable - including having to run it under my driveway and around a series of french drains (I left them a note after I noticed MISSUTILITY had been there indicating the location of the french drains).


A female installer arrived on Friday around 9 a.m. (she called to tell me that is when she would be there). I have a Verizon structured wiring package so the install was rather straight forward and no lines had to be run in the house. She finnished at 3 p.m. I think she was rather slow, but she was thorough and neat. She carefully ran the lines into the house and the structured wiring package, as well as connecting the router. Connecting the router was a little difficult b/c the person who had installed the structured wiring package 5 years earlier had put all the ether net connections behind the panel - so it took a while to realize that is where they were, but once that was discovered is was just a matter of plugging in 4 of them to router and it was off to the races.


Another issue was my wiring panel has a built-in amplifier. The signal was coming in so strong on FiOS that she was having to put compression devices on each TV. This was concerning her that the signal quality might not be consistent after she left. She called the main office and talked through the issue. Their recomendation was to by-pass the amp in the panel. She put on a splitter and bypassed the amp. She went back and removed the compression devices at each TV and the signal was exactly were it was suppossed to be.


Before leaving she gave me her card w/ her cell phone number on it in case anything came up - she even called back 2 hours latter to see if there were any problems. There was one problem in that I was getting none of the "National HD" channels. However a call to customer service and two remote reboots later it was up and running.


After watching over the weekend I am very pleased with the switch. PQ on SD is much better than Comcast. HD is as good or better. I'm going to call it better because there have been far fewer breakups during watching than with Comcast. In several hours of watching I've only scene very minor pixelization.


We also go the Multi room DVR (we have 1 HD DVR and 3 SD STB). So far it has worked as advertisied in terms of recording in SD and being able to replay in SD on the SD TVs. The FF is a little slow to respond - not as bad as like the FF or Pause on Comcast IN-Demand, but the similar type of delay. Today will be the real test as my wife will get home to watch her Soaps recorded today.


I called Comcast to disconnect. They didn't even try to keep me. A very professional and courtious parting.


In closing for $10/mo less (actually that does not include an additional $10 for the first 6 months) I'm getting more channels, more HD, 3 more DVRs that I had w/ Comcast.


----------



## MauneyM

All:


I currently have D* - standard def only, and am in the Baltimore/DC area (West Friendship/Glenelg MD area). I want to go HD, and am considering upgrading. However, Dish appears to have a better package, so the thought has occurred to me that it might be worth switching providers.


Does anyone have any experiences or other input to provide regarding Dish vs D* in this area? Any reason to avoid one or the other?


Thanks in advance....


----------



## markbulla

Exciting news for the channel 24 watchers in the group - WUTB is starting their full power upgrade. Their new antenna is currently sitting on the ground outside my transmitter building, and there is a bunch of heavy construction equipment around. They don't have their full-power transmitter in yet, but it's ordered.


The heavy equipment is to strengthen the tower, run new transmission line up it, and install the new antenna.


Mark


----------



## CycloneGT

Excellent news. Well except that WUTB really doesn't have much to watch.










Mauney,


Right now Dish has the advantage, but that is supposed to change by the end of the year. DirectTV is going to add many more channels when they have new equipment up in orbit. Both have many of the DC local (are your Balt or DC for locals?) in HD on their satellites. DirecTV has Comcast Sports Net HD and WDCA while dish does not. Both have OTA HD tuners built into their equipment. Which is a plus.


----------



## mapper




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Anyone scan for clear QAM chs on Cox lately?



Yea, I did but I didn't find anything but some digital channels which are encrypted.

If you found something, please do tell.


Oh and I did scan on my other tuner(ANT 2) which is and ATSC/QAM/NTSC tuner, or else my CableCard would have blacked out on me.


----------



## dbrown1971

I live in Mont. County and have Comcast. I have been having trouble getting WUSA's hi def channel to come in for the last month. Every once in a while, it's watchable. But most of the time, I'm getting "This channel will be available shortly." I've also noticed that the four hi-def PBS stations aren't coming in either. I called Comcast and they were supposed to send somebody out, but the guy never showed. After reading a number of forums here and elsewhere, I'm starting to think this is not a Comcast problem or a problem with my setup (I swapped some cables out to make sure this weekend--no change).


Anybody else having these problems? I occasionally read about someone having trouble with CBS, but not to the level that my problem exists. I'm really frustrated and am going to have Comcast send somebody out. I just don't have any confidence that they can fix it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I had to watch the Masters in low def this weekend and I damn near cried.


----------



## kenrowe




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dbrown1971* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I live in Mont. County and have Comcast. I have been having trouble getting WUSA's hi def channel to come in for the last month...



At least in Rockville, there hasn't been any problem with WUSA. In Montgomery County, WUSA and the WETA channels share the same frequency, so it isn't surprising that if you were having problems with WUSA you also would be having trouble with WETA. You'll need to get Comcast to come out as it is (likely) a signal problem in or near your house. If you continue to have problems with getting someone to show up, you can always contact the County's Cable Office to put some pressure on them, but I would give them another chance to show up before doing that.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Exciting news for the channel 24 watchers in the group - WUTB is starting their full power upgrade.



It would be "exciting" it they showed some HD.


----------



## yekim54




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Anyone scan for clear QAM chs on Cox lately?



Hey biker, thanks for the heads up...very cool. Do you have Cox basic cable service? I have the analog extended basic service, but am thinking about switching to basic cable for $17.99/mo to save $30/mo. I assume Cox makes the local stations available in HD via QAM over basic cable (am I right?).


----------



## chefklc




> Quote:
> Anyone know the current QAM location for WETA DT on Comcast, Arlington? It disappeared for me a week ago and hasn't come back (although the sub-channels are still there).



No, it's still gone for me, too, Chip. Also, it's been a few weeks now that the CW has been encrypted and seems no longer in the clear. (Of course, this was right about the time 'Veronica Mars' was cancelled, leaving me with no other reason to watch the channel.)


Would you mind confirming whether you have the CW, and if so, where it is now?


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Exciting news for the channel 24 watchers in the group - WUTB is starting their full power upgrade. Their new antenna is currently sitting on the ground outside my transmitter building, and there is a bunch of heavy construction equipment around. They don't have their full-power transmitter in yet, but it's ordered.
> 
> 
> The heavy equipment is to strengthen the tower, run new transmission line up it, and install the new antenna.
> 
> 
> Mark



Mark,

That's great that WUTB decided to move their transmitter to TV hill. Now, if only MPT would do the same so I'd only have to point my antenna in one direction for all of Baltimore.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *yekim54* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hey biker, thanks for the heads up...very cool. Do you have Cox basic cable service? I have the analog extended basic service, but am thinking about switching to basic cable for $17.99/mo to save $30/mo. I assume Cox makes the local stations available in HD via QAM over basic cable (am I right?).



yekim54, In my experience:

Dropping down one tier to basic basic is an administrative thing.

Just call them up & tell them you what you want. Just be brief & succinct (quiet). They won't send some1 out to put a cap on your >20 channels.

Cox basic analog is a great deal.


Now if I can figure out a way to have them reduce my internet costs...


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *yekim54* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hey biker, thanks for the heads up...very cool. Do you have Cox basic cable service? I have the analog extended basic service, but am thinking about switching to basic cable for $17.99/mo to save $30/mo. I assume Cox makes the local stations available in HD via QAM over basic cable (am I right?).



I rather not advertise this issue too much - I assume it's a temporary "mistake" and rather not have Cox change it.







. Yes, the locals are usually available (including the HD ones) with basic.


Currently both the SD and HD versions are available of the network chs - I assume that's also a mistake and only the HD feed is supposed to be there.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Mark,
> 
> That's great that WUTB decided to move their transmitter to TV hill. Now, if only MPT would do the same so I'd only have to point my antenna in one direction for all of Baltimore.



Actually, WUTB is still going to be out at the Catonsville location. That's where my analog transmitter is. Sorry I didn't make that clear.


Mark


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I rather not advertise this issue too much - I assume it's a temporary "mistake" and rather not have Cox change it.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . Yes, the locals are usually available (including the HD ones) with basic.
> 
> 
> Currently both the SD and HD versions are available of the network chs - I assume that's also a mistake and only the HD feed is supposed to be there.



I'm a little new to this HDTV thing & not to talk too much more because of the wink nature of the subject, but aren't most cable operator providing the OTA free network HD content on the analog feed anyhow because they _ARE_ for all intensive purposes - free? It isn't worth their time to strip it because you theoretically can get it with an antenna?


& with us QAM tuner ppl, this is a good way to dip our toes into the HighDef feed without paying the early adoption costs.


----------



## biker19

True - but you could have a really greedy operator that encrypts everything including locals forcing people into STBs for every ch. What is available on Cox is certainly not the norm.


In the long term most cable cos will probably have a basic tier (the $17.99 tier of today) in clear QAM once all analog is shut off. So in the future when you get that "cable ready" TV it will mean a QAM tuner with which you can connect directly to the TV without an STB and get some limited number of ch.


The extended analog of today has its days numbered (apparently very few days in the Chicago area). Once that disappears, STBs will rule cause most cable cos will keep encrypting the digital versions of the chs that make up the "extended" portion.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> True - but you could have a really greedy operator that encrypts everything including locals forcing people into STBs for every ch. What is available on Cox is certainly not the norm.
> 
> 
> In the long term most cable cos will probably have a basic tier (the $17.99 tier of today) in clear QAM once all analog is shut off. So in the future when you get that "cable ready" TV it will mean a QAM tuner with which you can connect directly to the TV without an STB and get some limited number of ch.
> 
> 
> The extended analog of today has its days numbered (apparently very few days in the Chicago area). Once that disappears, STBs will rule cause most cable cos will keep encrypting the digital versions of the chs that make up the "extended" portion.




Yes, Cox isn't the norm & I've had an excellent experience with them for 6 years now.

The Chicago scenario scares the heck out of me because having grown up with free TV & then getting irked cause I have to pay for CNN & CNBC & EPSN.

Cox analog is the only 'value' left. I don't like having to pay the operator for channels I don't want. No matter how they spin it, ala carte *IS* cheaper than bundled services.


So I have till 2009 to budget or find an alternative like those old black boxes of the 80's to descramble the cable signal.


Here's hoping Cox doesn't turn into Comcast.


----------



## howie14




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yeah, in an odd setup, MASN and MASN2 will carry the games but if the Orioles are on WJZ, then viewers who get WJZ on their systems will not get the game on MASN/MASN2 and when the Nats are on MY20, viewers who get MY20 on their systems won't get the game on MASN/MASN2.
> 
> 
> This has and will lead to confusion by systems on what to black out.
> 
> 
> Then add that WJZ had the Orioles on their analog station and the Masters on their (only) digital station on Friday!



Although Friday I had the choice of WJZ or MASN. WJZ-DT did carry the game, they just joined in progress. Saturday night, I was blacked out for MASN, which makes no sense as WDCA-20 is not offered through DISH or cable to my DMA.


It's not a big deal to me as I can pick the station up via long range outdoor antenna, but I wish I understood why one of my local stations was not blacked out while one not-so-local was.


Of course, the pic is much better on WJZ-DT and WDCA-DT anyway.


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chefklc* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> No, it's still gone for me, too, Chip. Also, it's been a few weeks now that the CW has been encrypted and seems no longer in the clear. (Of course, this was right about the time 'Veronica Mars' was cancelled, leaving me with no other reason to watch the channel.)
> 
> 
> Would you mind confirming whether you have the CW, and if so, where it is now?



Veronica Mars isn't cancelled--it's on hiatus.


There are five more episodes coming in May-ish, but after that....

Let's just say there's been no news either way.


----------



## AntAltMike

I just got a call from a Washington, DC, Comcast customer who is having a problem decaptioning both analog and digital programming on his new, Sceptre X-32 GV-KOMODO TV. He has already exchanged the TV, and has roughly the same incidence of captions being incompletely decoded whether he connects the cable directly to the TV, or if he has the box convert it to channel 3.


In either configuration, I assume it is his TV trying to do the decaptioning. Does anyone know if Comcast SD digital boxes have the capability to decode the captions internally, such that they are then imbedded in the output video?


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Shouldn't _Dancing With the Stars_ be in HD? Or has WJLA struck again?


Anyone else lose MASN tonight on DirecTV? I guess some duct tape connection came loose up in Camden Yards.


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Actually, WUTB is still going to be out at the Catonsville location. That's where my analog transmitter is. Sorry I didn't make that clear.
> 
> 
> Mark



Bummer!!!


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Shouldn't _Dancing With the Stars_ be in HD? Or has WJLA struck again?


 http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=832485 


Looks like it's ABC this time.


----------



## Dominus

Has anyone heard any news regarding verizon FIOS coming to Montgomery County anytime soon?


Just wish they would get here.


Thanks


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dominus* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Has anyone heard any news regarding verizon FIOS coming to Montgomery County anytime soon?
> 
> 
> Just wish they would get here.
> 
> 
> Thanks



Fios is already in Montco. My sister has Fios TV in Bethesda. She is loving it.


----------



## tripleM

In the same vein: . Was @ my parent's house this AM waiting for the Comcast guy to come & hook up their cable. Was walking around their lawn, AT&T had put little flags ala miss utility, which shows they had laid down their own Fiber Optics cables.

Does any 1 know what AT&T's plans are?


----------



## gr8one626




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> In the same vein: . Was @ my parent's house this AM waiting for the Comcast guy to come & hook up their cable. Was walking around their lawn, AT&T had put little flags ala miss utility, which shows they had laid down their own Fiber Optics cables.
> 
> Does any 1 know what AT&T's plans are?




What area? Any idea when FIOS or AT&T will come to Frederick, MD?


----------



## MauneyM

I know FiOS isn't in West Friendship or Glenelg (Western Howard County) yet.......


----------



## kenrowe




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dominus* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Has anyone heard any news regarding verizon FIOS coming to Montgomery County anytime soon?
> 
> 
> Just wish they would get here.
> 
> 
> Thanks



Fios is building out throughout most of the County. However, if you live in the City of Rockville, it isn't clear when/if Fios will arrive as the city continues to refuse to give right-of-way permits to Verizon.


----------



## kenrowe

Per an ad in today's _Gazette_ papers, Comcast Montgomery will be adding Universal HD (250) and WDCA-DT (236) on May 15th. The are adding a few other SD digital channels and will be moving 4 analog channels to digital (TV One, TCM, Court TV, and TV Guide).


----------



## twelvepbrs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kenrowe* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Per an ad in today's _Gazette_ papers, Comcast Montgomery will be adding Universal HD (250) and WDCA-DT (236) on May 15th. The are adding a few other SD digital channels and will be moving 4 analog channels to digital (TV One, TCM, Court TV, and TV Guide).



ummmmm....they're moving the TVGuide channel? that's pretty stupid, i mean most people who have digital have a STB with a guide, but it's the people with analog only that i would think watch/rely on it the most


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gr8one626* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> What area? Any idea when FIOS or AT&T will come to Frederick, MD?



The ATT & FiOs have been laid out in the Chantilly portion of Loudoun Cty.


found something interesting on Moneymagazine:*


"And investors seem to prefer Ma Bell's cheaper approach to selling faster Internet and TV services. Instead of connecting fiber directly to homes, in most cases AT&T is pushing fiber deep into neighborhoods, using its existing copper network to handle the last bit of transport."*


I had forgotten about this plan.


Also more info here:
ATT Fiber Plans 

Some more ATT stuff


----------



## kenrowe




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *twelvepbrs* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> ummmmm....they're moving the TVGuide channel? that's pretty stupid, i mean most people who have digital have a STB with a guide, but it's the people with analog only that i would think watch/rely on it the most



It kinda surprises me too. The Montgomery system is only 750Mhz (as opposed to 860 for most of the other nearby systems), so the system is more bandwidth constrained to keep up with other systems.


----------



## DulacLancelot




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ashutoshsm* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Zap2It is a Tribune Website - they report precisely what the station send them. PBS DC is obviously sending them a bunch of gobbledygook, and it shows when I try to play a nice HD recording of Nature on my Series 3 HT TiVo (they get guide info via Tribune) and instead some nonsensical Opera starts up. Sigh.



hey, thanks for this info. it's nice to get confirmation from someone out there that i'm not just being stupid and something actually is awry.


but i'm afraid i might just be going back to the default MCE guide info. using xmltv with zap2it, i've now noticed that some programming on very rare occassions is wrong on channels other than WETA, too. like i said very rare, but i've not run into that issue at all in my few years of MCE usage with the default guide info. plus, maybe a bigger point, i REALLY like in the MCE guide how the information on when the original air date of an episode was is included. i didn't realize how much i liked it until now that i don't have it. also, the genre is off so i cannot search to see what movies will be playing soon on tv.



but i would like to ask something for clarification once again...


how come when i log onto the zap2it website and look at its tv listing for the WETA-DT channels they are actually correct, but when i use xmltv to download the listings the WETA listings are wrong? why is the data source for the webpage tv listings different from the data source for the xmltv downloaded listings?


and is/are there better sources to get xmltv listings from than zap2it? maybe both more reliable and including the original air date?


thanks!


----------



## chefklc




> Quote:
> Anyone know the current QAM location for WETA DT on Comcast, Arlington? It disappeared for me a week ago and hasn't come back (although the sub-channels are still there).



Took me a while, but I managed to find it--it and the CW are now at 597 MHz--WETA-HD is 86-6 and the CW is 86-13. That brings those of us interested in Arlington QAM, we few, back up to 6 high def channels in the clear.


----------



## rosh400




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dominus* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Has anyone heard any news regarding verizon FIOS coming to Montgomery County anytime soon?
> 
> 
> Just wish they would get here.
> 
> 
> Thanks



I think City of Rockville may have started to grant right of way permits for VZ to lay cable but Rockville will be behind the rest of the county. Goto the VZ website ( www.verizon.com/fios ) and plug your number in to see if you have internet service. If no then your area doesn't have fiber yet and you won't have TV. If you are eligible for internet service, click on the TV link and plug your number in to see if you are eligible for TV service.


I live in Potomac and our wire center was one of the first to have FIOS internet. FIOS TV became available in late March. I had installed on March 27th.


----------



## kenrowe




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rosh400* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I think City of Rockville may have started to grant right of way permits for VZ to lay cable but Rockville will be behind the rest of the county.



A month ago, an email from a city official confirmed that they still haven't reached an agreement with VZ and it doesn't even appear that they are talking that regularly either. Further, the city hasn't approved the County franchise agreement with VZ (which is required for incorporated parts of the county). It will be some time before residents of the City of Rockville (and even some that live outside of COR but connect to the wire centers located within the city limits) see Fios.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Food HD, Lifetime Movie HD, HGTV HD added to FiOS in *Texas*.

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/rema...+food+lifetime


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *twelvepbrs* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> ummmmm....they're moving the TVGuide channel? that's pretty stupid, i mean most people who have digital have a STB with a guide, but it's the people with analog only that i would think watch/rely on it the most



They may go to the non-guide version of the channel that DirecTV uses. It just becomes a poor man's version of "E" with the small video on the top full screen. They do a lot of American Idol stuff.


----------



## sasha_j

We are selling our home and need to remove our roof mount antennas prior to close on May 1. Unfortunately, the buyer is not an free HDTV fan.


All 3 antennas are in great shape and have served us well for our ATSC and NTSC needs. I am offering all 3 of them FOR FREE to any local AVS members with a 40' ladder with the ability and willingness to access our roof to take them down. You need to know what you are doing and sign off on a liability release form.


I need the interested party to:


* remove the Winegard PR-7052 VHF/UHF combo and Winegard HD9095P UHF yagi on the common eave-mount mast

* remove the eave-mount mast and the eave-mount itself

* remove the Channel Master 4228 UHF flat panel off the DBS mount

* remove mast from above

* remove the Channel Master heavy duty rotor off the DBS mount

* remove the YDI WIFI flat panel off the DBS mount, this gets returned to me

* remove the top portion of the DBS mount, roof base portion with actual penetration to remain in place

* All cabling gets coiled and secured to place, no removal needed

* No interior work needed


In return you will get the following at no charge:


* Winegard PR-7052 VHF/UHF combo

* Winegard HD9095P UHF yagi

* Channel Master 4228 UHF flat panel

* Channel Master heavy duty rotor

* Channel Master rotor controller and IR remote


Please refer to site photos:





























Any members interested, please PM me, thanks.


----------



## tripleM

Is Comcast really this incompetent?


They have come out to my new house 3 times now with 3 different tech.


Each 1 has seen the tap from the street corner has no signal from home base yet and that they would need to do a little digging to bring it from the street to my house.


They all say they need to have the signal switched on & an engineering crew to do some slight digging...they all say it will be done the next day.


3 different times I get this answer.


3 different times I have called 1800comcast & made sure it's in my notes.


FiOs or ATT looks better each day over this purported savings I am getting from Comcast...


----------



## twelvepbrs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is Comcast really this incompetent?
> 
> 
> They have come out to my new house 3 times now with 3 different tech.
> 
> 
> Each 1 has seen the tap from the street corner has no signal from home base yet and that they would need to do a little digging to bring it from the street to my house.
> 
> 
> They all say they need to have the signal switched on & an engineering crew to do some slight digging...they all say it will be done the next day.
> 
> 
> 3 different times I get this answer.
> 
> 
> 3 different times I have called 1800comcast & made sure it's in my notes.
> 
> 
> FiOs or ATT looks better each day over this purported savings I am getting from Comcast...



well at least all three have been consistent in identifying the problem, i think that's above average for cable tech's


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *twelvepbrs* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> well at least all three have been consistent in identifying the problem, i think that's above average for cable tech's



Soon, the joke will be how many cable tech does it take to connect cable to a customer?


----------



## bbt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gr8one626* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> What area? Any idea when FIOS or AT&T will come to Frederick, MD?



According to an article in todays Frederick News-Post concerning complaints regarding the Adelphia to Comcast transition:


"Sandra Arnette, spokesperson for Verizon, said Frederick County is not on the company's deployment schedule for fiber optic service"


So it doesn't look like FIOS will be in Frederick any time soon.


BBT


----------



## afiggatt

*Article in today's Washington Post on DVD Recorders with ATSC tuners*


There is an article in the business section of today's post on using one of the new DVD recorders which have a ATSC tuner to pick up the local broadcast stations. See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...041102010.html . The discussion of the recorders is best left to the appropriate forum, but the writer did try to pick up the DC stations from somewhere in Arlington. To quote:


"Both recorders had almost no issues receiving digital broadcasts at a close-in Arlington house. With just a cheap tabletop antenna, the Panasonic locked in all the local network affiliates and PBS stations WETA and MPT. The LG did almost as well but missed WETA.


At a more distant location, these recorders would probably need an attic or rooftop antenna. In a few spots, digital reception may not work at all."


WETA-DT needs to move that transmitter to NW DC. Or maybe the Washington Post writer should ask avsforum on advice on what indoor antenna to get.


----------



## chrisherbert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I just got a call from a Washington, DC, Comcast customer who is having a probelm decaptioning both analog and digital programming on his new, Sceptre X-32 GV-KOMODO TV. He has already exchanged the TV, and has roughly the same incidence of captions being incompletely decoded whether he connects the cable directly to the TV, or if he has the box convert it to chanel 3.
> 
> 
> In either configuration, I assume it is his TV trying to do the decaptioning. Does anyone know if Comcast SD digital boxes have the capability to decode the captions internally, such that they are then imbedded in the output video?



The box should be able to do captioning. Press the "menu" button twice.


----------



## twelvepbrs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bbt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> According to an article in todays Frederick News-Post concerning complaints regarding the Adelphia to Comcast transition:
> 
> 
> "Sandra Arnette, spokesperson for Verizon, said Frederick County is not on the company's deployment schedule for fiber optic service"
> 
> 
> So it doesn't look like FIOS will be in Frederick any time soon.
> 
> 
> BBT



I believe that overall, the FIOS distribution plan is to get to the richest neighborhoods first, which doesn't really make sense IMHO, because lower/middle rent areas are much more densely populated and should lead to a ton more revenue


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> *Article in today's Washington Post on DVD Recorders with ATSC tuners*
> 
> 
> There is an article in the business section of today's post on using one of the new DVD recorders which have a ATSC tuner to pick up the local broadcast stations. See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...041102010.html . The discussion of the recorders is best left to the appropriate forum, but the writer did try to pick up the DC stations from somewhere in Arlington. To quote:
> 
> 
> "Both recorders had almost no issues receiving digital broadcasts at a close-in Arlington house. With just a cheap tabletop antenna, the Panasonic locked in all the local network affiliates and PBS stations WETA and MPT. The LG did almost as well but missed WETA.
> 
> 
> At a more distant location, these recorders would probably need an attic or rooftop antenna. In a few spots, digital reception may not work at all."
> 
> 
> WETA-DT needs to move that transmitter to NW DC. Or maybe the Washington Post writer should ask avsforum on advice on what indoor antenna to get.



It would make more sense to just get a stand alone DVD burner, only $80 at Walmart, and record the output from the DVR. That's what I've been doing for the last few years. Those devices are basically digital VCRS. I was using an HD digital VCR with the PC in 2001 to 2004 until the HDTiVo came out. I couldn't imagine going to something like that, and it's only SD anyway. $300 is too much for that.


----------



## biker19

Well, I guess Cox realized the error of their ways and the "extra" clear QAM chs are gone.


----------



## AntAltMike

I'm in North Laurel, which I believe is in Howard County, and I see tonight that MASN2 is on channel 16, which is ordinarily CSPAN2, while MASN is now permanently on channel 44 ( I think the Game Show Network used to be on 44). Does anyone know if the franchise agreement had to be amended to allow Comcast to bump CSPAN2 out of the basic/lifeline tier for a few hours?


----------



## yekim54




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Well, I guess Cox realized the error of their ways and the "extra" clear QAM chs are gone.



Yep, but it was fun while it lasted. However, the free preview of MLB and NHL InDemand is still accessible via QAM. It would be nice if they would keep the free preview available until the Stanley Cup.


----------



## Pyrr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bbt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> According to an article in todays Frederick News-Post concerning complaints regarding the Adelphia to Comcast transition:
> 
> 
> "Sandra Arnette, spokesperson for Verizon, said Frederick County is not on the company's deployment schedule for fiber optic service"
> 
> 
> So it doesn't look like FIOS will be in Frederick any time soon.
> 
> 
> BBT



Yah when i talked to FIOS guy in germantown, he was like as soon as the city allows us in, we'll move up there. I have a feeling he was blowing smoke up my rear, as if i recall, frederick city was not receptive to Comcast 10-15 years ago, so competition would probably not be too bad, but i've also seen that Verizon isn't coming to frederick a few times so i believe that is the correct answer.


Thanks


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I'm in North Laurel, which I believe is in Howard County, and I see tonight that MASN2 is on channel 16, which is ordinarily CSPAN2, while MASN is now permanently on channel 44 ( I think the Game Show Network used to be on 44). Does anyone know if the franchise agreement had to be amended to allow Comcast to bump CSPAN2 out of the basic/lifeline tier for a few hours?



No.


Programming content and positioning is solely at the discretion of the operator.


CSpan 2 is also available full time on Comcast's digital service along with CSpan 3.


GoIrish


----------



## alexandriahokie

Is anyone on Comcast getting really bad pixelation and sound skips on the local HD (NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX) stations? The true cable channels seem fine, but these local channels are driving me crazy.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *alexandriahokie* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is anyone on Comcast getting really bad pixelation and sound skips on the local HD (NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX) stations? The true cable channels seem fine, but these local channels are driving me crazy.



They are fine on Comcast here.


----------



## rgf_dca




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *alexandriahokie* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is anyone on Comcast getting really bad pixelation and sound skips on the local HD (NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX) stations? The true cable channels seem fine, but these local channels are driving me crazy.



Yes, I am also getting bad pixelation and especially sound skips on the local HD stations. In addition, I'm getting the same problem on a few other HD stations (e.g., Discovery) and SD stations (e.g., Tube) with channel assignments "close" to the local HD stations. Specifically, 200, 201, 205, 206, 207, 210, 211, 212, 213, 220, and 225.


I'm in the Arlington area.


I called the problem in. Technician agreed that it was probably an problem with the ingress signal, but all he can do is send one someone out there to document that the problem is not inside my house.


There is a chance this is a local network problem affecting many users but not easily observable by Comcast technicians. My guess however is the problem is probably high up in the network and Comcast has failed to notice the poor quality of the signal they're sending out. I wonder sometimes if they ever regularly monitor the quality of the signal they're sending out, channel by channel.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *alexandriahokie* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is anyone on Comcast getting really bad pixelation and sound skips on the local HD (NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX) stations? The true cable channels seem fine, but these local channels are driving me crazy.



Which Comcast franchise area are you in? Need to narrow it down to your county or city for anyone to be of much help. Did this pixelation just start today or has it been happening for a while? One step to try when a channel goes flaky or the STB acts up is to do a cold reboot by unplugging the STB or DVR for 30 seconds. This will result in the loss of the guide data which will take hours to reload (well, for Comcast), so don't do it just before sitting down to watch TV or just before the DVR is going to record some programs. If that does not solve the problem, call Comcast.


----------



## alexandriahokie




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Which Comcast franchise area are you in? Need to narrow it down to your county or city for anyone to be of much help. Did this pixelation just start today or has it been happening for a while? One step to try when a channel goes flaky or the STB acts up is to do a cold reboot by unplugging the STB or DVR for 30 seconds. This will result in the loss of the guide data which will take hours to reload (well, for Comcast), so don't do it just before sitting down to watch TV or just before the DVR is going to record some programs. If that does not solve the problem, call Comcast.



I'm in Alexandria. A few posts up, the guy in Arlington said he was having issues, and I believe we are the same system.


I first noticed the pixelation on Thursday. I was hoping it would be fixed by Friday, but that was just a fantasy.


----------



## alexandriahokie

Comcast came out and said that the signal was too strong coming into our building. I *tried* to tell the customer service rep it wasn't my end. Who knows how long it will take to weaken the signal. It's great watching hockey with 3 pucks and 13 players on each side.


----------



## twelvepbrs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *alexandriahokie* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Comcast came out and said that the signal was too strong coming into our building. I *tried* to tell the customer service rep it wasn't my end. Who knows how long it will take to weaken the signal. It's great watching hockey with 3 pucks and 13 players on each side.



maybe you should go around and short all the cable outlets you can find until they fix it


----------



## Red Dog

Yeah - there is recurring pixelation and sound break-up for me on 211 (Arlington).


----------



## rgf_dca




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *alexandriahokie* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Comcast came out and said that the signal was too strong coming into our building. I *tried* to tell the customer service rep it wasn't my end. Who knows how long it will take to weaken the signal. It's great watching hockey with 3 pucks and 13 players on each side.



Thanks for taking the time to report the problem to Comcast and pass this information along. After reading your report, I had my doubts about what the technician told you. I've heard technicians mention this before to me, but it has never been the cause of any problem that I reported, but in your particular case it could be a real problem. Actually, I've had many more problems with Comcast giving me a signal that is too weak!


Anyway, your post gave me a heads up for me to put their "signal too strong" theory to a test at my house before they get here. I put a 11 db attenuator on my line (8 way splitter) and it had no effect. Therefore, if the technician tells me that the signal is too strong, I am going to put his theory to a test while he is there. I can easily attenuate the input signal up to 18 db, which is a lot. I'm sure the Comcast technician also has equipment on hand that he can use to attenuate the line as well.


----------



## rgf_dca




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Red Dog* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yeah - there is recurring pixelation and sound break-up for me on 211 (Arlington).



I'm at 201. I wonder how many people are putting up with this on their brand new high-def sets without reporting the problem, or even realizing there is a problem? The number would probably surprise. People need to get off their ... and call this problem in so someone at signal source actually decides to..gasp...take a look at the picture and sound quality they're sending out to customers.


I have a bad feeling that if I plugged a television in at their main headquarters using one of their set top boxes, I would observe the same recurring pixelation/sound break-up problem. In other words, my guess is they're sending this problem out to all their customers, but they can't be bothered to actually look at the signal quality they're sending out. If they just had one person per shift who's job it was to periodically tune every channel and analyze picture and sound, they would have picked this problem up days ago. This problem however has been ongoing for several days, so it looks like they don't regularly check. Amazing and pathetic.


----------



## Belcherwm

Just to give another perspective/experience. I have Comcast in Western PW County. I was having increasing breakups on FOX and some of the other channels. Turns out I was degrading the signal running the coax through a surge protector. The surge protector, apparantly, has been deteriorating over the three years it's been plugged in. Once it was removed from the chain my signal strength came back in to line and my picture stabilized.


----------



## tripleM

I'm still waiting for Comcast to hook up my cable (2 week now).

So finally got to fool around with the rabbit ears from pass the South Riding, Loudoun area. Got WETA HD right away. Wow. Amazing pq!


Being new to this forum & only on page 10 of this thread, just wondering how is WETA-HD compared to the other local OTA HD stations?


----------



## lobozooma

Just an FYI - FIOS has added Food TV HD, HGTV HD and Lifetime Movie Network (HUH??) in HD this morning.


-Matt


----------



## afiggatt

Verizon Fios added three HD channels to the Washington Metro region this morning: 840 - Food-HD, 841 = HGTV-HD, and 845 - Lifetime Movie Network HD. Can anyone who gets the Anne Arundel - Howard County or Baltimore line-up confirm whether the channels have been added there?


With these 3 new HD channels, Verizon now has a total of 26 HD channels for the Washington Metro area: 8 local, 13 nationals, and 5 premium movie channels. Still no sign of Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic HD or Versus/Golf HD channels. But I will take 26 available HD channels over Comcast/Adelphia in Loudoun total of 14 HD channels anyday!


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I'm still waiting for Comcast to hook up my cable (2 week now).
> 
> So finally got to fool around with the rabbit ears from pass the South Riding, Loudoun area. Got WETA HD right away. Wow. Amazing pq!
> 
> 
> Being new to this forum & only on page 10 of this thread, just wondering how is WETA-HD compared to the other local OTA HD stations?



The picture quality of WETA-HD is not the best for HD. WETA-DT broadcasts 1 HD and 3 SD sub-channels 24/7 these days, so the HD sub-channel does not get a lot of bandwidth. Much of the "HD" programming on PBS is upconverted widescreen SD as well. I have not been impressed by the picture quality for anything on WETA-DT for quite a while.


WETA-DT is not a strong digital station as it broadcasts at only 75 kW from the current tower in Arlington. Did you get any of the other local DC stations such as WRC-DT NBC 4, WTTG-DT Fox 5, WJLA-DT ABC 7, WUSA-DT CBS 9, WDCW-DT CW 50? Those are all broadcasting at higher power than WETA-DT 26 and should be easier to get OTA. I assume your "rabbit ears" antenna has a UHF loop antenna as rabbit ears are for VHF and don't work well for UHF.


If you are interested in getting the just the DC stations, based on your success with a basic antenna, the Silver Sensor indoor UHF antenna is likely to get you all seven DC HD stations. Circuit City carries the Silver Sensor under the Philips brand, model # PHDTV1, for $25. If you want to get the DC & Baltimore stations and have an attic or are willing to go to a rooftop antenna, a Channel Master 4221 4 Bay bowtie is a good UHF antenna for this area as it picks up stations over a wide spread in azimuth. We can provide advice on antennas if you want to follow up on it.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The picture quality of WETA-HD is not the best for HD. WETA-DT broadcasts 1 HD and 3 SD sub-channels 24/7 these days, so the HD sub-channel does not get a lot of bandwidth. Much of the "HD" programming on PBS is upconverted widescreen SD as well. I have not been impressed by the picture quality for anything on WETA-DT for quite a while.



I am surpised you say this for WETA's channel 26-1. The other 3 subchannels are definitely SD but I was quite impressed for the HD 26-1. My TV definitely pulled in an 16:9 HD pic.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WETA-DT is not a strong digital station as it broadcasts at only 75 kW from the current tower in Arlington. Did you get any of the other local DC stations such as WRC-DT NBC 4, WTTG-DT Fox 5, WJLA-DT ABC 7, WUSA-DT CBS 9, WDCW-DT CW 50? Those are all broadcasting at higher power than WETA-DT 26 and should be easier to get OTA. I assume your "rabbit ears" antenna has a UHF loop antenna as rabbit ears are for VHF and don't work well for UHF.



I actually, just am investigating how to pull the HD OTA channels on my TV. & kinda stumbled onto WETA-DT.


There is no autoscan for stations (as far as I can tell for the Mits 62531), so everything is manual input from the remote.


You are correct, the rabbit ears was just a old school generalization.

I am actually using this:

RCA Flat Panel Antenna 


The Phillips you rec, looks similar to the TERK I originally bought but was dissapointed in the performance: 



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> If you are interested in getting the just the DC stations, based on your success with a basic antenna, the Silver Sensor indoor UHF antenna is likely to get you all seven DC HD stations. Circuit City carries the Silver Sensor under the Philips brand, model # PHDTV1, for $25. If you want to get the DC & Baltimore stations and have an attic or are willing to go to a rooftop antenna, a Channel Master 4221 4 Bay bowtie is a good UHF antenna for this area as it picks up stations over a wide spread in azimuth. We can provide advice on antennas if you want to follow up on it.



Again thanks for the tremendous tips! I am currently exploring ways to maximize my budget for TV programming. & seeing if I really do need CNN & ESPN via cable or can I wait to see what shakes out in HD programming by 2009. I am lucky in that I am in area with good competition (3 High Bandwidth operators) & can afford to be choosy.


*** One last questions: having only read briefly on this thread, are all the local network OTA broadcast in HD? It's seems only some of it is from what I gathered.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lobozooma* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Just an FYI - FIOS has added Food TV HD, HGTV HD and Lifetime Movie Network (HUH??) in HD this morning.
> 
> 
> -Matt



Women finally get their HD break through day.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> There is no autoscan for stations (as far as I can tell for the Mits 62531), so everything is manual input from the remote.
> 
> 
> You are correct, the rabbit ears was just a old school generalization.
> 
> I am actually using this:
> 
> RCA Flat Panel Antenna
> 
> 
> The Phillips you rec, looks similar to the [terk HDTVi]
> 
> 
> Again thanks for the tremendous tips! I am currently exploring ways to maximize my budget for TV programming. & seeing if I really do need CNN & ESPN via cable or can I wait to see what shakes out in HD programming by 2009. I am lucky in that I am in area with good competition (3 High Bandwidth operators) & can afford to be choosy.
> 
> 
> *** One last questions: having only read briefly on this thread, are all the local network OTA broadcast in HD? It's seems only some of it is from what I gathered.



No autoscan? Check the menu and manual again. Autoscan is a requirement for ATSC tuners. But if it takes manual channel entry, try UHF channels 34, 35, 36, 39, 48, 51. See the first page of this thread for the digital channel numbers which are on different channels from the analog signals. There are 7 network stations in DC that put out a HD signal.


For antenna info, try the HDTV Hardware reception forum and the OTA reception FAQ sticky thread. A somewhat technical and useful website for antenna basics and comparisons is http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ISSUES/erecting_antenna.html .


Yes, only some of the network programming is true HD. The prime time scripted shows are almost all HD now, but the prime time reality and games shows are mostly SD, but some are HD such as American Idol. Leno and Letterman are HD, but not the Kimmel show on ABC for example. Check the HDTV Programming forum for info on all things related to HD programming.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> No autoscan? Check the menu and manual again. Autoscan is a requirement for ATSC tuners. But if it takes manual channel entry, try UHF channels 34, 35, 36, 39, 48, 51. See the first page of this thread for the digital channel numbers which are on different channels from the analog signals. There are 7 network stations in DC that put out a HD signal.




I stand corrected. They don't clearly state it but just found it on the pdf manual.

Will try to do it tonite afterwork.


----------



## sasha_j

Hi all and thanks for the PM's. The free antennas are spoken for, thanks.


----------



## Belcherwm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *sasha_j* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hi all and thanks for the PM's. The free antennas are spoken for, thanks.



Sasha,


Are you leaving the area? I hope not, but if you are it's been a pleasure reading your contributions to this local forum.


----------



## sasha_j




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Belcherwm* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Sasha,
> 
> 
> Are you leaving the area? I hope not, but if you are it's been a pleasure reading your contributions to this local forum.



Thanks for the kind words Bill,


We are not leaving the area - yet- . We have a change of plan, very much by our choice. Laura and I had a life changing 6 week trip last fall. It was so much fun we decided to sell the house and live -full time- in our camper.


See our web site for more.


Laura is now volunteering at Prince William Forest Park and the kind folks there are letting us live on a beautiful 1 acre meadow site with full hookups for our rig.


I will still keep my job in Sterling and commute. We will keep this up for 3-5 years and retire early to hit the road full time! We will very much enjoy not being homeowners and will bank the mortage money for future use.


The rig does not have a TV of any kind at this point. We do have a portable projector and can use the side of the trailer as a screen. We will have movies under the stars this summer!


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Verizon Fios added three HD channels to the Washington Metro region this morning: 840 - Food-HD, 841 = HGTV-HD, and 845 - Lifetime Movie Network HD. Can anyone who gets the Anne Arundel - Howard County or Baltimore line-up confirm whether the channels have been added there?



They are up & running in Anne Arundel. I'd assume Howard too since we have the same lineup otherwise (except the PEG channels)... but can't confirm that.


----------



## jandk95

Is anyone noticing a "choppiness" on the FIOS HD channels? It is most notcieable on the Food network HD. I don't know if it is an issue with my DVR or the connection.


----------



## lobozooma

I am not having an issue with FIOS HD channels at this time.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jandk95* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is anyone noticing a "choppiness" on the FIOS HD channels? It is most notcieable on the Food network HD. I don't know if it is an issue with my DVR or the connection.



I don't see any choppiness on the Fios channels either from here in Sterling. Have you checked the coaxial cable connections from the wall (or outlet) to the DVR? Connectors can work lose if you have moved the box or cables around. You can also try a cold reboot of the DVR by unplugging it. If these don't fix the problem, you may have a weak signal coming from the ONT.


----------



## HDFatom




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jandk95* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is anyone noticing a "choppiness" on the FIOS HD channels? It is most notcieable on the Food network HD. I don't know if it is an issue with my DVR or the connection.



I too was noticing "choppiness" on Food Network HD and most other HD channels last night. I recorded on of the HD Planet Earth episodes and watched that last night.....it too had choppiness. Still trying to figure out if it is the DLP TV, the HD DVR Moto Box or some other issue..connection?

I've seen the choppiness before last night, seems to come an go only on the FIOS HD channels.


----------



## jandk95




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I don't see any choppiness on the Fios channels either from here in Sterling. Have you checked the coaxial cable connections from the wall (or outlet) to the DVR? Connectors can work lose if you have moved the box or cables around. You can also try a cold reboot of the DVR by unplugging it. If these don't fix the problem, you may have a weak signal coming from the ONT.



I just had the service installed yesterday and at first it seemed to work fine (when the installers were still there), but not too long after they left it went downhill. I have not had a chance to check all of my connections yet so I will do it tonight. It was strange though since it seemed to start out on one or two of the HD channels and then eventually migrated to all of them.


----------



## jandk95

I am still trying to evaluate my new FIOS service. I found a solution in another thread that discussed changing the 4:3 override setting on the DVR to fix the choppiness that I was seeing and it has seemed to work. On a seperate note, does anyone notice a scrolling shadow or ghost on the screen when you are watching channel 13 (WJZ)? I haven't noticed it on any other channels, even the HD version of WJZ, and it occurs on all of the TVs in my house. Sometimes it is more noticeable than others but it starts at the bottom of the screen and then moves up and takes about 3 seconds to go off the screen.


----------



## olneycomputers

Fios is now in my area (Olney Maryland) thinking of switching after 8 years of HD on Direct. I need to know is this the right decision? Has anybody on this forum done it in Montgomery County? Is the reception better, will I get better programming, will I be able to get a QAM card?


----------



## CycloneGT

Is there a Computer Store in Olney?


I would recommend that you "trial" FiOS if you can and then decide if you want to drop DirectTV or not. The Picture Quality should be much better than DirectTV from what people have reported. Check the first post of this thread to see what channels are available from DirectTV vs FiOS and see how that impacts which channels you like to watch.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *olneycomputers* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Fios is now in my area (Olney Maryland) thinking of switching after 8 years of HD on Direct. I need to know is this the right decision? Has anybody on this forum done it in Montgomery County? Is the reception better, will I get better programming, will I be able to get a QAM card?



You will get better picture quality from Fios compared to to D* for the Mpeg-2 HD channels from the older satellites and for the SD channels. The reports are that the DirecTV picture quality is pretty good for the newer sat with the locals sent using Mpeg-4, so there won't be much of an improvement if you are getting those. As far as I can tell, Verizon passes on the OTA HD broadcast signal for the locals without any additional compression, so it matches OTA quality for the HD locals.


You can look up the current channel line-ups and pricing for Fios at http://www22.verizon.com/content/FiosTV/ . The channel line-up does not yet show the 3 HD channels that were added this week (Food-HD, HDTV-HD, Lifetime Movie Network HD), but the rest is up to date. The pricing for Fios TV is straightforward compared to the cable companies. You should add in the cost of a STB or DVR for each TV to properly compare the costs. Verizon does send the local HD and SD stations in the clear, so a TV with a QAM tuner can get them. But just about everything else is encrypted, so you need a STB/DVR or a TV or DVR with cable cards to get them.


For the threads on Fios, check the Verizon Fios programming thread in the HDTV programming forum and the Verizon Fios Installation & Hardware sticky in the HDTV hardware reception forum.


I'm pretty happy with Verizon Fios. No complaints at all about picture quality or reliability. The main irritant is the Motorola 6416 HD-DVR. Does the job, but has a limited 160 GB capacity for only around 20 to 25 hours of HD recording while the external SATA port has not yet been enabled so I can't hook up an external HD. Also does not have native passthrough. Verizon is supposed to roll out new software for the DVR later this year, but major software upgrades always slip in schedule. I may get a Series 3 Tivo and rent cable cards at some point.


----------



## dmbatch




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmsjr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> They are up & running in Anne Arundel. I'd assume Howard too since we have the same lineup otherwise (except the PEG channels)... but can't confirm that.



Hmmm, I see the channels, get the program guide, but no picture yet on any of these 3.


Faifax Va


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dmbatch* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hmmm, I see the channels, get the program guide, but no picture yet on any of these 3.
> 
> 
> Faifax Va



Have you tried a cold reset by unplugging the STB or DVR? This will result in the guide info being lost which will take a while to reload, so don't do it just before sitting down to watch TV. The channels are there, so I suspect your STB did not successfully get the de-encryption codes for those channels when they were updating the boxes. If the cold reset does not work, call Verizon to ask them to reset the box remotely.


----------



## kripotos

Have a Channel Master 4221 antenna installed in attic for local OTA HD reception. After initial installation 5/06 had good reception on all local HD channels. Beginning last qtr 06 began having occasional break-up on Ch 5.1 and 7.1. Problem has gotten worse lately. Other HD channels are fine. Some nights both show significant break-up, sometimes only one, and sometimes both seem ok. Looking for advice as to what to try to correct.

1. Try tilting antenna up, down, left, right. Trial and error here as I have no test equipment.

2. Add an adjustable gain amp to improve signal strength.

3. Have Fairfax Antenna re-adjust/re-locate.

Any advice much appreciated


----------



## tripleM

Having the same issue here with 7.1 breakup also.

I'm new to the indoor antenna thing & 7.1 was breaking up on "Dancing with the Stars" noticeably the other night.


Seems the local broadcast like the 11pm news was good.

But when it came to the network show, it was "stuttering" bad.


Decided to watch "DWTS" in SD & no breakup @ all.


----------



## CycloneGT

Its that time of year when the leaves are returning. We often these these "my reception is acting up" posts in the Spring and fall. The best advice is to get the antenna up on the outside of the root. At least that is what worked for me.


----------



## kripotos




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Its that time of year when the leaves are returning. We often these these "my reception is acting up" posts in the Spring and fall. The best advice is to get the antenna up on the outside of the root. At least that is what worked for me.



Thanks. But I've had this problem throughout the winter and I live in an HOA controlled community so the roof is not an option.


tripleM -- I too have to switch to SD, but that ain't no fun at all.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kripotos* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> tripleM -- I too have to switch to SD, but that ain't no fun at all.



Yeah, that's why we got the HDTV in the first place.

Also, I have practically no tall trees around my new development so that might not be an issue.


----------



## Belcherwm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kripotos* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Thanks. But I've had this problem throughout the winter and I live in an HOA controlled community so the roof is not an option.



It sure is an option if you own the roof.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kripotos* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Have a Channel Master 4221 antenna installed in attic for local OTA HD reception. After initial installation 5/06 had good reception on all local HD channels. Beginning last qtr 06 began having occasional break-up on Ch 5.1 and 7.1. Problem has gotten worse lately. Other HD channels are fine. Some nights both show significant break-up, sometimes only one, and sometimes both seem ok. Looking for advice as to what to try to correct.
> 
> 1. Try tilting antenna up, down, left, right. Trial and error here as I have no test equipment.
> 
> 2. Add an adjustable gain amp to improve signal strength.
> 
> 3. Have Fairfax Antenna re-adjust/re-locate.
> 
> Any advice much appreciated



Since the antenna is in the attic, presumably it is not that difficult to get to. Try turning it left or right a few degrees to see if that fixes the drop-outs. If it is tilted down a bit, aim it slightly upwards. If you can move the antenna around a few inches that is also something to try if tweaking the aim and tilt does not work. You could add a pre-amp, but I would hold off on that until you have to tried to tweak the aim and location.


----------



## adams828

Does anyone else in MontCo have RCN and is using a QAM tuner? After multiple scans, I get FOX, CBS, NBC, TNT, ESPN, DISC, HDNET, HDNMV, NGEO and CMCST... but still no ABC??


----------



## SJKurtzke

Looks like we're still on target for Winter (Jan. 1 at latest) for WDCW in HD on DirecTV:

Sorry, I thought getting an update would spice up the thread, but whatever...


Stephen,


I have not heard any news that the time frame will be moved up. I will

check with our corporate office.


We hope you continue to enjoy the CW Washington!


Sincerely,

Tanya Pavluchuk

Programming


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Belcherwm* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It sure is an option if you own the roof.



To elaborate... your HOA is not legally allowed to stop you from putting up an antenna (on your property). Of course, you may have trouble convincing them of that.


----------



## MauneyM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *olneycomputers* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Fios is now in my area (Olney Maryland)



When did this happen? Olney's not far from my area (Glenelg/W Friendship), so I would be glad to know that it's getting closer....


----------



## olneycomputers




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MauneyM* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> When did this happen? Olney's not far from my area (Glenelg/W Friendship), so I would be glad to know that it's getting closer....




A brief History.


Olney was the last community to get Cable (thank you Montgomery County Cable and the County Council). The Council insisted that the First Cable Company they signed a contract with provide all sorts of services, and guess what, they went out of business, and for and entire year no new subscribers were added including Olney. When a new contract was finally signed, the new company (Montgomery County Cable) decided that they had to rewire most of the old wire that was in place, so Olney didn't get cable until about 1989 (I want my MTV (1984)).


So when Direct TV came along I switched (1998) I didn't want to give Montgomery County a single penny in taxes or fees for screwing up so badly.


So now, Olney finally got something good first, instead of HOC.


BTW my daughter in Silver Spring near New Hampshire Ave was offered Fios TV, about two months ago and my girl friend in Mc Lean VA was offered Fios TV about six months ago (the rich always get it first).


(olneycomputers owns stock in both ATT (T) and Verizon (VZ)), full disclosure)


----------



## mikepinkerton




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> To elaborate... your HOA is not legally allowed to stop you from putting up an antenna (on your property). Of course, you may have trouble convincing them of that.



You don't have to convince them, that's the beauty of the FCC ruling. They can complain all they want and there's not a whole lot they can do (short of ask that you pretty please put the antenna on the back of the house).


Don't let your HOA stop you, as long as you're within the law (ie, no 60' antenna).


-Mike


----------



## compuwizz

Adelphiacast cable in Sterling now has PSIP data on 83 for WETA-HD and WJLA-HD and on 116 for WUSA-HD and WTTG-HD. They forgot 103 for NBC (I forgot the call letters at the moment).


I do have a question. on 83, the other WETA subchannels are listed and even have PSIP data however they are encrypted. Isn't this against the rules or does it not apply to SD broadcast channels? If it is against the rules who do I contact, beg, and flash the correct papers in front of to convince them to flip the switch and put them in the clear? I know a standard CS agent at the desk would give me a "hrm" and tell me to get a box but does anyone know an engineer to contact?


Another note, I noticed that they have been testing on QAM 89 as well. One day I saw Golf HD for 30 minutes, then WETA, then WUSA, TNT and then back to WUSA and WTTG simulcasting the same as what was on 116. However I noticed that the bandwidth utilized was more dynamic and not an *almost* static bitrate as seen on 116. So maybe they are trying out a new modulator.


PS I love the bitrate of the un named channel I left out that is also in the clear. It usually is close to 20 mbit.


----------



## tripleM

Have you tried calling the Sterling Comcast office? It's not a sales office from what I gathered but tech & engineering from the old Adelphia crew.


----------



## Belcherwm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> To elaborate... your HOA is not legally allowed to stop you from putting up an antenna (on your property). Of course, you may have trouble convincing them of that.



To elaborate further, from an old post of Sasha's:


Per Section 207 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Over-the-Air (OTA) antenna use by homeowners is allowed in almost all instances regardless of any HOA restrictions to the contrary. Most HOA's are likely not up-to-speed on this issue. Mine certainly wasn't until I took the time to educate them. See:

http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/otard.html


----------



## AntAltMike

Is WUTB up to full power yet? I was assembling a headend at Cherry Hill Park Campground in College Park, and couldn't get a glimmer from it of my Channel Master 4228 that develops around -25dBmV to to -30dBmV from the other Baltimore DTV transmitters (30' telescoping mast, obviously blocked by a hill) and gets me around -5dBmV from channel 24 analog. I thought I had seen it on my spectrum analyzer when I did some experimenting on the mast recently, but I didn't keep those notes.


----------



## CycloneGT

I can't say that I've looked, but I expect if it was, you'd be one of the first to see it.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is WUTB up to full power yet? I was assembling a headend at Cherry Hill Park Campground in College Park, and couldn't get a glimmer from it of my Channel Master 4228 that develops around -25dBmV to to -30dBmV from the other Baltimore DTV transmitters (30' telescoping mast, obviously blocked by a hill) and gets me around -5dBmV from channel 24 analog. I thought I had seen it on my spectrum analyzer when I did some experimenting on the mast recently, but I didn't keep those notes.



Mark Bulla can update us on the status of WUTB-DT, but if you look at his post of 10 days ago at http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...post10254046 , WUTB had the transmitter on order. Sounds like they have a fair amount of work to do on the tower. Since they share the tower with the WNUV-TV 54 analog transmitter, they will probably have to turn off WNUV-TV for some or much of the tower work. Has anyone noticed WNUV 54 analog going off the air in the daytime?


So it will probably be a little while longer before we see WUTB-DT at full power, but the odds are good that they will beat WHUT-DT 32 in getting there.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is WUTB up to full power yet? I was assembling a headend at Cherry Hill Park Campground in College Park, and couldn't get a glimmer from it of my Channel Master 4228 that develops around -25dBmV to to -30dBmV from the other Baltimore DTV transmitters (30' telescoping mast, obviously blocked by a hill) and gets me around -5dBmV from channel 24 analog. I thought I had seen it on my spectrum analyzer when I did some experimenting on the mast recently, but I didn't keep those notes.



No WUTB is not full power yet, although they are currently working on it. As afiggatt mentioned, they are currently working on the tower. I think they have put up their new antenna (it's no longer on the ground, anyway), but they are still running the transmission line to it.


I won't have to go off the air for them to work on the tower - their antenna is 59.8 meters below mine (almost 200 feet, according to the FCC), however the analog WUTB transmitter - channel 24, will need to be off while they are working on the new antenna.


Mark


----------



## lastplace

Alright what's going on with Comcast HD. Visited my parents in balto a couple of months ago they picked up abc, nbc & cbs HD (qan tuner with basic or extended cable). Now they get only Fox HD. Where did all the HD's go?


----------



## gomo657

I've asked this before , I'm getting A&E hd via qam but not through my Comast /DC cable box any one else experincing this? I've had it for approx a month.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> ...their antenna is 59.8 meters below mine (almost 200 feet, according to the FCC), however the analog WUTB transmitter - channel 24, will need to be off while they are working on the new antenna.



Will WUTB's digital transmitting antenna be moved up the tower when WNUV-54 and WUTB -24 analog transmissions cease?


----------



## cjghome

Just an Update for some of the eastern Loudoun members...


Verizon just layed fiber optic the whole length on West Juniper...


In one day...I was impressed...(too bad the cut a gas line)..shut them down for a few hours...


They seem to be only working on the western side of Sterling Blvd ( near the High School)


Question...I was about to commit to 18 months with Direct TV...

How long after they lay the Fiber before we can get service, on average that is?


Charlie


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Will WUTB's digital transmitting antenna be moved up the tower when WNUV-54 and WUTB -24 analog transmissions cease?



That's what the CE (chief engineer) from WUTB is planning to do. I'm not convinced that the analog transmitters will be turned off any time soon though. I'll believe it, maybe a month or so after I turn it off.


Mark


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> That's what the CE (chief engineer) from WUTB is planning to do. I'm not convinced that the analog transmitters will be turned off any time soon though. I'll believe it, maybe a month or so after I turn it off.
> 
> 
> Mark



WNUV-DT is completely unwatchable on Comcast right now. Heavy tiling. The SD channel is fine.


----------



## MrMike6by9

Not seeing that in Baltimore County, then again, I'm not into infomercials.


YMMV


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cjghome* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Question...I was about to commit to 18 months with Direct TV...
> 
> How long after they lay the Fiber before we can get service, on average that is?



I don't think there is an average that you can rely on. Verizon first put down some orange tubing along the main road in my area back in January 2006 - probably laying down a central trunk line (the orange tubing that they put in are hollow tubes that they run the fiber optics cable through later). Then nothing happened until more crews showed up in late July and August of 2006 and put down more orange cables/tubes and the boxes in the ground. In October of 2006, Fios internet and TV became available in my immediate group of townhouses. But Fios was not available in other nearby clusters of townhouses and single homes for months and is still not available, AFAIK, on other nearby streets. The Verizon Fios crews and contractors have been busy putting in more cables and junction boxes down the road from me in recent weeks, so there must be other clusters of houses that can't get Fios yet. This is 6 months after I was able to get the service. So depending on exactly where you are, it could be weeks or many months before Fios becomes available once they start putting in the orange cable.


All you can do is go to the Fios website and periodically check your phone number and for more accuracy, enter your street address. It took 3 weeks after Fios became available on my street before the flyers showed up in the mail. You could try entering in addresses near you to see if it is available on those streets yet.


----------



## afiggatt

Andy.S.Lee has added the transmitter coverage maps for Richmond, VA to his set of kmz files for Google Earth in this thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=821480 . This may be very useful for those who live far enough south and southwest of DC who can get the Richmond and other stations in the market OTA.


----------



## biker19

WETA DT is out again - antenna work again?


----------



## Marcus Carr

WMAR is showing lacrosse instead of the Bulls-Heat game, which is on ESPN2, analog only. I'm watching WJLA instead, which has the game in HD.


----------



## tripleM

Comcast finally connected their street corner tap to my new house. 3.5 weeks after the first call. Not bad...I guess







.


However, there is this little leftover issue of leaving the cable ABOVE ground. There is an asphalt sidewalk in between my property & the tap.

What realistically can I expect them to do to bury this?


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Comcast finally connected their street corner tap to my new house. 3.5 weeks after the first call. Not bad...I guess
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .
> 
> 
> However, there is this little leftover issue of leaving the cable ABOVE ground. There is an asphalt sidewalk in between my property & the tap.
> 
> What realistically can I expect them to do to bury this?



Usually no more than two weeks. All utilities have a catch up period in the Spring as they are putting stuff in they couldn't do during the late part of the winter.


If it runs more than two weeks I suggest calling and seeking an update.


GoIrish


----------



## tripleM

How do cable companies deal with sidewalks & driveways to get cable to one's house?


----------



## dg28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> How do cable companies deal with sidewalks & driveways to get cable to one's house?



They go underneath them.


----------



## jandk95

I want to ammend an earlier negative post concerning MASN. Although I am definitely upset about their failure to broadcast any games in HD this year, I should not have blamed the horrible picture all on them. I recently shifted from Comcast to FIOS and miraculously the picture quality improved by at least twofold. It is still not the best PQ, but it is actually watchable in SD now. This alone has made the switch to FIOS worth it.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> They go underneath them.




Do they have to worry about local govt or HOA?


----------



## dg28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Do they have to worry about local govt or HOA?



No, they have a franchise agreement with the county which permits them to dig in order to lay their lines.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> No, they have a franchise agreement with the county which permits them to dig in order to lay their lines.




Thanks. Gotta luv the monopoly.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WMAR is showing lacrosse instead of the Bulls-Heat game, which is on ESPN2, analog only. I'm watching WJLA instead, which has the game in HD.



They were able to preempt an NBA playoff game for lacrosse?????


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrMike6by9* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Not seeing that in Baltimore County, then again, I'm not into infomercials.
> 
> 
> YMMV



Me neither, I'm into cartoons.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WNUV-DT is completely unwatchable on Comcast right now. Heavy tiling. The SD channel is fine.



Sorry I didn't see this sooner... Did the problem go away?


Mark


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Sorry I didn't see this sooner... Did the problem go away?
> 
> 
> Mark



Yes. I'm not sure exactly when.


----------



## simpsonps121

Hi Guys,

I saw TBS in HDTV not too long ago. What channel was it? I can not seem to find it again.


thanks,

Matthew


----------



## compuwizz

And of course since I posted the QAM channels in Sterling, they have moved around. NBC WRC is now on 117 with PSIP data.


So it is as follows:

83-1 WETA-HD

83-5 WJLA-HD

89-1 WRC-HD *no PSIP temporary?

116-1 WUSA-HD

116-2 WTTG-HD

117-1 WRC-DT


the other clear one is still available in between 89 and 116.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *simpsonps121* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hi Guys,
> 
> I saw TBS in HDTV not too long ago. What channel was it? I can not seem to find it again.
> 
> 
> thanks,
> 
> Matthew



TBS does not have a national HDTV channel yet, so unless you were in Atlanta, you must have seen another channel. WTBS (a broadcast station in Atlanta) does do HDTV for their Atlanta Braves coverage. Could it have been TNT-HD? That is a Turner network that is available in HD. Also what provider were you watching? Comcast, DirectTV, DishNetwork, COX, RCN, Verizon, etc.... We know their lineups, so that could help narrow down what you saw.


Oh, and if you saw in in Best Buy or Costco, then all bets are off. I've seen channels that don't even exist displayed as HD at those places. SpeedTV was shown as an HD channel once in Best Buy. That was 3 years ago. It never materialized.


----------



## John_D

I hope this doesn't break any rules...


I am moving and will no longer be able to use a Channel Master 4228 8-bay bow-tie antenna. I would like to trade down if anyone would want to swap it for the 4-bay 4221 (aka 3021).


Thanks


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> They were able to preempt an NBA playoff game for lacrosse?????



I think that is a new low, not even WJLA can beat that.


----------



## jacobp

I am a long-tim DTV subscriber but I am thinking of switching to FIOS in Montgomery Co. (it is now available). My biggest concern is the special sports subscription packages that are available on DTV. Namely, MLB Extra Innings, the College Basketball Full Court package, the NFL Sunday Ticket package, and the ability to get the local sports channels from other markets.


Does FIOS offer any of this?


----------



## mikemav

Hi all-

I'm currently a D*TV customer, but I use Comcast/Adepphia for high speed internet via their cable modem. I use an OTA antenna for locals, and I'm thinking about running a TV feed to an HD Home Run networked ATSC/QAM tuner from Silicon Dust. Since this would (at least at first) be running on a laptop in a playroom for testing purposes, I wanted to see if I could get some more content by connecting it to the cable modem's feed coming from outside instead of just the OTA antenna. In fact, the HD Home Run has two tuners, so I can connect one of each. The question is (since I don't have this yet) does anyone in Loudoun served by Comcast know what stations are available off what comes into my house already to feed the cable modem now? They already get me for $60 a month; it would be nice if I could pick up some Nick or Discovery Kids or something in addition to what I get OTA. Also, since this tuner is digital only for in the clear QAM (as well as OTA ATSC), I guess I'm SOL if I can only get analog basic cable off the Comcast line & not digital? I could always get a cheap analog tuner or use my old MyHD's analog section for this I guess, but first I'd love to know what "free" content (with my $60/mo modem fee!) I can get over that cable modem line if anyone has a clue.


----------



## poppagene




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> How do cable companies deal with sidewalks & driveways to get cable to one's house?



In my neighborhood, cable comes in the same way as phone and electric. They run a wire from the pole to the house above ground


----------



## senderoa

Hi,


I have just bought a Toshiba 42" LCD and I would like to buy an indoor antenna for HDTV watching. I went to hdtvpub and I got this message.


Local Market:

Washington, DC (Hagerstown, MD)

DMA Ranking: 8 out of 210 *



DTV Channels in Your Area: ( Add Information )


Station Info DTV Information Other Info

WBDC-DT ( WB )

Multicasting: Yes DTV Ch(s): 51,75

More Information

WDCA-DT ( UPN )

DTV Ch(s): 35

More Information

WETA-DT ( PBS )

DTV Ch(s): 27

Main Format: 01-HD,02-SD More Information

WJLA-DT ( ABC )

DTV Ch(s): 39

More Information

WRC-DT ( NBC )

DTV Ch(s): 48

More Information

WTTG-DT ( FOX )

DTV Ch(s): 36

More Information

WUSA-DT ( CBS )

DTV Ch(s): 34

More Information


I leave in Bethesda, MD 20814 and my new TV is in the first floor


Can you recommend an antenna?


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *poppagene* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> In my neighborhood, cable comes in the same way as phone and electric. They run a wire from the pole to the house above ground



Ha ha. Still the easiest solution.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *senderoa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> I leave in Bethesda, MD 20814 and my new TV is in the first floor
> 
> 
> Can you recommend an antenna?



this should help


----------



## compuwizz




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemav* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hi all-
> 
> I'm currently a D*TV customer, but I use Comcast/Adepphia for high speed internet via their cable modem. I use an OTA antenna for locals, and I'm thinking about running a TV feed to an HD Home Run networked ATSC/QAM tuner from Silicon Dust. Since this would (at least at first) be running on a laptop in a playroom for testing purposes, I wanted to see if I could get some more content by connecting it to the cable modem's feed coming from outside instead of just the OTA antenna. In fact, the HD Home Run has two tuners, so I can connect one of each. The question is (since I don't have this yet) does anyone in Loudoun served by Comcast know what stations are available off what comes into my house already to feed the cable modem now? They already get me for $60 a month; it would be nice if I could pick up some Nick or Discovery Kids or something in addition to what I get OTA. Also, since this tuner is digital only for in the clear QAM (as well as OTA ATSC), I guess I'm SOL if I can only get analog basic cable off the Comcast line & not digital? I could always get a cheap analog tuner or use my old MyHD's analog section for this I guess, but first I'd love to know what "free" content (with my $60/mo modem fee!) I can get over that cable modem line if anyone has a clue.




If you look 4 posts above you will see what is available on Adelphiacast in Sterling/Loudon. Only the main locals are clear QAM with the exception of one other HD station and the On-Demand wildfeeds.


----------



## ashutoshsm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *compuwizz* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> If you look 4 posts above you will see what is available on Adelphiacast in Sterling/Loudon. Only the main locals are clear QAM with the exception of one other HD station and the On-Demand wildfeeds.



What he said.


Adelphia, ages ago, had this stuff well figured out. Excellent PSIP info as far as I can tell, and no channels that shouldn't be there (premiums). And there isn't really a way they can block the 'wildfeeds', right? (like the term







)


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *senderoa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I have just bought a Toshiba 42" LCD and I would like to buy an indoor antenna for HDTV watching. I went to hdtvpub and I got this message.
> 
> [snip]
> 
> I leave in Bethesda, MD 20814 and my new TV is in the first floor
> 
> 
> Can you recommend an antenna?



Yes, we can, although the answer depends on whether you are interested in getting the Baltimore stations as well.


First, information resources. 1) Check the first post in this thread for a complete list of the DC and Baltimore stations. 2) Enter your zip code or your full address into www.antennaweb.org , select multi-story building option (or click on the options link and enter an antenna height of 50' or 75') to get a more complete list of the direction and distance to the broadcast towers. 3) Check the Over The Air reception FAQ sticky in the HDTV hardware reception forum.


In Bethesda, you are rather close - around 3 to 5 miles - to most of the DC broadcast towers. All of the stations in DC and Baltimore are currently digitally broadcasting on UHF so UHF antenna will do for now. In 2009, after the analog shutdown, WJLA-DT 7 and WUSA-DT 9 will switch their digital signal to their upper VHF channels. With the DC stations so close, avoid the over priced antennas with built-in amplifiers as the amp may overload the ATSC receiver.


If you only want to get the DC stations and stick with an indoor antenna, the Silver Sensor UHF antenna is the best choice. Circuit City sells these under the Philips brand name, model PHDTV1, for around $25. This is a UHF only antenna, so you would have to add VHF rabbit ears in 2009. The Terk HDTVi combines a Silver Sensor with rabbit ears; if you can find one at Best Buy, it should do the job. A simple table top VHF rabbit ear and UHF loop antenna is also a good bet to work.


If you want to get the Baltimore stations and are willing to try an attic or outside mount, the Channel Master 4221 4 Bay bowtie or the new Channel Master 4220 2 Bay bowtie offer a good shot at getting all the major network stations in both DC and Baltimore if you can find the right place to mount the antenna or a combination of 2 antennas. I get all the DC and Baltimore stations (well, those that are at full power) and other locals with a CM 4221 4 Bay bowtie in the attic of my townhouse from out here in Sterling.


----------



## mikemikeb

*senderoa*, *afiggatt* didn't mention the RadioShack 15-1868 antenna ($21), which I use to pick up VHF and UHF pretty nicely.


----------



## yekim54




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> They were able to preempt an NBA playoff game for lacrosse?????



Ever since the Bullets left town in 1973, Lacrosse has been king in Baltimore during April and May.


----------



## jasonblair

As a basketball lover from Indiana, that is just SHOCKING to me. Before moving here, I'd encountered LaCrosse exactly twice in my life. The first was when I watched American Pie. My buddies couldn't figure out if the guy was playing field hockey or Jai-Alai... we looked it up and found out about Lacrosse.


The second time was the Duke rape case.


----------



## senderoa

Hi,


I went to amazon and I found a poor review for this antenna...can you help me?

thanks!


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *senderoa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hi,
> 
> 
> I went to amazon and I found a poor review for this antenna...can you help me?
> 
> thanks!



With all due respect, you are on a video specific board vs. a place that is the Walmart of the internet.

I bought the Terk Indoor Amp Antenna based on some of those Amazon ppl's recs & it was crap in my house! 


I tend to rate the opinions of people here a little more esp. since they live in the area that is in question.


----------



## jandk95




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jasonblair* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> As a basketball lover from Indiana, that is just SHOCKING to me. Before moving here, I'd encountered LaCrosse exactly twice in my life. The first was when I watched American Pie. My buddies couldn't figure out if the guy was playing field hockey or Jai-Alai... we looked it up and found out about Lacrosse.
> 
> 
> The second time was the Duke rape case.



As a lacrosse lover from the Mid-Atlantic I am much happier watching a physical, hard-hitting sport with athletes who play for the love of the game instead of a slow-paced exhibition comprised of overpaid, underachieving athletes. Pre-empt away.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *senderoa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hi,
> 
> 
> I went to amazon and I found a poor review for this antenna...can you help me?
> 
> thanks!



I checked out a few of those reviews. The poor reviews may be from people who did not hook the antenna up correctly, aim it correctly, live too far away for an indoor antenna, some of their locals may be digitally broadcasting on VHF (such as Las Vegas), live in a house with stucco exterior (stucco uses a metal mesh embedded in the walls which blocks radio and TV signals), or have bad multipath problems. There are many variables in over the air reception which means that I can't guarantee that a Silver Sensor will work. You have dead spots for cell phones and Wi-Fi reception, same thing for TV reception, especially indoors. Can't use Amazon reviews for the more technically complicated products even though an antenna is a pretty simple device by itself; it is however part of a larger system.


The Silver Sensor however, is a very good indoor UHF only antenna. I got one to try out and was able to pick up the DC stations with it at 16 miles from here in Sterling when I put it facing a window. Since you can buy the Philips PHDTV1 locally at Circuit City, you can take it back if it does not work well enough for you. It is a compact antenna, so it may prove handy for future use as a portable digital TV antenna (combined with rabbit ears for VHF) for hooking up to a laptop or portable TV.


You are only a few miles from the DC broadcast towers, any number of indoor antennas should work just fine - depending on the construction material of your house and your surrounding terrain. Take a shot with one of the cheaper ones and see what stations you can get. Chances are good that you will get all or most of them.


This site can get technical, but contains a lot of useful info on antennas and OTA reception: http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ISSUES/erecting_antenna.html .


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Ever since the Bullets left town in 1973, Lacrosse has been king in Baltimore during April and May.



The game should have been on Fox 45 (assuming nothing else network-related was on), MN24 or CW54. Even CSN, since they have no more baseball.


----------



## Eben




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jacobp* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I am a long-tim DTV subscriber but I am thinking of switching to FIOS in Montgomery Co. (it is now available). My biggest concern is the special sports subscription packages that are available on DTV. Namely, MLB Extra Innings, the College Basketball Full Court package, the NFL Sunday Ticket package, and the ability to get the local sports channels from other markets.
> 
> 
> Does FIOS offer any of this?



I had the same question and as far as I can tell FIOS does not offer any of those major league sports subs -- and I can guarantee you that FIOS does not offer the NFL Sunday Ticket because that is a DirecTV exclusive.


----------



## simpsonps121




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> TBS does not have a national HDTV channel yet, so unless you were in Atlanta, you must have seen another channel. WTBS (a broadcast station in Atlanta) does do HDTV for their Atlanta Braves coverage. Could it have been TNT-HD? That is a Turner network that is available in HD. Also what provider were you watching? Comcast, DirectTV, DishNetwork, COX, RCN, Verizon, etc.... We know their lineups, so that could help narrow down what you saw.
> 
> 
> Oh, and if you saw in in Best Buy or Costco, then all bets are off. I've seen channels that don't even exist displayed as HD at those places. SpeedTV was shown as an HD channel once in Best Buy. That was 3 years ago. It never materialized.



Thanks for the reply. It very well could have been TNT. I thought it was TBS, but memory is a funny thing...


I saw it on my home TV.  I remember it had an icon of 2 people holding hands, a full blue bar, and then the 1080i resolution. (And it was a Sandra Bullock Movie - ugh.) I live in Columbia MD.


Thanks,

matthew


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Eben* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I had the same question and as far as I can tell FIOS does not offer any of those major league sports subs -- and I can guarantee you that FIOS does not offer the NFL Sunday Ticket because that is a DirecTV exclusive.



Check the Fios Programming thread in the programming forum for questions that apply to Verizon on a national basis. I see jacobp went there after he posted his D* versus Fios sports package questions yesterday. As for MLB Extra Innings, Verizon does not currently have it. You can look up the pricing, options, channel line-ups for Verizon at http://www22.verizon.com/content/FiOSTV/ . The PDF files are a bit behind as they don't show the 3 HD channels that were added here last week - Food HD, HGTV HD, and the Lifetime Movie Network HD.


----------



## mikepinkerton

Second the recommendation for the Silver Sensor. I have one and it's great, and many of my friends bought one at my recommendation and are all happy.


-Mike


----------



## hokierob

Haven't been able to get my radio shack antenna to pick up any OTA HD down in Springfield but I have been able to use my cable feed (Cox) direct to the tv avoiding the box to pick up some channels. Is there a list of unencrypted HD channels that I can get over Cox?


----------



## hil357

im sorry, i know this is a dumb question, but looking at cox's fees im so confused as to what to get.


i have an hdtv w/ atsc/qam tuner. currently i have analog cable and am picking up some digital/hd channels (the locals).


i have cox and already subscribe to basic extended (analog).


i want to get all digital/hd channels. *can i just subscribe to the "digital gateway" or do i need to get the receiver as well??* i guess im asking since i have an hdtv tuner, etc. installed already do i need the receiver as long as they're sending the digital signals? or will cox even let me subscribe to digital w/out renting the receiver (it says required!)?


digital gateway (6.95)

hd or digital receiver (5.90 or 3.99)
http://www.cox.com/fairfax/digitalcable/rates.asp 


thanks and sorry if this is so obvious...


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hil357* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> i want to get all digital/hd channels. *can i just subscribe to the "digital gateway" or do i need to get the receiver as well??* i guess im asking since i have an hdtv tuner, etc. installed already do i need the receiver as long as they're sending the digital signals? or will cox even let me subscribe to digital w/out renting the receiver (it says required!)?



All the other digital SD and HD channels are likely scrambled. To receive those, you need either a STB or DVR from Cox OR a TV / STB which can take a cable card. The cable card provides the channel mapping and de-encryption codes for the cable channels. You have to lease the cable card from the cable company which presumably means subscribing to the digital gateway as well. However, the current cable card standard does not provide for two way communication, so you don't have VOD or PPV with the cable card.


I think cable cards are most useful for the 2nd or bedroom TV so you don't need a STB. However, hardly any smaller HD TVs on the market at this time support cable cards, presumably because of the cost. For the main TV, I would get the HD-DVR from Cox although I don't know what Cox charges for it.


PS. Just to be clear, all cable companies are supposed to provide the local broadcast stations (that they carry) with no encryption on the digital tier. But in general, all the national HD and SD digital channels are scrambled or will be.


----------



## jandk95

Has anyone else notice that the Baltimore affiliates are not transmitting many of their shows in 5.1 when the Washington stations are? Tonight the Office was in 5.1 on the Wash station while it was not on the Balt affiliate. I don't know whether this is a FIOS issue or it is a local station issue (I have FIOS TV).


----------



## hokierob




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hil357* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> im sorry, i know this is a dumb question, but looking at cox's fees im so confused as to what to get.
> 
> 
> i have an hdtv w/ atsc/qam tuner. currently i have analog cable and am picking up some digital/hd channels (the locals).
> 
> 
> i have cox and already subscribe to basic extended (analog).
> 
> 
> i want to get all digital/hd channels. *can i just subscribe to the "digital gateway" or do i need to get the receiver as well??* i guess im asking since i have an hdtv tuner, etc. installed already do i need the receiver as long as they're sending the digital signals? or will cox even let me subscribe to digital w/out renting the receiver (it says required!)?
> 
> 
> digital gateway (6.95)
> 
> hd or digital receiver (5.90 or 3.99)
> http://www.cox.com/fairfax/digitalcable/rates.asp
> 
> 
> thanks and sorry if this is so obvious...



For digital they will charge you for the gateway and the receiver. My bill is around 120 for digital cable, dvr, and internet + an extra box. I did however talk to them today and they said they would swap out my dvr for an HD-DVR and it would be the same price (just got HDtv). You need the box to get the scrambled channels e.g. HBO, Showtime, ESPN-HD, etc. I have been able to get ABC, FOX, CBS, NBC HD without upgrading and running cable directly to the tv. Not sure if you need the gateway for that or not.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jandk95* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Has anyone else notice that the Baltimore affiliates are not transmitting many of their shows in 5.1 when the Washington stations are? Tonight the Office was in 5.1 on the Wash station while it was not on the Balt affiliate. I don't know whether this is a FIOS issue or it is a local station issue (I have FIOS TV).



Well, WBAL-DT NBC 11 does not do DD5.1 (last I checked), but I do know that ABC 2, CBS 13, FOX 45, & CW54 all do DD5.1. So that might be a FiOS thing in your area.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Well, WBAL-DT NBC 11 does not do DD5.1 (last I checked), but I do know that ABC 2, CBS 13, FOX 45, & CW54 all do DD5.1. So that might be a FiOS thing in your area.



As a matter of fact, CW54 is in 5.1 24/7/365, even if the network show is not. We have a magic box that makes 5.1 audio if it's getting stereo in, and just passes the audio through if it's already in 5.1.


Mark


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> As a matter of fact, CW54 is in 5.1 24/7/365, even if the network show is not. We have a magic box that makes 5.1 audio if it's getting stereo in, and just passes the audio through if it's already in 5.1.
> 
> 
> Mark



I don't like it when it is broadcast like that. If it's 2.0 my receiver will applly DPLIIx processing to create 7.1. But if its a 2.0 signal sent in a 5.1 stream I will only hear stereo which is terrible on my end. It's like I went back in time to the late 80's when I first started listening to tV in stereo.

This happens with my 7.1 Denon receivers and it was also the case with my 7.1 Sony I had in 2001. Do other receivers react the same way to a signal like this?


----------



## dt_dc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hil357* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> i want to get all digital/hd channels. *can i just subscribe to the "digital gateway" or do i need to get the receiver as well??
> *


*


To get ESPN-HD, Discovery-HD, etc ...


You will need to:

(sub to the 'digital gateway') AND (get their STB OR use a CableCard reciever)


ESPN-HD, Discovery-HD, are encrypted so ... you'll need something that can unencrypt them (their box or a CableCard). The clear QAM tuner you're using can get the locals because they're not encrypted (sent in the clear).


Edit: sorry ... post was last on page ... didn't see that it had already been responded to.*


----------



## tripleM

^^^ Still helpful & informative. Thanks.


A Question for you cable subs:


I read in Consumer Reports that you can order basic digital which costs the same as basic analog (same 20 or so channels) BUT u can get OnDemand/PPV capabilities because of their box and HD. Is this true?


So the cost would come out to ~$30 a month on most systems because of box rental & HD add on.


A savings of about $10-15 per month for most ppl who don't want all those other specialize channels under a basic HD tiered plan. Am I off base?


----------



## howie14




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> They were able to preempt an NBA playoff game for lacrosse?????




WMAR has covered lacrosse for years and had the local schedule set up well in advance. Back when ABC had NASCAR, there were much louder complaints about the preemption than now.


Now that WMAR's coverage is also subsidized by ESPNU, there is absolutely no way the station would lift lacrosse for the NBA.


----------



## hokierob




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> ^^^ Still helpful & informative. Thanks.
> 
> 
> A Question for you cable subs:
> 
> 
> I read in Consumer Reports that you can order basic digital which costs the same as basic analog (same 20 or so channels) BUT u can get OnDemand/PPV capabilities because of their box and HD. Is this true?
> 
> 
> So the cost would come out to ~$30 a month on most systems because of box rental & HD add on.
> 
> 
> A savings of about $10-15 per month for most ppl who don't want all those other specialize channels under a basic HD tiered plan. Am I off base?



Not sure about other cable companies but with Cox if you get basic cable you get the HD of all the local channels included.

Check the disclaimer at the bottom.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *howie14* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WMAR has covered lacrosse for years and had the local schedule set up well in advance. Back when ABC had NASCAR, there were much louder complaints about the preemption than now.
> 
> 
> Now that WMAR's coverage is also subsidized by ESPNU, there is absolutely no way the station would lift lacrosse for the NBA.



I think that Nascar returns to ABC this fall. But I guess that Lacrosse season will be over by then.


----------



## HDDAVID

I have a general question to D* customers in the local Baltimore, Howard and Montgomery county areas...

Is anyone experiencing a reception problem with their local OTA HD channels..like ABC..CBS..NBC and Fox ? I either get a frozen picture or no picture on the HD, but the digital channels come in.

I have called D* tech sup and they told me they have not had many calls about this from cental MD, but will send a tech to inspect the dish etc.

My local installer said he has had many calls from his customers with the same problem.

Am I alone here with this problem?

Thanks for all your responses.


----------



## aaronwt

Do you mean local analog? The HD channels are also digital. Or do you mena the digital OTA sub channels?


----------



## HDDAVID

The digital sub channels seem to br fine. Its only the HD channels that seem to be the problem. I hope I explained that right.

BTW, I live in the Parkville area of Baltimore County


----------



## jerry78bug

I'm having the same getting local HD channels fromD*.


----------



## HDDAVID

So far this morning I'm getting all the locals, including the HD's without any trouble. But there hasn't been any real HD programming this morning(yes I missed the Today show). So I guess the real test will be when HD is being broadcast.


Jerry78bug..what kind of problems are you having? Where are you located?


----------



## hil357

thanks to those who responded to my questions above...i called and cox confirmed i need:

-digital gateway w/ required 'tier' for $6.95+2

-hdtv receiver for $5.90


...on a side note...tonight im receiving PAY PER VIEW channels for FREE OVER QAM... why would this be?!


----------



## jwinge1

Could anyone please tell me what QAM channels are currently available in Annapolis?


----------



## Marcus Carr

Looks like Comcast will soon add HGTV HD and Food Network HD in the *Boston* Area. No telling when they will show up here of course.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...7#post10424657


----------



## aaronwt

I'm still waiting for Comcast to add these other HD channels where I live. It ws supposed to be February, then March, then April, now they are saying May. It's just like 2001. They strung me along telling me Hd as coming until I finally left them. At least I know they are doing something since they did switch us over to the new cable plant and my internet speeds now reach 30mbs down and 2 mbs up. It's frustrating since I want to get the phone service and of course the extra 9 HD channels. 11 if they add HGTV and the Food Network. I just wish they would add the HDNet channels. I'm going to miss them when I dump DirecTV within the next couple of months.


----------



## HDDAVID

Is anyone else still having trouble with their local Hd's from D*?


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *HDDAVID* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is anyone else still having trouble with their local Hd's from D*?



I have some dropouts on my HR20, but it's due more to a crappy installation than a problem. I get in the high 80s and 90s on Sats 101, 110, and 119. On 99 and 103, it's in the 50s and 60s. DC is on 99, Baltimore on 101; not sure which one you're getting, so you might want to check the strength on them. I need to call D* and complain and maybe get a tech to come out for free to adjust it. If not, it will be worth the service call to get it fixed anyway. Maybe get another HR20 for cheap...


Deezul


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hil357* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> ...on a side note...tonight im receiving PAY PER VIEW channels for FREE OVER QAM... why would this be?!



Just the way the system is set up. The real trick is to figure out which of your neighbors ordered it.


----------



## hil357




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Just the way the system is set up. The real trick is to figure out which of your neighbors ordered it.



it's really strange...at some points im watching a movie and it's like one of my neighbors is fast forwarding/rewinding...


----------



## gccjr

My Comcast Montgomery system had a message this morning indicating they were adding a bunch of new channels as of May 15. They included WDCA HD and Universal HD as well as Oxygen, Bloomberg and few others I don't remember. I didn't see anything about Food or HGTV - HD, but my wife would love the latter.


----------



## bmfc1




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gccjr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> My Comcast Montgomery system had a message this morning indicating they were adding a bunch of new channels as of May 15. They included WDCA HD and Universal HD as well as Oxygen, Bloomberg and few others I don't remember. I didn't see anything about Food or HGTV - HD, but my wife would love the latter.



That was an odd message. It listed the new channels without saying where they'd be placed or whether anything would be moved and/or dropped.


Nice to finally see CSTV but still no ESPNU.


----------



## rajdude

Has anyone used the Channel Master 4228 (or similar) successfully in the Dale City/Woodbridge, VA Area?


I am getting tired of paying $90 to comcast for watching only "House" and "CSI"!


----------



## kenrowe




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bmfc1* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> That was an odd message. It listed the new channels without saying where they'd be placed or whether anything would be moved and/or dropped.
> 
> 
> Nice to finally see CSTV but still no ESPNU.



I had noted a few weeks ago that the legal ad announcing the channel changes was in the Gazette newspapers. Of interest here, WDCA is launching on 215 (this is a correction as the original ad had WDCA on 236) while Universal HD will be on 250. In addition, 4 analog stations are going digital (TCM, CourtTV, TV Guide and TVOne) and are moving to channel positions at/above ch.100.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rajdude* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Has anyone used the Channel Master 4228 (or similar) successfully in the Dale City/Woodbridge, VA Area?
> 
> 
> I am getting tired of paying $90 to comcast for watching only "House" and "CSI"!



Drop down to the basic tier and use a QAM tuner, while researching your OTA choices. Look around the neighborhood for someone with an antenna on the roof and ask them - lots of variables in OTA reception.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hil357* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> it's really strange...at some points im watching a movie and it's like one of my neighbors is fast forwarding/rewinding...



That's exactly what they're doing - that's how VOD/PPV QAM works - without encryption enabled, everyone on your cable segment can see that with a QAM tuner.


----------



## rajdude

I tried to do exacly that, but here in Woodbridge, Comcast says they dont have a analog basic tier.


The lowest is what I have - "digital basic". I sure can save $10 by taking off the HDTV basic and the DVR ($5 each)


Even then it is 80 bucks !


Highway robbery !


























> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Drop down to the basic tier and use a QAM tuner.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rajdude* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I tried to do exacly that, but here in Woodbridge, Comcast says they dont have a analog basic tier.
> 
> 
> The lowest is what I have - "digital basic". I sure can save $10 by taking off the HDTV basic and the DVR ($5 each)



That doesn't sound right - I'd ask around. Go online and see what's available.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kenrowe* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> In addition, 4 analog stations are going digital (TCM, CourtTV, TV Guide and TVOne) and are moving to channel positions at/above ch.100.



My mom is going to be ticked when she finds out Court TV is going digital only. She's an old analog only (and just fine with that thank you) customer. Perhaps I will now be able to shift her over to Dish.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rajdude* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Has anyone used the Channel Master 4228 (or similar) successfully in the Dale City/Woodbridge, VA Area?
> 
> 
> I am getting tired of paying $90 to comcast for watching only "House" and "CSI"!



Dale City / Woodbridge puts you around 21 miles from the DC broadcast towers. Don't need a CM 4228 at that range for the DC stations unless you are down at a low elevation. Are you looking at putting the antenna in the attic or on the roof? If you are only interested in the DC and closer stations, I suggest the Channel Master 4221 4 Bay UHF antenna. We have stations scattered around the area with WETA-DT in Arlington, MPT at multiple stations in Maryland and the CM 4221 works well in picking up those stations off in different directions. If you put it up on the roof, you may also get some/most of the Baltimore stations.


The CM 4228 offers a better shot at getting the Baltimore stations, but is more directional and twice the weight of the CM 4221, so you have to decide on the tradeoffs.


----------



## ashutoshsm

Heck, at 21 miles, rajdude should first pick up a Silver Sensor clone (the Philips) from Circuit City, hide it behind the TV and see if everything works - it sure did for me, and I'm furtehr away - but due West, and at a decent elevation


Only NOW have I started considering an outdoor setup to pull in the better PBS (W-whatever - callsigns make my head spin) from Baltimore instead of the cruddy PBS from DC.


----------



## biker19

Distance is not the only factor.


Biker, who's only 7 miles to the towers but OTA reception is iffy due to multipath and terrain.


----------



## jandk95

This is a follow-up to a previous post. I am watching 2 1/2 Men on WJZ and it is not coming across in 5.1 but if I go to WUSA it is. Is anyone else seeing this? I have FIOS and I am trying to determine if it is FIOS or the channel.


----------



## rajdude

Thanks,

but antennaweb says I need a violet. So that is a 4228 PLUS a preamp.

Look it up !zip 22193


I guess I may be in a depression or something?



What do you guys use for a reciever?


I am thinking of one of those PC cards maybe a Hauppage 1600 or maybe a Divco (expensive!)



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Dale City / Woodbridge puts you around 21 miles from the DC broadcast towers. Don't need a CM 4228 at that range for the DC stations unless you are down at a low elevation. Are you looking at putting the antenna in the attic or on the roof? If you are only interested in the DC and closer stations, I suggest the Channel Master 4221 4 Bay UHF antenna. We have stations scattered around the area with WETA-DT in Arlington, MPT at multiple stations in Maryland and the CM 4221 works well in picking up those stations off in different directions. If you put it up on the roof, you may also get some/most of the Baltimore stations.
> 
> 
> The CM 4228 offers a better shot at getting the Baltimore stations, but is more directional and twice the weight of the CM 4221, so you have to decide on the tradeoffs.


----------



## balmeida




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rajdude* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> but antennaweb says I need a violet. So that is a 4228 PLUS a preamp.
> 
> Look it up !zip 22193
> 
> 
> I guess I may be in a depression or something?
> 
> 
> 
> What do you guys use for a reciever?
> 
> 
> I am thinking of one of those PC cards maybe a Hauppage 1600 or maybe a Divco (expensive!)



I'm in Woodbridge (same zip) and have decent results with a CM4221 with preamp that Fairfax Antenna installed. I live in a heavily wooded area so reception isn't perfect, but better than nothing (or cable - after Comcast was blacked out in HD for Superbowl XL I vowed never to use them for HDTV again).


I get 4, 5, 7, 9, 20 and 50 decently (some breakups when it's windy out). I got 26 when I first had it hooked up but lost it at some point. Also get some other odd channels that I never watch (MHz, etc).


As for tuners, I have a Air2PC card in my MythTV box and a Samsung SIR-T451.


Brian


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> That doesn't sound right - I'd ask around. Go online and see what's available.



In Woodbridge there is only one analog tier and it's very expensive. I was told this has to do with the county rules. I don't know if it's true or not. I know when I had Comcast a couple of years ago a National sales person told be I could get analog basic for only $15. I had to fight to make Comcast honor that. There was no way for them to input it in the system so every couple of months I had to spend 1 to 2 hours on the phone for them to reinstate my discount. I eventually dropped Comcast completely for a year before coming back this past December. When I came back they gave me the digital tier with two Premiums for a year for only $30 a month. It's normally $90. Plus they gave me $7 a month off the higher internet tier. And once they offer Phone service in May it will only be $30 a month for a year. Once the deals run out I will have to get the triple play deal which will be higher but for all three services not really that bad. I was paying $110 a month with DirecTV for several years( just for TV) so this isn't bad at all.

I just want more HD channels from Comcast!


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rajdude* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> but antennaweb says I need a violet. So that is a 4228 PLUS a preamp.
> 
> Look it up !zip 22193
> 
> I guess I may be in a depression or something?
> 
> What do you guys use for a reciever?
> 
> I am thinking of one of those PC cards maybe a Hauppage 1600 or maybe a Divco (expensive!)



If you enter only a zip code, antennaweb will use a spot somewhere in the middle of the zip which may be at a low elevation. You need to enter the full address and an antenna height of 50' to 150' to get more accurate results from antennaweb for digital reception. Your zip places you around 25 miles from the DC broadcast towers in NW DC and 60 miles from the Baltimore towers. Since from your location the DC and Baltimore broadcast towers are very close to the same direction, the CM 4228 is probably the better bet. You may or may not need a pre-amp. If you are willing to take this in steps, you can put the antenna up first and see what stations you get without a pre-amp & then try it with one. Of course, if you buy a pre-amp on-line and discover you don't need it, you won't be able to return it.


I use a Samsung SIR-T451 and a Sony HDD250 HD-DVR for OTA reception. If you were getting a STB receiver, I would suggest you get the Samsung DTB-H260F. But you are looking for a PC based ATSC tuner setup, that is a different ballgame.


----------



## Mainegod

My apologies if this is not the right place, but in the other thread in the HDTV area concerning the May 5th Mayweather-De la Hoya fight, I didn't see any specific statement on whether Comcast DC would have the fight in HD. All I could find was the fight in SD on INPPV Channel 197. Are we really stuck with SD for this fight?


thanks


----------



## rajdude

Of course I put in my full address when I myself went to antennaweb!


But I wanted to preserve my privacy while posting my info on this thread!




But Thanks for the tips!



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> If you enter only a zip code, antennaweb will use a spot somewhere in the middle of the zip which may be at a low elevation. You need to enter the full address and an antenna height of 50' to 150' to get more accurate results from antennaweb for digital reception. Your zip places you around 25 miles from the DC broadcast towers in NW DC and 60 miles from the Baltimore towers. Since from your location the DC and Baltimore broadcast towers are very close to the same direction, the CM 4228 is probably the better bet. You may or may not need a pre-amp. If you are willing to take this in steps, you can put the antenna up first and see what stations you get without a pre-amp & then try it with one. Of course, if you buy a pre-amp on-line and discover you don't need it, you won't be able to return it.
> 
> 
> I use a Samsung SIR-T451 and a Sony HDD250 HD-DVR for OTA reception. If you were getting a STB receiver, I would suggest you get the Samsung DTB-H260F. But you are looking for a PC based ATSC tuner setup, that is a different ballgame.


----------



## OldHud

Rajdude et al,


Antennaweb is unreliable on signal strength. It tells me I can't get any digital stations. Actually, I can get all the DC/Baltimore stations - the strongest are dependable with a cheap antenna on the roof and a preamp. Some take a little more elaborate setup and some I don't get 100% of the time, but I'm 60 air miles from DC, and 90 miles from Baltimore.


Just don't believe Antennaweb.


----------



## tonyd79

A note for markbulla....the CW shows on Sunday night and Monday night were pillar boxed again (Everybody Hates Chris, for example).


I just want Smallville in full glorious HD!


----------



## raidbuck




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fastep* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Actually I have and I encourage EVERYONE that feels screwed to do the same.
> 
> 
> Here is the link: http://www.masnsports.com/contactus/Index.cfm
> 
> 
> 
> There is strength in numbers so please take 2 minutes and let masn know how you feel!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Just to let you know, I have sent two emails to MASN about HD coverage and received no response at all.


Ridiculous.


Rich N.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

I heard from them, the reply follows (the message concerned the tinny sound whenever any MASN announcer talks into their Radio Shack mikes):


Thank you for contacting MASN and bringing this technical issue to our

attention.


MASN is currently being carried by seventeen cable and satellite

providers throughout the mid-Atlantic region. Some of these carriers have

experienced technical problems during their first weeks of carrying MASN.

These problems have included transmission problems, audio and or video

problems, and even the lack of carriage.


As we have become aware of these technical problems, MASN has

immediately contacted the providers to get them to rectify the problems

immediately.


We regret any inconvenience that the technical difficulties of a

provider may have caused you. We hope and expect that any problems will be

rectified immediately.


In 2007, MASN will televise 323 Baltimore Orioles and Washington

Nationals baseball games, including more than 100 games simultaneously.


MASN also carries new 30 minute pre-game and post-game shows (O's Xtra

and Nats Xtra) before and after every game.

*There are a number of technical issues involved in producing and

televising this amount of live programming and this is part of our challenge.

And once MASN begins telecasting in HD, we must make sure all of our

cable and satellite carriers have the channel capacity to deliver

Nationals and Orioles games in HD.


MASN has no announcement on HD at this time, but MASN has not ruled out

carrying some games in HD this season.*


We are excited about our robust slate of programs and invite you to

continue checking the site for updates.


Again, thank you for your interest in MASN.


----------



## rajdude

Brian,

First, thanks for the post, this surely validates my interest in off-the air reception here in Woodbridge. I live in a heavily wooded area too .......right across from Safeway on Minnieville Rd + Dale Blvd. I think I will order a CM4228. Does FFX Antenna sell them locally?


Secondly, I suspect there are two things which can be done to improve your experience.


1. use the 4228 and/or


2. use a newer ATSC tuner. The Samsung SIR-T451 is a 4th generation tuner. There newer, 5th gen. ones are said to be much better (more sensitive)


By the way, how much did FFX Antenna charge to install it (I presume it was on your roof, right?) They mention $332 for installing it on their website.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *balmeida* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I'm in Woodbridge (same zip) and have decent results with a CM4221 with preamp that Fairfax Antenna installed. I live in a heavily wooded area so reception isn't perfect, but better than nothing (or cable - after Comcast was blacked out in HD for Superbowl XL I vowed never to use them for HDTV again).
> 
> 
> I get 4, 5, 7, 9, 20 and 50 decently (some breakups when it's windy out). I got 26 when I first had it hooked up but lost it at some point. Also get some other odd channels that I never watch (MHz, etc).
> 
> 
> As for tuners, I have a Air2PC card in my MythTV box and a Samsung SIR-T451.
> 
> 
> Brian


----------



## rajdude

Thanks for the tips!

I really want the DVR functionality and am hoping to use Windows MCE/Vista for it along with a card.



I will go with your suggestion....will try the 4228 without a pre-amp first ; but I really feel I'd need the pre-amp because I got 40' trees (maybe more) blocking the view to the tower.




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> If you enter only a zip code, antennaweb will use a spot somewhere in the middle of the zip which may be at a low elevation. You need to enter the full address and an antenna height of 50' to 150' to get more accurate results from antennaweb for digital reception. Your zip places you around 25 miles from the DC broadcast towers in NW DC and 60 miles from the Baltimore towers. Since from your location the DC and Baltimore broadcast towers are very close to the same direction, the CM 4228 is probably the better bet. You may or may not need a pre-amp. If you are willing to take this in steps, you can put the antenna up first and see what stations you get without a pre-amp & then try it with one. Of course, if you buy a pre-amp on-line and discover you don't need it, you won't be able to return it.
> 
> 
> I use a Samsung SIR-T451 and a Sony HDD250 HD-DVR for OTA reception. If you were getting a STB receiver, I would suggest you get the Samsung DTB-H260F. But you are looking for a PC based ATSC tuner setup, that is a different ballgame.


----------



## rajdude

I just called FFX Antenna and talked to someone there.


The guy said that they had better luck with the 4221 than the 4228 since the 4228 is more directional. He says that 4228's beam is about 5 degrees.


Now I am trying to find out the beam width difference between 4221 and 4228.


But I think the only difference between is gain, not beam width (not that these antennae are really beaming anything, but you get the picture, right?)


----------



## ashutoshsm

Rajiv - your solution would be to use a Series 3 TiVo, dispense with the PC altogether and use a reliable, robust, mature DVR







The fact that it has an incredibly sensitive tuner is just gravy!


They're now only 499 (although that sake may have ended) on tiVo's website, plus around $8 a month for service (with a 3 year contract) . The most elegant OTA solution in the US!


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> A note for markbulla....the CW shows on Sunday night and Monday night were pillar boxed again (Everybody Hates Chris, for example).
> 
> 
> I just want Smallville in full glorious HD!



Thanks for the note - I'll check on it...


Mark


----------



## rajdude

Ashutosh,

I totally agree with you, but I already have like 4 PCs at home, two of them do HTPC duty.


$499 vs 90 bucks for a ASTC tuner card add-on is a little too high to justify right now!


But then again.....I still got a buy a HDD.....well 1/2 a TB is only $140 these days. Got to love electronics!


Then again I am trying to get rid of monthly charges too, so that * / month is another deterrent.



but of course you get stability......really? Well we will see...


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rajdude* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I just called FFX Antenna and talked to someone there.
> 
> 
> The guy said that they had better luck with the 4221 than the 4228 since the 4228 is more directional. He says that 4228's beam is about 5 degrees.
> 
> 
> Now I am trying to find out the beam width difference between 4221 and 4228.
> 
> 
> But I think the only difference between is gain, not beam width (not that these antennae are really beaming anything, but you get the picture, right?)



Actually, the gain increases due to the decrease in beamwidth. The smaller the beamwidth, the higher the gain. The larger the beamwidth the lower the gain.


Mark


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *raidbuck* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Just to let you know, I have sent two emails to MASN about HD coverage and received no response at all.
> 
> 
> Ridiculous.
> 
> 
> Rich N.



I called 410-625-7100 (found the number on the contact website for MASN) and explained my dissatisfaction with MASN. The lady I spoke with (I forget her name) took down my number and promised to call me back. This was Friday 4/27/2007. I also mentioned that I had tried emailing to no avail. In fact, I'd sent at least three emails over the past six months, with two of those emails coming in the last six weeks. I asked her to please make sure that the people in charge of reading their email actually read it. How rude to offer a point of contact, promise to reply, and then not follow through! I did not get a call back, but I did receive an email similar to the one presented by Knicks_Fan.


I'm still boycotting MASN until they get their stuff together. The picture on Comcast in Annapolis is still atrocious... about on par with public access channels. I did watch one or two games that were simulcast on WJZ-DT. They were watchable, but it still pained me to watch an Orioles home game in upconverted SD.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rajdude* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I just called FFX Antenna and talked to someone there.
> 
> 
> The guy said that they had better luck with the 4221 than the 4228 since the 4228 is more directional. He says that 4228's beam is about 5 degrees.
> 
> 
> Now I am trying to find out the beam width difference between 4221 and 4228.
> 
> 
> But I think the only difference between is gain, not beam width (not that these antennae are really beaming anything, but you get the picture, right?)



The 4221 has a much wider pickup in azimuth than the 4228 because the vertical stack of bowties in the 4228 make for a much narrower reception pattern to the front. I have a CM 4221 here in my attic in Sterling, VA. The Baltimore stations are 43 miles at 61 degrees in azimuth, the main DC stations are ~ 16 miles at 113 degrees so they are about 52 degrees apart. With the antenna aimed at Baltimore, I can get the stations in both cities without messing with a rotator which is the reason I got the CM 4221.


The antennaweb results for your zip are not that good. I suspect there are terrain issues with hills and buildings to the north of you, but as already pointed out, antennaweb is not dead on accurate for digital reception, but it is still very useful.


The "beamwidth" for the CM 4228 is wider than 5 degrees, but it is also frequency dependent. See the following for lots of useful info:
http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ISSUES/erecting_antenna.html 
http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/cm4228.html 
http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/cm4221.html 


If you really want to study station signal strength for your location, go to this thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=821480 and get the Washington-Baltimore kmz file off of uTorrent. It is a very neat tool to visually zoom in on the reception pattern for the local stations, both digital and analog.


If it is the DC stations that you want to get, the CM 4221 should do the job. It is the Baltimore stations at 60 miles that might need the CM 4228 or a AntennasDirect 91XG for a good shot at reliable reception. There are so many variables in local reception, that without using professional measurement tools from your rooftop, we can't guarantee that anything will work. Check solidsignal.com and warrenelectronics.com for a sample of on-line prices.


----------



## Bill Johnson

Based on an Internet search including the Crutchfield website, I can confidently state that the beam width of the 4221 is 45 degrees and 15 for the 4228.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> IAs we have become aware of these technical problems, MASN has immediately contacted the providers to get them to rectify the problems
> 
> immediately.
> 
> 
> We regret any inconvenience that the technical difficulties of a
> 
> provider may have caused you. We hope and expect that any problems will be
> 
> rectified immediately.



Technical difficulties? My b******t detector just went off. I get MASN via Verizon Fios. I can understand if during the first few days, there were picture or sound dropouts or signal instability. No, it is that MASN SD picture quality sucks. It looks dark or under-exposed, the colors look muted, I noticed color fringing on the early games indicating they are using composite SD video and cheap composite SD video equipment at that. I looked at at several minutes of MASN a day or two ago and the picture quality is still lousy. Public access channel picture quality? Yea, not far off.



> Quote:
> *There are a number of technical issues involved in producing and
> 
> televising this amount of live programming and this is part of our challenge.
> 
> And once MASN begins telecasting in HD, we must make sure all of our
> 
> cable and satellite carriers have the channel capacity to deliver
> 
> Nationals and Orioles games in HD.
> 
> 
> MASN has no announcement on HD at this time, but MASN has not ruled out
> 
> carrying some games in HD this season.*



Umm, sure, ok, whatever.







Anyone want to lay odds that a MASN-HD will happen this year? Not me.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Technical difficulties? My b******t detector just went off. I get MASN via Verizon Fios. I can understand if during the first few days, there were picture or sound dropouts or signal instability. No, it is that MASN SD picture quality sucks. It looks dark or under-exposed, the colors look muted, I noticed color fringing on the early games indicating they are using composite SD video and cheap composite SD video equipment at that. I looked at at several minutes of MASN a day or two ago and the picture quality is still lousy. Public access channel picture quality? Yea, not far off.



I don't think it is production equipment at the site. I have seen MASN highlights on ESPN and they looked very good (SD, of course, but very good). It is in their distribution system somewhere.


----------



## Pring4

Does anyone know if WMAR's lacrosse games are in HD? I'm about to return to the Towson area after graduation and would be thrilled if they were.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Pring4* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Does anyone know if WMAR's lacrosse games are in HD? I'm about to return to the Towson area after graduation and would be thrilled if they were.



No. WMAR doesn't have local HD facilities. Also, they are produced with ESPNU which is not HD.


----------



## lax01

w00000000t just saw the message on my Comcast box....on 5/15/07 we get UHD! YES! FINALLY!


----------



## hoyty

I recieved notice in Baltimore City that Comcast is shutting off analog service in at least Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Harford County. Not sure if or how this may affect people with basic service and QAM but wanted to put a heads up out there. This may explain also why some are being told digital is baseline now.


----------



## rajdude

_Thanks a ton for all this useful info._










The main reason I am leaning towards the 4228 is because I have huge trees in the direction where I will have to point the Antenna. I suspect I may need the extra gain to pull the signal through those trees.


The channels I will mostly watch are FOX, ABC and NBC, which are channels 5.1, 7.1 and 9.1 (according to antennaweb). Is that right?

See their listing for my address here:













All those channel's numbers are much smaller than the 20 to 60 channel number shown on the 4228's beam graph at http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/cm4228.html 


Also linked here for reference



















The most important channel is FOX which seems to be channel 5.1, right? The graph does now go below 20










How do I interpret this chart?











Lastly I do understand that a pro installation is usually the best way to go, but it it out of my budget for this project.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The 4221 has a much wider pickup in azimuth than the 4228 because the vertical stack of bowties in the 4228 make for a much narrower reception pattern to the front. I have a CM 4221 here in my attic in Sterling, VA. The Baltimore stations are 43 miles at 61 degrees in azimuth, the main DC stations are ~ 16 miles at 113 degrees so they are about 52 degrees apart. With the antenna aimed at Baltimore, I can get the stations in both cities without messing with a rotator which is the reason I got the CM 4221.
> 
> 
> The antennaweb results for your zip are not that good. I suspect there are terrain issues with hills and buildings to the north of you, but as already pointed out, antennaweb is not dead on accurate for digital reception, but it is still very useful.
> 
> 
> The "beamwidth" for the CM 4228 is wider than 5 degrees, but it is also frequency dependent. See the following for lots of useful info:
> http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ISSUES/erecting_antenna.html
> http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/cm4228.html
> http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/cm4221.html
> 
> 
> If you really want to study station signal strength for your location, go to this thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=821480 and get the Washington-Baltimore kmz file off of uTorrent. It is a very neat tool to visually zoom in on the reception pattern for the local stations, both digital and analog.
> 
> 
> If it is the DC stations that you want to get, the CM 4221 should do the job. It is the Baltimore stations at 60 miles that might need the CM 4228 or a AntennasDirect 91XG for a good shot at reliable reception. There are so many variables in local reception, that without using professional measurement tools from your rooftop, we can't guarantee that anything will work. Check solidsignal.com and warrenelectronics.com for a sample of on-line prices.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rajdude* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The most important channel is FOX which seems to be channel 5.1, right? The graph does now go below 20
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> How do I interpret this chart?



No, FOX isn't broadcasting on 5.1. They are broadasting on UHF 36. Use the "Frequency Assignment" column in the report to see what channels the antenna will have to receive.


----------



## rajdude

Thanks!

That helps me in deciding between the 4221 and 4228.


Looking carefully at the graphs, I notice that the difference in gain at the frequencies I want to watch (36 to 48) is only 1 dB!

Wow that is not much! Or does 1dB matter that much?


The difference quoted on CM's site is 2.5 dB , right? I guess that is an average across all frequencies.




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> No, FOX isn't broadcasting on 5.1. They are broadasting on UHF 36. Use the "Frequency Assignment" column in the report to see what channels the antenna will have to receive.


----------



## MrMike6by9




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hoyty* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I recieved notice in Baltimore City that Comcast is shutting off analog service in at least Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Harford County. Not sure if or how this may affect people with basic service and QAM but wanted to put a heads up out there. This may explain also why some are being told digital is baseline now.



I haven't seen that notice but have noted the heavy push for people to get free boxes for 12 months. I received a sales call this morning while waiting for the tech anyway to install digital voice that is supposed to include 2 boxes as well.


YMMV


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rajdude* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The most important channel is FOX which seems to be channel 5.1, right? The graph does now go below 20
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> How do I interpret this chart?



To expand on CycloneGT's post, WTTG-DT Fox 5 is digitally simulcasting on UHF 36. (DT = digital station) The last column in the antennaweb list you posted shows the actual broadcast channel for the digital station. The stations can't broadcast their digital on the analog channel number you know them by, because the signals would interfere. So all the local stations are broadcasting on two channels: the analog and a digital one. The digital ATSC TV broadcast format was designed to provide virtual or mapped channel numbers, which is why a digital tuner has to do a scan first to find the local stations. When it finds the WTTG-DT signal on UHF 36, the digital signal has a PSIP header which tells the receiver to display 5.1 for the station. WUSA-DT CBS 9 may currently be broadcasting on UHF 34, but the ATSC tuner will display 9.1 (HD sub channel) and 9.2 (radar map sub channel) for the station.


In 2009, after the analog shutdown, WJLA ABC 7 and WUSA CBS 9 will be switching their digital channel from UHF 39 and 34 to their current analog channels VHF 7 and 9. WRC NBC 4 and WTTG Fox 5 will be staying at UHF.


Since you are getting purple for antennaweb results, you should go with the CM 4228 8 Bay. If you read the material on the CM 4228 on the website links I provided, it has the advantage of decent gain performance for the upper VHF 7 to 13 stations. As background, the VHF channels are split into 2 different band, VHF low 2 to 6 (with wavelengths on the order of 3 to 5 meters) and VHF high 7 to 13 which is a full 3 times higher in frequency than VHF. Many UHF antennas can pick up upper VHF stations. For example, I get WWPX-DT Ion/Pax 60 which broadcasts on VHF 12 out of Martinsburg, WV with my CM 4221 4 Bay.


If you have an attic and a spot to place the antenna with minimal obstructions in the direction of the DC broadcast towers, you can try to set up the CM 4228 in the attic and run a RG-6 down the stairs to see what stations you get. If it works, then you have to figure out the best way to permanently run a RG-6 cable down to the TV or TVs. The key with an attic installation however is not to fix the antenna into one location until you have found a good spot. Attics are prone to dead spots for reception. I have my CM 4221 mounted on a flat piece of scrap wood using a PVC pipe for the mast and a $5 mounting bracket. I can move it around which was handy when trying to find that spot and aim that gave me the most stations.


Whew, long winded post! Hope this all makes sense.


----------



## rajdude




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hope this all makes sense.




No No ! It make PERFECT Sense to me!









Thanks a million for posting all this useful info!


I have been reading all the material you referred me to. That site also recommends the 4228 with the 7777 pre-amp.


But there I also read that trees are a killer for UHF signals. I got tall trees in the direction of the TV transmitters.









I am not planning to put the antenna on the top of the roof, but rather on the top of my single storey shed (it is a big one, can fit a large car easliy). The antenna will be at the height of the middle of my second story.


Also even if I put it on the roof, I will still not clear the tops of the trees.

I can also try the attic










I am sitting here wondering if I should order the 4228 or not. What if it does not work through the trees? $80 antenna + $55 preamp down the drain?


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> If you have an attic and a spot to place the antenna with minimal obstructions in the direction of the DC broadcast towers, you can try to set up the CM 4228 in the attic and run a RG-6 down the stairs to see what stations you get. If it works, then you have to figure out the best way to permanently run a RG-6 cable down to the TV or TVs. The key with an attic installation however is not to fix the antenna into one location until you have found a good spot. Attics are prone to dead spots for reception. I have my CM 4221 mounted on a flat piece of scrap wood using a PVC pipe for the mast and a $5 mounting bracket. I can move it around which was handy when trying to find that spot and aim that gave me the most stations.



Very good advance! I had mine on a piece of PVC pipe in the attic but took it off. It now sits on top of a holiday box leaning against a downward rafter. Works great!!! No OTA problems (I am in SE VA, about 25 miles away from the antennas)... ever.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> A note for markbulla....the CW shows on Sunday night and Monday night were pillar boxed again (Everybody Hates Chris, for example).
> 
> 
> I just want Smallville in full glorious HD!



Thanks again for the info. It turned out that the receiver needed to be reset. I'm not sure why it locks up occasionally.


I'm also not sure why no one in master control called me to ask/tell me about it...


Mark


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hoyty* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I recieved notice in Baltimore City that Comcast is shutting off analog service in at least Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Harford County. Not sure if or how this may affect people with basic service and QAM but wanted to put a heads up out there. This may explain also why some are being told digital is baseline now.



I just spoke to the VP of engineering for Comcast who told us that they are working on replacing the old analog cable boxes, but that the analog signals will still be there so that you can still use your cable-ready TV or VCR to tune stuff in.


I was concerned that we would have to replace the TVs and VCRs that we have around the building (or get a bunch more digital cable boxes) if they were completely removing the analog signals, but that doesn't seem to be the case.


Cheers -


Mark


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I just spoke to the VP of engineering for Comcast who told us that they are working on replacing the old analog cable boxes, but that the analog signals will still be there so that you can still use your cable-ready TV or VCR to tune stuff in.
> 
> 
> I was concerned that we would have to replace the TVs and VCRs that we have around the building (or get a bunch more digital cable boxes) if they were completely removing the analog signals, but that doesn't seem to be the case



Read the long thread on the recent Comcast conversion to "all" digital in Chicago city. IIRC, Comcast left around 20 analog channels for the local broadcast stations. I would have to check that thread, but some of the analog were local access and government channels. All of the remaining analog channels were digitally simulcast as well. Everything else was moved to digital, so there was a scramble for digital STBs. So in Baltimore, it would make sense that they will have WNUV 54 on the severely shrunk down analog core.


The good news, of course, is that once this is done, Comcast in the converted areas will have freed up a huge amount of bandwidth for adding HD channels. Although it will be interesting to see how this gets covered in the Baltimore & DC press and how the local governments react. I think the cable conversion to all digital with a small core of legacy analog channels is going to happen faster than people were expecting. A lot of older viewers or people with analog TVs in the kitchen or bedroom are going to be caught totally off guard by how fast Comcast is going to push the conversions. The reasons for doing this is not only to free up bandwidth for HD channels but to cut way down on cable theft.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I just spoke to the VP of engineering for Comcast who told us that they are working on replacing the old analog cable boxes, but that the analog signals will still be there so that you can still use your cable-ready TV or VCR to tune stuff in.
> 
> 
> I was concerned that we would have to replace the TVs and VCRs that we have around the building (or get a bunch more digital cable boxes) if they were completely removing the analog signals, but that doesn't seem to be the case.



What he probably didn't tell you that only some of the analogs will still be available. I second the opinion that Comcast will follow the Chicago model in other markets and switch everything above the locals to an encrypted digital tier only. So you still be able to tune ABC, CBS, Fox on the TVs but you'll lose CNN, ESPN, etc. without an STB.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rajdude* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> But there I also read that trees are a killer for UHF signals. I got tall trees in the direction of the TV transmitters.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I am not planning to put the antenna on the top of the roof, but rather on the top of my single storey shed (it is a big one, can fit a large car easliy). The antenna will be at the height of the middle of my second story.
> 
> 
> Also even if I put it on the roof, I will still not clear the tops of the trees.
> 
> I can also try the attic
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I am sitting here wondering if I should order the 4228 or not. What if it does not work through the trees? $80 antenna + $55 preamp down the drain?



Dense trees can and do degrade TV signals. UHF has shorter wavelengths so it is more susceptible to multi-path caused by moving leaves and branches. The problem is worse in the spring than it is in the winter. But the newer generation ATSC tuners have improved performance for shifting multi-path, so it may not be a problem for you. The only way to find out - short of professional equipment - is to put up an antenna and see what happens. If you want to look at alternate sources for OTA reception for your location, the neat new website, www.tvfool.com . Rather technical though. What it tells me is that I have LOS (line of sight) from my roof to only 1 TV broadcast tower (WFPT MPT in Frederick). All other stations are 1 or 2 edge diffraction because I have a ridge line a mile or more to my east in the direction of the DC and Baltimore stations. I get solid reception for DC and most of the Baltimore stations. I would do better if I put the antenna up on the roof, but the attic works well enough. The trees may or may not be a problem.


If spending money is the issue, my suggestion is still that you get either the CM 4221 (~ $40) or the CM 4228 first without the pre-amp. Put the antenna up on the shed and see what stations you get. If the signal is not reliable, then get a pre-amp. If the antenna does not work, you can try to sell it here at a reduced price to get something back.


BTW, while I'm on the subject of OTA reception, anyone out there getting the new (?) W06CJ low power spanish language station operating on analog VHF 6 in Arlington? It came up here in another thread and was mentioned on dcrtv.com recently. I don't see anything for analog 6, but my antenna has no pickup for low VHF. I would think that WTTG Fox 5 is not happy about an adjacent channel analog transmitter which may interfere for some viewers in Arlington.


----------



## rajdude

Yup,

I tried out that tvfool site this morning. Took a printout

It says -85 dB for the channels I want, so that translates to an antenna in the attic (according to that site)


Let see what happens


Thanks again!


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hoyty* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I recieved notice in Baltimore City that Comcast is shutting off analog service in at least Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Harford County.



What's the shutoff date?


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Thanks again for the info. It turned out that the receiver needed to be reset. I'm not sure why it locks up occasionally.
> 
> 
> I'm also not sure why no one in master control called me to ask/tell me about it...
> 
> 
> Mark



Second time I've caught that on a weekend. Glad you got it fixed up. Hope you can get quicker notification in the future.


----------



## Belcherwm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> BTW, while I'm on the subject of OTA reception, anyone out there getting the new (?) W06CJ low power spanish language station operating on analog VHF 6 in Arlington? It came up here in another thread and was mentioned on dcrtv.com recently. I don't see anything for analog 6, but my antenna has no pickup for low VHF. I would think that WTTG Fox 5 is not happy about an adjacent channel analog transmitter which may interfere for some viewers in Arlington.



I've got a VHF/UHF combo and I'm not picking it up. But I also couldn't pick up WDCA when they were low power.


----------



## Remoteless




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> BTW, while I'm on the subject of OTA reception, anyone out there getting the new (?) W06CJ low power spanish language station operating on analog VHF 6 in Arlington? It came up here in another thread and was mentioned on dcrtv.com recently. I don't see anything for analog 6, but my antenna has no pickup for low VHF. I would think that WTTG Fox 5 is not happy about an adjacent channel analog transmitter which may interfere for some viewers in Arlington.



I did several scans at different rotor settings with my vhf/uhf/fm. No channel 6 here in rockville


----------



## markbach

markbulla: I am seeing grey pillarboxes on 54-1 (and 45-1) right now. I don't remember seeing those before... is that new?


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> What he probably didn't tell you that only some of the analogs will still be available. I second the opinion that Comcast will follow the Chicago model in other markets and switch everything above the locals to an encrypted digital tier only. So you still be able to tune ABC, CBS, Fox on the TVs but you'll lose CNN, ESPN, etc. without an STB.




Actually what the Comcast official told the other poster is correct. You're extending it to presume they are doing a Chicago scenario and that is not correct.


Comcast is simply stopping further support of analog converter boxes still in use by some customers. They are offering swaps to digital boxes for no additional charge if the TV in question needs a tuner.


I understand this is happening across most of the Baltimore market area.


GoIrish


----------



## mdviewer25

markbulla: Why does titantv.com not have a full schedule for Good TV? The programs that are simulcasted from 45 and 54 are listed but other programs are not. It says off air for the other programming.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GoIrish* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Actually what the Comcast official told the other poster is correct. You're extending it to presume they are doing a Chicago scenario and that is not correct.
> 
> 
> Comcast is simply stopping further support of analog converter boxes still in use by some customers. They are offering swaps to digital boxes for no additional charge if the TV in question needs a tuner.
> 
> 
> I understand this is happening across most of the Baltimore market area.
> 
> 
> GoIrish



They are also offering additional digital boxes to those who already have one. Up to two additional boxes on an existing outlet free for a year.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GoIrish* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Actually what the Comcast official told the other poster is correct. You're extending it to presume they are doing a Chicago scenario and that is not correct.
> 
> 
> Comcast is simply stopping further support of analog converter boxes still in use by some customers. They are offering swaps to digital boxes for no additional charge if the TV in question needs a tuner.



And they're doing this out of the kindness of their heart? 







They might not pull the plug as soon as Chicago but it's coming. They learned a few things with the switchover in Chicago and they're doing it a different way - convert virtually everyone first, then pull the plug. Not like Chicago where, they pull the plug and hope to catch up on the STB swap outs.


----------



## aaronwt

The sooner they drop most of this analog crap, the better.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbach* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> markbulla: I am seeing grey pillarboxes on 54-1 (and 45-1) right now. I don't remember seeing those before... is that new?



No, they are not new. I've had grey pillar bars on there pretty much since we've been doing the HD channel. I tried to set them so that they would be at the low to average video level, in an effort to not cause burn in on people's wide screen tv's.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> markbulla: Why does titantv.com not have a full schedule for Good TV? The programs that are simulcasted from 45 and 54 are listed but other programs are not. It says off air for the other programming.



Sorry, I don't know who provides that info. Looking at the Titan TV website, they are also showing 54.2, which we haven't had since January...


TVguide.com has all of the correct program info.


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> And they're doing this out of the kindness of their heart?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> They might not pull the plug as soon as Chicago but it's coming. They learned a few things with the switchover in Chicago and they're doing it a different way - convert virtually everyone first, then pull the plug. Not like Chicago where, they pull the plug and hope to catch up on the STB swap outs.



I'm not saying a conversion isn't eventually coming. I'm saying what you related, that the Comcast rep didn't tell the whole story and they were about to sut down large numbers of analog channels in Baltimore, is simply inaccurate.


GoIrish


----------



## Mike20878

I caught up on the thread and didn't see any mention of this...


Has ABC/WJLA been having audio problems in the past few weeks? I recall a shrill tone during Lost a week or two ago and some audio glitches in Desperate Housewives recently.


Thanks.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GoIrish* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I'm not saying a conversion isn't eventually coming. I'm saying what you related, that the Comcast rep didn't tell the whole story and they were about to sut down large numbers of analog channels in Baltimore, is simply inaccurate.
> 
> 
> GoIrish




So this is incorrect?



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hoyty* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I recieved notice in Baltimore City that Comcast is shutting off analog service in at least Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Harford County.


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Mike20878* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I caught up on the thread and didn't see any mention of this...
> 
> 
> Has ABC/WJLA been having audio problems in the past few weeks? I recall a shrill tone during Lost a week or two ago and some audio glitches in Desperate Housewives recently.
> 
> 
> Thanks.



I also vaguely remember thinking this during Lost on WJLA-DT last week.


----------



## markbach




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> No, they are not new. I've had grey pillar bars on there pretty much since we've been doing the HD channel. I tried to set them so that they would be at the low to average video level, in an effort to not cause burn in on people's wide screen tv's.



Ahhh, that's probably it... i was fiddling with some settings on my TV, so I guess I just made them more noticeable. Thanks for the reply!


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So this is incorrect?



Yes, it is incorrect. My original response to the post that speculated this was happening may be more useful.


GoIrish


----------



## jcole66




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I also vaguely remember thinking this during Lost on WJLA-DT last week.



I recall that loud shrill noise as well a couple of weeks ago...


On a side note, is anyone in the Arlington (Comcast) area having bad audio drop outs on the major networks? The worst is Fox but I'm having it as well on ABC and CBS. I dont notice it on my Pay Channels...

It had gotten better after I picked up a signal booster but lately it's getting bad again.


----------



## stuntmole

Hi, I'm about to take delivery of a new LCD HD TV next week, and was wondering if anybody could recommend HD STBs (not really looking for a DVR functionality) to look/ask for (I'll just drive down to the local office and swap out my current SD digital STB)?


The lady on the 800 number told me that Comcast only offered Atlanta Scientific models 3200 and 3250 - is this true?


----------



## rustycruiser

So for the last few months WMAR has been popping up messages in the middle of shows like Greys Anatomy or Lost advertising upcoming news stories etc. Very annoying. I like to see the picture on my HDTV, not their bad graphics promos. Well it got ten times worse tonight. They had a scrolling message on screen during Greys Anatomy for ages (or a min). Very distracting. Guess I will be watching WJLA from now on.


----------



## rustycruiser

They ran the pop up scrolling annoyance four times during tonights 2 hour episode.


----------



## Mike20878

Last night's broadcast of Grey's had audio and video drop-outs almost every other minute. What's going on with ABC/WJLA? Did you see this on WMAR?


We only watched the first half so I'm recording tonight's last half just in case it's better than last night.


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jcole66* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> On a side note, is anyone in the Arlington (Comcast) area having bad audio drop outs on the major networks? The worst is Fox but I'm having it as well on ABC and CBS. I dont notice it on my Pay Channels...
> 
> It had gotten better after I picked up a signal booster but lately it's getting bad again.



In Alexandria, I (and a neighbor in my building) have been getting bad audio drop-outs on Comcast's broadcast HD channels (210, 211, 212) for a couple of days; made watching Lost even more inscrutable. Last evening I called Comcast tech, and (of course) the person on the other end was completely unaware of any technical problems with the audio; she said that she would notify the head end, so we shall see (or hear, as the case may be) if things get fixed soon.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

A tale of two strangely run ABC stations:

One pre-empts NBA basketball playoffs for LaCrosse, and splashes annoying promos on the screen during network programming. They also place a very distracting watermark in the upper right hand corner of the screen, as if we don't know what station we are watching.


The other constantly has audio and video problems, endlessly shills _Oprah_ and their news, pre-empts network shows for crappy movies, refused to show _Jimmy Kimmel_ for the first year it was on, and and is the only Top 10 market not showing _Wheel_ and _Jeopardy_! in HD. "Not a business need"


Times like this I wish I could pay DirecTV the extra bucks for the New York and LA affiliates in HD instead of the crap the local stations pull.


----------



## tonyd79

Oh, WMAR gets its share of audio problems. The rhythmic pop that occurs occasionally will drive you mad.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The other constantly has audio and video problems, endlessly shills _Oprah_ and their news, pre-empts network shows for crappy movies, refused to show _Jimmy Kimmel_ for the first year it was on, and and is the only Top 10 market not showing _Wheel_ and _Jeopardy_! in HD. "Not a business need"



AFAIK, Boston is still not showing Jeopardy and Wheel in HD. I checked several of the Boston threads and I do not see any mention of WSBK showing Jeopardy & WOF in HD yet, although they plan to. So WJLA 7 is not only top 10 market with those 2 syndicated programs still in SD. OTOH, once the Pathfire syndication distribution system is upgraded to HD capability later this year, we can expect a number of syndicated programs to offer a HD version and WJLA may fall behind the curve.


As for audio dropouts, I have not noticed any audio problems with WJLA-DT via either Verizon Fios or OTA. But I may not been watching much on ABC lately. I have Grey's Anatomy on the DVR (via Fios) from last night, so I'll see if there are dropouts when I get around to watching it. However, as a general comment to people posting about problems with a station, please post how you are getting the signal - OTA, cable, satellite, the new D* mpeg-4 locals - when doing so.


Pop-up ads or inserts right smack in the middle of the show are irritating, but I fear they are here to stay and it will get worse. A lot worse. All we can do is complain to the station and networks that do this. Sooner or later there may be enough of a backlash that they will cool it - for a while.


----------



## hokiefan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> A tale of two strangely run ABC stations:
> 
> One pre-empts NBA basketball playoffs for LaCrosse, and splashes annoying promos on the screen during network programming. They also place a very distracting watermark in the upper right hand corner of the screen, as if we don't know what station we are watching.
> 
> 
> The other constantly has audio and video problems, endlessly shills _Oprah_ and their news, pre-empts network shows for crappy movies, refused to show _Jimmy Kimmel_ for the first year it was on, and and is the only Top 10 market not showing _Wheel_ and _Jeopardy_! in HD. "Not a business need"
> 
> 
> Times like this I wish I could pay DirecTV the extra bucks for the New York and LA affiliates in HD instead of the crap the local stations pull.




I agree, we pretty much have the worse ABC choices available. Not to mention both multicast. I count my blessings I can get about 4 or 5 other markets in HD so I don't have to put up with it.


----------



## Mike20878




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> AFAIK, Boston is still not showing Jeopardy and Wheel in HD. I checked several of the Boston threads and I do not see any mention of WSBK showing Jeopardy & WOF in HD yet, although they plan to. So WJLA 7 is not only top 10 market with those 2 syndicated programs still in SD. OTOH, once the Pathfire syndication distribution system is upgraded to HD capability later this year, we can expect a number of syndicated programs to offer a HD version and WJLA may fall behind the curve.
> 
> 
> As for audio dropouts, I have not noticed any audio problems with WJLA-DT via either Verizon Fios or OTA. But I may not been watching much on ABC lately. I have Grey's Anatomy on the DVR (via Fios) from last night, so I'll see if there are dropouts when I get around to watching it. However, as a general comment to people posting about problems with a station, please post how you are getting the signal - OTA, cable, satellite, the new D* mpeg-4 locals - when doing so.
> 
> 
> Pop-up ads or inserts right smack in the middle of the show are irritating, but I fear they are here to stay and it will get worse. A lot worse. All we can do is complain to the station and networks that do this. Sooner or later there may be enough of a backlash that they will cool it - for a while.



Sorry, I'm watching over Comcast cable in MC.


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> As for audio dropouts, I have not noticed any audio problems with WJLA-DT via either Verizon Fios or OTA. But I may not been watching much on ABC lately. I have Grey's Anatomy on the DVR (via Fios) from last night, so I'll see if there are dropouts when I get around to watching it. However, as a general comment to people posting about problems with a station, please post how you are getting the signal - OTA, cable, satellite, the new D* mpeg-4 locals - when doing so.



My neighbor and I both have Comcast cable (and no OTA). I have a higher rate package and use a cable card for decryption. He has a lower rate package and gets the clear QAM feed of the broadcast HD channels. We've both been having the audio drop-out problems, so the issue is somewhere at the head end.


----------



## aaronwt

We were watching Greys tonight(From WJLA OTA)from last week and I noticed some weird audio problems in a few spots I never heard before in 6 years of watching HD. We then watched the 2 hour episode and that one was fine.


----------



## Mike20878

We had the same problems on Friday night's rebroadcast. I had recorded the last half again just in case as we got through only the first half Thursday night. Is this a Comcast problem?


----------



## dg28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> A tale of two strangely run ABC stations:
> 
> One pre-empts NBA basketball playoffs for LaCrosse, and splashes annoying promos on the screen during network programming. They also place a very distracting watermark in the upper right hand corner of the screen, as if we don't know what station we are watching.
> 
> 
> The other constantly has audio and video problems, endlessly shills _Oprah_ and their news, pre-empts network shows for crappy movies, refused to show _Jimmy Kimmel_ for the first year it was on, and and is the only Top 10 market not showing _Wheel_ and _Jeopardy_! in HD. "Not a business need"
> 
> 
> Times like this I wish I could pay DirecTV the extra bucks for the New York and LA affiliates in HD instead of the crap the local stations pull.



I note you joined AVS in March 2007 so you don't have the benefit of the history here than some of us do. WJLA has come a long way in terms of HD. For example, they use to consistently forget to "flip the switch" from SD to HD. That changed awhile ago. Their cheif engineer posts here and keeps us up to date. And do you realize many of the dropouts are network problems and out of the purview of WJLA? And one more thing, WUSADT made the switch to HD news quite some time ago and have their ratings improved one bit as a result? I think not.


As for WMARDT, they were one of the first digital channels in this area to succesfully use a DD5.1 encoder for network programming. This was not an insiginificant investment, especially when 4 years ago there were few of us around with HDTVs and DD5.1 capable receviers. And then recently they buy the equipment necessary to re-broadcast Wheel and Jeopardy in HD and you're complaining?


Next time it might be wise to do a little reasearch before you make such unfounded and uneducated posts.


----------



## aaronwt

WMARDT was great 6 years ago when WJLA was still broadcasting SD. I used to record the HD broadcasts from WMARDT at my girlfriends place in MD and then every weekend I would carry a portable harddrive home to Virginia so I could watch the ABC shows in HD from the previous week. There weren't any antennas back then that I could use at my condo to reliably receive the HD stations or even mount on my building. Things have changed alot in the last six years. I wish all the things that are out now were available 6 years ago. I was basically using a digital HD VCR. Not like now with the HD DVRs. But it did the job back then and my HiPix cards did allow me to timeshift OTA HD.


----------



## Mike20878

Ok, tonight's Desperate Housewives had the same problems as Grey's. From what I've heard, Comcast has been working with ABC on this issue so it is possibly not Comcast's issue. Can Robert please weigh in on this?


Thanks.


----------



## aaronwt

I finished watching DH earlier from OTA and didn't have any of the problems that I saw in the Greys broadcast on April 26th. I'll need to check my recording from Comcast.


----------



## derek

re: audio dropouts - Anyone watch LOST WJLA-DT last week? I'm trying to determine if some of the rare audio dropouts I'm getting is a hardware, provider or broadcast issue. Specifically in the jungle scene where Locke takes Sawyer to 'see' Ben and Sawyer is asking Locke about what was in his 'file.' I got about a 2 second full audio drop (don't have the timestamp exactly.) This occurs somewhat infrequently where I'm getting about a 2 second audio drop in some of the programming I'm watching (TNT-HD NBA basketball comes to mind on Sat also.) It always seem to be ~2 second dropout. Haven't really noticed it on DISC-HD (Planet Earth.) I'm pretty sure its either a station broadcast issue/gltich or provider (FIOS) issue and want to narrow the problem down. When I rewind the DVR back the dropout is still exists and my receiver doesn't seem to lose the Dolby Digital stream lock.

My provider is FIOS and using a Sony HDG-500 tuner/cable card DVR (component out) with a Marantz receiver optical connection. TIA.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> I note you joined AVS in March 2007 so you don't have the benefit of the history here than some of us do. WJLA has come a long way in terms of HD. For example, they use to consistently forget to "flip the switch" from SD to HD. That changed awhile ago. Their cheif engineer posts here and keeps us up to date. And do you realize many of the dropouts are network problems and out of the purview of WJLA? And one more thing, WUSADT made the switch to HD news quite some time ago and have their ratings improved one bit as a result? I think not.
> 
> 
> As for WMARDT, they were one of the first digital channels in this area to succesfully use a DD5.1 encoder for network programming. This was not an insiginificant investment, especially when 4 years ago there were few of us around with HDTVs and DD5.1 capable receviers. And then recently they buy the equipment necessary to re-broadcast Wheel and Jeopardy in HD and you're complaining?
> 
> 
> Next time it might be wise to do a little reasearch before you make such unfounded and uneducated posts.


*Thanks for the really nice post, DG28. The last sentence is inappropriate and should be removed. We don't agree about certain things concerning WMAR and WJLA. (however uneducated you think my opinions may be)*


What I cited in my post are what I have seen watching the stations and reading other posts. Most of the people who added entries after mine are stating the same thing concerning audio problems.


We are tired of network pre-emptions, annoying crawls, audio drops (both affiliates), stations behind the curve in HD (WJLA) and the like. I am well aware of WMAR's equipment investment, and I did not have HD back in the days when the WJLA engineer forgot to flip the switch (something that happens occasionally over on WRC). I don't like WJLA, it is run at times like a station in a very small market. Even the engineer, who has posted here from time to time, has said he can't get the suits in Rosslyn to ante up for the needed equipment to be able to air the two game shows in HD. Perhaps when the Pathfire is up and running things will change.


This forum is quite useful, and I wish I had the technical knowledge many of you have.


----------



## MrMike6by9

I had seen "warnings" about the Comcast switch off of analog so I asked a tech who came on the 2nd to install digital voice. Although Comcast is offering the digital boxes (they are the size of a paperback book and connect to a TV over channel 3, BTW), Comcast will not be switching off analog before the FCC end date for OTA analog.


YMMV


----------



## biker19

Some tech working in the Chicago area would probably have said the same thing 6 months ago.


----------



## VARTV

Las Vegas, NV (May 7, 2007) - The History Channel® and DIRECTV, Inc. today announced that DIRECTV will be the first to launch The History Channel HD, a new 24-hour high definition television network, scheduled to debut in September 2007. In addition, A&E HD, which debuted in 4Q 2006, will also launch on DIRECTV in September. The announcement was made by David Zagin, Executive Vice President of Distribution AETN. (read more - DirecTV )


----------



## CycloneGT

hehe, we need a running count of all the new HD channels that DirecTV has announced.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> hehe, we need a running count of all the new HD channels that DirecTV has announced.



What will all these new HD nets do with SD content???? Hopefully, NOT what TNT-HD does...


----------



## hokierob

Anyone else have issues with Heroes HD last night with Cox? I dvred it and it showed up as only 50 min instead of 62 and near the end there were scenes where it skipped around, missing audio, missing pixels on the screen. Was this just an issue with the signal I was getting from Cox or something with the connection to the tv. I'm assuming it was a cable issue since it was messed up on the dvr.


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hokierob* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Anyone else have issues with Heroes HD last night with Cox? I dvred it and it showed up as only 50 min instead of 62 and near the end there were scenes where it skipped around, missing audio, missing pixels on the screen. Was this just an issue with the signal I was getting from Cox or something with the connection to the tv. I'm assuming it was a cable issue since it was messed up on the dvr.



Must be Cox. I recorded it OTA and there were no issues for me.


Deezul


----------



## jaxjaggywires




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hokierob* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Anyone else have issues with Heroes HD last night with Cox? I dvred it and it showed up as only 50 min instead of 62 and near the end there were scenes where it skipped around, missing audio, missing pixels on the screen. Was this just an issue with the signal I was getting from Cox or something with the connection to the tv. I'm assuming it was a cable issue since it was messed up on the dvr.



No issues with me...no image/audio problems or skipping.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> *I don't like WJLA, it is run at times like a station in a very small market. Even the engineer, who has posted here from time to time, has said he can't get the suits in Rosslyn to ante up for the needed equipment to be able to air the two game shows in HD. Perhaps when the Pathfire is up and running things will change.
> *


*


I have never said the company would not 'ante' up the money, in fact, I have never even asked for it. There is simply no business reason or motive (that which makes the world go round) to purchase the equipment. Pathfire's upgrade will not factor into the decision.


If you personally would like to cut us a check for $80,000, I will be more than happy to purchase the equipment so the less than 1% of our audience can see Trebek in HD. I'll even install a plaque on the gear naming them after you.




Quote:
Originally Posted by Knicks_Fan /forum/post/0 


This forum is quite useful, and I wish I had the technical knowledge many of you have.


Click to expand...




As in any information tool... if used properly, with wisdom and temperment, is a good thing.*


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> If you personally would like to cut us a check for $80,000, I will be more than happy to purchase the equipment so the less than 1% of our audience can see Trebek in HD. I'll even install a plaque on the gear naming them after you.



Less than 1% of your audience?


Wonder who is buying all those HDTVs in the area (it is hard to find a non-HD TV around here above 25 inches). They must watch WUSA or WRC....


And yet, the CEA says that 28% of homes have HDTV. I will bet the penetration is higher in areas with money...oh, like DC and its suburbs.


But we are glad you spent the money on 7-3. I wonder how many people watch that?


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Less than 1% of your audience?
> 
> 
> Wonder who is buying all those HDTVs in the area (it is hard to find a non-HD TV around here above 25 inches). They must watch WUSA or WRC....
> 
> 
> And yet, the CEA says that 28% of homes have HDTV. I will bet the penetration is higher in areas with money...oh, like DC and its suburbs.
> 
> 
> But we are glad you spent the money on 7-3. I wonder how many people watch that?




The same report from the CEA shows that less than 20% of those people can tell the difference between HD and SD and that most get their signal from cable and don't even go to the high tiers to watch HD content (even the 6mbs stuff Comcast throws out).


The penetration will get there, especially by 2009. As Ben Franklin said, a penny saved is a penny earned, and broadcasting IS a business.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> But we are glad you spent the money on 7-3. I wonder how many people watch that?



LocalPoint cost less than $20K to put on the air, and we get 100% more viewer feedback on it than we ever do on WeatherNow. We are being approached by syndicators, like 48-hour Films, that want their content shown.


We could not be happier with the response to LP.


----------



## aaronwt

What is LocalPoint?


----------



## sgtjim

Comcast and Digital STB's:


With Comcast starting to require digital STB's on their analog feeds is there any uniformity to the pricing. Some time ago, I read that Comcast would provide 2 STB's without charge and start charging for a third or more. Some neighbors tell me that in order to continue to receive HBO they had to start paying for a STB because it was moving tyo the Digital Tier. As Comcast requires a

Digital Outlet fee for every TV that has a STB how is this pricing to work? For instance I have a HDDVR for my HDTV. We did have the digital tier going to a second Tv but dropped that feed when they started to charge a DIgital Outlet Fee of $9.95. As we now have several Tv's with just analog feeds what will we have to pay? If each TV up to two is eligible for a digital STB at no fee that is easy to understand. Other folks tell me that a free box is only for one year and then a fee will be instituted. Does one have to pay an additional DIgital Outlet fee of $9.95 for each "free" STB or if not free an additional STB fee? In my opinion there is no need for a DIGITAL OUTLET FEE as there is no reason to pay for the same bare RG6 to connect to a STB or to a RF input on a TV or VCR. So, it is possible to pay up to $10.00 for each digital STB unless they are "FREE". One may as well go with Satellite because then you know that each STB will require a separate fee(one for the box and a second for the mirroring fee) in addition to the programming fee + the HD fee + the local channel fee . It just never stops. Do the Comcast customers in Charles Co, Md. realize that the Comcast Franchise fee was sneakily increased by .48% last month to 5.48%. I never saw a statement regarding this by the County Commisioners and noone could explain how it was computed till I complained to Comcast Corporate.


----------



## Pring4

I was wondering if anyone has had any luck picking up any extra channels on Comcast QAM in the Towson area besides network HD channels. I had a $20 antenna at one point which picked up the local HD network channels, but I was curious if anything else came through the non-digital basic tier service.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> What is LocalPoint?



The WJLA-DT 7.3 SD sub-channel


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> LocalPoint cost less than $20K to put on the air, and we get 100% more viewer feedback on it than we ever do on WeatherNow. We are being approached by syndicators, like 48-hour Films, that want their content shown.



Oh, those silly syndicators! They'd do the same even if Robert fessed up & came clean that the 100% more is two viewer call-in's a month for LP and one a month for WN!


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I have never said the company would not 'ante' up the money, in fact, I have never even asked for it. There is simply no business reason or motive (that which makes the world go round) to purchase the equipment. Pathfire's upgrade will not factor into the decision.
> 
> 
> If you personally would like to cut us a check for $80,000, I will be more than happy to purchase the equipment so the less than 1% of our audience can see Trebek in HD. I'll even install a plaque on the gear naming them after you.
> 
> 
> As in any information tool... if used properly, with wisdom and temperment, is a good thing.



Only $80K? Doesn't sound like a lot. I'm surprised you wouldn't at least ask for it...


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Only $80K? Doesn't sound like a lot. I'm surprised you wouldn't at least ask for it...



But look at from a cost/return point of view. It would be a long time, A LONG TIME, before those machines paid for themselves. Showing those two shows in HD will not increase the ratings, which those show already win their time slots.


Look, I believe that within the next year it will happen, I just don't like all the cheap shots the station gets by people who are too loose with other people's money.


Look at it this way, you and I live on the same street. I paint my house with $80K of gold, sparklelee paint, which looks REALLY nice, but does not increase the value of my house one bit, it just looks better. I then go around demanding that you, and the rest of my neighbors, paint their house the same way at the same cost.


Would you fork over the $80K to paint your house if it does not benefit you? (and don't pull the more viewers/ratings card, WOF and Jep are already #1)


Just my .02


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bill Johnson* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Oh, those silly syndicators! They'd do the same even if Robert fessed up & came clean that the 100% more is two viewer call-in's a month for LP and one a month for WN!



LP gets about a dozen feedbacks and 3 or 4 phone calls a week, not counting my mom and pizza orders.


----------



## rajdude




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> .........their signal from cable and don't even go to the high tiers to watch HD content (even the 6mbs stuff Comcast throws out).




6mbps! Really?


What is OTA HDTV's bitrate?


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> What is OTA HDTV's bitrate?



Folks like Fox and Robert say 14 or so is fine and our eyes can't perceive the more than 25% reduction from the 19.39! And of course we true HD addicts know better from actual viewing experience, but simply have caved in to multicasting.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Less than 1% of your audience?



I agree. IMHO, that number appears quite low... I was a non WOF and J! viewer. Since our local station now shows them both in HD, I have on occasion watched them. I'm pretty sure there are similar households in the DC area.


I'm just an armchair station owner but for $80,000, in a large market like DC, and for two VERY popular syndicated shows...


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Would you fork over the $80K to paint your house if it does not benefit you? (and don't pull the more viewers/ratings card, WOF and Jep are already #1)



If my house made millions and millions and millions and millions of dollars like WJLA does year after year... Sure, I'd paint my house for $80K... seems like a good investment... to stay ahead of the game. I wouldn't want to wait for the current paint job to start looking bad...


----------



## Bill Johnson

I've beat up on Robert enough about multicasting and here I gotta weigh in completely on his side. I'm addicted to HD, but sad to say believe my wife is fairly typical of many average viewers. If I'm not vigilant in this household, she'll blatantly and clear-headedly watch shows in SD all the time even when she knows they're available in HD. So $80K is a lot of moolah to this small town boy who still roots for the Steelers since Harry Truman's days (or was it FDR?).


----------



## EricRobins




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Look, I believe that within the next year it will happen,



If there is ZERO financial incentive, why would the management bother within the next year or ever?


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *EricRobins* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> If there is ZERO financial incentive, why would the management bother within the next year or ever?



Because we have to move to HD news because everyone else on the market will and news is where the business is (and the revenue). In the process, we will convert the rest of the station. But today, I can convert our news operations for 65 cents on the dollar of what it cost WUSA 2 years ago and the longer I wait, the cheaper it becomes where it will be a no-brainer. I think this will happen in the next 12-15 months.


In fact it has already begun...we just took delivery of 50 Sony XDCam HD cameras and 30 XDCam decks. We use them in SD mode now, but to record and playback HD content that does not come directly from ABC in our HEAVILY automated plant, would cost a lot of money today with NO RETURN on investment.


I'll stop beating the dead horse now.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> to stay ahead of the game.



I understand your point, but how would showing Jeopardy and WOF in HD keep me ahead of the game? I already own the time period ratings-wise, and no advertiser will pay more for commericals there because its in HD, so how can I stay ahead by showing a prettier picture? The demogaphic viewer skews so high, most would not change/kick their SD habit as Bill SO hit the nail on the head.


I could make the switch next week if ther was a sound business reason to do it. It would cost mid-6 figures, but I could do it that quickly.


----------



## Bill Johnson

We HD fanatics -- and I mean this in a sincere way -- have gotta realize money trumps everything! Else why among other things would quantity over quality be in complete absolute dominance?


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bill Johnson* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> We HD fanatics -- and I mean this in a sincere way -- have gotta realize money trumps everything! Else why among other things would quantity over quality be in complete absolute dominance?




Thanks. These boards are filled with 'the HD feed was messed up so I had to switch to SD.' Sure, HD is a preference, but content is king, because nobody says 'the HD feed was messed up so I turned off the TV and read a book.'


Thank God.


----------



## Bill Johnson

Hey guys, don't despair, our day's coming HD PQ wise! It may be 10 or 15 years down the road, but someday we'll be congratulating each other & we'll look back and say incredulously "You mean you had to accept HD from nets & stations at only 14 Mbps?? Unbelievable!


----------



## Marcus Carr

Thank God I can watch WMAR.


----------



## valweh41




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Thank God I can watch WMAR.



I hear ya...no brainer choice for me


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Thank God I can watch WMAR.



Thank GOD I don't Watch ABC...


----------



## EricRobins




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> read a book.'



Read a book? Do you really think we HD fanatics actually read books?


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Thank GOD I don't Watch ABC...



ABC has nothing to do with Wheel and Jeopardy.


----------



## dg28

Thanks for your posts, Robert. Your perspective is much needed and appreciated around here.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> ABC has nothing to do with Wheel and Jeopardy.



True, but since it's on the ABC affiliate here, it does...


----------



## zoyd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Sure, HD is a preference, but content is king, because nobody says 'the HD feed was messed up so I turned off the TV and read a book.'



Well I may be 1 in a million but I'll say it. I hadn't watched network TV for 20 years until I got an HD set and when a timeslot comes up with no HD content I switch it off and read a book.







(oh yes, and I can't stand the overcompressed stuff on pbs, it's worse than SD)


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zoyd* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Well I may be 1 in a million but I'll say it. I hadn't watched network TV for 20 years until I got an HD set and when a timeslot comes up with no HD content I switch it off and read a book.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> (oh yes, and I can't stand the overcompressed stuff on pbs, it's worse than SD)



The only non-HD, non-animated show I watch is Ebert & Roeper.


----------



## tonyd79

I dunno.


By Bob's reasoning on HD and Jeopardy/Wheel of Fortune, I don't see why he has HD at all. According to him, it doesn't affect the ratings (content is king). According to him, advertisers don't pay anymore for HD, so there is ZERO dollar incentive.


Gee, why even have HD for ABC shows? It is business decision, after all.


What I actually think is that he had NO idea if it would improve his ratings or not and is sitting on his laurels because he already "wins" that time slot. No continuous improvement. No looking ahead. No getting better to get better, just look at what money I get this very minute. Gee, with that attitude, we would never move forward. Forget that if he had the equipement for synidcated HD, he could bid on Redskins games that are on ESPN or the NFL Network or find other uses. Nope, we can't think progressively.


Bob, if you think people aren't switching to WMAR to watch in HD, you are just being silly. We both know that the ratings do not cover HD choices nor do they measure what you COULD have in your viewership. Only what you do. To say "good is good enough" over a paltry (yes, I said paltry) $80k is shameful.


----------



## zoyd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> What I actually think is that he had NO idea if it would improve his ratings or not and is sitting on his laurels because he already "wins" that time slot.



He's probably right, for the moment. There will be a tipping point though when the "mainstream" demands it and it makes financial sense to wait until just prior to that point to ride the wave.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Gee, why even have HD for ABC shows? It is business decision, after all.



ABC runs HD only commercials that they get additional revenue for, 40-50% of the Oscars had HD versions of their SD spots running.




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Forget that if he had the equipment for synidcated HD, he could bid on Redskins games that are on ESPN or the NFL Network or find other uses.



The last ESPN Redskins game we did, we showed in HD.




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Bob, if you think people aren't switching to WMAR to watch in HD, you are just being silly.



If all the HD viewers in Washington DC watched WMAR at 7pm, WJLA would still win its timeslot by a mile and it would only help WMAR the smallest, atom-size, bit.


I agree with the fundamental 'it would be nice', but nobody here has come up with a business reason to do it.


----------



## JimP

I'm presently visiting my lady friend here in Alexandria Virginia.


We (actually she) bought a new plasma (with my assistance of course







) on Monday and it was delivered yesterday.


With her cable service from Comcast (she also has cable internet, so I suspect she has digital cable), we're able to tune some of the in the clear QAM channels with the Panasonic's tuner.


Would like to find out if anyone has a list of in the clear QAM channels through Comcast in the old Alexandria VA area and could share them with us.


Many thanks,


JimP


----------



## CycloneGT

People post the channels here from time to time. Generally, its usually just Over the Air broadcast channels that you can view. NBC, CBS, etc... Stuff like ESPN-HD is often encrypted. There have been reports of some Video On Demand stuff being sent in the clear. In other words, if a neighbor of yours used VoD, you might be able to see what they are watching.


----------



## mikepinkerton

Imagine how amazing books would look in HD! I might actually read some if they were!!!
























-Mike


----------



## stuntmole

Hi,


We just got our Comcast (in Arlington VA) Scientific Atlanta 3250HD STB. Works great, and I've got it plugged into our LCD tv via component. Before I go buy a DVI to HDMI cable, I was wondering if folks knew whether Comcast's boxes even have their DVI port "activated"?


I only ask because I was unsuccessful in getting the box to put out any audio over its optical out plug. Checking Scientific Atlanta's online manual for the 3250, it mentions that optical out and DVI are options that may or may not be available.


Thanks.


----------



## bullwinklehdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zoyd* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> He's probably right, for the moment. There will be a tipping point though when the "mainstream" demands it and it makes financial sense to wait until just prior to that point to ride the wave.



Having had HDTV for three years and seeing the the tremendous change in available HD programming in that period, I agree that its only a matter of time. I truly appreciate Robert posting here and I understand his position-don't shoot the messenger. I think the real change in this area comes this fall when D* has one of its new satellites up, a whole bunch of new HD channels launch, and FIOS, which also has the HD capacity, is available in many locations.


----------



## RalphArch




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> If all the HD viewers in Washington DC watched WMAR at 7pm, WJLA would still win its timeslot by a mile and it would only help WMAR the smallest, atom-size, bit.
> 
> 
> I agree with the fundamental 'it would be nice', but nobody here has come up with a business reason to do it.



I think that the Nielson statistics seriously under count the HD viewers - so there may be a situation where the data is way off.


Maybe its still a good business decision - as I suppose Neilson comes off as the yardstick for advertising revenue.


They tried and begged to get me to participate - but its just not designed to monitor computer tuner cards - nor cable boxes connected to projectors, nor monitoring of hd file servers like my Avel linkplayer.


And I venture to guess there's a large population like me that they just can't realistically count today.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JimP* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> With her cable service from Comcast (she also has cable internet, so I suspect she has digital cable), we're able to tune some of the in the clear QAM channels with the Panasonic's tuner.
> 
> 
> Would like to find out if anyone has a list of in the clear QAM channels through Comcast in the old Alexandria VA area and could share them with us.



You don't need a list from anyone else - what the TV tuned is what you get. It doesn't matter what anyone else up the street might get - if the TV doesn't get it, it doesn't get it. And it doesn't matter what kind of service she has - the same clear QAM chs would be available with all tiers of service.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *stuntmole* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> We just got our Comcast (in Arlington VA) Scientific Atlanta 3250HD STB. Works great, and I've got it plugged into our LCD tv via component. Before I go buy a DVI to HDMI cable, I was wondering if folks knew whether Comcast's boxes even have their DVI port "activated"?



Let me guess - you bought into the myth that DVI/HDMI is better than component?







If nothing else, don't also fall for the myth that those $100 "special" cables are any better than the plain $10 ones.


----------



## stuntmole

Don't know about the myth or not... I just wanted to try it out and see, but there's no point in paying even $1 if the STB's DVI function isn't even enabled.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *stuntmole* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Don't know about the myth or not... I just wanted to try it out and see, but there's no point in paying even $1 if the STB's DVI function isn't even enabled.



The DVI port should be enabled. Call Comcast and ask. Ask for the digital audio optical port, I don't recall ever having read any reports where the digital audio ports were not enabled. Check the setup menu on the Scientific Atlanta STB to see there is a setting for enabling the optical and coaxial digital audio ports.


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> But look at from a cost/return point of view. It would be a long time, A LONG TIME, before those machines paid for themselves. Showing those two shows in HD will not increase the ratings, which those show already win their time slots.
> 
> 
> Look, I believe that within the next year it will happen, I just don't like all the cheap shots the station gets by people who are too loose with other people's money.
> 
> 
> Just my .02



Granted, I'm only looking at it from a HD viewer's point of view. But just out of curiousity, can you speculate at all on why WMAR-DT thinks it's worth it? And why did WUSA go with HD news? I was traveling a lot to the NYC area recently, and I was amazed at how both WCBS and WNBC really hype their HD News broadcasts in that market. (ABC and FOX don't seem to be HD in this market.) I understand the concept of ROI, but what makes some stations come to a slightly different conclusion on the issue? It would seem that for a market as large as DC/Baltimore, there would be more than just one local HD newscast.


As for Jeopardy and WOF, I can tell you that I hadn't consciously watched either program in years, but once WMAR started doing them in HD, if I'm home and have nothing better to do, I will now tune them in.


Coincidentally, I just bought a new LCD panel HDTV and it is amazing how much better the tuners are getting. This set picks up more DTV channels with and indoor antenna than my previous set does with an outdoor antenna. It's even picking up some analog channels I'd never come across before. They're really improving the ability of ATSC tuners in the new sets.


----------



## aaronwt

Isn't it like anything else, a business decision? What one company decides to do is not necessarily the same thing another company will do. Although I think WJLA is the only station of the top 12 or 15 markets that don't air these two syndicated shows in HD(not postive though). From a business perspective it makes perfect sense. The equipment will be cheaper in 6 or 12 months than now so you wait and can get a newer and better piece of equipment for a lower price down the road. The purpose of a business is to make money.

Now from an HD viewers perspective I don't like the fact that they don't have this capability. Personally I won't watch the shows now in SD. If they were in HD I might watch them occasionally.

But it is a business decision and whether we think it is right or wrong it is their decision to make.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Isn't it like anything else, a business decision? What one company decides to do is not necessarily the same thing another company will do. Although I think WJLA is the only station of the top 12 or 15 markets that don't air these two syndicated shows in HD(not postive though). From a business perspective it makes perfect sense. The equipment will be cheaper in 6 or 12 months than now so you wait and can get a newer and better piece of equipment for a lower price down the road. The purpose of a business is to make money.
> 
> Now from an HD viewers perspective I don't like the fact that they don't have this capability. Personally I won't watch the shows now in SD. If they were in HD I might watch them occasionally.
> 
> But it is a business decision and whether we think it is right or wrong it is their decision to make.




Equipment will always be cheaper 6-12 months down the road, so why bother upgrading? It just comes down to dollars and cents and since they feel that there will be no return on investment then why bother? The demo for WoF and Jeopardy is not necessarily the same one that makes up the HD Market and since they do not get any boost in ratings from a HD Broadcast, why should they bother?


----------



## Mike20878

Robert, would you please comment on the ABC HD broadcast quality issues? We watched Lost last night on our Comcast DVR (Motorola 6412) and had constant audio dropouts and pixelating. I watched Heroes recently with no problem so I don't think it's the box. It consistently happens with the ABC shows we watch. I'm not happy that I have to record the SD broadcasts as a backup. I'd like to get an answer as to whether it's a known issue with ABC/WJLA or with Comcast.


Thank you.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Mike20878* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Robert, would you please comment on the ABC HD broadcast quality issues? We watched Lost last night on our Comcast DVR (Motorola 6412) and had constant audio dropouts and pixelating. I watched Heroes recently with no problem so I don't think it's the box. It consistently happens with the ABC shows we watch. I'm not happy that I have to record the SD broadcasts as a backup. I'd like to get an answer as to whether it's a known issue with ABC/WJLA or with Comcast.
> 
> 
> Thank you.



Its a known issue with Comcast and the both of us are working on it. I have Fios and OTA at the house and make it a habit to watch more OTA then Fios during prime and I don't see the same issues there.


There are at least 5 engineers working on it now.


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Mike20878* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Robert, would you please comment on the ABC HD broadcast quality issues? We watched Lost last night on our Comcast DVR (Motorola 6412) and had constant audio dropouts and pixelating. I watched Heroes recently with no problem so I don't think it's the box. It consistently happens with the ABC shows we watch. I'm not happy that I have to record the SD broadcasts as a backup. I'd like to get an answer as to whether it's a known issue with ABC/WJLA or with Comcast.
> 
> 
> Thank you.



I have Comcast basic cable in Prince George's county. I use an OnAir GT USB tuner to check my signal level, and it normally varies from 32 to 34 db, but last week the signals varied from 27 to 30 db. When the signal level is below 28, I observe the problems you report. This appears to be a cable problem, and today the signal level is high, and no problems.


----------



## compuwizz




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *stuntmole* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hi,
> 
> 
> We just got our Comcast (in Arlington VA) Scientific Atlanta 3250HD STB. Works great, and I've got it plugged into our LCD tv via component. Before I go buy a DVI to HDMI cable, I was wondering if folks knew whether Comcast's boxes even have their DVI port "activated"?
> 
> 
> I only ask because I was unsuccessful in getting the box to put out any audio over its optical out plug. Checking Scientific Atlanta's online manual for the 3250, it mentions that optical out and DVI are options that may or may not be available.
> 
> 
> Thanks.



Optical audio out probably won't work unless you are watching a Digital Channel, so any of the Analog channels


----------



## Mike20878




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Its a known issue with Comcast and the both of us are working on it. I have Fios and OTA at the house and make it a habit to watch more OTA then Fios during prime and I don't see the same issues there.
> 
> 
> There are at least 5 engineers working on it now.



Thank you for the update. It's been frustrating reporting the problems to what seemed like a vacuum.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Thanks. These boards are filled with 'the HD feed was messed up so I had to switch to SD.' Sure, HD is a preference, but content is king, because nobody says 'the HD feed was messed up so I turned off the TV and read a book.'
> 
> 
> Thank God.



In going HD, The Weather Channel cited the fact that HD viewers tend to keep their remotes from scrolling out of the HD tier, which in my experience is certainly true. This will only increase as more channels come online. Sure, actual HD viewers are still a minority, but they're the minority that brings in the ad dollars.


Of course, this has less effect on you guys, since you get a free slot in the HD tier whether you're broadcasting in HD or not. And in any case, the bread-and-butter viewer of either ABC7 News at 11 or WOF/Jeopardy doesn't particularly care about HD.


Here's an interesting question. Will HD news every really pay for itself? I've probably watched a dozen local news broadcasts since I started college five years ago. How sustainable is the 11:00 news business model... period? I guess those types of operations are in better shape than, say, the local newspaper in a surburban community, but it can't be by all that much.


----------



## RalphArch




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Of course, this has less effect on you guys, since you get a free slot in the HD tier whether you're broadcasting in HD or not.



Not always - the only reason WJLA made the attached Titan-TV list is because it had bogus HD info on WOF


----------



## Skeptic Tank




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Its a known issue with Comcast and the both of us are working on it. I have Fios and OTA at the house and make it a habit to watch more OTA then Fios during prime and I don't see the same issues there.
> 
> 
> There are at least 5 engineers working on it now.




Has Comcast redistributed the bandwidth on QAM channel 123 between WJLA and WETA since WETA (which shares 123 with WJLA here in PG County) added two prime time SD subchannels?


Before, the two extra subchanels channels weren't active while WETA-HD was. If Comcast allocated the bandwidth on 123 based on that fact, then the change might be reducing WJLA's bandwidth on Comcast.


Just something to think about.


----------



## Belcherwm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Sure, actual HD viewers are still a minority, but they're the minority that brings in the ad dollars.



Got any references to back that up? Jeez.


Robert,


Thanks again for playing in this sandbox.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Belcherwm* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Got any references to back that up? Jeez.



Do I honestly need references to assert that people with the expendable income to blow on an HDTV that'll run at least $1000 are in higher income brackets than people who can't afford to throw around that kind of money on a TV? Jeez.


----------



## CycloneGT

I got my "FiOS TV is available to you" special delivery package today. It came in a cardboard envelope, like the ones you get from FedEx or UPS. It had the ch lineup and the premier package for $43/mo. A lot less than Dish.


Not so sure I'm going to bite yet. Dish has a lot more HD channels, the PQ is fine by me, and I sure like my OTA/Sat HD DVR. If FiOS had a "Try us for 30 or 90 days" I would be all over it.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Mike20878* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Robert, would you please comment on the ABC HD broadcast quality issues? We watched Lost last night on our Comcast DVR (Motorola 6412) and had constant audio dropouts and pixelating. I watched Heroes recently with no problem so I don't think it's the box. It consistently happens with the ABC shows we watch. I'm not happy that I have to record the SD broadcasts as a backup. I'd like to get an answer as to whether it's a known issue with ABC/WJLA or with Comcast.
> 
> 
> Thank you.




No problem with the Lost broadcast on Wednesday with my Sereis 3 TiVos from OTA or Comcast. I've stopped recording the SD version as a backup. I'd been doing it since 2001 and finally stopped last fall. Fortunately I've only had a couple of problems this past season and that was from the wind blowing the branches near my antenna. The broadcasts from all the local stations are usually consistent now. Nothing like it was 5 or 6 years ago.


----------



## rajdude




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> In going HD, The Weather Channel cited the fact that HD viewers tend to keep their remotes from scrolling out of the HD tier, which in my experience is certainly true.



100% true in my case !

Ever since we got HD, I rarely stray out from the few channels they give in HD!


----------



## riffjim4069




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I got my "FiOS TV is available to you" special delivery package today. It came in a cardboard envelope, like the ones you get from FedEx or UPS. It had the ch lineup and the premier package for $43/mo. A lot less than Dish.
> 
> 
> Not so sure I'm going to bite yet. Dish has a lot more HD channels, the PQ is fine by me, and I sure like my OTA/Sat HD DVR. If FiOS had a "Try us for 30 or 90 days" I would be all over it.



Except FiOS HD Picture Quality is IMO much better than Dish Network; all FiOS TV channels are pristine...there is no HD-Lite, unless that is what is being sent by the broadcaster. With the exception of the 15 VOOM proprietary channels, FiOS actually offers more national HD and several more local HD channels for DC area customers. For me it's all about PQ, but a major consideration would be the HD DVR. At this point there is no comparison...FiOS TV wins hands-down.

FiOS TV HD channels not offered by Dish Network

WETA-DT

WDCA-DT

WMPT-DT

WDCW-DT

Wealth TV

MTVHD

Lifetime Movies HD

TMCHD

Dish Network channels not offered by FiOS TV

A&EHD

HGTVHD

VOOM (Animania, Equator, Family Room, FilmFest, GamePlay, Gallery, HDNews, KungFu, Monsters, Rave, Rush, Treasure, Ultra, World Cinema, WorldSport)


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *riffjim4069* /forum/post/0
> 
> Dish Network channels not offered by FiOS TV
> 
> A&EHD
> 
> HGTVHD
> 
> VOOM (Animania, Equator, Family Room, FilmFest, GamePlay, Gallery, HDNews, KungFu, Monsters, Rave, Rush, Treasure, Ultra, World Cinema, WorldSport)



Verizon Fios has HGTV-HD which was in the set of the three national HD channels added last month. There has been no indication when Verizon will add A&E-HD, but I would consider it likely to be added sometime in the next few months. What Dish has and Verizon does not are the 15 HD Voom channels which, as far as I know, are only available on Dish. I don't think there are any cable companies that have the Voom channels, even those with the bandwidth for them, so Dish may have an exclusive arrangement with Voom. The other higher profile HD channels that Verizon currently does not have are Comcast Sportnet Mid-Atlantic HD and Versus/Golf-HD.


I agree that Fios will have better picture quality in general for the SD and HD channels than Dish. The four locals you listed are available OTA with an antenna to most people who live in the greater DC area, so a Dish subscriber can get them that way.


The con as you mentioned is the Verizon Motorola 6416 HD-DVR with it's 160 GB HD. It is more reliable, has more storage capacity than the 6412 DVR I had with Adelphia and does the basic job of recording and time-shifting TV pretty well. But it is limited to around 20 to maybe 25 hours of HD programming total. The external SATA port is not enabled and won't be until new software gets pass DRM testing and is approved; even then there is no guarantee that Verizon will add it. There is supposed to be a major overhaul of the Fios DVR software coming out "soon", but enabling the eSATA port is not part of this. The lack of storage capacity for HD is, for me, the biggest drawback of the 6416. However, if one wants to spend the money, the Series 3 Tivo does work pretty well with Fios.


The other con to Verizon Fios for those thinking of switching from Comcast is that Verizon does not yet have any HD VOD. Verizon is working on adding HD VOD; maybe we will start to see it with the upgraded DVR software.


Overall, I glad that I was able to switch from Comcast/ex-Adelphia in Loudoun. Comcast still only has 14 HD channels (and no HDNet or HDNet Movies) in Loudoun compared to 26 HD channels available on Verizon Fios Washington Metro lineup (8 locals, 13 national, 5 premium movie channels). The upload/download speed for internet access is impressive. There are Fios specific threads in the HD Programming, hardware reception, and recorder forums people considering Fios should check.


----------



## raidbuck




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rajdude* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 100% true in my case !
> 
> Ever since we got HD, I rarely stray out from the few channels they give in HD!



Me too. I'm always in the HD Comcast realm except for occasional PBS show on SD and not in HD and a ballgame here or there. When MASN gets HD it will be even less.


Rich N.


----------



## aaronwt

FIOS sounds like an excellent deal. I'm using several Series 3 TiVos with Comcast currently and they are supposed to work with FIOS. FIOS is doing construction on my street this month. Who knows when they will actually offer service though. They seem to have most of the HD channels including the HDNet channels which Comcast doesn't have. The only reason I still have DirecTV is for the HDNet channels. I really need to drop DirecTV completely. Once Comcast offers the phone service and I have phone, INTERNET and TV from them, it will be difficult to switch unless I have problems. It figures though. My choices were limited for HD 6 years ago and pretty soon my choices will be almost unlimited the way thing are going with all the providers.


Does FIOS offer service to anyone in Prince William County yet?


----------



## Mike20878




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> No problem with the Lost broadcast on Wednesday with my Sereis 3 TiVos from OTA or Comcast. I've stopped recording the SD version as a backup. I'd been doing it since 2001 and finally stopped last fall. Fortunately I've only had a couple of problems this past season and that was from the wind blowing the branches near my antenna. The broadcasts from all the local stations are usually consistent now. Nothing like it was 5 or 6 years ago.



So you're pulling the HD channels from Comcast through your own receiver? Maybe that's the difference, plus that I'm in MC. Do they have separate head-ends?


----------



## chefklc




> Quote:
> We just got our Comcast (in Arlington VA) Scientific Atlanta 3250HD STB. Works great, and I've got it plugged into our LCD tv via component. Before I go buy a DVI to HDMI cable, I was wondering if folks knew whether Comcast's boxes even have their DVI port "activated"?
> 
> 
> I only ask because I was unsuccessful in getting the box to put out any audio over its optical out plug.



stuntmole, I've had an SA3250 in Arlington for a few years and its optical audio out and DVI out are both active. (Also, its firewire port is active, which is the main reason why I've kept it...)



> Quote:
> Let me guess - you bought into the myth that DVI/HDMI is better than component?



biker19, a local thread probably isn't the place to get into this, and I apologize if you weren't being entirely serious, but DVI and HDMI can clearly be "better than" component. It just depends on your equipment, the size and type of your HDTV, your personal understanding and experience in HT and how critical an eye you have.


That said, I have an SA3250 which ironically IS connected via component, but that's just because I don't rely on it for much. It is very acceptable, though. (I record and watch most of my HD via firewire and QAM, and send it from those devices via HDMI, DVI and VGA into my display.)



> Quote:
> Optical audio out probably won't work unless you are watching a Digital Channel, so any of the Analog channels


----------



## derek

Anyone catch 'Crimson Tide' last night on WDCA-DT? Now its not a HDTV station I normally tune to in my FIOS lineup but for kicks I checked it out. Wow pic not too bad. Widescreen presentation and resolution looked good (audio DD 2.0) I'd almost guess it was full HD. Side cropping/pan & scan (CT has 2.35:1 ratio) and there seemed to be some top/bottom cropping (some headshots cut short but this could have been intentional cramped sub quarters.) Anyone know the details?


----------



## RebelScum

Ok, here's the situation: My parents went away on a... j/k!


I'm moving in about a month. FIOS isn't available at the new address (Falls Church, VA, Fairfax county, ZIP 22042). I'm trying to decide between COX for cable, or Dish Network. Either way, we are getting Cable from COX, since neither FIOS nor DSL is available there. Their cable alone is $41.99/mo.


We have 2 TVs, one is HD, the other standard.


For all the stuff I want, Dish's normal monthly price would be $60/mo (Top 100 plan, HD, HD-DVR, Locals, free activation w/18-mo commitment). Their promotion will give me $20/mo back for 10 months. With the cable, normal monthly price will be $102/mo.


When I priced out COX with roughly-equivalent service, it comes out to $72.23/mo (+ the $41.99/mo for internet, when bundled, but that I'm getting either way, so I'm subtracting that out for comparison). However, they offered me a huge 10-month promotional discount. I can get everything (cable tv, internet, and phone line), for $67.35 for 10 months, after which it goes up to the regular price of $114.22/mo.


Right now, I'm thinking of going with that for the 10 months, then switching the TV to Dish.

*Dish Pros:*

All channels, plus the DVR would be available from both TVs with the VIP-622 box.
DVR has 2 tuners, and can record 2 shows at once (3 if you include the OTA one too).
More HD channels. Here are the channels available from Dish that aren't on COX:
A&E HD
Animania HD
Equator HD
Family Room HD
Film Fest HD
Food Network HD
GamePlay HD
Gallery HD
HDNet
HDNet Movies
HDNews
HGTV HD
Kung Fu HD
Monsters HD
NFL Network HD
Rave HD
Rush HD
Treasure HD
Ultra HD
World Cinema HD
WorldSport HD

But none of these are ones I would watch a lot (Does HDNet show good movies? If so, maybe that).

*Dish Cons:*

Would cost more for those first 10 months than going COX 1st then switching.
No land phone line (we both have cell phones, but it could come in handy (911, etc.)).
Can drop out due to weather (rain, snow, etc.).

*COX Pros:*

Would cost less for the 1st 10 months.
No commitment - Can cancel with no penalty.
A few HD channels not available on Dish: Local CW HD, INHD1, MTV-HD (but we don't watch most of these, either).
Includes phone line.

*COX Cons:*

The 2nd TV would not have access to the digital channels, nor the DVR on the main set.
May only be able to record 1 show at a time (not sure).
Not as many HD channels.


I guess what I really want to know is, is it worth going with COX for 10 months and then switching to Dish? Or, is one of them better than the other in other ways (How's the picture quality for each, etc.?) and should I just get one and stick with that?


Thanks


----------



## robertforsyth

I believe we found and resolved the issue with Comcast's reception of our DTV feed.


This weekend, I ask those of you that STILL see the same level of problems that have plagued us over the past couple of weeks, to let me know here.


Thanks


----------



## biker19

In times of change I'd go with the one without a commitment.


----------



## RebelScum




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> In times of change I'd go with the one without a commitment.



If I want, I can pay the $50 set-up fee and have no commitment for Dish. Oh, and Dish has free professional installation, while Cox will charge $200, unless I do self-installation, in which case it'll just be $10.


Generally, I don't see myself leaving Dish if I get it, so the commitment wouldn't be too much of a problem.


----------



## dt_dc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RebelScum* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> May only be able to record 1 show at a time (not sure).



The Cox DVR is dual tuner.


Personally, I'd go with Cox (unless you absolutely-positively-gotta-have the Voom channels). As always, of course, YMMV. I was reasonably happy with them and with Verizon coming on so strong they have to compete or suffer. And ... being in Falls Church, I'd expect Fios to be available (reasonably) soon. Switching back and forth between cable and Fios is so flippin easy ... QAM works ... CableCard works ... I (personally) don't see going back to DBS of any type ever again. Whichever (wired) provider gives me the best bundled service ...


Of course, YMMV.


Note: Fios is available to me (and I did switch to them).


----------



## CycloneGT

I've been a Dish Customer for nearly 7 years now. If I'm still an advocate at this time, they must be doing something right.


----------



## Mike20878




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I believe we found and resolved the issue with Comcast's reception of our DTV feed.
> 
> 
> This weekend, I ask those of you that STILL see the same level of problems that have plagued us over the past couple of weeks, to let me know here.
> 
> 
> Thanks



Thanks! I'll be sure to report back after the weekend. I don't think there's anything we watch on ABC until Sunday (Desperate Housewives).


----------



## CycloneGT

Cool. I just found out that my uncle in Olney has FiOS TV. I need to head over to Olney tomorrow to mow Mom's yard. He needs to me to help set up some home networking, so I can get a chance to check it out. I asked if he had HD, and he said that they got a 50" Plasma. Should be fun.


----------



## PGHammer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rajdude* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 100% true in my case !
> 
> Ever since we got HD, I rarely stray out from the few channels they give in HD!



That's mostly because given a quality signal and the choice between SD and HD, why would *anyone* put up with SD?


I have a Philips 42PF7320A/37 hanging on my bedroom wall (no CableCARD, Comcast of Prince George's, MD) and I get all the HD locals plus A&E-HD and TNT-HD (amusingly, Comcast of PG sends both in the clear), and I refuse to watch their SD equivalents unless TNT-HD is Absolutely Screwing The Pooch (I had the chance to actually watch the HD broadcast of NBC Nightly News (Comcast's feed orf WRC-DT was actually pristine throughout the NNN: 1080i done right!) and it was gorgeous; looks like CBS has a target to shoot for PQ-wise)


----------



## tripleM

I get Comcast regular analog expanded package. They have this channel called Discovery HD Theater. Is this the Discovery HD channel every1 feels the need to pay extra for because of the jaw dropping PQ?


----------



## aaronwt

Isn't it part of the HD Tier which costs $5 a month?


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Isn't it part of the HD Tier which costs $5 a month?




That's what I thought.

So if that's what it is: Consider me impressed & surprised it's on the analog tier.


----------



## CycloneGT

Are you seeing it with a Digital tuner? (ie built-in QAM tuner) or just a regular analog tuner?


----------



## david4788

Seeing "all kinds" of things through QAM in the last week or so.......


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> That's what I thought.
> 
> So if that's what it is: Consider me impressed & surprised it's on the analog tier.



Analog tier? There ain't no HD on any analog tier. What channel is it on?


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Isn't it part of the HD Tier which costs $5 a month?



I didn't think Comcast had a separate HD tier ?


GoIrish


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GoIrish* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I didn't think Comcast had a separate HD tier ?
> 
> 
> GoIrish



It is just what kind of box you have. If you have an HD box, you get HD. Not really a tier, just which box you obtain.


----------



## aaronwt

Some of the HD is encrypted on my System(non premium)Without the cable cards to decrypt them and me paying the $5, I can't receive them.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Robert,

WJLA on DirecTV is still breaking up. "Housewives" and "Brothers and Sisters" are barely watchable. So the problem isn't just Comcast.


----------



## chetldr

Hi all -


New to this - but I'm trying to pick up OTA with a Hinese box and Silver Sensor antenna. We are only 6 miles from TV hill, but the signal will not lock consistently.


Here is the weird thing - reception is best with the antenna facing away from the transmitters. Switching over to Fox 45 or 24 (the analog channels in that range) shows a fairly clear picture.


I'm about ready to pack it in until I can invest in a outdoor antenna. Any ideas? Or is this just the nature of the beast? I even tried using a cheap set of rabbit ears with a signal combiner to kill the multi-path "ghosting," which worked okay on some channels (2.1 and 13.1) but made others unwatchable (24.1, 45.1, and sometimes 11.1) without constant adjustments.


(Analog 11 is crystal clear - so if worst comes to worst I guess I can live without using the box for it).


Thanks -


chet


----------



## Mike20878




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Robert,
> 
> WJLA on DirecTV is still breaking up. "Housewives" and "Brothers and Sisters" are barely watchable. So the problem isn't just Comcast.



Ditto here on Comcast. I wouldn't say DH was unwatchable, but I think it was a tad worse. At times the breakups were a few seconds long as opposed to the little blips we were having previously.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Robert,
> 
> WJLA on DirecTV is still breaking up. "Housewives" and "Brothers and Sisters" are barely watchable. So the problem isn't just Comcast.



Again no problem here. I recorded DH from OTA and off Comcast. I only had one time that I lost audio and it was for half a second and occurred on OTA and from Comcast. Everything else with the broadcast from both sources was perfect with my Series 3 TiVos.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chetldr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> New to this - but I'm trying to pick up OTA with a Hinese box and Silver Sensor antenna. We are only 6 miles from TV hill, but the signal will not lock consistently.
> 
> 
> Here is the weird thing - reception is best with the antenna facing away from the transmitters. Switching over to Fox 45 or 24 (the analog channels in that range) shows a fairly clear picture.



Which model of the Silver Sensor antenna are you using? Amplified or non-amplified? You are probably getting some signficant multipath. Where is the Silver Sensor set up? Did you a different location for the antenna with minimal obstruction in the direction of the broadcast towers such as placing the antenna in a window?


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chetldr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hi all -
> 
> 
> New to this - but I'm trying to pick up OTA with a Hinese box and Silver Sensor antenna. We are only 6 miles from TV hill, but the signal will not lock consistently.
> 
> 
> Here is the weird thing - reception is best with the antenna facing away from the transmitters. Switching over to Fox 45 or 24 (the analog channels in that range) shows a fairly clear picture.
> 
> 
> I'm about ready to pack it in until I can invest in a outdoor antenna. Any ideas? Or is this just the nature of the beast? I even tried using a cheap set of rabbit ears with a signal combiner to kill the multi-path "ghosting," which worked okay on some channels (2.1 and 13.1) but made others unwatchable (24.1, 45.1, and sometimes 11.1) without constant adjustments.
> 
> 
> (Analog 11 is crystal clear - so if worst comes to worst I guess I can live without using the box for it).
> 
> 
> Thanks -
> 
> 
> chet




I agree with Afiggat. In your case, LESS signal is probably the way to go. It sounds like your receiver is getting too high a signal level, and can't cope with it. Unlike analog signals, if you put too high a signal level into your receiver, it won't work. Adding amplifiers, or an outdoor antenna will only make things worse.


To see if you are getting too much signal, you could unhook your antenna from your receiver, and replace it with a paperclip that you straightened out (don't push it more than 1/4 inch into the antenna jack). If you get a more consistant signal with the paperclip (and you don't have an amplified antenna), you could purchase a 10 dB RF attenuator to "pad" the signal down. They are cheap ($1.30 plus shipping) at MCM ( http://www.mcminone.com/product.asp?...5Fid=33%2D2765 ), and other places (although I can't quickly find them at Radio Shack...). You would put this between your antenna and the receiver. You could also use this with an amplified antenna, but I would suggest returning that, and getting an non-amplified antenna instead.


Mark


----------



## RebelScum




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dt_dc* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The Cox DVR is dual tuner.
> 
> 
> Personally, I'd go with Cox (unless you absolutely-positively-gotta-have the Voom channels). As always, of course, YMMV. I was reasonably happy with them and with Verizon coming on so strong they have to compete or suffer. And ... being in Falls Church, I'd expect Fios to be available (reasonably) soon. Switching back and forth between cable and Fios is so flippin easy ... QAM works ... CableCard works ... I (personally) don't see going back to DBS of any type ever again. Whichever (wired) provider gives me the best bundled service ...
> 
> 
> Of course, YMMV.
> 
> 
> Note: Fios is available to me (and I did switch to them).



Yes, I would seriously consider FIOS if it were available, and if/when it does, I will consider switching.


And no, the Voom channels probably aren't all that important, either.


I guess another important question would be, between Dish and Cox cable, would there be any discernable difference in HD picture quality? Would one be better than the other? My dad has DirecTV, and his HD doesn't look anywhere near as crisp as what I'm used to seeing (right now, I pick up locals OTA in HD), but he may not have everything set up correctly, although I did make sure his box was outputting 1080i. Is Dish more/less compressed than Cox?


Oh, and for future reference, how does FIOS HD PQ compare to Dish and Cox?


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RebelScum* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Oh, and for future reference, how does FIOS HD PQ compare to Dish and Cox?



FiOS's HD PQ is better than everyone else's for right now, but with HD channels you can't really notice the difference unless it is D* which uses HD Lite. I have had E*, Cox, and now FiOS. Each one has its advantages and disadvantages. I believe FiOS is the best of them all, but it has more stuff to be installed if you get a STB. The PQ on the SD is the real difference maker for me. SD looks 100 times better than Cox and noticeably better than E*. I have a CableCard from FiOS and I love it, YMMV.


----------



## SamWithToys

All of a sudden last week, I was unable to receive WUTB and the MPT (Owings Mills) digital stations over the air. I have never had problems with them in the past. I was wondering if anyone is having similar problems. I hope it's not a hardware issue for me.


Thanks,

Sam


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SamWithToys* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> All of a sudden last week, I was unable to receive WUTB and the MPT (Owings Mills) digital stations over the air. I have never had problems with them in the past. I was wondering if anyone is having similar problems. I hope it's not a hardware issue for me.
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Sam



What have you done to try to correct the problem?


----------



## rajdude

I can attest first hand that the PQ between Dish and cable is easily seen.


Someone I know used to have HD cable in Leesburg. His PQ was excellent. Recenetly he switched to Dish...not the HD PQ always leaves me wanting more.


Its as if they are compressing data or something (actually they ARE)


But then you already have the very best.... OTA. Nothing compares to it as far as bitrate and PQ.


Satellite and (to a less extent) cable simply dont have enough bandwidth.


But then again.....Dish has so many nice channels in HD. Maybe a combo would be best...if I can afford both ...oh well !



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RebelScum* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I guess another important question would be, between Dish and Cox cable, would there be any discernable difference in HD picture quality? Would one be better than the other?


----------



## CrispyCritter

RE: getting a list of QAM channels in the clear


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> You don't need a list from anyone else - what the TV tuned is what you get. It doesn't matter what anyone else up the street might get - if the TV doesn't get it, it doesn't get it. And it doesn't matter what kind of service she has - the same clear QAM chs would be available with all tiers of service.



Actually, in some places you do need a list, like Comcast, Montgomery County. Whether on purpose or not, their QAM info contains errors so many tuners will not pick up the channels on a scan, but can directly tune them (at least some of them). I have a TiVo S3 temporarily without cable cards. On a scan, I don't pick up any of the original OTA digital channels in the range over 100 (I pick up other channels, like the music channels). I can tune some of them because I know where they are from other people's lists, eg NBC at 108-1. There's no way I can find them without a list.


Does anybody know where FOX is now in Montgomery County? I suspect it's moved recently, with the tier changes. I can't tune it at 105.3 which is where my lists put it.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Are you seeing it with a Digital tuner? (ie built-in QAM tuner) or just a regular analog tuner?




well my Mitsubishi has a built in QAM & the HD stations I am getting (usual network stuff) is coming through nice & clean.


So probably the QAM without the cable box & straight from the wall.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Analog tier? There ain't no HD on any analog tier. What channel is it on?



100 something recalling from work here.


----------



## RebelScum

So, barring OTA, FiOS has the best PQ overall, but I can't get that yet.


And it sounds like for HD, Cox has better PQ than E*, but for SD, is there a winner?


Also, someone said that Cox's HD-DVR box has 2 tuners. Are they both HD? Does it also allow me to hook up an OTA antenna and view/record off that, or is it cable-only?


----------



## dt_dc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RebelScum* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Also, someone said that Cox's HD-DVR box has 2 tuners.



That would be me.


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RebelScum* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Are they both HD?



Yes.


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RebelScum* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Does it also allow me to hook up an OTA antenna and view/record off that, or is it cable-only?



Cable-only ... no OTA / antenna.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 100 something recalling from work here.



That ain't analog. What you must be seeing are clear QAM stations. Why anything that is not local HD or someone's PPV are availalbe on clear QAM is the question.


----------



## RebelScum

Oh, also, does Cox allow you to hook up an external hard drive to expand your storage capacity? When I called them to ask, they said "no" but now I see this on their homepage, so it looks like it can. Can someone verify?


Sounds like E* customers are still waiting for this feature, right?


----------



## SamWithToys




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> What have you done to try to correct the problem?




Not much really. I did an auto-scan on my television. I tried to tune the channels in directly. I moved my antenna around a bit. No luck.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RebelScum* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Oh, also, does Cox allow you to hook up an external hard drive to expand your storage capacity? When I called them to ask, they said "no" but now I see this on their homepage, so it looks like it can. Can someone verify?
> 
> 
> Sounds like E* customers are still waiting for this feature, right?



If the Cox HD-DVR was a Motorola box, then the external SATA port would not be enabled. None of the Motorola DVRs out there, from any vendors AFAIK, have an enabled eSATA port. The reason is that the software and DRM copy protection has to pass a industry validation & test process and Motorola is still reportedly working on this. Verizon uses the Motorola 6416, so this affects Fios subscribers.


Some Scientific Atlanta 8300 HD-DVRs do have working eSATA ports as SA got their software approved some time ago. Check the HDTV recorders forum for the threads on the SA 8300 DVRs. Should be some info in there from Cox subscribers on whether Cox has been nice enough to enable the eSATA port.


----------



## mapper




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Some Scientific Atlanta 8300 HD-DVRs do have working eSATA ports as SA got their software approved some time ago. Check the HDTV recorders forum for the threads on the SA 8300 DVRs. Should be some info in there from Cox subscribers on whether Cox has been nice enough to enable the eSATA port.



I wish Cox would also enable the FireWire ports on the SA8300HD for those who don't have a eSATA external hard drive.


Anyways,

Has anyone used this eSATA port? When I had this DVR I didn't have a eSATA port on my external hard drive so I couldn't experiment with it. How does the DVR manage the recordings?


----------



## CrispyCritter




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I wish Cox would also enable the FireWire ports on the SA8300HD for those who don't have a eSATA external hard drive.
> 
> 
> Anyways,
> 
> Has anyone used this eSATA port? When I had this DVR I didn't have a eSATA port on my external hard drive so I couldn't experiment with it. How does the DVR manage the recordings?



I can't answer for the SA8300HD, but a couple of weeks ago it was publicized how to (unofficially) add an external eSATA disk for the TiVo S3, and people have been playing with it since.


The S3 external disk is meant to be used only as permanent expansion. It's invisible to the user except as more space - the user can't tell the TiVo where to put shows. All shows are encrypted and tied to the individual machine. If the external disk is disconnected, the user is asked to "divorce" the internal and external disks (or reconnect the external disk). After this is done, the only shows remaining are those that were entirely recorded on the internal disk. Even if you then re-attach the external disk, all of the shows previously on it are lost. So you can't use multiple external disks as archives (ie, disconnecting and storing a filled disk until you want to see a show recorded on it doesn't work) .


----------



## kenrowe




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CrispyCritter* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Does anybody know where FOX is now in Montgomery County? I suspect it's moved recently, with the tier changes. I can't tune it at 105.3 which is where my lists put it.



It is still at 105.3, as of tonight. The channel changes go in effect tomorrow--I'll make a point to check tomorrow and see if it moved.


----------



## chetldr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Which model of the Silver Sensor antenna are you using? Amplified or non-amplified? You are probably getting some significant multipath. Where is the Silver Sensor set up? Did you a different location for the antenna with minimal obstruction in the direction of the broadcast towers such as placing the antenna in a window?



non-amplified. before heading outside - I'm going to break out my really long cable and try moving the antenna upstairs to see if that helps. if that doesn't work - maybe I'll go outside and hopefully not fall off the roof.


----------



## carltonrice

None of the CW Monday night lineup was available in HD tonight.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chetldr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> non-amplified. before heading outside - I'm going to break out my really long cable and try moving the antenna upstairs to see if that helps. if that doesn't work - maybe I'll go outside and hopefully not fall off the roof.



Ok, Mark and I were wondering if you had an amplified Silver Sensor because at only 6 miles, the amp could overload the receiver. But you have the non-amplified model, so it is likely multipath or dead zones in the house. Do you have a window facing in the direction of the Baltimore broadcast towers? You could also place the antenna so only the outside wall in the direction of the towers. You want to minimize obstructions in the house and get some elevation on the antenna. Good luck.


----------



## chetldr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Ok, Mark and I were wondering if you had an amplified Silver Sensor because at only 6 miles, the amp could overload the receiver. But you have the non-amplified model, so it is likely multipath or dead zones in the house. Do you have a window facing in the direction of the Baltimore broadcast towers? You could also place the antenna so only the outside wall in the direction of the towers. You want to minimize obstructions in the house and get some elevation on the antenna. Good luck.



mark & afiggatt -


I tried the paper clip, and got about 95% on 11.1 and 90%+ on 54.1. 45.1 was gyrating around 80% with breakups. thinking it through (with my limited knowledge anyway) - it now makes more sense why using the backside of the antenna was working to pull a halfway decent signal. maybe the attenuator is worth a shot. I'll see if I can find one at the local radio shack and report back. thanks for the tip.


also - the antenna points directly out a window facing the towers (blocked by building across the street of course).


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CrispyCritter* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> RE: getting a list of QAM channels in the clear
> 
> Actually, in some places you do need a list, like Comcast, Montgomery County. Whether on purpose or not, their QAM info contains errors so many tuners will not pick up the channels on a scan, but can directly tune them (at least some of them). I have a TiVo S3 temporarily without cable cards. On a scan, I don't pick up any of the original OTA digital channels in the range over 100 (I pick up other channels, like the music channels). I can tune some of them because I know where they are from other people's lists, eg NBC at 108-1. There's no way I can find them without a list.
> 
> 
> Does anybody know where FOX is now in Montgomery County? I suspect it's moved recently, with the tier changes. I can't tune it at 105.3 which is where my lists put it.



As of yesterday, Fox was 105.3 in Montgomery county. There are some changes apparently in the digital (and analog?) line-up starting today for Comcast Mont. county. Anyone check them out yet? Supposedly TV guide has moved to digital, and there are 5 more channels(?). I'll do a scan tonight, but I was wondering if there were any surprises I should watch for.

J


----------



## Big J

bump.

Any differences? Anyone?

J


----------



## pacocase

I posted this in its own thread, but I should have posted it here first. I should have paid more attention to the layout of this forum.


Hi to everyone. I've been reading a lot of helpful posts on this forum for a long time, and now it's time for me to make my first post. I've been having a terrible time with reception of WRC in Washington DC.


I'm about 55 miles away in Charles Town, WV. I'm using an Antennas Direct 91XG antenna, a Channel Master 7777 amplifier, and DirecTV H10 Receivers. All my other channels come in at a pretty solid 93% but WRC bounces back and forth between 60-83 with occasional dips into the 50's or momentary total signal loss.


I'm not sure what else to try to correct this problem. My uncle explained to me the concept of multipath and that sometimes pointing the antenna at a slightly off angle will fix it, but being that my antenna is so highly directional, re-aiming it didn't do any good. I tried going for maybe halfway between Baltimore and Washington, but I lost both. I tried overshooting Washington just a bit and lost all my channels. If I don't have my antenna pointed close to 130 degrees, I can't get much of anything.


So I'm appealing to others in the area or those with similar experiences. Anybody have any suggestions on how to solve my problem? Of course, due to Murphy's law, the signal is mostly fine during commercials, and cuts out only during crucial moments of programming.


Thanks,

Pacocase



afiggatt responded to me with this:

You should post this in the Baltimore-Washington thread. Your problem is not unique out where you are with getting the digital signal for WRC-DT NBC 4 which is broadcast on UHF 48. The reason is that there is a low power analog station WAZW-CA 48 located in Winchester, VA which interferes with the digital reception of WRC-DT. You need to try to block out the interfering signal from WAZW and/or get a better ATSC tuner. Again, take this to Baltimore-Washington thread.



So thanks for the explanation. How do I block out WAZW?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pacocase* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> II'm about 55 miles away in Charles Town, WV. I'm using an Antennas Direct 91XG antenna, a Channel Master 7777 amplifier, and DirecTV H10 Receivers. All my other channels come in at a pretty solid 93% but WRC bounces back and forth between 60-83 with occasional dips into the 50's or momentary total signal loss.
> 
> 
> So thanks for the explanation. How do I block out WAZW?



Perhaps I should rephrase my post and say that you MAY be getting interference from WAZW-CA 48. Where are you with respect to Charles Town? In the city, north or south of it? Your zip code can help us evaluate your distance from WAZW-CA. If you look at the coverage map for WAZW-CA at http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...=CA279607.html , Charles Town is just beyond the northern fringe.


Do you have an analog NTSC tuner hooked up to the antenna or can you easily connect one? If so, what do you see for the analog signal when you tune to UHF 48 with the antenna aimed at DC. Then depending on much trouble it is, you may want to aim the antenna at Winchester to get a sense of how strong the signal is from WAZW-CA.


As for blocking the signal, that is not easy. You already have the right antenna for your situation with the directional 91XG. One way to try is to mount the antenna where the house or a chimney blocks the signal to some extent from the direction of WAZW-CA. You could also investigate putting up a wire mesh screen near but not touching the antenna to your SW to block the signal.


Are you able to get a good signal for WMAR NBC 11 in Baltimore? If you can't block WAZW-CA, that may be your best bet for NBC in HD until the analog shutdown in 2009. WAZW will be shutting down the analog signal on UHF 48 and broadcasting a digital signal on UHF 46 which will fix the interference problem for WRC-DT NBC 4 (which will be keeping it's digital signal on UHF 48). However, WBBF-DT Fox 45 in Baltimore will be staying on UHF 46, so WAZW-LD (LD = low power Digital) is likely to create an interference problem for any WBBF-DT viewers out there. See the predicted Service Contour map for WAZW-LD's digital signal at http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=168449 .


If you want to get a feel for the calculated signal strength from both stations, go to tvfool.com and enter your exact location & height for the antenna. See what the dBM report is for the analog and digital stations. If you determine that your reception problem is due to WAZW-CA, you should email WRC-DT and let them know. Heck, email the FCC. Maybe even write a snail mail letter to the WRC station manager if you are motivated enough.


----------



## dt_dc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RebelScum* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Oh, also, does Cox allow you to hook up an external hard drive to expand your storage capacity? When I called them to ask, they said "no" but now I see this on their homepage, so it looks like it can. Can someone verify?



Cox Fairfax uses Scientific Atlanta boxes ... and has updated to the SARA firmware versions that have eSATA support so ... as long as you get a box with an eSATA port (8300HD, 8240HD) eSATA works.


I was using an 8300HD from Cox Fairfax w/ external 300GB hard drive via eSATA before switching over to Fios.


That being said, they don't really "support" external drives ... ie, call and ask them a question and you'll probably get a confused mumble.


But anyway, read the 8300HD eSATA thread:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=516559 


All applicable to Cox Fairfax.


----------



## dt_dc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Has anyone used this eSATA port? When I had this DVR I didn't have a eSATA port on my external hard drive so I couldn't experiment with it. How does the DVR manage the recordings?



Recordings automatically go on whichever drive has the most space available.


----------



## pacocase

I'm in zip 25438 technically Ranson WV, out on a farm slightly NW of Charles Town city. I thought about making something to shield my antenna from the Winchester side if interference from WAZW does turn out to be my problem, but that seems like too much trouble. I guess the easiest thing to do would be to install a rotor on my antenna. I can get WMAR if I'm pointed towards Baltimore, but currently to do that I have to crawl up on the roof.


Thanks very much for your help!


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pacocase* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I can get WMAR if I'm pointed towards Baltimore, but currently to do that I have to crawl up on the roof.
> 
> 
> Thanks very much for your help!



You will need to get WBAL-DT from Baltimore for NBC, not WMAR-DT. I find that of the Baltimore CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, and CW affils, WBAL is the hardest to get. Probably because they're way up the dial on UHF channel 59. It'll be interesting to see how much reception issues change in a couple of years when the analog stations are shut off (thus getting rid of a lot of interference) and the high frequency UHF channels like WBAL (59) and WMAR (52) and WRC (48) move down the dial if that's going to happen.


----------



## lax01

Anybody have UHD in COMCAST MOCO yet?!?!


----------



## Big J

Comcast Mont. county

I did channel scan-not much new, except I found TV20's HD counterpart at 64.3. Lost TV guide,and didn't find it amoung the digital channels I could get. Other than that, nothing new.









Anyone find TVguide with QAM?

J


----------



## lax01




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Comcast Mont. county
> 
> I did channel scan-not much new, except I found TV20's HD counterpart at 64.3. Lost TV guide,and didn't find it amoung the digital channels I could get. Other than that, nothing new.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Anyone find TVguide with QAM?
> 
> J



ehhh I mean Comcast Cable...


----------



## Big J

Actually, I wasn't responding to your post, more of a follow-up on my earlier post. FWIW, I have comcast cable, I just don't use a STB.

J


----------



## kenrowe




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lax01* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Anybody have UHD in COMCAST MOCO yet?!?!



I had it before 6am this morning. Some of the other new channels took their time to arrive.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> You will need to get WBAL-DT from Baltimore for NBC, not WMAR-DT. I find that of the Baltimore CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, and CW affils, WBAL is the hardest to get. Probably because they're way up the dial on UHF channel 59.



My mistake, I meant WBAL-DT NBC 11 in Baltimore. It is the weakest signal of the major stations in Baltimore at 513 kW and up there at UHF 59. It may tough for someone to get way out in Charles Town unless pacocase is up on a hill and even then it may be iffy. Of course, WBAL-DT also stretches all the SD content so this is not the optimum substitute for WRC-DT 4. I guess Charles Town would fall into the WHAG NBC 25 coverage area, but WHAG-DT (on UHF 55) is still at low power on the digital signal, and as far I know is still SD only.


----------



## pacocase




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> My mistake, I meant WBAL-DT NBC 11 in Baltimore. It is the weakest signal of the major stations in Baltimore at 513 kW and up there at UHF 59. It may tough for someone to get way out in Charles Town unless pacocase is up on a hill and even then it may be iffy. Of course, WBAL-DT also stretches all the SD content so this is not the optimum substitute for WRC-DT 4. I guess Charles Town would fall into the WHAG NBC 25 coverage area, but WHAG-DT (on UHF 55) is still at low power on the digital signal, and as far I know is still SD only.



Yeah, that's right. NBC 25 is right in my area and I can pick it up and watch it on NTSC with rabbit ears. I am pretty sure they are only SD, and besides they're completely the other direction for my antenna. I know when I first hooked it up the ancient VHF antenna I replaced was facing Baltimore, so I figured I'd try it first. I was using an old Voom receiver for my ATSC tuner and I got all the major networks. I'm up on a hill with nothing but corn fields for miles around, and with the antenna up above the chimney I can receive pretty much anything that is possible to receive. I'll just have to install an antenna rotor I guess, but I was hoping not to have to.


----------



## bmfc1

Would it kill Comcast (MoCo) to send out a new channel line-up? The notification was the jumbled message on the DVR three weeks ago which didn't contain channel locations. All they have to do is send it out by email and/or include it in the bill before the changes go into effect.


----------



## valweh41




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Oh, WMAR gets its share of audio problems. The rhythmic pop that occurs occasionally will drive you mad.



Speaking of problems...here's a weird one. Every night during the Jeopardy/Wheel block on WMAR HD I get pixelization, ONLY on those 2 shows!! Weird indeed. Reported it to Verizon[fios] no problem there, reported it to WMAR and they are scratching their heads. Anyone else having this issue? Please chime in, thanks


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bmfc1* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Would it kill Comcast (MoCo) to send out a new channel line-up? The notification was the jumbled message on the DVR three weeks ago which didn't contain channel locations. All they have to do is send it out by email and/or include it in the bill before the changes go into effect.



In Harford Co it seems changes are frequent enough that putting out new channel cards each time is probably impractical.


Here they do a good job of keeping the line-up current on comcast.com and I just print one from there as needed. Give that a try.


GoIrish


----------



## CycloneGT

Comcast to gobble up Millennium Cable

article 


Looks like my grid will be getting a little bit smaller.


----------



## CrispyCritter




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bmfc1* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Would it kill Comcast (MoCo) to send out a new channel line-up? The notification was the jumbled message on the DVR three weeks ago which didn't contain channel locations. All they have to do is send it out by email and/or include it in the bill before the changes go into effect.



It was included in my last bill, dated May 1. Added 8 channels (some on specialized packages) and moved 4 more. The most important is probably Universal HD at 250.

Bloomberg 106

Oxygen 123

Universal 250

WDCA-DT HD 215

WQAW-LP 616

CSTV 274

Tennis 277

WAPA America 617


TV One 173

TCM 169

TV Guide 100

Court 187


I get all of the non-specialized stations, but my TiVo doesn't have guide info for them yet (I just submitted them to TiVo).


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Comcast to gobble up Millennium Cable
> 
> article
> 
> 
> Looks like my grid will be getting a little bit smaller.



Bummer. More competetion from FiOS... result, less competetion from cable. And Millennium has been failry aggressive with their offers... triple play $20 cheaper than Comcast. Unfortunately they never quite kept up with On Demand and a little behind with HD channels.

I thought they tried to merge once before but got shot down.


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pacocase* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I'll just have to install an antenna rotor I guess, but I was hoping not to have to.



Either that or your could try a second antenna, and a Jointenna to connect the two. You might even try a CM 4221, which is a little less directional and has the screen on the back that might help block Charles Town. In the process you could try the 4221 alone, with different orientations to get rid of any multipath.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmsjr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Either that or your could try a second antenna, and a Jointenna to connect the two. You might even try a CM 4221, which is a little less directional and has the screen on the back that might help block Charles Town. In the process you could try the 4221 alone, with different orientations to get rid of any multipath.



The CM 4221 would be a poor choice for his situation. It has good gain to the backside. I get stations at 29 and 46 miles from behind my CM 4221. pacocase is a long ways from DC so he needs a long range antenna setup. The AD 91XG has a good front to back ratio so it provides a better chance at rejecting the signal from WAZW-CA in Winchester than a CM 4228.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pacocase* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yeah, that's right. NBC 25 is right in my area and I can pick it up and watch it on NTSC with rabbit ears. I am pretty sure they are only SD, and besides they're completely the other direction for my antenna. I know when I first hooked it up the ancient VHF antenna I replaced was facing Baltimore, so I figured I'd try it first. I was using an old Voom receiver for my ATSC tuner and I got all the major networks. I'm up on a hill with nothing but corn fields for miles around, and with the antenna up above the chimney I can receive pretty much anything that is possible to receive. I'll just have to install an antenna rotor I guess, but I was hoping not to have to.



With the antenna up on the roof, I think you should get a rotator. The 91XG is a directional antenna and you have stations in DC, Baltimore, Hagerstown, the various MPT stations, and stations to the southwest down the valley. You may leave the antenna in one position most of the time, but a rotator allows you to tweak the aim as the seasons change and to get other stations without having to climb up on the roof.


However do you also have a VHF antenna on the mast? The 91XG is a UHF antenna only which is ok for getting the HD stations for now. Just in case you are not aware of this, in February, 2009 after the analog shutdown, WJLA-DT 7 & WUSA-DT 9 in DC and WBAL-DT 11 & WJZ-DT 13 in Baltimore will switch their digital signal to their current upper VHF analog channels. If you don't have a VHF antenna, you can add a more compact upper VHF antenna to the mast such as the Winegard YA-1713 (or the smaller Winegard YA-6713 but you need the longer range version).


----------



## Mike20878




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CrispyCritter* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It was included in my last bill, dated May 1. Added 8 channels (some on specialized packages) and moved 4 more. The most important is probably Universal HD at 250.
> 
> Bloomberg 106
> 
> Oxygen 123
> 
> Universal 250
> 
> WDCA-DT HD 215
> 
> WQAW-LP 616
> 
> CSTV 274
> 
> Tennis 277
> 
> WAPA America 617
> 
> 
> TV One 173
> 
> TCM 169
> 
> TV Guide 100
> 
> Court 187
> 
> 
> I get all of the non-specialized stations, but my TiVo doesn't have guide info for them yet (I just submitted them to TiVo).



Is Universal HD the "UHD" I'm always hearing about? The one that airs Battlestar Galactica?


----------



## Mike20878

We tried to watch Lost in HD last night and had to switch to SD as it was bad still.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Mike20878* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is Universal HD the "UHD" I'm always hearing about? The one that airs Battlestar Galactica?



UHD is used as shorthand for Universal HD, although I think UnivHD is a better shorthand reference. (UHD also = Ultra High Definition in some places). UnivHD airs BattleStar Galactica, Stargate Atlantis (season 1 only so far), Northern Exposure in 4:3 HD (looping through the first 3 seasons only), was running Firefly (all 13 episodes), and because this is a Universal/NBC property, Law & Order of course (SVU in this case). UnivHD has been showing the 3rd season episodes of Battlestar Galactica on Saturday nights in HD for the 1st time in the US and this Saturday will be airing a rather critical episode as they get into the last four episodes of the 3rd season. Got the DVR set to record it. See http://www.universalhd.com/ for their schedule.


----------



## pacocase




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> With the antenna up on the roof, I think you should get a rotator. The 91XG is a directional antenna and you have stations in DC, Baltimore, Hagerstown, the various MPT stations, and stations to the southwest down the valley. You may leave the antenna in one position most of the time, but a rotator allows you to tweak the aim as the seasons change and to get other stations without having to climb up on the roof.
> 
> 
> However do you also have a VHF antenna on the mast? The 91XG is a UHF antenna only which is ok for getting the HD stations for now. Just in case you are not aware of this, in February, 2009 after the analog shutdown, WJLA-DT 7 & WUSA-DT 9 in DC and WBAL-DT 11 & WJZ-DT 13 in Baltimore will switch their digital signal to their current upper VHF analog channels. If you don't have a VHF antenna, you can add a more compact upper VHF antenna to the mast such as the Winegard YA-1713 (or the smaller Winegard YA-6713 but you need the longer range version).



I don't have a VHF antenna on the mast. I removed an ancient one that was about 5' wide and hooked up with the old 300 ohm wire. I have a slightly smaller Channel Master (I forget the model) UHF/VHF combo that I simply stuck up on a fencepost and pointed towards Hagerstown when I first moved in to pick up the locals there. Maybe I'll add it to the mast pointing towards Baltimore and see if I can pick anything up. I wasn't aware of WJLA and WUSA switching from their current UHF to VHF for their digital signal in '09, so after that switch happens I should be able to point my VHF antenna towards Washington and get everything.


----------



## lax01




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> UHD is used as shorthand for Universal HD, although I think UnivHD is a better shorthand reference. (UHD also = Ultra High Definition in some places). UnivHD airs BattleStar Galactica, Stargate Atlantis (season 1 only so far), Northern Exposure in 4:3 HD (looping through the first 3 seasons only), was running Firefly (all 13 episodes), and because this is a Universal/NBC property, Law & Order of course (SVU in this case). UnivHD has been showing the 3rd season episodes of Battlestar Galactica on Saturday nights in HD for the 1st time in the US and this Saturday will be airing a rather critical episode as they get into the last four episodes of the 3rd season. Got the DVR set to record it. See http://www.universalhd.com/ for their schedule.



Too bad they can't play a BSG marathon like Sci-Fi!


----------



## Mike20878




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> UHD is used as shorthand for Universal HD, although I think UnivHD is a better shorthand reference. (UHD also = Ultra High Definition in some places). UnivHD airs BattleStar Galactica, Stargate Atlantis (season 1 only so far), Northern Exposure in 4:3 HD (looping through the first 3 seasons only), was running Firefly (all 13 episodes), and because this is a Universal/NBC property, Law & Order of course (SVU in this case). UnivHD has been showing the 3rd season episodes of Battlestar Galactica on Saturday nights in HD for the 1st time in the US and this Saturday will be airing a rather critical episode as they get into the last four episodes of the 3rd season. Got the DVR set to record it. See http://www.universalhd.com/ for their schedule.



Thanks, I'll have to check it out.


----------



## stuntmole

I'm a Comcast subscriber in Arlington. Over the past week, no issues with ABC HD until the last two minutes of last night's "Lost" episode (right as Charlie pops up at the end) - luckily, the picture/sound recovered after a few seconds, but we weren't too happy at the time.


On the other hand, I've noticed on the local Fox HD channel that whenever a show that was originally designed for SD is shown on the HD channel (e.g., "Seinfeld" reruns), I get a single thin line of what looks like interference (almost like a very bright, irregularly dashed line) at the very top of the screen. I usually don't see this on the other HD channels, nor do I see it at the top of the screen on Fox HD with HD-designed programs (i.e., current shows).


I've got an SA3250 box hooked up via DVI-to-HDMI cable to a Samsung LN-T4661F (had the same issue with the two hooked up via component).


Not a huge issue, but it is annoying. Anybody else see the same thing?


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast finally updated my guide so that it shows what's on 16 days from now. Before that it was always limited to 4 days.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

"Grey's" was ok on WJLA until around 10pm, and the breakups and freezes began again on DirecTV. Any status from the folks in Rosslyn (whether it is local, national, or Directv specific)?


----------



## Marcus Carr

FiOS constructions schedules for May:


Anne Arundel County Schedule:

http://www22.verizon.com/about/commu...es/aacomay.doc 


Baltimore County Schedule:

http://www22.verizon.com/about/commu...es/bacomay.doc 


Howard County Schedule:

http://www22.verizon.com/about/commu...es/hocomay.doc 


Montgomery County Schedule:

http://www22.verizon.com/about/commu...es/mocomay.doc 


Prince George's County Schedule:

http://www22.verizon.com/about/commu...es/pgcomay.doc


----------



## Mike20878




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> "Grey's" was ok on WJLA until around 10pm, and the breakups and freezes began again on DirecTV. Any status from the folks in Rosslyn (whether it is local, national, or Directv specific)?



It was bad from the start on Comcast. I sent an email to Comcast this time to see what they have to say.


----------



## afiggatt

*WHUT-DT 32 info*

The FCC put out several documents today on the digital TV transition on their website. One of the documents covers the commission's decision on whether to extend or deny waivers for the DTV transition for 145 stations. In the document, there is this on WHUT-DT:


"19. WHUT-DT, Washington, DC, states that it has experienced equipment problems with its combiner that required a redesign of some of its DTV equipment. The station explains that it is working to rebuild the necessary equipment and complete installation. The station states that it has also encountered difficulties entering into a lease, and its legal department is working on the matter."


So that is WHUT-DT's excuse for not being on the air. They were granted a 6 month extension, so don't expect to see them on the digital line-up anytime soon.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> *WHUT-DT 32 info*
> 
> 
> So that is WHUT-DT's excuse for not being on the air. They were granted a 6 month extension, so don't expect to see them on the digital line-up anytime soon.



Wow... This station isn't on the air yet? It's practically mid-2007!


----------



## biker19

Anyone hear anything about Cox shuffling some of its clear QAM chs? WETA and CW are gone while some Fairfax ch plus one audio ch popped up.


----------



## mapper

Wow, you get clear QAM through Cox?

Thats amazing, I couldn't get anything to come through.

If Cox has shuffled some channels it might because they don't want the clear channels to appear there in the first place. I called them and they don't send in the clear QAM if you ask them, you might get them cause they haven't turned it off where you live. Or Cox technicans are liars. Either way, if you have a list of channels, that would be nice too.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> *WHUT-DT 32 info*
> 
> The FCC put out several documents today on the digital TV transition on their website. One of the documents covers the commission's decision on whether to extend or deny waivers for the DTV transition for 145 stations. In the document, there is this on WHUT-DT:
> 
> 
> "19. WHUT-DT, Washington, DC, states that it has experienced equipment problems with its combiner that required a redesign of some of its DTV equipment. The station explains that it is working to rebuild the necessary equipment and complete installation. The station states that it has also encountered difficulties entering into a lease, and its legal department is working on the matter."
> 
> 
> So that is WHUT-DT's excuse for not being on the air. They were granted a 6 month extension, so don't expect to see them on the digital line-up anytime soon.



\\

How many people actually watch this station?


----------



## CycloneGT

I know what you are talking about. WHUT is a college tv station. They are likely just a PBS affiliate just to get their hands on some federal funds. Even when they do get their Digital signal on the air, I won't expect that they would have the budget to do much in the way of HD. At best I would expect them to just relay the national PBS-HD feed.


----------



## biker19

WHUT is a nice alternative to WETA who doesn't want to follow the national schedule on the DT side. It's the place that I usually watch Motorweek and a couple of other shows - it's on at more convenient times than WETA.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Wow, you get clear QAM through Cox?
> 
> Thats amazing, I couldn't get anything to come through.
> 
> If Cox has shuffled some channels it might because they don't want the clear channels to appear there in the first place. I called them and they don't send in the clear QAM if you ask them, you might get them cause they haven't turned it off where you live. Or Cox technicans are liars. Either way, if you have a list of channels, that would be nice too.



There are very few cable system that don't have some clear QAM chs. The technicians are not liars - they are just uninformed.


Currently they have the 4 major networks (in HD) and a couple of "bonus" chs in clear QAM.


A couple of months ago they had the whole expanded ch lineup in the clear (it lasted about 2 weeks).


I think the norm will be to have the locals in clear QAM.


----------



## URFloorMatt

So... A quick skim through the HD Programming forum reveals that--surprise!--National Treasure is actually in HD tonight.


I can't wait for WRC to somehow butcher the Heroes finale tomorrow.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So... A quick skim through the HD Programming forum reveals that--surprise!--National Treasure is actually in HD tonight.
> 
> 
> I can't wait for WRC to somehow butcher the Heroes finale tomorrow.



WBAL-DT NBC 11 in Baltimore is showing National Treasure in HD, but with 2.0 sound. So WRC-DT 4 in DC either messed up or is having a problem getting the national HD feed from NBC. Has anyone called or emailed WRC to complain?


As for WHUT, I don't watch the station because it is available only in analog OTA or a converted analog source signal on Verizon. When they finally have a digital broadcast signal, hopefully they will provide a HD sub-channel which would be useful as an alternative to WETA and MPT. But I don't recall reading anything on whether they have plans to offer a HD sub-channel or whether they will go the four or five SD sub-channel route. WHUT is more than a simple college station, even with the affiliation with Howard University. Their analog broadcast signal is running at 5,000 kW, the maximum power allowed for analog UHF. Not exactly a low or medium power station. Their FCC license is for a 100 kW digital signal which won't cover as much area, but 100 kW for digital UHF is still respectable.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So... A quick skim through the HD Programming forum reveals that--surprise!--National Treasure is actually in HD tonight.
> 
> 
> I can't wait for WRC to somehow butcher the Heroes finale tomorrow.



No problems with any previous episodes of Heroes in HD. All the local stations are fairly consistant now. Nothing like it was 6 years ago.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WBAL-DT NBC 11 in Baltimore is showing National Treasure in HD, but with 2.0 sound.



When I checked WBAL the movie was in SD, about 15-20 minutes in. Must have switched to HD at some point.


----------



## erwos

Does anyone have a current list of what channels Comcast is putting out in clear QAM in Montgomery County? Local broadcast channels, clearly, but what else?


Awesome thread... as a Silver Spring resident who's taken the QAM plunge, I'm trying to get a grip on exactly what Comcast does or does not offer.


----------



## yekim54




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Anyone hear anything about Cox shuffling some of its clear QAM chs? WETA and CW are gone while some Fairfax ch plus one audio ch popped up.



WETA and CW apparently were not broadcast on Cox clear QAM over the weekend for some reason. They are both back on clear QAM this morning. I am picking up these two new channels on Cox clear QAM:


42-4 Korea One MBC

116-10 City of Fairfax/City of Falls Church


----------



## iontyre

Anyone besides me notice that there is a message up on Comcast Harford County digital cable that the NFL network is moving to the Sports Tier as of 6/20. They charge more for that. And the move is just in time for the preseason schedule to kickoff. Thanks a ton, guys!


----------



## MrMike6by9




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *iontyre* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Anyone besides me notice that there is a message up on Comcast Harford County digital cable that the NFL network is moving to the Sports Tier as of 6/20. They charge more for that. And the move is just in time for the preseason schedule to kickoff. Thanks a ton, guys!



I got the notice in Baltimore County about 2 weeks ago. Some one down DC way reported it here about a week before that.


YMMV


----------



## pennstatefan

I have a question that I don't recall ever being asked before. Is it possible to split the output of my OTA pre-amp? It would be nice to be able to connect the OTA antenna to both the Dish 622 receiver and the HD tuner built into my TV set.

Figure I would throw the question out there before I dig into the rats nest of wires behind my set.


----------



## dt_dc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *iontyre* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Anyone besides me notice that there is a message up on Comcast Harford County digital cable that the NFL network is moving to the Sports Tier as of 6/20. They charge more for that. And the move is just in time for the preseason schedule to kickoff. Thanks a ton, guys!



NFL Network and Comcast are having a little spat ...
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6442224.html 
http://www.multichannel.com/article/...dustryid=47199 

Etc.

NFL Network thinks their contract prevents them from being in the sports tier. Comcast thinks their contract allows them to put NFL Network in the sports tier unless NFL gives them the games carried on the channel for Versus. Went to court ... judge ruled in favor of Comcast.


Expect NFL Network to be moving to the sports tier for most Comcast systems ... unless NFL successfully appeals ... or something is worked out between NFL and Comcast ...


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pennstatefan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I have a question that I don't recall ever being asked before. Is it possible to split the output of my OTA pre-amp? It would be nice to be able to connect the OTA antenna to both the Dish 622 receiver and the HD tuner built into my TV set.
> 
> Figure I would throw the question out there before I dig into the rats nest of wires behind my set.



Sounds reasonable enough. I would full expect that you can split the OTA signal. That's what splitters are for.










If there are power inserters or diplexors involved, then you may have to make sure that split at the right spot. Usually if you just put the splitter where your cable is about to connect to the 622's OTA input, then you should be fine.


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *stuntmole* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I'm a Comcast subscriber in Arlington. Over the past week, no issues with ABC HD until the last two minutes of last night's "Lost" episode (right as Charlie pops up at the end) - luckily, the picture/sound recovered after a few seconds, but we weren't too happy at the time.
> 
> 
> On the other hand, I've noticed on the local Fox HD channel that whenever a show that was originally designed for SD is shown on the HD channel (e.g., "Seinfeld" reruns), I get a single thin line of what looks like interference (almost like a very bright, irregularly dashed line) at the very top of the screen. I usually don't see this on the other HD channels, nor do I see it at the top of the screen on Fox HD with HD-designed programs (i.e., current shows).
> 
> 
> I've got an SA3250 box hooked up via DVI-to-HDMI cable to a Samsung LN-T4661F (had the same issue with the two hooked up via component).
> 
> 
> Not a huge issue, but it is annoying. Anybody else see the same thing?



Yep; I see the exact same thing on Fox HD in Alexandria with a Comcast-provided cable card. As you said, annoying.


----------



## derek




> Quote:
> When I checked WBAL the movie was in SD, about 15-20 minutes in. Must have switched to HD at some point.



Bleh! WRCDT had this in 4:3 SD DD 2.0 for the first 15 mins or so that I checked. I stopped my recording! Was hoping they would switch over quickly... just unacceptable!


----------



## baltimark




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> My mistake, I meant WBAL-DT NBC 11 in Baltimore. It is the weakest signal of the major stations in Baltimore at 513 kW and up there at UHF 59.



I registered to specifically ask about the WBAL signal.


Is it unusual that I have problems with it, or does everyone?


I have a dish network HD receiver, and rabbit ears near my TV. I can pick up every local station perfectly, and the signal strength for WBAL shows 100, but it constantly drops out.


I've fiddled with the ears constantly to try to get it to come in, but there's only so much rotation and lengthening/shortening you can do before you go crazy with permutations.


Is the problem on their end?


FWIW, I live about a mile from TV hill, and can see the antenna from my house. It shouldn't be such a problem.


If the frequency is very high, does that indicate that I could shorten my "ears" to try to get it better?


Thanks.


mark


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *erwos* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Does anyone have a current list of what channels Comcast is putting out in clear QAM in Montgomery County? Local broadcast channels, clearly, but what else?
> 
> 
> Awesome thread... as a Silver Spring resident who's taken the QAM plunge, I'm trying to get a grip on exactly what Comcast does or does not offer.



Not much else besides locals. There's the occasional VOD that seems to be at random, and about a dozen or so music channels. Do you need the locations? I can get them when I get home.

J


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *baltimark* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I registered to specifically ask about the WBAL signal.
> 
> 
> Is it unusual that I have problems with it, or does everyone?
> 
> 
> I have a dish network HD receiver, and rabbit ears near my TV. I can pick up every local station perfectly, and the signal strength for WBAL shows 100, but it constantly drops out.
> 
> 
> I've fiddled with the ears constantly to try to get it to come in, but there's only so much rotation and lengthening/shortening you can do before you go crazy with permutations.
> 
> 
> Is the problem on their end?
> 
> 
> FWIW, I live about a mile from TV hill, and can see the antenna from my house. It shouldn't be such a problem.
> 
> 
> If the frequency is very high, does that indicate that I could shorten my "ears" to try to get it better?
> 
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> 
> mark



Typically, rabbit ears are for VHF. WBAL is on a high UHF frequency. Until 2009, you can use UHF only antennas. I use a loop antenna (an unamplified RCA that I never put the rabbit ears on).


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *baltimark* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I registered to specifically ask about the WBAL signal.
> 
> 
> Is it unusual that I have problems with it, or does everyone?
> 
> 
> I have a dish network HD receiver, and rabbit ears near my TV. I can pick up every local station perfectly, and the signal strength for WBAL shows 100, but it constantly drops out.
> 
> 
> I've fiddled with the ears constantly to try to get it to come in, but there's only so much rotation and lengthening/shortening you can do before you go crazy with permutations.
> 
> 
> Is the problem on their end?
> 
> 
> FWIW, I live about a mile from TV hill, and can see the antenna from my house. It shouldn't be such a problem.
> 
> 
> If the frequency is very high, does that indicate that I could shorten my "ears" to try to get it better?



As already posted, WBAL-DT (DT = digital) is currently broadcasting on UHF, channel 59 in fact (as listed in the 1st post of this thread). If you are getting dropouts at such a close range, the odds are that you have multipath or interference problems. Exactly what antenna do you have. The rabbit ears are for VHF. Does it have a loop around 8" in diameter? That would be the UHF antenna. Tweak the aim of the loop. If you have a UHF loop, it is very omni-directional and susceptible to multi-path (see http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/Loop.html for the loop pattern and http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ISSUES/erecting_antenna.html for general info on antennas). The Silver Sensor UHF antenna ( http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/silver.html ) is more directional and may solve your problem for WBAL-DT and other Baltimore stations in the same location. But it may be too directional to get WUTB-DT My 24 whenever they finally goes full power. What is your zip code so we can see where you are with respect to the various Baltimore TV towers?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pennstatefan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I have a question that I don't recall ever being asked before. Is it possible to split the output of my OTA pre-amp? It would be nice to be able to connect the OTA antenna to both the Dish 622 receiver and the HD tuner built into my TV set.



Is the pre-amp powered through the co-axial cable by a power supply located down the co-axial run? If so, it is fine to split the signal AFTER the power supply. If you split between the power supply and pre-amp, you will have a DC voltage and current going to whatever is connected to the other side of splitter. Check the manual or instructions for the pre-amp.


----------



## pennstatefan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Sounds reasonable enough. I would full expect that you can split the OTA signal. That's what splitters are for.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> If there are power inserters or diplexors involved, then you may have to make sure that split at the right spot. Usually if you just put the splitter where your cable is about to connect to the 622's OTA input, then you should be fine.



I thought that I tried to split the TV Out signal from the pre-amp before and got nothing from both. Could have been a defective splitter or a bad coax going to the splitter, but thought that I would ask before I tried again. Thanks and I'll give it a try.


----------



## baltimark




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> As already posted, WBAL-DT (DT = digital) is currently broadcasting on UHF, channel 59 in fact (as listed in the 1st post of this thread). If you are getting dropouts at such a close range, the odds are that you have multipath or interference problems. Exactly what antenna do you have. The rabbit ears are for VHF. Does it have a loop around 8" in diameter? What is your zip code so we can see where you are with respect to the various Baltimore TV towers?



I'm in 21211, Hampden/Wyman Park area.


I have an antenna that I got from Radio Shack. It has rabbit ears, AND a "disk" that encases something I can rotate with a remote control. It works better than anything else I used, and let's me rotate to find PBS (which doesn't line up well with the other stations). I assume there is some sort of loop antenna in that disk. I can also change the gain on it.


I was reading one of your links. Is it possible that reducing the gain on the antenna will increase it's ability to stay on the signal? Signal strength is not really a concern for me. Just those drop outs.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pennstatefan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I thought that I tried to split the TV Out signal from the pre-amp before and got nothing from both. Could have been a defective splitter or a bad coax going to the splitter, but thought that I would ask before I tried again. Thanks and I'll give it a try.



I split my signal from my preamp 8 ways. But my preamp also has 30db gain. If I switch the preamp out for the 10db gain one I have, my signal strength is too low for me to get any signal strong enough to get a picture on any of my ATSC tuners.


----------



## pennstatefan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I split my signal from my preamp 8 ways. But my preamp also has 30db gain. If I switch the preamp out for the 10db gain one I have, my signal strength is too low for me to get any signal strong enough to get a picture on any of my ATSC tuners.



That is good information to know. My preamp has 24db gain if I recall correctly. My signal strength ranges from around 85 (Baltimore stations) to 95/100 (DC Stations). Would the distance from the transmitters have an effect, or would splitting rely more on signal strength?


----------



## rajdude

What do you use to split the signal 8 ways?

Is that device powered and/or ampliifed?



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I split my signal from my preamp 8 ways. But my preamp also has 30db gain. If I switch the preamp out for the 10db gain one I have, my signal strength is too low for me to get any signal strong enough to get a picture on any of my ATSC tuners.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rajdude* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> What do you use to split the signal 8 ways?
> 
> Is that device powered and/or ampliifed?



I used to go to an 8 way DirecTV switch and combine it in with the DirecTV signal. Now I go through an 8 way passive splitter. I'll probably change it soon and just use a 3 way splitter at the preamp and split it again, once or twice in each room so I utilize less cables from the main feed.


----------



## rajdude

Wow!

with so many splits you still get the signal?


I was looking at a 8 way splitter online and its specs said "insertion loss = 16 dB". And I thought. uh-oh......there goes the signal I gained using the pre-amp!










Are you combining OTA signals from an antenna with your direct TV antenna's signal?



What antenna are you using?

(sorry if I have asked this before)



I am ordering the CM4228 with the 7777 pre-amp today.




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I used to go to an 8 way DirecTV switch and combine it in with the DirecTV signal. Now I go through an 8 way passive splitter. I'll probably change it soon and just use a 3 way splitter at the preamp and split it again, once or twice in each room so I utilize less cables from the main feed.


----------



## rajdude

What OTA antenna are you using ?



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pennstatefan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> That is good information to know. My preamp has 24db gain if I recall correctly. My signal strength ranges from around 85 (Baltimore stations) to 95/100 (DC Stations). Would the distance from the transmitters have an effect, or would splitting rely more on signal strength?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *baltimark* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I'm in 21211, Hampden/Wyman Park area.
> 
> 
> I have an antenna that I got from Radio Shack. It has rabbit ears, AND a "disk" that encases something I can rotate with a remote control. It works better than anything else I used, and let's me rotate to find PBS (which doesn't line up well with the other stations). I assume there is some sort of loop antenna in that disk. I can also change the gain on it.
> 
> 
> I was reading one of your links. Is it possible that reducing the gain on the antenna will increase it's ability to stay on the signal? Signal strength is not really a concern for me. Just those drop outs.



At one mile from the broadcast towers, you are probably better off not using an antenna with a built-in amp at all. Tweak the aim of the loop antenna and dial the gain down. If you turn the built-in amp off, that usually results in almost no signal coming from the antenna which is one of the drawbacks to using an antenna with a built-in amp. So you can't turn the amp off.


Which MPT PBS station are you getting? The low power WMPB-DT 67 at 11 miles at ~ 327 degrees azimuth or WMPT-DT 22 in the direction of Annapolis at 187 degrees and 22 miles? Do you get the digital signal for WUTB-DT My 24 at all?


----------



## CycloneGT

You can always try the "Paper Clip" antenna. Just straighten out a paper clip, give it a right angle, and insert it into the center of the antenna connection.


----------



## baltimark




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> At one mile from the broadcast towers, you are probably better off not using an antenna with a built-in amp at all. Tweak the aim of the loop antenna and dial the gain down. If you turn the built-in amp off, that usually results in almost no signal coming from the antenna which is one of the drawbacks to using an antenna with a built-in amp. So you can't turn the amp off.
> 
> 
> Which MPT PBS station are you getting? The low power WMPB-DT 67 at 11 miles at ~ 327 degrees azimuth or WMPT-DT 22 in the direction of Annapolis at 187 degrees and 22 miles? Do you get the digital signal for WUTB-DT My 24 at all?



I get 5 PBS stations, but I believe they're 22.1-22.5, not the Annapolis station.


I might try turning the gain down on the thing. It just always bugged me that everything else comes in perfect, the strength reading for WBAL is 100, and I still get drop-outs.


And, I don't get the WUTB at all.


However, I also have a rooftop antenna that I run directly into my TV. It picks everything up, but when I've tried to run that into my HD receiver, it's worse than the rabbit ears. I had that set up because when I first got dish, I had a lot of problems with the receiver. I'll switch to that when I want to watch NBC, but without a built-in tuner, obviously it's not HD.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *baltimark* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I get 5 PBS stations, but I believe they're 22.1-22.5, not the Annapolis station.



No, you are getting 1 PBS station. It has 4 to 5 sub-channels, but it is only 1 station. Channel 22 is the Annapolis station; the broadcast tower is located in Owings Mills area, IIRC. All the Maryland Public TV broadcast the exact same programming so you only need to get 1 of their stations.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *baltimark* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I might try turning the gain down on the thing. It just always bugged me that everything else comes in perfect, the strength reading for WBAL is 100, and I still get drop-outs.
> 
> 
> And, I don't get the WUTB at all.



If you get drop-outs with signal strength of 100, you are getting multipath or overloading the front end of your ATSC receiver. Turn the gain down. WUTB-DT 24 is still at very low power of 530 Watts, but should be going to full power soon. Once it does (it will be discussed here), then see if you can get it. WUTB-DT 24 is digitally broadcasting on UHF 41.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *baltimark* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> However, I also have a rooftop antenna that I run directly into my TV. It picks everything up, but when I've tried to run that into my HD receiver, it's worse than the rabbit ears. I had that set up because when I first got dish, I had a lot of problems with the receiver. I'll switch to that when I want to watch NBC, but without a built-in tuner, obviously it's not HD.



How old and what model/design is your rooftop antenna? Do you get good picture quality for the analog UHF stations or do you get a lot of ghosting (multipath) with it?


----------



## baltimark




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> No, you are getting 1 PBS station. It has 4 to 5 sub-channels, but it is only 1 station. Channel 22 is the Annapolis station; the broadcast tower is located in Owings Mills area, IIRC. All the Maryland Public TV broadcast the exact same programming so you only need to get 1 of their stations.



I put that wrong, I get that it is one station. Although, if I'm not mistaken, I think that sometimes the programming is different. Usually 2 different shows spread across the 5 subs.



> Quote:
> If you get drop-outs with signal strength of 100, you are getting multipath or overloading the front end of your ATSC receiver. Turn the gain down. WUTB-DT 24 is still at very low power of 530 Watts, but should be going to full power soon. Once it does (it will be discussed here), then see if you can get it. WUTB-DT 24 is digitally broadcasting on UHF 41.



Thanks for the info. I'll try adjusting the gain.



> Quote:
> How old and what model/design is your rooftop antenna? Do you get good picture quality for the analog UHF stations or do you get a lot of ghosting (multipath) with it?



The picture quality is good. I hink there is some signal degredation because the cable run is about 60 feet, and runs through a 75 Ohm converter.


I'd have NO IDEA what the model of the rooftop antenna is. Actually, there are 2. They were probably put up there in the 1960s. I actually have one that looks kind of "spidery", like rods radiating from one point, and another that is a typical VHF antenna (I think). . .some long dipoles(?) and some short ones. Sort of triangular in shape.


----------



## pennstatefan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rajdude* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> What OTA antenna are you using ?



I use an Antennacraft MXU47 http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=MXU47 Looks like a big arrow on my roof, but it does the job.


----------



## markbulla

With the exception of "Beauty and the Geek" on Tuesdays, and "America's Next Top Model" on Wednesdays, which are to be upconverted SD, the CW weekday prime-time programming is all going to be in HD, including "Friday Night Smackdown".


They are going to have three new dramas ("Reaper" on Tuesday, "Gossip Girl" on Wednesday, and "Life is Wild" on Sunday), and one new comedy (Aliens in America on Monday) in HD.


Looks like they are making an effort to get more HD programming on the air!


Mark


----------



## aaronwt

I am using a couple of Winegard Squareshooters and combine the OTA signal from each antenna before going to the Winegard preamp. fromthere it goes to the splitter. It used to be the Terk switch that I used to combine OTA signal with DirecTV but I'm down to one DirectV box now(soon zero) and am not using the Terk switch that combined OTA with the DirectV signal anymore. My preamp has at least 30db gain so it more than compensates for the insertion loss. My preamp might even be 40db gain. Not sure. i just know the first preamp I used was only 10db gain and I couldn't get a signal on my tuners after splitting everything.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rajdude* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Wow!
> 
> with so many splits you still get the signal?
> 
> 
> I was looking at a 8 way splitter online and its specs said "insertion loss = 16 dB". And I thought. uh-oh......there goes the signal I gained using the pre-amp!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Are you combining OTA signals from an antenna with your direct TV antenna's signal?
> 
> 
> 
> What antenna are you using?
> 
> (sorry if I have asked this before)
> 
> 
> 
> I am ordering the CM4228 with the 7777 pre-amp today.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> With the exception of "Beauty and the Geek" on Tuesdays, and "America's Next Top Model" on Wednesdays, which are to be upconverted SD, the CW weekday prime-time programming is all going to be in HD, including "Friday Night Smackdown".
> 
> 
> They are going to have three new dramas ("Reaper" on Tuesday, "Gossip Girl" on Wednesday, and "Life is Wild" on Sunday), and one new comedy (Aliens in America on Monday) in HD.
> 
> 
> Looks like they are making an effort to get more HD programming on the air!
> 
> 
> Mark



This is an approximate breakdown of hours of primetime *SD* programming on each network, as far as I can tell:


CW 2 hrs

CBS 3 hrs (if Survivor is HD)

ABC 4 hrs

NBC 5 1/2 hrs

FOX 7 hrs (assuming American Band is HD)


That leaves 88.5 hours of *HD* out of 110, or 80%. I believe that's an increase over last fall. And, except for Scrubs, most likely no more SD "scripted" shows (like 7th Heaven, or Smackdown). And of course it's possible that there will soon be some HD news shows.


----------



## PGHammer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CrispyCritter* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It was included in my last bill, dated May 1. Added 8 channels (some on specialized packages) and moved 4 more. The most important is probably Universal HD at 250.
> 
> Bloomberg 106
> 
> Oxygen 123
> 
> Universal 250
> 
> WDCA-DT HD 215
> 
> WQAW-LP 616
> 
> CSTV 274
> 
> Tennis 277
> 
> WAPA America 617
> 
> 
> TV One 173
> 
> TCM 169
> 
> TV Guide 100
> 
> Court 187
> 
> 
> I get all of the non-specialized stations, but my TiVo doesn't have guide info for them yet (I just submitted them to TiVo).



Oddly enough, the addition of NBCU-HD at 250 lets them catch up with their systems in Prince George's and Charles County, MD (both of which already had the HD service, and in the same place). Both TV One and Court TV have moved to the digital tier (and likely presages a move elsewhere, such as PG, where both channels remain in the analog tier). Nice to see Bloomberg arrive (though in the digital tier at 106; I would not have minded Bloomberg arriving in the *analog* tier, in HBO's old spot at 25); that was one channel that Verizon FIOS carried that Comcast didn't. Also, I have noticed that C-Span2 and MASN2 currently share analog channel 78 (PG); is a similar arrangement in place in Montgomery County? Also, you *should* be seeing A&E HD (also in the 200-250 "HD Block"); Comcast of PG has been showing the service in the clear since its launch! (It would have been nice to have NBCU HD in the clear; but I'm not that lucky!)


----------



## rajdude

Has anyone on Comcast Dale City (woodbridge) tried to get QAM?


I tried it yesterday with a Hauppage HVR1600 and I did not get anything. (BTW They just released new drivers which enable this card to do QAM)


MCE does get all the channels' info in the guide but when I scan the signal strength everything comes as red (the minimum)


----------



## PGHammer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CrispyCritter* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> RE: getting a list of QAM channels in the clear
> 
> Actually, in some places you do need a list, like Comcast, Montgomery County. Whether on purpose or not, their QAM info contains errors so many tuners will not pick up the channels on a scan, but can directly tune them (at least some of them). I have a TiVo S3 temporarily without cable cards. On a scan, I don't pick up any of the original OTA digital channels in the range over 100 (I pick up other channels, like the music channels). I can tune some of them because I know where they are from other people's lists, eg NBC at 108-1. There's no way I can find them without a list.
> 
> 
> Does anybody know where FOX is now in Montgomery County? I suspect it's moved recently, with the tier changes. I can't tune it at 105.3 which is where my lists put it.



If your TV does the remapping correctly, the DC HD locals should appear right next to their analog counterparts (4, then 4-1, 4-2, etc.); this is precisely the case with Comcast PG and my 42PF7320A. The differences are with remapped *analog* (not digital) channels and (don't laugh) Baltimore's HD locals (WDCW is assigned analog channel 3 by Comcast; however, WDCW-DT is at 50-1, where it would be OTA. Baltimore HD locals WMAR-DT, WBAL-DT, and WJZ-DT are in the same places they would be OTA (2-1, 11-1, 11-2, and 13-1 respectively); however, WBFF-DT is way up at the north end of my channel scan, and WNUV-DT is completely missing. Naturally, Baltimore's analogs are not present.) 7-3 (WJLA's LocalPoint) is not carried by Comcast PG, either.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rajdude* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Has anyone on Comcast Dale City (woodbridge) tried to get QAM?
> 
> 
> I tried it yesterday with a Hauppage HVR1600 and I did not get anything. (BTW They just released new drivers which enable this card to do QAM)
> 
> 
> MCE does get all the channels' info in the guide but when I scan the signal strength everything comes as red (the minimum)



I've scanned the channels with one my of my HDTVs before and some of the digital stations popped up. Not sure if the local HD stations did though. I'll need to take a look.


EDIT: I don't know what I'm thinking. The local HD stations do show up from the TVs QAM tuner. They are mapped to the proper channel, not necessarily the proper sub channel though. The digital channels I was thinking of are in the upper channels and have weird designations. I live in Rippon Landing and am on Dale City Comcast. They did finally switch us to the new cable plant on May 15th and added the extra HD channels.


----------



## PGHammer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> They were able to preempt an NBA playoff game for lacrosse?????



WMAR does this because metro Baltimore is a *major* hotbed for lacrosse (especially *college lacrosse*, with Hopkins, UMBC, Towson University, and even UMD-College Park having major followings in the area) and because the station produces the games itself. It's been the case for at least a decade. What basketball is in Indiana, lacrosse is in metro Baltimore. (In fact, one of the nastier local-college rivalries is a lacrosse rivalry: UMaryland/Hopkins. The two colleges have a home-and-home pair scheduled annually, and it is *always* fierce. Lacrosse is, in fact, the *only* sport that Hopkins fields a Division I team in.)


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PGHammer* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> If your TV does the remapping correctly, the DC HD locals should appear right next to their analog counterparts (4, then 4-1, 4-2, etc.); this is precisely the case with Comcast PG and my 42PF7320A. The differences are with remapped *analog* (not digital) channels and (don't laugh) Baltimore's HD locals (WDCW is assigned analog channel 3 by Comcast; however, WDCW-DT is at 50-1, where it would be OTA. Baltimore HD locals WMAR-DT, WBAL-DT, and WJZ-DT are in the same places they would be OTA (2-1, 11-1, 11-2, and 13-1 respectively); however, WBFF-DT is way up at the north end of my channel scan, and WNUV-DT is completely missing. Naturally, Baltimore's analogs are not present.) 7-3 (WJLA's LocalPoint) is not carried by Comcast PG, either.



That doesn't seem to be the case with Montgomery County. My Sony SXRD appears to get the same numbers as CrispyCritter's Tivo. If memory serves me, its like this:

NBC4: 108.1

Fox5: 105.3

ABC7: 108.11

CBS9: 103.1

PBS26: 103.11 with subs at 103.10, 103.13, 103.14

DC20: 64.3 (new)

DC56: 105.1

The weather 7 and 9 channels are 108.2 and 108.3 respectively.

J


----------



## R. Aster

Happy to have U-HD finally. The other channels, meh! (WDCA-DT would have been great during the run of Enterprise.).


However, comma, my SD digital channels seem degraded since the additions. For the last several months, after Comcast got the ADS changes sorted out, I thought PQ was pretty good even on the 480i channels on my HD RPTV. Better to my eye than analog channels.


Since the new channels were shoehorned in, most of my channels are noticeably degraded, looking over-compressed as they did when I first got digital a few years ago and then again right after the ADS changes for a while. Hopefully there are some equipment tweeks that can be applied again or further channel remapping to recover the previous PQ.


RA


----------



## VARTV

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 23, 2007--DIRECTV, the nation's leading satellite television service provider, continues to set the stage for its unprecedented expansion of HD services. With agreements in place to launch four Discovery HD channels, five HD channels from Starz, CNBC and Chiller in HD, along with recently completed deals with The History Channel and A&E, DIRECTV is on schedule to roll out up to 100 national HD channels by year-end to satisfy the appetite of its HD customers, who have doubled over the last year. (read more - DirecTV )


----------



## rajdude




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PGHammer* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Actually, in some places you do need a list, like Comcast, Montgomery County. Whether on purpose or not, their QAM info contains errors so many tuners will not pick up the channels on a scan, but can directly tune them (at least some of them).




So How do I tune to a channel directly using MCE 2005 ?


And where can I get that list ?

tvFool gave me a list of OTA channels which are like 5.1 or something. Is that the list?


----------



## rajdude

Sounds good,

but do they have the bandwidth on the transponders to carry the proper bit-rate of HDTV....or they are just going to give us watered down HDTV (like they do now)????



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> EL SEGUNDO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 23, 2007--DIRECTV, the nation's leading satellite television service provider, continues to set the stage for its unprecedented expansion of HD services. With agreements in place to launch four Discovery HD channels, five HD channels from Starz, CNBC and Chiller in HD, along with recently completed deals with The History Channel and A&E, DIRECTV is on schedule to roll out up to 100 national HD channels by year-end to satisfy the appetite of its HD customers, who have doubled over the last year. (read more - DirecTV )


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rajdude* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Sounds good,
> 
> but do they have the bandwidth on the transponders to carry the proper bit-rate of HDTV....or they are just going to give us watered down HDTV (like they do now)????



Check the new DirecTV sticky thread in the HDTV Programming forum. These new HD channels will be on the new satellites which have not been launched yet and will require the newer mpeg-4 receivers.


----------



## MrMike6by9




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PGHammer* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WMAR does this because metro Baltimore is a *major* hotbed for lacrosse (especially *college lacrosse*, with Hopkins, UMBC, Towson University, and even UMD-College Park having major followings in the area) and because the station produces the games itself. It's been the case for at least a decade. What basketball is in Indiana, lacrosse is in metro Baltimore. (In fact, one of the nastier local-college rivalries is a lacrosse rivalry: UMaryland/Hopkins. The two colleges have a home-and-home pair scheduled annually, and it is *always* fierce. Lacrosse is, in fact, the *only* sport that Hopkins fields a Division I team in.)



... and when I went there in the late 60's, the National Lacrosse Museum was located on the Homewood Campus. I think it is still sited there.


YMMV


----------



## mdviewer25

What happened to 7-3 Local Point?


----------



## AcuraCL




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> No, you are getting 1 PBS station. It has 4 to 5 sub-channels, but it is only 1 station. Channel 22 is the Annapolis station; the broadcast tower is located in Owings Mills area, IIRC. All the Maryland Public TV broadcast the exact same programming so you only need to get 1 of their stations.
> 
> ...



Channel 22 is broadcast from Annapolis.


Channel 67 is broadcast from Owings Mills.


Both are MPT and from what I've seen, broadcast identical programming on SD + HD channels.


----------



## compuwizz




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I've scanned the channels with one my of my HDTVs before and some of the digital stations popped up. Not sure if the local HD stations did though. I'll need to take a look.
> 
> 
> EDIT: I don't know what I'm thinking. The local HD stations do show up from the TVs QAM tuner. They are mapped to the proper channel, not necessarily the proper sub channel though. The digital channels I was thinking of are in the upper channels and have weird designations. I live in Rippon Landing and am on Dale City Comcast. They did finally switch us to the new cable plant on May 15th and added the extra HD channels.



You might want to set the card for QAM-HRC thats what Adelphiacast uses in Sterling, VA


----------



## CrispyCritter




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PGHammer* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> If your TV does the remapping correctly, the DC HD locals should appear right next to their analog counterparts (4, then 4-1, 4-2, etc.); this is precisely the case with Comcast PG and my 42PF7320A. The differences are with remapped *analog* (not digital) channels and (don't laugh) Baltimore's HD locals (WDCW is assigned analog channel 3 by Comcast; however, WDCW-DT is at 50-1, where it would be OTA. Baltimore HD locals WMAR-DT, WBAL-DT, and WJZ-DT are in the same places they would be OTA (2-1, 11-1, 11-2, and 13-1 respectively); however, WBFF-DT is way up at the north end of my channel scan, and WNUV-DT is completely missing. Naturally, Baltimore's analogs are not present.) 7-3 (WJLA's LocalPoint) is not carried by Comcast PG, either.



Comcast Montgomery does strange things with its numbers and PSIP data, or at least my TiVo S3 thinks things are strange. Eg, I can directly tune NBC at 108-1, and it stays there and I get NBC. I can directly type 105-1 (CW) on my remote, but then the TiVo automatically goes to 50-1 and I get CW. If I go to 105-3 (FOX), I get nothing at all.


All of this is just further evidence that Montgomery has errors in its PSIP data, and the TiVo doesn't handle the errors well. (As I said earlier, none of these channels are detected on a channel scan).


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> What happened to 7-3 Local Point?



Yeah, it seems to be off air. 7-2 and 7-1 are still there.


----------



## CycloneGT

Fox5 had a story on today featuring OTA HDTV and a bit with Fairfax Antenna.

Fox5 Video Story 


They interviewed someone in Anandale, I wonder if he's a member here?


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Fox5 had a story on today featuring OTA HDTV and a bit with Fairfax Antenna.
> 
> Fox5 Video Story
> 
> 
> They interviewed someone in Anandale, I wonder if he's a member here?





Definitely some misinformation in that report.


----------



## CycloneGT

Yeah, it had the typical "The FCC is mandating that all TV be HDTV by 2009" error.


----------



## CycloneGT

Here is a link to an interesting FiOS demo. It shows what they are planning for the guide/menus. Looks pretty sweet compared to my Dish Network software.


----------



## RebelScum




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Fox5 had a story on today featuring OTA HDTV and a bit with Fairfax Antenna.
> 
> Fox5 Video Story
> 
> 
> They interviewed someone in Anandale, I wonder if he's a member here?



I like the very last line:


> Quote:
> _"Sattelite provider DirecTV says the difference in quality is a matter of opinion."_



Yeah, I bet they do...


----------



## Pyrr

Comcast sent a message saying it was adding WDCA-TV to Channel 706


----------



## Marcus Carr

On July 10, Comcast in Baltimore City will add *A&E HD* (channel 223) and *HGTV HD* (channel 229).


----------



## CycloneGT

Usually HGTV-HD and Food-HD go hand in hand. I wonder if Food-HD will also be included?


----------



## Jimmy

Has anybody in our area had problems with the DTV HD locals the past few days? Channels 4, 7, 5 and 9 break up and the audio stutters sometimes. I called a friend and he said he was seeing the same problem on 7 & 5. I have it on 7 -WJLA now and it seems to have settled down but ch 4 WRC was still doing it. OTA is ok, just the "D" HD is acting up. Anybody know what might be going on? I have the H20-100


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Has anybody in our area had problems with the DTV HD locals the past few days? Channels 4, 7, 5 and 9 break up and the audio stutters sometimes. I called a friend and he said he was seeing the same problem on 7 & 5. I have it on 7 -WJLA now and it seems to have settled down but ch 4 WRC was still doing it. OTA is ok, just the "D" HD is acting up. Anybody know what might be going on? I have the H20-100



Me too, and I noticed 20 was breaking up as well, with WJLA being the worst and WRC second. It froze several times into a pixelated mess, in six separate boxes within the picture. The 7x channels were fine.


----------



## Jimmy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Me too, and I noticed 20 was breaking up as well, with WJLA being the worst and WRC second. It froze several times into a pixelated mess, in six separate boxes within the picture. The 7x channels were fine.



Exactly! That is what's going on. I read on another board that DTV is going to send some box software upgrades this weekend. Also, they are getting ready for the Sept. roll out of a whole bunch of new HD channels. They may be messing with the equipment getting ready for all of that. The break ups have stopped as I type this. Everything is holding in ok.


----------



## biker19

What happened to LocalPoint (WJLA 7.3)?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> What happened to LocalPoint (WJLA 7.3)?



WJLA-DT 7.3 was on the air last night. It was missing a few days ago (don't recall exactly when). Maybe you need to do a rescan?


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Usually HGTV-HD and Food-HD go hand in hand. I wonder if Food-HD will also be included?



Figures they would leave out the one I wanted the most.


July 10 is 1 1/2 months away. I hope the give me a "preview".


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WJLA-DT 7.3 was on the air last night. It was missing a few days ago (don't recall exactly when). Maybe you need to do a rescan?



It's been missing for at least a week and is still not back for me - with a rescan I even lost the choice to tune to it - cause it didn't find it during the scan.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> On July 10, Comcast in Baltimore City will add *A&E HD* (channel 223) and *HGTV HD* (channel 229).



Howard County has announced the same.


----------



## henry296




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Howard County has announced the same.



Add Baltimore County to the list.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey

got a quick question for Robert


I am not sure whether it is me or is WJLA's PQ actually looking better. I happened to catch the weather bit and the computer generated stuff looked really sharp.


Have you guys done something new or has it always been like that?


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> got a quick question for Robert
> 
> 
> I am not sure whether it is me or is WJLA's PQ actually looking better. I happened to catch the weather bit and the computer generated stuff looked really sharp.
> 
> 
> Have you guys done something new or has it always been like that?



We have replaced a number of cards in our Flexicoder to get rid of the PCR Jitters that freak out the Comcast early generation encoders. During this time, I took 7.3 offline to allow because it was an early generation encoder card that had to be replaced.


We are back online now with a new muxing card, but we are not done yet. The PQ is a litttle better, but we still plan to purchase NetVx this summer. Its not final, but we are looking to make the purchase.


p.s. WOF and Jeopardy in HD by July.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> p.s. WOF and Jeopardy in HD by July.



Oh, now it makes business sense?


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Oh, now it makes business sense?



We listened to you guys and made it happen.


We also got some incentives from Sony and Kingworld.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> On July 10, Comcast in Baltimore City will add *A&E HD* (channel 223) and *HGTV HD* (channel 229).



DirecTV has commanded a lot of attention this year with its ads that say that soon, it will add a slew of HD programming, but whenever I have asked in any threads how much of this new programming will be exclusive to DirecTV, no one ever replies that any will be exclusive to it. If DirecTV can't get these two channels into its system before Comcast does, then maybe Comcast can hire some other pop icon for a counter-advertising blitz of its own.


----------



## yekim54




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> p.s. WOF and Jeopardy in HD by July.



This is great news! The Washington Post TV listings always show Jeopardy as being HD on WJLA. Beginning in July the Post listing will finally be correct.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> We have replaced a number of cards in our Flexicoder to get rid of the PCR Jitters that freak out the Comcast early generation encoders. During this time, I took 7.3 offline to allow because it was an early generation encoder card that had to be replaced.
> 
> 
> We are back online now with a new muxing card, but we are not done yet. The PQ is a litttle better, but we still plan to purchase NetVx this summer. Its not final, but we are looking to make the purchase.
> 
> 
> p.s. WOF and Jeopardy in HD by July.



Good news! So WJLA will be ready to show other syndicated programs in HD when they start to happen.


As for my post on seeing 7.3 the other night, I think I know what happened. I just checked with my Samsung SIR-T451 tuner and stepped up to 7.3 (which is till off the air it appears). After a brief hesitation with a blank screen, it jumped to 7.1. The other night I was not looking carefully as I was stepping up through the channels and 7.1 must have been showing a commercial, so I thought it was showing 7.3 before I moved to WUSA-DT 9.1. The ATSC tuners do behave differently on how they handle sub-channels that are off or automatically adding new sub-channels without a formal rescan.


----------



## dg28

Great news, Robert.


----------



## brownnugen

Hi, I'm a very green newbie here. I live in Lake Ridge, VA and I can't pick up much OTA channels at all. I've used Comcast Cable for the last few months because they offered it for $19/month and said it wasn't a promotion, it was their normal price. Well, they said that was their fault, but regardless they want to charge me $39.99/month for basic analog cable (which is still below their $52 price).


I really don't want cable at all, but it seems like the only way I can even pick up any stations. What I want to do is get rid of cable altogether and use some fancy antenna to pick up my local free channels. If anybody lives in this area could help suggest either an alternative to Comcast or better yet an antenna guy/company that can provide advice on the best antenna to meet my needs, that would be great.


Thanks,

-Nick


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> We have replaced a number of cards in our Flexicoder to get rid of the PCR Jitters that freak out the Comcast early generation encoders. During this time, I took 7.3 offline to allow because it was an early generation encoder card that had to be replaced.
> 
> 
> We are back online now with a new muxing card, but we are not done yet. The PQ is a litttle better, but we still plan to purchase NetVx this summer. Its not final, but we are looking to make the purchase.
> 
> 
> p.s. WOF and Jeopardy in HD by July.



Thank you for your response, WOF and Jeopardy in HD is great news, at least for me since I can't get ABC2 from Baltimore. Now you guys at WJLA should sit back, relax, and watch your ratings go through the roof







.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Thank you for your response, WOF and Jeopardy in HD is great news, at least for me since I can't get ABC2 from Baltimore. Now you guys at WJLA should sit back, relax, and watch your ratings go through the roof
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .



We'll sit back and relax....


----------



## weaver6




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *brownnugen* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hi, I'm a very green newbie here. I live in Lake Ridge, VA and I can't pick up much OTA channels at all. I've used Comcast Cable for the last few months because they offered it for $19/month and said it wasn't a promotion, it was their normal price. Well, they said that was their fault, but regardless they want to charge me $39.99/month for basic analog cable (which is still below their $52 price).
> 
> 
> I really don't want cable at all, but it seems like the only way I can even pick up any stations. What I want to do is get rid of cable altogether and use some fancy antenna to pick up my local free channels. If anybody lives in this area could help suggest either an alternative to Comcast or better yet an antenna guy/company that can provide advice on the best antenna to meet my needs, that would be great.
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> -Nick




I can't help you with reception out your way, but Comcast should have a locals only package. They may call it life line.



Mark


----------



## Pyrr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> We'll sit back and relax....




When are you guys switching the news to HD?


Jeff


----------



## Pyrr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Pyrr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Comcast sent a message saying it was adding WDCA-TV to Channel 706



Ready by the end of June this will happen. Sorry about the delay in information.


jeff


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> DirecTV has commanded a lot of attention this year with its ads that say that soon, it will add a slew of HD programming, but whenever I have asekd in any threads how much of this new programming will be exclusive to DirecTV, no one ever replies that any will be exclusive to it. If DirecTV can't get these two channels into its system before Comcast does, then maybe Comcast can hire some other pop icon for a counter-advertising blitz of its own.



Based on posts I've read from various insiders, Comcast will be getting just about everything DirecTV is getting by dropping several analog channels, then later using switched video. Specific channels mentioned so far that they are working on are:


History

Starz Comedy

Starz Edge

Starz Kids & Family

Sci Fi

TBS

USA

Disney

ABC Family

Discovery

Animal Planet

TLC

The Science channel

2 more Discovery networks to be named later


ESPNews, Toon Disney, CNN, and Cartoon Network will probably come along with the other Disney and Turner-owned channels.


HDNet and HDNet Movies will have their own tier in Houston where Comcast took over Time Warner. This seems to be an experiment that could mean good things for everyone if successful.


See these threads:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=424081 

http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=97425 

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=849155


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *brownnugen* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hi, I'm a very green newbie here. I live in Lake Ridge, VA and I can't pick up much OTA channels at all. I've used Comcast Cable for the last few months because they offered it for $19/month and said it wasn't a promotion, it was their normal price. Well, they said that was their fault, but regardless they want to charge me $39.99/month for basic analog cable (which is still below their $52 price).
> 
> 
> I really don't want cable at all, but it seems like the only way I can even pick up any stations. What I want to do is get rid of cable altogether and use some fancy antenna to pick up my local free channels. If anybody lives in this area could help suggest either an alternative to Comcast or better yet an antenna guy/company that can provide advice on the best antenna to meet my needs, that would be great.
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> -Nick



Nick, is your zip code 22192? Before I get into antenna specifics for your location, there are a lot of resources here at avsforum that you should also check. Start with HDTV Hardware Reception forum. There is a OTA Digital reception FAQ sticky at http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=611957 . There is also a long Official AVS antenna topic for questions. For more advanced resources, there is www.tvfool.com and the 3D Visualization thread. For antenna info, http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ISSUES/erecting_antenna.html . The first post of this thread list the local stations and their actual digital broadcast stations.


The antennaweb.org results for your zip code places you around 22 to 24 miles from the main DC broadcast towers. Are you using an indoor antenna? At those ranges, you should be looking at a attic or outside antenna location for the antenna. If you don't have an attic, a upstairs location near a window might work, but an attic or rooftop is better for reliable reception. All of the stations in DC and Baltimore are currently digitally broadcasting on UHF, but WJLA-DT ABC 7 and WUSA-DT CBS 9 will switch to upper VHF in 2009.


From 22192, the DC and Baltimore stations are in the same direction so a directional antenna can work. For an attic or outdoor mount, you should consider the Channel Master 4228 8 Bay. It is an UHF antenna which also has decent gain for upper VHF. It may also get you some or all of the Baltimore stations depending on your elevation. If the CM 4228 is too big, the Channel Master 4221 4 Bay is a good antenna, but you may have to add a VHF antenna to it in 2009. Check solidsignal.com and warrenelectronics.com for prices. Feel free to post followup questions!


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> p.s. WOF and Jeopardy in HD by July.



and listening to the good folks here in the forum. Will the news be next given the fact Allbritton bought HD cameras recently.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> and listening to the good folks here in the forum. Will the news be next given the fact Allbritton bought HD cameras recently.



yes, but not before next year I believe.


----------



## jacindc

Message on the box here with Comcast DC this morning saying that WDCA-DT is coming to channel 215 on June 28.


(I was hoping it'd be the HGTV/A&E message. Damn!)


----------



## gr8one626

HELP!


I have a problem with a new Syntax Olivia TV I just got (model 232v with QAM). I live in Frederick, MD and I have Comcast Cable. When I do a channel scan, I only get two channels (NBC & ABC on 1.1 & 1.3 respectively). However, on my other TV, I get all the locals plus PBS & Discovery. Those channels are all on 1.1 and 1.3 (except Discovery which is on 85.2). For whatever reason, the Syntax TV does not pick it up...


Do you think I need a higher quality cable/splitter? I do know that the cable is being split at least once coming to this TV...


----------



## rob base




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Based on posts I've read from various insiders, Comcast will be getting just about everything DirecTV is getting by dropping several analog channels, then later using switched video. Specific channels mentioned so far that they are working on are:
> 
> 
> History
> 
> Starz Comedy
> 
> Starz Edge
> 
> Starz Kids & Family
> 
> Sci Fi
> 
> TBS
> 
> USA
> 
> Disney
> 
> ABC Family
> 
> Discovery
> 
> Animal Planet
> 
> TLC
> 
> The Science channel
> 
> 2 more Discovery networks to be named later
> 
> 
> ESPNews, Toon Disney, CNN, and Cartoon Network will probably come along with the other Disney and Turner-owned channels.
> 
> 
> HDNet and HDNet Movies will have their own tier in Houston where Comcast took over Time Warner. This seems to be an experiment that could mean good things for everyone if successful.
> 
> 
> See these threads:
> 
> http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=424081
> 
> http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=97425
> 
> http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=849155



Is Comcast expecting to have these HD channels added by the same time DirecTV does their thing later this year. I still haven't gotten Comcastsportsnet HD here in Frederick. They are the same company, right?? My friends on the Eastern Shore, MD have had Comcast for at least 5 years now and they have almost twice the HD channels I have, so I guess I will have to be patient. I just would like to know if they will add these channels by the end of the year.


----------



## stuffedmonkey

I have a QAM question I can't seem to find the answer to... I have RCN and a Vizio 32" LCD. I was really happy to discover that I can get the HDTV channels without renting a converter box. I seem to get every one except for National Geographic HD. Does anyone have any tips on this or is it encrypted along with all of the HD movie tier? I've rescanned a few times and still no luck.


Here is what I can get in clear QAM on Washington DC RCN basic cable (no box rental). I post it here because I was trying to find out before I bought my TV and couldn't find it anywhere. I left out anything that broadcasts in under 720p - like the weather channels.


120-1 ESPN

120-2 TNT-HD

125-2 ABC

125-3 PBS (WETA)

125-4 CW

130-1 CBS

130-2 NBC

130-3 Fox

131-1 Discovery HD theater

132-2 Comcast Sports net HD

133-2 HDnet

133-3 HDnet Movies




Oh - and I wanted to add one minor correction to the channel listing chart at the beginning of this article. It shows that RCN doesn't have the HD version of TNT - but it does. Thanks again for all the useful info in this forum, It's really great stuff!


-lee


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Has ABC dropped the telecast into SD by mistake thinking World News Now _should_ be on, or has WJLA done so to show severe weather warnings?


----------



## weaver6




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Has ABC dropped the telecast into SD by mistake thinking World News Now _should_ be on, or has WJLA done so to show severe weather warnings?




It's not an ABC thing; WMAR is still in HD.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Has ABC dropped the telecast into SD by mistake thinking World News Now _should_ be on, or has WJLA done so to show severe weather warnings?



Whichever, they have messed up. Great job WJLA


----------



## CycloneGT

WMAR went to SD for a while also.


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rob base* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is Comcast expecting to have these HD channels added by the same time DirecTV does their thing later this year. I still haven't gotten Comcastsportsnet HD here in Frederick. They are the same company, right?? My friends on the Eastern Shore, MD have had Comcast for at least 5 years now and they have almost twice the HD channels I have, so I guess I will have to be patient. I just would like to know if they will add these channels by the end of the year.



Comcast has only owned the Frederick cable system for 9 months. Adelphia had it before that and had been in bankruptcy for more than 3 years.


Comcast can't fix the system in this short period of time. I would expect Frederick to have all that the Washington area has eventually as they update the system.


GoIrish


----------



## weaver6




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WMAR went to SD for a while also.




Yeah, for a few minutes after the race to give weather warnings. WJLA was SD from about 6:30 on.


----------



## CycloneGT

No, it was during race time. I had lost my WJLA signal from Dish due to the storm. I went to 2.1 and saw it was SD. Went to WJLA which had gone to commercial so I didn't know their status. Watched a little Nascar, and then found WMAR was back to HD while WJLA was SD.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> No, it was during race time. I had lost my WJLA signal from Dish due to the storm. I went to 2.1 and saw it was SD. When to WJLA which had gone to commercial so I didn't know there status. Watched a little Nascar, and then found WMAR was back to HD while WJLA was SD.



Until we get our Harris HD Iconstation online (waiting for ABC), the SOP for severe weather is to STAY in SD mode until the situation is over. We don't want the FCC fining us for missing severe weather information on the digital side.


I know it stinks, but dems the rulz!


----------



## weaver6




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Until we get our Harris HD Iconstation online (waiting for ABC), the SOP for severe weather is to STAY in SD mode until the situation is over. We don't want the FCC fining us for missing severe weather information on the digital side.
> 
> 
> I know it stinks, but dems the rulz!




Thanks for the info.



Mark


----------



## rajdude

Over this weekend, I have installed a Channel master 4228 with a CM7777 pre-amp on my roof. I will post a full story with pics and full details soon.


But in short, it works ! I get full signal strength on all channels coming from DC.










I am in zip 22193


As for sources, I's suggest calling Fairfax Antenna.
http://www.fairfaxantenna.com/ 

They quoted me something like 300 bucks for installing the 4228 (I think the pre-amp was not included). Frankly I think it is worth it. Read my story for full details (will post that later)


I got my stuff from Stark Electronics in MA. (good guys! expensive shipping due to the size of antenna and mounts)


Dude, this is THE way to go for people like us.





By the way.....Comcast sucks in Woodbridge! No lifeline ....no local only....no nothing...cheapest they offer to me is $52


Hey comcast you may have your monopoly in cable here but OTA is still here !



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *brownnugen* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hi, I'm a very green newbie here. I live in Lake Ridge, VA and I can't pick up much OTA channels at all. I've used Comcast Cable for the last few months because they offered it for $19/month and said it wasn't a promotion, it was their normal price. Well, they said that was their fault, but regardless they want to charge me $39.99/month for basic analog cable (which is still below their $52 price).
> 
> 
> I really don't want cable at all, but it seems like the only way I can even pick up any stations. What I want to do is get rid of cable altogether and use some fancy antenna to pick up my local free channels. If anybody lives in this area could help suggest either an alternative to Comcast or better yet an antenna guy/company that can provide advice on the best antenna to meet my needs, that would be great.
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> -Nick


----------



## hotsauce

I lost my OTA signal for WTTG 5 and WJLA 7 sometime around the storm on Sunday. As of this morning they are still gone. 9 and 4 are just fine. Anyone else having problems?


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> We listened to you guys and made it happen.
> 
> 
> We also got some incentives from Sony and Kingworld.



Good. Glad it worked out.


----------



## tonyd79

Heard a fairly reliable but unconfirmed rumor that MASN is buying HD equipment. Maybe HD for both O's and Nats before the end of the season.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Heard a fairly reliable but unconfirmed rumor that MASN is buying HD equipment. Maybe HD for both O's and Nats before the end of the season.



Buying the equipment is only a small part of the whole set up. Having the cable companies, and even satcasters like D* and E* for that matter, make room for not just one but two channels is not that easy. Even if they bought them this year, I think they are getting ready for the next season.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hotsauce* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I lost my OTA signal for WTTG 5 and WJLA 7 sometime around the storm on Sunday. As of this morning they are still gone. 9 and 4 are just fine. Anyone else having problems?



If you are asking about the digital broadcast for those stations, none of them went off the air Sunday night, AFAIK. They were certainly all there yesterday OTA. Check your antenna and cabling.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Heard a fairly reliable but unconfirmed rumor that MASN is buying HD equipment. Maybe HD for both O's and Nats before the end of the season.



Excellent news! It's been tough sometimes, but I've only watched the Orioles games that have been simulcast on WJZ thus far. Yes, I have Comcast and could theoretically watch the games on MASN/MASN2 today. No, I won't watch MASN/MASN2 unless they are at least upconverted to 1080i or 720p (whichever one they choose). I would be _very_ pleased if they could give us HD sooner rather than later. I would love to see our beautiful Camden Yards in high definition again.


----------



## CycloneGT

I think that the current expectation is that MASN will be HD next year and not this year. Even if they do get their HD up early, they would need to get carriage from the MSOs. That might prove an obstacle.


----------



## hotsauce




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> If you are asking about the digital broadcast for those stations, none of them went off the air Sunday night, AFAIK. They were certainly all there yesterday OTA. Check your antenna and cabling.



I figured as much but I wanted to check here first just in case. Thanks.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I think that the current expectation is that MASN will be HD next year and not this year. Even if they do get their HD up early, they would need to get carriage from the MSOs. That might prove an obstacle.



This is true; however, until the channels exist, I can't legitimately complain to Comcast about not carrying them. MASN would do well to shift the burden from themselves to the MSOs.


----------



## knnirs

I found Comcast P.G. Qam channel 123 had no signal during the period from 7:40 to 8:00 pm tonight. This included all of the WETA signals. I did not check thoroughly, but other Qam channels seemed to be fine. Anyone else note this problem?


----------



## Skeptic Tank




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I found Comcast P.G. Qam channel 123 had no signal during the period from 7:40 to 8:00 pm tonight. This included all of the WETA signals. I did not check thoroughly, but other Qam channels seemed to be fine. Anyone else note this problem?



I found the QAM 123 signal extremely intermittent sometime between 9 and 10

and its still that way now (11:15 pm). The signal would be fine (8 bars) for minutes at a time, then go away completely (0 bars) for minutes at a time.


QAM 123 also includes WJLA digital 1 and 2.


----------



## davidjplatt

I can't get 7-1, 7-2 or 7-3 at all on my Vizio 37" TV. This started last night and all of the other channels (4-x, 5-x, 9-x,13-1. 20-1, 22-x, 26-x, 45-1, 50-x, 54-x and 67-x) are all coming in fine. I am using an OTA antenna (CM 4424 with CM pre-am).


Are they doing maintenance or having problems with the transmitter for WJLA-DT?


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Skeptic Tank* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I found the QAM 123 signal extremely intermittent sometime between 9 and 10
> 
> and its still that way now (11:15 pm). The signal would be fine (8 bars) for minutes at a time, then go away completely (0 bars) for minutes at a time.
> 
> 
> QAM 123 also includes WJLA digital 1 and 2.



Qam 123 appears to be at full strength this morning, but all of the sub-channels exhibit small sound gaps.


----------



## jeff125va




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Looks like we're still on target for Winter (Jan. 1 at latest) for WDCW in HD on DirecTV:
> 
> Sorry, I thought getting an update would spice up the thread, but whatever...
> 
> 
> Stephen,
> 
> 
> I have not heard any news that the time frame will be moved up. I will
> 
> check with our corporate office.
> 
> 
> We hope you continue to enjoy the CW Washington!
> 
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Tanya Pavluchuk
> 
> Programming



Thanks for the update. It comes in a bit weak on my antenna. I recently missed a bunch of Smallville and Veronica Mars episodes because I added a splitter to my antenna line and it degraded the signal just enough to go from coming in just fine to not coming in at all. In fact, my HR-20 still records it just fine with a signal strength of about 45, but my HR10's give me a blank screen with a signal strength of about 38. Without the splitter it was in the 60's, compared to 4, 7 & 9 all being in the 80's. Obviously I need a new splitter in the meantime, but it made me wonder what the status was of DirecTV picking it up.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *davidjplatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I can't get 7-1, 7-2 or 7-3 at all on my Vizio 37" TV. This started last night and all of the other channels (4-x, 5-x, 9-x,13-1. 20-1, 22-x, 26-x, 45-1, 50-x, 54-x and 67-x) are all coming in fine. I am using an OTA antenna (CM 4424 with CM pre-am).
> 
> 
> Are they doing maintenance or having problems with the transmitter for WJLA-DT?



WJLA-DT 7 is coming in fine for me in Sterling. If any of the big four in either DC or Baltimore went off the air in prime time for any length of time or went off the air for an extended period, you can be sure it would cause a flurry of postings here.


We are now into summer and have a strong high pressure system sitting over us which is classic weather for tropospheric ducting ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropo_duct ). WJLA-DT ABC 7 is broadcasting on UHF 39. Perhaps you were receiving a strong signal from a distant analog or digital station on UHF 39 causing the station to drop-out. With an analog tuner, you might see a ghosted picture or audio cutting in from the distant station. With ATSC digital, the tuner can't get a lock so you may see nothing at all. Did you check the signal meter for WJLA-DT 7 when you could not get the station? Was it jumping around? If it was tropo, the odds are that your TV should be able to get WJLA-DT today.


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> Is WJLA-DT off the air?



No, it must be your equipment! Solid here!


----------



## LarryC




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I think that the current expectation is that MASN will be HD next year and not this year.....



Is this from an official source? I wrote a complain (no HD) letter to MASN and received the standard form letter in return, with no hint of a time line for HD production.


----------



## Devin Clancy

I know you can save a lot of money with a self-install of Cox's high-speed internet and HD boxes.


What about CableCards? Would they need to send a guy out to charge me a lot of money to put two cards in a Tivo Series 3?


----------



## Mike20878

Did anyone notice problems with the broadcast of the Heroes season finale. I was watching WRC on Comcast in Montgomery County. There were several times when the screen was pixelated and the audio dropped out.


----------



## Remoteless




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Mike20878* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Did anyone notice problems with the broadcast of the Heroes season finale. I was watching WRC on Comcast in Montgomery County. There were several times when the screen was pixelated and the audio dropped out.



Watching it now just cut out the commercials with HD2MPEG2. Recorded OTA came out flawless


----------



## howie14




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *LarryC* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is this from an official source? I wrote a complain (no HD) letter to MASN and received the standard form letter in return, with no hint of a time line for HD production.



Hi neighbor! I sent an email in a similar vein and also got the standard reply. It included an "in the future we expect to have it" answer without an actual timeline.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

DirecTV had a "station is having problems" message up around 6:15am.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *davidjplatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I can't get 7-1, 7-2 or 7-3 at all on my Vizio 37" TV. This started last night and all of the other channels (4-x, 5-x, 9-x,13-1. 20-1, 22-x, 26-x, 45-1, 50-x, 54-x and 67-x) are all coming in fine. I am using an OTA antenna (CM 4424 with CM pre-am).
> 
> 
> Are they doing maintenance or having problems with the transmitter for WJLA-DT?



It was off the air for me too between about 7:30 and 8:15 this morning. No signal at all no matter which way I turned the antenna(indoor). 45 and 54 did the same last night at around 1:00am.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *LarryC* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is this from an official source? I wrote a complain (no HD) letter to MASN and received the standard form letter in return, with no hint of a time line for HD production.



Its from my memory of posts here. I've long abandoned the search function here, but it would be in posts in this or the previous DC/Balt thread. Basically it was said that HD would not be ready this year, but that it was in the works for next year. If I remember correctly, it may have even been in articles (most of them were about O's leaving CSN for MASN).


So I don't official press releases or links to offer you, but its what I understand from previous conversations here.


----------



## tonyd79

I agree that MASN will need clearance on cable companies and satellite companies but I would bet that D* would have space for a spot beam now and will for sure have space around the same time that my source said MASN would be on line with HD (maybe not a coincidence). Verizon would have space NOW (they do not have bandwidth issues) and Comcast could squeeze in at least some of the games if they wanted to.


----------



## parkay57

I stumbled on this when looking up information about Cox's new "International Tier" on their site:

New Channels Launching June 25, 2007 in Northern Virginia!


Fairfax:


Cox will add three new high-definition channels to its lineup at no extra cost on June 25:


* National Geographic HD (ch. 719)

* A&E HD (ch. 720)

* MyNetworkTV HD (721)
I can't post URLs yet, but if you want to see the original notice, go to:


cox [dot] com [slash] fairfax [slash] new_channels_2007 [dot] asp


I didn't think there really was a demand for MyNetworkTV HD (unless maybe if MASN does get that rumored HD equipment up and running this season?)


Too bad I'll probably be switching to FIOS by then (if they finish the work on time.)


----------



## mapper

Nice! I've been waiting for those channels on Cox for a while, it's good to see them catch up with the rest of the area.


To answer Devin Clancy's question:


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Devin Clancy* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I know you can save a lot of money with a self-install of Cox's high-speed internet and HD boxes.
> 
> 
> What about CableCards? Would they need to send a guy out to charge me a lot of money to put two cards in a Tivo Series 3?



They actually WILL not hand you the CableCard at the service center because they believe that customers are not smart enough to give hexadecimal and alphanumeric information to Cox. In short, Cox will charge you $29.99 for the CableCard install into your Series3. When you do get the guy to come, make sure he has at least 3-4 CableCards, as some CableCards just don't work with some equipment.


--mapper


----------



## Mike20878




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Remoteless* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Watching it now just cut out the commercials with HD2MPEG2. Recorded OTA came out flawless



I just watched Studio 60 from last week and it had the same problems. I guess this is a Comcast problem similar to the one with WJLA a few weeks ago.


----------



## AntAltMike

One of my trusty Accurian recievers has not been able to produce any audio from any WNVC channels 57.X for the last couple of weeks. The signal quality at this site is very good. I have no trouble wiith any other Washington or Baltimore market station. Is anyone else having any problems with WNVC-57.X audio?


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It was off the air for me too between about 7:30 and 8:15 this morning. No signal at all no matter which way I turned the antenna(indoor). 45 and 54 did the same last night at around 1:00am.



I can assure you that neither channel 45 nor channel 54 were off the air at that time. I haven't as much as one cabinet go down for a couple of weeks now. (each digital transmitter is made up of two amplifiers who's outputs are added together to produce the output of the channel. If one of the cabinets goes down, there is still an output from the transmitter, albeit at lower power)


Mark


----------



## jeff125va

Is channel 50-1 (OTA) still broadcast from the same location as it has for the past year or so? I did get a new splitter last night and it works better, but it's still weak. Without the splitter it seems to be just barely strong enough to work - it only gives me about 45 on the meter, but it comes in just fine. I'm just wondering if I never noticed before that it was so low or if I need to turn my antenna. It seems that the splitter is making just enough of a difference to go below the threshold of sufficient signal strength.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I can assure you that neither channel 45 nor channel 54 were off the air at that time. I haven't as much as one cabinet go down for a couple of weeks now. (each digital transmitter is made up of two amplifiers who's outputs are added together to produce the output of the channel. If one of the cabinets goes down, there is still an output from the transmitter, albeit at lower power)
> 
> 
> Mark



Happened again last night. Discovered that it was the combination of the position of my antenna and a plane headed to Andrews AFB.


----------



## CuseHokie




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *parkay57* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I stumbled on this when looking up information about Cox's new "International Tier" on their site:
> 
> New Channels Launching June 25, 2007 in Northern Virginia!
> 
> 
> Fairfax:
> 
> 
> Cox will add three new high-definition channels to its lineup at no extra cost on June 25:
> 
> 
> * National Geographic HD (ch. 719)
> 
> * A&E HD (ch. 720)
> 
> * MyNetworkTV HD (721)
> I can't post URLs yet, but if you want to see the original notice, go to:
> 
> 
> cox [dot] com [slash] fairfax [slash] new_channels_2007 [dot] asp
> 
> 
> I didn't think there really was a demand for MyNetworkTV HD (unless maybe if MASN does get that rumored HD equipment up and running this season?)
> 
> 
> Too bad I'll probably be switching to FIOS by then (if they finish the work on time.)



I don't understand Cox's numbering system at all...


Why'd they skip 717, 718?


Why not fill 711, which was INHD2?


At least make 720 MyNetwork20... if you are going to jump around...


At least we finally got NatlGeoHD, since other areas had it...


Wonder when Food/HG are coming.


----------



## davidjplatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bill Johnson* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> No, it must be your equipment! Solid here!



Uh, no it wasn't my equipment. Others had the same problem. By the time you posted, it was back on.


----------



## Devin Clancy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> To answer Devin Clancy's question:
> 
> 
> 
> They actually WILL not hand you the CableCard at the service center because they believe that customers are not smart enough to give hexadecimal and alphanumeric information to Cox. In short, Cox will charge you $29.99 for the CableCard install into your Series3. When you do get the guy to come, make sure he has at least 3-4 CableCards, as some CableCards just don't work with some equipment.
> 
> 
> --mapper



Thanks! Starting to regret moving out of a FIOS area already!


----------



## ahsan

Anyone notice a software change in Comcast Loudoun's 6412s yesterday? I noticed when I went to push "LIST" that instead of taking me directly to my list of DVR recordings, I went to the DVR menu from which I had to select "My recordings". I also noticed a couple other cosmetic changes. Unfortunately, the video was freezing every now and then, especially when in guide mode.


----------



## Ladd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ahsan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Anyone notice a software change in Comcast Loudoun's 6412s yesterday? I noticed when I went to push "LIST" that instead of taking me directly to my list of DVR recordings, I went to the DVR menu from which I had to select "My recordings".



Comcast Frederick MD 6412's had some sort of software update yesterday -- I noticed the menu differences last evening but haven't had time to figure out what's changed and if it is for the better.


----------



## gr8one626

Anyone know what the QAM frequencies are for HD channels in comcast Frederick? All mine show up on 1.1 & 1.3...


----------



## ahsan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ladd* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Comcast Frederick MD 6412's had some sort of software update yesterday -- I noticed the menu differences last evening but haven't had time to figure out what's changed and if it is for the better.



Comcast Loudoun has added HD On Demand with HD movies going for $5.95.


----------



## stuntmole

Just wondering if anybody else has been having issues with Comcast's audio on the HD channels?


I'm in Arlington VA, and watching Fox and Discovery HD channels have been PAINFUL today! The audio on both channels keeps dropping in/out, and, in the case of Fox (Channel 213), the SD (Channel 5) version just sounds way better. All my other HD channels (HBO, SHO, etc.) sound just fine.


I tried calling the Comcast office, but they refuse to believe that it can be on their end (we went down the usual "unplug the box, cycle the power on the box, etc." game).


Really starting to get frustrated with Comcast... Is it time to make the switch to satellite?


----------



## rgf_dca

Yes, I'm hearing the same. I'll call it in too. They don't bother to monitor head-end quality, this much is becoming clear. Very unprofessional.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *stuntmole* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Just wondering if anybody else has been having issues with Comcast's audio on the HD channels?
> 
> 
> I'm in Arlington VA, and watching Fox and Discovery HD channels have been PAINFUL today! The audio on both channels keeps dropping in/out, and, in the case of Fox (Channel 213), the SD (Channel 5) version just sounds way better. All my other HD channels (HBO, SHO, etc.) sound just fine.
> 
> 
> I tried calling the Comcast office, but they refuse to believe that it can be on their end (we went down the usual "unplug the box, cycle the power on the box, etc." game).
> 
> 
> Really starting to get frustrated with Comcast... Is it time to make the switch to satellite?


----------



## biker19

Cox seems to have shuffled their clear QAM lineup again - the PBS and CW chs are back along with a tennis bonus ch.


----------



## Brian27

Has anyone had problems with not being able to get "on demand" from the motorola Comcast box...it's the box that looks just like the 6412 III but doesn't say it on the front(it says comcast in upper left corner) and it has the DVI output on the back, no HDMI. It used to have "on demand" listed but it always said "try again in 5 min." and some other message that looked something like "mgr88508" in a box on the screen when you tried to go into "on demand"... now its not even listed in the menu







! I,m so tired of dealing with comcast and their stupid HD boxes, I have already replaced 2 of them







. Does anyone know what could be going on with my box?


ps...I have 2 HD motorola boxes...the one I mentioned above and the DCT6412 III with HDMI. The 6412 III I use in my living room and the "on demand" works but just the other day it started to not let me watch HBO and Showtime "on demand", saying "it was only available as part of a package"...but I pay for these channels and was getting them until the other day so this makes no sense! Anyone know what this issue could be also?


Thanks,

Brian


----------



## ahsan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Brian27* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Has anyone had problems with not being able to get "on demand" from the motorola Comcast box...it's the box that looks just like the 6412 III but doesn't say it on the front(it says comcast in upper left corner) and it has the DVI output on the back, no HDMI. It used to have "on demand" listed but it always said "try again in 5 min." and some other message that looked something like "mgr88508" in a box on the screen when you tried to go into "on demand"... now its not even listed in the menu
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ! I,m so tired of dealing with comcast and their stupid HD boxes, I have already replaced 2 of them
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . Does anyone know what could be going on with my box?
> 
> 
> ps...I have 2 HD motorola boxes...the one I mentioned above and the DCT6412 III with HDMI. The 6412 III I use in my living room and the "on demand" works but just the other day it started to not let me watch HBO and Showtime "on demand", saying "it was only available as part of a package"...but I pay for these channels and was getting them until the other day so this makes no sense! Anyone know what this issue could be also?
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Brian



I am in Comcast Loudoun, I have 2 of the DVI Moto 6412's (non Phase III) and my kids have been watching kids programming On Demand on-and-off all day. There was a moment earlier today where I got the "try again in 5 minutes" error but it seems to have cleared up.


I can't speak for HBO or SHO since I have neither. If you recently received a software update, I suspect they may still be sorting that stuff out.


----------



## sdcsimmons

Just switched to Comcast in Woodbridge from D*. Unfortunately I had few options as I wasn't able to pick up the new HD satellite they just launched and was quickly losing the handful that I had on the old receivers and my local OTA antennae.


Ill-informed, I thought that the additional HD coverage on cable would atleast take the sting out of losing Sunday Ticket. I referenced the "Who has what" list on this forum and thought that I would roll up to Comcast Washington. After installation today, I couldn't believe how much better the picture was over D* and started looking for all my new HD channels...and looked and looked and looked. At that point, the nice "Satellite Buy Back" deal they hooked me up with didn't seem so great (no TNTHD, ESPN2HD, NFLHD, HDNETs, etc).


My dad has comcast in Winchester and is getting significant more love. Is comcast new in this area and just needs to catch up? I searched this forum but couldn't find any news on significant channel releases. Am I missing something?


Thanks for anyone who can catch me up and possibly give me hope.


----------



## CycloneGT

Maybe FiOS will be in woodbridge soon. They seem to have a pretty good HD lineup.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *sdcsimmons* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Ill-informed, I thought that the additional HD coverage on cable would atleast take the sting out of losing Sunday Ticket. I referenced the "Who has what" list on this forum and thought that I would roll up to Comcast Washington. After installation today, I couldn't believe how much better the picture was over D* and started looking for all my new HD channels...and looked and looked and looked. At that point, the nice "Satellite Buy Back" deal they hooked me up with didn't seem so great (no TNTHD, ESPN2HD, NFLHD, HDNETs, etc).
> 
> 
> My dad has comcast in Winchester and is getting significant more love. Is comcast new in this area and just needs to catch up? I searched this forum but couldn't find any news on significant channel releases. Am I missing something?
> 
> 
> Thanks for anyone who can catch me up and possibly give me hope.



Go to the comcast website and check the channel line-up for your address. Comcast does not have HDNet and HDNet Movies, this is very well known. But they do have TNT-HD and ESPN2-HD in some areas.


----------



## aaronwt

You must not be in an upgraded area of Woodbridge yet. They finally switched me over to the new cable plant last month. I know they are switching more people over this month because my brother got a notice. Once they switch you will get TNT-HD, ESPN2-HD, National Geographic HD, MOJOHD, MTVHD, GolfHD, STARZ-HD, Cinemax-HD(they already had HBO-HD, SHowtime HD, CSNHD, and DiscoveryHD)plus more HD On Demand. Then they will also offer phone service shortly after that and your internet speed should increase. I now hit 31mbs down with Powerboost and 2mbs up. I switched back in December to Comcast and finally dropped DirecTV completely a few weeks ago. The picture is much better than DirecTV

They recently ran the fiber in our area for FIOS. I have no idea when they will offer the service but I will probably switch when they offer it. I like Comcast but FIOS has more bandwidth to add more HD channels. Plus Comcast doesn't have the HDNet channels while FIOS does.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *sdcsimmons* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Just switched to Comcast in Woodbridge from D*. Unfortunately I had few options as I wasn't able to pick up the new HD satellite they just launched and was quickly losing the handful that I had on the old receivers and my local OTA antennae.
> 
> 
> Ill-informed, I thought that the additional HD coverage on cable would atleast take the sting out of losing Sunday Ticket. I referenced the "Who has what" list on this forum and thought that I would roll up to Comcast Washington. After installation today, I couldn't believe how much better the picture was over D* and started looking for all my new HD channels...and looked and looked and looked. At that point, the nice "Satellite Buy Back" deal they hooked me up with didn't seem so great (no TNTHD, ESPN2HD, NFLHD, HDNETs, etc).
> 
> 
> My dad has comcast in Winchester and is getting significant more love. Is comcast new in this area and just needs to catch up? I searched this forum but couldn't find any news on significant channel releases. Am I missing something?
> 
> 
> Thanks for anyone who can catch me up and possibly give me hope.


----------



## MrMike6by9




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Brian27* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Has anyone had problems with not being able to get "on demand" from the motorola Comcast box...it's the box that looks just like the 6412 III but doesn't say it on the front(it says comcast in upper left corner) and it has the DVI output on the back, no HDMI. It used to have "on demand" listed but it always said "try again in 5 min." and some other message that looked something like "mgr88508" in a box on the screen when you tried to go into "on demand"... now its not even listed in the menu
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ! I,m so tired of dealing with comcast and their stupid HD boxes, I have already replaced 2 of them
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . Does anyone know what could be going on with my box?
> 
> 
> ps...I have 2 HD motorola boxes...the one I mentioned above and the DCT6412 III with HDMI. The 6412 III I use in my living room and the "on demand" works but just the other day it started to not let me watch HBO and Showtime "on demand", saying "it was only available as part of a package"...but I pay for these channels and was getting them until the other day so this makes no sense! Anyone know what this issue could be also?
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Brian



A few things.


The Comcast boxes often have a sticker on the bottom naming the model


Having had digital cable since January '04, my first guess is that you are experiencing a signal strength issue with the OnDemand and the "try again" message. Check your connections particularly those that might be exposed to the weather. It might require a truck roll to check it out.


I once had intermittent failures to connect for OnDemand. Some days perfect; other days, "please wait". Evenutally the tech discovered that squirrels had been chewing the wires at the poll.


BTW, these boxes are notorious for crapping out. I've lost more than a few unwatched probgrams because the box has died an untimely death.


I recently added digital voice and got a box for my BR TV. It worked fine for about a week to 10 days then it would not tune the digital plus tier (Science, NGC, Sundance) but it would pull in OnDemand and my premiums (HBO, SHO, etc.) That time a tier 1 tech had to send a signal to that box to get it working correctly.


YMMV


----------



## gr8one626

Does anyone know why all my QAM channels are showing up on 1.1 & 1.3 (5 channels mapped to these two addresses)? They used to be 80.1, 80,3 etc. but now those don't work... can anyone help? I have this problem with both TV sets...


I like in Frederick and have comcast.


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gr8one626* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Does anyone know why all my QAM channels are showing up on 1.1 & 1.3 (5 channels mapped to these two addresses)? They used to be 80.1, 80,3 etc. but now those don't work... can anyone help? I have this problem with both TV sets...
> 
> 
> I like in Frederick and have comcast.



It is my impression that Comcast is doing experiments with their QAM channels in preparation for the switch to all digital in 2 years. I have an OnAir GT USB tuner in my computer which is very convenient as a research tool to check my Comcast P.G. basic. This tuner is the most sensitive tuner I have tested and it scans all the Qam channels much faster than other tuners.

I do a full scan about every 15 days to detect changes. Sometimes I lose channels, sometimes I gain, and sometimes the assignments change. On my last scan I did not lose, but gained A&E HD, and MY20 HD.

I observe from this forum that every Comcast location is different in terms of the assignments for the QAM channels, but D.C. Comcast and Comcast P.G county are nearly the same.


----------



## tonyd79

I have noticed that WNUV programming that is SD source on 54-1 has a flickering edge along the top. HD source is fine. The flickering edge is very annoying (yes, I can push the overscan to get rid of it, but this is the only channel I have this problem with).


----------



## Ladd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gr8one626* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Does anyone know why all my QAM channels are showing up on 1.1 & 1.3 (5 channels mapped to these two addresses)? They used to be 80.1, 80,3 etc. but now those don't work



I've already sent you a PM, but will post here also.


I also have Comcast Frederick MD.


It's been quite some time since I've used the clear QAM channels so I hooked the cable wire back up to the TV tuner and ran a channel scan -- and yes, the clear QAM channels are no longer 80.1, 80.3 etc.


Here's what I'm getting now:


Discovery HD 85.001

WUSA HD 1.001

WRC HD also 1.001

WJLA HD 1.003

WTTG HD also 1.003


and all the music channels.


So it looks like what you are seeing is what Comcast Frederick is sending out now ...


----------



## gr8one626

The problem I have with this is that my syntax olevia 32" only detects them as one channel... see how they have two each on 1.1 & 1.3? My olevia only picks up two HD's from that...


anyone know if I can view the HD locals with an HD set top box from ebay?


----------



## Ladd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Brian27* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Has anyone had problems with not being able to get "on demand" from the motorola Comcast box. [snip]
> 
> It used to have "on demand" listed but it always said "try again in 5 min."



I had the same problem and it was a signal strenth issue.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Scripps Taps JVC for HD News*


By Glen Dickson -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/4/2007 11:17:00 AM


JVC has won a deal from Scripps Television Station Group to provide its HDV-format camcorders to support high-definition news production at all 10 Scripps stations.


Under the deal, which is by far JVC's biggest win to date for its ProHD format, Scripps will purchase more than 150 GY-HD250 ProHD camcorders, over 150 BR-HD50sProHD recorder/players, more than 300 DR-HD10060G HD hard disk recorders and approximately 100 DTV monitors.


Scripps had previously purchased JVC GY-HD250 cameras for WXYZ-TV, the Scripps ABC-affiliate in Detroit, Mich., to support HD news production there, and has experimented with the ProHD camera's ability to support live microwave feeds in HD.


"Our industry is in the midst of a major technical upgrade to high definition," said Scripps Vice President of Engineering, Michael Doback in a statement. "JVC's ProHD products enable Scripps stations to provide local news coverageincluding remotesin HD. This is the right solution, at the right time, and at the right price."


Scripps stations include ABC affiliates KNXV-TV Phoenix, WFTS-TV Tampa, *WMAR-TV Baltimore*, WXYZ-TV Detroit, WCPO-TV Cincinnati and WEWS-TV Cleveland; NBC affiliates WPTV West Palm Beach, WSHB-TV Kansas City and KJRH-TV Tulsa; and independent KMCI-TV Lawrence, Kan.

http://broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6448794.html


----------



## rajdude

Does anyone know how to get these channels via OTA:


WMPT DT - channel 22.1 - (PBS)

WMPTDT3 - channel 22.3 - (PBS)


I heard I may have to tune to them directly?

How do I do that with MCE?


I am looking for some cartoons/kids programs and cant seem to find anything on OTA. Titan TV says these channels have the kids stuff.



I have MCE 2005 with a hauppauge HVR-1600 card doing OTA via a CM4228+pre-amp.


----------



## CycloneGT

It may depend on what time of the day you are searching for the channels. MPT sends 4 SD channels out during the day, but then shutdown two of them to fire up the HD channel in the evening. You may want to check their web site (links in the first post of this thread) to see what hours they are broadcasting the channels.


----------



## ahsan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> You must not be in an upgraded area of Woodbridge yet. They finally switched me over to the new cable plant last month. I know they are switching more people over this month because my brother got a notice. Once they switch you will get TNT-HD, ESPN2-HD, National Geographic HD, MOJOHD, MTVHD, GolfHD, STARZ-HD, Cinemax-HD(they already had HBO-HD, SHowtime HD, CSNHD, and DiscoveryHD)plus more HD On Demand. Then they will also offer phone service shortly after that and your internet speed should increase. I now hit 31mbs down with Powerboost and 2mbs up.



Is that how it works? Does anybody know when Loudoun will get switched to a new cable plant? We are currently missing CSN-HD, MTVHD, National Geographic HD, and StarzHD. I believe the super fast internet isn't yet available either.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rajdude* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WMPT DT - channel 22.1 - (PBS)
> 
> WMPTDT3 - channel 22.3 - (PBS)
> 
> 
> I heard I may have to tune to them directly?
> 
> How do I do that with MCE?
> 
> 
> .



I don't believe you can tune them directly - you have to add them after the major ch is added. In the set up section of the guide there's a place to add missing chs. Go in there and add each minor ch (.2, .3 and .4) separately. The same would apply to any other ch - like if you wanted the weather ch (.2) on the 3 major networks.


----------



## Mike20878




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> UHD is used as shorthand for Universal HD, although I think UnivHD is a better shorthand reference. (UHD also = Ultra High Definition in some places). UnivHD airs BattleStar Galactica, Stargate Atlantis (season 1 only so far), Northern Exposure in 4:3 HD (looping through the first 3 seasons only), was running Firefly (all 13 episodes), and because this is a Universal/NBC property, Law & Order of course (SVU in this case). UnivHD has been showing the 3rd season episodes of Battlestar Galactica on Saturday nights in HD for the 1st time in the US and this Saturday will be airing a rather critical episode as they get into the last four episodes of the 3rd season. Got the DVR set to record it. See http://www.universalhd.com/ for their schedule.



So are these actually in HD? They don't look like it. It kinda looks like they blew it up for HD. I can't imagine the shows were filmed in HD to begin with.


----------



## sdcsimmons




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> You must not be in an upgraded area of Woodbridge yet. They finally switched me over to the new cable plant last month. I know they are switching more people over this month because my brother got a notice.



Thanks, I called them today to get them to bring the newer 8300 boxes as they showed up with the older models and the rep said they would be adding channels on Wednesday.


Likely I should have waited on FIOS after I tried to pull up the channel listing on the Comcast site. "We're working on adding the channel listing for your zipcode." That should have been the red flag that they didn't have anything exciting to tell or not everyone in my area was getting the goods.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Mike20878* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So are these actually in HD? They don't look like it. It kinda looks like they blew it up for HD. I can't imagine the shows were filmed in HD to begin with.



Battlestar Galactica was done in HD (it is only three years old). Northern Exposure was film, so it is 4x3 HD transfer. Firefly's FX were redone for HD. I am pretty sure L&O is HD.


----------



## Brian27




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrMike6by9* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> A few things.
> 
> 
> The Comcast boxes often have a sticker on the bottom naming the model
> 
> 
> Having had digital cable since January '04, my first guess is that you are experiencing a signal strength issue with the OnDemand and the "try again" message. Check your connections particularly those that might be exposed to the weather. It might require a truck roll to check it out.
> 
> 
> I once had intermittent failures to connect for OnDemand. Some days perfect; other days, "please wait". Evenutally the tech discovered that squirrels had been chewing the wires at the poll.
> 
> 
> BTW, these boxes are notorious for crapping out. I've lost more than a few unwatched probgrams because the box has died an untimely death.
> 
> 
> I recently added digital voice and got a box for my BR TV. It worked fine for about a week to 10 days then it would not tune the digital plus tier (Science, NGC, Sundance) but it would pull in OnDemand and my premiums (HBO, SHO, etc.) That time a tier 1 tech had to send a signal to that box to get it working correctly.
> 
> 
> YMMV



I was also thinking it could have something to do with signal strength due too the long cable that goes from the power line pole that is at the edge of my driveway, all the way around to the back of my house where the cable input is. What I dont understand though is that I have been using a motorola signal amplifier to boost the strength of the signal when it first comes into the house...from there the cable goes to a splitter that sends a signal to my living room and to my bedroom. I will have to check the connection outside the house to see if its ok...but Im sure it is. Thanks for your help MrMike and Ladd.


Take care,

Brian


----------



## Brian27




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ladd* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I had the same problem and it was a signal strenth issue.



Hi Ladd...what did you do to fix the problem?


Thanks,

Brian


----------



## aaronwt

Try a good amplifier, not a cheap one and any amplification problems will be gone.


----------



## StevieG

I am having audio dropout issues on several HD channels, Comcast HD cable in Arlington VA. The audio stutters and/or drops out for 1-2 seconds, and interestingly enough, this happens exactly every 60 seconds. No kidding, after noting some regularity to the dropouts I actually pulled my watch out and timed them - and once every minute for 20 consecutive minutes it happened at exactly the same time each minute. Exactly every 60 seconds, no exceptions. This is clearly no coincidence; something somewhere in the signal chain is occuring precisely every 60 seconds to cause the problem.


I didn't test all channels, but I did notice that the dropouts are happening on at least 3 HD channels (all in the 2xx channel range) - WETA HD, Discovery HD, and CBS HD. And no dropouts were occuring on the one non-HD channel I watched - Comedy Central (61).


Any idea what might be causing this?? I was trying to watch the Raconteurs on Austin City Limits, and this problem was driving me absolutely batty!


----------



## stuntmole

Stevie,


I posted similar comments over the weekend, and one person eventually wrote in confirming the same in their home.


My issues on Saturday were with Discovery HD and Fox HD. I've been watching ESPN HD and HBO/SHO HD the last two nights with no issues at all.


Again, I tried calling Comcast, but their reps keep insisting on going down the path of resetting the box. In spite of giant pain in the a#s this is for me (got everything wired and situated in the home entertainment center), I played along a couple of times. When this doesn't resolve the issue, their next step is to set up a four hour block for a cable guy to come by (I guess it's inconceivable for them that I might actually have a job).


Bottom line, I tried to talk to somebody at Comcast who would take down my complaint in the hopes that they would check out their end. No luck.


Between this and them overcharging me in spite of a 12-month price guarantee, satellite alternatives are starting to sound very appealing to me.


----------



## rajdude

Thanks!

I also found this link which describes exactly what I need to do:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/u...e_dec2004.mspx 




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I don't believe you can tune them directly - you have to add them after the major ch is added. In the set up section of the guide there's a place to add missing chs. Go in there and add each minor ch (.2, .3 and .4) separately. The same would apply to any other ch - like if you wanted the weather ch (.2) on the 3 major networks.


----------



## rajdude

Thanks!


Anyone here who had success with tuning into these channels via OTA?


And how do I get the guide to show correct listings? I see nothing relevant in the MCE's guide for Antenna.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It may depend on what time of the day you are searching for the channels. MPT sends 4 SD channels out during the day, but then shutdown two of them to fire up the HD channel in the evening. You may want to check their web site (links in the first post of this thread) to see what hours they are broadcasting the channels.


----------



## rfrankli




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevieG* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I am having audio dropout issues on several HD channels, Comcast HD cable in Arlington VA. The audio stutters and/or drops out for 1-2 seconds, and interestingly enough, this happens exactly every 60 seconds. No kidding, after noting some regularity to the dropouts I actually pulled my watch out and timed them - and once every minute for 20 consecutive minutes it happened at exactly the same time each minute. Exactly every 60 seconds, no exceptions. This is clearly no coincidence; something somewhere in the signal chain is occuring precisely every 60 seconds to cause the problem.
> 
> 
> I didn't test all channels, but I did notice that the dropouts are happening on at least 3 HD channels (all in the 2xx channel range) - WETA HD, Discovery HD, and CBS HD. And no dropouts were occuring on the one non-HD channel I watched - Comedy Central (61).
> 
> 
> Any idea what might be causing this?? I was trying to watch the Raconteurs on Austin City Limits, and this problem was driving me absolutely batty!



I am having the same problem here in Alexandria with Comcast. Audio dropouts every minute. Hopefully they will get it figured out soon, because it really is annoying.


----------



## rajdude

Ok folks, I need some advice here:


I really need this channel for my kid. Did a little research and found out that I am trying to get WMPT-DT2 Ch. 22.2.


It is a PBS Affiliate broadcasting from Baltimore, MD


TV Fool says that it is at 57 degrees. My Antenna has been optimized for DC stations at 33 degrees. But when I look at the TV Fool's Azimuth map, both 33 deg and 57 deg seem to be approx in the same direction. (Please see image below)











This makes me wonder if rotating the antenna will make any difference. What do you think?


By the way..
*Does anyone around here (zip 22193) has had any success tuning into this station via OTA?*




Any help is highly appreciated!


----------



## aaronwt

Just try rotating the antenna and see if it's better or not. If not then return it to the original position. It takes some time but worth it in the end.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rajdude* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Ok folks, I need some advice here:
> 
> 
> I really need this channel for my kid. Did a little research and found out that I am trying to get WMPT-DT2 Ch. 22.2.
> 
> 
> It is a PBS Affiliate broadcasting from Baltimore, MD
> 
> 
> TV Fool says that it is at 57 degrees. My Antenna has been optimized for DC stations at 33 degrees. But when I look at the TV Fool's Azimuth map, both 33 deg and 57 deg seem to be approx in the same direction. (Please see image below)
> 
> 
> This makes me wonder if rotating the antenna will make any difference. What do you think?
> 
> 
> By the way..
> *Does anyone around here (zip 22193) has had any success tuning into this station via OTA?*



The difference between 33˚ and 57˚ is roughly 7% of a complete circle. My guess is that it won't matter much, but you should still be able to get all the DC channels if you point the antenna perfectly at 57˚ I'm able to get pick up 22.* from Sterling(20164) with an internal, powered, omni-diectional antenna fairly well.


The perfect setup should pick it up, it's just a matter of finding it. Wish I could help more.


----------



## rajdude

Hmmmm....So you get it with an internal antenna....wow !


I have a huge CM4228 with a 7777 pre-amp outside on the roof (overkill?? maybe).

I hope I get it too.


I guess it is time to rent/borrow that ladder again. Man getting onto the roof still sends chills down my spine!


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rajdude* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hmmmm....So you get it with an internal antenna....wow !



Yep, but I don't have to jump over all of DC like you have to. Funny/Sad part is that I can pick the Maryland PBS, but not WETA


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rajdude* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Ok folks, I need some advice here:
> 
> 
> I really need this channel for my kid. Did a little research and found out that I am trying to get WMPT-DT2 Ch. 22.2.
> 
> 
> It is a PBS Affiliate broadcasting from Baltimore, MD
> 
> 
> TV Fool says that it is at 57 degrees. My Antenna has been optimized for DC stations at 33 degrees. But when I look at the TV Fool's Azimuth map, both 33 deg and 57 deg seem to be approx in the same direction. (Please see image below)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This makes me wonder if rotating the antenna will make any difference. What do you think?
> 
> 
> By the way..
> *Does anyone around here (zip 22193) has had any success tuning into this station via OTA?*
> 
> 
> Any help is highly appreciated!



Not that it matters a great deal for you, but WMPT is broadcast from Millersville, near Annapolis. That's a lot more east from Baltimore for you. The chart is kind of misleading because the signal level is really low, and the line for WMPT is hard to see since it doesn't stick out very far.


If you REALLY want that channel, you could try peaking up your antenna toward it, and then seeing how many of the Washington stations are still coming in. Better yet, get a rotor so you can move it back and forth.


Mark


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Count Blah* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The difference between 33˚ and 57˚ is roughly 7% of a complete circle.



No, the difference between 33 and 57 degrees is 24 degrees which can be quite significant for a directional antenna.


rajdude, what antenna are you using and where is it located? You should turn the aim to close to 57 degrees or find a point inbetween to see if WMPT-DT comes in without losing the DC stations. I do not get WMPT-DT 22 from where I am in Sterling (20165), because of local obstructions, the antenna is in the attic, and because WMPT-DT is not a very strong station. I get MPT via WFPT-DT 62 (DT 28), technically the Frederick station, although the transmitter is located well south of Frederick. None of the other MPT stations shows up on your tvfool.com list, so WMPT-DT 22 from south of Baltimore is your only option.


MPT changes their sub-channel line-up twice a day which gives heartburn I understand to some older ATSC tuners, but I can't speak for your PC based tuner.


Oops, sorry I missed your post that stated you have a CM 4228 which is rather directional. Turn it towards WMPT-DT a few degrees at a time. If going up and down the ladder multiple times is a problem, get someone to monitor the ATSC tuner strength for WMPT-DT on 42.1 if your tuner will accept direct entry of the actual digital channel #.


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rfrankli* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I am having the same problem here in Alexandria with Comcast. Audio dropouts every minute. Hopefully they will get it figured out soon, because it really is annoying.



I, too, have noticed this in Alexandria on all of the "broadcast" HD channels (ABC, CBS, NBC, etc.) above 200 (I use a cable card, not a STB). In addition, a friend in my building gets some of these channels on clear QAM through Comcast's Limited Basic package, and he has been experiencing the same audio glitches. The problem is very obviously at Comcast's head end, but it seems the engineers do not monitor transmission quality and the phone reps are clueless.


----------



## MapMaker18

Hi All,


I recently helped my parents set up their new HDTV. After plugging in the cable to the TV, I did a channel search using the QAM tuner and found some digital channels. However, I wasn't able to pick up local HD channels (NBC, ABC, FOX, CBS, etc.) When connecting an A/B switch (to use with an antenna), I lose most of the channels. So currently, they're using an antenna to pick up OTA channels, but reception is spotty because they live on the bottom of a hill.


Is it possible to call comcast and request them to increase signal strengh? I also noticed that their wireless router for the internet is really slow lately. Is this an indication of low signal strength also? Any suggestion would be appreciated.


Thanks!


----------



## Rfutscher

I live in Alexandria. I have a 8 bay bow-tie for Washington and Baltimore, which are in the same direction for me.


I need the large antenna for Baltimore. I tried a smaller antenna with preamp but found that the high powered stations from Washington overloaded the preamp and the distortion killed my reception. With the smaller antenna and without the preamp I did not have the gain that I needed for Baltimore.


My channel master CM4228 has a side lobe that is almost in the right direction for WMPT 22.X. I could get 22.X from the side lobe but the multipath from the main lobe made it unreliable.


I now have three antennas and four tuners. One antenna is for Washington/Baltimore, the second is for 22.X from Annapolis and the third is for 26.x/57.x. Now my computer can record any channel at any time.


The main problem I have with 22.X is that they change their channel lineup twice a day. During the day they have 22.1, 22.3, 22.4 and 22.5. At night they have 22.1 and 22.2. My receiver only updated the channel map when I rescan, it does not handle dynamic channel changes.




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rajdude* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Ok folks, I need some advice here:
> 
> 
> I really need this channel for my kid. Did a little research and found out that I am trying to get WMPT-DT2 Ch. 22.2.
> 
> 
> It is a PBS Affiliate broadcasting from Baltimore, MD
> 
> 
> TV Fool says that it is at 57 degrees. My Antenna has been optimized for DC stations at 33 degrees. But when I look at the TV Fool's Azimuth map, both 33 deg and 57 deg seem to be approx in the same direction. (Please see image below)
> 
> ...........
> 
> This makes me wonder if rotating the antenna will make any difference. What do you think?


----------



## subwoofer

I have Comcast and I was watching the hockey game last night on ABC ( I think it was that). The picture looked great but every time they had a graphic with the score or NHL logo fly by the screen, it seemed to get blocky for a millisecond. Anyone else notice this?


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *subwoofer* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I have Comcast and I was watching the hockey game last night on ABC ( I think it was that). The picture looked great but every time they had a graphic with the score or NHL logo fly by the screen, it seemed to get blocky for a millisecond. Anyone else notice this?



It was NBC. Do you get WRC, WBAL, or some other NBC?


----------



## subwoofer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It was NBC. Do you get WRC, WBAL, or some other NBC?



I believe I get WBAL through Comcast HD. I'm in Harford county


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *subwoofer* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I believe I get WBAL through Comcast HD. I'm in Harford county



Yeah I get WBAL in AA County, but it's got a lot of problems. They have no DD5.1, a mediocre picture (as you saw last night), and they stretch 4:3 content. I recommend watching the game on WRC if you can, because they have none of those problems. Either use an antenna or use a QAM tuner on the Comcast cable. Comcast provides the channel, your cable box just can't see it.


----------



## subwoofer

Last question.....on my Samsung 5088w, I turned off overscan and had to move my vertical position up a bit. It looks great on everything but channel 214 (CW) which is never in HD always has some static around the top of it. Why is this? Obviously it is something to do with their channel.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *subwoofer* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Last question.....on my Samsung 5088w, I turned off overscan and had to move my vertical position up a bit. It looks great on everything but channel 214 (CW) which is never in HD always has some static around the top of it. Why is this? Obviously it is something to do with their channel.



I'm gonna defer to one Mark Bulla for that. (Chief engineer at WBFF/WNUV) Your channel 214 (CW) is WNUV. If you're lucky, he'll see these posts.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MapMaker18* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I recently helped my parents set up their new HDTV. After plugging in the cable to the TV, I did a channel search using the QAM tuner and found some digital channels. However, I wasn't able to pick up local HD channels (NBC, ABC, FOX, CBS, etc.) When connecting an A/B switch (to use with an antenna), I lose most of the channels. So currently, they're using an antenna to pick up OTA channels, but reception is spotty because they live on the bottom of a hill.
> 
> 
> Is it possible to call comcast and request them to increase signal strengh? I also noticed that their wireless router for the internet is really slow lately. Is this an indication of low signal strength also? Any suggestion would be appreciated.



Signal strength from Comcast may be an issue, but it is hard to say from where I sit. Sounds like the TV has a single co-axial input. Does the TV have the capability to maintain two channel lists with a single co-axial input: a QAM digital cable scan list and a OTA ATSC broadcast scan list?


You do realize that only the local broadcast stations are likely to be in the clear, aka not encrypted? All the national HD channels, ESPN-HD, Discovery-HD, Universal-HD, etc are going to be encrypted or will be soon after they do a channel reshuffle. Is there any particular reason your parents are not getting a cable box, or better yet, a HD-DVR? I see the capability to get clear QAM as more useful for the 2nd HD TV in bedroom or kitchen where getting just the locals is ok as people don't want to lay out money for a 2nd STB. But for the main TV, to take full advantage of HD, digital cable, VOD, and guide info, you need the cable box or a HD-DVR (or a TV or Series 3 Tivo with cable card).


If you want help with OTA reception, we can provide recommendations on antennas and placement. Need the zip code as a starting point.


----------



## Brian27

I have been using a signal amplifier...Its a Motorola Signal Booster that is a Full-bandwidth, bi-directional amplifier capable of both forward and return communications and it was designed to improve signal strength inside the home by increasing the signal up to 32 times (15 dB). I have it hooked up right at the cable jack and then a cable is output from the signl booster amp to the input of a Monster Ultra 2-way splitter which outputs a signal to my bedroom and another to my living room. I am having the most problems with the cable box(HD) in my bedroom with not being able to get "on demand"...its not even showing up on the main menu...the box in my living room gets "on demand" with no problems and that is strange to me because I have the signal split up once more in the living room to hook up my computer along with the cable box(HD). Any suggestions anyone???


ps...The Monster Ultra 2-way splitter has a "powerpass" output on one of the 2 outputs but I dont really understand the purpose of it, so I just use the 2-way splitter as a 2-way splitter and thats it...Is there something else I should be doing here







?


Thanks,

Brian


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *subwoofer* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Last question.....on my Samsung 5088w, I turned off overscan and had to move my vertical position up a bit. It looks great on everything but channel 214 (CW) which is never in HD always has some static around the top of it. Why is this? Obviously it is something to do with their channel.



I posted on this a few days ago. WNUV (54.1) when showing up-rezzed SD material has an underscan problem. I do not see this on any other channel in that condition, no SD or analog channels nor any real HD (including WNUV).


This problem does not exist on WBFF, which is also Mark Bulla's domain.


It is quite annoying. I don't want to push to overscan. That is just a bad setting.


But WNUV has lots of HD. The HD switch keeps going off and Mark fixes it. Since Mark has not posted lately and I have seen shows on WNUV that are normally in HD in SD lately, I am assuming he is on vacation....


----------



## MapMaker18




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Does the TV have the capability to maintain two channel lists with a single co-axial input: a QAM digital cable scan list and a OTA ATSC broadcast scan list?



Yes, the TV is capable of maintaining two channel lists.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> You do realize that only the local broadcast stations are likely to be in the clear, aka not encrypted?



Yes, I do realize that only local station are likely to be in the clear. I get them just fine with my HDTV. However, I do believe its a signal strength issue because they have so many splitters in the house. Would an amplifier do them any good? Any recommendations. They're currently borrowing my TERK HDTVi antenna to get OTA channels.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I posted on this a few days ago. WNUV (54.1) when showing up-rezzed SD material has an underscan problem. I do not see this on any other channel in that condition, no SD or analog channels nor any real HD (including WNUV).
> 
> 
> This problem does not exist on WBFF, which is also Mark Bulla's domain.
> 
> 
> It is quite annoying. I don't want to push to overscan. That is just a bad setting.
> 
> 
> But WNUV has lots of HD. The HD switch keeps going off and Mark fixes it. Since Mark has not posted lately and I have seen shows on WNUV that are normally in HD in SD lately, I am assuming he is on vacation....



Whoops... Thanks for the reminder... I have to have the master control people reset the CW HD receiver during prime-time. I wish I knew why it keeps locking up. I also wish I knew why the master control people don't either fix it themselves, or call ME when it happens.


Sorry for the problem...


Mark

(Vacation? What's that?)


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I posted on this a few days ago. WNUV (54.1) when showing up-rezzed SD material has an underscan problem. I do not see this on any other channel in that condition, no SD or analog channels nor any real HD (including WNUV).



BTW, the CW seems to be sending their SD programming out in a letterboxed format. That allows people watching the analog channel to see the full picture. That's why it looks underscanned.


Mark


----------



## rviele

i have the following items if anyone is interested.

a channel master 8 bay uhf

a wade3206 uhf

a televes dat75 uhf

plus a wineguard 4800 uhf preamp

pm if you want

rviele.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> BTW, the CW seems to be sending their SD programming out in a letterboxed format. That allows people watching the analog channel to see the full picture. That's why it looks underscanned.
> 
> 
> Mark



Okay, but I am seeing this on your local stuff too (like syndicated reruns).


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Okay, but I am seeing this on your local stuff too (like syndicated reruns).



Sorry - I must have misunderstood you.


I'm looking at the picture on the monitor in my office, and it's not showing me that.


Not sure what that problem is...


Mark


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Okay, but I am seeing this on your local stuff too (like syndicated reruns).



I checked it here at home. It's not letterboxed here either.


How are you receiving your signal (OTA, cable, etc)?


Mark


----------



## tonyd79

mark, it is a thin line at the very top of the screen (only on the actual picture, not the pillar bars) when WNUV is showing 4x3 material with the gray sidebars. I see this OTA and via cable. It is not letterboxing.


I see it right now on Judge Maria Lopez (?).


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> mark, it is a thin line at the very top of the screen (only on the actual picture, not the pillar bars) when WNUV is showing 4x3 material with the gray sidebars. I see this OTA and via cable. It is not letterboxing.
> 
> 
> I see it right now on Judge Maria Lopez (?).



I see this line just barely at the very top of my screen as well and I am watching OTA on a Samsung LCD. It is 4:43 PM. More noticeable when there are lighter colors on the screen, but can also be seen with adark background.


----------



## markbach

I see it too, right now during Malcolm.... it's the closed captioning data










See the attached photos...


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbach* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I see it too, right now during Malcolm.... it's the closed captioning data



What is your overscan setting? It should be around 2 to 4% if you don't want to see that top line. I have mine, IIRC, set to around 3 to 4% which prevents that top line from showing up except for an occasional SD programs. You can check your setting with a calibration DVD such a Digital Video Essentials or set the HD-DVR to record the test screen display on HDNet (whenever they run it, if they still do and, of course, if you get HDNet). I'll check the OTA signal for WNUV-DT 54 and WBFF-DT 45 tonight to see if I see that line.


----------



## markbach




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> What is your overscan setting? It should be around 2 to 4% if you don't want to see that top line. I have mine, IIRC, set to around 3 to 4% which prevents that top line from showing up except for an occasional SD programs. You can check your setting with a calibration DVD such a Digital Video Essentials or set the HD-DVR to record the test screen display on HDNet (whenever they run it, if they still do and, of course, if you get HDNet). I'll check the OTA signal for WNUV-DT 54 and WBFF-DT 45 tonight to see if I see that line.



I'm actually using a Dell 2005fpw (20" widescreen LCD with a DVI input) right now (my big TV is on the fritz)... doesn't have any overscan settings that I'm aware of... but I'm sure it's overscanning, as I see that same thing on other channels as well. I used to see it all the time with analog TiVo recordings that I transfered to my computer.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> What is your overscan setting? It should be around 2 to 4% if you don't want to see that top line. I have mine, IIRC, set to around 3 to 4% which prevents that top line from showing up except for an occasional SD programs. You can check your setting with a calibration DVD such a Digital Video Essentials or set the HD-DVR to record the test screen display on HDNet (whenever they run it, if they still do and, of course, if you get HDNet). I'll check the OTA signal for WNUV-DT 54 and WBFF-DT 45 tonight to see if I see that line.



Sorry, but no. This is the ONLY channel I get this line on. No cable analog or digital channels. No satellite SD or HD. No other OTA or local digital. And not even on WNUV when showing HD.


I should not have to adjust my TV for one station.


----------



## fmsjr

Has anyone else lost WNUV on FiOS 814? It went out for us around 1:30 this afternoon.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Sorry, but no. This is the ONLY channel I get this line on. No cable analog or digital channels. No satellite SD or HD. No other OTA or local digital. And not even on WNUV when showing HD.
> 
> 
> I should not have to adjust my TV for one station.



Well, if you just adjusted it for wnuv and left it there.... Just kidding! ;-)


Anyhow, I cropped the top several lines from the picture, which got rid of the annoying closed captioning and test signals. That leaves a small, less noticeable space at the top of the picture.


I would have rather moved the picture up, but I was unable to do that. I'm not sure why. I'll try again, probably some time next week.


Mark


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmsjr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Has anyone else lost WNUV on FiOS 814? It went out for us around 1:30 this afternoon.



Apparently Verizon was working on the fiber equipment that they use to get our signal. They have an off-air receiver as a back-up, but that wasn't working for some reason. They were going to check into it, and see if they could get it working better.


Mark


----------



## markbach




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Anyhow, I cropped the top several lines from the picture, which got rid of the annoying closed captioning and test signals. That leaves a small, less noticeable space at the top of the picture.



Looks much better now... thanks, as always, for the responsiveness, Mark!


----------



## subwoofer

anyone else with Comcast notice that they haven't been showing any French Open or even the replays? I first got my HDTV right as the US Open was going on last year and it was amazing to watch. I really wish I could have seen some of the French Open in high-def


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Well, if you just adjusted it for wnuv and left it there.... Just kidding! ;-)
> 
> 
> Anyhow, I cropped the top several lines from the picture, which got rid of the annoying closed captioning and test signals. That leaves a small, less noticeable space at the top of the picture.
> 
> 
> I would have rather moved the picture up, but I was unable to do that. I'm not sure why. I'll try again, probably some time next week.
> 
> 
> Mark



Mark, once again, you da man! Thanks! I can watch WNUV non-HD in peace again.


Now, can you go infiltrate WBAL and get rid of that damned stretch stuff? Just sneak in one night....


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *subwoofer* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> anyone else with Comcast notice that they haven't been showing any French Open or even the replays? I first got my HDTV right as the US Open was going on last year and it was amazing to watch. I really wish I could have seen some of the French Open in high-def



Tennis channel, dude. No HD but it is on freeview here in Howard County (ch 277).


----------



## subwoofer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Tennis channel, dude. No HD but it is on freeview here in Howard County (ch 277).



No tennis in HD is a crime.


I never knew about channel 277...thanks!


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Now, can you go infiltrate WBAL and get rid of that damned stretch stuff? Just sneak in one night....



And when that's done, see if you can get rid of the hideous WMAR watermark...


----------



## Jimmy

Has anybody else lost their HD Locals from DTV this morning? They were working last night --- not sure when they went out this morning. I usually don't have problems so maybe it is a DTV thing.


----------



## weaver6




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Jimmy* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Has anybody else lost their HD Locals from DTV this morning? They were working last night --- not sure when they went out this morning. I usually don't have problems so maybe it is a DTV thing.




Mine are working fine.



Mark


----------



## Jimmy

They are back. Equipment problem after a brief power outage. Red button reset did not bring them back but a full reboot did the trick.


----------



## tonyd79

Jimmy, are you using an HR20? If so, DirecTV doesn't want you to use the red button anymore if you can do a menu restart. Cleaner restart from the menu.


----------



## jivinflava

Hi all, I'm hoping you can help me out. I just got a 32" Sharp Aquos LCD from Costco (it is the same as the 32d42U model, just Costco's version).


At any rate, this tv has built-in ATSC/NTSC/QAM tuners. I scanned for channels about 6 different times this afternoon, and none of the scans found the HD/Digital broadcast of the local (ABC, FOX, etc.) network channels. It did find many channels, including digital music channels and TNT HD.


So, the scan was able to find digital channels, and display an HD channel, but it is not finding any local network HD channel. All the digital channels it is finding is in the 80+ channel range, not 2, 4, 5 as I would expect. When I try to manually make it go to channel 4.1, it shows an error "Failed to receive broadcast [e202]"


I have the cable line hooked directly to the tv, not using an external antenna. And I'm using Comcast in the Washington, DC/Baltimore area (particularly, Odenton, MD).


Any thoughts on what could be the problem???


----------



## Brian27

"On Demand" missing from my bedroom Motorola HD box


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


I have been using a signal amplifier...Its a Motorola Signal Booster that is a Full-bandwidth, bi-directional amplifier capable of both forward and return communications and it was designed to improve signal strength inside the home by increasing the signal up to 32 times (15 dB). I have it hooked up right at the cable jack and then a cable is output from the signl booster amp to the input of a Monster Ultra 2-way splitter which outputs a signal to my bedroom and another to my living room. I am having the most problems with the cable box(HD) in my bedroom with not being able to get "on demand"...its not even showing up on the main menu...the box in my living room gets "on demand" with no problems and that is strange to me because I have the signal split up once more in the living room to hook up my computer along with the cable box(HD). Any suggestions anyone???


ps...The Monster Ultra 2-way splitter has a "powerpass" output on one of the 2 outputs but I dont really understand the purpose of it, so I just use the 2-way splitter as a 2-way splitter and thats it...Is there something else I should be doing here ?


Thanks,

Brian


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jivinflava* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hi all, I'm hoping you can help me out. I just got a 32" Sharp Aquos LCD from Costco (it is the same as the 32d42U model, just Costco's version).
> 
> 
> At any rate, this tv has built-in ATSC/NTSC/QAM tuners. I scanned for channels about 6 different times this afternoon, and none of the scans found the HD/Digital broadcast of the local (ABC, FOX, etc.) network channels. It did find many channels, including digital music channels and TNT HD.
> 
> 
> So, the scan was able to find digital channels, and display an HD channel, but it is not finding any local network HD channel. All the digital channels it is finding is in the 80+ channel range, not 2, 4, 5 as I would expect. When I try to manually make it go to channel 4.1, it shows an error "Failed to receive broadcast [e202]"
> 
> 
> I have the cable line hooked directly to the tv, not using an external antenna. And I'm using Comcast in the Washington, DC/Baltimore area (particularly, Odenton, MD).
> 
> 
> Any thoughts on what could be the problem???



Unless your cable provider is passing PSIP data along, you won't find the channels on 4.1, etc.


Does your TV have a cablecard slot? If so, you can get a cable card from the cable company that will map all your channels correctly.


----------



## jivinflava




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Unless your cable provider is passing PSIP data along, you won't find the channels on 4.1, etc.
> 
> 
> Does your TV have a cablecard slot? If so, you can get a cable card from the cable company that will map all your channels correctly.



Hi tony, thanks for the response. The reason I expected to see the stations on 4.1, 5.1, etc., is that a Vizio I tried about 4 months ago put the local network digital channels at those locations. I did not use a cablecard or set-top-box with the Vizio, so I assumed the Sharp would have the same channel assignments.


I COULD get a cablecard from Comcast, but I got a TV with QAM specifically so I did not have to pay extra to receive these channels on this TV


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Brian27* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> "On Demand" missing from my bedroom Motorola HD box
> 
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> 
> I have been using a signal amplifier...Its a Motorola Signal Booster that is a Full-bandwidth, bi-directional amplifier capable of both forward and return communications and it was designed to improve signal strength inside the home by increasing the signal up to 32 times (15 dB). I have it hooked up right at the cable jack and then a cable is output from the signl booster amp to the input of a Monster Ultra 2-way splitter which outputs a signal to my bedroom and another to my living room. I am having the most problems with the cable box(HD) in my bedroom with not being able to get "on demand"...its not even showing up on the main menu...the box in my living room gets "on demand" with no problems and that is strange to me because I have the signal split up once more in the living room to hook up my computer along with the cable box(HD). Any suggestions anyone???
> 
> 
> ps...The Monster Ultra 2-way splitter has a "powerpass" output on one of the 2 outputs but I dont really understand the purpose of it, so I just use the 2-way splitter as a 2-way splitter and thats it...Is there something else I should be doing here ?
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Brian



You most likely have a signal level issue in the bedroom. Even with the amp if there is a problem with the wiring or a fitting you can get levels too low to drive all frequencies. It is possible that to have too much signal as well but this is less common.


Call for a svc call and they will rehit the box remotely before scheduling a visit in case this may resolve it.


GoIrish


----------



## Brian27




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GoIrish* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> You most likely have a signal level issue in the bedroom. Even with the amp if there is a problem with the wiring or a fitting you can get levels too low to drive all frequencies. It is possible that to have too much signal as well but this is less common.
> 
> 
> Call for a svc call and they will rehit the box remotely before scheduling a visit in case this may resolve it.
> 
> 
> GoIrish



Thanks for the advice....The other day I hooked up the bedroom cable directly to the amplifier output, bypassing the splitter, and still I got no "on demand". I will call the comcast and see if they can hit the box remotely to see if that helps...If the stupid people from Adelphia would have installed the seperate jack in the bedroom like I told them too then I would not have to use splitters and so many long cable runs...The thing is, the "on demand" used to work back in the bedroom fine up until a couple months ago.


Thanks,

Brian


----------



## SQUIDWARD360




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Brian27* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Thanks for the advice....The other day I hooked up the bedroom cable directly to the amplifier output, bypassing the splitter, and still I got no "on demand". I will call the comcast and see if they can hit the box remotely to see if that helps...If the stupid people from Adelphia would have installed the seperate jack in the bedroom like I told them too then I would not have to use splitters and so many long cable runs...The thing is, the "on demand" used to work back in the bedroom fine up until a couple months ago.
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Brian



A couple of months ago I also started having signal problems with Comcast. The modem can't hold the signal anymore for more then a few minutes or couple of hours. Each time I plug the cable into the modem I can hear the audio go out on the Motorola box. I have no idea what they did to bring this on all of a sudden.


----------



## rajdude

A similar thing happned to me some years back.


I ended up swapping the modem and things were fine after that.


They told me that the modem went bad



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SQUIDWARD360* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> A couple of months ago I also started having signal problems with Comcast. The modem can't hold the signal anymore for more then a few minutes or couple of hours. Each time I plug the cable into the modem I can hear the audio go out on the Motorola box. I have no idea what they did to bring this on all of a sudden.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jivinflava* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hi tony, thanks for the response. The reason I expected to see the stations on 4.1, 5.1, etc., is that a Vizio I tried about 4 months ago put the local network digital channels at those locations. I did not use a cablecard or set-top-box with the Vizio, so I assumed the Sharp would have the same channel assignments.
> 
> 
> I COULD get a cablecard from Comcast, but I got a TV with QAM specifically so I did not have to pay extra to receive these channels on this TV



The HD locals are probably there, but the Sharp is not remapping them to the local broadcast channel #s. I get Verizon Fios and did a QAM channel scan as an experiment with three different ATSC/QAM STBs. The newer Samsung DTB-H260F and the Sony DHG-HDD250 HD-DVR found the HD locals & their sub-channels and mapped them to 4-1, 4-2, 5-1, 7-1, 9-1, 20-1, etc. The older Samsung SIR-T451 found the HD locals but did not remap them. I had to find them manually by stepping through all the channels one sub-channel at a time and figuring out what channel I was looking at. The HD locals started to show up at 74-x, but this only applied to the Verizon Fios channel line-up at that time. Both Samsung's found 100s of sub-channels that I could not get a picture for, so those were the scrambled channels. It took a while to find the digital simulcast of the SD locals and the HD locals. But this was a one time experiment as I use the Verizon 6416 DVR for watching Fios.


I suggest you do a QAM cable scan with the Sharp and step through all the digital channels that turn up one at a time. I suspect that there are firmware differences between different tuner sets in whether they look for and use PSIP info for QAM channels.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Ya think CBS could have moved a few HD cameras the short distance from W. 57th over to Radio City Music Hall and given the Tonys the respect they deserve? Absolutely pathetic.


----------



## jivinflava




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The HD locals are probably there, but the Sharp is not remapping them to the local broadcast channel #s. I get Verizon Fios and did a QAM channel scan as an experiment with three different ATSC/QAM STBs. The newer Samsung DTB-H260F and the Sony DHG-HDD250 HD-DVR found the HD locals & their sub-channels and mapped them to 4-1, 4-2, 5-1, 7-1, 9-1, 20-1, etc. The older Samsung SIR-T451 found the HD locals but did not remap them. I had to find them manually by stepping through all the channels one sub-channel at a time and figuring out what channel I was looking at. The HD locals started to show up at 74-x, but this only applied to the Verizon Fios channel line-up at that time. Both Samsung's found 100s of sub-channels that I could not get a picture for, so those were the scrambled channels. It took a while to find the digital simulcast of the SD locals and the HD locals. But this was a one time experiment as I use the Verizon 6416 DVR for watching Fios.
> 
> 
> I suggest you do a QAM cable scan with the Sharp and step through all the digital channels that turn up one at a time. I suspect that there are firmware differences between different tuner sets in whether they look for and use PSIP info for QAM channels.




I did end up doing yet another full (analog and digital) scan and then going through all of the found channels and subchannels. I found digital versions of the local network stations (in fact, I found like 5 FOX's), but none of them were broadcasting in HD. I checked this at a time when I know those stations were broadcasting HD because my other TV was receiving them as HD broadcasts at the time.


As if to tease me, my TV found and is displaying just fine the TNT and CW HD stations just fine. Just none of the stations I care about (ABC, NBC, FOX, ESPN).


Does anyone have an idea about why I would be getting the digital broadcasts of local network stations, but not receiving as HD?


----------



## steeler

Does anyone know why ch 9.2 WUSA radar weather has been dark for the last couple of days? I miss my radar!


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jivinflava* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hi tony, thanks for the response. The reason I expected to see the stations on 4.1, 5.1, etc., is that a Vizio I tried about 4 months ago put the local network digital channels at those locations. I did not use a cablecard or set-top-box with the Vizio, so I assumed the Sharp would have the same channel assignments.
> 
> 
> I COULD get a cablecard from Comcast, but I got a TV with QAM specifically so I did not have to pay extra to receive these channels on this TV



I have seen three different tuners react to PSIP data three different ways with OTA channels. I'm willing to bet that different tuners react to PSIP data on cable systems differently, too.


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *steeler* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Does anyone know why ch 9.2 WUSA radar weather has been dark for the last couple of days? I miss my radar!



Ok, good. I wasn't not seeing things either. I saw it out as well and thought it might just be my receiver.


I know that doesn't tell you why, but it isn't isolated to you.


Deezul


----------



## Bill Johnson

Have no comment about 9.2. But on another matter, an awfully close lightning strike not too long ago took out my internet cable modem and must have knocked out something on my computer's motherboard.


As a result, temporarily I've gone to a 7 year old backup computer that, despite the broadband connection, has to be five times slower than any dial-up modem I've ever used.


So searches are impossible; and to make a long story short, could somebody post for me that FCC link that gives the final ERP's proposed for stations after shutdown?


----------



## Brian27




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SQUIDWARD360* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> A couple of months ago I also started having signal problems with Comcast. The modem can't hold the signal anymore for more then a few minutes or couple of hours. Each time I plug the cable into the modem I can hear the audio go out on the Motorola box. I have no idea what they did to bring this on all of a sudden.



I'm not sure I understand what you're saying....Do you actually run your motorola cable box through your high speed computer modem???...if so, I've never even known you could do this and/or what the benefits would be. I currently have the Motorola surfboard modem for my highspeed internet and I dont seem to have many problems with my laptop computer except for when I play videos such as movie trailors etc.. on the internet...what happends is that when the videos start playing it sounds like a fan comes on in the computer then the computer would sometimes just shut off. I dont think that is a signal strength issue but then again...I'm not too sure either.


Thanks,

Brian


----------



## rajdude

Yesterday I went through the first page of this thread and added all the dub-channels (in MCE)


I found there are actually 3 or 4 stations which show the radar/weather here in NOVA!


You may want to check out the other channels.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *steeler* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Does anyone know why ch 9.2 WUSA radar weather has been dark for the last couple of days? I miss my radar!


----------



## rajdude

Folks,
*Does anyone know how to get TV listings (within MCE 2005) of sub-channels?*


I looked at all the guides on the internet but still cant find anything inside MCE's listings for things like QUBO and others


----------



## CycloneGT

I'm sure there is a way. Try checking over in the HTPC forum to see what other MCE users have done in the past. I'd bet they know right away. I'm not sure how many MCE users there are here in this thread.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bill Johnson* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Have no comment about 9.2. But on another matter, an awfully close lightning strike not too long ago took out my internet cable modem and must have knocked out something on my computer's motherboard.
> 
> 
> As a result, temporarily I've gone to a 7 year old backup computer that, despite the broadband connection, has to be five times slower than any dial-up modem I've ever used.
> 
> 
> So searches are impossible; and to make a long story short, could somebody post for me that FCC link that gives the final ERP's proposed for stations after shutdown?



Something must be wrong with some of your settings. I have an old 500mhz P3 that has no problem running on my gigabit network transfering files at up to 150mbs.

It has no problem hitting 30mbs downloads from Comcast with Powerboost. The same speed my 5600+ Athlon X2 hits.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rajdude* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Folks,
> *Does anyone know how to get TV listings (within MCE 2005) of sub-channels?*
> 
> 
> I looked at all the guides on the internet but still cant find anything inside MCE's listings for things like QUBO and others



The MCE guide usually only lists whatever is on the major ch (like WETA 26.1) and copies that to the minor chs (26.2, 26.3, 26.4) - never mind that for PBS stations the info on the major ch is wrong. I don't even know that QUBO is available OTA in the DC area? So even tho the Tube is on 50.2, the guide just shows whatever is listed on 50.1.


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rajdude* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Does anyone know how to get TV listings (within MCE 2005) of sub-channels?



Raj probably knows this, but for anyone who doesn't, as long as you don't have a philosophical problem with subchannels, titantv.com gives complete subchannel listings, with program descriptions, one should be able to get for each zip code. It's under the Digital Broadcast pull down menu.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Something must be wrong with some of your settings.



Thanks, I'll need to do some checking of settings.


----------



## mdviewer25

What are they doing with 9-2? It's still nothing but a blank screen.


----------



## CycloneGT

I hope that they don't do anything with it. Its the last 24/7 doppler radar on the air. I miss the ones that were on 7.2 and 2.3 in the past. I did see that they had E/I stuff on 9.2 on Sunday morning. I was like WTF? Until I realized what the deal was.


----------



## jo2men

I have an OTA setup user and ever since I bought my Samsung SIR-T451 about 2 years ago, I haven't experienced any problems with it. I get could all the local channels in DC perfectly (I live in Vienna, VA) and I get the ABC and NBC channels from Baltimore (but not CBS).


But since about 2 weeks, I am not getting any audio from Channels 2.1, 7.1, and 9.1. I do get a perfectly sharp video from these channels.


The mystery is that I do get the audio from all their sub-channels 2.2, 2.3, 7.2, 7.3. But when I flip it back to their main channels, there is no audio.


I have no problems with both audio and video on all the Channels of 4, 5, 11, 22 and 26.


Does anybody else out there have the same problem? Is there any common denominator with these channels (2.1, 7.1, and 9.1)? Is there a setting that their engineers have changed about 2 weeks ago that has caused this? If there's a problem with my Samsung converter box, shouldn't I get the same problems (no audio) with all the channels? That lies the mystery to me... no audio on main channel, but audio on sub-channels are OK.


I hope Mr. Robert Forsthe of WJLA can shed light into this and if their station where they get their feed from (NY?) modified their settings.


I have rescanned the channels but that did not solve the problem.


----------



## SQUIDWARD360




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Brian27* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I'm not sure I understand what you're saying....Do you actually run your motorola cable box through your high speed computer modem???...if so, I've never even known you could do this and/or what the benefits would be. I currently have the Motorola surfboard modem for my highspeed internet and I dont seem to have many problems with my laptop computer except for when I play videos such as movie trailors etc.. on the internet...what happends is that when the videos start playing it sounds like a fan comes on in the computer then the computer would sometimes just shut off. I dont think that is a signal strength issue but then again...I'm not too sure either.
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Brian



Not exactly. The cable runs throughout the apartment so I'm assuming the signal is so weak one piece of equipment effects the others.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jo2men* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I have an OTA setup user and ever since I bought my Samsung SIR-T451 about 2 years ago, I haven't experienced any problems with it. I get could all the local channels in DC perfectly (I live in Vienna, VA) and I get the ABC and NBC channels from Baltimore (but not CBS).
> 
> 
> But since about 2 weeks, I am not getting any audio from Channels 2.1, 7.1, and 9.1. I do get a perfectly sharp video from these channels.
> 
> 
> The mystery is that I do get the audio from all their sub-channels 2.2, 2.3, 7.2, 7.3. But when I flip it back to their main channels, there is no audio.
> 
> 
> I have no problems with both audio and video on all the Channels of 4, 5, 11, 22 and 26.
> 
> 
> Does anybody else out there have the same problem?



I have a Samsung SIR-T451 and have not seen problems with the audio from any of those stations. Odd that you get WMAR-DT 2 and WBAL-DT 11 which are the two weakest of the Baltimore stations for me in Sterling while WJZ-DT 13, WBFF-DT 45, WNUV-DT 54 come in fine.


Since you are having audio problems with the main sub-channels, maybe there is a hardware or firmware problem with the DD 5.1 decoder. But they why would 4.1 and 5.1 be ok? You have already done a re-scan. The next normal step is to disconnect the antenna co-axial line from the STB and do a full re-scan to clear the channel list. Confirm that you have a empty channel list. I would then unplug the T451 for several minutes. Re-connect the antenna, plug the T451 back in, and do a rescan. If the box has a bad PSIP entry for a station, this might fix it. If it doesn't, double check the audio menu settings on the T451.


----------



## steeler




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bill Johnson* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Have no comment about 9.2. But on another matter, an awfully close lightning strike not too long ago took out my internet cable modem and must have knocked out something on my computer's motherboard.
> 
> 
> As a result, temporarily I've gone to a 7 year old backup computer that, despite the broadband connection, has to be five times slower than any dial-up modem I've ever used.
> 
> 
> So searches are impossible; and to make a long story short, could somebody post for me that FCC link that gives the final ERP's proposed for stations after shutdown?



Bill, don't feel like the Lone Ranger my house took a direct hit on June 2. The lightening fried my computer, (I am still on my laptop) two TV's, garage door openers, air conditioner, phone service and various other electronic equipment. I'm lucky the house didn't catch fire!


----------



## steeler




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I hope that they don't do anything with it. Its the last 24/7 doppler radar on the air. I miss the ones that were on 7.2 and 2.3 in the past. I did see that they had E/I stuff on 9.2 on Sunday morning. I was like WTF? Until I realized what the deal was.



I am with you Cyclone. I really miss this channel it's the first thing I check when the sky darkens.


----------



## steeler

Did anyone go to BB last weekend and buy the Westinghouse 32 inch LCD TV they had on sale for $499.00?


----------



## aaronwt

Wow! $499!?!?!


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *steeler* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Did anyone go to BB last weekend and buy the Westinghouse 32 inch LCD TV they had on sale for $499.00?




I have that set but unfortunately paid more than that for it. Had it for about a year in the guest bedroom and it is a great set, no complaints.


If you can still grab it at that price, let me know. I may grab another...


GoIrish


----------



## steeler




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GoIrish* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I have that set but unfortunately paid more than that for it. Had it for about a year in the guest bedroom and it is a great set, no complaints.
> 
> 
> If you can still grab it at that price, let me know. I may grab another...
> 
> 
> GoIrish



Thanks for the review Irish. I'm going back to BB tomorrow but I live in northern VA so I don't think I am going to be any help to you. Each store had just a few so you might want to check your local store. Also I have a $60.00 coupon on any TV over $250.00. I am going to try and get that off to make the TV $440.00!


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *steeler* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The lightening fried my computer, (I am still on my laptop) two TV's, garage door openers, air conditioner, phone service and various other electronic equipment. I'm lucky the house didn't catch fire!



I hear you & it gives one an appreciation for the power of these storms. I also lost a garage door opener in my hit and the problem is the deductible prevents an insurance claim. Of course we all know the wisdom of not putting in a claim on one's homeowner policy unless the loss would be an unmitigated financial disaster.


Fortunately, I was able to simply replace the opener unit while leaving in place all the existing hardware, springs, etc.


Also, fortunately, seeing & hearing the storm coming, I totally disconnected my HDTV and sat. receiver minutes before it hit. Having a $900 sat. receiver fried a few yrs. ago -- even though connected to an expensive surge protector would you believe -- I wasn't taking any chances on not seeing Big Ben in HD & back to his old form as the NFL season's virtually staring us in the face.


----------



## mdviewer25

Still blank on 9-2 and Tuesday was a day people could have used it. Wednesday is expected to be even more active. Is there anyone at WUSA that reads this forum and can do something about it being out?


----------



## RichmondOTABaby

If you listened to Topper on Monday evening, he said 9-2 would be back on Wednesday night. In the meantime, he referred everyone to see the live doppler on wusa9.com.


----------



## rajdude




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> .....I don't even know that QUBO is available OTA in the DC area?



Yes it sure is available OTA - WPXW-DT2 carries it! I pull it clear here in 22193. Actually tvfool lists it as the strongest signal for me!


My son watches it a lot. He loves some of the cartoons on it.

I'd say he is too young to notice that they are low quality / low budget (compared to Nicklodeon or Disney's stuff)


----------



## rajdude

Yesss sire ! I do know that










But only I can find a way for that info so show up within MCE's TV Guide!



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bill Johnson* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Raj probably knows this, but for anyone who doesn't, as long as you don't have a philosophical problem with subchannels, titantv.com gives complete subchannel listings, with program descriptions, one should be able to get for each zip code. It's under the Digital Broadcast pull down menu.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks, I'll need to do some checking of settings.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RichmondOTABaby* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> If you listened to Topper on Monday evening, he said 9-2 would be back on Wednesday night. In the meantime, he referred everyone to see the live doppler on wusa9.com.



I must have missed that. Did he say why it was down?


Severe Thunderstorm Watch until 9:00pm; Warning for Prince George's County until 2:30pm


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rajdude* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yesss sire ! I do know that
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But only I can find a way for that info so show up within MCE's TV Guide!



This might work:

http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/thread/139729.aspx 


I can't tune the pax chs - I'll have to try to find those chs.


----------



## steeler




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *steeler* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Thanks for the review Irish. I'm going back to BB tomorrow but I live in northern VA so I don't think I am going to be any help to you. Each store had just a few so you might want to check your local store. Also I have a $60.00 coupon on any TV over $250.00. I am going to try and get that off to make the TV $440.00!



Went to BB today and got my coupon taken off the TV. Final price was 439.00 for a 32 inch LCD TV!!!!


----------



## steeler




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RichmondOTABaby* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> If you listened to Topper on Monday evening, he said 9-2 would be back on Wednesday night. In the meantime, he referred everyone to see the live doppler on wusa9.com.




Radar weather is now back up..........I am whole again!


----------



## SJKurtzke

How much damage you think 9.2 does to the main signal?

WUSA always looks the best of the networks I get. (Which excludes WDCW-DT because D* STILL doesn't carry it)


----------



## steeler




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> How much damage you think 9.2 does to the main signal?
> 
> WUSA always looks the best of the networks I get. (Which excludes WDCW-DT because D* STILL doesn't carry it)



Very little to none.


Robert Forsthe will tell you his 2 subs have no effect on 7.1


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> Robert Forsthe will tell you his 2 subs have no effect on 7.1



I've never been surprised he says this! In fact, some of us would be in a total state of shock if Robert, any other multicasting station engineer, Fox, or DirecTV said for attribution, "Hey, our nearly 30 percent reduction in bit rates does affect our HD PQ!"


----------



## aaronwt

WJLA also broadcasts at 720P. So it doesn't take as much bandwidth on the main channel. I'd rather a 720P station have sub channels than a 1080i station. FOX would be perfect to have sub channesl since the network feed is around 12 mbs or so and that leaves alot of room for a subchannel.


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bill Johnson* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I've never been surprised he says this! In fact, some of us would be in a total state of shock if Robert, any other multicasting station engineer, Fox, or DirecTV said for attribution, "Hey, our nearly 30 percent reduction in bit rates does affect our HD PQ!"



I'm curious to now what it WOULD take to convince someone that the .2 sub channels don't interfere... I'm sure no amount of data would be enough for some people.


Deezul


----------



## zoyd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WJLA also broadcasts at 720P. So it doesn't take as much bandwidth on the main channel. I'd rather a 720P station have sub channels than a 1080i station. FOX would be perfect to have sub channesl since the network feed is around 12 mbs or so and that leaves alot of room for a subchannel.



WUSA-doppler is up again, the bitrate is 2 Mbps, WRC weathersub is also 2Mbps, other subs like WETA-Kids run up to 5 Mbps so it'll depend on how much BW is allocated to the sub. Also, I just checked FOX 801 over FiOS and it was averaging 15 Mbs, I think people would notice a 5 (or even 3-4 Mbps) hit on any of the mains whether they are 720p or 1080i. btw, the 720p pixel rate is only 12.5% less than 1080i. If the source is shot in 1440x1080 (which a lot of broadcasters do) then the required bandwidth for 720p is actually _higher_ than 1080i, by 15%.


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zoyd* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I think people would notice a 5 (or even 3-4 Mbps) hit on any of the mains whether they are 720p or 1080i.



I'm absolutely with you. I always remember a Tues. evening, I believe it was, a couple of years ago before Harrisonburg WHSV-DT began multicasting. ABC's HD "Dancing with the Stars" was running and on WJLA-DT as well. In a random test, my wife instantly chose WHSV-DT as the better PQ. (And I had independently constantly seen this in other ABC telecasts as well.)


And it wasn't a matter of either one pixellating or dropping out! It was simply the fact 3.1 was sharper, more vivid and clearer. Not by a huge margin, but it was there. And that forever sealed it with me because my wife knows & cares nothing about HD. And, as I've posted before, if I'm not vigilant, she'll routinely watch HD shows in SD. Unhappily, virtually all stations now multicast.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Deezul* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I'm curious to know what it WOULD take to convince someone that the .2 sub channels don't interfere...



Some of us HD fanatics, especially true HD fanatics, are a select, fringe, and fanatical group by our very nature. And we aren't easily swayed by popular opinion or by the almost universally touted desire for quantity over quality.










As I've posted before, some day PQ will return as the main driving economic force and every HD telecast will once again have the WOW factor in PQ. Whatta day that'll be!


----------



## zoyd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bill Johnson* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> And it wasn't a matter of either one pixellating or dropping out! It was simply the fact 3.1 was sharper, more vivid and clearer. Not by a huge margin, but it was there. And that forever sealed it with me because my wife knows & cares nothing about HD. And, as I've posted before, if I'm not vigilant, she'll routinely watch HD shows in SD. Unhappily, virtually all stations now multicast.



As bitrates drop the primary artifact is loss of resolution during motion, static images still look great but motion becomes a soupy mess (a la PBS at 10 Mbps).


----------



## steeler




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bill Johnson* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I've never been surprised he says this! In fact, some of us would be in a total state of shock if Robert, any other multicasting station engineer, Fox, or DirecTV said for attribution, "Hey, our nearly 30 percent reduction in bit rates does affect our HD PQ!"



Robert is the engineer at ch7 not you or me. I take him at his word. What reason would he have to deceive us.


----------



## Speqtre

I've searched and "researched", but can't find the answer to this one:


The Comcast rep told me no to UHD in Northern Virginia - Reston. Even went so far as to say she'd "Never heard of it."










Are Comcast subscribers in NoVA getting UHD or not?


----------



## aaronwt

No UNiversal HD here. I knew there was another channel missing that I had with DirecTV. Comcast also doesn't have the HDNet channels. I'm hoping they offer FIOS here soon. They just terminated the Fiber this week in our development. I like Comcast but FIOS offers more HD channels. ALthough Comcast is supposed to be offering more later this year.


----------



## Speqtre

Yeah, I've got FiosTV and Fios 10mbps right now, but thinking of dropping the FiosTV and getting Comcast Digital Cable.


I really, really can't deal with not having UHD and HDNet though, so I guess I'm stuck.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yeah, I've got FiosTV and Fios 10mbps right now, but thinking of dropping the FiosTV and getting Comcast Digital Cable.
> 
> 
> I really, really can't deal with not having UHD and HDNet though, so I guess I'm stuck.



First I've heard of thinking of going that direction. What's the reason?


----------



## JoeInNVa

I think we should get rid of the weather substations. During the Thunderstorm the other day, WRC had a nice radar loop of the mid west and WJLA was scrolling entertainment news...


Waste of bandwidth, either stick to LOCAL weather or turn it off.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I think we should get rid of the weather substations. During the Thunderstorm the other day, WRC had a nice radar loop of the mid west and WJLA was scrolling entertainment news...
> 
> 
> Waste of bandwidth, either stick to LOCAL weather or turn it off.



Those aren't radar substations. They are weather sub stations since they show other weather related info. WUSA is the only station in DC that has the radar substation. It shows the radar 99% of the time except when they have to show some educational programming to comply with the newer broadcast rules.


----------



## Speqtre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> First I've heard of thinking of going that direction. What's the reason?



Two-fold really:


1) FIOS TV is lacking a few things. No HD on demand of any type. DVRs constantly having problems (more than I had with Comcast, believe it or not). Steady increase in rates (DVRs going up to $16/mo). Making promises they aren't keeping (No HD sharing on Multi-room DVR). Although I have a strong signal, not able to record more than 3 HD streams without significant artifacting (may be the DVRs, not the line)


2) Comcast has an unbelievable 'Dump the dish" for new subscribers - $29.95 for digital cable with FREE HBO and Starz for 1 year (yes, I have FIOSTV, but I also had DirecTV and can swing the dump the dish proof)


I love having fiber into my house, I just wish it wasn't Verizon that brought it to me. I'm not convinced they know how to be a TV service provider. They don't even have a store within 100 miles of me that I can swap out a defective box at, and I hate being at the mercy of a 'technician' that give me a 4 hour window and shows up some time outside of it!


----------



## nottenst

I did a full scan the other day with my Panasonic which has a QAM tuner. I had the Comcast cable attached directly. I live in PG County (Bowie) and it found a good number of local stations, but it didn't find the FOX HD station. Do I need to try the digital scan again to find FOX or am I just out of luck with that? What stations should I expect to see? In addition to the DC NBC and CBS stations I also got the Baltimore versions, but just the DC ABC.


It also found all sorts of other stations that were temporarily around. While flipping through the 83-X stations I saw an old James Bond film being played but I couldn't see it listed in Zap2It at the time on any local station. It seemed a bit weird. There seemed to be loads of other slot allocations some of which has something and some which didn't. Any idea what is going on there?


Thanks,


Neil


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I did a full scan the other day with my Panasonic which has a QAM tuner. I had the Comcast cable attached directly. I live in PG County (Bowie) and it found a good number of local stations, but it didn't find the FOX HD station. Do I need to try the digital scan again to find FOX or am I just out of luck with that? What stations should I expect to see? In addition to the DC NBC and CBS stations I also got the Baltimore versions, but just the DC ABC.
> 
> 
> It also found all sorts of other stations that were temporarily around. While flipping through the 83-X stations I saw an old James Bond film being played but I couldn't see it listed in Zap2It at the time on any local station. It seemed a bit weird. There seemed to be loads of other slot allocations some of which has something and some which didn't. Any idea what is going on there?
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> 
> Neil



If it's anything like my comcast(formally adelphia) setup, then there is one channel that is variable(mine is 108.* here is sterling). That channel displays the PPV or VOD of your surrounding neighbors. There is no way to get a shcedule beacuse it's dependent upon what other people around you are watching(at least that is the way it was explained to me). I've been able to catch plenty of PPV movies on that channel.


The interesting thing about it is that the cahnnels drop in and out if you are not watching one of these extra channels. For example, last night was the PPV Howard Stern show on cahnnel 108.2 If I got bored and did a little durfing on the other channels, I am not guaranteed that Stern would still be on 108.2 when I got back. But as long as I stayed on 108.2 I was able to watch the whole thing. Periodically, I get a message on the screen "channel has been changed by the provider" This is what Comcast does to prevent people from enjoying this for free. 95/100 times, it will just go with the flow while I am watching the channel. But occasionally it will switch from 108.2 to like 108.3


On a final note, sometimes this changes so much that I lose all but 108.1(which is always the preview movie thingie in VOD). All I have to do is keep in on 108.1 for a while, until I get the "channel has been changed by the provider" message, and then I get a full suite of new 108.* channels again.


I'm guessing I have to delete this channel or V-Chip it when my son gets a bit older as one of my neighbor LOVES his hardcore pron. It's always a surprise whenever I scan my 108.* channels


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Two-fold really:
> 
> 
> 1) FIOS TV is lacking a few things. No HD on demand of any type. DVRs constantly having problems (more than I had with Comcast, believe it or not). Steady increase in rates (DVRs going up to $16/mo). Making promises they aren't keeping (No HD sharing on Multi-room DVR). Although I have a strong signal, not able to record more than 3 HD streams without significant artifacting (may be the DVRs, not the line)



Thanks. The HD on demand is one of the things I do like about Comcast. But, with the temptation to go to Fios it is good to hear both sides of the story.


----------



## Speqtre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Thanks. The HD on demand is one of the things I do like about Comcast. But, with the temptation to go to Fios it is good to hear both sides of the story.



As I said, I'll probably stay put and hope Verizon figures things out. I can't move to Comcast until they add at LEAST Universal HD - need to feed my BSG HD fix!


I really don't think anyone's grass is greener on their side of the fence in this whole market right now.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I think we should get rid of the weather substations. During the Thunderstorm the other day, WRC had a nice radar loop of the mid west and WJLA was scrolling entertainment news...
> 
> 
> Waste of bandwidth, either stick to LOCAL weather or turn it off.



The problem that I have with all of the weather subchannels (2-3, 4-2, 7-2, 11-2) is that when there is severe weather or snowstorms they don't have live updates. A good idea is to have whoever is in the studio at the time do a live report. It's really noticeable on the weekend when they show a taped update from 10:00 in the morning at 3:00 or 4:00 in the afternoon. At times The Weather Channel provides more local up to date info than any of these subchannels. The problem with weatherplus is that they are trying to imitate The Weather Channel.


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I've searched and "researched", but can't find the answer to this one:
> 
> 
> The Comcast rep told me no to UHD in Northern Virginia - Reston. Even went so far as to say she'd "Never heard of it."
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Are Comcast subscribers in NoVA getting UHD or not?



It's been on Comcast Alexandria/Arlington, channel 250, for several months (you can go to comcast.com [not .net] and do a local channel listings search by ZIP code). Further proof that (to put it mildly) phone reps are under-informed.


----------



## gomo657




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I did a full scan the other day with my Panasonic which has a QAM tuner. I had the Comcast cable attached directly. I live in PG County (Bowie) and it found a good number of local stations, but it didn't find the FOX HD station. Do I need to try the digital scan again to find FOX or am I just out of luck with that? What stations should I expect to see? In addition to the DC NBC and CBS stations I also got the Baltimore versions, but just the DC ABC.
> 
> 
> It also found all sorts of other stations that were temporarily around. While flipping through the 83-X stations I saw an old James Bond film being played but I couldn't see it listed in Zap2It at the time on any local station. It seemed a bit weird. There seemed to be loads of other slot allocations some of which has something and some which didn't. Any idea what is going on there?
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> 
> Neil



Neil I would scan again,I know its a pain but I scan approx once a month.

I'm in SW DC I can get all the DC locals, Balt locals, AEHD,VSG, TNT. Periodically things do magically appear most recemtly AE and MYTV which I don't receive through my cable box. BTW I'm using a Panny also. You will occasionally get your neighbors on demand even HD!


----------



## Speqtre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dspadoni* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It's been on Comcast Alexandria/Arlington, channel 250, for several months (you can go to comcast.com [not .net] and do a local channel listings search by ZIP code). Further proof that (to put it mildly) phone reps are under-informed.



Well, I did that, and isn't that bizarre - it comes up in your area on 250, but not mine! WTF is that all about - we're about 20 miles apart!?


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dspadoni* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It's been on Comcast Alexandria/Arlington, channel 250, for several months (you can go to comcast.com [not .net] and do a local channel listings search by ZIP code). Further proof that (to put it mildly) phone reps are under-informed.



That's good that you have UHD. That means that Comcast should offer it on our system sometime in the future. But right now they don't have it here in Woodbrdige.

It also shows that you don't have National Geographic HD in Arlington, but we do have that channel in Woodbridge.


Edit. nevermind. NGHD shows up on Comcast.net but not Comcast.com for Arlington. I wonder when we will get it? Hopefully I'll be on FIOS before then.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 1) FIOS TV is lacking a few things. No HD on demand of any type. DVRs constantly having problems (more than I had with Comcast, believe it or not). Steady increase in rates (DVRs going up to $16/mo). Making promises they aren't keeping (No HD sharing on Multi-room DVR). Although I have a strong signal, not able to record more than 3 HD streams without significant artifacting (may be the DVRs, not the line)



The lack of HD VOD and the overall much less VOD content is one area where Verizon Fios has a lot of catching up to do compared to Comcast. Or at least for the longer time Comcast franchise areas that have more up to date equipment. But Verizon has made it clear that they plan to add HD VOD, probably sometime later this year. They have done some testing as some people have reported playing some HD VOD clips. But because Verizon uses IP for the VOD path, this caused the internet access to slow down. I suspect they are waiting until they roll out the new guide software to everybody & get the kinks out of that before they start on adding HD VOD capability. VOD is not that important at this point to me anyway as I can grab more programming than I have time to watch with the 6416 DVR.


Comcast rates are going to go up on the DVRs as well. All of the cable companies are going to try to turn the DVRs into a nice profit center, especially with the new FCC requirements on making cable card capable DVRs available.


But I have no intentions to switch to Comcast in Loudoun county which is still offering a total of only 14 HD channels the last time I checked. Verizon Fios has a total of 26 HD channels, 25 of which I subscribe to. Why would I switch to a service with no HDNet, HDNet Movies, UniversalHD, Nat Geo HD? And get poorer picture quality for the SD channels? And slower internet access speed? I will stick with Verizon for the time being.


The next year is going to be very interesting with the roll-out of dozens of new national HD channels. Will Comcast utilize SDV and thus mess up Cable Card TV and Tivo 3 subscribers? Or will Comcast accelerate the shutdown of analog channels and quickly go digital with with much smaller set of only local broadcast analog channels? Or will Comcast only add a few HD channels in the next year? Will Verizon add the new HD channels in short order or will they take their time with no reliable info provided to their customers as to when they will add them? We'll see.


----------



## steeler




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The problem that I have with all of the weather subchannels (2-3, 4-2, 7-2, 11-2) is that when there is severe weather or snowstorms they don't have live updates. A good idea is to have whoever is in the studio at the time do a live report. It's really noticeable on the weekend when they show a taped update from 10:00 in the morning at 3:00 or 4:00 in the afternoon. At times The Weather Channel provides more local up to date info than any of these subchannels. The problem with weatherplus is that they are trying to imitate The Weather Channel.



That's why 9.2 is such a good channel. When bad weather comes in the area you know exactly where it's at.


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I did a full scan the other day with my Panasonic which has a QAM tuner. I had the Comcast cable attached directly. I live in PG County (Bowie) and it found a good number of local stations, but it didn't find the FOX HD station. Do I need to try the digital scan again to find FOX or am I just out of luck with that? What stations should I expect to see? In addition to the DC NBC and CBS stations I also got the Baltimore versions, but just the DC ABC.
> 
> 
> It also found all sorts of other stations that were temporarily around. While flipping through the 83-X stations I saw an old James Bond film being played but I couldn't see it listed in Zap2It at the time on any local station. It seemed a bit weird. There seemed to be loads of other slot allocations some of which has something and some which didn't. Any idea what is going on there?
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> 
> Neil



My Comcast Basic in Beltsville has several of the local HD stations in channel numbers above 125, and some TV's don't scan the 126-135 channel numbers.

You should receive the same channels I receive. I find TNT on 127-5, A&E on 128-1, My20HD on 129-1, Golf on 130-2, Fox5 on 132-3, Fox45 on 134-1, and WB54 on 134-2 at the present time. The channel assignments change from time to time.

I hope this helps, but if your TV won't scan these channels you are out of luck.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> My Comcast Basic in Beltsville has several of the local HD stations in channel numbers above 125, and some TV's don't scan the 126-135 channel numbers.
> 
> You should receive the same channels I receive. I find TNT on 127-5, A&E on 128-1, My20HD on 129-1, Golf on 130-2, Fox5 on 132-3, Fox45 on 134-1, and WB54 on 134-2 at the present time. The channel assignments change from time to time.
> 
> I hope this helps, but if your TV won't scan these channels you are out of luck.




It hasn't been WB54 in a while, now. Is it still listed that way on Comcast?


Mark


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Well, I did that, and isn't that bizarre - it comes up in your area on 250, but not mine! WTF is that all about - we're about 20 miles apart!?



Just a guess on my part, but we're in different Comcast franchise areas, and each franchise operates independently - different content or different channel assingment for the same content. Not too long ago Alexandria and Arlington had different line-ups, but (again guessing) the franchises merged and now we get the same things. Comcast content and channel assignments in DC and the Maryland suburbs are also different from ours.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dspadoni* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Just a guess on my part, but we're in different Comcast franchise areas, and each franchise operates independently - different content or different channel assingment for the same content. Not too long ago Alexandria and Arlington had different line-ups, but (again guessing) the franchises merged and now we get the same things. Comcast content and channel assignments in DC and the Maryland suburbs are also different from ours.



I'm in Sterling with Loudoun comcast(formally adelphia) and get almost nothing on clear QAM compared to you all.


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It hasn't been WB54 in a while, now. Is it still listed that way on Comcast?
> 
> 
> Mark



My error. I quoted from an older listing. Channel 134-2 is now WNUV on my Comcast.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It hasn't been WB54 in a while, now. Is it still listed that way on Comcast?
> 
> 
> Mark



Can't answer that question. But do you have any info what the status is of the tower and antenna upgrade for WUTB-DT 24? Is this station finally going to go full power any time soon?


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> But do you have any info what the status is of the tower and antenna upgrade for WUTB-DT 24? Is this station finally going to go full power any time soon?




Actually, I do have info about that.


WUTB has installed their high-power antenna on the tower, and tun the transmission line from it into the transmitter building.


They have their high-power transmitter on order - I don't know when it's supposed to come in, though...


There is also some electrical work that still needs to be done at the building that has not started.


If I were to guess, I'd say that they will be on the air full power by mid to late summer.


----------



## mapper

Question with anyone with Cox and a CableCARD and TVGOS,

If any of you have noticed, the former govt./leased access/public analog channels are being simulcasted onto digital channels to make room for new HD channels. Does this mean that certain stations that piggyback TVGOS info will be stripped of that info now that it has become digital?


Thanks,

--mapper


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Does this mean that certain stations that piggyback TVGOS info will be stripped of that info now that it has become digital?
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> --mapper



Probably not until they actually turn off the analog version - which could be soon now that a digital version is available. Some digital chs might have some digital version of TVGOS but unless the receiving equipment can handle that (very few if any?) you're SOL.


WUSA had an announcement during the news that they'll turn off their analog transmitter 1:05AM to 4:30 AM tomorrow (digital to stay up) - wonder what that's all about?


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> My Comcast Basic in Beltsville has several of the local HD stations in channel numbers above 125, and some TV's don't scan the 126-135 channel numbers.
> 
> You should receive the same channels I receive. I find TNT on 127-5, A&E on 128-1, My20HD on 129-1, Golf on 130-2, Fox5 on 132-3, Fox45 on 134-1, and WB54 on 134-2 at the present time. The channel assignments change from time to time.
> 
> I hope this helps, but if your TV won't scan these channels you are out of luck.



Actually, I had given up after going through all the 107-X music channels and then not seeing much in the channels above that. Then tonight at a whim I started from the top and while nothing appears (at the moment) at 134-1 and 134-2, I got something called The Tube at 132-4, Fox5 HD on 132-3, The CW HD on 132-2, A&E HD and TNT as you mention, plus National Geographic on 119-1 and VSG as gomo657 mentioned. TNT though was showing some pixelation, though.


Thanks for the hints.


Neil


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Actually, I had given up after going through all the 107-X music channels and then not seeing much in the channels above that. Then tonight at a whim I started from the top and while nothing appears (at the moment) at 134-1 and 134-2, I got something called The Tube at 132-4, Fox5 HD on 132-3, The CW HD on 132-2, A&E HD and TNT as you mention, plus National Geographic on 119-1 and VSG as gomo657 mentioned. TNT though was showing some pixelation, though.
> 
> 
> Thanks for the hints.
> 
> 
> Neil



Your report suggests weak signals at the highest channels. Do you have a signal strength measurement? I obtain a full signal strength and no pixelation on TNT.

You may find it useful to check your connection to the cable, and remove any splitters to obtain a stronger signal.

I had a weak signal which I assumed was because I have only Basic cable, and it is my impression that Comcast adds a filter to block the high frequency channels. I found it necessary to add an amplifier to obtain good signals. This has worked fine for the past year.


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Count Blah* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I'm in Sterling with Loudoun comcast(formally adelphia) and get almost nothing on clear QAM compared to you all.



Hmmm. I would think that if you have only a basic tier (no STB or cable card) you should get clear QAM transmissions of the broadcast HDs (ABC, CBS, NBC, etc.). I guess, however, that they're only required by FCC to provide the analog transmissions (at least until Feb 2009 when everything supposedly converts to digital.) Also, the ability to "see" those clear QAM channels could be a function of your ATSC/QAM tuner. Before I upgraded to a digital tier, my Sony HD-DVR found all the clear QAM stations (e.g., NBCHD at 1.12), but my Panasonic HD plasma could not.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dspadoni* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hmmm. I would think that if you have only a basic tier (no STB or cable card) you should get clear QAM transmissions of the broadcast HDs (ABC, CBS, NBC, etc.). I guess, however, that they're only required by FCC to provide the analog transmissions (at least until Feb 2009 when everything supposedly converts to digital.) Also, the ability to "see" those clear QAM channels could be a function of your ATSC/QAM tuner. Before I upgraded to a digital tier, my Sony HD-DVR found all the clear QAM stations (e.g., NBCHD at 1.12), but my Panasonic HD plasma could not.



I figured some of the channels you all were describing were on the HD Package. I have basic digital, but get no HD output from the crappy STB. I was just talking about locals like CW. They cutoff Discovery HD the other week, but I did a rescan over the weekend and got it back.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Your report suggests weak signals at the highest channels. Do you have a signal strength measurement? I obtain a full signal strength and no pixelation on TNT.
> 
> You may find it useful to check your connection to the cable, and remove any splitters to obtain a stronger signal.
> 
> I had a weak signal which I assumed was because I have only Basic cable, and it is my impression that Comcast adds a filter to block the high frequency channels. I found it necessary to add an amplifier to obtain good signals. This has worked fine for the past year.



Our system is quite complicated, so a weak high frequency sounds pretty likely. Due to a problem possibly unrelated to this (I am trying out their free digital upgrade on another TV and that doesn't seem to be working well) someone from Comcast will be coming by tomorrow night, so I'll see whether that visit improves the situation or makes it worse.


Thanks,


Neil


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WUSA had an announcement during the news that they'll turn off their analog transmitter 1:05AM to 4:30 AM tomorrow (digital to stay up) - wonder what that's all about?



Transmitter RF Sweep.


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> ...could somebody post for me that FCC link that gives the final ERP's proposed for stations after shutdown?



Well, I had to go to the Firefox browser to find the answer to my above earlier question. The answer is at the below thread (Post #334) with the FCC link found at either the "Excel version" or the "pdf version".

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...on#post9727777


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> 
> WUSA had an announcement during the news that they'll turn off their analog transmitter 1:05AM to 4:30 AM tomorrow (digital to stay up) - wonder what that's all about?



Funny... I had the WNUV analog transmitter off from 2:02 AM thru 3:50 AM on Sunday morning, and no one noticed... (at least no one called or e-mailed me about it). In our case, the tower owner was having the tower lights worked on.


Mark


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Transmitter RF Sweep.



What's that?


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Our system is quite complicated, so a weak high frequency sounds pretty likely. Due to a problem possibly unrelated to this (I am trying out their free digital upgrade on another TV and that doesn't seem to be working well) someone from Comcast will be coming by tomorrow night, so I'll see whether that visit improves the situation or makes it worse.
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> 
> Neil



I will be very interested in the possible help from Comcast.

I also have the Digital converter from Comcast, but I am not using it. It converts the digital signal to analog, so an analog TV can still be used after the full conversion to digital. This has no impact on the QAM signals.


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Funny... I had the WNUV analog transmitter off from 2:02 AM thru 3:50 AM on Sunday morning, and no one noticed... (at least no one called or e-mailed me about it). In our case, the tower owner was having the tower lights worked on.
> 
> 
> Mark



I happened to be driving across the 41st street bridge the other day (I hadn't been up there in ages) and noticed that the building logo for channel 54 had been changed to CW. But instead of CW54, it's just CW. Is the branding for CW not including the 54, because it'll soon be CW40? If so, then when would that be indicated? If not, then what's the thinking up there on 41st street?


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I happened to be driving across the 41st street bridge the other day (I hadn't been up there in ages) and noticed that the building logo for channel 54 had been changed to CW. But instead of CW54, it's just CW. Is the branding for CW not including the 54, because it'll soon be CW40? If so, then when would that be indicated? If not, then what's the thinking up there on 41st street?



The actual branding is "The CW Baltimore", but the lettering was going to be too small to make anything out from any distance except the "CW", so that's all we got.


I probably break some kind of rule with my e-mail signature because it says "WNUV CW-54, WBFF FOX-45" on it, but no one has yelled at me yet...


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Count Blah* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I figured some of the channels you all were describing were on the HD Package. I have basic digital, but get no HD output from the crappy STB. I was just talking about locals like CW. They cutoff Discovery HD the other week, but I did a rescan over the weekend and got it back.



Ahh. Sounds more like a function of the legacy hardware they inherited from Adelphia. I'd be nagging the heck out them about that.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dspadoni* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Ahh. Sounds more like a function of the legacy hardware they inherited from Adelphia. I'd be nagging the heck out them about that.



I'm ultimately going to have to figure out what to do here very soon. I signed up with Adelphia because they were offering some insane digital cable package at a fixed price of $29.99 per month for a year. That deal ends for me in September. I checked and Comcast's price for what I'm getting now is over $150 per month. The prices are INSANE!!!! Looks like I may soon be living off of OTA HD soon.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Funny... I had the WNUV analog transmitter off from 2:02 AM thru 3:50 AM on Sunday morning, and no one noticed... (at least no one called or e-mailed me about it). In our case, the tower owner was having the tower lights worked on.
> 
> 
> Mark



Did that cut off cable and/or satellite when you did that or are they fed another way. Since you are the CW feed for DirecTV across the country for those who don't get the CW locally, pretty heady responsibility there.


(And when is WNUVDT going to be on DirecTV, anyway?)


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The actual branding is "The CW Baltimore", but the lettering was going to be too small to make anything out from any distance except the "CW", so that's all we got....



I'm sorry to have to so opine, but the name, "CW", hasn't caught on and, in my opinion, never will. WB had a history. And, for whatever we are worth in the TV marketplace, everyone over the age of about 40 remembers "the frog".


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Count Blah* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The prices are INSANE!!!! Looks like I may soon be living off of OTA HD soon.



When people realize what you can get OTA (vs. cable prices) you may have lots of company.


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> When people realize what you can get OTA (vs. cable prices) you may have lots of company.



A friend at work realized what he was paying for cable and how little he watched, so he dumped it and is going to give OTA a try. I've considered it, but I still have a lot of, gasp, SD content, that I enjoy watching! Now though, I more or less restrict my SD watching to shows I was already watching before I went HD. The good news is most of those shows are on many of the upcoming HD channels that D* has promised.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Deezul* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> A friend at work realized what he was paying for cable and how little he watched, so he dumped it and is going to give OTA a try. I've considered it, but I still have a lot of, gasp, SD content, that I enjoy watching! Now though, I more or less restrict my SD watching to shows I was already watching before I went HD. The good news is most of those shows are on many of the upcoming HD channels that D* has promised.



I actually went 2.5 years without cable or dish not to long ago. Only reason I came back was because of an amazing deal I couldn't pass up. My sweet deal is over after this August, so I'm starting to look already.


For most of that 2.5 years I was watching HD OTA and loving it. If anything, being without cable/dish has cured me of the inane BS on ESPN. I barely watch it now.


----------



## robmfielding

I have an issue with FIOS TV in Montgomery County. A few weeks ago my D.C. NBC HD Channel had no picture and CBS was pixelated. A tech came out to the house and switched out my splitter. The problem went away for a day. It came back with intermittent pixelation on just those two HD channels. I thought I had a bad cable or buggy DVR but I was at my Mom's house yesterday and she has the exact same problem on her HD. NBC and CBS HD locals ONLY are pixelated. We both live in Kensington about a half a mile apart.

Is anyone else seeing this?

Is there something about CBS and NBC D.C. HD locals that would cause this?


Again, the splitter seemed to fix it but it came back after a day. So it seems unlikely it's problems with the transmission from those two local channels.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Did that cut off cable and/or satellite when you did that or are they fed another way. Since you are the CW feed for DirecTV across the country for those who don't get the CW locally, pretty heady responsibility there.
> 
> 
> (And when is WNUVDT going to be on DirecTV, anyway?)



Well, Comcast and DirecTV are fed our analog signals by fiber directly from the station. Dish Network gets their signal off air, so they lost the signal while the transmitter was off.


For our HD signal, Comcast and Dish Network get our signal off air, so if I turn off the digital transmitter, they lose the signals. Verizon FIOS has a fiber feed from the station, and off-air receivers as back up (although the back up didn't work for WNUV a couple of weeks ago when they were doing maintenance on the fiber..).


I don't know what DirecTV's plans are for WNUV-DT.


----------



## jeff125va

Is the OTA signal for this channel weaker than the other D.C. major network affiliates? I get 4, 5, 7 and 9 just fine, and I used to have no problem with 50, but after some recent re-wiring, I do. I had to split my antenna signal because of the new multiswitch for the DirecTV HR-20's, and ever since I've had a problem with channel 50 on certain of my receivers. It comes in fine on at least one of them, although the signal meter only shows a 45. It comes up in the 90's, if not 100, for all the other channels. On other receivers, including my HR10-250's (HD-TiVos) I get an even weaker signal strength and no picture at all. There are of course other variables such as the cables, etc., but it came in fine before using the splitter.


Is the solution to get an amplifier of some sort? Will that cause any sort of over-amplification problems with the other channels that are already plenty strong? Do I need to adjust my antenna direction? According to antennaweb, it's only a few degrees difference from the other channels (111 for 50, between 114 and 117 for the others) and like I said, it was coming in fine before. Any help would be appreciated. Figures I'd have a problem with the only major local channel DirecTV still doesn't carry in HD.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jeff125va* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is the OTA signal for this channel weaker than the other D.C. major network affiliates? I get 4, 5, 7 and 9 just fine, and I used to have no problem with 50, but after some recent re-wiring, I do. I had to split my antenna signal because of the new multiswitch for the DirecTV HR-20's, and ever since I've had a problem with channel 50 on certain of my receivers. It comes in fine on at least one of them, although the signal meter only shows a 45. It comes up in the 90's, if not 100, for all the other channels. On other receivers, including my HR10-250's (HD-TiVos) I get an even weaker signal strength and no picture at all. There are of course other variables such as the cables, etc., but it came in fine before using the splitter.
> 
> 
> Is the solution to get an amplifier of some sort? Will that cause any sort of over-amplification problems with the other channels that are already plenty strong? Do I need to adjust my antenna direction? According to antennaweb, it's only a few degrees difference from the other channels (111 for 50, between 114 and 117 for the others) and like I said, it was coming in fine before. Any help would be appreciated. Figures I'd have a problem with the only major local channel DirecTV still doesn't carry in HD.



WDCW-DT CW 50 (DT=51) is running at a lower power of 125 kW than the big four in DC which are at 813 kW to 1000 kW. The antenna height of 252 meters HAAT (height above average terrain) is in the same range as the big four in DC, so there is no height issue. I do not have any trouble getting WDCW-DT here in Sterling along with most of the Baltimore stations. Do you have any problems with getting WETA-DT PBS 26 out of Arlington?


Adding a splitter will weaken the signal. How many outputs on the splitter? The more splits, the greater the loss per output. A distribution or pre-amp can help. But first, what is you antenna setup? A larger antenna with more gain can offset the need for a amp. You should first try to tweak the aim of the antenna by shifting it to the left and right to see if that helps.


----------



## jeff125va




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WDCW-DT CW 50 (DT=51) is running at a lower power of 125 kW than the big four in DC which are at 813 kW to 1000 kW. The antenna height of 252 meters HAAT (height above average terrain) is in the same range as the big four in DC, so there is no height issue. I do not have any trouble getting WDCW-DT here in Sterling along with most of the Baltimore stations. Do you have any problems with getting WETA-DT PBS 26 out of Arlington?
> 
> 
> Adding a splitter will weaken the signal. How many outputs on the splitter? The more splits, the greater the loss per output. A distribution or pre-amp can help. But first, what is you antenna setup? A larger antenna with more gain can offset the need for a amp. You should first try to tweak the aim of the antenna by shifting it to the left and right to see if that helps.



Great info, thanks. I haven't tried WETA recently, so I'm not sure.


It's a 4-output splitter from Radio Shack. It was nothing fancy - I could spend a little more if a better one would help. My antenna is a Channel Master 4221 4-Bay UHF antenna. Pretty high gain on that one - I would have gone with the 8-bay but couldn't fit it through my attic access panel. It's mounted in the attic above my garage - not quite the top of the house, but close. I have a rotator so tweaking the direction a bit is no problem. My other signals are plenty strong so I'm sure I can afford to lose a bit of signal strength on those and not notice any difference. Besides, I get those channels on DirecTV so the OTA is more of a backup or for the occasional live TV watching.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jeff125va* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Great info, thanks. I haven't tried WETA recently, so I'm not sure.
> 
> 
> It's a 4-output splitter from Radio Shack. It was nothing fancy - I could spend a little more if a better one would help. My antenna is a Channel Master 4221 4-Bay UHF antenna. Pretty high gain on that one - I would have gone with the 8-bay but couldn't fit it through my attic access panel. It's mounted in the attic above my garage - not quite the top of the house, but close. I have a rotator so tweaking the direction a bit is no problem. My other signals are plenty strong so I'm sure I can afford to lose a bit of signal strength on those and not notice any difference. Besides, I get those channels on DirecTV so the OTA is more of a backup or for the occasional live TV watching.



A 4 way splitter will drop the signal strength by around 6 dB. I have the CM 4221 4 bay in my attic as well. I have a CM 7777 pre-amp, but I can get all the DC stations and 2 or 3 (IIRC) of the Baltimore stations without the pre-amp. The CM 4221 is aimed just south of the Baltimore stations so I can get the more distant Baltimore stations with the main lobe and the stronger DC stations at 50+ degrees off to the side.


Attic placements can be very sensitive to the right location, not just aim. I can move my antenna forward 6" (I have it mounted on a flat piece of scrap wood) and lose the weaker Baltimore stations. First, you should experiment with the aim and placement (if you can), to see if you can improve the signal strength for WDCW-DT, WETA-DT, and any of the Baltimore stations you get. If that doesn't work, then you should probably add a pre-amp. I got the CM 7777, but based on the advice of antenna installers in the hardware reception, you may want to consider the Winegard HDP-269 pre-amp. It is has low noise and a 12 dB gain whereas the CM 7777 can overload for close-in stations.


----------



## jeff125va




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> A 4 way splitter will drop the signal strength by around 6 dB. I have the CM 4221 4 bay in my attic as well. I have a CM 7777 pre-amp, but I can get all the DC stations and 2 or 3 (IIRC) of the Baltimore stations without the pre-amp. The CM 4221 is aimed just south of the Baltimore stations so I can get the more distant Baltimore stations with the main lobe and the stronger DC stations at 50+ degrees off to the side.
> 
> 
> Attic placements can be very sensitive to the right location, not just aim. I can move my antenna forward 6" (I have it mounted on a flat piece of scrap wood) and lose the weaker Baltimore stations. First, you should experiment with the aim and placement (if you can), to see if you can improve the signal strength for WDCW-DT, WETA-DT, and any of the Baltimore stations you get. If that doesn't work, then you should probably add a pre-amp. I got the CM 7777, but based on the advice of antenna installers in the hardware reception, you may want to consider the Winegard HDP-269 pre-amp. It is has low noise and a 12 dB gain whereas the CM 7777 can overload for close-in stations.



Good to know, thanks. I have mine bolted down and there isn't much room to move it up there because of the roof slope, so other than rotating it, moving it would be difficult.


I'll play with the aim tonight if I get a chance. I'll have to check out the pre-amps if that doesn't work. I have no idea what they cost, but given that a) I can still get a good signal on at least one of my receivers (better tuner maybe?), b) I only watch Smallville and Veronica Mars (almost definitely cancelled) and c) it will supposedly be available on DirecTV by January 2008, I'm not sure how much I'll really be willing to shell out for one.


Good to know that about the Winegard - overloading the other channels that come in just fine right now was another of my concerns, if I end up getting one. I'll let you know what happens.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jeff125va* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I'll play with the aim tonight if I get a chance. I'll have to check out the pre-amps if that doesn't work. I have no idea what they cost,



The Winegard and Channel Master pre-amps generally run around $50 to $60 plus shipping from the on-line dealers such as solidsignal.com or warrenelectronics.com.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast moved NFL Network to the sports tier today.


----------



## aaronwt

I'm still getting channel 180 NFL Total Access. Is that supposed to be on the sports tier?


----------



## SJKurtzke

WUSA-DT is out on DirecTV


Anyone know why?


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Comcast moved NFL Network to the sports tier today.



I love it!


I think that its funny that the NFL is complaining about this. First they move a bunch of games over their own Cable Network to make more money for themselves. Then they use this to strong arm their way on to every lineup out there (no foul there, business as usual), but then they get miffed when Comcast gets wise and moves the channel to a tier were comcast can actually make a buck off of their maneuver to force fans on to their channel.


The best part was when Comcast won the lawsuit. Because that means that the NFL network lawyers did not get their contract right when they signed with Comcast. hehe.


----------



## aaronwt

I also still have the NFL network. I didn't realize there were two separate channels. All I know is I'm not paying for a sports tier.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I'm still getting channel 180 NFL Total Access. Is that supposed to be on the sports tier?



It is in Baltimore.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robmfielding* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is there something about CBS and NBC D.C. HD locals that would cause this?



Could be. The Baltimore versions of these HD locals look a lot better on my QAM cable feed (and previously when trying with antenna over the air, but that might be because the Baltimore transmitters are closer).


Neil

(in Bowie)


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I will be very interested in the possible help from Comcast.
> 
> I also have the Digital converter from Comcast, but I am not using it. It converts the digital signal to analog, so an analog TV can still be used after the full conversion to digital. This has no impact on the QAM signals.



Well, the cable guy came and fixed the digital converter box that is attached to our upstairs TV. He needed to put in a new splitter that allowed a return feed for communicating back to Comcast. So, now I have OnDemand on that one TV and a digital signal coming in there.


Unfortunately, this new splitter situation seems to have lowered the signal to my HDTV (and presumably my other regular ones). The 12X-Y and 13X-Y channels that I previously got now don't appear to be coming in anymore. The DC NBC HD channel looks really poor now.


One thing I was wondering - there is one TV that hardly uses the cable feed at all. If I unplugged that from the splitter, would that help the feed for the HDTV?


Thanks,


Neil


----------



## KMKTEXAN

Can anyone tell me if the NFL Network (Channel 275) is in HD? I live in Harford County, MD.


----------



## paulstefano

Hello,


I was wondering if anybody South of Towson Gets York, Pennsylvania Stations OTA?


If so, what equipment do you use?


The reason I ask is that FIOS is coming soon to my house (they painted the ground to mark locations Monday) and I'm thinking of switching because it would be much cheaper than DTV.


Problem is I need the Sunday Ticket to watch my beloved Eagles.


The only other option is to pick up a FOX broadcast from Central PA, OTA. I know people in Timonium and Cockeysville, who can get these stations, but in Lutherville, I can't seem to do it with my CM 4221 in the attic.


Anybody else have any luck?


thanks,


paul


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paulstefano* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hello,
> 
> 
> I was wondering if anybody South of Towson Gets Pennsylvania Stations OTA?
> 
> 
> If so, what equipment do you use?
> 
> 
> The reason I ask is that FIOS is coming soon to my house (they painted the ground to mark locations Monday) and I'm thinking of switching because it would be much cheaper than DTV.
> 
> 
> Problem is I need the Sunday Ticket to watch my beloved Eagles.



Plugging a zip code for a random spot south of Towson (21204) puts you around 85 miles from the Philadelphia stations. Unless you live on a high hill with a clear view to the NE, your odds at getting a reliable signal for the Phily stations are not good. IIRC, the terrain north of Timomium and Cockeysville is higher and those who get the Phily stations from there may live on the hilltop or ridges. Question is whether they get the Phily stations only at night. 85 miles is deep fringe range in most circumstances at best.


At those sort of ranges, you have to look at the CM 4228 or AntennasDirect 91XG UHF antenna on a mast on the roof to have a shot at getting the Phily stations. try tvfool.com and the kmz coverage maps for the Philadelphia stations combined with Google Earth to see whether you have a shot at all.


What has Verizon Fios put in your neighborhood? Have they run the orange tubes and put in the junction boxes in the ground? Or are the markings for the local runs to the houss?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *KMKTEXAN* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Can anyone tell me if the NFL Network (Channel 275) is in HD? I live in Harford County, MD.



The NFL Network has an HD channel, although 95% (probably more) of it is upconverted SD. Who is your service provider? Comcast? DBS? Verizon Fios has the NFL network channel in HD, I don't know who else does at this point.


----------



## paulstefano




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Plugging a zip code for a random spot south of Towson (21204) puts you around 85 miles from the Philadelphia stations. Unless you live on a high hill with a clear view to the NE, your odds at getting a reliable signal for the Phily stations are not good. IIRC, the terrain north of Timomium and Cockeysville is higher and those who get the Phily stations from there may live on the hilltop or ridges. Question is whether they get the Phily stations only at night. 85 miles is deep fringe range in most circumstances at best.
> 
> 
> At those sort of ranges, you have to look at the CM 4228 or AntennasDirect 91XG UHF antenna on a mast on the roof to have a shot at getting the Phily stations. try tvfool.com and the kmz coverage maps for the Philadelphia stations combined with Google Earth to see whether you have a shot at all.
> 
> 
> What has Verizon Fios put in your neighborhood? Have they run the orange tubes and put in the junction boxes in the ground? Or are the markings for the local runs to the houss?



Sorry, Meant to Say CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA, York to be exact.


----------



## paulstefano




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Plugging a zip code for a random spot south of Towson (21204) puts you around 85 miles from the Philadelphia stations. Unless you live on a high hill with a clear view to the NE, your odds at getting a reliable signal for the Phily stations are not good. IIRC, the terrain north of Timomium and Cockeysville is higher and those who get the Phily stations from there may live on the hilltop or ridges. Question is whether they get the Phily stations only at night. 85 miles is deep fringe range in most circumstances at best.
> 
> 
> At those sort of ranges, you have to look at the CM 4228 or AntennasDirect 91XG UHF antenna on a mast on the roof to have a shot at getting the Phily stations. try tvfool.com and the kmz coverage maps for the Philadelphia stations combined with Google Earth to see whether you have a shot at all.
> 
> 
> What has Verizon Fios put in your neighborhood? Have they run the orange tubes and put in the junction boxes in the ground? Or are the markings for the local runs to the houss?



We have markings on the ground in front of everybody's house, along with a door knob advertisement saying FIOS is coming soon to your home. I haven't seen any trucks, but then again, I haven't really been looking either.


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Well, the cable guy came and fixed the digital converter box that is attached to our upstairs TV. He needed to put in a new splitter that allowed a return feed for communicating back to Comcast. So, now I have OnDemand on that one TV and a digital signal coming in there.
> 
> 
> Unfortunately, this new splitter situation seems to have lowered the signal to my HDTV (and presumably my other regular ones). The 12X-Y and 13X-Y channels that I previously got now don't appear to be coming in anymore. The DC NBC HD channel looks really poor now.
> 
> 
> One thing I was wondering - there is one TV that hardly uses the cable feed at all. If I unplugged that from the splitter, would that help the feed for the HDTV?
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> 
> Neil



I would try connecting your HDTV directly to the cable with no splitters to determine what channels are available. If you don't get all of the D.C. and Baltimore digital with this connection your only option is an upgraded cable signal. In the past when I was using analog signals only, I could sometimes get improvement by complaining to Comcast and have a technician do work on the outside cable. I have not complained since I started using QAM tuning to get the digital signals because I am not paying for this kind of service.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I have not complained since I started using QAM tuning to get the digital signals because I am not paying for this kind of service.



If you have any kind of service, you're paying for it - clear QAM chs included.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paulstefano* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> We have markings on the ground in front of everybody's house, along with a door knob advertisement saying FIOS is coming soon to your home. I haven't seen any trucks, but then again, I haven't really been looking either.



So you are close to getting Fios. It is that some people get excited when they see work crews laying down the orange tubes, but those are only part of the work that needs to be done to run Fios TV and Internet to the home.


As for your OTA options, you are closer to the York & Lancaster stations at ~ 43 miles and the Harrisburg at ~ 66 miles. Those may be doable with a rooftop antenna. You should check the tvfool.com resources to see what it has to say before spending time and money on a long range antenna setup. I assume the Harrisburg Fox & CBS stations would consider the Eagles to be the home team, but you should verify that.


----------



## paulstefano




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So you are close to getting Fios. It is that some people get excited when they see work crews laying down the orange tubes, but those are only part of the work that needs to be done to run Fios TV and Internet to the home.
> 
> 
> As for your OTA options, you are closer to the York & Lancaster stations at ~ 43 miles and the Harrisburg at ~ 66 miles. Those may be doable with a rooftop antenna. You should check the tvfool.com resources to see what it has to say before spending time and money on a long range antenna setup. I assume the Harrisburg Fox & CBS stations would consider the Eagles to be the home team, but you should verify that.



I am aiming for 1 station York, WPMT FOX. They do indeed carry the Eagles. I checked TVfool and it said WPMT was doable. Grey with an antenna 15-30 feet high, Red with a 40 foot antenna.


I currently have a CM 4221, but I've never tried it on the roof with an amp. Think I have any shot with that, or do I need to upgrade?


----------



## SJKurtzke

...so WUSA just came back a couple minutes ago, after being out for most of the day


Anyone know what they were doing?


----------



## joblo

Paul,


Lutherville is inside the predicted service contour for WPMT. But that doesn't really mean much. You either have a signal or you don't.


Can you see any sort of reasonable picture on analog channel 43, either with your 4221, or with rabbit ears anywhere in your house or on your property? If so, your chances at getting the digital signal are reasonable, either with a roof antenna and/or by finding a sweet spot. Good rejection of the WBFF adjacent channel may be as or more important than finding a good WPMT signal, though, so you may need a more directional antenna, and you might have to work quite a bit to find the right location for it.


But if you can't find the WPMT analog signal anywhere with what you've already got, forget about it.


----------



## paulstefano




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Paul,
> 
> 
> Lutherville is inside the predicted service contour for WPMT. But that doesn't really mean much. You either have a signal or you don't.
> 
> 
> Can you see any sort of reasonable picture on analog channel 43, either with your 4221, or with rabbit ears anywhere in your house or on your property? If so, your chances at getting the digital signal are reasonable, either with a roof antenna and/or by finding a sweet spot. Good rejection of the WBFF adjacent channel may be as or more important than finding a good WPMT signal, though, so you may need a more directional antenna, and you might have to work quite a bit to find the right location for it.
> 
> 
> But if you can't find the WPMT analog signal anywhere with what you've already got, forget about it.



I was testing this, probably while you were typing this! So, I can get WPMT pretty well over analog, with my 4221 in the attic. It's clear enough that it reminds me of what rabbit ears looked like for the Baltimore stations 10 years ago.


So, given that, do you think the 4221 is enough antenna? Should I move it to the roof, or 1st try a bigger antenna in the attic?


thanks again,


paul


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paulstefano* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> We have markings on the ground in front of everybody's house, along with a door knob advertisement saying FIOS is coming soon to your home. I haven't seen any trucks, but then again, I haven't really been looking either.



It was almost 6 months after the ground markings before FiOS became available in our neighborhood.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paulstefano* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I was testing this, probably while you were typing this! So, I can get WPMT pretty well over analog, with my 4221 in the attic. It's clear enough that it reminds me of what rabbit ears looked like for the Baltimore stations 10 years ago.
> 
> 
> So, given that, do you think the 4221 is enough antenna? Should I move it to the roof, or 1st try a bigger antenna in the attic?
> 
> 
> thanks again,
> 
> 
> paul



If you can, stick it on the roof with a rotor. You never know what else you may get with it that way.


----------



## zhensel

Is there anywhere I can get a list of what channels I ought to expect to get with a QAM tuner with Baltimore City Comcast basic cable? It would be cool to find more HD content if I could!


----------



## paulstefano

Well,


I went to Baynesville Electronics in Towson (Great place by the way, if you are in the area, I highly recommend it) and picked up a Winegard amplifier. The staff there, said it boost UHF by 26 db. I added it to my CM 4221 in the attic and got a huge boost. I can now get WPMT out of York over analog clear as a bell. I also picked up channel 49 an independent station out of Red Lion PA. Also, My DTV box shows WPMT flucuating at 25 percent.


I tried to move the antenna to my garage roof, and that made things worse.


So, anything else I should try before climbing to my 25 foot roof? I know that if I put the CM 4221 on my roof, I am almost assured to get WPMT and probably more, but it's a long climb!


thanks,


paul


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paulstefano* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I went to Baynesville Electronics in Towson (Great place by the way, if you are in the area, I highly recommend it) and picked up a Winegard amplifier. The staff there, said it boost UHF by 26 db. I added it to my CM 4221 in the attic and got a huge boost. I can now get WPMT out of York over analog clear as a bell. I also picked up channel 49 an independent station out of Red Lion PA. Also, My DTV box shows WPMT flucuating at 25 percent.
> 
> 
> I tried to move the antenna to my garage roof, and that made things worse.
> 
> 
> So, anything else I should try before climbing to my 25 foot roof? I know that if I put the CM 4221 on my roof, I am almost assured to get WPMT and probably more, but it's a long climb!



When you moved the antenna to the garage roof, did you try without the pre-amp? You are not that far from the Baltimore broadcast towers and using a strong 26 dB pre-amp may result in the signal from those stations overloading your ATSC receiver. If you put the CM 4221 up on the roof, be very careful! We don't want anybody falling off the roof here.







You may want to try the antenna up there without the pre-amp first to get a baseline on what you can get with the antenna there. If you don't have one, a rotator for the roof location would be useful.


----------



## paulstefano




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> When you moved the antenna to the garage roof, did you try without the pre-amp? You are not that far from the Baltimore broadcast towers and using a strong 26 dB pre-amp may result in the signal from those stations overloading your ATSC receiver. If you put the CM 4221 up on the roof, be very careful! We don't want anybody falling off the roof here.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You may want to try the antenna up there without the pre-amp first to get a baseline on what you can get with the antenna there. If you don't have one, a rotator for the roof location would be useful.



I'm pointing the antenna at 13 degrees, almost exactly opposite of the Baltimore stations at 226 according to Antennaweb. I'm not trying to receive Baltimore, as they are on my Directv feed. I just want Pennsylvania.


Are you saying that the Baltimore towers could be stopping me from pulling in WPMT-DT, even though I get WPMT Analog VERY clearly?


I was under the impression that if I could get Analog WPMT pretty clearly (especially at Channel 43 which is very close to WBFF 45) then Digital must be a few antenna adjustments, or a few db points away.


Am I wrong?


----------



## HokieNav




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paulstefano* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I added it to my CM 4221 in the attic and got a huge boost. I can now get WPMT out of York over analog clear as a bell.l



This is probably a really dumb question, but if you can get WPMT just fine in the attic, why not leave it there and not worry about the roof?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paulstefano* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I'm pointing the antenna at 13 degrees, almost exactly opposite of the Baltimore stations at 226 according to Antennaweb. I'm not trying to receive Baltimore, as they are on my Directv feed. I just want Pennsylvania.
> 
> 
> Are you saying that the Baltimore towers could be stopping me from pulling in WPMT-DT, even though I get WPMT Analog VERY clearly?
> 
> 
> I was under the impression that if I could get Analog WPMT pretty clearly (especially at Channel 43 which is very close to WBFF 45) then Digital must be a few antenna adjustments, or a few db points away.
> 
> 
> Am I wrong?



If the pre-amp overloads the Baltimore digital stations, it should only affect the channels they are on and possibly the adjacent channels. Since WBFF-DT Fox 45 is broadcasting on UHF 46, that may be an issue with receiving for WPMT-DT on UHF 47. But you have to see what happens with the pre-amp. DirecTV provides all 7 of the HD locals via satellite, including MPT?


As for WPMT-DT, are they at the full licensed power of 933 kW? See http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?call=WPMT . If they are still at the STA (Special Temporary Authority) power of 10 kW, then you are not likely to get the digital station. Can anyone here confirm the station is at their full licensed digital power?


----------



## paulstefano




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *HokieNav* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> This is probably a really dumb question, but if you can get WPMT just fine in the attic, why not leave it there and not worry about the roof?



I can only get analog. I can't seem to pull in the digital signal


----------



## paulstefano




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> If the pre-amp overloads the Baltimore digital stations, it should only affect the channels they are on and possibly the adjacent channels. Since WBFF-DT Fox 45 is broadcasting on UHF 46, that may be an issue with receiving for WPMT-DT on UHF 47. But you have to see what happens with the pre-amp. DirecTV provides all 7 of the HD locals via satellite, including MPT?
> 
> 
> As for WPMT-DT, are they at the full licensed power of 933 kW? See http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?call=WPMT . If they are still at the STA (Special Temporary Authority) power of 10 kW, then you are not likely to get the digital station. Can anyone here confirm the station is at their full licensed digital power?



I only get my 4 local Baltimore Stations. I'm 40 miles from York, PA, so that's not considered "local" for me. That's why I'm trying OTA.


As for the interference from WBFF, wouldn't that apply to both Analog and Digital, though? The thing that gives me hope is that I can pull in both WBFF and WPMT crystal clear over Anaolog. I just can't seem to get the digital.


----------



## wmcbrine

Why is LocalPoint TV not listed in Tribune's data (as used by zap2it.com, Tivo, DirecTV, et al.) like other local subchannels? I don't expect a full schedule, but just having it show the name of the channel would be nice.


I could try to get it listed myself, but, having been through that process before, I think it would go a lot easier if it came from the station.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paulstefano* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I only get my 4 local Baltimore Stations. I'm 40 miles from York, PA, so that's not considered "local" for me. That's why I'm trying OTA.
> 
> 
> As for the interference from WBFF, wouldn't that apply to both Analog and Digital, though? The thing that gives me hope is that I can pull in both WBFF and WPMT crystal clear over Anaolog. I just can't seem to get the digital.



Checking the Harrisburg, PA - HDTV local thread, WPMT-DT Fox 43 is at full power on their digital signal, to answer my own question. So you are ok on that. The analog channel in on UHF 43 which is one channel away from WBFF Fox 45 so there should be no interference between those two. BTW, there are digital stations in the region at:


DT 42 - WMPT-DT MPT 22 in Annapolis

DT 43 - WPXW-DT Ion/Pax 66 in Manassas, VA (90 kW and well south of you)

DT 44 - WWPB-DT MPT 31 in Hagerstown, MD

DT 46 - WBFF-DT Fox 45 in Baltimore

DT 47 - WPMT-DT Fox 43 in York/Harrisburg, PA

DT 48 - WRC-DT NBC 4 in DC

(yes, it is a crowded spectrum!)


You do have two adjacent strong digital stations behind the CM 4221 in WBFF-DT and WRC-DT to WPMT-DT on UHF 47. If you can't get a stable signal for WPMT-DT, there is a possibility that WBFF-DT or WRC-DT may be interfering with WPMT-DT because of the strong backside pickup of the CM 4221. But try the antenna outside first to see what happens. I just wanted to point this out in case you do run into signal lock problems for WPMT-DT. If that is the case, the solution would be an antenna with a stronger front to back ratio. What digital stations do you get with the CM 4221 aimed north with the 26 dB pre-amp installed?


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Why is LocalPoint TV not listed in Tribune's data (as used by zap2it.com, Tivo, DirecTV, et al.) like other local subchannels? I don't expect a full schedule, but just having it show the name of the channel would be nice.
> 
> 
> I could try to get it listed myself, but, having been through that process before, I think it would go a lot easier if it came from the station.



We are working on just that.


----------



## subwoofer

Comcast was so compressed tonight on their HD channels (I was watching Entourage on HBO) and even their digital stations (I was watching Downfall on Starz). Anyone else notice this tonight?


----------



## paulstefano




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Checking the Harrisburg, PA - HDTV local thread, WPMT-DT Fox 43 is at full power on their digital signal, to answer my own question. So you are ok on that. The analog channel in on UHF 43 which is one channel away from WBFF Fox 45 so there should be no interference between those two. BTW, there are digital stations in the region at:
> 
> 
> DT 42 - WMPT-DT MPT 22 in Annapolis
> 
> DT 43 - WPXW-DT Ion/Pax 66 in Manassas, VA (90 kW and well south of you)
> 
> DT 44 - WWPB-DT MPT 31 in Hagerstown, MD
> 
> DT 46 - WBFF-DT Fox 45 in Baltimore
> 
> DT 47 - WPMT-DT Fox 43 in York/Harrisburg, PA
> 
> DT 48 - WRC-DT NBC 4 in DC
> 
> (yes, it is a crowded spectrum!)
> 
> 
> You do have two adjacent strong digital stations behind the CM 4221 in WBFF-DT and WRC-DT to WPMT-DT on UHF 47. If you can't get a stable signal for WPMT-DT, there is a possibility that WBFF-DT or WRC-DT may be interfering with WPMT-DT because of the strong backside pickup of the CM 4221. But try the antenna outside first to see what happens. I just wanted to point this out in case you do run into signal lock problems for WPMT-DT. If that is the case, the solution would be an antenna with a stronger front to back ratio. What digital stations do you get with the CM 4221 aimed north with the 26 dB pre-amp installed?



First of all, thanks for your attention and the detailed response.


With the 4221 pointed North at 13 degrees, and the Winegard Amp (at 28 db for UHF) I get only WBAL-DT but several Analog stations including WPMT.


With WBFF not showing up, I should be okay moving the 4221 outside, huh?


FYI, I bought a Radio Shack antenna today, a Yagi type with a 40 inch boom and 2 wings with 4 elements each. Their website had rave reviews for reception outside 75 miles. I hooked it up in my attic and things actually got worse!


So, it seems I've probably maxed out my options in the attic.


I may try the roof soon with the 4221, because it seems to do the best job.


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paulstefano* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So, it seems I've probably maxed out my options in the attic.



When it comes to attics and UHF digital, the 4228 is reported to be heads and shoulders above all others. And at my distances, I'm a true believer and this applies to upper VHF as well.


----------



## MrMike6by9




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zhensel* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is there anywhere I can get a list of what channels I ought to expect to get with a QAM tuner with Baltimore City Comcast basic cable? It would be cool to find more HD content if I could!



You could go to TitanTV.com and customize for your service and area. It will present a full list of what stations should be available. However, you'll need to verify your eligibility for access to specific stations based on your subscription package.


YMMV


----------



## paulstefano




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bill Johnson* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> When it comes to attics and UHF digital, the 4228 is reported to be heads and shoulders above all others. And at my distances, I'm a true believer and this applies to upper VHF as well.



What are you pulling in with the 4228?


----------



## mdviewer25

Something went wrong with channel 9 PSIP data this morning. I was watching the 12:00 news and my STB switched from 9-1 to 34-1. This is the only channel that does it. I tried entering other channels like 38 for channel 13 and 39 for channel 7 and it went to the right channels. OTOH, I now have to enter 34 for channel 9. I am using a Samsung T-451. My USDTV one just says "No program information available".


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> We are working on just that.



It is also not tunable at all on the newer DirecTV boxes since it is not in the guide. You cannot scan OTA with the HR20, it has to be in the DirecTV guide data.


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paulstefano* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> What are you pulling in with the 4228?



With my nearly 1800 ft. elevation, an attic 4228 through a CM 3044 dist. amp and an LG sat. receiver (Sony HD200) pulls in rock-solid 24/7, except as noted (and on a matter of principle, subs. not mentioned):


DC

4.1 (48)

5.1 (36)

7 and 7.1 (39)

9 and 9.1 (34)

20 and 20.1 (35) - 20 is a little snowy and 20.1 sometimes drops out

26.1 (27) - not consistent

50 - snowy


Richmond

6.1 (25) - occasional dropouts

8 and 8.1 (22)

12.1 (54) - not consistent

35 and 35.1 (26) - 35 snowy

41.1 (46)

57.1 (44)

65.1 (47) - not consistent


Local

3.1 (49)

11.1 (11)

23.1 (42)

29.1 (32)

51


----------



## paulstefano

Very nice. You have elevation on your side, however, being in the Shenandoahs. I have the reverse, being near Sea Level, so close to Baltimore, and trying to hit a tower in Central, PA.


Can Somebody answer this?


If I were going to get another antenna, should I go with a bigger bowtie, like the 4228, or a Yagi like the 43XG?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paulstefano* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> With the 4221 pointed North at 13 degrees, and the Winegard Amp (at 28 db for UHF) I get only WBAL-DT but several Analog stations including WPMT.
> 
> With WBFF not showing up, I should be okay moving the 4221 outside, huh?
> 
> FYI, I bought a Radio Shack antenna today, a Yagi type with a 40 inch boom and 2 wings with 4 elements each. Their website had rave reviews for reception outside 75 miles. I hooked it up in my attic and things actually got worse!
> 
> 
> So, it seems I've probably maxed out my options in the attic.
> 
> 
> I may try the roof soon with the 4221, because it seems to do the best job.



Sounds like the Radio Shack yagi you tried was the U-75R yagi. I tried one myself and it was extremely touchy for just the right aim. I couldn't even get stations more than 10 degrees apart with it. The CM 4221 is a much more robust UHF antenna.


What stations do you get with the CM 4221 aimed north without the pre-amp? Try aiming the antenna a few degrees to the east and west to see what comes in on the backside. My advice is, if you are going to put the antenna up on the roof, to first try it without the pre-amp. You have a powerful pre-amp which is normally not used that close to the broadcast towers, even if you are not trying to get them. You might have been better off getting a 10 to 15 dB gain range pre-amp. I suspect you will need to get a larger antenna such as the CM 4228 or AntennasDirect 43-XG or 91-XG, but figure out what you can get with the CM 4221 so you can get a handle on reception at your location.


----------



## paulstefano




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Sounds like the Radio Shack yagi you tried was the U-75R yagi. I tried one myself and it was extremely touchy for just the right aim. I couldn't even get stations more than 10 degrees apart with it. The CM 4221 is a much more robust UHF antenna.
> 
> 
> What stations do you get with the CM 4221 aimed north without the pre-amp? Try aiming the antenna a few degrees to the east and west to see what comes in on the backside. My advice is, if you are going to put the antenna up on the roof, to first try it without the pre-amp. You have a powerful pre-amp which is normally not used that close to the broadcast towers, even if you are not trying to get them. You might have been better off getting a 10 to 15 dB gain range pre-amp. I suspect you will need to get a larger antenna such as the CM 4228 or AntennasDirect 43-XG or 91-XG, but figure out what you can get with the CM 4221 so you can get a handle on reception at your location.




When I move west, I get almost the exact same results, until the Bowties are 180 degrees different. When I move East, I will pick up WBAL-DT very close to 13 degrees (where WPMT Analog is) and if I move a little further, I get WMAR-DT. This is all in the attic, however.


One more question. If I were going to buy a new antenna to continue to try the attic, for this situation, which is better, the CM 4228, or the 43-XG


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Something went wrong with channel 9 PSIP data this morning. I was watching the 12:00 news and my STB switched from 9-1 to 34-1. This is the only channel that does it. I tried entering other channels like 38 for channel 13 and 39 for channel 7 and it went to the right channels. OTOH, I now have to enter 34 for channel 9. I am using a Samsung T-451. My USDTV one just says "No program information available".



You may have to go into the saved channels, delete the channel 9 listing(s), and you might as well delete the channel 34 listing(s) while you are in there (I don't remember if you have to, but can't hurt...) and the next time you type in 34-1, channel 9-1 should come in.


I've had the same problem in the last couple of years with other stations (including my own, btw).


Mark


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paulstefano* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> When I move west ... When I move East



No, no, no. In an attic, it is not enough to simply rotate the antenna. You must also move it left/right, forward/backward, and up/down to try and find a sweet spot.


What receiver are you using? Does it have a good signal meter?


----------



## paulstefano




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> No, no, no. In an attic, it is not enough to simply rotate the antenna. You must also move it left/right, forward/backward, and up/down to try and find a sweet spot.
> 
> 
> What receiver are you using? Does it have a good signal meter?



I'm using 2. One Directv HR20, and 1 Samsung SIR-TS160.


Only the HR20 has a signal meter. I check the Samsung by constantly scanning.


----------



## SUOrangeman

As noted in the first post, A&E HD, National Geographic HD, and WDCA HD (719 -> 721) all showed up on Cox-Fairfax today. (Well, A&E and NatGeo were in clear QAM as early as Saturday per my HDHomeRun; no longer clear today). It looks like Cox added WUSA's subchannel (Doppler 9000, still in clear QAM on 805) as an added bonus. For whatever reason, WDCA is not in the clear.


Anyone have any info on the two "new" local access channels (820 and 821, I believe)? The Fairfax City and Fall Church City channels are now in the clear as well. Herndon's had been up but was gone for me today (in Annandale). Cox had also left two or three Music Choice channeles in the clear, but they're gone too.


-SUO


----------



## christ1

I am moving into downtown Baltimore in a week and I am looking at HDTV service. I do not have an HDTV yet but I plan on getting one before football season starts.


My main question is which provider has the best HD quality in Baltimore City: Comcast, DirectTV, or Dish Network? I am more concerned with quality over quantity because I don't watch that much TV, but I would like to do it right the first time. (I am moving right when my current place is getting FIOS.)


I am also a Redskins fan, and I would like to receive the OTA DC HD channels. What is the best antenna? People seem to like the CM 4228. I will have a roof top deck so I can easily mount it outside.


Thanks.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *christ1* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> My main question is which provider has the best HD quality in Baltimore City: Comcast, DirectTV, or Dish Network? I am more concerned with quality over quantity because I don't watch that much TV, but I would like to do it right the first time. (I am moving right when my current place is getting FIOS.)
> 
> 
> I am also a Redskins fan, and I would like to receive the OTA DC HD channels. What is the best antenna? People seem to like the CM 4228. I will have a roof top deck so I can easily mount it outside.



For overall HD picture quality, the current winner should be Comcast. DirecTV may match Comcast if they get their new HD satellite up and running in September for the new national HD channels on the satellite.


For OTA, the CM 4228 is a large long range highly directional antenna, usually for 40, 50 or more miles range. The CM 4221 4 Bay is more suitable for the Baltimore-Washington axis, but is not going work as well for upper VHF reception.


----------



## paulstefano




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Sounds like the Radio Shack yagi you tried was the U-75R yagi. I tried one myself and it was extremely touchy for just the right aim. I couldn't even get stations more than 10 degrees apart with it. The CM 4221 is a much more robust UHF antenna.
> 
> 
> What stations do you get with the CM 4221 aimed north without the pre-amp? Try aiming the antenna a few degrees to the east and west to see what comes in on the backside. My advice is, if you are going to put the antenna up on the roof, to first try it without the pre-amp. You have a powerful pre-amp which is normally not used that close to the broadcast towers, even if you are not trying to get them. You might have been better off getting a 10 to 15 dB gain range pre-amp. I suspect you will need to get a larger antenna such as the CM 4228 or AntennasDirect 43-XG or 91-XG, but figure out what you can get with the CM 4221 so you can get a handle on reception at your location.



Well, I got the CM 4221 up on the roof, by means of a 12 foot mast on top of my garage roof.


Here's where it gets weird. The signal got worse, much worse! I completely lost WPMT Analog. I did pick up 3 Baltimore Stations, with the antenna pointed directly AWAY from the towers on TV Hill. This was with the pre-amp off. With it on, I could only hold on to WBAL-DT. At 5 miles away from the Towers, I know they overload my receivers. When I was only interested in Baltimore stations, I would use an attenuator.


So, it seems I have interference from 1 or more Baltimore Stations.


That being the case, an antenna with a better front to back ratio should help right? I was thinking the Antennas Direct 43-XG.


Thoughts?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paulstefano* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Here's where it gets weird. The signal got worse, much worse! I completely lost WPMT Analog. I did pick up 3 Baltimore Stations, with the antenna pointed directly AWAY from the towers on TV Hill. This was with the pre-amp off. With it on, I could only hold on to WBAL-DT. At 5 miles away from the Towers, I know they overload my receivers. When I was only interested in Baltimore stations, I would use an attenuator.



Did you remove the pre-amp from the signal path? You can't turn the pre-amp off and expect to get a signal. Turning the pre-amp off results in an open circuit. At five miles, if you do not use a pre-amp or distribution amp, you should not overload on any station. I think your use of the pre-amp is messing up you figuring out your best antenna setup.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paulstefano* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> That being the case, an antenna with a better front to back ratio should help right?



Not necessarily. What you need is not just a bigger antenna or a better antenna, but the *right* antenna, with the *right pattern*, irrespective of design or size. And you may need to trap and/or filter the TV Hill signals. Amplification is not likely to help unless/until the signal is properly filtered.


Basically, you need a more scientific and sophisticated approach. You need to first diagnose the interference, and then you need a strategy to deal with that. This is complicated to do, which is why I sent you a PM offering to help you by voice. Did you get that?




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> If the pre-amp overloads the Baltimore digital stations, it should only affect the channels they are on and possibly the adjacent channels.



Not true. An overloaded/clipped signal can cause beats such that weaker signals reflect through the overloaded channel and produce images on the other side. E.g., if you overload on 45, then 43 can interfere with 47, 41 can interfere with 49, 39 can interfere with 51, etc. This can happen in the pre-amp or in the RF stage of the receiver itself.


With wideband amplification, EVERY possible such combination of signals has to be considered as a potential source of interference, and you can even get interference from out-of-band mobile signals that randomly come and go. This is why the diagnosis gets complicated. To get a weak distant signal in an urban area, you generally use only a high-input low-gain preamp, if you use a preamp at all, followed by a bandpass filter, followed by high-gain distribution, and possibly adjacent channel traps.



> Quote:
> As for WPMT-DT, are they at the full licensed power of 933 kW? See http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?call=WPMT . If they are still at the STA (Special Temporary Authority) power of 10 kW, then you are not likely to get the digital station. Can anyone here confirm the station is at their full licensed digital power?



The Central PA thread says it is. (I checked that and the FCC site last week.)


But really, the only way to be sure the digital signal is there is either to see it register on a meter, or to see the telltale pattern of snow on an analog TV. (I can usually do the latter, but it's difficult to describe the process.)


But this brings up a point: Paul, when you look at channel 47 on an analog TV, what do you see? To have a hope of getting the digital signal, you should see pure snow, or white noise. If you see any trace of sync pulse or picture, that's interference and you have to get rid of it.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> ... An overloaded/clipped signal can cause beats such that weaker signals reflect through the overloaded channel and produce images on the other side. E.g., if you overload on 45, then 43 can interfere with 47, 41 can interfere with 49, 39 can interfere with 51, etc. This can happen in the pre-amp or in the RF stage of the receiver itself.
> 
> 
> With wideband amplification, EVERY possible such combination of signals has to be considered as a potential source of interference, and you can even get interference from out-of-band mobile signals that randomly come and go. This is why the diagnosis gets complicated. To get a weak distant signal in an urban area, you generally use only a high-input low-gain preamp, if you use a preamp at all, followed by a bandpass filter, followed by high-gain distribution, and possibly adjacent channel traps.



The arbitrary "overload" output level figures that preamp manufactures furnish to allow us to estimate when 5% sync compression occurs are useless in determining the point at which the various composite intermodulation byproducts render the weaker signals unprocessable. Furthermore, some of the manufacturer's overload ratings are bad jokes.


A couple of months ago, I was developing and balancing a multi-antenna, multi-market headend in College Park, Maryland. The location is about 10 miles from the Washington, DC tower cluster and about 30 miles from the Baltimore transmitters, but this area is a reception nightmare for me because, A) it is in a swale, and I would need an 80 foot mast to have line-of-sight to the Baltimore transmitters, and B) while my antennas are only slightly below the sight line to the Washington transmitters, the signals that bounce off Byrd Stadium are almost as strong as the intended signals.


I have a CM 4228 on a 30 foot telescoping mast pointed at Baltimore. The signal level of channel 59 measured at the end of a 60 foot downlead is about - 28 dBmV. Now, with digital signals, I can live with a signal that weak because it is still nearly 30 dB above the thermal noise floor. But that antenna also receives unintended signals from channels 20, 26, 32 and channel 50 that complicate matters for me. Roughly speaking, they all measure around 20 to 23 dBmV at the end of that downlead.


If I install a Winegard AP4727, which is a modern, albeit oddball, cousin of the AP 4700 and AP 4800 that has 23 dB of gain, I wind up with a couple of 46 dBmV analog carriers and a couple of maybe 43 dBmV carriers while lifting my channel 59 up to a manageable -5 dBmV and with an S/N ratio of about 25 to 26 dB, but my Accurian receiver cannot process that channel 59 signal. Even if I put a 30 dB bandpass filter on the preamp output, thereby eliminating the possibility of the primitive Accurian tuner being overloaded by the stronger channels, it still won't process it.


I don't have the Winegard maximum output table handy as I compose this, but they make the absolutely ridiculous claim that their AP series preamps can develop about ten dB more than comparable Channel Master preamps before they overload, but they can't. If I use a Channel Master OSD 0064, which also has 23 dB of gain, I develop the same output signal levels, but I wind up with a usable quality channel 59 DTV signal.


The visual "tell" is that analog channel 24, which is about 20 to 25 dB weaker than 20, 26, 32 and 50, is visibly beat to hell coming out of the Winegard preamp, whereas the interference on it is much, much less severe coming out of the Channel Master. Yet even then, the Channel Master preamp is rated for 51 dBmV output with a four, equal strength channel load, so it, too, is safely within its arbitrary operating parameters in this application, but it is still visibly damaging the weaker analog channel 24.


Because I am developing commercial headends, I can bring lots of components and test gear to job sites and try lots of combinations to eventually discover an optimal combination of parts and settings that allows me to develop adequate quality signals from weak and distant transmitters, but no do-it-yourselfer will ever be able to do that. At this site, for example, my unintended Washington, DC channel 39 signal coming off my Baltimore antenna is about 18 to 20 dB stronger than my intended channels 38 and 40 signals. Fortunately, pure, unadulterated 8VSB signals can withstand the presence of adjacent 8VSB signals that are about 26 to 28 dB stronger.


But as soon as I amplify even that three channel wide swath, all bets are off. I have read that 3rd Order Intermodulation Distortion developed in an amplifier is about 12 dB weaker on adjacent channels than it is on the subject channel itself. But if the adjacent channel is 20 dB weaker to begin with, then the resultant 3rd Order IMD will be 8 dB closer to the level of the weaker adjacent channel than to that of the subject channel that is the source of that intermodulation byproduct, so if I amplify my Baltimore antennas output even a little, the strong, Washington, DC channel 39 beats up the weaker Baltimore channels 38 and 40 to a condition of unprocessability before it beats up itself.


Fortunately for me, I can heterodyne convert the channel 38 to 4 and 40 to 6, and, at those lower frequencies, I can filter off most of the energy of the undesired channel 39, which has been inadvertently downconverted to 72-78 Mhz and 76-82 Mhz, respectively, and can then amplify it with relative impunity, but no single family residential customer could possibly justify spending that kind of money.


For those of you who are frustrated in your attempts to bring in a distant "gotta-have-it" local station, generally for sports, your best bet will be to pick a high gain directional antenna dedicated to receiving just that one channel whose pattern also best nulls out the strong, undesired signals, and to reduce the undesired input signal strength into the preamp either with a bandpass filter, (possibly a Winegard Jointenna, or you could have someone like Tin Lee make up a better one) if there are several undesired strong signals present, or with a notch trap, if there are only one or two undesired, strong signals. "Tru-Spec" - if there is such a company - used to make cheap tunable bandpass filters labeled BPF-UHF, but that product was discontinued about a decade ago.


The HDTV Primer page Comparing some commercially available antennas has polar plots that can help you select an antenna that most effectively rejects undesired signals


----------



## paulstefano




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> 
> With wideband amplification, EVERY possible such combination of signals has to be considered as a potential source of interference, and you can even get interference from out-of-band mobile signals that randomly come and go. This is why the diagnosis gets complicated. To get a weak distant signal in an urban area, you generally use only a high-input low-gain preamp, if you use a preamp at all, followed by a bandpass filter, followed by high-gain distribution, and possibly adjacent channel traps.
> 
> 
> 
> But this brings up a point: Paul, when you look at channel 47 on an analog TV, what do you see? To have a hope of getting the digital signal, you should see pure snow, or white noise. If you see any trace of sync pulse or picture, that's interference and you have to get rid of it.



Thanks for the help in the forum.


Can you give me a model number of a "high-input low-gain preamp" example?


As for 47, I will have to check at home tonight.


----------



## wfujosh

Spent some time last night watching the new AEHD and NGHD on Cox. They look fantastic. I've been pretty impressed so far with HD feed from Cox vs. Comcast.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paulstefano* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Thanks for the help in the forum.
> 
> 
> Can you give me a model number of a "high-input low-gain preamp" example?
> 
> 
> As for 47, I will have to check at home tonight.



The Winegard HDP 269, with its 12 dB claimed "average gain" is a favorite among AVSForum contributors, perhaps because no other recognizable manufacturer makes a low hain, "high-input" preamp at an affordable price. It can be had on the internet for $50 to $55. I think the MSRP is about $69.95.


I haven't used one, but be forewarned that this amplifier was "engineered" to be mated with Winegard's Square Shooter, which has reception elements inside it that look like the weapon that Lieutenant Worf uses for his martial arts practice and, last time I checked, Winegard still hadn't furnished multichannel sample plots of its performance at different UHF frequencies, so as crazy as this might seem, for all we know, the HDP 269's gain across the UHF band might even have been engineered to roughly flatten out the Square Shooter's uneven spectrum. I doubt it, but I don't trust Winegard specs and claims at all. The actual gain of Winegard's AP4800 actually varies from abot 26dB to about 38dB. I recently measured about 36dB of gain at channel 22, so that surely accounts for a lot of the disappointments that Winegard customers experience when they use their amps to try to salvage weak signals.


I recently had very good luck using an Electroline 15dB cable TV amp as a preamp. You can get a good quality, cable TV one-way 10dB preamp on eBay for under $10. Just don't buy the ones that are "bullet" amplifiers.


Can you live with a Channel Master channel 47 Jointenna (price: $25 to $40) on the downlead before it goes into the preamp?


----------



## silentbob1974

This is not specifically relevant to HD, but has anyone with Comcast (and the digital sports tier) been getting audio but no video for GolTV? This is the only channel in my lineup with such a problem.


----------



## paulstefano




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The Winegard HDP 269, with its 12 dB claimed "average gain" is a favorite among AVSForum contributors, perhaps because no other recognizable manufacturer makes a low hain, "high-input" preamp at an affordable price. It can be had on the internet for $50 to $55. I think the MSRP is about $69.95.
> 
> 
> I haven't used one, but be forewarned that this amplifier was "engineered" to be mated with Winegard's Square Shooter, which has reception elements inside it that look like the weapon that Lieutenant Worf uses for his martial arts practice and, last time I checked, Winegard still hadn't furnished multichannel sample plots of its performance at different UHF frequencies, so as crazy as this might seem, for all we know, the HDP 269's gain across the UHF band might even have been engineered to roughly flatten out the Square Shooter's uneven spectrum. I doubt it, but I don't trust Winegard specs and claims at all. The actual gain of Winegard's AP4800 actually varies from abot 26dB to about 38dB. I recently measured about 36dB of gain at channel 22, so that surely accounts for a lot of the disappointments that Winegard customers experience when they use their amps to try to salvage weak signals.
> 
> 
> I recently had very good luck using an Electroline 15dB cable TV amp as a preamp. You can get a good quality, cable TV one-way 10dB preamp on eBay for under $10. Just don't buy the ones that are "bullet" amplifiers.
> 
> 
> Can you live with a Channel Master channel 47 Jointenna (price: $25 to $40) on the downlead before it goes into the preamp?



One last question, for now... Should I try the HDP 269 and the Jointenna with My CM 4221 first? I was thinking of picking up a more directional antenna also.


----------



## paulstefano




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> What has Verizon Fios put in your neighborhood? Have they run the orange tubes and put in the junction boxes in the ground? Or are the markings for the local runs to the houss?



Verizon is digging up all the median strips in front of my house. I guess they are running fiber along the street. I see Verizon trucks with giant rolls of cable driving around all day also.


How close to available is service?


----------



## dneily

Did anyone else watch or record the PBS Great Performances program last week with Sting, performing Elizabethan music?


I just played back my FIOS DVR recording. There was missing dialogue, though the music was mostly fine. All of my speakers emitted sound, but it was only the musical portion of the soundtrack.


I wonder if this was a PBS (national) problem or a Maryland Public TV problem?


I recorded the initial broadcast, so this may have been fixed for the subsequent repeat broadcasts.


Feedback anyone?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paulstefano* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Verizon is digging up all the median strips in front of my house. I guess they are running fiber along the street. I see Verizon trucks with giant rolls of cable driving around all day also.
> 
> 
> How close to available is service?



Could be several months, could be a year, could be longer. There is a lot of infrastructure from running fiber to your central office, installing equipment there, all the way to junction boxes for a group of houses. The orange tubes are empty, BTW. They feed the fiber optics line through them later.


Did you see my post on taking your pre-amp out of the signal path? You can't turn the pre-amp off and expect to get anything from the antenna. Put the CM 4221 up on the roof, but without the pre-amp in the signal path. Take it from there.


----------



## mapper




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SUOrangeman* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> For whatever reason, WDCA is not in the clear.
> 
> 
> Anyone have any info on the two "new" local access channels (820 and 821, I believe)? The Fairfax City and Fall Church City channels are now in the clear as well. Herndon's had been up but was gone for me today (in Annandale). Cox had also left two or three Music Choice channels in the clear, but they're gone too.
> 
> 
> -SUO



Thats great that Cox added the Doppler 9000, but I can't see it. Maybe because I have CableCARD. The two local access channels are not really new, they were paired with channels 36 and 13 and they were split off to become just local access/advertisment channels. As for WDCA not in the clear, I would just wait a couple days; it seems that Cox turned on clear QAM functions only a week or two at least in our area. Music Choice channels should be encrypted. Only the local broadcast channels should be in the clear, like WRC on 4-1 and WJLA on 7-1.


----------



## paulstefano




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Did you see my post on taking your pre-amp out of the signal path? You can't turn the pre-amp off and expect to get anything from the antenna. Put the CM 4221 up on the roof, but without the pre-amp in the signal path. Take it from there.



Got it, thanks. I'll give it a try.


----------



## SUOrangeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> ... Music Choice channels should be encrypted ...



Maybe a matter of semantics, but I don't think Cox is legally required to encrypt anything.







They're just required to keep OTA-available channels in the clear.


I also noticed that the Doppler9000 feed on Sunday morning was actually showing cartoons. Since the CBS eye logo was on the image, I can only imagine that Cox was passing one whatever WUSA was feeding.


Anyway, thanks for the ACK in the first post, CycloneGT. But I have to tell ya, your channel "matrix" makes it look like 7.2 is available on Cox. Unless I'm blind, I don't think we have that. Probably need to break out WETA's subchannels, unless it is commonly known that everyone gets all of them via non-OTA means.


-SUO


----------



## mapper

Well, I guess Cox just wants to brainwash us customers.









Is WUSA Doppler 9000 on clear QAM 805? I always like to check out what little Cox has to offer.


Thanks,

--mapper


----------



## voltore




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Thats great that Cox added the Doppler 9000, but I can't see it. Maybe because I have CableCARD.



There are some tests going on with the DTV stream that needed some bandwidth so the 9.2 radar channel has been de-activated for a couple of days!! back soon.


Cheers


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *silentbob1974* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> This is not specifically relevant to HD, but has anyone with Comcast (and the digital sports tier) been getting audio but no video for GolTV? This is the only channel in my lineup with such a problem.




Mine is fine, what County or City are you in ?


GoIrish


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *voltore* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> There are some tests going on with the DTV stream that needed some bandwidth so the 9.2 radar channel has been de-activated for a couple of days!! back soon.
> 
> 
> Cheers



Hmmm. Good to know. I wonder who you might be?


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SUOrangeman* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I also noticed that the Doppler9000 feed on Sunday morning was actually showing cartoons. Since the CBS eye logo was on the image, I can only imagine that Cox was passing one whatever WUSA was feeding.



There is a FCC mandate for E/I (Education and Info???) programming on all broadcast channels. So even the subchannels need to carry some E/I for a hour or two a week. 9.2 does there's on Sunday Mornings.


I'll look into upgrading the Grid. If I put 7.2 under COX, it would have been that someone posted that it was on their. A long time ago, 7.2 was ABC News now. Perhaps it was removed when that channel went defunct.


----------



## mapper

Ok, so currently the doppler is down, so it makes sense that its not there currently.

To CycloneGT- If you are upgrading the grid, I suppose you could add the breakout of the digital MHz channels for Cox. MHz channels 1-8 are available through Cox's Digital International Tier.

Other news: PSIP data on WRC-DT has been changed to WRCHD, and PSIP data on Weather Plus has been named WRCWP.


Thanks,

--mapper


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Could be several months, could be a year, could be longer. There is a lot of infrastructure from running fiber to your central office, installing equipment there, all the way to junction boxes for a group of houses. The orange tubes are empty, BTW. They feed the fiber optics line through them later.
> 
> 
> Did you see my post on taking your pre-amp out of the signal path? You can't turn the pre-amp off and expect to get anything from the antenna. Put the CM 4221 up on the roof, but without the pre-amp in the signal path. Take it from there.




They ran the fiber a few weeks ago in my area and terminated it 2 weeks ago. This past weekend I got a notice from FIOS in the mail with a number to call to preorder FIOS and get in the beginning of the installation queue. I called up Monday and signed up for FIOS internet. I signed up for the 15/2 service for $49.99 for 12 months. They weren't signing up for TV yet but they said installations would start in late July or August. And hopefully by then they will be offering the TV service. I'd like to get my Series 3 TiVos set up with the cable cards before the fall TV season. It took a little time to get things straightened out with Comcast for all six cable cards.


----------



## joblo

Hello again, Mike I was wondering how long it would take you to chime in











> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> A couple of months ago, I was developing and balancing a multi-antenna, multi-market headend in College Park, Maryland.



I'm curious about this. Is it a digital headend for feeding digital receivers, or an analog headend using DTV receivers as signal sources?



> Quote:
> The visual "tell" is that analog channel 24, which is about 20 to 25 dB weaker than 20, 26, 32 and 50, is visibly beat to hell coming out of the Winegard preamp, whereas the interference on it is much, much less severe coming out of the Channel Master. Yet even then, the Channel Master preamp is rated for 51 dBmV output with a four, equal strength channel load, so it, too, is safely within its arbitrary operating parameters in this application, but it is still visibly damaging the weaker analog channel 24.



Visibly on a TV or a spectrum analyzer? If on TV, how do you determine whether the damage is occurring in the preamp or the TV receiver itself?



> Quote:
> Fortunately for me, I can heterodyne convert the channel 38 to 4 and 40 to 6, and, at those lower frequencies, I can filter off most of the energy of the undesired channel 39, which has been inadvertently downconverted to 72-78 Mhz and 76-82 Mhz, respectively, and can then amplify it with relative impunity, but no single family residential customer could possibly justify spending that kind of money.



There used to be consumer-grade cable and UHF converters that could do this. Years ago, I had a GI LCC-91 that converted UHF to channel 3 or 4, but unfortunately it broke long before the first DTV signals hit the air. I think it's still in a box somewhere in the attic, but I've never found it worth the time or trouble to fix.


I did once try converting digital signals from UHF 15 and 27 to 3 with a fine-tunable cable converter just as a proof of concept, and that worked fine, but unfortunately, that converter only goes to cable channel 78, so it isn't useful for any weak digital signals in northern Virginia, where I live.



> Quote:
> (possibly a Winegard Jointenna, or you could have someone like Tin Lee make up a better one) if there are several undesired strong signals present, or with a notch trap, if there are only one or two undesired, strong signals. "Tru-Spec" - if there is such a company - used to make cheap tunable bandpass filters labeled BPF-UHF, but that product was discontinued about a decade ago.



Hmm I thought Jointenna was a CM trademark. Pretty sure all of mine are CM, but they are very old, and I haven't used them in years. Never liked the plastic cases. Probably work fine on an antenna mast, but way too much radiation/ingress for use on a board.


Tru-Spec is (was?) a brand name for Pico-Macom products. Their BPF-UHFs and MX-4Us have nice metal cases, and I've had pretty good luck with them on my mixing board.


But I'm still using a board that I built more than a decade ago to handle DC/Baltimore analog signals, and I've been pleasantly surprised that I could add most DC/Baltimore digitals with relatively minor adjustments and without too much damage to the analogs. The whole thing is now badly out-of-date, but at this point, I'm not about to tear it down and rebuild it until after the analog shutdown.


Who/what is Tin Lee?



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> the HDP 269's gain across the UHF band might even have been engineered to roughly flatten out the Square Shooter's uneven spectrum. I doubt it, but I don't trust Winegard specs and claims at all. The actual gain of Winegard's AP4800 actually varies from abot 26dB to about 38dB.



Well, see, this was my thought when I read your first post. The trouble with amp specs generally is that they try to reduce a characteristic that varies across the amp's operating frequency band to just a single number. Obviously, there are different ways you could do that, so comparing one company's specs to another's is like comparing apples and oranges. You would hope that comparing numbers in the same company's line would work a little better, at least in a relative sense, but in the end I've always regarded amps as a trial and error sort of thing. I've generally bought only from sources where I had return privileges, and if something worked and offered god value for the money, I kept it, and if not, I didn't.



> Quote:
> Just don't buy the ones that are "bullet" amplifiers.



But see, I've got about half a dozen of these attached directly to MX-4U outputs on my board, and they do fine for me there. I picked them up because they were cheap and they consume essentially zero real estate on the board. Of course, again, they are quite old, so maybe what's being sold today is not quite the same. I do keep the cheapie power injectors out of the signal path, though, by feeding the power through HLSJs.




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paulstefano* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> One last question, for now... Should I try the HDP 269 and the Jointenna with My CM 4221 first? I was thinking of picking up a more directional antenna also.



Actually, I think I would probably start with just the Jointenna, but then I would probably study the reception patterns for a while before even doing that. I would probably go back to the configuration that gave a crystal clear analog 43, and monitor that for a week or so before proceeding further, just to be sure the York signal is stable 24/7, rather than a temporary tropospheric bounce.


Some other points:


Mike's advice about checking polar plots of directional antennas is dead on target -- that's what I was getting at in my previous post -- but only if you're committed to a roof installation. If you use a large directional antenna indoors, any metal or moisture in the building, standing waves and so on, will tend to negate all the engineering and design work that went into the antenna.


If you are on a wooded lot, or if you have a lot of leafy trees nearby, in the path to either York or TV Hill, keep in mind that your whole reception environment could change when the leaves fall off the trees, and what works today might not work then.


If your attic antenna is pulling the York signal through a slanted roof, keep in mind that the plane of water running down the roof whenever it rains could destroy your signal.


Finally, keep in mind that if your interference problem stems from local analog signals, things could improve markedly after the analog shutdown, so you might ask yourself how much work you really want to do now, considering it might only be necessary for 28 Sunday afternoons. (Or fewer, because some Eagles games will be at night, and some will air in Baltimore.)


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Ok, so currently the doppler is down, so it makes sense that its not there currently.
> 
> To CycloneGT- If you are upgrading the grid, I suppose you could add the breakout of the digital MHz channels for Cox. MHz channels 1-8 are available through Cox's Digital International Tier.
> 
> Other news: PSIP data on WRC-DT has been changed to WRCHD, and PSIP data on Weather Plus has been named WRCWP.
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> --mapper



Well, I updated the channel listing, I'll do the grid later.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Thats great that Cox added the Doppler 9000, but I can't see it. Maybe because I have CableCARD.
> 
> 
> Is WUSA Doppler 9000 on clear QAM 805?



Never used CableCard. Does that map channels to the same numbers the cable boxes use?


I have one QAM tuner, but it gets everything only on the frequency standard channel numbers. So 4 and 7 are on 132-2 through 132-4, 9 is on 122-1, 5 is on 122-2, 9-2 was recently added on 122-13, 26 and 50 are on 108-3 through 108-8, A&EHD and NGHD are on 13-1 and 13-9 (but now scrambled), and 20 seems to be on 36-20 (but scrambled.)



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SUOrangeman* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Maybe a matter of semantics, but I don't think Cox is legally required to encrypt anything.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> They're just required to keep OTA-available channels in the clear.



Except they are no longer doing that. The MHz channels added a few weeks ago are all available OTA, but Cox scrambled them within a few minutes of adding them and they haven't been ITC since.


Cox seems to be rather careless about scrambling, though. I frequently see one or more channels ITC temporarily, and there are frequently VOD streams visible on subchannels 101 and up on various channels. (Athough no VOD that I've ever ordered via my Cox box has ever been ITC when I've checked.)


A few months ago, Cox left ALL of its PPV channels ITC for at least 12 hours. (Who knows how long they were there before I happened to discover them?) Now that movies are available via VOD, most of the remaining PPV seems to be porn. Never seen so many ITC porn channels in all my life... Cox Cable took on a whole new meaning.......


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Who/what is Tin Lee?



Tin Lee is a manufacturer of some pretty nice RF filters. I use them on some of our equipment (non-broadcast) in the station. You can check them out at www.tinlee.com .


Mark


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> A couple of months ago, I was developing and balancing a multi-antenna, multi-market headend in College Park, Maryland.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I'm curious about this. Is it a digital headend for feeding digital receivers, or an analog headend using DTV receivers as signal sources?.



It is a hybrid headend that uses NTSC modulation of DirecTV receiver outputs, and heterodyne conversion of broadcast analog with mostly filtered and amplified broadcast 8VSB UHF signals. The only converted broadcast 8VSB signals are 38 and 40, which I had to do because of the relative stength of channel 39. All TVs with digital tuners that I have evaluated seamlessly integrate cable NTSC and broadcast frequency digital channels. I have never had to go into the menu and change channel plans to make them see channels in the two different plans.


While I have read of commercial "transcoders" that take entire, 30 Mhz-wide transponders of DBS QPSK programming and somehow reconstitute them into a 6 Mhz, 64 QAM channels, proprietary receivers would still be needed to decode that programming, and I never have encountered a situation in which using that technology would be feasible. Also, I know of no affordable hardware that takes a DirecTV output and modulates it as uncrypted 8VSB or QAM (LG will be releasing something pricy that changes the encryption, but the hotels that use TVs that can decrypt those signals will surely pay over a grand each), so I expect these hybrid distibution systems to become more common in the near future.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The visual "tell" is that analog channel 24, which is about 20 to 25 dB weaker than 20, 26, 32 and 50, is visibly beat to hell coming out of the Winegard preamp, whereas the interference on it is much, much less severe coming out of the Channel Master..





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Visibly on a TV or a spectrum analyzer? If on TV, how do you determine whether the damage is occurring in the preamp or the TV receiver itself?



Visible on the TV screen. I can see another picture sliding across the screen. I know it is happening in the preamp because the symptom stays exactly the same even when I pad down the preamp output signal levels to the same level they were at before I amplified them. That symptom wasn't present before I preamplified.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Fortunately for me, I can heterodyne convert the channel 38 to 4 and 40 to 6, and, at those lower frequencies, I can filter off most of the energy of the undesired channel 39,.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> There used to be consumer-grade cable and UHF converters that could do this. Years ago, I had a GI LCC-91 that converted UHF to channel 3 or 4, but unfortunately it broke long before the first DTV signals hit the air. I think it's still in a box somewhere in the attic, but I've never found it worth the time or trouble to fix..



You can even find wideband UHF to VHF converters made by Blonder Tongue from I think the early 1960s on eBay for typically about $5 to $10. They might have tubes in them. The Pico/Holland/Blonder Tongue Z-series XUV converters sell for about $160 each but generate a ton of out-of-band noise.


Holland makes a SAW filtered processor that converts any broadcast channel to any other broadcast channel for around $500 to $600. A broadcast 8VSB channel must be converted to either a VHF or UHF channel to be useful, since almost all consumer DTV tuners will only demodulate and decode 8VSB signals when set to the broadcast channel plan. So in other words, If I were to retune any of my Pico or Holland UHF to midband converters, a TV tuner set for the standard, FCC cable channel plan would try to process them as QAM signals and fail.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I did once try converting digital signals from UHF 15 and 27 to 3 with a fine-tunable cable converter just as a proof of concept, and that worked fine, but unfortunately, that converter only goes to cable channel 78, so it isn't useful for any weak digital signals in northern Virginia, where I live..



I struck out using a premium Blonder Tongue converter that had an agile input but a dedicated output. I didn't have good enough equipment to determine why it failed. Since this product used double conversion and SAW filtering and integral aural carrier reduction, it is possible that the SAW filter either scraped off the +0.9Mhz pilot, or that the aural carrier reducer degraded the 8VSB haystack.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> possibly a Winegard Jointenna....





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I thought Jointenna was a CM trademark.



.

Oops...



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> the HDP 269's gain across the UHF band might even have been engineered to roughly flatten out the Square Shooter's uneven spectrum..



FWIW, about eight years ago, I studied the gain and loss plots of Spaun's PIN diode multiswitches and its cascadable amp, and since the PIN diode multiswitches had screwy loss contours, they had actually engineered in complementary, non-linear amplifier gains to roughly even them out.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The trouble with amp specs generally is that they try to reduce a characteristic that varies across the amp's operating frequency band to just a single number..



To clarify my remark about the gain of the AP4800, the variation from 26 to 38 dB I was referring to was across the UHF band, rather than from unit to unit. Another AVSForum member made a similar observation previously. The gain across the AP4727 was much flatter, though I didn't use a noise generator. I just compared measured levels at about a dozen subject channels.


I recently compared output and input levels of some common, $20 to $40, 10 to 20 dB cable preamps and they were all flat across the spectrum to within about a dB.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Obviously, there are different ways you could do that, so comparing one company's specs to another's is like comparing apples and oranges.



Blonder Tongue publishes a whole table of specs for its BIDA series distribution amplifiers, but those are only important for systems in which complex cascades must be managed. I'd probably settle for having a single, reliable 3rd Order IMD figure for an amp that is flat across the band.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Just don't buy the ones that are "bullet" amplifiers.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> ...I've got about half a dozen of these attached directly to MX-4U outputs on my board, and they do fine for me there.



My advice was to avoid using them in broadband applications with strong signals present. I doubt that any bullet inline amp of any era could develop even 30dBmV without beating up the signal. That caveat having been said, I have actually used them in hotel PPV systems to boost the sub-band return signals a little



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Who/what is Tin Lee?.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Tin Lee is a manufacturer of some pretty nice RF filters.



Actually, I was referring to the dog in the Kung-Fu movies.


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *silentbob1974* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> This is not specifically relevant to HD, but has anyone with Comcast (and the digital sports tier) been getting audio but no video for GolTV? This is the only channel in my lineup with such a problem.



It's interesting that you mention this, because I have the same problem with GolTV... on Fios. That's with my Tivo S3; with the Verizon box (a Motorola QIP2500-3), I do get a picture, but it's very odd when I first tune in -- it comes in blocks and takes a full second or so to fill in. After that, it's normal. For me, this is also the only channel like this in my lineup.


----------



## mapper




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Never used CableCard. Does that map channels to the same numbers the cable boxes use?
> 
> 
> I have one QAM tuner, but it gets everything only on the frequency standard channel numbers. So 4 and 7 are on 132-2 through 132-4, 9 is on 122-1, 5 is on 122-2, 9-2 was recently added on 122-13, 26 and 50 are on 108-3 through 108-8, A&EHD and NGHD are on 13-1 and 13-9 (but now scrambled), and 20 seems to be on 36-20 (but scrambled.)
> 
> 
> Except they are no longer doing that. The MHz channels added a few weeks ago are all available OTA, but Cox scrambled them within a few minutes of adding them and they haven't been ITC since.
> 
> 
> Cox seems to be rather careless about scrambling, though. I frequently see one or more channels ITC temporarily, and there are frequently VOD streams visible on subchannels 101 and up on various channels. (Athough no VOD that I've ever ordered via my Cox box has ever been ITC when I've checked.)



Yes, CableCARD maps all the channels the same way a cable box would. When I talked with Cox a month ago, they said they don't "do" in the clear channels and the person I was talking to insisted I should leave the service if I wasn't happy....some customer service. Now on my second tuner in the TV which is QAM, it maps in the clear channels such as NBC, ABC, Fox, and CW. But not on 130.xx, but on their real channel numbers. NBC is 4-1, Fox is 5-1, ABC is 7-1, so on so forth. Cox is always changing channel mapping and the fact that the MHz channels are scrambled is no surprise. I think because legally nothing _needs_ to be encrypted, everything is encrypted/not provided to ITC channel users. Maybe there needs to be a petition to get all OTA channels ITC from Cox, just my $0.02.


----------



## aaronwt

Comcast here maps the channels to the correct main channel but the sub number isn't right. Instead of 9.1 it might be 9.5 and 9.2 might be 9.6. i don't know why it does that? But the same thing has occured with three different TV tuners. I only have the cable connected to the TV and not the antenna. At least I don't watch Tv this way. I just have it connected to see what the TVs did with it. I use my Series 3 TiVos for my regular viewing. I couldn't imagine watching TV in real time.


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Comcast here maps the channels to the correct main channel but the sub number isn't right. Instead of 9.1 it might be 9.5 and 9.2 might be 9.6. i don't know why it does that?



Maybe to accommodate tuners that have just one set of channels, no input selector, just all sources mixed together. That way you could still select OTA with the real numbers, and the Comcast version with the .5, etc.

I think we had a D* STB that was like that.. with multiple sources, at one time we had channel 2 OTA, channel 2 cable, and channel 2 satellite... all channel 2! Plus 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, etc. Took forever to get from channel 2 to 3!


----------



## paulstefano




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> But this brings up a point: Paul, when you look at channel 47 on an analog TV, what do you see? To have a hope of getting the digital signal, you should see pure snow, or white noise. If you see any trace of sync pulse or picture, that's interference and you have to get rid of it.



I just tested my CM 4221 and an old combo antenna that the previous owner left in my attic. It being night, I was not able to test the roof. So, I checked only an analog signal and found only plain white noise on channel 47.


Could I still be getting interference from WBFF on the digital broadcast, however?


----------



## zhensel




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrMike6by9* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> You could go to TitanTV.cam and customize for your service and area. It will present a full list of what stations should be available. However, you'll need to verify your eligibility for access to specific stations based on your subscription package.
> 
> 
> YMMV



Are you saying TitanTV will give QAM mappings for channels that are in the clear for my cable system? I tried it out and it looks like I can remap channel #s but I still have to figure out what they are on my own. The tuner in my Olevia is absolutely slow as sin and the remote's garbage on top of that (and no cablecard slot) so I'm not too excited to manually flip through every possible channel to find what the scan failed to pick up.


I did find the channels for on-demand voyeurism, though (84.1+), but my neighbors have terribly boring tastes.


----------



## knnirs

Quote:

Originally Posted by *zhensel*
Are you saying TitanTV will give QAM mappings for channels that are in the clear for my cable system? I tried it out and it looks like I can remap channel #s but I still have to figure out what they are on my own. The tuner in my Olevia is absolutely slow as sin and the remote's garbage on top of that (and no cablecard slot) so I'm not too excited to manually flip through every possible channel to find what the scan failed to pick up.


I did find the channels for on-demand voyeurism, though (84.1+), but my neighbors have terribly boring tastes.
TitanTV will not give you the QAM channel numbers for your Comcast cable.

I agree some TV tuners are very slow, and I use an OnAir GT USB tuner(~$160) in my computer to do my searching. It is quite fast and very sensitive. I am attaching a text file showing the output of a scan done in January on my Comcast basic cable.

Encrypted channels are noted with a(C). When the scan is completed, all of the encrypted channels are automatically removed from the list. The desired channels can then be loaded manually into your TV. The program for this tuner provides for recording of HDTV programs, as well as timeshifting, and I find the tuner is an excellent tool.

 

COMCAST SCAN.txt 59.8330078125k . file


----------



## jacindc

Just a data point that, has promised, WDCA in HD has arrived today on Comcast DC, channel 215.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jacindc* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Just a data point that, has promised, WDCA in HD has arrived today on Comcast DC, channel 215.



actually it showed up yesterday. But it's here, not that it means anything since nothing is in HD on there, is there?


----------



## aaronwt

I see it on my TiVo, but no guide data my TiVos for 215 yet.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> actually it showed up yesterday. But it's here, not that it means anything since nothing is in HD on there, is there?



WDCA-DT My 20? Sure, they have some true HD programming in prime time. The telenovels/soaps which they are burning off 1 night a week are shot in HD, but they are burning them off for a reason. They have been showing a fair number of movies in HD. I noticed they had a movie in HD tonight as I channel surfed pass the station. Checking the listings, they were showing "Bad Girls from Valley High" whatever that is, but I think the title tells you a fair amount about the movie.


----------



## mdviewer25

9-2 is back on the air as of late Thurs./ early Fri.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Anyone else catch the strange feeds coming thru on WRC-DT during the Today show on Saturday? A combination of HD bars, a young woman trying (and stumbling) thru a network news read, again in HD, and at times, the actual broadcast, but in what appeared to be upconverted SD 4:3.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Anyone else catch the strange feeds coming thru on WRC-DT during the Today show on Saturday? A combination of HD bars, a young woman trying (and stumbling) thru a network news read, again in HD, and at times, the actual broadcast, but in what appeared to be upconverted SD 4:3.



Yeah, that was a bit weird - I assume that was the raw sat feed from the network.


I rescanned cable last nite and Cox seems to have removed all mapping. Got all the same clear QAM chs as before, but they are all at their RF chs. I just wish the scan wouldn't take so long (40+ min) - it's nice to catch a few "unintended" clear QAM chs.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WDCA-DT My 20? Sure, they have some true HD programming in prime time. The telenovels/soaps which they are burning off 1 night a week are shot in HD, but they are burning them off for a reason. They have been showing a fair number of movies in HD. I noticed they had a movie in HD tonight as I channel surfed pass the station. Checking the listings, they were showing "Bad Girls from Valley High" whatever that is, but I think the title tells you a fair amount about the movie.




Yup, my 20...At least the NATS look better than on the regular channel. Course that is not saying much.


----------



## hypoh




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yeah, that was a bit weird - I assume that was the raw sat feed from the network.
> 
> 
> I rescanned cable last nite and Cox seems to have removed all mapping. Got all the same clear QAM chs as before, but they are all at their RF chs. I just wish the scan wouldn't take so long (40+ min) - it's nice to catch a few "unintended" clear QAM chs.



They're still at RF channels for me. Are they going back anytime soon?


----------



## yekim54




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yup, my 20...At least the NATS look better than on the regular channel. Course that is not saying much.



Actually, it was the Pirates who looked better last night!


----------



## JK77




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *yekim54* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Actually, it was the Pirates who looked better last night!



That is a rare event. I guess more people should leave at the 7th Inning stretch to protest 15 losing seasons.


----------



## Ramias




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yeah, that was a bit weird - I assume that was the raw sat feed from the network.
> 
> 
> I rescanned cable last nite and Cox seems to have removed all mapping. Got all the same clear QAM chs as before, but they are all at their RF chs. I just wish the scan wouldn't take so long (40+ min) - it's nice to catch a few "unintended" clear QAM chs.



Glad I'm not the only one that noticed this.


I have 3 HD TV's with QAM tuners and the HDHomeRun for my Media Center. 2 of the TV"s are less than a month old and I haven't used them much. They both tuned the QAM channels and mapped them to their regular channel number (Fox was WTTG-DT 5.X etc instead of 135.5 or something like that).


As of yesterday (or a few days ago) these remappings no longer showed up. A rescan picked up some digital stations, but I am having a hard time finding them and they don't map like they used to.


My other TV never remapped them, so it seems to be the same. I do most of my watching via Media Center with the HDHomeRun and that didn't change at all (thank goodness - it would be hard to fix).


I called Cox today to ask what had happened. What a joke. The first rep I spoke to went to research what "QAM" was but instead just routed me back into the phone queue. The next rep had never heard of it -- I tried to explain it was "an FCC requirement to carry OTA singles in the clear; that's what QAM is, it's an industry standard." She got her supervisor who was quite rude, and also didn't know what QAM was, but insisted they follow all SCC [sic; I think she meant FCC] requirements.


I'm no expert here by any stretch. How often does this happen with Cox?


----------



## JoeInNVa

they are under no obligation to tell you how their stations are mapped. You just gotta keep checking. Have you changed your cable runs at all? Maybe the signal levels have dropped some.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ramias* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Glad I'm not the only one that noticed this.
> 
> 
> I have 3 HD TV's with QAM tuners and the HDHomeRun for my Media Center. 2 of the TV"s are less than a month old and I haven't used them much. They both tuned the QAM channels and mapped them to their regular channel number (Fox was WTTG-DT 5.X etc instead of 135.5 or something like that).
> 
> 
> As of yesterday (or a few days ago) these remappings no longer showed up. A rescan picked up some digital stations, but I am having a hard time finding them and they don't map like they used to.
> 
> 
> My other TV never remapped them, so it seems to be the same. I do most of my watching via Media Center with the HDHomeRun and that didn't change at all (thank goodness - it would be hard to fix).
> 
> 
> I called Cox today to ask what had happened. What a joke. The first rep I spoke to went to research what "QAM" was but instead just routed me back into the phone queue. The next rep had never heard of it -- I tried to explain it was "an FCC requirement to carry OTA singles in the clear; that's what QAM is, it's an industry standard." She got her supervisor who was quite rude, and also didn't know what QAM was, but insisted they follow all SCC [sic; I think she meant FCC] requirements.
> 
> 
> I'm no expert here by any stretch. How often does this happen with Cox?


----------



## mapper




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ramias* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I called Cox today to ask what had happened. What a joke. The first rep I spoke to went to research what "QAM" was but instead just routed me back into the phone queue. The next rep had never heard of it -- I tried to explain it was "an FCC requirement to carry OTA singles in the clear; that's what QAM is, it's an industry standard." She got her supervisor who was quite rude, and also didn't know what QAM was, but insisted they follow all SCC [sic; I think she meant FCC] requirements.
> 
> 
> I'm no expert here by any stretch. How often does this happen with Cox?



It happens a lot with Cox, I have the same problem. Cox does not HAVE to put anything in the clear as of now. Their reps said the same things and "we don't support QAM" is going to be at Cox for a while until customers begin complaining.

The channel remapping will happen a lot now, since they are starting to add new HD channels. I wish Cox would just put the channels in the clear and leave it alone.


----------



## dg28

Ok, it's July, where are our Wheel and Jeopardy in HD on WJLADT (I wanted to be the first one to ask Robert this annoying question)?


----------



## zzyzzx

One for OTA, and the other for cable. This thread is useless for OTA only people since it's filled with mostly comments on cable company stuff.


Anyway, using rabbit ears, from South Baltimore I get all the Baltimore stations except for 24, which I think nobody get OTA. When I put up a good antenna, like a DB2, and aim it the right way I can pick to the Annapolis PBS station as well. This is inside the first floor of a city rowhouse. From what I have read elsewhere, it should be possible to get DC stations as well if I put up a better antenna on my roof and aim it towards DC, but looking through this thread, I wouldn't know if anyone here has done it. The only people that seem to get both Baltimore and Washington seem to live in Laurel or Columbia.


----------



## jdavid

I was told on Saturday by a Comcast tech in the Arlington/Alexandria area that Comcast would be getting new HD boxes starting Sunday to be in compliance with the new FCC mandate.


Does anyone know what model/brand they are now using?


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zzyzzx* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> One for OTA, and the other for cable. This thread is useless for OTA only people since it's filled with mostly comments on cable company stuff.
> 
> 
> Anyway, using rabbit ears, from South Baltimore I get all the Baltimore stations except for 24, which I think nobody get OTA. When I put up a good antenna, like a DB2, and aim it the right way I can pick to the Annapolis PBS station as well. This is inside the first floor of a city rowhouse. From what I have read elsewhere, it should be possible to get DC stations as well if I put up a better antenna on my roof and aim it towards DC, but looking through this thread, I wouldn't know if anyone here has done it. The only people that seem to get both Baltimore and Washington seem to live in Laurel or Columbia.



Not true!!!! I live in Forestville and I get Baltimore and DC channels. Only exceptions are 53(30), 56(57), and 66(43) which are in a different direction. BTW, when should we expect 24 to be at full power.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Seems to me there are more OTA posts than cable. But many of us have both. I don't need yet another thread to follow.


----------



## cinemagotham

This might be a weird request but I'm going to be on WJZ's morning news show tomorrow sometime between 6 and 7am (closer to 6 I think) and I was wondering if anyone has the ability to record the segment(s) onto their computer for me. I see some options on their website to record their programs with PC-TV software, so if someone can use that that would be cool. (The reason I'm going to be on is that I have an art show in Canton, Baltimore, that they are doing a segment on. I'd like to be able to post it to YouTube or something so I can add it to the press section on my website.)


Anyone able to do this? My email is gil AT buskerdog.com


Thanks!


----------



## CycloneGT

I would, but I am in Dallas until Tue night.


About the thread. This comes up once a year and it gets shot down. Most are satisfied with the single thread. Whenever a 2nd thread is created, they always seem to fade away in short order.


----------



## Ramias




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> they are under no obligation to tell you how their stations are mapped. You just gotta keep checking. Have you changed your cable runs at all? Maybe the signal levels have dropped some.



No change in cable runs. Just the re-mapping messed me up. These TV's are new and I've only had HD since March on my first HD TV so I'm a bit new to this. I can understand that they'd need to change things around, but why drop the portion of the signal that shows the station name/what channel it maps to etc?


----------



## Ramias




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It happens a lot with Cox, I have the same problem. Cox does not HAVE to put anything in the clear as of now. Their reps said the same things and "we don't support QAM" is going to be at Cox for a while until customers begin complaining.
> 
> The channel remapping will happen a lot now, since they are starting to add new HD channels. I wish Cox would just put the channels in the clear and leave it alone.



I thought cable companies had to carry the signal of "free to broadcast" stations (Fox, CBS, PBS, NBC, ABC etc) in unencrypted digital - i.e. clear QAM. I thought this was an FCC requirement.


But I fully agree -- I'd love regular cable channels to also come in clear QAM!


----------



## cinemagotham




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I would, but I am in Dallas until Tue night.



Appreciate that. If anyone else can do it it would be greatly appreciated. The website says that it works with TitanTV: http://wjz.com/programming Tues 7/03 from 6-7am.


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ramias* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I thought cable companies had to carry the signal of "free to broadcast" stations (Fox, CBS, PBS, NBC, ABC etc) in unencrypted digital - i.e. clear QAM. I thought this was an FCC requirement.



I may be wrong, but I think the FCC requirement applies only to the analog feed of local "broadcast" channels, leaving the cablecos free to encrypt the digital/HD feeds (and thus charge extra for them).


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cinemagotham* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> This might be a weird request but I'm going to be on WJZ's morning news show tomorrow sometime between 6 and 7am (closer to 6 I think) and I was wondering if anyone has the ability to record the segment(s) onto their computer for me. I see some options on their website to record their programs with PC-TV software, so if someone can use that that would be cool. (The reason I'm going to be on is that I have an art show in Canton, Baltimore, that they are doing a segment on. I'd like to be able to post it to YouTube or something so I can add it to the press section on my website.)
> 
> 
> Anyone able to do this? My email is gil AT buskerdog.com
> 
> 
> Thanks!



I have set my digital recorder to record WJZ from 6 to 7 am tomorrow. I have not done this before, and I will inform you by e-mail if I am successful.


----------



## cinemagotham




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I have set my digital recorder to record WJZ from 6 to 7 am tomorrow. I have not done this before, and I will inform you by e-mail if I am successful.



Thanks! Definitely let me know. I will be recording it on my DVR but I have no way of capturing it onto the computer.


----------



## HokieNav




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cinemagotham* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Thanks! Definitely let me know. I will be recording it on my DVR but I have no way of capturing it onto the computer.



That's why you need a Tivo!










I'll set mine up when I go upstairs and should be able to get it to you too.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast has History Channel HD On Demand, added yesterday.


----------



## zzyzzx




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Not true!!!! I live in Forestville and I get Baltimore and DC channels. Only exceptions are 53(30), 56(57), and 66(43) which are in a different direction. BTW, when should we expect 24 to be at full power.



I already emailed 24 to ask about that and I never got an answer. The only thing I _really_ want off that channel is *Stargate Atlantis* anyway.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Comcast has History Channel HD On Demand, added yesterday.



A&E HD On Demand was added today.


----------



## cinemagotham

Did anyone manage to capture the WJZ news segments? They posted some of it on their website but I'd love to get it at a higher resolution and also they didn't include the lead-in from before the commercials. Also, who knows if they'll keep it live on their site or not.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zzyzzx* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I already emailed 24 to ask about that and I never got an answer. The only thing I _really_ want off that channel is *Stargate Atlantis* anyway.



Mark Bulla, chief station engineer for WNUV/WBFF, posted this back in mid-June: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...post10804931 . He does not work for WUTB, so it is a guess, but WUTB-DT My 24 should go full power sometime this summer.


Checking the listings, looks like WUTB-DT 24 & WTTB-DT 5 are still showing the 2nd season of Stargate: Atlantis (SGA) in syndication. This is in letterboxed SD of course. Universal HD is repeating the first season of SGA in HD on Thursday nights - again. With the 3rd season done on Sci-Fi, I would assume the 3rd season of SGA will show up in syndication on the local stations this fall. Will be interesting to see if syndicated series such as SGA start to show up in HD syndication this fall or winter once the Pathfire syndication distribution system is able to handle HD programs.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dspadoni* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I may be wrong, but I think the FCC requirement applies only to the analog feed of local "broadcast" channels, leaving the cablecos free to encrypt the digital/HD feeds (and thus charge extra for them).



Till the analogs get cut off at which point the clear QAM requirement will probably kick in. All cable co will shuffle the QAM line ups for the next 2 years. I would have thought Cox would have mapped out the locations of the chs a while ago and stick with that but seems that's not the case. For the next 2 years rescanning the QAM chs will be the norm. BTW - mapping not back as of today and CS reps are useless when it comes to technical questions.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Well, the cable guy came and fixed the digital converter box that is attached to our upstairs TV. He needed to put in a new splitter that allowed a return feed for communicating back to Comcast. So, now I have OnDemand on that one TV and a digital signal coming in there.
> 
> 
> Unfortunately, this new splitter situation seems to have lowered the signal to my HDTV (and presumably my other regular ones). The 12X-Y and 13X-Y channels that I previously got now don't appear to be coming in anymore. The DC NBC HD channel looks really poor now.



I gave up on this for a while and then today I decided to try an experiment. Right now there is a splitter which sends the cable signals to all 4 TVs and a PC. Where I have the HDTV, I send a cable first to a VCR and then from the VCR to the TV. So, I just tried bypassing the VCR and going directly from the wall to the TV.


That seemed to have restored enough signal power to let me see all the channels with QAM tuning that I was seeing before the Comcast guy came by. They also looked better than they did before the cable guy put in that new splitter. There was no pixelation with TNT at all.


So, unless I change something it appears that in this room I can either get nice HDTV without being able to tape SD shows or I just get the SD with the ability to tape. Any ideas?


(When the cable guy came by he said there would be no charge since they didn't have the wiring correct in order for the digital converter to work. When I looked online the other day I saw a $19.95 service charge. I called and Comcast said that since March, all service calls are $19.95 unless you buy their $3.95 a month wiring insurance or something. So, I had to buy that as a better choice instead of the $19.95. I supposedly can cancel it at any time. Since I am paying for it - at least for this coming month [and part of last] - I was thinking of calling them back and seeing whether they can do something to boost the digital signal with my current setup. Has anyone been able to get any help from them with the QAM signal? )


Neil


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I gave up on this for a while and then today I decided to try an experiment. Right now there is a splitter which sends the cable signals to all 4 TVs and a PC. Where I have the HDTV, I send a cable first to a VCR and then from the VCR to the TV. So, I just tried bypassing the VCR and going directly from the wall to the TV.
> 
> 
> That seemed to have restored enough signal power to let me see all the channels with QAM tuning that I was seeing before the Comcast guy came by. They also looked better than they did before the cable guy put in that new splitter. There was no pixelation with TNT at all.
> 
> 
> So, unless I change something it appears that in this room I can either get nice HDTV without being able to tape SD shows or I just get the SD with the ability to tape. Any ideas?
> 
> 
> (When the cable guy came by he said there would be no charge since they didn't have the wiring correct in order for the digital converter to work. When I looked online the other day I saw a $19.95 service charge. I called and Comcast said that since March, all service calls are $19.95 unless you buy their $3.95 a month wiring insurance or something. So, I had to buy that as a better choice instead of the $19.95. I supposedly can cancel it at any time. Since I am paying for it - at least for this coming month [and part of last] - I was thinking of calling them back and seeing whether they can do something to boost the digital signal with my current setup. Has anyone been able to get any help from them with the QAM signal? )
> 
> 
> Neil



Comcast has no reason to help with your QAM signal, but I found some time ago that my analog signal was poor, and they improved that. This also improved my QAM signal. I assume if they can improve your digital signal into the converter box it will also improve the QAM signal, but don't ask them to improve your QAM signal. At times Comcast suggests the use of an amplifier, and I have an inexpensive amplifier with 2 outputs, and it works very well.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Comcast has no reason to help with your QAM signal, but I found some time ago that my analog signal was poor, and they improved that. This also improved my QAM signal. I assume if they can improve your digital signal into the converter box it will also improve the QAM signal, but don't ask them to improve your QAM signal. At times Comcast suggests the use of an amplifier, and I have an inexpensive amplifier with 2 outputs, and it works very well.



I do think that the analog signal doesn't look as good as used to, so I guess I'll start with that approach.


Neil


----------



## mbbd

I've just moved in to an apartment on NW DC (6 and H) and I get really bad reception. My windows face south and I seem to get best reception when antenna is pointed south, but only on half the channels (of those I get). The other half works with antenna pointed SE, and some work the same regardless of antenna direction (e.g. 4.1). I am totally puzzled with this - am I getting the signal or reflection (there is a building to the south), is it too weak because of buildings or too just too messed up etc. I am using an antenna that came with ATI HD Wonder - looks like Silver Sensor (maybe it is silver sensor or a smaller version) with no amp. This was enough to get most of Buffalo/NYC channels from Toronto lakeshore, but here it is not enough. Will an amp or a better antenna (DB2?) help?


Thanks for any advice!


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mbbd* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I've just moved in to an apartment on NW DC (6 and H) and I get really bad reception. My windows face south and I seem to get best reception when antenna is pointed south, but only on half the channels (of those I get). The other half works with antenna pointed SE, and some work the same regardless of antenna direction (e.g. 4.1). I am totally puzzled with this - am I getting the signal or reflection (there is a building to the south), is it too weak because of buildings or too just too messed up etc. I am using an antenna that came with ATI HD Wonder - looks like Silver Sensor (maybe it is silver sensor or a smaller version) with no amp. This was enough to get most of Buffalo/NYC channels from Toronto lakeshore, but here it is not enough. Will an amp or a better antenna (DB2?) help?



From 6th and H, the DC broadcast towers are to NW. Sounds like you have the Silver Sensor which would be the recommended antenna to try first for your situation. By aiming the antenna south and SE, you are very likely picking up reflections of the signals off of buildings to the south of you. Can you place the antenna in a window and aim it west or SW? I would assume you are in a building structure of steel I-beams which will be murder on indoor reception through the building. Does the building have a common antenna system with a co-axial connector in the apartment? Of course, even if it does, odds are that it was designed for only the analog broadcast channels and does not pass the digital broadcast channels.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast is moving ESPNews and ESPN Classic to digital on 7/10, the same day A&E HD and HGTV HD are being added.


----------



## lax01




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Comcast is moving ESPNews and ESPN Classic to digital on 7/10, the same day A&E HD and HGTV HD are being added.



who would have thought we'd have A&E HD and HGTV HD before SCI-FI HD?


Just seems so totally wrong


----------



## aaronwt

I'm still waiting for them to add Universal here on channel 250.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Was tonight the first night (as I don't see any postings on this)? Everything looked fine except the Jeopardy! credit sequence was in 4:3, I am guessing having something to do with the usual v/o for the Oprah promo.


Thanks Robert!


----------



## billodom




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Ok, it's July, where are our Wheel and Jeopardy in HD on WJLADT (I wanted to be the first one to ask Robert this annoying question)?



I tuned in tonight and, lo and behold, WJLA has them in HD. I have caught them on WMAR occasionally and was not overly impressed with the PQ. It just seemed a tad soft is the best way I can describe it. So imagine my surprise when I did an A/B comparison tonight and saw the marked improvement in PQ on WJLA between the two stations. That is watching WJLA on FiOS and WMAR OTA. I wasn't able to do a direct comparison since WMAR runs Jeopardy first and Wheel second and they run in the opposite order on WJLA, but still the improvement was there all the same. I would be interested in knowing if anyone else noticed such a dramatic difference. Kudos to Robert and WJLA for getting these on in HD.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Was tonight the first night (as I don't see any postings on this)? Everything looked fine except the Jeopardy! credit sequence was in 4:3, I am guessing having something to do with the usual v/o for the Oprah promo.
> 
> 
> Thanks Robert!



For that reason and the automation requirements to get ready for ABC. Still testing though.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *billodom* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Kudos to Robert and WJLA for getting these on in HD.



The real thanks go to Dave Weaver and Sam Jackson. They were the engineers that pulled it off.


----------



## yekim54

Has anyone been watching the Wimbledon tennis on NBC? The picture is broadcast in 16:9 format, but it sure doesn't look like HD to me. How hard can it be to put a couple of HD cameras on center court? The picture quality looked the same on both WRC and WBAL.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *yekim54* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Has anyone been watching the Wimbledon tennis on NBC? The picture is broadcast in 16:9 format, but it sure doesn't look like HD to me. How hard can it be to put a couple of HD cameras on center court? The picture quality looked the same on both WRC and WBAL.



Check the Wimbledon thread in HDTV Programming forum that will explain what yoiu are getting on NBC and ESPN2-HD. The picture quality is better on ESPN2-HD because of how they are upconverting the widescreen PAL 576i feed. But no it is not true HD.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The real thanks go to Dave Weaver and Sam Jackson. They were the engineers that pulled it off.



Cool. Thanks for doing this.



> Quote:
> who would have thought we'd have A&E HD and HGTV HD before SCI-FI HD?



Sci-Fi should go live by the end of the year, although who knows who will carry it besides DirecTV (provided their satellite launch tomorrow does not go boom or in the terminology of the business suffers a "minor malfunction"







). Before the announcements of the new HD channels began to come out early this year, the thinking was that it would be 2 or 3 years before we would get Sci-Fi HD. It is somewhat odd to have A&E-HD before a lot of other channels, but apparently there is not much real HD on A&E-HD (nor is there much Arts on A&E either anymore).


2007 is looking to be a very good year for HD.


----------



## rshear

Cox - Fairfax just added in High-Def On Demand movies on Channel 700. Right now they appear to be pay-per-view only, but this is a step in the right direction.


----------



## chandler1818

RCN just added ESPN2HD on Channel 170 in Montgomery County. So far behind in the HD game though


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Cool. Thanks for doing this.
> 
> 
> 
> Sci-Fi should go live by the end of the year, although who knows who will carry it besides DirecTV (provided their satellite launch tomorrow does not go boom or in the terminology of the business suffers a "minor malfunction"
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ). Before the announcements of the new HD channels began to come out early this year, the thinking was that it would be 2 or 3 years before we would get Sci-Fi HD. It is somewhat odd to have A&E-HD before a lot of other channels, but apparently there is not much real HD on A&E-HD (nor is there much Arts on A&E either anymore).
> 
> 
> 2007 is looking to be a very good year for HD.



Yeah, the real question will be who's carrying it because everybody who's anybody has multiple HD networks scheduled for late 2007/2008. Between the dozen HBOs and Cinemax HDs launching this fall, the entire slate of Discovery networks, CNN, TBS, Cartoon Network, USA, Sci-Fi, CNBC, MSNBC(?), The Weather Channel, Disney, Toon Disney, ABC Family, FX, Speed, History Channel, and ESPNEWS all off the top of my head, there's going to be some serious crowding on the HD tier a year from now.


I wonder where Sci-Fi falls on the list of priorities? My guess is in the bottom half somewhere.


I'm just crossing my fingers for FiOS to stay on top of the new channels.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> provided their satellite launch tomorrow (July 6, since this was posted on July 5th) does not go boom or in the terminology of the business suffers a "minor malfunction"


_They should have waited until Saturday 7/7/07 for luck._


----------



## mbbd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> From 6th and H, the DC broadcast towers are to NW. Sounds like you have the Silver Sensor which would be the recommended antenna to try first for your situation. By aiming the antenna south and SE, you are very likely picking up reflections of the signals off of buildings to the south of you. Can you place the antenna in a window and aim it west or SW? I would assume you are in a building structure of steel I-beams which will be murder on indoor reception through the building. Does the building have a common antenna system with a co-axial connector in the apartment? Of course, even if it does, odds are that it was designed for only the analog broadcast channels and does not pass the digital broadcast channels.



Pointing antenna west or SW in a window get me just one channel 4.1, which I am getting equally well (crappy) absolutely regardles of antena position or direction. I found several things though:


1. Adding a longer cable to antenna makes me unable to get most of the channels I'm getting with the shorter one. Cables are the same, just different length (5 and 15 feet)

2. I'm getting a lot of snow, but almost no ghosting on analog channels, and the picture is very bad while sound is perfect

3. I am getting all digital channels fine if I connect the same antenna to my TV (Sony Bravia) instead of TV tuner.


My conclusing would be that I am getting a weak signal - longer cable makes it even weaker, and thus fewer channels, and TV has a more sensitive tuner than ATI Radeon. So, I was thinking what would be a better investment - antena amp or a better tuner?


Thanks


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mbbd* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 3. I am getting all digital channels fine if I connect the same antenna to my TV (Sony Bravia) instead of TV tuner.
> 
> 
> My conclusing would be that I am getting a weak signal - longer cable makes it even weaker, and thus fewer channels, and TV has a more sensitive tuner than ATI Radeon. So, I was thinking what would be a better investment - antena amp or a better tuner?
> 
> 
> Thanks



The ATI probably has an older tuner and the Sony a newer gen one giving the better results. The trick with a new card is knowing the gen of the tuner - you'd have to do some digging to find out. You are close enough to the towers that an amp might make things even worse - overload.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mbbd* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 3. I am getting all digital channels fine if I connect the same antenna to my TV (Sony Bravia) instead of TV tuner.
> 
> 
> My conclusing would be that I am getting a weak signal - longer cable makes it even weaker, and thus fewer channels, and TV has a more sensitive tuner than ATI Radeon. So, I was thinking what would be a better investment - antena amp or a better tuner?



That the TV tuner gets all the digital stations is very good news as it shows that you can get the local stations from your apartment. You don't have to spend a lot of time messing with antennas & re-scans to get any stations at all. Is the Sony TV tuner able to get all 7 HD D.C. local stations - 4,5,7,9,20,26,50 (using their analog channel numbers)?


There is a rather small difference in signal loss between a 5' and a 15' cable. The typical loss for a RG-6 cable for UHF channels is around 5 to 6 dB per 100'. Ten feet should be less than one dB loss. Are both cables RG-6, not RG-59 (even though that should not make much difference for a short run)?


You may be getting some multipath and the tuner in the Sony may be better at handling multipath than the ATI tuner. I have seen quite a few posts here at avsforum from people who had a hard time getting the PC tuners to pick up all their local stations.


Don't get an antenna with a built-in amp as those amps are usually pretty cheaply made with poor noise levels. You also don't want to get a powerful pre-amp as that may overload the receiver for the stronger stations. If you can't get a better PC tuner, then a 10 to 12 dB pre-amp or amp from a good brand name might work, but I would focus on researching options for the PC tuner first.


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Was tonight the first night (as I don't see any postings on this)? Everything looked fine except the Jeopardy! credit sequence was in 4:3, I am guessing having something to do with the usual v/o for the Oprah promo.
> 
> 
> Thanks Robert!



So how does this affect the chances of Oprah or Martha being carried in HD when they launch?


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The real thanks go to Dave Weaver and Sam Jackson. They were the engineers that pulled it off.



Kudos! Great job.

So is this via satellite, or downloaded from the server?


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmsjr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Kudos! Great job.
> 
> So is this via satellite, or downloaded from the server?



recorded on Sony XDCam via satellite


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So how does this affect the chances of Oprah or Martha being carried in HD when they launch?



It just depends. Its a case by case decision.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> It just depends. Its a case by case decision.



I think a lot of people who watch _Oprah_ (not included) would want to see it when it switches to HD, especially the way WJLA promotes it, as it is one of the highest rated syndicated shows. Does anyone have any info on what syndicated shows may be next to go HD, not just the ones on ABC-7 like _Martha_ and _Regis & Kelly_


Again, I hope some mention and credit of the work done by your engineers is made on ABC-7's website


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> recorded on Sony XDCam via satellite



So is this a quick, easy, and realtively inexpensive temporary solution?

I'll have to check the programs out this week!


----------



## MrChad

I'm moving to Sterling, VA soon (eastern Loudoun county), and it looks like Comcast is my only non-satellite option there (FIOS is not yet in my neighborhood). Comcast took over Adelphia in that area recently, but their HD lineup looks severely limited.


704 WRC-HD (NBC)

705 WTTG-HD (FOX)

707 WJLA-HD (ABC)

709 WUSA-HD (CBS)

710 WETA-HD (PBS)

750 HBO HD

751 Showtime HD

752 Starz HD

770 Discovery HD

771 TNT HD

772 ESPN HD

774 iNHD 1

775 ESPN2 HD

776 Versus/Golf Channel HD


What about A&E HD and NGC HD? Can any other Loudoun residents chime in on when Comcast Loudoun will be synced up with other Comcast markets?


----------



## JoeInNVa

Anyone else getting audio breakups on WRC-DT? Comcast of Alexandria.


----------



## mnestheus

I just looked at the info on Boeing webpage ( http://www.boeing.com/commercial/787...7premiere.html ) and didn't see that Verizon was on board with this. Is this an exhaustive list? I'm using Verizon FiOS TV in Arlington. One would think that the AAAE's television operation on News Channel 8, ANTN (the Aviation News and Training Network), would be broadcasting this, especially considering all of the aerospace/aviation stuff that we get on public access TV in this area...


Any info would be helpful here... Thanks!


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So is this a quick, easy, and realtively inexpensive temporary solution?



its a temp solution to the tune of about $35,000. I can't wait to count all the extra revenue showing these two shows in HD brings in! (sorry, had to take the shot







)


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I can't wait to count all the extra revenue showing these two shows in HD brings in!



Nothing's beyond the realm of possibility! Especially if 7.2 and 7.3 generate lots of revenue despite the fact viewers have to be awfully small in numbers, minuscule, shall we say?


----------



## jdavid

I am getting audio breakups on all of the HD broadcast stations, 210-220 (I'm w/ Comcast in Arlington)


----------



## mark_1581




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Anyone else getting audio breakups on WRC-DT? Comcast of Alexandria.




Yeah, I've had choppy audio on all my HD channels today. Comcast of Alexandria.


----------



## albertso




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mark_1581* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yeah, I've had choppy audio on all my HD channels today. Comcast of Alexandria.



Ditto on Comcast MOCO, especially Fox (213). Some dropouts on the AT&T Golf (212),

but they may be remote facility problems.


----------



## CuseHokie




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrChad* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I'm moving to Sterling, VA soon (eastern Loudoun county), and it looks like Comcast is my only non-satellite option there (FIOS is not yet in my neighborhood). Comcast took over Adelphia in that area recently, but their HD lineup looks severely limited.
> 
> 
> 704 WRC-HD (NBC)
> 
> 705 WTTG-HD (FOX)
> 
> 707 WJLA-HD (ABC)
> 
> 709 WUSA-HD (CBS)
> 
> 710 WETA-HD (PBS)
> 
> 750 HBO HD
> 
> 751 Showtime HD
> 
> 752 Starz HD
> 
> 770 Discovery HD
> 
> 771 TNT HD
> 
> 772 ESPN HD
> 
> 774 iNHD 1
> 
> 775 ESPN2 HD
> 
> 776 Versus/Golf Channel HD
> 
> 
> What about A&E HD and NGC HD? Can any other Loudoun residents chime in on when Comcast Loudoun will be synced up with other Comcast markets?



I want to know this too!


I'm going to be at Dominion Station and Fios is not available at my address.


My settlement is a month from today!!


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> its a temp solution to the tune of about $35,000. I can't wait to count all the extra revenue showing these two shows in HD brings in! (sorry, had to take the shot
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> )










If a temp solution costs $35K the permanent solution must be extremely expensive.


----------



## MrChad




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CuseHokie* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I want to know this too!
> 
> 
> I'm going to be at Dominion Station and Fios is not available at my address.
> 
> 
> My settlement is a month from today!!



Hey, we're right around the corner! I'll be in Peace Plantation, which, IIRC, is right next to Dominion Station. Congrats on the new house!


----------



## gamegod2x




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jdavid* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I am getting audio breakups on all of the HD broadcast stations, 210-220 (I'm w/ Comcast in Arlington)



All my HD channels have been having breakups as well since Saturday. Anyone hear of any problems?


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gamegod2x* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> All my HD channels have been having breakups as well since Saturday. Anyone hear of any problems?



well, a handfull of people here seem to have the problem. It was so bad during Wimbledon that I had to watch the Analog station so I could hear all the commentary. I wonder if they are doing upgrades or something...


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> its a temp solution to the tune of about $35,000. I can't wait to count all the extra revenue showing these two shows in HD brings in! (sorry, had to take the shot )



Wasn't the $35K less than it could have been because WJLA and Sony worked some sort of deal out?


You gotta admit Robert, those two shows look a lot better . But how much was just spent for all the HD cameras you were telling us about for the eventual move to getting ABC 7 news in High Def in the near future, hopefully?


----------



## Knicks_Fan

When an HD show is aired on NBC after a SD telecast, the first segment of that show does not appear in HD quite often. _(Las Vegas_ after _1 vs. 100_ on Fridays and movies/_Law and Order_ on Sundays, for example after _Dateline)_ Is this a network issue or is someone at WRC-DT not doing something?


----------



## btrostcmu

Unfortunately, I would not hold your breath for those. I've been with Adelphia/Comcast since 1998, and those HD channels are the only ones (aside from HDnet, which was removed when comcast took over) that have ever been offered. I believe that since Loudoun is such a small market (30k subscribers, I think) that there's no incentive for them to spend them money, when 59% of the eligible tv's use directv or dish in the county.


----------



## MrChad




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *btrostcmu* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Unfortunately, I would not hold your breath for those. I've been with Adelphia/Comcast since 1998, and those HD channels are the only ones (aside from HDnet, which was removed when comcast took over) that have ever been offered. I believe that since Loudoun is such a small market (30k subscribers, I think) that there's no incentive for them to spend them money, when 59% of the eligible tv's use directv or dish in the county.



Interesting. Maybe I will end up going the satellite route; the previous owners had a DirecTV dish mounted near the roof, so presumably I can get reception.


Thanks for the insight.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *btrostcmu* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Unfortunately, I would not hold your breath for those. I've been with Adelphia/Comcast since 1998, and those HD channels are the only ones (aside from HDnet, which was removed when comcast took over) that have ever been offered. I believe that since Loudoun is such a small market (30k subscribers, I think) that there's no incentive for them to spend them money, *when 59% of the eligible tv's use directv or dish in the county.*



kind of a catch-22 there. I got a sweet deal through Adelphia(for one year) last September. I'll commend comcast for honoring the deal signed by Adelphia, but when comcast tries to charge me over 5 times more for this same service I am currenly receiving, I am going to be pushing that percentage even higher.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrChad* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Interesting. Maybe I will end up going the satellite route; the previous owners had a DirecTV dish mounted near the roof, so presumably I can get reception.
> 
> 
> Thanks for the insight.



Depends on what the dish is. If it is the old, single arm dish, you won't get any HD. You need the 3LNB dish to get some HD and will need the newest (5LNB dish) to get the 100 channels DirecTV will have starting in September.


If you go satellite, make sure you get an OTA antenna to supplement the local HD channels (DirecTV only has NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox and MYN for the DC area).


To catch up on DirecTV stuff, go to www.dbstalk.com . Plenty there to read.


----------



## MrChad




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Depends on what the dish is. If it is the old, single arm dish, you won't get any HD. You need the 3LNB dish to get some HD and will need the newest (5LNB dish) to get the 100 channels DirecTV will have starting in September.
> 
> 
> If you go satellite, make sure you get an OTA antenna to supplement the local HD channels (DirecTV only has NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox and MYN for the DC area).
> 
> 
> To catch up on DirecTV stuff, go to www.dbstalk.com . Plenty there to read.



If I did go with the dish, I would definitely replace the current equipment with new 5LNB hardware.


How does the OTA antenna work? Does it mount on the dish? Will I need to switch inputs on my TV to get the OTA signals?


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrChad* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> If I did go with the dish, I would definitely replace the current equipment with new 5LNB hardware.
> 
> 
> How does the OTA antenna work? Does it mount on the dish? Will I need to switch inputs on my TV to get the OTA signals?



You can mount the antenna anywhere that works for you. If DirecTV will install it for you, go ahead. Otherwise, get a local installer to put one in.


The antenna connects to the back of the tuner (I recommend the HR20 HD DVR) and you get the OTA channels in the guide seamlessly. You can record them and view them the same as the satellite stations.


Use antennaweb.org to see what you would need.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *btrostcmu* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Unfortunately, I would not hold your breath for those. I've been with Adelphia/Comcast since 1998, and those HD channels are the only ones (aside from HDnet, which was removed when comcast took over) that have ever been offered. I believe that since Loudoun is such a small market (30k subscribers, I think) that there's no incentive for them to spend them money, when 59% of the eligible tv's use directv or dish in the county.



I have to disagree with your (understandably) gloomy assessment. Loudoun county is one of the wealthier counties in the US with a large percentage of white color professionals. You don't think that Comcast is not upgrading the system in Loudoun county?


After a long delay getting FCC approval for the complex Comcast & Time Warner buy-up of bankrupt Adelphia, Comcast finally took over the Adelphia franchises in VA on August 1, 2006. I was with Adelphia at that time and they had 13 HD channels with WETA-DT 26 the last one added in October, 2005. After I moved to Sterling in July, 2005, because I knew Verizon Fios was out there somewhere, that Comcast was going to take over Adelphia in Loudoun (but the takeover took a lot longer than was expected back then), and I did not want to lock myself to a DBS contract, so I went with Adelphia for TV & net. To get more HD channels, I put up an antenna to get WETA-DT 26, WDCW 50, MPT from the WFPT-DT 62 station south of Frederick, MD and the Baltimore stations. WDCA-DT 20 was at very low power back then; I could not get it OTA until they went to full power last summer - just before UPN went away.


The fact that Comcast has only expanded the HD line-up to a total of 14 channels (dropping HDNet and HDNet Movies) indicates that the Loudoun system must be seriously bandwidth limited. I don't know if you ever checked the Harrisonburg-Charlottesville thread, but Adelphia in the Charlottesville area did not even have any HD channels - zero, nada. You can imagine there were a lot of frustrated Adelphia subscribers down there. After the Comcast take-over there, they started adding HD channels, IIRC, starting back in February of this year.


Comcast is obviously upgrading the Adelphia cable systems they took over. They have to if they expect to expand or even keep whatever market share they have against DBS and Verizon Fios. What we don't know is when Comcast Loudoun & other ex-Adelphia counties will start adding new HD channels. The CSR you get on the phone is not going to tell you because they either don't know or are required to give standard reply has been provided to them. I don't recall having read any reports or articles on whether local Comcast management has made any statements as to when they would/might add more HD channels in the ex-Adelphia areas.


I was fortunate as Verizon Fios internet & TV became available on my street last October. I switched from Comcast/Adelphia right away and have been satisfied with the service (albeit with some quirks). But if Verizon were still not available to me, I would be facing the same dilemma others in Loudoun are dealing with. If you live in the denser developments in eastern Loudoun, you know that Verizon Fios is coming, but how soon - next month, this fall, next year? We know Comcast Loudoun will add more HD channels and expand HD VOD, but when? With the new HD satellite now launched and due to be operational in September, do you commit to a agreement with DirecTV if that is an option or wait several months longer to see what happens? Tough decision to make because of the lack of info with respect to Comcast upgrade and Verizon Fios roll-out schedule.


My suggestion to those stuck with Comcast in eastern Loudoun is to put up an antenna. Any recently purchased HDTV will have a built-in ATSC tuner. It is not difficult to get WDCW-DT CW 50, WDCA-DT My 20, and MPT from WFPT-DT 62 or WMPT-DT 22 over the air from most of Loudoun County. With some luck in location and a rooftop or attic mounted longer range antenna, people in Loudoun can get most or all of the Baltimore stations in HD as well. Even if you go DBS, cable, or Fios, useful as a backup or as a free signal source to a 2nd or 3rd TV. If you need help with selecting a antenna, ask here and also check the OTA reception FAQ sticky & other threads in the HDTV Hardware Reception forum.


----------



## MrChad

Thanks afiggatt.


Are there other Adelphia takeover regions that are experiencing similar frustrations to Loudoun Co.? What has the progress been like there?


----------



## rob base




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrChad* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Thanks afiggatt.
> 
> 
> Are there other Adelphia takeover regions that are experiencing similar frustrations to Loudoun Co.? What has the progress been like there?




Here in Frederick, MD, the switch has been so-so. There are bordering counties that have more HD channels, but for the most part things are much quicker to happen than Adelphia. That being said, here are the HD channels offered to me in New Market, MD, just outside of Frederick.


NBC, FOX, CBS, ABC, WDCA, PBS, TNT, ESPN, ESPN2, MOJO, NAT. GEO., DISCOVERY, VSGLF, AND THE PREMIUM CHANNELS (HBO, SHOWTIME, ETC.)


Still don't have Comcast Sports Net HD, A&EHD, or HistoryHD as others are reporting in neighboring counties. Hopefully soon.


----------



## tonyd79

Comcast's information channel said that A&E HD and HGTV HD would be added on "Monday, July 10" in Howard County.


Well, today is Monday and tomorrow is July 10 (but it is Tuesday). Wonder which day they are turning them on. So far, I haven't seen them.


----------



## iflyga

HDTV channels do not seem to be working tonight at 9:15 PM in Comcast based Frederick, MD. Can anyone confirm theirs is working tonight? Thank You.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast in Baltimore City has added A&E HD (channel 223) and HGTV HD (channel 229).


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Comcast in Baltimore City has added A&E HD (channel 223) and HGTV HD (channel 229).



Same in Harford County


GoIrish


----------



## riffjim4069




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrChad* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Thanks afiggatt.
> 
> 
> Are there other Adelphia takeover regions that are experiencing similar frustrations to Loudoun Co.? What has the progress been like there?



It sounds like Spotsylvania has the same Comcast/Adelphia HD lineup, problems, and bandwidth contraints. I was surprised when Adelphia scrapped VOIP plans in our area back in 2005, and even more surprised that additional services (VOIP, Digital Simulcasting, faster broadband) and HD channels haven't been added. Verizon has been offering FiOS TV services in the county for almost a year, but the build-out has been very slow so not much has changed...yet.


----------



## ahsan

On Comcast Loudoun County woes...I am still fuming over the fact that Golf/VS "HD" was added over _Comcast_ Sports Net - HD. I'm in Eastern Loudoun and hope Verizon can makes it way over to Colonnade @ Dulles Town Center. I was quite pleasantly surprised to see a street in my development listed on VZ's Virginia buildout plan for July. It's a very small street (Debhill Terrace), so I'm wondering if VZ will also work on other streets in my development or if their monthly plans strictly list exactly which streets they are working on for that month. If the latter case is true, I'm curious as to why VZ would make the jump across Rt.7 (where most of the work has been done) to such a small street and not have a few other streets in their plan.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ahsan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> On Comcast Loudoun County woes...I am still fuming over the fact that Golf/VS "HD" was added over _Comcast_ Sports Net - HD. I'm in Eastern Loudoun and hope Verizon can makes it way over to Colonnade @ Dulles Town Center. I was quite pleasantly surprised to see a street in my development listed on VZ's Virginia buildout plan for July. It's a very small street (Debhill Terrace), so I'm wondering if VZ will also work on other streets in my development or if their monthly plans strictly list exactly which streets they are working on for that month. If the latter case is true, I'm curious as to why VZ would make the jump across Rt.7 (where most of the work has been done) to such a small street and not have a few other streets in their plan.



How does one get to see the "VZ's Virginia buildout plan"?


----------



## MrChad




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Count Blah* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> How does one get to see the "VZ's Virginia buildout plan"?


 http://www22.verizon.com/about/community/va/ 


There's a section called *FTTP Deployment* that is updated with a new plan every month.


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p

News Release


Verizon to Bring Its Revolutionary All-Fiber-Optic Network and FiOS Internet, TV Services to Manassas and Manassas Park in Virginia


Communities to Join Much of Northern Virginia in Getting Verizon's Industry-Leading Fiber-to-the-Premises Network


June 28, 2007


Media Contact:

Christy Reap, 202-392-1021





MANASSAS, Va. - For residents of Manassas and Manassas Park who want the fastest Internet speeds on the market or who want to kiss their cable company goodbye, help is on the way.


Verizon, the company that is building the nation's most advanced digital all-fiber-optic network straight to customers' homes, is beginning its all-fiber construction in these communities.


"FiOS Internet and TV services have been an extraordinary hit with consumers in Northern Virginia, and we're eager for Manassas and Manassas Park residents to join the growing number of FiOS fans," said Robert W. Woltz Jr., president of Verizon Virginia. "Verizon is offering consumers a superior choice by providing the best network available at a competitive price for voice, data and video services."


The network uses hair-thin strands of fiber and optical electronics to directly link homes and businesses to Verizon's network and replaces the traditional copper-wire connections for voice, high-speed Internet and TV.


Verizon must obtain cable franchises from the city councils in Manassas and Manassas Park in order to offer video service. Verizon currently has franchises with neighboring Fairfax, Prince William and Loudoun counties, as well as other municipalities in Virginia.


so how soon before Manassas and Manassas Park residents can signup for FIOS TV?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ahsan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> On Comcast Loudoun County woes...I am still fuming over the fact that Golf/VS "HD" was added over _Comcast_ Sports Net - HD. I'm in Eastern Loudoun and hope Verizon can makes it way over to Colonnade @ Dulles Town Center. I was quite pleasantly surprised to see a street in my development listed on VZ's Virginia buildout plan for July. It's a very small street (Debhill Terrace), so I'm wondering if VZ will also work on other streets in my development or if their monthly plans strictly list exactly which streets they are working on for that month. If the latter case is true, I'm curious as to why VZ would make the jump across Rt.7 (where most of the work has been done) to such a small street and not have a few other streets in their plan.



To be clear, the list on Verizon's website is not a buildout plan, but the streets & sub-divisions that they will (may?) have crews working on anything from laying down orange tubes to putting in fiber optics & central distribution boxes. They may be running a cable through Debhill Terrace for places beyond or already put in orange tubes on the other streets months ago.


Also, Verizon Fios does not yet have either the Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic HD or Versus/Golf HD channels. Verizon has been adding the local regional sports nets in HD to other cities & states around the rest of the country, but there has been no word at all for months now as to when they would add CSN MA HD here. I expect CSN MA HD will just show up one day without advance notice. Versus/Golf HD is a national HD channel, so it would be added by Verizon as part of any national HD channel expansion. The SD version of all 3 channels are carried by Verizon.


It is odd that Comcast has not added their own CSN MA HD to Loudoun and other ex-Adelphia areas. But Comcast owns either all or part of both the Versus & Golf channels so they have motivation to add it to local systems as well.


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Comcast's information channel said that A&E HD and HGTV HD would be added on "Monday, July 10" in Howard County.



Pehaps they meant "the next time July 10th falls on a Monday", which is 2017.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrChad* /forum/post/0
> 
> http://www22.verizon.com/about/community/va/
> 
> 
> There's a section called *FTTP Deployment* that is updated with a new plan every month.



Super. The are working one subdivision over. When they finish there, that will mean my subdivision will be completely surrounded by FIOS, while we remain FIOS free. Gotta love the logic of verizon.


----------



## CycloneGT

I'm still surprised that HGTV is being added without the Food Network HD. Those two seem to always go hand in hand. Besides, Food-HD is the better of the two.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Pehaps they meant "the next time July 10th falls on a Monday", which is 2017.



Came to life today (July 10) in Howard County as they did in Harford County and Baltimore City.


Now if they would just swap to Motorola in Howard County since they are rolling Tivo out on Moto boxes in the Boston area in August....


----------



## raidbuck




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Came to life today (July 10) in Howard County as they did in Harford County and Baltimore City.
> 
> 
> Now if they would just swap to Motorola in Howard County since they are rolling Tivo out on Moto boxes in the Boston area in August....



That won't happen. Too much infrastructure change needed. We in Harford County also have SA8300HD DVRs. But at least this year's software upgrade made it more like the Motos. And I have a hard drive attached so I'm not looking for changes any time soon.


Rich N.


----------



## Marcus Carr

I hope this big storm we're having in Baltimore doesn't knock out my cable. I didn't get to see any HD on HGTV this morning because they were showing six hours of infomercials.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *raidbuck* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> That won't happen. Too much infrastructure change needed. We in Harford County also have SA8300HD DVRs. But at least this year's software upgrade made it more like the Motos. And I have a hard drive attached so I'm not looking for changes any time soon.
> 
> 
> Rich N.



Ugh. The SA8300 is horrible. It is still nowhere near the Motos and light years away from the DirecTV HR20 or any Tivo out there. I can always hope they bring Tivo to it at least.


But with all the updates they are making all over the country, moving to a standard Moto system would make sense. Especially when they move to the Chicago model or to switched video.


----------



## rob base




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Comcast in Baltimore City has added A&E HD (channel 223) and HGTV HD (channel 229).



Keep rollin' to Frederick, MD! Please!!!


----------



## jacindc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rob base* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Keep rollin' to Frederick, MD! Please!!!



And DC! I hate being left behind! I especially am ready for HGTV (and Food, whenever they can toss that our way).


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jacindc* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> And DC! I hate being left behind! I especially am ready for HGTV (and Food, whenever they can toss that our way).



You want food thrown at you? I am sure you can find somewhere in DC where they would do that, but that is not to be discussed on a family forum.


----------



## Count Blah

Anyone else in Eastern Loudoun(sterling) with comcast lose CBS in HD on clear QAM? I've done two scans and it's not picking it up.


----------



## mapper




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Count Blah* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Super. The are working one subdivision over. When they finish there, that will mean my subdivision will be completely surrounded by FIOS, while we remain FIOS free. Gotta love the logic of verizon.



Thats how mine is too. I live right across Route 50 where they have FiOS and north of me has FiOS. Maybe Verizon isn't rolling out because there is a hospital nearby.


----------



## jacindc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> You want food thrown at you? I am sure you can find somewhere in DC where they would do that, but that is not to be discussed on a family forum.



I deserved that







.


----------



## drewdc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rob base* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Keep rollin' to Frederick, MD! Please!!!




no addition in calvert yet... wife is praying hard for HGTV!!


----------



## hednic

A heads up for anyone in Northern Virginia who has Cox as their cable provider and subscribes to digital service either with a set top box or cablecards connected to their equipment that employs GEMSTAR's TVGOSG embedded program guide:


Today, I noticed about 11AM that Cox reconverted WETA PBS 26 (metro area host channel) back to a digital signal. For the past 3 weeks, and after listening to disgruntled customers like myself complain after the inital conversion to all channels digital at the end of May, they had changed it back to an analog signal in the digtal lineup so that GEMSTAR TVGOS data could be passed from the host station (WETA 26) and guide data could be dowloaded through the cable.


Now it is digital again, and anyone with TVs, or Dvrs that have cablecards in them or with a STB will not be able to get the daily program guide effectively making the hardware almost useless without the guide. This really stinks. They made many of us believe for 3 weeks that they were listening to our concerns and were trying to work with us to make our Cox experience "Pleasant" Now, if they don't fix this again and keep an analog channel in the digital lineup that passes VBI TVGOS data, we are stuck!


----------



## mapper

hednic, I just noticed that the analog 26 channel(no picture, though) is still available. It might be passing the TVGOS info still. I'm not using TVGOS currently because the TV is acting up with TVGOS. I had contacted Cox about this issue, but they gave me a crappy response, and told me to got to tvguide.com to get listings. If the info is gone again, I will send another response to them for TVGOS to work. Everybody has to chip in for this to work, or else, it's OTA for TVGOS, forever.


----------



## davidjplatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> _They should have waited until Saturday 7/7/07 for luck._



The satellite went up successfully and it was actually launched on 7/7/07 - it was early morning in Baykonur, Kazakhstan. Baykonur is GMT +05:00. East Coast US is GMT -05:00. Ten hour time difference. So 9:30 at night in the US was 7:30 in the morning the following day.


----------



## hednic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> hednic, I just noticed that the analog 26 channel(no picture, though) is still available. It might be passing the TVGOS info still. I'm not using TVGOS currently because the TV is acting up with TVGOS. I had contacted Cox about this issue, but they gave me a crappy response, and told me to got to tvguide.com to get listings. If the info is gone again, I will send another response to them for TVGOS to work. Everybody has to chip in for this to work, or else, it's OTA for TVGOS, forever.



True, it's still available and passing data as an analog channel if you use OTA or use analog cable service (basic or expanded basic cable ready) But if you have cablecards like myself for digital service inserted into a SONY HD DVR, or TV, channel 26 isn't analog, it's been made again digital (QAM 256 modulated) so I can't get GEMSTAR PROGRAM GUIDE DATA to schedule recordings on digital channels I subscribe to. I am awaiting a response from Cox. This is affecting many in our area. They rectified this once already, but my feeling is that they will leave it digital from now on, which stinks.


So I guess unless they make it analog again for digital subscribers, I'll have to pop out the cablecard every night before I go to bed for the guide to download data from 26 and reinsert it during the day when I want to record a digitally mapped channel, given that the analog 26 and digital 26 are mapped to the same numbered channel.


----------



## sullidc

Speaking of WETA, is anyone other than me having trouble accessing the digital signals OTA from WETA since the storms yesterday. Or do Ijust have to go an the roof and play around with the antenna. Remember a couple of years ago, there was a comment that WETA would be moving their transmitter to the Tenleytown towers. Anyone with an update on that would be appreciated,


----------



## mapper




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hednic* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> But if you have cablecards like myself for digital service inserted into a SONY HD DVR, or TV, channel 26 isn't analog, it's been made again digital (QAM 256 modulated) so I can't get GEMSTAR PROGRAM GUIDE DATA to schedule recordings on digital channels I subscribe to. I am awaiting a response from Cox. This is affecting many in our area. They rectified this once already, but my feeling is that they will leave it digital from now on, which stinks.



I do have CableCARD(in a TV), but WETA 26 shows up as analog and digital. I have two inputs on my TV, so CableCARD is on ANT 1 and direct cable on ANT 2. If I designate ANT 2 as an antenna, the TVGOS info comes in through ANT 2 flawless.

I do have a weird problem with my TV though, as ANT 2 channels come up on 26 analog on CableCARD, but thats another story. Cox is probably going to give TVGOS info the boot, but what I don't understand is channel 95 is analog, so why not retransmit TVGOS info from there. I asked for that and they just said subscribe to our box...


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Everybody has to chip in for this to work, or else, it's OTA for TVGOS, forever.



Well, at least 2/18/09.


----------



## mapper

That's true, biker19, I never actually thought about that. But in the TVGOS diagnostic screen there is a menu for "ATSC slicer," which means a possibility in decoding PSIP info as well, through a firmware update. But still, 2/18/07 will be a funeral for a lot of things.


----------



## hednic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I do have CableCARD(in a TV), but WETA 26 shows up as analog and digital. I have two inputs on my TV, so CableCARD is on ANT 1 and direct cable on ANT 2. If I designate ANT 2 as an antenna, the TVGOS info comes in through ANT 2 flawless.
> 
> I do have a weird problem with my TV though, as ANT 2 channels come up on 26 analog on CableCARD, but thats another story. Cox is probably going to give TVGOS info the boot, but what I don't understand is channel 95 is analog, so why not retransmit TVGOS info from there. I asked for that and they just said subscribe to our box...



I guess I kind of understand your setup which seems very different from mine. The cablecard in my TV isn't really the problem. I don't care that everything including WETA 26 is digital through the cablecard because my Sony TV doesn't have GEMSTAR. The problem is realy my Sony HD Tuner/DVR that has the GEMSTAR online program guide that I need to schedule recordings and get a correct clock signal, since the clock can't be set manually either, and depends on analog 26. I have two inputs on the back of each piece- one for cable and one for antenna. I have my cable coming out of the wall going through a splitter with one end going to my TV's cable input and the other going to my HD Tuner/DVR's cable input. Both pieces of equipment have cablecards. I can't further split the signal going into my HD tuner/dvr from the wall to both dvr inputs because a splitter won't allow the transfer of the data to the DVR.


My understanding from speaking to a tech at Gemstar is that TVGOS products produced before 2006 must receive data and programming content via the same input, negating the use of a splitter to get TVGOS analog data. This is because splitters used in order to run the cable to the tuner of the CE product will not allow the firmware in the DVR to be configured to control both the cablecard and direct cable to the unit. The only solution is hoping for Cox to add back an analog channel (below 100) with the TVGOS data of the station being simulcast to the digital channel lineup for digital cable boxes and CableCARDs, thereby resolving the digital simulcast problem. Right now, I'm reduced to removing the cablecard from my HD Tuner/DVR before I go to bed so that the data can be dowloaded on what then becomes analog 26 and then in the morning putting back in the DVR. It's a real pain, but I have no other viable choice. I can't use an external antenna.

I'm dependant on cable. I guess in early 2009 it will be a moot issue, as WETA will cease to have any analog signal, and therefore no GEMSTAR. Boo!


----------



## rob base

Comcast has added [email protected] HD and History Channel HD to On Demand, but not yet to channel lineup. Anyone know why?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rob base* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Comcast has added [email protected] HD and History Channel HD to On Demand, but not yet to channel lineup. Anyone know why?



Can't say why Comcast in your area has not added A&E-HD, but History-HD has not gone "linear" yet (new term that I had not seen before). In other words, History-HD is not available as a broadcast channel, but is on the list of HD channels that Dish will add in mid-August and DirecTV will add when their new satellite fires up in September. See http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=869560 for the thread on History-HD offerings on Comcast VOD.


----------



## hednic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hednic* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I guess I kind of understand your setup which seems very different from mine. The cablecard in my TV isn't really the problem. I don't care that everything including WETA 26 is digital through the cablecard because my Sony TV doesn't have GEMSTAR. The problem is realy my Sony HD Tuner/DVR that has the GEMSTAR online program guide that I need to schedule recordings and get a correct clock signal, since the clock can't be set manually either, and depends on analog 26. I have two inputs on the back of each piece- one for cable and one for antenna. I have my cable coming out of the wall going through a splitter with one end going to my TV's cable input and the other going to my HD Tuner/DVR's cable input. Both pieces of equipment have cablecards. I can't further split the signal going into my HD tuner/dvr from the wall to both dvr inputs because a splitter won't allow the transfer of the data to the DVR.
> 
> 
> My understanding from speaking to a tech at Gemstar is that TVGOS products produced before 2006 must receive data and programming content via the same input, negating the use of a splitter to get TVGOS analog data. This is because splitters used in order to run the cable to the tuner of the CE product will not allow the firmware in the DVR to be configured to control both the cablecard and direct cable to the unit. The only solution is hoping for Cox to add back an analog channel (below 100) with the TVGOS data of the station being simulcast to the digital channel lineup for digital cable boxes and CableCARDs, thereby resolving the digital simulcast problem. Right now, I'm reduced to removing the cablecard from my HD Tuner/DVR before I go to bed so that the data can be dowloaded on what then becomes analog 26 and then in the morning putting back in the DVR. It's a real pain, but I have no other viable choice. I can't use an external antenna.
> 
> I'm dependant on cable. I guess in early 2009 it will be a moot issue, as WETA will cease to have any analog signal, and therefore no GEMSTAR. Boo!




Great News! Just got a call from a top supervisor at Cox who admitted that I was right and they were wrong. Apparently after he spoke with the engineering department, someone had in fact flipped the wrong switch while they were changing the digital short form logos on the channels and inadvertently made WETA 26 digital. They actually apologized for the inconvenience and said it was returned to an analog signal for all Cox subscribers with any level of service analog or digital and that they will retransmit and leave WETA 26 analog until WETA itself decides to no longer send out an analog signal. I checked, and it's back! So I know I'll be fine now until February 2009. The little guy sometimes scores a minor victory!


----------



## danboot

Can anyone help me out, I was wondeirng what is the easiest way for me to transfer programs on my SA8300 to my computer. I do not have firewire on my computer. Can I use a USB cable? Any input would be appreciated.


Thanks

Dan


----------



## CycloneGT

I'm pretty sure that Firewire is a must. Check over in the HTPC or HDTV Hardware forums. Those guys talk about this stuff all the time, and I'm sure they'd have a quick answer for you.


----------



## PaulGo

Washington DC TV Station 'Hijacked' By Mystery Photo

The local ABC affiliate in the nation's capital is suddenly interrupted for two hours by a mysterious image of a man and woman. But station officials say it was just an Oprah promo gone wrong.

By Phillip Swann


Washington, D.C. (July 13, 2007) -- WJLA-TV, the ABC affiliate in Washington, D.C., had its Digital TV signal interrupted this morning for two hours when a mysterious photo of a man and woman took over the screen.


The grainy black-and-white photo appeared on screen during the normal time slot for the station's Good Morning Washington news program. Shortly after 7 a.m.,Good Morning America's Digital TV network feed took over, removing the image. (The photo was not displayed on the station's analog feed.)

http://www.tvpredictions.com/wjla071307.htm


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *sullidc* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Speaking of WETA, is anyone other than me having trouble accessing the digital signals OTA from WETA since the storms yesterday. Or do Ijust have to go an the roof and play around with the antenna. Remember a couple of years ago, there was a comment that WETA would be moving their transmitter to the Tenleytown towers. Anyone with an update on that would be appreciated,



Since no one replied to this, I had the typical signal strength I get for WETA-DT 26 last night; WETA-DT came in fine. WETA-DT has a construction permit to move their transmitter location from Arlington to NW DC and boost their power from 75 kW to 90 kW. WETA-DT will stay on UHF 27. But there has been no word on when they will do the move. I don't know if there are any interference issues with WETA-TV analog on UHF 26 or WFPT-DT MPT 62 in Frederick on UHF 28 that have to be resolved first. There may be some documents buried at the FCC website that might provide info on when or if WETA will move the digital transmitter. I'll should do a search for them sometime. I would like them to move their digital transmission to NW DC as that would simplify my antenna aim issues.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I would like them to move their digital transmission to NW DC as that would simplify my antenna aim issues.



+1


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PaulGo* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Washington DC TV Station 'Hijacked' By Mystery Photo
> 
> The local ABC affiliate in the nation's capital is suddenly interrupted for two hours by a mysterious image of a man and woman. But station officials say it was just an Oprah promo gone wrong.



This can't be good - TV signal hacking







I assume Robert will have an explanation.


----------



## Count Blah

So everyone in Eastern Loudoun is getting CBS-9 in HD just fine through QAM?


----------



## CycloneGT

There was a incident a few years back when a Carnival cruise ship was stuck on the screen for a long time during prime time.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Count Blah* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So everyone in Eastern Loudoun is getting CBS-9 in HD just fine through QAM?



Are you asking if they are getting the channel in the clear via Comcast Loudoun? Or Verizon Fios? WUSA-DT CBS 9 did jump to 34.1 (their actual broadcast channel) on my Samsung SIR-T451 ATSC receiver last night, so I assume they sent out some bad PSIP data.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> TV signal hacking




HA! That article is a prime example of someone trying to make a lot of fire out of a little smoke. I guess his web traffic went above 50 today.











The Flexicoder locked up on an image during an Oprah promo in SD mode.


----------



## CycloneGT

So are you trying to tell is that your station wasn't seized by Pirate commandos and forced to show this image for hours?


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> HA! That article is a prime example of someone trying to make a lot of fire out of a little smoke. I guess his web traffic went above 50 today.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The Flexicoder locked up on an image during an Oprah promo in SD mode.



Over 50?... Ouch...


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> ...trying to make a lot of fire out of a little smoke.



Yeah, but where there's smoke, there's fire!


----------



## dneily

A FIOS TV customer service rep told me today that Verizon has a center in Upper Marlboro where you can drop off and pick up set top boxes, thus avoiding the $49 fee for installation by a tech.


----------



## RebelScum

I didn't see this mentioned anywhere on here, so I thought I'd pass along the news.


Cox in Fairfax and Fredericksburg has launched their new OnDemand HD channel, on channel 700. According to the press release , it's been available since July 6, although I just discovered it last night.


Here are the movies currently available:
Charlotte's Web
Daddy's Little Girls
Deliver Us From Evil
Dreamgirls
Flyboys
Freedom Writers
Happily N'Ever After
Rocky Balboa

Pretty good for a start. We'll probably give it a try and watch Dreamgirls tonight.


Oh yeah, they're $5.99 per movie.


I've attached a screenshot of the menu from my cellphone camera (sorry for the crappy image).


----------



## albertso

During the current Bones repeat, 213 has terrible audio and video breakups. Both pix and sound freeze randomly but often. OTA is OK. Same on other cable systems??


----------



## sullidc

"Since no one replied to this, I had the typical signal strength I get for WETA-DT 26 last night; WETA-DT came in fine. WETA-DT has a construction permit to move their transmitter location from Arlington to NW DC and boost their power from 75 kW to 90 kW. WETA-DT will stay on UHF 27. But there has been no word on when they will do the move. I don't know if there are any interference issues with WETA-TV analog on UHF 26 or WFPT-DT MPT 62 in Frederick on UHF 28 that have to be resolved first. There may be some documents buried at the FCC website that might provide info on when or if WETA will move the digital transmitter. I'll should do a search for them sometime. I would like them to move their digital transmission to NW DC as that would simplify my antenna aim issues. "

Report Post


Afiggatt


Thank you for taking the time to respond. I expect a trip to the roof and some adjustments will do the trick. Jack


----------



## weaver6




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *albertso* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> During the current Bones repeat, 213 has terrible audio and video breakups. Both pix and sound freeze randomly but often. OTA is OK. Same on other cable systems??




I had audio breakups and minor video breakups on DirecTV.


----------



## IrishToons




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *btrostcmu* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Unfortunately, I would not hold your breath for those. I've been with Adelphia/Comcast since 1998, and those HD channels are the only ones (aside from HDnet, which was removed when comcast took over) that have ever been offered. I believe that since Loudoun is such a small market (30k subscribers, I think) that there's no incentive for them to spend them money, when 59% of the eligible tv's use directv or dish in the county.



In Loudon, look to 8/18 for changes in the HD lineup. Fauquier, Spotsylvania and Stafford 8/25.


----------



## ahsan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *IrishToons* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> In Loudon, look to 8/18 for changes in the HD lineup. Fauquier, Spotsylvania and Stafford 8/25.



Nice! Any word on channel additions?


----------



## Newstech




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> ...There may be some documents buried at the FCC website that might provide info on when or if WETA will move the digital transmitter. I'll should do a search for them sometime. I would like them to move their digital transmission to NW DC as that would simplify my antenna aim issues.



Here's the response I got from them last Aug. 29:

"We currently have plans to make the move in the coming weeks, however, I can not say specifically when. A date has not been finalized, but it will be in the coming weeks. "


They clearly have a different sense of time than I do.


----------



## btrostcmu

In the Loudoun extra section today, there was a nice ad from Comcast stating that they are adding up to 50 channels, effective 8/18. From what I saw, it brings their HD offerings up to what I was hoping for (MHD, Universal, A&E, National Geographic, WDCW, My20, comcast sports net, etc.) and adds a few more non HD channels (Soapnet, c-span 3, etc.) It stated to look in your mail for more info about the upcoming switch within the next 2-3 weeks.


I had one quick question, it listed NFL network twice in the lineup, does anyone know if one would be HD (It was not listed as such). Also, since it's part of the sports pack to get NFL, how much does that typically run?


-B


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *btrostcmu* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> In the Loudoun extra section today, there was a nice ad from Comcast stating that they are adding up to 50 channels, effective 8/18. From what I saw, it brings their HD offerings up to what I was hoping for (MHD, Universal, A&E, National Geographic, WDCW, My20, comcast sports net, etc.) and adds a few more non HD channels (Soapnet, c-span 3, etc.) It stated to look in your mail for more info about the upcoming switch within the next 2-3 weeks.
> 
> 
> I had one quick question, it listed NFL network twice in the lineup, does anyone know if one would be HD (It was not listed as such). Also, since it's part of the sports pack to get NFL, how much does that typically run?
> 
> 
> -B



Here, the Sports package is $4.95 and it's essential viewing August through January.


Here also they have run all the NFL Net HD stuff on the special events channel and not made it a full time channel, probably because there is little HD content and I believe still only during the season. Best to use that bandwidth for something with more year round HD content.


GoIrish


----------



## i5hawn

I woke up and flipped on my set equipped w/ cablecard from Comcast and low and behold TWO new HD stations. At 229 HGTV-HD and I think at 223 A&E HD, my wife went bananas


----------



## PaulGo

From dcrtv:


.... Apparently, the photo was part of a promo for an upcoming "Oprah" show. Friday's show featured women who were married to child molesters. A WJLA techie told DCRTV that an 8-year-old Harris Flexicoder - the piece of gear that encodes the digital signal - "locked up hard... A new Harris NetVX digital encoder was approved by 27th floor suits in less than an hour... Look for improved HDTV pictures from WJLA before the end of the year".....

http://www.dcrtv.org/


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *btrostcmu* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> In the Loudoun extra section today, there was a nice ad from Comcast stating that they are adding up to 50 channels, effective 8/18. From what I saw, it brings their HD offerings up to what I was hoping for (MHD, Universal, A&E, National Geographic, WDCW, My20, comcast sports net, etc.) and adds a few more non HD channels (Soapnet, c-span 3, etc.) It stated to look in your mail for more info about the upcoming switch within the next 2-3 weeks.



For the Comcast subscribers in Loudoun who have not seen the announcement, it is on page 17 of the Loudoun Extra insert in the Sunday Post. On August 18, Comcast is doing a major channel reshuffle and will be adding 8 (eight!) HD channels with the HD lineup moving to 210 and up. New HD channels will be WDCW-DT CW 50, WDCA-DT My 20, A&E-HD, National Geographic HD, MHD (Music HD from MTV), Cinemax HD, Universal HD, and Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic HD. This will give them a decent total of 22 HD channels.


Interestingly four of these HD channels are not currently available on Verizon Fios: A&E-HD, Mojo (shrug), Versus/Golf HD, and CSN MA HD. I expect A&E-HD and Versus/Golf-HD will be added by Verizon whenever they do their next national HD channel line-up expansion (hopefully before or by early September when TBS-HD and CNN-HD start-up). But CSN MA HD is the odd one to be missing. I figure Comcast must be dragging their feet on coming to terms with Verizon on providing them the HD channel. Maybe once most of the Comcast systems in the DC and Baltimore area have CSN MA HD, then they will let Verizon Fios have CSN MA HD. Pure speculation on my part, but you can see why Comcast might be reluctant to allow their own cable systems to be at a disadvantage to Verizon in having CSN MA HD for the sports buffs until the local Comcast systems can carry it as well.


So this qualified as good news for those who were wondering when Comcast would upgrade the HD line-up in Loudoun. The bad news is that it could be a long month for those with Comcast Loudoun waiting for the new channels. Anyone in the other ex-Adelphia counties - Fauquier, Clark, ? - who have similar announcements?


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PaulGo* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> From dcrtv:
> 
> 
> .... Apparently, the photo was part of a promo for an upcoming "Oprah" show. Friday's show featured women who were married to child molesters. A WJLA techie told DCRTV that an 8-year-old Harris Flexicoder - the piece of gear that encodes the digital signal - "locked up hard... A new Harris NetVX digital encoder was approved by 27th floor suits in less than an hour... Look for improved HDTV pictures from WJLA before the end of the year".....
> 
> http://www.dcrtv.org/



Hmm..... I wonder if this was "planned" - Robert?


----------



## subwoofer

can someone please tell A&E that when they acquire an HD station that they need to provide HD material?


----------



## lax01

Is anybody having problems with UHD in MoCo?


----------



## PaulGo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lax01* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is anybody having problems with UHD in MoCo?



Yes for the past several days.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Must have been the web pirates from Harpo Studios in Chicago that "took over the station"







- I am glad Robert got some more new equipment out of it. Certainly the Allbritton Famiy has the money as they recently made a $22 million purchase in Georgetown 



Edit: If I had to guess who'd be next to go HD in news, I would say WJLA, based on what we have read here from Robert's posts. NBC is in cost-cutting mode (the NBC station in Philadelphia, where I was recently, is the only one not airing local news in HD), and who knows what is happening with WTTG


----------



## CycloneGT

Who knows the truth? We don't know if the new encoder was purchased because of this incident, or if already had been on order. I don't 100% trust Swanni or DCRTV when it comes to stuff like this, especially after they lead off with "Pirates got em". We have better sources here.


Still WJLA has been buying equipment and trying to do stuff with their digital feed more than most other local stations. (Weather Now locally produces unlike Weather PLUS. Before that their ABC News Now, and Super Doppler feeds, and now Local Point).


Besides, If I spent $22m on a piece of property, I would hurt'n for cash for a while.


----------



## mikemav

Hi- I'm currently a high-speed cable only subscriber from Comcast (formerlly Adephia) in Leesburg. I also get basic analog cable TV from that cable internet account I noticed. Anyway, I'm running the analog stations I get (2-79) into a Vista Media Center Edition PC tuner card to record TV. Works okay, but the video quality of analog cable blown up on a projector is not a good match. I build my own PCs so a CableCard Vista PC (needs to be pre-built and certified) is not in the cards for me now. So I was thinking of calling Comcast to get a digital cable box and trying controlling it via the Vista MCE IR blaster and recording S-video in to the tuner/capture card. However, I just read about the FireSTB plug-in to allow firewire control & capture in Vista MCE over various Motorola and SA digital cable boxes w/ active firewire. Is anyone using Comcast Loudoun w/ firewire? Can I get a cable box from them w/ firewire working or is there a hack to turn on the firewire port for a paying customer such as myself?


----------



## PGHammer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Must have been the web pirates from Harpo Studios in Chicago that "took over the station"
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> - I am glad Robert got some more new equipment out of it. Certainly the Allbritton Famiy has the money as they recently made a $22 million purchase in Georgetown
> 
> 
> 
> Edit: If I had to guess who'd be next to go HD in news, I would say WJLA, based on what we have read here from Robert's posts. NBC is in cost-cutting mode (the NBC station in Philadelphia, where I was recently, is the only one not airing local news in HD), and who knows what is happening with WTTG



And they have apparently solved their HD woes with Jeopardy/Wheel of Fortune, too (missed Wheel, but caught Jeopardy in HD today). WCAU and WRC are both NBC O&O stations, so neither has any real excuse for cost-cutting. (On the subject of Jeopardy in HD: drop-dead gorgeous picture quality! Hard to believe that's 720p (which is the standard Disney format).)


----------



## PGHammer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Ok, it's July, where are our Wheel and Jeopardy in HD on WJLADT (I wanted to be the first one to ask Robert this annoying question)?



Actually, Robert and his All-Star Engineers got 'er done (I saw Jeopardy! in full 720p today on WJLA-DT, though you'd think it was 1080i from the PQ) as of 16 July (today). I'll be posting a congrats to the engineers via WJLA's site later today.


----------



## PGHammer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yes, CableCARD maps all the channels the same way a cable box would. When I talked with Cox a month ago, they said they don't "do" in the clear channels and the person I was talking to insisted I should leave the service if I wasn't happy....some customer service. Now on my second tuner in the TV which is QAM, it maps in the clear channels such as NBC, ABC, Fox, and CW. But not on 130.xx, but on their real channel numbers. NBC is 4-1, Fox is 5-1, ABC is 7-1, so on so forth. Cox is always changing channel mapping and the fact that the MHz channels are scrambled is no surprise. I think because legally nothing _needs_ to be encrypted, everything is encrypted/not provided to ITC channel users. Maybe there needs to be a petition to get all OTA channels ITC from Cox, just my $0.02.



I think Cox does this because Comcast takes the *opposing* approach (Comcast leaves all OTAs, especially digital ones, ITC, and encrypt non-premium digital/HD linear channels case-by-case). For example, in Prince George's County, AEHD has *never* been encrypted since the channel got added (TNT-HD has also never been encrypted since I've had my plasma) and I get 2-1, 11-1/11-2, 13-1, and 45-1/45-2 (all from Baltimore) ITC (despite that Prince George's County dropped the Baltimore analogs several years ago; 45-1/45-2 are remapped in 133-3/133-4). Some OTA channels (notably WTTG-DT) show up twice (WTTG-DT shows up at 133-1 in addition to 5-1; how weird is that?) and others (notably 7-3/LocalPoint) are MIA. Cox simply Wants To Be Different.


----------



## lax01




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PaulGo* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yes for the past several days.



did they fix this yet?


I don't want to turn on the projector to check...


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Edit: If I had to guess who'd be next to go HD in news, I would say WJLA, based on what we have read here from Robert's posts. NBC is in cost-cutting mode (the NBC station in Philadelphia, where I was recently, is the only one not airing local news in HD), and who knows what is happening with WTTG



NBC and CBS both announced last fall that they were upgrading the local news to HD for all their O&O stations over the next several years. WNBC in NYC is HD for the local news. NBC O&O WRC 4 is on the upgrade list, but apparently it is further down. Remember around the end of last year, WRC did a big upgrade of their primary studio set & lighting with the comment that the upgrade was a step towards going HD.


WJZ CBS 13 in Baltimore is CBS O&O, so it will get upgraded, but there has been no recent rumors on when.


I'm not sure if Fox has made a similar announcement for their O&O stations, but there were reports last year that WTTG 5 was buying HD studio & field cameras. But cameras are only a modest part of the equipment needed for an HD local news operation. No word beyond that, that I can recall.


WMAR ABC 2 in Baltimore is owned by Scripps - pause - and after a little digging, there was news about Scripps buying HD equipment for all 10 of their stations: http://broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6448794.html .


So we have local stations moving towards local news in HD, but we don't know who will be the next to finally follow WUSA. I would not be surprised if one of the stations in DC or Baltimore went HD for local news in September for the start of the fall season.


----------



## mapper




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PGHammer* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I think Cox does this because Comcast takes the *opposing* approach (Comcast leaves all OTAs, especially digital ones, ITC, and encrypt non-premium digital/HD linear channels case-by-case)....Cox simply Wants To Be Different.



Cox just wants to make money off of their "Digital Gateway($6.95)", and then pay for the cable box($3.99/SD-DVR, $5.90/HD-DVR). And after talking your way out of no "Digital Tiers" they will try to hook you up with their internet and/or phone. So by only caring about money we are left with inferior equipment(buggy CableCARDs). New technology is left in the dust by Cox.


----------



## CuseHokie

So I signed up for Comcast today (to be installed on 8/10 when I move into my new condo).


$42 gives me digital with HBO for a year.

$12 for HDDVR box

$9 for HD box

$20 for internet for 6 months.


This is in Sterling, VA...


Not bad prices, considering... perhaps Verizon is making them desperate?


----------



## PaulGo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lax01* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> did they fix this yet?
> 
> 
> I don't want to turn on the projector to check...



Yes, I contacted Comcast and they fixed the problem with UHD.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CuseHokie* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So I signed up for Comcast today (to be installed on 8/10 when I move into my new condo).
> 
> 
> $42 gives me digital with HBO for a year.
> 
> $12 for HDDVR box
> 
> $9 for HD box
> 
> $20 for internet for 6 months.
> 
> 
> This is in Sterling, VA...
> 
> 
> Not bad prices, considering... perhaps Verizon is making them desperate?




Or DirecTV. When I left DirecTV for Comcast this past December they gave me the Digital tier with HBO and Showtime for 12 months for $30 a month and also the 8mbs internet tier for $30 a month for those 12 months also. And they only charge me $6.95 for the HD box(I use it for On Demand). I also have three Series 3 TiVos with 6 cable cards between them that they only charge me $13.90 total for all three. They gave me a really good deal. And as soon as they start the FIOS installations in my area later this Summer I'll be leaving.


----------



## mikemav

So does anyone have active firewire on their Loudoun Comcast HD or digital tuners? If this is possible, which do I need? HD tuner or HD-DVR (I wouldn't really need the DVR part if I'm able to use Media Center w/ Firewire using that plug-in. If not Comcast, how about FIOS? Any ideas for any local providers who have boxes enabled w/ Firewire?


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemav* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hi- I'm currently a high-speed cable only subscriber from Comcast (formerlly Adephia) in Leesburg. I also get basic analog cable TV from that cable internet account I noticed. Anyway, I'm running the analog stations I get (2-79) into a Vista Media Center Edition PC tuner card to record TV. Works okay, but the video quality of analog cable blown up on a projector is not a good match. I build my own PCs so a CableCard Vista PC (needs to be pre-built and certified) is not in the cards for me now. So I was thinking of calling Comcast to get a digital cable box and trying controlling it via the Vista MCE IR blaster and recording S-video in to the tuner/capture card. However, I just read about the FireSTB plug-in to allow firewire control & capture in Vista MCE over various Motorola and SA digital cable boxes w/ active firewire. Is anyone using Comcast Loudoun w/ firewire? Can I get a cable box from them w/ firewire working or is there a hack to turn on the firewire port for a paying customer such as myself?


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemav* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So does anyone have active firewire on their Loudoun Comcast HD or digital tuners? If this is possible, which do I need? HD tuner or HD-DVR (I wouldn't really need the DVR part if I'm able to use Media Center w/ Firewire using that plug-in. If not Comcast, how about FIOS? Any ideas for any local providers who have boxes enabled w/ Firewire?



It might be possible but why bother? I mean you probably won't be getting a better PQ using the S-video port than the direct tuning done by the card now. The way to improve the PQ is to tune the digital QAM chs directly. Compared to a HD signal all SD blown up on a large screen will look bad.


----------



## mikemav




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It might be possible but why bother? I mean you probably won't be getting a better PQ using the S-video port than the direct tuning done by the card now. The way to improve the PQ is to tune the digital QAM chs directly. Compared to a HD signal all SD blown up on a large screen will look bad.



Not exactly what I meant...The digital QAM channels available in Media Center on a tuner like the HD Home Run are only QAM in the clear (networks only, plus one key bonus channel they don't encrypt last time I checked. Anyway, I have an antenna for OTA regardless. What I want is the basic cable stations (FX, Comedy Central, CNN, etc..) I get now in analog in crappy quality, but in digital quality. I have analog noise in the signal, and my channel lineup is limited due to only analog. However I still want to use Media Center to tune and record them. I can use digtial tuner box and capture S-video out, but if I can do it via firewire as others nationally are doing, then I can CONTROL the tuner (change channels when needed for recordings, etc..) without relying on the IR blaster in Media Center working, as well as transfer the video from the STB to the PC. People also have this working for HD stations as well, if it's an HD STB w/ firewire enabled. That would be the ultimate set-up for me if possible- then I could get non-OTA HD stations I'd pay Comcast for, like ESPN-HD, but use them in Media Center. See MCE Firewire info to see what I mean. I just need to verify if Comcast disables the Firewire (and if that can be circumvented) or not. Worse comes to worse I'll just order a digital package and try it, but I was thinking someone here already may have. Thanks


----------



## jdavid

Does anyone know if Comcast Arlington/Alexandria leaves the HD broadbast channels unencypted. I have a Sony WEGA KDF 46E2000, which has built in ATSC/QAM tuner.


If I hook up the cable line directly into TV, should I be able to pick up these channels in HD? Thanks for the clarification


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jdavid* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Does anyone know if Comcast Arlington/Alexandria leaves the HD broadbast channels unencypted. I have a Sony WEGA KDF 46E2000, which has built in ATSC/QAM tuner.
> 
> 
> If I hook up the cable line directly into TV, should I be able to pick up these channels in HD? Thanks for the clarification



Comcast seems to be consistent in keeping broadcast unencrypted. I expect it's the same there as well.


GoIrish


----------



## jdavid

If they are unencrpyted, what do I need to do pull those HD channels in. When I hook the cable line in, all I get is the analog stations.


Under this method, is the picture quality any different then what I would get using a cable box?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jdavid* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> If they are unencrpyted, what do I need to do pull those HD channels in. When I hook the cable line in, all I get is the analog stations.
> 
> 
> Under this method, is the picture quality any different then what I would get using a cable box?



You need to do a digital channel scan with the QAM tuner. If Comcast is not passing the broadcast PSIP data through, the digital locals may turn up at QAM channels such as 64.3, 75.2, 105.4, 115.1. These are not the channels shown on cable line-up listing or the STB because the digital channels are inserted as sub-channels in the QAM channels up to 135. The cable box and cable cards remap the QAM channels to the displayed channels 1 to 999 on the box/TV. Perhaps someone can fill in where the HD locals are on the current Arlington/Alexandria Comcast QAM channel line-up, although these line-ups can change without notice.


----------



## jdavid

unfortunetly I get the message "signal cannot be decoded"


----------



## lax01




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PaulGo* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yes, I contacted Comcast and they fixed the problem with UHD.




Well done


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jdavid* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> unfortunetly I get the message "signal cannot be decoded"



That is not a message I would expect to see. Is there a separate QAM or digital cable channel scan option for the Sony? Exactly what menu options are you using in the Sony? Are you sure that the cable line is connected to the right co-axial input?


----------



## jdavid

I figured it out- pulled in about 31 digital channels, the broadcast channels all being carried in HD!


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jdavid* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> unfortunetly I get the message "signal cannot be decoded"



Those are the encrypted chs.


----------



## Dominus

Has anyone heard when FIOS will make its way into Montgomery County?


Thanks


----------



## hypoh

Tonight I did a re-scan with my coax connected to my TV with basic Cox cable. I ended up with around 39 analog and 345 digital. Wtf... all of the QAM channels just give me the blue screen and I can't even find the local over-the-air channels anymore. Anyone else notice this?


----------



## lax01




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dominus* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Has anyone heard when FIOS will make its way into Montgomery County?
> 
> 
> Thanks



In my neighborhood currently


----------



## MrChad




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> For the Comcast subscribers in Loudoun who have not seen the announcement, it is on page 17 of the Loudoun Extra insert in the Sunday Post. On August 18, Comcast is doing a major channel reshuffle and will be adding 8 (eight!) HD channels with the HD lineup moving to 210 and up. New HD channels will be WDCW-DT CW 50, WDCA-DT My 20, A&E-HD, National Geographic HD, MHD (Music HD from MTV), Cinemax HD, Universal HD, and Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic HD. This will give them a decent total of 22 HD channels.
> 
> 
> Interestingly four of these HD channels are not currently available on Verizon Fios: A&E-HD, Mojo (shrug), Versus/Golf HD, and CSN MA HD. I expect A&E-HD and Versus/Golf-HD will be added by Verizon whenever they do their next national HD channel line-up expansion (hopefully before or by early September when TBS-HD and CNN-HD start-up). But CSN MA HD is the odd one to be missing. I figure Comcast must be dragging their feet on coming to terms with Verizon on providing them the HD channel. Maybe once most of the Comcast systems in the DC and Baltimore area have CSN MA HD, then they will let Verizon Fios have CSN MA HD. Pure speculation on my part, but you can see why Comcast might be reluctant to allow their own cable systems to be at a disadvantage to Verizon in having CSN MA HD for the sports buffs until the local Comcast systems can carry it as well.
> 
> 
> So this qualified as good news for those who were wondering when Comcast would upgrade the HD line-up in Loudoun. The bad news is that it could be a long month for those with Comcast Loudoun waiting for the new channels. Anyone in the other ex-Adelphia counties - Fauquier, Clark, ? - who have similar announcements?



Thanks for posting this update. Hopefully this means that Comcast has worked out some of the network and capacity issues they inherited from Adelphia and that future HD channel additions will be more timely (in line with other markets).


----------



## kenrowe




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dominus* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Has anyone heard when FIOS will make its way into Montgomery County?
> 
> 
> Thanks



As noted above, FIOS is available in parts of MoCo already. However, I note that you are from Rockville--the City of Rockville still hasn't granted Verizon permission to run their fiber through the city.


----------



## mikemav




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemav* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Not exactly what I meant...The digital QAM channels available in Media Center on a tuner like the HD Home Run are only QAM in the clear (networks only, plus one key bonus channel they don't encrypt last time I checked. Anyway, I have an antenna for OTA regardless. What I want is the basic cable stations (FX, Comedy Central, CNN, etc..) I get now in analog in crappy quality, but in digital quality. I have analog noise in the signal, and my channel lineup is limited due to only analog. However I still want to use Media Center to tune and record them. I can use digtial tuner box and capture S-video out, but if I can do it via firewire as others nationally are doing, then I can CONTROL the tuner (change channels when needed for recordings, etc..) without relying on the IR blaster in Media Center working, as well as transfer the video from the STB to the PC. People also have this working for HD stations as well, if it's an HD STB w/ firewire enabled. That would be the ultimate set-up for me if possible- then I could get non-OTA HD stations I'd pay Comcast for, like ESPN-HD, but use them in Media Center. See MCE Firewire info to see what I mean. I just need to verify if Comcast disables the Firewire (and if that can be circumvented) or not. Worse comes to worse I'll just order a digital package and try it, but I was thinking someone here already may have. Thanks



I was asking before about what may be available from the firewire output enabled boxes from Comcast Loudoun, and it seems no one on this thread may know anything about that. I will try it out and report back, but do you know this? As I do more research it seems that 5C broadcast flag may be my downfall with this plan, unless I can get Comcast to waive it for "compatibility reasons" or if it's not enabled on the shows I want to record in Media Center. Is it a reasonable assumption that the only stations that are not burdened with 5C are those same stations I can pick up with my HDHomeRun over QAM in the clear? What about the lower-tier stations from a digital tuner (aka "basic cable"), like CNN, Nick, A&E, Fx, etc...? Do you think those would be abailable from a firewire enabled Comcast digital tuner, with the copy once or copy always (or no) flag, so I can get them into MediaCenter via firewire?


----------



## ahsan

A couple years ago I was able to follow some procedures I found on avsforum.com to connect my 6412 to my computer via firewire and record HD content, though I am forgetting if I was able to get the premium channels, I believe not. It was a convoluted process to even be able to get my computer to recognize the 6412, and I did not bother going through it again after I re-built my computer. This was all done on XP Home, and not a Media Center PC.


----------



## wfujosh

I would appreciate some help on behalf of my dad. He's uses Comcast Mont. County. He cannot find the channel map for network HD for ATSC. Could someone post the channels for HD ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS and anything else that's unencrypted HD? Heck, if there's a full channel map, I'd appreciate it!!


----------



## kenrowe




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wfujosh* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I would appreciate some help on behalf of my dad. He's uses Comcast Mont. County. He cannot find the channel map for network HD for ATSC. Could someone post the channels for HD ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS and anything else that's unencrypted HD? Heck, if there's a full channel map, I'd appreciate it!!



WDCA-DT 64-3

WUSA-DT 103-1

WETA-DT 103-11 (the WETA subschannels are also on 103)

WDCW-DT 105-1 (the Tube 105-2)

WTTG-DT 105-3

WJLA-DT 108-11 (WeatherNow 108-2)

WRC-DT 108-1 (Weather Plus 108-3)


There is also some random SD programming scattered and the MusicChoice channels are on 115-5 thru 115-50


----------



## Remoteless




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kenrowe* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WDCA-DT 64-3
> 
> WUSA-DT 103-1
> 
> WETA-DT 103-11 (the WETA subschannels are also on 103)
> 
> WDCW-DT 105-1 (the Tube 105-2)
> 
> WTTG-DT 105-3
> 
> WJLA-DT 108-11 (WeatherNow 108-2)
> 
> WRC-DT 108-1 (Weather Plus 108-3)
> 
> 
> There is also some random SD programming scattered and the MusicChoice channels are on 115-5 thru 115-50



In addition to those i get Lifetime on 94-1 and TV Land on 100-3 and some more channels that don't have sound. Like CNBC and the C-span channels.


----------



## SJKurtzke

Something interesting today:

A report from CBS News's DC bureau was 16:9 SD today on 9 News Now.

The field report was 4:3, however.


----------



## stuffedmonkey

I can confirm ESPN-2 HD for RCN in Northeast DC!


The "who has what" section needs to be updated - RCN has TNT-HD and National Geographic HD.


----------



## CycloneGT

Will do monkey. Thanks.


How long have they been in your line up? I had checked RCN's website a few weeks ago.


----------



## Onazuka

I have an been getting DC high def OTA stations via an antenna in my attic into a DirecTV HR10-250. Some time in the past month channel 5, FOX in DC, signal strength is all but gone. While my other high def OTA stations from DC are still in the 80s, channel 5 signal strength doesn't get past about 16. I used to get channel 5 great. I know that weather affects reception and different times of the year I get varying reception, but I never had a station signal strength go so low. Did channel 5 change their antenna, signal strength or anything else or is this just me ??


----------



## Remoteless




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Onazuka* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I have an been getting DC high def OTA stations via an antenna in my attic into a DirecTV HR10-250. Some time in the past month channel 5, FOX in DC, signal strength is all but gone. While my other high def OTA stations from DC are still in the 80s, channel 5 signal strength doesn't get past about 16. I used to get channel 5 great. I know that weather affects reception and different times of the year I get varying reception, but I never had a station signal strength go so low. Did channel 5 change their antenna, signal strength or anything else or is this just me ??



Getting 100% right now.


----------



## stuffedmonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Will do monkey. Thanks.
> 
> 
> How long have they been in your line up? I had checked RCN's website a few weeks ago.



The RCN website is off - I have no idea when they update that sucker.


TNT - HD has been there for a long time.


National Geographic and ESPN 2 HD are relatively new. I did a channel rescan based on the earlier post about ESPN 2 HD showing up in Montgomery county RCN - and they were there on the end of the HD range. I don't know what the channel numbers are to other people - as I am using clear QAM with no box.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Comcast has no reason to help with your QAM signal, but I found some time ago that my analog signal was poor, and they improved that. This also improved my QAM signal. I assume if they can improve your digital signal into the converter box it will also improve the QAM signal, but don't ask them to improve your QAM signal. At times Comcast suggests the use of an amplifier, and I have an inexpensive amplifier with 2 outputs, and it works very well.



Well, Comcast came by again a couple of weeks ago. During the visit the signal got tremendously degraded from one splitter experiment and then by the end was marginally better than before the visit. But I was relieved enough to just be able to see ABC in HD that I let him leave. When looking at other channels later in the day I saw poor results on some other network HD channels. Comcast called to follow up on the appointment and I told them that I still was having some problems. The person on the phone suggested that I might need an amplifier. He set up an appointment for this past Wednesday. No one showed up. I got another appointment yesterday and once again no one showed up. I should have two $20 credits on my account due to the missed appointments. Today someone finally showed up. There were some analog stations (such as C-SPAN) that looked terrible, so I showed him those first. He first tried some other splitter combinations. They did not improve the situation. He finally decided to put a 15db amplifier in. I just did a new rescan and it looks like I am getting all of the QAM channels that I should be getting. The analog channels also look a lot better than they did before. I hope I don't need to have Comcast visit again.


Neil


----------



## Marcus Carr

CSN is showing lacrosse in HD.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> CSN is showing lacrosse in HD.



Hehe, what else do they have to do with their HD cameras this time of year now that the O's are on MASN.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hehe, what else do they have to do with their HD cameras this time of year now that the O's are on MASN.



DC United.


----------



## CycloneGT

It was funny, I clicked on CSN's HD website last month and it said that nothing was scheduled for June. The entire month had no HD programming according to their site. And to think that I was hoping that Dish Network would add this channel with their new roll outs.


I even clicked on the site about a week into July and it still said that there aren't any programs scheduled for June. It appears to be updated for the single HD game that was on it July.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Hehe, what else do they have to do with their HD cameras this time of year now that the O's are on MASN.



Loan them to MASN (groan)!


----------



## danboot

Did Comcast (Arlington VA) drop the NFL network? Sorry if this has already been discussed.


----------



## aaronwt

Wouldn't it be on the sports tier now which costs an extra $5?


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Wouldn't it be on the sports tier now which costs an extra $5?



[hell freeze mode]Gee, I wonder if Comcast will move Comcast Sports Net to the Sports Tier also? You know to save customers money who don't have an interest in sports.[/hell freeze mode]


----------



## mark_1581

I know last season that Comcast showed the live NFL network games(Thursday and Saturday night games) on INHD. Does anyone know if I can still see the live games on INHD this coming season without buying the sports package, or will they just be blacked out?


----------



## SQUIDWARD360




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mark_1581* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I know last season that Comcast showed the live NFL network games(Thursday and Saturday night games) on INHD. Does anyone know if I can still see the live games on INHD this coming season without buying the sports package, or will they just be blacked out?



I'm sure it will be blacked out unless the Redskins are playing. Then it would be shown on a local station using the worst picture quality imaginable. Those games are the biggest incentive they have to pay for the package.


----------



## CycloneGT

The won't be on INHD (or I should say Mojo) at all this year. Last year I'm pretty sure that Comcast didn't have the NFL-HD channel. To be fair, aside from games, there really wasn't much in HD shown on that channel. So when there was a NFL Net HD game, they would just pre-empt INHD programming with the game.


Now that they have the NFL network on the sports tier, I'm nearly 100% sure that unless you sub to that tier you will not see those games. Lets face it, those games are 99% of the value of the NFL network. Without them, there would not be many subs to the sports tier.


----------



## nottenst

BY the way the amplifier that Comcast put in our system is a Viewsonics VSMA-601C http://www.broadbandamps.com/Products/VSMA-601C.htm 

Anybody have any experience with this? At the moment it is setup to be plugged in all the time (via their transformer). There is no off switch so I guess it is drawing energy all the time. Should I unplug it when I'm not using the cable or is it drawing so little that I shouldn't worry about it?


Last night I saw The Closer with our new improved signal. It looked really nice.


Neil


----------



## knnirs

I observed an odd thing during the British Open.

I use the LG-4200A as my QAM tuner for Comcast cable, and I discovered Thursday that the British Open was on TNT starting early in the morning. There was video with no sound on TNT, but all the other channels were fine. I found no sound on TNT from Thursday till Monday. On Monday morning the sound was fine.

During this same time-period my OnAir HDTV USB-GT tuner provided sound from TNT.

Any explanations?


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> BY the way the amplifier that Comcast put in our system is a Viewsonics VSMA-601C http://www.broadbandamps.com/Products/VSMA-601C.htm
> 
> Anybody have any experience with this? At the moment it is setup to be plugged in all the time (via their transformer). There is no off switch so I guess it is drawing energy all the time. Should I unplug it when I'm not using the cable or is it drawing so little that I shouldn't worry about it?
> 
> 
> Last night I saw The Closer with our new improved signal. It looked really nice.
> 
> 
> Neil




It only draws up to 230 mA. Besides it is designed to be on all the time.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The won't be on INHD (or I should say Mojo) at all this year. Last year I'm pretty sure that Comcast didn't have the NFL-HD channel.



In Baltimore they showed the games and the HD replays on a special events channel.


----------



## Red Dog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The won't be on INHD (or I should say Mojo) at all this year. Last year I'm pretty sure that Comcast didn't have the NFL-HD channel. To be fair, aside from games, there really wasn't much in HD shown on that channel. So when there was a NFL Net HD game, they would just pre-empt INHD programming with the game.
> 
> 
> Now that they have the NFL network on the sports tier, I'm nearly 100% sure that unless you sub to that tier you will not see those games. Lets face it, those games are 99% of the value of the NFL network. Without them, there would not be many subs to the sports tier.



That's what sucks about the move to the sports tier. If you do not have a dedicated NFL-HD channel (like Arlington/Alexandria don't), you won't get the game in HD whether or not you subscribe to the sports tier.


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hehe, what else do they have to do with their HD cameras this time of year now that the O's are on MASN.



They could try putting them in their studio....


----------



## Speqtre

Does anyone 'In the Know' re: Comcast read or post on this board? If so, can you please explain why UHD (ch 250) is available in Arlington, but not Reston?


It's beyond me! The CSR denied ever having heard of such a channel - it's ridiculous.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Red Dog* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> That's what sucks about the move to the sports tier. If you do not have a dedicated NFL-HD channel (like Arlington/Alexandria don't), you won't get the game in HD whether or not you subscribe to the sports tier.



Yes you will.


----------



## Red Dog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yes you will.




On what channel?


----------



## mark_1581




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Red Dog* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> That's what sucks about the move to the sports tier. If you do not have a dedicated NFL-HD channel (like Arlington/Alexandria don't), you won't get the game in HD whether or not you subscribe to the sports tier.



So can anyone on Comcast Arlington/Alexandria confirm that if I pay for the sports tier I will get NFLNetHD instead of the 2 SD channels that we had before?


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Red Dog* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> On what channel?



They will probably dump it on MOJO or the Special Events channel.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mark_1581* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> So can anyone on Comcast Arlington/Alexandria confirm that if I pay for the sports tier I will get NFLNetHD instead of the 2 SD channels that we had before?



There is no NFL-HD Channel yet on Alex/Arlin Comcast yet.


Last year, they had the games on InHD2. This year they will most likely be on MOJO or the Special Events channel. Unless they add the NFL-HD Channel before then.


----------



## Red Dog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> There is no NFL-HD Channel yet on Alex/Arlin Comcast yet.
> 
> 
> Last year, they had the games on InHD2. This year they will most likely be on MOJO or the Special Events channel. Unless they add the NFL-HD Channel before then.




I can't see Comcast giving those games away for free (unless they develop some kind of quick-switch that they can flip to give MOJO or whatever to only sports tier subscribers for 3 hours).


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Red Dog* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I can't see Comcast giving those games away for free (unless they develop some kind of quick-switch that they can flip to give MOJO or whatever to only sports tier subscribers for 3 hours).



I can see them doing it.


----------



## gomo657




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Something interesting today:
> 
> A report from CBS News's DC bureau was 16:9 SD today on 9 News Now.
> 
> The field report was 4:3, however.




What we need is all our local news in HD. After spending a week at my parents in NYC and enjoying all 4 HD news, I'm now spoiled and peaved. As being the capital area and being such news junkies I don't understand the lack of HD news.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gomo657* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> What we need is all our local news in HD. After spending a week at my parents in NYC and enjoying all 4 HD news, I'm now spoiled and peaved. As being the capital area and being such news junkies I don't understand the lack of HD news.



Tight fisted owners.


----------



## URFloorMatt

Maybe at WJLA, but to their credit they seemingly upgraded for Wheel and Jeopardy a lot sooner than Robert had hinted that they would. Fox and NBC are both O&Os. I don't know what they're waiting for.


When are the '08 Olympics? I'd imagine NBC will be upgraded by then at the absolute latest. I don't know why it'd take that long though. Given NBC's late night HD efforts and HD national news efforts, and the fact that NBC4 runs news practically all daytime long, an upgrade to HD would make the network substantially close to all HD all the time.


For what it's worth, I'm much more peeved about MASN than local news.


----------



## gary michaels




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gomo657* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> What we need is all our local news in HD. After spending a week at my parents in NYC and enjoying all 4 HD news, I'm now spoiled and peaved. As being the capital area and being such news junkies I don't understand the lack of HD news.



I now what you mean. a few weeks ago I was watching WRAL-DT local news out of Raleigh N.C. during a ducting period and found that they had all the studio and E.N.G. cameras in full, beautiful H.D.

EVEN THE TRAFFIC HELICOPTER CAMERA! I saved the newscast on H.D. D.V.R to show the unbelievers. I am using stacked and phased channel master 4228 antennas for a total of 16 bays with the 7775 preamp and have logged D.T. signals from New York city to western N.C. here in Charles town, W.V. I live in the valley and have little problem receiving all the D.C. and Baltimore signals including the L.P. analogs 23 and 47 out of D.C. I also get many Pennsylvania D.T. signals and channel 19 and 53 analog out of Pittsburgh. they are very weak, but you could watch it.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> I now what you mean. a few weeks ago I was watching WRAL-DT local news out of Raleigh N.C.



WRAL was the first HD news in the country, and they are owned by a small company named Capital Broadcasting - of course houses in Raleigh don't cost the $22 million Robert Allbritton just spent for his new digs. It is embarassing that we live in a top-10 market, the nation's capital, and only 1 station shows the news in HD. Is there a list anyplace here at avs that lists stations in each market that air their news in HD?


In addition, we have a "regional sports network" that shows all its teams' games in SD, one of two RSns in the country (the other one does KC Royals games).


----------



## SJKurtzke

Don't forget that CSN only has 16:9 SD in studio.....

(I don't watch it, but my dad watches that channel like all the time, so it does kind of bug me)


So, speaking of which, 9 News Now is getting better 8/2. They're upgrading their traffic system, which I PRESUME will be HD, because the shot looked to not be cropped in their 16:9 promo frame. It actually looks pretty cool, they have these like 3-D streetview things going on, and maybe in-car traffic reports from viewers (that's only what I'm assuming that was). This probably will lead to an HD helicopter sometime soon.



Does anyone know if 4 has installed HD cameras or something yet? I always thought they had THE best SD quality I had ever seen. If it was cropped, I bet some people would mistake it for HD. I don't know if it's just the lighting or if they've got other things going on.


----------



## SJKurtzke

OK, so on News4 today, the NBC News Special Report probably should have been in HD, but they didn't flip the switch, either at WRC or NBC, because you could see tiny red pillarbars on the CNBC camera on the left and right sides.


----------



## afiggatt

*WUTB-DT 24 update*


A few days ago, out of curiosity, I went to WUTB My 24 website ( www.wutb.com ) and, on the spur of the moment, sent them an query under their Contact us page asking when will WUTB-DT go full power on their digital signal? To my amazement, I got a non-boilerplate reply! For anyone waiting on getting My 24 in HD OTA, unfortunately the reply was


"the project is taking longer than we had hoped and we had planned on finishing in June, but now are shooting for December."


Yep, they are now dragging their heels until the end of the year. Which, by an astounding coincidence is, if I understand the dates correctly, when their FCC final 6 month waiver extension expires. Yea, I know its My Network, which is not going to have much HD other than some movies this fall with the switch to really cheap reality shows, but it is one of the 7 HD broadcast networks. For the record, I sent the following somewhat rambling reply







.



> Quote:
> Thank you for a real reply! December????
> 
> 
> The reason I asked was more from curiosity than anything else as I live in Sterling, VA and am not in your market. I can only get a occasional weak 1 bar hit at night for the weak 530 Watt digital channel 41 for WUTB-DT from here on my Samsung SIR-T451 ATSC tuner. Not even close to a lock, while I can get all the other Baltimore commercial digital stations fine.
> 
> 
> My primary OTA tuner is the Samsung which is ATSC only, so no analog on that. I also have a Sony HD-DVR for OTA recording which has NTSC and ATSC, but I deleted the analog stations from the guide list not long after I got it. I can get the analog signal for WUTB 24, but I have to manually enter channel 24. Once you get a HDTV or a digital ATSC tuner, you stop watching the fuzzy or noisy analog stations, so WUTB-TV is a station that is all but invisible to me.
> 
> 
> There are only two full power stations left in the Baltimore and Washington markets that have not gone full power on their digital signal: WUTB 24 and the Howard University WHUT 32 station in DC which is not even on the air. So I was curious when WUTB-DT would finally crank up to enough power that people more than few miles away from the broadcast tower could get the station, now that you have an HD sub-channel. I can get My Network from WDCA-DT 20 in DC as I expect many people in Baltimore with digital OTA reception now do.
> 
> 
> Excuse me for being a bit cynical, but WUTB-DT got a final 6 month extension from the FCC in May on going full power. So, now rather than going full power this summer, you won't until the 6 month extension almost runs out? Hmm. Even the two independent MHz and the two Ion/Pax stations in the greater DC area are at their full licensed digital power levels.
> 
> 
> Frankly I'm surprised at this delay. All new TVs sold > 26" since July 1, 2006 and all TVs as of April 1, 2007 are required to have ATSC tuners. With HD TVs flying out of the stores, although most people are hooking their HD TVs up to cable or satellite, there are some who are still OTA only. Those who live more than a few miles from Catonsville are doing a digital channel scan and don't see WUTB-DT 24.1. Oh well, they shrug their shoulders and watch all the better looking HD and digital SD programming on the other commercial stations. By delaying on WUTB-DT 24 going full power, your station is losing those viewers at an increasing rate. Once WUTB-DT goes full power, those viewers will have to do a re-scan to get the station and some of them may not do that for many months, making WUTB-DT invisible to them.
> 
> 
> But it is your station and your ratings, not mine. This was a longer reply than I was planning to write, so sorry if it turned into a bit of a rant. I will pass on the not until December news at avsforum.com, as there are many others on-line who have been wondering what the heck is going on with WUTB-DT My 24.
> 
> 
> Sincerely yours,



If anyone in the Baltimore area wants to complain to WUTB about the prolonged delay, send them an email via their website or even call them. Who knows, they even might speed up going to full power.


----------



## JimboG

Anyone know when WHUT-DT will finally get on the air? For that matter, any news on when WETA will move to northwest DC?


I saw an announcement from the NAB stating that 92% of stations were broadcasting digitally. Not bad, until you remember that 100% were supposed to be on the air with DTV back on May Day 2003.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JimboG* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Anyone know when WHUT-DT will finally get on the air? For that matter, any news on when WETA will move to northwest DC?
> 
> 
> I saw an announcement from the NAB stating that 92% of stations were broadcasting digitally. Not bad, until you remember that 100% were supposed to be on the air with DTV back on May Day 2003.



WHUT-DT received a final 6 month extension of their waiver from the FCC on their digital broadcasting back in May. WUTB-DT was in the same batch of waivers. Not sure exactly what date the clock is ticking from, but presumably sometime in May or June. A vote of the five FCC commissioners themselves is required to grant any more waiver extensions for this group, so any station in this group not on the air with their licensed power digital signal by end of the waiver period puts their license to keep broadcasting past 2/17/2009 at risk (if I understand this correctly). WHAG-DT in Hagerstown got a waiver on going full power until December, 2008 or maybe not until 2/17/2009, BTW.


So the clock is ticking for WHUT-DT with maybe November or December as the deadline. Interestingly enough, the wikipedia entry for WHUT ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHUT ) says: "Recent callers to the station have been told that digital broadcasts are slated to begin in November 2007." We'll see.


As for WETA-DT, I emailed the station with the same question about when they would move the transmitter several weeks ago. So far, no reply at all. I wonder if emails from their website go directly to the trash bin.


----------



## Marcus Carr

On 8/29, Comcast in Baltimore will add WUTB-DT on channel 215. Maybe they will have some HD by then.


----------



## CuseHokie

So Fox Sports Net is going to have some college football games in HiDef.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/06/21...n-ever-before/ 


So some of them will be on VS...


Will the other ones be on Comcast Sports Net?


I believe they are our Fox affiliate... and if you have CSN-HD, then you should be good to go?


----------



## Red Dog

Not necessarily. FSN had a number of college football games (Big XII) in HD last year, and I don't recall CSN providing those games in HD. As a FSN affiliate, CSN frequently disappoints.


I believe the VS. games are the ones they sublicense from FSN (5 Pac-10 and 5 Big-XII).


----------



## poppagene

WETA 26-1 through 26-4 are all coming in strong from the direction of their new antenna. I'm hoping this isn't just a test.


----------



## kenrowe




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *poppagene* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WETA 26-1 through 26-4 are all coming in strong from the direction of their new antenna. I'm hoping this isn't just a test.



Whatever the cause, I am too getting a far stronger signal from WETA.


----------



## inlogan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *poppagene* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WETA 26-1 through 26-4 are all coming in strong from the direction of their new antenna. I'm hoping this isn't just a test.



Yeah I just scanned and can finally pick them up. They must be using the new tower because I am in Logan Circle and downtown always blocked the way to their old tower.


----------



## zebras23

According to reports on the Verizon threads the new guide will debut in MD and N. VA on 8/23. We're the last group to get the upgrade so hopefully the upgrade bugs will be worked out by then.


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> WETA 26-1 through 26-4 are all coming in strong from the direction of their new antenna. I'm hoping this isn't just a test.



26.1 is stronger here than I've ever seen it and in fact my signal strength meter shows it almost approaching strength of 9.1 which is always rock-solid strong.


That's the good news! The bad news is that 26.1 in HD is not a whole lot better in PQ than 26.2, 3 or 4! There otta be a law against that!


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *poppagene* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WETA 26-1 through 26-4 are all coming in strong from the direction of their new antenna. I'm hoping this isn't just a test.



WETA-DT's signal strength has increased from ~6 bars to a full 10 bars on my Samsung SIR-T451. It is also up to 94% to 100% on the Sony HDD250 HD-DVR. With four reports, it looks that WETA-DT is indeed broadcasting from the tower in NW DC, not just some temporary atmospheric ducting.


The move is not just to a tower in NW DC with a small increase in power, but with a big improvement in antenna height of 77 meters above the average terrain. According to the FCC database ( http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?call=WETA )


Arlington location: 75 kW, 177 meters HAAT, 126 meters AGL

NW DC location: 90 kW, 254 meters HAAT, 202 meters AGL.


If WETA-DT stays on the air at the new location, it should improve reception for those at the outer fringes. If anyone wants to try manually getting the station, rather than a full re-scan, WETA-DT 26 is on 27 so a 27.1 might work for dual NTSC/ATSC tuners or 27 for ATSC only tuners such as the Samsung T451.


----------



## ojready

it looks like NFL network is part of some sports package. I can't find a price on comcast's website. Anyone know how much extra it will be? Man, I wish I had a southern exposure so I could Sunday Ticket it up. I might have to threaten Comcast with a switch if the NFL network package is unreasonable (which it most likely will be).


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ojready* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> it looks like NFL network is part of some sports package. I can't find a price on comcast's website. Anyone know how much extra it will be? Man, I wish I had a southern exposure so I could Sunday Ticket it up. I might have to threaten Comcast with a switch if the NFL network package is unreasonable (which it most likely will be).



Pretty sure it's $5/month or so. Also includes Fox Soccer Channel, GOLTV, Fox College Sports (3 channels), and some other stuff. I think they have a promo running where you can get it cheaper or free for the first N months.


I just wish they'd add Setanta Sports to the sports tier...


----------



## tonyd79

Howard County Comcast:


Effective August 20th, 2007 MPT "V-me" replaces MPT Kids & Family on Channel 201.

MPT Select (Channel 202) and MPT Learner (channel 203) will be discontinued.


Coming August 29, 2007, WUTB-DT (MY24-HD) will be on channel 215!



I guess MPT is changing their subchannels. Are the others doing that, too?


----------



## ammar249




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Don't forget that CSN only has 16:9 SD in studio.....
> 
> (I don't watch it, but my dad watches that channel like all the time, so it does kind of bug me)
> 
> 
> So, speaking of which, 9 News Now is getting better 8/2. They're upgrading their traffic system, which I PRESUME will be HD, because the shot looked to not be cropped in their 16:9 promo frame. It actually looks pretty cool, they have these like 3-D streetview things going on, and maybe in-car traffic reports from viewers (that's only what I'm assuming that was). This probably will lead to an HD helicopter sometime soon.
> 
> 
> 
> Does anyone know if 4 has installed HD cameras or something yet? I always thought they had THE best SD quality I had ever seen. If it was cropped, I bet some people would mistake it for HD. I don't know if it's just the lighting or if they've got other things going on.




I've noticed the same thing on NBC 4 local news broadcasts..whenever I view NBC4 News through my DirecTV HR20-700 the box switches over to 1080i. Also using the QAM tuner in my samsung tv using Cox cable, when i press the info button on the remote the tv says that NBC4 News is being broadcasted in 1080i also.

Cox Cable channels in Fairfax County _(Using QAM tuner)_

Washington CW.............108-3

TheTube......................108-4

WETA..........................108-5

Create.........................108-6

WETA Family.................108-7

WETA World..................108-8

AMC............................118-102

WUSA9 CBS..................122-1

WTTG FOX5..................122-2

WUSA9 Live Doppler.......122-13

NBC4 Weather Plus.........132-2

WRC NBC4....................132-3

WJLA ABC7...................132-4

Cox Test Channel...........134-1


----------



## inlogan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Howard County Comcast:
> 
> 
> Effective August 20th, 2007 MPT "V-me" replaces MPT Kids & Family on Channel 201.
> 
> MPT Select (Channel 202) and MPT Learner (channel 203) will be discontinued.
> 
> 
> Coming August 29, 2007, WUTB-DT (MY24-HD) will be on channel 215!
> 
> 
> 
> I guess MPT is changing their subchannels. Are the others doing that, too?




Hmmm http://www.mpt.org/about/prdisplay.cfm?pruid=07050201 


V-me is going to be a Spanish language subchannel. Also according to their new digital lineup and channel listings, it looks like they might be doing the same thing WETA does and not simulcast their basic analog channel on a digital channel. It says starting August 20 the channel assignments will be:

22.1 MPT HD

22.2 MPT Select

22.3 V-me


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Maybe at WJLA, but to their credit they seemingly upgraded for Wheel and Jeopardy a lot sooner than Robert had hinted that they would. Fox and NBC are both O&Os. I don't know what they're waiting for.
> 
> 
> When are the '08 Olympics? I'd imagine NBC will be upgraded by then at the absolute latest. I don't know why it'd take that long though. Given NBC's late night HD efforts and HD national news efforts, and the fact that NBC4 runs news practically all daytime long, an upgrade to HD would make the network substantially close to all HD all the time.
> 
> 
> For what it's worth, I'm much more peeved about MASN than local news.



I watched the winter olympics in 2002 in HD and I thought I watched them on WRC then.


----------



## Ladd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *poppagene* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WETA 26-1 through 26-4 are all coming in strong from the direction of their new antenna. I'm hoping this isn't just a test.



I live outside of Frederick Maryland and I did a signal strength test about two months ago; with my roof antenna rotated to various positions, WETA-DT came in with meter values ranging from 77 to 80%. Checking tonight, I'm getting 87 plus/minus 2, a considerable improvement.


I can only assume that the terrible artifacting will continue as data rates still average less than 9 Mbps.


No change to signal strength of WETA HD coming in via Comcast (of course) but the bit rate is a bit higher at just under 10 Mbps. I don't recall what it was previously, but thought I'ld throw in the tidbit for historical purposes.


I'll have to wait until American Ballroom Dancing comes back on again to check if there is any improvement, as the PQ of that show was so bad I literally stopped watching WETA after that ...


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I watched the winter olympics in 2002 in HD and I thought I watched them on WRC then.



I know. I'm saying _local news_ will upgrade to HD in time to feed out from the Olympics for local news coverage. Hopefully they'll have made the switch before then, but I'm thinking that at the absolute latest NBC would want all their O&O operations to be in HD for all the cross-promotion goodness.


Let's not forget, most of the NBC _cable_ networks will also have launched HD feeds by the time the '08 Olympics role around, so it seems like an obvious platform to really promote the fact that NBC is trying to lead the way with total HD coverage.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I know. I'm saying _local news_ will upgrade to HD in time to feed out from the Olympics for local news coverage. Hopefully they'll have made the switch before then, but I'm thinking that at the absolute latest NBC would want all their O&O operations to be in HD for all the cross-promotion goodness.
> 
> 
> Let's not forget, most of the NBC _cable_ networks will also have launched HD feeds by the time the '08 Olympics role around, so it seems like an obvious platform to really promote the fact that NBC is trying to lead the way with total HD coverage.



The 2008 Olympics will take place in August, 2008, a little over a year from now. NBC announced last fall (along with CBS and ABC) that they were upgrading the local news to HD for all their owned and operated stations over, IIRC, the next 18 months to two years. WRC 4 is a NBC O&O station, but it was reported way back then, that they were towards the end of the list of stations to be upgraded. The odds are good that WRC 4 will have HD local news by August, 2008, although I consider the Olympics to have little to do with the local news. The bigger plus will be, as you pointed out, is that CNBC-HD is starting up this fall and we may have a MSNBC-HD by then for a almost or all HD Olympics. I assume NBC will also use Universal-HD for some of the Olympic coverage.


----------



## aaronwt

Hopefully I'll have FIOS by then. It's more likely that they will have all those channels than Comcast who I currently have.


----------



## dg28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ammar249* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I've noticed the same thing on NBC 4 local news broadcasts..whenever I view NBC4 News through my DirecTV HR20-700 the box switches over to 1080i. Also using the QAM tuner in my samsung tv using Cox cable, when i press the info button on the remote the tv says that NBC4 News is being broadcasted in 1080i also.
> 
> Cox Cable channels in Fairfax County _(Using QAM tuner)_
> 
> Washington CW.............108-3
> 
> TheTube......................108-4
> 
> WETA..........................108-5
> 
> Create.........................108-6
> 
> WETA Family.................108-7
> 
> WETA World..................108-8
> 
> AMC............................118-102
> 
> WUSA9 CBS..................122-1
> 
> WTTG FOX5..................122-2
> 
> WUSA9 Live Doppler.......122-13
> 
> NBC4 Weather Plus.........132-2
> 
> WRC NBC4....................132-3
> 
> WJLA ABC7...................132-4
> 
> Cox Test Channel...........134-1



Huh? And this is significant because...?


The reason you're seeing 1080i is becuase they upconvert everything to 1080i whether it's filmed in HD or not. All the locals do this - WUSA, channel 50 and WRC do 1080i and Fox5, WDCA and WJLA do 720p.


----------



## essay




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Are you asking if they are getting the channel in the clear via Comcast Loudoun? Or Verizon Fios? WUSA-DT CBS 9 did jump to 34.1 (their actual broadcast channel) on my Samsung SIR-T451 ATSC receiver last night, so I assume they sent out some bad PSIP data.



I too am not getting WUSA-DT, previously on 9-1, via clear QAM for a few weeks now in Eastern Loudoun. Have tried rescanning a few times with no luck. Other HD WRC-DT, WJLA etc are coming in OK.


Could it be a signal strength issue?


Thanks.


----------



## MrChad

Well, the Comcast tech came to our house yesterday here in Sterling and set up our HD-DVR, phone and internet service. The HD-DVR box was a Motorola DCT-6412, which does not contain HDMI output. The tech said that I could exchange the Motorola box for an HD-DVR with HDMI at a local payment center. I'm assuming that this is a SA 8300 HD(C?). Can any other Loudoun Comcast customers confirm this?


Satellite Guys forums are reporting that a new Panasonic HD-DVR is available in some Comcast markets. Any chance I could get one of these?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrChad* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Well, the Comcast tech came to our house yesterday here in Sterling and set up our HD-DVR, phone and internet service. The HD-DVR box was a Motorola DCT-6412, which does not contain HDMI output. The tech said that I could exchange the Motorola box for an HD-DVR with HDMI at a local payment center. I'm assuming that this is a SA 8300 HD(C?). Can any other Loudoun Comcast customers confirm this?



You have the 6412 Series 2 HD-DVR with DVI output. The newer 6412 Series 3 has a HDMI output in place of the DVI port. Adelphia carried both, so I expect Comcast would either give you the newer 6412 Series 3 box or perhaps a new box with wired in cable card slots which they were required by the FCC to start making available as of July 1.


----------



## billygreen23

Anyone know if/when Comcast Alexandria will be getting any of the new HD channels (HGTV, A&E, Food Network, etc)?


----------



## SUOrangeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ammar249* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> ...
> 
> Cox Cable channels in Fairfax County _(Using QAM tuner)_
> 
> ...
> 
> 
> AMC............................118-102
> 
> 
> ...



118 and 119 carry Video-On-Demand programming. Perhaps one of your neighbors was watching AMC at the time you scanned.


And, does anyone know why isn't WDCA in clear QAM yet? Maybe it will come in the the ESPN reconfig tomorrow (mentioned in my last bill)?


-SUO


----------



## Johnnycanal

I think I am watching the redsox vs the o's on 626 on D* on my H20... looks to be stretched and in SD...


did I miss something?


I TRY to keep up with the thread, but at times I get busy


----------



## Johnnycanal

NEVERMIND... it was the boy, wishful thinking got the better of me. Perhaps he could go down to MASN and "help" them adjust their equipment so we could truly get MASN in HD, come on Peter A., give a fella a break










update...


I reset everything and checked the screen format under preferences under display on the setup menu and it is in pillar box...


well now all the SD channels are normal EXCEPT 626 MASN???!!


any ideas?


----------



## Johnnycanal

yeah both 626 and 671 seemed to be 16:9 SD


I know the boy managed to switch from IR to RF yesterday, but I can not figure out what he did to ONLY get those two channels to switch to a 16:9 type of stretch; different than the 16:9 stretch on my Samsung CRT... this occurred with a H20 on a 768 monitor... I just don't understand how CNN on 202 was "pillared" and 626 and 671 were not??!!


----------



## JimboG




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *billygreen23* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Anyone know if/when Comcast Alexandria will be getting any of the new HD channels (HGTV, A&E, Food Network, etc)?



Billy,


I don't know the answer to that question, but I have been wondering the same thing for over two months.


The bigger question is whether Comcast can keep up when DirecTV launches a bunch of new HD channels in September. I have little doubt that Verizon has the capacity to keep up with DirecTV and provide as good or better picture quality.


The $64,000 question is when / if Verizon will launch Fios data and video service in the city of Alexandria. Absent that kind of pressure, I don't think Comcast will feel obliged to keep up with DirecTV too soon.


Jim


----------



## sgtjim

Charles Co Comcast has announced the addition of Food HD & HGTV HD effective 8/10/07. They also announced that to receive NFL Network in HD you must subscribe to the sports tier.


----------



## gary michaels

Here Is An E-mail I Sent To Wusa Tonight In Case Nobody Else Noticed.


I Assume This Is Engineering. If Not Please Pass On To..

I Do Not Know What D.T.V. Test Your Are Doing With 9.2 Not Being Transmitted, However I Will Tell Your Your 9.1 Picture Looks Like Crap!

It Is Muddy And Pixilated. I Can Only Assume You Are Using The Bandwidth For Some Other Purpose That Will If Adopted Bring You More Revenue. I Would Suggest That If I Had To See Transmissions As Inferior As What You Have Tonight, (8/1) I Would Rather See WRC-TV With Their Wonderful Looking Up Converted

480-I S.D. To 1080IAnd Will Go Back To Them. Stop Trying To Put 20 Pounds Of **** In A 5 Pound Bag!

Gary Michaels


----------



## CycloneGT

God! You Are Right. The Picture Does Look Like Crap. I Went To Channel 13 To Compare, And They Have A Big "CH-4 LFE Tone" Test Image Up On The Screen. They Must Be Watching The Coverage Of the Bridge Collapse In MN.


(geeze, how did you Capitalize every single word in your post? That is hard to do.)


----------



## gary michaels




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> God! You Are Right. The Picture Does Look Like Crap. I Went To Channel 13 To Compare, And They Have A Big "CH-4 LFE Tone" Test Image Up On The Screen. They Must Be Watching The Coverage Of the Bridge Collapse In MN.
> 
> 
> (geeze, how did you Capitalize every single word in your post? That is hard to do.)



I drink lots of vodka! oh by the way, I got a very nice response to that wusa letter saying I am right and that in the future they will be lowering their bit rate on 9.1. I of course spelled out why I felt that was a very bad idea. Gary


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gary michaels* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I drink lots of vodka! oh by the way, I got a very nice response to that wusa letter saying I am right and that in the future they will be lowering their bit rate on 9.1. I of course spelled out why I felt that was a very bad idea. Gary



I *knew* not being an O&O would come back to bite us in the ass at some point...

How exactly can WUSA, the self-professed HD leader of the market, even think of doing this?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gary michaels* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I drink lots of vodka! oh by the way, I got a very nice response to that wusa letter saying I am right and that in the future they will be lowering their bit rate on 9.1. I of course spelled out why I felt that was a very bad idea. Gary



They must be planning to add a another SD sub-channel. I will have to compare the picture quality between WUSA-DT and WJZ-DT tonight. But I have seen a weaker signal level for WUSA-DT for a few days now. Not low enough to cause dropouts, but I'm getting 6-7 bars out of 10 for WUSA-DT when it always maxed out at 10 bars. I get 10 bars for WETA-DT 26 now that they moved the their digital broadcast to the new antenna in NW DC. Does anyone know if they are having transmitter problems as well? Or could the lower signal strength be due to a higher error rate as a result of whatever the heck they are doing??


----------



## gary michaels




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> They must be planning to add a another SD sub-channel. I will have to compare the picture quality between WUSA-DT and WJZ-DT tonight. But I have seen a weaker signal level for WUSA-DT for a few days now. Not low enough to cause dropouts, but I'm getting 6-7 bars out of 10 for WUSA-DT when it always maxed out at 10 bars. I get 10 bars for WETA-DT 26 now that they moved the their digital broadcast to the new antenna in NW DC. Does anyone know if they are having transmitter problems as well? Or could the lower signal strength be due to a higher error rate as a result of whatever the heck they are doing??



I got another note from wusa this morning saying that they will be done the testing today at 4:45pm. by the way, from time to time this afternoon the audio drops and you can't get it back till you tune off and then back on 9.1. I have 4 receivers and it is that way on all of them including a sony hd dvr.


----------



## SJKurtzke

WUSA Response:

Dear Mr. Kurtzke,

Our DTV tests have concluded. While *WUSA has no immediate plans to add an additional digital channel*, I can't promise it won't someday happen. When everybody else in town is doing it, not doing it could put a station in a serious competitive disadvantage.



Regards,

Victor Murphy

Director of Technology & Operations

202.895.5521
[email protected]


----------



## rustycruiser




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I just wish they'd add Setanta Sports to the sports tier...



No kidding, especially with the Rugby World Cup around the corner. DirectTV and now Dish both carry Setanta. GoIrish, any idea if Comcast will have Rugby World Cup games for PPV maybe?


----------



## jklarfeld




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rustycruiser* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> No kidding, especially with the Rugby World Cup around the corner. DirectTV and now Dish both carry Setanta. GoIrish, any idea if Comcast will have Rugby World Cup games for PPV maybe?



I hear you too (although it's because I'm a soccer junkie). I have the sports tier b/c of Fox Soccer Channel and GolTV, but I wonder what Comcast will do about NFL-HD. Considering we had the 8 games in HD last year, I sure hope this move doesn't mean they'll kill the HD games (not that they were any good last year).


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Are you asking if they are getting the channel in the clear via Comcast Loudoun? Or Verizon Fios? WUSA-DT CBS 9 did jump to 34.1 (their actual broadcast channel) on my Samsung SIR-T451 ATSC receiver last night, so I assume they sent out some bad PSIP data.



Was asking about comcast in Eastern Loudoun. I'll rescan and see if I pick up 34.1 But I'm not hopeful for the "leader in HD"











You'd think with all the options available and how MASSIVE the Ball-mer/DC area is, that this thread could be split up into multiple cohesive threads instead of everything getting lost in a sea of "that's not me".


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WUSA Response:
> 
> Dear Mr. Kurtzke,
> 
> Our DTV tests have concluded. While *WUSA has no immediate plans to add an additional digital channel*, I can't promise it won't someday happen. When everybody else in town is doing it, not doing it could put a station in a serious competitive disadvantage.



Monkey see, monkey do?


----------



## zoyd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WUSA Response:
> 
> Dear Mr. Kurtzke,
> 
> Our DTV tests have concluded. While *WUSA has no immediate plans to add an additional digital channel*, I can't promise it won't someday happen. When everybody else in town is doing it, not doing it could put a station in a serious competitive disadvantage.
> 
> 
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Victor Murphy
> 
> Director of Technology & Operations
> 
> 202.895.5521
> [email protected]



AKA: Race to the bottom.


----------



## JimboG

Geez, if everyone else were jumping off a bridge, would these guys do it too? I can't believe that they would want to let picture quality fall off a cliff like this.


----------



## Garet Jax

Hi all. Quick, basic question.


I live in Harford County, Maryland and I'm using Comcast triple play.


I have my main TV hooked up using an SA8300 Explorer and all channels are coming in fine.


I am trying to hook up a secondary TV for my kids and I can't get channels over 100. I have tried using the built in tuner with the TV and also using the tuner in a 10 year old VCR. I'm looking for the cheapest simplest solution - I don't need DVR or HD capabilities on this secondary TV. OnDemand would be nice, but not necessary.


I talked to comcast and they told me I need to rent a different digital box for $7/month.


Ideas for other solutions?


Thanks a lot in advance.


----------



## raidbuck




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Count Blah* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Was asking about comcast in Eastern Loudoun. I'll rescan and see if I pick up 34.1 But I'm not hopeful for the "leader in HD"
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You'd think with all the options available and how MASSIVE the Ball-mer/DC area is, that this thread could be split up into multiple cohesive threads instead of everything getting lost in a sea of "that's not me".



I actually tried a "Balt-DC Comcast" thread a few years ago, but in this market people want a combined thread. Almost all other areas have separate HD and Comcast threads.


Rich N.


----------



## jefbal99




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Garet Jax* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hi all. Quick, basic question.
> 
> 
> I live in Harford County, Maryland and I'm using Comcast triple play.
> 
> 
> I have my main TV hooked up using an SA8300 Explorer and all channels are coming in fine.
> 
> 
> I am trying to hook up a secondary TV for my kids and I can't get channels over 100. I have tried using the built in tuner with the TV and also using the tuner in a 10 year old VCR. I'm looking for the cheapest simplest solution - I don't need DVR or HD capabilities on this secondary TV. OnDemand would be nice, but not necessary.
> 
> 
> I talked to comcast and they told me I need to rent a different digital box for $7/month.
> 
> 
> Ideas for other solutions?
> 
> 
> Thanks a lot in advance.



You need a digital box from comcast to view the channels. You could try a QAM tuner, but anything encrypted will not be available.


----------



## ammar249

Right now on WJLA ABC7 on the bottom left there is a ABC7-HD logo in white being displayed in 16:9 format..meaning its showing up on the black bars on the side of the 4:3 show...Could WJLA be the next HD news channel in the Washington D.C. area??



Friday, August 3rd, 2007 at 4:03PM


----------



## CuseHokie

Since I'm local, I figured I'd post this here...


I'm going to be moving into my condo next week and buying a second HDTV. I'll have my Sharp 32" in the bed room, and likely a 42" Vizio in the "great" room.


I will also have a roommate who is getting his own HDTV.


At this point, I'm going to get 1 HDDVR and 2 HD boxes. If he wants to get his own DVR, he's welcome to...


My question is, would it be better for me to put my HDDVR in the great room or bedroom?


I figure the great room, as most all of my football watching would be in there...


However, I'll miss having DVR in the bedroom...


I guess the challenges I see are recording certain shows in certain rooms, but more than anything, I love DVR for the whole pause, rewind, fast forward... so maybe getting respective DVRs isn't such a bad idea?


Any thoughts, any experiences, etc?


It's another $3 for HDDVR over HD.... Comcast Loudoun.


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ammar249* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Right now on WJLA ABC7 on the bottom left there is a ABC7-HD logo in white being displayed in 16:9 format..meaning its showing up on the black bars on the side of the 4:3 show...Could WJLA be the next HD news channel in the Washington D.C. area??
> 
> 
> 
> Friday, August 3rd, 2007 at 4:03PM



I thought they weren't supposed to do it for another year.

But ANYTHING with that annoying blue square behind the ABC7 logo is good news.











OH wait


Didn't they order a new encoder?

Maybe the ABC7HD logo is a result of that?


----------



## Belcherwm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CuseHokie* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Since I'm local, I figured I'd post this here...
> 
> 
> I'm going to be moving into my condo next week and buying a second HDTV. I'll have my Sharp 32" in the bed room, and likely a 42" Vizio in the "great" room.
> 
> 
> I will also have a roommate who is getting his own HDTV.
> 
> 
> At this point, I'm going to get 1 HDDVR and 2 HD boxes. If he wants to get his own DVR, he's welcome to...
> 
> 
> My question is, would it be better for me to put my HDDVR in the great room or bedroom?
> 
> 
> I figure the great room, as most all of my football watching would be in there...
> 
> 
> However, I'll miss having DVR in the bedroom...
> 
> 
> I guess the challenges I see are recording certain shows in certain rooms, but more than anything, I love DVR for the whole pause, rewind, fast forward... so maybe getting respective DVRs isn't such a bad idea?
> 
> 
> Any thoughts, any experiences, etc?
> 
> 
> It's another $3 for HDDVR over HD.... Comcast Loudoun.



I've got three HDDVRs. Watching TV without one is torture. Trick is to figure out what you want to watch where so you aren't recording the same thing on the different DVRs.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I thought they weren't supposed to do it for another year.
> 
> But ANYTHING with that annoying blue square behind the ABC7 logo is good news.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> OH wait
> 
> 
> Didn't they order a new encoder?
> 
> Maybe the ABC7HD logo is a result of that?




We are testing a logo insertion for the broadcast of the Redskins/Titans game in HD on the 11th. Don't read anything more into it.


----------



## sinusrhythm

I live in Ashburn, VA and I have comcast internet. Was thinking that by splitting the cable and taking one output to my Samsung HP-T5054 I will be able to get a HD channel or 2. I have Dish HD so dont really need to do this but I thought I will pick up WETA etc which dish does not give. Not sure if comcast is blocking QAM somehow. I did not get a single station from doing auto-programming.


I am new to the HD arena. Have had it for only 2 months max. But read this forum religiously !! Thanks.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *sinusrhythm* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I live in Ashburn, VA and I have comcast internet. Was thinking that by splitting the cable and taking one output to my Samsung HP-T5054 I will be able to get a HD channel or 2. I have Dish HD so dont really need to do this but I thought I will pick up WETA etc which dish does not give. Not sure if comcast is blocking QAM somehow. I did not get a single station from doing auto-programming.
> 
> 
> I am new to the HD arena. Have had it for only 2 months max. But read this forum religiously !! Thanks.



I have COMCAst here in Woodbridge. My Samsung DLP picks up all the HD locals from the Comcast cable with it's tuner and maps them to the correct channel number. Although the sub channel numbers aren't all coorect, the main channel number is.

My set has two inputs, both can be used with an OTA antenna but only one can be used with Cable TV. The set is two years old though so I don't know i the newer ones are the same.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *sinusrhythm* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I live in Ashburn, VA and I have comcast internet. Was thinking that by splitting the cable and taking one output to my Samsung HP-T5054 I will be able to get a HD channel or 2. I have Dish HD so dont really need to do this but I thought I will pick up WETA etc which dish does not give. Not sure if comcast is blocking QAM somehow. I did not get a single station from doing auto-programming.



WETA-DT 26 is easier to pick up with an antenna now they have moved the broadcast location to the tower in NW DC, rasing the antenna height by 70 meters. Does Dish provide WDCW-DT CW 50 and WDCA-DT My 20 in HD? If not, you might be able to get all three and the other DC HD stations with an indoor antenna from Ashburn.


You could also likely get the Baltimore stations as well, if you were take on the project of putting up an antenna in the attic or outside.


Your TV has an ATSC tuner. If you want to get WETA-DT 26 in HD, I suggest you try a Silver Sensor UHF antenna for ~$25 or even a basic tabletop UHF loop & VHF rabbit ear antenna for $10 to $20. Comcast is passing the local digital stations in unscrambled QAM. But they may block all the basic analog & digital channel frequencies at the outside access box if you are only subscribing to the internet service. If you want the Comcast cable channels, you should sign up for basic service. OTOH, the over the air digital broadcasts are free.


----------



## genghisK

I signed up for the HD package (~$6/mo), and they brought me a HD-DVR. I'm only paying for the HD package, but I have full DVR functionality. Does comcast baltimore city not have digital HD boxes w/o DVRs? I've called in to customer service about other problems, and they haven't seemed to notice.


Anyone else experience this? If they found out, I would probably pay the DVR fee because i've found it to be pretty useful.


----------



## sinusrhythm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WETA-DT 26 is easier to pick up with an antenna now they have moved the broadcast location to the tower in NW DC, rasing the antenna height by 70 meters. Does Dish provide WDCW-DT CW 50 and WDCA-DT My 20 in HD? If not, you might be able to get all three and the other DC HD stations with an indoor antenna from Ashburn.
> 
> 
> You could also likely get the Baltimore stations as well, if you were take on the project of putting up an antenna in the attic or outside.
> 
> 
> Your TV has an ATSC tuner. If you want to get WETA-DT 26 in HD, I suggest you try a Silver Sensor UHF antenna for ~$25 or even a basic tabletop UHF loop & VHF rabbit ear antenna for $10 to $20. Comcast is passing the local digital stations in unscrambled QAM. But they may block all the basic analog & digital channel frequencies at the outside access box if you are only subscribing to the internet service. If you want the Comcast cable channels, you should sign up for basic service. OTOH, the over the air digital broadcasts are free.



That information was money !! I will try to play with a couple of antennas and see what I can get. I am already paying about 50$ for dish, dont want to spend more - wife may not like it !!


Yes, you are absolutely right - the guys may have blocked it on the curb box. Trying to get the clear channels without getting the basic may tanatamount to activities I may not like to get into. Dish does not give CW 50 or My20 on HD. But dish has these Voom channels which are absolutely gorgeous PQ wise, the content - not so much.


----------



## Onazuka

OK, something must have happened to OTA Channel 5 in DC (WTTG) this summer. I used to get all the DC stations petty well with a signal strength of 75-90. This summer I still get all the channels in the 75-90 signal strength but channel 5 is virtually gone with peak signal strength of about 15. I though it might be me but someone else has lost channel 5 this summer as well. Did they change channel number ? Did they reduce the signal strength ? Mover their tower ?


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Onazuka* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> This summer I still get all the channels in the 75-90 signal strength but channel 5 is virtually gone with peak signal strength of about 15.



I don't know if this will help you, but for me Channel 5 (36 digital) used to be picked up using my CM rotor 9527A at a bearing of around 30. But recently, along with Channel 4 (48 digital), I've had to take the reading down to around 17. I believe that equates to a change of around 13 degrees, which is huge for an attic 4228.


Ch. 7 (39 digital) and 9 (digital 34) are still solid at around 30, but no reception for 5 there and 4 is marginal. Who knows what would cause this change??


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Onazuka* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> OK, something must have happened to OTA Channel 5 in DC (WTTG) this summer. I used to get all the DC stations petty well with a signal strength of 75-90. This summer I still get all the channels in the 75-90 signal strength but channel 5 is virtually gone with peak signal strength of about 15. I though it might be me but someone else has lost channel 5 this summer as well. Did they change channel number ? Did they reduce the signal strength ? Mover their tower ?



WTTG-DT Fox 5 is on and will be staying on UHF 36. I have had no problems in picking WTTG-DT up OTA from here in Sterling at 16 miles. Where are you located and how far away are you from the DC stations? You might want to look at tweaking the aim of the antenna for seasonal variations and/or doing a full rescan.


----------



## OldHud




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bill Johnson* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I don't know if this will help you, but for me Channel 5 (36 digital) used to be picked up using my CM rotor 9527A at a bearing of around 30. But recently, along with Channel 4 (48 digital), I've had to take the reading down to around 17. Who knows what would cause this change??



I've had a similar experience. Usually I can leave my Antennas Direct 91-XG aimed at Baltimore and DC comes in just fine. Recently I've had to rotate the antenna 20 deg back toward DC to get WTTG-DT and to stop the occasional blocking of other DC stations. Don't know why, but it happens occasionally.


----------



## Theauwolf

With the football season around the corner, anyone know when Comcast Howard County is going to start back up the NFL Network HD channel or is it still part time? It's ashame we don't have it all the time, now that we have to pay the extra 6 bucks a month for it. Also, for the Sunday night NBC games, is our NBC affiliate going 5.1 anytime soon?


----------



## maestro73

Is anyone in Alexandria receiving tonight's NFL Network game in HD? I ordered the channel a little while ago but it's in SD. I called Comcast back. The rep seemed clueless, hinting that it would either be on 240-something (so helpful) or 226/227. It's not on either. He then said for some reason it's not in HD in my area but that the regular season games would be. We shall see.


----------



## mark_1581




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *maestro73* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is anyone in Alexandria receiving tonight's NFL Network game in HD? I ordered the channel a little while ago but it's in SD. I called Comcast back. The rep seemed clueless, hinting that it would either be on 240-something (so helpful) or 226/227. It's not on either. He then said for some reason it's not in HD in my area but that the regular season games would be. We shall see.




That was my question too. If I pay for the sports package, will I get NFLNet HD, or the 2 SD channels we used to get? Last season they showed the live HD games on INHD (Mojo). So I'm wondering if they will show the live HD games on INHD like they did last season, without paying for the sports package.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

The Hall of Fame game was on DirecTV 94 last night (NFL Network HD).


What are the odds we will see the Nats on ESPN 2 in HD tonight or will MASN be SOBs again (give Don and Bob the night off)? I heard some milestone event **** may occur tonight










Edit: Blacked out as expected. Screw-ups already trying to get to Bob and Don in SF, and unexpected Nats highlights while Ray Knight talks about Barry *****.


Thanks a lot, MASN. Looking forward to the crappy video and audio.


----------



## raidbuck




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The Hall of Fame game was on DirecTV 94 last night (NFL Network HD).
> 
> 
> What are the odds we will see the Nats on ESPN 2 in HD tonight or will MASN be SOBs again (give Don and Bob the night off)? I heard some milestone event **** may occur tonight



I would be very surprised indeed if we would get the Nats-Giants game on ESPN2 in HD in the Balt-DC area. Just because one is HD and one isn't doesn't change the local blackout rule. Who would watch MASN in this area if the game were available in HD on another channel?


Rich N.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> What are the odds we will see the Nats on ESPN 2 in HD tonight or will MASN be SOBs again (give Don and Bob the night off)? I heard some milestone event **** may occur tonight



If ESPN2 is carrying the Giants-Nats game tonight for the Barry Bonds chase, the odds have to be that it will be blacked out here. But since this is not a normal scheduled game, there is a chance that some service providers will forget to black out the ESPN2-HD channel. Worth checking tonight to see if it comes through (if you get ESPN2-HD).


----------



## Theauwolf




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mark_1581* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> That was my question too. If I pay for the sports package, will I get NFLNet HD, or the 2 SD channels we used to get? Last season they showed the live HD games on INHD (Mojo). So I'm wondering if they will show the live HD games on INHD like they did last season, without paying for the sports package.



Here in Howard County, I was told that the sports package would include the NFLHD channel. However, we don't have it full time.


----------



## daquila

Dear Member:


I need a few vendors who are experts in external High Definition Antennas so that I may get one installed on my house.


I live in Carksville, MD 21029 which is between Baltimore and DC.


Please provide some vendors who know what they are doing!


Thanks - Thanks - Thanks


----------



## markbulla

Hi all -


For the last several (~4) weeks WTTG-DT has been coming in as 36.1 on my Dish 811 receiver. I've gone through and re-scanned the channels, erased it from the list, tuned into 36.1 to see if it would pick up the correct PSIP info, etc., with no change on my end.


I figured that they would be getting around to fixing it, sooner or later, but I guess they aren't getting enough complaints about it. I've not seen anyone else post about it, either...


Anyone else having this problem?


Cheers -


Mark


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *daquila* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I need a few vendors who are experts in external High Definition Antennas so that I may get one installed on my house.
> 
> 
> I live in Carksville, MD 21029 which is between Baltimore and DC.
> 
> 
> Please provide some vendors who know what they are doing!



1. There is no such thing as an HD Antenna. Digital TV broadcast are done on the same group of VHF 2 to 13 and UHF 14 to 69 channels as analog, but are modulated differently and are on channels not used by analog. The antenna does not care if the signal is NTSC analog or ATSC digital with 8VSB modulation.


The key is to select an antenna that picks up the digital channels over the spread in azimuth and range you need. In the Washington-Baltimore, all of the stations are currently digitally broadcasting on UHF. For example WJLA-DT ABC 7 in DC is currently digitally broadcasting on UHF 39. But in February, 2009, after the analog shutdown WJLA-DT will switch it's digital channel to upper VHF 7 (WUSA-DT 9, WBAL-DT 11, WJZ-DT 13 will also switch from UHF to their upper VHF channels). The low VHF stations such as WRC-DT NBC 4 will stay on UHF.


You are roughly between DC and Baltimore. What you want is a antenna that can pick up stations to the front and behind it, so you do not have to constantly rotate it. What you also need is to get an antenna with good UHF and decent upper VHF 7 to 13 performance. The Channel Master 4211 4 Bay bowtie and the more directionl Channel Master 4228 8 bay bowtie which is also a good upper VHF performer are popular choices for this area. I have the CM 4221 in my attic in Sterling, VA and get the DC & Baltimore stations along with a few others.


2. For a list of antenna installers and station channel info, check the first post of this thread. You should also check the OTA Digital TV reception FAQ in the HDTV Reception Hardware forum at http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=611957 .


Another useful web resource is http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ISSUES/erecting_antenna.html . If you have specific questions on antennas, local stations, how & where to put the antenna, feel free to ask here or in the hardware reception forum.


----------



## hypoh

I have been having a problem for almost a week now. Using Cox basic cable with the coax plugged into my TV with built in tuner. I did a rescan a couple days ago and got over 300 digital channels, when I should only be getting around 13 (local HD and a couple digital channels Cox throws in). All of these channels are giving me the blue screen/no signal, thus I have been without my HD programming. I've been rescanning everyday and am still getting the same results.


This happened to me a couple weeks ago as well, but a rescan the next day fixed everything... not the case here.


I haven't called Cox yet, but I have a feeling the CS won't know anything, and will probably try to sell me a receiver.

Does the problem lie with my TV's tuner or with Cox; and what should I do? Thanks.


----------



## daquila

I want to thank "afiggatt" for helping me.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *daquila* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> I need a few vendors who are experts in external High Definition Antennas so that I may get one installed on my house.
> 
> 
> I live in Carksville, MD 21029 which is between Baltimore and DC.
> 
> 
> Please provide some vendors who know what they are doing!



Last I knew, Action Antenna and Davis Antenna did a lot of installations in your area.


If you want to wing it yourself, you might buy a ChannelMaster 4118 and take the backscreen off it so it is bi-directional. In Laurel, which is comparably situated, I've been able to get both markets at the same time using antennas which, for other applications, would be considered absolute junk.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hypoh* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I have been having a problem for almost a week now. Using Cox basic cable with the coax plugged into my TV with built in tuner. I did a rescan a couple days ago and got over 300 digital channels, when I should only be getting around 13 (local HD and a couple digital channels Cox throws in). All of these channels are giving me the blue screen/no signal, thus I have been without my HD programming. I've been rescanning everyday and am still getting the same results.
> 
> 
> This happened to me a couple weeks ago as well, but a rescan the next day fixed everything... not the case here.
> 
> 
> I haven't called Cox yet, but I have a feeling the CS won't know anything, and will probably try to sell me a receiver.
> 
> Does the problem lie with my TV's tuner or with Cox; and what should I do? Thanks.



I get hundreds of channels with Comcast that are Blue screen becasue they are encrypted. The local channels are unencrypted here and are mapped to the proper channel numbers and I can see a picture from them.


----------



## hypoh




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I get hundreds of channels with Comcast that are Blue screen becasue they are encrypted. The local channels are unencrypted here and are mapped to the proper channel numbers and I can see a picture from them.



I have tried the old channel numbers but they are not displaying anything either. Cox had my local channels mapped in the 100's for the past month. With my recent scans I did notice that I was pulling in channel information, such as "5-1 Fox," but the channel is blue like every other, besides the SD analog channels.


----------



## HokieNav




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *sgtjim* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Charles Co Comcast has announced the addition of Food HD & HGTV HD effective 8/10/07. They also announced that to receive NFL Network in HD you must subscribe to the sports tier.



I got much this same notice in Anne Arundel County in the mail today.


HD additions (with channel and date) are:

HGTV: 229 (8/7)

FoodHD: 231 (8/7)

NFL Network HD: 246 (8/1)

WUTB-HD: 215 (by 9/1)


I've scoured the notice and nowhere on it does it say that NFL Network is in the sports tier.


----------



## gomo657




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> If ESPN2 is carrying the Giants-Nats game tonight for the Barry Bonds chase, the odds have to be that it will be blacked out here. But since this is not a normal scheduled game, there is a chance that some service providers will forget to black out the ESPN2-HD channel. Worth checking tonight to see if it comes through (if you get ESPN2-HD).




Am I the only one that's pissed the blacked out an HD feed for the messy MASN signal!


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Am I the only one that's pissed the blacked out an HD feed for the messy MASN signal!



Nope. Though Bonds' first at bat was shown on ESPN-HD. LIke night and day. Didn't recognize those players with the W on the caps with a CLEAR picture vs. the lovely SD 1980s pic provided by MASN (Be There!)

*Edit:* I blame MLB for the outdated blackout rules and MASN for using hand-me-down equipment. Besides, it's fun to rip on Peter Angelos


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gomo657* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Am I the only one that's pissed the blacked out an HD feed for the messy MASN signal!



No, because it's expected. Don't Blame MASN for the game being blacked out, blame MLB.


----------



## dg28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> No, because it's expected. Don't Blame MASN for the game being blacked out, blame MLB.



Shall we also blame MLB for absolutely zero HD for Nationals and Orioles games on MASN this year?


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Shall we also blame MLB for absolutely zero HD for Nationals and Orioles games on MASN this year?



Actually, you can, as it was MLB and Darth Selig that set the terms of the sale of the Nationals, and this was one of them. If MLB did no cave to Angelos, MASN could have bid on the rights with Comcast.


----------



## Theauwolf




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *HokieNav* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I got much this same notice in Anne Arundel County in the mail today.
> 
> 
> HD additions (with channel and date) are:
> 
> HGTV: 229 (8/7)
> 
> FoodHD: 231 (8/7)
> 
> NFL Network HD: 246 (8/1)
> 
> WUTB-HD: 215 (by 9/1)
> 
> 
> I've scoured the notice and nowhere on it does it say that NFL Network is in the sports tier.



Well here is the notice.

http://www.nfl.com/nflnetwork/faq_comcast 


Looks like in Howard Co. no full time NFLHD in site.


----------



## markbach

Comcast in Loudoun had the game on ESPN2-HD for about 2 minutes, then it went to blackout.










MASN has the Orioles, MASN2 (Channel 19) has CSPAN... so where the heck is the game?











edit to add: Loaded up my Slingbox from my parents' house in the Philly market... ESPN2 is blacked out there too (showing ESPNews)... they get MASN (O's) but no MASN2. Very weird...


----------



## mark_1581

Damn, for a minute there I was thinking that Comcast forgot to black out the ESPN2 HD feed of the Nats/Giants game. Oh well, back to poor MASN2 SD feed.


----------



## mark_1581




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbach* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Comcast in Loudoun had the game on ESPN2-HD for about 2 minutes, then it went to blackout.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> MASN has the Orioles, MASN2 (Channel 19) has CSPAN... so where the heck is the game?




Here in Alexandria/Arlington Comcast has it on channel 77.


----------



## drewdc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *genghisK* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I signed up for the HD package (~$6/mo), and they brought me a HD-DVR. I'm only paying for the HD package, but I have full DVR functionality. Does comcast baltimore city not have digital HD boxes w/o DVRs? I've called in to customer service about other problems, and they haven't seemed to notice.
> 
> 
> Anyone else experience this? If they found out, I would probably pay the DVR fee because i've found it to be pretty useful.



i signed up for the triple play a few months ago and signed up for the DVR service. I get a few of the HD channels (including locals) and full DVR access... guess i should cancel DVR service and add HD service to get all HD and DVR services to save me a few bucks a year!!! anyone else?


----------



## CycloneGT

Dish Network had also Blacked out ESPN2-HD during the broadcast, but they did have MASN2. So I did get the see the home run.


----------



## raidbuck




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Actually, you can, as it was MLB and Darth Selig that set the terms of the sale of the Nationals, and this was one of them. If MLB did no cave to Angelos, MASN could have bid on the rights with Comcast.



I think that is a little unfair to MLB. The problem is that MASN chose not to have an HD channel this year, regardless of how they got the O's/Nats broadcast rights. It was a MASN decision, one that has angered many people in the Balt/DC area since we had up to 60 HD O's games last year (Comcaast Sportsnet home games not on Ch 13).


Rich N.


----------



## jcorwin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *drewdc* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> i signed up for the triple play a few months ago and signed up for the DVR service. I get a few of the HD channels (including locals) and full DVR access... guess i should cancel DVR service and add HD service to get all HD and DVR services to save me a few bucks a year!!! anyone else?



My daughter just signed up for Triple Play in her new apt. She ordered HDTV service, and was given an SA8300 DVR STB. She's not complaining!


----------



## CycloneGT

I saw this on www.dcrtv.com today.



> Quote:
> *More Digital TV Musical Chairs - 8/8 -* According to the latest digital TV documents from the Federal Communications Commission, here's where the local digital TV stations will wind up come 2009, when the plug is pulled on old-fashioned analog broadcasts. Five stations will remain right where they are, with their digital broadcasts on their old analog channel, including WJLA on 7, WUSA on 9, WBAL on 11, WJZ on 13, and WDCW on 50. Several other stations will continue broadcasting their digital signals on their current digital channel allocation, including WRC on 48, WTTG on 36, WFDC on 15, WDCA on 35, WMPT on 42, WUTB on 41, WETA on 27, WHUT on 33, WBFF on 46, and WNUV on 40. And several others get a new digital allocation, including WMAR on 38 (WJZ's current digital channel), WPXW on 34 (WUSA's current digital channel), and WNVC on 24 (WUTB's current analog channel)...


----------



## bogdanmi

I got the same shrek green notice. I also saw on the Weather Channel, a scrolling ad that Comcast put NFL HD in the Sports Tier.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I saw this on www.dcrtv.com today.



There is really no news in what dcrtv.com posted. On August 6, the FCC posted what should be the final digital channel assignment, power, and HAAT for almost all full power stations at http://www.fcc.gov/dtv/ . There are a few stations, none in our area, that are still arguing for different digital channels. See the Official Final Upcoming final DTV sticky thread in the locals forum if you want details. If you want to look, download Appendix B of the final DTV channel list. This list does not provide the call sign, so you have to figure from the NTSC channel # or look up the ID numbers.


The final DTV channel assignments for the DC and Baltimore stations are the same as released in 2006. The FCC has not released the final DTV channel assignments for the low power stations, which we do have in the DC area, but most of those will be on UHF somewhere. The big question is whether people will have to upgrade their antenna setup or add a separate upper VHF antenna to get:


WJLA-DT 7 at 15 kW, 254 meters HAAT

WUSA-DT 9 at 17 kW, 254 meters HAAT

WBAL-DT 11 at 6.91 kW, 312 meters HAAT (this could be a tough station to get at longer range)

WJZ-DT 13 at 21.4 kW, 312 meters HAAT. WJZ-DT is currently on UHF 38, which will be used by WMAR-DT 2 which in turn is on UHF 52, an out of core channel. Since WMAR-DT has to be off of UHF 52 by midnight of February 17, 2009, WJZ-DT will have to move it's digital signal to VHF 13 sometime before the cutoff so WMAR-DT can switch over.


The list does confirm that WPVI-DT ABC 6 in Philadelphia will be on low VHF 6 which will be an issue for those who get the Philly digital stations with only a UHF antenna.


----------



## Count Blah

Still no W*USA-9 in HD on comcast in Eastern Loudoun using Clear QAM. Anyone else experiencing this still? I sent an email to someone at WUSA-9 and they said they forwarded it onto the tech department. But that was a while ago and still no luck(Im sure she just blew me off). Contacting comcast itself is a freakin joke as they will blow you off right to your face.


Anyone have any other suggestions?


----------



## afiggatt

*Other digital broadcast changes in the DC-Baltimore area after the analog shutdown*


There are several channel reshuffles in the DC area that should improve the reach of the MHz "Network" and Ion network (formerly Pax) in February, 2009.


WPXW-DT Ion 66 is currently broadcasting on UHF 43 at 90 kW at only 140 meters above the ground on a tower west of Manassas. Looks like they will be moving to the current WUSA-DT 9 antenna in 2009, with their power level cranking up to 1000 kW on UHF 34. So anyone who can get the WUSA-DT digital channel now should be able to get WPXW-DT Ion station in 2009. Ion network has been struggling financially and is being taken to private ownership. So who knows what they will have for programming by then? Infomercials 24/7?


WNVC-DT MHz 56 in Fairfax is currently on UHF 57 at a weak 7.3 kW. In 2009, after WUTB-TV 24 goes away, they are authorized to switch to UHF 24 at 50 kW at a higher antenna height. The sister station, WNVT-DT MHz 30 out of Goldvein, which I get OTA, will be staying at UHF 30 at the current power of 160 kW. But having WNVC-DT 56 on UHF 24 while WUTB-DT 24 is on 41 could make manual digital channel selection interesting if you can get both stations OTA.










WMPT-DT MPT 22 in Annapolis is staying on UHF 42, but will be authorized to increase their power from 150 kW to 350 kW. WMPB-DT MPT 67, located NW of Baltimore, is staying on UHF 29, but will be authorized to increase their power from 14 kW to 50 kW. WFPT-DT MPT 62 in Frederick stay at 30 kW on UHF 28. The overall reach of the digital signal for MPT will get better in 2009.


----------



## kenrowe




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> WPXW-DT Ion 66 is currently broadcasting on UHF 43 at 90 kW at only 140 meters above the ground on a tower west of Manassas. Looks like they will be moving to the current WUSA-DT 9 antenna in 2009, with their power level cranking up to 1000 kW on UHF 34. So anyone who can get the WUSA-DT digital channel now should be able to get WPXW-DT Ion station in 2009.



I believe that the WPXW signal will be very directional (towards the southwest) however and will not replicate WUSA-DT's current digital signal. If you look at the estimated square mile coverage of WPXW's signal, you will note it is significantly smaller than that of the other signals coming off of that stick.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kenrowe* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I believe that the WPXW signal will be very directional (towards the southwest) however and will not replicate WUSA-DT's current digital signal. If you look at the estimated square mile coverage of WPXW's signal, you will note it is significantly smaller than that of the other signals coming off of that stick.



You are right. The square mile coverage & population are approximately 1/2 that of WUSA-DT on VHF 9 and there is a high percentage interference. Looking for other stations on UHF 34, WCAU-DT NBC 10 in Philadelphia will be on UHF 34 in 2009 (currently on UHF 67). So WPXW-DT will have to adjust the antenna pattern to avoid interference with WCAU-DT in Philly by cutting the signal going northeast. Which means I need to take back the comment that those who get WUSA-DT 9 now will be able to get WPXW-DT 66. Those north of Baltimore may not get WPXW-DT Ion. But then again, will they care that much?


----------



## HokieNav




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Theauwolf* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Well here is the notice.
> 
> http://www.nfl.com/nflnetwork/faq_comcast
> 
> 
> Looks like in Howard Co. no full time NFLHD in site.



That really freaking sucks. I scoured the flyer again, and there it mentions the addition of NFLHD in 3 separate places without once saying that an additional package is necessary.


Going to their website confirns that this is the case, though. If they would add ESPNU to the sports package, I would consider paying for it. (although since EPSN2HD is in the sports package, if my Hokies end up on ESPN2 anytime this year, I'll probably suck it up and pay it







).


FIOS can't get here fast enough!!!


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *HokieNav* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> That really freaking sucks. I scoured the flyer again, and there it mentions the addition of NFLHD in 3 separate places without once saying that an additional package is necessary.
> 
> 
> Going to their website confirns that this is the case, though. If they would add ESPNU to the sports package, I would consider paying for it. (although since EPSN2HD is in the sports package, if my Hokies end up on ESPN2 anytime this year, I'll probably suck it up and pay it
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ).
> 
> 
> FIOS can't get here fast enough!!!




ESPNU is the same scenario as the Big 10 Channel. Comcast has offered to carry ESPNU at the price ESPN wants since they launched, but only wants it in the Sports Tier with channels like CSTV which are already there. ESPN has said consistently no and will only accept basic carriage or nothing.


Since they moved NFL Net they are offering the Sports Tier for $1.99 I think for 6 mos. I have had this since they added the tier because of CSTV and the three additional Fox college sports channels which gets me a bunch of additional games per weekend (not all classics of couse). But usually at least 1-2 add'l games each weekend I end up watching or DVR'ing for later.


Only three weeks left to college football, god bless us all....


GoIrish


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *raidbuck* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I think that is a little unfair to MLB. The problem is that MASN chose not to have an HD channel this year, regardless of how they got the O's/Nats broadcast rights. It was a MASN decision, one that has angered many people in the Balt/DC area since we had up to 60 HD O's games last year (Comcaast Sportsnet home games not on Ch 13).
> 
> 
> Rich N.



Not really. MASN is only in it's 3rd year of existence. Looking at their Pre and Post game shows for the NATS and O's you can tell it's very low tech. It's not like they have had a couple years of income to spend on expensive equipment. And yes I do blame MLB because what did they expect would happen to give a start up company the TV Rights?


----------



## Red Dog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GoIrish* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> ESPNU is the same scenario as the Big 10 Channel. Comcast has offered to carry ESPNU at the price ESPN wants since they launched, but only wants it in the Sports Tier with channels like CSTV which are already there. ESPN has said consistently no and will only accept basic carriage or nothing.




Which is ridiculous because with DirecTV or DISH, you need to either 1) subscribe to the highest programming package (includes the sports pack) to get ESPNU or 2) have a lower package and pay for the sports pack (which includes ESPNU) as a premium.


----------



## CycloneGT

ESPN is the 800lbs gorilla of cable channels. They can muscle their way in negotations because no provider in their right mind wants to be without ESPN. This way Disney can get lesser properties such as ESPN Classic, News, or U much more favorable deals.


So not only does ESPN get like $2 per viewer, but they also get to be on the bottom teir (with the most viewers). If all was right in the world, ESPN would be in a sports tier and only those with a Sports interest would have to pay.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Not really. MASN is only in it's 3rd year of existence. Looking at their Pre and Post game shows for the NATS and O's you can tell it's very low tech. It's not like they have had a couple years of income to spend on expensive equipment. And yes I do blame MLB because what did they expect would happen to give a start up company the TV Rights?



You do understand how much money MASN makes, right? A "startup" company owned by the Orioles and Nationals. Yup, they are broke.


Um, the Big Ten Network is a "startup" and they will have about 4 HD games a week.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *HokieNav* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> (although since EPSN2HD is in the sports package, if my Hokies end up on ESPN2 anytime this year, I'll probably suck it up and pay it
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ).



What county? ESPN2HD is in the standard HD package in Howard County.


----------



## HokieNav




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> What county? ESPN2HD is in the standard HD package in Howard County.



Anne Arundel.


This must be a new change, I still get ESPN2HD, even though the website clearly lists it as part of the Sports Package. No NFLHD here though.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> You do understand how much money MASN makes, right? A "startup" company owned by the Orioles and Nationals. Yup, they are broke.
> 
> 
> Um, the Big Ten Network is a "startup" and they will have about 4 HD games a week.



90% owned by Angelos...NUFF SAID.


----------



## JimboG




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 90% owned by Angelos...NUFF SAID.



Yep, it's not exactly an improvement to go from 60 Orioles games a year in HD to zero. Furthermore, the Nationals deserve better as a showplace team in a top ten market.


Aside from lining Pete Angelos' pockets, there's no reason that these games couldn't be carried on Comcast Sports Net mid-Atlantic. Good to see that MLB and Angelos have the fans' best interests at heart.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> You do understand how much money MASN makes, right? A "startup" company owned by the Orioles and Nationals. Yup, they are broke.
> 
> 
> Um, the Big Ten Network is a "startup" and they will have about 4 HD games a week.



They got a good deal from Radio Shack on those cameras...?



> Quote:
> 90% owned by Angelos



I hope next year we get some games in HD - you would think the Nats would want to show off their new stadium.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast has added NFL Network HD in Baltimore City.


----------



## Theauwolf




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *HokieNav* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> That really freaking sucks. I scoured the flyer again, and there it mentions the addition of NFLHD in 3 separate places without once saying that an additional package is necessary.
> 
> 
> Going to their website confirns that this is the case, though. If they would add ESPNU to the sports package, I would consider paying for it. (although since EPSN2HD is in the sports package, if my Hokies end up on ESPN2 anytime this year, I'll probably suck it up and pay it
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ).
> 
> 
> FIOS can't get here fast enough!!!



ABSOLUTELY! I want NFLHD fulltime!


----------



## CycloneGT

If it makes you feel any better, I have NFL-HD on Dish and the past few Preseason games (including the Skins Ravens scrimage) have been SD).


----------



## machpost

I think it's pretty lame that Comcast charges extra for the sports package. I have RCN, and we get the three FCS channels, Fox Soccer Channel, GolTV, and the just-added CSTV, all of which are included in the basic digital package. No ESPNU or NFL-HD, unfortunately, and no sign that they will be added anytime soon. It's almost that time of year again, and I'll take all the college football I can get


----------



## gomo657

Did any Comcast subscribers get any new channels today?

If you did please state your town/county. Here in Comcast/DC we've received zilch.


----------



## Red Dog

I don't see any new channels - Arlington


----------



## Marcus Carr

The Comcast sports pack is currently $2 a month and is required to watch NFL HD according to a message I got on my cable box.


----------



## Marcus Carr

I'm seeing the NFL HD channel right now without having the sports pack. Don't know if it's a mistake, on purpose, or a sneak preview.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I'm seeing the NFL HD channel right now without having the sports pack. Don't know if it's a mistake, on purpose, or a sneak preview.



Could be because it's the Redskins (ie, local-ish) game. It's being simulcast on WJLA-DT, which Baltimore doesn't get. Oddly enough, neither does Annapolis, but with a QAM tuner, you can get it off the Comcast cable. Or go OTA. Or keep watching on NFL HD.


----------



## URFloorMatt

I'm watching over Verizon FiOS in Spotsylvania, VA. This is a rare opportunity to compare PQ between the unencumbered NFL Network and WJLA with its sub-channels.


NFL Network wins by a significant margin. I'm getting either macroblocking or signal interruptions from WJLA. The WJLA feed also seems slightly off colorwise. A bit green maybe?


----------



## drwissing

I was flipping around and found the Redskins game in HD on Channel 246 on Comcast-Howard County. The letters used to identify the channel are HDGOW...not sure what that stands for.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Could be because it's the Redskins (ie, local-ish) game. It's being simulcast on WJLA-DT, which Baltimore doesn't get. Oddly enough, neither does Annapolis, but with a QAM tuner, you can get it off the Comcast cable. Or go OTA. Or keep watching on NFL HD.



A message Comcast sent this morning said you have to subscribe to the sports pack to see this game on the HD channel. And the SD channel says Subscription Required.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> A message Comcast sent this morning said you have to subscribe to the sports pack to see this game on the HD channel. And the SD channel says Subscription Required.



Well then I guess it is a mistake. Enjoy it while it lasts?


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *drwissing* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I was flipping around and found the Redskins game in HD on Channel 246 on Comcast-Howard County. The letters used to identify the channel are *HDGOW*...not sure what that stands for.



HD Game OF the Week...maybe


----------



## nottenst

I was watching Masters of Science Fiction on the Baltimore ABC HD channel (since the DC one was having a pre-season game) Saturday night. For some reason there was no closed captioning signal coming through. I've seen this on Baltimore HD channels more than DC ones. Anyone know why this is the case?


Thanks,


Neil


----------



## jeepmon




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I'm watching over Verizon FiOS in Spotsylvania, VA. This is a rare opportunity to compare PQ between the unencumbered NFL Network and WJLA with its sub-channels.
> 
> 
> NFL Network wins by a significant margin. I'm getting either macroblocking or signal interruptions from WJLA. The WJLA feed also seems slightly off colorwise. A bit green maybe?




I also flipped back and forth on FIOS (in NoVA) between WJLA and NFL Network and felt NFL Net won the pic quality hands down. I guess good ol' 7-3 sucks away a lot of picture from the HD feed - does anyone watch this channel?


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> A pair of Fox-owned stations are adding newscasts next month, the company announced today. WTTG Washington (D.C.) unveils Fox 5 News Edge at 6 September 10, while WJBK Detroit introduces Fox 2 News Edge at 11 September 24. Both promise a unique, fast-paced format with a lone main anchor and weather near the top of the newscast.
> 
> 
> 
> The WTTG newscast sees Brian Bolter as the anchor, and offers the weather at 6:05. This is a natural next step for our station given viewers' positive reception to our half-hour news at 11 p.m., as well as our hour-long broadcast at 5 p.m., said V.P./G.M. Duffy Dyer.


 http://broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6468279.html


----------



## dipdewdog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gomo657* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Did any Comcast subscribers get any new channels today?
> 
> If you did please state your town/county. Here in Comcast/DC we've received zilch.



Were we expecting any new channels today?


----------



## knnirs

On three successive weekends I have observed a strange happening on comcast QAM channel 127-5 (TNT). This channel has provided the golf championships for the early golfers, and I obtain an excellent video but no sound using my LG 4200A tuner connected by component to my Olevia TV. There has been no sound on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but each Monday morning the sound is back.

At the same time I have used my OnAir USB GT tuner connected to my PC, and the sound is fine. Both units indicate a strong signal identified as HD @ 1080i with Dolby Digital sound.


Can anyone offer an explanation why one channel out of 20 QAM channels provides no sound every weekend?


----------



## markbulla

Because:


1) They aren't sending it in HD


and


2) Even if it was available in HD, we don't currently have a way to switch it into the HD program stream


Just thought I would answer the "why isn't WBFF sending the pre-season game in HD?" question before it's asked.


Cheers!


Mark


----------



## markbach




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Just thought I would answer the "why isn't WBFF sending the pre-season game in HD?" question before it's asked.



LOL! I am just happy to get an Eagles preseason game down here!







The signal is coming in great out here at 40+ miles.










Who is doing the camerawork for the game? It looks kind of muddy (like MASN does for the Nats games).


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbach* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> LOL! I am just happy to get an Eagles preseason game down here!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The signal is coming in great out here at 40+ miles.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Who is doing the camerawork for the game? It looks kind of muddy (like MASN does for the Nats games).



To tell you the truth, I'm not sure who's doing the game. I've seen some paperwork around about it, but I didn't have a chance to look it over. It could conceivably be MASN, but I don't know really know.


Mark


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Because:
> 
> 
> 1) They aren't sending it in HD
> 
> 
> and
> 
> 
> 2) Even if it was available in HD, we don't currently have a way to switch it into the HD program stream
> 
> 
> Just thought I would answer the "why isn't WBFF sending the pre-season game in HD?" question before it's asked.
> 
> 
> Cheers!
> 
> 
> Mark



LOL!


I came home from the game and watched my recording of So You Think You Can Dance and was wondering why it was 4:3 (it is always SD, just widescreen normally).


Then it dawned on me....the game was on WBFF last night so Dance was delayed.


----------



## Revolutionary

Anybody else not receiving a picture on 9-1 (WUSA)? I'm getting 90% signal strength and the QAM version is fine, but I get no picture or audio on the OTA channel... Just started doing this in the last week (can't be positive when as I don't watch WUSA-9 that often).


Trying to rule out supply-side issues before I declare my Series3 Tivo (itself a warranty replacement) defective.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> LOL!
> 
> 
> I came home from the game and watched my recording of So You Think You Can Dance and was wondering why it was 4:3 (it is always SD, just widescreen normally).
> 
> 
> Then it dawned on me....the game was on WBFF last night so Dance was delayed.



Hopefully, in the not-too-distant future, we won't have that problem. We're in the process of upgrading our master controls to HD and we should be able to record the HD network feed so that we can play it back later. We're aiming at the end of the year for that.


Mark


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Revolutionary* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Anybody else not receiving a picture on 9-1 (WUSA)? I'm getting 90% signal strength and the QAM version is fine, but I get no picture or audio on the OTA channel... Just started doing this in the last week (can't be positive when as I don't watch WUSA-9 that often).
> 
> 
> Trying to rule out supply-side issues before I declare my Series3 Tivo (itself a warranty replacement) defective.



WUSA-DT 9.1 is coming in fine here. Have you done a OTA re-scan? It is possible the ATSC receiver got bad PSIP data for the channel and messed up the channel mapping. If the Tivo allows you to select digital OTA channels directly, what do you get if you tune to 34.1, the actual broadcast channel for WUSA-DT?


BTW, I see WUSA-DT has a new radar map for their 9.2 channel. After 10 seconds, I was already irritated by the background color cycle for the WUSA-DT text at the top.


----------



## Revolutionary




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WUSA-DT 9.1 is coming in fine here. Have you done a OTA re-scan? It is possible the ATSC receiver got bad PSIP data for the channel and messed up the channel mapping. If the Tivo allows you to select digital OTA channels directly, what do you get if you tune to 34.1, the actual broadcast channel for WUSA-DT?
> 
> 
> BTW, I see WUSA-DT has a new radar map for their 9.2 channel. After 10 seconds, I was already irritated by the background color cycle for the WUSA-DT text at the top.



Tried a rescan already but it did nothing. And no, the tivo won't let me tune channels directly.


Methinks the Tivo is jacked up. Looks like its time to call them again...


----------



## Tom Cheney




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I was watching Masters of Science Fiction on the Baltimore ABC HD channel (since the DC one was having a pre-season game) Saturday night. For some reason there was no closed captioning signal coming through. I've seen this on Baltimore HD channels more than DC ones. Anyone know why this is the case?
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> 
> Neil



And, when WJLA finally showed Masters of Science Fiction at 1:30 am on Sunday morning, it was in SD. Is that because they can't time shift HD content, or did they simply choose not to?


----------



## mdviewer25

Why is the titantv.com program listing for Good TV 45.2 incomplete? It shows what is simulcasted from 45 and 54 but says off-air for everything else.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Revolutionary* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Tried a rescan already but it did nothing. And no, the tivo won't let me tune channels directly.
> 
> 
> Methinks the Tivo is jacked up. Looks like its time to call them again...



I would double check to see if the Tivo can manually tune to 34.1. Both of my ATSC receivers do allow me to manually tune to a channel that is not in the scan list, even though that is not in the manual. The Samsung SIR-T451 is ATSC only, so entering channel 34 does the trick. The Sony DHG-HDD250 is NTSC & ATSC, but if I enter a x.1 channel, it tries to tune to the ATSC (8-VSB) channel at channel X. I use this to get signal meter readings for stations that I can't get a channel lock for.


However, I don't see how a hardware failure would result in your Tivo not displaying a picture for WUSA-DT 9.1 with a strong signal reading, but displaying the other 1080i and 720p channels. I would suspect a bad channel map or corrupted processing information for the station in the Tivo's data first. You should try the standard technique for clearing bad channel data that sometimes works. Disconnect the antenna cable and do a full channel scan. This should clear the entire OTA channel list. Then reconnect the antenna and do a full scan again to get all the local stations back. If this does not work, look at doing a reset of the Tivo settings. However, typical fixes for Series 3 Tivos - which I do not have - should be covered in the Tivo forums.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Why is the titantv.com program listing for Good TV 45.2 incomplete? It shows what is simulcasted from 45 and 54 but says off-air for everything else.



Hmmm... I'm not sure. I'll see if I can find out...


Mark


----------



## DaveC56

I have attached three photos of my Winegard UHF Antenna and the signal is pre-amplified. Since May, I have been dealing with multipath issues when receiving OTA HD signals from Washington, DC local channels. My DirecTV HD DVR + Receiver has dual OTA tuners and during the Winter months I had rock solid reception. My guess is the foliage on the surrounding trees is the cause and last summer and I did not have this issue. It could be a bad pre-amplifier and I wanted to solicit options from other AVS forum members who might point me in the right direction. When I disconnect the power from the OTA pre-amplifier, the multipath doesn't seem as bad.


Any help will be greatly appreciated!!!


Thanks,

Dave


PS Feel free to PM me with suggestions and thanks!


----------



## markbach

Didn't see this posted anywhere in this thread... FWIW, here is the new Loudoun County Comcast lineup, as of Saturday, August 18.

http://www.comcast.com/MediaLibrary/...dnLineUp11.pdf


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Tom Cheney* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> And, when WJLA finally showed Masters of Science Fiction at 1:30 am on Sunday morning, it was in SD.



Yes, very annoying. And I saw that one of the next two episodes will also be delayed... so, I cancelled my season pass for WJLA and set it up on WMAR.


----------



## zyvo23

anyone know if comcast in Howard county will ever add DC locals in HD like verizon has?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DaveC56* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I have attached three photos of my Winegard UHF Antenna and the signal is pre-amplified. Since May, I have been dealing with multipath issues when receiving OTA HD signals from Washington, DC local channels. My DirecTV HD DVR + Receiver has dual OTA tuners and during the Winter months I had rock solid reception. My guess is the foliage on the surrounding trees is the cause and last summer and I did not have this issue. It could be a bad pre-amplifier and I wanted to solicit options from other AVS forum members who might point me in the right direction. When I disconnect the power from the OTA pre-amplifier, the multipath doesn't seem as bad.



How far are you from the DC broadcast towers? From the photos, the antenna is the Winegard HD9095P UHF antenna, correct? What pre-amp are you using? The problem is likely multipath, but a pre-amp can make it worse if you are close to the broadcast towers. Also, which DirecTV HD-DVR are you using? For multipath situations, you want the newer generation ATSC tuner chipsets.


----------



## DaveC56




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> How far are you from the DC broadcast towers? From the photos, the antenna is the Winegard HD9095P UHF antenna, correct? What pre-amp are you using? The problem is likely multipath, but a pre-amp can make it worse if you are close to the broadcast towers. Also, which DirecTV HD-DVR are you using? For multipath situations, you want the newer generation ATSC tuner chipsets.



Yes, I have installed the Winegard HD9095P Antenna with their UHF only pre-amp. We're about 20-25 miles from the DC broadcast towers and my house is located at a bottom of a hill (lower elevation in the neighborhood). We have two HR20-700 HD DVR Plus DirecTV receivers. Like I said in my post, when the leaves drop in the fall, my signal is very strong (high 80s to 90s).


Any other suggestions?


Thanks,

Dave

Herndon, VA


----------



## gary michaels




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DaveC56* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I have attached three photos of my Winegard UHF Antenna and the signal is pre-amplified. Since May, I have been dealing with multipath issues when receiving OTA HD signals from Washington, DC local channels. My DirecTV HD DVR + Receiver has dual OTA tuners and during the Winter months I had rock solid reception. My guess is the foliage on the surrounding trees is the cause and last summer and I did not have this issue. It could be a bad pre-amplifier and I wanted to solicit options from other AVS forum members who might point me in the right direction. When I disconnect the power from the OTA pre-amplifier, the multipath doesn't seem as bad.
> 
> 
> Any help will be greatly appreciated!!!
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Dave
> 
> 
> PS Feel free to PM me with suggestions and thanks!



i agree it sounds like you have a multi-path issue. in your photos it looks like you have your pre-amp mounted under the rotor. move it to as close to the antenna as you can and you might do a little better.


----------



## DaveC56




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gary michaels* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> i agree it sounds like you have a multi-path issue. in your photos it looks like you have your pre-amp mounted under the rotor. move it to as close to the antenna as you can and you might do a little better.



Gary,


You are right, the pre-amp is located near the rotor. Would a stronger pre-amp make the problem worse or make improvements? Its interesting, that when I disconnect the power to the pre-amp, the multi-path issue is reduce and I still get pixelization on most OTA channels.


Again, I appreciate your advice.


Dave C.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DaveC56* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yes, I have installed the Winegard HD9095P Antenna with their UHF only pre-amp. We're about 20-25 miles from the DC broadcast towers and my house is located at a bottom of a hill (lower elevation in the neighborhood). We have two HR20-700 HD DVR Plus DirecTV receivers. Like I said in my post, when the leaves drop in the fall, my signal is very strong (high 80s to 90s).



Which Winegard UHF pre-amp? They have different models. But the exact model is probably not that relevant unless you you have the AP-4800 28 dB gain model which may be boosting the multipath signals too much or clipping the direct path signals from the stations.


You have the newer DirecTV HR20 DVR which, IIRC, should have newer, maybe 5th? generation ATSC tuners, so it is not a question of using a 2 or 3 year old DVR with 3rd or 4th generation ATSC chipsets.


The HD9095P is a pretty directional UHF antenna, so can't improve on that to help with multipath. The suggestion to move the pre-amp closer to the antenna, which will help slightly by reducing line noise gain is a good one, but you may be better off without a pre-amp or a lower gain model depending on what you have. Because you have a rotator, I assume you have moved the antenna aim to the left and right a few degrees to see if that helps? Can you tilt the antenna aim up a few degrees?


Just in case you missed this, WJLA-DT ABC 7 and WUSA-DT CBS 9 will be switching their digital channels to VHF 7 and 9 in February, 2009 after the analog shutdown. You have a UHF only antenna which is not likely to have much gain for upper VHF.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DaveC56* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> You are right, the pre-amp is located near the rotor. Would a stronger pre-amp make the problem worse or make improvements? Its interesting, that when I disconnect the power to the pre-amp, the multi-path issue is reduce and I still get pixelization on most OTA channels.



If you disconnect the power to the pre-amp, you end up with a huge antennuator in the signal path. if you want to see what stations you get without the pre-amp, you have to physically bypass it at the antenna mast.


----------



## afiggatt

Verizon Fios rolled out the new Interactive Media Guide in northern VA and MD early this morning! I got the automated Fios phone message on my voice mail Monday night, but was not sure that it would happen this soon. All my DVR recordings appear to be there, but I noticed my closed caption font & background settings had been wiped out. The QIP 6416 setup menu for screen display, output format, and captions is still there, but with an extra step: turn box off, press Select, then press Menu on the remote. For details, go to the Fios 6146 thread in the HDTV Recorders forum or the Fios Programming thread.


----------



## howie14

Does anyone know if WNVT has been testing or something lately? My DISH ViP 211 actually scanned in all its channels on Monday morning and they were still there Tuesday morning as well. The signal strength was solidly in the '80s on Monday, with high '60s readings (borderline) on Tuesday.


This morning I got zip.


I live in Eldersburg in Southern Carroll County MD and I've never received those stations previously. It's new DISH receiver, but I've never found their OTA tuners to be particularly effective at picking up distant signals.


----------



## gary michaels




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DaveC56* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Gary,
> 
> 
> You are right, the pre-amp is located near the rotor. Would a stronger pre-amp make the problem worse or make improvements? Its interesting, that when I disconnect the power to the pre-amp, the multi-path issue is reduce and I still get pixelization on most OTA channels.
> 
> 
> Again, I appreciate your advice.
> 
> 
> Dave C.



it is true that a pre-amp could make the problem worse, but I said to move the pre-amp closer to the antenna because if you are using a long 300 ohm cable from the antenna to the pre-amp, you might be adding some multi-path in the long run and then amplifying it. in any case it is a better idea to have the antenna to pre-amp run as short as you can get it.


----------



## DaveC56

Gary,


Good advise. I'll give it a try and thanks for your feedback.


Dave



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gary michaels* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> it is true that a pre-amp could make the problem worse, but I said to move the pre-amp closer to the antenna because if you are using a long 300 ohm cable from the antenna to the pre-amp, you might be adding some multi-path in the long run and then amplifying it. in any case it is a better idea to have the antenna to pre-amp run as short as you can get it.


----------



## Justin_P

Just moved out of DC to the suburbs of VA and have two questions for anyone that might care to help.


1. Anyone care to suggest an OTA antenna, I live about 10 miles from the towers according to antennaweb, close to the interchange of 395 and 495 (it's the Watergate at landmark in Alexandria, va 22304 if anyone is familiar). My condo is on the 5th floor of an 18 story building facing west/southwest (away from the towers) so if I put it on my balcony it would point right into the building. Any suggestion for a small UHF antenna that might work well. Right now I have a small powered RCA indoor vhf/uhf antenna on my balcony and it can pick up the 4 networks but they do drop rather frequently. So any help for hopefully a smallish UHF antenna would be great.


2. I just signed up for D* and my HD locals really macroblock, break-up and look way worse than comcast. My 99 sat. signal is in the 70's while, 101, 110, and 103 and the last one 119? are all i n the 90's. Since our locals come from the 99 sat is 70's signal strength a little low or is this just how D* tends to look/act?


Thanks,

Justin


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *howie14* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Does anyone know if WNVT has been testing or something lately? My DISH ViP 211 actually scanned in all its channels on Monday morning and they were still there Tuesday morning as well. The signal strength was solidly in the '80s on Monday, with high '60s readings (borderline) on Tuesday.
> 
> 
> This morning I got zip.
> 
> 
> I live in Eldersburg in Southern Carroll County MD and I've never received those stations previously. It's new DISH receiver, but I've never found their OTA tuners to be particularly effective at picking up distant signals.



Eldersburg, MD puts you around 59 miles from the WNVT-DT MHz 30 broadcast tower which is located south of Manassas. WNVT-DT is broadcasting at a modest 160 kW (for UHF) and 229 meters HAAT. See http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?call=WNVT . We had clear weather on Monday and Tuesday. My guess is that you got the benefit of atmospheric ducting for a somewhat distant station. This is the time of the year for it.


What is your antenna setup and where is the antenna(s) aimed? If you want to keep getting WNVT-DT 30, you should experiment with shifting the antenna aim a few degrees in either direction to see if that boosts the signal for the station. You should also try the station at night to see if it comes in then.


The sister station, WNVC-DT 56 (DT=57), is east of Fairfax, but is currently broadcasting at a low power of 7.3 kW with an antenna that is only 153 meters AGL. I can't get WNVC-DT 56 from my location in Sterling, but I do get WNVT-DT 30 ok.


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Verizon Fios rolled out the new Interactive Media Guide in northern VA and MD early this morning!



The biggest improvement I can see is... the DVR now displays "PLAY" instead of just "PLA" when watching a recorded program.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Justin_P* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 1. Anyone care to suggest an OTA antenna, I live about 10 miles from the towers according to antennaweb, close to the interchange of 395 and 495 (it's the Watergate at landmark in Alexandria, va 22304 if anyone is familiar). My condo is on the 5th floor of an 18 story building facing west/southwest (away from the towers) so if I put it on my balcony it would point right into the building. Any suggestion for a small UHF antenna that might work well. Right now I have a small powered RCA indoor vhf/uhf antenna on my balcony and it can pick up the 4 networks but they do drop rather frequently. So any help for hopefully a smallish UHF antenna would be great.



If you can find it locally, try the Silver Sensor UHF antenna. Circuit City was carrying a Philips model model PHDTV1, for $25, but that model does not have VHF rabbit ears which will be needed in 2009. If you have tall buildings facing you in opposite direction from the broadcast towers, you might be able to pick up the reflected signals by aiming the antenna at the building. The Terk HDTVi is also a possibility.


If you need more gain, the new Channel Master 4220 2 Bay bowtie can fit on a balcony space. It is large enough that it have enough gain to get WJLA-DT 7 and WUSA-DT 9 in 2009, but no guarantee on that.


----------



## maestro73




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Justin_P* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 1. Anyone care to suggest an OTA antenna, I live about 10 miles from the towers according to antennaweb, close to the interchange of 395 and 495 ...



I'm not too far from you on Duke, right near the Masonic Memorial. I'm in a three story brick apt building (3rd floor), with my balcony facing south. I believe all the stations are to the N or NNW of me but I'm not sure. I have a Radio Shack 15-1892 sitting on an end table in a corner of my living room and I can pick up all the local DC stations (WTTG, WUSA, WETA, WRC, WJLA, WDCW, and some other ones I never watch) plus a couple of Baltimore stations (WBFF & WJZ and sometimes WMAR if I fiddle with it). Once in a while I'll get a drop out for the DC stations; no more than a couple of seconds. More frequently for the Baltimore locals.


I probably could have gotten away with a cheaper antenna - others may have some suggestions but in my case this one works well.


----------



## howie14




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Eldersburg, MD puts you around 59 miles from the WNVT-DT MHz 30 broadcast tower which is located south of Manassas. WNVT-DT is broadcasting at a modest 160 kW (for UHF) and 229 meters HAAT. See http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?call=WNVT . We had clear weather on Monday and Tuesday. My guess is that you got the benefit of atmospheric ducting for a somewhat distant station. This is the time of the year for it.
> 
> 
> What is your antenna setup and where is the antenna(s) aimed? If you want to keep getting WNVT-DT 30, you should experiment with shifting the antenna aim a few degrees in either direction to see if that boosts the signal for the station. You should also try the station at night to see if it comes in then.
> 
> 
> The sister station, WNVC-DT 56 (DT=57), is east of Fairfax, but is currently broadcasting at a low power of 7.3 kW with an antenna that is only 153 meters AGL. I can't get WNVC-DT 56 from my location in Sterling, but I do get WNVT-DT 30 ok.



I have a 15 year old Radio Shack fringe area antenna, I think it's comparable to the VU-190, and a Channel Master preamp on a rotor. I've found that I can receive most DC and Baltimore stations by pointing the antenna directly south. I lose 22 from Annapolis that way, but still pull in 67 even though I'm not pointing at it so it's no loss. Channel 24's low powered digital is hopeless unless I find the exact sweet spot, and I don't even bother.


WETA is still iffy and only comes in if I'm pointed due south.


WNVT 30 came in again last night, but only at about 57 strength on the DISH meter. With the DISH OTA tuner, anything below about 70 has the potential to disappear at any time.


My Hitachi's own OTA tuner is currently on the fritz. I'll be interested to see how it does after repair. When working, that tuner has always been superior to the DISH receiver's.


----------



## steeler

WUSA Channel 9.2 doppler radar is now in HD....cool!


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *steeler* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WUSA Channel 9.2 doppler radar is now in HD....cool!



WTF? Explain? hehe. Maybe this was what was going on the last few weeks when it was off the air? They do have HD studios, and I'm sure the Doppler Radar display is just a Windows application that can support resolutions far greater than SD's 480i.


Can anyone post a picture?


Now all those people in Morganstown or Dover that Topper Shut keeps talking about can see their weather. Its a shame that their radar doesn't look as good (ie green) as WJLA's though.


----------



## Justin_P




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> If you can find it locally, try the Silver Sensor UHF antenna. Circuit City was carrying a Philips model model PHDTV1, for $25, but that model does not have VHF rabbit ears which will be needed in 2009. If you have tall buildings facing you in opposite direction from the broadcast towers, you might be able to pick up the reflected signals by aiming the antenna at the building. The Terk HDTVi is also a possibility.
> 
> 
> If you need more gain, the new Channel Master 4220 2 Bay bowtie can fit on a balcony space. It is large enough that it have enough gain to get WJLA-DT 7 and WUSA-DT 9 in 2009, but no guarantee on that.



No building on my side of the balcony to pick up the reflected signal, so would I be better off getting a multi-directional or a directional antenna? Right now if I face my cheap little indoor antenna parellel to my building NW I get the best signal, the actual towers are east of me directly through my building. And will a straight UHF antenna be better for now as I probably won't live in the same building till 2009 to need a vhf antenna.


Thanks,


----------



## amorris525




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbach* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Didn't see this posted anywhere in this thread... FWIW, here is the new Loudoun County Comcast lineup, as of Saturday, August 18.





So if I read that correctly I need a set top box to get TV Guide Channel with basic cable service? That is the dumbest thing i have ever heard. Channel 17 is open why not just put it there?


----------



## kkitts

Hi All,

I just picked up a Samsung 4065 LCD TV. I have Digital Cable but have not yet bought a second Set Top Box for this new TV, and thought that I'd just skip getting a cable box - but what a mess. There is a boatload of digital channels that are not scrambled but none of the cable channels match up with the actual Comcast channels. In other words, even If I know that there is a HD channel on comcast channel 210 - there seems to be no way of knowing where that is in the multitude of 175 channels that the samsung auto programming found.


Actually, I found the HD versions of ABC, NBC and CBS - but I'm still looking for Fox HD.


I can get the FOX HD channel number from the comcast.com channel lineup - it is channel 213 - but where might this be in the samsung DTV channel list? I'm also looking for the Fox Soccer channel (Channel 267).


Any hints, tips or pointers to additional info much apprec. !!


Thanks.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kkitts* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hi All,
> 
> I just picked up a Samsung 4065 LCD TV. I have Digital Cable but have not yet bought a second Set Top Box for this new TV, and thought that I'd just skip getting a cable box - but what a mess. There is a boatload of digital channels that are not scrambled but none of the cable channels match up with the actual Comcast channels. In other words, even If I know that there is a HD channel on comcast channel 210 - there seems to be no way of knowing where that is in the multitude of 175 channels that the samsung auto programming found.
> 
> 
> Actually, I found the HD versions of ABC, NBC and CBS - but I'm still looking for Fox HD.
> 
> 
> I can get the FOX HD channel number from the comcast.com channel lineup - it is channel 213 - but where might this be in the samsung DTV channel list? I'm also looking for the Fox Soccer channel (Channel 267).
> 
> 
> Any hints, tips or pointers to additional info much apprec. !!
> 
> 
> Thanks.



I'm in Anne Arundel County, so your exact numbering on the TV itself may vary greatly from mine. I also have WBFF-DT at channel 213 on the Comcast box. Check 134-1 or thereabouts. And I'm pretty sure WTTG-DT is somewhere in the 132 or 133 region. For some strange reason, all of ABC, CBS, NBC are mapped to their "logical" numbers with PSIP, but not FOX. So ABC is 2-1 and 7-1, CBS is 9-1 and 13-1, and NBC is 4-1 (because 11-1 is terrible).


Good to see another soccer fan, but that's an encrypted channel and you'll need an STB or a Cable Card for that one. Let us know how everything works out for you.


----------



## jswhitfield




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Count Blah* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Still no W*USA-9 in HD on comcast in Eastern Loudoun using Clear QAM. Anyone else experiencing this still? I sent an email to someone at WUSA-9 and they said they forwarded it onto the tech department. But that was a while ago and still no luck(Im sure she just blew me off). Contacting comcast itself is a freakin joke as they will blow you off right to your face.
> 
> 
> Anyone have any other suggestions?



I have been experiencing this for a weeks now. I contacted comcast and got no where. I tried complaining to the FCC, but I received a letter back stating that cable providers were only required to carry the analog channel.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Justin_P* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> No building on my side of the balcony to pick up the reflected signal, so would I be better off getting a multi-directional or a directional antenna? Right now if I face my cheap little indoor antenna parellel to my building NW I get the best signal, the actual towers are east of me directly through my building. And will a straight UHF antenna be better for now as I probably won't live in the same building till 2009 to need a vhf antenna.



If you are not putting up a permanent antenna and don't care about the digital channels shifts that will happen in February, 2009, then you only need a UHF antenna. The Silver Sensor is more "directional" than a UHF loop (see http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/silver.html ). The Radio Shack 15-1892 VHF/UHF indoor antenna that looks a mushroom that was recommended has gotten generally good reviews here if you want to give it a try for $50.


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jswhitfield* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I have been experiencing this for a weeks now. I contacted comcast and got no where. I tried complaining to the FCC, but I received a letter back stating that cable providers were only required to carry the analog channel.



What?? Are you saying the FCC isn't looking out for the good of the general public? Unbelievable!

Maybe they haven't realized that if they made this a requirement, they could collect more fines from non-conforming providers!


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *steeler* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WUSA Channel 9.2 doppler radar is now in HD....cool!



No its not HD. They just put a HD logo on the new software. They had me going though. I have 480i material stretched to 16:9. So it kinda looked HD at first, but the video just wasn't as vivid as it is on the news. In fact, it look a lot more like WJLA's radar.








vs.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> No its not HD. They just put a HD logo on the new software. They had me going though. I have 480i material stretched to 16:9. So it kinda looked HD at first, but the video just wasn't as vivid as it is on the news. In fact, it look a lot more like WJLA's radar.



It's in HD on the newscast.


----------



## voltore




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> No its not HD. They just put a HD logo on the new software. They had me going though. I have 480i material stretched to 16:9. So it kinda looked HD at first, but the video just wasn't as vivid as it is on the news. In fact, it look a lot more like WJLA's radar.



It originates in HD and used as an HD source in the news, but the 9.2 feed is down-converted center-cut SD.


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *voltore* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> It originates in HD and used as an HD source in the news, but the 9.2 feed is down-converted center-cut SD.



Doesn't the term "HD Doppler" refer to the radar imaging itself and not the quality of the broadcast?


----------



## CycloneGT

I wonder how low they could get a 1080i bitrate down with such a static image as a doppler radar?











Looks like the pic on their website is 16:9. Note, I had to edit the first pic to be 4:3 when I posted it yesterday.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Doesn't the term "HD Doppler" refer to the radar imaging itself and not the quality of the broadcast?



Yes...


----------



## CuseHokie




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbach* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Didn't see this posted anywhere in this thread... FWIW, here is the new Loudoun County Comcast lineup, as of Saturday, August 18.
> 
> http://www.comcast.com/MediaLibrary/...dnLineUp11.pdf



Sweet thanks...


So will we have to know to go signup for the sports channels I guess? They won't come automatically...


----------



## tonyd79

Any update on WUTB's upgrade?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Any update on WUTB's upgrade?



Check my post #2591 from late July at http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...post11137142 . I never heard back from them on my email (ok, slight rant) on them delaying going to full power until December. Go figure.










People who in the nominal WUTB-DT 24 market who can't get the digital signal OTA should contact the station and ask why they can't get WUTB-DT. It can't hurt if the management hears from would be digital OTA viewers. I suspect they are just dragging their heels on going full power.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Check my post #2591 from late July at http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...post11137142 . I never heard back from them on my email (ok, slight rant) on then dragging going to full power until December. Go figure.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> People who in the nominal WUTB-DT 24 market who can't get the digital signal OTA should contact the station and ask why they can't get WUTB-DT. It can't hurt if the management hears from would be digital OTA viewers. I suspect they are just dragging their heels on going full power.



Thanks.


Wonder if Mark has heard anything.


----------



## markbach

Anyone getting all of the new HD channels from Comcast in Loudoun?


I'm getting NGCHD (Nat'l Geographic) and CSNHD (Comcast Sportsnet), but the others (AEHD, MHD, UHD) are not available.


----------



## btrostcmu




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbach* /forum/post/11345586
> 
> 
> Anyone getting all of the new HD channels from Comcast in Loudoun?
> 
> 
> I'm getting NGCHD (Nat'l Geographic) and CSNHD (Comcast Sportsnet), but the others (AEHD, MHD, UHD) are not available.



I am having the same issue. I gave comcast a call last night, and they said they were aiming for Monday to have all the new channels activated in the lineup. I also noticed that the weather radar channels (NBC weatherplus, etc) weren't available either.


----------



## Ladd

Just got through watching the Redskins game that was DVR'd from last evening (Comcast, Frederick MD, WUSA) -- wow, that has got to be one of the worst examples of PQ that I have ever seen. Ranked right down their with WETA, and that's really saying something.


----------



## essay




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jswhitfield* /forum/post/11325218
> 
> 
> I have been experiencing this for a weeks now. I contacted comcast and got no where. I tried complaining to the FCC, but I received a letter back stating that cable providers were only required to carry the analog channel.




I too am not getting WUSA-HD in clear QAM. ABC, FOX, NBC and PBS (WETA-HD) are all coming in OK. I have limited basic service with the cable company filter to exclude expanded channels in place. The WUSA-HD dropped out a little over a month ago and it may be possible that Comcast moved the WUSA to a blocked frequency (corresponding to analog channels 34-71).


Is there a filter installed on your setup too?


Thanks.


----------



## Count Blah

New channel lineup in Northern Virginia(sterling to be exact), but still no W*USA9 in HD. What a load of crap. Comcast gives me the run-around, W*USA9 gives me the run-around.


----------



## essay




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Count Blah* /forum/post/11346688
> 
> 
> New channel lineup in Northern Virginia(sterling to be exact), but still no W*USA9 in HD. What a load of crap. Comcast gives me the run-around, W*USA9 gives me the run-around.



Is this a problem with Comcast Cable box too or just clear QAM? I called Comcast yesterday and they insisted that I needed to subscribe to the HD tier and get their HD box or the cable card. I am OK with just the basic channels, but I do want the 4 major broadcast channels in HD.


----------



## jacindc

Anybody else get this new "Comcast Central" today? They've got channels showing 5 or 6 channels of news/sports/kids, where you can monitor all of them at once, and choose which one you want the audio from.


I got to it via muscle memory, hitting what I thought was Menu. The channels themselves are in the 960s (Comcast DC).


Or maybe they've been there for a while, but the "Comcast Central" via the menubar is new.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *essay* /forum/post/11346750
> 
> 
> Is this a problem with Comcast Cable box too or just clear QAM? I called Comcast yesterday and they insisted that I needed to subscribe to the HD tier and get their HD box or the cable card. I am OK with just the basic channels, but I do want the 4 major broadcast channels in HD.



If you are in eastern Loudoun and your HD TV has a built-in ATSC tuner, you should be able to get the 4 major broadcast stations along with WDCW-DT 50, WDCA-DT My 20, and WETA-DT PBS 26 with an antenna without too much difficulty.


Does your QAM tuner go up to QAM channel 125 or 135? It is possible that Comcast moved WUSA-DT 9 to the upper end of the QAM channel range, but your QAM tuner can't get up to that channel. Of course, the CSR will insist you need a STB box to get the HD locals because their training doesn't cover complicated stuff such as unscrambled versus scrambled cable channels. You need to talk to someone at the engineering level who knows how the cable system works to get a straight answer.


----------



## essay




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/11348108
> 
> 
> If you are in eastern Loudoun and your HD TV has a built-in ATSC tuner, you should be able to get the 4 major broadcast stations along with WDCW-DT 50, WDCA-DT My 20, and WETA-DT PBS 26 with an antenna without too much difficulty.
> 
> 
> Does your QAM tuner go up to QAM channel 125 or 135? It is possible that Comcast moved WUSA-DT 9 to the upper end of the QAM channel range, but your QAM tuner can't get up to that channel. Of course, the CSR will insist you need a STB box to get the HD locals because their training doesn't cover complicated stuff such as unscrambled versus scrambled cable channels. You need to talk to someone at the engineering level who knows how the cable system works to get a straight answer.



Thanks for your input.


I am in eastern Loudoun and have a Panasonic PX600 and it scans upto 135. I have frequently rescanned, but no luck with WUSA and will definitely look into the option of just going with an indoor Antenna if it will work for me and drop Comcast all together -- or wait for the FIOS. My thought is that the WUSA-DT may have been moved to a frequency blocked by the expanded cable filter. Will try to catch hold of some engineering folks the next time I talk to Comcast.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/11339228
> 
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> 
> Wonder if Mark has heard anything.



I don't have any specifics. Sorry.


I haven't spoken to their Chief Engineer about it recently.


Mark


----------



## compuwizz

I see it on QAM 116.1 in Loudon. Try doing a rescan. The new *local HD* channels they added today aren't in the clear though. I thought they had to be. Oh well we need to work together to find someone in Comcast Engineering so we can bypass all the CSR nonsense with these technical issues.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/11348639
> 
> 
> I don't have any specifics. Sorry.
> 
> 
> I haven't spoken to their Chief Engineer about it recently.
> 
> 
> Mark



Okay. Thanks.


I was just wondering. Not a very useful station.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/11348108
> 
> 
> If you are in eastern Loudoun and your HD TV has a built-in ATSC tuner, you should be able to get the 4 major broadcast stations along with WDCW-DT 50, WDCA-DT My 20, and WETA-DT PBS 26 with an antenna without too much difficulty.
> 
> 
> Does your QAM tuner go up to QAM channel 125 or 135? It is possible that Comcast moved WUSA-DT 9 to the upper end of the QAM channel range, but your QAM tuner can't get up to that channel. Of course, the CSR will insist you need a STB box to get the HD locals because their training doesn't cover complicated stuff such as unscrambled versus scrambled cable channels. You need to talk to someone at the engineering level who knows how the cable system works to get a straight answer.



I have the Vizio VU42, I'll have to go check to see if it goes past 125(I"m not at home at the moment). I lost 9.1(W*USA9-HD) almost two months ago now. 50 and 20 NEVER appeared on this set nor an older sanyo CRT-HD set with an HD tuner. I've done multiple scans in the last two months and WUSA-DT 9 hasn't shown up ANYWHERE. That includes me looking through every crappy music channel the tuner picked up.


I wanted to avoid having a antenna, but it looks like comcast is giving me no choice.


----------



## compuwizz




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Count Blah* /forum/post/11348754
> 
> 
> I have the Vizio VU42, I'll have to go check to see if it goes past 125(I"m not at home at the moment). I lost 9.1(W*USA9-HD) almost two months ago now. 50 and 20 NEVER appeared on this set nor an older sanyo CRT-HD set with an HD tuner. I've done multiple scans in the last two months and WUSA-DT 9 hasn't shown up ANYWHERE. That includes me looking through every crappy music channel the tuner picked up.
> 
> 
> I wanted to avoid having a antenna, but it looks like comcast is giving me no choice.



I just posted that WUSA9 HD is at QAM channel 116.1 the PSIP data is wrong it only lists 0.0 Its right next to WTTG wich is 116.2 listed with PSIP data of 5.2 B1_2 WT


----------



## essay




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *compuwizz* /forum/post/11349045
> 
> 
> I just posted that WUSA9 HD is at QAM channel 116.1 the PSIP data is wrong it only lists 0.0 Its right next to WTTG wich is 116.2 listed with PSIP data of 5.2 B1_2 WT



Just rescanned all again. No luck with WUSA on 116.x or anywhere else. I am now getting WDCA-HD on 1.2 and WJLA-DT Weather Now on 1.6 which is a change from earlier today when 1.2 and 1.6 were being listed but were giving black screens. For me WTTG is showing up at 5.2 which is its PSIP location. If I switch to channel 116 on my remote, I get 5.2 WTTG. However 116.1 and 116.2 show channel not found


----------



## compuwizz




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *essay* /forum/post/11349345
> 
> 
> Just rescanned all again. No luck with WUSA on 116.x or anywhere else. I am now getting WDCA-HD on 1.2 and WJLA-DT Weather Now on 1.6 which is a change from earlier today when 1.2 and 1.6 were being listed but were giving black screens. For me WTTG is showing up at 5.2 which is its PSIP location. If I switch to channel 116 on my remote, I get 5.2 WTTG. However 116.1 and 116.2 show channel not found



The problem probably is your tv not knowing what to do with 0.0 as the PSIP data.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jacindc* /forum/post/11347454
> 
> 
> Anybody else get this new "Comcast Central" today? They've got channels showing 5 or 6 channels of news/sports/kids, where you can monitor all of them at once, and choose which one you want the audio from.
> 
> 
> I got to it via muscle memory, hitting what I thought was Menu. The channels themselves are in the 960s (Comcast DC).
> 
> 
> Or maybe they've been there for a while, but the "Comcast Central" via the menubar is new.



I've been seeing the Comcast Central menus on my QAM tuner for months in Baltimore, but they are not accessable through the cable box. Don't know what they're waiting for.


----------



## markbulla

In case anyone is interested, here's a list of the CW fall premier dates:


FALL LAUNCH PREMIERE DATES!


September 18 8:00P Beauty and the Geek (2 hours)

September 19 8:00P America's Next Top Model

September 19 9:00P Gossip Girl

September 21 8:00P Friday Night Smackdown

September 23 7:00P CW Now

September 23 7:30P Online Nation

September 25 9:00P Reaper

September 27 8:00P Smallville

October 1 8:00P Everybody Hates Chris

October 1 8:30P Aliens in America

October 1 9:00P Girlfriends

October 1 9:30P The Game

October 4 9:00P Supernatural

October 7 8:00P Life is Wild


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *essay* /forum/post/11349345
> 
> 
> Just rescanned all again. No luck with WUSA on 116.x or anywhere else. I am now getting WDCA-HD on 1.2 and WJLA-DT Weather Now on 1.6 which is a change from earlier today when 1.2 and 1.6 were being listed but were giving black screens. For me WTTG is showing up at 5.2 which is its PSIP location. If I switch to channel 116 on my remote, I get 5.2 WTTG. However 116.1 and 116.2 show channel not found



You are mirroring my experience. Also, 116-1 doesn't show up as a channel either. I'll rescan(yet again) later tonight when I'm home.


----------



## parkay57

We've just made the switch to FiOs at my house, but we're currently keeping Cox Cable as a backup for another month just in case. Well coincidentally, Cox called the house to inform us that as CableCard users (two in a TiVo Series 3 and one in our Samsung DLP), they would be upgrading us to CableCard 2.0 soon which will give us some increased functionality. However, they said that most users will require a new converter box that is capable of handling the new technology AND that the old 1.0 cards would no longer be able to decode the digital and HD channels. Now this doesn't affect me right now because hopefully FiOs will work well and I won't have to ever go back to Cox. However, I am still outraged that they would cripple the old technology just so they try to force CableCard consumers to once again have to pay extra just to rent (or buy) a cumbersome converter box. I know my Series 3 can handle 2.0, but I doubt my older Samsung can. This just confirms for me that I've made the right decision to go with FiOs (*knock on wood*)


Has anyone else gotten this call?


----------



## Marcus Carr

Free Showtime preview on Comcast 9/28 - 10/1.


----------



## markbach

Robert,


Jeopardy is not in HD tonight on WJLA. Just FYI, don't know if you need to reset something, or having weather issues, or whatever.


----------



## CycloneGT

Are there summer repeats for Jeopary and Wheel of Fortune? If so, then they may just be old episodes.


----------



## mapper




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *parkay57* /forum/post/11354991
> 
> 
> We've just made the switch to FiOs at my house, but we're currently keeping Cox Cable as a backup for another month just in case. Well coincidentally, Cox called the house to inform us that as CableCard users (two in a TiVo Series 3 and one in our Samsung DLP), they would be upgrading us to CableCard 2.0 soon which will give us some increased functionality. However, they said that most users will require a new converter box that is capable of handling the new technology AND that the old 1.0 cards would no longer be able to decode the digital and HD channels. Now this doesn't affect me right now because hopefully FiOs will work well and I won't have to ever go back to Cox. However, I am still outraged that they would cripple the old technology just so they try to force CableCard consumers to once again have to pay extra just to rent (or buy) a cumbersome converter box. I know my Series 3 can handle 2.0, but I doubt my older Samsung can. This just confirms for me that I've made the right decision to go with FiOs (*knock on wood*)
> 
> 
> Has anyone else gotten this call?



This is most interesting, but then we could have seen this coming with addition of new channels, (now there is more need for bandwidth), rise of CableCARD prices to $4.50 from $1.99(making this the same price as a SD box). So I guess Cox will be using these new CableCARDs for new boxes(aka FCC mandate boxes). I guess I have gotten the call too, but I am out of town.


----------



## cmburke99

I was checking my "to be recorded programs" this morning and saw that nothing was scheudled past Wed., Aug. 22, 2007. I then checked the Guide and found that there was no programming information beginning on August 23, 2007 at 8 p.m. What's funny is that this information was there only a few days ago. Anyone else experience this problem or know what the story is? Thanks.


----------



## CycloneGT

Well, I know that Fios has a new On Screen Guide due to launch in our area around that time. Perhaps any timers would be lost during that update?


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/11367887
> 
> 
> Are there summer repeats for Jeopary and Wheel of Fortune? If so, then they may just be old episodes.



They are repeats but ARE shown in HD...


----------



## dipdewdog

Anyone know why on earth Comcast DC sends the HD feeds of the Baltimore networks down the cable when they're just blocked from reception by the Comcast STB/CableCARDs? Seems like they could offer us 6 more HD cable channels in those spots...


----------



## Skeptic Tank




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dipdewdog* /forum/post/11374595
> 
> 
> Anyone know why on earth Comcast DC sends the HD feeds of the Baltimore networks down the cable when they're just blocked from reception by the Comcast STB/CableCARDs?



I don't know why, but I, for one, am glad they do it. I like having a choice of which local HD's to watch.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dipdewdog* /forum/post/11374595
> 
> 
> Seems like they could offer us 6 more HD cable channels in those spots...



Maybe, but more likely they'd give us 6 more shopping channels and the Hedge Trimming Channel instead.


----------



## dipdewdog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Skeptic Tank* /forum/post/11375288
> 
> 
> Maybe, but more likely they'd give us 6 more shopping channels and the Hedge Trimming Channel instead.



Not if they want to remain competitive with FiOS and the DBS providers as far as HD content goes.


----------



## tanfan

Hello,


I've been a lurker here for a long time (much longer than I've been registered), and have always appreciated reading the info that is posted here.


I don't know if anyone has noticed yet, but as the title of my post says, MPT no longer passes through the PBS HD feed (as of 8/20). Although they still have an "MPT HD" channel, that channel simply mirrors the schedule of the MPT analog channel. My understanding is that when a "true" HD program airs, it will be passed along in HD; otherwise, even for a widescreen presentation (of the type that used to fill a 16:9 screen on their "former" MPT HD channel), it will be broadcast windowboxed (as I witnessed last night for _The History Detectives_) on the "new" MPT HD channel.


When I asked one MPT staffer about the reason for this backward step (in my opinion), he said he understood it was because of "business." When I asked if that was because of the increase in cost of the PBS HD feed to the affiliates (as has been posted in the HDTV Programming Forum), he said as far as he knew, that was the reason.


Although not "perfect," I am really sorry to see the "former" MPT HD channel disappear, and I have told MPT that.


I should also note that MPT is now (as of 8/20) broadcasting two SD channels along with their "HD" channel. Now, I can't wait to see "true" HD on MPT. (Not!) For that matter, I don't see even a single "HD" program listed on the "MPT HD" schedule for the rest of this month. (Schedule for September has not yet been posted.)


----------



## GoIrish

tanfan,

Good info and welcome to the forum.


GoIrish


----------



## Skeptic Tank




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dipdewdog* /forum/post/11375357
> 
> 
> Not if they want to remain competitive with FiOS and the DBS providers as far as HD content goes.



Removing HD locals to add other HD content isn't exactly what I'd

call being competitive. I'd much rather see them remove some of the

analog channels (like the tv guide network) each of which would make

room for 2 HD digital channels.


----------



## dipdewdog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Skeptic Tank* /forum/post/11376288
> 
> 
> Removing HD locals to add other HD content isn't exactly what I'd
> 
> call being competitive. I'd much rather see them remove some of the
> 
> analog channels (like the tv guide network) each of which would make
> 
> room for 2 HD digital channels.



Ideally, they'd do both. However, losing the out-of-market HD channels--which most people don't even know are there anyway--would annoy far fewer subscribers and seems like a quick fix solution to getting more HD content on the wire.


----------



## Skeptic Tank




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dipdewdog* /forum/post/11377052
> 
> 
> Ideally, they'd do both. However, losing the out-of-market HD channels--which most people don't even know are there anyway--would annoy far fewer subscribers and seems like a quick fix solution to getting more HD content on the wire.



"Out-of-market"? The reason that Baltimore and Washington are combined in this thread is that it's one market. They already annoyed

me once when they took the Baltimore stations off the cable box. Taking

HD content away in order to add other _encrypted_ HD content would

be annoying as hell when there's plenty of bandwidth available.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Skeptic Tank* /forum/post/11377711
> 
> 
> "Out-of-market"? *The reason that Baltimore and Washington are combined in this thread is that it's one market.* They already annoyed
> 
> me once when they took the Baltimore stations off the cable box. Taking
> 
> HD content away in order to add other _encrypted_ HD content would
> 
> be annoying as hell when there's plenty of bandwidth available.



Could have fooled me. All this shouldn't be in one thread.


----------



## CycloneGT

I prefer to think of it as two markets with considerable overlap.


tanfan, Welcome. I caught that too tonight. I was like, hey, let's see whats on Nova tonight. I always hit MPT-HD over WETA due to bandwidth. I figured it was some kinda mistake that I was seeing SD on 22.2. I tried 62.2 and it was the same thing. I decided to move on and found World Series of Poker on ESPN-HD










Looks like we have a some back pedaling going on in our HD revolution.


----------



## Marcus Carr

22-1 is now the "HD" (1080i) channel. It still has the same programming as the "old" (480i) 22-1 except for when an HD program is broadcast. 22-2 is MPT Select. 22-3 is MPT V-Me and is a Spanish-language channel.


----------



## drkashner




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tanfan* /forum/post/11375934
> 
> 
> Hello,
> 
> 
> I've been a lurker here for a long time (much longer than I've been registered), and have always appreciated reading the info that is posted here.
> 
> 
> I don't know if anyone has noticed yet, but as the title of my post says, MPT no longer passes through the PBS HD feed (as of 8/20). Although they still have an "MPT HD" channel, that channel simply mirrors the schedule of the MPT analog channel. My understanding is that when a "true" HD program airs, it will be passed along in HD; otherwise, even for a widescreen presentation (of the type that used to fill a 16:9 screen on their "former" MPT HD channel), it will be broadcast windowboxed (as I witnessed last night for _The History Detectives_) on the "new" MPT HD channel.
> 
> 
> When I asked one MPT staffer about the reason for this backward step (in my opinion), he said he understood it was because of "business." When I asked if that was because of the increase in cost of the PBS HD feed to the affiliates (as has been posted in the HDTV Programming Forum), he said as far as he knew, that was the reason.
> 
> 
> Although not "perfect," I am really sorry to see the "former" MPT HD channel disappear, and I have told MPT that.
> 
> 
> I should also note that MPT is now (as of 8/20) broadcasting two SD channels along with their "HD" channel. Now, I can't wait to see "true" HD on MPT. (Not!) For that matter, I don't see even a single "HD" program listed on the "MPT HD" schedule for the rest of this month. (Schedule for September has not yet been posted.)



This really sucks. I live about 10 miles north of the line in PA and can't get Harrisburg PBS. I watched MPT all the time. I looked at NOVA last night on 67.1 and it didn't fill the whole screen. I was recording it, but stopped it because it wasn't fit to watch. Is this the way all the HD will be broadcast? I can't believe that they would broadcast it that way. Anyone know if Directv has local PBS in HD? I may have to get the new Directv HD DVR so I can get my locals in HD.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

DirecTV (at least in Loudoun County) carries MPT, WETA, WHUT (DC-Howard U.) and Virginia PBS, all in SD.


----------



## drkashner




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/11382457
> 
> 
> DirecTV (at least in Loudoun County) carries MPT, WETA, WHUT (DC-Howard U.) and Virginia PBS, all in SD.



I just checked Directv's website. They don't carry PBS HD or CW in HD in the Harrisburg area.


----------



## jeepmon




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cmburke99* /forum/post/11370144
> 
> 
> I was checking my "to be recorded programs" this morning and saw that nothing was scheudled past Wed., Aug. 22, 2007. I then checked the Guide and found that there was no programming information beginning on August 23, 2007 at 8 p.m. What's funny is that this information was there only a few days ago. Anyone else experience this problem or know what the story is? Thanks.



Hey cmburke99 - hopefully, you've already found a resolution, however, if not - I noticed one of my FIOS DVR's had no program info after 8pm last Saturday and the other DVR did, so I did the old "unplug and plug back in" and it fixed itself.


I'm assuming you have the IMG (biggest bunch of crap I've seen in a while)


----------



## jimrobinette

I don't know of any market that D* carries PBS in HD. I was looking at OKC last night for my parents (finally getting them on HD), and D* doesn't carry PBS there. Based on previous posts in this forum and that info, I have to wonder if it is carried in any market?


Jim


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jimrobinette* /forum/post/11387247
> 
> 
> I don't know of any market that D* carries PBS in HD... Based on previous posts in this forum and that info, I have to wonder if it is carried in any market?
> 
> 
> Jim



Not one...


----------



## Marcus Carr

Looks like MPT forgot to flip the switch.


----------



## inlogan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/11390260
> 
> 
> Looks like MPT forgot to flip the switch.



It's showing HD now, but the quality is horrible. I miss the old subchannel lineup!


----------



## drkashner




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *inlogan* /forum/post/11390716
> 
> 
> It's showing HD now, but the quality is horrible. I miss the old subchannel lineup!



Plus, they never changed the guide on my D* HDDVR, so it recorded, but not History Detectives or NOVA


----------



## DCGuy64

Hi, I just got my HDTV tuner the other day and my new antenna installed on Tuesday. I get a lot of DTV stations, which is great. However, for some reason the Mhz stations only come in sporadically. Anyone else having problems with them? I'm thinking of buying a signal amplifier to improve the signal. Any thoughts? Thanks, Stephen


----------



## gary michaels




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DCGuy64* /forum/post/11395443
> 
> 
> Hi, I just got my HDTV tuner the other day and my new antenna installed on Tuesday. I get a lot of DTV stations, which is great. However, for some reason the Mhz stations only come in sporadically. Anyone else having problems with them? I'm thinking of buying a signal amplifier to improve the signal. Any thoughts? Thanks, Stephen



Stephen, MHz on 57 is operating with only about 7kw power. it is not a surprise you have a problem with them. try the same programming from the Goldvein,VA. transmitter on digital channel 30. here in Charles town, WV. they put in a great signal.


----------



## rustycruiser




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/11351256
> 
> 
> I've been seeing the Comcast Central menus on my QAM tuner for months in Baltimore, but they are not accessable through the cable box. Don't know what they're waiting for.



Same, only see them on QAM. I was at my brother's in Chicago in January and they already had them deployed.


----------



## DCGuy64




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gary michaels* /forum/post/11396431
> 
> 
> Stephen, MHz on 57 is operating with only about 7kw power. it is not a surprise you have a problem with them. try the same programming from the Goldvein,VA. transmitter on digital channel 30. here in Charles town, WV. they put in a great signal.



Thanks, I'll give that a try. I looked up signals on tvfool.com and it looks like channel 30 is broadcasting a MUCH more powerful signal. I assume I just tune my HDTV tuner to channel 30? Thanks again.


----------



## Devin Clancy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *parkay57* /forum/post/11354991
> 
> 
> We've just made the switch to FiOs at my house, but we're currently keeping Cox Cable as a backup for another month just in case. Well coincidentally, Cox called the house to inform us that as CableCard users (two in a TiVo Series 3 and one in our Samsung DLP), they would be upgrading us to CableCard 2.0 soon which will give us some increased functionality. However, they said that most users will require a new converter box that is capable of handling the new technology AND that the old 1.0 cards would no longer be able to decode the digital and HD channels. Now this doesn't affect me right now because hopefully FiOs will work well and I won't have to ever go back to Cox. However, I am still outraged that they would cripple the old technology just so they try to force CableCard consumers to once again have to pay extra just to rent (or buy) a cumbersome converter box. I know my Series 3 can handle 2.0, but I doubt my older Samsung can. This just confirms for me that I've made the right decision to go with FiOs (*knock on wood*)
> 
> 
> Has anyone else gotten this call?



I just got a similar call saying that I would need to convert to an HD box to get new HD channels that they plan to add soon. He said I'd be able to keep my old ones (in a Tivo Series 3) to get everything now, but that new channels would be SDV and would not work with old cable cards. This is in Herndon, where for some reason my complex is the only place in the area without FIOS.


I was under the impression that Tivo series 3s were screwed when it came to more advanced cable cards. has anything changed recently with that?


EDIT: And just how many additional channels are out there now anyway? The only ones I don't get are Cinemax, Food and HGTV. (and of course, the HDNets)


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DCGuy64* /forum/post/11395443
> 
> 
> Hi, I just got my HDTV tuner the other day and my new antenna installed on Tuesday. I get a lot of DTV stations, which is great. However, for some reason the Mhz stations only come in sporadically. Anyone else having problems with them? I'm thinking of buying a signal amplifier to improve the signal. Any thoughts? Thanks, Stephen



Where are you located and which antenna are you using? A pre-amp is not a good idea if you are too close to the DC broadcast towers. As already posted, the WNVT-DT MHz 30 station in Goldvein, VA at 160 kW and 229 meters HAAT (height above average terrain) is much easier to get over most of the DC area than WNVC-DT MHz 56 (on UHF 57) in Fairfax at 7.3 kW and 174 meters HAAT. I can get WNVT-DT 30 from north end of Sterling with my CM 4221 antenna aimed 130 degrees away at Baltimore. I have never had much luck in getting WNVC-DT on UHF 57 (although I have never really tried).


BTW, the antenna for WNVT-DT 30 is actually located west of Dale City near Rt. 234 and some miles NE of Goldvein. WNVC-DT MHz 56 will be moving from UHF 57 (out of core) to UHF 24 and boosting it's power to 50 kW after the analog shutdown in February, 2009 which will make it easier to pick up.


----------



## tanfan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *inlogan* /forum/post/11390716
> 
> 
> It's showing HD now, but the quality is horrible. I miss the old subchannel lineup!



I agree. The quality last night (on the MPT "HD" channel) left a _lot_ to be desired--and I just noticed that _MotorWeek_ tonight was windowboxed (used to fill the screen on the "PBS HD" channel).










Thank you, GoIrish and Cyclone the other night for the warm welcome! Sorry it has taken me so long to acknowledge it!


----------



## essay




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Count Blah* /forum/post/11353135
> 
> 
> You are mirroring my experience. Also, 116-1 doesn't show up as a channel either. I'll rescan(yet again) later tonight when I'm home.



I have started getting WUSA-HD (9.1) as of a little while ago. Earlier today, it was not being detected. I am also getting WJLA Weather Now at 7-6 (since Saturday) and WRC Weather Plus on 4-3.


Digital MHZ network channels are on 126.x.

WDCA-HD (My Network) is on 20-2.


WDCW-HD is still not available to me on clear QAM.


----------



## compuwizz

WDCW-HD is on 127.1 and has the correct PSIP as 3.1 WDCW-HD


----------



## SUOrangeman

I few minor quibbles with the first post of this thread:


1) DiscoveryHD is carried by Cox-Fairfax; I can only presume that other providers have it as well. The who's-got-what doesn't reflect this.


2) Food-HD, HGTV-HD, NFL-HD and possibly others are listed twice in the aforementioned chart.


3) I *think* MHz 30 subchannels are available on Cox-Fairfax in some other programming tier.


Not related to the first post, but I still don't see My20 in clear QAM on Cox.


-SUO


Minor update not worth its own post: My20 is now in clear QAM on Cox.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SUOrangeman* /forum/post/11403890
> 
> 
> 1) DiscoveryHD is carried by Cox-Fairfax; I can only presume that other providers have it as well. The who's-got-what doesn't reflect this.



No, this is the new Discovery HD channel that started up last week on Dish. It is a simulcast of the Discovery SD channel. The channel that has been around for years is the Discovery HD Theater channel which has it own schedule. Confusing for sure. Four new national HD channels started up on Dish last week - Discovery-HD, Animal Planet-HD, TLC-HD, Discovery Science-HD - which are only on Dish AFAIK so far. I hope Verizon Fios add these channels along with the other impending startups - History-HD, TBS-HD are supposed go live by September 1 - very soon. I want Mythbusters in HD!!! As well as A&E-HD, Versus/Golf-HD, CSN Mid-Atlantic HD,...


With all the HD channels starting up, that is why Cox is going to SDV although that will create serious issues for QAM and cable card users. The better solution is to shut down 10 or 20 analog channels, but that will get the analog subscribers upset.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/11380747
> 
> 
> 22-1 is now the "HD" (1080i) channel. It still has the same programming as the "old" (480i) 22-1 except for when an HD program is broadcast. 22-2 is MPT Select. 22-3 is MPT V-Me and is a Spanish-language channel.



The new MPT lineup sucks out loud. Very little HD anymore. And they even took down the other subs that had some varied programming all in the name of perpetuating Spanish. Didn't they ever hear of SAP? Why a different channel when they could supply Spanish on an existing channel.


Meanwhile, they take away two channels to add one. Then take away the bulk of their HD programming?


So much for me contributing in the future.


I have just sent them an email saying they have stepped backward and are doing a disservice to the majority of their community by dedicating a channel to a small group while eliminating services of a broader appeal.


----------



## zoso124

I'm in Gaithersburg, just set up my TV two nights ago. I am getting WUSA-HD on 9.1, Any ideas if we'll be able to get the fights on Saturday?


----------



## billodom




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/11404493
> 
> 
> The new MPT lineup sucks out loud.
> 
> 
> So much for me contributing in the future.
> 
> 
> I have just sent them an email saying they have stepped backward and are doing a disservice to the majority of their community by dedicating a channel to a small group while eliminating services of a broader appeal.



On Wednesday afternoon (8/22) I composed a letter that I intended to mail that pretty much echoes what you have said. Then I thought I would wait a while before sending it to see how this shakes out. Reading your post has made me decide to go ahead and send the letter. I have been a member for the last few years but that is coming to an end. On the audio side, you may have noticed that they have now left their 5.1 flag on even when the program is in ordinary stereo, so no more surround on regular 2.0 programs which of course are still the vast majority of PBS' HD programs. Doing a brief A/B comparison of WETA and MPT from last night (Thursday, 8/23) of the program they were getting off the PBS national HD feed (Adventure Lodges of North America) MPT now has the same bit-starved picture that WETA has. To paraphrase Cylone GT, HD revolution indeed.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SUOrangeman* /forum/post/11403890
> 
> 
> I few minor quibbles with the first post of this thread:
> 
> 
> 1) DiscoveryHD is carried by Cox-Fairfax; I can only presume that other providers have it as well. The who's-got-what doesn't reflect this.
> 
> 
> 2) Food-HD, HGTV-HD, NFL-HD and possibly others are listed twice in the aforementioned chart.
> 
> 
> 3) I *think* MHz 30 subchannels are available on Cox-Fairfax in some other programming tier.
> 
> -SUO



Thanks for the proof-reading. There are now two Discovery HD channels, so that explains that difference. The duplicate entries are due to my using "copy" when I should have used "cut" when I shifted some entries around. The Mhz channels I just outright missed updating.


But I have made the corrections, so thanks for your input. If anyone sees other discrepancies, please let me know.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/11407020
> 
> 
> Thanks for the proof-reading. There are now two Discovery HD channels, so that explains that difference. The duplicate entries are due to my using "copy" when I should have used "cut" when I shifted some entries around. The Mhz channels I just outright missed updating.
> 
> 
> But I have made the corrections, so thanks for your input. If anyone sees other discrepancies, please let me know.




22-1 is now the HD channel. 22-2 is MPT Select. 22-3 is MPT V-Me. 22-3 and 22-4 are gone.


----------



## DCGuy64




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/11401678
> 
> 
> Where are you located and which antenna are you using? A pre-amp is not a good idea if you are too close to the DC broadcast towers. As already posted, the WNVT-DT MHz 30 station in Goldvein, VA at 160 kW and 229 meters HAAT (height above average terrain) is much easier to get over most of the DC area than WNVC-DT MHz 56 (on UHF 57) in Fairfax at 7.3 kW and 174 meters HAAT. I can get WNVT-DT 30 from north end of Sterling with my CM 4221 antenna aimed 130 degrees away at Baltimore. I have never had much luck in getting WNVC-DT on UHF 57 (although I have never really tried).
> 
> 
> BTW, the antenna for WNVT-DT 30 is actually located west of Dale City near Rt. 234 and some miles NE of Goldvein. WNVC-DT MHz 56 will be moving from UHF 57 (out of core) to UHF 24 and boosting it's power to 50 kW after the analog shutdown in February, 2009 which will make it easier to pick up.



Hi, I'm located in Falls Church, VA just a mile off Rt 50. I have a CM 3016 antenna which, according to the installer, gets a strong signal. However, for some reason I cannot get WNVT 57 DTV. I also cannot get channel 30, either. :-( I do have the coax on a splitter so I can get Tivo as well as HDTV. However, I experimented by routing the coax directly to the HDTV and the problem persists. My installer mentioned we're getting interference from somewhere, but darned if I can figure out where it's coming from. Good to know about channel 57 moving to 24, but that's 1½ years away.


----------



## DCGuy64




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gary michaels* /forum/post/11396431
> 
> 
> Stephen, MHz on 57 is operating with only about 7kw power. it is not a surprise you have a problem with them. try the same programming from the Goldvein,VA. transmitter on digital channel 30. here in Charles town, WV. they put in a great signal.



Hi, I tried that last night, but no joy. I'm not getting DTV channel 30 at all. Weird...


----------



## shortstop11_jeff

Anyone else out there having major pixelation problems on channels 72-79 on D* just noticed it while whatching lord of the rings- it isnt showing up on the local HD's just the higher HD channels- almost like a storm moving in. No storms on radar to block it though...


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DCGuy64* /forum/post/11408131
> 
> 
> Hi, I'm located in Falls Church, VA just a mile off Rt 50. I have a CM 3016 antenna which, according to the installer, gets a strong signal. However, for some reason I cannot get WNVT 57 DTV. I also cannot get channel 30, either. :-( I do have the coax on a splitter so I can get Tivo as well as HDTV. However, I experimented by routing the coax directly to the HDTV and the problem persists. My installer mentioned we're getting interference from somewhere, but darned if I can figure out where it's coming from. Good to know about channel 57 moving to 24, but that's 1½ years away.



The Channel Master 3016 is a medium range conventional VHF/UHF antenna which is moderately directional. I assume it is aimed at the DC stations to your NE. WNVC-DT is in the other direction, but off at an angle. You are so close to the WNVC-DT tower near the Beltway in Merrifield, I would have thought that the antenna would easily have picked up WNVC-DT in a backlobe. But you may be close enough to be underneath the antenna pattern and are not getting that strong a signal. Or least not strong enough with it's low power to come in a backlobe of the CM 3016.


If you have a tabletop UHF loop antenna with a 75 ohm connector sitting around, I suggest you hook it up, aim the open face of the loop towards Merrifield and see if you can get WNVC-DT. If you can access the CM 3016 and tweak the aim, I suggest you move it to the left and right a bit to see if that helps to pick up WNVC-DT or WNVT-DT. Here is the predicted beam pattern for the CM 3018, the next step up in the series: http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/cm3018.html .


Questions: Do you get the Baltimore digital stations with the CM 3016? If you have an analog tuner hooked up, do you get the WNVC-TV 56 analog station ok? Finally, what are you using for an ATSC tuner?


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *essay* /forum/post/11403475
> 
> 
> I have started getting WUSA-HD (9.1) as of a little while ago. Earlier today, it was not being detected. I am also getting WJLA Weather Now at 7-6 (since Saturday) and WRC Weather Plus on 4-3.
> 
> 
> Digital MHZ network channels are on 126.x.
> 
> WDCA-HD (My Network) is on 20-2.
> 
> 
> WDCW-HD is still not available to me on clear QAM.



I don't kow what happened, but all is MUCH better - FINALLY!!!!


I'm getting 9-1(HD), 7-5(HD), 7-6(weather), 5-2(HD), 4-1(HD), 4-3(weather), 127-1(CW-HD), 20-2(My20-HD), 103-10(Discovery-HD), 108-*(VOD mystery channel), 26-1(WETA-HD)


Took long enough, but the world is finally back in order.


----------



## PGHammer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/11108586
> 
> 
> BY the way the amplifier that Comcast put in our system is a Viewsonics VSMA-601C http://www.broadbandamps.com/Products/VSMA-601C.htm
> 
> Anybody have any experience with this? At the moment it is setup to be plugged in all the time (via their transformer). There is no off switch so I guess it is drawing energy all the time. Should I unplug it when I'm not using the cable or is it drawing so little that I shouldn't worry about it?
> 
> 
> Last night I saw The Closer with our new improved signal. It looked really nice.
> 
> 
> Neil



I have the same inline single-port amplifier (also Comcast-installed) running last-ten-feet to my 42PF7320A/37; whereas normally I'd have trouble pulling any decent digital signals (even analog signals would be messy), now my OTAs are whistle-clean (and I get them *all*, even the digital OTA ones out of Baltimore), and definitely get all the channels I should be.


----------



## ogbuehi




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Devin Clancy* /forum/post/11397886
> 
> 
> I just got a similar call saying that I would need to convert to an HD box to get new HD channels that they plan to add soon. He said I'd be able to keep my old ones (in a Tivo Series 3) to get everything now, but that new channels would be SDV and would not work with old cable cards. This is in Herndon, where for some reason my complex is the only place in the area without FIOS.
> 
> 
> I was under the impression that Tivo series 3s were screwed when it came to more advanced cable cards. has anything changed recently with that?
> 
> 
> EDIT: And just how many additional channels are out there now anyway? The only ones I don't get are Cinemax, Food and HGTV. (and of course, the HDNets)



You guys seem to have gotten a little more information than me when you got your call. They just told me that cablecard would no longer be supported and that I would lose some channels and not get some of the new HD channels being offered. Fortunately though it's channels that I would probably never watch and I was losing channels I don't watch anyway. All I watch are the premiums so I don't care until they offer Cinemax, TMC, and other of feeds of HBO and Showtime in HD.


----------



## mnestheus

As some of you might know, BTN is launching on August 30. DirecTV and AT&T U-Verse will be launching the channel as part of their basic package while Comcast will not offer it at all due to some complications in negotiations. My questions:


1. Has anyone heard the details about BTN's negotiations with VZ, SPECIFICALLY, for the DC area?

2. BTN wants to have the channel offered as basic. Is it likely that VZ will go along with this for people outside of the Conference footprint (which is basically the Midwest/Penn.)?


A couple links for those interested:

http://www.mgoblue.com/document_disp...cument_id=7324 
http://pennstate.scout.com/2/671599.html


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mnestheus* /forum/post/11418444
> 
> 
> 1. Has anyone heard the details about BTN's negotiations with VZ, SPECIFICALLY, for the DC area?
> 
> 2. BTN wants to have the channel offered as basic. Is it likely that VZ will go along with this for people outside of the Conference footprint (which is basically the Midwest/Penn.)?



This is really a question for the FIOS Programming thread in the HDTV Programming forum. If Fios adds the Big Ten Network, it would presumably be as a national sports channel or a RSN that would be in many of their regions. Given the stiff monthly fee that the BTN wants per subscriber, if Fios adds it, I would expect them to put it in the separate premium Sports Tier. But there has been absolutely nothing from Verizon on when they will add the new national HD channels that have and are about to start up or Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic HD, so I wouldn't expect to hear from them on the BTN. My hope is that Verizon is waiting to add a bunch of new HD channels in September after TBS-HD, History-HD have started up so they can fold them into one big September roll-out. But that may be wishful thinking.


----------



## markbulla

Ditto for today.


Mark



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/11296889
> 
> 
> Because:
> 
> 
> 1) They aren't sending it in HD
> 
> 
> and
> 
> 
> 2) Even if it was available in HD, we don't currently have a way to switch it into the HD program stream
> 
> 
> Just thought I would answer the "why isn't WBFF sending the pre-season game in HD?" question before it's asked.
> 
> 
> Cheers!
> 
> 
> Mark


----------



## Borky

I live in an apartment in College Park, MD near the Univ of Maryland. I only have basic analaog cable (from a jack in the wall) from comcast available as far as I know. I just got a plasma HDTV with a QAM tuner and I'm pulling a good number of HD channels such as TNT, A&E, PBS, ABC, FOX, CBS, and NBC. However, not all of them are coming up as the listed channels on TitanTV; for example I get a bunch of channels in the 120-x - 132-x range. These include things like FOX HD or NBC which are otherwise listed in the single digit range. Anyway, that's really besides the point. What I'm wondering is if I would benefit from getting an indoor HDTV antenna, I can't install an outdoor at my apartment for obvious reasons. Here is my antennaweb output for digital only:


* yellow - uhf WMPT-DT 22.1 PBS ANNAPOLIS MD 98° 17.8 42

* red - uhf WUSA-DT 9.1 CBS WASHINGTON DC 255° 8.2 34

* red - uhf WRC-DT 4.1 NBC WASHINGTON DC 251° 8.6 48

* red - uhf WFDC-DT 14.1 TFA ARLINGTON VA 251° 8.6 15

* red - uhf WTTG-DT 5.1 FOX WASHINGTON DC 258° 8.2 36

* red - uhf WJLA-DT 7.1 ABC WASHINGTON DC 255° 8.2 39

* red - uhf WHUT-DT 33 PBS WASHINGTON DC TBD 255° 8.2 33

* red - uhf WDCW-DT 50.1 CW WASHINGTON DC 250° 5.3 51

* blue - uhf WJZ-DT 13.1 CBS BALTIMORE MD 44° 27.8 38

* blue - uhf WBAL-DT 11.1 NBC BALTIMORE MD 44° 27.8 59

* blue - uhf WBFF-DT 45.1 FOX BALTIMORE MD 44° 27.9 46

* blue - uhf WNUV-DT 54.1 CW BALTIMORE MD 44° 27.9 40

* blue - uhf WMAR-DT 2.1 ABC BALTIMORE MD 44° 27.8 52

* violet - uhf WETA-DT 26.1 PBS WASHINGTON DC 244° 12.7 27

* violet - uhf WDCA-DT 20.1 MNT WASHINGTON DC 255° 8.2 35


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/11418870
> 
> 
> This is really a question for the FIOS Programming thread in the HDTV Programming forum. If Fios adds the Big Ten Network, it would presumably be as a national sports channel or a RSN that would be in many of their regions. Given the stiff monthly fee that the BTN wants per subscriber, if Fios adds it, I would expect them to put it in the separate premium Sports Tier. But there has been absolutely nothing from Verizon on when they will add the new national HD channels that have and are about to start up or Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic HD, so I wouldn't expect to hear from them on the BTN. My hope is that Verizon is waiting to add a bunch of new HD channels in September after TBS-HD, History-HD have started up so they can fold them into one big September roll-out. But that may be wishful thinking.



At this point, the BTN is only offering non-sports tier alternatives. It depends on how Fios does these deals. They could add it outside Big Ten territory (including Maryland) for next to nothing. The "stiff monthly fee" that the BTN is asking for is about a buck a month for those only in Big Ten territory. Outside there it is dirt cheap.


I can't call it stiff when it is only local and it is less than MASN and includes HD and multiple feeds.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Borky* /forum/post/11429790
> 
> 
> I live in an apartment in College Park, MD near the Univ of Maryland. I only have basic analaog cable (from a jack in the wall) from comcast available as far as I know. I just got a plasma HDTV with a QAM tuner and I'm pulling a good number of HD channels such as TNT, A&E, PBS, ABC, FOX, CBS, and NBC. However, not all of them are coming up as the listed channels on TitanTV; for example I get a bunch of channels in the 120-x - 132-x range. These include things like FOX HD or NBC which are otherwise listed in the single digit range. Anyway, that's really besides the point. What I'm wondering is if I would benefit from getting an indoor HDTV antenna, I can't install an outdoor at my apartment for obvious reasons. Here is my antennaweb output for digital only:



The 120-x to 132-x are the actual QAM channel numbers. Are you saying on the cable system that WRC-DT NBC 4 is mapped to 4-1 and WTTG-DT Fox 5 is mapped to 5-1 by your TV? If so, that means the cable company is passing the PSIP channel map info which makes it a lot easier to find them. Don't count on TNT-HD or A&E-HD remaining available. Comcast is likely to start scrambling them sometime soon. Cable companies will leave national cable channels in the clear (unscrambled) when they move them around and will then turn on the encryption after they are done.


As for over the air reception, you need a UHF antenna. You are probably not concerned about the digital channel re-alignment in February, 2009 after the analog shutdown. The Silver Sensor UHF antenna is a good indoor antenna. It is sold under the Philips and Terk brand names. If you can find one sitting around, you could try a simple UHF loop / VHF rabbit ear tabletop antenna.


----------



## Borky

Well is there an advantage of getting an antenna if I already get certain channels with the built-in tuner? The picture quality is quite good and I see what I believe to be 100% signal strength so would it improve PQ or what? That's what I'm asking.


----------



## HokieNav

Your PQ may go up some, as you'll be skipping any compression that the cable company is doing to the signal.


The only other reason is for ease of use (not having to remember if 9-1 is 125.8 or 126.4). The QAM channel assignments may move around too, so if that happens you'll have to do a rescan and remember a new set of numbers.


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Borky* /forum/post/11430493
> 
> 
> Well is there an advantage of getting an antenna if I already get certain channels with the built-in tuner? The picture quality is quite good and I see what I believe to be 100% signal strength so would it improve PQ or what? That's what I'm asking.



I think I have the same Comcast Basic cable, and while I have an attic antenna for OTA, I very seldom use OTA. Comcast in our area is now providing very good QAM signals and many channels. The number and position of any channel can change at any time, but at the present time I don't see the need for an antenna. There are useful channels in the 132 and 134 positions.


----------



## tanfan

To anyone who has tried to e-mail me, I apologize that I had forgotten that my e-mail address has changed since I registered (nearly 2 years ago)! Therefore, as I understand it, my e-mails have been bouncing back! I just want everyone to know that I have now updated my e-mail address! (Thank you!)


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tanfan* /forum/post/11435178
> 
> 
> To anyone who has tried to e-mail me, I apologize that I had forgotten that my e-mail address has changed since I registered (nearly 2 years ago)! Therefore, as I understand it, my e-mails have been bouncing back! I just want everyone to know that I have now updated my e-mail address!



Ah, ha! So now I know why my "return to sender" postage bill was so high this month!


----------



## tanfan




----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/11436365
> 
> 
> Ah, ha! So now I know why my "return to sender" postage bill was so high this month!



Yeah, those must have been some pretty popular posts(2) in the prior 2 years


----------



## CycloneGT

Some guy in Pittsburgh sent me a PM in response to my signature. I have tried to reply to him, but his PM is disabled. He must think that I am ignoring him. Oh well.


----------



## jmahone

Forgive me if I mangle the jargon here and/or spout misinformation; it has been awhile since I have been actively reading the forum, and I'm a bit rusty on local HDTV reception.


Has anyone noticed a difference in the screen resolution/format of WBAL HD? I have D* HD and a Sony 40" LCD HDTV (V2500), and the way I have it set up, WBAL used to come in just fine. Within the past week, it seems that commercials and local programming (news) are stretched. I have checked to make sure the TV is set in pillar box, and yet, it seems that some if not all of the local stuff is stretched, which I find totally distracting.


If it seemed that all content was stretched, I would think the problem would have been an inadvertent change to the way my HR20 and Sony are configured. My Sony is set for 1080p pillar box. Though a nice control test would have been to check 11-1, and I neglected to do that.


I admit from the start that I have not fully figured out the dance between broadcast formats and optimizing my TV, but I did have it stable and how I wanted it, and do not believe I changed anything on my end. Perhaps an HR20 reboot happened, it changed my setup, and I didn't realize it?


Any others?


TIA,

Jerry


----------



## wmcbrine

WBAL has been stretching for years. Usually, for SD programming, it's a 14:9 stretch (or thereabouts), with cropping of the top and bottom. For SD commercials inserted into HD programs, it's a full 16:9 stretch with no cropping.


I don't have it handy to check what they're doing now.


On another note... I was happy not to see WMAR's hideous giant bug on my last recording from 2-1. Has it been retired? It really MARred the picture.


----------



## markbulla

Hey Jerry -


All of the programming, except the HD network feeds, are stretched on WBAL and have been for as long as I can remember. I'm not sure how you were seeing it any other way - I've never heard of a setting on a tv to un-stretch a picture, although most, if not all, receivers have a setting to stretch the picture to fill the screen... You've hit on a problem that bugs me, and a lot of other people on this forum. Lots of people have complained to WBAL but, to date, they haven't changed it. I will only watch network programming on that channel. I refuse to watch the stretch-o-vision.


Mark



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jmahone* /forum/post/11446259
> 
> 
> Forgive me if I mangle the jargon here and/or spout misinformation; it has been awhile since I have been actively reading the forum, and I'm a bit rusty on local HDTV reception.
> 
> 
> Has anyone noticed a difference in the screen resolution/format of WBAL HD? I have D* HD and a Sony 40" LCD HDTV (V2500), and the way I have it set up, WBAL used to come in just fine. Within the past week, it seems that commercials and local programming (news) are stretched. I have checked to make sure the TV is set in pillar box, and yet, it seems that some if not all of the local stuff is stretched, which I find totally distracting.
> 
> 
> If it seemed that all content was stretched, I would think the problem would have been an inadvertent change to the way my HR20 and Sony are configured. My Sony is set for 1080p pillar box. Though a nice control test would have been to check 11-1, and I neglected to do that.
> 
> 
> I admit from the start that I have not fully figured out the dance between broadcast formats and optimizing my TV, but I did have it stable and how I wanted it, and do not believe I changed anything on my end. Perhaps an HR20 reboot happened, it changed my setup, and I didn't realize it?
> 
> 
> Any others?
> 
> 
> TIA,
> 
> Jerry


----------



## raidbuck

I did see an HD program on the "new" MPTHD (I forgot, some outdoors show).


What really bothers me is that now we have to live with the pledge drives to see PBSHD programs. That really stinks.


I also emailed MPT to tell them how upset I was.


Rich N.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/11447069
> 
> 
> WBAL has been stretching for years. Usually, for SD programming, it's a 14:9 stretch (or thereabouts), with cropping of the top and bottom. For SD commercials inserted into HD programs, it's a full 16:9 stretch with no cropping.
> 
> 
> I don't have it handy to check what they're doing now.
> 
> 
> On another note... I was happy not to see WMAR's hideous giant bug on my last recording from 2-1. Has it been retired? It really MARred the picture.



Looking at it in my office, WBAL is still ~14:9. There are narrow black bars on each side of the picture - maybe 1/3 as wide as on a 4:3 pillar boxed picture.


Mark


----------



## robmfielding

What brand of Cable Card does Comcast use in Montgomery County, MD? I have a TivoHD and am considering using it with Comcast. Anyone have any experience in the county with Comcast and the new TivoHD? Pixellation and/or installation problems?

Thanks,

Rob


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gary michaels* /forum/post/11396431
> 
> 
> Stephen, MHz on 57 is operating with only about 7kw power. it is not a surprise you have a problem with them. try the same programming from the Goldvein,VA. transmitter on digital channel 30.



Except for subchannel 1, which mirrors analog 56, channels 30 and 57 no longer carry the same programming.


----------



## tanfan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *raidbuck* /forum/post/11447130
> 
> 
> I did see an HD program on the "new" MPTHD (I forgot, some outdoors show).
> 
> 
> What really bothers me is that now we have to live with the pledge drives to see PBSHD programs. That really stinks.
> 
> 
> I also emailed MPT to tell them how upset I was.
> 
> 
> Rich N.



I have seen about 3 "HD" programs on the "new" MPT "HD" channel--except those programs were never listed in the MPT program guide as being HD, so I only "discovered" them when I flipped them on.


That said, apparently there is now, officially, no more "MPT HD" channel, since MPT has now changed the bug on that channel to simply "MPT"--and raised it up a little and made it more opaque.







Also, there is no separate program guide for an "MPT HD" channel; there are simply program guides for "MPT" and the two (SD) subchannels. I did see an "HD" program (NOVA) on the "MPT" channel last night, however, so I guess MPT still intends to pass through any HD programs broadcast by PBS. Likewise, I guess this is how MPT has decided to "solve" the PR problem generated by eliminating the "old" "MPT HD" channel: by simply eliminating any reference to an "MPT HD" channel.


billodom, I have been trying to get them to correct the 5.1 flag "problem," as well.


----------



## Marcus Carr

HD channels now in test mode on D* (not viewable by the public):


9800 CSTV

9801 FSN Midwest

9802 FSN Bay Area

9803 FSN Houston

9804 Disney Channel

9805 Animal Planet

9806 FSN North

9807 FSN New England

9808 FX

9809 Toon Disney

9810 ESPN News

9811 FSN Northwest

9812 FSN New York

9813 CD USA "The 101"

9814 Cinemax HD

9815 National Georaphic

9816 FSN Pittsburgh

9817 MSG

9818 MTV

9819 HBO West

9820 NBA TV

9821 FSN Rocky Mountain

9822 SportsNet New York

9823 A&E

9824 Starz Edge

9825 NFL Network

9826 FSN South

9827 YES

9828 Starz West

9829 Starz East

9830 NHL

9831 FSN Southwest

9832 Science Channel

9833 History Channel

9834 Showtime West

9835 Outdoor

9836 FSN West

9827 SportsSouth

9838 Discovery

9839 Movie Channel

9840 Tennis Channel

9841 FSN Prime Ticket

9842 Speed

9843 Fuel

9844 HGTV

9845 Spike

9846 Sun Sports

9847 Starz Comedy

9848 Big Ten

9849 CNN

9850 Comcast SportsNet Chicago

9851 FSN Ohio

9852 Sho Too

9853 The Weather Channel

9854 TBS

9855 Cartoon Network

9856 FSN Cincinnati

9857 Starz Kids & Family

9858 Bravo

9859 Comedy Central

9860 Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic

9861 FSN Florida

9862 TLC

9863 CSN West

9864 Versus

9865 MASN/ SportsTime Ohio

9866 Altitude

9867 Cinemax West

9863 Sci-Fi

9869 MHD

9870 FSN Arizona

9871 Chiller/ SAC MNT

9872 ABC Family

9873 USA Network

9874 Nickelodeon East

9875 FSN Detroit

9876 NESN

9877 CNBC

9878 The Food Network

9879 VH1

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...851257&page=30 


Note that MASN is on the list.


----------



## lax01




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/11465127
> 
> 
> HD channels now in test mode on D* (not viewable by the public):
> 
> 
> 9842 Speed
> 
> 9863 Sci-Fi


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/11465127
> 
> 
> HD channels now in test mode on D* (not viewable by the public):
> 
> 
> 9865 MASN/ SportsTime Ohio
> 
> 
> =Note that MASN is on the list.



I think before people get too excited about this, it is not clear how many of these channels will be added in September. Many of the channels on the list were earlier listed as starting up sometime in Oct/Nov or at an undefined date. Many of these are likely to be placeholders for months, even after the D* satellite goes live for their subscribers. Still, we are finally getting close to the time where almost all the cable/sat channels we watch are HD.


The MASN inclusion is interesting, but MASN was making noises earlier this year before the baseball season started that they might go HD. I figured they would have at least a MASN-HD around by next season. But it would figure that a Peter Angelos controlled sports net would start up in HD not long after the baseball season is over.







Seriously though how the heck will they handle the MASN2 games? Would they provide a second HD feed to the cable/sat providers?


----------



## CycloneGT

Yeah, its good to see their line up listed, but I doubt that those channels will all be available for D* in Sept. I don't doubt D*'s capability to carry them, just that I'm not sure those guys would be ready in time.


Plus I bet many of them will be like the new Discovery HD channels which are SD a majority of the time.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> DIRECTV told TVPredictions.com tonight that it will likely add from 20 to 40 new High-Definition channels by Sunday, September 16.





> Quote:
> After the first rollout, DIRECTV will add another group of channels soon thereafter and then another group until it reaches the 70 mark by the end of September.


 http://www.tvpredictions.com/directvhd082907.htm


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Now as far as HD, from what former O's pitcher Dave Johnson said on his Saturday-morning radio show with Tom Davis, MASN can't broadcast in HD because Comcast doesn't provide a dedicated channel. That puts a whole new light on things. From what Johnson says, it is safe to surmise that MASN would certainly broadcast the games in HD but can't because Comcast, the company that controls the channel, can't or won't designate an HD channel for the network.


 http://www.pressboxonline.com/story.cfm?id=2403


----------



## GoIrish

Quote:

Now as far as HD, from what former O's pitcher Dave Johnson said on his Saturday-morning radio show with Tom Davis, MASN can't broadcast in HD because Comcast doesn't provide a dedicated channel. That puts a whole new light on things. From what Johnson says, it is safe to surmise that MASN would certainly broadcast the games in HD but can't because Comcast, the company that controls the channel, can't or won't designate an HD channel for the network.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/11468283
> 
> http://www.pressboxonline.com/story.cfm?id=2403



I expect we'll hear more about this comment by Johnson since this is a blatantly false statement.


GoIrish


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GoIrish* /forum/post/11468495
> 
> 
> Quote:
> 
> Now as far as HD, from what former O’s pitcher Dave Johnson said on his Saturday-morning radio show with Tom Davis, MASN can’t broadcast in HD because Comcast doesn’t provide a dedicated channel...
> 
> 
> 
> I expect we'll hear more about this comment by Johnson since this is a blatantly false statement.
> 
> 
> GoIrish



I agree...


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Also noticed yesterday on my Directv H20 receiver that a software upgrade was applied Tuesday morning. All the local subs were listed (for a second I thought they were coming in off the dish, dream on), including 25 and 57, but no Baltimore (zip 20165), probably tied in to what Marcus has observed.


Some of the fonts had changed, as well as the scrolling behavior on the guide and favorites menus.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GoIrish* /forum/post/11468495
> 
> 
> I expect we'll hear more about this comment by Johnson since this is a blatantly false statement.



It isn't completely false. There is not a dedicated channel for the Orioles games. Some of the games are on MASN and some are on MASN2. MASN2 shares its frequency with C-SPAN2. Maybe this is what he is referring to.


Neil


----------



## wfujosh

Is there a way to get a more "modern" look to the Cox DVR and Menu Guide interface? Mine looks like Atari 2600. I'd at least like to know if I can get time remaining or elapsed to show on the dvr controls.


----------



## dg28

WUSA's website does not list tonight's Redskins pre season as being in HD. However , CSN's website does (CSN producces the games for WUSA). Let's hope CSN has got in right here. Or maybe the game will only be available in HD on CSNHD? We shall see....


----------



## CycloneGT

Book mark for this thread.


Since they switched over the to new software, my old book mark which had always taken me to the final post of this thread stopped working. Well, after a little digging around, it appears that the "last post" feature is no longer supported in this forum software. But there is a bit of a work around that allows you to instead go to the first "unread" post of a thread. If any of you directly book mark to this thread, you may want to change the bookmark to this.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...wpost&t=793124


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/11469237
> 
> 
> It isn't completely false. There is not a dedicated channel for the Orioles games. Some of the games are on MASN and some are on MASN2. MASN2 shares its frequency with C-SPAN2. Maybe this is what he is referring to.
> 
> 
> Neil



What is false is that Comcast does not control the channel (MASN).


It is possible Comcast is not providing MASN with an HD channel (or two) but MASN is also on DirecTV and DiSH and Verizon and other cable systems. In fact, Comcast was the LAST system MASN made it to.


Comcast is not the deciding factor for MASN. Or at least it should not be.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/11466794
> 
> 
> Yeah, its good to see their line up listed, but I doubt that those channels will all be available for D* in Sept. I don't doubt D*'s capability to carry them, just that I'm not sure those guys would be ready in time.
> 
> 
> Plus I bet many of them will be like the new Discovery HD channels which are SD a majority of the time.



These are only test channels. They are setting them up to test the satellite and can only be seen by those with engineering cards. The list points to a soon-to-be state but not what is coming and in what order.


Nor does it show the end channels. They will be on the same channel as the SD counterpart when one exists.


However, HR20 users are seeing more transponders (even though to date they have been showing zeros) so things are sure happening.


----------



## ojready

anyone know what the comcast customer retention phone number is? I was gonna call and tell them I was going to leave for Directv if they didn't make it worth my while to stay, but the phone maze ended in dead ends and the number on gethuman.com didn't go directly there. any ideas? the best they could do was put in a request to call me back. that's pretty weak.


----------



## afiggatt

The Skins game is in HD on WUSA-DT 9. But I see some macro blocking on fast motion. Anyone who is also getting the game on Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic HD have comments on the picture quality between the two channels?


----------



## mark_1581




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/11477593
> 
> 
> The Skins game is in HD on WUSA-DT 9. But I see some macro blocking on fast motion. Anyone who is also getting the game on Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic HD have comments on the picture quality between the two channels?



Picture quality for me (Comcast Arl/Alex) seemed about the same on both. I got the occasional macro blocking on both channels, as well as frequent 10-30 second audio drops on both channels.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mark_1581* /forum/post/11478294
> 
> 
> Picture quality for me (Comcast Arl/Alex) seemed about the same on both. I got the occasional macro blocking on both channels, as well as frequent 10-30 second audio drops on both channels.



I'd say the audio drops, associated blocking, switching over to SD and back a couple of times, etc... tells me that the broadcast was not at optimal transmission quality.


----------



## voltore

The audio drops were a problem at the truck in Jacksonville, the video remained stable during the audio drops.


----------



## hokiefan

Is the Ravens game on Fox 45 in HD tonight? It is in HD via the Atlanta NBC station, albeit with falcons announcers







.


----------



## valweh41

no, to ravens HD on fox 45









so old school




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hokiefan* /forum/post/11488333
> 
> 
> Is the Ravens game on Fox 45 in HD tonight? It is in HD via the Atlanta NBC station, albeit with falcons announcers
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .


----------



## Berto1020

Still no A&E HD, NFL Network HD, Universal HD, HGTV HD, Food Network HD here in Montclair, VA...


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hokiefan* /forum/post/11488333
> 
> 
> Is the Ravens game on Fox 45 in HD tonight? It is in HD via the Atlanta NBC station, albeit with falcons announcers
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/11420418
> 
> 
> Ditto for today.
> 
> 
> Mark





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/11296889
> 
> 
> Because:
> 
> 
> 1) They aren't sending it in HD
> 
> 
> and
> 
> 
> 2) Even if it was available in HD, we don't currently have a way to switch it into the HD program stream
> 
> 
> Just thought I would answer the "why isn't WBFF sending the pre-season game in HD?" question before it's asked.
> 
> 
> Cheers!
> 
> 
> Mark



I knew I should have posted something...


Mark


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Berto1020* /forum/post/11490613
> 
> 
> Still no A&E HD, NFL Network HD, Universal HD, HGTV HD, Food Network HD here in Dumfries, VA...



From which provider?


----------



## hokiefan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/11492017
> 
> 
> I knew I should have posted something...
> 
> 
> Mark



Oops, sorry Mark! I was away for most of august and didn't page through all the posts I missed in this thread







. Is this because the fox splicer system can't accept a HD feed from outside the fox digital system?


----------



## hokiefan

How come the BC - Wake Forest game on ABC (WJLA) isn't in HD? Its in HD on ESPN. Its also HD on WMAR. I thought the days of "flipping the switch" were behind us...


----------



## Berto1020




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/11492543
> 
> 
> From which provider?



I have Comcast...aaronwt do you have those channels?


I have the same problem too hokiefan...I have Wake Forest-BC game on ABC-WJLA but its displayed in standard 4:3, and the Wash St-Wisconsin game is blacked out on ESPN-HD but is being shown on standard def ESPN...


----------



## valweh41

baltimore has the WF game in HD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Berto1020* /forum/post/11494690
> 
> 
> I have Comcast...aaronwt do you have those channels?
> 
> 
> I have the same problem too hokiefan...I have Wake Forest-BC game on ABC-WJLA but its displayed in standard 4:3, and the Wash St-Wisconsin game is blacked out on ESPN-HD but is being shown on standard def ESPN...


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hokiefan* /forum/post/11494229
> 
> 
> Oops, sorry Mark! I was away for most of august and didn't page through all the posts I missed in this thread
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . Is this because the fox splicer system can't accept a HD feed from outside the fox digital system?



The FOX splicer system will accept an HD signal. We currently feed our upconverted master control signal into the splicer.


The issue is that the source that we were getting the signal from wasn't providing it to us in HD. I know that the game was available from some place in HD, but it wasn't being sent to us that way... I can't put it on, if I don't receive it...


I have a couple of ways to switch the HD signal into the program stream, one of which I used to put the ACC tournament on the air last year on WNUV. It's not elegant, but it works.


I also have a new piece of equiment that I'm putting in that will take either an HD or SD signal, and put out both an HD and an SD version of it. It has two inputs, and will let me switch another signal into the WBFF program stream. I like this idea better, but I don't have it in yet.


The best idea is to put in a new master control. The best thing about this is that we are already working on it. Unless the schedule changes (again...), it's supposed to be in by the end of the year. It will be all HD, all the way through (well, at least with an HD source, SD sources will be upconverted to HD). That will be nice! It will be for both WNUV and WBFF. I've got my fingers crossed.


Thanks for the understanding! I'm really trying to have the best signal I can on the air.


Cheers -


Mark


----------



## Speqtre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/11492543
> 
> 
> From which provider?



Last time I checked, Comcast has Universal HD in Alexandria, but not Reston/Herndon. How F'ed-up is that? The channel it's on in Alexandria is even empty out here...


Sorry, but I need my fix of BSG in HD! No Comcast for me, even with that sweet, sweet 'dump the dish' promo.


----------



## aaronwt

No Universal HD here in Woodbridge either.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hokiefan* /forum/post/11494236
> 
> 
> How come the BC - Wake Forest game on ABC (WJLA) isn't in HD? Its in HD on ESPN. Its also HD on WMAR. I thought the days of "flipping the switch" were behind us...



Since I have no vested interest in either team, WJLA ensured I wouldn't be watching that game by doing that. Oh well.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/11498250
> 
> 
> Last time I checked, Comcast has Universal HD in Alexandria, but not Reston/Herndon. How F'ed-up is that? The channel it's on in Alexandria is even empty out here...
> 
> 
> Sorry, but I need my fix of BSG in HD! No Comcast for me, even with that sweet, sweet 'dump the dish' promo.



AFAIK, Universal HD has not aired any Battlestar Galactica episodes since they finished the 3rd season run back in May (or was it June?). Sci-Fi HD is supposed to be starting up in September, maybe Oct-Nov, with the new DirecTV HD satellite. So, if your provider - Comcast, Cox, RCN, Verizon Fios, Dish -somehow adds the Sci-Fi channel before the end of the year, the 4th and final season of BSG will be available on the initial run in HD.


From the postings here, we know Cox in Fairfax is adapting SDV, which while it screws cable card subscribers over, should give them the bandwidth to add some of the new HD startups. Fios, I hope, will get pass this stupid new IMG software roll-out and add the new HD channels before long. But does anyone know what Comcast's plans are for expanding HD channel capacity in the area? SDV or shutdown of some analog channels?


----------



## Berto1020




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/11498250
> 
> 
> Last time I checked, Comcast has Universal HD in Alexandria, but not Reston/Herndon. How F'ed-up is that? The channel it's on in Alexandria is even empty out here...
> 
> 
> Sorry, but I need my fix of BSG in HD! No Comcast for me, even with that sweet, sweet 'dump the dish' promo.



Here in Montclair we have several empty channels that other local systems have...Universal HD is on 250 in Alexandria but that channel number isn't even in use here, we have 249 for TNT HD and then it skips to 251 for Comcast SportsNet...we also don't have ESPN Classic which I think is in the Sports Package for Alex. but is also not offered here...maybe there's just not many Comcast subs where I live that they choose not to offer certain channels...


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/11499574
> 
> 
> AFAIK, Universal HD has not aired any Battlestar Galactica episodes since they finished the 3rd season run back in May (or was it June?). Sci-Fi HD is supposed to be starting up in September, maybe Oct-Nov, with the new DirecTV HD satellite. So, if your provider - Comcast, Cox, RCN, Verizon Fios, Dish -somehow adds the Sci-Fi channel before the end of the year, the 4th and final season of BSG will be available on the initial run in HD.
> 
> 
> From the postings here, we know Cox in Fairfax is adapting SDV, which while it screws cable card subscribers over, should give them the bandwidth to add some of the new HD startups. Fios, I hope, will get pass this stupid new IMG software roll-out and add the new HD channels before long. But does anyone know what Comcast's plans are for expanding HD channel capacity in the area? SDV or shutdown of some analog channels?



They recently upgraded the cable plant in my area so they should have room for many more channels. They said in a national press release earlier this year that they would have 30 to 40 HD channels by the end of the year. Which also includes the local HD channels.


----------



## URFloorMatt

Any updated word on WTTG, WRC, or WJLA local news going HD? For the #8 market, Washington is incredibly weak in the local news in HD category, and given that all three networks run news for a substantial portion of their morning and daytime schedules, switches to HD would boost the total amount of network HD substantially.


I know we heard eons ago that WRC would be the last of the NBC O&Os to upgrade, and that upgrades are allegedly occuring at WTTG. What's the status?


----------



## mikepinkerton




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/11505051
> 
> 
> Any updated word on WTTG, WRC, or WJLA local news going HD? For the #8 market, Washington is incredibly weak in the local news in HD category



From http://www.dcrtv.com/ , we're actually #9 now. Atlanta grew faster than we did. That said, I still agree with you.


-Mike


----------



## hokiefan

Does anyone from WRC check this thread out? Or anyone here that knows someone at WRC? I'm sick of the horrible HD PQ during live events (like golf, football, etc). I would like to see what they are receiving from NBC HQ and how they are grooming it for OTA broadcast, including inserting the weatherplus channel. I know the feed from the live event is excellent, but somewhere along the way they are ruining the PQ.


I know I can't just march down to the broadcast studio and demand change, but I'd be willing to work with them and help improve their product.. Wishful thinking anyways...


----------



## bfdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The Skins game is in HD on WUSA-DT 9. But I see some macro blocking on fast motion. Anyone who is also getting the game on Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic HD have comments on the picture quality between the two channels?Picture quality for me (Comcast Arl/Alex) seemed about the same on both. I got the occasional macro blocking on both channels, as well as frequent 10-30 second audio drops on both channels.



I would like to see WUSA increase their bitrate. They are running their HD feed at about 16Mbps. That's fine for series programming, but it is really pushing it for sports like football.


Has anyone contacted WUSA engineering lately and asked them about the possibility of increasing their bitrate for the football season?


----------



## jerwin

What bitrates have the channels standardized on? I'd like to see a table/list.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bfdtv* /forum/post/11508913
> 
> 
> I would like to see WUSA increase their bitrate. They are running their HD feed at about 16Mbps. That's fine for series programming, but it is really pushing it for sports like football.
> 
> 
> Has anyone contacted WUSA engineering lately and asked them about the possibility of increasing their bitrate for the football season?



16 mbs is pretty good for OTA. If anything they might decrease it. I doubt they will increase it. but you never know.


----------



## bfdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jerwin* /forum/post/11509990
> 
> 
> What bitrates have the channels standardized on? I'd like to see a table/list.


_Recent..._
Code:


Code:


[B]Network[/B]   [B]Title[/B]       [B]Minutes[/B]  [B]Size(Gb)[/B]  [B]Bitrate (Mbps)[/B]
WRC       Heroes                            60      7.30       16.61
WJLA      Jeopardy                          30      2.65       12.06
WUSA      Redskins at Jaguars              170     19.80       15.90

_Week of 9/04 - 9/09_
Code:


Code:


[B]Network[/B]   [B]Title[/B]       [B]Minutes[/B]  [B]Size(Gb)[/B]  [B]Bitrate (Mbps)[/B]
WRC       Tonight Show w/ Leno (9/4)       62       7.51       16.54
WBAL      Tonight Show w/ Leno (9/4)       62       7.03       15.48
WTTG      House (9/4)                      60       4.42       10.06
WBFF      House (9/4)                      60       4.36        9.92
WJLA      Grey's Anatomy (9/6)             61       5.31       11.89
WMAR      Grey's Anatomy (9/6)             61       5.65       12.65
WUSA      U.S. Open Tennis (9/7)           60       7.24       16.48
WJZ       U.S. Open Tennis (9/7)           60       8.01       18.23
WUSA      Jericho (9/7)                    60       7.11       16.18
WJZ       Jericho (9/7)                    60       7.91       18.00

These are all average bitrates, peaks are a bit higher.


I will update this post during the week.


----------



## Marcus Carr

History Channel HD is now available on E*.

http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-net...ml#post1015852


----------



## JoeInNVa

Anyone have any idea why the Wisconsin game was blacked out on ESPN-HD on Saturday?


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/11518010
> 
> 
> Anyone have any idea why the Wisconsin game was blacked out on ESPN-HD on Saturday?



Was this on Dish, DirectTV or your cable system? Who was WI playing against? Was this on any local network such as Comcast Sports net or MASN?


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/11520495
> 
> 
> Was this on Dish, DirectTV or your cable system? Who was WI playing against? Was this on any local network such as Comcast Sports net or MASN?



Good thing this it's all lumped into one thread, so we can have confusion like this.


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p

Manassas City VA same boat no NFL FOOD A&E HGTV OR UNIVERSAL HD'S. Loudoun County has A&e and Universal


what gives?


----------



## bfdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DVDO+WESTY=1080p* /forum/post/11520970
> 
> 
> Manassas City VA same boat no NFL FOOD A&E HGTV OR UNIVERSAL HD'S. Loudoun County has A&e and Universal
> 
> 
> what gives?



How many analog channels do they have?


Comcast's 750MHz systems -- especially those with >65 analog channels -- tend to be very conservative about the channels they add. Until SDV is implemented, they are saving their bandwidth for more 'desirable' channels. Comcast's 860-1Ghz systems have more capacity to work with, so they are more aggressive in adding new channels.


If on a 860MHz system, take 135 and subtract:

# of analog channels
# of digital channels / 12
# of HD channels / 2.5
10 channels (allocated for VOD)
If you are on a 750MHz system, start with 115 and subtract. Some 860MHz systems have 130-132 usable channels instead of 135.


Take the result and multiple it by 2.5 to find the approximate number of new HD channels your system can support without SDV.


----------



## Chip Chanko

Is Universal HD available on comcast in arlington now? If so, is it encrypted QAM? I can't seem to find it with my tuner.


----------



## hokiefan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/11518010
> 
> 
> Anyone have any idea why the Wisconsin game was blacked out on ESPN-HD on Saturday?



The wisconsin game showed up on ESPN Alternate on Dish. ESPN was blacked out because they were showing BC vs Wake Forest (at least that was what was showing in the Dish EPG), which was on the local ABC. Certain ABCs got the Wisconsin game instead.


----------



## mark_1581




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Chip Chanko* /forum/post/11522870
> 
> 
> Is Universal HD available on comcast in arlington now? If so, is it encrypted QAM? I can't seem to find it with my tuner.




250 in Alexandria. Should be the same for Arlington.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/11520495
> 
> 
> Was this on Dish, DirectTV or your cable system? Who was WI playing against? Was this on any local network such as Comcast Sports net or MASN?



Sorry, It was on Comcast, like someone above mentioned. It was on ESPN analog station, but blacked out on the HD Station.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bfdtv* /forum/post/11511846
> 
> _Recent..._
> 
> _Week of 9/04 - 9/09_
> Code:
> 
> 
> Code:
> 
> 
> [B]Network[/B]   [B]Title[/B]       [B]Minutes[/B]  [B]Size(Gb)[/B]  [B]Bitrate (Mbps)[/B]
> 
> WTTG      House (9/4)                      60       4.42       10.06
> WBFF      House (9/4)                      60       4.36        9.92
> 
> These are all average bitrates, peaks are a bit higher.
> 
> 
> I will update this post during the week.




Well, that's interesting... During the day, WBFF 45-1 is set at 14.60 Mbps. The FOX Splicer replaces our upconverted SD stream with the direct HD stream at a lower average bit rate. They will use the entire available data rate for sports.


It goes to show you though, that it's not entirely the amount of data that is being sent that effects the picture. If that were the case, the WBFF upconverted SD would look better than the the FOX HD picture.


Cheers -


Mark


----------



## bfdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/11526160
> 
> 
> Well, that's interesting... During the day, WBFF 45-1 is set at 14.60 Mbps. The FOX Splicer replaces our upconverted SD stream with the direct HD stream at a lower average bit rate. They will use the entire available data rate for sports.
> 
> 
> It goes to show you though, that it's not entirely the amount of data that is being sent that effects the picture. If that were the case, the WBFF upconverted SD would look better than the the FOX HD picture.



House is sent as 720p24 in a 720p60 carrier, is it not?


Presumably, NFL football @ native 720p60 uses a much larger chunk of that 14.6Mbps, if not all of it at times. If I can, I'll post DC vs Balt bitrates for the NFL football on CBS, FOX, and NBC this weekend.


----------



## chrisherbert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Chip Chanko* /forum/post/11522870
> 
> 
> Is Universal HD available on comcast in arlington now? If so, is it encrypted QAM? I can't seem to find it with my tuner.



I think that all but the HD networks are encrypted in Arlington. it's been available through the cable box in Arlington for quite a while, at least six months.


Universal HD's lineup is pretty weak, and the audio is out of sync most of the time. You aren't missing much.


----------



## Speqtre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chrisherbert* /forum/post/11529075
> 
> 
> I think that all but the HD networks are encrypted in Arlington. it's been available through the cable box in Arlington for quite a while, at least six months.
> 
> 
> Universal HD's lineup is pretty weak, and the audio is out of sync most of the time. You aren't missing much.



I haven't seen any audio sync problems on FIOS with UHD, but as for the weak lineup - it's the only place to watch BSG in HD!


----------



## Chip Chanko




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chrisherbert* /forum/post/11529075
> 
> 
> I think that all but the HD networks are encrypted in Arlington. it's been available through the cable box in Arlington for quite a while, at least six months.
> 
> 
> Universal HD's lineup is pretty weak, and the audio is out of sync most of the time. You aren't missing much.



Thanks for the reply. I don't have their HD box and was hoping to watch some tennis. Oh well. Back to channel 13.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Has anyone else noticed MASN is streching its SD signal on DirecTV 626 (since they downloaded the software upgrade to my H20 receiver on 8/28)? When the scores come on twice an hour (the "squeezebox"), the picture is so distorted it isn't funny.


The "pillar box" setting is working fine on all the other non HD channels. USA last week was showing up in streched SD during the US Open tennis.


Edit: Native is turned off on my receiver. And I heard from MASN, reply below

Thank you for contacting MASN.


At this time, all of our programming is presented is 4:3. (However there is some programming letterboxed in that window.). We do not now, and plan to never stretch our 4:3 image.


This is the first I've heard of this type of problem. I will poll some other DTV viewers to see if they are having similar problems. However, you should contact DirectTV for their help.


Please let me know if you are sucessful.


----------



## TimGoodwin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/11537508
> 
> 
> Has anyone else noticed MASN is streching its SD signal on DirecTV 626 (since they downloaded the software upgrade to my H20 receiver on 8/28)? When the scores come on twice an hour, the picture is so distorted it isn't funny.
> 
> 
> The "pillar box" setting is working fine on all the other non HD channels. USA last week was showing up in streched SD during the US Open tennis.




I think MASN and Directv are having some problems. On my HR-20's, any time I turn to either MASN or MASN 2 I get all sorts of problems with the video for a few seconds. And last night I was switching between the Nats game and the one on ESPN HD and when I went back to 626 my receiver switched from 720p to 480i and I have the Native turned off.


----------



## chrisherbert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Chip Chanko* /forum/post/11531788
> 
> 
> Thanks for the reply. I don't have their HD box and was hoping to watch some tennis. Oh well. Back to channel 13.



Get the box. It's not expensive. There's definitely a lot of tennis on UHD.


----------



## chrisherbert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/11530341
> 
> 
> I haven't seen any audio sync problems on FIOS with UHD, but as for the weak lineup - it's the only place to watch BSG in HD!



Maybe the sync thing is a comast issue.


----------



## dg28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/11537508
> 
> 
> Has anyone else noticed MASN is streching its SD signal on DirecTV 626 (since they downloaded the software upgrade to my H20 receiver on 8/28)? When the scores come on twice an hour (the "squeezebox"), the picture is so distorted it isn't funny.
> 
> 
> The "pillar box" setting is working fine on all the other non HD channels. USA last week was showing up in streched SD during the US Open tennis.
> 
> 
> Edit: Native is turned off on my receiver.



Yes, I have the same problem with my H20-100. However, the problem does not occur on my HR20-700 (HD DVR) so it is obviously something in the latest H20 software.


----------



## markbulla

WNUV is currently testing an outside provider for program guide data, so there is full extended data (program desciption) for all programming (except sponsored programming).


I should have WBFF working on Monday (maybe tomorrow...?) with another provider that we're trying out.


Mark


----------



## mason

Any idea if I could get the Boston HD locals in our area with a "service address change"?


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/11544094
> 
> 
> WNUV is currently testing an outside provider for program guide data, so there is full extended data (program desciption) for all programming (except sponsored programming).
> 
> 
> I should have WBFF working on Monday (maybe tomorrow...?) with another provider that we're trying out.
> 
> 
> Mark



Would that be why 54 has dropped off my OTA guide data for my HR20 (DirecTV DVR)?


Edit: Reran OTA setup and 54-1 is back.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mason* /forum/post/11545351
> 
> 
> Any idea if I could get the Boston HD locals in our area with a "service address change"?



Are you talking DirecTV? If so, no. They are on a spot beam that doesn't reach the Mid Atlantic.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Here's the lastest from MASN:
This is definitely a box specific DirecTV issue. I have forwarded your notes to our affiliate relations staff, who will contact DirecTV.


As far as the ticker coming in, we are working on a new way of executing the ticker, so that the video will actually squeeze back, and not squash, thereby retaining the correct aspect ratio.


Again, please let me know if DirecTV resolves this issue, or not.


----------



## machpost

Speaking of MASN, has anyone heard anything about their plans to launch an HD channel before next season? I've been reading lots of rumors lately, but nothing concrete.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mason* /forum/post/11545351
> 
> 
> Any idea if I could get the Boston HD locals in our area with a "service address change"?



With Dish network you should to able to. The Boston HD locals are on the same satellite as the Wash DC locals, but neither are on spot beams. So at this time (and it will surely change in the future) you indeed can receive the Boston locals here in the DC area.

Dish Channel Chart 


You will of course lose the DC locals, and the Boston SD Locals are on spotbeam, so you if you live within the below footprint for the spot beam, then you should get them also.


----------



## zebras23




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/11550106
> 
> 
> Speaking of MASN, has anyone heard anything about their plans to launch an HD channel before next season? I've been reading lots of rumors lately, but nothing concrete.



I did read in the Post that the HD Jumbo tron screen was being shipped to the stadium this week. Are those jumbo tron HD screen really "HD"? If so, wouldn't that mean they'll need HD cameras in the stadium to produce HD replays? And would those cameras "share" the feed w/ MASN or does MASN have it supply its own camera?


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> With Dish network you should to able to. The Boston HD locals are on the same satellite as the Wash DC locals, but neither are on spot beams. So at this time (and it will surely change in the future) you indeed can receive the Boston locals here in the DC area



Wouldn't this require permission from the DC affilates in writing (coverage/sports blackouts)? When I first got DirecTV, there were no locals, and I got the "national" affilates instead (then known as PrimeTime 24), even though I lived in Raleigh, NC. After awhile, all I had left was NBC, as the Raleigh locals, especially WTVD, the ABC affiliate - one of the first in the country to do so, made a big stink about being passed over in favor of the mostly New York/Los Angeles affilates on the satellite. I was forced into adding basic cable in order to get my network programming since I could not get any waivers from any of the Raleigh stations.


I would think this still applied these days, Dish or DirecTV. Not that I wouln't mind having the New York locals vs. Washington.


----------



## CycloneGT

You are correct, if his "service address" is here in the DC area, then he would need permission (and he would not get it) to receive locals from outside of the area.


----------



## Scott Gammans

I've run into a strange problem trying to set up my Verizon FiOS HD DVR to record the "remastered" _Star Trek_ series on WDCA-DT... the DVR refuses to record it! Whenever I highlight _Star Trek_ in the program guide and click OK, instead of getting the menu options for "Record this episode" "Record Series", etc., the entire program guide momentarily disappears and is replaced with a simple black screen with white letters that says "We are processing your request. Please wait...", and then a few moments later the submenu reappears, but the only option is to "Exit"... no series or episode recording options are presented!


Could it be possible that WDCA-DT has marked _Star Trek_ with a DRM flag to "Record Never"?? The dimwits who run Verizon FiOS tech support were no help at all, btw.


----------



## tonyd79

Can you set a manual recording?


----------



## bfdtv

_Week of 9/04 - 9/09_
Code:


Code:


[B]Network[/B]   [B]Title[/B]       [B]Minutes[/B]  [B]Size(Gb)[/B]  [B]Bitrate (Mbps)[/B]
[B]WRC       Tonight Show w/ Leno (9/4)       62            7.51       16.54[/B]
WBAL      Tonight Show w/ Leno (9/4)       62       7.03       15.48

WTTG      House (9/4)                      60       4.42       10.06
WBFF      House (9/4)                      60       4.36        9.92

WJLA      Grey's Anatomy (9/6)             61       5.31       11.89
[B]WMAR      Grey's Anatomy (9/6)             61       5.65       12.65[/B]

WUSA      U.S. Open Tennis (9/7)           60       7.24       16.48
[B]WJZ       U.S. Open Tennis (9/7)           60       8.01       18.23[/B]
WUSA      Jericho (9/7)                    60       7.11       16.18
[B]WJZ       Jericho (9/7)                    60       7.91       18.00[/B]

These are all average bitrates, peaks are a bit higher.


If you desire the highest quality HD in DC/VA/MD, you watch WRC (NBC), WMAR (ABC), and WJZ (CBS). WTTG and WBFF are a wash.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Scott Gammans* /forum/post/11555236
> 
> 
> I've run into a strange problem trying to set up my Verizon FiOS HD DVR to record the "remastered" _Star Trek_ series on WDCA-DT... the DVR refuses to record it! Whenever I highlight _Star Trek_ in the program guide and click OK, instead of getting the menu options for "Record this episode" "Record Series", etc., the entire program guide momentarily disappears and is replaced with a simple black screen with white letters that says "We are processing your request. Please wait...", and then a few moments later the submenu reappears, but the only option is to "Exit"... no series or episode recording options are presented!
> 
> 
> Could it be possible that WDCA-DT has marked _Star Trek_ with a DRM flag to "Record Never"?? The dimwits who run Verizon FiOS tech support were no help at all, btw.



No problem setting it to record from OTA with my TiVo.


----------



## CycloneGT

I've been recording them off of WNUV for a year now. I haven't missed one yet.


----------



## hokiefan




> Quote:
> If you desire the highest quality HD in DC/VA/MD, you watch WRC (NBC), WMAR (ABC), and WJZ (CBS). WTTG and WBFF are a wash.



WJZ is truely the last holdout on pure HD quality. If WUSA and WJZ are showing the same game, I always pick WJZ.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Scott Gammans* /forum/post/11555236
> 
> 
> I've run into a strange problem trying to set up my Verizon FiOS HD DVR to record the "remastered" _Star Trek_ series on WDCA-DT... the DVR refuses to record it! Whenever I highlight _Star Trek_ in the program guide and click OK, instead of getting the menu options for "Record this episode" "Record Series", etc., the entire program guide momentarily disappears and is replaced with a simple black screen with white letters that says "We are processing your request. Please wait...", and then a few moments later the submenu reappears, but the only option is to "Exit"... no series or episode recording options are presented!
> 
> 
> Could it be possible that WDCA-DT has marked _Star Trek_ with a DRM flag to "Record Never"?? The dimwits who run Verizon FiOS tech support were no help at all, btw.



I just set the Fios 6416 DVR with IMG to record the 2 PM Sunday showing on Star Trek on WDCA-DT 20 on channel 805. Did not run into your problem. Do you still get dump to back screen or did Fios or WDCA-DT fix something?


No question that the new Fios IMG software is flaky. The guide data listings are sometimes even weirder. One oddity is that when you go to a channel that is being recorded, say 30 minutes into the program. You want to watch the program from the start. Press info twice, no play from beginning option. Press reverse to back up a little, press play, then info twice (IIR the button sequence correctly) and the option to play from start is available.







But I'm getting off topic for this thread.


There is a post at dslreports from someone who claims to be privy to Verizon inside info claims that Verizon is working on getting the Comcast SportsNet MA HD signal to all the appropriate regional VHO ends with the goal of adding the channel by the time the NBA & NHL seasons start up. Since the NHL season starts in a month, they don't have much time left.


----------



## Scott Gammans




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/11556781
> 
> 
> Can you set a manual recording?



Yes, but _Star Trek_ skips all over WDCA-DT's schedule. Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see if it works.


The new UI on the Verizon FiOS DVR truly sucks, though. Talk about the folly of "fixing" something that wasn't broken to begin with. Dum-dums. As soon as I get caught up with _Weeds_ on Showtime on Demand, I'm chucking the Verizon DVR and getting a Series 3 TiVo.


----------



## Johnnycanal

yeah I have this problem too... good work on trying to figure this out, I thought it was just me


"Here's the lastest from MASN:

This is definitely a box specific DirecTV issue. I have forwarded your notes to our affiliate relations staff, who will contact DirecTV."


"As far as the ticker coming in, we are working on a new way of executing the ticker, so that the video will actually squeeze back, and not squash, thereby retaining the correct aspect ratio."


"Again, please let me know if DirecTV resolves this issue, or not."


----------



## machpost

I was quite surprised to see that yesterday's FSN football games were carried in HD on Comcast SportsNet HD. Before now, I don't think I've ever seen any non-locally-produced programming on CSN in HD.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bfdtv* /forum/post/11558062
> 
> _Week of 9/04 - 9/09_
> Code:
> 
> 
> Code:
> 
> 
> [B]Network[/B]   [B]Title[/B]       [B]Minutes[/B]  [B]Size(Gb)[/B]  [B]Bitrate (Mbps)[/B]
> [B]WRC       Tonight Show w/ Leno (9/4)       62            7.51       16.54[/B]
> WBAL      Tonight Show w/ Leno (9/4)       62       7.03       15.48
> 
> WTTG      House (9/4)                      60       4.42       10.06
> WBFF      House (9/4)                      60       4.36        9.92
> 
> WJLA      Grey's Anatomy (9/6)             61       5.31       11.89
> [B]WMAR      Grey's Anatomy (9/6)             61       5.65       12.65[/B]
> 
> WUSA      U.S. Open Tennis (9/7)           60       7.24       16.48
> [B]WJZ       U.S. Open Tennis (9/7)           60       8.01       18.23[/B]
> WUSA      Jericho (9/7)                    60       7.11       16.18
> [B]WJZ       Jericho (9/7)                    60       7.91       18.00[/B]
> 
> These are all average bitrates, peaks are a bit higher.
> 
> 
> If you desire the highest quality HD in DC/VA/MD, you watch WRC (NBC), WMAR (ABC), and WJZ (CBS). WTTG and WBFF are a wash.



It appears that there is a difference between WJZ and WUSA... I wonder how the NFL games look on these two channels...


----------



## Mean Deuce

What is going on with WUSA? I keep losing the Skins broadcast in HD.


----------



## GmdVT

It went from Pats/Jets in HD to the skins game in low def wtf.


----------



## hokiefan

I cant get through to WUSA engineering. They probably have a million angry HD viewers right now.


----------



## NightHawk

god damn I hate CBS football


----------



## Mean Deuce




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hokiefan* /forum/post/11569680
> 
> 
> I cant get through to WUSA engineering. They probably have a million angry HD viewers right now.



so its more than just COX?


----------



## hokiefan

Got through, they said its a techincal issue and they are working on it.


----------



## mikepinkerton

Even the SD feed is choppy and looks worse than normal. Maybe Danny-boy is charging extra for the HD feed out of FedEx

















-Mike


----------



## Knicks_Fan

The HD feed on Sunday Ticket is terrible as well (for now, not blacked out).


----------



## gomo657

WJZ is in full HD glory









I'm switching betw the two.


----------



## mdviewer25

What happened to HD on WUSA????? PQ looks like I'm watching the game on computer


----------



## Knicks_Fan

I happened to switch over to the one SD game on 707, and the damn game is streched on my box (must be the same issues as with MASN).


I think we need to head to gomo's place and watch on WJZ.


----------



## JoeInNVa

Props to WUSA for putting out a scroll saying there was a problem


----------



## Mean Deuce

They just put up some cheesy scroll that said they were having trouble. JUST FIX THE DAMN THING!!!!


----------



## gomo657

what I do since my tv has a qam tuner is split the signal one to the tv and the other to the dvr. so I can watch and record 2 things at once.


----------



## JoeInNVa

YEAH! HD on WUSA!


----------



## Mean Deuce

hd!!!!


----------



## chapelrun

My feed of WUSA just switched to HD


----------



## JoeInNVa

Ugh...Feed is not the greatest.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Now if DirecTV can get superfan up and running on the web I'll be all set. They are experiencing technical difficulties. Don't they test things for God's sake?


----------



## mikepinkerton

WUSA is HD now, but it still is blocky and choppy and breaks up and has garbage in it. Sigh.


-Mike


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/11569959
> 
> 
> Now if DirecTV can get superfan up and running on the web I'll be all set. They are experiencing technical difficulties. Don't they test things for God's sake?



Crazy, isn't it? Maybe their servers were overloaded???


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Stress testing? What's stress testing? That's probably offshored like their call centers.


Pic on Sunday Ticket is better than on 9, seeing the same garbage others are seeing. Robert, can't wait to see the bitrates for the Skins game.


----------



## mikepinkerton

I think i'd prefer WUSA go back to the SD feed than this. It's giving me a serious headache.


-Mike


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Of the eight games on Sunday Ticket HD, by far the Skins-Dolphins is the worst PQ. Pass the Advil.


----------



## sinusrhythm

Wife and son are now asking me if I spent all this money on Plasma and HD to see skins game like this. What the hell is going on man?


----------



## C*Tedesco




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *sinusrhythm* /forum/post/11570424
> 
> 
> Wife and son are now asking me if I spent all this money on Plasma and HD to see skins game like this. What the hell is going on man?



k


Yes 100% agree. This is completely unacceptable. Huge move to HD, but the channels look like crap.


Microblocking going on all over the place in this game. Can't enjoy the damn game!


----------



## Knicks_Fan

As big a joke as the Supercast over on DirecTV. Supercast my ***. And the Jets are having their heads handed to them again by Brady, Moss and the Pats.



> Quote:
> Wife and son are now asking me if I spent all this money on Plasma and HD to see skins game like this. What the hell is going on man?



The overall state of things disappoints me, 100% of network shows should be in HD (I realize most of what is in SD is reality and game shows - Deal or No Deal comes to mind), compression of signal, MPTV, the lack of local news in HD, and technical mishaps like today's Skins game (thinking back, the same lousy picture quality was present on many NCAA games last season, including the tournament).


CBS isn't even showing highlights (cutins) of other games in HD from what I've seen so far.


----------



## dzawitz

Glad to see that it's not just me. I've had some Comcast problems lately and didn't know if my signal dropped or something. Can you guys describe the symptoms you're seeing? I'm getting jaggies every few seconds.


----------



## ebolean

I'm on comcast too. not only microblocking on the skins game but the smearing (ghosting? - not sure I know the proper term) is horrible on NBC coverage of the PGA tournament. i see ghosts on closeups, ball trails, trailing on any fast movement, and when they zoom in on a ball, it looks like the attempts for psychedelic effects in old music videos.


so hd broadcasting on 2 out of the top 4 is crap today. not what I bought hd to see. very disappointing.


Bob


----------



## bfdtv

The OTA broadcast of the Skins game on WUSA was awful. I hope members call or email to voice their disappointment with that broadcast.


You can email Victor Murphy, WUSA's Director of Technology, at [email protected] . I would also cc the general manager at [email protected] .



> Quote:
> It appears that there is a difference between WJZ and WUSA... I wonder how the NFL games look on these two channels...



The WJZ feed was stunning by comparison. Unfortunately, WJZ opted to show another game.


----------



## SUOrangeman

Given the problems across the board with the Skins game today, could one surmise that the problem was at the source and out of WUSA's control? Thinking along those lines, is it up to the network or the local HD-capable affiliate to provide the needed equipment?


----------



## Knicks_Fan

I don't think WUSA is to blame here, unless they were involved somehow with the feed from FedEx. The PQ was as bad on DirecTV Sunday Ticket (723). CBS dropped the ball here not doing anything about the poor picture quality. At least the Skins won the game. Meanwhile my so-called AFC team looked pathetic against New England (and the Orange are 0-2, so SUOrangeman and I are both unhappy there).


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikepinkerton* /forum/post/11570016
> 
> 
> WUSA is HD now, but it still is blocky and choppy and breaks up and has garbage in it. Sigh.
> 
> 
> -Mike



I noticed occasional glitches but it wasn't very bad from what I was watching. I was using OTA on a Series 3 TiVo.I've seen much, much worse over the last 6 years of watching HD.


----------



## JoeInNVa

It was not the greatest picture, and there were lots of glitches, especially on the new scroller. Once they got into HD, I was ok with the problems, since they notified us they were having problems.

NOW if it happens again next week, I will be PO'd...


----------



## koolkat1973

I used to be able to pick up Baltimore ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX HD channels from zip code 20152. The signal strengths were great as well. However - I'm no longer able to pick up any of these stations now. Does anyone else here have the same problem?


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bfdtv* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> You can email Victor Murphy, WUSA's Director of Technology, at [email protected] . I would also cc the general manager at [email protected] .



I don't believe it was WUSA's fault at all because CBS Richmond OTA was just as bad in the identical pixellatiing, if not worse. Perhaps CBS going to 5 HD NFL games plus the tennis finals in HD from NY was too much for the CBS system to properly handle, all in one day, especially here in the Northeast.


But it'll be interesting to hear what any responses from 9 will be! It did seem to be less worse in the second half.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *koolkat1973* /forum/post/11575691
> 
> 
> I used to be able to pick up Baltimore ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX HD channels from zip code 20152. The signal strengths were great as well. However - I'm no longer able to pick up any of these stations now. Does anyone else here have the same problem?



I can give a whirl tonight from 20164(sterling). I've used the cable exclusively for HD, but wanted to try the antenna again for sh%$#s and giggles. now that the TV is in it's final location. With my old Sanyo Tube TV, I used to get CBS, Fox, PBS from Ball-mer, so getting the same would be a good test - IMHO.


----------



## CycloneGT

You might want to put Chantilly in the location field of your profile, I can't say that I knew where zip 20152 was until I put it into google maps.


But to answer your question, the Baltimore channels are still on the air, so I'm not sure why you don't get them now. If you lost one or two, then I would suspect perhaps a station's broadcast characteristics may have changed, but since it appears that you have lost nearly all of them, I would suspect your antenna. If the signal strengths are ok, then look into your receiver. Try rebooting, or removing and re-adding the stations. Those are tricks that can help. Especially when there have been PSIP changes.


Good Luck.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *koolkat1973* /forum/post/11575691
> 
> 
> I used to be able to pick up Baltimore ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX HD channels from zip code 20152. The signal strengths were great as well. However - I'm no longer able to pick up any of these stations now. Does anyone else here have the same problem?



If you lost all of them at the same time, it's not going to be a problem with the stations, or interference (since the channels are interspersed with the DC channels).


The most likely cause is an amplifier problem, or a problem with the antenna line. The DC stations would be much stronger for you, and may be getting through the problem.


Mark


----------



## howie14

I'm testing my repaired Hitachi set, and I was worried the tuner was still malfunctioning. At least these posts on yesterday's football broadcasts have set my mind at ease.


BTW, I also saw some problems once in awhile with Eagles-Packers from WBFF. It's possible, though, that those problems were caused by my antenna being turned towards DC for the 'Skins game.


----------



## SUOrangeman

I don't know if this has been posted anywhere, but seems to be rather useful. Hopefully, it will be updated well in advance of weekend games.

NFL TV distribution maps 


-SUO


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *howie14* /forum/post/11576431
> 
> 
> I'm testing my repaired Hitachi set, and I was worried the tuner was still malfunctioning. At least these posts on yesterday's football broadcasts have set my mind at ease.
> 
> 
> BTW, I also saw some problems once in awhile with Eagles-Packers from WBFF. It's possible, though, that those problems were caused by my antenna being turned towards DC for the 'Skins game.



Believe me, I was watching the Eagles game yesterday for any problems, and there were none. Except for the Eagles, of course!


Cheers -


Mark


----------



## billodom

I was shocked to see it in HD when I surfed by tonight shortly after 11 p.m. It looked terrific to boot. I posted in the Hot Off the Press thread in the programming forum as well.


----------



## gomo657

I noticed as well I believe its the 1st syndicated show I've seen in HD


----------



## Marcus Carr

Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy are in HD on WMAR. Two and a Half Men is on WUTB in Baltimore so no HD.


----------



## CycloneGT

Still this the first time that I have heard that a syndication of rerun network shows has been in HD.


----------



## machpost

Does anyone know if the syndicated ACC football games on channel 20 will be in HD anytime soon?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *billodom* /forum/post/11585328
> 
> 
> I was shocked to see it in HD when I surfed by tonight shortly after 11 p.m. It looked terrific to boot. I posted in the Hot Off the Press thread in the programming forum as well.



Cool. Yes, Jeopardy and Wheel have been in HD, but these are currently produced syndicated programs which have a special satellite feed to the stations. Syndicated re-runs of network shows in HD is a big step, so either the Pathfire distribution system must be up and running for HD or WDCW-DT 50 got it via tape. The station has to spend $ on HD tape machines/servers and other equipment, so this is not just a matter of flipping a switch. Besides reruns of the more recent network shows in HD, this may possibly lead to Seinfeld & Star Trek TOS in HD (both shows are known to have been or in the process of making HD versions from the original film masters).


Now we need at least one other local station in the DC or Baltimore markets to go HD on the local news. With the official start of the new TV season next week, there is a possibility that one of them will go HD soon, but I would expect that would have leaked in advance.


----------



## DCGuy64

I have difficulty sometimes getting WJLA's digital signal (channel 7.1 and 7.2, especially). Sometimes it's fine, other times it keeps dropping out. It starts at 80-90% signal strength, then drops to 70% and then goes out. My RCA HDTV tuner then displays the "searching for signal" message. Analog works fine on channel 7. Anybody else having this problem? Doesn't seem to happen on any other local channels.

Thanks


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/11587361
> 
> 
> Does anyone know if the syndicated ACC football games on channel 20 will be in HD anytime soon?



I do the ACC football games up here in Baltimore, and I have not gotten any information regarding HD games.


Last year before the ACC tournament, Raycom Sports asked all of the stations if they would be able to carry the basketball games in HD. I would expect that they would do the same thing prior to doing football in HD, and they haven't done that yet.


Mark


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p

well they recent completed a fiber optic upgrade here so they went from 10 hd channels to 24. and a ton more digital channels so I was hoping to see at least NFL HD. I thought they would upgrade us to at least 860 mhz


thanks for the formula


analog is >65 2-66 70 and 99


m


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bfdtv* /forum/post/11521321
> 
> 
> How many analog channels do they have?
> 
> 
> Comcast's 750MHz systems -- especially those with >65 analog channels -- tend to be very conservative about the channels they add. Until SDV is implemented, they are saving their bandwidth for more 'desirable' channels. Comcast's 860-1Ghz systems have more capacity to work with, so they are more aggressive in adding new channels.
> 
> 
> If on a 860MHz system, take 135 and subtract:
> 
> # of analog channels
> # of digital channels / 12
> # of HD channels / 2.5
> 10 channels (allocated for VOD)
> If you are on a 750MHz system, start with 115 and subtract. Some 860MHz systems have 130-132 usable channels instead of 135.
> 
> 
> Take the result and multiple it by 2.5 to find the approximate number of new HD channels your system can support without SDV.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey

I have VZ FiOS and we don't have NFLN-HD either, so it is not just E* customers like the first page says.


----------



## URFloorMatt

There was a fire. It'll be back, with any luck, tomorrow.


Given that the fire was on the ground at the source of the network('s distribution) itself, it would affect everybody. The network is off air.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/11595068
> 
> 
> I have VZ FiOS and we don't have NFLN-HD either, so it is not just E* customers like the first page says.



The fire took NFL-HD, A&E-HD, and History-HD off the air for everybody who carries those channels. According to the press reports in the programming forum, A&E-HD and History-HD are back up but only showing upconverted SD material. Since I'm on Verizon Fios and it does not yet have those two channels, I can't tell from where I sit.


----------



## CycloneGT

Looks like the DirectTV commandos have struck a blow against the competition.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/11595266
> 
> 
> The fire took NFL-HD, A&E-HD, and History-HD off the air for everybody who carries those channels. According to the press reports in the programming forum, A&E-HD and History-HD are back up but only showing upconverted SD material. Since I'm on Verizon Fios and it does not yet have those two channels, I can't tell from where I sit.



NFL-HD is showing a color bar test pattern. I have it through FIOS.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DCGuy64* /forum/post/11588526
> 
> 
> I have difficulty sometimes getting WJLA's digital signal (channel 7.1 and 7.2, especially). Sometimes it's fine, other times it keeps dropping out. It starts at 80-90% signal strength, then drops to 70% and then goes out. My RCA HDTV tuner then displays the "searching for signal" message. Analog works fine on channel 7. Anybody else having this problem? Doesn't seem to happen on any other local channels.



How long has WJLA-DT been this way for you? I just checked and I can get the DT station just fine, however a check of the signal meter shows 8 bars rather than the normal maxed out 10. Maybe WLJA-DT's digital signal is running at a reduced power?


How far are you from the broadcast tower and what antenna are you using? You may want to tweak the antenna aim to see if that helps.


----------



## machpost

RCN in the District has just added Golf/Versus HD on channel 180, although there doesn't appear to be much of anything HD about it.


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Maybe WLJA-DT's digital signal is running at a reduced power?



Based on varying OTA signal strength levels for numerous stations I get sometimes, that seem to be way beyond what one would expect from changing atmospheric conditions, etc., I ofen wonder if stations may do this on a large scale pervasive fashion to keep down power costs.


I also wonder if there's anything in FCC regs prohibiting periodic reduced power levels (designed apparently only to save a lot of money) and especially after shutdown in 2009. How could this even be detected and enforced if there are such regs? Perhaps this is just such cynical old me, bruised by multicasting, bit-starving, down-rezzing providers that make true HD, as I've said before, just a fond memory!


But I think I do raise a legit question!


----------



## raidbuck




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/11596989
> 
> 
> RCN in the District has just added Golf/Versus HD on channel 180, although there doesn't appear to be much of anything HD about it.



They will be showing college football in the fall, so I hope that is in HD.


Rich N.


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p

ok for Manassas


if its 860 mhz (don't know but I do know we have 134 digital channels)


135-67=68


134/12=11.2


68-11.2=56.8


24/2.5=9.6


56.8-9.6=47.2


47.2-10=37.2


37.2*2.5=93


Did you mean dibide the total by 2.5? because 93 HD channels without SDV seems high


37.2/2.5=14.88=15 Additional HD Channels


the 15 number makes more sense


even this number means I should see NFL FOOD HGTV A&E and Universal HD in Manassas just like Loudoun and other parts of NoVA






> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bfdtv* /forum/post/11521321
> 
> 
> How many analog channels do they have?
> 
> 
> Comcast's 750MHz systems -- especially those with >65 analog channels -- tend to be very conservative about the channels they add. Until SDV is implemented, they are saving their bandwidth for more 'desirable' channels. Comcast's 860-1Ghz systems have more capacity to work with, so they are more aggressive in adding new channels.
> 
> 
> If on a 860MHz system, take 135 and subtract:
> 
> # of analog channels
> # of digital channels / 12
> # of HD channels / 2.5
> 10 channels (allocated for VOD)
> If you are on a 750MHz system, start with 115 and subtract. Some 860MHz systems have 130-132 usable channels instead of 135.
> 
> 
> Take the result and multiple it by 2.5 to find the approximate number of new HD channels your system can support without SDV.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/11596989
> 
> 
> RCN in the District has just added Golf/Versus HD on channel 180, although there doesn't appear to be much of anything HD about it.



I was surprised to see Rocky III in SD on this channel last night. That would be something that I would have expected to be in HD.


----------



## bfdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DVDO+WESTY=1080p* /forum/post/11598044
> 
> 
> ok for Manassas
> 
> 
> if its 860 mhz (don't know but I do know we have 134 digital channels)



A figure of 134 digital channels sounds very low. Did you include all international, premium, sports, and ppv channels? Did you include the digital simulcast (digital versions of analog channels)?


Verizon FiOS in DC/VA/MD has about 380 SD digital channels.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DVDO+WESTY=1080p* /forum/post/11598044
> 
> 
> Did you mean dibide the total by 2.5? because 93 HD channels without SDV seems high
> 
> 
> 37.2/2.5=14.88=15 Additional HD Channels



No, I meant multiply.


If you want to be conservative, divide the number of HD channels by 2.0 instead of 2.5, and multiple the balance by 2.0 instead of 2.5 to determine how many HD channels they can add without SDV.


Unless you know that your system is 860MHz (i.e. has 130+ QAM slots), I would assume 750MHz based on the fact that you don't yet have NFL-HD or FOOD-HD.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *raidbuck* /forum/post/11597926
> 
> 
> They will be showing college football in the fall, so I hope that is in HD.
> 
> 
> Rich N.




They showed HD football last weekend.


----------



## voltore




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bill Johnson* /forum/post/11597701
> 
> 
> Based on varying OTA signal strength levels for numerous stations I get sometimes, that seem to be way beyond what one would expect from changing atmospheric conditions, etc., I ofen wonder if stations may do this on a large scale pervasive fashion to keep down power costs.
> 
> 
> I also wonder if there's anything in FCC regs prohibiting periodic reduced power levels (designed apparently only to save a lot of money) and especially after shutdown in 2009. How could this even be detected and enforced if there are such regs? Perhaps this is just such cynical old me, bruised by multicasting, bit-starving, down-rezzing providers that make true HD, as I've said before, just a fond memory!
> 
> 
> But I think I do raise a legit question!



In many cases, the DT transmitter may have two cabinets, and sometimes one may fail for whatever reason, leaving the other one on-air, so power will be down to 50% which, provided isn't long term is permitted. I think 720 hours before a STA is required from the FCC. Sometimes they may drop to 50% if they need to do routine maintenance such as cleaning the filters and the insides for safety reasons. Sometimes, it's a safety feature and power drops if the cooling (such as air-con) struggles with high heat loads such as very hot humid days etc.


I would be surprised if, in this area, power is dropped to keep the electric bill down.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/11599352
> 
> 
> They showed HD football last weekend.



Hockey and live golf coverage should be in HD as well.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/11599436
> 
> 
> Hockey and live golf coverage should be in HD as well.



And WEC, bull riding, and some hunting and fishing shows.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

and "Deal or No Deal" (26 reasons why)


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *voltore* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I would be surprised if, in this area, power is dropped to keep the electric bill down.



If I'm a station manager & naturally concerned about cost efficiency, what would it hurt to cut the digital power in half say every other night for a few hours or say periodically for 5 or 6 evenings running, particularly given two signals?? I could easily save what, several thousand dollars a month. The only ones affected in a bad way, given the present system, might be a couple of people out in Martinsburg, one south of Fredericksburg and me.










It would be difficult to monitor this for any enforcement action even if against regulations; and you can't blame the concern over costs. Kind of a variation on Murphy's Law: Anything that can be done to save money, will be done!


If this is being done on any systematic basis, I would not be happy! But given the awful cost pressures stations must face, I would have to say _c'est la vie_!


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p

I didn't count music choice and ppv channels but everything else. i'll get back to you.


before the upgrade we had 10 hd and 15 digital channels....



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bfdtv* /forum/post/11598592
> 
> 
> A figure of 134 digital channels sounds very low. Did you include all international, premium, sports, and ppv channels? Did you include the digital simulcast (digital versions of analog channels)?
> 
> 
> Verizon FiOS in DC/VA/MD has about 380 SD digital channels.
> 
> 
> No, I meant multiply.
> 
> 
> If you want to be conservative, divide the number of HD channels by 2.0 instead of 2.5, and multiple the balance by 2.0 instead of 2.5 to determine how many HD channels they can add without SDV.
> 
> 
> Unless you know that your system is 860MHz (i.e. has 130+ QAM slots), I would assume 750MHz based on the fact that you don't yet have NFL-HD or FOOD-HD.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/11600984
> 
> 
> and "Deal or No Deal" (26 reasons why)



Lindsay Schoneweis (#4) has left







replaced by Keltie Martin...


----------



## GoIrish

Comcast is launching Food Network HD and TBS HD on 10/1 in Balt City, Balt County, Harford, Howard and Carroll Co's.


Was told there is more coming before year end as well but don't know details.


GoIrish

(beat the even more hapless Wolverines)


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GoIrish* /forum/post/11603479
> 
> 
> Comcast is launching Food Network HD and TBS HD on 10/1 in Balt City, Balt County, Harford, Howard and Carroll Co's.
> 
> 
> Was told there is more coming before year end as well but don't know details.
> 
> 
> GoIrish
> 
> (beat the even more hapless Wolverines)



Woohoo!


I had gotten a message (again) that WUTB would be added but it didn't happen. The'yre still only showing upconverted SD anyway.


----------



## Berto1020

Damn, you guys are lucky...Comcast in Montclair, VA (Prince William County) still doesn't have Universal HD (wasn't able to watch US Open), NFL Network HD (hopefully by Thanksgiving?), A&E HD, HGTV HD, Food Network HD...I'm really hoping for TBS HD before the MLB playoffs...


----------



## Mcees4life

Comcast is launching A&E HD on 9/18 here in the District.........I just got the message from my HD converter box this morning when i woke up.


----------



## drkashner

I had forgotten that I emailed MPT about their change and lack of HD (I looked and it was 8/24 when I sent the email. I got an answer yesterday:

Thank you for watching and supporting MPT!




Please be advised that we are in the process of transitioning to a full prime time schedule of HD programming on our main channel by February of 2009 when all television stations switch from analog to digital broadcast. In the interim, we will broadcast HD programs as they become increasingly more available. For instance, PBS’ fall lineup will include many new HD programs. Eventually, they and we will provide all prime time HD programming. This transition period is similar to the one television experienced as it moved from black and white to color. We made the decision to stop broadcasting the PBS HD service because the number of programs available in that format were limited and resulted in a high frequency of repetition. In essence, it was like watching a continuous loop of the same offerings. Our goal is to give our viewers the opportunity to see their favorite PBS prime time programming in HD during this transition as PBS is now providing more of its schedule in this format.




For your interest, more information on our MPT Networks Digital Broadcasting Services can be found here: http://www.mpt.org/about/coverage.cfm .




We appreciate your patience in awaiting a reply.




Juliana Eagan


Audience/Viewer Services


Maryland Public Television


11767 Owings Mills Blvd


Owings Mills, MD 21117


(410) 581-4126

[email protected] 


Also, at least on my Directv service, they haven't changed the schedule for 67.2 in the guide. It still has the schedule from before they switched everything around.


----------



## raidbuck




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *drkashner* /forum/post/11608572
> 
> 
> I had forgotten that I emailed MPT about their change and lack of HD (I looked and it was 8/24 when I sent the email. I got an answer yesterday:
> 
> Thank you for watching and supporting MPT!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Please be advised that we are in the process of transitioning to a full prime time schedule of HD programming on our main channel by February of 2009 when all television stations switch from analog to digital broadcast. In the interim, we will broadcast HD programs as they become increasingly more available. For instance, PBS' fall lineup will include many new HD programs. Eventually, they and we will provide all prime time HD programming. This transition period is similar to the one television experienced as it moved from black and white to color. We made the decision to stop broadcasting the PBS HD service because the number of programs available in that format were limited and resulted in a high frequency of repetition. In essence, it was like watching a continuous loop of the same offerings. Our goal is to give our viewers the opportunity to see their favorite PBS prime time programming in HD during this transition as PBS is now providing more of its schedule in this format.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> For your interest, more information on our MPT Networks Digital Broadcasting Services can be found here: http://www.mpt.org/about/coverage.cfm .
> 
> 
> 
> 
> We appreciate your patience in awaiting a reply.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Juliana Eagan
> 
> 
> Audience/Viewer Services
> 
> 
> Maryland Public Television
> 
> 
> 11767 Owings Mills Blvd
> 
> 
> Owings Mills, MD 21117
> 
> 
> (410) 581-4126
> 
> [email protected]
> 
> 
> Also, at least on my Directv service, they haven't changed the schedule for 67.2 in the guide. It still has the schedule from before they switched everything around.



I guess it took that long to generate a response to us. I got the exact same message today from my complaint several weeks ago. The biggest problem is that now we have to watch pledge drives to see PBS HD shows. Thank heavens for DVRs.


Rich N.


----------



## raidbuck




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GoIrish* /forum/post/11603479
> 
> 
> Comcast is launching Food Network HD and TBS HD on 10/1 in Balt City, Balt County, Harford, Howard and Carroll Co's.
> 
> 
> Was told there is more coming before year end as well but don't know details.
> 
> 
> GoIrish
> 
> (beat the even more hapless Wolverines)



Great news! Thanks for the update. I was wondering who would be carrying TBS-HD. Now if they can upgrade their HD offerings like TNT-HD did it will be great.


Rich N.

(Go Cal, get some defense)


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *raidbuck* /forum/post/11608612
> 
> 
> I guess it took that long to generate a response to us. I got the exact same message today from my complaint several weeks ago. The biggest problem is that now we have to watch pledge drives to see PBS HD shows. Thank heavens for DVRs.
> 
> 
> Rich N.



The PBS outlet in SE VA has invested in HD recording equipment and broadcasts various show on a 24/7 basis...


----------



## jacindc

Messages on the box this morning on Comcast DC saying that they're adding A&E HD on Sept. 18 on channel 223 (I think; deleted too fast); and will also be adding (on the 18th, too?) the Pentagon Channel on 185.


I gotta pay more attention to what I read--I was so happy to finally be getting *something* new that I missed the details







.


----------



## SJKurtzke

WRC is running a "Buyer's Guide to HDTV" special tonight at 6.

Slim chance, but maybe this could cooincide with an HDTV announcement for their news?


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/11609630
> 
> 
> WRC is running a "Buyer's Guide to HDTV" special tonight at 6.



Which ironically, will not be broadcast in HD.


I'm surprised that WRC hasn't gotten their act together with news in HD. Their facilites housed WHD-TV, which was the very first experimental HD station, and I figured this would have given them a leg up.


----------



## bakerman

HELP PLEASE!


I live in Columbia in a townhouse. I am planning to install an antenna this weekend to try and pull in DC HD channels most notably WTTG. I am frustrated with the Comcast HD because they overlook or ignore the Redskins fan base in this area. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/images/smilies/mad.gif I will be installing in an attic and wanted to ask if anyone has had any success in this area.


I am heading out to Lowes this weekend to purchase a antenna mount and some RG-6 cable. Do any of you think I may need to get an amplifier?

I am about 18 miles from DC in the 21046 zip code. Are there any higher quality connectors etc that I should buy. I am new to this and appreciate any suggestions.


BTW I can't put the antenna on the roof so that suggestion wont help. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/image...es/redface.gif 


Thanks


Bakerman


----------



## JohnGZ28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bakerman* /forum/post/11612743
> 
> 
> HELP PLEASE!
> 
> 
> I live in Columbia in a townhouse. I am planning to install an antenna this weekend to try and pull in DC HD channels most notably WTTG. I am frustrated with the Comcast HD because they overlook or ignore the Redskins fan base in this area. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/images/smilies/mad.gif I will be installing in an attic and wanted to ask if anyone has had any success in this area.
> 
> 
> I am heading out to Lowes this weekend to purchase a antenna mount and some RG-6 cable. Do any of you think I may need to get an amplifier?
> 
> I am about 18 miles from DC in the 21046 zip code. Are there any higher quality connectors etc that I should buy. I am new to this and appreciate any suggestions.
> 
> 
> BTW I can't put the antenna on the roof so that suggestion wont help. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/image...es/redface.gif
> 
> 
> Thanks
> 
> 
> Bakerman



Columbia and north you're supposed to be a Ravens fan.










You should be ok with an attic mount. I would hold off on the amp for now and see what you can pull in without it.


----------



## dipdewdog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/11611532
> 
> 
> Their facilites housed WHD-TV, which was the very first experimental HD station, and I figured this would have given them a leg up.



Ahhh...so that's why their sign on Nebraska Ave NW says "WHD-TV" on it. I've always wondered.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jacindc* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Messages on the box this morning on Comcast DC saying that they're adding A&E HD on Sept. 18 on channel 223



Finally!


----------



## bakerman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JohnGZ28* /forum/post/11612927
> 
> 
> Columbia and north you're supposed to be a Ravens fan.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You should be ok with an attic mount. I would hold off on the amp for now and see what you can pull in without it.




Well I do live in South Columbia LOL


----------



## jacindc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dipdewdog* /forum/post/11613645
> 
> 
> 
> Finally!



Yeah, but I wanted Food or HGTV. So I'm still not satisfied!


----------



## dipdewdog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jacindc* /forum/post/11614073
> 
> 
> Yeah, but I wanted Food or HGTV. So I'm still not satisfied!



Looks like they're adding Food HD and TBS HD in B'more area systems soon, maybe they're not so far off for us


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bakerman* /forum/post/11612743
> 
> 
> I live in Columbia in a townhouse. I am planning to install an antenna this weekend to try and pull in DC HD channels most notably WTTG. I am frustrated with the Comcast HD because they overlook or ignore the Redskins fan base in this area. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/images/smilies/mad.gif I will be installing in an attic and wanted to ask if anyone has had any success in this area.
> 
> 
> I am heading out to Lowes this weekend to purchase a antenna mount and some RG-6 cable. Do any of you think I may need to get an amplifier?
> 
> I am about 18 miles from DC in the 21046 zip code.



First, the basics. All of the stations in DC and Baltimore are currently digitally broadcasting on UHF. After the analog shutdown in February, 2009, WJLA-DT ABC 7, WUSA-DT CBS 9 in DC, WBAL-DT NBC 11, WJZ-DT CBS 13 in Baltimore will be changing their digital broadcast from UHF to their current upper VHF (7 to 13) analog channel. The low VHF (2 to 6) stations will stay at UHF.


Your zip code places you about 20 miles, 230° from the DC stations; ~15 miles, 54° from the most of the Baltimore stations. You have the two cities in almost exactly opposite directions so you want an antenna with a strong backlobe to pick up stations in the opposite direction. My recommendation is a Channel Master 4221 4 Bay bowtie UHF antenna. It is a good antenna for this region for stations scattered in azimuth. You are close enough that I expect the CM 4221 will get the upper VHF digital stations in 2009. Aim the CM 4221 at the more distant DC stations, it should get the Baltimore stations from the backlobe.


At this close, you should hold off on getting a pre-amp unless you have a very long cable run. I can get three of the Baltimore stations at 43 miles fine using a CM 4221 in my townhouse attic without a pre-amp along with the DC stations 50° off at 16 miles and others. I have local obstructions and a ridge line in the direction of Baltimore, so I have a pre-amp to get the weaker distant stations. You are much closer, so you probably don't need a pre-amp.


The mounting equipment and RG-6 cables at Lowes are fine. You can get the CM 4221 on-line at solidsignal.com or warrenelectronics.com. Also,

check http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ISSUES/erecting_antenna.html for antenna basics and charts for various antennas including the CM 4221.


----------



## HokieNav




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bakerman* /forum/post/11614070
> 
> 
> Well I do live in South Columbia LOL



Yeah, you'll be fine with a CM 4221. I get all of the DC stations just fine with a 4221 sitting on the living room floor in the corner living just over in Odenton (21113).


----------



## jacindc

I mentioned to the spouse that we're getting A&E HD in the District. Response?


> I've always wondered about Bill Curtis's pores.


----------



## markbulla

True conversation today (may be paraphrased):


Caller: Hi, I live in Columbia, and I'm a big Redskins fan, but (the cable company) doesn't carry the Washington channels in HD here.


Me: Yes... How can I help you?


Caller: Well, (the cable company) told me to call you about it.


Me: Uh... I'm not really sure what you're asking


Caller: Well, I was wondering if you were going to do something about it


Me: Um... Well, you're calling a station in Baltimore. (The cable company) already carries our station in HD in Howard County.... If I were you though, since you live in between Baltimore and Washington, I'd hook an antenna up to your HD TV, and you would be able to pick up all of the HD network channels from both cities! For free!


Caller: Oh. Can you do that? I didn't think televisions used antennas any more...?


Me: Oh, sure. I live in Laurel, and I put an antenna up on my chimney, and I get the HD channels from both cities without any problem


Caller: So it's on the outside of your house? You don't have to hook it up to the TV?


Me: Well, sure. There's a cable run between the antenna and the TV, but a lot of people get good reception with an antenna on top of their TV. It depends on your location though - how many trees are around your house, if you're down in a low area, stuff like that.


Caller: Well... I'd only get the HD channels from the local stations, right? I think I'll just keep the cable


Me: O....K.... Well, to answer your question as much as I can, usually the cable company will only carry the HD channels from one city, and in your case, since you're north of the Patuxent River, you will probably only get the Baltimore ones


Caller: Oh. OK. Thanks (click)


----------



## CycloneGT

The truth hurts. hehe. Should have pointed him here.


----------



## aaronwt

I don't know how many people i run into that are amazed that you can get TV signals out of the air. And some of these people are older than me. I remember in the early 70's going outside to rotate the antenna on the house depending on whether we were watching a DC station or a Baltimore station to get the best reception.

I guess whats old is new again.


----------



## gomo657

210 WJLA-HD (ABC) News & Info

211 WRC-HD (NBC) News & Info

212 WUSA-HD (CBS) News & Info

213 WTTG-HD (Fox) News & Info

214 WDCW-HD (CW) Children & Family

215 WDCA HD Children & Family

220 WETA-HD (PBS) Children & Family

223 A&E HD High-Definition TV

224 Nat'l Geographic HD High-Definition TV

225 Discovery HD Children & Family

226 MOJO Movies

228 HBO HD Movies

229 MHD Music

230 HDSE Pay-Per-View

233 Cinemax HD Movies

238 Showtime HD Movies

248 Starz! HD Movies

249 TNT HD

250 Universal HD

251 Comcast SportsNet HD Sports

252 ESPN HD Sports

253 ESPN 2 HD High-Definition TV

254 Versus/Golf HD High-Definition TV

261 ESPNews Sports

262 FCS - Atlantic Sports

263 FCS - Central Sports

264 FCS - Pacific


as you see history food and TBS are MIA


----------



## dneily




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *drkashner* /forum/post/11608572
> 
> 
> I had forgotten that I emailed MPT about their change and lack of HD (I looked and it was 8/24 when I sent the email. I got an answer yesterday:
> 
> Thank you for watching and supporting MPT!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Please be advised that we are in the process of transitioning to a full prime time schedule of HD programming on our main channel by February of 2009 when all television stations switch from analog to digital broadcast. In the interim, we will broadcast HD programs as they become increasingly more available. For instance, PBS' fall lineup will include many new HD programs. Eventually, they and we will provide all prime time HD programming. This transition period is similar to the one television experienced as it moved from black and white to color. We made the decision to stop broadcasting the PBS HD service because the number of programs available in that format were limited and resulted in a high frequency of repetition. In essence, it was like watching a continuous loop of the same offerings. Our goal is to give our viewers the opportunity to see their favorite PBS prime time programming in HD during this transition as PBS is now providing more of its schedule in this format.
> 
> 
> Also, at least on my Directv service, they haven't changed the schedule for 67.2 in the guide. It still has the schedule from before they switched everything around.



This response from MPT is not very satisfying. In the past month, every "HD" program listed in their schedule that I've sampled has been telecast in SD. Until a month ago, MPT had many HD programs and series that WETA-HD did not. Now I just settle for what is on WETA-HD.


----------



## Speqtre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gomo657* /forum/post/11617330
> 
> 
> 210 WJLA-HD (ABC) News & Info
> 
> 211 WRC-HD (NBC) News & Info
> 
> 212 WUSA-HD (CBS) News & Info
> 
> 213 WTTG-HD (Fox) News & Info
> 
> 214 WDCW-HD (CW) Children & Family
> 
> 215 WDCA HD Children & Family
> 
> 220 WETA-HD (PBS) Children & Family
> 
> 223 A&E HD High-Definition TV
> 
> 224 Nat'l Geographic HD High-Definition TV
> 
> 225 Discovery HD Children & Family
> 
> 226 MOJO Movies
> 
> 228 HBO HD Movies
> 
> 229 MHD Music
> 
> 230 HDSE Pay-Per-View
> 
> 233 Cinemax HD Movies
> 
> 238 Showtime HD Movies
> 
> 248 Starz! HD Movies
> 
> 249 TNT HD
> 
> 250 Universal HD
> 
> 251 Comcast SportsNet HD Sports
> 
> 252 ESPN HD Sports
> 
> 253 ESPN 2 HD High-Definition TV
> 
> 254 Versus/Golf HD High-Definition TV
> 
> 261 ESPNews Sports
> 
> 262 FCS - Atlantic Sports
> 
> 263 FCS - Central Sports
> 
> 264 FCS - Pacific
> 
> 
> as you see history food and TBS are MIA



Not trying to pick on you, but this is a bit of FUD. Comcast is so fractured that you really can't post something like this without stating your exact location.


I've been going round and round with them about getting Universal HD (250) in my area (Reston, VA) - most of the CSRs don't even know the channel exists, even though it is available 12 miles away in Alexandria AND my local lineup shows nothing at 250... it's bizarre


----------



## CycloneGT

I wonder why ESPN News is listed with those HD channels. While there is going to be a ESPN News in HD, I'm pretty sure its one of those "not until 2008" channels.


----------



## dipdewdog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/11620103
> 
> 
> Not trying to pick on you, but this is a bit of FUD. Comcast is so fractured that you really can't post something like this without stating your exact location.



That's the exact channel lineup I have (223 is launching on 9/18) in Comcast of the District.


----------



## jimrobinette

And I spent a lot of money on an antenna (4228) and amp to pull in MPT HD so I wouldn't have to watch WETA HD. Oh well...back to macroblocking hell.











> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dneily* /forum/post/11619583
> 
> 
> .....Until a month ago, MPT had many HD programs and series that WETA-HD did not. Now I just settle for what is on WETA-HD.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/11620151
> 
> 
> I wonder why ESPN News is listed with those HD channels. While there is going to be a ESPN News in HD, I'm pretty sure its one of those "not until 2008" channels.



The last four are SD channels.


----------



## CycloneGT

I'm a dummy head.


----------



## Berto1020




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/11620103
> 
> 
> Not trying to pick on you, but this is a bit of FUD. Comcast is so fractured that you really can't post something like this without stating your exact location.
> 
> 
> I've been going round and round with them about getting Universal HD (250) in my area (Reston, VA) - most of the CSRs don't even know the channel exists, even though it is available 12 miles away in Alexandria AND my local lineup shows nothing at 250... it's bizarre



Speqtre, I'm in the same boat as you, I live in Montclair, VA...channel 250 is not in use in my channel lineup...perhaps more HD channels will be added once the MLB season is over and the number of channels currently being used for the MLB Extra Innings package is reduced?


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast just sent a message about the two new channels coming on 10/1. Food HD will be on channel 231 and TBS HD on channel 232.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bfdtv* /forum/post/11521321
> 
> 
> How many analog channels do they have?
> 
> 
> Comcast's 750MHz systems -- especially those with >65 analog channels -- tend to be very conservative about the channels they add. Until SDV is implemented, they are saving their bandwidth for more 'desirable' channels. Comcast's 860-1Ghz systems have more capacity to work with, so they are more aggressive in adding new channels.
> 
> 
> If on a 860MHz system, take 135 and subtract:
> 
> # of analog channels
> # of digital channels / 12
> # of HD channels / 2.5
> 10 channels (allocated for VOD)
> If you are on a 750MHz system, start with 115 and subtract. Some 860MHz systems have 130-132 usable channels instead of 135.
> 
> 
> Take the result and multiple it by 2.5 to find the approximate number of new HD channels your system can support without SDV.



For Baltimore:


135

-71

-(305/12)

-(24/2.5)
-10

=19
x2.5

=47 new HD channels.


Only two announced so far.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> And I spent a lot of money on an antenna (4228) and amp to pull in MPT HD so I wouldn't have to watch WETA HD. Oh well...back to macroblocking hell.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by dneily
> 
> .....Until a month ago, MPT had many HD programs and series that WETA-HD did not. Now I just settle for what is on WETA-HD.


*$0* Emailed both of these HD throwbacks and told them of my pledge for 2007 and beyond. Anyone know of any HD plans for WHUT or WVPT


----------



## mastering123

Hi all,


I'm not sure if the message belongs in here. I'm in DC, and my old comcast dvr box (dual tuner with HD), 6412 (not sure which phase), died on me. Well, Comcast came out a couple of days ago to replace it. I wasn't there, but my girlfriend was. Comcast installed a 6412 Phase III. For some reason, the HD picture now doesn't look quite as bright or sharp compared to my old box. BTW, the replacement box that Comcast installed was previously used (it has scratches and dents on it). I've checked the component connections, and all looks good. Is it maybe all in my mind, or could it be the used box that's giving me a less sharp/bright picture?


Do you think Comcast will come out to give me a "new" box if I explain the situation?


Any advice/input would be appreciated. Thanks!


----------



## aaronwt

I don't know about a new box, but they will definitely replace it if you want.


----------



## mikepinkerton

Steelers game on WUSA over D* is looking just as blocky and having the same garbage as last week's Skins game. What's up at CBS these days!?


-Mike


----------



## valweh41

steelers game looks perfect on WJZ HD via Fios...


----------



## i5hawn

anyone having a problem with comcast CBS-HD dropping on them? for the past three days I'll get 30 secs of picture than black, picture than black.


----------



## HokieNav

WJZ or WUSA?


Provider?


Location?


I haven't seen any problems here with WJZ on Comcast (Anne Arundel) or WUSA (OTA from 21113).


----------



## ptlurking




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *i5hawn* /forum/post/11639275
> 
> 
> anyone having a problem with comcast CBS-HD dropping on them? for the past three days I'll get 30 secs of picture than black, picture than black.



I am having the same problem in Baltimore City...but only on my cablecard.

My Motorola HD STB's are fine.


I figured my cablecard must be the problem, but now I'm not so sure.


Where are you and is your problem occuring with a cable card? or STB?


----------



## i5hawn




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ptlurking* /forum/post/11642446
> 
> 
> I am having the same problem in Baltimore City...but only on my cablecard.
> 
> My Motorola HD STB's are fine.
> 
> 
> I figured my cablecard must be the problem, but now I'm not so sure.
> 
> 
> Where are you and is your problem occuring with a cable card? or STB?



balt city and yes i do have the cablecard. i verified with two other owners of STB's in my region and they didn't have any problems whatsoever.


However i pulled the cablecard from my set and i STILL experienced the problem after running a QAM scan. Here's the best part though. I called comcast to inquire if they were having trouble with CBS HD. the young woman named veronica stated that none o f my questions were important since i didn't have the HD rate codes in the first place so i shouldn't have been getting any hD feeds. i had to explain to her that i was a magical being and i can pull free HD feeds from NBC, Fox, etc. ota to which she simply replied no you can't. now after i waded thru her stupidity and reasked my question about CBS-HD she simply replied, no we're not having a problem and hung up on me.


I think its time to give direct teevee a call


----------



## WRRHalum




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *i5hawn* /forum/post/11639275
> 
> 
> anyone having a problem with comcast CBS-HD dropping on them? for the past three days I'll get 30 secs of picture than black, picture than black.



Comcast Balto County (west side) has been delivering WJZ-HD fairly well; for me, they keep losing all that's been assigned to ch "92": WMAR-HD, WBAL-HD, and each of their weather channels (aka 2.1, 11.1, and 11.2 'twice', first for MAR wx then BAL/NBC wx). If the ch 92 content appears at all, it's rife with lost audio and blocky vid.

Of course, calling BombCast would be an exercise in futility...


----------



## JoeInNVa

So how did MNF look on WDCA?


----------



## CycloneGT

Looked just like it did on ESPN-HD.


----------



## jeepmon




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/11654298
> 
> 
> So how did MNF look on WDCA?



Only tuned in for a short time, however, surprisingly it looked good. I swithched back and forth between 20 and ESPN HD and really didn't notice any difference in quality.


The ESPN siglum (for lack of a better word) was on the bottom of the screen on WDCA as well, perhaps this was known to everyone else, however, I was not expecting it!!


What's up with WDCA? Two and a half men repeats in HD and Football in HD (I'm sure this was "MY..", are they trying to change their reputation?


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/11654538
> 
> 
> Looked just like it did on ESPN-HD.



Only stereo on WDCA though. Not 5.1 like ESPN.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jeepmon* /forum/post/11654541
> 
> 
> What's up with WDCA? Two and a half men repeats in HD and Football in HD (I'm sure this was "MY..", are they trying to change their reputation?



You are getting your local channels confused. Two and a half Men is airing in HD on WDCW-DT CW 50, not WDCA-DT My 20. Still, that WDCA-DT 20 aired the Redskins game in HD is a good sign in that they went to the trouble of getting a HD feed from ESPN which may have required some work on WDCA's part. With both ESPN-HD and WDCA-DT being 720p channels, that may have made it easier. The picture quality for WDCA-DT 20 via Verizon & OTA versus ESPN-HD on Verizon looked the same.


WDCA-DT 20 is the DC broadcast station for the Nats games. If MASN offers a HD feed next year, this could be a indication that WDCA-DT will be to able show the limited number of Nats games they air in HD as well.


----------



## machpost

It would be nice if WDCA would broadcast college football in HD, but I have a feeling that Raycom isn't even producing the games in HD. Picture quality on those games has been horrible over the past few Saturdays.


----------



## Grayson73

I'm with Montgomery County Cable.


I'm currently using the Motorola DCT6412 III. Since I've had this STB for years now, I was wondering if there are better ones that I should swap this for.


Can you give a ranking of current HD DVRs (best to worst) so that I can check with my local Comcast office to see what they have?


----------



## jeepmon




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/11655129
> 
> 
> You are getting your local channels confused. Two and a half Men is airing in HD on WDCW-DT CW 50, not WDCA-DT My 20.



Oops!! You're right, sorry about that!!


----------



## JoeInNVa

Will check out when I get home but according to Comcast.com A&E-HD will be 223, NFL HD will be 246 and NHL channel will be 276.

Oh, WJLA Local Point on 205

This is Alexandria/Arlington Comcast system.


----------



## dipdewdog

Looked quickly at Comcast.com's lineup for DC (20007), and it looks like the following were added today:


106 Fox Business Network (not launching until 10/15 I thought)

203 WUSA 9 Live

205 WJLA Local Point

223 A&E HD


And the following were moved:


192 MHz 2 Russian TV

193 MHz 3 France 24

196 MHz NHK World TV

198 WQLW-LP


No mention of the Pentagon channel that was supposedly to launch on 185. I'll check the lineup on my TiVo HD when I get home and see if anything is different.


----------



## bakerman

Okay men,


Set up my antenna in the attic and got most of the stations in DC and Baltimore in clear as day. The only station I can't get is 4.1 Digital. But that's okay all I really wanted was 5.1 and 9.1 so I am very pleased.


Thanks to everyone for the suggestions and help.


HAIL TO THE REDSKINS 2-0!


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dipdewdog* /forum/post/11659148
> 
> 
> Looked quickly at Comcast.com's lineup for DC (20007), and it looks like the following were added today:
> 
> 
> 106 Fox Business Network (not launching until 10/15 I thought)
> 
> 203 WUSA 9 Live
> 
> 205 WJLA Local Point
> 
> 223 A&E HD
> 
> 
> And the following were moved:
> 
> 
> 192 MHz 2 Russian TV
> 
> 193 MHz 3 France 24
> 
> 196 MHz NHK World TV
> 
> 198 WQLW-LP
> 
> 
> No mention of the Pentagon channel that was supposedly to launch on 185. I'll check the lineup on my TiVo HD when I get home and see if anything is different.



BAH! Nothing on the system. I figured as much since it seems the update their lineup online in advance.


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *HokieNav* /forum/post/11615917
> 
> 
> Yeah, you'll be fine with a CM 4221. I get all of the DC stations just fine with a 4221 sitting on the living room floor in the corner living just over in Odenton (21113).



to really pull those stations in buy a Motorola signal booster at Circuit City, I live in Manassas and with that booster I can pull in every HD OTA with a basic terk indoor antenna


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/11654298
> 
> 
> So how did MNF look on WDCA?



Looked nice to me. I recently dropped FiOS TV, so I only have OTA for now. I was very suprised to get the game in HD.


Did WJZ show the Ravens game last week in HD?


As for Two and a Half Men, I was very suprised to find that show in HD. Come today, I read back and it's a first here. Pretty cool stuff. Heck, even PBR was in HD on Sunday.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/11616874
> 
> 
> I don't know how many people i run into that are amazed that you can get TV signals out of the air. And some of these people are older than me. I remember in the early 70's going outside to rotate the antenna on the house depending on whether we were watching a DC station or a Baltimore station to get the best reception.
> 
> I guess whats old is new again.



Very true. I had my parents over this weekend, and showed them our new OTA tuner (now that we dropped Vz). It's the new (-ish) Samsung 5th gen with EPG. Even though my parents used to get OTA before cable, they insisted I had to be paying something for the guide info. Of course I'm not, but they don't seem to understand it's all from the OTA antenna.


-John


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/11634462
> 
> 
> For Baltimore:
> 
> 
> 135
> 
> -71
> 
> -(305/12)
> 
> -(24/2.5)
> -10
> 
> =19
> x2.5
> 
> =47 new HD channels.
> 
> 
> Only two announced so far.



what counts for 305 digital channels? Music Choice, PPV? I am trying to figure this out for Manassas, thanks


----------



## dipdewdog

Just got home and looked; man is Comcast.com borked.


The only thing that changed (as far as I can tell) is A&E HD on 223 (yay, finally) and the Pentagon channel on 185.


106 is Bloomberg, not Fox Business; the MHz channels are still in the 180s; there's no Local Point or WUSA Doppler; and WQAW-LP is on 209.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DVDO+WESTY=1080p* /forum/post/11659666
> 
> 
> to really pull those stations in buy a Motorola signal booster at Circuit City, I live in Manassas and with that booster I can pull in every HD OTA with a basic terk indoor antenna



Caveat emptor! YMMV.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DVDO+WESTY=1080p* /forum/post/11659728
> 
> 
> what counts for 305 digital channels? Music Choice, PPV? I am trying to figure this out for Manassas, thanks



I counted all non-hd channels.


----------



## DCGuy64




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/11595845
> 
> 
> How long has WJLA-DT been this way for you? I just checked and I can get the DT station just fine, however a check of the signal meter shows 8 bars rather than the normal maxed out 10. Maybe WLJA-DT's digital signal is running at a reduced power?
> 
> 
> How far are you from the broadcast tower and what antenna are you using? You may want to tweak the antenna aim to see if that helps.



Sorry, I haven't logged in for a few days.

The answer to your question is: it's been happening for a couple of weeks now. I believe I'm about 8 miles from the broadcast tower (I live in Falls Church and the tower is in DC). The antenna aim might be difficult; it's on the roof and besides, the antenna aim was fine when it was first installed. It also doesn't seem to be a problem on the other HD channels (except Univisión, for some reason, which is fine in SD but doesn't come in on HD).


----------



## Bushrod

Does anyone else find it hilarious that the satellite commercial with Peyton Manning is cut with game footage of such horrendous quality?


Yeah, that makes me want to drop cable.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DCGuy64* /forum/post/11665004
> 
> 
> The antenna aim might be difficult; it's on the roof and besides, the antenna aim was fine when it was first installed. It also doesn't seem to be a problem on the other HD channels (except Univisión, for some reason, which is fine in SD but doesn't come in on HD).



Univisión, best I know, doesn't offer any HD shows, yet.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DCGuy64* /forum/post/11665004
> 
> 
> The answer to your question is: it's been happening for a couple of weeks now. I believe I'm about 8 miles from the broadcast tower (I live in Falls Church and the tower is in DC). The antenna aim might be difficult; it's on the roof and besides, the antenna aim was fine when it was first installed. It also doesn't seem to be a problem on the other HD channels (except Univisión, for some reason, which is fine in SD but doesn't come in on HD).



The antenna aim may have been shifted or twisted a bit by the wind. You should be able to get WJLA-DT without difficulty from only 8 miles out. Double check the antenna aim and the cabling.


As for WFDC-DT Univision 14, it is a 480i SD broadcast channel, not HD. Somewhat surprising that with only 1 SD sub-channel, the network has not added additional SD sub-channels for additional programming or infomercials, but they haven't.


----------



## DCGuy64




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/11665885
> 
> 
> The antenna aim may have been shifted or twisted a bit by the wind. You should be able to get WJLA-DT without difficulty from only 8 miles out. Double check the antenna aim and the cabling.
> 
> 
> As for WFDC-DT Univision 14, it is a 480i SD broadcast channel, not HD. Somewhat surprising that with only 1 SD sub-channel, the network has not added additional SD sub-channels for additional programming or infomercials, but they haven't.



Thanks a lot. Any advice for a novice who hasn't tried adjusting an antenna before? (the guy from Fairfax Antenna did the actual install). Is it just "trial and error"? Also, I can get Univisión on channel 14.1 on one TV, but not the other. It may not actually be in HD, but there is a broadcast on 14.1 (including Dolby Digital 5.1).


----------



## DRal

I wanted to ask if anyone is in Arlington using an indoor HD indoor antenna what are they using and how is it working out?


Also I am a little confused, I read that VHF is channel 14-70 and UHF is 2-13 but then I read it was just the oposite. The antenna I currently have is only picking up channels 15 and up.


Thank you


----------



## Remoteless

VHF is 2-13 UHF is 14-70


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DCGuy64* /forum/post/11666240
> 
> 
> Thanks a lot. Any advice for a novice who hasn't tried adjusting an antenna before? (the guy from Fairfax Antenna did the actual install). Is it just "trial and error"? Also, I can get Univisión on channel 14.1 on one TV, but not the other. It may not actually be in HD, but there is a broadcast on 14.1 (including Dolby Digital 5.1).



Yes, it is trial and error. If you can get to the antenna without falling off the ladder or roof, shift the aim just several degrees to the left and right and see if that helps. But I also suggest that you check the co-axial cable connectors that you can reach before climbing up on the roof. Unscrew the connectors that are not weather sealed, look for any moisture, maybe even clean it (carefully) with tissue paper, then reconnect it. This also goes for the connector to the back of the TV or STB. We were just in summer with high humidity, so it is possible that moisture has gotten into a connector somewhere along the run.


WFDC-DT Univision 14 is running at 325 kW on UHF 15 so it is a pretty strong signal. If your second TV has an ATSC tuner, you should check to see what it says for 15.1 if it allows a manual digital channel entry.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DRal* /forum/post/11670813
> 
> 
> I wanted to ask if anyone is in Arlington using an indoor HD indoor antenna what are they using and how is it working out?
> 
> 
> Also I am a little confused, I read that VHF is channel 14-70 and UHF is 2-13 but then I read it was just the oposite. The antenna I currently have is only picking up channels 15 and up.



To expand on the answer, TV broadcasting is broken into three bands. Low VHF 2 to 6 (54 MHz to 88 MHz), upper VHF 7 to 13 (174 MHz to 216 MHz), and UHF 14 to 69 (470 MHz to 806 MHz). At this time, all of the digital stations in DC and Baltimore are broadcasting on UHF, so a UHF antenna will do. However, WJLA-DT 7 and WUSA-DT 9 will be switching to their digital channel from UHF to their current upper VHF analog channel in February, 2009 after the analog shutdown. So in 2009, an antenna which can get upper VHF will be needed. Fortunately many larger UHF antennas can pick up upper VHF ok. See http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ISSUES/erecting_antenna.html for a lot of info on antennas.


If you are looking for a good indoor antenna from Arlington, the Silver Sensor UHF antenna sold under the Philips, Terk, and Zenith name is a good one to try. You could also try the old basic table top antenna with VHF rabbit ears and a UHF loop. Be careful of the overpriced small antennas with built-in amplifiers that Best Buy and Circuit City push these days. These antennas are usually poorer performers than larger unamplified "real" antennas such as a two or four bay bowtie that go for 1/3 to 1/2 the price.


To get the digital broadcast stations, you need a TV or STB with an ATSC tuner. You must do a digital channel scan so it can find the stations on their actual broadcast channel which are then mapped to the analog channel # on the display such as 4-1, 7-1, and their sub-channels. See the 1st post of this thread for a list of the stations and their digital sub-channels. Good luck!


----------



## Marcus Carr

Cox will add Discovery Channel HD, TLC HD, Animal Planet HD, Science Channel HD.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=910645


----------



## DRal




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/11671468
> 
> 
> To expand on the answer, TV broadcasting is broken into three bands. Low VHF 2 to 6 (54 MHz to 88 MHz), upper VHF 7 to 13 (174 MHz to 216 MHz), and UHF 14 to 69 (470 MHz to 806 MHz). At this time, all of the digital stations in DC and Baltimore are broadcasting on UHF, so a UHF antenna will do. However, WJLA-DT 7 and WUSA-DT 9 will be switching to their digital channel from UHF to their current upper VHF analog channel in February, 2009 after the analog shutdown. So in 2009, an antenna which can get upper VHF will be needed. Fortunately many larger UHF antennas can pick up upper VHF ok. See http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ISSUES/erecting_antenna.html for a lot of info on antennas.
> 
> 
> If you are looking for a good indoor antenna from Arlington, the Silver Sensor UHF antenna sold under the Philips, Terk, and Zenith name is a good one to try. You could also try the old basic table top antenna with VHF rabbit ears and a UHF loop. Be careful of the overpriced small antennas with built-in amplifiers that Best Buy and Circuit City push these days. These antennas are usually poorer performers than larger unamplified "real" antennas such as a two or four bay bowtie that go for 1/3 to 1/2 the price.
> 
> 
> To get the digital broadcast stations, you need a TV or STB with an ATSC tuner. You must do a digital channel scan so it can find the stations on their actual broadcast channel which are then mapped to the analog channel # on the display such as 4-1, 7-1, and their sub-channels. See the 1st post of this thread for a list of the stations and their digital sub-channels. Good luck!




I just put a HDTV WONDER from ATI in my computer, using in bedroom, and it has ATSC tuner. I can only pick up channels 15 and up right now, no ABC, CBS, NBS or Fox for some reason. Wondering if the buildings in my area are blocking signal.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DRal* /forum/post/11676146
> 
> 
> I just put a HDTV WONDER from ATI in my computer, using in bedroom, and it has ATSC tuner. I can only pick up channels 15 and up right now, no ABC, CBS, NBS or Fox for some reason. Wondering if the buildings in my area are blocking signal.



The DC broadcast stations are all digitally broadcasting on UHF channels, so your UHF antenna should get them. Digital broadcasting is currently done on a different channel from the analog and is remapped by the ATSC tuner to display the analog channel number. For example, WRC-DT NBC 4 is on UHF 48, WTTG-DT Fox 5 is on UHF 36, WJLA-DT ABC 7 is on UHF 38, WUSA-DT CBS 9 is on UHF 34. Check the 1st post of this thread for a complete list of the Baltimore & DC stations and their current actual digital broadcast channel.


You don't say if you have tried anything with the antenna. Have you aimed it at NW DC, moved it to a different location, tried it in a window, moved it to a different room with less obstruction in the direction to the broadcast towers? You should also double check the settings for the ATI tuner.


----------



## DRal




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/11680959
> 
> 
> The DC broadcast stations are all digitally broadcasting on UHF channels, so your UHF antenna should get them. Digital broadcasting is currently done on a different channel from the analog and is remapped by the ATSC tuner to display the analog channel number. For example, WRC-DT NBC 4 is on UHF 48, WTTG-DT Fox 5 is on UHF 36, WJLA-DT ABC 7 is on UHF 38, WUSA-DT CBS 9 is on UHF 34. Check the 1st post of this thread for a complete list of the Baltimore & DC stations and their current actual digital broadcast channel.
> 
> 
> You don't say if you have tried anything with the antenna. Have you aimed it at NW DC, moved it to a different location, tried it in a window, moved it to a different room with less obstruction in the direction to the broadcast towers? You should also double check the settings for the ATI tuner.



I have move the antenna all around, i set the computer up so that I could extend the antenna out to the apartment porch and aimied it every which way and pick up no ABC, CBS, Fox, etc...just MHZ channels, PBS WETA-DT, qubo and ionW


----------



## SJKurtzke

Almost forgot: *CW Washington* still on track for *January* for DirecTV.


Dear Stephen,


Thank you for contacting us! We are currently working with DirecTV now

and should be in HD by January 2008.


We hope you continue to enjoy the CW Washington!


Sincerely,

Tanya

Programming


----------



## Ladd

I note that TitanTV and Zap2it are NOT showing the Giants at Redskins game this weekend as being broadcast in HD on WTTG FOX 5. Is this really so?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ladd* /forum/post/11682034
> 
> 
> I note that TitanTV and Zap2it are NOT showing the Giants at Redskins game this weekend as being broadcast in HD on WTTG FOX 5. Is this really so?



The weekly NFL thread in the Programming forum shows the game as being in HD ( http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=910125 ). I would consider this to be much more accurate than TitanTV or Zap2it which are frequently wrong on their HD notations. However, the Ravens will not be getting the HD love this week as that game will be widescreen SD on Fox, which the fans can blame on having the Arizona Cardinals as the visiting team.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DRal* /forum/post/11681527
> 
> 
> I have move the antenna all around, i set the computer up so that I could extend the antenna out to the apartment porch and aimied it every which way and pick up no ABC, CBS, Fox, etc...just MHZ channels, PBS WETA-DT, qubo and ionW



Do you get WDCA-DT 20 and WDCW-DT 50? The big four stations are at high power, so you should be getting them if you get WETA-DT PBS 26. Again, double check your channel and input setup for the PC based HDTV Wonder tuner.


----------



## mikemikeb

*DRal*, here's another trick: Manually enter the channel number of the big 4 channels and see what happens. NBC it's 48, Fox it's 36, ABC it's 39, CBS is 34.


How close in miles are you to the Tenleytown Metro stop (on the Red Line)? You may have overload or too much multipath of those signals.


----------



## fedward

The War?


I notice that the "new" MPT and WETA appear to be showing the same episodes of "The War" on different nights. Is the guide correct, or is this just more of WETA's digital guide (and the TitanTV version of it) being some completely wacky thing with little relation to what's actually on? Given the choice between recording the same show on one or the other, I always used to pick MPT-HD based on the winning combination of better picture quality and reliable guide information. Used to. Thanks, MPT!


Anyway, if the guide's right, I'd like to grab some of the episodes of "The War" at 1am on WETA since there's no PQ advantage for MPT anymore. But I'm confused by the different nights I'm seeing in the guide.


----------



## fedward

After asking that question, I looked at weta.org. Their web site lists broadcast times and dates that bear no relation at all to what shows up in the TitanTV guide. I sent the following comment on their web contact form:



> Quote:
> I use a TV tuner that relies on programming guide data from titantv.com. The feed for WETA programming is utterly unreliable. I can reconfigure my tuner to use the program data included in the digital stream, but I have found it to be no more reliable or accurate than the titantv.com data.
> 
> 
> I have read on internet forums that other WETA viewers have written you to complain about unreliable guide data, and at various points it has seemed to be more accurate than it had been, but the guide always seems to get wrong again.
> 
> 
> In this case, the programming I was looking at was "The War." Because TitanTV actually showed the same episodes being broadcast on different nights on WMPT and WETA, I looked at the schedule on your web site, and it bears no relation at all to what I found on titantv.com. Not only did I find that "The War" is being broadcast on completely different nights, I found that the second episode of the "Lawrence of Arabia" documentary (the first episode of which my girlfriend and I had enjoyed) had been on tonight, and we had missed it because we didn't know it had been on.
> 
> 
> Even your own web site, however, is inconsistent. The page at http://www.weta.org/tv/dtv/ says that HD content is broadcast 24 hours, but the sidebar of the "what's on" page says, "Currently WETA shuts down the TV transmitter at 2:00am. If you watch WETA via our signal over the air, you will not have access to our 2:00am - 6:00am programming." Which one is correct?
> 
> 
> Please correct these issues, and soon. I would like to be able to enjoy much of the programming that shows up in my guide as being on WETA, but when I record it on my PVR I inevitably find that I've recorded something else entirely.



I'm expecting no useful response, but we'll see.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DRal* /forum/post/11681527
> 
> 
> I have move the antenna all around, i set the computer up so that I could extend the antenna out to the apartment porch and aimied it every which way and pick up no ABC, CBS, Fox, etc...just MHZ channels, PBS WETA-DT, qubo and ionW



Sounds like an aiming issue - all the ones you get are in a different direction from the networks you are not getting. Assuming the card has a signal meter point the antenna in the opposite direction from the strongest signal on the MHz channel.


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DRal* /forum/post/11681527
> 
> 
> I have move the antenna all around, i set the computer up so that I could extend the antenna out to the apartment porch and aimied it every which way and pick up no ABC, CBS, Fox, etc...just MHZ channels, PBS WETA-DT, qubo and ionW



had same problem, buy a motorola signal booster from circuit city I live in manassas and I can pick up all the DC HD's


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Comcast launches CSN+*


After enduring a summer with a dearth of live sports programming, Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic is launching a special overflow channel to accommodate the abundance of games it plans to carry this fall and winter.


The network will unveil CSN+ on Friday, Oct. 5, with the game between D.C. United and the Kansas City Wizards. The Washington Capitals home opener will air on CSN's main channel.


CSN+ is not a full-time channel, but will be available when CSN's partner team's are playing at identical times.


You may recall that the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network launched a similar overflow channel, MASN2, to accommodate coverage of the Nationals and Orioles. In most instances, CSN+ will replace MASN2 on your channel lineup. You can find out for sure by typing in your zip code at CSN's Web site, comcastsportsnet.com.


"With such an abundant programming schedule to accommodate a diverse viewership, Comcast SportsNet must create an additional channel that supports all of our live sports content," said Rebecca O’Sullivan-Schulte, senior vice president and general manager of Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic. "With the 78 Wizards games, 75 Capitals games and numerous collegiate football and basketball matchups we will carry this year, Comcast SportsNet couldn't fit it all on only one network."

http://video1.washingtontimes.com/sp...nches_csn.html


----------



## Knicks_Fan

A big - next to CSN+ for DirecTV. What happens in March when the Nats and O's are in Spring Training to MASN2?


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/11690241
> 
> 
> A big - next to CSN+ for DirecTV.



They probably just didn't set the number yet. DirecTV has THREE MASN channels on their guide.


----------



## tonyd79

A couple of times in the last week, I have seen a problem with WMAR-DT on the MPEG4 version on DirecTV. The problem occurred during the Nebraska/USC game and again on Ugly Betty and during Nightline last night.


The behavior is that the video goes into a complete melted version of the picture. Kind of like mixing paint together. It clears after a while. The problem showed on two HD/DVRs so it is not a single unit problem (and has been reported by other customers in the area). There was not an issue OTA or on Comcast during this meltdown.


Anyone from WMAR monitor this forum?


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/11693731
> 
> 
> 
> Anyone from WMAR monitor this forum?



Yes. At least one that I know of.


----------



## tonyd79

Then maybe they can tell us why the ABC game tonight is in SD? At least it is now.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/11700527
> 
> 
> Then maybe they can tell us why the ABC game tonight is in SD? At least it is now.



It's SD in Richmond and Norfolk...


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/11700527
> 
> 
> Then maybe they can tell us why the ABC game tonight is in SD? At least it is now.



I saw earlier tonight that there were different games on WJLA-DT 7 and WMAR-DT 2 in Baltimore. After seeing your post, at 11:30 PM, the Iowa-Wisc game is in SD on WJLA-DT but is HD on WMAR-DT. Did the game on WJLA-DT go SD at or after 11 PM? Bet that someone at WJLA-DT on the late shift forgot to switch back to the HD feed from the network. For football fans in the region, this is why it is useful to put up an antenna, if they are in the broadcast range of both, to be able to get the networks from both cities.


----------



## i5hawn

Been an entire week, same problem with CBS, I guess I'll be calling to get a STB


----------



## P Garnet

Thanks for the heads up. We aren't experiencing any encoding issues at the station. As a customer you should contact Direct TV about this issue. I will also do the same on behalf of WMAR.


----------



## hokiefan

Anyone having issues with WUSA via OTA? I have a decent signal strength on my Dish VIP211 (85%) but have picture/sound breakup every couple seconds. I've rebooted the unit with no luck and all other channels come in fine (Balt and DC). WJZ from Baltimore comes in just fine as well.


I've hooked a spectrum analyzer up to my ota antenna and have noted the amplitude of the signal at channels 34,35,36 is lower than others, and seem to run into each other, with no clear break between signals, however 35 and 36 (WDCA and WTTG) come in just fine. I mapped ch34 to 591MHz from info I found on the web about UHF. Any of you signal experts out there have any ideas?


EDIT: I added pictures of the spectrum, the first is a 50MHz span centered on 591MHz, the second is a 400MHz span centered on 591MHz.


----------



## hokiefan

I lugged my spec-a up on the roof to check the signal right at the antenna. I found it MUCH higher and cleaner. Looks like I might have to redo my wiring and possibly add an amplifer. I have approx 65ft of RG-6 between the antenna and my receiver.


----------



## C*Tedesco

I'm watching the WTTG HD Baltimore/Arizona and I gotta say, the HD looks like absolute garbage. I'm not sure what the heck the problem is, looks almost out of focus. Usually WTTG looks good. WUSA HD is looking good though.


----------



## hokiefan

Baltimore - AZ is in Widescreen SD, since Fox only does 6 HD games a week. We got stuck with the SD game since AZ sucks.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hokiefan* /forum/post/11703895
> 
> 
> I've hooked a spectrum analyzer up to my ota antenna and have noted the amplitude of the signal at channels 34,35,36 is lower than others, and seem to run into each other, with no clear break between signals, however 35 and 36 (WDCA and WTTG) come in just fine. I mapped ch34 to 591MHz from info I found on the web about UHF. Any of you signal experts out there have any ideas?
> 
> 
> EDIT: I added pictures of the spectrum, the first is a 50MHz span centered on 591MHz, the second is a 400MHz span centered on 591MHz.



Those are seriously anemic Washington, DC signals, compared to what I'd expect someone to be able to develop from the geographic center of Severn, MD, but the signal strength ratio of 34-36 as compared to analog 32 is typical, so the spectrum you have captured does not reveal inconsistently low Washington digital UHF signal levels. I have a trashcan lid antenna in College Park, MD that is less than ten feet above average terrain, yet it develops Baltimore digital waveforms that put your Washington digital waveforms to shame.


What are you using for an antenna? How is it oriented? Are you located behind a steep hill to your Southwest?


----------



## C*Tedesco




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hokiefan* /forum/post/11704404
> 
> 
> Baltimore - AZ is in Widescreen SD, since Fox only does 6 HD games a week. We got stuck with the SD game since AZ sucks.



Well I'll be. I've never heard of Widescreen SD that isn't stretched. This is BS. It's 2007 folks, let's get all channels in HD!


----------



## hokiefan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/11704660
> 
> 
> Those are seriously anemic Washington, DC signals, compared to what I'd expect someone to be able to develop from the geographic center of Severn, MD, but the signal strength ratio of 34-36 as compared to analog 32 is typical, so the spectrum you have captured does not reveal inconsistently low Washington digital UHF signal levels. I have a trashcan lid antenna in College Park, MD that is less than ten feet above average terrain, yet it develops Baltimore digital waveforms that put your Washington digital waveforms to shame.
> 
> 
> What are you using for an antenna? How is it oriented? Are you located behind a steep hill to your Southwest?



The signal looks much better at the antenna, which makes me think it might be cabling. I'll take a pic of the spectrum from my roof after the game today.


I am using this antenna from radio shack:
http://rsk.imageg.net/graphics/produ...265531w345.jpg 


I have it pointed directly towards the DC stations, which is at 248degrees. The Baltimore stations are at 23degrees, but I get a pretty booming signal from them. I have the antenna mounted on my roof, which is probably about 20 feet off the ground. There is a big tree about 40 feet in front of it in the direction of DC. The house next door has aluminum siding and is about 20' away, due south (180degrees) of the antenna.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *C*Tedesco* /forum/post/11704667
> 
> 
> Well I'll be. I've never heard of Widescreen SD that isn't stretched. This is BS. It's 2007 folks, let's get all channels in HD!



Widescreen SD is quite common for sports. Fox Saturday baseball was all widescreen SD last year. For the golf events on NBC this year - all the the mobile camera shots were widescreen SD. It was a big deal this year when CBS went to all HD, including the mobile cameras, for their golf coverage. Sport events from Europe are often widescreen upconverted SD from the PAL 576i 16:9 format widely used in Europe.


Also, several of the prime time reality series on Fox are shot in widescreen SD and upconverted. Widescreen SD can look pretty good when it done right. I caught the end of the Arizona-Balt game on Fox and that was an example of poor looking widescreen upconverted SD. They must have been using a composite feed in the path somewhere.


IIRC, the NFL is requiring that all NFL games in the 2008 season to be in HD. So this is the last season with several NFL SD games each week.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hokiefan* /forum/post/11705142
> 
> 
> The signal looks much better at the antenna, which makes me think it might be cabling. I'll take a pic of the spectrum from my roof after the game today.
> 
> 
> I am using this antenna from radio shack:
> http://rsk.imageg.net/graphics/produ...265531w345.jpg
> 
> 
> I have it pointed directly towards the DC stations, which is at 248degrees. The Baltimore stations are at 23degrees, but I get a pretty booming signal from them. I have the antenna mounted on my roof, which is probably about 20 feet off the ground. There is a big tree about 40 feet in front of it in the direction of DC. The house next door has aluminum siding and is about 20' away, due south (180degrees) of the antenna.




Even if your signals are a bit higher on the roof, the fact is that something is blocking or interfering with the DC stations. You can tell this because three of the Baltimore stations, 38, 40, and 46 are on the order of 10 dB higher than the DC stations. Reorienting the antenna might help, but you might have to move it...


BTW, it's nice to see that the highest signal level you are getting is from my station - WNUV channel 54!


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/11705697
> 
> 
> BTW, it's nice to see that the highest signal level you are getting is from my station - WNUV channel 54!



And I was going to recommend that he drop a notch on his analog 54 visual carrier if he decides to experiment with a preamp.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/11705544
> 
> 
> IIRC, the NFL is requiring that all NFL games in the 2008 season to be in HD. So this is the last season with several NFL SD games each week.



Thought that was 2009?


Edit: Nevermind...found engadget saying 2008.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/11701214
> 
> 
> I saw earlier tonight that there were different games on WJLA-DT 7 and WMAR-DT 2 in Baltimore. After seeing your post, at 11:30 PM, the Iowa-Wisc game is in SD on WJLA-DT but is HD on WMAR-DT. Did the game on WJLA-DT go SD at or after 11 PM? Bet that someone at WJLA-DT on the late shift forgot to switch back to the HD feed from the network. For football fans in the region, this is why it is useful to put up an antenna, if they are in the broadcast range of both, to be able to get the networks from both cities.



It switched back to HD for the second half on WMAR. Sounds like they had some switching issues.


----------



## ptlurking




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *i5hawn* /forum/post/11702138
> 
> 
> Been an entire week, same problem with CBS, I guess I'll be calling to get a STB



I5shawn:


Had technicians come out to my house 3x this week.

The last guy was Comcast's top troubleshooter who showed up unannounced yesterday afternoon...pretty sharp guy.


We bypassed all splitters to eliminate any in home issues.

He confirmed there are intermittent signal drops on the freq carrying channel 212. This is causing the drop outs on our cable cards.


Note> STB's are not effected because of their internal amplifiers.


I suggest you call Comcast to complain and tell them you know of other people with the same problem.


Also, dont let them mess with your cable card.

a) Its not the cable card's problem

b) Comcast has a bunch of bad cable cards that don't work at all


It took 2 visits by technicians before they finally brought a card that worked in my Sony XBR1.


PM me if you want to discuss further.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/11706022
> 
> 
> And I was going to recommend that he drop a notch on his analog 54 visual carrier if he decides to experiment with a preamp.



Little known fact: WNUV 54 is the highest power commercial station in the state of MD (5 million watts ERP). Actually, that's the highest FCC licensed power available in the US.


There is one other station in MD that is also putting out 5 million watts. Anyone want to guess what it is?


----------



## hokiefan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/11705697
> 
> 
> Even if your signals are a bit higher on the roof, the fact is that something is blocking or interfering with the DC stations. You can tell this because three of the Baltimore stations, 38, 40, and 46 are on the order of 10 dB higher than the DC stations. Reorienting the antenna might help, but you might have to move it...
> 
> 
> BTW, it's nice to see that the highest signal level you are getting is from my station - WNUV channel 54!



Yea I was kind of surprised at the difference in signal level between channels on the spec-a. I played with changing the direction of the antenna (Az, elevation) but it appears to be in the optimal direction. The only thing I can think of is the large tree that is directly inbetween the antenna and the DC towers. Also there is a BGE residential service power line (single wire that runs pole to pole to a transformer) at about the same level as my antenna, between the antenna and DC towers, any chance that is blocking signal?


I attached a drawing of my house if it helps. Also the spectrums direct from the antenna on the roof, sorry the wide one is a little blurry.


----------



## AntAltMike

But all of those signals are too weak. Maybe you need a new balun.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/11706890
> 
> 
> Little known fact: WNUV 54 is the highest power commercial station in the state of MD (5 million watts ERP). Actually, that's the highest FCC licensed power available in the US.
> 
> 
> There is one other station in MD that is also putting out 5 million watts. Anyone want to guess what it is?



WMPT Annapolis?

*hokiefan*, you may need both a new balun _and_ cabling...


----------



## Marcus Carr

Before the Simpsons tonight WBFF said to "watch The Simpsons in HD on Comcast channel 213".


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hokiefan* /forum/post/11706957
> 
> 
> Yea I was kind of surprised at the difference in signal level between channels on the spec-a. I played with changing the direction of the antenna (Az, elevation) but it appears to be in the optimal direction. The only thing I can think of is the large tree that is directly inbetween the antenna and the DC towers. Also there is a BGE residential service power line (single wire that runs pole to pole to a transformer) at about the same level as my antenna, between the antenna and DC towers, any chance that is blocking signal?



The power line could be a problem if it is a major line close to the antenna. But you have the Radio Shack U-75R which I have tried. I have found it to be a very touchy antenna for the right aim, even for highly directional antenna. I compared it to the Channel Master 4221 4 Bay bowtie and the CM 4221 won handily for picking up stations both in DC and Baltimore even with the U-75R aimed at either city. The U-75R has the advantage of being lightweight and easy to set up, but I would recommend the CM 4221 or CM 4228 over it any day.


One thing you could try with your U-75R is tilt the aim upwards a bit if it is level.


----------



## HDDAVID

I'm watching WJZ DT on D* in SD instead of HD tonight.Anyone else with the same issue?

BTW I called WJZ and they said because the football game ran late CBS does not send out a HD signal. Does this sound right?


----------



## HokieNav




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/11707666
> 
> 
> The power line could be a problem if it is a major line close to the antenna. But you have the Radio Shack U-75R which I have tried. I have found it to be a very touchy antenna for the right aim, even for highly directional antenna. I compared it to the Channel Master 4221 4 Bay bowtie and the CM 4221 won handily for picking up stations both in DC and Baltimore even with the U-75R aimed at either city. The U-75R has the advantage of being lightweight and easy to set up, but I would recommend the CM 4221 or CM 4228 over it any day.
> 
> 
> One thing you could try with your U-75R is tilt the aim upwards a bit if it is level.



Hokiefan, I've got a 4221 sitting on the floor here in Odenton that you're welcome to borrow if you want to try a quick antenna swap to test this theory before spending money/fooling with cable issues. Drop me a PM if you're interested, us Hokies gotta stick together!


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> BTW I called WJZ and they said because the football game ran late CBS does not send out a HD signal. Does this sound right?


*Rethink:*
*How many prime-time network feeds was CBS sending yesterday causing this statement to be made*? CBS did not even have the doubleheader this week. There were three regional games on at 4pm (Cle-Oak- the lone 4pm SD game, Jax-Den, Cin-Sea) one of which WJZ carried because the Ravens were on WBFF/WTTG at 1pm, another SD game, and a CBS game usually cannot be shown against it in Baltimore.


Perhaps next year, when the NFL's mandate about HD kicks in, this will no longer be the case and the infrastructure will be there.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/11706890
> 
> 
> Little known fact: WNUV 54 is the highest power commercial station in the state of MD (5 million watts ERP). Actually, that's the highest FCC licensed power available in the US.
> 
> 
> There is one other station in MD that is also putting out 5 million watts. Anyone want to guess what it is?



Let me guess? WBFF?


----------



## DRal




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DVDO+WESTY=1080p* /forum/post/11688344
> 
> 
> had same problem, buy a motorola signal booster from circuit city I live in manassas and I can pick up all the DC HD's



Well I picked up a new indoor antenna, reception was no better no worse. I spent a great amount of time moving that antenna around, change the direction I am aiming it etc....


So i ordered the motorola signal booster, hopefully that will solve the problem.


----------



## machpost

Michigan State at Notre Dame on Saturday, on WRC-DT looked horrible. Has anyone else noticed this? NBC seems to do the worst job of covering football in HD. Or was it the aforementioned widescreen SD?


----------



## CycloneGT

NBC games have been panned for years. They just don't get it.


So its not your set, its them


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/11707361
> 
> 
> WMPT Annapolis?
> 
> *hokiefan*, you may need both a new balun _and_ cabling...





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/11710248
> 
> 
> Let me guess? WBFF?



It is WMPT in Annapolis. And since they are at a lower frequency than me, their 5 million watts goes further than my 5 million watts...


Then again, my antenna is 153 meters (about 502 feet) higher than theirs, above sea level.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/11709918
> 
> *Rethink:*
> *How many prime-time network feeds was CBS sending yesterday causing this statement to be made*? CBS did not even have the doubleheader this week. There were three regional games on at 4pm (Cle-Oak- the lone 4pm SD game, Jax-Den, Cin-Sea) one of which WJZ carried because the Ravens were on WBFF/WTTG at 1pm, another SD game, and a CBS game usually cannot be shown against it in Baltimore.
> 
> 
> Perhaps next year, when the NFL's mandate about HD kicks in, this will no longer be the case and the infrastructure will be there.



That's the reason that they didn't have HD then - CBS was doing their regular HD programming at the regular time, but WJZ had to time-shift the programming due to the second football game, and apparently, they, like us, have no way to time-shift HD programming... (currently...)


----------



## JK77




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/11707468
> 
> 
> Before the Simpsons tonight WBFF said to "watch The Simpsons in HD on Comcast channel 213".



My Sinclair Fox station does the same thing, and even runs "WANT TO SEE FOX 53 in HDTV? CALL 1-800-COMCAST!" in the news ticker during their 10 PM news. Everytime I see that I think, "That's funny, I'm watching it now without them."


The My Network station, which is the other half of the Sinclair twinstick operation, shows their Comcast slot during promos.


----------



## JK77




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/11705697
> 
> 
> Even if your signals are a bit higher on the roof, the fact is that something is blocking or interfering with the DC stations. You can tell this because three of the Baltimore stations, 38, 40, and 46 are on the order of 10 dB higher than the DC stations. Reorienting the antenna might help, but you might have to move it...
> 
> 
> BTW, it's nice to see that the highest signal level you are getting is from my station - WNUV channel 54!



I was in Columbia this past weekend visiting a friend, and decided to bring my WinTV HVR-950 to see what I could pick up. Not only could I pick up yours, but all of the Baltimore DTVs with the little antenna Hauppauge provides with some problems with WUTB.


----------



## MD_HT1

Anyone having problems getting WJZ working through a windows media center?


I have perfect signal and it suddenly stopped working a few weeks ago.


I can see it with other HD tuners, but not through Windows MCE.


Can anyone else confirm this?


Thanks.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JK77* /forum/post/11711699
> 
> 
> Not only could I pick up yours, but all of the Baltimore DTVs with the little antenna Hauppauge provides with some problems with WUTB.



I was able to pick up WUTB-DT here in Germantown last week, it was weak though (both in signal strength and content)


----------



## afiggatt

*Warning for Verizon Fios subscribers: Guide data messed up today for NBC HD in Washington Metro area*


Heads up for any Washington Metro region Verizon Fios subscribers planning to record Heroes or the two new NBC shows in HD tonight on the Fios 6416 DVR. The guide data for for WRC-DT NBC 4 on channel 807 is off by a half-hour. It has the series premiere of Chuck starting at 8:30 PM ET, season premiere of Heroes at 9:30 PM, Journeyman at 10:30 PM. The guide in fact is off by 1/2 hour for channel 807 for the entire day. This 1/2 hour error is for 807 only as far as I can tell as the times for HD ABC, CBS, Fox and SD channel for WRC on channel 4 are correct. The guide for 807 goes back to the correct time after midnight for Conan at 12:30 AM ET and is correct for tomorrow. Looks like people will need to set manual recording times for the 6416 if they want the full hour of Heroes tonight. I like the picture quality and net speed for Fios, but yet another screwup in the guide data, this one for a major network on the day the new fall season really starts up.


----------



## Grayson73

Do any of you use indoor antennas? If so, which one?


I live in Potomac, MD and want to try a few.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JK77* /forum/post/11711699
> 
> 
> I was in Columbia this past weekend visiting a friend, and decided to bring my WinTV HVR-950 to see what I could pick up. Not only could I pick up yours, but all of the Baltimore DTVs with the little antenna Hauppauge provides with some problems with WUTB.



WUTB-DT and WUTB-TV both come off of the WNUV tower in Catonsville. It's off of Rt. 40, just on the other side of the Patapsco River from Howard County, so it's not really surprising that you cam pick it up in Columbia. It is kinda surprising that it was picked up in Germantown, though. WUTB doesn't yet have their full power transmitter in.


----------



## 4HiMarks

I made some changes in my basement and moved my HT into a different room with all new cable runs. The new location is a bit further from my "distribution center" where everything comes into the house. I have not moved the controller unit for the OT antenna rotor yet, though. I have a couple of questions first:


1) The original run isn't long enough to reach the new location. Am I right in assuming a splice isn't going to be a problem?


2) What gauge of cable is needed? The existing piece looks pretty thin. There seems to be 4 strands, but two of them go into the same connection on the back of the unit. Do I need all four (I don't know how they are connected at the antenna end on the roof).


3) Can I use four-wire phone cable? Or, even better, I have a run of cat 5 already going to the area behind the TV. I just hooked it up to the ethernet port on my Dish VIP-622, and it works fine. Ethernet only uses 4 of the 8 wires in a cat 5 cable. Can I just splice into the other 4 without degrading my ethernet (622 use only for that cable) or the controller box signals?


-Chris


----------



## CycloneGT

I think that #3 is a big no no. I don't think that twisted pair is going to like the contoller signals on neigboring pairs. But hey, it only lasts during the rotation right? hehe.


I used some "alarm" wire which my builders had run up to the attic when my house was being built. It wasn't much more than phone line with a solid core (not that thin braided stuff). I think, mine uses 3 wires, but if you only have two currently connected and it works, I can't see why it would stop if you continued to use the same two.


----------



## 4HiMarks

I think you misunderstood me. All four wires are in use, but two of them are twisted together and connected to the same jack so there are only three distinct "signals".


-Chris


----------



## JK77




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/11714644
> 
> 
> WUTB-DT and WUTB-TV both come off of the WNUV tower in Catonsville. It's off of Rt. 40, just on the other side of the Patapsco River from Howard County, so it's not really surprising that you cam pick it up in Columbia. It is kinda surprising that it was picked up in Germantown, though. WUTB doesn't yet have their full power transmitter in.



I was surprised that the little 4.5" high antenna that comes with the WinTV stick could pick up anything. At home, it doesn't receive anything but I am atleast 30-40 miles from any transmitter and the terrain varies more. After the dropped frames on 24, I checked the FCC database and saw the low power level.


----------



## i5hawn

du dun duuuuuuuuuuuuun


avsforum to the rescue again


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/11714403
> 
> 
> Warning for Verizon Fios subscribers: Guide data messed up today for NBC HD in Washington Metro area



I called the FSC at 7:40 (before checking here), amazingly got through to a live body quickly but they knew nothing about this and they proceeded to reset all of the boxes. Of course that didn't help (and the channels barely came back in time for the new shows at 8.) They put me on hold for about 10 minutes and then... dialtone!


Let's hope this doesn't happen too often (if ever again)... much less during season premieres.


----------



## jcole66

I'm in the Arlington area with Comcast and using a SciAtl 8300HD box and noticed that the audio drop outs have started back up again either viewing live HD channels or recorded channels.


This was a big problem last spring but seemed to clear itself up over the summer.


FOX is the worst tonight and my recording of Family Guy last night is darn near impossible to watch. I seem to notice it on all the network channels but HBO/Showtime seem to be ok for me. And I cant recall having problems with them ever in the past.


Anyone else ? or is it just me. Comcast always just wants to "replace the box" but honestly I dont think it's the box thats the problem.


I'm about THIS close to going out and getting my TivoHD that I've wanted but I"m not sure if it will resolve this issue if it's a signal strength problem.


Ideas?


----------



## maestro73

This is happening to me as well. It has been for a few days now. I'm using the same box w/ Comcast Alexandria. Incidentally, I tried my OTA channels and I seem to be getting similar break ups, although less often. Very strange and very annoying. So maybe it's not Comcast?


----------



## maestro73

Audio drop outs seem to have stopped, but ESPN-HD and CSN-HD were out for a while. So I guess it was Comcast. Both are back on but ESPN-HD is still a little flakey.


----------



## mark_1581

I've had audio drop outs on all my HD channels from Comcast Alexandria (SA8300HD) for the past couple days as well. It's really starting to get annoying.


I wish Verizon and the city would reach an agreement, Comcast just keeps getting worse.


----------



## jcole66

Yes it seems to be better for me now as well. It's odd how this happens.


My 8pm recording of Prison Break is impossible to watch. I have K-Ville on now and it's been fine for the past 10 minutes.


I'm hoping Heroes doesn't suffer the audio drop outs!


I wonder if anyone who isnt using the SA8300HD has this issue? I've been using the same 8300 for 2.5 years now and it really just became an this past spring. And typically is always the worst on FOX.


Crossing my fingers it was an isolated incident!


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Grayson73* /forum/post/11714588
> 
> 
> Do any of you use indoor antennas? If so, which one?



I use a *RadioShack 15-1868* non-amplified antenna, available at said stores for $25, which picks up all DC locals with the exceptions of WNVC-DT (probably a crap antenna or transmitter), and long-range WPXW and WMPT. I'd try that one first. However, you may need the RadioShack 15-1892, which is amplified, and might help you more. Some guy in Olney can get both DC and Baltimore stations with that one. It's much easier to tune than the 15-1892, and WOW, what UHF analog signal quality, even on minimal amplification (you will need at least minimal amplification to get any serviceable digital signal, unlike the 15-1868, which actually beats the 15-1892 when in non-amplified mode)...


----------



## HokieNav




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Grayson73* /forum/post/11714588
> 
> 
> Do any of you use indoor antennas? If so, which one?
> 
> 
> I live in Potomac, MD and want to try a few.



I have a 4221 sitting in the corner in the living room, pulling in Washington and B-more stations here in 21113 (Odenton) with very few issues. Not technically an "indoor" antenna, it's in the corner and behind some stuff and relatively out of sight.


----------



## DRal




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jcole66* /forum/post/11716819
> 
> 
> I'm in the Arlington area with Comcast and using a SciAtl 8300HD box and noticed that the audio drop outs have started back up again either viewing live HD channels or recorded channels.
> 
> 
> This was a big problem last spring but seemed to clear itself up over the summer.
> 
> 
> FOX is the worst tonight and my recording of Family Guy last night is darn near impossible to watch. I seem to notice it on all the network channels but HBO/Showtime seem to be ok for me. And I cant recall having problems with them ever in the past.
> 
> 
> Anyone else ? or is it just me. Comcast always just wants to "replace the box" but honestly I dont think it's the box thats the problem.
> 
> 
> I'm about THIS close to going out and getting my TivoHD that I've wanted but I"m not sure if it will resolve this issue if it's a signal strength problem.
> 
> 
> Ideas?



I have this same problem. I thought it may have been the box but I went to the gym in my apartment complex and the same thing was happening on the TV there and it does not have a box.


----------



## maestro73

I spoke to Comcast last night. After an amusing 10 minutes with the first CSR who thought the reason I wasn't seeing a picture on ESPN-HD was because I had to pay _extra_ for it because it was part of their sports package, he put me on a three way call with someone from sales to prove me wrong I guess. After the sales guy explained to the CSR _he_ was wrong, I explained my situation to the sales guy and he immediately acknowledged they were having issues with audio for a few days, and that he was just notified the problem was resolved (which it was). However three of my HD channels were still on again/off again. He wasn't sure why that was happening but they are sending a tech out on Thursday. I did not check it this morning but will this evening. My guess is it they will work.


Gotta love Comcast.


----------



## jaxjaggywires

Looks like Cox in Fairfax has added NFL Network HD on 718...at least, it seems new as I've never noticed it before.


----------



## Grayson73




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/11717498
> 
> 
> I use a *RadioShack 15-1868* non-amplified antenna, available at said stores for $25, which picks up all DC locals with the exceptions of WNVC-DT (probably a crap antenna or transmitter), and long-range WPXW and WMPT. I'd try that one first. However, you may need the RadioShack 15-1892, which is amplified, and might help you more. Some guy in Olney can get both DC and Baltimore stations with that one. It's much easier to tune than the 15-1892, and WOW, what UHF analog signal quality, even on minimal amplification (you will need at least minimal amplification to get any serviceable digital signal, unlike the 15-1868, which actually beats the 15-1892 when in non-amplified mode)...



Thanks, I'll check them out. Are these better than the Phillips antennas that Circuit City and Walmart carry?


----------



## mapper




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jaxjaggywires* /forum/post/11721987
> 
> 
> Looks like Cox in Fairfax has added NFL Network HD on 718...at least, it seems new as I've never noticed it before.



Yes, thats confirmed, Cox added NFL HD, but only for people who subscribe to Digital Sports & Info Tier. Kind of like Comcast.

It is on Cox's website as well.

EDIT: Just tried to locate the channel on the CableCARD, nothing there, therefore I assume this is the first of the SDV channels.


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *maestro73* /forum/post/11721130
> 
> 
> I spoke to Comcast last night. After an amusing 10 minutes with the first CSR who thought the reason I wasn't seeing a picture on ESPN-HD was because I had to pay _extra_ for it because it was part of their sports package, he put me on a three way call with someone from sales to prove me wrong I guess. After the sales guy explained to the CSR _he_ was wrong, I explained my situation to the sales guy and he immediately acknowledged they were having issues with audio for a few days, and that he was just notified the problem was resolved (which it was). However three of my HD channels were still on again/off again. He wasn't sure why that was happening but they are sending a tech out on Thursday. I did not check it this morning but will this evening. My guess is it they will work.
> 
> 
> Gotta love Comcast.



I started noticing severe audio hiccups on HD channels from about 200 through 220 (in Alexandria) on Sunday night (PQ was fine, however). When I checked Monday afternoon, same problems. I called 800-COMCAST; CSR wanted to know if we had heavy rain or high winds (hah!). He wanted to send a tech, to which I replied Don't Bother; I'm not sure I ever convinced him that the problem was in processing at the NoVA head end.


Last night while watching Heros on NBCHD 211 (with lousy sound), picture went out with message "Poor Signal Quality"; switched to NBC analog 4. Switched back to 211 after awhile; picture & sound was then A-OK. Obviously, some tech finally woke up to the problem(s) and fixed 'em. Question is why does it take them more than 24 hours to catch stuff like this?


(Gotta love Comcast)**2.


----------



## Mean Deuce




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/11724819
> 
> 
> Yes, thats confirmed, Cox added NFL HD, but only for people who subscribe to Digital Sports & Info Tier. Kind of like Comcast.
> 
> It is on Cox's website as well.
> 
> EDIT: Just tried to locate the channel on the CableCARD, nothing there, therefore I assume this is the first of the SDV channels.



I've got it too and I'm not a subscriber to that tier. However nothing is in HD, its got black bars on the sides.


----------



## Marcus Carr

D* has 21 new HD channels up.


A&E HD (channel 265)

Animal Planet HD (channel 282)

Big Ten Network HD (channel 220)

CNN HD (channel 202)

Discovery Channel HD (channel 278)

The History Channel (channel 269)

The Learning Channel (channel 280)

The Movie Channel (channel 544)

NFL Network HD (channel 212)

The Science Channel HD (channel 284)

Showtime Too HD (channel 538)

Showtime West HD (channel 540)

Smithsonian Channel HD (channel 267)

Starz Comedy HD (channel 519)

Starz Edge HD (channel 522)

Starz HD East (channel 520)

Starz HD West (channel 521)

Starz Kids (channel 518)

TBS HD (channel 247)

The Weather Channel HD (channel 362)

Versus/Golf Channel (channel 604)


----------



## CycloneGT

Good deal. D* customers be sure to chime in on the PQ of the new channels.


I'm surprised that NatGeo, Food, and HGTV are missing. Especially NatGeo since its been on part time already.


----------



## DRal




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DVDO+WESTY=1080p* /forum/post/11659666
> 
> 
> to really pull those stations in buy a Motorola signal booster at Circuit City, I live in Manassas and with that booster I can pull in every HD OTA with a basic terk indoor antenna



Bought the Motorola signal booster, no help. I picked up a couple different channels but I am still unable to get ABC, FOX, NBC, and CBS. It Sucks. Perhaps it my card, I just do not understand why I can not get OTA channels.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/11731041
> 
> 
> Good deal. D* customers be sure to chime in on the PQ of the new channels.
> 
> 
> I'm surprised that NatGeo, Food, and HGTV are missing. Especially NatGeo since its been on part time already.



PQ? Outstanding... CNNHD and TWCHD (when they do local on the 8s) very, very nice!


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> PQ? Outstanding... CNNHD and TWCHD (when they do local on the 8s) very, very nice!



Sounds encouraging! Would you say MPEG4 national channels are much better in HD PQ than MPEG2? Nothing like an assessment from Robert who we HD Lite haters can bank on as being unbiased! Any WOW factor at play here on the new channels??


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bill Johnson* /forum/post/11731877
> 
> 
> Sounds encouraging! Would you say MPEG4 national channels are much better in HD PQ than MPEG2? Nothing like an assessment from Robert who we HD Lite haters can bank on as being unbiased! Any WOW factor at play here on the new channels??



They are better. It's actually easy to see becaase D* is running HBOHD in MPEG2 and now MPEG4. Sharper PQ and more color! The ESPNs are still MPEG2... disappointed. Maybe this will change, maybe not. It could stay MPEG2 because both nets are 720p instead of 1080i... (less bandwidth and they might not be compressing those two nets too much anyways)


----------



## gmucklow




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Grayson73* /forum/post/11714588
> 
> 
> Do any of you use indoor antennas? If so, which one?
> 
> 
> I live in Potomac, MD and want to try a few.



I use the Zenith ZHDTV1 Silver Sensor in Arlington with good results. Philips also sells the same unit. I also use the old Radio Shack "Double Bow Tie" antenna that has been discontinued that is less directional than the Silver Sensor. I have tried many, many others that are much worse.


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The ESPNs are still MPEG2... disappointed. Maybe this will change, maybe not. It could stay MPEG2



What a disappointment indeed to us football/sports nuts! To see a microscopic mole on Wolf Blitzer's nose is one thing, but conversely to see HD Lite continue on the ESPN HD football games is downright awful! Please say it ain't so, Robert!


----------



## Marcus Carr

Cox to add NFL HD, *NHL HD* in Fairfax County and Fredericksburg, VA.

http://www.tvpredictions.com/


----------



## bucnasty

I have now figured out why I pay cox 170 a month for service! NHL HD!!!! DELICIOUS!!!!


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/11731945
> 
> 
> They are better. It's actually easy to see becaase D* is running HBOHD in MPEG2 and now MPEG4. Sharper PQ and more color! The ESPNs are still MPEG2... disappointed. Maybe this will change, maybe not. It could stay MPEG2 because both nets are 720p instead of 1080i... (less bandwidth and they might not be compressing those two nets too much anyways)




I think I read that they do not do anything to the 720p channels.


But how did you tell ESPN 206 and 209 are MPEG2?


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/11733000
> 
> 
> I think I read that they do not do anything to the 720p channels.
> 
> 
> But how did you tell ESPN 206 and 209 are MPEG2?



Someone in another forum said they took off the BBC's from their HR20 and was able to still 206 and 209...


----------



## maestro73

Is anyone in the Alexandria/Arlington Comcast system receiving NFL-HD? I subscribed to the Sports Tier specifically for this but I've only seen SD content on channel 275. I was under the impression all their content would appear on the hi def channel as an HD simulcast.


What's the deal? Am I missing something?


----------



## Red Dog

Arlington/Alex Comcast has never had a full-time NFL-HD channel. Last time they put the actual games in HD on the INHD channel. Since you have to pay for it now, I doubt that they will do this for 2007 games.


----------



## maestro73

I realize we've never had a full time NFL-HD channel and we got our games on INHD last year. It's just I've read articles about how Comcast was offering the channel HD; it's even listed as channel 246 on their website's channel guide for my ZIP. So, I'm just curious if anyone was seeing it on 275, 246, or somewhere else, or if there was any announcement stating when it might be available, if at all.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Grayson73* /forum/post/11724175
> 
> 
> Thanks, I'll check them out. Are these better than the Phillips antennas that Circuit City and Walmart carry?



I don't know for sure, but I would suspect so. Try 'em if the RadioShack antennas don't work.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *maestro73* /forum/post/11733489
> 
> 
> Is anyone in the Alexandria/Arlington Comcast system receiving NFL-HD? I subscribed to the Sports Tier specifically for this but I've only seen SD content on channel 275. I was under the impression all their content would appear on the hi def channel as an HD simulcast.
> 
> 
> What's the deal? Am I missing something?



Most everything on NFL HD is actually upconverted SD. Right now, only the games are in HD.


----------



## maestro73

mikemikeb - Good to know I'm not missing much. Thanks.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/11731041
> 
> 
> I'm surprised that NatGeo, Food, and HGTV are missing. Especially NatGeo since its been on part time already.



With FoodHD and HGTV HD, try 231-1 and 229-1, respectively. As for NatGeoHD, I suspect that will be on within a couple of weeks.


----------



## jaxjaggywires




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Mean Deuce* /forum/post/11727801
> 
> 
> I've got it too and I'm not a subscriber to that tier. However nothing is in HD, its got black bars on the sides.



NFL Replay last night (Bengals @ Seahawks) was in HD...for some reason, the first NFL Replay of the night wasn't though. Don't know what was up with that...


----------



## amakh008

Any chance they re "fix" the UI on FIOS. It is HORRIBLE. So buggy....thinking about leaving them it is so bad...


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *amakh008* /forum/post/11735545
> 
> 
> Any chance they re "fix" the UI on FIOS. It is HORRIBLE. So buggy....thinking about leaving them it is so bad...



If you mean the wonderful new IMG software on Fios







, that is a national Fios issue which should be posted in the Fios programming thread or the QIP 6416 DVR thread elsewhere. But to answer the question in part, Verizon has stopped the roll-out of the IMG across the US. Unfortunately the Washington Metro area got the IMG before they stopped. They are working on a updated version before they resume the roll-out, but one would hope they would update the current IMG systems first.


----------



## Marcus Carr

E* has added four HD RSNs:

*Comcast Sports Net Mid-Atlantic (ch. 374)*

Altitude Sports and Entertainment (ch. 360)

Comcast Sports Net West (ch. 359)

Fox Sports Ohio (ch. 375)

http://www.tvpredictions.com/echosports092607.htm


----------



## CycloneGT

Sweet! I knew it was coming, hecks its been coming for a year now.


----------



## billygreen23

Does anyone with Comcast Alexandria have A&E HD yet? It's listed on channel 223 on the channel lineup now. Hopefully we finally have a new HD channel!


----------



## Speqtre

Can anyone in 20191/20194 and surrounding area confirm that 250 - Universal HD - is on and available now? It shows up in the channel listing for 20194 now, where it didn't last week.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/11733356
> 
> 
> Someone in another forum said they took off the BBC's from their HR20 and was able to still 206 and 209...



Ah.


I just checked something. If you get the channel info (by arrowing over to the name of the channel in the guide), it tells which channels are virtual (channel maps of the "true" channel). It shows all the duplicates as virtual in their new locations and the 70s versions as non-virtual. That says that the dupes (TNT, HBO, Showtime, ESPNs) are still in MPEG2.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *billygreen23* /forum/post/11742287
> 
> 
> Does anyone with Comcast Alexandria have A&E HD yet? It's listed on channel 223 on the channel lineup now. Hopefully we finally have a new HD channel!



Yeah we all have it....










Check on Monday...


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DRal* /forum/post/11731164
> 
> 
> Bought the Motorola signal booster, no help. I picked up a couple different channels but I am still unable to get ABC, FOX, NBC, and CBS. It Sucks. Perhaps it my card, I just do not understand why I can not get OTA channels.



thats disapointing to hear, did you make sure that the booster is plugged in directly to the wall outlet and not a outlet strip? I have a terk indoor antenna and a motorola signal booster.


----------



## GregAnnapolis

Anyone know about Center Ice HD availability on Comcast in the Annapolis area? Or Baltimore or DC, for that matter? I'm interested in signing up, but will only consider it if they offer the HD channel this year. Preferably full-time, not shared with other packages like NBA.


----------



## i5hawn

well it hit the fan today. Nearly all the channels on the card are blacked out save for the local HD channel and a few odd ones here and there like cspan and others.


----------



## jeff125va




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/10836610
> 
> 
> A 4 way splitter will drop the signal strength by around 6 dB. I have the CM 4221 4 bay in my attic as well. I have a CM 7777 pre-amp, but I can get all the DC stations and 2 or 3 (IIRC) of the Baltimore stations without the pre-amp. The CM 4221 is aimed just south of the Baltimore stations so I can get the more distant Baltimore stations with the main lobe and the stronger DC stations at 50+ degrees off to the side.
> 
> 
> Attic placements can be very sensitive to the right location, not just aim. I can move my antenna forward 6" (I have it mounted on a flat piece of scrap wood) and lose the weaker Baltimore stations. First, you should experiment with the aim and placement (if you can), to see if you can improve the signal strength for WDCW-DT, WETA-DT, and any of the Baltimore stations you get. If that doesn't work, then you should probably add a pre-amp. I got the CM 7777, but based on the advice of antenna installers in the hardware reception, you may want to consider the Winegard HDP-269 pre-amp. It is has low noise and a 12 dB gain whereas the CM 7777 can overload for close-in stations.



Just an update (it's been a few months, but it wasn't a big priority over the summer): I got the CM-7778 from solidsignal.com for about $60 incl. shipping and installed it last night. Works great! Channel 50 went from "searching for signal" (actual strength around 45-50) to perfectly viewable with strength in the 80's. Channel 4 improved from the mid 80's to the mid 90's. 5, 7 and 9 didn't really have any room for improvement, but I'd heard that amplification can sometimes add too much gain to strong signals and this wasn't a problem at all.


And it couldn't have been easier to install. I'm curious though: does the amplifier piece really have to go on the antenna mast, or could I have just put that inside as well, with the power supply? The cabling would have been essentially the same, except that the long cable run would have been from the antenna to the amplifier, instead of from the amplifier to the power supply. My antenna in my attic isn't hard to get to, I'm just curious if I'd had my antenna somewhere that isn't easy to get to, could I have done it that way?


----------



## jerwin

From what I understand, the purpose of an antenna amplifier is to compensate for long cable runs.


So, let us suppose that you have a decent antenna. It pulls in a signal that's just strong enough to be resolved.


But wait, before it gets to your TV, it has to travel through 100 ft of RG-6. The signal loses 5 dB of strength, and dips below the threshold required by your tuner. If, however, it is amplified before it "goes down" the cable, it will still be sufficiently strong enough for your TV to resolve it.


Usually, one part goes up near the antenna, and is powered by another part (the injector) that's safely indoors.


Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.


----------



## AbMagFab

I searched the last few pages but didn't see anything.


Anyone know when FIOS TV MD is going to get additional HD channels, and what they are? It seems like there is a big push of new HD channels between now and the end of the year, and I'm surprised to see them show up on DirecTV and Comcast before they show up on FIOS.


Anyone have any insight/knowledge of this?


(Sorry if this was already answered and I couldn't find it - just point me to a link or something.)


Thanks!


----------



## matrox101

I live in Stafford, VA and I have Comcast cable. I am trying to tune in my local HD channels with my TVs QAM tuner but I have been unable to find them all doing a scan with my tv. I have found NBC on channel 78-5 and a few other channels but no Fox, CBS, or ABC. If anyone knows what channel these might be broadcast on could you please let me know. I would greatly appreciate it.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/11756603
> 
> 
> IAnyone know when FIOS TV MD is going to get additional HD channels, and what they are? It seems like there is a big push of new HD channels between now and the end of the year, and I'm surprised to see them show up on DirecTV and Comcast before they show up on FIOS.
> 
> 
> Anyone have any insight/knowledge of this?
> 
> 
> (Sorry if this was already answered and I couldn't find it - just point me to a link or something.)



The lack of new HD channels is a national Verizon Fios issue. See the Fios programming thread at http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...90208&page=146 . However, the reports posted on dslreports are that Fios did not put in enough digital QAM channels in the distribution chain from the super head end to the central offices to be able to add all the new HD channels right away. There is plenty of bandwidth from the CO to the home, it is the system above that is the issue. I have done scans and find only ~ 52 QAM channels in the open range from QAM channel 50 to 135. (Analog takes up the channel 2 to 49 reserved space). Lowest QAM channel is 55, highest is 126 with two large gaps in the set. There have been conflicting rumors of Fios adding a few more HD channels this fall or adding 30 new HD channels by the end of the year or not to hardly any new HD channels until next spring after they add more QAM channels to the system. These are rumors so don't live a lot of weight to any of them. But this is a a local issue, so follow-up should go to the Fios thread.


One local issue: The reports from claimed insiders are also that Fios is working hard on adding Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic HD, but the HD channel has not been added yet and the NHL season starts next week.


----------



## afiggatt

The Nationals are playing the Phillies on the Saturday afternoon game on Fox - WTTG 5 and WBFF 45. Now that the season is almost over, we finally have the chance to see the Nats in a better picture quality than we get with MASN.


----------



## mapper

The following comes from the TUBE's website, "Dear friend of THE TUBE Music Network,


We regret to inform you of the fate that has befallen The Tube Music Network. October 1, 2007 The Tube ceased its national broadcast.


Viewers, Artists, Music Companies, Investors, Business Partners, TV stations, Cable companies, Advertisers , Friends and our creative partners @Radical Media - your support of The Tube has always been highly valued and appreciated. The collective efforts of this team, fueled by the letters we received from viewers, sustained THE TUBE as it struggled through the financial limitations that ultimately contributed to its incapacitated state.


Thank you for inviting The Tube Music Network into your life.


Sincerely,


The Tube Music Network staff"


I wonder if we will see a increase in bitrate on WDCW-DT by the time this is pulled off the air?


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> The Nationals are playing the Phillies on the Saturday afternoon game on Fox - WTTG 5 and WBFF 45. Now that the season is almost over, we finally have the chance to see the Nats in a better picture quality than we get with MASN.



You left out the word "much" - like night and day with Fox HD vs. SD MASN.


----------



## mdviewer25

Bring back The Box


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/11767716
> 
> 
> The following comes from the TUBE's website, "Dear friend of THE TUBE Music Network,
> 
> 
> We regret to inform you of the fate that has befallen The Tube Music Network. October 1, 2007 The Tube ceased its national broadcast.
> 
> 
> Viewers, Artists, Music Companies, Investors, Business Partners, TV stations, Cable companies, Advertisers , Friends and our creative partners @Radical Media - your support of The Tube has always been highly valued and appreciated. The collective efforts of this team, fueled by the letters we received from viewers, sustained THE TUBE as it struggled through the financial limitations that ultimately contributed to its incapacitated state.
> 
> 
> Thank you for inviting The Tube Music Network into your life.
> 
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> 
> The Tube Music Network staff"
> 
> 
> I wonder if we will see a increase in bitrate on WDCW-DT by the time this is pulled off the air?



Bring back The Box Music Network


----------



## CycloneGT

The tube was actually a good network. They should have tried to go the regular "Cable channel" route when the digital sub-channel route didn't appear to be working.


----------



## JK77




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/11772807
> 
> 
> The tube was actually a good network. They should have tried to go the regular "Cable channel" route when the digital sub-channel route didn't appear to be working.



Thanks Sinclair for driving a stake into the heart of The Tube!







If they didn't get into a carriage dispute masked by compliance with FCC regulations, The Tube wouldn't be shutting down thanks in part to losing their largest carrier.


----------



## Berto1020

TBS HD just added here in Montclair, VA on channel 232! Now up to 21 HD channels, but still no A&E HD, Universal HD, NFL Network HD, Food Network HD, HGTV HD...


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Berto1020* /forum/post/11776226
> 
> 
> TBS HD just added here in Montclair, VA on channel 232! Now up to 21 HD channels, but still no A&E HD, Universal HD, NFL Network HD, Food Network HD, HGTV HD...




YEs I see it here in Woodbridge too. This channel is even worse than TNT HD as far as HD is concerned. Universal HD would have been HD channel to add in my opinion. Although I only have 10 more weeks with Comcast. I can drop them in December. I'm rarely watching Comcast now since I got FIOS, but for only $30 a month for almost all the channels including HBO and showtime I don't mind keeping it until December since I'm saving over $55 a month off the normal price.


----------



## gomo657




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Berto1020* /forum/post/11776226
> 
> 
> TBS HD just added here in Montclair, VA on channel 232! Now up to 21 HD channels, but still no A&E HD, Universal HD, NFL Network HD, Food Network HD, HGTV HD...



It all good in DC also, they're currently showing Showtime with Deniro










24 channels and counting.


----------



## CycloneGT

I'm surprised that Comcast didn't add CNN-HD at the same time. You would figure that if Comcast and Turner had people doing negotiations that they would have just make a deal all at once. I mean we know that CNN is one of those must have channels that is in every line up, so they are sure to be on Comcast's lineup eventually.


----------



## aaronwt

I'd rather have CNN-HD than TBS-HD. Although I'm not a baseball fan.


----------



## PaulGo

TBS-HD has been added to Montgomery County (stretch-o-vision).


----------



## maestro73

TBS-HD on channel 232 in Alexandria as well. So glad I'll be able to see the Sox in HD for the divisional series.


Also, I noticed this yesterday - looks like we have a free preview week for Showtime?


----------



## CycloneGT

This one is from www.dcrtv.com 



> Quote:
> MASN To Go HD? - 10/1 - "We hope that you will be pleased to know that we are planning a significant complement of high-definition programming for both our Nationals and Orioles game productions next season." That's what a DCRTVer tells us he got in an e-mail from the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network. Sports fans have complained that the Baltimore-based regional sports network, which carries both the Nationals and Orioles, does not provide HD telecasts. Yet.....



Another finger pointing towards MASN-HD existing next spring.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *maestro73* /forum/post/11777936
> 
> 
> TBS-HD on channel 232 in Alexandria as well. So glad I'll be able to see the Sox in HD for the divisional series.
> 
> 
> Also, I noticed this yesterday - looks like we have a free preview week for Showtime?



ANything else added?


----------



## gomo657




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/11778047
> 
> 
> This one is from www.dcrtv.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Another finger pointing towards MASN-HD existing next spring.



This hopefully will happen. I must admit that I rarely watched the Nats because of the terrible PQ and it would be a shame to be in a new stadium with out HD.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/11777731
> 
> 
> I'd rather have CNN-HD than TBS-HD. Although I'm not a baseball fan.



CNNHD looks awesome especially programs out of New York (HD studios)...


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/11778047
> 
> 
> This one is from www.dcrtv.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Another finger pointing towards MASN-HD existing next spring.



I wonder if they will have MASN2 HD for when both teams are playing.


----------



## billygreen23




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *maestro73* /forum/post/11777936
> 
> 
> TBS-HD on channel 232 in Alexandria as well. So glad I'll be able to see the Sox in HD for the divisional series.
> 
> 
> Also, I noticed this yesterday - looks like we have a free preview week for Showtime?



Awesome, I can't wait to get home from work and check it out. Did you notice if A&E HD is active? I saw that it's now on our channel lineup.


The Showtime free preview has been nice. Caught a lot of good movies this weekend. I think it ends today though.


----------



## machpost

Has anyone heard anything about RCN adding TBS HD in the D.C. area?


----------



## Grayson73




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PaulGo* /forum/post/11777797
> 
> 
> TBS-HD has been added to Montgomery County (stretch-o-vision).




What is stretch-o-vision? I have comcast montgomery county.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Grayson73* /forum/post/11778591
> 
> 
> What is stretch-o-vision? I have comcast montgomery county.



It's where 4x3 material is stretched to fit wide screen tv's, so everyone looks shorter and fatter...


----------



## maestro73




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/11778245
> 
> 
> ANything else added?



I just checked again, and no. No A&E or anything else besides TBS-HD.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *billygreen23* /forum/post/11778545
> 
> 
> Awesome, I can't wait to get home from work and check it out. Did you notice if A&E HD is active? I saw that it's now on our channel lineup.



People should be warned to not expect any HD on TBS-HD except for the baseball games. The TBS-HD and new DirecTV HD channels threads in the programming forum indicate that no one has seen any HD on TBS-HD except for the Braves game yesterday. TBS-HD does the ugly stretch-o-vision for all SD, ala TNT-HD. With a sitcom heavy line-up, a lot of the shows on TBS are not available in HD anyway. Until TBS-HD gets HD versions of the more recent sitcoms and the equipment to air them, this will be one bandwidth wasting HD channel once the NLCS is over. This is why I have mixed feelings on wanting Verizon Fios to add it.


CNN-HD, on the other hand, does have new HD content every day for shows from their New York city studios and is producing some pre-recorded programs in HD. Once the cable system adds a channel, it usually stays there. But it would be useful if the bandwidth tight cable companies could provide TBS-HD for the next 2 weeks and then dump it in favor of CNN-HD until they have the bandwidth available for both. Not likely to happen however.


----------



## skiajl6297

Im in Comcast MoCo myself. So nothing else today? Our BMore neighbors to the north have HGTVHD, Discovery Channel HD and A&E HD. What gives? When do we get any of those in MoCo? What about FoodTV HD? Do you MoCo guys have that new HD Special Events channel between between HBO and the other movie channels? Or is that where todays addition went?


----------



## AntAltMike

I fell asleep just before midnight Sunday night and when I woke up at about 12:10 AM, The Tube was gone. Did they say "good-bye" or did they just cut the transmission?


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/11778890
> 
> 
> I fell asleep just before midnight Sunday night and when I woke up at about 12:10 AM, The Tube was gone. Did they say "good-bye" or did they just cut the transmission?



Now the screen says:


> Quote:
> The Tube Music Network has ceased broadcast operations. WDCW-TV plans to bring you new broadcast programming on this digital channel in the near future. Until then, please enjoy the current programming on our analog and High Definition channels.


----------



## billygreen23

From www.thetubetv.com 



> Quote:
> Dear friend of THE TUBE Music Network,
> 
> 
> We regret to inform you of the fate that has befallen The Tube Music Network. October 1, 2007 The Tube ceased its national broadcast.
> 
> 
> Viewers, Artists, Music Companies, Investors, Business Partners, TV stations, Cable companies, Advertisers , Friends and our creative partners @Radical Media - your support of The Tube has always been highly valued and appreciated. The collective efforts of this team, fueled by the letters we received from viewers, sustained THE TUBE as it struggled through the financial limitations that ultimately contributed to its incapacitated state.
> 
> 
> Thank you for inviting The Tube Music Network into your life.
> 
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> 
> The Tube Music Network staff


----------



## jeff125va




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jerwin* /forum/post/11755392
> 
> 
> From what I understand, the purpose of an antenna amplifier is to compensate for long cable runs.
> 
> 
> So, let us suppose that you have a decent antenna. It pulls in a signal that's just strong enough to be resolved.
> 
> 
> But wait, before it gets to your TV, it has to travel through 100 ft of RG-6. The signal loses 5 dB of strength, and dips below the threshold required by your tuner. If, however, it is amplified before it "goes down" the cable, it will still be sufficiently strong enough for your TV to resolve it.
> 
> 
> Usually, one part goes up near the antenna, and is powered by another part (the injector) that's safely indoors.
> 
> 
> Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.



That definitely makes sense. My receivers that got a good signal before adding the amlifier are the ones in my basement, with considerably shorter cable runs - they're in the same room as where my antenna cable comes inside. The ones where the signal was much weaker were the ones upstairs.


----------



## CycloneGT

Comcast calls off Millennium (group) deal.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business...,6416835.story 


Not sure whether this is good or bad.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/11778890
> 
> 
> I fell asleep just before midnight Sunday night and when I woke up at about 12:10 AM, The Tube was gone. Did they say "good-bye" or did they just cut the transmission?



The last 3 videos aired on The Tube are listed at http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...9#post11775539


----------



## phattymatt

I have Arlington Comcast and the HD box, but I don't have TBS-HD yet. the channel shows up if I type in the numbers but there's no picture and just that purple box, like when it's a channel that you are not signed up for.


Does anyone know why this might be? All of the other HD channels come in fine.


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/11776900
> 
> 
> YEs I see it here in Woodbridge too. This channel is even worse than TNT HD as far as HD is concerned. Universal HD would have been HD channel to add in my opinion. Although I only have 10 more weeks with Comcast. I can drop them in December. I'm rarely watching Comcast now since I got FIOS, but for only $30 a month for almost all the channels including HBO and showtime I don't mind keeping it until December since I'm saving over $55 a month off the normal price.



So is it a safe bet that Manassas and Manassas Park will also have TBS-HD on Channel 232 since Woodbridge and the surrounding NoVA area also got it?


I hope so I would like to see the Phils in 1080i or 720p whichever one they use


Go PHILLIES


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DVDO+WESTY=1080p* /forum/post/11780910
> 
> 
> So is it a safe bet that Manassas and Manassas Park will also have TBS-HD on Channel 232 since Woodbridge and the surrounding NoVA area also got it?
> 
> 
> I hope so I would like to see the Phils in 1080i or 720p whichever one they use
> 
> 
> Go PHILLIES



Also in Manassas still waiting for A&E HD, FOOD HD, Universal HD, NFL HD, have NGC HD on 224.


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DVDO+WESTY=1080p* /forum/post/11780924
> 
> 
> Also in Manassas still waiting for A&E HD, FOOD HD, Universal HD, NFL HD, have NGC HD on 224.



left out no HGTV HD


----------



## phattymatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DVDO+WESTY=1080p* /forum/post/11780910
> 
> 
> So is it a safe bet that Manassas and Manassas Park will also have TBS-HD on Channel 232 since Woodbridge and the surrounding NoVA area also got it?
> 
> 
> I hope so I would like to see the Phils in 1080i or 720p whichever one they use
> 
> 
> Go PHILLIES



Nice, same here. I still can't believe they pulled this off. 14 years of frustration is over. Hopefully we play the Pads and not the Rockies.


This TBS comes at the perfect time. I checked before I left for work this morning and TBS shows up but tells me it's not available to me for some reason. Hopefully it'll be on when I get home.


----------



## Grayson73




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *skiajl6297* /forum/post/11778781
> 
> 
> Im in Comcast MoCo myself.



Is there a place on the web that informs people of new channels? The channel listing for Montgomery County at Comcast doesn't even work.


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *phattymatt* /forum/post/11781003
> 
> 
> Nice, same here. I still can't believe they pulled this off. 14 years of frustration is over. Hopefully we play the Pads and not the Rockies.
> 
> 
> This TBS comes at the perfect time. I checked before I left for work this morning and TBS shows up but tells me it's not available to me for some reason. Hopefully it'll be on when I get home.



looking forward to checking in Manassas when I get home from work


----------



## jacindc

Comcast DC also now has TBS-HD, on Channel 232. And perhaps they're getting ready for another edition up in the HD sports numbers, because they've moved the HDPPV channel from what I think was 256-ish to 230.


EDIT: Oh, wait, maybe 256ish was the HD Events channel, and HD PPV will be something new?


----------



## rob base

Got TBS HD in New Market, MD outside of Frederick,MD. Nothing else yet. Still waiting for Comcast Sports Net HD for Terps B-Ball Games and Wizards. Why do I have Comcast cable and no CSN-HD????


----------



## afiggatt

With all the posts here it is hard to keep track. Has TBS-HD been added to Comcast in Loudoun?


----------



## jacindc

DC also got the WUSA Weather Radar (channel 203) and WJLA's Local Point (channel 205) today.


There's also a bunch more MHz channels in the 190s, and WQAW, but I can't verify that those are new today.


Now, where's Food and HGTV?


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast has added *Food Network HD* and *TBS HD* in Baltimore City.


----------



## CycloneGT

Every on the web channel listing site that I have seen always has days or weeks of lag between when a lineup changes, and when the web site is updated. Here is the best place for info in my opinion.


----------



## GoIrish




Marcus Carr said:


> Comcast has added *Food Network HD* and *TBS HD* in Baltimore City.[/QUOTE
> 
> 
> Harford, Howard, Carroll and Baltimore Counties as well.
> 
> 
> GoIrish


----------



## CuseHokie




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/11782375
> 
> 
> With all the posts here it is hard to keep track. Has TBS-HD been added to Comcast in Loudoun?



Yes


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/11782517
> 
> 
> Every on the web channel listing site that I have seen always has days or weeks of lag between when a lineup changes, and when the web site is updated. Here is the best place for info in my opinion.



Zap2It and TVPlanner sometimes have channels listed early, but you can get early information here every time.


I hope we get CNN soon. Also need History and USA.


----------



## JoeInNVa

TBS is looking good! Great job so far on the Pads-Rockies coverage.


----------



## skiajl6297




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jacindc* /forum/post/11781990
> 
> 
> Comcast DC also now has TBS-HD, on Channel 232. And perhaps they're getting ready for another edition up in the HD sports numbers, because they've moved the HDPPV channel from what I think was 256-ish to 230.
> 
> 
> EDIT: Oh, wait, maybe 256ish was the HD Events channel, and HD PPV will be something new?



Same in Rockville. Hoping a few new channels get added in the slot between HBO and the new TBS. Also, why are they throwing channels in between HBO and Max? It seems odd that they would throw channels between the movie channels.


(Dont mistake this with a complaint, I'll take my channels how(where)ever I can get them!)


----------



## Mean Deuce

Anyone else not getting Prison Break in HD? I have Cox in Nova


----------



## inlogan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Mean Deuce* /forum/post/11783910
> 
> 
> Anyone else not getting Prison Break in HD? I have Cox in Nova



Yeah no HD on WTTG OTA either. I switched to WBFF in Batlimore. They have it HD.


----------



## gomo657




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *inlogan* /forum/post/11783988
> 
> 
> Yeah no HD on WTTG OTA either. I switched to WBFF in Batlimore. They have it HD.



Good call I just swiched










Has anyone tried TBS HD via QAM? I would love to DVR 2 programs and watch the playoffs at the same time. I rescaned and TNT comes in but no TBS.


----------



## fmsjr




GoIrish said:


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/11782419
> 
> 
> Comcast has added *Food Network HD* and *TBS HD* in Baltimore City.[/QUOTE
> 
> 
> Harford, Howard, Carroll and Baltimore Counties as well.
> 
> 
> GoIrish
> 
> 
> 
> 
> and Anne Arundel
Click to expand...


----------



## mdviewer25

K'Ville on Fox

WTTG HD=no; volume=normal

WBFF HD=yes; volume=low


----------



## phattymatt

so my TBS-HD comes in great, I had to call Comcast and they did something. But i still don't have Food-HD. Does anyone else in NoVa/DC have it?


----------



## aaronwt

What channel is Food HD supposed to be on?


----------



## Marcus Carr

The Baltimore City lineup at Comcast.com was updated with the new channels yesterday (Food HD and TBS HD). They are a lot faster with the updates than they used to be.


----------



## OldHud




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/11778890
> 
> 
> I fell asleep just before midnight Sunday night and when I woke up at about 12:10 AM, The Tube was gone. Did they say "good-bye" or did they just cut the transmission?



After the last video, right at midnight, it faded to black and silence like the normal transition to another video. Silence and blackness - that's how it stayed. No goodbye at all.


----------



## phattymatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/11786345
> 
> 
> What channel is Food HD supposed to be on?



I don't know, that's why I'm asking. It looks like other markets got it yesterday along with TBS and a few others. I don't know why we wouldn't get it here.


----------



## MrChad




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *phattymatt* /forum/post/11788323
> 
> 
> I don't know, that's why I'm asking. It looks like other markets got it yesterday along with TBS and a few others. I don't know why we wouldn't get it here.



Yep, TBS HD showed up on channel 232 here in Loudoun County, but I didn't see any other HD channels.


----------



## ahsan

I'm having FIOS installed in Sterling on Sunday. Is there any word on when/if CSN-HD will be added? Will FIOS ever get CSN-HD?


----------



## jamiejones

i finally got my first plasma, and am having a hard time deciding which antenna to get for pulling in some OTA stations. I am hoping to be able to get the Baltimore, and Washington DC stations. I live in North East Baltimore City. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...wloc=addr&om=1 


I would very much prefer to NOT mount the antenna outside on the house, but rather in the attic-unless it was something smaller and (fairly) attractive like the Squareshooter, that would be ok outside.


Can anyone with some Baltimore experience help me out?


thanks.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/11784778
> 
> 
> K'Ville on Fox
> 
> WTTG HD=no; volume=normal
> 
> WBFF HD=yes; volume=low



For FOX primetime shows in HD, we have no (also known as none, zip, zilch, nada, etc.) controls over the audio level. The signal does not go thru our master control - it comes out of the FOX receiver as an ASI stream, goes into the splicer (controlled by FOX), and goes to the transmitter.


I've been thinking about turning down the WBFF audio to more closely match the network audio, but I haven't gotten a "round to-it" yet...


----------



## mdviewer25

WRC DT is another one that has low volume and not just for network programming but local also.


----------



## rvonder

I agree re WRC's audio level problems, although I think their big issue is that local programming has very low levels vs. the network. I watch WRC's 11pm news, and every evening find myself desperately grabbing for the remote when they cut to the network feed for Jay Leno - "NBC - America's late-night leader!" almost blows out my speakers! It literally sounds about 2x as loud as the local news audio.


----------



## machpost

WETA-HD, at least on RCN, seems to have much lower audio levels than adjacent channels.


----------



## markbulla

Hi all -


Because of the bi-annual satellite sun outages there is a good chance that the NFL games will start out as SD on Sunday. FOX has told us to use the B receiver to start out with (no HD), then switch to the A receiver (HD) after the outage on it goes away.


The thing is, according to the Intelsat sun outage calculator ( http://www.intelsat.com/resources/sa...un-outages.asp ), I'm not supposed to get an outage on Galaxy 3C (or Galaxy 16, for that matter) until 10/8. If I reduce the size of my antenna on the calculator from 3.7m to 1.7m, it shows that the sun outage would occur around 2:15 PM until around 2:20 PM. That means that that I would have to be on the B receiver from the beginning of the game until 2:20.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ahsan* /forum/post/11788988
> 
> 
> I'm having FIOS installed in Sterling on Sunday. Is there any word on when/if CSN-HD will be added? Will FIOS ever get CSN-HD?



Yes, according to posts elsewhere on the net a month ago from people who claimed to be Fios or former Fios insiders, Fios has an agreement in place for CSN Mid-Atlantic HD. The problem is reportedly that, unlike the CSN MA SD feed which is sent via satellite, the HD feed is being passed via landlines. Verizon has to pass the HD feed to several regional video heads but one hang-up is that they have to be able to black out the HD channel and that requires some work because of the way it is being distributed. I'm not sure I understand why that is a problem, because wouldn't they have prepared for this when putting the system together? Anyway, the claim was that they were working on getting it in place "with a goal of having it by the NBA/NHL season starts in the fall." Since the NHL season has started, I say they have missed the deadline. So, who knows, maybe CSN MA HD will show up in the next several weeks. Or not. I expect CSN MA HD will show up someday without advance notice. The CSRs will be the last ones to know.


----------



## Xaroc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/11791383
> 
> 
> Yes, according to posts elsewhere on the net a month ago from people who claimed to be Fios or former Fios insiders, Fios has an agreement in place for CSN Mid-Atlantic HD. The problem is reportedly that, unlike the CSN MA SD feed which is sent via satellite, the HD feed is being passed via landlines. Verizon has to pass the HD feed to several regional video heads but one hang-up is that they have to be able to black out the HD channel and that requires some work because of the way it is being distributed. I'm not sure I understand why that is a problem, because wouldn't they have prepared for this when putting the system together? Anyway, the claim was that they were working on getting it in place "with a goal of having it by the NBA/NHL season starts in the fall." Since the NHL season has started, I say they have missed the deadline. So, who knows, maybe CSN MA HD will show up in the next several weeks. Or not. I expect CSN MA HD will show up someday without advance notice. The CSRs will be the last ones to know.



While the NHL season has started for other teams the first HD game for the Caps would be this coming Saturday's home opener against the Canes. So they still have a few days to make their deadline. I have seriously considered going back to Comcast because of the lack of CSN-HD. I am giving Verizon until like the middle of the month before I reconsider my options.


----------



## jdavid

Is TBS HD an extra channel? I turned to Channel 232 yesterday in Arlington, VAand I get a message that I don't subscribe and must call to have it added (same message as I would get with Showtime, HBO, etc)


----------



## phattymatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jdavid* /forum/post/11793041
> 
> 
> Is TBS HD an extra channel? I turned to Channel 232 yesterday in Arlington, VAand I get a message that I don't subscribe and must call to have it added (same message as I would get with Showtime, HBO, etc)



call them. i had to do it too. i'm not sure exactly what they do, they send a signal to your box and reset it or something. but it'll show up if you talk to them.


i actually have a whole new on-screen menu since they fixed it, and they added a few HD stations that I didn't even know we had, like 227, which is Music HD or something like that.


----------



## mikemikeb

*jamiejones*: I'm not a Baltimore expert, but the Baltimore and DC antennas are generally in the same direction from your place. Try a Channel Master 3016 or 3018 (if that'll fit!) and mount one of those in the attic somewhere. Test various locations in there, no matter which one you choose.


----------



## machpost

TBS HD is about to be added on RCN, on channel 181.


----------



## jamiejones




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/11793702
> 
> *jamiejones*: I'm not a Baltimore expert, but the Baltimore and DC antennas are generally in the same direction from your place. Try a Channel Master 3016 or 3018 (if that'll fit!) and mount one of those in the attic somewhere. Test various locations in there, no matter which one you choose.



Thanks Mikemikeb, i should have pointed out that my attic is quite small, not sure i can fit either of those. I'll get up there tomorrow and do some measuring, but even if i managed to fit one that large up there, i'd be pretty limited as to positioning. Any other smaller antenna suggestions?


----------



## mikemikeb

*jamiejones*: How about a Channel Master 2001? It's under $30 at solidsignal.com, and is pretty short -- but wide (there may be a bit of concern there).


----------



## jimrobinette

I guess when you cut the bitrate in half you not only get half the video quality, you get half the volume!











> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/11790759
> 
> 
> WETA-HD, at least on RCN, seems to have much lower audio levels than adjacent channels.


----------



## Marcus Carr

New DirecTV channels added:


Bravo HD

USA Network HD

SciFi Channel HD

HBO West HD

Cinemax HD

Cinemax West HD


----------



## Scott R. Scherr

Also, at long last, Comcast Sportsnet added in HD on D* in Baltimore.


Scott


----------



## REL77

so we are to assume that TBS HD on Comcast in NoVa is perminent correct? Not just added for the baseball playoffs like Universal HD was for the Olympics?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jamiejones* /forum/post/11789699
> 
> 
> i finally got my first plasma, and am having a hard time deciding which antenna to get for pulling in some OTA stations. I am hoping to be able to get the Baltimore, and Washington DC stations. I live in North East Baltimore City.
> 
> I would very much prefer to NOT mount the antenna outside on the house, but rather in the attic-unless it was something smaller and (fairly) attractive like the Squareshooter, that would be ok outside.



Just your zip code of 21214 would have been easier to look up. You are ~ miles from the main Baltimore towers at 266° and ~40 miles from the Washington DC broadcast towers at 235°. So you have about a 30 degree spread between the two cluster of stations, but you are close enough to the Baltimore stations that even very directional antennas will get them.


Quoting from a post I wrote here a few weeks ago: "First, the basics. All of the stations in DC and Baltimore are currently digitally broadcasting on UHF. After the analog shutdown in February, 2009, WJLA-DT ABC 7, WUSA-DT CBS 9 in DC, WBAL-DT NBC 11, WJZ-DT CBS 13 in Baltimore will be changing their digital broadcast from UHF to their current upper VHF (7 to 13) analog channel. The low VHF (2 to 6) stations will stay at UHF."


I often recommend the Channel Master 4221 4 Bay bowtie UHF antenna in this area because it can pick up stations over a wide spread in azimuth. You do have the MPT stations in Baltimore and Annapolis off in different directions, but you only need to get one of them as all MPT stations have the same programming. But at 40 miles, the CM 4221 is a poor bet to get WJLA-DT and WUSA-DT 9 after they switch to upper VHF. Since the Baltimore and DC stations are only 30 degrees apart from your location, the Channel master 4228 8 bay bowtie is an option. It has good performance for upper VHF although it has a notch at VHF 8, but we won't have any VHF 8 stations here.


The CM3016 that was suggested is ok, but it is not a top performer for UHF. Also, at 5 miles from the Baltimore towers, you should stay away from a pre-amp unless it turns out you need it for the DC stations. At that close to the Baltimore antennas, a pre-amp may overload the front end of your ATSC tuner.


Check http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ISSUES/erecting_antenna.html for antenna basics and charts for various antennas including the CM 4221, CM 4228, CM 3018.


----------



## stuffedmonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/11794044
> 
> 
> TBS HD is about to be added on RCN, on channel 181.



Ooooohhh. Do you know when? I would love to have this for the playoffs.


Do any of you RCN QAM users know what channel the new Versus HD is? I redid my channel scan last night but I can't find it.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *stuffedmonkey* /forum/post/11800362
> 
> 
> Ooooohhh. Do you know when? I would love to have this for the playoffs.



It should be ready by this afternoon, if it isn't already on. Last night it was showing up in the program guide, but I was getting the "Temporarily Off Air" message.


I'm hearing that TBS's baseball production in HD looks spectacular. I can't wait to see it tonight.


----------



## skiajl6297




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/11799142
> 
> 
> New DirecTV channels added:
> 
> 
> Bravo HD
> 
> USA Network HD
> 
> SciFi Channel HD
> 
> HBO West HD
> 
> Cinemax HD
> 
> Cinemax West HD



So this makes 27 additions in the last week by DirecTV? Ouch. Has anyone in the Montgomery County area recently switched from Comcast to DirecTV? I can't ignore how pissy I feel knowing how many channels I am currently missing with Comcast! I keep hoping for the ComcasTivo download option for Comcast, but how can I ignore all of these new glorious HD channels on their major competitors lineup?

A few questions:

1. How is DirecTV's PQ compared to Comcasts? I feel that my Comcast PQ is very good.

2. Can you get a DTV plan that doesn't involve a contract?

3. I currently get every movie channel from Comcast as part of my super all inclusive HDTV package. Is the price comparable for similar service on DTV?

4. Does DTV's DVR compare with Comcasts? What about audio/video - does DTV DVR output optical DD 5.1? Output HDMI?


Im new here, and didn't find these answers relating to this geographic area, so please forgive if these types of questions have been asked already. Pls help if you can! Thanks!


If I spend this much mula per month I really shouldn't be watching any standard def channels on my big old tv.


----------



## jamiejones

Thanks everyone who replied.


After taking in all of the advice, doing some more research, and getting up in the attic to measure, i am currently thinking of going with the 4228. i like the idea of that being future-proof (for our area) after the analog shutdown, and it looks like it'll just fit in the attic.


It looks like i should be able to aim it pretty squarely in the direction of the towers in the location it'll have to go. Is there any issues i should know about for attic mounting this antenna, or any other precautions or advice?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jamiejones* /forum/post/11801427
> 
> 
> After taking in all of the advice, doing some more research, and getting up in the attic to measure, i am currently thinking of going with the 4228. i like the idea of that being future-proof (for our area) after the analog shutdown, and it looks like it'll just fit in the attic.
> 
> 
> It looks like i should be able to aim it pretty squarely in the direction of the towers in the location it'll have to go. Is there any issues i should know about for attic mounting this antenna, or any other precautions or advice?



Yes. Attics are prone to dead spots for reception due to signal reflection off of walls or obstructions. I have a CM 4221 4 Bay in my attic mounted to flat piece of scrap wood using a $5 attic mounting bracket I got at Lowes. I can slide the antenna setup cross the floor beams. I moved the antenna around until I found a good spot for receiving both the Baltimore and DC stations along with other stations in different directions from my townhouse in Sterling. I have tweaked the location and aim a few times since then.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *skiajl6297* /forum/post/11801050
> 
> 
> So this makes 27 additions in the last week by DirecTV?



They also added YES, NESN (soon to be Comcast) and Comcast Chicago. They are available with a package (but not the pro sports, but having them available means the pro sports will be available in HD soon).



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *skiajl6297* /forum/post/11801050
> 
> 
> A few questions:
> 
> 1. How is DirecTV's PQ compared to Comcasts? I feel that my Comcast PQ is very good.



I find D* to be about the same as my Comcast traditionally for HD. The new channels are spectactular.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *skiajl6297* /forum/post/11801050
> 
> 
> 2. Can you get a DTV plan that doesn't involve a contract?



No. One year for non-DVR. Two years for DVR.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *skiajl6297* /forum/post/11801050
> 
> 
> 3. I currently get every movie channel from Comcast as part of my super all inclusive HDTV package. Is the price comparable for similar service on DTV?



The highest package on D* is about 100 bucks. That is everything but the pro sports and college packages (Extra Innings, etc.) that gets you all the movie channels and all the regional sports packages mines the special packages.


It depends on what you want. But my basic bill for D* has stayed pretty stable for over 10 years.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *skiajl6297* /forum/post/11801050
> 
> 
> 4. Does DTV's DVR compare with Comcasts? What about audio/video - does DTV DVR output optical DD 5.1? Output HDMI?



The D* DVR is pretty good. Much better than the Motorola or the Scientific Atlanta that Comcast uses in Howard County. It is not Tivo. It is better and worse in some ways. I like it quite a bit. And yes, it does DD5.1 and HDMI and has optical out as well as component and SD output. All live at once. No RF output. The HR20 does OTA digital as well integrated into the guide.(Which you will want because only select digital locals are on the satellite for now...more coming in early 2008 when the next satellite is turned on).


For more, go to www.dbstalk.com !


----------



## jamiejones




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/11801799
> 
> 
> Yes. Attics are prone to dead spots for reception due to signal reflection off of walls or obstructions. I have a CM 4221 4 Bay in my attic mounted to flat piece of scrap wood using a $5 attic mounting bracket I got at Lowes. I can slide the antenna setup cross the floor beams. I moved the antenna around until I found a good spot for receiving both the Baltimore and DC stations along with other stations in different directions from my townhouse in Sterling. I have tweaked the location and aim a few times since then.



That's what i was afraid of. Would i be better off with the 4221 to provide more flexibility in the installation? Although i liked the idea of the future VHF reception of the 4228.


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p

HD Video on Demand moved from 247 to 230 confirmed and verified hopefully this is a sign of the other HD channles NFL Food HGTV A&E Universial to be added soon.


Off HD but Mhz networks repositioned to the 190's and 203 is doppler 9 radar and 205 is now local point tv, 207 tube is off the air.


I believe TBS is permanent in Manassas since the upgrade is there but we'll for sure after the playoffs..


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jamiejones* /forum/post/11802050
> 
> 
> That's what i was afraid of. Would i be better off with the 4221 to provide more flexibility in the installation? Although i liked the idea of the future VHF reception of the 4228.



Depends on how big your attic is. Mine is a crawlspace and does not have room for a CM 4228. I also need the wide pickup in azimuth of the CM 4221 from my location. The CM 4221 gets good reception for the analog WJLA 7 and WUSA 9 stations in DC at 16 miles, terrible for analog WBAL 11 and WJZ 13 at 43 miles. So a few months ago, I got a Winegard YA-6713 upper VHF 7 to 13 antenna and put that up in the attic (it is currently aimed at the WWPX-DT Ion station in Martinsburg, WV). The YA-6713 is 35" wide by about 3' long. Unfortunately, Winegard recently discontinued the YA-6713, although they still have the longer YA-1713. I don't why Winegard discontinued it, but I expect there will be some new upper VHF antennas on the market prior to Feb, 2009. Because upper VHF 7 to 13 starts at 1/3 the wavelength of VHF 2, an upper VHF antenna is more compact.


But if you have room for the CM 4228, that is the better bet for picking up the DC stations at 40+ miles as you will be looking across Baltimore with all the buildings.


----------



## MD_HT1

Posting again, there has to be someone else in the Baltimore area that uses a Media Center to get OTA HDTV!


Is there anyone in the Balimore area that CAN tune WJZ (CBS) OTA ATSC (ch 38) through Windows Media Center (version 2005 or Vista).


I used to be able to get it and now suddenly not, but only not in Media Center (when I can get it with other software and all the other OTA HD channels work fine).


If someone could verify that WJZ works for them in their Media Center that would be a Great help in my troubleshooting.


Thanks!


----------



## maestro73

I just wanted to commment on the TBS-HD pic for the games. I'm very impressed. I figured it was 720p like ESPN but it's actually 1080i (I belive)


----------



## jamiejones




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/11804030
> 
> 
> Depends on how big your attic is. Mine is a crawlspace and does not have room for a CM 4228. I also need the wide pickup in azimuth of the CM 4221 from my location. The CM 4221 gets good reception for the analog WJLA 7 and WUSA 9 stations in DC at 16 miles, terrible for analog WBAL 11 and WJZ 13 at 43 miles. So a few months ago, I got a Winegard YA-6713 upper VHF 7 to 13 antenna and put that up in the attic (it is currently aimed at the WWPX-DT Ion station in Martinsburg, WV). The YA-6713 is 35" wide by about 3' long. Unfortunately, Winegard recently discontinued the YA-6713, although they still have the longer YA-1713. I don't why Winegard discontinued it, but I expect there will be some new upper VHF antennas on the market prior to Feb, 2009. Because upper VHF 7 to 13 starts at 1/3 the wavelength of VHF 2, an upper VHF antenna is more compact.
> 
> 
> But if you have room for the CM 4228, that is the better bet for picking up the DC stations at 40+ miles as you will be looking across Baltimore with all the buildings.



well, it looks like the 4228 will fit, i'm going to give that a try i think. thanks for all the help.


----------



## jdavid




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *phattymatt* /forum/post/11793486
> 
> 
> call them. i had to do it too. i'm not sure exactly what they do, they send a signal to your box and reset it or something. but it'll show up if you talk to them.
> 
> 
> i actually have a whole new on-screen menu since they fixed it, and they added a few HD stations that I didn't even know we had, like 227, which is Music HD or something like that.



Ok, so I called Comcast today, they sent a signal to the box, they had me power cycle and still nothing. I get "Not Authorized" for TBS-HD, MHD and National Geographic HD. They are sending a technican out on Sunday to investigate.


----------



## Mike20878

I just watched my recording of Heroes from Monday. Did anyone else have several breakups during the broadcast? It was pretty bad towards the beginning, I think somewhere in the middle, and near the end.


Thanks.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *maestro73* /forum/post/11806601
> 
> 
> I just wanted to commment on the TBS-HD pic for the games. I'm very impressed. I figured it was 720p like ESPN but it's actually 1080i (I belive)



It did look great on DirecTV... ...did I just say that?


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Mike20878* /forum/post/11808120
> 
> 
> I just watched my recording of Heroes from Monday. Did anyone else have several breakups during the broadcast? It was pretty bad towards the beginning, I think somewhere in the middle, and near the end.
> 
> 
> Thanks.



I watched Heroes live, and saw no problems OTA from Baltimore.


----------



## Marcus Carr

DirecTV has added MHD.


----------



## gary michaels

I noticed this morning that WHUT-DT is up and running programming at 33.1. they are in 480-I. their video looks very bad.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gary michaels* /forum/post/11809847
> 
> 
> I noticed this morning that WHUT-DT is up and running programming at 33.1. they are in 480-I. their video looks very bad.



Yep, looks like the last full power holdout in DC, Howard University PBS station WHUT-DT 32 is finally up and on the air. The station is digitally broadcasting on UHF 33. They have to fix their PSIP data as the channel is shown as 33-1 and with no station call sign.


I'm getting 9 out of 10 bars for WHUT-DT from Sterling, so the station is probably operating at or a significant fraction of the 100 kW power level they are licensed for. But they are presumably in test mode, so the antenna settings may be tweaked and the station may go on and off the air.


The signal is a soft looking 480i SD for the exercise program they were showing. Anyone know if WHUT-DT is planning to offer a HD sub-channel or are they going to do SD only for now?


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/11810623
> 
> 
> The signal is a soft looking 480i SD for the exercise program they were showing. Anyone know if WHUT-DT is planning to offer a HD sub-channel or are they going to do SD only for now?



You're pushing it... LOL


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gary michaels* /forum/post/11809847
> 
> 
> I noticed this morning that WHUT-DT is up and running programming at 33.1. they are in 480-I. their video looks very bad.



92% here in Forestville. Still waiting for WUTB 24!!!!!


----------



## CycloneGT

Well its good to see the final hold out going on the air. I have always had to say "All the DC/Balt area stations are already broadcasting digital except....whut-dt. Now we can finally say that they are all now on digtial.


Still I never hold out much hope for WHUT-DT as far as HDTV goes. They are a college station, so they don't have the money to jump into HD area full steam. At best I thought they would just relay PBS-HD, but considering that MPT balked at paying for that, now I doubt WHUT would do that also.


----------



## stuffedmonkey

Anyone on RCN using a QAM tuner for HD able to get either Versus HD or TBS-HD? If so what channel does it end up being on?


Thanks.. I think this is the only place I could find any info.


----------



## stuffedmonkey

Well - I found TBS HD.... It's on 84-2 *way* away from the other HD channels. The hunt continues.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Comcast May Face New Competition in Baltimore County*


Cavalier Telephone Applies for Permission to Offer Video Services


By Linda Haugsted -- Multichannel News, 10/4/2007 12:40:00 PM


Spelling possible trouble for Comcast and Verizon Communications, residents of Baltimore County, Md. could get a third choice of providers for bundled services if the county council approves a recent application.


The office of county Councilman Kevin Kamenetz, who negotiates franchises on behalf of the county, confirmed that Richmond, Va.-based Cavalier Telephone has applied for permission to offer video services in the county.


The privately owned Cavalier passes 5.1 million homes in seven major markets. Its operational base includes communities in Delaware, Maryland, southern New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia.


The competitive local exchange carrier offers a triple play bundle including local and 5-cents-a-minute long distance, high speed data plus video service (with an onscreen caller ID feature) for $95.95, according to its Web site.

http://multichannel.com/article/CA6487193.html


----------



## biker19

Comcast has its coax and Verizon has its fiber to the house - how's this co getting its signal to the house?


----------



## dipdewdog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/11819329
> 
> 
> Comcast has its coax and Verizon has its fiber to the house - how's this co getting its signal to the house?



They offer this service in Richmond and Hampton Roads, VA over ADSL2+; I'd imagine it would be the same in Baltimore.


If the reviews on DSLReports are any indication, people aren't exactly thrilled with their service.


----------



## Bushrod

The first inning of the Cubs game was in glorious HD on TNT-HD on Cox Fairfax last night. Then they switched it back to TBS. {Sigh}


----------



## CycloneGT

There is only so much they can squeeze out of those old copper pairs that were designed for a 1920's phone network. Cavalier may be able to offer a decent service to those who are not very demanding and will be satisfied with SD and a cheap bill. But for those who hunger for fidelity and resolution they just can't hope to cut it. Perhaps one day if they bond multiple pairs they could get the bw necessary, but by that time, Comcast will have SDV & MPEG4 working and FiOS will be in Full IPTV mode. So they will still be behind the ball.


Oh, and I could not tune in WHUT-DT last night. It must have just been daytime testing yesterday.


----------



## Roberto Carlo




> Quote:
> The first inning of the Cubs game was in glorious HD on TNT-HD on Cox Fairfax last night. Then they switched it back to TBS. {Sigh}



What channel?


----------



## bucnasty

tnt hd is 714 i believe?


----------



## Scott R. Scherr

The Baltimore Sun today reported that some Orioles and Nationals games will be in HD in 2008 on MASN if they get it carried on cable and satellite.


Scott


----------



## CycloneGT

I don't understand why it would be "some" games in HD. It should be somethings along the lines of "all home games". If they aren't going to have all of the home games in HD, then that means that they would be renting HD equipment for the few games that are HD. And if there are only "some" home games in HD, then I don't blame any MSOs for balking on adding MASN-HD to their line up.


Besides in this day and age its ridiculous for any RSN to not be in HD. It will only look more foolish next year.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Scott R. Scherr* /forum/post/11820923
> 
> 
> The Baltimore Sun today reported that some Orioles and Nationals games will be in HD in 2008 on MASN if they get it carried on cable and satellite.



I saw the gist of the article this morning in the HOTP thread in the programming forum: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...4#post11820184 .


It is the some old weaseled phrasing as we have had all year: "Next season, Mid-Atlantic Sports Network is planning to televise at least part of the schedule in high-definition, though it is contingent upon getting HD channels for MASN on the cable and satellite providers that carry the network, a MASN spokesman said." They will add HD if they can get the service providers signed up? Good grief, we are in the midst of a major HD expansion boom with new national HD channels starting up and ALL the other RSNs that I have heard of, either now have a HD channel or will have one by 2008. The Kansas City Royals, the other MLB holdout are moving to a Fox SN and they will be in HD next year. And MASN still tries to wiggle on this?


If they start a MASN-HD channel, surely the cable and sat companies will line up to to work on adding it. Just go ahead and announce that all O's and Nats home games will be made available in HD next year and as many road games as they can make arrangements for. DirecTV can add MASN-HD right away. Fios has a short term bandwidth issue for national HD channels, but they have bandwidth from what I can see for two HD RSNs right now. Comcast is the obvious problem as they still probably resent the whole MASN deal. But Comcast won't stall long on adding MASN-HD if Verizon and RCN have MASN-HD. How to deal with a MASN2-HD channel will be a problem, but Peter Angelos brought this upon us by insisting both the Nats and Os had to go on his own RSN.


----------



## Bushrod




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Roberto Carlo* /forum/post/11820577
> 
> 
> What channel?



What I meant was that TNT-HD was running the beginning of the game because the previous game wasn't over yet. When the Yankees game ended, they took the game off of TNT. It was TBS and TNT's operation. Nothing to do with Cox.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/11821335
> 
> 
> I don't understand why it would be "some" games in HD. It should be somethings along the lines of "all home games". If they aren't going to have all of the home games in HD, then that means that they would be renting HD equipment for the few games that are HD. And if there are only "some" home games in HD, then I don't blame any MSOs for balking on adding MASN-HD to their line up.
> 
> 
> Besides in this day and age its ridiculous for any RSN to not be in HD. It will only look more foolish next year.



Regarding MASN HD (lack thereof) Agreed. I watched less than 5 Orioles games this year, whereas last year I probably watched over 100. I'd write their advertisers and let them know why, but I can't bring myself to watch the channel long enough to learn who their advertisers actually are.


I still believe that MASN is the worst RSN in America today, and I am anxiously awaiting the day I can state otherwise. I do not believe it is an exaggeration to say they are the worst, either. It is so sad that they still resort to blaming their lack of HD on Comcast.


----------



## raidbuck




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/11822044
> 
> 
> Regarding MASN HD (lack thereof) Agreed. I watched less than 5 Orioles games this year, whereas last year I probably watched over 100. I'd write their advertisers and let them know why, but I can't bring myself to watch the channel long enough to learn who their advertisers actually are.
> 
> 
> I still believe that MASN is the worst RSN in America today, and I am anxiously awaiting the day I can state otherwise. I do not believe it is an exaggeration to say they are the worst, either. It is so sad that they still resort to blaming their lack of HD on Comcast.



I don't know if MASN is the worst, but it is about the only RSN without HD. I believe Comcast would accept the same terms of other cablecos about carriage so I'm not worried about that.


I too have avoided MASN except in a few cases because of SD.


Of course, blaming Comcast for not having HD is silly and ludicrous. There are many other cable companies served by MASN. HD just wasn't their priority and they needed an excuse. What will be their excuse in 2008 if they don't offer MASN-HD?


Rich N.


----------



## Roberto Carlo




> Quote:
> I still believe that MASN is the worst RSN in America today, and I am anxiously awaiting the day I can state otherwise.



As a Nationals season ticket holder, I am anxiously waiting the day that MASN goes under and leaves the Nats (and Orioles) to sign on with real RSNs.


----------



## Roberto Carlo




> Quote:
> Of course, blaming Comcast for not having HD is silly and ludicrous.



It's force of habit. From the start, MASN has blamed Comcast for many of its problems, even though, as you noted, other cable companies carry it.


As my previous post indicated, I'm not a fan of MASN, not just because it PQ is horrendous -- I didn't see the point. The area doesn't need two RSNs. Apart from baseball, MASN has no real rationale: after baseball season it's re-runs and mid-major basketball until mid-March. It especially has little to offer people in North Carolina.


----------



## bmarinari




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jamiejones* /forum/post/11789699
> 
> 
> i finally got my first plasma, and am having a hard time deciding which antenna to get for pulling in some OTA stations. I am hoping to be able to get the Baltimore, and Washington DC stations. I live in North East Baltimore City. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...wloc=addr&om=1
> 
> 
> I would very much prefer to NOT mount the antenna outside on the house, but rather in the attic-unless it was something smaller and (fairly) attractive like the Squareshooter, that would be ok outside.
> 
> 
> Can anyone with some Baltimore experience help me out?
> 
> 
> thanks.



I live in Parkville, and I bought a Channel Master 4221 so I could receive WBFF so I could watch Redskins games. I haven't installed it in the attic yet, but I put it up in my first floor living room in the direction of the towers, and was able to get WBFF easily, and WJLA with a little bit of trial and error. I think I got channel 9 as well, and the Baltimore locals, but I don't remember because I was mainly interested in the first two. Of course, the attic situation could be a different story, but I'm encouraged by the results considering I didn't even put it in a window or anything.


Now to try to find a clean way to run the coax down 2 stories....sigh...


----------



## henry296




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bushrod* /forum/post/11819990
> 
> 
> The first inning of the Cubs game was in glorious HD on TNT-HD on Cox Fairfax last night. Then they switched it back to TBS. {Sigh}



TNT will show the games is they previous game runs long on TBS.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bmarinari* /forum/post/11823990
> 
> 
> I live in Parkville, and I bought a Channel Master 4221 so I could receive WBFF so I could watch Redskins games. I haven't installed it in the attic yet, but I put it up in my first floor living room in the direction of the towers, and was able to get WBFF easily, and WJLA with a little bit of trial and error. I think I got channel 9 as well, and the Baltimore locals, but I don't remember because I was mainly interested in the first two. Of course, the attic situation could be a different story, but I'm encouraged by the results considering I didn't even put it in a window or anything.
> 
> 
> Now to try to find a clean way to run the coax down 2 stories....sigh...



If its the Redskins that you want, then try to get WTTG Fox5 out of DC. I'm not sure if FOX45 carries every Redskins game. WTTG-DT is on UHF ch 36.


----------



## zebras23




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/11821335
> 
> 
> I don't understand why it would be "some" games in HD. It should be somethings along the lines of "all home games".
> 
> 
> Besides in this day and age its ridiculous for any RSN to not be in HD. It will only look more foolish next year.



I think part of the problem might be for several games you'd have to have MASN - HD and MASN2 - HD, meaning the cable companies would have to add two HD channels if ALL Os and Nats home games were in HD. I think there were something like 30 or 40 overlapping games this season. They might buy one set of HD equipment and rotate between stadiums.


It is still subpar to do it this way, but unfortantely that is what you get when you make a deal with devil. Angelos is literally taking the soul of baseball in B'more and affecting the Nats to purgatory.


----------



## bucnasty

there is no good reason CSN should not be in HD, since the verizon center just dropped cash on a HD scoreboard and LCDs all over the concourse and some boxes.


and, on the real, we are talking about peter angelos here. im sure he will try and spin a lack of HD cameras on the lerners/DC govt/baltimore government.... never his fault.


----------



## CycloneGT

Dish Network has added TBS-HD for the MLB playoffs. Looks like it might be temporary though.


----------



## stuffedmonkey

Any RCN users having problems with TNT HD? I can't get it anymore.....


----------



## zhensel

What's up with CBS not working in-the-clear in Baltimore City w/ Comcast? I caught the few posts about it not working w/ cablecards from a couple weeks ago, which is about when I noticed 13.1 drop from the air. Now my TV can't find it on a QAM scan even though it wasn't an issue before. Isn't Comcast legally obligated to mirror OTA offerings on the cable system?


----------



## Berto1020

Montclair, VA - Got a flyer in the mail today from Comcast saying that on Monday, October 29 NHL Network, ESPN Classic, Bloomberg and Fox Business will be added to the channel lineup along with HD channels A&E HD, NFL HD and Universal HD...now up to 24 HD channels...


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Berto1020* /forum/post/11834658
> 
> 
> Montclair, VA - Got a flyer in the mail today from Comcast saying that on Monday, October 29 NHL Network, ESPN Classic, Bloomberg and Fox Business will be added to the channel lineup along with HD channels A&E HD, NFL HD and Universal HD...now up to 24 HD channels...



It sounds like that will get them up to what is already being offered in Maryland. I should get it here in Woodbridge/Dale City if you got a flyer in Montclair. Unfortunately my days are numbered with Comcast since I got FIOS a month ago. I'll be dropping Comcast when my year is up in December.


----------



## Lenonn




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *stuffedmonkey* /forum/post/11827815
> 
> 
> Any RCN users having problems with TNT HD? I can't get it anymore.....



Yeah, it disappeared for me, too.


I'm hoping at some point, RCN gets Universal HD and Sci Fi HD. I want my BSG and SGA in HD.


----------



## adams828

RCN customer here - using QAM tuner. Lost TNT a few days ago, and now lost CBS, NBC and FOX (never was able to get ABC).


----------



## Mean Deuce

Skins game is not in HD. Verizon Fios here.


----------



## shaft103

game just flipped from HD to SD here in Howard County on Comcast. Watching on Baltimore FOX HD (Ch. 213).


----------



## markbach




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Mean Deuce* /forum/post/11838928
> 
> 
> Skins game is not in HD. Verizon Fios here.



Probably because of the following (which I assume would also apply to WTTG):



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/11791141
> 
> 
> Because of the bi-annual satellite sun outages there is a good chance that the NFL games will start out as SD on Sunday. FOX has told us to use the B receiver to start out with (no HD), then switch to the A receiver (HD) after the outage on it goes away.
> 
> 
> The thing is, according to the Intelsat sun outage calculator ( http://www.intelsat.com/resources/sa...un-outages.asp ), I'm not supposed to get an outage on Galaxy 3C (or Galaxy 16, for that matter) until 10/8. If I reduce the size of my antenna on the calculator from 3.7m to 1.7m, it shows that the sun outage would occur around 2:15 PM until around 2:20 PM. That means that that I would have to be on the B receiver from the beginning of the game until 2:20.


----------



## gomo657




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Mean Deuce* /forum/post/11838928
> 
> 
> Skins game is not in HD. Verizon Fios here.



It was in HD Fox/DC then switched off, I switched to Fox/Balt then it switched off.


----------



## sonorddrum

The game flipped from HD to SD on Cox here in Fairfax as well.


----------



## shaft103

and now its back to HD here on Comcast Howard County.


----------



## Mean Deuce

back here too


----------



## i5hawn

been HD all day here in Baltimore. CBS feed looks way way better cept it looks like ALL channels on the 119 frequency (119.1 - 119.9) are having that drop issue. Which is basically CBS HD and all the MPT channels including MPT HD. Maybe I have water in my line or something....I should go check my fittings.


----------



## adams828

Anyone on RCN using QAM getting signals on FOX or CBS?


----------



## jdavid

Noticed if you check the Comcast channel lineup for Arlington/Alexandria on www.comcast.com , it is now listing A&E HD and NFL HD.

*Question for any experts out there:* I'm still getting "Not Authorized"" on the following HD channels: National Geographic, MHD and TBSHD. Comcast was at my place today, they gave me a new box, the channels worked for about an hour and went back to "Not Authorized." Any ideas what the problem is. I'm on the $33 a month digital promotion package.


----------



## Roberto Carlo

If Cox (Fairfax) delays giving us TBS-HD much longer, they might as well not do it, AFAIC. The only reason I want that network is the baseball playoffs. Once they're over or TBS is no longer carrying the games, carrying TBS-HD is a waste of bandwidth from my perspective. Stretched-out "Little House on the Prairie" and the like is a piss-poor substitute for stuff like HDNet or even the History Channel HD.


----------



## bucnasty

i was under the impression seinfelds would be remastered for the hd switch? also, they can film their new series in HD, and if they can get rights to some thrashers/hawks games that would be butt silly


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jdavid* /forum/post/11839831
> 
> 
> Noticed if you check the Comcast channel lineup for Arlington/Alexandria on www.comcast.com , it is now listing A&E HD and NFL HD.
> 
> *Question for any experts out there:* I'm still getting "Not Authorized"" on the following HD channels: National Geographic, MHD and TBSHD. Comcast was at my place today, they gave me a new box, the channels worked for about an hour and went back to "Not Authorized." Any ideas what the problem is. I'm on the $33 a month digital promotion package.



Sounds like they did not provision your box...Give them a call and they should be able to register it...


----------



## huesmann

Is anyone else having signal issues with NBC4? I have a rooftop antenna with a preamp, connected to a Media Center PC with HD tuner cards. TV over the summer was dreck, so I didn't do any recording, but I used to get a good OTA signal from channel 4 back in the spring. Now the signal is mediocre--instead of full green signal I get medium yellow. Anyone else noticed any signal degradation?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bucnasty* /forum/post/11840738
> 
> 
> i was under the impression seinfelds would be remastered for the hd switch? also, they can film their new series in HD, and if they can get rights to some thrashers/hawks games that would be butt silly



Are you writing about TBS-HD? It is known that Seinfeld has been undergoing re-mastering to HD in the process of creating the DVD season box sets. So HD masters, presumably in the 4:3 OAR (one would hope), now exist, but no one is showing them yet. From the reports posted so far, no one has seen any HD on TBS-HD except for the baseball games. Everything else is ugly stretch-o-vision. TBS is mostly sitcoms, but some are from recent network series which were shot in HD, so HD masters exists for those programs. Since TBS-HD has not shown any HD for those programs, they may have not gotten the HD tape/server machines and HD tapes/files in place yet. Whether they will add some regularly scheduled HD programming this month or in 6 months, TBS is not saying. However, discussions of TBS content - or lack of HD content - should be left to the HDTV programming forum as it is a national HD channel and not a local issue.


----------



## jacindc

Today Comcast DC was over to bring me a new HD DVR, after my 6412 in the kitchen died. (The 3412 in the living room is still burping along.) The guy showed up with one of the new Moto boxes, which I was happy to see and so had him hook it up in the living room, where the HDTV is. Got it up and running--and then we discovered it wasn't the DVR, just the HD receiver. And the only HD DVRs he had on the truck were 3412s. So, I got another one of those, as did the two other people coming after me who he said were going to get the new Moto boxes but couldn't now that he saw they weren't HD.


(Yes, I know I could call again and get one of the new Moto boxes, or just go to the Comcast office, but I try to space out my Comcast dealings to lessen the chances of a stroke. And when we called to have them bring a new box we found that they had been double-charging us for HBO for the past year or so. Was only showing up on the bill as one charge, but the charge was double what it should have been. At least they were the ones who figured it out immediately when looking at the bill.)


----------



## REL77




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jacindc* /forum/post/11847436
> 
> 
> Today Comcast DC was over to bring me a new HD DVR, after my 6412 in the kitchen died. (The 3412 in the living room is still burping along.) The guy showed up with one of the new Moto boxes, which I was happy to see and so had him hook it up in the living room, where the HDTV is. Got it up and running--and then we discovered it wasn't the DVR, just the HD receiver. And the only HD DVRs he had on the truck were 3412s. So, I got another one of those, as did the two other people coming after me who he said were going to get the new Moto boxes but couldn't now that he saw they weren't HD.
> 
> 
> (Yes, I know I could call again and get one of the new Moto boxes, or just go to the Comcast office, but I try to space out my Comcast dealings to lessen the chances of a stroke. And when we called to have them bring a new box we found that they had been double-charging us for HBO for the past year or so. Was only showing up on the bill as one charge, but the charge was double what it should have been. At least they were the ones who figured it out immediately when looking at the bill.)





Whats new and so great about the new Moto boxes?


----------



## bmarinari




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/11824344
> 
> 
> If its the Redskins that you want, then try to get WTTG Fox5 out of DC. I'm not sure if FOX45 carries every Redskins game. WTTG-DT is on UHF ch 36.



You're right, and my post was a typo -- I meant that I was able to get WTTG out of Washington (as well as WBFF).


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *huesmann* /forum/post/11844438
> 
> 
> Is anyone else having signal issues with NBC4? I have a rooftop antenna with a preamp, connected to a Media Center PC with HD tuner cards. TV over the summer was dreck, so I didn't do any recording, but I used to get a good OTA signal from channel 4 back in the spring. Now the signal is mediocre--instead of full green signal I get medium yellow. Anyone else noticed any signal degradation?




WHy are you using a pre-amp? You're less than ten miles from the DC towers.


Since WETA channel 27 has moved to Wisconsin ave and WHUT channel 33 is now running at or near full power, it is possible that they have pushed your amplifier above its overload threshold.


FWIW, I noticed last night that my analog 47 and 49 looked better than they had the last time I viewed them. That could indicate that WRC-NBC's digital channel 48 is running at reduced power, but while I have the instrumentation to measure its real signal strength, I have no reference level against which to compare it.


----------



## stuffedmonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *adams828* /forum/post/11839747
> 
> 
> Anyone on RCN using QAM getting signals on FOX or CBS?



RCN QAM user - I have both fox and cbs working fine. Still no TNT or Versus/Golf


----------



## jcole66




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jdavid* /forum/post/11807325
> 
> 
> Ok, so I called Comcast today, they sent a signal to the box, they had me power cycle and still nothing. I get "Not Authorized" for TBS-HD, MHD and National Geographic HD. They are sending a technican out on Sunday to investigate.



Did you get a resolution to your two missing channels?

I just got my TivoHD and had no CableCard problems at all. (feared the worst!)

And all of my premium channels work fine except for National Geo HD and TBS-HD. They show up in my Tivo Guides but when I go to them they are just blank video and no audio.


----------



## CycloneGT

I was reading www.dcrtv.com today and saw this bit. Now here is a familiar name.



> Quote:
> Fallen Firefighter Coverage Features Top Baltimore TV Engineer - 10/8 - DCRTV hears that Mark Bulla, a top broadcast engineer with Sinclair in Baltimore, was featured in news coverage of President Bush honoring fallen firefighters on Sunday in Emmitsburg MD. Check out the coverage at wjla.com. That's Bulla on the right with the fire department uniform on about 45 seconds into the piece. In addition to being the chief engineer for Channel 45/WBFF and Channel 54/WNUV, Bulla is a volunteer and life member of the Burtonsville Volunteer Fire Department. He's participated in the Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service since 1991.....



Thanks for your volunteer work there Mark, both as a Fireman and with helping with this memorial service.


----------



## huesmann




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/11847581
> 
> 
> WHy are you using a pre-amp? You're less than ten miles from the DC towers.
> 
> 
> Since WETA channel 27 has moved to Wisconsin ave and WHUT channel 33 is now running at or near full power, it is possible that they have pushed your amplifier above its overload threshold.
> 
> 
> FWIW, I noticed last night that my analog 47 and 49 looked better than they had the last time I viewed them. That could indicate that WRC-NBC's digital channel 48 is running at reduced power, but while I have the instrumentation to measure its real signal strength, I have no reference level against which to compare it.



Well, I wasn't using a pre-amp previously, but I was unable to get anything other than a very weak signal out of WETA, so I got a proper UHF antenna and a pre-amp, and I'm now able to get a medium-good signal for WETA. Previously I was using a cheap-o un-amped Radio Shack TV antenna.


What do you pull in on 47 and 49?


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/11853863
> 
> 
> I was reading www.dcrtv.com today and saw this bit. Now here is a familiar name.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for your volunteer work there Mark, both as a Fireman and with helping with this memorial service.



Three cheers for Mark!


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/11853863
> 
> 
> I was reading www.dcrtv.com today and saw this bit. Now here is a familiar name.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for your volunteer work there Mark, both as a Fireman and with helping with this memorial service.



Thanks guys! It's always nice to be appreciated.


Helping with the memorial isn't fun, but it's rewarding.


Cheers -


----------



## carltonrice

I'm a DirecTV subscriber. Haven't upgraded yet to the 5 LNB dish and BBCs. My question has to do with their over-the-air channels as I receive them on my HR20. Last night, when I wanted to watch Everybody Hates Chris on Baltimore's CW affil, I noted that the guide no longer had 54-1; only 54-2. It seemed to show the guide info correctly for what would be CW54, but I wasn't getting any signal on 54-2, so I couldn't watch or DVR anything. I assume that when The Tube folded, they would lose 54-2 and just go back to 54-1. I live in the Washington DC area, so that is the primary location. Baltimore is my secondary location.


Has anyone else experienced this problem on 54? How do I get the channel back on the DirecTV guide as 54-1? Is it just a matter of doing a re-scan?


And by the way, WHUT-DT comes in clear as a bell with my indoor antenna out here in Laurel.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *huesmann* /forum/post/11856182
> 
> 
> Well, I wasn't using a pre-amp previously, but I was unable to get anything other than a very weak signal out of WETA, so I got a proper UHF antenna and a pre-amp, and I'm now able to get a medium-good signal for WETA. Previously I was using a cheap-o un-amped Radio Shack TV antenna.
> 
> 
> What do you pull in on 47 and 49?



It is possible that the move of the channel 27 transmitter from Arlington to Wisconsin Ave. roughly coincided with your installation of a preamp.


Channel 47 is Spanish, channel 49 is MTV3. As analog stations, they are virtualy unwatchable because of the adjacent, powerful digital chaannel 48, but when they "flash cut" to digital, they will become clear as a bell for half a million to a million viewers. Someone told me they might wind up qualifying for Must Carry status in DC, but I don't have the defninitive word on that possibility.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/11859224
> 
> 
> I'm a DirecTV subscriber. Haven't upgraded yet to the 5 LNB dish and BBCs. My question has to do with their over-the-air channels as I receive them on my HR20. Last night, when I wanted to watch Everybody Hates Chris on Baltimore's CW affil, I noted that the guide no longer had 54-1; only 54-2. It seemed to show the guide info correctly for what would be CW54, but I wasn't getting any signal on 54-2, so I couldn't watch or DVR anything. I assume that when The Tube folded, they would lose 54-2 and just go back to 54-1. I live in the Washington DC area, so that is the primary location. Baltimore is my secondary location.
> 
> 
> Has anyone else experienced this problem on 54? How do I get the channel back on the DirecTV guide as 54-1? Is it just a matter of doing a re-scan?
> 
> 
> And by the way, WHUT-DT comes in clear as a bell with my indoor antenna out here in Laurel.



I've seen this on three different HR20s (two of them mine) and none at the same time.


Go into the Satellite and Antenna settings and rerun the setup. Tell it your zip code again. That will fix it.


----------



## sullender

Why aren't the Capitals games in HD? Comcast is in HD, but the games themselves aren't. Does Comcast have HD strictly for SportsNite????


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *sullender* /forum/post/11860151
> 
> 
> Why aren't the Capitals games in HD? Comcast is in HD, but the games themselves aren't. Does Comcast have HD strictly for SportsNite????



??? They are in HD, but only the home games. See http://midatlantic.comcastsportsnet.com/hd_schedule.asp -- although this list is not always so accurate, it's pretty close.


----------



## bucnasty

does anyone else's CBS-HD feed look like garbage? i am on cox if it makes a difference..


----------



## bfdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bucnasty* /forum/post/11861625
> 
> 
> does anyone else's CBS-HD feed look like garbage? i am on cox if it makes a difference..



The WUSA CBS feed doesn't look that great to begin with at around 15.5Mbps. If your cable company (COX) applies additional compression, it will look even worse.


The best picture in DC/VA/MD area is obtained from the Baltimore affiliate (WJZ) with an off-air antenna, or from FiOS if they offer it in your market. WJZ allocates every bit to their HD feed (18+Mbps video).


----------



## bfdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *sullender* /forum/post/11860151
> 
> 
> Why aren't the Capitals games in HD? Comcast is in HD, but the games themselves aren't. Does Comcast have HD strictly for SportsNite????



There are exceptions, but for the most part, only the local games are in HD. The Caps have only played one game at home so far.


----------



## raidbuck

Last night I recorded Bones on Comcast (SA8300) and watched it. At least 3-4 times the audio stopped for a few seconds, then came macroblocking and then back to normal. We were very upset as we aren't good lip readers.


We continually have freezes for a second or two during DVR playback (we watch almost everything from the DVR to avoid commercials).


Did anyone else have this problem?


Thanks,


Rich N.


----------



## CycloneGT

DirectTV adds four more HD channels. CNBC HD+, Food-HD, NatGeo-HD, & MGM-HD.


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bfdtv* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The WUSA CBS feed doesn't look that great to begin with at around 15.5Mbps. If your cable company (COX) applies additional compression, it will look even worse.



Although perhaps a very very very few of us from our own experience totally agree with you, you do know there are networks and people on this board who say close to 15 Mbps is too absolutely as fully good HD PQ-wise as full BW and our eyes can't tell the difference!


----------



## dvwtwo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jcole66* /forum/post/11848987
> 
> 
> Did you get a resolution to your two missing channels?
> 
> I just got my TivoHD and had no CableCard problems at all. (feared the worst!)
> 
> And all of my premium channels work fine except for National Geo HD and TBS-HD. They show up in my Tivo Guides but when I go to them they are just blank video and no audio.



I'm in Arlington, VA (Crystal City) and have had the same problem since the channels (TBSHD & Nat Geo HD) were added. Called Comcast no less than five times over the last week as I watched the Yanks bumble around in SD. Technician came to my place just now and basically couldn't do anything. (CSRs had tried resetting the box last week to no avail and finally decided it might be a problem with the box, so sent out a tech.) The tech called in to dispatch: they couldn't help him. He then called customer service, who first claimed the channels weren't in my package, though CSRs had told me last week they were. Customer service then "sent new rate codes" to the box to try to alleviate the problem. They told me it should be working within 24 hours. 20 minutes later I got a call from somebody at Comcast checking in on the appointment. She told me to check it in 4 hours and see if it had taken. Incredibly, a week after the addition, nobody at Comcast seems to have reliable info on where TBSHD fits in the programming tiers.


So the saga continues. I hope at least some of you have been able to watch the playoffs in HD. I'm pretty furious myself, considering my brother in another part of Arlington (Ballston) received the channel without any problem. At least baseball superstition allows me to now blame Comcast for the Yanks' flameout.


----------



## chrisherbert

I received a flyer in the mail yesterday saying that A&E HD and NFL HD would be added to Comcast's Arlington lineup in October. There were also some useless SD multicast channels added and some shuffling of the public access channels.


I'm slightly interested in A&E, since their lineup isn't just old SD sitcoms and Law and Order.


----------



## Belcherwm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *raidbuck* /forum/post/11863505
> 
> 
> Last night I recorded Bones on Comcast (SA8300) and watched it. At least 3-4 times the audio stopped for a few seconds, then came macroblocking and then back to normal. We were very upset as we aren't good lip readers.
> 
> 
> We continually have freezes for a second or two during DVR playback (we watch almost everything from the DVR to avoid commercials).
> 
> 
> Did anyone else have this problem?
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> 
> Rich N.



Rich,


I had this problem a while back. My surge protector was getting old and it was degrading the signal. Stopped running the cable through it and no more problems. Signal came back to where it was suppose to be.


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p

Manassas VA gets 223 A&E HD, 246 NFL Network HD and 250 Universal HD 10/29. off HD but Fox Business 106 and NHL Network 276 also 10/29 no HD for those that I know.


That said new line up is from letter in mail


210 ABC HD

211 NBC HD

212 CBS HD

213 FOX HD

214 CW HD

215 MY Network HD

220 PBS HD

223 A&E HD

224 Nat Geo HD

225 Disc HD Theater

226 Mojo

227 MHD

228 HBO HD

230 HD On Demand

232 TBS HD

233 Cinemax HD

238 Showtime HD

246 NFL Network HD

248 Starz HD

249 TNT HD

250 Universal HD

251 Comcast Sports Net Mid Atlantic HD

252 ESPN HD

253 ESPN 2 HD

254 Versus/Golf Channel HD


I went from 10 HD in August of 07 to now 25! I'm happy


Missing 229 Food HD

Missing 231 HGTV HD

Missing ??? CNN HD


still 2 months of 07 left.... who knows


----------



## raidbuck




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Belcherwm* /forum/post/11866700
> 
> 
> Rich,
> 
> 
> I had this problem a while back. My surge protector was getting old and it was degrading the signal. Stopped running the cable through it and no more problems. Signal came back to where it was suppose to be.



Belcherwm, thanks for the suggestion. Now that thunderstorms are over I'll try that.


Rich N.


----------



## raidbuck

So for the Baltimore region, we've gotten the first new wave of HD (NGHD,A&EHD,FOODHD,TBSHD).


So now I guess NHLNETWORK HD, USA-HD, CNN-HD and HistoryHD are on the clock.


Pretty good rate of HD additions in our area, even if it doesn't match D* or E*.


Off topic, I do wish Comcast and ESPN could reach agreement on ESPNU. Some good games there, even if SD.


Rich N.


----------



## wolverine9827

hello all,


I'm an avid Tivo user... and have used them for years... I also subscribe to Comcast (UG!) but never had a box... just used the Tivo.... which worked great!! Now I've gone and got an HDTV and put in a TiVO Series 3 HD.... OMG talk about a GREAT picture!!!!


Unfortunately I live in Shrewsbury, PA, which is about 30 miles due N of Baltimore, MD.... and as Comcast would have it, I get ONE FOX affiliate on my cable channel map... which favors showing Philadelphia Eagles games instead of my Ravens!! The Tivo has both a cable in (I have two cablecards in for digital channels) and a OTA/ANT in... according to Antennaweb, I should be able to pull in the majority of the Baltimore stations (none of them broadcast in Digital or HD??) with the main tower being 30.1 miles away at 187 deg... after poking around the HDTV antenna forums, I ordered a Terk HDTVo for mounting on a 10' staff off the corner roof which should easily be able to pull these stations in..... I can't have anything too huge as my better half isn't too happy about big things seen from the road....


Is there anything I should watch for? I've never put up an antenna before though it looks easy enough.... anyone else near me who has been able to pull in OTA Baltimore channels?


Thanks....


I'll let everyone know my experience and what signal quality I get... it should be here tomorrow


----------



## maestro73




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chrisherbert* /forum/post/11866115
> 
> 
> I received a flyer in the mail yesterday saying that A&E HD and NFL HD would be added to Comcast's Arlington lineup in October. There were also some useless SD multicast channels added and some shuffling of the public access channels.
> 
> 
> I'm slightly interested in A&E, since their lineup isn't just old SD sitcoms and Law and Order.



Same here in Alexandria. Just got a letter today (dated September 21....c'mon Comcast) saying NFL HD and A&E HD will be added October 29. Also, this might be old news, but the NHL Network will be on 276.


----------



## machpost

Slightly off-topic, but is there any way that the current Tivo HD boxes will ever support Video On Demand and PPV? That is the one thing that keeps me from ditching the cable box and buying a Tivo.


----------



## CycloneGT

I really doubt that the current boxes will ever change. Besides, Comcast is supposed to launch TiVO in the near future.


----------



## REL77




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DVDO+WESTY=1080p* /forum/post/11867020
> 
> 
> Manassas VA gets 223 A&E HD, 246 NFL Network HD and 250 Universal HD 10/29. off HD but Fox Business 106 and NHL Network 276 also 10/29 no HD for those that I know.
> 
> 
> That said new line up is from letter in mail
> 
> 
> 210 ABC HD
> 
> 211 NBC HD
> 
> 212 CBS HD
> 
> 213 FOX HD
> 
> 214 CW HD
> 
> 215 MY Network HD
> 
> 220 PBS HD
> 
> 223 A&E HD
> 
> 224 Nat Geo HD
> 
> 225 Disc HD Theater
> 
> 226 Mojo
> 
> 227 MHD
> 
> 228 HBO HD
> 
> 230 HD On Demand
> 
> 232 TBS HD
> 
> 233 Cinemax HD
> 
> 238 Showtime HD
> 
> 246 NFL Network HD
> 
> 248 Starz HD
> 
> 249 TNT HD
> 
> 250 Universal HD
> 
> 251 Comcast Sports Net Mid Atlantic HD
> 
> 252 ESPN HD
> 
> 253 ESPN 2 HD
> 
> 254 Versus/Golf Channel HD
> 
> 
> I went from 10 HD in August of 07 to now 25! I'm happy
> 
> 
> Missing 229 Food HD
> 
> Missing 231 HGTV HD
> 
> Missing ??? CNN HD
> 
> 
> still 2 months of 07 left.... who knows



you know, looking at that, its pretty impressive, but I still want more..


----------



## drkashner




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wolverine9827* /forum/post/11867990
> 
> 
> hello all,
> 
> 
> I'm an avid Tivo user... and have used them for years... I also subscribe to Comcast (UG!) but never had a box... just used the Tivo.... which worked great!! Now I've gone and got an HDTV and put in a TiVO Series 3 HD.... OMG talk about a GREAT picture!!!!
> 
> 
> Unfortunately I live in Shrewsbury, PA, which is about 30 miles due N of Baltimore, MD.... and as Comcast would have it, I get ONE FOX affiliate on my cable channel map... which favors showing Philadelphia Eagles games instead of my Ravens!! The Tivo has both a cable in (I have two cablecards in for digital channels) and a OTA/ANT in... according to Antennaweb, I should be able to pull in the majority of the Baltimore stations (none of them broadcast in Digital or HD??) with the main tower being 30.1 miles away at 187 deg... after poking around the HDTV antenna forums, I ordered a Terk HDTVo for mounting on a 10' staff off the corner roof which should easily be able to pull these stations in..... I can't have anything too huge as my better half isn't too happy about big things seen from the road....
> 
> 
> Is there anything I should watch for? I've never put up an antenna before though it looks easy enough.... anyone else near me who has been able to pull in OTA Baltimore channels?
> 
> 
> Thanks....
> 
> 
> I'll let everyone know my experience and what signal quality I get... it should be here tomorrow



I live just north of you between Shrewsbury and Loganville. I have a Channel Master far fringe antenna on a tower just above my roof. It's about 10 years old. I get alot of digital Baltimore and Washington stations: 2.4.7.9,11,13, 22 sometimes, 45, 54 and 67, so you should be able to get them. Not sure what you mean by 'none of them broadcast in Digital or HD??'. They are all digital and HD when there is something on in HD.


----------



## dvwtwo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dvwtwo* /forum/post/11865869
> 
> 
> I'm in Arlington, VA (Crystal City) and have had the same problem since the channels (TBSHD & Nat Geo HD) were added. Called Comcast no less than five times over the last week as I watched the Yanks bumble around in SD. Technician came to my place just now and basically couldn't do anything. (CSRs had tried resetting the box last week to no avail and finally decided it might be a problem with the box, so sent out a tech.) The tech called in to dispatch: they couldn't help him. He then called customer service, who first claimed the channels weren't in my package, though CSRs had told me last week they were. Customer service then "sent new rate codes" to the box to try to alleviate the problem. They told me it should be working within 24 hours. 20 minutes later I got a call from somebody at Comcast checking in on the appointment. She told me to check it in 4 hours and see if it had taken. Incredibly, a week after the addition, nobody at Comcast seems to have reliable info on where TBSHD fits in the programming tiers.
> 
> 
> So the saga continues. I hope at least some of you have been able to watch the playoffs in HD. I'm pretty furious myself, considering my brother in another part of Arlington (Ballston) received the channel without any problem. At least baseball superstition allows me to now blame Comcast for the Yanks' flameout.



Well, I now have resolution! Called Comcast again (yesterday's attempts by the tech were fruitless) and got a very professional, coherent (and informed) CSR who asked me a new question: are you using an HD-DVR box or a regular HD box? Mine is the SA Explorer 8300HD DVR box (though we don't pay for DVR). Got it because I wanted HDMI out for my new Panasonic. Evidently our account records were wrong. The CSR corrected it and presto! TBS HD instantly came on. WOW. A week and a half later, such a simple fix. So now I can watch the Rockies and D-Backs (yay, I guess?) in HD. Also turned on were National Geographic HD and MHD. Hallelujah. If Comcast does indeed add the rumored newest channels in our area perhaps they'll actually work right away now!


So the moral to this story: if you still can't get resolution on TBS HD, ask Comcast if your cable box record is correct....


Meanwhile, anybody know what tier NFL HD is supposed to be on?


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dvwtwo* /forum/post/11877557
> 
> 
> Well, I now have resolution! Called Comcast again (yesterday's attempts by the tech were fruitless) and got a very professional, coherent (and informed) CSR who asked me a new question: are you using an HD-DVR box or a regular HD box? Mine is the SA Explorer 8300HD DVR box (though we don't pay for DVR). Got it because I wanted HDMI out for my new Panasonic. Evidently our account records were wrong. The CSR corrected it and presto! TBS HD instantly came on. WOW. A week and a half later, such a simple fix. So now I can watch the Rockies and D-Backs (yay, I guess?) in HD. Also turned on were National Geographic HD and MHD. Hallelujah. If Comcast does indeed add the rumored newest channels in our area perhaps they'll actually work right away now!
> 
> 
> So the moral to this story: if you still can't get resolution on TBS HD, ask Comcast if your cable box record is correct....
> 
> 
> Meanwhile, anybody know what tier NFL HD is supposed to be on?



Sports Tier.


----------



## dvwtwo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/11883686
> 
> 
> Sports Tier.



Nuts. Oh well.


----------



## davidjplatt

What is up with this station?


They had Women's Murder Club and Men In Trees in non-HD tonight but they are in HD on WMAR 2 in Baltimore.


Are they really that disorganized that they can't manage to "flip the switch"?


----------



## paula




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *davidjplatt* /forum/post/11891456
> 
> 
> What is up with this station?
> 
> 
> They had Women's Murder Club and Men In Trees in non-HD tonight but they are in HD on WMAR 2 in Baltimore.



Add a snarl from me, too! I PVR'd "Trees" so I'm stuck with WJLA's resolution.


----------



## Ladd

Well, poop.


WRC cut off the first half of "The Redskins Report" and dropped "The Joe Gibbs Show" completely.


----------



## rviele

paula- where is northern md. generally that means pylesville.


----------



## Marcus Carr

WBAL seems to have stopped stretching.


----------



## VARTV

This is GREAT news for viewers!!! If a viewer wants funhouse-o-vision, let them do it themselves...


----------



## billodom

Trying to watch local programming on these channels is painful because the sharpness is way too high. Has anyone ever opined on this topic in the past? I appreciate Mark's presence on this board--and his work as a volunteer fireman in his community. I have a 1080p DLP. What say you, Mr. Bulla?


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WBAL seems to have stopped stretching.



It will be interesting to see what their local news looks like. I noticed the non-stretch on some SD network programming yesterday but then saw a local ad in 16:9 stretch-o-vision, not their usual 14:9.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *billodom* /forum/post/11904210
> 
> 
> Trying to watch local programming on these channels is painful because the sharpness is way too high. Has anyone ever opined on this topic in the past? I appreciate Mark's presence on this board--and his work as a volunteer fireman in his community. I have a 1080p DLP. What say you, Mr. Bulla?



I appreciate the input. I do have the video enhancement up on the local broadcasts on both stations a bit. As far as I know, you're the first one that has stated an issue with it. I'm open to changing it, if get enough comments about it, especially since I do it by eye in the QC area of the station. And I only have 1080i at home...


Thanks for your comment about the FD. It was our open house yesterday (nice day for it!).


----------



## Marcus Carr

NHL Network is now on Comcast, SD only so far.


----------



## CycloneGT

More DirectTV additions today.


# Fox Business Network (359)

# HGTV HD (229-1)

# FX HD (248)

# Speed Network HD (607)

# Fuel HD (612)

# The Cartoon Network (296)


Considering that Speed said that they won't launch their HDTV service until Speedweeks in 2008, I'm not sure if that channel will actually have any HDTV until then. Odd.


----------



## CycloneGT

Is anyone tuning in WHUT-DT? I know that it was posted earlier last week (or the week before) that they were on the air, but I have not been able to tune them in.


----------



## afiggatt

Verizon Fios added A&E-HD (ch 842) and Fox Business Channel (SD version, ch 94) to the Washington Metro & other VA area line-ups this morning. It appears Verizon added those 2 channels for at least the VA, MD, PA, MA, FL, TX areas on the same day.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/11907640
> 
> 
> Is anyone tuning in WHUT-DT? I know that it was posted earlier last week (or the week before) that they were on the air, but I have not been able to tune them in.



WHUT-DT was there several days ago when I looked. The channel was still displayed as 33-1 (their digital broadcast channel), rather than 32-1, so they still need to fix the PSIP info. The digital channel is very soft SD, looked worse than the analog channel when I compared them.


If you can get WETA-DT 26, you should be able to get WHUT-DT. From the FCC database, they are both on the same tower and the antennas are at the same height of 254 meters HAAT. WETA-DT broadcasts at 90 kW on UHF 27, WHUT-DT at 100 kW on UHF 33.


----------



## jcorwin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/11905868
> 
> 
> I appreciate the input. I do have the video enhancement up on the local broadcasts on both stations a bit. As far as I know, you're the first one that has stated an issue with it. I'm open to changing it, if get enough comments about it, especially since I do it by eye in the QC area of the station. And I only have 1080i at home...
> 
> 
> Thanks for your comment about the FD. It was our open house yesterday (nice day for it!).



Mark,

I too have noticed the over-enhancement on your upconversions, particularly your news teasers. The anchors are so enhanced they look posterized. This is viewing on both a 720P LCD and a 720P DLP via Comcast.


----------



## Remoteless




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/11907640
> 
> 
> Is anyone tuning in WHUT-DT? I know that it was posted earlier last week (or the week before) that they were on the air, but I have not been able to tune them in.



WHUT is there at 33-1


----------



## El Pollo

I'm trying to figure out if it's just me and my OTA antenna (through the DirecTV HR-20 box). The Washington *CW* has been having audio dropouts for me the last couple of weeks. I only watch Smallville and Reaper on there, but it seems that the picture is solid while every three or so minutes, the audio drops out for a half second. And the audio, at least for Smallville, says it's coming in as stereo instead of DD 5.1.


----------



## mdviewer25

Still waiting for WUTB DT


----------



## Lilscoy22




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *El Pollo* /forum/post/11909661
> 
> 
> I'm trying to figure out if it's just me and my OTA antenna (through the DirecTV HR-20 box). The Washington *CW* has been having audio dropouts for me the last couple of weeks. I only watch Smallville and Reaper on there, but it seems that the picture is solid while every three or so minutes, the audio drops out for a half second. And the audio, at least for Smallville, says it's coming in as stereo instead of DD 5.1.




Well, it's good to see that it's not just my connection. I actually have Comcast, and have the same problems. I watch Smallville, Supernatural, Reaper, and Gossip Girl. All of these shows, for the last couple of weeks anyway, have had these audio dropouts. It's just like you said, the video is fine, but the audio drops out every now and than for like half a second. Weird.


----------



## adams828

Anyone else with RCN HD Box? Just got it this weekend and so far.. not too impressed. I have a panasonic plasma, which is notorious for having a weak QAM tuner. So having the box gives me ABC, PBS and Golf which I could never pickup before, as well as reliability (previously I'd have to rescan for QAM every few weeks or so).


However since putting in the HD box, it seems that SD is a little worse (as is HD) in PQ. Not sure if this is due to cable compression or component cables, but it's making me debate going back to QAM. Unfortunately FIOS is not here yet, and not sure I want to venture into Dish.


Any other RCN users out there ?


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/11905868
> 
> 
> I appreciate the input. I do have the video enhancement up on the local broadcasts on both stations a bit. As far as I know, you're the first one that has stated an issue with it.



I've always thought the upconversions looked bad. I just didn't comment on it because, hey, it's upconverts. And I hadn't quite put my finger on what was wrong with it -- but "posterized" is a good description.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/11907254
> 
> 
> NHL Network is now on Comcast, SD only so far.



Fox Business Network in SD also. It says Not Authorized. I don't know what tier it's in. NHL is presumably in the sports tier.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *adams828* /forum/post/11912002
> 
> 
> Anyone else with RCN HD Box? Just got it this weekend and so far.. not too impressed. I have a panasonic plasma, which is notorious for having a weak QAM tuner. So having the box gives me ABC, PBS and Golf which I could never pickup before, as well as reliability (previously I'd have to rescan for QAM every few weeks or so).
> 
> 
> However since putting in the HD box, it seems that SD is a little worse (as is HD) in PQ. Not sure if this is due to cable compression or component cables, but it's making me debate going back to QAM. Unfortunately FIOS is not here yet, and not sure I want to venture into Dish.



What are the settings on the RCN set top box? Is it passing the SD channels through as 480i or is it upconverting them? Same goes for the HD channels - native passthrough or convert all HD channels to 720 or 1080i? That is where I would start.


But if you want to watch QAM cable channels on the TV as well, why not split the cable signal and run a line to the STB and the TV? If the TV has better picture quality, say for WJLA-DT ABC 7, and you are watching live and not on the cable DVR (if you have one), then switch to the TV QAM tuner and watch that way. Just because you have a cable box hooked up with component, doesn't mean you can't still use the TV QAM tuner. HD TVs these days come with 4 or more HD inputs and a ATSC/QAM tuner for RF input.


----------



## jgantert

Just got a TiVo HD box, and I can't tune in 50-1. Some reason, it reads it as 50-2, and I have 94% signal strength, but I only get a grey screen.


Any ideas? My other 3 NTSC tuners can tune in 50-1 fine (no 50-2 anymore as the Tube is no longer there







)


-John


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *adams828* /forum/post/11912002
> 
> 
> Anyone else with RCN HD Box? Just got it this weekend and so far.. not too impressed. I have a panasonic plasma, which is notorious for having a weak QAM tuner. So having the box gives me ABC, PBS and Golf which I could never pickup before, as well as reliability (previously I'd have to rescan for QAM every few weeks or so).
> 
> 
> However since putting in the HD box, it seems that SD is a little worse (as is HD) in PQ. Not sure if this is due to cable compression or component cables, but it's making me debate going back to QAM. Unfortunately FIOS is not here yet, and not sure I want to venture into Dish.
> 
> 
> Any other RCN users out there ?



I believe I have a similar setup: Motorola DCT 6412 on RCN, connected to a 42" Panasonic Plasma via component cables. My 6412 is an older model that doesn't have HDMI out, just DVI, which happens to be disabled.


HD on my setup looks superb, but I agree that SD leaves a lot to be desired on some channels. I'm outputting 720p from the box for HD, and 480p override for SD. I was running 480i for the SD, but for some reason, the screen is a bit jumpy for about 5-6 seconds after switching from an HD channel to an SD channel. This doesn't happen with 480p SD, but the picture quality suffers a bit. Colors are a bit oversaturated, and compression artifacts are more noticeable. On RCN, all of the SD channels are now digital simulcast when going through the box, and some of the lower channels look overcompressed and fuzzy. The digital channels 100 and above look great for the most part. I've never tried tuning in the cable channels via QAM, so I don't have anything to compare it to. I use the DVR and Video On Demand daily, so I can't imagine going that route anytime soon.


You might want to try playing around with the output settings, and switching between using component cables and HDMI, assuming you have the option. I know that in some situations, component simply yields better picture quality than HDMI.


And regarding FiOS TV: If you happen to live in the District, there was an article in the Post a few weeks ago that mentioned Verizon requesting approval from the OCTT to provide cable television services here, but there is no indication when this will happen. My guess is that it's years away, unfortunately.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/11913576
> 
> 
> Just got a TiVo HD box, and I can't tune in 50-1. Some reason, it reads it as 50-2, and I have 94% signal strength, but I only get a grey screen.



I am getting a No Signal for WDCW-DT 50-1 OTA as well on a Samsung SIR-T451 ATSC tuner. Full signal strength on the meter, but no picture or audio. No change if I tune to channel 51. WDCW-DT is fine on Verizon Fios, so something weird is going on with the broadcast signal. WNUV-DT 54 is fine if someone wants to watch CW in HD OTA, if you can get WNUV-DT with the antenna.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/11915142
> 
> 
> I am getting a No Signal for WDCW-DT 50-1 OTA as well on a Samsung SIR-T451 ATSC tuner. Full signal strength on the meter, but no picture or audio. No change if I tune to channel 51. WDCW-DT is fine on Verizon Fios, so something weird is going on with the broadcast signal. WNUV-DT 54 is fine if someone wants to watch CW in HD OTA, if you can get WNUV-DT with the antenna.



I also have no signal for 50-1. Had to watch 54-1 for CW (btw the picture looked great). OTOH, NBC's HD quality tonight didn't look to good when I saw it. Also, there is no program info for WJLA-DT.


----------



## bucnasty

Is anyone having problems with the Cox program guide? I am finding that 703 (Discovery HD Theater) is usually wrong along with some of the discovery tier in the 150's...


----------



## El Pollo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Lilscoy22* /forum/post/11911551
> 
> 
> Well, it's good to see that it's not just my connection. I actually have Comcast, and have the same problems. I watch Smallville, Supernatural, Reaper, and Gossip Girl. All of these shows, for the last couple of weeks anyway, have had these audio dropouts. It's just like you said, the video is fine, but the audio drops out every now and than for like half a second. Weird.



Nice to see mine was the post that got you to start posting.







Welcome, Lilscoy. Hopefully things will get better. As of right now, Family Guy on the CW-HD 50 is coming in fine and (pseudo) 5.1 audio... though I don't have the patience to wait for dropouts. Gotta get back to the sports!


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/11915142
> 
> 
> I am getting a No Signal for WDCW-DT 50-1 OTA as well on a Samsung SIR-T451 ATSC tuner. Full signal strength on the meter, but no picture or audio. No change if I tune to channel 51. WDCW-DT is fine on Verizon Fios, so something weird is going on with the broadcast signal. WNUV-DT 54 is fine if someone wants to watch CW in HD OTA, if you can get WNUV-DT with the antenna.



Ok, looking into this further, I get a signal on my Samsung OTA box (new model), but no picture and good signal on my old Zenith 420 HD box.


Oh well. I'll wait and see.

-John


----------



## gomo657




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *adams828* /forum/post/11912002
> 
> 
> Anyone else with RCN HD Box? Just got it this weekend and so far.. not too impressed. I have a panasonic plasma, which is notorious for having a weak QAM tuner. So having the box gives me ABC, PBS and Golf which I could never pickup before, as well as reliability (previously I'd have to rescan for QAM every few weeks or so).
> 
> 
> However since putting in the HD box, it seems that SD is a little worse (as is HD) in PQ. Not sure if this is due to cable compression or component cables, but it's making me debate going back to QAM. Unfortunately FIOS is not here yet, and not sure I want to venture into Dish.
> 
> 
> Any other RCN users out there ?



I'm on Comcast with the Moto box and a Panny I bring the sharpness down, the Moto box @ 480p/720p/1080i on SD introduces noise that I've found with the sharpness down makes it tolerable.

I also use a splitter and watch via QAM often, but I also lost 50.1/ CW via QAM today.


----------



## mikemikeb

*CycloneGT*, I'm getting WHUT-DT as well. They must have a crappy transmitter. Same with WTTG-DT: I foolishly tried to get some other crappy DT signal, and since then, can't find an antenna position to get WTTG at all without getting multipath-related dropouts on at least one other channel. Oh, well, back to adjusting.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jcorwin* /forum/post/11908360
> 
> 
> Mark,
> 
> I too have noticed the over-enhancement on your upconversions, particularly your news teasers. The anchors are so enhanced they look posterized. This is viewing on both a 720P LCD and a 720P DLP via Comcast.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/11912695
> 
> 
> I've always thought the upconversions looked bad. I just didn't comment on it because, hey, it's upconverts. And I hadn't quite put my finger on what was wrong with it -- but "posterized" is a good description.



I'll give you that one.


That's an on-going issue that I have with the cameras in our studio. It's not so much the cameras as it is with how high the operators turn up the detail. I've gone through and adjusted them, but either they un-adjust them, or there's a camera setup card that I didn't find to resave the settings on. I think that problem is multiplied by going through the upconverter. Hopefully that problem will go away in the next couple of months when we get in our new master controls.


That problem should only effect the news and the news teases though. I was under the impression that billodom had an issue with all of the local content...


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/11916111
> 
> 
> Ok, looking into this further, I get a signal on my Samsung OTA box (new model), but no picture and good signal on my old Zenith 420 HD box.



Looks like 50-1 is back on all my boxes. Must have just been a glitch.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/11916926
> 
> 
> I think that problem is multiplied by going through the upconverter. Hopefully that problem will go away in the next couple of months when we get in our new master controls.



Upgrading for HD news?


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/11917786
> 
> 
> Upgrading for HD news?



Hey - that would be nice, wouldn't it!


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/11916378
> 
> *CycloneGT*, I'm getting WHUT-DT as well. They must have a crappy transmitter.



I tried again last night, no dice. I'm guessing that they have some odd PSIP setting. When I tried to tune in the channel I get nothing on 33. After a while my signal bar will go solid red and stay there. The text says "not locked" but the bar is indicating full signal strength. Usually it will only be red if its under 50% or some other low threshold. Still I can't add it, so I was suspecting (or I guess hoping) that they were just off the air at the time I was attempting to seek them out.


My old Dish 6000 had odd problems like this from time to time which were always chalked up to PSIP settings at the local stations. Dish finally implemented a bunch of work arounds and many stations finally became stable. This WHUT-DT issue kinda reminds me of those old days.


----------



## carltonrice

I'm picking up WHUT-DT this morning OTA using my indoor antenna on my Samsung LCD HD. However, when I last did a scan with my DirecTV HR20 (last night), it didn't put the channel in the program guide. Which made me wonder: Can you not tune to an OTA station using DirecTV's HR20 STB unless they've put it in their program guide? I wonder when they will add this channel. They use the same stretch-o-vision that WBAL-DT was using up until a few days ago, so it's no great loss.


----------



## jcorwin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/11916926
> 
> 
> I'll give you that one.
> 
> 
> That's an on-going issue that I have with the cameras in our studio. It's not so much the cameras as it is with how high the operators turn up the detail. I've gone through and adjusted them, but either they un-adjust them, or there's a camera setup card that I didn't find to resave the settings on. I think that problem is multiplied by going through the upconverter. Hopefully that problem will go away in the next couple of months when we get in our new master controls.
> 
> 
> That problem should only effect the news and the news teases though. I was under the impression that billodom had an issue with all of the local content...



Too much detail in the studio cameras? We have the opposite problem - skin detail cranked to max for the softest possible look on the anchor's faces!


----------



## paula




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/11907640
> 
> 
> Is anyone tuning in WHUT-DT? I know that it was posted earlier last week (or the week before) that they were on the air, but I have not been able to tune them in.



I'm about 20 mi NE of Boyds. I locked on to WHUT-DT this morning on 33.1.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/11920249
> 
> 
> I'm picking up WHUT-DT this morning OTA using my indoor antenna on my Samsung LCD HD. However, when I last did a scan with my DirecTV HR20 (last night), it didn't put the channel in the program guide. Which made me wonder: Can you not tune to an OTA station using DirecTV's HR20 STB unless they've put it in their program guide?



No, you cannot. The HR20 doesn't have a scan feature. It only tunes those items that are in the guide data.


There is a thread on dbstalk that can be used as a vehicle to report missing or incorrect channels. It is monitored by DirecTV.


Here is the link:

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=85879


----------



## tonyd79

Am I the only one still getting no guide data for the "new" MPT channels on Comcast DVR?


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paula* /forum/post/11921055
> 
> 
> I'm about 20 mi NE of Boyds. I locked on to WHUT-DT this morning on 33.1.



Ok. I'm guessing its my set up then. Does anyone with a Dish Network 622 or 722 (and perhaps a 222) receive 33.1?


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/11923932
> 
> 
> Ok. I'm guessing its my set up then. Does anyone with a Dish Network 622 or 722 (and perhaps a 222) receive 33.1?



I'm getting 33.1 OTA with the Silver Sensor and Samsung tuner.


----------



## captdusty

What the *%#@# is going on with DirecTV's data for the HD subchannel?? It bears no resemblance to what MPT's website says is actually scheduled. I've tried 3 times this week to record Austin City Limits on my HR20, only to discover the schedule listed for 67-2 is utter fiction.


To whom does one complain about this anyway? I shot MPT an email, but....


And, btw, how are we supposed to know whether it's -1 or -2 that'll be in HD, since they seem to alternate randomly which is which while both still claim to be HD? Ugh.


----------



## Mike20878




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *captdusty* /forum/post/11926981
> 
> 
> What the *%#@# is going on with DirecTV's data for the HD subchannel?? It bears no resemblance to what MPT's website says is actually scheduled. I've tried 3 times this week to record Austin City Limits on my HR20, only to discover the schedule listed for 67-2 is utter fiction.
> 
> 
> To whom does one complain about this anyway? I shot MPT an email, but....
> 
> 
> And, btw, how are we supposed to know whether it's -1 or -2 that'll be in HD, since they seem to alternate randomly which is which while both still claim to be HD? Ugh.



Their schedule is rarely accurate. I have that problem with my TiVo.


----------



## drkashner

67.2 has been like that since they switched to their 'new' channel line up back in Aug. 67.2 used to be the HD channel. Now they've added a 3rd spanish subchannel. MPT never changed the 67.2 program guide, I wonder how long it will take them to change it.


----------



## RSX2400

Any info on when Comcast will carry SciFi HD in the D.C. area?


----------



## CycloneGT

Dish Network has added the NHL Network HD channel to their line up.


----------



## tmeader




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RSX2400* /forum/post/11932739
> 
> 
> Any info on when Comcast will carry SciFi HD in the D.C. area?



Yeah, if this were possible before the Battlestar Galactica premier, that would be pretty clutch. Last year I waited the 6 months to watch them on UHD. Not fun.


----------



## david4788




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jcole66* /forum/post/11848987
> 
> 
> Did you get a resolution to your two missing channels?
> 
> I just got my TivoHD and had no CableCard problems at all. (feared the worst!)
> 
> And all of my premium channels work fine except for National Geo HD and TBS-HD. They show up in my Tivo Guides but when I go to them they are just blank video and no audio.



Did Comcast let you pick up the cards and install them yourself? How much they charge for the 2nd card?


----------



## mapper

It looks like Cox is having some trouble with their SDV rollout in NoVA. October 16th was the date in the mailing they sent out. Anyone not able to tune into those channels through a CableCARD? My CableCARD is still letting me tune in to future-SDV channels(i.e. CSPAN-3 and NASA).


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/11933493
> 
> 
> Dish Network has added the NHL Network HD channel to their line up.



I imagine Comcast will add the HD version, since they own the network.


----------



## captdusty




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *drkashner* /forum/post/11930893
> 
> 
> 67.2 has been like that since they switched to their 'new' channel line up back in Aug. 67.2 used to be the HD channel. Now they've added a 3rd spanish subchannel. MPT never changed the 67.2 program guide, I wonder how long it will take them to change it.



So will 67-1 be _the_ HD channel now?


----------



## bucnasty




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/11935682
> 
> 
> It looks like Cox is having some trouble with their SDV rollout in NoVA. October 16th was the date in the mailing they sent out. Anyone not able to tune into those channels through a CableCARD? My CableCARD is still letting me tune in to future-SDV channels(i.e. CSPAN-3 and NASA).



I was never able to tune into 850-870 but saw them in the guide..


----------



## Lenonn




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RSX2400* /forum/post/11932739
> 
> 
> Any info on when Comcast will carry SciFi HD in the D.C. area?



That's what I want to know for RCN.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *captdusty* /forum/post/11938962
> 
> 
> So will 67-1 be _the_ HD channel now?



Yes.


----------



## jimrobinette

With the guide data confusion over 67-1,2,3, I was wondering if 67 and 62 are both just mirrors of MPT? I can get 62, but not 67. So, am I missing anything on 67 that I can't get on 62?


Thanks,


Jim


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> The Orioles and the authority will work with a $9 million budget to install a new scoreboard, a new high-definition video screen to replace the failing Sony JumboTron, a new sound system and a control room to operate all the equipment.
> 
> 
> The video screen will be more than twice as large as the JumboTron and will be situated above the scoreboard instead of below it. The project also will feature video upgrades to the out-of-town scoreboard and "ribbon" scoreboards on the decks around the park.
> 
> 
> "It'll be a much better fan experience," authority chairman Frederick W. Puddester said.
> 
> 
> The video screen - which will feature a 16:9 aspect ratio compared with the 4:3 ratio of the JumboTron - also will open new advertising opportunities for the club, Rifkin said.


 http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/b...0,348480.story


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/11942522
> 
> http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/b...0,348480.story



Good, now can we have high-definition at home, too?


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jimrobinette* /forum/post/11942211
> 
> 
> With the guide data confusion over 67-1,2,3, I was wondering if 67 and 62 are both just mirrors of MPT?



Yes.


I'm surprised to read that the MPT guide data for DirecTV is messed up, because it's finally (post-realignment) sorted out for standalone Tivos, which I understood to use the same provider (Tribune). In the case of Tivo, you can report problems via their web site... which should trickle up to Tribune, and thence back down to DirecTV.


Tribune listings are also available via zap2it.com (and you can report problems there), and they appear to have correct data for 22-1, -2 and -3. However, like Tivo, they also incorrectly still show 22-4 and -5 as existing.


Oh, but as I look at it, they have the wrong data for 67-2, even though 22-2 is correct. Bozos.


Edit: I've sent a note to [email protected] ; let's see how that goes.


----------



## DRal

Anyone in Arlington having an issue with Comcast cable either freezing both video and audio or at least video from time to time. This seems to be an on going issue and it does not matter if a box is attached or not.

Just curious to see if others are experiencing this.


----------



## mapper




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bucnasty* /forum/post/11940127
> 
> 
> I was never able to tune into 850-870 but saw them in the guide..



Well, now it seems Cox has completed the SDV channel move and i guess that means no new HD for us CableCARD/TiVoHD users.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jimrobinette* /forum/post/11942211
> 
> 
> With the guide data confusion over 67-1,2,3, I was wondering if 67 and 62 are both just mirrors of MPT? I can get 62, but not 67. So, am I missing anything on 67 that I can't get on 62?



The six MPT digital stations all send out the same programming. If you get WFPT-DT MPT 62 in Frederick, you get exactly the same channels and programming as you do with the channels 67 and 22.


----------



## samhouston

I have two Sony DHG-HDD 250s and a 500 that have been working great. Lately I noticed the playbacks drop sound and the picture pixelates in and out. Unwatchable. I thought my drives were going but when I removed my cable cards and record something new, the effect disappears. And all the HDDs do it - simultaneous failures? Fishy to me. The pixelating/sound drop outs prefers to occur when watching recording HD programs. This effect has happened with SD programs (with the CCard), but not as often and not lately. The effect is not noticeable when watching program through the Sony DVR in real-time however.


Anyone had this problem in the NoVA area?


----------



## jimrobinette

That is what I thought. I get 62, but also have 67 in my guide on my HR20-100 from D*. I kept 67 as it looked like they had different programming, and wanted to catch as much HD stuff as possibile.


Looking tonight, it looks like 62 and 67 mirror, except the guide data for 67-2 is different from 62-2. Since I don't have any way to get 67-2 without moving my antenna around in the attic, I will just delete the 67 channels.


Thanks again for the great help guys.


Jim



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/11948119
> 
> 
> The six MPT digital stations all send out the same programming. If you get WFPT-DT MPT 62 in Frederick, you get exactly the same channels and programming as you do with the channels 67 and 22.


----------



## Speqtre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *david4788* /forum/post/11934852
> 
> 
> Did Comcast let you pick up the cards and install them yourself? How much they charge for the 2nd card?



Can anyone answer this? I have the same question.


----------



## rustycruiser




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jcorwin* /forum/post/11908360
> 
> 
> Mark,
> 
> I too have noticed the over-enhancement on your upconversions, particularly your news teasers. The anchors are so enhanced they look posterized. This is viewing on both a 720P LCD and a 720P DLP via Comcast.



If posterized means the people appear to have no wrinkles, very shiny, and look like they are made of plastic, then yes, I have noticed it too. Never thought to bring it up though, as I try not to watch SD, and I get my news via the BBC. Cheers


----------



## drkashner

More on MPT (I watch on 67.1 ota). What is it with their HD? Last night I watched Wired Science that I had dvr'd. It did not fill the screen and had black the whole way around the picture. The show is supposedly in HD. Did they forget to 'flip the switch?' The first episode of The War was like that too. They were having audio problems and the first 10 minutes was 16:9 and they changed it to a smaller picture with black around all sides and the audio cleared up. They really screwed up the HD when they changed the channels.


----------



## SJKurtzke

So, who wants to guess WJLA will go HD before WRC or WTTG at this rate?

Given that both have been delayed for over a year now.


----------



## mapper




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/11948106
> 
> 
> Well, now it seems Cox has completed the SDV channel move and i guess that means no new HD for us CableCARD/TiVoHD users.



I guess I am wronging my right, as I found all the SDV channels(C-SPAN 3, NASA, Jewelry TV...) back to us(CableCARD users), confirming Cox is having some difficulties with SDV equipment/rollout, though NFL Network is already SDV.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/11958779
> 
> 
> So, who wants to guess WJLA will go HD before WRC or WTTG at this rate?
> 
> Given that both have been delayed for over a year now.



WJLA will wait as long as they want to. Only WUSA has gone HD, and it looks like their ratings are up at 11 PM, but only in the last 15 minutes of each broadcast. In other words, it looks like people aren't tuning in for the HD, but to watch Brett Haber do sports; no more, no less.


With that in mind, it still looks like the quality of the journalism is the #1, #2, and #3 key factor in whether or not someone watches whatever newscast, NOT whether or not it's in HD. I believe that part of it is because two of the other three news competitors of WJLA are still all-SD. Maybe the viewer psychology among HDTV owners is that they only have one choice for HD news, so it must not be an important factor (but it would be if three or more newscast stations are in HD). Maybe the fact that 9 News is in HD isn't being marketed properly, so most HDTV owners don't know about it. Maybe not a lot of HDTV owners watch local newscasts of any kind.


The other big factor is that Sprint/Nextel is still in the process of replacing current analog ENG gear with brand-new HD DENG gear for all local TV stations, at Sprint/Nextel's expense. When the new equipment's in, stations can be all-HD for news from the start, unlike having the SD widescreen field reports of WUSA, "thanks" to their old analog ENG's bandwidth limitations.


Until one or both factors change, I believe that WJLA will be very happy with waiting for costs to come down, and continue SD news production in the meantime. However, they do already have HD field cameras, so they're good to go in that regard.


Here are my predictions for when stations go HD for news:


1. WTTG goes HD July 2008 for August sweeps

2. WRC goes HD mid-August 2008 for the Olympics onward, or late October 2008 for November sweeps

3. WJLA goes HD January, 2009 at the earliest, because of the analog shutoff factor/viewer confusion, not to mention February sweeps. If they don't go HD by Feb. 1, 2009 for Feb. sweeps, I don't see it coming until at least October of 2009, in time for 2009's November sweeps.


----------



## URFloorMatt

WRC's HD feed has been spotty all night, and WJLA's is non-existent.


Another banner night for HD in the Washington DMA.


----------



## afiggatt

*** WJLA-DT ABC 7 NO HD ALERT ***

I see WJLA-DT ABC 7 in DC is showing the 9 PM network program Women's Murder Club in SD.







It's HD on WMAR-DT in Baltimore. I was just checking to record Men in Trees at 10 PM. WJLA-DT had Men In Trees and reportedly Women's Murder Club in SD last Friday so someone is screwing up on the Friday night network feed. Good thing we have WMAR-DT as a backup. Got the OTA DVR set to record from WMAR-DT now.


----------



## URFloorMatt

Those of us with FiOS a little bit farther south and outside the Baltimore area aren't so lucky, afiggatt.


So much for Angie Harmon in HD.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Are things that messed up over in Rosslyn that the crew working on Friday does not notice the network feed is not in HD? Clearly this is a WJLA issue. Where is Robert?


If they were as observant with monitoring this as they are with endless news and Oprah promos, we'd be fine


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/11960525
> 
> 
> Those of us with FiOS a little bit farther south and outside the Baltimore area aren't so lucky, afiggatt.



That's why you need an OTA-capable DVR. For instance, a Tivo HD -- it can record both Fios and OTA. I'm also denied Baltimore locals by Verizon, but I pick them up OTA on my Tivo Series 3.


----------



## Ladd

WJLA screwed this up last Friday also!! What's going on over there???


----------



## mikemikeb

Cost-cutting? (Remember that Friday's usually been an all-SD or repeat night until now, so HD hasn't been much of a need.) Perhaps flipping to HD is manual, yet programming local ad inserts and flipping to SD network programming is automated (and nobody's home, so to speak). Perhaps it takes two people to work the HD controls, and only one guy is in there on Fridays.


Good point, *Knicks_Fan*: Does Robert Forsyth read this forum anymore? And if so, I have one question: Is there any truth to a report from DCRTV that a Harris NetVX was ordered and should be in place by the end of the year?


----------



## billodom




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/11960111
> 
> 
> WJLA will wait as long as they want to. Only WUSA has gone HD...
> 
> With that in mind, it still looks like the quality of the journalism is the #1, #2, and #3 key factor in whether or not someone watches whatever newscast, NOT whether or not it's in HD...
> 
> The other big factor is that Sprint/Nextel is still in the process of replacing current analog ENG gear with brand-new HD DENG gear for all local TV stations, at Sprint/Nextel's expense. When the new equipment's in, stations can be all-HD for news from the start...



Interesting post. Ironically I just wrote an e-mail to Sue Baldwin with WUSA asking her when they planned to employ HD cameras for their field reports. I think WUSA is missing the boat by not rolling out their field reports in HD. Do you have any information as to when this project will be completed? I would think WUSA would want to expedite it if at all possible. Let's face it, until WUSA does their field reports in HD, they are not really broadcasting the news in HD. WUSA is the only news I watch and it's strictly for the studio HD. It is painful to watch most of the widescreen SD reports.


Last point: I would certainly think anyone with an HDTV would watch WUSA's weather as that is all HD, even their radar. As much as I like Doug Hill on WTOP, I won't watch him in SD. More often than not, I will turn over to WUSA at 11:10, watch Topper or Tony's weather, and then surf back over to cable. I watch their 9 a.m. newscast whenever possible since they do a lot of studio interviews, but I'm normally not around at that time.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Good point, Knicks_Fan: Does Robert Forsyth read this forum anymore? And if so, I have one question: Is there any truth to a report from DCRTV that a Harris NetVX was ordered and should be in place by the end of the year?



Thanks for the nod, I wonder of Robert has been told by station management to not post (you never know with Allbritton)? I hope that isn't the case, his posts are informative. I emailed the station about this, but I don't expect a reply!


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *billodom* /forum/post/11964933
> 
> 
> Interesting post. Ironically I just wrote an e-mail to Sue Baldwin with WUSA asking her when they planned to employ HD cameras for their field reports. I think WUSA is missing the boat by not rolling out their field reports in HD. Do you have any information as to when this project will be completed? I would think WUSA would want to expedite it if at all possible. Let's face it, until WUSA does their field reports in HD, they are not really broadcasting the news in HD. WUSA is the only news I watch and it's strictly for the studio HD. It is painful to watch most of the widescreen SD reports.



WUSA could absolutely pay for the HD ENG equipment, but why do it when Sprint/Nextel's willing to pay for it (and the equipment doesn't cost $25 per station, if you know what I mean)? Given that WUSA's the only DC station with ANY HD news programming, the fact that the field reports are in SD widescreen as of today isn't a significant competitive disadvantage. If one of the other stations in town goes all-HD, that might change, but I suspect they'll all wait until they can be all-HD with the HD ENG equipment. Besides, it allows WRC (and perhaps WTTG) time to bide in allowing remote HD camera technology to improve before making a multimillion-dollar purchase...


If I remember correctly, all stations _should_ have the HD ENG equipment ready to go by mid-2008.


Oh, by the way: WUSA already does have some field reports in HD, just not live ones. They must be taped in advance (and the camera operator must remember to switch the resolution to 1080i, then switch it back to 480i for live reports!).


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *billodom* /forum/post/11964933
> 
> 
> Interesting post. Ironically I just wrote an e-mail to Sue Baldwin with WUSA asking her when they planned to employ HD cameras for their field reports.



I remember one (1) instance where they made a big deal out of the fact that the field report was done in HD. (It was some car show.) Never happened again, as far as I saw. The thing is, it actually looked pretty bad... it had weird artifacts that don't afflict their upconverts (whatever else their flaws), nor their studio shots. So perhaps they viewed it as a failed experiment?


----------



## Scott Gammans




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/11960916
> 
> 
> Are things that messed up over in Rosslyn that the crew working on Friday does not notice the network feed is not in HD? Clearly this is a WJLA issue. Where is Robert?
> 
> 
> If they were as observant with monitoring this as they are with endless news and Oprah promos, we'd be fine



Call the station engineer (the phone number is somewhere in this thread). Leave messages on the WJLA website . Don't just sit here and complain, let WJLA know that they're screwing up. There is no excuse for WJLA to be committing these kinds of gaffes this far into the HDTV transition.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Scott Gammans* /forum/post/11969939
> 
> 
> Call the station engineer (the phone number is somewhere in this thread). Leave messages on the WJLA website . Don't just sit here and complain, let WJLA know that they're screwing up. There is no excuse for WJLA to be committing these kinds of gaffes this far into the HDTV transition.



I sent an email via WJLA's contact page ( http://cfc.wjla.com/contact.cfm ) yesterday to their programming department. Probably should send one to the General Manager. Will be interesting to see if we get any replies at all, let alone a generic thank you for your input response.


----------



## Ladd

Sat down about 1:40 PM this afternoon to watch the Redskins game that was recording to the DVR, and there was nothing but black screen. Turns out that absolutely none of the HD channels normally carried by Comcast (Frederick MD) were working and hadn't been for at least an hour.


Cable SD channels were fine, and OTA HD was fine, it was only the cable HD channels.


Service returned sometime during the second quarter of the game.


----------



## MDDave




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ladd* /forum/post/11971606
> 
> 
> Sat down about 1:40 PM this afternoon to watch the Redskins game that was recording to the DVR, and there was nothing but black screen. Turns out that absolutely none of the HD channels normally carried by Comcast (Frederick MD) were working and hadn't been for at least an hour.



I noticed this in Urbana, MD too. The signal went out about 10 minutes before 1:00 PM. NBC, CBS, FOX and ABC were all blank; PBS and the other local HD stations seemed to be fine. I called Comcast, but gave up after sitting on hold for 20 minutes. Eventually the stations came back on.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Call the station engineer (the phone number is somewhere in this thread). Leave messages on the WJLA website. Don't just sit here and complain, let WJLA know that they're screwing up. There is no excuse for WJLA to be committing these kinds of gaffes this far into the HDTV transition.



Scott, I e-mailed programming and the station manager on this (as I did the previous week). I can't find the engineering number in the thread - can someone repost it here. AVS forum members had a lot of infulence with Robert getting Wheel and Jeopardy! finally shown in HD (note here - why aren't the Saturday shows being aired in HD, we are now on last season's shows?), if enough of us complain, perhaps they will wake up down in Rosslyn.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/11923932
> 
> 
> Ok. I'm guessing its my set up then. Does anyone with a Dish Network 622 or 722 (and perhaps a 222) receive 33.1?



My 622 will not add WHUT-DT to my EPG no matter how many times that I try and even though my signal meter reads plus 90. When I try to scan and add the channel 33 signal then all that I get is a long red bar which will not lock onto the signal.


BTW, what do the letters PSIP mean?


I assume that the PSIP must be the information that is encoded into the digital signal which carries and displays the intended call sign, WHUTDT and then maps the channel 33.1 digital signal to its intended destination, in this case Channel 32-1.


Then, if I understand this process correctly as it is in regards to the Dish 622 receiver, the 622 cannot map any newly scanned OTA digital channel onto its EPG unless there is a PSIP present to direct it to in this case, Channel 32-1.


But, I can directly punch in the channel numbers 33.1 and get a very strong OTA signal on my Sony XBR1. However, no call letters are displayed. However, I cannot successfully scan 33.1 on my Sony XBR nor dial in Channel 32-1 directly as 32.1 and get a signal.


Hope that this helps.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/11974365
> 
> 
> BTW, what do the letters PSIP mean?
> 
> 
> I assume that the PSIP must be the information that is encoded into the digital signal which carries and displays the intended call sign, WHUTDT and then maps the channel 33.1 digital signal to its intended destination, in this case Channel 32-1.



See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PSIP .


I can' t answer the questions about the Dish 622, but WHUT-DT is displaying 33-1 on my ATSC tuners, not the 32-1 that it should have. There is also no station ID for it. They should have fixed this by now, as these are required by the FCC. The picture on 33-1 still looks very soft.


----------



## CycloneGT

Thanks Steve. I'm glad to have a 2nd case of a Dish 622 acting the same way. I'm certain now that the problem is a incompatibility between WHUT-DT and the Dish receivers. I'm sure its a out of whack setting. I'm not actually sure 100% on everything involved in the PSIP settings, but I do know that it encompasses channel mapping (ie Ch 33 mapped as 32.1), time, program guide info, and of course station identification. I'm sure there are also a bunch of bitmap settings too.


Thanks for answering.


----------



## mjones73

Anyone having issues with 45.1 tonight? It's been dropping in and out for me, made watching the game frustrating.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/11964657
> 
> 
> Cost-cutting? (Remember that Friday's usually been an all-SD or repeat night until now, so HD hasn't been much of a need.) Perhaps flipping to HD is manual, yet programming local ad inserts and flipping to SD network programming is automated (and nobody's home, so to speak). Perhaps it takes two people to work the HD controls, and only one guy is in there on Fridays.



I watched the Pushing Daisies pilot replay three weeks ago on Friday in HD just fine on WJLA, so that seems unlikely.


----------



## Speqtre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *david4788* /forum/post/11934852
> 
> 
> Did Comcast let you pick up the cards and install them yourself? How much they charge for the 2nd card?



Lost in the noise - Can anyone answer this? I have the same question for Comcast subs in the Northern Virginia area.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/11975736
> 
> 
> I watched the Pushing Daisies pilot replay three weeks ago on Friday in HD just fine on WJLA, so that seems unlikely.



Although I am not in that direct job anymore, I will attempt to answer with a simple explanation. The new fall ABC shows were not coded as HD in our traffic system.


I asked traffic to update of their settings for all ABC shows.


----------



## DaveC56

Robert,


Can you post a reply when the traffic update is completed?


Thanks,

Dave C.


----------



## rviele




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mjones73* /forum/post/11975519
> 
> 
> Anyone having issues with 45.1 tonight? It's been dropping in and out for me, made watching the game frustrating.



yes i had drop-outs, so i switched over to sd. most of my problems occur in windy conditions and also during the day when the antenna heats up.


----------



## jcorwin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/11965494
> 
> 
> WUSA could absolutely pay for the HD ENG equipment, but why do it when Sprint/Nextel's willing to pay for it (and the equipment doesn't cost $25 per station, if you know what I mean)? Given that WUSA's the only DC station with ANY HD news programming, the fact that the field reports are in SD widescreen as of today isn't a significant competitive disadvantage. If one of the other stations in town goes all-HD, that might change, but I suspect they'll all wait until they can be all-HD with the HD ENG equipment. Besides, it allows WRC (and perhaps WTTG) time to bide in allowing remote HD camera technology to improve before making a multimillion-dollar purchase...
> 
> 
> If I remember correctly, all stations _should_ have the HD ENG equipment ready to go by mid-2008.
> 
> 
> Oh, by the way: WUSA already does have some field reports in HD, just not live ones. They must be taped in advance (and the camera operator must remember to switch the resolution to 1080i, then switch it back to 480i for live reports!).



Let's clear up the Nextel agreement. The FCC is taking away a portion of the 2 Ghz microwave spectrum, which is used by broadcasters for ENG live shots. What Nextel is paying for is direct replacements for that 2 Ghz equipment. They are not paying for HD upgrades; that's up to the stations. Now if the stations can make deals with the equipment manufacturers to include HD capability in the replacement gear, then Nextel will wind up paying for a good portion of that upgrade. But Nextel has not agreed to subsidize the TV industry's HD conversion process.


Also keep in mind that ENG transmitters and receivers are a small part of a station's HD upgrade needs - cameras, servers, editing equipment, routing switchers, and the production switcher are a lot more (millions!)


----------



## MrChad

Any idea when the next Comcast HD lineup update will happen for Loudoun County residents? We got a big update in late August when they finally got Adelphia's old network whipped into shape. Our last addition was TBS-HD a few weeks ago. Any chance we'll see CNN HD, Food HD, H&G HD or others soon?


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/11978029
> 
> 
> Lost in the noise - Can anyone answer this? I have the same question for Comcast subs in the Northern Virginia area.



Comcast will NOT let you pick up and install their cable cards in your system. You need to schedule a tech to come to your home with the card(s); most of the time he or she will let you insert the card yourself. After the card is scanned by your device, the tech then must call the head end to have them "authorize" the card before it will start decrypting your rate package. For this, you will need to access the cable card service menu on your TV or whatever to read both the Card ID and the Host ID, which are each strings of 13 numbers. This menu location varies with device, so you should check your manual if you don't know how to get there.


According the latest Comcast price schedule for Alexandria (April '07), there's no charge for a (single) cable card, but a $1.50/month charge for (direct quote) "CableCard (dual CableCards for non-Comcast HD PVRs requiring 2 cards)". This last bit is obviously aimed at the HD Tivo 3.


----------



## mjones73




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rviele* /forum/post/11978913
> 
> 
> yes i had drop-outs, so i switched over to sd. most of my problems occur in windy conditions and also during the day when the antenna heats up.



I don't think wind or heat was the problem last night, I have determined certain things in my house interfere with the signal though I had none of them running, kinda why I was curious if it was just me or not, thanks for responding.


----------



## carltonrice

Since WHUT-DT is planning to stay on channel 33 once the DTV transition occurs, it is possible that they won't be setting their PSIP to show 32.1 at all, but 33.1 since that is what it will eventually be.


I still can't tune this channel in on my DirecTV HR20 since they've not set it up in the program guide yet, but I get good signal strength on it with my other OTA tuner.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/11974876
> 
> 
> See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PSIP .
> 
> 
> I can' t answer the questions about the Dish 622, but WHUT-DT is displaying 33-1 on my ATSC tuners, not the 32-1 that it should have. There is also no station ID for it. They should have fixed this by now, as these are required by the FCC. The picture on 33-1 still looks very soft.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mjones73* /forum/post/11975519
> 
> 
> Anyone having issues with 45.1 tonight? It's been dropping in and out for me, made watching the game frustrating.



I received no phone calls or e-mails regarding problems last night, which I would normally get if there was the problem was wide-spread.


Sorry -


----------



## Speqtre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dspadoni* /forum/post/11980712
> 
> 
> Comcast will NOT let you pick up and install their cable cards in your system. You need to schedule a tech to come to your home with the card(s); most of the time he or she will let you insert the card yourself. After the card is scanned by your device, the tech then must call the head end to have them "authorize" the card before it will start decrypting your rate package. For this, you will need to access the cable card service menu on your TV or whatever to read both the Card ID and the Host ID, which are each strings of 13 numbers. This menu location varies with device, so you should check your manual if you don't know how to get there.
> 
> 
> According the latest Comcast price schedule for Alexandria (April '07), there's no charge for a (single) cable card, but a $1.50/month charge for (direct quote) "CableCard (dual CableCards for non-Comcast HD PVRs requiring 2 cards)". This last bit is obviously aimed at the HD Tivo 3.



Thanks very much for the answer! That price is WAY better than FIOS, who wants $3.98 PER CARD. Niiiice......


----------



## bucnasty

does anyone elses feed of chuck look like crap tonight? I am watching on cox channel 704 (nbchd)...


----------



## rviele




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mjones73* /forum/post/11981073
> 
> 
> I don't think wind or heat was the problem last night, I have determined certain things in my house interfere with the signal though I had none of them running, kinda why I was curious if it was just me or not, thanks for responding.



what do you do when you have an ac line spike that the antenna picks up. did you ever find out what the offending source was.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bucnasty* /forum/post/11983920
> 
> 
> does anyone elses feed of chuck look like crap tonight? I am watching on cox channel 704 (nbchd)...



I have been piling up episodes of Chuck on the DVR, so I have not really been watching the show. There is a Chuck: Upconvert? thread in the programming forum so I checked the picture quality tonight for WRC-DT 4 and WBAL-DT 11. It was very grainy on both. The show is HD and probably shot on 16mm film, but is very grainy and soft even for 16mm source. However, the issue is either with NBC or the show, not the local stations.


----------



## mikemikeb

 Coming Spring 2008: WHUT-HD? 


I hope they buy a Harmonic, not Harris, encoding system.


----------



## gmucklow




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/11981086
> 
> 
> Since WHUT-DT is planning to stay on channel 33 once the DTV transition occurs, it is possible that they won't be setting their PSIP to show 32.1 at all, but 33.1 since that is what it will eventually be.
> 
> 
> I still can't tune this channel in on my DirecTV HR20 since they've not set it up in the program guide yet, but I get good signal strength on it with my other OTA tuner.



My Toshiba TV tuner shows WHUT broadcasting on Channel 33 as channel 33.1.


My older EyeTV 500 firewire ATSC tuner on my Apple Mac Mini computer shows WHUT broadcasting as Channel 33.1 on channel 67 and the channel number is colored to indicate a problem. The Eye TV tuner will also not allow selection of a TV guide provider, including ATSC which should be in the signal.


I think that data is missing and/or not up to standard yet with the ATSC signal being broadcast from WHUT.


----------



## mdviewer25

Did anyone else notice that WRC DT was off air late last night around 1:00? There signal has had a lot of breakups for me over the last week. Are they doing work on the antenna or is it just me?


----------



## mjones73




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rviele* /forum/post/11983950
> 
> 
> what do you do when you have an ac line spike that the antenna picks up. did you ever find out what the offending source was.



My washer machine is causing issues though I think it might be on the same circuit my pre-amp is on, I need to move the pre-amp elsewhere to see if it helps.


----------



## mjones73




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/11981800
> 
> 
> I received no phone calls or e-mails regarding problems last night, which I would normally get if there was the problem was wide-spread.
> 
> 
> Sorry -



Thanks for the info.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/11990159
> 
> 
> Did anyone else notice that WRC DT was off air late last night around 1:00? There signal has had a lot of breakups for me over the last week. Are they doing work on the antenna or is it just me?



Ah, I was wondering why my TiVO didn't catch the beginning of Poker after Dark. I guess the signal came back on during that show.


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Did anyone else notice that WRC DT was off air late last night around 1:00? There signal has had a lot of breakups for me over the last week. Are they doing work on the antenna or is it just me?



I had trouble most of Sunday with drop-outs and low signal strength; also the same with WTTG-DT. This rarely happens for either! No problems today or Mon. during the day. 7 and 9 digitals are fine.


Perhaps stations know they can do all kinds of necessary adjustments to digital tranmsitters and will only get a couple of calls of complaint if that. But wait till 2009!


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/11983856
> 
> 
> Thanks very much for the answer! That price is WAY better than FIOS, who wants $3.98 PER CARD. Niiiice......



Irritating update (ripoff?) on Comcast's pricing which may make you reconsider. On my latest billing statement, Comcast started charging me for a second "Digital Service" at $11.95/month on top of my Basic/Preferred Digital Service of $70.05/month. I've had this level of service since Jan '06. They are now claiming that each cable card (one for my TV, one for my Sony DVR) constitutes two "Digital Services", and the fact that I had been paying for only one up until now was an error on their part. I tried to explain that I don't have two "outlets" (I use a splitter) and that I can watch only one device at a time, but no go, and apparently I have no recourse.


I didn't say anything about this in my earlier reply because I had hoped to get it resolved in my favor. If Verizon ever gets to string FIOS into Alexandria, I may seriously consider switching (satellite is not an option in my building).


----------



## Scott Gammans




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/11978402
> 
> 
> Although I am not in that direct job anymore, I will attempt to answer with a simple explanation. The new fall ABC shows were not coded as HD in our traffic system.
> 
> 
> I asked traffic to update of their settings for all ABC shows.



Thank you Robert. Hopefully the settings will be updated in time for Friday night's broadcast.


----------



## jbags

Hello all..new member here


I'm in Baltimore County on Comcast. Yesterday local station WJZ (CBS) disappeared from digital 13.1. Found it today at 113.1. Cable is plugged directly into the ATSC tuner of my Toshiba HDTV (no STB).


All other local "open" DT channels are ok. Is this a Comcast thing or a WJZ issue?


Thanks great forum.


----------



## captdusty




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *drkashner* /forum/post/11953022
> 
> 
> More on MPT (I watch on 67.1 ota). What is it with their HD? .... They really screwed up the HD when they changed the channels.



You can say that again. Between the screwed up D* guide data and the complete lack of HD, you have to wonder what the heck's going on over there. Why would anyone bother running the same windowboxed SD on 2 sub-channels at once?!


----------



## machpost

Tonight's replay of the UVA-Maryland game on Comcast SportsNet HD looks too fuzzy to be in true HD, but they're at least showing the widescreen version that aired on ESPN HD.


CSN HD is also broadcasting live Big-12 football via FSN in HD this season, and it looks great. Just thought that it was interesting to note, since syndicated HD content in this area beyond Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy is all but nonexistent at this stage in the High Definition game.


I wonder if Raycom will finally be distributing ACC basketball in HD this winter, as they did with a few of the playoff games last year. I don't believe any of the Raycom/LF football is being produced in HD yet, and it looks absolutely horrible in SD. Thankfully my West Virginia Mountaineers are mostly on ESPN or ABC, in HD. I'd be pissed with the TV situation if I were a Maryland or VT fan.


----------



## rviele




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mjones73* /forum/post/11990616
> 
> 
> My washer machine is causing issues though I think it might be on the same circuit my pre-amp is on, I need to move the pre-amp elsewhere to see if it helps.



i put all my electronics on a dedicated circuit yet when the heat or the ac comes on it still drives them nuts. besides being out in the country i have crappy electric anyhow.


----------



## Bill Johnson

Very strange! I can't receive 5.1 this World Series evening and the signal stength is registering very minimal! 4, 7, and 9 digitals are all fine!


At the risk of being seen as a conspiracy theorist, I wonder if there's some nefarious reason for stations to reduce digital power when there's a big sports event being telecast?? Had this same problem on Sunday all day with 5.1 (during the NFL games) and also with 4.1 when of course there's SNF.


What a blessing to have multiple OTA digital options for the networks, but I'm always partial to DC stations! So this is perplexing as well as suspicious!


----------



## askias

Cox Cable customer in VA, and I'm wondering why I can't receive SD channels out of the box. The HD channels are looking great, but none of the channels outside of the 700's work.


----------



## rob base

Will someone that has Comcast or Directv talk me out of leaving Comcast cable. It has not been Comcastic compared to all the new additions by Directv, and when I hear the channels that other Comcast areas have, my little amount in Frederick, MD sucks. I don't even have Comcast Sports Net HD from COMCAST! My only drawback is the internet because Comcast is the ONLY option where I live outside Frederick (No Verizon DSL). It is quite expensive for internet only from comcast ($58) plus the package I want from Directv (Plus HD DVR 3 rooms) costs $80 a month which will come to $140 a month. The start up costs hurt ($299 = HD DVR and DVR). Right now I pay $135 with Comcast that includes 1 HD DVR and HBO and internet. If I could get past the start up cost, it would be a done deal. Like I said, almost over the fence. If I had a Verizon DSL option, I would be kissing Comcast good bye already. Anyway, any input would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Rob


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rob base* /forum/post/12005193
> 
> 
> Will someone that has Comcast or Directv talk me out of leaving Comcast cable. It has not been Comcastic compared to all the new additions by Directv, and when I hear the channels that other Comcast areas have, my little amount in Frederick, MD sucks. I don't even have Comcast Sports Net HD from COMCAST! My only drawback is the internet because Comcast is the ONLY option where I live outside Frederick (No Verizon DSL). It is quite expensive for internet only from comcast ($58) plus the package I want from Directv (Plus HD DVR 3 rooms) costs $80 a month which will come to $140 a month. The start up costs hurt ($299 = HD DVR and DVR). Right now I pay $135 with Comcast that includes 1 HD DVR and HBO and internet. If I could get past the start up cost, it would be a done deal. Like I said, almost over the fence. If I had a Verizon DSL option, I would be kissing Comcast good bye already. Anyway, any input would be much appreciated.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Rob



I was told they are making a big line-up change in your area at the end of November, I don't know details but I do know they have been working most of the year to clean up Adelphia messes to launch more channels.


May be worth waiting a few weeks to see what's up.


GoIrish


----------



## Marcus Carr

More channels on the horizon from Comcast. Local availability has not been announced yet:



> Quote:
> Edited by Moderator [Ken H], 10/24/07
> 
> 
> Currently Available Comcast HDTV:
> 
> USA Network HD
> 
> The History Channel HD
> 
> CNN HD...
> 
> 
> Coming soon:
> 
> Fox Business Channel HD
> 
> ESPNews HD
> 
> Discovery HD
> 
> Sci-Fi HD
> 
> The Learning Channel HD
> 
> MGM HD (Not yet announced)
> 
> *Please note that not all HD channels are available in all areas.*


 http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=424081


----------



## profjason

I'm wondering what people have found to be one of the best antennas for getting in stations both from Baltimore and DC. I live in Catonsville (21228) and would like to get an antenna that can pick up both the Baltimore stations and the DC stations, especially getting WETA out of DC, because I don't think that MPT has the level of programming that WETA has (especially with the recent changes to MPT making it far inferior).


Looking at Antennaweb.org, most of the Baltimore stations are at compass location 61, while most of the DC stations are between 226 and 233 in compass direction, so they are almost 180 from each other. I would like to only mount one antenna on the roof of my two story house. I've looked at the LaCrosse antenna, but I haven't seen enough in the reviews to know what to think there.


Thanks for any suggestions of the best way to go to get both sets of stations.


----------



## Mike20878




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rob base* /forum/post/12005193
> 
> 
> Will someone that has Comcast or Directv talk me out of leaving Comcast cable. It has not been Comcastic compared to all the new additions by Directv, and when I hear the channels that other Comcast areas have, my little amount in Frederick, MD sucks. I don't even have Comcast Sports Net HD from COMCAST! My only drawback is the internet because Comcast is the ONLY option where I live outside Frederick (No Verizon DSL). It is quite expensive for internet only from comcast ($58) plus the package I want from Directv (Plus HD DVR 3 rooms) costs $80 a month which will come to $140 a month. The start up costs hurt ($299 = HD DVR and DVR). Right now I pay $135 with Comcast that includes 1 HD DVR and HBO and internet. If I could get past the start up cost, it would be a done deal. Like I said, almost over the fence. If I had a Verizon DSL option, I would be kissing Comcast good bye already. Anyway, any input would be much appreciated.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Rob



Article from the 10/11 WSJ:

Cable Companies Play HDTV Catch-Up 


I think the URL should be available to non-subscribers.


Most interesting is the "switched digital video" that Comcast is testing in Denver and NJ.


----------



## pmturcotte




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bill Johnson* /forum/post/12004606
> 
> 
> Very strange! I can't receive 5.1 this World Series evening and the signal stength is registering very minimal! 4, 7, and 9 digitals are all fine!
> 
> 
> At the risk of being seen as a conspiracy theorist, I wonder if there's some nefarious reason for stations to reduce digital power when there's a big sports event being telecast?? Had this same problem on Sunday all day with 5.1 (during the NFL games) and also with 4.1 when of course there's SNF.
> 
> 
> What a blessing to have multiple OTA digital options for the networks, but I'm always partial to DC stations! So this is perplexing as well as suspicious!



I have a rooftop for my locals (through my DTV HR102-50) and had no problem last night with 5.1. However in another room where I dont have DTV running I have an amplified settop antenna and it was barely able to get a decent signal on 5.1. Normally I have no issues with it. Again the rooftop antenna worked fine but I definitely had a weaker than normal signal on the settop.


----------



## henry296

Just noticed that WBAL is not stretching its SD programming today. Hopefully this is a positive change.


----------



## boomster




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rob base* /forum/post/12005193
> 
> 
> Will someone that has Comcast or Directv talk me out of leaving Comcast cable. It has not been Comcastic compared to all the new additions by Directv, and when I hear the channels that other Comcast areas have, my little amount in Frederick, MD sucks. I don't even have Comcast Sports Net HD from COMCAST! My only drawback is the internet because Comcast is the ONLY option where I live outside Frederick (No Verizon DSL). It is quite expensive for internet only from comcast ($58) plus the package I want from Directv (Plus HD DVR 3 rooms) costs $80 a month which will come to $140 a month. The start up costs hurt ($299 = HD DVR and DVR). Right now I pay $135 with Comcast that includes 1 HD DVR and HBO and internet. If I could get past the start up cost, it would be a done deal. Like I said, almost over the fence. If I had a Verizon DSL option, I would be kissing Comcast good bye already. Anyway, any input would be much appreciated.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Rob



GoIrish, I hope you are correct. I'm in Rob's shoes as well. We only have 15 HD channels here in Frederick MD, which to some that might sound great, but it's disturbing to hear the new channels everyone else is getting right around us. I did place a call to Comcast wondering why they list Universal HD in our channel line up on the site, but we have HD Golf in it's place. The lady said she would put in that I requested the channel, but also said their will be some big changes in the HD lineup in the near future. I asked her to give me more details, but she said she couldn't offer any more information at this time.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *henry296* /forum/post/12011965
> 
> 
> Just noticed that WBAL is not stretching its SD programming today. Hopefully this is a positive change.



The stopped stretching over a week ago. Seems to be permanent.


----------



## henry296




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/12013025
> 
> 
> The stopped stretching over a week ago. Seems to be permanent.



thanks. i only went back one page of posts to the 16th and didn't see anything.


----------



## DRal

Anyone in Arlington having an issue with Comcast cable either freezing both video and audio or at least video from time to time. This seems to be an on going issue and it does not matter if a box is attached or not.

Just curious to see if others are experiencing this.


----------



## rob base

Thanks to all that replied. I'm getting a Directv bill from my brother who has all the HD programming so I can weigh my options. Also looking to bundle with Verizon phone, cell, and Directv. Apparently that is an option with them. Then I can get my "sales pitch" ready for the ONE WHO RULES THE BILLS in my house.


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pmturcotte* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> However in another room where I dont have DTV running I have an amplified settop antenna and it was barely able to get a decent signal on 5.1.



Thanks for the info. 5.1 is still out for me. I'm guessing the station's doing something to their digital transmitter that reduces power hopefully temporarily. What they're doing probably doesn't affect in any substantial way the overwhelming majority of their OTA audience close in to DC. But we few way out in the fringes see it as no signal.


Bummer, with the NFL season in progress, 5.1 has heretofore always been rock solid for me.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *profjason* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I'm wondering what people have found to be one of the best antennas for getting in stations both from Baltimore and DC.



Pending someone from Catonsville helping here, if it were me for about $50 I'd try a CM 4228. And I believe the referenced compass points would lend themselves to taking the screen off the 4228 and thus picking up DC from the front and Balt. from the rear of the stationary antenna. Even with the screen on, my attic 4228 stongly picks up a hi-VHF digital station from the rear.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bill Johnson* /forum/post/12014748
> 
> 
> Thanks for the info. 5.1 is still out for me. I'm guessing the station's doing something to their digital transmitter that reduces power hopefully temporarily. What they're doing probably doesn't affect in any substantial way the overwhelming majority of their OTA audience close in to DC. But we few way out in the fringes see it as no signal.
> 
> 
> Bummer, with the NFL season in progress, 5.1 has heretofore always been rock solid for me.
> 
> 
> .



Every fall and spring, I have problems with reception of WBFF on the TV in my bedroom. As you say, it's rock solid any other time of year. I guess it has something to do with the leaves on the trees. If your situation is like mine, your reception will come back as soon as all (or most) of the leaves are gone.


----------



## vthokie820




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DRal* /forum/post/12013193
> 
> 
> Anyone in Arlington having an issue with Comcast cable either freezing both video and audio or at least video from time to time. This seems to be an on going issue and it does not matter if a box is attached or not.
> 
> Just curious to see if others are experiencing this.



Yes, it is an ongoing issue. When I had Comcast, I frequently had freezing of video and audio. It was one of the reasons I decided to drop Comcast in favor of over the air. I can put up with dropouts over the air for about $80 less a month.


----------



## Brian27




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *vthokie820* /forum/post/12022506
> 
> 
> Yes, it is an ongoing issue. When I had Comcast, I frequently had freezing of video and audio. It was one of the reasons I decided to drop Comcast in favor of over the air. I can put up with dropouts over the air for about $80 less a month.




I hear ya on that...I get constant audio and video freezes on Comcast sports netHD...its very annoying. I have also been having problems with "On demand"...I kept getting error messages etc...The only thing I like is getting the internet and cable all on one bill...well, I'd rather not have the bill altogether







.


----------



## Halligan00

I've just moved into a new construction 8 story condominium building in Hyattsville, MD. I'm hoping to watch digital broadcast, dvd rentals, and legal downloads. Currently the building is largely vacant, and I'm hoping to push the as-yet-formed condo association to put in a common antenna for broadcast TV, and/or DirectTV, if they're compatible.


Apparently the building is already prepped for such a thing, however, the builder did not install antennae, etc.


Where would I go to educate myself on our options? Where would I find a contractor to design & install such a system?


How much would the adjacent 15 storey building (unfortunately, due west, in the direction of most of the broadcasters) affect our reception at the roof of our building?


What kind of costs are we looking at? $1000's, $10,000's, what?


----------



## Jimmy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rob base* /forum/post/12005193
> 
> 
> Will someone that has Comcast or Directv talk me out of leaving Comcast cable. It has not been Comcastic compared to all the new additions by Directv, and when I hear the channels that other Comcast areas have, my little amount in Frederick, MD sucks. I don't even have Comcast Sports Net HD from COMCAST! My only drawback is the internet because Comcast is the ONLY option where I live outside Frederick (No Verizon DSL). It is quite expensive for internet only from comcast ($58) plus the package I want from Directv (Plus HD DVR 3 rooms) costs $80 a month which will come to $140 a month. The start up costs hurt ($299 = HD DVR and DVR). Right now I pay $135 with Comcast that includes 1 HD DVR and HBO and internet. If I could get past the start up cost, it would be a done deal. Like I said, almost over the fence. If I had a Verizon DSL option, I would be kissing Comcast good bye already. Anyway, any input would be much appreciated.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Rob



I am in Ijamsville, (Mussetter Rd.). Have experience with Comcast cable and DTV. It is a no brainer--- DTV has it all over Comcast for Tv and HD.

Like you, we had to chose comcast for the internet but we have been very pleased with it. Our intro price has been $32 --to go up to $58. BTW, you will never be able to do better speed wise with DSL. Side by side, comcast cable doesn't even come close to DTV even on SD (IMHO) and DTV HD (Now up to 70 chs) just blows them away. I know some on here will come on and say Cable is better but I think I am a fairly good appraiser of what an excellent HD picture is. BTW, I pay $99 mo for all regular chs, HBO, Showtime, STarz and the HD package (w/local HD).


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Brian27* /forum/post/12023183
> 
> 
> I hear ya on that...I get constant audio and video freezes on Comcast sports netHD...its very annoying. I have also been having problems with "On demand"...I kept getting error messages etc...The only thing I like is getting the internet and cable all on one bill...well, I'd rather not have the bill altogether
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .



You have a service issue and need to call for a service call.


GoIrish


----------



## tonyd79

DirecTV has a preview of the NHL channel in SD and HD (channel 215 for both).


Full guide data starts on Tuesday at 8pm.


----------



## maestro73

I just noticed Comcast Alexandria has activated the NHL Network on 276.


----------



## stuffedmonkey

I'm trying to light a fire under RCN. Can anyone (QAM or not) get TNT HD currently? I can't, and it used to work.


See also http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r192...HD-ch180-in-DC


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Halligan00* /forum/post/12023587
> 
> 
> I've just moved into a new construction 8 story condominium building in Hyattsville, MD. I'm hoping to watch digital broadcast, dvd rentals, and legal downloads. Currently the building is largely vacant, and I'm hoping to push the as-yet-formed condo association to put in a common antenna for broadcast TV, and/or DirectTV, if they're compatible.
> 
> 
> Apparently the building is already prepped for such a thing, however, the builder did not install antennae, etc.
> 
> 
> Where would I go to educate myself on our options? Where would I find a contractor to design & install such a system?



You've come to the right place, as my company has designed and installed over a dozen broadcast HDTV add-on systems for multiple dwelling units in this market. Check your PM so that we can communicate further.


----------



## shadohc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jbags* /forum/post/11992898
> 
> 
> Hello all..new member here
> 
> 
> I'm in Baltimore County on Comcast. Yesterday local station WJZ (CBS) disappeared from digital 13.1. Found it today at 113.1. Cable is plugged directly into the ATSC tuner of my Toshiba HDTV (no STB).
> 
> 
> All other local "open" DT channels are ok. Is this a Comcast thing or a WJZ issue?
> 
> 
> Thanks great forum.




I live in baltimore county and i have a hdtv with a built in qam tuner and i was able to receive all of my local hd channels until this week the only one i can not get is 13-1 wjz is anyone else having thi problem and what have you done to fix this problem


----------



## mikepinkerton

215 on D* gives me "channel not available" oh well :-(


-Mike


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *shadohc* /forum/post/12033987
> 
> 
> I live in baltimore county and i have a hdtv with a built in qam tuner and i was able to receive all of my local hd channels until this week the only one i can not get is 13-1 wjz is anyone else having thi problem and what have you done to fix this problem



I don't have cable (or live in the Baltimore area), but I suspect the frequency location of WJZ-HD was moved by Comcast. Please perform a QAM rescan on your TV and see if that works.


(Just because I find this interesting, this is my 1,000th official post, and all in less than a year since I officially joined this place. I feel it fitting that as my first post had a bunch of questions, here I offer an answer to something. I'd like to thank all the people on this and other threads that have helped me understand the world of HDTV a little more. Here's to the next thousand posts from me on this website.







)


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikepinkerton* /forum/post/12034226
> 
> 
> 215 on D* gives me "channel not available" oh well :-(
> 
> 
> -Mike




They took it down after the preview. Supposedly back up Tuesday or Wednesday.


----------



## shadohc

I did a re-scan on my tv today and it is still doing the same thing is this a perment thing or is there something wrong with the signal


----------



## MrMike6by9




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/12036966
> 
> 
> I don't have cable (or live in the Baltimore area), but I suspect the frequency location of WJZ-HD was moved by Comcast. Please perform a QAM rescan on your TV and see if that works.
> 
> 
> (Just because I find this interesting, this is my 1,000th official post, and all in less than a year since I officially joined this place. I feel it fitting that as my first post had a bunch of questions, here I offer an answer to something. I'd like to thank all the people on this and other threads that have helped me understand the world of HDTV a little more. Here's to the next thousand posts from me on this website.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> )



Congrats. I remember a sign on the desk of my boss at one of my first summer jobs, "Nobody knows everything. Everybody knows something."


YMMV


----------



## shadohc

Can someone just tell me if they are having the same problem i would really appreciate it thanks so much in advance


----------



## MDDave

I live in Urbana, MD. For the last couple of weeks one or more of the network HD channels (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC) will occasionally show a blank screen for anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours. It's been occuring often enough that it has interefered with shows that I was recording on several occasions. The frustrating part about this is that I don't notice the problem until I go to watch the show and then find that my DVR didn't record anything. I don't even have the opportunity to switch over the SD feed. I tried calling Comcast on one occasion but gave up after 20 minutes on hold when the signal came back on.


Has anyone else been experiencing this in the Frederick area?


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *shadohc* /forum/post/12040405
> 
> 
> Can someone just tell me if they are having the same problem i would really appreciate it thanks so much in advance



We need to understand that the cable companies are not required by any governing body to provide the local channels in digital QAM. They are required to provide the analog signals at the present time, but they are providing the digital signals at times as they prepare for the change to all digital. I have been very fortunate to receive both D.C and Baltimore digital Qam signals from Prince George's Comcast basic cable for more than a year. At times any specific channel may or may not be there. Last week I lost TNT and A&E, but A&E is back today.

The available digital QAM signals vary from county to county in Maryland, so it is difficult to compare.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *shadohc* /forum/post/12039001
> 
> 
> I did a re-scan on my tv today and it is still doing the same thing is this a perment thing or is there something wrong with the signal



One of three things happened:


1. WJZ was temporarily moved to a frequency beyond the reception range of the TV's QAM tuner.


2. IF you have basic (and not digital) cable, what some cable providers do is come by and place a piece of equipment on the line that blocks all frequencies that carry digital cable data yet preserves analog channel (and Internet) data. There may be a block at your place, and WJZ was placed (hopefully temporarily) in that frequency block region. Calling Comcast about this is pointless -- the CSRs are clueless with even slightly advanced technical matters, and if there's not a block at your place, and you call, there may be a Comcast technician stopping by ASAP...


3. Comcast encrypted the WJZ feed. This is unlikely, as Comcast usually's pretty lenient on encrypting local feeds.


Try another rescan, then triple-check to see if it's there. You MIGHT be bypassing it. MIGHT.


----------



## Marcus Carr

D* has added NBA TV HD.


----------



## OldHud

Is anyone else having trouble with 26-2? Both my Samsung and LG tuners get a blank screen. The other subchannels are OK. Not that I miss 24 hour kids' programming, mind you.


----------



## vthokie820




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *OldHud* /forum/post/12044586
> 
> 
> Is anyone else having trouble with 26-2? Both my Samsung and LG tuners get a blank screen. The other subchannels are OK. Not that I miss 24 hour kids' programming, mind you.



I've noticed the same thing. I assume it's a problem at WETA. On a related note, has anyone else noticed their guide information and time screwed up?


----------



## henry296

Anyone having issues with WBAL-DT on Comcast in Baltimore County. If I tune to that channel on my cable box, the picture remains the previous channel.


----------



## Eben




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/11978402
> 
> 
> Although I am not in that direct job anymore, I will attempt to answer with a simple explanation. The new fall ABC shows were not coded as HD in our traffic system.
> 
> 
> I asked traffic to update of their settings for all ABC shows.



Was I seeing things last Friday? Was _Men in Trees_ again not in HD on WJLA? That would be three weeks in a row -- come on ABC, let's get it together!


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Eben* /forum/post/12047213
> 
> 
> Was I seeing things last Friday? Was _Men in Trees_ again not in HD on WJLA? That would be three weeks in a row -- come on ABC, let's get it together!



The problem is not ABC, but WJLA-DT 7. Men In Trees was in HD on WMAR 2 in Baltimore. I noticed that WJLA fixed the HD broadcast for Women's Murder Club on at 9 PM, but not for Men in Trees at 10 PM. How they let this happen for three weeks in a row is beyond me. Why are they not checking their own HD digital broadcast?? Maybe a complaint to both WJLA and ABC is in order.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *OldHud* /forum/post/12044586
> 
> 
> Is anyone else having trouble with 26-2? Both my Samsung and LG tuners get a blank screen. The other subchannels are OK. Not that I miss 24 hour kids' programming, mind you.



Something is VERY wrong with 26-2 most of the time. It's even caused my Vizio to lock up a couple times. Something about going from HS(26-1) to SD(26-2) in the way they have 26-2 setup that causes the fits.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/12044250
> 
> 
> D* has added NBA TV HD.



And E* also.


----------



## CycloneGT

Did anyone else add NBA-TV HD?


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *maestro73* /forum/post/12026631
> 
> 
> I just noticed Comcast Alexandria has activated the NHL Network on 276.



Is this the SD or HD Channel?


----------



## kurbkidc

Hi all! I have been lurking here for some time and finally registered.


I wanted to inform anyone interested that Comcast customers in Prince William Cnty, VA now have access to A&E HD, NFL Network HD & Universal HD. I played with them some last night and there was some growing pains (the audio went out frequently and the video stuttered, also guide data was absent) but I checked briefly this morning and it would seem they have resolved these issues. The PQ on these channels seemed very good by the way. Also they added the NHL Network (SD only, no HD feed).


I know 3 HD additions isnt much compared to what DirecTV is doing but am pleased that Comcast is at least adding some and not sitting on the sidelines.


Note to CycloneGT: Please revise your updates area on the first page to reflect these changes. Thanks!


This concludes my first ever post here at this fine establishment, surely wont be my last. L8rz!


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/12055762
> 
> 
> Is this the SD or HD Channel?



SD


----------



## boomster




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MDDave* /forum/post/12041719
> 
> 
> I live in Urbana, MD. For the last couple of weeks one or more of the network HD channels (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC) will occasionally show a blank screen for anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours. It's been occuring often enough that it has interefered with shows that I was recording on several occasions. The frustrating part about this is that I don't notice the problem until I go to watch the show and then find that my DVR didn't record anything. I don't even have the opportunity to switch over the SD feed. I tried calling Comcast on one occasion but gave up after 20 minutes on hold when the signal came back on.
> 
> 
> Has anyone else been experiencing this in the Frederick area?



I'm in the Frederick area. I haven't seen this at all. I have seen a few pauses and some audio being dropped now and then, but it's rare and only for a few seconds.


----------



## kenrowe

As of today:

A&E on 223

HGTV on 229

Food on 231

NFL Network on 246


----------



## chandler1818




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kenrowe* /forum/post/12061604
> 
> 
> As of today:
> 
> A&E on 223
> 
> HGTV on 229
> 
> Food on 231
> 
> NFL Network on 246



Come on RCN. Match this.


----------



## skiajl6297

Comcast feeds the beast. Alton Brown in HD in Rockville is long overdue. And please - noone tell my wife about HGTV HD. Anxiously awaiting ComcasTiVo...


----------



## lax01




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kenrowe* /forum/post/12061604
> 
> 
> As of today:
> 
> A&E on 223
> 
> HGTV on 229
> 
> Food on 231
> 
> NFL Network on 246



lovely...more worthless stations that don't have HD content...where the hell is SCI-FI AND SPEED?!?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by kenrowe
> 
> As of today:
> 
> A&E on 223
> 
> HGTV on 229
> 
> Food on 231
> 
> NFL Network on 246





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lax01* /forum/post/12064169
> 
> 
> lovely...more worthless stations that don't have HD content...where the hell is SCI-FI AND SPEED?!?



Not quite. HDTV and Food HD are all HD. They are not a simulcast of the SD channel as they put only their shows that are shot in HD on their HD channel. NFL Network HD is hit or (mostly) miss but they are showing the Patriots annihilation of the Redskins from last Sunday in glorious HD right now. NFL Net studio shows are SD, what is weird is that some replays of games that originally aired are in SD and some are HD.


The next to worthless HD channel is A&E-HD. Of the 15 national HD and 5 premium HD channels currently on Verizon Fios, A&E-HD which was added 2 weeks ago is the worse. It is mostly ugly stretched SD. Only real HD I have seen on A&E-HD are CSI: Miami, The Sopranos and one of their "reality" shows. 24 and Crossing Jordan, which are done in HD, are shown in stretch SD. So for A&E-HD, the good news is you got another HD channel. The bad news is that you got A&E-HD.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lax01* /forum/post/12064169
> 
> 
> lovely...more worthless stations that don't have HD content...where the hell is SCI-FI AND SPEED?!?



waiting on their HD Content.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/12064928
> 
> 
> Not quite. HDTV and Food HD are all HD. They are not a simulcast of the SD channel as they put only their shows that are shot in HD on their HD channel. NFL Network HD is hit or (mostly) miss but they are showing the Patriots annihilation of the Redskins from last Sunday in glorious HD right now. NFL Net studio shows are SD, what is weird is that some replays of games that originally aired are in SD and some are HD.
> 
> 
> The next to worthless HD channel is A&E-HD. Of the 15 national HD and 5 premium HD channels currently on Verizon Fios, *A&E-HD which was added 2 weeks ago is the worse*. It is mostly ugly stretched SD. Only real HD I have seen on A&E-HD are CSI: Miami, The Sopranos and one of their "reality" shows. 24 and Crossing Jordan, which are done in HD, are shown in stretch SD. So for A&E-HD, the good news is you got another HD channel. The bad news is that you got A&E-HD.



Agreed! I flipped through it last night and got Dog the Bounty hunter in SD stretch...UGH! Then his wife was shown! Double ugh!


----------



## Marcus Carr

DirecTV has added NHL Network HD.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> The problem is not ABC, but WJLA-DT 7. Men In Trees was in HD on WMAR 2 in Baltimore. I noticed that WJLA fixed the HD broadcast for Women's Murder Club on at 9 PM, but not for Men in Trees at 10 PM. How they let this happen for three weeks in a row is beyond me. Why are they not checking their own HD digital broadcast?? Maybe a complaint to both WJLA and ABC is in order.



Three weeks in a row is inexcusable. I am trying to get ahold of someone there now. They are giving me the runaround saying it is a network issue. When I told the lady that the Baltimore ABC affiliate is having no problems airing this show in HD, they took action. Keep your fingers crossed.


And the Saturday Wheel and Jeopardy! repeats from last season should also be shown in HD but are not.


----------



## phattymatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kenrowe* /forum/post/12061604
> 
> 
> As of today:
> 
> A&E on 223
> 
> HGTV on 229
> 
> Food on 231
> 
> NFL Network on 246



I'm in Arlington, and I did notice that I have A&E HD yesterday, but didn't se the rest of them. And the A&EHD channel is awful by the way, just a stretched screen.


I noticed I have NHL network yesterday too, and I don't have the sports tier. Is this a free preview or am I just getting lucky?


----------



## lax01

Is there any reason MoCo Comcast is ordering their channel line-up so weirdly? HBO then a whole bunch of free channels and then other premium channels??? How about keeping it all together....pretty dumb


----------



## Mcees4life




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kenrowe* /forum/post/12061604
> 
> 
> As of today:
> 
> A&E on 223
> 
> HGTV on 229
> 
> Food on 231
> 
> NFL Network on 246



NFL HD and Food HD were added Comcast in the District today on those same channels. We still don't have HGTV, but i'm elated to finally have NFL HD. I had Comcast on the edge of the cliff, and with a few more HD additions hopefully in the works, then i just might stay with Comcast.


----------



## jacindc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Mcees4life* /forum/post/12069396
> 
> 
> NFL HD and Food HD were added Comcast in the District today on those same channels. We still don't have HGTV, but i'm elated to finally have NFL HD. I had Comcast on the edge of the cliff, and with a few more HD additions hopefully in the works, then i just might stay with Comcast.



Well, I'll take Food HD gladly, even though I still pine for HGTV HD. Soon, hopefully!


----------



## gomo657




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jacindc* /forum/post/12069939
> 
> 
> Well, I'll take Food HD gladly, even though I still pine for HGTV HD. Soon, hopefully!



Food HD looks good with noise at the bottom of the screen. I refuse to pay for the sports tier to get 1 HD station. Bring on the others!


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/12064928
> 
> 
> The next to worthless HD channel is A&E-HD. Of the 15 national HD and 5 premium HD channels currently on Verizon Fios, A&E-HD which was added 2 weeks ago is the worse. It is mostly ugly stretched SD. Only real HD I have seen on A&E-HD are CSI: Miami, The Sopranos and one of their "reality" shows. 24 and Crossing Jordan, which are done in HD, are shown in stretch SD. So for A&E-HD, the good news is you got another HD channel. The bad news is that you got A&E-HD.



I think that TBS-HD takes the cake. Now that the MLB playoffs are history, I don't think I've seen a single program in true HD on this channel while flipping through.


----------



## Dominus




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kenrowe* /forum/post/12061604
> 
> 
> As of today:
> 
> A&E on 223
> 
> HGTV on 229
> 
> Food on 231
> 
> NFL Network on 246



Hallelujah! Giada in HD!!!


----------



## phattymatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/12070519
> 
> 
> I think that TBS-HD takes the cake. Now that the MLB playoffs are history, I don't think I've seen a single program in true HD on this channel while flipping through.




I agree. Baseball did look good though.


And the NBA opener last night on TNT-HD looked pretty nice too.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lax01* /forum/post/12068645
> 
> 
> Is there any reason MoCo Comcast is ordering their channel line-up so weirdly? HBO then a whole bunch of free channels and then other premium channels??? How about keeping it all together....pretty dumb



True also of Comcast Howard County. I think it is pretty true throughout the area. It is very odd (especially since my dumb SA8300 guide doesn't filter what I don't get....seriously contemplating an HD Tivo for Comcast now that I have VOD from DirecTV and all those HD channels from DirecTV, too).


----------



## gomo657




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/12071475
> 
> 
> True also of Comcast Howard County. I think it is pretty true throughout the area. It is very odd (especially since my dumb SA8300 guide doesn't filter what I don't get....seriously contemplating an HD Tivo for Comcast now that I have VOD from DirecTV and all those HD channels from DirecTV, too).



Periodically they will rearrange the lineup so that like items a grouped together.


Pls stop me from watching Food HD


----------



## machpost

RCN in D.C. has just added the NHL Network (SD; no HD yet), on channel 824.


----------



## phattymatt

Does anyone with Arlington Comcast have Food-HD? It seems like the only new HD channel we got this week is A&E and it's garbage.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Halligan00* /forum/post/12023587
> 
> 
> I've just moved into a new construction 8 story condominium building in Hyattsville, MD.



I found it, at 6506 America Boulevard



> Quote:
> Currently the building is largely vacant, and I'm hoping to push the as-yet-formed condo association to put in a common antenna for broadcast TV, and/or DirecTV, if they're compatible...
> 
> 
> How much would the adjacent 15 storey building (unfortunately, due west, in the direction of most of the broadcasters) affect our reception at the roof of our building?



It looks like you're really hemmed in to your west. I'll run some computer models tonight, but I saw a Comcast truck in your building's service area, so you have access to your Washington, DC HDTV locals via cable, and if there is a second homerun to each apartment, then the Baltimore stations can readily be made available to all the residents including the Comcast subscribers. They would watch the Washington locals on their HDMI or composite TV input and watch the Baltimore and possibly other broadcast HDTV channels using their TV's 8VSB tune. I have a lot of customers who take advantage of such a combination of inputs. Last year, several of the Baltimore Ravens games that were not available on Washington metro market cable systems were enjoyed by football fans in buildings with Baltimore broadcast HDTV from their master antenna systems.


The 15 story highrise to your west would provide no obstacle to reception of DirecTV, DISH Network and even Globecast satellite programming.[/quote]


----------



## tomwaitsrulz

Ok, so I don't know if this is the right thread or not. I tried a few searches to see if this has been asked, but didn't find anything.


Anyway, I am trying to figure out why the last segment of the NBC show Life switches to SD, at least on WRC-DT. It has done this every week except for one. It is only the last segment, which is usually around 10:50 PM. I have no idea if this happens to many other shows on this channel, but I haven't seen it on Heroes, My Name is Earl, The Office, or ER. Just Life, and just the last segment. Anyone know what's going on? Thanks.


----------



## CycloneGT

I don't know for sure, but likely the local station is cutting in for preparation for their 11 o'clock news. Maybe they are going to put up on screen graphics or some split screen intro the news and they can only do that in SD. But thats just a guess.


----------



## tomwaitsrulz

That sounds like a good guess. You may be right. There isn't a bleedin into a local news intro, but they do go right into a preview of next week's episode, so maybe that is in SD. Still, either way you would think that they could figure out how to keep things in HD the whole time by now.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Verizon expects to have more than 150 HD channels by the end of 2008.

http://newscenter.verizon.com/press-...-fivefold.html


----------



## Mcees4life

Fios is always a want for me, i just don't know when it will come to the District


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/12081756
> 
> 
> Verizon expects to have more than 150 HD channels by the end of 2008.
> 
> http://newscenter.verizon.com/press-...-fivefold.html




And double their current HD offerings in Spring 2008.


I still think they should have been prepared to add more HD channels this year instead of the Spring.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/12081756
> 
> 
> Verizon expects to have more than 150 HD channels by the end of 2008.
> 
> http://newscenter.verizon.com/press-...-fivefold.html




Good for them. They will catch up to DirecTV by then.


More HD for everyone!


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/12084748
> 
> 
> And double their current HD offerings in Spring 2008.
> 
> 
> I still think they should have been prepared to add more HD channels this year instead of the Spring.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JWhip* /forum/post/12084142
> 
> 
> The good news is that I was able to receive confirmation today that a few new HD channels will be added before the end of 2007. There will be an announcement on that soon but I was not given a specific date. I was also not able to confirm whether they were national channels or RSN's but my guess is thatb they will be the Discovery networks discussed previously. The real push will be in the spring. Nevertheless, this news is still better than a stick in the eye.


 http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...2#post12084142


----------



## rob base

Come on Comcast, WTF. Everytime I see the DC area getting more HD channels and leave us in the Frederick, MD area in suspense. I am losing patience. Priced out Directv and am picking up the phone. Anyone know what channels you get with Comcast internet only package for approx. $59. Heard you get the SD analog channels 2-99. That would be fine for my cheaper tv rooms. Please let me know so my switch can be complete.


----------



## clifburns

I'd be happy if Comcast would ditch A&E-"HD" in favor of CNN-HD, which they were required to run as a condition of getting TBS-"HD". I would have loved to have seen Planet in Peril in HD.


----------



## guadalupegrande4

WNUV is coming through in letterboxed SD... I want my widescreen Smallville.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *guadalupegrande4* /forum/post/12088502
> 
> 
> WNUV is coming through in letterboxed SD... I want my widescreen Smallville.



Sorry... I just spoke to master control, and the HD switcher is locked up. Currently, the only way to reset it is to reboot (friggin computers...), and that will take us off the air for a couple of minutes. I figure that letterboxed video is better than no video or audio...


Sorry for the problem.


Mark


----------



## rob base

Just found out the basic cable $17 is analog local channels basically. hmmm, i need to think about this one.


----------



## guadalupegrande4




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/12088554
> 
> 
> Sorry... I just spoke to master control, and the HD switcher is locked up. Currently, the only way to reset it is to reboot (friggin computers...), and that will take us off the air for a couple of minutes. I figure that letterboxed video is better than no video or audio...
> 
> 
> Sorry for the problem.
> 
> 
> Mark



No prob. Wanted to alert somebody of the problem, though, in case they might not have already known.










SD is better than No-D. (And still infinitely better than stretch-o-vision, thankfully WBAL stopped that (for the time being)).


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/12088554
> 
> 
> Sorry... I just spoke to master control, and the HD switcher is locked up. Currently, the only way to reset it is to reboot (friggin computers...), and that will take us off the air for a couple of minutes. I figure that letterboxed video is better than no video or audio...
> 
> 
> Sorry for the problem.
> 
> 
> Mark



There is a good commercial block coming up....










Any chance of a rerun to get us HD later?


----------



## guadalupegrande4




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/12088716
> 
> 
> There is a good commercial block coming up....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Any chance of a rerun to get us HD later?



"good" commercial break? IS there such a thing? 


Maybe a short one is good.










Not yet, though, special Smallville insight thingie!


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/12088716
> 
> 
> There is a good commercial block coming up....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Any chance of a rerun to get us HD later?



Sure - after the writers strike starts, I'm sure they will be re-running it...







Actually, I think there is an "oncore presentation" of Smallville over the weekend some time. I'll have to check the schedule to be sure.


Unfortunately, we currently have no way to record HD content. That should be changing in the near(ish) future, but that doesn't help tonight...


Also, the commercials pay the bills (including my salary), so we would most likely do the reset during the show, to preserve them. I know you didn't want that...


Mark


----------



## ahsan

Any chance CSN HD will make it to the DC/MD/VA FIOS lineup before spring 2008? I see that Verizon has announced plans to add 150 HD channels by 2008, starting in spring. I'm curious to know if its at all possible CSN might beat that so I can watch some NCAA basketball in HD this season.


----------



## crazymantis

Hello. I just got a Comcast HDDVR. I am in Baltimore City, and have the DVR hooked to my TV via an HDMI cable, and all of the cable channels look great-and are in HD. Comcast is an inept bunch, but the system seems to be working except that the digital local channels do not come in well at all. The non-HD local channels look fine, but the channels in the 200-300 range that are local are fuzzy and scrambled at least some of the time.


I spoke to Comcast and they indicated that they would have a tech come out to look at the problem, but didn't know what is going on.


Just to rant, Comcast is one of the most clueless groups of people that I have ever had to deal with.


Anyone know what's going on- I'm sorry if this has been asked before, but I couldn't find the posts if it has.


mantis


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rob base* /forum/post/12088555
> 
> 
> Just found out the basic cable $17 is analog local channels basically. hmmm, i need to think about this one.



I can't speak for your Comcast Basic, but my Comcast Basic provides more than 100 digital QAM channels at no additional cost. My QAM channels include ABC,NBC,CBS, and Fox from both Baltimore and D.C. They also include WETA, and MPT plus A&E and Golf.

To access the Digital QAM channels does require a TV with the QAM tuner or a separate receiver.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ahsan* /forum/post/12091513
> 
> 
> Any chance CSN HD will make it to the DC/MD/VA FIOS lineup before spring 2008? I see that Verizon has announced plans to add 150 HD channels by 2008, starting in spring. I'm curious to know if its at all possible CSN might beat that so I can watch some NCAA basketball in HD this season.



Yes, if the post by Former Verizonman at dslreports.com is true. He has proven pretty reliable with his posts in recent months. Quoting his post: "you should be seeing CSNMA HD in a few weeks in MD/NoVA, a few weeks later in the outlying CSNMA territories. You'll also be happily surprised by a few more HDs (Discovery) within a few weeks."


According to former Verizonman, who has provided enough technical details to make me think he knows what we is writing about, the big holdup with adding CSN MA HD has not only been running landlines for the HD signal but adding the capability to selectively black out CSN MA HD. The SD version of CSN MA comes in via satellite and they are set up to black that out by region (probably at their video head end level). But they were not set up to do the same for direct land line feeds to all the regional head ends if I understood his posts correctly.


The rumors/reports on Verizon Fios adding the Discovery HD block of channels and maybe a couple more in the November time frame have been pretty persistent. They have to add a few more QAM channels to the "older" CO systems (older in this case were the COs that were wired several years ago) to build out their current 63 QAM channel capacity until the 40 analog channels are shut down and replaced by digital QAM channels by next spring.


----------



## Scott Gammans

^^^ Bah, who cares about more nature shows in HD? I want SciFi and FX in HD, dammit!


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/12091328
> 
> 
> Sure - after the writers strike starts, I'm sure they will be re-running it...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Actually, I think there is an "oncore presentation" of Smallville over the weekend some time. I'll have to check the schedule to be sure.
> 
> 
> Unfortunately, we currently have no way to record HD content. That should be changing in the near(ish) future, but that doesn't help tonight...
> 
> 
> Also, the commercials pay the bills (including my salary), so we would most likely do the reset during the show, to preserve them. I know you didn't want that...
> 
> 
> Mark




Found the problem (without rebooting...) - a loose connector that I must have pulled on when I was working in the back of the rack. Master Control wouldn't have been able to fix it for me.


Mark


----------



## riffjim4069




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Scott Gammans* /forum/post/12097340
> 
> 
> ^^^ Bah, who cares about more nature shows in HD? I want SciFi and FX in HD, dammit!



Nobody wants these HD channels...much less their SD versions. All normal people want BTN HD!!!


----------



## Marcus Carr

^^^ Bah, who cares about SciFi and FX in HD? I want more nature shows in HD, dammit!


----------



## WRRHalum




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/12095162
> 
> 
> I can't speak for your Comcast Basic, but my Comcast Basic provides more than 100 digital QAM channels at no additional cost.



Must be nice! Balto Cnty West, and Bomcast can't even keep the locals coming through on a consistent basis. Very odd asstmt of maybe a dozen QAM chs above ch 75, of which only Univision, Telefutura, and ESPNews seem to be regularly available. Interesting to see what my neighbors' choices of VOD or PPV are, though.

And no hope of help, either: called Bomcast for an analog problem a few weeks ago and mentioned some of the QAM woes. "You're not paying for digital service, you'd have to pay for a service call for any digital signal problems." Thanks, but no thanks.


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *riffjim4069* /forum/post/12100734
> 
> 
> Nobody wants these HD channels...much less their SD versions. All normal people want BTN HD!!!



D* has all of 'em.


----------



## paula




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *vthokie820* /forum/post/12045156
> 
> 
> I've noticed the same thing. I assume it's a problem at WETA. On a related note, has anyone else noticed their guide information and time screwed up?



It has been more or less wrong for three years! Even on their own web pages. After several vague answers to email, I sent a snail mail letter to WETA about a month ago. I haven't heard a thing back.


Maddening.


----------



## Patdeisa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bill Johnson* /forum/post/12014748
> 
> 
> Thanks for the info. 5.1 is still out for me. I'm guessing the station's doing something to their digital transmitter that reduces power hopefully temporarily. What they're doing probably doesn't affect in any substantial way the overwhelming majority of their OTA audience close in to DC. But we few way out in the fringes see it as no signal.



I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one with 5.1 issues. I used to get it, although weak. Now, it's just blank all the time.


I'm also bummed about 50.2 (Tube). I enjoyed it- just wished they had played more current music...


----------



## MrChad

Is something wrong with WUSA's HD feed? I have Comcast here in Loudoun Co. and channel 212 is not showing HD.


----------



## MrChad




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrChad* /forum/post/12122028
> 
> 
> Is something wrong with WUSA's HD feed? I have Comcast here in Loudoun Co. and channel 212 is not showing HD.



NM, appears to be back for the NE / Indy game.


----------



## mikepinkerton

The Bills game wasn't in HD anywhere, see the programming threads for NFL coverage.


-Mike


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikepinkerton* /forum/post/12122152
> 
> 
> The Bills game wasn't in HD anywhere, see the programming threads for NFL coverage.
> 
> 
> -Mike




So who made the decision to broadcast a game with two undefeated teams in SD?


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Patdeisa* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one with 5.1 issues. I used to get it, although weak. Now, it's just blank all the time.



5.1 has been rock solid for me way out in the fringe for the past week when I've checked it, as it was today throughout the Wash./Jets game. The sporadic issues I've had just recently I'm convinced was the station messing with the digital signal power.


Any 5.1 reception problems in No. Virginia today or in the past week would seem to me to be caused by the viewer's set-up, antenna, etc.


----------



## bucnasty

cox has been moving some channels around in ffx, oxygen moved up to the variety tier from 61, there is a home improvement on demand channel, and there seems to be 2 NBA networks. speaking of which, does anyone else have the HD icon on NBA-TV and some of the discovery networks we're SUPPOSED to have at some point?


----------



## wmcbrine

Technically not HD, but: Fios has added the MHz subchannels. The Ion subchannels are listed in the guide, too, but aren't actually on yet.


----------



## gomo657

I see that we Comcast users that haven't received NBA HD that MOJO is tonight broadcasting a Houston vs Dallas @7:30


----------



## hokiefan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/12124629
> 
> 
> So who made the decision to broadcast a game with two undefeated teams in SD?




Huh? The Cinci/Bills game was in SD. Neither team is undefeated. That was the game with the smallest market coverage. I'm assuming it was shown in this area since both teams are in the Raven's division.


The Pats/Colts game was in HD everywhere, since it was shown in like 99% of the markets in the USA.


----------



## Deezul




hokiefan said:


> Huh? The Cinci/Bills game was in SD. Neither team is undefeated. That was the game with the smallest market coverage. I'm assuming it was shown in this area since both teams are in the Raven's division./QUOTE]
> 
> 
> Cincinnati Bengals are in the AFC North with the Ravens, Steelers, and Browns. Buffalo Bills are in the AFC East with Patriots, Jets, and Dolphins.
> 
> 
> Deeuzl


----------



## kurbkidc

In PWC we just received A&E HD and Universal HD (NFL HD too but no problems there). Those 2 channels come through with lots of dropouts, audio pops, etc. Reminds me of trying to watch my dads DTV during a thunderstorm. I have done all the normal things: wait a couple days, reset the box, etc. to no avail. I REALLY don't want to call Comcast, so I wanted to see if anyone here had any advice. Thanks!


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kurbkidc* /forum/post/12146849
> 
> 
> In PWC we just received A&E HD and Universal HD (NFL HD too but no problems there). Those 2 channels come through with lots of dropouts, audio pops, etc. Reminds me of trying to watch my dads DTV during a thunderstorm. I have done all the normal things: wait a couple days, reset the box, etc. to no avail. I REALLY don't want to call Comcast, so I wanted to see if anyone here had any advice. Thanks!




There were no problems here last week with A&E HD on Comcast here in Woodbridge(Eastern PWC). I couldn't receive NFL HD though since I didn't have the Sports tier.(FIOS doesn't do that with NFL-HD) Saturday I finally dropped Comcast completely since I've had both FIOS and Comcast the last two months and I really hadn't watched much on Comcast any more and definitely didn't use the slow 8mbs connection. The FIOS 30mbs connection blows the Comcast 8mbs away. And it's only $3 more($52 vs $55)


----------



## afiggatt

Verizon Fios added Discovery HD to channel 846 in the VA and MD region this morning (and many of their other regions). The channel is not in the guide at this point, but it is there. Note, this is the simulcast of the Discovery SD channel, not to be confused with the former HD Discovery channel, now renamed HD Theater. Mythbusters in HD - yes!


----------



## lax01

Comcast MoCo has A&E-HD...


COMCAST: RE-ORDER THE CHANNEL LINE-UP! IT doesn't make any sense!


COME ON FX-HD!!!


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/12152526
> 
> 
> Verizon Fios added Discovery HD to channel 846 in the VA and MD region this morning (and many of their other regions). The channel is not in the guide at this point, but it is there. Note, this is the simulcast of the Discovery SD channel, not to be confused with the former HD Discovery channel, now renamed HD Theater. Mythbusters in HD - yes!



Don't know if it was you or someone else mentioning that CSN-MA HD is coming to FiOS as well. I checked it on UDigTV and it is listed on channel 829.


Oooo Happy Days!!!


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikepinkerton* /forum/post/12122152
> 
> 
> The Bills game wasn't in HD anywhere, see the programming threads for NFL coverage.
> 
> 
> -Mike



That is not true. The game was in HD, I saw the highlights on ESPN in HD when that schmuck Chad Johnson was injured. Now whether they aired the game in HD or not is another issue.


----------



## URFloorMatt

That's exactly it: they didn't air the Bills game in HD, but it was produced in HD. CBS is producing 6 games in HD every week, but can only air 5 in HD during doubleheader weeks because of a lack of HD Master Control rooms.


----------



## bfdtv

Yesterday, Verizon FiOS added Discovery Channel HD (846), not to be confused with HD Theater (836).


This morning, Verizon added CSNDC HD (829) to its FiOS systems in N. VA and MD.


----------



## afiggatt

Yes, at long last, Verizon Fios has added Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic HD to channel 829 in the Washington Metro area. It is not in the guide yet, but if they follow the same pattern as yesterday, it will be added to the guide later today. Reports are that CSN MA-HD was not added to the Richmond area, have not heard about Hampton Roads / SE VA area. The post that said CSNMA-HD was coming soon, also stated that it would take several more weeks for it to be added to the "outlying" areas.


The good news is that we can finally put the questions of when Verizon would or if ever add CSNMA-HD to rest. This gives the Washington Metro line-up 8 HD locals, 1 HD RSN, 17 national HD channels, and 5 premium HD movie channels for a total of 31 HD channels. Not nearly as many as DirecTV has now, but competitive in number with the local cable operations.


CSNMA-HD was added to QAM 93 (639 MHz) which was previously an unused channel here. QAM 93 is used in the NYC and NJ areas to carry 2 New York city HD Regional Sport Nets. So QAM 93 is used for distributing the HD RSNs in different markets. There are now two sub-channels in QAM 93, don't know what the other one is, but it may be a placeholder. My hope is that Verizon set aside half of the bandwidth of QAM 93 for quickly adding MASN-HD when ever MASN gets off the pot and provides a HD feed.


----------



## phattymatt

Question:


I'm in Arlington and have Comcast, but only got A&E-HD added last week. No Food-HD or HGTVHD. Has this happened to anyone else? Why would they not add them in Arlington?


----------



## bfdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *phattymatt* /forum/post/12160222
> 
> 
> Question:
> 
> 
> I'm in Arlington and have Comcast, but only got A&E-HD added last week. No Food-HD or HGTVHD. Has this happened to anyone else? Why would they not add them in Arlington?



Most 860MHz Comcast systems now have the new channels. Many of the older 750MHz systems have limited capacity and Comcast is saving that capacity for "high priority" adds. I would guess that the Comcast Arlington has a 750MHz system.


On 750MHz systems, Comcast is looking to (1) eliminate some analog channels to make room for new channels, (2) install SDV equipment, and/or (3) a combination of the two. Every analog channel consumes the same capacity as 12-14 digital SD channels or two full-bitrate HD channels, but Comcast Arlington still has a lot of "extended basic" customers that depend on those analog channels.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/12159689
> 
> 
> CSNMA-HD was added to QAM 93 (639 MHz) which was previously an unused channel here. QAM 93 is used in the NYC and NJ areas to carry 2 New York city HD Regional Sport Nets. So QAM 93 is used for distributing the HD RSNs in different markets. There are now two sub-channels in QAM 93, don't know what the other one is, but it may be a placeholder. My hope is that Verizon set aside half of the bandwidth of QAM 93 for quickly adding MASN-HD when ever MASN gets off the pot and provides a HD feed.



It'll probably be used as a (temporary?) location for History Channel HD when it's added (according to rumor) before the end of the year. It might also be the new location of some local SD feeds (NBC Wx+, Doug Hill's WxNow, etc.), opening room in their current QAM location for History HD.


----------



## zebras23

From Barry Srlvuga's blog at the Washington Post:


More MASN -- with some hope for HD

Hold on regarding the HD thing for a second.


Just spoke with Bob Carpenter. Here are his thoughts.


"I'm just happy," he said from his home in Tulsa. "I'm happy I'm coming back next year. With all the stuff that happened, that's life. That's broadcasting. Some of the things that happen to you in this busines, I'll never get used to. But as opposed to some other things that have happened to me, this has a happy ending. Usually, these things don't end well, but this one did."


Carpenter thanked the fans that called/wrote the Nationals and/or MASN after it was reported -- here and elsewhere -- that the club was at least looking elsewhere.


"They made their feelings known, and that make me feel pretty good. I give the fans 95 percent of this credit. I guess the other five percent is my ability to do a good baseball bradocast."


Carpenter said he had spoken with Don Sutton several times since the end of the season, and spoke with Debbi Taylor a couple of weeks ago. "I think we're all ready to do great broadcasts," he said. The deal, he said, is for a year with a club option.


I spoke, too, with MASN spokesman Todd Webster, who said: "The anticipation is building for the Nationals in 2008, and we're pleased that Bob will help bring that excitement to fans throughout MASN's seven-state television territory."


I also asked Webster about the possibility of Nationals (and Orioles) broadcasts being in high-definition next year. The network, Webster said, is not prepared to make any announcements, but they are looking into the issue.


"It's definitely a possibility," Webster said. "We are working with satellite and cable companies, and we ar hopeful to offer a number of Nationals and Orioles telecasts in HD."


Stay tuned.


More MASN: Johnny Holliday is on board for another year of pre- and postgame shows. They're in negotiations with studio analyst Ray Knight on coming back for another season, but nothing's final yet.


Oh, and, while we're at it, looks like almost all the grass is in over at the new park. The unveiling for the media is on Tuesday at 10 a.m., with Mayor Fenty and Stan Kasten and other honchos scheduled to be there. No word on if Kasten will wrestle city officials behind second base.


----------



## bucnasty

on a semi-unrelated note, i drove by nationals park today and it looks good!



If i recall correctly (and because i'm not looking at it), that would leave Cox as the only company not carrying Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic HD???


SOMEONE REMIND ME WHAT IM PAYING FOR!!!! Maybe 20 HD channels??? Can anyone give me any rumors to give me some hope?


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bucnasty* /forum/post/12165589
> 
> 
> on a semi-unrelated note, i drove by nationals park today and it looks good!
> 
> 
> 
> If i recall correctly (and because i'm not looking at it), that would leave Cox as the only company not carrying Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic HD???
> 
> 
> SOMEONE REMIND ME WHAT IM PAYING FOR!!!! Maybe 20 HD channels??? Can anyone give me any rumors to give me some hope?



Maybe you should look for a rumor on when is FiOS coming to your part of the town. That is if you don't want to deal with a satellite company.


If FiOS is available in your area, the question is, why don't you have it yet?


----------



## mikemikeb

It won't exist until Comcast is willing to carry it. Having the HD feed on D*, FiOS, and Cox, et al, and building out for HD, all to have few to nobody watching because it isn't on Comcast, isn't a worthwhile business expenditure. Once it starts, only one MASN-HD channel for some time. It'll only air home games in HD. If the Nats and O's play at home and at different times, and the games overlap, since Angelos owns the O's, the O's will get the advantage every time: either the game will switch over to the O's game or the O's will finish their game before the Nats get a shot at being seen in HD. If both Nats and O's are scheduled to play at home at around the same time, since Angelos owns the O's, the O's will get the HD.


And, if MASN-HD begins to exist on FiOS, if the OTA SD subchannel rebroadcasts are moved from their current location to QAM 93, they'll all be moved to IP to make way for MASN-HD on QAM 93. One exception: If both Comcast SN MA and MASN HD are 720p, leaving room for a couple of SD subchannels to be kept in the QAM carrier, NBC Wx+ and Doug Hill's WxNow, in that order, have priority in staying on QAM.


----------



## bucnasty

because you rickys ***** and moan about verizon!


oh, and because im in an apartment building in the corner of fairfax city that has phone lines older than me in here....


----------



## bucnasty

...and it took verizon three months to install service in my parents house. At work i openly endorse any other company other than verizon because i have not found ten people who had a smooth install and no service problems. But it is what it is. we're not talking about programming anymore...


if anyone from cox fairfax reads up on here I WANT MY CSN HD!!!!!


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/12166117
> 
> 
> And, if MASN-HD begins to exist on FiOS, if the OTA SD subchannel rebroadcasts are moved from their current location to QAM 93, they'll all be moved to IP to make way for MASN-HD on QAM 93. One exception: If both Comcast SN MA and MASN HD are 720p, leaving room for a couple of SD subchannels to be kept in the QAM carrier, NBC Wx+ and Doug Hill's WxNow, in that order, have priority in staying on QAM.



Huh? The SD sub-channels of the local HD stations are carried on the same QAM channel as the HD sub-channel. Why would you think they are on QAM 93?? What Verizon obviously does with the HD locals is take the 19.2 MB/sec data from the broadcast signal with all the sub-channels and place that in 1/2 of the 38.4 MB/sec QAM bandwidth. WRC-DT 4.1, 4.2, WUSA-DT 9.1, 9.2 are on QAM 71 for example. This means that Fios subscribers get exactly the same picture quality as OTA, no additional compression.


The weather SD sub-channels of the broadcast channels don't take up much bandwidth. So why would Verizon worry much about where they go?

From the analysis we have managed to share on the net, Verizon places the locals in the same block of QAM channels. The national SD and HD channels are on the same QAM channels across the US.


Comcast Sports Net Mid-Atlantic HD is a 1080i channel. Don't know what MASN-HD will be, but I would expect it to be 1080i as well.


I do agree that MASN is probably trying to get Comcast to agree to carry the HD channel before they announce it. With the history between MASN and Comcast, Comcast may be stiffing MASN in any negotiations. But if Verizon Fios, RCN, and DirecTV were to agree to add MASN-HD, all of whom compete directly with Comcast for subscribers, I can't see Comcast stalling for long on adding MASN-HD.


----------



## zebras23




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bucnasty* /forum/post/12165589
> 
> 
> on a semi-unrelated note, i drove by nationals park today and it looks good!



This is what it looks like inside the park:

http://clarkconstruction.oxblue.com/clarkhuntsmoot/ 


The grass is almost completely installed - will be finished by lunch time today. Also the HD replay screen has been fully installed. Only 97 days until pitchers and catchers report and the March 31 home opener just over 4 months.


----------



## afiggatt

*Ion TV To go HD In 2008*


For those who missed the news in the HDTV Programming forum, the Ion (formerly Pax) network will switch to providing a 720p HD channel by the 1st quarter of 2008. Here is the link to the Multi-Channel news article: http://www.multichannel.com/article/...dustryid=47199 .


Since we have 2 ION stations in the area: WPXW-DT 66 (UHF 43) in Manassas and WWPX-DT 60 (VHF 12) in Martinsburg, this means we will have 8 HD broadcast networks in the DC and western Baltimore area. Since Ion currently provides 4 SD sub-channels on their digital broadcast, I expect they will convert their x.1 channel to 720p HD and keep the 3 specialized sub-channels - Qubo, Ion Life, Worship. So it will likely be a rather compressed 1 HD and 3 SD sub-channels. Since their daytime programming is mostly infomercials and the nighttime programming is mostly older sitcoms or former Pax show reruns which were not shot in HD (with only the hour long dramas likely to have been done on film), don't know how much true HD there will be on Ion. However, this is a network that re-invents itself every few years to stave off the creditors, they might be planning to totally revise the programming & channel line-up and get some real HD programming.


----------



## AntAltMike

I'll miss Kevin Trudeau...


----------



## Mike20878




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/12169488
> 
> 
> I'll miss Kevin Trudeau...



?


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/12166519
> 
> 
> Huh? The SD sub-channels of the local HD stations are carried on the same QAM channel as the HD sub-channel. Why would you think they are on QAM 93?? What Verizon obviously does with the HD locals is take the 19.2 MB/sec data from the broadcast signal with all the sub-channels and place that in 1/2 of the 38.4 MB/sec QAM bandwidth. WRC-DT 4.1, 4.2, WUSA-DT 9.1, 9.2 are on QAM 71 for example. This means that Fios subscribers get exactly the same picture quality as OTA, no additional compression.
> 
> 
> The weather SD sub-channels of the broadcast channels don't take up much bandwidth. So why would Verizon worry much about where they go?
> 
> From the analysis we have managed to share on the net, Verizon places the locals in the same block of QAM channels. The national SD and HD channels are on the same QAM channels across the US.
> 
> 
> Comcast Sports Net Mid-Atlantic HD is a 1080i channel. Don't know what MASN-HD will be, but I would expect it to be 1080i as well.
> 
> 
> I do agree that MASN is probably trying to get Comcast to agree to carry the HD channel before they announce it. With the history between MASN and Comcast, Comcast may be stiffing MASN in any negotiations. But if Verizon Fios, RCN, and DirecTV were to agree to add MASN-HD, all of whom compete directly with Comcast for subscribers, I can't see Comcast stalling for long on adding MASN-HD.



Comcast has repeatedly told MASN that they will carry any and all HD content they choose to originate. Comcast is not an impediment in any way, shape or form to MASN HD development.


It has always been, and remains today solely the discretion of MASN when they choose to develop their HD content.


Having said that, I think they will make at least a partial plunge in the '08 season.


GoIrish


----------



## jacindc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zebras23* /forum/post/12168064
> 
> 
> This is what it looks like inside the park:
> 
> http://clarkconstruction.oxblue.com/clarkhuntsmoot/
> 
> 
> The grass is almost completely installed - will be finished by lunch time today. Also the HD replay screen has been fully installed. Only 97 days until pitchers and catchers report and the March 31 home opener just over 4 months.



Another view inside the park:

http://www.jdland.com/dc/stadium.cfm?tab=no3 


Along with lots of photos of the neighborhood around it.


(Yes, I'm blogwhoring.)


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/12166117
> 
> 
> It won't exist until Comcast is willing to carry it. Having the HD feed on D*, FiOS, and Cox, et al, and building out for HD, all to have few to nobody watching because it isn't on Comcast, isn't a worthwhile business expenditure.



You've got to be kidding. Wonder why they embarked on MASN in the first place when it was just DirecTV and RCN? No Cox, no Fios, no DiSH.


In fact, doing HD on the others would force Comcast into following along. Or maybe Comcast would like another taste of the legal battle they lost with MASN in the first place?



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/12166117
> 
> 
> Once it starts, only one MASN-HD channel for some time. It'll only air home games in HD. If the Nats and O's play at home and at different times, and the games overlap, since Angelos owns the O's, the O's will get the advantage every time: either the game will switch over to the O's game or the O's will finish their game before the Nats get a shot at being seen in HD. If both Nats and O's are scheduled to play at home at around the same time, since Angelos owns the O's, the O's will get the HD.



Um, MASN is co-owned by the Orioles and Nationals. In fact, the Oriole games were jockeyed around onto MASN2 far more than the Nationals games last year. MASN2, in case you don't know, was harder to find for folks because it is not on a sports channel.


----------



## JohnGZ28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/12173439
> 
> 
> Um, MASN is co-owned by the Orioles and Nationals. In fact, the Oriole games were jockeyed around onto MASN2 far more than the Nationals games last year. MASN2, in case you don't know, was harder to find for folks because it is not on a sports channel.













Um the Orioles own 99.999% of MASN and the Nationals own .001%


The only good thing about that is that if the Orioles continue to stink and the Nats play well they will generate more revenue for old PA so more of thier games will be on the air.


----------



## rob base

Some new channels added to Comcast in New Market, MD outside Frederick, MD.

On the guide I am showing the following:

773 NFLHD

800 HRTV (horse racing tv) WTF

801 GOLTV Sabla espanol?

802 NBATV

803 CSTV

804 NFL

805 NHLTV

It seems like maybe a tier may be needed to access these channels because when I try to select them, the dreaded Not Authorized message comes up. I know others here in this thread have told me to wait and see what Comcast would be adding. Did anyone else get these channels or others, and do you know if it will take an extra package for me to authorize them other than digital and hd. Thanks, Rob


----------



## mikepinkerton

Regarding the FIOS discussion, I got a flier over a year ago that FIOS was coming to my neighborhood and I got excited. A month or so later, they came and dug in my community and then vanished without a trace. Not a peep from them in a year. *shrug*


-Mike


----------



## AntAltMike

Does anyone know if MASN2 is used at all other than during baseball season. I have gotten a few calls regarding a headend I service that dedicated a channel to MASN2, syaing the channel is out. MASN2, when sourced by a DirecTv receiver, puts out a blank screen except when it is actually carrying a program.


If the channel is unused until baseball season, I'll probably replace it with a shopping channel or C-Span3, but if it is used occasionally (college foorball/basketball?), then I'll have to leave it occupying a system channel.


BTW, I thought the market-encroachment settlement between Angelos and MLB was that the Orioles get 80% of the MASN TV revenue and the Nationals get 20%, but how that might affect "ownership" of stock shares of MASN, I have no idea.


----------



## bucnasty

masn2 shows SILLY CFL games and high school sports. and in fairfax, caps hockey on csn+. right now it has USF-syracuse from an ESPN+ feed


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GoIrish* /forum/post/12171163
> 
> 
> Comcast has repeatedly told MASN that they will carry any and all HD content they choose to originate. Comcast is not an impediment in any way, shape or form to MASN HD development.



No disrespect, but how do you know that? Comcast may just carry the SD feed. SCI-FI and BBC America have plans for HD channels in the near future, but I have near-zero faith that Comcast (at least locally, depending on franchise) will make bandwidth/HD slots available for these.


----------



## kenrowe

MASN2 hasn't carried anything since the end of the baseball season and is barely mentioned on the MASN website at this point. On most of the major MSOs, the MASN2 channel is now being used for CSN+ coverage along with other filler programming (e.g., CSPAN2).


Nationals, in 2005, had 10% ownership of MASN and gain an additional percentage point each season. It will cap out at 33%.


----------



## JohnGZ28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kenrowe* /forum/post/12179865
> 
> 
> Nationals, in 2005, had 10% ownership of MASN and gain an additional percentage point each season. It will cap out at 33%.



Yup. 23 years to get to 33%. Nats got hosed.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rob base* /forum/post/12175512
> 
> 
> Some new channels added to Comcast in New Market, MD outside Frederick, MD.
> 
> On the guide I am showing the following:
> 
> 773 NFLHD
> 
> 800 HRTV (horse racing tv) WTF
> 
> 801 GOLTV Sabla espanol?
> 
> 802 NBATV
> 
> 803 CSTV
> 
> 804 NFL
> 
> 805 NHLTV
> 
> It seems like maybe a tier may be needed to access these channels because when I try to select them, the dreaded Not Authorized message comes up.



Those channels require the sports package subscription.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/12173439
> 
> 
> You've got to be kidding. Wonder why they embarked on MASN in the first place when it was just DirecTV and RCN? No Cox, no Fios, no DiSH.
> 
> 
> In fact, doing HD on the others would force Comcast into following along. Or maybe Comcast would like another taste of the legal battle they lost with MASN in the first place?



There was a pretty large _potential_ viewer base at hand that could watch MASN. They had to spend money to provide some sort of TV service that would put pressure on Comcast to add it, and increase the actual viewing base. They have that base now, so the question is: Does MASN spend more money simply to give listeners a more enhanced viewing experience? There's a difference between a basic viewing experience and an enhanced one. Will enough people care to watch in HD if the money is spent and yet Comcast doesn't choose to carry MASN HD? The #1 most important thing in Angelos's eyes is to make as much money as possible, and if that means not going HD, or limiting said expansion to one channel, that's what it means.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GoIrish* /forum/post/12171163
> 
> 
> Comcast has repeatedly told MASN that they will carry any and all HD content they choose to originate. Comcast is not an impediment in any way, shape or form to MASN HD development.
> 
> 
> It has always been, and remains today solely the discretion of MASN when they choose to develop their HD content.
> 
> 
> Having said that, I think they will make at least a partial plunge in the '08 season.



Now, if Comcast has changed their tune with MASN in some form and truly said that they'd carry a MASN HD channel, then there's noting to worry about in that sense. So, it looks like it truly is completely up to MASN to decide when to go HD. My pessimistic side "says" they probably won't flip until 2009, and if they can find a way to make the install cheaper by going 720p, they'll do it.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/12182582
> 
> 
> There was a pretty large _potential_ viewer base at hand that could watch MASN. They had to spend money to provide some sort of TV service that would put pressure on Comcast to add it, and increase the actual viewing base. They have that base now, so the question is: Does MASN spend more money simply to give listeners a more enhanced viewing experience? There's a difference between a basic viewing experience and an enhanced one. Will enough people care to watch in HD if the money is spent and yet Comcast doesn't choose to carry MASN HD? The #1 most important thing in Angelos's eyes is to make as much money as possible, and if that means not going HD, or limiting said expansion to one channel, that's what it means.



Better rethink it. I watch far less Orioles games since the HD is gone and I know others that feel the same way. Bad baseball with bad PQ is not a winner. Good baseball or good PQ would help a lot.


Add to that that many DirecTV customers are taking SD channels out of their guide and will not stumble on the Orioles/Nats games and the cable companies put most HD in one area and MASN will be nowhere near where a lot of HD customers cruise guide-wise.


I will continue to think that MASN's story is an excuse and nothing more. There are a lot of eyeballs without Comcast over the entire territory.


And your argument sounds a awful lot like the stuff we heard from WJLA even up to the week before they got Jeopardy and Wheel in HD. In other words, until they actually HAD HD, they said it wasn't worth it. Once they got it? Nothing.


----------



## mikepinkerton

I couldn't find anything here or in the HDTV programming forum about why the BC/MD prime time ABC game wasn't in HD. I thought all the 8pm ABC games (even though they may be regional) were in HD, esp. one with a top-10 team playing.


Or did WJLA just forget to flip the switch? *ducks* 

-Mike


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/12183117
> 
> 
> Better rethink it. I watch far less Orioles games since the HD is gone and I know others that feel the same way. Bad baseball with bad PQ is not a winner. Good baseball or good PQ would help a lot.



That would for some people. BUT, how many? You have to remember that only about 20-30% of households have a single HDTV. WUSA, which has had an HD newscast for years, hasn't had much, if any, of a ratings uptick as a result. It looks like most people, even those with HDTVs, will watch an SD show if it's good enough to watch. Even you've done it on occasion.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/12183117
> 
> 
> Add to that that many DirecTV customers are taking SD channels out of their guide and will not stumble on the Orioles/Nats games and the cable companies put most HD in one area and MASN will be nowhere near where a lot of HD customers cruise guide-wise.



How many people? At this time, of all of those with HDTVs, cable has about 60% of viewers, D* and E* combined have about 25-30%, and OTA carries the rest. Cable STBs can't block out SD channels from the guide as of now, so MASN is pretty safe with them. Now DirecTV has boosted their HD channel lineup, and that might get some more to switch from cable or E*, to D*. We'll see what happens there. By next March, we could have HD viewers 50% cable, 25% D*, 15% E*, and the rest OTA. Even if 25-30% have D* locally, how many of those will actually block out SD channels (or even know that's possible)? 15%? 20%? What if (and this applies with a lot more than you think) there's a show that's SD-only that the local subscriber wants to watch? Will they block out the channel anyway? If even 20% of D* HD subscribers block out SD channels, and 25% of HDTV owners are D* subscibers, that's 5% of total HDTV viewers that won't "see" MASN. Now if we add on SDTV-only owners, this means that even if 30% of all households have HDTVs, that means a grand total of 1.5% of total potential MASN viewers won't see the channel. The cost to go HD right now would cost a whole lot more than the potential lost revenue that would come from those subscribers. So the idea if going HD to avoid an SD guide-block is 100% ludicrous.


We'll also see how quickly people migrate to HD in the first place. We might be in a different ballgame (no pun intended) by next March, with many people probably going HD this Christmas season. By then, we could have 40% HD penetration. MASN may vvery well evaluate the situation and determine that it's best to go HD for the 2008 season, that it will net them the most profit. However, if they feel that this isn't possible, then they will wait, like it or not. *It's easy to diss MASN if they choose to wait until after the 2008 Os season to go HD, but if they feel that it will net them more money, they'll wait. Remember that businesses are out, first and foremost, to make a profit.* There are leaders and there are followers in business. You can lead and purchase inferior equipment for more money, or you can be a follower and purchase better equipment and save money. Some businesses lead (like CBS with their pioneering NFL HD games, and WUSA by going HD news so soon), and others follow (WJLA and MASN by being wary anout switching to HD), and it looks like at least WJLA is benefitting in their bottom line by following. Their ratings are still good, they're still SD, and it'll probably be a while longer before they go HD news.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/12183117
> 
> 
> I will continue to think that MASN's story is an excuse and nothing more. There are a lot of eyeballs without Comcast over the entire territory.



Comcast has a basically exclusive cable reach on all local jurisdictions except Fairfax County and Fredericksburg (who Cox serves). They have a good 70%+ of cable's eyeballs. RCN, FiOS, et al, are superminority players.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/12183117
> 
> 
> And your argument sounds a awful lot like the stuff we heard from WJLA even up to the week before they got Jeopardy and Wheel in HD. In other words, until they actually HAD HD, they said it wasn't worth it. Once they got it? Nothing.



In that case, Robert stated that Sony and KingWorld gave WJLA enough incentives that the switch to HD was worth it financially. From what I can gather, KingWorld probably gave their "Merv Griffin's Crosswords" show free for a year, while Sony basically "paid" for temporary HD recording and playback equipment (their XDCAM cameras and deck equipment). Note that just before the switch to HD, the station was delivered enough Sony XDCAM cameras to equip the entire reporting team. Sony probably gave a pretty sizeable discount on those cameras to get the station to switch, and remember, Sony produces WOF and J!.


----------



## Count Blah

The Ravens/Bungles game on WUSA*9 HD looks like crap. The Cowboys/Giants game in 720p looks twice as sharp as WUSA*9's 1080i picture.


This is comcast in Loudoun County, BTW. Anyone else experiencing the same thing?


----------



## JohnGZ28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Count Blah* /forum/post/12188539
> 
> 
> The Ravens/Bungles game on WUSA*9 HD looks like crap. The Cowboys/Giants game in 720p looks twice as sharp as WUSA*9's 1080i picture.
> 
> 
> This is comcast in Loudoun County, BTW. Anyone else experiencing the same thing?



The picture quality is on par with the teams on the field.


----------



## rev_eng

I am having issues with FIOS HD in Arlington.


Most of network HD channels say "Currently Unavailable". NBC, CBS, FOX, etc...


Anyone seeing this? I am on hold with verizon tech support...


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/12188418
> 
> 
> Comcast has a basically exclusive cable reach on all local jurisdictions except Fairfax County and Fredericksburg (who Cox serves). They have a good 70%+ of cable's eyeballs. RCN, FiOS, et al, are superminority players.



Really? What about Anne Arundel county which has Millenium. And Fios is not a superminority player. Are you counting DirecTV and Dish as superminority, too?


Comcast is not the only monkey in the trees around here.


All the arguments you are pushing for not having HD (the old red herring about WUSA's newscasts) hold true for ALL HD broadcasts. Why do any exist based upon this theory that HD does nothing for ratings. Why are all the ads for Dish and DirecTV and Comcast talking about HD? These are all businesses who decided that HD was worth the money. I'll side with the big companies making a ton of money on HD over the piddling MASN owned by Peter Angelos and the PR deficited Nationals.


----------



## rviele




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JohnGZ28* /forum/post/12188805
> 
> 
> The picture quality is on par with the teams on the field.



at this point in the season I think I'd rather watch high school rather than the ravens they would play better.


----------



## zebras23




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rev_eng* /forum/post/12188867
> 
> 
> I am having issues with FIOS HD in Arlington.
> 
> 
> Most of network HD channels say "Currently Unavailable". NBC, CBS, FOX, etc...
> 
> 
> Anyone seeing this? I am on hold with verizon tech support...



No problems in Arlington


----------



## rob base




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rob base* /forum/post/12175512
> 
> 
> Some new channels added to Comcast in New Market, MD outside Frederick, MD.
> 
> On the guide I am showing the following:
> 
> 773 NFLHD
> 
> 800 HRTV (horse racing tv) WTF
> 
> 801 GOLTV Sabla espanol?
> 
> 802 NBATV
> 
> 803 CSTV
> 
> 804 NFL
> 
> 805 NHLTV
> 
> It seems like maybe a tier may be needed to access these channels because when I try to select them, the dreaded Not Authorized message comes up. I know others here in this thread have told me to wait and see what Comcast would be adding. Did anyone else get these channels or others, and do you know if it will take an extra package for me to authorize them other than digital and hd. Thanks, Rob




Just an update. I called Comcast and these new channels are part of the sports package. It gives you the above channels and golf channel, outdoor channel, fox cs atlantic, central, and pacific. This was worth it for the $2 a month for the 1st 6 months and then $5 after that. The rep also said that three more channels will be added by mid Dec. including cstvhd and fsnhd, although she seemed a bit confused what she was telling me. When I asked her about when Comcast Sports net HD would be avail for my area, she said a "bunch" of channels will be added by jan 2008. We'll see. Anyone out there know more??? Not quite the Directv or Verizon HD hype, but my options are limited oh so much without Verizon DSL for internet.


----------



## carltonrice

Did something change at WRC this weekend? I noticed that my DVR didn't get any of the shows set up to record since Friday and I can't seem to pull in the station anymore.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/12188418
> 
> 
> In that case, Robert stated that Sony and KingWorld gave WJLA enough incentives that the switch to HD was worth it financially. From what I can gather, KingWorld probably gave their "Merv Griffin's Crosswords" show free for a year, while Sony basically "paid" for temporary HD recording and playback equipment (their XDCAM cameras and deck equipment). Note that just before the switch to HD, the station was delivered enough Sony XDCAM cameras to equip the entire reporting team. Sony probably gave a pretty sizeable discount on those cameras to get the station to switch, and remember, Sony produces WOF and J!.



The Sony and Kingworld incentives crack was a joke. I got a free lunch and a Sony pen.







We took advantage of our XDCam deal to dedicate a player and put it online for this show.


Crosswords was 'ordered' two years ago, before HD Jeopardy even began.


Sony gave a normal discount on the XDCams (other, larger groups, got even more points off), but that had no bearing on programming purchases. Sony Television is a different division than Sony Broadcast, and Kingworld does their own deals and takes little 'direction' from up top. Roger King still calls the shots.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/12183117
> 
> 
> And your argument sounds a awful lot like the stuff we heard from WJLA even up to the week before they got Jeopardy and Wheel in HD. In other words, until they actually HAD HD, they said it wasn't worth it. Once they got it? Nothing.



If you look at it from a management point of view, the way we have to get Jeopardy HD to show onto 7.1, costs us more in manhours EVERY DAY (read run it manually and someone pushing a play button), then it will deliver in ADDITIONAL REVENUE.


We got a good deal from Sony on XDCam and dedicated a machine to the process, its still a PITA to get it to the home viewer.


----------



## raidbuck




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikepinkerton* /forum/post/12186937
> 
> 
> I couldn't find anything here or in the HDTV programming forum about why the BC/MD prime time ABC game wasn't in HD. I thought all the 8pm ABC games (even though they may be regional) were in HD, esp. one with a top-10 team playing.
> 
> 
> Or did WJLA just forget to flip the switch? *ducks*
> 
> -Mike



It wasn't WJLA. The game was in SD in Baltimore. I guess having Kansas and USC games in HD at the same time was too much and they couldn't have 3 HD games in the same 8pm E time slot.


Rich N.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> We got a good deal from Sony on XDCam and dedicated a machine to the process, its still a PITA to get it to the home viewer.



But very much appreciated. Do other stations showing Wheel and Jeopardy! in HD have to go thru the same hoops (if you know anybody say up in NY) Robert, or is the setup at ABC-7?



> Quote:
> It wasn't WJLA. The game was in SD in Baltimore. I guess having Kansas and USC games in HD at the same time was too much and they couldn't have 3 HD games in the same 8pm E time slot.



Both the 3:30 and 8pm games shown locally were not listed as HD in my DirecTV guide. I blame ESPN (formerly "ABC Sports") here as they do the same thing with some college hoops games that do not go to as large an audience.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/12191536
> 
> 
> Did something change at WRC this weekend? I noticed that my DVR didn't get any of the shows set up to record since Friday and I can't seem to pull in the station anymore.



WRC-DT 4 was there last night when I tuned to it OTA. You might want to do a rescan or manually tune to 48.1, the actual broadcast channel for WRC-DT. It is possible that bad PSIP data messed up your tuner map. If that does not work, you may want to check the antenna aim and maybe tweak it a little.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/12192184
> 
> 
> But very much appreciated. Do other stations showing Wheel and Jeopardy! in HD have to go thru the same hoops (if you know anybody say up in NY) Robert, or is the setup at ABC-7?



Its unique to us. Its basically a tape machine (yes, I know its a disk), and running servers and tape machines at the same time to hit the segments and commercials with 1 second of each other is tricky.


It will go away next year when we jump into the deep end of the pool.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/12188418
> 
> *It's easy to diss MASN if they choose to wait until after the 2008 Os season to go HD, but if they feel that it will net them more money, they'll wait. Remember that businesses are out, first and foremost, to make a profit.*



I may regret replying to this, but I'll go ahead anyway. If MASN does not offer a HD channel for the 2008 season, the Os and the National will be the ONLY MLB teams that are not on a regional sports network with a HD channel. In the 2007 season, there were only 3 teams that were not on RSN with a HD channel. The third was the Kansas City Royals who are moving to a Fox SN next year which will have a HD channel with some games in HD. Of course, most of the RSNs are providing mostly only home games in HD. Some of the more heeled teams and sports networks have taken steps to provide more road games in HD, at least for the closer cities or prime rival franchises. The bottom line is that the RSNs for 28 of the 30 MLB teams have decided that it is worthwhile to provide a HD channel to get the HD viewers and protect their investment in the broadcast rights as HD goes mainstream.


Meanwhile MASN is still doing this maybe we will, maybe we won't have HD channel bit in their public statements. I chalk this up to Peter Angelos' waffling management style because this is how he has been running the Os (into the ground) for the past decade. I think MASN will have a HD channel by the start of the 2008 MLB season, but there will be only MASN-HD which will carry one team or the other in HD. Probably no MASN2-HD until 2009.


----------



## DRal

Does Comcast in Arlington have any plans to add ESPNU?


----------



## jimrobinette

If 28/30 teams broadcast home games in HD, then every MLB game next season will be broadcast in HD with the exception of 162 games (81 each) that are played in DC and Baltimore! At least we can see the Nats and O's in HD when they are on the road!











> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/12193083
> 
> 
> I may regret replying to this, but I'll go ahead anyway. If MASN does not offer a HD channel for the 2008 season, the Os and the National will be the ONLY MLB teams that are not on a regional sports network with a HD channel. In the 2007 season, there were only 3 teams that were not on RSN with a HD channel. The third was the Kansas City Royals who are moving to a Fox SN next year which will have a HD channel with some games in HD. Of course, most of the RSNs are providing mostly only home games in HD. Some of the more heeled teams and sports networks have taken steps to provide more road games in HD, at least for the closer cities or prime rival franchises. The bottom line is that the RSNs for 28 of the 30 MLB teams have decided that it is worthwhile to provide a HD channel to get the HD viewers and protect their investment in the broadcast rights as HD goes mainstream.


----------



## raidbuck




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DRal* /forum/post/12193427
> 
> 
> Does Comcast in Arlington have any plans to add ESPNU?



Comcast has no plans to add ESPNU anywhere. ESPN wants it on the basic or basic digital and Comcast wants it on its sports tier. Until that gets resolved it won't be anywhere on Comcast.


Rich N.


----------



## mdviewer25

Is anyone else having trouble with the PSIP data for WDCW-DT? According to my receiver, as I'm typing this it is about 7:30pm. That's the only channel that shows the incorrect time. Every other channel shows the right program info, time, and date. Channel 50 shows "No Title" for the show and a time that is 6 hours fast. Also, the signals for WRC-DT and WTTG-DT seem weaker than before. It's still at around 90% but the slightest change in the antenna position and the picture breaks up. Last, are there any updates on a full power date for WUTB-DT?


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/12192809
> 
> 
> Its unique to us. Its basically a tape machine (yes, I know its a disk), and running servers and tape machines at the same time to hit the segments and commercials with 1 second of each other is tricky.
> 
> I will go away next year when we jump into the deep end of the pool.



Hey Robert -


Does that mean there will be an opening? I can send a resume!


;-)


Mark


----------



## weaver6




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *raidbuck* /forum/post/12193939
> 
> 
> Comcast has no plans to add ESPNU anywhere. ESPN wants it on the basic or basic digital and Comcast wants it on its sports tier. Until that gets resolved it won't be anywhere on Comcast.
> 
> 
> Rich N.



They may want to be on the base tier, but apparently that is not mandatory. They are on the sports tier on DirecTV.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jimrobinette* /forum/post/12193519
> 
> 
> If 28/30 teams broadcast home games in HD, then every MLB game next season will be broadcast in HD with the exception of 162 games (81 each) that are played in DC and Baltimore! At least we can see the Nats and O's in HD when they are on the road!



I hope the smiley face meant a joke since locals won't get out of market broadcasts, no how, no way (legally, at least).


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *weaver6* /forum/post/12198173
> 
> 
> They may want to be on the base tier, but apparently that is not mandatory. They are on the sports tier on DirecTV.



It is the case for cable, basic/digital basic only ... Comcast said they can launch any day they want on the sports tier and ESPN has said no dice.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/12191631
> 
> 
> If you look at it from a management point of view, the way we have to get Jeopardy HD to show onto 7.1, costs us more in manhours EVERY DAY (read run it manually and someone pushing a play button), then it will deliver in ADDITIONAL REVENUE.
> 
> 
> We got a good deal from Sony on XDCam and dedicated a machine to the process, its still a PITA to get it to the home viewer.



Your efforts are greatly appreciated. Thanks!


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/12196443
> 
> 
> Hey Robert -
> 
> 
> Does that mean there will be an opening? I can send a resume!
> 
> 
> ;-)
> 
> 
> Mark




I fixed the typo. BTW, your IQ is too high to work here.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/12194635
> 
> 
> Is anyone else having trouble with the PSIP data for WDCW-DT? According to my receiver, as I'm typing this it is about 7:30pm. That's the only channel that shows the incorrect time. Every other channel shows the right program info, time, and date. Channel 50 shows "No Title" for the show and a time that is 6 hours fast. Also, the signals for WRC-DT and WTTG-DT seem weaker than before. It's still at around 90% but the slightest change in the antenna position and the picture breaks up. Last, are there any updates on a full power date for WUTB-DT?



The displayed time for WDCW-DT 50 is off by some 6 hours. I also don't see any program info showing up for the programming. Someone should email or call them to let them know their programming info data is messed up, in case they don't know it.


As for WUTB-DT My 24, the station was granted a final 6 month extension to the "Use or Lose" waiver on going full power on their digital signal back in May. Any extensions after this will require a vote from the FCC board itself. Looking it up, the release date of the FCC order was May 18 and I read the wording as the deadline is 6 months from the release date of the order. Which would be November 18. So unless Fox, the owner of WUTB, has filed a request for another extension, if WUTB-DT is not at full power by next Monday - as I understand it - they could lose the rights to broadcast over a larger area than that reached by their weak 530 Watt signal. The clock is ticking. This could be interesting if WUTB-DT is still at low power on Monday.


WHUT-DT 33 was on the same list of stations that were granted a final 6 month extension as WUTB-DT 24. So that is why the Howard University owned WHUT-DT went on the air several weeks ago. So they are now in compliance, but not the Fox Broadcasting owned WUTB-DT 24. A little odd.


----------



## jimrobinette

Tony,


I was a little bit of both. If you are a D* subscriber, you can get all the local sports networks for about $10/month in the sports packages.


Why can't the two teams from one of the largest markets in the US get HD?!?










Oh well....


Jim



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/12198213
> 
> 
> I hope the smiley face meant a joke since locals won't get out of market broadcasts, no how, no way (legally, at least).


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jimrobinette* /forum/post/12208811
> 
> 
> Tony,
> 
> 
> I was a little bit of both. If you are a D* subscriber, you can get all the local sports networks for about $10/month in the sports packages.
> 
> 
> Why can't the two teams from one of the largest markets in the US get HD?!?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Oh well....
> 
> 
> Jim



$$$$$


----------



## CycloneGT

Looks like the ink is still wet with DirectTV's meeting with Viacom. D* has added 5 new Viacom HD channels today.


Nickelodeon (NIK1HD) 299

Spike HD 325

Country Music Television (CMTHD) 327

MTV HD 331

VH1 HD 335


They also added a handful of RSNs from out of our area. Those RSNs are part time and only show HD during games (like E* does now). I wonder how much of the new additions will be True HD and how much will be SD on a HD channel?


----------



## jcorwin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikepinkerton* /forum/post/12186937
> 
> 
> I couldn't find anything here or in the HDTV programming forum about why the BC/MD prime time ABC game wasn't in HD. I thought all the 8pm ABC games (even though they may be regional) were in HD, esp. one with a top-10 team playing.
> 
> 
> Or did WJLA just forget to flip the switch? *ducks*
> 
> -Mike



ABC had an SD truck in College Park.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jimrobinette* /forum/post/12208811
> 
> 
> Tony,
> 
> 
> I was a little bit of both. If you are a D* subscriber, you can get all the local sports networks for about $10/month in the sports packages.
> 
> 
> Why can't the two teams from one of the largest markets in the US get HD?!?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Oh well....
> 
> 
> Jim



But the MLB games are not included in that package. You have to sign up for Extra Innings. And you won't get out of market Orioles or Nationals games anyway. The O's and Nats own the local rights and the out of market broadcasts are blacked out.


(I am a DirecTV sub with the Sports Pack, EI, NFL Sunday Ticket and more.)


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikepinkerton* /forum/post/12186937
> 
> 
> I couldn't find anything here or in the HDTV programming forum about why the BC/MD prime time ABC game wasn't in HD. I thought all the 8pm ABC games (even though they may be regional) were in HD, esp. one with a top-10 team playing.
> 
> 
> Or did WJLA just forget to flip the switch? *ducks*
> 
> -Mike



ABC can only do 2 HD games at the same time. There were 4 (I think) games on 8pm this past Saturday.


----------



## Marcus Carr

New HD and SD channels for Comcast in Frederick County, MD effective 12/11. A former Adelphia area. Includes USA HD and Sci Fi HD.

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r194...-December-11th


----------



## CuseHokie




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/12221040
> 
> 
> New HD and SD channels for Comcast in Frederick County, MD effective 12/11. A former Adelphia area. Includes USA HD and Sci Fi HD.
> 
> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r194...-December-11th



I wonder if any of the former Adelphia areas in NVA will get the same...


Your lineup, numerically, is identical to mine (Loudoun).


You'll have 5 new HD channels that I won't (Food, HG, SciFi, USA, PPV).


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CuseHokie* /forum/post/12222346
> 
> 
> Your lineup, numerically, is identical to mine (Loudoun).
> 
> 
> You'll have 5 new HD channels that I won't (Food, HG, SciFi, USA, PPV).



I'm in Baltimore City. No word on Sci Fi or USA yet.


----------



## zebras23

FYI:


As of this morning, the free preview included the HD versions of Showtime (853), TMC (854) and Starz (855).


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/12207267
> 
> 
> 
> As for WUTB-DT My 24, the station was granted a final 6 month extension to the "Use or Lose" waiver on going full power on their digital signal back in May. Any extensions after this will require a vote from the FCC board itself. Looking it up, the release date of the FCC order was May 18 and I read the wording as the deadline is 6 months from the release date of the order. Which would be November 18. So unless Fox, the owner of WUTB, has filed a request for another extension, if WUTB-DT is not at full power by next Monday - as I understand it - they could lose the rights to broadcast over a larger area than that reached by their weak 530 Watt signal. The clock is ticking. This could be interesting if WUTB-DT is still at low power on Monday.



While I don't know exactly when it's going to be finished, I do know that WUTB is actively working on their full-power upgrade right now. There's a lot of activity going on at the transmitter site. I wouldn't expect them to be finished for a month or so, however.


----------



## tonyd79

LOL.


Comcast Sports Net is starting to tout its HD over "the other channel."


Maybe MASN will answer back. Maybe not.


But it is funny to hear Comcast bashing MASN when most of their promotional brochures have MASN plastered all over them.


----------



## StevenJB

I spoke by telephone with a lead engineer at WHUT-DT on Tuesday. I told him that I was positive that I was not receiving any PSIP on 33.1 for a signal that was 95+ for me in Olney, MD. I explained that I was unable to scan and map 33.1 to 32-01 and that there wasn't any program description. He professed genuine surprise at my discovery saying that this was the very first time that he had heard about a possible problem of no PSIP. He told me that he wasn't even aware of any such problem because there is a line-of-sight large building blocking most of WHUT-DT's digital signal from its digital transmitter to the his HU studio.


Because of this, he told me that WHUT-DT must temporarily depend on one of the other transmitter's tenants to merge WHUT-DT's PSIP onto the WHUT-DT's digital signal. I won't say which station he mentioned but WHUT-DT does share this tower with WETA-DT and WUSA-DT. He said that it would be several more months before WHUT-DT could remotely control its own PSIP by itself.


Needless to say, he was very annoyed at the lack of the PSIP and sincerely thanked me several times for calling it to his attention. He told me that as soon as we concluded our conversation, he would be contacting the engineers of that other station he had been depending upon since WHUT-DT initiated its digital service.


I hope that I helped him out. We'll soon see.


----------



## CycloneGT

Thanks for that post Steve. I can't get this station at all on my Dish 622, and I'm certain that this is due to the PSIP issues.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/12231021
> 
> 
> I spoke by telephone with a lead engineer at WHUT-DT on Tuesday. I told him that I was positive that I was not receiving any PSIP on 33.1 for a signal that was 95+ for me in Olney, MD. I explained that I was unable to scan and map 33.1 to 32-01 and that there wasn't any program description. He professed genuine surprise at my discovery saying that this was the very first time that he had heard about a possible problem of no PSIP. He told me that he wasn't even aware of any such problem because there is a line-of-sight large building blocking most of WHUT-DT's digital signal from its digital transmitter to the his HU studio.



Wouldn't he want to check his own station signal? Is that hard to go to a friends house or take a laptop with a $100 ATSC USB tuner plug-in and check to see what his station is putting out on the digital channel? Call someone and ask them to take a look at the WHUT-DT channel?










Anyway, we should check WHUT-DT 33 to see when they fix the channel mapping issue. The programming description information is more work as someone has to provide and update all that data on a regular basis.


BTW, Mark, thanks for the WUTB-DT 24 update. There may be some 30 days from the date of the FCC notice fudge factor in there. So WUTB-DT 24 will finally go full power in the next month or so and we can finally say that all the full power stations in Baltimore and DC are at their currently licensed nominal full power on their digital signal as well. WHAG-DT NBC 25 in Hagerstown will be at low power until close to or after the analog shutdown, but that is out of market for most of us here.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/12231021
> 
> 
> He told me that as soon as we concluded our conversation, he would be contacting the engineers of that other station he had been depending upon since WHUT-DT initiated its digital service.
> 
> 
> I hope that I helped him out. We'll soon see.



Your phone call actually made a difference! I just checked and WHUT-DT 32 now maps to 32.1 from the broadcast channel 33. There is now also a program description, although it was for the wrong program. So they still need to fix that, but this is progress.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/12237852
> 
> 
> Your phone call actually made a difference! I just checked and WHUT-DT 32 now maps to 32.1 from the broadcast channel 33. There is now also a program description, although it was for the wrong program. So they still need to fix that, but this is progress.



Yeah, how about that! I too just mapped 32-1 onto my 622. Full program description and station call letters. Bigger than life full SD 480i on 32-1! Wow!


I just achieved my 15 minutes of fame!







[modest bow]


----------



## OldHud




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/12239724
> 
> 
> Yeah, how about that! I too just mapped 32-1 onto my 622. Full program description and station call letters... I just achieved my 15 minutes of fame!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> [modest bow]



Funny thing, WETA-DT program data also reappeared, and the time is correct now, too. Just a coincidence, Stephen?


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *OldHud* /forum/post/12242538
> 
> 
> Funny thing, WETA-DT program data also reappeared, and the time is correct now, too. Just a coincidence, Stephen?



That is so funny. Thanks for sharing that.


I said before that I didn't want to divulge which station sharing WHUT-DT's digital tower was remiss in not physically merging WHUT-DT's PSIP onto their signal like they were supposed to do.










But, with WUSA-DT and WETA-DT sharing the tower with WHUT-DT, I guess that a degree in electrical engineering will not be required in order to figure it out anymore now that the culprit has tipped their own hand!










I wonder if the FCC would laugh, as well? After all, it happened right under their own noses in their home and HQ city on local DTV! I guess they just don't watch Channel 32, do they?


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/12243218
> 
> 
> I wonder if the FCC would laugh, as well? After all, it happened right under their own noses in their home and HQ city on local DTV! I guess they just don't watch Channel 32, do they?



Does anyone? LOL!


----------



## tjman

Anybody know why WJLA did not show the Va Tech - Miami game in HD today? Other markets carried the game in HD, so the feed was available.


----------



## tonyd79

It was in HD on WMAR.


I know the PSU/MSU game on ESPN shifted to SD for a while.


----------



## iontyre

I was hoping to see others with this issue here, but I don't see it anywhere...


We have Comcast digital in Harford County. Until this week, all the HD channels worked fine. Now, ESPN-HD (252) and Comcast Sportsnet HD (251) are full of breakups and sound dropouts. All the other HD channels are fine. It has been getting progressively worse all week. ESPN was at least watchable till this evening, now its a total mess!! No one else is seeing this??


----------



## OldHud




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/12243218
> 
> 
> That is so funny. Thanks for sharing that.
> 
> But, with WUSA-DT and WETA-DT sharing the tower with WHUT-DT, I guess that a degree in electrical engineering will not be required in order to figure it out anymore now that the culprit has tipped their own hand!



Even funnier - don't know why we didn't notice this before - the program guide for 32-1 is identical to the guide on 26-1.


By the way, I DO have a degree in electrical engineering.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *OldHud* /forum/post/12248908
> 
> 
> Even funnier - don't know why we didn't notice this before - the program guide for 32-1 is identical to the guide on 26-1.



LOL! That is absolutely bizarre! This keeps getting better and better!



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *OldHud* /forum/post/12248908
> 
> 
> By the way, I DO have a degree in electrical engineering.



I hope that you didn't take offense. Certainly, none was meant.


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *iontyre* /forum/post/12247476
> 
> 
> I was hoping to see others with this issue here, but I don't see it anywhere...
> 
> 
> We have Comcast digital in Harford County. Until this week, all the HD channels worked fine. Now, ESPN-HD (252) and Comcast Sportsnet HD (251) are full of breakups and sound dropouts. All the other HD channels are fine. It has been getting progressively worse all week. ESPN was at least watchable till this evening, now its a total mess!! No one else is seeing this??



I am in Harford and have no problems. You need a service visit.


GoIrish


----------



## iontyre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *iontyre* /forum/post/12247476
> 
> 
> I was hoping to see others with this issue here, but I don't see it anywhere...
> 
> 
> We have Comcast digital in Harford County. Until this week, all the HD channels worked fine. Now, ESPN-HD (252) and Comcast Sportsnet HD (251) are full of breakups and sound dropouts. All the other HD channels are fine. It has been getting progressively worse all week. ESPN was at least watchable till this evening, now its a total mess!! No one else is seeing this??



Ok, never mind, appears to have been some kind of crosstalk between my power and signal cables. I have a lot connected, especially since adding my Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD player. Moved the cables a bit and the problem went away.


----------



## alexandriahokie




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tjman* /forum/post/12246000
> 
> 
> Anybody know why WJLA did not show the Va Tech - Miami game in HD today? Other markets carried the game in HD, so the feed was available.



No, but I was FURIOUS. Talk about asleep at the switch. Thanks, WJLA.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Anybody know why WJLA did not show the Va Tech - Miami game in HD today? Other markets carried the game in HD, so the feed was available.



Must have been the same crew that forgot to show "Men In Trees" in HD for several weeks about a month ago...







WJLA has more problems than all the other local stations combined. Time to call the station again!


----------



## OldHud




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/12249924
> 
> 
> I hope that you didn't take offense. Certainly, none was meant.



None taken. I thought it was an amusing coincidence. Actually, most of the people on this forum know more about the subject than most EEs.


----------



## CoralReefer

Guys, I live in Arlington and I've been having a problem that is driving me nuts and I'm hoping that someone on this thread can explain what might be happening. In short, every time I watch a channel such as ESPNHD on my Samsung 4061F the scrolling ticker at the bottom will sometimes do a slight "jump or jerk" to the left by one or two characters. Also, when watching sporting events sometimes it will seem like the screen will do a split second "pause/jerk" and then catch up to the action again. This split second pause (it's very quick) is very annoying. I'm using Verizon FiOS through a Motorola HD box using an HDMI cable.


I've done about everything I can to isolate the issue. I burned a DVD of a "good" ESPN ticker and my TV seemed to handle this fine. I've also noticed that on my Standard Def set upstairs sometimes the picture will "raise up" about a half inch and the drop back down again in a split second (I had to tape this on TiVO and then play it back to see what was going on). I've also had pixelation going on in both the HD and SD sets.


My Samsung 4061F had the repair service where they replaced the mainboard and power supply about a month ago. I'm starting to think maybe it is the Verizon FiOS signal. The interesting thing, however, is that I was over at a friends house who recently bought a Samsung Plasma and he was having the exact same issues (e.g., the ESPNHD scrolling ticker would 'jerk' to the left and the screen seemed to do a split second pause or jerk just as mine) but he has Comcast service. I've also noticed this problem is a much more pronounced sense sometimes when I'm watching television on a flat screen at an airport.


I guess my question is whether anyone else has experienced this watching the ESPN ticker or have seen anything like this watching sporting events? Given some of the tests I've done I'm starting to think (hope) it's not the TV.


Please help! I'm not sure where else to turn. Does anybody have any idea what might be going on? By the way, I've also tried all of the different sources (e.g., Component, AV, HDMI2, etc.) and always the same thing. Any thoughts would be much appreciated. I need to figure this thing out.


----------



## aaronwt

I don't notice anything like that with my four HDTiVos on FIOS with cable cards. I haven't used the FIOS HD STB for anything but Video On Demand, but I haven't noticed anything there either.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CoralReefer* /forum/post/12254693
> 
> 
> In short, every time I watch a channel such as ESPNHD on my Samsung 4061F the scrolling ticker at the bottom will sometimes do a slight "jump or jerk" to the left by one or two characters. Also, when watching sporting events sometimes it will seem like the screen will do a split second "pause/jerk" and then catch up to the action again. This split second pause (it's very quick) is very annoying. I'm using Verizon FiOS through a Motorola HD box using an HDMI cable.



I have not seen this problem, but if it occurs only once in a while, I probably would have paid little attention to it. How often is "sometimes" for the what sounds like a very short dropout?


If you have gone through all the connections and setting options, have you swapped out the Motorola 6416 DVR? The DVR is always recording the program to the hard drive and your unit may have some hardware problems that result in momentary dropouts.


----------



## CoralReefer

The sound dropouts may occur once every day for a second or two (what I notice). The ticker seems to "jump" to the left every 40 seconds or so if I'm watching ESPN, CNN, etc. The most annoying part is when I'm watching sports and there is that slight pause/jerk that occurs. I was wondering if this is the infamous "judder" that people talk about as I'm fairly new to HDTV but reading this board it doesn't seem like a big issue. I did swamp out the Motorola for a new box but the new box does the same thing. The interesting thing is that my SD box just once in a while (maybe twice a night if I'm watching) has the same jerkiness to the ticker. It's because the SD and HD TV show the same jerkiness that I thought it was the FiOS signal. But, I have seen this on my friends television who uses Comcast in DC. Just wondering to see if others have this same issue or may know what is going on?


----------



## voltore




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/12243218
> 
> 
> That is so funny. Thanks for sharing that.
> 
> 
> I said before that I didn't want to divulge which station sharing WHUT-DT's digital tower was remiss in not physically merging WHUT-DT's PSIP onto their signal like they were supposed to do.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But, with WUSA-DT and WETA-DT sharing the tower with WHUT-DT, I guess that a degree in electrical engineering will not be required in order to figure it out anymore now that the culprit has tipped their own hand!



The UHF antenna is shared with WUSA-DT, WJLA-DT, WHUT-DT and WETA-DT. All I'll say the only connection from WETA and WHUT with WJLA and WUSA is at the combiner. Nuff said!


----------



## kuko_ako

Apologies in advance if this question has been asked before. I'm a newbie and I browsed through a good number of posts but haven't found the answer to my question. I live in a _high-rise apartment in downtown Washington, DC_ whose rooftop antenna sorely needs updating (OTA reception of HDTV is spotty at best). For HDTV content, I only (mostly) care for broadcast networks--e.g., WRC, WJLA, WUSA. My question is, *will I be able to get HDTV channels with just basic cable* (I believe these are called "clear to air" channels)? If yes, which channels are these? If not, what is the absolute minimum Comcast service that I should subscribe to? Thanks in advance for the help.


----------



## valweh41

i had the same thing with my samsung. you can get a firmware update that fixes the problem...call tech support, it can be emailed to you. also see this link...
http://samsungplasmatvfaq.com/index.php/Main_Page 

you can dl the updates from here too




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CoralReefer* /forum/post/12257324
> 
> 
> The sound dropouts may occur once every day for a second or two (what I notice). The ticker seems to "jump" to the left every 40 seconds or so if I'm watching ESPN, CNN, etc. The most annoying part is when I'm watching sports and there is that slight pause/jerk that occurs. I was wondering if this is the infamous "judder" that people talk about as I'm fairly new to HDTV but reading this board it doesn't seem like a big issue. I did swamp out the Motorola for a new box but the new box does the same thing. The interesting thing is that my SD box just once in a while (maybe twice a night if I'm watching) has the same jerkiness to the ticker. It's because the SD and HD TV show the same jerkiness that I thought it was the FiOS signal. But, I have seen this on my friends television who uses Comcast in DC. Just wondering to see if others have this same issue or may know what is going on?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kuko_ako* /forum/post/12258628
> 
> 
> I live in a _high-rise apartment in downtown Washington, DC_ whose rooftop antenna sorely needs updating (OTA reception of HDTV is spotty at best). For HDTV content, I only (mostly) care for broadcast networks--e.g., WRC, WJLA, WUSA. My question is, *will I be able to get HDTV channels with just basic cable* (I believe these are called "clear to air" channels)? If yes, which channels are these? If not, what is the absolute minimum Comcast service that I should subscribe to? Thanks in advance for the help.



Yes, the HD local stations will be in the clear. These are part of a basic cable tier. Comcast is likely to charge you extra for a HD STB and a HD tier; someone more familiar with the Comcast pricing in DC needs to answer that. But the digital version of the local broadcast stations, IF they are provided, are required by the FCC to be sent in the clear. So if you have a HD TV with a QAM tuner you should be able to get the broadcast networks: ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, CW, PBS in HD. However, unless Comcast is passing on the PSIP data, these channels will be at odd locations such as QAM channel 97.2, 103.4, and so on.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/12263190
> 
> 
> Yes, the HD local stations will be in the clear. These are part of a basic cable tier. Comcast is likely to charge you extra for a HD STB and a HD tier; someone more familiar with the Comcast pricing in DC needs to answer that. But the digital version of the local broadcast stations, IF they are provided, are required by the FCC to be sent in the clear. So if you have a HD TV with a QAM tuner you should be able to get the broadcast networks: ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, CW, PBS in HD. However, unless Comcast is passing on the PSIP data, these channels will be at odd locations such as QAM channel 97.2, 103.4, and so on.



Around here the stations on Comcast show up on the right channel from a TV with a QAM tuner. Sometimes the sub channel number was off a bit, like 7.6, but they were mapped to the correct main channel number.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *OldHud* /forum/post/12248908
> 
> 
> Even funnier - don't know why we didn't notice this before - the program guide for 32-1 is identical to the guide on 26-1.



The sad saga continues. Channel 32-1, WHUT-DT continues to mirror the identical program guide of Channel 26-1, WETA-HD on the WHUT-DT OTA signal. I say it is sad, because the good people at WHUT-DT probably have no idea of what is going on because they are either unable or unwilling to monitor their own signal or programming.


WHUT-DT depends upon the people at WETA to help them, WHUT, with their PSIP and this is what they, WHUT, appear to get in return. I'm not pointing any fingers but someone appears to be screwing up someplace. I'd like to tell WHUT-DT what is going on but it is so damned difficult to reach a live human at their engineering dept. without getting an automated voice which then asks you to leave a message.


Should I care since it was I who originally alerted WHUT-DT about their missing PSIP?


----------



## StevenJB

BTW, my Dish 622 DVR has not picked up any program guide information of any kind whatsoever for WHUT-DT now newly mapped onto 32-01 from OTA 33.1, as of yet. The EPG now simply reads "Digital Service". Not even programming belonging to 26-01, WETA-HD, described in my previous post, is showing up.


The EPG does feature full program descriptions for WHUT-TV Channel 32-00 analog programming, which is a subscribed and supplied local channel from Dish. I will make the assumption that programming on WHUT-TV and WHUT-DT is identical.


Does anybody else show anything or anything different at all for programming descriptions for WHUT-DT, Channel 32-1 in DC on their Dish or DirecTV receivers?


----------



## carltonrice

Last time I checked, DirecTV had yet to add 32.1 to their program guide and I'm not sure how you can even tune in the station until that happens. My other OTA HDTV gets a great signal though, and it does map to 32.1.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/12265529
> 
> 
> BTW, my Dish 622 DVR has not picked up any program guide information of any kind whatsoever for WHUT-DT now newly mapped onto 32-01 from OTA 33.1, as of yet. The EPG now simply reads "Digital Service". Not even programming belonging to 26-01, WETA-HD, described in my previous post, is showing up.
> 
> 
> The EPG does feature full program descriptions for WHUT-TV Channel 32-00 analog programming, which is a subscribed and supplied local channel from Dish. I will make the assumption that programming on WHUT-TV and WHUT-DT is identical.
> 
> 
> Does anybody else show anything or anything different at all for programming descriptions for WHUT-DT, Channel 32-1 in DC on their Dish or DirecTV receivers?


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/12266643
> 
> 
> Last time I checked, DirecTV had yet to add 32.1 to their program guide and I'm not sure how you can even tune in the station until that happens. My other OTA HDTV gets a great signal though, and it does map to 32.1.



The DishNetwork allows you to subscribe to certain local OTA digital and analog channels that they carry within your MSA based upon your ZIP code. I am approximately 15 miles from most of the Washington channels and about 25 miles from those of Baltimore. Dish allows me to subscribe to the greater Washington MSA analog locals for Channels 4, 5, 7, 9, 14, 20, 25, 26, 32, 42, 50, 53, 56, and 68 and the digital locals for Channels 4, 5, 7, and 9. Dish will not allow me to subscribe to ANY of the Baltimore MSA designated area analog and digital locals which include Channels 2, 11, 13, 22, 24, 45, and 54 because my ZIP code places me within the greater Washington MSA.


The Dish digital receivers are different than the DirecTV digital receivers. The Dish VIP-622 will allow me to scan and map ANY digital-only OTA channel onto my EPG regardless of whatever analog or digital channels that Dish has or hasn't downloaded onto my EPG included in my local channel package. This means that I can and have already downloaded every available digital channel within range of my antenna onto my 622 EPG within the Washington-Baltimore region including digital Channels 14, 22, 24, 30, 32, 57, and 66.


Even though Dish will not allow me to subscribe to the Baltimore area analog and digital locals, I am still able to download all of the Baltimore area OTA digital channels onto my EPG. What is also very interesting is that I do receive full program information for every OTA digital channel and sub-channel that I can download as long as its sister analog channel is provided and serviced to a particular ZIP by Dish whether I subscribe to it or not. Which also means that since Dish does not provide analog Channel 66 in Manassas to the Washington region local channel package or any place else for that matter, I cannot receive any program information on my EPG for digital channels 66.1, 66.2, 66.3, and 66.4. Also, it is my understanding that the VIP-622 will not supply ANY programming information of any kind for any channel whatsoever if you do not subscribe to your available Dish local channels package.


But, since Dish does supply program information for analog Channel 32, is any Dish sub on this board receiving any programming information, correct or incorrect, for Channel 32-01 on their digital receiver's EPG?


----------



## kuko_ako

*afiggatt and aaronwt*: Thanks so much--I'm all set!



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/12263190
> 
> 
> Yes, the HD local stations will be in the clear. These are part of a basic cable tier. Comcast is likely to charge you extra for a HD STB and a HD tier; someone more familiar with the Comcast pricing in DC needs to answer that. But the digital version of the local broadcast stations, IF they are provided, are required by the FCC to be sent in the clear. So if you have a HD TV with a QAM tuner you should be able to get the broadcast networks: ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, CW, PBS in HD. However, unless Comcast is passing on the PSIP data, these channels will be at odd locations such as QAM channel 97.2, 103.4, and so on.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/12265079
> 
> 
> Around here the stations on Comcast show up on the right channel from a TV with a QAM tuner. Sometimes the sub channel number was off a bit, like 7.6, but they were mapped to the correct main channel number.


----------



## drewman75

Hi All,

I tried as many combination of search words and such to find out this info, but could only get bits and pieces. So I figured I would ask. I apologize if this is plainly explained in a post and I missed it. So here goes.


Finally upgraded to an HDTV. I've had the an HD projector in the basement for a while for HD DVD, but the TV was working fine, so I couldn't bring myself to swap it out. Until now. Anyway, here is my question. I have FIOS TV and all of the HD broadcast channels for the most part (I get DC stations WJLA, WUSA, etc..) don't fill the screen (black bars on either side, but not 4:3). From the posts I have gotten back in search, I guess they are 14:9? So even though FIOS lists these as HD and the guide says the program is broadcast in HD, I am only getting a zoomed SD picture? Is that correct? Or is there something wrong with my TV that is preventing it from showing in full 16:9 (other channels display fine such as Food HD, Discovery HD, etc...). Am I missing something? Hoping someone can fill in the blanks for me. Thanks so much.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *drewman75* /forum/post/12272026
> 
> 
> Hi All,
> 
> I tried as many combination of search words and such to find out this info, but could only get bits and pieces. So I figured I would ask. I apologize if this is plainly explained in a post and I missed it. So here goes.
> 
> 
> Finally upgraded to an HDTV. I've had the an HD projector in the basement for a while for HD DVD, but the TV was working fine, so I couldn't bring myself to swap it out. Until now. Anyway, here is my question. I have FIOS TV and all of the HD broadcast channels for the most part (I get DC stations WJLA, WUSA, etc..) don't fill the screen (black bars on either side, but not 4:3). From the posts I have gotten back in search, I guess they are 14:9? So even though FIOS lists these as HD and the guide says the program is broadcast in HD, I am only getting a zoomed SD picture? Is that correct? Or is there something wrong with my TV that is preventing it from showing in full 16:9 (other channels display fine such as Food HD, Discovery HD, etc...). Am I missing something? Hoping someone can fill in the blanks for me. Thanks so much.




Are you watching a 16x9 show, or are you watching some junkie afternoon show?


Watch a network show in prime-time, non-reality, and it should be full HD 16x9. Otherwise, the networks (not FIOS) are just broadcasting their SD signal in an HD wrapper, adding the sidebars themselves.


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CuseHokie* /forum/post/12222346
> 
> 
> I wonder if any of the former Adelphia areas in NVA will get the same...
> 
> 
> Your lineup, numerically, is identical to mine (Loudoun).
> 
> 
> You'll have 5 new HD channels that I won't (Food, HG, SciFi, USA, PPV).



Can we assume a similar rollout for the rest of Comcast regarding USA HD 235 and SCI FI HD 236 on 12/11 in the DC MD NoVA area? I hope so!


I'd also like 229 HGTV HD and 231 Food Network HD in Manassas too


----------



## drewman75




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/12272045
> 
> 
> Are you watching a 16x9 show, or are you watching some junkie afternoon show?
> 
> 
> Watch a network show in prime-time, non-reality, and it should be full HD 16x9. Otherwise, the networks (not FIOS) are just broadcasting their SD signal in an HD wrapper, adding the sidebars themselves.



Hi, Thanks for the quick response. I was watching primetime network shows last night that I am certain are broadcast in HD. And everything today is the same way, but they might be non-HD I guess, although the FIOS guide info has the HD marker on them.


----------



## machpost

RCN in D.C. has added the following HD channels today:


171 NFL Network HD

173 Mojo HD

182 Food Network HD

183 HGTV HD


----------



## billodom




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CoralReefer* /forum/post/12254693
> 
> 
> I've also had pixelation going on in both the HD and SD sets.



Watching on a Samsung DLP. I have had pixelization on the ESPN HD channels for as long as I remember. It is relatively minor but enough that I notice. I've never reported it to FiOS tech support as I've chosen to accept it. Please keep us posted as to any resolution. I'll be happy to contact tech support depending on your experience. I never watch any of the ESPN SD channels.


----------



## tjman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/12269668
> 
> 
> 
> But, since Dish does supply program information for analog Channel 32, is any Dish sub on this board receiving any programming information, correct or incorrect, for Channel 32-01 on their digital receiver's EPG?



Nothing for me on 32-01 via my Dish VIP-622. It just says "digital service."


----------



## Patdeisa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kuko_ako* /forum/post/12258628
> 
> 
> Apologies in advance if this question has been asked before. I'm a newbie and I browsed through a good number of posts but haven't found the answer to my question. I live in a _high-rise apartment in downtown Washington, DC_ whose rooftop antenna sorely needs updating (OTA reception of HDTV is spotty at best). For HDTV content, I only (mostly) care for broadcast networks--e.g., WRC, WJLA, WUSA. My question is, *will I be able to get HDTV channels with just basic cable* (I believe these are called "clear to air" channels)? If yes, which channels are these? If not, what is the absolute minimum Comcast service that I should subscribe to? Thanks in advance for the help.



If you're getting OTA HDTV reception that's spotty, you can also try adding a signal amplifier. I have an internal antenna (the set top type) with a built in 30dB amplifier that's routed throughout the house until I set up something more permanent. One TV had spotty reception (I guess the tuner had troubles pulling the signal more than others), but a relatively cheap 10dB amplifier on that line helped tremendously (signal strength of 40% now 50%+), and now it rarely drops out. It's another option that you can try and return if it doesn't work.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CoralReefer* /forum/post/12254693
> 
> 
> In short, every time I watch a channel such as ESPNHD on my Samsung 4061F the scrolling ticker at the bottom will sometimes do a slight "jump or jerk" to the left by one or two characters. Also, when watching sporting events sometimes it will seem like the screen will do a split second "pause/jerk" and then catch up to the action again. This split second pause (it's very quick) is very annoying. I'm using Verizon FiOS through a Motorola HD box using an HDMI cable.



Sorry for not replying so soon; I haven't been monitoring the forum recently.


It's probably ESPN and a bad keyer. I've noticed similar things with NFL Network's ticker with certain motion. Sometimes the judder comes in and out with cuts in and out of certain scenes.


----------



## hokiefan

Wow, no complaints about The Incredibles not being in HD on WRC or WBAL? I couldn't believe I had to jump to page 2 of the locals forum to find our thread







. Is everyone waiting in line at best buy or something?


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hokiefan* /forum/post/12290160
> 
> 
> Wow, no complaints about The Incredibles not being in HD on WRC or WBAL? I couldn't believe I had to jump to page 2 of the locals forum to find our thread
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . Is everyone waiting in line at best buy or something?



Sorry - watching dodgeball in HD on WBFF.


----------



## hokiefan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/12290262
> 
> 
> Sorry - watching dodgeball in HD on WBFF.



Ha! You homer!










I called WRC and the lady working in "transmission" didnt realize their mistake, and switched it. Well I did my good deed for the day.


----------



## bucnasty

the cox rep at the tysons best buy this morning told me he expects 20 more HD channels by christmas....


multi-room dvr is still a ways off though


----------



## markbulla

On Dish, channel 5710, labeled "TEST" is Discovery HD Theater in the clear. I expect that it only available on the HD boxes...


Cheers!


----------



## kuko_ako

Sorry, but the cable guy just came to activate (lowest-level) basic cable: No HD through cable on my Tivo Series 3. Help!



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kuko_ako* /forum/post/12270218
> 
> *afiggatt and aaronwt*: Thanks so much--I'm all set!


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kuko_ako* /forum/post/12295270
> 
> 
> Sorry, but the cable guy just came to activate (lowest-level) basic cable: No HD through cable on my Tivo Series 3. Help!



This thread has been quiet over the weekend!


You did not say you were getting a Series 3 Tivo. You should check with the Tivo forums such as tivocommunity.com for the details. But my understanding is that the software in the HD Tivos does not allow for manual channel remapping. Tivo intended for these boxes to be used with a cable card provided by the cable company or for Over the Air use. The cable card provides not only the decryption codes but the channel mapping from the internal QAM channels. The cable company may change the QAM channel locations without advance notice and does not publish them, so Tivo did not plan for their boxes to be used without a cable card for cable hook-ups. They might be working on a software update to allow for manual remapping so you can make use of the guide, but I am not up on the details of this. The posters at the Series 3 / TivoHD forum at tivocommunity.com would know more than I do on this.


One option is to get a cable card, preferably a Multi-stream card, from the cable company. They usually charge $2-$4/month for 1 card, but you might also have to pay a monthly rate for an HD tier. The other option is to put up an antenna and get the local digital stations over the air for free.


----------



## GoIrish

Coming January 8th in Baltimore City, Harford, Baltimore, Carroll and Howard counties;


USA HD, Sci-Fi HD, CNN HD, Disc HD, TLC HD, History HD


GoIrish


----------



## jacindc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GoIrish* /forum/post/12317459
> 
> 
> Coming January 8th in Baltimore City, Harford, Baltimore, Carroll and Howard counties;
> 
> 
> USA HD, Sci-Fi HD, CNN HD, Disc HD, TLC HD, History HD
> 
> 
> GoIrish



Maybe in DC we'll get one or two of those.







Do those counties have HGTV-HD? (which I think is the only one of the recent additions that DC still doesn't have)


----------



## GoIrish

Yes, they added Food HD, HGTVHD and TBS HD in October


----------



## tmeader




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GoIrish* /forum/post/12317459
> 
> 
> Coming January 8th in Baltimore City, Harford, Baltimore, Carroll and Howard counties;
> 
> 
> USA HD, Sci-Fi HD, CNN HD, Disc HD, TLC HD, History HD
> 
> 
> GoIrish



Any idea if these will also be coming to Anne Arundel County? Would be great to have Sci-Fi in time for Battlestar Galactica next year


----------



## rallen

Universal HD used to rebroadcast Battlestar Galactica in HD, if you have that one.


----------



## tmeader




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rallen* /forum/post/12318684
> 
> 
> Universal HD used to rebroadcast Battlestar Galactica in HD, if you have that one.



Yeah, but the rebroadcasts of the current season occur almost 6 months after they initially air on Sci-Fi.


Got tired of having all the episodes spoiled for me, so hopefully this will take care of that issue


----------



## Marcus Carr

Great news on the new channels. Only missing Animal Planet, which has been announced for some Comcast systems.


----------



## CycloneGT

Too bad they aren't carrying the Science channel. That is the best of the five Discovery HD networks.


You guys are in for a treat, Those Discovery networks even when showing SD still look much better than all other SD upconvert channels.


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p

USA HD, Sci-Fi HD, CNN HD, Disc HD, TLC HD, History HD


great for Bmore and vicinity any chance for NoVa and Manassas?


did they send you a post card or email how did you find out?


thanks


----------



## GoIrish

Close friend. Not announced to the public until next week.


Don't know about other areas. Wouldn't be surprised to see AA County and NOVA announcing similar channels very soon based on what I hear.


GoIrish


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hokiefan* /forum/post/12290160
> 
> 
> Wow, no complaints about The Incredibles not being in HD on WRC or WBAL? I couldn't believe I had to jump to page 2 of the locals forum to find our thread
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . Is everyone waiting in line at best buy or something?



They did a better job with the HD broadcast on Saturday night. I didn't realize it was on again so I had to record it at my girlfriends since I was there. Now I need to bring a portable hard drive over and transfer the 20+GB recording to the PC and the hard drive so I can bring it home and transfer it to my PC then HD TiVos. I love the MRV/TiVo to Go. This wouldn't be possible without it. And the 5.1DD and excellent HD picture stays intact.


----------



## PhillyGuy

Does any one know if National Geographic HD is supposed to be included in the HD tier for people who have Comcast's Triple Play? I live in Baltimore and I get all of the HD channels expect for NGHD, which is one channel that I really like. Do I have to upgrade to full digital in order to get it? Thanks.


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p

cool go Irish thanks for the inside info, it is appriciated!


----------



## jsilva982

Hi All,


I have NBA League Pass, but I do not get the Celtics-Cavs game through that because it is on NBA.TV channel. MOJO picks up NBATV games, and it is listed as an HD game on that channel right now on the program guide (which I noticed this morning and have been looking forward to all day!). However, about an hour before the game the channel got "blacked out"- it says "Temporarily Off Air." I have RCN in the DC area. Thanks for any help.


Josh


----------



## Marcus Carr

DirecTV has added Biography HD.


----------



## wfujosh

Any news on additional HD channels for COX Fairfax?


----------



## jumpr

Is anyone else disgusted with the HD boxes (and regular non-HD boxes, for that matter) from Comcast in Howard County? My parents back in Detroit have brand new Motorola DCH3416 dual-tuner DVRs, and in Howard County, Comcast hands out dinky Pace boxes that have slo-o-o-o-w IPG performance. Has anyone had any experience with getting a newer HD box, preferably a Motorola one, in Howard County?


----------



## mark_1581

Comcast Arlington/Alexandria channel lineup now shows


HGTV HD 229

Food Network HD 231

CNN HD 234

USA HD 235

SCIFI HD 236

History Channel HD 237

Discovery HD (?) 239 (Still shows HD Theater at 225)

TLC HD 240

Animal Planet (HD?) 241


Any bets on when we'll actually see an of these?


----------



## Marcus Carr

No, but now I know where the new Baltimore channels will go.


----------



## jacindc




> Quote:
> HGTV HD 229
> 
> Food Network HD 231
> 
> CNN HD 234
> 
> USA HD 235
> 
> SCIFI HD 236
> 
> History Channel HD 237
> 
> Discovery HD (?) 239 (Still shows HD Theater at 225)
> 
> TLC HD 240
> 
> Animal Planet (HD?) 241



I wonder when Comcast DC is going to get around to moving MHD off of 229. What channel is it on for you non-DC folks?


(all those other channels listed above are open on Comcast DC. And dammit, I want HGTV already! But we do already have Food out of that lineup)


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jumpr* /forum/post/12341835
> 
> 
> Is anyone else disgusted with the HD boxes (and regular non-HD boxes, for that matter) from Comcast in Howard County? My parents back in Detroit have brand new Motorola DCH3416 dual-tuner DVRs, and in Howard County, Comcast hands out dinky Pace boxes that have slo-o-o-o-w IPG performance. Has anyone had any experience with getting a newer HD box, preferably a Motorola one, in Howard County?



I have 3 pace HD boxes and have no IPG latency issues. Howard County is an SA platform and they can't use Moto boxes.


GoIrish


----------



## PaulGo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jacindc* /forum/post/12343666
> 
> 
> I wonder when Comcast DC is going to get around to moving MHD off of 229. What channel is it on for you non-DC folks?
> 
> 
> (all those other channels listed above are open on Comcast DC. And dammit, I want HGTV already! But we do already have Food out of that lineup)



227 in Montgomery County.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

DirecTV downloaded a software patch to the H20 box this am - it fixed the strechovision on MASN and also fixed the problem of defaulting to an SD channel when an HD channel was also present.


Edit: Corrected model number


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/12344647
> 
> 
> DirecTV downloaded a software patch to the HD20 box this am - it fixed the strechovision on MASN and also fixed the problem of defaulting to an SD channel when an HD channel was also present.



HD20? You mean the H20?


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mark_1581* /forum/post/12342458
> 
> 
> Comcast Arlington/Alexandria channel lineup now shows
> 
> 
> HGTV HD 229
> 
> Food Network HD 231
> 
> CNN HD 234
> 
> USA HD 235
> 
> SCIFI HD 236
> 
> History Channel HD 237
> 
> Discovery HD (?) 239 (Still shows HD Theater at 225)
> 
> TLC HD 240
> 
> Animal Planet (HD?) 241
> 
> 
> Any bets on when we'll actually see an of these?



Mid December to Mid January...


----------



## clifburns

[quote tags not working in Firefox]

____________________________________________________________ ______
_Originally Posted by *GoIrish*

Coming January 8th in Baltimore City, Harford, Baltimore, Carroll and Howard counties;


USA HD, Sci-Fi HD, CNN HD, Disc HD, TLC HD, History HD


GoIrish
_
_Originally posted by *JACINDC*

Maybe in DC we'll get one or two of those. Do those counties have HGTV-HD? (which I think is the only one of the recent additions that DC still doesn't have)_


____________________________________________________________ ______


I wouldn't hold my breath about Comcast DC adding any of those anytime soon. They've been adding one channel every 6 months or so and we've gotten TBS pseudo HD and Food (Do you really want to see Paula Dean in) HD. Comcast is busy concentrating on areas with competition from FIOS, which doesn't include DC.


----------



## maestro73




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/12346973
> 
> 
> Mid December to Mid January...



Nice....but one question: Is there a lot of native HD content on these channels, or are they like A&E and TBS-HD, which except for the MLB games were a huge disappointment (to me anyways)?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *maestro73* /forum/post/12347169
> 
> 
> Nice....but one question: Is there a lot of native HD content on these channels, or are they like A&E and TBS-HD, which except for the MLB games were a huge disappointment (to me anyways)?



Check the HDTV Programming forum. I'm on Fios which does not have Sci-Fi, CNN, USA HD yet so this is from the posts there. Sci-Fi has reportedly been increasing the amount of HD programs they show. They started out with only the first run showings of their series on Friday night and the (usually awful) movies on Saturday night in HD. The CNN evening studio broadcasts out of NY are in HD, but not Atlanta. They are set up to do some live HD from the field as the Republican debate was in HD last night. Fios does have Food and HGTV HD which are all HD (with a lot of repeats).


I think the consensus is that TBS-HD is the worse because until last week, there had been no HD on it at all except for the MLB playoffs; only ugly stretched SD. But the sighting of a show or 2 in HD on TBS in the past week indicates that they may have gotten a HD tape machine and will start showing some real HD. But since TNT-HD still has stretch-o-vision after years of complaints, the SD stretch on TBS-HD is likely to stay.


----------



## maestro73

Cool. Thanks for the tip. What is bizarre about TBS-HD is they show The Office re-runs, which are in HD to begin with, in stretch-o-vision....that baffles me.


----------



## jsilva982

Any word on FXHD coming to RCN-DC? I was back up north this week and I was impressed with FX HD on Direc TV. Big time fan of The Shield and I would love to get the last season in HD, as Nip/Tuck is now and looks great.


Thanks,

Josh


----------



## jeff125va




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SJKurtzke* /forum/post/10333526
> 
> 
> Looks like we're still on target for Winter (Jan. 1 at latest) for WDCW in HD on DirecTV:
> 
> Sorry, I thought getting an update would spice up the thread, but whatever...
> 
> 
> Stephen,
> 
> 
> I have not heard any news that the time frame will be moved up. I will
> 
> check with our corporate office.
> 
> 
> We hope you continue to enjoy the CW Washington!
> 
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Tanya Pavluchuk
> 
> Programming



Any update on this? Is it still on target?


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p

HGTV HD 229

Food Network HD 231

CNN HD 234

USA HD 235

SCIFI HD 236

History Channel HD 237

Discovery HD (?) 239 (Still shows HD Theater at 225)

TLC HD 240

Animal Planet (HD?) 241



I expect the same for Manassas thanks for the great news


Discovery HD 239 is the HD version of the regular Discovery Channel while Discovery HD Theater is a different channel and will stay at 225 AFAIK


----------



## jacindc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *clifburns* /forum/post/12347115
> 
> 
> I wouldn't hold my breath about Comcast DC adding any of those anytime soon. They've been adding one channel every 6 months or so and we've gotten TBS pseudo HD and Food (Do you really want to see Paula Dean in) HD. Comcast is busy concentrating on areas with competition from FIOS, which doesn't include DC.




That might be a little harsh--right now HGTV HD is, I believe, the only channel that some DC/Baltimore-area Comcast lineups have that DC doesn't. So it's not like DC is clearly dragging their heels in comparison to their local brethren.


Comcast over all just didn't add all that many HD channels this year, at least not before this push of the past two months. There's plenty of Comcast subscribers elsewhere (especially on older systems) in far worse HD straits than DC.


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *clifburns* /forum/post/12347115
> 
> 
> [quote tags not working in Firefox]



Hmmm. They work just fine in mine. You sure you have v2.0 with the latest updates?


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p

Joe in VA I can't find thelineup on comcast's website where it has these channels


HGTV HD 229

Food Network HD 231

CNN HD 234

USA HD 235

SCIFI HD 236

History Channel HD 237

Discovery HD (?) 239 (Still shows HD Theater at 225)

TLC HD 240

Animal Planet (HD?) 241


----------



## Lilscoy22




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mark_1581* /forum/post/12342458
> 
> 
> Comcast Arlington/Alexandria channel lineup now shows
> 
> 
> HGTV HD 229
> 
> Food Network HD 231
> 
> CNN HD 234
> 
> USA HD 235
> 
> SCIFI HD 236
> 
> History Channel HD 237
> 
> Discovery HD (?) 239 (Still shows HD Theater at 225)
> 
> TLC HD 240
> 
> Animal Planet (HD?) 241
> 
> 
> Any bets on when we'll actually see an of these?



Wow, that's cool...been looking forward to some of those for awhile. Where do you see this? I put in my zip code on their website, but they don't come up in the lineup... I do hope they appear soon though!


----------



## maestro73




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Lilscoy22* /forum/post/12351900
> 
> 
> Wow, that's cool...been looking forward to some of those for awhile. Where do you see this? I put in my zip code on their website, but they don't come up in the lineup... I do hope they appear soon though!



I had to log into my comcast.com account and then go to Programming, channel line up to see them. Using the main "what's on in your area" section of comcast.com (TV Planner) does not show them. I'm in 22314.


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p

whoops I apologize to JoeinVa I looked at who wrote that too fast thanks maestro 73 for the info


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mark_1581* /forum/post/12342458
> 
> 
> Comcast Arlington/Alexandria channel lineup now shows
> 
> 
> HGTV HD 229
> 
> Food Network HD 231
> 
> CNN HD 234
> 
> USA HD 235
> 
> SCIFI HD 236
> 
> History Channel HD 237
> 
> Discovery HD (?) 239 (Still shows HD Theater at 225)
> 
> TLC HD 240
> 
> Animal Planet (HD?) 241
> 
> 
> Any bets on when we'll actually see an of these?



what zip code are you using?


thanks


----------



## mark_1581




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DVDO+WESTY=1080p* /forum/post/12353292
> 
> 
> what zip code are you using?
> 
> 
> thanks



22311


----------



## mikemikeb

For those that _still_ think that HDTV is needed to keep people's eyes tuned to local newscasts:



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DCRTV.com* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WJLA-TV achieves a landmark in local broadcasting history today as ABC 7 News at 11pm wins Washington's late news race, upsetting WRC-TV's nearly ten-year ratings reign. Anchored by the popular team of Leon Harris, Maureen Bunyan, Doug Hill and Tim Brant, ABC 7 News at 11 experienced spectacular year-to-year growth, turning Washington's fastest growing 11pm newscast into the area's #1 late local news. "Our news team has worked incredibly hard to raise the news bar here in Washington, and it's encouraging to see our efforts pay off in the ratings, said Fred Ryan, President & General Manager of ABC 7. I couldn't be more proud of Leon, Maureen, Doug and Tim, and the entire ABC 7 News team. This has been a truly amazing reversal of fortune, said Bill Lord, ABC 7's Executive VP of News. We have assembled one of the most respected teams of journalists Washington has ever seen, and we're thrilled that viewers are following them to ABC 7 News. Aside from the household ratings victory, ABC 7 News at 11 was #1 in the Adults 25-54, Females 25-54, Adults 18-49 and Females 18-49 demographics. ABC 7 also experienced significant successes in other newscasts: Good Morning Washington at 5am grew +23.5% YTY in HH ratings, while WRC and WUSA declined -17.1% and -9.0% respectively. Good Morning Washington at 6am remained flat YTY while WRC decreased -12.3% and WUSA was down -11.6%. ABC 7 News at Noon grew +4% YTY in HH ratings. WUSA was down -12%. ABC 7 News at 5pm grew +3.3% YTY in HH share. WRC experienced a -10% slide, WUSA was down -4.1%, and WTTG remained flat YTY. ABC 7 News at 5pm was #1 in the Adults 25-54, Females 25-54, Adults 18-49, and Females 18-49 demographics. ABC 7 News at 6pm grew +3.9% YTY in HH share. WRC, WUSA and WTTG all three slipped by -16.0%, -14.8% and -5.5% respectively.


 Here's a Washington Post article about the subject. 


Just a few years ago, WJLA was at the bottom of the barrel for local news ratings. However, they didn't spend their money on technical prowess like HDTV, or even a modern news set. (Heck, their weather graphics still stutter in horizontal "panning" transitions.) No, they spent it on TALENT. Doug Hill, Maureen Bunyan, Gordon Peterson, Doug McKelway, Allison Starling, and the like. Now look where they are. With talent like that, they don't need to switch to HD news until January 2009 at the earliest, in time for the Feb. 2009 sweeps and the transition to all-digital OTA broadcasting.


And Robert Forsyth, if you have any power in controlling or influencing what will get bought for the HDTV news broadcasts, please don't purchase the new graphics engine(s) from whatever supplier you got the previous lot of graphics equipment from. HDTV should mean no stuttering.


----------



## Lilscoy22




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/12357922
> 
> 
> For those that _still_ think that HDTV is needed to keep people's eyes tuned to local newscasts:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Just a few years ago, WJLA was at the bottom of the barrel for local news ratings. However, they didn't spend their money on technical prowess like HDTV, or even a modern news set. (Heck, their weather graphics still stutter in horizontal "panning" transitions.) No, they spent it on TALENT. Doug Hill, Maureen Bunyan, Gordon Peterson, Doug McKelway, Allison Starling, and the like. Now look where they are. With talent like that, they don't need to switch to HD news until January 2009 at the earliest, in time for the Feb. 2009 sweeps and the transition to all-digital OTA broadcasting.
> 
> 
> And Robert Forsyth, if you have any power in controlling or influencing what will get bought for the HDTV news broadcasts, please don't purchase the new graphics engine(s) from whatever supplier you got the previous lot of graphics equipment from. HDTV should mean no stuttering.



Just for the record, I love watching Doug, Allison, Brian, and Lisa in the morning!


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/12357922
> 
> 
> And Robert Forsyth, if you have any power in controlling or influencing what will get bought for the HDTV news broadcasts, please don't purchase the new graphics engine(s) from whatever supplier you got the previous lot of graphics equipment from. HDTV should mean no stuttering.



We already have purchased and installed Deko 3000's and Deko 1000's, both SD/HD capability. They have been in use for about 2 months.


And so the migration begins....


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Allison is on the cover of the December _Washingtonian_ with NBC 4's Lindsay Czarniak. ABC-7 definitely has an news all-star team compared to WUSA. Still would like to see the local news ops move to HD sooner than later. DC lags behind most major markets in this area, for some reason.



> Quote:
> And Robert Forsyth, if you have any power in controlling or influencing what will get bought for the HDTV news broadcasts, please don't purchase the new graphics engine(s) from whatever supplier you got the previous lot of graphics equipment from. HDTV should mean no stuttering.



Lots of macroization lately on _Jeopardy_! and _Wheel_, Robert (who should be using a huge smiley icon given the latest ratings book).


----------



## carltonrice

So, just imagine how much their ratings would have grown if they'd gotten the talent AND upgraded to HD.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/12357922
> 
> 
> For those that _still_ think that HDTV is needed to keep people's eyes tuned to local newscasts:


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/12358793
> 
> 
> So, just imagine how much their ratings would have grown if they'd gotten the talent AND upgraded to HD.



According to WUSA...nada.


----------



## dg28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/12358910
> 
> 
> According to WUSA...nada.



Robert, congratulations on WJLA's latest news ratings. Clearly, your posts here are the reason for this success, right? Where would you be without AVS Forum...


----------



## JoeInNVa

ABC has an evening news? That is the one channel I don't watch. I am not really sure why...

I am sure people could say that the lead in might have a lot do do with their news, be it Oprah or the fact that they were have a Hanna Montana promotion for their 11PM newscast during the sweeps period or it could be that people like their broadcasts. Beats me...


----------



## JoeInNVa

Any Comcast users in the Arlington/Alexandria area use a Tivo-HD or S3 with cable cards?


How was the install? Could you pick up the cards and install yourself or do you need a tech visit? are they working correctly with Premium stations like HBO-HD?


I am thinking of ditching the Comcast DVR and going TIVO.


----------



## clifburns




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jacindc* /forum/post/12317545
> 
> 
> Maybe in DC we'll get one or two of those.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Do those counties have HGTV-HD? (which I think is the only one of the recent additions that DC still doesn't have)





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dspadoni* /forum/post/12351258
> 
> 
> Hmmm. They work just fine in mine. You sure you have v2.0 with the latest updates?



Yep, I have 2.0. For some reason whenever I used a quote tag I got a message from the editor saying that the message had no content. Seems to be working today however.


----------



## voltore

If you read between the lines on the ratings numbers, they're pretty darn close to each other. The one big thing is that WRC can no longer rely on being top the perch. And yes, it is key to have a strong lead-in


----------



## jeepmon




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/12358910
> 
> 
> According to WUSA...nada.



I hate to sound so mean, however, WUSAs newscasters don't look all that good in HD. I really want to watch their HD news (simply because it's HD), but, it seems they put the newscasters too much in our face (especially the weather person).


Sorry to bring down the professionalism of this thread with my immature comment!!


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jeepmon* /forum/post/12361413
> 
> 
> I hate to sound so mean, however, WUSAs newscasters don't look all that good in HD. I really want to watch their HD news (simply because it's HD), but, it seems they put the newscasters too much in our face (especially the weather person).
> 
> 
> Sorry to bring down the professionalism of this thread with my immature comment!!



then you must be REALLY happy that WJLA evening and night News is not in HD.


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/12360339
> 
> 
> Any Comcast users in the Arlington/Alexandria area use a Tivo-HD or S3 with cable cards?
> 
> 
> How was the install? Could you pick up the cards and install yourself or do you need a tech visit? are they working correctly with Premium stations like HBO-HD?
> 
> 
> I am thinking of ditching the Comcast DVR and going TIVO.



I don't have a Tivo, but a Sony DHG DVR with cable card. Comcast will NOT let you pick up & install the card(s) yourself; that must be done with a tech home visit. After install, tech then needs to call the head-end in Manassas from your home to "authorize" the card with the Card ID and Host ID (you get these from the CableCard menu somewhere in your unit's Service Menu; there should be instructions for accessing this in the Tivo's manual).


If you decide to go with this, make sure to request the latest generation of cable cards. I don't have any premiums, but all other HD channels (e.g., NBC-HD, ESPN-HD, Discovery HD Theater) come in great (unless there's a hick-up at the head-end).


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dspadoni* /forum/post/12361696
> 
> 
> I don't have a Tivo, but a Sony DHG DVR with cable card. Comcast will NOT let you pick up & install the card(s) yourself; that must be done with a tech home visit. After install, tech then needs to call the head-end in Manassas from your home to "authorize" the card with the Card ID and Host ID (you get these from the CableCard menu somewhere in your unit's Service Menu; there should be instructions for accessing this in the Tivo's manual).
> 
> 
> If you decide to go with this, make sure to request the latest generation of cable cards. I don't have any premiums, but all other HD channels (e.g., NBC-HD, ESPN-HD, Discovery HD Theater) come in great (unless there's a hick-up at the head-end).



Now, how do I get the wife to go along with it???


----------



## jeepmon




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/12361642
> 
> 
> then you must be REALLY happy that WJLA evening and night News is not in HD.


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/12361712
> 
> 
> Now, how do I get the wife to go along with it???



You're on your own, Bro.


----------



## jacindc

Suddenly Comcast DC actually has guide information (on the iGuide/Moto box) for 200/WETA Children's and 201/WETA Family, plus the guide info for 202/WETA World is correct, for about the first time ever.


----------



## JoeInNVa

Anyone know when Comcast in Alexandria will be going SDV?


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/12358637
> 
> 
> We already have purchased and installed Deko 3000's and Deko 1000's, both SD/HD capability. They have been in use for about 2 months.



You may have gotten me. I haven't paid too much attention to 7's news in about two months -- before then there was certainly stuttering. I'll have to double-check tonight at 11.


Ha-ha, I won't be focusing on you tonight for weather, WUSA and WRC!!!!


----------



## SUOrangeman

Does anyone know about versus, TBS-HD, and CNN-HD coming to Cox-Fairfax?


At least one Cox subscriber in my zip code has an HDHomeRun and pushed the following programming info back to SiliconDust: lineup 


While I'm not 100% certain how SiliconDust as their lineup server designed, I'm sure that the link above is a "combined" lineup from however many OTA and Cox HDHR users there are in the immediate area. Nonetheless, I notice that on QAM "channels" 6 and 9 (scroll way down to see this) are 1080i instances of Versus, TBS, and CNN. I do know that the text labels are manually created, so they may not be correct. Nonetheless, the channels are there (now encrypted) on my HDHR. Is Cox preparing an early holiday present?


Yes, it also looks like Cox opened up (via unencrypted QAM) a good bit of their other programming. Most all of it is gone now, but I can still get the Home Shopping Network, NVCC-TV, and one other channel in the clear.


-SUO


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/12358637
> 
> 
> We already have purchased and installed Deko 3000's and Deko 1000's, both SD/HD capability. They have been in use for about 2 months.
> 
> 
> And so the migration begins....



Any idea when the migration will be done?

I think it would be really cool and unexpected if WJLA could get itself together and go HD before network-owned WRC and WTTG, both of whom have, for seemingly no reason, just stalled on HD when they're so close to being there.

They really do have an awesome newscast, but the set and graphics look aged. I think WJLA is (don't [/quote] me on this) the largest ABC affiliate without HD news now.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jeepmon* /forum/post/12361413
> 
> 
> I hate to sound so mean, however, WUSAs newscasters don't look all that good in HD. I really want to watch their HD news (simply because it's HD), but, it seems they put the newscasters too much in our face (especially the weather person).
> 
> 
> Sorry to bring down the professionalism of this thread with my immature comment!!




You should have seen how it looked at the beginning before they softened the picture to decrease the detail.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/12360339
> 
> 
> Any Comcast users in the Arlington/Alexandria area use a Tivo-HD or S3 with cable cards?
> 
> 
> How was the install? Could you pick up the cards and install yourself or do you need a tech visit? are they working correctly with Premium stations like HBO-HD?
> 
> 
> I am thinking of ditching the Comcast DVR and going TIVO.




One way to speed things up is to only use the TiVo remote yourself. I used to have 6 cables cards in Series 3 TiVos with Comcast(December 2005 to November 2006). Things go much faster with a person that knows how to navigate the menus. The bad thing about Comcast is they have to talk to a person on the phone to activate the cards so it usually takes several times of yelling the info on the phone until they get it right(plus they could be on hold for a long time, like 30 minutes or more). I now have 8 cable cards with FIOS(3 with Series 3 and 1 with the TiVoHD). FIOS is so much quicker with the installation since the tech can just enter the info in their laptop to activate the cards. When I finally dropped Comcast it only took the FIOS tech 1 hour to install 4 new cable cards and move two cards from another unit. Part of the reason it went so fast was because I navigated the TiVo menus.

You will be lucky if Comcast takes an hour with just two cable cards. It could take 2 or 3 hours if the tech has no idea what they are doing.


----------



## dg28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jeepmon* /forum/post/12361413
> 
> 
> I hate to sound so mean, however, WUSAs newscasters don't look all that good in HD. I really want to watch their HD news (simply because it's HD), but, it seems they put the newscasters too much in our face (especially the weather person).
> 
> 
> Sorry to bring down the professionalism of this thread with my immature comment!!



Uh, have you seen Tracey Neal?


----------



## rviele




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/12369542
> 
> 
> One way to speed things up is to only use the TiVo remote yourself. I used to have 6 cables cards in Series 3 TiVos with Comcast(December 2005 to November 2006). Things go much faster with a person that knows how to navigate the menus. The bad thing about Comcast is they have to talk to a person on the phone to activate the cards so it usually takes several times of yelling the info on the phone until they get it right(plus they could be on hold for a long time, like 30 minutes or more). I now have 8 cable cards with FIOS(3 with Series 3 and 1 with the TiVoHD). FIOS is so much quicker with the installation since the tech can just enter the info in their laptop to activate the cards. When I finally dropped Comcast it only took the FIOS tech 1 hour to install 4 new cable cards and move two cards from another unit. Part of the reason it went so fast was because I navigated the TiVo menus.
> 
> You will be lucky if Comcast takes an hour with just two cable cards. It could take 2 or 3 hours if the tech has no idea what they are doing.



aaron-went to your website and checked out your goodies. boss lady was griping about my so called"rats nest" of wires until she saw yours. now i don't have to worry anymore. she might even let me have that 60" pioneer elite pro150 plasma. do you use ota and if you do what kind of antenna setup do you have?


----------



## gdemery

Has anybody switched to Verizon and received the free 19inch Sharp Aquos tv deal? Anybody got any info on this? When do you get the TV? Anybody know the specs? I checked Sharp's website and it appears to be the LC-19D44U . Not a bad tv. I've been thinking of switching for several months and now seems like the right time.


For those that had comcast and switched to Fios are you happy? What has been your experience?


G


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rviele* /forum/post/12373098
> 
> 
> aaron-went to your website and checked out your goodies. boss lady was griping about my so called"rats nest" of wires until she saw yours. now i don't have to worry anymore. she might even let me have that 60" pioneer elite pro150 plasma. do you use ota and if you do what kind of antenna setup do you have?










It used to be neat but I kept putting cable over cable. One day I need to clean it all out and get rid of all the analog cables since I'm only using HDMI now.

For OTA I use a couple of Squareshooter antennas mounted on the side of my condo. I only use OTA now as a backup to the local HD channels on FIOS TV.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gdemery* /forum/post/12373667
> 
> 
> Has anybody switched to Verizon and received the free 19inch Sharp Aquos tv deal? Anybody got any info on this? When do you get the TV? Anybody know the specs? I checked Sharp's website and it appears to be the LC-19D44U . Not a bad tv. I've been thinking of switching for several months and now seems like the right time.
> 
> 
> For those that had comcast and switched to Fios are you happy? What has been your experience?



I switched from Adelphia/Comcast in Loudoun and have been satisfied with Fios for internet and TV. Your question has been asked many times, so that is likely why no one else has answered so far. Check the Fios threads in the HDTV Programming and the stickies in the Hardware reception and Recorders forum for more info. Verizon provides the same national SD and HD channels and the same STB/DVRs to everyone so there is not the differences you see between franchise areas with Comcast.


The biggest complaint with Fios at this time is the new very buggy IMG software for the STB and DVR they rolled out here in August. It was not ready for release IMO. The good news is that a patch for the IMG which apparently fixes many of the more serious bugs was rolled out last Wednesday in FL, western PA, and IN. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they will roll it out to VA and MD this week.


Verizon Fios in the Washington Metro area has 8 HD locals and recently added Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic HD. Fios has 16 national HD channels and 5 premium HD movie channels. Check http://www22.verizon.com/content/FiosTV for channel line-up and prices.


One area where Comcast is ahead of Verizon is Video On Demand. Comcast has a much larger selection and HD VOD. Verizon has been testing HD VOD in central and SE VA. The rumor is that HD VOD will be formally added to FL and IN this week and maybe northern VA and MD next week.


----------



## hokiefan

WTTG has the Giants - Bears game in SD when its in HD on WBFF. I thought the splicer was supposed to prevent forgetting to flip the switch.



Edit: About 5 seconds after I hit reply, the picture switched to HD. Guess my post worked


----------



## gdemery

Thanks for the tip.


----------



## albertso

Hi All,


Anyone on MOCO COMCAST seeing many, many breakups of both sound and picture on the 300 series channels?? The 200 series seem pretty solid. Thanks.


----------



## SJKurtzke

I have a strong feeling we'll be getting WDCW-DT on D* sometime soon. Last week they uplinked two Tribune-owned CW affiliates in Houston and Dallas, and while they said "no later than January" in the email, they also told me it was more of a corporate thing preventing them from being on D*.

Only about two years late, but whatevs...


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/12375529
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It used to be neat but I kept putting cable over cable. One day I need to clean it all out and get rid of all the analog cables since I'm only using HDMI now.



What rats nest? Yours is almost as neat as my setup:


----------



## lax01

We need Sci-Fi HD ASAP on Comcast MoCo...I'm absolutely fed up with this SD crap


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lax01* /forum/post/12381321
> 
> 
> We need Sci-Fi HD ASAP on Comcast MoCo...I'm absolutely fed up with this SD crap



That was me 6 years ago. I'm still waiting.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmsjr* /forum/post/12380718
> 
> 
> What rats nest? Yours is almost as neat as my setup:



























Wow! I thought mine was bad. At least my 3 UPS units are hidden. Two in my cabinet on the right and one behind my vertical A/V rack on the left. If I have time this Holiday I will rip all my cables out and rerun everything. Since I'm only using HDMI now for everything(except my 360 which I use optical and HDMI)once I rip everything out it should be much neater since I will only have 10% of the cables I have right now. I definitely don't miss using all those analog, optical, and coax cables.


----------



## dougotte




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gdemery* /forum/post/12373667
> 
> 
> Has anybody switched to Verizon and received the free 19inch Sharp Aquos tv deal? Anybody got any info on this? When do you get the TV? Anybody know the specs? I checked Sharp's website and it appears to be the LC-19D44U . Not a bad tv. I've been thinking of switching for several months and now seems like the right time.
> 
> 
> For those that had comcast and switched to Fios are you happy? What has been your experience?
> 
> 
> G



Hi, everyone. G, my install is set for 12/19. When I set it up, I was told that, some time after activation, I'd receive a letter. Responding to the letter will initiate them sending the TV by FedEx. So, you don't get the TV on the installation date.


I was also told we can choose either the TV or a $200 Best Buy gift card. Because my wife is thinking of buying a 32" for the bedroom (and who needs a 19" HDTV anyway?!), I suggested we should opt for the gift card and use it toward a 32". She hasn't issued an edict with her decision yet.


I'll post back with my installation memoir.


Doug


Edit: I guess I'll post my experiences in the FiOS thread, not here.


----------



## mchief99




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/12360339
> 
> 
> Any Comcast users in the Arlington/Alexandria area use a Tivo-HD or S3 with cable cards?
> 
> 
> How was the install? Could you pick up the cards and install yourself or do you need a tech visit? are they working correctly with Premium stations like HBO-HD?
> 
> 
> I am thinking of ditching the Comcast DVR and going TIVO.



Comcast Alexandria - Installed a CC in my HDTV last August 2006 - four visits and still didn't work right - no digital tier. Finally got a call fromt the head-end and he had everything working in 3 minutes.


Got the THD last month. Tech arrived with a CC (1 SA M-Card). He had no idea what an M-card was. He was unable to get it to show digital tier. He left and I called the head-end guy who had the Tivo working in 3 minutes. He was also suprised that the M-Card would work both tuners on the THD.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Cox Communications Adds 11 New High-Definition Channels to Programming Lineup*


Monday December 3, 1:57 pm ET


Cox now offers 31 HD channels; *will launch dozens of additional high- definition channels in 2008
*

HERNDON, Va., Dec. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Cox Northern Virginia announced today the launch of 11 new high-definition channels to its Fairfax County programming lineup, effective immediately. With these additions, Cox now offers a total of 31 high-definition channels, nearly double the amount of HD channels Cox offered at the beginning of 2007 and more than any local competitor.


"One of the things most important to our valued customers is the availability of compelling high-definition content," said Mark Snow, vice president of marketing for Cox Northern Virginia. "We are proud of the fact that we carry more HD channels than any of our local competitors here in Northern Virginia, and look forward to greatly expanding our high-definition offerings in 2008."


Effective immediately, Cox now offers the following new high-definition channels:


1. History Channel HD

2. The Science Channel HD

3. Animal Planet HD

4. CNN HD

5. Versus/Golf HD

6. TBS HD

7. Food Network HD

8. HGTV HD

9. TLC HD

10. Discovery HD

11. NHL Network HD

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/071203/nem100.html?.v=23


----------



## rviele

i have to admit that you take the gold medal for the best"rats nest". i also think that we ought to get pictures from everyone and see who has the best"rats nest" what do you think forum?


----------



## rviele

message above intended forfmsjr


----------



## bucnasty

none of the new cox channels work! im calling to get it fixed now..


----------



## mapper

The new Cox channels are SDV, so that may be your problem, of course I have a CableCARD, so I can't tell you what they look like.


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rviele* /forum/post/12387526
> 
> 
> i have to admit that you take the gold medal for the best"rats nest". i also think that we ought to get pictures from everyone and see who has the best"rats nest" what do you think forum?



You should've seen it before I cleaned it up!

Actually when the FiOS box went in I spent hours... if not days... and had every cable the exact length, labeled, tied down. Then the component switch went bad & had to be changed. Then I wanted to run the DirecTV output to the DVD recorder... "just for a day." Yeah right. Then a cable went bad. Then... you get the idea.


----------



## bucnasty

they dont even show up in the guide on my tv's, and i have two different kinds of boxes (SA4250HDC and SA8300HD)... i called and the lady on the phone (and her boss) had no idea of the additions. I had to tell them what was goin down...


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bucnasty* /forum/post/12389359
> 
> 
> they dont even show up in the guide on my tv's, and i have two different kinds of boxes (SA4250HDC and SA8300HD)... i called and the lady on the phone (and her boss) had no idea of the additions. I had to tell them what was goin down...



Cox will have to send out an update to all the STBs for the new channels. You should try a cold reset to see that helps. If not, see if the channels show up tomorrow morning.


Interesting that Cox adds 11 HD channels which is nice, but they still don't have CSN Mid-Atlantic HD. Is there a contractual reason for this or Cox simply is not quite ready to add it? They also did not add 2 of the HD channels I would most like to see Fios add, Sci-Fi HD and USA HD. Presumably Cox will be adding more HD channels in the near future if SDV gives them enough bandwidth for them.


----------



## bucnasty

I personally reset two of my boxes, cycled the power and coaxial cable going into them. No dice there, so I called and had the lady reset all three of my boxes. Still nothin doin. They did however manage to botch up my internet.


----------



## cjs2000

RE: COX new channels - They all showed up on my SA HD DVR (I think 8300?) this morning.


----------



## bucnasty

food network high def is the jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam. i woke up and they all worked today..


----------



## rviele

unfortunately i do. I had a whole room with nothing but electronics,cable,antennas,and god only knows what else. glad our daughter moved out. of course the boss is mad 'cause she wants a sewing room so I've got to figure out what to do with all this stuff. any sugguestions?


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Baltimore stations broadcast network and syndicated shows in HD during prime time, but, so far, local news is not. They plan to introduce the technology to live news broadcasts in the coming months.
> 
> 
> ...Donna Hamilton, anchor of the 5 p.m. news on WBAL (Channel 11), said she's looking forward to HD but sees positives and negatives about the technology.
> 
> 
> When viewers see her in person, she said, they often tell her she looks better than on the air: "So I guess if HD makes me look more like I do in real life, that's a good thing," she said.
> 
> 
> ...CBS affiliate WJZ (Channel 13) also plans to broadcast in HD, but station management said it would not allow its news personnel to comment on the transition.


 http://www.baltimoresun.com/technolo...,4025365.story


----------



## CycloneGT

I find it funny that LifeTime movies went HD back in April and besides FiOS no one has added it.


----------



## Roberto Carlo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bucnasty* /forum/post/12394083
> 
> 
> food network high def is the jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam. i woke up and they all worked today..



For some reason, I'm only getting only seven of the eleven new HD channels on Cox -- Food, Home & Garden, TLC and Discovery aren't coming in at all. When I try to tune them in, I get nothing. Anyone else having this problem?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/12396421
> 
> 
> I find it funny that LifeTime movies went HD back in April and besides FiOS no one has added it.



I checked the HD channel list in the HD Programming forum and it shows Lifetime Move Network HD is also carried by AT&T U-Verse. But that is it among the larger service providers. It is a little strange that DirecTV has not added it nor is it shown in the D* new channel sticky as an upcoming channel. You think D* would add it to increase the channel count. From my channel surfs pass LMT HD, it is somewhere around 25% to 50% true HD, so it does have HD content.


----------



## minkyboodle




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Roberto Carlo* /forum/post/12396774
> 
> 
> For some reason, I'm only getting only seven of the eleven new HD channels on Cox -- Food, Home & Garden, TLC and Discovery aren't coming in at all. When I try to tune them in, I get nothing. Anyone else having this problem?



I'm having the exact same problem as you. I see those channels in the guide and can scroll to them but nothing appears when I select them (the channel never tunes in). I can confirm that its the exact same channels as you. I figured I'd give it a couple days and then call Cox. Thanks for sharing your experience its better to know its not just me









Scott


PS I've rebooted the box and all that jazz, though I'm sure when I call thats the first thing they will make me do


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/12398347
> 
> 
> I checked the HD channel list in the HD Programming forum and it shows Lifetime Move Network HD is also carried by AT&T U-Verse. But that is it among the larger service providers. It is a little strange that DirecTV has not added it nor is it shown in the D* new channel sticky as an upcoming channel. You think D* would add it to increase the channel count. From my channel surfs pass LMT HD, it is somewhere around 25% to 50% true HD, so it does have HD content.



Probably a fallout of the lawsuit DirecTV had against Lifetime. They settled but they may be wary of doing more business with them.

http://www.multichannel.com/index.as...leid=CA6452609


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Roberto Carlo* /forum/post/12396774
> 
> 
> For some reason, I'm only getting only seven of the eleven new HD channels on Cox -- Food, Home & Garden, TLC and Discovery aren't coming in at all. When I try to tune them in, I get nothing. Anyone else having this problem?



What do you have for a Cable Box?


If it's a THD or S3, you probably will not get the new channels as COX is using SDV.


----------



## hokiefan

Anyone know which local channels will be showing the Skins game on thursday? Will it be one from Baltimore and one from DC or just DC?


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hokiefan* /forum/post/12403283
> 
> 
> Anyone know which local channels will be showing the Skins game on thursday? Will it be one from Baltimore and one from DC or just DC?



DC. Only the markets of the teams playing are on OTA.


Channel 20 is carrying the game.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/12403293
> 
> 
> DC. Only the markets of the teams playing are on OTA.
> 
> 
> Channel 20 is carrying the game.



If it's on channel 20, will it be blacked out on NFL Network? I'd like to watch it in HD, and RCN doesn't carry WDCA-DT. Not that I'd expect them to broadcast the game in HD, anyway.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/12403293
> 
> 
> DC. Only the markets of the teams playing are on OTA.
> 
> 
> Channel 20 is carrying the game.



Yes, WDCA-DT My 20 is carrying the game. Out of curiosity, I emailed them several days ago on whether they would be carrying the game in HD. No reply. Verizon Fios has NFL Network HD, so it will be available in HD for Fios subscribers. But the 2.0 sound for the NFL network game last Thursday was lousy and Bryant Gumble is not a good play-by-play announcer. HD won't fix that.


Anyone know if WDCA-DT My 20 will have the Skins game in HD?


----------



## boomster

Not sure if anyone wants to know this, but in Frederick MD Comcast issued a message this morning to us stating that our channel lineup will change 12/11/07 to add more then 130 new digital and HD TV channels.


Our line up isn't that bad right now. We could use a few more HD channels as I've said earlier. But we have about 20 right now. So I can't imagine 130 new channels and what they could be.


But I'm happy


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Comcast moves more analog channels to digital tier*


Wednesday, Dec 05, 2007 - 09:59 AM Updated: 10:20 AM


By DOUGLAS DURDEN

TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER


Continuing a trend started earlier this year, Comcast Cable has moved several more channels off its analog tier and made them digital-only.


In order to receive those channels, analog customers would need to upgrade to a digital tier by adding a digital box.


Included in this latest round are the TV Guide Network (which went from cable channel 20 to 100), Oxygen (59 to 123) and CMT (69 to 146).


Hallmark will be moved from 58 to 137 early next year.


Three other channels -- Toon Disney, AMC and Leased Access -- were moved off analog in September. Home Box Office, The Game Show Network and Great American Country went digital-only in the spring.


Although this affects a minority of Comcast subscribers -- *the company estimates nearly 80 percent of customers in the metro Richmond area are digital cable customers* -- analog-only customers have seen their channels decline over the past year. Their bills haven't.


Comcast spokeswoman Aimee Metrick said that customers paying for the full standard service can upgrade to the digital starter level for the price they're currently paying. The digital starter tier includes some On Demand options, 47 music channels, parental controls and an interactive program guide.


As part of the upgrade promotion, customers will receive a digital box for free for 12 months, then pay an additional $1 a month.


Metrick said several factors go into determining which channels "migrate" from the analog tier, including improving the channel's picture and sound, the ability to add On Demand features, and interactive program guides.


"We are responding to requests every day from customers that want more On Demand programming, more high definition viewing options--and that's an overwhelming factor in making these decisions," Metrick said.


Comcast has added more than 17 new channels to digital this year, according to Metrick, including three HD channels last month -- TLC, PBS and Discovery.


Under franchise agreements with Richmond localities, the only channels Comcast is required to carry on the basic service tier are the PEG channels, meaning public, educational and government access channels.


Richmond's loss of analog channels isn't isolated. Moving channels off analog gives cable operators more bandwidth to add high definition channels.


"There will always be a basic level of service," said Comcast spokesman Jeff Alexander, noting that, in February 2009, analog will cease to exist as digital becomes the broadcast standard as mandated by the government.


"The fact of the matter is, the world is moving to digital, and we're seeing the vast majority of our customers move in that direction," he said. "But we do want to offer options to our customers."

http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.a...2-05-0175.html


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *boomster* /forum/post/12404267
> 
> 
> Not sure if anyone wants to know this, but in Frederick MD Comcast issued a message this morning to us stating that our channel lineup will change 12/11/07 to add more then 130 new digital and HD TV channels.
> 
> 
> Our line up isn't that bad right now. We could use a few more HD channels as I've said earlier. But we have about 20 right now. So I can't imagine 130 new channels and what they could be.



130 new digital channels? Maybe they are adding a bunch of music channels (audio only) which would bump the count up? Regardless, sounds like Comcast is doing a big upgrade in Frederick. Was Frederick an Adelphia franchise area that Comcast took over?


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/12403992
> 
> 
> If it's on channel 20, will it be blacked out on NFL Network? I'd like to watch it in HD, and RCN doesn't carry WDCA-DT. Not that I'd expect them to broadcast the game in HD, anyway.



The NFL Network should not be blacked out.


Also, 20 will probably have the game in HD. I doubt the NFL would distribute the game to a channel that won't do HD. I mean, I could see it if all HD capable channels pass on the game but could you see ANY channel passing on the Redskins in DC?


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/12404330
> 
> *Comcast moves more analog channels to digital tier*



Well, that explains where they are getting the bandwidth for their announced HD additions. I assume that will happen to other areas, as well.


Good to see that it is not switched video, yet.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/12404330
> 
> *Comcast moves more analog channels to digital tier*
> 
> 
> Wednesday, Dec 05, 2007 - 09:59 AM Updated: 10:20 AM
> 
> 
> By DOUGLAS DURDEN
> 
> TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
> 
> *"We are responding to requests every day from customers that want more On Demand programming, more high definition viewing options--and that's an overwhelming factor in making these decisions," Metrick said.*
> 
> 
> "The fact of the matter is, the world is moving to digital, and we're seeing the vast majority of our customers move in that direction," he said. "But we do want to offer options to our customers."
> 
> http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.a...2-05-0175.html



I dont ever remember getting asked if I want more VoD....Personally I would not miss VOD at all, if it went away.


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/12404806
> 
> 
> The NFL Network should not be blacked out.
> 
> 
> Also, 20 will probably have the game in HD. I doubt the NFL would distribute the game to a channel that won't do HD. I mean, I could see it if all HD capable channels pass on the game but could you see ANY channel passing on the Redskins in DC?



I'm sure the networks were all offered first crack, and THEY passed. Guess they didn't see this writer's strike going on this long back when bids were submitted. Then again, technically this IS a Fox owned station, so I wonder if Fox 5 thought about claiming it for themselves.


Deezul


----------



## JayMan007




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/12404083
> 
> 
> But the 2.0 sound for the NFL network game last Thursday was lousy and Bryant Gumble is not a good play-by-play announcer. HD won't fix that.



Truer words have never been spoken.


----------



## CycloneGT

The trouble with Comcast is that they are now counting each HD VOD show as a "HD channel" to pad their numbers against directTV. So while you have visions of numerous new HD channels to watch, you likely just will have access to more HD repeats on VOD. _Edit: I re-read this. Of course there will be some new HD channels, but I still think that a majority of those 130HD will be VOD offerings)_


----------



## boomster




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/12404564
> 
> 
> 130 new digital channels? Maybe they are adding a bunch of music channels (audio only) which would bump the count up? Regardless, sounds like Comcast is doing a big upgrade in Frederick. Was Frederick an Adelphia franchise area that Comcast took over?



Yup, Frederick used to be Adelphia, and they have been saying we would have a major upgrade. It's been a long time since we first heard that though and I was beginning to lose hope.


I just wonder where all those new channels come from. They said we'll get more information about our new line up in the mail. Once I get those details I'll let people know here.


I hope those new 130 are not counting the Vod's as someone else suggested


----------



## Marcus Carr

*ESPN Tackles Cable Audience Mark With 'MNF'*


17.5 Million Viewers Watch Patriots-Ravens, Besting Disney Channel's HSM2'


By Mike Reynolds -- Multichannel News, 12/5/2007 12:15:00 PM


Move over Troy, Gabriella and Sharpay. Tom, Randy and Ray Lewis have got you beat.

*ESPN's Dec. 3 Monday Night Football match-up between the New England Patriots and the Baltimore Ravens became the most-watched cable telecast ever, pushing Disney Channel's premiere of telefilm High School Musical 2 out of the Nielsen record books.*


New England's controversial, last-second 27-24 victory that kept its perfect record intact tackled a 13.0 household rating, 12.5 million households and 17.5 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research data. For its part, the Aug. 17 debut of High School Musical 2 attracted 17.2 million viewers.


The Dec. 3 contest easily topped ESPN's previous best MNF gamethe Oct. 23, 2006 meeting between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants that drew a 12.8 rating, 11.8 million households and 16 million viewers, according to Nielsen data.


ESPN's stellar MNF performance came just four days after NFL Network rang up a 14.6 coverage area rating with its Nov. 29 game in which the Dallas Cowboys beat the Green Bay Packers 37-27. The Thursday Night Football tilt posted the highest rating on cable since CNN's Larry King Live presented a free trade debate by then Vice President Al Gore and Ross Perot in November 1993 that notched an 18.1 rating.


NFL Network garnered 10.1 million viewers for its match-up of then 10-1 clubs last Thursday.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/...?desc=topstory


----------



## Roberto Carlo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *minkyboodle* /forum/post/12400365
> 
> 
> I'm having the exact same problem as you. I see those channels in the guide and can scroll to them but nothing appears when I select them (the channel never tunes in). I can confirm that its the exact same channels as you. I figured I'd give it a couple days and then call Cox. Thanks for sharing your experience its better to know its not just me
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Scott
> 
> 
> PS I've rebooted the box and all that jazz, though I'm sure when I call thats the first thing they will make me do



When I turned on the set today, I could get them. Who knows why?










This happened when my old STB gave up the ghost a few months ago. I swapped it for a new SA 8300HD and I couldn't receive all of the HD channels. I called Cox; set up an appointment; and, then, the next day, they came in.


I'm less-than-whelmed at the knowledge of the technical support folks at Cox. It's not vanity or exaggeration to say that I always know more about their equipment than they do.


----------



## CycloneGT

Looks like Dish might be getting SciFi and USA on Friday.


----------



## rob base




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *boomster* /forum/post/12407498
> 
> 
> Yup, Frederick used to be Adelphia, and they have been saying we would have a major upgrade. It's been a long time since we first heard that though and I was beginning to lose hope.
> 
> 
> I just wonder where all those new channels come from. They said we'll get more information about our new line up in the mail. Once I get those details I'll let people know here.
> 
> 
> I hope those new 130 are not counting the Vod's as someone else suggested



Check out this site. This was posted a few weeks ago. I got the same message about the channels. The new channels are promising, although a lot of the channels are Music and Latino. Finally Comcast Sportsnet HD!! A guy scanned the new lineup that was in the Frederick News Post. VOD is not part of the 130.

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r194...-December-11th


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/12407692
> 
> 
> New England's controversial, last-second 27-24 victory that kept its perfect record intact tackled a 13.0 household rating, 12.5 million households and 17.5 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research data.



Who would have thunk it as everyone thought it would be a blowout.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/12407692
> 
> 
> ESPN's stellar MNF performance came just four days after NFL Network rang up a 14.6 coverage area rating with its Nov. 29 game in which the Dallas Cowboys beat the Green Bay Packers 37-27. The Thursday Night Football tilt posted the highest rating on cable since CNN's Larry King Live presented a free trade debate by then Vice President Al Gore and Ross Perot in November 1993 that notched an 18.1 rating.
> 
> 
> NFL Network garnered 10.1 million viewers for its match-up of then 10-1 clubs last Thursday.



Double wow! So much for no one getting to see the game.


----------



## minkyboodle




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Roberto Carlo* /forum/post/12408528
> 
> 
> When I turned on the set today, I could get them. Who knows why?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This happened when my old STB gave up the ghost a few months ago. I swapped it for a new SA 8300HD and I couldn't receive all of the HD channels. I called Cox; set up an appointment; and, then, the next day, they came in.
> 
> 
> I'm less-than-whelmed at the knowledge of the technical support folks at Cox. It's not vanity or exaggeration to say that I always know more about their equipment than they do.



I am getting them all now as well. Lets just say I share your experience with cable technician knowledge ever since I was told that my signal was low because I was using S-Video instead of Coax to go to my TV... ugh


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/12404083
> 
> 
> Anyone know if WDCA-DT My 20 will have the Skins game in HD?



Earlier in the year, the ESPN Monday Night Redskins game was carried by WDCA in HD.


----------



## aaronwt

Yes the guide shows that WDCA is carrying the game again.


----------



## mchief99

Just got my bill from Comcast Alexandria, VA and guess what? Service must be so good that they can increase prices again. Just had a price increase in April 07 and now Jan 1, 08 ...


My Digital Preferred goes from 70.05 to 73.30, etc.


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mchief99* /forum/post/12418470
> 
> 
> Just got my bill from Comcast Alexandria, VA and guess what? Service must be so good that they can increase prices again. Just had a price increase in April 07 and now Jan 1, 08 ...
> 
> 
> My Digital Preferred goes from 70.05 to 73.30, etc.



Same here. How can they stay in business charging $30 more than FiOS?


----------



## CuseHokie




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmsjr* /forum/post/12420893
> 
> 
> Same here. How can they stay in business charging $30 more than FiOS?



Because they charge $30 more than FiOS.










Question should be, how does Verizon stay in business?


----------



## JayMan007




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mchief99* /forum/post/12418470
> 
> 
> Just got my bill from Comcast Alexandria, VA and guess what? Service must be so good that they can increase prices again. Just had a price increase in April 07 and now Jan 1, 08 ...
> 
> 
> My Digital Preferred goes from 70.05 to 73.30, etc.



In Richmond, Digital Preferred w/ Std Cable is going from 71.60 to 75.35.


----------



## boomster




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rob base* /forum/post/12409583
> 
> 
> Check out this site. This was posted a few weeks ago. I got the same message about the channels. The new channels are promising, although a lot of the channels are Music and Latino. Finally Comcast Sportsnet HD!! A guy scanned the new lineup that was in the Frederick News Post. VOD is not part of the 130.
> 
> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r194...-December-11th



Thank you so much for that!!!! Made my day seeing Sci Fi HD and Universal HD... among the many other new channels


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmsjr* /forum/post/12420893
> 
> 
> Same here. How can they stay in business charging $30 more than FiOS?



FiOS isn't available everywhere...


Besides, not many know enough or care about FiOS to switch. My granddad got FiOS, but only because he wanted highspeed Internet after getting a computer, and didn't want Comcast. (He had DirecTV.)


----------



## markbulla

Hi all -


Apparently, we're having a PSIP issue on WNUV 54-1. We know about it, and are working on it. We'll get it fixed as soon as we can.


Sorry for the problem!


Mark


----------



## BillFromMD

Wow, Comcast Anne Arundel Co. didn't even show the Redskins game last night on regular cable! Apparently we don't get DC Chan 20. I figured they would unlock the NFL chan last night since we are local market.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/12428258
> 
> 
> Apparently, we're having a PSIP issue on WNUV 54-1. We know about it, and are working on it. We'll get it fixed as soon as we can.



I noticed that last night. WNUV-DT CW 40 heh? It remapped my Samsung SIR-T451 tuner.


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *BillFromMD* /forum/post/12428856
> 
> 
> Wow, Comcast Anne Arundel Co. didn't even show the Redskins game last night on regular cable! Apparently we don't get DC Chan 20. I figured they would unlock the NFL chan last night since we are local market.



They are running a deal where you can get the sports pack for $1.99/mo, for 6 months and you get NFL, NBA, NHL, 4 college sports channels, couple soccer channels and something else. It's a good deal if you even just sorta like sports.


GoIrish


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *BillFromMD* /forum/post/12428856
> 
> 
> Wow, Comcast Anne Arundel Co. didn't even show the Redskins game last night on regular cable! Apparently we don't get DC Chan 20. I figured they would unlock the NFL chan last night since we are local market.



That's another reason for going with FiOS, when it's available.... no need for the Sports Tier for NFLNET (at least not at this time.) Plus they carry Baltimore and DC locals in Anne Arundel.... in standard and hi-def. Unfortunately not WDCA-20 though.

Fortunately channel 20 boosted their power enough that it now comes in easily OTA... analog and digital. Dig out those rabbit ears for the next time!


----------



## tonyd79

Just got an HD Tivo for my Comcast hookup (really, really hate the SA8300).


I will get cable cards for it but I'll be busy for a bit. The locals are coming in on the right channel (without guide data, of course) from Comcast. 2-1, etc are all there. Except the HD version of MPT. I get 67-X channels but none are the HD channel. Anyone know where they hide that one? Seems the PSIP data is wrong.


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/12434152
> 
> 
> Except the HD version of MPT. I get 67-X channels but none are the HD channel. Anyone know where they hide that one? Seems the PSIP data is wrong.



67-1 is (now) the HD subchannel (at least on OTA), but it only shows upconverts most of the time. MPT no longer carries the PBS HD channel (or whatever it's called).


----------



## jorwex

I'm in College Park at school and use our Samsung H260F to get QAM Comcast signals through the walls in my dorms.


Should I be using IRC, HRC or STD when I let my tuner channel search?


Forgive me if I'm asking in the wrong place. Though I'd ask people about their successes in our region.


Thanks!


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jorwex* /forum/post/12443551
> 
> 
> I'm in College Park at school and use our Samsung H260F to get QAM Comcast signals through the walls in my dorms.
> 
> 
> Should I be using IRC, HRC or STD when I let my tuner channel search?



Use STD (standard) for the QAM channel scan for the Comcast cable hook-up.


----------



## tetu81

So I've read the recent pages on this thread, did some searching here and on dslreports and I still don't see any discussion of Comcast carrying Discovery HD in DC. I've called and emailed Comcast a few times and I've mostly been met with confusion (and had to explain that HD Theatre is not Discovery HD). I know other locales have gotten notifications about new channels (either in bills, newspapers, etc) but I haven't seen anything like that for DC. Anyone have any idea? Thanks


----------



## CycloneGT

I think on 11/26 GoIrish posted that Comcast (in Baltmore) would be adding the new Discovery Channels on Jan 8th. Usually when Baltimore Comcast gets new channels, DC area systems getting shortly thereafter.


At least that is what I have in my notes on the first post of this thread.


----------



## carltonrice

 http://www.baltimoresun.com/technolo...,4025365.story 


Interesting that the Baltimore Sun writes an article on the efforts of the Baltimore stations' efforts to upgrade for HD News and doesn't give even a hint of when any of them will start broadcasting HD News.


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/12450684
> 
> 
> I think on 11/26 GoIrish posted that Comcast (in Baltmore) would be adding the new Discovery Channels on Jan 8th. Usually when Baltimore Comcast gets new channels, DC area systems getting shortly thereafter.
> 
> 
> At least that is what I have in my notes on the first post of this thread.



On this subject I heard today that they pushed the launches of these six back to the week of Jan 15th but were going to preview USAHD, SciFiHD and DiscHD beginning next week. Don't have channel numbers but they will be on before next weekend and will air through the formal launch date.


GoIrish


----------



## Marcus Carr

Possibly 235 USA, 236 Sci-Fi, 239 Discovery Channel.


I wish they had a "preview" of CNN.


----------



## Marcus Carr

White Christmas is in HD on WDCA.


----------



## rallen

Down here in Salisbury, we just got a postcard yesterday from Comcast saying that on Jan 8th, they would be adding Discovery HD, History HD and Animal Planet HD. They are moving CMT, GAC and Game show network to digital to free up bandwidth for them.


Heck, move everything to digital and bring on more HD.


----------



## zebras23

Apparently Verizon pushed the new software patch for FiOS this a.m. around 5:00 (I was leaving the house to catch a flight out of DCA and all my boxes were reseting). Hopefully this will address many of the issues that have been problematic since the new IMG was released. I won't be back until Thursday, but the FiOS threads are keeping track of this.


----------



## Jimmy

Is anybody else with Directv seeing a really bad lip sync problem with WJLA HD (Wash Ch 7) the pas few days? All other local Hd is ok, just the ABC WJLA is doing it? Thanks guys


----------



## gr8one626

I have been watching the local HD's from comcast via QAM, and today when I turned it on, I have been getting a "POOR SIGNAL QUALITY" on all local HD's... anyone else getting this error?


I live in Frederick MD.


----------



## afiggatt

Fredfa posted the announcement to the Hot Off the Press sticky thread that PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer is going HD on December 17. See http://www.broadcastingcable.com/ind...leID=CA6511373 for the brief news article. What I found funny was "The program is produced out of WETA Washington, D.C., which built a new HD-friendly set for the show in part with money from the National Telecommunications & Information Administration". WETA-DT building a HD friendly set? How about a HD friendly broadcast with more bandwidth for the HD channel instead of the bit starved mess they send out with the 3 SD sub-channels? Maybe a new encoder will improve it someday, but the pixelation on WETA-DT 26.1 is just terrible every time there is fast motion.


----------



## voltore




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/12462024
> 
> 
> Maybe a new encoder will improve it someday, but the pixelation on WETA-DT 26.1 is just terrible every time there is fast motion.



I think the only thing that will help them at the bitrates they use would be MPEG4! Sadly that wont fly with all our set top boxes etc. Oh well!


----------



## URFloorMatt

Here's a question that concerns a slightly different topic than we usually discuss here. What would it take to convince WUSA to air the marquee AFC games rather than Ravens games?


Case in point: on Dec. 23, we'll be "treated" to Ravens-Seahawks in SD rather than, say, Patriots-Dolphins in HD.


----------



## rob base

Wow! Me so Happy! Watching Wiz in HD finally on CSNHD. Life is good. Talked to Comcast Rep and she said more HD channels to come in Jan. Maybe History and Animal Planet. Would like BIG Ten HD, but I hear there is an issue with them and Comcast. I know Directv peeps will say Comcast still don't match up, but ON Demand is worth it for me. (No verizon fios option).


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zebras23* /forum/post/12458051
> 
> 
> Apparently Verizon pushed the new software patch for FiOS this a.m. around 5:00 (I was leaving the house to catch a flight out of DCA and all my boxes were reseting). Hopefully this will address many of the issues that have been problematic since the new IMG was released. I won't be back until Thursday, but the FiOS threads are keeping track of this.



Yep, got it here in Anne Arundel too... probably the entire area. So far so good. Looks like the guide info is better too.. so much detail that I don't even have to watch some of the shows!


----------



## tokeydog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rob base* /forum/post/12463611
> 
> 
> Wow! Me so Happy! Watching Wiz in HD finally on CSNHD. Life is good. Talked to Comcast Rep and she said more HD channels to come in Jan. Maybe History and Animal Planet. Would like BIG Ten HD, but I hear there is an issue with them and Comcast. I know Directv peeps will say Comcast still don't match up, but ON Demand is worth it for me. (No verizon fios option).



It is finally nice to not feel like the red-headed step child of Comcast. Though I don't agree with the channel placements (211 for NBC HD) the new line up is sweet!


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Case in point: on Dec. 23, we'll be "treated" to Ravens-Seahawks in SD rather than, say, Patriots-Dolphins in HD.



I wouldn't consider that one to be a marquee game either other than to see Brady and Bellecheck run up the score. None of the 4pm games look appealing on CBS.



> Quote:
> Is anybody else with Directv seeing a really bad lip sync problem with WJLA HD (Wash Ch 7) the pas few days? All other local Hd is ok, just the ABC WJLA is doing it? Thanks guys



I am seeing the same thing with my DirecTV H20. Local and network shows.


----------



## boomster




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gr8one626* /forum/post/12458676
> 
> 
> I have been watching the local HD's from comcast via QAM, and today when I turned it on, I have been getting a "POOR SIGNAL QUALITY" on all local HD's... anyone else getting this error?
> 
> 
> I live in Frederick MD.



I received that here in Frederick, but don't seem to have that anymore. I think it was due to that major upgrade they did with our HD channels. It's so nice to finually have ScifiHD, Universal HD and some of the others. I almost have enough HD to keep me satisfied for awhile










I called up a request for Discovery HD, Animal HD, and History HD for our area. The lady said there is another major addition to HD channels in January for us and we may see those then.


----------



## robandjeanne

Hello,


Are you also receiving OTA HD in or around Sterling VA? I have an old Channel Master (not sure the model) UHF antenna and a CM pre-amp. I get 22, 26, 32,30 (sometimes), 50, 66 (sometimes), and of course 4,5,7,and 9. A total of 25 to 29 digital channels. My antenna is just in the attic, and it's a fairly long boom (guessing around 7 ft). What antenna do you use and how well does it work?


I've been thinking about another antenna for a different direction (Manassas), and was considering Antennacraft mxu59, CM 3023 (backordered most places so it must be good?), Winegard pr-8800 8bay, antennas direct 91xg, and winegard hd9095p. I noticed the multipath issue with the 9095 and remembered someone else had commented on same problem with the 9095. I can't imagine it being antenna specific however since this is a high gain yagi.


To confirm, Channel 30 is in Manassas? Surprised to hear Channels 7 and 9 are going to VHF when they convert to HD only? I like the 24 hour news on channel 30, and also some of the religious stuff on 66 which is the reason for another UHF to point at Manassas. Loved the gain charts posted here


Unfortunately the Winegard 9095 wasn't shown on the gain charts, and I was thinking this might be the ultimate UHF antenna. I probably wouldn't need it for Manassas (although you lose a lot going through the roof), but I'd like to try it in Altoona, PA to see if a relative can get Penn State HD on ch 15 about 40 miles away with many mountains in between. Most Yagis seem to lose gain at ch 15 but Winegard claims 14 db.


Rob

[email protected]


----------



## Jimmy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Jimmy* /forum/post/12458121
> 
> 
> Is anybody else with Directv seeing a really bad lip sync problem with WJLA HD (Wash Ch 7) the pas few days? All other local Hd is ok, just the ABC WJLA is doing it? Thanks guys



Based on responses posted on other sites, DirecTV's local HD for Washington's WJLA channel 7, is having a real bad problem with audio/lip sync delay. It is not your box or TV. It is either WJLA's feed to Directv or Directv is having a problem with that station. It is only on channel 7. The other locals are ok.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robandjeanne* /forum/post/12471472
> 
> 
> Hello,
> 
> 
> Are you also receiving OTA HD in or around Sterling VA? I have an old Channel Master (not sure the model) UHF antenna and a CM pre-amp. I get 22, 26, 32,30 (sometimes), 50, 66 (sometimes), and of course 4,5,7,and 9. A total of 25 to 29 digital channels. My antenna is just in the attic, and it's a fairly long boom (guessing around 7 ft). What antenna do you use and how well does it work?



Rob, following up on the private message. I'm in the Cascades in the north end of Sterling with a Channel Master 4221 4 bay in the attic with a CM 7777 pre-amp. I added a Winegard YA-1713 upper VHF antenna a few months ago to prepare for the 2009 switch. I use it to the WWPX-DT Ion 60 station out in Martinsburg which broadcasts on VHF 12. I can't get WPXW-DT Ion 66 out of Manassas from here without aiming the CM 4221 right at it.


Anyway, I get the following stations using the analog channel shorthand: 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11 (can get dropouts), 13, 14, 20, 26, 30 (have to adjust the antenna just right to get it off of a backlobe), 31 (WWPB-DT MPT station in Hagerstown, but will get dropouts in weather), 32, 45, 50, 54, 60, 62 (WFPT-DT MPT station south of Frederick). I never been able to get a lock for MPT 22, but probably would if I were to mount the CM 4221 on the roof.


Someday soon we should be able to get WUTB-DT My 24 (on UHF 41) in this area from out of west of Baltimore. Not that it matters much as we can get WDCA-DT My 20 out of DC for the occasional My Network HD broadcast, but it is the last low power STA holdout in the 2 markets.


In 2009, WPXW-DT Ion 66 will be making a big move to take over the current WUSA-DT digital antenna on UHF 34 (after WUSA-DT moves back to VHF 9). They will be modifying the broadcast pattern so people well to the north of DC may not be able to get it, but it will significantly increase the broadcast coverage of the Ion Network in the greater DC region. Ion has announced they will provide a 720p HD sub-channel in the 1st quarter of 2008, so there may be some HD stuff on Ion to watch. Or maybe HD infomercials by then.










The CM 4221 4 Bay and the more directional 4228 8 Bay bowtie antennas are useful for this area. The CM 4228 provides better gain for upper VHF so it offers a better chance at getting 7,9,11,13 in 2009.


----------



## gr8one626




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *boomster* /forum/post/12471065
> 
> 
> I received that here in Frederick, but don't seem to have that anymore. I think it was due to that major upgrade they did with our HD channels. It's so nice to finually have ScifiHD, Universal HD and some of the others. I almost have enough HD to keep me satisfied for awhile
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I called up a request for Discovery HD, Animal HD, and History HD for our area. The lady said there is another major addition to HD channels in January for us and we may see those then.



What channel is Universal HD?


----------



## Coolgreany




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robandjeanne* /forum/post/12471472
> 
> 
> Hello,
> 
> What antenna do you use and how well does it work?



I'm in Ashburn, VA (about 3 miles west of Rte 28) and just put a DB-2 antenna in the attic to feed 2 HD tvs in the bedrooms and am receiving great reception on all the local channels. Did I screw up by getting a UHF only antenna? Am I missing out on any OTA channels now or in the future?


----------



## dg28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Jimmy* /forum/post/12471911
> 
> 
> Based on responses posted on other sites, DirecTV's local HD for Washington's WJLA channel 7, is having a real bad problem with audio/lip sync delay. It is not your box or TV. It is either WJLA's feed to Directv or Directv is having a problem with that station. It is only on channel 7. The other locals are ok.



Yup. I noticed the problem today. 7-1 OTA is fine.


----------



## Ladd

I live in Frederick, MD with Comcast, which as the locals know re-aligned their digital channels two days ago. I'm still unable to tune in several of the channels that I used to receive and a couple that are new. Is this happening to anyone else out here in the wilds?


comcast-supplied motorola HDTV-DVR


Channels I used to get fine but can't receive now (i.e "not authorized")

National Geographic HD (now channel 224)

Discovery HD (now channel 225)

MOJO (now channel 226)


New channels that I believe I should get but are also "not authorized"

MHD 227

UHD 260


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Coolgreany* /forum/post/12473269
> 
> 
> I'm in Ashburn, VA (about 3 miles west of Rte 28) and just put a DB-2 antenna in the attic to feed 2 HD tvs in the bedrooms and am receiving great reception on all the local channels. Did I screw up by getting a UHF only antenna? Am I missing out on any OTA channels now or in the future?



The Antennas Direct DB-2 is a good short/medium UHF antenna, but won't do much for upper VHF because of the smaller size of the bowties. It may work for your medium range for WJLA-DT and WUSA-DT when they switch their digital signal from UHF to upper VHF 7 and 9, but may not. Which local stations do you get? The Baltimore stations will be more of a challenge from Ashburn than from north Sterling, but should be in reach of a rooftop antenna if the attic doesn't work.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ladd* /forum/post/12474541
> 
> 
> I live in Frederick, MD with Comcast, which as the locals know re-aligned their digital channels two days ago. I'm still unable to tune in several of the channels that I used to receive and a couple that are new. Is this happening to anyone else out here in the wilds?



Have you tried a cold reset? Unplug the DVR for 30 seconds, then plug it in so it reloads the guide data. With Comcast, it may take several hours to restore most of the guide info. If that doesn't work, call Comcast for a reset.


----------



## robandjeanne

Afiggatt, thanks for the info on channel 30. It sounds like the signal will be better eventually after the switch to 34. You mentioned ION providing a HD subchannel once on 34. I guess I don't require HD for everything because the five subchannels on ch 30 seem OK. I got a kick out of watching the French anchor girls on 30.3 break up laughing on some news stories (very unprofessional but refreshing) when this news subchannel was newer.


I'd say you are doing very well with your CM4221 4 bay. It seems this 4 bay does better than the 8 bay at ch 66 and higher. I've got a lot of trees around me, and aluminum siding which I have to look through. I'm guessing my old UHF is equal to a CM3023 Yagi. I have a Panasonic DMR-EZ47 dvr with digital tuner. The panasonic picks up slightly better than my Philips 42 LCD. I have seen ch 2,11, and 13 but they are not real reliable and luckily their programming seems duplicated on other channels. Also snowy for me are 45 54,60, and 62 (assumed you were talking analog). Of course I get 14 and 22.3 but since I don't speak Spanish they don't do me much good (some of their game shows and movies look interesting though).


I'm surprised I pick up ch 22 (22.1 and 22.2) in Annapolis as well as I do. I'm estimating my yagi has about 1 db less gain at 22.1 (42) than your 4 bay. The Winegard hd9095p UHF which may be a super performer (per winegard specs) appears to have about 3 db more gain on ch 22 than your cm4221 so it may allow you to pick up Annapolis even in your attic. Also it's supposed to allow coupling in the VHF antenna, so one down lead can be used. Ch 22 sometimes has different (and time shifted) programming than 26 or 32 so I think it's worth trying for.


Rob


----------



## Jimmy

Well, it looks like I will be moving to Worman's Mill in Frederick. I have been a Directv customer since they started. The new home site may not have a clear shot at the satellites so I may have to co back to cable. Can anyone in that area tell me how the comcast Hd service is? I hear so many stories about how comcast sucks compared to DTV, especially where HD is concerned.


----------



## aaronwt

The quality of the HD with Comcast is better than DirecTV, but DirecTV obviously has HD more channels.


----------



## Jimmy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/12477707
> 
> 
> The quality of the HD with Comcast is better than DirecTV, but DirecTV obviously has HD more channels.



To be honest, we watch more local broadcast HD than cable channels. An occasional HBO or Showtime movie. I sometimes wonder why we even pay so much money for DTV when we can watch, what we watch, off of our antenna, for free---in HD. You are the first one I have heard say that the COMCAST HD is better than DTV. Why would it be better?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robandjeanne* /forum/post/12476468
> 
> 
> Afiggatt, thanks for the info on channel 30. It sounds like the signal will be better eventually after the switch to 34. You mentioned ION providing a HD subchannel once on 34. I guess I don't require HD for everything because the five subchannels on ch 30 seem OK. I got a kick out of watching the French anchor girls on 30.3 break up laughing on some news stories (very unprofessional but refreshing) when this news subchannel was newer.



My mistake. I meant that the WPXW-DT Ion 66 station would be taking over the WUSA-DT digital UHF antenna. Channel 30 is one of the two MHz stations that broadcasts the overseas programming. The Ion Network will upgrade to a HD sub-channel which will presumably have the programming that is on their primary x.1 sub-channel. Probably won't be much real HD on it except for the occasional movie.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robandjeanne* /forum/post/12476468
> 
> 
> I'd say you are doing very well with your CM4221 4 bay. It seems this 4 bay does better than the 8 bay at ch 66 and higher. I've got a lot of trees around me, and aluminum siding which I have to look through. I'm guessing my old UHF is equal to a CM3023 Yagi. I have a Panasonic DMR-EZ47 dvr with digital tuner. The panasonic picks up slightly better than my Philips 42 LCD. I have seen ch 2,11, and 13 but they are not real reliable and luckily their programming seems duplicated on other channels. Also snowy for me are 45 54,60, and 62 (assumed you were talking analog).



All the stations I listed that I get were the digital ones. I don't pay any attention to the analog broadcast stations. I have Verizon Fios TV, so the OTA stuff is primarily a secondary source and useful for getting the Baltimore stations when a DC station messes up or pre-empts the network HD feed.


Antenna performance at the higher UHF channels is only going to matter for another 14 months. On February 17, 2009 all TV broadcasting must cease on UHF channels 52 to 69 as those frequencies will be re-allocated and sold off. The stations on those upper UHF channels such as WFPT-DT MPT 62 and WPXW-DT Ion 66 will broadcast at the lower UHF channels, but will still display 62.1 and 66.1 on the TV or STB tuner. Yes, this can be confusing, but the FCC requires that the station stick to it's analog channel identity.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/12477707
> 
> 
> The quality of the HD with Comcast is better than DirecTV, but DirecTV obviously has HD more channels.



Maybe for the established MPEG-2 channels on the older satellites. But all the reports for the new MPEG-4 channels on the new satellite state that the picture quality - so far - is very good. Close to or same as Fios quality according to some. As a side note, there is nothing magical about MPEG-4, it just provides more efficient compression so DirecTV can fit up to 75 HD channels on their new satellite. If DirecTV set aside the bandwidth on their older satellite, the HD MPEG-2 channels there could look very good as well. The issue with DirecTV is whether they will maintain the HD picture quality for the new HD satellite (with the 2nd one going up in several months) if they decide to squeeze more HD channels on it. I noticed there is a thread already on this topic in the Programming forum. But this is all DirecTV stuff, not really a Washington-Baltimore related topic.


Isn't Frederick County about to get a major increase in the number of HD channels from Comcast?


----------



## iflyga




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ladd* /forum/post/12474541
> 
> 
> I live in Frederick, MD with Comcast, which as the locals know re-aligned their digital channels two days ago. I'm still unable to tune in several of the channels that I used to receive and a couple that are new. Is this happening to anyone else out here in the wilds?
> 
> 
> comcast-supplied motorola HDTV-DVR
> 
> 
> Channels I used to get fine but can't receive now (i.e "not authorized")
> 
> National Geographic HD (now channel 224)
> 
> Discovery HD (now channel 225)
> 
> MOJO (now channel 226)
> 
> 
> New channels that I believe I should get but are also "not authorized"
> 
> MHD 227
> 
> UHD 260



I cannot get these either...used to get the same ones too...I am cable card user. I do not have the DVR.


----------



## Ladd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/12475675
> 
> 
> Have you tried a cold reset?



Yup, tried that first thing. Always hesitant to do so as it takes days to reload all the guide data. Didn't help.


Thanks for the tip though, in case I didn't know it.










Then tried the full reset -- using the front panel buttons along with unplugging/plugging to delete everything except the recordings and doing a full download of firmware and guide data. That didn't work either.


Called Comcast and they went "oh yeah, we're having some trouble". I'm in the third day now since the channel re-alignment and still can't access the aforementioned channels.


----------



## Jimmy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/12478134
> 
> 
> Maybe for the established MPEG-2 channels on the older satellites. But all the reports for the new MPEG-4 channels on the new satellite state that the picture quality - so far - is very good. Close to or same as Fios quality according to some. As a side note, there is nothing magical about MPEG-4, it just provides more efficient compression so DirecTV can fit up to 75 HD channels on their new satellite. If DirecTV set aside the bandwidth on their older satellite, the HD MPEG-2 channels there could look very good as well. The issue with DirecTV is whether they will maintain the HD picture quality for the new HD satellite (with the 2nd one going up in several months) if they decide to squeeze more HD channels on it. I noticed there is a thread already on this topic in the Programming forum. But this is all DirecTV stuff, not really a Washington-Baltimore related topic.
> 
> 
> Isn't Frederick County about to get a major increase in the number of HD channels from Comcast?



Why do you say "but this is all Directv stuff, not really a Washington-Baltimore related topic?" I thought this site was for all AV type questions - focusing on those living in the Balt/Wash area? Are you saying that this thread has turned into a comcast only thread? Don't get me wrong. It is just that this thread has been very helpful to me since I have been a member (2001). We use to be able to discuss DTV problems as well as cable problems. I have noticed it takes awhile to get a response re a DTV problem. Have all the satellite guys been driven away?


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/12478134
> 
> 
> Maybe for the established MPEG-2 channels on the older satellites. But all the reports for the new MPEG-4 channels on the new satellite state that the picture quality - so far - is very good. Close to or same as Fios quality according to some. As a side note, there is nothing magical about MPEG-4, it just provides more efficient compression so DirecTV can fit up to 75 HD channels on their new satellite. If DirecTV set aside the bandwidth on their older satellite, the HD MPEG-2 channels there could look very good as well. The issue with DirecTV is whether they will maintain the HD picture quality for the new HD satellite (with the 2nd one going up in several months) if they decide to squeeze more HD channels on it. I noticed there is a thread already on this topic in the Programming forum. But this is all DirecTV stuff, not really a Washington-Baltimore related topic.
> 
> 
> Isn't Frederick County about to get a major increase in the number of HD channels from Comcast?



Supposedly DirecTv still downrezes the signal. Not as bad as the MPEG2 channels(1280x1080i) but I read that they downrez it to 1440x1080i.


With DirecTVs recent purchase of Replay Tv it looks like I will never be going back to DirecTV since it doesn't look like they will re-embrace tiVo. I'll have to stick with FIOS or Comast. Although DirecTV billing was top notch compared to Comcast and FIOS.


----------



## iflyga




> Quote:
> Called Comcast and they went "oh yeah, we're having some trouble".



Thanks for the additional information. It saved me a call! I miss my Sunrise Earth .


----------



## boomster




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gr8one626* /forum/post/12473081
> 
> 
> What channel is Universal HD?



I'm at work so I'm not 100% sure, but I thought it was 250.


----------



## cogtooth

We have the basic cable that costs us $2 more than cable internet only service, and are discouraged to have lost HD Theater, which was our favorite HD channel by far with the new upgrade. We did add channels which makes up for it somewhat, but we hope the rumour is correct that Discover, Animal Planet, and others in HD may be coming. Here's our new HD channels: Food Network, Sci Fi, USA, local stations weather channels, MHZ channels, 20, 5, 50, HGTV, A&E, TBS, ESPN, ESPN2, Comcast Sportsnet, Versus (tdf!), and TNT. Anybody get any other new HDs in Frederick on basic cable?


----------



## Jimmy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cogtooth* /forum/post/12483118
> 
> 
> We have the basic cable that costs us $2 more than cable internet only service, and are discouraged to have lost HD Theater, which was our favorite HD channel by far with the new upgrade. We did add channels which makes up for it somewhat, but we hope the rumour is correct that Discover, Animal Planet, and others in HD may be coming. Here's our new HD channels: Food Network, Sci Fi, USA, local stations weather channels, MHZ channels, 20, 5, 50, HGTV, A&E, TBS, ESPN, ESPN2, Comcast Sportsnet, Versus (tdf!), and TNT. Anybody get any other new HDs in Frederick on basic cable?



You are saying you have these channels for 2 bucks more than internet only? I just have the comcast internet, now paying $39 for a year then it goes to $59. I get the HD TV via Directv and that is $91. So, I would get internet and TV, with a fair amount of HD, from comcast for around $62 per mo.?


----------



## cogtooth

In Frederick, Comcast internet only is $40 for the slower speed which is fine for me.

Comcast internet with cable is $25, and basic cable is $17, therefore $42 for the previously mentionned HD channels, basic cable channels, plus the other local HD stations which did not change with the upgrade.


----------



## iflyga




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cogtooth* /forum/post/12483118
> 
> 
> We have the basic cable that costs us $2 more than cable internet only service, and are discouraged to have lost HD Theater, which was our favorite HD channel by far with the new upgrade. We did add channels which makes up for it somewhat, but we hope the rumour is correct that Discover, Animal Planet, and others in HD may be coming. Here's our new HD channels: Food Network, Sci Fi, USA, local stations weather channels, MHZ channels, 20, 5, 50, HGTV, A&E, TBS, ESPN, ESPN2, Comcast Sportsnet, Versus (tdf!), and TNT. Anybody get any other new HDs in Frederick on basic cable?



That's the programming I now get after the upgrade, using a no-charge cable card and the limited basic subscription ($17 going to $19 in Jan). We lost the National Geographic channel too, in addition to Disc. HD Theater.


Since we have the 6mb internet servce, the monthly bill is ~ $60 but still below any other option, keeping our monthly cost for phone/HD/high-speed internet just over $100 total.


----------



## Coolgreany




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/12475650
> 
> 
> The Antennas Direct DB-2 is a good short/medium UHF antenna, but won't do much for upper VHF because of the smaller size of the bowties. It may work for your medium range for WJLA-DT and WUSA-DT when they switch their digital signal from UHF to upper VHF 7 and 9, but may not. Which local stations do you get? The Baltimore stations will be more of a challenge from Ashburn than from north Sterling, but should be in reach of a rooftop antenna if the attic doesn't work.



Thanks, I get everything from the list of DSC channels on the first page of this thread except for the following. Looks like most/all of them are Baltimore so I don't think I'm missing much except Fox/NBC.


Would a powered amp help or playing with the pointing with the DB-2 if I wanted to try to squeek out a few more channels? I really don't want to go outside with the antenna if I don't have to.


# 002 01 52 ABC WMAR DT HDTV DD5.1 Nothing

# 002 02 52 ABC WMAR DT SD Nothing

# 002 03 52 ABC WMAR DT Weather Net Nothing

# 004 00 48 NBC WRC SD OK but snowy

# 011 00 59 NBC WBAL Baltimore Ghosting

# 011 01 59 NBC WBAL DT HDTV Baltimore Nothing

# 011 02 59 NBC WBAL SD Weather Plus Live Nothing

# 013 01 38 CBS WJZ DT HDTV DD5.1 Nothing

# 022 0 42 PBS WMPT OK but snowy?

# 023 0 OK but snowy?

# 022 01 42 PBS WMPT DT MPT Md Nothing

# 022 02 42 PBS WMPT DT MPT Select Md Nothing

# 022 03 42 PBS WMPT DT MPT V Md Nothing

# 024 01 41 MyNet WUTB DT SD (low power Nothing

# 045 01 46 FOX WBFF DT HDTV DD5.1 Nothing

# 045 02 46 FOX WBFF DT Good TV Nothing

# 049 0 OK but snowy

# 054 01 40 CW WNUV DT HDTV DD5.1 Nothing

# 057 01 57 MHz WNVC DT MHz1 WorldView Nothing

# 057 02 57 MHz WNVT DT MHz6 Japanese Nothing

# 057 03 57 MHz WNVC DT MHz7 Dutch Nothing

# 057 04 57 MHz WNVC DT MHz8 Taiwanese Nothing

# 062 01 28 PBS WFPT DT MPT Md Nothing

# 062 02 28 PBS WFPT DT MPT Select Md Nothing

# 062 03 28 PBS WFPT DT MPT V Md Nothing

# 067 01 29 PBS WMPB DT MPT Nothing

# 067 02 29 PBS WMPB DT MPT Select Nothing

# 067 03 29 PBS WMPB DT MPT V Nothing


----------



## Marcus Carr

This is weird. When I try to go to A&E HD on Comcast channel 223, it takes me to the Comcast Central Kids menu. I've never even seen the Comcast Central menus through the box before, just with a QAM tuner.










Also, HGTV HD is down. Don't know if there's a connection.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Both HD channels are back now.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/12487117
> 
> 
> This is weird. When I try to go to A&E HD on Comcast channel 223, it takes me to the Comcast Central Kids menu. I've never even seen the Comcast Central menus through the box before, just with a QAM tuner.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Also, HGTV HD is down. Don't know if there's a connection.



THat is what happens when you watch TV so early in the Morning!


----------



## Newstech

Re WUTB-DT (Channel 24) license:

For what it's worth, there was an application dated 11/13 for an extension to March 1.
http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws....&fac_num=60552 

It says they have most of the work done, but can't get their vendors to finish air conditioning installation and whatnot until then.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Newstech* /forum/post/12487622
> 
> 
> Re WUTB-DT (Channel 24) license:
> 
> For what it's worth, there was an application dated 11/13 for an extension to March 1.
> http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws....&fac_num=60552
> 
> It says they have most of the work done, but can't get their vendors to finish air conditioning installation and whatnot until then.



They've finished the air conditioning. They're still working on the whatnot (new generator, new electrical, etc.) It's coming along, though.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Jimmy* /forum/post/12479636
> 
> 
> Why do you say "but this is all Directv stuff, not really a Washington-Baltimore related topic?" I thought this site was for all AV type questions - focusing on those living in the Balt/Wash area? Are you saying that this thread has turned into a comcast only thread? Don't get me wrong. It is just that this thread has been very helpful to me since I have been a member (2001). We use to be able to discuss DTV problems as well as cable problems. I have noticed it takes awhile to get a response re a DTV problem. Have all the satellite guys been driven away?



I didn't mean to upset you. This is not a Comcast only thread, it covers the local stations, OTA, antennas, MASN & CSN-MA, Cox, RCN, and local Verizon Fios topics as well. It is just that the DirecTV picture quality applies to everyone on a national basis (except for the local-in-locals), so there are multiple threads in the HDTV programming forum that cover that subject in great detail. We also don't post that much about Verizon Fios national channels & DVR issues, because Verizon provides the same national SD and HD channels to all their subscribers across the US except when they are rolling out an upgrade to one or 2 markets at a time (which is what they are doing for the IMG software upgrades and HD VOD). I think posting short announcements that Verizon added HD channels or pushed out an update to the STD/DVR software are appropriate, but long discussions of the DVR issues are better left to the Fios dedicated threads which is where I post that stuff. However, posts on where Fios is building out or adding service to locations in the Balt-Wash area are valid for this thread.


The cable companies on the other hand are balkanized because of how they were built by taking over local franchise systems, one county/city or video head end at a time. Each county, city, or franchise area may have a different channel line-up and different levels of compression for the HD channels. So asking what the heck is going on with Comcast in Frederick county or where are the unencrypted local digital channels is what this thread is for. But I'm am not the thread police, I just posted some comments on the DirecTV picture quality and noted that it is a national topic, not really a local one.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/12487519
> 
> 
> THat is what happens when you watch TV so early in the Morning!



At least it happened during infomercial time.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Coolgreany* /forum/post/12485179
> 
> 
> Thanks, I get everything from the list of DSC channels on the first page of this thread except for the following. Looks like most/all of them are Baltimore so I don't think I'm missing much except Fox/NBC.
> 
> 
> Would a powered amp help or playing with the pointing with the DB-2 if I wanted to try to squeek out a few more channels? I really don't want to go outside with the antenna if I don't have to.



There is no need to list all the digital sub-channels for a station. All of the sub-channels are carried in the same broadcast data stream. If you get one, you should get the others (unless there is a messed up PSIP issue or the sub-channel is blocked).


I'm confused on whether you are asking about only the digital stations with "004 00 48 NBC WRC SD OK but snowy". The dgital picture may have dropouts, but not snow or analog noise. If it is the digital 4.1 channel, you should be getting WRC-DT 4.1 as that is a strong signal. Try moving the antenna around to see if that helps. The bowties are on the front of the antenna so you want to aim the antenna at DC or a little north of DC to see if that brings in any of the Baltimore stations or WFMT-DT 62 located south of Frederick.


If you want to get the Baltimore stations, you will bery likely need to get a larger longer range antenna. The Baltimore main antenna farm is 43 miles from where I live in north Sterling, they will be around 48+ miles from Ashburn. You won't get WMPB-DT MPT 67 from Ashburn. WNVC-DT Mhz 57 is a weak signal with low antenna height. WNVC-DT 57 will raise the digital antenna height and increase it's power in 2009 after the analog shutdown, but until then it has poor coverage.


----------



## robandjeanne

I'm trying to help a relative in Altoona, PA receive Penn State's HD 3.1 (ch 15) which is about 40 miles away with mountains. I might be able to use a good tuner in Sterling VA also, so I thought I'd buy the best I could get and try it in PA. I noticed some on this list have the Samsung SIR-T451 and wondered how well it does and how well it compares to the Samsung DTB-H260F or any Sony tuner? Also if other great HD tuners are likely to be on sale (even on ebay) because of newer models this would be good to know. My limited testing of HDTVs and their tuners says that Sony is the best with Panasonic and Philips coming in a close second (didn't get a chance to test a Samsung TV).


So far, Sony HD tuners do not seem to be on sale and although Panasonic has a DMR-EZ47 with digital tuner, no similar offering has appeared from Sony. The DMR-EZ47 a $270 VCR and DVR is kind of a poor man's HD recorder using DVD disks rather than a hard drive to record HD (it won't record HD on the tape). It also converts HD and feeds it out on ch 3 for older TVs.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/12479650
> 
> 
> Supposedly DirecTv still downrezes the signal. Not as bad as the MPEG2 channels(1280x1080i) but I read that they downrez it to 1440x1080i.



How about posting what you know and not what you suppose. The MPEG4 channels are stunning.


----------



## Coolgreany




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/12489033
> 
> 
> I'm confused on whether you are asking about only the digital stations with "004 00 48 NBC WRC SD OK but snowy". The dgital picture may have dropouts, but not snow or analog noise. If it is the digital 4.1 channel, you should be getting WRC-DT 4.1 as that is a strong signal.




Thanks for the info and sorry for the confusion. Yes, 4.1 is coming in loud and clear so 004 00 is redeundant (I just listed all info I could).


I'll try re-pointing the antenna. If I do want to try getting the Baltimore stations from an attic setup what antenna would be an upgrade to the db2 and would I need an amp?


Thanks again neighbor!


"Newbie in AShburn"


----------



## jcorwin

I'm with Comcast in Howard County. For the past couple of weeks, the clocks in both of my 8300HD DVRs have been early by 25 seconds. Every recording starts and ends 25 seconds early, cutting off the endings of many shows. Since both DVRs are off by exactly the same amount, I thought it must be Comcast's time reference itself that is wrong. I have unplugged the DVRs to force a reboot and hopefully get a new time sync, but they are still off by the same amount. I haven't seen any other mentions of this in the forum. Has anyone else noticed this? Does anyone know of a way to correct the clock?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robandjeanne* /forum/post/12489522
> 
> 
> I'm trying to help a relative in Altoona, PA receive Penn State's HD 3.1 (ch 15) which is about 40 miles away with mountains. I might be able to use a good tuner in Sterling VA also, so I thought I'd buy the best I could get and try it in PA. I noticed some on this list have the Samsung SIR-T451 and wondered how well it does and how well it compares to the Samsung DTB-H260F or any Sony tuner?



The Samsung SIR-T451 is the older model ATSC tuner. IIRC, it was first released in 2004. It was replaced by the DTB-H260F in 2006. The H260F gets good marks for locking onto to weak stations. The H260F has some drawbacks for use on SD TVs and in how it handle normal screen mode for 4:3 versus HD channels (or at least use to). The H260F QAM tuner is more capable than the T451 (both for clear QAM only). The list price for the H260F is still $180 which is pretty pricey compared to the $300 TivoHD or the ATSC equipped DVD recorders. But you have to be careful about the DVD recorders with ATSC tuners; I gather most of them only output SD and downrez HD. With the low cost converter tuner boxes for the digital transition coming out early next year, I wonder if Samsung will drop the price for the H260F or release a new lower cost model.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Coolgreany* /forum/post/12494956
> 
> 
> I'll try re-pointing the antenna. If I do want to try getting the Baltimore stations from an attic setup what antenna would be an upgrade to the db2 and would I need an amp?



A pre-amp? Maybe, but I would not get one until you try a better antenna by itself. The toss-up for antenna selection is the Channel Master 4221 4 Bay and the more directional CM 4228 8 Bay. The Cm 4228 has more gain & better performance for upper VHF, but has a narrower beamwidth which can be an issue in trying to pick up the Baltimore and Washington stations depending on the angle between the 2 cities. What is you zip code so I can see what the angle is from your location?


----------



## Coolgreany




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/12495835
> 
> 
> What is you zip code so I can see what the angle is from your location?



I'm in 20147 (basically the Southeast corner of Farmwell Road and Ashburn Road)


When I plug in my address at antennaweb the stations range from 40 degrees at 18.8 miles (WFPT-DT 62.1) to about 162 degrees at 18 miles for WPXW-DT 66.1


The Baltimore stations that I don't get are 50 miles at 74 degrees.


I just redirected the antenna a little to the North and pulled in the SD versions of 45 and 54 and the HD versions of 45 (54.1 and 45.2)! I still kept a lock on 22 (which I'd like to improve or get HD version if there is one) and all the other stations I had ! I think this may be as good as it gets.


Thanks for any further suggestions.


----------



## Marcus Carr

I got a pamphlet from Comcast today that mentions the 6 upcoming HD channels. They are also adding IFC, Fuse, and Bloomberg in January. And of course the annual price increase.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/12499455
> 
> 
> I got a pamphlet from Comcast today that mentions the 6 upcoming HD channels. They are also adding ...Bloomberg in January.



Oh, boy! Bloomberg in HD! I'll have to buy a new TV set.


----------



## rviele




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/12500054
> 
> 
> Oh, boy! Bloomberg in HD! I'll have to buy a new TV set.



my question to you and anyone else who cares to reply, is out of all the sevices that say they broadcast in hd how many actually do. or is most of it just upconverted sd. are there any true hd stations that broadcast at least 4 hours a day in hd?


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/12500054
> 
> 
> Oh, boy! Bloomberg in HD! I'll have to buy a new TV set.



SD.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Coolgreany* /forum/post/12496581
> 
> 
> I'm in 20147 (basically the Southeast corner of Farmwell Road and Ashburn Road)
> 
> 
> When I plug in my address at antennaweb the stations range from 40 degrees at 18.8 miles (WFPT-DT 62.1) to about 162 degrees at 18 miles for WPXW-DT 66.1
> 
> 
> The Baltimore stations that I don't get are 50 miles at 74 degrees.



From your location, the main DC stations at around 22 miles at 112 degrees. That puts the angle between DC and Baltimore at around 38 degrees. That is a significant consideration in choosing an antenna that can get both - or most of the time - without having to rotate the antenna. I went with the CM 4221 because I have a wider angle of ~52 degrees between the DC & Baltimore stations and my attic crawlspace is too tight for the CM 4228.


See http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/comparing.html for info on the two antennas. Click on the links for the antenna models. The UHF antennas for VHF chart shows that the CM 4228 has good performance for upper VHF. It has a notch for VHF 8, but we won't have a station on that channel in the area.


At your greater distance and narrower angle between the main sets of stations, I suggest you get the Channel Master 4228 8 Bay bowtie if you have the room in the attic to try it. You may have to mount it outside for better performance depending on how your roof line is oriented and surrounding terrain. You will have to experiment with the aim, but probably somewhere just south of Baltimore to get the more distant stations in the main lobe and the closer DC stations off to the side is where I would start. You should be able to get WPXW-DT Ion 66 and WNVT-DT MHz 30 off in a sidelobe.


If you want to dive into it, check www.tvfool.com to see what signal strengths it predicts for your location. The next level would be to download the kmz files for the DC-Balt stations and load them into Google Earth to look at the broadcast patterns for your location. There is a sticky thread in HDTV hardware reception forum on the tvfool.com site.


----------



## maestro73

I'm pretty sure I noticed this last week too, but doesn't the NFL Network HD broadcast in DD 5.1? Last week and this week I'm getting 2.0. Am I mistaken? I'm on Comcast Alexandria.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *maestro73* /forum/post/12501084
> 
> 
> I'm pretty sure I noticed this last week too, but doesn't the NFL Network HD broadcast in DD 5.1? Last week and this week I'm getting 2.0.



No, the NFL network does not do the games in DD 5.1 but 2.0 only. The 2.0 sound was quite uneven and poor for a game several weeks ago. Check the NFL network game threads in the HDTV programming forum for details. Obviously the NFL is too poor to afford 5.1 sound or to get a better play-by-play announcer.


----------



## maestro73

Thanks Afiggatt. Yeah, that's just rediculous they don't do 5.1. I guess I assumed they did. And I agree with you on Gumble. He's....not good.


----------



## Coolgreany




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/12501079
> 
> 
> From your location, the main DC stations at around 22 miles at 112 degrees. That puts the angle between DC and Baltimore at around 38 degrees. That is a significant consideration in choosing an antenna that can get both - or most of the time - without having to rotate the antenna. I went with the CM 4221 because I have a wider angle of ~52 degrees between the DC & Baltimore stations and my attic crawlspace is too tight for the CM 4228.
> 
> 
> See http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/comparing.html for info on the two antennas. Click on the links for the antenna models. The UHF antennas for VHF chart shows that the CM 4228 has good performance for upper VHF. It has a notch for VHF 8, but we won't have a station on that channel in the area.
> 
> 
> At your greater distance and narrower angle between the main sets of stations, I suggest you get the Channel Master 4228 8 Bay bowtie if you have the room in the attic to try it. You may have to mount it outside for better performance depending on how your roof line is oriented and surrounding terrain. You will have to experiment with the aim, but probably somewhere just south of Baltimore to get the more distant stations in the main lobe and the closer DC stations off to the side is where I would start. You should be able to get WPXW-DT Ion 66 and WNVT-DT MHz 30 off in a sidelobe.
> 
> 
> If you want to dive into it, check www.tvfool.com to see what signal strengths it predicts for your location. The next level would be to download the kmz files for the DC-Balt stations and load them into Google Earth to look at the broadcast patterns for your location. There is a sticky thread in HDTV hardware reception forum on the tvfool.com site.




Thanks Afiggatt!! I'll do some more research. There's loads of room in the attic so I have some options.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *maestro73* /forum/post/12501628
> 
> 
> Thanks Afiggatt. Yeah, that's just rediculous they don't do 5.1. I guess I assumed they did. And I agree with you on Gumble. He's....not good.



When Gumbel is speaking, I wish they were in 0.0


----------



## robandjeanne

I've been using my attic antennas for over 20 years, but they aren't grounded. I've never had a lightning event. Do others ground their attic antennas?


----------



## robandjeanne

If you had a tuner like the Samsung DTB-H260F can you feed the output into a modulator and send it to other TVs on ch 3 or 4? I'm guessing this is how it might work. If the other TV was a HDTV it could then receive the HD signal on ch 3. If it was an older TV the Samsung could be set to 480i and the older set would receive the HD programming at standard resolution on ch 3.


This might have a slight advantage in some situations where you wanted to distribute HD programming at a low frequency over cheap cable (like RG59) because losses at ch 3 are so much smaller. The set top boxes that vouchers will be available for next year would do the same thing as the Samsung with the important limitation of not being able to distribute HD programming in high resolution. Actually since most modulators transmit on either 3 or 4, an HD distribution syatem could be configured over cheap cable (or maybe wirelessly using a VHF antenna aimed downwards) with ch 3 being high res HD and ch 4 being SD (from one of the new cheap set top boxes).


Rob


----------



## Bill Johnson




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robandjeanne* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Do others ground their attic antennas?



I don't! There's no need to ground an attic antenna for one reason because there's no wind to build up static electricity. Besides, if that one in 20,000 or more chances happens and my house takes a direct hit and even less probably it somehow hits my attic antenna directly, the damage to the house will be pretty bad, ground or no ground!


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robandjeanne* /forum/post/12512841
> 
> 
> If you had a tuner like the Samsung DTB-H260F can you feed the output into a modulator and send it to other TVs on ch 3 or 4?
> 
> Rob



While that would make a lot of sense and be quite useful, the copy protection folks have axed the ability to do this. Dish Network used to have a RF modulator on their Dish 5000 HDTV receiver. People used to hook up D-VHS recorders to it and get perfect copies of HD programs. Later models from Dish omitted the RF modulator and Dish migrated to 8PSK and ceased all support for the QPSK modulation that was the only modulaton supported by the model 5000.


----------



## afiggatt

For those who want more news in HD, a reminder that Newshour with Jim Lehrer will be making it's HD debut tonight. WETA-DT 26.1 which is producing the show will have it in HD. The listings show HD on MPT, but we shall see. I wonder if the WETA-DT engineers have told Jim Lehrer - "remember for that pristine HD look, no fast moves, no fast pans, and for gods sake, no video of fires, waterfalls, or sports, or else it will break into bit starved macro blocking".


----------



## PaulGo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robandjeanne* /forum/post/12512841
> 
> 
> If you had a tuner like the Samsung DTB-H260F can you feed the output into a modulator and send it to other TVs on ch 3 or 4? I'm guessing this is how it might work. If the other TV was a HDTV it could then receive the HD signal on ch 3. If it was an older TV the Samsung could be set to 480i and the older set would receive the HD programming at standard resolution on ch 3.
> 
> 
> 
> Rob



No. The modulator is analog not digital.


----------



## rvonder

Is there anyone out there in the Dale City / Woodbridge area with Comcast's HD service? I'm trying to find out which standard HD box (ie, non-DVR) they provide, and whether it has HDMI and/or optical outputs.


I have some friends near Potomac Mills that I'm trying to help buy a small home theatre (HTIB) audio system to go with their 47" Vizio LCD. They're both a bit "technology challenged", so a system that provides HDMI switching would make things a lot easier to use. But that's pointless if the Comcast box doesn't have an HDMI output (most of the HTIB systems with HDMI input switching no longer have component inputs).


Same with audio: Most of systems I'm considering have optical inputs, but not coaxial. So it's important to know if the cable box offers an optical output.


I tried calling Comcast's support, and the guy said that their boxes do have HDMI outputs but only RCA audio outs (ie, 2-channel analog). I find that very hard to believe in 2007, but he kept insisting that none of Comcast's HD boxes have either optical or coaxial digital outputs... I figured I'd get a better answer here than from Comcast!


Thanks in advance --

Rob


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rvonder* /forum/post/12515035
> 
> 
> I tried calling Comcast's support, and the guy said that their boxes do have HDMI outputs but only RCA audio outs (ie, 2-channel analog). I find that very hard to believe in 2007, but he kept insisting that none of Comcast's HD boxes have either optical or coaxial digital outputs... I figured I'd get a better answer here than from Comcast!



I'm not up on the Comcast STBs, but all decent digital STBs have a digital audio output. The only ones that I know that don't are the low end models such as the Motorola DCT 700 intended to be used with analog TVs for the shutting down of the analog channels. Any STB with HDMI or component output is going to have a digital audio output - period. Which you can use to run the DD 5.1 sound to the sound system from the STB and DVD player while the video goes directly to the TV via component or HDMI. A Logitech Harmony remote can be set up to switch the TV, sound receiver, and cable box at the same time.


----------



## JayMan007




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/12502604
> 
> 
> When Gumbel is speaking, I wish they were in 0.0



Funny... thats when they need to disable the center channel, and keep the other 4.1


----------



## rvonder




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/12515154
> 
> 
> Any STB with HDMI or component output is going to have a digital audio output - period. Which you can use to run the DD 5.1 sound to the sound system from the STB and DVD player while the video goes directly to the TV via component or HDMI.



Thanks for the quick reply! I just couldn't believe that Comcast's HD boxes wouldn't have an optical out.


The Samsung HTIB system I'm looking at for them has a 5-disk upscaling DVD player and wireless surround speakers. But best of all, it has both optical and HDMI inputs, which is pretty rare on a system that's only a bit over $300. That way, they don't even need the Harmony remote - the receiver neatly handles all the source switching for both video and audio.


Rob


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JayMan007* /forum/post/12515338
> 
> 
> Funny... thats when they need to disable the center channel, and keep the other 4.1



He is still talking in the stadium. Probably pick him up on a surround channel.


----------



## tonyd79

DirecTV seems to be adding more local HD markets as well as additional channels in a lot of markets. Any word on WNUV? Mark?


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rvonder* /forum/post/12515035
> 
> 
> I tried calling Comcast's support, and the guy said that their boxes do have HDMI outputs but only RCA audio outs (ie, 2-channel analog). I find that very hard to believe in 2007, but he kept insisting that none of Comcast's HD boxes have either optical or coaxial digital outputs... I figured I'd get a better answer here than from Comcast!
> 
> Rob



What boxes do they have? Motorola or Scientific Atlanta? If the latter, I know for certain that the SA8300 has an optical digital out. I have used it for months. I'd be very surprised if the Moto (which is usually the better box) didn't have it.


And, on Comcast's own support page, they have this document:

http://www.comcast.com/MediaLibrary/...onnections.pdf


----------



## rvonder




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/12515857
> 
> 
> What boxes do they have? Motorola or Scientific Atlanta?



I'm not sure - which is why I was hoping that someone with Comcast in the same area (Dale City/Woodbridge) could tell me. It appears that Comcast uses different boxes in different areas?


Interestingly, it seems that all of their boxes (including the SA8300 and the Moto DCT-5100/6200) have only DVI outputs, not HDMI? Should I have any problems using a DVI-to-HDMI cable to connect the cable box to the HDMI input on the receiver, and then a regular HDMI connection from the receiver to the TV? (I seem to recall reading about some kind of issue when the connection is "relayed" through a switch rather than doing straight to the TV due to stupid copy-protection...?)


Rob


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PaulGo* /forum/post/12513793
> 
> 
> No. The modulator is analog not digital.



Yeah, I haven't been able to find an HDMI or component to ATSC modulator. Copy prevention explains it.... at least for component. A smart HDMI version could look at the copy bit.


----------



## Damnationdoormat

I'm unsure if Comcast is planning new HD channels, but when I was just flipping around on a football commercial break and noticed new channel listings and programming listed for USAD (USA Network), SCIFI (Sci-fi Channel), and HDC (Discovery Channel) around Food Network and TBS-HD. None of the 3 channels would come in though.


But now the listings are gone...?


I'm in the Sparrows Point, MD area.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rvonder* /forum/post/12516004
> 
> 
> Interestingly, it seems that all of their boxes (including the SA8300 and the Moto DCT-5100/6200) have only DVI outputs, not HDMI?



My 8300 had HDMI.


----------



## hokierob

I have Cox in Fairfax County. Never had any complaints until now but lately my ESPNHD (Channel 716) has been coming in constantly skipping audio and sometimes video. Has anyone else noticed this? Everything is fine in SD on channle 56.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Damnationdoormat* /forum/post/12518958
> 
> 
> I'm unsure if Comcast is planning new HD channels, but when I was just flipping around on a football commercial break and noticed new channel listings and programming listed for USAD (USA Network), SCIFI (Sci-fi Channel), and HDC (Discovery Channel) around Food Network and TBS-HD. None of the 3 channels would come in though.
> 
> 
> But now the listings are gone...?
> 
> 
> I'm in the Sparrows Point, MD area.



Same thing here. These channels are supposed to be added this week. I called Customer Service just to make sure somebody knew these channels weren't available yet.


----------



## Marcus Carr

The Comcast Central menus have been added in Baltimore, channels 960-963. They showed up after i rebooted the cable box.


Only shows up on my Motorola 3412, not my 3416.


----------



## raidbuck




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/12520129
> 
> 
> Same thing here. These channels are supposed to be added this week. I called Customer Service just to make sure somebody knew these channels weren't available yet.



I'm in Harford county and I saw them appear last night about 11pm. They are in the guide and I recorded L&O CI on USAHD. We'll see how it recorded tonight (USAHD, SCIFIHD and DiscoveryHD). I don't remember the channel numbers.


Rich N.


----------



## Potatoehead

TLCHD, USAHD, SCIHD, HistoryHD and DiscoveryHD appeared in Calvert County MD this morning on Comcast. Yeah!


----------



## Marcus Carr

Still gone from the guide as of about 7:10 this morning. Channel numbers were 235 USA, 236 Sci Fi, 239 Discovery Channel.


----------



## PaulGo

USA HD and Sci Fi HD has been added to Montgomery County Comcast.


----------



## iontyre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *raidbuck* /forum/post/12521814
> 
> 
> I'm in Harford county and I saw them appear last night about 11pm. They are in the guide and I recorded L&O CI on USAHD. We'll see how it recorded tonight (USAHD, SCIFIHD and DiscoveryHD). I don't remember the channel numbers.
> 
> 
> Rich N.



I had those channels (Harford County) as of about 10:00pm last night. Very excited about ScifiHD!!!!!


----------



## GregAnnapolis

Effective 12/18/2007, the following channels are newly available on my Comcast in Anne Arundel County (Annapolis MD).


235 USAHD

236 SCIHD

237 HISTD

239 TDCHD

240 TLCHD


(Still want NHLHD and GAMEHD...







)


----------



## aaronwt

I'll trade you NFLHD on my FIOS for SciFiHD.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/12528543
> 
> 
> I'll trade you NFLHD on my FIOS for SciFiHD.



NFLHD is on 246. I want NHLHD, though.


----------



## hokiefan

Just a heads up for anyone with Dish Network.. If you sign up for autopay and paperless billing, you can get cinemax for 2 years @ $0.01 per year.


First seen at slickdeals, more info at satguys:
http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-net...s-billing.html


----------



## CycloneGT






http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7PEMGuA6tw 


Joon Rhee comercial


----------



## jacindc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/12529420
> 
> 
> Joon Rhee commercial



BLESS you for posting this. Suddenly it's 1980 all over again. To this day, I still say "Nobody bothers me, either!"


Now, when's someone going to uncover Nils's "Bullet Fever"?


ETA: Okay, I'll stay on topic. When are these bountiful new channels going to show up on Comcast DC, darn it?


----------



## Marcus Carr

Still NOTHING in Baltimore City.


----------



## clifburns




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jacindc* /forum/post/12530022
> 
> 
> 
> Now, when's someone going to uncover Nils's "Bullet Fever"?
> 
> 
> ETA: Okay, I'll stay on topic. When are these bountiful new channels going to show up on Comcast DC, darn it?



Uh, pretty much after every other place in the area that has competition from FIOS. Since there isn't FIOS in DC, and no plans for FIOS in DC, well, we will just have to wait.


----------



## raidbuck

CycloneGT:


Harford County did not get TLC and HistoryHD, just USAHD, SciFiHD and DiscoveryHD. It's a preview until Jan 15 when we add TLC, History and CNNHD.


Thanks,


Rich N.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/12528640
> 
> 
> NFLHD is on 246. I want NHLHD, though.



Doh! i misread it.


----------



## mikepinkerton

My friend (really!) in Leesburg just got FIOS TV and he's really unhappy (coming from Dish). He says that there's no way to get the analog channels to stop from automatically stretching to widescreen from the box, he has to use his TV to reverse the stretch manually.


He also says that the DVR only holds about 8hrs of HD content, down from 10x that with his Dish receiver. He guesses it's because the signal isn't compressed, therefore it's recording the raw signal.


Any word on the bogosity (is that a word?) of either of these? I think he has the Motorola STB. I've heard only great things about FIOS in the past, and these complaints he had seemed just too strange.


-Mike


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikepinkerton* /forum/post/12533367
> 
> 
> My friend (really!) in Leesburg just got FIOS TV and he's really unhappy (coming from Dish). He says that there's no way to get the analog channels to stop from automatically stretching to widescreen from the box, he has to use his TV to reverse the stretch manually.
> 
> 
> He also says that the DVR only holds about 8hrs of HD content, down from 10x that with his Dish receiver. He guesses it's because the signal isn't compressed, therefore it's recording the raw signal.



First, there are no analog channels using the Fios STB or DVR. All of the SD channels he sees are sent digitally. The DVR must be outputting upconverted stretched SD. He needs to set the DVR up to output 480i or 480p for the SD channels. Tell him to turn the DVR off (but not the TV), press Select, and then Menu on the remote to access the setup menu. Change 4:3 Override to 480i or 480p. If he needs help with closed caption setup, I can provide more info. Turn the DVR off to save the settings. See http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_...rola_DVR/Setup for details on the Motorola setup menu.


The Fios Motorola QIP 6416 DVR has a 160 GB hard drive. It holds around 20 hours of HD. Yes, that is small. If his DVR has the original IMG release 1.0.3 firmware, then it will show an inaccurate # for the HD hours remaining in the recording space. This was fixed with the IMG 1.0.4 release that was sent out last week. It is possible that if he just got the DVR, they gave him one that was sitting on a shelf when the 1.0.4 patch was sent out a week ago. If his settings info shows release 1.0.3, he should call Verizon and have them push the update to his DVR or swap it.


Of course, the digital signal is compressed, in this case, using MPEG-2. No one sends out a uncompressed HD signal, there is not the bandwidth for it. Verizon passes what they get from the local broadcast stations and the national HD cable channels with no additional compression, so they do provide the best picture quality available. The DBS companies are switching to MPEG-4 to save on bandwidth which does make for smaller HD files.


Perhaps the biggest limit to Verizon Fios at this time is the 160 GB hard drive in the DVR. They have not activated the eSATA port (and not all of the QIP 6416s Verizon out there have the eSATA port) so there is no external expansion hard drive option. The only real solution, which many have done, is to get the TivoHD and lease 2 cable cards.


----------



## drewdc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Potatoehead* /forum/post/12521858
> 
> 
> TLCHD, USAHD, SCIHD, HistoryHD and DiscoveryHD appeared in Calvert County MD this morning on Comcast. Yeah!




got'em here in huntingtown!!!!


----------



## lax01

Montgomery County got USAHD, SCIFIHD, NFLHDTV sometime yesterday


BRING ON BSG!


----------



## Marcus Carr

Baltimore City got USA, Sci Fi, Discovery Channel today.


----------



## lax01




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/12538057
> 
> 
> Baltimore City got USA, Sci Fi, Discovery Channel today.



I'm still shocked that people don't have Discovery HD-Theater...we've had it so long I just don't think I could understand TV without it


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lax01* /forum/post/12538064
> 
> 
> I'm still shocked that people don't have Discovery HD-Theater...we've had it so long I just don't think I could understand TV without it



He said "Discovery Channel" not "Discovery HD-Theater". They are two completely different channels, the latter of which is now called "HD Theatre" -- and we've had HD Theatre for at least 2.5 years -- maybe even before that, but my HD experience begins in June 2005 or so.


----------



## Potatoehead

Originally we got SCIHD in the comcast upgrade - now they have switched it to SCIFIHD. I am happy, but did someone make a mistake?


----------



## lax01




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/12538226
> 
> 
> He said "Discovery Channel" not "Discovery HD-Theater". They are two completely different channels, the latter of which is now called "HD Theatre" -- and we've had HD Theatre for at least 2.5 years -- maybe even before that, but my HD experience begins in June 2005 or so.



OH ok...so this is part of their new platform of HD channels...gotcha


----------



## JoeInNVa

Maybe when I get back on the 30th Comcast of Alexandria will have the new channels.


----------



## drbuford

I'm hoping someone can help me here...


I recently upgraded to an HDTV and am trying to figure out what I need to do with my Comcast service. I have a dedicated HTPC with Windows Media Center that I currently use to watch and record all of my TV (a HD video card outputs the video to the TV). I know I need a new TV tuner for the PC, but when I called Comcast tech support, they didn't seem like they knew anything about QAM or CableCARD and certainly didn't know if the local HD channels were being encrypted. They also said they had never heard of anyone using a computer to record the TV.


All I really care about is receiving the local network channels in HD. I'm too remote for an antenna to be really effective, so I can't go that route. Does anyone know what Comcast is really doing? (I know I'm asking for sarcasm here ;-)


I can easily find QAM tuners for my Media Center, but the CableCARD tuners are harder to find and much more expensive. I don't mind spending the money if that's what is really needed, but I also want to make sure I get the right thing.


Thanks in advance for any help!


----------



## azitnay




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *clifburns* /forum/post/12532156
> 
> 
> Uh, pretty much after every other place in the area that has competition from FIOS. Since there isn't FIOS in DC, and no plans for FIOS in DC, well, we will just have to wait.



I wouldn't say there are no plans for FIOS in DC... I received a telephone survey about the possibility a couple months ago.


If anything, I'd say Verizon wants to do it, but the city is dragging its feet as usual (probably due to pressure from Comcast).


Drew


----------



## MrChad

New HD channels are starting to come in here in Loudoun Co. So far I see Food Network HD, HGTV HD, USA HD and SCI FI HD, and it looks like there are placeholders for others that haven't yet appeared on the guide.


----------



## CuseHokie




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrChad* /forum/post/12540335
> 
> 
> New HD channels are starting to come in here in Loudoun Co. So far I see Food Network HD, HGTV HD, USA HD and SCI FI HD, and it looks like there are placeholders for others that haven't yet appeared on the guide.



Beat me to it!!


Just noticed this...


By scanning the unnamed, seems like we have CNN, Animal Planet, History, and a few others I'm still figuring out.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *drbuford* /forum/post/12540014
> 
> 
> I'm hoping someone can help me here...
> 
> 
> I recently upgraded to an HDTV and am trying to figure out what I need to do with my Comcast service. I have a dedicated HTPC with Windows Media Center that I currently use to watch and record all of my TV (a HD video card outputs the video to the TV). I know I need a new TV tuner for the PC, but when I called Comcast tech support, they didn't seem like they knew anything about QAM or CableCARD and certainly didn't know if the local HD channels were being encrypted. They also said they had never heard of anyone using a computer to record the TV.
> 
> 
> All I really care about is receiving the local network channels in HD. I'm too remote for an antenna to be really effective, so I can't go that route. Does anyone know what Comcast is really doing? (I know I'm asking for sarcasm here ;-)
> 
> 
> I can easily find QAM tuners for my Media Center, but the CableCARD tuners are harder to find and much more expensive. I don't mind spending the money if that's what is really needed, but I also want to make sure I get the right thing.
> 
> 
> Thanks in advance for any help!



get a Tuner card, install it and plug in the cable and do a scan and yhou should see all of the locals in HD.


----------



## clifburns




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *azitnay* /forum/post/12540319
> 
> 
> I wouldn't say there are no plans for FIOS in DC... I received a telephone survey about the possibility a couple months ago.
> 
> 
> If anything, I'd say Verizon wants to do it, but the city is dragging its feet as usual (probably due to pressure from Comcast).
> 
> 
> Drew



Well, then you'd be wrong according to this article in the _Washington Post_ which suggests that the District is asking Verizon about its deployment plans and Verizon won't say.


----------



## azitnay




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *clifburns* /forum/post/12542609
> 
> 
> Well, then you'd be wrong according to this article in the _Washington Post_ which suggests that the District is asking Verizon about its deployment plans and Verizon won't say.



Verizon certainly isn't alone in its clandestine approach to FIOS rollouts... I remember calling Comcast every day back in the summer of 1997, asking when [email protected] cable modem service would be available in my Columbia, MD neighborhood. They never gave me any indication either way until the day I was able to order service.


I remember reading that Post article... It can certainly be frustrating, but I certainly didn't take from it that Verizon isn't planning on deploying FIOS in DC any time soon. It was also printed over a month before my phone survey took place.


Drew


----------



## drbuford




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/12542546
> 
> 
> get a Tuner card, install it and plug in the cable and do a scan and yhou should see all of the locals in HD.



Thanks for the quick reply! I'm assuming you mean a QAM tuner card will work? Then, do you have any idea what package I need from Comcast just to get the local networks in HD? Believe it or not, the Comcast person on the phone couldn't tell me and the only channel list I found shows all the channels, not the breakout by package.


----------



## azitnay




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *drbuford* /forum/post/12542857
> 
> 
> Thanks for the quick reply! I'm assuming you mean a QAM tuner card will work? Then, do you have any idea what package I need from Comcast just to get the local networks in HD? Believe it or not, the Comcast person on the phone couldn't tell me and the only channel list I found shows all the channels, not the breakout by package.



No guarantees, but it's certainly possible that you'll get them with the cheapo ~$13 a month "basic" plan... I'd start there and work your way up.


I wouldn't expect many straight answers from Comcast on this one... If you're not going for one of their digital packages, they're probably not going to spend a lot of time on you.


Drew


----------



## machpost

I'm not holding my breath for FiOS availability in the District. And even after they start rolling it out, single-family homes in wealthy neighborhoods will probably be the first to get it, while they take their time rolling it out to MDUs (large apartment or condo buildings) and less fashionable neighborhoods.


----------



## DocWB

Might be a little OT, but i was thinking about switching to Verizon FiOS. I currently have DishNetwork. You guys think its worth it? The bill will probably be around the same but thats with the sports and movie package on the FiOS. Also, when i get the HD Box, i should be able to get all the HD channels they offer, correct?


----------



## JayMan007




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Potatoehead* /forum/post/12538397
> 
> 
> Originally we got SCIHD in the comcast upgrade - now they have switched it to SCIFIHD. I am happy, but did someone make a mistake?



Potatoehead,


Is that Mr. Potatoehead?


I'm not sure where you are, but Richmond, VA got USA-HD and SciFi-HD yesterday... although the guide had SCIHD. That has been corrected and today the guide shows SCIFI.

I would say that someone made a mistake... I'd also think that SCI-HD will be added soon.

It makes me think that NoVA/DC/Baltimore and Richmond have the same technicians since we have the same channel lineup and had that same error.


----------



## Speqtre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DocWB* /forum/post/12543505
> 
> 
> Might be a little OT, but i was thinking about switching to Verizon FiOS. I currently have DishNetwork. You guys think its worth it? The bill will probably be around the same but thats with the sports and movie package on the FiOS. Also, when i get the HD Box, i should be able to get all the HD channels they offer, correct?



I currently have FIOS and will probably switch to Comcast for a couple reasons. I don't feel that the Feb '08 price jump in FIOS is justified at this point. I just picked up a Tivo HD and need cablecards - FIOS wants $3.99 per, Comcast will charge $1.98 for two. I also just got a card from Comcast offering their Digital Preferred Plus Package with HBO and Starz for $29.95 a month for a year.


FIOS is ok, but it certainly isn't the panacea that people make it out to be.


----------



## JayMan007




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CuseHokie* /forum/post/12540498
> 
> 
> Beat me to it!!
> 
> 
> Just noticed this...
> 
> 
> By scanning the unnamed, seems like we have CNN, Animal Planet, History, and a few others I'm still figuring out.



How do you scan?


----------



## DocWB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/12543878
> 
> 
> I currently have FIOS and will probably switch to Comcast for a couple reasons. I don't feel that the Feb '08 price jump in FIOS is justified at this point. I just picked up a Tivo HD and need cablecards - FIOS wants $3.99 per, Comcast will charge $1.98 for two. I also just got a card from Comcast offering their Digital Preferred Plus Package with HBO and Starz for $29.95 a month for a year.
> 
> 
> FIOS is ok, but it certainly isn't the panacea that people make it out to be.



Well as far as the HD Tivo goes, they have a HD DVR box that you can get for 15.99 a month (im paying $20 a month for my HD box alone right now). And im not really worried about the HBO, but im getting the movies and sports package for 15.99. But i'll look into comcast too. Im not sure they offer it over where i live. I know they didnt a couple of yrs ago, but it probably has changed since.


----------



## boomster




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DocWB* /forum/post/12544079
> 
> 
> Well as far as the HD Tivo goes, they have a HD DVR box that you can get for 15.99 a month (im paying $20 a month for my HD box alone right now). And im not really worried about the HBO, but im getting the movies and sports package for 15.99. But i'll look into comcast too. Im not sure they offer it over where i live. I know they didnt a couple of yrs ago, but it probably has changed since.




A coworker of mine lives in Sterling and has Fios. She got it a few months back. So I bet they have it where you are now.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JayMan007* /forum/post/12543871
> 
> 
> Potatoehead,
> 
> 
> Is that Mr. Potatoehead?
> 
> 
> I'm not sure where you are, but Richmond, VA got USA-HD and SciFi-HD yesterday... although the guide had SCIHD. That has been corrected and today the guide shows SCIFI.
> 
> I would say that someone made a mistake... I'd also think that SCI-HD will be added soon.
> 
> It makes me think that NoVA/DC/Baltimore and Richmond have the same technicians since we have the same channel lineup and had that same error.



In Baltimore it's been SCIFI from the beginning. But USAHD here is USADT, which is probably supposed to be for WUSA. Discovery Channel HD is DISHD. Probably should be DSCHD to match the SD channel. DIS is the Disney Channel.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DocWB* /forum/post/12543505
> 
> 
> Might be a little OT, but i was thinking about switching to Verizon FiOS. I currently have DishNetwork. You guys think its worth it? The bill will probably be around the same but thats with the sports and movie package on the FiOS. Also, when i get the HD Box, i should be able to get all the HD channels they offer, correct?



You should check the Verizon Fios programming thread in the programming forum and the Fios equipment sticky threads in the hardware reception and recorders forum if you want to do some reading. Not a simple question.


Verizon will have better picture quality for SD and HD than Dish. Verizon does not have the 15 Voom HD channels that Dish has, so you would lose those. Verizon has fewer HD channels in total for now, major increase in HD channels is not expected until the spring. There have been reports that they will add a few more national HD channels before then, but these really are rumors, not solid info.


Yes, you get all 16 national HD channels as part of the standard "premiere" package. You may have to ask for them to be activated when you get the HD STB/DVR. Verizon does offer a limited set of analog channels for the locals only, but those will be going away in a few months as Fios TV goes entirely digital.


Verizon was supposed to add HD VOD to the Washington Metro market this week, but they pulled an message announcing it in this area on Tuesday and no sign of HD in the VOD folders so far. Probably ran into a technical glitch. Fios uses IPTV for VOD and the guide data, so they are not using any QAM channels for VOD. Guide data reloads are much quicker than the cable systems, BTW.


If you have the Dish HD-DVR, you will be losing storage capacity. Verizon has the Motorola QIP 6416 HD-DVR with a 160 GB hard drive which has only around 20 hours of HD recording capacity. No expansion options at this time nor any word at all if they will ever enable the eSATA port. There may be some news at CES on future equipment options after the 1st of the year. The TivoHD is a viable option with Fios as Fios will not be using SDV and you can expand the TivoHD hard drive capacity. You will have to rent two cable cards for the TivoHD until the multistream cards are available. You lose the Fios VOD with Tivo.


Overall, I am fairly satisfied with Verizon Fios. The internet access does work at the advertised speed and may be the best part of the deal. I do wish that they would add Sci-Fi, USA, CNN HD or at least given us Sci-Fi HD rather than the stretch-o-vision A&E-HD.


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p

bam Manassas Va has nine new HD channels


229 HGTV HD


231 FOOD HD


234 CNN HD


235 USA HD


236 SCIFI HD


237 HIST HD


239 DISC HD


240 TLC HD


241 Animal Planet HD


so thats 34 total HD channels!


nice job Comcast!


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p

the complete lineup


Comcast Manassas VA HDTV

Effective 12/20/2007


210 WJLA-DT (ABC-HD)

211 WRC-DT (NBC-HD)

212 WUSA-DT (CBS-HD)

213 WTTG-DT (FOX-HD)

214 WDCW-DT (CW-HD)

215 WDCA-DT (MY Network HD)

220 WETA-DT (PBS-HD)

223 A&E HD

224 National Geographic HD

225 Discovery HD Theater

226 Mojo HD

227 MHD

228 HBO HD

229 HGTV HD

230 HD On Demand

231 Food Network HD

232 TBS HD

233 Cinemax HD

234 CNN HD

235 USA HD

236 SCI-FI HD

237 History Channel HD

238 Showtime HD

239 Discovery Channel HD

240 TLC HD

241 Animal Planet HD

246 NFL Network HD

248 Starz HD

249 TNT HD

250 Universal HD

251 Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic HD

252 ESPN HD

253 ESPN 2 HD

254 Versus/Golf Channel HD


----------



## alexandriahokie




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DVDO+WESTY=1080p* /forum/post/12544660
> 
> 
> bam Manassas Va has nine new HD channels



BAM! And Arlington/Alexandria still doesn't have anything new despite all of the major Comcast markets around us getting new channels (I don't think DC has anything new, either). Way to go, Comcast! But thanks for jacking up my bill next month. Bitter.


----------



## azitnay

No, as of today DC doesn't have any new channels, either... But DC's lineup as listed on www.comcast.com does list the following new channels that we don't get yet:


229 - Home & Garden TV HD (apparently displacing MHD to 227)

235 - USA HD

236 - Sci-Fi Channel HD

239 - Discovery HD

240 - TLC HD


So, I'm hopeful we see these channels sooner than later. A similar search for Alexandria doesn't appear to show them, however







.


Drew


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/12539842
> 
> 
> Maybe when I get back on the 30th Comcast of Alexandria will have the new channels.



We must be the hole in Comcast's NoVa/DC/MD donut


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *drbuford* /forum/post/12542857
> 
> 
> Thanks for the quick reply! I'm assuming you mean a QAM tuner card will work? Then, do you have any idea what package I need from Comcast just to get the local networks in HD? Believe it or not, the Comcast person on the phone couldn't tell me and the only channel list I found shows all the channels, not the breakout by package.



It is very likely that the new HDTV you got already has a QAM tuner - just plug the coax from the wall into it and scan for cable channels - that will tell you what clear QAM chs are available.


The tuner card issue is not that simple. Media Center can't handle QAM chs on built in cards - just some external QAM tuner units. There certainly are some QAM tuner equipped cards out there but for them to work you have to use their own software.


CableCards - don't bother - you'll need a new $2K+ PC for that.


----------



## Potatoehead




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JayMan007* /forum/post/12543871
> 
> 
> Potatoehead,
> 
> 
> Is that Mr. Potatoehead?
> 
> 
> I'm not sure where you are, but Richmond, VA got USA-HD and SciFi-HD yesterday... although the guide had SCIHD. That has been corrected and today the guide shows SCIFI.
> 
> I would say that someone made a mistake... I'd also think that SCI-HD will be added soon.
> 
> It makes me think that NoVA/DC/Baltimore and Richmond have the same technicians since we have the same channel lineup and had that same error.



JayMan007,


That's Dr. Potatoehead to you










We actually had SCIHD for a while as a channel and in the guide. That went away when they put on SCI-FIHD. Guess we know one of the new HD channels we will be getting soon....


----------



## CuseHokie

I change to those numbers (guide still shows numbers, just no names) and wait for them to come back from commercial and see their logos in the bottom right.


----------



## mark_1581




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dspadoni* /forum/post/12545805
> 
> 
> We must be the hole in Comcast's NoVa/DC/MD donut



We're also the hole in Verizon's fios donut. Has anyone heard any news on when fios is coming to Alexandria? Who do we have to blame for the holdup, Verizon or the City?


----------



## smithre4

Is it me or is SciFiHD not really high definition at all, but SD upconverted with 5.1 sound? Haven't seen a single show yet that is widescreen.


----------



## Berto1020




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DVDO+WESTY=1080p* /forum/post/12544811
> 
> 
> the complete lineup
> 
> 
> Comcast Manassas VA HDTV
> 
> Effective 12/20/2007
> 
> 
> 210 WJLA-DT (ABC-HD)
> 
> 211 WRC-DT (NBC-HD)
> 
> 212 WUSA-DT (CBS-HD)
> 
> 213 WTTG-DT (FOX-HD)
> 
> 214 WDCW-DT (CW-HD)
> 
> 215 WDCA-DT (MY Network HD)
> 
> 220 WETA-DT (PBS-HD)
> 
> 223 A&E HD
> 
> 224 National Geographic HD
> 
> 225 Discovery HD Theater
> 
> 226 Mojo HD
> 
> 227 MHD
> 
> 228 HBO HD
> 
> 229 HGTV HD
> 
> 230 HD On Demand
> 
> 231 Food Network HD
> 
> 232 TBS HD
> 
> 233 Cinemax HD
> 
> 234 CNN HD
> 
> 235 USA HD
> 
> 236 SCI-FI HD
> 
> 237 History Channel HD
> 
> 238 Showtime HD
> 
> 239 Discovery Channel HD
> 
> 240 TLC HD
> 
> 241 Animal Planet HD
> 
> 246 NFL Network HD
> 
> 248 Starz HD
> 
> 249 TNT HD
> 
> 250 Universal HD
> 
> 251 Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic HD
> 
> 252 ESPN HD
> 
> 253 ESPN 2 HD
> 
> 254 Versus/Golf Channel HD



Here in Montclair, VA we received the same additions today as well, same lineup as Manassas, thank you Comcast!


----------



## Ladd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *smithre4* /forum/post/12549759
> 
> 
> Is it me or is SciFiHD not really high definition at all, but SD upconverted with 5.1 sound? Haven't seen a single show yet that is widescreen.



I haven't seen anything that appeared to be HD yet either, even if specifically listed as HD.


What I get is a widescreen picture, but with black bars on all four sides. The zoom feature on my TV won't even zoom it properly, so I have to watch the small widescreen picture.


EDIT: I should have also noted that I've had SCIFI-HD for less than two weeks now, so my experience is limited.


----------



## drbuford




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/12546501
> 
> 
> It is very likely that the new HDTV you got already has a QAM tuner - just plug the coax from the wall into it and scan for cable channels - that will tell you what clear QAM chs are available.
> 
> 
> The tuner card issue is not that simple. Media Center can't handle QAM chs on built in cards - just some external QAM tuner units. There certainly are some QAM tuner equipped cards out there but for them to work you have to use their own software.
> 
> 
> CableCards - don't bother - you'll need a new $2K+ PC for that.



Great! It actually worked using the TV's QAM tuner. With just my basic subscription, I can tune in to the local network HD broadcasts plus others such as HGTV, Food Network, Discovery and History channel. I'll see if I can track down a QAM tuner for Media Center now. I know I saw a new one at Best Buy a couple of weeks ago that had the "designed for Media Center" sticker.


----------



## tetu81




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *azitnay* /forum/post/12545166
> 
> 
> 229 - Home & Garden TV HD (apparently displacing MHD to 227)
> 
> 235 - USA HD
> 
> 236 - Sci-Fi Channel HD
> 
> 239 - Discovery HD
> 
> 240 - TLC HD
> 
> 
> So, I'm hopeful we see these channels sooner than later. A similar search for Alexandria doesn't appear to show them, however
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .
> 
> 
> Drew



I got a call back from someone at Comcast after I "emailed Rick" and was told to expect these channels mid-January. But I'm hoping that their appearance on the lineup now means it is sooner than that


----------



## FineWare




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *smithre4* /forum/post/12549759
> 
> 
> Is it me or is SciFiHD not really high definition at all, but SD upconverted with 5.1 sound? Haven't seen a single show yet that is widescreen.



To the best of my knowledge, Stargate Atlantis and Tinman were both shown in HD.


----------



## tonyd79

SciFi has shown Stargate, Tinman, BSG: Razor in HD as well as several movies, especially during the primetime hours.


Good chance that Saw will be HD tonight (I have yet to see an HD indicator on DirecTV for SciFi yet).


----------



## smithre4




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/12553350
> 
> 
> SciFi has shown Stargate, Tinman, BSG: Razor in HD as well as several movies, especially during the primetime hours.
> 
> 
> Good chance that Saw will be HD tonight (I have yet to see an HD indicator on DirecTV for SciFi yet).



OK, I have only had SciFiHD (probably should have specified via Comcast since this is a provider agnostic forum) for 2 days now and so far everything I've seen (including an episode of Stargate SG1) has been in 4:3 aspect. The stargate episode had the horizontal and vertical pillars around it though. I forgot to check to see if Saw was in HD, but the movie before it was in 4:3 aspect.


And I noticed that the DiscoveryHD channel has 4:3 content stretched so that the bottom portion of the material is cut off.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *drbuford* /forum/post/12550708
> 
> 
> Great! It actually worked using the TV's QAM tuner. With just my basic subscription, I can tune in to the local network HD broadcasts plus others such as HGTV, Food Network, Discovery and History channel. I'll see if I can track down a QAM tuner for Media Center now. I know I saw a new one at Best Buy a couple of weeks ago that had the "designed for Media Center" sticker.



What they mean by that is that the ATSC tuner (for OTA) will work in Media Center - the QAM tuner won't. The NTSC analog tuner will also work in Media Center but fairly soon you won't have much use for that tuner.










Consider yourself lucky that you get all those chs besides the networks in clear QAM - they could go away at any time - in many markets those are encrypted.


----------



## JayMan007




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *smithre4* /forum/post/12553810
> 
> 
> OK, I have only had SciFiHD (probably should have specified via Comcast since this is a provider agnostic forum) for 2 days now and so far everything I've seen (including an episode of Stargate SG1) has been in 4:3 aspect. The stargate episode had the horizontal and vertical pillars around it though. I forgot to check to see if Saw was in HD, but the movie before it was in 4:3 aspect.
> 
> 
> And I noticed that the DiscoveryHD channel has 4:3 content stretched so that the bottom portion of the material is cut off.



I've only had SciFi-HD officially since sometime last night and I did see a full screen (16x9) movie. -something 51 ??? I was skipping through channels during commercials of the game... Sci-Fi was working Wed... then it wasn't during the day yesterday, so I would check it every so often...


----------



## smithre4




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JayMan007* /forum/post/12554271
> 
> 
> I've only had SciFi-HD officially since sometime last night and I did see a full screen (16x9) movie. -something 51 ??? I was skipping through channels during commercials of the game... Sci-Fi was working Wed... then it wasn't during the day yesterday, so I would check it every so often...



Yeah that's the one that I didn't check. The one movie before it (alone in the dark) was 4:3. Saw is on tonight so I will check to see if that is in the proper format.


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mark_1581* /forum/post/12549481
> 
> 
> We're also the hole in Verizon's fios donut. Has anyone heard any news on when fios is coming to Alexandria? Who do we have to blame for the holdup, Verizon or the City?



Shear WAG: all three - Verizon (too busy elsewhere to bother?), the City ($$), and Comcast lobbying (exclusive current contract, maybe?)


----------



## Sharon L




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/12477707
> 
> 
> The quality of the HD with Comcast is better than DirecTV, but DirecTV obviously has HD more channels.



I had HD for both Comcast and DirecTV for several years. For a long while you were correct, Comcast HD did look and sound better. But that is no longer true with the release of the new HD stations on the new satellite. I recently decided to save some money and cancel one service. I said goodbye to Comcast because their service has always been a nightmare, and they had a lot less HD stations. And too show how good Comcast service is, when they bill me for my internet service now, they keep billing me for DVR use even though I no longer have cable.


P.S. DirecTV is not perfect either but they won my service.


----------



## smithre4




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *smithre4* /forum/post/12556189
> 
> 
> Yeah that's the one that I didn't check. The one movie before it (alone in the dark) was 4:3. Saw is on tonight so I will check to see if that is in the proper format.



Even Saw is not widescreen...


----------



## ahsan

According to engadgethd.com , Comcast has added "Discovery Channel HD, CNN HD, TLC HD, USA HD, Animal Planet HD, and yes, Sci-Fi HD, too" to the DC markets.


----------



## mark_1581




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ahsan* /forum/post/12575214
> 
> 
> According to engadgethd.com , Comcast has added "Discovery Channel HD, CNN HD, TLC HD, USA HD, Animal Planet HD, and yes, Sci-Fi HD, too" to the DC markets.



Too bad not all of the DC markets are treated the same. Nothing new here.


----------



## mapper

I just made the jump to FiOS, it won't be installed until next month but I want to iron a couple things out:

To all of you who have FiOS and TVGOS, does FiOS transmit the TVGOS info or will I have to connect an antenna for the guide information?

How reliable are the CableCARDs that come with Verizon's service?

Anybody get the Triple Play Free TV deal, and actually get the TV yet?

And what QAM channels can be seen on a clear QAM tuner?


Happy Holidays,

--mapper


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/12577234
> 
> 
> I just made the jump to FiOS, it won't be installed until next month but I want to iron a couple things out:
> 
> To all of you who have FiOS and TVGOS, does FiOS transmit the TVGOS info or will I have to connect an antenna for the guide information?
> 
> How reliable are the CableCARDs that come with Verizon's service?
> 
> Anybody get the Triple Play Free TV deal, and actually get the TV yet?
> 
> And what QAM channels can be seen on a clear QAM tuner?



TVGOS: Fios probably transmits the TVGOS data via the analog channel for WETA PBS 26. However, Verizon will be shutting down all the analog channels in a few months and become an entirely digital service. I have not read any reports that they will retain an analog channel for TVGOS data. If you have a TVGOS device that uses the analog signal, you likely will have to put up an antenna in the spring, but the WETA analog broadcast signal goes black in February, 2009. I understand there is a digital TVGOS source embedded in the ATSC data, but don't know what devices can access it.


Clear QAM: Verizon sends the SD and HD locals and the PEGs in the clear. With a QAM tuner, in the Washington Metro market, you should get the HD locals for channels 4,5,7,9,20,26,50,67 (MPT station in Baltimore) if I can use the shorthand. You can also get the SD sub-channels for all these plus the two MHz stations and Ion network on 66. Verizon passes the PSIP data through so a newer QAM tuner should map the stations to the broadcast channel #. However, this is not working for Sharp and some other model TVs which are now not able to display the locals at all. There is a thread in the Fios TV forum at dslreports.com on this problem if you want to follow up on it. My Samsung DTB-H260F STB tuner has no problem showing all the SD and HD locals in the QAM channel 63 to 68 for the SD & PEGS, QAM 71 to 75 for the digital broadcast locals. Almost all of the national SD and HD channels are encrypted.


----------



## ahsan

It appears that there is finally a sign of HD VOD in the DC market for FIOS. If you search for the term "HD" via the VOD menu, you'll come across an HD folder which has an episode of some travel show in HD. Hopefully they'll start adding more content ASAP.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mark_1581* /forum/post/12549481
> 
> 
> We're also the hole in Verizon's fios donut. Has anyone heard any news on when fios is coming to Alexandria? Who do we have to blame for the holdup, Verizon or the City?



I've used that one before, only on a smaller scale. I'm in Sterling, and every single neighborhood around us has FIOS now. The sad part is that , they could have saved themselves lots of cabling by installing in ours, since they had to go way around us to get to two other neighborhoods.


But hey, monopolies know best, right?


----------



## hokiefan

While watching the best couple of hours on TV on WNUV (The Simpsons, Family guy) in the evening, I'll notice bad audio levels on some of the shows. Mostly the high frequencies sound distorted, like a volume level is too high. I get crackling on my speakers. Flipping to other channels at the same time, and they sound fine, so its either something with the recordings, or the input.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hokiefan* /forum/post/12593262
> 
> 
> While watching the best couple of hours on TV on WNUV (The Simpsons, Family guy) in the evening, I'll notice bad audio levels on some of the shows. Mostly the high frequencies sound distorted, like a volume level is too high. I get crackling on my speakers. Flipping to other channels at the same time, and they sound fine, so its either something with the recordings, or the input.



Thanks for the info. I'll check it in the AM. I was watching between 6:30 and 7, and it sounded OK at my house though.


Cheers


----------



## mapper




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/12580188
> 
> 
> Clear QAM: Verizon sends the SD and HD locals and the PEGs in the clear. With a QAM tuner, in the Washington Metro market, you should get the HD locals for channels 4,5,7,9,20,26,50,67 (MPT station in Baltimore) if I can use the shorthand. You can also get the SD sub-channels for all these plus the two MHz stations and Ion network on 66. Verizon passes the PSIP data through so a newer QAM tuner should map the stations to the broadcast channel #. However, this is not working for Sharp and some other model TVs which are now not able to display the locals at all. There is a thread in the Fios TV forum at dslreports.com on this problem if you want to follow up on it. Almost all of the national SD and HD channels are encrypted.



Thanks for the TVGOS and Clear QAM info. So this means the free TV that comes with Verizon will have problems because it is a Sharp?


And by the way, anyone get the free TV offer, and recieve the TV yet?


----------



## hokiefan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/12594095
> 
> 
> Thanks for the info. I'll check it in the AM. I was watching between 6:30 and 7, and it sounded OK at my house though.
> 
> 
> Cheers



Thanks for looking Mark. One additional point, I was initially watching via Dish Network ch 8734 I believe. Later on I went downstairs to my other tv and was watching via 54-1 and audio levels seemed normal. However a couple of times in the past I have been watching via 54-1 and noticed the crackling during the same time period (6-8pm). It might just be the particular episode, however the local commercials seemed to have the issue as well.


How do you receive the syndicated shows? I'm assuming its some outside company that transmits to the local station? Otherwise I'd suggest to you only replay Simpsons from the first 9 seasons


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hokiefan* /forum/post/12597062
> 
> 
> Thanks for looking Mark. One additional point, I was initially watching via Dish Network ch 8734 I believe. Later on I went downstairs to my other tv and was watching via 54-1 and audio levels seemed normal. However a couple of times in the past I have been watching via 54-1 and noticed the crackling during the same time period (6-8pm). It might just be the particular episode, however the local commercials seemed to have the issue as well.
> 
> 
> How do you receive the syndicated shows? I'm assuming its some outside company that transmits to the local station? Otherwise I'd suggest to you only replay Simpsons from the first 9 seasons



Thanks for the additional info - that really helps! We currently have a hard time monitoring Dish and DirecTV, so I normally don't know about problems with them until people start complaining. That's why I check this site regularly.


We get our syndicated shows from a variety of sources, but I think we own the Simpsons. I'm pretty sure that's on tape, but I'm not really sure. It's funny that I know where pretty much all of the signals come from and go to in the building and the two transmitter sites, but I don't really have a full understanding of how the rest of the station works. Like, I don't know who chooses what we put on, or how they do it...


Thanks again for the info, and please let me know if there are any other problems.


----------



## rvonder




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/12595118
> 
> 
> And by the way, anyone get the free TV offer, and recieve the TV yet?



I haven't got FiOS (yet), but can tell you all about the TV: It's a Sharp LC-19D44U, which appears to be identical in every respect to the LC-SK24U that I recently picked up on sale at CC.


To net it out, this TV isn't designed for the HD or video enthusiast. On the plus side, it's the thinnest LCD panel I've seen (probably about 2" thick max). Nice looking set in trendy "piano black"; appears well put-together; and has two remotes. One is a decent traditional unit; the other is an egg-shaped device with only basic controls (power, volume, channel up/down), as well as a backlit clock/timer. A magnet on the bottom attaches it to the TV's base or to your refrigerator - it's clearly designed for the kitchen.


Picture quality is 'ok but not great' viewing OTA HD material. The image isn't as sharp (pardon the pun) as other 19" sets, and I've compared them side-by-side in stores. For example, small text appears a bit blurry. Increasing sharpness isn't an option, as that produces a lot of artifacting like ghosted text.


Worst thing, however, is the user interface. On the good side, it features the same extensive menu system used in the bigger/better Aquos models (I have a 42" Sharp as well), including 5 levels of color temp and fine-grained CMS controls for hue, saturation, and value of six colors. It even has bass and treble controls - a real joke with its 2 watt output and probably 1" speakers!


But other displays, such as those for the ATSC tuner and the viewing mode, are completely separate from the primary menus and are just awful - they have a completely different appearance, and look like something from an old Commodore computer. Analog and digital tuners are totally separate: You first browse the analog channels (which have a nice display matching the other menus), and then the digital channels (with the big amateurish displays and ugly fonts). Very awkward and confusing, as the analog and digital versions of the same station are not even adjacent as you browse. And the set defaults to stretching all 4:3 material - if you change view mode to "sidebar", it goes right back to "stretch" as soon as you change channels or power off. Not nice. Finally, channel changing is pretty slow.


Even off-brand sets like the 19" Element at BestBuy offer infinitely better user interfaces. It's almost as if Sharp just cobbled together some totally unrelated pieces of software to create this set, and made zero effort to make the interface consistent and well-integrated.


The only two reasons I'm keeping this set are its thinness (I have it on an articulated bracket in the bathroom), and the price I paid - a whopping $249 vs. the insane $499 list price I saw at CC yesterday. I'd bet these sets in volume cost Verizon about $100-$150 tops. So unless you really want a basic secondary HD set for your bath or a _small_ kitchen (this set is really tiny!), I wouldn't suggest making any additional commitment to Verizon just to qualify for this TV!


Apologies for the length and off-topic nature, but I've seen questions about this set before and there's not much out there in terms of credible reviews (I know, because I researched before buying it!). So figured I'd put it in writing for anyone looking at FiOS or small HDTVs in general.


Rob


----------



## bogdanmi

I've been noticing poor, blocky reception in AA county for the past week or two. I'm on comcast, analog feed. For example, BravoTV last night, Project Runway, was really hard to watch. Locals (lower channels) seem fine; it's on the upper analog cable channels mostly. Anyone else? I've had no issues for years until recently.


----------



## MrChad

Are any other Northern VA Comcast customers still missing guide info for the new HD channels? USA HD, SCIFI HD, FOOD HD and HGTV HD show up in the guide just fine, but TLC HD, CNN HD, DISC HD, ANIMAL PLANET HD and HISTORY HD still show up as "To Be Announced" in the guide. I have unplugged my cable box (forcing a re-download of the guide) and even performed a full firmware reset/re-download, but those channels refuse to show up.


----------



## Marcus Carr

DirecTV has added Tennis Channel HD and CSTV HD.


----------



## DBLClick

I'm in Manassas Va. and both TVGOS and my TIVO system guide shows "To be announced" Comcast has not told TVGuide that the channel is now shown.


----------



## SQUIDWARD360




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrChad* /forum/post/12607850
> 
> 
> Are any other Northern VA Comcast customers still missing guide info for the new HD channels? USA HD, SCIFI HD, FOOD HD and HGTV HD show up in the guide just fine, but TLC HD, CNN HD, DISC HD, ANIMAL PLANET HD and HISTORY HD still show up as "To Be Announced" in the guide. I have unplugged my cable box (forcing a re-download of the guide) and even performed a full firmware reset/re-download, but those channels refuse to show up.



Still the same problem for me also. I was set to redownload the guide too but you have saved me the trouble. The guide info is now showing up on Comcast's website and TitanTV so I'm not sure why we are having this problem. I suppose someone could call. I am receiving a lot of freezing and pixilation on these new channels also.


----------



## Dominus

bump


----------



## Dominus

Does anyone have any info regarding FIOS coming to Rockville, MD?


----------



## Marcus Carr

The Heat-Wizards game is supposed to be in HD on CSN but is SD for some reason. Of course MOJO is blacked out.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dominus* /forum/post/12623721
> 
> 
> Does anyone have any info regarding FIOS coming to Rockville, MD?



I think that Verizon doesn't want to tangle with the Rockville Government, so they aren't even discussing it as far as I know. Same situation in Gaithersburg.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrChad* /forum/post/12607850
> 
> 
> Are any other Northern VA Comcast customers still missing guide info for the new HD channels? USA HD, SCIFI HD, FOOD HD and HGTV HD show up in the guide just fine, but TLC HD, CNN HD, DISC HD, ANIMAL PLANET HD and HISTORY HD still show up as "To Be Announced" in the guide. I have unplugged my cable box (forcing a re-download of the guide) and even performed a full firmware reset/re-download, but those channels refuse to show up.



Lucky bastard...Alexandria used to be one of the first to get everything, but now, nada...


----------



## aaronwt

I was wondering where people would use this small set. It's a little big for the kitchen and way too small for anything else. Now I know, the Bathroom.











> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rvonder* /forum/post/12600736
> 
> 
> I haven't got FiOS (yet), but can tell you all about the TV: It's a Sharp LC-19D44U, which appears to be identical in every respect to the LC-SK24U that I recently picked up on sale at CC.
> 
> 
> To net it out, this TV isn't designed for the HD or video enthusiast. On the plus side, it's the thinnest LCD panel I've seen (probably about 2" thick max). Nice looking set in trendy "piano black"; appears well put-together; and has two remotes. One is a decent traditional unit; the other is an egg-shaped device with only basic controls (power, volume, channel up/down), as well as a backlit clock/timer. A magnet on the bottom attaches it to the TV's base or to your refrigerator - it's clearly designed for the kitchen.
> 
> 
> Picture quality is 'ok but not great' viewing OTA HD material. The image isn't as sharp (pardon the pun) as other 19" sets, and I've compared them side-by-side in stores. For example, small text appears a bit blurry. Increasing sharpness isn't an option, as that produces a lot of artifacting like ghosted text.
> 
> 
> Worst thing, however, is the user interface. On the good side, it features the same extensive menu system used in the bigger/better Aquos models (I have a 42" Sharp as well), including 5 levels of color temp and fine-grained CMS controls for hue, saturation, and value of six colors. It even has bass and treble controls - a real joke with its 2 watt output and probably 1" speakers!
> 
> 
> But other displays, such as those for the ATSC tuner and the viewing mode, are completely separate from the primary menus and are just awful - they have a completely different appearance, and look like something from an old Commodore computer. Analog and digital tuners are totally separate: You first browse the analog channels (which have a nice display matching the other menus), and then the digital channels (with the big amateurish displays and ugly fonts). Very awkward and confusing, as the analog and digital versions of the same station are not even adjacent as you browse. And the set defaults to stretching all 4:3 material - if you change view mode to "sidebar", it goes right back to "stretch" as soon as you change channels or power off. Not nice. Finally, channel changing is pretty slow.
> 
> 
> Even off-brand sets like the 19" Element at BestBuy offer infinitely better user interfaces. It's almost as if Sharp just cobbled together some totally unrelated pieces of software to create this set, and made zero effort to make the interface consistent and well-integrated.
> 
> 
> The only two reasons I'm keeping this set are its thinness (I have it on an articulated bracket in the bathroom), and the price I paid - a whopping $249 vs. the insane $499 list price I saw at CC yesterday. I'd bet these sets in volume cost Verizon about $100-$150 tops. So unless you really want a basic secondary HD set for your bath or a _small_ kitchen (this set is really tiny!), I wouldn't suggest making any additional commitment to Verizon just to qualify for this TV!
> 
> 
> Apologies for the length and off-topic nature, but I've seen questions about this set before and there's not much out there in terms of credible reviews (I know, because I researched before buying it!). So figured I'd put it in writing for anyone looking at FiOS or small HDTVs in general.
> 
> 
> Rob


----------



## URFloorMatt

It could be a good size TV for a kid's bedroom or dorm room.


----------



## ahsan

Skins playing at Seattle next Saturday on NBC. PQ on NBC-HD is much better than Fox.


----------



## mapper

Well, thats not bad. I don't plan to make heavy use of the small TV, except for the occasional football. Now that I know all this, I may just use it as a computer monitor, since it has VGA in. Now I have to wait until the installation to get the claim number and then wait 6-10 weeks from then to get the TV. It seems Verizon is doing something shady....


----------



## rustycruiser




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ahsan* /forum/post/12633938
> 
> 
> Skins playing at Seattle next Saturday on NBC. PQ on NBC-HD is much better than Fox.



When no one is moving


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rustycruiser* /forum/post/12635186
> 
> 
> When no one is moving



Or if it's a test signal.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rustycruiser* /forum/post/12635186
> 
> 
> When no one is moving



Hahaha... NBC is the worst.


You're right. When there's no motion, the picture looks sharp. IMO, CBS has the best PQ for NFL football. It helps that our CBS affiliate in Norfolk runs no subs...


----------



## voltore

Wondering if anyone knows about if/when FIOS is likely in Burke Center? It seems to be all around except the Burke Center area itself! Guessing the Burke Center board may not want Burke Center Parkway dug up!


----------



## rvonder




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/12627963
> 
> 
> I was wondering where people would use this small set. It's a little big for the kitchen and way too small for anything else. Now I know, the Bathroom.



Actually, unless you have a pretty tiny kitchen, I'd find it too small for even that use (or I would have bought a second one to replace the old Panasonic CRT in my own kitchen...)










Anyway, an update: Out of curiousity, I spoke directly with a Sharp rep who explained that the LC-19D44U is an Aquos model while the LC-SK24U is a "standard" LCD set. He told me that the only real difference is that the actual LCD panel is better in the Aquos and thus should deliver a better picture than the non-Aquos set. (He confirmed that appearance, features, specs, and electronics are indeed the same across both models.)


I have seen the D44U and didn't spot any obvious difference in image quality, but have never found the two sets side-by-side to really compare (probably by design; it's unlikely that a store carrying the Aquos model would also offer the less expensive one).


So I retract part of my comment - at least VZW is offering the better D44U model. But my other remarks about the clunky user interface, etc. are definitely still valid. (Either way, it _still_ makes a great bathroom TV!







)


Rob


----------



## dneily




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/12624665
> 
> 
> The Heat-Wizards game is supposed to be in HD on CSN but is SD for some reason. Of course MOJO is blacked out.



This was very odd. The game telecast was 4:3 SD with Comcast Sportsnet pillar bars. The Sportsnight program immediately following had game highlights in glorious 1080i 16:9 HD, plus live commentary from Verizon Center in HD.


----------



## tripleM

I am in Chantilly with a new Samsung plasma trying to scan my Cox basic analog using the QAM.

Which signal option should I use to scan: IRC, HRC , STD ?


TIA


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/12647037
> 
> 
> I am in Chantilly with a new Samsung plasma trying to scan my Cox basic analog using the QAM.
> 
> Which signal option should I use to scan: IRC, HRC , STD ?



Try STD (standard). IRC and HRC refer to different carrier frequencies. There is a paragraph on this webpage that explains it a bit:
http://www.chem.hawaii.edu/uham/catvfreq.html . Good luck in finding the local HD channels. Don't know if Cox passes the PSIP info through to allow for channel remapping or you will have to find the locals the hard way, 1 QAM sub-channel at a time.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/12647771
> 
> 
> Try STD (standard). IRC and HRC refer to different carrier frequencies. There is a paragraph on this webpage that explains it a bit:
> http://www.chem.hawaii.edu/uham/catvfreq.html . Good luck in finding the local HD channels. Don't know if Cox passes the PSIP info through to allow for channel remapping or you will have to find the locals the hard way, 1 QAM sub-channel at a time.



Thanks. yeah I had tried all 3 cause I was finding that Cox is either very stingy or very antiquated with their free local HD.


Was able to pick Channel 4 & 7 & 20 HD but don't know where Channel 9 & 5 HD is currently...


I have no box just a straight cable feed into the TV.

Could it be a coax vs. HDMI issue?


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/12647983
> 
> 
> Thanks. yeah I had tried all 3 cause I was finding that Cox is either very stingy or very antiquated with their free local HD.
> 
> 
> Was able to pick Channel 4 & 7 & 20 HD but don't know where Channel 9 & 5 HD is currently...



They're way up around ch 132 I think. You should also pick up WETA 26 with it's 3 subs and 50. Cox has fixed most chs so that they map properly.


----------



## imacdonald

I live in Reston and was wodnering if anything has changed with WNVCDT and WHUTDT for OTA broadcasts? I am not getting any picture on WHUT 32-1, but am getting a high signal percentage. For WNVC I am not getting any signal or picture. I was able to get a picture on all 57-* sub channels last time I checked with I think was a couple weeks ago. Tivo just updated their channel listings so I was hoping to record some of their international shows.


----------



## biker19

WHUTDT has been audio only for a while -maybe no one watches to complain to the station to flip the video switch. I don't know about NVC - I can't pick it up it well -the wrong direction.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/12648271
> 
> 
> They're way up around ch 132 I think. You should also pick up WETA 26 with it's 3 subs and 50. Cox has fixed most chs so that they map properly.



Ok let me look on 132 then for 9 & 5 then. Thanks.

Yeah the WETA 26's was a given but I forgot to mention.

*UPDATE:*

Can't locate 5 & 9 HD still. Rescanned to no results.

Reading some past posts, it seems Cox local HD stuff are moveable objects.

I do show 5-1 but it's says "ONE MOMENT PLEASE" on screen.


Could this be a signal strength issue?


----------



## mdviewer25

I have no audio or video for WHUT-DT despite a signal strength of 94%; The signals for 5, 2, and 9 seem more directional than before; and the program info for 9-1 only says "DTV program" 9-2 says "WUSA Super Doppler live radar"


----------



## mdviewer25

any update on WUTB going full power?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/12651533
> 
> 
> I have no audio or video for WHUT-DT despite a signal strength of 94%;



Same here. I get a signal for WHUT-DT 32, but no video or audio. Can't help with WNVC-DT 57 as I can't get a solid lock on the station from my attic. I figure I will get WNVC-DT in 2009 when they switch to UHF 24, raise the digital antenna by 40 meters and increase the power from 7.3 kW to 50 kW.


As for when WUTB-DT My 24 will finally go full power, the last word from Mark Bulla was maybe in January. We will just have to check channel 41 (or 41-1) periodically to see if the station shows up.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/12649642
> 
> 
> Ok let me look on 132 then for 9 & 5 then. Thanks.
> 
> Yeah the WETA 26's was a given but I forgot to mention.
> 
> *UPDATE:*
> 
> Can't locate 5 & 9 HD still. Rescanned to no results.
> 
> Reading some past posts, it seems Cox local HD stuff are moveable objects.
> 
> I do show 5-1 but it's says "ONE MOMENT PLEASE" on screen.
> 
> 
> Could this be a signal strength issue?



Yes, they have moved a few times. Might want to try connecting the TV on a further upstream connection to eliminate the signal strength issue.


I just checked - 9.1 is at 122.1, 9.2 is at 122.13 and 5.1 is at 122.2.


----------



## yekim54




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/12649642
> 
> 
> Ok let me look on 132 then for 9 & 5 then. Thanks.
> 
> Yeah the WETA 26's was a given but I forgot to mention.
> 
> *UPDATE:*
> 
> Can't locate 5 & 9 HD still. Rescanned to no results.
> 
> Reading some past posts, it seems Cox local HD stuff are moveable objects.
> 
> I do show 5-1 but it's says "ONE MOMENT PLEASE" on screen.
> 
> 
> Could this be a signal strength issue?



I also have trouble with signal strength on Fox 5.1 via clear QAM on Cox Cable. The other locals seem fine. Last night I switched to the antenna to watch the Sugar Bowl on Fox 5.1 because the poor cable signal kept dropping the picture every few seconds.


----------



## billygreen23

Woohoo!! From Comcast support:


"Thank you for contacting Comcast regarding new High Definition

programming.


I have reviewed our system and see Arlington, Alexandria, and Reston

will receive new High Definition programming on January 20th of 2008.


Channels such as Discovery HD, TLC HD, Animal Planet HD, USA HD, Food

Network HD, HGTV HD, CNN HD, Sci-Fi HD, and History HD will be added to

your channel line up on January 20th of 2008. I would like to apologize

for any inconvenience we may have caused concerning this matter."


----------



## Speqtre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *billygreen23* /forum/post/12654181
> 
> 
> Woohoo!! From Comcast support:
> 
> 
> "Thank you for contacting Comcast regarding new High Definition
> 
> programming.
> 
> 
> I have reviewed our system and see Arlington, Alexandria, and Reston
> 
> will receive new High Definition programming on January 20th of 2008.
> 
> 
> Channels such as Discovery HD, TLC HD, Animal Planet HD, USA HD, Food
> 
> Network HD, HGTV HD, CNN HD, Sci-Fi HD, and History HD will be added to
> 
> your channel line up on January 20th of 2008. I would like to apologize
> 
> for any inconvenience we may have caused concerning this matter."



Well - that's the final straw - time to move to Comcast. Combine this news tidbit with the "$74.95 for everything for a year" mailer I received and the low cost (possibly no charge) cablecards and I'm dumping FIOS tv and internet and going back to cable! Verizon can take their '08 price increase and choke on it


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/12654257
> 
> 
> Well - that's the final straw - time to move to Comcast. Combine this news tidbit with the "$74.95 for everything for a year" mailer I received and the low cost (possibly no charge) cablecards and I'm dumping FIOS tv and internet and going back to cable! Verizon can take their '08 price increase and choke on it



What is included in the "$74.95 for everything for a year" offer? Is this TV only or does it include internet and phone plus TV?


----------



## compuwizz




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/12649642
> 
> 
> Ok let me look on 132 then for 9 & 5 then. Thanks.
> 
> Yeah the WETA 26's was a given but I forgot to mention.
> 
> *UPDATE:*
> 
> Can't locate 5 & 9 HD still. Rescanned to no results.
> 
> Reading some past posts, it seems Cox local HD stuff are moveable objects.
> 
> I do show 5-1 but it's says "ONE MOMENT PLEASE" on screen.
> 
> 
> Could this be a signal strength issue?



Put your zip code into http://www.silicondust.com/wiki/hdhomerun/channels 


You may have to put a zip code for an area around you that you know is Cox serviced. It should show you which QAM channels carry which HD channel in the clear. Hopefully someone has an HDHomerun near you that has the lineup feature turned on.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/12654911
> 
> 
> What is included in the "$74.95 for everything for a year" offer? Is this TV only or does it include internet and phone plus TV?



triple play.
Scan


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/12651533
> 
> 
> I have no audio or video for WHUT-DT despite a signal strength of 94%; The signals for 5, 2, and 9 seem more directional than before; and the program info for 9-1 only says "DTV program" 9-2 says "WUSA Super Doppler live radar"



I have a minimum strength signal, but good video and audio for WHUT-DT with rabbit ears at 11:20 AM in Beltsville.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/12653670
> 
> 
> Yes, they have moved a few times. Might want to try connecting the TV on a further upstream connection to eliminate the signal strength issue.
> 
> 
> I just checked - 9.1 is at 122.1, 9.2 is at 122.13 and 5.1 is at 122.2.



Thanks for the info. Appreciate it.


@ this rate I might just hook an antenna into a secondary TV input.


Not sure what Cox' m.o. is...but I always hated my parent's Comcast but that was more on the CSR & pricing. But @ least they were consistent with their signal.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/12654257
> 
> 
> Well - that's the final straw - time to move to Comcast. Combine this news tidbit with the "$74.95 for everything for a year" mailer I received and the low cost (possibly no charge) cablecards and I'm dumping FIOS tv and internet and going back to cable! Verizon can take their '08 price increase and choke on it




Yeah. VZ really is going to screw the pooch if they don't start competing for us.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *compuwizz* /forum/post/12655058
> 
> 
> Put your zip code into http://www.silicondust.com/wiki/hdhomerun/channels
> 
> 
> You may have to put a zip code for an area around you that you know is Cox serviced. It should show you which QAM channels carry which HD channel in the clear. Hopefully someone has an HDHomerun near you that has the lineup feature turned on.



Thanks will try it out!


----------



## Speqtre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/12655066
> 
> 
> triple play.
> Scan





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/12654911
> 
> 
> What is included in the "$74.95 for everything for a year" offer? Is this TV only or does it include internet and phone plus TV?



As tripleM responded, it's _like_ triple play, but with HBO, Starz, and Showtime included. Oh, and when I called and talked to my local office to confirm some info, the two cablecards (for my new Tivo HD) that VZ wants $7.98 for would be gratis through Comcast. This deal will be less than half what I pay now, plus the premiums free


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/12655480
> 
> 
> As tripleM responded, it's _like_ triple play, but with HBO, Starz, and Showtime included. Oh, and when I called and talked to my local office to confirm some info, the two cablecards (for my new Tivo HD) that VZ wants $7.98 for would be gratis through Comcast. This deal will be less than half what I pay now, plus the premiums free



How was VZ's service besides pricing?


----------



## Speqtre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/12655551
> 
> 
> How was VZ's service besides pricing?



Nothing special:


- tech support is no better/worse than others I've experienced

- no local office for exchanging bad boxes really sucks

- DVR has had its share of random reboots, dropped DVR sub twice

- original install took 8 hours (without new outlet install!)

- guide info frequently wrong - may not be VZ's fault (not sure who provides their guide data)


I just really don't appreciate the upcoming price increases - they have no loyalty price protection, I have no loyalty to them either. Their arrogance/stupidity with cablecards really gets me too.


Honestly, I don't expect Comcast to be any better - just much cheaper!


----------



## mchief99




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *billygreen23* /forum/post/12654181
> 
> 
> Woohoo!! From Comcast support:
> 
> 
> "Thank you for contacting Comcast regarding new High Definition
> 
> programming.
> 
> 
> I have reviewed our system and see Arlington, Alexandria, and Reston
> 
> will receive new High Definition programming on January 20th of 2008.
> 
> 
> Channels such as Discovery HD, TLC HD, Animal Planet HD, USA HD, Food
> 
> Network HD, HGTV HD, CNN HD, Sci-Fi HD, and History HD will be added to
> 
> your channel line up on January 20th of 2008. I would like to apologize
> 
> for any inconvenience we may have caused concerning this matter."



How long did it take to get this response? I ask Comcast (Alexandria) 2 weeks ago why other areas around us had SciFi HD, etc. Never got a response, which is normal.


----------



## biker19

That Comcast deal sounds too good to be true. Everyone's triple play starts at $99, yet they do it for $75 with 2 CCs and the extras?


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/12655808
> 
> 
> That Comcast deal sounds too good to be true. Everyone's triple play starts at $99, yet they do it for $75 with 2 CCs and the extras?



Biker, if you follow my scan, there is a link in the top right that leads to the thread that shows it working for most Northern Virginia that call in.


----------



## Speqtre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/12655808
> 
> 
> That Comcast deal sounds too good to be true. Everyone's triple play starts at $99, yet they do it for $75 with 2 CCs and the extras?



Fine print: Ends 1/15/08, and of course, limited to new subs. I'd say it's a YMMV on the CCs - won't really know 'til the bill arrives, just repeating what the CSR at my local office told me. Even so, Comcast normally charges only $1.98 for the second CC - VZ charges $3.98 each CC. It all adds up over time!


----------



## voltore




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/12651533
> 
> 
> and the program info for 9-1 only says "DTV program" 9-2 says "WUSA Super Doppler live radar"



That is now resolved. The PSIP+ managed to get a rogue entry that caused it to burp! Thanks.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/12655714
> 
> 
> Nothing special:
> 
> 
> - tech support is no better/worse than others I've experienced
> 
> - no local office for exchanging bad boxes really sucks
> 
> - DVR has had its share of random reboots, dropped DVR sub twice
> 
> - original install took 8 hours (without new outlet install!)
> 
> - guide info frequently wrong - may not be VZ's fault (not sure who provides their guide data)
> 
> 
> I just really don't appreciate the upcoming price increases - they have no loyalty price protection, I have no loyalty to them either. Their arrogance/stupidity with cablecards really gets me too.
> 
> 
> Honestly, I don't expect Comcast to be any better - just much cheaper!



Wow, for an outfit with there own 'Apple like' concept store & 'we are the best' attitude, they sure are inept CS wise.


Seems like they are following the cell phone division DNA. All hype - partial cust. satisfaction


----------



## tmeader

Has anyone had any luck in getting Cable Cards recently in Anne Arundel? I'm fed up with the i-Guide (especially after raising the price again), and looking to get a TivoHD in the near future. Unfortunately, when I called the local office, they said that no cable cards are currently available in the area (I asked about M-Card or regular cards), and had no idea when they'd have more.


Such BS.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *voltore* /forum/post/12656858
> 
> 
> That is now resolved. The PSIP+ managed to get a rogue entry that caused it to burp! Thanks.



Friggin computers!


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/12655714
> 
> 
> I just really don't appreciate the upcoming price increases - they have no loyalty price protection, I have no loyalty to them either. Their arrogance/stupidity with cablecards really gets me too.



They don't? I'm locked in with current pricing until 2009.


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tmeader* /forum/post/12658379
> 
> 
> Has anyone had any luck in getting Cable Cards recently in Anne Arundel? I'm fed up with the i-Guide (especially after raising the price again), and looking to get a TivoHD in the near future. Unfortunately, when I called the local office, they said that no cable cards are currently available in the area (I asked about M-Card or regular cards), and had no idea when they'd have more.
> 
> 
> Such BS.



From FiOS or Comcast? Or Millennium?


----------



## tmeader




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmsjr* /forum/post/12662027
> 
> 
> From FiOS or Comcast? Or Millennium?



Sorry about that... from Comcast.


----------



## Marcus Carr

I noticed that The Weather Channel is running a message about the three HD channels Baltimore has right now as a "sneak preview" - USA, Sci-Fi, Discovery. No message had been sent through the Comcast box. No mention of/date for the three we're getting this month - CNN, History, TLC.


----------



## CuseHokie

Anybody in Comcast Loudoun territories not getting any channels above analog this morning?


Ugh, please don't do this to me the night of the Orange Bowl......


----------



## dougotte




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/12661639
> 
> 
> They don't? I'm locked in with current pricing until 2009.



I just signed a 2-year contract w/ Verizon. The rep on the phone stated that all the fees are locked in unless they decide to increase the STB rental fees, which are apparently not covered by the contract. Time will tell whether that info is correct or not.


Doug


----------



## JayMan007




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dougotte* /forum/post/12666014
> 
> 
> I just signed a 2-year contract w/ Verizon. The rep on the phone stated that all the fees are locked in unless they decide to increase the STB rental fees, which are apparently not covered by the contract. Time will tell whether that info is correct or not.
> 
> 
> Doug



Did you get any specials or deals? I'm thinking of switching to Vz from Comcast and have been looking.


----------



## gary michaels

WJAL analog 68 digital 16 in Hagerstown-Chambersburg has apparently increased power from 6kw to about 50kw as they are now putting in a good signal at my location in Charles town, Wv. while on the lower power I could only get a brief lock on them once or twice in the past year.


----------



## jacindc

A slew of messages on my DC Comcast box this morning.


* HGTVHD, USAHD, SCIFIHD, DiscHD, and TLCHD getting added on Jan. 15

* A bunch of west code feeds for HBO, Encore, Showtime, TMC, and Cinemax are being dropped (maybe all the west coast feeds?)

* Fuse and Jewelry TV being added to Digital Classic

* CMT, TCM and TVGuide being moved to digital channels (we've already had them on those channels for a long time--guess they're dropping the analogs--the msg says a digital box will now be needed to view them)

* Some Encore channels, Wam!, WE, and IFC moving from Digital Plus to Digital Classic


----------



## tetu81




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jacindc* /forum/post/12666335
> 
> 
> A slew of messages on my DC Comcast box this morning.



Woohoo! I got those too! Mike Rowe in HD at last!


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jacindc* /forum/post/12666335
> 
> 
> A slew of messages on my DC Comcast box this morning.
> 
> 
> * HGTVHD, USAHD, SCIFIHD, DiscHD, and TLCHD getting added on Jan. 15



On RCN in D.C., we don't yet have USA, Sci-Fi, or Discovery in HD, but they've been attempting to keep pace with Comcast in HD offerings lately, so hopefully they'll add these soon, too.


RCN has also been moving handfuls of analog channels over to digital-only with each addition of HD channels, and has scrapped TV Guide Channel altogether. Now that they're already doing full analog-digital simulcast, I have a feeling that we'll be digital-only by this time next year.


----------



## DBLClick

I never understood the wisdom of Comcast placing the TVGuide channel in the digital classic when the listings are only for the analog channels.


----------



## yesongs

Anyone watch the Wizards last night in HD on D*?


I was getting pretty bad break-ups on both this, 629HD, and on 247 TBSHD


I'm hoping it was a satalite issue and not my alligment as it was pretty windy


Still happening this morning but less frequently


E


----------



## dg28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *yesongs* /forum/post/12667510
> 
> 
> Anyone watch the Wizards last night in HD on D*?
> 
> 
> I was getting pretty bad break-ups on both this, 629HD, and on 247 TBSHD
> 
> 
> I'm hoping it was a satalite issue and not my alligment as it was pretty windy
> 
> 
> Still happening this morning but less frequently
> 
> 
> E



Watched a good portion of it on D* and had no problems.


----------



## MrChad




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CuseHokie* /forum/post/12665329
> 
> 
> Anybody in Comcast Loudoun territories not getting any channels above analog this morning?
> 
> 
> Ugh, please don't do this to me the night of the Orange Bowl......



Yeah none of my HD channels were coming in this morning at around 7:00 am. I haven't checked since.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gary michaels* /forum/post/12666115
> 
> 
> WJAL analog 68 digital 16 in Hagerstown-Chambersburg has apparently increased power from 6kw to about 50kw as they are now putting in a good signal at my location in Charles town, Wv. while on the lower power I could only get a brief lock on them once or twice in the past year.



Are they HD? I'll see if I can get it down here. I am able to get that old PAX ch in WVa, so there is a chance.


----------



## essay




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CuseHokie* /forum/post/12665329
> 
> 
> Anybody in Comcast Loudoun territories not getting any channels above analog this morning?
> 
> 
> Ugh, please don't do this to me the night of the Orange Bowl......



Same here. No digital channels this morning - last checked at 7:30am.


----------



## gary michaels




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/12668781
> 
> 
> Are they HD? I'll see if I can get it down here. I am able to get that old PAX ch in WVa, so there is a chance.



you got the calls wrong.. this station is wjal-68/16 not whag which is 25/55.

no I have not seen any hd on wjal. do not confuse with wjla 7/39.


----------



## CycloneGT

Oh. No HD there? I'll fix my mistake on the first post.


----------



## CuseHokie

OMFG!!!!!!!


Comcast originally fixed the issue before I left this morning (see above during the 7am hour)...


NOW I'M GETTING NO CHANNELS, NOT EVEN [email protected]$!#[email protected]#$


I talked to someone today at work and they were having the same issue.


Can you believe this?!?!


----------



## MrChad




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CuseHokie* /forum/post/12672668
> 
> 
> OMFG!!!!!!!
> 
> 
> Comcast originally fixed the issue before I left this morning (see above during the 7am hour)...
> 
> 
> NOW I'M GETTING NO CHANNELS, NOT EVEN [email protected]$!#[email protected]#$
> 
> 
> I talked to someone today at work and they were having the same issue.
> 
> 
> Can you believe this?!?!



Yeah there was a system outage in the early evening last night that seemed to be corrected after a few hours.


It looks like the guide data for all the new December HD channels is in.


----------



## alexandriahokie




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mchief99* /forum/post/12655771
> 
> 
> How long did it take to get this response? I ask Comcast (Alexandria) 2 weeks ago why other areas around us had SciFi HD, etc. Never got a response, which is normal.



Has anyone else in Arlington/Alexandria been able to get any info on this possible addition? I tried calling Comcast today, and the CSR I spoke with told me that no one in Virginia received these HD channels (Food, Discovery, TLC, Animal Planet, SciFi, USA and CNN), and that all of the Virginia lineups were modeled around Arlington/Alexandria. After trying to unsuccessfully explain the errors in her ways, I just hung up on her far more frustrated than when I called. Another Comcastic experience I would say.


----------



## JayMan007




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *alexandriahokie* /forum/post/12679632
> 
> 
> Has anyone else in Arlington/Alexandria been able to get any info on this possible addition? I tried calling Comcast today, and the CSR I spoke with told me that no one in Virginia received these HD channels (Food, Discovery, TLC, Animal Planet, SciFi, USA and CNN), and that all of the Virginia lineups were modeled around Arlington/Alexandria. After trying to unsuccessfully explain the errors in her ways, I just hung up on her far more frustrated than when I called. Another Comcastic experience I would say.



I'm in Richmond, VA...

We got Food-HD, and a few others in September.

Then we got a postcard in late Octover that 4 analog channels were moving to Digital and that we would get CNN, USA, Discovery, History, Sci-Fi & TLC by end of year.

Got Discovery & TLC on 11/20.

Got USA & Sci-Fi on 12/19.

End of year came and went and still no CNN or History. -I'm thinking next Tuesday (1/8).

I think we have the same channel line-up as you. Recently added:

235 - USA HD

236 - Sci-Fi HD

239 - Discovery

240 - TLC HD


I think we will soon get:

234 - CNN

237 - History


After that:

241 - Animal Planet

242 - Science Channel


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *alexandriahokie* /forum/post/12679632
> 
> 
> Has anyone else in Arlington/Alexandria been able to get any info on this possible addition? I tried calling Comcast today, and the CSR I spoke with told me that no one in Virginia received these HD channels (Food, Discovery, TLC, Animal Planet, SciFi, USA and CNN), and that all of the Virginia lineups were modeled around Arlington/Alexandria. After trying to unsuccessfully explain the errors in her ways, I just hung up on her far more frustrated than when I called. Another Comcastic experience I would say.



We (in Arlington/Alexandria) all feel your pain. Just out of curiosity, did you call the 800 number or the local office on Van Dorn Street? The CSRs working the 800 number live in a different universe and are even less clueless than the local CSRs (incredible as that may sound).


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JayMan007* /forum/post/12681058
> 
> 
> I'm in Richmond, VA...
> 
> We got Food-HD, and a few others in September.
> 
> Then we got a postcard in late Octover that 4 analog channels were moving to Digital and that we would get CNN, USA, Discovery, History, Sci-Fi & TLC by end of year.
> 
> Got Discovery & TLC on 11/20.
> 
> Got USA & Sci-Fi on 12/19.
> 
> End of year came and went and still no CNN or History. -I'm thinking next Tuesday (1/8).
> 
> I think we have the same channel line-up as you. Recently added:
> 
> 235 - USA HD
> 
> 236 - Sci-Fi HD
> 
> 239 - Discovery
> 
> 240 - TLC HD
> 
> 
> I think we will soon get:
> 
> 234 - CNN
> 
> 237 - History
> 
> 
> After that:
> 
> 241 - Animal Planet
> 
> 242 - Science Channel



Manassas Va got all those in December except for Science Channel 242 I am interested in getting that channel too. does someone else have that channel who can verify that its on 242?


----------



## alexandriahokie




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dspadoni* /forum/post/12681389
> 
> 
> We (in Arlington/Alexandria) all feel your pain. Just out of curiosity, did you call the 800 number or the local office on Van Dorn Street? The CSRs working the 800 number live in a different universe and are even less clueless than the local CSRs (incredible as that may sound).



I called the 703/823-3000 number. Sad I've memorized it.


Well, I do have good news. While the CSR member was totally useless, I sent an email on the website. This was their response to me:


"Thank you for contacting Comcast Communications. We appreciate your

interest in our products and services.


Please be informed that the channels listed in your e-mail will be

launched in Alexandria on 1/20/08. I hope this information is helpful. "


And these where the channels I noted in my message:


"Food HD, TLC HD, Animal Planet HD, Discovery HD, USA HD, Sci Fi HD, History HD, and CNN HD"


So, that is great news.


Now, on my soapbox, if Comcast could give me the proper information on the phone instead of the run-around, I would be far less unhappy with them. Customer service is a lost cause...


----------



## mjw703




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dspadoni* /forum/post/12681389
> 
> 
> We (in Arlington/Alexandria) all feel your pain. Just out of curiosity, did you call the 800 number or the local office on Van Dorn Street? The CSRs working the 800 number live in a different universe and are even less clueless than the local CSRs (incredible as that may sound).



I've always been frustrated with the local Comcast CSRs even before I got cable. I live on Fort Myer Dr in Arlington, which the CSRs insisted was part of their Alexandria system, so they wouldn't offer me service. I tried to explain that Fort Myer Drive starts at the Key Bridge and ends, pretty much at Arlington Cemetery, but the first CSR at Comcast I spoke to insisted that those landmarks where in Alexandria. It took me a month to get cable hooked up and only by contacting the Arlington County Cable Commission which had to convince them that I am indeed an Arlington resident. If the CSRs can't even figure out what landmarks are in their service area, which happens to be one of the smallest counties in the country, then I doubt they even know what channels are going to be added two weeks from now.


----------



## mchief99

Received an email from Comcast today with the follows


Additional HD channels for Alexandria/Arlington effective 1/20


EXPANDED HIGH-DEFINITION LINEUP


229 HGTV HD

231 FOOD HD

234 CNN HD

235 USA HD

236 SCIFI HD

237 HISTORY HD

239 DISCOVERY HD

240 TLC HD

241 ANIMAL PLANET HD


I asked them what the heck Expanded High-Definition Lineup was since I pay for Digital Perferred and there is no such thing on their billing cards. I love the way they throw terms around that are not on the billing cards.


----------



## Lenonn




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/12666809
> 
> 
> On RCN in D.C., we don't yet have USA, Sci-Fi, or Discovery in HD, but they've been attempting to keep pace with Comcast in HD offerings lately, so hopefully they'll add these soon, too.
> 
> 
> RCN has also been moving handfuls of analog channels over to digital-only with each addition of HD channels, and has scrapped TV Guide Channel altogether. Now that they're already doing full analog-digital simulcast, I have a feeling that we'll be digital-only by this time next year.



I'm really looking forward to Sci Fi HD on RCN - hopefully *before* March.


----------



## jgantert

Did 50-1 go off the air? None of my boxes can get it anymore, and the Tivo HD unit shows "Invalid Channel" message.


I'm in Columbia, MD btw, and can usually get it no problem.


-John


----------



## jgantert

Looks like 50-1 is back.


----------



## tykoto

What brand television do you have?


I lost 50 from my Sony TV last night too. It still shows a high signal strength on that channel but the TV says no signal. I even tried to reset it/reprogram it, but it's gone.


However, on my Magnavox TV, the channel is there like it never left. Sony support was no help. It just seem so odd that it would deprogram itself and I can't get it back even if I reset the TV. But the Magnavox still receives it just fine.


I was wondering if anyone else had a similar problem and if there could be an issue with the signal or is it just my TV.


A similar thing happened with 54 from Baltimore.


In both cases, my Sony finds a blank channel on the physical channel for each station. Instead of 50.1, I now have a blank channel on 51.4. And instead of 54.1, I now have a blank channel on 40.3.


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mjw703* /forum/post/12692465
> 
> 
> I've always been frustrated with the local Comcast CSRs even before I got cable. I live on Fort Myer Dr in Arlington, which the CSRs insisted was part of their Alexandria system, so they wouldn't offer me service. I tried to explain that Fort Myer Drive starts at the Key Bridge and ends, pretty much at Arlington Cemetery, but the first CSR at Comcast I spoke to insisted that those landmarks where in Alexandria. It took me a month to get cable hooked up and only by contacting the Arlington County Cable Commission which had to convince them that I am indeed an Arlington resident. If the CSRs can't even figure out what landmarks are in their service area, which happens to be one of the smallest counties in the country, then I doubt they even know what channels are going to be added two weeks from now.



My own experience had to do with a recent billing hiccup. Long story short: both 800 and local CSRs were clueless (and sometimes rude); it took a 4-page dissertation addressed to the CS Manager in Manassas to get it fixed. Moral: it takes a very loud squeaky wheel to get action.


----------



## alexandriahokie




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dspadoni* /forum/post/12696365
> 
> 
> My own experience had to do with a recent billing hiccup. Long story short: both 800 and local CSRs were clueless (and sometimes rude); it took a 4-page dissertation addressed to the CS Manager in Manassas to get it fixed. Moral: it takes a very loud squeaky wheel to get action.



I've gotten to the point with billing issues that I write Comcast (which I'm sure goes into the circular file) and also send a copy to the person in City Hall that is on the back of the bill. It never fails that I get a call back within a few days with the lead in "I got your letter from the City..." Sure, since you clearly didn't get the other one I sent you directly.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *alexandriahokie* /forum/post/12708808
> 
> 
> I've gotten to the point with billing issues that I write Comcast (which I'm sure goes into the circular file) and also send a copy to the person in City Hall that is on the back of the bill. It never fails that I get a call back within a few days with the lead in "I got your letter from the City..." Sure, since you clearly didn't get the other one I sent you directly.




LOL...so true.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Dish to offer locals in Baltimore:*

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...7#post12718717


----------



## CycloneGT

I guess its time for the CSE announements.


----------



## JJChandler

I have the same problem with 50-1 (Wdcw) being a black screen. I checked and there is a solid signal strength on the meter. Anyone know what happened?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JJChandler* /forum/post/12727689
> 
> 
> I have the same problem with 50-1 (Wdcw) being a black screen. I checked and there is a solid signal strength on the meter. Anyone know what happened?



Yep, WDCW-DT CW 50 is there with full signal strength, but no picture. I can get WDCW-DT on Verizon Fios on channel 808 so the station is still sending out a signal, but Verizon uses a fiber line hookup for most of the locals. WDCW-DT is apparently having problems with their broadcast signal. Has anyone called the station to see if there is an on-duty engineer who is even aware of the broadcast problem?


----------



## JJChandler

I just did another check using my Pioneer TV and I am getting the WDCW signal and picture OTA on 50-1. So this leads me to a hardware or software issue with the HR10-250 as both the TV and the HR10-250 are getting OTA from the same multi switch. I first noticed this problem on Saturday 1/5/08.


----------



## afiggatt

More WDCW-DT CW 50 weird stuff. I can tune to the station and get video with the Sony DHG-HDD250 DVR. However, after a re-scan, the Samsung SIR-T451 ATSC STB shows a full 10 bars of signal strength on channel 51 (actual broadcast channel for WDCW-DT 50), but no picture nor does it remap the station to 50.1. The re-scan caused it to lose the channel mapping and now the Samsung T451 can't read the PSIP data. WDCW-DT is sending out a signal with something wrong in the configuration that is messing up some ATSC tuners brands.


----------



## JJChandler

afiggatt,


I agree with you! Some tuners are working with the OTA and others aren't. How do we address this issue and try to get it fixed? Contact the station?


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/12695881
> 
> 
> Did 50-1 go off the air? None of my boxes can get it anymore, and the Tivo HD unit shows "Invalid Channel" message.
> 
> 
> I'm in Columbia, MD btw, and can usually get it no problem.
> 
> 
> -John



I could not get 50.1 last night or this morning on 1 of 5 ATSC tuners.














Two of my sets are identical and 1 got 50.1 and one did not? :confused


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JJChandler* /forum/post/12733878
> 
> 
> afiggatt,
> 
> 
> I agree with you! Some tuners are working with the OTA and others aren't. How do we address this issue and try to get it fixed? Contact the station?



I still can not tune to WDCW-DT 50 this morning with the Samsung SIR-T451 ATSC tuner. So they have screwed something up. Suggest people email or call the station. See http://thecwdc.trb.com/ under About the Station for the phone number. I can get WNUV-DT CW 54 in Baltimore just fine so that should be available for a lot of digital OTA viewers as an option.


----------



## JJChandler

I sent a note to WDCW this morning describing how I can get HD on one TV but not on my HR10-250. I think we all need to write in or call the station and complain. 50-1 or channel 51 has been off since 1/5/08 as far as I know. That was when I first noticed the problem.


----------



## BigDaddyRoy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GoIrish* /forum/post/12317459
> 
> 
> Coming January 8th in Baltimore City, Harford, Baltimore, Carroll and Howard counties;
> 
> 
> USA HD, Sci-Fi HD, CNN HD, Disc HD, TLC HD, History HD
> 
> 
> GoIrish



I know USA HD, Sci-Fi HD, and Disc HD got added as a 'preview' in December. Has anyone at home in these areas seen if the other three have gone live today? I didn't get to check before leaving for work in the morning.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Next week.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GoIrish* /forum/post/12452550
> 
> 
> On this subject I heard today that they pushed the launches of these six back to the week of Jan 15th but were going to preview USAHD, SciFiHD and DiscHD beginning next week. Don't have channel numbers but they will be on before next weekend and will air through the formal launch date.
> 
> 
> GoIrish


----------



## markbulla

Hi all -


Just a heads up - we're going to be rewiring the power to both the WNUV-DT and WBFF-DT digital transmitters on Monday, January 14, 2008, starting at about 9:00 AM. That means that the transmitters will be off the air starting at that time until up to 2:00 PM (probably sooner).


Both of our analog transmitters will be on the air during that time, but you won't be able to receive 45.1, 45.2, or 54.1. In addition, some cable systems who use our digital signals to put our channels on their system won't have them during our off-air time (obviously).


Sorry for any inconvenience, but we're putting the transmitters on generator backup power, so we won't go off the air (for so long) when the power goes out to the transmitter site.


Cheers!


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JJChandler* /forum/post/12736072
> 
> 
> I sent a note to WDCW this morning describing how I can get HD on one TV but not on my HR10-250. I think we all need to write in or call the station and complain. 50-1 or channel 51 has been off since 1/5/08 as far as I know. That was when I first noticed the problem.



Yes. I was wondering where 50-1 went on my Samsung 5054 plasma. Thought it was Cox screwing around again.



On a side note, I still can't get 5 HD & 9 HD via Cox thru the QAM.

Is any1 else having the same issue? should I call Cox on this?


----------



## JJChandler

Last night WDCW was back on. The channel was coming in fine on the HR10-250. I have no idea what happened. tripleM, I don't have Cox so I can't help you out there.


----------



## E55 KEV

I got 50.1 back yesterday after I reprogrammed the channels again.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JJChandler* /forum/post/12748735
> 
> 
> Last night WDCW was back on. The channel was coming in fine on the HR10-250. I have no idea what happened. tripleM, I don't have Cox so I can't help you out there.



np with Cox, I'll take care of them.

Did you have to rescan or did you do the manual input to see if 50.1 was there last nite?


I checked around 10 manually & it was still NOT there on my samsung 5054.


----------



## jgantert

No audio on on 54-1 (Simpsons 6pm). I get a valid Dolby Digital signal on my audio receiver, but there is no audio there.


-John


UPDATE: It's back!


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/12756263
> 
> 
> No audio on on 54-1 (Simpsons 6pm). I get a valid Dolby Digital signal on my audio receiver, but there is no audio there.
> 
> 
> -John
> 
> 
> UPDATE: It's back!



Took a while to find it... Once the audio is digitized, I'm limited in ways to test for it.


Basically, the piece of equipment that switches between our local signal and the CW network HD feed decided that it no longer wanted to pass the local audio... Apparently for no reason...


Rebooting it fixed the problem. It took over two hours to find the problem, though...


----------



## Marcus Carr

*WNUV to air Raycom ACC basketball in HD beginning Januray 1st.*

http://raycomsportsmarketing.com/ind...d=49&Itemid=30


----------



## sboller

Hi, I get OTA digital channels using a Radio Shack DA-5200 antenna connected to a 32" Sharp LCD TV (I guess I'm too new to post links to either product).


Anyway, HD broadcasts look great, and even SD broadcasts look sharp. But the WETA sub-channels, particularly Create (26.2) and WETA World (26.4) often look little better than YouTube videos. They can be very...I don't know the word, but like everything is made of blocks.


It's not a problem inherent to sub-channels in general, because it doesn't happen with the MHz channels (30.1 - 30.5) or the Ion subchannels (66.1 - 66.4).


Anyone know why WETA Create and WETA World often look so bad? I love me some America's Test Kitchen, so this is annoying.


----------



## zebras23

Well at least one spring training game on ESPN - unless of course MASN decides to air that one and it blacked out. Now I'm depressed again.


From Fredfa over at the Press thread:


TV Sports

ESPN/MLB Announce 2008 Spring Training Schedule

All Nine Games To Be Shown in HD

(from MLB.com)


Major League Baseball today announced a slate of nine pre-season baseball games to bew shown on ESPN this year.


Each of the Spring Training games will be available in HD.


Here is the schedule:



Code:

DAY/DATE TIME (ET) GAME

Fri. Feb. 29 1:05 pm Dodgers at Braves

Wed. Mar. 5 1:15 pm Twins at Yankees

Thur. Mar. 6 1:05 pm Dodgers at Red Sox

Fri. Mar. 7 1:05 pm Mets at Indians

Tues. Mar. 18 1:05 pm Nationals at Tigers

Wed. Mar. 19 12:05 pm Blue Jays at Red Sox

Thur. Mar. 20 1:05 pm Yankees at Blue Jays

Fri. Mar. 21 4:05 pm Cubs at Rockies

Thur. Mar. 27 1:05 pm Mets at Braves


----------



## clifburns




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *sboller* /forum/post/12763897
> 
> 
> Anyone know why WETA Create and WETA World often look so bad? I love me some America's Test Kitchen, so this is annoying.



Because WETA, like many other public broadcasters, are committed to use the extra bandwidth intended for HDTV not to provide HDTV but to broadcast as many subchannels as possible. So everything is bit-starved, which is why things look blocky. Just something to keep in mind during the next public tv begathon.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/12763489
> 
> *WNUV to air Raycom ACC basketball in HD beginning Januray 1st.*
> 
> http://raycomsportsmarketing.com/ind...d=49&Itemid=30



Unfortunately, it appears that they're only producing four regular season games in HD. Hopefully this is a sign that they will finally start producing ACC football games in HD next season. It's long overdue.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *clifburns* /forum/post/12765368
> 
> 
> Because WETA, like many other public broadcasters, are committed to use the extra bandwidth intended for HDTV not to provide HDTV but to broadcast as many subchannels as possible. So everything is bit-starved, which is why things look blocky. Just something to keep in mind during the next public tv begathon.



What "extra" bandwidth and who ever said it was meant for HDTV only? Yeah the sub chs look bad - but hey, that's their choice. The FCC should come up with some sort of bit rate threshold to call something HD - and while they're at it they should have a limit on SD as well.


BTW, I think the word to use is - pixilation.


----------



## dspadoni

I had a conversation with a very good and friendly tech at Comcast's head end in Manassas earlier today. He mentioned that they are completely out of cable card inventory (all generations) and had no idea if or when they'd get more. Since he's not a boss, I didn't push him for more explanation.










However, with my cynicism hat pulled on firmly, it sounds like Comcast wants to force subscribers to rent their STBs.


----------



## MrChad




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dspadoni* /forum/post/12768646
> 
> 
> I had a conversation with a very good and friendly tech at Comcast's head end in Manassas earlier today. He mentioned that they are completely out of cable card inventory (all generations) and had no idea if or when they'd get more. Since he's not a boss, I didn't push him for more explanation.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> However, with my cynicism hat pulled on firmly, it sounds like Comcast wants to force subscribers to rent their STBs.



My TiVo HD unit should be arriving next week. I'll be very upset if I'm unable to get a cable card from Comcast.


----------



## CycloneGT

Comcast should have never had control of the cable cards in the first place. We should have been able to buy the cards off the shelf at Best Buy or some other retailer like we can do with Cable Modems. Then only Comcast would have needed from us was the information to activate the card. But they had to make it as difficult as possible. At least Verizon still supports cable card.


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/12763489
> 
> *WNUV to air Raycom ACC basketball in HD beginning Januray 1st.*
> 
> http://raycomsportsmarketing.com/ind...d=49&Itemid=30



Weeee. Guess if you don't like schools in NC, you're out of luck. What the heck? You'd think with only 4 games, they'd feature at least 8 different schools. No, lets make sure Duke, UNC, and NC State are featured twice each!


At least we'll finally get the tournament in HD.


Deezul


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dspadoni* /forum/post/12768646
> 
> 
> I had a conversation with a very good and friendly tech at Comcast's head end in Manassas earlier today. He mentioned that they are completely out of cable card inventory (all generations) and had no idea if or when they'd get more. Since he's not a boss, I didn't push him for more explanation.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> However, with my cynicism hat pulled on firmly, it sounds like Comcast wants to force subscribers to rent their STBs.



Consistent with what happened to me. Supposedly, they had a problem and returned the entire inventory. But, oddly, the problem was supposed to be with the Motorola cards...I have an SA system.


I am waiting since the week before Christmas. I am giving them a few more weeks (since I don't *need* the system) then going to Fios.


----------



## ahsan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Deezul* /forum/post/12771687
> 
> 
> Weeee. Guess if you don't like schools in NC, you're out of luck. What the heck? You'd think with only 4 games, they'd feature at least 8 different schools. No, lets make sure Duke, UNC, and NC State are featured twice each!
> 
> 
> At least we'll finally get the tournament in HD.
> 
> 
> Deezul



All Carolina Conference. Glad my Hoos will be in HD for one of those games. With my luck, that game will go up against a Wizards game and get pre-empted.


----------



## rogue5

Hey I just got the notice on my doorknob telling me about the digging that verizon will start doing shortly. So I am wondering how much longer I will have to wait till I can get Fios in my house! Just wondering how long it took some of you guys that already have it from notice to watching?


josh


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/12763489
> 
> *WNUV to air Raycom ACC basketball in HD beginning Januray 1st.*
> 
> http://raycomsportsmarketing.com/ind...d=49&Itemid=30



See, that's why I read this forum... Now I know that I'm doing that! Isn't that nice! Now all I have to do is wire it all up.....


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dspadoni* /forum/post/12768646
> 
> 
> 
> However, with my cynicism hat pulled on firmly, it sounds like Comcast wants to force subscribers to rent their STBs.



+1


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rogue5* /forum/post/12773302
> 
> 
> Hey I just got the notice on my doorknob telling me about the digging that verizon will start doing shortly. So I am wondering how much longer I will have to wait till I can get Fios in my house! Just wondering how long it took some of you guys that already have it from notice to watching?
> 
> 
> josh



2-6 mos +


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/12653670
> 
> 
> Yes, they have moved a few times. Might want to try connecting the TV on a further upstream connection to eliminate the signal strength issue.
> 
> 
> I just checked - 9.1 is at 122.1, 9.2 is at 122.13 and 5.1 is at 122.2.



Ok, I finally got a glimpse of Fox & CBS local HD last night with Cox last night.

First, I did a rescan on my Samsung 5054 & they showed up as 5-1 & then 9-1.

However, it was heavily in & out (garbled - not sure if it's called pixilation) & then suddenly it jumps to 122.1 & 122.2.


Still dropping in & out. Finally the screen goes blank.


So this seems like a signal issue? I have the cable coming out of a splitter from the wall. Should I remove the splitter & go straight from the wall?


I know that Cox put in an amp for me where the cable comes into the house last year (basement cable panel)...so I find that it is odd if the signal is soft somehow.


Any ideas from the boards?


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> At least we'll finally get the tournament in HD.



It was last year on WDCA and many other stations in Raycom's network. Still a long way to go to catch ESPN. Raycom is most annoying when they black out games on ESPN/ESPN 2 HD to show their mostly SD product. With the additional regular season games in HD this year, it will be less of an issue.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> What "extra" bandwidth and who ever said it was meant for HDTV only? Yeah the sub chs look bad - but hey, that's their choice. The FCC should come up with some sort of bit rate threshold to call something HD - and while they're at it they should have a limit on SD as well.



I get endless mailers from WETA begging for money. How does *$0* as a pledge sound? Until they stub cramming subchannels down our throats, sacrificing picture quality, they will not get a dime from me, same goes for MPTV.


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrChad* /forum/post/12769438
> 
> 
> My TiVo HD unit should be arriving next week. I'll be very upset if I'm unable to get a cable card from Comcast.



Please keep us informed on what happens. Good luck.


----------



## Mike20878

Omg, I just spoke to a clueless CSR at Comcast who claims that cablecards do not support HD (he also checked with his supervisor). I am trying to get an idea of how my bill would change if I dumped their DVR and got a TiVo HD. I think it would go down from $11.95 a month for DVR to approximately $2 for the second cablecard. Is the HD tier included in my triple play bundle?


Thanks,

Mike


----------



## azitnay

The idea that CableCARDs don't support HD is ludicrous... I know several people in Montgomery County with Comcast-supplied CableCARDs in their TiVos.


Since the TiVo HD supports M-cards, if you can get Comcast to supply you with one, you might be looking at $0 per month for the CableCARDs... However, keep in mind that you'll have to pay the TiVo service fees (as low as $8.31 per month with a three-year commitment).


Assuming you don't change your service plan with Comcast, you should continue to get whatever HD channels you currently get.


Drew


----------



## Marcus Carr

I love it when Customer Service makes stuff up.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dspadoni* /forum/post/12768646
> 
> 
> I had a conversation with a very good and friendly tech at Comcast's head end in Manassas earlier today. He mentioned that they are completely out of cable card inventory (all generations) and had no idea if or when they'd get more. Since he's not a boss, I didn't push him for more explanation.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> However, with my cynicism hat pulled on firmly, it sounds like Comcast wants to force subscribers to rent their STBs.



Same thing happening here in MD. I'd like to think this is simply due to the holiday rush of Tivo HD activations. However it's very suspicious.

*Please post if you're getting Comcast CC's anywhere in the DC/MD/VA region?*


----------



## mapper




> Quote:
> Ok, I finally got a glimpse of Fox & CBS local HD last night with Cox last night.
> 
> First, I did a rescan on my Samsung 5054 & they showed up as 5-1 & then 9-1.
> 
> However, it was heavily in & out (garbled - not sure if it's called pixilation) & then suddenly it jumps to 122.1 & 122.2.
> 
> 
> Still dropping in & out. Finally the screen goes blank.
> 
> 
> So this seems like a signal issue? I have the cable coming out of a splitter from the wall. Should I remove the splitter & go straight from the wall?
> 
> 
> I know that Cox put in an amp for me where the cable comes into the house last year (basement cable panel)...so I find that it is odd if the signal is soft somehow.
> 
> 
> Any ideas from the boards?



The best thing to do is to try to remove any splitters, as the digital channels are way more susceptible to pixelation that way. Possibly even the amp could be a problem, try bypassing it and see what happens to the digital channels. Lastly, you may be able to find out signal strength through the Samsung 5054. I know for a fact that Cox QAM channels aren't the most reliable and they shuffle them every couple weeks and still send out bad PSIP data. My TV tuner seems to match the channels correctly about 75% of the time, but YMMV.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/12782764
> 
> 
> The best thing to do is to try to remove any splitters, as the digital channels are way more susceptible to pixelation that way. Possibly even the amp could be a problem, try bypassing it and see what happens to the digital channels. Lastly, you may be able to find out signal strength through the Samsung 5054. I know for a fact that Cox QAM channels aren't the most reliable and they shuffle them every couple weeks and still send out bad PSIP data. My TV tuner seems to match the channels correctly about 75% of the time, but YMMV.



Will try. Thanks for the advice.


----------



## Mike20878




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *azitnay* /forum/post/12781643
> 
> 
> The idea that CableCARDs don't support HD is ludicrous... I know several people in Montgomery County with Comcast-supplied CableCARDs in their TiVos.
> 
> 
> Since the TiVo HD supports M-cards, if you can get Comcast to supply you with one, you might be looking at $0 per month for the CableCARDs... However, keep in mind that you'll have to pay the TiVo service fees (as low as $8.31 per month with a three-year commitment).
> 
> 
> Assuming you don't change your service plan with Comcast, you should continue to get whatever HD channels you currently get.
> 
> 
> Drew



Well, I'm thinking about taking advantage of TiVo's offer to transfer lifetime service for $199.


----------



## azitnay

Yep, I'd go for it... Just transferred my second lifetime to a TiVo HD a few months ago myself (after transferring my first lifetime to a Series3 last year). SD TiVos were great in their time, but HD is obviously what it's all about nowadays.


Drew


----------



## mikepinkerton




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rogue5* /forum/post/12773302
> 
> 
> Hey I just got the notice on my doorknob telling me about the digging that verizon will start doing shortly. So I am wondering how much longer I will have to wait till I can get Fios in my house! Just wondering how long it took some of you guys that already have it from notice to watching?



I got the note 18+ months ago, still nothing beyond the digging they did around then.


-Mike


----------



## Wills

Is anyone up near Leisure World, Aspen Hill, Olney seeing the new Comcast HD channels (Discovery) that they supposedly added on the 18th of December??? I see that they added SciFi, but took away some other stuff. I love how they raise the prices and strip away content.....bah can't wait till I buy a house and get FIOS.


----------



## tonyd79

Well, I got voice mail when I got home that my cablecards are available and Comcast wants to schedule a truck roll.


I have to call the guy who left the voice mail.


They bought themselves some time.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikepinkerton* /forum/post/12785137
> 
> 
> I got the note 18+ months ago, still nothing beyond the digging they did around then.
> 
> 
> -Mike



Did your town grant Verizon a franchise yet? Down here in Hampton Roads they started digging up Chesapeake a while back but that city just recently granted VZ a franchise...


----------



## rogue5




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikepinkerton* /forum/post/12785137
> 
> 
> I got the note 18+ months ago, still nothing beyond the digging they did around then.
> 
> 
> -Mike



Thanks for the responses all, I have to decide if I am going to stick with DirecTv or go Fios. I like Directv but I don't know if I want the knew HD DVR that they have, I currently have the HR10-250 (HDtivo Directv Box) and I luv it but it is almost phased out as far as HD is concerned. Was hoping Fios would be here soon enough that I can consider it as one of my choices. I will not go back to comcast, I would rather stick to the bunny ears...



josh


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/12782764
> 
> 
> The best thing to do is to try to remove any splitters, as the digital channels are way more susceptible to pixelation that way. Possibly even the amp could be a problem, try bypassing it and see what happens to the digital channels. Lastly, you may be able to find out signal strength through the Samsung 5054. I know for a fact that Cox QAM channels aren't the most reliable and they shuffle them every couple weeks and still send out bad PSIP data. My TV tuner seems to match the channels correctly about 75% of the time, but YMMV.



Well thanks to your info...my TV blew up...into HD.

Thanks for the tip. The cable was originally going into a surge protector & then being distributed out to the various components. I unhooked eveything & fed the cable straight into the TV & walla - Local HD's.


Never knew the digital stuff was sooo sensitive. Now I have to see how annoying the roaming Cox scans will be.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/12782744
> 
> 
> Same thing happening here in MD. I'd like to think this is simply due to the holiday rush of Tivo HD activations. However it's very suspicious.
> 
> *Please post if you're getting Comcast CC's anywhere in the DC/MD/VA region?*



I was just informed that the Alexandria area does not have any CC's available and to call back in a Month...I am now awaiting a called from a supervisor that I do not expect to get.


----------



## mapper




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/12789931
> 
> 
> Well thanks to your info...my TV blew up...into HD.
> 
> Thanks for the tip. The cable was originally going into a surge protector & then being distributed out to the various components. I unhooked eveything & fed the cable straight into the TV & walla - Local HD's.
> 
> 
> Never knew the digital stuff was sooo sensitive. Now I have to see how annoying the roaming Cox scans will be.



Thats great! Those surge protectors really mess things up for digital. One other note is that Cox doesn't understand what QAM is so they couldn't have helped you.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/12792524
> 
> 
> Thats great! Those surge protectors really mess things up for digital. One other note is that Cox doesn't understand what QAM is so they couldn't have helped you.



Do I want to say I wish I had Comcast then??

Cox was great for my analog but as we approach a new era, I am afraid of what they can potentially screw up.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/12785948
> 
> 
> Well, I got voice mail when I got home that my cablecards are available and Comcast wants to schedule a truck roll.
> 
> 
> I have to call the guy who left the voice mail.
> 
> 
> They bought themselves some time.



Followup. They are supposed to come out Thursday. We will see. They messed up the billing already. More phone calls to come.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/12792524
> 
> 
> Thats great! Those surge protectors really mess things up for digital. One other note is that Cox doesn't understand what QAM is so they couldn't have helped you.



As long as the specs allow all frequencies to pass that the providers use they are fine. I ran my cable through surge protectos when I had DirecTV and Comcast and had zero problems. But mine also allowed frequencies up to 2.2Ghz to pass through.

I'm not running the cable through the surge protectors since I have FIOS now since it's not supposed to be needed the way their system is set up with FTTH.


----------



## mapper




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/12797979
> 
> 
> As long as the specs allow all frequencies to pass that the providers use they are fine. I ran my cable through surge protectos when I had DirecTV and Comcast and had zero problems. But mine also allowed frequencies up to 2.2Ghz to pass through.
> 
> I'm not running the cable through the surge protectors since I have FIOS now since it's not supposed to be needed the way their system is set up with FTTH.



I guess it depends on the surge protectors then. My mistake.


----------



## Grayswandir

Impossible to get cablecards for Fios in PG County either. Fios internet customer for 1 1/2 years, wanted to get Fios TV. I bought 3 HD-TIVOs, so I need 6 cablecards. (Fios has no multistream cards yet).


First install was on Dec 27th - they called the day before, confirmed install for next day and that I needed 6 cablecards, so I got the Tivos ready and updated to latest software. Tech called morning of, laughing that I needed 6 cablecards and that they hadn't had any in weeks. According to him no one wants cablecards anyway because they don't do VoD.


Worked my way up Verizon's escalation support (on hold over 2 days for about 8 hours total). According to escalation they were getting more cablecards week of Jan 6, so rescheduled for Jan 12.


Called Jan 11, confirmed install for next day, confirmed 6 cablecards. Tech (same tech as Dec 27 calls morning of install to say sorry, no cablecards. Yes they got some on the 7th but they are all gone. No he can't call the supervisor, no he can't call other techs to see if they have any on their trucks. No, people who make the schedules don't know the status of equipment in the field.


Got so annoyed that we called up Comcast. According to 2 Comcast reps they will only allow 2 cablecards per account







We said FCC mandates cablecards - they said yes, but not how many, just that we offer them. They both said cablecards were too much trouble to install so it wasn't worth it for Comcast. One rep even said "why would we make it easier for you to use your TIVO, when we supply a DVR of our own".


Called Verizon back, escalation told us to just get Fios TV installed, with their DVRs and then they'd work on getting cablecards out to us. Tech came out, installed 3 of their DVRs, took 1 hour. Supposedly billing won't bill us for the Fios DVR. I'll believe that when I see it. Total time on hold Friday and Saturday between all the different departments, an additional 6 hours.


Beside the waiting on hold, everyone at all levels of Verizon technical support were extremely friendly and tried to help, especially the executive complaint dept. The problem is, there's a big disconnect between the techs on the ground, the schedulers, and all levels of support. Even the different support people have to wait on hold to talk to someone higher up, and we dealt with people in West Virgina, California, and Texas.


So, now I'm sitting here with 3 HD-Tivos I purchased, and 3 subscriptions to Tivo. We tried setting up season passes on the Fios DVR and after being DirecTivo users for 3 years hate hate hate the Fios DVR interface. We gotta get cablecards in our Tivos. If I hear again someone say "our DVR as is good as a TIVO" I'm going to kill them.


How's TIVO making money on their Series 3 if no one can get cablecards, and with Comcast only allowing 2? We called TIVO to let them know our troubles, and what Comcast said, and they were going to check into it.


Why does this all have to be so hard?


----------



## aaronwt

I had no problem getting cable cards from FIOS in Spetember(i got 4) and November (I got 4 more) ANd I had 6 cable cards with Comcast before I dropped them in November. MAybe the demand for the cable cards has increased quicker than they planned and that is the reason for the shortage? I know I'm glad I got mine before this problem because I have no desire to use the FIOS DVR. Not when I have three Series 3 TiVos each with a 1TB drive and two TiVo HD boxes(1 with 1TB and one with 750GB) The stroage available from the Comcast and FIOS DVRs is much too small.


----------



## URFloorMatt

It's a new year, so it's time for that age old question: any word on HD newcasts for WRC, WJLA, or WTTG?


----------



## CycloneGT

Well Robert had hinted that HD was in the works for WJLA, but it was a long way off when he posted that. So hopefully now that its 2008 something might happen this year.


Nothing on WTTG or WRC. NBC is supposed to upgrade their O&O stations, and there was a rumor of FOX5 going HD in the past. So who knows.


----------



## wmcbrine

If they don't go HD by the time of the shutoff, they're gonna look like chumps.


----------



## jumpr

Any word on Baltimore stations going HD for their newscasts? WBAL, perhaps?


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jumpr* /forum/post/12806530
> 
> 
> Any word on Baltimore stations going HD for their newscasts? WBAL, perhaps?


 http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...z#post12395172


----------



## markbulla

Just a reminder...



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/12739319
> 
> 
> Hi all -
> 
> 
> Just a heads up - we're going to be rewiring the power to both the WNUV-DT and WBFF-DT digital transmitters on Monday, January 14, 2008, starting at about 9:00 AM. That means that the transmitters will be off the air starting at that time until up to 2:00 PM (probably sooner).
> 
> 
> Both of our analog transmitters will be on the air during that time, but you won't be able to receive 45.1, 45.2, or 54.1. In addition, some cable systems who use our digital signals to put our channels on their system won't have them during our off-air time (obviously).
> 
> 
> Sorry for any inconvenience, but we're putting the transmitters on generator backup power, so we won't go off the air (for so long) when the power goes out to the transmitter site.
> 
> 
> Cheers!


----------



## MrChad




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dspadoni* /forum/post/12780726
> 
> 
> Please keep us informed on what happens. Good luck.



I called Comcast yesterday and was told that they do not have any CableCards currently available at my location, but they anticipate receiving them sometime this week. The CSR took down my number and said that he would call me when they arrive back in stock, so we'll see what happens this week.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/12806974
> 
> 
> Just a reminder...



We were back up around 10:45.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrChad* /forum/post/12807075
> 
> 
> I called Comcast yesterday and was told that they do not have any CableCards currently available at my location, but they anticipate receiving them sometime this week. The CSR took down my number and said that he would call me when they arrive back in stock, so we'll see what happens this week.



I just called and got the same information. I doubt they will call me since they didn't on Saturday.


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Grayswandir* /forum/post/12800550
> 
> 
> Why does this all have to be so hard?



...and for what they charge us for their "service". Rhetorical question: please tell me why this industry shouldn't be better regulated (I'm tired of hearing that "competition and market forces will bring better service at lower cost")?


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dspadoni* /forum/post/12810829
> 
> 
> (I'm tired of hearing that "competition and market forces will bring better service at lower cost")?



There's competition? Each company has an exclusive deal with each local jurisdiction to offer their service only. No other cable can even come in.

Cox can't compete with Comcast in Alexandria for example.


Only now has FIOS & DISH been able to start pushing. But it seems a duopoly more than a competitive situation.


I for 1 would welcome less local intervention.


----------



## jeff125va




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/12810958
> 
> 
> There's competition? Each company has an exclusive deal with each local jurisdiction to offer their service only. No other cable can even come in.
> 
> Cox can't compete with Comcast in Alexandria for example.
> 
> 
> Only now has FIOS & DISH been able to start pushing. But it seems a duopoly more than a competitive situation.
> 
> 
> I for 1 would welcome less local intervention.



Exactly, competition would bring those things if there were any, just like it does in any other industry where it exists. Better regulation = less regulation.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jeff125va* /forum/post/12811084
> 
> 
> Exactly, competition would bring those things if there were any, just like it does in any other industry where it exists. Better regulation = less regulation.



I think we both totally agree competition is better with less intervention!


When these local jurisdiction make these sweetheart deals to allow only 1 cable company, it becomes intervention.


I say open it up what are you afraid of?!


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/12810958
> 
> 
> There's competition?



My point exactly. Where I happen to live OTA reception is almost non-existent, I can't install a dish for satellite, and it could be many years before Verizon can string FIOS. (And, no, I'm not going to move just because of this.) I have very little faith that complaints to the FCC, in its current makeup and with current laws, about such matters as we've discussed would bring any real action or change.


----------



## tonyd79

There is competition. I have a choice of Comcast, Fios, DirecTV and Dishnet.


Sounds like competition to me.


But it doesn't make a bit of difference except in introductory packages. The FACT is that most people don't change providers very often.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/12811534
> 
> 
> There is competition. I have a choice of Comcast, Fios, DirecTV and Dishnet.
> 
> 
> Sounds like competition to me.
> 
> 
> But it doesn't make a bit of difference except in introductory packages. The FACT is that most people don't change providers very often.



I get COmcast and that is it.

Cannot get Dish or D due to obstacles (overhanging Balcony and building) and FIOS is not in the City of Alexandria yet. So it's either OTA or Comcast, that is it...


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/12811534
> 
> 
> There is competition. I have a choice of Comcast, Fios, DirecTV and Dishnet.
> 
> 
> Sounds like competition to me.
> 
> 
> But it doesn't make a bit of difference except in introductory packages. The FACT is that most people don't change providers very often.



U are the exception not the rule for sure.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/12817456
> 
> 
> U are the exception not the rule for sure.



I have those same choices too. Although I've never used Dish, I have used DirecTV, Comcast and now FIOS this century.


----------



## MrChad




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/12809085
> 
> 
> I just called and got the same information. I doubt they will call me since they didn't on Saturday.



I called back today to the 1-800-COMCAST number and was told, "We currently don't have CableCards that work with the front-loading TiVos. We have a ticket with Scientific Atlanta to get working cards." She said that did have cards in stock, but they did not work with TiVos.


----------



## azitnay




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jacindc* /forum/post/12666335
> 
> 
> A slew of messages on my DC Comcast box this morning.
> 
> 
> * HGTVHD, USAHD, SCIFIHD, DiscHD, and TLCHD getting added on Jan. 15
> 
> * A bunch of west code feeds for HBO, Encore, Showtime, TMC, and Cinemax are being dropped (maybe all the west coast feeds?)
> 
> * Fuse and Jewelry TV being added to Digital Classic
> 
> * CMT, TCM and TVGuide being moved to digital channels (we've already had them on those channels for a long time--guess they're dropping the analogs--the msg says a digital box will now be needed to view them)
> 
> * Some Encore channels, Wam!, WE, and IFC moving from Digital Plus to Digital Classic



Looks like most of this happened as expected today:


- MHD moved from 229 to 227, and HGTVHD (229), USAHD (235), SCIFIHD (236), DSCHD (239), and TLCHD (240) were added. Of course, TiVo doesn't have guide data for them yet.


- HBOP (306) wasn't dropped (maybe a mistake?), but ENCOREP (151), EACTP (153), ELOVEP (157), EWSTP (161), HB2P (307), HBOSIGP (308), HBOFP (309), HBOLATP (312), SHOWP (343), SHO2P (344), SHOCSEP (345), SHOWXP (348), SHOWBP (349), STARZP (376) and SCINP (380) were dropped (I can't comment on MAX or TMC since I don't subscribe to them)... Good riddance, maybe Comcast will use the freed-up bandwidth for something more useful (or maybe they already have with all the new HD channels).


- Fuse was added as 148, and Jewelry TV was added as 184.


- The analog versions of TCM (49), CMTV (71), and TVGUIDE (76) are all still working for now, even though the digital versions (169, 146, and 100, respectively) are all up.


- A channel called "LEASED ACCESS" (190) was added.


Drew


Edit: FLIPX (171) is also gone.


Edit #2: I checked one of my TV's still hooked up to analog cable, and channels 49, 71, and 76 were indeed gone... They're still there on my Series3 TiVo (Comcast simulcasts all analog channels digitally) though.


----------



## azitnay




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrChad* /forum/post/12819512
> 
> 
> I called back today to the 1-800-COMCAST number and was told, "We currently don't have CableCards that work with the front-loading TiVos. We have a ticket with Scientific Atlanta to get working cards." She said that did have cards in stock, but they did not work with TiVos.



"Front-loading TiVos" implies the newer TiVo HD units (as opposed to the older Series3 units, which have the CableCARD slots in back).


I don't know why certain CableCARDs would work with one and not the other... Sounds pretty suspicious to me.


Drew


----------



## MrChad




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrChad* /forum/post/12819512
> 
> 
> I called back today to the 1-800-COMCAST number and was told, "We currently don't have CableCards that work with the front-loading TiVos. We have a ticket with Scientific Atlanta to get working cards." She said that did have cards in stock, but they did not work with TiVos.



I called back again (this time the local 703 number). This time I did not mention TiVos at all. She said that cards were available in my area, and she scheduled an appointment for tomorrow morning. I'll keep my fingers crossed that everything will work as expected.


----------



## MrChad




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *azitnay* /forum/post/12819614
> 
> 
> "Front-loading TiVos" implies the newer TiVo HD units (as opposed to the older Series3 units, which have the CableCARD slots in back).
> 
> 
> I don't know why certain CableCARDs would work with one and not the other... Sounds pretty suspicious to me.
> 
> 
> Drew



I think it's bogus. We'll see how the appointment goes tomorrow (if it goes at all).


----------



## markbulla

Well, I found out yesterday that the transmitter manufacturer is going to be testing a new part in our WNUV-DT transmitter today.


Sorry for the late notice, but WNUV-DT is off the air for a few hours.


----------



## mchief99




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrChad* /forum/post/12819512
> 
> 
> I called back today to the 1-800-COMCAST number and was told, "We currently don't have CableCards that work with the front-loading TiVos. We have a ticket with Scientific Atlanta to get working cards." She said that did have cards in stock, but they did not work with TiVos.




I have a 'front loading' tivo (THD) with a COMCAST SA M-Card (Single) and it works fine.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrChad* /forum/post/12819631
> 
> 
> I called back again (this time the local 703 number). This time I did not mention TiVos at all. She said that cards were available in my area, and she scheduled an appointment for tomorrow morning. I'll keep my fingers crossed that everything will work as expected.



She may mean no M Cards, but lots of S Cards.


----------



## JoeInNVa

Alexandria/Arlington Comcast shows the new HD channels on the Channel Lineup. Can anyone confirm they are actually added? I would but I am not at home...


----------



## azitnay

That's what Slingboxes are for







.


Drew


----------



## alexandriahokie




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/12821492
> 
> 
> Alexandria/Arlington Comcast shows the new HD channels on the Channel Lineup. Can anyone confirm they are actually added? I would but I am not at home...



They have been showing up on that guide for a few weeks now. That is what sparked one argument between me and the Comcastic CSR last week.


I'm not at home either, but I'm not expecting to see these until the 20th as they said to me in an email. And honestly, I have a low confidence on that, too. I'm trying to prepare myself to be disappointed on Sunday. With Comcast, I should be getting used to this by now, right?


----------



## dg28

CSN had last night's Wizards road game against Boston in HD. A rare event for a road game, but it seems they're doing this more often this year. The game looked FANTASTIC as the Celtics arena is known for having favorable lighting for HD. And the result of the game was not bad either. Way to go Wizards!


----------



## dg28

CSN had last night's Wizards road game against Boston in HD. A rare event for a road game, but it seems they're doing this more often this year. The game looked FANTASTIC as the Celtics arena is known for having favorable lighting for HD. And the result of the game was not bad either. Way to go Wizards!


----------



## clifburns

I can confirm that HGTVHD, SCIFIHD, USAHD, TLCHD and DISCHD all showed up today on my cable box in DC. Program listings, however, at TVplanner.comcast.com has not been revised to show these new channels. It will be interesting to see how much is SD stretch-o-vision and how much is real HD.


----------



## JayMan007




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *clifburns* /forum/post/12823875
> 
> 
> I can confirm that HGTVHD, SCIFIHD, USAHD, TLCHD and DISCHD all showed up today on my cable box in DC. Program listings, however, at TVplanner.comcast.com has not been revised to show these new channels. It will be interesting to see how much is SD stretch-o-vision and how much is real HD.



The programs on HGTVHD are HD, commercials are stretch.

TLC & DISC both have HD programming, TLC has less, both use a 15x9 stretch for SD.

USA does not stretch SD.

SCIFI will have a SCI-FI HD logo for HD, SD is not stretch.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *clifburns* /forum/post/12823875
> 
> 
> I can confirm that HGTVHD, SCIFIHD, USAHD, TLCHD and DISCHD all showed up today on my cable box in DC. Program listings, however, at TVplanner.comcast.com has not been revised to show these new channels. It will be interesting to see how much is SD stretch-o-vision and how much is real HD.



These channels have been extensively discussed on the programming forum. None of the 5 you listed are on the stretch-o-vision list. HGTV-HD is all HD, but is not a simulcast of the SD HGTV. However, the four "new" Discovery channels - Disc, TLC, Science, Animal Planet - do crop most of the SD programs, not to a full 16:9, but to different ratios, often around 14:9. Don't expect great HD picture quality for Disc-HD, TLC-HD because they are sent at reduced bit rates of 12.5 Mb/s on average to all the service providers, presumably to save on satellite bandwidth costs. I have had Discovery-HD since November on Verizon FiOS and there is obvious macro blocking on fast motion. The more recent episodes of Mythbusters which were (mostly) shot in HD do look pretty good on Discovery-HD, but the macro-blocking is distracting.


Good to see Comcast stepping up and providing the more useful HD channels. Now only if Verizon FiOS would add Sci-Fi HD, USA-HD, CNN-HD, but I don't expect to see them on FiOS for some months.


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/12822304
> 
> 
> CSN had last night's Wizards road game against Boston in HD. A rare event for a road game, but it seems they're doing this more often this year. The game looked FANTASTIC as the Celtics arena is known for having favorable lighting for HD. And the result of the game was not bad either. Way to go Wizards!



Does anyone know how these HD feeds from other markets are transmitted. At first I thought, well they're probably just using the HD feed on the regional sports network up in Boston, but then it dawned on me that that feed would probably have different announcers.


I wonder if tonight's game from Madison Square Garden will be in HD?


----------



## Berto1020




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/12822294
> 
> 
> CSN had last night's Wizards road game against Boston in HD. A rare event for a road game, but it seems they're doing this more often this year. The game looked FANTASTIC as the Celtics arena is known for having favorable lighting for HD. And the result of the game was not bad either. Way to go Wizards!



I think CSN had last night's Wizards away game in HD because they used CSN New England's HD feed. I checked the rest of the Wizards schedule on the CSN website and none of the remaining away games will be produced in HD. It was a great game indeed.


Tonight's game will not be in HD since it will be broadcast on CSN+.


----------



## 67Therapy

These threads on this site are so large and unwieldy...I'm sorry if my question has been asked. Been a lurker till now...


I'm having trouble getting ABC (channel 9.1) and PBS WETA well or at all. Requesting antenna advice and suggestions. My zip is 22306...South Kingstown area near intersection of Telegraph Rd and South Van Dorn.


My info:

Samsung LNT5265F

Radio Shack VU90XR (in attic) aimed approximately 014 degrees.

RG6 75 ohm wire run ~70 feet

No cable or satellite...I want OTA only!










Transmitter locations approximate from my location with the signal strength indicated by my television:

Major DC networks 011 deg @ 14 miles (tuner signal strength 3-4 of 10 bars)

PBS - WETA 004 deg @ 9 miles unfound by tuner (signal strength 0)

ION ch 66 290 degrees @ 13 miles (signal strength 10 of 10 bars)

My20 011? @ 14? (signal strength 7-8 of 10 bars)

WNVT 255 degrees at 21 miles (signal strength 7 of 10 bars)


Channel 9 analog and 9.1 are weak. I can get PBS WETA and WHUT analog weakly, with WETA being worst (black and white...strongly ghosted). Analog-wise, moving the antenna seems to trade between channel 9 or WETA (which I can't get digitally).


When I measure the interior of the attic, the trusses at the center give the largest space, making a triangle 8' on all sides...not sure if that makes sense. I'd rather keep an antenna in the attic, only because it seems to be a PITA to mount a pole, ground and whatnot outside.


Last bit of info...I'm on the backside of a hill (hill between me and DC) with tall trees all around. I think my roof line is near the crest of the hill.


Help? Suggestions? Different antenna?


----------



## scottinmd

For several years I could receive channel 4.1 very well. For the last couple of weeks I can not. All other DC area HD stations come in great. Anyone else see any changes?


Scott Silverman

Rockville, MD


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *67Therapy* /forum/post/12827411
> 
> 
> I'm having trouble getting ABC (channel 9.1) and PBS WETA well or at all. Requesting antenna advice and suggestions. My zip is 22306...South Kingstown area near intersection of Telegraph Rd and South Van Dorn.
> 
> 
> Samsung LNT5265F
> 
> Radio Shack VU90XR (in attic) aimed approximately 014 degrees.
> 
> RG6 75 ohm wire run ~70 feet



The hill could be a problem. Have you tried different locations for the VU-90XR in the attic? Moved it over several feet to see if that makes a difference? Attics can have dead zones; if you have set the antenna up at one, moving forward, backward or sideways several feet can make a difference. If you have the crest of a hill in the way, tilt the antenna up a bit at the crest of the hill.


The VU-90XR is not that of a highly regarded antenna. With all of the local digital stations currently on UHF, the UHF part is what matters and the VU-90XR is so big for low VHF reception. One possible alternate antenna is the Channel Master 4228 which should have more gain for UHF.


Winegard just introduced a new line of upper VHF and UHF antennas. These should useful in some locations around here to prepare for when WJLA-DT 7 and WUSA-DT 9 switch their digital channels from UHF to their current upper VHF channel. The HD769xP family is only 36" wide for VHF 7 so these be an easier fit in attics and on roofs. See post #6508 in the official antenna sticky thread in the reception hardware forum: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...5#post12788035 . Could try the HD7696P.


A pre-amp might help, but you should probably stay away from the high power pre-amps such as the CM 7777 because you are rather close to some broadcast stations. Maybe the Winegard HDP-269 pre-amp would work, but try changing the antenna location and aim first.


----------



## Black Max




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Grayswandir* /forum/post/12800550
> 
> 
> Impossible to get cablecards for Fios in PG County either. Fios internet customer for 1 1/2 years, wanted to get Fios TV. I bought 3 HD-TIVOs, so I need 6 cablecards. (Fios has no multistream cards yet).
> 
> 
> 
> Why does this all have to be so hard?



I too live in Southern PG county MD (Clinton) and called Verizon on the 10th to request that they bring me 2 cable cards for my new Tivo HD and also pick up their HD DVR. The rep said no problem and gave me a choice of dates starting the morning of the 14th. I selected a morning appointment on the 14th and that morning the tech called at around 8:30 to say that she would arrive sometime between 9:30-10:00am.


She arrived right on time (9:50am) with the 2 cable cards. She had never done a Tivo install so I walked her through it (I already have 2 Series 3 units) and things went pretty smoothly except that I wasn't getting any digital programming except for the Local HD stations. She made a call to someone who did a "code init" and everything was fine.


So as of yesterday it seems that Verizon has cable cards in PG county Maryland.


----------



## biker19

^ 4.5 years for the first post?


----------



## Black Max

I guess that this was the first time that someone said something I felt qualified to answer.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrChad* /forum/post/12819631
> 
> 
> I called back again (this time the local 703 number). This time I did not mention TiVos at all. She said that cards were available in my area, and she scheduled an appointment for tomorrow morning. I'll keep my fingers crossed that everything will work as expected.



I just called again, and they said no cards are available and to call back on Tuesday because they will be in then.


----------



## Speqtre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Black Max* /forum/post/12829941
> 
> 
> I too live in Southern PG county MD (Clinton) and called Verizon on the 10th to request that they bring me 2 cable cards for my new Tivo HD and also pick up their HD DVR. The rep said no problem and gave me a choice of dates starting the morning of the 14th. I selected a morning appointment on the 14th and that morning the tech called at around 8:30 to say that she would arrive sometime between 9:30-10:00am.
> 
> 
> She arrived right on time (9:50am) with the 2 cable cards. She had never done a Tivo install so I walked her through it (I already have 2 Series 3 units) and things went pretty smoothly except that I wasn't getting any digital programming except for the Local HD stations. She made a call to someone who did a "code init" and everything was fine.
> 
> 
> So as of yesterday it seems that Verizon has cable cards in PG county Maryland.



Could you please tell us what VZ is charging you for the two CCs?


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Black Max* /forum/post/12830849
> 
> 
> I guess that this was the first time that someone said something I felt qualified to answer.



Now that is funny.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *67Therapy* /forum/post/12827411
> 
> 
> When I measure the interior of the attic, the trusses at the center give the largest space, making a triangle 8' on all sides...not sure if that makes sense. I'd rather keep an antenna in the attic, only because it seems to be a PITA to mount a pole, ground and whatnot outside.
> 
> 
> Last bit of info...I'm on the backside of a hill (hill between me and DC) with tall trees all around. I think my roof line is near the crest of the hill.
> 
> 
> Help? Suggestions? Different antenna?



You may want to try the 15-2160 UHF only antenna from Radio Shack. Its only about $25 (oh you have to buy the 300 - 75 ohm balun, another $8) and give that a shot. If it doesn't work you can return it, but make sure that you do them the favor of not ripping apart the packaging. I have had good luck with several friends using that antenna.


The CM4228 is also a good antenna, but it can be a bit large. I use one of those, but its on the roof and not in the attic. There is a smaller Channel Master UHF antenna, the CM4221 which also may work out for you.


----------



## riffjim4069




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/12831744
> 
> 
> Could you please tell us what VZ is charging you for the two CCs?



Effective 15 Feb, cablecards are $3.99 in my neck of the woods. I will assume this rate applies to all customers...at least the ones in Virginia.

http://www.spotsylvania.va.us/emplib...r%20Notice.pdf


----------



## billygreen23




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mchief99* /forum/post/12693787
> 
> 
> Received an email from Comcast today with the follows
> 
> 
> Additional HD channels for Alexandria/Arlington effective 1/20
> 
> 
> EXPANDED HIGH-DEFINITION LINEUP
> 
> 
> 229 HGTV HD
> 
> 231 FOOD HD
> 
> 234 CNN HD
> 
> 235 USA HD
> 
> 236 SCIFI HD
> 
> 237 HISTORY HD
> 
> 239 DISCOVERY HD
> 
> 240 TLC HD
> 
> 241 ANIMAL PLANET HD
> 
> 
> I asked them what the heck Expanded High-Definition Lineup was since I pay for Digital Perferred and there is no such thing on their billing cards. I love the way they throw terms around that are not on the billing cards.



Hmm... HGTV is the only from that list that is not listed on comcast's channel lineup. That's one of the channels I was looking forward to the most. I really hope we get it.


----------



## mchief99




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/12821492
> 
> 
> Alexandria/Arlington Comcast shows the new HD channels on the Channel Lineup. Can anyone confirm they are actually added? I would but I am not at home...



As of a few minutes ago, no new channels yet. I would expect them this weekend if they are going to be on time (1/20). Would also not be suprised if they didn't show up at all.


----------



## MDNittanyLion




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *67Therapy* /forum/post/12827411
> 
> 
> When I measure the interior of the attic, the trusses at the center give the largest space, making a triangle 8' on all sides...not sure if that makes sense. I'd rather keep an antenna in the attic, only because it seems to be a PITA to mount a pole, ground and whatnot outside.
> 
> 
> Last bit of info...I'm on the backside of a hill (hill between me and DC) with tall trees all around. I think my roof line is near the crest of the hill.
> 
> 
> Help? Suggestions? Different antenna?



I have a similar setup, attic antenna with ~ 70-80 cable run. What helped me was to drag the tuner and a small TV up to the attic to see what the antenna could really pull in, eliminating cable loss. A small 2 bowtie UHF antenna didnt give me all I wanted so I built a couple 4 bowtie antennas, Channel Master CM 4221A clones. Easy to make with a 2x4, some wire or coat hangers, screws and a 300>75 ohm balun. I use 1 antenna for MD/DC stations and 1 for PA stations and since it was easy to run wire, I ran one each for each antenna with a switch near the TV. Testing in the attic vs at the TV determined that I needed a preamp for DC stations. If you are at all handy it is simple to make these antennas and they work well. There is also plans for a Channel Master CM 4228 clone. See http://www.lumenlab.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=9613


----------



## Eben




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *scottinmd* /forum/post/12829334
> 
> 
> For several years I could receive channel 4.1 very well. For the last couple of weeks I can not. All other DC area HD stations come in great. Anyone else see any changes?
> 
> 
> Scott Silverman
> 
> Rockville, MD



I, too, have been having trouble with 4.1 recently; lots of dropouts.


----------



## raidbuck

I'm in Harford County (Comcast SA8300HD DVR). Can someone confirm that we cannot use the DVR "Store to VCR" option because it is against the law to download DVR-reocrded programs to an outside medium? A Comcast CSR told my neighbor this as we have both been trying without success. The CSR said Comcast was working to resolve the dispute so they can enable that DVR feature.


Thanks,


Rich N.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *raidbuck* /forum/post/12833419
> 
> 
> I'm in Harford County (Comcast SA8300HD DVR). Can someone confirm that we cannot use the DVR "Store to VCR" option because it is against the law to download DVR-reocrded programs to an outside medium? A Comcast CSR told my neighbor this as we have both been trying without success. The CSR said Comcast was working to resolve the dispute so they can enable that DVR feature.
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> 
> Rich N.



it's a gray area...Check in the DVR Forum for some alternate ideas on how to achieve it.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mchief99* /forum/post/12832482
> 
> 
> As of a few minutes ago, no new channels yet. I would expect them this weekend if they are going to be on time (1/20). Would also not be suprised if they didn't show up at all.



Yeah, I checked last night after getting back from the CAPS game. I expected them to not be there.


----------



## MrChad




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/12831709
> 
> 
> I just called again, and they said no cards are available and to call back on Tuesday because they will be in then.



Well, the tech showed up this morning on time with two Motorola S-Cards. He was friendly and said he was familiar with TiVo installs. The first card showed an error as soon as it was inserted. The second card faired better. He called in his information, but the rep he spoke with only wanted the serial number and not the other card data (which the tech said was unusual).


We were left with a "Acquiring Channel Information" screen that went nowhere. The rep said that she would work on getting the card authorized, and the tech left to finish his other morning jobs. He promised to follow up. He also left his supervisor's direct line in case I ran into trouble and/or didn't hear from him.


The "Acquiring Channel Information" screen eventually errored out, and from the diagnostics I could see that card was receiving information but just wasn't authorized. I contacted Comcast customer service several times to try and get the card re-authorized, but with no luck.


I called the tech's supervisor, who was very friendly, and he promised to pick up an M-card from the Ashburn office today and have it installed tomorrow morning. Later, the tech called me back and said that he would personally be back tomorrow morning to install an M-card.


I guess we'll see how it goes tomorrow, but the bottom line is that there ARE CableCARDs available, at least in Loudoun County.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrChad* /forum/post/12834636
> 
> 
> Well, the tech showed up this morning on time with two Motorola S-Cards. He was friendly and said he was familiar with TiVo installs. The first card showed an error as soon as it was inserted. The second card faired better. He called in his information, but the rep he spoke with only wanted the serial number and not the other card data (which the tech said was unusual).
> 
> 
> We were left with a "Acquiring Channel Information" screen that went nowhere. The rep said that she would work on getting the card authorized, and the tech left to finish his other morning jobs. He promised to follow up. He also left his supervisor's direct line in case I ran into trouble and/or didn't hear from him.
> 
> 
> The "Acquiring Channel Information" screen eventually errored out, and from the diagnostics I could see that card was receiving information but just wasn't authorized. I contacted Comcast customer service several times to try and get the card re-authorized, but with no luck.
> 
> 
> I called the tech's supervisor, who was very friendly, and he promised to pick up an M-card from the Ashburn office today and have it installed tomorrow morning. Later, the tech called me back and said that he would personally be back tomorrow morning to install an M-card.
> 
> 
> I guess we'll see how it goes tomorrow, but the bottom line is that there ARE CableCARDs available, at least in Loudoun County.



Called again. CSR stated that Alexandria does not have any cards available and that we cannot use cards from a different area because they are coded for a specific area









She then went on to say that my cable box here would not work in Loundon or PW County because of the way they are coded...










I just said, whatever, call me when you get them in. She said they hoped to be in today, but apparently they are late and they would call me when they arrive.

I don't plan on holding my breath for them to call.


----------



## Black Max




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/12831744
> 
> 
> Could you please tell us what VZ is charging you for the two CCs?



$3.99 each. We have 6 cards so it really adds up. Currently M cards are not available in my area.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Black Max* /forum/post/12841644
> 
> 
> $3.99 each. We have 6 cards so it really adds up. Currently M cards are not available in my area.




Did the prices go up for everyone? They have been charging me $2.99 each fro my 8 cable cards, but I've had them since September. My last bill was still $2.99 each.

I thought $2.99 was crazy but $3.99 each is outrageous.


----------



## Speqtre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/12842895
> 
> 
> Did the prices go up for everyone? They have been charging me $2.99 each fro my 8 cable cards, but I've had them since September. My last bill was still $2.99 each.
> 
> I thought $2.99 was crazy but $3.99 each is outrageous.



It is outrageous, esp. since Comcast CSRs (when ordering) say they are 'free'.


----------



## clifburns

I just received a letter from Comcast in response to an email I sent to them about CNN-HD. They indicated that the launch date for CNN-HD in DC is sometime in the first quarter, but no date has been set yet.


----------



## MrChad




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/12839880
> 
> 
> Called again. CSR stated that Alexandria does not have any cards available and that we cannot use cards from a different area because they are coded for a specific area
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> She then went on to say that my cable box here would not work in Loundon or PW County because of the way they are coded...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I just said, whatever, call me when you get them in. She said they hoped to be in today, but apparently they are late and they would call me when they arrive.
> 
> I don't plan on holding my breath for them to call.



My M-card is installed and working today. It took the tech all of 5 minutes to do. He apparently did some prep work ahead of time. My account had all sorts of incorrect information on it (cable card was entered as an HD box, VOD service was still active) and this was probably the reason why I couldn't get the S-card working yesterday. Anyway, the account errors were cleared up and the M-card's serial number was already in the system ahead of time; all he did was pop it in and all my channels started arriving.


Good luck with your install Joe. Hopefully Alexandria will get their act together soon.


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/12843422
> 
> 
> It is outrageous, esp. since Comcast CSRs (when ordering) say they are 'free'.



I believe he is referring to VZ pricing, not Comcast.


----------



## Speqtre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GoIrish* /forum/post/12849599
> 
> 
> I believe he is referring to VZ pricing, not Comcast.



I'm referring to VZ pricing as outrageous, and so is he. I'm saying VZ's pricing is especially outrageous as Comcast doesn't charge for Cablecards, or that's what they tell you when you call to ask anyways.


----------



## GoIrish




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/12850358
> 
> 
> I'm referring to VZ pricing as outrageous, and so is he. I'm saying VZ's pricing is especially outrageous as Comcast doesn't charge for Cablecards, or that's what they tell you when you call to ask anyways.



Sorry 'bout that, my misunderstanding.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *raidbuck* /forum/post/12833419
> 
> 
> I'm in Harford County (Comcast SA8300HD DVR). Can someone confirm that we cannot use the DVR "Store to VCR" option because it is against the law to download DVR-reocrded programs to an outside medium? A Comcast CSR told my neighbor this as we have both been trying without success. The CSR said Comcast was working to resolve the dispute so they can enable that DVR feature.
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> 
> Rich N.



So, just play the movie and set your VCR/DVD recorder to record manually.


----------



## tonyd79

Okay, Comcast showed up today with my cablecards (SA) for my HD Tivo. Reasonably knowledgeable installer who had done Tivo before. Said the M cards were not working and were back to "the lab" to get them fixed. Said they start okay but die within minutes.


Anyway, after a firmware download on the first card (10 minutes), we just had to wait about 5 minutes for each card for activation. And all was well. Reran setup and the Tivo is kicking butt.


I have some charging issues (I asked Comcast to turn off HBO et al and they hadn't) but that is another issue.


----------



## BillyJB

I have decided to switch to the Tivo DVR and take advantage of their $199 lifetime transfer which runs out Feb 3. I would like to know the experience of others who may switched. I have Millenium here in AA county and have been pleased with the PQ from the Motorola 6412 DVR but I miss the Tivo features. I have the Tivo but I won't have the cards until Tuesday when the installer shows up. I believe I'm getting comparable OTA PQ whether the antenna is plugged into the Tivo or directly into my Sony Bravia's built in ATSC tuner. When I compare the analog cable PQ the direct connection to the Sony appears somewhat better. This may be a non-issue since I'll be looking at digital signals after the cards are installed.

BTW - Millennium cards are $3

TIA Bill in Severn


----------



## azitnay

I transferred one of my TiVo lifetime subscriptions to a Series3 in 2006, and the other to a TiVo HD a few months ago. Definitely worth it, since SD is a thing of the past.


It's not surprising that you'd see better picture quality via analog cable without the TiVo, as the TiVo is compressing the analog signal into a digital format... If your cable company simulcasts all analog channels digitally (as does Comcast of DC), then this will indeed become a non-issue after CableCARDs are installed. However, I have no idea whether or not Millenium does this.


Drew


----------



## pennstatefan

It is rumored that on February 1st, Dish Network will be rolling out a new $29.99 a month HD ONLY package. No need to subscribe to any of the America's Top xxx SD packages. HD locals will be $5.00 extra. I've heard this being talked about during CES.


----------



## kingpong

I recently moved to Columbia MD and my landlord tells me that FiOS is available - yay. When I go to Verizon's site it tells me that I can get internet and phone, but not TV. Does that make any sense? I know they have TV service in Columbia, as members from Columbia have discussed it here in the past, and Verizon even made a bunch of noise (press releases and such) back when they arrived.


Before I have to deal with a CSR to try to get a straight answer, does anyone here have an idea what the situation really is? FWIW, I'm located across from the Krispy Kreme on Snowden just off 175 - the smell of doughnuts when I get home from work is nice, but I'd prefer FiOS service.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pennstatefan* /forum/post/12867021
> 
> 
> It is rumored that on February 1st, Dish Network will be rolling out a new $29.99 a month HD ONLY package. No need to subscribe to any of the America's Top xxx SD packages. HD locals will be $5.00 extra. I've heard this being talked about during CES.



How many channels are we looking at - 20/30/70?

Does this include local HD also?

If so this could spell the beginning of a nice little price war I am sure!

Thanks for 411.


----------



## pennstatefan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/12869629
> 
> 
> How many channels are we looking at - 20/30/70?
> 
> Does this include local HD also?
> 
> If so this could spell the beginning of a nice little price war I am sure!
> 
> Thanks for 411.



43 national HD channels. Local HD's would be an additional $5.00. I find myself never watching the SD channels any more, so this may be an interesting option.


----------



## billodom




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Berto1020* /forum/post/12827038
> 
> 
> I think CSN had last night's Wizards away game in HD because they used CSN New England's HD feed. I checked the rest of the Wizards schedule on the CSN website and none of the remaining away games will be produced in HD. It was a great game indeed.



I checked the Wizards schedule on the CSN website after the game at San Antonio on November 28 was broadcast in HD in hopes that other road games would also be in HD. Alas, none were listed. All that to say that the game at Boston being in HD bodes well for at least a few future road games also being shown in HD. It would be nice to know in advance, however, since I only happened to surf by and tune in for the last 10 seconds, not wanting to watch what I had assumed would be an SD production.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pennstatefan* /forum/post/12869883
> 
> 
> 43 national HD channels. Local HD's would be an additional $5.00. I find myself never watching the SD channels any more, so this may be an interesting option.



Yeah. Even with my little ole TV's QAM, I am definitely transistioning to the HD side. So this is good news.


I think this is the start of HD pricing competition. When FIOS & cable & DTV jump in & it gets down to $20...ah I can dream.


----------



## billygreen23

It's now the 20th and no new channels in Alexandria yet. They better be there in the morning!


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *billygreen23* /forum/post/12872225
> 
> 
> It's now the 20th and no new channels in Alexandria yet. They better be there in the morning!



They usually do it in the morning, not at 12:01. But I can say, there were not there at 4AM either and are not there now at 6...


----------



## alexandriahokie




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/12873212
> 
> 
> They usually do it in the morning, not at 12:01. But I can say, there were not there at 4AM either and are not there now at 6...


----------



## ACW112983

Okay, so today's 1/20, right? So Arlington, VA Comcast subscribers should have USA Network HD, right? I don't yet


----------



## mchief99

I called a few minutes ago and the CSR seemed to know that channels were being added 1/20, but did not know why they weren't available. Was going to try hitting my cable cards and I was disconnected. He also stated that maybe the add was for tonight? Don't know if cable card auth would have anything to do with it. Will try again later. Now all CSRs are busy. Everyone must have called at the same time.


----------



## jdavid

No new channels yet for me in Arlington using the standard Comcast issued SA 8300HD box.


----------



## bojangling

Comcast in Alexandria-


My Tivo added the channels as "Available" today automatically, but I still have no picture.


----------



## mapper

I'm getting FiOS installed tomorrow, so I want to know how much their "on time" service will be, in this area. I've read some installers don't even show on the assigned date. I haven't subscribed to anything weird, just the normal triple play(which i'm hoping to watch highlights of the patriots losing tomorrow







).


----------



## ACW112983

Still nothing for Comcast here in Arlington










I want to see WWE in HD tomorrow night on USA


----------



## Speqtre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/12876391
> 
> 
> I'm getting FiOS installed tomorrow, so I want to know how much their "on time" service will be, in this area. I've read some installers don't even show on the assigned date. I haven't subscribed to anything weird, just the normal triple play(which i'm hoping to watch highlights of the patriots losing tomorrow
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ).



Just so you know, when I had FIOS installed, it took 8 hours, no exaggeration. And that was without voice, just TV and internet, with cabling already in place. The guy did show up on time, though


----------



## ACW112983

DAMMIT WHERE'S MY HD?
























I also got the 8300


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ACW112983* /forum/post/12878228
> 
> 
> DAMMIT WHERE'S MY HD?



It is Sunday. I am surprised that Comcast would state they would add new HD channels on a weekend. Maybe there was a typo on the date and it should listed the 21st. But Monday (Jan 21) is a holiday for many, so will the Comcast engineers be in to add the HD channels? The good news is that Comcast announced they woud be adding the channels.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/12878432
> 
> 
> It is Sunday. I am surprised that Comcast would state they would add new HD channels on a weekend. Maybe there was a typo on the date and it should listed the 21st. But Monday (Jan 21) is a holiday for many, so will the Comcast engineers be in to add the HD channels? The good news is that Comcast announced they woud be adding the channels.



I was surprised they announced for a Sunday too. I do think it will be tomorrow, the 21st as Comcast probably does not follow all federal holidays.


I guess I will find out about 3am when I wake up for no reason...


----------



## alexandriahokie




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/12878432
> 
> 
> It is Sunday. I am surprised that Comcast would state they would add new HD channels on a weekend. Maybe there was a typo on the date and it should listed the 21st. But Monday (Jan 21) is a holiday for many, so will the Comcast engineers be in to add the HD channels? The good news is that Comcast announced they woud be adding the channels.



Aside from email communications that a few of us received about the addition of these HD channels, has anyone received anything in print from Comcast? I have emailed them again asking them, but so far no word.


----------



## maestro73

Yeah, I haven't recieved anything in the mail (or email for that matter) about the latest additions. But then again, my notice about NFL HD and A&E HD came about a month _after_ I started receiving the channels, so go figure. Bottom line....they announced channels on a specific date and they haven't arrived. Whether it's a typo or not is irrelevant - Alex/Arl. users who were notified the channels would be available still do nor have them. What does that say about Comcast.


Go Pats!


----------



## iontyre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *raidbuck* /forum/post/12833419
> 
> 
> I'm in Harford County (Comcast SA8300HD DVR). Can someone confirm that we cannot use the DVR "Store to VCR" option because it is against the law to download DVR-reocrded programs to an outside medium? A Comcast CSR told my neighbor this as we have both been trying without success. The CSR said Comcast was working to resolve the dispute so they can enable that DVR feature.
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> 
> Rich N.




Huh? We use this option all the time!! I am recording to DVD all kinds of TCM movies for my wife. "Copy to VCR" works beautifully...


I am in Harford County with a SA8300HD box...


----------



## alexandriahokie




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *maestro73* /forum/post/12879451
> 
> 
> Yeah, I haven't recieved anything in the mail (or email for that matter) about the latest additions. But then again, my notice about NFL HD and A&E HD came about a month _after_ I started receiving the channels, so go figure. Bottom line....they announced channels on a specific date and they haven't arrived. Whether it's a typo or not is irrelevant - Alex/Arl. users who were notified the channels would be available still do nor have them. What does that say about Comcast.



Fully agree on those counts. It simply says they are a Comcastrophe. And they still haven't responded to my "WTF??" email about the channels now showing up as they promised. Not surprised at all. And no, they still weren't there this morning.


----------



## BillyJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *azitnay* /forum/post/12863941
> 
> 
> .... Definitely worth it, since SD is a thing of the past.
> 
> 
> It's not surprising that you'd see better picture quality via analog cable without the TiVo, as the TiVo is compressing the analog signal into a digital format... If your cable company simulcasts all analog channels digitally (as does Comcast of DC), then this will indeed become a non-issue after CableCARDs are installed. However, I have no idea whether or not Millenium does this.
> 
> 
> Drew



Thanks I forgot about the continuous A/D conversion. I have a second home in Adams County PA and just have Basic Comcast. I was surprised to see they have local OTA channels on the cable so I have local channels in HD!


----------



## alexandriahokie

Well, Comcast responded to my questions regarding the HD status of the (supposed) new channels on 1/20 for Arlington and Alexandria. This clears everything right up and I feel so much better now.


"We are sorry to hear of the difficulties you have been experiencing

with

the HD channels.


Comcast prides itself on the quality of the service we provide to our

customers. Unfortunately, at this time we are unable to troubleshoot or


schedule service appointments via email. We have representatives

available to assist you with any technical problems 24 hours a day 7

days a week. Our Customer Service Department can be reached at

703-823-3000. We have the most capable and technical phone staff and

field technicians to help alleviate the impact of untimely service

problems.


We sincerely apologize your any inconvenience you may have incurred

regarding your service.


Thank you for choosing Comcast."


----------



## mchief99

Still seeing nothing. Tivo did get the guide info/channel assignments yesterday. I have a cable card in the TV also, but no channel assignment or picture in that CC. I received two emails. First with the new channels and the second confirming the tier and provided assigned channel numbers. I though maybe this was a cable card problem, but if those with the 8300 are also seeing nothing, the problem is Comcast not turning on the channels.



Edit: Just got off LIVE CHAT and the final CRS comment: 'Shalimar(Mon Jan 21 11:52:10 EST 2008)>There is a noted outage in your area but it is not indicated to what service it is. It has started since yesterday and there still no update on it. I will be noting your account as it seems that newly installed channels are being affected. Please do call in to your local office for them to provide you the information for the inactivated channels in your area. Again, I do apologize for the inconvenience.' What crap.


----------



## ACW112983

Hmm, don't know if it means anything, but the Comcast tv planner now has the additional channels listed: http://*******.com/yuvql6 


EDIT: That's odd. Replace the asterisks with t i n y u r l


----------



## billygreen23

Just got off the phone with a knowledgeable (finally after several tries) CSR and they told me they are still working on adding the channels and that they should be ready on the 26th.


I really hope it's not the case that we have to wait until next weekend.


----------



## ACW112983









http://www.comcast.com/Customers/Clu/ChannelLineup.ashx lists the new ones; I just spoke to a CSR who's listing DIDN'Thave them. I want my WWE HD!


----------



## mchief99

What I love - I is just got off the phone was a CSR that seemed to know what he was talking and he said the date for the channel add with the 30th. That the 20th date must have been a typo







. I suspect they had problems adding and just slipped the date. Could come up anytime. Of course slipping the date and telling the customers is an impossibility.


----------



## mapper




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/12878026
> 
> 
> Just so you know, when I had FIOS installed, it took 8 hours, no exaggeration. And that was without voice, just TV and internet, with cabling already in place. The guy did show up on time, though



Well, unfortunately, the Verizon didn't show up because my Voice order was scheduled to be on the 26th, so they pushed everything back with no notice to me. But today(the day _I_ was supposed to get it installed), my neighbor got his installed so now I know what kinda hell I might go through.


----------



## ACW112983

I still got nothing, despite it showing on Comcast's website


----------



## ahsan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/12878026
> 
> 
> Just so you know, when I had FIOS installed, it took 8 hours, no exaggeration. And that was without voice, just TV and internet, with cabling already in place. The guy did show up on time, though



Mine was done on a Sunday morning and I was risking missing kickoff for a Skins game but I had the entire triple play installed in less than 3 hours. The installer really knew his stuff. I was given an 8 hour window and had my fingers crossed that I would get the morning slot and luckily I did so as not to miss the game.


----------



## JoeInNVa

Well, no channels today, so it looks like the 30th...Not sure why, but I always had the 23rd stuck in my head for some reason...


Also, I got a Cable Card INstall for tomorrow. Lets see if it happens.


----------



## mchief99

Rots o' rok on the cable card install. When all else fails, send me a PM and I will give you a NAME.


----------



## Speqtre

I've got an install for a Multistream Card tomorrow - I hope I don't need rots o' ruck!


----------



## mjw703




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/12897514
> 
> 
> Well, no channels today, so it looks like the 30th...Not sure why, but I always had the 23rd stuck in my head for some reason...
> 
> .



Maybe they actually meant January 20th, 2009. They still have a special message channel (ch. 999) that says a new On-Demand menu is coming. The new menu was updated in December of '06, so I guess Comcast has no concept of time and their employees don't own any calendars.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/12899628
> 
> 
> I've got an install for a Multistream Card tomorrow - I hope I don't need rots o' ruck!


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/12899628
> 
> 
> I've got an install for a Multistream Card tomorrow - I hope I don't need rots o' ruck!



Quit hogging the cable guy! He has 24 minutes before he misses the appt...


----------



## Speqtre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/12910502
> 
> 
> Quit hogging the cable guy! He has 24 minutes before he misses the appt...



If he's late for you, you're the one that needs to arriba! him out the door - my 'window' is 6-9pm. You'd better not kill all the cablecards before he shows up here


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/12910542
> 
> 
> If he's late for you, you're the one that needs to arriba! him out the door - my 'window' is 6-9pm. You'd better not kill all the cablecards before he shows up here



He is late and they paged him and no call back yet...


Don't ya love Comcast?


----------



## JoeInNVa

Just got a call. No Cable Cards. Blowing up right now...


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/12911137
> 
> 
> Just got a call. No Cable Cards. Blowing up right now...



No Tech, No Call.

I call and wait for a reply...

They called back 30 minutes later and state that they are out of Cards and the tech forgot to call me.

I go up one side and down the other of the Manager. What good does it do? None what so ever.

They say Feb1 they will have the new cards. I have an appt for Feb 1. I am still going to call the executive number tomorrow because this is ridiculous.


I've been with Comcast since they came to the region about 10 years ago and spend $200 a month for all of their "Services" and they can't get me a freaking Cable Card?

Now I am all PO'd and the cats and wife are staying away from me...ARGH!!! Not only that but I also gotta hook the 8300 back up...


Hey Speqtre, If you get one, PM me your Techs name and you name if you would. I need the info to Blow up some more.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

_Jeopardy!_ not in HD tonight on ABC-7. Anyone at the station (Robert?) know what's up? _Wheel_ came thru ok.


----------



## Speqtre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/12911276
> 
> 
> No Tech, No Call.
> 
> I call and wait for a reply...
> 
> They called back 30 minutes later and state that they are out of Cards and the tech forgot to call me.
> 
> I go up one side and down the other of the Manager. What good does it do? None what so ever.
> 
> They say Feb1 they will have the new cards. I have an appt for Feb 1. I am still going to call the executive number tomorrow because this is ridiculous.
> 
> 
> I've been with Comcast since they came to the region about 10 years ago and spend $200 a month for all of their "Services" and they can't get me a freaking Cable Card?
> 
> Now I am all PO'd and the cats and wife are staying away from me...ARGH!!! Not only that but I also gotta hook the 8300 back up...
> 
> 
> Hey Speqtre, If you get one, PM me your Techs name and you name if you would. I need the info to Blow up some more.



Hmm, not sure I want to add fuel to this fire...


Yes, the tech arrived on time, with a M-stream card. Install went fine










I'll PM you Joe


----------



## iontyre

Cable cards sound nice, but what do you do about getting DD5.1 audio to your receiver?


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *iontyre* /forum/post/12912178
> 
> 
> Cable cards sound nice, but what do you do about getting DD5.1 audio to your receiver?



I run an HDMI cable from my SA box or TIVO to my receiver.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/12912112
> 
> 
> Hmm, not sure I want to add fuel to this fire...
> 
> 
> Yes, the tech arrived on time, with a M-stream card. Install went fine
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'll PM you Joe



Bah, Alexandria and Arlington keep getting screwed over...


----------



## mapper




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *iontyre* /forum/post/12912178
> 
> 
> Cable cards sound nice, but what do you do about getting DD5.1 audio to your receiver?



Or a optical digital audio cable for the TiVo/SA8300. And if it is a TV(w/CableCARD slot), then the TV would have a Optical Out to feed DD5.1 into receiver.


----------



## ACW112983

Will I need a cable card to get the new HD channels?


----------



## billygreen23




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ACW112983* /forum/post/12913681
> 
> 
> Will I need a cable card to get the new HD channels?



No.


----------



## ACW112983




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *billygreen23* /forum/post/12914371
> 
> 
> No.



Alright, cool. So I just have to sit back and wait










Thanks though.


----------



## mchief99

You will need cable cards to receive encrypted hd channels. The only channels you can receive without a cable card are OTA unencrypted and local HD unenctypted.


----------



## Speqtre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mchief99* /forum/post/12916281
> 
> 
> You will need cable cards to receive encrypted hd channels. The only channels you can receive without a cable card are OTA unencrypted and local HD unenctypted.



Just to clarify for ACW112983 - you will need Cablecard(s) in your HD Tivo to receive encrypted HD channels. Cablecards are 'built-in' to the boxes the CableCo's give you.


----------



## jsilva982

Hey All,


I am an RCN customer in the DC region. Most of the talk here seems to be about Comcast HD channels; has anybody heard any word on HD channel additions to RCN? It's been a while. I'd love to see FX HD on either RCN or Comcast. If Comcast picks it up before RCN, I'd probably jump providers. I do like the Comcast has picked up CNN HD, another hole in RCN's HD lineup.


Thanks


----------



## ACW112983




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/12916605
> 
> 
> Just to clarify for Billygreen - you will need Cablecard(s) in your HD Tivo to receive encrypted HD channels. Cablecards are 'built-in' to the boxes the CableCo's give you.



So my Comcast 8300 or whatever HD DVR already has a CableCard? I don't need to do anything extra?


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ACW112983* /forum/post/12918523
> 
> 
> So my Comcast 8300 or whatever HD DVR already has a CableCard? I don't need to do anything extra?



Just forget you heard the word cable card as it pertains to your Comcast box...


----------



## ACW112983




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/12918588
> 
> 
> Just forget you heard the word cable card as it pertains to your Comcast box...










Thanks


----------



## billygreen23




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/12918588
> 
> 
> Just forget you heard the word cable card as it pertains to your Comcast box...



Hehe, exactly. I think "no" was the best answer to his question.


If you know about cable cards, then you know what they're used for. Otherwise, you don't need to worry about it.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jsilva982* /forum/post/12917591
> 
> 
> Hey All,
> 
> 
> I am an RCN customer in the DC region. Most of the talk here seems to be about Comcast HD channels; has anybody heard any word on HD channel additions to RCN? It's been a while. I'd love to see FX HD on either RCN or Comcast. If Comcast picks it up before RCN, I'd probably jump providers. I do like the Comcast has picked up CNN HD, another hole in RCN's HD lineup.
> 
> 
> Thanks



RCN will soon be going all-digital in most if not all of their markets, and if the additional HD channels that are being added in the Chicago market as they make their transition over the next few months ( PDF ) are any indication, we should be seeing lots of new HD content before long. RCN's HD offerings are pretty similar among different markets.


----------



## mchief99

And then there was the SA8300HDC


----------



## jsilva982

"RCN will soon be going all-digital in most if not all of their markets, and if the additional HD channels that are being added in the Chicago market as they make their transition over the next few months (PDF) are any indication, we should be seeing lots of new HD content before long. RCN's HD offerings are pretty similar among different markets."


Wow thats a great list there RCN-Chicago has going. Here's hoping the wave comes through here soon!


Thanks for this information,

Josh


----------



## dneily




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *billodom* /forum/post/12870165
> 
> 
> I checked the Wizards schedule on the CSN website after the game at San Antonio on November 28 was broadcast in HD in hopes that other road games would also be in HD. Alas, none were listed. All that to say that the game at Boston being in HD bodes well for at least a few future road games also being shown in HD. It would be nice to know in advance, however, since I only happened to surf by and tune in for the last 10 seconds, not wanting to watch what I had assumed would be an SD production.



CSN telecast last night's Wizards game from Cleveland in HD. Too bad it was a disaster for the Wiz kids.


----------



## CycloneGT

Here is a great website that I found today.

TV Fool 


It has a much better Antenna Aiming tool than antennaweb.org and it also host those google maps coverage maps for all of the stations.


----------



## Red Dog

Question for Arlington/Alexandria Comcast folks:


I moved a few months ago and got DirecTV, but since I get terrible OTA reception at my new place, I was thinking of supplementing my D* with just the very basic Comcast package (that just offers the locals) - I think this is the $14/mo package.


Questions:

1. Do the local HDs still come through at this level unencryted - so plug the line directly into my QAM-capable tuner and I get the local HDs?

2. If I got Comcast-internet (instead of ordering the basic cable) - does that automatically give you the very basic level TV service (including the local HDs in question 1) passing through the outlets as well?


----------



## dneily

Within the next 30 days, ESPN-HD plans to telecast four Wizards games and two Maryland Men's basketball games:


Wizards:

Feb. 1 8 p.m.

Feb. 8 10:30 p.m.

Feb. 10 9:30 p.m.

Feb. 22 8 p.m.
Terps:

Jan. 30 7 p.m.

Feb. 13 7 p.m.


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Red Dog* /forum/post/12928585
> 
> 
> Question for Arlington/Alexandria Comcast folks:
> 
> 
> I moved a few months ago and got DirecTV, but since I get terrible OTA reception at my new place, I was thinking of supplementing my D* with just the very basic Comcast package (that just offers the locals) - I think this is the $14/mo package.
> 
> 
> Questions:
> 
> 1. Do the local HDs still come through at this level unencryted - so plug the line directly into my QAM-capable tuner and I get the local HDs?
> 
> 2. If I got Comcast-internet (instead of ordering the basic cable) - does that automatically give you the very basic level TV service (including the local HDs in question 1) passing through the outlets as well?



What dish and STB do you have? 4, 5, 7, 9, and 20 I know are available in HD via the 5 LNB dish and the H2x and HR2X STBs. No need to swithc inputs then for your HD fix.


Deezul


----------



## alexandriahokie

One of my coworkers had two different comcast techs out yesterday (cable & internet) here in Alexandria. He asked both about the addition of HD channels and he said they both gave the same response. They said that when they tried to add the new channels, it kept causing parts of the system to crash in Alexandria. Apparently the system is so old that it is causing problems (I believe that since it's had multiple owners). Until they can figure out how to get it rolled out city-wide, they can't add the channels. They also said that before they go live, we would all be mailed a card with the future add date. When asked why they just can't upgrade the system, the issue is Old Town -- it would require a lot of digging and disruption that City Hall won't approve it. {my opinion: give us the new channels and screw Old Town}


Again, I didn't get this first hand so can't vouch for the complete accuracy. But, my hopes for the new HD channels on the 26th or 30th of January have now hit zero.


----------



## billygreen23

Thanks for the info. I believe that and that really sucks. Now I wish they'd just kept the whole thing under wraps. It's going to be even harder waiting for it now, let alone if it even happens at all.


----------



## Red Dog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Deezul* /forum/post/12928665
> 
> 
> What dish and STB do you have? 4, 5, 7, 9, and 20 I know are available in HD via the 5 LNB dish and the H2x and HR2X STBs. No need to swithc inputs then for your HD fix.
> 
> 
> Deezul



I already get all the D* HD channels including locals and such. That's not the issue.


I have a multiple TV setup for sports, and would appreciately the simplicity of a plug & play option for one tuner - plus I would like to be able to get WDCW in HD.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Baltimore is supposed to get three more HD channels in January. Obviously it would have to be next week (if not today) unless there is some kind of delay.


----------



## raidbuck




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/12929183
> 
> 
> Baltimore is supposed to get three more HD channels in January. Obviously it would have to be next week (if not today) unless there is some kind of delay.



CNNHD and HistoryHD (can't remember the third) were supposed to be here on Jan 15. Hope they do show up soon.


Rich N.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *raidbuck* /forum/post/12929441
> 
> 
> (can't remember the third)



TLC.


----------



## bucnasty

is anyone else's FX crapping out? I am in fairfax city on cox watching king og the hill and there is pixelation, audio drop outs, picture drop outs..... granted i've seen this king of the hill 100 times its still BS that it looks so bad..


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Red Dog* /forum/post/12928585
> 
> 
> Question for Arlington/Alexandria Comcast folks:
> 
> 
> I moved a few months ago and got DirecTV, but since I get terrible OTA reception at my new place, I was thinking of supplementing my D* with just the very basic Comcast package (that just offers the locals) - I think this is the $14/mo package.
> 
> 
> Questions:
> 
> 1. Do the local HDs still come through at this level unencryted - so plug the line directly into my QAM-capable tuner and I get the local HDs?
> 
> 2. If I got Comcast-internet (instead of ordering the basic cable) - does that automatically give you the very basic level TV service (including the local HDs in question 1) passing through the outlets as well?



1) In theory you should be able to get the unencrypted local HDs in the basic package. Your reception, however, could depend on the "quality" of your tuner. For example, before I upgraded to a digital package, the tuner in my Sony DVR got them all (I don't remember the numbers, but I think, e.g., NBCHD is on 1.10 in my area; could be different in yours), but the tuner in my Panny plasma could not; thus the upgrade. If you ask the Comcast CSRs about this, they won't know what you're talking about (that the local HDs are sent unencrypted in the basic package; they'll just say you need an STB and digital service to get any HD content), so you may have to rely on trial & error.


2) I believe the answer is No.


----------



## Red Dog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dspadoni* /forum/post/12930990
> 
> 
> 1) In theory you should be able to get the unencrypted local HDs in the basic package. Your reception, however, could depend on the "quality" of your tuner. For example, before I upgraded to a digital package, the tuner in my Sony DVR got them all (I don't remember the numbers, but I think, e.g., NBCHD is on 1.10 in my area; could be different in yours), but the tuner in my Panny plasma could not; thus the upgrade. If you ask the Comcast CSRs about this, they won't know what you're talking about (that the local HDs are sent unencrypted in the basic package; they'll just say you need an STB and digital service to get any HD content), so you may have to rely on trial & error.
> 
> 
> 2) I believe the answer is No.




Well I used to have Comcast connected to the (Sony) tuner (although it was expanded basic) at my old place and it had no problem picking up the local HDs over QAM - like at the location you said: 1.10 for NBC, 1.11 for ABC, 1.12 for CBS, etc. I just didn't know if the bare-bones basic cable made any difference in this.


Yeah, the CSRs don't know squat - that's why I asked here.


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Red Dog* /forum/post/12931234
> 
> 
> Well I used to have Comcast connected to the (Sony) tuner (although it was expanded basic) at my old place and it had no problem picking up the local HDs over QAM - like at the location you said: 1.10 for NBC, 1.11 for ABC, 1.12 for CBS, etc. I just didn't know if the bare-bones basic cable made any difference in this.



A friend in my building has bare-bones basic, and he gets the local HDs on his Sony Bravia.


----------



## mchief99

I replied to the email telling me about the HD channels to be added on 1/20 and asked what happened to the adds. I also told them that Tivo had added the channels on 1/20 which would indicate that Comcast had informed Tribune Media of the additional channels. We'll see if I get a response.


----------



## hoyty

I just setup a new Vista MCE box this last weekend and this WJZ problem is still occurring. I am not sure whether the PSIP data is to blame or the guide data from MSFT. I can manually add 13-1 to the channel list. However this doesn't get me guide data. I am not sure how to verify what the exact problem is to then persue it. Can anyone verify that the PSIP data for WJZ is correct to remap to 13-1? Also since the guide data is there for 38-1 I am guessing that it is more the guide data problem. THanks for any ideas.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Red Dog* /forum/post/12931234
> 
> 
> Well I used to have Comcast connected to the (Sony) tuner (although it was expanded basic) at my old place and it had no problem picking up the local HDs over QAM - like at the location you said: 1.10 for NBC, 1.11 for ABC, 1.12 for CBS, etc. I just didn't know if the bare-bones basic cable made any difference in this.
> 
> 
> Yeah, the CSRs don't know squat - that's why I asked here.



In most places Internet alone and Internet with the most basic cable sub is the about same price. Also, even if you did have Internet alone you'd get many of the clear QAM chs cause they are usually in the same RF region as the Internet signal.


----------



## billygreen23

For what it's worth, I just chatted with a CSR and they said the new HD channels will be available on February 28.


----------



## alexandriahokie




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *billygreen23* /forum/post/12941551
> 
> 
> For what it's worth, I just chatted with a CSR and they said the new HD channels will be available on February 28.



Did they say that would be 2008 or 2009?


----------



## ACW112983

Okay, so that's Alexandria. What about Arlington?


----------



## alexandriahokie




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ACW112983* /forum/post/12943532
> 
> 
> Okay, so that's Alexandria. What about Arlington?



I may be wrong, but I think the systems are pretty interconnected. I've been told you can take boxes in Alexandria to Arlington and vice versa. So, we may be holding you all back as well. But as you know, misery loves company.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ACW112983* /forum/post/12943532
> 
> 
> Okay, so that's Alexandria. What about Arlington?



Same System...


----------



## mjw703




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/12947268
> 
> 
> Same System...



So does that mean we won't see new HD channels in Arlington until Fios starts offering service in Alexandria?


----------



## maestro73

Is anyone experiencing any sound and picture break-ups on Comcast Alexandria? Specifically for me it's 226 (MOJO), 227 (MHD), 232 (TBS-HD), 246 (NFL-HD), 249 (TNT-HD), and 250 (Universal).


It's been this way for about 3 days. This happens to em every once in a while. Basically the sound will stutter and the picture will pixelate, and it's always the channels between 226 and 250. It pretty much makes the channels unwatchable.


Does this ever happen to anyone else?


EDIT: Looks like it's fixed. Might have been a loose HDMI cable. I fiddled with the cables and haven't experienced the problem.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mjw703* /forum/post/12947595
> 
> 
> So does that mean we won't see new HD channels in Arlington until Fios starts offering service in Alexandria?



I don't know...I didn't realize we were talking FIOS. I would think that Comcast will have the new HD Channel problem figured out by the time, or even if, FIOS shows up in Alexandria.


----------



## mjw703




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/12953853
> 
> 
> I don't know...I didn't realize we were talking FIOS. I would think that Comcast will have the new HD Channel problem figured out by the time, or even if, FIOS shows up in Alexandria.



Sorry I was being sarcastic. It seems Comcast is quicker to add HD channels where they are competing with Fios in Montgomery and Howard Counties and RCN in DC. Since they have no competition in Alexandria, then they don't have as much incentive to add new channels for our combined system.


----------



## Speqtre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mjw703* /forum/post/12954454
> 
> 
> Sorry I was being sarcastic. It seems Comcast is quicker to add HD channels where they are competing with Fios in Montgomery and Howard Counties and RCN in DC. Since they have no competition in Alexandria, then they don't have as much incentive to add new channels for our combined system.



Agreed - you can see this in the $74.95 triple play offer in NoVA - they lost a lot of customers to FIOS when it became available, so they had to drop the price significantly to get some customers back. I took the offer, and honestly, having had FIOS a year before going back to Comcast, I don't miss FIOS at all. Verizon's customer service experience is absolutely miserable.


----------



## Lordiv

Anybody with news about Cable Cards in NoVA?


----------



## pmturcotte

(crossposting from an older FIOS thread)


I tried searching through this reallllllly long thread for my answer to no avail.


Does FIOS offer the same sports subscriptions that DTV does - MLB, NHL, NBA? I know I'd have to give up the NFL package which given the cost I'm willing to do but there's no way I could make it through a summer without the Red Sox every night. Thanks.


----------



## zebras23

No - FiOS does not have those packages and probably we won't for some time given my understanding of existing contracts between the providers and carriers.


----------



## pmturcotte




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zebras23* /forum/post/12955176
> 
> 
> No - FiOS does not have those packages and probably we won't for some time given my understanding of existing contracts between the providers and carriers.



Thanks much. Between this and the hours (literally) I've spent on hold with Verizon trying to get questions answered guess I'll stick with DTV for now.


----------



## zebras23




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pmturcotte* /forum/post/12955188
> 
> 
> Thanks much. Between this and the hours (literally) I've spent on hold with Verizon trying to get questions answered guess I'll stick with DTV for now.



I switched from Comcast and have been happy - only some minor issues here and there but the picture quality and the non-breakup of HD channels far exceeds the problems. I do most of my ordering through their on-line portal as you are corrrect the phone can be an issue.


----------



## djwu

Hey guys, I just got my pioneer 5080 and was watching national treasure hd on USA hd on my comcast motorola hd cable box using HDMI, and I was getting some stuttering and pixelation on the screen. I am assuming it is the cable signal and not the plasma. I also get some stuttering on the Discovery channel hd too. Am I right or wrong? Thanks


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djwu* /forum/post/12956228
> 
> 
> Hey guys, I just got my pioneer 5080 and was watching national treasure hd on USA hd on my comcast motorola hd cable box using HDMI, and I was getting some stuttering and pixelation on the screen. I am assuming it is the cable signal and not the plasma. I also get some stuttering on the Discovery channel hd too. Am I right or wrong? Thanks



You are right.


----------



## DRal

Can anyone tell me what the newest/latest HD DVR box that Comcast (arlington) is supplying? Right now I have a SA8300HD DVR and it seems like a lot of the channels are having issues, sound gets distorted and video breaks up as well.


Thanks


----------



## Speqtre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Lordiv* /forum/post/12955031
> 
> 
> Anybody with news about Cable Cards in NoVA?



Hit-or-miss it seems. I got my M-card last Monday (Reston), while JoeinVA, I believe, is still waiting in Alexandria.


----------



## fedward

I can't get my TV or my HDHomeRun to tune WRC-DT at all. I'm in Columbia Heights, same antenna that's received it without problems for months. All my other local channels are coming in just fine. Have they changed something? Anybody else having trouble?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fedward* /forum/post/12961812
> 
> 
> I can't get my TV or my HDHomeRun to tune WRC-DT at all. I'm in Columbia Heights, same antenna that's received it without problems for months. All my other local channels are coming in just fine. Have they changed something? Anybody else having trouble?



No problem getting WRC-DT 4 here in Sterling. Have you shifted the antenna aim to see if that helps at all?


----------



## fedward




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/12962452
> 
> 
> No problem getting WRC-DT 4 here in Sterling. Have you shifted the antenna aim to see if that helps at all?



Getting up on the roof is ... complicated ... so, no. If I crawl up there again I might just replace the antenna anyway. An omni (it's a Winegard MS-1000) *seemed* like a good idea when I ordered it, but I'm wondering if I wouldn't be better served by something else. I'm sure I'm getting multipath interference, and a more directional antenna might fix that *and* get me reliable Baltimore locals, which are currently out of reach. At least now I'm better equipped to test aim with a laptop and a USB tuner. When I set up the one I have, I had a friend in my apartment checking numbers for me, and the whole thing got too complicated.


If you feel like looking at a map, I'm on 13th St NW between Fairmont and Girard. I can see the WB-50 tower from the roof, and I *think* the towers on broadcast hill should be above the tops of the buildings nearby, but I could be wrong. I've never been up there on a clear enough day to know for sure.


----------



## biker19

^ at that distance you could pick up the stations with a paper clip. Multipath is probably your problem.


----------



## PDSway

Anyone know when Verizon will roll out HD VOD (video on demand) to our area?


Supposedly available now in some cities.


PDS


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PDSway* /forum/post/12966873
> 
> 
> Anyone know when Verizon will roll out HD VOD (video on demand) to our area?



You should have some HD VOD programming. Bring up VOD, then search for HD, then step into the HDTV folder that shows up. Verizon added about a dozen wacky HD 2 to 4 minute shorts either late last week or over the weekend. All "How To" short clips for How to extend the battery life of your Ipod, how to not get mugged (no, I am not kidding), How to prepare sushi, and other stuff. I have not checked today to see if any real HD programs have been added yet. Looks like Verizon is still in the test stage for HD VOD for the Washington Metro market.


----------



## fedward




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/12964498
> 
> 
> ^ at that distance you could pick up the stations with a paper clip. Multipath is probably your problem.



You'd certainly think a paper clip would do the trick, but the 60' or so of cable it takes to get down from the roof to my apartment might disagree with you. If I were to buy another antenna, I'd still have the same problem I had when I picked the one I got:


1. There's a 17° spread between WRC and WTTG. I could get a directional antenna and aim it right between them, probably picking up most of the majors very well. But that's without even considering WDCW (which is still WB50 in my head), WETA, or WMPT, all of which I get right now on my omnidirectional antenna.


2. It's a multi-TV household so a rotator is out of the question.


3. I already have one antenna that fails to pick up Baltimore locals, and I'd like to have the option. That's going to be even worse in a year, though, when two DC locals and two Baltimore locals start broadcasting on VHF, 93° apart from each other. Bah.


----------



## Lordiv

Just Got a Multi-Stream Card installed in Arlington VA with Comcast. The Tech said they couldnt get any of their M-Stream cards to work with any TiVos but the TiVo HD; which I am glad a purchased. So basically Comcast is really taking their time to install them. The Tech said I got the only one in the warehouse since they have had so many problems and sent shipments back.


Buh Bye SA8300HD


----------



## azitnay

Yes, it's known that the original Series3 TiVos (as opposed to the newer TiVo HD units) don't support m-cards (at least, not in m-card mode; they'll function as an s-card but you still need a second card to use the second tuner). No one knows for sure whether or not this will ever change, but since it's been so long with no change, it's looking less and less likely.


Sounds like someone needs to inform Comcast of this... Of all the things that aren't their fault, this one isn't







.


Drew


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Lordiv* /forum/post/12972542
> 
> 
> Just Got a Multi-Stream Card installed in Arlington VA with Comcast. The Tech said they couldnt get any of their M-Stream cards to work with any TiVos but the TiVo HD; which I am glad a purchased. So basically Comcast is really taking their time to install them. The Tech said I got the only one in the warehouse since they have had so many problems and sent shipments back.
> 
> 
> Buh Bye SA8300HD



Can you PM me the tech name and your name? UI am getting an install on Friday, which they have cancelled 2x already due to no cards, and I want some ammo if they try to say they have no cards available.

Thanks


----------



## markbulla




fedward said:


> 2. It's a multi-TV household so a rotator is out of the question.
> 
> 
> QUOTE]
> 
> 
> Although I understand your point about using a rotor in a multi-TV household, it would allow you to move the antenna to a point where you get reliable reception without having to get up on the roof. I have to move my antenna twice a year depending on whether the leaves are on the trees or not. When the leaves are falling off, or growing on, I might have to move the antenna each night for a couple of weeks.
> 
> 
> It would be a pain to have to get the ladder out each time, and then climb up, move the antenna, climb down, check the reception, then repeat until I get the best reception on the most stations...
> 
> 
> Just my $0.02.


----------



## aaronwt




markbulla said:


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fedward* /forum/post/12967315
> 
> 
> 
> 2. It's a multi-TV household so a rotator is out of the question.
> 
> 
> QUOTE]
> 
> 
> Although I understand your point about using a rotor in a multi-TV household, it would allow you to move the antenna to a point where you get reliable reception without having to get up on the roof. I have to move my antenna twice a year depending on whether the leaves are on the trees or not. When the leaves are falling off, or growing on, I might have to move the antenna each night for a couple of weeks.
> 
> 
> It would be a pain to have to get the ladder out each time, and then climb up, move the antenna, climb down, check the reception, then repeat until I get the best reception on the most stations...
> 
> 
> Just my $0.02.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> My antenna is on the outside of my condo. I used to have problems when the leaves were almost off the tree and when they started growing. This would only affect one channel. If I tried to adjust it for the one channel it would affect the other channels. Finally, during a storm, the large brach near my antenna came down. I re-adjusted the antenna and haven't had any problems with reception since. Of course now I don't even need to use my outside antenna since I got Comcast at the end of 2006 and FIOS in 2007
Click to expand...


----------



## Lordiv

I think the problem with Comcast has been the backwards compatability of M cards. I dont know if its an actual card problem, or if the Techs dont know how to install them properly as S Cards. Since putting an M card in a TiVo HD is basically a plug an play situation, I dont know if there are additional steps that need to get it to function as an S Card.


----------



## Speqtre

Not to go too far OT, but since this is one of the only regional threads:


Has anyone found a good electronics parts/supply store in this area? I moved to Reston, VA about a year ago and have yet to come across anything decent. You can find some things between RS/HD/Lowes/BB/CC but not the selection and decent prices I used to be able to get.


I'm talking about something like an old-school Radio Shack with a much bigger selection and much more reasonable prices that sells all the little bits to build electronics projects - bread boards, wire, resistors, caps, connectors, etc.


If you don't want to reply here, please PM me or tell me the appropriate thread to post this question in.


Thanks!


----------



## mchief99

From the tivocommunity thread on cable cards. The MCard installs and works exactly as the SCard install in the Tivo S3 and requires 2 Mcards or 2 Scards or 1 of each. In the TivoHD, which I have, the single MCard works both tuners.


Anyone see any of the new channels due today???


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/12977106
> 
> 
> Not to go too far OT, but since this is one of the only regional threads:
> 
> 
> Has anyone found a good electronics parts/supply store in this area? I moved to Reston, VA about a year ago and have yet to come across anything decent. You can find some things between RS/HD/Lowes/BB/CC but not the selection and decent prices I used to be able to get.
> 
> 
> I'm talking about something like an old-school Radio Shack with a much bigger selection and much more reasonable prices that sells all the little bits to build electronics projects - bread boards, wire, resistors, caps, connectors, etc.
> 
> 
> If you don't want to reply here, please PM me or tell me the appropriate thread to post this question in.
> 
> 
> Thanks!



Hey, I'd like to know this also.


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Lordiv* /forum/post/12976571
> 
> 
> I think the problem with Comcast has been the backwards compatability of M cards. I dont know if its an actual card problem, or if the Techs dont know how to install them properly as S Cards. Since putting an M card in a TiVo HD is basically a plug an play situation, I dont know if there are additional steps that need to get it to function as an S Card.



I had an M card (I think) installed in my Sony DVR last September. As soon as it was activated at the head end, it worked flawlessly, and has been since. Also solved all the problems I was having with the previous card.


JoeInNVA: please keep us informed on what happens Friday.


----------



## ACW112983

Any update on Comcast HD for Arlington?


----------



## mchief99

Received the following email today from Comcast regarding Arlington/Alexandria HD channel adds. This after two previous email went unanswered and I explained that I would next call the Comcast Executive Offices.


Dear ,


Thank you for contacting Comcast Communications. We truly apologize for

the inconvenience. Our Marketing Department has informed us that, due to

technical issues, the new HD channels will now be launched on 2/26/08.


If you should have any other questions or concerns, feel free to contact

us. Thank you for choosing Comcast.


Sincerely,

Ireather

Comcast Customer Care


I will hold my breath


----------



## ACW112983




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mchief99* /forum/post/12981548
> 
> 
> Received the following email today from Comcast regarding Arlington/Alexandria HD channel adds. This after two previous email went unanswered and I explained that I would next call the Comcast Executive Offices.
> 
> 
> Dear ,
> 
> 
> Thank you for contacting Comcast Communications. We truly apologize for
> 
> the inconvenience. Our Marketing Department has informed us that, due to
> 
> technical issues, the new HD channels will now be launched on 2/26/08.
> 
> 
> If you should have any other questions or concerns, feel free to contact
> 
> us. Thank you for choosing Comcast.
> 
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Ireather
> 
> Comcast Customer Care
> 
> 
> I will hold my breath


----------



## JoeInNVa

I wonder what the average income is in the City of Alexandria and Arlington? I guess it's not as much as Sterling and Reston, maybe that is why they get all the good stuff?


----------



## Coolgreany




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fedward* /forum/post/12961812
> 
> 
> I can't get my TV or my HDHomeRun to tune WRC-DT at all. I'm in Columbia Heights, same antenna that's received it without problems for months. All my other local channels are coming in just fine. Have they changed something? Anybody else having trouble?



I'm getting WRC-DT no problem in Ashburn, VA using a DB-2 Antenna in attic through a splitter feeding two tvs (one through 50 ft of cable).


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/12977106
> 
> 
> Not to go too far OT, but since this is one of the only regional threads:
> 
> 
> Has anyone found a good electronics parts/supply store in this area? I moved to Reston, VA about a year ago and have yet to come across anything decent. You can find some things between RS/HD/Lowes/BB/CC but not the selection and decent prices I used to be able to get.
> 
> 
> I'm talking about something like an old-school Radio Shack with a much bigger selection and much more reasonable prices that sells all the little bits to build electronics projects - bread boards, wire, resistors, caps, connectors, etc.
> 
> 
> If you don't want to reply here, please PM me or tell me the appropriate thread to post this question in.
> 
> 
> Thanks!



Probably too far for you but Baynesville Electronics just north of Baltimore (Joppa Road) is heaven for this kind of stuff.

http://www.baynesvilleelectronics.com/


----------



## Speqtre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/12984754
> 
> 
> Probably too far for you but Baynesville Electronics just north of Baltimore (Joppa Road) is heaven for this kind of stuff.
> 
> http://www.baynesvilleelectronics.com/



Yes, looking at their website, that's exactly what I'm looking for! Now can anyone around here identify a place like that that isn't 75 miles away?


Back on topic: I found out that what I thought had been a completely smooth install on my M-card into my Tivo HD was not quite perfect. I had to call up Comcast the next day and have them check the authorizations on the card, as I was missing a few channels. Even with that experience, so far, Comcast wins hands-down in customer service over Verizon.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/12985215
> 
> 
> Even with that experience, so far, Comcast wins hands-down in customer service over Verizon.



I think you're the only person on the east coast that would say that.


----------



## RaginCajun92

I am considering a 26" or 32" lcd for our bedroom. Right now I have a crappy 19" 4:3 SD LCD that needs to go. So, my question is this, with a QAM capable lcd, what HD channels will I get in the clear? Tell me if I'm thinking this out correctly. To get HD in the clear, I would run the coaxial cable directly to the lcd. To get SD to the ReplayTV box, I would need a splitter and then run component to the lcd from the Replay. Does that sound right?


I will probably keep my ReplayTV 5040 unit in the bedroom as it has a lifetime subscription. Recording in HD will not be a big deal to me as most HD viewing will be done on the 50" plasma in the living room.


I'm not up to speed on QAM tuners and their capability so I just need some input. I'd like to not have to fork over yet more coinage to Comcast as I have a monthly bill already approaching $150 per month (Internet included) but if that is necessary for getting HD to this set then so be it.


Also, what are the ballpark prices for getting a 2nd HD converter box and/or HD converter box with dvr. I know...I just need to call but I just wanted to get a rough estimate before doing so.


I'm in the Manassas market btw.


Thanks!

T


----------



## fedward




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/12976072
> 
> 
> It would be a pain to have to get the ladder out each time, and then climb up, move the antenna, climb down, check the reception, then repeat until I get the best reception on the most stations...



In my case the restriction is less physical and more social (the next door neighbor has a roof deck -- luckily he's friendly with me, but not so much with my landlord, who lives upstairs from me). Once I'm up on the roof, however, at this point I can check digital reception with my laptop and a USB tuner. I didn't have that option when I installed the antenna, which hasn't required any adjustment until now.


I'm operating under the assumption that the change in my reception has to do with new condo construction. There are a couple projects I can think of that have recently gotten windows, so they're the likely culprits.


----------



## markbulla




Speqtre said:


> Yes, looking at their website, that's exactly what I'm looking for! Now can anyone around here identify a place like that that isn't 75 miles away?
> 
> 
> QUOTE]
> 
> 
> Mark Electronics in Beltsville is closer, but it doesn't have the selection that Baynesville has...


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RaginCajun92* /forum/post/12985641
> 
> 
> I am considering a 26" or 32" lcd for our bedroom. Right now I have a crappy 19" 4:3 SD LCD that needs to go. So, my question is this, with a QAM capable lcd, what HD channels will I get in the clear?



Much earlier in this thread there was a list, but you should be able to get all the regular network channels, plus TBS, TNT, Vs, A&E, and a few more.


Neil


----------



## mchief99

New Channels for Arlington/Alexandria to add 2/26:


229 HGTV HD

231 FOOD HD

234 CNN HD

235 USA HD

236 SCI FI HD

237 HISTORY HD

239 DISC HD

240 TLC HD

241 ANIMAL PL HD


MAYBE


----------



## Speqtre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/12985295
> 
> 
> I think you're the only person on the east coast that would say that.



I had FIOS installed in Oct 06. Anytime I'd have to call customer service for anything, I'd be on hold for between 20-40 minutes. Typically, if they had to roll a truck, it was at least a week before they could schedule someone. When my DVR went bad, the only place I could swap it _*myself*_ was in Richmond, which is over 100 miles from me.


My experience with Comcast has been: hold times under 2 minutes, two visits to my house both scheduled the next day, and a local office less than 5 miles from my house where I can pick up and drop off equipment.


Add that to Verizon's recent price increases vs. Comcast's $75 triple play with 3 free premium channels for a year - I stand by my original statement.


When I called Verizon to try to get them to price match, or at least come close, they basically said 'buh-bye'.


Maybe it's like JoeinVA said, people in Reston and Sterling get better service!


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/12987747
> 
> 
> Much earlier in this thread there was a list, but you should be able to get all the regular network channels, plus TBS, TNT, Vs, A&E, and a few more.



I would not count on TBS, TNT, A&E for either the SD or HD channels staying in the clear on any cable system. Since the HD versions of these channels were recently added to some of the Comcast systems in the area, I'm guessing you mean the HD versions. It is common when adding a new channel to leave it unencrypted for a while until everyone's STB is updated. Then in a few days or weeks after the channel re-assignments have stabilized, the national channels in the clear are encrypted.


You should only count on getting the SD and HD locals and the PEGs (Public/Educational/Govt) channels in the clear. Some cable systems (none in our area AFAIK) will provide Discovery HD Theater or other educational oriented channels in the clear, but that is the exception, not the rule. Figure on all the national HD channels being encrypted or encrypted soon. Where the SD and HD locals are vary from Comcast head-end to head-end as far as I know.


I have seen reports that Comcast has added PSIP info to the HD locals so the local stations are mapped to their broadcast channel # such as 4-1, 5-1. Verizon FiOS is doing this for the SD and HD digital broadcast locals, so the Samsung DTB-H260F STB maps the 11 digital stations they now have to the broadcast channel #s. The older Samsung SIR-T451 tuner I have doesn't, but shows the stations at their QAM channel #s. Verizon is apparently messing up the PSIP data a bit which is affecting the QAM tuners in Sharp TVs & some other TV models, while other tuners ignore the error and work fine.


For the record, Verizon in the Washington Metro area is providing in the clear all the sub-channels for WRC-DT 4, WTTG-DT 5, WJLA-DT 7, WUSA-DT 9, WDCA-DT 20, WETA-DT 26, WNVT-DT MHz 30, WDCW-DT 50, WNVC-DT MHz 57, WPXW-DT Ion 66, and MPT as 67-1 on QAM channels 71-75 and 82. So a clear QAM tuner on Verizon will get you those 11 stations; SD locals & the PEGs & Music Choice are on QAM 63-68, Urge Music on QAM 84.


----------



## jgantert

Looks like we might not get MASN in HD this season either...

http://www.tvpredictions.com/masn013108.htm


----------



## CycloneGT

Shame, that with the new Stadium that they couldn't get HD set up in time.


----------



## PaulGo

I just think MASN was too cheap to make the investment. A new stadium could have been set up without much problems. The Baltimore team was the problem and since MASN is really owned by the Baltimore owner they did not want to put the Baltimore team at a disadvantage.


----------



## Marcus Carr

  



It's January 31st. So where are CNN, History, and TLC for Baltimore?


----------



## darango

I'm not seeing the new Comcast HD channels in Reston. Is anyone else getting them in Reston/Sterling? Do I have to give my W2 to the local cable rep?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/12990682
> 
> 
> Looks like we might not get MASN in HD this season either...
> http://www.tvpredictions.com/masn013108.htm



Let not over react too much to "Swanni's" article. All he says is that MASN would not reply to his calls about HD and that they have made no announcements one way or the other about a HD channel. It is possible that MASN is in negotiations with the service providers and is not ready to make any announcements. But with spring training starting in less than a month, that may be wishful thinking.


The new Nats stadium is obviously HD capable. The failure to have an HD channel rests entirely with MASN. The O's home games or most home games were in HD for, what?, 3 years on CSN Mid-Atlantic HD before Angelos moved the O's TV to MASN. If MASN said last fall that they were starting a HD simulcast channel in 4 months by the start of 2008 spring training, Comcast (in most areas), Verizon, DirecTV, and maybe RCN would cleared the space to add a MASN-HD. The MASN approach to HD smacks of Angelos's management style or lack thereof through and through.


What gets depressing for our market is the number of teams that have announced that ALL of their games on the RSNs will be in HD for 2008 from reading (and posting to) the Local Baseball HD thread in the HD Programming forum that got restarted recently. The Cleveland Indians will have 153 regular season games in HD this year: 133 games on SportsTime Ohio RSN and 20 games broadcast OTA on WKYC-DT will all be HD. 8 spring training games will be in HD! in Cleveland! But the nation's capital and Baltimore may not have any Nats or O's games in HD in 2008?! Hard to believe, but then again, what do you expect with a RSN started and run by Peter Angelos.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/12996595
> 
> 
> Let not over react too much to "Swanni's" article. All he says is that MASN would not reply to his calls about HD and that they have made no announcements one way or the other about a HD channel. It is possible that MASN is in negotiations with the service providers and is not ready to make any announcements. But with spring training starting in less than a month, that may be wishful thinking.
> 
> 
> The new Nats stadium is obviously HD capable. The failure to have an HD channel rests entirely with MASN. The O's home games or most home games were in HD for, what?, 3 years on CSN Mid-Atlantic HD before Angelos moved the O's TV to MASN. If MASN said last fall that they were starting a HD simulcast channel in 4 months by the start of 2008 spring training, Comcast (in most areas), Verizon, DirecTV, and maybe RCN would cleared the space to add a MASN-HD. The MASN approach to HD smacks of Angelos's management style or lack thereof through and through.
> 
> 
> What gets depressing for our market is the number of teams that have announced that ALL of their games on the RSNs will be in HD for 2008 from reading (and posting to) the Local Baseball HD thread in the HD Programming forum that got restarted recently. The Cleveland Indians will have 153 regular season games in HD this year: 133 games on SportsTime Ohio RSN and 20 games broadcast OTA on WKYC-DT will all be HD. 8 spring training games will be in HD! in Cleveland! But the nation's capital and Baltimore may not have any Nats or O's games in HD in 2008?! Hard to believe, but then again, what do you expect with a RSN started and run by Peter Angelos.



Boston has had all of their games in HD for a few years now...Then again NESN is DA BOMB while MASN is a step above NVCC Public Access...


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Boston has had all of their games in HD for a few years now...Then again NESN is DA BOMB while MASN is a step above NVCC Public Access...



I hate begrudging anything to Boston, but Joe is absolutely correct. Then again, NESN doesn't buy their equipment from Radio Shack or used on ebay.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

How was the PQ on WJLA for others trying to watch the _Lost_ season premeire (D*)? Lots of picture breakup taking place (I know I am not using the correct tech term here, someone please let me know). WJLA's PQ in general has been bad lately, while other locals are not having any problems. At least once each night during _Wheel_ and _Jeopardy!_ this happens as well.


----------



## azitnay

Not sure WJLA was to blame... It was perfect on Comcast of DC last night (except for the occasional annoying SD for a few seconds when returning from commercial).


Drew


----------



## bigluke33

I was watching on WJLA here in Southern Maryland and Lost looked great. Yeah, besides the couple seconds of SD after commercials.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/12993641
> 
> 
> It's January 31st. So where are CNN, History, and TLC for Baltimore?



I called customer service. The CSR said the channels would be added in the first quarter and they were "not available on the system yet". She said it was "up to CNN", whatever the hell that means.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/12990682
> 
> 
> Looks like we might not get MASN in HD this season either...
> 
> http://www.tvpredictions.com/masn013108.htm



That's a real shocker. Knowing MASN, it will be years before they have HD up and running. Their standard-def programming has a sort of throwback, circa-1980 picture quality to it.


----------



## El Pollo




> Quote:
> 9/20/2007: SJKurtzke: WDCW-DT says that they are to be included in DirectTV's HDTV lineup by Jan 2008.



Any update on this? Watching Smallville last night with various issues OTA for me, remind me about this rumor.


----------



## rviele




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/12997586
> 
> 
> How was the PQ on WJLA for others trying to watch the _Lost_ season premeire (D*)? Lots of picture breakup taking place (I know I am not using the correct tech term here, someone please let me know). WJLA's PQ in general has been bad lately, while other locals are not having any problems. At least once each night during _Wheel_ and _Jeopardy!_ this happens as well.



just thought i'd tell the ota feed from wmar out of baltimore was perfect best hidef i've seen in a long time. can't wait for more island scenery espically the female kind.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/12997937
> 
> 
> I called customer service. The CSR said the channels would be added in the first quarter and they were "not available on the system yet". She said it was "up to CNN", whatever the hell that means.



I think it means, "I have no idea what the hell you are talking about, but this sounds good!"


----------



## machpost

For whatever reason, RCN does not carry WDCA-DT or MPT-HD. Do all of the other area cable providers carry all of the HD locals?


----------



## Marcus Carr

*MASN: Still Working On HDTV In 2008*


The network is the last holdout in offering high-def broadcasts of Major League Baseball.


By Swanni


Washington, D.C. (February 1, 2008) -- MASN, which has the broadcast rights to the Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles, says it's still working to air "some" games in High-Definition during the 2008 season.


MASN's lack of HD coverage to date has become both a local and national issue for baseball fans. As of now, the Orioles and Nats are the only two Major League Baseball teams that will not be broadcast locally in High-Definition during the 2008 season.


Many Nats and O's fans have expressed their displeasure on baseball message boards -- and in e-mails sent to TVPredictions.com.


But Todd Webster, a MASN spokesman, told TVPredictions.com today that the regional sports network is still talking to cable and satellite operators about providing high-def coverage this season.

*"We're still planning for some (Nats and O's) games (in HD) this season," he said. "We're working with the affiliates (cable and satellite operators) to expand their capability for (MASN in HD.)*


But Webster acknowledged that "not much has changed in the last six months" in those discussions. "But we are still trying to work it out."


The regional sports network told the Baltimore Sun last year that it might offer high-def coverage of the Nats and Orioles this year. But today, less than two months before the 2008 season begins, the network has still not announced its high-def plans.


Every other MLB team has already announced that its regional sports network will provide some games in high-def this year, including the Kansas City Royals, which were not broadcast locally in high-def last year.


Webster said it's still possible that MASN could make a HD announcement by Opening Day.


In the past, MASN has said it has not offered the two teams in high-def because it did not have a dedicated HD channel.


However, the sports network could broadcast some games in high-def and offer them to cable and satellite providers who in turn could show them on their HD channels. It could also launch a high-def simulcast channel and ask the cable and satellite operators to carry it.


In addition, MASN could offer some HD games to Washington area station WDCA (channel 20), which can transmit in high-def. The sports network has shown standard-definition Nationals games on WDCA during the past three seasons.

http://www.tvpredictions.com/masn020108.htm


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Their standard-def programming has a sort of throwback, circa-1980 picture quality to it.



You're being too generous. 1975 at best. MASN=Mr Aneglos' SD Networks.

MLB needs to get involved.


----------



## dg28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/13000026
> 
> *MASN: Still Working On HDTV In 2008*
> 
> 
> The network is the last holdout in offering high-def broadcasts of Major League Baseball.
> 
> 
> By Swanni
> 
> 
> Washington, D.C. (February 1, 2008) -- MASN, which has the broadcast rights to the Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles, says it's still working to air "some" games in High-Definition during the 2008 season.
> 
> 
> MASN's lack of HD coverage to date has become both a local and national issue for baseball fans. As of now, the Orioles and Nats are the only two Major League Baseball teams that will not be broadcast locally in High-Definition during the 2008 season.
> 
> 
> Many Nats and O's fans have expressed their displeasure on baseball message boards -- and in e-mails sent to TVPredictions.com.
> 
> 
> But Todd Webster, a MASN spokesman, told TVPredictions.com today that the regional sports network is still talking to cable and satellite operators about providing high-def coverage this season.
> 
> *"We're still planning for some (Nats and O's) games (in HD) this season," he said. "We're working with the affiliates (cable and satellite operators) to expand their capability for (MASN in HD.)*
> 
> 
> But Webster acknowledged that "not much has changed in the last six months" in those discussions. "But we are still trying to work it out."
> 
> 
> The regional sports network told the Baltimore Sun last year that it might offer high-def coverage of the Nats and Orioles this year. But today, less than two months before the 2008 season begins, the network has still not announced its high-def plans.
> 
> 
> Every other MLB team has already announced that its regional sports network will provide some games in high-def this year, including the Kansas City Royals, which were not broadcast locally in high-def last year.
> 
> 
> Webster said it's still possible that MASN could make a HD announcement by Opening Day.
> 
> 
> In the past, MASN has said it has not offered the two teams in high-def because it did not have a dedicated HD channel.
> 
> 
> However, the sports network could broadcast some games in high-def and offer them to cable and satellite providers who in turn could show them on their HD channels. It could also launch a high-def simulcast channel and ask the cable and satellite operators to carry it.
> 
> 
> In addition, MASN could offer some HD games to Washington area station WDCA (channel 20), which can transmit in high-def. The sports network has shown standard-definition Nationals games on WDCA during the past three seasons.
> 
> http://www.tvpredictions.com/masn020108.htm



So Swanni scoops himself by finally getting a response from MASN? There is nothing to see here ladies and gentelmen. In other words, no news is no news. When we know definitively whether or not they will do HD games, that's when this will actually be newsworthy.


----------



## chaspower

Yeah, MASN looks 'great' upconverted on my plasma... watching ESPNNEWS on MASN? A little help here Petey!


----------



## euckersw

I was just browsing around Cox's web site and found the following information:


3 New HD Channels Coming February 29th - Travel Channel HD (Ch. 732), Cinemax HD (Ch. 733), The Weather Channel HD (Ch. 734)


----------



## markbulla

Just thought some would be interested to hear -


WUTB is supposed to be receiving their full power DTV transmitter at the transmitter site on Monday. I'm not sure what the timeframe is for it to be installed, but they are working hard on the project, so it shouldn't be a real long time...


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/13000026
> 
> *MASN: Still Working On HDTV In 2008*Webster said it's still possible that MASN could make a HD announcement by Opening Day.



Yeah, just like it's also possible for HD DVD to beat out Blu-Ray.










O's fans are going to get f'd again on HD. This will be the second year I vow not to go to a game. I was successful last year, even though my wife really wanted to go. No way I'm supporting that team.










-John


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/12973088
> 
> 
> Can you PM me the tech name and your name? UI am getting an install on Friday, which they have cancelled 2x already due to no cards, and I want some ammo if they try to say they have no cards available.
> 
> Thanks



SUCCESS!

Finally got a card and it got installed with no problem, well, except that it took close to an hour for the tech to get ahold of someone to authorize the card.


I did hold onto the 8300 just in case something happens between now and the Superbowl.


It was an M card and the tech said they had more, so people in Alex/Arlington, start a calling!


----------



## wvpdles




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/12988503
> 
> 
> I would not count on TBS, TNT, A&E for either the SD or HD channels staying in the clear on any cable system. Since the HD versions of these channels were recently added to some of the Comcast systems in the area, I'm guessing you mean the HD versions. It is common when adding a new channel to leave it unencrypted for a while until everyone's STB is updated. Then in a few days or weeks after the channel re-assignments have stabilized, the national channels in the clear are encrypted.
> 
> 
> You should only count on getting the SD and HD locals and the PEGs (Public/Educational/Govt) channels in the clear. Some cable systems (none in our area AFAIK) will provide Discovery HD Theater or other educational oriented channels in the clear, but that is the exception, not the rule. Figure on all the national HD channels being encrypted or encrypted soon. Where the SD and HD locals are vary from Comcast head-end to head-end as far as I know.



Long time lurker here, finally coming out to ask a question.


I can understand why Comcast would encrypt (require higher service package) the HD verisons of channels (HGTV, A&E, TLC) we currently received with the Standard Service.


My question is what's going to happen as these channels no longer offer the non-digital verison? Will the only way be to get them is to upgrade cable to one of their new packages? Or will Comcast unencrypt them?


----------



## mapper




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wvpdles* /forum/post/13007395
> 
> 
> Long time lurker here, finally coming out to ask a question.
> 
> 
> I can understand why Comcast would encrypt (require higher service package) the HD verisons of channels (HGTV, A&E, TLC) we currently received with the Standard Service.
> 
> 
> My question is what's going to happen as these channels no longer offer the non-digital verison? Will the only way be to get them is to upgrade cable to one of their new packages? Or will Comcast unencrypt them?



Welcome to AVS Forum, wvpdles!


Unfortunately, Comcast WILL encrypt them. Even though you are paying for it, others may not be, so that is the reason for makinmg you get a set-tiop box or CableCARD(if slot is available). The reason is because the new digital technology will be able to find out who's paying for what channels at what time. The reason they aren't encrypted now is because those signal blockers have been taken out of your system. But evenually the digital encryption will do the job of the signal blockers. Like afiggatt said, expect to see only locals in your QAM lineup when the entire lineup goes digital or if all channels but PEGs and locals.


----------



## wvpdles




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/13007954
> 
> 
> Welcome to AVS Forum, wvpdles!
> 
> 
> Unfortunately, Comcast WILL encrypt them. Even though you are paying for it, others may not be, so that is the reason for makinmg you get a set-tiop box or CableCARD(if slot is available). The reason is because the new digital technology will be able to find out who's paying for what channels at what time. The reason they aren't encrypted now is because those signal blockers have been taken out of your system. But evenually the digital encryption will do the job of the signal blockers. Like afiggatt said, expect to see only locals in your QAM lineup when the entire lineup goes digital or if all channels but PEGs and locals.



Thank you for the welcome!










So next year when the switch is done, I won't be able to get HGTV, A&E, etc at all unless I upgrade to the next service package (pay another $20 a month) which requires a digital converter box?


----------



## aaronwt

The Switch to OTA digital has nothing to do with those National HD/SD channels.


----------



## dspadoni

Just got a post card from Comcast (Manassas head end) that nine new HD channels will be added *Tuesday, March 4*:
Discovery HD (239)

TLC HD (240)

Animal Planet HD (241)

USA HD (235)

Food Network HD (231)

HGTV HD (229)

CNN HD (234)

Sci-Fi HD (236)

History HD (237)


Also, some other non-HD additions and some channel shuffling. Latter includes moving TV Guide Network from 2 to 100, thus requiring digital service; curious move, that.


----------



## mapper




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wvpdles* /forum/post/13008102
> 
> 
> Thank you for the welcome!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So next year when the switch is done, I won't be able to get HGTV, A&E, etc at all unless I upgrade to the next service package (pay another $20 a month) which requires a digital converter box?



Not really, it probably won't be next year, but whenever Comcast decides to switch to an all-digital lineup, thats when you "line up" for the box. Some do suggest the all-digital changes will be done in 2012(note: Cable not OTA which is next year), but until then have fun with your analog goodness.


----------



## ACW112983




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dspadoni* /forum/post/13009395
> 
> 
> Just got a post card from Comcast (Manassas head end) that nine new HD channels will be added *Tuesday, March 4*:
> Discovery HD (239)
> 
> TLC HD (240)
> 
> Animal Planet HD (241)
> 
> USA HD (235)
> 
> Food Network HD (231)
> 
> HGTV HD (229)
> 
> CNN HD (234)
> 
> Sci-Fi HD (236)
> 
> History HD (237)
> 
> 
> Also, some other non-HD additions and some channel shuffling. Latter includes moving TV Guide Network from 2 to 100, thus requiring digital service; curious move, that.



Got that too. March 4 now?


----------



## billygreen23

Got the card in Alexandria too. I'm not too worried that it's pushed back to March 4, I'm just glad it's finally official. I can't wait!


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wvpdles* /forum/post/13008102
> 
> 
> Thank you for the welcome!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So next year when the switch is done, I won't be able to get HGTV, A&E, etc at all unless I upgrade to the next service package (pay another $20 a month) which requires a digital converter box?



When you are ready to switch call and threaten to leave for FIOS or sat - you'll be connected to a "retention specialist" and you should get the service at no extra cost or at some cost comparable to what FIOS and other cable cos (and sat) in the area charge. There won't be a way around the STB or CC requirement. You may elect to just watch the clear QAM signals on some TVs and not bother with an STB on those TVs.


I don't think it will be an overnight switch for all chs at once - it will drawn out over the years a few chs at a time but at some point when you lose some important ch you'll need an STB.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Switched over to ABC-7 after the big GIANTS win in Supe XLII, and the movie was in SD. Someone asleep at the wheel again (or preoccupied with the game)?


----------



## AbMagFab

So was it just me, or was the HD on WTTG-DT not that great last night?


- The commercials looked good

- The close-up shots of the players looked good

- All the field shots (which was most of the game) looked like 480p to me


Is this normal? I don't watch a lot of sports, but I was really surprised at how crappy the bulk of the show looked last night. I know it wasn't my TV, because the commercials and close-ups looked like 720p. But everything else looked like old-school wide-screen 480p. You couldn't even really make out the player names when they had the whole field visible.


Just me?


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/13023322
> 
> 
> Switched over to ABC-7 after the big GIANTS win in Supe XLII, and the movie was in SD. Someone asleep at the wheel again (or preoccupied with the game)?



It was in SD on WMAR also. I saw that it was SD on WJLA, so I switched over to WMAR and found it was SD over there too.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/13023686
> 
> 
> So was it just me, or was the HD on WTTG-DT not that great last night?



It was on the soft side. Check the long threads on the Super Bowl in the HDTV programming forum as there were a lot of comments on the Fox picture quality last night from across the US. Reportedly the bit rate was on the low side.


As for the ABC movie last night, it was in SD everywhere, so this was not a WJLA-DT 7 problem. Guess ABC figured the movie was a sacrifice going up against the Superbowl and decided not to bother getting an HD version.


BTW, WHUT-DT PBS 32 is messing up their PSIP data again. The station shows up as channel 33 on my STB.


----------



## darango




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ACW112983* /forum/post/13011237
> 
> 
> Got that too. March 4 now?



Will it be the same date for Reston?


----------



## RaginCajun92

Wow, we've had those channels for a few weeks now in Gainesville/Bristow.




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dspadoni* /forum/post/13009395
> 
> 
> Just got a post card from Comcast (Manassas head end) that nine new HD channels will be added *Tuesday, March 4*:
> Discovery HD (239)
> 
> TLC HD (240)
> 
> Animal Planet HD (241)
> 
> USA HD (235)
> 
> Food Network HD (231)
> 
> HGTV HD (229)
> 
> CNN HD (234)
> 
> Sci-Fi HD (236)
> 
> History HD (237)
> 
> 
> Also, some other non-HD additions and some channel shuffling. Latter includes moving TV Guide Network from 2 to 100, thus requiring digital service; curious move, that.


----------



## iontyre

Anyone having problems getting channels on their SA8300HD from Comcast in Baltimore area (Harford County)? Since the weekend I have lost 249 (TNTHD), 251 (CSNHD), 10 (ABCFamily), and the analog versions of ESPN (6) and CSN (7). Analog channels work from my tv's tuner if i bypass the box, but get nothing but black screen off the box. Lots of glitches on other channels too! Could my box be going?


----------



## stac772000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *iontyre* /forum/post/13032640
> 
> 
> Anyone having problems getting channels on their SA8300HD from Comcast in Baltimore area (Harford County)? Since the weekend I have lost 249 (TNTHD), 251 (CSNHD), 10 (ABCFamily), and the analog versions of ESPN (6) and CSN (7). Analog channels work from my tv's tuner if i bypass the box, but get nothing but black screen off the box. Lots of glitches on other channels too! Could my box be going?



I live in Howard county and had problem with ABC, NBC HD channels. The CSR asked me to power off the box and power back on. luckily, it worked..


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/12993641
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It's January 31st. So where are CNN, History, and TLC for Baltimore?



I sent an email to Rick Germano, Senior Vice President of Customer Operations.

http://www.comcast.com/Corporate/Cus...ContactUs.html (Right side of page)


I got a call from someone in the corporate office saying these channels will be added "in March." Looks like the above mailing was a bit off.


----------



## notcarsondaly

Long time lurker, first time poster.










Did anyone in the Frederick City (MD) Comcast market notice issues with some of the HD channels like Comcast SportsNet and USA HD last night? They were working fine for me over the weekend. However, last night the non-broadcast channels showed up as "scrambled or weak signal" on my Samsung tuner. Channels like Fox and ABC in HD worked fine. The digital music channels worked as well.


I have the Expanded Basic service.


Thanks all.


----------



## heylega1

Comcast had promised 7 new HD channels on Jan. 8 (CNN, TLC, etc) for Howard County digital service, but they have not materialized. Any explanation for that?


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> I got a call from someone in the corporate office saying these channels will be added "in March." Looks like the above mailing was a bit off.



The pretty girl is smiling because she has DirecTV back at the house not Comcast!


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/13003688
> 
> 
> Just thought some would be interested to hear -
> 
> 
> WUTB is supposed to be receiving their full power DTV transmitter at the transmitter site on Monday. I'm not sure what the timeframe is for it to be installed, but they are working hard on the project, so it shouldn't be a real long time...



Will be good if they actually broadcast anything in HD and stopped stretching SD.


----------



## cogtooth

After 2 months of enjoying multiple HD channels on Comcast basic cable in Frederick, MD, previous postings on the subject proved correct. I'm only getting what I am supposed to receive for the basic tier as of Monday.


----------



## rob base

I checked the MOJO channel last night when the Lakers game was on and it wasn't blacked out. I have had the sports teir with Comcast for a while and have Stretched out NBATV, but the games have been blacked out on MOJO. Anybody know why it wasn't last night? I will check the next time a game is on MOJO and let everyone know if it isn't a fluke.


----------



## maestro73

So, the game is blacked out on ESPN but carried on WDCA 20. However, no audio from the announcers on the HD channel (cable and OTA); on the SD channel the announcers can be heard. Comcast Alexandria. Anyone else?


----------



## kevinstu




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *maestro73* /forum/post/13040210
> 
> 
> So, the game is blacked out on ESPN but carried on WDCA 20. However, no audio from the announcers on the HD channel (cable and OTA); on the SD channel the announcers can be heard. Comcast Alexandria. Anyone else?



Same issue on 20-1 OTA. It's like you're at the game!


----------



## kevinstu

Oops, missed that you had tried OTA. I checked on channel 54 SD out of Baltimore. It's fine.


----------



## kevinstu

They just fixed WDCA DT.


----------



## rob base




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *maestro73* /forum/post/13040210
> 
> 
> So, the game is blacked out on ESPN but carried on WDCA 20. However, no audio from the announcers on the HD channel (cable and OTA); on the SD channel the announcers can be heard. Comcast Alexandria. Anyone else?



Seems everywhere. Raycom intern sleeping. It is a godsend though. Billy Packer is as annoying as any out there. This is great, like I am

there except when the fans are quiet, they can't hear me yell F*** Duke!!


EDIT

They just switched on the trash (commentators)


----------



## rustycruiser

Still in SD on WNUV. They switched back and forth when there were no announcers, and have stuck on the SD even though the HD feed now has the announcers. Good thing I have OTA and can pull in WDCA.


----------



## rtanders

I got an STB under the DTV2009 program from BestBuy and found WHUT broadcasting 33-1 as the PSIP information. I sent an email to the FCC Broadcast Enforcement Division on Sunday 2/3/08 and today I noticed it was fixed and WHUT now shows 32-1. No response from the FCC or WHUT whom I copied on my query.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rustycruiser* /forum/post/13040403
> 
> 
> Still in SD on WNUV. They switched back and forth when there were no announcers, and have stuck on the SD even though the HD feed now has the announcers. Good thing I have OTA and can pull in WDCA.



Sorry - my Dolby decoder crapped out when it switched to the game, and I had to replace it. Since there was NO audio on the HD, I put the SD on until I got the new decoder in. I got everything together and put the HD back on at 9:36.


BTW, I did have the audio set right at the beginning of the game. Too bad no one heard it! I never received any e-mail with the info, but master control received a call earlier in the day from the Raycom Sports saying that they had changed the audio settings that we have to program into the satellite receiver. At 8 PM, when I was trying to tune in the game, I was having problems, so I called them back, and that's when they told me that they changed the audio settings AGAIN. If I hadn't called, I wouldn't have known that... Apparently not everyone called, and that's why some stations had the wrong audio.


Oh well...


----------



## rustycruiser




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/13040904
> 
> 
> Sorry - my Dolby decoder crapped out when it switched to the game, and I had to replace it. Since there was NO audio on the HD, I put the SD on until I got the new decoder in. I got everything together and put the HD back on at 9:36.
> 
> 
> BTW, I did have the audio set right at the beginning of the game. Too bad no one heard it! I never received any e-mail with the info, but master control received a call earlier in the day from the Raycom Sports saying that they had changed the audio settings that we have to program into the satellite receiver. At 8 PM, when I was trying to tune in the game, I was having problems, so I called them back, and that's when they told me that they changed the audio settings AGAIN. If I hadn't called, I wouldn't have known that... Apparently not everyone called, and that's why some stations had the wrong audio.
> 
> 
> Oh well...



No worries. From the game thread over in the HDTV forum, it sounded like multiple stations had issues with this broadcast. I was actually quicte enjoying the game with HD picture, crowd noise, and no announcers for the first half hour. Quite refreshing. Thanks for all your hard work.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rob base* /forum/post/13039415
> 
> 
> I checked the MOJO channel last night when the Lakers game was on and it wasn't blacked out. I have had the sports teir with Comcast for a while and have Stretched out NBATV, but the games have been blacked out on MOJO. Anybody know why it wasn't last night? I will check the next time a game is on MOJO and let everyone know if it isn't a fluke.



Were any of the teams the Wizards? If not then it may be just a fluke that you got it...


----------



## gr8one626




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cogtooth* /forum/post/13038810
> 
> 
> After 2 months of enjoying multiple HD channels on Comcast basic cable in Frederick, MD, previous postings on the subject proved correct. I'm only getting what I am supposed to receive for the basic tier as of Monday.



Any way to get these back without paying an "HD" fee? I have TNT, USA, ESPN, ESPN2 all in sd, but have to pay for the HD version? Seems kinda of pooty


----------



## vthokie820




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rtanders* /forum/post/13040477
> 
> 
> I got an STB under the DTV2009 program from BestBuy and found WHUT broadcasting 33-1 as the PSIP information. I sent an email to the FCC Broadcast Enforcement Division on Sunday 2/3/08 and today I noticed it was fixed and WHUT now shows 32-1. No response from the FCC or WHUT whom I copied on my query.



WHUT is frequently switching between 32-1 and 33-1. They've had a lot of problems transmitting the correct PSIP data among other things. WDCW has had similar issues.


----------



## raidbuck




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gr8one626* /forum/post/13044129
> 
> 
> Any way to get these back without paying an "HD" fee? I have TNT, USA, ESPN, ESPN2 all in sd, but have to pay for the HD version? Seems kinda of jewish...



It seems anti-semitism is still alive.


Rich N.


----------



## notcarsondaly




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cogtooth* /forum/post/13038810
> 
> 
> After 2 months of enjoying multiple HD channels on Comcast basic cable in Frederick, MD, previous postings on the subject proved correct. I'm only getting what I am supposed to receive for the basic tier as of Monday.



Did you get the lineup brochure for the Frederick-area customers regarding the December 11th change? I still have mine and it shows channels like TNT-HD and ESPN-HD as being included in their "Expanded Basic" lineup with asterisks indicating that an "HD converter box and HDTV" are required. They even go as far as to mark broadcast network's HD channels with the HD asterisks (included under the "Limited Basic" service). I assumed (insert Benny Hill joke here) that since I have the "Expanded Basic" service and I was receiving the HD versions of the "Expanded Basic" lineup for 2 months, that I was receiving what I was supposed to.


----------



## iontyre

Ok, I'm having real problems with Comcast here in Harford County. Last week my internet service went out for a day. They tried to tell me it was my modem, so I went out and got a new one, then that evening found a technician working on the neighborhoods main box since EVERYONE in the neighborhood was out. Nice they didn't tell me that. Returned the modem. Service returned.


Now, I am missing channels over my SA8300HD DVR!! Went through them last night and the following channels come up with a blank screen and no sound:


6 - ESPN SD

7 - Comcast Sports Net SD

10 - ABC Family SD

11 - Local NBC affiliate SD

13 - Local CBS affiliate SD

14 - Local CW affiliate SD

32 - TNT SD

75 - Washington area Fox affiliate SD

249 - TNT HD

251 - Comcast Sports Net HD


If I plug my cable directly into the tv, the SD stations work fine! Its just not coming out of the DVR.


Anyone ever seen anything like this? Is it Comcast, or is my DVR failing? I hate calling them, but I suppose I'm going to have to.


Oh, and the stations that do work over the DVR have intermittent picture breakups and weird electronic sound glitches.


----------



## voltore




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rtanders* /forum/post/13040477
> 
> 
> I got an STB under the DTV2009 program from BestBuy and found WHUT broadcasting 33-1 as the PSIP information. I sent an email to the FCC Broadcast Enforcement Division on Sunday 2/3/08 and today I noticed it was fixed and WHUT now shows 32-1. No response from the FCC or WHUT whom I copied on my query.



So did you attempt to contact WHUT about this problem and then without resolution contact the FCC or just blindingly email the FCC and WHUT at first!


Just an fyi, the FCC, whilst is willing to assist, does get pi##ed if the viewer has made no attempt to contact the station and resolve before contacting them and they tend to take the complaints less seriously.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *voltore* /forum/post/13046504
> 
> 
> So did you attempt to contact WHUT about this problem and then without resolution contact the FCC or just blindingly email the FCC and WHUT at first!
> 
> 
> Just an fyi, the FCC, whilst is willing to assist, does get pi##ed if the viewer has made no attempt to contact the station and resolve before contacting them and they tend to take the complaints less seriously.



I thought the same thing. Was there any attempt to resolve the issue at the station level first...


----------



## bigluke33

I'm in St. Marys County getting service through Metrocast. Noticed last night that WETA HD on channel 151 that I was getting the picture fine, but the sound had an echo to it and was distorted. Reset my Motorola 6416 by unplugging it, but still same problem. All other channels are fine. Also noticed that they advertise HD channels such as TLC, etc. but I don't seem to get them yet.


----------



## vthokie820




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gr8one626* /forum/post/13044129
> 
> 
> Any way to get these back without paying an "HD" fee? I have TNT, USA, ESPN, ESPN2 all in sd, but have to pay for the HD version? Seems kinda of jewish...



The last remark of your post was unnecessary and inappropriate.


That aside, the answer to your question is no, unless the cable company has a change in heart, there is no way to get those channels back without paying for the HD service. As much as it pains me to defend the cable company, the reality is that carrying HD programming does cost more money. It costs the networks more in production costs and the cable company more in bandwidth costs. Given that, it is well within their right to make up for their extra costs by charging us more for the added value service.


----------



## rtanders

In regards to contacting WHUT, yes I did wait about a week without response from WHUT. Still no email response from either. By the way I did not complain about a violation, I did inquire if having the incorrect PSIP information was in fact a violation or an option since WHUT DTV does broadcast on UHF channel 33.


I have found that asking questions is a better way of getting issues resolved, it seems to me that nobody likes people that complain.


Cheers.


----------



## brplut40

does anyone know if Cox is broadcasting video on demand, VOD, encrypted or unencrypted in northern Virginia? I was browsing through the QAM channels with my HD homerun while I had a VOD selection playing and could not find any unencrypted channels other than the normal ones. Thanks


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *brplut40* /forum/post/13048622
> 
> 
> does anyone know if Cox is broadcasting video on demand, VOD, encrypted or unencrypted in northern Virginia? I was browsing through the QAM channels with my HD homerun while I had a VOD selection playing and could not find any unencrypted channels other than the normal ones. Thanks



IT's not encrypted but you cant order anything, you can watch something someone else on your node has received. That includes PPV too, I believe...


----------



## Knicks_Fan

*From jefbal99*: MASN announces HD


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/13053932
> 
> *From jefbal99*: MASN announces HD


 Link to the specific post 

And a Link to the specific Article


----------



## raidbuck




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/13054841
> 
> Link to the specific post
> 
> And a Link to the specific Article




He can't link to a specific post because MASN has not made any announcements. In today's Sun Frager (Sports on TV reporter) said that it is still unknown if MASN will do any HD.


This is just incredible, almost surreal, how this huge market could be without local HD for TWO teams.


But complaining doesn't seem to help (I've done so twice) so at least we have this board on which to vent.


Rich N.


----------



## CycloneGT

I wonder how they are going to get the MSOs to carry a part time feed? I guess it would be easy for Dish Networks since Dish only Carry's CSN in HD during actual games, and that only covers a partial schedule. That kinda syncs up with MASN-HD where there will likely only be HD during some games.


I would bet that DirectTV would find room for a partial HD schedule as well. Not sure how Comcast would react. I would guess that they would make things difficult for MASN, since that has been their approach.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *raidbuck* /forum/post/13055319
> 
> 
> He can't link to a specific post because MASN has not made any announcements. In today's Sun Frager (Sports on TV reporter) said that it is still unknown if MASN will do any HD.
> 
> 
> This is just incredible, almost surreal, how this huge market could be without local HD for TWO teams.
> 
> 
> But complaining doesn't seem to help (I've done so twice) so at least we have this board on which to vent.
> 
> 
> Rich N.



Indeed. I'll believe it when I see it, but even still I suppose it is encouraging. I've never once had a good experience on the phone with MASN, nor have I had one on my TV. I do sincerely hope that the latter will change. I was dreaming up plans for a targeted letter-writing campaign to all MASN advertisers last night, but maybe that won't be necessary... GREAT news if this winds up panning out, even if it is still less HD than we had years ago with Comcast Sportsnet HD.


----------



## PaulGo

So that 30 games in HD for the Nats. That still sucks! Also since most of the league is in HD the should transmit the HD signal for the away games also.


----------



## zebras23




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/13053932
> 
> *From jefbal99*: MASN announces HD



I'm betting they are not creating a "MASN HD" channel, but will offer the feed to affiliates like DC(MY)20 that have agreed to carry certain games (similar to DC(MY) 20's agreement with Raycom/Jefferson Pilot for ACC b'ball). So my bet is in the DC metro area we'll only see HD games that DC(MY)20 carries. Last year that was only weekend games. So in theory we may get no games in HD in the DC area.


I don't know how FiOS would create a MASN HD feed without creating a MASN HD Channel - but I guess that could be on just for the 60 or so games.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Any bets as to when in the season (or even what season) the first HD game will be for either team? July? August?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zebras23* /forum/post/13056756
> 
> 
> I'm betting they are not creating a "MASN HD" channel, but will offer the feed to affiliates like DC(MY)20 that have agreed to carry certain games (similar to DC(MY) 20's agreement with Raycom/Jefferson Pilot for ACC b'ball). So my bet is in the DC metro area we'll only see HD games that DC(MY)20 carries. Last year that was only weekend games. So in theory we may get no games in HD in the DC area.
> 
> 
> I don't know how FiOS would create a MASN HD feed without creating a MASN HD Channel - but I guess that could be on just for the 60 or so games.



No, the article says that they are in negotiations with the 21 service providers who carry MASN. I don't recall how many games were on WDCA 20 last year, but it was not as many as 30. The article or leaked info is not clear as to whether MASN will simply start a full time MASN-HD channel or provide a part-time HD feed that the cable providers may put onto an existing HD channel such as Mojo. We will have to wait and see.


But since a major part of the reason for the start-up of so many HD channels in the past 6 months is a land rush to stake out the bandwidth for an HD slot for the next few years, one would think that MASN would go ahead and start a full-time MASN-HD channel. It would probably be all upconverts except for the live games, unless the studio is completely HD ready, but it would get MASN a solid HD foothold into HD line-ups in the market. I would not expect a MASN2-HD feed until 2009. However, this is MASN, normal business practices may not apply.










The leaked news also said at least 60 games in HD, so there may be more, but they may unsure as when the HD channel will actually start up. Or it may be that only home games will be in HD (good odds on that), and it is a question of how many home games end up on MASN versus MASN2. They may not want MASN to be home games only for those who only have access to MASN SD. OTOH, maybe MASN-HD could carry whichever game between MASN and MASN2 that is available in HD. Having 2 local baseball teams on the same RSN complicates the scheduling - considerably.


Meanwhile, it looks as if at least 6, maybe 8, maybe even more, MLB teams will have all the games - home and away - be in HD on their RSN this year. The press releases are still trickling out prior to the start of spring training.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13055538
> 
> 
> I wonder how they are going to get the MSOs to carry a part time feed?



They already are in SD. It is called MASN2. Usually shared with CSPAN or some other channel.


Comcast can dump it on Mojo, which is where they put NBA TV and other wild feed type stuff.


Not sure about Fios's infrastructure and what they can do.


----------



## markbulla

I'm getting a buzzing sound and gargle-ey audio on WJZ-DT OTA this morning. It's on the program and the local commercials.


It makes watching CBS Sunday Morning impossible (unless I turn the antenna toward Washington and watch it on WUSA, which I did).


Hopefully, they'll fix it soon.


----------



## markbulla

BTW, Sorry about the audio at the beginning of the UMD game last night. I know what the problem is, and I'll fix it on Monday.


----------



## Johnnycanal

We also have the WJZ problem here... And I like their local news so I hope they fix it soon...


----------



## bfdtv

Can anyone in Arlington or Alexandra confirm whether Comcast in Arlington/Alexandria is now using rate shaping?


Said a different way, are there more than two HD channels on any one QAM?


----------



## dg28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/13056902
> 
> 
> Any bets as to when in the season (or even what season) the first HD game will be for either team? July? August?



Wrong. It's the opening Sunday night game on ESPNHD for the Nationals.


----------



## Marcus Carr

I'm not getting any picture or sound on WJZ on Comcast but the box is receiving is a signal. No problem with OTA.


----------



## ptlurking

Same here.

I'm in Balt City

I do get Ch23...just not Ch 212.

Been out since I tuned to the Grammy's at 8pm


----------



## Marcus Carr

Came back on after the Grammys.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Wrong. It's the opening Sunday night game on ESPNHD for the Nationals.



It might be the only one. You're right, I left off MASN in the original post

Edit: Any bets as to when in the season (or even what season) the first HD game will be for either team on *MASN*? July? August?


----------



## afiggatt

*WNVC MHz 56 in Fairfax to go dark in September for up to 5 months for the digital transition*


WNVC's Form 387 submission to the FCC on their digital transition plans for the February 17, 2009 analog broadcast shutdown was posted to the FCC web site last night. This came up in the final DTV table allotments/channel change sticky thread in this forum. WNVC 56 with it's digital signal on UHF 57 will be moving the digital signal to UHF 24. To do this, they must remove the analog 56 channel on top of their tower and the side-mounted antenna for UHF 57 and put up a new antenna on top for UHF 24. So they will shut down both the analog and digital transmissions in late September to start the work before winter. The work is expected to take 6 to 8 weeks. However, because WUTB My 24 in Baltimore is broadcasting on UHF 24, WNVC-DT will off the air until February 17, 2009, unless WUTB turns off it's analog channel early. WNVT-DT 30 in Goldvein will stay on the air as it has no analog channel and is already on it's final DTV assignment.


WNVC's filing to the FCC says that it feeds all the cable and satellite head ends in the DMA with landlines so the cable systems will continue to have all the sub-channels. However, if you are an OTA only viewer of WNVC-DT 56 in Fairfax, you will lose the MHz 6 to 8 sub-channels for what looks to be up to 5 months. When WNVC-DT 56 fires up their new digital channel, they will have much better coverage with the digital antenna 50 meters higher and a power increase from 7.3 kw to 50 kW.


For the details, see the FCC Form 387 filing at http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws....7&fac_num=9999 .

The easier to follow transition plan attachment letter is at: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/f...ibit_id=616063 .


----------



## Mean

If Comcast wants to get rid of analog altogether, they should offer a digital package similar to extended basic that will NOT need a STB. If you don't want PPV or On-Demand capability, it makes perfect sense. But will they leave the HD versions unencrypted? Do HDTVs need to reach critical mass before the signals become the default? STBs are just so limiting.


Back to the subject...


I am receiving most of the unencrypted local channels with my new QAM-equipped Sony LCD except WRC 4. I was getting the HD along with the sub-channels just fine when I first scanned but now they are gone. What happened? Fox, CBS, and ABC are just fine though CBS was having occasional audio skipping during 60 Minutes last night. WETA-HD and its subs are gone too. I already have a basic plug-in amp inline that covers up to 900Mhz that makes the analog cable channels crystal clear. Perhaps I need to clean up my splits/connections or get a better amp.


G


G


----------



## mapper

Hmm, anyone know why Cox NoVA removed The Weather Channel HD from their additions for the end of this month?


----------



## Ladd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bfdtv* /forum/post/13070884
> 
> 
> Can anyone in Arlington or Alexandra confirm whether Comcast in Arlington/Alexandria is now using rate shaping?
> 
> 
> Said a different way, are there more than two HD channels on any one QAM?



I don't know if it is of any help, but here in Frederick, MD, there is definitely more than one HD channel per QAM, if by QAM you mean "unencrypted and on the same frequency".


For example, My ElGato EyeTV 500 tuner shows WJLA-HD and WETA-HD on the same frequency (591 MHz) and WRC-HD and WUSA-HD sharing 597 MHz.


----------



## bfdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Mean* /forum/post/13077365
> 
> 
> If Comcast wants to get rid of analog altogether, they should offer a digital package similar to extended basic that will NOT need a STB. If you don't want PPV or On-Demand capability, it makes perfect sense. But will they leave the HD versions unencrypted? Do HDTVs need to reach critical mass before the signals become the default? STBs are just so limiting.



No they will not. They've already said they will not.


They said during a conference call several months ago that content providers want their digital [SD and HD] channels encrypted. They also they were working to encrypt all digital cable channels in areas where they were not already.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ladd* /forum/post/13084576
> 
> 
> I don't know if it is of any help, but here in Frederick, MD, there is definitely more than one HD channel per QAM, if by QAM you mean "unencrypted and on the same frequency".
> 
> 
> For example, My ElGato EyeTV 500 tuner shows WJLA-HD and WETA-HD on the same frequency (591 MHz) and WRC-HD and WUSA-HD sharing 597 MHz.



They've always done two. One QAM channel provides sufficient bandwidth to deliver any two HD channels at 100% original quality.


Quality only suffers when _more than_ two HD channels are squeezed onto a single QAM. That's what Comcast has done in a number of markets where it added new HD channels.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ladd* /forum/post/13084576
> 
> 
> I don't know if it is of any help, but here in Frederick, MD, there is definitely more than one HD channel per QAM, if by QAM you mean "unencrypted and on the same frequency".
> 
> 
> For example, My ElGato EyeTV 500 tuner shows WJLA-HD and WETA-HD on the same frequency (591 MHz) and WRC-HD and WUSA-HD sharing 597 MHz.



But it is ok to have two HD channels on one QAM-256 channel. A QAM-256 channel provides a 38.8 Mb/sec data rate which is enough for two full 19 Mb/sec HD channels. So you can fit the equivalent of 2 ATSC broadcast stations and all their sub-channels on a QAM-256 channel without additional compression. But some HD channels - local and national - run well less than 19 Mb/sec, so they may squeeze 3 HD channels on 1 QAM channel in some cases without much additional rate shaping.


This is why removing analog channels helps with adding HD and SD channels. Each analog channel can be replaced with a digital QAM channel with 2 HD channels or 9-10 SD channels.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/13072778
> 
> 
> Wrong. It's the opening Sunday night game on ESPNHD for the Nationals.



But aren't we going to be blacked-out anyways? I hope they don't force us to watch the MASN crap over ESPN's HD quality.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/13085447
> 
> 
> But aren't we going to be blacked-out anyways? I hope they don't force us to watch the MASN crap over ESPN's HD quality.



No, ESPN has national Rights on Sunday's.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast made some um, interesting additions this morning.


216 HD On Demand

247 HD On Demand


They just take you to the usual HD On Demand menu. I guess this is their idea of adding two new channels.


----------



## vidioteic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/13086469
> 
> 
> No, ESPN has national Rights on Sunday's.



True. SNB is exclusive, so MASN (or SNY) can't carry it and as such you will not be blacked out.


However, ESPN baseball the rest of the week is not exclusive, and may be subject to blackout restrictions as mandated by MLB.


----------



## JayMan007




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/13087640
> 
> 
> Comcast made some um, interesting additions this morning.
> 
> 
> 216 HD On Demand
> 
> 247 HD On Demand
> 
> 
> They just take you to the usual HD On Demand menu. I guess this is their idea of adding two new channels.



We got those two in Richmond,VA last night... looks to be the same as whats on 487 HD On Demand...


----------



## Johnnycanal

ACC in HD... a good thing


not all games in HD... a bad thing


well at least this game is in HD, I wish all the others were too


----------



## raidbuck

Just wondering why the Wizards/Warriors game in Oakland on CSN was in SD when the signal was in HD. It was on MOJO as part of NBA TV, but of course, blacked out in Baltimore so I had to watch it in SD.


Rich N.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/13086469
> 
> 
> No, ESPN has national Rights on Sunday's.



I have to take your word for it, since I can't remeber if the last two games the Nats had on ESPN were on Sunday or not. I think the Bonds record-breaking game was not on Sunday, but I thought there was a game on Sunday that FiOS blacked out.


What is funny is that when I had E*, the blackout was lifted as soon as the scheduled black out was over. I was able to watch the end of some games that went to OT/extra innings or games that took longer than expected. Right now I have FiOS, and it is not like that all. You get the channel back right after the game ends.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey

Does anyone know why is that CSN HD has some away games in HD?


So far, I have been able to watch the Caps and Wizards in HD when they were playing in Miami, Phoenix, and Philly. I mean I know they have an affiliate in Philly, but Phoenix and Miami were a surprise to me.


----------



## azitnay




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Johnnycanal* /forum/post/13093956
> 
> 
> ACC in HD... a good thing
> 
> 
> not all games in HD... a bad thing
> 
> 
> well at least this game is in HD, I wish all the others were too



Did anyone else experience a ton of pixelation/macroblocking in little spurts during the UNC-UVA game on WDCA-HD last night? When I noticed it through the TiVo, I switched over to my TV's QAM tuner and channel 20-1 to eliminate the TiVo and CableCARDs as potential sources of problems, but the pixelation/macroblocking remained.


Drew


----------



## Johnnycanal




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *azitnay* /forum/post/13099941
> 
> 
> Did anyone else experience a ton of pixelation/macroblocking in little spurts during the UNC-UVA game on WDCA-HD last night? When I noticed it through the TiVo, I switched over to my TV's QAM tuner and channel 20-1 to eliminate the TiVo and CableCARDs as potential sources of problems, but the pixelation/macroblocking remained.
> 
> 
> Drew



I remember one point when there was a close up of one of the announcers that I noticed some bad macroblocking. I was watching on D*. Honestly I was surfing the net reading primary results while the Mrs. watched as she is the UNC grad...


----------



## bfdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/13099599
> 
> 
> Does anyone know why is that CSN HD has some away games in HD?
> 
> 
> So far, I have been able to watch the Caps and Wizards in HD when they were playing in Miami, Phoenix, and Philly. I mean I know they have an affiliate in Philly, but Phoenix and Miami were a surprise to me.



They have agreements with some other RSNs / teams to use their uplink equipment.


----------



## redly

Longtime lurker first time poster. I got a new box from Comcast in Alexandria today and have noticed sound feedback on the HD channels, anyone else having this problem or is there a problem with my box?


----------



## tonyd79

Anyone having trouble with digital channels on Comcast in Howard County? Had some kind of power hit and not sure if it is my Tivo or the cable but I am not getting anything above 200 and getting some missing stuff in the 100 range.


----------



## drwissing




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/13104499
> 
> 
> Anyone having trouble with digital channels on Comcast in Howard County? Had some kind of power hit and not sure if it is my Tivo or the cable but I am not getting anything above 200 and getting some missing stuff in the 100 range.



Me too. None of the local HD channels are working for me, but the cable HD channels (USA, CSN, ESPN) are working. I don't get it


----------



## Theauwolf

Same here. My OTA stuff is good to go though, so must be a Comcast/local station problem.


----------



## tonyd79

They seem to be coming back. Some dropouts but the channels seem to be coming back.


Tivo meter shows some stations at 41-45 signal strength, others 88 to 100.


----------



## jerwin

Was watching WETA "HD" last night (ota signal). The right speaker was buzzing quite a bit, and nearly made the programme unwatchable. It's not associated with any other channels, so neither my TV nor my receiver seem to be at fault.


----------



## dneily




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jerwin* /forum/post/13105034
> 
> 
> Was watching WETA "HD" last night (ota signal). The right speaker was buzzing quite a bit, and nearly made the programme unwatchable. It's not associated with any other channels, so neither my TV nor my receiver seem to be at fault.



I've noticed this problem off-and-on for months on WETA. They should invest in new sound equipment, most particularly with Dolby Digitial capability.


----------



## jerwin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dneily* /forum/post/13108030
> 
> 
> I've noticed this problem off-and-on for months on WETA. They should invest in new sound equipment, most particularly with Dolby Digitial capability.



Don't you mean 5.1? They're using Dolby Digital 2.0.


----------



## Ladd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jerwin* /forum/post/13105034
> 
> 
> Was watching WETA "HD" last night (ota signal). The right speaker was buzzing quite a bit, and nearly made the programme unwatchable. It's not associated with any other channels, so neither my TV nor my receiver seem to be at fault.



I was watching the Nova "Astrospies" program and noticed the same thing. Quite annoying!


----------



## mdviewer25

45-2 (Good TV) has been showing a simulcast of Fox 45 news at 5:30 and King of Queens instead of A Different World at 5:30 and 6:00. Also, I don't know if anyone else has noticed but late night during the simulcast of Malcolm in the Middle a Comcast commercial will abruptly air at 1:10pm usually before the planned commercial break. Just thought I would let markbulla know, meant to post this months ago.


----------



## iontyre

I have Comcast Digital TV and Internet service here in Harford County. Two weekends ago we suddenly lost our internet service for a day. I called and they tried to say it was my modem. Long story short, that evening they were out at the neighborhood box making adjustments. We got our internet back.


But since then our TV has been mess (at least the HDTV through the SA8300HD DVR). If the cable modem is operating, the DVR refuses to tune in many channels, including:


6 - ESPN SD

7 - CSN SD

10 - ABC Family

13 - local CBS

14 - local CW

32 - TNT

75 - Washington Fox

212 - local CBS HD

220 - MPT

249 - TNT HD

251 - CSN HD


If I unplug the modem, most, but not all of the channels come back. I don't know how to look for signal strength on the DVR, but my cable modem shows pretty lousy power levels (-14 dbMv downstream, 58 dbMv upstream) (According to sources I have seen, downstream should be between -8 and +8, and upstream should be below 55).


Anyone else in the Harford County - Riverside area seeing problems?


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/13108820
> 
> 
> 45-2 (Good TV) has been showing a simulcast of Fox 45 news at 5:30 and King of Queens instead of A Different World at 5:30 and 6:00. Also, I don't know if anyone else has noticed but late night during the simulcast of Malcolm in the Middle a Comcast commercial will abruptly air at 1:10pm usually before the planned commercial break. Just thought I would let markbulla know, meant to post this months ago.



I just checked, and that isn't a mistake. Apparently, they changed the schedule a couple of weeks ago. The mistake is that the program guide data hasn't been updated... I'm working on that now.


Thanks for the info!


----------



## dbaps

Smallville is only on the analog station. The digital CW is missing from the lineup here in Charles County. No HD, that sucks...


----------



## azitnay

Are you on Comcast? Both tvguide.com and comcast.com list WDCW-DT as channel 214 in Waldorf.


If you really don't have it, you can always get a rooftop antenna and point it towards DC.


Drew


----------



## dbaps

214 is missing from the lineup. It was there a week ago. For some reason 214 on Comcast is not listed right now.


----------



## dbaps

I have Tivo on my bedroom tv. 214 is listed but no signal is coming through the channel. Interesting...


----------



## machpost

I found it interesting that Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic aired the [email protected] game last night, in HD, even. I don't know if I've ever seen that happen before. I'm surprised that the NHL even allows that, with the money to be made on providing out-of-market games through the NHL Center Ice package.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/13119155
> 
> 
> I found it interesting that Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic aired the [email protected] game last night, in HD, even. I don't know if I've ever seen that happen before. I'm surprised that the NHL even allows that, with the money to be made on providing out-of-market games through the NHL Center Ice package.



It has happened before, a few times last season that I remember. Might be the first one this season, but there may have been one or two that I watched and have since forgotten about... I have no idea what the rules are, regarding that sort of "out-of-market mirror". But they do mention all the time during the CSN Mid-Atlantic telecasts of the Washington Capitals that they want to greet all the viewers on "CSN Bay Area" I think they say.


I tried to email them a "Thank You" but the email bounced. I'll try resending it later tonight I guess, but otherwise I'm going to have to print it out and mail it. I want to make sure they know that people are watching, and that CSN-MA should continue doing more of the same!


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/13109953
> 
> 
> I just checked, and that isn't a mistake. Apparently, they changed the schedule a couple of weeks ago. The mistake is that the program guide data hasn't been updated... I'm working on that now.
> 
> 
> Thanks for the info!



According to our programming people, they sent an updated schedule to Tribune Media, who provides our program guide info back to us, and they (for whatever reason) have not updated their data.


The lady I was talking to was going to get in touch with her contact there, and "see what's up".


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/13119155
> 
> 
> I found it interesting that Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic aired the [email protected] game last night, in HD, even. I don't know if I've ever seen that happen before. I'm surprised that the NHL even allows that, with the money to be made on providing out-of-market games through the NHL Center Ice package.



They do it a few times through out the season. Last Saturday they aired the Flyers vs Rags game.

I don't know the legality if how they do it, but I don't care!!!

I would like to get some Blackhawk games here because I would love to watch their young players. Toews and Kane are going to be superstars just like Ovechkin here!


Oh and FSN Bay Area shows A LOT of out of market Hockey Games, but they have to be on CSN.


----------



## markbulla

I think this study info was posted here, but the author of this article asks:

"If you are receiving DTV signals from more than 35 miles away,

drop me an e-mail. If possible, let me know what type of antenna you are

using and whether or not you have a clear view towards the tower sites, but

don't worry if you don't have time to send the details. I'm especially

interested if you are using an indoor antenna for reception over a path

greater than 35 miles. What's the maximum distance over which you can

reliably receive DTV?"


Here's the link (the author's e-mail address is there, someplace):
http://www.tvtechnology.com/pages/s.0115/t.11319.html 


Cheers -


----------



## Ladd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jerwin* /forum/post/13105034
> 
> 
> Was watching WETA "HD" last night (ota signal). The right speaker was buzzing quite a bit, and nearly made the programme unwatchable. It's not associated with any other channels, so neither my TV nor my receiver seem to be at fault.



Watched an episode of "Ballroom Dancing" that was recorded a week ago and on top of the abysmal picture due to low bit-rate, it had the buzzing sound you describe. And I thought WETA couldn't get any worse!


----------



## mdviewer25

ABC 7 News at 5:00

4:59pm - 5:59pm

Harris, *MATTHEWS*, Hill, Brant.


This is the program info that showed up for the five o'clock news on channel 7


----------



## GregAnnapolis

It appears as though Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic's 7:30P NHL telecast of the Washington Capitals @ Florida Panthers will be in high definition tonight, Friday 2/15/08.










This is somewhat noteworthy because the norm is for the away games to be standard definition. If you've not seen Alexander Ovechkin and the Capitals yet this season, do yourself a favor and check it out!


EDIT: midatlantic.comcastsportsnet.com now indicates that tomorrow's game in Tampa Bay will be in HD also.


----------



## mchief99

I noticed a days ago that the NEW HD channels for Alexandria that had been showing in Zap2it / Tivo disappeared. Thursday, the channels were back on Zap2it without channel numbers. I guess the 3/4 date may yet happen. Not holding my breath.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/13123762
> 
> 
> It appears as though Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic's 7:30P NHL telecast of the Washington Capitals @ Florida Panthers will be in high definition tonight, Friday 2/15/08.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This is somewhat noteworthy because the norm is for the away games to be standard definition.



Looks great. We're seeing more and more away Caps games in HD on CSN. I spotted an unannounced HD away game against the Blues earlier in the season. It's kind of aggravating that we'll probably be seeing most Caps games in HD soon, but we haven't seen a single Nats game on MASN in HD, yet











> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/13123762
> 
> 
> If you've not seen Alexander Ovechkin and the Capitals yet this season, do yourself a favor and check it out!



No doubt. If the Caps keep this up, this may become a real hockey town yet!


----------



## bucnasty

just be thankful you can see them in HD, if i don't pay for tickets I have to watch their extra low-def feed they give to cox! they're the only provider without csn-ma-hd..........


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bucnasty* /forum/post/13137401
> 
> 
> if i don't pay for tickets I have to watch their extra low-def feed they give to cox! they're the only provider without csn-ma-hd..........



But, since Cox owns The Travel Channel, you get The Travel Channel HD, right?


----------



## Potatoehead




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bfdtv* /forum/post/13070884
> 
> 
> Can anyone in Arlington or Alexandra confirm whether Comcast in Arlington/Alexandria is now using rate shaping?
> 
> 
> Said a different way, are there more than two HD channels on any one QAM?



I don't know about Arlington or Alexandra, but out here in Calvert County MD, COMCAST has put USA, SciFi and Discovery on the same QAM channel. Three of my favorite channels! This has resulted in significant reduction in the quality of the signal on these channels.










Pardon me if this has been discussed before, but why do the COMCAST STB's allow you to only receive HD channels for Washington or Baltimore depending on your location? Do the agreements allow them to show analog channels for both (except fox) but not the HD channels? Then why are they allowed to send it in the clear to everyone? Why can't I see the MPT channel (22), the closest transmitter to my house and get WETA channel 26 when I live in Maryland not DC?







It seems they are wasting a lot of bandwidth on these channels. Why not let everyone see all the in the clear HD channels and make all of the Washington/Baltimore viewers a little bit happier? I suppose asking these questions runs the risk of them removing or encrypting the out of market channels.


----------



## azitnay

I don't think it would be legal to encrypt them, but they could certainly remove them... I'd rather not rock the boat.


Drew


----------



## Roberto Carlo

For the past week or so, National Geographic HD hasn't been broadcasting a Dolby Digital signal, much less a 5.1 one, at least according to my receiver. (In case you're wondering, everything is set up correctly on my end. I'm certain of that.) The indicator light on my receiver says it's a PCM signal. Thing is, the Nat Geo SD channel causes the light to come on. No problem there.


I've Googled the issue and called Cox tech support -- which resulted in the classic passing the buck response -- and gotten no plausible, much less satisfactory, response.


Thing is, I could _almost_ tolerate the PCM signal, which my receiver would turn into PLIIX, except that it carries with it a wicked lip-sync problem.


Does anyone else (a) have this problem and/or (b) know of a solution?


Thanks in advance.


----------



## bucnasty

i have to wait till the end of feb. for the travel channel hd. then i can watch people go places where they can see their local teams in HD....



in regards to nat geo hd, every 5 minutes or so i hear a noise like a phone dialing 5 numbers, it makes it hard to watch all my plane crash shows!


----------



## vidioteic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bucnasty* /forum/post/13139152
> 
> 
> in regards to nat geo hd, every 5 minutes or so i hear a noise like a phone dialing 5 numbers, it makes it hard to watch all my plane crash shows!



Sounds like you're hearing cue tones! You should drop a note to NG if you haven't already. If that were the case, Cox would have something set up a little wrong.


----------



## fleming442

So has anyone any news on the Balt. HD's? I lost mine mysteriously a few weeks ago.


I was hoping to get some info before I go up on the roof to change the preamp head.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fleming442* /forum/post/13143520
> 
> 
> So has anyone any news on the Balt. HD's? I lost mine mysteriously a few weeks ago.
> 
> 
> I was hoping to get some info before I go up on the roof to change the preamp head.



I can assure you that both WBFF Fox 45 and WNUV CW 54 are both transmitting at 100% power, and have been for a long time.


----------



## chaspower

I had problems this weekend, and found my antenna had turned 30 degrees from all the high winds lately. I re-peaked this antenna, and all is good... Check for this, too.


----------



## euckersw




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Roberto Carlo* /forum/post/13138938
> 
> 
> For the past week or so, National Geographic HD hasn't been broadcasting a Dolby Digital signal, much less a 5.1 one, at least according to my receiver. (In case you're wondering, everything is set up correctly on my end. I'm certain of that.) The indicator light on my receiver says it's a PCM signal. Thing is, the Nat Geo SD channel causes the light to come on. No problem there.
> 
> 
> I've Googled the issue and called Cox tech support -- which resulted in the classic passing the buck response -- and gotten no plausible, much less satisfactory, response.
> 
> 
> Thing is, I could _almost_ tolerate the PCM signal, which my receiver would turn into PLIIX, except that it carries with it a wicked lip-sync problem.
> 
> 
> Does anyone else (a) have this problem and/or (b) know of a solution?
> 
> 
> Thanks in advance.



I can confirm that I have the same issues with Cox's NG HD channel. I'm only getting the PCM signal with lip-sync. I don't have a solution, but I can attempt to complain to Cox as well and see if that gets us anywhere.


In addition, does anyone else with Cox have problems on some of the newer HD channels (TLC, for example) where the picture seems to be off-centered? I only notice it when there is text towards the bottom of the screen. As a result of the off-centered picture, the text at the bottom will be cut-off by about an inch or so. I've tried moving my picture through the TV settings, but there doesn't seem to be any additional picture below this cut-off area. Is it just my TV, or do other people notice this problem?


----------



## bucnasty

the upconverted stuff that has the tiny black bars on each side is where i notice it the most.


i have noticed a better picture on the science channel hd and the history channel hd though, i rarely watch tlc hd and discovery hd


----------



## 160soar




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Roberto Carlo* /forum/post/13138938
> 
> 
> For the past week or so, National Geographic HD hasn't been broadcasting a Dolby Digital signal, much less a 5.1 one, at least according to my receiver. (In case you're wondering, everything is set up correctly on my end. I'm certain of that.) The indicator light on my receiver says it's a PCM signal. Thing is, the Nat Geo SD channel causes the light to come on. No problem there.
> 
> 
> I've Googled the issue and called Cox tech support -- which resulted in the classic passing the buck response -- and gotten no plausible, much less satisfactory, response.
> 
> 
> Thing is, I could _almost_ tolerate the PCM signal, which my receiver would turn into PLIIX, except that it carries with it a wicked lip-sync problem.
> 
> 
> Does anyone else (a) have this problem and/or (b) know of a solution?
> 
> 
> Thanks in advance.





Hi All -


Yes - same problem with no/broken up sound for NG (CH719) on two SA8300HD and one 8240HDC (on Sony, Phillips, and Vizio HDTVs) receivers. (I haven't checked whether separate audio receiver can process the corrupted HDTV audio signal -- the HDTVs themselves cannot.)


**This is on recorded programs and in delayed playback. This problem does not occur during live broadcasts.


Wife mad she can't watch recorded Dog Whisperrrrr. Also a problem if you pause NG and go back to play - good video but no audio except for clicking/popping noise. If you go back to "Live," sound is okay. Will call Cox tomorrow. At least I'm not alone, and can replicate problem.


Same here on 4 cue tones on NG. Almost a blast from the past. Haven't heard those for a long time.


Re: WETA (PBS) CH726 has always had some weird stuff going on with their audio from dropped R/L channels to low volume to some sort of delay (echo). It gets like that occasionally -- I don't think COX or WETA cares. I don't think COX even really MONITORs their feeds and their output.


Wish list - expanded and faster menus, easier to find programs by title, more on-demand choices, lower prices (I mean, come on.....!) better DVR operating choices, less signal dropouts, etc. And how about a better remote? I hate the new(ish) silver remotes . Using play/pause/ff/rr keys is not even close to ergonomic. The black AT8400 was better.


Sorry for the rant - glad to find the forum. Will advise what I find out.


Bye for now. Out.


----------



## Skeptic Tank

Problem with WJLA subchannels.


It looks like subchannel 2 and 3 of WJLA both have the same name (WJLA-SD). This causes my (admittedly simple minded) Pinnacle HD Ultimate Stick USB Tuner to only keep one of the two subchannels in the chanel list after a scan. Unfortunately, the tuner provides no other way to add channels.


Is there any chance of getting one of the two subchannels named differently?


----------



## gary michaels

looks to me like WUTB 41 digital is up at least testing this morning. this is the first time I have seen any signal from them out here in Charles town, Wv. I have heavy interference from W41AO in Hampshire co. WV. which is a 2.7 kw. analog translator for WV. P.B.S sitting up about 2500 feet on top of a mountain, but can see that WUTB is putting out signal.


----------



## bucnasty

160soar,



its weeeeeeesperer. refer to the south park with the nannies!


----------



## fedward




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ladd* /forum/post/13123161
> 
> 
> Watched an episode of "Ballroom Dancing" that was recorded a week ago and on top of the abysmal picture due to low bit-rate, it had the buzzing sound you describe. And I thought WETA couldn't get any worse!



The buzzing is a transient problem, FWIW. I noticed it in the "American Experience" episode on Grand Central Station (it went away at about the 42-minute mark), and scheduled a recording for a repeat, which was fine all the way through.


Their schedule is still all sorts of fouled up, though. I was trying to record "Pride and Prejudice," only to find that the first episode was actually "Miss Austen Regrets," and the second one was "Northanger Abbey." I now confirm the schedule on their web site before scheduling any recordings, based on the previous unreliability of TitanTV data, but even that didn't help this time.


----------



## bucnasty

I moved my cox box two feet down and a foot over, and now the only channels i get are the promo channels and on demand. it still knows i get hbo and hd and what not, but any channel i type in i have "not authorized." I called twice and they said the numbers in the computer didnt match the box and a service call was required..... anyone else have similar problems?



he also said he had no idea if they were adding csn-hd and didn't seem to care when i told him cox was the only provider not offering it in the area....


----------



## mapper

Cox probably isn't aware that Verizon has CSNMA-HD. As for the set top box, try a hard reset by unplugging the power to the box, then plugging it back in. In most cases, the reset will fix any problems, but I don't know why the box is acting up. If the problems persist, ask for a reset through the phone. If that doesn't work, there is something wrong with the box. Is it a DVR?


----------



## dmulvany




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fedward* /forum/post/13169422
> 
> 
> Their schedule is still all sorts of fouled up, though. I was trying to record "Pride and Prejudice," only to find that the first episode was actually "Miss Austen Regrets," and the second one was "Northanger Abbey." I now confirm the schedule on their web site before scheduling any recordings, based on the previous unreliability of TitanTV data, but even that didn't help this time.



Don't count on "Pride and Prejudice" showing up on any HD channels despite what any TV guide says. I contacted WETA last week to find out why it hadn't shown up at 4 pm as scheduled, and got an email that they had problems broadcasting it on HD and replaced it with other HD material. "Pride and Prejudice" was made in the 1990s and was never HD, apparently. You'll have to watch it on analog channels, I guess. The next broadcast is at 9 pm on Thursday. (I looked for it on 26.1 this week and found the same problem.)


----------



## bucnasty

I made it very clear I could buy a dish or switch to verizon and watch the next home game in hd and he didn't give two ****s about it. I did two hard resets myself, the first call reset it twice, second call reset it 4 times. its the SA 4250HDC, the other hd-dvr's (sa8300hd) work great. The strange thing is on demand works fine, I was able to watch pinks in HD...



which brings me to ask, how do we have speed hd on demand if we dont have speed hd? I never had problems with cox till i upgraded all the tv's and got hd service......


----------



## ammar249

Anybody notice the "ABC7HD" logos throughout the 6pm newscast on WJLA today?


----------



## Johnnycanal

of the MD vs. Virginia Tech on My20







- RBC Centura should be get their money back. At least the Terps are winning


The NC vs. NC State game on ESPN just now looked wonderful; why can't ALL the ACC games be so nice; come on fellas, you need to do better


----------



## mapper




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bucnasty* /forum/post/13174123
> 
> 
> I made it very clear I could buy a dish or switch to verizon and watch the next home game in hd and he didn't give two ****s about it. I did two hard resets myself, the first call reset it twice, second call reset it 4 times. its the SA 4250HDC, the other hd-dvr's (sa8300hd) work great. The strange thing is on demand works fine, I was able to watch pinks in HD...
> 
> 
> 
> which brings me to ask, how do we have speed hd on demand if we dont have speed hd? I never had problems with cox till i upgraded all the tv's and got hd service......



I've heard that the SA 4250HDC has had some problems in general. I've had my fair share of upsets with Cox(CableCARD). Maybe Cox wants us licking our chops until we get SPEED HD..........in 2010


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ammar249* /forum/post/13174518
> 
> 
> Anybody notice the "ABC7HD" logos throughout the 6pm newscast on WJLA today?



SO are you saying their newscast is in HD now?


----------



## bucnasty

wusa has a HD logo during extra-low def price is right...


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ammar249* /forum/post/13174518
> 
> 
> Anybody notice the "ABC7HD" logos throughout the 6pm newscast on WJLA today?



Ohmigod! What a mess! If they could fit any more logos on the bottom, they would look like a car in a NASCAR race.


Gee, HD doesn't get ratings but selling Comcast sure must bring in the bucks!


----------



## bugmenot55

So is the news in HD. Last time I remember, the only station in DC that broadcasts their local news in HD was CBS channel 9.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bugmenot55* /forum/post/13176080
> 
> 
> So is the news in HD. Last time I remember, the only station in DC that broadcasts their local news in HD was CBS channel 9.




I looked at the 11PM broadcast and it was still in SD. No logos though.


----------



## bugmenot55




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/13176164
> 
> 
> I looked at the 11PM broadcast and it was still in SD. No logos though.




You guys in DC are really not getting the good deal. In Philly, all the news stations broadcast in HD (at least 720p)


So the newscasts look like this


----------



## kenrowe

Per an ad in Wednesday _Gazette_ newspapers, Comcast in Montgomery will launch Discovery Channel HD on channel 239 on March 25th. Cartoon Network moves to digital and a few other SD channels will be added on the same day.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Johnnycanal* /forum/post/13174744
> 
> 
> of the MD vs. Virginia Tech on My20
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> - RBC Centura should be get their money back. At least the Terps are winning
> 
> 
> The NC vs. NC State game on ESPN just now looked wonderful; why can't ALL the ACC games be so nice; come on fellas, you need to do better



While the rare HD broadcast actually looks really good, all of the SD Raycom games, be it football or basketball, have always looked REALLY bad, in my opinion. Maybe even worse than baseball on MASN.


----------



## azitnay

Yes... Which gives me hope that a potential MASN HD broadcast might actually look good.


Drew


----------



## bigluke33




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Johnnycanal* /forum/post/13174744
> 
> 
> of the MD vs. Virginia Tech on My20
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> - RBC Centura should be get their money back. At least the Terps are winning
> 
> 
> The NC vs. NC State game on ESPN just now looked wonderful; why can't ALL the ACC games be so nice; come on fellas, you need to do better



LOL... Yeah.. that was some of the worst PQ I have seen yet. I am glad I couldn't see the one VT player that puked on the court.


----------



## afiggatt

*Rough cut summary of analog shutdown transition plans for stations in Washington-Baltimore market*


All full power TV stations were required by the FCC to submit a Form 387 by Feb 18, 2008 on their transition plans for the analog shutdown on Feb. 17, 2009 and how they would get to their final digital TV (DT) channel & power level at that date (or as soon as possible thereafter). We have been picking through these 387 filings as they have been posted to the FCC web site in the "The official upcoming final DTV Table Of Allotments/channel change thread" sticky. Trip in VA and Falcon_77 have been reviewing ALL of the submissions to put together a summary list of the plans for all the full power stations in the US. A number of stations will be running at reduced power or moving to auxiliary antennas on either or both their analog & digital channels, so in some markets, people may lose digital HD OTA reception for a network for weeks or months. Except for WNVC 57 in Fairfax I don't see any stations so far that will have degraded digital coverage for any length, except possibly for WJZ-DT after 02/17/2009.


Anyway, rough info dump for the local stations below. When all the stations are in, I will post a tighter summary.


WJZ CBS 13, pre-DT 38, post-DT 13: complicated. WJZ-DT is moving from 38 to 13, WMAR ABC 2 is moving from 52 to 38, all on same tower in NW Baltimore. WJZ will file for STA DT operation on current 13 antenna starting on Feb. 17, 2009, while WMAR's old analog & digital antennas are removed, new antennas are put up for WJZ-DT and WMAR-DT, planned completion for WJZ-DT of April 22, 2009. I get WJZ and WMAR OTA, so I will be curious what WJZ STA power will be.


WETA PBS 26, WHUT PBS 32: analog off 02/17/2009.


WUSA CBS 9, pre-DT 34, post-DT 9: flash cut 02/17/2009, however will file for a waiver for mods to their current specified post-transition coverage for increased coverage area.


WDCA 20, WTTG 5 (DT 35) in DC: analog off 2/17/2009, on post-DT assignments. WTTG will file to meet the 1000 kW power specified in Appendix B and will increase power(?).


WJLA ABC 7 in DC: analog 7, pre-DTV 39, post DT 7. Reduce analog power by 50% around 01/01/2009, flash cut on 02/18/2009 (I hope they mean at midnight?), will turn off DT 39 only after DT 7 broadcast is confirmed to be stable. Cool, identical broadcasts on 2 different physical channels.


WBAL NBC 11, pre-DT 59, post-DT 11: may run analog at reduced power in early 2009 for transmitter mods, flash cut 02/17/2009, will file to increase post-transition contour coverage (with higher power I would guess).


WMAR ABC 2, pre-DT 52, post-DT 38: taking over WJZ's current DT 38 antenna 02/17/2009, analog off 02/17/2009, wants to increase post-trans power from 775 kW specifed to WJZ-DT current 1000 kW, putting up new antennas after 02/17/2009 as discussed in WJZ's filing.


WUTB My 24, pre & post-DT 41: still at STA power of 530 Watts, analog off 02/17/2009, waiting on amended application before going to full DT power? Last holdout at STA power in Balt-Wash markets except for WHAG-DT in Hagerstown.


WJAL 63, pre-DT 16, post-DT 39: antenna is located in PA some 70 miles from DC, serves Hagerstown, MD, but is in the Washington DC DMA. WJAL-DT was reported to have gone to 50 kW on DT 16 very recently. They plan to "flash cut" to DT 39 using existing facilities, but want to move community of license to Silver Spring, MD to get into the Washington DC market.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13178677
> 
> 
> WJAL 63, pre-DT 16, post-DT 39: antenna is located in PA some 70 miles from DC, serves Hagerstown, MD, but is in the Washington DC DMA. WJAL-DT was reported to have gone to 50 kW on DT 16 very recently. They plan to "flash cut" to DT 39 using existing facilities, but want to move community of license to Silver Spring, MD to get into the Washington DC market.



Didn't they attempt something like that a few years ago, without success, in order to gain cable carriage in the D.C. area? And wouldn't they have to move their facilities a lot closer to Silver Spring in order to claim that as their COL?


I'm not sure what type of programming they carry, but I guess it might be nice to have them on cable here, at least for the syndicated WVU football and basketball games they carry that might be preempted on MASN by other programming.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> You guys in DC are really not getting the good deal. In Philly, all the news stations broadcast in HD (at least 720p)



What about WCAU (NBC 10)? Last time I was up there (Dec 2007) I did not see an HD newscast. DC and Baltimore are way behind most major markets.


As for the WJLA HD/Comcast ad logo - fits the Allbritton profile. Squeeze evey last dollar of ad revenue via extra ads at the end of Jeopardy!, pre-empting ABC programming with movies/Oscar specials/local news shows, and potentially this.


The news should really be sponsored by Oprah the way they endlessly shill her show.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> LOL... Yeah.. that was some of the worst PQ I have seen yet. I am glad I couldn't see the one VT player that puked on the court.



Agreed - I sent a PM over to SNF Mixer, who works for Raycom and has posted on several HD programming forums when they show games in HD.


----------



## bucnasty

does my20 show anything in hd other than that avril lavigne/rihanna special a few months back? they dont even show movies in widescreen on the hd feed..


----------



## azitnay

A very select few ACC basketball games (including most of the ACC tournament this year)... One of the Redskins games this past season (simulcast from NFL Network). Not much else.


Drew


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bucnasty* /forum/post/13181942
> 
> 
> does my20 show anything in hd other than that avril lavigne/rihanna special a few months back? they dont even show movies in widescreen on the hd feed..



Yes, there have been a few movies in HD for the 8 PM My Network programming. I think they had at least several movies in HD just in the past several weeks, although I do not keep track nor check the My Network programming that often. The most notable in recent months was back in December when they showed White Christmas from 1954 with Bing Crosby & Danny Kaye in true HD. But there has been has no pattern to it. Some (most?) movies are SD, some are HD.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/13180207
> 
> 
> Didn't they attempt something like that a few years ago, without success, in order to gain cable carriage in the D.C. area? And wouldn't they have to move their facilities a lot closer to Silver Spring in order to claim that as their COL?
> 
> 
> I'm not sure what type of programming they carry, but I guess it might be nice to have them on cable here, at least for the syndicated WVU football and basketball games they carry that might be preempted on MASN by other programming.



According to "Trip in VA", WJAL did try to get FCC approval to move to Silver Spring, MD a few years ago. WJAL is owned by Entravision, which has mostly Spanish language stations, so if they moved to the DC market to get must-carry rights for cable, they would probably program the TeleFutura network. Which would almost certainly kill any WVU programming. They were denied a petition to move on DT 16 because of mobile communications use of channel 17 & 18. Trip speculates that with WJLA-DT vacating ch 39, that WJAL is looking to move to DC market on that channel.


----------



## Samurai

After 13 years with DirecTV I just switched to Comcast. My biggest concern was the DVR but after playing with a Motorola DCH-6416 that a friend recently got I made the switch. Well despite requesting this DVR, Comcast showed up with with a Scientific Atlantia 8300HD DVR and said that's all they have. I absolutely hate the software on the Scientific Atlanta box compared to the Motorola software (iGuide ?). Does anybody in Howard County MD have a Motorola DVR with Comcast, specifically a DCH ? I was promised this and it was written on the work order but I wanted to see if other people have the DVR in Howard County. Thanks.


----------



## vthokie820




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13182409
> 
> 
> According to "Trip in VA", WJAL did try to get FCC approval to move to Silver Spring, MD a few years ago. WJAL is owned by Entravision, which has mostly Spanish language stations, so if they moved to the DC market to get must-carry rights for cable, they would probably program the TeleFutura network. Which would almost certainly kill any WVU programming. They were denied a petition to move on DT 16 because of mobile communications use of channel 17 & 18. Trip speculates that with WJLA-DT vacating ch 39, that WJAL is looking to move to DC market on that channel.



Doesn't the DC area already have a Telefutura affiliate on the low power station WMDO 47?


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Samurai* /forum/post/13182753
> 
> 
> After 13 years with DirecTV I just switched to Comcast. My biggest concern was the DVR but after playing with a Motorola DCH-6416 that a friend recently got I made the switch. Well despite requesting this DVR, Comcast showed up with with a Scientific Atlantia 8300HD DVR and said that's all they have. I absolutely hate the software on the Scientific Atlanta box compared to the Motorola software (iGuide ?). Does anybody in Howard County MD have a Motorola DVR with Comcast, specifically a DCH ? I was promised this and it was written on the work order but I wanted to see if other people have the DVR in Howard County. Thanks.



If you have the SA then you are probably sol as they usually only either SA or Moto not both.


----------



## zyvo23

Just curious, does anyone know if Comcast in Howard County has any plans to add DC HD locals anytime in the near future?


----------



## afiggatt

WDCA My 20 - the My Network movie tonight, A Low Down Dirty Shame, is in widescreen on WDCA-DT 20 tonight. Looks soft, but could be an old HD transfer. For those who get WUTB-DT My 24, are they showing the HD version or stretched SD?


----------



## jjallou




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13182254
> 
> 
> Yes, there have been a few movies in HD for the 8 PM My Network programming. I think they had at least several movies in HD just in the past several weeks, although I do not keep track nor check the My Network programming that often. The most notable in recent months was back in December when they showed White Christmas from 1954 with Bing Crosby & Danny Kaye in true HD. But there has been has no pattern to it. Some (most?) movies are SD, some are HD.




I found a pattern on this thread posted by an engineer from a MyNet station.
http://www.milwaukeehdtv.org/forums/...ead.php?t=7036


----------



## srizvi1

Any (Howard County?) FIOS owners here struggling with ABC HD, Channel 812 (I believe the DC one)? My Lost experience is ruined because I can't hear anything but static on that channel.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gary michaels* /forum/post/13166842
> 
> 
> looks to me like WUTB 41 digital is up at least testing this morning. this is the first time I have seen any signal from them out here in Charles town, Wv. I have heavy interference from W41AO in Hampshire co. WV. which is a 2.7 kw. analog translator for WV. P.B.S sitting up about 2500 feet on top of a mountain, but can see that WUTB is putting out signal.



I spoke to the chief engineer of WUTB yesterday who told me that he wasn't transmitting at any higher power at the time you saw his channel. It must have been some sort of odd atmospheric condition that got the signal to you.


He also told me that he's planning on being at full power sometime in March.


----------



## allremixes

Channel 812 is the Baltimore affiliate; WMAR. I watched it on 803 (WJLA/DC) and there were no problems with the audio. I also captured the WMAR OTA HD feed to my PC. I just skimmed thru it and didn't notice any static.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *srizvi1* /forum/post/13185696
> 
> 
> Any (Howard County?) FIOS owners here struggling with ABC HD, Channel 812 (I believe the DC one)? My Lost experience is ruined because I can't hear anything but static on that channel.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bugmenot55* /forum/post/13176593
> 
> 
> You guys in DC are really not getting the good deal. In Philly, all the news stations broadcast in HD (at least 720p)
> 
> 
> So the newscasts look like this
> 
> [poster inserted some teasing eye candy in more ways than one here]



Please don't tease us like that.
























(Actually, the ABC6 image seems to have too much edge enhancement and MPEG artifacting. But, the Fox 29 image, with the exception of the "FOX 29" graphic, is arguably the sharpest 720p image I've ever seen. Wow.)


----------



## mikemikeb

 http://www.primenewswire.com/newsroo....html?d=136818 

*Ugh.*


Now they'll REALLY have to get new encoders. Unless Harris comes out with a two-pass HD encoder module at NAB 2008 (around Tax Day), I hope they go with Harmonic. Unfortunately, Robert has expressed interest in Harris's NetVX, probably because it can double as a DENG (high-def-capable digital ENG) microwave receiver hub.


(Hopefully I'm wrong about 7-4 coming -- maybe it'll replace Local Point 7-3 perhaps? Pretty please?)


----------



## srizvi1




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *allremixes* /forum/post/13186315
> 
> 
> Channel 812 is the Baltimore affiliate; WMAR. I watched it on 803 (WJLA/DC) and there were no problems with the audio. I also captured the WMAR OTA HD feed to my PC. I just skimmed thru it and didn't notice any static.



I'm not sure what was going on, but there was some problem with my channel 812 at least. The beginning of Eli Stone still had the static, sound problem going on... but midway through the show (when I checked again) it seemed to be ok.


I'll be watching last night's Lost online now. I guess it's for the better. I've been meaning to see what watching TV off my MBP looks like. I bought a HDMI to DVI cable for my MacBook Pro a while ago. I also got the TosLink cable thing for my Onkyo receiver. I just hope Lost's online HD stream on abc.com has surround sound also.


----------



## jcorwin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Samurai* /forum/post/13182753
> 
> 
> After 13 years with DirecTV I just switched to Comcast. My biggest concern was the DVR but after playing with a Motorola DCH-6416 that a friend recently got I made the switch. Well despite requesting this DVR, Comcast showed up with with a Scientific Atlantia 8300HD DVR and said that's all they have. I absolutely hate the software on the Scientific Atlanta box compared to the Motorola software (iGuide ?). Does anybody in Howard County MD have a Motorola DVR with Comcast, specifically a DCH ? I was promised this and it was written on the work order but I wanted to see if other people have the DVR in Howard County. Thanks.



The set top box you get is dependent on the head end equipment the cable company uses. Comcast in Howard County uses SA encoding and distribution equipment, so you must use an SA set top box. Motorola's aren't compatible.


----------



## dmulvany




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13178677
> 
> *Rough cut summary of analog shutdown transition plans for stations in Washington-Baltimore market*
> 
> 
> All full power TV stations were required by the FCC to submit a Form 387 by Feb 18, 2008 on their transition plans for the analog shutdown on Feb. 17, 2009



It's interesting to hear that the FCC does have some checkpoints.


Of great concern to people who use captions, including me, however, is that many TV stations are not providing both analog (EIA-608) and digital (EIA-708) captions over digital channels as required by law. In Rockville, I can't count on being able to watch "Lost" or "Ugly Betty" in HD with captions on my Sharp HDTV from WJLA; sometimes the captions are there and sometimes they're not.


The Insignia digital-to-analog converter box doesn't pick up digital captions from the WETA or WHUT SD channels (although captions show up on my Sharp HDTV). For those channels, I have to manually turn on analog captions from the Insignia to view any captions (which I'm not supposed to have to do), and most people wouldn't think of trying that. (It takes six pushes of the CC button on the Insignia's remote to turn on the analog captions.)


I also can't watch Fox's broadcast of "Stargate Atlantis" in glorious HD on Saturday afternoons because no captions come across on my Sharp HDTV. Again, there might be a problem failing to transmit both digital and analog captions.


I'm concerned the FCC may not be ensuring the provision of both types of captions over digital channels.


Can anyone with antenna-equipped HDTVs confirm whether or not they're getting captions for "Stargate Atlantis" on the HD channel (5.1) on Saturday afternoons? Or confirm the other problems I've had? I'd like to make sure one other HDTV using OTA service is also experiencing the same problem, and please let me know what type of HDTV you have and when you got it. (I'm only concerned with over-the-air transmission or problems also seen on cable, Verizon Fios, satellite, etc.)


Dana

Rockville, MD


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *srizvi1* /forum/post/13188958
> 
> 
> I'm not sure what was going on, but there was some problem with my channel 812 at least.



Did you try WJLA ABC 7? or do you not get that on 803?


----------



## ACW112983

ALL my channels, HD and non-HD, only show a purple screen. Anyone else having this problem?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dmulvany* /forum/post/13193146
> 
> 
> Of great concern to people who use captions, including me, however, is that many TV stations are not providing both analog (EIA-608) and digital (EIA-708) captions over digital channels as required by law. In Rockville, I can't count on being able to watch "Lost" or "Ugly Betty" in HD with captions on my Sharp HDTV from WJLA; sometimes the captions are there and sometimes they're not.
> 
> 
> The Insignia digital-to-analog converter box doesn't pick up digital captions from the WETA or WHUT SD channels (although captions show up on my Sharp HDTV). For those channels, I have to manually turn on analog captions from the Insignia to view any captions (which I'm not supposed to have to do), and most people wouldn't think of trying that. (It takes six pushes of the CC button on the Insignia's remote to turn on the analog captions.)
> 
> 
> Can anyone with antenna-equipped HDTVs confirm whether or not they're getting captions for "Stargate Atlantis" on the HD channel (5.1) on Saturday afternoons? Or confirm the other problems I've had?



I find that the local commercial stations are by and large quite good about sending out captioning. I have seen problem with WJLA-DT for some of the network programs, but this was for OTA only which had flaky behavior on the Sony HD-DVR. Had to switch to old format captions to get it to work.


However, I have to check WHUT-DT 32.1 because I don't know if I have seen CC on there, but I have not watched the channel beyond occasional checks because of the extra fuzzy SD it has. WETA-DT 26.1 has gotten a lot better about captioning after I complained to the station several times a year or two (don't know if my complaints had much of an effect). Checking as I write this, WETA-DT 26.2, 26.3, 26.4 OTA have captions but only if go to "basic only" mode on the Sony DVR options, which means old EIA-608 format. If the Insignia converter tuner is not displaying captions, check to see if it has different format options. The Samsung SIR-T451 does not display CC for 26.2, 26.3, 26.4.


I will record the Stargate showing on WTTG-DT 5.1 tomorrow to see if it has captions. If WTTG-DT were showing these in HD, I would be recording them, but we are still in the early days of HD syndication. BTW, Everybody Loves Raymond is the next syndicated program to be made available in HD starting in mid-March.


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/13187099
> 
> 
> (Hopefully I'm wrong about 7-4 coming -- maybe it'll replace Local Point 7-3 perhaps? Pretty please?)



I'd rather it replaced 7-2 -- I _like_ Local Point. And how many weather subchannels do we need?


----------



## dmulvany




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13195432
> 
> 
> I find that the local commercial stations are by and large quite good about sending out captioning. I have seen problem with WJLA-DT for some of the network programs, but this was for OTA only which had flaky behavior on the Sony HD-DVR. Had to switch to old format captions to get it to work.



Thanks. I can't switch to 608 captions on my Sharp HDTV, so I frequently couldn't watch HD broadcasts from WJLA due to the lack of digital captions.



> Quote:
> However, I have to check WHUT-DT 32.1 because I don't know if I have seen CC on there, but I have not watched the channel beyond occasional checks because of the extra fuzzy SD it has.



Their analog channel is certainly fuzzy, but their SD channel is looking okay here. It's 480i; I haven't seen anything higher from them.



> Quote:
> WETA-DT 26.1 has gotten a lot better about captioning after I complained to the station several times a year or two (don't know if my complaints had much of an effect). Checking as I write this, WETA-DT 26.2, 26.3, 26.4 OTA have captions but only if go to "basic only" mode on the Sony DVR options, which means old EIA-608 format. If the Insignia converter tuner is not displaying captions, check to see if it has different format options.



I have to manually switch to analog captions to get the captions on the SD channels when using the Insignia. Oddly, the Sharp HDTV can pick up the captions from those channels, however. I'm getting digital captions from 26.1 (which I don't call an SD channel as it's usually always HD).



> Quote:
> The Samsung SIR-T451 does not display CC for 26.2, 26.3, 26.4.



I believe that's because captions aren't being broadcast in both digital and analog formats, but they should be.



> Quote:
> I will record the Stargate showing on WTTG-DT 5.1 tomorrow to see if it has captions. If WTTG-DT were showing these in HD, I would be recording them, but we are still in the early days of HD syndication. BTW, Everybody Loves Raymond is the next syndicated program to be made available in HD starting in mid-March.



I believe the Insignia did show digital captions for Stargate Atlantis but they didn't show up on the Sharp HDTV. Rarely, digital captions suddenly pop up on the Sharp, not to be seen again. That really puzzles me. Possibly something related to syndication? The chip from the Insignia is newer, so perhaps there's something more robust about detecting captions? It would be helpful to get some ideas about what's going on there.


Digital captions have generally been fine from NBC and CBS stations.


It's very helpful to get confirmation that other equipment besides mine is also experiencing problems getting captions from the same channels. Thank you!


----------



## dmulvany




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13195432
> 
> 
> I will record the Stargate showing on WTTG-DT 5.1 tomorrow to see if it has captions. If WTTG-DT were showing these in HD, I would be recording them, but we are still in the early days of HD syndication. BTW, Everybody Loves Raymond is the next syndicated program to be made available in HD starting in mid-March.



I had thought Stargate Atlantis *was* being broadcast in high resolution. But I guess it just looked terrific on the digital channel compared to my lousy analog reception.


Why would we want to see "Everybody Loves Raymond" in HD?!!







For some shows, we may want to turn to analog!!!



Dana


----------



## ACW112983




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ACW112983* /forum/post/13195268
> 
> 
> ALL my channels, HD and non-HD, only show a purple screen. Anyone else having this problem?



Still having that problem this morning


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/13195561
> 
> 
> I'd rather it replaced 7-2 -- I _like_ Local Point. And how many weather subchannels do we need?



All those weather guys must have naked pictures of the station managers or something. I can't fathom any other reason they would all waste bandwidth on the exact same information, with no diferentiation, and on something most of us get from the Internet at this point.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ACW112983* /forum/post/13195268
> 
> 
> ALL my channels, HD and non-HD, only show a purple screen. Anyone else having this problem?



What is your source for the channels? Comcast, Cox, satellite, OTA? We can't help without any information. If you are on cable, start with a cold reset of the STB or DVR - turn it off, unplug it for 30 seconds, then plug it back in and turn it on. If that does not work and a check of all the co-axial connections show they are fine, then call the cable company.


----------



## ACW112983

EDIT: Well, I think I just DID have to reset the box. Thanks afiggatt.


----------



## mchief99

Not having any Comcast problems in Alexandria - I would suspect the cable box.


----------



## knnirs

Dana,

I checked Fox 5 at 2:05 pm, and closed caption is working.


----------



## machpost

 dcrtv.com is reporting that Channel 5 will be doing news in HD sometime in May.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/13198137
> 
> 
> All those weather guys must have naked pictures of the station managers or something. I can't fathom any other reason they would all waste bandwidth on the exact same information, with no diferentiation, and on something most of us get from the Internet at this point.



The weather subchannels around here are different. 9-2 shows the radar, and then 7-2 and 4-2 show weather info but they are definitely not the same.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/13201796
> 
> 
> The weather subchannels around here are different. 9-2 shows the radar, and then 7-2 and 4-2 show weather info but they are definitely not the same.



They're all *the WEATHER!*


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/13201903
> 
> 
> They're all *the WEATHER!*



The same can be said of regular TV networks. But each one is presented differently.


----------



## ammar249




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/13201143
> 
> dcrtv.com is reporting that Channel 5 will be doing news in HD sometime in May.




Thats some good news, it's been a while since we last heard anything regarding HD newscasts from WTTG


----------



## dg28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/13201143
> 
> dcrtv.com is reporting that Channel 5 will be doing news in HD sometime in May.



5 To Launch HD Newscasts This Spring - 2/24 - DCRTV hears that Channel 5/WTTG has installed high-def cameras at their 5151 Wisconsin Avenue studios, and is preparing for a May sweeps launch of HD newscasts. When it happens, Fox5 will join Channel 9/WUSA in offering widescreen local news broadcasts in the DC market.....


----------



## CycloneGT

This is great news. All of the NBC O&O stations are supposed to go HD, and Robert had hinted that WJLA had HD in the works (without stating the timeline). So the days of SD news might be numbered (finally).


WUSA also went HD in May _three years ago._


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/13207263
> 
> 
> 5 To Launch HD Newscasts This Spring - 2/24 - DCRTV hears that Channel 5/WTTG has installed high-def cameras at their 5151 Wisconsin Avenue studios, and is preparing for a May sweeps launch of HD newscasts. When it happens, Fox5 will join Channel 9/WUSA in offering widescreen local news broadcasts in the DC market.....



The May sweeps begin on April 24, so if WTTG Fox 5 is going to start up a HD newscast tied to the May sweeps, it would likely be around or not long before then.


There were news articles a month or two back that WMAR 2 (Scripts owned) and WJZ (owned by CBS) in Baltimore were close to launching HD local news in the near future. So they may be starting HD newscasts up this spring as well.


NBC announced over a year ago, maybe 18 months ago if my memory is correct, after WNBC in NYC went HD for local news, that they were upgrading all of their Owned & Operated stations, which includes WRC 4 in DC, one at a time to HD local news. WRC was reportedly near the end of the conversion list because of where it was in the equipment replacement cycle. But looking it up, KNBC in LA still has not gone HD, while WMAQ in Chicago went HD local news only last month. With the cut backs and layoffs at NBC, they may have delayed the HD conversion process. So a HD local news upgrade for WRC 4 may be a ways off.


----------



## URFloorMatt

While anything's possible with NBC's highly questionable executive leadership, I would seriously expect NBC4 to go HD at the latest to coincide with Olympics coverage.


Lots of people are going to be watching the Olympics for the first time in HD. It would be silly to not do it in time for the Olympics only to make the switch a couple months later, either for November 2008 or even February 2009.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dmulvany* /forum/post/13195692
> 
> 
> I believe the Insignia did show digital captions for Stargate Atlantis but they didn't show up on the Sharp HDTV. Rarely, digital captions suddenly pop up on the Sharp, not to be seen again. That really puzzles me. Possibly something related to syndication? The chip from the Insignia is newer, so perhaps there's something more robust about detecting captions? It would be helpful to get some ideas about what's going on there.



I recorded the WTTG Saturday afternoon broadcasts of Stargate: SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis on Verizon Fios and OTA using the Sony HD-DVR. I did not get captions shown on the Fios DVR. I could only get captions displayed on the Sony DVR if I switched to Basic mode only which shows the captions in old format with white text and blacked out background text blocks. My interpretation is that this means that WTTG is not providing valid EIA-708 format captions, but the only caption data is the old format EIA-608 which has the line 21 caption data embedded in the picture data. Mnay digital only tuners don't appear to work with the old format.


These 2 programs have proper captions when they are shown on the Sci-Fi channel, so the EIA-708 caption data should be there in the syndicated data. My thinking is that WTTG is not properly passing the EIA-708 caption data through for those 2 syndicated programs. The station engineer may not be aware of this. I see that WBFF Fox 45 in Baltimore is also showing Stargate: Atlantis at midnight tonight on 45-2 (?). If the listing is correct, I'll record it tonight on the Sony DVR to see what captions it shows.


If correct captioning is important to you, contact WTTG and complain about the lack of captions. I see an email box on the website, so I will start there myself.


----------



## dmulvany




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13210558
> 
> 
> I recorded the WTTG Saturday afternoon broadcasts of Stargate: SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis on Verizon Fios and OTA using the Sony HD-DVR. I did not get captions shown on the Fios DVR. I could only get captions displayed on the Sony DVR if I switched to Basic mode only which shows the captions in old format with white text and blacked out background text blocks. My interpretation is that this means that WTTG is not providing valid EIA-708 format captions, but the only caption data is the old format EIA-608 which has the line 21 caption data embedded in the picture data. Mnay digital only tuners don't appear to work with the old format.
> 
> 
> These 2 programs have proper captions when they are shown on the Sci-Fi channel, so the EIA-708 caption data should be there in the syndicated data. My thinking is that WTTG is not properly passing the EIA-708 caption data through for those 2 syndicated programs. The station engineer may not be aware of this. I see that WBFF Fox 45 in Baltimore is also showing Stargate: Atlantis at midnight tonight on 45-2 (?). If the listing is correct, I'll record it tonight on the Sony DVR to see what captions it shows.
> 
> 
> If correct captioning is important to you, contact WTTG and complain about the lack of captions. I see an email box on the website, so I will start there myself.



Thanks! This problem definitely needs to be corrected anyway so that HDTV owners will be able to view captions for broadcast programs after the transition occurs.


It would be interesting to know if the same problem shows up tonight. My guess is that a lot of people are assuming it's okay to record or transmit only one type of caption, not realizing that will cause a big problem to end users.


My Sharp HDTV appears to be able to decode the analog captions transmitted on the SD channels from WETA, so I don't understand why it can't decode the analog captions transmitted from Fox. There seems to be something else going on. Are there different ways of transmitting the CC data? One would be in the picture data?


----------



## dmulvany




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13210558
> 
> 
> 
> If correct captioning is important to you, contact WTTG and complain about the lack of captions. I see an email box on the website, so I will start there myself.



FYI, I have never received a response to anything I've submitted via the WTTG web site or the WJLA web site. I've contacted WJLA multiple times to no avail. (WETA, however, has been responsive.) I think it will be very useful to first try to figure out what's going on with these stations and then send a letter or call WTTG and WJLA....they need to fix these problems as soon as possible so that one fifth or more of the viewing audience isn't cut off from access to programs at the time of the transition. (I'm including foreign language viewers who use captioning, not just deaf and hard of hearing people.)


I wish these problems could be fixed by emailing those stations, but unfortunately, history has shown me they won't. [Not responding to emails creates a real hassle for deaf people, who communicate much better by email than via relay (which takes six times as long as a regular phone call). I guess I will call the stations through a relay service to make this point to them. If they don't respond or hang up, then I'll have to write a formal complaint to the FCC. If they would only read the email they receive....sigh.]


Dana


----------



## kenrowe

 http://masnsports.com/2008/02/masn-a...ition-mlb.html 


For the second year in a row, MASN will televise every available Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles game on one network, and will begin broadcasting key match-ups in High-Definition during the 2008 season.


The 80 games in HD will be evenly split between the Nationals and Orioles and will include the first available home game for both teams. The Orioles host Tampa Bay on March 31 and the Nationals' are at home April 7 against the Florida Marlins.


MASN's HD schedule includes key match-ups with the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, and Braves, as well as the Phillies, Dodgers, Cubs, Cardinals, Marlins, and Rays. The network will provide HD telecasts for all six inter-league games between the Nationals and Orioles.


----------



## TimGoodwin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kenrowe* /forum/post/13215372
> 
> http://masnsports.com/2008/02/masn-a...ition-mlb.html
> 
> 
> For the second year in a row, MASN will televise every available Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles game on one network, and will begin broadcasting key match-ups in High-Definition during the 2008 season.
> 
> 
> The 80 games in HD will be evenly split between the Nationals and Orioles and will include the first available home game for both teams. The Orioles host Tampa Bay on March 31 and the Nationals' are at home April 7 against the Florida Marlins.
> 
> 
> MASN's HD schedule includes key match-ups with the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, and Braves, as well as the Phillies, Dodgers, Cubs, Cardinals, Marlins, and Rays. The network will provide HD telecasts for all six inter-league games between the Nationals and Orioles.



Well I guess 80 is a start.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> *[MASN] said all of its 21 cable and satellite providers will air the HD telecasts on their HD tiers.*



http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore...25/daily6.html


----------



## Knicks_Fan

DCRTV is also reporting WJLA has made a deal to carry something called Retro Television Network on a new (wihch would make three) subchannel. How much bandwidth will that suck away from WJLA-DT?


----------



## mapper




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/13218034
> 
> http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore...25/daily6.html



Now the question is what channel will MASN use to broadcast their HD games. And hopefully the production quality is better than Peter Angelos' old 1970-esque equipment.


----------



## jgantert

So any of these MASN HD games going to be available OTA?


-John


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/13218077
> 
> 
> DCRTV is also reporting WJLA has made a deal to carry something called Retro Television Network on a new (wihch would make three) subchannel. How much bandwidth will that suck away from WJLA-DT?



Nice! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retro_Television_Network 


As RTN has customized schedules for each affiliate, not all shows are usually carried in every market.


The A-Team

The Andy Griffith Show

Bonanza

The Brady Bunch

Cheers

Emergency!

Family Affair

Family Ties

The Fugitive

Get Smart

Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.

The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries

Happy Days

Hawaii Five-O

Hogan's Heroes

The Honeymooners

Ironside

Kojak

Knight Rider

Laverne & Shirley

Little House on the Prairie

The Lucy Show

Magnum P.I.

Matlock

Mission: Impossible

Mork & Mindy

Off Beat Cinema

Perry Mason

Petticoat Junction

Rawhide

The Rockford Files

The Streets of San Francisco

The Wild Wild West


-John


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/13218126
> 
> 
> Now the question is what channel will MASN use to broadcast their HD games. And hopefully the production quality is better than Peter Angelos' old 1970-esque equipment.



yea, another confusing statement from MASN. Good news for sure, but are they starting up a:

1) full time MASN-HD channel which will be a simulcast of the MASN SD channel with the non-HD games going to MASN-2 or

2) part time HD feed which the service providers will put on one of the other HD channels, bumping the programming on that channel?


If they are starting up a MASN-HD channel, why not just clearly say so? The first HD game is March 31. Anyone want to guess how many of the 21 service providers will be ready to show the game in HD by then?


My interest is in Verizon Fios. Verizon still has not added Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic to central and SE VA as far as I know. Add MASN-HD by March 31? If not a MASN-HD channel, then which HD channel do they put it on? Verizon does not have Mojo as the part time sports channel.


Anyway, 80 games in HD is a start. Behind the curve given that at least 6 to 8, maybe more, MLB teams will have all home & away games in HD on their RSN, but it is MASN.


----------



## machpost

According to dcrtv.com , There will be no full-time MASN HD channel...


> Quote:
> *MASN To Offer 80 Baseball Games In HD, Systems To Carry On Per-Game Basis* - 2/25 - UPDATED: The Mid-Atlantic Sports Network will provide 80 high-def baseball telecasts of the Orioles and Nationals this season. The HD telecasts will be equally divided between the two teams, according to an announcement at masnsports.com. And DCRTV hears that area cable providers Comcast and Cox will carry the MASN HD outings on a per-game basis on their HD tiers. For example, on some systems, Comcast will carry MASN's HD games on channel 226, pre-empting programming on the Mojo TV network. Still no word from all area cable and satellite systems. But, there won't yet be a fully-dedicated 24/7 MASN HD channel. MASN's HD schedule includes key match-ups with the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, and Braves, as well as the Phillies, Dodgers, Cubs, Cardinals, Marlins, and Rays. The network will provide HD telecasts for all six inter-league games between the Nationals and Orioles.....


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kenrowe* /forum/post/13215372
> 
> http://masnsports.com/2008/02/masn-a...ition-mlb.html
> 
> 
> For the second year in a row, MASN will televise every available Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles game on one network, and will begin broadcasting key match-ups in High-Definition during the 2008 season.
> 
> 
> The 80 games in HD will be evenly split between the Nationals and Orioles and will include the first available home game for both teams. The Orioles host Tampa Bay on March 31 and the Nationals' are at home April 7 against the Florida Marlins.
> 
> 
> MASN's HD schedule includes key match-ups with the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, and Braves, as well as the Phillies, Dodgers, Cubs, Cardinals, Marlins, and Rays. The network will provide HD telecasts for all six inter-league games between the Nationals and Orioles.



I wonder if they will just be piggybacking on the opponents network to get the HD? Most of those teams, if not all, show all their games in HD.


----------



## mapper




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/13219191
> 
> 
> According to dcrtv.com , There will be no full-time MASN HD channel...



Ah, well then that makes sense, as it would seem very hard for MASN to bring in a full fledged HD channel when all they have is baseball in HD, and none of the other content(i.e. Anita Marks Show and College Basketball[which has 80s graphics that look horrendous]).


To partially answer your question John, MASN could use their agreement with My20 to broadcast HD games OTA on 20-1, but there are 80 games and not all 80 could be shown on My20, as it defeats the purpose of MASN as a channel.


afiggatt, I think the only way for Verizon to air MASN games is either to, add MOJO(not a high possibility)as a new channel by March 31(somebody said there was a couple QAM channels left in the system), or pre-empting programming on CSNMA-HD or My20. But Marcus Carr did state this quote,


> Quote:
> [MASN] said all of its 21 cable and satellite providers will air the HD telecasts on their HD tiers.



This provides a partial reassurance that Verizon must have some kind of plan.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/13220427
> 
> 
> Ah, well then that makes sense, as it would seem very hard for MASN to bring in a full fledged HD channel when all they have is baseball in HD, and none of the other content(i.e. Anita Marks Show and College Basketball[which has 80s graphics that look horrendous]).



And it will probably be years before ESPN Regional Television (the provider of most of that crappy quality, yet popular NCAA basketball and football programming that MASN carries) goes HD.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/13220427
> 
> 
> To partially answer your question John, MASN could use their agreement with My20 to broadcast HD games OTA on 20-1, but there are 80 games and not all 80 could be shown on My20, as it defeats the purpose of MASN as a channel.
> 
> 
> afiggatt, I think the only way for Verizon to air MASN games is either to, add MOJO(not a high possibility)as a new channel by March 31(somebody said there was a couple QAM channels left in the system), or pre-empting programming on CSNMA-HD or My20. But Marcus Carr did state this quote, This provides a partial reassurance that Verizon must have some kind of plan.



Verizon is not going to pre-empt programing on WDCA My20 HD. They would almost certainly have agreements with the broadcast channels that would prevent that. Carriage agreements with most of the HD cable channels would likely block Verizon from interrupting that HD feed to show games. Comcast would use Mojo (then InHD) for this because Comcast is a part-owner of Mojo and must have set up the contracts to allow them to pre-empt it for local/regional sport events.


Don't know how Verizon is going to handle the part time MASN HD feed. Verizon has the bandwidth locally AFAIK so they maybe they would add a HD channel 830 which is blank except when there is a MASN HD game.


I guess I should not be surprised that MASN is not going to start up a full time HD channel. Most RSNs are providing a full time HD channel in part to stake a HD claim in the limited HD bandwidth available. At this rate, I would lay odds that MASN and MASN-2 will be among the last RSNs to provide all their baseball games in HD.


As for whether My20 would have any games in HD, I would not count on it. Maybe a few HD games, but MASN and WDCA would have to set up a HD feed. Would they bother?


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/13218324
> 
> 
> Nice! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retro_Television_Network
> 
> 
> As RTN has customized schedules for each affiliate, not all shows are usually carried in every market.
> 
> 
> The A-Team
> 
> The Andy Griffith Show
> 
> Bonanza
> 
> The Brady Bunch
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Emergency!
> 
> Family Affair
> 
> Family Ties
> 
> The Fugitive
> 
> Get Smart
> 
> Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
> 
> The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries
> 
> Happy Days
> 
> Hawaii Five-O
> 
> Hogan's Heroes
> 
> The Honeymooners
> 
> Ironside
> 
> Kojak
> 
> Knight Rider
> 
> Laverne & Shirley
> 
> Little House on the Prairie
> 
> The Lucy Show
> 
> Magnum P.I.
> 
> Matlock
> 
> Mission: Impossible
> 
> Mork & Mindy
> 
> Off Beat Cinema
> 
> Perry Mason
> 
> Petticoat Junction
> 
> Rawhide
> 
> The Rockford Files
> 
> The Streets of San Francisco
> 
> The Wild Wild West
> 
> 
> -John



Isn't this TVLand? Well, I am glad to see Get Smart on that list. I put a search for it in my DVR and haven't had a hit on it yet. Heck, I almost spent $$$ on those Time Life Get Smart DVDs they adv from time to time.


----------



## Riley9208

In the last few weeks, I've noticed the WRC-HD signal has all of a sudden become unreliable. The OTA signal meter on my Directv HR10-250 shows a 4-1 field 25% less than 5-1, 7-1 and 9-1. Has anyone experienced this or heard anything about any technical problems at WRC? Thanks.


----------



## Red Dog

I would love to see RTN on WJLA. It's what TV Land used to be. Now the question is - when will DirecTV get around to adding local subchannels?


----------



## howie14




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Red Dog* /forum/post/13224398
> 
> 
> I would love to see RTN on WJLA. It's what TV Land used to be.



It's also what I thought Good TV on 45-2 was supposed to be before it gave up on most of the old programs and started showing 45-1 simulcasts and more recent reruns most of the time.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/13218077
> 
> 
> DCRTV is also reporting WJLA has made a deal to carry something called Retro Television Network on a new (wihch would make three) subchannel. How much bandwidth will that suck away from WJLA-DT?



See WETA-DT 26.1


----------



## dg28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/13224518
> 
> 
> See WETA-DT 26.1



Not exactly. Although I'm no fan of subchannels, WJLA is 720p which is much more subchannel friendly than WETA's 1080i.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Riley9208* /forum/post/13224375
> 
> 
> In the last few weeks, I've noticed the WRC-HD signal has all of a sudden become unreliable. The OTA signal meter on my Directv HR10-250 shows a 4-1 field 25% less than 5-1, 7-1 and 9-1. Has anyone experienced this or heard anything about any technical problems at WRC? Thanks.



In the past week, I have noticed that there is no PSIP data for WRC 1 and 2


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/13218077
> 
> 
> DCRTV is also reporting WJLA has made a deal to carry something called Retro Television Network on a new (wihch would make three) subchannel. How much bandwidth will that suck away from WJLA-DT?



Also, when is it supposed to launch?


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/13226614
> 
> 
> Also, when is it supposed to launch?



Not until "late this year," according to the press release I read.


----------



## jocho910

I live in Silver Spring and I am getting some very bad reception on my Local HD stations through Directv. I have several HR20s and the receiver does not seem to be the issue. It seems that every night when watching shows in Primetime (8-11), at some point in the program the signal will scramble and pixelate for about 30 seconds. This happens almost every night and it seems I can't get through a program without it happening. Not the best for Lost and CSI fans like myself. Does anyone else have these issues?? I have called Directv and they tell me that there isn't any widespread issue in my area. It seems everything went down hill when they launched their new satelites. Anyway, please share your experience, thanks!


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jocho910* /forum/post/13228353
> 
> 
> I live in Silver Spring and I am getting some very bad reception on my Local HD stations through Directv. I have several HR20s and the receiver does not seem to be the issue. It seems that every night when watching shows in Primetime (8-11), at some point in the program the signal will scramble and pixelate for about 30 seconds. This happens almost every night and it seems I can't get through a program without it happening. Not the best for Lost and CSI fans like myself. Does anyone else have these issues?? I have called Directv and they tell me that there isn't any widespread issue in my area. It seems everything went down hill when they launched their new satelites. Anyway, please share your experience, thanks!



Are you doing OTA for locals, or the MPEG4-HD for locals?


I use OTA for locals, and they've been perfect (except for CW50, which has an annoying audio click every minute or so).


----------



## jocho910




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/13228645
> 
> 
> Are you doing OTA for locals, or the MPEG4-HD for locals?
> 
> 
> I use OTA for locals, and they've been perfect (except for CW50, which has an annoying audio click every minute or so).



I am using the MPEG 4 feed for locals. What kind of antenna and set up are you using for your Locals? I am very interested to see how fellow DTV patrons receive their locals OTA. And if others are getting the same noise I am getting through the MPEG 4 feed. Thanks!


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Red Dog* /forum/post/13224398
> 
> 
> I would love to see RTN on WJLA. It's what TV Land used to be. Now the question is - when will DirecTV get around to adding local subchannels?



Not for a long, long time....if ever.


----------



## vthokie820




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/13226137
> 
> 
> Not exactly. Although I'm no fan of subchannels, WJLA is 720p which is much more subchannel friendly than WETA's 1080i.



I would imagine that the weather subchannel and localpoint tv don't take a whole lot of bandwidth either.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jocho910* /forum/post/13229618
> 
> 
> I am using the MPEG 4 feed for locals. What kind of antenna and set up are you using for your Locals? I am very interested to see how fellow DTV patrons receive their locals OTA. And if others are getting the same noise I am getting through the MPEG 4 feed. Thanks!



I also receive the locals OTA with an outdoor antenna and a pre-amp. If all else fails, the locals are always there!


----------



## bullwinklehdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jocho910* /forum/post/13229618
> 
> 
> I am using the MPEG 4 feed for locals. What kind of antenna and set up are you using for your Locals? I am very interested to see how fellow DTV patrons receive their locals OTA. And if others are getting the same noise I am getting through the MPEG 4 feed. Thanks!



I'm in Germantown and use an attic mounted Channel Master 4228 with a Channel Master 7775 pre amp. The antenna is actually enough, I use the pre amp because I'm splitting the signal a few times. I'm feeding two HR20s and one HR10. OTA is flawless (after countless trips to the attic to find the right antenna location.) I haven't noticed a lot of issues with the MPEG 4 feeds (I split between OTA and MPEG 4 to keep an eye on differences). I did notice the pixilation you described several times during the Academy Awards on Sunday.


----------



## weaver6




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jocho910* /forum/post/13228353
> 
> 
> I live in Silver Spring and I am getting some very bad reception on my Local HD stations through Directv. I have several HR20s and the receiver does not seem to be the issue. It seems that every night when watching shows in Primetime (8-11), at some point in the program the signal will scramble and pixelate for about 30 seconds. This happens almost every night and it seems I can't get through a program without it happening. Not the best for Lost and CSI fans like myself. Does anyone else have these issues?? I have called Directv and they tell me that there isn't any widespread issue in my area. It seems everything went down hill when they launched their new satelites. Anyway, please share your experience, thanks!



I see the pixelation you describe on WJLA, but haven't noticed it on the other locals on the satellite. OTA is fine.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/13220427
> 
> 
> To partially answer your question John, MASN could use their agreement with My20 to broadcast HD games OTA on 20-1, but there are 80 games and not all 80 could be shown on My20, as it defeats the purpose of MASN as a channel.



Well, I was only asking if there was going to be ANY HD content on 20 this year, not all the games obviously. 20 should have the capability as they did the ESPN MNF games in HD.


BTW, anyone notice really bad sound on 4-1 last night during Poker After Dark? I DVR'd it, but it was unwachable because of the noise in the sound. Even Leno afterwards in HD was noisy.


-John


----------



## dmulvany

my20 didn't broadcast captions this evening for the 11 o'clock showing of "Law and Order: Criminal Intent." This was an unpleasant surprise as it had been broadcasting at least analog captions previously for all of the 11 o'clock showings of "Law and Order: Criminal Intent." Interestingly, the EPG did not indicate the program was captioned either, even though it should have been. The program was newer than other programs that had been captioned yesterday and the last couple of weeks.


What a disappointing step backwards. The network and/or the station should think about how unhappy the sponsors would be to learn that the program is unwatchable for 15% of the population when a decision is made not to provide captions for the program (which is also a violation of law). There's a lot less bang for the advertising bucks when captions aren't delivered.


Dana


----------



## Knicks_Fan

WJLA is by far the worst of the MPEG-4 locals (via D*, H20 receiver). The picture breaks up (as described above, often times completely freezing for a few seconds) at least once during Wheel and Jeopardy! and less often during prime-time.


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/13235096
> 
> 
> WJLA is by far the worst of the MPEG-4 locals (via D*, H20 receiver). The picture breaks up (as described above, often times completely freezing for a few seconds) at least once during Wheel and Jeopardy! and less often during prime-time.



I'd say that's more a problem of the aiming of your dish. I don't have any problems with WJLA breaking up on either one of my HR20s. When I had my first HR20 installed, the guy slapped the dish up there and aimed it more or less to just the 101, 110, and 119 sats. When I had the second HR20 installed, D* wouldn't let me do it myself and insisted on the install. So I had this guy re-aim the dish, and the problems went away. I've had more problems recently with OTA than the MPEG4 channels.


----------



## Red Dog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/13235096
> 
> 
> WJLA is by far the worst of the MPEG-4 locals (via D*, H20 receiver). The picture breaks up (as described above, often times completely freezing for a few seconds) at least once during Wheel and Jeopardy! and less often during prime-time.




Agreed. Easily the worst. It's pretty rare to not get at least a few breakups during an hour-long ABC primetime program.


----------



## El Pollo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Deezul* /forum/post/13235733
> 
> 
> I'd say that's more a problem of the aiming of your dish. I don't have any problems with WJLA breaking up on either one of my HR20s. When I had my first HR20 installed, the guy slapped the dish up there and aimed it more or less to just the 101, 110, and 119 sats. When I had the second HR20 installed, D* wouldn't let me do it myself and insisted on the install. So I had this guy re-aim the dish, and the problems went away. I've had more problems recently with OTA than the MPEG4 channels.



I get that issue too, but I'm really doubting that mine is because of the aim of my dish. It almost always seem to be the case, if a breakup/freeze happens, that it happens within the first 3 minutes or so of a show. I don't know if it's the broadcast, since I don't watch my shows until they're recorded. So it could be the recording process.


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *El Pollo* /forum/post/13236377
> 
> 
> I get that issue too, but I'm really doubting that mine is because of the aim of my dish. It almost always seem to be the case, if a breakup/freeze happens, that it happens within the first 3 minutes or so of a show. I don't know if it's the broadcast, since I don't watch my shows until they're recorded. So it could be the recording process.



Maybe. My wife watches WoF & Jeopardy regularly, and I'm sure I'd hear it from her if the breakups happened regularly.


----------



## FineWare




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Red Dog* /forum/post/13236251
> 
> 
> Agreed. Easily the worst. It's pretty rare to not get at least a few breakups during an hour-long ABC primetime program.



Not sure if it's ABC's network feed or WJLA's feed to DirecTV, but Lost on Thursday nights is almost painful to watch. There's at least five or six severe picture breakup/freeze/pixelation events an hour, each lasting about a minute. Each time, the audio continues unabated. Seems to happen just about every ten minutes, but seemingly never during a commercial (oddly enough).


I doubt this is a dish aiming problem since it only seems to happen on WJLA.


----------



## bfdtv

WJLA is perfect OTA (and from Comcast / FiOS), so it sounds like DirecTV is responsible for those issues.


If you have a HR20, you should be able to pickup the source feed with an off-air antenna. If you have a HR21, DirecTV will release their USB OTA tuner add-on soon.


----------



## azitnay

I'll note for the record that up until a few months ago, I was having constant, very minor video glitches (maybe one or two per hour) with WJLA-DT via Comcast of DC. There were also a few days where the picture was completely scrambled and unwatchable. Haven't seen any problems in months, though.


Drew


----------



## CycloneGT

I see the WJLA breakups on Dish Network too. I only seem to ever see the during ABC primetime programming (usually Desparate Housewive, or Lost). Other shows never seem to have these break ups, especially local stuff.


----------



## bucnasty

did anyone notice between periods of the late game on NHL network HD that the intermission reports were in SD and would flip to HD at the beginning of each period? I was watching on cox ffx..


----------



## derwin0

Friday Night Smackdown is moving this fall from the WB to My Network.


So, now would be a good time for WUTB to actually power up there lowly digital signal so that we'll be able to continue to see Smackdown in HD.


----------



## boomster




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *azitnay* /forum/post/13238922
> 
> 
> I'll note for the record that up until a few months ago, I was having constant, very minor video glitches (maybe one or two per hour) with WJLA-DT via Comcast of DC. There were also a few days where the picture was completely scrambled and unwatchable. Haven't seen any problems in months, though.
> 
> 
> Drew



I still get random breakups on WJLA HD on Comcast during Lost. It never lasts for more then a few seconds and maybe only twice per episode. But it's still annoying. The only other channel I've seen this happen on is Fox 5. But it's extremely rare and short lived on that channel (last time was during the beginning episodes of this seasons American Idol).


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bucnasty* /forum/post/13243549
> 
> 
> did anyone notice between periods of the late game on NHL network HD that the intermission reports were in SD and would flip to HD at the beginning of each period? I was watching on cox ffx..



Oddly enough I did notice that -- even though I was watching on Comcast Annapolis, who cannot be bothered to give us NHL HD. I've seen enough of the "HD flip" to know what it looks like, and it was present even on the SD channel.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Thanks for the info. The breakups occur more when WJLA is in HD if that makes any sense. None of the software updates to the H20 have made things better. I'll call D* up, but probably won't get too far with their "service reps 10000 miles away" about WJLA. I don't think it is an aiming/signal strength issue. I'll run some numbers when I get a chance and have some people here take a look.


More and more I am thinking of buying an off-air antenna and putting it in my attic before summer hits.


----------



## loco

I just wanted to add my voice to those experiencing the annoying picture breakups on WJLA on my D* HR20. I'm too far out to get the channels OTA, so this is my only source for local HD.


It never happens on the other local channels, just WJLA. And since I only watch Lost on that channel, that's the only show I have for reference. But it happens at least 3 or 4 times every time I watch Lost. It lasts for anywhere from 5 to 20 seconds. Sometimes I have to change the channel and turn back to get my picture back. This has been going on for well over a year, since when I had the H20 receiver.


----------



## bucnasty




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/13246420
> 
> 
> Oddly enough I did notice that -- even though I was watching on Comcast Annapolis, who cannot be bothered to give us NHL HD. I've seen enough of the "HD flip" to know what it looks like, and it was present even on the SD channel.



good to see it wasn't cox's fault. maybe there is a multinational event-only HD policy... the trade deadline coverage was in SD too at the tsn studios in toronto and i know they have hd...


----------



## tadr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/13228645
> 
> 
> Are you doing OTA for locals, or the MPEG4-HD for locals?
> 
> 
> I use OTA for locals, and they've been perfect (except for CW50, which has an annoying audio click every minute or so).



I'm having the same problem with CW50. The audio seems to skip for a split second every minute or two. The strange thing is that I was originally also having this problem with OTA. I recently switched to comcast w/ a QAM tuner and I'm having the EXACT same problem. This really suggests that it's just an issue with their feed. Do you know if anyone has contacted them (CW50) to try and resolve it? A couple months ago everything was great....


----------



## ACW112983




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *derwin0* /forum/post/13244819
> 
> 
> Friday Night Smackdown is moving this fall from the WB to My Network.
> 
> 
> So, now would be a good time for WUTB to actually power up there lowly digital signal so that we'll be able to continue to see Smackdown in HD.



Where IS My Network?


----------



## Sun Ra

has anyone had any problems with WMAR? I live in Parkville (north of Baltimore) and have not signal problems, but recently (two days ago) I stopped receiving WMAR. oddly enough, I get the DC channel WJLA no problem, as it is much farther away. I'm using Vista Media Center with a HDHomerun for tunning.


Thanks


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Sun Ra* /forum/post/13251396
> 
> 
> has anyone had any problems with WMAR? I live in Parkville (north of Baltimore) and have not signal problems, but recently (two days ago) I stopped receiving WMAR.



WMAR-DT 2 is coming in fine OTA here in Sterling, VA. You should try a re-scan in case your tuner got bad PSIP data for the station. Can you manually tune to channel 52 or 52.1 and see anything on the signal strength meter?


----------



## Knicks_Fan

ZIP: 20165. 5LNB, H20 receiver:

Sat 101 - mostly in 90s, all above 80 except transponders 20 (77) and 28 (52)

110 - ALL 3 fine

119 - a mix of 0 and high 90s.

99 - 48, 90, 55, 96, 0, 78(of the 6)

103(a) - all 0 (b) 90s (of applicable)


So I don't think I have an aiming problem, so to speak. Closest to *afiggatt's* location in Sterling, I'd guess.


----------



## machpost

RCN has finally added WDCA-HD, on channel 189.


----------



## copwill

Hello all,


I just moved to the area and am currently staying at a place with Cox expanded basic, from what I gather, no digital channels. Does anyone have the QAM listings? i get all the networks but was wondering if any other channels were coming in HD.


Also, The place I am moving, the guys say without a box they get a decent amount of HD, including ESPN, does Cox fairfax send out unencrypted QAM of ESPN and ESPN2?


Any info would be greatly appreciated,


Thanks,


hayes.


----------



## wfujosh




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *copwill* /forum/post/13252416
> 
> 
> Hello all,
> 
> 
> I just moved to the area and am currently staying at a place with Cox expanded basic, from what I gather, no digital channels. Does anyone have the QAM listings? i get all the networks but was wondering if any other channels were coming in HD.
> 
> 
> Also, The place I am moving, the guys say without a box they get a decent amount of HD, including ESPN, does Cox fairfax send out unencrypted QAM of ESPN and ESPN2?
> 
> 
> Any info would be greatly appreciated,
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> 
> hayes.



They don't, I wish that they did!!


----------



## copwill

man, well unless their box was hidden, he was getting ESPN2HD, and i didn't see a cable box in sight. i didn't ask too many questions, I will when I move in. I think i might just get a Tivo HD and cable cards as it would be cheaper per month on the cable bill and id just foot the tivo bill.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *copwill* /forum/post/13252566
> 
> 
> man, well unless their box was hidden, he was getting ESPN2HD, and i didn't see a cable box in sight. i didn't ask too many questions, I will when I move in. I think i might just get a Tivo HD and cable cards as it would be cheaper per month on the cable bill and id just foot the tivo bill.



There are only two explanations. One, it was ESPN2 not ESPN2HD. The second one is that they have a Cable Card installed and they just don't know it. I have tried numerous times, but no premium channels in HD. Just locals.


BTW, welcome to the area.


----------



## mr_smith




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13251630
> 
> 
> WMAR-DT 2 is coming in fine OTA here in Sterling, VA. You should try a re-scan in case your tuner got bad PSIP data for the station. Can you manually tune to channel 52 or 52.1 and see anything on the signal strength meter?



I also started having problems with WMAR in the last few days (using Vista Media Center). I have tried re-scanning and setting up a manual channel to tune to 52, but with no success. The odd part is that in all cases the signal meter shows a strong signal, but there is no picture or sound.


----------



## euckersw

Does anyone on Cox know if it's going to be possible to get the UFC PPV this weekend in HD? I believe the only PPV/On-Demand HD channel we receive is channel 700, and that only has HD Movie options. Not only is the PPV obviously expensive, but it's even harder to justify the price if I can't get it in HD...


----------



## chaspower




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/13251905
> 
> 
> RCN has finally added WDCA-HD, on channel 189.



We had to wait for enough power.


----------



## derwin0




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ACW112983* /forum/post/13250242
> 
> 
> Where IS My Network?



WUTB-24 (My 24) in Baltimore, and WDCA-20 (My 20) in Washington.


----------



## copwill

well I know for sure it was espn2HD..... I will look into this further when I move in. Thanks for the help though.


----------



## Red Dog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *FineWare* /forum/post/13238057
> 
> 
> Not sure if it's ABC's network feed or WJLA's feed to DirecTV, but Lost on Thursday nights is almost painful to watch. There's at least five or six severe picture breakup/freeze/pixelation events an hour, each lasting about a minute. Each time, the audio continues unabated. Seems to happen just about every ten minutes, but seemingly never during a commercial (oddly enough).
> 
> 
> I doubt this is a dish aiming problem since it only seems to happen on WJLA.





Last night being no exception.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *derwin0* /forum/post/13255837
> 
> 
> WUTB-24 (My 24) in Baltimore, and WDCA-20 (My 20) in Washington.



and when is WUTB-24 going full power? I can get every other channel even WBOC-16 when conditions are right, but my signal meter doesn't even move on 41(24).


----------



## feddx

Just popping my head in the door and looking around the place to see if it has changed at all....


I hope you are all well... I'll be around


--Still believing that science can prove "Luminiferous aether"


----------



## mapper

Cox Northern Virginia adds Travel Channel HD(732) and Cinemax HD(733) today.


----------



## FineWare




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Red Dog* /forum/post/13256264
> 
> 
> Last night being no exception.



There's a pretty extensive *****-fest about this over on dbstalk.com.


----------



## kenrowe

The baseball telecast schedules are now posted on the MASN site, including which 80 games will be telecast in HD. Some of the games that will be simulcast OTA (WJZ or WDCA) will be in HD, although the announcement doesn't say whether the OTA station will get the HD feed. http://masnsports.com/2008/02/masn-r...-access-n.html


----------



## Briareos




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mr_smith* /forum/post/13253310
> 
> 
> I also started having problems with WMAR in the last few days (using Vista Media Center). I have tried re-scanning and setting up a manual channel to tune to 52, but with no success. The odd part is that in all cases the signal meter shows a strong signal, but there is no picture or sound.



I am having the same problems, using Windows Vista media center and Avermedia Combo PCIe tuners. I would encourage you to call the station, (410) 377-2222 and let them know. Do you think this could be related to the "silverlight 1.0" update relased by microsoft in the same timeframe?


Shawn


----------



## azitnay




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kenrowe* /forum/post/13258959
> 
> 
> The baseball telecast schedules are now posted on the MASN site, including which 80 games will be telecast in HD. Some of the games that will be simulcast OTA (WJZ or WDCA) will be in HD, although the announcement doesn't say whether the OTA station will get the HD feed. http://masnsports.com/2008/02/masn-r...-access-n.html



At least they're being semi-fair with respect to splitting the 80 as 40 Nats, 40 O's... Although if you want to get technical, three of the Nats' 40 are against the O's, so O's fans that don't mind listening to the Nats' announcers will get at least 43 games in HD







.


Drew


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kenrowe* /forum/post/13258959
> 
> 
> The baseball telecast schedules are now posted on the MASN site, including which 80 games will be telecast in HD. Some of the games that will be simulcast OTA (WJZ or WDCA) will be in HD, although the announcement doesn't say whether the OTA station will get the HD feed.



Alright. So it is now officially 80 games in HD. Some are road games too. This will be a big improvement over last year for sure, although that is only an average of 40 games per team when quite a few MLB teams are all games in HD or all home games & some away for a 100+ HD games. A decent number of broadcast games as well with 30 on WDCA 20 and 25 on WJZ 13 (with a lot of CBS summer programming pre-empted). As you noted, some of the HD games do coincide with OTA broadcasts on WDCA 20 (6 by my count) and WJZ 13 (8 by my count), so the next step is to contact the station and ask if they are preparing to broadcast the game in HD.


Now we need the service providers to be ready to carry a part-time MASN HD feed by April.


----------



## kenrowe




> Quote:
> Although if you want to get technical, three of the Nats' 40 are against the O's, so O's fans that don't mind listening to the Nats' announcers will get at least 43 games in HD



But then the opposite is true in that there are 43 Nats HD games as 3 of the O's HD games are vs. the Nationals.


----------



## azitnay




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kenrowe* /forum/post/13259266
> 
> 
> But then opposite is true in that there are 43 Nats HD games as 3 of the O's HD games are vs. the Nationals.



Good call... I missed that the first time around. Guess I can put my Peter Angelos conspiracy theories away for a while







.


Drew


----------



## spacemonk

I am trying to decide if I should buy MLB EI with Comcast. I live in Alexandria, VA and was wondering if last year Comcast had EI baseball games in HD? What channels do they use for the HD games?


Matt


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/13256745
> 
> 
> and when is WUTB-24 going full power? I can get every other channel even WBOC-16 when conditions are right, but my signal meter doesn't even move on 41(24).



The last post from Mark Bulla on this was WUTB-DT was working towards going full power in March. So the answer is someday real soon which has been the answer for a long time now. They have gotten a lot of STA extensions from the FCC and I think the latest 6 month extension runs out in May. They will be turning off the analog 24 signal next February 17 (if not sooner to give WNVC-DT 56 in Fairfax a break to get back on the air sooner). You would think that with the converter boxes now hitting the stores, that they would want to have the DT signal at full power so they won't lose the analog viewers who hook up the converter boxes without figuring out how to get the analog stations as well. The low power stations across the US, many of which won't be going digital next February 17, are suddenly worried about this.


----------



## maestro73




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *spacemonk* /forum/post/13259411
> 
> 
> I am trying to decide if I should buy MLB EI with Comcast. I live in Alexandria, VA and was wondering if last year Comcast had EI baseball games in HD? What channels do they use for the HD games?
> 
> 
> Matt



I have ordered the package for the last two years. The first year, they would show the occasional game on the iNHD2 channel. Since then Comcast got rid of the iNHD1 and 2 channels and replaced with them with MOJO. I don't think they showed any HD telecasts on MOJO last year (or any other channel), but I could be wrong.


----------



## bucnasty

was anyone else able to watch cinemax hd on cox before they encrypted it? I was able to sleep through the hitcher and watch the rest of the night for free....


thanks cox!


----------



## spacemonk




> Quote:
> I have ordered the package for the last two years. The first year, they would show the occasional game on the iNHD2 channel. Since then Comcast got rid of the iNHD1 and 2 channels and replaced with them with MOJO. I don't think they showed any HD telecasts on MOJO last year (or any other channel), but I could be wrong.



Could they show EI HD games on the HDPPV channel?


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *maestro73* /forum/post/13259697
> 
> 
> I have ordered the package for the last two years. The first year, they would show the occasional game on the iNHD2 channel. Since then Comcast got rid of the iNHD1 and 2 channels and replaced with them with MOJO. I don't think they showed any HD telecasts on MOJO last year (or any other channel), but I could be wrong.



The games on INHD2 had nothing to do with EI. They were games that INHD contracted for with MLB and local broadcasts. They would use local broadcasts (such as NESN, CSN, etc.) pictures and sound but their own graphics.


I did not have EI on Comcast but got the games on INHD2.


They did not show any MLB games on INHD/Mojo last year. They do use the Mojo channel for NBA TV games and others.


----------



## JoeInNVa

Starting Early...


Dammit Comcast! Where are the new HD CHannels you said would be available!!!

ARGH!


----------



## bfdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/13261975
> 
> 
> Starting Early...
> 
> 
> Dammit Comcast! Where are the new HD CHannels you said would be available!!!
> 
> ARGH!



I thought they were due next week?


----------



## Speqtre

I think they were pushed out to March 4th.


----------



## ACW112983




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *derwin0* /forum/post/13255837
> 
> 
> WUTB-24 (My 24) in Baltimore, and WDCA-20 (My 20) in Washington.



Funny that. Smackdown IIRC was originally on WDCA.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bfdtv* /forum/post/13262349
> 
> 
> I thought they were due next week?



They are due on Tuesday...Just got bored last night...


----------



## bfdtv

I am anxious to see what the quality is like. Both channels are distributed at about 17.1Mbps ABR with 18+Mbps peaks.


Customers have complained about the quality in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, and elsewhere where Comcast is recompressing those 17Mbps feeds to 12-13Mbps. On the other hand, quality is excellent in some former Adelphia service areas like Staunton, VA, which receive the full bitrate.


----------



## mchief99




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/13261975
> 
> 
> Starting Early...
> 
> 
> Dammit Comcast! Where are the new HD CHannels you said would be available!!!
> 
> ARGH!



Ditto - I wonder when 3/4 comes along if we will still be asking the same question.


I will also be watching PQ closely as they add 9 HD channels - if it really happens.


----------



## sonorddrum

Has anyone noticed that the CinemaxHD feed from Cox is not broadcasting in Dolby Digital? Most of the other HD channels do broadcast a majority of the content and movies in DD 5.1.


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/13264933
> 
> 
> They are due on Tuesday...Just got bored last night...



Yep, just in time for the season finale of Stargate Atlantis on SFI-FI next Friday. Like bfdtv said, it'll be interesting to see if they compress it to crap. If so, I may continue to watch the digitized analog feed; even when I zoom the aspect that looks OK on my 42" plasma.


----------



## Samurai

I just had Comcast triple play installed after 13 years with DirecTV. I had a specific Motorola DVR listed on the sign up agreement as a condition of me getting Comcast but I did not receive that DVR and have since been told that Howard County Maryland only has the Scientific Atlantic DVR. The Scientific Atlantic DVR software is horrible and a good 5-10 years behind what I have been used to with DirecTV. I am probably going to cancel my Comcast service. Before I do I thought I'd try to see if a few of the many complaints I have with the Scientific Atlantic DVR are not valid. Here are 4 of about 20+ complaints I have.


Scientific Atlantic 8300HD with SARA 1.88 software


1) How can I tell the DVR to record only new episodes of a reoccurring show ? The Scientific Atlantic 8300HD manual says you can do this if the cable company supports it but the option does not show up for me. Considering how little space this DVR has for HD recording is is essential to be able to record just new show and not repeats. How can I do this ?


2) If I am in the Guide on channel 2 and I want to look at programs around channel 300, how go to go directly to channel 300 without having to scroll through 300 channels in the guide ? If I type in 300 as the channel number it changes the channel and I start watching that TV show.


3) How do I get the guide to show only the channels that I received ? It's ridiculous to have to go through all kinds of channels that I don't receive in the guide. The favorites feature on the Scientific 8300HD is worthless since it doesn't work with the guide but cycles through the channels.


4) How can I record all Maryland Basketball games ? I used to do this with several different shows. I can see how to record every "College Basketball" show, which would wipe out all DVR space, but no way to record only Maryland basketball games. I think this requires a keyword search.


I am very surprised at how primitive and awful this DVR is. I probably going to cancel and go back to DirecTV unless Comcast has something better coming very soon.


----------



## Speqtre

Not to be flippant, as I completely agree with what you're saying, but TivoHD is really the answer to all these problems. I have both these boxes, and unless you really need VOD, the Tivo unit is light years ahead of any of the providers' boxes. I was able to snag a lifetime sub, and the place I bought it has a 'lifetime' satisfaction guarantee. Yes, the upfront cost was fairly steep, but if it lasts 4 years, I'm saving money.


Someone earler indicated that the DVR the cable company gives you is dependent on the head-end equipment that is local to you. I'm not an expert, so I can't say that's true, but if it is, there's almost no chance you'll get the Motorola box instead of the SA.


----------



## azitnay

1) Get a TiVo.


2) Get a TiVo.


3) Get a TiVo.


4) Get a TiVo.


Not trying to be a dick... Just pointing out that a TiVo would indeed handle all four, and probably a significant portion of the other complaints you have. Of course, it's probably a little more expensive.


Drew


----------



## bfdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Samurai* /forum/post/13267050
> 
> 
> I just had Comcast triple play installed after 13 years with DirecTV. I had a specific Motorola DVR listed on the sign up agreement as a condition of me getting Comcast but I did not receive that DVR and have since been told that Howard County Maryland only has the Scientific Atlantic DVR. The Scientific Atlantic DVR software is horrible and a good 5-10 years behind what I have been used to with DirecTV. I am probably going to cancel my Comcast service. Before I do I thought I'd try to see if a few of the many complaints I have with the Scientific Atlantic DVR are not valid. Here are 4 of about 20+ complaints I have.



The TivoHD is the new and improved version of what you had with DirecTV. The hardware is very similar to DirecTV's current HR20 DVR, except it runs the latest version of TiVo software -- much newer than what you had with DirecTV.


A TivoHD can be had for $250 with fees ($12.99/mo or $129/yr -- similar to the Comcast DVR) or $699 with no fees . You'll probably also want to budget for the Western Digital My DVR Expander external hard drive. That will increase capacity to 86 HD hours.


----------



## mjw703

Samurai, I feel your pain. I've had the SA DVR for four years, and while I like having a DVR, it certainly is not a Tivo. The only solution I have for you is for question 1, after you make a scheduled recording and select Record All Episodes, then hit Button A. You'll then have the option to record only first run shows, record every instance of that show in that time slot, or record every time the show is run. As for your other questions, no, no and no. I would love to have only the channels that I subscribe to show up in the guide, and I would also love a search feature, but it doesn't seem like that will ever happen. The only thing to get through the program listings quickly would be to use Page down and Page up.


----------



## bucnasty

I had cinemax HD in dolby 3/2.1 when they had not locked it down thursday night.... maybe they botched it up when they fixed their glitch and made people pay for it....


----------



## SQUIDWARD360




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Samurai* /forum/post/13267050
> 
> 
> I just had Comcast triple play installed after 13 years with DirecTV. I had a specific Motorola DVR listed on the sign up agreement as a condition of me getting Comcast but I did not receive that DVR and have since been told that Howard County Maryland only has the Scientific Atlantic DVR. The Scientific Atlantic DVR software is horrible and a good 5-10 years behind what I have been used to with DirecTV. I am probably going to cancel my Comcast service. Before I do I thought I'd try to see if a few of the many complaints I have with the Scientific Atlantic DVR are not valid. Here are 4 of about 20+ complaints I have.
> 
> 
> Scientific Atlantic 8300HD with SARA 1.88 software
> 
> 
> 1) How can I tell the DVR to record only new episodes of a reoccurring show ? The Scientific Atlantic 8300HD manual says you can do this if the cable company supports it but the option does not show up for me. Considering how little space this DVR has for HD recording is is essential to be able to record just new show and not repeats. How can I do this ?
> 
> 
> 2) If I am in the Guide on channel 2 and I want to look at programs around channel 300, how go to go directly to channel 300 without having to scroll through 300 channels in the guide ? If I type in 300 as the channel number it changes the channel and I start watching that TV show.
> 
> 
> 3) How do I get the guide to show only the channels that I received ? It's ridiculous to have to go through all kinds of channels that I don't receive in the guide. The favorites feature on the Scientific 8300HD is worthless since it doesn't work with the guide but cycles through the channels.
> 
> 
> 4) How can I record all Maryland Basketball games ? I used to do this with several different shows. I can see how to record every "College Basketball" show, which would wipe out all DVR space, but no way to record only Maryland basketball games. I think this requires a keyword search.
> 
> 
> I am very surprised at how primitive and awful this DVR is. I probably going to cancel and go back to DirecTV unless Comcast has something better coming very soon.



The Motorola box isn't much to brag about it. I am tired of the lockups that is causes moving around the menus and guides.


----------



## lax01

I'm having serious issues with SNR in my apartment building in Rockville...I called Comcast and they are sending out a tech next Saturday (I'm not taking off work for freaking macroblocking). The original tech who came to install the box said that the signal wasn't strong because the telecommunications box is on the other side of completely opposite side of the floor and it had to travel a long distance to my STB. It seems only HBO and TNT are currently breaking up but after checking the Diagnostic Menu on the two different tuners, they are in-between 25-32db. I'm guessing this is not good and most definitely causing my picture break-ups. Is there anything I can ask Comcast to do when they come? We also have the 16Mbit internet service and I can typically pull 10-16Mbit at night (I guess when the network isn't as congested). I'm guessing these speeds would go up during the day as well with a bump in SNR.


Anyways, thanks for any help or past experience people have had with Comcast in an apartment building...also, this is the first time living in one so I don't know exactly what they can do in terms of infrastructure.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Samurai* /forum/post/13267050
> 
> 
> I just had Comcast triple play installed after 13 years with DirecTV. I had a specific Motorola DVR listed on the sign up agreement as a condition of me getting Comcast but I did not receive that DVR and have since been told that Howard County Maryland only has the Scientific Atlantic DVR. The Scientific Atlantic DVR software is horrible and a good 5-10 years behind what I have been used to with DirecTV. I am probably going to cancel my Comcast service. Before I do I thought I'd try to see if a few of the many complaints I have with the Scientific Atlantic DVR are not valid. Here are 4 of about 20+ complaints I have.
> 
> 
> Scientific Atlantic 8300HD with SARA 1.88 software
> 
> 
> 1) How can I tell the DVR to record only new episodes of a reoccurring show ? The Scientific Atlantic 8300HD manual says you can do this if the cable company supports it but the option does not show up for me. Considering how little space this DVR has for HD recording is is essential to be able to record just new show and not repeats. How can I do this ?
> 
> 
> 2) If I am in the Guide on channel 2 and I want to look at programs around channel 300, how go to go directly to channel 300 without having to scroll through 300 channels in the guide ? If I type in 300 as the channel number it changes the channel and I start watching that TV show.
> 
> 
> 3) How do I get the guide to show only the channels that I received ? It's ridiculous to have to go through all kinds of channels that I don't receive in the guide. The favorites feature on the Scientific 8300HD is worthless since it doesn't work with the guide but cycles through the channels.
> 
> 
> 4) How can I record all Maryland Basketball games ? I used to do this with several different shows. I can see how to record every "College Basketball" show, which would wipe out all DVR space, but no way to record only Maryland basketball games. I think this requires a keyword search.
> 
> 
> I am very surprised at how primitive and awful this DVR is. I probably going to cancel and go back to DirecTV unless Comcast has something better coming very soon.



With your list, you have just got the tip of the iceberg. You will soon find that the 8300 does not remember where you were in watching a recorded program unless it was the last recorded program you watched.


You will find that you are missing 30 skip/slip and skip to tick.


You will notice that you cannot take channels you don't have out of the guide.


You will find that searching for anything is a major PITA. You have to search by day and through an alphabetical list.


And there is more.


You have the choice of going back to DirecTV or getting an HD Tivo. I have both and am much happier since the 8300 is out of my house.


----------



## rtanders




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rtanders* /forum/post/13040477
> 
> 
> I got an STB under the DTV2009 program from BestBuy and found WHUT broadcasting 33-1 as the PSIP information. I sent an email to the FCC Broadcast Enforcement Division on Sunday 2/3/08 and today I noticed it was fixed and WHUT now shows 32-1. No response from the FCC or WHUT whom I copied on my query.



Today I received a response from the FCC on my query which is...


"The PSIP information is not the legal ID, so this is not a violation of

that rule." and went on to quote FCC rule § 73.1201 Station identification.


Still no response from the email I sent to WHUT.


WHUT continues to broadcast the correct PSIP OTA of 32-1, as of today.


Regards,

Bob


----------



## wkearney99




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *azitnay* /forum/post/13267196
> 
> 
> Just pointing out that a TiVo would indeed handle all four, and probably a significant portion of the other complaints you have. Of course, it's probably a little more expensive.



Yep, it's more money, but it's worth it. We switched from DirecTV tivo-based units to FIOS with a TivoHD. Same user interface, no complaining from the wife (she utterly DESPISED the DirecTV and FIOS 'house brand' units).


----------



## snuba

does anyone know when comcast (montgomery county) increased the price of HD VOD movies from 3.99 to 4.99? it was only 3.99 a little while ago but this past weekend, HD movies were showing up as 4.99.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wkearney99* /forum/post/13278913
> 
> 
> Yep, it's more money, but it's worth it. We switched from DirecTV tivo-based units to FIOS with a TivoHD. Same user interface, no complaining from the wife (she utterly DESPISED the DirecTV and FIOS 'house brand' units).



This might be a little off-subject, but has anyone tried getting a Tivo from eBay (or the like) and replacing the Tivo software from a second-party? I'm asking because someone gave me a Tivo with a bad hard drive, and I was thinking of doing that.


Other than not having to pay Tivo, I don't know the pros and cons of the idea.


Thanks -


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/13279687
> 
> 
> This might be a little off-subject, but has anyone tried getting a Tivo from eBay (or the like) and replacing the Tivo software from a second-party? I'm asking because someone gave me a Tivo with a bad hard drive, and I was thinking of doing that.
> 
> 
> Other than not having to pay Tivo, I don't know the pros and cons of the idea.
> 
> 
> Thanks -



You can buy a new HDD and put the TivoOS back on it, and then it's a real Tivo box. However you have to pay Tivo for a subscription.


Not sure why you'd want a Tivo box that doesn't run Tivo? There's nothing that special about the hardware that makes it especially useful.


----------



## raidbuck




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/13274180
> 
> 
> With your list, you have just got the tip of the iceberg. You will soon find that the 8300 does not remember where you were in watching a recorded program unless it was the last recorded program you watched.
> 
> 
> You will find that you are missing 30 skip/slip and skip to tick.
> 
> 
> You will notice that you cannot take channels you don't have out of the guide.
> 
> 
> You will find that searching for anything is a major PITA. You have to search by day and through an alphabetical list.
> 
> 
> And there is more.
> 
> 
> You have the choice of going back to DirecTV or getting an HD Tivo. I have both and am much happier since the 8300 is out of my house.



I guess I'm glad I never had Tivo or D* so I don't know what I'm missing. At least the SA easily allows you to add a Sata external drive to get enough HD storage to record basically all that I would ever want (I have about 50 hours now and only 2/3 full). They did add a 4th FF speed, but not keeping where you are if you have to stop watching a recorded show can be a real pain.


Rich N.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *raidbuck* /forum/post/13280158
> 
> 
> I guess I'm glad I never had Tivo or D* so I don't know what I'm missing. At least the SA easily allows you to add a Sata external drive to get enough HD storage to record basically all that I would ever want (I have about 50 hours now and only 2/3 full). They did add a 4th FF speed, but not keeping where you are if you have to stop watching a recorded show can be a real pain.
> 
> 
> Rich N.



I moved over to TivoHD from the SA8300. Popped in a 1TB drive and have loved every minute of it!

If you can afford the move, I would say go for it!


----------



## billygreen23

Woohoo! The new HD channels are finally here in Alexandria!


PQ looks good, but some channels aren't currently showing HD content.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *billygreen23* /forum/post/13287693
> 
> 
> Woohoo! The new HD channels are finally here in Alexandria!
> 
> 
> PQ looks good, *but some channels aren't currently showing HD content*.



That is expected...


----------



## billygreen23

I'm not refering to their regular content. Most cable channels show infomercials in the mornings.


----------



## lax01




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lax01* /forum/post/13273710
> 
> 
> I'm having serious issues with SNR in my apartment building in Rockville...I called Comcast and they are sending out a tech next Saturday (I'm not taking off work for freaking macroblocking). The original tech who came to install the box said that the signal wasn't strong because the telecommunications box is on the other side of completely opposite side of the floor and it had to travel a long distance to my STB. It seems only HBO and TNT are currently breaking up but after checking the Diagnostic Menu on the two different tuners, they are in-between 25-32db. I'm guessing this is not good and most definitely causing my picture break-ups. Is there anything I can ask Comcast to do when they come? We also have the 16Mbit internet service and I can typically pull 10-16Mbit at night (I guess when the network isn't as congested). I'm guessing these speeds would go up during the day as well with a bump in SNR.
> 
> 
> Anyways, thanks for any help or past experience people have had with Comcast in an apartment building...also, this is the first time living in one so I don't know exactly what they can do in terms of infrastructure.



bump, anybody have any experience with this?


Thanks in advance


----------



## chrisherbert

Does anyone know if the channels are compressed in Arlington/Alexandria? They look pretty good to me, so if they are it isn't obvious. Food HD looks amazing.


----------



## mchief99

Looks good to me also. Tivo even has the Guide information out 2 weeks. All is good.

Appears that Comcast finally got it right


----------



## CycloneGT

Someone post a list of the new HD channels and I'll put them up on the first post.


----------



## billygreen23

HGTV, Food, CNN, USA, SciFi, History, Discovery, TLC, and Animal Planet.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chrisherbert* /forum/post/13288748
> 
> 
> Does anyone know if the channels are compressed in Arlington/Alexandria? They look pretty good to me, so if they are it isn't obvious. Food HD looks amazing.



Last I knew, Comcast send the signal without any changes.


----------



## bfdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chrisherbert* /forum/post/13288748
> 
> 
> Does anyone know if the channels are compressed in Arlington/Alexandria? They look pretty good to me, so if they are it isn't obvious. Food HD looks amazing.



For those that want to check the compression, you might record Bourne Identity on USA-HD on Wednesday @ 8:30pm or Thursday @ 1:30pm. Are the action scenes overly pixelated?


As far as I know, Comcast is not applying extra compression to CNN or History anywhere yet. The channels with new, extra compression in many Comcast markets include SciFi, USA, Discovery, HGTV, Starz, A&E, Food, NatGeo, UHD, TLC, HBO, and Cinemax.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/13289866
> 
> 
> Last I knew, Comcast send the signal without any changes.



Could you record something in high-definition on SciFiHD and USAHD and report the file size, as indicated by the TiVo?


SCIFI-HD delivered the last two episodes of Stargate Atlantis at ~7.6GB for 1:00 (as reported by the TiVo), or 17.0-17.1Mbps ABR. Monk episodes were of similar size.


In many areas, Comcast has reduced bitrate from 17.0Mbps to 12.5Mbps and I am curious whether they are doing that in our area.


----------



## minhi




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/13279687
> 
> 
> This might be a little off-subject, but has anyone tried getting a Tivo from eBay (or the like) and replacing the Tivo software from a second-party? I'm asking because someone gave me a Tivo with a bad hard drive, and I was thinking of doing that.
> 
> 
> Other than not having to pay Tivo, I don't know the pros and cons of the idea.
> 
> 
> Thanks -



a tivo is not a pc, it only supports the tivo os/software, so the only thing you can do is replace the bad hard-drive with a good one and restore it as a tivo. there is no second party software that will run on a tivo. of course you'd have to pay tivo for the guides/service etc.


----------



## bfdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *minhi* /forum/post/13291553
> 
> 
> a tivo is not a pc, it only supports the tivo os/software, so the only thing you can do is replace the bad hard-drive with a good one and restore it as a tivo. there is no second party software that will run on a tivo. of course you'd have to pay tivo for the guides/service etc.



Technically, TiVo is a computer. It runs Linux 2.4.20 with the TiVo software.


But you are right that TiVo wouldn't be much use as a standalone computer for other software. The TivoHD has a 300MHz MIPS CPU with 256MB DDR400 and a SATA hard drive. The TiVo's 300MHz CPU scores 300 BogoMIPS in Linux, or about the same as a PentiumII 300MHz. You can compare that to BogoMIPS scores for other processors at this link .


There's not much you can do in 300MHz with a generic software. TiVo is able to get by with such a CPU because of hardware accelerated DVR functions and software that takes advantage of these functions. In fact, this is where TiVo holds most of their intellectual property (patents) -- making DVRs possible with slower, low-cost CPUs. Anyone could build a HDTV DVR with a 2GHz processor without infringing on TiVo's patents.


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *billygreen23* /forum/post/13287693
> 
> 
> Woohoo! The new HD channels are finally here in Alexandria!
> 
> 
> PQ looks good, but some channels aren't currently showing HD content.



Second that!


BTW, for anyone with a TV or DVR that has the TV Guide On Screen EPG, the TVGOS channel listing doesn't (currently) include all these new channels. For example, it doesn't include SCI-FI HD. To get that in the listings so you can tune directly to it from within the Guide, you need to manually change the channel assignment from 51 to 236 in the TVGOS Setup menu. It'll still get the 8-day program listing from the downloaded guide data, but will tune to the HD feed. This could change in the future if Gemstar updates its channel line-up, but that's the quick fix for now.


----------



## mchief99




bfdtv said:


> For those that want to check the compression, you might record Bourne Identity on USA-HD on Wednesday @ 8:30pm or Thursday @ 1:30pm. Are the action scenes overly pixelated?
> 
> 
> As far as I know, Comcast is not applying extra compression to CNN or History anywhere yet. The channels with new, extra compression in many Comcast markets include SciFi, USA, Discovery, HGTV, Starz, A&E, Food, NatGeo, UHD, TLC, HBO, and Cinemax.
> 
> 
> Could you record something in high-definition on SciFiHD and USAHD and report the file size, as indicated by the TiVo?
> 
> 
> SCIFI-HD delivered the last two episodes of Stargate Atlantis at ~7.6GB for 1:00 (as reported by the TiVo), or 17.0-17.1Mbps ABR. Monk episodes were of similar size.
> 
> 
> Thru Tivo I scheduled SGA (SciFi) and Monk (USA) both of which are indicated as HD and Letterbox on Tivo for 5PM today - we'll see what the sizes are


----------



## mchief99

Quote sure worked poorly.


I'll try again.


Thru Tivo I scheduled SGA (SciFi) and Monk (USA) both of which are indicated as HD and Letterbox on Tivo for 5PM today - we'll see what the sizes are


----------



## mchief99

The results are in


SGA (SciFi) Tivo says 5.85

Monk (USA) 5.88


----------



## billygreen23

So how does that compare to other providers?


----------



## mapper




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mchief99* /forum/post/13293821
> 
> 
> The results are in
> 
> 
> SGA (SciFi) Tivo says 5.85
> 
> Monk (USA) 5.88



I don't know too much about bitrate, but a simple ratio between the previous data(7.6 GB/17Mbps) to today's data(5.85GB) Using a ratio, it came out to be 13.05Mbps, seems to be low, but average for the cable company's sake.


Inform me if this is a wrong calculation or not.


----------



## compuwizz

In Sterling on USAHD Law and Order is coming in between 17 and 18 mbps as VLC reports it. So they definitely aren't compressing it at all on the old Adelphia network.


----------



## bfdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *billygreen23* /forum/post/13293916
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mchief99* /forum/post/13293821
> 
> 
> The results are in
> 
> 
> SGA (SciFi) Tivo says 5.85
> 
> Monk (USA) 5.88
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So how does that compare to other providers?
Click to expand...


The original size of the recordings -- before extra compression -- was about 7.6Gb, or ~17Mbps ABR with 18Mbps peaks.


Former Adelphia systems in Sterling, Staunton, and other areas are reportedly getting the full quality signal.


Bourne Identity is a good test of the compression. Record Bourne Identity on USA-HD on Wednesday @ 8:30pm or Thursday @ 1:30pm and check whether the action scenes are pixelated.


----------



## maestro73

Is anyone NOT getting FoodHD? I'm getting all the new HD channels except that one. It's just a blank screen.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *maestro73* /forum/post/13294871
> 
> 
> Is anyone NOT getting FoodHD? I'm getting all the new HD channels except that one. It's just a blank screen.



It was there earlier but now it's gone, well, it's there but no picture or sound...I wonder if they lost it when they put the NBA on Mojo? Because I watched a show at 4:30, went out to get my free wings from Austin Grille (Thanks Caps and Bruins), come home and nothing is there...


----------



## maestro73

OK cool. I'm not the only one. Thanks


----------



## mjw703

I'm not getting FoodHD either, but I did get it this morning. I'm noticing that both HGTV and FoodHD are showing the listings of the SD channels, while showing totally different programming.


----------



## lax01

No new channels in MoCo, MD....


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mjw703* /forum/post/13295891
> 
> 
> I'm noticing that both HGTV and FoodHD are showing the listings of the SD channels, while showing totally different programming.



The guide issue is Comcast's problem. Scripps so far has desired to put only HD programs on their HD channels. So, since there are still some SD-only shows on the main HGTV and Food networks.....


----------



## bmfc1




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lax01* /forum/post/13296562
> 
> 
> No new channels in MoCo, MD....



Once again, MoCo is behind not only the rest of the Comcast Nation, but all of the Washington area localities as well.


----------



## kenrowe




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bmfc1* /forum/post/13297975
> 
> 
> Once again, MoCo is behind not only the rest of the Comcast Nation, but all of the Washington area localities as well.



MoCo is getting Discovery HD on 3/25. The main reason why we lag behind other local systems is because it is a 750MHz system vs. 860MHz for most others in the region.


----------



## PaulGo

Montgomery County has a pretty decent amount of HD channels. TBS-HD currently is a waste since most of the programming is stretched SD material. There are one or two channels which are slightly over 750mhz and I think they are upgrading the system.


----------



## kenrowe




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PaulGo* /forum/post/13298562
> 
> 
> There are one or two channels which are slightly over 750mhz and I think they are upgrading the system.



You're correct. I noticed recently that the NBA package was on ch. 117 but haven't seen anything higher than that yet .


----------



## bmfc1

Thank you kenrowe. Two follow-ups: where is CNN-HD and if our system is worse/different, when will it be upgraded?


----------



## bmfc1




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PaulGo* /forum/post/13298562
> 
> 
> Montgomery County has a pretty decent amount of HD channels. TBS-HD currently is a waste since most of the programming is stretched SD material. There are one or two channels which are slightly over 750mhz and I think they are upgrading the system.



TBS has baseball which is in HD (they will have a Sunday Game of the Week this season) and I've read that they will have their original shows in HD "soon" so there's something. Granted not a lot but something.


----------



## kenrowe




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bmfc1* /forum/post/13299010
> 
> 
> Two follow-ups: where is CNN-HD and if our system is worse/different, when will it be upgraded?



We don't have CNN-HD in MoCo and I haven't come across official news about a system upgrade...but like others, I've noticed the extra channel of QAM. When Discovery HD comes on board on the 25th, they are making room for it by moving the Cartoon Channel to digital only (they are also adding a few SD channels like IFC, WE and Fuse).


----------



## bmfc1

Thank you kenrowe. I can't get an answer from Comcast but you seem to be in the know.


----------



## SUOrangeman

Is there any news regarding Weather Channel HD on Cox-Fairfax? My last bill stated that TWC-HD would show up on 734 along with Travel HD (732) and CineMax HD (733).


-SUO


----------



## zebras23

Courtesy of JD Land.


----------



## kenrowe




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bmfc1* /forum/post/13299631
> 
> 
> Thank you kenrowe. I can't get an answer from Comcast but you seem to be in the know.



FWIW: In Montgomery County, Comcast typically announces channel changes in advertisements in the _Gazette_ newspapers. That is how I learned about the changes on 3/25.


----------



## raidbuck

In the Baltimore area, we still don't have CNN-HD and HistoryHD which I thought we were getting in January.


Rich N.


----------



## JayMan007




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *raidbuck* /forum/post/13300256
> 
> 
> In the Baltimore area, we still don't have CNN-HD and HistoryHD which I thought we were getting in January.
> 
> 
> Rich N.



Richmond seems to follow Baltimore, channel lineup and roll-out. We were supposed to have CNN-HD & History HD by year end ('07), according to a post card sent out last October, but as of yet, do not have either.


----------



## cjghome

Ivy Smith (Verizon Contractor) just buried a span of the Orange conduit and put the Fiber in the pipe behind my property in Sterling...(north york rd)


My question...How long will it take before I get contacted by Verizon to offer service to my home?


I have heard from few weeks to 9 months....


Do I get my hopes up?....


Do I go ahead and get Comcast Triple play instead?


Still FIOS deprived










Charlie


----------



## bfdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cjghome* /forum/post/13303966
> 
> 
> Do I get my hopes up?....
> 
> 
> Do I go ahead and get Comcast Triple play instead?
> 
> 
> Still FIOS deprived



Verizon FiOS isn't expected to have new HD channels such as CNN-HD, USA-HD, and SciFi-HD in the DC area until July, so you might as well sign up for Comcast's current 6-month promotion ($39.95 for digital package with HBO).


In July, Verizon FiOS is expected to add 30 new HD channels (60 total) in N. VA, without the extra compression used by Comcast in most of the DC metro area.



> Quote:
> As far as new HD channels, the following dates were posted on DSLR for the elimination of analog channels and addition of ~30 new HD channels on FiOS. It may or may not be accurate. I have no confirmation.
> 
> 
> IN(VHO10) 4/1
> 
> VA(VHO9) 4/7
> 
> VA(VHO9a) 4/14
> 
> NY(VHO5) 4/21
> 
> MA(VHO6) 5/12
> 
> RI(VHO6a) 5/12
> 
> DE(VHO8) 6/2
> 
> PA(VHO8) 6/2
> 
> NJ(VHO8) 6/2
> 
> NJ(VHO7) 6/23
> 
> MD(VHO4) 7/21


----------



## jcole66

Hi All.

I was very excited to see that the new HD channels on Comcast are finally activated but I don't see any of them on my TivoHD.

I also have a regular Comcast HD cable box and all the channels appear fine.

Doing a diag on the TivoHD shows the signal strength is fine but I get no audio/video on those channels.


Is this some sort of bandwidth throttling that I've read about? Or is it a CableCard issue?


Anyone else with this issue? Any thoughts, suggestions?


Thanks....


----------



## hoyty

I live in Parkville and I seem to be getting a lower signal on 11.1 than other signals. All the rest coming from the transmitter are 88-95 strength and are stable. 11.1 is 71 solid. I am just wondering if it is lower power or something?


----------



## bfdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jcole66* /forum/post/13304772
> 
> 
> Hi All.
> 
> I was very excited to see that the new HD channels on Comcast are finally activated but I don't see any of them on my TivoHD.
> 
> I also have a regular Comcast HD cable box and all the channels appear fine.
> 
> Doing a diag on the TivoHD shows the signal strength is fine but I get no audio/video on those channels.



If you are using a favorites list, you won't see the new channels until you check them under Settings -> Channels -> Channel List.


I don't know where you are, but the new channels are on TiVo with Comcast Arlington.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hoyty* /forum/post/13305057
> 
> 
> I live in Parkville and I seem to be getting a lower signal on 11.1 than other signals. All the rest coming from the transmitter are 88-95 strength and are stable. 11.1 is 71 solid. I am just wondering if it is lower power or something?



Of the five major digital stations in NW Baltimore, WBAL-DT 11 has the lowest power at 513 kW and the highest in frequency at UHF 59. It is the weakest signal for me of the 5 Baltimore stations. WMAR-DT 2 (52) is also weaker as I have to position the antenna carefully to get it (to get the right aim to get DC and Baltimore stations). WJZ-DT 13 (38), WBFF-DT 45 (46), WNUV-DT 54 (40) are all strong signals at 43 miles.


Next February 17, WBAL-DT will move to VHF 11. The station has stated they intend to ask for a stronger signal than the 6.91 kW they have been allocated, but it will likely still be the weakest station of the five.


WMAR-DT 2 will take over WJZ-DT's antenna location on UHF 38 and has asked to broadcast at 1000 kW, so WMAR-DT should be able to be picked up over a wide area. If WMAR-DT would get rid of the stupid 2-2 sub-channel which is a simulcast of the 2-1 sub-channel, it would be the preferred ABC station to watch if WJLA-DT 7 is going to add another SD sub-channel with the inevitable degradation in HD picture quality.


----------



## jcole66




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bfdtv* /forum/post/13305247
> 
> 
> If you are using a favorites list, you won't see the new channels until you check them under Settings -> Channels -> Channel List.
> 
> 
> I don't know where you are, but the new channels are on TiVo with Comcast Arlington.



I've verified that all of the new Channels are selected properly. They show up in the on-screen guide and all programs are listed properly with show descriptions. But when you tune to one of these channels it's just a black screen with no audio or video. It's been that way for months with the National Geographic Channel, the MTVHD channel and a few others. Now the new HD channels have finally been added here (SciFiHD, CNNHD, etc) and I just have a black screen.

I've rebooted the TivoHD, hoping the CableCard would check back it and correct the problem but that doesn't seem to change anything.

I'm hesitant to call Comcast Tech support since my experience in the past leads me to believe I know more about Tivo and CableCards than they do.

I'm a Arlington Comcast customer in Fairlington if anyone here is in this area.

It's pretty frustrating since I've been excited about these new channels since I first heard they were being added.


----------



## bfdtv

For some reason, your account is not authorized to receive those channels.


What level of digital service do you have? You won't get those channels with basic or extended basic, or whatever they are calling that now.


I would call Comcast and tell them that you are not receiving the HD cable channels. I would not even mention the CableCard or the TiVo; just get them to verify that your account is authorized to receive all the HD channels.


----------



## jcole66




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bfdtv* /forum/post/13306770
> 
> 
> For some reason, your account is not authorized to receive those channels.
> 
> 
> What level of digital service do you have? You won't get those channels with basic or extended basic, or whatever they are calling that now.
> 
> 
> I would call Comcast and tell them that you are not receiving the HD cable channels. I would not even mention the CableCard or the TiVo; just get them to verify that your account is authorized to receive all the HD channels.



Thanks for the reply. Well I know I'm authorized to receive those channels since they all appear properly on my Comcast HD cable box I rent from them to have On-Demand service. ALL channels show up properly on that box. So that makes me think it's either an authorization issue with the CableCard or a problem with the CableCard.

I will call them after work today to re-authorize the cable card.


----------



## Speqtre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jcole66* /forum/post/13307242
> 
> 
> Thanks for the reply. Well I know I'm authorized to receive those channels since they all appear properly on my Comcast HD cable box I rent from them to have On-Demand service. ALL channels show up properly on that box. So that makes me think it's either an authorization issue with the CableCard or a problem with the CableCard.
> 
> I will call them after work today to re-authorize the cable card.



I had the same situation when I got my Tivo HD/Cablecard. A quick call to Comcast telling them that my Cablecard was not provisioned/authorized for channels I was paying for and they fixed it in under 5 minutes. The CSR I worked with was very helpful and actually fairly knowledgeable.


----------



## euckersw

Not sure when this will come to the DC area, but hopefully sooner than later:

*Cox to Launch TiVo in New England*

http://www.multichannel.com/article/....html?nid=4262


----------



## pmturcotte

Verizon is burying their fiber cable in our neighborhood this week.


Unfortunately, while their commercials sounds great and I would love to save some money by getting a bundle pack, their HD offerings just don't justify a move from Directv - for me. Right now they have no sports packages at all which is a huge strike against them in my book and their HD offerings are average at best.


So while I am glad they are here I wont be signing up any time soon.


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *euckersw* /forum/post/13307696
> 
> 
> Not sure when this will come to the DC area, but hopefully sooner than later:
> 
> *Cox to Launch TiVo in New England*
> 
> http://www.multichannel.com/article/....html?nid=4262



What is it about New England that Comcast was also testing there first?


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *euckersw* /forum/post/13307696
> 
> 
> Not sure when this will come to the DC area, but hopefully sooner than later:
> 
> *Cox to Launch TiVo in New England*
> 
> http://www.multichannel.com/article/....html?nid=4262



Saw that as well in the business reports yest.

Hopefully these Comcast & Cox deals will help TiVo survive.

Cause their boxes are the best IMO.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Deezul* /forum/post/13308476
> 
> 
> What is it about New England that Comcast was also testing there first?



Apparently that is Comcast's most heavily concentrated area.


----------



## azitnay




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/13309747
> 
> 
> Saw that as well in the business reports yest.
> 
> Hopefully these Comcast & Cox deals will help TiVo survive.
> 
> Cause their boxes are the best IMO.



If you believe Fortune Magazine, deals like these will do a lot more than just help TiVo survive:

http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/03/tech...tune/index.htm 


Drew


----------



## bfdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pmturcotte* /forum/post/13307736
> 
> 
> Verizon is burying their fiber cable in our neighborhood this week.
> 
> 
> Unfortunately, while their commercials sounds great and I would love to save some money by getting a bundle pack, their HD offerings just don't justify a move from Directv - for me. Right now they have no sports packages at all which is a huge strike against them in my book and their HD offerings are average at best.



As alluded to above, this should be addressed in July in DC/VA/MD.


In July, FiOS in DC/VA/MD should have at least 60 HD cable channels -- comparable to the number on DirecTV -- plus some new sports packages, including sports packages with HD. MLB Extra Innings was the most recently announced package, and they already carry [the SD versions of] ESPN Gameplan and ESPN Full Court.


----------



## ahsan

I must have missed it, but where is it stated that Verizon is getting more HD in July? I thought I had read an earlier date once upon a time.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *azitnay* /forum/post/13309773
> 
> 
> If you believe Fortune Magazine, deals like these will do a lot more than just help TiVo survive:
> 
> http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/03/tech...tune/index.htm
> 
> 
> Drew



Nice.


----------



## bfdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ahsan* /forum/post/13311435
> 
> 
> I must have missed it, but where is it stated that Verizon is getting more HD in July? I thought I had read an earlier date once upon a time.



It is much earlier -- for some markets.


Verizon is expected to add a number of new HD channels in Oregon and Pittsburgh, PA later this month. But the equipment upgrades necessary to add those channels in the DC area won't be complete until July, if reported information is correct.


----------



## ahsan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bfdtv* /forum/post/13312109
> 
> 
> It is much earlier -- for some markets.
> 
> 
> Verizon is expected to add a number of new HD channels in Oregon and Pittsburgh, PA later this month. But the equipment upgrades necessary to add those channels in the DC area won't be complete until July, if reported information is correct.



Ahhh...thank you! I guess at the time I heard the early spring rumors it wasn't known if DC would have the equipment upgrades by then. Bummer.


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pmturcotte* /forum/post/13307736
> 
> 
> Verizon is burying their fiber cable in our neighborhood this week.
> 
> 
> Unfortunately, while their commercials sounds great and I would love to save some money by getting a bundle pack, their HD offerings just don't justify a move from Directv - for me. Right now they have no sports packages at all which is a huge strike against them in my book and their HD offerings are average at best.
> 
> 
> So while I am glad they are here I wont be signing up any time soon.



Interesting, but Kingstowne is really in Fairfax County; no news about Verizon stringing FiOS within Alexandria City.


Incidentally, I just got my Verizon (land-line) phone bill with an insert flyer stating "It's all here with our Triple Freedom: DIRECTV service, Internet and Phone. All from Verizon. All on one bill." The flyer further states "Prepare to see more HD TV than ever before." What's that all about? Is Verizon now competing with itself for HD TV service? Not that I'm interested; just curious.


----------



## mchief99

Apparently Verizon offers DirectTv to those areas where FiOS is not available. I don't think Verizon knows where Alexandria is.










On another note. I recorded USA Bourne... and saw no problems.


I was however, seeing pix/sound drops on ESPN during MLB this afternoon. 1 to 2 seconds of problem every minute or two and then 30 minutes of great picture and back to problems for 1 or 2 minutes for 10 or so minutes.


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mchief99* /forum/post/13312847
> 
> 
> I don't think Verizon knows where Alexandria is.



...except when it's time to send a bill


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Comcast will offer MASN HD games on MOJO-HD*


March 3, 3:13 PM


Today a Comcast spokesperson from confirmed to me that MASN-HD broadcasts of 80 games - 40 Nationals and 40 O's will be seen on the MOJO-HD channel. In Baltimore City it is channel 226 HD.


But check your channel guide to make sure.
*

The spokesperson told me that both Comcast and MASN were working hard so that next season both MASN and CSN+ will have full time HD channels.*


Here is what the Comcast spokesperson told me...


"It is in our best interest to show as much HD sports as we can on all of our systems. We are working to make that our cable customers are happy and we know they want HD baseball and also the Caps and Wizards all in HD."
*

"We had hoped that we could get it done this year but channel space just would not allow it so we are doing the next best thing. We are offering MASN 80 dates and we know that fans want more but this year that is best we can do. However our goal remains for 2009 for total HD for both MASN and CSN.+.*


That is confirms the reports that Comcast and mASN have been working together to get games on this season in HD.


As we know CSN already has their own dedicated channel and produces more live sports in HD each "


year. They started doing HD back in 2003 when the scramble for HD channel space was not so intense.


Look I would love to see both MASN and CSN broadcast all sports in HD as is done in other areas of the country but for now we will have to be happy with all the Wiz, Caps and DC United home games in HD and 40 games each for the Nats and the O's.


More to come soon.


MOJO is the network aimed at you to middle aged men. It is a livestyles network and a fun network to watch.

http://www.examiner.com/blogs/watch_...ames-on-MOJOHD


----------



## JayMan007




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ahsan* /forum/post/13311435
> 
> 
> I must have missed it, but where is it stated that Verizon is getting more HD in July? I thought I had read an earlier date once upon a time.



In the FiOS Programming thread...
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...0#post13100740


----------



## jacindc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zebras23* /forum/post/13299788
> 
> 
> Courtesy of JD Land.



Whoa! That's me! Didn't expect to see that here.










(and it is *quite* a screen)


----------



## jsilva982

Looks liek RCN DC has added Science Hd, TLC HD and animal planet HD. Not one to complain about more HD but I would have liked to see CNN and more importantly FX HD


----------



## gamegod2x

Alexandria, va - comcast added


Animal Planet HD

Food Network HD

USA HD

SciFi HD

History HD

HGTV HD

TLC HD


I believe thats it, i wish we had cnnhd or some other news in hd, but what a great surprise last night to see these channels.


----------



## billygreen23




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gamegod2x* /forum/post/13317468
> 
> 
> Alexandria, va - comcast added
> 
> 
> Animal Planet HD
> 
> Food Network HD
> 
> USA HD
> 
> SciFi HD
> 
> History HD
> 
> HGTV HD
> 
> TLC HD
> 
> 
> I believe thats it, i wish we had cnnhd or some other news in hd, but what a great surprise last night to see these channels.



Hehe, welcome to three days ago. And Alexandria does have CNN HD now, as well as Discovery HD.


----------



## zebras23




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jacindc* /forum/post/13316112
> 
> 
> Whoa! That's me! Didn't expect to see that here.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> (and it is *quite* a screen)



Sorry I'm so posting disabled that I couldn't paste and do links. Your JD Land site is incredible. I visit it daily and love all the photos of the ball park and neighborhood.


For those who haven't been to the site, I strongly encourage you to do so.

http://www.jdland.com/dc/stadium.cfm?tab=no3 


The one thing you haven't addressed on your site is Segway parking. Where will Jim Bowdin park his new Segway? Plus I would use mine from Metro if I knew the Nationals would offer free valet parking as they are doing for people who bicycle to the park.


Sorry this got off the HD track for all of you - but there are great pictures of the HD board at the site.


Also - let Barry S. know that I'm AKA HD Nats Fan on his National Journals blog and truly appreciate him getting on MASN about the HD coverage.


----------



## afiggatt

I posted this to the final DTV table of allotments sticky thread about what WMAR-DT ABC 2 and WUSA-DT CBS 9 have filed for in requesting changes to their post-transition (Feb 17, 2009) digital channel power and antenna height allotments. Both of these stations will be changing their digital channel: WMAR-DT from UHF 52 to 38 and WUSA-DT from UHF 34 to VHF 9. WMAR is looking to increase their coverage, good. But WUSA-DT is looking to DESCREASE their coverage area which according to the map in their attachment may result in people losing reception in western Fauquier & Clark and parts of Rappanhannock, Culpeper, Spotsylvania, Caroline counties. May be able to make it up with a dedicated good upper VHF antenna, but that remains to be seen.


The post was:

I don't know if anyone has been following up on the 387 filings, but a number of stations have submitted form 301s for changes to the post-transition DTV allotments set in the Appendix document. If I read it correctly, a number of filings have already been granted, which means the FCC is processing these quickly. If you want to look them up, select Service: Digital TV, Form Number: 301, and enter a start date of 02/10/2008 or so at http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/p...d/app_sear.htm . The start date of Feb 10 gets me 100 recent form 301 applications as of today.


Two stations of interest to me in the Baltimore-Washington markets.


WMAR 2 wants to increase their appendix B power on UHF 38 to 1000 kW for increased coverage. Interesting map in their attachment that shows that even with a 1000 kW UHF 38 signal, that the projected coverage of the digital signal is less than their current analog VHF 2 signal. I suspect people can make that up with good long range UHF antennas such as the CM 4228 or AD 91-XG, but we shall see how that goes. See http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/f...ibit_id=620736 .


WUSA 9 in DC wants to DECREASE their appendix B ERP on VHF 9 from 17 to 9.55 kW & the HAAT and go for a smaller coverage area. This is not going to go over well with the football fans out in the fringes who rely on WUSA-DT's signal for their CBS football in HD. See http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/f...ibit_id=623397 . I should be ok, but can someone who lives in the outer band of the coverage area that now falls outside the official coverage B zone write a protest to the FCC? Or does the FCC figure that it's WUSA's decision so long as it does not create interference issues with other stations?


----------



## jhlwas




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jsilva982* /forum/post/13316180
> 
> 
> Looks liek RCN DC has added Science Hd, TLC HD and animal planet HD. Not one to complain about more HD but I would have liked to see CNN and more importantly FX HD



And DISCOVERY HD.


hl


----------



## Sun Ra




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13251630
> 
> 
> WMAR-DT 2 is coming in fine OTA here in Sterling, VA. You should try a re-scan in case your tuner got bad PSIP data for the station. Can you manually tune to channel 52 or 52.1 and see anything on the signal strength meter?



Still having problems, it's with WJZ too now







. I think it is some issue with PSIP data. there is a file called ATSC.XML in vista that keeps some sort of rosetta stone of call number to physical frequency data. interestingly, both channels had incorrect data in there. the data seems to represent the Feb 17, 2009 (post-transition) datafor the channels. I edit the XML (and then add and remove a Digital channel from the add missing channels dialog to 'init' the file) and it all works great. but this data seems to have reset itself to the wrong into three times now. So, either Vista is updating the ATSC settings from bad PSID data? or Vista is Caching the bad data somewhere?


Any ideas? It's been holding strong this friday night, but I assume it will roll over again to bad data again soon enough.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13318442
> 
> 
> WUSA 9 in DC wants to DECREASE their appendix B ERP on VHF 9 from 17 to 9.55 kW & the HAAT and go for a smaller coverage area. This is not going to go over well with the football fans out in the fringes who rely on WUSA-DT's signal for their CBS football in HD. See http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/f...ibit_id=623397 .



At first, I thought that this was terrible. However, it turns out that the "legal" digital service area is only slightly smaller than the analog area, by ~ 2 miles in each direction. Don't believe me? Just view the legal service areas of WUSA analog 9 , and WUSA proposed 9.55 kW DT9 .


Very few people, if any, will be affected by this. If anything, it's probably to get WUSA out of a) upping the transmitter power -- and bills, and b) as user "Trip in VA" alluded to in another post , buying a brand new transmitting antenna -- the antenna they've filed for is the same as their analog one.


And remember that the FCC allows DT stations to broadcast at 5% over their rated power, so WUSA could technically operate at 10.0275 kW. Yippee!


----------



## voltore




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/13325906
> 
> 
> Very few people, if any, will be affected by this. If anything, it's probably to get WUSA out of a) upping the transmitter power -- and bills, and b) as user "Trip in VA" alluded to in another post , buying a brand new transmitting antenna -- the antenna they've filed for is the same as their analog one.



Oh boy, try interference protection. JLA and USA will be a lot happier in power bills next February anyway, a few kW aint gonna worry either way.


----------



## Mean




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bfdtv* /forum/post/13310195
> 
> 
> As alluded to above, this should be addressed in July in DC/VA/MD.
> 
> 
> In July, FiOS in DC/VA/MD should have at least 60 HD cable channels -- comparable to the number on DirecTV -- plus some new sports packages, including sports packages with HD. MLB Extra Innings was the most recently announced package, and they already carry [the SD versions of] ESPN Gameplan and ESPN Full Court.



When will they come to Manassas? I just got a mailing from Verizon. Their "triple play" uses DirectTV. I am tired of the commercials too. I guess I will miss out on the free LCD TV.


G


----------



## Tom Harms

Big transition ~ FIOS install 1 April. Want to retain Wash/Balt OTA, so I'm planning to get 3 TIVO (65216) HD DVRs with 3 TIVO (AG0100) Wireless Routers. Uncertain about TIVO service membership options and how this setup will actually work. Should need 3 M-CableCards for the 3 TIVOs and two S-CableCards for two Sharp AQUOS LCDs. Any thoughts or ideas in preparation for this transition would be appreciated. Thanks, Tom Harms ~ Ravensworth Farm


----------



## loco

Did any D* HR20 users notice an improvement when watching "Lost" on WJLA Thursday night? I didn't notice any of the normal breakups in picture I normally get. Is this problem fixed now?


----------



## tonyd79

Noticed some fringe buzzing noise on 54-1 this morning (during the cartoon block).


----------



## azitnay




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Tom Harms* /forum/post/13327516
> 
> 
> Big transition ~ FIOS install 1 April. Want to retain Wash/Balt OTA, so I'm planning to get 3 TIVO (65216) HD DVRs with 3 TIVO (AG0100) Wireless Routers. Uncertain about TIVO service membership options and how this setup will actually work. Should need 3 M-CableCards for the 3 TIVOs and two S-CableCards for two Sharp AQUOS LCDs. Any thoughts or ideas in preparation for this transition would be appreciated. Thanks, Tom Harms ~ Ravensworth Farm



Can't argue with the decision to go with TiVo... If you have the money to spend, it's the way to go.


Regarding service options, there are a multitude, and they're all laid out pretty well on tivo.com. The best value is the three-year prepay for $299, which works out to about $8.31 per month. Once you have service on the first unit, you should qualify for the multi-service discount on the other two units. The best value is the one-year prepay for $99, which works out to $8.25 per month (only marginally better than the first unit, but you're only committed for a year instead of three).


Other notes:


- I'd imagine you've done your homework and know this already, but with CableCARDs you won't get PPV or VOD functionality.


- Just for clarification, the AG0100's are wireless adapters, not wireless routers. They will connect to the internet via a wireless router.


- If they aren't able to give you single-stream CableCARDs for your TV's, multi-stream cards should work just fine.


Drew


----------



## Tom Harms

Hi Drew, Thanks for the info. Best Buy requires a purchase of the TIVO service at a pretty high monthly price. Looks like buying the HD DRVs separately on-line, then getting the service directly from TIVO.com is the best route. Thanks again, Tom


----------



## Tom Harms

Just ordered the hardware and service plans from tivo.com. Thanks, Tom Harms


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/13325906
> 
> 
> At first, I thought that this was terrible. However, it turns out that the "legal" digital service area is only slightly smaller than the analog area, by ~ 2 miles in each direction. Don't believe me? Just view the legal service areas of WUSA analog 9 , and WUSA proposed 9.55 kW DT9 .
> 
> 
> Very few people, if any, will be affected by this.



We will find out. Yes, I should have added that WUSA wants to use their current omni-directional VHF 9 antenna and not have to purchase & install the directional antenna specified in the FCC post-transition allotment. The map in the WUSA PDF attachment to their 301 filing shows the contour being slightly smaller than their analog coverage. Talk about timing; after I posted yesterday, the FCC posted a long document to their DTV website on accepting and rejecting changes to the final post-transition plans for stations across the US - WUSA was in it in paragraph 47 and got 13.6 kW ERP. WBPH-DT in Bethlehem, PA will be on DTV 9 and presents the biggest interference issue for WUSA-DT. For those who are curious, see the M&O document at http://www.fcc.gov/dtv/ . The FCC also released updates to the final DTV allotments, but more filings are coming in. The FCC needs to make their decisions quickly, because some stations can't order equipment until they know exactly what their final settings will be.


The question is how will the digital power for upper VHF translate to the current analog coverage of the four upper VHF stations in DC and Baltimore? I suspect people at the outer fringes and those using indoor antennas at the medium ranges will find they will have to upgrade their antenna setup. Here are the current analog and post-transition ERP (Effective Radiated Power) and HAAT (Height above Average Terrain) for the four upper VHF stations. Keep in mind that the ERPs for digital are lower because digital ERP is calculated differently and ATSC is more efficient. All four of the stations are broadcasting at maximum allowed power for analog upper VHF.


WJLA ABC 7: Analog 316 kW, 235 m; DT 7: 13.6 kW, 235 meters.

WUSA CBS 9: Analog 316 kW, 235 m; DT 9: 13.6 kW, 235 m.

WBAL NBC 11: Analog 316 kW, 299 m; DT 11: 6.91 kW, 312 m.

WJZ CBS 13: Analog 316 kW, 292 m; DT 13: 21.4 kW, 312 m.


WJZ will be installing a new directional antenna after Feb. 17, 2009 to be in place by April, 2009 to meet their post-transition allotment ( http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/f...ibit_id=616897 ). The 2 stations in Baltimore are getting some additional height if the analog specs are accurate which helps coverage. WBAL 11 may be the one with the weakest signal, but they stated they are looking for changes to the post-transition allotment. Next February will be a very interesting time for testing OTA reception!


----------



## Tom Harms

Has anyone in our area received a multi-stream Fios CableCard? Verizon Tech Support tells me that they have not be offered yet. Thanks, Tom Harms


----------



## bfdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Tom Harms* /forum/post/13328428
> 
> 
> Hi Drew, Thanks for the info. Best Buy requires a purchase of the TIVO service at a pretty high monthly price. Looks like buying the HD DRVs separately on-line, then getting the service directly from TIVO.com is the best route. Thanks again, Tom



Best Buy does not require activation with a TiVo. You can buy wherever you want and activate at TiVo.com.


If you want lifetime service (no monthly fees ever) on your TiVos, then you would buy the first TivoHD right here . You can buy additional TiVos online at $200-$250 and add lifetime service for $399.


To make lifetime service worthwhile, you would have to keep and use those TiVos for more than three years. I did not opt for lifetime because I doubt I will be satisfied with 2007 technology in 2010 or 2011, given the current pace of technology advancement. When a next-generation TiVo [or some other DVR] comes along in a year or two, I expect to upgrade.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Tom Harms* /forum/post/13329950
> 
> 
> Has anyone in our area received a multi-stream Fios CableCard? Verizon Tech Support tells me that they have not be offered yet. Thanks, Tom Harms



No MCARDs from Verizon in DC/VA/MD yet.


Instead of the TiVo USB wireless adapters, you really should consider Motorola NIM100s from ebay instead, especially if you plan to take advantage of multi-room viewing. Wireless 802.11g with the TiVo adapter is really too slow for high-definition multi-room viewing.


A Motorola NIM100 uses the existing coax in your home to provide 100Mbps wired networking. You connect the coax to the NIM100 and then connect the coax from the NIM100 to the TiVo; you then connect an ethernet cable from the NIM100 to the TiVo. There is no configuration whatsoever.


----------



## Tom Harms

Hi bfdtv, When you say the TiVo USB wireless adaper is too slow for high-definition multi-room viewing ~ can you describe the symptoms? Thanks, Tom


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Tom Harms* /forum/post/13330261
> 
> 
> Hi bfdtv, When you say the TiVo USB wireless adaper is too slow for high-definition multi-room viewing ~ can you describe the symptoms? Thanks, Tom



From my experience: Basically when using your home wireless router, it takes usually about the same amount of time to move the program from the originating record box to your other rooms as the program length itself.


----------



## Speqtre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/13330509
> 
> 
> From my experience: Basically when using your home wireless router, it takes usually about the same amount of time to move the program from the originating record box to your other rooms as the program length itself.



This is not caused by your wireless network - connected to a wired network, the series 3 tivo units (3 and HD) transfer programs very slowly. Tom, you should familiarize yourself with the nice people over at Tivocommunity - everything you could ever want to know (or not) about all aspects of Tivo.


----------



## Samurai




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mjw703* /forum/post/13268393
> 
> 
> Samurai, I feel your pain. I've had the SA DVR for four years, and while I like having a DVR, it certainly is not a Tivo. The only solution I have for you is for question 1, after you make a scheduled recording and select Record All Episodes, then hit Button A. You'll then have the option to record only first run shows, record every instance of that show in that time slot, or record every time the show is run. ....



Thanks, I saw this in the SA DVR manual exactly as you say but I never get an option to record only new shows. Everything else is the same and I get all the other options you mention (day, time slot, etc). I saw a note in the SA DRV manual that says the option to record new episodes is only available where supported by the cable operator. I don't see anything in the guide that tells me if a show is new or a repeat so I don't know how the DVR would be able to tell either. Everybody I know in a different county that has the Motorola DVR can record only new show.


----------



## bfdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/13330728
> 
> 
> This is not caused by your wireless network - connected to a wired network, the series 3 tivo units (3 and HD) transfer programs very slowly. Tom, you should familiarize yourself with the nice people over at Tivocommunity - everything you could ever want to know (or not) about all aspects of Tivo.



Multi-room transfers on the TiVo Series3 are well in excess of 30Mbps (up to 44Mbps) on a wired or coax network. With the TiVo wireless adapter, all transfers are limited to ~16Mbps assuming a perfect wireless signal. With a lesser wireless signal, multi-room transfers can be 10Mbps or less.


MRV on the TivoHD is only half as fast as the Tivo Series3 with the current 9.2a software, but TiVoPony said they (TiVo) would look at the possibility of improving MRV performance on the TivoHD with a software update . However, if / when they do that, you'll need a wired (or coax) networking to take advantage of that improvement. Wireless 802.11g just isn't fast enough.


More information in the MRV/TTG FAQ for the HD TiVo .



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Tom Harms* /forum/post/13330261
> 
> 
> Hi bfdtv, When you say the TiVo USB wireless adaper is too slow for high-definition multi-room viewing ~ can you describe the symptoms? Thanks, Tom



With 15-16Mbps MRV throughput, recordings from lower-bitrate HD channels such as ABC, FOX, Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, HBO, Showtime, Starz, and Universal HD can be watched immediately. However, with higher-bitrate (>16Mbps) channels -- such as CBS-HD, CNN-HD, Discovery Theater, ESPN-HD, Hdnet, Hdnet Movies, SciFi-HD, and USA-HD -- you are forced to wait a short while before you can begin watching. And at that rate of transfer, most high-definition recordings don't transfer fast enough to skip commercials on the fly.


In contrast, with the 30+Mbps MRV throughput on the Tivo Series3 with wired and coax networking, you can view any high-definition recording from another TiVo instantly, without delay, while skipping all commercials on the fly. Currently, this is the main benefit of Tivo Series3 over the TivoHD (and wired/coax over wireless). I do expect the TivoHD's MRV performance to improve with a software update, but that may not happen until later this year, and once again, you'll need wired or coax networking to take advantage of any such improvement.


----------



## Mean

I have Comcast analog but I have added the digital "in the clear" channels since my new TV has a QAM tuner. Generally they are quite good. There are two that I have trouble tuning in all of the time. They are WRC and WETA (4.5 and 26.1, respectively). They don't appear to be in the same frequency range according to the charts I have seen. Is there any particular reason why these two channels would be the most difficult to receive? When one is working, so is the other. And when there are both out, well, you get the idea. I am just a little perplexed. Probably just a Comcast issues but I thought I would ask. And no, Comcast is not remapping them. I already checked.


Thanks,

G


----------



## Whiteknight55

I have Comcast basic analog and I get local HD channels via QAM. I was away this week, and when I returned home I discovered that I no longer have NBC (WBAL) or ABC (WMAR) HD. I still have Fox (WBFF), though it moved to channel 0-0 for some reason, and I still have CBS (WJZ) and MPT. NBC and ABC just seem to be gone and my old ABC channel mapping now tunes to ABC2, the weather feed. Any idea what's going on here?


----------



## Speqtre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bfdtv* /forum/post/13330988
> 
> 
> Multi-room transfers on the TiVo Series3 are well in excess of 30Mbps (up to 44Mbps) on a wired or coax network. With the TiVo wireless adapter, all transfers are limited to ~16Mbps assuming a perfect wireless signal. With a lesser wireless signal, multi-room transfers can be 10Mbps or less.
> 
> 
> MRV on the TivoHD is only half as fast as the Tivo Series3 with the current 9.2a software, but TiVoPony said they (TiVo) would look at the possibility of improving MRV performance on the TivoHD with a software update . However, if / when they do that, you'll need a wired (or coax) networking to take advantage of that improvement. Wireless 802.11g just isn't fast enough.
> 
> 
> More information in the MRV/TTG FAQ for the HD TiVo .
> 
> 
> With 15-16Mbps MRV throughput, recordings from lower-bitrate HD channels such as ABC, FOX, Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, HBO, Showtime, Starz, and Universal HD can be watched immediately. However, with higher-bitrate (>16Mbps) channels -- such as CBS-HD, CNN-HD, Discovery Theater, ESPN-HD, Hdnet, Hdnet Movies, SciFi-HD, and USA-HD -- you are forced to wait a short while before you can begin watching. And at that rate of transfer, most high-definition recordings don't transfer fast enough to skip commercials on the fly.
> 
> 
> In contrast, with the 30+Mbps MRV throughput on the Tivo Series3 with wired and coax networking, you can view any high-definition recording from another TiVo instantly, without delay, while skipping all commercials on the fly. Currently, this is the main benefit of Tivo Series3 over the TivoHD (and wired/coax over wireless). I do expect the TivoHD's MRV performance to improve with a software update, but that may not happen until later this year, and once again, you'll need wired or coax networking to take advantage of any such improvement.



Sorry, I wasn't really thinking of MRV (I only have 1 Tivo HD), but rather my experience with TTG (Mac & PC) and how painfully slow those transfers are. You can't even watch an HD show in realtime when transferring to PC or Mac over a wired network.


----------



## RBrock

In the Legal Notices in Saturday's (Annapolis) Capital newspaper, Comcast announced that they will be adding the ION Life channel on April 9 in the City of Annapolis and Southern Anne Arundel County. Also AZN TV will discontinue operations that day. The analog versions of ION, CMT and G4 will be dropped as will the duplicated west coast feeds of most premium channels. The notice states: "All this is being done to help pave the way for significant improvements in the On Demand service and a major expansion of Comcast's high definition lineup in the coming weeks."


----------



## iporcinis

Does anyone know if Comcast is going to open up channels for the other 3 games not being televised? I know they have done this in the past, but haven't heard if they are going to do it this year.


----------



## bfdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/13334238
> 
> 
> Sorry, I wasn't really thinking of MRV (I only have 1 Tivo HD), but rather my experience with TTG (Mac & PC) and how painfully slow those transfers are. You can't even watch an HD show in realtime when transferring to PC or Mac over a wired network.



Right. TTG (downloading to PC) is only about 40-50% the 'speed' of MRV.


With MRV, the file is transferred in the original TiVo file format. With TTG, the file is remuxed into a MPG file for playback on computers; that remuxing consumes CPU and slows the transfer.


TTG (downloading to a PC) is almost twice as fast on the Tivo Series3 as the TivoHD, so presumably TiVo is working to improve that. Your guess is as good as mine as to when that will happen.


----------



## bfdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Whiteknight55* /forum/post/13333956
> 
> 
> I have Comcast basic analog and I get local HD channels via QAM. I was away this week, and when I returned home I discovered that I no longer have NBC (WBAL) or ABC (WMAR) HD. I still have Fox (WBFF), though it moved to channel 0-0 for some reason, and I still have CBS (WJZ) and MPT. NBC and ABC just seem to be gone and my old ABC channel mapping now tunes to ABC2, the weather feed. Any idea what's going on here?



When cable companies add new channels or install new equipment, they'll often rearrange their QAMs. This actually happens a lot less than it used to; there was a time when Comcast Arlington would rearrange some QAMs every month or so, and now it only happens a few times a year.


I would redo your channel scan and check all your QAMs, such as 87-2, 106-2, 110-1, etc.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/13334238
> 
> 
> Sorry, I wasn't really thinking of MRV (I only have 1 Tivo HD), but rather my experience with TTG (Mac & PC) and how painfully slow those transfers are. You can't even watch an HD show in realtime when transferring to PC or Mac over a wired network.



The TiVo software isn't optimized for the TiVoHD yet. With my Series 3 boxes I can transfer HD in faster than realtime while my TiVoHD boxes transfer HD in slower than realtime. There are supposed to be some update this Spring that address the speed although when the updates will be released is anyones guess.


----------



## Whiteknight55




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bfdtv* /forum/post/13336091
> 
> 
> When cable companies add new channels or install new equipment, they'll often rearrange their QAMs. This actually happens a lot less than it used to; there was a time when Comcast Arlington would rearrange some QAMs every month or so, and now it only happens a few times a year.
> 
> 
> I would redo your channel scan and check all your QAMs, such as 87-2, 106-2, 110-1, etc.



I did this both on my HTPC as well as directly on my TV but unfortunately NBC and ABC still seem to be missing.


----------



## gr8one626

How come I can watch other peoples on-demand via QAM? Will cable companies eventually catch on and prevent this?


----------



## jcorwin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Samurai* /forum/post/13330975
> 
> 
> Thanks, I saw this in the SA DVR manual exactly as you say but I never get an option to record only new shows. Everything else is the same and I get all the other options you mention (day, time slot, etc). I saw a note in the SA DRV manual that says the option to record new episodes is only available where supported by the cable operator. I don't see anything in the guide that tells me if a show is new or a repeat so I don't know how the DVR would be able to tell either. Everybody I know in a different county that has the Motorola DVR can record only new show.



The "new show" flag is part of the program guide data, but it has never been implemented by Comcast in Howard County, even though many other DC/Balt Comcast systems have it. I have written to them several times to ask why. Maybe a concerted effort by Howard County subscribers will convince them. After all, many of us now have FIOS as an option...


----------



## rustycruiser

Comcast HBO/Cinemax free preview?


I got a message a couple of weeks ago on my box (Baltimore County) about a free preview weekend coming up. My wife then deleted the message, without noting the date. I have checked the last few weeks, and have yet to see it. Does anyone recall the dates? Cheers


----------



## bfdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gr8one626* /forum/post/13337532
> 
> 
> How come I can watch other peoples on-demand via QAM? Will cable companies eventually catch on and prevent this?



Cable companies have no interest in spending the money on equipment to encrypt VOD QAM streams that 0.0001% customers will use.


----------



## machpost

This is slightly off-topic, but does anyone know how to get the attention of tvguide.com in order to get them to update the channel line-ups for different cable companies? Their listings for RCN here in D.C. haven't been updated in over a year, so there are probably a dozen channels that don't show up. I've tried sending them e-mail, but I never get a response.


----------



## jgantert

Great news! Got an email back from my20, and they said they will be carrying 9 Nats games in HD this year!










Still no word from WJZ if they will have any HD O's games this year or not.


-John


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/13339949
> 
> 
> Great news! Got an email back from my20, and they said they will be carrying 9 Nats games in HD this year!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Still no word from WJZ if they will have any HD O's games this year or not.
> 
> 
> -John



If you look at the MASN schedule, you will be able to see what games will be in HD on WJZ and MY20.

http://www.masnsports.com/pdfs/2008_Orioles_on_MASN.pdf 

http://www.masnsports.com/pdfs/2008_Nats_on_MASN.pdf


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *iporcinis* /forum/post/13335677
> 
> 
> Does anyone know if Comcast is going to open up channels for the other 3 games not being televised? I know they have done this in the past, but haven't heard if they are going to do it this year.



They do?


As far as I know, Mega March Madness is a DirecTV exclusive.


----------



## tonyd79

Kudos to WBFF, which had local high school basketball (Catholic championship) on 45-2. Nicely done. I stumbled on it. No promotion that I had seen.


----------



## iporcinis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/13341299
> 
> 
> They do?
> 
> 
> As far as I know, Mega March Madness is a DirecTV exclusive.



I believe Mega March Madness is slightly different. I think that allows you to watch all games at once (or the other 3 not on in your area) on one screen and not be interrupted by studio cut-ins and whatnot. I'm talking about the local CBS affiliate opening up additional channels to show the feeds for the out of area games. I found this thread discussing it. It looks like it is up to the affiliate and not like the cable provider as I originally thought.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/13340006
> 
> 
> If you look at the MASN schedule, you will be able to see what games will be in HD on WJZ and MY20.



So WJZ is going to be broadcasting them in HD as well?


----------



## mr_smith




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Sun Ra* /forum/post/13323954
> 
> 
> Still having problems, it's with WJZ too now
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . I think it is some issue with PSIP data. there is a file called ATSC.XML in vista that keeps some sort of rosetta stone of call number to physical frequency data. interestingly, both channels had incorrect data in there. the data seems to represent the Feb 17, 2009 (post-transition) datafor the channels. I edit the XML (and then add and remove a Digital channel from the add missing channels dialog to 'init' the file) and it all works great. but this data seems to have reset itself to the wrong into three times now. So, either Vista is updating the ATSC settings from bad PSID data? or Vista is Caching the bad data somewhere?
> 
> 
> Any ideas? It's been holding strong this friday night, but I assume it will roll over again to bad data again soon enough.



You are indeed correct that Vista will overwrite any changes you make to atscchannels.xml (I believe this happens every time MC updates the guide data). Here is an article I found that describes how to work around the problem:

http://thenears.wordpress.com/2006/0...issues-in-mce/ 


The short of it is that first you delete the incorrect channel from atscchannels.xml, then you are able to add the channel manually with the correct frequency. Supposedly your custom added channel will take precedence and not be overwritten with the incorrect frequency when MC does its updates.


----------



## cleek




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Sun Ra* /forum/post/13323954
> 
> 
> Still having problems, it's with WJZ too now
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . I think it is some issue with PSIP data. there is a file called ATSC.XML in vista that keeps some sort of rosetta stone of call number to physical frequency data. interestingly, both channels had incorrect data in there. the data seems to represent the Feb 17, 2009 (post-transition) datafor the channels. I edit the XML (and then add and remove a Digital channel from the add missing channels dialog to 'init' the file) and it all works great. but this data seems to have reset itself to the wrong into three times now. So, either Vista is updating the ATSC settings from bad PSID data? or Vista is Caching the bad data somewhere?
> 
> 
> Any ideas? It's been holding strong this friday night, but I assume it will roll over again to bad data again soon enough.



I'm having the same problem with Vista WMC. 9.1 and 50.1 have the wrong channel assignments and will not hold a manual edit of the config file. I check with WUSA and they believe the PSIP stream is OK. 3 of my other ATSC tuners are just fine so I'm inclined to believe them. So where on earth is MSFT getting the incorrect (future) channel mapping data for their updates?!?


----------



## jswclw




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cleek* /forum/post/13344997
> 
> 
> I'm having the same problem with Vista WMC. 9.1 and 50.1 have the wrong channel assignments and will not hold a manual edit of the config file. I check with WUSA and they believe the PSIP stream is OK. 3 of my other ATSC tuners are just fine so I'm inclined to believe them. So where on earth is MSFT getting the incorrect (future) channel mapping data for their updates?!?



I spent hours trying to find any easy way to recover from this same problem. I don't know what it did it, but I think Friday night, channels 9 and 50 got remapped from the correct physical channels (34 and 51) to 9 and 50.


The atscchannels.xml file is the source of the problem. To correct, I removed the incorrect entries for 9 and 50 from it. Then in MCE added 9 and 50 back in as if they were missing channels.


I just checked and MCE has put the bad entries back into that XML file again. It probably just a metter of time before things go wrong again.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/13341321
> 
> 
> Kudos to WBFF, which had local high school basketball (Catholic championship) on 45-2. Nicely done. I stumbled on it. No promotion that I had seen.



I did the camera shading for that. It was an exciting game!


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cleek* /forum/post/13344997
> 
> 
> I'm having the same problem with Vista WMC. 9.1 and 50.1 have the wrong channel assignments and will not hold a manual edit of the config file. I check with WUSA and they believe the PSIP stream is OK. 3 of my other ATSC tuners are just fine so I'm inclined to believe them. So where on earth is MSFT getting the incorrect (future) channel mapping data for their updates?!?



There are three places in the PSIP where the channel number is located (I found that out the hard way). Different tuners look at different places for it, so it could still be wrong even if a number of receivers say that it's OK.


If a number of people are having the same problem, especially if it's something that changes again after being manually corrected, I would suspect the PSIP that I was sending out...


----------



## micro8safe




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rustycruiser* /forum/post/13338710
> 
> 
> Comcast HBO/Cinemax free preview?
> 
> 
> I got a message a couple of weeks ago on my box (Baltimore County) about a free preview weekend coming up. My wife then deleted the message, without noting the date. I have checked the last few weeks, and have yet to see it. Does anyone recall the dates? Cheers



I think it's next weekend, 20-23


----------



## Sun Ra




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mr_smith* /forum/post/13344987
> 
> 
> You are indeed correct that Vista will overwrite any changes you make to atscchannels.xml (I believe this happens every time MC updates the guide data). Here is an article I found that describes how to work around the problem:
> 
> http://thenears.wordpress.com/2006/0...issues-in-mce/
> 
> 
> The short of it is that first you delete the incorrect channel from atscchannels.xml, then you are able to add the channel manually with the correct frequency. Supposedly your custom added channel will take precedence and not be overwritten with the incorrect frequency when MC does its updates.



OK, trying this, thanks Mr. Smith.


----------



## Whiteknight55




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Whiteknight55* /forum/post/13336990
> 
> 
> I did this both on my HTPC as well as directly on my TV but unfortunately NBC and ABC still seem to be missing.



I called Comcast this morning and they said that there are problems on their end in my area. Oh well, back to OTA for a while.


----------



## Marcus Carr

New HD channels coming to E*, most by this summer:


ABC Family

AMC

BET

Biography

Bravo

Cartoon Network

CNN

CMT

Disney

ESPN News

HBO2

IFC

MGMHD

MTV

MoreMAX

Nickelodeon

Sci-Fi

Smithsonian

Starz Edge

Tennis

Toon Disney

USA Network

VH1

The Weather Channel

WGN

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1006263


----------



## raidbuck

WGN in HD? That would be great for all the sports they show. We'll see when Comcast picks it up.


Rich N.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *iporcinis* /forum/post/13342799
> 
> 
> I believe Mega March Madness is slightly different. I think that allows you to watch all games at once (or the other 3 not on in your area) on one screen and not be interrupted by studio cut-ins and whatnot. I'm talking about the local CBS affiliate opening up additional channels to show the feeds for the out of area games. I found this thread discussing it. It looks like it is up to the affiliate and not like the cable provider as I originally thought.



No, Mega March Madness is out of market games just like Sunday Ticket, or Extra Innings or Center Ice. There is a mix channel but it is not what defines Mega March Madness.


As far as I know, only a handful of local affiliates use subchannels for out of market games and none of them are in HD. I don't know where you are but WJZ has no subchannels at all.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/13349463
> 
> 
> New HD channels coming to E*, most by this summer:
> 
> 
> ABC Family
> 
> AMC
> 
> BET
> 
> Biography
> 
> Bravo
> 
> Cartoon Network
> 
> CNN
> 
> CMT
> 
> Disney
> 
> ESPN News
> 
> HBO2
> 
> IFC
> 
> MGMHD
> 
> MTV
> 
> MoreMAX
> 
> Nickelodeon
> 
> Sci-Fi
> 
> Smithsonian
> 
> Starz Edge
> 
> Tennis
> 
> Toon Disney
> 
> USA Network
> 
> VH1
> 
> The Weather Channel
> 
> WGN
> 
> http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1006263



Wow... Most of those are way behind DirecTV and some cable ops. DirecTV's new satellite launches in 6 days. Could be ready by mid-May... Looking for the rest of the HBO/Max channels in HD to be launched then...


----------



## CycloneGT

The just look like deals with the regular suspects. Viacom, Disney, etc... Shame that many of those are just part time HD channels. At least I'll have Cartoon Network in time for those Star Wars cartoons in the fall. Still, without Speed-HD, I will feel the lose.


----------



## euckersw

For those Cox Fairfax Tivo/Cable Card users out there, I noticed last night that the newly added Cinemax HD channel (733) is a non-SDV channel. It's amazing how we keep hearing that Cox is out of space to add more non-SDV HD channels, yet for a pay channel they somehow can make/find some space (probably at the expense of the picture quality on other HD channels).


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/13034011
> 
> 
> I sent an email to Rick Germano, Senior Vice President of Customer Operations.
> 
> http://www.comcast.com/Corporate/Cus...ContactUs.html (Right side of page)
> 
> 
> I got a call from someone in the corporate office saying these channels will be added "in March." Looks like the above mailing was a bit off.



Here's the LATEST date for the new Comcast channels (







): April 9.


CNN HD, channel 234

History HD, channel 237

TLC HD, channel 240


SD channels:

Fuse, channel 148

IFC, channel 164

ION Life, channel 285


Digital converter now required:

ION, channel 20/286

CMT, channel 52/146

G4, channel 62/162


----------



## Mean

QAM just got remapped in Prince William County. To my surprise, I now have Discovery HD and ScFi HD. I wonder how long before they notice and scramble them again.


G


----------



## zyvo23




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Mean* /forum/post/13355070
> 
> 
> QAM just got remapped in Prince William County. To my surprise, I now have Discovery HD and ScFi HD. I wonder how long before they notice and scramble them again.
> 
> 
> G



not for long if someone is reading this thread.


----------



## chandler1818

New RCN HD channels in Montgomery County: Animal Planet HD, Discovery Channel HD, Science Channel HD and TLC HD.


----------



## bucnasty




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *euckersw* /forum/post/13354796
> 
> 
> For those Cox Fairfax Tivo/Cable Card users out there, I noticed last night that the newly added Cinemax HD channel (733) is a non-SDV channel. It's amazing how we keep hearing that Cox is out of space to add more non-SDV HD channels, yet for a pay channel they somehow can make/find some space (probably at the expense of the picture quality on other HD channels).



could that be why it was unencrypted when it first launched??


----------



## machpost

RCN has also just announced the completion of a deal to carry The Smithsonian Channel HD. link


----------



## dg28

A first for local HD?


Watching the Wizards game last night on CSN HD (which by the way are a thing of beauty in HD) and I saw a commercial in HD for American Service Center. Yes, we've all seen commercials in HD by now, but this was a HD commercial for a local retailer broadcast on a local channel (a RSN to be exact). I guess American Service Center is selling a lot of Mercedes these days and can afford to spring for HD commercials. Anyway, this is a good thing.


----------



## bfdtv

Ohh my...


When did Comcast start recompressing its local channels?


Update: Recordings this past episode were the same.


----------



## lax01

I've noticed that FOX5 HD via Comcast has been looking rather crappy and grainy the past few days...guess we can chalk that up to over-compression...


I don't think I've seen such terrible PQ on FOX than when I was watching Cantebury's Law the other day...looked downright terrible.


----------



## BenSanford




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/13345714
> 
> 
> There are three places in the PSIP where the channel number is located (I found that out the hard way). Different tuners look at different places for it, so it could still be wrong even if a number of receivers say that it's OK.
> 
> 
> If a number of people are having the same problem, especially if it's something that changes again after being manually corrected, I would suspect the PSIP that I was sending out...



I'm having the same problem with Vista and WusaTV9 - can't tune it in with a HD Homerun ATSC tuner. All the other channels are fine.


Any ideas on how to get this resolved?


----------



## cjghome

Anyone else having problems...


My MCE 2005 w/ ASTC tuner is not receiving channel 50 & 9 (DC), any one know if they are remaping the signal or moving their broadcast ?


Charlie


Hmmm..maybe the wind has moved my CM #4228...


Just asking in case the wind is not the problem...


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cjghome* /forum/post/13365603
> 
> 
> My MCE 2005 w/ ASTC tuner is not receiving channel 50 & 9 (DC), any one know if they are remaping the signal or moving their broadcast ?



Both WUSA-DT 9 and WDCW-DT 50 are coming in fine OTA here in Sterling. They are showing their correct mapped channel for the Samsung ATSC tuner.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13366111
> 
> 
> Both WUSA-DT 9 and WDCW-DT 50 are coming in fine OTA here in Sterling. They are showing their correct mapped channel for the Samsung ATSC tuner.



Same in MoCo, been fine all night. Although CW50 still has that annoying sound glitch every few minutes.


----------



## vthokie820




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/13366184
> 
> 
> Same in MoCo, been fine all night. Although CW50 still has that annoying sound glitch every few minutes.



I've been noticing that too.


----------



## dmulvany

Testing Coupon-Eligible Converter Boxes in the DC area


I've been evaluating the Insignia CECB and recently the Zenith CECB, using digital closed captioning most of the time.


The Insignia crashed five different times within 3 weeks and seemed to do that only on channels from stations that have a glitch with their captioning for digital programs. Most crashes occured with the my 20 affiliate but also happened with WJLA.


I've also been noticing that the Insignia's captions for the 11 pm showing of Law and Order on my20 frequently get out of sync with the video and audio.


[Last night, the my20 network stopped broadcasting captions altogether midway through the 11 pm showing. As of 1:36 am, there are still no captions for the my20 programs (including "tyra") via the digital channel, 20.1, though there are captions for the analog channel.


No one else on the AVS Forum has reported a problem with the Insignia crashing; I suspect it might be an interaction between the box and improper captions being transmitted from the TV stations. It'll be interesting to see if the Zenith ever crashes.


----------



## bucnasty

if you didn't already know, insiginia is a house brand of best buy. given that, i seriously doubt that the company actually made the product. i will dig to see the actual supplier if anyone is interested.


----------



## FineWare

Didn't see this mentioned, but DirecTV just added Ch50 in to their DC locals in HD yesterday.


...and boy is it pixelating on motion. Is the OTA signal this compressed?


----------



## CycloneGT

Good deal. I have noted it. Thanks.


----------



## machpost

MASN has added the channel locations for MASN HD to their Web site:
http://masnstudios.com/2007/09/find-masn.html 


It's not complete, but it's a start.


----------



## gr8one626

I've ordered two coupons for converter boxes from DTV2009.gov. My question is, how much do the boxes cost after the coupon? What stores accept the coupon?


Thanks.


----------



## vthokie820




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bucnasty* /forum/post/13366935
> 
> 
> if you didn't already know, insiginia is a house brand of best buy. given that, i seriously doubt that the company actually made the product. i will dig to see the actual supplier if anyone is interested.



The Insignia box is the same as the Zenith. Both were manufactured by LG.


----------



## Jboy001

I'm also using vista media center with a HVR-1800 and have lost the ability to tune in CBS channel 9. Anyone have any ideas how to fix this?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/13368333
> 
> 
> MASN has added the channel locations for MASN HD to their Web site:
> http://masnstudios.com/2007/09/find-masn.html
> 
> 
> It's not complete, but it's a start.



Thanks for posting the link. What I find interesting is that it shows just how many video head end systems Comcast has in the region. MASN and MASN2 are at many different channel #s across the VHEs. Meanwhile Mojo HD is at 206 or 226 in most places. Some Comcast VHEs are listed as No HD for MASN-HD. So I looked up the Comcast channel line-up for Culpepper county and they have only 10 HD channels & no Mojo? Ouch. Shows that some Comcast areas are still trailing badly in adding HD channel.s


Version Fios is listed as TBA. Will be interesting to see how they add a part-time MASN-HD feed and how long it takes. Verizon does not have a Mojo HD channel they can pre-empt, so my guess is they will put MASN-HD at channel 830, but it will be a video loop feed of a logo when MASN-HD is not active. I have little confidence that Verizon will add a MASN-HD feed in time for the first HD game.


----------



## Trip in VA

Hello everyone:


Just thought I'd come and make a post in here, due to the interesting filings yesterday.


WBAL-DT has filed to use their analog antenna with 5 kW on channel 11.


WJZ-DT has filed to replace their analog antenna with a new digital one (along with WMAR, who wants 1000 kW on channel 38) which will be 28.8 kW directional on channel 13.


Coverage of WMAR-DT 38:
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...DT1235583.html 


Coverage of WBAL-DT 11:
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...DT1237585.html 


Coverage of WJZ-DT 13:
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...DT1237603.html 


Both stations have to protect WWPX in Martinsburg.


Hope it helps!


- Trip


----------



## JMNorse




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Whiteknight55* /forum/post/13349315
> 
> 
> I called Comcast this morning and they said that there are problems on their end in my area. Oh well, back to OTA for a while.



I'm having a similar problem. Are you using the Howard County Comcast service? Monday night I discovered that they had remapped the unencrypted feeds. Of the ~24 feeds I was receiving, only 10 were still unencrypted, and only two of those were HD. Most of the major network HD feeds were gone.


----------



## BenSanford




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Jboy001* /forum/post/13368739
> 
> 
> I'm also using vista media center with a HVR-1800 and have lost the ability to tune in CBS channel 9. Anyone have any ideas how to fix this?



I finally found the solution to this from a link somewhere back in this thread. The problem is only in M$ media center software, where they have the wrong data for ATSC CBS Channel 9 in a table.


I had saved the file from that link so a short version is that you have to find the "hidden" file

"C:\\Documents and Settings\\All Users\\Application data\\Microsoft\\eHome\\EPG\\prefs\\atscchannels.xml"

This file contains all of the channel information that was downloaded by the guide, and they recently downloaded incorrect data.


Editing this file won’t have much effect though, because it will get updated every time the guide downloads. However you do want to edit that file and delete the whole line for WUSA.


Then in the channel setup in the tasks area of Vista Media center you need to manually add channel 9.1 at frequency 34. Doing this will create a file

C:\\Documents and Settings\\All Users\\Application Data\\Microsoft\\eHome\\EPG\\prefs\\atscprefs.xml

This file contains all of the channel information that you’ve manually added to the system, and luckily when there is conflict in information (downloaded from the Guide) this file wins. It is not updated by the guide, so this is where we want to make our tweaks. This file may not actually exist yet on your PC, it is only created by MCE when you manually add a missing channel.


If you need further info I can forward the whole word document I copied off the link that I can't find.


Ben


----------



## Mean




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zyvo23* /forum/post/13355459
> 
> 
> not for long if someone is reading this thread.



Gone. It was a nice two days.










G


----------



## bucnasty

is anyone else seeing the maryland game on my20 in SD on the HD feed? I am watching on cable in cox country, no HD antenna to double-check with


----------



## mikepinkerton

Yup, I was just signing in here to complain via D*. It's something wrong with 20. Did someone forget to flip a switch!?!?


-Mike


----------



## RalphArch

Just threw the switch on OTA to HD


----------



## bucnasty

jackpot.


----------



## bucnasty

at least the pq was good.....


----------



## Whiteknight55




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JMNorse* /forum/post/13372095
> 
> 
> I'm having a similar problem. Are you using the Howard County Comcast service? Monday night I discovered that they had remapped the unencrypted feeds. Of the ~24 feeds I was receiving, only 10 were still unencrypted, and only two of those were HD. Most of the major network HD feeds were gone.



Close, I'm in Baltimore County. All of my HD network feeds came back some time between Wednesday night and Thursday morning and I got them all remapped yesterday. No apparent changes other than, possibly, the lost of some of the random music/spanish stations in the 100s that don't come up with callsigns.


----------



## Mean




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bucnasty* /forum/post/13375599
> 
> 
> at least the pq was good.....



You were supposed to say that at least Maryland lost.










G


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cjghome* /forum/post/13365603
> 
> 
> Anyone else having problems...
> 
> 
> My MCE 2005 w/ ASTC tuner is not receiving channel 50 & 9 (DC), any one know if they are remaping the signal or moving their broadcast ?
> 
> 
> Charlie
> 
> 
> Hmmm..maybe the wind has moved my CM #4228...
> 
> 
> Just asking in case the wind is not the problem...



I think you're fine, I had the same problem up here in Elkridge. It was Media Center, not the stations. Find your "atscchannels.xml" file (Vista = C:\\ProgramData\\Microsoft\\eHome\\EPG\\prefs; XPMCE will be rooted in a different location). You will see incorrect physical channels for both WUSA and WDCW. (If you get Maryland OTA, you might see a bad physical channel for WMAR as well)


Here are the correct entries:






Yours will likely say "50", "9", and "38" respectively.


I had to make that file read-only to stop Media Center from overwriting it. The "Guide" information seems to be wrong, they're jumping the gun and using the 2009 designations for these channels.


I also had to add a temporary fake DTV channel to the guide to get it to reload this file. I added 51.1 WCDWX. It won't tune (obviously), but MCE needed something to kick start it. If I remove that fake channel, it reverts back to not tuning WUSA and WDCW again, but leaves WMAR alone.


----------



## afiggatt

WNVT-DT 30 is operating at reduced power. I noticed a few days ago that I was no longer getting WNVT-DT 30 OTA, but only a weak signal for the station. I'm in Sterling and my CM 4221 antenna is aimed at Baltimore to get the Baltimore and DC stations. WVNT-DT's antenna is located to south in Goldvein area; the CM 4221 picks it up in a sidelobe so it always a little tricky to get the station. Anyway, I emailed WNVT-DT's engineer yesterday and got a rather quick reply that WNVT-DT power is down 15% until parts on order from Harris come in; should be back at full power in the next week.


He also added this morning that WNVT-DT may move to carry MHz 1 to 6 at 3.1 Mbps per channel versus MHz 1 to 5 at 3.5 Mbps to carry all of the English language channels when WNVC 56/57 is shut down at the end of August to replace the antennas with a new UHF 24 antenna for post Feb 17, 2009 operation.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13398495
> 
> 
> He also added this morning that WNVT-DT may move to carry MHz 1 to 6 at 3.1 Mbps per channel versus MHz 1 to 5 at 3.5 Mbps to carry all of the English language channels when WNVC 56/57 is shut down at the end of August to replace the antennas with a new UHF 24 antenna for post Feb 17, 2009 operation.



6 streams on one channel??? Wow...


----------



## Trip in VA

I'll be amused to see what the picture quality is on those 6 streams. It'll be interesting to see how bad it gets or how usable it stays.


- Trip


----------



## spacemonk

Does Comcast in Alexandria carry ESPNU?


----------



## raidbuck

Comcast does not carry ESPNU anywhere. It never reached agreement with ESPN since it wanted to place it in the Sports Tier and ESPN refused.


Rich N.


----------



## FineWare




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13398495
> 
> 
> ...WNVT-DT may move to carry MHz 1 to 6...



I'm within earshot of Goldvein and have been having some trouble with 30 during the day and evening since about early Winter. I suspect the power was originally lowered some months ago.


Incidentally, for some silly reason, they replaced MHz 2 (Russkii MIR) with MHz 6 (NHK) quite a while ago on 30-2. NHK is now on 30-2 and 57-2, yet MIR is nowhere to be found (DirecTV's electronic guide still thinks 30-2 is MIR, however).


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/13399198
> 
> 
> I'll be amused to see what the picture quality is on those 6 streams. It'll be interesting to see how bad it gets or how usable it stays.
> 
> 
> - Trip



The station is cash strapped too. I can't see them having the latest-and-greatest euipment neither...


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/13368333
> 
> 
> MASN has added the channel locations for MASN HD to their Web site:
> http://masnstudios.com/2007/09/find-masn.html
> 
> 
> It's not complete, but it's a start.



It is also probably incorrect for DirecTV.


MASN HD is not full time, right? If it is not, then the channels for HD on DirecTV will be 626-1 and 671-1. Only full time HDs get the same number as the SD channel.


----------



## afiggatt

Today is the first day that Everybody Loves Raymond was to be made available in HD for syndication. Surprisingly, WDCA-DT My 20 is showing Raymond in HD at 10 PM ET. So we have another syndicated HD weekday program for the DC stations.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13404873
> 
> 
> Today is the first day that Everybody Loves Raymond was to be made available in HD for syndication. Surprisingly, WDCA-DT My 20 is showing Raymond in HD at 10 PM ET. So we have another syndicated HD weekday program for the DC stations.



What's the first?


----------



## CycloneGT

Two and a half men has been in HD for a while in syndication on CW50. Plus Wheel of Fortune & Jeopardy.


----------



## mapper




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/13404880
> 
> 
> What's the first?



Two and a Half Men on the CW is also syndicated in HD.


I just got FiOS after a long battle for my phone number. But unfortunately, on the day of the install the installer came with no CableCARD for my TV(even though I requested it many times). So I went ahead and ordered it right after the installation, and the representative told me that I could do a self-install of a CableCARD. Is this even possible? Because I never thought Verizon, one of the best price gougers, would save money and let us do our own installs.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/13405229
> 
> 
> I just got FiOS after a long battle for my phone number. But unfortunately, on the day of the install the installer came with no CableCARD for my TV(even though I requested it many times). So I went ahead and ordered it right after the installation, and the representative told me that I could do a self-install of a CableCARD. Is this even possible? Because I never thought Verizon, one of the best price gougers, would save money and let us do our own installs.



No, all the reports I have read said that Verizon requires a service call to install the cable cards. The CSRs are not well briefed on cable cards and often confuse them with the STBs that they can mail out. Check the dedicated Fios threads in the Reception Hardware and HD Programming forums; also dslreports has a active Fios TV forum at http://www.dslreports.com/forum/vzfiostv .


Follow-up on WNVT-DT MHz 30. If they go to 6 SD sub-channels, it will only be temporary while WNVC-DT 56 is dark. They plan to have 5 SD sub-channels on each station next year with MHz 1 to 5 on one and MHz 6 to 10 on the other. Interesting use of the sub-channel capability to provide a LOT of niche programming.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/13402070
> 
> 
> It is also probably incorrect for DirecTV.
> 
> 
> MASN HD is not full time, right? If it is not, then the channels for HD on DirecTV will be 626-1 and 671-1. Only full time HDs get the same number as the SD channel.



Correct, MASN HD is only turned on for games. It was mentioned in a news article somewhere that they will probably be full-time in 2009, though.


----------



## mapper




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13405474
> 
> 
> No, all the reports I have read said that Verizon requires a service call to install the cable cards. The CSRs are not well briefed on cable cards and often confuse them with the STBs that they can mail out. Check the dedicated Fios threads in the Reception Hardware and HD Programming forums; also dslreports has a active Fios TV forum at http://www.dslreports.com/forum/vzfiostv .



Darn, I was kinda hoping that I could do it, considering I had done the last install myself without the tech's help(he had no idea what he was doing). I guess I should be waiting for a phone call saying, "Oh we messed up, we gotta send a tech out instead and charge you $24.99, anyways."


----------



## Speqtre

Nope, you won't be getting a call, so don't bother waiting for it. Were they supposedly going to mail you the cablecards, or were you picking them up somewhere? One time a Verizon CSR told me I could swap out a defective DVR at a location in Falls Church. I went there, DVR in hand, and got to the locked front door. It was a Verizon corporate location, with no Customer Service presence at all.


----------



## koolkat1973

I have an LG 50pb4d Plasma tv with built in DVR and is connected to OTA for local high definition channels in the Washington DC area. I have been TVGOS guide data with no problems for approximately 5 months when it all of a sudden gave me problems three weeks ago. Now... I can only get sporadic guide data on different days and even on different channels. I have tried reinitalizing the TV and setting it up from scratch again but still the same problem. My HD channels all come in very strong. I can tune to the HD channels just fine... but just my tv guide data giving me problems.


I have a Sony HDDVR in my family room that also uses the TVGOS for guide data and that has been working flawlessly still. Does anyone have an idea of what the problem may be? Anything I can test for or check out? Please advise. Thank you.


REgards,

Kiet


----------



## mapper




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Speqtre* /forum/post/13408517
> 
> 
> Nope, you won't be getting a call, so don't bother waiting for it. Were they supposedly going to mail you the cablecards, or were you picking them up somewhere? One time a Verizon CSR told me I could swap out a defective DVR at a location in Falls Church. I went there, DVR in hand, and got to the locked front door. It was a Verizon corporate location, with no Customer Service presence at all.



Verizon was supposedly mailing it, looks like I need to make a call myself cause I am dying without my HD goodness.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/13410494
> 
> 
> Verizon was supposedly mailing it, looks like I need to make a call myself cause I am dying without my HD goodness.



You need to call Verizon and try to get a CSR who understands what you mean when you say "cable card" and schedule a service call. You should check the Tivo forums, even if you don't have a HD Tivo, for info on exactly what steps are needed to install the cable card. Don't expect the tech to have much experience with cable cards.


Since you are putting the cable card in a TV, your TV should then be able to get the non-encrypted QAM channels while waiting for the cable card. All of the HD and SD local stations & PEGs are sent in the clear on Verizon Fios. So you should get the 8 HD local stations and all their sub-channels, but at their mapped broadcast channel: 4-1, 4-2, 5-1, 7-1, and up to 67-1 for MPT (Verizon apparently gets MPT from the Baltimore WMPB-DT 67 station) along with WNVT-DT 30, WNVC-DT 56/57 & WPXW-DT Ion 66.x. If the channels are not mapped, the digital broadcast stations can be located at QAM 71 to 75 and 82. I have not done a QAM scan recently, but I don't think this has changed. Also, Verizon is having a HBO and Cinemax free preview this weekend. If they do what they did last December for the movie package free preview, the HBO and Cinemax channels encryption will be turned off for the duration of the preview. A clear QAM tuner will get them if they do that. Of course, you should be able to get all the DC digital broadcast stations with a decent antenna if you want to get HD that way.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/13384645
> 
> 
> I think you're fine, I had the same problem up here in Elkridge. It was Media Center, not the stations. Find your "atscchannels.xml" file (Vista = C:\\ProgramData\\Microsoft\\eHome\\EPG\\prefs; XPMCE will be rooted in a different location). You will see incorrect physical channels for both WUSA and WDCW. (If you get Maryland OTA, you might see a bad physical channel for WMAR as well)
> 
> 
> Here are the correct entries:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yours will likely say "50", "9", and "38" respectively.
> 
> 
> I had to make that file read-only to stop Media Center from overwriting it. The "Guide" information seems to be wrong, they're jumping the gun and using the 2009 designations for these channels.
> 
> 
> I also had to add a temporary fake DTV channel to the guide to get it to reload this file. I added 51.1 WCDWX. It won't tune (obviously), but MCE needed something to kick start it. If I remove that fake channel, it reverts back to not tuning WUSA and WDCW again, but leaves WMAR alone.



I wonder whether the fix in the thread http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=918245& 

would also work similarly for these stations.


Here is that fix


> Quote:
> Mikewind pointed me in the right direction for a fix, and it worked in my Vista setup as well:
> 
> 
> Basically the guide is wrong and has WJZ listed as 1381 when it should be listed as 1131. (FYI - First '1' is just for the digital channels, second and third number '13' are for the Original non-digital channel designation and the last number '1' signifies the first digital channel). I am not sure what happened in the guide, but it is obviously wrong.
> 
> 
> IN order to get WJZ-DT to tune, you have to know that digital channel is actually on UHF 38 (you can get this via Antennaweb.org).
> 
> 
> To do the fix:
> 
> 1) open Media Center, go to group Tasks then select Settings > TV > Guide > Add Missing Channels
> 
> 2) Select "Add Missing Channel"
> 
> 3) enter 13 and 1 in the boxes (the one should show up automatically after the 13 is entered).
> 
> 4) It should then ask which channel is used to tune this channel (the UHF). Enter 38 for this channel.
> 
> 5) back at the Listings for add missing channels you should see the 1131 in the list. Hit the 'Done' button.
> 
> (Unfortunately, you are not yet done)
> 
> 6) now you are back at the 'Guide' group. You should now select 'Add Listings to Channel'
> 
> 7) You should see 1131 in the list, click on it.
> 
> 8) Now move through the list until you see WJZ-DT or WJZ if you do not see WJZ-DT. Click on WJZ-DT or WJZ.
> 
> (Almost done)
> 
> 9) Now you have to un-select the Wrong channel from the channel guide, so since you are still in the 'Guide' section of the settings, select 'Edit Channels'.
> 
> 10) Navigate to the incorrect '1381' channel and un-select it so it will not be in the guide anymore.
> 
> 
> Hopefully this will get you back WJZ. Let me know if the guide works for you and if there are any errors or problems with the guide.
> 
> 
> Note that this guide should work for any channel that has a problem, just substituting whatever incorrect or missing channel for the references here to WJZ. You just have to know the "real" digital channel assignment which can be found on www.antennaweb.org
> 
> 
> If you know who to contact to get this fixed at Microsoft, please try to get it fixed, it is annoying and has been a problem since September 2007.


----------



## drwissing

Just got a post card in the mail from Comcast indicating that CNN-HD, History-HD and TLC-HD will be added to Howard County on April 9th.


----------



## euckersw

Just pulled this off of the WUSA web site (sounds like the same games will be shown in HD and analog):

3/20/08 (scheduled 12:10-5pm and 7pm-12mid):


12:30pm Temple vs. Michigan St.


2:30pm Kentucky vs. Marquette


7:10pm Belmont vs. Duke


9:40pm George Mason vs. Notre Dame



3/21/08 (scheduled 12:10-5pm and 7pm-12mid):


12:15pm American University vs. Tennessee


2:45pm UMBC vs. Georgetown


7:10pm Coppin St./Mt. St. Mary's vs. North

Carolina

NOTE: Winner of Coppin St. vs. Mt. St. Mary's Tuesday game will play North Carolina.


9:40pm Villanova vs. Clemson


----------



## Theauwolf

Awesome! Multiple blowouts we get stuck with while better games are still going on. Thank god we can get all the games online for the first 3 rounds.


*Edit* Wait, this just in......Do we get the 5:00 games on channel 274 in Howard Co, Comcast????? That would make the 5 dollar donation worthwhile!


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13404873
> 
> 
> Today is the first day that Everybody Loves Raymond was to be made available in HD for syndication. Surprisingly, WDCA-DT My 20 is showing Raymond in HD at 10 PM ET. So we have another syndicated HD weekday program for the DC stations.



Not HD tonight.


----------



## markbulla

Just an FYI -


My 54-1 "WNUV-HD", is actually in SD. My HD encoder crapped out last night, and I had to put the SD encoder in until I replace it.


----------



## Bushrod

Anybody else notice the new iTV app on Cox Fairfax? Weather, news, access to your Cox email. Kind of cool.


Btw, I have the SA8300. Access iTV by hitting the Menu button on the remote. It took a couple minutes to download(?) the first time but now starts up right away every time.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Theauwolf* /forum/post/13413968
> 
> 
> *Edit* Wait, this just in......Do we get the 5:00 games on channel 274 in Howard Co, Comcast????? That would make the 5 dollar donation worthwhile!



According to listings on comcast's webpage, the Cornell/Stanford game is on Thursday at 4:45pm.


----------



## dg28

From DCRTV:


Murdoch To Showcase HD News On DC's 5 - 3/19 - UPDATED: DCRTV hears that media baron Rupert Murdoch plans to make a big deal of it this spring when he launches high-def local newscasts on his Fox5. DC's Channel 5/WTTG will be used as an HD showcase for Fox's local newscasts, which Murdoch plans to also unveil on his other big-market stations, we're told. DCRTV first told you in February about Fox5's plans to launch HD newscasts. Currently, only Gannett's Channel 9/ WUSA offers HD newscasts in the DC market. Also, we're told, don't look for HD newscasts any time soon on budget-strapped NBC's Channel 4/WRC. However, we do hear that Allbritton's Channel 7/WJLA is about halfway through its HD conversion. All cameras, decks, and graphics have been converted to HD, but they're being used in standard-def mode.....


----------



## Red Dog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Theauwolf* /forum/post/13413968
> 
> 
> Awesome! Multiple blowouts we get stuck with while better games are still going on. Thank god we can get all the games online for the first 3 rounds.
> 
> 
> *Edit* Wait, this just in......Do we get the 5:00 games on channel 274 in Howard Co, Comcast????? That would make the 5 dollar donation worthwhile!




CSTV will also be airing the Friday night Oklahoma/St Joe's 7 pm game, so you pick up 2 games you otherwise can't get.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/13416054
> 
> 
> Just an FYI -
> 
> 
> My 54-1 "WNUV-HD", is actually in SD. My HD encoder crapped out last night, and I had to put the SD encoder in until I replace it.



Back to HD. Yea!


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/13418502
> 
> 
> Back to HD. Yea!



I was wondering if you fixed it as I saw WNUV-DT 54.1 OTA was back to 1080i mid-day. Out of curiosity, how does dropping to 480i affect the cable companies which put the 54.1 feed on their HD tier? Do their systems automatically adjust and put the 480i SD feed through? Or do the subscribers get a black screen for the WNUV CW 54 HD channel? Did anyone in the Baltimore area on Comcast or Verizon notice whether they were getting WNUV as a SD channel or blank screen for the HD channel late last night or this morning?


----------



## bucnasty




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bushrod* /forum/post/13416962
> 
> 
> Anybody else notice the new iTV app on Cox Fairfax? Weather, news, access to your Cox email. Kind of cool.
> 
> 
> Btw, I have the SA8300. Access iTV by hitting the Menu button on the remote. It took a couple minutes to download(?) the first time but now starts up right away every time.



im havin a hard time finding this?


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/13416054
> 
> 
> Just an FYI -
> 
> 
> My 54-1 "WNUV-HD", is actually in SD. My HD encoder crapped out last night, and I had to put the SD encoder in until I replace it.



What time was that? I was trying to capture One Tree Hill for my daughter last night over the air. When I glanced at it a few times, at least it seemed to be a widescreen picture.


Neil


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/13419808
> 
> 
> What time was that? I was trying to capture One Tree Hill for my daughter last night over the air. When I glanced at it a few times, at least it seemed to be a widescreen picture.
> 
> 
> Neil



Actually it was this morning. I got the SD encoder working around 5 AM. We had turned the power off at the station to install a new station UPS, and it's surprising how many things that have been on 24x7 for the last several years decided that they didn't like that... The HD encoder was the last thing on the list.


Thanks for watching!


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13419436
> 
> 
> I was wondering if you fixed it as I saw WNUV-DT 54.1 OTA was back to 1080i mid-day. Out of curiosity, how does dropping to 480i affect the cable companies which put the 54.1 feed on their HD tier? Do their systems automatically adjust and put the 480i SD feed through? Or do the subscribers get a black screen for the WNUV CW 54 HD channel? Did anyone in the Baltimore area on Comcast or Verizon notice whether they were getting WNUV as a SD channel or blank screen for the HD channel late last night or this morning?



I didn't get any calls, so I don't really know how things worked out... I figured that any signal was better than no signal.


The monitors in master control show the SD feed as stretch-o-vision, but the monitor in my office shows it correctly...


Cheers


----------



## DRal

Does anyone know if there are any other channels besides ESPNU that will be covering the basketball game on Thursday between UM and Syracuse.


----------



## kenrowe




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kenrowe* /forum/post/13177588
> 
> 
> Per an ad in Wednesday _Gazette_ newspapers, Comcast in Montgomery will launch Discovery Channel HD on channel 239 on March 25th. Cartoon Network moves to digital and a few other SD channels will be added on the same day.



In ad in yesterday's Gazette updated the changes. Discovery HD will still be launched on Tuesday, but Cartoon Network will remain on analog on ch 58. The new SD channels will be delayed by a month


----------



## markbulla

I thought that this was interesting (from Multichannel News):

====================================================

FCC Yields To DirecTV, Dish On HD Carriage


Plan Allows Satellite Giants To Down Convert HD Signals For Years


By Ted Hearn -- Multichannel News, 3/19/2008 6:40:00 PM


Washington -- DirecTV and Dish Network have won major concessions from the Federal Communications Commission on the carriage of local TV signals in HD format following completion of broadcasters' digital transition early next year, FCC and industry officials said Wednesday.


DirecTV and Dish Network struck a deal with the FCC that was far better than the HD carriage rules the FCC imposed on all cable operators, regardless of size, last September.


The five-member FCC did not announce the vote or release the text of the rules on Wednesday.


The National Association of Broadcasters, which did not return requests for comment, is probably going to be unhappy because the FCC plans to allow DirecTV and Dish to down convert broadcasters' HD signals to a less pristine picture resolution for several years.


The satellite giantswhich combined serve about 30 million pay-TV subscribersconvinced FCC officials that they lacked the channel capacity to provide every eligible station in HD immediately. They insisted that they needed several years to prepare for a full HD carriage requirement.


HD signals stress capacity because they take up much more bandwidth than digital signal transmitted at lower resolution.


The FCC's HD rules for satellite were far more lenient than the ones originally proposed by FCC chairman Kevin Martin. He started off at full HD carriage in February 2009, coupled with a market-by-market waiver process.


Martin scuttled his original plan after DirecTV and Dish Network complained that it was draconian and damaging to their ability to compete with cable.


Instead, the FCC decided to give DirecTV and EchoStar until 2013 to carry all stations in HD within any market where they have elected to carry any station's signal in HD format.


The carry one, carry all in HD principle kicks in when a satellite company starts carrying local signals in HD. DirecTV's decision to carry local TV signals in HD does not force Dish to do likewise in the same market.


All the FCC demanded was that DirecTV and Dish comply with its benchmarks.


For example, by Feb. 17, 2010, DirecTV and Dish Network need to provide full HD carriage in 15% of their HD markets. Dish Network has 35 HD markets today. If a 15% quota were in place today, EchoStar would have a carry one, carry all in HD obligation in just 5 markets.


The benchmark jumps to 30% in the second year, 60% in the third and 100% in the fourth.


Because the FCC didn't specify the markets that had to be served, DirecTV and Dish Network are free to pursue a large-market strategy, which could keep rural consumers waiting a long time for their local TV signals in HD via satellite.


With regard to cable, the FCC imposed a much harsher regime on every cable operator without exception. The agency required cable carriage of TV signals in digital and analog formats for three years with respect to any station that demands cable carriage after Feb. 17, 2009.


The FCC also insisted that cable systems pass through HD feeds, potentially leading to triple carriage in some cases.


The FCC did exempt all-digital cable systems; but since so few are actually all-digital, the exemption was almost worthless.


In February, major cable TV programmers, including C-SPAN, Discovery Communications and The Weather Channel, sued the FCC in a federal appeals court over the digital TV station carriage mandates.


With respect to small cable systemswhich made the same channel-crunch concerns as DirecTV and Dish Networkthe FCC, at Martin's insistence, refused to show any flexibility. Martin would not accommodate even mom-and-pop cable companies with a blanket waiver to carry DTV must carry signals in analog only for a period of years.


Instead, these small cable outfits need to hire D.C. lawyers to file waivers at the FCC.


Martin explained his attitude last year when he told a House subcommittee that he thought the cable industry wanted to use the digital TV transition as an "excuse" to remove TV stations from their systems.


Cable never argued that. It said that as a legal matter, all cable operators had to do was carry DTV signals once and provide set-tops to requesting customers, just as customers needed to acquire analog TV sets to view local TV signals that the FCC forces cable to carry.


To assist with the DTV transition, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association volunteered in congressional testimony to comply with dual must carry for three years, coupled with an exemption for small cable systems.


DirecTV and Dish Network caught another big break from the FCC.


At least for the time being, if digital TV stations demand HD carriage, the satellite carriers are not require to provide a standard definition copy to customers that do not have HD set-top boxes. In others words, none of the dual must carry obligations that the FCC imposed on cable would apply to DirecTV and Dish.


The FCC will study DBS dual must carry in a further notice of proposed rulemaking, also adopted Tuesday night.


----------



## tonyd79

Friend just bought a condo off Ordnance Road (Anne Arundel County) and then found out he can't get DirecTV because of a building in the way. His only choice right now is Millenium (no Comcast). Any word on Verizon Fios in the area?


----------



## Marcus Carr

*RCN's 'Analog Crush'*


MARCH 12, 2008


Cable overbuilder RCN Corp. is pretty darn serious about migrating to an all-digital video environment. How serious? Well, it's gone so far as to assign a label to the strategy: "Project Analog Crush."


And when RCN says all-digital, it means the removal of the entire analog lineup, and giving and renting out digital boxes to all its customers. That means it won't leave a "lifeline" analog lineup of about 30 channels, as other MSOs will.


"We have decided to take the leap and do it right," proclaimed RCN CEO Pete Aquino on Tuesday during the company's fourth quarter earnings call. (See RCN Posts Q4.) "When we say all-digital, we mean it. There will be no analog channels, period."


Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK), by contrast, plans to offer the lifeline lineup in about 20 percent of its markets by the back half of this year. (See Comcast Spreads the Love .) That strategy could speed up if the MSO is successful in its development of a $35 digital-to-analog converter device. (See Comcast Pursuing $35 Digital Dongle.)


Of course, given RCN's relative size to Comcast and other major U.S. cable operators, coupled with a special waiver for low-end Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT - message board) DCT700s, it's in a much better position to make such drastic cutovers.

*RCN's first such cutover started in Chicago in January, a move the operator expects to complete by April 18. (See RCN's All-Digital Challenge.)


There, RCN expects to reclaim about 430 MHz of analog spectrum and apply it to the addition of new hi-def and standard-def channels. Using three-to-one compression, Aquino believes RCN would have the capacity to add more than 200 linear HD channels.*


"The 'Analog Crush' lineup is going to be really hard to match," he said, noting that the Chicagoland system is starting off with about 50 hi-def channels. RCN competes in the market with Comcast, where the MSO has already trimmed down its digital lineup considerably. RCN is also facing video competition from AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T - message board), which launched U-verse in the Windy City in late January.

*Aquino did not set a timetable for what the company might do in areas such as Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. RCN's digital penetration is at about 70 percent -- enough, the company believes, to set the table for a more massive all-digital push.*


But if it's relying on a set-top waiver to fuel that strategy, time is running short. Its Federal Communications Commission (FCC) waiver expires in July. But the agency has looked favorably on operators that pledge to be all-digital by February 2009, so it's possible RCN might seek an extension. (See Verizon & Others Get Their Waivers.)


Another Docsis 3.0 hint

RCN presumably will use some freed-up spectrum to support a Docsis 3.0 rollout.


This week, RCN became just the latest MSO to drop a hint that it plans to roll out the new platform, which could boost shared speeds beyond 100 Mbit/s. (See Charter Hints at Docsis 3.0 and Mediacom Plotting Docsis 3.0 Tests .)


"We too expect to reap the benefits of [Docsis] 3.0 and still maintain our speed advantage over much of the competition, given our smaller node sizes," Aquino said.


Today, RCN's high-end "MegaModem Mach 20" tier caps the downstream at 20 Mbit/s.


Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Cable Digital News

http://www.lightreading.com/document...treading_gnews


----------



## vidioteic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13419436
> 
> 
> I was wondering if you fixed it as I saw WNUV-DT 54.1 OTA was back to 1080i mid-day. Out of curiosity, how does dropping to 480i affect the cable companies which put the 54.1 feed on their HD tier? Do their systems automatically adjust and put the 480i SD feed through? Or do the subscribers get a black screen for the WNUV CW 54 HD channel? Did anyone in the Baltimore area on Comcast or Verizon notice whether they were getting WNUV as a SD channel or blank screen for the HD channel late last night or this morning?



Cable systems will pass whatever is on the OTA DT channel. Anything from 480i to 1080i. It won't upconvert it, just pass it. 480i is one of the DTV formats. Remember, HDTV is a SUBset of DTV. Not the other way around


----------



## vthokie820

Did anyone else notice that Everybody Loves Raymond was in HD on MyTV tonight at 10?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *vthokie820* /forum/post/13433091
> 
> 
> Did anyone else notice that Everybody Loves Raymond was in HD on MyTV tonight at 10?



Forgot to check. WDCA-DT 20 had Everybody Loves Raymond in HD on Monday, the debut night for the show for HD syndication, then it was SD on Tuesday. Have not checked since then. Look back a few posts. Some background on this in the HD syndication thread in the HD Programming forum: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...0#post13153840 .


I have been following this because I am wondering when we will get hour long series shows on weekends in HD. Will likely be a while longer.


----------



## mdviewer25

Everybody Loves Raymond was in HD tonight on My20. On another note, why is WJZ DT so loud with their audio and WUSA seems low?


----------



## Knicks_Fan

On the weekends WJLA shows Wheel and Jeopardy! in SD even though they are last year's shows originally aired in HD. Hopefully this won't be the case with MY 20 and Raymond.


----------



## AbMagFab

Am I the only one watching CW50? The constant audio hiccups are making me crazy. Is this an OTA HD only issue?


----------



## PaulGo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/13436998
> 
> 
> Am I the only one watching CW50? The constant audio hiccups are making me crazy. Is this an OTA HD only issue?



I also get it with Comcast.


----------



## CycloneGT

The only CW show I watch is Smallville, and it has been doing this for months.


----------



## Marcus Carr

CW50 is the only major DC channel I can't get OTA (using a Silver Sensor).


----------



## rajdude

Hey folks, There was a subchannel of some DTV station here which used to play music videos all days long.


Anyone knows which one it was?

is it still broadcasting?


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rajdude* /forum/post/13437892
> 
> 
> Hey folks, There was a subchannel of some DTV station here which used to play music videos all days long.
> 
> 
> Anyone knows which one it was?
> 
> is it still broadcasting?



You're probably thinking of The Tube. It was a subchannel for WDCW (50-2) and WNUV (54-2). Sad to say it is no longer broadcasting. WJZ DT (13-1) is still 10 times louder than WUSA DT (9-1)


----------



## hoos30

Thanks so much for posting this solution!!


It's March Madness time and I couldnt' be without my HDTV.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *BenSanford* /forum/post/13373004
> 
> 
> I finally found the solution to this from a link somewhere back in this thread. The problem is only in M$ media center software, where they have the wrong data for ATSC CBS Channel 9 in a table.
> 
> 
> I had saved the file from that link so a short version is that you have to find the "hidden" file
> 
> "C:\\Documents and Settings\\All Users\\Application data\\Microsoft\\eHome\\EPG\\prefs\\atscchannels.xml"
> 
> This file contains all of the channel information that was downloaded by the guide, and they recently downloaded incorrect data.
> 
> 
> Editing this file won't have much effect though, because it will get updated every time the guide downloads. However you do want to edit that file and delete the whole line for WUSA.
> 
> 
> Then in the channel setup in the tasks area of Vista Media center you need to manually add channel 9.1 at frequency 34. Doing this will create a file
> 
> C:\\Documents and Settings\\All Users\\Application Data\\Microsoft\\eHome\\EPG\\prefs\\atscprefs.xml
> 
> This file contains all of the channel information that you've manually added to the system, and luckily when there is conflict in information (downloaded from the Guide) this file wins. It is not updated by the guide, so this is where we want to make our tweaks. This file may not actually exist yet on your PC, it is only created by MCE when you manually add a missing channel.
> 
> 
> If you need further info I can forward the whole word document I copied off the link that I can't find.
> 
> 
> Ben


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/13437744
> 
> 
> CW50 is the only major DC channel I can't get OTA (using a Silver Sensor).



I can't get CW50 or NBC4 from DC without the outdoor antenna. From Baltimore, I can't get My24 with or without the outdoor antenna.


----------



## tripleM

I get HD via my QAM tuner on my Sammy through Cox basic cable.

Every channel is picked up correctly except 50-1 HD.

When I input 50-1 on my remote it will be a blank screen.

I then will manually hit the up or down channel button on the remote & only then will it lock 50-1 HD.


What could be happening?


----------



## jrob216

All,

Just hooked up my Sharp Aquos LCD w/built-in ATSC/QAM/NTSC tuners and thought I would share with the group the channels it found during channel setup. I'm in Carroll Country, MD and use Comcast. Is it odd that I'm receiving reception on non-published channels for the Baltimore area?


MUSIC CHOICE CHANNELS

101.3: Old School Rap

101.4: R & B Hits

101.5: Electronica

101.6: Rock

101.7: Bluegrass

101.8: Sounds of the Season

101.9: Kidz Only

101.10: Reggae

101.11: R & B Soul

101.12: Classic R & B

101.13: Hip Hop/Rap

101.14: Dance

101.15: Rap

101.16: Metal

101.17: Alternative

101.18: Adult Alternative

101.19: Classic Rock

101.20: Arena Rock

101.21: Lite Hits

101.22: Hit List

101.23: 80's

101.24: 70's

101.25: Solid Gold Oldies

101.26: Today's Country

101.27: Classic Country

101.28: Big Band & Swing

101.29: Singers & Standers

101.30: Easy Listening

101.31: Classical Masterpieces

101.32: Lite Classical

101.33: Soundscapes

101.34: Smooth Jazz

101.35: Jazz

101.36: Blues

101.37: Gospel

101.38: Contemporary Christian

101.39: Musica Urbana

101.40: Salsa

101.41: 90's

101.42: Pop Latino

101.43: Party Favorites

101.44: Showtunes

101.45: Opera

101.46: Retroactive

101.47: Rock Espanol

101.48: Mexicana

101.49: Americana

101.50: Adult Top 40


LOCAL CHANNELS

2.1: WMAR-DT (ABC)

11.2: WBAL-HD (NBC)

73.1: WJZ-DT (CBS)

73.2: WMPT (PSB)

73.3: WPTS (PBS)

73.4: WMPT (V-ME)

74.3: WMAR (Weathernet Digital)

74.4: WBALW (InstaWeather Plus)

75.1: WBFF-HD (Fox)

75.2: WNUV-D (CW)

75.3: WBFF (GOOD TV)


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jrob216* /forum/post/13446012
> 
> 
> All,
> 
> Just hooked up my Sharp Aquos LCD w/built-in ATSC/QAM/NTSC tuners and thought I would share with the group the channels it found during channel setup. I'm in Carroll Country, MD and use Comcast. Is it odd that I'm receiving reception on non-published channels for the Baltimore area?
> 
> 
> MUSIC CHOICE CHANNELS
> 
> 101.3: Old School Rap
> 
> ...
> 
> 
> LOCAL CHANNELS
> 
> 2.1: WMAR-DT (ABC)
> 
> 11.2: WBAL-HD (NBC)
> 
> 73.1: WJZ-DT (CBS)
> 
> 73.2: WMPT (PSB)
> 
> 73.3: WPTS (PBS)
> 
> 73.4: WMPT (V-ME)
> 
> 74.3: WMAR (Weathernet Digital)
> 
> 74.4: WBALW (InstaWeather Plus)
> 
> 75.1: WBFF-HD (Fox)
> 
> 75.2: WNUV-D (CW)
> 
> 75.3: WBFF (GOOD TV)



We get Comcast's music channels as well on the QAM feed in Bowie. You probably get a few other channels that you might not normally expect as detailed in previous posts - such as VS, A&E HD, TBS, and more.


Neil


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jrob216* /forum/post/13446012
> 
> 
> All,
> 
> Just hooked up my Sharp Aquos LCD w/built-in ATSC/QAM/NTSC tuners and thought I would share with the group the channels it found during channel setup. I'm in Carroll Country, MD and use Comcast. Is it odd that I'm receiving reception on non-published channels for the Baltimore area?



Take what they give you. One day they will snuff it out & charge you more to get it back










My parents have the same setup in NoVa as u & they also get CNN HD, Hist HD, CSN HD & Discovery HD @ basic cost.


----------



## PhillyGuy

Just got a postcard from Comcast that Baltimore and Howard Co will get CNN, History and TLC HD on April 9. It's better late than never.


----------



## ammar249

Anybody notice that Saturday Night Live is not being shown in HD on WRC-NBC4?


----------



## clifburns




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ammar249* /forum/post/13448568
> 
> 
> Anybody notice that Saturday Night Live is not being shown in HD on WRC-NBC4?



Yep. Some nitwit at WRC obviously doesn't know how to flip the switch from SD to HD.


----------



## RichmondOTABaby

NBC Nightly News was in SD on channel 4 last night as well.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

The way they are cutting back over there, it was probably on autopilot.


----------



## dmulvany




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/13427820
> 
> *RCN's 'Analog Crush'*
> 
> 
> MARCH 12, 2008
> 
> 
> Cable overbuilder RCN Corp. is pretty darn serious about migrating to an all-digital video environment. How serious? Well, it's gone so far as to assign a label to the strategy: "Project Analog Crush."
> 
> 
> And when RCN says all-digital, it means the removal of the entire analog lineup, and giving and renting out digital boxes to all its customers. That means it won't leave a "lifeline" analog lineup of about 30 channels, as other MSOs will.
> 
> 
> "We have decided to take the leap and do it right," proclaimed RCN CEO Pete Aquino on Tuesday during the company's fourth quarter earnings call. (See RCN Posts Q4.) "When we say all-digital, we mean it. There will be no analog channels, period."
> 
> 
> Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK), by contrast, plans to offer the lifeline lineup in about 20 percent of its markets by the back half of this year. (See Comcast Spreads the Love .) That strategy could speed up if the MSO is successful in its development of a $35 digital-to-analog converter device. (See Comcast Pursuing $35 Digital Dongle.)
> 
> 
> Of course, given RCN's relative size to Comcast and other major U.S. cable operators, coupled with a special waiver for low-end Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT - message board) DCT700s, it's in a much better position to make such drastic cutovers.
> 
> *RCN's first such cutover started in Chicago in January, a move the operator expects to complete by April 18. (See RCN's All-Digital Challenge.)
> 
> 
> There, RCN expects to reclaim about 430 MHz of analog spectrum and apply it to the addition of new hi-def and standard-def channels. Using three-to-one compression, Aquino believes RCN would have the capacity to add more than 200 linear HD channels.*
> 
> 
> "The 'Analog Crush' lineup is going to be really hard to match," he said, noting that the Chicagoland system is starting off with about 50 hi-def channels. RCN competes in the market with Comcast, where the MSO has already trimmed down its digital lineup considerably. RCN is also facing video competition from AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T - message board), which launched U-verse in the Windy City in late January.
> 
> *Aquino did not set a timetable for what the company might do in areas such as Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. RCN's digital penetration is at about 70 percent -- enough, the company believes, to set the table for a more massive all-digital push.*
> 
> 
> But if it's relying on a set-top waiver to fuel that strategy, time is running short. Its Federal Communications Commission (FCC) waiver expires in July. But the agency has looked favorably on operators that pledge to be all-digital by February 2009, so it's possible RCN might seek an extension. (See Verizon & Others Get Their Waivers.)
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.lightreading.com/document...treading_gnews



One potentially significant drawback about going all-digital is if the digital channels aren't providing digital captions properly.


In other words, deaf and hard of hearing customers who were getting 100% captioning on analog channels may find that a lot of the digital channels are having glitches providing captioning (due to various equipment issues).


There have already been a lot of problems getting captions through a lot of cable companies for digital channels. One user of captioning who worked hard to address numerous captioning problems from her cable company and even worked with an engineer found it *still* took 6 months for some caption problems to get fixed.


The analog channels are generally fine. There needs to be serious attention paid to delivering captions intact on the digital channels, however. There have been numerous problems on that front already.


----------



## markbulla

When I was visiting my transmitter in Catonsville this morning, I was surprised to find that no one was there working on installing the new WUTB transmitter. In talking with their engineer, I found out that they were pretty much ready to go on the air, after they finish some air conditioning and insulation work.


The issue that they are running into now is a delay with their full power FCC license. Apparently the lawyer that was working on it left, and the new lawyers are working on it, but need to do some catch-up. No one knows how long that is going to take...


----------



## CycloneGT

Thanks for the update Mark. I wonder if they will have HD ready when their signal goes to full power. I can't say that I've tuned into their current digital signal in quite a while (It takes some effort on my part and only works on rare occasions), but the last time I checked their digital stuff was still in 480i only.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13457375
> 
> 
> Thanks for the update Mark. I wonder if they will have HD ready when their signal goes to full power. I can't say that I've tuned into their current digital signal in quite a while (It takes some effort on my part and only works on rare occasions), but the last time I checked their digital stuff was still in 480i only.



Last time I checked with him, the WUTB CE told me that they were activating another fiber for the HD programming. I know that he has a new HD encoder, but I don't know if he has the feed yet...


That's easier to do than getting things thru the FCC paperwork maze, though.


----------



## Istari1

I searched this thread (perhaps I am in the wrong thread) and found nothing on Comcasts ridculous pricing for CableCards. Right on their website here:

http://www.comcast.com/customers/faq...s.ashx?ID=2651 


That the cards are UP TO 1.99 regulated fee. SO how can they charge me $13.95 a month for the 2 CableCards in my TiVo??? They also say my DVR box counts as 1 CableCard. . . what BS.


Anyone else paying this or found a way NOT to pay this? I thought the federal regulations stated they HAD to offer the cards at a certain regulated price.


----------



## Speqtre

I think the cards must vary widely/wildly by market or region. I have Comcast & Tivo with a single M-card. They charge me NOTHING for that card. Maybe it depends on what level of cable service you have?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Istari1* /forum/post/13461222
> 
> 
> IThat the cards are UP TO 1.99 regulated fee. SO how can they charge me $13.95 a month for the 2 CableCards in my TiVo??? They also say my DVR box counts as 1 CableCard. . . what BS.



Call back and get a different CSR. I bet the CSR thinks you are getting cable cards to use with their DVR, so he/she is quoting the price for the DVR. From what I have read on avsforum, most CSRs don't even know what a cable card is. Their training likely does not cover them.


----------



## Marcus Carr

For some reason Comcast has MOJO on its regular channel AND where MHD shoud be.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/13465912
> 
> 
> For some reason Comcast has MOJO on its regular channel AND where MHD shoud be.



Same here in Howard Co.


----------



## mdviewer25

Everybody Loves Raymond is syndicated in HD on WDCA my20. Why was is shown in SD Sunday night at 11:30pm on WTTG Fox 5 if they both share the same equipment?


----------



## machpost

It looks like WUSA will be multicasting the West Virginia-Xavier game on Thursday, on 9.2: link


----------



## dg28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/13467896
> 
> 
> It looks like WUSA will be multicasting the West Virginia-Xavier game on Thursday, on 9.2: link



Wow, that's a first for them. We'll see how this affects the quality of their HD broadcast on 9.1. Can't believe they are pre-empting that oh-so-important super doppler for NCAA basketball! What is the world coming to...


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Istari1* /forum/post/13461222
> 
> 
> I searched this thread (perhaps I am in the wrong thread) and found nothing on Comcasts ridculous pricing for CableCards. Right on their website here:
> 
> http://www.comcast.com/customers/faq...s.ashx?ID=2651
> 
> 
> That the cards are UP TO 1.99 regulated fee. SO how can they charge me $13.95 a month for the 2 CableCards in my TiVo??? They also say my DVR box counts as 1 CableCard. . . what BS.
> 
> 
> Anyone else paying this or found a way NOT to pay this? I thought the federal regulations stated they HAD to offer the cards at a certain regulated price.



I went through a very similar headache last fall. I have two cable cards: one in my TV and a second in my Sony DVR. Local Comcast suddenly started charging me for two digital services at $13.95 each. The CSRs (both on phone and in person) could not understand that I have only one outlet and can watch only one device at a time (hence only one digital service). It took a very long, detailed letter to the Customer Service Manager in Manassas to get things right.


The last price schedule I saw for Comcast/Alexandria says cable cards are no charge, unless you have a non-Comcast DVR requiring two cable cards (i.e., your Tivo). In that case they should only be charging you $1.50 (if you are in Alexandria) for the second card in your Tivo. This depends heavily on your local pricing schedule, so you need to get a copy of that and read the fine print.


PM me if you want more info.


----------



## compuwizz

Comcast in Sterling remapped the QAMs today. Now we're getting the crappy 3 HD channels to 1 QAM instead of the 2 per QAM that we were. USAHD, Sci-FI HD and Discovery HD are all one the same QAM now. Picture quality definitely is worse now. Bleh


----------



## mapper

Finally some great news! Cox of Northern Virginia will be adding Comcast SportsNet HD on April 24th to their HD lineup totaling to 34. This channel will be on 734 through SDV.


----------



## euckersw

Hey Mapper,


Where did you happen to hear/see the addition of Comcast SportsNet HD to COX NOVA? I looked on the Cox site, and couldn't find anything. Thanks.


----------



## mapper




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *euckersw* /forum/post/13471815
> 
> 
> Hey Mapper,
> 
> 
> Where did you happen to hear/see the addition of Comcast SportsNet HD to COX NOVA? I looked on the Cox site, and couldn't find anything. Thanks.



It came up in the news section of the latest Cox bill, which came in the mail today for me.


----------



## bucnasty

what a great decision to wait till the end of hockey/basketball season to add an HD channel that only shows hockey/basketball. bravo!


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bucnasty* /forum/post/13474305
> 
> 
> what a great decision to wait till the end of hockey/basketball season to add an HD channel that only shows hockey/basketball. bravo!



I had exactly the same thought when I saw that news. Adding CSN-MA HD on April 24? Would any of the Wizards or Caps post-season games be on CSN-MA if they are still playing by then? Great timing.


OTOH, doesn't CSN-MA show DC United home games in HD? I did not get CSN-MA HD until late last year on Verizon so I don't know. The studio shows are in HD, so there will be some HD on CSN-MA HD prior to the start of the next NBA and NHL seasons.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13474468
> 
> 
> Adding CSN-MA HD on April 24? Would any of the Wizards or Caps post-season games be on CSN-MA if they are still playing by then?



Nope. But hey, at least you get hours and hours and hours of crappy Redskins coverage in widescreen SD!


----------



## markbulla

Hi All -


I've gotten a couple of reports (actually 3 in the past 7 days) about audio problems on WBFF-HD on DirecTV recently. I haven't read anything here, however.


It would be helpful to me if anyone that is experiencing these problems could let me know, and if you could let me know what kind of receiver you are using, that would help, too.


Please either send me a private message, or post any problems here on the forum. Anything you can let me know will help me address the problem.


Thanks a lot!


----------



## Marcus Carr

The MASN games on MOJO are in the Comcast guide. The channel is now labled MOJO+.


MHD is still MIA.


----------



## Scott R. Scherr

Major problems with channel 45 in HD on D* in the last week. Particularly during American Idol last night. Lots of beeping, strange sounds, and lip sync issues.


I have a HR20-700.


This has happened before, but not for a while.


Thanks, Mark, for your help.


Scott



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/13475627
> 
> 
> Hi All -
> 
> 
> I've gotten a couple of reports (actually 3 in the past 7 days) about audio problems on WBFF-HD on DirecTV recently. I haven't read anything here, however.
> 
> 
> It would be helpful to me if anyone that is experiencing these problems could let me know, and if you could let me know what kind of receiver you are using, that would help, too.
> 
> 
> Please either send me a private message, or post any problems here on the forum. Anything you can let me know will help me address the problem.
> 
> 
> Thanks a lot!


----------



## bucnasty




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/13475034
> 
> 
> Nope. But hey, at least you get hours and hours and hours of crappy Redskins coverage in widescreen SD!




lets not forget about the mystics!!!



if carol maloney still works there its totally worth it. otherwise not so much


----------



## cpldc

Hello,


I live in Washington, DC, northeastern Capitol Hill area (zip 20002). I have two digital receivers, one in a small LCD HDTV downstairs and an Insignia converter box upstairs, both of which get great reception of the standard local channels with a cheap rabbit ears/loop set-top antenna.


I looked at TVfool and saw that I "should" be getting some channels from Virginia, and could be close to getting Baltimore stations. The Insignia box has a signal meter and manual tuning to the actual transmission channel, and after fiddling a bit with antenna placement I get about 33% signal, variable and highly dependent to placement, from the Baltimore stations and no signal from the VA stations--both are about 30-35mi away. The one I'm specifically interested in is WBFF, which is digital on channel 46. The 33% strength is not enough for the box to tune in, and it gives up and says 'no signal.'


Yesterday I got a Philips MANT940 indoor/outdoor amplified antenna on my dad's recommendation. He is getting all the Washington channels with this antenna from Hagerstown, MD, a good 60 miles away and says without the amplifier nothing comes in; that seemed like a good shot. Unfortunately here it is not making much of a difference. When placing my antenna high next to the skylight on my two-story rowhouse I can receive channel 45 in analog with color and 'good enough' picture, not much interference at all, but the digital signal is only marginally stronger on the meter. The same goes for the other Baltimore stations I tried and the VA stations.


I tried mounting it outside the second story window facing northeast and again by fiddling a bit was able to get analog channels in slightly better quality but still no go digitally.


As I noted my house is two stories, but across the alley is a 3-story building. Am I just out of luck here, with this antenna or otherwise? I rent but mounting on the roof might not be completely out of the question thanks to my friendly landlord.


Thankfully it seems that with this antenna, regardless of the angle or placement I get all 16 digital stations I was getting with the cheap antenna with a strong signal.


Thanks for any help.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cpldc* /forum/post/13476365
> 
> 
> Hello,
> 
> 
> I live in Washington, DC, northeastern Capitol Hill area (zip 20002). I have two digital receivers, one in a small LCD HDTV downstairs and an Insignia converter box upstairs, both of which get great reception of the standard local channels with a cheap rabbit ears/loop set-top antenna.
> 
> 
> I looked at TVfool and saw that I "should" be getting some channels from Virginia, and could be close to getting Baltimore stations. The Insignia box has a signal meter and manual tuning to the actual transmission channel, and after fiddling a bit with antenna placement I get about 33% signal, variable and highly dependent to placement, from the Baltimore stations and no signal from the VA stations--both are about 30-35mi away. The one I'm specifically interested in is WBFF, which is digital on channel 46. The 33% strength is not enough for the box to tune in, and it gives up and says 'no signal.'
> 
> 
> Yesterday I got a Philips MANT940 indoor/outdoor amplified antenna on my dad's recommendation. He is getting all the Washington channels with this antenna from Hagerstown, MD, a good 60 miles away and says without the amplifier nothing comes in; that seemed like a good shot. Unfortunately here it is not making much of a difference. When placing my antenna high next to the skylight on my two-story rowhouse I can receive channel 45 in analog with color and 'good enough' picture, not much interference at all, but the digital signal is only marginally stronger on the meter. The same goes for the other Baltimore stations I tried and the VA stations.
> 
> 
> I tried mounting it outside the second story window facing northeast and again by fiddling a bit was able to get analog channels in slightly better quality but still no go digitally.
> 
> 
> As I noted my house is two stories, but across the alley is a 3-story building. Am I just out of luck here, with this antenna or otherwise? I rent but mounting on the roof might not be completely out of the question thanks to my friendly landlord.
> 
> 
> Thankfully it seems that with this antenna, regardless of the angle or placement I get all 16 digital stations I was getting with the cheap antenna with a strong signal.
> 
> 
> Thanks for any help.



You need to get an antenna that is good for your distance. When you're 60 miles away, you need amplification. When you're on top of the antennas, you need something that will reduce milti-path, and need absolutely no amplification.


AntennaWeb is a good resource to help you determine your antenna. In the mean time, you could go to RadioShack and pick up their $5 directional UHF antenna, and it would probably do the job, at least so you can test if you can pick everything up and if it's all in the same direction from your house.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/13467896
> 
> 
> It looks like WUSA will be multicasting the West Virginia-Xavier game on Thursday, on 9.2: link



Its good to see a digital sub-channel actually being used for something that we would expect it to be used for. I wonder if WJZ will try the same thing? They don't have much experience with sub-channels though.


On Sunday night, WUSA showed the national game while WJZ showed the Mount Saint Mary's game at the same time. Both were in HD.


----------



## MDNittanyLion




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/13476398
> 
> 
> You need to get an antenna that is good for your distance. When you're 60 miles away, you need amplification. When you're on top of the antennas, you need something that will reduce milti-path, and need absolutely no amplification.
> 
> 
> AntennaWeb is a good resource to help you determine your antenna. In the mean time, you could go to RadioShack and pick up their $5 directional UHF antenna, and it would probably do the job, at least so you can test if you can pick everything up and if it's all in the same direction from your house.



An amplifier will only help with signal loss from your antenna to your receiver, ie long cable runs. An amplifier will not help you if your antenna is not receiving a strong enough signal. It sounds as though you need to increase the antenna gain, ie a better or larger antenna or else place your antenna in a better position. How long are your cable runs? Can you determine your signal strength at the antenna?


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MDNittanyLion* /forum/post/13476783
> 
> 
> An amplifier will only help with signal loss from your antenna to your receiver, ie long cable runs. An amplifier will not help you if your antenna is not receiving a strong enough signal. It sounds as though you need to increase the antenna gain, ie a better or larger antenna or else place your antenna in a better position. How long are your cable runs? Can you determine your signal strength at the antenna?



He's on capitol hill (spitting distance from most of the broadcast antennas), the most likely issue is multi-path, exacerbated by the amplification, causing his ATSC tuners to flip out.


----------



## MDNittanyLion




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/13476843
> 
> 
> He's on capitol hill (spitting distance from most of the broadcast antennas), the most likely issue is multi-path, exacerbated by the amplification, causing his ATSC tuners to flip out.



From reading his original question, it was my understanding that he gets his locals (DC) fine but he wants to pull in WBFF (~24 miles) and some VA stations. I agree that if he is having problems with DC channels its probably multi-path. But if he is using the same antenna for DC (at ~300 degrees) and Baltimore (31 degrees), his signal for WBFF is probably low, especially if the antenna is pointed toward DC.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cpldc* /forum/post/13476365
> 
> 
> Hello,
> 
> 
> I live in Washington, DC, northeastern Capitol Hill area (zip 20002). I have two digital receivers, one in a small LCD HDTV downstairs and an Insignia converter box upstairs, both of which get great reception of the standard local channels with a cheap rabbit ears/loop set-top antenna.
> 
> 
> I looked at TVfool and saw that I "should" be getting some channels from Virginia, and could be close to getting Baltimore stations. The Insignia box has a signal meter and manual tuning to the actual transmission channel, and after fiddling a bit with antenna placement I get about 33% signal, variable and highly dependent to placement, from the Baltimore stations and no signal from the VA stations--both are about 30-35mi away. The one I'm specifically interested in is WBFF, which is digital on channel 46. The 33% strength is not enough for the box to tune in, and it gives up and says 'no signal.'
> 
> 
> Yesterday I got a Philips MANT940 indoor/outdoor amplified antenna on my dad's recommendation. He is getting all the Washington channels with this antenna from Hagerstown, MD, a good 60 miles away and says without the amplifier nothing comes in; that seemed like a good shot. Unfortunately here it is not making much of a difference. When placing my antenna high next to the skylight on my two-story rowhouse I can receive channel 45 in analog with color and 'good enough' picture, not much interference at all, but the digital signal is only marginally stronger on the meter. The same goes for the other Baltimore stations I tried and the VA stations.
> 
> 
> I tried mounting it outside the second story window facing northeast and again by fiddling a bit was able to get analog channels in slightly better quality but still no go digitally.
> 
> 
> As I noted my house is two stories, but across the alley is a 3-story building. Am I just out of luck here, with this antenna or otherwise? I rent but mounting on the roof might not be completely out of the question thanks to my friendly landlord.
> 
> 
> Thankfully it seems that with this antenna, regardless of the angle or placement I get all 16 digital stations I was getting with the cheap antenna with a strong signal.
> 
> 
> Thanks for any help.




You might try orienting the antenna in other directions. You may get a stronger signal from a reflection off of another building, than you do aiming directly at the tower.


Another thing, you mention that you get a "good enough" picture on the analog channel 45. The thing that causes the most problems in digital tuners is multiple reflections - what you would see as ghosts on the analog signal. If you orient the antenna to minimize the ghosts on the analog channel 45, you should start to receive the digital channel 45. On the TV in my bedroom, the analog signal is REALLY bad, but it doesn't have ghosts, and I get the digital channel 45 fine.


Good luck!


Mark


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13476463
> 
> 
> Its good to see a digital sub-channel actually being used for something that we would expect it to be used for. I wonder if WJZ will try the same thing? They don't have much experience with sub-channels though.
> 
> 
> On Sunday night, WUSA showed the national game while WJZ showed the Mount Saint Mary's game at the same time. Both were in HD.



WJZ is a CBS Owned and Operated station. I have read it is against CBS policy for O & O stations to use subchannels of any type.


Personally, I don't want to see it because the sub will be in SD and I can get the out of market game in HD on DirecTV. Putting it on the sub on SD will black me out of HD for that game.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Scott R. Scherr* /forum/post/13476079
> 
> 
> Major problems with channel 45 in HD on D* in the last week. Particularly during American Idol last night. Lots of beeping, strange sounds, and lip sync issues.
> 
> 
> I have a HR20-700.
> 
> 
> This has happened before, but not for a while.
> 
> 
> Thanks, Mark, for your help.
> 
> 
> Scott



Thanks for the info!


----------



## mdviewer25

Here's a question that's been bugging me about WUSA: Why aren't any of the 9 News Now promos done in HD or at least widescreen SD?


----------



## cpldc

Thanks for the replies. I am not worried about the DC channels since I am getting them all perfectly fine. As somebody noted I am very close to the DC stations' transmitters, roughly 6 miles; most are on the northwestern fringe of DC or right outside it so the angle is very similar. The amplifier does not seem to be hurting, and looking at the analog channels I do not see any evidence of multi-path issues or anything. Signal strength is around 98-99% on the Insignia box.


My goal indeed is to get WBFF and other Baltimore stations (why? looking at their sites it looks like they have better or at least different programming than the DC stations). I have not mounted the antenna fixed but rather tried to move it around while the signal meter was on, or while tuned to analog 45. The signal I get from analog 45 at the "sweet spot" doesn't seem to have ghosting, so I am surprised that on the same spot I still do not get digital.


Though, looking at the Wikipedia entry for WBFF it says the position/angle/height of the digital transmitter (46) is different from the analog, though they are in the same tower complex from what I gather. The power is also listed at roughly half of the analog signal. I tried to get UHF 38 (WJZ DT), which looks to be transmitting from around the same area and at about twice the digital signal for WBFF. I get slightly higher signal but still not enough to get a picture.


Opinion on the MANT940 seems evenly split between "signal magnet" and "did nothing better." I'll probably return it and try something else. This may seem silly, but at another forum on a thread about the MANT940 (can't post link due to forum restriction) somebody said it did not work well but joining two antennas with a simple splitter did.


Is that complete rubbish or could that potentially work? My somewhat uneducated reasoning says that's not much different from a multi-element antenna, but then again I do not really know what I'm talking about.


----------



## MDNittanyLion




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cpldc* /forum/post/13477520
> 
> 
> Thanks for the replies. I am not worried about the DC channels since I am getting them all perfectly fine. As somebody noted I am very close to the DC stations' transmitters, roughly 6 miles; most are on the northwestern fringe of DC or right outside it so the angle is very similar. The amplifier does not seem to be hurting, and looking at the analog channels I do not see any evidence of multi-path issues or anything. Signal strength is around 98-99% on the Insignia box.
> 
> 
> My goal indeed is to get WBFF and other Baltimore stations (why? looking at their sites it looks like they have better or at least different programming than the DC stations). I have not mounted the antenna fixed but rather tried to move it around while the signal meter was on, or while tuned to analog 45. The signal I get from analog 45 at the "sweet spot" doesn't seem to have ghosting, so I am surprised that on the same spot I still do not get digital.
> 
> 
> Though, looking at the Wikipedia entry for WBFF it says the position/angle/height of the digital transmitter (46) is different from the analog, though they are in the same tower complex from what I gather. The power is also listed at roughly half of the analog signal. I tried to get UHF 38 (WJZ DT), which looks to be transmitting from around the same area and at about twice the digital signal for WBFF. I get slightly higher signal but still not enough to get a picture.
> 
> 
> Opinion on the MANT940 seems evenly split between "signal magnet" and "did nothing better." I'll probably return it and try something else. This may seem silly, but at another forum on a thread about the MANT940 (can't post link due to forum restriction) somebody said it did not work well but joining two antennas with a simple splitter did.
> 
> 
> Is that complete rubbish or could that potentially work? My somewhat uneducated reasoning says that's not much different from a multi-element antenna, but then again I do not really know what I'm talking about.



I am not an expert on antennas but I can tell you some things that I have learned while getting my HD TV projector setup. There is no such thing as an HD TV antenna. You need a UHF or VHF antenna, period. An amplifier will NOT help you pull in a signal, it will only help to eliminate signal loss due to long cable runs. Most high gain antennas are very directional, ie they need to be pointed at the source, either the tower or a reflected signal. Omnidirectional antennas will not give as much gain, thus are not good for weaker sources. If we exclude reflected signals for the moment, you might have a hard time pulling in both Balt and DC with 1 antenna, because of their placement in relation to your house, but since you are so close to DC, you might be able to point at Balt and still get DC. Otherwise you need 2 antennas. If you are at all handy, I suggest you build your own antenna, which will out perform many commercial ones. All you need is a 2x4, some coat hangers, some screws and a $3 balun from Home Depot. It isnt hard but you need to get the spacing between collectors correct. As for your idea of linking 2 antennas, yes it can work but it isnt that simple. If not done right, the signals will cancel each other and result in a worse antenna than a single. If you want to build your own, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWQhlmJTMzw and watch the video. Even better is a long discussion on antennas at the www.lumenlab.com forums. Look in the mad science section. Lots of info there. Using this type of antenna from zip 21157, I am pulling in all of Balt, most of DC (> 40 miles) and a couple PA digital stations (2 antennas, 1 for Balt/DC, 1 for PA).


----------



## cpldc

Yes, I was turned off by the 'HDTV antenna' marketing on the antenna I bought but as I said my dad had great luck with it so I thought I'd give it a shot. Underneath the marketing it's just a directional UHF antenna with a preamp at the antenna. My cable is not that long, but if I don't hook up the amplifier (well, the power injector on the TV end) there is indeed a difference in signal strength.


I've always been extremely confused about amplification with regards to TV reception, but again in my dad's case it made the difference between no channels and 27 channels. I don't quite get it--maybe the amplifier doesn't pass anything through when the injector is not plugged in.


In any case, I just ordered a CM4220. It's right in the 30 mile range that I need to get Baltimore stations and small enough that I can mount it outside my window, I think. If that doesn't work, I'll try building my own. From Googling it seems some have had luck beyond the 30 mile range with this model, too.


As you said I get DC signals so strong that the direction didn't matter for them, while it mattered significantly for the stations I'm trying to get.


----------



## Mean




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13476463
> 
> 
> Its good to see a digital sub-channel actually being used for something that we would expect it to be used for. I wonder if WJZ will try the same thing? They don't have much experience with sub-channels though.
> 
> 
> On Sunday night, WUSA showed the national game while WJZ showed the Mount Saint Mary's game at the same time. Both were in HD.



According to the link, the WVU/Xavier game will be Digital SD only so no HD. Is this true?


G


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cpldc* /forum/post/13478297
> 
> 
> I've always been extremely confused about amplification with regards to TV reception, but again in my dad's case it made the difference between no channels and 27 channels. I don't quite get it--maybe the amplifier doesn't pass anything through when the injector is not plugged in.
> 
> 
> In any case, I just ordered a CM4220.



Yes, usually turning off the built-in amp cuts off any significant signal from the antenna. So your dad is not comparing the antenna without an amp versus using the amp by turning it off. He is comparing it to an antenna with an amp to no antenna.


The CM 4220 is a good choice for your situation. However, it is a UHF antenna and probably won't work for getting WBAL-DT 11 and WJZ-DT 13 next year when they switch their digital channels to VHF 11 & 13 on February 17, 2009. You are close enough to WJLA-DT 7 and WUSA-DT 9 that the CM 4220 has a good shot at getting those stations when they switch from UHF to VHF 7 & 9 next year. You may have to add a upper VHF antenna, rabbit ears might work for WJZ-DT 13 in DC.


I should post a summary of what the stations in our market are doing next year, but WBAL-DT 11's request to lower their digital power to 5 kW on VHF 11 using the current omni-directional VHF 11 antenna next year has been approved by the FCC (as far I can tell). This is going to make WBAL-DT a challenge to get at long ranges next year.


----------



## Scott R. Scherr

Mark,


Here is a thread on the issue on D*.

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=123932 


Scott


----------



## voltore




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Mean* /forum/post/13479658
> 
> 
> According to the link, the WVU/Xavier game will be Digital SD only so no HD. Is this true?
> 
> 
> G



Yes, 9.2 is and will remain an SD channel. Gotta keep them bits as best as we can for HD


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Scott R. Scherr* /forum/post/13479897
> 
> 
> Mark,
> 
> 
> Here is a thread on the issue on D*.
> 
> http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=123932
> 
> 
> Scott



Thanks Scott.


Mark


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/13475692
> 
> 
> The MASN games on MOJO are in the Comcast guide. The channel is now labled MOJO+.
> 
> 
> MHD is still MIA.



MHD is back.


----------



## MDNittanyLion

Perhaps this has been mentioned before but anybody else notice bad audio sync problems with digital MPT 67 OTA?


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *compuwizz* /forum/post/13471499
> 
> 
> Comcast in Sterling remapped the QAMs today. Now we're getting the crappy 3 HD channels to 1 QAM instead of the 2 per QAM that we were. USAHD, Sci-FI HD and Discovery HD are all one the same QAM now. Picture quality definitely is worse now. Bleh



Thanks for the heads up. I nearly plopped out a brick when I saw the stations were gone. I agree, PQ is a little off for some stations. But it's nice to have them all in one block of stations 72-80 versus spread out all over the place like they were before. Now I just have to remember the order.


----------



## PaulGo

To Robert Forsyth:

Last year you mentioned you switched to FiOS and commented on the increased picture quality. Do you have any comments on this thread?

*Comcast HD Quality Reduction: Details, Screenshots*

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1008271


----------



## markbulla

Hi all -


Just FYI, WNUV is now broadcasting in 720p from our new master control. Most of the shows should look better, since there's no analog transmission path or analog to digital conversion going on any place.


Cheers!


----------



## CycloneGT

Is this 720p CW going to persist? Interesting if it does.


BTW: I haven't seen Robert Forsythe post here in a while, at least not nearly as often as he used to. I guess enough Venom was heaped his way that he was finally turned off to us here. I guess the Free Speachers won another.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13487390
> 
> 
> Is this 720p CW going to persist? Interesting if it does.
> 
> 
> BTW: I haven't seen Robert Forsythe post here in a while, at least not nearly as often as he used to. I guess enough Venom was heaped his way that he was finally turned off to us here. I guess the Free Speachers won another.



Yep. It's here forever. The programs are all being recorded that way, and the CW HD feed is being cross converted.


It's because all of the sources (except the CW network) are all 720p.


Cheers -


Mark


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/13487788
> 
> 
> Yep. It's here forever. The programs are all being recorded that way, and the CW HD feed is being cross converted.
> 
> 
> It's because all of the sources (except the CW network) are all 720p.



What other sources are 720p? The CW network, except for a few college sport events, are the only HD programs on WNUV-DT 54 that I can see. Unless you are planning to add syndicated HD programs soon and this is a step towards that? Or are you are planning to add sub-channels and 720p will work better with several SD sub-channels?


I just did a check and yep, WNUV-DT 54 is broadcasting 720p. Reba was on and I immediately noticed this odd stutter effect where the motion would jump. Or is judder the correct term in this case? I switched between WDCW-DT 50.1 and WNUV-DT 54.1, both of which were showing Reba. The motion looked smother on WDCW-DT. I assume you have more tweaking you can do to the 720p encoder?


----------



## kingpong

Before reading this thread I had noticed that the 6pm showing of The Simpsons on WNUV looked especially bad. The 7pm showing also looks bad. Seems rather blurry compared to what it used to be. The Simpsons does generally vary wildly depending on the age of the episode, but these look significantly worse than I would expect. Commercials seem soft as well. Everything looks like it has been run through a bargain basement scaler.


Now watching Smallville there's a slight audio sync problem compared to WDCW. Not big, but a slight lag that can be seen when doing an A/B comparison. On the bright side, while some degradation of the PQ can be found, it seems minimal.


----------



## DLS

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mean

According to the link, the WVU/Xavier game will be Digital SD only so no HD. Is this true?


G


Yes, 9.2 is and will remain an SD channel. Gotta keep them bits as best as we can for HD


------------------------------

I was surprised to see that CBS was showing games on both 9-1 and 9-2, but one look at 9-2 told me I didn't want to watch it there. So we switched to watching the second game on DirecTV March Madness (706).


Regards, Dan


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/13487788
> 
> 
> Yep. It's here forever. The programs are all being recorded that way, and the CW HD feed is being cross converted.
> 
> 
> It's because all of the sources (except the CW network) are all 720p.
> 
> 
> Cheers -
> 
> 
> Mark



Why is Reaper in SD tonight?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/13491820
> 
> 
> Why is Reaper in SD tonight?



I think WNUV-DT 54 is having problems with the 720p cross-conversion, although Smallville was HD when I looked. Reaper is in HD on WDCW-DT 50.1.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13487390
> 
> 
> BTW: I haven't seen Robert Forsythe post here in a while, at least not nearly as often as he used to. I guess enough Venom was heaped his way that he was finally turned off to us here. I guess the Free Speachers won another.



Unfortunate, since WJLA wasn't all that slow in getting the equipment necessary for Wheel and Jeopardy in HD and apparently WJLA is closer to going HD than WRC (per DCRTV.com).


This despite the fact that WRC is an O&O and NBC stated eons ago that they were all converting to HD. Good thing no one from WRC posts here, I guess. (Of course, the HD news thing would be but one of many, many criticisms that an employee of the rapidly declining WRC would face.)


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13491901
> 
> 
> I think WNUV-DT 54 is having problems with the 720p cross-conversion, although Smallville was HD when I looked. Reaper is in HD on WDCW-DT 50.1.



Reaper was HD for the first 7 minutes on WNUV.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> BTW: I haven't seen Robert Forsythe post here in a while, at least not nearly as often as he used to. I guess enough Venom was heaped his way that he was finally turned off to us here. I guess the Free Speachers won another.



Many, many pages back, I recall Robert telling us he was very busy with the HD conversion over at ABC-7.


No question NBC-4 will be dead last in converting over to HD news now. Embarassing. Maybe to save more money they can buy some old black and white cameras and air the news like it was 1962.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/13491820
> 
> 
> Why is Reaper in SD tonight?





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13491901
> 
> 
> I think WNUV-DT 54 is having problems with the 720p cross-conversion, although Smallville was HD when I looked. Reaper is in HD on WDCW-DT 50.1.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/13493885
> 
> 
> Reaper was HD for the first 7 minutes on WNUV.



It was a problem with the 5.1 downmix audio that we use for WNUV analog. We had to go to the SD satellite feed so that everyone watching the analog feeds would have audio. Smallville is in stereo, so the audio was OK, but when Reaper came on, everyone watching the analog signal only had the left and right surround channels, but no center channel audio...


Kind of a funny problem.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/13493764
> 
> 
> BTW: I haven't seen Robert Forsythe post here in a while, at least not nearly as often as he used to. I guess enough Venom was heaped his way that he was finally turned off to us here. I guess the Free Speachers won another.



I am still here but have moved up/on the oversee New Media Technology for our parent company. Mark Olingy (the principle in building our facility) has returned to oversee Operations and Engineering.


----------



## E55 KEV

Could this be the TV?


This is strange. Last nite I noticed I have audio on every channel except 9-1 WUSA9-TV-DT for my 26" Toshiba LCD. I have 5 ATSC tuners in the house and all get audio on 9-1 except one. The Toshiba and my Sony HD DVR are connected to the same indoor antenna but the Toshiba has on sound on 9-1 and the DVR does. I reprogrammed the TV and still no sound. Could this be the TV?


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *E55 KEV* /forum/post/13494995
> 
> 
> Could this be the TV?
> 
> 
> This is strange. Last nite I noticed I have audio on every channel except 9-1 WUSA9-TV-DT for my 26" Toshiba LCD. I have 5 ATSC tuners in the house and all get audio on 9-1 except one. The Toshiba and my Sony HD DVR are connected to the same indoor antenna but the Toshiba has on sound on 9-1 and the DVR does. I reprogrammed the TV and still no sound. Could this be the TV?



Make sure the TV is not on SAP. There's probably a button for it on the remote.


I get calls like this all the time. I like the ones where people yell at me because the program is in spanish.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> ...Monday's Orioles opener...will be simulcast on WJZ/Channel 13 and Mid-Atlantic Sports Network at 3 p.m. However, the high-definition version of the Orioles vs. the Tampa Bay Rays will be available only on the MASN HD channel, not WJZ.


 http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/b...1171817.column


----------



## CycloneGT

That sounds more like a WJZ issue than a MASN issue. I wonder how WDCA-DT will do? I'm guessing since they have HD experience with Raycom, that the Nats in HD will be ok. I don't think that WJZ-DT has done any HD other than CBS, so I'm not sure of the depth of their engineering experience or hardware for carrying MASN in HDTV.


Oh, and its good to you post again Robert.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13495689
> 
> 
> That sounds more like a WJZ issue than a MASN issue. I wonder how WDCA-DT will do? I'm guessing since they have HD experience with Raycom, that the Nats in HD will be ok. I don't think that WJZ-DT has done any HD other than CBS, so I'm not sure of the depth of their engineering experience or hardware for carrying MASN in HDTV.



WJZ showed an ESPN Monday Night Football Ravens game in HD.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...74#post8618174


----------



## albertso

Robert,


Congrats on the move up. Please don't give up on those of us who really have appreciated your support in the past few years. Having Folk like you, and Mark, who can give us the inside poop on the issues we are all interested in, is invaluable.


Keep up the good work.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *albertso* /forum/post/13501343
> 
> 
> Please don't give up on those of us who really have appreciated your support in the past few years.



never.


----------



## paulstefano

Hey everybody.


I'm thinking of switching from DTV to Comcast or FIOS, but I want to wait until the Analog shutdown to see how my OTA shakes out.


My question is this: Is there any chance local Broadcast affiliates, will shutdown their analog transmitters earlier than the Feb. 2009 deadline? Or will they make the FCC pry the signals from their cold dead hands?


thanks,


paul


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paulstefano* /forum/post/13503943
> 
> 
> My question is this: Is there any chance local Broadcast affiliates, will shutdown their analog transmitters earlier than the Feb. 2009 deadline? Or will they make the FCC pry the signals from their cold dead hands?



All stations in Baltimore-DC except for WNVC 56 are planning to keep their analog on to the cold bitter end. WJLA 7 will reduce analog power by 50% around January 1, 2009 to modify their transmitter for digital transmission. WBAL 11 may reduce analog power next January as well. But most stations except for those discussed below are on their post-transition channel & ERP (Effective Radiated Power) levels. If you want to see a summary of what almost every full power station in the US is doing, follow this link http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=823166 to download the Excel file put together by Falcon_77 and to which I contributed to.


The big question next February is how will OTA digital reception will affected for WJLA-DT 7, WUSA-DT 9, WBAL-DT 11, WJZ-13, all of which are switching to upper VHF? WDCW-DT 50 is making a small move from UHF 51 to 50 with only a minimal change in power to 123 kW (from 125 kW) and same antenna height. WNVC-DT 56 will have improved DT coverage with a much stronger digital signal on UHF 24 that they have now, but likely won't get back on the air until 02/18/09 because they have to wait until WUTB 24 shuts off it's analog signal. WUTB-DT 24's waiver expires on May 18, 2008 to go full power of 200 kW on their DT 41 signal, so unless they can get another waiver, their lawyer had better file the paperwork so they can fire up. Also, WHAG-DT, WPXW-DT will be moving digital channels and to new antennas.


Anyway, I should post a summary for each station in our combined markets of their conversion plans and what is changing for next February. I will try to get to it this weekend. The conversion in our area is simple compared to the re-shuffle in San Francisco, which may be the most complicated of any major city.


----------



## paulstefano

Thanks. Although that doesn't help me (currently suffering major interference from WBFF) it's good to know I shouldn't get my hopes up.


----------



## jefbal99

D* has added 626-1 MASN HD to the channel guide


----------



## paulstefano




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jefbal99* /forum/post/13504688
> 
> 
> D* has added 626-1 MASN HD to the channel guide



Keep in mind only 20 Orioles and 20 Nationals games will be in HD this year.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paulstefano* /forum/post/13504747
> 
> 
> Keep in mind only 20 Orioles and 20 Nationals games will be in HD this year.



No, the number is 44 games for the Orioles and 43 games for the Nats. These include the inter-league games between the 2 teams, so depends on how you count those. A recent summary of # of HD games for each MLB team can be found at http://www.hdsportsguide.com/news/20...nal-schedules/ , although it is not final. To get a detailed schedule for every team, go to http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1012376 . Homcom is still updating the XLS files as some RSNs are still holding back on which games will be in HD later in the season.


The bottom line is that there will be a significant improvement in number of HD MLB games on RSNs across the US and nationally this year. All of the games on Fox, TBS-HD, ESPN/2-HD will be HD. However, we can rest comfortable in the knowledge that the Os and the Nats on MASN will still have the fewest HD games of the 30 MLB teams.


The big question as a Verizon Fios subscriber is when we will get info on how & when will Verizon add the MASN-HD feed.


----------



## cpldc

Thanks again for the help. I got the CM4220 today and found that by placing it on the floor on the southern side of my house tilted pretty much the opposite of what you'd expect brings in WBFF with a solid digital signal. Go figure; must be a reflection off of a building, but it's working so I am not complaining.


I managed to get 11 and 13 (well, their UHF digital stations) with a single bowtie taped to the end of a broomstick holding it up against my skylight. Obviously that's not exactly a watchable position but at least I know it's possible.


Just a bit of experimentation necessary...


----------



## rob base




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/13475692
> 
> 
> The MASN games on MOJO are in the Comcast guide. The channel is now labled MOJO+.
> 
> 
> MHD is still MIA.



Marcus,

My Comcast guide calls it MOJWA, I guess means MOJO Washington? The old MASN/CSN+ analog channel is called MASN 2 now.

Rob in Frederick


Nats and O's in HD never looked so good??


----------



## drewman75

Anyone heard anything about FIOS and carrying MASN HD? On the MASN site it still says TBD. And in an email response, they said they have no idea what channel, when, etc... And of course no one at FIOS had a clue, much as I expected.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *drewman75* /forum/post/13511483
> 
> 
> Anyone heard anything about FIOS and carrying MASN HD? On the MASN site it still says TBD.



There has not been even any rumors on when Verizon will add a MASN-HD feed. I would not count on it happening soon.


Don't forget that the Nats home opener in the new ballpark is on ESPN-HD tonight. This is the ONLY national game that the Nats are on the schedule so far for all season. The TBS schedule only goes to end of May, so they may add a Nats game after that. The ESPN and Fox schedules go to early September, so they could get a game added then if they are playing a team still in the hunt for post-season.


The only national game for the Os is Fox on May 3. It is an away game, so presumably Fox will show it here. Same caveat for additional games on TBS, FOX, and ESPN apply to the Os. Since neither team is likely to be a pennant contender this year, they are not getting much love from the national networks.


----------



## bucnasty

is anyone having problems with the nhl network tonight? im not getting any real sound, it sounds like its only bass..


----------



## clifburns




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rob base* /forum/post/13511158
> 
> 
> Marcus,
> 
> My Comcast guide calls it MOJWA, I guess means MOJO Washington? The old MASN/CSN+ analog channel is called MASN 2 now.
> 
> Rob in Frederick
> 
> 
> Nats and O's in HD never looked so good??



After the name change to MOJWA, it also disappeared from the Comcast box's HD lineup and you have to go into the regular menu to find it. Sometimes I wonder how the Comcast technical staff finds their way home at night (unless they leave reminder signs for themselves along the road).


----------



## machpost

MASN HD has been added to RCN:










It seems to be a simulcast of analog MASN when there isn't a game on in HD. First HD game is this afternoon.


----------



## CycloneGT

 http://masnstudios.com/2007/09/find-masn.html 


Looks like MASN-HD is on most systems. Dish is out, and FiOS is listed as TBD.


----------



## Marcus Carr

RCN will add HD On Demand by June.

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/s...25&newsLang=en


----------



## bucnasty




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bucnasty* /forum/post/13515956
> 
> 
> is anyone having problems with the nhl network tonight? im not getting any real sound, it sounds like its only bass..



Correction. Most of my channels have no sound on cox ffx, only bass. reseting the box made it worse..


----------



## afiggatt

WJZ-DT is broadcasting the Os opening day game in HD! So the 10 O's games that are on both WJZ-DT and MASN-HD this year should be in HD on WJZ-DT. It was reported that WDCA-DT 20 would be in HD as well for the joint MASN-HD games, so the 9 joint WDCA/MASN-HD Nats games should be available in HD on WDCA-DT as well. For the cable/sat(Dish)/Verizon subscribers who don't have MASN-HD yet, these broadcast games will be a useful backup.


Based on only a short look, the MASN-HD picture quality on WJZ-DT OTA is pretty good. However, the Nats game on MASN2 on Verizon Fios1 channel looks lousy with serious color crush of some sort. Someone should measure the bandwidth for MASN2 on Verizon versus the MASN SD channels on Verizon and Comcast (hint).


----------



## chaspower




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/13518044
> 
> 
> MASN HD has been added to RCN:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It seems to be a simulcast of analog MASN when there isn't a game on in HD. First HD game is this afternoon.



As far as I can tell, there is not any programming from MASN, unless the actual game is on the screen. There may be a pre-show before that. The transponder is leased on a per-use basis. This is not an exclusive transponder.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chaspower* /forum/post/13523334
> 
> 
> As far as I can tell, there is not any programming from MASN, unless the actual game is on the screen. There may be a pre-show before that. The transponder is leased on a per-use basis. This is not an exclusive transponder.



Exactly. RCN just happened to be simulcasting analog MASN on this channel, up until the first HD broadcast.


----------



## CuseHokie




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rob base* /forum/post/13511158
> 
> 
> Marcus,
> 
> My Comcast guide calls it MOJWA, I guess means MOJO Washington? The old MASN/CSN+ analog channel is called MASN 2 now.
> 
> Rob in Frederick
> 
> 
> Nats and O's in HD never looked so good??



Can you explain what you mean?


My MOJWA in Comcast Loudoun is not authorized. It's been like that for a few days...


I saw on dslreports someone else in Ashburn is experiencing the same problem, so it must be global?


----------



## kenrowe




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CuseHokie* /forum/post/13524094
> 
> 
> Can you explain what you mean?
> 
> 
> My MOJWA in Comcast Loudoun is not authorized. It's been like that for a few days...
> 
> 
> I saw on dslreports someone else in Ashburn is experiencing the same problem, so it must be global?



It wasn't global b/c I had no problem watching MOJWA yesterday afternoon Comcast MoCo. The next HD games aren't until next week when the Nats return to DC.


----------



## machpost

I watched a few minutes of the Orioles game on MASN HD and I was surprised by the picture quality. Some of their graphics could stand to be refined, though.


----------



## euckersw

Just in case there are any NOVA Cox subscribers with cable cards, I wanted to give you the heads-up that the MLB Extra Innings package appears to be SDV, and therefore cannot be viewed with cable cards.


----------



## iontyre

CNN-HD, History-HD, and TLC-HD are coming to Harford County Comcast as of April 9. I assume they are going on the same QAM, so expect limited quality.


Scifi-HD has been a real dissapointment for me so far. Stargate Atlantis is always FULL of motion artifacting. I hope they fix this soon...get rid of the analog stations!!!


----------



## nottenst

I don't know if this is the right place, but last night during the broadcast of the Big Bang Theory on WUSA they had a scroll across the top of the screen talking about the transition to digital broadcasts next year. The scroll went across the top for about a minute or so. I was watching on Comcast - the HD QAM signal. I really hope they don't do this scroll across the top of more shows. Has anyone else seen such a scroll on other shows?


Neil


----------



## WRXpilot

I'm a Rockville, MD Comcast subscriber. Right now, I have their "Standard Cable" (Analog) package @ $59/month, plus internet for another ~$30/month. I just got an HDTV, which lets me see the network HD stations as well as PBS HD, but that's all.


I called about their HD packages and am a little surprised by what they told me. Apparently, I can pay another $9.00 / month for an HD box (that doesn't give me any more channels than what my TV already tunes itself?!), but to get any other HD channels (Disco HD, ESPN, etc) I need to pay at least $15.00 more for their first level of digital service.


So for an existing subscriber, the cheapest digital package including HD is $82/month (just for TV, before adding back in internet)? No deals, no packages offered. Really?


I just looked at the DirecTV website, and if I'm reading correctly, for $44.95/month I can get pretty much the same exact lineup Comcast wants $82/month for?


Am I missing something, or is Comcast just a rip-off?


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *E55 KEV* /forum/post/13494995
> 
> 
> Could this be the TV?
> 
> 
> This is strange. Last nite I noticed I have audio on every channel except 9-1 WUSA9-TV-DT for my 26" Toshiba LCD. I have 5 ATSC tuners in the house and all get audio on 9-1 except one. The Toshiba and my Sony HD DVR are connected to the same indoor antenna but the Toshiba has on sound on 9-1 and the DVR does. I reprogrammed the TV and still no sound. Could this be the TV?



Check this out. Since I still had no audio on 9-1 OTA I emailed the 'Director of Technology & Operations' for WUSA-9 Monday morning. He responds, he checked and there are no problems. When I get home from the office on Monday I have sound on 9-1 OTA. Problem Gone!


I email him next day to say problem fixed and someone somewhere at WUSA-9 must have fixed something. After a couple more emails he writes this:


"When we did the multicast basketball games we used a new (on loan), more efficient, ATSC encoder. In fact, it is the exact same encoder that WJLA and WETA uses. We must have had some settings that your Toshiba did not like."


Note: Last week WUSA-9 were multicasting separate NCAA game finals on 9-1 & 9-2.


----------



## ACW112983

Sorry if it's been covered, but does anyone know when and if Spike TV will be in HD, and if it is, when and if it'll come to Arlington Comcast?


Thanks


----------



## vthokie820




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *WRXpilot* /forum/post/13531761
> 
> 
> I'm a Rockville, MD Comcast subscriber. Right now, I have their "Standard Cable" (Analog) package @ $59/month, plus internet for another ~$30/month. I just got an HDTV, which lets me see the network HD stations as well as PBS HD, but that's all.
> 
> 
> I called about their HD packages and am a little surprised by what they told me. Apparently, I can pay another $9.00 / month for an HD box (that doesn't give me any more channels than what my TV already tunes itself?!), but to get any other HD channels (Disco HD, ESPN, etc) I need to pay at least $15.00 more for their first level of digital service.
> 
> 
> So for an existing subscriber, the cheapest digital package including HD is $82/month (just for TV, before adding back in internet)? No deals, no packages offered. Really?
> 
> 
> I just looked at the DirecTV website, and if I'm reading correctly, for $44.95/month I can get pretty much the same exact lineup Comcast wants $82/month for?
> 
> 
> Am I missing something, or is Comcast just a rip-off?



No you're definitely not missing anything. Comcast is over-priced and they under-perform. I had them for about a year with a special deal and then canceled when the promotional offer was finished. My suggestion would be to cancel your service and go with Dish or DirecTV. Unfortunately, I don't have that option so I watch TV exclusively over the air.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/13530313
> 
> 
> I don't know if this is the right place, but last night during the broadcast of the Big Bang Theory on WUSA they had a scroll across the top of the screen talking about the transition to digital broadcasts next year. The scroll went across the top for about a minute or so. I was watching on Comcast - the HD QAM signal. I really hope they don't do this scroll across the top of more shows. Has anyone else seen such a scroll on other shows?
> 
> 
> Neil



Sorry, but there was recent legislation which requires all broadcasters to do this type of thing (scrolls, PSAs, special programs, etc.) in an effort to let the public know about the end of analog transmissions.


What you saw was just the first of a year-long (OK, 10 1/2 month) barrage of announcements.


Cheers!


----------



## Eben




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *WRXpilot* /forum/post/13531761
> 
> 
> I'm a Rockville, MD Comcast subscriber. Right now, I have their "Standard Cable" (Analog) package @ $59/month, plus internet for another ~$30/month. I just got an HDTV, which lets me see the network HD stations as well as PBS HD, but that's all.
> 
> 
> I called about their HD packages and am a little surprised by what they told me. Apparently, I can pay another $9.00 / month for an HD box (that doesn't give me any more channels than what my TV already tunes itself?!), but to get any other HD channels (Disco HD, ESPN, etc) I need to pay at least $15.00 more for their first level of digital service.
> 
> 
> So for an existing subscriber, the cheapest digital package including HD is $82/month (just for TV, before adding back in internet)? No deals, no packages offered. Really?
> 
> 
> I just looked at the DirecTV website, and if I'm reading correctly, for $44.95/month I can get pretty much the same exact lineup Comcast wants $82/month for?
> 
> 
> Am I missing something, or is Comcast just a rip-off?



D does charge $10/mo for HD access plus $5 for each receiver beyond the first.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *WRXpilot* /forum/post/13531761
> 
> 
> I'm a Rockville, MD Comcast subscriber. Right now, I have their "Standard Cable" (Analog) package @ $59/month, plus internet for another ~$30/month. I just got an HDTV, which lets me see the network HD stations as well as PBS HD, but that's all.



You could scale back to their limited basic service. You'll get all the local channels plus a few more and the price of limited basic plus internet is sometimes less than internet on its own. You will get all the local network channels and PBS in HD if you have a QAM filter which it appears you have. If you still want the other channels you used to have could get a satellite service as you mentioned. You can also get digital starter for an analog TV which will allow you to get their On Demand service for $1 a month through a box of theirs.


Neil


----------



## vidioteic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/13518044
> 
> 
> MASN HD has been added to RCN:
> 
> It seems to be a simulcast of analog MASN when there isn't a game on in HD. First HD game is this afternoon.



RCN has chosen to carry MASN SD on the HD channel when HD is off the air. Curious though, it is 4:3 center cut? MASN HD will not be carrying the pre or post game show. (for the record, MASN SD is distributed digitally.)



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13521388
> 
> 
> WJZ-DT is broadcasting the Os opening day game in HD! So the 10 O's games that are on both WJZ-DT and MASN-HD this year should be in HD on WJZ-DT. It was reported that WDCA-DT 20 would be in HD as well for the joint MASN-HD games, so the 9 joint WDCA/MASN-HD Nats games should be available in HD on WDCA-DT as well. For the cable/sat(Dish)/Verizon subscribers who don't have MASN-HD yet, these broadcast games will be a useful backup.



You should thank your WJZ engineering staff for doing everything they could to bring the game in HD!


Next MASN-HD game will be on Monday, when Florida visits the Nats. Look for it on WDCA if you are in the DC market; Blackout rules still apply for MASN games airing on WDCA, even in HD. MASN will carry Nats XTRA, but will be blacked out in the WDCA footprint.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *vidioteic* /forum/post/13533821
> 
> 
> Next MASN-HD game will be on Monday, when Florida visits the Nats. Look for it on WDCA if you are in the DC market; Blackout rules still apply for MASN games airing on WDCA, even in HD. MASN will carry Nats XTRA, but will be blacked out in the WDCA footprint.



Blackout? The Orioles weren't blacked out on MASN yesterday even though I am in the WJZ footprint. Is that a WDCA only rule?


----------



## tonyd79

Anybody having problems with MOJO and MHD on Comcast in Howard County? My HD Tivo says there is zero signal for those two stations only? Did they remap them and the Tivo is not updated?


Edit: They are back on Wednesday morning.


----------



## TimGoodwin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/13534039
> 
> 
> Blackout? The Orioles weren't blacked out on MASN yesterday even though I am in the WJZ footprint. Is that a WDCA only rule?




It won't be blacked out on MASN. They never black out the games when they are on one of the local stations. At least on Directv.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ACW112983* /forum/post/13532487
> 
> 
> Sorry if it's been covered, but does anyone know when and if Spike TV will be in HD, and if it is, when and if it'll come to Arlington Comcast?
> 
> 
> Thanks



There is a Spike HD... I know DirecTV carries it (I'm a sub) and has been on their line-up since last October...


----------



## vidioteic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/13534039
> 
> 
> Blackout? The Orioles weren't blacked out on MASN yesterday even though I am in the WJZ footprint. Is that a WDCA only rule?





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TimGoodwin* /forum/post/13536333
> 
> 
> It won't be blacked out on MASN. They never black out the games when they are on one of the local stations. At least on Directv.



OTA broadcast on WJZ does not cause a blackout, however, Nats OTA on DCA does cause a blackout, but only if you are in the WDCA footprint. If your provider provides WDCA to you, the Nats on MASN will be blacked out when WDCA carries the games. Including HD. And DirectTV


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *vidioteic* /forum/post/13533821
> 
> 
> RCN has chosen to carry MASN SD on the HD channel when HD is off the air. Curious though, it is 4:3 center cut? MASN HD will not be carrying the pre or post game show. (for the record, MASN SD is distributed digitally.)



It was actually just a mirror of the 480i SD channel. I don't know the technical details, but channel 174 (where MASN HD resides) is basically identical to SD MASN channel 76 when there is no HD game on.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *vidioteic* /forum/post/13533821
> 
> 
> Next MASN-HD game will be on Monday, when Florida visits the Nats. Look for it on WDCA if you are in the DC market; Blackout rules still apply for MASN games airing on WDCA, even in HD. MASN will carry Nats XTRA, but will be blacked out in the WDCA footprint.



I don't know how it is on other cable systems, or if something has changed since last season, but RCN has blacked out the pre- and post-game shows on MASN when the game has been on WDCA


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *vthokie820* /forum/post/13532640
> 
> 
> No you're definitely not missing anything. Comcast is over-priced and they under-perform. I had them for about a year with a special deal and then canceled when the promotional offer was finished. My suggestion would be to cancel your service and go with Dish or DirecTV. Unfortunately, I don't have that option so I watch TV exclusively over the air.



I am/was in the same boat with comcast. I went the 1st 2.5 years in my new house without anything but rabbit ears and eventually QAM with a TUBE HDTV. Then two Novembers ago, Adelphia had a deal too good to pass up $29.95 for their digital package. 150 channels, On Demand, etc... So I got that. In the meantime, Comcast bought out Adelphia in my area(overall?), honored the deal, then this November they jacked the price from $29.95 to $150. I laughed, and canceled, fully expecting to go back to rabbit ears. After a week Comcast called and eventually offered "digital cable"(no extra channels, just accesss to PPV and On Demand + basic cable) for $33 a month.


Normally, I would not have accepted. But in Sterling, comcast has been adding HD channels in the clear over QAM. So the basic channels+On Demand+all the extra HD channels for $33 seemed like a good deal to me.


They finally laid down the FIOS cabling in my neighbohood last week, so when this deal is over I'll have a decision to make. All I know is that there is NO WAY I'm paying three times more for same stuff I've been getting the last two years.


----------



## biker19

^^^this is good advice for anyone stuck with a high priced cable deal - threaten to leave (and be prepared to) - their "retention specialist" usually comes up with some good deals.


----------



## vthokie820




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/13537388
> 
> 
> ^^^this is good advice for anyone stuck with a high priced cable deal - threaten to leave (and be prepared to) - their "retention specialist" usually comes up with some good deals.



And if you don't bite, they bombard your mail box with deals. Sometimes I get 2 or 3 of them a day.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey

Does anyone have any screenshots of MASN HD and/or WJZ HD ?


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Count Blah* /forum/post/13537123
> 
> 
> I am/was in the same boat with comcast. I went the 1st 2.5 years in my new house without anything but rabbit ears and eventually QAM with a TUBE HDTV. Then two Novembers ago, Adelphia had a deal too good to pass up $29.95 for their digital package. 150 channels, On Demand, etc... So I got that. In the meantime, Comcast bought out Adelphia in my area(overall?), honored the deal, then this November they jacked the price from $29.95 to $150. I laughed, and canceled, fully expecting to go back to rabbit ears. After a week Comcast called and eventually offered "digital cable"(no extra channels, just accesss to PPV and On Demand + basic cable) for $33 a month.
> 
> 
> Normally, I would not have accepted. But in Sterling, comcast has been adding HD channels in the clear over QAM. So the basic channels+On Demand+all the extra HD channels for $33 seemed like a good deal to me.
> 
> 
> They finally laid down the FIOS cabling in my neighbohood last week, so when this deal is over I'll have a decision to make. All I know is that there is NO WAY I'm paying three times more for same stuff I've been getting the last two years.



Yes they are...except @ basic price for me


----------



## Marcus Carr

DirecTV added ESPNews HD, Disney Channel HD, and Toon Disney HD today.


----------



## spacemonk

Does Comcast in Alexandria carry MASN HD? If so, what channel is it on?


----------



## Marcus Carr

Discovery Channel HD on Comcast is now DSCHD in the guide instead of DISHD, which is supposed to be used for Disney Channel HD. So possibly another channel on the way besides CNN, TLC, and History.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/13543883
> 
> 
> Does anyone have any screenshots of MASN HD and/or WJZ HD ?



While it's not an actual screen capture, here's a photo of what it looks like on a 42" plasma:


----------



## Tom Harms

Just had a FiOS 3-Play install in Ravensworth Farm in Springfield. It took two days for the technicians to successfully install 8 Motorola cablecards in 3 TIVO HDs and 2 Sharp LCDs. HDTV looks great and the 15/15 broadband internet is very nice. As a long time DirecTV subscriber, I was sitting on the fence to upgrade or go with FiOS. So far, I'm happy with the decision. Tom


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *spacemonk* /forum/post/13544528
> 
> 
> Does Comcast in Alexandria carry MASN HD? If so, what channel is it on?



MASN-HD is a part-time channel which is only active when there is a HD game. Comcast is putting MASN-HD on the Mojo channel, bumping the Mojo programming for the 80 MASN-HD games we will get this year. For the MASN HD announcement and the PDF schedules for the Nats & Os this year: http://masnsports.com/2008/02/masn-r...-access-n.html . The next HD game for the Nats is April 8 on WDCA 20 & MASN-HD; the next HD game for the Os is April 18 on MASN-HD.


For those who want to see the SD vs HD schedules for all MLB teams, follow the link to Homcom's Excel spreadsheet files under 2008 MLB Schedule Spreadsheets at http://www.hdsportsguide.com/news/20...nal-schedules/ . It is an amazing amount of work by Homcom to put the information together. Interesting to use the auto-filter option to see how many HD games each team is getting. The Kansas City Royals go from no HD games last year on their own sports net to 88 games on FSN Kansas City. The Os and the Nats with only 40 HD games each (43 if you count the head to head games) are bringing up the rear among MLB teams for HD along with the Oakland Athletics. Still better than no HD at all that we got in 2007.


----------



## JayMan007




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/13545937
> 
> 
> While it's not an actual screen capture, here's a photo of what it looks like on a 42" plasma:



Which provider was that on? Comcast, Cox, DirecTV, Dish, ???


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Tom Harms* /forum/post/13546229
> 
> 
> Just had a FiOS 3-Play install in Ravensworth Farm in Springfield. It took two days for the technicians to successfully install 8 Motorola cablecards in 3 TIVO HDs and 2 Sharp LCDs. HDTV looks great and the 15/15 broadband internet is very nice. As a long time DirecTV subscriber, I was sitting on the fence to upgrade or go with FiOS. So far, I'm happy with the decision. Tom



Getting FiOS installed as we speak...







I, too, have DirecTV BUT I'm not getting FiOS TV. Much better selection of HD content on DirecTV than FiOS. OTA antenna feeds three TVs with no issues. For now, I'm set with DirecTV service and 3-Play from Verizon (landline, data, wireless)...


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JayMan007* /forum/post/13547180
> 
> 
> Which provider was that on? Comcast, Cox, DirecTV, Dish, ???



RCN.


----------



## CycloneGT

Hehe, Oh the irony. Dish Network ads shown on MASN-HD which dish does not carry.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13547624
> 
> 
> Hehe, Oh the irony. Dish Network ads shown on MASN-HD which dish does not carry.



Ads are odd these days. Was watching the Padres in HD on DirecTV last night from the Cox local cable channel (4SD). They kept having ads claiming that only Cox has the Padres in HD. A little behind they are as DirecTV will have all of them as well now as part of the Extra Innings package.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/13549869
> 
> 
> Ads are odd these days. Was watching the Padres in HD on DirecTV last night from the Cox local cable channel (4SD). They kept having ads claiming that only Cox has the Padres in HD. A little behind they are as DirecTV will have all of them as well now as part of the Extra Innings package.



they will have all the Games in HD or is it select EI games?


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/13532750
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/13530313
> 
> 
> I don't know if this is the right place, but last night during the broadcast of the Big Bang Theory on WUSA they had a scroll across the top of the screen talking about the transition to digital broadcasts next year. The scroll went across the top for about a minute or so. I was watching on Comcast - the HD QAM signal. I really hope they don't do this scroll across the top of more shows. Has anyone else seen such a scroll on other shows?
> 
> 
> Neil
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sorry, but there was recent legislation which requires all broadcasters to do this type of thing (scrolls, PSAs, special programs, etc.) in an effort to let the public know about the end of analog transmissions.
> 
> 
> What you saw was just the first of a year-long (OK, 10 1/2 month) barrage of announcements.
> 
> 
> Cheers!
Click to expand...


Well, sorry, but as far as I'm concerned, this is completely unacceptable, and I called WUSA after the BBT scroll and said as much. TV stations need to keep these program disrupting scrolls, lower thirds, etc., on their *analog signals ONLY*. If they can't/won't/don't do that, *I will tune them out entirely.*


Really, the noise and clutter on TV programming these days is abominable as it is. *I've already stopped watching CW and NBC completely* because of their obnoxious lower thirds and constant on-screen program promos.


And now you say we should get used to minutes-long crawls popping up at random times?!?!? For a YEAR!!!!??!!!!! (Ok, 10.5 months, but still) Forget it!


WUSA has completely separate network feeds for SD and HD. There's absolutely no reason the transition announcement could not be limited to the analog transmission only.


For stations like WDCW and WNUV, which seem to be running everything off the HD feed now, I have a little bit more sympathy, but not much. These days, you have about 20 minutes of non-program time every hour. If you cannot restrict the crawls to the analog signal, then you should promote transition awareness with PSAs in the non-program time only.


I'm really, really serious about this. If broadcasters can't do better than what WUSA did on Monday night - I should add that a wrong switch was flipped at the end of the crawl and for about three seconds the program was entirely replaced by what looked like a family photo of a man with three children and somebody in a muppet suit - then every viewer who defects to cable/DVD/etc. will be a richly deserved loss.


Cheers


----------



## Tom Harms




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/13547472
> 
> 
> Getting FiOS installed as we speak...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I, too, have DirecTV BUT I'm not getting FiOS TV. Much better selection of HD content on DirecTV than FiOS. OTA antenna feeds three TVs with no issues. For now, I'm set with DirecTV service and 3-Play from Verizon (landline, data, wireless)...



Yes, DirecTV has a better selection of HD content than FiOS ~ at this point. DirecTV is using MPEG4 to compress the HDTV signals, which appear to be very high quality. DirecTV still has some limitations due to bandwith via satellite. The promise of fiber optics is that Verizon will essentially have no bandwith limitiations.


Untill I shut off DirecTV in a few weeks, I can demonstrate *side-by-side* that the FiOS HDTV is superior. It actually looks 3-dimension on some channels. Tom


----------



## hokiefan

The Baltimore local channels have appeared on Dish Network's system on 61.5W. They are not available to subscribers yet, but they are up there testing. Resolutions are 1280x720p for Fox and Abc, 1440x1080i for Cbs and Nbc. They also have WNUV, WUTB, and WMPT up there in SD. Interesting since WNUV, WUTB, and WMPT are available from 110W currently (in mpeg2). All channels are mpeg4. Mark, I'm assuming you're feeding them WBFF and WNUV via fiber? Its interesting to see WNUV up in SD even though you just converted to 720p








.


----------



## bucnasty




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/13551720
> 
> 
> Well, sorry, but as far as I'm concerned, this is completely unacceptable, and I called WUSA after the BBT scroll and said as much. TV stations need to keep these program disrupting scrolls, lower thirds, etc., on their *analog signals ONLY*. If they can't/won't/don't do that, *I will tune them out entirely.*
> 
> 
> Really, the noise and clutter on TV programming these days is abominable as it is. *I've already stopped watching CW and NBC completely* because of their obnoxious lower thirds and constant on-screen program promos.
> 
> 
> And now you say we should get used to minutes-long crawls popping up at random times?!?!? For a YEAR!!!!??!!!!! (Ok, 10.5 months, but still) Forget it!
> 
> 
> WUSA has completely separate network feeds for SD and HD. There's absolutely no reason the transition announcement could not be limited to the analog transmission only.
> 
> 
> For stations like WDCW and WNUV, which seem to be running everything off the HD feed now, I have a little bit more sympathy, but not much. These days, you have about 20 minutes of non-program time every hour. If you cannot restrict the crawls to the analog signal, then you should promote transition awareness with PSAs in the non-program time only.
> 
> 
> I'm really, really serious about this. If broadcasters can't do better than what WUSA did on Monday night - I should add that a wrong switch was flipped at the end of the crawl and for about three seconds the program was entirely replaced by what looked like a family photo of a man with three children and somebody in a muppet suit - then every viewer who defects to cable/DVD/etc. will be a richly deserved loss.
> 
> 
> Cheers



it sounds like you should stick to cable


----------



## CuseHokie

Well, I'm still not authorized to watch "MOJWA".


Anyone else out there in Sterling/Loudoun Comcast?


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/13551720
> 
> 
> TV stations need to keep these program disrupting scrolls, lower thirds, etc., on their *analog signals ONLY*.



Well, certainly the ones about the digital transition... I mean, if you're watching it in HD, you've already made the transition.


----------



## KurtONeill

I just moved from Howard county to Baltimore City (Federal Hill). Does anyone know if there is an ETA for Verizon FIOS in the City? I miss it with just Comcast as my only cable choice.


Thanks


Kurt


----------



## clifburns

Is there any reason that Washington and Baltimore are both crammed into the same thread? They are separate media markets -- #9 and #24 respectively -- and there is only a minimal area where TV and radio signals serving the two markets overlap. I'm sure that Washingtonians and Baltimoreans would be happy not to have to sort through clutter about stuff in the other city while looking for info on their own city.


----------



## SQUIDWARD360




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CuseHokie* /forum/post/13553235
> 
> 
> Well, I'm still not authorized to watch "MOJWA".
> 
> 
> Anyone else out there in Sterling/Loudoun Comcast?



Me and another buddy in Leesburg are also having the same issue. He called Comcast and they gave their usual step by step instruction.

1.Unplug your cable box and plug it back in.

2.We'll send a technician.


Since we do not have a local customer service they don't want to hear that something is a widespread issue.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> By early third quarter, Sinclair plans to launch local HD news in Columbus, *Baltimore*, Asheville and Pensacola.





> Quote:
> Doback expects to have all of Scripps’ stations—WXYZ Detroit; KNXV Phoenix; WFTS Tampa; WEWS Cleveland; *WMAR Baltimore*; KMCI/KSHB Kansas City, Mo.; WCPO Cincinnati; WPTV West Palm Beach, Fla.; and KJRH Tulsa, Okla.—broadcasting their local newscasts in high-definition by the end of this year.


 http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6546067.html


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *clifburns* /forum/post/13555472
> 
> 
> Is there any reason that Washington and Baltimore are both crammed into the same thread? They are separate media markets -- #9 and #24 respectively -- and there is only a minimal area where TV and radio signals serving the two markets overlap. I'm sure that Washingtonians and Baltimoreans would be happy not to have to sort through clutter about stuff in the other city while looking for info on their own city.



The two areas are close enough together that it makes sense to talk about both. Plus the thread has been successful for nearly 5 years now, so I'm not inclined to change a thing. There are people who want to split up the thread for various interests. But there are a Wash Comcast, Wash Verizon, etc. threads and if you check them out, you'll see that they have little activity.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *clifburns* /forum/post/13555472
> 
> 
> Is there any reason that Washington and Baltimore are both crammed into the same thread? They are separate media markets -- #9 and #24 respectively -- and there is only a minimal area where TV and radio signals serving the two markets overlap. I'm sure that Washingtonians and Baltimoreans would be happy not to have to sort through clutter about stuff in the other city while looking for info on their own city.



Minimal area? Better tell the guy in Sterling, VA, who is watching Baltimore stations. Or the folks in Baltimore County who discuss WETA.


Also, I think you would find that Howard County, Anne Arundel County, Frederick County, and parts of PG County and Montgomery County to hardly be a "minimal area." Not to mention that Fios has both cities in several areas in SD and HD and that many cable systems have both cities at least in SD.


----------



## afiggatt

Sinclair owns WBFF Fox 45 and WNUV CW 54, so I take the article to mean WBFF will go HD for local news by the start of the fall season.


We have WTTG Fox 5 going HD in the next month. There has been no public announcement that I recall, but there were rumors that the CBS O&O WJZ-DT CBS 13 in Baltimore was not that far away from HD for local news. That means that by the end of this year, we will go from only WUSA-DT 9 in the two cities with HD local news to at least 4, maybe even 5 stations. Not bad.


----------



## carltonrice

Not bad?


I think it's atrocious! I was in Birmingham, AL on business earlier in the week and even they have at least one local station (CBS) doing HD news while Baltimore has none.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13556156
> 
> 
> Sinclair owns WBFF Fox 45 and WNUV CW 54, so I take the article to mean WBFF will go HD for local news by the start of the fall season.
> 
> 
> We have WTTG Fox 5 going HD in the next month. There has been no public announcement that I recall, but there were rumors that the CBS O&O WJZ-DT CBS 13 in Baltimore was not that far away from HD for local news. That means that by the end of this year, we will go from only WUSA-DT 9 in the two cities with HD local news to at least 4, maybe even 5 stations. Not bad.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/13551720
> 
> 
> Well, sorry, but as far as I'm concerned, this is completely unacceptable, and I called WUSA after the BBT scroll and said as much. TV stations need to keep these program disrupting scrolls, lower thirds, etc., on their *analog signals ONLY*.



Did anyone at WUSA say anything in response? Their contact page is at http://www.wusa9.com/company/contact/default.aspx 

I just tried to call them, but ended up with the voice-mail of Sue Baldwin. I guess I'll email her and see if I get any response.


Neil


----------



## drkashner




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/13556085
> 
> 
> Minimal area? Better tell the guy in Sterling, VA, who is watching Baltimore stations. Or the folks in Baltimore County who discuss WETA.
> 
> 
> Also, I think you would find that Howard County, Anne Arundel County, Frederick County, and parts of PG County and Montgomery County to hardly be a "minimal area." Not to mention that Fios has both cities in several areas in SD and HD and that many cable systems have both cities at least in SD.



Also us folks in southern PA who watch Baltimore and Washington stations OTA.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/13556291
> 
> 
> Not bad?
> 
> 
> I think it's atrocious! I was in Birmingham, AL on business earlier in the week and even they have at least one local station (CBS) doing HD news while Baltimore has none.



I agree, it's pathetic. What is WRC's problem? You'd think that NBC would make local HD news a priority on their O&O in a market this large. Their facilities even housed WHD-TV, the first experimental HD television station, ten years ago. You'd think they might be ahead of the curve, but instead, they're dead last


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *clifburns* /forum/post/13555472
> 
> 
> Is there any reason that Washington and Baltimore are both crammed into the same thread? They are separate media markets -- #9 and #24 respectively -- and there is only a minimal area where TV and radio signals serving the two markets overlap. I'm sure that Washingtonians and Baltimoreans would be happy not to have to sort through clutter about stuff in the other city while looking for info on their own city.



I've asked the same question before. I can see both sides of the argument. Really wish there was a standard format here so that I can recognize the posts that mean absolutely nothing to me. Like in the title - "Cable RCN" "Cable MD", "Cable Loudoun", "DC Station", etc... so that I can ignore the ones that don't pertain to me.


I'm in Loudoun, but if I wanted more info on a Baltimore station I'm trying to get OTA, I think I'd try looking in the Ball-mer thread. Seems simple enough to me.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13556156
> 
> 
> Sinclair owns WBFF Fox 45 and WNUV CW 54, so I take the article to mean WBFF will go HD for local news by the start of the fall season.



I saw the following on dcrtv :


> Quote:
> *45 To Launch HD News In May - 4/4 -* Baltimore-based Sinclair has signed with Devlin Design to do high-def studio conversion of 14 TV stations. Sinclair plans to launch HD newscasts on its Baltimore Fox-affiliated flagship, Channel 45/WBFF, in May...


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/13556291
> 
> 
> Not bad?
> 
> 
> I think it's atrocious! I was in Birmingham, AL on business earlier in the week and even they have at least one local station (CBS) doing HD news while Baltimore has none.



If you look at the list by DMA of stations with HD local news at http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...4#post11299304 , you will see that Portland DMA #23 has no HD local news either. The list was last updated in December, so it is likely a bit behind the times. But once you get down to DMA #9 - Washington - there is usually no more than 1 station in each market with HD local news down to DMA #22, except for Cleveland & Houston. It is hit or miss, mostly miss, for HD local news in the smaller markets. It costs a lot of money to convert to HD for local news, so this is a process that has been taking and will take years. But from the broadcastingcable article, it is apparent the # of stations with HD local news will increase significantly over the next year.


The article also states: "Four of Hearst-Argyle's 28 stations have launched local newscasts in HD, and two more will go by this summer." Looking them up, Hearst-Argyle owns WBAL NBC 11 in Baltimore, so there is an outside chance that WBAL could be one of the two.


As for the NBC O&O WRC 4, way back in the fall of 2006, IIRC, NBC said they would be upgrading all their O&O stations to HD local news over the next 18 months to 2 years. With the cutbacks at NBC so they can bring us such fine reality programming, I suspect the conversion plan for their local stations has been stretched way out.


----------



## carltonrice

But, is this chart up-to-date? It is in a post dated for August, 2007.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hokiefan* /forum/post/13552821
> 
> 
> The Baltimore local channels have appeared on Dish Network's system on 61.5W. They are not available to subscribers yet, but they are up there testing. Resolutions are 1280x720p for Fox and Abc, 1440x1080i for Cbs and Nbc. They also have WNUV, WUTB, and WMPT up there in SD. Interesting since WNUV, WUTB, and WMPT are available from 110W currently (in mpeg2). All channels are mpeg4. Mark, I'm assuming you're feeding them WBFF and WNUV via fiber? Its interesting to see WNUV up in SD even though you just converted to 720p
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .



Actually, both Dish Network and DirecTV get our HD signal OTA from someplace downtown. The only delivery service that gets our digital signals via fiber is Verizon FIOS.


DirecTV has a fiber feed of our analog signals. Dish Network gets those off-air, also.


Thanks for the info about Dish Network.


.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13556156
> 
> 
> Sinclair owns WBFF Fox 45 and WNUV CW 54, so I take the article to mean WBFF will go HD for local news by the start of the fall season.



WBFF will have HD news much sooner than in the fall...


Cheers!


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/13551720
> 
> 
> Well, sorry, but as far as I'm concerned, this is completely unacceptable, and I called WUSA after the BBT scroll and said as much. TV stations need to keep these program disrupting scrolls, lower thirds, etc., on their *analog signals ONLY*. If they can't/won't/don't do that, *I will tune them out entirely.*
> 
> 
> Really, the noise and clutter on TV programming these days is abominable as it is. *I've already stopped watching CW and NBC completely* because of their obnoxious lower thirds and constant on-screen program promos.
> 
> 
> And now you say we should get used to minutes-long crawls popping up at random times?!?!? For a YEAR!!!!??!!!!! (Ok, 10.5 months, but still) Forget it!
> 
> 
> WUSA has completely separate network feeds for SD and HD. There's absolutely no reason the transition announcement could not be limited to the analog transmission only.
> 
> 
> For stations like WDCW and WNUV, which seem to be running everything off the HD feed now, I have a little bit more sympathy, but not much. These days, you have about 20 minutes of non-program time every hour. If you cannot restrict the crawls to the analog signal, then you should promote transition awareness with PSAs in the non-program time only.
> 
> 
> I'm really, really serious about this. If broadcasters can't do better than what WUSA did on Monday night - I should add that a wrong switch was flipped at the end of the crawl and for about three seconds the program was entirely replaced by what looked like a family photo of a man with three children and somebody in a muppet suit - then every viewer who defects to cable/DVD/etc. will be a richly deserved loss.
> 
> 
> Cheers



I'm pretty sure you're not going to like when we have to double the number of crawls that we have to do in a couple of months (per the legislation)...


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/13557107
> 
> 
> But, is this chart up-to-date? It is in a post dated for August, 2007.



If you look at the bottom of the post, it says "Last edited by GeorgeLV : 12-17-07...". It was last updated in mid-December, so it is somewhat behind, but not that far off.


If WTTG Fox 5 and WBFF Fox 45 are going HD local news for the May sweeps (which start oddly enough on April 24 - there is a wiki page on almost everything!), WUSA 9's long run as the only HD local news station in the two (overlapping) markets will soon come to an end.


----------



## CycloneGT

So what is the HD News run down for our area?


WUSA - Has had HD News for about 2 years.


WTTG - News to go HD in May

WBFF - HD News before Fall. *much sooner hints a reliable source*


WRC - NBC committed to HD News nationally for their O&O stations. No word on when for WRC.

WJLA - Strong hints that HD is in the works for their news, no time frame yet.

News Channel 8 - Same as WJLA.

WJZ - CBS O&O I think stated that HD news was in the works.

WMAR - By the end of 2008.

WBAL - Do not Know


This is just my rough list. Please post any updates or corrections.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/13557181
> 
> 
> I'm pretty sure you're not going to like when we have to double the number of crawls that we have to do in a couple of months (per the legislation)...



Please cite the legislative text that specifically requires crawls during programs. (As opposed to PSAs, etc.)


Seriously, I don't have time to research this myself right now (and I couldn't prove a negative even if I did), but if you show me the legislation, I'll be happy to redirect my complaints to my Congress Critters.


----------



## carltonrice

I believe that the article in the Baltimore Sun from a few weeks ago indicated that WBAL and WJZ were moving toward HD news. I don't recall the article mentioning WBFF or WMAR. Back in the day (1999), it seems to me that WBFF was the last station in the market to pass through their network's HD feeds, so it would be remarkable if they were the first Baltimore station to do HD news.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Baltimore stations broadcast network and syndicated shows in HD during prime time, but, so far, local news is not. They plan to introduce the technology to live news broadcasts in the coming months.
> 
> 
> ...Donna Hamilton, anchor of the 5 p.m. news on *WBAL* (Channel 11), said she's looking forward to HD but sees positives and negatives about the technology.
> 
> 
> When viewers see her in person, she said, they often tell her she looks better than on the air: "So I guess if HD makes me look more like I do in real life, that's a good thing," she said.
> 
> 
> ...CBS affiliate WJZ (Channel 13) also plans to broadcast in HD, but station management said it would not allow its news personnel to comment on the transition.


 http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...z#post12395172


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/13551177
> 
> 
> they will have all the Games in HD or is it select EI games?



I don't know but since DirecTV has been very aggressive in getting HD baseball this year (home and away feeds, adding RSNs like STO HD and MASN, adding OTA where they can get a contract), I would bet on the majority if not all of the Padres HD games.


Satelliteracer on dbstalk has made allusions to DirecTV getting it in HD if it exists and they seem to be going that way. (I no longer can go to bed until the late games are done....I am in MLB HD heaven!)


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13558437
> 
> 
> WRC - NBC committed to HD News nationally for their O&O stations. No word on when for WRC.



When DCRTV reported that WTTG was launching HD news in May, it also mentioned that the gutting going on over at WRC budget-wise meant no HD "any time soon." On the plus side, it said WJLA was about half way along with its conversion to HD news.


----------



## raidbuck




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Count Blah* /forum/post/13556652
> 
> 
> I've asked the same question before. I can see both sides of the argument. Really wish there was a standard format here so that I can recognize the posts that mean absolutely nothing to me. Like in the title - "Cable RCN" "Cable MD", "Cable Loudoun", "DC Station", etc... so that I can ignore the ones that don't pertain to me.
> 
> 
> I'm in Loudoun, but if I wanted more info on a Baltimore station I'm trying to get OTA, I think I'd try looking in the Ball-mer thread. Seems simple enough to me.



There have been several attempts (including one by me) to start a Baltimore Comcast thread, but nobody came. I guess this is just a tradition for it all to be on one board. I have to skip a lot of OTA and Cox stuff but here is where the action is.


Rich N.


----------



## bluescreen

To sum things up: Avaibility sometime late 2009 or 2010 with service to covering about 65% of residents.


I'll probably have moved by then. Oh well.

http://alexandriava.gov/citizen/info...lt.aspx?id=206


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/13558713
> 
> 
> Please cite the legislative text that specifically requires crawls during programs. (As opposed to PSAs, etc.)
> 
> 
> Seriously, I don’t have time to research this myself right now (and I couldn’t prove a negative even if I did), but if you show me the legislation, I’ll be happy to redirect my complaints to my Congress Critters.



Happy to: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_publi...CC-08-56A1.doc 


Commercial broadcasters have two options (there is a 3rd option, but it's "open only to noncommercial broadcasters"):

==============================================

1. Broadcaster Education Option One (in part)

a. Option One Consumer Education Requirements

10. Broadcasters who opt to comply with this option will be required to regularly air a mix of PSAs and *crawls*, with increasing frequency as the full-power transition approaches, that explain the various important issues of the full-power transition and explain how viewers can find more information. Specifically, a station must air one transition PSA, *and run one transition crawl, in every quarter of every day*. This requirement applies separately to a station’s analog channel and its primary digital stream. This requirement will increase to two PSAs and crawls per quarter per day on April 1, 2008, and to three of each on October 1, 2008.


==============================================

2. Broadcaster Education Option Two (in part)

a. Option Two Consumer Education Requirements

30. We find that the record also supports permitting broadcasters to choose to comply with our rules by following the alternative plan offered by the National Association of Broadcasters. Under this option, a broadcaster must air an average of sixteen transition PSAs per week, *and an average of sixteen transition-related crawls, snipes, and/or tickers per week*,


I added the bold parts for clarification. The actual document is 80 pages long.


----------



## joblo

Thanks, Mark.


Looks like the NAB has actually done something decent for a change. On first perusal, it appears that option 2, which is the NAB's proposed alternative to the FCC's more draconian ideas in option 1, is the best way to go, because it doesn't require crawls during network prime time (8-11pm ET/PT, 7-10pm CT/MT), but allows them to placed in early and late evening news programming instead. *I would STRONGLY encourage all commercial stations to choose this option.*


More later...


----------



## bullwinklehdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *clifburns* /forum/post/13555472
> 
> 
> Is there any reason that Washington and Baltimore are both crammed into the same thread? They are separate media markets -- #9 and #24 respectively -- and there is only a minimal area where TV and radio signals serving the two markets overlap. I'm sure that Washingtonians and Baltimoreans would be happy not to have to sort through clutter about stuff in the other city while looking for info on their own city.



Sorry, Peter Angelos owns the rights to both markets and insists that the threads be combined


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bluescreen* /forum/post/13560497
> 
> 
> To sum things up: Avaibility sometime late 2009 or 2010 with service to covering about 65% of residents.
> 
> 
> I'll probably have moved by then. Oh well.
> 
> http://alexandriava.gov/citizen/info...lt.aspx?id=206



I guess we're lucky here in Prince William. They are supposed to have the entire county wired for FIOS in a few years. Fortunately my area here in Woodbridge was one of the first areas so I was able to get the FIOS service late last Summer.


----------



## bullwinklehdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/13559586
> 
> 
> I don't know but since DirecTV has been very aggressive in getting HD baseball this year (home and away feeds, adding RSNs like STO HD and MASN, adding OTA where they can get a contract), I would bet on the majority if not all of the Padres HD games.
> 
> 
> Satelliteracer on dbstalk has made allusions to DirecTV getting it in HD if it exists and they seem to be going that way. (I no longer can go to bed until the late games are done....I am in MLB HD heaven!)



Yes, if you're talking about Directv, they seem to have everything that is in HD available. Its great except we're stuck in MASN hell in for the local teams.


----------



## bucnasty

csn-hd launched on 734 in cox fairfax...... dont know how long it will last though


----------



## Ladd

Season 4 of Battlestar Galactica starts in a few minutes.


The Season 3 marathon that ran all day today on the SciFi HD channel in Frederick, MD was in full HD, not the crappy "widescreen with black bars on all four sides" postage stamp that many of their shows are.


So I'm guessing the Season 4 episodes will be shown in full HD also -- at least whatever is the bit-rate "full HD" that Comcast chooses to serve us.


Perhaps the other Comcast systems in the DC/Baltimore that offer SciFi HD will get the good stuff also.


----------



## vidioteic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bullwinklehdtv* /forum/post/13562159
> 
> 
> Sorry, Peter Angelos owns the rights to both markets and insists that the threads be combined



Some of us live in the middle, and LIKE reading one thread for both. Besides, it's good to hear what other people in the area are experiencing, both with cable and OTA.


For example, if there was a Baltimore thread, nobody would know if the problem on Comcast was local or regional; ALL of Baltimore suburbs are fed from White Marsh. If someone in the Baltimore area posts that, say, TNT on Comcast wasn't in HD tonight, somebody in Fairfax could say "NOT HERE" and we would know it's Comcast White Marsh, and not TNT.


Get it?


----------



## vidioteic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bullwinklehdtv* /forum/post/13562244
> 
> 
> Yes, if you're talking about Directv, they seem to have everything that is in HD available. Its great except we're stuck in MASN hell in for the local teams.



If D* with EI is so great, and it seems everyone else is carrying HD baseball games, you can always watch the other teams feed....


----------



## vidioteic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/13561545
> 
> 
> Thanks, Mark.
> 
> 
> Looks like the NAB has actually done something decent for a change. On first perusal, it appears that option 2, which is the NAB's proposed alternative to the FCC's more draconian ideas in option 1, is the best way to go, because it doesn't require crawls during network prime time (8-11pm ET/PT, 7-10pm CT/MT), but allows them to placed in early and late evening news programming instead. *I would STRONGLY encourage all commercial stations to choose this option.*
> 
> 
> More later...



Admittedly, I'm skimming the thread, but the whole point of the public awareness campaign is that the most people become informed. The Oprah & Leno viewers won't get it, and might not notice it (while they are doing their afternoon or evening activities.) You asked Mark to provide it in writing and he did... maybe it's time to accept defeat and move on










For the record, There are way to many bugs, tickers, snipes etc. I like playing the game on ESPN where you try to count the bugs, etc...


----------



## vidioteic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/13553500
> 
> 
> Well, certainly the ones about the digital transition... I mean, if you're watching it in HD, you've already made the transition.



.... or you watching in a bar, etc.


----------



## vidioteic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/13536911
> 
> 
> It was actually just a mirror of the 480i SD channel. I don't know the technical details, but channel 174 (where MASN HD resides) is basically identical to SD MASN channel 76 when there is no HD game on.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I don't know how it is on other cable systems, or if something has changed since last season, but RCN has blacked out the pre- and post-game shows on MASN when the game has been on WDCA




MACHPOST: Was the pre/post blacked out on RCN tonight...?


----------



## bullwinklehdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *vidioteic* /forum/post/13562991
> 
> 
> If D* with EI is so great, and it seems everyone else is carrying HD baseball games, you can always watch the other teams feed....



No, since MASN has the rights to this area, the other teams' feeds are blacked out.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *vidioteic* /forum/post/13563029
> 
> 
> .... or you watching in a bar, etc.



If you're watching a digital TV in a bar today, you will still be able to watch that TV in that bar a year from today.


The point of the awareness campaign is to keep people from losing their access to TV.


Bottom line, *unless you watch enough ANALOG TV to catch the announcements there, you will not be significantly affected and you don't need all the dire warnings.*


Look, I'm not opposed to general public awareness. But for situations that affect your neighbors and not you, PSAs should suffice. Crawls and other extreme program disruptions should be reserved for truly urgent, dire, or emergency situations that might actually affect the person reading the crawl.


Otherwise, you're crying WOLF, and people will tune out, one way or another.


----------



## hoyty

I was doing an autoscan on a TV hooked to Comcast Baltimore City at my work place today. I got tired of it scanning after about 20 minutes and stopped it. However I found that I was getting an amazing assortment of free channels. Things like MLB Extra Innings. It seems they are using HRC encoding and sub channels. If your tuning device can pick it up well worth the scan. Has anyone every figured exactly what all is available on there? If not I will try to do it next week and be more patient.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hoyty* /forum/post/13570707
> 
> 
> I was doing an autoscan on a TV hooked to Comcast Baltimore City at my work place today. I got tired of it scanning after about 20 minutes and stopped it. However I found that I was getting an amazing assortment of free channels. Things like MLB Extra Innings. It seems they are using HRC encoding and sub channels. If your tuning device can pick it up well worth the scan. Has anyone every figured exactly what all is available on there? If not I will try to do it next week and be more patient.



MLB EI was probably coming through because it is on a freeview and that would be simpler than authorizing every box for it.


----------



## Potatoehead

I got a letter from comcast yesterday (Calvert Co. Maryland) saying that they were eliminating the west coast feeds for most of the premium channels, moving CMT and G4 to digital only and AZN TV will be discontinued. This is being done to "help pave the way for significant improvements in the On Demand service and a major expansion of Comcast's high definition lineup in the coming weeks."


It is a good sign that they are making room for more HD channels eventhough I wish they were a bit more aggressive getting rid of analog channels. It is also good they are mentioning weeks, not months. I hope they use the space for the HD channels, not On Demand. I note that around the country other comcast customers are getting Animal Planet, CNN HD, Disney HD, AMC HD, ABC Family, NHL HD, Science HD and The Weather Channel HD. Hopefully, others such as ESPNews HD will be added soon as well. Hope they don't compress them too much.


----------



## aaronwt

ESPN channels are 720P which are perfect to put 3 feeds on one QAM 6Mhz channel with very liitle loss of quality.


----------



## PaulGo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Potatoehead* /forum/post/13571168
> 
> 
> ...Hope they don't compress them too much.



Unfortunately they already are compressing too much!

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1008271 

and
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1015352


----------



## hokiefan

I dont have Comcast at home, but I was over my girlfriend's place (Anne Arundel Co) and noticed her cable SD PQ is really bad using their digital settop box. Normal "analog" channels have pretty bad macroblocking and low resolution. Her other tv is just hooked to the coax and the analog version of the same channel looks a lot better. Every now and then there will be entire tears in the picture on the digital box.


Is this the best they are going to get with the digital versions of the analog channels? I thought Dish Networks SD PQ was pretty bad, but this makes Dish SD look like HD. I can't imagine what will happen when they finally cutoff the analog channels for good and people will be forced to watch that overcompressed digital crap.


----------



## hokiefan

On another subject, does anyone else notice the blurring effect on CBS HD live programs (mostly sports)? It was so bad during the NCAA games last night even my gf noticed. "Why is the screen all blurry?" she asked. It happened very often when they were showing full screen graphics and then cut back to the stadium shot. We were watching WJZ via OTA. I can't believe CBS hasn't come up with a solution to this problem, considering I've noticed it for at least the last 2 years.


Since WJZ is a O&O station, you'd think they would have the top engineers and equipment. Do we have any contacts at WJZ to fix this problem. I know its been talked about off and on in the main HD forum, but I've never seen a real solution discussed.


----------



## PaulGo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hokiefan* /forum/post/13573511
> 
> 
> I dont have Comcast at home, but I was over my girlfriend's place (Anne Arundel Co) and noticed her cable SD PQ is really bad using their digital settop box. Normal "analog" channels have pretty bad macroblocking and low resolution. Her other tv is just hooked to the coax and the analog version of the same channel looks a lot better. Every now and then there will be entire tears in the picture on the digital box.
> 
> 
> Is this the best they are going to get with the digital versions of the analog channels? I thought Dish Networks SD PQ was pretty bad, but this makes Dish SD look like HD. I can't imagine what will happen when they finally cutoff the analog channels for good and people will be forced to watch that overcompressed digital crap.



Some (but not all) of the digital SD material suck. I am really getting disgusted with it also. That said most of thie digital channels are at a much higher frequency than the analog channels so bad wireing, splitters or connectors could be causing some of the problems you are mentioning with the digital channels.


The problem could also be in the wiring outside the home. Comcast can check the strength of the signal coming into your house. One last option - the newer digital boxes handle SD much better than the older ones try getting a different box from Comcast.


----------



## hokiefan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PaulGo* /forum/post/13573675
> 
> 
> Some (but not all) of the digital SD material suck. I am really getting disgusted with it also. That said most of thie digital channels are at a much higher frequency than the analog channels so bad wireing, splitters or connectors could be causing some of the problems you are mentioning with the digital channels.
> 
> 
> The problem could also be in the wiring outside the home. Comcast can check the strength of the signal coming into your house. One last option - the newer digital boxes handle SD much better than the older ones try getting a different box from Comcast.



Yea she lives in an apartment (brand new). I have a 3 way splitter going to a cable modem and her two tvs. Might bring my spectrum analyzer over to her place when I get a chance and take a look at the incoming feed. The settop box is the really basic non-dvr. Its about 5" wide, 1" tall. The user interface looks like a crappy windows3.1 visual basic app I wrote back in 1993. Thanks for the info.


----------



## indishock

There has been a lot of talk about Comcast compressing their HD channels. Other then the nerds, does anyone else notice quality difference. I have Comcast in Harford County and Recently when visiting my cousin in New Jersey who has FiOS, it was impossible from me to tell the difference in quality.


----------



## SQUIDWARD360




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *indishock* /forum/post/13574037
> 
> 
> There has been a lot of talk about Comcast compressing their HD channels. Other then the nerds, does anyone else notice quality difference. I have Comcast in Harford County and Recently when visiting my cousin in New Jersey who has FiOS, it was impossible from me to tell the difference in quality.



Animal Plantet HD is almost unwatchable in Loudoun.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> No, since MASN has the rights to this area, the other teams' feeds are blacked out.



The Cardinals' SD and HD feeds were blacked out over the weekend as the Nationals got swept (ditto for the Mariners feed), thanks MASN, the trailer in HD baseball telecasts. Another reason to hate blackouts.


----------



## kingpong

WBFF is now running a commercial stating that "soon" their news will "the first local newscast in high definition". Hopefully that means the rumored May timeframe is true.


The commerical starts out with a reference to Captain Chesapeake. Would be nice if they could dig up some old tapes and run them on their subchannel.


----------



## CycloneGT

all we know is "much sooner" than this fall.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *vidioteic* /forum/post/13563055
> 
> 
> MACHPOST: Was the pre/post blacked out on RCN tonight...?



I was out of town all weekend and didn't get to check it out. It will be interesting to see what happens tonight, since the game will be on WDCA. It'll be in HD, too, so hopefully everything runs smoothly.


----------



## lax01




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *indishock* /forum/post/13574037
> 
> 
> There has been a lot of talk about Comcast compressing their HD channels. Other then the nerds, does anyone else notice quality difference. I have Comcast in Harford County and Recently when visiting my cousin in New Jersey who has FiOS, it was impossible from me to tell the difference in quality.



Sci-Fi-HD looks horrendus...so do a lot of the other channels...you can easily tell when they are compressing the bandwidth


----------



## CycloneGT

Sounds like the Company that sold Comcast the encoders needs to fix their software. Comcast really isn't trying anything that Satellite hasn't been doing for years with MPEG2. So unless they are going really agressive with the compression they should not be seeing this amount of artifacting.


I'm guessing that MPEG4 is now in their future now that the limits of their MPEG2 implementation have been recognized. Mix that with SDV and cable will hold its own against FiOS nicely.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/13545937
> 
> 
> While it's not an actual screen capture, here's a photo of what it looks like on a 42" plasma:



I am sorry if this is late, but thank you for screenshot. The PQ looks good but I am still worried about the night games. For some reason the contrast is horrible especially on MASN2 on FiOS (FiOS 1).


----------



## PaulGo

On local feeds I believe Comcast still puts "only" two HD channels per QAM. I do hope Comcast (aka Compresscast







) can come back from this public relations disaster since they have the resources to do it right.


----------



## Malice187

Quick question:


Any Comcast subscribers in Myersville/Frederick, MD get an HDMI cable with their HD Cable Box? Or did you have to get one on your own? I'm told it can vary from area to area.


----------



## ammar249

from DCRTV.COM


NBC Gears Up For HD - 4/7 - DCRTV hears: NBC Washington started handing out Sony HD cameras to all network field crews on Thursday, 4/3.

NBC currently has four HD edit suits available and plans on upgrading the microwave system to full HD by the end of the summer.....


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ammar249* /forum/post/13579712
> 
> 
> from DCRTV.COM
> 
> 
> NBC Gears Up For HD - 4/7 - DCRTV hears: NBC Washington started handing out Sony HD cameras to all network field crews on Thursday, 4/3.
> 
> NBC currently has four HD edit suits available and plans on upgrading the microwave system to full HD by the end of the summer.....



It's a little unclear, but I think they're talking about the national NBC News field crews, not WRC, who will get around to providing local news in HD several years after everyone else in Washington/Baltimore does it.


----------



## tmeader

Question to those who might be in the Anne Arundel County Comcast area: which HD-DVR box is Comcast currently handing out? I have a 6412 Phase III that I got from them about 2 years ago now, but just recently the audio started cutting out every few minutes for a second or two when running out from the coax digital audio port. I suppose I could swap it just for another 6412 (6416 ideally), but if they are offer a 34xx series instead, I might be more inclined to do the swap anyhow (since I really like the look of it MUCH better than the 6412).


Thanks.


----------



## nottenst

I got a response back from WUSA about the crawl which is similar to what has already been written here:


> Quote:
> Thank you for taking the time to write regarding our scrolling message or "crawl" about the transition to digital television. While we appreciate that this may be perceived as an intrusion, unfortunately we do not have a choice in the matter. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations require all TV stations to broadcast a specific number of public service announcements and "crawls" each quarter that educate the public about the transition to digital TV. The announcements and the crawls must appear on both our analog and digital channels. Additionally the rules mandate a set percentage that must air between 6:00 PM and 11:35 PM. The regulations went into effect on Monday March 31, 2008 and will continue until March 31, 2009. As you may be aware, TV stations are licensed to operate by the FCC and must be in full compliance with all of their regulations at all times.


----------



## Ladd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Malice187* /forum/post/13579144
> 
> 
> Quick question:
> 
> 
> Any Comcast subscribers in Myersville/Frederick, MD get an HDMI cable with their HD Cable Box? Or did you have to get one on your own? I'm told it can vary from area to area.



I didn't get one from the Frederick office -- I'm pretty sure they gave me component cables though. It's been probably two years, so things could easily have changed.


I either already had an HDMI cable or I ordered on from Monoprice.


FWIW: I have my Comcast DVR box hooked up via both connectors and have the TV setup so that the various color, tint, contrast, etc. setting are different. One input for a more "natural" look, the other for a bit more boost to all settings, usually used when watching sports.


----------



## machpost

Once again, the Nationals' pre-game show is blacked out on MASN here on RCN, even though there is no pre-game show on WDCA, where the game will air tonight.










Is there some sort of MLB blackout rule that does not allow the pre-game show to be aired on the network that is blacked out for the game that will follow?


EDIT: Problem resolved


----------



## gomo657




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *indishock* /forum/post/13574037
> 
> 
> There has been a lot of talk about Comcast compressing their HD channels. Other then the nerds, does anyone else notice quality difference. I have Comcast in Harford County and Recently when visiting my cousin in New Jersey who has FiOS, it was impossible from me to tell the difference in quality.



IMO since the format war is now over and people need a new topic so many have jumped on the bandwagon on the net complaining about compression. From my view no 2 systems are identical when I visit friends in Md. I see certain things on some stations and I see different in Va. Also we all have to take into account all sets handle these signals differently. Just my opinion.


What should be the complaint is having stations that were majority HD when launched and are less than 30% now.


Hooray for what little Nats HD we currently have but why when the Wizards aren't on CSN HD we get no HD?


----------



## rob base




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Malice187* /forum/post/13579144
> 
> 
> Quick question:
> 
> 
> Any Comcast subscribers in Myersville/Frederick, MD get an HDMI cable with their HD Cable Box? Or did you have to get one on your own? I'm told it can vary from area to area.



I got one, didn't even ask for it. I was returning my box cause it was shot to get a replacement. The guy at the Frederick office said you need one of these for your HDTV? and handed me one. This was last year when they started rolling out the Motorola Phase 3's. I always seem to have the best luck going directly to the office instead of dealing with the Clueless CSR's.


----------



## maestro73

Forgive me if I missed this, but Comcast in Alex/Arl is NOT showing the HD versions of the select MLB EI games in HD, right?


Also, wasn't the package $160 last year? I just went to the inDemand site and it's $200 this year. Quite a jump.


----------



## raidbuck




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *maestro73* /forum/post/13588036
> 
> 
> Forgive me if I missed this, but Comcast in Alex/Arl is NOT showing the HD versions of the select MLB EI games in HD, right?
> 
> 
> Also, wasn't the package $160 last year? I just went to the inDemand site and it's $200 this year. Quite a jump.



Comcast is not showing MLB EI in HD. They feel the audience is too small. However, the picture was the best SD I've seen, which prompted me to get it (plus I root for out-of-market teams.)


The normal cost is 199 but during the preview (when I ordered it) it was discounted to 159. The preview ended Sunday night.


Rich N.


----------



## maestro73

Thanks Rich. I forgot about the preview period.


----------



## vidioteic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/13582646
> 
> 
> Once again, the Nationals' pre-game show is blacked out on MASN here on RCN, even though there is no pre-game show on WDCA, where the game will air tonight.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Is there some sort of MLB blackout rule that does not allow the pre-game show to be aired on the network that is blacked out for the game that will follow?
> 
> 
> EDIT: Problem resolved



So... what was it?


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *vidioteic* /forum/post/13588667
> 
> 
> So... what was it?



I have no idea. at 6:30 sharp, MASN flipped over to ESPNEWS as they often do when a program is blacked out. About five minutes after I posted the above message on this board, the pre-game show came back on. The post-game show, however, never did appear on MASN.


----------



## Marcus Carr

5 new HD channels on Comcast in Baltimore City this morning:


CNN

History

TLC
*AMC

Animal Planet*


AMC and Animal Planet were previously unnanounced.


----------



## E55 KEV

I got a dumb question and did not want to call Comcast for a run around. I am OTA and don't subscribe to any TV service. Can you get the HD channels without the HD box or cable card? Will a HDTV with QAM tuner be enough to receive the cable HD channels from the RF input?


I believe the answer is no but wanted to check. Thanks.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *E55 KEV* /forum/post/13596426
> 
> 
> I got a dumb question and did not want to call Comcast for a run around. I am OTA and don't subscribe to any TV service. Can you get the HD channels without the HD box or cable card? Will a HDTV with QAM tuner be enough to receive the cable HD channels from the RF input?
> 
> 
> I believe the answer is no but wanted to check. Thanks.



If you don't subscribe to cable, you won't get anything. I presume that's not what you're asking.


If you subscribe, you can only guarantee the HD locals over clear QAM. Everything else is (or likely will be) encrypted, which requires a CC or STB to decode.


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/13596458
> 
> 
> If you don't subscribe to cable, you won't get anything. I presume that's not what you're asking.
> 
> 
> If you subscribe, you can only guarantee the HD locals over clear QAM. Everything else is (or likely will be) encrypted, which requires a CC or STB to decode.



Subscription Yes. I wanted to know if you do subscribe to basic service, that is basic HD service, will you get Comcast HD channels which are numbered 200+ without renting or using the HD Box or Cable Card if you have a QAM tuner.


So, a basic HD subscriber without a box or cable card will get Comcast feed of ABC- HD, NBC-HD, CBS-HD, Fox-HD, CW-HD, PBS-HD etc. Thanks.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *E55 KEV* /forum/post/13596643
> 
> 
> Subscription Yes. I wanted to know if you do subscribe to basic service, that is basic HD service, will you get Comcast HD channels which are numbered 200+ without renting or using the HD Box or Cable Card if you have a QAM tuner.
> 
> 
> So, a basic HD subscriber without a box or cable card will get Comcast feed of ABC- HD, NBC-HD, CBS-HD, Fox-HD, CW-HD, PBS-HD etc. Thanks.



That's all you could be sure of, yes. Also anything else that you can get OTA that they carry.


----------



## markbulla

Hi all -


Just FYI (and so I don't have to hear about it later...), the Fox "Splicer" that puts the Fox network HD signal on the air here (WBFF Fox 45) just died so the prime-time shows aren't going to be in HD this evening...


We're getting a new Splicer overnighted to us, so it will be back tomorrow.


Thanks for watching, anyway!


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/13597047
> 
> 
> Hi all -
> 
> 
> Just FYI (and so I don't have to hear about it later...), the Fox "Splicer" that puts the Fox network HD signal on the air here (WBFF Fox 45) just died so the prime-time shows aren't going to be in HD this evening...
> 
> 
> We're getting a new Splicer overnighted to us, so it will be back tomorrow.
> 
> 
> Thanks for watching, anyway!



Uh oh, a bunch of angry Baltimore American Idol fans will be calling tonight.


----------



## iontyre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/13597067
> 
> 
> Uh oh, a bunch of angry Baltimore American Idol fans will be calling tonight.



HA HA HA!!! Stupid networks. Anything that is bad for AI and any other reality show is GOOD for America!!


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/13597067
> 
> 
> Uh oh, a bunch of angry Baltimore American Idol fans will be calling tonight.



Now I have to decide if it's worth watching 2 1/2 hours of a non-essential episode OTA on WTTG, live and with commercials.


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *iontyre* /forum/post/13597646
> 
> 
> HA HA HA!!! Stupid networks. Anything that is bad for AI and any other reality show is GOOD for America!!



Because all the drama and comedy on television is SOOO much better than reality TV. That's why Caveman is coming back. Oh wait...


----------



## Tigidal




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/13595111
> 
> 
> 5 new HD channels on Comcast in Baltimore City this morning:
> 
> 
> CNN
> 
> History
> 
> TLC
> *AMC
> 
> Animal Planet*
> 
> 
> AMC and Animal Planet were previously unnanounced.



Is there usually any correlation between when Balitmore City and DC proper get new Comcast HD channels? Looking forward to CNNHD here in the District. Thanks.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/13597047
> 
> 
> Hi all -
> 
> 
> Just FYI (and so I don't have to hear about it later...), the Fox "Splicer" that puts the Fox network HD signal on the air here (WBFF Fox 45) just died so the prime-time shows aren't going to be in HD this evening...
> 
> 
> We're getting a new Splicer overnighted to us, so it will be back tomorrow.
> 
> 
> Thanks for watching, anyway!



Can you run AI in 720p on 54.2?


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Deezul* /forum/post/13598102
> 
> 
> Because all the drama and comedy on television is SOOO much better than reality TV. That's why Caveman is coming back. Oh wait...



The only Comedy that liked from this season and it gets axed after about 5 episodes. That show was great and getting better.


----------



## jacindc

No sound on MASN-HD in the MOJO slot (ch 226) for the first 10 minutes so far of the Nats game on Comcast DC....


----------



## alexandriahokie

Is anyone else not getting Versus HD on 254 (Comcast/Arl & Alex)? I'm having to watch the NHL playoffs on 64. Of course, Comcast won't admit there is any problem and insists on sending out a tech...on FRIDAY.



EDIT: I spoke with my secret contact at Comcast and she said it seemed to be a head-end issue and is going to contact the engineering department (DUH - that is what I tried to get the CSR to do).


For the MASN issue, it's no sound here in Arl/Alex, so it definitely a head-end issue.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jacindc* /forum/post/13601267
> 
> 
> No sound on MASN-HD in the MOJO slot (ch 226) for the first 10 minutes so far of the Nats game on Comcast DC....



I've got sound on RCN. Must be a Comcast issue. Good luck


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13599765
> 
> 
> Can you run AI in 720p on 54.2?



Sorry - I don't have any more HD encoders, I'm afraid.


----------



## jacindc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jacindc* /forum/post/13601267
> 
> 
> No sound on MASN-HD in the MOJO slot (ch 226) for the first 10 minutes so far of the Nats game on Comcast DC....



Replying to myself.... They must be working on it, because now it's showing "This Channel Available Shortly."


And before I could finish typing that, it's back, with sound.


----------



## bfdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *alexandriahokie* /forum/post/13601343
> 
> 
> Is anyone else not getting Versus HD on 254 (Comcast/Arl & Alex)? I'm having to watch the NHL playoffs on 64. Of course, Comcast won't admit there is any problem and insists on sending out a tech...on FRIDAY.
> 
> 
> 
> EDIT: I spoke with my secret contact at Comcast and she said it seemed to be a head-end issue and is going to contact the engineering department (DUH - that is what I tried to get the CSR to do).
> 
> 
> For the MASN issue, it's no sound here in Arl/Alex, so it definitely a head-end issue.



MASN-HD (on Mojo) is back on, but still no VersusHD in Arlington/Alexandria.


----------



## Theauwolf

Is MOJO 226 on Comcast Howard County only going to show NATS games in HD? I thought I read in a previous post that it will show O's games too. Thank god I can get fox OTA from DC for HD idol!


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Theauwolf* /forum/post/13601966
> 
> 
> Is MOJO 226 on Comcast Howard County only going to show NATS games in HD? I thought I read in a previous post that it will show O's games too. Thank god I can get fox OTA from DC for HD idol!



I think everybody with MASN HD gets both teams. The Nats game will be on Mojo in Baltimore. The games show up in my Comcast guide.


----------



## jgantert

Wow, CNN HD looks horrible. The HD bars on the left and right and the bottom scroller are ok. But the rest (even the graphics) look like crap. Yuck. Do they actually show any HD content? Doesn't seem like a Comcast issue, just a CNN issue to me.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/13609252
> 
> 
> Wow, CNN HD looks horrible. The HD bars on the left and right and the bottom scroller are ok. But the rest (even the graphics) look like crap. Yuck. Do they actually show any HD content? Doesn't seem like a Comcast issue, just a CNN issue to me.



Yes, they do. They do HD during primetime a lot (Anderson Cooper) and the election nights are in HD.


Lou Dobbs is also in HD.


Right now, CNN HD looks a bit better on DirecTV than it does on my Tivo (comcast). A bit washed out on Comcast.


----------



## tonyd79

MASN (not)HD.


Stretched mess on 626-1 DirecTV and Mojo Comcast.


Claims HD.


----------



## gomo657




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/13610637
> 
> 
> MASN (not)HD.
> 
> 
> Stretched mess on 626-1 DirecTV and Mojo Comcast.
> 
> 
> Claims HD.



I just noticed this but all the previous games were HD


----------



## vidioteic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gomo657* /forum/post/13610994
> 
> 
> I just noticed this but all the previous games were HD



Something is amiss and is being addressed as we speak.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *vidioteic* /forum/post/13611251
> 
> 
> Something is amiss and is being addressed as we speak.



Ooh, inside info? Do tell.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Angelos found out how much it costs to do HD and ordered a switch back to SD strech


----------



## vidioteic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/13604056
> 
> 
> I think everybody with MASN HD gets both teams. The Nats game will be on Mojo in Baltimore. The games show up in my Comcast guide.



Yes. All MASN HD games (Nats AND Os) are available to all viewers that are able to receive MASN HD. In all markets.


Os played the first game on 3/31; next series is this one with the Nats. Next weekend (4/18) Yankees @ Os in HD.


Orioles in HD Schedule:
http://www.masnsports.com/pdfs/2008_Orioles_on_MASN.pdf 


Nats in HD Schedule:
http://www.masnsports.com/pdfs/2008_Nats_on_MASN.pdf


----------



## vidioteic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/13611263
> 
> 
> Ooh, inside info? Do tell.



I will! As soon as I have an answer


----------



## tonyd79

MASN still broken.


----------



## gomo657




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/13611680
> 
> 
> MASN still broken.



game will be over soon


----------



## bucnasty

does anyone else think masnhd looks like crap tonight?


----------



## vidioteic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *vidioteic* /forum/post/13611377
> 
> 
> I will! As soon as I have an answer



Hmmm... well, believe it or not, it seems it the signal was good in some places and not in others, which is quite odd.


Can anyone confirm that they saw a GOOD feed last night?

Also, I don't suppose anyone might have a copy of the bad feed?


Also, in the future, please either call MASN ( 410-625-7100 ) or use the link on the website to report the issue. Believe it or not, operators ARE standing by during game hours.


Oh, and when posting issues, please note the provider and franchise!


----------



## bwo

MASN HD looks ok tonight (watching on Comcast 226 in Richmond)...certainally better than the SD version, YUCK!


Question anyone have any idea on why only 40 of the Nats games are in HD this year? I understand that the Orioles also have 40 MASN HD games, but 80 between the 2 out of over 300 games total is unfortanate. Is it more expensive to transmit HD games? Clearly MASN has made an investment in HD, why not have all games in HD...


I guess I'll take what I can get. Next season promises more I'm sure.


----------



## vidioteic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bwo* /forum/post/13611887
> 
> 
> MASN HD looks ok tonight (watching on Comcast 226 in Richmond)...certainally better than the SD version, YUCK!
> 
> 
> Question anyone have any idea on why only 40 of the Nats games are in HD this year? I understand that the Orioles also have 40 MASN HD games, but 80 between the 2 out of over 300 games total is unfortanate. Is it more expensive to transmit HD games? Clearly MASN has made an investment in HD, why not have all games in HD...
> 
> 
> I guess I'll take what I can get. Next season promises more I'm sure.



MASN is in its second year as a full time network. It is substantially more for ANY RSN to provide HD, let alone one that has TWO baseball teams, and does more live events in six months than most others do in a year. So, try to enjoy the 40/40 this year, and hope for more next year.


Public opinion goes very far. If you like what you see, make it known. If the viewers are there, more will come...


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bwo* /forum/post/13611887
> 
> 
> Question anyone have any idea on why only 40 of the Nats games are in HD this year? I understand that the Orioles also have 40 MASN HD games, but 80 between the 2 out of over 300 games total is unfortanate. Is it more expensive to transmit HD games? Clearly MASN has made an investment in HD, why not have all games in HD...



They want to save money on the rental fees for the HD production truck and gear. It does cost extra for HD. They certainly could have done more games in HD this year with a limit of only 1 HD game a day for a single part-time MASN-HD feed. It is an improvement over last year, but MASN is still bringing up the rear among all MLB teams in number of HD games per team. A number of RSNs have all the games for their team - home and away - in HD this year. Maybe next year, we will get a full time MASN-HD channel, but I would not be surprised if we did not get a MASN2-HD for the rest of the games until 2010.


----------



## TimGoodwin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/13611680
> 
> 
> MASN still broken.




Unfortunately so are the Nationals! Going to be a another long season again this year.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> MASN is in its second year as a full time network. It is substantially more for ANY RSN to provide HD, let alone one that has TWO baseball teams, and does more live events in six months than most others do in a year. So, try to enjoy the 40/40 this year, and hope for more next year.



If this was 1990, I'd agree with you. But MASN was born in 2005 with a cushy arrangement between Peter Angelos and MLB and has lagged constantly in video/audio quality (this still occurs today, where the sound of the ball hitting the catcher's mitt is heard 1/2 second before the ball actually gets there)

*Edit: MASN tells me this is a DirecTV issue* Can this be confirmed/denyed by anyone else?


as well as having any games in HD until this season (Nats and Os were two of the three teams, the other team being the KC Royals not doing HD last season). The fiasco with getting MASN on cable systems is well remembered by local area fans as well, somewhat repeating itself now with MASN-HD.


The HD telecasts are a start and are appreciated. I would like to see the Lerners get more involved showcasing their new stadium and team and encourage Mr. Angelos (who views them as competition) and MASN to show more games in HD.



> Quote:
> Unfortunately so are the Nationals! Going to be a another long season again this year.



Ugh - then look at the calendar and see it is April 11. The Nats started 1-8 last year and played much better than expected, so I am keeping my hopes up.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/13609252
> 
> 
> Wow, CNN HD looks horrible. The HD bars on the left and right and the bottom scroller are ok. But the rest (even the graphics) look like crap. Yuck. Do they actually show any HD content? Doesn't seem like a Comcast issue, just a CNN issue to me.



CNNHD looks great on DirecTV...


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *vidioteic* /forum/post/13611868
> 
> 
> Can anyone confirm that they saw a GOOD feed last night?
> 
> Also, I don't suppose anyone might have a copy of the bad feed?



I was at the ballgame last night, and MASN was in true HD on the TVs throughout the concourses. The first segment with Bob & Don before the game at 7 PM was shown on the big screen, also in true HD.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/13613784
> 
> 
> CNNHD looks great on DirecTV...



Also looks great on Comcast in Baltimore.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *vidioteic* /forum/post/13611951
> 
> 
> MASN is in its second year as a full time network. It is substantially more for ANY RSN to provide HD, let alone one that has TWO baseball teams, and does more live events in six months than most others do in a year. So, try to enjoy the 40/40 this year, and hope for more next year.




My head is dizzy from spin.


Most RSNs these days are launching with HD. The Big Ten Network does 95% live HD and it did it from Day One.


It is actually easier to get it all done up front than to retrofit an existing network.


MASN is cheap and it shows. (And this doesn't even cover the fact that its SD is the worst around....)


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/13613835
> 
> 
> Also looks great on Comcast in Baltimore.



Well, I must admit, I only have it here at work, and I have yet to see any true HD on it during the day. We have CNN HD on from 8-5 in the lobby and in the kitchen, and so far I haven't noticed any HD content yet.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/13614244
> 
> 
> Well, I must admit, I only have it here at work, and I have yet to see any true HD on it during the day. We have CNN HD on from 8-5 in the lobby and in the kitchen, and so far I haven't noticed any HD content yet.



Read the CNN HD threads in the programming forum. Only the programs out of the New York studios are in HD. Which are most of the prime time programs. The Atlanta, Washington, and LA (Larry King most of the time) studios are not HD yet. My understanding is that the daytime stuff is mostly out of Atlanta so that is why you see SD then. The high tech primary coverage has been out of the NY studios in HD and has gotten praise for good picture quality. I don't even get CNN-HD yet (Verizon Fios), but have checked those threads.


----------



## bigluke33




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bucnasty* /forum/post/13611712
> 
> 
> does anyone else think masnhd looks like crap tonight?



Yeah, I'm with Metrocast here in Southern Maryland and they just added the MASN HD channel. I watched the first Nats game in HD and thought it looked great. Then last night it looked worse to me. Almost like there was a some "strech-o-vision" going on.


----------



## rallen

Down here in Salisbury, the Orioles opening day game in HD looked great. Haven't watched any of the Nats games and the O's haven't had any in HD since.


----------



## SQUIDWARD360




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bigluke33* /forum/post/13615119
> 
> 
> Yeah, I'm with Metrocast here in Southern Maryland and they just added the MASN HD channel. I watched the first Nats game in HD and thought it looked great. Then last night it looked worse to me. Almost like there was a some "strech-o-vision" going on.



I couldn't agree more. Although I had been drinking and didn't want to make a big deal of it as I was watching. It did look very stretched. Still much better then what is shown in SD but maybe last night was only the upconverted SD signal.


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p

big time stretch o vision on comcast MASN HD


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13614498
> 
> 
> Read the CNN HD threads in the programming forum. Only the programs out of the New York studios are in HD. Which are most of the prime time programs. The Atlanta, Washington, and LA (Larry King most of the time) studios are not HD yet. My understanding is that the daytime stuff is mostly out of Atlanta so that is why you see SD then. The high tech primary coverage has been out of the NY studios in HD and has gotten praise for good picture quality. I don't even get CNN-HD yet (Verizon Fios), but have checked those threads.



HD on CNN weekdays:


Monday through Friday:

6am-9am American Morning

12-1 Issue #1

7-8 Lou Dobbs

8-9 Election Center

10-12 Anderson Cooper


Tuesday through Friday:

1am-3am Anderson Cooper

4am-5am Lou Dobbs

5am-6am Anderson Cooper


SD shows:

CNN Newsroom 9am-12, 1-4

The Situation Room, 4-7

Larry King Live 9-10, 12am-1am, 3am-4am


That's 12 hours of HD, including reruns.


----------



## tetu81

Best I can tell, several HD channels have been out on Comcast's Washington, DC network for more than two days. I finally called late last night but gave up after 20 minutes on hold. I just got home from work today and they (Food Network HD 231, USA HD 235, Discovery HD 239, others?) are still out! A friend a few blocks away has the same issue...so I'm on hold again.


----------



## bullwinklehdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *vidioteic* /forum/post/13611868
> 
> 
> Hmmm... well, believe it or not, it seems it the signal was good in some places and not in others, which is quite odd.
> 
> 
> Can anyone confirm that they saw a GOOD feed last night?
> 
> Also, I don't suppose anyone might have a copy of the bad feed?
> 
> 
> Also, in the future, please either call MASN ( 410-625-7100 ) or use the link on the website to report the issue. Believe it or not, operators ARE standing by during game hours.
> 
> 
> Oh, and when posting issues, please note the provider and franchise!



I used the link on the website and never received a response.


----------



## bullwinklehdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *vidioteic* /forum/post/13611951
> 
> 
> MASN is in its second year as a full time network. It is substantially more for ANY RSN to provide HD, let alone one that has TWO baseball teams, and does more live events in six months than most others do in a year. So, try to enjoy the 40/40 this year, and hope for more next year.
> 
> 
> Public opinion goes very far. If you like what you see, make it known. If the viewers are there, more will come...



I understand the people at MASN are doing the best they can with what they have and I'm sure they're committed to improving their product. I don't think you're going to get much sympathy from anyone in Washington, including me, because we're being held hostage from excellent television coverage by Peter Angelos.


----------



## maestro73

I noticed this yesterday when I came home from work. HGTV programming is now all stretch-o-vision. Yesterday and tonight. IIRC their shows in prime time were actually HD. Anyone else notice or am I mistaken? Have they (the network) changed their feed, or is Comcast screwing with it?


Also, I'm sure a lot of you are following bfdtv's thread on Comcast HD Quality Reduction: Details, Screenshots . Also when I got home yesterday, I noticed my box had been reset (powered it on and it was at channel 01). After flipping though some channels I thought Comcast HD looked better than usual. More contrast, less washed out, even on the non-compressed channels like ESPN (though more so on the Disc, CNN type channels). I figured it was me b/c no one commented on it today but I'm curious if others noticed the same, or if it's just my wishful thinking.


I'm in Alexandria.


----------



## bullwinklehdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *maestro73* /forum/post/13620074
> 
> 
> I noticed this yesterday when I came home from work. HGTV programming is now all stretch-o-vision. Yesterday and tonight. IIRC their shows in prime time were actually HD. Anyone else notice or am I mistaken? Have they (the network) changed their feed, or is Comcast screwing with it?
> 
> 
> Also, I'm sure a lot of you are following bfdtv's thread on Comcast HD Quality Reduction: Details, Screenshots . Also when I got home yesterday, I noticed my box had been reset (powered it on and it was at channel 01). After flipping though some channels I thought Comcast HD looked better than usual. More contrast, less washed out, even on the non-compressed channels like ESPN (though more so on the Disc, CNN type channels). I figured it was me b/c no one commented on it today but I'm curious if others noticed the same, or if it's just my wishful thinking.
> 
> 
> I'm in Alexandria.



Its not Comcast, both HGTV and Food Network started simulcasting their SD and HD feeds in mid-March and are stretching the non-HD material.


----------



## SQUIDWARD360




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tetu81* /forum/post/13619150
> 
> 
> Best I can tell, several HD channels have been out on Comcast's Washington, DC network for more than two days. I finally called late last night but gave up after 20 minutes on hold. I just got home from work today and they (Food Network HD 231, USA HD 235, Discovery HD 239, others?) are still out! A friend a few blocks away has the same issue...so I'm on hold again.



Many people in Loudoun had an issue with Mojo on Comcast. Come to find out while they were moving old Adelphia accounts to Comcast packages there were some issues. Once they gave me a correct Comcast package my Mojo came back. They even said my bill would be $5 cheaper now. I'll believe it when I see it.


----------



## maestro73




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bullwinklehdtv* /forum/post/13620090
> 
> 
> Its not Comcast, both HGTV and Food Network started simulcasting their SD and HD feeds in mid-March and are stretching the non-HD material.



Yeah, I remember reading that, but I swore certain shows on HGTV were actually in HD, like Designed to Sell, which is on 8 tonight. My girl and I always make fun of that goof ball designer, and i don't remember him being stretched. Maybe I'm losing it.


----------



## bullwinklehdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *maestro73* /forum/post/13620145
> 
> 
> Yeah, I remember reading that, but I swore certain shows on HGTV were actually in HD, like Designed to Sell, which is on 8 tonight. My girl and I always make fun of that goof ball designer, and i don't remember him being stretched. Maybe I'm losing it.



Hidden Potential is in HD right now on Directv


----------



## uspino

When, oh when, are we going to get CNN-HD in Montgomery County?


----------



## gomo657




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tetu81* /forum/post/13619150
> 
> 
> Best I can tell, several HD channels have been out on Comcast's Washington, DC network for more than two days. I finally called late last night but gave up after 20 minutes on hold. I just got home from work today and they (Food Network HD 231, USA HD 235, Discovery HD 239, others?) are still out! A friend a few blocks away has the same issue...so I'm on hold again.



Did anyone get this prob resolved? I finally got through this morning a they didn't know the cause of the problem. FOOD is working but USA, SCIand TLC aren't.


----------



## jcdrisco

USA and SciFi (235 and 236) went back on for me sometime in the last hour (12:00-1:00 p.m. on Saturday). DSC (239) is still out. I didn't call it in, so maybe they're responding to the general problem that you and others reported.


----------



## tetu81




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jcdrisco* /forum/post/13623890
> 
> 
> USA and SciFi (235 and 236) went back on for me sometime in the last hour (12:00-1:00 p.m. on Saturday). DSC (239) is still out. I didn't call it in, so maybe they're responding to the general problem that you and others reported.



I gave up last night after 90 minutes on hold. I can confirm Discovery HD 239 is still out







I guess it's time listen to hold music again. Wheeee!


Update: a pre-recorded message acknowledges the outage on channels 239 and 240 and that technicians are working on it. I guess an outage takes 3 days to correct. Or more! No ETA was given.


----------



## gomo657




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tetu81* /forum/post/13624173
> 
> 
> I gave up last night after 90 minutes on hold. I can confirm Discovery HD 239 is still out
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I guess it's time listen to hold music again. Wheeee!
> 
> 
> Update: a pre-recorded message acknowledges the outage on channels 239 and 240 and that technicians are working on it. I guess an outage takes 3 days to correct. Or more! No ETA was given.



They're on now but I'm not in the areas supposedly with the outages. BTW mine were on yesterday and went out last night.









Im just upset I missed BG last night!


----------



## amorris525

I can't get Nbc-HD, Fox-HD, or CBS-HD through the clear with my Vizio built-in QAM tuner. I have Comcast-Loudoun and was getting these stations fine earlier this week. Is there anything I can do to fix it, or is it a Comcast Problem.


----------



## jmsd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *maestro73* /forum/post/13620074
> 
> 
> I figured it was me b/c no one commented on it today but I'm curious if others noticed the same, or if it's just my wishful thinking.
> 
> 
> I'm in Alexandria.



Well, over here across Four-Mile Run, mine is if anything, worse.


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *amorris525* /forum/post/13624617
> 
> 
> I can't get Nbc-HD, Fox-HD, or CBS-HD through the clear with my Vizio built-in QAM tuner. I have Comcast-Loudoun and was getting these stations fine earlier this week. Is there anything I can do to fix it, or is it a Comcast Problem.



It is my understanding that the Cable companies are not required to provide digital QAM channels. As a result the availability to receive any digital QAM is different for each local Cable service, and can be very intermittment.

I would rescan from day to day to see if your signals return. I find that my cable provider will not discuss QAM signals.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *amorris525* /forum/post/13624617
> 
> 
> I can't get Nbc-HD, Fox-HD, or CBS-HD through the clear with my Vizio built-in QAM tuner. I have Comcast-Loudoun and was getting these stations fine earlier this week. Is there anything I can do to fix it, or is it a Comcast Problem.



In Sterling(Comcast) I am having no problems at all with the channels you mention.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/13626140
> 
> 
> It is my understanding that the Cable companies are not required to provide digital QAM channels. As a result the availability to receive any digital QAM is different for each local Cable service, and can be very intermittment.
> 
> I would rescan from day to day to see if your signals return. I find that my cable provider will not discuss QAM signals.



???. Digital cable channels are sent using digital QAM format. Maybe you meant in the clear. Cable companies are indeed required by the FCC to send the local stations in the clear, ie not encrypted, if they provide them on the cable system. The customer service reps usually have no knowledge of QAM or how it works; their training is to insist you need a cable box to get any HD channel. But the local stations should be there, you may have to dig to locate them depending on whether Comcast is correctly passing the PSIP channel mapping data through.


I can't help with Comcast Loudoun, but amorris525, have you tried a re-scan? Comcast may have moved the locals to a different QAM sub-channel.


----------



## amorris525

I did about 5 rescans yesterday and got nothing, but today I rescanned and they are back! However, NBC-HD is still horrendous quality for me, making the Capitals game unwatchable on there today. I've also never been able to pick up CW-HD in the clear from Comcast Loudoun either. But at least I can watch the masters in HD today!


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *amorris525* /forum/post/13628600
> 
> 
> I did about 5 rescans yesterday and got nothing, but today I rescanned and they are back! However, NBC-HD is still horrendous quality for me, making the Capitals game unwatchable on there today. I've also never been able to pick up CW-HD in the clear from Comcast Loudoun either. But at least I can watch the masters in HD today!



If you want to get the local stations and your HD TV is new enough to have a ATSC tuner, you can always put up an antenna and get the DC stations OTA unless there is a reception problem where you are.


----------



## vidioteic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SQUIDWARD360* /forum/post/13620129
> 
> 
> ... Once they gave me a correct Comcast package my Mojo came back. They even said my bill would be $5 cheaper now. I'll believe it when I see it.



Mr. Powers-

Sorry to hear you lost you MoJo.

Glad to hear you've got back.

That's Shagadelic!


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13626224
> 
> 
> ???. Digital cable channels are sent using digital QAM format. Maybe you meant in the clear. Cable companies are indeed required by the FCC to send the local stations in the clear, ie not encrypted, if they provide them on the cable system. The customer service reps usually have no knowledge of QAM or how it works; their training is to insist you need a cable box to get any HD channel.



You are normally an excellent source of correct information, but I find you are wrong about Cable companies being required to provide "in the clear" QAM digital channels. I found that the FCC referred me to the local Cable Television Commission when I sought information on this. I went to the regular meeting of the P.G County Cable Television Commision, and asked what stations did they require from Comcast. The answer was, "those located within the County". Unfortunately, there are no television stations within the county. In addition the County Government web page includes this quote:

"The Cable Television Commission enforces the County's franchise agreements with Comcast Cable Communications and Verizon Maryland, Inc. Prince George’s County cannot set rates nor require the carriage of certain cable channels on the cable system."

I am fairly happy with the clear QAM digital channels from Comcast Basic service, but they are not guarranteed, and do change from time to time.


----------



## joblo

Um, broadcast channel carriage is regulated by the FCC, not county commissions or franchising authorities. Call the FCC again and ask to speak to someone in the Media Bureau who is knowledgeable about must-carry regulations for broadcast stations over cable.


I was just discussing this topic in another thread. Please note the links to some of the relevant FCC regs in that post .


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/13632434
> 
> 
> You are normally an excellent source of correct information, but I find you are wrong about Cable companies being required to provide "in the clear" QAM digital channels.



The question of the FCC requirements for carrying the locals in clear QAM has been discussed in great detail in other threads in the hardware reception and programming forums. I leave it to those who are familiar with the complex FCC regulatory rulings and orders that apply to local stations and cable operators to make sense of them. The short summary as I understand it is that the cable operators are required to provide the locals in the clear if they carry that station on their system. But these are complex rules and some smaller cable companies may interpret them differently or not pay attention to them. However, all of the major operators do routinely provide the locals in the clear. The trick is to find the HD and SD locals in the 100s of QAM sub-channels, if the PSIP channel mapping to the local broadcast channel number is not provided.


----------



## matt91

So I'm not really sure this is in the right place, but I've looked all over and can't find anything current.


Any information on how long my expanded basic (analog) Comcast cable service is safe in Washington DC?


If Comcast plans to phase it out by 2009 (Feb or otherwise), I'd like to know now so I can plan my upgrade path, versus just waking up one morning and finding that my HTPC has been recording snow for every channel above 13.


I've seen other threads that report it's been eliminated in Chicago, but can't find anything in our area.


Thanks

Matt


----------



## raidbuck




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bullwinklehdtv* /forum/post/13620090
> 
> 
> Its not Comcast, both HGTV and Food Network started simulcasting their SD and HD feeds in mid-March and are stretching the non-HD material.




I was wondering where all the shows we watch went. This is very disappointing. I will write them and complain, although I know it won't matter.


Rich N.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *matt91* /forum/post/13635536
> 
> 
> So I'm not really sure this is in the right place, but I've looked all over and can't find anything current.
> 
> 
> Any information on how long my expanded basic (analog) Comcast cable service is safe in Washington DC?



I don't think anything definitive has been stated by Comcast. I suggest you contact your local franchise authority and have them try to get something out of Comcast. Asking a Comcast CSR is most likely a waste of time, but the franchise authority might be able to get something out of their contacts. I asked my local one in Bowie and they are trying to arrange a city hall meeting in the future where Comcast will address questions. The odds are they will continue in the DC area until sometime in 2012, but nothing is guaranteed.


Neil


----------



## bullwinklehdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *raidbuck* /forum/post/13636476
> 
> 
> I was wondering where all the shows we watch went. This is very disappointing. I will write them and complain, although I know it won't matter.
> 
> 
> Rich N.



I understand that ESPN, which originally stretched their non-HD content, changed because of viewer complaints, so maybe it will make a difference. Someone had said they complain to advertisers - I can't believe that Slimfast wants to hear that all their spokespeople look short and fat on stretched channels.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *vidioteic* /forum/post/13611951
> 
> 
> MASN is in its second year as a full time network. It is substantially more for ANY RSN to provide HD, let alone one that has TWO baseball teams, and does more live events in six months than most others do in a year. So, try to enjoy the 40/40 this year, and hope for more next year.
> 
> 
> Public opinion goes very far. If you like what you see, make it known. If the viewers are there, more will come...



Well, with the money that they are skimping on for their on air entertainment, they should be able to afford the HD.

The Play by play guys are good, it's the studios guys that just suck.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

I think they can afford the HD, it's Angelos refusing to reach into his purse to spend the money to get more than 40 games for each team.


Can someone please explain if the HD cameras are physically at Nationals Park and/or Camden Yards (or are they being moved back and forth), why all home games can't be shown in HD? I would think MASN is dead last in # of games, as the Royals network has close to 90 this season from 0 last.


----------



## bucnasty




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/13643566
> 
> 
> Well, with the money that they are skimping on for their on air entertainment, they should be able to afford the HD.
> 
> The Play by play guys are good, it's the studios guys that just suck.



yeah ray knight is kind of a jabroni...


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Ray "I Dub Thee" Knight - from ESPN to MASN post-game shows and occasional color on selected Nats games when Sutton isn't there. Mets fans however, will always love him (I prefer the other NY team).


And SNY-HD is blacked out on EI - I HATE BLACKOUTS. Thanks MASN and your great SD coverage.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Instead of a black screen during their blackout of the Caps game, Versus is showing World Extreme Cagefighting (in SD).


----------



## uvaeer

MASN, with only limited product, couldn't get a dedicated HD channel at the late notice, let alone two for both teams games with wide exposure. 80 games pre-empting MOJO isn't too bad, seems like most cable systems got on board very quickly.


----------



## bucnasty




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *uvaeer* /forum/post/13651490
> 
> 
> MASN, with only limited product, couldn't get a dedicated HD channel at the late notice, let alone two for both teams games with wide exposure. 80 games pre-empting MOJO isn't too bad, seems like most cable systems got on board very quickly.




its not like channel 20 shows anything of value, they could always throw it on there during a weeknight. fox/my 20 could say they are the leader in basbeall coverage that way..


----------



## FineWare




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/13650011
> 
> 
> Ray "I Dub Thee" Knight...



You mean Ray "1986 World Series MVP" Knight, also known as Mr. Nancy Lopez?


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *FineWare* /forum/post/13653106
> 
> 
> You mean Ray "1986 World Series MVP" Knight, also known as Mr. Nancy Lopez?



I mean, Ray "I suck at play by play and in studio analysis" Knight.


----------



## FineWare




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/13653125
> 
> 
> I mean, Ray "I suck at play by play and in studio analysis" Knight.



I don't know about that, but I was forced to watch the Mets on MASN yesterday (in SD no less, because of antiquated blackout rules). Sorry, but I'll take Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling any day over these other guys.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *FineWare* /forum/post/13653208
> 
> 
> I don't know about that, but I was forced to watch the Mets on MASN yesterday (in SD no less, because of antiquated blackout rules). Sorry, but I'll take Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling any day over these other guys.



Would that be Keith "No play for Mr. Gray" Hernandez?


----------



## bucnasty

keith "the spitter" hernandez?


ron darling is a disaster...


----------



## tonyd79

Dish has added Baltimore HD ( http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=126139 ). Not being a Dish customer, I don't know what channels exactly...


----------



## CycloneGT

Unless there are any carriage disputes, I would expect Dish to just carry the four major networks in HD. ABC 2, NBC 11, CBS 13 & FOX 45.


Funny thing is that I have Dish, and I am in the Grade A contour of the Baltimore signals, but those geniuses still keep me from getting them via satellite. At least my OTA tuner gets them in just fine.


----------



## bmfc1




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bucnasty* /forum/post/13654288
> 
> 
> keith "the spitter" hernandez?
> 
> 
> ron darling is a disaster...



Darling's year in DC was not representative of his excellence at color commentary. He got the job at the last minute and was paired with a guy who he met in the cab on the way to the 1st regular season game.


Darling is excellent, far superior to Sutton. I learn something every game that Darling works. He just won a NY Sports Emmy and will work national games on TBS this year.


----------



## CycloneGT

Dish Network has added CNN-HD and the Baltimore HD locals.


----------



## Bushrod




> Quote:
> Darling is excellent, far superior to Sutton.



I really miss Darling. He always sounded like James Woods to me!


----------



## bucnasty

i haven't watched very many mets games on SNY, but don sutton annoys me only because of his goofy hair


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13655388
> 
> 
> Unless there are any carriage disputes, I would expect Dish to just carry the four major networks in HD. ABC 2, NBC 11, CBS 13 & FOX 45.
> 
> 
> Funny thing is that I have Dish, and I am in the Grade A contour of the Baltimore signals, but those geniuses still keep me from getting them via satellite. At least my OTA tuner gets them in just fine.



Yeah, Boyds in in the DC market and DirecTV is the same way. They can both do significantly viewed out of market stations (as defined by the FCC via Nielsen) but I know DirecTV has done it for very few markets. I get Baltimore via DirecTV and would like to get DC as well (my OTA is spotty as I live in a first floor condo).


----------



## machpost

RCN in D.C. has added an HD channel for MLB Extra Innings games, on channel 188. It is listed as "GAMEHD" in the EPG.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/13658394
> 
> 
> Yeah, Boyds in in the DC market and DirecTV is the same way. They can both do significantly viewed out of market stations (as defined by the FCC via Nielsen) but I know DirecTV has done it for very few markets.



Actually, Dish lost the right to provide significantly viewed ABC/CBS/FOX/NBC stations when it lost the distant networks case a couple of years ago. Only DirecTV can provide SV stations (of the 4 majors) via satellite now.


----------



## FineWare




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Count Blah* /forum/post/13653667
> 
> 
> Would that be Keith "No play for Mr. Gray" Hernandez?



Heh. Ol' #17 is looking like he needs a touch-up on the sides lately.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bucnasty* /forum/post/13654288
> 
> 
> keith "the spitter" hernandez?



I still say there was a second spitter...











> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bucnasty* /forum/post/13654288
> 
> 
> Ron darling is a disaster...



From what I understand, *was* might be more apropos. He's extremely knowledgeable and has grown into an extremely well-versed broadcaster on SNY, as well as a commercial spokesman.


Now, this MASN thing... that's a disaster. Why advertise an HD feed when it's never on? Is it only HD when the Nats or Os are home? What's up with that?

[He said, keeping things on topic...







]


----------



## bucnasty

at least someone got the joke!


----------



## lax01

Anybody notice that NBC-HD on Comcast MoCo looks like utter garbage tonight? Looked very low bit-rate...actually, all of the channels are looking worse and worse as days go by...


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bushrod* /forum/post/13656995
> 
> 
> I really miss Darling. He always sounded like James Woods to me!



lol. That's EXACTLY what I thought as well. It's really uncanny.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/13658905
> 
> 
> Actually, Dish lost the right to provide significantly viewed ABC/CBS/FOX/NBC stations when it lost the distant networks case a couple of years ago. Only DirecTV can provide SV stations (of the 4 majors) via satellite now.



I knew they lost DNS but I didn't know they lost SV as well. Wow.


BTW, according to the Dish webpage, it is confirmed that Baltimore HD includes WMAR, WBAL, WJZ and WBFF.


----------



## CycloneGT

Glad I was right, because I edited the first post before I had proof of channels.


I don't understand how Dish could lose SV, but not DirecTV. I know it was the result of a court case, but I still would have thought that it would have ended up on equal ground. Still, even when "Significantly Viewed" was in effect, it didn't apply to me. It just gave a few extra channels to those in Howard and other counties that were equal distance between Baltmore and DC.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13666872
> 
> 
> Glad I was right, because I edited the first post before I had proof of channels.
> 
> 
> I don't understand how Dish could lose SV, but not DirecTV. I know it was the result of a court case, but I still would have thought that it would have ended up on equal ground. Still, even when "Significantly Viewed" was in effect, it didn't apply to me. It just gave a few extra channels to those in Howard and other counties that were equal distance between Baltmore and DC.



Dish lost out of market networks as a punative measure because they consistently violated the law on qualifying out of market customers. Why would they punish DirecTV, who has actually been conservative in its enforcement of who gets what out of market?


BTW, I am in Howard. If SV were used, I would get 4, 5, 7, 9, 26, 32 at a minimum.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Comcast has launched AnyRoom On Demand in New Jersey, where it is available to all digital-cable customers with Motorola digital set-tops, officials said Thursday.
> 
> 
> AnyRoom allows customers to select Channel 1 On Demand programs on one TV set and view them on any other TV in the home that has a digital-cable box.


 http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6552314.html 


This is also available in Baltimore. Might be why my boxes were receiving a software download this evening.


----------



## bmfc1

We'll probably have that in Montgomery County in about a year.


----------



## bucnasty

this is gonna get a lot of dads/teenage boys in trouble with ordering adult on demand...


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Details of Sinclair's local HD news plans emerge*


Apr 17, 2008 8:55 AM

*Sinclair Broadcast Group, if all goes as planned, will launch HD local newscasts within the next three to four weeks in Baltimore and Columbus, OH, and sometime this summer, follow suit in Ashville, NC, and Pensacola, FL.*


Speaking with Broadcast Engineering following the Open Mobile Video Coalition (OMVC) breakfast at NAB2008 April 14, Sinclair VP engineering of operations Del Parks revealed that the station group will use the rollout at stations in its four biggest markets to evaluate its approach to HD news operations and make any midcourse corrections, if needed, before continuing the HD local news rollout in its other nine news markets.


Broadcast TV cannot become the AM radio of the 21st Century. One way around that is to deliver as much HD content as we can, Parks said.


The centerpiece of Sinclair's news control room strategy is the Snell & Wilcox multi-definition production switcher, he said. With built-in up/downconversion, the switcher will allow Sinclair to work in a mixed 4:3 SD and 16:9 HD world without relying on external conversion. What happens when you start inserting upconverters and downconverters is you get a series of delay, he explained. And that makes the audio problems worse. A big problem with DTV that everyone is finding out is lip-sync problems. With built-in conversion, audio and video delay is consistent and doesn't add to lip-syncing difficulties, he added.


For acquisition, Sinclair is at the show evaluating competitive long GOP MPEG and intraframe systems. While the broadcast group has a 20-year history with Panasonic using DVCPRO equipment, a major issue with which Sinclair is wrestling is the trade off between file size and maintaining more original image data, he said.


Following NAB2008, Sinclair also will receive four new electronic newsgathering (ENG)/satellite newsgathering (SNG) vehicles that are HD-ready, he said.

http://broadcastengineering.com/news...local_hd_0417/


----------



## CycloneGT

Sounds like WBFF will have a HD News much sooner than fall. I wonder where we heard that before?










Hopefully a few more local stations besides the FOX networks will be HD before the end of the year. I guess that WTTG is still on track for their May HD News launch.


----------



## AbMagFab

Just curious... why does anyone care about local news, let alone in HD? Do people really still watch it that much (other than demo's that don't care about HD)?


I would think the bulk of the 18-49 crowd gets their news, local and otherwise, from their PC, phone, PDA, etc.?


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/13673479
> 
> 
> Just curious... why does anyone care about local news, let alone in HD? Do people really still watch it that much (other than demo's that don't care about HD)?
> 
> 
> I would think the bulk of the 18-49 crowd gets their news, local and otherwise, from their PC, phone, PDA, etc.?



No, no one cares. That is why they track the local news numbers religiously. Local news is one of the few things a local station can actually control. And all the advertising goes directly into their pockets. Local news is still watched quite a bit.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/13674477
> 
> 
> No, no one cares. That is why they track the local news numbers religiously. Local news is one of the few things a local station can actually control. And all the advertising goes directly into their pockets. Local news is still watched quite a bit.



What's "quite a bit"? I agree it's one of the few things left that local stations can get direct revenue from, but that doesn't mean much to me.


I'd be surprised if the local news get more than a 2 rating (perhaps a higher share due to the fewer number of TV's on at that time).


Aren't we at the point where the major networks can just have one national channel? This works for the other 250 channels out there, why not the major networks?


I mean, the "local" aspects of the networks is pretty much lost on the vast majority of people.


----------



## rallen

Not really. Down here in Salisbury, most people watch at least part of the local news. That kind of seems more previlent in smaller markes I think.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/13673479
> 
> 
> Just curious... why does anyone care about local news, let alone in HD? Do people really still watch it that much (other than demo's that don't care about HD)?



A quick google search turned up a Washington Post article from last November on the ratings for the 11 PM DC newscasts which add up to around 460,000 viewers for the 4 stations. WTTG 5 got 169,000 viewers for the 10 PM broadcast. See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...112902307.html . These are the 11 PM news numbers; don't know how the 5 & 6 PM numbers compare. Just because you don't watch the local news does not mean no one else does to make a obvious point.


The way I look at it, we are looking at a nice increase in the amount of HD on the local stations in this next 6 months. Sesame Street and Oprah will be going HD this fall. I'm waiting for the first post from someone whose toddler wails why isn't Sesame Street in HD today?







On the major networks, Survivor will be HD this fall, CBS nightly news will be going HD in June or later; ABC announced ""ABC also plans to broadcast both conventions in HD and launch HD broadcasts of its nightly news programs World News Tonight, and Nightline, as well as its newsmagazines, the week of Sept. 8."


----------



## tonyd79

This data is 3 years old but at 5 to 6 AM (!), WBAL had a 4.6/20 while WJZ had a 4.0/7. At 6 am, WBAL jumped to a 7.2/24.



Also three years old: "5 p.m. broadcast pulled in a 11.4 rating and a 22 share, while WJZ had a rating of 6.3 and a share of 12."


I doubt that the numbers dropped from 11's to 2's in three years.


You, AbFabMag, are out of touch and are guilty of projecting your habits and tastes onto others.


And, no, we are not at a point where we can go without local stations. There are still local activities in entertainment, sports and news including weather that have to be covered. Gee, I wonder why there is at least 1 (often 2 or more) LOCAL sports stations in that 250 you mention. And why cable companies have started LOCAL news and events stations such as CN8 and Newscenter8 and Ohio News Network and the like if we don't need local stations.


Oh, and let us not forget the millions who don't have cable or satellite. They kind of rely on those local stations.


But then again, they must not exist, either, huh?


----------



## CycloneGT

I don't bother with a local paper, but the local TV news is still interesting. And I watch News 9 first because of the HD. I then flip around during commercial and end up on another news show if they aren't in commercial break too.


----------



## tonyd79

Ratings numbers from November 2007 (latest I could find) in Baltimore from Baltimore Sun blog:



> Quote:
> For local newscasts, WJZ remains dominant in the morning, while WBAL remains dominant in the evening, when more people are watching. For its 5 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. newscasts, WJZ garnered ratings of 3.6 and 4.3, while WBAL earned a 2.6 for its 5 a.m.-6 a.m. newscast. At 6 a.m., WJZ eked out a narrow win, with a rating of 4.9, compared to WBAL's 4.8. WJZ won big at noon, 6.0 to 4.6.
> 
> 
> The trend reverses come 5 p.m., when WBAL comes out on top, with a 7.4 rating, compared to 5.0 for WJZ. The gap narrows somewhat at 6, with WBAL getting an 8.1 rating, compared to 6.3 for WJZ. WBAL wins narrowly again at 11, 9.6 to 9.4.
> 
> 
> For its late news, which airs at 10 p.m., WBFF earned a 4.3 rating. WMAR trailed the pack, with its 11 p.m. newscast getting a 3.4 rating.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Dish has added Sci Fi HD and USA HD.


----------



## jhlwas




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/13673479
> 
> 
> Just curious... why does anyone care about local news, let alone in HD? Do people really still watch it that much (other than demo's that don't care about HD)?
> 
> 
> I would think the bulk of the 18-49 crowd gets their news, local and otherwise, from their PC, phone, PDA, etc.?



Why do you care what News people watch and when ?


jl


----------



## mchief99

I watch NBC4 nightly just to see what crap Vance will come up with. If a white anchor spewed some of the crap that comes out of Vance he/she would be fired. I love double standards. And Doreen couldn't say crap if she had a mouth-full. Now everyone of you PC/Liberals have fun...


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13675355
> 
> 
> I don't bother with a local paper, but the local TV news is still interesting. And I watch News 9 first because of the HD. I then flip around during commercial and end up on another news show if they aren't in commercial break too.



Get out of my head!!!!


I do the exact same thing.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13675243
> 
> 
> A quick google search turned up a Washington Post article from last November on the ratings for the 11 PM DC newscasts which add up to around 460,000 viewers for the 4 stations. WTTG 5 got 169,000 viewers for the 10 PM broadcast. See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...112902307.html . These are the 11 PM news numbers; don't know how the 5 & 6 PM numbers compare. Just because you don't watch the local news does not mean no one else does to make a obvious point.



Actually, those numbers pretty much say virtually no one else does, either. And I'm betting the demographics on those numbers are not at all in the 18-49 range.


My point is simply that local networks are no longer financially viable. The O&O's are being sold off more and more, and the local viewership is declining.


And what percentage of programming is really "local"? Maybe 2-3 hours a day? That's less than 10% for each channel, max. Then you figure it's pretty much the same "local" information on each channel, and it's just silly.


And to the other poster, the CN8's and the like are fine - one low-cost bare-bones local channel in a market makes total sense. And local sports channels also make sense - they are really regional sports channels, and not that different from an HBO-East and HBO-West.


But for the major networks, they are saddled with a model that makes it difficult to compete (in the long term) with cable networks that have one operation to feed 110 million homes, compared to hundreds of broadcast stations, and the $100's of millions of additional overhead for each network to reach the same number of homes.


It's an obsolete system, that had a purpose back when the technology was limited, but no longer serves any useful purpose. We need to let it go already.


----------



## rallen

No, you don't want to accept that other people may feel differently than you do.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/13677715
> 
> 
> Actually, those numbers pretty much say virtually no one else does, either. And I'm betting the demographics on those numbers are not at all in the 18-49 range.
> 
> 
> My point is simply that local networks are no longer financially viable. The O&O's are being sold off more and more, and the local viewership is declining.
> 
> 
> And what percentage of programming is really "local"? Maybe 2-3 hours a day? That's less than 10% for each channel, max. Then you figure it's pretty much the same "local" information on each channel, and it's just silly.
> 
> 
> And to the other poster, the CN8's and the like are fine - one low-cost bare-bones local channel in a market makes total sense. And local sports channels also make sense - they are really regional sports channels, and not that different from an HBO-East and HBO-West.
> 
> 
> But for the major networks, they are saddled with a model that makes it difficult to compete (in the long term) with cable networks that have one operation to feed 110 million homes, compared to hundreds of broadcast stations, and the $100's of millions of additional overhead for each network to reach the same number of homes.
> 
> 
> It's an obsolete system, that had a purpose back when the technology was limited, but no longer serves any useful purpose. We need to let it go already.



Ironically, if you take "local news" out of that post and replace it with "primetime/network programming," your post is just as relevant. I think your post might make more sense if this were the thread for some small town sub-150 DMA, but as it stands there is plenty of news to go around in the nation's capital (for crying out loud), and local news is the fastest and most efficient aggregate of that information.


----------



## afiggatt

Reminder. For those who want to see at least some Os or Nats games in HD, WJZ-DT CBS 13 in Baltimore is airing the Os-Yankees game tonight and tomorrow afternoon. These games are on MASN-HD, so they should be HD on WJZ-DT. Looking at the schedule, the next MASN-HD game for the Os is not until May 16! The next Nats MASN-HD games are next week starting on April 21 with the next WDCA-DT 20/MASN-HD game on the 24th. Verizon has not added MASN-HD yet, so I am dependent on the WDCA-DT and WJZ-DT broadcasts for Os or Nats in HD (unless I add Comcast Loudoun as a temporary provider, but I am not going to do that).


----------



## Marcus Carr

Today's game is in HD on Mojo but not WJZ.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/13683308
> 
> 
> Today's game is in HD on Mojo but not WJZ.



Yep, it's SD on WJZ-DT 13. Bummer. Maybe the Saturday crew doesn't know how to hook up the HD feed?


BTW, it was announced in the Harrisonburg / Charlottesville thread that WVIR-TV NBC 29 in Charlottesville, VA upgraded to providing the local news in HD today. So Charlottesville beats Baltimore to having a station with HD local news! Apologies to AbMagFab about info that he doesn't want to read...


----------



## Marcus Carr

NBC29 Charlottesville, VA – April 18, 2008 – WVIR-TV today announced that, effective Saturday, April 19, at 6 p.m., NBC29 News is available in high definition. This is the Charlottesville station’s first live, locally-produced, HD broadcast, and is the result of *more than five years of planning and construction and an expenditure of more than 3 million dollars.*

http://pressroom.vartv.com/


----------



## URFloorMatt

Was the point of that to embarass the ninth largest DMA with its one HD local news broadcast, since now it's on par with the 181st DMA?


It should be noted that C-ville only has two local broadcasters in the first place. One company owns the ABC, CBS, Fox, and MyNet affiliates. Another owns the NBC and CW affiliates. Both the CW and MyNet affiliates are digital subchannel broadcasts only, though they are carried by Comcast.


And let me tell you, the other guys in C-ville (not NBC29) are broadcasting a seriously budget local operation. They actually can't even broadcast both an SD and an HD feed at the same time on any of their channels--Fox, CBS, or ABC. The SD feed is a center-cut downconvert of the HD feed.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/13678199
> 
> 
> ...local news is the fastest and most efficient aggregate of that information.



Hardly... the internet is by far a faster and more effeciant aggregate of local news, and national news. Much more timely, just as accurate/inaccurate, and quicker and easier to find the specific piece of information relevent to me.


I understand that some people still like to get sports, weather, and traffic from local news stations. That's great. However that doesn't mean it makes sense.


The aging and techno-phobic demographics of our population stick to local news as some sort of anchor, and that's fine for them. But it's a rapidly dwindling segment, and it's increasingly irrelevant.


At a minimum, Network/Primetime shows (usually ~7pm-11pm) are exactly the same across all 1000+ local TV stations (300+ for each network). What a complete waste of overhead (people, infrastructure, etc.), compared to the same thing for cable networks that broadcast one feed to everyone, with no local station overhead.


And that 7-11pm timeframe is when nearly all the TV viewing occurs. The entire rest of the day is a fraction of 7-11pm, and the demos for the rest of the day are extremely narrow and unattractive to advertising (the only thing that really matters on free TV).


It's an arcane system that has passed it's time, and needs to be done away with.


(The only issue is the 10% of people with no cable or satellite connection, who rely on OTA. Again, they fall into the aging/technophobe group, but it's a difficult problem to solve.)


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> In this area, Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic uses its own custom-made truck, housed primarily at Verizon Center, to show Wizards and Capitals home games in HD. But most road games are still shown in standard definition. Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) began rolling out HD broadcasts of Orioles and Nationals games this year, but only for 40 games per team.
> 
> 
> "Mostly, it's a cost issue, but it also has to be a slow progression," said Stephanie Offen, a spokeswoman for Comcast SportsNet. "We feel we got in at the ground floor, but we're also trying to improve it. We want to make sure we're doing it right."
> 
> 
> In some instances, networks and cable channels have decided to invest their money elsewhere before broadcasting in HD round-the-clock. And MASN spokesman Todd Webster said there is a danger in going too quickly to HD, as it takes time to ensure that the picture quality is ideal. He pointed out that those older regional sports networks that are now fully HD, including the New England Sports Network and YES Network, rolled out the service gradually.
> 
> 
> "We want the picture quality to be flawless," Mr. Webster said. "It's an evolutionary process."
> 
> 
> There's also the issue of finding space on the dial for dedicated HD channels. While providers such as DirecTV and Comcast are continually adding capacity, the process of finding available space is often like a game of musical chairs. Comcast for instance, places MASN's HD games on Mojo, a special channel with HD programming. And Cox Communications did not add Comcast SportsNet's HD channel until earlier this month, just in time for the Capitals' first playoff game.


 http://washingtontimes.com/article/2...879341886/1001


----------



## Marcus Carr

*New Ballpark Packs Video Power*


Sony brings HD experience inside the stadium


by Sanjay Talwani, April 14, 2008


WASHINGTON

When the Washington Nationals planned Major League Baseball's newest stadium, the team understood that the fan experience goes way beyond balls and strikes. And management grasped that in a city of iconic structures, fans nowadays demand a top-flight entertainment experience along with their hot-dogs. A dull, standard-definition video program on a run-of-the-mill scoreboard display just won't do.


Sony, which has been courting big stadium and arena deals, provided much of the gear in the stadium control rooma video replay control center, they call italong with Professional Products Inc., a systems integrator based in Gaithersburg, Md.


After a couple of test events, Nationals Park was ready for Opening Day March 30, with the Nationals hosting the Atlanta Braves, complete with an F-16 flyover and the ceremonial first pitch from President George W. Bush. The screen provided the kind of graphics, pictures and instant replays that shame the screens of old with their clunky motion and weak colors.


Washington is on the front of the current wave of HD-replay sports facilities, said Bruce Kaufmann, PPI president. I know the Nationals fought very hard to make this a very high-class, high-technology, and high-resolution facility.


HD EXPECTATIONS


Steve Stubelt, director of sales and marketing for Sony Systems Group, said the drive to HD and a more satisfying jumbo screen meets the growing expectations of fans used to HDTV in their homes, hotel rooms and an expanding list of other places. It started, said Stubelt, with the demands of luxury suiteholdersfolks spending a couple of hundred thousand dollars a year for baseball games want top-flight monitors.


Sony's growing sports practice, which involves installing its gear in new stadiums and upgrading existing ones, presents opportunities to bring the in-house video to a standard closer to that of TV production.


We've tried, as we've worked in sports, to raise the level of consciousness about what kind of quality programming can be done, Stubelt said.


The control room is responsible for all video displays in the park, including the 100-foot-wide 1552x720 Mitsubishi scoreboard screen and the fascia screens all around the front of the upper decks. The room has multiple connections to the cameras, slo-mos and other data coming from the production trucks; plus it has its own complement of wired, wireless and remote cameras.


It also has a Deko 3000 for graphics, a Click Effects Crossfire and servers, carts and VTRs to provide other content, such as advertising, highlight clips and the personalized song selections for the players as they step up to the plate.


Four 52-inch Sony LCD monitors along with multiple Sony Luma LCDs occupy the wall, powered by Evertz controllers.


Nationals Scoreboard Producer David Lundin said the arrangement provides plenty of flexibility for different types of events, or two different events can even happen in different parts of the stadium with different audio programs. On the different monitors around the stadium in the concourses, suites, bars and restaurants, operators can customize the picture as well as lower-thirds, crawls, bugs for different sectionsbringing ads or useful information to fans and providing additional revenue sources.


Connected with the control room are Sony camerastwo HDC-1400s, and two wireless XDCAMs. There are also four remote-controlled BRC-H700 cameras around the top of the stadium for beauty shots, taking advantage of the dome of the U.S. Capitol beyond the left field wall.


At the center of the action is a three-M/E Sony MVS-8000G switcher.


The deployment gives technology companies a testing ground for some new products and methods. For example, Global Microwave Systems equipment handles the RF feed from the XDCAMs, and has supplied a component that allows operators to shade the cams remotely, something they had never done with this model of camera before. So they're physically upgrading their component to make us more functional and to make their product more valuable, said Lundin.


Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, which carries every Orioles and Nationals game not carried by a national network, has begun HD coverage, planning a total of 80 games in HD this season. It also does live pre- and post-game shows for all of the 300-plus games.


Most cable systems that carry MASN also carry MASN HD, as does DirecTV (but not Dish). Some systems carry MASN content on a channel of another nameMojo, in the case of Comcast.


Using NEP trucks, MASN says the new facility is a world apart from the Nats' temporary home at the crumbling Robert F. Kennedy Stadium.


The stadium folks listened to what television wanted, said Jonathan Solomon, MASN chief engineer.


From the Triax and fiber drops at the 39 camera positions around the stadium to the truck parking area, the program has improved. At RFK, trucks used an outdoor position amongst the fans that was designed 40 years ago for smaller trucks. The new bay could easily tackle a game with two team broadcasters, a national broadcaster, plus the feed to Japan, said Solomon.


The interconnect panels are well laid out and well marked, and there's even a crew lounge with a restroom.


Plus, with a new stadium and HD, it's just a better show.


Showing off the ballpark makes good TV, said Solomon. It definitely brings a brighter view to the fans.


ENTERING THE MAJORS


Sony launched its sports sales practices about a year ago, targeting pro and college arenas and stadiums, particularly on retrofits to HD or new builds. The team worked on AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, on its screen in time for the 2007 season (and All-Star game), and on Bank One Ballpark, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks.


The Nationals and Sony agreed last summer to have Sony provide much of the control room gear (about half the equipment, as measured by cost) plus all 600 or so displays around the stadium.


The rise in production values characterized by venues such as the American Airlines Center in Dallas (home of the Mavericks of the NBA) and the American Airlines Arena in Miami (home to the NBA's Heat) has led to control rooms with all the tools and capabilities of the production trucksbut with even more content to choose from, because the control room has access to all the truck channels plus its own cameras.


Kaufmann said there's still the argument among venue officials about whether the premium paid for HD gear is worth it. But with the move toward bigger and bigger jumbo displays, the scale is tipping toward HD. And Sony, with its high-end gear, is working to ensure it has a piece of that market.


They [Sony] have gotten very aggressive making sure their technology becomes more affordable to these teams, to get into these facilities, said Kaufmann.


PPI did some integration work offsite and began moving into the facility in January, and had everything up and running for a test game (of college teams) March 22.


Stubelt said teams realize better video makes a better fan experience in a way that the teams can monetize.


They're controlling what you're seeing, and what they're realizing is they have a captive audience, and they can sell the branding to the marketing partners. he said. The dynamic is changing a lot. From our standpoint as a vendor, we can not only intro higher levels of capability, but it really is moving to a new level of sophistication.


He predicted that four or five more stadiums will bust a move toward HD within the next year, and such displays will be the rule within about five years.


Another Sony-centric element of the stadium as entertainment center is the PlayStation 3 pavilion, an area with multiple games played on large HD screens. The team plans to hold competitions and show the action on the big screenincluding shots from a Karaoke-style video game, so wannabe singers can belt it out large.


Nationals Park will get its next big eventand worldwide exposureApril 17, when Pope Benedict XVI gives a mass there in his only Washington-area public appearance on his current U.S. visit.

http://www.tvtechnology.com/pages/s.0082/t.12869.html


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/13685419
> 
> 
> (The only issue is the 10% of people with no cable or satellite connection, who rely on OTA. Again, they fall into the aging/technophobe group, but it's a difficult problem to solve.)



My girlfriend is kind of in this 10% group. But she is no technophobe. She has been in IT for almost 30 years. But she has never felt the desire to get cable/satellite since most of what she watches is available OTA. Although I am trying to convince her to get FIOS. Because of the election this year, she has been more involved in the election process than ever before in her life. So she is actually considering getting cable so she has access to all the political shows available on cable. I'm hoping I can nudge her to FIOS especially since, with the deals they have she will only be paying about $10 more a month for phone, TV, and INTERNET, than she does now for just Phone and INTERNET service.

That way she can also get more use out of the two TiVoHD boxes I gave her and pay for monthly myself.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/13685419
> 
> 
> Hardly... the internet is by far a faster and more effeciant aggregate of local news, and national news. Much more timely, just as accurate/inaccurate, and quicker and easier to find the specific piece of information relevent to me.
> 
> 
> I understand that some people still like to get sports, weather, and traffic from local news stations. That's great. However that doesn't mean it makes sense.
> 
> 
> The aging and techno-phobic demographics of our population stick to local news as some sort of anchor, and that's fine for them. But it's a rapidly dwindling segment, and it's increasingly irrelevant.
> 
> 
> At a minimum, Network/Primetime shows (usually ~7pm-11pm) are exactly the same across all 1000+ local TV stations (300+ for each network). What a complete waste of overhead (people, infrastructure, etc.), compared to the same thing for cable networks that broadcast one feed to everyone, with no local station overhead.
> 
> 
> And that 7-11pm timeframe is when nearly all the TV viewing occurs. The entire rest of the day is a fraction of 7-11pm, and the demos for the rest of the day are extremely narrow and unattractive to advertising (the only thing that really matters on free TV).
> 
> 
> It's an arcane system that has passed it's time, and needs to be done away with.
> 
> 
> (The only issue is the 10% of people with no cable or satellite connection, who rely on OTA. Again, they fall into the aging/technophobe group, but it's a difficult problem to solve.)



Blah Blah Blah.


All to justify your view of the world.


Gee, we should close all bookstores. The internet takes care of it.


We should shut down all TV, including satellite and cable because the internet can take care of it.


Banks? Who needs buildings? You can bank on the internet.


Oh, and stores of all kinds. Blow them up. The internet takes care of it.


Or not.


Yes, of course you are right. All those businesses making money on local TV must be lying to themselves.


----------



## Marcus Carr

ABC's This Week With George Stephanopoulos is in HD on WJLA. SD on WMAR.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/13685419
> 
> 
> Hardly... the internet is by far a faster and more effeciant aggregate of local news, and national news. Much more timely, just as accurate/inaccurate, and quicker and easier to find the specific piece of information relevent to me.



You seem to have assumed that, because _Washington_ has a robust local news presence on the Internet, all localities do, in which case you've been suckered by the same beltway elitism from which most politicians in Washington suffer. Small town America depends on the local news as much as they depend on the local newspaper, and neither will be supplanted by the Internet for a while yet, and even when they are locals will turn to the local news because all it requires is an antenna to view and a chair to watch.


Your argument is more an indictment of network news broadcasts and national newspapers, since their value is primarily in national news coverage, which has a robust presence on the Internet. Truly local news, for small town and rural Americans, has a week Internet presence at best.


----------



## dougotte




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/13685526
> 
> 
> My girlfiend...



I thought I'd force a break in the sniping on this thread to say...was that just a typo, an intentional joke, or a Freudian slip?









Doug


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dougotte* /forum/post/13688134
> 
> 
> I thought I'd force a break in the sniping on this thread to say...was that just a typo, an intentional joke, or a Freudian slip?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Doug



a typo


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Nats-Braves on D*, 626-1 - definitely not HD (pillar boxes on either side). Called the good folks up and let them know and they are aware of the issue.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/13696729
> 
> 
> Nats-Braves on D*, 626-1 - definitely not HD (pillar boxes on either side). Called the good folks up and let them know and they are aware of the issue.



HD finally kicked in about 20 minutes later.


----------



## clifburns

CNN and a few other channels disappeared from Comcast DC last night and were replaced by a "This channel should be available shortly" message. Hopefully that means that the not-so-swift technical folks at Comcast are trying to add the new channels promised for this month, including CNN-HD and Animal Planet. Or maybe not.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> New Ballpark Packs Video Power
> 
> Sony brings HD experience inside the stadium



Too bad MASN can't take 100% advantage of it.


----------



## TimGoodwin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/13699736
> 
> 
> Too bad MASN can't take 100% advantage of it.




Maybe since the Nationals are playing so, so bad MASN thinks no one is watching.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TimGoodwin* /forum/post/13699950
> 
> 
> Maybe since the Nationals are playing so, so bad MASN thinks no one is watching.



With game 7 at the Phone Booth, I don't think anybody will be watching the Nats in HD tonight.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/13700232
> 
> 
> With game 7 at the Phone Booth, I don't think anybody will be watching the Nats in HD tonight.



Nats who? It's still hockey season!


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/13685419
> 
> 
> ... What a complete waste of overhead (people, infrastructure, etc.), ...



Right! Get all of those people begging on the streets where they belong! What this country need is more layoffs, to get that unemployment rate way up.


----------



## mikepinkerton

Why is the sharks game blacked out on D* in this area on Versus? Anyone know?


-Mike


EDIT: nevermind, guess it was just the caps running late.


----------



## cpldc

Unrelated to the present discussion, but thread-relevant:


Does anyone in DC proper actually manage to get WNVC digital channel 30? I've been trying for some time now and have absolutely no luck with any of my equipment. I can't get up on the roof or properly install outside (though I think my landlord will allow a modest antenna setup I am planning after the transition) but I should have LOS, at least according to TVFool.


So far it's only the MHz and Ion stations I'm losing as a result of DTV, though neither are in very good quality on analog or really seemed to show anything. But it does seem that with the subchannels these stations are showing some potentially interesting programming.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cpldc* /forum/post/13709182
> 
> 
> Does anyone in DC proper actually manage to get WNVC digital channel 30? I've been trying for some time now and have absolutely no luck with any of my equipment. I can't get up on the roof or properly install outside (though I think my landlord will allow a modest antenna setup I am planning after the transition) but I should have LOS, at least according to TVFool.
> 
> 
> So far it's only the MHz and Ion stations I'm losing as a result of DTV, though neither are in very good quality on analog or really seemed to show anything. But it does seem that with the subchannels these stations are showing some potentially interesting programming.



Do you mean WNVT-DT 30 in Goldvein or WNVC-DT 56 (on 57) in Fairfax? If you do a search in this thread, you will see a post from a few weeks back where I could not lock onto the WNVT-DT 30 broadcast signal. I emailed the station and the engineer replied that WNVT-DT was running at reduced power because of transmitter hardware failure. They had ordered replacement parts. I think they are back at close to the 160 kW ERP as I do get the station, but it has always been tricky for me to get WNVT-DT reliably from Sterling as it is off at a bad angle to the south with respect to the DC & Baltimore stations. I have to place and aim the CM4221 in the attic just right.


If you mean WNVC-DT 56 in Fairfax, the digital antenna is mounted on the side of the tower and is only operating at at 7.3 kW on UHF 57. WNVC will go dark this September on both analog & digital to install a new antenna on top of the tower for operation on UHF 24 at 45 kW with a much improved digital coverage. But WNVC-DT can't go back on the air until WUTB 24 in Baltimore shuts off it's analog signal and WUTB has stated they will keep their analog 24 signal on the air until February 17, 2009. Maybe by then WUTB-DT will have finally gone full power on their digital signal.


WPXW-DT Ion 66 in Manassus will be taking over WUSA-DT's current UHF 34 antenna and 1000 kW power in DC next February 18 after WUSA-DT moves it's digital signal to their VHF 9 antenna. This will give WPXW Ion 66 a huge increase in broadcast coverage in the DC and Baltimore markets next year. Although people far enough west of DC and Baltimore can pick up WWPX-DT Ion 60 on VHF 12 out of Martinsburg. Ion has stated they will be switching to a 720p HD sub-channel, but I expect there will not that much true HD on it.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmsjr* /forum/post/13705784
> 
> 
> Right! Get all of those people begging on the streets where they belong! What this country need is more layoffs, to get that unemployment rate way up.




Right! Let's bankrupt this country into a communal model where people remain employed in pointless jobs and advancement is stunted for the benefit of the worker.


I'm heavily biased that decisions about advancement in technology and other areas should not be influenced at all by how many jobs will be made obsolete. So there's really no point in having that discussion, my position is on the table.


----------



## cpldc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13709502
> 
> 
> Do you mean WNVT-DT 30 in Goldvein or WNVC-DT 56 (on 57) in Fairfax? If you do a search in this thread, you will see a post from a few weeks back where I could not lock onto the WNVT-DT 30 broadcast signal. I emailed the station and the engineer replied that WNVT-DT was running at reduced power because of transmitter hardware failure. They had ordered replacement parts. I think they are back at close to the 160 kW ERP as I do get the station, but it has always been tricky for me to get WNVT-DT reliably from Sterling as it is off at a bad angle to the south with respect to the DC & Baltimore stations. I have to place and aim the CM4221 in the attic just right.
> 
> 
> If you mean WNVC-DT 56 in Fairfax, the digital antenna is mounted on the side of the tower and is only operating at at 7.3 kW on UHF 57. WNVC will go dark this September on both analog & digital to install a new antenna on top of the tower for operation on UHF 24 at 45 kW with a much improved digital coverage. But WNVC-DT can't go back on the air until WUTB 24 in Baltimore shuts off it's analog signal and WUTB has stated they will keep their analog 24 signal on the air until February 17, 2009. Maybe by then WUTB-DT will have finally gone full power on their digital signal.
> 
> 
> WPXW-DT Ion 66 in Manassus will be taking over WUSA-DT's current UHF 34 antenna and 1000 kW power in DC next February 18 after WUSA-DT moves it's digital signal to their VHF 9 antenna. This will give WPXW Ion 66 a huge increase in broadcast coverage in the DC and Baltimore markets next year. Although people far enough west of DC and Baltimore can pick up WWPX-DT Ion 60 on VHF 12 out of Martinsburg. Ion has stated they will be switching to a 720p HD sub-channel, but I expect there will not that much true HD on it.



Sorry, my mistake--I did mean WNVT-DT 30, not WNVC. I was actually going to email their engineer and ask the same, since I did recall reading something a while back here. Again, my mistake for not searching. My Insignia tuner and CM4220 detect a signal on DT 30 but does not lock, and as far as I can remember I get nothing on DT 57. I've tried all the feasible positioning I can manage indoors and also a CM4221 which actually worsened my reception of some channels. That's not completely surprising since I am getting a reflection pointing directly south that gives me all the Baltimore digitals and WMPT-DT 42; I can't position towards the actual stations with any luck but I imagine on a mast that the 4221 would outperform the 4220.


Unfortunately I doubt I can get anything beyond a 4220 plus a discreet VHF dipole outdoors, that is if my landlord will allow me to attach something to the house outdoors. I rent a whole rowhouse but the OTARD regulations don't really seem to favor anything I want to do, including finding a way of running the wire indoors without my landlord objecting. I'm definitely wishing I had a roof deck right now.


That's good to hear about Ion, in any case, since that'll come in through rabbit ears if it's on the DT 34 antenna. Hopefully that'll give me some more programming options. There's still no way I'm paying for cable or satellite, both of which would require drilling holes in the house anyway since there is no indoor wiring for cable either.


[end mini-rant]


----------



## machpost

I'm in D.C. proper and have never been able to get digital WNVC or WNVT, but I'm only using a $10 set of Radio Shack rabbit ears. I can pull in the digital signals of channels 4, 5, 7, 20, 26, 32, and 50. Multipath is a big issue in my location, though.


----------



## dg28

MASNHD - Anyone else notice that during their HD baseball games this year (at least the ones I have seen) the announcers voices are coming from the rear speakers in DD5.1? I don't know if they're actually using DD5.1 equipment or just trying to simulate it but they're sure doing something wrong.


----------



## ammar249

May sweeps begin tomorrow


Wondering if FOX5 will make the switch by then...


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cpldc* /forum/post/13709885
> 
> 
> Sorry, my mistake--I did mean WNVT-DT 30, not WNVC. I was actually going to email their engineer and ask the same, since I did recall reading something a while back here. Again, my mistake for not searching. My Insignia tuner and CM4220 detect a signal on DT 30 but does not lock, and as far as I can remember I get nothing on DT 57. I've tried all the feasible positioning I can manage indoors and also a CM4221 which actually worsened my reception of some channels. That's not completely surprising since I am getting a reflection pointing directly south that gives me all the Baltimore digitals and WMPT-DT 42; I can't position towards the actual stations with any luck but I imagine on a mast that the 4221 would outperform the 4220.



You should email WNVT to see if they are back to full power. WNVT-DT MHz 30 is at their post-transition power of 160 kw and antenna HAAT (Height Above Average Terrain) of 229 meters. Since there are no nearby analog channels that might interfere, the reception of WNVT-DT is not going to improve next year. I can get WNVC-DT 56 (57) in Fairfax if I aim the CM4221 in my attic right at the station (but I lose the Baltimore stations in the process).


You have 3 stations to the SW of DC in VA: WNVC 56, WNVT-DT 30, WPXW Ion 66. Do you have a window or high point with a reasonably clear shot to the SW? If you want to try it, get the CM4220 as high up as possible and aim it towards the SW to see if the stations come in at all. What about analog 56 or 66? If you don't get the digital and analog stations, you may have local obstructions or terrain blocking the signals from that direction.


Forgive me if you know this, but the bowties are on the front side of the antenna, the screen is a reflector screen. Some people mount the CM bowties backwards and don't realize it. I just want to be sure.


----------



## nottenst

I recently got a new PC which I can use to watch some shows and capture (for later viewing). I was wondering about some things. Hour shows from WNUV and WJZ appear to be about 8 GB in size (and half that for a half hour). I am guessing that this is the full HD rate. The Simpsons on WBFF is coming in at about 2.3 or 2.4 GB. WMAR came in at about 5.5 GB for LOST.


WMPT has been all over the place. Soundstage has been about 5 GB for an hour on three different weeks. Masterpiece (they dropped the Theatre) was once 6 GB for 1.5 hours and then 10 GB for 2 hours another week. Austin City Limits was about 5.5 GB one week and then another week it was 3.8 GB.


I am receiving all of this television over the air, so I am assuming that the different rates are a function of the tv stations. Any ideas as to what is going on?


Thanks,


Neil


----------



## SQUIDWARD360




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/13711463
> 
> 
> MASNHD - Anyone else notice that during their HD baseball games this year (at least the ones I have seen) the announcers voices are coming from the rear speakers in DD5.1? I don't know if they're actually using DD5.1 equipment or just trying to simulate it but they're sure doing something wrong.



I have watched here and there and have noticed it myself. I am receiving DD5.1 through my receiver but the same sound is coming from every speaker.


----------



## FineWare




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/13711463
> 
> 
> ...the announcers voices are coming from the rear speakers in DD5.1?...



It's that way right now against the Mets (SNY is blacked out). I'm not sure it's intended, but it sure is different. It's almost like you're sitting in the seats just in front of the broadcast booth. Except when Sutton talks, you want to turn around and tell him to shut up.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SQUIDWARD360* /forum/post/13713376
> 
> 
> I have watched here and there and have noticed it myself. I am receiving DD5.1 through my receiver but the same sound is coming from every speaker.



That seems to be a fancy way of saying "Mono encoded as DD5.1". Please correct me (someone, anyone) if I'm mistaken.


----------



## vidioteic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/13699736
> 
> 
> Too bad MASN can't take 100% advantage of it.



To be clear, at any venue, with few exceptions, the video production for the "Jumbotron" (or whatever they are using) is completely separate from the telecast. YES and NESN do HD production at their home ballparks that are still SD (or analog); ESPN does HD production at many venues where the the in- house is still SD. Likewise, just because a venue is HD for their in -house doesn't mean the telecasts are any easier, or have to be, HD.


However, most MLB broadcasters give camera feeds to the house. Some take camera from the house (robo cams, etc.)


Hope that clears things up.


----------



## mikemikeb

Meet the Press is scheduled to go HD sometime in 2009 , according to an NBC spokesperson. MTP films at WRC's Studio A (I'm pretty sure that local news is in Studio B).


I'd think that the WRC plant would be upgraded to HD in a manner where the local news would beat or match the date of MTP's HD launch. Assuming I'm right, that means the local WRC news should be in HD within, oh, the next two years.


I know you all don't want to wait like that for WRC-HD news. Well, I mean, we've now got an approximate date, right? Anybody like this development? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?


----------



## cpldc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13712957
> 
> 
> You have 3 stations to the SW of DC in VA: WNVC 56, WNVT-DT 30, WPXW Ion 66. Do you have a window or high point with a reasonably clear shot to the SW? If you want to try it, get the CM4220 as high up as possible and aim it towards the SW to see if the stations come in at all. What about analog 56 or 66? If you don't get the digital and analog stations, you may have local obstructions or terrain blocking the signals from that direction.
> 
> 
> Forgive me if you know this, but the bowties are on the front side of the antenna, the screen is a reflector screen. Some people mount the CM bowties backwards and don't realize it. I just want to be sure.



Unfortunately I am already at the highest usable indoors point in the house, a second-story window pointing directly south. The houses across the alley are slightly taller than mine; aiming directly SW does not improve reception as I believe they are obstructing any view I'd have of the transmitters from indoors. I can indeed get analog 56 and 66, which although snowy are not much different than the quality of the Baltimore analog UHF stations whose digital counterparts come in well.


I am going to try making a small stand for the CM4220 and/or mount it upside down from the top of the window frame. Right now it is just leaning with the bowties against the lower pane which has a metal screen outdoors. Holding the antenna up a few inches seemed to improve reception a bit on previous tests. I also have metal bars ~8 in. apart on all my windows, which I'm sure does not help.


My placement is extremely sensitive for the farther-off stations; even the position of the balun makes a difference between no signal and solid lock on some channels. I'm not sure if it's multipath or just weak signal, but I ordered a Winegard preamp that should arrive today to try to test the latter hypothesis. Ghosting isn't particularly bad on the analog channels. I definitely get very different results between each of the four ATSC tuners I have, and different results on each depending on wiring.


Thanks for the help.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Black Television News Channel to launch in HD in 2009. Comcast will carry in Baltimore and D.C.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/...k+news+channel


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cpldc* /forum/post/13717250
> 
> 
> Unfortunately I am already at the highest usable indoors point in the house, a second-story window pointing directly south. The houses across the alley are slightly taller than mine; aiming directly SW does not improve reception as I believe they are obstructing any view I'd have of the transmitters from indoors. I can indeed get analog 56 and 66, which although snowy are not much different than the quality of the Baltimore analog UHF stations whose digital counterparts come in well.
> 
> 
> I am going to try making a small stand for the CM4220 and/or mount it upside down from the top of the window frame. Right now it is just leaning with the bowties against the lower pane which has a metal screen outdoors. Holding the antenna up a few inches seemed to improve reception a bit on previous tests. I also have metal bars ~8 in. apart on all my windows, which I'm sure does not help.
> 
> 
> My placement is extremely sensitive for the farther-off stations; even the position of the balun makes a difference between no signal and solid lock on some channels. I'm not sure if it's multipath or just weak signal, but I ordered a Winegard preamp that should arrive today to try to test the latter hypothesis. Ghosting isn't particularly bad on the analog channels. I definitely get very different results between each of the four ATSC tuners I have, and different results on each depending on wiring.
> 
> 
> Thanks for the help.



What kind of cable between the antenna and the TV's?


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13712957
> 
> 
> Since there are no nearby analog channels that might interfere, the reception of WNVT-DT is not going to improve next year.



Not necessarily true. A 39/48 beat could produce interfering signals on 30, 57, or both, and these interfering signals would disappear when WJLA-DT moves to 7 and 39 goes dark.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cpldc* /forum/post/13717250
> 
> 
> Right now it is just leaning with the bowties against the lower pane which has a metal screen outdoors.



If you have not already done so, try moving the antenna backward and forward, away from the window up to 2 or 3 feet. With an indoor antenna, it's all about location, location, location, and it's very important to move the antenna through all three dimensions to find the best sweet spot. Also note that the optimal directional orientation for an indoor antenna can be counterintuitive due to reflections, standing waves, etc.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cpldc* /forum/post/13717250
> 
> 
> I can indeed get analog 56 and 66, which although snowy are not much different than the quality of the Baltimore analog UHF stations whose digital counterparts come in well.
> 
> 
> I am going to try making a small stand for the CM4220 and/or mount it upside down from the top of the window frame. Right now it is just leaning with the bowties against the lower pane which has a metal screen outdoors. Holding the antenna up a few inches seemed to improve reception a bit on previous tests. I also have metal bars ~8 in. apart on all my windows, which I'm sure does not help.
> 
> 
> My placement is extremely sensitive for the farther-off stations; even the position of the balun makes a difference between no signal and solid lock on some channels. I'm not sure if it's multipath or just weak signal...



The metal bars on the window do not help reception at all. Depending on the construction materials in the walls, you should try moving the CM4220 away from the window and place it at different locations facing a wall. The metal bars may be blocking the UHF signals from the SW. If you have a tripod or pole you can mount the antenna on, move it around the room and see if there is improvements. That your placement is so sensitive suggests you are getting multi-path & signal blockages. You should also tilt the CM 4220 aim upwards a bit.


If you can get a watchable picture for WNVC analog 56, you should be able to get WNVC-DT next year when they switch to a UHF 24 antenna at the same height as the current analog 56 antenna.


----------



## cpldc

Thanks for all the suggestions! I have played around with this antenna extensively in different positions and each have their strengths and weaknesses. I previously had it on a chair further indoors, which worked for most channels but was too weak for my downstairs TV to decode (I've since replaced its internal tuner with a Samsung 260 which is far better). At the window position I get all the DC channels, MPT-DT 42 and all the B-more stations except UPN. I have been having problems with 11 and 13's digitals as of late though. 11 did not come in through any other position other than at the window, and MPT is extremely finnicky to my Samsung 260 tuner but comes in very clearly on my Insignia tuner.


My Winegard HDP-269 pre-amp arrived yesterday and it has successfully offset the cable loss I was experiencing. I have a 25ft. RG-6 from the window to my upstairs TV and 50ft. RG-6 running downstairs. Without the preamp I got a noticeable difference hooking up the same tuner upstairs and downstairs, and the splitter killed all the Baltimore stations and MPT. Perhaps now I can move it further in as I had before since the cable loss is lower.


Surprisingly this morning I was getting FOX 29 analog--I did not have enough time to see where it was from on the newscast but I matched the logo with the Philadelphia station. Their digital is also channel 42, which perhaps is why I am having some trouble with MPT on one tuner but not the other. Again this is still pointing directly south so I am clearly getting it from a reflection somewhere.


Also surprising is that rabbit ears at the preamp near the window got me 11 and 13 analog from Baltimore. This may be good news as far as their VHF transitions are concerned. Actually, they both come in with just the 4220 but not very well but even DC 4, 5, 7 and 9 analog are nearly perfect with it.


This weekend I will try the CM4221 again away from the window. I did not test it much anywhere else than the back window, so there may be another place where it beats the 4220. I also have the possibility of mounting the 4220 at the same window but outside since I can attach a mast or other makeshift mounting bracket to the metal bars. My landlord can't say anything if I don't permanently modify anything.


Would this be worth a shot, or do the bars also negatively impact behind the reflector? If this is worthwhile, does anyone have ideas/suggestions on passing a coax cable through a window? The only idea I have is to put two layers of weatherstripping and make a small notch on the top layer to pass the coax, then shut the window on top of that.


This mounting would probably give me enough height to shoot SW for the Virginia stations past the two-story houses across the alley. IIRC the terrain slopes down in that direction past the Capitol and the Mall, which should help.


Thanks again for your help.


Addition: the balun placement is also making a tremendous difference. I'm using the included balun and found that a odd position running one wire under the two center wires to the right terminal and above the left wire to the left terminal works the best. Mounting it down the middle did not give as good results no matter how far or close I spaced the two wires.


----------



## stuttsdc

Hi. New here and have been searching this thread like crazy. Haven't quite found what I'm looking for. I'm hoping someone can pm me or at least just post a reply.


Just got my hdtv and am using the qam tuner at the moment. First scan picked up a bunch of stuff but I can't seem to find any of the local broadcast in HD.

*Using RCN in Montgomery County.*


Could someone _please_ link me to a listing of the clear-QAM stations... and at least the local stuff?


(sincerely apologies. I'm sure this has been asked many times. I just can't seem to find it in this thread.)


_never mind... found 'em._


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cpldc* /forum/post/13726201
> 
> 
> At the window position I get all the DC channels, MPT-DT 42 and all the B-more stations except UPN. I have been having problems with 11 and 13's digitals as of late though.
> 
> ...
> 
> Surprisingly this morning I was getting FOX 29 analog--I did not have enough time to see where it was from on the newscast but I matched the logo with the Philadelphia station.
> 
> ...
> 
> I also have the possibility of mounting the 4220 at the same window but outside since I can attach a mast or other makeshift mounting bracket to the metal bars.
> 
> ...
> 
> Would this be worth a shot, or do the bars also negatively impact behind the reflector? If this is worthwhile, does anyone have ideas/suggestions on passing a coax cable through a window?



WUTB-DT My 24 in Baltimore is still operating at a very low power of 530 Watts on their DT UHF 41 channel. Until WUTB-DT goes to 200 kW power, whenever that finally occurs, only those with a direct line of sight have much of a decent chance to get the digital signal.


The weather the past several days has been good for tropospheric ducting. You picked up a reflected signal for WTXF Fox 29 out of Philly. But the DT signal on UHF 42 at some 78 MHz off in frequency may have acted very differently


The metal bars on the window might act as part of the reflector, but with the large spacing, would be a reflector more for VHF than UHF. You could first attach to the window bars with plastic ties as an experiment (don't drop the antenna into the street!). But you may want to consider how to mount the antenna so that the CM 4220 reflector screen is electrically isolated from the window bars. Mount the antenna to a wooden pole which is tied to the window. But you would presumably lose the ability to aim the antenna by attaching it to the bars.


----------



## knnirs

This is probably only on P.G County Comcast Cable, but I now have zero signal from QAM Channels 124-1, 124-2, 124-4, 125-1, 125-2, 125-3, and 125-4. All of these signals have been very good for the past several months. These channels include WMAR-HD,WBALDT, WBALSD, WJZ-DT, MPT-DT, MPT-HD, and V-me. They have all been off for the past 3 hours, and all of the others are fine.

Anyone else note this problem.


----------



## Mike20878

Did anyone notice any problems with the broadcast of Desperate Housewives last week? My wife and I just got around to watching it on our DVR and the breakups were so bad we had to go watch online. We called a friend who reported no problems so I'm afraid it might be either the DVR or our signal. But why would it always manifest on ABC programming?


Thanks.


----------



## tripleM

Not sure if this has been posted:


The 10-part Carrier (10 hours) debuts tomorrow at 9 on Channels 22 and 26 PBS HD.

Life aboard the USS Nimitz shot in HD & shown in HD


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/13731671
> 
> 
> This is probably only on P.G County Comcast Cable, but I now have zero signal from QAM Channels 124-1, 124-2, 124-4, 125-1, 125-2, 125-3, and 125-4. All of these signals have been very good for the past several months. These channels include WMAR-HD,WBALDT, WBALSD, WJZ-DT, MPT-DT, MPT-HD, and V-me. They have all been off for the past 3 hours, and all of the others are fine.
> 
> Anyone else note this problem.



I'm in Bowie and I'm getting no signal for any of these channels from Comcast either.


Neil


----------



## stuttsdc

Montgomery Co., RCN. No signal either. Was getting the 125- stations just fine this morning, now they're gone (and hockey is on in a half hour, damn it.)


Is this sort of thing normal? Do the channels come back or will they show up elsewhere?


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *stuttsdc* /forum/post/13735221
> 
> 
> Montgomery Co., RCN. No signal either. Was getting the 125- stations just fine this morning, now they're gone (and hockey is on in a half hour, damn it.)
> 
> 
> Is this sort of thing normal? Do the channels come back or will they show up elsewhere?



I haven't tried to rescan to search for the channels, but the only other time some of these channels vanished on me was when they were mapped to their "normal" locations - i.e. 2-1, 11-1, 13-1, etc. Their previous 12x-x slots gave no signal at that time. Both slots have no signal at the moment.


Neil


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/13735514
> 
> 
> I haven't tried to rescan to search for the channels, but the only other time some of these channels vanished on me was when they were mapped to their "normal" locations - i.e. 2-1, 11-1, 13-1, etc. Their previous 12x-x slots gave no signal at that time. Both slots have no signal at the moment.
> 
> 
> Neil



124 and 125 are still dead, and on a complete rescan I don't find them anywhere. I did find a new signal, 133-11, which is Bloomberg news. The missing signals are all Baltimore and Annapolis.


----------



## URFloorMatt

 http://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/04/m...stations_i.php 


After 20 some years at WRC, The McLaughlin Group is switching affiliates and studios over to WUSA. I hesitate to ask given who's on the panel but... does this create a possibility for HD?


----------



## CycloneGT

I'd put money down that it would be in HD. The other WUSA productions have been in HD.


----------



## Skeptic Tank




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/13731671
> 
> 
> This is probably only on P.G County Comcast Cable, but I now have zero signal from QAM Channels 124-1, 124-2, 124-4, 125-1, 125-2, 125-3, and 125-4. All of these signals have been very good for the past several months. These channels include WMAR-HD,WBALDT, WBALSD, WJZ-DT, MPT-DT, MPT-HD, and V-me. They have all been off for the past 3 hours, and all of the others are fine.
> 
> Anyone else note this problem.



I'm having the exact same problem. As far as I can tell, they're not encrypted, they're just gone.


----------



## PGHammer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Skeptic Tank* /forum/post/13743446
> 
> 
> I'm having the exact same problem. As far as I can tell, they're not encrypted, they're just gone.




Actually, the Baltimore HD channels shouldn't even be there (remember, Comcast here in PG dropped Baltimore's analogs a few years back); however, the only one of Baltimore's channels I've completely lost are WBAL-TV/DT (normally at 11-1/11-2, between ESPN and ESPN2 on my QAM lineup). WMAR-DT is still present at 2-1 (WMAR-DT2 is still at 120-10) while WJZ-DT is still at 13-1. TNT-HD's Stretch-O-Vision is now gone (was at 127-5). No sign of any new HD channels in ClearQAM.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PGHammer* /forum/post/13743966
> 
> 
> Actually, the Baltimore HD channels shouldn't even be there (remember, Comcast here in PG dropped Baltimore's analogs a few years back).



They were moved to the digital lineup. But, MPT-1, and -2 are also gone and MPT has always been there.


I just went to http://www.comcast.com/Customers/clu/ChannelLineup.ashx 

and looked under All Channels and none of these channels, not even the MPT digitals are listed. I'll have to check one of my old listings, but I was sure they all used to be listed in the lineup before. There used to be slots for the Baltimore HD channels.


Neil


----------



## buckydc

Hi,

I wonder if any OTA viewing members are experiencing this problem. I have both the Insignia and Zenith dtv boxes. Both are displaying the WETA 26.1 epg information on the WHUT 32.1 epg as well. Not sure if this is a box problem, or a transmission problem. I'd be interested to see if any other folks with cecb's are noticing this as well.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *buckydc* /forum/post/13745461
> 
> 
> Hi,
> 
> I wonder if any OTA viewing members are experiencing this problem. I have both the Insignia and Zenith dtv boxes. Both are displaying the WETA 26.1 epg information on the WHUT 32.1 epg as well. Not sure if this is a box problem, or a transmission problem. I'd be interested to see if any other folks with cecb's are noticing this as well.



The epg data is provided by the station; nothing wrong with your dtv boxes. WHUT-DT showing guide data for WETA-DT has happened before when WHUT-DT first started showing guide data. I think WETA handles the digital transmission for WHUT-DT and is supposed to add the guide data for WHUT's programming, but they made a mistake and inserted the guide data for WETA-DT's schedule. Someone should contact WHUT and/or WETA and point out the problem. After all, it took weeks for WHUT to realize they were not sending out the correct channel 32 mapping after the digital signal went on the air last fall.


----------



## buckydc

_Someone should contact WHUT and/or WETA and point out the problem._


Thanks for the reply afiggatt. Just called WETA. What an adventure that was







Apparantly they don't have an engineering dept with a phone. After several attempts I gave up and sent them an email.


I'm new to the cecb world and am discovering lots of anamolies in the local dtv arena. E.g, WRC time code off by over an hour. WFDC timecode off by over 11 years!


----------



## vthokie820

Has anyone else noticed signal problems with WUSA in the last couple of weeks? I live in Arlington, so I should be point blank from the guns. The signal on mine dropped from smoking hot(no dropouts) to borderline constantly dropping out in the matter of a couple of weeks. I originally thought it was the leaves on the trees, but none of the other channels that reside on higher frequencies than WUSA are having problems. In fact, i haven't noticed problems on any other channel. Is anyone else having problems or it just me?


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *vthokie820* /forum/post/13750112
> 
> 
> Has anyone else noticed signal problems with WUSA in the last couple of weeks? I live in Arlington, so I should be point blank from the guns. The signal on mine dropped from smoking hot(no dropouts) to borderline constantly dropping out in the matter of a couple of weeks. I originally thought it was the leaves on the trees, but none of the other channels that reside on higher frequencies than WUSA are having problems. In fact, i haven't noticed problems on any other channel. Is anyone else having problems or it just me?




It could still be the foilage. I used to have problems when the leaves fell of the trees, but only for WRC. The other channels were fine. But once a storm knocked down a third of the tree, my signal problem went away. But again I only had problems with the one channel, nothing else was ever affected. And it happened every year when the leaves were around 80% gone, and once the leaves grew back, the signal was rock solid.


----------



## Skeptic Tank




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PGHammer* /forum/post/13743966
> 
> 
> WMAR-DT is still present at 2-1 (WMAR-DT2 is still at 120-10) while WJZ-DT is still at 13-1.



Is there any way you can tell me what the physical QAM channel numbers are for WJZ-DT and WMAR-DT? I can't find them on my Samsung SIR-T451. Are they higher than channel 125?


----------



## CycloneGT

My favorite TV infobabe has been spotted locally.












> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dcrtv* /forum/post/0
> 
> *Laurie Dhue Seen At 7 - 4/28 -* Seen at the Rosslyn HQ of Channel 7/WJLA today: Laurie Dhue, formerly an anchor at Fox News and other cable news nets. Possible new JLA anchor? You know, 7's never formally replaced evening anchor Kathleen Matthews, who left more than a year ago. Hmmm. Stay tuned.....


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Skeptic Tank* /forum/post/13752961
> 
> 
> Is there any way you can tell me what the physical QAM channel numbers are for WJZ-DT and WMAR-DT? I can't find them on my Samsung SIR-T451. Are they higher than channel 125?



You and I appear to have the same Comcast signals. On my connection, WMAR-DT and WJZ-DT were on sub-channels of 124. However those signal levels went to zero over the past weekend.Aat 10:00 am this morning I find that the RF signals are at full strength, but the only sub-channel not scrambled is 124-2, and it has E&E-HD at 720p at the present time. All of the sub-channelas of 125 are at full signal level also, but scrambled. Channel 128-1 is also showing A&E-HD as it has for the past few months.

I agree with Hammner that P.G. Comcast is not required to provide these QAM signals, but they have done so for some time. It is fun to try and keep up with the changes which Comcast will not comment about.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/13753706
> 
> 
> You and I appear to have the same Comcast signals. On my connection, WMAR-DT and WJZ-DT were on sub-channels of 124. However those signal levels went to zero over the past weekend. ...
> 
> I agree with Hammner that P.G. Comcast is not required to provide these QAM signals, but they have done so for some time. It is fun to try and keep up with the changes which Comcast will not comment about.



last night I couldn't find the old listing which I thought I had which had the Baltimore channels on it. I guess my memory saw something else. I think Comcast really should provide the MPT subchannels and maybe I'll write to (or call) MPT about that. The Baltimore channels would be nice to have especially when they are showing something different than the DC channels. At least I can get some of the Baltimore channels over the air okay.


Neil


----------



## nottenst

I just called MPT and they said they hadn't received any reports about it. Looking on the MPT and WETA websites it appears that with Comcast on their nominal box settings it really is MPT or WETA in the digital channels. MPT has Channel 220 – MPT Comcast (regular MPT HD), Channel 200 – MPTSL Comcast (MPT Select), and Channel 201 – V-ME Comcast. WETA has WETA HD - Channel 220, WETA Create - Channel 200, WETA Kids - Channel 201, and WETA World - Channel 202. Note that Verizon FIOS doesn't have this overlap (MPT is on 806, 880, and 881 while WETA is on 804, 874, 872, and 873).


Neil


----------



## mdviewer25

Is anyone else missing program guide info for WTTG-DT and WJZ-DT?


----------



## chrisherbert

I'm moving from Arlington to DC proper in a month, and since there's no Fios there, I'm probably going with Comcast. Do they have the new HD channels (Food, Animal Planet, etc)? Are they as heavily compressed as in Arlington?


Are there other good options?


----------



## azitnay

We do have Food Network HD, but no Animal Planet HD yet... You can pull up a full list on comcast.com.


Without FIOS, the only other options for HD are OTA or satellite (unless you're moving to the part of DC serviced by RCN, which I know very little about).


Drew


----------



## HDDAVID

I heard a radio commercial this morning from WBFF Fox 45. As part of the promo they mentioned their newscasts will be in HD very soon.


Anyone heard anything on this?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *HDDAVID* /forum/post/13757516
> 
> 
> I heard a radio commercial this morning from WBFF Fox 45. As part of the promo they mentioned their newscasts will be in HD very soon.
> 
> 
> Anyone heard anything on this?



Go back to post #5238 of this thread for Sinclair owned WBFF. It was indicated some weeks ago that both WBFF Fox 45 in Baltimore and Fox O&O WTTG 5 in DC would be upgrading their local news to HD during the May sweeps. If they are advertizing it on the radio, it must be occuring very soon for WBFF-DT.


----------



## Skeptic Tank




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/13753706
> 
> 
> Comcast is not required to provide these QAM signals, but they have done so for some time. It is fun to try and keep up with the changes which Comcast will not comment about.



As far as I can tell, 2,11,13,22,45, and 54 are now gone from Comcast's Clear QAM lineup

in PG.


I'm not happy about it even though I know they were not "required".


Does anyone know what Verizon's FIOS QAM looks like in PG?


----------



## markbulla

WBFF is now on the new digital master control as of this morning. We're still working on some issues, so sorry in advance for any problems that you notice (if any...), but the pictures, especially the news, look a lot better.


The news is not currently in HD, but this is a step in that direction.


Cheers -


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chrisherbert* /forum/post/13756755
> 
> 
> I'm moving from Arlington to DC proper in a month, and since there's no Fios there, I'm probably going with Comcast. Do they have the new HD channels (Food, Animal Planet, etc)? Are they as heavily compressed as in Arlington?
> 
> 
> Are there other good options?


 RCN , if they're available at your location. Cheaper than Comcast, and far better customer service. After they go digital-only sometime within the next year, their HD offerings will blow Comcast away.


----------



## CycloneGT

So was today's WBFF news in HD or not?



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dcrtv* /forum/post/0
> 
> *45 Launches HD Newscasts - 4/30 -* A DCRTVer tells us that Baltimore's Fox affiliate, Channel 45/WBFF, debuts its high-def newscasts today. DCRTV told you a while back that station owner Sinclair was planning to start HD local news broadcasts on Fox45 this spring. That would make WBFF the second TVer in the DC-Baltimore area to air news in HD. Joining DC's Channel 9/WUSA. DC's Channel 5/WTTG is expected to launch HD news in May..



I won't be home until after 9pm, so I can't check it out until then.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Skeptic Tank* /forum/post/13758774
> 
> 
> As far as I can tell, 2,11,13,22,45, and 54 are now gone from Comcast's Clear QAM lineup
> 
> in PG.
> 
> 
> I'm not happy about it even though I know they were not "required".
> 
> 
> Does anyone know what Verizon's FIOS QAM looks like in PG?



That would be the simplest thing Comcast could do to lose my business.


----------



## clifburns

Earlier this year I received a letter from Comcast, in response to an inquiry of mine, that indicated that Comcast planned to roll-out CNN-HD during the first quarter of 2008. When that didn't occur I followed up with Comcast and received this email from Patrick Carroll this afternoon, which indicated that CNN-HD isn't coming anytime soon to DC. Instead we get Mickey Mouse in Stretch-o-Vision.



> Quote:
> Mr. Burns:
> 
> 
> I just came from his office. The only new Hi-Def channels that are definite at this time are the Science Channel in HD (Channel 217), the Disney Channel in HD (Channel 244) and ABC Family in HD (Channel 245). These will debut on May 15th. Our Marketing Manager expects that there will be some others but nothing else is definite at this time. Please feel free to check back with me in June and I will hopefully have some updates.
> 
> 
> I did ask him about CNN-HD and he said that it isn't on the list at this time. That doesn't mean that we aren't getting it ever, it just isn't definite yet so it isn't on the list.
> 
> 
> I hope this helps.
> 
> 
> Patrick Carroll



Blech. More stretched upconverted simulcasts of SD channels. At least CNN-HD has HD origination out of its NYC studios and has started pushing HD cameras into the field for location reporting. Instead DC Comcast customers get Mickey Mouse stretched into the size of a rat.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *clifburns* /forum/post/13765254
> 
> 
> Earlier this year I received a letter from Comcast, in response to an inquiry of mine, that indicated that Comcast planned to roll-out CNN-HD during the first quarter of 2008. When that didn't occur I followed up with Comcast and received this email from Patrick Carroll this afternoon, which indicated that CNN-HD isn't coming anytime soon to DC. Instead we get Mickey Mouse in Stretch-o-Vision.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Blech. More stretched upconverted simulcasts of SD channels. At least CNN-HD has HD origination out of its NYC studios and has started pushing HD cameras into the field for location reporting. Instead DC Comcast customers get Mickey Mouse stretched into the size of a rat.



Disney doesn't stretch and has HD programs.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...7#post13610807


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13762864
> 
> 
> So was today's WBFF news in HD or not?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I won't be home until after 9pm, so I can't check it out until then.



No HD news yet, but WBFF does look better. The news ticker goes all the way across the screen.


----------



## clifburns




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/13765332
> 
> 
> Disney doesn't stretch and has HD programs.
> 
> http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...7#post13610807



That's good to know. But I still think the DC market would prefer to see news programs in HD as opposed to the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in HD (which was one of the programs that the link said was in HD).


----------



## euckersw

Just turned on the TV and noticed on a promo channel that Cox in Fairfax is due to receive 5 new HD channels on May 31st. The channels listed are:


USA HD

Bravo HD

Sci-Fi HD

CNBC HD

Lifetime HD


It states that brings the total to 39 HD channels for Cox in Fairfax with "...more coming soon!" being touted on the promo channel.


----------



## vidioteic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13762864
> 
> 
> So was today's WBFF news in HD or not?
> 
> 
> I won't be home until after 9pm, so I can't check it out until then.



10pm news, indeed the ticker goes all the way across the screen, but the video is in 4:3. (BTW, Mark, I'm missing the bottom line of the ticker on my set, so an L looks like an |).


The image looks better though. I know the engineers have been working hard. I'm not convinced the studio is HD (yet), but it is certainly being upconverted and fed out of an HD Master Control.


Nice work guys!


----------



## CycloneGT

I guess HD comes later on for Fox45 news. I saw the ticker on the widescreen.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *vidioteic* /forum/post/13767186
> 
> 
> 10pm news, indeed the ticker goes all the way across the screen, but the video is in 4:3. (BTW, Mark, I'm missing the bottom line of the ticker on my set, so an L looks like an |).



Mine, too. Overscan. On both TVs on multiple sources.


Looking forward to all HD!


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

Prince Georges County Comcast not only removed the Baltimore QAM digital channels from their system, but the Annapolis & Anne Arundel Comcast system removed many DC QAM digital channels yesterday (4, 7, 9, & 26). I still have 5, 20, and 50, but probably not for long. I miss having the option of watching WUSA's HD news. Not only that, I often watched several other DC locals on the QAM side since the SD version is so overly-compressed. This was one of the reasons that I initially chose Comcast over satellite, especially since the town that I live in is actually quite a bit closer to DC than it is to Baltimore. I'd rather watch DC locals. Most severe weather moves generally from West to East. I live directly East of DC. Baltimore weather rarely matches up with what I experience in my town. I don't expect to see FIOS install crews for years either. Maybe I need to look into a good D*/OTA hybrid solution.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Now WBFF is showing the news with graphics on the right side and bottom. The right side graphics are partially cut off. Video is in a 16X9 window but is still SD with black sidebars.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/13768710
> 
> 
> Prince Georges County Comcast not only removed the Baltimore QAM digital channels from their system, but the Annapolis & Anne Arundel Comcast system removed many DC QAM digital channels yesterday (4, 7, 9, & 26). I still have 5, 20, and 50, but probably not for long. I miss having the option of watching WUSA's HD news. Not only that, I often watched several other DC locals on the QAM side since the SD version is so overly-compressed. This was one of the reasons that I initially chose Comcast over satellite, especially since the town that I live in is actually quite a bit closer to DC than it is to Baltimore. I'd rather watch DC locals. Most severe weather moves generally from West to East. I live directly East of DC. Baltimore weather rarely matches up with what I experience in my town. I don't expect to see FIOS install crews for years either. Maybe I need to look into a good D*/OTA hybrid solution.



I am not surprised. I wouldn't be surprised if this is a company wide purge - removing dual locals from all areas. Living in Bowie, I liked getting the Baltimore channels as well as the DC ones. It is definitely time to call our franchise authority.


Neil


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/13769016
> 
> 
> I am not surprised. I wouldn't be surprised if this is a company wide purge - removing dual locals from all areas. Living in Bowie, I liked getting the Baltimore channels as well as the DC ones. It is definitely time to call our franchise authority.
> 
> 
> Neil



You should be able to put up some "rabbit ears" and get the channels from both markets OTA. AT my girlfriends house in Fort Washington, a small antenna easily picks up the Baltimore and DC stations OTA.

That was how I used to watch HD from ABC back in 2001/2002. I would record it from the BAltimore station onto a removeable hard drive every week and take it home every week to to watch it in HD at my condo.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/13768939
> 
> 
> Now WBFF is showing the news with graphics on the right side and bottom. The right side graphics are partially cut off. Video is in a 16X9 window but is still SD with black sidebars.



The bottom is much better than last nigth but still pushing the edge. The right side is cropped a bit.


Graphics for weather look very nice as does the picture in the middle.


Some very odd sports scores on the ticker. Seems like it is all minor league baseball.


Step by step.


----------



## CycloneGT

Well, for all you QAM users who are getting cut off by Comcast, there is alway the OTA solution to consider. Sure its a bit of effort, but at least you'd get your HD channels back on your flatscreens.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/13769040
> 
> 
> You should be able to put up some "rabbit ears" and get the channels from both markets OTA.



I was using rabbit ears before I found out about the QAM signal. Some of the stations come in quite nicely, but not all of them. ABC is the toughest over the air for both Baltimore and DC. In fact I am using rabbit ears for the tuner in my new PC. It is just infuriating to have something like this taken away from you.


Neil


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13769525
> 
> 
> Well, for all you QAM users who are getting cut off by Comcast, there is alway the OTA solution to consider. Sure its a bit of effort, but at least you'd get your HD channels back on your flatscreens.



It's not that I can't flip an A/B switch and switch to my rooftop antenna in my living room, but it was very convenient to have QAM locals from both DC and Baltimore interleaved with the Comcast analog lineup and quite a few unencrypted QAM channels. I only have one Comcast HD-DVR (digital tuner) in my house. The other rooms have televisions with QAM capable tuners. To go the antenna route in other rooms would require dual coax to be installed. I'm trying to keep it simple for the rest of my family members.


In addition, receiving either DC or Baltimore locals requires that I turn my antenna. The transmitters are at a 90 degree offset at my location. Plus, being close to the Chesapeake Bay increases my chances of ducting. Some of the analog and digital channels from nearby cities (Norfolk, Philly, NJ/NYC) share the same channels as the DC/Balt locals. It's not always easy to keep a rock solid signal from certain digital locals.


----------



## nottenst

I just emailed and called our franchise authority representative in Bowie. She said that the competing markets (Baltimore in DC areas and DC in Baltimore areas) were removed due to the different advertising rates in the areas. Something connected to the Nielsen ratings. I'm not exactly sure. She believes that the removal of the Annapolis stations was a mistake, though. She is going to forward my email over her contact at Comcast and we might get some answer.


She also told me that this coming Tuesday night they are going to have a forum about the digital transition at City Hall and there will be representatives from Comcast, Verizon and maybe even the FCC there. If you have any ideas of good questions for them, please pass them on and I'll try to ask them.


Neil


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

To be honest, I don't believe that it has anything to do with rates or ratings. Comcast is trying to making room for more HD content to attempt to compete. Since their system is at saturation, they either need to get rid of existing analog channels or juggle the current digital lineup. Taking away DC locals in Annapolis freed up 12 MHz of bandwidth. I wish Comcast would've removed a few of the useless analog shopping channels, but I'm sure it was just another business decision that wasn't all that well thought out. Like I said in my original post, Comcast is becoming less and less desirable versus satellite now. Comcast having both digital DMAs 'was' a huge plus in my book.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/13769973
> 
> 
> To be honest, I don't believe that it has anything to do with rates or ratings. Comcast is trying to making room for more HD content to attempt to compete. Since their system is at saturation, they either need to get rid of existing analog channels or juggle the current digital lineup.



What they say the reason is and what the real reason for their actions is can be completely different things.


Neil


----------



## cjs2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *euckersw* /forum/post/13766462
> 
> 
> Just turned on the TV and noticed on a promo channel that Cox in Fairfax is due to receive 5 new HD channels on May 31st. The channels listed are:
> 
> 
> USA HD
> 
> Bravo HD
> 
> Sci-Fi HD
> 
> CNBC HD
> 
> Lifetime HD
> 
> 
> It states that brings the total to 39 HD channels for Cox in Fairfax with "...more coming soon!" being touted on the promo channel.



I saw that as well. I'm looking forward to Sci-Fi HD.


----------



## raidbuck




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/13769651
> 
> 
> I was using rabbit ears before I found out about the QAM signal. Some of the stations come in quite nicely, but not all of them. ABC is the toughest over the air for both Baltimore and DC. In fact I am using rabbit ears for the tuner in my new PC. It is just infuriating to have something like this taken away from you.
> 
> 
> Neil



I don't understand. You must not have the digital signal to want the local HD channels from the QAM signal. So Comcast should just keep giving the digitial HD signal to you for the cost of basic analog? Is that a good business model? Am I missing something here?


Rich N.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *raidbuck* /forum/post/13771282
> 
> 
> I don't understand. You must not have the digital signal to want the local HD channels from the QAM signal. So Comcast should just keep giving the digitial HD signal to you for the cost of basic analog? Is that a good business model? Am I missing something here?
> 
> 
> Rich N.



No matter what plan I have - starting Friday, Comcast stopped supplying the digital Baltimore and Annapolis channels in PG County. I don't think they were ever listed on their official channel lineup of things you can get through their box, but were available on the QAM signal.


Neil


----------



## dneily




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Skeptic Tank* /forum/post/13758774
> 
> 
> Does anyone know what Verizon's FIOS QAM looks like in PG?



The only FIOS QAM channel that I've watched recently is WJZ. I watched the Orioles opening day game. It looked great.


[Unfortunately, subsequent MASN-HD games on WJZ have not been in HD.]


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/13769869
> 
> 
> ... receiving either DC or Baltimore locals requires that I turn my antenna. The transmitters are at a 90 degree offset at my location. Plus, being close to the Chesapeake Bay increases my chances of ducting. Some of the analog and digital channels from nearby cities (Norfolk, Philly, NJ/NYC) share the same channels as the DC/Balt locals. It's not always easy to keep a rock solid signal from certain digital locals.



I stacked 2 CM 4224s, one facing Baltimore, one to DC, combined them with a splitter, then fed into a preamp. Works great for all Baltimore & DC channels... even 20. Your angle is probably just a little less than 90 but that arrangement would probably still work well. We do all of our TiVO HD recording OTA, so no need to mess with cable cards and no QAM worries.

I agree, CC's explanation doesn't hold up. Baltimore & DC HD are still both available on AA & Howard FiOS and not just QAM... they're mapped to channels on the STB.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmsjr* /forum/post/13775348
> 
> 
> I stacked 2 CM 4224s, one facing Baltimore, one to DC, combined them with a splitter, then fed into a preamp. Works great for all Baltimore & DC channels... even 20. Your angle is probably just a little less than 90 but that arrangement would probably still work well. We do all of our TiVO HD recording OTA, so no need to mess with cable cards and no QAM worries.
> 
> I agree, CC's explanation doesn't hold up. Baltimore & DC HD are still both available on AA & Howard FiOS and not just QAM... they're mapped to channels on the STB.



Up until a couple of years ago, I had a CM 4228 that I could point between DC and Baltimore and receive most channels out of both cities fairly well. I changed back to a VHF/UHF yagi when I found out that VHF-HI would still be a factor around here after 2/09. I also use my current system for two FM receivers in my home. The 4228 wasn't very good for FM reception. It seemed like it started to come to life at about 200 MHz or so.


In addition, Comcast's explanation doesn't hold up because they still provide carriage of most of the DC locals (Ch. 4, 5, 7, 9, 26) via 12:1 compression ADS and via analog. The last I heard, ratings and rates are still not being based upon DTV.


----------



## Skeptic Tank




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/13769878
> 
> 
> I just emailed and called our franchise authority representative in Bowie. She said that the competing markets (Baltimore in DC areas and DC in Baltimore areas) were removed due to the different advertising rates in the areas. Something connected to the Nielsen ratings. Neil



Nielson isn't paying my cable bill. They are a 4th party to the transaction between Comcast and the folks who are paying Comcast to provide, at a minimum, the signals from the tv stations broadcasting in this area.


The peculiarities of the pricing schemes of a company that services other companies who wish to make money selling our attention are not a valid reason for Comcast to reduce the level of the service it sells to its paying customers in P.G. County.


----------



## DRal

Did anyone see what happened on NBC HD last night...at 8:30 Scrubs was suppose to start, well the first two minutes where ER, and not the beginning of ER but rather 30 minutes into ER. However on NBC non HD they were running Scrubs...wonder if anyone will be fired for this.


----------



## Skeptic Tank




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dneily* /forum/post/13771680
> 
> 
> The only FIOS QAM channel that I've watched recently is WJZ. I watched the Orioles opening day game. It looked great.
> 
> 
> [Unfortunately, subsequent MASN-HD games on WJZ have not been in HD.]



Glad to hear the quality's good, but right now, I'm interested in quantity. Does Verizon provide all the Baltimore and D.C. local high def broadcast stations to P.G. via clear QAM?


----------



## cpldc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13729841
> 
> 
> WUTB-DT My 24 in Baltimore is still operating at a very low power of 530 Watts on their DT UHF 41 channel. Until WUTB-DT goes to 200 kW power, whenever that finally occurs, only those with a direct line of sight have much of a decent chance to get the digital signal.
> 
> 
> The weather the past several days has been good for tropospheric ducting. You picked up a reflected signal for WTXF Fox 29 out of Philly. But the DT signal on UHF 42 at some 78 MHz off in frequency may have acted very differently
> 
> 
> The metal bars on the window might act as part of the reflector, but with the large spacing, would be a reflector more for VHF than UHF. You could first attach to the window bars with plastic ties as an experiment (don't drop the antenna into the street!). But you may want to consider how to mount the antenna so that the CM 4220 reflector screen is electrically isolated from the window bars. Mount the antenna to a wooden pole which is tied to the window. But you would presumably lose the ability to aim the antenna by attaching it to the bars.



I am going to set this up sometime soon when my dad can come out and help me since I have no tools, ladder, etc. In the meantime, to my surprise the CM7777 I bought on a whim did not overload and is instead working perfectly from the antenna's current window location. As I had noted before I first bought the Winegard HDP-269 high-input preamp for overload reasons since I'm quite close to the DC towers but I still could not get WMPT on my tuner downstairs unless I removed the splitter, and even then it was intermittent. I'm happy to report that I can get it solidly now with the splitter in place. I even got DT 57 last night, though it was gone this morning.


Heck, I was able to get WMAR and WBFF digital using just a loop at the same window location when piped through the preamp. My experience seems to contradict some of what I've read about preamps. So, if anyone reading this is in a similar situation but is afraid of overloading it's still worth a shot.


I think I'm done messing with TV for a while. Thanks, everyone, for the help. I'm going to "stimulate the economy" by buying a shortwave radio and building an antenna for that instead.


----------



## CycloneGT

Seems like I've quoted three articles from www.dcrtv.com this week.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dcrtv* /forum/post/0
> 
> *NC8 To HD, Politico TV On Track - 5/2 -* A tipster tells DCRTV: NewsChannel 8 is getting a new state-of-the-art news set and studio and will go high-def by late summer (presumably with sister WJLA). They are moving the "studio" out of its current space to the second floor of the Rosslyn facility to make more room for Politico TV. This should help squash some rumors about the possible demise or scaling back of the political rag/website's TV efforts. Allbritton's "WJLA/ NC8/Politico is by no means getting smaller. If anything, they are expanding"....



So it looks the wheels for WJLA's HDTV News are in motion. Of course we have known this for a while, but this the first time I have seen it externally referenced, and of course a time line put out there. Still wish I could see News Channel 8 on a digital sub channel. Seems like the perfect application for a subchannel.


----------



## Roberto Carlo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *euckersw* /forum/post/13766462
> 
> 
> Just turned on the TV and noticed on a promo channel that Cox in Fairfax is due to receive 5 new HD channels on May 31st. The channels listed are:
> 
> 
> USA HD
> 
> Bravo HD
> 
> Sci-Fi HD
> 
> CNBC HD
> 
> Lifetime HD
> 
> 
> It states that brings the total to 39 HD channels for Cox in Fairfax with "...more coming soon!" being touted on the promo channel.



I also noticed that. A few hours later, I got a call from Cox offering me a year of Showtime for free if I promised to not change my services or drop Cox. Since I had no intention of doing either, I said sure. The addition of these channels -- especially Sci-Fi -- made my decision easier.


The only channels I wish they would add are the HD-Net ones but I'm not holding my breath.


----------



## URFloorMatt

So, by the fall, pretty much all national news programming and all D.C. local news programming not originating out of WRC-TV will be HD?


Oh, how the mighty have fallen.


----------



## bucnasty




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/13783731
> 
> 
> So, by the fall, pretty much all national news programming and all D.C. local news programming not originating out of WRC-TV will be HD?
> 
> 
> Oh, how the mighty have fallen.



is cbs news going hi def? katie couric looks like they stole the cameras from the jimmy kimmel live set...


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bucnasty* /forum/post/13786140
> 
> 
> is cbs news going hi def? katie couric looks like they stole the cameras from the jimmy kimmel live set...



Yes, CBS evening news is going HD sometime in June or shortly thereafter. ABC nightly news along with Nightline and other ABC news programs are going HD the week of September 8. See http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1020033 .


The way it is looking, WRC-DT NBC 4 may the last of the big four net stations in both Baltimore & DC to go HD for local news. While WUSA 9 is still the only local HD news station, if all the reports are correct, we may have 7 out of the 8 between the 2 cities before the end of this year. By then, HD viewers may have to tune to WRC 4 to remember what SD studio shots look like.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/13742179
> 
> http://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/04/m...stations_i.php
> 
> 
> After 20 some years at WRC, The McLaughlin Group is switching affiliates and studios over to WUSA. I hesitate to ask given who's on the panel but... does this create a possibility for HD?



Not HD. But very sharp SD thanks to the HD cameras.


----------



## Trip in VA

Yes! I saw the McLaughlin Group last night on my local PBS station and was blown away by how clear and sharp it looked. I figured it was the result of new equipment and WUSA, but I had no idea just how much of an impact it would have.


I'm not entirely sure I want to see those people in HD anyway. Widescreen SD though... that I could handle, if it was offered. =)


- Trip


----------



## zebras23




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/13789666
> 
> 
> Yes! I saw the McLaughlin Group last night on my local PBS station and was blown away by how clear and sharp it looked. I figured it was the result of new equipment and WUSA, but I had no idea just how much of an impact it would have.
> 
> 
> I'm not entirely sure I want to see those people in HD anyway. Widescreen SD though... that I could handle, if it was offered. =)
> 
> 
> - Trip



This is one of the few shows that could truly blow you away w/ 5.1 - McLaughlin on the center chanel, with a guest on each of the R/L and Rear R/L - I think it would make the show that much more intense.


----------



## bogdanmi




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/13734858
> 
> 
> I'm in Bowie and I'm getting no signal for any of these channels from Comcast either.
> 
> 
> Neil



I'm so ticked off by this. Here in AA county (Crofton), I've lost all widescreen locals (Balt and DC!) except for MPT and WTTG Fox 5.


No STB, just using Clear QAM from Comcrap and my TV's tuner. I thought they were required to pass local signals on to the customer?


Definitely switching to Verizon FIOS, this is complete BS.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bogdanmi* /forum/post/13792183
> 
> 
> I'm so ticked off by this. Here in AA county (Crofton), I've lost all widescreen locals (Balt and DC!) except for MPT and WTTG Fox 5.
> 
> 
> No STB, just using Clear QAM from Comcrap and my TV's tuner. I thought they were required to pass local signals on to the customer?
> 
> 
> Definitely switching to Verizon FIOS, this is complete BS.



Between this issue and the rapidly declining HD quality, I've made the same decision. My household has had Comcast cable since they moved into the area to take over Jones Communications sometime back in the 90s, if I remember correctly. And we'd had Jones (or whoever else came before them) for as long as I can remember.


It's been a fun ride, but Comcast has finally taken away the last barriers between themselves and their competition (in my mind). It's FIOS time. Maybe next time, Comcast won't try and trade their high-paying premium video customers for a whole slew of discount-rate "Triple Play" customers -- especially when it appears that the competition is capable of providing both.


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/13771394
> 
> 
> No matter what plan I have - starting Friday, Comcast stopped supplying the digital Baltimore and Annapolis channels in PG County. I don't think they were ever listed on their official channel lineup of things you can get through their box, but were available on the QAM signal.
> 
> 
> Neil



I understand you will be attending the meeting with Comcast and the Cable Commissioners on Tuesday.

I would like to know if Comcast will continue to provide a connection via Basic Cable to the D.C , Baltimore, and Annapolis channels after February of next year.

I was not able to obtain an answer to this question a year ago from the Cable Commission.


----------



## dneily




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Skeptic Tank* /forum/post/13777548
> 
> 
> Glad to hear the quality's good, but right now, I'm interested in quantity. Does Verizon provide all the Baltimore and D.C. local high def broadcast stations to P.G. via clear QAM?



I checked twice this weekend, and it appears that I've lost QAM on FIOS for most of the Baltimore HD stations. WJZ, WBAL, WMAR, and WMPT were absent. I still have WBFF-HD though.


In addition to WBFF, I get the following HD channels through FIOS QAM:


WUSA, WRC, WETA, WJLA, WB50, WTTG, WB54, A&E-HD


I also get the WUSA and WJLA doppler radar subchannels, if anyone cares (I sure don't).


----------



## Skeptic Tank




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dneily* /forum/post/13794030
> 
> 
> I checked twice this weekend, and it appears that I've lost QAM on FIOS for most of the Baltimore HD stations. WJZ, WBAL, WMAR, and WMPT were absent. I still have WBFF-HD though.



Oh, well. Market forces don't help much when a duopoly controls the market. Comcast heeded the wishes of bean counters in another company over the needs of their paying customers. Verizon promised competition and delivered collusion.


If anybody with any influence needs an example of why these monopolistic gatekeepers shouldn't be allowed to kill network neutrality, this is it.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/13793715
> 
> 
> I understand you will be attending the meeting with Comcast and the Cable Commissioners on Tuesday.
> 
> I would like to know if Comcast will continue to provide a connection via Basic Cable to the D.C , Baltimore, and Annapolis channels after February of next year.
> 
> I was not able to obtain an answer to this question a year ago from the Cable Commission.



That's one of my prime questions. If I get the opportunity, I will be asking about that.


Neil


----------



## nottenst

If I can I'll be asking Comcast tomorrow evening about the three different TV situations I have and what they will be able to receive in 2009 and in the years following.


1. A cable-ready analog TV with a straight cable connection into the back.

2. An analog TV with a digital starter kit cable box connected to it.

3. An HDTV with ATSC and QAM tuners with a cable connection into the back.


At the moment I have no clear picture of just channels I'll be getting from Comcast on these 3 TVs in Feb 2009. I hope they'll be able to give solid answers.


Neil


----------



## cjs2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Roberto Carlo* /forum/post/13782834
> 
> 
> I also noticed that. A few hours later, I got a call from Cox offering me a year of Showtime for free if I promised to not change my services or drop Cox. Since I had no intention of doing either, I said sure. The addition of these channels -- especially Sci-Fi -- made my decision easier.
> 
> 
> The only channels I wish they would add are the HD-Net ones but I'm not holding my breath.



I noticed "Cox Communications" on my caller ID the other day (I wasn't home when they called), but they left no voicemail. I wonder if I missed out on the Showtime offer....


----------



## bucnasty

anyone want to speculate on why the new channels are listed with a gap between USA-hd and CSN-hd on cox fairfax?


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/13798270
> 
> 
> If I can I'll be asking Comcast tomorrow evening about the three different TV situations I have and what they will be able to receive in 2009 and in the years following.
> 
> 
> 1. A cable-ready analog TV with a straight cable connection into the back.
> 
> 2. An analog TV with a digital starter kit cable box connected to it.
> 
> 3. An HDTV with ATSC and QAM tuners with a cable connection into the back.
> 
> 
> At the moment I have no clear picture of just channels I'll be getting from Comcast on these 3 TVs in Feb 2009. I hope they'll be able to give solid answers.
> 
> 
> Neil



What they promise and deliver could be two totally different things. My feeling is the following:


1. You'll still have a few viewable chs (locals) - but not for long

2. All chs available

3. The clear QAM lineup would be about the same as today


----------



## Inverno

I noticed that the Orioles HD games are mostly on channel 226, the Mojo channel. A few weeks ago I tried watching and it says I'm not authorized so I contacted Comcast and they said they pulled that channel off the lineup. Does anyone know if this is true?


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Inverno* /forum/post/13803910
> 
> 
> I noticed that the Orioles HD games are mostly on channel 226, the Mojo channel. A few weeks ago I tried watching and it says I'm not authorized so I contacted Comcast and they said they pulled that channel off the lineup. Does anyone know if this is true?



If you're in the Baltimore market, perhaps the game was on WJZ as well, which would have blacked out MASN HD on Mojo HD.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/13804233
> 
> 
> If you're in the Baltimore market, perhaps the game was on WJZ as well, which would have blacked out MASN HD on Mojo HD.



Games on Mojo are not blacked out when they are on WJZ.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Inverno* /forum/post/13803910
> 
> 
> I noticed that the Orioles HD games are mostly on channel 226, the Mojo channel. A few weeks ago I tried watching and it says I'm not authorized so I contacted Comcast and they said they pulled that channel off the lineup. Does anyone know if this is true?



What system (location) and was this for all Mojo programming or just the Orioles game.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/13803787
> 
> 
> What they promise and deliver could be two totally different things.



Normally I would say that this is the case. This meeting though is with the franchise authority as well. There is a legal relationship in place. They have been able to act when Comcast has not delivered on their promise in the past. One good question to bring up may be what can be done if Comcast does lower their level of service below what they have promised. Can the franchise authority or the FCC do something?


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/13803787
> 
> 
> My feeling is the following:
> 
> 
> 1. You'll still have a few viewable chs (locals) - but not for long
> 
> 2. All chs available
> 
> 3. The clear QAM lineup would be about the same as today



That might be close. It will be interesting to hear what they say.


Neil


----------



## carltonrice

*7 To Go HD By End Of Summer - 5/6* - DCRTV hears that Channel 7/WJLA will go to high-def newscasts by the end of summer. New studio cameras and a new switcher are down to final bids from major equipment vendors. Field cameras are already HD-ready, and graphics are ready to go. Promotions has been shooting in HD for months. Allbritton sister NewsChannel 8 will also be in HD, but nobody will see it since the deal with local cable providers Comcast and Cox has no provisions for HD, and they have not asked for it, so NC8 will be "down converted" to standard-def. We're told that it's easier for the whole 7/NC8 facility to be HD and down convert NC8 to SD than to have WJLA in HD and NC8 in SD. Also, we also hear that NC8's will have new studio space in the former SunTrust bank space on Wilson Boulevard, just down the street from WJLA's Rosslyn HQ.....


----------



## CycloneGT

hehe, I was just about to post that.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/13810476
> 
> *7 To Go HD By End Of Summer - 5/6* - DCRTV hears that Channel 7/WJLA will go to high-def newscasts by the end of summer.



So how many HD predictions for local stations by DCRTV that have yet to come true does this make? The site said last week that WBFF-DT Fox 45 was going HD for locals that day. Oops. I know many of the DC and Baltimore stations are working towards upgrading their local news to HD, but DCRTV's track record on when has been shaky.


----------



## bucnasty

i hope if they're taking over that space that the studio backdrop is wilson blvd...


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13810917
> 
> 
> So how many HD predictions for local stations by DCRTV that have yet to come true does this make? The site said last week that WBFF-DT Fox 45 was going HD for locals that day. Oops. I know many of the DC and Baltimore stations are working towards upgrading their local news to HD, but DCRTV's track record on when has been shaky.



They got some bad info. What we did on on May 1 is put WBFF through our new master control.


As I mentioned last week, that's a step toward HD news, but the change to the new studio isn't for a couple of weeks (fingers crossed).


Cheers -


----------



## Marcus Carr

Now I can stop recording the news every day (for the next two weeks).


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/13803787
> 
> 
> What they promise and deliver could be two totally different things. My feeling is the following:
> 
> 
> 1. You'll still have a few viewable chs (locals) - but not for long
> 
> 2. All chs available
> 
> 3. The clear QAM lineup would be about the same as today



At the meeting last night that is basically what Comcast said.


If you have an analog TV connected to cable, at some time (schedule not decided yet) you will only be able to get the B1 services - the basic level of local networks and community stations. The other channels that are on expanded service will be going digital only in the future. They said they have a commitment to continue converting locals to analog for 2 years past Feb 2009 if you do not have a box.


If you have a box, you will continue to get all the channels you currently get.


As far as QAM - when I asked about why Annapolis and Baltimore channels went away a week ago Friday, the representative said that people had been able to get those "through the back door" until then. They are no longer feeding the signals as they wanted to free up the bandwidth. This was the case in both PG and Anne Arundel counties. When I asked about the clear QAM of local channels, she had no idea how long they would remain clear.


Neil


----------



## RevPimp

Yesterday afternoon at around 2:30, I noticed that Comcast in Loudoun had added ScienceHD, DisneyHD, and FamilyHD to the lineup but they all showed up as not authorized when I tried to watch. They were gone by 4, so I guess it was just a test and they'll be added sometime in the (hopefully) near future.


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p

hopefully Manassas will follow Loudoun, will check when I get home


----------



## Skeptic Tank




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/13812352
> 
> 
> At the meeting last night that is basically what Comcast said.
> 
> 
> ...
> 
> 
> As far as QAM - when I asked about why Annapolis and Baltimore channels went away a week ago Friday, the representative said that people had been able to get those "through the back door" until then. They are no longer feeding the signals as they wanted to free up the bandwidth. This was the case in both PG and Anne Arundel counties.
> 
> 
> Neil



Strange that Verizon Fios needed to free up the same amount of bandwidth on their network at the same time by removing the same channels.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/13810476
> 
> *7 To Go HD By End Of Summer - 5/6* - DCRTV hears that Channel 7/WJLA will go to high-def newscasts by the end of summer. New studio cameras and a new switcher are down to final bids from major equipment vendors. Field cameras are already HD-ready, and graphics are ready to go. Promotions has been shooting in HD for months. Allbritton sister NewsChannel 8 will also be in HD, but nobody will see it since the deal with local cable providers Comcast and Cox has no provisions for HD, and they have not asked for it, so NC8 will be "down converted" to standard-def. We're told that it's easier for the whole 7/NC8 facility to be HD and down convert NC8 to SD than to have WJLA in HD and NC8 in SD. Also, we also hear that NC8's will have new studio space in the former SunTrust bank space on Wilson Boulevard, just down the street from WJLA's Rosslyn HQ.....



Do many people actually watch NewsChannel 8? On RCN, it's buried out there on channel 48, so I don't typically hit it when I'm flipping through. And as someone mentioned above, it's hard to believe that they haven't added it on a subchannel of WJLA-DT. I wonder if it has anything to do with the intricacies of cable carriage.


----------



## CycloneGT

I've been with Dish since I moved back to the DC area in 2000, so its been a very long time since NewChannel8 was in my home lineup (1996). I would love to have it as a 7.x sub-channel. I've suggested this before, but Robert is quick to point out that it would never happen since the cable companies pony up $$$ for the channel.


----------



## haudidoody

Hmm, firmware update for my box here in Alexandria. I hope it comes with some sort of new features.


----------



## cjs2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cjs2000* /forum/post/13799856
> 
> 
> I noticed "Cox Communications" on my caller ID the other day (I wasn't home when they called), but they left no voicemail. I wonder if I missed out on the Showtime offer....



Cox called again, and this time I was home. I now have a free year of Showtime and The Movie Channel. But I cannot reduce my level of service for one year, otherwise I get back charged for the free Showtime.


----------



## newHDfan

I couldn't get Cox Cable (in Fairfax, VA) HD signal for WETA through my MyHD QAM tuner in the past few days. Signals for other channels (e.g., CBS) are also sporadic. I rescanned several times, but to no avail.


I used to be able to get WETA through my My HD QAM tuner card.


Could any Cox Cable user in the Fairfax area check his QAM tuner to see whether he ca get WETA? Thanks!


----------



## Berto1020




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RevPimp* /forum/post/13812693
> 
> 
> Yesterday afternoon at around 2:30, I noticed that Comcast in Loudoun had added ScienceHD, DisneyHD, and FamilyHD to the lineup but they all showed up as not authorized when I tried to watch. They were gone by 4, so I guess it was just a test and they'll be added sometime in the (hopefully) near future.



I went to http://tv.msn.com/tv/guide to check the TV listings and when I enter the zip code for my town, Montclair (22025), the channel listings include 4 new HD channels: Science Channel HD (217), AMC HD (218), Disney Channel HD (244) and ABC Family HD (245). But at this moment, they're not listed on the Comcast guide on my set-top box. Can anyone confirm that these 4 channels will be added soon?


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Misc questions:

1. Any predictions on what day this month Fox-5 goes HD with their news?

2. Will WJLA be able to show Oprah in HD come Sept.?

3. Ditto for WRC and Ellen (insert sarcasm here if you like).


----------



## tvguy5

one more Misc. Question


1 does anyone have a date when WBFF's newscast will be in HD?


----------



## CycloneGT

Best Guess replies.


1. I say the last Monday of May for Fox5 HD news.

2. Since WJLA has Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy in HD, I would say that YES, they will very likely be able to show Oprah in HD when that happens.

3. WRC and Ellen??? No idea. WRC is hard to read. It took them forever to even go DD5.1, and they have shown the lease amount of HD effort in the DC area. If it wasn't for Weather Plus, I would think that WRC was completely oblivious to the digital transition.


The HD efforts of other DC stations.


WTTG - Has HD news in the works

WUSA - Has HD News and their local studio stuff is in HD, plug Doppler Radar on subch.

WJLA- Has HD news in the works. Customer Weather channel, and Local Point TV.

WDCA - Shows Syndication HD shows (Raymond) and sports in HD.

WDCW - Shows Syndication HD shows (2 1/2 men), sports (Caps & Wiz) in HD.


WRC - Just NBC stuff in HD, Weather+ (Which seems to be mostly NBC national stuff) wtih some local customization (ie graphics)


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tvguy5* /forum/post/13824127
> 
> 
> one more Misc. Question
> 
> 
> 1 does anyone have a date when WBFF's newscast will be in HD?



Hehe,


Mark (engineer at WBFF) just posted this yesterday.



> Quote:
> They got some bad info. What we did on on May 1 is put WBFF through our new master control.
> 
> 
> As I mentioned last week, that's a step toward HD news, but the change to the new studio isn't for a couple of weeks (fingers crossed).



So the date is "a couple of weeks".


----------



## tvguy5

iam just glad there finally getting rid of that set its very old looking


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13824403
> 
> 
> Best Guess replies.
> 
> 
> 1. I say the last Monday of May for Fox5 HD news.
> 
> 2. Since WJLA has Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy in HD, I would say that YES, they will very likely be able to show Oprah in HD when that happens.
> 
> 3. WRC and Ellen??? No idea. WRC is hard to read. It took them forever to even go DD5.1, and they have shown the lease amount of HD effort in the DC area. If it wasn't for Weather Plus, I would think that WRC was completely oblivious to the digital transition.
> 
> 
> The HD efforts of other DC stations.
> 
> 
> WTTG - Has HD news in the works
> 
> WUSA - Has HD News and their local studio stuff is in HD, plug Doppler Radar on subch.
> 
> WJLA- Has HD news in the works. Customer Weather channel, and Local Point TV.
> 
> WDCA - Shows Syndication HD shows (Raymond) and sports in HD.
> 
> WDCW - Shows Syndication HD shows (2 1/2 men), sports (Caps & Wiz) in HD.
> 
> 
> WRC - Just NBC stuff in HD, Weather+ (Which seems to be mostly NBC national stuff) wtih some local customization (ie graphics)



You can add Nationals baseball and ACC basketball in HD to the list for WDCA.


----------



## CycloneGT

I just summed them up as Sports.


----------



## CuseHokie




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Berto1020* /forum/post/13823176
> 
> 
> I went to http://tv.msn.com/tv/guide to check the TV listings and when I enter the zip code for my town, Montclair (22025), the channel listings include 4 new HD channels: Science Channel HD (217), AMC HD (218), Disney Channel HD (244) and ABC Family HD (245). But at this moment, they're not listed on the Comcast guide on my set-top box. Can anyone confirm that these 4 channels will be added soon?



Hi, I see the same numerical slots with the show/guide information, but get "not authorized" when tuned to them.


I'd imagine in the next few days we'll get the signal.


I'm in Sterling/Loudoun.


Thanks


----------



## SQUIDWARD360




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CuseHokie* /forum/post/13825711
> 
> 
> Hi, I see the same numerical slots with the show/guide information, but get "not authorized" when tuned to them.
> 
> 
> I'd imagine in the next few days we'll get the signal.
> 
> 
> I'm in Sterling/Loudoun.
> 
> 
> Thanks



I have them available in Loudoun now and they work. Although while watching Three Sheets on Mojo the picture seems worse (or maybe it's just me). But I do see the pixilation.


----------



## cpldc

A bit of wishful thinking: is there a financial or logistic reason why WJLA couldn't put their NewsChannel 8 on a sub-channel? Not that I've heard this being suggested, but it'd be a nice addition.


I've tried to keep an open mind about Local Point TV, but to date have yet to watch it for more than 5 seconds at a time.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cpldc* /forum/post/13829107
> 
> 
> A bit of wishful thinking: is there a financial or logistic reason why WJLA couldn't put their NewsChannel 8 on a sub-channel? Not that I've heard this being suggested, but it'd be a nice addition.
> 
> 
> I've tried to keep an open mind about Local Point TV, but to date have yet to watch it for more than 5 seconds at a time.



Contractual reasons with Comcast and Cox


----------



## yekim54




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *newHDfan* /forum/post/13822516
> 
> 
> I couldn't get Cox Cable (in Fairfax, VA) HD signal for WETA through my MyHD QAM tuner in the past few days. Signals for other channels (e.g., CBS) are also sporadic. I rescanned several times, but to no avail.
> 
> 
> I used to be able to get WETA through my My HD QAM tuner card.
> 
> 
> Could any Cox Cable user in the Fairfax area check his QAM tuner to see whether he ca get WETA? Thanks!



I just checked a minute ago, and I am getting WETA 26.1 through 26.4 via Cox QAM. I lost them a few weeks ago and was able to get them back by doing a re-scan.


----------



## maestro73

Hey...anyone in Alex./Arl experiencing issues with CNN-HD? I get a blank screen. Also, TBS and MHD are stuttering and breaking up. I tried restarting the box and reseating cables but that did nothing.


This always seems to happen to me, just on these three.


----------



## amorris525

Has anyone else in Loudoun County not been able to get NBC-HD, FOX-HD, CBS-HD and WDCA-HD over Comcast in the clear QAM in the past week? I don't understand what happened to them. They had been there the past two months only to disappear last week. I've done several rescans returning nothing. What could be my problem? I use a built-in tuner on a Vizio HD TV. Could that be the problem? Thanks.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *amorris525* /forum/post/13837292
> 
> 
> Has anyone else in Loudoun County not been able to get NBC-HD, FOX-HD, CBS-HD and WDCA-HD over Comcast in the clear QAM in the past week? I don't understand what happened to them. They had been there the past two months only to disappear last week. I've done several rescans returning nothing. What could be my problem? I use a built-in tuner on a Vizio HD TV. Could that be the problem? Thanks.



I'm in Sterling and have had no problems this past week with any in the clear QAM HD channels. Video on Demand is has been bad all week, but not the HD. FYI - I also have a Vizio(VU42)


----------



## chuck21401




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/13812352
> 
> 
> As far as QAM - when I asked about why Annapolis and Baltimore channels went away a week ago Friday, the representative said that people had been able to get those "through the back door" until then. They are no longer feeding the signals as they wanted to free up the bandwidth. This was the case in both PG and Anne Arundel counties. When I asked about the clear QAM of local channels, she had no idea how long they would remain clear.



This is very annoying. I live in Annapolis and recently lost the DC QAM channels. I guess this means I won't be able to watch Redskins homegames in HD? I don't think the Baltimore channels carry those unless its a big game like Dallas/Redskins. I suppose I could hook up a splitter and get DC NBC Channel 4 OTA.


----------



## azitnay

I'm pretty sure the Baltimore locals carry the Redskins pretty often, as a general rule... Not that it's necessarily a predictor of the future, but a quick look at http://www.the506.com/nflmaps/2007.html appears to show that 13 of the 16 games (or 14 if you have NFL Network) were available last year on a mixture of Baltimore locals and national broadcasts. A look back at previous seasons could give you more of an idea of the general trend.


Drew


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chuck21401* /forum/post/13842266
> 
> 
> This is very annoying. I live in Annapolis and recently lost the DC QAM channels. I guess this means I won't be able to watch Redskins homegames in HD? I don't think the Baltimore channels carry those unless its a big game like Dallas/Redskins. I suppose I could hook up a splitter and get DC NBC Channel 4 OTA.



If they don't, that pisses me off. WUSA carries Ravens games as if their network's viability depended on it. I think WUSA's insistence on Ravens games has actually fueled my hatred of the team. But my guess is that Fox Baltimore carries 90%+ of Redskins games.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *azitnay* /forum/post/13842475
> 
> 
> I'm pretty sure the Baltimore locals carry the Redskins pretty often, as a general rule... Not that it's necessarily a predictor of the future, but a quick look at http://www.the506.com/nflmaps/2007.html appears to show that 13 of the 16 games (or 14 if you have NFL Network) were available last year on a mixture of Baltimore locals and national broadcasts. A look back at previous seasons could give you more of an idea of the general trend.



If I recall correctly, at the end of the 2006 season, either two of the last three or three of the last four Ravens games had the same starting times as Redskins games and were not televised in Washington, so I expect that the corresponding Redskins games were not carried in Baltimore. Last season, in Week 16, there was a Philadelphia/New Orleans game that controlled the Redskins playoff chances that was not televised in Washington but was televised in Baltimore.


I've installed broadcast HDTV add-ons in over a dozen multiple dwelling units in the Washington metro market, and since those buildings all have separate distribution wiring for their master antenna systems and cable TV, the TV football junkies all subscribe to cable, but also connect their TV's RF input to the antenna system wallplate so they can enjoy both services without even needing an A/B switch, as the cable TV box connects to the TV either through RCA cables or HDMI.


----------



## CycloneGT

Looks like this might be a big Day for Dish Network HDTV customers.


----------



## voltore




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/13844488
> 
> 
> If they don't, that pisses me off. WUSA carries Ravens games as if their network's viability depended on it. I think WUSA's insistence on Ravens games has actually fueled my hatred of the team. But my guess is that Fox Baltimore carries 90%+ of Redskins games.



NFL dictates what stations carry what and also what league is signed with what network. THis must be a FAQ or maybe a FIA, frequently ignored answer.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13847960
> 
> 
> Looks like this might be a big Day for Dish Network HDTV customers.



Sorry I missed the discussion - what is happening?


----------



## CycloneGT

Dish is adding about 22 HD channels today. Well actually its about 19 today. There are some RSNs that aren't in our area, and they are also counting SciFi, CNN, and USA which were added back in April. But still, its forward movement. I listed the channels in the first post of this thread and updated my grids.


ABC Family HD

Disney HD East

ESPNews HD

Biography HD

Hallmark Movie Channel HD

Bravo HD

Cartoon HD

MGM HD

Cinemax 5 Star

Sci Fi HD

Cinemax HD West

Smithsonian HD

Tennis Channel HD

Toon Disney HD

Travel Channel HD

USA HD

CNBC HD

Weather Channel HD

CNN HD

World Fishing Network HD


Of course CNN, SciFi, and USA were already added, but they finally "announced" them today.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13850087
> 
> 
> Dish is adding about 22 HD channels today. Well actually its about 19 today. There are some RSNs that aren't in our area, and they are also counting SciFi, CNN, and USA which were added back in April. But still, its forward movement. I listed the channels in the first post of this thread and updated my grids.
> 
> 
> ABC Family HD
> 
> Disney HD East
> 
> ESPNews HD
> 
> Biography HD
> 
> Hallmark Movie Channel HD
> 
> Bravo HD
> 
> Cartoon HD
> 
> MGM HD
> 
> Cinemax 5 Star
> 
> Sci Fi HD
> 
> Cinemax HD West
> 
> Smithsonian HD
> 
> Tennis Channel HD
> 
> Toon Disney HD
> 
> Travel Channel HD
> 
> USA HD
> 
> CNBC HD
> 
> Weather Channel HD
> 
> CNN HD
> 
> World Fishing Network HD
> 
> 
> Of course CNN, SciFi, and USA were already added, but they finally "announced" them today.



Good for Dish and their customers!


Keep the competition burning!


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/13851451
> 
> 
> Good for Dish and their customers!
> 
> 
> Keep the competition burning!



Thanks cyclone & yes: more comp is good.


----------



## CycloneGT

Yeah. It looks like the only channels that DirecTV has that Dish does not are some Viacom channels (Nick, MTV, VH1, etc..) and Fox Cable (Speed, FX, Fox News Business). Most of the Viacom channels aren't HD yet and Dish and Fox are in court, so that is an artificial hold up.


----------



## nottenst

I ahve a question about WNUV over the air tonight. For some reason Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill were 4:3 instead of 16:9 on the HD feed. At least that's what my digital tuner saw. Any ideas what was going on?


Thanks,


Neil


----------



## CycloneGT

Looks like Dish decided to axe 10 of the 15 Voom channels that they carried. They are now down to just 5 Voom channels.


----------



## RebelScum

I have Cox Fairfax, and I happened to see on the Cox Promo channel (~735; can't remember right now) that they will be adding 5 new HD channels on May 31:
USA HD
Bravo HD
Sci-Fi HD
CNBC HD
Lifetime HD

I'm pretty psyched about USA HD and Sci-Fi HD, and my wife will love Bravo HD! These are pretty much the main HD channels I was hoping for.


Just in time for the new season of USA shows, like Monk, Psych, and Law & Order: CI!


----------



## hokiefan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13854685
> 
> 
> Looks like Dish decided to axe 10 of the 15 Voom channels that they carried. They are now down to just 5 Voom channels.



Makes your table on page 1 smaller


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/13854126
> 
> 
> I ahve a question about WNUV over the air tonight. For some reason Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill were 4:3 instead of 16:9 on the HD feed. At least that's what my digital tuner saw. Any ideas what was going on?
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> 
> Neil



Sorry - there was no audio on the HD receiver for some reason, so we had to switch up the SD back-up receiver...


Mark


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hokiefan* /forum/post/13856281
> 
> 
> Makes your table on page 1 smaller



Yeah, I just made the update this morning. I wanted to let this go overnight in case there was some kind of mistake. Looks like it wasn't.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/13857012
> 
> 
> Sorry - there was no audio on the HD receiver for some reason, so we had to switch up the SD back-up receiver...
> 
> 
> Mark



Thanks for the information. It is good to know that there was a backup plan for audio mystery. Is someone doing research into why there was no audio? Has that happened before?


Thanks,


Neil


----------



## uvamack

I live near Frederick, MD and I am looking to purchase an off air antenna. I was told a DB8 would work since I am 32 miles from the DC stations and 44 from Baltimore, but Channel 7 & 9 are switching to VHF in February. There are a lot of hills and valleys near me, so I need something long range. I need an antenna that has great VHF and UHF range. I would prefer to have it mounted in the attic versus the roof.


Also, does anyone know of any installers in my area? I tried antennainstallers.com but they don't service my area. Your help would be appreciated.


----------



## machpost

Is anyone else not seeing the Nationals game on MASN HD? It's supposed to be in HD tonight, but here on RCN, the Orioles game is on, in SD. Looks like someone forgot to flip the switch.


----------



## FineWare




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/13860590
> 
> 
> Is anyone else not seeing the Nationals game on MASN HD? It's supposed to be in HD tonight, but here on RCN, the Orioles game is on, in SD. Looks like someone forgot to flip the switch.



It's on MASN2, the alternate channel, and it's in SD. The O's are on the main channel.


Even better, they forgot to switch in the announcers for the first few batters. If SNY is going to be blacked out, it's the next best thing.


----------



## kenrowe

It is a RCN specific issue. Comcast in MoCo has the Nats game on MASN-HD via Mojo.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kenrowe* /forum/post/13860814
> 
> 
> It is a RCN specific issue. Comcast in MoCo has the Nats game on MASN-HD via Mojo.



And naturally, the RCN call center in the Philippines is clueless, asking me to re-boot my cable box


----------



## machpost

The game is finally on MASN HD. Calling MASN directly seems to be the solution


----------



## rviele




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *uvamack* /forum/post/13860031
> 
> 
> I live near Frederick, MD and I am looking to purchase an off air antenna. I was told a DB8 would work since I am 32 miles from the DC stations and 44 from Baltimore, but Channel 7 & 9 are switching to VHF in February. There are a lot of hills and valleys near me, so I need something long range. I need an antenna that has great VHF and UHF range. I would prefer to have it mounted in the attic versus the roof.
> 
> 
> Also, does anyone know of any installers in my area? I tried antennainstallers.com but they don't service my area. Your help would be appreciated.



try action antenna they are out of balt. 4102420440.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *FineWare* /forum/post/13860809
> 
> 
> It's on MASN2, the alternate channel, and it's in SD. The O's are on the main channel.



MASN claims to have MASN HD and MASN2 HD. Tonight's game was on MASN2 HD. On most cable systems, they put both MASN HD and MASN2 HD on the same channel. On DirecTV, they put MASN HD on 626-1 and MASN2 HD on 671-1.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rviele* /forum/post/13861950
> 
> 
> try action antenna they are out of balt. 4102420440.



My friend in Sykesville got an antenna from them. Very happy with the work.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Dish has removed the rest of the Voom channels.


----------



## CycloneGT

Now that stinks, because the five that had remained were the good ones. Monsters and Rave especially. End of an era, unless Voom knows how to grovel.


----------



## zebras23

This from Arlington County Alert Program:


An accidental Comcast outage has occured affecting 30% of their telephone traffic, approximately 1.5M customers, and taken down 20 nodes impacting all three services in S. Arlington and Crystal City, Additionally, it has taken out the 6 MHZ channels throughout the Washington Metro region and I-net and school sites are also impacted.


Regional/system staff are on site working to make the repairs as quickly as possible, but it is likely to be an extensive restoration.


DGB/OEM


Sent by Arlington County OEM to All users (e-mail) through Arlington Alert


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Berto1020* /forum/post/13823176
> 
> 
> I went to http://tv.msn.com/tv/guide to check the TV listings and when I enter the zip code for my town, Montclair (22025), the channel listings include 4 new HD channels: Science Channel HD (217), AMC HD (218), Disney Channel HD (244) and ABC Family HD (245). But at this moment, they're not listed on the Comcast guide on my set-top box. Can anyone confirm that these 4 channels will be added soon?



hopefully the same for Manassas as I have had significant pixelization on my HD's for last few days. Usually that is a sign


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p

just check listings on TV guide Manassas says the same thing good sign! That would make 38 hd channels for Manassas


----------



## uvamack

Thanks for the reply. I called Action Antenna and they are quoting me $588 installed. Seems kind of high, but I guess you get what you pay for, plus they do include everything and also a rotator.


----------



## zebras23

Again - from Arlington County


an accidental Comcast outage has occurred affecting approximately 2,500 customers with digital phone service in Crystal City. Affected subscribers will need to use cell phones for 911 emergencies. Additionally, it has taken out the 6 MHZ channels throughout the Washington Metro region and County I-net and school sites are also impacted.


This is a major fiber issue, and no estimated time has been provided as to when service will be restored.


DGB/OEM


----------



## bobmonhoo

Seems Comcast service is back in Arlington/Crystal City.


----------



## hokiefan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13864180
> 
> 
> Now that stinks, because the five that had remained were the good ones. Monsters and Rave especially. End of an era, unless Voom knows how to grovel.



Bell Expressvu in Canada and Cablevision still carry some of the voom channels. I'd say their days are numbered though. Kinda sad.


----------



## hokiefan

Has anyone else noticed that the programming on The CW Ch.54 is a couple minutes fast? I was watching the Simpsons tonight at 6PM, and at 6:27PM Family Guy came on. I compared my Dish receiver time with the time listed on CNN, and also with a internet time server.


Mark, any chance you could check the clocks on your equipment?


----------



## azitnay

Anyone else having problems tuning Comcast of DC channel 226 (usually MOJO HD, but currently supposed to be MASN HD) at the moment? I'm getting a gray screen on my TiVo.


Drew


----------



## knnirs

All of my digital QAM signals from P.G.County Comcast Cable were lost shortly after 7:00 pm tonight.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *azitnay* /forum/post/13869115
> 
> 
> Anyone else having problems tuning Comcast of DC channel 226 (usually MOJO HD, but currently supposed to be MASN HD) at the moment? I'm getting a gray screen on my TiVo.
> 
> 
> Drew



I'm in DC and have RCN, but I'm getting a blank screen on MASN HD right now as well. I put a call in to MASN's customer support line, which has been surprisingly helpful in the past.


----------



## gomo657




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *azitnay* /forum/post/13869115
> 
> 
> Anyone else having problems tuning Comcast of DC channel 226 (usually MOJO HD, but currently supposed to be MASN HD) at the moment? I'm getting a gray screen on my TiVo.
> 
> 
> Drew



it seems to be blacked out as if it was also on a local


----------



## azitnay

Right, but it's not on WDCA... Sounds from the previous posts in this thread that it isn't the first time MASN HD has had problems (this is the first time I've tried to tune into MOJO to catch the Nats).


Drew


----------



## machpost

Still no Nats in HD here on RCN.


----------



## kenrowe

Comcast appears to be working on it as a few frames per second show up on Mojo now. This was the email response I received from MASN:


"Thank you for contacting MASN regarding this technical issue.


MASN is currently being carried by twenty one cable and satellite providers throughout the seven state region. Some of these carriers have experienced technical problems including transmission problems, audio and or video problems, and even the lack of carriage.


We have contacted Comcast about this problem and they are working to correct the issue.


We regret any inconvenience that the technical difficulties of a provider may have caused you. We hope and expect that any problems will be rectified immediately.


Again, thank you for your interest in MASN.


Sincerely,


Your Friends at MASN"


----------



## machpost

I just got a call back from MASN; they're claiming that RCN is having a problem getting the HD signal from MASN, and that the game will not be in HD tonight







This is BS.


----------



## kenrowe

It appears to be fixed at least for Comcast Montgomery County.


----------



## Skeptic Tank




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/13869141
> 
> 
> All of my digital QAM signals from P.G.County Comcast Cable were lost shortly after 7:00 pm tonight.



As of 8:50 PM I'm still getting all mine. At least all that were left after Comcast deleted all the Baltimore and Annapolis HD clear QAM stations in P.G. I suppose Comcast feels we're getting the remaining QAM channels through the "back door" as well and they could be gone at any time.


----------



## alexandriahokie

Is anyone getting Sci-Fi HD (channel 236) also on 239 (Discovery HD)? This is in Alexandria/Comcast. So much for MythBusters. Instead I'm getting 2 versions of ghost hunters in low definition. Boo.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hokiefan* /forum/post/13868813
> 
> 
> Has anyone else noticed that the programming on The CW Ch.54 is a couple minutes fast? I was watching the Simpsons tonight at 6PM, and at 6:27PM Family Guy came on. I compared my Dish receiver time with the time listed on CNN, and also with a internet time server.
> 
> 
> Mark, any chance you could check the clocks on your equipment?



Actually, the clocks are set by GPS, and aren't off by more than a few milliseconds. That doesn't mean that the programming runs at the correct time, though. That's determined by other factors - basically, how the programs, commercials, PSAs, etc. add up. The more time a good master control operator has to add, subtract, or change things, and the better the program log from the programming department, the closer the schedule is to the correct time.


There are a some shows that have to start at specific times - shows being received live from someplace else (network programming, for example), that bring the program times back into line.


Cheers -


----------



## CycloneGT

Need a favor here. I've got one of those Analog to Digital converter boxes now. I'm testing it out, and I want to see if the missing guide data is on the station end, or the STB end.


WBAL - Always says DTV program

WJZ - No Info available

WFDC - No info available


Everyting else comes in OK.


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13870541
> 
> 
> WBAL - Always says DTV program
> 
> WJZ - No Info available



I see the same, with the Insignia CECB I bought yesterday. I can't say about WFDC; it doesn't come in well for me.


----------



## kenrowe

As of this morning, Disney HD (244) and Family HD (245) are now available. Science HD (217) also is in the guide but was not authorized.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13870541
> 
> 
> Need a favor here. I've got one of those Analog to Digital converter boxes now.



I'm just wondering - what converter boxes are available in the DC/Baltimore area? WalMart has the Magnavox TB100MW9 (for $50) and Best Buy has their Insignia NS-DXA1 box (for $60). Anything else out there in the area? Dish Network's DTVPal will be out in about a month at Dish Retailers (and Radio Shack) for $40. Target doesn't have anything yet, but say they'll have something in the coming months.


Neil


----------



## Deezul

I have my two $40 coupons, so I want to try to find something as cheap as possible. I wish I had waited, since the coupons expire after 90 days, and the Dish ones aren't going to be ready for a while. Guess I might just get the WalMart ones on day 90.


----------



## PaulGo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kenrowe* /forum/post/13871710
> 
> 
> As of this morning, Disney HD (244) and Family HD (245) are now available. Science HD (217) also is in the guide but was not authorized.



They were all put on the same frequency (627Mhz) so it is three HD channels per QAM. Compresscast?


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PaulGo* /forum/post/13873209
> 
> 
> They were all put on the same frequency (627Mhz) so it is three HD channels per QAM. Compresscast?



Yes, Compresscast indeed. They already moved to 3:1 in Annapolis and surrounding areas. This happened several weeks ago, and I have this on good info; can't elaborate. Local channels are not affected, but some national channels look like trash now, and I am canceling my service as a result. No credit, rebate, "deal", or discount could change my mind at this point. I am signing up for FIOS as soon as the Stanley Cup playoffs are over (and perhaps even sooner than that). I wish I could get a truck out to my house tomorrow, I have the day off work.


Yes, FIOS is launching some additional HD in our area in the July-ish timeframe; can't elaborate. And FIOS will not be pulling any 3:1 tomfoolery, either -- they don't need to, unlike their lesser brethren.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/13872221
> 
> 
> Dish Network's DTVPal will be out in about a month










*wink*


I might use up one of my coupons on a 2nd converter for comparison sake.


----------



## dg28

As of last night's Nats game, MASNHD's DD5.1 problems appear to be fixed. The sound appeared to be a true DD5.1 mix (you could hear the hot dog vendor with the NY accent in the rears).


----------



## azitnay

Glad someone was able to watch in HD last night.


Drew


----------



## tripleM

Is it me or does it seem TNT HD feed is not as good a quality as their SD feed.

Not saying head to head.

More like their HD vs other's HD. & Their SD vs other's SD.


Maybe it was the Lakers yellow unis that popped on SD which made it looked good last nite.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Deezul* /forum/post/13873008
> 
> 
> I have my two $40 coupons, so I want to try to find something as cheap as possible. I wish I had waited, since the coupons expire after 90 days, and the Dish ones aren't going to be ready for a while. Guess I might just get the WalMart ones on day 90.



I haven't heard terribly good things about the Wal-Mart boxes... I really think you should spring for the Zenith or the Digital Stream; I've heard good things about both. It's a bit extra, but...


- Trip


----------



## Berto1020

4 new HD channels added today:


Science Channel HD (217)

AMC HD (218)

Disney Channel HD (244)

ABC Family HD (245)


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *azitnay* /forum/post/13873755
> 
> 
> Glad someone was able to watch in HD last night.
> 
> 
> Drew



That was the second night in a row that RCN was having problems with MASN HD, but after multiple phone calls to both, I reached the conclusion that either side was blaming the other, and that they did nothing to remedy the situation


----------



## vidioteic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/13874012
> 
> 
> That was the second night in a row that RCN was having problems with MASN HD, but after multiple phone calls to both, I reached the conclusion that either side was blaming the other, and that they did nothing to remedy the situation



Last nights problems had to do with some receivers not receiving their authorization codes properly. It has been corrected.


Also, RE: Dolby D, correct; there was a hardware issue and you should be enjoying the wonderful sounds of Queens today.


On another note, I saw DTV converter at Radio Shack last week; RF out, RCA outs (audio/video) [can't remember if it had an S-Video] and a remote. I recall it being $50 or $60.


----------



## captain_video

Sorry, but this is a double post from the HTPC area. Someone suggested I post it here since it has to do with my OTA reception.


I live in Ellicott City between Baltimore and Washington, DC, so I am able to receive lots of OTA HD stations from both markets. I have dual ChannelMaster 4228 8-bay UHF antennas pointed at both sets of broadcast towers based on the compass headings posted for my address at tvfool.com. I had originally set up the antennas using the data posted at antennaweb.org. I recently realigned both antennas using the tvfool.com compass headings. I found that the antenna for Baltimopre was aimed correctly but the DC antenna needed to be realigned for the best signal.


Here's where it gets kinda weird. When setting up my ATSC tuners (V-Box 3560-A-USB's) for my HTPC, the signal strength from the DC stations is now stronger than the Baltimore locals. This is odd because I'm about 10 miles or less from the Baltimore broadcast towers and about 25-30 miles from the DC towers. I suspect that the compass headings I used for Baltimore weren't quite correct so I plan on fiddling with the alignment when I get the chance.


I had been experiencing a certain amount of periodic freezeups, jerkiness, stuttering, and skipping when recording from the Baltimore stations. I recently set up BeyondTV to use the DC stations instead and now my recordings seem almost perfect with but a few rare artifacts. The CW was the worst offender from Baltimore but this week's episode of Reaper from the DC station played back better than I've ever seen it and was essentially perfect with only one minor audio dropout of about one second.


Is it possible that the artifacts I was seeing when recording from the Baltimore stations were the result of too strong of a signal? I had a distribution amp setup to feed my six ATSC tuners to overcome any attenuation due to the number of times the signal was split. The outputs of both rooftop antennas on my 2-story house are combined using a standard VHF/UHF/FM splitter/combiner and then routed to the distribution amp located in the basement. I have since included an inline amplifier from the antenna feed and replaced the distribution amp with a 6-way splitter with essentially no change in the signal levels. I checked the signal strength with both the inline amp and the distribution amp and there was still no change in signal level. The inline amp is supposed to boost the signal by 18dB so I expected to see at least a slight change but I got bupkus.


The good news is that my stuttering and other issues seem to have disappeared by switching to the DC stations but WTF is going on with my Baltimore stations? I can only assume that the artifacts I experienced were the result of overdriving the tuners since the antennas are of extremely high gain. What's got me confused is that the signal strength is lower from Baltimore than it is from DC. I may actually have a clearer line of sight to the DC towers than the ones in Baltimore due to tall trees to the north of me.


----------



## vidioteic

45 To Launch HD News Next Week - 5/15 - DCRTV hears that Baltimore's Sinclair-owned Fox45, WBFF, will debut its HD newscasts next week. Making it the first Charm City station to air local news in hi-def. Currently, DC's Channel 9/WUSA is the only regional station airing local news in HD. DCRTV has reported that DC's Fox5, WTTG, is also planning to launch HD local news soon.....


----------



## cpldc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *captain_video* /forum/post/13874329
> 
> 
> Is it possible that the artifacts I was seeing when recording from the Baltimore stations were the result of too strong of a signal? I had a distribution amp setup to feed my six ATSC tuners to overcome any attenuation due to the number of times the signal was split. The outputs of both rooftop antennas on my 2-story house are combined using a standard VHF/UHF/FM splitter/combiner and then routed to the distribution amp located in the basement. I have since included an inline amplifier from the antenna feed and replaced the distribution amp with a 6-way splitter with essentially no change in the signal levels. I checked the signal strength with both the inline amp and the distribution amp and there was still no change in signal level. The inline amp is supposed to boost the signal by 18dB so I expected to see at least a slight change but I got bupkus.



Have you tried running the cable only from the Baltimore antenna without joining with the DC antenna? The interaction between the two could be messing things up. Remove the splitter entirely and use a barrel connector, then check reception.


As for overloading, you can try plugging a tuner before splitting or amplifying anything. If you are that close to the transmitters, using a high-gain antenna with an amplifier could cause problems. More signal can be worse in some situations.


Both of these will give you a better idea of how the Baltimore antenna is doing and what you might need to do to improve that. However combining two antennas is not foolproof due to phasing, multipath and other concerns.


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Skeptic Tank* /forum/post/13869786
> 
> 
> As of 8:50 PM I'm still getting all mine. At least all that were left after Comcast deleted all the Baltimore and Annapolis HD clear QAM stations in P.G. I suppose Comcast feels we're getting the remaining QAM channels through the "back door" as well and they could be gone at any time.



My signals from Comcast Digital QAM returned to normal about 8:10 pm, and I also found that during the time from 7:10 to 8:10 my Comcast TV signals, digital and analog were all dead. I attempted to call Comcast about 7:15, but I got a recording stating "all lines in use, call back later". The loss of TV signals did not affect my Comcast phone and internet signals.


----------



## CycloneGT

Capt Video. Using a 4228 at only 10 miles and then amplifying it might be over kill. Try it without the amplification just to see how that works. It might actually be better with less signal.


----------



## tripleM

As some basic cable users have come to know, some cable system will allow us to get some HD stations that otherwise would be on the digital tier. Of course we get no annoucements as would a dig subscriber get & thus I post the question:


Was curious to know ppl who get basic cable - how often to you scan your channels?


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Berto1020* /forum/post/13873961
> 
> 
> 4 new HD channels added today:
> 
> 
> Science Channel HD (217)
> 
> AMC HD (218)
> 
> Disney Channel HD (244)
> 
> ABC Family HD (245)



Ditto for Comcast of Alexandria/Arlington.


----------



## mchief99




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/13876175
> 
> 
> Ditto for Comcast of Alexandria/Arlington.



And SciFi is still showing on DiscoveryHD and SciFiHD


----------



## Potatoehead




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/13876175
> 
> 
> Ditto for Comcast of Alexandria/Arlington.



Ditto for Calvert County Md, except we did not get AMCHD. Would have preferred to get CNNHD, ANPLHD and AMCHD, but still better than nothing.


----------



## bmfc1

MoCo did not get AMC meaning that while Comcast has a deal for both AMC, CNN and Animal Planet, we don't have them. I'm sure that our bill is less than the areas that have these channels (sure).


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Berto1020* /forum/post/13873961
> 
> 
> 4 new HD channels added today:
> 
> 
> Science Channel HD (217)
> 
> AMC HD (218)
> 
> Disney Channel HD (244)
> 
> ABC Family HD (245)




thanks, I'll need to add them to my TiVoHD on Comcast. I think those are four more channels I don't have on FIOS.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mchief99* /forum/post/13876341
> 
> 
> And SciFi is still showing on DiscoveryHD and SciFiHD



THat is not happening for me. Weird...


----------



## hokiefan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/13870414
> 
> 
> Actually, the clocks are set by GPS, and aren't off by more than a few milliseconds. That doesn't mean that the programming runs at the correct time, though. That's determined by other factors - basically, how the programs, commercials, PSAs, etc. add up. The more time a good master control operator has to add, subtract, or change things, and the better the program log from the programming department, the closer the schedule is to the correct time.
> 
> 
> There are a some shows that have to start at specific times - shows being received live from someplace else (network programming, for example), that bring the program times back into line.
> 
> 
> Cheers -



Gotcha. Didnt know if all that syndicated stuff was just one big recording with commericials included or if that stuff was inserted later.


So, basically, it seems like you guys could be throwing in a couple more commercials then? For now, I've adjusted my recording timers to start 5 minutes early and go 5 minutes long, just in case


----------



## alexandriahokie

I called Comcast about 5pm today (Alexandria) and reported the SciFi on Discover HD and SciFi. I actually got the nicest lady who contacted broadcasting and she said they saw it, too, and would work on it. Within 30 minutes it was done. For once, they didn't insist I unplug my box to try to fix it.


----------



## kenrowe




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kenrowe* /forum/post/13871710
> 
> 
> As of this morning, Disney HD (244) and Family HD (245) are now available. Science HD (217) also is in the guide but was not authorized.



Is anyone in Montgomery County getting channel 217? It is still "not authorized" for me.


----------



## tvguy5

i heard dcrtv reported 45 was to launch their HD newscast next week? how do they know this lst time they said that 45 already was HD


----------



## kenrowe




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bmfc1* /forum/post/13876912
> 
> 
> MoCo did not get AMC meaning that while Comcast has a deal for both AMC, CNN and Animal Planet, we don't have them. I'm sure that our bill is less than the areas that have these channels (sure).



As you probably already know, the main reason why MoCo doesn't have a number of the HD channels that other local Comcast systems have is because MoCo is a 750 MHz system vs. 860 MHz for the other local systems. However, I noticed this morning that the NBA PPV channels are now on QAM ch. 123--- a few months ago, MoCo QAM only went up to ch. 116 and more recently, the NBA PPV was on QAM ch 117. So, it appears that they are finally upgrading the network which could allow for the addition of more HD channels in the near future.


----------



## dipdewdog

Does anyone else have no audio on 7.1 right now? I'm watching over DirecTV (MPEG-4 LIL) and the DVR'd Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy (in progress) are mute.


----------



## jacindc

Sure hope some of these new channels (and the last wave from a few months ago) come to Comcast DC before too long....


----------



## bmfc1




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kenrowe* /forum/post/13877822
> 
> 
> As you probably already know, the main reason why MoCo doesn't have a number of the HD channels that other local Comcast systems have is because MoCo is a 750 MHz system vs. 860 MHz for the other local systems. However, I noticed this morning that the NBA PPV channels are now on QAM ch. 123--- a few months ago, MoCo QAM only went up to ch. 116 and more recently, the NBA PPV was on QAM ch 117. So, it appears that they are finally upgrading the network which could allow for the addition of more HD channels in the near future.



Thanks kenrowe. I wonder why they didn't upgraded the network sooner.


----------



## clifburns

New "HD" channels on Comcast DC this morning:


217 SciHD

244 DisneyHD

245 ABC Family HD


All are simulcasting SD programming from their SD channels. So the reason people on Comcast DC have started to see macro-blocking and compression artifacts on your other channels is to make way for these wastes of bandwidth.


Although CNN-HD was planned for 1st quarter, Comcast told me that CNN-HD has been deferred indefinitely. Obviously the DC market, at least according to Comcast, is more interested in kiddie programming than news.


----------



## Newstech

I've seen no signal on 26 digital since last night. It's not just me, is it?


Also, while I'm thinking about public TV, I've noticed periodic freezing and skipping on 22.1, maybe beginning about 3 months ago. It lasts like a half-second, happens every minute or two. I have a somewhat older Sanyo HD set, but I'm not noticing this anywhere else. Has anyone else seen this problem? Might MPT have changed something about their signal (bit rate, etc.)?


----------



## voltore




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Newstech* /forum/post/13880430
> 
> 
> I've seen no signal on 26 digital since last night. It's not just me, is it?



Alas no, one of the PEPCO feeds has gone splat at the Joint Tower. USA/JLA's feed is good, but ETA/HUT have lost their feed. Generators are whirring away quite happily.


(before you ask, UPS for high power UHF transmitters aren't exact super common or cheap







)


----------



## Digital Rules

Captain Video,

Are you filtering the FM out of your signal. FM signals will cause reception problems, as they will overload your system. That 4228 is an awfully strong antenna to put with an amp in an suburban area. Do you have the ability to hook up just 1 TV to the system witout an amp and see what results you get?


----------



## bogdanmi




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bogdanmi* /forum/post/13792183
> 
> 
> I'm so ticked off by this. Here in AA county (Crofton), I've lost all widescreen locals (Balt and DC!) except for MPT and WTTG Fox 5.
> 
> 
> No STB, just using Clear QAM from Comcrap and my TV's tuner. I thought they were required to pass local signals on to the customer?
> 
> 
> Definitely switching to Verizon FIOS, this is complete BS.



Well, I did a rescan with my TV tuner last night, and now I'm getting local Baltimore HD channels and sub-channels through clear QAM. These would be WMAR, WBFF, WBAL and WJZ. Not sure about MPT. Also getting DC Fox WTTG in HD for some strange reason.


----------



## afiggatt

*WUTB-DT My 24 status*

For those wondering when WUTB-DT 24 (DT=41) will increase their power from the current STA power of 530 Watts, the station filed for yet another waiver extension on Monday. WUTB-DT has a post-transition allotment of 200 kW on UHF 41, but according to their filing summary has been waiting a long time for a Construction Permit (CP) to be granted which would allow them to fire up their 200 kW signal. I pasted the key paragraphs below from their Form 337 filing which explains the reason. If WUTB-DT was a big four network station, I suspect this hold-up would have been resolved long ago.


"Exhibit 1

Description: REASON FOR EXTENSION


THE APPLICANT IS PREPARED TO CONSTRUCT AND OPERATE ITS DTV FACILITY ALMOST IMMEDIATELY UPON GRANT OF ITS APPLICATION FOR MODIFICATION OF CONSTRUCTION PERMIT, BMPCDT-20051118ADM. THIS APPLICATION WAS ORIGINALLY FILED ON NOVEMBER 18, 2005 AND WAS MOST RECENTLY AMENDED ON FEBRUARY 8, 2008. ACCORDING TO FCC MEDIA BUREAU ENGINEERING STAFF, THE DELAY IN GRANTING THIS APPLICATION IS THE RESULT OF A REQUIREMENT TO OBTAIN CLEARANCE FROM THE COMMISSION'S ENFORCEMENT BUREAU THAT THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PROPOSED DIGITAL FACILITY (WHICH HAS A SLIGHTLY SMALLER CONTOUR THAN THAT AUTHORIZED BY APPENDIX B TO THE COMMISSION'S DTV TABLE OF ALLOTMENTS)WILL NOT INTERFERE WITH THE COMMISSION'S FIELD INSTALLATION IN LAUREL, MARYLAND.


THE APPLICANT HAS WAITED UNTIL NOW TO FILE FOR THIS EXTENSION BECAUSE IT EXPECTED GRANT OF ITS CONSTRUCTION PERMIT IMMINENTLY."


"Exhibit 2

Description: STEPS TAKEN BY APPLICANT


AS DESCRIBED IN ITS PREVIOUS APPLICATION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME, FILE # BEPCDT-20071113ALI, THE APPLICANT HAD ENCOUNTERED SIGNIFICANT PROBLEMS IN RESOLVING DIGITAL BROADCAST INTERFERENCE ISSUES AT BOTH ITS DIGITAL AND ANALOG CHANNEL ALLOTMENTS. UPON RESOLVING THOSE ISSUES, THE APPLICANT ORDERED, RECEIVED, AND INSTALLED ITS EQUIPMENT; NOW, THE ONLY REMAINING OBSTACLE TO COMMENCEMENT OF SERVICE IS THE COMMISSION'S CONSENT TO THE PROPOSED MODIFICATION OF THE STATION'S CONSTRUCTION PERMIT, WHICH, ACCORDING TO THE COMMISSION'S MEDIA BUREAU, IS BEING HELD-UP FOR VERIFICATION THAT THE STATION'S OPERATION WILL NOT INTERFERE WITH THE COMMISSION'S FIELD INSTALLATION IN LAUREL, MARYLAND."


----------



## Digital Rules

Newstech,


I live .3 miles from WETA and no signal either


----------



## Digital Rules

Nottenst,


Between the Zenith/Insignia and the Digital Stream, the Zentih wins hands down for sensitivity. I did an A-B comparison and the Zenith will get 2 stations regularly(90 miles out)that the Digital Stream can't touch. On marginal signals(50-70 miles) the DS has dropouts, while the Zenith stays locked in. I have noticed an audio problem that is identical on both units. It seems when a station is broadcasting 5.1 from network feeds the sound is thin/raspy/distorted. Has anyone else noticed this. Picture quality looks the same on both units.(Would love to have S-Video!!)


Thanks!!


----------



## chrisherbert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Berto1020* /forum/post/13873961
> 
> 
> 4 new HD channels added today:
> 
> 
> Science Channel HD (217)
> 
> AMC HD (218)
> 
> Disney Channel HD (244)
> 
> ABC Family HD (245)



AMC HD has the worst picture quality I've seen outside WETA HD. I guess it's no surprise, since the standard definition version of AMC looks terrible as well.


----------



## Newmie

I installed and programmed a new TV last night utilizing Fios clear QAM.

The TV recognized the basic analog and many digital signals but none were in HD, I called Verizon and the Rep of course said " Whats clear QAM"







.


1)Does Fios offer Clear QAM in HD (Springfield,Va)? per the website they do


2)When using Fios Clear QAM should I have say


1 channel of CBS in analog

1 channel of CBS in Digital (480i)

1 channel of CBS in Digital HD


Right now I'm missing CBS (and others) in HD.


Thanks in advance.


Michael


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/13875940
> 
> 
> As some basic cable users have come to know, some cable system will allow us to get some HD stations that otherwise would be on the digital tier. Of course we get no annoucements as would a dig subscriber get & thus I post the question:
> 
> 
> Was curious to know ppl who get basic cable - how often to you scan your channels?



I have Basic Cable, Comcast in P.G. County. I do a quick QAM check everytime I lose a channel, about once a month. I have not done a complete scan in the past year. I lost most of my Baltimore HD channels within the past month. No loss of D.C. channels.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/13859123
> 
> 
> Thanks for the information. It is good to know that there was a backup plan for audio mystery. Is someone doing research into why there was no audio? Has that happened before?
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> 
> Neil



Sorry, I didn't see this post before.


The audio issue was caused by our power outage on Monday AM. When the HD satellite receiver re-booted, it didn't come up with the correct audio parameters.


Since I'm planning on never losing power to that rack again, I shouldn't ever have that problem again, either.


Cheers -


----------



## cpldc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *voltore* /forum/post/13880765
> 
> 
> Alas no, one of the PEPCO feeds has gone splat at the Joint Tower. USA/JLA's feed is good, but ETA/HUT have lost their feed. Generators are whirring away quite happily.
> 
> 
> (before you ask, UPS for high power UHF transmitters aren't exact super common or cheap
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> )



So WETA digital is already broadcasting from Tenleytown? I seem to have more problems with WETA than any other local digital station and assumed that was because of the Alexandria tower location.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cpldc* /forum/post/13883772
> 
> 
> So WETA digital is already broadcasting from Tenleytown? I seem to have more problems with WETA than any other local digital station and assumed that was because of the Alexandria tower location.



How come TV Fool has WETA DT In North Arlington on their FM tower. Is this incorrect?


----------



## captain_video




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/13881367
> 
> 
> Captain Video,
> 
> Are you filtering the FM out of your signal. FM signals will cause reception problems, as they will overload your system. That 4228 is an awfully strong antenna to put with an amp in an suburban area. Do you have the ability to hook up just 1 TV to the system witout an amp and see what results you get?



I don't have an FM trap in the line but with highly directional UHF antennas I wouldn't have thought it would be an issue. The antennas are connected to six USB ATSC tuners that are part of my HTPC. Isolating just one of them without completely uninstalling them in Windows could get to be a bit tricky. The amp wasn't meant to boost a poor signal but just to compensate for the loss when splitting the signal so many times. I have no doubt that I'm overloading the Baltimore signals due to my proximity but the setup seems to be spot on for the DC channels. I'm starting to entertain the idea of going with the 4-bay version of the 4228 (4224?) for the Baltimore channels since I'm so close to the broadcast towers. The new 4220 looks like it may be just right for my needs. (In fact, it looked so good I just ordered one.)


My HTPC is finally recording shows with no artifacts whatsoever. I'm just perplexed as hell about the drop in signal level from the Baltimore stations. I would have expected to see the signal strength top out at near 100 when configuring the tuners in BeyondTV but instead they're only registering about 89-90. The DC locals are showing a level of about 93 by comparison. I'd like to get the setup tweaked so I get the same results with the Baltimore channels so I can watch the Ravens games when the season starts back up again. If I was a Skins' fan then I'd be inclined to leave it as is.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Newmie* /forum/post/13882589
> 
> 
> I installed and programmed a new TV last night utilizing Fios clear QAM.
> 
> The TV recognized the basic analog and many digital signals but none were in HD, I called Verizon and the Rep of course said " Whats clear QAM"
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .
> 
> 
> 1)Does Fios offer Clear QAM in HD (Springfield,Va)? per the website they do
> 
> 
> 2)When using Fios Clear QAM should I have say...



Fios does indeed provide the locals in clear QAM along with the music channels and the PEGs (public/educ/govt channels). There is no CBS analog as QAM is digital only (the analog channels will be shut down in July). Verizon puts the locals in a group which makes them pretty easy to find compared to Comcast. They provide a SD 480i version of WUSA CBS 9 which is in the QAM 63,67,68 set. They also provide the digital ATSC broadcast locals with all their HD and SD sub-channels with 2 stations per QAM channel starting at QAM 71 for 11 local digital stations.


What TV do you have? Some models have been unable to tune to the digital broadcast copy of the locals because of how Verizon is manipulating the PSIP data. There is a very long thread in the Fios TV forum at dslreports.com on the details. The problem is supposed to be fixed in June/July, IIRC. Verizon does provide the PSIP channel mapping so the newer ATSC/QAM tuners will map the locals to their broadcast channel #: 4-1, 4-2, 5-1, 7-1, 7-2, 7-3 and up to 67-1,2,3,4 for MPT (they apparently get MPT via WMPB-DT 67 in Baltimore).


Copying from a several month old post elsewhere:


Here are the clear QAM channels for the Washington Metro market.

55-100: WGN

63: SD locals

65: PEGs

66: 3 SD, 47 Music Choice channels

67: SD locals, PEGs

68: SD locals

71: 2 local HD (WUSA CBS 9, WRC NBC 4, 2 SD subs)

72: 2 local HD (WTTG Fox 5, WDCA MNT 20)

73: 2 local HD (MPT PBS 67, WJLA ABC 7, 4 SD subs)

74: 2 local HD (WDCW CW 50, WETA PBS 26, 4 SD)

75: 2 local stations: WNVC-DT MHz 56 and WNVT-DT MHz 30 stations (8 SD subs)

82: WPXW-DT Ion 66 (4 SD sub-channels)

84: 48 Urge music channels


----------



## GregAnnapolis

To the MASN guy,


Can you please fix the DD5.1, or have someone fix the DD5.1? It's back to effectively being mono, with the commentators coming from all directions.


BTW, thanks for fixing the 4:3 "dark box" before I even had a chance to get online and ask about it.










PS I'm _really_ impressed with MASN's telecasts as of late. MASN was clearly a second rate network for the first few years of their existence, but nowadays they do put out some really good stuff. Once you get these video/sound problems permanently ironed out (instead of having to fix them every few games), and once the quantity is up at the same high level as the quality, MASN will be one of the premiere destinations for local sports in the Baltimore-Washington market.


And this all coming from one of MASN's biggest detractors in the past. Bravo, guys!


----------



## parkay57

Did WDCA change their mind about broadcasting MASN HD without telling MASN? I'm a FIOS subscriber and I'm stuck watching the SD feed. I read on the Post's Nationals Journal comments that a Cox subscriber is having the same issue.


I used MASN's "Report Technical Difficulties" link (with a surprisingly fast response) and they replied:


"Thank you for your interest in MASN. WDCA does MASN's HD feed. Because Verizon does not air MASN's HD feed, we are unsure if they carry WDCA when they air HD games. Please contact your provider regarding this issue for additional assistance."


I replied that it's not just a Verizon issue, so we'll see how they respond.


----------



## machpost

Here on RCN in D.C., tonight's game is on WDCA-DT in SD, and in HD, on MASN HD. I'm surprised it wasn't blacked out on MASN HD.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *parkay57* /forum/post/13885539
> 
> 
> Did WDCA change their mind about broadcasting MASN HD without telling MASN? I'm a FIOS subscriber and I'm stuck watching the SD feed. I read on the Post's Nationals Journal comments that a Cox subscriber is having the same issue.



WDCA-DT 20 is broadcasting the SD version of MASN tonight. The problem is not with Verizon nor Cox. That is a seriously confused reply from WDCA. Verizon carries the HD signal of WDCA-DT on channel 805 and if WDCA-DT was providing the game in true HD, it would be in HD on Verizon. However, MASN is available on Verizon at channel 67 and I think Verizon is supposed to black out MASN where they provide WDCA.


Both WDCA-DT and WJZ-DT started out the season carrying the MASN-HD games they had in HD, but both have regressed. Is there a technical problem or they have the B team running the stations for the weekend games who don't know to hook up the HD signal?


----------



## parkay57




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13885611
> 
> 
> WDCA-DT 20 is broadcasting the SD version of MASN tonight. The problem is not with Verizon nor Cox. That is a seriously confused reply from WDCA. Verizon carries the HD signal of WDCA-DT on channel 805 and if WDCA-DT was providing the game in true HD, it would be in HD on Verizon. However, MASN is available on Verizon at channel 67 and I think Verizon is supposed to black out MASN where they provide WDCA.
> 
> 
> Both WDCA-DT and WJZ-DT started out the season carrying the MASN-HD games they had in HD, but both have regressed. Is there a technical problem or they have the B team running the stations for the weekend games who don't know to hook up the HD signal?



The response was from MASN, not WDCA. I just left the WDCA engineers a voicemail message (got the number through the myfoxdc site), but who knows if they're checking messages over the weekend.


----------



## jacindc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *clifburns* /forum/post/13880175
> 
> 
> New "HD" channels on Comcast DC this morning:
> 
> 
> 217 SciHD
> 
> 244 DisneyHD
> 
> 245 ABC Family HD
> 
> 
> All are simulcasting SD programming from their SD channels. So the reason people on Comcast DC have started to see macro-blocking and compression artifacts on your other channels is to make way for these wastes of bandwidth.



I'm seeing the 700 Club in HD right now on 245 and Cool Stuff: How it Works in HD on 217.


----------



## Newmie




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13884424
> 
> 
> What TV do you have? Some models have been unable to tune to the digital broadcast copy of the locals because of how Verizon is manipulating the PSIP data. There is a very long thread in the Fios TV forum at dslreports.com on the details. The problem is supposed to be fixed in June/July, IIRC. Verizon does provide the PSIP channel mapping so the newer ATSC/QAM tuners will map the locals to their broadcast channel #: 4-1, 4-2, 5-1, 7-1, 7-2, 7-3 and up to 67-1,2,3,4 for MPT (they apparently get MPT via WMPB-DT 67 in Baltimore).
> 
> 
> Copying from a several month old post elsewhere:
> 
> 
> Here are the clear QAM channels for the Washington Metro market.
> 
> 55-100: WGN
> 
> 63: SD locals
> 
> 65: PEGs
> 
> 66: 3 SD, 47 Music Choice channels
> 
> 67: SD locals, PEGs
> 
> 68: SD locals
> 
> 71: 2 local HD (WUSA CBS 9, WRC NBC 4, 2 SD subs)
> 
> 72: 2 local HD (WTTG Fox 5, WDCA MNT 20)
> 
> 73: 2 local HD (MPT PBS 67, WJLA ABC 7, 4 SD subs)
> 
> 74: 2 local HD (WDCW CW 50, WETA PBS 26, 4 SD)
> 
> 75: 2 local stations: WNVC-DT MHz 56 and WNVT-DT MHz 30 stations (8 SD subs)
> 
> 82: WPXW-DT Ion 66 (4 SD sub-channels)
> 
> 84: 48 Urge music channels




afiggatt,


A Big Thank you!! With your reply, a few more threads and simple trial and error I was able to get my Sony S3000 to receive the HD channels listed above. I had to manually enter channel 71.1 then hit the channel up key, then magically the first HD channel appeared. Repeated for 72-74.


Thanks again,

Newmie


----------



## nottenst

I noticed another digital converter while shopping today. I was at the local BJs wholesale club today and they had the GE 22730 for $50 there. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be getting all that good reviews (especially cnet , but perhaps it would be adequate for a kitchen TV.


Neil


----------



## clifburns




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jacindc* /forum/post/13886302
> 
> 
> I'm seeing the 700 Club in HD right now on 245 and Cool Stuff: How it Works in HD on 217.



The 700 Club is the only thing I've seen in HD so far on ABC "Family" "HD". Woohoo! You can now watch these tele-huckster-vangelists tell you how God will make you rich if you give money to CBN. (Not kidding, that's what they were doing last night with a testimonial from a dim-witted couple who explained that once they started pledging money to these folks, God gave them much more money back in return.) Now that's content that deserves to be seen in the full glory of 720p. And I'm certain that Comcast subscribers in DC would rather see preachers begging for money in HD than CNN-HD. Thanks, Comcast!


----------



## aaronwt

ABC Family shows more than that.


----------



## clifburns




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/13892665
> 
> 
> ABC Family shows more than that.



That's real helpful. Some examples might have been nice.


ABC Family HD apparently has so little HD content that the ABC Family website doesn't even bother to identify anything as HD. Nor does Zap2It list anything on ABC Family today as HD.


----------



## rob base

As of 5/15 we have these new channels:

217 SCIHD

218 AMCHD

234 CNNHD

237 HISTHD

240 TLCHD

214 APHD

244 DISHD

245 FAMHD


----------



## vidioteic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13854685
> 
> 
> Looks like Dish decided to axe 10 of the 15 Voom channels that they carried. They are now down to just 5 Voom channels.



Catching up...


My understanding is that VOOM is moving towards international distribution, as, I believe, many of it's channels are similar to those already offered in the US. VOOM-HD is growing in the international market.


It's a shame for us; as usual, Europe reaps the benefit of all the R&D long before the US does


----------



## vidioteic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/13861953
> 
> 
> MASN claims to have MASN HD and MASN2 HD. Tonight's game was on MASN2 HD. On most cable systems, they put both MASN HD and MASN2 HD on the same channel. On DirecTV, they put MASN HD on 626-1 and MASN2 HD on 671-1.



MASN only has one games-only channel. However, the branding of that channel (MASN1 vs MASN2) is based on the the SD channel for the particular game. So if the game is on MASN2 SD, then, for ratings/advertising purposes, it is on MASN2 HD, even though it's the same channel. (Does that make sense?) Think of a few years ago when the NBA was on ABC on Sundays; it was branded as ESPN on ABC. Similar concept.


For cable viewers MASN-HD or MASN2-HD should always be the same channel (check your local listings). [And you all know the deal with My20.] However, as you D* viewers are aware, DirecTV maps the HD channel as xxx-1 of the SD channel. So if the HD game is on MASN2 in SD, it will be on 671-1 in HD.


Got it?










FWIW, there are only about a dozen MASN2-HD games this year.


----------



## vidioteic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/13885194
> 
> 
> To the MASN guy,
> 
> 
> Can you please fix the DD5.1, or have someone fix the DD5.1? It's back to effectively being mono, with the commentators coming from all directions.
> 
> 
> BTW, thanks for fixing the 4:3 "dark box" before I even had a chance to get online and ask about it.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> PS I'm _really_ impressed with MASN's telecasts as of late. MASN was clearly a second rate network for the first few years of their existence, but nowadays they do put out some really good stuff. Once you get these video/sound problems permanently ironed out (instead of having to fix them every few games), and once the quantity is up at the same high level as the quality, MASN will be one of the premiere destinations for local sports in the Baltimore-Washington market.
> 
> 
> And this all coming from one of MASN's biggest detractors in the past. Bravo, guys!



Sorry for the delay... Busy weekend.


As you all are aware, Surround Mixing is not easy. Friday there was an issue with some encoding hardware as well as with the audio set up on site. I believe the hardware was corrected Friday after the game. Please be patient as MASN works on these issues. It is the intention to bring Surround to the viewers, however MASN is still working out the kinks all around (even with SD), and, unfortunately, Surround is the first thing to go if there are problems. Please understand that each time there is a venue change, there is an audio engineer change, which means a new set up has to be performed.


The reason behind up-mixing sources that are not Surround is to maintain consistency on the transmission signal, so those listening via DD do not hear a pop, hiss or hash when the DD decoder switches from 5.1 to 2.0. Often the decision to not produce in Surround is made late in the day, so rather than reconstructing the audio in Master Control, all signals are maintained as Surround. FWIW, there signal is ALWAYS stereo when not in Surround.


The black box was a problem with the Telestrator. Interestingly only HD viewers noticed it, as it filled the 4x3 rastor and just made it look dim










Thank you for the kind compliments. I encourage you (and anyone else) to put those in writing through the website comments section. It does make a difference.


Next HD game is today (Sunday) and then Tuesday.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey

Hey Vidioteic,


I have a couple of questions about MASN.


What is the deal with the contrast? Many time, I can't see Guzman's face AT ALL. I tried different settings on my TV and I am sure it is not the TV. The ball-park and all the surroundings look so dark.


Also, what is the deal with the graphics? I see something that looks like a weird shaped star then the oval that has the team logo. The Nats logo is in a black oval with a little bit of some semi-red color in the center. I thought it was because of I was watching it in SD, but the HD games are no better. This is something I can live with if I have more games in HD, but it would be really nice to have better, clean, and crisp graphics.


----------



## vidioteic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13885611
> 
> 
> WDCA-DT 20 is broadcasting the SD version of MASN tonight. The problem is not with Verizon nor Cox. That is a seriously confused reply from WDCA. Verizon carries the HD signal of WDCA-DT on channel 805 and if WDCA-DT was providing the game in true HD, it would be in HD on Verizon. However, MASN is available on Verizon at channel 67 and I think Verizon is supposed to black out MASN where they provide WDCA.
> 
> 
> Both WDCA-DT and WJZ-DT started out the season carrying the MASN-HD games they had in HD, but both have regressed. Is there a technical problem or they have the B team running the stations for the weekend games who don't know to hook up the HD signal?



This was a WDCA issue. The game was originally supposed to be on WDCA exclusively in the DC DMA (which would have caused a MASN2 blackout), however, that was changed at the last minute. This may have caused some confusion at WDCA. The problem with not getting the game in HD on WDCA was WDCA issue, not a MASN issue.


All MASN games that WDCA picks up that are produced in HD will (should) be in HD on WDCA (subject to black outs on MASN HD). It seems the WJZ agreement is different than that of WDCA. Perhaps if the B'more folks complain enough that might change. WJZ carried the first game of the season in HD.


----------



## vidioteic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/13893207
> 
> 
> Hey Vidioteic,
> 
> 
> I have a couple of questions about MASN.
> 
> 
> What is the deal with the contrast? Many time, I can't see Guzman's face AT ALL. I tried different settings on my TV and I am sure it is not the TV. The ball-park and all the surroundings look so dark.
> 
> 
> Also, what is the deal with the graphics? I see something that looks like a weird shaped star then the oval that has the team logo. The Nats logo is in a black oval with a little bit of some semi-red color in the center. I thought it was because of I was watching it in SD, but the HD games are no better. This is something I can live with if I have more games in HD, but it would be really nice to have better, clean, and crisp graphics.



Well, I can't answer much about production. Do you have the contrast problem at all parks or just specific ones? I've never noticed an issue, but then again I'm not a sports fan.... If it's just Guzman's face, it might his look; if it's the entire show it may be something bigger. I'll have to keep an eye on that .


As for the graphics, again, I can't speak for production. I can tell you red never renders well in the world of TV, which is probably part of the problem, and it would a greater problem in SD than in HD. You could write in about it, but I'm not sure how much response you would get.


I wish I could be more help in that realm.


As for more HD, hopefully you are enjoying the HD MASN is providing. You should send a comment stating such, and that you would watch more if more games were offered. All I can say is look at This Article about "Family Guy" and do the math. Cryptic, but the smart folks will figure out it's all about ratings.... ooops....


----------



## jgantert

13.1 is showing MASN HD, but the game is definately not in HD today. Oh well, too much to ask that the O's actually be in HD I guess.


I have emailed complaints to MASN and WJZ, but I doubt they will do any good.


----------



## chicken00

Is there a reason that WJZ stopped showing HD on their broadcast of the O's? The opener was in HD, but today's game with the Nats is in SD on Channel 13.1. I also noticed that Friday's broadcast on Channel 20.1 was also in SD.


I have FIOS, and do not have access to the MASN HD channel (still listed as TBD on MASN's website). I just received a letter in the mail from FIOS that they are discontinuing their analog stations in July, and offered me a free digital convereter so that the TVs that I plug directly into the cable without a box will be able to receive digital broadcasts. They informed me that I would get all the regular non subscription stations, except no guide, PPV, etc. If so, I would dump by $5/mo box for my SD televisions.


----------



## vidioteic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/13894651
> 
> 
> 13.1 is showing MASN HD, but the game is definately not in HD today. Oh well, too much to ask that the O's actually be in HD I guess.
> 
> 
> I have emailed complaints to MASN and WJZ, but I doubt they will do any good.



MASN HD is on MASN HD only, not WJZ (see my previous thread). FWIW, the "MASN HD" bug is displayed even on the SD. I'm told this is done to inform viewers that show is avialable in HD.


Keep writing that you want WJZ to carry it's MASN games in HD.


----------



## jnelaine

Hi,


I've been having a problem getting channel 5-1 this weekend and was wondering if the problem is with my antenna or their transmitter. I've had my HD antenna for a few years now and it's been rock-solid. But starting yesterday (when it was perfectly clear outside), channel 5-1 started breaking up regularly and it has continued through today.


I ran my TV's signal strength meter and channels 4-1, 7-1, and 9-1 are still great with signal strength steady at anywhere from 88% to 93%. But the meter goes all over the board on 5-1 with it dropping down below 50% and even down to 0% sometimes.


I am in Burke at the top of a big hill with a clear shot toward DC.


Any ideas?


Thanks,

Jay


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jnelaine* /forum/post/13897029
> 
> 
> I ran my TV's signal strength meter and channels 4-1, 7-1, and 9-1 are still great with signal strength steady at anywhere from 88% to 93%. But the meter goes all over the board on 5-1 with it dropping down below 50% and even down to 0% sometimes.



WTTG-DT Fox 5 is coming in fine here in Sterling with a stable 10 bars (full strength) on my signal meter. If the signal strength is fluctuating that much, you could be having a multi-path problem. If you can access the antenna, you might want to move the aim to the west or east a bit to see if it helps.


----------



## CycloneGT

I haven't had any problems with fox5 here either.


I picked a Digtial Converter box from Radio Shack. I got the Digital Stream DTX9900. I give it 2 out of 5 stars. It didn't get all of the channels that my "other" box does, plus it doesn't have a EPG for all of the channels. If you press EPG, it just lists whats coming up on the ch that you are. So much for guide surfing.


----------



## jnelaine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13897289
> 
> 
> WTTG-DT Fox 5 is coming in fine here in Sterling with a stable 10 bars (full strength) on my signal meter. If the signal strength is fluctuating that much, you could be having a multi-path problem. If you can access the antenna, you might want to move the aim to the west or east a bit to see if it helps.



Hmmm, would it make sense that this started happening all of a sudden this weekend after 2 years of no problems? I had the antenna professionally installed, so I'm reluctant to try and move it for fear of messing up the other channels.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast SportsNet will show five Mystics games, all in July, four in HD.


Tuesday, July 8 7:00 PM Indiana Fever, HD


Friday, July 18 7:00 PM Detroit Shock, HD


Sunday, July 20 4:00 PM Seattle Storm, HD


Wednesday, July 23 11:30 AM New York Liberty


Sunday, July 27 4:00 PM Connecticut Sun, HD


http://www.oursportscentral.com/serv...es/?id=3636741


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *vidioteic* /forum/post/13895174
> 
> 
> MASN HD is on MASN HD only, not WJZ (see my previous thread). FWIW, the "MASN HD" bug is displayed even on the SD. I'm told this is done to inform viewers that show is avialable in HD.
> 
> 
> Keep writing that you want WJZ to carry it's MASN games in HD.



Well, I only have an antenna, so the only MASN HD I get is on WJZ (and My20), which sounds like no HD.










Oh well, I'll keep writing each game. Not like its going to do any good, but it can't hurt.


-John


----------



## CycloneGT

So does WBFF-DT go HD news today?


----------



## tvguy5

I hope so i have been waiting a while, there morning news wasnt in high-def but DCRTV reported sometime this week there newscasts would be HD so hopefully maybe tonight at 10. It should be soon though because a sinclair station in columbus ohio just went hd last week.


----------



## Marcus Carr

This morning a promo just said HD news coming soon. Doesn't sound like today.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13897375
> 
> 
> I haven't had any problems with fox5 here either.
> 
> 
> I picked a Digtial Converter box from Radio Shack. I got the Digital Stream DTX9900. I give it 2 out of 5 stars. It didn't get all of the channels that my "other" box does, plus it doesn't have a EPG for all of the channels. If you press EPG, it just lists whats coming up on the ch that you are. So much for guide surfing.



Have you noticed the audio problem on programs with 5.1 sound. Mine works great on eveything but these types of shows; and also Channel 9's local news. My Zenith & DS box both have this same problem.


Thanks!!


----------



## tvguy5

I would say this week for two three reasons


1. if you notice Fox45 hasn't been showing their news graphic during newscasts for about 5 days now,+ DCRTV said this week


2. a sinclair station in ohio just went HD


3. i have seen that HD promo way more on TV in the past week than ever before but who knows we will just have to wait and see


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> *Old Antenna Won't Work With New Digital TV (Duh) - 5/20 -* We've been telling you. That old analog TV antenna probably won't work too well with that new digital TV set. Or with that digital converter box with your old TV. Now, Tuesday's DC Post discovers the same thing: "Digital signals are more sensitive to disruption, so the sound mutes and the screen freezes, sometimes dissolving into a cascade of pixels... In the Washington area, about 56 percent of the 370,000 households watching over-the-air broadcasts may need to upgrade their antennas"....



Uhm. I have been using a "analog" antenna for the past 5 years and I've been able to easily receive every Digital TV signal in the Wash/Balt area. There maybe some new antennas which are designed specifically for "digital signals" but to claim that antennas that have been in use for years are somehow deficient is outright false.


What has your experience been?


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13906824
> 
> 
> Uhm. I have been using a "analog" antenna for the past 5 years and I've been able to easily receive every Digital TV signal in the Wash/Balt area. There maybe some new antennas which are designed specifically for "digital signals" but to claim that antennas that have been in use for years are somehow deficient is outright false.
> 
> 
> What has your experience been?



The lady in the article does have regular Rabbit ears and I thought they were only for VHF. Am I wrong?


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/13906886
> 
> 
> The lady in the article does have regular Rabbit ears and I thought they were only for VHF. Am I wrong?



Yep... Not the best for UHF...


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/13906918
> 
> 
> Yep... Not the best for UHF...



Also, since I think she is in a high rise apt, it is probably prone to multipath and isn't there a better antenna that can deal with Multipath than Rabbit Ears?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/13906886
> 
> 
> The lady in the article does have regular Rabbit ears and I thought they were only for VHF. Am I wrong?



The picture shows a UHF loop antenna along with the rabbit ears. The tin foil may or may not help. If she is having problems with air traffic, she needs a somewhat more directional antenna. A Silver Sensor UHF antenna with rabbit ears might do the trick such as the Terk HDTVi (the unamplified version).


----------



## E55 KEV

On 1 set I use rabbit ears I have had for more than 15 years. Also non-amplified.


----------



## CycloneGT

Another thing that I remember from my first days of going digital was how much better my typical UHF channels looked in digital as opposed to their Analog counterparts. WB50, UPN20, and FOX45 always looked "uhf" to me. Once I went digital they looked just like any other TV channel.


I will confess that before I put my antenna on the roof, that I did have some signal issues, and airplanes could effect the picture on one of my fringe (MPT22 in 2003) channels. But then again at the same time, the analog reception wasn't top notch either. So its not like I was from excellent analog to deficient digital with the same antenna. In fact I found that I saw better results with the digital channel when compared to the analog channels with the same antenna.


----------



## cpldc

I missed the UHF loop when I first saw the picture but it's definitely there. The article has some serious flaws--for one it doesn't specifically mention that channel allocations are changing next year. The comments section is hilarious, though: lots of conspiracy theory nuts and "old analog guys." Good thing for them that channel 49 will still be analog next year.


----------



## mikepinkerton

There's a reason Kornheiser refers to the drctv guy as "The Naked Mole-rat" 


-mike


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13906824
> 
> 
> Uhm. I have been using a "analog" antenna for the past 5 years and I've been able to easily receive every Digital TV signal in the Wash/Balt area. There maybe some new antennas which are designed specifically for "digital signals" but to claim that antennas that have been in use for years are somehow deficient is outright false.
> 
> 
> What has your experience been?



I'm much more curious as to what to expect with the switchover next year when some of the stations move back to their VHF frequencies. When I bought my first DTV box, I went with a UHF yagi roof antenna. It will be interesting to see if it has enough "juice" to get a decent signal on 7, 9, 11, and 13 when they move back to their VHF allocations. I find it odd that no manufacturers has created an antenna specifically for high VHF/low UHF which is what most areas of the country will be left with for television.


In addition, when the extra digital stations shut down their UHF transmitters (7, 9, 11, 13), isn't it conceivable that that will somewhat improve the UHF signals that are left. Less clutter in the air to interfere...


----------



## voltore




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikepinkerton* /forum/post/13907648
> 
> 
> There's a reason Kornheiser refers to the drctv guy as "The Naked Mole-rat"



dcrtv gets most of their info from the inside. That is well known by us on the inside







However, the source sometimes works on old info or misunderstood info, or simply things change, some other obstacle becomes a show-stopper and so things get delayed. Who knows.


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/13908239
> 
> 
> I find it odd that no manufacturers has created an antenna specifically for high VHF/low UHF which is what most areas of the country will be left with for television.



I don't. I live 50 or so miles from DC towers. I got a combo VHF/UHF antenna rated at 60 miles. The only station I have problems with is 50-1 right now. The big four are in the low 90s in strength. Nothing "special" about it; it looks identical to antennas in my subdivision that have been up for 10+ years. I bought it specifically BECAUSE it did VHF, and I suspected some stations would go back to their VHF channels. Plus, it pulls in FM radio well too, for the handful of times I actually listen to radio in the house.


I considered a UHF only antenna, but took my chances with this one and have been very happy.


----------



## cpldc

I can think of one situation where a current setup might be OK for analog but not for digital. It popped up here a couple of weeks ago on the technical forum: somebody had an antenna wired with twin-lead, which made DTV reception problematic. Replacing with RG-6 fixed the problem.


As much as I find that article irritating (and more or less redundant) the article itself and especially the comments made me realize just how little people know about DTV (and I don't claim to know a lot myself). I wonder what'll happen when people have to rescan next year after the channels change, or reaim their antennas, etc.


But I still maintain that people who are currently having reception issues can more than likely fix them with not too much effort or money, and without unnecessary moaning articles like this.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/13908239
> 
> 
> I find it odd that no manufacturers has created an antenna specifically for high VHF/low UHF which is what most areas of the country will be left with for television.



But they have. Winegard introduced the new line of HD-769 upper VHF/UHF antennas a few months ago. The 3 shorter to medium range models have the advantage of being 36" wide for VHF 7 pickup compared to the standard 110" width to pick up VHF 2. See the HD-769 listings at http://www.winegard.com/offair/vhfuhf.htm . These are on the pricey side, but are considered to be of good quality construction.


Checking the Channel Master website, I see they have also introduced a odd looking upper short-medium range upper VHF/UHF yagi antenna with a upper VHF reflector element, the CM 2016. See http://www.channelmasterintl.com/2016.html . In our region, all the major stations will be on upper VHF and UHF. But across the US, there will be 40 full power stations on low VHF (2 to 6) so there will be people elsewhere who need antennas for low VHF.


One comment on the Washington Post article. While it does an ok job bringing up digital vs analog coverage, side mounted antennas for digital broadcast (WNVC-DT 56 has this issue), and that most stations are currently digitally broadcasting - which has often been ignored in articles on the digital transition, nowhere does it mention that the stations are digitally broadcasting on other channels, ie UHF. I don't expect a mass media article to get down into the deep technical details, but I think they should at least discuss that WRC-DT 4 is broadcasting on UHF 48 for example. And that WJLA-DT and WUSA-DT are currently on UHF, but will transition to upper VHF 7 & 9 next February. The key is that the VHF stations are currently on UHF, so people installing the digital converters need to pay attention to the aim of the UHF part of their antenna if their antenna has separate VHF & UHF parts (such as the tabletop antenna shown in the article). In some cases, they made need to manually tune to UHF 48 or 36 to tweak the aim of the antenna. The concept of digital simulcasting is not that hard to explain.


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13909486
> 
> 
> But they have. Winegard introduced the new line of HD-769 upper VHF/UHF antennas a few months ago. The 3 shorter to medium range models have the advantage of being 36" wide for VHF 7 pickup compared to the standard 110" width to pick up VHF 2. See the HD-769 listings at http://www.winegard.com/offair/vhfuhf.htm . These are on the pricey side, but are considered to be of good quality construction.
> 
> 
> Checking the Channel Master website, I see they have also introduced a odd looking upper short-medium range upper VHF/UHF yagi antenna with a upper VHF reflector element, the CM 2016. See http://www.channelmasterintl.com/2016.html . In our region, all the major stations will be on upper VHF and UHF. But across the US, there will be 40 full power stations on low VHF (2 to 6) so there will be people elsewhere who need antennas for low VHF.



Thanks for the update. I hadn't noticed this. I wonder why the Winegard is optimized for 7 thru 69. I thought that the TV band was only going up to 52.


----------



## bucnasty

did anyone else hear wmal during the price is right this morning?


----------



## voltore




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bucnasty* /forum/post/13915094
> 
> 
> did anyone else hear wmal during the price is right this morning?



WMAL generated the monthly EAS test this morning which we carried at 11:30. Was that it?


----------



## bucnasty

yeah but it wasnt the cool guy saying "this is a test of the bla bla bla..." it was a commecial for pope john paul high school and actual air time on wmal... it was some ricky talking about gas prices.


who knew a-hole was a no-no here?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/13911814
> 
> 
> Thanks for the update. I hadn't noticed this. I wonder why the Winegard is optimized for 7 thru 69. I thought that the TV band was only going up to 52.



The US TV broadcast band after next February will be limited to VHF 2 to 13, UHF 14 to 51 (skipping UHF 37 which is reserved for radio astronomy). UHF 52 to 69 are the channels being reallocated. (That is why WMAR-DT 2 in Baltimore has to vacate UHF 52 and will take over WJZ-DT 13's UHF 38 transmitter and antenna). I would guess that the reason that the Winegard series is still designed for up through UHF 69 is that it has to cover those channels through next year and there is not that much of a performance advantage by optimizing the UHF antenna to cover only up to UHF 51. They probably left the UHF yagi design alone and just redesigned the VHF part to optimize it for upper VHF 7 to 13 which makes the antenna much more compact.


----------



## Bl0bby

Hi:

I'm in Silver Spring & have a Channel Master 4221 in my attic crawlspace. It's connected to coax (probably 70 feet or so) which ends up at a 2 way splitter in the basement. With just this setup, I get between 70-80% signal strength on most of the HD channels in the area, but they will drop out regularly. I bought the Channel Master 7777 preamp setup to try to boost the signal a bit, and I'm having some issues.

If I hook the power to the end of the coax in the basement, I get 0% signal on all the channels. When I move it up to the attic, connected to the preamp with just a short coax, I get about the same signal as without it. Can anyone explain why it wouldn't work at all down at the end of the coax, which is where it would ordinarily be, and why it wouldn't amplify the signal noticeably when run right next to the amp? Is the coax too long to supply the power? Is there a way to test that the power supply is working correctly? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Bobby


----------



## Deezul

I have the pre-amp attached to a CM 3018 with a run of 100' of coax between the pre-amp start connection at the antenna and the powered module in my basement. I about 60 miles from the towers, and get high 80s to mid 90s for the big 4. Have you tried it without the splitter? I bought a powered 4 way splitter to send the signal out in my house.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bl0bby* /forum/post/13925805
> 
> 
> I bought the Channel Master 7777 preamp setup to try to boost the signal a bit, and I'm having some issues.
> 
> If I hook the power to the end of the coax in the basement, I get 0% signal on all the channels. When I move it up to the attic, connected to the preamp with just a short coax, I get about the same signal as without it. Can anyone explain why it wouldn't work at all down at the end of the coax, which is where it would ordinarily be, and why it wouldn't amplify the signal noticeably when run right next to the amp? Is the coax too long to supply the power?



The power supply provides a low DC voltage. That should work through a fairly long cable run. Do you have any splitters between the end of the coaxial run where you hooked the power supply and the CM7777 at the antenna? I have a CM 7777 powered through a ~ 60' cable run without a problem. I would start by double checking the setup and making sure you have everything connected to the correct ports in the right order. I developed a loose connection on the first power supply I had and eventually ended up replacing it. If you have a voltage meter, you should check the output of the power supply using the end of a coaxial cable.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Again last night "Raymond" was not in HD on My 20. What is going on over at the WDCA control room lately?


----------



## CycloneGT

Raymond ran for a long time, I wonder if the first several seasons where in HD?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13930053
> 
> 
> Raymond ran for a long time, I wonder if the first several seasons where in HD?



The first 3 seasons of Raymond originally aired in 4:3 SD, but were apparently originally shot in 16:9 and have been redone in HD. So all umpteen seasons of Raymond are available in HD for syndication. See the Raymond discussions later in this thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=885088 . Can't say what is going on with WDCA-DT 20, but I noticed they did air the My Network Thursday night movie at 8 PM in HD. Last Friday night, they aired the MASN-HD Nats game in SD, but on Saturday night, the Nats game was in HD. Equipment problems? Someone forget to set it up for HD? I emailed the station about the Friday night game being in SD, but have not received any reply.


----------



## bucnasty

if i worked at my20 i would probably nap on the job too...


----------



## gdavisloop

Look more carefully at the picture... she also has a UHF loop antenna, but this is also covered with aluminum foil... I'm not sure if that helps or not ;-) But clearly, apparment managers should be forced to install suitable master antenna systems... instead of just giving sweetheart deals to the cable company.


----------



## chapelrun




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bl0bby* /forum/post/13925805
> 
> 
> Hi:
> 
> I'm in Silver Spring & have a Channel Master 4221 in my attic crawlspace. It's connected to coax (probably 70 feet or so) which ends up at a 2 way splitter in the basement. With just this setup, I get between 70-80% signal strength on most of the HD channels in the area, but they will drop out regularly. I bought the Channel Master 7777 preamp setup to try to boost the signal a bit, and I'm having some issues.
> 
> If I hook the power to the end of the coax in the basement, I get 0% signal on all the channels. When I move it up to the attic, connected to the preamp with just a short coax, I get about the same signal as without it. Can anyone explain why it wouldn't work at all down at the end of the coax, which is where it would ordinarily be, and why it wouldn't amplify the signal noticeably when run right next to the amp? Is the coax too long to supply the power? Is there a way to test that the power supply is working correctly? Any advice would be appreciated.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Bobby



I also have a CM7777 and it should be as close to the antenna as possible. I'm about 70 miles west of DC and would not get many channels with amplification. It may be in your case that the signal strength is high enough without amplication to receive the channels you want. Do you get any additional channels with the 7777 that you do not without it?


My brother who is an EE explained the reason why the amp needs to be close to the antenna and in general you want to amplify the best signal possible. The farther you move from the source, the lower the signal.


----------



## Digital Rules

Anybody else getting WUTB channel 24? I'm getting a fair signal here in Arlington. First time it has ever come in here.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bl0bby* /forum/post/13925805
> 
> 
> Hi:
> 
> I'm in Silver Spring & have a Channel Master 4221 in my attic crawlspace. It's connected to coax (probably 70 feet or so) which ends up at a 2 way splitter in the basement. With just this setup, I get between 70-80% signal strength on most of the HD channels in the area, but they will drop out regularly. I bought the Channel Master 7777 preamp setup to try to boost the signal a bit, and I'm having some issues.
> 
> If I hook the power to the end of the coax in the basement, I get 0% signal on all the channels. When I move it up to the attic, connected to the preamp with just a short coax, I get about the same signal as without it. Can anyone explain why it wouldn't work at all down at the end of the coax, which is where it would ordinarily be, and why it wouldn't amplify the signal noticeably when run right next to the amp? Is the coax too long to supply the power? Is there a way to test that the power supply is working correctly? Any advice would be appreciated.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Bobby



The 7777 preamp has way too much gain for your area. Some of the analog UHF stations in Bethesda are pumping out around 4 million watts.(That preamp is designed for people that live "at least" 30 miles from the nearest full powered station.) You will make your weaker channels worse because the stronger stations are overwhelming your tuner. The only preamp that will might work is the Winegard 269. It is much more forgiving with strong input levels. I get a bit of overload here in Arlington with no amp at all. I can only imagine how much overload you are getting in Silver Spring


----------



## dtv4u




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/13957879
> 
> 
> Anybody else getting WUTB channel 24? I'm getting a fair signal here in Arlington. First time it has ever come in here.



As of 6:06PM this evening, WUTB-DT has commenced program test at its full pre-transition power. Thanks for the report from Arlington.


To all, please do a re-scan to see if WUTB-DT is now coming in for you. We'd like to get reception reports whether you can now see WUTB-DT or not.


Thanks for your patience!


dtv4u


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dtv4u* /forum/post/13958057
> 
> 
> As of 6:06PM this evening, WUTB-DT has commenced program test at its full pre-transition power. Thanks for the report from Arlington.
> 
> 
> To all, please do a re-scan to see if WUTB-DT is now coming in for you. We'd like to get reception reports whether you can now see WUTB-DT or not.
> 
> 
> Thanks for your patience!
> 
> 
> dtv4u



The signal is marginal here in Arlington. (Occasional breakups). All the other Baltimore stations are full strength except WJZ 13. I get a much better signal from PBS in Hagerstown.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/13894651
> 
> 
> 13.1 is showing MASN HD, but the game is definately not in HD today. Oh well, too much to ask that the O's actually be in HD I guess.
> 
> 
> I have emailed complaints to MASN and WJZ, but I doubt they will do any good.



More emails sent today. I never get any responces. I think they must all just get forwarded to /dev/null or something.


Has anyone ever got any response back from WJZ or MASN about their lack of HD. So far only the opener has been in HD this year. Pretty sad if you ask me.


-John


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dtv4u* /forum/post/13958057
> 
> 
> As of 6:06PM this evening, WUTB-DT has commenced program test at its full pre-transition power. Thanks for the report from Arlington.
> 
> To all, please do a re-scan to see if WUTB-DT is now coming in for you. We'd like to get reception reports whether you can now see WUTB-DT or not.



I am getting a stable picture for WUTB-DT My 24 here in the north end of Sterling, VA. Entered channel 41 into the Samsung SIR-T451 tuner and it locked on, switched to displaying 24 with 6 out of 10 bars on the signal strength meter. The Sony HDD250 HD-DVR locked on to 41.1, but I'll have to do a rescan later with it to properly enter the station. WUTB-DT is 480i SD however.


Is this full power a permanent change for WUTB-DT? Checking the FCC application database, looks like they finally granted the CP on May 19 if I read it correctly. Will WUTB-DT upgrade to a 720p HD signal any time soon and provide the HD MyNetwork programming in HD for those who don't get WDCA-DT?


As for WJZ-DT 13, yep, they are showing the MASN-HD game in SD - again. Frustrating because Verizon Fios has not added MASN-HD and there is no word on if Verizon will do before this season is over. The few broadcast MASN-HD games on WDCA-DT 20 and WJZ-DT 13 are it. Oh well.


----------



## jsh5771




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dtv4u* /forum/post/13958057
> 
> 
> As of 6:06PM this evening, WUTB-DT has commenced program test at its full pre-transition power. Thanks for the report from Arlington.
> 
> 
> To all, please do a re-scan to see if WUTB-DT is now coming in for you. We'd like to get reception reports whether you can now see WUTB-DT or not.
> 
> 
> Thanks for your patience!
> 
> 
> dtv4u



I am getting a good signal from Reston, VA. Maps to 24.1 on my DirecTV receiver, but maps to 41.1 on my Sony TV.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dtv4u* /forum/post/13958057
> 
> 
> As of 6:06PM this evening, WUTB-DT has commenced program test at its full pre-transition power. Thanks for the report from Arlington.
> 
> 
> To all, please do a re-scan to see if WUTB-DT is now coming in for you. We'd like to get reception reports whether you can now see WUTB-DT or not.
> 
> 
> Thanks for your patience!
> 
> 
> dtv4u



As of 10:12 PM, I see zero signal on channel 41. Did I miss my window of opportunity to check out WUTB-DT?


For the first time in awhile, I am able to receive 43/66.1-4 ION out of NOVA without dropouts/macroblocking. I see that I can no longer receive the MHz DT channels on channel 30 out of Goldvein.


Currently, I am watching WBOC-DT Fox 21 News from Salisbury/Dover. On another note, I'm looking forward to ABC 47 going to full power. Until that happens, I can't pick up their digital signal unless it's really foggy.


This is the first time that I've flipped the A/B switch to the antenna in awhile. I usually have my tuner set to QAM mode. I'm still not happy that Comcast removed the DC locals. I've been hoping that Fox 45 News goes HD soon. I used to watch WUSA-DT 9 News in HD, but most of the time it's too much trouble to flip the A/B switch.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/13959032
> 
> 
> As of 10:12 PM, I see zero signal on channel 41. Did I miss my window of opportunity to check out WUTB-DT?
> 
> 
> For the first time in awhile, I am able to receive 43/66.1-4 ION out of NOVA without dropouts/macroblocking. I can no longer receive the MHz DT channels on channel 30 out of Goldvein.
> 
> 
> Currently, I am watching WBOC-DT Fox 21 News from the DELMARVA peninsula right now. I'm looking forward to ABC 47 going to full power. Then I'll have access to 3 ABC affiliates over-the-air (not that ABC has much on to watch).



WUTB must be sending out a directional digital signal. WUTB 24 analog is crystal clear here, but digital is about 50%. (WBOC is also recievable here tonight).


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/13959123
> 
> 
> WUTB must be sending out a directional digital signal. WUTB 24 analog is crystal clear here, but digital is about 50%. (WBOC is also recievable here tonight).



I fine-tuned the position of my antenna and I am able to receive WUTB-DT. It only has 1 bar on my Samsung DTB-H260F tuner and it only comes in within a 2 degree swath! I'm experiencing lots of macroblocking and dropouts. This is the first time that any of my tuners have decoded the WUTB-DT signal (I have been trying for years!) Analog 24 has always been very strong & clear here.


What direction is the WUTB-DT transmitting antenna facing? Obviously the signal is making it to Arlington better than it's making it to Southern AA County. Usually, I can receive all of the DC and Baltimore channels at 80% signal strength or better. I'm seeing Seinfeld in SD. I think I'll go back to Fox 21. There is a really good episode of Two and a Half Men on right now!


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/13959230
> 
> 
> I fine-tuned the position of my antenna and I am able to receive WUTB-DT. It only has 1 bar on my Samsung DTB-H260F tuner and it only comes in within a 2 degree swath! I'm experiencing lots of macroblocking and dropouts. This is the first time that any of my tuners have decoded the WUTB-DT signal (I have been trying for years!) Analog 24 has always been very strong & clear here.
> 
> 
> What direction is the WUTB-DT transmitting antenna facing? Obviously the signal is making it to Arlington better than it's making it to Southern AA County. Usually, I can receive all of the DC and Baltimore channels at 80% signal strength or better. I'm seeing Seinfeld in SD. I think I'll go back to Fox 21. There is a really good episode of Two and a Half Men on right now!



The FCC website shows the digital signal steered away from the south, while the analog signal looks omnidirectional.


----------



## CycloneGT

I'm getting WUTB-DT in just fine here in Germantown. Still SD though.


I know that WUTB is run out of Syracuse NY, so I'm guessing that you are an engineer for the station.


----------



## tripleM

Any1 having scrolling white transparent bars on their analog channels on Cox Cable in western Fairfax County?


It's on most about 50% of the non- HD stations.

Oddly issue not on the TNT Lakers game currently or Comcast Sports or MASN1 or ESPN or CNBC or CNN to name a few but yet MASN2 (Orioles game vs/ Yanks) has the scrolling transparent bars, MTV.


It only started over the last week. Just wondering if I should call Cox or is this a weather issue or what?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/13959379
> 
> 
> The FCC website shows the digital signal steered away from the south, while the analog signal looks omnidirectional.



Yes, WUTB-DT 24's 200 kW full power signal is directional with full power to the north and reduced power to the south. This is their post-transition assignment, so there may a post-trans DT station on UHF 41 (or 40 or WMPT-DT on 42) to the south that forces them to run at reduced power in that direction. However, much of Northern VA is inside the nominal coverage B area. See http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...DT1233410.html .


WUTB-DT may be in the process of fine-tuning their antenna pattern, so that is why what I guess was a station engineer asking here for feedback on who is getting the station. There were also thunderstorms rolling through Baltimore later this evening which may have affected reception.


If WUTB-DT 24 (41) remains at full power, this will leave 2 full power stations in the Washington & Baltimore DMAs which will be at reduced coverage until next February 18: WHAG-DT NBC 25 in Hagerstown will stay at 900 Watts on UHF 55 until then and WNVC-DT MHz 56 in Fairfax which will have to go dark in September to put up a new digital antenna for broadcasting on UHF 24 (Yep, WUTB's analog channel).


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13959537
> 
> 
> Yes, WUTB-DT 24's 200 kW full power signal is directional with full power to the north and reduced power to the south. This is their post-transition assignment, so there may a post-trans DT station on UHF 41 (or 40 or WMPT-DT on 42) to the south that forces them to run at reduced power in that direction. However, much of Northern VA is inside the nominal coverage B area. See http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...DT1233410.html .)



It's funny to me that I'm "supposed" to be in the Baltimore DMA, but I get the DC channels over-the-air so much better and easier than the Baltimore channels. If WUTB-DT keeps it's antenna orientation the same, there will be one Baltimore channel that is right at the digital cliff. One of my tuners can't decode the signal at all.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/13960587
> 
> 
> It's funny to me that I'm "supposed" to be in the Baltimore DMA, but I get the DC channels over-the-air so much better and easier than the Baltimore channels. If WUTB-DT keeps it's antenna orientation the same, there will be one Baltimore channel that is right at the digital cliff. One of my tuners can't decode the signal at all.



This link shows you that are in a definte null area for the WUTB 24 digital signal.(Hope this works) http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/polarplot...00&p360=0.899&


----------



## StevenJB

I'm getting a steady 96-97/100 signal for WUTB-DT here in Olney, which is in central Montgomery Co. I'm using an rotorized outdoor antenna aimed at Baltimore. WNUV comes in at 100/100. WBFF also comes in at 100/100.


----------



## wmcbrine

Still no WUTB-DT here. It's the only Baltimore station I don't get. Very disappointing, especially since 24 analog is one of my strongest stations.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/13962437
> 
> 
> Still no WUTB-DT here. It's the only Baltimore station I don't get. Very disappointing, especially since 24 analog is one of my strongest stations.



Have you tried rescanning or a limited rescan which should allow you to add a single digital channel without rewriting/rescanning everything else that presently exists?


----------



## CycloneGT

Another tidbit from www.dcrtv.com 



> Quote:
> *11 To Launch HD News - 5/28* - DCRTV hears that Channel 11/WBAL news anchor Donna Hamilton will be doing a story on tonight's 5 PMer about the Baltimore NBC affiliate's new news set and studio currently under construction. Word is that the Hearst station will soon launch high-def local newscasts....



Of course dctrv also had a source that told them that Fox45 was going to launch their HD news about three weeks ago, but all that happened was a change to a new splicer that gave us a 16:9 news ticker.










Still, doesn't WBAL-DT still not have DD5.1 audio yet? Suprised to hear them going HD for news. Heck, even their EPG info on my digital converted boxes just says "dtv program".


----------



## bucnasty




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/13959534
> 
> 
> Any1 having scrolling white transparent bars on their analog channels on Cox Cable in western Fairfax County?
> 
> 
> It's on most about 50% of the non- HD stations.
> 
> Oddly issue not on the TNT Lakers game currently or Comcast Sports or MASN1 or ESPN or CNBC or CNN to name a few but yet MASN2 (Orioles game vs/ Yanks) has the scrolling transparent bars, MTV.
> 
> 
> It only started over the last week. Just wondering if I should call Cox or is this a weather issue or what?



im in fairfax city and have not noticed them... do you have a stb or card or basic?


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13962949
> 
> 
> Another tidbit from www.dcrtv.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Of course dctrv also had a source that told them that Fox45 was going to launch their HD news about three weeks ago, but all that happened was a change to a new splicer that gave us a 16:9 news ticker.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Still, doesn't WBAL-DT still not have DD5.1 audio yet? Suprised to hear them going HD for news. Heck, even their EPG info on my digital converted boxes just says "dtv program".



At this rate WBFF may not be first as they claim. Still no 5.1 on WBAL.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/13962437
> 
> 
> Still no WUTB-DT here. It's the only Baltimore station I don't get. Very disappointing, especially since 24 analog is one of my strongest stations.



You should be able to get WUTB-DT 24 in Laurel. The digital broadcast uses a directional antenna, but the polar chart that Digital Rules linked to is a linear power level. Even at the 0.207 lowest point, WUTB-DT is still putting out ~ 41.4 kW along that direction. Check to see if you can get anything on UHF 41 or 41.1 with the ATSC tuner if a rescan does not pick it up.


WUTB-DT's digital signal to the north at 200 kW & 308 meters HAAT is stronger than the analog signal at 1170 kW & 313 meters HAAT. 200 kW digital >> 1170 kW analog. Those who live east of Hagerstown or across the PA border may find that they can get WUTB-DT where they could not get a good signal for analog WUTB 24.


----------



## dtv4u




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13958711
> 
> 
> I am getting a stable picture for WUTB-DT My 24 here in the north end of Sterling, VA. Entered channel 41 into the Samsung SIR-T451 tuner and it locked on, switched to displaying 24 with 6 out of 10 bars on the signal strength meter. The Sony HDD250 HD-DVR locked on to 41.1, but I'll have to do a rescan later with it to properly enter the station. WUTB-DT is 480i SD however.
> 
> 
> Is this full power a permanent change for WUTB-DT? Checking the FCC application database, looks like they finally granted the CP on May 19 if I read it correctly. Will WUTB-DT upgrade to a 720p HD signal any time soon and provide the HD MyNetwork programming in HD for those who don't get WDCA-DT?
> 
> 
> As for WJZ-DT 13, yep, they are showing the MASN-HD game in SD - again. Frustrating because Verizon Fios has not added MASN-HD and there is no word on if Verizon will do before this season is over. The few broadcast MASN-HD games on WDCA-DT 20 and WJZ-DT 13 are it. Oh well.




RE: WUTB-DT, yes and yes!


dtv4u


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bucnasty* /forum/post/13962967
> 
> 
> im in fairfax city and have not noticed them... do you have a stb or card or basic?



Basic straight out of the wall.


----------



## dtv4u




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13959491
> 
> 
> I'm getting WUTB-DT in just fine here in Germantown. Still SD though.
> 
> 
> I know that WUTB is run out of Syracuse NY, so I'm guessing that you are an engineer for the station.




Thanks for the report, CycloneGT.


WUTB's master control is in Secaucus, NJ. I'm affiliated with the station's owner.


dtv4u


----------



## bucnasty




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/13963745
> 
> 
> Basic straight out of the wall.



assuming i wake up before 12 (summer break in college is better than summer break in high school), i will unplug my stb and try doing a scan


----------



## Marcus Carr

WBAL showed the studio under construction. They didn't mention HD but said the studio would be ready "in a few months".


----------



## jcorwin

Best attic antenna(s) for Columbia house?


I have a 2 story house in Columbia. Antennaweb.org says I'm 12 miles and 62 degrees from Balt. stations, and 23 miles and 227 degrees from Wash. Right now, I use a Silver Surfer, inside my 2nd story bedroom, aimed in the general direction of Washington, and get good reception on both Baltimore and Washington stations (unless I'm standing in front of the antenna.)


I'm looking to install an attic antenna, or antennas, to provide distribution to the whole house. I had thought about a 4221, but now see that there is a new smaller 4220, as well as a 2016 which is also optimized for upper VHF.

What is the consensus for the best antenna to install given my location? And should I install one antenna to get both cities, or would these be too directional and require separate antennas for Balt. and Wash?


Thanks in advance,

Jeff


----------



## kingpong

No luck with WUTB-DT in Columbia. Used to be able to get it, now there's no trace of a signal after trying multiple tuners and multiple antennas.


----------



## weaver6

Cannot receive WUTB digital signal in Bowie, MD. My antenna is aimed toward Washington.


----------



## carltonrice

Getting WUTB-DT at 73% in Laurel, MD on my DirecTV HR20 with the outdoor antenna. No sign of it on my Samsung with the indoor antenna. I guess this is an improvement since I wasn't getting it at all before. But, it is still the weakest of the Baltimore stations.


----------



## HDTV Sparky

I'm getting WUTB-DT at 50% signal strength in Hanover , Pennsylvania.

The other Baltimore stations come in at 85%.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jcorwin* /forum/post/13964894
> 
> 
> Best attic antenna(s) for Columbia house?
> 
> 
> I have a 2 story house in Columbia. Antennaweb.org says I'm 12 miles and 62 degrees from Balt. stations, and 23 miles and 227 degrees from Wash. Right now, I use a Silver Surfer, inside my 2nd story bedroom, aimed in the general direction of Washington, and get good reception on both Baltimore and Washington stations (unless I'm standing in front of the antenna.)
> 
> 
> I'm looking to install an attic antenna, or antennas, to provide distribution to the whole house. I had thought about a 4221, but now see that there is a new smaller 4220, as well as a 2016 which is also optimized for upper VHF...



Silver Surfer? Did you mean the Silver Sensor?







 Anyway, you have a 165 degree difference between the 2 cities. The CM 2016 has a directional UHF yagi antenna which is not going to have much gain for picking up UHF stations in the opposite direction.


In your situation, I would recommend you look at the CM flat bowties. If you are going to mount the antenna in the attic and have the room, you should go with the CM 4221 4 Bay or the CM 4228 8 Bay rather than the CM 4220. The problem is that the CM 4221 won't have much gain for the lower upper VHF channels and may not get WJLA-DT 7 and WUSA-DT 9 at 23 miles when they switch to VHF 7 & 9 next February. Hard to say. You could add a upper VHF antenna to the CM 4221 next February if it proves necessary.


You could get the CM 4228, but that is more directional to the front. Winegard has recently introduced the HD-1080 which combines a 2 bay bowtie and longer dipoles for VHF ( http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...p?PROD=HD-1080 ). But it is new and I don't see specs for it.


----------



## drkashner




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13958711
> 
> 
> I am getting a stable picture for WUTB-DT My 24 here in the north end of Sterling, VA. Entered channel 41 into the Samsung SIR-T451 tuner and it locked on, switched to displaying 24 with 6 out of 10 bars on the signal strength meter. The Sony HDD250 HD-DVR locked on to 41.1, but I'll have to do a rescan later with it to properly enter the station. WUTB-DT is 480i SD however.
> 
> 
> Is this full power a permanent change for WUTB-DT? Checking the FCC application database, looks like they finally granted the CP on May 19 if I read it correctly. Will WUTB-DT upgrade to a 720p HD signal any time soon and provide the HD MyNetwork programming in HD for those who don't get WDCA-DT?
> 
> 
> As for WJZ-DT 13, yep, they are showing the MASN-HD game in SD - again. Frustrating because Verizon Fios has not added MASN-HD and there is no word on if Verizon will do before this season is over. The few broadcast MASN-HD games on WDCA-DT 20 and WJZ-DT 13 are it. Oh well.



I'm getting it in Loganville, PA, about 10 miles north of the MD line. Its at almost full strength.


----------



## cpldc

I tried to get WUTB-DT last night here in Washington and had zero signal on DT-41. Channel 24 analog is the strongest B-more station here so I'm guessing it's the directional pattern on the transmitting antenna plus my less-than-ideal indoor antenna.


----------



## tonyd79

24 was pounding in for me (high 80s on indoor loop) in Ellicott City.


One thing I noticed was that it was no longer stretched. Hope that bodes well for their new setup.


PQ was very clean on Seinfeld.


----------



## mdviewer25

no luck here in forestville with WUTB either on the third floor of a townhouse. I tried moving the antenna (terk hdtva) in every direction I could think of, even tilting it up. I did manage to get WBOC 16 at 70% this morning, will probably go out by noon.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bucnasty* /forum/post/13964740
> 
> 
> assuming i wake up before 12 (summer break in college is better than summer break in high school), i will unplug my stb and try doing a scan



well the scrolling transparent bars are gone.

They must've have cleared it up on the Cox source side.


----------



## azitnay

Is anyone else with Comcast of DC experiencing problems with the three newest HD channels (217 SCIHD, 244 DISNHD, and 245 FAMHD)? Since I use CableCARDs instead of cable boxes, I always wonder if it's just me or system-wide.


Drew


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/13969434
> 
> 
> no luck here in forestville with WUTB either on the third floor of a townhouse. I tried moving the antenna (terk hdtva) in every direction I could think of, even tilting it up. I did manage to get WBOC 16 at 70% this morning, will probably go out by noon.



WBOC still in at between 70 and 80%


----------



## ammar249

"45 To Debut HD News & New Set Monday - 5/29 -


DCRTV told you it would happen this spring. And now we get confirmation that Sinclair's Channel 45/WBFF will be the first station in Baltimore to air local news in high-definition. Come Monday, 6/2, Fox45 will debut HD via its 5:30 PM newcast, with the 10 PM and 11 PM newscasts that day to follow. And on Tuesday, 6/3, WBFF will premiere its HD morning newscast. Also, the station's unveiling a new news set (right) that will "showcase the crisp and clean imagery inherent in high-definition television." It'll feature a rotating desk with two different back drops, 35 HD televisions, new HD studio cameras, HD graphics, a traffic monitoring system, and the "highly-advanced" HD "SkyWatch" Weather Center. That's in addition to a new remote satellite and microwave truck and a new HD master control. Soon, Fox45 news photographers will transition to the new 16:9 HD video format. Regionally, only DC's Channel 9/WUSA currently airs local news in high-def....."


----------



## CycloneGT

Still waiting to hear from Mark on this.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ammar249* /forum/post/13973916
> 
> 
> "DCRTV told you it would happen this spring."



They also told us it would happen a few weeks ago.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13974260
> 
> 
> Still waiting to hear from Mark on this.



DCRTV has the official scoop today.


Cheers


----------



## buckydc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dtv4u* /forum/post/13958057
> 
> 
> As of 6:06PM this evening, WUTB-DT has commenced program test at its full pre-transition power. Thanks for the report from Arlington.
> 
> 
> To all, please do a re-scan to see if WUTB-DT is now coming in for you. We'd like to get reception reports whether you can now see WUTB-DT or not.
> 
> 
> Thanks for your patience!
> 
> 
> dtv4u



Checked last night and this morning. WUTB-DT registers 25-30% on both Insignia and Zenith boxes here in northwest Washington Tenleytown area. Signal is not strong enough to lock. All other Baltimore stations register at least 60% and lock easily. I'm using an antennas direct db2 as an indoor antenna on the second floor looking out a window.


----------



## jaxjaggywires

Cox in Fairfax now has five more HD stations:


737 - USA

738 - Bravo

739 - Sci Fi

740 - CNBC

741 - Lifetime


----------



## CycloneGT

Is that Lifetime or LifeTime Movies on COX in Va?


----------



## Bl0bby




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/13958009
> 
> 
> The 7777 preamp has way too much gain for your area. Some of the analog UHF stations in Bethesda are pumping out around 4 million watts.(That preamp is designed for people that live "at least" 30 miles from the nearest full powered station.) You will make your weaker channels worse because the stronger stations are overwhelming your tuner. The only preamp that will might work is the Winegard 269. It is much more forgiving with strong input levels. I get a bit of overload here in Arlington with no amp at all. I can only imagine how much overload you are getting in Silver Spring



Well, that's partly my concern - I'm either seeing no improvement (when the power supply is right next to the amp in the attic) or I'm getting no signal at all (when the power supply is at the end of the cable run down from the attic). I know I'm close to the towers, but the placement of my antenna is less than ideal, so I'd think I'd get at least a little boost on some of the weaker ones. Do you think that when I get no signals at all it's due to overload? I'm not sure what the receiver would indicate in that situation.


Thanks for the input!


Bobby


----------



## jaxjaggywires




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13977840
> 
> 
> Is that Lifetime or LifeTime Movies on COX in Va?



Looks like plain ol' Lifetime.


----------



## dg28

WUTB24DT coming in loud and clear in Boyds, MD with an attic antenna.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/13978193
> 
> 
> WUTB24DT coming in loud and clear in Boyds, MD with an attic antenna.



still 0% here in Forestville


----------



## cpldc

Looks like Saturday night will be fun for DX:


----------



## afiggatt

Maybe those who live south of the WUTB-DT 24 tower in Catonsville can get WUTB-DT Saturday night with a bounced tropo signal (joke). Seriously though, from the reports here, people who are south of the WUTB-DT antenna in Laurel, Columbia, Forestville MD, and DC are having problems getting it OTA. WUTB-DT does have a directional antenna pattern which is weaker to the south, but Laurel, Columbia, and DC are within the 48 dBu city grade coverage area (see http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/f...ibit_id=615708 ). The antenna and transmitters may need some adjustments to put out the proper signal levels to the south. Hopefully dtv4u can tell us if that is in the works.


WUTB-DT was coming in fine last night here in Sterling, VA. Played with the CM 4221 antenna aim and location a bit and got 8 out of 10 bars on the Samsung T451 tuner for WUTB-DT. But I am around the azimuth of 240 degrees from WUTB-DT's antenna which puts me around the 0.588 signal level on the directional antenna pattern.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bl0bby* /forum/post/13978054
> 
> 
> Well, that's partly my concern - I'm either seeing no improvement (when the power supply is right next to the amp in the attic) or I'm getting no signal at all (when the power supply is at the end of the cable run down from the attic). I know I'm close to the towers, but the placement of my antenna is less than ideal, so I'd think I'd get at least a little boost on some of the weaker ones. Do you think that when I get no signals at all it's due to overload? I'm not sure what the receiver would indicate in that situation.
> 
> 
> Thanks for the input!
> 
> 
> Bobby



Yes, this does sound like an overload situation.(I'm assuming you have checked all of your connections) Out of curiosity, I tried a pre-amp at my house that I had bought to install at a friends house in the boonies.(CM7777) It completely wiped out all the Baltimore stations that I normally got at 90-95%. The same amp produced excellent results in the boonies; in combination with a CM4228 antenna. You may want to try a UVSJ Spitter/Combiner from Solid Signal(Around $5.00). It is a very inexpensive way to filter out all the strong unnecessary signals from your system. You only need UHF till Feb 09. Once the transition occurs in 09, you can replace it with an FM trap since all the powerful VHF stations will be gone. This will allow you to receive the new digital signals from 7, 9, 11, & 13. If this doesn't work; I would try the Winegard HDP 269 Pre-amp; but it will set you back $60-$70.


----------



## Voyager06

WUTB 24 DT is coming in at 75% strength after dark, 70% during daylight, in the Elkton area. This with a CM4228 antenna, CM7777 pre-amp to a Vip622. It also comes in near full strength with the OTA input on my Sony SXRD.


----------



## machpost

I'm getting zero reception of WUTB here in Northwest D.C., but I'm on a lower floor of a tall building in the middle of a bunch of taller buildings, using $10 Radio Shack rabbit ears.


----------



## tripleM

Odd coincidence in Western Fx/Loudoun Cty: the local HD channels on my parent's Comcast system are not coming through. Everything else is coming through loud & clear but not 4.1,5.1,7.1, & 9.1.


I get home & my Cox system's locals are acting up. 9.1 is gone & 5.1 is sometimes caught & other times not.

20.1 HD is not showing HD only SD.


Anything going on with the locals?


----------



## JoeInNVa

Why can't comcast figure out how to keep other channels on the air when they have an overrun on MASN-HD? GAH! I am missing SCIFI-HD and USA-HD starting at 10. This is really irking me since BSG got cut off and I want to record it again, and now I can't!!! Well, I can in SD, but ewwww...


----------



## lax01




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/13982782
> 
> 
> Why can't comcast figure out how to keep other channels on the air when they have an overrun on MASN-HD? GAH! I am missing SCIFI-HD and USA-HD starting at 10. This is really irking me since BSG got cut off and I want to record it again, and now I can't!!! Well, I can in SD, but ewwww...



The HD feed is basically SD but in 16x9 so its really a wash


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/13982078
> 
> 
> Odd coincidence in Western Fx/Loudoun Cty: the local HD channels on my parent's Comcast system are not coming through. Everything else is coming through loud & clear but not 4.1,5.1,7.1, & 9.1.
> 
> 
> I get home & my Cox system's locals are acting up. 9.1 is gone & 5.1 is sometimes caught & other times not.
> 
> 20.1 HD is not showing HD only SD.
> 
> 
> Anything going on with the locals?



I noticed that 7-5 was not working when I wanted to watch the LOST season finale. Since then, I've lost 4-1,5-2 and 9-1. The ONLY reason I'm still with Comcast is because of the $33 a month for basic digital & these channels in HD. IF they don't come back soon, I'm going to go FIOS and never look back.


I hope you're read Comcast, get these back QUICK!! Or you've lost yet another customer.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lax01* /forum/post/13983151
> 
> 
> The HD feed is basically SD but in 16x9 so its really a wash



Of what, BSG? That is HD. You are confusing artistically designed grain for SD, maybe?


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Count Blah* /forum/post/13984482
> 
> 
> I noticed that 7-5 was not working when I wanted to watch the LOST season finale. Since then, I've lost 4-1,5-2 and 9-1. The ONLY reason I'm still with Comcast is because of the $33 a month for basic digital & these channels in HD. IF they don't come back soon, I'm going to go FIOS and never look back.
> 
> 
> I hope you're read Comcast, get these back QUICK!! Or you've lost yet another customer.



I rather pay more & get good service than this crap from Comcast & Cox.

It's like they are effin with us basic cable ppl who can get the local HD for free so that we HAVE to upgrade to digital.


If I pay more I'd rather get more.


----------



## DC_SnDvl

I had the green macroblocking problem during Thursdays Lost broadcast and so did several posters on dbsTalk. Why can't WJLA get this working. They are the only area station having this issue.


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/13982782
> 
> 
> Why can't comcast figure out how to keep other channels on the air when they have an overrun on MASN-HD? GAH! I am missing SCIFI-HD and USA-HD starting at 10. This is really irking me since BSG got cut off and I want to record it again, and now I can't!!! Well, I can in SD, but ewwww...



Joe,


Could you please provide some more details about this problem? I was able to watch BSG at 10 PM on 236, but at start of the trailer for next week I lost the signal ("Channel not available" message on my TV), so I switched to 51 for that. I never bothered to check 236 after that to see if the signal had returned. I don't know if I lost any other HD channels above 215 during that time. How do you figure the culprit is overruns on MASN-HD (I didn't even know we get MASN-HD)?


I'm asking because on occasion I lose a slew of digital channels or get severe video and audio breakup, but I've been assuming that's due to occasional low signal strength.


BTW, I use a cable card, not an STB.


Thanks.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dspadoni* /forum/post/13985361
> 
> 
> Could you please provide some more details about this problem? I was able to watch BSG at 10 PM on 236, but at start of the trailer for next week I lost the signal ("Channel not available" message on my TV), so I switched to 51 for that. I never bothered to check 236 after that to see if the signal had returned. I don't know if I lost any other HD channels above 215 during that time. How do you figure the culprit is overruns on MASN-HD (I didn't even know we get MASN-HD)?



Yes, the post blaming the Os game running long on MASN-HD for losing Sci-Fi HD and USA HD doesn't make sense. MASN-HD is a part-time HD feed which is only provided for the HD Os and Nats games. Comcast puts the MASN-HD games on Mojo, bumping the Mojo programming. Since Comcast is part-owner of Mojo, they can use Mojo for this. Sounds like Comcast in one franchise area had technical problems with Sci-Fi and USA HD last night; no reason for that to be related to the MASN-HD game.


I caught part of the end of the Os game on WJZ-DT 13 last night and noticed that WJZ-DT again did not have the game in HD. Has anyone gotten a reply from WJZ as to why they had the opening day game in HD, but none of the MASN-HD games that matched up to the WJZ schedule have been in HD since then? The bottom line is that the Os and the Nats are still bringing up the rear of all the MLB teams in the number and availability of games in HD.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Why can't WJLA get this working.



Because they are WJLA, an Allbritton station. Same thing was happening earlier that evening during Jeopardy! and Wheel. Today, they are showing the WNBA game with the Mystics in SD (because of the weather inserts, perhaps) despite the D* guide saying otherwise.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/13986337
> 
> 
> Because they are WJLA, an Allbritton station. Same thing was happening earlier that evening during Jeopardy! and Wheel. Today, they are showing the WNBA game with the Mystics in SD (because of the weather inserts, perhaps) despite the D* guide saying otherwise.



It's in SD on WMAR too. Last weeks WNBA game was in SD. IMO all sports should be HD.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/13982782
> 
> 
> Why can't comcast figure out how to keep other channels on the air when they have an overrun on MASN-HD? GAH! I am missing SCIFI-HD and USA-HD starting at 10. This is really irking me since BSG got cut off and I want to record it again, and now I can't!!! Well, I can in SD, but ewwww...



There was no problem here in Woodbridge. BSG was one of the reasons I got Comcast re-connected to one of my TiVoHD boxes since FIOS doesn't offer SciFiHD. So for $30 a month I can supplement my FIOS with several HD channels from Comcast and hoepfully by the time my 6 months is up FIOS will have those HD channels too. Since there is no way I would pay $85 for Comast and FIOS. but for $30 month it's not too bad. Both combined is still less than I used to pay DirecTV every month.


----------



## bucnasty

is anyone else having problems with masn-hd audio? the audio comes way before the video, usually with my setup its the other way around with my system..


----------



## ebolean

Is anyone else having a problem with comcast in montgomery county?


I am getting breakup of the video (pixelization?) and frequent changes in the volume. currently watching channel 211 DWRC but had these problems on other channels as well.


It's enough to drive me to direct tv.


Thanks.


Bob


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bucnasty* /forum/post/13986788
> 
> 
> is anyone else having problems with masn-hd audio? the audio comes way before the video, usually with my setup its the other way around with my system..



Yep. Had to switch to the pens game - as much as I hate all PA teams - couldn't take the bad 70's Japanese-like dubbing.


Btw, Cox or Comcast? Mine's is Cox.


ps: WJLA -where's the weather channel??! Jeesh.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/13985799
> 
> 
> Yes, the post blaming the Os game running long on MASN-HD for losing Sci-Fi HD and USA HD doesn't make sense. MASN-HD is a part-time HD feed which is only provided for the HD Os and Nats games. Comcast puts the MASN-HD games on Mojo, bumping the Mojo programming. Since Comcast is part-owner of Mojo, they can use Mojo for this. Sounds like Comcast in one franchise area had technical problems with Sci-Fi and USA HD last night; no reason for that to be related to the MASN-HD game.
> 
> 
> I caught part of the end of the Os game on WJZ-DT 13 last night and noticed that WJZ-DT again did not have the game in HD. Has anyone gotten a reply from WJZ as to why they had the opening day game in HD, but none of the MASN-HD games that matched up to the WJZ schedule have been in HD since then? The bottom line is that the Os and the Nats are still bringing up the rear of all the MLB teams in the number and availability of games in HD.



You are right, I don't know, it just seems funny that when MASN HD was supposed to go off the air, we lost 2 channels. Maybe these channels are all on the same QAM Channel? Mojo/SCIFI/USA? But Mojo did come back way before SciFi and USA did as I still did not have them by 6AM the next day.


----------



## bucnasty

cox. it happens a lot with the hd broadcasts on mojo, not so much with my20.


----------



## mdviewer25

new problem the past couple of days with WBFF. the signal is steady between 80 and 90% and for a split second the screen would go blank and say it is currently off air. Also, is anyone monitoring Good TV 45-2 late at night. Commercials often interrupt the program because they are timed to air at a certain time even though the program is not ready for a commercial. Living Single or Bernie Mac is always interrupted at around 12:50am and if you tune to 54-1 the show is still airing. Malcolm in the Middle is always interrupted by a Comcast commercial at 1:07 even though the show is still running on 45-1


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/13985034
> 
> 
> I rather pay more & get good service than this crap from Comcast & Cox.
> 
> It's like they are effin with us basic cable ppl who can get the local HD for free so that we HAVE to upgrade to digital.
> 
> 
> If I pay more I'd rather get more.



They remapped the broadcast HD channels in with a whole bunch of other junk on channels 112-1 on up. Really convenient. Oh well, as you point out, you get what you pay for


----------



## oaks




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dtv4u* /forum/post/13958057
> 
> 
> As of 6:06PM this evening, WUTB-DT has commenced program test at its full pre-transition power. Thanks for the report from Arlington.
> 
> 
> To all, please do a re-scan to see if WUTB-DT is now coming in for you. We'd like to get reception reports whether you can now see WUTB-DT or not.
> 
> 
> Thanks for your patience!
> 
> 
> dtv4u




In Severn, MD, I see WUTB-DT at 70-80% strength on various tuners via an Antennas Direct DB4 antenna mounted in an attic. (Other Baltimore stations come in at 95-100% strength with this set up.) Echoing others' tuning problems (PSIP related?) a Sharp TV and Panasonic DVD recorder lock onto WUTB as 41.1 and with no program information. A Panasonic TV sees the signal as 24.1 with program information, but curiously loses video and audio five seconds after the first attempt to tune in the channel -- while still seeing updated program information and 75% signal strength after it goes dark. Resetting to factory defaults and re-tuning haven't helped with the above issues. A Hauppauge HVR-950 USB tuner for PC works properly, locking on as 24.1 and sees all program data.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Count Blah* /forum/post/13992082
> 
> 
> They remapped the broadcast HD channels in with a whole bunch of other junk on channels 112-1 on up. Really convenient. Oh well, as you point out, you get what you pay for




Ha. Yep. I just found it while flipping around the dial tonite.

Yep. the HD locals are 112,113,114 subchannels. Never ceases to amaze me with these cable guys.


----------



## oaks

As of June 1, 2008 Millennium cable in Anne Arundel County is called Broadstripe. The Comcast acquisition that was supposed to happen last year, fell through. No change in service or pricing noted yet. Clear QAM channels seen with an Expanded Basic analog subscription: WMAR 2.1, 2.2, 2.3; WBAL 11.1, 11.2; WUSA 9.1, 9.2; WMPT 22.1, 22.2, 22.3; WBFF 45.1, 45.2; WNUV 54.1; and a bunch of music channels.


----------



## carltonrice

 http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertai...,7332367.story


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Both WBAL and WJZ foresee similar phase-ins for their high-definition broadcasts. *WJZ* plans to have its studio broadcasts in HD by the end of the year, says Vice President and General Manager Jay Newman, with the rest of the newscast following suit in March or April next year. *WBAL* plans to broadcast the studio portion of its newscasts in HD by February, says President and General Manager Jordan Wertlieb.
> 
> *WMAR* (Channel 2) has no plans to broadcast local news in HD, but is "investigating our options," says Vice President General Manager Bill Hooper. "We're more focused on making sure that we're up to speed on the digital conversion, which we have no choice on," he says.



.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *oaks* /forum/post/13992976
> 
> 
> As of June 1, 2008 Millennium cable in Anne Arundel County is called Broadstripe. The Comcast acquisition that was supposed to happen last year, fell through. No change in service or pricing noted yet. Clear QAM channels seen with an Expanded Basic analog subscription: WMAR 2.1, 2.2, 2.3; WBAL 11.1, 11.2; WUSA 9.1, 9.2; WMPT 22.1, 22.2, 22.3; WBFF 45.1, 45.2; WNUV 54.1; and a bunch of music channels.



I would think, no Comcast is a good thing unless the incumbent is worse.


----------



## gov_coder




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/13992958
> 
> 
> Ha. Yep. I just found it while flipping around the dial tonite.
> 
> Yep. the HD locals are 112,113,114 subchannels. Never ceases to amaze me with these cable guys.



I noticed this remapping too. I'll post here my own scan results once I've located WRC-1 in HD. I've found WRC-1 in digital SD, but that's kinda useless.


Anyone using Comcast in the baltimore/annapolis area found WRC-1 on clear qam?


Previously WRC-1 was on channel 122.2...


WRC-1:783000000:QAM_256:2112:2113:2 # nbc, comcast chan 4


(Frequency to channel mapping: http://www.linuxtv.org/pipermail/lin...ly/003273.html )


----------



## carltonrice

So, hopefully all of us AVSForum folks will turn off WJZ, WBAL, and WMAR to watch WBFF News in massive numbers so that their ratings skyrocket and increase the pressure on the also-rans. -


----------



## CycloneGT

Well, I must admit that WUSA is the first local news that I flip on because of HD. But I then tend to click away once the commercial breaks start. I then seem to bounce from local newscast to local newscast for the rest of the half hour.


----------



## MDNittanyLion




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dtv4u* /forum/post/13958057
> 
> 
> As of 6:06PM this evening, WUTB-DT has commenced program test at its full pre-transition power. Thanks for the report from Arlington.
> 
> 
> To all, please do a re-scan to see if WUTB-DT is now coming in for you. We'd like to get reception reports whether you can now see WUTB-DT or not.
> 
> 
> Thanks for your patience!
> 
> 
> dtv4u



Westminster, MD. Indoor antenna (DIY DB4 clone) getting 85-88% (still some dropouts though) with Hisense receiver. Outdoor antenna (DIY DB4 clone) getting 95+% with Samsung H240 receiver.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13995660
> 
> 
> Well, I must admit that WUSA is the first local news that I flip on because of HD. But I then tend to click away once the commercial breaks start. I then seem to bounce from local newscast to local newscast for the rest of the half hour.



Exact same routine here.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13995660
> 
> 
> Well, I must admit that WUSA is the first local news that I flip on because of HD. But I then tend to click away once the commercial breaks start. I then seem to bounce from local newscast to local newscast for the rest of the half hour.



I'm still shocked that so many tech people still watch the local news, and live no less... There's really nothing useful there (IMO), that you can't get in like 30 seconds with your browser, and you can avoid all the commercials and the BS information. And making it HD has zero impact on the actual content.


My time is just way too important to me... Heck, I'd rather stare at the wall than watch any local news, HD or not.


----------



## CycloneGT

After watching some shows during primetime either live or DVR'd, I will check out the news if its on. Local news is especially useful during storms or local incidents. Sometimes the web pages just don't cover the local stuff that well, and I'm on WTOP's site all the time.


----------



## tripleM

I watch local to stare @ Lindsay.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/13997943
> 
> 
> Local news is especially useful during storms or local incidents. Sometimes the web pages just don't cover the local stuff that well, and I'm on WTOP's site all the time.



Really? I find the local news is often the worst during local incidents, as that's the only time I might tune in. The Internet (as a whole) is usually way more up to date.


Sort of like the useless traffic reports on the radio - usually, by the time it's on the radio, it's over.


----------



## azitnay

I've lost count of the number of times WTOP's traffic reporting has saved me from sitting in a lengthy backup.


Drew


----------



## HokieNav




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/13975852
> 
> 
> DCRTV has the official scoop today.
> 
> 
> Cheers



Looks good!


Audio sounds off, it's very, very low. Have to crank it up to hear.


But, the picture looks great!


Edit to add: Just did a very nice "behind the scenes" on the new set, that's a lot of freaking monitors! I'll certainly move from WUSA-only news watching to WUSA/WBFF. Also, the audio seems to be better (but still not great). Sounds like the male anchor's mic wasn't on for most of the first set.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/13998031
> 
> 
> Really? I find the local news is often the worst during local incidents, as that's the only time I might tune in. The Internet (as a whole) is usually way more up to date.
> 
> 
> Sort of like the useless traffic reports on the radio - usually, by the time it's on the radio, it's over.



I never get on any of the interstates or parkways without WTOP. It's just as good as XM satellite radio; sometimes better.


----------



## markbulla

Hey - that looked pretty nice!


Cheers!


----------



## CycloneGT

I'll have to check it out at a later broadcast.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *azitnay* /forum/post/13998039
> 
> 
> I've lost count of the number of times WTOP's traffic reporting has saved me from sitting in a lengthy backup.
> 
> 
> Drew



Wow... I can count the number of times - it would be zero.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/13998518
> 
> 
> I never get on any of the interstates or parkways without WTOP. It's just as good as XM satellite radio; sometimes better.



I agree, and that's also useless (I finally dropped the XM traffic service as it was so useless).


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Quote:
> 
> Both WBAL and WJZ foresee similar phase-ins for their high-definition broadcasts. WJZ plans to have its studio broadcasts in HD by the end of the year, says Vice President and General Manager Jay Newman, with the rest of the newscast following suit in March or April next year. WBAL plans to broadcast the studio portion of its newscasts in HD by February, says President and General Manager Jordan Wertlieb.
> 
> 
> WMAR (Channel 2) has no plans to broadcast local news in HD, but is "investigating our options," says Vice President General Manager Bill Hooper. "We're more focused on making sure that we're up to speed on the digital conversion, which we have no choice on," he says.



Good to get some specific info on when other stations are planning to go HD for local news. DCRTV's track record on this has not been very good. I suspect he hears that a station brought some piece of HD capable equipment for the local news operation or upgraded the studio and read that as meaning the station was going local news in HD real soon. Appears we can say that no other Baltimore station will go HD local news in the next few months.


The quote from WMAR, however, contradicts a detailed industry trade article on the HD local news plans for a number of media companies. Several months ago, the quote from the VP of engineering for Scripts TV station group was: "Doback expects to have all of Scripps' stationsWXYZ Detroit; KNXV Phoenix; WFTS Tampa; WEWS Cleveland; WMAR Baltimore; KMCI/KSHB Kansas City, Mo.; WCPO Cincinnati; WPTV West Palm Beach, Fla.; and KJRH Tulsa, Okla.broadcasting their local newscasts in high-definition by the end of this year. Seven of the stations are already up and running in HD." My take is that the station general manager didn't want to provide a specific time frame for upgrading to the local paper as they may not have set a upgrade date yet and schedules can slip.


----------



## azitnay




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/13998926
> 
> 
> Wow... I can count the number of times - it would be zero.



Then our driving patterns must differ greatly.


Drew


----------



## billodom

I tuned in for the 10 pm newscast. Good job and congratulations to Mark and everyone else involved. The set looks very good. This is the first time I have watched the entire newscast so I don't yet know the personalities. Thanks, Carlton, for posting the link to the Sun article for some background. Just a couple of criticisms: the sound was a tad soft and one of the locations suffered from too low lighting. Overall, however, I thought it was quite good. I wasn't distracted by the 720p. I thought the sidebars looked very good in their presentation. I personally much prefer that to, say, Channel 9's horrendous SD widescreen field reports. I thought the anchors looked good in their regular positions. The weatherman might have been a bit soft due to lighting issues but I thought the weather graphics looked good. The "cover story" feature they did with the high def field report featuring sights around DC was excellent and in my opinion was the highlight of the show. They should really try for at least one of those a night. I really look forward to the day that they transition to the "new 16:9 HD video format" as reported in dcrtv.com. Until that happens, the news will not really be in HD. Still, it has to start somewhere and this is a good start. Thanks, Sinclair, for stepping up.


----------



## Marcus Carr

WBFF's news does look good, although not as sharp as WUSA. Glad to have an HD newscast closer to home.


The Weather Channel now has some HD studio shows.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Stealth87* /forum/post/14000989




Comcast has a carriage agreement but hasn't added it yet.


----------



## Digital Rules

Channel 45 news is "way" too dark on an SD set.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/14002269
> 
> 
> Channel 45 news is "way" too dark on an SD set.



OTA, I assume?


Generally, the set is kind of dark, however the anchors and graphics are a good level...


We are still fine-tuning the lighting and audio.


Cheers -


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/13998926
> 
> 
> Wow... I can count the number of times - it would be zero.



If I listen to TOP for Traffic, they usually give it where I am not...It seems they always miss one spot in the area that is having bad traffic and it's usually where I am.


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/14002347
> 
> 
> If I listen to TOP for Traffic, they usually give it where I am not...It seems they always miss one spot in the area that is having bad traffic and it's usually where I am.



Bad traffic follows you. Please let us know where you're driving so we can avoid it.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/14002347
> 
> 
> If I listen to TOP for Traffic, they usually give it where I am not...It seems they always miss one spot in the area that is having bad traffic and it's usually where I am.




There is so much bad traffic around the DC area (2nd worse in the nation by all media accounts) that they have to cycle the areas reported else it would be a all-traffic station & not a news station.


----------



## mdviewer25

finally got some kind of signal for WUTB last night, 7% for a split second, then zero, then 11% for a split second this morning then zero.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/14003484
> 
> 
> There is so much bad traffic around the DC area (2nd worse in the nation by all media accounts) that they have to cycle the areas reported else it would be a all-traffic station & not a news station.



Ergo, not so useful unless you happen to hit it just right.


At least the semi-useless traffic-in-GPS products have everything, all the time. Sadly, they are incorrect about 70% of the time (either marking something as traffic that isn't, or missing heavy traffic).


In either case, unless you're only travelling the beltway, they're all pretty useless.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/14003484
> 
> 
> There is so much bad traffic around the DC area (2nd worse in the nation by all media accounts) that they have to cycle the areas reported else it would be a all-traffic station & not a news station.



What news? They play a 10 second news byte that is horrendously edited.


----------



## dg28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/13998023
> 
> 
> I watch local to stare @ Lindsay.



Yeah, did you notice her brand new 8-inch hair extensions? I mean, come on, what is she thinking?


----------



## machpost

MASN seems to be having some issues with the HD feed from the ballpark tonight. Picture is pillarboxed; audio is off by a few seconds and sounds like 16kbps bitrate.


----------



## machpost

HD has kicked in on MASN now. Weather related issues, perhaps? Not that our lousy team is worth watching tonight


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/14002336
> 
> 
> OTA, I assume?
> 
> 
> Generally, the set is kind of dark, however the anchors and graphics are a good level...
> 
> 
> We are still fine-tuning the lighting and audio.
> 
> 
> Cheers -



45.1 news looks much better OTA today. Nice job!!


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/14004180
> 
> 
> Ergo, not so useful unless you happen to hit it just right.
> 
> 
> At least the semi-useless traffic-in-GPS products have everything, all the time. Sadly, they are incorrect about 70% of the time (either marking something as traffic that isn't, or missing heavy traffic).
> 
> 
> In either case, unless you're only travelling the beltway, they're all pretty useless.



Business opportunity...?!


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Deezul* /forum/post/14003006
> 
> 
> Bad traffic follows you. Please let us know where you're driving so we can avoid it.



If you have Verizon or AT&T wireless phone, there's a WTOP traffic hotline to dial in reports of traffic disturbances (probably #1035, but it could be *1035). There's a number for other carriers, but I don't remember what it is...


And don't forget the handsfree while calling in.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *azitnay* /forum/post/13998039
> 
> 
> I've lost count of the number of times WTOP's traffic reporting has saved me from sitting in a lengthy backup.



Just yesterday morning I heard of an accident on Rt 50 that would be right in my way and so went another way to work to avoid that.


Neil


----------



## tripleM

No power = no net nor TV. TOP in your car saves your bacon ftw.


----------



## CycloneGT

WTOP is getting their money's worth with these storms this afternoon.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/14013813
> 
> 
> No power = no net nor TV. TOP in your car saves your bacon ftw.



PocketPC in my car is a lot better. Do people still not have mobile web-access readily available to them?


----------



## tripleM

I tend not to drive & play with my mobile PDA's.

TOP ftw again.

esp. for those ppl who caught them last nite before 66W.


----------



## machpost

Stupid thunderstorm warning crawl on WRC-DT is leaving us with game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals in SD. Channel 4 SUCKS!!!







I really hope that station gets sold to someone who gives a damn about quality. NBC sure as hell doesn't!


----------



## kevinacker




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/14015828
> 
> 
> Stupid thunderstorm warning crawl on WRC-DT is leaving us with game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals in SD. Channel 4 SUCKS!!!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I really hope that station gets sold to someone who gives a damn about quality. NBC sure as hell doesn't!



Yeah, and now they are cutting away in the middle of the game?!?? It was inevitable that someone would score while they did. Glad it was the Wings.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/14014319
> 
> 
> PocketPC in my car is a lot better. Do people still not have mobile web-access readily available to them?



Odd that you think that the folks who update the internet do it faster than the folks who read the reports live on the air.


They don't. The source is the same.


Plus, once again, you over assume the penetration of new technology. I guess you will now claim no one listens to radio since they have iPods.


----------



## Thumperr

Why is NBC4 SD? can't they add the weather crawl to the HD feed? common and now they are breaking in...ok there is really a tornado so i'll cut them a break on the break in.


WBAL is the same way SD but only a Tornado logo and no crawl...


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/14015828
> 
> 
> Stupid thunderstorm warning crawl on WRC-DT is leaving us with game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals in SD. Channel 4 SUCKS!!!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I really hope that station gets sold to someone who gives a damn about quality. NBC sure as hell doesn't!



If you look at the broadcasts for all the major network stations in DC and Baltimore, they are all flipping to SD for the severe thunderstorm and tornado alerts. None of them have spent the money yet for a HD capable character generator and weather graphics insert equipment. They will eventually get one, but it is not an inexpensive piece of gear. If you were in the tornado alert areas, you might appreciate the warnings if you had not been listening to the radio.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/14015932
> 
> 
> Odd that you think that the folks who update the internet do it faster than the folks who read the reports live on the air.
> 
> 
> They don't. The source is the same.
> 
> 
> Plus, once again, you over assume the penetration of new technology. I guess you will now claim no one listens to radio since they have iPods.



The source is the same, but on TV and Radio you have to wait, and wait, and wait for them to perhaps update you, and when they do, it will be on a very small subset of the information.


Come on, you know this, it's simple:

TV/Radio - wait for an update, hope it includes what you care about

Internet - Get an update when you want it, for the specific area you want


I agree though, the data is the same, and it all mostly stinks, but it is what it is.


And it's not just iPods, it's also satellite radio, movies for the kids, etc. It's well known that broadcast radio listening is way way down.


----------



## Thumperr

At least NBC4 went to the small crawl now, removing the really big weather logo.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14016016
> 
> 
> If you look at the broadcasts for all the major network stations in DC and Baltimore, they are all flipping to SD for the severe thunderstorm and tornado alerts. None of them have spent the money yet for a HD capable character generator and weather graphics insert equipment. They will eventually get one, but it is not an inexpensive piece of gear. If you were in the tornado alert areas, you might appreciate the warnings if you had not been listening to the radio.



Well, on the Fox stations, if it's not impossible to do, it's at least beyond me how to do it...


The Fox splicer is the last thing before the signal is sent to the transmitter, so we have to go out of HD to put up the warnings and crawls - the splicer replaces our master control feed with the HD network feed (without the crawls/bugs/etc.). Fox also doesn't supply any other HD feed for us to put stuff over, otherwise we (WBFF) have the capability to do that.


Hope everyone made it through the storm OK!


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14016016
> 
> 
> If you look at the broadcasts for all the major network stations in DC and Baltimore, they are all flipping to SD for the severe thunderstorm and tornado alerts. None of them have spent the money yet for a HD capable character generator and weather graphics insert equipment. They will eventually get one, but it is not an inexpensive piece of gear. If you were in the tornado alert areas, you might appreciate the warnings if you had not been listening to the radio.



Oh, believe me, I can appreciate the importance of displaying such important weather-related notifications, but you'd think that an O&O in a top 10 market would have the technical wherewithal to display such alerts without interrupting a major live sporting event that the network must certainly consider important in and of itself.


But then again, considering the horrible picture quality of all NBC live sporting events, and local news in HD that apparently isn't even on the horizon, I am not surprised


----------



## tripleM

Ted Leonsis is worried about old age media like TV & newspaper becoming extinct.

Ask the 200K NoVa ppl who were in the dark tonite where they were getting their news from.

It's usually old tech that usually withstand mother nature better.

& Little Danny boy keeps buying up radio stations to add to his booming radio empire.

I wonder why? Hmmm.

What's that old saying: they don't built them like they used to.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/14016877
> 
> 
> Ted Leonsis is worried about old age media like TV & newspaper becoming extinct.
> 
> Ask the 200K NoVa ppl who were in the dark tonite where they were getting their news from.
> 
> It's usually old tech that usually withstand mother nature better.
> 
> & Little Danny boy keeps buying up radio stations to add to his booming radio empire.
> 
> I wonder why? Hmmm.
> 
> What's that old saying: they don't built them like they used to.



Because the ones he bought earlier are inferior to the ones he just bought.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/14016877
> 
> 
> Ted Leonsis is worried about old age media like TV & newspaper becoming extinct.
> 
> Ask the 200K NoVa ppl who were in the dark tonite where they were getting their news from.
> 
> It's usually old tech that usually withstand mother nature better.
> 
> & Little Danny boy keeps buying up radio stations to add to his booming radio empire.
> 
> I wonder why? Hmmm.
> 
> What's that old saying: they don't built them like they used to.



I had better, quicker, and more immediate access from my mobile device using the web browser. If radio towers are working, odds are the cell towers are, too.


People who hold on to dead technology are doomed to die with it.


(And whoever he is, is buying up radio stations because they are being sold for a fraction of what they used to be worth - because the radio industry is in a death spiral.)


----------



## vidioteic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14016016
> 
> 
> If you look at the broadcasts for all the major network stations in DC and Baltimore, they are all flipping to SD for the severe thunderstorm and tornado alerts. None of them have spent the money yet for a HD capable character generator and weather graphics insert equipment. They will eventually get one, but it is not an inexpensive piece of gear. If you were in the tornado alert areas, you might appreciate the warnings if you had not been listening to the radio.



It's more than just the graphics device, which can always be upconverted. It's the entire master control and studio to transmitter link that needs to be upgraded, which is VERY costly. While I agree you would think these markets would support an upgrade to the networks facility, everyone has to understand that in order to maintain their license, broadcasters need to serve the public. So Tornado Warnings would always supersede ANY programming.


Though I would think WBFF & WUSA would be able to handle the situation in HD.


And don't think it will be resolved by 2/2009; Broadcasters just need to be /transmitting/ in digital by then, not producing. If you "rip" a cassette tape to your iTunes folder, it's digital all right, but that doesn't necessarily make it better... These issues with crawls and T-storm warning bugs will continue until the facilities are upgraded; whenever that is.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/14016025
> 
> 
> Come on, you know this, it's simple:
> 
> TV/Radio - wait for an update, hope it includes what you care about
> 
> Internet - Get an update when you want it, for the specific area you want



That is a sweeping statement that is just not true. Forget traffic for a minute. I have been on ESPN.com on my phone and my blackberry and not seen stories updated while ESPN Radio has been giving up to date information.


Just because it "seems" immediate doesn't mean it is. Not everything is plugged right into the internet. Stories have to be written, data has to be updated.


Just Tuesday evening, MLB.com was reporting that the Cardinals/Nationals game was playing yet MASN had a big sign on it that said "Rain Delay." Guess who was right? Not MLB.com.


There is no single best source.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/14018087
> 
> 
> Because the ones he bought earlier are inferior to the ones he just bought.



U don't like Riggo & Mike & Mike?









Seriously, I think it's a solid move by Red Zebra.

They've locked up the sports radio business for the next several decade around here.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/14019089
> 
> 
> U don't like Riggo & Mike & Mike?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Seriously, I think it's a solid move by Red Zebra.
> 
> They've locked up the sports radio business for the next several decade around here.



Nothing like having two of your properties clashing head to head. Honestly, I only see this ending badly for the listener. If they neuter Czaban like they did Riggo, then I will NOT be a happy man.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Count Blah* /forum/post/14019327
> 
> 
> Nothing like having two of your properties clashing head to head. Honestly, I only see this ending badly for the listener. If they neuter Czaban like they did Riggo, then I will NOT be a happy man.



I think it's just about covers the national & local scenes 100%.


In other big cities, l think the sister sports station compliment each other pretty well & I don't see why that can;t happen here.

They are an excellent outlet for info in car & I can't imagine any mobile device can provide that depth of coverage on the move like the spoken word.


I'm not a Redskins fan (







) but I have to give props to Danny for putting them on stereo radio & multiple outlets is a very good strategic move.


Now if he can bring the Caps onboard...he's really could sell ads galore for the next decade with Ovie.


----------



## Zon74




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/14018743
> 
> 
> That is a sweeping statement that is just not true. Forget traffic for a minute. I have been on ESPN.com on my phone and my blackberry and not seen stories updated while ESPN Radio has been giving up to date information.
> 
> 
> Just because it "seems" immediate doesn't mean it is. Not everything is plugged right into the internet. Stories have to be written, data has to be updated.
> 
> 
> Just Tuesday evening, MLB.com was reporting that the Cardinals/Nationals game was playing yet MASN had a big sign on it that said "Rain Delay." Guess who was right? Not MLB.com.
> 
> 
> There is no single best source.



My experience with ESPN has been that news is almost always on ESPN radio before it is on the ESPN website. I regularly get emails from friends saying "so and so on ESPN Radio just reported that ____________" and find nothing about the subject for hours on ESPN.com.


On the other hand, separating radio and the internet may be a false dividing line. After all, you can listen to ESPN radio as easily on the net as you can via broadcast, actually more easily in most cases because it doesn't get pre-empted by locally-produced shows. Indeed, if I want to listen to Mike and Mike in the Morning, I have a choice of watching it in HD or SD on ESPN2, listening to it on broadcast radio, listening to it on XM Radio, or listening to it on the internet. If I miss it and want to listen to it later it I can download and listen to a podcast of the show. The only medium missing seems to be broadcast TV. So is it TV, radio, satellite radio or internet? "Old" technology or "new"?


Yet another example of blurred lines, last night during the storms we were watching a lot of channel 7-2, WJLA's weather radar digital sub-channel which had the radar feed and the WTOP radio audio. Best of both worlds. Before I left work I was listening to WTOP on the web and checking the WJLA and WUSA doppler radars online. Seems to me these are all just multiple distrubution channels, each of which has its place.


As an aside, as a Silver Spring to Tysons Corner commuter, I'd be lost without WTOP's traffic reports, which I find are much more current than XM's traffic reports. If you're not on the beltway, it may not be of much use (and it was mostly useless for all the years I commuted downtown) but for my current drive I find it to be terrific.


----------



## tripleM

Totally agree. To blanket say 1 distribution channel doesn't matter vs. another is plain narrow minded.

They all serve a purpose in a media suite.


Thanks for the insightful post Zon74.


----------



## Zon74




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/14019431
> 
> 
> I think it's just about covers the national & local scenes 100%.
> 
> 
> In other big cities, l think the sister sports station compliment each other pretty well & I don't see why that can;t happen here.
> 
> They are an excellent outlet for info in car & I can't imagine any mobile device can provide that depth of coverage on the move like the spoken word.
> 
> 
> I'm not a Redskins fan (
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ) but I have to give props to Danny for putting them on stereo radio & multiple outlets is a very good strategic move.
> 
> 
> Now if he can bring the Caps onboard...he's really could sell ads galore for the next decade with Ovie.




Are there any plans announced to actually maintain these as separate properties? Danny tried to get some higher power stations when he first launched "XXX Radio" but had to settle for his patchwork of three lower power stations. When I heard he was buying 980, I just assumed he would simply shift the current programming to the new stations and either dump his current stations or convert them to a different format. It would surprise me if he maintained two separate competing sports talk stations.


Without knowing the details, my guess would be that he views this as both giving him a higher power outlet and eliminating the competition.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Fox45 press release:

*FOX45 Launches First and Only HD News in Baltimore*


Baltimore , MD May 29, 2008 – WBFF FOX45 will launch high definition newscasts, becoming the first and only local television station in Baltimore to broadcast local news in HD. FOX45 Morning News, FOX45 News at 5:30, FOX45 News at Ten and The FOX45 Late Edition (11 pm) will unveil inaugural newscasts in HD adding to its long lists of historic firsts.


On Monday, June 2, 2008 FOX45 will premiere its 5:30pm, 10pm and 11pm newscasts in HD ushering in a historic new era in Baltimore broadcasting and making WBFF the first local station to serve its viewers with the new technology. On Tuesday, June 3, 2008 it will launch FOX45 Morning News in HD.


As part of the multi-million dollar investment in HD news, FOX45 will broadcast from its new set designed to handle the dissemination of daily news, provide a working environment for its Emmy Award winning anchors and reporters, and showcase the crisp and clean imagery inherent in high definition television.


The new studio features a rotating desk with two different back drops, 35 HD televisions, new HD studio cameras, HD graphics, a traffic monitoring system and the highly advanced HD “SkyWatch” Weather Center . A new remote satellite and microwave truck has been dispatched to gather news in and around Maryland . To further increase quality, WBFF recently switched to a new HD master control at its West 41 st Street studios. *Soon, FOX45 news photographers will transition to the new 16:9 video format giving viewers the added experience of watching video shot in the field at the new aspect ratio.*


FOX45's new “SkyWatch” weather system enables street-level mapping and state-of-the-art 3D forecasting. Its advanced weather tracking technology provides some of the most accurate, detailed and reliable weather forecasting in Maryland .


FOX45 general manager Bill Fanshawe said, “FOX45 has always found new and better ways to serve our viewers. In 1991, we launched the first and only 10pm newscast in the market. Its popularity allowed us to expand and reinvest in our commitment to our viewers. In recent years, we added a 5:30am newscast, a 6am-9am newscast, a 5:30pm evening newscast and an 11pm newscast. Once again, FOX45 proves to be the leader in forward-thinking news broadcasting.”


Sinclair Broadcast Group owns WBFF and operates Cunningham-owned WNUV pursuant to a Local Marketing Agreement. Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: SBGI), is one of the largest and most diversified television broadcasting companies, which owns and operates, programs or provides sales services to 58 television stations in 35 markets. Sinclair's television group is affiliated with all major networks and reaches approximately 22% of all U.S. television households. For more information, please visit Sinclair's website at www.sbgi.net and www.FOXbaltimore.com .

http://foxbaltimore.com/sections/com...hd/index.shtml


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Zon74* /forum/post/14019559
> 
> 
> Are there any plans announced to actually maintain these as separate properties? Danny tried to get some higher power stations when he first launched "XXX Radio" but had to settle for his patchwork of three lower power stations. When I heard he was buying 980, I just assumed he would simply shift the current programming to the new stations and either dump his current stations or convert them to a different format. It would surprise me if he maintained two separate competing sports talk stations.
> 
> 
> Without knowing the details, my guess would be that he views this as both giving him a higher power outlet and eliminating the competition.



We won't know until July 1st. The only OFFICIAL change so far is that these three new stations will also carry the skins games.


If they do can all the 980 personnel, I hope they do what happened in Houston in a similar situation - Ban together and start their own station.


----------



## Voyager06




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/13998743
> 
> 
> Hey - that looked pretty nice!
> 
> 
> Cheers!



I have to agree. WBFF-DT with their HD news is looking pretty good.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Zon74* /forum/post/14019559
> 
> 
> Are there any plans announced to actually maintain these as separate properties? Danny tried to get some higher power stations when he first launched "XXX Radio" but had to settle for his patchwork of three lower power stations. When I heard he was buying 980, I just assumed he would simply shift the current programming to the new stations and either dump his current stations or convert them to a different format. It would surprise me if he maintained two separate competing sports talk stations.
> 
> 
> Without knowing the details, my guess would be that he views this as both giving him a higher power outlet and eliminating the competition.



I actually find the wattage limitation works for me cause wherever I am, I can pretty much listen to his stations.


Now the night time on AM is horrendous for me with 980 though. Not listenable.

It would serve all demographics for those who like both the national stuff in Red & Blue variety (Fox/ESPN).


----------



## HDTV Sparky

Seems many are singing the praises of WBFF HD news. Maybe it's just me, but I think the set design has way to much blue. Even graphics have a blue tint.

Never the less, it's a big improvement from the 'clay faces' everyone seemed to have before.

Compared to channel 9 in DC, no contest....... Channel 9 by a mile.

Don't get me wrong....

I am now a daily viewer of WBFF 5:30 news cast. Before , on occasion I watched the 10 PM news cast.

For now, ' you're the only game in town'.... GOOD LUCK .


----------



## afiggatt

WRC-DT 4 is having problems with the NBC HD feed for the 10 PM Fear Itself debut episode. Started off with a dark screen for the first 6-7 minutes. Fine on WBAL-DT 11 in Baltimore. Ok, WRC-DT just switched to the SD feed.


----------



## tripleM

I've got quit blaming my TV on these things & start focusing my wrath on the source.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/14018743
> 
> 
> That is a sweeping statement that is just not true. Forget traffic for a minute. I have been on ESPN.com on my phone and my blackberry and not seen stories updated while ESPN Radio has been giving up to date information.
> 
> 
> Just because it "seems" immediate doesn't mean it is. Not everything is plugged right into the internet. Stories have to be written, data has to be updated.
> 
> 
> Just Tuesday evening, MLB.com was reporting that the Cardinals/Nationals game was playing yet MASN had a big sign on it that said "Rain Delay." Guess who was right? Not MLB.com.
> 
> 
> There is no single best source.



The whole point is you don't have to limit yourself to the same source of information. To use ESPN and ESPN.com as an example is just silly - you'd use the Internet to go to something else, to validate or whatever. And frankly, ESPN.com is often late with updates, and isn't the best source if you want immediate sports updates (there are a bunch better out there, and that are way faster than ESPN TV). And MLB.com seems to still be figuring out how to use computers, again not a great source.


And yes, pretty much everyone is connected nowadays. If you aren't, you generally are a technophone, or over 60 (and yes, this is a sweeping generalization, but not too far from the truth - certainly everyone under about 30 is connected all the time).


There is no single best source, but the Internet is always a better source than other media - it's quicker, more up-to-date (not every place is universally more up-to-date, obviously), and more complete. To deny this is to stick your head in the sand.


----------



## voltore




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *vidioteic* /forum/post/14018601
> 
> 
> Though I would think WBFF & WUSA would be able to handle the situation in HD.



We would love to but at the moment, the Weather Warn box we use isn't available to even buy in HD yet! Soon they say


----------



## MrChad




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *azitnay* /forum/post/13970309
> 
> 
> Is anyone else with Comcast of DC experiencing problems with the three newest HD channels (217 SCIHD, 244 DISNHD, and 245 FAMHD)? Since I use CableCARDs instead of cable boxes, I always wonder if it's just me or system-wide.
> 
> 
> Drew



I'm in Loudoun County and I haven't been able to pick up 217 SCIHD on my TiVoHD w/ CableCARD. All I get is a gray screen. The other new ones (AMCHD, DISNHD, FAMHD) come in just fine.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/14025802
> 
> 
> The whole point is you don't have to limit yourself to the same source of information. To use ESPN and ESPN.com as an example is just silly - you'd use the Internet to go to something else, to validate or whatever. And frankly, ESPN.com is often late with updates, and isn't the best source if you want immediate sports updates (there are a bunch better out there, and that are way faster than ESPN TV). And MLB.com seems to still be figuring out how to use computers, again not a great source.



Really, I give you a realistic example that contradicts your web-only posting and it is silly?


Gee, YOU were the one forcing new technology on people and saying the old stuff was dying. More than once, I may add.


As for MLB and computers, I wonder why the computer trade magazines have displayed them as a GREAT use of computers. MLB was the first to have all games available on line. First to have customizable game/player highlights. First to have fantasy alerts. Ah, never mind. I give you any example and you will claim they are a bad source. And they are very much in bed with the latest video information and distribution systems. Yup, they are just discovering computers. How about sticking to something you know about.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/14025802
> 
> 
> And yes, pretty much everyone is connected nowadays. If you aren't, you generally are a technophone, or over 60 (and yes, this is a sweeping generalization, but not too far from the truth - certainly everyone under about 30 is connected all the time).



Garbage. I run in a lot of circles of people of all ages. And, other than TEXTING, most young people I know do NOT use their cell phones and other devices for web browsing. In fact, I am so far ahead of the curve among all my friends but one (who is 40, BTW, and I am 50). Once again, you apply your choices and experience and push it onto everyone. It is called "projecting."


(And, BTW, it may have been a typo, but I think you meant "technophobe" not "technophone." As, techonphone would be a lover of technology and a technophobe would be afraid of technology.)



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/14025802
> 
> 
> There is no single best source, but the Internet is always a better source than other media - it's quicker, more up-to-date (not every place is universally more up-to-date, obviously), and more complete. To deny this is to stick your head in the sand.



Ah, once again, the generalization that if I give you examples, you will just claim they are bad sources. The internet is *always* a better source? I think not. As for sticking your head in the sand, you are the one doing that ignoring multiple sources of data. As an omnivore, I reject no source of information because it appears antiquated as you do. To assume that the newest technology is always the best source is arrogance.


----------



## Thunderthud




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Count Blah* /forum/post/13984482
> 
> 
> I noticed that 7-5 was not working when I wanted to watch the LOST season finale. Since then, I've lost 4-1,5-2 and 9-1. The ONLY reason I'm still with Comcast is because of the $33 a month for basic digital & these channels in HD. IF they don't come back soon, I'm going to go FIOS and never look back.
> 
> 
> I hope you're read Comcast, get these back QUICK!! Or you've lost yet another customer.



Rescan your channels... Comcast has screwed up it's qam channel mapping. You can find them on their rf channels eg: 112.1 etc.


----------



## mikepinkerton

Can we stop feeding AbMagFab? Please? These discussions aren't going anywhere, and we're all quite clear what his view is.


-Mike


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikepinkerton* /forum/post/14030292
> 
> 
> Can we stop feeding AbMagFab? Please? These discussions aren't going anywhere, and we're all quite clear what his view is.
> 
> 
> -Mike




Okay. I'm done.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/14028741
> 
> 
> Really, I give you a realistic example that contradicts your web-only posting and it is silly?
> 
> 
> Gee, YOU were the one forcing new technology on people and saying the old stuff was dying. More than once, I may add.
> 
> 
> As for MLB and computers, I wonder why the computer trade magazines have displayed them as a GREAT use of computers. MLB was the first to have all games available on line. First to have customizable game/player highlights. First to have fantasy alerts. Ah, never mind. I give you any example and you will claim they are a bad source. And they are very much in bed with the latest video information and distribution systems. Yup, they are just discovering computers. How about sticking to something you know about.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Garbage. I run in a lot of circles of people of all ages. And, other than TEXTING, most young people I know do NOT use their cell phones and other devices for web browsing. In fact, I am so far ahead of the curve among all my friends but one (who is 40, BTW, and I am 50). Once again, you apply your choices and experience and push it onto everyone. It is called "projecting."
> 
> 
> (And, BTW, it may have been a typo, but I think you meant "technophobe" not "technophone." As, techonphone would be a lover of technology and a technophobe would be afraid of technology.)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ah, once again, the generalization that if I give you examples, you will just claim they are bad sources. The internet is *always* a better source? I think not. As for sticking your head in the sand, you are the one doing that ignoring multiple sources of data. As an omnivore, I reject no source of information because it appears antiquated as you do. To assume that the newest technology is always the best source is arrogance.



Yes, you should stop feeding me...


You give one (bad, limited) example and then say "see, I told you!"? That's an odd way to debate, but whatever. The point is that the "ESPN TV vs. ESPN.com" is hardly the example that proves your point. Rather, the entire Internet is available to you to find information you need. If you treat the Internet like you do your legacy media (e.g. I watch ESPN, so let me check ESPN.com), then you're likely to end up in a pretty stale place. Instead, you need to look for better, more current information, which is always changing.


Or stick to the same-old-same-old and whither away with it.


As for MLB.com, it is a great site for all the things you mention here. But previously you talked about a rain delay or something - it's not a good site for that. Again, you seem to find one site for some (valid) reason, and then stick to it for everything (e.g. ESPN TV is good, so I'll stick to ESPN.com for the same info - DOH! ESPN TV was quicker, ergo this new fangled Internet thing must be slow!). While that's what they absolutely want you to do, it's not doing you much good. MLB.com is a great site for many things, but up to date info on game status is not one of them, and there are dozens of other sites that are much better, and way more current than TV (and Radio and MLB.com), and immediately accessible.


I've never claimed your examples were bad sources, I am saying they are just bad examples that don't do much to prove your point (and do more to highlight how you get information from the Internet than anything else, which is also why, perhaps, you have the opinions you do).


Anyway, often when people call out someone else as projecting, it's because they are actually projecting (that's called projecting).


Bottom line is, if you use the Internet adaptively, you'll have a great experience, and you'll find that the old-school TV and Radio are pretty much worthless for anything related to current information gathering.


----------



## Potatoehead

Are people still receiving ch. 24.1? Or is it just that I am on the edge of reception area and the atmosphere is not cooperating? Seem to be getting 8.1, 49.1 and 15.1 from Pennsylvania tonight - so maybe it is strange atmospherics.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/14031065
> 
> 
> Bottom line is, if you use the Internet adaptively, you'll have a great experience, and you'll find that the old-school TV and Radio are pretty much worthless for anything related to current information gathering.



Bottom line is that you are a fool and made a LOT of assumptions from your reply. You have no idea how I use the internet or when I use the internet. But you have decided that I am a luddite because I recognize the flaws in your argument.


Gee, you decided that I ONLY use ESPN because I used it as an example. What I did was called a designed experiment. I eliminated other variables and got down to changing only the delivery mechanism and proved that one mechanism is NOT inherently better than the other as you claim over and over again. I am not the person claiming that you should use one delivery mechanism (the internet or TV or radio or XM or telefony or whatever). You are. I am only giving examples when you are incapable of doing that at all and just sit on tautologies.


But then again, I actually used the internet to get viewership totals on local news a while back while someone else just proclaimed local news on TV was dead.


Hmmm...


Now be a good boy and try to retreat to your new position that all media is good and can be useful. Oh, and try not to stumble back into generalizations that are unsupportable.


Oh, and tell me where the internet was going to tell you about a rain delay? You see, MLB is *the* internet source for that information. Going to the primary source is a bad thing? Tell me how better to use the internet in that example as you claim it shows how I use it wrongly. Maybe I could use my mobile device to watch my Slingbox connected to my DirecTV DVR which would have shown me the rain on the live broadcast of MASN. Or I could have just turned my head to the TV that was 12 feet away from me and seen the rain live on it.


----------



## tripleM

 Funny the Post story on Sat says the net need electricity 


ps: some ppl who didn't have power decided to waste gas & drive around with their 20 minute delayed PDA net.


----------



## bucnasty

does EVERYONE without power decide to just drive around??? It took me twice as long to go from washington golf/CC to the home depot in seven corners... and no i did not listen to wtop.



back on topic now:



it seems the only thing bravo hd is good for is reruns of law and order and alicia silverstone movies.... anyone else who already has it have anything to add to that?


----------



## 4HiMarks

My GF's mother lives in Grand Pre Manor on Bel Pre Rd. in Mont. Co. (Zip 20906). I'm trying to choose converter boxes for her.


I borrowed a Magnavox TB100MW9 and a Digital Stream DTX9900 from a friend to try out, and it was a disaster.


Neither one's autoscan would pick up the full complement of even the big 4 (4,5,7, and 9), which is all she watches. She lives in a ground floor condo on the north side of the building, and there is another building across from her, so multipath could be an issue as well. She is currently using rabbit ears on top of her set for analog reception, which is a bit snowy, but it's there.


AntennaWeb recommends a "red" medium directional antenna for that zip, but they don't know about the ground floor or multipath. Is it even worth trying a better antenna, or different CECB to find one a bit more sensitive? She can't use a roof antenna as she is in a condo.


I have to pick something soon, as her coupons expire on 6/30.


-Chris


----------



## aaronwt

There are antennas now that do a good job in that situation. In 2001 when i first got HD, I tried half a dozen antennas with no luck. I tried again in 2004 and I was able to pick up signals with those since they had improved multipath reception.(I'm in a basement condo too and can get reflections off the other buildings)

I was able to use an outdoor antenna, a square shooter since they had to let me install it like they have to do a satellite dish. Most people think it's a dish(I put up two) even though they are pointing north.

There are several indoor antennas that work well with multipath, I don't remember what they are but with some searching on the forum you should be able to find them. Just make sure you get them fom a store that will allow you to return it. That way if it doesn't work like you want you can get a refund.


----------



## Ladd

I recorded last night's WETA repeat broadcasts of America's Ballroom Dancing (originally shown earlier in the year) and was stunned, stunned I tell you, to see that the picture was very clear and had zero macroblocking.


The show as broadcast last Winter was the poster-child for why I watch almost no WETA content anymore. I used as an example in a posting here my lovely bride who could not care less about HD programming (we joke that she doesn't care if TV is in color or black and white) that when watching last winter's broadcast she turned to me and actually said "what's wrong with the TV"?


Anyway, the current showing of the America's Ballroom Dancing series is a delight to watch.


I hope WETA keeps this up and I wonder if it is a fluke or did they at some point in the past change philosophies and up their bitrate?


----------



## alexandriahokie

Is anyone else in Alexandria (or on the Alex/Arlington headend) on Comcast having issues? I have some channels, many are badly pixelated to the point you can't watch, and some are just black screens. As the day has gone on, I've lost more and more. Comcast says they can send a truck on next Thursday (6/12), but they won't call the engineering department to let me know I'm having problems.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *alexandriahokie* /forum/post/14034937
> 
> 
> Is anyone else in Alexandria (or on the Alex/Arlington headend) on Comcast having issues? I have some channels, many are badly pixelated to the point you can't watch, and some are just black screens. As the day has gone on, I've lost more and more. Comcast says they can send a truck on next Thursday (6/12), but they won't call the engineering department to let me know I'm having problems.



WHat channels? I have not seen any problems since I got home from work at 3PM


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *4HiMarks* /forum/post/14033808
> 
> 
> Neither one's autoscan would pick up the full complement of even the big 4 (4,5,7, and 9), which is all she watches. She lives in a ground floor condo on the north side of the building, and there is another building across from her, so multipath could be an issue as well. She is currently using rabbit ears on top of her set for analog reception, which is a bit snowy, but it's there.



Just want to double check. Did the "rabbit ear" antenna include a ~7.5" circular loop UHF antenna? Did you experiment with the aim of the UHF loop to see if you could get a better picture for analog WDCA 20 or WETA 26? How did the analog UHF channels look? You probably know this, but a lot of people don't: the "big four" in DC - WRC 4, WTTG 5, WJLA 7, WUSA 9 - are all currently digitally broadcasting on UHF. Next February 17, WJLA-DT and WUSA-DT 9, of course will switch back to their upper VHF channels, but WRC-DT 4 will stay on UHF 48 and WTTG-DT 5 stays on UHF 36.


I think one of the most overlooked aspects of the digital transition in mainstream press articles on it is the fact that many VHF stations are digitally broadcasting on UHF. This is going to confuse a lot of people who have been satisfied to just get decent pictures for the four VHF stations and have not cared about UHF reception. People need to focus on both UHF and upper VHF reception performance for digital reception. But the news articles on the transition usually ignore the VHF on UHF info, probably because the writer doesn't understand it or due to a general inclination to skip over or dumb down any useful technical content.


I can get the big four from indoors here in Sterling at 16 miles with a Silver Sensor UHF antenna (Philips version) along with WDCA-DT 20 which is cranking at 500 kW on UHF 35. I wish someone else other than Terk would sell a unamplified version of the Silver Sensor antenna combined with rabbit ears for VHF, but as far I know, they don't. Your GF's mother may need to get a better indoor antenna if the analog VHFs come in with snow at 8-9 miles. If you can find one at a local store, try the Terk HDTVi non-amplified indoor antenna. The problem is that most chain stores (aka Best Buy and the like) push the overpriced indoor antennas with built-in crappy amplifiers which can make reception worse. The Terk HDTVa model has the built-in amplifier which BB has for $70 which is more than many rooftop antennas go for. Before returning the converter boxes, look at improving the antenna setup. If you get it working, she should be able to get the digital channels for 4,5,7,9,20,26,32,50 with stable picture quality.


----------



## alexandriahokie




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/14035032
> 
> 
> WHat channels? I have not seen any problems since I got home from work at 3PM



There are the channels that are either highly pixelated or so pixelated that they are just black screens:


4, 7 and 9 on the non-HD (004, 007, 009); there are others, but who watches the non-HD versions?


And in HD: 210 - 213, 217, 218, 224, 226-228, 231-234, 238, 240, 244, 245, 249-264


It started happening around noon, and more and more channels are going down all the time.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *alexandriahokie* /forum/post/14034937
> 
> 
> Is anyone else in Alexandria (or on the Alex/Arlington headend) on Comcast having issues? I have some channels, many are badly pixelated to the point you can't watch, and some are just black screens. As the day has gone on, I've lost more and more. Comcast says they can send a truck on next Thursday (6/12), but they won't call the engineering department to let me know I'm having problems.



Could be a heat or moisture problem. Start with a cold reboot of the STB or DVR (turn if off and unplug for at least 30 seconds). Also consider checking the cable box in the service area on the outside of the house if you can open it. You might also want to open & re-connect the coaxial cable connections inside that you can get at. Moisture build-up in a cable connection can clobber signal strength levels. The problem could be at a local junction box for the neighborhood or your cluster of houses which is malfunctioning in the heat. Check with your neighbors on if they are having any problems with Comcast.


----------



## alexandriahokie




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14035198
> 
> 
> Could be a heat or moisture problem. Start with a cold reboot of the STB or DVR (turn if off and unplug for at least 30 seconds). Also consider checking the cable box in the service area on the outside of the house if you can open it. You might also want to open & re-connect the coaxial cable connections inside that you can get at. Moisture build-up in a cable connection can clobber signal strength levels. The problem could be at a local junction box for the neighborhood or your cluster of houses which is malfunctioning in the heat. Check with your neighbors on if they are having any problems with Comcast.



I checked with one of my neighbors (in a condo building) and he said that his low-def TV was not having any issues but his HDTV was hardly getting any stations at all, just like mine. So he's going to call Comcast and let them know.


----------



## 4HiMarks




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14035147
> 
> 
> Just want to double check. Did the "rabbit ear" antenna include a ~7.5" circular loop UHF antenna? Did you experiment with the aim of the UHF loop to see if you could get a better picture for analog WDCA 20 or WETA 26? How did the analog UHF channels look? You probably know this, but a lot of people don't: the "big four" in DC - WRC 4, WTTG 5, WJLA 7, WUSA 9 - are all currently digitally broadcasting on UHF. Next February 17, WJLA-DT and WUSA-DT 9, of course will switch back to their upper VHF channels, but WRC-DT 4 will stay on UHF 48 and WTTG-DT 5 stays on UHF 36.
> 
> 
> I think one of the most overlooked aspects of the digital transition in mainstream press articles on it is the fact that many VHF stations are digitally broadcasting on UHF. This is going to confuse a lot of people who have been satisfied to just get decent pictures for the four VHF stations and have not cared about UHF reception. People need to focus on both UHF and upper VHF reception performance for digital reception. But the news articles on the transition usually ignore the VHF on UHF info, probably because the writer doesn't understand it or due to a general inclination to skip over or dumb down any useful technical content.
> 
> 
> I can get the big four from indoors here in Sterling at 16 miles with a Silver Sensor UHF antenna (Philips version) along with WDCA-DT 20 which is cranking at 500 kW on UHF 35. I wish someone else other than Terk would sell a unamplified version of the Silver Sensor antenna combined with rabbit ears for VHF, but as far I know, they don't. Your GF's mother may need to get a better indoor antenna if the analog VHFs come in with snow at 8-9 miles. If you can find one at a local store, try the Terk HDTVi non-amplified indoor antenna. The problem is that most chain stores (aka Best Buy and the like) push the overpriced indoor antennas with built-in crappy amplifiers which can make reception worse. The Terk HDTVa model has the built-in amplifier which BB has for $70 which is more than many rooftop antennas go for. Before returning the converter boxes, look at improving the antenna setup. If you get it working, she should be able to get the digital channels for 4,5,7,9,20,26,32,50 with stable picture quality.



It does have a circular loop. I know all about the Big four broadcasting on UHF, although it wasn't easy explaining it, and I didn't have the mapping memorized, so we are going to have to try again, perhaps with a silver sensor.


-Chris


----------



## Falcon_77




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *4HiMarks* /forum/post/14035662
> 
> 
> It does have a circular loop. I know all about the Big four broadcasting on UHF, although it wasn't easy explaining it, and I didn't have the mapping memorized, so we are going to have to try again, perhaps with a silver sensor.



Have you tried moving the antenna away from the TV? Putting right on top may be convenient, but it's also very close to a major noise source (the TV itself).


----------



## 4HiMarks




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Falcon_77* /forum/post/14035940
> 
> 
> Have you tried moving the antenna away from the TV? Putting right on top may be convenient, but it's also very close to a major noise source (the TV itself).



I'm not going there. I had to move the TV to gain access to the elec. outlet to plug in the CECB, and she complained it would take her a week to get it re-aligned exactly the way she likes it.


-Chris


----------



## yekim54




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ladd* /forum/post/14034797
> 
> 
> I hope WETA keeps this up and I wonder if it is a fluke or did they at some point in the past change philosophies and up their bitrate?



I noticed the improvement in WETA HD picture quality about a month or two ago. The picture used to pulsate via both OTA and Cox QAM, but is nice and steady now.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *4HiMarks* /forum/post/14036588
> 
> 
> I'm not going there. I had to move the TV to gain access to the elec. outlet to plug in the CECB, and she complained it would take her a week to get it re-aligned exactly the way she likes it.
> 
> 
> -Chris










I forsee cable sub in her future.


----------



## maestro73




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *alexandriahokie* /forum/post/14034937
> 
> 
> Is anyone else in Alexandria (or on the Alex/Arlington headend) on Comcast having issues? I have some channels, many are badly pixelated to the point you can't watch, and some are just black screens. As the day has gone on, I've lost more and more. Comcast says they can send a truck on next Thursday (6/12), but they won't call the engineering department to let me know I'm having problems.



Yes, I am. I have been for about 4 weeks now. I'll skip the details, but basically it's an issue with my TAP outside. Randomly for a few hours it stabilizes, and I have a really nice picture, then it craps out again. It's totally bizarre - some channels (HD Theatre, USA) are pristine, other are either a blank screen or pixelated with broken sound. Even my SD channels are f-ed up. However, the bedroom TV (SD only no cable box) are fine.


I've been battling with Comcast over this issue for a month now. Comcast said 2-4 weeks before they can fix it. After two (yes, two!) no show service calls, I specifically told them they have until June 13 to fix the problem and give me a generous credit for all the BS they put me through. Otherwise, I'm cancelling both Internet and TV and moving to DSL and Direct TV.


For some reason I feel it's cheaper for them to lose me as a customer than it is to fix the issue.


I'm in an apartment complex on Duke Street, if that helps.


----------



## tripleM

Why these cable monopolies are still allowed to operate poorly in local jurisdiction without any competition is beyond me. Even with FIOS & DTV & Dish around, they could care less about us consumers.


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *alexandriahokie* /forum/post/14034937
> 
> 
> Is anyone else in Alexandria (or on the Alex/Arlington headend) on Comcast having issues? I have some channels, many are badly pixelated to the point you can't watch, and some are just black screens. As the day has gone on, I've lost more and more. Comcast says they can send a truck on next Thursday (6/12), but they won't call the engineering department to let me know I'm having problems.



I've been having the same issues for awhile, too. I live in a 250-unit condo with main feeds from Comcast going through splitter boxes and from these into individual apartments. Last summer I had a Comcast tech check my signal strength both at the splitter box and in my unit, and it was OK.


Given the various responses already submitted to Hokie's original post, I seriously doubt this problem is localized to individual subscribers, so sending techs won't solve anything. It's also definitely not heat/moisture related, since these problems have been occurring randomly for several weeks. I suspect there are occasional hardware and/or software problems at the head end that feeds Alexandria/Arlington, and the engineers don't recognize it or don't have a clue about how to fix it permanently.


To recap the symptoms when the problem occurs, most HD channels above 215 will pixelate then freeze and disappear. This can happen to many of the SD digital channels, too, e.g. the movie channels between 150 and 170 and others like Hallmark at 68 and 137 and BBC America at 114. Sometimes, an SD equivalent (SFI-FI at 51) will be OK, other times not. None of the broadcast HD channels (e.g., NBC-HD at 211) are affected, which is another reason why I doubt this is a localized problem. In my case, the problem, when it occurs, seems to start in the early evening, but is gone the next day. Two or more days usually go by before it occurs again.


BTW, I use 2nd-gen cable cards in both my Panny TV and Sony DVR. The TV's QAM tuner seems more susceptible to this issue with pixelated or frozen screens, audio breakup, and no signal at all on some channels, but the DVR is also affected to a lesser extent.


----------



## mjw703

I'm in Arlington with Comcast, and I am not having any problems at all with the signal quality. A few years ago I was having issues with the cable at various times of the day, which was caused by a loose cable at the box that feeds all the units in my building. It actually three service techs to fix the problem, and the last tech only fixed it after I complained to the Arlington County Cable Authority about my problem. I'm sure Alexandria must have a cable management authority as well, and if Comcast continues to give you the run-around, contact the county. Comcast is amazingly fast to solve problems when the government starts check up on them.


----------



## maestro73

Yes, they do and I'll be calling them tomorrow.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *HDTV Sparky* /forum/post/14024001
> 
> 
> Seems many are singing the praises of WBFF HD news. Maybe it's just me, but I think the set design has way to much blue. Even graphics have a blue tint.
> 
> Never the less, it's a big improvement from the 'clay faces' everyone seemed to have before.
> 
> Compared to channel 9 in DC, no contest....... Channel 9 by a mile.
> 
> Don't get me wrong....
> 
> I am now a daily viewer of WBFF 5:30 news cast. Before , on occasion I watched the 10 PM news cast.
> 
> For now, ' you're the only game in town'.... GOOD LUCK .



I had a chance to adjust the monitors in the studio a bit, today. They should look less blue. (all monitors normally have a blue tint - although you normally don't notice it, the camera sees them that way).


Give it another look, when you get a chance.


BTW, other than the computer monitors in the weather area, there are 4 monitors that I didn't adjust. See if you can tell which ones aren't adjusted!


Thanks for watching -


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *maestro73* /forum/post/14042174
> 
> 
> Yes, they do and I'll be calling them tomorrow.



Good luck, and please keep us informed on the results (although I still think this is a head-end problem, perhaps related to higher compression rates on some QAM channels).


----------



## maestro73

I took another forums member's advice and sent an email through the CC website (the "Ask Rick a question" form) on Sunday, explaining everything, as well as a few other things










At 8 am this morning, before I could call the city, I noticed a voicemail from someone at the local corporate office saying she received my complaint and would like to discuss. I called back a little while ago and left a message. We'll see how that goes.


The last tech to actually make it out said the drop, or TAP, or whatever it's callled, was pretty much F-ed so I gotta believe that's the issue. I basically had no channels (HD or SD) all weekend. Thank god for OTA.


UPDATE: I've left two messages at the number of the woman who called me Monday morning. No call back yet. The number rings a few times and then goes straight to voicemail. That's not a good sign.


Also, no channels worked when I got home last night at 5:30. Watched a movie, then tried again at 10:45pm. ALL my channels worked, without a break-up. This morning, none of them worked. WTF!


----------



## bucnasty

unrelated note, nice picture by robert forsyth on the metro derailment story on news8.net


----------



## mdviewer25

great weather conditions tonight. picking up WBOC DT(21) at between 65 and 75 percent. turned antenna slightly and picked up WPVI-DT(64) and WCAU-DT(67) from Philly at around 50 percent. some breakups on WCAU. those seem like the only channels from Philadelphia I can ever get during nights like this because I think their Fox channel is broadcast digitally on 32.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/14049744
> 
> 
> great weather conditions tonight. picking up WBOC DT(21) at between 65 and 75 percent. turned antenna slightly and picked up WPVI-DT(64) and WCAU-DT(67) from Philly at around 50 percent. some breakups on WCAU. those seem like the only channels from Philadelphia I can ever get during nights like this because I think their Fox channel is broadcast digitally on 32.



Have you tried Richmond WUPV-DT(65)? It has been coming in regularly here. WBOC-DT(16 & 21) come in sometimes, but never have been able to get anything from Philly. I have also found that virtual channel 13 in Norfolk is on the same frequency(41) as Baltimore WUTB-DT (24). It overpowers it from the back of the antenna at times with a 1000 kW signal. I'm guessing this is the reason that WUTB is beaming their signal more to the north.


----------



## mdviewer25

thanks for the info, haven't tried that channel yet. just picked up WMDT-DT(53) from Salisbury at between 35 and 40 percent. Also, its the CW from Philly thats on 32, Fox is on 42.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/14049874
> 
> 
> Have you tried Richmond WUPV-DT(65)? It has been coming in regularly here. WBOC-DT(16 & 21) come in sometimes, but never have been able to get anything from Philly. I have also found that virtual channel 13 in Norfolk is on the same frequency(41) as Baltimore WUTB-DT (24). It overpowers it from the back of the antenna at times with a 1000 kW signal. I'm guessing this is the reason that WUTB is beaming their signal more to the north.



Actually, the reason WUTB-DT 41 is directional and not putting any signal to the south is to protect WMPT-DT 42.


- Trip


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/14050358
> 
> 
> Actually, the reason WUTB-DT 41 is directional and not putting any signal to the south is to protect WMPT-DT 42.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Will that change anytime soon? Is WMPT going to stay on 42? Is WUTB staying on 41? Why is WMPB on 29 so weak? Also, for now I lost WCAU-DT and WMDT-HD. Don't know why.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/14049874
> 
> 
> Have you tried Richmond WUPV-DT(65)? It has been coming in regularly here. WBOC-DT(16 & 21) come in sometimes, but never have been able to get anything from Philly. I have also found that virtual channel 13 in Norfolk is on the same frequency(41) as Baltimore WUTB-DT (24). It overpowers it from the back of the antenna at times with a 1000 kW signal. I'm guessing this is the reason that WUTB is beaming their signal more to the north.



No luck with Richmond WUPV 65(47). Also, no signal for WUTB 24(41) not even the spikes to 7 and 11 like last week.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/14050522
> 
> 
> Will that change anytime soon? Is WMPT going to stay on 42? Is WUTB staying on 41? Why is WMPB on 29 so weak? Also, for now I lost WCAU-DT and WMDT-HD. Don't know why.



Both are staying put.


WMPB is so weak due to protecting...


WGCB-DT 30 Red Lion PA

WNVT-DT 30 Goldvein VA

WTXF-TV 29 Philadelphia


And when WTXF signs off...


WUVP-DT 29 Philadelphia


You lost those signals probably because the atmosphere isn't helping you so much anymore. Around sunrise and sunset are the best times for tropospheric ducting, the phenomenon you're experiencing.


- Trip


----------



## Marcus Carr

This is from August 2007:

*Verizon to Baltimore: You'll get FiOS someday*


Reader Robert asks: "When will FIOS come to Baltimore City? I look forward to the day I can leave Comcast." So I put the question to Verizon spokeswoman Sandy Arnette. Her response:


"Regarding your reader's question about when Verizon will bring FiOS to Baltimore City, we have not yet announced a timetable for Baltimore. But, of course, that in no way means the city will not get FiOS. So, please ask your reader to stay tuned -- recognizing that we cannot build a fiber-optic network everywhere at once.


"Just so you know, urban areas, because of permitting, undergrounding and property access issues present unique challenges that are different from suburban areas. We'll work through these issues in Baltimore knowing it's a good market for us.


"It's also important to note that we're still in the early stages of our fiber-optic upgrade, which we'll be working on for the next several years. Just because we have not built our network or obtained a cable franchise in a particular area now is not an indication that we won't do so."



I take this to mean: Don't hold your breath. I suspect the city is also not a first priority for Verizon because of lower-income neighborhoods, which the company may fear wouldn't sign up for high-priced cable/Internet packages at the rate of affluent neighborhoods. Verizon could cherry-pick Guilford, Roland Park, Federal Hill & Mt. Washington, but that would leave it wide open to charges of redlining. On the other hand, Baltimore has many more residences per mile of cable than the counties.

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/busi...youll_get.html


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Comcast monopoly may face challenges*


Feb 22, 2008 3:00 AM (109 days ago) by Aaron Cahall, The Examiner


BALTIMORE (Map, News) -


Months after its first attempt to gain a franchise agreement in Baltimore City faltered, cable company Cavalier seems ready take another shot at breaking up Comcast's monopoly.


It might not be alone, as city officials and a company spokesperson said Verizon will eventually seek a franchise in Baltimore.


The city's planning commission earlier this month approved a Cavalier franchise agreement, again sending it to the council for debate. A contract proposed by the Richmond, Va.-based cable, telephone and Internet provider died last fall after a council subcommittee gave the contract an unfavorable recommendation and the city's Board of Estimates did not take it up.


At that time, Verizon officials said they too may try to break into the city market. In an e-mail statement, Verizon spokeswoman Sandy Arnette said the company will eventually seek an agreement to bring FiOS to Baltimore once it deploys its fiber optic network, but could not say exactly when that would occur.


They're going to get to Baltimore City, said Marilyn Harris-Davis, Mayor Sheila Dixon's director of cable and communications. Baltimore is certainly a viable cable communications area.


The contract would allow Cavalier to lease and piggyback on existing Verizon transmission lines to provide service.


However, both Harris-Davis and Councilman James Kraft, chair of the judiciary and legislative investigations subcommittee which spiked the agreement, said they have not heard from the company. Kraft said legislation for the agreement has not been reintroduced. Cavalier representatives did not return calls for comment Thursday.


We didn't have a lot of information, they gave it with less than 30 days left before the end of our session, Kraft said. We're not saying we don't want to create a more competitive market, we're saying we can't do this within in the timeframe in a reasonable way. Our understanding is that the issue would return.


In an e-mail, Comcast spokeswoman Alicia Martin defended the company's market dominance.


Competition is not new to Comcast, Martin said. No other provider is capable of delivering integrated products on the scale that Comcast does today.


Harris-Davis reiterated concerns about Cavalier's customer service capabilities, and questioned who would conduct maintenance and repairs on the system.


Cavalier is a smaller company, she said. When you give a franchise [agreement], you're giving them access to city streets. We want to make sure they're up to it.

http://www.examiner.com/a-1235336~Co...hallenges.html


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14051665
> 
> 
> This is from August 2007:
> 
> *Verizon to Baltimore: You'll get FiOS someday*
> 
> 
> Reader Robert asks: "When will FIOS come to Baltimore City? I look forward to the day I can leave Comcast." So I put the question to Verizon spokeswoman Sandy Arnette. Her response:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "Just so you know, urban areas, because of permitting, undergrounding and property access issues present unique challenges that are different from suburban areas. We'll work through these issues in Baltimore knowing it's a good market for us.
> 
> 
> "It's also important to note that we're still in the early stages of our fiber-optic upgrade, which we'll be working on for the next several years. Just because we have not built our network or obtained a cable franchise in a particular area now is not an indication that we won't do so."



I live in Fauquier, nice and rural. So Verizon is gonna jump right on that, right? Still can't even get DSL, so I'm sure we're at the bottom of the list. Verizon won't admit the truth, as the poster said, "We're looking to put FIOS in higher value neighborhoods where it's more likely people will subscribe. If you live in low income housing, no matter where it is, don't hold your breath."


So for every "Comcast is awful" I'm happy they at least have BOTHERED to do high speed internet. They had no competition, so they could have sat back and not bothered with HD service or internet. If Verizon said tomorrow they were going to offer me DSL, I'd stick with Comcast. I'm in no hurry to switch to FIOS either, even if it was offered.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/14050787
> 
> 
> Both are staying put.
> 
> 
> WMPB is so weak due to protecting...
> 
> 
> WGCB-DT 30 Red Lion PA
> 
> WNVT-DT 30 Goldvein VA
> 
> WTXF-TV 29 Philadelphia
> 
> 
> And when WTXF signs off...
> 
> 
> WUVP-DT 29 Philadelphia
> 
> 
> You lost those signals probably because the atmosphere isn't helping you so much anymore. Around sunrise and sunset are the best times for tropospheric ducting, the phenomenon you're experiencing.
> 
> 
> - Trip



This morning pulled in WTVE-DT 51-1(25) for a few minutes at 30 percent from Reading. was showing infomercials. The two channels that seem strongest are WPVI-DT 6(64) and WBOC-DT 16(21). WPVI was between 30 and 50 percent. WBOC was at 96 percent but WMDT must be weaker because the signal meter didn't budge from zero.


----------



## mdviewer25

still no signal for WUTB 24(41)


----------



## mdviewer25

as of 12:30pm still holding on to WBOC DT but dropped from 95 to 30 percent. everything else is gone


----------



## FineWare




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/14049744
> 
> 
> ...picking up WBOC DT(21) at between 65 and 75 percent...



Interesting DX point: Has anyone noticed what happens if you're watching one channel, and a second distant channel fades in over it? When this stuff moves down to VHF, I'll bet we'll be seeing a lot more of that.


----------



## Marcus Carr

ACC football in HD:

http://raycomsportsmarketing.com/ind...d=87&Itemid=91


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *maestro73* /forum/post/14046703
> 
> 
> I took another forums member's advice and sent an email through the CC website (the "Ask Rick a question" form) on Sunday, explaining everything, as well as a few other things
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> At 8 am this morning, before I could call the city, I noticed a voicemail from someone at the local corporate office saying she received my complaint and would like to discuss. I called back a little while ago and left a message. We'll see how that goes.
> 
> 
> The last tech to actually make it out said the drop, or TAP, or whatever it's callled, was pretty much F-ed so I gotta believe that's the issue. I basically had no channels (HD or SD) all weekend. Thank god for OTA.
> 
> 
> UPDATE: I've left two messages at the number of the woman who called me Monday morning. No call back yet. The number rings a few times and then goes straight to voicemail. That's not a good sign.
> 
> 
> Also, no channels worked when I got home last night at 5:30. Watched a movie, then tried again at 10:45pm. ALL my channels worked, without a break-up. This morning, none of them worked. WTF!



Ah, I didn't realize that you are intermittently not getting any channels; very different than my issues. That does sound like a loose/flaky connection somewhere. If the woman who called you is the customer service manager in Manassas, I know from experience that she's on the road a lot. I contacted her last fall to resolve a billing issue. When she finally returned my call, she apologized for the delay and solved my problem in real time.


----------



## Skeptic Tank




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/14052401
> 
> 
> still no signal for WUTB 24(41)



As soon as someone in P.G. reports reception of WUTB, I expect them to reduce the power in our direction since they DON'T want us to get their signal here.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Skeptic Tank* /forum/post/14054666
> 
> 
> As soon as someone in P.G. reports reception of WUTB, I expect them to reduce the power in our direction since they DON'T want us to get their signal here.



That seems strange as close as we are to get every other station except that one. Why would they not want us to receive it?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/14054745
> 
> 
> That seems strange as close as we are to get every other station except that one. Why would they not want us to receive it?



It is not a question of WUTB-DT not wanting you to not get the station, but that they had to go with a directional antenna when they ended up on UHF 41 - which was not their first choice.


I don't why this did not occur to me earlier, but I wonder that adjacent channel interference may be why you and others well SW of Catonsville and close to Annapolis can't get WUTB-DT on UHF 41. You are closer to the broadcast tower for WMPT-DT on 42 located in the Crownsville area, although Forestville, MD is not that close. The stronger signal from WMPT-DT may be keeping your tuner from getting a lock on UHF 41. Check the coverage maps for the two DT stations:

WUTB-DT 24(41): http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...DT1233410.html 

WMPT-DT 22(42): http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...=DT684296.html .


Unfortunately, both stations are on their final post-transition assignments so they are not changing their channels next year. What are you using for an ATSC tuner? It is possible that a 6th generation tuner such as one of the new converter boxes might be able to get a lock on WUTB-DT from down there. Can anyone who has tried one of the new converter boxes from south of Annapolis comment on this?


Those who can't get WUTB-DT 24 from west of DC and southwest of Catonsville might just have to live with getting their My Network HD programming (such as it is) from WDCA-DT My 20 which is least putting out a strong broadcast signal.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/14052396
> 
> 
> This morning pulled in WTVE-DT 51-1(25) for a few minutes at 30 percent from Reading. was showing infomercials. The two channels that seem strongest are WPVI-DT 6(64) and WBOC-DT 16(21). WPVI was between 30 and 50 percent. WBOC was at 96 percent but WMDT must be weaker because the signal meter didn't budge from zero.



I'd be curious... WTVE-DT is an interesting case, they're actually running 7 (!) low-powered transmitters and one full-powered transmitter (from the same site as WPVI and most of the other Philly stations). I'm guessing that you received the Philly one, but there's really no way to know which one you actually saw. If you were in a different part of Maryland, I'd say it's the transmitter in North East, MD.


I stuck info about their digital signal in the WTVE Wikipedia page, if you're curious about it.


- Trip


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Comcast bumps D.C. stations to digital only*


Analog customers may need to upgrade


By ERIN SHEA Staff Writer


Published June 10, 2008


Comcast cable is shuffling some of its channels, moving the Washington, D.C., network affiliates to its more expensive digital tier.


Comcast customers currently receive network affiliates from both Washington and Baltimore, providing two ABC, NBC, FOX and CBS channels. But on June 25, Comcast will cut the Washington channels from its analog service.


The change will mean that Comcast's analog customers will have to upgrade to the digital service if they want to continue receiving stations from Washington, though company officials said the majority of their customers won't notice any change.

*According to Comcast officials, 80 percent of their customers in Annapolis and Anne Arundel already have digital cable.* Aimee Metrick, director of public relations for Comcast's Eastern Division, which serves the state of Maryland, said the only changes those customers should expect will be the channels changing from their current numbers to numbers 193-196.

*"These changes are designed to help us continue our commitment to bring new programming and high-definition (HD) choices to digital customers,"* she said.


But if customers choose, they can keep their analog service and still receive the Baltimore channels.


For the others, Ms. Metrick said Comcast customers who now subscribe to the standard analog cable package will be able to change to the digital starter package at no cost increase. Both packages cost $52.15 a month. She also said the required converter box for the digital service is included in the cost, though additional boxes for other televisions cost $3.95 each a month.


The total number of Comcast customers in Anne Arundel and Annapolis was not available. Ms. Metrick also said she did not know how many of the non-digital customers subscribed to the Comcast's least expensive basic cable package for $16.70 a month.


Those customers would be forced to make the biggest leap in service to keep their Washington stations, paying about $35 more a month.


By changing to digital service, customers would "get the D.C. broadcast channels and they'll enjoy the benefits of digital cable, which include better picture quality and sound, On Demand programming, 47 music channels, parental controls, and an interactive program guide," Ms. Metrick said. Many customers in the county are not happy about the change.


"I don't think that's good at all," said Bryan Copeland, 33, of Lothian. "I don't think that's fair to people who have (basic) cable. We're between D.C. and Baltimore so we should have both channels."


Brandon Machen, a 24-year-old former resident of Severna Park agreed.


"Sometimes the Baltimore (channels) don't come in and the D.C. ones do," he said.


However, former Pasadena resident Bill Paddy, 55, said while being able to watch both Washington- and Baltimore-area channels was nice, he didn't think it would "be the end of the world" if the Washington channels were unavailable to area residents.


Victoria Bruce, 41, of Riva welcomed news of the change.


"At some point technology just has to move forward," she said. "When cars came in style, horses went out. It was inevitable."


Millersville resident Peter Mallo, 74, also said he was glad to hear the news because digital cable is a better service, calling it "complete."


Faruq Muhammad, 41, of Philadelphia, said he was infuriated by the news though, saying that if the transition succeeds here he thinks they would do similar things in the rest of the country.


"This is just another tragedy being swept under the rug," he said.


Comcast, along with all cable providers across the country, will make a complete transition to digital service on Feb. 17, 2009. It was unclear what Comcast's least expensive package will be once the digital transition occurs.


"These changes are not in any way related to the federally mandated broadcast digital-television transition (DTV)," said Ms. Metrick.


Verizon FiOS also is planning a similar digital change. Heather Wilner, a media relations manager for Verizon, said the company is "transitioning to an all-digital format on a gradual basis region-to-region."


Ms. Wilner said the transition is expected to be completed by the end of the year and that the transition will be completed by July in Anne Arundel County. According to the Verizon FiOS Web site, the company's lowest tier digital package starts at $47.99 a month, though the company also offers package deals with its Internet and telephone service, similar to Comcast.


Verizon customers will receive one free digital adaptor with the upgrade and Ms. Wilner said they would "work with customers" who have more than one analog television set to complete the transition. The current cost for digital adaptors is $3.99 per month.


Broadstripe, formerly known as Millennium Digital Media, said they have no current plans to change to an all-digital format or turn any of the current analog channels into digital channels. Doing so would require customers to get a digital box, an option that they say is not "customer-friendly."

http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi...8/06_10-05/TOP


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14055394
> 
> 
> It is not a question of WUTB-DT not wanting you to not get the station, but that they had to go with a directional antenna when they ended up on UHF 41 - which was not their first choice.
> 
> 
> I don't why this did not occur to me earlier, but I wonder that adjacent channel interference may be why you and others well SW of Catonsville and close to Annapolis can't get WUTB-DT on UHF 41. You are closer to the broadcast tower for WMPT-DT on 42 located in the Crownsville area, although Forestville, MD is not that close. The stronger signal from WMPT-DT may be keeping your tuner from getting a lock on UHF 41. Check the coverage maps for the two DT stations:
> 
> WUTB-DT 24(41): http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...DT1233410.html
> 
> WMPT-DT 22(42): http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...=DT684296.html .
> 
> 
> Unfortunately, both stations are on their final post-transition assignments so they are not changing their channels next year. What are you using for an ATSC tuner? It is possible that a 6th generation tuner such as one of the new converter boxes might be able to get a lock on WUTB-DT from down there. Can anyone who has tried one of the new converter boxes from south of Annapolis comment on this?
> 
> 
> Those who can't get WUTB-DT 24 from west of DC and southwest of Catonsville might just have to live with getting their My Network HD programming (such as it is) from WDCA-DT My 20 which is least putting out a strong broadcast signal.



WUTB isn't at full power yet, are they? Wasn't last week just a test? and it must not have lasted long because by the time I found out about it the test was over. Also, WUSA is on 34 and WDCA is on 35 and WTTG is on 36. So why are they worried about protecting WMPT? Those are adjacent and don't cause any problems


----------



## Trip in VA

Adjacents don't matter so long as the stations are close together--on the same tower or within a few miles of each other. When they're more than 14 miles apart, they begin to cause lots of interference and then stations have to worry about protecting them.


WUTB-41/WMPT-42 was a really poor allocation; here's hoping something's done to correct it. (Move WMPT to 43 in the future maybe?)


- Trip


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14051665
> 
> 
> This is from August 2007:
> 
> *Verizon to Baltimore: You'll get FiOS someday*
> 
> 
> Reader Robert asks: "When will FIOS come to Baltimore City? I look forward to the day I can leave Comcast." So I put the question to Verizon spokeswoman Sandy Arnette. Her response:
> 
> 
> "Regarding your reader's question about when Verizon will bring FiOS to Baltimore City, we have not yet announced a timetable for Baltimore. But, of course, that in no way means the city will not get FiOS. So, please ask your reader to stay tuned -- recognizing that we cannot build a fiber-optic network everywhere at once.
> 
> 
> "Just so you know, urban areas, because of permitting, undergrounding and property access issues present unique challenges that are different from suburban areas. We'll work through these issues in Baltimore knowing it's a good market for us.
> 
> 
> "It's also important to note that we're still in the early stages of our fiber-optic upgrade, which we'll be working on for the next several years. Just because we have not built our network or obtained a cable franchise in a particular area now is not an indication that we won't do so."
> 
> 
> 
> I take this to mean: Don't hold your breath. I suspect the city is also not a first priority for Verizon because of lower-income neighborhoods, which the company may fear wouldn't sign up for high-priced cable/Internet packages at the rate of affluent neighborhoods. Verizon could cherry-pick Guilford, Roland Park, Federal Hill & Mt. Washington, but that would leave it wide open to charges of redlining. On the other hand, Baltimore has many more residences per mile of cable than the counties.
> 
> http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/busi...youll_get.html



City of Alexandria is far down on the list because of the cost. We have a lot of money in the City, but tearing up old streets and neighborhoods is cost prohibitive. I think their timetable is 2010 for the City...


----------



## kenrowe

Finally.

http://www.gazette.net/stories/06110...58_32362.shtml 


The City Council on Monday night approved an agreement with Verizon to install its high-speed, fiber optics cable service within [Rockville].


Verizon FiOS will provide telephone, high-speed Internet and cable television to the majority of homes throughout Rockville, except the King Farm community.


City officials said Verizon serves King Farm from its Gaithersburg central office. They said Verizon plans to obtain approval to begin construction from that office in 2009.


Phone calls to Verizon were not returned by Gazette press time Tuesday afternoon.


Verizon will now begin engineering design work and is scheduled to begin construction in Rockville in September, with completion in a year, according to Craig Simoneau, the city's director of public works.


City officials stressed that all of the costs for the installation would be paid by Verizon.


We are moving forward, but we're moving forward with the knowledge that the city is protected and the costs to the city are taken care of by Verizon, Mayor Susan R. Hoffmann said Monday after the unanimous vote of approval.


It may have taken longer than anybody would like, but I'm pleased with the agreement and the relationship we have developed and I have confidence it will be done in a timely way, Hoffmann added.


Montgomery County approved Verizon FiOS service in 2006.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/14058503
> 
> 
> WUTB isn't at full power yet, are they? Wasn't last week just a test? and it must not have lasted long because by the time I found out about it the test was over. Also, WUSA is on 34 and WDCA is on 35 and WTTG is on 36. So why are they worried about protecting WMPT? Those are adjacent and don't cause any problems



As Trip posted, if the station towers are co-located or close enough, adjacent digital channels are ok. The stations may be at different power levels and have different coverage areas, but the relative signal strengths stay within so many dB of each other. When you have adjacent channels on towers far enough apart, then someone close to tower A gets a signal X dB stronger than the adjacent channel from distant tower B. The edge of the envelope of the strong signal for channel A overwhelms the weak signal for adjacent channel B. However, looking at the map, Forestville, MD is pretty far from the WMPT-DT tower for adjacent channel interference to be the cause.


WUTB-DT 24 on UHF 41 is at it's post-transition power of 200 kW and channel assignment. Nothing temporary about it. All WUTB-DT has to do for next February is to turn off the analog UHF 24 transmitter. Hopefully WUTB-DT has to do some adjustments to the antenna radiate pattern to the south to improve reception in those areas. If not, then the reception situation to the south of the station is not going to improve when analog broadcasting ends. WNUV-DT 54 on UHF 40, WUTB-DT on UHF 41, WMPT-DT 22 on UHF 42 are all on their post-transition channels and alloted power levels. What is curious in this case is that none of the 3 are co-located on the same tower or tower cluster, they are spread out by some miles.


BTW, speaking of UHF 24, WNVC-DT MHz 56 in Fairfax, which is moving to UHF 24 next February 17 (after WUTB-TV turns off it's analog signal), has filed to increase it's power next year on UHF 24 from the current allotment of 45 kW to 160 kW. This should give a pretty good coverage area - well, once they get back on the air. WNVC will be going dark on both analog 56 and digital 57 in September so they can put up a new antenna on top of the the tower that is located next to the Beltway.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Is there an ETA for HD on WUTB?


----------



## rusticusa

I am in a dilemma whether to switch to comast digital triple play from DirecTV. The main reason is to get the cable internet as DSL or dial-up is the only other alternative. I think cable will be better than DSL. I currently do not have internet, and phone through verizon. Between satellite and my phone I pay 130.00/month and the triple play is 130.00/month for two years. Making the internet free for all intent and purposes. How often does comcast go out and for how long? How is the signal quality for HD as well as SD? I am in Calvert County, MD.


Thanks in advance for any feedback


I am sure some if not all of this has been coverd in the past, but I would like current info.


----------



## bucnasty

keep your dish get verizon dsl use your cell phone


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14057188
> 
> *Comcast bumps D.C. stations to digital only*
> 
> 
> Analog customers may need to upgrade
> 
> 
> By ERIN SHEA Staff Writer
> 
> 
> Published June 10, 2008
> 
> 
> Comcast cable is shuffling some of its channels, moving the Washington, D.C., network affiliates to its more expensive digital tier.
> 
> 
> Comcast customers currently receive network affiliates from both Washington and Baltimore, providing two ABC, NBC, FOX and CBS channels. But on June 25, Comcast will cut the Washington channels from its analog service.
> 
> 
> The change will mean that Comcast's analog customers will have to upgrade to the digital service if they want to continue receiving stations from Washington, though company officials said the majority of their customers won't notice any change.
> 
> ...
> http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi...8/06_10-05/TOP



I'm surprised that both DC and Baltimore stations were available in Annapolis and Anne Arundel on analog. PG County lost the Baltimore stations on analog quite a long time ago and then lost them on formal digital and recently lost them on QAM digital. I thought at the same time that PG County lost those QAM signals that Anne Arundel and Annapolis also lost the QAM signals for the DC stations. I wonder if they'll get those back with this June 25 transition or what?


Neil


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rusticusa* /forum/post/14062494
> 
> 
> I am in a dilemma whether to switch to comast digital triple play from DirecTV. The main reason is to get the cable internet as DSL or dial-up is the only other alternative. I think cable will be better than DSL. I currently do not have internet, and phone through verizon. Between satellite and my phone I pay 130.00/month and the triple play is 130.00/month for two years. Making the internet free for all intent and purposes. How often does comcast go out and for how long? How is the signal quality for HD as well as SD?



Comcast service should not go out very often; TV and internet should be reliable. For TV, you should compare the channel line-up between what Comcast offers in your county versus DirecTV. Comcast digital SD picture quality will be better than the very compressed DirecTV SD channels. On the flip side, the new DirecTV HD satellites provide good HD quality and a larger HD channel line-up compared to the typical Comcast system at this time. You have to decide between the trade-offs and costs of each service bundle for what your needs are.


I assume Verizon Fios is not yet available in your neighborhood. Fios would offer the best internet service for choices of speed. TV, phone, and internet have been very reliable for me. The upcoming HD channel expansion of some 27 HD channels should hit the Washington Metro market sometime in August (we hope).


----------



## mchief99

I was without internet and cable TV for 12 + hours yesterday starting around 2PM. Seeing no other comments, it must have been very isolated.


----------



## maestro73

My internet was/is fine. My cable has been f-ed for 4 days, except after 10 pm or so. Awaiting word from the CC maintenance folks via a corporate rep. I was supposed to get a call this morning.


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mchief99* /forum/post/14068078
> 
> 
> I was without internet and cable TV for 12 + hours yesterday starting around 2PM. Seeing no other comments, it must have been very isolated.



Same thing here (very near Alexandria Hospital) - entire building out. Must have been a cut or damaged main line feeding a broad area.


----------



## maestro73

So, since I'm still without cable, I switched over to OTA when I got home. For some reason, Fox 5 is no longer at, well, 5 in my channel summary. It's at 44.1 and the PSID(?) info says KWKT-DT, which appear to be Waco, TX call letters.


Anyone else notice this?


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *maestro73* /forum/post/14071188
> 
> 
> So, since I'm still without cable, I switched over to OTA when I got home. For some reason, Fox 5 is no longer at, well, 5 in my channel summary. It's at 44.1 and the PSID(?) info says KWKT-DT, which appear to be Waco, TX call letters.
> 
> 
> Anyone else notice this?



Not sure if you mean Wash or Balt, and what you're using to tune, but WTTG on my TivoHD using OTA is on 5-1. So they must be broadcasting the right PSIP info.


----------



## maestro73

Washington. Using the ATSC tuner in my TV. The channel summary (the results after I scan) showed it as 5.1 WTTG-HD as of last night, as it always had. Tonight, 5-1 is no longer in the summary, but 44-1 is, as KWKT, but showing our local Fox 5 DC programming.


Baltimore Fox is showing up correctly.


----------



## cpldc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *maestro73* /forum/post/14071188
> 
> 
> So, since I'm still without cable, I switched over to OTA when I got home. For some reason, Fox 5 is no longer at, well, 5 in my channel summary. It's at 44.1 and the PSID(?) info says KWKT-DT, which appear to be Waco, TX call letters.
> 
> 
> Anyone else notice this?



I just saw it--I rescanned my TV just out of curiosity and it picked it up as 44.1. My other tuner that gets PSIP when you tune in is also showing KWKT.


----------



## Potatoehead

Rusticusa,


I am in Calvert County as well and have had Comcast for a couple of years. I signed up for it primarily to get the internet because as you note, we do not have a lot of options. I don't think FIOS will be out by us for a long long time. Satellite is probably not an option for me because of the many tall trees around us (My wife will not let me cut any of them.)


Comcast has been quite reliable. I cannot think of any times that it has been out and we have had power. There probably have been a few minor outages when I haven't been using the system. The customer service is probably a bit better than that in more populated areas, but you still have to deal with the Comcast culture (bottom line driven, not very much information and slow changes). As afiggatt noted (he is always a good source of information), the HD quality is not as good as DirectTV but I think acceptable (others would probably argue with me on that).


Have you thought about the Comcast double play (internet and phone)?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cpldc* /forum/post/14071724
> 
> 
> I just saw it--I rescanned my TV just out of curiosity and it picked it up as 44.1. My other tuner that gets PSIP when you tune in is also showing KWKT.



This is one of the weirdest PSIP errors I have ever seen. The tuner showed WTTG-DT on 5; entered channel 36 (physical channel for WTTG-DT), it automatically switched to channel 5 as expected. So I did a re-scan and yup, it now shows a KWKT-DT 44.1 which is the Fox affiliate in Waco, TX which broadcasts on UHF 57. I enter channel 36 and the channel changes to 44.1!! What The Heck? This is not some strange atmospheric ducting as the station is still on UHF 36.


Somehow WTTG-DT got the call sign and channel assignment for KWKT-DT in their PSIP data. Betcha that WTTG-DT uses a service to program their PSIP data and it is the same company that does KWKT-DT 44 in Waco. Someone messed up the call sign. Wonder what KWKT-DT is showing in Waco?










This glitch is going seriously confuse anyone trying out their new converter box for the first time tonight in the DC area.


----------



## cpldc

On the subject of PSIP, wasn't there a deadline in May, or something to that effect? I notice Univision 14 isn't transmitting any sort of program data. Their audio also has pops that sound like a sampling rate mismatch (well, that's what happens with SPDIF, anyway), which occur only on their digital channel.


That's been the situation for several weeks now. I tried emailing the station manager but got no reply. There is no engineering contact of any sort on the station web site.


I don't watch the channel but it'd be nice for them to fix those issues. As far as DC Spanish-language stations go, I'd really like to see WZDC go digital, since they air international soccer games fairly frequently. Does their signal even reach outside of the city? It's already pretty weak here, that's for sure.


----------



## oaks

WTTG (OTA) seems to have corrected their PSIP data as of Friday morning.


On that same subject, there still appears to be an issue with WUTB's PSIP data since their recent power upgrade. Two of three DTV tuners in my household identify WUTB as 41.1. The third tunes the signal fine, then goes blank ten seconds later, just as it labels the station as 24.1.


----------



## buckydc

"This glitch is going seriously confuse anyone trying out their new converter box for the first time tonight in the DC area."


You mean my wife? We tried to tune in WTTG around 7pm last night and saw the dreaded "no signal" box. Did a rescan and found Fox 5 at 44.1 Huh? Great dx I thought. But that didn't make any sense since they were still on uhf 36. Noticed that the error had been corrected by 10pm last night.


----------



## HokieNav




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14057188
> 
> *Comcast bumps D.C. stations to digital only*
> 
> *Comcast, along with all cable providers across the country, will make a complete transition to digital service on Feb. 17, 2009.* It was unclear what Comcast's least expensive package will be once the digital transition occurs.
> 
> 
> "These changes are not in any way related to the federally mandated broadcast digital-television transition (DTV)," said Ms. Metrick.



Ms. Metrick gives the paper the right info, and they still can't manage to make a statement that's somewhere between "completely wrong" and "hopelessly misleading". I emailed the editors, we'll see if I get any response.


----------



## Zon74

I'm in Silver Spring. If I knew how to post my chart from TVFool I would, but I don't. But basically, most of the DC stations are clustered between 221 and 226 degrees magnetic at a distance of around 7 miles, and the Baltimore stations are clustered at 54 degrees magnetic at a distance of about 29 miles. So the two groups are about 170 degrees apart.


I have DIRECTV and I use a variety of indoor tabletop antennas to get great reception on basically all the main DC digital stations (digital versions and subchannels for 4,5,7,9,14,20,26, and 50). I also have a major WAF concerning an outdoor antenna, but personally I don't like having all those tabletop antennas around. So I'd like to replace them all with a small discrete outdoor antenna instead. An HDX1000 appended to my DTV dish would probably work fine for DC. But I'd like to add the main Baltimore stations if possible.


What do other people directly along the 29 corridor between DC and Baltimore, like Silver Spring, Burtonsville, and Columbia, use for antennas to get both cities? Should I use two antennas pointed in opposite directions and combine the signals? Does something like a Sensar III work (the charts suggest that the bi-directional nature of that unit seems to fade in the UHF range - does this thing actually work when you have stations that are in nearly opposite directions?) What about a Winegard MS2002 Metrostar? Again, do those things work and are they good enough to get Baltimore stations from 30 miles away (without being mounted 40 feet in the air). That might have the advantage of picking up 22 as well, but I'm not really worried about it. My primary interest is in getting the Baltimore network affiliates for the added NFL and college football games in the fall.


Yes, I know a nice big bow-tie array would probably perfectly do the trick, but it's simply not going to happen. The attic is, for various reasons, also not a good option. I wondered if anyone similarly situated has had success with a more "aesthetically pleasing" outdoor solution. Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.


----------



## Zon74

Will the subchannels for these stations also be in VHF or will they remain where they are in UHF?


Thanks.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Zon74* /forum/post/14077257
> 
> 
> Will the subchannels for these stations also be in VHF or will they remain where they are in UHF?
> 
> 
> Thanks.



YES, They will move to VHF as well.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Zon74* /forum/post/14077161
> 
> 
> I'm in Silver Spring. If I knew how to post my chart from TVFool I would, but I don't. But basically, most of the DC stations are clustered between 221 and 226 degrees magnetic at a distance of around 7 miles, and the Baltimore stations are clustered at 54 degrees magnetic at a distance of about 29 miles. So the two groups are about 170 degrees apart.
> 
> 
> I have DIRECTV and I use a variety of indoor tabletop antennas to get great reception on basically all the main DC digital stations (digital versions and subchannels for 4,5,7,9,14,20,26, and 50). I also have a major WAF concerning an outdoor antenna, but personally I don't like having all those tabletop antennas around. So I'd like to replace them all with a small discrete outdoor antenna instead.



If you want to get stations from both cities, you need to look at a bi-directional (more or less) antenna. The flat plate bowtie antennas are good for this. You don't have to necessarily get the big CM 4228 8 bay. The Cm 4221 4 Bay should have enough performance for UHF, but not so sure about upper VHF performance for next year for the more distant stations.


Have you looked at the new Winegard HD-1080 antenna? It is a 2 bay bowtie combined with 2 34" long dipoles for upper VHF reception. See http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1037149 for photos and some early reports. But I have not seen detailed specs for the HD-1080 yet, so it may not have the pickup in the backside direction for upper VHF that will be needed. If you can mount the antenna outside with the front end aimed at the Baltimore stations and the closer DC stations in the opposite direction, it might do the job. The HD-1080 with 2 bowties is not going to have the gain for UHF of the 4 bay or 8 bay bowties, but if the terrain in the direction of the Baltimore stations is favorable, at 29 miles it should be good enough. If you have a long cable run from outside, you may need to add a pre-amp, but I would suggest not getting a pre-amp until after you tried whatever antenna you get first.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Zon74* /forum/post/14077257
> 
> 
> Will the subchannels for these stations also be in VHF or will they remain where they are in UHF?
> 
> 
> Thanks.



Wait, what? Are you saying the DC locals will be changing their frequency from nice, easy to receive UHF, to yucky, harder to receive VHF?


I thought the UHF assigned frequencies were it. It's going to change again?


----------



## azitnay

I believe both ABC and CBS are supposed to move to VHF in 2009... Some of the other stations may be moving around, but I think they're staying in UHF.


It baffles me a bit as well, because I'm pretty sure there are plenty of people currently only using a UHF antenna to receive HD.


Drew


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/14078159
> 
> 
> Wait, what? Are you saying the DC locals will be changing their frequency from nice, easy to receive UHF, to yucky, harder to receive VHF?
> 
> 
> I thought the UHF assigned frequencies were it. It's going to change again?



Yes. Man, the amount of confusion on this is amazing, even 10 years after it was set. Digital TV broadcasting is not all on UHF, but will take place after the transition on VHF 2-13, UHF 14-51. The channels being take re-allocated are the shorter wavelength UHF 52 to 69. You may have read about the 700 MHz auction. Those are the UHF channel frequencies that were auctioned off for cell phone & portable communication use. Four channels of the UHF channels are being re-assigned for public safety and emergency communications.


In our area, we already have 1 digital station on VHF, WWPX-DT Ion 60 in Martinsburg, WV which is broadcasting on VHF 12. I get it here in Sterling, VA. WJLA-DT ABC 7, WUSA-DT CBS 9 in DC and WBAL-DT NBC 11, WJZ-DT CBS 13 in Baltimore will all move their digital channel from UHF to their upper VHF analog channel. So anyone putting up an antenna has to consider UHF and upper VHF reception. The good news is that many larger UHF antennas can pick up upper VHF stations if the conditions are favorable.


Next February, 647 full service stations across the US will move their digital broadcast channel, 502 of them to their analog channel. Many of them have to because their digital channel is out of core, that is, on UHF 52 to 69 which they have to vacate by midnight, February 17, 2009. It will be a huge channel reshuffle and quite interesting to watch. Our area is not too complicated, but other stations will be moving, not just the 4 I listed (the San Francisco re-alignment with multiple new antennas going up will be a doozy).


Because of impulse & RF noise problems, few stations have chosen to use low VHF 2 to 6 for digital broadcasting. Only 40 stations in the US have opted to stay or switch to low VHF, some of them because they had no other channel to go to. The most prominent of these is WPVI-DT ABC 6 in Philadelphia which will move from UHF 64 to VHF 6. People in the Philadelphia area or those northwest of Baltimore who want to get the Philly stations will need an antenna that covers VHF low.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14078389
> 
> 
> Yes. Man, the amount of confusion on this is amazing, even 10 years after it was set. Digital TV broadcasting is not all on UHF, but will take place after the transition on VHF 2-13, UHF 14-51. The channels being take re-allocated are the shorter wavelength UHF 52 to 69. You may have read about the 700 MHz auction. Those are the UHF channel frequencies that were auctioned off for cell phone & portable communication use. Four channels of the UHF channels are being re-assigned for public safety and emergency communications.
> 
> 
> In our area, we already have 1 digital station on VHF, WWPX-DT Ion 60 in Martinsburg, WV which is broadcasting on VHF 12. I get it here in Sterling, VA. WJLA-DT ABC 7, WUSA-DT CBS 9 in DC and WBAL-DT NBC 11, WJZ-DT CBS 13 in Baltimore will all move their digital channel from UHF to their upper VHF analog channel. So anyone putting up an antenna has to consider UHF and upper VHF reception. The good news is that many larger UHF antennas can pick up upper VHF stations if the conditions are favorable.
> 
> 
> Next February, 647 full service stations across the US will move their digital broadcast channel, 502 of them to their analog channel. Many of them have to because their digital channel is out of core, that is, on UHF 52 to 69 which they have to vacate by midnight, February 17, 2009. It will be a huge channel reshuffle and quite interesting to watch. Our area is not too complicated, but other stations will be moving, not just the 4 I listed (the San Francisco re-alignment with multiple new antennas going up will be a doozy).
> 
> 
> Because of impulse & RF noise problems, few stations have chosen to use low VHF 2 to 6 for digital broadcasting. Only 40 stations in the US have opted to stay or switch to low VHF, some of them because they had no other channel to go to. The most prominent of these is WPVI-DT ABC 6 in Philadelphia which will move from UHF 64 to VHF 6. People in the Philadelphia area or those northwest of Baltimore who want to get the Philly stations will need an antenna that covers VHF low.



Wow, I'm pretty current with this stuff, and had no idea.


I get that people in the auctioned spectrum need to vacate it, but why do the people who are already up and running in "safe" space need to move? Seems like a user-acceptance nightmare.


For digital cable/satellite/FiOS, it's not a big deal since the channel numbers won't change.


But I have an antenna, and prefer the OTA to FiOS (no real reason, I just like doing it that way). Since I have Tivo, it should be relatively transparent to me I guess.


But for all those people who depend on an antenna, they're going to wake up that Monday and not have anything to watch, and have to call a tech out to fix it since they won't know to just do a rescan.


Why the heck are they doing this if they don't have to (i.e. not in the auctioned off spectrum)?


----------



## aaronwt

Didn't the stations have the choice to move their digital channel back to their analog frequency at the analog cutoff and that is why some are moving back to VHF?


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/14079203
> 
> 
> Didn't the stations have the choice to move their digital channel back to their analog frequency at the analog cutoff and that is why some are moving back to VHF?



Bingo.


VHF has lower power costs than UHF does, plus gets around terrain better. Cons are the need for a larger antenna and possible issues with lightning.


- Trip


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/14079270
> 
> 
> Bingo.
> 
> 
> VHF has lower power costs than UHF does, plus gets around terrain better. Cons are the need for a larger antenna and possible issues with lightning.
> 
> 
> - Trip



And the biggest con is that everyone will be desparately getting things set up and configured, only to have everything change underneath them at the last minute.


Dumb from a User Acceptance standpoint.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/14079303
> 
> 
> And the biggest con is that everyone will be desparately getting things set up and configured, only to have everything change underneath them at the last minute.
> 
> Dumb from a User Acceptance standpoint.



You may not have known about the digital channel changes, but we have discussed it in this thread many times. As for the need for a re-scan next February, there will be a huge amount of coverage on the analog shutdown.You can bet that all of the stations changing their digital channel will post numerous warnings in the weeks beforehand about not only the analog shutdown, but the need to do re-scans after February 17, 2009.


As to why the stations are changing their digital channel, as Trip posted, many upper VHF stations want to move to their analog channel. There are many other reasons: some stations have side mounted digital channel antennas with reduced coverage and want to re-use the analog antenna on top of the tower; the station wants a better channel assignment for their location; have to move to free up the channel for another station. If you want to see what the stations are doing next February, check the link at Trip's post above or follow the links to Falcon_77's spreadsheet in the 1st post in the Upcoming DTV allotment thread at http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=823166 . Read the thread if you want to get some understanding of the complexity of the DTV channel selections and follow some of the links for the transition plans and filings to the FCC by the stations.


There will be a modest amount of channel and power changes for the Baltimore & DC stations next February. WMAR-DT 2 will take over WJZ-DT's UHF 38 antenna but will put up a new antenna later; WPXW-DT Ion 66 will take over WUSA-DT's current UHF 34 antenna in DC but reduce the power to 110 kW; WNVC-DT 56 will be on UHF 24, and so on. We should have a summary in the first post of this thread. I may take a shot at putting one together, although people can get the key info from Trip's website or Falcon_77's spreadsheet.


----------



## AbMagFab

All I'm saying is, I'm way more in touch with this than the average person, and I had no clue.


This is going to be a disaster for people who rely 100% on antenna's. It's just silly for what sounds like the majority of broadcasters to change back right after everyone gets set up. The actual channel frequency no longer makes a difference from a user perspective, and the coverage excuse seems to be a little thin.


I'm really surprised.


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/14079303
> 
> 
> And the biggest con is that everyone will be desparately getting things set up and configured, only to have everything change underneath them at the last minute.
> 
> 
> Dumb from a User Acceptance standpoint.



Bah, only those that ONLY bought UHF antennas are in trouble. I bought a combo VHF/UHF channel just in case this would happen. Plus, as a small bonus, it works as an FM antenna. It tunes in analog 4 now quite well, so I'm not worried. It's not CHANGING at the last minute. It was the antenna sellers who convinced folks they "only" needed UHF antennas several years ago, before the FCC said stations could go back to their VHF channels. Don't blame the FCC.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Deezul* /forum/post/14083830
> 
> 
> Bah, only those that ONLY bought UHF antennas are in trouble. I bought a combo VHF/UHF channel just in case this would happen. Plus, as a small bonus, it works as an FM antenna. It tunes in analog 4 now quite well, so I'm not worried. It's not CHANGING at the last minute. It was the antenna sellers who convinced folks they "only" needed UHF antennas several years ago, before the FCC said stations could go back to their VHF channels. Don't blame the FCC.



Try to think outside of the technology.


I'm talking grandma and grandpa out there with their one $50 ATSC box, who finally get things working, only to wake up and find nothing coming in.


Doing a rescan for the average AVS forum member is trivial. But not so much for the significant number of people who only get OTA.


And the main issue is - there's really no reason to do this, other than some weird vanity issue of having the spectrum allocation match the channel number, which is pointless for ATSC/PSIP.


----------



## maestro73

Well, it's been over a month but Comcast finally fixed the problem I was experiencing - no channels coming through until late in the evening. It only took a month. The maintenance tech who left a message said "she fixed the node that was cauing the problems." I don't really know what that means but I'll take it.


Through all of this I learned that the only way to get any real service from Comcast is to a) complain through their corporate channels and b) threaten to switch providers. Once I did that it's amazing how attentive, and, honestly, how helpful, they can be. The woman I dealt with was great. We will discuss the account adjustments on Monday. And thanks to the members who suggested using the corporate email addresses.


However, as of right now I have no picture on HGTV-HD (229) and SciHD (217). Is everyone receiving a picture on these channels, or is it just me?


Thanks


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Zon74* /forum/post/14077257
> 
> 
> Will the subchannels for these stations also be in VHF or will they remain where they are in UHF?



The subchannels aren't physically separate, only logically. They're all part of a single bitstream.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/14084061
> 
> 
> Try to think outside of the technology.
> 
> 
> I'm talking grandma and grandpa out there with their one $50 ATSC box, who finally get things working, only to wake up and find nothing coming in.
> 
> 
> Doing a rescan for the average AVS forum member is trivial. But not so much for the significant number of people who only get OTA.
> 
> 
> And the main issue is - there's really no reason to do this, other than some weird vanity issue of having the spectrum allocation match the channel number, which is pointless for ATSC/PSIP.



Not sure it is a vanity issue. There are other reasons.


Local examples:


WMAR and WBAL are on 52 and 59 currently. That is what they were given by the FCC.


Channels 51 through 69 are being given back as part of the transition (a big part of it, actually). That means both WMAR and WBAL need to find new channels. WBAL is moving from 59 to 11. WMAR is moving from 52 to 38 which is currently occupied by WJZ, which is moving to 13.


So, WMAR and WBAL at the least *have* to move.


That is not vanity. It is reality.


Throw in technical issues like amount of signal on a single frequency and geographic interferences with other channels undergoing similar problems means it is very complex by necessity, not vanity.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/14086083
> 
> 
> Not sure it is a vanity issue. There are other reasons.
> 
> 
> Local examples:
> 
> 
> WMAR and WBAL are on 52 and 59 currently. That is what they were given by the FCC.
> 
> 
> Channels 51 through 69 are being given back as part of the transition (a big part of it, actually). That means both WMAR and WBAL need to find new channels. WBAL is moving from 59 to 11. WMAR is moving from 52 to 38 which is currently occupied by WJZ, which is moving to 13.
> 
> 
> So, WMAR and WBAL at the least *have* to move.
> 
> 
> That is not vanity. It is reality.
> 
> 
> Throw in technical issues like amount of signal on a single frequency and geographic interferences with other channels undergoing similar problems means it is very complex by necessity, not vanity.



Clearly you all like to talk in circles... I've said multiple times that the spectrum give-back is a different point.


Otherwise, it's vanity over user acceptance. If there are users who can't receive the signal on 2/17/09, they aren't going to be happily sitting around waiting until 2/18/09 to hook everything up.


All users will have solved their problems by 2/17/09 - either through bigger antennas, more amplification, or switching to a cable/satellite/FiOS operator. Moving the frequencies only serves to introduce a huge confusion on the people who depend on this the most (i.e. the folks who get OTA only), since most of them (not all) aren't posting on these boards.


Anyway, I'm done with this discussion, since it's futile here. Please feel free to circle around some more...


----------



## aaronwt

2/17/09 will be very interesting. I'm sure alot of people will be having some big complaints when/if the analog cutoff actually occurs.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/14086157
> 
> 
> Clearly you all like to talk in circles... I've said multiple times that the spectrum give-back is a different point.
> 
> 
> Otherwise, it's vanity over user acceptance. If there are users who can't receive the signal on 2/17/09, they aren't going to be happily sitting around waiting until 2/18/09 to hook everything up.
> 
> 
> All users will have solved their problems by 2/17/09 - either through bigger antennas, more amplification, or switching to a cable/satellite/FiOS operator. Moving the frequencies only serves to introduce a huge confusion on the people who depend on this the most (i.e. the folks who get OTA only), since most of them (not all) aren't posting on these boards.
> 
> 
> Anyway, I'm done with this discussion, since it's futile here. Please feel free to circle around some more...



No one is disagreeing with you on the point of it being confusing and difficult for many non-technical folk. What I was pointing out is that it is not "vanity" of the channels that is causing the movement.


Since they are doing an overlap of analog and digital at the same time, that means there needs to be some temporary locations of some of the channels. It cannot be avoided. And since many of the temporary locations are in the spectrum that is being given back (how is that a different point as it affects what is happening with the relocations), the stations in that spectrum have to move.


I don't see anything circular about it. It is pretty linear, actually. Stations have to occupy temporary space while both analog and digital are broadcasting and they had to use some of the spectrum that was going away because there wasn't enough space to have both without using the spectrum that is going away. Then the movement again when the spectrum goes away.


Quite logical even if it leads to confusion.


While it can cause a true problem for hardware (bad antenna choices), the tuners will handle it with a simple rescan (if full instructions are given, it is not that difficult).


----------



## Trip in VA

Hello all:


I made a post something like this in the Philadelphia thread, but for a location near Philadelphia. I have another place in mind for the DC/Baltimore market. =)


In about two weeks, I'll be going up to visit my grandparents, who will be vacationing in the Poconos near Bushkill. I've been there many times before, and reception there is... crap, to say the least. Analog signal from WTBY in Poughkeepsie, a faint analog from WMBC in Newton, and rarely, a faint analog from WNJB2 in Blairstown.


I want to try to add DC and Baltimore stations to my collection of TSReader captures so I have their data for my website. Since we take I-81 up, I never get to see them, so I'm going to try to convince my mom to take a brief detour to let me do some signal searching.


I was looking at a Catoctin Mountain Park. TVFool says I should have line of site to the DC, Baltimore, Hagerstown, and Lancaster (but not Harrisburg) stations from there. I'd be getting off I-81 and going east out of Hagerstown, then it's off of SR-77 near Thurmont MD.


Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Is the park open to the public? Is the road up the mountain in good shape?


To get the three remaining Harrisburg stations, we'd be stopping somewhere near Harrisburg and trying there. I can usually get a few frames out of WHP-DT with my Silver Sensor (yes, really) while moving, so I'm hoping that stopped with rabbit ears will work better.


Thanks in advance.


- Trip


----------



## Potatoehead

Trip,


Don't know anything about the reception from there, but Catoctin Mountain Park is a part of the National Park System and most of it is open to the public. Camp David is located somewhere inside the park and that part is off limits.


----------



## Remoteless

Trip, you might want to check this spot on the TV Fool maps it would be easy to get to from 81 only a few miles from Hagerstown. It's a rest stop on 70 on the downward slope of south mountain.It's the oblong looking loop on the western side of 70 in the center of the map.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...32015&t=p&z=15


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Remoteless* /forum/post/14088079
> 
> 
> Trip, you might want to check this spot on the TV Fool maps it would be easy to get to from 81 only a few miles from Hagerstown. It's a rest stop on 70 on the downward slope of south mountain.It's the oblong looking loop on the western side of 70 in the center of the map.
> http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...32015&t=p&z=15



Thanks for the suggestion, but looking at TV Fool, it says I'd have no line of sight from there, everything's 1- or 2-Edge.


I attached the one on I-70 as well as the one on Catoctin Mountain Park.


If you have any other ideas though, I'd love something a little more convenient. I tried every other spot near a major road I could find on a ridge between Front Royal and the PA state line, but I'm not familiar with the geography, so I easily could have missed something.


- Trip


----------



## cmc1002001

Hey you guys, I just checked out WBFF news for the first time in HD but it's still kinda dissapointint compard to the Philly market, since the field video is just stretched SD. Wonder how long that's gonna take to upgrade, here's some shots to show my point:


----------



## CycloneGT

Usually, the SD cameras seem to have a 16x9 setting that they can use to not stretch. You see this on WUSA when they do "live" on the scene reports.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/14094101
> 
> 
> Usually, the SD cameras seem to have a 16x9 setting that they can use to not stretch. You see this on WUSA when they do "live" on the scene reports.



Except their cameras are HORRIBLE. There are always some kind of vertical line artifacts when they are reporting remotely. It's pure garbage.


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Count Blah* /forum/post/14094315
> 
> 
> Except their cameras are HORRIBLE. There are always some kind of vertical line artifacts when they are reporting remotely.



There used to be. I haven't seen that in a while.


----------



## bucnasty

is this golf tourney on wrc REALLY in SD? come on...


----------



## Knicks_Fan

No, it was in HD on D* it went off completely for 5 min just as Tiger putted to tie. It came back in SD with a WeatherPlus peacock and then a severe thunderstorm warning and has not switched back. It's WRC, not the network.


----------



## amorris525




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/14095677
> 
> 
> No, it was in HD on D* it went off completely for 5 min just as Tiger putted to tie. It came back in SD with a WeatherPlus peacock and then a severe thunderstorm warning and has not switched back. It's WRC, not the network.




It did the same thing on Comcast so yes it must be a WRC problem.


----------



## Trip in VA

Well, it looks like I won't need to make my special trip to the mountain after all, apparently I now have someone in the DC area to provide me the TSReader captures I need. =)


Thanks cpldc! And thanks to all who gave advice, it's much appreciated. =)


- Trip


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *amorris525* /forum/post/14095721
> 
> 
> It did the same thing on Comcast so yes it must be a WRC problem.



I was also watching the golf on Comcast QAM, channel 122-2, which is WRC HD in digital format. When the screen went blank, I quickly switched to channel 4, the Comcast analog signal, and all seemed to be normal. I missed Tiger's put, but saw the action immediately after. What happened?


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *amorris525* /forum/post/14095721
> 
> 
> It did the same thing on Comcast so yes it must be a WRC problem.



I've come to expect problems when they run the scrolling emergency banners. What's worse is that my power went out during the playoff and it takes TIVO too dang long to boot up, so I just switched to QAM to get it...


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/14099571
> 
> 
> I've come to expect problems when they run the scrolling emergency banners. What's worse is that my power went out during the playoff and it takes TIVO too dang long to boot up, so I just switched to QAM to get it...



Hook your TiVo to a UPS. I have all my DVRs on them. Assuming the TV is turned off, you can get 10-15 minutes on battery power with a decent UPS.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/14087344
> 
> 
> Quite logical even if it leads to confusion.
> 
> 
> While it can cause a true problem for hardware (bad antenna choices), the tuners will handle it with a simple rescan (if full instructions are given, it is not that difficult).



The biggest problem with this is that you might think you have everything set up right now, but until the stations are at their actual frequency you really don't know. Stations that come in okay right now might not then and vice versa. Some people might have bought equipment that they won't need when the frequencies change around or bought equipment that won't do the job then. When loads of people find out their current equipment is not good enough, will the retail outlets have enough for people to buy? Plus there are various workarounds (on HDPCs) you may have had to do due to station guides that have the future frequencies and not the current ones that you need to undo.


The saving grace about all of this may be that the networks do know that there will be loads of confusion and will most likely be broadcasting repeats for a while as people transition to the new frequencies. (I'm not sure how things work on the cable end, but I am guessing that they may need to do some reprogramming as well - will that work correctly the first time? Of course, as seen in other articles here cable companies have their own plans for sowing confusion.)


Neil


----------



## vidioteic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/14096980
> 
> 
> I was also watching the golf on Comcast QAM, channel 122-2, which is WRC HD in digital format. When the screen went blank, I quickly switched to channel 4, the Comcast analog signal, and all seemed to be normal. I missed Tiger's put, but saw the action immediately after. What happened?



This goes back to the "SD for weather alerts and crawls" issue from the NHL playoffs. Up here in Baltimore, WBAL must have learned their lesson, because they never broke the HD away for alerts! SD had the crawl and logo, but HD was always in HD, at least OTA.


----------



## machpost

Looks like we don't have to worry about local news in HD from WRC anytime soon. I guess it might be ABC4 or CBS4 by the time that happens. From dcrtv.com:



> Quote:
> *HD Delay At 4* - 6/17 - DCRTV hears rumors that NBC suits have delayed or scrapped high-def upgrade plans for the news studios of DC's WRC-TV and Philadelphia's WCAU-TV. Fueling rumors that the Peacock is planning to put both stations on the market.....


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Deezul* /forum/post/14100000
> 
> 
> Hook your TiVo to a UPS. I have all my DVRs on them. Assuming the TV is turned off, you can get 10-15 minutes on battery power with a decent UPS.



You can easily get several hours on an El cheapo one for $30. The ones I gave my girlfried still had the TiVos up after the power being out for a few hours yesterday.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Deezul* /forum/post/14100000
> 
> 
> Hook your TiVo to a UPS. I have all my DVRs on them. Assuming the TV is turned off, you can get 10-15 minutes on battery power with a decent UPS.



Spend the money on a UPS if you have issues with power. We did in our area. Even a slight hiccup would reboot our DirecTV STBs...


----------



## CycloneGT

I'm not sure that there has been a affiliate swap in DC in my lifetime.


I remember when it happened in Baltimore. When I was a kid it was:


NBC 2

CBS 11

ABC 13


Now we can't even get Baltimore channels in Montgomery Couty without an antenna.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cmc1002001* /forum/post/14088796
> 
> 
> Hey you guys, I just checked out WBFF news for the first time in HD but it's still kinda dissapointint compard to the Philly market, since the field video is just stretched SD. Wonder how long that's gonna take to upgrade, here's some shots to show my point:
> 
> 
> [/IMG]



Couple of things - Philiadelphia: 4th largest market in the US, Baltimore: 24th... (Washington is the 9th) Personally, I think we're doing pretty good, especially considering the size of the market.


The field video isn't "stretched", at least the way I define it. (I consider video "stretched" if it is expanded horizontally, but not vertically) Normally the 4:3 video from the field (or from other outside sources) is shown at its native resolution and size, but it has the Fox 45 wings on the side. I guess that they expanded (or zoomed, if you prefer) the video in the second shot to fill the screen for whatever reason (I haven't seen that done here, but apparently it happens), but it still has the correct aspect ratio - the top and bottom of the picture are cut off.


I just wanted to make that distinction because there's another station in the market that "stretches" their video to fill the 16:9 screen, and I REALLY don't like the look...


Cheers


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/14094101
> 
> 
> Usually, the SD cameras seem to have a 16x9 setting that they can use to not stretch. You see this on WUSA when they do "live" on the scene reports.



Ours don't.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Count Blah* /forum/post/14094315
> 
> 
> Except their cameras are HORRIBLE. There are always some kind of vertical line artifacts when they are reporting remotely. It's pure garbage.



That was an issue with the old routing system. Although the video still starts out as analog, and is currently transmitted with an analog microwave system, they are pretty clean (depending on distance, signal level and reception issues, of course). The old station routing system is showing its age, and has developed crap in the video, but we're no longer using it, so the video ends up much nicer.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/14101025
> 
> 
> That was an issue with the old routing system. Although the video still starts out as analog, and is currently transmitted with an analog microwave system, they are pretty clean (depending on distance, signal level and reception issues, of course). The old station routing system is showing its age, and has developed crap in the video, but we're no longer using it, so the video ends up much nicer.



I'll give it a try tonight.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Count Blah* /forum/post/14102121
> 
> 
> I'll give it a try tonight.



Don't expect HD from the field cameras, though. That won't happen for a while.


The next big step is when we replace all of the microwave transmitters with digital ones - that will really improve things, too.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/14100929
> 
> 
> I just wanted to make that distinction because there's another station in the market that "stretches" their video to fill the 16:9 screen, and I REALLY don't like the look...
> 
> 
> Cheers



Not sure who you mean. WBAL stopped stretching (they only stretch drop-ins and commercials when showing a 16:9 NBC program now) and My24 is only broadcasting SD on their digital station now. They were stretching everything prior to going to full power testing.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/14100691
> 
> 
> I'm not sure that there has been a affiliate swap in DC in my lifetime.
> 
> 
> I remember when it happened in Baltimore. When I was a kid it was:
> 
> 
> NBC 2
> 
> CBS 11
> 
> ABC 13
> 
> 
> Now we can't even get Baltimore channels in Montgomery Couty without an antenna.



Baltimore did two affiliate swaps since I moved here in 1979.
Code:


Code:


WMAR
  Independent (1947-1948)
  CBS (1948-1981)
  NBC (1981-1995)
  ABC (1995-present)

WBAL
  NBC (1948-1981)
  CBS (1981-1995)
  NBC (1995-present)

WJZ
  DuMont (1948-1956)
  ABC (1955-1995)
  CBS (1995-present)


----------



## Zon74




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/14100691
> 
> 
> I'm not sure that there has been a affiliate swap in DC in my lifetime.



WTTG was a Metromedia cable "superstation" in the 70s until Murdoch bought it in 1986 for his new Fox Network.


Not in my lifetime, but WMAL (now WJLA) was originally the CBS affiliate in DC, but was replaced by WOIC (now WUSA) back in 1949.


----------



## CycloneGT

Ok, that makes a little bit more sense. I forgot there was multiple swaps.


In DC channel 9 has changed names a few times. WTOP, WDVM, and now WUSA.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/14102788
> 
> 
> Not sure who you mean. WBAL stopped stretching (they only stretch drop-ins and commercials when showing a 16:9 NBC program now) and My24 is only broadcasting SD on their digital station now. They were stretching everything prior to going to full power testing.



Well, I only watch WBAL during prime-time... (and only occasionally, at that) I assumed that they were still always doing it.


I wonder why it's different during prime-time? I'm trying to think of a way that I could accomplish the same thing, and it would take some work on my part to do it...


Thanks for giving me the updated poop.


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/14100463
> 
> 
> Looks like we don't have to worry about local news in HD from WRC anytime soon. I guess it might be ABC4 or CBS4 by the time that happens. From dcrtv.com:



NBC must really be in dire straits to sell their DC affil which I believe usually gets great ratings for their local news in spite of the fact that NBC program ratings are in the toilet. But, NBC has done a lot of odd moves over the past few years, so I guess anything is possible.


----------



## mdviewer25

Did WJLA forget to flip the switch? NBA Countdown is supposed to be in HD. It's in HD on WMAR but in SD on WJLA


----------



## SlickVik

WJLA - how can they drop the ball in game 6 of the finals!!!!!! Oh my god.. flip the switch!


----------



## hypoh

edit: spoke too soon... HD now


----------



## URFloorMatt

It seems odd that NBC would sell the DC affiliate since the WRC facilities house the NBC News Washington Bureau.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/14104329
> 
> 
> Well, I only watch WBAL during prime-time... (and only occasionally, at that) I assumed that they were still always doing it.
> 
> 
> I wonder why it's different during prime-time? I'm trying to think of a way that I could accomplish the same thing, and it would take some work on my part to do it...
> 
> 
> Thanks for giving me the updated poop.



I think they are giving a "consistent viewing experience" by taking NBC 16:9 and making their local pictures (commercials, news drop-ins) 16:9. Oddly, they even did stretch-o-vision on the 4:3 formatted Scrubs this year. But they did not stretch Scrubs itself.


They are at least not stretching the programming itself anymore. I really don't care about commercials.


----------



## snuba

got a hangtag on my door yesterday saying FiOS is coming to my neighborhood soon. been excited about the possibility of FiOS for a while but haven't actually had any issues with current Comcast service. guess i'll wait to see channel lineup and package pricing before considering any switch.

my neighborhood is in silver spring near olney.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/14105719
> 
> 
> It seems odd that NBC would sell the DC affiliate since the WRC facilities house the NBC News Washington Bureau.



It seems the bean counters think that there are only 3 places that deserve O/O stations and that is LA, NYC and Chicago.


----------



## Digital Rules

Is anyone having trouble with WUTB -24.1? I haven't seen it for a week or so.


----------



## bucnasty

wow nbc is really botching up this funeral today


----------



## rickp5000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/14109154
> 
> 
> Is anyone having trouble with WUTB -24.1? I haven't seen it for a week or so.



I just recently put up an antenna in my attic and have not had any problems getting this channel. I am in Easton on the Eastern Shore, at least 50 miles away.


----------



## maestro73

Anyone else not getting WJLA in DD 5.1? It's that way on both OTA and Comcast. Noticed it last night after they fixed the HD issue.


----------



## Ladd

Anyone in the Frederick, Maryland Comcast area know about their cable cards?


Do they have "M" cable cards (the multi-stream cards) or only the "S" (single-stream cards).


Can you go to the main office and pick up the cards, installing them yourself and setting them up over the phone, or do they require a home visit by a Comcast tech?


----------



## Marcus Carr

*WBFF Launches Baltimore's First HD Newscast*


George Winslow -- Multichannel News, 6/17/2008 12:00:00 PM


After a year long process of planning and rebuilding their operations, which included installing a new master control and building a new set, WBFF, or Fox 45, launched its HD newscast on June 2 and is now producing about five-and-a-half hours of local news in HD each weekday, according to general manager Bill Fanshawe.


We're excited to have the ability to be first into the market with an HD newscast, Fanshawe said. It is our understanding that the other stations are about six months away from completing the transition to high-definition and we see it an important competitive advantage.


Scott Livingston, WBFF news director, said the transition has gone extremely well but has required an enormous amount of work for the installation of new equipment and extensive staff training.


At the end of March we pulled an all-nighter, to prepare for the transition, Livingston said. When we finished our newscast at about 11:30 [p.m.] Friday, we worked until 2 [p.m.] on Saturday to clear out our studio and to build a makeshift studio, using piece of the old studio, in another studio.


As it continued to produce its standard newscast from the temporary studio, WBFF had the Devlin Design Group to build a new HD set with 35 monitors, a revolving anchors desk, a 143-inch rear projection screen and an HD SkyWatch Weather Center.


Other vendors for the project included Sundance Digital, which provided equipment for the master control, and Snell &Wilcox, which provided a Kahuna SD/HD multiformat production switcher.


Once the master control was completed in late April, the station began an intensive schedule of training and rehearsals. We had three weeks of intense rehearsals, he said. We rehearsed every show before and after the regular airing.


The staff put in three or four hours of rehearsal time each day in addition to producing their usual five-and-a-half hours of regular newscasts.


That training was particularly important given the complexity of dealing with different formats and the need to continue to produce newscasts in both the standard def four by three and the HD 16x9 aspect ratio.


You have to always be aware that there will be elements in the 16x9 shot that are not seen in the four by three, Livingston said.


The extra work is however already paying off in *higher ratings* and a strengthened competitive position.


If anyone doesn't think HD is a competitive advantage, they are wrong, Livingston said. *We have already seen a ratings increase in the first week.* You will be getting sampling from viewers if you are the only one broadcasting in HD. *We will have about a six month period where we will be the only game in town that is producing local news in HD*, to attract new viewers.

*Like most stations, WBFF is not yet doing HD from the field. But Fanshawe noted that it is planning to buy four HD field cameras and should begin using them within the next three months. They are still deciding on which brand to buy and haven't made a decision on whether the cameras will supply HD feeds or will produce standard-def material in the 16x9 format.*

http://www.multichannel.com/article/...&rid=607925853


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bucnasty* /forum/post/14111130
> 
> 
> wow nbc is really botching up this funeral today



Then they cut off the Nightly NEws early as they were doing a nice montage of the Wake...


Good Job NBC...


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14114241
> 
> *WBFF Launches Baltimore's First HD Newscast*
> 
> 
> George Winslow -- Multichannel News, 6/17/2008 12:00:00 PM
> 
> 
> After a year long process of planning and rebuilding their operations, which included installing a new master control and building a new set, WBFF, or Fox 45, launched its HD newscast on June 2 and is now producing about five-and-a-half hours of local news in HD each weekday, according to general manager Bill Fanshawe.
> 
> 
> We're excited to have the ability to be first into the market with an HD newscast, Fanshawe said. It is our understanding that the other stations are about six months away from completing the transition to high-definition and we see it an important competitive advantage.
> 
> 
> Scott Livingston, WBFF news director, said the transition has gone extremely well but has required an enormous amount of work for the installation of new equipment and extensive staff training.
> 
> 
> At the end of March we pulled an all-nighter, to prepare for the transition, Livingston said. When we finished our newscast at about 11:30 [p.m.] Friday, we worked until 2 [p.m.] on Saturday to clear out our studio and to build a makeshift studio, using piece of the old studio, in another studio.
> 
> 
> As it continued to produce its standard newscast from the temporary studio, WBFF had the Devlin Design Group to build a new HD set with 35 monitors, a revolving anchors desk, a 143-inch rear projection screen and an HD SkyWatch Weather Center.
> 
> 
> Other vendors for the project included Sundance Digital, which provided equipment for the master control, and Snell &Wilcox, which provided a Kahuna SD/HD multiformat production switcher.
> 
> 
> Once the master control was completed in late April, the station began an intensive schedule of training and rehearsals. We had three weeks of intense rehearsals, he said. We rehearsed every show before and after the regular airing.
> 
> 
> The staff put in three or four hours of rehearsal time each day in addition to producing their usual five-and-a-half hours of regular newscasts.
> 
> 
> That training was particularly important given the complexity of dealing with different formats and the need to continue to produce newscasts in both the standard def four by three and the HD 16x9 aspect ratio.
> 
> 
> You have to always be aware that there will be elements in the 16x9 shot that are not seen in the four by three, Livingston said.
> 
> 
> The extra work is however already paying off in *higher ratings* and a strengthened competitive position.
> 
> 
> If anyone doesn't think HD is a competitive advantage, they are wrong, Livingston said. *We have already seen a ratings increase in the first week.* You will be getting sampling from viewers if you are the only one broadcasting in HD. *We will have about a six month period where we will be the only game in town that is producing local news in HD*, to attract new viewers.
> 
> *Like most stations, WBFF is not yet doing HD from the field. But Fanshawe noted that it is planning to buy four HD field cameras and should begin using them within the next three months. They are still deciding on which brand to buy and haven't made a decision on whether the cameras will supply HD feeds or will produce standard-def material in the 16x9 format.*
> 
> http://www.multichannel.com/article/...&rid=607925853




Engineering did a bit of work on this project, too. Not sure if that really came out in the article...


Mark


----------



## Voyager06




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/14114827
> 
> 
> Engineering did a bit of work on this project, too. Not sure if that really came out in the article...
> 
> 
> Mark



Well some of us appreciate your engineering efforts.







The HD picture looks great. I have been watching much more 45 news since the switch, mostly in the mornings. Keep up the good work.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/14109154
> 
> 
> Is anyone having trouble with WUTB -24.1? I haven't seen it for a week or so.



I was getting WUTB-DT My 24 several days ago, but last night & this morning, can't get a lock for the station. My Samsung T451 tuner was typically showing 8-9 bars (out of 10) on the signal meter for WUTB-DT since the station finally went full power a few weeks ago. Today it is around 0-2 bars.


Of course, people to the south of the WUTB-DT tower in Catonsville have been having trouble getting WUTB-DT because of the strong directional pattern of the digital antenna. But the directional coverage should still cover DC and MD down to Prince Georges county for people with rooftop or good attic antenna setups (FCC map for grade B coverage http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...DT1233410.html ). So is the station running at reduced power for a technical problem or are they making adjustments to the antenna and transmitters to fix coverage to the south?


----------



## tonyd79

My WUTB-DT readings are now in the upper 50s. When the tests started, they were in the upper 80s. Prior to the testing, they were in the mud.


I guess they are still on higher power but not as high as they were when the tests began.


----------



## vidioteic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *snuba* /forum/post/14108227
> 
> 
> got a hangtag on my door yesterday saying FiOS is coming to my neighborhood soon. been excited about the possibility of FiOS for a while but haven't actually had any issues with current Comcast service. guess i'll wait to see channel lineup and package pricing before considering any switch.
> 
> my neighborhood is in silver spring near olney.



The PQ on verizon, even SD is spectacular. I was recently watching back episodes of family guy on my DVR; it was amazing to me the difference in PQ of the shows prior to FiOS was OK, but the episodes since I brought in FiOS are amazingly good. They are also adding more channels (including more HD) in the coming weeks; that may not be reflected on the channel line up right now.


Internet speeds are more consistent as well. The only downside is I am no longer able to host my own server...










FWIW, Verizon has a refer a friend program going on right now. Feel free to PM me and I will refer you. I think we both win, depending on how much of the bundle you sign up for... anyone is welcome to PM me.


----------



## PDSway

Fyi, I just got the 1.05 / 05.93 firmware update on my FIOS HD DVR box (QIP 6416-2) last night (Herndon, VA).


Haven't noticed any differences (yet).


PDS


----------



## jgantert

Lots of news recently about the analog to digital switchover for Comcast (20% of by the end of 2008). Any idea if Comcast plans to do that in the MD area in the near future?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/14115594
> 
> 
> My WUTB-DT readings are now in the upper 50s. When the tests started, they were in the upper 80s. Prior to the testing, they were in the mud.
> 
> 
> I guess they are still on higher power but not as high as they were when the tests began.



Great, I was beginning to think the problem was on my end; so I guess I don't have to crawl up on the roof now!! I lost digital Channel 31 in Hagerstown at the same time(No big deal), which I also use as a weak reference signal for equipment testing.


Thanks much!!


----------



## CycloneGT

Why aren't you able to run your own server on FIOS? I have FiOS and I have been able to run some server stuff.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/14117727
> 
> 
> Why aren't you able to run your own server on FIOS? I have FiOS and I have been able to run some server stuff.



Not according to the terms of service:


4.3 Restrictions on Use. The Service is a consumer grade service and is not designed for or intended to be used for any commercial purpose. You may not resell the Service, use it for high volume purposes, or engage in similar activities that constitute such use (commercial or non-commercial). If you subscribe to a Broadband Service, you may connect multiple computers/devices within a single home to your modem and/or router to access the Service, but only through a single Verizon-issued IP address. You also may not exceed the bandwidth usage limitations that Verizon may establish from time to time for the Service, *or use the Service to host any type of server*. Violation of this section may result in bandwidth restrictions on your Service or suspension or termination of your Service.


----------



## cpldc

I was at my parents' house in Hagerstown this weekend and while up there set up my CM4221+CM7777 for my dad, since they aren't useful here. As expected we managed to get a decent improvement in reception from his previous antenna, which was a Philips MANT940. The house seems to be in some sort of RF magic zone where convention doesn't apply--the DC stations don't even show up in the TV Fool plot, yet he got them all with just the tiny Philips antenna. The CM4221, in a different location, also got some Baltimore stations and some stations from Virginia (Harrisonburg, even, at some 70 miles) and even Harrisburg, PA. Pretty much everything he gets is in the gray on the plot, but shows up strong when the antenna is in the right place. It's kind of a mystery.


Anyway, my question is, does anyone know what's going on as far as WDCW, its repeater W51CY and the LP/repeater W50DE in Martinsburg? WDCW is the only DC station the local cable co doesn't carry in HD, so it's the most important to get OTA.


It seems W51CY is not digital, but has a CP to go digital next year. If it doesn't, WDCW-DT on 50 will be impossible come February since I couldn't get analog WDCW, only W50DE. The weak digital signal is the most intermittent of the DC stations, probably due to interference from W51CY. But I couldn't get a picture on 51 analog while I was up there.


From the FCC database it looks like W50DE has something of a permit for channel 44. I have no idea what the actual status is, but that'd help things out.


Does anyone have any clue what's going on with any of these developments?


On another note, WHAG-DT, although currently low power, is now transmitting in 1080i and rebroadcasts national network content in HD. Picture quality is excellent on those shows. It should be easier to receive once it goes full power on 26 next year. It's on the same tower as WWPB digital (31.1) as far as I know.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cpldc* /forum/post/14118886
> 
> 
> Anyway, my question is, does anyone know what's going on as far as WDCW, its repeater W51CY and the LP/repeater W50DE in Martinsburg? WDCW is the only DC station the local cable co doesn't carry in HD, so it's the most important to get OTA.
> 
> It seems W51CY is not digital, but has a CP to go digital next year.



Looking at the applications, W51CY filed for a digital flash cut permit 2 years ago which was granted. The digital signal will be at 15 kW from the same tower & height which is a significant boost in respective coverage over 60 kW in analog. See page 10 of the PDF copy of the engineering attachment to their filing for the analog vs digital coverage areas: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/f...ibit_id=382396 . The coverage area of the translator will expand to include Martinsburg, much of Frederick County, and northeast to Shippensburg, PA.


WDCW-DT 50 in DC will move from 51 to 50. I don't think they can fire up W51CY-LD (LD = low power digital) because of interference problems until WDCW-DT vacates UHF 51 which the station will do on February 17, 2009. You should contact WDCW to ask when they plan to flash cut their W51CY translator and whether it will pass the HD signal. They might be planning to do right after February 17 if they have everything ready to go. I had not really looked at the W51CY translator before, but I can see one reason for WDCW-DT to move back to 50 is so they can free up the channel space for a maximum 15 kW UHF 51 LD power translator to cover the Hagerstown, Martinsburg, Chambersburg market.



> Quote:
> From the FCC database it looks like W50DE has something of a permit for channel 44. I have no idea what the actual status is, but that'd help things out.



Not sure what to make of the UHF 44 entry for W50DE. I'll do some more digging. Maybe Trip in VA can add some info.



> Quote:
> On another note, WHAG-DT, although currently low power, is now transmitting in 1080i and rebroadcasts national network content in HD. Picture quality is excellent on those shows. It should be easier to receive once it goes full power on 26 next year. It's on the same tower as WWPB digital (31.1) as far as I know.



Thanks for passing on that WHAG-DT 25 is now transmitting in 1080i. I figure I should be able to get the station OTA from Sterling when it moves to UHF 26 at 575 kW with some tweaking to the antenna aim. But WHAG has not yet filed for a CP for their post-transition DT allotment and it is getting late in the game to do so.


----------



## FineWare




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/14118206
> 
> 
> ...*or use the Service to host any type of server*...



Wow, so by definition, you can't run any computer with any kind of client/server applications such as a centralized media server for your house. Such a computer could never be connected to their network, even though the media server is running though your home network. What a crock of [email protected] that is. I would seriously call them regarding their ToS and get it clarified. I'm pretty sure what they are really worried about is someone sucking down all the bandwidth in the neighborhood.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Not sure what to make of the UHF 44 entry for W50DE. I'll do some more digging. Maybe Trip in VA can add some info.



Whoa, my name got dropped. =)


The UHF 44 entry is a vacant allocation that the FCC apparently set aside (from when W50DE was located on 44--before WWPB-DT went on the air) in case the West Virginia PBS wanted a full-service facility in Martinsburg.


Looks like W50DE wants a digital signal on channel 8, W08EE-D. (Note, the -LD suffix is reserved for stations with four-character call signs only, five-character call signs get -D) It's horribly directional; not sure why they did that since the current analog signal looks like it has better coverage. The thinking must be that people will already have VHF antennas for WWPX-DT (I doubt people will go out of their way for it) and so it won't cause reception issues.


If WV PBS was smart, they'd have gone with a UHF instead, like 29 or something.


- Trip


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *FineWare* /forum/post/14120022
> 
> 
> Wow, so by definition, you can't run any computer with any kind of client/server applications such as a centralized media server for your house.



No, the wording is *HOST* a server. So if anyone could access your media server thru your internet connection, Verizon wouldn't be happy with you. But if its just a local network media server, you're ok.


Anyways, this is prettymuch off topic for here...


----------



## Marcus Carr

Don't know when but at some point Comcast dropped 13 west coast premium channels, all except HBO West, Cinemax West, and Starz West.


----------



## vidioteic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/14117727
> 
> 
> Why aren't you able to run your own server on FIOS? I have FiOS and I have been able to run some server stuff.



Not to drift too far off topic, but suffice to say I think it has to do with me being in a MDU (Multi-Dwelling Unit); Rumor is other people have not had issue. I wasn't supposed to do it on Comcast either, but.... The ToS is to prevent web hosting... SlingBox, TiVo control, home automation control and probably streaming music to yourself at work might be allowable, but I'm not going to ask... Tis Better to beg for forgiveness than seek permission!


Back on topic... I've heard a LOT of carriers are dropping west coast feeds from the movie channels; subs are demanding more channels and more HD, and something has got to give. That's also (as we all know) the reason Comcast and others will be going all digital. I heard a rumor that PG County was going that way soon. Most of the DC/Baltimore area is fed from five headends, so once one goes, the others will follow.


----------



## CycloneGT

Yeah, that is pretty rough. To think that you'd get all that great upstream speed and can't run a quake server.


----------



## Gerald C

Does anyone know when (or if) WMPT-DT (Chan 42) will increase its power? According to my FCC records search, they are only broadcasting with 150kW, while their analog station (22) is putting out 5000kW. At only 150kW, I don't stand a chance of getting them in Alexandria without employing heroic antenna measures.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Gerald C* /forum/post/14125364
> 
> 
> Does anyone know when (or if) WMPT-DT (Chan 42) will increase its power? According to my FCC records search, they are only broadcasting with 150kW, while their analog station (22) is putting out 5000kW. At only 150kW, I don't stand a chance of getting them in Alexandria without employing heroic antenna measures.



Analog power (Effective Radiated Power) is not the same as digital ERP. If the antennas are at the same height, approximately 313 kW digital ERP would match the coverage area of a 5000 kW analog ERP signal. The digital antenna for WMPT-DT is 289 m HAAT versus WMPT-TV 22 273 m HAAT so the digital antenna is a little higher.


But, no there has been no indications that WMPT-DT intends to file for increased power. MPT has multiple stations and their strategy appears to be to reduce the overlapping coverage of their stations with lower power for their digital operations, presumably to save on operating costs. WMPT-DT 22 is the main MPT station for where you are, you should be able to get it. I have gotten WMPT-DT 22 (UHF 42) from here in Sterling, but I have terrain and buildings blocking the signal so it is not reliable. Have you tried to get WFPT-DT MPT 62 (UHF 28), located south of Frederick or WMPB-DT MPT 67 (UHF 29) in Baltimore? Both of them are likely weak for Alexandria, but you should try if you have not done so.


The FCC at the beginning of June lifted it's long standing freeze on stations applying for maximized post-transition power with June 20 submission deadline for equal consideration. So far, I've been surprised by who has applied for increased power. WHUT-DT 32 just filed for the maximum allowed for digital UHF of 1000 kW, up from the current 100 kW. WHUT stated in their filing that WPXW-DT Ion 66 which will be on adjacent channel UHF 34 will also file for 1000 kW. WNVC-DT 56 in Fairfax filed for an increase to 160 kW up from 45 kW when they start up on UHF 24 next February. So far, nothing from WBAL-DT NBC 11 which is currently alloted for a low 5 kW on VHF 11 next February.


----------



## Digital Rules

According to TV FOOL, the post transition power for WMPT is going up to 347 kw. Is this correct?


----------



## cpldc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14125689
> 
> 
> Analog power (Effective Radiated Power) is not the same as digital ERP. If the antennas are at the same height, approximately 313 kW digital ERP would match the coverage area of a 5000 kW analog ERP signal. The digital antenna for WMPT-DT is 289 m HAAT versus WMPT-TV 22 273 m HAAT so the digital antenna is a little higher.
> 
> 
> But, no there has been no indications that WMPT-DT intends to file for increased power.



The TVfool post-transition plot for me has WMPT-DT at 347kW (in my direction) versus current 147kW (again, in my direction). I couldn't find anything on the FCC site, though, so that may be incorrect data.


I used to get it reliably when it was colder out but no longer.


I wish WFPT weren't so directional, since I'm finally getting my antenna installed outdoors on the 30th and it'd be right in the middle, angle-wise, as the four main DC towers. Apparently it's only 2.39kW in my direction. I doubt I'll get that over 30 miles with a two-bay antenna (HD-1080, which, for reference, seems to be a bit weaker on UHF than the CM4220).


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/14125736
> 
> 
> According to TV FOOL, the post transition power for WMPT is going up to 347 kw. Is this correct?



No. Tvfool.com's database is using older FCC Appendix B data from earlier this year, but many stations filed to stay at their current digital ERP and allotment rather than increase and/or replace a working non-directional antenna. WMPT-DT was authorized for 350 kW at a lower height. But WMPT-DT filed in their Form 387 transition plan back in February that the Appendix B entry should be corrected. See http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/f...ibit_id=619927 . However, this does not preclude WMPT-DT from filing for increased power if the plan was to be able to stick with the current antenna. Hundreds of stations have filed for increased power so the final post-transition ERPs are still being juggled around.


----------



## Gerald C




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14125689
> 
> 
> Analog power (Effective Radiated Power) is not the same as digital ERP. If the antennas are at the same height, approximately 313 kW digital ERP would match the coverage area of a 5000 kW analog ERP signal.



I'm familiar with the traditional usage of ERP to include antenna gain/loss factors, but was not aware that there was an ERP differential on basis of analog vs. digital transmission. So I had to do some research, of course.









I learned that the ERP for ATSC broadcast is based on average power, while ERP for NTSC broadcast is based on peak power. Your comparison of 5000kW analog being equal to 313kW digital implies a factor of 16 difference, or about 12 dB.


> Quote:
> [If...] WMPT-DT 22 is the main MPT station for where you are, you should be able to get it.



Since I'm across the moat in Virginia, my "main" PBS station would be WETA. I don't think WMPT (Annapolis) is considered to be part of the Wash DC DMA, but I do often watch it's analog station, because WETA let's me down with programming decisions on certain shows.



> Quote:
> Have you tried to get WFPT-DT MPT 62 (UHF 28), located south of Frederick or WMPB-DT MPT 67 (UHF 29) in Baltimore?



Unfortunately, there's not a chance for me. My elevation isn't the greatest, and I get zero signal on those. My various ATSC receivers' signal meters do indicate activity on WMPT-DT (42), but it's never enough to lock on.


----------



## folksnake

Hi All--New here, been lurking a bit, learning. I have an issue that I need to figure out, hope someone can help me....


I'm trying to get my mother-in-law set up for the transition. The basics:


She lives in Culpeper, just outside of town on top of a knoll.

She currently has a VHF/UHF antenna on her roof (20 years old?) that is pointed at DC (60 miles away); she gets 4, 5, 7, and 9 quite well at this point (all analog, of course).

She has a bunch of stations down in Charlottesville (nearly the opposite direction from DC, about 40 miles from her house) that she should be able to get--like PBS, etc--but the antenna is pointed in the wrong direction.

She's not interested in a rotator (don't think she'd use it, anyway).


I'm trying to figure out how to add a nice, high-gain UHF antenna, aimed at the C-Ville stations, and combine its output with the output from the antenna aimed at DC. Ideally, I'd like her to be able to surf through the channels and see the combined output from both antennas, without having to hit a switch, or anything.


I know there are definite issues involved--in combining the two signals, in placement of the two antenna relative to each other...any advice? Another option is a single omni, but not sure that would do the trick at that distance.


Thanks--great forum here!










PS. Buying a A-to-D converter box soon (Zenith DTT-901 probably) and am going to take it to her place just to see what I can get with it, digital-wise. Just to get an idea what is possible with the digital signals already out there...I know thing s will probably change quite a bit after the transition.


----------



## gmucklow




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Gerald C* /forum/post/14125364
> 
> 
> Does anyone know when (or if) WMPT-DT (Chan 42) will increase its power? According to my FCC records search, they are only broadcasting with 150kW, while their analog station (22) is putting out 5000kW. At only 150kW, I don't stand a chance of getting them in Alexandria without employing heroic antenna measures.



I think WMPT-DT must have reduced power on channel 42 recently. My Ballston condo's master antenna was receiving it fine until the last week or so, but now it is too low to lock in. The condo antenna still gets the analog channel 22 just fine. I can get 42 from my unit on the sixth floor with a Zenith Silver Sensor indoor antenna today, but the signal had dropped too low for it for a while also.


Anybody else had a problem with WMPT-DT on channel 42 recently?


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gmucklow* /forum/post/14130918
> 
> 
> I think WMPT-DT must have reduced power on channel 42 recently. My Ballston condo's master antenna was receiving it fine until the last week or so, but now it is too low to lock in. The condo antenna still gets the analog channel 22 just fine. I can get 42 from my unit on the sixth floor with a Zenith Silver Sensor indoor antenna today, but the signal had dropped too low for it for a while also.
> 
> 
> Anybody else had a problem with WMPT-DT on channel 42 recently?



My signal disappeared Thursday night but was back to regular strength last night. On another note, how is it possible that I can pick up WBOC DT most nights and even WPVI DT some nights but not get any activity on WUTB DT


----------



## tonyd79

Got a letter from Comcast/Howard County today.


The jist: They are moving DC locals to digital as well as AMC to add ABC Family HD, Disney HD, WGN HD, WUTB HD and Science HD. Also, adding Gospel Music to Digital Classic.


The DC locals will move from 7, 4 and 9 to 193, 194, 195 for the customer's "convenience." (They couldn't just leave them on 4, 7 and 9? That is where I get the digital versions now with my HD Tivo.) AMC remains on 53 and will also be on 138 (both Digital).


Takes effect July 9.


----------



## maestro73

I asked this a few days ago but got no response, and didn't see it mentioned in the thread. I'm getting WJLA in HD, but not in DD 5.1, ever since game 6 of the NBA finals; it's in DD 2.0. This is on Comcast as well as OTA. The Baltimore HD feed from WMAR is and has been in 5.1.


Anyone else experiencing this?


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *maestro73* /forum/post/14132098
> 
> 
> I asked this a few days ago but got no response, and didn't see it mentioned in the thread. I'm getting WJLA in HD, but not in DD 5.1, ever since game 6 of the NBA finals; it's in DD 2.0. This is on Comcast as well as OTA. The Baltimore HD feed from WMAR is and has been in 5.1.
> 
> 
> Anyone else experiencing this?




The last thing I recorded from WJLA was on June 7th and it is in 5.1

I see right now I'm receiving 2.0 but it also isn't an HD program.


----------



## maestro73

Thanks for replying. I emailed the station a little while ago but haven't heard back. No 5.1 sound at all for me in any HD programming for me since game 6.


----------



## bullwinklehdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *folksnake* /forum/post/14130677
> 
> 
> 
> I'm trying to figure out how to add a nice, high-gain UHF antenna, aimed at the C-Ville stations, and combine its output with the output from the antenna aimed at DC. Ideally, I'd like her to be able to surf through the channels and see the combined output from both antennas, without having to hit a switch, or anything.
> 
> 
> I know there are definite issues involved--in combining the two signals, in placement of the two antenna relative to each other...any advice? Another option is a single omni, but not sure that would do the trick at that distance.



I've seen quite a bit of discussion about this, probably some on this forum, and I don't think you'll have much luck just combining antennas. I'm not that up on the technical reasons, but if you just combine two antennas there is a good chance they will interfere with each other. There are some joiners that will pass a selected channel from a second antenna.

I'm in Germantown, MD, and I played around with combining antennas pointed at Baltimore and DC, but in the end the only way I could make it work was with a switch


----------



## knnirs

QAM changes for P.G. Comcast>

I find my QAM channels have changed, and I just learned about a web page listing digital channels per ZIP Code: http://www.silicondust.com/wiki/hdhomerun/channels 

I connected to this web page and find it is relatively correct for 6/18/2008, but not for today.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *folksnake* /forum/post/14130677
> 
> 
> Hi All--New here, been lurking a bit, learning. I have an issue that I need to figure out, hope someone can help me....
> 
> 
> I'm trying to get my mother-in-law set up for the transition. The basics:
> 
> 
> She lives in Culpeper, just outside of town on top of a knoll.
> 
> She currently has a VHF/UHF antenna on her roof (20 years old?) that is pointed at DC (60 miles away); she gets 4, 5, 7, and 9 quite well at this point (all analog, of course).
> 
> She has a bunch of stations down in Charlottesville (nearly the opposite direction from DC, about 40 miles from her house) that she should be able to get--like PBS, etc--but the antenna is pointed in the wrong direction.
> 
> She's not interested in a rotator (don't think she'd use it, anyway).
> 
> 
> I'm trying to figure out how to add a nice, high-gain UHF antenna, aimed at the C-Ville stations, and combine its output with the output from the antenna aimed at DC. Ideally, I'd like her to be able to surf through the channels and see the combined output from both antennas, without having to hit a switch, or anything.
> 
> 
> I know there are definite issues involved--in combining the two signals, in placement of the two antenna relative to each other...any advice? Another option is a single omni, but not sure that would do the trick at that distance.
> 
> 
> Thanks--great forum here!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> PS. Buying a A-to-D converter box soon (Zenith DTT-901 probably) and am going to take it to her place just to see what I can get with it, digital-wise. Just to get an idea what is possible with the digital signals already out there...I know thing s will probably change quite a bit after the transition.



Have you checked TV FOOL to see if you have a shot at receiving Richmond? I recently installed a system at a friends house, just south of Culpeper in Reva, VA(Just over the Madison County line). We used the CM 4228 antenna and a CM 7777 pre-amp. We were able to get Richmond and Charlottesville with the same compass setting. The Charlottesville stations(NBC29 & PBS41) are so strong that they still come in, even when the antenna is pointed towards Richmond.(The 4228 isn't as directional as a yagi style antenna). We swung the antenna around to DC, and the digital signal would lock on 4,5,7, and 9, but it was not reliable. If you can make do with Richmond/C-ville, you should get all the networks except UPN & ION. Another plus is that you won't have to worry about VHF.( A UHF only antenna will provide much better performance than any combo antenna) The only station going back to VHF is NBC12 in Richmond. You would get NBC from C-ville 29. If you do have to go with DC, Channels 7 & 9 are going back to VHF in '09. It would probably require a 2 antenna set-up, and a rotor for C-ville. This is definitely a deep fringe area for digital reception. A combo antenna will probably be insufficient for "reliable" digital reception.


----------



## ammar249




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *maestro73* /forum/post/14132560
> 
> 
> Thanks for replying. I emailed the station a little while ago but haven't heard back. No 5.1 sound at all for me in any HD programming for me since game 6.




been noticing the same problem for the last couple of days


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gmucklow* /forum/post/14130918
> 
> 
> I think WMPT-DT must have reduced power on channel 42 recently. My Ballston condo's master antenna was receiving it fine until the last week or so, but now it is too low to lock in. The condo antenna still gets the analog channel 22 just fine. I can get 42 from my unit on the sixth floor with a Zenith Silver Sensor indoor antenna today, but the signal had dropped too low for it for a while also.
> 
> 
> Anybody else had a problem with WMPT-DT on channel 42 recently?



The digital signal of WMPT is weak enough here in Arlington that the antenna must be pointed "directly" at it for a lock. Your building would probably need a separate antenna for WMPT digital, as it is about 30-40 degrees furthur east of the DC/Baltimore towers.(The analog signal is much more forgiving) I can get just about everything in the area without rotatiing the antenna; except for WMPT. It's not much stronger than WFPT in Frederick here.


----------



## maestro73




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ammar249* /forum/post/14134256
> 
> 
> been noticing the same problem for the last couple of days



OK cool. Thanks. Just wanted to be sure it wasn't on my end.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *folksnake* /forum/post/14130677
> 
> 
> She lives in Culpeper, just outside of town on top of a knoll.
> 
> She currently has a VHF/UHF antenna on her roof (20 years old?) that is pointed at DC (60 miles away); she gets 4, 5, 7, and 9 quite well at this point (all analog, of course). She has a bunch of stations down in Charlottesville (nearly the opposite direction from DC, about 40 miles from her house) that she should be able to get--like PBS, etc--but the antenna is pointed in the wrong direction.



Combining 2 antennas in the same band aimed in different offset directions is tricky. You might find two aims that work for now, but then would need to be tweaked for the seasonal changes in the propagation path as the leaves fall off the trees in the fall. Fine for someone who put up the antennas themselves and is willing to maintain it, not so much for someone's mother-in-law.


Adding in my comments, putting in a zip for the town of Culpeper confirms she is around 61 miles from the DC towers, 68-70 miles from the Richmond stations, and 40+ miles from the Charlottesville stations. That the DC and Charlottesville stations are in nearly opposite directions can simplify the antenna setup.


First question I have is how do the DC analog UHF stations look? Does she get decent analog picture quality for WDCA 20, WETA 26, WHUT 32, WDCW 50 with the current antenna? All of the DC stations are currently digitally broadcasting on UHF so the UHF performance is critical. Can you identify the model and brand of the antenna?


Second question is the type and condition of the cable run to the antenna? If it is old twinlead or aged RG-59 co-axial, the first step might be to replace the cable run with good quality RG-6 with a few connectors as possible. The RG-6 will have less loss per foot of run for the UHF channels than RG-59.


The UHF yagi antennas have good front to back ratios. That is, they have strong gain to the front and very little to the rear. The UHF bowties have some gain for stations located behind the screen, so a CM 4228 combined with a VHF antenna is one possibility. But the CM 4228 is heavy and requires a strong roof mast mount. A new Winegard or Channel Master conventional UHF/VHF antenna might be easier to setup. If she does not need analog anymore, one of the long range Winegard HD-769 models such as the HD-7696P with a CM 7777 pre-amp might do the job for getting just the DC stations. In case you have not checked this website, it is very useful for antenna info: http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ISSUES/erecting_antenna.html .


----------



## cpldc

I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere else, but I flipped through analog today and saw a message on channel 49 (WWTD-LP) saying WJLA is taking over that channel in November in order to keep an analog channel after the transition.


I guess with the other LP's, WDDN, WZDC and WMDO, the others could do the same. WWTD must have been pretty easy to get, though, since from the other content of the scrolling message it seems they aren't doing so well financially or viewership-wise.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gmucklow* /forum/post/14130918
> 
> 
> I think WMPT-DT must have reduced power on channel 42 recently. My Ballston condo's master antenna was receiving it fine until the last week or so, but now it is too low to lock in. The condo antenna still gets the analog channel 22 just fine. I can get 42 from my unit on the sixth floor with a Zenith Silver Sensor indoor antenna today, but the signal had dropped too low for it for a while also.
> 
> 
> Anybody else had a problem with WMPT-DT on channel 42 recently?



No problems here.


What condo do you live in? Was the MATV system deliberately upgraded to include broadcast HDTV or has it just passively been picked up by it?


FWFW, the antenna system at The Jefferson Sunrise, which is a twenty-one story complex in Ballston, dows not have a clear reception path from WMPT because a taller hotel blocks their path.


----------



## folksnake

Thanks all for the replies! I have some things to think about, that's for sure.


The Richmond channels are all a bit too far to aim for, I think. It's never been something they could pull in at their location...so I thought I'd just skip it if I could.


Digital Rules--interesting results from Reva! Depending where your friend's house is, that might be as little as 5-6 miles from hers.


afiggat--The UHF channels from DC aren't that great, but then the antenna (not sure what brand/model/etc) is a bit old and tattered, missing some elements. No preamp on it (at least I don't think there is) and it has the original twinlead. I'll attach a picture...


I'm going down there (I live up in the Frederick, MD area, so I'm doing this on random visits) in a few weeks, and I'll get a closer look at things. I'll take a converter box, and play with everything to see what's possible as it is. I'll know more then...


It's funny (I may not be the first to mention this, but it's crossed my mind quite a bit): I wish the conversion date didn't fall in February. I'll know more about things after that date, but I wish it happened in the Spring, Summer or Fall. Not the nastiest month of the year (Feb). Can't really see getting up on the roof to tweak things at that time of the year...


Anyway--I'll keep plugging away, reading and thinking, and asking. I have a while, but it's going to be fiddly, I just know it.


Thanks again!


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Gerald C* /forum/post/14126951
> 
> 
> ...I'm across the moat in Virginia...I don't think WMPT (Annapolis) is considered to be part of the Wash DC DMA, but I do often watch it's analog station, because WETA let's me down with programming decisions on certain shows.
> 
> 
> 
> Unfortunately, there's not a chance for me. My elevation isn't the greatest, and I get zero signal on those. My various ATSC receivers' signal meters do indicate activity on WMPT-DT (42), but it's never enough to lock on.



WMPT is very strong in your locale if you have an unobstructed signal path. I've serviced many antenna installations in the Old Town area, and they actually have more trouble getting DC reception because of tall buildings in Arlington being on their transmission paths. Are you in a single family residence or a highrise/apartment building?


I don't think I've ever gotten the 62 Maryland Public Television analog transmitter in Alexandria or even in Arlington, where I service the master antenna systems in some very tall buidings. I can get the digital counterpart to analog 62 (28) on very tall buildings in McLean and Vienna, but even then reception of that alternate WMPT source is spotty.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/14139040
> 
> 
> WMPT is very strong in your locale if you have an unobstructed signal path. I've serviced many antenna installations in the Old Town area, and they actually have more trouble getting DC reception because of tall buildings in Arlington being on their transmission paths. Are you in a single family residence or a highrise/apartment building?
> 
> 
> I don't think I've ever gotten the 62 Maryland Public Television analog transmitter in Alexandria or even in Arlington, where I service the master antenna systems in some very tall buidings. I can get the digital counterpart to analog 62 (28) on very tall buildings in McLean and Vienna, but even then reception of that alternate WMPT source is spotty.



It must be multipath that is causing a majority of these reception problems with WMPT. What kind of antennas do you generally use for your commercial installs? I have no problem with 31, 62, or 68 analog here (31, and 68 are quite snowy; except at night). 62 digital comes in reasonably well, with occasional hiccups, especially on windy or rainy days. All this with a standard 2 story rooftop install, 75 feet of RG-6, and a 91-XG antenna.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/14139214
> 
> 
> It must be multipath that is causing a majority of these reception problems with WMPT.



Multipath is going to be nearly impossible for the hobbiest/self installer to reliably detect as soon as the corresponding analog transmitters get shut off. In Old Town, Alexandria, I often have had to "play the bounce" off a taller southern building to get the best quality signal there.



> Quote:
> What kind of antennas do you generally use for your commercial installs? I have no problem with 31, 62, or 68 analog here (31, and 68 are quite snowy; except at night). 62 digital comes in reasonably well, with occasional hiccups, especially on windy or rainy days. All this with a standard 2 story rooftop install, 75 feet of RG-6, and a 91-XG antenna.



Nothing special or exotic. Since I only install on highrise rooftops, and since none of my customers are buildings of less than ten stories, I am pretty much free to pick from among the common antennas (Winegard PR or CA/HD series, CM 4 bay bowties when I need a wide boresight). For now, I pick antennas that let me roughly equalize Baltimore channels 38 and 40 with Washington, DC channel 39, and Baltimore channel 52 with Washington, DC channel 51, and sometimes I'll take the screen off a 4221 and use it to receive both 42 from Annapolis and 43 from Manassas, but I have a different agenda than do most residential installers. I place a premium on minimizing signal level differentials to make the easier to distribute through large buildings, but a single residential TV can easily, reliably differential between adjacent channels with signal level differentials of well over 20dB, and between alternate channels or further apart signal channel differentails of over 30dB.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/14139276
> 
> 
> Multipath is going to be nearly impossible for the hobbiest/self installer to reliably detect as soon as the corresponding analog transmitters get shut off. In Old Town, Alexandria, I often have had to "play the bounce" off a taller southern building to get the best quality signal there.
> 
> 
> 
> Nothing special or exotic. Since I only install on highrise rooftops, and since none of my customers are buildings of less than ten stories, I am pretty much free to pick from among the common antennas (Winegard PR or CA/HD series, CM 4 bay bowties when I need a wide boresight). For now, I pick antennas that let me roughly equalize Baltimore channels 38 and 40 with Washington, DC channel 39, and Baltimore channel 52 with Washington, DC channel 51, and sometimes I'll take the screen off a 4221 and use it to receive both 42 from Annapolis and 43 from Manassas, but I have a different agenda than do most residential installers. I place a premium on minimizing signal level differentials to make the easier to distribute through large buildings, but a single residential TV can easily, reliably differential between adjacent channels with signal level differentials of well over 20dB, and between alternate channels or further apart signal channel differentails of over 30dB.



Looks like you'll be pretty busy after the FEB '09 transition!!


Thanks, Glen


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cpldc* /forum/post/14137780
> 
> 
> I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere else, but I flipped through analog today and saw a message on channel 49 (WWTD-LP) saying WJLA is taking over that channel in November in order to keep an analog channel after the transition.
> 
> 
> I guess with the other LP's, WDDN, WZDC and WMDO, the others could do the same. WWTD must have been pretty easy to get, though, since from the other content of the scrolling message it seems they aren't doing so well financially or viewership-wise.



dcrtv.com posted a month or two back that WJLA 7 was in negotiation to take over the WWTD-LP 49 signal for a time to use as an analog broadcast outlet for WJLA. I don't recall if we discussed that here, but I did in the Final DTV allotment thread as a interesting interim end run to get around the analog shutdown. Taking a look, WWTD has a long message scroll going on about their audio problems (BZZZZZZ), money problems, their web stream site, get a converter box with RF pass-through (what they really mean) and that the WJLA ABC feed will be on the channel in November.


The other LPs in DC may not be as viable options for the other major network stations, if they have any interest at all in doing this. WDDN-LP 23 is a religious station, WZDC-LP 25 has an extremely directional pattern to keep it from interfering with WHAG 25, WMDO-CA 47 has a very limited coverage area. WWTD has a digital LD channel allotment for UHF 14. They might take the money they get from WJLA and put that to starting up a digital low power signal, once WFDC 14 vacates channel 14. If WWTD can up the digital allotment to a 5 to 10 kW ERP, they could cover a good chunk of the DC area with a clean digital picture with multiple sub-channels to go after different viewer niches.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14139421
> 
> 
> dcrtv.com posted a month or two back that WJLA 7 was in negotiation to take over the WWTD-LP 49 signal for a time to use as an analog broadcast outlet for WJLA. ...WWTD has a long message scroll going on about their audio problems (BZZZZZZ), money problems, their web stream site, get a converter box with RF pass-through (what they really mean) and that the WJLA ABC feed will be on the channel in November.
> 
> 
> The other LPs in DC may not be as viable options for the other major network stations, if they have any interest at all in doing this. WDDN-LP 23 is a religious station, WZDC-LP 25 has an extremely directional pattern to keep it from interfering with WHAG 25, WMDO-CA 47 has a very limited coverage area. WWTD has a digital LD channel allotment for UHF 14. They might take the money they get from WJLA and put that to starting up a digital low power signal, once WFDC 14 vacates channel 14. If WWTD can up the digital allotment to a 5 to 10 kW ERP, they could cover a good chunk of the DC area with a clean digital picture with multiple sub-channels to go after different viewer niches.



A low power analog transmitter on channel 49 will never be viable for off-air reception as long as this market has a powerful, adjacent channel 48 mucking it up. When 49 moved to Washington, DC, I opened up a dialog with them to ask them what their long-range plans were (I think they were a Spanish channel back then), but they didn't tell me anything. I've always figured that the benefit of moving to Washington, DC was that, if they eventually become a low power digital station, they can easily endure the 20dB signal level differential between them and WRC-48 and multicast niche programming to a million people. The only way they could be useful as an analog outlet for WJLA or anyone else is if that somehow entitles them to attain "must carry" status on local cable TV systems.


Channels 23 and 25, if they become digital, will be reliably received in the metro region by anyone other than those within a mile or two of WNVC's channel 24 digital transmitter, which I believe is staying on the same Falls Church tower it's 56A and 57D transmitters are on now.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *folksnake* /forum/post/14138509
> 
> 
> afiggat--The UHF channels from DC aren't that great, but then the antenna (not sure what brand/model/etc) is a bit old and tattered, missing some elements. No preamp on it (at least I don't think there is) and it has the original twinlead. I'll attach a picture...
> 
> ...
> 
> It's funny (I may not be the first to mention this, but it's crossed my mind quite a bit): I wish the conversion date didn't fall in February. I'll know more about things after that date, but I wish it happened in the Spring, Summer or Fall. Not the nastiest month of the year (Feb). Can't really see getting up on the roof to tweak things at that time of the year...



The February shutdown date was the result of a political compromise with little consideration given to the practical aspects of the transition. Having the transition in the middle of winter is a problem to a lot of stations, especially those located in the northern climes with remotely located towers, not just viewers. Only WNVC-DT 56 in Fairfax in our area is adversely affected by the winter date because they have to put up a new antenna. But a number of stations across the country won't be able to match their analog coverage area as they will use auxiliary or side-mounted antennas until they can put up a new antenna when the weather improves later in the spring or summer. A transition date in June or July not only gives stations and viewers better weather (well, except for thunderstorms), but more hours of daylight to work on the tower or rooftop antenna.


Your photo shows what look to be a good quality VHF antenna, but the UHF part may not have that much gain. Still the first step after a test with the converter box may be to replace the twin-lead with a new balun and RG-6 co-axial.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/14139501
> 
> 
> A low power analog transmitter on channel 49 will never be viable for off-air reception as long as this market has a powerful, adjacent channel 48 mucking it up.



The last few times I checked, I always got a loud audio buzz for WWTD-LP 49 from out here in Sterling. Wonder if it is because the station is between WRC-DT at 813 kW on UHF 48 and WDCW-TV 50 4168 kW signal. Next February, it will be sandwiched between 2 powerful digital stations when WDCW-DT moves to 50 and may crank up to 1000 kW.


There were 366 station filings posted to the FCC website tonights, looks like almost all of them for maximizing post-transition power. Some were posted last week. These are applications to run next year at greater power than currently authorized; the FCC may not grant all of them and even if they do, the station may not increase the power until a later date. Anyway, if I am keeping correct track of the filings:


WJLA-DT ABC 7 wants to increase from the authorized 13.6 kW to 30 kW on VHF 7 (strong signal for digital upper VHF)

WDCA-DT My 20 (35) wants to increase from 500 kW to 1000 kW.

WHUT-DT 32 (33) wants to increase from 100 kW to 1000 kW.

WPXW-DT Ion 66 (34) is taking over WUSA-DT's current digital transmitter and wants to keep it at 1000 kW.

WDCW-DT CW 50 wants to increase from 123 kW on UHF 50 to 1000 kW.

WNVC-DT MHz 56 in Fairfax wants to operate at 160 kW on UHF 24.


And... (drumroll please)

WMPT-DT 22 (42) wants to increase from 150 kW to 516 kW

WFPT-DT 62 (28) in Frederick, MD wants to increase from 30 kW to 41.2 kW

WWPB-DT 31 (44) in Hagerstown, MD wants to increase from 209 kW to 1000 kW.


If all of these are granted, digital reception in the greater DC area will be easier, perhaps a lot easier. I may be able to get 4 MPT stations at the same time without turning my antenna.


----------



## afiggatt

Missed a couple of station maximize filings:

WUTB-DT 24 (41) wants to increase from 200 kW to 310 kW but will keep the very directional antenna pattern. Side comment: I have not been able to get WUTB-DT in recent days, I think the station is running at reduced power (but > 530 Watts)


WMPB-DT MPT 67 (29) in Baltimore wants to increase to 42.6 kW from 14 kW.

However, no filing from WBAL-DT 11 so far.


----------



## zyvo23




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/14131505
> 
> 
> Got a letter from Comcast/Howard County today.
> 
> 
> The jist: They are moving DC locals to digital as well as AMC to add ABC Family HD, Disney HD, WGN HD, WUTB HD and Science HD. Also, adding Gospel Music to Digital Classic.
> 
> 
> The DC locals will move from 7, 4 and 9 to 193, 194, 195 for the customer's "convenience." (They couldn't just leave them on 4, 7 and 9? That is where I get the digital versions now with my HD Tivo.) AMC remains on 53 and will also be on 138 (both Digital).
> 
> 
> Takes effect July 9.



so analog customers in HoCo will no longer get DC locals?







Are they at least adding DC local HD channels?


----------



## Gerald C




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/14139040
> 
> 
> WMPT is very strong in your locale if you have an unobstructed signal path. I've serviced many antenna installations in the Old Town area ... Are you in a single family residence or a highrise/apartment building?



I'm actually in the west end of Alexandria, opposite of Old Town. I have a CM 4221 above the roof line of a 3-story townhouse! Still no luck. I've attached a TVFool signal diagram here, which clearly shows 42 as the lowest power station I'm "supposed" to receive


----------



## AntAltMike

I plugged your zip code into TV fool. 32 miles from WMPT's 134 KW transmitter results in a field strength of -65dBm at a height of 35 feet. That is a very strong signal.


You might have better luck with a more directional antenna to defeat multipath.


----------



## Potatoehead

We seem to be receiving the digital channels for 57 tonight. I have never seen this before out here in Calvert Co. Did they change their signal or is it just a favorable atmosphere?


----------



## Gerald C




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/14145936
> 
> 
> I plugged your zip code into TV fool. 32 miles from WMPT's 134 KW transmitter results in a field strength of -65dBm at a height of 35 feet. That is a very strong signal.



I have found that using my zipcode alone on TVFool or Antennaweb gives misleading (optimistic) advice about my specific address within the zipcode. I think I might be in a lower topo spot.



> Quote:
> You might have better luck with a more directional antenna to defeat multipath.



Agreed. I also have my CM4221 pointed NE up the DC/Balt corridor, so it's not optimally pointed at Annapolis. I could also try a preamp, but past experience says they cause more problems than they solve. The post above that says WMPT has filed for higher power operation is encouraging


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Gerald C* /forum/post/14146361
> 
> 
> I have found that using my zipcode alone on TVFool or Antennaweb gives misleading (optimistic) advice about my specific address within the zipcode. I think I might be in a lower topo spot.
> 
> 
> 
> Agreed. I also have my CM4221 pointed NE up the DC/Balt corridor, so it's not optimally pointed at Annapolis. I could also try a preamp, but past experience says they cause more problems than they solve. The post above that says WMPT has filed for higher power operation is encouraging



A rotor is probably your best option. You are too close to DC for a pre-amp.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zyvo23* /forum/post/14144195
> 
> 
> so analog customers in HoCo will no longer get DC locals?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Are they at least adding DC local HD channels?



This is the future for Comcast. Eventually, they will move all the analog to digital to make space.


And, no word on DC local HD. This move seems to me to be an indication of downplaying the DC locals. They specifically called them duplicate services in the letter, so that tells me that the priority for DC locals in HD is non-existant.


No mention of WTTG which is on 75 now analog and digital. Guess they don't want to anger Redskins fans.


----------



## raidbuck

Since Howard County is getting WGN HD in July, any word on any other areas getting this channel? More HD baseball is good.


I have Extra Innings, but of course Comcast doesn't show the 2-3 daily HD games in HD. I've complained twice, once to Brian Roberts, but nobody responds. (I realize that almost nobody subscribes to EI for Comcast, so I have no chance of getting the HD games. The suffering of fans who like out-of-market games...).


Rich N.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *raidbuck* /forum/post/14150192
> 
> 
> Since Howard County is getting WGN HD in July, any word on any other areas getting this channel? More HD baseball is good.
> 
> Rich N.



Baltimore City has been getting channels at the same time as Howard County. No message from Comcast yet.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14150606
> 
> 
> Baltimore City has been getting channels at the same time as Howard County. No message from Comcast yet.



The letter I got pretty much said the shutting down of DC analog networks was where they were getting the bandwidth to add the HD they are adding. Where would they get that space in Baltimore City? They don't have DC locals, do they? Or do they have space they aren't using yet already available?


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/14150631
> 
> 
> The letter I got pretty much said the shutting down of DC analog networks was where they were getting the bandwidth to add the HD they are adding. Where would they get that space in Baltimore City? They don't have DC locals, do they? Or do they have space they aren't using yet already available?



They have been removing other analog channels, such as G4 and Ion, and most of the West Coast digital premium channels.


----------



## Zon74




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14139797
> 
> 
> The February shutdown date was the result of a political compromise with little consideration given to the practical aspects of the transition. Having the transition in the middle of winter is a problem to a lot of stations, especially those located in the northern climes with remotely located towers, not just viewers. Only WNVC-DT 56 in Fairfax in our area is adversely affected by the winter date because they have to put up a new antenna. But a number of stations across the country won't be able to match their analog coverage area as they will use auxiliary or side-mounted antennas until they can put up a new antenna when the weather improves later in the spring or summer. A transition date in June or July not only gives stations and viewers better weather (well, except for thunderstorms), but more hours of daylight to work on the tower or rooftop antenna.



I have a lot of sympathy for consumers. But as to the stations, it's not like this is a big surprise. They've known this was coming for a very long time. Couldn't they be installing that new antenna tower this summer so that they would be ready to go in February? What is the excuse for waiting until NEXT summer, after the transition has occurred, before they bother to take the action that they should be taking beforehand?


----------



## Digital Rules

Only "1" antenna can be on the "top" of most towers; so I would guess the analog antenna is of more importance until FEB '09. ($$$$$$$$$$$$$)


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Zon74* /forum/post/14159652
> 
> 
> I have a lot of sympathy for consumers. But as to the stations, it's not like this is a big surprise. They've known this was coming for a very long time. Couldn't they be installing that new antenna tower this summer so that they would be ready to go in February? What is the excuse for waiting until NEXT summer, after the transition has occurred, before they bother to take the action that they should be taking beforehand?



Yes, putting up another antenna on top of the tower can be the problem. If the tower has room or weight limits for only 1 antenna on top - which is going to be the analog in most cases, then the station has to remove the analog channel antenna first before putting up the new digital channel antenna. Most commercial stations are opting to keep their analog channel on the air until Feb 17, 2009 or close to it. If the station is doing a digital flash cut to their analog channel, then they may be able to re-use the antenna. But some stations can't and have tower work to do.


We have one of more extreme situations in our area. WNVC MHz 56 in Fairfax has a analog UHF 56 antenna on top of the tower and a low power UHF 57 antenna on the side 50 meters lower. Both channels are out of core (2-51), so they have to go dark on Feb. 17, 2009, no buts. The tower can't take the weight of a 3rd antenna. So WNVC will go dark in September, ahead of winter, take down both the 56 and 57 antennas and put up a new UHF 24 antenna for their post-transition DT channel. All the work was scheduled to be done by November according to their February Form 387 filing (pdf attachment at http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/f...ibit_id=616063 ). But WNVC-DT 56 won't be able to start up on UHF 24 until WUTB-TV 24 in Baltimore vacates it's analog channel. If WNVC was a commercial network station, they almost certainly would have found a way to stay on the air or a different channel assignment. But they are a public station and likely running on a very tight budget, so they go dark for 5 months and provide a land line feed to the cable companies. This transition process next February is anything but simple for some stations.


It could get even more interesting in our area. WETA-DT PBS 26 (on UHF 27) in DC and WWPX-DT Ion 60 (on VHF 12) in Martinsburg have both filed petitions in the past week to the FCC asking for UHF 51 as their new digital channel assignment. WETA 26 wants UHF 51 because that will allow them to operate at higher power for a larger coverage area. The FCC may not grant either petition at this late date or any change may not happen for many months after next February, so this is strictly a side show for now.


----------



## jgantert

Any idea what's going to be on 7-4? Right now there is a signal there, but no picture.


----------



## Trip in VA

Isn't WJLA signed up to air RTN? Maybe that's what it is...


For the record, I doubt that WWPX-DT will get their channel 51 approved. It's improperly spaced to WDCW-DT 50.


- Trip


----------



## bucnasty

Is anyone else seeing tracking fuzz on the top of fox hd? I'm watching king of the hill and its starting to annoy me. i've noticed it on my 20 as well


----------



## hokiefan

DC analog locals are removed in Anne Arundel County as well. This includes WTTG. Now there is only one channel above analog ch. 72 (a PI chan).


So when are cable companies gonna transmit h.264 instead of mpeg2? Seems like they are falling behind satellite in the technology dept.


----------



## rfunches

Hello all,


I live down in Woodbridge and just got a DTV converter mainly to pull down WNVC. (We subscribe to Comcast but have a higher than necessary digital tier to get the WNVC feed; it's cheaper to pay $20 for the Zenith 901 box than Comcast monthly until we get an HDTV with a tuner.)


I'm not sure what type of antenna is on the roof (other than it's supposed to be omnidirectional, ancient, and used to pick up DC/Baltimore analog stations years ago) or what direction it's pointed, but right now it's only picking up WNVT-DT 30 and WPXW 43. It's also picking up one or two other channels I can't seem to identify, and since I'm at work I can't turn the box on to check. The signal strength on WNVT goes in and out too, but it's definitely not as strong as WPXW; it is enough for everything to get choppy, though I don't think it's fully dropped out yet. I can pick up a signal on the big four but it's way too weak for the receiver to get a lock.


Does this sound like a positioning problem or an antenna size/type problem? Right now it's mounted at the very top of the house (on top of the chimney) but there are still some trees level with it all around the house. I've attached the tvfool readout too.


----------



## 4HiMarks




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14160106
> 
> 
> Yes, putting up another antenna on top of the tower can be the problem. If the tower has room or weight limits for only 1 antenna on top - which is going to be the analog in most cases, then the station has to remove the analog channel antenna first before putting up the new digital channel antenna. Most commercial stations are opting to keep their analog channel on the air until Feb 17, 2009 or close to it. If the station is doing a digital flash cut to their analog channel, then they may be able to re-use the antenna. But some stations can't and have tower work to do.



I'm sorry. I don't understand. Can't the same antenna be used to broadcast either analog or digital? We can receive both with only one. Or, to put it another way, can't they upgrade their antenna (do the tower work) now, but still broadcast an analog signal from it until Feb. 17?


Secondly, the Feb 17 transition date is mandatory only in terms of afterwards, right? There's nothing in the regulation *requiring* stations to be analog until then, is there? If someone wanted to, they could go all digital today, couldn't they? For a "Big 4" commercial station, that would probably be financial suicide, but it might make economic sense for a smaller station that relies mostly on cable or satellite subscribers anyway.


-Chris


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14139797
> 
> 
> The February shutdown date was the result of a political compromise with little consideration given to the practical aspects of the transition.



Many don't know or remember this but the original cutoff date was Feb 2007.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *4HiMarks* /forum/post/14164404
> 
> 
> I'm sorry. I don't understand. Can't the same antenna be used to broadcast either analog or digital? We can receive both with only one. Or, to put it another way, can't they upgrade their antenna (do the tower work) now, but still broadcast an analog signal from it until Feb. 17?
> 
> 
> Secondly, the Feb 17 transition date is mandatory only in terms of afterwards, right? There's nothing in the regulation *requiring* stations to be analog until then, is there? If someone wanted to, they could go all digital today, couldn't they? For a "Big 4" commercial station, that would probably be financial suicide, but it might make economic sense for a smaller station that relies mostly on cable or satellite subscribers anyway.



The commercial TV broadcast antennas are specific to the frequency or channel being broadcast. So WNVC can not re-use it's UHF 56 antenna for UHF 24. Also the analog antenna may be omni-directional while the post- transition digital antenna may have a directional pattern to reduce interference with other stations. The digital allotment may be for a different antenna height or location. The equipment to broadcast a 50 kW to 1000 kW ATSC digital UHF signal or up to a 5000 kW analog UHF signal is going to be a wee bit different than what you use in the home. Check the Final DTV Table of Allotment sticky thread if you want to get some insight into it all.


There are around 40 full power stations across the US that are digital only. Most of them are public or small independent stations, but there are several small market ABC or CBS affiliates in Falcon_77's list. In our area, WNVT-30 MHz 30 in Goldvein, VA turned off it's analog transmitter in 2003, becoming one of the 1st digital only stations. But the stations have to get approval from the FCC before turning off the analog transmission.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rfunches* /forum/post/14164397
> 
> 
> I'm not sure what type of antenna is on the roof (other than it's supposed to be omnidirectional, ancient, and used to pick up DC/Baltimore analog stations years ago) or what direction it's pointed, but right now it's only picking up WNVT-DT 30 and WPXW 43. It's also picking up one or two other channels I can't seem to identify, and since I'm at work I can't turn the box on to check. The signal strength on WNVT goes in and out too, but it's definitely not as strong as WPXW; it is enough for everything to get choppy, though I don't think it's fully dropped out yet. I can pick up a signal on the big four but it's way too weak for the receiver to get a lock.
> 
> 
> Does this sound like a positioning problem or an antenna size/type problem? Right now it's mounted at the very top of the house (on top of the chimney) but there are still some trees level with it all around the house. I've attached the tvfool readout too.



You should be able to get the DC digital stations from Woodbridge with a rooftop antenna. WNVC-DT 56 has a weaker digital signal. You should read back a few posts for my summary on the WNVC 56 transition plan as the station will be going dark for analog & digital in September and is not expected to be able to go back on the air until February 17/18, 2009.


If you could post a photo of the antenna that would help. But the first step is to make sure that the antenna looks level and not knocked down by the wind or damaged. What type of antenna cable does it have? Old twinlead, RG-59 or RG-6 coaxial? You may need to replace the cable run with new RG-6. However, from Woodbridge, if getting WNVC-DT 56 and WNVT-DT 30 is your primary goal, a good indoor antenna placed high up in the room or facing the window might do the trick. If you have one or can borrow one, try a basic indoor table top UHF loop and VHF rabbit ear antenna. The Silver Sensor UHF antenna is a good UHF antenna if you can borrow one or find one at the store for a reasonable. At this time, save your money and don't buy the expensive indoor antennas with built-in amplifiers that the chain stores push.


----------



## knnirs

Channel 22 sync problem on HD signal


I have watched the Channel 22 NEWS HOUR for many years, and I connected to the HD version for the first time tonight. The synchronizing between the video and sound was so bad I went back to the SD signal. I checked the repeat program on Channel 26 HD signal an hour later and it was fine.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *4HiMarks* /forum/post/14164404
> 
> 
> I'm sorry. I don't understand. Can't the same antenna be used to broadcast either analog or digital? We can receive both with only one. Or, to put it another way, can't they upgrade their antenna (do the tower work) now, but still broadcast an analog signal from it until Feb. 17?
> 
> 
> Secondly, the Feb 17 transition date is mandatory only in terms of afterwards, right? There's nothing in the regulation *requiring* stations to be analog until then, is there? If someone wanted to, they could go all digital today, couldn't they? For a "Big 4" commercial station, that would probably be financial suicide, but it might make economic sense for a smaller station that relies mostly on cable or satellite subscribers anyway.
> 
> 
> -Chris



afiggatt already touched on the antenna question, but in addition to that, the waveguide, if they are using it to get to the antenna, is a different size for channel 56 and channel 24, so they would have to replace that, too. That would be on the order of 1000 feet of rectangular aluminum box, 15 inches wide by 7.5 inches deep. Pretty expensive stuff, just in the price of metal.


On your second question, there's a lot of coordination that's going on during the change-over. As you're probably aware, WUTB up in Baltimore is broadcasting on channel 24, so WNVC can't start using that channel until WUTB turns their analog channel off.


Cheers -


----------



## tanfan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/14169070
> 
> 
> Channel 22 sync problem on HD signal
> 
> 
> I have watched the Channel 22 NEWS HOUR for many years, and I connected to the HD version for the first time tonight. The synchronizing between the video and sound was so bad I went back to the SD signal. I checked the repeat program on Channel 26 HD signal an hour later and it was fine.



The funny thing is, I noticed this problem the last couple of nights, but what I _also_ noticed was that the audio from Verizon FiOS perfectly matched the OTA video.


In other words, if I watched the OTA video (channel 22.1), but listened to the FiOS audio (via a coaxial digital connection to my surround-sound processor), everything was perfectly in sync. But if I both watched and listened to either the OTA signal _or_ the FiOS signal, the audio and video were out of sync. I couldn't believe my ears, so I double-checked, but this was certainly the case.


I will try to contact MPT today about this.


----------



## raidbuck

Just saw that Comcast in the Baltimore area will be carrying the BTN in time for football on the Sports tier. The article didn't say anything about HD.


Rich N.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/14160448
> 
> 
> Isn't WJLA signed up to air RTN? Maybe that's what it is...



Maybe so. I contacted RTN, and was informed July 14th would be when WJLA plans to start carrying RTN. www.rtnville.com 


-John


----------



## whereswill

Hey there everyone.


Getting ready to move to Fairfax, VA, and I'm looking to do some research.


I've looked through the forum, but there's a lot of content here to peruse. Hopefully I haven't missed an earlier post that answers my question. I apologize if this is redundant. Maybe in that case, someone can point me to a specific prior post.


We've been lucky in Chicago to be about 2 miles from the broadcast towers downtown, so OTA HD content has been easy to receive. Not so sure about our suburban location in Fairfax, so I'm considering wired options.


Can current COX and Verizon customers in the NO VA area give me reviews of their cable service, both the standard def and HD packages? Before it's mentioned, our area isn't eligible for FIOS, so if you have it, please don't rub it in.


Thanks very much!


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *whereswill* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> We've been lucky in Chicago to be about 2 miles from the broadcast towers downtown, so OTA HD content has been easy to receive. Not so sure about our suburban location in Fairfax, so I'm considering wired options.
> 
> 
> Can current COX and Verizon customers in the NO VA area give me reviews of their cable service, both the standard def and HD packages? Before it's mentioned, our area isn't eligible for FIOS, so if you have it, please don't rub it in.



Verizon is still rolling out Fios to many neighborhoods in the Northern VA area. If your house in Fairfax county(?) has Verizon available as the primary phone service, Fios is coming, but when is hard to tell. Your wording is a bit confusing, as you don't get Verizon cable TV w/o Fios. Verizon does offer a DirecTV package tie-in to the areas with just phone/dsl service, but that is a different deal.


As for OTA, unless your house/condo is down in a deep ravine or blocked by a highrise building, should not be difficult to get the DC digital stations from Fairfax. The Baltimore digital stations are also likely in reach with a attic or rooftop antenna setup. DC has full power digital stations for all 7 broadcast networks that provide HD programming.


Others here can comment on Cox. I have Verizon Fios for internet & TV, but also currently get 18 digital stations OTA (from DC, Baltimore and several other stations around the area).


----------



## rob base




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *raidbuck* /forum/post/14172807
> 
> 
> Just saw that Comcast in the Baltimore area will be carrying the BTN in time for football on the Sports tier. The article didn't say anything about HD.
> 
> 
> Rich N.



That's good news. Where did you see that info? Hopefully it will be in HD too. It is great for football season.


----------



## rob base




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rob base* /forum/post/14174278
> 
> 
> That's good news. Where did you see that info? Hopefully it will be in HD too. It is great for football season.



Just found this on Big Ten Networks website:


June 19, 2008


Comcast, Big Ten Network Reach Broad Multimedia Agreement for Big Ten Network Content


Comcast customers to receive Big Ten Network HD, Big Ten Network high-speed Internet content through Comcast.net, and condensed game replays and other programs through Comcast On Demand


Philadelphia and Chicago -- Comcast Corporation and the Big Ten Network announced today that they have reached a long-term multimedia agreement for Comcast to carry Big Ten Network programming across television, broadband and video-on-demand in time for the 2008 college football season.


Under the terms of the agreement, Comcast will initially launch the network as part of its expanded basic level of service to promote it to the majority of its customers residing in states with Big Ten universities (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, with the exception of the Philadelphia region which will launch on a broadly distributed digital level of service) starting August 15th. (Comcast does not have systems in Iowa, the eighth Big Ten state.) In Spring 2009, Comcast may elect to move the network to a broadly distributed digital level of service in most of its systems in these states. Comcast's digital customers in the Big Ten states will also have immediate access to live Big Ten games and events in high definition, Big Ten programming via Comcast's video-on-demand platform, and a wide array of conference-related content through Comcast.net.


Outside of the Big Ten states that Comcast serves, Comcast has the option to provide Big Ten Network programming on any level of service, including its Sports Entertainment Package.


Officials from Comcast and Big Ten Network said they look forward to utilizing both traditional and emerging media to bring more Big Ten programming to fans than was ever available to them before.


"We are very pleased with the agreement we have reached with the Big Ten Network to carry hundreds of live Big Ten events," said Madison Bond, Executive Vice President, Content Acquisition, Comcast Cable. "We will be providing our customers with Big Ten programming through our signature video-on-demand service, and will have lots of highlights, replays, scores and more through Comcast.net so fans can keep pace with Big Ten action whenever they want to."


Big Ten Network President Mark Silverman said the network is thrilled to have Comcast as a distribution partner. "This agreement allows us to reach many more Big Ten fans with our programming because of the high concentration of Comcast subscribers in Big Ten states. With the Comcast deal now in place, the Big Ten Network will be available to more than two-thirds of all homes in Big Ten Country."


Big Ten Network already produces more high-definition television content than any new sports network in television history. Over the next year, more than 400 live Big Ten sporting events will be carried by the Big Ten Network in high definition, including football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, softball and soccer, as well as other NCAA-sponsored sports.


Comcast's digital customers who receive the network will have On Demand access to programming such as weekly extended highlights and condensed game replays from around the conference, classic Big Ten sporting events, bowl game coverage and coaches' shows, plus original campus programming and nightly studio shows from Big Ten Network, most of which is available in high definition.


Comcast also has the ability to deliver much of that same content to its Comcast High Speed Internet customers via the company's Comcast.net portal. Additionally, Comcast has the rights to carry certain network content on Fancast.com.


About Comcast Corporation

Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) ( http://www.comcast.com ) is the nation's leading provider of entertainment, information and communications products and services. With 24.7 million cable customers, 14.1 million high-speed Internet customers, and 5.2 million voice customers, Comcast is principally involved in the development, management and operation of broadband cable systems and in the delivery of programming content.


Comcast's content networks and investments include E! Entertainment Television, Style Network, The Golf Channel, VERSUS, G4, PBS KIDS Sprout, TV One, ten Comcast SportsNet networks and Comcast Interactive Media, which develops and operates Comcast's Internet business. Comcast also has a majority ownership in Comcast-Spectacor, whose major holdings include the Philadelphia Flyers NHL hockey team, the Philadelphia 76ers NBA basketball team and two large multipurpose arenas in Philadelphia.


About the Big Ten Network

The Big Ten Network is dedicated to covering the Big Ten Conference and its 11 member institutions. The Big Ten Network provides unprecedented access to an extensive schedule of conference sports events and shows; original programs in academics, the arts and sciences; campus activities; and associated personalities. Sports programming includes live coverage of more major men's and women's events than ever before, along with news, highlights and analysis, all complemented by hours of university-produced campus programming. The network is available to all cable and satellite carriers and television distributors nationwide, with most programs offered in stunning high-definition television (HDTV). The Big Ten Network is a joint venture between subsidiaries of the Big Ten Conference and Fox Cable Networks.


----------



## Drewdawg

I did a channel scan using my Sylvania SRZ3000 and was suprised when 24-1 came in. It's a good 55-80% as are the other Baltimore stations. It may be due to the weather because the other Baltimore stations are stronger than usual.


It's a shame they're doing SD on 24-1 with nothing else. My Network is a 720p network, IIRC, so they have the same option as the ABC affiliates.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Drewdawg* /forum/post/14175283
> 
> 
> I did a channel scan using my Sylvania SRZ3000 and was suprised when 24-1 came in. It's a good 55-80% as are the other Baltimore stations. It may be due to the weather because the other Baltimore stations are stronger than usual.
> 
> 
> It's a shame they're doing SD on 24-1 with nothing else. My Network is a 720p network, IIRC, so they have the same option as the ABC affiliates.



The Baltimore stations are coming in strong for me tonight, even WMPB-DT 67 which I usually don't get a reliable lock on. This even though I am on the other side of Baltimore from Dover. Warm muggy weather is good for long range pickups. Got a noisy but viewable WMDT-TV ABC 47 out of Salisbury on my analog tuner.


After WUTB-DT 24 was very weak for a few days, it was back to 7-8 bars out of 10 for me several days ago. I think WUTB-DT was running at reduced power for a while; maybe some hardware problems or making adjustments. The station engineer for WUTB who posted here when WUTB-DT finally went to full power last month did state that they were working to upgrade to HD, but did not give any specifics or date. My guess would be sometime this summer.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14177179
> 
> 
> My guess would be sometime this summer.



Since Comcast is supposedly adding WUTB-DT (in Howard County at least) on July 9, hopefully they will go HD soon instead of wasting bandwidth on a 24 hour stretch-o-vision channel. (On the other hand, Comcast has sent messages about it being added in Baltimore city twice and it never happened. Could be another false alarm.)


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14177850
> 
> 
> Since Comcast is supposedly adding WUTB-DT (in Howard County at least) on July 9, hopefully they will go HD soon instead of wasting bandwidth on a 24 hour stretch-o-vision channel. (On the other hand, Comcast has sent messages about it being added in Baltimore city twice and it never happened. Could be another false alarm.)



We can hope. Since their power increase, WUTB has been broadcasting SD only (480i, 4:3).


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14177179
> 
> 
> The Baltimore stations are coming in strong for me tonight, even WMPB-DT 67 which I usually don't get a reliable lock on. This even though I am on the other side of Baltimore from Dover. Warm muggy weather is good for long range pickups. Got a noisy but viewable WMDT-TV ABC 47 out of Salisbury on my analog tuner.
> 
> 
> After WUTB-DT 24 was very weak for a few days, it was back to 7-8 bars out of 10 for me several days ago. I think WUTB-DT was running at reduced power for a while; maybe some hardware problems or making adjustments. The station engineer for WUTB who posted here when WUTB-DT finally went to full power last month did state that they were working to upgrade to HD, but did not give any specifics or date. My guess would be sometime this summer.



Still the ONLY channel that I can't even get a signal on.


----------



## hokiefan

WRC has once again forgotten to throw the "HD" switch on the LPGA US Open. WBAL is showing the tournament in HD. I called and hopefully someone will fix it.


----------



## ammar249

Whats wrong with WJLA ABC7?


The sound has been in 2.0 all day instead of 5.1 throughout the DC United game in Washington DC and even right now during the 2008 Euro Soccer games.


----------



## aaronwt

Maybe the feed is only 2.0


----------



## ammar249




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/14185340
> 
> 
> Maybe the feed is only 2.0



Might be a local station issue, WABC had the game in 5.1 the entire time according to other posters.


----------



## maestro73




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ammar249* /forum/post/14185562
> 
> 
> Might be a local station issue, WABC had the game in 5.1 the entire time according to other posters.



I've been experiencing this issue ever since game 6 of the Finals. All HD programming on WJLA is in DD 2.0. It's really annoying. I emailed the station twice but haven't received a reply.


I'm kind of surprised so few people have acknowledged it. Maybe it's not a widespread issue.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast now has WUTB at 215 next to the other HD local channels, but it's 480i like the current OTA signal.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> All HD programming on WJLA is in DD 2.0. It's really annoying. I emailed the station twice but haven't received a reply



Perhaps with the ad revenue from the latest "ABC-7 Cinema" Saturday night pre-emption, they can upgrade... Another 20 year old movie, this time with the "Governator"


----------



## Falcon_77




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *maestro73* /forum/post/14187404
> 
> 
> I've been experiencing this issue ever since game 6 of the Finals. All HD programming on WJLA is in DD 2.0. It's really annoying. I emailed the station twice but haven't received a reply.
> 
> 
> I'm kind of surprised so few people have acknowledged it. Maybe it's not a widespread issue.



In the LA area, KABC 7/53 frequently has this problem. It was more like mono sound for the Euro 2008 final. It would have been nice to hear the crowd noise with the surrounds. It seems that something is lost when they have "ESPN on ABC." However, when I had cable, ESPN had the same problem locally. One of these days I will get to the bottom of this. The receiver shows DD5.1, but there is nothing coming from the other speakers w/o forcing all channel stereo.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Falcon_77* /forum/post/14189503
> 
> 
> In the LA area, KABC 7/53 frequently has this problem. It was more like mono sound for the Euro 2008 final. It would have been nice to hear the crowd noise with the surrounds. It seems that something is lost when they have "ESPN on ABC." However, when I had cable, ESPN had the same problem locally. One of these days I will get to the bottom of this. The receiver shows DD5.1, but there is nothing coming from the other speakers w/o forcing all channel stereo.




That is the worst when you have a DD5.1 signal but really the audio is only coming from two channels.

The way WJLA has it, with DD2.0, is the best. That way you can use Dolby PLIIX to create 5.1/7.1 from the 2.0 signal. Close enough to true 5.1 for being a broadcast source. DPLIIx does a very good job with a stereo signal.


----------



## Potatoehead

3 new HD channels on Comcast this morning, CNN, Animal Planet and AMC, in Calvert County. I think we now have all of the widely available Comcast HD channels. Looking forward to more







.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Potatoehead* /forum/post/14196184
> 
> 
> 3 new HD channels on Comcast this morning, CNN, Animal Planet and AMC, in Calvert County. I think we now have all of the widely available Comcast HD channels. Looking forward to more
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .



When are they supposed to be adding more?


----------



## folksnake

Hi all

I was supposed to pick up some sections of antenna mast from the only local supplier I could find (I'm in Frederick, MD). They told me they had 10' and 5' sections of pole, at 1.5" diameter.


When I got there, they dug out 2 10' sections (very nice, powder coated grey, nice and strong) but the 5 footers were all 1.25". They called their supplier who told them that they couldn't get the 1.5" pole sections anymore, just 1.25".


Does anyone have a source in the Wash/Balt area for the 1.5" pole sections? the 1.25" seemed too flimsy for my liking. Another 10 foot section of the 1.5" would do, I could always cut it down if necessary, or mount things higher...


Thanks in advance--


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *folksnake* /forum/post/14199647
> 
> 
> Hi all
> 
> I was supposed to pick up some sections of antenna mast from the only local supplier I could find (I'm in Frederick, MD). They told me they had 10' and 5' sections of pole, at 1.5" diameter.
> 
> 
> When I got there, they dug out 2 10' sections (very nice, powder coated grey, nice and strong) but the 5 footers were all 1.25". They called their supplier who told them that they couldn't get the 1.5" pole sections anymore, just 1.25".
> 
> 
> Does anyone have a source in the Wash/Balt area for the 1.5" pole sections? the 1.25" seemed too flimsy for my liking. Another 10 foot section of the 1.5" would do, I could always cut it down if necessary, or mount things higher...
> 
> 
> Thanks in advance--



How high are you planning on going??? I believe Radio Shack has good 5 & 10 Ft 16-gauge antenna masts. I have seen them recommended on this forum. I bought mine there years ago and have been very pleased. I'm assuming the quality is still good.


----------



## CycloneGT

You can call Urbana electronics and see if they stock those.


----------



## Potatoehead




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/14196459
> 
> 
> When are they supposed to be adding more?



I don't know. I guess it was wishful thinking.







Not sure what to expect next perhaps BTN, weather channel or WGN HD.


----------



## Potatoehead




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Potatoehead* /forum/post/14196184
> 
> 
> 3 new HD channels on Comcast this morning, CNN, Animal Planet and AMC, in Calvert County. I think we now have all of the widely available Comcast HD channels. Looking forward to more
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .



Just got a recorded phone message from Comcast announcing these new channels







Why can't they use the messaging system built into the HD box? Do they have to bother us with phone calls at home?


----------



## folksnake




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/14200279
> 
> 
> How high are you planning on going??? I believe Radio Shack has good 5 & 10 Ft 16-gauge antenna masts. I have seen them recommended on this forum. I bought mine there years ago and have been very pleased. I'm assuming the quality is still good.



The existing mast is around 22 ft, I was looking at about 25--that's about 10 feet above the roof peak. The mast is attached to the gable end of the house, well supported for most of its length, then guyed above that, on the roof.


Radio Shack does have the 1.25 poles--was hoping to get the bigger, 1.5. May not have a choice. Is your Radio Shack pole 1.25 or 1.5, do you recall?


Thanks!


----------



## folksnake




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/14200385
> 
> 
> You can call Urbana electronics and see if they stock those.



Thanks Cyclone--I had forgotten about them. They don't mention antennas on their website, but who knows. I have a call in to them. Thanks for the reminder!


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *folksnake* /forum/post/14199647
> 
> 
> Does anyone have a source in the Wash/Balt area for the 1.5" pole sections? the 1.25" seemed too flimsy for my liking. Another 10 foot section of the 1.5" would do, I could always cut it down if necessary, or mount things higher...
> 
> Thanks in advance--



Try Allegheny Electronics in Hagerstown, Mark Electronics - Beltsville, Action Antenna in Baltimore, or Cumberland Electronics in Hanover (near BWI)


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *folksnake* /forum/post/14202168
> 
> 
> The existing mast is around 22 ft, I was looking at about 25--that's about 10 feet above the roof peak. The mast is attached to the gable end of the house, well supported for most of its length, then guyed above that, on the roof.
> 
> 
> Radio Shack does have the 1.25 poles--was hoping to get the bigger, 1.5. May not have a choice. Is your Radio Shack pole 1.25 or 1.5, do you recall?
> 
> 
> Thanks!



My RS pole is only 1.25". 11' above the roofline, CM 9521 rotor, and 91-XG antenna. No guy wires, but very stable.(Chimney mount with 3 straps)


----------



## Remoteless

Try Home Depot and Lowes. I got all the stuff for my setup at Home Depot in Gaithersburg.


----------



## folksnake




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Remoteless* /forum/post/14203018
> 
> 
> Try Home Depot and Lowes. I got all the stuff for my setup at Home Depot in Gaithersburg.



Was this recently, Remoteless?


My local Home Depots claim they don't carry them any more; the Lowe's has some cheap-looking 5' poles (they're an odd gold metal-flake!).


It's funny though--I found the poles at Lowe's _*after*_ being told by a kid at the Customer Service desk that they didn't have any, and that _*"it's not gonna matter soon, anyway; once they change over to the digital thing antennas won't work".*_


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *folksnake* /forum/post/14204119
> 
> 
> It's funny though--I found the poles at Lowe's _*after*_ being told by a kid at the Customer Service desk that they didn't have any, and that _*"it's not gonna matter soon, anyway; once they change over to the digital thing antennas won't work".*_



Ugh. I hope you corrected him.


----------



## folksnake




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/14204214
> 
> 
> Ugh. I hope you corrected him.



I did, but he had a glazed look once I started talking....not sure it got through. In fact, I'm pretty sure it didn't!


----------



## Remoteless




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *folksnake* /forum/post/14204119
> 
> 
> Was this recently, Remoteless?
> 
> 
> My local Home Depots claim they don't carry them any more; the Lowe's has some cheap-looking 5' poles (they're an odd gold metal-flake!).
> 
> 
> It's funny though--I found the poles at Lowe's _*after*_ being told by a kid at the Customer Service desk that they didn't have any, and that _*"it's not gonna matter soon, anyway; once they change over to the digital thing antennas won't work".*_



I put my anteena up over 2 years ago. I think the mast pole was from RCA zinc plated steel 5' sections that interlock. I don't remember the diameter it did fit my channel master rotor exactly.


----------



## ahsan

Is Northern VA FIOS all-digital yet? I had received an email from Verizon stating that this would be done by June 30. How does one confirm when this is completed? I do not have a QAM tuner.


----------



## azitnay

If you have an analog TV, connect it directly via coax... If you receive no channels, it's all-digital.


Drew


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ahsan* /forum/post/14208427
> 
> 
> Is Northern VA FIOS all-digital yet? I had received an email from Verizon stating that this would be done by June 30. How does one confirm when this is completed? I do not have a QAM tuner.



Not yet. They are supposed to start later this month dropping the analog channels. The letter I got said July.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ahsan* /forum/post/14208427
> 
> 
> Is Northern VA FIOS all-digital yet? I had received an email from Verizon stating that this would be done by June 30. How does one confirm when this is completed? I do not have a QAM tuner.



No. You must have mis-read the date, perhaps June 30 was the date by which to order the DCT700 STB if you have a analog TV connected directly to the coaxial run. The analog shutdown for the Washington Metro market is scheduled to BEGIN on July 21. The shutdown will take place by CO (Central Office) so some people will have analog channels for a while after July 21.


The QAM tuner won't tell you anything about the status of the analog channels. ALL of the channels you see on the Verizon STB and DVRs have been sent digitally all along, including those that you see in the 2-49 range. The Verizon STBs and DVRs don't even have analog tuners. Only those who connected a analog TV directly to the co-axial cable ever saw the limited set of basic analog channels. What Verizon is doing is yanking the hardware for the up to 40 NTSC analog channels and replacing them with QAM channels & building the system out to provide all 135 QAM channels for live TV channels (VOD and guide data are sent via the internet path). You need to connect a NTSC tuner to the system to see if the analog channels have the warning messages or gone to the red screens yet.


The unconfirmed tentative date for the channel assignment overhaul and HD expansion for Fios for the Washington Metro market is September 17. Of course, the Fios subscribers here hope it will be sooner than that. The roll-out started in Fort Wayne, IN on Monday, but this is getting off-topic for this thread.


----------



## carltonrice

What HD channels should be on Comcast in Howard County right now. My mother got digital cable with the HD DVR the other day and I noticed that the channel designated for CNN HD and a few others were blank. Are these channels listed in the guide, but not yet available or is there some other reason why she wouldn't be getting CNN HD?


----------



## Marcus Carr

WUTB is still at channel 215 in 480i on Comcast. Comcast.com has it listed as MyHD. When WUTB goes HD I should it on Comcast. They must be close to finishing the upgrade. (Also see that it's on a different QAM than the SD feed at channel 24.)


----------



## mapper

Quick question here, would it be possible to attach QAM channel mappings for FiOS(for the DC area) on the first post? I spent sometime today and I looked up each channel and put into an Excel sheet, so I was wondering if it would useful to post it. Let me know if this is possible.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/14213191
> 
> 
> Quick question here, would it be possible to attach QAM channel mappings for FiOS(for the DC area) on the first post? I spent sometime today and I looked up each channel and put into an Excel sheet, so I was wondering if it would useful to post it. Let me know if this is possible.



I have a detailed breakdown of the clear QAM channels for Fios as well - and where all the encrypted national HD channels currently are. But Verizon puts the locals in the same QAM channel block in all markets (so far), so that info can be found in the national FIOS threads or at dslreports.com with a little digging. All people really need to know is that Verizon Fios in the Washington Metro market currently carries 11 digital broadcast locals with all the sub-channels in the clear with the PSIP channel mapping data, so most QAM tuners will map them to their broadcast channels. The SD locals and PEGS are in the QAM 63-68 range; digital broadcast locals are at QAM 71-75, 82 if they don't get the PSIP remap. But they may get moved for the Verizon HD expansion when that hits our area.


----------



## ahsan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14208590
> 
> 
> No. You must have mis-read the date, perhaps June 30 was the date by which to order the DCT700 STB if you have a analog TV connected directly to the coaxial run.



Naw I didn't misread it but I did miss the * next to the date which in the footnote to the email states that this is Subject to Change.


I received an email from VZ on June 24 with the title "FiOS TV Goes 100% Digital" and the body of the email states:



> Quote:
> Verizon will be transitioning all analog FiOS TV channels to a 100% digital format. Experience the superior picture and sound quality of our fiber to-the-premises network with no change to your rates or disruption to your service by ordering this FREE Digital Adaptor.
> 
> *As a Loyal FiOS TV Subscriber, your service will be transitioned to the all-digital format on June 30, 2008.**
> 
> 
> This simple to install equipment will give you full access to the FiOS TV lineup including Local, Premier, and Premium content with subscription to these packages.
> 
> *Act today to avoid disruptions to your service.*
> 
> *> Call 1-888-GO-DIGITAL now to order.*



Since we're not digital yet, obviously your letter was more correct than the email I received. Guess I tossed out the letter. When was it received?


----------



## sgtjim

I received a phone call (computer) 3 days ago informing me that Comcast had added 3 new HD channels. AMC CNN Animal Planet. As of today no additions. I called Comcast and they stated they were available in Charles Co. After having me reset my box with no luck they stated that there was a problem at the headend, I noticed a post from a Calvert Co. subscriber that they had the 3 new channels and just wonder if Charles Co is in error or if it is a headend problem. The new additions always came thru before.


----------



## Lenonn

Anyone with RCN have problems in the past day or so? I'm in Silver Spring, and both yesterday and today I've lost all cable signals via the cablecard at around 5 pm. By the next day, the signal is back. The weird thing is, the cable signals are fine to all the other rooms in the house... it's just the cablecard portion of the set-up that is the problem.

*Addendum:* Never mind. I figured out what was wrong. I installed a signal booster a few weeks ago - removed it, and boom, things worked again.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/14213191
> 
> 
> Quick question here, would it be possible to attach QAM channel mappings for FiOS(for the DC area) on the first post? I spent sometime today and I looked up each channel and put into an Excel sheet, so I was wondering if it would useful to post it. Let me know if this is possible.



The trouble with this is that the Cable company in the past has been quick to makes changes to the QAM channels without reguard to notifying anyone. Since I don't have access to all of the cable systems it had been really impossible for me to put a detailed QAM list on the first post, since if it changes, I wouldn't be able to verify that. Plus whoever gave me the info in the first place, might not follow up with changes.


The best I can do, is if you put up your own page somewhere with the QAM listing, I can put a link to that on the first post. That way you can get the list maintained and it will be readily accessible from the first post.


----------



## dneily

CycloneGT,


The first post of this thread says WETA has DD5.1. Is this an error or does WETA have DD5.1 but they never use it?


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/14223343
> 
> 
> The trouble with this is that the Cable company in the past has been quick to makes changes to the QAM channels without reguard to notifying anyone. Since I don't have access to all of the cable systems it had been really impossible for me to put a detailed QAM list on the first post, since if it changes, I wouldn't be able to verify that. Plus whoever gave me the info in the first place, might not follow up with changes.
> 
> 
> The best I can do, is if you put up your own page somewhere with the QAM listing, I can put a link to that on the first post. That way you can get the list maintained and it will be readily accessible from the first post.



That's the whole point of getting cable cards so you don't have to worry about any changes. FiOS shouldn't need to notify anyone since their own boxes and cable card devices handle any changes so any changes are transparent to the user.

And as far as I can tell nothing has changed on the unencrypted local FiOS channels here since the one TV I have the FiOS cable connected to, still receives all the local digital channels with it's QAM tuner(I'm not using the Cable Card slot on this TV). These local channels or basic tier channels should be the only ones they need to worry about. Any other channels should be encrypted so the user shouldn't be able to access them. If they can it's free so they can't expect any update when things change.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast in Anne Arundel County has WUTB (currently still broadcasting in SD), Science Channel, Disney Channel, and ABC Family in their HD lineup.


----------



## sgtjim

It is now official, AMC HD; CNN HD and Animal Planet HD are now on in Charles Co. It was effective as of July 1 but I only started receiving as of today after calling and complaining. They finally got the signal thru to my box.


----------



## jgantert

Strange the Olympics trials aren't in HD on 4, but they are in HD on 11. Looks like someone forgot to flip the switch! I wonder what's going to happen next Feb when analog goes away and there is no SD to fall back on when they forget to flip the switch? Will the signal just go dark?


-John


----------



## alexandriahokie




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/14232046
> 
> 
> Strange the Olympics trials aren't in HD on 4, but they are in HD on 11. Looks like someone forgot to flip the switch! I wonder what's going to happen next Feb when analog goes away and there is no SD to fall back on when they forget to flip the switch? Will the signal just go dark?
> 
> 
> -John



I'm thinking NBC4 is having some issues. They have tried a couple of times to flip to HD, but the sound goes away, and we get 2 seconds of picture, then 1 second of black screen, and it goes back and forth until I guess someone gives up and flips it back to SD. I hope they work out all of the glitches between now and 8/8/08. I also noticed the nightly news was in SD.


----------



## URFloorMatt

It's a top notch operation they're running at WRC, let me tell you. No wonder NBC is looking to unload them.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/14232519
> 
> 
> It's a top notch operation they're running at WRC, let me tell you. No wonder NBC is looking to unload them.



It still shouldbe better than when I watched the 2002 Winter Olympics in HD.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Absolutely embarassing the operation over at WRC, for an NBC O&O in the nation's capitial to have the problems they do, never mind the fact they still haven't switched their newscast to HD.


----------



## ammar249

WRC NBC4 went completely blank with a black screen and no sound for a couple of minutes on the digital channel only.


----------



## Lenonn




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *alexandriahokie* /forum/post/14232210
> 
> 
> I'm thinking NBC4 is having some issues. They have tried a couple of times to flip to HD, but the sound goes away, and we get 2 seconds of picture, then 1 second of black screen, and it goes back and forth until I guess someone gives up and flips it back to SD. I hope they work out all of the glitches between now and 8/8/08. I also noticed the nightly news was in SD.



I was wondering what was going on there. That would explain the screen going black, back and forth, so many times.


----------



## ammar249




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Lenonn* /forum/post/14232997
> 
> 
> I was wondering what was going on there. That would explain the screen going black, back and forth, so many times.




same here


----------



## Digital Rules

Has anyone noticed an improvement on WMPT-DT 22 lately? It seems the last few days it has consistently gone from 75% up to 90% here. It never came in before without re-aiming the antenna.


----------



## mdviewer25

Three questions:

1.) Why did titantv.com and my program guide say ABC 2 News:The Latest at 11:00pm was running from 11:00pm - 12:20am? When I turned to it at 11:45 they were clearly airing "Ebert & Roper"


2.) Why does WBAL say DTV Program for its program information? 11-2 has the correct title and description


3.) Why is it that WDCA can air Everybody Loves Raymond in HD weeknights but when WTTG airs it on the weekend its in SD? Aren't they sharing the same equipment?


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/14232627
> 
> 
> Absolutely embarassing the operation over at WRC, for an NBC O&O in the nation's capitial to have the problems they do, never mind the fact they still haven't switched their newscast to HD.




Has anyone else yet, other than WUSA?


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dneily* /forum/post/14224275
> 
> 
> CycloneGT,
> 
> 
> The first post of this thread says WETA has DD5.1. Is this an error or does WETA have DD5.1 but they never use it?



It was likely a very long time ago, but if I have it listed as DD5.1, then I did indeed see it operating at one time. The same thing happened to me with WRC. They turned on DD5.1 for the Olympic feed in 2004, but then turned it off the next few years. So I felt dumb for having them listed as DD5.1, when their programming just never reflected that.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/14233657
> 
> 
> Has anyone else yet, other than WUSA?



No. Fox 5 was supposed to be next, but I believe the time frame in which their news was supposed to go HD has come and gone. WJLA has also been rumored to have HD news in the works, as well.


----------



## DRal

Can anyone tell me what is the latest HD DVR box Comcast is using in Arlington VA?

Thanks


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/14233562
> 
> 
> 2.) Why does WBAL say DTV Program for its program information?



Because they don't care enough to do it right.



> Quote:
> _11-2 has the correct title and description_



Yeah, but the correct title and description for 11-2 is just "WeatherPlus" over and over.



> Quote:
> _3.) Why is it that WDCA can air Everybody Loves Raymond in HD weeknights but when WTTG airs it on the weekend its in SD? Aren't they sharing the same equipment?_



Probably the weekend shows are recorded. And if you believe certain station engineers who post here, HD recording devices are practically unobtainable, even though many of us have them in our homes at a cost of a few hundred dollars.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/14239669
> 
> 
> Because they don't care enough to do it right.
> 
> 
> Yeah, but the correct title and description for 11-2 is just "WeatherPlus" over and over.
> 
> 
> Probably the weekend shows are recorded. And if you believe certain station engineers who post here, HD recording devices are practically unobtainable, even though many of us have them in our homes at a cost of a few hundred dollars.



Wouldn't the ones we have in our homes be consumer grade? I wouldn't expect any TV stations to be using consumer grade equipment.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/14240088
> 
> 
> Wouldn't the ones we have in our homes be consumer grade? I wouldn't expect any TV stations to be using consumer grade equipment.



Would be better than no HD equipment, and would produce a way better picture than the crap SD they put out.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/14239669
> 
> 
> Probably the weekend shows are recorded. And if you believe certain station engineers who post here, HD recording devices are practically unobtainable, even though many of us have them in our homes at a cost of a few hundred dollars.



No, it may be that the weekend showings of Everybody Loves Raymond are from a different syndication package. The weekday shows are a strip, shown 5 days a week. It might be that only the weekday strips are made available in HD at this time. We are still in the early days of HD syndication. There will be a number of syndicated shows going HD this fall - Oprah, Dr Phil, Ellen, Ent Tonight IIRC - although no clue if any of the local stations will be ready to show them in HD this September. We will see more and more syndicated shows in HD over the next several years. Although, if Jerry Springer ever goes HD, that may be a sign that this HD thing has gone too far.











The equipment at the broadcast station has a lot of different requirements and capabilities than your HD-DVR. The consumer does not have to insert commercials, deal with different audio feeds or caption data, in some cases handle a 45 Mbps input signal or switch between units in real-time. But the station engineers can answer the question in more detail if they want to.


----------



## jcorwin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14240906
> 
> 
> The equipment at the broadcast station has a lot of different requirements and capabilities than your HD-DVR. The consumer does not have to insert commercials, deal with different audio feeds or caption data, in some cases handle a 45 Mbps input signal or switch between units in real-time. But the station engineers can answer the question in more detail if they want to.



A broadcast quality server must first of all be rock solid. It has to play instantly every time it is started, without ever skipping or stuttering. It needs to have multiple playout channels, and should be robust enough to record several incoming streams while simultaneously playing back. It needs to have fully mirrored hard drives for redundancy and protection, and compatibility with every manufacturer's automation systems.


The type of HD server I just described is going to cost well over $100K.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast will add ABC Family HD, Disney HD, WGN HD, WUTB (My Network) HD and Science Channel HD in Carroll county.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business...6393009.column


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Has anyone else yet, other than WUSA?



And WUSA still doesn't do their field reports in HD (it's 16x9 SD widescreen) and I have only seen one set of highlights from a Nats or Orioles game in HD. For a market this size, it is embarassing.


----------



## mdviewer25

Someone from WBAL must have been reading this because now the program info is up and correct.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/14243389
> 
> 
> Someone from WBAL must have been reading this because now the program info is up and correct.



I wish they would read the posts about upgrading to DD5.1.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/14239669
> 
> 
> ...Probably the weekend shows are recorded. And if you believe certain station engineers who post here, HD recording devices are practically unobtainable, even though many of us have them in our homes at a cost of a few hundred dollars.



Well now tonight's episode of Everybody Loves Raymond wasn't even in HD on WDCA my20. What happened?


----------



## Marcus Carr

New HD channels on Comcast in Baltimore:


WGN

Science

Disney

ABC Family


WUTB was added a couple of weeks ago.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14250775
> 
> 
> New HD channels on Comcast in Baltimore:
> 
> 
> WGN
> 
> Science
> 
> Disney
> 
> ABC Family
> 
> 
> WUTB was added a couple of weeks ago.



Also in Howard. But, oddly, I am still getting 4, 5, 7 and 9 on 4, 75, 7 and 9. The letter I got said they were moving to 193 and up. Not sure if they are still on analog (I doubt it) as I don't have an analog tuner hooked up anywhere.


----------



## mark_e




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/14250900
> 
> 
> Also in Howard. But, oddly, I am still getting 4, 5, 7 and 9 on 4, 75, 7 and 9. The letter I got said they were moving to 193 and up. Not sure if they are still on analog (I doubt it) as I don't have an analog tuner hooked up anywhere.



Analog 4, 7, 9, 75 are gone. The Comcast STB and the TiVo with a cablecard have the digital feeds at 4, 7, 9. 75. The new HD channels are on both.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/14242385
> 
> 
> And WUSA still doesn't do their field reports in HD (it's 16x9 SD widescreen) and I have only seen one set of highlights from a Nats or Orioles game in HD. For a market this size, it is embarassing.



And whatever process they use to convert their SD to 1080i is horrible. TONS of vertical artifacts all over the place. Anything vertical, usually collars and button down areas of cloths will all have artifacts floating off to the right and left. It really looks bad, and makes them look bad.


To a viewer who doesn't know any better, it would appear that they bought a crappy HD camera to use in the field, and continue to use it even when they picture is obviously of VERY poor quality. Makes it look like they don't really care about the quality at all.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Well now tonight's episode of Everybody Loves Raymond wasn't even in HD on WDCA my20. What happened?



They are back in season 1 (1996-1997), if that matters at all.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mark_e* /forum/post/14251252
> 
> 
> Analog 4, 7, 9, 75 are gone. The Comcast STB and the TiVo with a cablecard have the digital feeds at 4, 7, 9. 75. The new HD channels are on both.



As I expected they are gone. Funny, though, that their mail said the DC locals were moving to 193 and up yet they are still on their "normal" numbers. I guess smarter heads prevailed.


It is only a matter of time before it all goes digital.


Now we need Tivo to update the guide data for the new channels.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/14252597
> 
> 
> They are back in season 1 (1996-1997), if that matters at all.



They remastered the entire series.


For what it's worth, based on comments in this thread, I'd be surprised if WTTG and WJLA did not go to HD news sometime this fall. Perhaps no later than November. WRC at this point is probably more likely to shutter than transition its news broadcasts to HD.


----------



## PhillyGuy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14250775
> 
> 
> New HD channels on Comcast in Baltimore:
> 
> 
> WGN
> 
> Science
> 
> Disney
> 
> ABC Family
> 
> 
> WUTB was added a couple of weeks ago.



I'm getting a not authorized message for Science, Disney and ABC Family. Are these channels part of the Digital Classic/HD Tier? I thought if you get the basic digital/analog version of the channel, you get the HD channel as well.


----------



## mark_e




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/14253180
> 
> 
> As I expected they are gone. Funny, though, that their mail said the DC locals were moving to 193 and up yet they are still on their "normal" numbers. I guess smarter heads prevailed.
> 
> 
> It is only a matter of time before it all goes digital.
> 
> 
> Now we need Tivo to update the guide data for the new channels.



We're probably better off that TiVo/Times Mirror didn't make the lineup change thinking the DC channels were in the 190's. If they don't pick it up in the next few days, we can use the form on the TiVo web site and ask that they add the new HD channels.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PhillyGuy* /forum/post/14256725
> 
> 
> I'm getting a not authorized message for Science, Disney and ABC Family. Are these channels part of the Digital Classic/HD Tier? I thought if you get the basic digital/analog version of the channel, you get the HD channel as well.



I'm also getting Not Authorized. This has happened before with new channels where it took a few days before I could view them.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mark_e* /forum/post/14257029
> 
> 
> We're probably better off that TiVo/Times Mirror didn't make the lineup change thinking the DC channels were in the 190's. If they don't pick it up in the next few days, we can use the form on the TiVo web site and ask that they add the new HD channels.



Probably right about that.


I know about the form. I notified Tivo that MASN HD was on Mojo and they MOJMASN. I may not have been the only one but it was within the timeframe they gave me for the fix after they emailed me back.


I think I will submit the change anyway. Can't hurt.


----------



## machpost

According to dcrtv.com , Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic will soon be getting a facelift, to match the new graphics and sets used by CSN Bay Area...



> Quote:
> *CSN Revamp Coming* - 7/10 - DCRTV hears of changes coming to Comcast SportsNet: Yesterday, "Washington Post Live" and "SportsNite" moved to a temporary set inside the newsroom. Both of these shows will share the same set for at least the remainder of this week and all weekend long as their respective sets are being remodeled. Bethesda-based Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic will be relaunching soon, along with a new network logo, which was first used by its sister San Francisco-based Bay Area network. More soon.....



It would be nice if they'd upgrade the studio cameras while they're at it. All of the studio shows are shot in either widescreen SD, or with some real garbage HD.


Here's a screenshot of the graphics used on CSN Bay Area...


----------



## PGHammer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/14233562
> 
> 
> Three questions:
> 
> 1.) Why did titantv.com and my program guide say ABC 2 News:The Latest at 11:00pm was running from 11:00pm - 12:20am? When I turned to it at 11:45 they were clearly airing "Ebert & Roper"
> 
> 
> 2.) Why does WBAL say DTV Program for its program information? 11-2 has the correct title and description
> 
> 
> 3.) Why is it that WDCA can air Everybody Loves Raymond in HD weeknights but when WTTG airs it on the weekend its in SD? Aren't they sharing the same equipment?



No, they do not.


The only thing shared by the two stations other than ownership is tower space (WDCA remains across the DC/MD line on River Road in Bethesda, while WTTG remains at 5151 Wisconsin in the VNA Building, formerly the Barlow Building). While WDCA's transmission tower has not always been in the same place, their studios have remained in Bethesda since Nixon's second term. (They are one of two DC-area-based FPTV stations, with WJLA being the other, with studios in one jurisdiction and transmitter in another.)


----------



## PGHammer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/14146773
> 
> 
> This is the future for Comcast. Eventually, they will move all the analog to digital to make space.
> 
> 
> And, no word on DC local HD. This move seems to me to be an indication of downplaying the DC locals. They specifically called them duplicate services in the letter, so that tells me that the priority for DC locals in HD is non-existant.
> 
> 
> No mention of WTTG which is on 75 now analog and digital. Guess they don't want to anger Redskins fans.



HoCo is in the same awkward position that Prince George's County is in: different parts of the county have different preferences; you in HoCo are simply getting to do your screaming later. (Earlier this decade, we lost Baltimore's analogs due to an FCC ruling; this year, we also lost the ClearQAM carriage of most of Baltimore's OTAs, with the rather odd exception of WMAR-DT's WeatherNow.) Rather oddly, it's the primetime duplication that is causing the de-emphasis on out-of-DMA station carriage, not the weekends (because, simply put, due to a variety of issues, there simply isn't much duplication in weekend programming).


Also, WTTG is a FOX O&O, while WBFF is a FOX *affiliate* (owned by Sinclair); there is a good chance that the dispute between the two will be handled *internally*.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PhillyGuy* /forum/post/14256725
> 
> 
> I'm getting a not authorized message for Science, Disney and ABC Family. Are these channels part of the Digital Classic/HD Tier? I thought if you get the basic digital/analog version of the channel, you get the HD channel as well.



All channels are now working in Baltimore.


----------



## gmucklow




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *koolkat1973* /forum/post/13410163
> 
> 
> I have an LG 50pb4d Plasma tv with built in DVR and is connected to OTA for local high definition channels in the Washington DC area. I have been TVGOS guide data with no problems for approximately 5 months when it all of a sudden gave me problems three weeks ago. Now... I can only get sporadic guide data on different days and even on different channels. I have tried reinitalizing the TV and setting it up from scratch again but still the same problem. My HD channels all come in very strong. I can tune to the HD channels just fine... but just my tv guide data giving me problems.
> 
> 
> I have a Sony HDDVR in my family room that also uses the TVGOS for guide data and that has been working flawlessly still. Does anyone have an idea of what the problem may be? Anything I can test for or check out? Please advise. Thank you.
> 
> 
> REgards,
> 
> Kiet



What zip code are you using for the TVGOS?


----------



## clifburns

Four new channels showed up today on Comcast in DC: CNNHD, AMCHD, History Channel HD, and Animal Planet HD.


For those concerned that Larry King in HD might scare the family pets, his show remains in 4:3 with graphic pillar bars, which considerably diminishes the fright factor.







Sadly however, Lou Dobbs _is_ in HD, meaning that during each of his interminable rants you have an extra clear view of his neck wattles expanding in anger.


----------



## gomo657




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *clifburns* /forum/post/14265808
> 
> 
> Four new channels showed up today on Comcast in DC: CNNHD, AMCHD, History Channel HD, and Animal Planet HD.
> 
> 
> For those concerned that Larry King in HD might scare the family pets, his show remains in 4:3 with graphic pillar bars, which considerably diminishes the fright factor.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sadly however, Lou Dobbs _is_ in HD, meaning that during each of his interminable rants you have an extra clear view of his neck wattles expanding in anger.



you should have those since Sunday where are you located? I'm just south of the capital and these were added last weekend.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Dish to add 17 channels on 8/1:


ActionMax HD (Ch. 313)

HBO Family HD (Ch. 305)

CBS College Sports HD (Ch. 152)

HBO Latino HD (Ch. 309)

Lifetime HD (Ch. 108)

HBO Signature HD (Ch. 302)

Lifetime Movie Network HD (Ch. 109)

HBO West HD (Ch. 303)

Planet Green HD (Ch. 194)

HBO Zone HD (Ch. 308)

Encore HD (Ch. 340)

Starz Comedy HD (Ch. 354)

HBO 2 HD (Ch. 301)

Starz Edge HD (Ch. 352)

HBO Comedy HD (Ch. 307)

Starz Kids & Family HD (Ch. 356)

Starz West HD (Ch. 351)

http://www.smartbrief.com/news/aaaa/...7-6C00F8285F1A


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *clifburns* /forum/post/14265808
> 
> 
> Four new channels showed up today on Comcast in DC: CNNHD, AMCHD, History Channel HD, and Animal Planet HD.
> 
> 
> For those concerned that Larry King in HD might scare the family pets, his show remains in 4:3 with graphic pillar bars, which considerably diminishes the fright factor.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sadly however, Lou Dobbs _is_ in HD, meaning that during each of his interminable rants you have an extra clear view of his neck wattles expanding in anger.



They do use a filter, or post processing that smooths out the picture. It is never as clear as it should be. WUSA seems to do something similar although not as agressive.


----------



## biker19

Has anyone else been able to keep up with the clear QAM chs on Cox? They must have someone full time just messing with what's available - seems like the lineup changes everyday!


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/14243389
> 
> 
> Someone from WBAL must have been reading this because now the program info is up and correct.



Yep, I just checked it with my DTVPal and the info is finally correct.


Must be good DX'ing today. When I powered up the DTVPal, it did a EPG update (I guess it just scans all of the channels in range), I then picked up CBC 16 WBOC in Salisbury, Fox21 Delmarva, and WTVR CBS 6 in Richmond. There was also a ch 35-1 (not DCA) that was listed, but I could not tune it in. Interesting.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/14266758
> 
> 
> Yep, I just checked it with my DTVPal and the info is finally correct.
> 
> 
> Must be good DX'ing today. When I powered up the DTVPal, it did a EPG update (I guess it just scans all of the channels in range), I then picked up CBC 16 WBOC in Salisbury, Fox21 Delmarva, and WTVR CBS 6 in Richmond. There was also a ch 35-1 (not DCA) that was listed, but I could not tune it in. Interesting.



Yeah, last night I was finally able to get WBOC after two nights of it being at only 5-10%. I also got a lock on WMDT 47 at 30%. I've never been able to tune in any Richmond digital signals. The 35-1 you saw had to be there FOX affiliate. Not sure what frequency its on but I usually only get the analog signal.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/14267900
> 
> 
> Yeah, last night I was finally able to get WBOC after two nights of it being at only 5-10%. I also got a lock on WMDT 47 at 30%. I've never been able to tune in any Richmond digital signals. The 35-1 you saw had to be there FOX affiliate. Not sure what frequency its on but I usually only get the analog signal.



The Fox affiliate in Richmond is WRLH-DT Fox 35 which broadcasts on UHF 26. This is on the same channel as the analog signal for WETA PBS 26 in DC. Could the tuner during the scan have momentarily picked up WRLH-DT, but did not display the station later because of interference from WETA 26? Could be some decent DX'ing weather the next day or two for picking up longer range stations.


----------



## HIPAR

I'm across the bay in Rock Hall. I just bought a 16 inch class wide screen TV for viewing aboard my sailboat. The channel scan located many DTV channels.


I never saw an over the air DTV signal before so this whole thing is new to me. I was expecting to see more wide screen format but everything, except for some cartoons was letterbox or stretched out of proportion. Nothing looked high-definition.


I am sure you can see HD on the 768 x 1366 pixel 16 inch screen because my HD DVD player looked quite nice through the HDMI input.


Then there is daytime network programming that I haven't watched for a very long time. I'm happy the 'World is still turning' but couldn't care less which celebrities are battling ugly divorces. I know that is a different TV issue.


Overall, not an overwhelming positive first impression.


--- CHAS


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *HIPAR* /forum/post/14269268
> 
> 
> I never saw an over the air DTV signal before so this whole thing is new to me. I was expecting to see more wide screen format but everything, except for some cartoons was letterbox or stretched out of proportion. Nothing looked high-definition.



You will not find much true HD on broadcast TV in the middle of a weekday if that is when you tried it. Have to wait for prime time or get WETA-DT 26 OTA. Even in prime time, the commercial broadcast nets are filling their early summer schedule with numerous cheap reality shows, many of which are SD to save money. But if everything was stretched, you need to experiment with the aspect ratio/screen size button on the remote. The button is likely to toggle between 3-5 display modes from normal/standard to stretch to 16:9 (many small "widescreen" TVs have a 16:10 aspect ratio screen because they are getting the screens from computer monitor production lines). Yes, getting the aspect ratios right can be confusing.


----------



## CycloneGT

I just read on www.dcrtv.com that WJLA-DT is going to carry that RetroTV network. I think that I read about that here before. They have a pic of Get Smart on the website. I've been looking to record that show ever since I got a DVR. I thought it would be on TVLand, but its not.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/14269915
> 
> 
> I just read on www.dcrtv.com that WJLA-DT is going to carry that RetroTV network.



Strange, they say the 28th, but RTV told me the 14th. I guess we will see when it actually goes live.










Looks like 7-3 is running a scroller saying 7/28 RTN7 will replace Local Point TV on subchannel 7-3. So I guess July 28th it is.


----------



## Gerald C




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/14233329
> 
> 
> Has anyone noticed an improvement on WMPT-DT 22 lately? It seems the last few days it has consistently gone from 75% up to 90% here. It never came in before without re-aiming the antenna.



I can't get a lock on to WMPT-DT (42) in Alexandria, but a friend in Arlington confirmed your observation a few days ago.


But... it seems that right now (8 pm, Fri, Jun11), they seem to have returned to no-signal. I can't even get a hit on my signal meter. Go figure










Can anyone receive WMPT-DT (42) at the moment?


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Gerald C* /forum/post/14271129
> 
> 
> I can't get a lock on to WMPT-DT (42) in Alexandria, but a friend in Arlington confirmed your observation a few days ago.
> 
> 
> But... it seems that right now (8 pm, Fri, Jun11), they seem to have returned to no-signal. I can't even get a hit on my signal meter. Go figure
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Can anyone receive WMPT-DT (42) at the moment?



I lost them several times on Wednesday early evening on the rooftop of the Residences at the Ritz Carleton, which is at the corner of 23rd and M St., NW, and is about 20 feet taller than any buildings to its east. Even before I lost it, it measured much, much weaker on my spectrum analyzer than I remembered it having been when I balanced out that headend earlier this year.


By the way, has anyone ever called channel 33 WHUT to see if they are at their licensed power? I measure them weaker than they should be from rooftops in all directions.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14268190
> 
> 
> The Fox affiliate in Richmond is WRLH-DT Fox 35 which broadcasts on UHF 26. This is on the same channel as the analog signal for WETA PBS 26 in DC. Could the tuner during the scan have momentarily picked up WRLH-DT, but did not display the station later because of interference from WETA 26? Could be some decent DX'ing weather the next day or two for picking up longer range stations.



The digital signals are supposed to be robust enough to withstand an on-channel analog visual carrier that is a couple of dB stronger than the desired digital signal. Your relative signal strengths in Sterling will depend on exactly where you are. Have you checked with TVfool to see if you have line-of-sight to the Richmond towers?


----------



## maestro73

Hey guys...can someone offer a possible explanation for this? I've had countless CC techs and 2 or 3 maintenance folks come out and try and figure out why my channels break up. Finally, they did in fact replace the TAP outside my apartment (I know because a couple of days ago the cover was partially off with wires protruding, and on Friday evening the cover was on with a lock or some type of latch).


One tech had told me the signal was fine but I was experiencing bit rate errors (I suspected this after observing the diagnostics screen many times over the last two months; the "avg/err" number was in the orange and usually a high, in the thousands or ten thousands).


Last night, I got home and the picture was phenomenal. I use Food HD and either NatHD or HD Theater as my barometer. (When things are working fine, they have noticeable pop versus other times). After a few hours, the problem returned - certain QAMs would either break up or not come in at all. (The diag. screen would show "signal lock - no" for the ones that didn't come in.)


My theories are:

1) There's just not enough bandwidth available at peak times (channels work during off hours just fine)

2) Someone is poaching or otherwise interfering with my signal

3) It's a problem upstream and they don't know or care to fix it, or just aren't acknowledging it.


- It generally occurs around 7-7:30 pm but has happened any time on any day.

- My internet connection has been rock solid throughout.

- I'm using the SA8300HD in Alexandria.

- Changed cables, went directly to cable box, TV, etc. many times.


Does anyone know what the issue is?


Thanks in advance.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/14271593
> 
> 
> The digital signals are supposed to be robust enough to withstand an on-channel analog visual carrier that is a couple of dB stronger than the desired digital signal. Your relative signal strengths in Sterling will depend on exactly where you are. Have you checked with TVfool to see if you have line-of-sight to the Richmond towers?



I was not the one getting a 35-1 on their digital tuner. I was replying to a previous post where CycloneGT listed as located in Boyds, MD got a 35-1 on his tuner, but could not get a picture. Boyds, MD would put him even further north than I am with WETA-TV 26 much closer than WRLH-DT Fox 35 (26) in Richmond which will be tropo only from around here


----------



## knnirs

Loss of video and sound on a P.G. County basic Comcast QAM channel

____________________________________________________________ _____________

I have an odd experience. I have been testing a new HDTV, Haier HL37E, for the past 2 weeks, and yesterday the TV locked on to channel 124-19 as it normally did but there was no video or audio and nothing but a black screen. I checked with 2 other TV's and the video and audio were there as usual on both, with a signal to noise value of 32db. This channel is at an RF of 793.25MHz, and is identified as "Golf Channel". It was moved by Comcast about a month ago from Channel 130-2, which is now a music only channel.

I assume the problem is within the HL37E, but it is difficult for me to understand how this could happen without affecting other channels. I don't expect a solution from this AVS Forum, but I decided others may wish to know about this problem. I have not talked with Haier support about this problem, but I don't expect any help other than return the set. I am planning to return the TV for another Haier model, because the TV provides excellnt HD image quality.


----------



## tonyd79

Just a note...Tivo now has guide data for the new HD channels in Howard County...all except WUTB.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *maestro73* /forum/post/14273331
> 
> 
> Hey guys...can someone offer a possible explanation for this? I've had countless CC techs and 2 or 3 maintenance folks come out and try and figure out why my channels break up. Finally, they did in fact replace the TAP outside my apartment (I know because a couple of days ago the cover was partially off with wires protruding, and on Friday evening the cover was on with a lock or some type of latch).
> 
> 
> One tech had told me the signal was fine but I was experiencing bit rate errors (I suspected this after observing the diagnostics screen many times over the last two months; the "avg/err" number was in the orange and usually a high, in the thousands or ten thousands).
> 
> 
> Last night, I got home and the picture was phenomenal. I use Food HD and either NatHD or HD Theater as my barometer. (When things are working fine, they have noticeable pop versus other times). After a few hours, the problem returned - certain QAMs would either break up or not come in at all. (The diag. screen would show "signal lock - no" for the ones that didn't come in.)
> 
> 
> My theories are:
> 
> 1) There's just not enough bandwidth available at peak times (channels work during off hours just fine)
> 
> 2) Someone is poaching or otherwise interfering with my signal
> *3) It's a problem upstream and they don't know or care to fix it, or just aren't acknowledging it.*



And the winner is #3. I went away for work for a week. It was right before the US open. I was excited to get back at watch in over the weekend in HD. Only problem when I got home was that anything over channel 100 was unwatchable. error rates/interference pixelated everything. Recently Comcast moved all the locals to channel 112-115. So they were garbage. Tech came out that Tuesday and said my signal was very strong. And I asked him what the error rate was, and he had no clue what I was talking about. Typical useless guy they sent out, claims he never saw this problem before. Shocking that in that same week I saw at least 5 other comcost trucks parked at houses in my neighborhood. It eventually cleared up, once they decided to fix it upstream.


I believe I'll be switching to FIOS here very shortly.


----------



## amorris525

Count Blah,


Sounds a lot like my story. Tons of pixelation on all the major networks HD channels around that time frame. Also saw many Comcast trucks in my neighborhood as well.(Countryside) Picture is fine now on all channels.


----------



## maestro73

Sounds like I'm not alone. Well, back to b*tching to the Comcast corporate person I've been dealing with.


Unfortunately I'm the only person in my building (maybe even my complex) with an HDTV who uses Comcast. So I'm sure I'm the only one complaining. Lots of Direct TV dishes though.


Looks like I'll be discussing mounting options for a satellite dish with my landlord. If I'm limited to my balcony I'm screwed since there are two trees blocking my otherwise perfect southern exposure. God I can't wait to move.


----------



## carltonrice

Is anyone in Howard County (Columbia area), MD getting the CNN HD (channel 234)? My mother just got CC service a couple of weeks ago and while the channel is listed in the guide and shows on the channel list they provided, she gets a blank screen on this channel. There are several HD channels like that. When I chated with CC, they claimed there was a problem. Is there a problem or is the channel about to launch and not yet on the system in Howard County?


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/14281825
> 
> 
> Is anyone in Howard County (Columbia area), MD getting the CNN HD (channel 234)? My mother just got CC service a couple of weeks ago and while the channel is listed in the guide and shows on the channel list they provided, she gets a blank screen on this channel. There are several HD channels like that. When I chated with CC, they claimed there was a problem. Is there a problem or is the channel about to launch and not yet on the system in Howard County?



Is she using a Comcast box or something with a cablecard (CC is a bad abbreviation as it means cablecard to many of us)?


I just checked CNN HD via my HD Tivo and it took longer than most channels to lock in but it came in. I am not having any issues with any HD channels currently.


If she is using a Tivo with a cablecard or something else with a cable card, sometimes I have seen trying to retune the channel (like go up and down with the channel buttons) often gets a channel to come in that did not at first. That may also be a problem with Comcast boxes.


Also, if she is seeing any "melting" of the screen on any channels as well as blank screens and has an splitters in the line, it is possible a splitter or a bad wire may be causing some of the higher frequencies to attenuate.


BTW, CNN HD has been on for a while now.


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/14282295
> 
> 
> Is she using a Comcast box or something with a cablecard (CC is a bad abbreviation as it means cablecard to many of us)?
> 
> 
> I just checked CNN HD via my HD Tivo and it took longer than most channels to lock in but it came in. I am not having any issues with any HD channels currently.
> 
> 
> If she is using a Tivo with a cablecard or something else with a cable card, sometimes I have seen trying to retune the channel (like go up and down with the channel buttons) often gets a channel to come in that did not at first. That may also be a problem with Comcast boxes.
> 
> 
> Also, if she is seeing any "melting" of the screen on any channels as well as blank screens and has an splitters in the line, it is possible a splitter or a bad wire may be causing some of the higher frequencies to attenuate.
> 
> 
> BTW, CNN HD has been on for a while now.



She has the CC DVR box. It is made by Scientific Atlantic. According to the CC agent, they are having a technical problem in her area and expect the channel to be up soon, but I have my doubts that this will be easily resolved.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/14282871
> 
> 
> She has the CC DVR box. It is made by Scientific Atlantic. According to the CC agent, they are having a technical problem in her area and expect the channel to be up soon, but I have my doubts that this will be easily resolved.



May be just a local problem, then. Something in the distribution lines. Best to ask some neighbors.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Verizon Shuts Off Analog In Maryland, Northern Virginia*


Move Continues Pledge to FCC to Eliminate Analog Service for FiOS TV


By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 7/14/2008 10:46:00 AM


Verizon, as part of its promise to federal regulators to eliminate analog TV service for FiOS TV, will stop distributing analog versions of broadcast signals in Maryland and Northern Virginia starting July 21.


The telco told the Federal Communications Commission last year it would stop sending analog television signals to customers, which it provided so that those channels could be viewed without a set-top box.


Verizon has already phased out analog service in other areas, including New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6578296.html


----------



## aaronwt
































it's about time. Now when are they going to add the new HD channels so I can drop my Comcast feed?



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14285842
> 
> *Verizon Shuts Off Analog In Maryland, Northern Virginia*
> 
> 
> Move Continues Pledge to FCC to Eliminate Analog Service for FiOS TV
> 
> 
> By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 7/14/2008 10:46:00 AM
> 
> 
> Verizon, as part of its promise to federal regulators to eliminate analog TV service for FiOS TV, will stop distributing analog versions of broadcast signals in Maryland and Northern Virginia starting July 21.
> 
> 
> The telco told the Federal Communications Commission last year it would stop sending analog television signals to customers, which it provided so that those channels could be viewed without a set-top box.
> 
> 
> Verizon has already phased out analog service in other areas, including New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts.
> 
> http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6578296.html


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/14287954
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> it's about time. Now when are they going to add the new HD channels so I can drop my Comcast feed?



Check the Verizon threads elsewhere and at dslpreports for the details, but the reported channel re-alignment & 1st HD expansion round date for the Washington Metro area is September 17. Hope it happens sooner than that, but almost certainly no sooner than September 3 based on the confirmed upgrade schedule posted so far at the Verizon channel line-up web page. The long wait continues.


The Verizon subscribers here should also keep in mind that the analog shutdown will BEGIN on July 21, but the process goes by CO (central Office). Some of us may not get the Red Screen Of Death To Analog for weeks after July 21 (after a warning message period, Verizon puts up a Red Screen on the analog channels saying call this number to get a SD box to maintain basic service). Of course, this is ONLY visible to those who hook up a NTSC tuner; the process does not affect any Verizon STB or DVR as those don't have analog tuners.


----------



## mdviewer25

titantv.com and the program guides on all of my STB's say ABC2 News at Noon runs from 12:00pm - 1:00pm. It was cut to half an hour months ago. Extra airs at 12:30pm. I wish this was a temporary move and they could make it one hour again.


----------



## markinva

I got my Directv HR10 upgraded to the HR-21 last Friday via the free upgrade offer. Since they sent me the HR-21 I needed to call them to get the AM-21 off air tuner (which they also sent me for free). I am very pleased with the AM-21. I live in the Washington, D.C. area (near Dulles airport) and with the HR10 I could get the D.C. local but only rarely get the Baltimore channels. With the AM-21 i could get all the Baltimore channels with no changes to the antenna. The AM-21 must have better tuners than what was in the HR-10. I know that I don't have the dual-buffers anymore, but I am happy with the new HR-21 and AM-21.


----------



## CycloneGT

They must be using better ATSC tuner chips. I have a DTVPal from Dish, and it pulls in stations stronger than my 2yr old 622 does.


----------



## jacindc

Has there been any official announcement of FIOS now being offered in DC? There's now a sign on a fence on Half Street, SE, a few blocks north of the ballpark, saying "First Community in DC to Offer Verizon FIOS". If you go to verizonfios.com and enter the street addresses of the only three residential buildings in the area (70 and 100 I Street SE and 1000 New Jersey SE), they list the individual units as having FIOS available.


This is the neighborhood in question:
http://www.jdland.com 


--jd


UPDATE: I clicked through after picking one of the addresses listed, and it went to a page saying that FIOS Internet is available, but not FIOS TV.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jacindc* /forum/post/14304000
> 
> 
> Has there been any official announcement of FIOS now being offered in DC?



Before Fios TV can be offered in DC, Verizon has to have a franchise agreement in place with the city government. They can run the fiber cables and provide internet & phone services - although that presumably requires regulatory approval as well. But the TV service requires approval from the city agency/board that oversees the cable TV franchises. Verizon just got final approval today to begin to offer TV services in New York City after a very prolonged negotiation process which involved the mayor's office. I don't recall reading any concrete reports of Verizon in actual negotiations with the DC government. Of course, Verizon also has to upgrade the Central Offices and the infrastructure above that to support TV services in DC, it is not just running fiber cable to homes or apartment buildings. DC residents could always email or call the mayor and councilman and ask where is Fios Internet & TV? Could nudge them to talk to Verizon if they are not doing so.


----------



## jacindc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14305581
> 
> 
> Of course, Verizon also has to upgrade the Central Offices and the infrastructure above that to support TV services in DC, it is not just running fiber cable to homes or apartment buildings.



I imagine the fact that this is a neighborhood being rebuilt from scratch--with the new ballpark close by--could make it likely that Verizon decided to just put in the necessary infrastructure when they were doing all the other work down there over the past few years. Perhaps the ballpark itself required/asked for some level of fiber service, and that drove the rest of upgrades nearby.


----------



## dbaps

Well just got back from vacation. Two tv's with cable boxes are having pixelation issues. One tv is missing 212, 213, 214 which are WUSADT, WTTGDT and WDCWDT. I unplugged everything and powered it all up again but same problem. I had this issue once before with missing stations and it just magically cleared up. analog stations are fine.


----------



## Skeptic Tank




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/14276568
> 
> 
> Loss of video and sound on a P.G. County basic Comcast QAM channel
> 
> ____________________________________________________________ _____________
> 
> I have an odd experience. I have been testing a new HDTV, Haier HL37E, for the past 2 weeks, and yesterday the TV locked on to channel 124-19 as it normally did but there was no video or audio and nothing but a black screen. I checked with 2 other TV's and the video and audio were there as usual on both, with a signal to noise value of 32db. .



I just checked with my Pinnacle PCTV HD usb stick tuner and I'm getting 124-19 picture and sound OK. My trusty old Samsung SIR-T451 has been showing the same channel as 124-1

for some reason. I suspect there's some PSIP glitch in Comcast's signal.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast will add the Big Ten Network on 8/15 in Baltimore, in the Sports and Entertainment pack. It will be on channel 257, between VS/Golf HD and HDPPV. But the message doesn't say it will be in HD.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14305581
> 
> 
> Before Fios TV can be offered in DC, Verizon has to have a franchise agreement in place with the city government.



Verizon has applied to the OCTT for a cable TV franchise and they were supposedly soliciting input from the public, but it doesn't look like any action has been taken yet. More info: http://www.oct.dc.gov/information/re...y/verizon.shtm 


Since we already have one overbuilder here (RCN), I can't see why they wouldn't approve Verizon eventually.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *amorris525* /forum/post/14279206
> 
> 
> Count Blah,
> 
> 
> Sounds a lot like my story. Tons of pixelation on all the major networks HD channels around that time frame. Also saw many Comcast trucks in my neighborhood as well.(Countryside) Picture is fine now on all channels.



It's back again. Anything over channel 100(clear QAM) is pixelated. Has been for two days now. Comcast seems to be incapable of any kind of quality control in Eastern Loudoun, as I am obviously not alone. So I pulled the Trigger, and FIOS is on it's way. Due to trips, inability to suffer any internet outages due to work, etc... I can't get it installed until mid august, but it feels liberating knowing that comcast isn't going to get any more of my money for giving me a substandard product.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14308444
> 
> 
> Comcast will add the Big Ten Network on 8/15 in Baltimore, in the Sports and Entertainment pack. It will be on channel 257, between VS/Golf HD and HDPPV. But the message doesn't say it will be in HD.



Considering that its in between two HD channels, I think its a safe bet that it will be in HD. Plus when I had that channel on Dish, they really did have a Lot of games in HD. Not just the high profile Football/Basketball games either, but stuff like Volleyball, etc ... Its a good channel if you are into sports at a collegiate level.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Comcast Corp. adds high-def channels to programming*


Baltimore Business Journal - by Ryan Sharrow Staff


Comcast Corp. said Thursday it has beefed up its high-definition programming in Greater Baltimore with the addition of five new networks.


The cable giant, Baltimore's largest cable provider, has added ABC Family, the Disney Channel, the Science Channel, WUTB My24 and superstation WGN to its roster of HD networks.


In April, Philadelphia-based Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) added American Movie Classics, Animal Planet, CNN, History Channel and the Learning Channel to its lineup of HD programming.


An HD box costs Comcast subscribers in the Baltimore region $7.50 per month. The cable provider offers more than 40 networks in HD, not including its lineup of On-Demand programming.


Comcast is looking to provide viewers with more than 1,000 movie titles and TV shows in HD by the end of 2008.


Comcast's Eastern Division has six million residential and business customers across Maryland, Washington, D.C., Delaware, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.


Comcast has seen competition for digital cable increase throughout the region in the last year. Verizon (NYSE: VZ) has launched its FiOS service in Maryland in parts of Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Howard, Montgomery, and Prince George's counties.

http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore...4/daily37.html 



I don't know where they get more than 40 HD channels from. We have 37.


----------



## rob base




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14308444
> 
> 
> Comcast will add the Big Ten Network on 8/15 in Baltimore, in the Sports and Entertainment pack. It will be on channel 257, between VS/Golf HD and HDPPV. But the message doesn't say it will be in HD.



wonder if dc area will get it too?


----------



## PaulGo

Hopefully it is not overcompressed HD! I would hate to see them add channels if the picture quality suffers.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14312167
> 
> *Comcast Corp. adds high-def channels to programming*
> 
> 
> Baltimore Business Journal - by Ryan Sharrow Staff
> 
> 
> Comcast Corp. said Thursday it has beefed up its high-definition programming in Greater Baltimore with the addition of five new networks.
> 
> 
> The cable giant, Baltimore's largest cable provider, has added ABC Family, the Disney Channel, the Science Channel, WUTB My24 and superstation WGN to its roster of HD networks.
> 
> 
> In April, Philadelphia-based Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) added American Movie Classics, Animal Planet, CNN, History Channel and the Learning Channel to its lineup of HD programming.
> 
> 
> An HD box costs Comcast subscribers in the Baltimore region $7.50 per month. The cable provider offers more than 40 networks in HD, not including its lineup of On-Demand programming.
> 
> 
> Comcast is looking to provide viewers with more than 1,000 movie titles and TV shows in HD by the end of 2008.
> 
> 
> Comcast's Eastern Division has six million residential and business customers across Maryland, Washington, D.C., Delaware, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.
> 
> 
> Comcast has seen competition for digital cable increase throughout the region in the last year. Verizon (NYSE: VZ) has launched its FiOS service in Maryland in parts of Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Howard, Montgomery, and Prince George's counties.
> 
> http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore...4/daily37.html
> 
> 
> 
> I don't know where they get more than 40 HD channels from. We have 37.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14312167
> 
> 
> The cable giant, Baltimore's largest cable provider, has added ABC Family, the Disney Channel, the Science Channel, WUTB My24 and superstation WGN to its roster of HD networks.



WUTB-DT 24 was still a 480i SD broadcast as of a day or two ago. So unless WUTB-DT is providing a separate 720p feed to Comcast via a land line connection, there will be a 480i channel in the middle of HD locals line-up. Which will cause slower channel changing times moving past the SD channel. What resolution are people in Baltimore seeing for WUTB 24 in the HD block? Is WUTB-DT going to offer a proper HD signal any time soon?



> Quote:
> I don't know where they get more than 40 HD channels from. We have 37.



All the service providers now do creative counting when it comes to the number of HD channels. We have 100 HD channels! No, we have 150! We have 500 HD "channels"!


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14313492
> 
> 
> WUTB-DT 24 was still a 480i SD broadcast as of a day or two ago. So unless WUTB-DT is providing a separate 720p feed to Comcast via a land line connection, there will be a 480i channel in the middle of HD locals line-up. Which will cause slower channel changing times moving past the SD channel. What resolution are people in Baltimore seeing for WUTB 24 in the HD block? Is WUTB-DT going to offer a proper HD signal any time soon?



Still 480i on Comcast.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PaulGo* /forum/post/14313381
> 
> 
> Hopefully it is not overcompressed HD! I would hate to see them add channels if the picture quality suffers.



The new channels look good.


----------



## dbaps

Well 212 is back on Comcast. I'm still missing 213 and 214. Any bets by the weekend they will be back too? I just hate that Comcrap doesn't admit errors or tell people what is going on when they drop the ball.


----------



## vidioteic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14312167
> 
> *Comcast Corp. adds high-def channels to programming*
> 
> 
> Baltimore Business Journal - by Ryan Sharrow Staff
> 
> 
> Comcast Corp. said Thursday it has beefed up its high-definition programming in Greater Baltimore with the addition of five new networks.
> 
> 
> --snip--
> 
> 
> I don't know where they get more than 40 HD channels from. We have 37.



Many carriers often count VOD/PPV channels. It's sad really.


----------



## Potatoehead

Got a message this morning saying we would get the Big 10 network on Aug. 15. Tonight it was there on channel 257.







Looks like it is in HD and they are giving a free preview.







Hope they keep the free preview going until I am hooked. I assume that this means the whole Balt/Wash. area should be getting it soon (if you don't have it now).


Edit: My mistake. It does not yet appear to be HD.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Potatoehead* /forum/post/14320918
> 
> 
> Got a message this morning saying we would get the Big 10 network on Aug. 15. Tonight it was there on channel 257.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Looks like it is in HD and they are giving a free preview.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hope they keep the free preview going until I am hooked. I assume that this means the whole Balt/Wash. area should be getting it soon (if you don't have it now).



Also added in Baltimore City. Says Not Authorized at the moment.


----------



## ACW112983

Anyone know if Comcast in Arlington will be getting Spike TV in HD?


EDIT: And what is this HD compression thing people mention?







My HD looks fine.


Also, non-HD related, but anyone notice that the Spanish movies on Demand aren't free anymore, but part of a package?







No, I don't speak Spanish, but love scenes with Spanish speaking hotties=


----------



## afiggatt

In Saturday's Washington Post, there is an article on the digital broadcast TV transition about how many of the local Spanish speaking population is not prepared for the switch. In the article, it says this about the TeleFutura station which is WMDO-CA 47: "TeleFutura is also a low-powered station in Washington, but it recently launched its own digital signal in an effort to keep over-the-air viewers -- but they will still need a converter box to receive the new signal."


Checking the FCC database, WMDO has a CP (Construction Permit) for a digital low power allotment as WMDO-LD on VHF 8 at 198 Watts. I am in the outer part of the calculated coverage area map for WMDO-LD and my upper VHF antenna is not aimed at DC, so I have not detected any digital signals on VHF 8. Has anyone in DC or closer in found a new digital station showing up on VHF 8? Just curious if WMDO has indeed started up a digital low power signal or the Post writer mis-understood what WMDO is up to.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14325958
> 
> 
> In Saturday's Washington Post...it says ...WMDO-CA 47: "TeleFutura... recently launched its own digital signal in an effort to keep over-the-air viewers"
> 
> 
> Checking the FCC database, WMDO has a CP (Construction Permit) for a digital low power allotment as WMDO-LD on VHF 8 at 198 Watts. ...



I haven't detected it yet. Where is its transmitter, and where can I pull up the coverage map you referred to?


----------



## AntAltMike

I found the map and transmitter on the FCC site. It seems to be co-located with the adjacent, analog channel 7 and 9 transmitters.


On Monday, I'll be servicing the digital reception headend on a 16-story building one mile away, with tuned channel 7 and 9 antennas pointed that way, so I can scan for it using my el cheapo, 13" Durabrand test TV. If my mental arithmetic is right, the adjacent analog signals will be about 32 dB stronger than the digital chanel 8. Somewhere way back in the Hardware thread, someone published the maximum tolerable adjacent analog/digital signal ratio and I thought it was around 40 something dB, so if that is correct, it should be theoretically possible to dune a 198 watt digital channel 8 between a couple of 316,000 adjacent analog channels.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/14327255
> 
> 
> I haven't detected it yet. Where is its transmitter, and where can I pull up the coverage map you referred to?



Click on the Service Contour Map link at the FCC entry for WMDO-LD: http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=167370 . The antenna would be in NW DC. Coverage map strikes me as optimistic even with the lower power levels for digital for VHF 8 at 198 Watts and 150 meters HAAT. If WMDO-LD is really on the air, they are sandwiched between analog WJLA-TV 7 and WUSA-TV 9, both operating at the maximum allowed analog power of 316 kW. That would not help. The VHF 8 slot will work better when WJLA and WUSA go digital on 7 & 9 next February.


The digital coverage for WMDO-LD will be better than their current analog UHF 47 coverage. Check the directional service contour coverage map at http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?call=WMDO-CA . Presumably suppressed to the SE so not to interfere with WMDT ABC 47 in Salisbury.


----------



## lax01

Is anyone else's FOX broadcast of F1 breaking up? This is on Comcast in Montgomery County...


----------



## Lenonn

Any news on new HD channels on RCN in DC or Montgomery County?


----------



## William Lasser

Hello,


My uncle lives in Baltimore near Johns Hopkins Homewood campus on the 9th floor of a high-rise building, surrounded by other high rise buildings. He currently receives analog TV from Washington and Baltimore with an indoor rabbit ears antenna. He does not have (or want) cable or satellite TV.


He wants to buy a new TV so he's ready in February to receive HDTV broacasts over the air. We are both pretty clueless about this, so any advice would be appreciated.


1. Does it matter which brand of TV he buys? That is, is one better than another for OTA HD digital reception?


2. Is he likely to have any luck with an indoor antenna?--he can't use any other kind. If so, is one better than another?


3. He really wants to receive not only Baltimore but also Washington channels, especially PBS stations (26 and 32). Is there any hope of this?


4. Would you recommend that he wait until February to buy his new TV (his current one is an old standard TV)? Or, if he bought one now, are enough channles available today so he would be able to test the reception today?


Sorry if some of these questions are basic but we appreciate the help.


--Bill


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *William Lasser* /forum/post/14330160
> 
> 
> My uncle lives in Baltimore near Johns Hopkins Homewood campus on the 9th floor of a high-rise building, surrounded by other high rise buildings. He currently receives analog TV from Washington and Baltimore with an indoor rabbit ears antenna. He does not have (or want) cable or satellite TV.
> 
> 
> He wants to buy a new TV so he's ready in February to receive HDTV broacasts over the air...
> 
> 
> 2. Is he likely to have any luck with an indoor antenna?--he can't use any other kind. If so, is one better than another?
> 
> 
> 3. He really wants to receive not only Baltimore but also Washington channels, especially PBS stations (26 and 32). Is there any hope of this?



He'll likely have a good shot at catching the digital signals from the digital equivalents of Batlimore local channels 2, 11, 13, 54 and 67 right now. His reception may change slightly when some of those channels change frequency assignments, particularly channels 11 and 13, which are presently on channels 59 and 38 respectively but will move down to 11 and 13. At those frequencies, they may be easier to receive but not necessarily with the same antenna.


He might consider one of those new, set top, 2-bay bowtie antennas with a single VHF dipole. Others here can furnish the manufacturers and model numbers.


The liklihood of him ever receiving channels 26 and 32, which are about 35 miles away, from inside a highrise using a set-top antenna are not good but not impossible. I know of several people in McLean and Vienna who get good reception of analog channel 62 from Frederick, which is almost as far away.


HAs he looked around thoroughly to see if the apartment has a separate master antenna system wallplate? If it has, their system can be upgraded to incorporate the new broadcast HDTV signals.


> Quote:
> 4. Would you recommend that he wait until February to buy his new TV (his current one is an old standard TV)? Or, if he bought one now, are enough channels available today so he would be able to test the reception today?
> 
> ...



He can buy his TV today and enjoy it today, as he should be able to receive all of the Batlimore digital broadcast channels already. Channels 67 (D29) and 45 (D46) already "multicast" using set-top antennas in highrise buildings, so he can enjoy additional programming from those channels already.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *William Lasser* /forum/post/14330160
> 
> 
> He wants to buy a new TV so he's ready in February to receive HDTV broadcasts over the air. We are both pretty clueless about this, so any advice would be appreciated.
> 
> 
> 1. Does it matter which brand of TV he buys? That is, is one better than another for OTA HD digital reception?



He does not HAVE to do this. He can apply for a $40 coupon and use that to buy a $60 digital converter (tuner) box. I picked up a Zenith DTT901 at Circuit City for testing and have found it to be better digital tuner than any of the older albeit HD capable ATSC tuners I have. See http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=186 for info. Just want to point out this option if the price of a HD TV is a problem.


But a HD TV will get HD programming for the 7 broadcast networks that provide HD at this time. And once you go HD, you don't want to go back. It is hard to say which TV brands have the better tuners. All of the brand name models (Sony, Sharp, Samsung, Panasonic, Pioneer, etc) should have 5th or 6th generation tuners that are likely to do the job.



> Quote:
> 2. Is he likely to have any luck with an indoor antenna?--he can't use any other kind. If so, is one better than another?



If his current indoor antenna gets good reception for the UHF stations, I would try it first for digital reception before spending money on a new one. If he needs a new one, since he wants to get stations in different directions, he needs a multi-directional antenna setup. If he has the space to hang it, the new Winegard HD-1080 antenna which combines a 2 bay UHF bowties and 2 34" long dipoles for upper VHF might do the trick. But there are other antenna choices. After the analog shutdown, all of the full power stations in Baltimore and DC will be broadcasting only on upper VHF 7-13 and UHF; none will have their physical channel on low VHF (WRC-DT 4 is and will stay on UHF 48 for example).



> Quote:
> 3. He really wants to receive not only Baltimore but also Washington channels, especially PBS stations (26 and 32). Is there any hope of this?



Yes. WETA-DT 26 is not that strong at 90 kW on UHF 27, but I can get easily with an indoor Sliver Sensor at 16 miles in Sterling, VA. WHUT-DT 32 is currently SD only (they have stated they will upgrade to HD but no date for that) and is at 100 kW on UHF 33, but WHUT-DT has applied to increase power to 1000 kW after the transition. If the FCC grants that (they may not), WHUT-DT will come booming in over a wide area.



> Quote:
> 4. Would you recommend that he wait until February to buy his new TV (his current one is an old standard TV)? Or, if he bought one now, are enough channles available today so he would be able to test the reception today?



All of the full power stations in DC and Baltimore (with the exception of WNVC-DT 56 in Fairfax, VA) have a full power digital signal right now. If he wants to upgrade to HD, he should go ahead. Look for a good sales price and shop around. Remember, that to maintain screen height for a current 4:3 TV, get a 16:9 TV which has a diagonal size of 1.22 times the 4:3 set. But the big advantage of HD that the picture quality holds up for much bigger screens, so if he has a 27" or 32" CRT, he should look at replacing it with a 40" or bigger HD TV. Check the display forum here for TV advice.



> Quote:
> Sorry if some of these questions are basic but we appreciate the help.



We are glad to help. This is a lot of new technology and new terms (ATSC, QAM, SD, HD, 1080i, and so on) for people and is something for which I have yet to see a good single condensed comprehensive explanation of the whole thing. This forum is a very good place to ask questions and get info. Good luck.


----------



## JohnGZ28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lax01* /forum/post/14330062
> 
> 
> Is anyone else's FOX broadcast of F1 breaking up? This is on Comcast in Montgomery County...




Mine played fine on Verizon.


----------



## Tommy63




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14331173
> 
> 
> All of the full power stations in DC and Baltimore (with the exception of WNVC-DT 56 in Fairfax, VA) have a full power digital signal right now.



Does this mean that the stations in this market are currently at their post-transition power level? Or, is there a different meaning for "full power"?


I'm asking because periodically I have been able to watch stations from this market and was hoping to have more consistent reception after the transition.


Thanks.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Tommy63* /forum/post/14331348
> 
> 
> Does this mean that the stations in this market are currently at their post-transition power level? Or, is there a different meaning for "full power"?
> 
> I'm asking because periodically I have been able to watch stations from this market and was hoping to have more consistent reception after the transition.



"full" power in this case means the station is covering most of their market. There are stations changing their digital channel next February which will affect the long range reception pattern for those stations. But many stations filed for maximized power in June asking for increases in their post-transition power levels. The FCC has to review and grant those requests, but in general, there should be improved digital reception coverage after the transition. Back on June 23, I posted a summary of the maximize power filing requests for many of the DC stations and the Maryland Public TV stations. See http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...6#post14139876 . You can see these requests & status at the FCC database at http://www.fcc.gov/mb/video/tvq.html .


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lax01* /forum/post/14330062
> 
> 
> Is anyone else's FOX broadcast of F1 breaking up? This is on Comcast in Montgomery County...



Dish Network's WTTG presentation was fine. Just finished watching it from my DVR.


----------



## Marcus Carr

WGN started airing it's local news in HD over the weekend. So I now get Chicago's local news in HD on Comcast before most of Baltimore's stations.


They also show Cubs, White Sox, and Bulls games in HD. It's like having an out-of-market HD RSN.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> WGN started airing it's local news in HD over the weekend. So I now get Chicago's local news in HD on Comcast before most of Baltimore's stations.
> 
> 
> They also show Cubs, White Sox, and Bulls games in HD. It's like having an out-of-market HD RSN.



I wish D* would add this HD channel. You can probably see the iris in the WGN America "spy eyes" logo...


----------



## CycloneGT

Did they just start the news in HD this weekend? I caught it, but figured that I had just not watched their news since Dish picked up the HD WGN ch.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/14339897
> 
> 
> Did they just start the news in HD this weekend? I caught it, but figured that I had just not watched their news since Dish picked up the HD WGN ch.



Yes.


----------



## rob base

Received the message this morning that BTN will be added tomorrow on channel 257 on the Sports Entertainment Package. Don't know if it will be in HD or not. Will update tom. after watching it.


----------



## CycloneGT

Big Ten is actually a pretty good HD channel. We had it on Dish for a while last year before it went local/SportsPak. They carried a lot of sports in HD, not just the major Football/Basketball.


Plus their sports coverage shows where in HD too.


----------



## vidioteic

Verizon FiOS in Howard County...


Well well, surfing today I found the following (all NBCU channels... odd):

[All channels above the Digital sub channels but before the MPT+ channels]

879: CNBC HD (Coming soon)

884: USA HD (coming soon)

896: NBC Olympics coverage

879: NBC Olympics coverage


I'm going to guess CNBC HD & USA HD were added in anticipation of the Olympics, as in the past, NBC has used those (SD) channels for Olympic events that are not as popular.


At least it's more channels. I'm guess after the Olympics, the two"NBC Olympics" channels will become one HD channel.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *vidioteic* /forum/post/14344107
> 
> 
> Verizon FiOS in Howard County...
> 
> 
> Well well, surfing today I found the following (all NBCU channels... odd):
> 
> [All channels above the Digital sub channels but before the MPT+ channels]
> 
> 879: CNBC HD (Coming soon)
> 
> 884: USA HD (coming soon)
> 
> 896: NBC Olympics coverage
> 
> 879: NBC Olympics coverage
> 
> I'm going to guess CNBC HD & USA HD were added in anticipation of the Olympics,



Yes, these channels have been in the guide here since Saturday morning, if not Friday night. I have not posted the news here because none of them are live in the Washington Metro market yet - as far as I know. Do you get anything for CNBC-HD and USA-HD? A frozen picture of the last channel tuned to does not count. Verizon is adding these channels to all markets for the Olympics. So far, only Portland OR, New York, and some subscribers in FL have reported being able to tune to USA-HD and CNBC-HD. Channels 896 & 897 are temporary channels set up by NBC for 24/7 Olympic coverage of basketball & soccer; reportedly will be HD (?); no reason to expect them to go live until close to the start of the games. Would expect most other service providers to add the temporary NBC channels as well.


----------



## albertso

COMCAST MOCO box message says 8/15 for us.


----------



## Potatoehead




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/14342594
> 
> 
> Big Ten is actually a pretty good HD channel. We had it on Dish for a while last year before it went local/SportsPak. They carried a lot of sports in HD, not just the major Football/Basketball.
> 
> 
> Plus their sports coverage shows where in HD too.



We have had it here on comcast ch. 257 for about a week (we were promised it 8/15). From what I have seen, I could really enjoy this channel - it has a great variety of sports and I attended Big Ten schools. Unfortunately it has been in SD. I keep hoping this is just temporary and they will switch it to HD - it is located next to other HD channels.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14344394
> 
> 
> Yes, these channels have been in the guide here since Saturday morning, if not Friday night. I have not posted the news here because none of them are live in the Washington Metro market yet - as far as I know. Do you get anything for CNBC-HD and USA-HD? A frozen picture of the last channel tuned to does not count. Verizon is adding these channels to all markets for the Olympics. So far, only Portland OR, New York, and some subscribers in FL have reported being able to tune to USA-HD and CNBC-HD. Channels 896 & 897 are temporary channels set up by NBC for 24/7 Olympic coverage of basketball & soccer; reportedly will be HD (?); no reason to expect them to go live until close to the start of the games. Would expect most other service providers to add the temporary NBC channels as well.




At least the FIOS Analog channels don't have programming any more here in Woodbridge. One step closer to the additional HD channels.


----------



## ammar249

All of these NBC O&O stations have gone HD, leaving WRC and WCAU the only NBC O&O stations in a top 10 DMA that have yet to make the switch.


------News in High Definition------

#1 WNBC - NBC4 New York

#2 KNBC - NBC4 Los Angeles

#3 WMAQ - NBC5 Chicago

#5 KXAS - NBC5 Dallas/For Worth

#6 KNTV - NBC3 San Jose/San Francisco

#16 WTVJ - NBC 6 Miami - being sold to Post-Newsweek


------News still in SD------

#4 WCAU - NBC10 Philadelphia - HD debut by Sept 2008

#9 WRC - NBC4 Washington DC

#27 KNSD - NBC7/39 San Diego

#29 WVIT - NBC30 Hartford


----------



## Marcus Carr

CBS News goes HD on Monday. Hopefully they will soon upgrade WJZ news to match since it's a CBS O&O.


----------



## machpost

So will we really see any other local news in HD before the end of the year? While I remember hearing lots of rumors about 5 and 7 earlier in the year, all has been silent for a while now. And of course channel 4's local news is going to be SD for the foreseeable future


----------



## CycloneGT

Well, the Fox 5 News in HD rumours are well over a year old now. I think that last spring was the first time we expected them to go HD "soon".


ABC 7 as we know from info here, is getting their equipment and other ducks in a row, but aren't necessarily in a hurry. I wouldn't be shocked to see them in HD next. They have tended to pay more attention to their digital subchannels than the other stations by putting a home grown weather channel and local point. So unlike Fox5, their mgt actually acks their digital signal.


NBC 4 is on its own. No word or expectations here.


----------



## electrictroy

When I tuned-in WBAL-11 this past weekend, I noticed 11.1 is HD and 11.2 is the identical program but in SD.


What's the point of broadcasting the same program twice, albeit in different resolutions?


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *electrictroy* /forum/post/14350585
> 
> 
> When I tuned-in WBAL-11 this past weekend, I noticed 11.1 is HD and 11.2 is the identical program but in SD.
> 
> 
> What's the point of broadcasting the same program twice, albeit in different resolutions?



Don't you get the same on ABC 2.1 and 2.2?


My quess - probably only temporary. NBC's WeatherPlus or Local weather may be added to 11.2 soon. Washington DC's NBC has been broadcasting WeatherPlus on 4.2 for many years.


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *electrictroy* /forum/post/14350585
> 
> 
> When I tuned-in WBAL-11 this past weekend, I noticed 11.1 is HD and 11.2 is the identical program but in SD.
> 
> 
> What's the point of broadcasting the same program twice, albeit in different resolutions?



I just figured it out. They are probably testing. Look for NBC to simulcast broadcast different events on 11.1 and 11.2 for the Summer Olympics in August.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Might be used for NBC's temporary Olympic soccer and/or basketball channels.


----------



## electrictroy

I don't get channel 2 in Baltimore.


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *E55 KEV* /forum/post/14350897
> 
> 
> I just figured it out. They are probably testing. Look for NBC to simulcast broadcast different events on 11.1 and 11.2 for the Summer Olympics in August.



When I tuned-in Saturday, the WBAL-11.1 was HD. 11.2 was the same program in SD. 11.3 was the weather.


If NBC is planning to simulcast two Olympic subchannels, plus weather, why does WGAL-8 in Lancaster still only have 2 subchannels? Wouldn't they be using the same three-channel setup?


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ammar249* /forum/post/14348088
> 
> 
> All of these NBC O&O stations have gone HD, leaving WRC and WCAU the only NBC O&O stations in a top 10 DMA that have yet to make the switch.



Rumor's from DCRTV that NBC is looking to sell off WRC. Don't look for an HD upgrade anytime soon.


As for WUSA, if you tune to OTA channel 9-2 right now (channel 861 on Verizon FiOS), the Doppler subchannel has been repurposed so Topper's discussing the line of severe T-storms moving through the area, complete with news graphics packages and seeing Topper on screen. Obviously not in HD, and there's some macroblocking, but not a bad picture overall. Nice job, WUSA! (I haven't been on this site in a while, so this might have been told: Any updates on when the new WUSA encoder's coming online? Is it online?)


----------



## voltore




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/14354795
> 
> 
> Any updates on when the new WUSA encoder's coming online? Is it online?)



Not yet, we'll yell when it is!


----------



## CycloneGT

Yeah, they must have Olympic plans.


WBAL has had Weather+ for a few years.


----------



## rob base




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rob base* /forum/post/14341831
> 
> 
> Received the message this morning that BTN will be added tomorrow on channel 257 on the Sports Entertainment Package. Don't know if it will be in HD or not. Will update tom. after watching it.



I read it wrong, the message said the BTN will be available on August 15, as previously stated by others. Sorry for the confusion on my part, just got a little too excited.


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *electrictroy* /forum/post/14353177
> 
> 
> I don't get channel 2 in Baltimore.



Any reason you can't get ABC's WMAR channels 2.1, 2.2 & 2.3 from Baltimore?



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *electrictroy* /forum/post/14353177
> 
> 
> If NBC is planning to simulcast two Olympic subchannels, plus weather, why does WGAL-8 in Lancaster still only have 2 subchannels? Wouldn't they be using the same three-channel setup?



Who knows? I guess we will have to wait and see.


----------



## electrictroy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *E55 KEV* /forum/post/14357936
> 
> 
> Any reason you can't get ABC's WMAR channels 2.1, 2.2 & 2.3 from Baltimore?



Because they are 50 miles away and too weak to reach my location in Pennsylvania. When I tuned-in Saturday:


11.1 was HD.

11.2 was the same program in SD.

11.3 was the weather.


If NBC-WBAL is planning to simulcast two Olympic subchannels, plus weather, why does WGAL-8 in Lancaster still only have 2 channels? Wouldn't they be using the same three-channel setup too?


> Quote:
> Who knows? I guess we will have to wait and see.



I guess.


It seems a waste of precious bitstream space for WBAL to broadcast the same program twice (both HD and SD). They really only need to broadcast one version.


----------



## adamshipley

I have something weird going on with my TiVo. Channel 213(WTTG_DT) is showing the program from 214(WDCW-DT). Channel 214 is showing one of the MHZ news channnels. A quick run through the channels also shows BETJ and Bloomberg in the wrong channel slots. But WTTG is completely missing.


I'm using a Series 3 TiVo with two cablecards.


Is anybody else missing the channel?


----------



## PhillyGuy

I was talking to some people from the WBAL tent at the artscape festival in Baltimore last weekend. I was told that its news will go HD this fall.


----------



## JoeInNVa

Congrats to Hampton Roads area for WAVY going HD for their news. Now we have the same number of HD Newscasts as they do! Way to stay ahead of the curve DC!


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *electrictroy* /forum/post/14358353
> 
> 
> Because they are 50 miles away and too weak to reach my location in Pennsylvania. When I tuned-in Saturday:
> 
> 
> 11.1 was HD.
> 
> 11.2 was the same program in SD.
> 
> 11.3 was the weather.
> 
> 
> If NBC-WBAL is planning to simulcast two Olympic subchannels, plus weather, why does WGAL-8 in Lancaster still only have 2 channels? Wouldn't they be using the same three-channel setup too?



WMAR-DT ABC 2 has been broadcasting a 2.2 SD sub-channel that has the same program as the HD channel for years. They are the only remaining station in DC and Baltimore that does this. Waste of bandwidth no doubt. WBAL-DT 11 currently has 11.1 HD and 11.2 SD weather which they have had for a long time. If they add another SD sub-channel, hopefully it will only be temporary for the Olympics. It will however hurt the HD picture quality for the games.







It is presumably up to WGAL if they want to add a temporary SD sub-channel for the games.


It is somewhat odd that you were able to get WBAL-DT 11, but not WMAR-DT 2, although there are always variations for longer range reception. They are both broadcasting from the same big tower complex and the current digital antennas are at the same height of 312 meters HAAT. WBAL-DT is broadcasting on UHF 59 at 513 kW; WMAR-DT is on UHF 52 at 602 kW. WBAL-DT is the weakest of the 5 main Baltimore stations for me.


If you get WJZ-DT 13 now, you will be able to get to get WMAR-DT 2 after next February 17. WMAR-DT will take over WJZ-DT's UHF 38 transmitter cranking at 1000 kW while WJZ-DT moves to VHF 13 at a good power level for upper VHF of 28.8 kW. WBAL-DT will move to VHF 11 at a much weaker 5 kW and they have not filed an application for increased power. I expect a lot of people at the outer edges of the Baltimore coverage area will lose WBAL-DT reception after February 17 if WBAL-DT sticks with 5 kW.


----------



## electrictroy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14363064
> 
> 
> WMAR-DT ABC 2 has been broadcasting a 2.2 SD sub-channel that has the same program as the HD channel for years. They are the only remaining station in DC and Baltimore that does this. Waste of bandwidth no doubt.



Have you or anyone else called & asked why they do this? Seems silly. As if the engineer doesn't understand how digital works. (The HD can be downscaled to fit SD sets - maybe he does not realize that.)


> Quote:
> WBAL-DT 11 currently has 11.1 HD and 11.2 SD weather which they have had for a long time. If they add another SD sub-channel, hopefully it will only be temporary for the Olympics. It will however hurt the HD picture quality for the games.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It is presumably up to WGAL-DT 8 if they want to add a temporary SD sub-channel for the games.



WBAL-11 may have been doing some fluke testing over the weekend if they went from 2 to 3 and back to 2 channels. WGAL-8 shows no inclination towards showing two Olympic broadcasts.


NBC will be using the Local station, CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen, USA Network, Telemundo, plus internet. No real need for a secondary channel on 11-2.


> Quote:
> It is somewhat odd that you were able to get WBAL-DT 11, but not WMAR-DT 2, although there are always variations for longer range reception.



No idea. The other Baltimore station I got was 13, but I've always prefered to watch 11, either analog or digital.


Thanks for the info. Sounds like 11 will be too weak to receive after Feb 2009.


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/14282871
> 
> 
> She has the CC DVR box. It is made by Scientific Atlantic. According to the CC agent, they are having a technical problem in her area and expect the channel to be up soon, but I have my doubts that this will be easily resolved.



Comcast finally fixed whatever the issue was and CNN HD channel is now available on my mother's DVR in Howard County, MD.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *electrictroy* /forum/post/14364503
> 
> 
> NBC will be using the Local station, CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen, USA Network, Telemundo, plus internet. No real need for a secondary channel on 11-2.



In New York, they recently began airing "Universal Sports" on NBC O&O WNBC-DT 4-4, and this station will be airing some Olympic-related material.


- Trip


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *electrictroy* /forum/post/14364503
> 
> 
> NBC will be using the Local station, CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen, USA Network, Telemundo, plus internet. No real need for a secondary channel on 11-2.




NBC will have two temporary channels just for Olympic soccer and basketball.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Wheel and J! in SD tonight - "problems with the feed" I was told (sounds like I wasn't the first one to complain to the news line). Arrrgh


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

Check out analog channel 10 on the Annapolis Comcast system. There is a message stating that the entire analog lineup will change next month. More info can be obtained by visiting http://www.comcast.com/channelchangesmd . It looks like the analog service will soon end at channel 70 so they can put digitals on 71, 72, 73, 74, and 75. Presently, the digitals appear to start on channel 76. A while back, I noticed that they were testing on 73 and 74, but those channels were sandwiched between analogs and weren't strong enough to be decoded very reliably.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/14362462
> 
> 
> Congrats to Hampton Roads area for WAVY going HD for their news. Now we have the same number of HD Newscasts as they do! Way to stay ahead of the curve DC!



You can add Richmond to that list. WWBT, the local NBC affiliate, just joined the ranks.


----------



## Ladd

Digital HD locals via Comcast Frederick have major problems this evening.


WUSA isn't coming in at all, WRC and WETA have numerous lockups and macroblocking. WTTG only has a little bit.


Interestingly, if I go to any of the other digital HD channels (UHD, ESPN, etc. and etc.) things are fine.


Switching to OTA improves the situation somewhat (i.e. I can pick up HD WUSA, WETA cleanly), but WRC still has some macroblocking.


Anyone else seeing this?


----------



## jgantert

Well, today is the day RTN7 is supposed to go live. According to the Tivo guide data doesn't look like theres going to be any Greatest American Hero on there, but plenty of other good shows to watch! A-Team, Knight Rider and Magnum P.I. to name a few.


Hopefully they will populate the names of the movies shown on the weekends into the guide data.


-John


----------



## afiggatt

Checked WJLA-DT 7.3 and RTN7 has started up with Ironside. The OTA guide data even had the entire day's schedule up through 8 PM which is as far as I checked it. SD picture quality was very soft, but that is to be expected with 1 720P HD and 2 SD sub-channels. Still if we are going to have SD sub-channels, this is a good use for one.


Other news that people may have missed.


1. CBS Evening News is going HD tonight, so we will now have 2 evening news shows in HD. WUSA-DT 9 at 6:30 PM, WJZ-DT 13 at 7 PM. ABC Nightly News is scheduled to go HD the week of September 8. 60 Minutes, BTW, will be going HD in September as well.


2. WMDT ABC 47. This really only affects those on the eastern edge of the DC-Baltimore area or on the eastern shore, but WMDT in Salisbury will be shutting down it's analog signal early on September 20, 2008. WMDT will start up a 350 kW digital signal on UHF 47 several days after the analog is turned off. Their UHF 53 digital signal of 25.1 kW will stay on the air during the transition and then turned off once the new digital signal is up. If you view WMDT analog or know family members or friends who do but have not gotten a converter box, you should tell them that they need to hurry up and get one. Probably too late to apply for the $40 coupon to get one before Sept. 20. The major reasons given in FCC filings for the early shutdown are that was the only time the tower crew would be available and that the current digital signal is rather weak.


I have picked up a noisy WMDT 47 analog at night during tropo weather from time to time even with WMDO-LP 47 in DC between Sterling and Salisbury. Figure I might get WMDT-DT 47.1 sometimes in similar conditions when the station goes digital.


Oops, left out link for WMDT's web page on the early shutdown: http://www.wmdt.com/DTV/index.htm .


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14383233
> 
> 
> Checked WJLA-DT 7.3 and RTN7 has started up with Ironside. The OTA guide data even had the entire day's schedule up through 8 PM which is as far as I checked it. SD picture quality was very soft, but that is to be expected with 1 720P HD and 2 SD sub-channels. Still if we are going to have SD sub-channels, this is a good use for one.



Cool! Thanks for the confirmation. I've been looking forward to this one for a while now.







I really miss The Tube subchannel. Hopefully this one catches on. It's a much better use than the stupid weather sub channels or SD re-broadcast channels like 2-2.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14383233
> 
> 
> Checked WJLA-DT 7.3 and RTN7 has started up with Ironside. The OTA guide data even had the entire day's schedule up through 8 PM which is as far as I checked it. SD picture quality was very soft, but that is to be expected with 1 720P HD and 2 SD sub-channels. Still if we are going to have SD sub-channels, this is a good use for one.



Don't forget it's 8 hours of infomercials, daily!


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/14383440
> 
> 
> It's a much better use than the stupid weather sub channels or SD re-broadcast channels like 2-2.



It is, but in this case, it's displacing Local Point TV, which was original and interesting.







(If a bit repetitious... but at least it didn't run infomercials.)


And they kept the weather subchannel.


----------



## CycloneGT

I am really hoping that "Get Smart" will in the lineup. They have it listed on the RTV website, but not a time.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Don't forget it's 8 hours of infomercials, daily



Is the 8 hours a day built into this new network, or is good ol' WJLA adding extra hours of this paid crap to generate extra revenue?


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/14383911
> 
> 
> It is, but in this case, it's displacing Local Point TV, which was original and interesting.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> (If a bit repetitious... but at least it didn't run infomercials.)



My biggest gripe with Local Point TV was no guide data. Pretty much made that channel useless with Tivo, as it would never record as a suggestion, and you could never tell when new stuff started/ended.


As for the paid programming, it looks like most [all of the few listings I looked up] of the RTN affliliates run paid programming late night.


----------



## Marcus Carr

The CBS Evening News started in HD with no sound on WUSA, switched to SD.


Reports of problems elsewhere so it's a national issue. Will have to check WJZ at 7.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Now back in HD.


----------



## voltore




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14386804
> 
> 
> The CBS Evening News started in HD with no sound on WUSA, switched to SD.
> 
> 
> Reports of problems elsewhere so it's a national issue. Will have to check WJZ at 7.



Yes, was a problem in NY. Wouldn't want to be there this evening! Audio was restored at 6:44pm!


----------



## Marcus Carr

SD on WJZ.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/14385362
> 
> 
> Is the 8 hours a day built into this new network, or is good ol' WJLA adding extra hours of this paid crap to generate extra revenue?



Oops. I was wrong, it's 9 hours a day.


From DCRTV.com


> Quote:
> 7/28 - Looks like Channel 7/ WJLA will launch its Retro TV Network schedule on its "RTN7" digital channel, in place of Local Point TV, at 10 this morning with "Ironside." Also on the sked: "Adam-12," "Dragnet," "Marcus Welby," "Emergency," "Simon And Simon," "Leave It To Beaver," "Quincy," and the "Rockford Files." Oh yeah, paid infomercials run from 1 AM to 10 AM daily.....


----------



## Trip in VA

My local RTN affiliate does that too. I think they all do it, not just WJLA.


- Trip


----------



## electrictroy




> Quote:
> WMAR-DT ABC 2 has been broadcasting a 2.2 SD sub-channel that has the same program as the HD channel for years. They are the only remaining station in DC and Baltimore that does this. Waste of bandwidth no doubt.



Have you or anyone else called & asked why they do this? Seems silly. As if the engineer doesn't understand how digital works. (The HD can be downscaled to fit SD sets - maybe he does not realize that.)


----------



## afiggatt

As of this morning on Verizon Fios TV in the Sterling CO, USA-HD is now live on channel 884. The guide data still says coming soon with no programming specifics. We are supposed to get CNBC-HD on channel 879, but this morning, they have Sci-Fi HD on 879 instead. Running a Eureka marathon in HD no less! Don't know why, but I would vote to keep Sci-Fi HD over CNBC-HD. There are also now test patterns for the two temporary HD Olympic channels for soccer & basketball on channels 896 & 897. These channels are all being added ahead of the big HD expansion to all Fios TV markets across the US for the Olympic coverage.


The roll-out of these channels has been extremely patch quilt across the Washington Metro and Maryland markets. I've seen reports of them being added last week in Herndon and several places in MD. So they may not be live at other locations, but if not, they should be soon. I think follow-ups on this may be more suitable to the Washington DC Verizon thread - which has been inactive.


----------



## lax01

HBO has been unwatchable for a week now in my building...every other channel is fine...anybody else experience this problem?


Comcast Digital Cable - Montgomery County


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *electrictroy* /forum/post/14390431
> 
> 
> Have you or anyone else called & asked why they do this? Seems silly. As if the engineer doesn't understand how digital works. (The HD can be downscaled to fit SD sets - maybe he does not realize that.)



The engineers at the station are fully aware that ATSC tuners and the converter boxes can handle and downconvert the 2.1 HD sub-channel. The 2.2 SD simulcast sub-channel is a decision made by the station manager and/or owners. A number of broadcast stations reportedly used to offer a SD simulcast sub-channel for the cable operators in their area so the cable operators could grab the digital SD signal for their digital tier. But the cable operators should be able to down convert & center cut the HD sub-channels by now for the post analog era. Perhaps the management at WMAR wants to keep 2.2 up & running as they have plans for the sub-channel (RTN?, infomercials 24/7?). Email the station and see if you can get a real answer.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14391383
> 
> 
> The engineers at the station are fully aware that ATSC tuners and the converter boxes can handle and downconvert the 2.1 HD sub-channel. The 2.2 SD simulcast sub-channel is a decision made by the station manager and/or owners. A number of broadcast stations reportedly used to offer a SD simulcast sub-channel for the cable operators in their area so the cable operators could grab the digital SD signal for their digital tier. But the cable operators should be able to down convert & center cut the HD sub-channels by now for the post analog era. Perhaps the management at WMAR wants to keep 2.2 up & running as they have plans for the sub-channel (RTN?, infomercials 24/7?). Email the station and see if you can get a real answer.



Yep... ABC, NBC and CBS have all moved their network bugs into the 4:3 safe zone. Not sure if FOX is doing this...


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/14391852
> 
> 
> Yep... ABC, NBC and CBS have all moved their network bugs into the 4:3 safe zone. Not sure if FOX is doing this...



Yep - FOX does that, too. Also, the bug that we put on during non-primetime shows is within the 4:3 safe area. Having said that however, the station bug that is put on in the FOX splicer during prime-time is outside the 4:3 area. That's only on the HD feed.


A related issue that we've run across is during our morning news. We have an L-bar up on both out HD and analog morning news. The L-bar looks preety much the same between the two signals, but is different for each, due to the aspect ratio. After a week or so of doing HD news we got a call from a cable subsciber on the eastern shore who was complaining that the right side of the L-bar was being cut off. It turned out that the cable operator was taking our HD signal and doing a center cut instead of doing a letterbox or using our analog signal.... Not sure how that got resolved, but I haven't heard anything else about it recently.


Cheers -


----------



## Marcus Carr

No problems with CBS Evening News in HD tonight on WUSA.


Pre-empted on WJZ by SD MASN baseball (which is HD on MOJO).


----------



## rogue5

Is anyone having problems with the HD channels for Dtv?? I have been having searching for signal problems on my HD channels for the last few days. It seems to happen in the evenings between 7 and 10, anyone else having the same issue?? I live in College Park and was on vacation over the last 2 weeks and didn't have any issues before I left but I know there were some bad thunderstorms while I was gone. I already talked to Dtv and they didn't know what was going on and plan to send a tech out on Sat.


josh


----------



## bal1012




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14391383
> 
> 
> The engineers at the station are fully aware that ATSC tuners and the converter boxes can handle and downconvert the 2.1 HD sub-channel. The 2.2 SD simulcast sub-channel is a decision made by the station manager and/or owners. A number of broadcast stations reportedly used to offer a SD simulcast sub-channel for the cable operators in their area so the cable operators could grab the digital SD signal for their digital tier. But the cable operators should be able to down convert & center cut the HD sub-channels by now for the post analog era. Perhaps the management at WMAR wants to keep 2.2 up & running as they have plans for the sub-channel (RTN?, infomercials 24/7?). Email the station and see if you can get a real answer.



Heres what I got when I emailed WMAR a few weeks ago:



> Quote:
> 2.2 Explanation....
> 
> Since our analog broadcast is on channel 2 (54-60mhz) ...this range of frequencies have issues with impulse noise, co-channel interference etc...
> 
> We have provided the 2.2 for a number of cable and MSTV systems to receive a clean digital picture.....



So does this mean after the transition, 2.2 won't be eating up bandwith anymore? I emailed WMAR about this a while back because I was unhappy with their picture quality. Luckily I get WJLA too because their picture quality is better than WMAR although not by much because both have 2 subchannels.


I'm also glad I get WRC.
WBAL uses way too much bandwidth on their weather plus channel

WRC's SD programming from NBC looks a lot better, anyone know why?

*No 5.1 on WBAL*


----------



## electrictroy

I wonder how cable companies got the WMAR feed prior to DTV's launch?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *electrictroy* /forum/post/14398611
> 
> 
> I wonder how cable companies got the WMAR feed prior to DTV's launch?



For the analog tier, probably from the broadcast VHF 2 signal with the occasional impulse noise glitches or a land line feed for the closer in cable franchises. Checking the FCC database, WMAR-DT filed it's license to cover for UHF 52 at 602 kW in December, 1999 which means the digital signal was on the air before then.


Changing topics, Verizon is still playing around with the new HD channels, which may or may not be available for everyone in the Washington Metro and Baltimore markets by now. I along with others in the region now have: CNBC-HD on channel 879, USA-HD on 884, Sci-Fi HD on 896 and USA-HD (again) on 897. The guide data now states for 896 and 897 that these are temporary HD channels for the Olympics and will start up on August 8. Hope Verizon leaves Sci-Fi HD on 896 until then if they are not going to add it as a permanent HD channel (until the big HD expansion hits our area, possibly starting in mid-September). Anyway, Verizon HD subscribers in the area should check to see what they are getting on those 4 channels.


----------



## Marcus Carr

The CBS Evening News is still in SD on WJZ.


----------



## carltonrice

So, has WJZ shown CBS Evening News in HD yet? I saw it in HD on Tuesday night on WUSA, but noted that WJZ is still doing their SD thing. I thought maybe it was because they wanted to run their thunderstorm trailers and they can't do that in HD yet. BUt, maybe not.


----------



## Marcus Carr

I sent a nice little note to WJZ management through their website.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Problems with WMAR 2-1, 2-2, 2-3. Blocky picture, audio sync is off on 2-1.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14402630
> 
> 
> I along with others in the region now have: CNBC-HD on channel 879, USA-HD on 884, Sci-Fi HD on 896 and USA-HD (again) on 897.



Posted too soon. Verizon is back to test patterns on the temp Olympics HD channels 896 & 897. No Sci-Fi HD anymore. Oh well.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14403081
> 
> 
> I sent a nice little note to WJZ management through their website.



Good luck with that. They can't manage to get the HD O's games to broadcast in HD either.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/14403724
> 
> 
> Good luck with that. They can't manage to get the HD O's games to broadcast in HD either.



Already got a response:



> Quote:
> Thank you for your e mail comments. We are currently installing the necessary equipment to broadcast the CBS News in HD. We expect to be up and running within the next 60 days or less.



Why they need extra equipment for a network show I have no idea.


----------



## mapper




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14403585
> 
> 
> Posted too soon. Verizon is back to test patterns on the temp Olympics HD channels 896 & 897. No Sci-Fi HD anymore. Oh well.



Nice to see Verizon add 4 new HD channels(temporaily or not). I can't check up on the new developments myself as I am out of town(and alas no Slingbox either), but does this mean Verizon added more QAM channel spots, and if so, how many spots are left? Does this mean there could be a mini-boost of more HD channels before the major realignment?


----------



## StevenJB

Has anyone besides myself noticed any spike or improvement with the WBAL-DT (11.1 and 11.2) OTA signal over the past two days? Approximately three days ago, my Dish VIP-722 receiver showed WBAL-DT with a steady 86-88 meter reading. For the past two days, it has been and is now a consistent 95-98.


WJZ-DT, on the same tower, has been a consistent 92-93 throughout. WMAR-DT, on the same tower, is always 100 for me. WBAL-DT has historically been the weakest of the three signals. I'm about 26 miles from the tower and my antenna has remained stationary in the exact same position during the past week or more.


FWIW, I have noticed other peaks and valleys with the WBAL-DT signal over the past year or more. Meanwhile, WJZ-DT and WMAR-DT are always rock-solid consistent with their signal levels. This is strange since all three channels transmit from the same tower, I assume for digital as well as analog.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Thank you for your e mail comments. We are currently installing the necessary equipment to broadcast the CBS News in HD. We expect to be up and running within the next 60 days or less.



Even though they knew about this for months and months... What is it about Baltimore and Washington stations and lack of HD news and/or airing things in HD (like J! and Wheel for awhile). Can't wait to see how many of the syndicated shows that will be available in HD will actually be aired here in HD (Do you think ABC-7 will show Oprah from Day 1?)


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/14406804
> 
> 
> Even though they knew about this for months and months... What is it about Baltimore and Washington stations and lack of HD news and/or airing things in HD (like J! and Wheel for awhile). Can't wait to see how many of the syndicated shows that will be available in HD will actually be aired here in HD (Do you think ABC-7 will show Oprah from Day 1?)



I don't have hight hopes for Entertainment Tonight or Dr. Phil on WJZ.


We'll see about World News Tonight on WMAR which goes HD the week of 9/8. They don't show This Week with George S. in HD.


And then there's Fox News Sunday on WBFF.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14406975
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And then there's Fox News Sunday on WBFF.



I don't actually watch that program, but as far as I know (and I just checked with master control), we carry that in HD.


Fox is easy that way - anything that's available in HD is broadcast in HD, through the Fox Splicer.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/14407266
> 
> 
> I don't actually watch that program, but as far as I know (and I just checked with master control), we carry that in HD.
> 
> 
> Fox is easy that way - anything that's available in HD is broadcast in HD, through the Fox Splicer.



Fox News Sunday is in widescreen SD. It's supposed to go HD in August, unless they switched early and nobody noticed. Since it's already in Fox Widescreen through the splicer, I guess it will be in HD when they make the switch.


----------



## Marcus Carr

More Fun With Baltimore Channels: Last Comic Standing is in HD on WRC but not WBAL!


----------



## Trip in VA

I wasn't aware Last Comic Standing was even available in HD...


- Trip


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/14411572
> 
> 
> I wasn't aware Last Comic Standing was even available in HD...
> 
> 
> - Trip



Apparently it's the first HD episode.


----------



## CycloneGT

Dish Network added a ton of HD today.


Including:


Planet Green

CBS College Sports

Lifetime

Lifetime Movie Channel


Premium Channels:

HBO West, HBO 2, HBO Comedy, HBO Latino, HBO Signature, HBO Zone

Action MAX

Starz West, Starz Comedy, Starz Edge, Starz Kids


and EncoreHD


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/14391852
> 
> 
> Yep... ABC, NBC and CBS have all moved their network bugs into the 4:3 safe zone. Not sure if FOX is doing this...




I don't even notice those any more. The only time it grabs my attention is if there is movement in that area like they sometimes do to advertise a program where something runs across the bottom.

I usually don't even realize the station bug is there unless someone points it out to me.


----------



## mdviewer25

a week without posts with the olympics on, unbelievable!!!


----------



## SUOrangeman

I think everyone is trying to learn if the Opening Ceremonies will ever be available on Blu-Ray. As far as I am concerned, it would be worth it.


Seriously, aside from the forums meltdown, I think all of the Olympics discussion has been over in the HDTV Programming area.


-SUO


----------



## Berto1020

Anyone else have the Big Ten Network added today? Just noticed it now in my channel lineup here in Montclair, VA. Its on channel 257 but can't view it because its "not authorized?"


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/14421520
> 
> 
> a week without posts with the olympics on, unbelievable!!!


 http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1054910


----------



## kurbkidc

Anyone else in NoVA, specifically in manassas, notice that Comcast has had really bad macroblocking or complete channel outages recently. I've had there service here for like 3 years and just within the last like 2 weeks i have had all sorts of channels (HD & SD) stop working or become unwatchable. It all started around the time they added those 2 olympic channels. Anyone else that can shed some light on this would be appreciated. I have a tech coming out on wednesday night hopefully they can figure it out but i would love some input from all you forum dwellers.


Some of the channels with problems

Showtime HD - no picture at all

HBO HD - sporadic picture and sound problems

The N - I love my fresh prince of belair - sporadic problems

NBC HD - trying to watch olympics is impossible because of macroblocking and sound dropouts


Had a few others as well cant remember which though. Also, before you reply, yes, i did reset the box already with no effect. Thanks so much everyone.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Berto1020* /forum/post/14422128
> 
> 
> Anyone else have the Big Ten Network added today? Just noticed it now in my channel lineup here in Montclair, VA. Its on channel 257 but can't view it because its "not authorized?"



Comcast?


I think that is in the sports tier. Do you have that?


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kurbkidc* /forum/post/14422380
> 
> 
> Anyone else in NoVA, specifically in manassas, notice that Comcast has had really bad macroblocking or complete channel outages recently. I've had there service here for like 3 years and just within the last like 2 weeks i have had all sorts of channels (HD & SD) stop working or become unwatchable. It all started around the time they added those 2 olympic channels. Anyone else that can shed some light on this would be appreciated. I have a tech coming out on wednesday night hopefully they can figure it out but i would love some input from all you forum dwellers.



I had this happen twice to me over the past two months. Usually for a week at a time. I'm up in Sterling BTW. Tech came, said there wasn't a problem and my signal was VERY strong. I asked if his equipment could tell drop rate versus just signal strength, and he looked at me like I had two heads. He had no concept of signal strength, versus quality of the signal you do get. Anyway, he said he'd have to escalate the problem. IT was finally fixed a week later. Then a month later, the same thing happened again.


And comcast wonders why I am going FIOS.


----------



## rob base




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Berto1020* /forum/post/14422128
> 
> 
> Anyone else have the Big Ten Network added today? Just noticed it now in my channel lineup here in Montclair, VA. Its on channel 257 but can't view it because its "not authorized?"



Got Big Ten Network on Comcast. Looks SD though







Could be wrong about the SD, it could just be crappy Comcast signal? I have the sports tier which you need to view it.


----------



## mchief99

I'm beginning to think that Comcast's methodology for handling bandwidth problems is to drop HD channels for a day or two. During the past month, 1 or 2 HD channels have gone black only to return a day or two later - usually on the weekend. Calls are a waste of time - the response is "that network must be off the air". I usually call a friend with Cox and insure the channel is working, but the CSRs are hopeless. On one occasion, after getting a little testy, the channel begin working about 10 minutes after I hung up. Apparently no one works weekends at the headend.


----------



## tomrt

Anyone else notice that the audio is not quite in sync during the Olympics on WRC DT? You can only tell when an announcer is on screen, but it's off enough to be annoying. The News and other programming is fine (except for the Nightly News). I have FIOS, but I've also hooked up an antennae and noticed the same problem OTA. The analog channel is fine on FIOS.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tomrt* /forum/post/14426108
> 
> 
> Anyone else notice that the audio is not quite in sync during the Olympics on WRC DT? You can only tell when an announcer is on screen, but it's off enough to be annoying. The News and other programming is fine (except for the Nightly News). I have FIOS, but I've also hooked up an antennae and noticed the same problem OTA. The analog channel is fine on FIOS.



Yup, really annoying. Was like this last time as well. I Tivo mostly OTA for my locals, so I can confirm this isn't a FIOS thing.


Plus, the HD isn't that great, frankly. It's better than SD, but it's like they are using really cheap HD cameras. Yeah, I get that it's expensive to buy the 1,000 HD cameras or whatever they need, but come on, it's 2008 already. Can I get some quality live HD feeds from the Olympics at some point?


----------



## Marcus Carr

The Olympics started in SD again on WBAL at 8:00 and went to HD at 8:15.


----------



## voltore




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tomrt* /forum/post/14426108
> 
> 
> Anyone else notice that the audio is not quite in sync during the Olympics on WRC DT? You can only tell when an announcer is on screen, but it's off enough to be annoying. The News and other programming is fine (except for the Nightly News). I have FIOS, but I've also hooked up an antennae and noticed the same problem OTA. The analog channel is fine on FIOS.



I'm on Cox and the quality really is poor for what should be a flagship event. The sync issues are bad too and even some of the commercials have them!!!


----------



## iontyre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kurbkidc* /forum/post/14422380
> 
> 
> Anyone else in NoVA, specifically in manassas, notice that Comcast has had really bad macroblocking or complete channel outages recently. I've had there service here for like 3 years and just within the last like 2 weeks i have had all sorts of channels (HD & SD) stop working or become unwatchable. It all started around the time they added those 2 olympic channels. Anyone else that can shed some light on this would be appreciated. I have a tech coming out on wednesday night hopefully they can figure it out but i would love some input from all you forum dwellers.
> 
> 
> Some of the channels with problems
> 
> Showtime HD - no picture at all
> 
> HBO HD - sporadic picture and sound problems
> 
> The N - I love my fresh prince of belair - sporadic problems
> 
> NBC HD - trying to watch olympics is impossible because of macroblocking and sound dropouts
> 
> 
> Had a few others as well cant remember which though. Also, before you reply, yes, i did reset the box already with no effect. Thanks so much everyone.




Here in Harford County MD I am having a hell of a time with my Comcast signal. According to my cable modem ROM, my signal strength (downstream) is -14db, when it should be between +8 and -8. My upstream signal is at 58db, when it should be under 55db. Had them out once to replace my crumbling line, and I got downstream up to -9db for a while, and upstream to 57db, but no better than that, and now its gone right back to hell again. Sometimes I am unable to receive some stations, and my sons XBOX 360 has only sporadic ability to connect to XBox Live. I guess I have to call them again and complain, but usually the folks I talk to have no idea what I mean by the modem ROM data.


Great industry.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Sesame Street is in HD starting this week. Not surprisingly, MPT is showing it in SD on the HD channel.


----------



## kurbkidc

Thanks for the replys guys.


The tech will be out tommorrow night, I will post on what they do/say. I am really irked that I missed Weeds on Showtime last night because of the crappy signal. At least I should be able to catch it OnDemand tonight (fingers crossed).


----------



## CycloneGT

I've pretty much given up on MPT's HD effort.


----------



## clifburns




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/14428827
> 
> 
> I've pretty much given up on MPT's HD effort.



It can't be as bad as the mess that parades as WETA's HDTV channel, which doesn't show a large number of PBS's HD offerings, such as the Live from the Met series which was in HD. WETA just showed it in SD on their SD channel. Same with most of the Great Performances shows. Instead, they just run the same awful programming ("America's Heartland," "The Desert Speaks," etc.) over and over again.


Another reason never to give WETA a red cent.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/14428827
> 
> 
> I've pretty much given up on MPT's HD effort.




Me, too. I keep hoping that the DirecTV solution will include a national PBS HD feed for all.


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *clifburns* /forum/post/14429354
> 
> 
> 
> Another reason never to give WETA a red cent.



I've enjoyed new episodes of Nova Science NOW on WETA in HD.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tomrt* /forum/post/14426108
> 
> 
> Anyone else notice that the audio is not quite in sync during the Olympics on WRC DT? You can only tell when an announcer is on screen, but it's off enough to be annoying. The News and other programming is fine (except for the Nightly News). I have FIOS, but I've also hooked up an antennae and noticed the same problem OTA. The analog channel is fine on FIOS.



It's an NBC issue; beyond WRC's control. You'll see the same problem on WBAL-11.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *clifburns* /forum/post/14429354
> 
> 
> It can't be as bad as the mess that parades as WETA's HDTV channel, which doesn't show a large number of PBS's HD offerings, such as the Live from the Met series which was in HD. WETA just showed it in SD on their SD channel. Same with most of the Great Performances shows. Instead, they just run the same awful programming ("America's Heartland," "The Desert Speaks," etc.) over and over again.
> 
> 
> Another reason never to give WETA a red cent.



I do get tired of seeing the same tired shows over and over on WETA HD, but I believe one reason why some PBS shows don't end up on WETA in HD is because MPT has the exclusive rights to those shows in our market.


----------



## vidioteic

I'm catching up on my digests and it seems 8/2-8/10 posts are missing! Anybody else notice or know why?


Regarding the Post about Ravens pre-season not being in HD; Most NFL PreSeason that are not National broadcasts are produced by the team, not by the station that is carrying them.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *vidioteic* /forum/post/14435416
> 
> 
> I'm catching up on my digests and it seems 8/2-8/10 posts are missing! Anybody else notice or know why?


 http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...5#post14422215


----------



## CycloneGT

Looks like my Olympic post was lost too.


----------



## Kent




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/14428827
> 
> 
> I've pretty much given up on MPT's HD effort.



I have a friend who is an engineer at MPT. He says they will be installing new hardware in October that will finally improve their HD effort.


----------



## tripleM

Can some1 explain to me in laymen's term why my NBC-HD on basic Cox cable would all of sudden be remapped from 4-1 to like 114-3 - during primetime no less?


It started happening 2 nights ago, & now my TV doesn't even jump automatically to 114-3 when I select 4-1 anymore.


I haven't done a rescan yet because sometimes it will not pick up 4-1 until Cox flip something on their side...again.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/14436767
> 
> 
> Can some1 explain to me in laymen's term why my NBC-HD on basic Cox cable would all of sudden be remapped from 4-1 to like 114-3 - during primetime no less?



Because Cox modified the mapping info that is sent out with the signal that tells your TV what ch to display when it tunes to that signal.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kent* /forum/post/14436004
> 
> 
> I have a friend who is an engineer at MPT. He says they will be installing new hardware in October that will finally improve their HD effort.



I was under the impression that MPT's HD issues where more financial rather than engineering. I had read that PBS wanted $$$ for all of their HD (Even the SD Widescreen stuff). So MPT balked and instead of running material 24/7 on their HD channel, they only air "certain" programs in HD and just use SD the rest of the time to save money.


----------



## dneily




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Deezul* /forum/post/14429852
> 
> 
> I've enjoyed new episodes of Nova Science NOW on WETA in HD.



Nova Science NOW has never been in HD.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/14436767
> 
> 
> Can some1 explain to me in laymen's term why my NBC-HD on basic Cox cable would all of sudden be remapped from 4-1 to like 114-3 - during primetime no less?
> 
> 
> It started happening 2 nights ago, & now my TV doesn't even jump automatically to 114-3 when I select 4-1 anymore.
> 
> 
> I haven't done a rescan yet because sometimes it will not pick up 4-1 until Cox flip something on their side...again.



I swear they do it to force non tech savvy people to upgrade their service. comcast did it in Eastern Loudoun a couple months ago. Now I have to go to 112-1*** to start the string of broadcast HD channels. Of course they mix in all the foreign channels to make it as difficult as possible to quickly scan.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Count Blah* /forum/post/14438825
> 
> 
> I swear they do it to force non tech savvy people to upgrade their service. comcast did it in Easter Loudoun a couple months ago. Now I have to go to 112-1*** to start the string of broadcast HD channels. Of course they mix in all the foreign channels to make it as difficult as possible to quickly scan.



haha, exactly what i was thinking!

My parents live out that way & yes they have to goto 112 to get their locals mixed with the russian & french propaganda.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/14436941
> 
> 
> Because Cox modified the mapping info that is sent out with the signal that tells your TV what ch to display when it tunes to that signal.



Would a rescan get me back to 4-1?

Cause I'd prefer not to rescan (15 minute job on my sammy) only to have it flip back to something else later on again.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/14437580
> 
> 
> I was under the impression that MPT's HD issues where more financial rather than engineering. I had read that PBS wanted $$$ for all of their HD (Even the SD Widescreen stuff). So MPT balked and instead of running material 24/7 on their HD channel, they only air "certain" programs in HD and just use SD the rest of the time to save money.



Do you know if they run Motorweek or any of their other productions in full widescreen on MPT-DT? My cable provider, RCN, doesn't carry MPT-DT, and I haven't been able to receive it reliably with rabbit ears at my location.


----------



## ConradBain

hey KurbKid - exactly same problems here in Washington DC. TNT-HD, Showtime and even FoodNetwork-HD are all either out or have serious macroblocking going on. GRRR!


anything your tech tells you will be appreciated. haven't bitched to Comcast (yet) but wanted to know what was going on!? don't know enough about how they work their system, but it seems that there's some truth to the theory that they're dealing with bandwidth issues by dropping certain channels.


FIOS can't get here quickly enough!


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/14440122
> 
> 
> Do you know if they run Motorweek or any of their other productions in full widescreen on MPT-DT?



I'm pretty sure Motorweek is full widescreen OTA-DT. The graphics are sometimes cropped on my SDTV; similar to when WBAL uses it's stretch-o-vision. The PQ is _very good_; with minimal compression artifacts.


----------



## kenrowe

Per an ad in yesterday's Gazette newspapers, Comcast in Montgomery will add HD versions of AMC, Animal Planet, CNN, History and TLC on September 12th. To make room, the SD version of AMC will move to digital.


----------



## tonyd79

Today DIRECTV added new HD channels:


286: Planet Green HD

311: ABC Family HD

541: Showtime Showcase HD

542: Showtime Extreme HD


And upgraded RSNs to 24/7 HD:

646: FSN South

647: FSN Midwest

649: Sport South

653: Sun Sports

659: FSN Pittsburgh

668: FSN North

683: FSN Rocky Mountain

686: FSN Arizona

687: FSN Northwest


----------



## dg28

A sign of things to come for NBC4?


And I stress the question mark: I have noticed recently that NBC4 is running HD commercials during their local (still SD) news. Could it have something to do with the Olympics or does it reflect an upcomic change to local HD news? We shall see...


----------



## tmeader

1) Anyone in the DC area receive the firmware upgrade on their Comcast boxes yet? Other areas of the country have been receiving the new version update, which is supposed to FINALLY address the remote control command quueing issues. Comcast seems to know nothing about it though when I called their support line.


2) Is WBAL only broadcasting in Pro-Logic, not Dolby Digital? I've noticed that whenever I check WBAL-HD's Olympic coverage, the audio is never in DD, while any other Olympic Network (UHD, Bravo, etc) seem to be fine.


Thanks.


----------



## lax01




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tmeader* /forum/post/14444278
> 
> 
> 1) Anyone in the DC area receive the firmware upgrade on their Comcast boxes yet? Other areas of the country have been receiving the new version update, which is supposed to FINALLY address the remote control command quueing issues. Comcast seems to know nothing about it though when I called their support line.



That problem was still happening yesterday...drives people nuts.


That would be really nice if they would fix that


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tmeader* /forum/post/14444278
> 
> 
> 2) Is WBAL only broadcasting in Pro-Logic, not Dolby Digital? I've noticed that whenever I check WBAL-HD's Olympic coverage, the audio is never in DD, while any other Olympic Network (UHD, Bravo, etc) seem to be fine.



I've never seen DD5.1 from WBAL-DT. Not even during the last Olympics when at lease WRC-DT went DD5.1.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tmeader* /forum/post/14444278
> 
> 
> 1) Anyone in the DC area receive the firmware upgrade on their Comcast boxes yet? Other areas of the country have been receiving the new version update, which is supposed to FINALLY address the remote control command quueing issues. Comcast seems to know nothing about it though when I called their support line.
> 
> 
> 2) Is WBAL only broadcasting in Pro-Logic, not Dolby Digital? I've noticed that whenever I check WBAL-HD's Olympic coverage, the audio is never in DD, while any other Olympic Network (UHD, Bravo, etc) seem to be fine.
> 
> 
> Thanks.



Aren't all the digital broadcasts in DD. I've seen DD 1.0, 2.0, 2.1, 3.0, 3.1, 4.0, 4.1, 5.0, and 5.1 over the last 7 years but always Dolby Digital.


----------



## raidbuck

As far as MPT goes, we stopped supporting them when they stopped the PBSHD channel and went to simulcast. They are just terrible right now, showing only a few shows in HD and others in SD letterbox. Even my wife, who always gave to one or both of MPT and WETA has stopped giving to MPT (we no longer get WETA on Comcast here) at all. Very poor HD performance. They do show McNeil/Lehrer (not sure the actual name) News Hour in HD, but by 10pm they are done. So it may be money, not equipment, as mentioned before.


----------



## tmeader




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/14444728
> 
> 
> Aren't all the digital broadcasts in DD. I've seen DD 1.0, 2.0, 2.1, 3.0, 3.1, 4.0, 4.1, 5.0, and 5.1 over the last 7 years but always Dolby Digital.



Apologies, what I meant was true 5.1. WBAL is definitely not broadcasting DD5.1. Seems to be stereo only from what I can tell. Very frustrating that I'm forced to get the Baltimore local's now.


----------



## Getafe22

Hello, I am new to the area and was wondering if anyone had RCN or had any information on the quality of RCN's HD channels. I have heard that Comcast is lowering the quality of their HD channels. Anyone have a preference or advice? Thank you.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

The MASN telecast of the Mets - Nationals should be in HD, but isn't, does any one of the other 5,999 fans who watch the Nats on MASN have a good way to call WDCA.


----------



## kenrowe




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/14447370
> 
> 
> The MASN telecast of the Mets - Nationals should be in HD, but isn't, does any one of the other 5,999 fans who watch the Nats on MASN have a good way to call WDCA.



It is available in HD in the DC area on Mojo/MASN-HD (assuming you have access to it).


----------



## albertso

Hey Josh,


What s/w version is it supposed to be that they are going to download? I sure hope MOCO COMCAST gets it out. What a pain!


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> It is available in HD in the DC area on Mojo/MASN-HD (assuming you have access to it).



It was blacked out on D* (626-1) the entire game unfortunately. WDCA has screwed up before on this.


----------



## tmeader




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *albertso* /forum/post/14447465
> 
> 
> Hey Josh,
> 
> 
> What s/w version is it supposed to be that they are going to download? I sure hope MOCO COMCAST gets it out. What a pain!



If you're using a DCT 6412 Phase III (the majority of users I think), the new firmware should be:


75.59 a25p2-2.S1.r-8


Currently in Anne Arundel, we're still on:


74.53-3321


----------



## Johnny Dunn

I'm in zip 22027 and have no clue as to when FIOS will appear. Can anyone help pointing me in the right direction?


I plan on getting an hdtv end of November and will need to get hd reception then. Currently, I have Cox and by all accounts, that's probably not the best way to go.


I'm guessing I'm going to have to sign up for at least 1 year on directv or dish if fios isn't around here by then. Just trying to make a wise decision here before that long of a commitment - thanks for your help.


----------



## azitnay

I wouldn't automatically write off sticking with Cox simply based on what you've read... You never know how your experience may differ.


Drew


----------



## CycloneGT

I live in Fios Turf (I even have FiOS internet in my house) but I am still a Dish Network subscriber because I really like the way their Set Top Boxes function and they have a lot of HD channels. Pricewise, I think they are all pretty much the same (too much).


I think that you will be happy with either Dish or DirectTV. Both also offer the DC locals in HD over the satellite, but you'd want to add an antenna to pick up the ones that they don't carry (see the very first post of this thread for a channel run down).


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/14447370
> 
> 
> The MASN telecast of the Mets - Nationals should be in HD, but isn't, does any one of the other 5,999 fans who watch the Nats on MASN have a good way to call WDCA.



I wonder why WDCA decided not to show the game in HD. They have done HD before for Nationals' games.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Johnny Dunn* /forum/post/14451025
> 
> 
> I'm in zip 22027 and have no clue as to when FIOS will appear. Can anyone help pointing me in the right direction?
> 
> 
> I plan on getting an hdtv end of November and will need to get hd reception then. Currently, I have Cox and by all accounts, that's probably not the best way to go.
> 
> 
> I'm guessing I'm going to have to sign up for at least 1 year on directv or dish if fios isn't around here by then. Just trying to make a wise decision here before that long of a commitment - thanks for your help.



I think it is a 2 year commitment to DirecTV if you go HD or DVR or both. 18 months on Dish?


Anyway, what you want probably depends on what your viewing habits are. If you are a sports junkie and want the out of market NFL or baseball, then DirecTV is your choice. If you want only HD, the Dish probably is better for you as they have an HD only package. Dish is comparable for the NBA and NHL to DirecTV and both have a good choice of movie channels and national HD.


Not sure what Dish has in DC but DirecTV has all the nets (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, MyNetwork, CW) minus PBS in HD (that is supposedly coming but no firm dates). You would probably want OTA for subchannels, and PBS in HD.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Johnny Dunn* /forum/post/14451025
> 
> 
> I'm in zip 22027 and have no clue as to when FIOS will appear. Can anyone help pointing me in the right direction?
> 
> 
> I plan on getting an hdtv end of November and will need to get hd reception then. Currently, I have Cox and by all accounts, that's probably not the best way to go.
> 
> 
> I'm guessing I'm going to have to sign up for at least 1 year on directv or dish if fios isn't around here by then. Just trying to make a wise decision here before that long of a commitment - thanks for your help.




Cox isn't bad just like every other carrier here - they are a bunch of nitwits sometimes. I've had good service with them on both video & data.

Rarely ever drops out. They do tend to nickel & dime you on stuff.


Of course if bundling or broadband is not important to you then by all means shop around.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Johnny Dunn* /forum/post/14451025
> 
> 
> I'm in zip 22027 and have no clue as to when FIOS will appear. Can anyone help pointing me in the right direction?



You are in Dunn Loring, so Verizon Fios may be available. Check http://www22.verizon.com/content/FiosTV/ for availability using both your phone number and street address. If Fios is not yet available, can't help you when it would be. Check the Fios programming thread in the HD Programming forum, the equipment sticky threads in the HDTV Technical and Recorders forums for more detailed info. Verizon currently has 18 national HD and 5 premium HD channels, besides 8 HD locals, CSN-MA HD, and the 2 temp Olympic channels. We should be getting the 1st HD expansion round here in the last half of September, but that has not been confirmed (could see dates posted tonight at the Verizon channel line-up web page). The NY Verizon subscribers now have close to 100 HD channels and all markets are supposed to get 100 HD channels by the end of the year (but schedule slips with Fios are old news).


For the other providers: Cox, Dish, and DirecTV are all viable options for HD. You have to weigh costs, number of HD channels, HD picture quality (Fios, DirecTV very good, the others not so much due to compression), and internet access bundles. Verizon Fios internet service pretty much matches the speeds you pay for: 5 down / 2 up, 10/2, 20/20, etc,


Lastly, if you get a new HD TV, don't forget about the free OTA (Over The Air) option. Because we have 2 close major cities, many of us in the greater DC-Baltimore area get the major stations in both cities OTA with an antenna. All 7 of the broadcast networks that provide HD have full power digital stations in DC and 6 out of 7 in Baltimore (still waiting for WUTB-DT My 24 to switch to HD). It can be useful to get the Baltimore station when the DC network affiliate pre-empts or messes up the network HD programs and as a backup in case your service provider goes off-line.


----------



## kurbkidc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ConradBain* /forum/post/14440271
> 
> 
> hey KurbKid - exactly same problems here in Washington DC. TNT-HD, Showtime and even FoodNetwork-HD are all either out or have serious macroblocking going on. GRRR!
> 
> 
> anything your tech tells you will be appreciated. haven't bitched to Comcast (yet) but wanted to know what was going on!? don't know enough about how they work their system, but it seems that there's some truth to the theory that they're dealing with bandwidth issues by dropping certain channels.
> 
> 
> FIOS can't get here quickly enough!



Conrad,

Sorry to hear of your problems.


Comcast may have some bad CSRs but i must say that there technicians have been very helpful.


As it turns out it wasnt a network wide issue. The problem stems from my living in an apartment building. From what the tech told me, there is basically a main line running to each building which is then spliced off to all the units that subscribe. What happened to me was that someone new moved in and had got cable installed and the installer spliced me onto someone else splice, or something of that nature. This means out of all the people in my building I was getting the least bandwidth. The tech said he arranged things a little less haphazardly so that all residents would get an "equal strength" signal. All channels that were glitching are now working and my internet is around 4 times faster (was 2.5Mbps - now 10+Mbps).


So Conrad if you are in an apartment or condo building I would recommend you relate my story to the tech and see if they can help you. Best of luck!!!


On another note - Watched the Women's (err should be called "girl's", c'mon they are all like 15) gymnastics last night and wow that Nastia chic murdered the Chinese. It was awesome!


----------



## Marcus Carr

Got an email from MPT: Sesame Street will be in HD next week or the week after. (Hopefully more shows will be as well.)


----------



## albertso

tmeader,


I'm in MOCO with a 6412 and I have 74.53-3321 as you have.


Will watch for change. Hope it is soon.


Thanks


----------



## Marcus Carr

Mom says Comcast in AA County is moving a bunch of basic channels (TCM, etc.) to higher numbers on 8/23. Sounds like they are removing a lot of analog channels.


----------



## Theauwolf

This has been brought up before, but has WBAL announced when they will finally give us DD5.1. God forbid we have it for the Olympics, but its almost football season and the new seasons of great NBC shows. The only savior is FIOS gives us WRC out of DC.


----------



## mark_e




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14464256
> 
> 
> Mom says Comcast in AA County is moving a bunch of basic channels (TCM, etc.) to higher numbers on 8/23. Sounds like they are removing a lot of analog channels.



Howard County as well. Just about everything other than the Baltimore broadcast channels are moving to be "grouped for our convenience".


----------



## Johnny Dunn

Thanks for all the input follks. Verizon does have a Directv bundle here so that's what I'm currently leaning towards (have their cell phone service too). Decisions, decisions...


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mark_e* /forum/post/14465649
> 
> 
> Howard County as well. Just about everything other than the Baltimore broadcast channels are moving to be "grouped for our convenience".



Then the same thing should happen in Baltimore. Room for more HD.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Sesame Street is now in HD on MPT.


----------



## afiggatt

Verizon Fios update: At long last, we have some confirmed dates for the big channel re-alignment and first round of HD expansion for our area.


Effective dates added August 18 to the Verizon website at http://www22.verizon.com/content/fio...nel+lineup.htm :

9/18 Anne Arundel/Howard County MD

9/22 Washington Metro

10/1 Baltimore


If I count correctly, 14 additional national HD channels, 8 additional premium HD channels. Big expansion to 100+ HD channels, reportedly later in the year.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14472684
> 
> 
> Verizon Fios update: At long last, we have some dates for the big channel re-alignment and first round of HD expansion for our area.
> 
> 
> Effective dates added August 18 to the Verizon website at http://www22.verizon.com/content/fio...nel+lineup.htm
> 
> 9/18 Anne Arundel/Howard County MD
> 
> 9/22 Washington Metro
> 
> 10/1 Baltimore
> 
> 
> If I count correctly, 14 additional national HD channels, 8 additional premium HD channels. Big expansion to 100+ HD channels, reportedly later in the year.



So it's the same date they've been saying for the last month or two. UNfortunately it's the week that many of the new shows start. Hopefully the channel re-alignment won't affect my recordings.


----------



## bucnasty

dead link for me! i've been looking for this too my landlord wants verizon in the house. anyone care to post a list?


----------



## bucnasty

stolen from dslreports.com!


503 CW — WDCW HD

here are the chanels


504 NBC — WRC HD

505 FOX — WTTG HD

506 My WDCA HD

507 ABC — WJLA HD

509 CBS — WUSA HD

522 PBS — MPT HD

526 PBS — WETA HD

ENTERTAINMENT

550 USA HD

551 TNT HD

552 TBS HD

567 Universal HD

569 HD Net

570 ESPN HD

574 ESPN2 HD

576 Comcast SportsNet

Mid-Atlantic HD

585 Big Ten Network HD

588 NFL Network HD

590 VERSUS/Golf HD

591 Outdoor Channel 2 HD

NEWS

600 CNN HD

602 CNBC HD+

619 The Weather Channel HD

INFO & EDUCATION

620 Discovery Channel HD

621 National Geographic

Channel HD

622 Science Channel HD

625 Smithsonian Channel HD

628 History Channel HD

630 Animal Planet HD

631 HD Theater

639 TLC HD

WOMEN

640 Lifetime HD

641 Lifetime Movie Network HD

HOME & LEISURE

664 Food Network HD

665 HGTV HD

669 Wealth TV HD

POP CULTURE

680 Sci-Fi Channel HD

681 A&E HD

685 Bravo HD

MUSIC

711 MHD

MOVIES

746 HD Net Movies

840 Starz HD

842 Starz Edge HD

845 Starz Kids & Family HD

847 Starz Comedy HD

865 Showtime HD

866 Showtime West HD

869 Showtime 2 HD

885 The Movie Channel HD

886 The Movie Channel West HD

PREMIUMS**

899 HBO HD

901 HBO West HD

920 Cinemax HD

921 Cinemax West HD


oh and sports add ons

1000 TVN Events

1009 Setanta Sports

1010–1015

ESPN Game Plan/Full Court


----------



## dneily




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14472394
> 
> 
> Sesame Street is now in HD on MPT.



I checked out Sesame Street yesterday. It's good to see HD programming during the daytime hours on WMPT.


I just checked the HD schedule on the WMPT website, and Sesame Street does NOT show up (it lists America's Heartland in its timeslot). Also, the schedule has quite a few TO BE ANNOUNCED programs. I wonder if this is just sloppiness by MPT's webmaster, or perhaps an indication of some slots changing to HD programming ??


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/14383911
> 
> 
> It is, but in this case, it's displacing Local Point TV, which was original and interesting.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> (If a bit repetitious... but at least it didn't run infomercials.)
> 
> 
> And they kept the weather subchannel.



I've already watched more of RTN 7 in the past week than I ever did with Local Point TV.


----------



## CycloneGT

Well, let me know if you see Get Smart on the schedule anytime. I see it on the RTN website, but I haven't seen it show up in WJLA schedule yet.


----------



## HokieNav




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bucnasty* /forum/post/14474199
> 
> 
> dead link for me! i've been looking for this too my landlord wants verizon in the house. anyone care to post a list?


 http://www22.verizon.com/NROneRetail..._CLU_91808.pdf


----------



## Marcus Carr

*MASN, Comcast Carriage Deal Hits Snag*


Regional-sports network, cable operator at odds over carriage of Washington Nationals baseball games


By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 8/20/2008 7:05:00 PM


The two-year old deal between the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network and Comcast that settled a long-standing carriage fight has hit a snag.


The FCC Wednesday gave the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) until Mondaya three-business-day extensionto file its response to Comcast, which was in turn responding to a program-access complaint filed against it by MASN.


A MASN spokesman would not comment on the subject of the complaint, but it appears related to the deal, much praised in Washington, that was struck two years ago between Comcast and MASN for the carriage of Washington Nationals Baseball games.


"MASN signed an agreement almost two years ago to be carried on Comcast systems," said Comcast in an e-mailed statement to B&C, "and now MASN has simply decided that it no longer likes the deal it made. Comcast has fulfilled its part of the bargain and intends to hold MASN to the deal it struck. The complaint filed by MASN is completely without merit."


A source familiar with the complaint said the issue boils down to carriage of the network in two markets, Roanoke, Va., and Harrisburg, Pa. MASN says Comcast should be carrying the games there, while Comcast says it has met the terms of the original agreement, which was carriage in 2.1 million households, and did not include carriage of the games in those out-of-market cities.


In August 2006, MASN and Comcast came to terms on carriage after a lengthy carriage fight and under pressure from the FCC as well as legislators who wanted access to the games for themselves and their constitutents.


The carriage fight was related to Comcast's contract to carry the Baltimore Orioles, and the plan by Baltimore Orioles and MASN part-owner Peter Angelos to put those games on MASN. Comcast had argued that it had the right of first refusal on those Orioles games. Angelos, meanwhile, said MASN was not a third party and that he was not putting the Orioles games out for bid after the Comcast contract expired but, instead, keeping them in house.


Comcast, in turn, had chosen not to strike a deal to carry MASN games. Angelos had the rights to the nearby Nationals under an unusual arrangement that had secured his acquiescence to a move of the Montreal Expos to Washington to become the Nationals, a move he feared would siphon fans from his Orioles team, only 35 miles or so away.


In approving Comcast and Time Warner's purchase of bankrupt Adelphia, the FCC had conditioned the deal on regional sports network program access protections, saying that the networks and their hometown games were must-have programming and that Comcast and Time Warner's market power provided opportunity to limit that access. There was even a condition related directly to trying to resolve the MASN complaint.


MASN may have been emboldened to challenge terms of that two-year-old agreement by its recent arbitration victories in a separate challenge to Time Warner carriage of its sports network.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6589327.html


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> A source familiar with the complaint said the issue boils down to carriage of the network in two markets, Roanoke, Va., and Harrisburg, Pa. MASN says Comcast should be carrying the games there, while Comcast says it has met the terms of the original agreement, which was carriage in 2.1 million households, and did not include carriage of the games in those out-of-market cities.



Um, according to Major League Baseball, both Roanoke and Harrisburg are clearly within the Orioles' and Nationals' territory.


----------



## mapper

Wow, Comcast really looks like a big bully in this conflict. Does it really hurt them that much to turn on one channel across _two_ markets? Doesn't the all-mighty MLB have power to do something to a MSO that declines to offer games to _in-market_ areas?


----------



## rfunches




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14164860
> 
> 
> You should be able to get the DC digital stations from Woodbridge with a rooftop antenna. WNVC-DT 56 has a weaker digital signal. You should read back a few posts for my summary on the WNVC 56 transition plan as the station will be going dark for analog & digital in September and is not expected to be able to go back on the air until February 17/18, 2009.
> 
> 
> If you could post a photo of the antenna that would help. But the first step is to make sure that the antenna looks level and not knocked down by the wind or damaged. What type of antenna cable does it have? Old twinlead, RG-59 or RG-6 coaxial? You may need to replace the cable run with new RG-6. However, from Woodbridge, if getting WNVC-DT 56 and WNVT-DT 30 is your primary goal, a good indoor antenna placed high up in the room or facing the window might do the trick. If you have one or can borrow one, try a basic indoor table top UHF loop and VHF rabbit ear antenna. The Silver Sensor UHF antenna is a good UHF antenna if you can borrow one or find one at the store for a reasonable. At this time, save your money and don't buy the expensive indoor antennas with built-in amplifiers that the chain stores push.



I picked up a tabletop UHF/VHF antenna from someone who had been using it for OTA SD/HD. It only sits about five or six feet above ground but I'm able to pull in WRC, WJLA, WNVC, and WPXW. I get a weak signal on WUSA and WTTG -- some audio and video if I help the antenna by holding it -- and nothing out of WETA (though I expected it with their current output power). Picking up WNVC was the main point, but I'm confused as to why I'd pick up WJLA and not WUSA or WTTG, the latter of which actually comes in clearer.


----------



## Jimmy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Johnny Dunn* /forum/post/14451025
> 
> 
> I'm in zip 22027 and have no clue as to when FIOS will appear. Can anyone help pointing me in the right direction?
> 
> 
> I plan on getting an hdtv end of November and will need to get hd reception then. Currently, I have Cox and by all accounts, that's probably not the best way to go.
> 
> 
> I'm guessing I'm going to have to sign up for at least 1 year on directv or dish if fios isn't around here by then. Just trying to make a wise decision here before that long of a commitment - thanks for your help.



About FIOS, an interesting discussion with a new neighbor that just moved into the area from Tampa, Fla. He had Verizon FIOS and went on and on about how bad the service was. It reminded me of my old Directv days. I myself just moved and had to ditch Directv after more than 12yrs. I am in Frederick now with COMCAST and have to say I am pretty pleased so far. It was disturbing however to hear such a negative review from the neighbor about FIOS. I was looking forward to that service if and when it ever got installed around here.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Dish Launches All MPEG4 Service*


August 21, 2008


Without much fanfare, after years of planning last night Dish Networks new all MPEG4 satellite service went live to customers in 21 select cities.


The new service which is being called the Eastern Arc service as it uses a fleet of satellites in the Eastern Arc of the sky. Dish Networks legacy service is now known as its Western Arc service.


The new Eastern Arc service offers all of Dish Network channels to new customers in 100% MPEG4. (Note Eastern Ark does not offer Latino or International channels, if a new customer wants those channels they will be setup on Dish Networks legacy Western Arc service. Besides using all MPEG4 technology the new service also uses Dish Networks new 3rd generation security system.


The new Eastern Arc service lets installers choose which arc they aim at, this new Eastern arc will make installs on the East Coast much easier, as many homes could not get satellite because the satellites were treed out with the new Eastern Arc service this should no longer be an issue. Customers getting installed on the Eastern Arc service will receive a new Dish 1000.4 satellite antenna. This new antenna was designed to hit the Eastern Arc satellites which are at the 61.5, 72.7 and 77 degree orbital locations.


Because the Eastern Arc service requires all MPEG4 satellite receivers, a new dish and updated security cards the Eastern Arc service is currently only for new Dish Network customers.


The 21 DMA's to begin rolling out the new Eastern Arc service are as follows:


Cleveland, OH; Richmond, VA; Tampa, FL; *Baltimore, MD*; Columbia, SC; Green Bay, WI; Greensboro, NC; Providence, RI; Greenville, SC; Knoxville, TN; Raleigh, NC; Hartford, CT; Chicago, IL; Detroit, MI; Charlotte, NC; Dallas, TX; Nashville, TN; Minneapolis, MN; Philadelphia, PA; *Washington, DC*; New York, NY.


The areas served by Eastern Arc will be gradually expanded as the equipment needed for install is more readily available.

http://www.multichannel.com/blog/350...240032024.html


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/14489009
> 
> 
> Wow, Comcast really looks like a big bully in this conflict. Does it really hurt them that much to turn on one channel across _two_ markets? Doesn't the all-mighty MLB have power to do something to a MSO that declines to offer games to _in-market_ areas?



This is too funny. Comcast calls them "out of market" yet Comcast Sports Net Atlantic is local for both markets. Harrisburg is only an hour's drive from Baltimore. How is that out of market? What's next? Annapolis?


----------



## mdviewer25

CBS Evening News in SD on WJZ again.


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/14495832
> 
> 
> CBS Evening News in SD on WJZ again.



Has CBS Evening News ever been in HD on WJZ yet?


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/14499073
> 
> 
> Has CBS Evening News ever been in HD on WJZ yet?



Only on weekends.




(post #5000, again)


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Jimmy* /forum/post/14491250
> 
> 
> About FIOS, an interesting discussion with a new neighbor that just moved into the area from Tampa, Fla. He had Verizon FIOS and went on and on about how bad the service was.



His opinion is certainly an outlier. Were there any specifics?


----------



## gmucklow

Does anybody know if FOX channel 5 in DC has reduced their analog over-the-air signal level. It seems weaker -- or at least has more noise -- here in Arlington.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/14500773
> 
> 
> His opinion is certainly an outlier. Were there any specifics?



That's odd, My sister lives in Tampa & complains about the FIOS Tampa all the time.


----------



## azitnay

My dad recently canceled FIOS and went back to Comcast, both because they wanted to charge him to replace a dead battery in the UPS they installed, and because Comcast ended up saving him money. To each his own, I just wish it was an option here in DC.


Drew


----------



## URFloorMatt

The fall season is almost upon us, so I'll throw out my quarterly question: Any word on HD news from WRC, WJLA, or WTTG? I doubt there's anything from WRC, but it seemed like there had been rumbling from the other two.


----------



## mark_e

I'm out of town and wondering if anyone with a TiVo and cablecard on Comcast Howard County could tell me how the total realignment went?


When it was first announced a while back, I used the online form to let TiVo know what was coming and sent them the new chart. I never heard anything back other than the autoreply.


Thanks.


----------



## azitnay

I got an email from my dad in Columbia saying that his TiVo hadn't yet switched over, as of this morning... I submitted a lineup issue on his behalf, hopefully it comes through soon.


Drew


P.S. He's got a Series2, so no CableCARDs for him.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/14503665
> 
> 
> The fall season is almost upon us, so I'll throw out my quarterly question: Any word on HD news from WRC, WJLA, or WTTG? I doubt there's anything from WRC, but it seemed like there had been rumbling from the other two.



I have not even seen any rumors on WTTG or WJLA lately. Checking the local news in HD thread in the programming forum, WBOC-DT CBS 16 in Salisbury, MD has announced they will be going HD for local news soon. So Salisbury (and Charlottesville) may have as many local stations doing the local news in HD as DC or Baltimore.










The fall season starts on September 8 with a number of network and syndicated shows going HD (ABC evening news & Nightline, 60 Minutes, Oprah/Dr. Phil, others), so a station in DC or Baltimore might go HD local news for the fall season in September. My guess would be WTTG Fox 5 news will go HD this fall.


Meanwhile, the Ion Network has been doing this (large ugly) pop-up countdown with X days remaining to September 8 stating "New Look. New Shows. Positively Entertaining". Nothing on their website about it, but they will be starting new rerun series such as Boston Legal that week. They could be going HD (Ion announced plans last year to provide a 720p channel in the 1st quarter of 08 which never happened). Or maybe they will have a new graphics look with only 14 hours a day of infomercials.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mark_e* /forum/post/14508179
> 
> 
> I'm out of town and wondering if anyone with a TiVo and cablecard on Comcast Howard County could tell me how the total realignment went?
> 
> 
> When it was first announced a while back, I used the online form to let TiVo know what was coming and sent them the new chart. I never heard anything back other than the autoreply.
> 
> 
> Thanks.



No joy on HD Tivo on Comcast Howard County. Pretty much the whole analog (well, lower numbered digital) lineup is messed up. I submittted a change (not the whole lineup, why should I do all their work for them) today.


I'm not very worried. I pretty much only use Comcast for internet and a few HD channels.


----------



## nottenst

Is there something weird with Comcast in PG County right now? I don't have any QAM channels at all coming in at this moment. I'm in Bowie.


----------



## mark_e




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/14508597
> 
> 
> No joy on HD Tivo on Comcast Howard County. Pretty much the whole analog (well, lower numbered digital) lineup is messed up. I submittted a change (not the whole lineup, why should I do all their work for them) today.
> 
> 
> I'm not very worried. I pretty much only use Comcast for internet and a few HD channels.



Thanks. First they had to push the new channel map to the cc's. I was more worried about that going well. Eventually TiVo and Times Mirror will catch up.


----------



## Angryguy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/14509352
> 
> 
> Is there something weird with Comcast in PG County right now? I don't have any QAM channels at all coming in at this moment. I'm in Bowie.



I was wondering the same thing (I'm in Greenbelt) and was wondering if it was just me. I've got no QAM reception tonight, except for a few of the odd ones (ie:high-numbered PBS-HD and TNT-HD-with-no-sound, although LOTR looks good enough to watch on there without sound atm...).


Have you been able to get Fox-HD lately from comcast? For a few months now, 5.1 has been non-existent for me - and before that it came in well (as long as my cell phone was nowhere near the cable line ...)


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Angryguy* /forum/post/14509742
> 
> 
> I was wondering the same thing (I'm in Greenbelt) and was wondering if it was just me. I've got no QAM reception tonight, except for a few of the odd ones (ie:high-numbered PBS-HD and TNT-HD-with-no-sound, although LOTR looks good enough to watch on there without sound atm...).
> 
> 
> Have you been able to get Fox-HD lately from comcast? For a few months now, 5.1 has been non-existent for me - and before that it came in well (as long as my cell phone was nowhere near the cable line ...)



I'm glad to see I'm not alone. Maybe someone will have an explanation. Sorry I can't recall whether we could get 5.1 or not lately on Comcast.


----------



## folksnake

Hi All-

I'm looking for Winegard dealers in the Washington or Baltimore areas, a place I can just walk in to and get a HD-8200P or HD-7084P.


It's harder and harder to find a listing for antenna dealers in phone books, or their online equivalents...better to ask those who know: you!


Picking one up in person might end up costing about as much as paying for shipping, and safer for the antenna. I've heard some stories about antennas getting dinged up pretty good during shipping.


Anyone know of stores that carry these items in the Wash/Balt area?


Thanks a bunch-


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *folksnake* /forum/post/14511363
> 
> 
> Hi All-
> 
> I'm looking for Winegard dealers in the Washington or Baltimore areas, a place I can just walk in to and get a HD-8200P or HD-7084P.



Try googling "_Winegard Dealers_" 2 dealers in Baltimore, and 1 in Stephensville MD.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/14509352
> 
> 
> Is there something weird with Comcast in PG County right now? I don't have any QAM channels at all coming in at this moment. I'm in Bowie.



I haven't checked lately but there was already something weird when I checked on Thursday. They removed the Baltimore channels and had 4 and 9 duplicated. 4, 9, Weatherplus, and Doppler 9000 were on 117 and 122. What are they doing?


----------



## folksnake

Thanks!


I've used that search function on the Winegard site and found it to be inaccurate and/or out-of-date. My experience with those sorts of things has been spotty--sometimes good, sometimes bad, but often companies don't bother to keep them up-to-date. I'm hoping people with personal experience in Balt/Wash area can help fill in the gaps.


When I use their search page, for instance, it doesn't show at least one local (to me, here in Frederick) dealer that I know sells Winegard gear (but at wildly inflated prices, before anyone asks why I don't buy from them). So I know for certain the search page misses some dealers...


----------



## Digital Rules

Ant online sells both antennas you are looking for. They have a warehouse in Waynesboro, PA. Not sure if they allow walk-in's. They are so close to you that shipping might not be too risky though.


----------



## folksnake




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/14511882
> 
> 
> Ant online sells both antennas you are looking for. They have a warehouse in Waynesboro, PA. Not sure if they allow walk-in's. They are so close to you that shipping might not be too risky though.



Man, they would be perfect if they let me walk-in. Not far from me at all.


Thanks for the tip!


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/14511625
> 
> 
> I haven't checked lately but there was already something weird when I checked on Thursday. They removed the Baltimore channels and had 4 and 9 duplicated. 4, 9, Weatherplus, and Doppler 9000 were on 117 and 122. What are they doing?



I have not been using my basic Cable for several days, and I just checked.

I now find QAM channels on 117,118,119,124,132,133, and 134, with nothing on 122,123, and 130 as before. I recall reading a statement that Comcast was going to do some changes in late August. I suggest things will be erratic for QAM channels for the near future.


----------



## lax01

Just lost all of my recordings on my POS 3416...I'm about to throw the DVR out a window...


----------



## Angryguy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/14512011
> 
> 
> I have not been using my basic Cable for several days, and I just checked.
> 
> I now find QAM channels on 117,118,119,124,132,133, and 134, with nothing on 122,123, and 130 as before. I recall reading a statement that Comcast was going to do some changes in late August. I suggest things will be erratic for QAM channels for the near future.



I just rescanned my listing, and it seems that they've just moved every QAM station around again to make things interesting. Seems that there's now no QAM stations available below 81, with most of the stations at 115 and up.


Guess it's time to delete my channel-listing spreadsheet and start over .... to bad there aren't any actual listings of the QAM stations anywhere (or is there one I don't know about?).


With ATSC at least when you press the info button on the TV, it gives you the station name and program listing. For some reason, not a single Comcast QAM station sends this information though ...


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/14503665
> 
> 
> The fall season is almost upon us, so I'll throw out my quarterly question: Any word on HD news from WRC, WJLA, or WTTG? I doubt there's anything from WRC, but it seemed like there had been rumbling from the other two.



WJLA and WTTG were saying that HD news would be coming "soon" about six months ago, but both have been silent on the subject for a while now. And local HD news on WRC isn't even on the radar.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Angryguy* /forum/post/14512861
> 
> 
> I just rescanned my listing, and it seems that they've just moved every QAM station around again to make things interesting. Seems that there's now no QAM stations available below 81, with most of the stations at 115 and up. ...
> 
> With ATSC at least when you press the info button on the TV, it gives you the station name and program listing. For some reason, not a single Comcast QAM station sends this information though ...



I guess it will be just a matter of time before the network channels get remapped to their actual numbers, then. When I scanned this morning, nothing appeared along side the network numbers. I didn't go to the higher numbers to check out what was going on. Just a little while ago, I did find a CW station at the same value where it had been (132-2).


Neil


----------



## rviele




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/14511449
> 
> 
> Try googling "_Winegard Dealers_" 2 dealers in Baltimore, and 1 in Stephensville MD.



baynesville electronics. towson.md on joppa rd. i believe their no is 410-823=0082.


----------



## folksnake




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rviele* /forum/post/14513049
> 
> 
> baynesville electronics. towson.md on joppa rd. i believe their no is 410-823=0082.



Thanks--I may use them. They're great; though I haven't been there in at least 10 years. Great old-style electronics store. I'll call them in the morning.


Thanks!


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *folksnake* /forum/post/14513740
> 
> 
> Thanks--I may use them. They're great; though I haven't been there in at least 10 years. Great old-style electronics store. I'll call them in the morning.
> 
> 
> Thanks!



They're a little pricey though. Saw the HD-1080 there, at list price (vs. about 50% off online.) Baynesville's prices have always been a bit high, which is fine when you need something in a hurry. But lately their prices seem higher than ever. At least they're friendly!


----------



## folksnake




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmsjr* /forum/post/14514189
> 
> 
> They're a little pricey though. Saw the HD-1080 there, at list price (vs. about 50% off online.) Baynesville's prices have always been a bit high, which is fine when you need something in a hurry. But lately their prices seem higher than ever. At least they're friendly!




Hmmm...interesting. Is this the price of staying in business, in a world where things are ordered from afar at the click of a mouse button, and the number of folks doing work with actual electronic components is dwindling? Maybe.


I will check them out--but it sounds similar to what I was quoted at a mom-and-pop TV repair/antenna place here in Frederick; they were asking twice the price of online dealers. Shame it's that way; I'd really like to buy from them.


----------



## tjfounder

This problem started yesterday. I'm in PG county and have been using my Sony HDD500 Box to get the local HD channels off Comcast. I now get no signal for any HD channel. My buddy lives in greenbelt and has the same box , and also cant get the local HD channels. These local HD channels are supposed to come in clear with any QAM tuner, and the box has been fine until yesterday. I have another friend who has the Comcast box and he can get the local HD channels. I figured maybe they remapped the channels, so I did another scan but could not pick up any Local HD off cable. Anyone know whats going on here? We are supposed to get these Local HD channels 4 5 7 9 20 50 with any QAM tuner.


If they have been re mapped does anyone know the new numbers?


----------



## tjfounder




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Angryguy* /forum/post/14509742
> 
> 
> I was wondering the same thing (I'm in Greenbelt) and was wondering if it was just me. I've got no QAM reception tonight, except for a few of the odd ones (ie:high-numbered PBS-HD and TNT-HD-with-no-sound, although LOTR looks good enough to watch on there without sound atm...).
> 
> 
> Have you been able to get Fox-HD lately from comcast? For a few months now, 5.1 has been non-existent for me - and before that it came in well (as long as my cell phone was nowhere near the cable line ...)




The problem started yesterday with me as well. I rescanned but have had no luck picking up local HD. I hooked up my antenna to get OTA, but its always a crapshoot and the OTA signals are never stable in my location.


----------



## Skeptic Tank




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tjfounder* /forum/post/14514458
> 
> 
> This problem started yesterday. I'm in PG county and have been using my Sony HDD500 Box to get the local HD channels off Comcast. I now get no signal for any HD channel. My buddy lives in greenbelt and has the same box , and also cant get the local HD channels. These local HD channels are supposed to come in clear with any QAM tuner, and the box has been fine until yesterday. I have another friend who has the Comcast box and he can get the local HD channels. I figured maybe they remapped the channels, so I did another scan but could not pick up any Local HD off cable. Anyone know whats going on here? We are supposed to get these Local HD channels 4 5 7 9 20 50 with any QAM tuner.
> 
> 
> If they have been re mapped does anyone know the new numbers?



4 and 9 moved from 122 to 117.

7 and 26 moved from 123 to 118.

I don't know about 5, 20, or 50.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Skeptic Tank* /forum/post/14516294
> 
> 
> 4 and 9 moved from 122 to 117.
> 
> 7 and 26 moved from 123 to 118.
> 
> I don't know about 5, 20, or 50.



Thanks for the information. I guess at the present time, Comcast is not including whatever information my TV needs to remap those to 4-1, 9-1, etc. Anyone know how that works?


Neil


----------



## Marcus Carr

WBOC in Salisbury, MD switches to HD news this week.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6588019.html


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/14516684
> 
> 
> Thanks for the information. I guess at the present time, Comcast is not including whatever information my TV needs to remap those to 4-1, 9-1, etc. Anyone know how that works?
> 
> 
> Neil



I just switched from Comcast to FiOS. But before that, Comcast switched all the locals here from their 4-1, 9-1, etc... all to 112-1801 thru 115-1804 and it was like that for the final 2-3 months I was on Comcast. So I wouldn't hold out hope that it gets changed anytime soon. As I said in an earlier post, it appears to be Comcast forcing the less technically savvy user to up their service.


Good Luck.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14516698
> 
> 
> WBOC in Salisbury, MD switches to HD news this week.
> 
> http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6588019.html



Good to hear,


It looks terrible now; even on an SD display.


----------



## Marcus Carr

ABC World News, Nightline, 20/20, Primetime going HD.


All primetime dramas, comedies, and movies, all news programs (except for ABC World News Now?), and The View will be in HD on ABC .

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...3#post14515663 


And of course, Wheel and Jeopardy are in HD on WMAR. (But, sadly, not their local news.)


----------



## tjfounder




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Skeptic Tank* /forum/post/14516294
> 
> 
> 4 and 9 moved from 122 to 117.
> 
> 7 and 26 moved from 123 to 118.
> 
> I don't know about 5, 20, or 50.



Thanks for the info. However I tried 117 and 118 and get no signal. I wonder if they moved them again? Did they have the same sub channel 1 for 9 and 2 for 4 as compared to the old 122-1 and 122-2?


----------



## machpost

RCN in D.C. has added ESPNU on channel 120, and has moved SoapNet to channel 98. I've also heard that they'll be going digital-only by the end of the year.


----------



## Berto1020

NBC's two High-Definition specialty channels for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, the Olympic Soccer Channel and Olympic Basketball Channel, have been removed here in Prince William County on Comcast. Will Comcast add new HD networks in place of them?


----------



## Marcus Carr

Olympic channels still on in Baltimore.


----------



## Marcus Carr

ABC World News is in HD on WMAR.


----------



## Marcus Carr

CBS Evening News still SD on WJZ.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tjfounder* /forum/post/14520249
> 
> 
> Thanks for the info. However I tried 117 and 118 and get no signal. I wonder if they moved them again? Did they have the same sub channel 1 for 9 and 2 for 4 as compared to the old 122-1 and 122-2?



After rescanning, I got NBC on 117-1 and WRC-DT on 117-2, CBS on 117-3, CBS weather on 117-4. ABC on 118-1, some subchannel on 118-2, ABC weather on 118-3. WETA-HD on 118-4 and their three other subchannels on 118-5, -6, and -7. I couldn't find the other networks yet.


Neil


----------



## nottenst

I went further on past 118 and wrote down what I could identify. There are religious channels and GAC on 119-x. VS on 124-19. TNT (w/o audio) on 127-5. FOX 5 was on 132-1. CW on 132-2. MY 20 on 133-1. I think MhZ1-3 were on 133-2, -3, -4. NTA (?) on 133-5. A&E on 134-2.


Neil


----------



## Skeptic Tank




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tjfounder* /forum/post/14520249
> 
> 
> Thanks for the info. However I tried 117 and 118 and get no signal. I wonder if they moved them again? Did they have the same sub channel 1 for 9 and 2 for 4 as compared to the old 122-1 and 122-2?



As of 9:15 PM 8/25 I'm still getting them on 117 and 118. They changed the subchannel order to a more sensible one.


117-1 NBC4 HD.

117-2 NBC4 Weather plus.

117-3 CBS9 HD.

117-4 Doppler 9000.


118-1 ABC7 HD.

118-2 RTN 7.

118-3 7 Super Doppler.

118-4 WETA HD.

118-5,6,7 WETA SD channels.


I'm in Northern P.G. If you're in a different area your channels might be different. I found mine by tuning to the Doppler 9000 channel on my digital cable box, going into the service menu to find the frequency, then finding the channel number which corresponded to that frequency.


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Skeptic Tank* /forum/post/14522500
> 
> 
> As of 9:15 PM 8/25 I'm still getting them on 117 1nd 118. They changed the subchannel order to a more sensible one.
> 
> 
> 117-1 NBC4 HD.
> 
> 117-2 NBC4 Weather plus.
> 
> 117-3 CBS9 HD.
> 
> 117-4 Doppler 9000.
> 
> 
> 118-1 ABC7 HD.
> 
> 118-2 RTN 7.
> 
> 118-3 7 Super Doppler.
> 
> 118-4 WETA HD.
> 
> 118-5,6,7 WETA SD channels.



Fox5 HD is 15.1

CW50 HD is 15.2

MY20 HD is 16.1


----------



## tjfounder




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Skeptic Tank* /forum/post/14522500
> 
> 
> As of 9:15 PM 8/25 I'm still getting them on 117 1nd 118. They changed the subchannel order to a more sensible one.
> 
> 
> 117-1 NBC4 HD.
> 
> 117-2 NBC4 Weather plus.
> 
> 117-3 CBS9 HD.
> 
> 117-4 Doppler 9000.
> 
> 
> 118-1 ABC7 HD.
> 
> 118-2 RTN 7.
> 
> 118-3 7 Super Doppler.
> 
> 118-4 WETA HD.
> 
> 118-5,6,7 WETA SD channels.
> 
> 
> I'm in Northern P.G. If you're in a different area your channels might be different. I found mine by tuning to the Doppler 9000 channel on my digital cable box, going into the service menu to find the frequency, then finding the channel number which corresponded to that frequency.



Im also in Northern PG. Here is a funny thing. I can get the channels with the Sharp aquos tuner, and my LG3410a DVR tuner, but my Sony Hdd500 DVR cant pick up the signals. Channel numbers are the same for me. I will look into the Sony again, reboot the system and rescan.


----------



## ammar249

Nightline is in SD on WJLA ABC7 Washington


----------



## Marcus Carr

And WMAR in Baltimore.


----------



## bmfc1

It looks like Comcast will finally "give" us ESPNU:

http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/59824 


"What won’t be announced next week, though, is a forthcoming agreement between ESPN and Comcast that will initially put ESPNU in about 7 million Comcast homes. That deal could be finalized in the coming weeks and could potentially give ESPNU full digital basic distribution of around 14 million homes on the country’s biggest cable operator. ESPNU, which is in 25 million homes, previously had failed to gain carriage on Comcast, but this deal eventually could push it to reach about 40 million homes, a critical threshold for advertising, industry sources say."


----------



## maestro73

Vs. went from Bloodsport to some weird 4 channel mini split-screen display with some logo that read "Central" across the top, to then becoming a simulcast of BTN. And CNN-HD is a blank screen.


Anyone see this? On Comcast, btw.


----------



## CycloneGT

Sounds like they were testing some Mosaic type of scheme. Dish uses this sometimes, but its never on a public channel. They put it on their Dish Home software app and cover up the borders with graphics.


----------



## maestro73

Thanks Cyclone. Good to know.


Everything's back to normal, thankfully. WETA's coverage is tough to watch.


----------



## tripleM

Any1 know where 4-1 & 7-1 went to on Cox in Fx Cty?


9-1 & 5-1 are still where they are supposed to be.


----------



## tjfounder




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tjfounder* /forum/post/14523263
> 
> 
> Im also in Northern PG. Here is a funny thing. I can get the channels with the Sharp aquos tuner, and my LG3410a DVR tuner, but my Sony Hdd500 DVR cant pick up the signals. Channel numbers are the same for me. I will look into the Sony again, reboot the system and rescan.




The Sony problem is identified.


Comcast in remapping the clear QAM channels assigned a 4 digit subchannel to the locals. The Sony tuner could not find it in the scan, but by manually tuning in the 4 digit subchannel I found all of the stations. However the TV guide scheduling software cant accept 4 digit channels so I have to schedule and record manually.


Here are the Comcast 4 digit assignments in Northern PG county for the major networks.


4 117.1801

5 132.1501

7 118.1701

9 117.1803


50 132.1502


----------



## Digital Rules

Did anyone catch WBOC HD news?? What a huge improvement!!!! I'm only watching in SD though . Anybody have feedback on an HD display? I do see some compression issues; but not excessive.


Glen


----------



## ammar249

Once again Nightline is in SD on WJLA ABC7


I'm not sure what's going on in the control room tonight...


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ammar249* /forum/post/14531276
> 
> 
> Once again Nightline is in SD on WJLA ABC7
> 
> 
> I'm not sure what's going on in the control room tonight...



And WMAR. Pathetic.


----------



## tonyd79

For the 9,000 who watch Nationals games on MASN and the very few more who watch the Orioles there, DirecTV moved MASN from 626/626-1 to 640/640-1 and MASN2 from 671/671-1 to 641/641-1 today. Comcast Sportsnet MidAtlantic was moved from 629 to 642 last week (SD and HD).


----------



## bucnasty

does anyone else have terrible sound on fios? live tv i have no sound at all and on demand is all sorts of choppy


----------



## tripleM

this digital - HDTV thing sucks.

the way us consumers are being jerked around is unacceptable.


----------



## CycloneGT

I'm a consumer and I've been digital for over 5 years now. No one has jerked me around yet. Its everyone who is waiting until the last minute to make the change that will be the super whiners And what? Everyone else is supposed to jump through hoops to placate them?


----------



## tripleM

You don't consider moving the HD channels around as being a tad clownish not to mention the poor service we get overall from the providers.


There's a reason this thread is 6300 posts long & it isn't to complement very many entities involved in this digital shenanigan.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/14534964
> 
> 
> You don't consider moving the HD channels around as being a tad clownish not to mention the poor service we get overall from the providers.
> 
> 
> There's a reason this thread is 6300 posts long & it isn't to complement very many entities involved in this digital shenanigan.



You are bouncing around WAY too much. This rant looks nothing like your original post.


Yes, moving channels around is clownish, but that's a different argument than the "this digital - HDTV thing sucks" that you originally went with, and CycloneGT responded to.


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/14534964
> 
> 
> You don't consider moving the HD channels around as being a tad clownish not to mention the poor service we get overall from the providers.
> 
> 
> There's a reason this thread is 6300 posts long & it isn't to complement very many entities involved in this digital shenanigan.



I get my 4-1 on 4-1, 7-3 on 7-3, etc., on my D* boxes. Direct your anger at the cable companies who keep moving the channels, not the "digital transition" in general. OTA reception has been working fine for quite a while. There will be another hiccup when some station have to switch back, but there's nothing then preventing cable companies from moving things around again.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Deezul* /forum/post/14535247
> 
> 
> I get my 4-1 on 4-1, 7-3 on 7-3, etc., on my D* boxes. Direct your anger at the cable companies who keep moving the channels, not the "digital transition" in general. OTA reception has been working fine for quite a while. There will be another hiccup when some station have to switch back, but there's nothing then preventing cable companies from moving things around again.



I thought I was.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Count Blah* /forum/post/14535243
> 
> 
> You are bouncing around WAY too much. This rant looks nothing like your original post.
> 
> 
> Yes, moving channels around is clownish, but that's a different argument than the "this digital - HDTV thing sucks" that you originally went with, and CycloneGT responded to.



Sorry if my terminology is ambiguous. But it has nothing with the conversion to digital but more the execution of it by carriers.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Deezul* /forum/post/14535247
> 
> 
> I get my 4-1 on 4-1, 7-3 on 7-3, etc., on my D* boxes. Direct your anger at the cable companies who keep moving the channels, not the "digital transition" in general. OTA reception has been working fine for quite a while. There will be another hiccup when some station have to switch back, but there's nothing then preventing cable companies from moving things around again.



It might be more than just a hiccup when the stations change their frequencies around the transition. Looking on AntennaWeb I see there are several stations with post-transition frequencies. When will they change? Does it happen at midnight at February 16? What about folks who have Windows Media Center and have had to have workarounds because the media guides have the post-transition frequencies in them right now?


There have been a lot of problems with the transition and there will probably be more. The whole CECB business has been a mess as well.


Neil


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/14535460
> 
> 
> Sorry if my terminology is ambiguous. But it has nothing with the conversion to digital but more the execution of it by carriers.



Gotcha. That was one of the reasons I switched from Comcast to FiOS. They constantly switched the channels around to the most inconvenient places 112-1804 for NBC?!?!?! 115-1904 for Fox, etc... All when they have the capability to map those to 4-1, 5-1, 7-1, 9-1, etc...?!?!?


Come on, that is total bush league. And thanks to them doing that, they lost a customer.


Lots of people here get their HD from OTA antennas. I used to for a while, but it was a bit too inconsistent for me. If the prices keep on going up, and the stations finally get their act together post Feb. 2009, I might be joining them again.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Count Blah* /forum/post/14536873
> 
> 
> Gotcha. That was one of the reasons I switched from Comcast to FiOS. They constantly switched the channels around to the most inconvenient places 112-1804 for NBC?!?!?! 115-1904 for Fox, etc... All when they have the capability to map those to 4-1, 5-1, 7-1, 9-1, etc...?!?!?
> 
> 
> Come on, that is total bush league. And thanks to them doing that, they lost a customer.
> 
> 
> Lots of people here get their HD from OTA antennas. I used to for a while, but it was a bit too inconsistent for me. If the prices keep on going up, and the stations finally get their act together post Feb. 2009, I might be joining them again.



Exactly! you've summarized it.


----------



## CycloneGT

Sorry, tripleM, I was responding to just that one post and didn't read back to take every thing in context.


yes, that shifting around of the QAM cable numbers is a mess, and the cable companies would be wise to cut it out. Now that is screwing around with the customers.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/14537154
> 
> 
> Sorry, tripleM, I was responding to just that one post and didn't read back to take every thing in context.
> 
> 
> yes, that shifting around of the QAM cable numbers is a mess, and the cable companies would be wise to cut it out. Now that is screwing around with the customers.



My frustrations makes me less articulate!

No harm. It's just TV. haha.


----------



## Marcus Carr

WUTB is back to 720p and *no stretch*. Maybe some HD finally.


----------



## tjfounder




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/14537154
> 
> 
> yes, that shifting around of the QAM cable numbers is a mess, and the cable companies would be wise to cut it out. Now that is screwing around with the customers.



Exactly. This latest move of adding a 4 digit sub channel to the local clear QAM signals has turned my SONY DVR into a VCR as far as functionality goes. Comcast had to know that. Even if they moved the channels around why coudnt they have used a 3 digit or less subchannel.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14537508
> 
> 
> WUTB is back to 720p and *no stretch*. Maybe some HD finally.



Saw your post while Twilight Zone was on MyNetwork. It was upconverted SD on WUTB-DT 24 but in HD on WDCA-DT 20. So WUTB-DT still needs to get the My Network HD feed. But it may be days before another true HD program or movie is on My Network.


----------



## johnqpixel

I just noticed that Verizon FIOS has updated the IMG software in Howard County today to version 1.6 and this fixes the green bar issue from the STB's HDMI outputs as well as a few other things less important to me. i did not see this posted in the local forum.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/14535522
> 
> 
> It might be more than just a hiccup when the stations change their frequencies around the transition. Looking on AntennaWeb I see there are several stations with post-transition frequencies. When will they change? Does it happen at midnight at February 16? ...
> 
> There have been a lot of problems with the transition and there will probably be more. The whole CECB business has been a mess as well.



The change for most stations that are changing their physical digital broadcast channels in our area will be at around midnight on February 17. Or least that is their stated plan.


We have 2 stations in the greater Wash-Baltimore that will shut down early. WNVC-DT MHz 56 in Fairfax will go dark in September for both analog and digital. WNVC-DT will have to wait for WUTB 24 to go off the air before they can start up a new digital signal on UHF 24, probably the morning of February 18. WNVC-DT did get approval to operate at 160 kW on UHF 24 which should give them a larger coverage area than their analog signal.


WMDT-DT ABC 47 in Salisbury will be doing the transition early by shutting down their analog signal on September 20, then flash their digital broadcast to UHF 47 shortly thereafter.


The big transition for most OTA viewers will be WJLA-DT 7, WUSA-DT 9, WBAL-DT 11, WJZ-DT 13 all moving from UHF to their upper VHF channels. Some may have to adjust their antennas, some may have to upgrade their UHF only antenna. WHAG-DT NBC 25 in Hagerstown will finally fire up a full power digital signal on UHF 26, so that will be improved. I'm not getting into all the changes here, but except for the question of WBAL-DT 11 with a rather weak 5 kW ERP allocation, digital OTA reception should be improved in general for the Washington DC and Baltimore DMAs.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14538941
> 
> 
> Saw your post while Twilight Zone was on MyNetwork. It was upconverted SD on WUTB-DT 24 but in HD on WDCA-DT 20. So WUTB-DT still needs to get the My Network HD feed. But it may be days before another true HD program or movie is on My Network.



Sure wish I could get that signal down here in Forestville. The analog signal is real clear. Digital was 1% last night. wow


----------



## Marcus Carr

Nightline FINALLY in HD on WMAR.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14539823
> 
> 
> Nightline FINALLY in HD on WMAR.



But was still in SD on WJLA-DT 7. Yoo-hoo, WJLA, you are a top 10 DMA station, shouldn't you be aware that ABC is providing Nightline in HD?


Also, Verizon Fios added ESPNU-HD this morning at channel 848. The new channel is not yet in the guide, but I found it by scrolling up through the channels. I expect ESPNU-HD will be added to the guide later today or tomorrow when they send out an updated guide.


Channel 848 is at the same QAM 81 channel (567 MHz in the diagnostics display) as the two temporary HD Olympic channels. Since Verizon showed Sci-Fi HD here and in several other markets on the temporary HD channels before the Olympics, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Verizon will add that too very soon, so we don't have to wait until the re-alignment and HD expansion gets to the Washington Metro market on Sept. 22. CNBC-HD+ and USA-HD remain at channels 879 and 884, buried in the locals plus SD channel group.


----------



## kenrowe

From today's Examiner. http://www.dcexaminer.com/sports/Jim...k_at_MASN.html 


Examiner » The most asked question that I get has to do with getting more Orioles and Nationals games in High Definition. Will we get more next season?


Chris Glass » The short answer in yes. I can tell you that we are ready right now to do all the Nationals and Orioles games both home and away in HD. We use the same HD remote trucks for our MASN-HD games that ESPN uses for Sunday Night Baseball so there is no cutting corners. The key is getting a dedicated MASN-HD channel, with a backup for the over flow games. We are working hard with our cable partners to get that for next year. _Right now I can say that we will have more games next year in HD_.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kenrowe* /forum/post/14541250
> 
> 
> From today's Examiner. http://www.dcexaminer.com/sports/Jim...k_at_MASN.html
> 
> 
> Examiner » The most asked question that I get has to do with getting more Orioles and Nationals games in High Definition. Will we get more next season?
> 
> 
> Chris Glass » The short answer in yes. I can tell you that we are ready right now to do all the Nationals and Orioles games both home and away in HD. We use the same HD remote trucks for our MASN-HD games that ESPN uses for Sunday Night Baseball so there is no cutting corners. The key is getting a dedicated MASN-HD channel, with a backup for the over flow games. We are working hard with our cable partners to get that for next year. _Right now I can say that we will have more games next year in HD_.



This is great news, and I hope they follow through. Despite the many complaints thrown at MASN, the picture quality of their HD baseball production is superb, as good as anyone out there. And as far as a dedicated MASN HD channel, they already have a dedicated slot on RCN. Seeing all Nationals and Orioles games in HD for 2009 would be a dream come true.


----------



## TimGoodwin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/14541318
> 
> 
> This is great news, and I hope they follow through. Despite the many complaints thrown at MASN, the picture quality of their HD baseball production is superb, as good as anyone out there. And as far as a dedicated MASN HD channel, they already have a dedicated slot on RCN. Seeing all Nationals and Orioles games in HD for 2009 would be a dream come true.



I saw this earlier today. It would be really, really great news. But for some reason I not gonna hold my breath on this one just yet.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TimGoodwin* /forum/post/14541868
> 
> 
> I saw this earlier today. It would be really, really great news. But for some reason I not gonna hold my breath on this one just yet.



Agreed on all counts.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> But was still in SD on WJLA-DT 7. Yoo-hoo, WJLA, you are a top 10 DMA station, shouldn't you be aware that ABC is providing Nightline in HD



Top 10 market but the station is run at times like a bottom 10 market (movies pre-empting network shows, lack of HD news, late to the game getting J! and Wheel in HD, and only when they got a good deal on the needed HD recorder, and so on).


I don't expect Oprah to be in HD next month, either. Hopefully the Nightline issue is a "flipping the switch" thing


----------



## prth8machine

Hey guys, new to the area using FiOS in Rockville. I noticed ESPNU HD today on Channel 848.


----------



## dneily




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *prth8machine* /forum/post/14543380
> 
> 
> Hey guys, new to the area using FiOS in Rockville. I noticed ESPNU HD today on Channel 848.



This is great timing. Maryland Terps football this Saturday at 3:45 p.m. on ESPNU !


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *prth8machine* /forum/post/14543380
> 
> 
> Hey guys, new to the area using FiOS in Rockville. I noticed ESPNU HD today on Channel 848.



ESPNU HD was supposed to launch today on RCN, but with no explanation, it hasn't shown up yet


----------



## ammar249

Nightline still in SD on WJLA-DT 7, this is just sad...


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ammar249* /forum/post/14547714
> 
> 
> Nightline still in SD on WJLA-DT 7, this is just sad...



I thought it was in SD tonight on WMAR-DT 2 as well. But as I started writing this, they either switched to HD or it was SD field reports. Still SD on WJLA-DT 7. Has anyone asked WJLA about no HD for nightline and gotten an answer? Maybe they will figure out they need to tell the late shift to throw the switch by next week.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

I don't see this being anything more than "throwing a switch" DC, first in politics, last in the NL East (and hopefully not last in the NFC East), last in HD News. Sad.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/14549504
> 
> 
> I don't see this being anything more than "throwing a switch" DC, first in politics, *last in the NL East* (and *hopefully not last in the NFC East*), last in HD News. Sad.



What do you care, you're a knicks fan.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/14549504
> 
> 
> I don't see this being anything more than "throwing a switch" DC, first in politics, last in the NL East (and hopefully not last in the NFC East), last in HD News. Sad.



I've lived here most of my life & supposedly this area has the most Masters grads & PhD's living here than anywhere else in this country.


Just by osmosis, I would think some of those smarts would rub off on these operators. Maybe it's the H20...


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast has added four Big Ten Network overflow channels at 801-804. They are labeled XTRA1-XTRA4. The main channel is at 257. I can see the overflow channels but the main channel says Not Authorized. It's also now not labeled and the schedule says To Be Announced.


----------



## JohnGZ28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/14549504
> 
> 
> I don't see this being anything more than "throwing a switch" DC, first in politics, last in the NL East (and hopefully not last in the NFC East), last in HD News. Sad.



0-6 in the NFC East.


You read it here first.


----------



## JohnGZ28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Count Blah* /forum/post/14549728
> 
> 
> What do you care, you're a knicks fan.



Doesn't have to stop him from being a burgundy and gold fan as well.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Here we go again. ABC World News is in SD on WMAR. Guess I need to send them another email.


----------



## mdviewer25

Are there any engineers at WJLA that actually monitor what format they're supposed to be airing there programs in. First Nightline, now College Football Countdown. What's going on at channel 7. It's actually in HD as I type on WMAR 2.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JohnGZ28* /forum/post/14553339
> 
> 
> Doesn't have to stop him from being a burgundy and gold fan as well.



I suppose, but I question those fans of LA Lakers, NY Yankees, Dallas cowboy AND Detroit Redwings types.


----------



## rustycruiser




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14553297
> 
> 
> Comcast has added four Big Ten Network overflow channels at 801-804. They are labeled XTRA1-XTRA4. The main channel is at 257. I can see the overflow channels but the main channel says Not Authorized. It's also now not labeled and the schedule says To Be Announced.



All 4 Xtra channels had Big10 games on in SD today. The main channel 257 was "not authorized" for me. Is 257 HD? Do you need the $5 sports pack to see it? (which I do not have)


----------



## xbgamer

WUSA is having PSIP program guide issues. All programming is listed as "DTV Program" in their guide. It's been happing for a little over a day. I'm watching OTA.


----------



## voltore




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *xbgamer* /forum/post/14560651
> 
> 
> WUSA is having PSIP program guide issues. All programming is listed as "DTV Program" in their guide. It's been happing for a little over a day. I'm watching OTA.



Should be fixed. Odd one! Thanks.


----------



## Marcus Carr

WMAR flipped the switch for World News and Nightline tonight. They're learning (I hope).


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Blah blah blah, Count!










I follow the Skins as well as the Jets. I don't think either team will make the playoffs, though I don't see an 0-6 against the other teams in the NFC East for the Skins.


It has been a rough number of years with the Knicks. The glory days are long gone. Getting Ewing Jr. is not the answer. 35 years and counting. In my lifetime, please.


And getting back to WJLA-I miss the days when Robert would post and tell us what is going on there.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Baltimore fell two positions from #24 to #26 [DMA].


 http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6591274.html


----------



## jsilva982

Any opinions on which service? I currently have RCN, but I am moving to a new location so I have a choice to switchover if worth it. I am mostly interested in HD content; Comcast seems to have a small edge here, will this hold up?


Side note any word of either picking up FXHD anytime soon?


----------



## ACW112983

Whoa, Comcast in Arlington VA now has NFL Network where TBS HD used to be. Weird...


----------



## maestro73

Funny, I just saw that and came to post it. Same in Alexandria. I think it's been like that since 5 or so; I heard/saw football talk while surfing but paid no attention to it until I just saw last year's SB playing. NFL-HD is as it should be.


----------



## rob base




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rustycruiser* /forum/post/14558249
> 
> 
> All 4 Xtra channels had Big10 games on in SD today. The main channel 257 was "not authorized" for me. Is 257 HD? Do you need the $5 sports pack to see it? (which I do not have)



You do need to have the sports pack to see the 257 channel. I could be wrong but the channel is not HD. If it is the quality is crappy. As for the extra 4 channels, i will have to check that out and see. Usually those channels are reserved for College Gameday Packages or other sports packages. I could be wrong about that too.


Edit: Just found this info:

"On the opening Saturday of the football season, Aug. 30, the network will show six live games.


When there is more than one game airing at a time, Comcast will place additional feeds on channels 692-695" I found this on MLive.com, a Michigan website. I guess for us those channels are 801-804?


----------



## rob base




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rob base* /forum/post/14576737
> 
> 
> You do need to have the sports pack to see the 257 channel. I could be wrong but the channel is not HD. If it is the quality is crappy. As for the extra 4 channels, i will have to check that out and see. Usually those channels are reserved for College Gameday Packages or other sports packages. I could be wrong about that too.
> 
> 
> Edit: Just found this info:
> 
> "On the opening Saturday of the football season, Aug. 30, the network will show six live games.
> 
> 
> When there is more than one game airing at a time, Comcast will place additional feeds on channels 692-695" I found this on MLive.com, a Michigan website. I guess for us those channels are 801-804?



From the Big Ten Network website:


SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6TH FOOTBALL GAMES


Catch your Big Ten games on COMCAST! See below for details in your area.


12:00 PM (ET) / 11:00 AM (CT)

MARSHALL VS. WISCONSIN: channel 257

EASTERN MICHIGAN VS. MICHIGAN STATE: channel 801

NORTHERN COLORADO VS. PURDUE *: channel 802

FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL VS. IOWA *: channel 803

EASTERN ILLINOIS VS. ILLINOIS: channel 804

7:00 PM (ET) / 6:00 PM (CT)

MURRAY STATE VS. INDIANA: channel 257


* Denotes game not produced in HD.


On the website, they make it real easy to access channels by your zip code and TV provider.


----------



## maestro73

Yes, you need the sports pak (now up to 5 bucks after the NFL-HD deal from last year @$1.99/mo). Main channel is not in HD. Overflow games are on 801-804 (Xtra). On Demand highlights are in HD, but the one I watched was only 3 minutes long.


Since most BTN games (if not all) are in HD, the SD versions actually look OK to me, all things considered.


----------



## Digital Rules

Looks like Merrifield Channel 56 has gone dark!! My reception has already greatly improved!! I'm hoping things will improve even more when the rest of the strong analogs go dark!! Anybody else notice an improvement???


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/14577226
> 
> 
> Looks like Merrifield Channel 56 has gone dark!! My reception has already greatly improved!! I'm hoping things will improve even more when the rest of the strong analogs go dark!! Anybody else notice an improvement???



Are you really seeing an improvement in reception? For which digital stations?


Looking at the MHz website, WNVC 56 (DT 57) in Fairfax has gone off the air. I knew they were shutting down in September, didn't realize they would do it this early. They shuffled the SD sub-channel line-up for WNVT-DT 30 which will stay on the air - http://www.mhznetworks.org/how-to-wa...com_news&id=65 . I've posted this before, but WNVC has to shut down early so they can remove the top mounted analog 56 antenna and the side-mounted UHF 57 antenna and put up a new UHF 24 antenna.


WNVC-DT can't go back on the air until WUTB 24 turns off their analog signal next February. For anyone interested, here is the most recent explanation document attached to their FCC 387 transition filing: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/f...ibit_id=663154 . WNVC-DT will go back on the air at 160 kW which should give them a larger coverage area than they have with the current analog 56 signal.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14577866
> 
> 
> Are you really seeing an improvement in reception? For which digital stations? Or are you pulling our leg?



Absolutely,


WBOC-DT16 & 21 are coming in most of the time now; whereas they were only an occasional tropo before. I also see an improvement on WUTB-DT24, WWPB-DT31, & WWPX-DT60. WMPB-DT67 has never come in until now; but it is very weak.


I tried analog also; and discovered Virginia Public Television on Channel 58(Ruckersville??), WHAG-25, and an improved WJAL-68 from McConnelsburg, PA.


WNVC is the only visible TV tower from my roof; so I am sure the signal was quite strong here. WETA-FM is only 1/2 mile away; but there are no TV stations using that tower now to my knowledge.(I hope it stays that way!!)


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/14578054
> 
> 
> I tried analog also; and discovered Virginia Public Television on Channel 58(Ruckersville??),



Yep, that's W58DK. Signal carries quite a ways. Supposedly they have a 1 kW digital signal on channel 21 up there but I have yet to see any evidence of this.


- Trip


----------



## balmeida

Hi,


Is there anyone in Woodbridge, VA getting Verizon FiOS HD locals over QAM in the clear? I got a TivoHD yesterday, and before I activate the cable cards I was checking out what's available in the clear as a debugging step for my MythTV box. I get a ton of SD channels (including all the SD locals, the Music channels, and the MHz channels in the 75-* range), but no locals (at least, not in the 70-80 channel range). I've running the latest tivo software now (9.4).


Unfortunately, I don't have an HDTV with a built-in QAM tuner to test with, and my friends that do have them all have big 40"+ TVs.










Thanks!


Brian


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *balmeida* /forum/post/14578975
> 
> 
> Hi,
> 
> 
> Is there anyone in Woodbridge, VA getting Verizon FiOS HD locals over QAM in the clear? I got a TivoHD yesterday, and before I activate the cable cards I was checking out what's available in the clear as a debugging step for my MythTV box. I get a ton of SD channels (including all the SD locals, the Music channels, and the MHz channels in the 75-* range), but no locals (at least, not in the 70-80 channel range). I've running the latest tivo software now (9.4).
> 
> 
> Unfortunately, I don't have an HDTV with a built-in QAM tuner to test with, and my friends that do have them all have big 40"+ TVs.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> 
> Brian



Yes they are in the clear. I have my bedroom TV connnected to FIOS to test this out.

All the local channels show up as if the TV was connected to an OTA antenna so 4.1 shows up as 4.1 etc.


Those music channels and a few other video channels show up that I'm not familiar with but I only programmed in the local channels in memory.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jsilva982* /forum/post/14573685
> 
> 
> Any opinions on which service? I currently have RCN, but I am moving to a new location so I have a choice to switchover if worth it. I am mostly interested in HD content; Comcast seems to have a small edge here, will this hold up?
> 
> 
> Side note any word of either picking up FXHD anytime soon?



RCN is shutting off the analog completely by the beginning of October, in order to free up a whole bunch of bandwidth for digital and HD expansion. I haven't seen the new line-up yet, but I've heard that we should have around 50 HD channels soon, and around 100 sometime next year. RCN's Chicago line-up is probably a pretty good indicator of what we will get at first:
http://www.rcn.com/cabletv/lineups/d...GO-ALL-DIGITAL 


EDIT: The Chicago line-up does show FX HD, so I would guess that we will see that one eventually.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *balmeida* /forum/post/14578975
> 
> 
> Is there anyone in Woodbridge, VA getting Verizon FiOS HD locals over QAM in the clear? I got a TivoHD yesterday, and before I activate the cable cards I was checking out what's available in the clear as a debugging step for my MythTV box. I get a ton of SD channels (including all the SD locals, the Music channels, and the MHz channels in the 75-* range), but no locals (at least, not in the 70-80 channel range).



You should be getting the digital broadcast locals mapped to their broadcast channel #s as aaronwt posted. But Tivo may be funky in this area as they designed them for cable systems to be used only with cable cards. There are two national (SD) channels in the clear: WGN at 55-100 and The Weather Channel at 66-103. If the Tivo does not show the mapped channel numbers, the HD and SD sub-channel locals are located at QAM channels:


71:* 2 local HD (WUSA CBS 9, WRC NBC 4, 2 SD subs)

72:* 2 local HD (WTTG Fox 5, WDCA My 20)

73:* 2 local HD (MPT PBS 22, WJLA ABC 7, 4 SD subs)

74:* 2 local HD (WDCW CW 50, WETA PBS 26, 4 SD)

75:* 2 locals: WNVC-DT MHz 56 and WNVT-DT MHz 30 stations (8 SD subs).

82: the 3 Ion additional SD sub-channels (not including the main Ion channel).


BTW, Verizon is having a free preview weekend for HBO and Cinemax from Sept. 5-9. In past previews, the channels were sent in the clear, so you might be able to get HBO-HD at QAM 94-x and Cinemax-HD at 110-x.


----------



## balmeida

I saw the 55-100 and 66-103 channels, but there's nothing from 71-* to 74-* .










However, after playing with it some if I just enter "72" or "73" with the tivo remote, the HD locals come up. Some maybe something is messed up with the PSIP? Saw multiple threads on that from last year, but it was supposed to be fixed this summer.


I'll look for the HBO/SHO channels this weekend, thanks for the tip.


Brian



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14579246
> 
> 
> You should be getting the digital broadcast locals mapped to their broadcast channel #s as aaronwt posted. But Tivo may be funky in this area as they designed them for cable systems to be used only with cable cards. There are two national (SD) channels in the clear: WGN at 55-100 and The Weather Channel at 66-103. If the Tivo does not show the mapped channel numbers, the HD and SD sub-channel locals are located at QAM channels:
> 
> 
> 71:* 2 local HD (WUSA CBS 9, WRC NBC 4, 2 SD subs)
> 
> 72:* 2 local HD (WTTG Fox 5, WDCA My 20)
> 
> 73:* 2 local HD (MPT PBS 22, WJLA ABC 7, 4 SD subs)
> 
> 74:* 2 local HD (WDCW CW 50, WETA PBS 26, 4 SD)
> 
> 75:* 2 locals: WNVC-DT MHz 56 and WNVT-DT MHz 30 stations (8 SD subs).
> 
> 82: the 3 Ion additional SD sub-channels (not including the main Ion channel).
> 
> 
> BTW, Verizon is having a free preview weekend for HBO and Cinemax from Sept. 5-9. In past previews, the channels were sent in the clear, so you might be able to get HBO-HD at QAM 94-x and Cinemax-HD at 110-x.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*FiOS TV Expands In Baltimore County*


Service Now Available to More Than 700,000 Homes In Maryland


By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 9/3/2008 10:29:00 AM


Verizon Communications is offering FiOS TV to 22,500 additional consumers and small businesses in parts of northeastern Baltimore Countybringing more competition to Comcast in the areaexpanding the service's Maryland footprint to more than 700,000 homes passed.


The telco said FiOS TV now is available in parts of Carney, Cub Hill, Fullerton, Overlea, Parkville, Perry Hall, Rosedale and Towson. Elsewhere in Maryland, Verizon offers FiOS TV and Internet service to more than 700,000 other homes and businesses in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Howard, Montgomery and Prince George's counties.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6592504.html


----------



## Falcon_77




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/14578054
> 
> 
> WBOC-DT16 & 21 are coming in most of the time now; whereas they were only an occasional tropo before. I also see an improvement on WUTB-DT24, WWPB-DT31, & WWPX-DT60. WMPB-DT67 has never come in until now; but it is very weak.



What does your TV Fool plot look like? Are you using an amp or pre-amp? It sounds like something in your system was overloading due to the close tower. Note that this might be a temporary fix as 24 will be there by 2/18/09.


----------



## sjones2

For some of the stations in my area, they are currently broadcasting their main digital signal on UHF but in February say they will revert to their VHS frequency in February. I am using a Samsung SIR-TS160 Direct TV receiver to tune off the air digital broadcasts. When this revision takes place, will I still be able to tune the station?


Thanks,


Steve


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Falcon_77* /forum/post/14582199
> 
> 
> What does your TV Fool plot look like? Are you using an amp or pre-amp? It sounds like something in your system was overloading due to the close tower. Note that this might be a temporary fix as 24 will be there by 2/18/09.



Falcon 77,


I can't use a pre-amp now; but hope to be able to use the HDP-269 after the transition. I am still getting a very small amount of overload; but with careful antenna placement it isn't too bad. If I raise the antenna just 6 inches; WJZ-DT13 disappears. 13 comes in best now with the antenna pointed away from DC/Baltimore; towards Annapolis. (A sure sign of overload from DC)


How much power will WNVC be using after the transition? I thought it was only 160kw. If so, the chances of overload will hopefully not be as much of a concern.


Glen


----------



## afiggatt

If your antenna is a VHF/UHF antenna or is a UHF antenna with enough gain for upper VHF stations to work, you should get the stations making the switch to VHF. The ATSC tuner will scan from channel 2 to 69. But you should has asked this in the HDTV Technical forum or in your local thread.


----------



## Ken H

Topics merged. Do not start new topics in this forum, use existing topics.


----------



## mdviewer25

Has WMDT reduced power on their digital signal? The reason I ask is because when I moved my antenna it went up to about 40% but instead of WMDT 47-1,2 from Salisbury, I got WFUT 68-1 from New Jersey. Also, the listing for WMDT digital signal has been removed from the tvfool.com callsign list.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/14586024
> 
> 
> Has WMDT reduced power on their digital signal? The reason I ask is because when I moved my antenna it went up to about 40% but instead of WMDT 47-1,2 from Salisbury, I got WFUT 68-1 from New Jersey.



WMDT-DT 47 has a modest digital power on UHF 53 of 25 kW to start with. According to the station's website, they are still planning to shut down the analog 47 signal on Sept. 20, but the digital broadcast on UHF 53 will continue until they fire up a digital 350 kW signal on UHF 47 several days later. No mention of running the UHF 53 signal at reduced power.


We have had a large high pressure system sitting over the mid-Atlantic region; good weather for atmospheric ducting of TV signals. WFUT-DT 68 city of license is Newark, NJ, but the digital antenna appears to be on the Empire State Building, somewhere around 180? miles from Forestsville, MD. Pretty impressive DXing range for UHF 53. You should have tried to get other stations in NYC. You will probably be back to getting WMDT-DT on UHF 53 tonight.


----------



## Falcon_77




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/14582544
> 
> 
> How much power will WNVC be using after the transition? I thought it was only 160kw. If so, the chances of overload will hopefully not be as much of a concern.



160kW, while a ways from 1000kW, is not very low and should be considerably stronger than the prior 1230kW analog signal. Remember that ATSC power is measured differently than NTSC power (average vs. peak). As such, I would expect the overload effect to be twice as problematic, post-transition.


Have you tried attenuators to see if they help?


----------



## Falcon_77




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14586912
> 
> 
> WMDT-DT 47 has a modest digital power on UHF 53 of 25 kW to start with. According to the station's website, they are still planning to shut down the analog 47 signal on Sept. 20, but the digital broadcast on UHF 53 will continue until they fire up a digital 350 kW signal on UHF 47 several days later. No mention of running the UHF 53 signal at reduced power.



I also don't see any notes that WDMT was going to run 53 at reduced power or turn it off before 9/20, but perhaps this is now needed? Or maybe it is a temporary 1-day turn-off. Is the analog signal still there?


----------



## Trip in VA

If they have to have a tower crew do something with the channel 47 antenna, there's a chance they could reduce power on DT-53 so the crew doesn't get cooked by the RF, but I can't imagine that happening until after the analog goes away.


- Trip


----------



## Scott R. Scherr

Channel 24 (WUTB) appeared to be in HD last night during The Twilight Zone. I was pleasantly surprised.


Also, both WUTB and WMPT have been coming in much better OTA for the past several months. No issues at all and they both were very spotty before. I live in Pikesville.


Scott


----------



## Marcus Carr

Finally!!!


----------



## CycloneGT

Very cool.


That leaves just WFDC and WHUT left as the only SD only Digital channels.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/14587836
> 
> 
> Very cool.
> 
> 
> That leaves just WFDC and WHUT left as the only SD only Digital channels.



What about WPXW, have they ever broadcast anything in HD?


----------



## CycloneGT

hehe, I kinda have a mind block on them. But you are right, ION is supposed to go HD soon. So we have to keep an eye on them as well.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14586912
> 
> 
> WMDT-DT 47 has a modest digital power on UHF 53 of 25 kW to start with. According to the station's website, they are still planning to shut down the analog 47 signal on Sept. 20, but the digital broadcast on UHF 53 will continue until they fire up a digital 350 kW signal on UHF 47 several days later. No mention of running the UHF 53 signal at reduced power.
> 
> 
> We have had a large high pressure system sitting over the mid-Atlantic region; good weather for atmospheric ducting of TV signals. WFUT-DT 68 city of license is Newark, NJ, but the digital antenna appears to be on the Empire State Building, somewhere around 180? miles from Forestsville, MD. Pretty impressive DXing range for UHF 53. You should have tried to get other stations in NYC. You will probably be back to getting WMDT-DT on UHF 53 tonight.



Tried Philly stations with no luck. Only a fluctuation between 4 and 19% for WPVI. WBOC is becoming a normal channel for me to receive. Last night it was at 92%. Later that night, however, when I turned my antenna back to the normal position, I completely lost WJZ-DT. Seemed like it was a problem with my antenna cord and not the station but I just wanted to know if anyone else has had problems with 13's signal?


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> But you are right, ION is supposed to go HD soon



That would be *positively entertaining* if they did.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/14587836
> 
> 
> That leaves just WFDC and WHUT left as the only SD only Digital channels.



Not quite. In the Washington DMA for the full power stations, you left out WPXW-DT Ion 66, WWPX-DT Ion 60 (12) out in Martinsburg, WNVT-DT 30, WNVC-DT 56 (silent), and I would guess WJAL 68 in the Hagerstown market if WJAL-DT has ever fired up the interim digital UHF 16 signal.


With the countdown clock to September 8 on the Ion stations, I emailed Ion about whether that meant to a HD broadcast. Unlike other networks, Ion actually responds to emails, but the answer was that they are still in the process of launching the HD network, but can't provide an official date. So don't hold your breath for Ion HD.


----------



## Trip in VA

The last person at ION I talked to said that it wouldn't be a single switch to HD, that it would be station by station. Not sure that that makes sense in my mind, but I'd love to be proven wrong. My local station was slated for "sometime next year" which could mean 12/31/09.


- Trip


----------



## cpldc

I just flipped through the channels and WRC came up with a third subchannel, dubbed "Universe." No audio, airing sports footage. I remember hearing something about a subchannel for Olympics coverage but that's a little late, of course, and I thought that was for cable. Did I miss an announcement?


----------



## cpldc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14589717
> 
> 
> Not quite. In the Washington DMA for the full power stations, you left out WPXW-DT Ion 66, WWPX-DT Ion 60 (12) out in Martinsburg, WNVT-DT 30, WNVC-DT 56 (silent), and I would guess WJAL 68 in the Hagerstown market if WJAL-DT has ever fired up the interim digital UHF 16 signal.



WJAL DT-16 is indeed up--it's fairly strong around there but doesn't make it down here. I accidentally got WHRO-DT while trying for it earlier in the summer, but that was of course due to tropo enhancement.


----------



## tomrt

Just watching the Skins and wishing that WRC could find a way to sync the sound with the video for any of their network's live HD broadcasts.


----------



## Theauwolf




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tomrt* /forum/post/14591746
> 
> 
> Just watching the Skins and wishing that WRC could find a way to sync the sound with the video for any of their network's live HD broadcasts.



Atleast you have 5.1 sound. Lovely WBAL is broadcasting in 2.0 Stereo! First the Olympics and now another season of Football.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Everybody Loves Raymond is in HD on WUTB. So they are able to do syndicated HD.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cpldc* /forum/post/14591688
> 
> 
> I just flipped through the channels and WRC came up with a third subchannel, dubbed "Universe." No audio, airing sports footage. I remember hearing something about a subchannel for Olympics coverage but that's a little late, of course, and I thought that was for cable. Did I miss an announcement?



I think this is UniverseSports or something like that. NBC is putting this on NBC stations as a new SD sub-channel. This is first I've noticed it on WRC, so WRC-DT must have started 4.3 up today. Just in time to degrade the HD picture quality for the Redskins game!







Time to flip to WBAL-DT 11, although that has a sub-channel as well [and 2.0 sound. oh well].


I am not getting sound for 4.3 either, so they have some more work to do.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*HDNet and HDNet Movies Announce Affiliation Agreement With Comcast*

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1063418


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14591953
> 
> 
> I am not getting sound for 4.3 either, so they have some more work to do.



I also discover NBC 4.3 today. I have sound. I had similar happen to me back in March 2008 when CBS simulcast different NCAA March Madness games on 9.1 and 9.2. I lost sound on 9.1 and sent an email to the CBS technical director because I had 9.1 sound on 4 ATSC tuners but one did not. I posted this back in March:



"A couple weeks ago I had no sound from local CBS 9-1. Sound was ok on 9 analog and 9-2. After a week I emailed the Tech Director and he replies no problem but when I get home from office it is fixed same day. I email him to say it was fixed and then he admits they were using a "new (on loan), more efficeint, ATSC encoder" to multicast the NCAA finals. He says "We must have had some settings that your Toshiba did not like."


----------



## aaronwt

Is there a problem with WRC OTA? I can get it over FIOS but OTA there is a blank screen and no audio on 4.1 and 4.2 while 4.3 has video but no audio. My signal strength is 80 which is normal.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14591833
> 
> 
> Everybody Loves Raymond is in HD on WUTB. So they are able to do syndicated HD.



The Thursday night movie on My Network is in HD on WUTB-DT 24 (and WDCA-DT 20) if anyone wants to check the HD picture on WUTB-DT.


Good news about Comcast finally coming to an agreement with HDNet and HDNet Movies. Lots of good movies in excellent HD quality, OAR, and no commercials on HDNet Movies for the Comcast subscribers in the area to look forward to. Although Comcast is likely to recompress HDNetM.


----------



## aaronwt

Something must have changed with the additional sub channel on WRC. I did a channel scan and then 4.1 came up. It was fine last night. Was 4.3 added today?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/14592146
> 
> 
> Is there a problem with WRC OTA? I can get it over FIOS but OTA there is a blank screen and no audio on 4.1 and 4.2 while 4.3 has video but no audio. My signal strength is 80 which is normal.



WRC-DT 4.1 was fine a second ago, now just went to a blank screen, then back to the NBC HD feeed. If you are having trouble, try a rescan. Some ATSC tuners may not handle a new sub-channel properly without the rescan.


----------



## Remoteless




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/14592146
> 
> 
> Is there a problem with WRC OTA? I can get it over FIOS but OTA there is a blank screen and no audio on 4.1 and 4.2 while 4.3 has video but no audio. My signal strength is 80 which is normal.



OTA i'm using a MyHD card for some reason audio is fine picture is garbled on 4-1.4-2 and 4-3 are fine. On comcast there was a blank screen did a rescan now WRC is gone.Good thing i can get Baltimore 11-1


----------



## xbgamer

4.3 started up today.


having the same audio problems with it as everyone else.


----------



## jgantert

Same problems here with WRC. I had to reboot my TIVO HD to get it to tune in for some reason it got stuck on the grey screen on 4-1.


So which is better PQ for the main channel? 11-1 with 2.0 audio and only 1 subchannel or 4-1 with 2 subchannels and 5.1 audio. Even if both had only 1 subchannel, would 11-1 actually look better because they were using less bandwidth with just 2.0 audio instead of 5.1 audio? Or doesn't it work that way?


-John


----------



## CycloneGT

My Dish 622 is able to tune into 4.3, but like others, I have no audio.

http://www.universalsports.com


----------



## Digital Rules

Does anyone know why WMDO-47 would even bother having a digital station on VHF channel 8. Their measly 200 watts seems almost worthless when wedged between 2 full powered VHF analogs. Who can even receive them? Is this signal just for the local cable companies to use? FWIW, I do have to admit that their picture is _"amazingly"_ good when it _does_ comes in here; only 6 miles away.


----------



## tunamike

could anyone tell me if i understand correct a lot of the dc and Baltimore stations will be going to VHF after Feb Transition. I am in the Hagerstown area and receive a pretty good picture on the upper VHF channels with a 6 element Winegard now discountinued. I was going to get a new Winegard 7-13VHF only 1713 but they only rate it for like 25 miles but it is like 3-4db higher gain than I use know. I am really concerned when I look at the power out puts for the new digital stations some seem less than they are using now is that just a digital thing or I am probably not reading the charts correct. I guess I am just checking with the experts on this before I purchase a new Antenna for the VHF like I said I am getting 7 9 11 and 13 pretty good right now but am concerned I may lose them after the transition. I have a xg 91 for the UHF that I just put up and am receiving the Balt UHF decent after a year of trying. can anyone educate me or point me in the right direction on how and what the VHF signals will be like after transition. Thanks


----------



## cpldc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/14593942
> 
> 
> Does anyone know why WMDO-47 would even bother having a digital station on VHF channel 8. Their measly 200 watts seems almost worthless when wedged between 2 full powered VHF analogs. Who can even receive them? Is this signal just for the local cable companies to use? FWIW, I do have to admit that their picture is _"amazingly"_ good when it _does_ comes in here; only 6 miles away.



It's coming in just fine here, but does flinch occasionally. Hopefully this isn't an indication of how I'll get 7 & 9 next year but rather due to 7 & 9 being analog right now. I'm also ~6 miles from the tower.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/14593942
> 
> 
> Does anyone know why WMDO-47 would even bother having a digital station on VHF channel 8. Their measly 200 watts seems almost worthless when wedged between 2 full powered VHF analogs. Who can even receive them?



Ah, so WMDO-LD 47 is on the air on VHF 8. I was wondering about that, don't get a blip for the station out here in Sterling, but my upper VHF antenna is aimed at Martinsburg for now (for WWPX-DT 60 on 12). The reception for the digital signal on VHF 8 should improve next February, once WJLA-DT 7 and WUSA-DT 9 switch to digital broadcasting on VHF 7 & 9. 198 Watts for digital VHF 8 is not that weak, here is the nominal coverage map for WMDO-LD but this won't apply until analog 7 & 9 at 316 kW go away: http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...LD1192933.html .


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tunamike* /forum/post/14594753
> 
> 
> could anyone tell me if i understand correct a lot of the dc and Baltimore stations will be going to VHF after Feb Transition. I am in the Hagerstown area and receive a pretty good picture on the upper VHF channels with a 6 element Winegard now discountinued. I was going to get a new Winegard 7-13VHF only 1713 but they only rate it for like 25 miles but it is like 3-4db higher gain than I use know. I am really concerned when I look at the power out puts for the new digital stations some seem less than they are using now is that just a digital thing or I am probably not reading the charts correct. I guess I am just checking with the experts on this before I purchase a new Antenna for the VHF like I said I am getting 7 9 11 and 13 pretty good right now but am concerned I may lose them after the transition. I have a xg 91 for the UHF that I just put up and am receiving the Balt UHF decent after a year of trying. can anyone educate me or point me in the right direction on how and what the VHF signals will be like after transition. Thanks



A few will be returning to VHF, but many will remain on UHF. There was a post a while back where someone outlined all of the moves. I put some of that info in the very first post of this thread. I guess its time to update it.


Here is news item from 8/8/2007.



> Quote:
> 8/8/2007: dcrtv: DCRTV has an update from the latest FCC documents on where our local channels will broadcast from when analog cutoff happens in 2009.
> 
> 
> Back to original channel:
> 
> WJLA on 7, WUSA on 9, WBAL on 11, WJZ on 13, and WDCW on 50
> 
> 
> Remain on current digital channel:
> 
> WRC on 48, WTTG on 36, WFDC on 15, WDCA on 35, WMPT on 42, WUTB on 41, WETA on 27, WHUT on 33, WBFF on 46, and WNUV on 40
> 
> 
> Change to a new digital channel:
> 
> WMAR on 38 (WJZ's current digital channel), WPXW on 34 (WUSA's current digital channel), and WNVC on 24 (WUTB's current analog channel)


----------



## AntAltMike

When the low powered stations finally go digital, a low-powered digital broadcast channel allocation will become prime broadcast spectrum real estate, because digital broadcast signals can reliably be tuned even when an adjacent channel is 26 to 28 dB stronger. Washington low powered analog 47 and 49 are unwatchable now with WRD's digital 48 overwhelming them, but they will be able to provide reliable multicasting to the metropolitan portion of the market when they go digital.


In the meantime, I don't know how these stations make any money. It is possible that being a broadcat channel gives them a leg up on getting onto certain local cable systems. Does anyne know if any of the local, low powered broadcast analog channels are being carried on any local cable systems?


----------



## cpldc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/14595153
> 
> 
> In the meantime, I don't know how these stations make any money. It is possible that being a broadcat channel gives them a leg up on getting onto certain local cable systems. Does anyne know if any of the local, low powered broadcast analog channels are being carried on any local cable systems?



WZDC and WMDO are carried by RCN in DC, the only local cable company I have any experience with. I don't think anyone carried WWTD when it was on the air, and I'm not sure anyone carries WDDN.


Actually, now that I think about it Comcast DC must, too. They are the only company serving my neighborhood and I can pick up WZDC audio on their frequency from their leaky cable on my VHF/UHF transceiver (along with a bunch of other channels higher up that make 70cm ham operation impossible *grumble*)


From what I've heard WZDC makes a good amount of money but couldn't care less about their OTA coverage since they are on area cable systems.


----------



## machpost

Does anyone know if the Georgia Tech - Boston College game will be in HD on WDCA tomorrow? According to the guide, it doesn't look like it, even though they carried ACC basketball produced by Raycom in HD earlier this year. I know they've carried Nationals' games live in HD in the past, but not recently (that is, the past few games produced by MASN in HD that were supposed to be aired on WDCA in HD, were not).


----------



## azitnay

According to:

http://www.hdsportsguide.com/cfb/ 


Raycom is indeed showing the GT-BC game in HD. Hopefully that means WDCA will have it in HD.


Drew


----------



## dg28

I know it's been reported here, but this is from DCRTV says (wait a minute, maybe he got the news from here...)

4 Adds Universal Sports - 9/5 - Channel 4/WRC has started a second standard-def digital subchannel. Universal Sports, on "4.3," will run old Olympics events plus upcoming Tour De France cycling coverage. NBC/Universal-owned WRC already carries NBC Weather Plus among its digital offerings.....


I mean really, WRCDT's signal is degraded enough already, what is it going to look like now? And is anyone really going to watch old Olympic events and Tour de Farce on a subchannel with little bandwidth, i.e., horrible PQ.


----------



## CycloneGT

Its funny, when I send a email to dcrtv, they pretty much quote me verbatim. I had said that it was Tour de France^H^H^H^H^H Germany, but he put france in the topic anyway. The Tour De France is on Versus exclusively. I've sent him a correcting email and he's going to change it.


As far as macroblocking goes, they don't care and we all know it.


----------



## mdviewer25

Just checking now and I have 4-3 with video and no audio. Also, what kind of signal are people getting for WMDO 47 (8)?


----------



## Ladd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14591977
> 
> *HDNet and HDNet Movies Announce Affiliation Agreement With Comcast*
> 
> http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1063418



Finally!! I've missed these two channels ever since Comcast took over Adelphia a couple of years ago.


Of course, the devil is in the details. What bit-rate will they be broadcast at and how much more I'll have to pay to get 'em.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tunamike* /forum/post/14594753
> 
> 
> could anyone tell me if i understand correct a lot of the dc and Baltimore stations will be going to VHF after Feb Transition. I am in the Hagerstown area and receive a pretty good picture on the upper VHF channels with a 6 element Winegard now discountinued.



If the Winegard (YA-6713?) upper VHF antenna works now for the analog upper VHF channels, I would keep it and see what happens next February. Expanding a bit on CycloneGT's post: the short answer is that you should be ok for WJLA-DT 7, WUSA-DT 9, and WJZ-DT 13. It is WBAL-DT 11 that is a question mark for long range reception.


The power numbers are computed differently between analog and digital & digital is more efficient insofar as the transmitter are concerned. For upper VHF 7-13, around 12-15 kW digital ERP (Effective Radiated Power) is approximately equivalent in coverage range to a 316 kW analog ERP. We will have 5 stations in the area on upper VHF after the transition (2/17/2009).


WJLA 7: 316 kW analog, post on 7: 13.6 kW, has filed for 30 kW ERP, but FCC has not responded to that yet.


WUSA 9: 316 kW analog, post on 9: 12.6 kW. If you look at the service contour maps for analog 9 ( http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...=TV279283.html ) and post-transition 9 ( http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...DT1242839.html ), you will see they are almost identical.


WBAL 11: 316 kW analog, post on 11: only 5 kW. This is the question mark station for the long range OTA viewers in the area. WBAL has not filed for increased power, although they probably could have.


WWPX Ion 60 in Martinsburg: currently on VHF 12 at 23 kW and will stay there. WWPX-DT has filed a petition to move to UHF 51 and a new antenna location, but the odds of this getting granted are not good (WETA-DT 26 also wants to move to UHF 51 after the transition). Comes in fine at 48 miles with a Winegard YA-6713.


WJZ-DT 13: analog 316 kW, post on 13: 28.8 kW with a directional antenna pattern.


----------



## TheKrell

I am having very strange problems with WETA DTV (all subchannels). This actually began some time on August 30th with just one of my ATSC tuners, a Kworld 340U USB ATSC tuner stick. (I had a brief period on Sept 2nd of normal operations.) My Kworld tuner stick works quite well, and continues working well, with all channels in the DC area _except_ WETA. All WETA channels have gone from 6 bars (the max) down to a variable 0-3 bars, and I see no video nor sound nor PSIP data. Rescanning for new channels makes WETA disappear entirely. I also have a DTVpal on the same antenna, and it can still tune in WETA without difficulty.


Does anybody know what's going on? I used the WETA email form to send them this same question, but so far nobody has answered it.


----------



## carltonrice

I just noticed that WJZ-DT is showing CBS Evening News in HD tonight. This is the first time I've seen them do this in HD on the 7pm version during the week. Did they have to get some delay equipment or did they just remember to flip the switch tonight?


----------



## billodom

Like some here, I noticed last night when tuning to the Redskins game on WRC OTA that a new subchannel has been added. Frankly I have not noticed a diminution in PQ but did not devote much time to viewing. However, the audio synch now seems much worse to me than I have noticed. I don't know if that's as a result of the new subchannel and also how widespread it may be. I caught a little of the Republican convention and noticed some audio synch issues with it but I think that was on more than one network. The one important issue I wanted to post was that when I attempted to change my TV's settings to Just Scan (no overscan), I did not have the option. It was grayed out. That indicates that they are not broadcasting in 1080i. Wouldn't that be rather noteworthy? Now when I tune to 4.1 my information just says 16:9 and not 1080i. I also notice that when tuning to 4.1 from another channel that the time to tune the channel is now inordinately longer than previously. Again, I did a little A/B between 11.1 and 4.1 for PQ and did not notice any difference.


----------



## Remoteless




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *billodom* /forum/post/14600276
> 
> 
> Like some here, I noticed last night when tuning to the Redskins game on WRC OTA that a new subchannel has been added. Frankly I have not noticed a diminution in PQ but did not devote much time to viewing. However, the audio synch now seems much worse to me than I have noticed. I don't know if that's as a result of the new subchannel and also how widespread it may be. I caught a little of the Republican convention and noticed some audio synch issues with it but I think that was on more than one network. The one important issue I wanted to post was that when I attempted to change my TV's settings to Just Scan (no overscan), I did not have the option. It was grayed out. That indicates that they are not broadcasting in 1080i. Wouldn't that be rather noteworthy? Now when I tune to 4.1 my information just says 16:9 and not 1080i. I also notice that when tuning to 4.1 from another channel that the time to tune the channel is now inordinately longer than previously. Again, I did a little A/B between 11.1 and 4.1 for PQ and did not notice any difference.



Something is wrong with the signal on 4.1 since they added the new sub. All i get is a garbled mess on 4.1 the audio is fine.All other channels are fine even 4.2 and 4.3.


----------



## bal1012

It sucks when watching ABC in this area and you know that you're getting something that looks more like Wide screen SD rather than HD.


For example:

Here is a post by "icemannyr" of how an ABC affiliate with none or one subchannel would look
Original Post 
 


And heres what it looks like on WMAR and WJLA

 


I was stunned when I saw the first picture, never have I seen ABC HD look so clear.


----------



## AbMagFab

*About ready to remove local NBC from my channel listings.* (Not like NBC has anything to watch anyway.)


So my S3 stopped getting 4-1 and 4-2 yesterday, but I didn't reboot.


This morning, they were coming in, but I decided to reboot anyway (4-1 info wasn't showing resolution data).


After the reboot, I can tune into them all, but when I bring up the guide (or Setting/Channels), it's like it gets stuck at 4-1. In the guide, it won't scroll up past 5-1. I I type 4-1 in manually, it won't scroll down past 4-2.


Same in settings/channel listing. I can't scroll down past 4-2. I can type in 4-3 manually, and then scroll down (or any other number past 4-1).


What did NBC do to completely screw this up???


----------



## aaronwt

I fixed my problem(I never had a guide problem on non reception of 4.1 and 4.2) by doing a new channel search on my three Series 3 boxes and two TiVoHD boxes with cable cards. After the new channel search, the WRC channels were fine. I noticed the problem on Thursday.

My other two TiVoHD boxes that are only connected to OTA never had a problem. So for some reason my 4 boxes on FIOS and one box on Comcast all have cable cards and all had problems when WRC added 4.3


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/14602495
> 
> *About ready to remove local NBC from my channel listings.* (Not like NBC has anything to watch anyway.)
> 
> 
> So my S3 stopped getting 4-1 and 4-2 yesterday, but I didn't reboot.
> 
> 
> This morning, they were coming in, but I decided to reboot anyway (4-1 info wasn't showing resolution data).
> 
> 
> After the reboot, I can tune into them all, but when I bring up the guide (or Setting/Channels), it's like it gets stuck at 4-1. In the guide, it won't scroll up past 5-1. I I type 4-1 in manually, it won't scroll down past 4-2.
> 
> 
> Same in settings/channel listing. I can't scroll down past 4-2. I can type in 4-3 manually, and then scroll down (or any other number past 4-1).
> 
> 
> What did NBC do to completely screw this up???


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/14602570
> 
> 
> I fixed my problem(I never had a guide problem on non reception of 4.1 and 4.2) by doing a new channel search on my three Series 3 boxes and two TiVoHD boxes with cable cards. After the new channel search, the WRC channels were fine. I noticed the problem on Thursday.
> 
> My other two TiVoHD boxes that are only connected to OTA never had a problem. So for some reason my 4 boxes on FIOS and one box on Comcast all have cable cards and all had problems when WRC added 4.3



My TivoHD's and S3's are all on FIOS with CC's. I'll try what you said and report back.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/14602495
> 
> 
> After the reboot, I can tune into them all, but when I bring up the guide (or Setting/Channels), it's like it gets stuck at 4-1. In the guide, it won't scroll up past 5-1. I I type 4-1 in manually, it won't scroll down past 4-2.
> 
> 
> Same in settings/channel listing. I can't scroll down past 4-2. I can type in 4-3 manually, and then scroll down (or any other number past 4-1).



This is a bug in the latest Tivo software. I'm OTA only and have a Tivo HD unit, and had the same problem with 54-1. The guide would go to 2 to 54, then from 2 backwards thru 66 to 54. Strange.


My fix was to run thru the guided setup on the Tivo again. It will clear out your channel listings and reload the guide data. Then you need to go into your Channel list and reselect the channels you receive (may not need to for Fios service, but I did for OTA -- I remove all the analog channels and weather/spanish subchannels).


-John


----------



## jgantert

So anyone getting sound yet on 4-3 Universal Sports with the Zenith CECB boxes? I have the older model (DTT900) and this is the only channel without sound. All my other tuners (Tivo HD, Samsung DTB-H260F, Digitalstream DTX9900) decode the audio, no problem.


-John


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/14602570
> 
> 
> I fixed my problem(I never had a guide problem on non reception of 4.1 and 4.2) by doing a new channel search on my three Series 3 boxes and two TiVoHD boxes with cable cards. After the new channel search, the WRC channels were fine. I noticed the problem on Thursday.
> 
> My other two TiVoHD boxes that are only connected to OTA never had a problem. So for some reason my 4 boxes on FIOS and one box on Comcast all have cable cards and all had problems when WRC added 4.3



Well, this only works if I uncheck 4-2 and 4-3 in the Channel List. Then the Guide works fine.


If 4-2 is checked (channels I receive), then the Guide gets stuck at 4-2. If I page up/down in the guide, it won't go past 4-2.


Whatever. I don't care about 4-2 anyway, so I removed it from my channels I receive. And 4-3 looks like it's a bike channel or something, buh bye.


(The setting/channel list is still buggy, as it gets stuck as well. If I page down it stops at 4-2. I have to type 4-3 to even see it, and I have to type 5-1 to get past the 4- channels.)


Cleary NBC is doing something screwey with their PSIP data, since 4-2 was fiine a couple days ago.

*I guess that's why NBC/WRC is in 4th place now?*


----------



## bxs122

I am glad to see I am not the only no longer able to watch WRC-DT.

I use vBox ATSC tuners in a VMC environment and up until a few days ago 4.1 had no issues - now it seems I am SOL in that I can no longer see video or hear audio.

From VMC the signal strength for this channel is solid but still fails when selecting the channel.


Has anyone found a resolution to getting WRC-DT 4.1 again?


----------



## aaronwt

I'm not having any guide problems on my TiVo. 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3 are in my channel list without causing any problems for my boxes.

I do notice audio on 4.3 today, not that I'll be watching it anytime soon.

I just needed to make sure I got my TiVos set up for OTA recordings since FIOS is having the channel re-alignment in a couple of weeks, so I had make sure I duplicated my Season passes from OTA in there are guide problems the week of re-alignment.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/14602924
> 
> 
> Well, this only works if I uncheck 4-2 and 4-3 in the Channel List. Then the Guide works fine.
> 
> 
> If 4-2 is checked (channels I receive), then the Guide gets stuck at 4-2. If I page up/down in the guide, it won't go past 4-2.
> 
> 
> Whatever. I don't care about 4-2 anyway, so I removed it from my channels I receive. And 4-3 looks like it's a bike channel or something, buh bye.
> 
> 
> (The setting/channel list is still buggy, as it gets stuck as well. If I page down it stops at 4-2. I have to type 4-3 to even see it, and I have to type 5-1 to get past the 4- channels.)
> 
> 
> Cleary NBC is doing something screwey with their PSIP data, since 4-2 was fiine a couple days ago.
> 
> *I guess that's why NBC/WRC is in 4th place now?*


----------



## jswclw




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bxs122* /forum/post/14602989
> 
> 
> I am glad to see I am not the only no longer able to watch WRC-DT.
> 
> I use vBox ATSC tuners in a VMC environment and up until a few days ago 4.1 had no issues - now it seems I am SOL in that I can no longer see video or hear audio.
> 
> From VMC the signal strength for this channel is solid but still fails when selecting the channel.
> 
> 
> Has anyone found a resolution to getting WRC-DT 4.1 again?



I'm in the same boat with VMC and FusionHDTV7 tuner. Oddly, the FusionHDTV software receives WRC (all 3 sub-channels) just fine. Must be PSIP problems.


----------



## TheKrell




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TheKrell* /forum/post/14598746
> 
> 
> All WETA channels have gone from 6 bars (the max) down to a variable 0-3 bars, and I see no video nor sound nor PSIP data.



And it's fixed again just like it was (briefly) on August 2nd. I hope it stays this way.


----------



## antarctico




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/14602831
> 
> 
> So anyone getting sound yet on 4-3 Universal Sports with the Zenith CECB boxes? I have the older model (DTT900) and this is the only channel without sound. All my other tuners (Tivo HD, Samsung DTB-H260F, Digitalstream DTX9900) decode the audio, no problem.
> 
> 
> -John



I have the exact same problem with my DTVPal (ver. 103 software). I can get the other WRC channels fine, but the audio on 4-3 is hosed -- every few seconds a bip or burp will interrupt the silence along with surprise bursts of a few seconds of clear audio every couple of minutes. I am pulling down 85-90 percent signal strength. It's annoying as all hell.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/14603072
> 
> 
> I'm not having any guide problems on my TiVo. 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3 are in my channel list without causing any problems for my boxes.
> 
> I do notice audio on 4.3 today, not that I'll be watching it anytime soon.
> 
> I just needed to make sure I got my TiVos set up for OTA recordings since FIOS is having the channel re-alignment in a couple of weeks, so I had make sure I duplicated my Season passes from OTA in there are guide problems the week of re-alignment.



Strangely, my upstairs (older) S3 seems to be working fine, with all three subchannels. My HT one (newer) only works if I uncheck all but 4-1.


There's clearly something odd about the way they're doing the PSIP though, for so many people to be having problems.


----------



## Gerald C

Here is how my ATSC receivers are behaving with the new subchannel 4.3:


Dish 622 (OTA): No Audio

Dish 722 (OTA): No Audio

DishPal Conv. Box: Occasional blips of audio, but inaudible

Samsung TV: No Audio

Sharp TV: Audio OK


----------



## Remoteless




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jswclw* /forum/post/14603089
> 
> 
> I'm in the same boat with VMC and FusionHDTV7 tuner. Oddly, the FusionHDTV software receives WRC (all 3 sub-channels) just fine. Must be PSIP problems.



I'm using a MyHD MDP-130 i have no psip problems or audio problem on 4.3.Signal strenght of 85 even with this heavy rain. Picture on 4.1 is a garbled series of diagonal rectangles. I hope they fix this before tomorrow nights Chicago Indy game


----------



## rustycruiser

The Georgia Tech vs Boston College game on Raycom is up in HD in Baltimore on WNUV 54. In SD in DC on WDCA 20.


----------



## Trip in VA

I wonder what WRC-DT 4-3 is doing that there's no audio. This sounds exactly like the problem my PBS station had when they signed on. My computer's tuner card gave me audio, but pretty much everyone else in the market had no sound. They had apparently hooked up the analog signal directly into the encoder, with no PSIP (mapped to 3-2) and no Dolby audio encoding. From what I understand, a lot of receivers look for that Dolby audio flag or something in order to decode the audio.


The WRC guys should talk to the guys down at KXAS in Dallas, they added Universal Sports and had the same problem but had it resolved the same day.


- Trip


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rustycruiser* /forum/post/14603498
> 
> 
> The Georgia Tech vs Boston College game on Raycom is up in HD in Baltimore on WNUV 54. In SD in DC on WDCA 20.



I wonder what WDCA's problem is. The Nationals game was in HD last night, and ACC basketball was in HD earlier this year. Sounds like someone forgot to flip the switch, or didn't even know the game was going to be in HD in the first place. Typical for around here


----------



## jswclw

I used TSReaderLite to look into the WRC PSIP and I think I see the problem. The Transport Stream ID in the PAT is wrong.



> Quote:
> PAT Version Number: 2
> 
> Transport Stream ID: 1 (0x0001)
> 
> 
> PMT PID 48 (0x0030) - Program 3 WRC-1
> 
> PMT PID 64 (0x0040) - Program 4 WRC-2
> 
> PMT PID 80 (0x0050) - Program 5 WRC-3



Instead of 1 as it says in the PAT, it should be 529 as it says everywhere else. For example, in the PMT for the first sub-channel.



> Quote:
> Channel 3
> 
> Service Name: WRC-1
> 
> TSID: 529 (0x0211) NTSC: 04 ATSC: 48 DC WASHINGTON
> 
> Channel Number: 4.1
> 
> Carrier Frequency: 0
> 
> Modulation Mode: ATSC (8 VSB)
> 
> Source ID: 1
> 
> Descriptor: ATSC Service Location Descriptor
> 
> Service Location Descriptor:
> 
> PCR PID 0x0031
> 
> Stream Type 0x02 (MPEG-2 Video) ESPID = 0x0031 Language =
> 
> Stream Type 0x81 (AC-3 Audio) ESPID = 0x0034 Language = eng



Now how do we get WRC to take action?


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jswclw* /forum/post/14603573
> 
> 
> I used TSReaderLite to look into the WRC PSIP and I think I see the problem. The Transport Stream ID in the PAT is wrong.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Instead of 1 as it says in the PAT, it should be 529 as it says everywhere else. For example, in the PMT for the first sub-channel.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Now how do we get WRC to take action?



Fire their engineer? It's amazing that we're now years into the HD ATSC game, and at least here in DC, the broadcast engineers seem like they were:


a) Regularly drunk

b) Blind and deaf

c) Transferred from the word-processing team

d) Told how to spell HD and still couldn't get it right


Sounds like a "you know you're a broadcast engineer from DC when..." list.


----------



## Trip in VA

I don't think that's the problem. I was sent a capture of WRC-DT this morning, and I think the problem lies in the fact that 4-3 has MPEG-2 Audio instead of AC-3 audio.


- Trip


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/14603669
> 
> 
> I don't think that's the problem. I was sent a capture of WRC-DT this morning, and I think the problem lies in the fact that 4-3 has MPEG-2 Audio instead of AC-3 audio.
> 
> 
> - Trip



There are multiple problems. The sound problem might be MP2 v AC3. But the PSIP problem is real, and is what's causing so many guide/tuning issues.


----------



## Trip in VA

Wait just a second, I'm looking at the capture I was sent... jswclw, are you seeing the resolution on 4-1 as 1280x1080i? That's a new one to me, should be 1920x1080i...


- Trip


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/14603561
> 
> 
> I wonder what WDCA's problem is. The Nationals game was in HD last night, and ACC basketball was in HD earlier this year. Sounds like someone forgot to flip the switch, or didn't even know the game was going to be in HD in the first place. Typical for around here



Switch was flipped, thankfully, right before GT's first touchdown.


----------



## jswclw




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/14603721
> 
> 
> Wait just a second, I'm looking at the capture I was sent... jswclw, are you seeing the resolution on 4-1 as 1280x1080i? That's a new one to me, should be 1920x1080i...
> 
> 
> - Trip










Yea, that looks dorked up also! I see...

Elementary Stream PID 49 (0x0031) MPEG-2 Video

MPEG Video: Bitrate 65.000 Mbps Resolution 1280 x 1080i

MPEG Video: Framerate 29.97 fps Aspect Ratio 16:9 Chroma Format 4:2:0
It's pretty late in the game to be having these issues!


BTW...I just tried calling the main WRC number...No one's home.


----------



## jacindc

Nice work, WUSA. Had to break in for your weather update with such perfect timing as to make us miss the final game of Federer-Djokovic. Did you look at the score? Could you have waited just a minute to see if the match was going to be over? YEEESH.


----------



## mdviewer25

Sound came in last night for 4-3. Also, PSIP info was available for all three. I do notice that when I go to 4-1 it doesn't come in right away like it used to. For a split second I get the screen that says "currently off air".


----------



## Ladd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jacindc* /forum/post/14604194
> 
> 
> Nice work, WUSA. Had to break in for your weather update with such perfect timing as to make us miss the final game of Federer-Djokovic. Did you look at the score? Could you have waited just a minute to see if the match was going to be over? YEEESH.



I saw this also. My lovely bride had to chastise me for using bad words.


----------



## bxs122




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jswclw* /forum/post/14603089
> 
> 
> I'm in the same boat with VMC and FusionHDTV7 tuner. Oddly, the FusionHDTV software receives WRC (all 3 sub-channels) just fine. Must be PSIP problems.



What exactly are PSIP issues and why does it seem to be affecting just VMC?

Have you been able to resolve this or have an idea of what we can do?

If you check signal strengths from VMC are you seeing good solid bars as well?


----------



## mtnbike-dude

I can't get audio with my Sony Grand Wega with OTA antenna only so it is the broadcast signal. I get 4.1 and 4.2 perfectly clear and I'm 60 miles out with the 4228 in the attic.


----------



## Remoteless




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/14603721
> 
> 
> Wait just a second, I'm looking at the capture I was sent... jswclw, are you seeing the resolution on 4-1 as 1280x1080i? That's a new one to me, should be 1920x1080i...
> 
> 
> - Trip





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jswclw* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> MPEG Video: Bitrate 65.000 Mbps Resolution 1280 x 1080i



Thank you both that seems to be the problem for me. If i change resolution from 1920x1080i to 1440x1080i or to 720p i get a picture. The card reads WRC 4.1 as 1280x1080i. I get all 3 subs with no problems just reduced resolution on 4.1


----------



## Digital Rules

Does anyone that receives WMDO-DT47 have issues with the tuner going back and forth between virtual channels 47 & 1? My Zenith DTT-901 picks up the signal with full strength; but it can't decide which virtual channel number to use. I'm wondering if it's them; or the tuner is having a hard time decoding because of adjacent channel issues. The Channel Master decoder would not even stay locked onto it.


Any guesses


----------



## Trip in VA

It sounds like a flaky PSIP encoder.


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/14606116
> 
> 
> It sounds like a flaky PSIP encoder.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Thanks Trip,


I'm guessing the PSIP encoder is on their end?? I don't really watch the channel; but I still can't get over how good their PQ is. It makes my 15 year old TV look like it's brand new.


----------



## Trip in VA

Yes, it's the box that controls the mapping. It sounds like it's resetting itself over and over, I've heard that some map to 1-1 out of the box, and then have to be set to the channel in question, in this case 47-1.


- Trip


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Both substitute programs on CBS (CSI: NY) and ABC (Movie) are SD. Makes you wonder if the afternoon shift at My 20 headed over to Rosslyn or up to Broadcast House.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/14606921
> 
> 
> Both substitute programs on CBS (CSI: NY) and ABC (Movie) are SD. Makes you wonder if the afternoon shift at My 20 headed over to Rosslyn or up to Broadcast House.



The ABC substitute movie and CBS program were reportedly SD for the east coast, not just in DC. ABC obviously grabbed an SD version of the movie off of the shelf.


----------



## mtnbike-dude

still no sound on 4.3 this morning. 4.1 and 4.2 have never had any issues. Why don't one of you guys that live close go down there and tell them the problem? They don't answer the phone. I'm sure that their advertisers would want it fixed!


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mtnbike-dude* /forum/post/14608534
> 
> 
> still no sound on 4.3 this morning. 4.1 and 4.2 have never had any issues. Why don't one of you guys that live close go down there and tell them the problem? They don't answer the phone. I'm sure that their advertisers would want it fixed!



The sound issue is likely due to MPEG vs. AC3 sound. Some devices can't play sound from MP2 sound channels, but they're fine with AC3. If this is your issue, I don't expect it to change, unfortunately.


The PSIP issue has lots of unintended side effects, mostly with tuning, so hopefully they fix that soon.


----------



## bxs122




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mtnbike-dude* /forum/post/14608534
> 
> 
> still no sound on 4.3 this morning. 4.1 and 4.2 have never had any issues. Why don't one of you guys that live close go down there and tell them the problem? They don't answer the phone. I'm sure that their advertisers would want it fixed!



maybe we could email them?


----------



## Trip in VA

Barrage them with e-mails about the sound issue. Call as well. I don't know why they'd refuse to fix it; I know KXAS had the same problem and it took less than a day to straighten it out.


I'm wondering if the issue isn't necessarily that the audio is in MPEG-2 so much as the output looks to me as though the audio is actually in AC3 and the PSIP is telling receivers that it's MPEG-2. Look here:

http://www.rabbitears.info/screencap.../47904-0_0.htm 


This is the TSReader output I was sent from WRC-DT. In the PMT, it shows the audio under Program 5 (WRC-3) as being AC3. Scroll down to the TVCT and it says MPEG-2. I honestly don't know for certain, but that could have something to do with it.


- Trip


----------



## mtnbike-dude




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/14608562
> 
> 
> The sound issue is likely due to MPEG vs. AC3 sound. Some devices can't play sound from MP2 sound channels, but they're fine with AC3. If this is your issue, I don't expect it to change, unfortunately.
> 
> 
> The PSIP issue has lots of unintended side effects, mostly with tuning, so hopefully they fix that soon.



I don't understand all the technical aspects but it should work. I'm a huge Cycling fan and I was so happy to see a local station that broadcasts real sports events, but no sound? Like I said, I'm sure their advertisers would be pissed. I would pull my ads and demand money back, this has to be breach of contract somehow.


Sure hope it is fixed soon.


I need to make a sig similar to yours but mine will say

"free tv since the 70's"


----------



## mtnbike-dude

I called and emailed again. I guess I'll just do it everyday. They'll love me!


----------



## mtnbike-dude

I checked out 4.3 on one of my analog sets that's hooked up the the Digital Stream DTX9950 and the audio works.


So, my basic technically challenged mind tells me, they are broadcasting analog audio and not digital so I guess nobody's digital sets are getting the sound.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mtnbike-dude* /forum/post/14610176
> 
> 
> I checked out 4.3 on one of my analog sets that's hooked up the the Digital Stream DTX9950 and the audio works.
> 
> 
> So, my basic technically challenged mind tells me, they are broadcasting analog audio and not digital so I guess nobody's digital sets are getting the sound.



ATSC is only digital, by definition.


A) They are likely confusing MP2 and AC3, and broadcasting one while the PSIP is saying the other. Which might confuse some devices more than others.


Or,


B) they are broadcasting MP2, and only some devices can decode it.


I'm guessing (A) given the PSIP data we've seen, and just some devices are smarter than the *dumb engineers at WRC*, and look at the audio stream and not the PSIP data.


----------



## tripleM

Ok - I know WRC 4 changed something a couple of days back...but even I am surprised by what has happen this AM when I turned on my TV after a couple of days away on a business trip.


Everytime I flip over from another local HD station: 4 HD is either splitting the picture with a huge green bar on the right side & the actual HD pic on the left - like a split screen or off center 4:3.


OR


it is freezing the prior local HD station in a split screen @ the bottom & broadcasting the 4 HD on top portion of screen


OR


If I am flipping from a non-HD channel to 4 HD, it is giving me a garbled unwatchable pic.


All my other OTA HD stations are running great. I am on Cox Basic Cable with a no box & using a Samsung HDTV.


I hate the BS from these local stations.


----------



## mtnbike-dude




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/14610731
> 
> 
> Ok - I know WRC 4 changed something a couple of days back...but even I am surprised by what has happen this AM when I turned on my TV after a couple of days away.
> 
> 
> 4HD is either splitting the picture with a green bar on the right side & the actual HD pic on the left when I flip over from anther HD station.
> 
> 
> OR
> 
> 
> If I am flipping from a non-HD channel to 4HD, it is giving me a garbled unwatchable pic.
> 
> 
> All my other OTA HD stations are running great.
> 
> I hate this BS from these stations.



Where do you live? I am having no issues at all with WRC, except sound on 4.3


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mtnbike-dude* /forum/post/14610753
> 
> 
> Where do you live? I am having no issues at all with WRC, except sound on 4.3




Chantilly. Western Fx. Cty by Dulles airport.


----------



## jswclw

TrippleM,


The problem you are experiencing sounds a lot like something that would be caused by the PSIP data saying that the picture is 1280x1080 rather than 1920x1080 as it should be. That is just one of the problems in the PSIP.


Bottom line, it depends on your receiver H/W and S/W as to how you will be affected by these errors. I my case, I cannot see or hear any of the 3 programs in channel 4.


They definitiely go to get these problems cleaned up. It really shouldn't be this difficult.


----------



## tripleM

jeff - I figure as much. Very frustrating.


----------



## paulthepwner

is anyone having any luck in the baltimore area getting Fox 43 out of York PA?


I just moved down here from that area, and found out that when the ravens play at the same time as the eagles, even though they're on different networks, fox 45 down here doesn't show the games. I'm in Middle River, and i've got a Winegard SS-2000. I am able to pick up just enough of 43 analog to give me hope, but not enough to actually see anything (I do get sound though). I can't get a lock on 43.1 at all. Right now I've got the antenna mounted in the attic, but taking it out on the roof today didn't seem to make a difference (though I need to try it again with a helper). My cousin about 10 miles north of here in Forest Hill can get 43.1, so I'm fairly hopeful that with a large enough antenna I can get it. Do you guys have any suggestions? I'd have a hell of a time going all year without my Eagles, but I'd go without sooner than buy Sunday Ticket. I'm not against buying another antenna either, or mounting outside if I had to, but I'd really rather keep the antenna in the attic if at all possible.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paulthepwner* /forum/post/14612760
> 
> 
> is anyone having any luck in the baltimore area getting Fox 43 out of York PA?



How close do you live to TV Hill in Baltimore? WBFF-DT, and WPMT-DT are on adjacent channels. This will probably be your biggest obstacle for receiving WPMT. You will more than likely need a highly directional UHF only antenna (91-XG) mounted on the roof to overcome WBFF.


----------



## paulthepwner




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/14612897
> 
> 
> How close do you live to TV Hill in Baltimore? WBFF-DT, and WPMT-DT are on adjacent channels. This will probably be your biggest obstacle for receiving WPMT. You will more than likely need a highly directional UHF only antenna (91-XG) mounted on the roof to overcome WBFF.



About 12 miles from TV hill. I'm to the northeast of it, so luckily to get signal from York I don't really have to aim anywhere near it.


Beyond that, if I were to get a 91-XG, what do I do for VHF, and, what makes the 91-XG any better than a 4228, or a larger winegard antenna?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paulthepwner* /forum/post/14612760
> 
> 
> is anyone having any luck in the baltimore area getting Fox 43 out of York PA?
> 
> 
> I just moved down here from that area, and found out that when the ravens play at the same time as the eagles, even though they're on different networks, fox 45 down here doesn't show the games. I'm in Middle River, and i've got a Winegard SS-2000. I am able to pick up just enough of 43 analog to give me hope, but not enough to actually see anything (I do get sound though). I can't get a lock on 43.1 at all.



The problem of receiving WPMT-DT Fox 43 in York, PA in Baltimore proper was discussed here at great length a while back. The problem is that WPMT-DT digitally broadcasts on UHF 47 while WBFF-DT Fox 45 in Baltimore broadcasts on UHF 46. This creates an adjacent channel problem for those located close to the WBFF-DT transmitter where the WBFF-DT's signal overwhelms the weaker WPMT-DT signal.


However, you are in Middle River MD and may be far enough away from Baltimore for WBFF-DT's signal to not be a serious problem. Plugging in 21220 for the zip, puts you around 48 miles from WPMT-DT and 46 miles from the DC stations. That is pretty far for the Square Shooter SS-2000 antenna which is medium range at best. I would look at getting a better antenna setup. Maybe a Channel Master 4228 8 bay bowtie on a rotator for UHF and upper VHF if you have enough room in the attic for it. See http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ISSUES/erecting_antenna.html for info and details on a bunch of different antennas. If your house is at a higher elevation, the Philadelphia stations at 78+ miles may also be within range of an outdoor rooftop antenna setup. Check tvfool.com's signal analysis tool for your exact location.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paulthepwner* /forum/post/14612915
> 
> 
> About 12 miles from TV hill. I'm to the northeast of it, so luckily to get signal from York I don't really have to aim anywhere near it.
> 
> 
> Beyond that, if I were to get a 91-XG, what do I do for VHF, and, what makes the 91-XG any better than a 4228, or a larger winegard antenna?



You live close enough to Baltimore that just about anything should pick up WJZ, & WBAL.


As far as the 4228 or any multiple array antenna goes; they are great antennas; but do not provide enough signal rejection from the sides. The 91-XG, and the 4228 are the best consumer grade UHF antennas out there. No combo antenna can match their performance. The 91-XG is preferable for close in areas when excessive mutipath or maximum signal rejection are your top priorities. I tried a 4228 here; and it performed miserably.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paulthepwner* /forum/post/14612915
> 
> 
> Beyond that, if I were to get a 91-XG, what do I do for VHF, and, what makes the 91-XG any better than a 4228, or a larger winegard antenna?



The AD 91-XG is lighter than the CM 4228 and has less wind load, which is a factor if mounting outdoors. Check the UHF gain chart for the 91-XG, CM 4228 on the antenna site link. The 91-XG is UHF only, so people combine it with a VHF only antenna, often the Winegard YA-1713 upper VHF antenna. However, if you ever want to try to get the Philly stations, WPVI-DT ABC 6 will be switching to low VHF 6 next February 17.


----------



## paulthepwner




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14612995
> 
> 
> The problem of receiving WPMT-DT Fox 43 in York, PA in Baltimore proper was discussed here at great length a while back. The problem is that WPMT-DT digitally broadcasts on UHF 47 while WBFF-DT Fox 45 in Baltimore broadcasts on UHF 46. This creates an adjacent channel problem for those located close to the WBFF-DT transmitter where the WBFF-DT's signal overwhelms the weaker WPMT-DT signal.
> 
> 
> However, you are in Middle River MD and may be far enough away from Baltimore for WBFF-DT's signal to not be a serious problem. Plugging in 21220 for the zip, puts you around 48 miles from WPMT-DT and 46 miles from the DC stations. That is pretty far for the Square Shooter SS-2000 antenna which is medium range at best. I would look at getting a better antenna setup. Maybe a Channel Master 4228 8 bay bowtie on a rotator for UHF and upper VHF if you have enough room in the attic for it. See for info and details on a bunch of different antennas. If your house is at a higher elevation, the Philadelphia stations at 78+ miles may also be within range of an outdoor rooftop antenna setup. Check tvfool.com's signal analysis tool for your exact location.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/14613000
> 
> 
> You live close enough to Baltimore that just about anything should pick up WJZ, & WBAL.
> 
> 
> As far as the 4228 or any multiple array antenna goes; they are great antennas; but do not provide enough signal rejection from the sides. The 91-XG, and the 4228 are the best consumer grade UHF antennas out there. No combo antenna can match their performance. The 91-XG is preferable for close in areas when excessive mutipath or maximum signal rejection are your top priorities. I tried a 4228 here; and it performed miserably.



As it is now, my ss-2000 picks up all of the Baltimore channels with no problems no matter what direction I point it. Would this be the case with a 91-XG (can I get away with no rotor?) also, even though it is a UHF antenna only, would I have any issues getting 2, 11, and 13, or would I need a supplementary antenna?


----------



## paulthepwner




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paulthepwner* /forum/post/14613081
> 
> 
> As it is now, my ss-2000 picks up all of the Baltimore channels with no problems no matter what direction I point it. Would this be the case with a 91-XG (can I get away with no rotor?) also, even though it is a UHF antenna only, would I have any issues getting 2, 11, and 13, or would I need a supplementary antenna?



Answered part of my own question (I think).


If I understand tv fool correctly, nothing digital in my area broadcasts under real channel 29, so vhf really isn't a problem.


If I'm wrong, please point that out though.


Also, FWIW, I'm 2 miles north of where antennaweb puts the middle river zip code on the map, so my chances should be even better from here than what it tells you from there.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paulthepwner* /forum/post/14613081
> 
> 
> As it is now, my ss-2000 picks up all of the Baltimore channels with no problems no matter what direction I point it. Would this be the case with a 91-XG (can I get away with no rotor?) also, even though it is a UHF antenna only, would I have any issues getting 2, 11, and 13, or would I need a supplementary antenna?



It may pick them up without a rotor; but you would have to try. I can pick up the DC stations with mine pointed in almost any direction; but I am only 4 miles out. I actually pick up Baltimore (40 miles out) with it pointed elsewhere; but not nearly as good as DC.


If it doesn't work for Baltimore, you can always use it in conjunction your SS-2000 with an inexpensive A-B switch.


WJZ, & WBAL will be going back to VHF in FEB '09.


----------



## paulthepwner




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/14613145
> 
> 
> It may pick them up without a rotor; but you would have to try. I can pick up the DC stations with mine pointed in almost any direction; but I am only 4 miles out. I actually pick up Baltimore (40 miles out) with it pointed elsewhere; but not nearly as good as DC.
> 
> 
> If it doesn't work for Baltimore, you can always use it in conjunction your SS-2000 with an inexpensive A-B switch.
> 
> 
> WJZ, & WBAL will be going back to VHF in FEB '09.



Noted on WJZ and WBAL. I see that now that I click 'post transition'. I guess I'll order a 91-XG and go from there. I appreciate the info.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paulthepwner* /forum/post/14613114
> 
> 
> If I understand tv fool correctly, nothing digital in my area broadcasts under real channel 29, so vhf really isn't a problem.
> 
> If I'm wrong, please point that out though.



Look at the post-transition digital channels at tvfool.com. Go back several days to find my post on the upper VHF stations after 2/17/09. In Baltimore, WBAL-DT 11 and WJZ-DT 13 will move from UHF to VHF 11 & 13. In DC, WJLA-DT 7 and WUSA-DT 9 will move to upper VHF as well. In the Harrisburg DMA, WHTM-DT ABC 27 is on and will stay on VHF 10.


----------



## TheKrell




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/14608562
> 
> 
> The PSIP issue has lots of unintended side effects, mostly with tuning...



Interesting comment. Could you elaborate or give us a quick link that explains how that works? This could be why I'm having on-again off-again troubles with WETA.


BTW - WETA is off again according to my Kworld tuner stick.


----------



## Voyager06




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paulthepwner* /forum/post/14613172
> 
> 
> Noted on WJZ and WBAL. I see that now that I click 'post transition'. I guess I'll order a 91-XG and go from there. I appreciate the info.



I use the CM4228 with a rotor and can get all the Baltimore and Philly locals.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TheKrell* /forum/post/14614890
> 
> 
> Interesting comment. Could you elaborate or give us a quick link that explains how that works? This could be why I'm having on-again off-again troubles with WETA.
> 
> 
> BTW - WETA is off again according to my Kworld tuner stick.



See the last few posts for some examples:


1) If the PSIP says the wrong sound format

2) If the PSIP has the wrong ID

3) If the PSIP has the wrong resolution


And on and on... some devices freak out if reality is different than the PSIP, others ignore the PSIP in favor of reality, and everything in between.


----------



## paulthepwner




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Voyager06* /forum/post/14615614
> 
> 
> I use the CM4228 with a rotor and can get all the Baltimore and Philly locals.



You've also got about 30 miles (towards Philly) on me. Hopefully my 91-XG will be in in a few days and I'll have some results.


----------



## voltore




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/14603607
> 
> 
> Fire their engineer? It's amazing that we're now years into the HD ATSC game, and at least here in DC, the broadcast engineers seem like they were:
> 
> 
> a) Regularly drunk
> 
> b) Blind and deaf
> 
> c) Transferred from the word-processing team
> 
> d) Told how to spell HD and still couldn't get it right
> 
> 
> Sounds like a "you know you're a broadcast engineer from DC when..." list.



Sadly it is pathetic comments like that mean most of us broadcast engineers not even bother to frequent nor post here. Pure engineering is not often the issues at stake but financial, operational and other constraints. Whilst some people seem to think we should be 100% super knowledgeable on PSIP, the truth is it is something often set up by manufacturers with their staff present, tested on a handful of receivers, trained briefly and then often as not the device will run flawlessly for months, then just as mysteriously some odd settings will appear. Even with manufacturers involved these can often be pigs to track down. However, someone else always knows better.


----------



## CycloneGT

Well, thanks for posting here. A comment from a true engineer carries more weight those that complain.


We don't here much from Robert anymore either here, and considering some of the posts that were levied against his station, I can't say that I'd blame him.


Thanks again.


----------



## Voyager06




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paulthepwner* /forum/post/14615742
> 
> 
> You've also got about 30 miles (towards Philly) on me. Hopefully my 91-XG will be in in a few days and I'll have some results.



Yes, towards Philly I am about 30 miles closer. However, for WPMT (43.1), I am approx. 45 miles SE of their tower. You should be about 45 miles or so S of their tower. A CM 4228 (with rotor) should work well in your location especially with WBAL and WJZ moving back to VHF. The CM4228 does very well with upper VHF.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *voltore* /forum/post/14615782
> 
> 
> Sadly it is pathetic comments like that mean most of us broadcast engineers not even bother to frequent nor post here. Pure engineering is not often the issues at stake but financial, operational and other constraints. Whilst some people seem to think we should be 100% super knowledgeable on PSIP, the truth is it is something often set up by manufacturers with their staff present, tested on a handful of receivers, trained briefly and then often as not the device will run flawlessly for months, then just as mysteriously some odd settings will appear. Even with manufacturers involved these can often be pigs to track down. However, someone else always knows better.



I think sometimes us non-pros don't get to hear from the pros & unless people like you chime in, it is what it is unless rebutted.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *voltore* /forum/post/14615782
> 
> 
> Sadly it is pathetic comments like that mean most of us broadcast engineers not even bother to frequent nor post here. Pure engineering is not often the issues at stake but financial, operational and other constraints. Whilst some people seem to think we should be 100% super knowledgeable on PSIP, the truth is it is something often set up by manufacturers with their staff present, tested on a handful of receivers, trained briefly and then often as not the device will run flawlessly for months, then just as mysteriously some odd settings will appear. Even with manufacturers involved these can often be pigs to track down. However, someone else always knows better.



Sorry to be brutal here, but honestly, if I operated that way in my job I'd be fired.


If I'm responsible for a piece of equipment (or program, or whatever), it's my responsibility to make sure it works right. That means:


1) I get trained on it enough to ensure I can keep it running, or

2) I have an SLA with the vendor/consultant to fix it quickly when needed


Certainy we can all excuse the error. *What's not excusable is the fact that it's been going on for multiple days and still isn't fixed*.


It's not like this is some tertiary function, it's about the broadcast of your digital signal. That would seem kind of important?


I'd imagine you react quicker to things that happen in your house? If your water heater broke, I'm guessing you'd either fix it yourself (if that's your thing), or you'd immediately call an expert to come fix it? Why the PSIP equipment doesn't get the same level of attention is shocking to me.


Instead you say "hey, someone else installed it, and it usually works" and then shrug your shoulders? Wow.


And let's not pretend this thing just "broke". Clearly the engineers took it upon themselves to add the extra subchannel, didn't know what they were doing, didn't bother testing PSIP data, and screwed it up. This problem occurred simultaneous with the new subchannel, which required new PSIP information.


I hope you're not from WRC and you're just a sympathetic poster.


----------



## ajnabi

I just wanted to confirm my assumption. It seems some of the local channels like WUSA are going to move to VHF after the digital transition and if the antenna can't pick up the vhf channels then we would loose these channels.


----------



## gcd0865

paulthepwner,


I think you might actually have a decent chance of getting both Fox 29 from Philly and Fox 43 from York in Middle River - depending on where you are exactly, that area does get Philly signals somewhat, because of the water. TV Hill should not be a problem - 12 miles is far enough away (I can even point my 4228 directly at my local towers 8-9 miles away, with no overload problems).


Either a 4228 or 91XG would be best - they're very close to each other, in my experience. If you wanted to try for an attic setup first, you'd have to put the antenna at the very highest point of your attic - my attic 4228 pulls up to about 65 miles this way. But a 91XG can't rotate in most attics, unless it's a large one with no trusses running across it. I do use a rotor on my 4228, even with trusses.


Of course, an outside setup will yield even better results.


By the way, if you also want VHF-high stations (8 from Lancaster, 7 & 9 from DC, 11 & 13 from Baltimore will all move back to VHF-high next Feb.), the 4228 is fairly good on VHF-high (due to its reflector screen) and would thus serve that dual purpose nicely, whereas the 91XG is not. The soon-to-arrive 4228HD might be even better on VHF-high, due to its wider screen (we'll see). If you're already set on using the 91XG for UHF, the Winegard YA-1713 is quite good for VHF-high. You'd definitely need either a rotor or multiple fixed antennas on an A-B or A-B-C switch.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ajnabi* /forum/post/14616614
> 
> 
> I just wanted to confirm my assumption. It seems some of the local channels like WUSA are going to move to VHF after the digital transition and if the antenna can't pick up the vhf channels then we would loose these channels.



Confirmed.


----------



## paulthepwner




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gcd0865* /forum/post/14616644
> 
> 
> paulthepwner,
> 
> 
> I think you might actually have a decent chance of getting both Fox 29 from Philly and Fox 43 from York in Middle River - depending on where you are exactly, that area does get Philly signals somewhat, because of the water. TV Hill should not be a problem - 12 miles is far enough away (I can even point my 4228 directly at my local towers 8-9 miles away, with no overload problems).
> 
> 
> Either a 4228 or 91XG would be best - they're very close to each other, in my experience. If you wanted to try for an attic setup first, you'd have to put the antenna at the very highest point of your attic - my attic 4228 pulls up to about 65 miles this way. But a 91XG can't rotate in most attics, unless it's a large one with no trusses running across it. I do use a rotor on my 4228, even with trusses.
> 
> 
> Of course, an outside setup will yield even better results.
> 
> 
> By the way, if you also want VHF-high stations (8 from Lancaster, 7 & 9 from DC, 11 & 13 from Baltimore will all move back to VHF-high next Feb.), the 4228 is fairly good on VHF-high (due to its reflector screen) and would thus serve that dual purpose nicely, whereas the 91XG is not. The soon-to-arrive 4228HD might be even better on VHF-high, due to its wider screen (we'll see). If you're already set on using the 91XG for UHF, the Winegard YA-1713 is quite good for VHF-high. You'd definitely need either a rotor or multiple fixed antennas on an A-B or A-B-C switch.



Cool.


I'm actually *ON* the water, so I suppose that's going to be helpful


----------



## voltore




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/14616357
> 
> 
> Instead you say "hey, someone else installed it, and it usually works" and then shrug your shoulders? Wow.
> 
> 
> I hope you're not from WRC and you're just a sympathetic poster.



That is quite an odd interpretation of what I said, misquote I would say.


No, I'm not from WRC so I cannot even attempt to quote what happened. However let's state some simple facts about broadcast engineering in the 21st Century.


In days gone by, we used to have extensive engineering shops, with multiple experts in varying fields, but as financial pressures mount along with attrition mean that many shops now operate with far less staff than before. In some cases 50% less than 3 years ago. Additionally, there is now far more advanced technology in an operation. The days of 100 IRE video and analog audio across everything are long gone. D-A's, A-D's, Down or Up-Converters, Embedders, De-embedders, Routing tables to make a grown man weep. Keeping audio in sync is a real PITA. Look at WBDC HD for Two and half men, or recently, sadly WRC HD.


So, with fewer staff, new skills are taught and learned. Equipment is generally more reliable than used to be. Finally, finding a good broadcast engineer with good common sense skills is very difficult. Resumes appear with sound qualifications but people skills are somewhat lacking. Try telling a competitive newsroom they can't have something because isn't quite ready and watch the sparks fly.


Equipment often turns up unexpected, manuals are read and understood. Even manufacturers often send staff with little experience in stuff these days.


It's all very well shouting that you would learn the equipment and be ready, but the real world is such that even if it was 100% setup correctly, you were fully trained and then it worked fine for a year. Then suddenly it went wrong. Then to top it, you're on vacation, and your backup had his/her head in a toilet due to some dodgy chicken. Oh easy, we'll call the manufacturer, except their guru is on site with another customer and not easily reachable. We all know that SLA's are really only a way for us to get some refund if we don't reach targets (and are often not worth the paper they are written on, but more of a selling point).


The above is all real world.


Right now a lot of the DC/Baltimore engineers are focused on the Sprint/Nextel 2Ghz Relocation which is currently scheduled to switch over this coming weekend. I've no doubt, a lot of engineering resource was re-allocated to deal with TS Hanna this weekend as well the 9/11 memorial.


I think you would be surprised on how many calls we get every week from viewers that have lost English audio and stuck on Spanish. Most of them are so rude when we try to guide them to the SAP switch. Emails come from viewers that are downright rude. Sometimes we get it wrong, sometimes they get it wrong. Sometimes it is our cable/dish carriers that get it wrong.


Going back to PSIP etc., I don't know if WRC have a stream analyzer, they may, they may not. But if like us, we have a variety of ways of checking our signal. From an expensive demod, a best-buy down-converter, a simple HD set etc. If all of these, and various home setups all decode audio, then we often, rightly or wrongly assume all is well. And remember, not every receiver or decoder is 100% in spec either.







It may be that the channel is still undergoing some form of testing and manufacturers are involved.


To blindly assume and state that all DC engineers are drunk is, imho quite a sad statement. It says more of you than us. They have been doing far more, with far more technology with less training and with a lot less staff than used to be. That in itself is another discussion entirely.


We are fortunate that we are a Top 10 market, we engineers all feel sorry for those small stations that have one engineer and a dog! We read stories all the time of those small stations that hang on by a thread because their engineer resigned and they can't recruit a new member. 24/7 call for no extra! Look at radio, I feel for some of those in this market too.!!


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *voltore* /forum/post/14617316
> 
> 
> No, I'm not from WRC



Thank goodness!



> Quote:
> Finally, finding a good broadcast engineer with good common sense skills is very difficult.



Which was my original, and main point - the engineers, frankly, suck. So we agree on this!



> Quote:
> It's all very well shouting that you would learn the equipment and be ready, but the real world is such that even if it was 100% setup correctly, you were fully trained and then it worked fine for a year.



That's only half of what I said. I also said if not, then making sure you had a backup plan. Not just a backup engineer that is unqualified, but a backup plan that ensures it will get fixed quickly.



> Quote:
> I think you would be surprised on how many calls we get every week from viewers that have lost English audio and stuck on Spanish. Most of them are so rude when we try to guide them to the SAP switch.



SAP is a user problem, not the same thing. And if it was a station problem, to not be regularly testing what you're broadcasting and relying on customers to tell you is shocking!



> Quote:
> If all of these, and various home setups all decode audio, then we often, rightly or wrongly assume all is well.



So as a consumer, I have more available to me to look at what you're putting out on PSIP then you do? I doubt it. It's just sloppy work to not test, and WRC didn't test.



> Quote:
> And remember, not every receiver or decoder is 100% in spec either.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It may be that the channel is still undergoing some form of testing and manufacturers are involved.



The main 4-1 is undergoing testing? I hope not. That's not a good thing for them to be doing at this stage, at the beginning of the new season. The PSIP data is wrong across all the subchannels.



> Quote:
> To blindly assume and state that all DC engineers are drunk is, imho quite a sad statement.



It is a sad statement, about the state of the engineers. And to be fair, drunk was only one of the options. I also suggested "blind and deaf", "transferred from word processing", and "unable to spell HD". But I'm sure there are others.



> Quote:
> We read stories all the time of those small stations that hang on by a thread because their engineer resigned and they can't recruit a new member.



Sounds like a time-management issue. Perhaps you should be reading some of the tech manuals instead of sad stories?



I appreciate what you're trying to do, but you're not helping. Bottom line is the engineer(s) fell asleep on the job, and they failed. Period. And if that's not bad enough, they don't seem to be able to or care to fix it. Sounds like old-school union-type thinking (I have no idea if the engineers are unionized, just making a point).


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/14617548
> 
> 
> 
> The main 4-1 is undergoing testing? I hope not. That's not a good thing for them to be doing at this stage, at the beginning of the new season. The PSIP data is wrong across all the subchannels.



Must see TV is this Thursday & as of right now, 4-1 is unwatcheable for me.

I repeat what I said earlier in the month - This digital transition has been poor execution on the part of the software, hardware, & carriers. An utter failure for consumers.


----------



## xbgamer

As for HD syndication:


Dr. Phil, even though it's now produced in HD, was SD on 4-1.


Oprah is HD on 7-1.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *xbgamer* /forum/post/14618316
> 
> 
> As for HD syndication:
> 
> 
> Dr. Phil, even though it's now produced in HD, was SD on 4-1.
> 
> 
> Oprah is HD on 7-1.



Dr Phil was shown in HD on WVIR/29 Charlottesville...


----------



## Marcus Carr

Oprah and Ellen in SD on WBAL (no surprise).


----------



## machpost

So beyond network programming, WRC-DT has never aired anything else in HD, correct?


----------



## xbgamer

WJLA forgot to switch back to HD after commercials.


----------



## afiggatt

Unless I missed an airing between DC and Baltimore, Ellen and Dr. Phil were SD in both cities when I checked. Only WJLA-DT 7 had Oprah in HD - at the start anyway, correct? Since I don't watch these shows, may have missed one of the airings.


The other syndicated show going HD today is Entertainment Tonight. A check of Titantv has the show on WUSA-DT 9 and WJZ-DT 13 at 7:30 PM ET and CBS is showing the men's final at the US Open, so ET may get bumped today. I guess the odds are somewhat better that ET would be HD on WUSA-DT than WJZ-DT, but I would be surprised if ET is in HD on either station this week.


----------



## xbgamer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14618922
> 
> 
> Only WJLA-DT 7 had Oprah in HD - at the start anyway, correct?



yeah, Oprah wasn't in HD for the last segment (about 4 mins or so.) From the looks of it, WJLA did that on purpose.


Since I don't really watch WJLA's syndicated programming, I forgot that WJLA likes to crossfade into their 5pm newscast right as the Oprah credits roll.


My guess is that their video mixer only supports SD, so in order to make their news transition work, they'll be doing the last segment in SD until they get some more sophisticated HD switching equipment.


----------



## xbgamer

I haven't seen anybody posting this, so I'll go ahead:


WRC's engineers finally got around to fixing the audio on Universal Sports (4.3)


Right in time for the repeat of the Olympics







. On right now: U.S. Boxing (surprise, surprise) Trials


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/14617548
> 
> 
> Which was my original, and main point - the engineers, frankly, suck. So we agree on this!



Honestly, I think you are being rather rude. I don't know if you have ever had to maintain, design, development or build complex equipment, but it is not as easy as it looks. TV broadcasting obviously gets very complicated because of the need to maintain compatibility with standards going back over 60 years. Overlaying a slew of digital formats and requirements (closed caption, SAP, PSIP) on a joint analog & digital broadcast makes for a complicated system. Yes, it is irritating when it does not work, but such is life.


----------



## xbgamer

another WRC note --

they updated the Time/Temperature font used during their newscasts. The new font type appears to be Arial with bolding. MUCH easier to read compared to the old font -- especially at 5am when you're half awake


----------



## GMan4911

Still getting no audio or video on WRC-DT. I think the PSIP issue is still not resolved.


Who do we contact about this?


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14618922
> 
> 
> Unless I missed an airing between DC and Baltimore, Ellen and Dr. Phil were SD in both cities when I checked. Only WJLA-DT 7 had Oprah in HD - at the start anyway, correct? Since I don't watch these shows, may have missed one of the airings.
> 
> 
> The other syndicated show going HD today is Entertainment Tonight. A check of Titantv has the show on WUSA-DT 9 and WJZ-DT 13 at 7:30 PM ET and CBS is showing the men's final at the US Open, so ET may get bumped today. I guess the odds are somewhat better that ET would be HD on WUSA-DT than WJZ-DT, but I would be surprised if ET is in HD on either station this week.



We're doing well down here in SE VA. The ABC, CBS, CW, FOX, NBC and PBS stations are all doing HD syndicated (prerecorded) programming...


----------



## antarctico




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *xbgamer* /forum/post/14619082
> 
> 
> I haven't seen anybody posting this, so I'll go ahead:
> 
> 
> WRC's engineers finally got around to fixing the audio on Universal Sports (4.3)
> 
> 
> Right in time for the repeat of the Olympics
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . On right now: U.S. Boxing (surprise, surprise) Trials



They certainly changed something, but I still have no audio on WRC 4-3. Where before I received blips and burps and very occasional bursts of clear audio, now I get nothing but pure, dead silence from my DTVPal. This is not an improvement.


Oh, and as an aside, I sent a perfectly civil e-mail through the WRC website and did not even get the courtesy of a computer generated boilerplate. Fey...


----------



## xbgamer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *antarctico* /forum/post/14619505
> 
> 
> They certainly changed something, but I still have no audio on WRC 4-3. Where before I received blips and burps and very occasional bursts of clear audio, now I get nothing but pure, dead silence from my DTVPal. This is not an improvement.



I haven't tried tuning using my myHD card in my media center computer, but my CECB DTT-901 is tuning into 4.3 fine. No audio or video glitches.


----------



## TheKrell




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *xbgamer* /forum/post/14619550
> 
> 
> I haven't tried tuning using my myHD card in my media center computer, but my CECB DTT-901 is tuning into 4.3 fine. No audio or video glitches.



And my Kworld tuner stick tunes in 4.3 perfectly as well. Still no-go on WETA, though. All channels are black.


----------



## antarctico




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *xbgamer* /forum/post/14619550
> 
> 
> I haven't tried tuning using my myHD card in my media center computer, but my CECB DTT-901 is tuning into 4.3 fine. No audio or video glitches.



Based on your reply, I went to my DTVPal and had it search for new channels to see if it needed to update its internal info on WRC. Interestingly, it picked up all three WRC channels as new services, and once the new channel search was complete, I had proper audio out of WRC 4-3, and all three WRC channels are working fine. Perhaps the new channel search updated my DTVPal with the changes the WRC engineers made to the WRC PSIP info? Either way, I'm just happy everything is working now.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GMan4911* /forum/post/14619153
> 
> 
> Still getting no audio or video on WRC-DT. I think the PSIP issue is still not resolved.
> 
> 
> Who do we contact about this?




Here's the viewer feedback phone# from their site: (202) 885-4968

Not sure if it works or not since it's a recorded line. eeesh.

some others:


(202) 885-4000 General Information


----------



## xbgamer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TheKrell* /forum/post/14619689
> 
> 
> And my Kworld tuner stick tunes in 4.3 perfectly as well. Still no-go on WETA, though. All channels are black.



WETA's working fine here.


I wish I bought the Kworld stick -- it was on clearance at Newegg for $15. I was going to buy it but by the time I got to it, they were discontinued.


----------



## jswclw

Regarding WRC PSIP problems, it looks like they got the TSID problem corrected, but the frame size on program 1 is still set to 1280x1080. All 3 programs are indicating AC3 audio.


----------



## Marcus Carr

No Entertainment Tonight, HD or otherwise, on WJZ or WUSA because CBS is rerunning tennis from yesterday. Have to check WJZ tonight at 1:35.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jswclw* /forum/post/14619936
> 
> 
> Regarding WRC PSIP problems, it looks like they got the TSID problem corrected, but the frame size on program 1 is still set to 1280x1080. All 3 programs are indicating AC3 audio.



So 2 down, 1 to go... Maybe after the Wednesday happy hour they'll fix this last problem?


It's just their main channel ATSC broadcast... nothing that important...


----------



## GMan4911




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jswclw* /forum/post/14619936
> 
> 
> Regarding WRC PSIP problems, it looks like they got the TSID problem corrected, but the frame size on program 1 is still set to 1280x1080. All 3 programs are indicating AC3 audio.



Looks like WRC-DT is working for me now. Don't know if the wrong frame size is affecting me though.


----------



## cpldc

Could it actually be 1280x1080, using non-square pixels? The stream still has the aspect ratio as 16:9.


On another PSIP-related note, WMDO-LD 8 is still switching between 1-1 and 47-1 rapidly. I can't find an engineering contact anywhere, and last time I emailed the manager (regarding WFDC-DT, which is under the same management) it didn't amount to anything.


----------



## Marcus Carr

WUTB is back to 480i.


----------



## Trip in VA

1280x1080 isn't a standard resolution, is not contained in the ATSC standard, and some receivers will freak out over it. They shouldn't be doing it.


- Trip


----------



## cpldc

Makes sense--I just noticed that's not on the table of resolutions on the ATSC standard. I was wondering if it was one of the 18 formats boxes claim to decode that we don't normally see, like widescreen SD or 480p.


An interesting note is that my first-generation Insignia converter box allows you to cycle through zoom modes on WHUT, though it doesn't actually change the picture. It normally says "aspect ratio cannot be changed on this channel" for 4:3 480i.


----------



## lax01

Anybody having problems with Comcast MoCo Digital Cable? Mine keeps breaking up...it was fine yesterday...ugh


----------



## ajnabi

I have dish vip 622 and i wasn't getting any audio on channel 4.3 but i think they did something and now i am getting audio on the channel now.


----------



## mtnbike-dude

Yeah!! 4.3 has audio!! WooHooo! It's fixed.


Now, if I could just get Monday night football. Damn Disney money mongers.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/14618322
> 
> 
> Dr Phil was shown in HD on WVIR/29 Charlottesville...



As was Oprah. Ellen, however, was not. It seems like that was probably an error on the distribution end, not on WVIR's end though.


Yes, I think it's worth pointing out that WVIR does local news in HD, field reports in HD, news bumps, news teasers, and syndie show promos in HD, local ads in HD, carries Oprah, Dr. Phil, Wheel, Jeopardy, and Ellen in HD, and brings Raycom Sports in HD.


Great work by them, and the picture is pristine. SNF is actually watchable on WVIR. They are probably one of the leading affiliates for HD. Top 10 DMA? Ha. Certainly they embarrass all the affiliates in D.C. despite having probably 1/10th the viewership. Maybe less.


----------



## xbgamer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/14620958
> 
> 
> As was Oprah. Ellen, however, was not. It seems like that was probably an error on the distribution end, not on WVIR's end though.
> 
> 
> Yes, I think it's worth pointing out that WVIR does local news in HD, field reports in HD, news bumps, news teasers, and syndie show promos in HD, local ads in HD, carries Oprah, Dr. Phil, Wheel, Jeopardy, and Ellen in HD, and brings Raycom Sports in HD.
> 
> 
> Great work by them, and the picture is pristine. SNF is actually watchable on WVIR. They are probably one of the leading affiliates for HD. Top 10 DMA? Ha. Certainly they embarrass all the affiliates in D.C. despite having probably 1/10th the viewership. Maybe less.



wow. for a station that's in the middle of nowhere (no offense -- the only thing coming to mind is Crutchfield Electronics and UVA), i'm surprised they carry that much HD.


just wondering, do any of the stations in cville carry Hoo games or is that strictly an ESPNU thing?


----------



## mtnbike-dude




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *xbgamer* /forum/post/14621061
> 
> 
> wow. for a station that's in the middle of nowhere (no offense -- the only thing coming to mind is Crutchfield Electronics and UVA), i'm surprised they carry that much HD.
> 
> 
> just wondering, do any of the stations in cville carry Hoo games or is that strictly an ESPNU thing?



Charlottesville in the middle of nowhere? You need to get out more.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *xbgamer* /forum/post/14621061
> 
> 
> wow. for a station that's in the middle of nowhere (no offense -- the only thing coming to mind is Crutchfield Electronics and UVA), i'm surprised they carry that much HD.
> 
> 
> just wondering, do any of the stations in cville carry Hoo games or is that strictly an ESPNU thing?



I think the Newsplex stations carry some of the games. I know the Newsplex stations like to identify themselves as "The home of Virginia athletics."


But yeah, WVIR has a really nice facility and lots of pricey equipment. They're a joy to watch. I got a tour of the facility back in May, it was great. (Pictures: http://www.rabbitears.info/nbc29 )


- Trip


----------



## lax01




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lax01* /forum/post/14620672
> 
> 
> Anybody having problems with Comcast MoCo Digital Cable? Mine keeps breaking up...it was fine yesterday...ugh



UGH...SNRs look absolutely horrid...between Fair and Poor...stupid Comcast


----------



## tomrt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *xbgamer* /forum/post/14619141
> 
> 
> another WRC note --
> 
> they updated the Time/Temperature font used during their newscasts. The new font type appears to be Arial with bolding. MUCH easier to read compared to the old font -- especially at 5am when you're half awake



Yes, the font is better. And, the time and temp are actually lined up horizontally instead of being slightly off kilter. However, the time and the temp now run together (at least at 11 when there are 4 digits in the time) so it looks like one long six digit number.


----------



## CycloneGT

On my TR-40, 4.3 Audio is just fine now.


----------



## xbgamer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mtnbike-dude* /forum/post/14621169
> 
> 
> Charlottesville in the middle of nowhere? You need to get out more.



according to Nielson, out of the 210 TV markets, Charlottesville is the 27th smallest one in America.


----------



## tripleM

Speaking of Neilsen, is there any upside or downside to being a Neilsen family?\\I got an offer to do it but really don't know much about it.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/14620405
> 
> 
> 1280x1080 isn't a standard resolution, is not contained in the ATSC standard, and some receivers will freak out over it. They shouldn't be doing it.
> 
> 
> - Trip



My Sammy 5054 is certainly freaking out.









Day 5 of this crap from WRC.


----------



## stmon

I am having problems with WRC channel 4-1 as well! I sat down to watch the Redskins game on Thursday, and there were all these green bars on my screen. I'm in Gaithersburg and watch OTA HD using an LG HDTV tuner. Channels 4-2 and 4-3 are perfectly fine, as well as all the other channels I normally get. It's only 4-1 that is messed up. This just happened last Thursday. I emailed WRC but haven't gotten a response. The channel is unwatchable, and I'm getting really irritated!


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *xbgamer* /forum/post/14621766
> 
> 
> according to Nielson, out of the 210 TV markets, Charlottesville is the 27th smallest one in America.



Exactly the point. Where does WVIR get the money for upgrades that apparently WRC, WJLA, WTTG, and (to a lesser degree) WUSA can't afford? Until a couple of years ago, WVIR was the only network affiliate in Charlottesville. Now they're probably a nationwide leader in local HD.


----------



## nottenst

We had problems getting WNUV-54-1 in last night over the air. The reception seemed much worse than usual. Anyone else having bad luck with that or was it just us? My daughter was quite upset.


Thanks,


Neil


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/14620958
> 
> 
> As was Oprah. Ellen, however, was not. It seems like that was probably an error on the distribution end, not on WVIR's end though.



Ellen was seen in HD in the Norfolk market...


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/14622708
> 
> 
> Exactly the point. Where does WVIR get the money for upgrades that apparently WRC, WJLA, WTTG, and (to a lesser degree) WUSA can't afford? Until a couple of years ago, WVIR was the only network affiliate in Charlottesville. Now they're probably a nationwide leader in local HD.



WVIR is a newer and small market station, so they likely did not have the built infrastructure / sunk cost of a WRC or WTTG. The big city stations have millions and millions invested in SD equipment and studio facilities that may not be fully depreciated for tax purposes. The stations that have upgraded to locals news in HD are the probably often the ones that had studios & facilities that had last been upgraded some years ago and much of the equipment was nearing the replacement point anyway. The figures that have been tossed around for upgrading a major city stations news operation to all HD have been $8 to $10 million or more. Tax depreciation, equipment life cycles, falling costs for HD equipment are going to be major factors in when the station owners decide to upgrade to locals news operations in HD.


----------



## paulthepwner




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14623367
> 
> 
> WVIR is a newer and small market station, so they likely did not have the built infrastructure / sunk cost of a WRC or WTTG. The big city stations have millions and millions invested in SD equipment and studio facilities that may not be fully depreciated for tax purposes. The stations that have upgraded to locals news in HD are the probably often the ones that had studios & facilities that had last been upgraded some years ago and much of the equipment was nearing the replacement point anyway. The figures that have been tossed around for upgrading a major city stations news operation to all HD have been $8 to $10 million or more. Tax depreciation, equipment life cycles, falling costs for HD equipment are going to be major factors in when the station owners decide to upgrade to locals news operations in HD.



Do they take into account the lost viewership due to non-hd? I'm watching WBFF for news in the evenings now rather than WBAL. WBAL even has better news coverage most of the time.


----------



## Trip in VA

WVIR has been around since 1973, and I'm not sure how long they've been in their current studio. The HD remote stuff was put in during the Sprint/Nextel 2 GHz realignment thing, not sure about the rest of it. I do know that the company that owns WVIR only own two other stations, an NBC/ABC pair in Fort Myers, FL which is also doing HD news as I recall.


- Trip


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> According to an MASN spokesman, the regional sports network signed deals with TV providers in and around Charlotte, Greenville, and Raleigh-Durham, N.C., as well as Richmond, Va.


 http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6594005.html


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paulthepwner* /forum/post/14623403
> 
> 
> Do they take into account the lost viewership due to non-hd? I'm watching WBFF for news in the evenings now rather than WBAL. WBAL even has better news coverage most of the time.



The same in DC. Before I got HD, I'd often watch news on NBC,FOX,ABC, but never CBS for some reason. Since I got HD, I ONLY watch CBS because they are the only local News in HD.


Save some bucks by NOT doing something you are going to have to do anyway, and lose viewers in process while they become loyal to your competitors. Sounds like a brilliant business plan to me


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/14623290
> 
> 
> We had problems getting WNUV-54-1 in last night over the air. The reception seemed much worse than usual. Anyone else having bad luck with that or was it just us? My daughter was quite upset.
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> 
> Neil



Sorry that you had a hard time with your reception, but there were no problems with the WNUV-DT transmitter or master control last night. The transmitter is, and has been, running at 97.8% licensed forward power.


I've not gotten any other complaints either, I'm afraid. It may have just been one of those atmospheric things that come around every now and then that effected your reception.


We're not quite there yet, but I get reception problems at my house in the spring and the fall, when the amount of leaves on the trees changes. Just a heads-up to viewers who have newly acquired antennas and HDTVs.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/14623290
> 
> 
> We had problems getting WNUV-54-1 in last night over the air. The reception seemed much worse than usual. Anyone else having bad luck with that or was it just us? My daughter was quite upset.
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> 
> Neil



There was a _"tremendous"_ amount of tropo last night from the south & east. WVEC-DT from Norfolk knocks out the extremely weak WUTB-DT for me almost every night. This is probably what you were experiencing with WNUV-DT.


----------



## DD77

I just noticed on Saturday that the local NBC here added a new subchannel, and is broadcasting 1280x1080 on the main channel. Are any other markets getting this?


Here are some screens of the new sub and the g-spot specs of the recorded vid.

  



I hope I posted this in the right section.


----------



## scowl




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DD77* /forum/post/14625461
> 
> 
> I just noticed on Saturday that the local NBC here added a new subchannel, and is broadcasting 1280x1080 on the main channel. Are any other markets getting this?



Isn't it illegal for a ATSC broadcast station to use formats that aren't in the ATSC resolution table?


----------



## aaronwt

I guess that might explain the lower quality recently.


----------



## DD77




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *scowl* /forum/post/14625624
> 
> 
> Isn't it illegal for a ATSC broadcast station to use formats that aren't in the ATSC resolution table?



Not sure. My fusion card and HR10-250 both picked up the signal and recorded correctly. I can put up with 1280x1080 with stretched pixels since I have D*, but I'm worried about when they will stop with this sub-HD nonsense? 1080x1080? 480x1080? OK maybe I was exaggerating on the last one. It still sucks that we're getting bandwidth taken away from HD for some extra 480i sports subchannel.


----------



## Ken H




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DD77* /forum/post/14625461
> 
> 
> 
> I hope I posted this in the right section.



It's really a local issue, but I'll let it ride here for awhile.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DD77* /forum/post/14625461
> 
> 
> I hope I posted this in the right section.



What the heck is going on with WRC-DT NBC 4 since they added 4.3 last Thursday has been under discussion in the Washington DC - Baltimore local thread at http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...93124&page=219 . I don't know if WRC-DT is really sending out 4.1 at 1280x1080 or whether the PSIP header data is just seriously messed up. But it would be useful to get some insight from experts outside of the DC area.


WRC 4 is a NBC owned & operated station in Washington, DC. You would think they would have the engineering staff available to figure this out.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/14624879
> 
> 
> Sorry that you had a hard time with your reception, but there were no problems with the WNUV-DT transmitter or master control last night. The transmitter is, and has been, running at 97.8% licensed forward power.
> 
> 
> I've not gotten any other complaints either, I'm afraid. It may have just been one of those atmospheric things that come around every now and then that effected your reception.
> 
> 
> We're not quite there yet, but I get reception problems at my house in the spring and the fall, when the amount of leaves on the trees changes. Just a heads-up to viewers who have newly acquired antennas and HDTVs.



Thanks for the information.


Neil


----------



## mtnbike-dude




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *stmon* /forum/post/14622285
> 
> 
> I am having problems with WRC channel 4-1 as well! I sat down to watch the Redskins game on Thursday, and there were all these green bars on my screen. I'm in Gaithersburg and watch OTA HD using an LG HDTV tuner. Channels 4-2 and 4-3 are perfectly fine, as well as all the other channels I normally get. It's only 4-1 that is messed up. This just happened last Thursday. I emailed WRC but haven't gotten a response. The channel is unwatchable, and I'm getting really irritated!



I watched that game OTA HD and it looked fantastic on my Sony Grand Wega RP LCD, that's very strange.


Oh, and does anybody know how to make my sig stick? It keeps getting changed somehow and I can't figure it out.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Entertainment Tonight is in SD on WJZ and WUSA. So the only new syndicated HD in Baltimore or Washington is Oprah on WJLA (







).


The CBS Evening News was in SD on WJZ.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14628351
> 
> 
> Entertainment Tonight is in SD on WJZ and WUSA. So the only new syndicated HD in Baltimore or Washington is Oprah on WJLA (
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ).
> 
> 
> The CBS Evening News was in SD on WJZ.



Ah, but on the plus side, Everybody Loves Raymond is in HD on WUTB! (720p)


----------



## Marcus Carr

Fringe is in SD on WBFF. Congratulations to all the local stations for a job well done this week.


----------



## hoyty




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14628569
> 
> 
> Fringe is in SD on WBFF. Congratulations to all the local stations for a job well done this week.



Well at least I am not crazy it seems. The odd part, the commercial for 10 PM news right before show was in HD. Is there a contact at WBFF to call?


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hoyty* /forum/post/14628699
> 
> 
> Well at least I am not crazy it seems. The odd part, the commercial for 10 PM news right before show was in HD. Is there a contact at WBFF to call?



Switched to HD at 8:19.


Fox will replay the pilot on Sunday.


----------



## trek2004




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *stmon* /forum/post/14622285
> 
> 
> I am having problems with WRC channel 4-1 as well! I sat down to watch the Redskins game on Thursday, and there were all these green bars on my screen. I'm in Gaithersburg and watch OTA HD using an LG HDTV tuner. Channels 4-2 and 4-3 are perfectly fine, as well as all the other channels I normally get. It's only 4-1 that is messed up. This just happened last Thursday. I emailed WRC but haven't gotten a response. The channel is unwatchable, and I'm getting really irritated!



I'm in Ashburn, Virginia and have exactly the same problem (green bars) on WRC (NBC) 4-1 only. All other stations are fine, including 4-2 and 4-3. This problem started just a few days ago (Thursday or Friday).










Any idea as to when 4-3 came online? Could it be related to the problem?


----------



## CycloneGT

Yeah, 4.3 came online on Thursday


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *trek2004* /forum/post/14628940
> 
> 
> I'm in Ashburn, Virginia and have exactly the same problem (green bars) on WRC (NBC) 4-1 only. All other stations are fine, including 4-2 and 4-3. This problem started just a few days ago (Thursday or Friday).
> 
> 
> Any idea as to when 4-3 came online? Could it be related to the problem?



Call and complain. They're encoding their signal as 1280x1080 when it should be 1920x1080, and that's what's causing your issue.


It's probably not directly related to the addition of 4-3, but the settings were changed at the same time apparently.


- Trip


----------



## coyoteaz

The table of resolutions was never adopted, so there's no legal reason they can't do HDlite. The solution is just as valid as any other to try and keep the station from degrading to unwatchable crap thanks to the mandated addition of Universal Sports. Personally, I would rather see the affected stations drop the SD subs to 528x480i or 352x480i (as was suggested to the KXAS engineer in the Dallas, TX local thread). The only real solution is to dump Weather+ if NBC is going to require their O&Os to carry Universal Sports, but NBC's behavior in the recent past tends to indicate that putting out a quality product isn't at the top of their priority list.


KPHO here in Phoenix (CBS affiliate, owned by Meredith) experimented with HDlite for a few days last year to try and carry a second SD subchannel for March Madness, but from what I've heard, CBS corporate shot that one down as soon as they found out about it.


----------



## machpost

FWIW, while clearly something is wrong, WRC-DT 4-1, -2 and -3 are coming in fine OTA on my Panasonic plasma.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14628569
> 
> 
> Congratulations to all the local stations for a job well done this week.



To borrow a phrase: same ****, different week. Sometimes I wonder if we live in the nation's capital or the technological equivalent of the Sudan.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hoyty* /forum/post/14628699
> 
> 
> Well at least I am not crazy it seems. The odd part, the commercial for 10 PM news right before show was in HD. Is there a contact at WBFF to call?



You could call me, but I'm not there...


Apparently there was a splicer problem that kept it from reacting to the automation control. After I called, the master control operators manually changed the splicer between local and network for the rest of the show.


I'll have to figure out what happened when I get in in the morning.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/14629373
> 
> 
> FWIW, while clearly something is wrong, WRC-DT 4-1, -2 and -3 are coming in fine OTA on my Panasonic plasma.



I'm getting 4-1 with poor lip-sync (during law and order), and 4-3 with audio, but I getting nothing on 4-2. I'm using a Dish Network VIP211k receiver, and watching the local channels OTA.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *trek2004* /forum/post/14628940
> 
> 
> I'm in Ashburn, Virginia and have exactly the same problem (green bars) on WRC (NBC) 4-1 only. All other stations are fine, including 4-2 and 4-3. This problem started just a few days ago (Thursday or Friday).



Email WRC that picture with the exact model # of the TV or ATSC tuner. Come to think of it, send it to the "swanni" at http://www.tvpredictions.com/ . The Washington Post technology coverage writers/editor/section might be worth a try. Time to make a public stink about how WRC-DT is messing up the digital broadcast signal for a lot of people. People who can't get WRC-DT anymore might consider contacting the FCC about WRC-DT's apparently non-compliant ATSC signal.


Whatever WRC-DT is doing is resulting in very different behavior with different ATSC tuners. Most can handle it, but some are going bonkers. The older Samsung SIR-T451 ATSC box has this odd extra delay when I changed to 4-1. Blank screen for a second, then the picture comes on. I will have to experiment with all the ATSC tuners I have to see if any of them don't work.


Meanwhile I just noticed while checking the broadcast stations, WDCA-DT My 20 is now shown as channel 35.1, their physical broadcast channel. This is definitely a week for the PSIP gremlins.


PS WDCW-DT 50 has a very weak signal as well. I'm getting a lot of dropouts for it which is very unusual. Good grief.


----------



## trek2004




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14629520
> 
> 
> Email WRC that picture with the exact model # of the TV or ATSC tuner. Come to think of it, send it to the "swanni" at http://www.tvpredictions.com/ . The Washington Post technology coverage writers/editor/section might be worth a try. Time to make a public stink about how WRC-DT is messing up the digital broadcast signal for a lot of people. People who can't get WRC-DT anymore might consider contacting the FCC about WRC-DT's apparently non-compliant ATSC signal.
> 
> 
> Whatever WRC-DT is doing is resulting in very different behavior with different ATSC tuners. Most can handle it, but some are going bonkers. The older Samsung SIR-T451 ATSC box has this odd extra delay when I changed to 4-1. Blank screen for a second, then the picture comes on. I will have to experiment with all the ATSC tuners I have to see if any of them don't work.
> 
> 
> Meanwhile I just noticed while checking the broadcast stations, WDCA-DT My 20 is now shown as channel 35.1, their physical broadcast channel. This is definitely a week for the PSIP gremlins.
> 
> 
> PS WDCW-DT 50 has a very weak signal as well. I'm getting a lot of dropouts for it which is very unusual. Good grief.



Thanks... I'll start the ball rolling tomorrow.

FYI - my year and a half old plasma is a Samsung HP-T4264. The MyHD card in my pc doesn't have the problem.

I wonder if WRC-DT is encoding in 1280x1080 to try to squeeze more channels in their available bandwidth.........


----------



## carltonrice

So, why Everybody Loves Raymond, but not Two and a Half Men in HD on WUTB-DT?


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *trek2004* /forum/post/14628940
> 
> 
> I'm in Ashburn, Virginia and have exactly the same problem (green bars) on WRC (NBC) 4-1 only. All other stations are fine, including 4-2 and 4-3. This problem started just a few days ago (Thursday or Friday).
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Any idea as to when 4-3 came online? Could it be related to the problem?



Yep. That's what's on my TV. Samsung also.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *trek2004* /forum/post/14629725
> 
> 
> Thanks... I'll start the ball rolling tomorrow.
> 
> FYI - my year and a half old plasma is a Samsung HP-T4264. The MyHD card in my pc doesn't have the problem.
> 
> I wonder if WRC-DT is encoding in 1280x1080 to try to squeeze more channels in their available bandwidth.........



I'm on it also. Sammy 5054 here.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/14629518
> 
> 
> I'm getting 4-1 with poor lip-sync (during law and order), and 4-3 with audio, but I getting nothing on 4-2. I'm using a Dish Network VIP211k receiver, and watching the local channels OTA.



The lip synch is worse than ever on 4.1; but fine on 11.1.


----------



## Remoteless




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *trek2004* /forum/post/14629725
> 
> 
> Thanks... I'll start the ball rolling tomorrow.
> 
> FYI - my year and a half old plasma is a Samsung HP-T4264. The MyHD card in my pc doesn't have the problem.
> 
> I wonder if WRC-DT is encoding in 1280x1080 to try to squeeze more channels in their available bandwidth.........



I'm using a MyHD-130. Is your MyHD a 130? Is your resolution set to 1920x1080i? The only way i get a picture on 4.1 is if i set the resolution to 1440x1080i or 1280x720p


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/14629458
> 
> 
> Apparently there was a splicer problem that kept it from reacting to the automation control. After I called, the master control operators manually changed the splicer between local and network for the rest of the show.



Why did you even have to call? Dumb question, but shouldn't the MC operator have noticed that the HD video was the SD upconverted video and fixed it right then and there?


----------



## sneals2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *coyoteaz* /forum/post/14629166
> 
> 
> The table of resolutions was never adopted, so there's no legal reason they can't do HDlite. The solution is just as valid as any other to try and keep the station from degrading to unwatchable crap thanks to the mandated addition of Universal Sports.



Yep - AIUI the table was suggested - but not adopted as a legal requirement?


It may be that some MPEG2 decoders don't like that non-square pixel resolution - but I suspect most will. 1440x1080 is used by a number of UK HD channels at the moment - mainly because they still use HD Cam as their main delivery format (which is 1440x1080 on-tape)



> Quote:
> Personally, I would rather see the affected stations drop the SD subs to 528x480i or 352x480i (as was suggested to the KXAS engineer in the Dallas, TX local thread).



Yep - in the UK 544x576/50i is a common "SD Lite" system used OTA and on satellite where bandwith is at a premium. 544x576 is roughly equivalent to a 4:3 PAL OTA composite signal in resolution terms (albeit with the benefit of component rather than composite chroma) - and is still very watchable - though for weather, with fine graphic detail, it may not help much? (In fact 544x576 is also used for 16:9...)


Yes - it isn't as good as 720x576 (or 704x576), but equally it is still watchable, particularly for sub-channel/minority channel stuff.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mrvideo* /forum/post/14630856
> 
> 
> Why did you even have to call? Dumb question, but shouldn't the MC operator have noticed that the HD video was the SD upconverted video and fixed it right then and there?



And we're back to the main point that these engineers are always asleep on the job. They don't care, they don't seem to understand the equipment, and they don't seem to bother with trying to get things fixed.


It's pitiful.


They should all be fired and hire people who actually give a damn about things. The skill set is obviously irrelevant, since these guys don't seem to have any of the necessary skills (except perhaps explaining how to turn SAP on and off).


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *trek2004* /forum/post/14629725
> 
> 
> Thanks... I'll start the ball rolling tomorrow.
> 
> FYI - my year and a half old plasma is a Samsung HP-T4264. The MyHD card in my pc doesn't have the problem.
> 
> I wonder if WRC-DT is encoding in 1280x1080 to try to squeeze more channels in their available bandwidth.........



You should also post your picture of the screen to this thread in the HDTV programming forum: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1064958 . Might get comments and feedback from experts outside of the DC area. Anyone who has the wacky 2/3rd screen for WRC-DT should take a photo and send it to WRC and elsewhere with details. Contacting NBC Network Corporate might also be useful. The more complaints, the quicker they are likely to fix it.


----------



## ncfuser

Have same Green Bars on My Samsung in Silver Spring.

Called NBC4 this morning and they told me they have had only 3 complaints about the Green bar on 4-1 and they are all Samsung TVs. So he seems to think it may be a problem with Samsung. But he is going to check into it.

Here are the numbers to call to complain.

Please Call:

(202) 885-4000 General Information

(202) 885-4111 News Tip Line






> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *trek2004* /forum/post/14628940
> 
> 
> I'm in Ashburn, Virginia and have exactly the same problem (green bars) on WRC (NBC) 4-1 only. All other stations are fine, including 4-2 and 4-3. This problem started just a few days ago (Thursday or Friday).
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Any idea as to when 4-3 came online? Could it be related to the problem?


----------



## CycloneGT

Thanks for posting those phone numbers for WRC.


----------



## ncfuser

Have same Green Bar on My Samsung in Silver Spring.

Called NBC4 this morning and they told me they have had only 3 complaints about the Green bar on 4-1 and they are all Samsung TVs. So he seems to think it may be a problem with Samsung. But he is going to check into it.

Here are the numbers to call to complain.

Please Call:

(202) 885-4000 General Information

(202) 885-4111 News Tip Line


----------



## CycloneGT

Yeah, this new setting has really affected a lot of Samsung TVs.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ncfuser* /forum/post/14631924
> 
> 
> Have same Green Bars on My Samsung in Silver Spring.
> 
> Called NBC4 this morning and they told me they have had only 3 complaints about the Green bar on 4-1 and they are all Samsung TVs. So he seems to think it may be a problem with Samsung. But he is going to check into it.
> 
> Here are the numbers to call to complain.
> 
> Please Call:
> 
> (202) 885-4000 General Information
> 
> (202) 885-4111 News Tip Line



Thanks for update.

I guess I am one of those 3 prior complaints since I used those numbers & their email to contact them on Monday.

Wish my digital camera wasn't on the blitz.


There is also the instance of where if I flip from another HD channel, it splits the screen with 2/3 WRC4 HD & the bottom 1/3 is the static pic of the prior HD station (frozen).


They may think it's only on Samsungs but what about the audio issue with other make?


----------



## maestro73

While I haven't been experiencing any problems related to this issue, I do have a concern. How can we know for sure they are encoding at 1920x1080 and not 1280x1080? I'll be really pissed if they're reducing resolution. Now even OTA is tainted.


----------



## derek

My older LG LST-3510A ATSC/QAM box has issues with NBC 4 HD. Didn't get a screenshot but the lower half of the picture looks ok with the upper half mostly green/shadowy green bars/splotches. This was Sunday night Bears v Colts game.


----------



## TheKrell




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *maestro73* /forum/post/14632241
> 
> 
> How can we know for sure they are encoding at 1920x1080 and not 1280x1080?



I sure hope they aren't transmitting 1280X1080, because that is _not_ part of the ATSC standard. (1280X720 is part of the standard.)


----------



## tripleM

Here's my greenbar effect from this AM.

Also filed my complaint with the FCC & posted our collective experiences on some other sites recommended above. WRC wasnt picking up when I called them 3 times this AM. Went thru the news desk & got forwarded to a supposed engineering voice mail.


----------



## tripleM

Here's my greenbar effect from this AM.


----------



## scowl

Our PBS station was sending 528x480 for a while on its many SD subchannels but recently changed them to 640x480 which is in the ATSC table. I don't know why they did that.


There was also a report on our local thread that one model of HDTV refused to display the 1920x1088 resolution of our CBS affiliate. That resolution isn't in the ATSC table.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TheKrell* /forum/post/14633256
> 
> 
> I sure hope they aren't transmitting 1280X1080, because that is _not_ part of the ATSC standard. (1280X720 is part of the standard.)



WRC is. That's why all these receivers are freaking out.


- Trip


----------



## machpost

My cable company has been squeezing most of the SD channels down to 528x480 for a while now. This seems to be common practice these days.


----------



## ncfuser

THEY FIXED IT....

Spoke with a REALLY NICE GUY Bob at WRC and he told me that yes they had it incorrectly set to 1280X1080. They fixed that as well as the lipsync issue.

Bob was on Vacation until today.


----------



## ncfuser

THEY FIXED IT....

Spoke with a REALLY NICE GUY Bob at WRC and he told me that yes they had it incorrectly set to 1280X1080. They fixed that as well as the lipsync issue.

Bob was on Vacation until today.


----------



## scowl




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/14634330
> 
> 
> My cable company has been squeezing most of the SD channels down to 528x480 for a while now. This seems to be common practice these days.



Yes, that's a standard resolution for SD on cable and I've even seen it as low as 320x480 for on-demand shows. However cable companies have their own STBs that can display these resolutions. There's nothing in the ATSC standard that says an ATSC receiver has to be able to display them.


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *scowl* /forum/post/14633609
> 
> 
> OThere was also a report on our local thread that one model of HDTV refused to display the 1920x1088 resolution of our CBS affiliate. That resolution isn't in the ATSC table.



Here is the cute part about 1920x1088. That is what it needs to be for MPEG-2 to do encoding, as each macroblock is 8x8. Under normal circumstances it is flagged as 1920x1080. That is what I was told they do with it.


A few years ago, our NBC affiliate was doing 1920x1088 and I never noticed it, until I firewired some of the programming I had recorded onto D-VHS tape into the computer. I had to run the video through another package to get it to be flagged 1920x1080 so that I could work with it in VideoReDo. I gotta send them a sample of that so that they can get VRD to work with 1920x1088 and 1920x1080 at the same time.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ncfuser* /forum/post/14634383
> 
> 
> THEY FIXED IT....
> 
> Spoke with a REALLY NICE GUY Bob at WRC and he told me that yes they had it incorrectly set to 1280X1080. They fixed that as well as the lipsync issue.
> 
> Bob was on Vacation until today.



"Oh Bob"


---In my best Susan Plashet


----------



## DD77




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ncfuser* /forum/post/14634385
> 
> 
> THEY FIXED IT....
> 
> Spoke with a REALLY NICE GUY Bob at WRC and he told me that yes they had it incorrectly set to 1280X1080. They fixed that as well as the lipsync issue.
> 
> Bob was on Vacation until today.



Confirmed. Thanks for the info. I just checked, and the video is back to 1920x1080.










Sorry to the mods for posting this in programming instead of locals. I thought it might have been something NBC was doing across the board so I figured it belonged here.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Count Blah* /forum/post/14635510
> 
> 
> "Oh Bob"
> 
> 
> ---In my best Susan Plashet



So either:


a) Bob was on vacation when the new subchannel was added, or

b) Bob left right afterwards, without adequate testing


Either way, this is still unacceptable for a major market major network. And they have no coverage if "Bob" goes on vacation? So they just let problems persist until "Bob" gets back?


Brilliant.


Again, most of us would be fired for operating this way.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ncfuser* /forum/post/14634383
> 
> 
> THEY FIXED IT....
> 
> Spoke with a REALLY NICE GUY Bob at WRC and he told me that yes they had it incorrectly set to 1280X1080. They fixed that as well as the lipsync issue.
> 
> Bob was on Vacation until today.



+111111111111111 for Bob & ncfuser & every1 else.

I have must see TV back









Thanks - can't wait to check it out when I get home.


ps. & thanks to AbMagfab for his truth in TV operations hawkishness!


----------



## paulthepwner




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/14635670
> 
> 
> So either:
> 
> 
> a) Bob was on vacation when the new subchannel was added, or
> 
> b) Bob left right afterwards, without adequate testing
> 
> 
> Either way, this is still unacceptable for a major market major network. And they have no coverage if "Bob" goes on vacation? So they just let problems persist until "Bob" gets back?
> 
> 
> Brilliant.
> 
> 
> Again, most of us would be fired for operating this way.



I agree. My boss would have my ass if I was unavailable at any point during the 72 hours after a major network change, and our network only serves 1000 or so users. I can't believe that this Bob person is allowed to keep his job after a monumental screwup like that.


----------



## xbgamer

why is WJLA preempting network programming to show Cinderella Man?

Although all the wednesday night shows on ABC suck (supernanny, wife swap), I always found it lame for an affiliate to kill off primetime network programming to show their own stuff. Just like when WJLA aired their college football preview a few weeks ago.


----------



## scowl




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mrvideo* /forum/post/14634751
> 
> 
> Here is the cute part about 1920x1088. That is what it needs to be for MPEG-2 to do encoding, as each macroblock is 8x8. Under normal circumstances it is flagged as 1920x1080. That is what I was told they do with it.



True, but a small number of receivers are seeing the 1088 in the header and refusing to display that strange resolution since they were designed to display ATSC, not arbitrary MPEG-2 resolutions.


----------



## stmon




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ncfuser* /forum/post/14634383
> 
> 
> THEY FIXED IT....
> 
> Spoke with a REALLY NICE GUY Bob at WRC and he told me that yes they had it incorrectly set to 1280X1080. They fixed that as well as the lipsync issue.
> 
> Bob was on Vacation until today.



I got back home from work and turned on channel 4-1 and hooray, it's fixed! It's crazy though that it took this long I think.


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *scowl* /forum/post/14636664
> 
> 
> True, but a small number of receivers are seeing the 1088 in the header and refusing to display that strange resolution since they were designed to display ATSC, not arbitrary MPEG-2 resolutions.



That could very well be. As mentioned, I never noticed that it was 1088 until I transferred some episodes into the computer. The STB, a Samsung T165 and the two JVC D_VHS decks, never had an issue with the 1088. They worked with it just fine, otherwise I would have been calling Tom at the station and asking what was up.


Guess I was lucky that the 1088 didn't cause any problems. No one complained on the local Madison thread either.


----------



## xbgamer

Anyone watch the Olympic replays on 4-3?


I find the WRC-DT WASHINGTON bug in the lower right corner highly annoying. Whenever there's a timer graphic for the events, that bug lays right on top of it obscuring the view.


----------



## aaronwt

I had to do a channel scan tonight, again, on all my TiVos for 4-1 to show up. I hope this is the last time. This stuff needs to be straightened out before all the new shows start.


And with the FIOS realignment coming up soon, I have to rely on OTA while the guide data gets straightened out.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/14635670
> 
> 
> So either:
> 
> 
> a) Bob was on vacation when the new subchannel was added, or
> 
> b) Bob left right afterwards, without adequate testing
> 
> 
> Either way, this is still unacceptable for a major market major network. And they have no coverage if "Bob" goes on vacation? So they just let problems persist until "Bob" gets back?
> 
> 
> Brilliant.
> 
> 
> Again, most of us would be fired for operating this way.



It's not NBC4's fault. Blame the morons at NBC in New York for underfunding and seriously neglecting one of their most important properties. It's pathetic and sad that a major network's O&O in the Washington market is in such pathetic shape, technology-wise.


----------



## trek2004




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Remoteless* /forum/post/14630363
> 
> 
> I'm using a MyHD-130. Is your MyHD a 130? Is your resolution set to 1920x1080i? The only way i get a picture on 4.1 is if i set the resolution to 1440x1080i or 1280x720p



Even though it is now OBE, yes I have a MDP-130. I'm not sure what the resolution setting was ....


----------



## Ken H

WRC-DT topic from HDTV Programming merged here.


----------



## paulthepwner




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/14637309
> 
> 
> It's not NBC4's fault. Blame the morons at NBC in New York for underfunding and seriously neglecting one of their most important properties. It's pathetic and sad that a major network's O&O in the Washington market is in such pathetic shape, technology-wise.



I don't think the corporate people are totally to blame.


Seriously, who does a major cut-over and then takes a week off before finding out if it works? This is a fault of management at the station.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paulthepwner* /forum/post/14638264
> 
> 
> I don't think the corporate people are totally to blame.
> 
> 
> Seriously, who does a major cut-over and then takes a week off before finding out if it works? This is a fault of management at the station.



It's the fault of the engineers, plain and simple. It's the engineers' job to do the work and test if it was successful, and make sure they have backup. "Management" can't do any of that (except maybe help with backup).


In most other companies, the engineers would be fired (multiple times) by now.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

I hope WJLA's _fundraiser_ last night went well. Second Wednesday in a row they have pre-empted ABC programming - admittably junk from 8-10pm. I expect this type of behavior from someplace in Arkansas, not Washington DC. "ABC-7 Cinema" - how very 1970s of them, and in glorious SD.


From what I have read the last few days here (no HD for ET, WRC's resolution problems, WJLA's preemptions), it indeed is another fine week in DC television, lagging behind most of the rest of the country.


----------



## aaronwt

Better now than after they start their new shows.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Better now than after they start their new shows.



Agreed. I wouldn't put it past Allbritton, though. They have pre-empted first-run scripted shows in the past.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Washington Capitals score more HDTV time*


Washington Business Journal - by Tucker Echols Staff Reporter


The Washington Capitals will have 73 of the team's games broadcast on television by Comcast SportsNet during the 2008-2009 season, including 50 games in high-definition.


That is a record number of high-definition productions for a Capitals season. They will be aired on Comcast SportsNet HDTV. Coverage begins with the October 10 regular season opener at Atlanta.


The following night Comcast will air the team’s home opener against Chicago in high definition as the team raises its 2007-08 Southeast Division championship banner.


“It is fantastic to see Comcast SportsNet offer so many games in HD,” said Capitals majority owner Ted Leonsis. “Our TV ratings increased significantly last year, and we look forward to continued growth this season.”


In fact, last season the Capitals saw record-setting audience numbers on Comcast SportsNet in the D.C. and Baltimore viewing areas. Capitals ratings climbed significantly during the course of the season, driven by the arrival of head coach Bruce Boudreau.


From his appointment on Dec 6, 2007 to the end of the regular season ratings jumped 166% over the same period last season in the D.C. market. For the entire 2007-2008 regular season, Capitals ratings increased 75% from the prior year. Joe Beninati and former Capital Craig Laughlin return to provide play-by-play and color commentary, respectively, on the local broadcasts.

http://www.bizjournals.com/washingto...8/daily57.html


----------



## CycloneGT

I wonder how many games will be on Ch 50 this season? I guess the same question goes to the Wizards as well.


----------



## bucnasty

since there were 0 last year i'd have to guess that is about how many for this year. I think they're scheduled for up to 9 national games on versus/nbc


----------



## ammar249

For the past several weeks WJLA hasn't broadcasted any of its ABC HD shows in Dolby Digital 5.1 at all.


----------



## maestro73




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ammar249* /forum/post/14641573
> 
> 
> For the past several weeks WJLA hasn't broadcasted any of its ABC HD shows in Dolby Digital 5.1 at all.



It's been that way ever since Game 6 of the NBA playoffs for me. I emailed 3 times and never got response so I gave up.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14639335
> 
> *Washington Capitals score more HDTV time*
> 
> From his appointment on Dec 6, 2007 to the end of the regular season ratings jumped 166% over the same period last season in the D.C. market. For the entire 2007-2008 regular season, Capitals ratings increased 75% from the prior year. Joe Beninati and former Capital Craig Laughlin return to provide play-by-play and color commentary, respectively, on the local broadcasts.
> 
> http://www.bizjournals.com/washingto...8/daily57.html



Excellent news all around. My slingbox will get a workout this year.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/14641793
> 
> 
> Excellent news all around. My slingbox will get a workout this year.



I'm excited to hear that more of the away games will be in HD, because I got myself season tickets this time around (and thus I will miss the overwhelming majority of the HD home telecasts). I get to watch those in 3D!










And of course, the games not on CSN will be on Versus and NBC, which of course are nationally distributed.


----------



## biffbyun

ok, guys, this is weird. Everytime I watch a recorded program lately I'm getting intermittant audio dropouts constantly. I have narrowed it down to only Fox HD programming which is even weirder. For instance, with Fringe the other night, the first 15 or so minutes with in SD and I didn't have any problems, but when it switched to an HD feed the audio dropouts started happening. This is was recorded mind you. We then proceeded to play Prison Break next and the same thing. I tried another HD recorded show that was not Fox and no audio dropouts. I haven't tried watching anything live on Fox HD yet, but maybe that's the next step to figuring this thing out. Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks,

Rob


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> It's been that way ever since Game 6 of the NBA playoffs for me. I emailed 3 times and never got response so I gave up.



Now c'mon. their page says "We welcome your comments and suggestions!"









703-236-9552. Maybe during the day you can get someone with some answers.


----------



## ammar249




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *maestro73* /forum/post/14641670
> 
> 
> It's been that way ever since Game 6 of the NBA playoffs for me. I emailed 3 times and never got response so I gave up.



Called WJLA this afternoon and spoke with a nice gentleman named Mark Olingy, Director of Engineering at WJLA.

States that they are going through a transition at the moment for DTV and are working hard replacing alot of the equipment.


Also went on to say that Dolby Digital 5.1 should be restored within the next 30-60 days tops.


----------



## aaronwt

I remember it was only DD2.0 when they first started broadcasting in HD. I had been using the ABC station from Baltimore for my HD recordings(which were in 5.1) but my reception wasn't guaranteed since it was farther away. so I was happy to have the HD even with 2.0 since my reception was solid.


As long as it's only temporary I can deal with DD2.0. Dolby ProLogic IIx does a great job turning 2.0 into 7.1


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ammar249* /forum/post/14642542
> 
> 
> Called WJLA this afternoon and spoke with a nice gentleman named Mark Olingy, Director of Engineering at WJLA.
> 
> States that they are going through a transition at the moment for DTV and are working hard replacing alot of the equipment.
> 
> 
> Also went on to say that Dolby Digital 5.1 should be restored within the next 30-60 days tops.



Thanks. For the amount of money that this entire industry is making, I am stun they run a part of it like a lemonade stand. & That's an insult to lemonade stands.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Comcast SportsNet 2008-09 Washington Capitals TV Schedule*

Code:


Code:


[B]HD   DAY     DATE    TIME    OPPONENT        STATION[/B]
        Fri     10/10/08        7:30PM  @ Atlanta       CSN
HD      Sat     10/11/08        7:00PM  Chicago         CSN
        Mon     10/13/08        7:00PM  Vancouver       VERSUS
HD      Thu     10/16/08        7:30PM  @ Pittsburgh    CSN
HD      Sat     10/18/08        7:00PM  New Jersey      CSN
        Tue     10/21/08        9:30PM  @ Calgary       CSN
HD      Thu     10/23/08        10:00PM         @ Phoenix       CSN
        Sat     10/25/08        8:00PM  @ Dallas        CSN
        Tue     10/28/08        7:00PM  Nashville       NO TV
        Sat     11/1/08         7:00PM  @ Buffalo       CSN+
        Tue     11/04/08        7:30PM  @ Ottawa        CSN
HD      Thu     11/6/08         7:00PM  Carolina        CSN
        Sat     11/08/08        7:00PM  New York        CSN+
        Mon     11/10/08        7:00PM  Tampa Bay       VERSUS
HD      Wed     11/12/08        7:00PM  @ Carolina      CSN
HD      Fri     11/14/08        7:00PM  New Jersey      CSN
        Sat     11/15/08        7:00PM  @ New Jersey    CSN
HD      Wed     11/19/08        10:00PM         @ Anaheim       CSN
HD      Thu     11/20/08        10:30PM         @ Los Angeles   CSN
HD      Sat     11/22/08        10:30PM         @ San Jose      CSN
        Mon     11/24/08        8:00PM  @ Minnesota     VERSUS
HD      Wed     11/26/08        7:00PM  Atlanta         CSN
HD      Fri     11/28/08        7:00PM  Montreal        CSN
        Sat     11/29/08        7:00PM  @ Columbus      CSN+
        Tue     12/02/08        7:00PM  Florida         NO TV
HD      Thur    12/04/08        7:00PM  New York        CSN
        Sat     12/06/08        7:00PM  @ Toronto       CSN
HD      Sun     12/07/08        5:00PM  @ Carolina      CSN
HD      Wed     12/10/08        7:00PM  Boston  CSN
        Fri     12/12/08        7:00PM  Ottawa  CSN+
        Sat     12/13/08        7:00PM  @ Montreal      CSN+
        Tue     12/16/08        7:00PM  @ New York      VERSUS
HD      Thu     12/18/08        7:00PM  St. Louis       CSN
        Sat     12/20/08        1:00PM  @ Philadelphia  CSN
        Tue     12/23/08        7:00PM  @ New York      CSN
HD      Fri     12/26/08        7:00PM  Buffalo         CSN
        Sun     12/28/08        7:00PM  Toronto         CSN+
        Tue     12/30/08        7:00PM  @ Buffalo       CSN
HD      Thu     1/1/09  7:00PM  Tampa Bay       CSN
HD      Sat     1/3/09  7:00PM  New York        CSN
HD      Tue     1/6/09  7:00PM  Philadelphia    CSN
        Fri     1/9/09  7:00PM  Columbus        CSN+
        Sat     1/10/09         7:00PM  @ Montreal      CSN
HD      Tue     1/13/09         7:00PM  Edmonton        CSN
HD      Wed     1/14/09         7:30PM  @ Pittsburgh    CSN
HD      Sat     1/17/09         7:00PM  Boston  CSN
        Mon     1/19/09         2:00PM  @ New York      CSN
        Tue     1/20/09         7:30PM  @ Ottawa        VERSUS
        Tue     1/27/09         7:00PM  @ Boston        VERSUS
HD      Sat     1/31/09         12:30PM         Detroit         CSN
HD      Sun     2/1/09  12:30PM         Ottawa  CSN
        Tue     2/3/08  7:00PM  @ New Jersey    CSN
HD      Thu     2/5/09  7:00PM  Los Angeles     CSN
HD      Sat     2/7/09  7:00PM  Florida         CSN
HD      Wed     2/11/09         7:00PM  @ New York      CSN
HD      Sat     2/14/09         7:30PM  @ Tampa Bay     CSN
HD      Sun     2/15/09         5:00PM  @ Florida       CSN
HD      Wed     2/18/09         7:30PM  Montreal        CSN
HD      Fri     2/20/09         7:00PM  Colorado        CSN
HD      Sun     2/22/09         3:00PM  Pittsburgh      CSN
HD      Tue     2/24/09         7:00PM  Philadelphia    CSN
HD      Thu     2/26/09         7:00PM  Atlanta         CSN
        Sat     2/28/09         1:00PM  @ Boston        CSN
HD      Sun     3/1/09  3:00PM  Florida         CSN
HD      Tue     3/3/09  7:00PM  Carolina        CSN
HD      Thu     3/5/09  7:00PM  Toronto         CSN
HD      Sun     3/8/09  3:00PM  Pittsburgh      CSN
        Tue     3/10/09         8:00PM  @ Nashville     CSN
        Thu     3/12/09         7:00PM  @ Philadelphia  CSN
HD      Sat     3/14/09         7:00PM  Carolina        CSN
        Mon     3/16/09         7:00PM  @ Atlanta       VERSUS
HD      Tue     3/17/09         7:30PM  @ Florida       CSN
HD      Thu     3/19/09         7:30PM  @ Tampa Bay     CSN
HD      Sat     3/21/09         7:00PM  @ Carolina      CSN
        Tue     3/24/09         7:00PM  @ Toronto       CSN
HD      Fri     3/27/90         7:00PM  Tampa Bay       CSN
HD      Wed     4/1/09  7:00PM  New York        CSN
HD      Fri     4/3/09  7:00PM  Buffalo         CSN
HD      Sun     4/5/09  3:00PM  Atlanta         CSN
HD      Tue     4/7/09  7:00PM  @ Atlanta       CSN
HD      Thu     4/9/09  7:30PM  @ Tampa Bay     CSN
HD      Sat     4/11/09         7:00PM  @ Florida       CSN

 http://www.comcastsportsnet.tv/pages...736&feedID=316


----------



## Marcus Carr

*CSN Announces Washington Wizards 2008-09 TV Schedule*


Thursday, September 11th 2008


Bethesda, MD - The Washington Wizards and Comcast SportsNet released their 2008-09 television broadcast schedule today. The schedule features all 82 regular season games plus three preseason games, including 63 on Comcast SportsNet, 11 on CSN+, six on CW50 and 21 national television appearances.


Comcast SportsNet enters the 2008-09 NBA season with a lineup of Washington Wizards live games and original programming that will truly excite all sports fans, said Rebecca Schulte, senior vice president and general manager of Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic. As the Washington Wizards look to make their fifth straight playoff appearance, fans can turn to Comcast SportsNet all season to see an extensive lineup of high-definition games along with a great team of expert analysts and comprehensive postgame shows after each matchup.

*Comcast SportsNet will broadcast 60 regular season games beginning with the opener vs. New Jersey on Oct. 29, with 49 games produced in high definition (including all home and 16 road games).* The network will also produce 11 games to air on CSN+ (channel information available at www.comcastsportsnet.tv ) and six games that will air on CW50. Additionally, Comcast SportsNet will televise three preseason games: Oct. 7 at Dallas, Oct. 22 at San Antonio and Oct. 24 at Cleveland.


The Emmy Award-winning Steve Buckhantz returns for his 12th season as play-by-play commentator for local Wizards broadcasts, while former Bullets great Phil Chenier is back to provide his 24th season of color analysis.


"We're thrilled to team with Comcast SportsNet to provide our fans with complete coverage of the Wizards' 82-game schedule, said Wizards Executive Vice President/Chief of Staff Matt Williams. Along with our significant presence among the NBA's national television partners and the added bonus of three televised preseason games, the excitement of Wizards basketball will be on display both locally and around the country throughout the upcoming season.

http://www.comcastsportsnet.tv/pages...760&feedID=315


----------



## maestro73




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ammar249* /forum/post/14642542
> 
> 
> Called WJLA this afternoon and spoke with a nice gentleman named Mark Olingy, Director of Engineering at WJLA.
> 
> States that they are going through a transition at the moment for DTV and are working hard replacing alot of the equipment.
> 
> 
> Also went on to say that Dolby Digital 5.1 should be restored within the next 30-60 days tops.



ammar249, thanks for the info.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biffbyun* /forum/post/14642218
> 
> 
> ok, guys, this is weird. Everytime I watch a recorded program lately I'm getting intermittant audio dropouts constantly. I have narrowed it down to only Fox HD programming which is even weirder.



It would help if you would provide more info. Which Fox station, how are you getting the station - OTA, cable, sat; if cable/sat which service provider; DVR model, audio setup?


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14644530
> 
> *Comcast SportsNet 2008-09 Washington Capitals TV Schedule*
> 
> Code:
> 
> 
> Code:
> 
> 
> [B]HD   DAY     DATE    TIME    OPPONENT        STATION[/B]
> Fri     10/10/08        7:30PM  @ Atlanta       CSN
> HD      Sat     10/11/08        7:00PM  Chicago         CSN
> Mon     10/13/08        7:00PM  Vancouver       VERSUS
> HD      Thu     10/16/08        7:30PM  @ Pittsburgh    CSN
> HD      Sat     10/18/08        7:00PM  New Jersey      CSN
> Tue     10/21/08        9:30PM  @ Calgary       CSN
> HD      Thu     10/23/08        10:00PM         @ Phoenix       CSN
> Sat     10/25/08        8:00PM  @ Dallas        CSN
> Tue     10/28/08        7:00PM  Nashville       NO TV
> Sat     11/1/08         7:00PM  @ Buffalo       CSN+
> Tue     11/04/08        7:30PM  @ Ottawa        CSN
> HD      Thu     11/6/08         7:00PM  Carolina        CSN
> Sat     11/08/08        7:00PM  New York        CSN+
> Mon     11/10/08        7:00PM  Tampa Bay       VERSUS
> HD      Wed     11/12/08        7:00PM  @ Carolina      CSN
> HD      Fri     11/14/08        7:00PM  New Jersey      CSN
> Sat     11/15/08        7:00PM  @ New Jersey    CSN
> HD      Wed     11/19/08        10:00PM         @ Anaheim       CSN
> HD      Thu     11/20/08        10:30PM         @ Los Angeles   CSN
> HD      Sat     11/22/08        10:30PM         @ San Jose      CSN
> Mon     11/24/08        8:00PM  @ Minnesota     VERSUS
> HD      Wed     11/26/08        7:00PM  Atlanta         CSN
> HD      Fri     11/28/08        7:00PM  Montreal        CSN
> Sat     11/29/08        7:00PM  @ Columbus      CSN+
> Tue     12/02/08        7:00PM  Florida         NO TV
> HD      Thur    12/04/08        7:00PM  New York        CSN
> Sat     12/06/08        7:00PM  @ Toronto       CSN
> HD      Sun     12/07/08        5:00PM  @ Carolina      CSN
> HD      Wed     12/10/08        7:00PM  Boston  CSN
> Fri     12/12/08        7:00PM  Ottawa  CSN+
> Sat     12/13/08        7:00PM  @ Montreal      CSN+
> Tue     12/16/08        7:00PM  @ New York      VERSUS
> HD      Thu     12/18/08        7:00PM  St. Louis       CSN
> Sat     12/20/08        1:00PM  @ Philadelphia  CSN
> Tue     12/23/08        7:00PM  @ New York      CSN
> HD      Fri     12/26/08        7:00PM  Buffalo         CSN
> Sun     12/28/08        7:00PM  Toronto         CSN+
> Tue     12/30/08        7:00PM  @ Buffalo       CSN
> HD      Thu     1/1/09  7:00PM  Tampa Bay       CSN
> HD      Sat     1/3/09  7:00PM  New York        CSN
> HD      Tue     1/6/09  7:00PM  Philadelphia    CSN
> Fri     1/9/09  7:00PM  Columbus        CSN+
> Sat     1/10/09         7:00PM  @ Montreal      CSN
> HD      Tue     1/13/09         7:00PM  Edmonton        CSN
> HD      Wed     1/14/09         7:30PM  @ Pittsburgh    CSN
> HD      Sat     1/17/09         7:00PM  Boston  CSN
> Mon     1/19/09         2:00PM  @ New York      CSN
> Tue     1/20/09         7:30PM  @ Ottawa        VERSUS
> Tue     1/27/09         7:00PM  @ Boston        VERSUS
> HD      Sat     1/31/09         12:30PM         Detroit         CSN
> HD      Sun     2/1/09  12:30PM         Ottawa  CSN
> Tue     2/3/08  7:00PM  @ New Jersey    CSN
> HD      Thu     2/5/09  7:00PM  Los Angeles     CSN
> HD      Sat     2/7/09  7:00PM  Florida         CSN
> HD      Wed     2/11/09         7:00PM  @ New York      CSN
> HD      Sat     2/14/09         7:30PM  @ Tampa Bay     CSN
> HD      Sun     2/15/09         5:00PM  @ Florida       CSN
> HD      Wed     2/18/09         7:30PM  Montreal        CSN
> HD      Fri     2/20/09         7:00PM  Colorado        CSN
> HD      Sun     2/22/09         3:00PM  Pittsburgh      CSN
> HD      Tue     2/24/09         7:00PM  Philadelphia    CSN
> HD      Thu     2/26/09         7:00PM  Atlanta         CSN
> Sat     2/28/09         1:00PM  @ Boston        CSN
> HD      Sun     3/1/09  3:00PM  Florida         CSN
> HD      Tue     3/3/09  7:00PM  Carolina        CSN
> HD      Thu     3/5/09  7:00PM  Toronto         CSN
> HD      Sun     3/8/09  3:00PM  Pittsburgh      CSN
> Tue     3/10/09         8:00PM  @ Nashville     CSN
> Thu     3/12/09         7:00PM  @ Philadelphia  CSN
> HD      Sat     3/14/09         7:00PM  Carolina        CSN
> Mon     3/16/09         7:00PM  @ Atlanta       VERSUS
> HD      Tue     3/17/09         7:30PM  @ Florida       CSN
> HD      Thu     3/19/09         7:30PM  @ Tampa Bay     CSN
> HD      Sat     3/21/09         7:00PM  @ Carolina      CSN
> Tue     3/24/09         7:00PM  @ Toronto       CSN
> HD      Fri     3/27/90         7:00PM  Tampa Bay       CSN
> HD      Wed     4/1/09  7:00PM  New York        CSN
> HD      Fri     4/3/09  7:00PM  Buffalo         CSN
> HD      Sun     4/5/09  3:00PM  Atlanta         CSN
> HD      Tue     4/7/09  7:00PM  @ Atlanta       CSN
> HD      Thu     4/9/09  7:30PM  @ Tampa Bay     CSN
> HD      Sat     4/11/09         7:00PM  @ Florida       CSN
> 
> http://www.comcastsportsnet.tv/pages...736&feedID=316



Despite all of the games in HD, it's interesting to note that two games aren't scheduled to be televised at all, according to that schedule. I wonder if those two might be picked up by NBC, NHL Network, or HDNet (does anyone know if they're going to carry any NHL games this season???)


Also, despite what had been suggested in the past, it doesn't look like there will be a CSN+ HD channel anytime soon.


----------



## bucnasty

NBC does sunday only, and someone at verizon needs to call NHL network! im dying here and its not even training camp yet!


hdnet usually only shows saturday games from the west coast...


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biffbyun* /forum/post/14642218
> 
> 
> ok, guys, this is weird. Everytime I watch a recorded program lately I'm getting intermittant audio dropouts constantly. I have narrowed it down to only Fox HD programming which is even weirder. For instance, with Fringe the other night, the first 15 or so minutes with in SD and I didn't have any problems, but when it switched to an HD feed the audio dropouts started happening. This is was recorded mind you. We then proceeded to play Prison Break next and the same thing. I tried another HD recorded show that was not Fox and no audio dropouts. I haven't tried watching anything live on Fox HD yet, but maybe that's the next step to figuring this thing out. Anyone have any ideas?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Rob



It's not that wierd - DirecTV has had this problem 3 or 4 times in the last few years. The last couple of times that I talked to them about it, it turned out to be their receiver that they use to pick up the local channel with. Usually when DirecTV has the problem, I receive a lot of complaints. This is the first I've heard about it recently.


I'd be interested in hearing how you're receiving your signal.


----------



## gary michaels

I have heard some discussion about the limited reach of WMDO digital on channel 8.

I was surprised to find the other day that over top of WGAL analog which I get with a B- signal up here about 15 miles north of Winchester, Va., I can get a steady lock on those 198 watts. That being said, I will tell you that I am at an elevation of about 1250 feet.

I have an old CM combo antenna (3020) that has had the uhf reflector removed for my VHF reception and 2 vertically stacked and electrically connect CM 4882 antennas for UHF. that's 16 bays.

Both VHF and UHF feed a CM 7777 preamp split for separate uhf/vhf inputs. I get all the DC UHF digitals with a constant 98 percent at a distance of 71 miles. With this setup I can also get Baltimore at 91 miles, but with signals in the 60’s and 70’s.


----------



## aholbert32




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biffbyun* /forum/post/14642218
> 
> 
> ok, guys, this is weird. Everytime I watch a recorded program lately I'm getting intermittant audio dropouts constantly. I have narrowed it down to only Fox HD programming which is even weirder. For instance, with Fringe the other night, the first 15 or so minutes with in SD and I didn't have any problems, but when it switched to an HD feed the audio dropouts started happening. This is was recorded mind you. We then proceeded to play Prison Break next and the same thing. I tried another HD recorded show that was not Fox and no audio dropouts. I haven't tried watching anything live on Fox HD yet, but maybe that's the next step to figuring this thing out. Anyone have any ideas?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Rob




Same thing happened the last two weeks with Prison Break on Comcast.


----------



## biffbyun




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aholbert32* /forum/post/14648754
> 
> 
> Same thing happened the last two weeks with Prison Break on Comcast.



Great, I'm glad it's not just me. Man it was so annoying happening every minute or so.


----------



## cpldc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gary michaels* /forum/post/14647421
> 
> 
> I have heard some discussion about the limited reach of WMDO digital on channel 8.
> 
> I was surprised to find the other day that over top of WGAL analog which I get with a B- signal up here about 15 miles north of Winchester, Va., I can get a steady lock on those 198 watts. That being said, I will tell you that I am at an elevation of about 1250 feet.
> 
> I have an old CM combo antenna (3020) that has had the uhf reflector removed for my VHF reception and 2 vertically stacked and electrically connect CM 4882 antennas for UHF. that's 16 bays.
> 
> Both VHF and UHF feed a CM 7777 preamp split for separate uhf/vhf inputs. I get all the DC UHF digitals with a constant 98 percent at a distance of 71 miles. With this setup I can also get Baltimore at 91 miles, but with signals in the 60's and 70's.



It sounds like you have a very favorable location and setup for reception from a distance. That's pretty impressive to get that weak signal from such a distance, though. Especially since I had to play with rabbit ears for quite a bit to get it from indoors at only six miles away. It's very reliable on my roof antenna, though.


I wonder what kind of effect that'll have on WGAL, which is going back to 8 next year.


----------



## Berto1020

 http://www.wusa9.com/news/breaking/s...6021&catid=158 



I was so not looking forward to watching Baltimore-Houston this Sunday.


----------



## gary michaels




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cpldc* /forum/post/14649336
> 
> 
> It sounds like you have a very favorable location and setup for reception from a distance. That's pretty impressive to get that weak signal from such a distance, though. Especially since I had to play with rabbit ears for quite a bit to get it from indoors at only six miles away. It's very reliable on my roof antenna, though.
> 
> 
> I wonder what kind of effect that'll have on WGAL, which is going back to 8 next year.



as it stands now with WGAL 8 analog, if I turn my antenna right on Lancaster it is very easy to watch over the digital hash from WMDO and when I turn to DC I completely lose WGAL and WMDO locks in, but they are just above the digital cliff. there is also a 300 watt ch 8 digital going on the air in Martinsburg soon. the commission has set up a situation where when all these new digitals go on the air, we out here will have a hard time getting anything out of Baltimore and Washington over the little LP transmitters all over this area.


----------



## Trip in VA

It seems like WMDO-LD might make a semi-decent indicator of post-transition signal on WUSA/WJLA. I mean, if you can see a 0.2 kW signal, you shouldn't have problems with a 12.6 kW signal or a 30 kW signal.


- Trip


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gary michaels* /forum/post/14649782
> 
> 
> as it stands now with WGAL 8 analog, if I turn my antenna right on Lancaster it is very easy to watch over the digital hash from WMDO and when I turn to DC I completely lose WGAL and WMDO locks in, but they are just above the digital cliff. there is also a 300 watt ch 8 digital going on the air in Martinsburg soon. the commission has set up a situation where when all these new digitals go on the air, we out here will have a hard time getting anything out of Baltimore and Washington over the little LP transmitters all over this area.



After aiming the YA-6713 upper VHF antenna in the attic right at DC, I can't get a lock for WMDO-LD on VHF 8 from here in Sterling at about 16 miles out. Good quality picture for analog 7 & 9. The 2 ATSC tuners show a signal detection for channel 8, but way too weak for a picture. The signal meters bounce around, so the problem may be in large part interference from the strong adjacent analog signals on 7 & 9. I'm going to experiment, but may have to wait for analog 7 & 9 to get shut off to see if I can get WMDO-LD. Line of sight matters a great deal for a 198 Watt upper VHF digital signal. I don't have that for the DC stations.


Yes, with the loss of 18 UHF channels and the closer packing of station channel assignments, those LD stations out in Winchester, Martinsburg, Front Royal, etc will be a problem for those located in that general area in getting some of the DC and Baltimore stations. Checking the granted CPs (Construction Permits), I see a WAZC-LD on UHF 35 in Luray, WAZF-LD on UHF 40 in Front Royal, and WAZW-LD on UHF 46 in Winchester, all at 12 or 15 kW and all owned by JLA Media and Publications.


----------



## bmfc1

New HD in MoCo:

TLC 240

Animal Planet 241

History 237

CNN 234

AMC 218


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Anyone gotten an answer on when WUSA, first in DC HD news, is not showing Entertainment Tonight in HD? No response to any e-mails.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/14652201
> 
> 
> Anyone gotten an answer on when WUSA, first in DC HD news, is not showing Entertainment Tonight in HD? No response to any e-mails.


_The Insider_ isn't in HD, either.

____________________________________



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Berto1020* /forum/post/14649764
> 
> http://www.wusa9.com/news/breaking/s...6021&catid=158
> 
> 
> 
> I was so not looking forward to watching Baltimore-Houston this Sunday.



Me, too.


----------



## Lenonn

Someone at Broadband Reports claims to have seen a flier from RCN saying the "analog crush" comes to the DC area on October 1.


----------



## keydet

Anyone else having problems with their Comcast HD Channels? I'm in Gaithersburg, with a cable card.


Some of the channels work, but others do not. The Weather Channel Weather Scan comes through on the Cinemax HD channel, 233. National Geographic only comes up on channel 236, the SciFiHD channel, when it should be on 224. NatGeoHD. I get the network HD channels though, no problem.


Very weird. Called last night and never got through (Waited for over 30 minutes on hold. What's new?)


I got through this morning and the Rep was not very helpful. He seemed to be sending a update to my TV, but when it didn't work, he then puts me on hold and comes back to say it should be back later today. MoCo is having HD issues. I'm hoping that is really the case...


----------



## machpost

RCN in D.C. has added ESPNU HD on channel 680.


----------



## carltonrice

With all the recent discussion on WRC-DT, I was wondering if they had increased their power. I'd always been able to receive them using my rooftop antenna, but now lately, I'm also able to lock on them with my indoor antenna for the first time since things went digital. Either they've increased their output or something atmospherically or topographically has changed. Now, the only DC station that remains elusive with my indoor antenna is WDCW-DT.


----------



## aaronwt

My reception for WRC is usually affected in the Spring and Fall(Although I guess it is still SUmmer, at least astronomically speaking)

But for me as the foilage decreases my signal from WRC decreases.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/14654472
> 
> 
> With all the recent discussion on WRC-DT, I was wondering if they had increased their power. I'd always been able to receive them using my rooftop antenna, but now lately, I'm also able to lock on them with my indoor antenna for the first time since things went digital. Either they've increased their output or something atmospherically or topographically has changed. Now, the only DC station that remains elusive with my indoor antenna is WDCW-DT.



WRC-DT has been operating at their licensed ERP of 813 kW on UHF 48 for some years. They have not filed for increased ERP, so WRC-DT should be within a few % of their licensed ERP. I would chalk it up to seasonal changes in propagation pattern. Another possibility, although not that likely, is that analog WWTD-LP 49 appears to have gone off the air since they dropped the WUFO programming. Could have been creating some weak adjacent channel interference. I have not been able to get anything for WWTD-LP since WUFO announced they were ending their feed to WWTD-LP sometime in August. I guess WWTD-LP will go back on the air when they start to carry the WJLA 7 analog feed in November. See if there any changes in WRC-DT reception with the indoor antenna then.


I have been having trouble getting reliable lock for WDCW-DT 50 lately. Changed my antenna aim & placement to try to get WMDO-LD, but that should not have caused WDCW-DT to start to drop out. I may have to tweak the aim to get WDCW-DT back. There is an interesting sidenote in a recent amendment to WDCW-DT's maximized power filing to operate at 1000 kW on UHF 50 post-transition. But I'll summarize that later.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/14654575
> 
> 
> My reception for WRC is usually affected in the Spring and Fall(Although I guess it is still SUmmer, at least astronomically speaking)
> 
> But for me as the foilage decreases my signal from WRC decreases.



Not sure of your set-up or exact location; but there is a rather strong UHF signal around 10 miles from you in Independent Hill, VA. You may be getting a stronger signal from them when the leaves fall that compromises your tuners selectivity.


----------



## imacdonald

Is anyone getting anything on 4-1 4-2 or 4-3. I get a signal strength in the 90's but no audio or video on my S3 Tivo. Maybe we should call bob again?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *imacdonald* /forum/post/14655841
> 
> 
> Is anyone getting anything on 4-1 4-2 or 4-3. I get a signal strength in the 90's but no audio or video on my S3 Tivo. Maybe we should call bob again?



No problem here.


----------



## imacdonald




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/14655861
> 
> 
> No problem here.



Yup working again here as well


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *keydet* /forum/post/14654369
> 
> 
> Anyone else having problems with their Comcast HD Channels? I'm in Gaithersburg, with a cable card.



A lot of HD and digital channels are out in Baltimore. Techs are working on it. (Using Moto boxes.)


----------



## Deezul

Georgia Tech-Virginia Tech game is not in HD on WJLA.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rustycruiser* /forum/post/14603498
> 
> 
> The Georgia Tech vs Boston College game on Raycom is up in HD in Baltimore on WNUV 54. In SD in DC on WDCA 20.



Looks like the Raycom games have switched to WJZ. They showed a game today in HD.

http://www.raycomsports.com/index.ph...ffiliates.html


----------



## ptlurking

This is 2 weeks out of 3 that Comcast has ruined my College Football saturday.

God I wish FIOS was available in Baltimore City!


----------



## afiggatt

I mentioned earlier WDCW-DT 50 maximized power filing. WDCW-DT is currently operating at 125 kW on UHF 51 and will switch to UHF 50 next February 18, currently set to run at 122 kW ERP. In June, WDCW-DT filed a maximize power application to operate at 1000 kW on UHF 50 post-transition.


However, both WWPX-DT Ion 60 (VHF 12) in Martinsburg, WV and WETA-DT PBS 26 (UHF 27) in DC filed conflicting petitions in June to the FCC to be allowed to move their post-transition channel to UHF 51. WWPX wants to move their antenna from west of Martinsburg to a tower on the Blue Ridge east of Front Royal to operate at 860 kW on UHF 51. This would interfere with WDCW-DT's maximized power UHF 50 reception out in western Loudoun and Fauquier counties and west of the Blue Ridge because of the strong signal from UHF 51 and vice versa, for WWPX-DT reception closer to DC. This week WDCW amended their maximized power application to submit a mutual interference acceptance between the two stations ( http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/f...ibit_id=675726 ).


I'm guessing the reason that WDCW's agreed to the interference is that WWPX-DT's petition is holding up WDCW-DT's maximized power application and WDCW's owners do not think WWPX will get their petition granted.


The competing petition from WETA-DT is to move to UHF 51 at increased power compared to their UHF 27 ERP at the current location in NW DC. This would not create an interference issue as WETA-DT and WDCW-DT would be co-located and would make for a more efficient post-transition allocation with four consecutive channels in DC: WRC-DT on UHF 48, WWTD-LP on 49 (which could presumably file to digital flash cut to 49 in the future), WDCW-DT on 50, WETA-DT on 51. Hopefully the FCC staff will realize this and let WETA-DT have UHF 51. OTA viewers out close to the Blue Ridge may want to file public comments to the FCC proceeding in favor of WETA-DT's petition.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14656380
> 
> 
> A lot of HD and digital channels are out in Baltimore. Techs are working on it. (Using Moto boxes.)



All channels seem to be up now.


----------



## arubaflower




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14656380
> 
> 
> A lot of HD and digital channels are out in Baltimore. Techs are working on it.



That is good news. I wondered why 11-1 and 45-1 vanished from my parent's channel line-up.


----------



## afiggatt

Speaking of WDCW-DT 50, there is an unexpected sighting of HD syndication tonight. WDCW-DT is showing the pilot episode of Lost at 10 PM in HD. Checking the schedule, looks like WDCW-DT is showing reruns of Lost at 10 PM on Saturdays and in HD according to Titantv.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14656976
> 
> 
> I mentioned earlier WDCW-DT 50 maximized power filing. WDCW-DT is currently operating at 125 kW on UHF 51 and will switch to UHF 50 next February 18, currently set to run at 122 kW ERP. In June, WDCW-DT filed a maximize power application to operate at 1000 kW on UHF 50 post-transition.
> 
> 
> However, both WWPX-DT Ion 60 (VHF 12) in Martinsburg, WV and WETA-DT PBS 26 (UHF 27) in DC filed conflicting petitions in June to the FCC to be allowed to move their post-transition channel to UHF 51.



I posted my opinion on the matter here .

____________________________________________



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14654796
> 
> 
> WRC-DT has been operating at their licensed ERP of 813 kW on UHF 48 for some years. They have not filed for increased ERP, so WRC-DT should be within a few % of their licensed ERP.



If I remember correctly, WRC-DT will run at 1 MW, from their current omnidirectional antenna, post-transition.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/14659878
> 
> 
> If I remember correctly, WRC-DT will run at 1 MW, from their current omnidirectional antenna, post-transition.



They haven't filed for anything with the FCC for 1000 kW. I'm wondering if they'll even bother, 813 kW to 1000 kW is probably less than a 1 dB boost in signal.


- Trip


----------



## yekim54




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/14654575
> 
> 
> My reception for WRC is usually affected in the Spring and Fall(Although I guess it is still SUmmer, at least astronomically speaking)
> 
> But for me as the foilage decreases my signal from WRC decreases.



For me it's just the opposite; as the foliage decreases, the signal strength increases for the local DC stations.


----------



## Falcon_77




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14656976
> 
> 
> However, both WWPX-DT Ion 60 (VHF 12) in Martinsburg, WV and WETA-DT PBS 26 (UHF 27) in DC filed conflicting petitions in June to the FCC to be allowed to move their post-transition channel to UHF 51. WWPX wants to move their antenna from west of Martinsburg to a tower on the Blue Ridge east of Front Royal to operate at 860 kW on UHF 51.



I don't see why the FCC should grant WWPX's petition. What exactly are they trying to accomplish? Their stated reason of providing better coverage to the DC DMA doesn't make sense since they have WPXW already local to DC. How did ION get two of its network stations in the same DMA? Is WWPX considered a satellite station?


The ION network has the most non-co-located stations nationwide and I find this to be a public disservice. It is more difficult for viewers on the fringes to reach relatively distant local stations when these rogue stations are scattered around. In Mystic, CT, I have two non-co-located ION stations in the way of both Hartford and Providence. The ION stations are at 11 and 15 miles respectively, when the locals are at 51. This is far from ideal.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Falcon_77* /forum/post/14661645
> 
> 
> I don't see why the FCC should grant WWPX's petition. What exactly are they trying to accomplish? Their stated reason of providing better coverage to the DC DMA doesn't make sense since they have WPXW already local to DC. How did ION get two of its network stations in the same DMA? Is WWPX considered a satellite station?



WWPX is for sale.

http://www.mediaservicesgroup.com/index.cfm?pg=cla 


- Trip


----------



## Knicks_Fan

World News Sunday in SD on WJLA. Weekends seem to be a problem for this station's engineers (J! and Wheel have never been shown in HD on Saturdays).


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/14662571
> 
> 
> World News Sunday in SD on WJLA. Weekends seem to be a problem for this station (J! and Wheel have never been shown in HD on Saturdays).



HD on WMAR. The CBS Evening News is still SD all week on WJZ. I think it's been HD one time.


----------



## jsilva982

Is there any indication of when Comcast (DC-20008) is picking up FX HD? I just switched over to Comcast from RCN (moved, and no RCN at new location). I heard that RCN is about to pickup FXHD...the new season of The Shield just started, and it's a shame not to have HD for it.


Thanks for any replies.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jsilva982* /forum/post/14666131
> 
> 
> Is there any indication of when Comcast (DC-20008) is picking up FX HD? I just switched over to Comcast from RCN (moved, and no RCN at new location). I heard that RCN is about to pickup FXHD...the new season of The Shield just started, and it's a shame not to have HD for it.
> 
> 
> Thanks for any replies.



My Comcast neighbor said he had it already here in MD. Was he confused?


----------



## ahsan

Apologies if this has already been asked. Verizon recently added ESPNU HD to our local system, however the the FIOS DC channel lineup effective 9/22 does not list ESPNU HD. Is there a chance we may actually lose this channel, or is it simple oversight on VZ's part?


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ahsan* /forum/post/14666243
> 
> 
> Apologies if this has already been asked. Verizon recently added ESPNU HD to our local system, however the the FIOS DC channel lineup effective 9/22 does not list ESPNU HD. Is there a chance we may actually lose this channel, or is it simple oversight on VZ's part?



Who knows until next Tuesday, but most likely an oversight. They've generally been adding a few channels over what the lineup says when they do the switchover, at least so far.


----------



## aaronwt

It should be an oversight but we should find out for sure in a few days.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jsilva982* /forum/post/14666131
> 
> 
> I heard that RCN is about to pickup FXHD...the new season of The Shield just started, and it's a shame not to have HD for it.



From what I've read, the final season of _The Shield_ was filmed in SD.


----------



## albertso

Hi,


Trying to watch the Closer on COMCAST MOCO and the breakups of sound and picture are awful. Anyone seeing this on another system in the area. Reason I ask is that it seems to break up less when they show "local" advertisements.


Thanks


----------



## JohnGZ28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *albertso* /forum/post/14670455
> 
> 
> Hi,
> 
> 
> Trying to watch the Closer on COMCAST MOCO and the breakups of sound and picture are awful. Anyone seeing this on another system in the area. Reason I ask is that it seems to break up less when they show "local" advertisements.
> 
> 
> Thanks



Try ESPN, you know, Monday night, Eagles v Cowboys. No breakups there.


----------



## albertso

Thanks, John, but no thanks. Saw my game yesterday. GO SKINS.


----------



## mark_e




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *albertso* /forum/post/14670455
> 
> 
> Hi,
> 
> 
> Trying to watch the Closer on COMCAST MOCO and the breakups of sound and picture are awful. Anyone seeing this on another system in the area. Reason I ask is that it seems to break up less when they show "local" advertisements.
> 
> 
> Thanks



It was fine on Comcast Howard County (SA System).


----------



## Marcus Carr

According to an email I got from WJZ, they will show Entertainment Tonight and Dr. Phil in HD "as soon as the instillation of all the equipment is completed."


----------



## PaulGo

I only had one breakup on The Closer that lasted for about 10 seconds. Other than that the picture quality was great.


----------



## Scott R. Scherr

MASN will launch a full time HD channel next year and air up to 200 games in HD:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/b...,4523885.story 


Scott


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Got an e-mail from WUSA, about 1-2 months before "The Insider" and "Entertainment Tonight" will be in HD.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Scott R. Scherr* /forum/post/14673779
> 
> 
> MASN will launch a full time HD channel next year and air up to 200 games in HD:
> 
> http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/b...,4523885.story
> 
> 
> Scott



Yay! I absolutely hate MASN's SD productions but their HD is pretty darned good. Not jump out of the screen PQ of NESN or YES but pretty much artifact free, nice believable PQ.


Now if they can move the behind the plate camera at Nationals Park!


----------



## prth8machine

I've looked through what info I can find online and I don't find the answer anywhere. With the approaching HD additions on FiOS is there any chance we see MASN included? With the announcement Scott linked to above, it seems a little more feasible for them to want to add it now.


----------



## carltonrice

I got my first HD STB back in October 1999, so I remember when WJLA-DT was considered "dragging their feet" when they weren't showing ABC's MNF in HD that first season. It also seemed to me at that time that WBFF-DT was dragging. Now, 9 years later, WJLA-DT is showing Oprah, WOF, and Jeopardy in HD. And WBFF-DT is the only station in Baltimore with HD news. If I'd been taking a bet, I don't think I'd have bet on WJLA and WBFF to be leading the pack as they seem to be now. Amazing how things change over time.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/14674952
> 
> 
> Yay! I absolutely hate MASN's SD productions but their HD is pretty darned good. Not jump out of the screen PQ of NESN or YES but pretty much artifact free, nice believable PQ.
> 
> 
> Now if they can move the behind the plate camera at Nationals Park!



The press release also mentions that they will be carrying NCAA Division I basketball and football in HD next year, as well. Hopefully this means the syndicated Big East game of the week will be in HD next year.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *prth8machine* /forum/post/14675017
> 
> 
> I've looked through what info I can find online and I don't find the answer anywhere. With the approaching HD additions on FiOS is there any chance we see MASN included? With the announcement Scott linked to above, it seems a little more feasible for them to want to add it now.



Finally, some good news on MASN-HD. No more of the wishy-washy, we may have HD next year or not as MASN was saying all of last year and, then this year, MASN may have a full-time HD channel next year or not. So now MASN states for the record that they will launch a full-time HD channel in March 2009 with up to 200 MLB games in HD. Sounds like we should not expect a part time MASN2 HD next year; the MASN2 games will be SD only. The Os and Nats may end up being the last MLB teams with SD only games on their RSN.


As for Verizon, I would expect them to carry MASN-HD soon after launch. With this much advance notice, there is no reason they should not provide it next year. Now if only the Nats and Os field better teams next year!


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Scott R. Scherr* /forum/post/14673779
> 
> 
> MASN will launch a full time HD channel next year and air up to 200 games in HD:
> 
> http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/b...,4523885.story
> 
> 
> Scott



Yes, but will we still need to hunt to find the games? FIOS-1, MASN, MASN-2,MYDC20????? No wonder why they have 8K people watching the damn games. Those are only the ones who were able to find it.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Count Blah* /forum/post/14676004
> 
> 
> Yes, but will we still need to hunt to find the games? FIOS-1, MASN, MASN-2,MYDC20????? No wonder why they have 8K people watching the damn games. Those are only the ones who were able to find it.



For the HD games, they will only be on MASN-HD or a broadcast station, since it appears that MASN will not have a MASN2-HD feed. So you tune to MASN-HD for the HD games. If MASN-HD is blacked out, then the Nats game is probably on WDCA-DT My 20 or in Baltimore on WJZ-DT for the Os. Although, IIRC, WJZ did not have blackout rights (in VA anyway), so the game may in be HD on both outlets. If WJZ-DT still has the Os broadcast games next year, I would think they would have the HD games in HD unlike most of this year.


This whole two MLB teams on 1 RSN could have been avoided if MLB had not caved in to Angelos. We, the viewing public and fans, would have been far better served if Angelos had only taken the Os to MASN since he had to have his own RSN and Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic had gotten the Nats. Then there would have been no need for where is and what is on MASN-2 confusion. Two MLB teams on 1 RSN, regardless of the RSN, is not a good fit.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/14675447
> 
> 
> I got my first HD STB back in October 1999, so I remember when WJLA-DT was considered "dragging their feet" when they weren't showing ABC's MNF in HD that first season. It also seemed to me at that time that WBFF-DT was dragging. Now, 9 years later, WJLA-DT is showing Oprah, WOF, and Jeopardy in HD. And WBFF-DT is the only station in Baltimore with HD news. If I'd been taking a bet, I don't think I'd have bet on WJLA and WBFF to be leading the pack as they seem to be now. Amazing how things change over time.



I can only imagine what the ATSC tuner and HDTV set has cost you back then. I know that when I got into the game in 2003, 42" Plasmas with EDTV were $5k.


----------



## bxs122

From D.C. channel 50-1 (WDCW-DT I think), have never had an issue getting TheCW (big Supernatural fan).


My wife is recording a few new shows on that channel and well it now is unwatchable with a very bad studder/hiccup etc.


Is anyone else having this problem?


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> I don't think I'd have bet on WJLA and WBFF to be leading the pack as they seem to be now.



They aren't leading the pack, nobody really is here in DC. WJLA still is doing their news in SD. Their weekend crew frequently forgets to throw the switch on shows. It also took them 10 months (July 2007) to show _Jeopardy!_ and _Wheel_ in HD after much nagging/pleading by many of us AVS-ers and only after they got a "deal" for needed equipment from Sony (posts should be in this thread). I will give them credit for carrying _Oprah_ from day one.


----------



## CycloneGT

Considering how many HD hours a day that WUSA-DT has, They'd have to get the Leader nod.


----------



## Gerald C




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/14676429
> 
> 
> I can only imagine what the ATSC tuner and HDTV set has cost you back then [1999]. I know that when I got into the game in 2003, 42" Plasmas with EDTV were $5k.



It wasn't so bad by 2000 when I got mine. My Dish 6000 with OTA tuner was about $400 (with contract commitment), and my 53" Sony 1080i RPTV (CRT type) was


----------



## CycloneGT

My Dish 600 cost about $800 in 2003 (with 8VSB and 8PSK modules). I did end up selling it on eBay a few years later when I got the 921 in very late 2004 and got nearly $500 for it. I guess the hackers had a way with them at the time. Of course with MPEG2 nearly extinct on Dish, it will be a brick by the end of the year.


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/14680020
> 
> 
> They aren't leading the pack, nobody really is here in DC. WJLA still is doing their news in SD. Their weekend crew frequently forgets to throw the switch on shows. It also took them 10 months (July 2007) to show _Jeopardy!_ and _Wheel_ in HD after much nagging/pleading by many of us AVS-ers and only after they got a "deal" for needed equipment from Sony (posts should be in this thread). I will give them credit for carrying _Oprah_ from day one.



OK. I should have said that they were leading the pack in terms of stepping up to the HD syndication. And yes, obviously WUSA-DT who was first with HD news in the two markets is the true HD leader.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bxs122* /forum/post/14678059
> 
> 
> From D.C. channel 50-1 (WDCW-DT I think), have never had an issue getting TheCW (big Supernatural fan).
> 
> My wife is recording a few new shows on that channel and well it now is unwatchable with a very bad studder/hiccup etc.
> 
> Is anyone else having this problem?



Since no one else has responded to this, I have had some problems in getting WDCW-DT 50 recently. I had adjusted my antenna setup by re-aiming the upper VHF antenna at DC to try to get WMDO-LD on VHF 8 (ATSC tuner detects a signal, but no lock) and moved the CM 4221 UHF antenna a bit in the process, so I am not sure if that was the cause or not. As of last night, I was getting a stable picture but still not getting the normal signal strength of 8-9 bars from 16 miles out for WDCW-DT when I checked. WDCW-DT is supposed to be operating at 125 kW on UHF 51. It is possible that the station has been operating at reduced power because of equipment failure or in prep for a digital flash cut to UHF 50 next February, but I would have expected a lot more complaints here if they were. So don't know if there was a problem with WDCW-DT's broadcast strength or something else local to me.


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14650790
> 
> 
> After aiming the YA-6713 upper VHF antenna in the attic right at DC, I can't get a lock for WMDO-LD on VHF 8 from here in Sterling at about 16 miles out. Good quality picture for analog 7 & 9. The 2 ATSC tuners show a signal detection for channel 8, but way too weak for a picture. The signal meters bounce around, so the problem may be in large part interference from the strong adjacent analog signals on 7 & 9. I'm going to experiment, but may have to wait for analog 7 & 9 to get shut off to see if I can get WMDO-LD. Line of sight matters a great deal for a 198 Watt upper VHF digital signal. I don't have that for the DC stations.
> 
> 
> Yes, with the loss of 18 UHF channels and the closer packing of station channel assignments, those LD stations out in Winchester, Martinsburg, Front Royal, etc will be a problem for those located in that general area in getting some of the DC and Baltimore stations. Checking the granted CPs (Construction Permits), I see a WAZC-LD on UHF 35 in Luray, WAZF-LD on UHF 40 in Front Royal, and WAZW-LD on UHF 46 in Winchester, all at 12 or 15 kW and all owned by JLA Media and Publications.



I live north of Hagerstown in PA and have a hard time receiving DC and Baltimore Digital, the Analogs come in clear to slightly snowy. Do you think there is any chance of the major DC and Baltimore putting translators in the Hagerstown area? WBDC use to have one on CH 51 on Blue Ridge Summit, according the Engineer at Fox-43 one of their sister station they are going to replace it with a digital one and Fox-43 will be adding one sometime after Feb 15.


----------



## fmsjr

Howard County FiOS - did your channels get rearranged & more HDs added last night, like we did in AA?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dewster1977* /forum/post/14684739
> 
> 
> I live north of Hagerstown in PA and have a hard time receiving DC and Baltimore Digital, the Analogs come in clear to slightly snowy. Do you think there is any chance of the major DC and Baltimore putting translators in the Hagerstown area?



I'll have to look in the FCC database for digital TX applications and construction permits in your area. However, what is your antenna setup? For long range reception, the best approach is typically to have separate antennas for UHF and VHF. Such as a AntennasDirect 91-XG for UHF and full band or upper VHF only band antenna.


Also, if the FCC grants the maximized power applications for the local stations that have submitted them, the range of the digital stations will be improved after the analog shutdown whenever the stations increase their power. Even w/o granting the maximize power applications, we will see better range for some of the digital stations after the analog shutdown and the channel moves.


----------



## Lenonn

 http://www.rcn.com/digital/ now has the analog crush DC metro channel list available for download (PDF format).


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Lenonn* /forum/post/14685396
> 
> http://www.rcn.com/digital/ now has the analog crush DC metro channel list available for download (PDF format).



That new lineup is really impressive. It really puts the area competitors' lineups to shame. 75 HD channels.


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14685381
> 
> 
> I'll have to look in the FCC database for digital TX applications and construction permits in your area. However, what is your antenna setup? For long range reception, the best approach is typically to have separate antennas for UHF and VHF. Such as a AntennasDirect 91-XG for UHF and full band or upper VHF only band antenna.
> 
> 
> Also, if the FCC grants the maximized power applications for the local stations that have submitted them, the range of the digital stations will be improved after the analog shutdown whenever the stations increase their power. Even w/o granting the maximize power applications, we will see better range for some of the digital stations after the analog shutdown and the channel moves.



Currently I have an older channelmaster combo. I have a 4228 I haven't put up yet, sort of waiting to see if a YA-1713 will work, since as of now I would only have WJLA-DT 7, WGAL-DT 8, WUSA-DT 9, WHTM-DT 10, WBAL-DT 11, WWPX-DT 12 ???, WJZ-DT 13, or if there might be some translators added in the 2-6 range. Currently I can get WTTG-5, WDCA-20, WRC-4 sometimes, WHTM-27, WTAJ-10. WPMT Fox 43 are planning a digital translator on Blue Ridge Summit with WBDC, but according to their engineer they would be able to apply for a construction permit utill the analogs are off, since there were no channels available.


----------



## CycloneGT

I watched some DC50 tonight. No issues. I will be watching smallville tomorrow.


I do remember that last year they had terrible audio hiccups during Smallville nearly all season.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/14685624
> 
> 
> That new lineup is really impressive. It really puts the area competitors' lineups to shame. 75 HD channels.



Yep. Looks like they've got just a lineup comparable to what Verizon will have when they finish their VHO upgrades in the next couple months. Although, many of them have an asterisk indicating coming soon.


And they've got NHL Center Ice and MLB Extra Innings in HD too.


----------



## prth8machine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmsjr* /forum/post/14685251
> 
> 
> Howard County FiOS - did your channels get rearranged & more HDs added last night, like we did in AA?



Any surprises in the channels that were added? I've read that they sometimes add more then what they've stated they are going to add.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *prth8machine* /forum/post/14686493
> 
> 
> Any surprises in the channels that were added? I've read that they sometimes add more then what they've stated they are going to add.



The posts at dslreports say no, Verizon yesterday added to Anne Arundel / Howard County most of what is listed in the new PDF channel line-ups with the missing channels being some of the Starz, Showtime, TMC HD channels.


I did a QAM channel scan last night - this is for the Verizon Sterling CO - and found a bunch of new QAM channels that were not there several days ago. By my count and interpretation that QAM channels with only 1 or 2 sub-channels are HD sub-channels, there are up to 31 new HD channels, although I can't say how many are ready as these are all encrypted sub-channels. No channel re-alignment yet at the DVR, so I figure Verizon is getting the QAM channels set up through out the Washington Metro area for the big re-alignment and first HD expansion round of around 25 to 30 new HD channels on Monday morning.


After that, then the Washington Metro and MD Verizon subscribers will have to wait for the 2nd round expansion to the 100+ HD channels Verizon has now has in some other markets. Verizon is specifically stating that all markets will have 100+ HD channels by the end of the year. There is a Verizon Fios Washington DC area thread, we may want to post our reports there once the re-alignment hits rather than clog up this more general purpose DC-Baltimore thread.


----------



## prth8machine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14687699
> 
> 
> There is a Verizon Fios Washington DC area thread, we may want to post our reports there once the re-alignment hits rather than clog up this more general purpose DC-Baltimore thread.



Ah, I'm sorry. I had googled for FiOS info in the DC area and this is where it took me. I'll see if I can find the other thread. Thanks.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *prth8machine* /forum/post/14687920
> 
> 
> Ah, I'm sorry. I had googled for FiOS info in the DC area and this is where it took me. I'll see if I can find the other thread. Thanks.



The other thread which was converted somehow from a Brambleton thread?? has not been very active. See http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...=347094&page=7 . It is ok to post some stuff about Verizon Fios here because this thread covers OTA, Comcast, RCN, local stations stuff as well. But I figure there may be a flood of hey, I didn't get these HD channels, these channels are pixelated or missing posts next Monday. The reports of the re-alignments in the other markets have been that it is rather messy process with some current channels missing for a day or two, serious errors in the guide data (well, ok, what is new about that for Verizon?), Tivos have old line-ups, some channels badly pixelated as they get all the COs (Central Offices, also now called Video Server Offices - VSOs - for the TV part) straightened out. Better to clog that thread up for lots of local Fios issues than this one.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dewster1977* /forum/post/14685929
> 
> 
> Currently I have an older channelmaster combo. I have a 4228 I haven't put up yet, sort of waiting to see if a YA-1713 will work, since as of now I would only have WJLA-DT 7, WGAL-DT 8, WUSA-DT 9, WHTM-DT 10, WBAL-DT 11, WWPX-DT 12 ???, WJZ-DT 13, or if there might be some translators added in the 2-6 range. Currently I can get WTTG-5, WDCA-20, WRC-4 sometimes, WHTM-27, WTAJ-10.



If you have room on the mast or where ever you have the Channel Master antenna installed, I would put up the CM 4228 8 bay bowtie. The CM 4228 should easily outperform a typical combo antenna for UHF reception. Use the older antenna for VHF reception with a UHF/VHF combiner or a pre-amp with separate VHF and UHF inputs.


----------



## TheKrell

Am I the only one around here having trouble tuning WETA-DT (all subchannels) during the daytime? It used to come in perfectly at all times of the day or night. Now, it comes in perfectly from around 1AM to around 5AM, but at other times _not at all_. Talk about a cliff effect! This nonsense started on Labor Day weekend, and affects _only_ WETA, and not any other channels which still tune nicely just like they always have.


I am using a Kworld 340U ATSC tuner stick with a Winegard "batwing" rooftop antenna.


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14688108
> 
> 
> If you have room on the mast or where ever you have the Channel Master antenna installed, I would put up the CM 4228 8 bay bowtie. The CM 4228 should easily outperform a typical combo antenna for UHF reception. Use the older antenna for VHF reception with a UHF/VHF combiner or a pre-amp with separate VHF and UHF inputs.



I am planning to try the 4228 on top and had already gotten a Winegard 7084 to replace the channelmaster before the DTV came about, just never got it up. I am going to give this setup a try untill spring I think. If I don't have any VHF-Low pop up I may go with the 91XG and YA-1713. I know I am going to have a stuggle with WMAR when they move to DT-38, I already have a low-power W38AN analog translator in Chambersburg (directional away from me), and W.VA. Public Broadcasting is installing a Digital Translator on DT-38, which we are to be in their Grade-A coverage. The engineer at Fox-43 said they wouldn't apply for a permit untill after the switch, to have a better choice of channels,I think they may get stuck in VHF-Low anyways.


----------



## Lenonn

I received an e-mail from RCN customer service today regarding the DC metro area "analog crush". In short, Silver Spring switches to all digital on October 22. The converters are TiVo compatible. Everything else is as been stated before (full digital service, converters - 1st is free, additional ones are $2.95/month).


I will still need to get pricing information and to figure out what my current set of packages are in terms of the new all digital packages.


----------



## compuwizz

Comcast in Sterling has WRC Universal Sports on QAM 112-1805. I don't have a cable box to tell if it is added to the official lineup yet. Can someone check with a box and let me know? I would like to send a request to Schedules Direct to get it added to the lineup if it is in fact on the system.


SiTV is the same way. I don't see it on the lineup, but it is in clear QAM on channel 134.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dewster1977* /forum/post/14691737
> 
> 
> ...W.VA. Public Broadcasting is installing a Digital Translator on DT-38, which we are to be in their Grade-A coverage...



Can you furnish any details on that, like where will the transmitter be and how strong, and where I might find its coverage map?


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/14701173
> 
> 
> Can you furnish any details on that, like where will the transmitter be and how strong, and where I might find its coverage map?



Here's the proposed coverage area (of digital translator W38EG-D, Hampshire WV) according to recnet.com (give it time to draw and load)...


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/14701173
> 
> 
> Can you furnish any details on that, like where will the transmitter be and how strong, and where I might find its coverage map?



Adding to VARTV's post, WV Public TV has two CPs (Construction Permits) for digital translators out in the Eastern Panhandle area.


W38EG-D on UHF 38 at 12 kW which will cover much of the panhandle and Western MD extent, the FCC database entry http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=167355 , FCC service contour map at http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...LD1154844.html .


W08EE-D on VHF 8 at 300 Watts located in Martinsburg with a highly directional pattern to the south, looks to provide coverage in the parts of Jefferson county that won't be able to get W38EG-D, FCC database http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=167357 , FCC service contour map http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...LD1154848.html 


These translators have CPs, so WV PBS can build them, although I don't know if they are on the air or if not, whether they have to wait until after next February. W38EG-D could be a problem for those out in the WV panhandle or west of Hagerstown who want to get the WJZ-DT 13 digital UHF 38 signal out of Baltimore which will be taken over by WMAR-DT 2 after February 17. People out there may have to invest in directional UHF antennas with a strong front to back ratio and a rotator so they can pick out the more distant DC and Baltimore stations from the co-channel translators off in other directions.


If WV Public TV has the money - and they probably don't - what they should do is buy WWPX-DT Ion 60 (on VHF 12 at 23 kW) in Martinsburg, WV, and have a proper full power station covering the eastern panhandle and much of western MD, Loudoun county, and the northern end of the Shenandoah. If they have not built the 2 translators yet, put the money to buying the station. Ion has WWPX up for sale, so it is available if any of you are looking to buy a TV station.


----------



## maestro73

My Comcast channels 801-804 aren't coming. Anyone else?


----------



## maestro73

nm...I just checked at 2:30 and they are back on.


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14701820
> 
> 
> Adding to VARTV's post, WV Public TV has two CPs (Construction Permits) for digital translators out in the Eastern Panhandle area.
> 
> 
> W38EG-D on UHF 38 at 12 kW which will cover much of the panhandle and Western MD extent, the FCC database entry http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=167355 , FCC service contour map at http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...LD1154844.html .
> 
> 
> W08EE-D on VHF 8 at 300 Watts located in Martinsburg with a highly directional pattern to the south, looks to provide coverage in the parts of Jefferson county that won't be able to get W38EG-D, FCC database http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=167357 , FCC service contour map http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...LD1154848.html
> 
> 
> These translators have CPs, so WV PBS can build them, although I don't know if they are on the air or if not, whether they have to wait until after next February. W38EG-D could be a problem for those out in the WV panhandle or west of Hagerstown who want to get the WJZ-DT 13 digital UHF 38 signal out of Baltimore which will be taken over by WMAR-DT 2 after February 17. People out there may have to invest in directional UHF antennas with a strong front to back ratio and a rotator so they can pick out the more distant DC and Baltimore stations from the co-channel translators off in other directions.
> 
> 
> If WV Public TV has the money - and they probably don't - what they should do is buy WWPX-DT Ion 60 (on VHF 12 at 23 kW) in Martinsburg, WV, and have a proper full power station covering the eastern panhandle and much of western MD, Loudoun county, and the northern end of the Shenandoah. If they have not built the 2 translators yet, put the money to buying the station. Ion has WWPX up for sale, so it is available if any of you are looking to buy a TV station.



In my opinion WMAR-DT 38 is going to be allmost impossible for those of us north of Hagerstown since we all ready have W38AN, WITF low power translator north of Chambersburg. I really hope others put translators up this way, or we maybe left with NBC as the only major network.


----------



## JGJGJG23

Is anyone esle's ESPN Channel 252 on Comcast blacked out for the LSU-Auburn game?


----------



## maestro73

YES!!!!!! WTF is up with ESPN today?


----------



## maestro73

The Comcast rep, as nice and sweet as she sounded, simply said, it's out. I said, what does that mean? She didn't really answer that, but said she recieved other calls on the matter, they (I assume ESPN?) are aware, and she apologized.


----------



## maestro73

And like magic, ESPN-HD back.


----------



## Count Blah

My ESPN HD on FiOS was out as well. SD came thru A-OK however.


----------



## afiggatt

Both WDCA-DT My 20 (7 & 8 PM) and WUTB-DT My 24 (6 & 7 PM) are showing Desperate Housewives in HD tonight. So we have some more shows in HD syndication in our area. It is a little odd that the two My Network stations are able to present syndicated shows in HD while many of the big four stations - WRC-DT 4, WUSA-DT 9, WBAL-DT 11, WJZ-DT 13 - are not yet able to do so.


----------



## Lenonn

I received an e-mail response from RCN customer service - they *won't* change prices (at least for the immediate future) when the analog crush comes down.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14709485
> 
> 
> Both WDCA-DT My 20 (7 & 8 PM) and WUTB-DT My 24 (6 & 7 PM) are showing Desperate Housewives in HD tonight. So we have some more shows in HD syndication in our area. It is a little odd that the two My Network stations are able to present syndicated shows in HD while many of the big four stations - WRC-DT 4, WUSA-DT 9, WBAL-DT 11, WJZ-DT 13 - are not yet able to do so.



For some reason WUTB is back to SD on Comcast. OTA is 720p but I didn't think to check it when Desperate Housewives was on. The last time this happened it was SD on both Comcast and OTA.


House is also flagged as HD on WUTB in my Comcast guide. Will have to check that this Sunday.


----------



## parkay57

I don't have the Premiums listed right now, but at least here are all the "free" HD Channels for FiOs:

http://www22.verizon.com/NROneRetail...0/CCT_WASH.pdf 


503 CW HD - WDCW (50)

504 NBC HD - WRC (4)

505 FOX HD - WTTG (5)

506 My WDCA HD (20)

507 ABC HD - WJLA (7)

509 CBS HD - WUSA (9)

522 PBS HD - WMPT(22)

526 PBS HD - WETA (26)

550 USA HD

551 TNT HD

552 TBS HD

567 Universal HD

569 HDNet

570 ESPN HD

573 ESPNU HD

574 ESPN2 HD

576 Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic HD

585 Big Ten Network HD

588 NFL Network HD

590 Versus/Golf HD

591 Outdoor Channel 2 HD

600 CNN HD

602 CNBC HD+

619 The Weather Channel HD

620 Discovery Channel HD

621 National Geographic Channel HD

622 Science Channel HD

625 Smithsonian Channel HD

628 History Channel HD

630 Animal Planet HD

631 HD Theater

639 TLC HD

640 Lifetime HD

641 Lifetime Movie Network HD

664 Food Network HD

665 HGTV HD

669 Wealth TV HD

680 Sci-Fi Channel HD

681 A&E HD

685 Bravo HD

711 Palladia HD

746 HD Net Movies


----------



## aaronwt

I saw where the new channels were up this morning.


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14709485
> 
> 
> Both WDCA-DT My 20 (7 & 8 PM) and WUTB-DT My 24 (6 & 7 PM) are showing Desperate Housewives in HD tonight. So we have some more shows in HD syndication in our area. It is a little odd that the two My Network stations are able to present syndicated shows in HD while many of the big four stations - WRC-DT 4, WUSA-DT 9, WBAL-DT 11, WJZ-DT 13 - are not yet able to do so.



On the other hand, the two My Network stations are owned and operated by FOX. They've got deep pockets. By the way, did we decide that WUTB-DT is up to full power? It's still the weakest signal from Baltimore for me and in a slightly different direction.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> It is a little odd that the two My Network stations are able to present syndicated shows in HD while many of the big four stations - WRC-DT 4, WUSA-DT 9, WBAL-DT 11, WJZ-DT 13 - are not yet able to do so.



I've never seen WTTG shown anything in HD syndication either. The Saturday airings of "Everybody Loves Raymond" are always SD despite My20 being in the same building and having the equipment.


----------



## mr b

Not sure it this question belongs here on in the FIOS thread but...


Has anyone had any problems doing a QAM channel scan on FIOS lately? I have a VIZIO that I've got the signal split - 1 to the STB, 1 to the ANT input. Up til about a week ago I was able to scan and watch all the unencrypted channels. Since then everytime I scanned I got an error message. Noticed the channel lineup change and tried a scan today, now I get a bunch of channels on the scan but none of the locals.


Tony


----------



## aaronwt

FIOS just had a channel re-alignment this morning in teh DC area. maybe that is part of the problem?

I'll check tonight when I get home to see what one of my TVs does with the unencrypted channels.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mr b* /forum/post/14712568
> 
> 
> Not sure it this question belongs here on in the FIOS thread but...
> 
> 
> Has anyone had any problems doing a QAM channel scan on FIOS lately? I have a VIZIO that I've got the signal split - 1 to the STB, 1 to the ANT input. Up til about a week ago I was able to scan and watch all the unencrypted channels. Since then everytime I scanned I got an error message. Noticed the channel lineup change and tried a scan today, but now I a bunch of channels on the scan but none of the locals.



I did a QAM channel scan yesterday with a Samsung TV to see if Verizon had added any more QAM channels since they added a bunch at the Sterling CO last Wednesday (or was it Thursday?). Had no problems. The locals were all there in the same place with the HD & SD digital locals mapped to the broadcast channel number and the other SD & non-encrypted channels at the same QAM sub-channels where they have been for many months. But if we are going to have Washington area Verizon thread, we should move followup posts on issues this specific to Fios there.


To summarize for this thread, Verizon Fios added 16 new HD channels this morning. Missing are the 6 additional Starz, Showtime, TMC HD channels shown in the channel line-up at Verizon web site. Figure those will be added in the near future.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/14711941
> 
> 
> On the other hand, the two My Network stations are owned and operated by FOX. They've got deep pockets. By the way, did we decide that WUTB-DT is up to full power? It's still the weakest signal from Baltimore for me and in a slightly different direction.



Due to WUTB-DT 41 having to protect WMPT-DT 42, they have a very directional antenna. If I'm calculating correctly, you're only receiving about 10.76 kW in your direction with the full-powered signal.


- Trip


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/14712237
> 
> 
> I've never seen WTTG shown anything in HD syndication either. The Saturday airings of "Everybody Loves Raymond" are always SD despite My20 being in the same building and having the equipment.



I've actually mentioned that on this thread a few weeks ago and last week I noticed that WTTG showed it in HD at midnight as part of a new lineup.


----------



## Hoopnoop

For those of you with FIOS and Tivo, your channel guides have probably not been updated so this will screw up your season passes. If you have this problem, the best temporary solution is to re-do your guide set-up and put in the zip code 21044 and choose the Ann Arundel line-up. It is virtually identical to northern Virginia except for a few of the HD locals (e.g., they don't have the DC WB 50 in the Guide).


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Hoopnoop* /forum/post/14720449
> 
> 
> For those of you with FIOS and Tivo, your channel guides have probably not been updated so this will screw up your season passes. If you have this problem, the best temporary solution is to re-do your guide set-up and put in the zip code 21044 and choose the Ann Arundel line-up. It is virtually identical to northern Virginia except for a few of the HD locals (e.g., they don't have the DC WB 50 in the Guide).



Pick 20872 and then pick Ann Arundel. You get all the right locals (and just need to remove the Baltimore ones).


----------



## AbMagFab

So I got the new HD lineup yesterday, but the extra channels for premiums, like all the new Starz HD's and Showtime HD's aren't anywhere to be found. Tuning to the channel is blank, so it's not just a guide issue.


The PDF says they are part of the lineup, but the on-line guide doesn't have them.


What's up with this? Did we get screwed?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/14718461
> 
> 
> I've actually mentioned that on this thread a few weeks ago and last week I noticed that WTTG showed it in HD at midnight as part of a new lineup.



Checked last night and WTTG-DT Fox 5 was indeed showing Everybody Loves Raymond in HD at midnight. So WTTG-DT can provide syndicated shows in HD. Should check their schedule and see what syndicated shows they might be able to provide in HD.


----------



## bxs122




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Hoopnoop* /forum/post/14720449
> 
> 
> For those of you with FIOS and Tivo, your channel guides have probably not been updated so this will screw up your season passes. If you have this problem, the best temporary solution is to re-do your guide set-up and put in the zip code 21044 and choose the Ann Arundel line-up. It is virtually identical to northern Virginia except for a few of the HD locals (e.g., they don't have the DC WB 50 in the Guide).



Thank you Thank you Thank you

I could not figure out what to do - my zip just pulled in the same as before. I wonder why 21044 is updated but ours is not.


----------



## cpldc

This is off-topic, but may be of interest to the OTA people here on this forum. It seems that WDCN-LP in Arlington, formerly W06CJ, is pretty much just operating as an FM radio station on 87.7. Given that their video would interfere with WTTG and that other channel 6 LP's in other markets have done the same thing, it seems like the video is off (which I believe the FCC allows for an LP) but the audio is up and running.


I don't have any proof or confirmation, but since I couldn't get a video signal from them even close to the transmitter, their audio is in FM stereo (the radio kind--my radio lights up the "stereo" indicator, which it does not do for WTTG's audio) and the volume is on par with other radio stations it seems pretty likely.


Not praise or criticism, just a note I thought would be of interest to some.


----------



## markbulla

Hello all -


We've gotten a couple of calls from Comcast saying that their customers in southern Howard County get no audio during prime-time programming, when they record WBFF on their Comcast supplied DVRs. They will get audio during commercials, just not on the programs...


They told the boss that that area is where they give out Scientific Atlanta boxes. Where they use the Motorola boxes, there is no issue...


Anyone else having this problem?


Thanks -


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Anybody else not getting HD locals 4,5,7,9 and 20 on D*?

*Edit:* They came back around 7:30pm last night. Must have been happening across the country.


----------



## billym

Mine have been out for about an hour. Cannont get through to D*


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/14720591
> 
> 
> Pick 20872 and then pick Ann Arundel. You get all the right locals (and just need to remove the Baltimore ones).



The FIOS Wash DC channel lineup is correct now. I re- did my guided setup on the four boxes I have on FIOS this evening and everything shows up correctly the same as when I picked the Anne Arundal/Howard County Lineup yesterday.


----------



## mark_e




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/14721964
> 
> 
> Hello all -
> 
> 
> We've gotten a couple of calls from Comcast saying that their customers in southern Howard County get no audio during prime-time programming, when they record WBFF on their Comcast supplied DVRs. They will get audio during commercials, just not on the programs...
> 
> 
> They told the boss that that area is where they give out Scientific Atlanta boxes. Where they use the Motorola boxes, there is no issue...
> 
> 
> Anyone else having this problem?
> 
> 
> Thanks -



I'm in Columbia and both the SD (15) and HD (213) feeds were fine on my TiVo with SA cablecards. The SA SD box was also OK with the SD feed on 15. I don't have a Comcast SA DVR or HD box.


Hope that helps.


----------



## CycloneGT

Not sure if its true or not, but www.dcrtv.com is reporting that the Greaseman has died. Bummer.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/14726625
> 
> 
> Not sure if its true or not, but www.dcrtv.com is reporting that the Greaseman has died. Bummer.



It's not true.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Grease Is Alive, Angry About Death Rumor - 9/24 - A reliable source confirms to DCRTV that DC radio veteran Doug "Greaseman" Tracht is alive and well. Despite the announcement of his demise on his station, Clear Channel rocker DC101, yesterday afternoon and a video on YouTube and wording on a Greaseman fan website that alluded he was a gonner. "Doug is still trying to put the pieces together," a source close to Tracht tells us. "Family members were in tears not knowing his true fate. He was making calls all night just to put things right. He was on his boat and found out about the story last night. He had nothing to do with the rumor and is not too pleased." More in DCRTV's 9/23 newsblurb.....


 http://www.dcrtv.com/


----------



## CycloneGT

So he's not dead anymore. That's great.


----------



## stuttsdc

Got one or two very basic questions that I can't seem to get a straight answer to. Thanks for your patience...


I'm in the MD suburbs of DC, and have had RCN, using QAM tuner. Now that RCN has decided to spit on their customers by encrypting all of the digital channels (leaving basic broadcast in SD, what a joke)







I have decided I'm done with RCN. The idea of having to spend anything to rent an HD box when I have a tuner built-in is unacceptable.


My only other option at the moment is Comcast. FIOS hasn't hit my neighborhood yet but should be here in the near future.


So, q#1: From what I've been reading in these threads, I don't have to rent a box with Comcast, correct? And I should still be able to receive HD programming through QAM?


q#2: I'm having trouble deciphering packages and prices on Comcast's site, and I don't fully trust their sales people.

If I order the 'extended basic', will that give me the usual suspects (aside from broadcast networks, CNN, Comedy Central, ESPN, etc) in DIGITAL or is it just analog? And would I be able to utilize the HD versions of those channels through QAM?

The have some sort of 'digital' package and I simply can't tell the difference.


Advice welcome. Thanks.


----------



## vidioteic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/14721964
> 
> 
> Hello all -
> 
> 
> We've gotten a couple of calls from Comcast saying that their customers in southern Howard County get no audio during prime-time programming, when they record WBFF on their Comcast supplied DVRs. They will get audio during commercials, just not on the programs...
> 
> 
> They told the boss that that area is where they give out Scientific Atlanta boxes. Where they use the Motorola boxes, there is no issue...
> 
> 
> Anyone else having this problem?
> 
> 
> Thanks -



Mark-

Sounds like a PID issue. Maybe the viewer(s) have the box defaulted to SAP and you aren't providing anything on that PID? OR it might be and AC3 vs MPEG2L2 issue...


Just a thought (or two)!


----------



## kadeeu

Anybody else having a problem with clear QAM network channels for Montgomery county Comcast. In the last couple of days 7.1 and 9.1 are no longer available. The other HD networks are still available.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *stuttsdc* /forum/post/14731555
> 
> 
> Got one or two very basic questions that I can't seem to get a straight answer to. Thanks for your patience...
> 
> 
> I'm in the MD suburbs of DC, and have had RCN, using QAM tuner. Now that RCN has decided to spit on their customers by encrypting all of the digital channels (leaving basic broadcast in SD, what a joke)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I have decided I'm done with RCN. The idea of having to spend anything to rent an HD box when I have a tuner built-in is unacceptable.
> 
> 
> My only other option at the moment is Comcast. FIOS hasn't hit my neighborhood yet but should be here in the near future.
> 
> 
> So, q#1: From what I've been reading in these threads, I don't have to rent a box with Comcast, correct? And I should still be able to receive HD programming through QAM?
> 
> 
> q#2: I'm having trouble deciphering packages and prices on Comcast's site, and I don't fully trust their sales people.
> 
> If I order the 'extended basic', will that give me the usual suspects (aside from broadcast networks, CNN, Comedy Central, ESPN, etc) in DIGITAL or is it just analog? And would I be able to utilize the HD versions of those channels through QAM?
> 
> The have some sort of 'digital' package and I simply can't tell the difference.
> 
> 
> Advice welcome. Thanks.



If your TV has a cable card slot you can get those channels, otherwise don't expect much more than the local digital channels.


----------



## iontyre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/14721964
> 
> 
> Hello all -
> 
> 
> We've gotten a couple of calls from Comcast saying that their customers in southern Howard County get no audio during prime-time programming, when they record WBFF on their Comcast supplied DVRs. They will get audio during commercials, just not on the programs...
> 
> 
> They told the boss that that area is where they give out Scientific Atlanta boxes. Where they use the Motorola boxes, there is no issue...
> 
> 
> Anyone else having this problem?
> 
> 
> Thanks -



Mark,


Yes, this a an honest to god problem. I live in Harford County, using a SA 8300HD DVR, and if I DVR a program on WBFF-DT (213) (specifically I have had this happen with two episodes of Fringe and an episode of Sarah Conner Chronicles) the picture plays back fine, but the audio is full of breakups. If I rewind and watch the same part over, the breakups do not occur in the same place!! Very frustrating, has been going on for at least three weeks. Does not seem to happen on any other channel (definitely not SciFi or WBAL-DT, as I have tried those in recent days without incident.)


For me, the problem continues during commercials too! Looks like a weak audio signal, as my receiver's signal reception lights keep blinking on and off with the audio.


----------



## compuwizz




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *stuttsdc* /forum/post/14731555
> 
> 
> Got one or two very basic questions that I can't seem to get a straight answer to. Thanks for your patience...
> 
> 
> I'm in the MD suburbs of DC, and have had RCN, using QAM tuner. Now that RCN has decided to spit on their customers by encrypting all of the digital channels (leaving basic broadcast in SD, what a joke)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I have decided I'm done with RCN. The idea of having to spend anything to rent an HD box when I have a tuner built-in is unacceptable.
> 
> 
> My only other option at the moment is Comcast. FIOS hasn't hit my neighborhood yet but should be here in the near future.
> 
> 
> So, q#1: From what I've been reading in these threads, I don't have to rent a box with Comcast, correct? And I should still be able to receive HD programming through QAM?
> 
> 
> q#2: I'm having trouble deciphering packages and prices on Comcast's site, and I don't fully trust their sales people.
> 
> If I order the 'extended basic', will that give me the usual suspects (aside from broadcast networks, CNN, Comedy Central, ESPN, etc) in DIGITAL or is it just analog? And would I be able to utilize the HD versions of those channels through QAM?
> 
> The have some sort of 'digital' package and I simply can't tell the difference.
> 
> 
> Advice welcome. Thanks.



Go to http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/channels and enter in your zip code. That should give you an idea of what you'll be able to receive. Assuming someone has an HDHomerun in your area. My zip code 20164 has many more channels in clear QAM than Comcast in Reston 20190. So your results will vary depending on location.


Your best bet is to go with a cable card if you don't want a box.


----------



## euckersw

Just saw this on a Cox promo channel. The following are being added:


Setanta Sports

MBC Plus

MTV HD

Spike HD

VH1 HD

CMT HD

Nickelodeon HD

NBC Universal Sports


No ESPN-U or Weather Channel...a bit bummed about that.


----------



## dneily

Does anyone know when WRC will offer Ellen and Dr. Phil in HD?


Are 20/20 and Fox News Sunday still in SD nationally or locally?


----------



## stuttsdc

unfortunately, I don't have a cable card slot. So I guess I have no option but to get the box, eh? Seems odd, considering so many others here seem to be using QAM and Comcast.


I also don't particularly understand that link: http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/channels 


my zip 20912 Lists pretty much everything as 'unencrypted'. This is to watch tv on my computer? Not really what I was getting at.


I'd really just like to know.. if I go w/Comcast, do I have to get the digital package and the hd box to watch HD channels? Will the basic (expanded basic) channel just give me analog and some local broadcast digital/hd?

Why is a cable card being suggested when others here clearly use QAM?


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *stuttsdc* /forum/post/14739795
> 
> 
> unfortunately, I don't have a cable card slot. So I guess I have no option but to get the box, eh? Seems odd, considering so many others here seem to be using QAM and Comcast.
> 
> 
> I also don't particularly understand that link: http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/channels
> 
> 
> my zip 20912 Lists pretty much everything as 'unencrypted'. This is to watch tv on my computer? Not really what I was getting at.
> 
> 
> I'd really just like to know.. if I go w/Comcast, do I have to get the digital package and the hd box to watch HD channels? Will the basic (expanded basic) channel just give me analog and some local broadcast digital/hd?
> 
> Why is a cable card being suggested when others here clearly use QAM?



Cable Card = QAM.


I think you're asking about unencrypted QAM?


----------



## maestro73

I think what he's asking is: what, if any, is the lowest level of service from Comcast that doesn't require a box and will pass unencrypted QAM HD channels.


stuttsdc - Sorry I don't know the answer; I just use the HD box and haven't really explored using my TV's QAM tuner.


----------



## Marcus Carr

WUTB was 480i on Comcast in Baltimore for a few days but is back to 720p. Walking Tall is in HD. No bug on WUTB or WDCA.


----------



## McV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kadeeu* /forum/post/14733553
> 
> 
> Anybody else having a problem with clear QAM network channels for Montgomery county Comcast. In the last couple of days 7.1 and 9.1 are no longer available. The other HD networks are still available.



Comcast customer service was no help, but while on hold and talking to the tech, I found some of the "lost" channels myself for Montgomery County, MD. It seems that Comcast moved the ABC digital signals to 17.1/17.2/17.3, the WETA (PBS) signals to 17.4/17.5/17.6/17.7 and the CBS signals to 108.21/108.22 on the QAM tuner.


----------



## Roberto Carlo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *euckersw* /forum/post/14739431
> 
> 
> Just saw this on a Cox promo channel. The following are being added:
> 
> 
> Setanta Sports
> 
> MBC Plus
> 
> MTV HD
> 
> Spike HD
> 
> VH1 HD
> 
> CMT HD
> 
> Nickelodeon HD
> 
> NBC Universal Sports
> 
> 
> No ESPN-U or Weather Channel...a bit bummed about that.



I saw that, too. I'm very disappointed and this meager addition to Cox's already-meager HD offering has me strongly considering switching to FIOS when it becomes available in my development (Verizon already wired the neighborhood so it shouldn't be very long.)


Cox had made a lot of promises but has delivered very little in this area. While Comcast is adding HDNet, we're getting CMTHD? I like country music okay but are they kidding me? Setanta isn't even HD as far as I can tell.


----------



## euckersw




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Roberto Carlo* /forum/post/14740489
> 
> 
> I saw that, too. I'm very disappointed and this meager addition to Cox's already-meager HD offering has me strongly considering switching to FIOS when it becomes available in my development (Verizon already wired the neighborhood so it shouldn't be very long.)
> 
> 
> Cox had made a lot of promises but has delivered very little in this area. While Comcast is adding HDNet, we're getting CMTHD? I like country music okay but are they kidding me? Setanta isn't even HD as far as I can tell.



Yeah, I don't think Universal Sports or Setanta are HD channels. I'm leaning towards switching to FIOS as well, and just had Verizon digging in my area. Once Verizon digs and lays down the wiring, any idea on how long it takes to actually have the service?


----------



## aaronwt

It only took a few months for us.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast Baltimore City will add NFL HD on 10/1.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *stuttsdc* /forum/post/14739795
> 
> 
> I'd really just like to know.. if I go w/Comcast, do I have to get the digital package and the hd box to watch HD channels? Will the basic (expanded basic) channel just give me analog and some local broadcast digital/hd?
> 
> Why is a cable card being suggested when others here clearly use QAM?



No - you don't need the digital package to watch "some" HD chs.

Getting the basic will suffice but good luck getting that - you have to be firm with them - they'll try to upsell you to lots of things you don't need

Cablecard can be used in lieu of an STB (to save space/money) to get all the chs, even encrypted ones (of course you have to pay for the higher tier programming package).


Clear QAM = locals (including HD)

Encrypted QAM + cablecard = all chs


----------



## stuttsdc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/14742386
> 
> 
> No - you don't need the digital package to watch "some" HD chs.
> 
> Getting the basic will suffice but good luck getting that - you have to be firm with them - they'll try to upsell you to lots of things you don't need
> 
> Cablecard can be used in lieu of an STB (to save space/money) to get all the chs, even encrypted ones (of course you have to pay for the higher tier programming package).
> 
> 
> Clear QAM = locals (including HD)
> 
> Encrypted QAM + cablecard = all chs



Thanks, guys. Yes, I'm talking about unencrypted QAM. Having had RCN, I could just plug the cable into my tv and not have to deal w/the box. But that option is now gone, and I wanted to avoid RCN b/c of it.


It seems that what I'm hearing (correct me if I'm wrong) is that w/Comcast I'd have to get the digital package AND a cablebox (card is not an option) to get HD on all channels.

If I got the basic package and no box, I'd just get locals on HD.

If I got the digital package and no box, I'd see nothing other than the local channels.


This sound about right?


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *stuttsdc* /forum/post/14744223
> 
> 
> Thanks, guys. Yes, I'm talking about unencrypted QAM. Having had RCN, I could just plug the cable into my tv and not have to deal w/the box. But that option is now gone, and I wanted to avoid RCN b/c of it.
> 
> 
> It seems that what I'm hearing (correct me if I'm wrong) is that w/Comcast I'd have to get the digital package AND a cablebox (card is not an option) to get HD on all channels.
> 
> If I got the basic package and no box, I'd just get locals on HD.
> 
> If I got the digital package and no box, I'd see nothing other than the local channels.
> 
> 
> This sound about right?



Yes.


----------



## compuwizz




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *stuttsdc* /forum/post/14744223
> 
> 
> Thanks, guys. Yes, I'm talking about unencrypted QAM. Having had RCN, I could just plug the cable into my tv and not have to deal w/the box. But that option is now gone, and I wanted to avoid RCN b/c of it.
> 
> 
> It seems that what I'm hearing (correct me if I'm wrong) is that w/Comcast I'd have to get the digital package AND a cablebox (card is not an option) to get HD on all channels.
> 
> If I got the basic package and no box, I'd just get locals on HD.
> 
> If I got the digital package and no box, I'd see nothing other than the local channels.
> 
> 
> This sound about right?



The link I gave you just shows someone who has RCN so that won't help with determining what comes in on clear QAM (the channels with blue highlighting, the green are OTA from an antenna).


Its difficult to determine what you'll get because each Comcast system is different. Some people get lots of channels in clear QAM while others get barely the locals. When you order any digital expanded service, Comcast just puts authorization codes in their system that allow the cable box or cable card to decode the encrypted QAM channels. Some basic channels may be digitaly encrypted as well if they aren't coming in via Analog.


My area seems to be moving to digital simulcast of some sort so thats why 20164 shows lots of channels available in clear QAM.


Off-topic, it would be nice if the cable operators and especially those with addressable NIDs (Verizon) could just deliver whatever you subscribe to unencrypted inside your home. However the content providers will prevent this from happening.


Also, just be glad none of the providers near you are doing Switched Digital Video. That would really force you to have the box as Cable Cards won't work on SDV.


----------



## caa100




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *euckersw* /forum/post/14739431
> 
> 
> Just saw this on a Cox promo channel. The following are being added:
> 
> 
> Setanta Sports
> 
> MBC Plus
> 
> MTV HD
> 
> Spike HD
> 
> VH1 HD
> 
> CMT HD
> 
> Nickelodeon HD
> 
> NBC Universal Sports
> 
> 
> No ESPN-U or Weather Channel...a bit bummed about that.



Yeah. And dont they already carry MTVHD?


----------



## stuttsdc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *compuwizz* /forum/post/14745617
> 
> 
> The link I gave you just shows someone who has RCN so that won't help with determining what comes in on clear QAM (the channels with blue highlighting, the green are OTA from an antenna).
> 
> 
> Its difficult to determine what you'll get because each Comcast system is different. Some people get lots of channels in clear QAM while others get barely the locals. When you order any digital expanded service, Comcast just puts authorization codes in their system that allow the cable box or cable card to decode the encrypted QAM channels. Some basic channels may be digitaly encrypted as well if they aren't coming in via Analog.
> 
> 
> My area seems to be moving to digital simulcast of some sort so thats why 20164 shows lots of channels available in clear QAM.
> 
> 
> Off-topic, it would be nice if the cable operators and especially those with addressable NIDs (Verizon) could just deliver whatever you subscribe to unencrypted inside your home. However the content providers will prevent this from happening.
> 
> 
> Also, just be glad none of the providers near you are doing Switched Digital Video. That would really force you to have the box as Cable Cards won't work on SDV.



I guess it's a bit confusing b/c I thought the point of having a QAM tuner was so you didn't have to have a cable box. On one hand, I can go back and read dozen of posts pertaining to clear QAM channels. On the other, the info I'm getting says you have to have a box or cable card. So, I'm guessing all these companies are encrypting basic cable channels and not allowing the use of the built-in tuners. Up until this week, I could use my built-in tuner to watch RCN digital just fine. But now, they've encrypted everything except SD broadcast. The posts here more or less confirm the same is true for Comcast.

Seems like a great big scam from the cable companies to force you to rent their gear when it clearly shouldn't be necessary.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *caa100* /forum/post/14745650
> 
> 
> Yeah. And dont they already carry MTVHD?




Isn't MTV-HD now called Palladia?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/14746701
> 
> 
> Isn't MTV-HD now called Palladia?



No. Palladia was MHD or Music HD which is all HD (where everything gets repeated 100s of times). MTV-HD is a simulcast of the regular MTV channel which reportedly does not have much HD on it.


Surprising that Cox is not adding Weather Channel HD in place of one of those on that list. The Weather Channel HD now has a high percentage of real HD and looks pretty dang good. But corporate bundles control which gets added so the Cox subscribers will get MTV-HD, VH1-HD, CMT-HD as a group.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dneily* /forum/post/14739625
> 
> 
> Does anyone know when WRC will offer Ellen and Dr. Phil in HD?
> 
> Are 20/20 and Fox News Sunday still in SD nationally or locally?



20/20 and Fox News Sunday are network programs so it is up to the network to provide them in HD. ABC news has made a big move to HD with the nightly news and Nightline in HD for several weeks now. According to this ( http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1059947 ), 20/20 and Primetime should be in HD by now.


Ellen and Dr. Phil are syndicated programs. As for the NBC O&O WRC-DT 4, with the big budget cuts for the NBC owned stations, there have been no recent reports on when WRC-DT will upgrade the local news to HD or provide syndicated programming in HD. I would not count on it anytime soon. There have been reports here that WUSA-DT 9 in DC, WJZ-DT 13 in Baltimore will be able to provide syndicated programs in HD soon.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast has added NFL Network HD. Looks like it's a full-time channel this time judging by the guide.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14746830
> 
> 
> No. Palladia was MHD or Music HD which is all HD (where everything gets repeated 100s of times). MTV-HD is a simulcast of the regular MTV channel which reportedly does not have much HD on it.
> 
> 
> Surprising that Cox is not adding Weather Channel HD in place of one of those on that list. The Weather Channel HD now has a high percentage of real HD and looks pretty dang good. But corporate bundles control which gets added so the Cox subscribers will get MTV-HD, VH1-HD, CMT-HD as a group.



So Palladia/Music-Hd actually shows video music? That's a new concept isn't it? To have a music video channel actually show music videos.

I'll have to check it out somwtime.


----------



## Zon74




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/14747017
> 
> 
> So Palladia/Music-Hd actually shows video music? That's a new concept isn't it? To have a music video channel actually show music videos.
> 
> I'll have to check it out somwtime.




Well, it did actually show music when it was MHD, but I wonder whether the name change presaged putting this channel on the same downward spiral as other MTV-family stations and whether we should expect any day now to see the debut on Palladia of "Reality TV with Hulk Hogan's Daughter" and "Ten No-Talent Bimbos Competing For a Cameo on Poison's Comeback Video".


----------



## PGHammer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/14712237
> 
> 
> I've never seen WTTG shown anything in HD syndication either. The Saturday airings of "Everybody Loves Raymond" are always SD despite My20 being in the same building and having the equipment.




WTTG and WDCA are both FOX owned; however, they are in different buildings. Their antennas are shared (both atop the VNA Building, where WTTG-TV/DT itself has studios; FOX' Washington, DC bureau has offices in the building), but WDCA-TV/DT is still located in Bethesda (specifically, at 5202 River Road). WJLA has an even wider spread between sdtudios and transmitter; their antenna is shared with WUSA-TV/DT (behind WUSA-TV/DT's spaces at 4100 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, in the Tenleytown section of Upper Northwest), while the studios are now in Rosslyn, VA.


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *stuttsdc* /forum/post/14746307
> 
> 
> I guess it's a bit confusing b/c I thought the point of having a QAM tuner was so you didn't have to have a cable box. On one hand, I can go back and read dozen of posts pertaining to clear QAM channels. On the other, the info I'm getting says you have to have a box or cable card. So, I'm guessing all these companies are encrypting basic cable channels and not allowing the use of the built-in tuners. Up until this week, I could use my built-in tuner to watch RCN digital just fine. But now, they've encrypted everything except SD broadcast. The posts here more or less confirm the same is true for Comcast.
> 
> Seems like a great big scam from the cable companies to force you to rent their gear when it clearly shouldn't be necessary.



I have Comcast P.G.County basic cable @$15.00 per month. I raceive all of the local D.C. and Baltimore channels plus many others without a box or cable card.

Unfortunately, Comcast service is different for different counties in Maryland, so I can't predict what you should receive with Comcast, unless you are in P.G. county. The specific location of the available clear QAM channels changes from time to time, but when they change I do a new search to find them. I have been happy with the Comcast signals, although they are not required at present to provide digital local channels, and they could be discontinued at any time.


----------



## rustycruiser




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *euckersw* /forum/post/14739431
> 
> 
> Just saw this on a Cox promo channel. The following are being added:
> 
> 
> Setanta Sports
> 
> MBC Plus
> 
> MTV HD
> 
> Spike HD
> 
> VH1 HD
> 
> CMT HD
> 
> Nickelodeon HD
> 
> NBC Universal Sports
> 
> 
> No ESPN-U or Weather Channel...a bit bummed about that.



I assume that Setanta is ala carte, and $15 a month like it is on Fios, and both satellite services?


----------



## CycloneGT

I wonder what MBC Plus is? I know of CNBC+, maybe thats it.


----------



## jsilva982

Is anybody else having reception issues with Comcast HD in DC today? FOX isn't even available for me, and the CBS game reception is pretty scrambled.


----------



## mapper




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/14756017
> 
> 
> I wonder what MBC Plus is? I know of CNBC+, maybe thats it.



MBC Plus is a international channel that is not in HD. I don't think the poster meant to put that here, as this _is_ a HDTV thread.


I think its interesting that The Weather Channel didn't get added for Cox, as it is quite popular(and it has awesome weather maps). Cox was going to add it in February when they added Travel Channel and Cinemax in HD, but it mysteriously dissappeared.


----------



## Trip in VA

To that person in the Hagerstown area who was worried about that West Virginia PBS translator stomping on WMAR-DT 38 next year, they've now filed for displacement and instead want channel 34.


- Trip


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/14759354
> 
> 
> To that person in the Hagerstown area who was worried about that West Virginia PBS translator stomping on WMAR-DT 38 next year, they've now filed for displacement and instead want channel 34.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Thanks for the update, thats the same as WPXW-DT 34, which we get on WWPX-DT 12.

Also I ran TV Fool with my current analog and post digital (which I posted in another thread) there is a hugh difference in some dBm values, do you think I have much chance of these digitals?


----------



## haggisbingo

Cox Fairfax: Please add HDNET now!!!!! We're tired of the crap HD channels...


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/14759354
> 
> 
> To that person in the Hagerstown area who was worried about that West Virginia PBS translator stomping on WMAR-DT 38 next year, they've now filed for displacement and instead want channel 34.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Isn't WPXW going to 34?


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *haggisbingo* /forum/post/14760181
> 
> 
> Cox Fairfax: Please add HDNET now!!!!! We're tired of the crap HD channels...



It still will be crap if they are stingy with the bitrate.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/14760267
> 
> 
> Isn't WPXW going to 34?



In DC. Not in West Virginia.


- Trip


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *haggisbingo* /forum/post/14760181
> 
> 
> Cox Fairfax: Please add HDNET now!!!!! We're tired of the crap HD channels...



I can't recall ever watching a single thing on HDNET. I could think of 30 other HD channels I'd want instead of HDNET.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Count Blah* /forum/post/14761041
> 
> 
> I can't recall ever watching a single thing on HDNET. I could think of 30 other HD channels I'd want instead of HDNET.



Me too, but if you're in to MMA, it's apparently a cool channel. I'm not.


And HDNetMovies is pretty good, which I assume you'd get as well.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/14761131
> 
> 
> Me too, but if you're in to MMA, it's apparently a cool channel. I'm not.
> 
> 
> And HDNetMovies is pretty good, *which I assume you'd get as well.*



Until FiOS removes all their "X-*** has moved to channel ****" entries in the guide(supposed to be 2 weeks from lineup change, so one more to go), I have no idea what channels I have. It's a huge mess as the guide is near useless until this goes away.


----------



## haggisbingo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Count Blah* /forum/post/14761041
> 
> 
> I can't recall ever watching a single thing on HDNET. I could think of 30 other HD channels I'd want instead of HDNET.



Count,

Amadeus, 'the Color of Money', and similar in HD is really pretty impressive if free or even $4.95/mo compared to HBO. We also like to watch HD movie trailers which is a big feature of HDNet apparently. The movie trailers on Cox InDemand HD are a big joke..


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *haggisbingo* /forum/post/14763843
> 
> 
> Count,
> 
> Amadeus, 'the Color of Money', and similar in HD is really pretty impressive if free or even $4.95/mo compared to HBO. We also like to watch HD movie trailers which is a big feature of HDNet apparently. The movie trailers on Cox InDemand HD are a big joke..



My best friend (who does not have HD yet) was visiting this weekend. We watched the Ultimate Trailer Show and he said "What channel is this on? Is it HD only?" He wanted the show.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Count Blah* /forum/post/14761041
> 
> 
> I can't recall ever watching a single thing on HDNET. I could think of 30 other HD channels I'd want instead of HDNET.



For years a heallthy percentage of the HD I watched was on the HDnet channels.

I still watch a fair amount of content on HDNet and HDNet movies, but with many more HD channels available now I don't watch as much as I would like.


----------



## CycloneGT

I use HDNet for Arrested Development. That show was too damn funny. I had also gone through watching all of the Smallville, Star Trek Enterprise, and Andy Richter shows. Add to that HDNet movies which does show some really good movies. Sure its a not a 24/7 always a good film on, but hey, HBO wasn't that way either and I had about 7 of their channels to choose from when I paid them years ago (Sapranos, Band Of Brothers, and Sex & City ((wife))).


HDNet movies had some really good movies, but you really need a DVR to take advantage of them. Many of the good movies are on a 3am or 8am on a weekday when I wouldn't be abel to watch them. But with a DVR no problem.


Blues Brothers, The Man who would be king, Caddyshack, The Searchers. Not sure that I would ever see any of those films uncut, OAR, and un-interrupted on any other network. Universal HD used to compete with HDNet movies, but they went with commericals, MGM is close, but I don't see any good movies on there when I check. I have ended up not checking MGM anymore.


----------



## GMan4911

There seems to be an audio lag and frames dropping on OTA WRC-DT. Anyone else noticing this?


----------



## dneily




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14746904
> 
> 
> 20/20 and Fox News Sunday are network programs so it is up to the network to provide them in HD.



Both shows were still SD this last weekend.


----------



## markbulla

Hi all -


I've gotten three calls in the last week where viewers were complaining about the lip-sync being about a second off, and the video speeding up and slowing down on WNUV-DT, both OTA and, in one case, on cable. All of them only mentioned watching shows during prime-time. I've never been able to see any problem at home, and it isn't showing up in master control, so I'm having trouble finding the problem...


Two of the viewers have Sanyo TVs, and one had a Samsung.


Anyone else experiencing this problem?


Thanks -


----------



## cpldc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/14768318
> 
> 
> Hi all -
> 
> 
> I've gotten three calls in the last week where viewers were complaining about the lip-sync being about a second off, and the video speeding up and slowing down on WNUV-DT, both OTA and, in one case, on cable. All of them only mentioned watching shows during prime-time. I've never been able to see any problem at home, and it isn't showing up in master control, so I'm having trouble finding the problem...
> 
> 
> Two of the viewers have Sanyo TVs, and one had a Samsung.
> 
> 
> Anyone else experiencing this problem?
> 
> 
> Thanks -



I've seen this jerkiness on two tuners--both cheap, built-in tuners to no-name TV's. One is a "Polaroid" from Walmart, the other an Insignia from BB. Both have the same general look on the on-screen menus so I'm assuming they have some shared (low-quality) components.


At the exact same time, I plugged in my Samsung tuner and found it had no problem. Note, I saw this personally on WNUV, but my dad also noticed it on WBFF. Also note that this happened a few months ago; I haven't checked recently.


----------



## tonyd79

I see Good TV is going off for WBFF. Did I miss that notice? What is coming?


----------



## nottenst

Tonight on FOX 5 - both on Comcast in HD and on Dish Network in SD - the signal was quite choppy at times during the first half hour of House. It looked worse on Comcast so we switched which was how we noticed it on Dish. Every few seconds it was as if a few frames were missing. Anyone else notice this. We switched back after about that first half hour and everything was okay from then on.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/14773779
> 
> 
> Tonight on FOX 5 - both on Comcast in HD and on Dish Network in SD - the signal was quite choppy at times during the first half hour of House. It looked worse on Comcast so we switched which was how we noticed it on Dish. Every few seconds it was as if a few frames were missing. Anyone else notice this.



Yes. There were frequent dropouts and some sort of frame glitches for the early part of House for WTTG-DT 5 on Verizon. I switched to OTA and saw dropouts occurring on WTTG-DT 5 and then several on WBFF-DT 45 before the dropouts stopped. Probably from the network feed.


Also saw the static screen announcement on WBFF-DT 45.2 that Good TV has "retired". "Retired"? Did they give Good TV a gold watch or something? Or did it just go to bed for the night?







So will WBFF-DT drop the 45.2 sub-channel or put something else there? RTN maybe?


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/14773779
> 
> 
> Tonight on FOX 5 - both on Comcast in HD and on Dish Network in SD - the signal was quite choppy at times during the first half hour of House. It looked worse on Comcast so we switched which was how we noticed it on Dish. Every few seconds it was as if a few frames were missing. Anyone else notice this. We switched back after about that first half hour and everything was okay from then on.



Yup, I had it OTA as well. Annoying. Went away after about 20-30 minutes, and never came back. Probably network feed issues.


----------



## aaronwt

I'm glad they fixed it before Fringe.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/14771971
> 
> 
> I see Good TV is going off for WBFF. Did I miss that notice? What is coming?



Well, according to their website
http://goodtvbaltimore.com/sections/..._changes.shtml 


They will be off the air 3/18/08 from 12-4 for urgent maintenance. Talk about out of date.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Verizon is installing fiber in downtown Baltimore City. Since there is no video franchise agreement, at least FiOS internet may be on the way.


VERIZON CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULE SEPTEMBER 01- 30, 2008

*Baltimore City-

Baltimore - DTN*

Clement St EXT

E Fort Av

Harper St

Hull St

Pratt St E

Reynolds St

South St

Steuart St

http://www22.verizon.com/about/commu...FTTP_sep08.pdf


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/14771971
> 
> 
> I see Good TV is going off for WBFF. Did I miss that notice? What is coming?



According to dcrtv.com, it's being replaced with RTN.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/14776235
> 
> 
> According to dcrtv.com, it's being replaced with RTN.



If you read the mailbag post he bases it on, the poster only speculates that they may add RTN. There's absolutely nothing other than that one "I wish they'd add RTN!" that I've seen that suggests RTN on 45-2.


If I wasn't sitting in class, I'd e-mail DCRTV Dave myself and note this. Maybe someone else can do it?


- Trip


----------



## iontyre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/14721964
> 
> 
> Hello all -
> 
> 
> We've gotten a couple of calls from Comcast saying that their customers in southern Howard County get no audio during prime-time programming, when they record WBFF on their Comcast supplied DVRs. They will get audio during commercials, just not on the programs...
> 
> 
> They told the boss that that area is where they give out Scientific Atlanta boxes. Where they use the Motorola boxes, there is no issue...
> 
> 
> Anyone else having this problem?
> 
> 
> Thanks -



Mark,


Any progress on this issue? I recorded The Sarah Conner Chronicles this monday night and the audio dropouts are still there. If you watch the show all is fine, but if you record and watch it later, you get constant dropouts every few seconds. Doesn't matter whether you are using digital or analog output from the SA8300 either, both have the dropouts. I can no longer record anything from WBFF DT.


And I live in Harford County, so its not limited to Howard County either.


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/14773779
> 
> 
> Tonight on FOX 5 - both on Comcast in HD and on Dish Network in SD - the signal was quite choppy at times during the first half hour of House. It looked worse on Comcast so we switched which was how we noticed it on Dish. Every few seconds it was as if a few frames were missing. Anyone else notice this. We switched back after about that first half hour and everything was okay from then on.



I was watching NOVA on WETA at that time (via Comcast), and they, too, were experiencing signal disruptions on both the SD channel (26) and the analog feed (92). This happened as a thunderstorm was passing through the area, and cleared up afterward. Perhaps both problems were weather related, messing with the two networks' satellite downlinks.


----------



## machpost

I just noticed that Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic has upgraded their logo and graphics package today, to match the look they applied to CSN Bay Area some time ago. Looks nice.


----------



## vidioteic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Count Blah* /forum/post/14762739
> 
> 
> Until FiOS removes all their "X-*** has moved to channel ****" entries in the guide(supposed to be 2 weeks from lineup change, so one more to go), I have no idea what channels I have. It's a huge mess as the guide is near useless until this goes away.



You can avoid this. If you're like me, the other 2000 channels on FiOS mean nothing b/c they aren't HD.

Press the DOWN arrow to get the lower third program display.

Press the LEFT arrow to get the guide browse option

Select HD CHANNELS

Now all you see is HD channels.


I agree the X-*** is annoying, but this is an easy work around. I haven't found the DTV sub channels though; they aren't list in HD only (which makes sense.)


JS


----------



## afiggatt

According to their website, WMDT-DT ABC 47 in Salisbury, MD fired up their new digital signal at 250 kW on UHF 47 today. WMDT-DT will increase the power to 350 kW next February. Anyone on the eastern edge of the DC-Baltimore area now able to get WMDT-DT? Is WMDT-DT still broadcasting their digital lower power signal on UHF 53?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14781246
> 
> 
> According to their website, WMDT-DT ABC 47 in Salisbury, MD fired up their new digital signal at 250 kW on UHF 47 today. WMDT-DT will increase the power to 350 kW next February. Anyone on the eastern edge of the DC-Baltimore area now able to get WMDT-DT? Is WMDT-DT still broadcasting their digital lower power signal on UHF 53?



Arlington, VA


WBOC-DT16 -30%-40% reading

WMDT-DT47- 0%


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *iontyre* /forum/post/14777600
> 
> 
> Mark,
> 
> 
> Any progress on this issue? I recorded The Sarah Conner Chronicles this monday night and the audio dropouts are still there. If you watch the show all is fine, but if you record and watch it later, you get constant dropouts every few seconds. Doesn't matter whether you are using digital or analog output from the SA8300 either, both have the dropouts. I can no longer record anything from WBFF DT.
> 
> 
> And I live in Harford County, so its not limited to Howard County either.



Lots of phone calls... Everyone from Comcast to Scientific Atlanta to Fox looking at it, but it's going to end up being some sort of digital interaction between something that each of them is doing that's causing the problem. I'm sure it will be worked out, but it will probably take some time...


Sorry for the problem.


BTW, Fox reloaded some settings into their "Splicer" on Tuesday afternoon. Since I have no way to test the SA DDRs on Comcast, if anyone could tell me if that made a difference on Tuesday night or after, I'd appreciate it.


Thanks -


----------



## wmcbrine

New graphics on WUSA news tonight -- no more red sidebars.


The new logo is in almost constant motion. Very annoying.


----------



## Potatoehead




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14781246
> 
> 
> According to their website, WMDT-DT ABC 47 in Salisbury, MD fired up their new digital signal at 250 kW on UHF 47 today. WMDT-DT will increase the power to 350 kW next February. Anyone on the eastern edge of the DC-Baltimore area now able to get WMDT-DT? Is WMDT-DT still broadcasting their digital lower power signal on UHF 53?



I am in Northern Calvert County, almost straight east of DC, a few miles from the Bay. According to TVFOOL, I should be on the edge of the viewing range for WMDT. I am much closer to the transmitter than Digital Rules (but may not have as good of an antenna set up). Just like Digital Rules, I get no signal from WMDT even though I get a weak signal from WBOC. I used to be able to get a very snowy picture from the analog channel. Now I seem to get a very very snowy picture from a Telemundo channel. Perhaps this is part of the problem. I hope I can get WMDT when the go to 350 kW and the noise decreases in Feb.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Potatoehead* /forum/post/14788821
> 
> 
> I am in Northern Calvert County, almost straight east of DC, a few miles from the Bay. According to TVFOOL, I should be on the edge of the viewing range for WMDT. I am much closer to the transmitter than Digital Rules (but may not have as good of an antenna set up). Just like Digital Rules, I get no signal from WMDT even though I get a weak signal from WBOC. I used to be able to get a very snowy picture from the analog channel. Now I seem to get a very very snowy picture from a Telemundo channel. Perhaps this is part of the problem. I hope I can get WMDT when the go to 350 kW and the noise decreases in Feb.



WMDT and WBOC both have directional antenna patterns that cover the Delmarva area and limit the range east-west (WMDT-DT FCC nominal coverage map for 250 kW: http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...DT1257838.html ). I'm suprised that WBOC-DT 16 on UHF 21 can be received at all in Arlington. I was curious if those on the western shore like where you are or those on the other side of the bay who couldn't get the digital station before could now get WMDT-DT 47. If you are not getting anything for WMDT-DT 47 at 250 kW, an increase to 350 kW is not much from a dB power standpoint.


In Arlington and close to DC, the signal from the analog Class A WMDO-CA 47 is going to interfere with WMDT-DT 47. WMDO-CA now has a digital signal on VHF 8, but they are a low power station and are not required to shut off their analog signal on February 17. Unless there are some interference issues for WMDO-CA 47 with full power stations in their respective official coverage areas (say WBFF-DT on UHF 46), it is likely up to WMDO to decide when to shut off the analog signal until the FCC decides when the LP stations have to all convert.


----------



## Potatoehead




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14789185
> 
> 
> I was curious if those on the Eastern shore like where you are or those on the other side of the bay who couldn't get the digital station before could now get WMDT-DT 47. If you are not getting anything for WMDT-DT 47 at 250 kW, an increase to 350 kW is not much from a dB power standpoint.



Actually Calvert County is on the Western Shore of the Chesapeake Bay(just south of Anne Arundel county). Even though I am now just outside nominal region of coverage, it sounds like the increase to 305kW will not help enough to make it so I can receive WMDT. Thanks for the info.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Potatoehead* /forum/post/14789553
> 
> 
> Actually Calvert County is on the Western Shore of the Chesapeake Bay(just south of Anne Arundel county).



Oops, that was a typo for Calvert county.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14781246
> 
> 
> According to their website, WMDT-DT ABC 47 in Salisbury, MD fired up their new digital signal at 250 kW on UHF 47 today. WMDT-DT will increase the power to 350 kW next February. Anyone on the eastern edge of the DC-Baltimore area now able to get WMDT-DT? Is WMDT-DT still broadcasting their digital lower power signal on UHF 53?



I can receive a solid signal from WMDT-DT at my home in Shady Side, MD. I do have to point my antenna at a fairly precise Easterly direction to null out the LP DC analog. WBOC-DT is still much stronger.


I have a fringe Channel Master UHF/VHF yagi about 15 feet above my 2nd story roofline. I don't live on the bay side of the peninsula, so I was never able to receive the very weak WMDT-DT on channel 53 before Oct 1st. People that live a couple of miles East of me right on the bay were able to decode DT53 most of the time.


Steve


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/14791385
> 
> 
> I can receive a solid signal from WMDT-DT at my home in Shady Side, MD. I do have to point my antenna at a fairly precise Easterly direction to null out the LP DC analog. WBOC-DT is still much stronger.
> 
> 
> I have a fringe Channel Master UHF/VHF yagi about 15 feet above my 2nd story roofline. I don't live on the bay side of the peninsula, so I was never able to receive the very weak WMDT-DT on channel 53 before Oct 1st. People that live a couple of miles East of me right on the bay were able to decode DT53 most of the time.
> 
> 
> Steve



Are you sure you aren't receiving WMDT-DT on channel 53 now? I'm getting about a 30% reading on channel 53 this morning; but no activity on 47 from the east.(47 is strong from the south from WUPV Richmond though). The tropo is really strong this morning. WBOC is full strength here now.


----------



## nottenst

Last night all appeared to be working while watching HD (clear QAM) on Comcast from 8 to 9 PM. Then we started watching the VP candidate debates. There started to be some dropouts and pixelation at times. We switched between all the network channels and it was the same problem. Eventually we gave up on the HD signal and watched the rest of it on the analog SD signal. I then tried to see if it was just the debate feed and none of the HD channels were coming in at all. Still, the SD was coming in and the one TV with a box was not having any problem. Our internet power, though, wasn't very strong. Not all the lights on our modem were on and my son said that he was having problems when he came home from school. I unplugged the modem and decided to wait until morning to see if things improved.


This morning there was no Comcast TV signal at all on any TV - SD or HD. So, I called Comcast. They said that there were no reported outages and unless there is something more than just our house, the earliest they could get someone out is Saturday morning. I am guessing that there is a short in the line somewhere. Anyone like to guess how long it will take to fix?


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> New graphics on WUSA news tonight -- no more red sidebars.
> 
> 
> The new logo is in almost constant motion. Very annoying.



Send an e-mail here: [email protected] 


This seems to be the latest thing, animated logos like on NBC, ABC, and CBS during the debates last night. CNN-HD is even more annoying with the useless trivia banner on the bottom and a "logo" that has up to three different graphics on it in the lower right.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *iontyre* /forum/post/14777600
> 
> 
> Mark,
> 
> 
> Any progress on this issue? I recorded The Sarah Conner Chronicles this monday night and the audio dropouts are still there. If you watch the show all is fine, but if you record and watch it later, you get constant dropouts every few seconds. Doesn't matter whether you are using digital or analog output from the SA8300 either, both have the dropouts. I can no longer record anything from WBFF DT.
> 
> 
> And I live in Harford County, so its not limited to Howard County either.



The latest is that Scientific Atlanta is blaming the problem on the Fox audio bitrate being too high. I've looked at it, and although it is occasionally higher than it should be, it's not higher than other channels that I know about. In addition, the SA people told Comcast that the problem only occurs on this particular model, so apparently boxes can be made that work (including other SA boxes...).


Anyhow, Comcast and we are trying to get SA and Fox together, to work things out.


Progress, I guess.


BTW, this problem isn't confined to around here. Apparently it is going on in other areas using this box, that have Fox HD signals.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/14791562
> 
> 
> This morning there was no Comcast TV signal at all on any TV - SD or HD. So, I called Comcast. They said that there were no reported outages and unless there is something more than just our house, the earliest they could get someone out is Saturday morning. I am guessing that there is a short in the line somewhere. Anyone like to guess how long it will take to fix?



A miracle seems to have occurred. When I returned home from work, everything was working - internet, TV, clear QAM HD signal. When i called Comcast to cancel tomorrow morning's appointment, they had no idea whether there was any work done in the area. That gives me a bad feeling. Maybe it was something temperature related and when it gets cold tonight we'll have problems again. We'll have to wait and see.


----------



## mark_e

FYI-


Yesterday Comcast sent a flyer informing us of their latest rate increase due to their rising costs.


Buried in there is a statement about 18 new channels effective 11/1.


I called 1-800-COMCAST to ask what they were. The CSR had no idea what I was talking about.


I called their "executive care" number in Philadelphia and explained the situation.


About an hour later, someone from the local office called me. He said that one of the changes was that "Digital Classic" and "Digital Preferred" were being combined, and since I had the latter, no new channels for me.


I asked about why Howard County doesn't get the Travel Channel on realigned 48 (which is not used here), but adjacent systems (Baltimore /both Anne Arundel/DC) do. His first answer was because Howard and Harford County are Scientifc Atlanta systems, and the others are Motorola. When I pushed him by saying they could put anything they wanted on any brand of head end and that the realignment was just a way to ease their dealing with their "big head end in the sky", he admitted that some systems just carried different channels and he didn't know why. I also asked why FIOS carried the DC HD feeds and they don't. This will be a real issue on Sunday when the Redskins game will not be available in HD because of the blackout on WBFF due to the Ravens home game.


I suggest anyone who wants the Travel Channel, some sort of system equality, and carriage of the DC locals in HD call Comcast executive care (215-640-8960) and make their feelings known. I also plan to write Comcast and the Howard County Cable Administrator about the misleading language concerning the 18 new channels.


----------



## iontyre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/14795718
> 
> 
> The latest is that Scientific Atlanta is blaming the problem on the Fox audio bitrate being too high. I've looked at it, and although it is occasionally higher than it should be, it's not higher than other channels that I know about. In addition, the SA people told Comcast that the problem only occurs on this particular model, so apparently boxes can be made that work (including other SA boxes...).
> 
> 
> Anyhow, Comcast and we are trying to get SA and Fox together, to work things out.
> 
> 
> Progress, I guess.
> 
> 
> BTW, this problem isn't confined to around here. Apparently it is going on in other areas using this box, that have Fox HD signals.



Thanks for the update Mark!


For anyone affected, I have found the subtitles work if you want to watch the picture and still be able to follow what is happening. Annoying, but at least a temporary 'solution'.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/14791424
> 
> 
> Are you sure you aren't receiving WMDT-DT on channel 53 now? I'm getting about a 30% reading on channel 53 this morning; but no activity on 47 from the east.(47 is strong from the south from WUPV Richmond though). The tropo is really strong this morning. WBOC is full strength here now.



Nope, there's nothing on channel 53 around here anymore. I can pick up WRAL-DT Raleigh on 53 during tropo when the Richmond stations are coming in strong for me. When WMDT-DT was on channel 53, the signal was there (PSIP showed up once or twice), but was always too weak to decode. Previously, the analog WMDT 47 came in great here with no snow. On Oct 1st, just as promised, WMDT-DT showed up on physical channel 47 (671 MHz). They have ABC in HD (720P) on their main channel 47.1 and the CW in SD on 47.2. I'm watching the 10:00 news right now on their SD subchannel. I can post an image if you'd like.


----------



## Digital Rules

Thanks Steve,


Maybe I was getting some tropo from Raleigh. I was seeing about 30% on real channels 53 & 56 (Not enough to decode).


One question though; is Fox 21.2 in HD? The local news on 21.2 doesn't look near as good as it does on 16.1; but Fox network programming looks great. 16.1 looks incredibly good


Thanks, Glen


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/14797374
> 
> 
> Thanks Steve,
> 
> 
> Maybe I was getting some tropo from Raleigh. I was seeing about 30% on real channels 53 & 56 (Not enough to decode).
> 
> 
> One question though; is Fox 21.2 in HD? The local news on 21.2 doesn't look near as good as it does on 16.1; but Fox network programming looks great. 16.1 looks incredibly good
> 
> 
> Thanks, Glen



Glen,


Fox 21.2 is in 480i standard definition over the air. I seem to remember hearing on a WBOC ad that cable systems on Delmarva may have a direct HD feed from the station so people in that market with cable may actually have Fox in HD.


Steve


----------



## jgantert

Strange, no MD vs VA football game on FOX 5 today? I thought I had heard it was advertised earlier in the week to be on today. Looks like it has been moved to ESPNU at 7pm? Any local OTA channels going to be carrying it?


----------



## bmfc1

MD/VA is a huge deal in the DC area but our cable company won't show it because they refuse to add ESPN U. I'm _sure_ that this has nothing to do with the fact that Comcast is without an ownership interest in this channel. I'm amazed that Comcast has such an interest in U MD sports to the extent that it sponsors their basketball arena but yet, it won't show many of their games because they are on ESPN U.


----------



## PGHammer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/14788499
> 
> 
> New graphics on WUSA news tonight -- no more red sidebars.
> 
> 
> The new logo is in almost constant motion. Very annoying.



The old graphics were almost as busy; however, the new set are much sharper than the old (hence the increase in annoy factor). They made the change between the noon and 5 PM newscasts on Friday. WUSA still owns the local-news-in-HD category (all their newscasts are available in HD still); however, no thanks to the Eyeball (CBS) they trail in public-affairs-in-HD programming (no FTN in HD; however, none of the Sunday PA network talk shows are in HD). I would like to see some of the local stations (WUSA in particular) actually *produce* local public-affairs programs in HD (Inside Washington is carried by WJLA, but produced by Post-Newsweek TV in WUSA's studios; why isn'ty it in HD?).


Also, any news on TWC-HD availability locally (DC area)?


----------



## PGHammer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/14793258
> 
> 
> Send an e-mail here: [email protected]
> 
> 
> This seems to be the latest thing, animated logos like on NBC, ABC, and CBS during the debates last night. CNN-HD is even more annoying with the useless trivia banner on the bottom and a "logo" that has up to three different graphics on it in the lower right.



It is not limited to the HD channels. In fact, we don't get CNN-HD (Comcast of Prince George's County doesn't offer it), and the new graphics pack is over main CNN (29).


----------



## mapper




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PGHammer* /forum/post/14803981
> 
> 
> Also, any news on TWC-HD availability locally (DC area)?



If you are talking about the channel's availability, it is on Verizon FiOS now.


If you were talking about the local weather in HD, or known as the Local on the 8s(LOT8s), I believe there is no timeline for that until some provider announces it is installing new Intellistars(or unoffically WeatherSTAR HDs) at their headends to provide HD LOT8s.


Hope that answers your question.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/14807400
> 
> 
> If you are talking about the channel's availability, it is on Verizon FiOS now.
> 
> 
> If you were talking about the local weather in HD, or known as the Local on the 8s(LOT8s), I believe there is no timeline for that until some provider announces it is installing new Intellistars(or unoffically WeatherSTAR HDs) at their headends to provide HD LOT8s.
> 
> 
> Hope that answers your question.



Also, both Dish and DirecTV have the Weather Channel HD. DirecTV just added local on the 8s on their SD channel and plan to have it for the HD channel eventually.


----------



## bogdanmi




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mark_e* /forum/post/14796041
> 
> 
> FYI-
> 
> 
> Yesterday Comcast sent a flyer informing us of their latest rate increase due to their rising costs.
> 
> 
> [major snippage of mark_e's post]
> 
> 
> I suggest anyone who wants the Travel Channel, some sort of system equality, and carriage of the DC locals in HD call Comcast executive care (215-640-8960) and make their feelings known. I also plan to write Comcast and the Howard County Cable Administrator about the misleading language concerning the 18 new channels.



I made my feelings known - I switched to FIOS and I'm not looking back.


I laughed when I got that Comcast flyer in the mail - raising rates again!!!


SEE YA COMCRAP!


----------



## mark_e




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bogdanmi* /forum/post/14809970
> 
> 
> I made my feelings known - I switched to FIOS and I'm not looking back.
> 
> 
> I laughed when I got that Comcast flyer in the mail - raising rates again!!!
> 
> 
> SEE YA COMCRAP!



Comcast's continued provision of analog channels, and the need for some infrastructure changes to use the FIOS internet have the balance (and cost) currently tipped (just barely) on the Comcast side. Each irritation moves it a little closer to a switch. If they abandon the analog channels (as they started with the DC locals) it will happen sooner!


----------



## mjw703




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PGHammer* /forum/post/14803981
> 
> 
> (Inside Washington is carried by WJLA, but produced by Post-Newsweek TV in WUSA's studios; why isn'ty it in HD?).



Just wanted to add a correction here; I'm the editor for Inside Washington, and WJLA has been producing the show ever since Gordon Peterson joined us. As for when we will be in HD, well the station is installing an HD switcher and adding HD cameras to the studio this month. However, we won't be HD for quite some time. I think the last major hurdle before we go HD will be updating the editing equipment, which could take a while. Stay tuned.


----------



## tomrt

WRC has updated the music and graphics for their news... I wonder if that's in preparation for HD?


----------



## CycloneGT

Straight from the horses mouth.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> WRC has updated the music and graphics for their news... I wonder if that's in preparation for HD?



I'm not holding my breath with any of the remaining three going HD anytime soon. New music, new graphic, same ol' SD and Babbles Harrison.


----------



## aaronwt

WIth three subchannels it won't look very good.(I have no idea what 4-4 will eventually show but right now it is showing the same thing as 4-2) The picture quality has already suffered by having these subchannels with a main channel at 1080i.


----------



## machpost

So who will be the next station in D.C. with HD local news? Fox 5, maybe?


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/14816818
> 
> 
> So who will be the next station in D.C. with HD local news? Fox 5, maybe?



At this rate, no one.


----------



## URFloorMatt

Heh, at this rate: WJLA. That's egg in all our faces.


----------



## CycloneGT

Five an Seven are the ones always mentioned. We know that WJLA is making motions towards HD, but they don't seem to be in a hurry. Just getting pieces here and there as time and money warrant. Not sure where the weight behind WTTG's HD rumour comes from. It just gets mentioned from time to time. At least with WJLA we hear it from their own mouths that stuff is in the works.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/14815736
> 
> 
> WIth three subchannels it won't look very good.(I have no idea what 4-4 will eventually show but right now it is showing the same thing as 4-2) The picture quality has already suffered by having these subchannels with a main channel at 1080i.



Three things:


1. You can use PSIP to point two subchannels to a single encoded stream. That said, I checked my OTA tuner (which auto-updates subchannel info when needed; it did when 4-3 went online), and 4-4 doesn't exist.


2. 4-4, if it exists, will probably air NBC-initiated programming with a local bend, like WNBC-DT was doing before it went to Universal Sports, or what all ABC O&O stations currently do on one of their DT subchannels.


3. NBC WeatherPlus is shutting down this year . 4-2 is where WRC should place whatever local content it was going to place. (Of course, 4-2's bandwidth should be pumped into 4-1 video, but that's probably wishful thinking.)


By the way, I might as well add this while I'm talking about WRC-DT: I was watching Sunday Night Football on WRC-DT a couple of nights ago, and I noticed that there was no SAP (Spanish) audio like there should have been. Not that it matters to me, but some people moving over to coupon boxes won't like that oversight. It would be easy to place SAP audio online in terms of ATSC payload; just take 192 kbps from the null packets. In practice, it might take more equipment-wise.


Anybody from WRC, WBAL, WJLA, WJZ, WUSA, et al, have a timeline providing SAP audio OTA digitally?


[EDIT: Speaking of using PSIP creatively, I just remembered a neat trick that WCCB-DT in Charlotte does. They point 18-1 to the standard English audio track, and point 18-2 to the SAP audio stream. However, 18-1 and 18-2 point to the exact same encoded video stream. Here's a message from the WCCB-DT engineer , and here's a sample WCCB-DT TSReader grab .]

_________________________________________


My guess is that Fox 5 news goes HD next, but that's pretty low-confidence.


----------



## stuttsdc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *parkay57* /forum/post/14711826
> 
> 
> I don't have the Premiums listed right now, but at least here are all the "free" HD Channels for FiOs:
> 
> http://www22.verizon.com/NROneRetail...0/CCT_WASH.pdf
> 
> 
> 503 CW HD - WDCW (50)
> 
> 504 NBC HD - WRC (4)
> 
> 505 FOX HD - WTTG (5)
> 
> 506 My WDCA HD (20)
> 
> 507 ABC HD - WJLA (7)
> 
> 509 CBS HD - WUSA (9)
> 
> 522 PBS HD - WMPT(22)
> 
> 526 PBS HD - WETA (26)
> 
> 550 USA HD
> 
> 551 TNT HD
> 
> 552 TBS HD
> 
> 567 Universal HD
> 
> 569 HDNet
> 
> 570 ESPN HD
> 
> 573 ESPNU HD
> 
> 574 ESPN2 HD
> 
> 576 Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic HD
> 
> 585 Big Ten Network HD
> 
> 588 NFL Network HD
> 
> 590 Versus/Golf HD
> 
> 591 Outdoor Channel 2 HD
> 
> 600 CNN HD
> 
> 602 CNBC HD+
> 
> 619 The Weather Channel HD
> 
> 620 Discovery Channel HD
> 
> 621 National Geographic Channel HD
> 
> 622 Science Channel HD
> 
> 625 Smithsonian Channel HD
> 
> 628 History Channel HD
> 
> 630 Animal Planet HD
> 
> 631 HD Theater
> 
> 639 TLC HD
> 
> 640 Lifetime HD
> 
> 641 Lifetime Movie Network HD
> 
> 664 Food Network HD
> 
> 665 HGTV HD
> 
> 669 Wealth TV HD
> 
> 680 Sci-Fi Channel HD
> 
> 681 A&E HD
> 
> 685 Bravo HD
> 
> 711 Palladia HD
> 
> 746 HD Net Movies



Just got set up with FIOS yesterday but Versus HD (tied to Golf HD...for now) isn't free. It seems to be tied to the sports package (as long as the sd version of Golf is part of the sports package.) Wish I knew if they'd move Versus HD to the regular package later this year. Seems really stupid to have to pay extra to watch Versus HD when SD is included.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/14818926
> 
> 
> Three things:
> 
> 
> 1. You can use PSIP to point two subchannels to a single encoded stream. That said, I checked my OTA tuner (which auto-updates subchannel info when needed; it did when 4-3 went online), and 4-4 doesn't exist.
> 
> 
> 2. 4-4, if it exists, will probably air NBC-initiated programming with a local bend, like WNBC-DT was doing before it went to Universal Sports, or what all ABC O&O stations currently do on one of their DT subchannels.
> 
> 
> 3. NBC WeatherPlus is shutting down this year . 4-2 is where WRC should place whatever local content it was going to place. (Of course, 4-2's bandwidth should be pumped into 4-1 video, but that's probably wishful thinking.)
> 
> 
> By the way, I might as well add this while I'm talking about WRC-DT: I was watching Sunday Night Football on WRC-DT a couple of nights ago, and I noticed that there was no SAP (Spanish) audio like there should have been. Not that it matters to me, but some people moving over to coupon boxes won't like that oversight. It would be easy to place SAP audio online in terms of ATSC payload; just take 192 kbps from the null packets. In practice, it might take more equipment-wise.
> 
> 
> Anybody from WRC, WBAL, WJLA, WJZ, WUSA, et al, have a timeline providing SAP audio OTA digitally?
> 
> 
> [EDIT: Speaking of using PSIP creatively, I just remembered a neat trick that WCCB-DT in Charlotte does. They point 18-1 to the standard English audio track, and point 18-2 to the SAP audio stream. However, 18-1 and 18-2 point to the exact same encoded video stream. Here's a message from the WCCB-DT engineer , and here's a sample WCCB-DT TSReader grab .]
> 
> _________________________________________
> 
> 
> My guess is that Fox 5 news goes HD next, but that's pretty low-confidence.



Either way they have at least two subchannels that rob bandwidth from the main channel. If it was 720P on the main channel it would be fine, but with 1080i, the subchannels have more of a detrimental effect.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *stuttsdc* /forum/post/14819394
> 
> 
> Just got set up with FIOS yesterday but Versus HD (tied to Golf HD...for now) isn't free. It seems to be tied to the sports package (as long as the sd version of Golf is part of the sports package.) Wish I knew if they'd move Versus HD to the regular package later this year. Seems really stupid to have to pay extra to watch Versus HD when SD is included.



That the combined Versus/Golf HD currently requires the sport package subscription is a national issue with Verizon as it applies to all markets. Verizon has Versus SD in the basic "Premiere" package while Golf SD is in the extra Sports tier. This puts them in a bind as they can't show Golf programming on the combined HD channel w/o implementing special black out features. Since the HD channel will be splitting into 2 in December, the problem goes away then. But the issue may be moot when the new Essentials and HD Extreme price packages come to the Washington and Baltimore markets after we get the upgrade to 100+ HD channels. I'm still not clear whether the HD Extreme package includes the HD version of the current Sports package channels. But we have a Washington Verizon thread and a national Verizon HD thread which are the better places to discuss this.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Verizon Negotiates Tentative Franchise Agreement In Washington, D.C.*


Telco Agrees On Template For Portland, Ore. Suburbs


By Linda Haugsted -- Multichannel News, 10/7/2008 3:00:00 PM


Verizon Communications Inc. and the District of Columbia Office of Cable Television have negotiated a tentative franchise which is now headed to the District's Council.


Elsewhere, the telco has reached an agreement on a franchise template for the Portland, Ore. suburbs.


In both DC and the Portland areas, Verizon will compete with Comcast Corp.


The DC regulators and the company have been negotiating operating terms for 10 months. According to Verizon, the franchise commits to nine public, educational and government channels, with the possibility of adding five more; support for those channels in the form of a three percent fee on gross revenues, and an "extensive and appropriate set of customer service provisions."


The franchise still needs the approval of the council, a vote that should take place before the end of the year. If approved, Verizon anticipates launching FiOS video services within a year. Within three years, the company should offers service to all residences in the northwest and southeast quadrants of the District.


Across the country, the Mt. Hood Cable Regulatory Commission has adopted a recommended franchising agreement for its member cities, which include Gresham, Troutdale, Fairview and Wood Village, as well as unincorporated parts of east Multnomah County.


The template calls for a 10-year franchise. Verizon would be committed to building its service out to a "significant number" of dwelling units in the first year of operation and would build to all residences within three years. As long as there are 20 residences per mile, Verizon would have to build out to serve them, according to the document.


Verizon would activate eight PEG channels, plus one for the local municipality, and reserve capacity to offer seven more in the future. The company must also comply with local customer service standards.

This template must still be approved by the municipalities that participate in the MHCRC.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6602907.html


----------



## machpost

Can anyone tell me if Comcast in D.C. offers the channels for the alternate feeds of the Big Ten Network here?


----------



## markbulla

As of about 9:20 this morning, WBFF 45.2 is off the air.


I don't know what the plans are for this channel, although I know that there are some ideas kicking around.


----------



## Bluestraw

Hi Guys,


Bit of an unusual question, but I hope I came to the right place! Will be moving to the area and not sure whether I will be getting the Washington or Baltimore affils - I guess maybe I can set up an antenna for either, depending on where exactly I end up (long story, not sure where I'll be living yet).


Can someone please tell me how the affils in the 2 markets compare, e.g. which have the better quality equipment / reliable HD switching / higher bandwidth for main channel / less local overlays / less SD drops for local news crawls? I would really appreciate that info!


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *stuttsdc* /forum/post/14819394
> 
> 
> Just got set up with FIOS yesterday but Versus HD (tied to Golf HD...for now) isn't free. It seems to be tied to the sports package (as long as the sd version of Golf is part of the sports package.) Wish I knew if they'd move Versus HD to the regular package later this year. Seems really stupid to have to pay extra to watch Versus HD when SD is included.



Verizon is restructuring its tiers into Essentials and Extreme HD packages. Once that occurs, all HD will essentially rest in the Sports package (which will effectively become their HD tier). If Verizon keeps its promise, that will probably happen before Golf and Versus split on Dec. 8, so there are no savings to be made.


----------



## iontyre

WMAR DT refuses to switch into hi def here in Harford County this evening on Comcast (channel 210). All other hi def channels are fine, but when you change to 210 it switches to 480p! What is going on??? Pushing Daisies looks like crap in SD!!!


----------



## rustycruiser

WMAR is stretched SD on the HD channel. Both OTA and through Comcast. WJLA in DC is HD.


----------



## rustycruiser

Finally back to HD on WMAR 2.1


----------



## stuttsdc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/14826882
> 
> 
> Verizon is restructuring its tiers into Essentials and Extreme HD packages. Once that occurs, all HD will essentially rest in the Sports package (which will effectively become their HD tier). If Verizon keeps its promise, that will probably happen before Golf and Versus split on Dec. 8, so there are no savings to be made.



This would include ESPN HD and Comcast SportsNet HD? If so, wtf???


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/14824374
> 
> 
> Can anyone tell me if Comcast in D.C. offers the channels for the alternate feeds of the Big Ten Network here?



Since nobody from DC seems to have noticed your comment, I guess I'll reply. I'm in Anne Arundel County, so I can't speak for DC, but the overflow channels are like 800-803 I think -- at least in Annapolis.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bluestraw* /forum/post/14826638
> 
> 
> Hi Guys,
> 
> 
> Bit of an unusual question, but I hope I came to the right place! Will be moving to the area and not sure whether I will be getting the Washington or Baltimore affils - I guess maybe I can set up an antenna for either, depending on where exactly I end up (long story, not sure where I'll be living yet).
> 
> 
> Can someone please tell me how the affils in the 2 markets compare, e.g. which have the better quality equipment / reliable HD switching / higher bandwidth for main channel / less local overlays / less SD drops for local news crawls? I would really appreciate that info!



I live in Annapolis which is about 20mi from both DC and Baltimore. I use both sets of affiliates depending on the circumstances.


For NFL, I recommend being able to access both FOX and both CBS stations, because often they play different games.


For CBS, I think Baltimore's WJZ wins over WUSA for PQ, but WUSA has HD news and WJZ does not. WJZ also carries Raycom sports, which is cool if you like college football.


For FOX, I like Baltimore's WBFF over WTTG, but pretty much only because someone from WBFF hangs out here. (The channels are largely the same due to "The Splicer".) I'm pretty sure WBFF has HD news now.


For ABC, it's a toss up, but I guess I like Baltimore's WMAR over WJLA... mostly because of a temporary situation where WJLA isn't passing DD5.1. Both stations carry Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune in HD, and they carry the shows in opposite order. I think WMAR plays Wheel while WJLA plays Jeopardy and vice versa.


For NBC, it's a toss up, they're both really bad. DC's WRC passes DD5.1 and Baltimore's WBAL does not. For a while, WRC had terrible audio sync issues, but I *think* they're fixed now. WBAL stretches some local content (like commercial breaks) ... or at least they did the last time I checked. I'm hoping that things will improve after WeatherPlus goes down.


For PBS, CW, MyTV, or whatever else you want to watch, you're on your own... maybe someone else can pipe in.


If you're going the antenna route, some of these decisions might be swayed by which stations are easier to pick up at your location... so your answers may be location-dependent.


Sorry for the wordy answer, hopefully you and/or someone else finds it useful. And of course, these are just my own personal opinions. I'm not affiliated with any of them other than as a viewer.


----------



## afiggatt

*WHUT-DT PBS 32 Question*


Has anyone heard updates on when WHUT-DT 32 might go HD? Or add SD sub-channels? I did a QAM channel scan this morning on Verizon Fios to see if they had added any QAM channels for the "coming soon" promise of more HD channels. Verizon recently added 1 QAM channel in the digital broadcast locals block at QAM 78 which was WHUT-DT. The local stations they have in this block are the 8 digital locals (all in the clear) with HD & SD sub-channels (WJLA-DT, WRC-DT, MPT, etc) and WNVC-DT MHz 56 and WNVT-DT Mhz 30 at QAM 75 with the 8 MHz SD sub-channels. For example, Verizon does not provide WFDC-DT Univision 14 which has only 1 SD sub-channel in this block; WFDC is in the packed SD only block with the SD versions of the locals, LPs, and PEGs in the QAM 63-68 range. This makes me wonder if Verizon is preparing to add WHUT-DT as a HD local or whether WHUT-DT is planning to add sub-channels? (WHUT-DT was not mapped to the broadcast channel #, so Verizon is not yet passing the PSIP channel mapping data through as they do for the 8 HD locals.)


BTW, I don't recall if this was posted here, but the Ion Network head honcho announced last week that the Ion Network would be upgrading to HD in January. So this should mean that WPXW-DT Ion 66.1 will be HD when the station takes over WUSA-DT's UHF 34 transmitter on February 18 and significantly improves it's broadcast coverage. If Ion has not sold WWPX-DT 60 out in Martinsburg, I would figure that it will be going HD in January as well.


----------



## armand1

Any ANTENNA recommendations from OTA viewers in the DC/Baltimore metro area.


I live in NW DC and been using the Winegard HD4400 on the roof for the past 2 years with very good success, getting all the DC stations without any dropouts pointed to the east-NE. Occasionally, I would like to watch Baltimore and Annapolis programming since they seem to be more family and sports friendly. I missed Monday night football Ravens Vs. Steelers (bummer)and it would be nice to have kid friendly programming on Sunday mornings instead of McLochlin/political mumbo jumbo/news/etc. The Baltimore and Annapolis stations are just over 30 miles from my house and I only get them nightime and on cloudy days. Any recommendations on which antenna I should try, from people in the DC/Baltimore area who have experience with OTA antennas?


A quick search revealed the CM4228 is a safe bet, but I'm concerned that it would look so ugly on top of my house and the weight. I am also worried about loosing reception from my local channels 7 and 9 and possibly 13 after the transition when they revert to the VHF band with the CM4228 since its performance is low in the VHF band.


----------



## Bluestraw




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/14831050
> 
> 
> Sorry for the wordy answer, hopefully you and/or someone else finds it useful. And of course, these are just my own personal opinions. I'm not affiliated with any of them other than as a viewer.



That's great, really appreciate those details. If you don't mind, I'll ask for a few more of your 'personal opinions'!


- Do you know what is causing the temporary 5.1 issue with WJLA? Did they officially say they will 'fix' it soon?


- I assume the comment about the NBC stations is relating to a low bitrate to the main channel? I was hoping actually that WBAL would be decent, since it's owned by the same company as in my previous location and their local has some of the best HD quality around! I guess maybe once they renew the equipment here, it could leapfrog the others in quality terms.


----------



## tmeader

Didn't find out the info for my area unfortunately, but a chat with tech support did reveal the following schedule for Comcast Guide updates for several other DC Metro area systems:


Prince Georges County and DC: October 15-16

Montgomery County: October 22-23


Nothing listed yet for Anne Arundel. Ugh. Though, the fact that we're between PG and Montgomery gives me hope.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bluestraw* /forum/post/14831986
> 
> 
> - Do you know what is causing the temporary 5.1 issue with WJLA? Did they officially say they will 'fix' it soon?



I don't remember what's causing it off the top of my head... it's mentioned somewhere in this thread, probably some time in the last month or so? I think some piece of equipment blew up.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bluestraw* /forum/post/14831986
> 
> 
> - I assume the comment about the NBC stations is relating to a low bitrate to the main channel? I was hoping actually that WBAL would be decent, since it's owned by the same company as in my previous location and their local has some of the best HD quality around! I guess maybe once they renew the equipment here, it could leapfrog the others in quality terms.



Yeah, low bitrate on the main channel -- or at least that's what it looks like to me. I hope that you're right about leapfrogging the others. Sunday Night Football looks like crap except when nobody is moving. But the audio is great on WRC. Still sounds somewhat mediocre on WBAL because they don't pass DD5.1. I don't really watch much else other than sports on NBC, but I'd have to imagine that their scripted programming and late-night shows must look better (I hope...)!


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *armand1* /forum/post/14831856
> 
> 
> Any ANTENNA recommendations from OTA viewers in the DC/Baltimore metro area.
> 
> 
> I live in NW DC and been using the Winegard HD4400 on the roof for the past 2 years with very good success, getting all the DC stations without any dropouts pointed to the east-NE. Occasionally, I would like to watch Baltimore and Annapolis programming have experience with OTA antennas?



I would avoid the 4228 in your situation. You will be better off with one of the Winegard or Channel Master channel 7-52 antennas. Even the Winegard Ghost Killer would be a good choice if you can get a good deal on one.



Just point the antenna towards Baltimore, and you may get Annapolis without a rotor. You will have to experiment. If you get lucky, you may be able to pick up MPT out of Baltimore (channel 67), but it is very weak here in the DC area.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14831196
> 
> *WHUT-DT PBS 32 Question*
> 
> 
> Has anyone heard updates on when WHUT-DT 32 might go HD? Or add SD sub-channels?



I doubt that WHUT is going to make any HD efforts anytime soon. They just needed to get digital in time for the shutoff. They are just a college station, with a PBS affiliation to secure funding. It would be nice if they ran 1080i instead of 480i, even when just showing SD material, it usually looks much nicer.


----------



## armand1




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/14832362
> 
> 
> I would avoid the 4228 in your situation. You will be better off with one of the Winegard or Channel Master channel 7-52 antennas. Even the Winegard Ghost Killer would be a good choice if you can get a good deal on one.
> 
> 
> 
> Just point the antenna towards Baltimore, and you may get Annapolis without a rotor. You will have to experiment. If you get lucky, you may be able to pick up MPT out of Baltimore (channel 67), but it is very weak here in the DC area.



Thanks for the tip "Digital Rules"

What kind of antenna do you have and do you get Baltimore?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *armand1* /forum/post/14833336
> 
> 
> Thanks for the tip "Digital Rules"
> 
> What kind of antenna do you have and do you get Baltimore?



Baltimore shouldn't be a problem with any of the smaller Winegard HD series antennas (except for the HD-1080; _avoid this model_). I have a much better antenna system than Is really needed for Baltimore(91-XG UHF & YA-1713-VHF). I tried a Winegard HD7210P(Ghost Killer) first; and it worked fine for Baltimore; except for WUTB-DT24 & WMPB -DT67.


----------



## cpldc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *armand1* /forum/post/14831856
> 
> 
> Any ANTENNA recommendations from OTA viewers in the DC/Baltimore metro area.
> 
> 
> I live in NW DC and been using the Winegard HD4400 on the roof for the past 2 years with very good success, getting all the DC stations without any dropouts pointed to the east-NE.



What part of NW, if you don't mind me asking, and could you post your TVfool.com results?


I can get Baltimore and Annapolis with a CM4220, indoors and outdoors, but it needs to be pointed just right. My Annapolis signal is ghosty on analog but the digital receiver does OK. I'm currently using a CM-2001, which is not a particularly good antenna, with satisfactory results for WMPT as long as its pointed right.


You will of course need the upper VHF coverage for next year if you want to get Baltimore (but should be OK with DC; My roof-mounted CM4220 picked up low-power WMDO-LD 8 off-axis very well by virtue of proximity) but you probably will need a rotor. I have experimented with reception in various parts of the District and find that multipath is the biggest problem, not signal strength. The direct path is blocked in some neighborhoods by hills or buildings (as is my case) and I've found better reception by aiming at reflections. That's how I can get Baltimore indoors, and it works a good 95% of the time.


With current digital tuners I've found it that even very directional antennas pick up all the DC channels off-axis simply because it's close. That should help you if you need such an antenna (91XG, for example) to better reject reflections.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *armand1* /forum/post/14831856
> 
> 
> Any ANTENNA recommendations from OTA viewers in the DC/Baltimore metro area.
> 
> 
> I live in NW DC and been using the Winegard HD4400 on the roof for the past 2 years with very good success, getting all the DC stations without any dropouts pointed to the east-NE. ...
> 
> A quick search revealed the CM4228 is a safe bet, but I'm concerned that it would look so ugly on top of my house and the weight. I am also worried about loosing reception from my local channels 7 and 9 and possibly 13 after the transition when they revert to the VHF band with the CM4228 since its performance is low in the VHF band.



From NW DC, the CM 4228 should have no problems getting WJLA-DT 7 and WUSA-DT 9. I would expect a CM 4221 4 bay to work fine for upper VHF 7 & 9 at those ranges. The drawback to the CM 4228 is that is a directional antenna and you need a multi-directional antenna at that location (as do many of us around the DC-Baltimore area). You should be able to get the Baltimore stations reliably with a HD 4400 4 bay from NW DC. Have you experiment with the aim of the HD 4400? I would aim it towards Baltimore & Annapolis, figuring you should be able to get the DC stations in the sidelobe at such close ranges if you can find the right aim. Remember the bowties are on the front of the antenna, not the back (hope this is not insulting, but quite a few people aim the 4 bay bowties backwards). Also, what are you using for cabling: RG-59 or RG-6? I do agree that you should have a rotator regardless of what antenna you have so you can tweak the aim as the seasons change.


To prepare for next February, you could keep the HD 4400 and look into adding a upper VHF antenna - even a simple dipole antenna out on the roof (rabbit ears) might work. The question mark is WBAL-DT 11 in Baltimore as it will be operating at a rather modest power level compared to 7, 9, 13. Isn't Channel Master introducing a CM 4228 replacement optimized for VHF 7 to UHF 59?


----------



## tonyd79

Getting strumming sounds on WBFF for the NL playoffs tonight (Thursday, Dodgers at Phillies) on DirecTV. Not getting it OTA or on Comcast through my HD Tivo.


Sounds like a bad sound card on a robot.


----------



## Rfutscher




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/14832514
> 
> 
> I doubt that WHUT is going to make any HD efforts anytime soon. They just needed to get digital in time for the shutoff. They are just a college station, with a PBS affiliation to secure funding. It would be nice if they ran 1080i instead of 480i, even when just showing SD material, it usually looks much nicer.




There was a rumor that WETA would move some of their SD channels to the WHUT channel to free up some bandwidth for their HD channel.


----------



## paulthepwner

Looks like someone forgot to flip the switch on the series premier of Life on Mars on WMAR tonight. Looked like the same thing on Greys Anatomy, though I only caught the last 5 mins. The audio sync was off by about a second on GA, but it's on for Life on Mars.


I've been looking forward to watching this for weeks. Figures.


----------



## rustycruiser

Second night in a row WMAR in Baltimore has shown stretched SD on 2.1. Someone over there needs a kick in the pants.


----------



## paulthepwner




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rustycruiser* /forum/post/14836562
> 
> 
> Second night in a row WMAR in Baltimore has shown stretched SD on 2.1. Someone over there needs a kick in the pants.



I called their tip line and told them I had a great idea for an editorial.


How local tv stations are absolutely screwing the pooch on the digital switchover, and their viewer base in general.


The girl I talked too didn't seem to appreciate it, though she did say she'd pass it along to engineering. Apparently that didn't happen, because it was SD for the entirety of Life on Mars. Maybe I'll call today and try to get a warm body on the phone.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Last night WMAR was 480i in the HD channel location on Comcast.


----------



## rustycruiser

I emailed the Engineering Director, Paul Wilkinson, about the SD on WMAR and got the following response:



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *WMAR* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rustycruiser* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Second night in a row WMAR has shown stretched SD on the HD channel. Is there a problem, or is someone just forgetting to flip the switch? Thanks
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Equipment problem. We are working on the problem
Click to expand...


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/14835454
> 
> 
> Getting strumming sounds on WBFF for the NL playoffs tonight (Thursday, Dodgers at Phillies) on DirecTV. Not getting it OTA or on Comcast through my HD Tivo.
> 
> 
> Sounds like a bad sound card on a robot.



I've gotten two other compmlaints from DirecTV customers about audio problems, but none of the symptoms match...


I did call DirecTV, though, and the guy checked it there, and said that everything was fine... Then we got a phone call at the beginning of this afternoon's game and a DirecTV customer said that the audio was 3-4 seconds off of the video... We're back on the phone with them...


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *iontyre* /forum/post/14796537
> 
> 
> Thanks for the update Mark!
> 
> 
> For anyone affected, I have found the subtitles work if you want to watch the picture and still be able to follow what is happening. Annoying, but at least a temporary 'solution'.



According to Comcast, the audio problem went away - at least none of their testers have experienced the problem for the last couple of nights. Has anyone had any odd audio problems with WBFF on their Comcast DVRs in the last couple of nights?


Thanks -


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/14835454
> 
> 
> Getting strumming sounds on WBFF for the NL playoffs tonight (Thursday, Dodgers at Phillies) on DirecTV. Not getting it OTA or on Comcast through my HD Tivo.
> 
> 
> Sounds like a bad sound card on a robot.



After repeated phone calls (see, we have to do it, too...), DirecTV changed their local encoder, which apprently resolved the problem... As far as we've heard...


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/14841819
> 
> 
> After repeated phone calls (see, we have to do it, too...), DirecTV changed their local encoder, which apprently resolved the problem... As far as we've heard...



Thanks, I will let you know if I hear any other problems.


----------



## mikemikeb

Hi, Mark Bulla, how possible is it to place RTN over on WNUV 54-2?


Here's why: There's a draft standard called ATSC M/H that will allow easy mobile digital TV reception, even in moving cars (like when you did those mobile TV tests with WNUV a while back). The trouble is, this CBR stream will require the amount of room that a subchannel would take up, and so far as I know, the Fox splicer's configured to only handle one subchannel, especially during sporting events.


When M/H gets standardized soon, it'll be of a competitive disadvantage to not put an M/H stream on WBFF (and WNUV), as every other station's going to get it done on their end. Since WNUV's locally encoded, you could use top-end encoder and statmuxer equipment that could minimize null packets better than the Fox Splicer.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

Hello all. I am able to watch digital tv from Raleigh this morning here in Southern AA County. Watching WRAL-DT on channel 53. Also getting WNCN analog 17 (NBC) with a perfect picture.


If I point my antenna towards the Northeast, Philly is also coming in very strong.


Last night I was able to watch WAVY-DT (31) and WVBT-DT (29) from the Hampton Roads area. Many analogs from Norfolk/Portsmouth were also present (3, 27, 33, 43, & 49).


I'm looking forward to Feb 09 as a DXer since many channels now in use in the DC/Balto area will be vacated.


Steve


----------



## ktsmith

Did anyone try to watch WMAR HD last night? They still cant get it right. Lips and sound way out of sync. What happened? They used to have terrific quality in broadcasting, but its been all down hill recently. very disappointing to the viewer.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Town of Bel Air, Md., Awards Cable Franchise to Verizon*

http://newscenter.verizon.com/press-...md-awards.html


----------



## paulthepwner




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ktsmith* /forum/post/14844944
> 
> 
> Did anyone try to watch WMAR HD last night? They still cant get it right. Lips and sound way out of sync. What happened? They used to have terrific quality in broadcasting, but its been all down hill recently. very disappointing to the viewer.



It's impossible to watch the Oklahoma - Texas game today. The bottom 2/3rds of the picture are fine, but the top 1/3rd is about a second behind and all pixelated.


I wonder what's going on down there.


----------



## dg28

Anyone else notice the Caps game was 480i/p widescreen on CSNHD last night? First time I've seen them do this. This game was not advertised as HD, so I guess it's better than SD 4x3. I would expect tonight's home game to be in HD.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/14845624
> 
> 
> Anyone else notice the Caps game was 480i/p widescreen on CSNHD last night? First time I've seen them do this. This game was not advertised as HD, so I guess it's better than SD 4x3. I would expect tonight's home game to be in HD.



Dishnetwork did not cover the game at all on their CSNMA-HD channel. They carried only a 4:3 480i SD feed on a separate adjacent SD channel. Verizon FiOS carried a 16:9 feed on its CSNMA-HD channel. I did notice that the picture wasn't 1080i quality. Thanks for letting us know that it originated as 480i/p. I was ready to cast aspersions on FiOS's pristine quality HD last night!


----------



## Theauwolf




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paulthepwner* /forum/post/14845516
> 
> 
> It's impossible to watch the Oklahoma - Texas game today. The bottom 2/3rds of the picture are fine, but the top 1/3rd is about a second behind and all pixelated.
> 
> 
> I wonder what's going on down there.



Getting same here in Howard County with Direct TV. Had my buddy check FIOS and its the same with his service, but he said DC's ABC is crystal clear. Gotta love it. On with the bigger picture WBAL is still not 5.1! Has anyone heard when this will happen? Its ridiculous.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/14845624
> 
> 
> Anyone else notice the Caps game was 480i/p widescreen on CSNHD last night? First time I've seen them do this. This game was not advertised as HD, so I guess it's better than SD 4x3. I would expect tonight's home game to be in HD.



The [email protected] football game on CSNHD right now is widescreen SD, as well. That caught me by surprise.


Tonight's Caps game at the Phone Booth is supposed to be in real HD.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/14846108
> 
> 
> The [email protected] football game on CSNHD right now is widescreen SD, as well. That caught me by surprise.
> 
> 
> Tonight's Caps game at the Phone Booth is supposed to be in real HD.



PQ isn't bad for being widescreen SD. Still not HD though...


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *paulthepwner* /forum/post/14845516
> 
> 
> It's impossible to watch the Oklahoma - Texas game today. The bottom 2/3rds of the picture are fine, but the top 1/3rd is about a second behind and all pixelated.
> 
> 
> I wonder what's going on down there.



No problem with OTA.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/14846788
> 
> 
> No problem with OTA.



That must have been after they fixed it. I had plenty of problems OTA, Comcast and DirecTV.


WMAR is in a world of hurt this week.


----------



## DC_SnDvl

Why can't WJLA get a system to put their text crawls over an HD program?


They just switched the race to low def so they could run an ad for Browns of Chantily over the broadcast.


Don't think I will shop at any place that ruins my HD


----------



## sfm529

Was the Caps game actually in HD? Looked bad compared to some other NHL games in HD.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *sfm529* /forum/post/14849065
> 
> 
> Was the Caps game actually in HD? Looked bad compared to some other NHL games in HD.



When I first flipped it on near the end of the first period, it definitely looked like it was widescreen SD. When I came back to the game after the first intermission, it looked HD again to me. But in general, the HD picture quality on Comcast Sportsnet has always lagged behind other channels.


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/14841819
> 
> 
> After repeated phone calls (see, we have to do it, too...), DirecTV changed their local encoder, which apprently resolved the problem... As far as we've heard...



I found that Fox 45-1 had almost continuous clicking sounds for the Redskins game today. The video was fine. Fox 5-1 was fine for both video and audio.


----------



## aaronwt

Has WJLA been in stereo recently instead of 5.1? We watched a couple of shows from this past week on the TiVo and they were in DD2.0 instead of DD5.1 like they usually are.

The first thing I did was check other channels/recordings and they were fine.

I guess i should check DH right now and see what that audio is.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/14851773
> 
> 
> I found that Fox 45-1 had almost continuous clicking sounds for the Redskins game today. The video was fine. Fox 5-1 was fine for both video and audio.



45-1 was A-OK for me today OTA. I broke out the antenna to get 45-1 today so I could watch the Eagles/Niners game at 4:15


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/14852453
> 
> 
> Has WJLA been in stereo recently instead of 5.1? We watched a couple of shows from this past week on the TiVo and they were in DD2.0 instead of DD5.1 like they usually are.



Report in this forum was that the WJLA DD5.1 encoder went on the fritz. Nothing's wrong on your end.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/14851773
> 
> 
> I found that Fox 45-1 had almost continuous clicking sounds for the Redskins game today. The video was fine. Fox 5-1 was fine for both video and audio.



Should I assume that you're watching on DirecTV?


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/14854120
> 
> 
> Should I assume that you're watching on DirecTV?



I was using OTA, and I assume there was an interferring signal that affected the sound but not the video.


----------



## Marcus Carr

The 700 Club is in HD on WBFF.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14854673
> 
> 
> The 700 Club is in HD on WBFF.



It was on Friday, too.


Looks good, doesn't it?


The fun thing about 700 Club in HD is that they are sending it on the satellite in MPEG 4 - I only have two satellite receivers that do that. MPEG 4 allows them to send the HD with the same data and symbol rate as their SD programming (8.448 Mbps/6.1113 MSym/s), and it still looks nice. I'm sure it helps that there's not a lot of movement on the 700 Club.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Verizon Upgrades FiOS TV Guide in Maryland, Virginia*


New Interactive Features Include News Widgets, ESPN Fantasy Football, HD For Multiroom DVR


By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 10/13/2008 8:56:00 AM


Verizon rolled out a version of the FiOS TV Interactive Media Guide for customers in Maryland and Virginia with new features, including access to local and national news, an ESPN fantasy football application and the ability to access high-definition DVR recordings in multiple rooms.


The enhanced guide now allows subscribers with the Home Media DVR to stream recorded HD programs to as many as six other TV sets in the home equipped with HD set-top boxes. Customers can watch up to three separately recorded shows on three sets at the same time.


A "Wait for Me" feature lets customers pause live programming, change channels, and then return to the paused program and pick up where they left off.


Several new free widgets provide daily national news and sports headlines; community news, based on ZIP code; daily horoscopes; and a listing of the most popular linear and VOD programming. FiOS TV already provided widgets for local weather and traffic reports.


Other new IMG features: customers can create two separate lists of favorite channels for family members and filter channels in the guide by genre; instant subscription from the VOD menu to premium channels, including HBO and Cinemax; free casual games, including chess, solitaire, and Sudoku; and faster VOD menu response times.


Verizon debuted the ESPN fantasy football app in Portland, Ore., and other markets last month. That provides real-time on-screen access to NFL statistics, including rosters, box scores, scoring leaders and player information.


The telco said it will launch several other new IMG features before year-end including "My Videos," to let customers watch personal videos stored on their PCs on their TV sets, and DVR programming via the Web and using certain Verizon Wireless handsets.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6604791.html


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/14844102
> 
> 
> Hi, Mark Bulla, how possible is it to place RTN over on WNUV 54-2?
> 
> 
> Here's why: There's a draft standard called ATSC M/H that will allow easy mobile digital TV reception, even in moving cars (like when you did those mobile TV tests with WNUV a while back). The trouble is, this CBR stream will require the amount of room that a subchannel would take up, and so far as I know, the Fox splicer's configured to only handle one subchannel, especially during sporting events.
> 
> 
> When M/H gets standardized soon, it'll be of a competitive disadvantage to not put an M/H stream on WBFF (and WNUV), as every other station's going to get it done on their end. Since WNUV's locally encoded, you could use top-end encoder and statmuxer equipment that could minimize null packets better than the Fox Splicer.



It's technically feasible. As a matter of fact, we already have stat-muxing on WNUV - we used it when we were broadcasting "The Tube". I don't make any of the decisions on what is put on the channels, though. I just make sure that they work...


I have no idea what's being planned for sub-channels on WNUV or WBFF, if anything. I usually find out when there's just enough time to get it on the air.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> They just switched the race to low def so they could run an ad for Browns of Chantily over the broadcast



[rant]

Only on WJLA, any way to squeeze more ad dollars in, the amount of infomercials they run on the weekends these days is ridiculous, plus the ABC-7 pre-emptions, extra commercials on J!...

[/rant]


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14855345
> 
> 
> Other new IMG features: customers can create two separate lists of favorite channels for family members and filter channels in the guide by genre; instant subscription from the VOD menu to premium channels, including HBO and Cinemax; free casual games, including chess, solitaire, and Sudoku; and faster VOD menu response times.



So did they ever add back in the feature to remove channels from the guide that you don't subscribe to?


That was the best thing Verizon ever did. It pissed me off so much, I dropped them and went OTA only way back in Oct 2007, and haven't looked back! Nothing like saving $100 a month.







And now with new channels like RTN and US showing up, they fill some of the niche gaps that cable used to.


Anyways, glad to see they have finally implemented the HD MR-DVR. Finally, only took a year.










-John


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/14855427
> 
> 
> As a matter of fact, we already have stat-muxing on WNUV - we used it when we were broadcasting "The Tube". I don't make any of the decisions on what is put on the channels, though. I just make sure that they work...
> 
> 
> I have no idea what's being planned for sub-channels on WNUV or WBFF, if anything. I usually find out when there's just enough time to get it on the air.



I heard a rumor that management wants to put RTN on 45-2. If it goes on 54-2 from the start, it'll save OTA viewers and cable operators a lot of trouble when ATSC M/H gets finalized as a standard, and stations rush to get M/H on air (and in the process, 45-2 gets moved over to 54-2 to ensure continued high-quality Fox HD + good quality of RTN).


You should tell management about ATSC M/H, the kind of bandwidth demands it provides, and how the FOX splicer wouldn't handle a subchannel AND an M/H stream nicely. It'll save management a lot of trouble to let them know M/H is coming (and I can assure you it's coming). It may also give them an advantage in strategizing what additional subchannels, if any, get put onto WNUV.


I don't know what encoder brand you have over at WNUV, but I know that Harris, Harmonic and perhaps Tandberg (though I'm not quite as sure about that vs. Harris and especially Harmonic) all should be able to provide relatively nice 720p, even with one 480i subchannel and an ATSC M/H stream. Two subchannels and an M/H stream? Hope you have Harmonic; they're the only one with a shot...


----------



## rustycruiser

Anyone else been having issues with WMAR in the last few days? Specifically, I lost picture but had sound for a few minutes during Brothers & Sisters on Sunday night and Dancing with the Stars on Monday. It was almost for 10 min during DWTS. I fast forwarded throught the blank screen, and eventually the picture returned. This is viaComcast on a DVR recording. Anyone have these issues OTA, on sat, or live on Comcast? I am not sure if it is a WMAR problem, Comcast problem, or my DVR problem.


Thanks


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/14856177
> 
> 
> [rant]
> 
> Only on WJLA, any way to squeeze more ad dollars in, the amount of infomercials they run on the weekends these days is ridiculous, plus the ABC-7 pre-emptions, extra commercials on J!...
> 
> [/rant]



That's fine with me if it helps them get back to broadcasting in DD 5.1 quicker.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14854673
> 
> 
> The 700 Club is in HD on WBFF.



So that's two Baltimore stations with syndicated HD. Still waiting for the third.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14672965
> 
> 
> According to an email I got from WJZ, they will show Entertainment Tonight and Dr. Phil in HD "as soon as the instillation of all the equipment is completed."



I wonder how that "instillation" is coming along four weeks later.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rustycruiser* /forum/post/14859938
> 
> 
> Anyone else been having issues with WMAR in the last few days? Specifically, I lost picture but had sound for a few minutes during Brothers & Sisters on Sunday night and Dancing with the Stars on Monday. It was almost for 10 min during DWTS. I fast forwarded throught the blank screen, and eventually the picture returned. This is viaComcast on a DVR recording. Anyone have these issues OTA, on sat, or live on Comcast? I am not sure if it is a WMAR problem, Comcast problem, or my DVR problem.
> 
> 
> Thanks



I think that WMAR has been having hardware problems. Read back in the posts for the last week or two and I think there are some details there.


----------



## jgantert

Anyone notice no picture on Poker After Dark last night? First 30 minutes or so were audio only on 4-1. Was it the same on 11-1? I TiVO'd it, so no chance to switch over in real time. Oh well.


-John


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/14864924
> 
> 
> Anyone notice no picture on Poker After Dark last night? First 30 minutes or so were audio only on 4-1. Was it the same on 11-1?



Not that it necessarily matters, but I watched on analog channel 4 without issues. Actually, during the action, there was an odd local commercial insertment about 15 minutes (IIRC) in, followed by some strange flickering once the poker came back on.


----------



## Trip in VA

W08EE-D in Martinsburg filed a license application yesterday, which means it's on the air. Is anyone up that way seeing it? How's it mapping and IDing?


- Trip


----------



## Marcus Carr

Just received an IGuide software update (A25) on Comcast a few minutes ago. 5 minute skip using page up/down buttons, menus look a little different, title search using on-screen keypad (







). On Demand controls respond faster (but "One Moment Please" still takes a while).

www.comcast.com/newguide


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/14859613
> 
> 
> You should tell management about ATSC M/H, the kind of bandwidth demands it provides, and how the FOX splicer wouldn't handle a subchannel AND an M/H stream nicely. It'll save management a lot of trouble to let them know M/H is coming (and I can assure you it's coming). It may also give them an advantage in strategizing what additional subchannels, if any, get put onto WNUV.



OK, Mark, I found an excellent article on ATSC M/H that I suggest you show to management. I doubt they currently understand how you can't control HD bitrate on WBFF 24/7 because of the splicer, and with the bitrate that's sometimes delivered from FOX (~16 Mbps audio and video), you will need all of the leftover WBFF-DT bandwidth to put on a proper WBFF M/H stream.


To further clarify to management: You'll need one M/H stream on RF 46 to properly replicate WBFF programming, and one on RF 40 to properly replicate WNUV programming. EACH M/H stream will use 3-4.5 Mbps of bandwidth.

http://www.current.org/tech/tech0809mobile.shtml


----------



## beejpowers

Anyone have an ETA on WJLA getting 5.1 back?

I assume their encoder is broken since it's been 2 weeks of 2.0 sound. Someone surely would have tried a reboot by now, right?

So how long does it really take to drop ship a replacement and patch the wires?


BTW, I have worked in broadcast before and though units change and things need to be configured, that's why they have 3rd shift. In the same breath, I am not busting any ones [email protected] at WJLA, mostly just wondering why they haven't gotten it straight yet. I can't imagine there has been a rush of encoder purchases that have made them hard to obtain.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Anyone have an ETA on WJLA getting 5.1 back?
> 
> I assume their encoder is broken since it's been 2 weeks of 2.0 sound. Someone surely would have tried a reboot by now, right?
> 
> So how long does it really take to drop ship a replacement and patch the wires?



A few more pre-emptions (like last night's Wheel - where someone won the million) and infomercial overload on the weekend and they'll have the money for the repair.









*Bust their [email protected], Beej.* - did we really need another local news special about the election (20 days and counting - save us) and the BATTLEGROUND state of VA?


----------



## Scott R. Scherr

mark, channel 45 on Directv had major problems during House last night. It began half way through. The audio was out of synch, lots of dropouts and "bird chirping".


It was fine during the first half of the episode.


Thanks,


Scott


----------



## albertso

Marcus, Any hope that the new software IGuide will assist in the box command delay problem? Earlier in this thread someone had stated that the guide presentation was part of the cause of the command response issue. Thanks.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *albertso* /forum/post/14873601
> 
> 
> Marcus, Any hope that the new software IGuide will assist in the box command delay problem? Earlier in this thread someone had stated that the guide presentation was part of the cause of the command response issue. Thanks.



Delays seem to be gone so far.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Scott R. Scherr* /forum/post/14870784
> 
> 
> mark, channel 45 on Directv had major problems during House last night. It began half way through. The audio was out of synch, lots of dropouts and "bird chirping".
> 
> 
> It was fine during the first half of the episode.
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> 
> Scott



I need to know if it's OTS, DirecTV, Dish, Comcast, FIOS, HD or SD, etc... (the type of box, and the software version would be handy).


Thanks for the info, though. Anyone else have a problem?


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/14868654
> 
> 
> OK, Mark, I found an excellent article on ATSC M/H that I suggest you show to management. I doubt they currently understand how you can't control HD bitrate on WBFF 24/7 because of the splicer, and with the bitrate that's sometimes delivered from FOX (~16 Mbps audio and video), you will need all of the leftover WBFF-DT bandwidth to put on a proper WBFF M/H stream.
> 
> 
> To further clarify to management: You'll need one M/H stream on RF 46 to properly replicate WBFF programming, and one on RF 40 to properly replicate WNUV programming. EACH M/H stream will use 3-4.5 Mbps of bandwidth.
> 
> http://www.current.org/tech/tech0809mobile.shtml



Cool - Thanks


----------



## idreos

Its been six weeks since Entertainment Tonight and the CBS Evening News went high def on their Baltimore affiliates.


Why aren't comcast subscribers getting these broadcasts in high definition. I called comcast's "customer service" ( I could only imagine where they are located) and after trying to explain the situation was told that the problem lies with CBS in New York. After checking with her supervisor I was give the NYC number of CBS television, and told to complain to them! Customer service questioned whether I had a high definition TV/and an HD box!

Has anyone gotten the scoop on this????

Thanks for your help!


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *idreos* /forum/post/14878683
> 
> 
> Its been six weeks since Entertainment Tonight and the CBS Evening News went high def on their Baltimore affiliates.
> 
> 
> Why aren't comcast subscribers getting these broadcasts in high definition. I called comcast's "customer service" ( I could only imagine where they are located) and after trying to explain the situation was told that the problem lies with CBS in New York. After checking with her supervisor I was give the NYC number of CBS television, and told to complain to them! Customer service questioned whether I had a high definition TV/and an HD box!
> 
> Has anyone gotten the scoop on this????
> 
> Thanks for your help!



Your issue lies with WJZ 13 (CBS Baltimore), not CBS New York or Comcast. Not sure if WUSA 9 (CBS Washington DC) has it in HD. You could either check with WJZ or give up on them and try WUSA.


To get WUSA 9, you will need either an antenna (and digital tuner) or FiOS -- Comcast has elected not to carry both sets of affiliates in our area. (I, for one, am having my FiOS installed tomorrow. Woohoo.)


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *idreos* /forum/post/14878683
> 
> 
> Its been six weeks since Entertainment Tonight and the CBS Evening News went high def on their Baltimore affiliates.



Comcast has nothing to do with this. If you are watching the HD channel for WJZ-DT 13 in Baltimore, all Comcast is doing is passing the HD signal along for the station. They may be rate shaping or recompressing the signal more, but Comcast is not inserting a SD picture for the CBS Evening News into the WJZ-DT HD signal.


If you have complaints, take them to WJZ CBS 13. The last I looked, WJZ-DT was not showing ET in HD. There are recent posts here that WJZ said they are acquiring equipment to be able to show syndicated shows in HD and they will be showing ET in HD sometime in the future. I don't recall the status of the CBS Evening News in HD on WJZ-DT 13, but the Evening News was in SD on WJZ when CBS upgraded the program to HD. Somewhat odd, given that WJZ is a CBS O&O station, but there is likely more paperwork & budgetary procedures to go through to buy new equipment for the big network owned stations.


WUSA-DT CBS 9 in DC has been showing ET in SD as well. We are still very spotty with getting syndicated program shown in HD in the DC and Baltimore markets.


----------



## Scott R. Scherr

Mark, it was Directv, HR20-700, HD through D*, not sure about software version.


Scott




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Scott R. Scherr* /forum/post/14870784
> 
> 
> mark, channel 45 on Directv had major problems during House last night. It began half way through. The audio was out of synch, lots of dropouts and "bird chirping".
> 
> 
> It was fine during the first half of the episode.
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> 
> Scott


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Scott R. Scherr* /forum/post/14878994
> 
> 
> Mark, it was Directv, HR20-700, HD through D*, not sure about software version.
> 
> 
> Scott



Thanks. DirecTV has been having problems with our audio recently (again...). It's interesting that it occurred in the middle of the show... I recognize that it's really annoying to you, and I'm sorry for that, but I've gone through everything here (again), and can't find a problem (this time, either).


It's annoying to me, too. DirecTV has had problems with FOX audio several times in the past few years, and each time I have to prove to them that it's not something that we're doing before they check into their stuff, find a problem and fix it. They don't tell me what they do to fix the problem, it just goes away, then comes back 6 months later....


It also doesn't help that when you call DirecTV, they tell you that they aren't doing anything, and you should call the station (me). When I call DirecTV, they check the incoming signal, and everything looks and sounds great. But then I still gets calls.


I can't tell you what to do, but I can tell you that Dish isn't having a problem, Comcast isn't having a problem, Fios isn't having a problem, and OTA isn't having a problem. I can also say that if I were paying for a local channel that my multi-channel service provider couldn't deliver to me without a problem, I would be annoyed at the person who was charging me, but not delivering.


I'm still working the problem from my end. I won't let it drop until it gets resolved. I'm sorry that it's taking so long - I'm sorry that it takes so long each time there's a problem with DirecTV. I wish there was a way to stream-line the process, but I haven't found it yet...


Thanks again for the info -


----------



## Marcus Carr

D* has added Fox News HD.


----------



## vidioteic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/14880536
> 
> 
> Thanks. DirecTV has been having problems with our audio recently (again...). It's interesting that it occurred in the middle of the show... I recognize that it's really annoying to you, and I'm sorry for that, but I've gone through everything here (again), and can't find a problem (this time, either).
> 
> 
> --snip--
> 
> 
> I'm still working the problem from my end. I won't let it drop until it gets resolved. I'm sorry that it's taking so long - I'm sorry that it takes so long each time there's a problem with DirecTV. I wish there was a way to stream-line the process, but I haven't found it yet...
> 
> 
> Thanks again for the info -



Mark: I had this problem with ESPN once when i was contributing. They kept swearing it was the truck and we knew it wasn't. I made a qaud of our Program feed, our TX feed, Our Sat confidence and our net return. Sent it via FedEx with a nasty-gram and "magically" the next week it went away.


I would suggest the same; find a quad generator, and put OTA, Comcast, DirecTV (you have those receivers in your plant, right?) and, if possible, FOX inbound in it. Feed that to any tape machine that will record 4 (or 8!) audio tracks, and put one audio from each receiver on to tape. (Of course, make sure the problem is occurring!) You can do it with a downconverter as video isn't the problem....


Send it to someone higher up at DirecTV. That should help prove your point.


Good Luck, and remember...


"The trouble is good leaving here!"


----------



## Scott R. Scherr

Mark,


Thanks for your persistence. I place the blame on Directv. I am going to call them.


Thanks!


Scott



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/14880536
> 
> 
> Thanks. DirecTV has been having problems with our audio recently (again...). It's interesting that it occurred in the middle of the show... I recognize that it's really annoying to you, and I'm sorry for that, but I've gone through everything here (again), and can't find a problem (this time, either).


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14883349
> 
> 
> D* has added Fox News HD.



Just in time for the election. Now we can see the veins bulge when O'Reilly rants.


----------



## Ladd

So I go to the HD DVR about 9:30 PM last night to watch CSI and was surprised it wasn't being recorded; tuning to CBS shows that CSI *IS* being broadcast, so why wasn't it being recorded?


Investigation shows that the Comcast DVR thinks the presidential debates were on tonight, so there would be no CSI to record.


What mutton-head screwed that up?


My SD TiVo had the correct program information so it correctly recorded CSI, which is better than nothing, but who wants to watch SD TV?


Yet another reason added to the list that will someday allow me to justify the expense of a TiVo HD ...


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ladd* /forum/post/14884383
> 
> 
> So I go to the HD DVR about 9:30 PM last night to watch CSI and was surprised it wasn't being recorded; tuning to CBS shows that CSI *IS* being broadcast, so why wasn't it being recorded?
> 
> 
> Investigation shows that the Comcast DVR thinks the presidential debates were on tonight, so there would be no CSI to record.
> 
> 
> What mutton-head screwed that up?
> 
> 
> My SD TiVo had the correct program information so it correctly recorded CSI, which is better than nothing, but who wants to watch SD TV?
> 
> 
> Yet another reason added to the list that will someday allow me to justify the expense of a TiVo HD ...



Same incorrect program listing showed up in the TV Guide On-Screen EPG on both my Panasonic HDTV and Sony HD DVR, indicating to me that Gemstar (who provides the TVGOS data) had it wrong. Don't know how this could translate to wrong data on your Comcast DVR unless Comcast gets its EPG data from Gemstar, too. I knew it had to wrong, so I set my DVR to do a manual recording of the first hour; lo and behold, it recorded CSI.


----------



## Gr8mike01

Hi all! Gr8 here just recently joined so i,m kinda new here but I was wondering why I am always able to receive Baltimore area stations 2,11,13,22,24,45,54,67 including my "local" channels 16,21,28,47,64 along with many Philadelphia based stations both analog and digitally depending on which way my antenna is facing all the time but I cant seem to really get any Washington stations at all except on rare nights and I was wondering if anybody could help me figure out why that is the case given its close proximity to Baltimore I have tried NW W SW even as far as S with no luck.



my setup Radio Shack VU-190 antenna with Radio Shack 15-2507 amplifier set set at max gain mounted on mast 25 feet from the ground up on the northern side of my house which is about 21 feet high also i have the Radio Shack Rotator 15-1245 for a complete Radio Shack setup that works well except the problem I have noted above any help would be appreciated!


Thanks

Gr8


----------



## Digital Rules

Gr8,


According to TV FOOL, you are right on the edge of where the DC stations are receivable.(The Balt/Phil stations show up as much stronger) If you are truly interested in the DC stations; you would need a separate _UHF only_ antenna to augment your VU-190. The VU-190 is a great performer; but you'll need the best out there to get DC.


If that doesn't do the trick; you may need a lower noise pre-amp(Winegard or Channel Master). I just swapped out a RS amp at a friends house in Madison, Va with the CM 7777. It made a huge difference.


----------



## aaronwt

UHF only would only work until February since a couple of DC stations will move to VHF when the analog signal is turned off.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/14891203
> 
> 
> UHF only would only work until February since a couple of DC stations will move to VHF when the analog signal is turned off.



That's why I said to _"augment_" the antenna; not replace it. The VU-190 is a great _VHF_ antenna. He'll get the best of both worlds.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Gr8mike01* /forum/post/14890126
> 
> 
> many Philadelphia based stations both analog and digitally depending on which way my antenna is facing all the time



There's part of your problem. Several of the stations share channels between Philadelphia and DC. For example:


26 - KYW-DT / WETA

27 - WGTW-DT / WETA-DT

32 - WPSG-DT / WHUT

34 - WYBE-DT / WUSA-DT

35 - WYBE / WDCA-DT

48 - WGTW / WRC-DT

50 - WHYY-DT / WDCW


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules

Good catch Trip,


An extremely directional antenna like the 91-XG would easily solve that issue.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/14891203
> 
> 
> UHF only would only work until February since a couple of DC stations will move to VHF when the analog signal is turned off.



Not only DC, but Baltimore and Philadelphia will have digital VHF stations. He should keep the VU-190 for low VHF as WPVI-DT ABC 6 in Philadelphia will move from UHF 64 to VHF 6 low.


Gr8mike01, Felton DE places you around 79 miles from the DC broadcast towers in NW DC. Deep fringe range for UHF reception. The VU-190 is not going to perform as well for UHF as a dedicated UHF antenna. You are also using a Radio Shack amp. The Channel Master and Winegard pre-amps are generally considered to be superior in performance. According to TVfool.com, the closest full power station is 25 miles and the closest LP station is 13 miles, so overload on a pre-amp should not be a issue. Are you using good quality RG-6 co-axial cable for the cable run? If you are using RG-59, that would be a problem with the likely length of your cable run.


My recommendation has two stages, assuming you are using RG-6 cable. First, replace the Radio Shack amp with a Channel Master 7777 pre-amp. The CM 7777 has 2 co-axial inputs: a switchable one for combined UHF/VHF or UHF only with the other input for VHF only. You can use the CM 7777 with a single VHF/UHF antenna or to combine signals from separate VHF and UHF antennas. Get the CM 7777 pre-amp and see if you pick up more stations with it. Then if you want to try and the antenna mast has room & is sturdy enough for another antenna, get a Antennas Direct 91-XG UHF antenna ( http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/XG91.html ) and place that above the VU-190 on the mast. Use the VU-190 for VHF, the 91-XG for UHF, and the CM 7777 to combine the two.


As Trip points out, there are co-channel interference issues between some of the Philly and DC stations. Two of these will go away when the stations shut down their analog signals: 26 - KYW-DT / WETA, 32 - WPSG-DT / WHUT. But at your deep fringe range to both cities, a directional antenna with a rotator and a 6th gen ATSC tuner may get around those interference conflicts.


----------



## Digital Rules

I'd personally recommend the antenna augmentation first for 2 reasons


1-The VU-190 is not selective enough on UHF to get DC with co-channel issues present.

2-WBOC is strong enough to possibly cause issues. A more selective antenna will help this also.(WBOC-DT is strong enough that it comes in much of the time here in Arlington with _no amplification_.


Combine the 2 antennas with a UVSJ(3.00 plus shipping) and an FM trap(about the same price) if the RS amp does not have one already.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Gr8mike01* /forum/post/14890126
> 
> 
> I was wondering why I am always able to receive Baltimore area stations 2,11,13,22,24,45,54,67 including my "local" channels 16,21,28,47,64 along with many Philadelphia based stations both analog and digitally depending on which way my antenna is facing all the time but I cant seem to really get any Washington stations at all except on rare nights



Baltimore transmitters have significantly more height than their DC counterparts, both w/r/t average terrain and sea level.


Changing your antenna and/or amp might help a little, but unless you raise your antenna a couple hundred feet or so, you'll always need tropo to get DC.


----------



## mdviewer25

Why is it that every Saturday College Football Countdown is in SD on WJLA but in HD on WMAR?


----------



## mdviewer25

Now:

WJLA = Michigan State vs. Ohio State in HD

WMAR = North Carolina at Virginia in SD


----------



## mdviewer25

WJLA has switched to UNC at Virginia. Their SD actually looks worse than WMAR


----------



## maestro73

I also noticed I'm getting DD 5.1 on my receiver for WJLA. I guess they fixed their sound issue?


----------



## Marcus Carr

In Baltimore a football game on CBS College Sports is being simulcast in HD on MOJO.


----------



## Marcus Carr

The Caps game on CSN seems to be blacked out on the HD channel but not the SD channel. And the guide has the game also listed as being on MOJO but it's not being shown there.


----------



## sfm529

The Caps game is on the CSN HD channel on Directv (642) but it's not in HD. I don't think CSN has shown a home game in HD yet this season.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *sfm529* /forum/post/14893816
> 
> 
> The Caps game is on the CSN HD channel on Directv (642) but it's not in HD. I don't think CSN has shown a home game in HD yet this season.



No, I've noticed several Caps games on CSNMA HD, including a home game in HD this season. From posts elsewhere, CSNMA appears to be having technical difficulties with the HD production, so they switched to SD.


----------



## pmturcotte

Anyone else in the DC area getting some horrible sitcom on Direct 247 (TBSHD) instead of the Red Sox playoff game? Supposed to start at 8.


----------



## sfm529

TBSHD was having a technical issue earlier, the game is on now...


----------



## jgantert

Anyone getting 50-1 (or even analog 50)? Both showing blank screen for me right now during Lost.


Strange, as soon as I type this, it comes back on. In SD, tho. Isn't the Lost re-runs usually shown in HD on 50?


----------



## E55 KEV

I have no sound on CBS 9.1 DC or 13.1 Baltimore on my Toshiba set for the ******* game. I do get sound on those same channels from Sony DVR connected to same antenna. This happened with CBS during March Madness. I emailed CBS local back in March and the technical director said they were using a loaned ATSC encoder for the multicast.


----------



## terp97

Anybody having problems with 4-1. All day today have been getting in and out signal.


All other OTA CBS,ABC, Fox and others no problem...


Suggestions?


Thanks,


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/14880536
> 
> 
> Thanks. DirecTV has been having problems with our audio recently (again...). It's interesting that it occurred in the middle of the show... I recognize that it's really annoying to you, and I'm sorry for that, but I've gone through everything here (again), and can't find a problem (this time, either).



Sorry, Mark, but WBFF is motorboating again on DirecTV. It has been at least since the Simpsons last night (I recorded it). Still doing it this morning during the Liberty Ford informercial. Almost constant small motorboating and what can be heard of the audio is out of synch by quite a bit.


----------



## alexandriahokie

I noticed on Comcast's cable listing on their website for Alexandria that they have listed FX-HD (221), Fox News HD (222) and Speed HD (242). I'm guessing those are our next stations? They listed the last batch of additions on the website a few weeks before they actually started carrying the stations.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *E55 KEV* /forum/post/14898555
> 
> 
> I have no sound on CBS 9.1 DC or 13.1 Baltimore on my Toshiba set for the ******* game. I do get sound on those same channels from Sony DVR connected to same antenna. This happened with CBS during March Madness. I emailed CBS local back in March and the technical director said they were using a loaned ATSC encoder for the multicast.



Looks like the new WUSA HD encoder is now installed. Harris NetVX, I assume? (Should have gone Harmonic...)


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/14901247
> 
> 
> Sorry, Mark, but WBFF is motorboating again on DirecTV. It has been at least since the Simpsons last night (I recorded it). Still doing it this morning during the Liberty Ford informercial. Almost constant small motorboating and what can be heard of the audio is out of synch by quite a bit.



Good news, actually - DirecTV called the station last night to ask about the problem. I have a phone number and ticket number, so maybe something will get done... Of course, when they called, they were blaming us, but it's a start.


Oh, they told the nighttime engineer that they started getting complaints 3 days ago... Thanks for complaining!


----------



## tonyd79

Well, based on a 5 minute sample during the morning news, the problem seems to be gone. For now. We have had periods of no problems before.


----------



## Scott R. Scherr

Thanks, Mark! I know I complained, told them the problem was theirs, and gave them your phone number.


Scott




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/14908118
> 
> 
> Good news, actually - DirecTV called the station last night to ask about the problem. I have a phone number and ticket number, so maybe something will get done... Of course, when they called, they were blaming us, but it's a start.
> 
> 
> Oh, they told the nighttime engineer that they started getting complaints 3 days ago... Thanks for complaining!


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/14906998
> 
> 
> Looks like the new WUSA HD encoder is now installed. Harris NetVX, I assume? (Should have gone Harmonic...)



what does this mean for the TV watcher? Will the picture be improved from what they are currently broadcasting. I know recently the picture hasn't been as good as it was 6 or 7 years ago.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/14908643
> 
> 
> what does this mean for the TV watcher? Will the picture be improved from what they are currently broadcasting. I know recently the picture hasn't been as good as it was 6 or 7 years ago.



6 or 7 years? That could just be your new TV, if it's larger than the old one, and/or the internal processing engine is better and therefore more capable at showing picture flaws. If you use cable or satellite, it might also be them compressing the signal harder than they did back then. If you could say it was worse than, say, three to five months ago, then there would be something, otherwise, it may very well be something outside of WUSA's control.


But Harris's NetVX isn't as good of an encoder system as Harmonic's solutions: the MV500 HD encoder and Electra 5000 multichannel SD encoder, using DiviTrackIP statmuxing via the DiviTrackMX . Sure, the Harris system is quite easy to use compared to Harmonic, and it uses less electricity, but when it comes to MPEG-2 algorithms, and pure processing power, Harmonic is much better. Also, the Harris may be buggy; some stations have an unusual problem with HD bitrate allocation , and some odd issues with video alignment and audio quality ( this post provides a backstory with the audio issue). Don't get me wrong, Harris is pretty good with 1080i video if null packets are limited to no more than 400 kbps, and non-HD content, including subchannel content (audio and video), is kept under 2 Mbps, but that won't be possible with ATSC M/H. At that point, if a 1080i station wants to multicast, to ensure proper HD picture quality, a) Harmonic's their only hope, b) they're only limited to one subchannel.


----------



## machpost

Tonight's Caps game on CSN HD is looking really good in widescreen SD. Hopefully they're planning on doing all of this season's non-HD games in 16:9.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/14914093
> 
> 
> 6 or 7 years? That could just be your new TV, if it's larger than the old one, and/or the internal processing engine is better and therefore more capable at showing picture flaws. If you use cable or satellite, it might also be them compressing the signal harder than they did back then. If you could say it was worse than, say, three to five months ago, then there would be something, otherwise, it may very well be something outside of WUSA's control.
> 
> 
> But Harris's NetVX isn't as good of an encoder system as Harmonic's solutions: the MV500 HD encoder and Electra 5000 multichannel SD encoder, using DiviTrackIP statmuxing via the DiviTrackMX . Sure, the Harris system is quite easy to use compared to Harmonic, and it uses less electricity, but when it comes to MPEG-2 algorithms, and pure processing power, Harmonic is much better. Also, the Harris may be buggy; some stations have an unusual problem with HD bitrate allocation , and some odd issues with video alignment and audio quality ( this post provides a backstory with the audio issue). Don't get me wrong, Harris is pretty good with 1080i video if null packets are limited to no more than 400 kbps, and non-HD content, including subchannel content (audio and video), is kept under 2 Mbps, but that won't be possible with ATSC M/H. At that point, if a 1080i station wants to multicast, to ensure proper HD picture quality, a) Harmonic's their only hope, b) they're only limited to one subchannel.



I have content I recorded from 2001 to 2004 from OTA with my HiPix cards. It was a higher bitrate back then and it looks better than it does now. Especially WRC. The picture quality from WRC has really gone downhill.


----------



## tonyd79

CI (Crime and Investigation) HD is live on channel 275 on DirecTV this morning. Part of the HD Extra pack.


----------



## alexandriahokie




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/14914183
> 
> 
> Tonight's Caps game on CSN HD is looking really good in widescreen SD. Hopefully they're planning on doing all of this season's non-HD games in 16:9.



I was thinking the same thing. The game against Atlanta was also widescreen. Except for that technical glitch on Saturday night, so far, it's all been HD or widescreen. With 70% of the games in HD, I would be very happy with 30% in widescreen. It just makes hockey so much more enjoyable on TV when you can see more ice.


----------



## ammar249

Yesterday afternoon (10/21/2008) during WTTG FOX 5's five pm newscast around 5:28pm, they showed a live video feed of their new control room....


With the anchor saying "Here's a look at our brand new control room"


Might it be a hint that they're a step closer to HD news...?


----------



## CycloneGT

I really was expecting to see another station or two go HD this fall. I guess it was not to be.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> I really was expecting to see another station or two go HD this fall. I guess it was not to be.



About the same time last year, I would have thought 4, 5, and 7 would have made the move by now based on all I had read. Sad state of affairs.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/14925136
> 
> 
> About the same time last year, I would have thought 4, 5, and 7 would have made the move by now based on all I had read. Sad state of affairs.



The bare minimum to get by, it's the DC way.


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *alexandriahokie* /forum/post/14902486
> 
> 
> I noticed on Comcast's cable listing on their website for Alexandria that they have listed FX-HD (221), Fox News HD (222) and Speed HD (242). I'm guessing those are our next stations? They listed the last batch of additions on the website a few weeks before they actually started carrying the stations.



shows that for Manassas as well, looks like good news to me. November 1st is what the letter says I got from Comcast stating that Digital Classic customers will recieve 20 additional channels. Looks like these are three of them


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/14906998
> 
> 
> Looks like the new WUSA HD encoder is now installed. Harris NetVX, I assume? (Should have gone Harmonic...)



I still have no sound on my Toshiba HDTV for CBS DC or CBS Baltimore. CBS DC sent this email on 10/22/08:


Dear Kev, We made a (very) minor adjustment to our encoder in the last couple of days. Try another re-scan and let me know if anything changes.


Regards,

Victor

Director of Technology & Operations


I also got an email from Harris Broadcast:


Gents,

Thinking about this further I developed a theory with one of my cohorts here in the office.

The difference between the Flexicoder feed and a NetVX feed is simple really when you break it down to a stream generation method.


The Flexicoder continues to generate it's own PAT / PMT and PSI tables and simply adds the PSIP info (descriptors etc) into that stream.


The NetVX is usually set to NOT generate the tables and let PSIP do it for us. This is a standard setting suggested by the PSIP manufacturers.


This may explain why multiple NetVX streams letting the PSIP generate the tables are not decoding audio on these receivers/ TV's.


So I set the WUSA NetVX to generate the PSI tables and turned that feature off in the PSIP.

This change occurred at 5:25PM Eastern time.


Richard- thank you for granting me access to your machine.

Let me know if the primary channel audio is now able to be decoded on the "suspect" sets.

We can reverse engineer this same scenario on the Flexicoder to prove it out once we get some info back.


Bruce

HARRIS BCD Support / Field Services

DTV / Intraplex / Networking


----------



## Roberto Carlo

Well Cox of Fairfax added a handful of HD channels and all I can say is "underwhelmed." Most of them don't seem to broadcast in HD all that often, which is sort of okay because their programming isn't worth watching, anyway.


Sorry to sound like a broken record but how does Cox intend to compete with FIOS and DirecTV (I can't get the latter because I lack the requisite southern exposure) with these kind of meager offerings? What a joke!


----------



## EricHarley

Is anybody else experiencing audio stuttering on WBFF FOX HD programming received OTA?


Lately the nationwide programming has been stuttering very badly. Making the programming almost unwatchable on my Toshiba television.


I don't have any problem with the commercials. And when the program returns from commercials it takes about 30-45 seconds for the stuttering to start up again. Then it's persistent until the commercials come back.


I know it must not be a problem for everyone. I have one of those coupon DTV converter boxes and it gets plays the audio just fine. Both tuners display a very strong signal level.


My set didn't have these problems when receiving WTTG (Fox DC) back in August, and all other broadcast channels (ABC,CBS,NBC,MPT,CW) come in fine.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *EricHarley* /forum/post/14930109
> 
> 
> Is anybody else experiencing audio stuttering on WBFF FOX HD programming received OTA?
> 
> 
> Lately the nationwide programming has been stuttering very badly. Making the programming almost unwatchable on my Toshiba television.
> 
> 
> I don't have any problem with the commercials. And when the program returns from commercials it takes about 30-45 seconds for the stuttering to start up again. Then it's persistent until the commercials come back.
> 
> 
> I know it must not be a problem for everyone. I have one of those coupon DTV converter boxes and it gets plays the audio just fine. Both tuners display a very strong signal level.
> 
> 
> My set didn't have these problems when receiving WTTG (Fox DC) back in August, and all other broadcast channels (ABC,CBS,NBC,MPT,CW) come in fine.



I tuned in at the beginning of the baseball game, and it was fine OTA at the office. DirecTV has been having a lot of problems with audio stuttering, and they get the signal OTA. Maybe it's related. This is the first time that I've heard of an OTA problem, though.


I've been unable to find what would be causing a problem, though... I'm still looking.


----------



## Marcus Carr

I noticed that Two and a Half Men is now in HD on WUTB.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Roberto Carlo* /forum/post/14929371
> 
> 
> Well Cox of Fairfax added a handful of HD channels and all I can say is "underwhelmed." Most of them don't seem to broadcast in HD all that often, which is sort of okay because their programming isn't worth watching, anyway.
> 
> 
> Sorry to sound like a broken record but how does Cox intend to compete with FIOS and DirecTV (I can't get the latter because I lack the requisite southern exposure) with these kind of meager offerings? What a joke!



...and to go along with that, I found the following at multichannel news:


The Federal Communications Commission proposed to fine Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications for moving some channels from their broadcast lineups to switched digital video groups — rendering that programming inaccessible to non-operator-supplied devices like TiVo recorders.


In notices issued last Wednesday, the agency's Enforcement Bureau said Time Warner Cable Oceanic's Oahu and Kauai systems and Cox's Fairfax County, Va., system last fall “apparently willfully violated” federal rules requiring providers to make all video programming available to third-party consumer electronics that use CableCards.


The bureau proposed to fine Time Warner Cable $40,000 and Cox $20,000 for the violations and to require both MSOs to issue refunds to any affected customers.


“Time Warner Cable does not agree with the [notices] and will be responding accordingly to the Enforcement Bureau,” the company said in a statement.


Cox issued its own statement, saying it “disagrees with the FCC's ruling, and will defend our use of switched-digital technology in responding to the Notice of Apparent Liability. Our deployment of switched digital to maximize the power of our broadband network has greatly benefited our Northern Virginia customers, where we've introduced more than 50 new channels — including 24 high-definition offerings — enabled by this technology.”

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6606618.html


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *alexandriahokie* /forum/post/14902486
> 
> 
> I noticed on Comcast's cable listing on their website for Alexandria that they have listed FX-HD (221), Fox News HD (222) and Speed HD (242). I'm guessing those are our next stations? They listed the last batch of additions on the website a few weeks before they actually started carrying the stations.



According to a customer service rep, Baltimore is getting these channels on 11/20.


----------



## jsilva982

Any word on when Comcast-DC will be adding some more HD channels? FX HD would be nice, for starters.


----------



## afiggatt

Verizon Fios has added new channels for NHL Center Ice at channels 1475 to 1488. The channels are now listed as NHL 1 to NHL 14 and if the scrolling notice on channel 49 is correct, will have programming available for subscription by tonight. Verizon has signed a contract to carry the NHL network SD and HD channels which will reportedly be added nationwide to all Fios markets in November. So the hockey fans on Fios should be happy.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14931427
> 
> 
> I noticed that Two and a Half Men is now in HD on WUTB.



I really wish I could get that signal at my location. Too bad they couldn't separate WMPT and WUTB. Is WMPT staying at 42 or is it moving back to 22?


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/14934850
> 
> 
> I really wish I could get that signal at my location. Too bad they couldn't separate WMPT and WUTB. Is WMPT staying at 42 or is it moving back to 22?



According to http://www.rabbitears.info/dtr.php (which is a fantastic resource, BTW)...

WMPT is staying at 42.


I live in Annapolis. WMPT pretty much squashes any adjacent signals with my little amplified indoor antenna. Once in a blue moon I can get WBOC-DT (on 21 out of Delaware), but usually 22 analog is so strong at my house that it bleeds onto the adjacent channels. I'll have to check on WUTB when I get home, I don't remember if I get that OTA or not...


----------



## terp97

Anybody having problems with NBC4? I tend to have no or in and out signal in the early morning around 6:30amEDT. Had no issue with any channel for the past 3 years and all of the sudden NBC4 is having issues. Do i do another search for the OTA Scan with my HR10-250 Direct TV receiver?


NBC4 has been no help.. not surprised since they still have not gone to HD news and WUSA re did the HD look and is even better.


Thanks,


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/14934850
> 
> 
> I really wish I could get that signal at my location. Too bad they couldn't separate WMPT and WUTB. Is WMPT staying at 42 or is it moving back to 22?



Both WUTB-DT 24 on UHF 41 and WMPT-DT 22 on UHF 42 are staying at those channels after the analog shutdown. In June WUTB-DT submitted a maximize power application to increase to 290 kW from the current 200 kW after the transition, but with no change in the antenna pattern. The FCC has not granted nor rejected the WUTB filing yet. But since you are at a low power azimuth axis in the WUTB-DT antenna pattern, an increase to 290 kW is not likely to help much. For the My Network programming, you will have to go to WDCA-DT 20.


WMPT-DT 22 filed for increased power of 516 kW from the current 150 kW, but the FCC has not acted on that yet either. The interaction of the signal strengths of the 2 stations is likely a complicating factor in both of their maximize power applications.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *terp97* /forum/post/14935346
> 
> 
> Anybody having problems with NBC4? I tend to have no or in and out signal in the early morning around 6:30amEDT. Had no issue with any channel for the past 3 years and all of the sudden NBC4 is having issues. Do i do another search for the OTA Scan with my HR10-250 Direct TV receiver?



You posted several days ago about a problem with WRC-DT OTA, but I guess no one replied. I just checked and WRC-DT is the normal full 10/10 bars from here in Sterling. Since it is October, my first guess is that it could be due to the seasonal changes with the leaves falling off of the trees, changing the propagation path. If you have not done a scan, check the antenna and do one.


But we can't help much if you don't tell us where you are. Out near Winchester, there is a low power religious station, WAZW-CA 48 which interferes with the digital signal for WRC-DT on UHF 48 for those who live out there. In DC, low power analog WMDO-CA 47 is on a adjacent channel. It is possible that those are causing some interference, depending on where you are.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Roberto Carlo* /forum/post/14929371
> 
> 
> Well Cox of Fairfax added a handful of HD channels



I think "handful of 1080i channels" would be more accurate. Except for SPIKE, I have yet to see a single frame of HD on any of them.


The channels are: SPIKE-HD, MTV-1080i, VH1-1080i, CMT-1080i, NIK-1080i.


This strikes me as a waste of bandwidth, but I really can't compare, because I don't subscribe to Expanded Basic, and thus cannot see the 480i versions.


----------



## terp97

I'm in Chantilly, VA off of Route 50 at the Fairfax/Loudoun County line. I have heard of leaves being a problem in the fall. The interruption tends to be in the early morning. I will do another scan and if no improvment will have Fairfax antenna check the antenna.


Thanks


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/14916273
> 
> 
> I have content I recorded from 2001 to 2004 from OTA with my HiPix cards. It was a higher bitrate back then and it looks better than it does now.



Come to think about it, I wonder how low WUSA's HD bitrate has gone with their new encoder. I know that at some point, they were doing ~15.5 Mbps , but I don't know if it's from the old Flexicoder or the new NetVX.


Hopefully someone here will post a TSReader screencap/parsing of this Sunday's football game (4 PM), to see what the NetVX gives 9-1 under heavy demand. I don't think *Trip in VA* would mind getting the data file, either.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *E55 KEV* /forum/post/14927738
> 
> 
> I still have no sound on my Toshiba HDTV for CBS DC or CBS Baltimore. CBS DC sent this email on 10/22/08:



Maybe it's unrelated, but I found this guy with a Toshiba HDTV where all his OTA HD channels lost video (but not audio). Are 9-1 and 13-1 the only channels where you lose audio?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *terp97* /forum/post/14935346
> 
> 
> Anybody having problems with NBC4? I tend to have no or in and out signal in the early morning around 6:30amEDT. Had no issue with any channel for the past 3 years and all of the sudden NBC4 is having issues. Do i do another search for the OTA Scan with my HR10-250 Direct TV receiver?
> 
> 
> NBC4 has been no help.. not surprised since they still have not gone to HD news and WUSA re did the HD look and is even better.
> 
> 
> Thanks,



Your antenna probably needs to be moved a few inches up or down to optimize WRC-DT. I just helped someone in Manassas with WRC-DT issues. Even with a brand new antenna, the signal would not decode. I "_lowered_" the antenna just 6 inches on the mast and the signal became decodable. Anoher 3 inches down; and it became full strength.

UHF signals can sometimes be tough to get at only 20 miles even with a good outdoor antenna and sufficient signal strengths. Occasional tweaking is somtimes necessary as nearby trees mature and create new signal reflections.


"_HIGHER IS NOT ALWAYS BETTER_"


----------



## Roberto Carlo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/14936691
> 
> 
> I think "handful of 1080i channels" would be more accurate. Except for SPIKE, I have yet to see a single frame of HD on any of them.
> 
> 
> The channels are: SPIKE-HD, MTV-1080i, VH1-1080i, CMT-1080i, NIK-1080i.
> 
> 
> This strikes me as a waste of bandwidth, but I really can't compare, because I don't subscribe to Expanded Basic, and thus cannot see the 480i versions.



I agree on all counts. You made my point more articulately than I did -- it's an attempt to look like they are adding HD channels without actually adding much HD programming.


----------



## haggisbingo

OMG, the new Cox Fairfax HD channels are a joke! I think they think no one will notice that they aren't broadcasting real HD...


Where is HDNET!? It's guaranteed HD programming....


----------



## EricHarley




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/14930608
> 
> 
> I tuned in at the beginning of the baseball game, and it was fine OTA at the office. DirecTV has been having a lot of problems with audio stuttering, and they get the signal OTA. Maybe it's related. This is the first time that I've heard of an OTA problem, though.
> 
> 
> I've been unable to find what would be causing a problem, though... I'm still looking.



Last night, same problem with audio stuttering. There seemed to be no issue with Deal or No Deal (which was on replacing Friends?), but later when I tuned into "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" the audio started fine but within 10s of seconds it started stuttering.


----------



## tonyd79

Well, tonight for the World Series, WBFF is in glorious SD.


----------



## mdviewer25

I've noticed that whenever WNUV 54 shows syndicated HD content whether its the Comcast HD commercial or tonights episode of House of Payne, my picture will blink every couple of minutes saying it is "off the air". What kind of problem is that? Also, I didn't know that House of Payne was shown in HD at least not on WDCA.


----------



## afiggatt

The preview show for the upcoming syndicated fantasy series "The Legend of the Seeker" was in HD tonight on WDCW-DT 50 at 8 PM. Watched a little of it; pure PR fluff. So the two hour debut should be in HD next Saturday night when it airs at 8 PM. Looking at the TV schedule, the Baltimore station for the series will be WNUV-DT 54 which will be airing the series on Sunday nights. The preview show will be on WNUV-DT at 10:30 PM Sunday night. Maybe markbulla can confirm that WNUV-DT will be airing the series in HD.


Don't know if the series will be any good, but it should be in HD at least in our markets.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14942946
> 
> 
> The preview show for the upcoming syndicated fantasy series "The Legend of the Seeker" was in HD tonight on WDCW-DT 50 at 8 PM. Watched a little of it; pure PR fluff. So the two hour debut should be in HD next Saturday night when it airs at 8 PM. Looking at the TV schedule, the Baltimore station for the series will be WNUV-DT 54 which will be airing the series on Sunday nights. The preview show will be on WNUV-DT at 10:30 PM Sunday night. Maybe markbulla can confirm that WNUV-DT will be airing the series in HD.
> 
> 
> Don't know if the series will be any good, but it should be in HD at least in our markets.



Will also air on WGN America. Don't know if it will be in HD.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14942946
> 
> 
> The preview show for the upcoming syndicated fantasy series "The Legend of the Seeker" was in HD tonight on WDCW-DT 50 at 8 PM. Watched a little of it; pure PR fluff. So the two hour debut should be in HD next Saturday night when it airs at 8 PM. Looking at the TV schedule, the Baltimore station for the series will be WNUV-DT 54 which will be airing the series on Sunday nights. The preview show will be on WNUV-DT at 10:30 PM Sunday night. Maybe markbulla can confirm that WNUV-DT will be airing the series in HD.
> 
> 
> Don't know if the series will be any good, but it should be in HD at least in our markets.



Sorry, I was out in the rain, camping with the boy scouts. Was it in HD? I'm not familiar with the program.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/14942694
> 
> 
> I've noticed that whenever WNUV 54 shows syndicated HD content whether its the Comcast HD commercial or tonights episode of House of Payne, my picture will blink every couple of minutes saying it is "off the air". What kind of problem is that? Also, I didn't know that House of Payne was shown in HD at least not on WDCA.



That's kind of odd. Everything we broadcast is exactly the same data rate whether it starts out in HD or SD - it all comes out the same... Something else for me to look at, I guess.


House of Payne is in HD, although this last Monday is the first time we showed it that way. I've been trying to get as much HD programming on the air as we can. We all like HD!


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/14946178
> 
> 
> House of Payne is in HD, although this last Monday is the first time we showed it that way. I've been trying to get as much HD programming on the air as we can. We all like HD!



The Legend of the Seeker preview program was in HD on WDCW-DT 50. It is in SD on WNUV-DT 54 tonight. Might want to make sure it is in HD for the 2 hour premiere next Sunday. We do appreciate the local stations that spend the money and take the time to provide syndicated programs in HD now that HD syndication is finally becoming more available.


I recall in the HD syndication thread in the HDTV programming forum that Stargate: Atlantis has shown up in HD in syndication. I see that the show is on WNUV but way late at night. Is WNUV showing it in HD? I'll have to set the DVR to check.


----------



## mattydr

Soooo, I'm new here. I live in Manassas and get all my TV OTA w/ an outdoor antenna, which runs to my computer. Anyways.


I don't know when it happened, but I guess WRC (NBC4) added another subchannel since last TV season? The reason I noticed was SNF and PGA were looking even more craptacular than usual, and Heroes was coming it at ~13 Mbps, down from ~18 Mbps last season. Has anyone tried contacting the station about this? I just can't understand why they'd degrade their main product for some stupid subchannel that probably nobody watches.


Also, anyone else having problems with WETA today? I usually get signal strength around 60%, and it was fine this morning, then dropped to the 40's this afternoon and has been there since as far as I know.


----------



## Digital Rules

I can't tell any difference between WRC or WBAL(only 1 subchannel) PQ. I think it is more of a network issue. The live sports on NBC don't look near as good as Fox, or CBS.


Not sure where you live in Manassas; but the only weak station I experienced near the fairground area was CW-50. WETA-DT came in at full strength even _before_ replacing a 30 year old rooftop antenna. You may need to tweak the height a few inches up or down to find the best sweet spot.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mattydr* /forum/post/14947813
> 
> 
> I don't know when it happened, but I guess WRC (NBC4) added another subchannel since last TV season? The reason I noticed was SNF and PGA were looking even more craptacular than usual, and Heroes was coming it at ~13 Mbps, down from ~18 Mbps last season. Has anyone tried contacting the station about this? I just can't understand why they'd degrade their main product for some stupid subchannel that probably nobody watches.



WRC-DT added the 4.3 Universal Sports sub-channel back in early September. Created some problems back then because they somehow incorrectly set the 4.1 HD sub-channel header data to list 4.1 as 1280x1080 resolution which caused some ATSC tuners to go wobbly. But adding the 4.3 sub-channel is a NBC decision; they added or are adding Universal Sports as a sub-channel to all the NBC owned and operated stations. NBC owns WRC 4. You won't get anywhere complaining to the station except maybe for someone to note a complaint about degraded picture quality.


NBC did announce that they would be shutting Weather Plus service so we may see 4.2 go away. But NBC-Universal brought the Weather Channel so figure Weather Plus will be replaced by some Weather Channel service. The bottom line is that the curent NBC management does not care much about HD picture quality.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Stargate: Atlantis was in HD on WNUV.


----------



## mattydr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/14947902
> 
> 
> Not sure where you live in Manassas; but the only weak station I experienced near the fairground area was CW-50. WETA-DT came in at full strength even _before_ replacing a 30 year old rooftop antenna. You may need to tweak the height a few inches up or down to find the best sweet spot.



Well, WETA is back today. I don't think it was an antenna location issue . . . I've never had a problem with reception of the station, and the signal strength dropped by around 20% for me yesterday. Anyways - CW-50 is hit-and-miss for me as well.


----------



## TheKrell




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mattydr* /forum/post/14947813
> 
> 
> Also, anyone else having problems with WETA today?



I use a USB tuner stick, as well as 3 converter boxes and 1 HDTV. I have never observed a problem with WETA on any tuner except for my KWorld 340U. The latter went all screwy since Labor Day weekend; I can still use the tuner stick on WETA (all subchannels) in the wee hours of the morning. But during the rest of the day, the SS varies from 0 to 6 bars (the max), but usually below 4 bars, and I see no picture and hear no sound. Nobody, including a nice lady with WETA, can give me any explanation for this.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14947754
> 
> 
> The Legend of the Seeker preview program was in HD on WDCW-DT 50. It is in SD on WNUV-DT 54 tonight. Might want to make sure it is in HD for the 2 hour premiere next Sunday. We do appreciate the local stations that spend the money and take the time to provide syndicated programs in HD now that HD syndication is finally becoming more available.
> 
> 
> I recall in the HD syndication thread in the HDTV programming forum that Stargate: Atlantis has shown up in HD in syndication. I see that the show is on WNUV but way late at night. Is WNUV showing it in HD? I'll have to set the DVR to check.



Yes, it's in HD. I'm sorry it's shown in the middle of the night.


I've become a fan of Stargate: Atlantis in the last few weeks. We downlink it on Wednesday evening, so our IT guy and I watch it on Thursday at lunch, without commercials, in HD, on the 52" monitors in the news control room! The stories remind me a lot of Star Trek TNG.


I'll look into how we receive The Legend of the Seeker. If I can get it in HD, I'll make sure it goes on the air that way.


----------



## raidbuck




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/14942629
> 
> 
> Well, tonight for the World Series, WBFF is in glorious SD.



Fortunate for Baltimore area viewers that Comcast has WTTG as well, and it was in HD (thanks to Sinclair for being a pain and Comcast here adding the Washington affiliate instead - now we get both, very handy for NFL games).


Rich N.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *raidbuck* /forum/post/14950388
> 
> 
> Fortunate for Baltimore area viewers that Comcast has WTTG as well, and it was in HD (thanks to Sinclair for being a pain and Comcast here adding the Washington affiliate instead - now we get both, very handy for NFL games).
> 
> 
> Rich N.



Where is WTTG in HD on Comcast? Not in Howard County. We get 4, 5, 7, 9, 26 and 32 all in glorious SD. Only Baltimore is in HD.


----------



## mark_e




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *raidbuck* /forum/post/14950388
> 
> 
> Fortunate for Baltimore area viewers that Comcast has WTTG as well, and it was in HD (thanks to Sinclair for being a pain and Comcast here adding the Washington affiliate instead - now we get both, very handy for NFL games).
> 
> 
> Rich N.




Do you get WTTG on Comcast in Harford County in HD? In Howard County, we barely get the DC stations in SD recently moved only to the digital tier.


----------



## Marcus Carr

WTTG is not available in SD or HD on Comcast in Baltimore City. It's in HD and SD in AA County.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/14951175
> 
> 
> Where is WTTG in HD on Comcast? Not in Howard County. We get 4, 5, 7, 9, 26 and 32 all in glorious SD. Only Baltimore is in HD.



I just left Comcast (Anne Arundel County) but WBFF-DT was at 213 and WTTG-DT was at 255. Obviously you're not in AA County, but I thought I'd chime in.


Also, to anyone who pushed me in the direction of FiOS, thank you. Finally got it installed yesterday morning, and I'm very pleased so far. (And yes, FiOS has both the Baltimore and DC locals in SD and HD in AA/HoCo, to the best of my knowledge.)


----------



## jnelaine

Does anyone know if the CM4221 antenna will be able to pick up WUSA and WJLA after they switch back to VHF in February? I live in Burke (near the top of a hill) and TVFool says I am 17 miles from the towers. I flipped over to the current analog channels 7 and 9 tonight and they were coming in quite clearly over the CM4221. Does that mean that I shouldn't have a problem when they switch their HD channels there in February?


Thanks!


----------



## terp97

still having issues.. will call to have it re position.


Thanks Digtal Rules.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jnelaine* /forum/post/14954872
> 
> 
> Does anyone know if the CM4221 antenna will be able to pick up WUSA and WJLA after they switch back to VHF in February? I live in Burke (near the top of a hill) and TVFool says I am 17 miles from the towers. I flipped over to the current analog channels 7 and 9 tonight and they were coming in quite clearly over the CM4221. Does that mean that I shouldn't have a problem when they switch their HD channels there in February?



If you are getting good quality pictures for analog 7 & 9, you probably will be ok in February. But can't be sure until they go digital. Do you get WBAL-DT 11 (59) and WJZ-DT 13 (38) in Baltimore? For the range from Burke, VA to Baltimore, you probably would have to add a upper VHF antenna or put in a upper VHF-UHF antenna. I added a Winegard YA-6713 upper VHF antenna earlier this year to my CM 4221 antenna to be ready for the analog shutdown. Unfortunately, Winegard has discontinued the shorter YA-6713 while keeping the more directional & 100" long YA-1713.


----------



## jnelaine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/14955235
> 
> 
> If you are getting good quality pictures for analog 7 & 9, you probably will be ok in February. But can't be sure until they go digital. Do you get WBAL-DT 11 (59) and WJZ-DT 13 (38) in Baltimore? For the range from Burke, VA to Baltimore, you probably would have to add a upper VHF antenna or put in a upper VHF-UHF antenna. I added a Winegard YA-6713 upper VHF antenna earlier this year to my CM 4221 antenna to be ready for the analog shutdown. Unfortunately, Winegard has discontinued the shorter YA-6713 while keeping the more directional & 100" long YA-1713.



Unfortunately I'm not picking up WBAL-DT or WJZ-DT (but I can pick up their analog stations with some static). But I'm not that interested in the Baltimore stations, so if I can keep getting 7 & 9 in February, I'll be happy.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jnelaine* /forum/post/14954872
> 
> 
> Does anyone know if the CM4221 antenna will be able to pick up WUSA and WJLA after they switch back to VHF in February? I live in Burke (near the top of a hill) and TVFool says I am 17 miles from the towers. I flipped over to the current analog channels 7 and 9 tonight and they were coming in quite clearly over the CM4221. Does that mean that I shouldn't have a problem when they switch their HD channels there in February?
> 
> 
> Thanks!



At 17 miles away on channels 7 and 9, I just can't imagine problems. BUT!!!... we have a station on digital UHF4 that's 25 miles away and is difficult to pick up for me (CM4228 in an attic in a two-story home). Pointing the antenna needs to be pretty precise for me... I'm not an engineer so there could be a big difference (relatively speaking) between UHF 4 and UHF7 and/or UHF9...


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/14956078
> 
> 
> At 17 miles away on channels 7 and 9, I just can't imagine problems. BUT!!!... we have a station on digital UHF4 that's 25 miles away and is difficult to pick up for me (CM4228 in an attic in a two-story home). Pointing the antenna needs to be pretty precise for me... I'm not an engineer so there could be a big difference (relatively speaking) between UHF 4 and UHF7 and/or UHF9...



VHF 2-6 are generally very hard to receive digitally, whereas VHF 7-13 are on a higher part of the band (closer to UHF) and seem to do pretty well. I can't speak for the 4221, but I heard several reports from San Francisco about the 4228 receiving KGO-DT 7 during a signal test.


- Trip


----------



## jnelaine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/14956078
> 
> 
> At 17 miles away on channels 7 and 9, I just can't imagine problems. BUT!!!... we have a station on digital UHF4 that's 25 miles away and is difficult to pick up for me (CM4228 in an attic in a two-story home). Pointing the antenna needs to be pretty precise for me... I'm not an engineer so there could be a big difference (relatively speaking) between UHF 4 and UHF7 and/or UHF9...



Thanks, I'm going to keep the 4221 and see what happens in February. I've definitely heard that it gets much more difficult to pick up channels under VHF 7 with a UHF antenna.


----------



## imacdonald




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jnelaine* /forum/post/14956185
> 
> 
> Thanks, I'm going to keep the 4221 and see what happens in February. I've definitely heard that it gets much more difficult to pick up channels under VHF 7 with a UHF antenna.



i have been wondering the same thing, I think this is what fairfax antenna installed last year at my house. I didn't know any better at the time to ask what they were installing.


If it doesn't work after the switch, would I have to replace the whole antenna?


----------



## jnelaine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *imacdonald* /forum/post/14956369
> 
> 
> i have been wondering the same thing, I think this is what fairfax antenna installed last year at my house. I didn't know any better at the time to ask what they were installing.
> 
> 
> If it doesn't work after the switch, would I have to replace the whole antenna?



Fairfax Antenna also installed my 4221. I contacted them yesterday and they said everyone was taken by surprise when channel 7 and 9 said that they were going back to VHF. But he said if you can pick up the analog channels pretty well right now, you probably won't have a problem when they switch in February.


----------



## rustycruiser

Great.


Came home from work, and it looks like I lost power during the day. Not normally a problem, except now every channel on both my Comcast boxes are intermittently pixelating, and losing picture clarity, and sometimes sound too.


Basically unwatchable. Yay!


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *imacdonald* /forum/post/14956369
> 
> 
> i have been wondering the same thing, I think this is what fairfax antenna installed last year at my house. I didn't know any better at the time to ask what they were installing.
> 
> 
> If it doesn't work after the switch, would I have to replace the whole antenna?



Not neccesarily. The CM 4221 is a very good UHF antenna which is useful in this area for picking up stations over a wide spread in azimuth. Besides the stations in DC and Baltimore, we have the MPT, WNVC, WNVT, Hagerstown stations at different locations. If needed, you could add a upper VHF antenna or try a shortened rabbit ears/dipole VHF antenna to the CM 4221 with a VHF/UHF combiner (or a CM 7777 pre-amp).


Answering the comment on being easier to pick up upper VHF with a UHF antenna: channels low VHF 2 to 6 cover 54 to 88 MHz with wavelengths of 3 to 5 meters while VHF 7 to 13 cover 174 MHz to 216 MHz with shorter wavelengths of 1.4 to 1.7 meters. UHF 14 starts at 470 MHz. So some larger UHF antennas can pick up upper VHF channels to some extent. But low VHF is much longer in wavelength which needs a much wider antenna. Channel 2 is the reason that the conventional VHF antenna is 110" wide. But we won't have any full power stations in the DC & Baltimore DMAs on low VHF.


----------



## hokiefan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rustycruiser* /forum/post/14961524
> 
> 
> Great.
> 
> 
> Came home from work, and it looks like I lost power during the day. Not normally a problem, except now every channel on both my Comcast boxes are intermittently pixelating, and losing picture clarity, and sometimes sound too.
> 
> 
> Basically unwatchable. Yay!



Digital cable at my gf's house in Anne Arundel Co is unwatchable as well. I'm a couple miles southwest of BWI and most/all of the digital channels are breaking up every 10-15seconds. I switched over to pure analog and even some of those channels are breaking up every now and then, which tells me Comcast's headend dishs are getting blown around or are not peaked correctly. Or something is wrong in the distro system. Either way, it sucks.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jnelaine* /forum/post/14954872
> 
> 
> Does anyone know if the CM4221 antenna will be able to pick up WUSA and WJLA after they switch back to VHF in February? I live in Burke (near the top of a hill) and TVFool says I am 17 miles from the towers. I flipped over to the current analog channels 7 and 9 tonight and they were coming in quite clearly over the CM4221. Does that mean that I shouldn't have a problem when they switch their HD channels there in February?
> 
> 
> Thanks!



Have you done a re-scan in the last 2 months? There is a very low power digital channel 8 broadcasting from NW DC right now. It will show up as channel 47 or 1.(WMDO) Their weak signal actually makes it all the way out to Manassas; but it isn't strong enough to decode. Just curious if you see anything from them in Burke with your 4221.


----------



## rustycruiser




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hokiefan* /forum/post/14961698
> 
> 
> Digital cable at my gf's house in Anne Arundel Co is unwatchable as well. I'm a couple miles southwest of BWI and most/all of the digital channels are breaking up every 10-15seconds. I switched over to pure analog and even some of those channels are breaking up every now and then, which tells me Comcast's headend dishs are getting blown around or are not peaked correctly. Or something is wrong in the distro system. Either way, it sucks.



Glad it is not just me, as the problem will get fixed a lot quicker that way. Luckily I caught it early and was able to watch OTA instead. First commercials I have seen since the Superbowl. (I timeshift everything)


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

The Annapolis Comcast system added Fox News HD-221, FX-HD-242, and Speed Channel HD-222 this morning.


Thanks,


Steve in Shady Side, MD


----------



## Potatoehead




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/14962942
> 
> 
> The Annapolis Comcast system added Fox News HD-221, FX-HD-242, and Speed Channel HD-222 this morning.
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> 
> Steve in Shady Side, MD



Here in Calvert County as well. Very happy about FX-HD


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/14949128
> 
> 
> 
> I'll look into how we receive The Legend of the Seeker. If I can get it in HD, I'll make sure it goes on the air that way.



I got the info for the Legend of the Seeker HD satellite feed, and I've put it in the schedule to record, so the season premier should be shown in HD this weekend.


Cheers -


----------



## knnirs

I have the 4228 antenna in my attic, and my house is surrounded with large oak trees. Untill this weekend the antenna was in a fixed position giving the best compromise for D.C. and Baltimore channels. The signal levels varied from 40 to 90 % on the 14 digital channels. Now I have a CM rotor which allows me to set a different angle for each channel. My signal strength is now 100 % for each digital channel 2,4,5,7,9,11,13,14,20,22,26,32,45,50, and 54.

Iam hoping that this will do just as well nnext year.


----------



## Ladd

Comcast Frederick MD -- My Motorla HD DVR box was updated overnight.


A few minor visual changes noted so far:


The various selection boxes seem smaller


Watching a recording to the very end finishes differently (it stops on PAUSE, waiting for a command, rather than going directly to "Delete/Don't Delete")


When starting a recording of a live program, I get an option to "extend this recording time past the end time shown in the guide".


Under "DVR Setup", there is now a "Clipping" option whereby if there are overlapping programs (and, I assume, you are already using both tuners) with one show going from, say, 8:00 PM to 9:01 PM and a second show scheduled to record starting at 9:00 PM, the second show will have the first minute of the recording clipped so as to fully record the first program.


Might be more changes, but that's all I've seen as yet.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*More analog shut-off tests announced*


Oct 27, 2008 2:44 PM


ION Media Networks, along with NBC Universal, Telemundo and members of the Association of Public Television Stations, will schedule analog shut-off tests in multiple major markets, including Hartford, CT; Los Angeles, New York and *Washington, D.C.*


These tests are in preparation for the Feb. 17, 2009, government mandated analog shut-off and transition to digital television. Nearly all broadcasters, cable operators and satellite providers have joined in the effort.


The tests will begin in New York City, with a two-minute shutdown between 5:59 and 6:01 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 28. Thirteen New York metropolitan area stations will participate.

*Subsequent one-minute tests will take place in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Dec. 2*, and two 30-minute tests in Hartford on Wednesday, Dec. 3. In addition, the broadcast partners will participate in existing tests being conducted across the country, like Philadelphia, San Francisco, and other areas with varied population densities and terrains.

http://broadcastengineering.com/hdtv...nnounced-1027/


----------



## jnelaine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/14961719
> 
> 
> Have you done a re-scan in the last 2 months? There is a very low power digital channel 8 broadcasting from NW DC right now. It will show up as channel 47 or 1.(WMDO) Their weak signal actually makes it all the way out to Manassas; but it isn't strong enough to decode. Just curious if you see anything from them in Burke with your 4221.



I did a channel scan tonight and it did pick up digital channel 8, but like you, the signal wasn't strong enough to decode. I just get a "Poor signal quality" message.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jnelaine* /forum/post/14968590
> 
> 
> I did a channel scan tonight and it did pick up digital channel 8, but like you, the signal wasn't strong enough to decode. I just get a "Poor signal quality" message.



That's good news!! You may be OK with channel 7 & 9; as they will be _much stronger_ than channel 8.


Channel 8-----_Only_ 198 watts

Channel 7 & 9-_At least_ 12,000 watts


----------



## jnelaine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/14968803
> 
> 
> That's good news!! You may be OK with channel 7 & 9; as they will be _much stronger_ than channel 8.
> 
> 
> Channel 8-----_Only_ 198 watts
> 
> Channel 7 & 9-_At least_ 12,000 watts



Thanks, I'm feeling pretty good about my chances of still getting 7 and 9 when they move to VHF. Now my concern has shifted to channel 5. I know they aren't moving, but for some reason I've been having a problem with getting frequent pixelation on that channel for many months now. At first I thought it was a tree that is between my antenna and D.C, but all the leaves have fallen off that tree now, so I'm not sure what to chalk the problem up to. The signal strength is usually over 80% but occasionally drops way down.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jnelaine* /forum/post/14968926
> 
> 
> Thanks, I'm feeling pretty good about my chances of still getting 7 and 9 when they move to VHF. Now my concern has shifted to channel 5. I know they aren't moving, but for some reason I've been having a problem with getting frequent pixelation on that channel for many months now. At first I thought it was a tree that is between my antenna and D.C, but all the leaves have fallen off that tree now, so I'm not sure what to chalk the problem up to. The signal strength is usually over 80% but occasionally drops way down.



Does this happen mostly on windy days???


How close do you live to the intersection of Route 123 & the Fairfax County Parkway? WPXW-66 analog and digital are broadcasting from there.


Is there any kind of amplifier on your system?


----------



## HDDAVID

New Fios Channel Line up....

I was checking the message center on my STB tonight(10/29) and saw the Verizon message about a "host os new channels", including new HD and premiums.

Sure enough I checked the Verizon.com/fiostv web site, punched in my zip code, and yes, it showed a whole bunch of new HD's.. supposed to be effective today..10/30.

BTW I'm in Baltimore County.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *HDDAVID* /forum/post/14969891
> 
> 
> New Fios Channel Line up....
> 
> I was checking the message center on my STB tonight(10/29) and saw the Verizon message about a "host os new channels", including new HD and premiums.
> 
> Sure enough I checked the Verizon.com/fiostv web site, punched in my zip code, and yes, it showed a whole bunch of new HD's.. supposed to be effective today..10/30.
> 
> BTW I'm in Baltimore County.



Ditto, AA County.


----------



## jnelaine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/14969014
> 
> 
> Does this happen mostly on windy days???
> 
> 
> How close do you live to the intersection of Route 123 & the Fairfax County Parkway? WPXW-66 analog and digital are broadcasting from there.
> 
> 
> Is there any kind of amplifier on your system?



I'm VERY close to 123 and Fairfax County parkway! Hmmm, could WPXW-66 be the problem? Did they just start broadcasting this summer, or change their signal dramatically? I don't recall having problems with 5-1 until about 4 or 5 months ago. In case it matters, I am on the D.C. side from the WPXW tower, so my 4221 antenna is pointed away from that tower.


I don't have any kind of amp in my system to answer your other question.


----------



## Digital Rules

Nothing has changed with WPXW to my knowledge. The analog & digital signals are very potent within the first 2-3 miles, so it has the potential to cause problems for you. When you are that close, it really doesn't matter which way your antenna is pointed. It comes in almost full strength here in Arlington no matter which way my antenna is facing. The good news for you is that they will abandon that tower in Burke on FEB 17, and move to NW DC.


Do you notice the problem with channel 5 mainly on windy days?


----------



## Tom Harms

Many new HD channels this morning on FiOS.


----------



## CycloneGT

Please list them off so I can make a post about them and update the charts


Thanks


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Tom Harms* /forum/post/14970659
> 
> 
> Many new HD channels this morning on FiOS.



Anyone know when Tivo will update the guide to include these new channels? Hopefully by tomorrow... it took them way too long with the initial rollout.


----------



## bucnasty

i got the message on my box re new HD channels in fairfax but all the starz and showtime ones were still "coming soon" and nothing new like fox news hd or fx..


----------



## bucnasty

i also don't see the nhl network listed...


----------



## jnelaine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/14970635
> 
> 
> Nothing has changed with WPXW to my knowledge. The analog & digital signals are very potent within the first 2-3 miles, so it has the potential to cause problems for you. When you are that close, it really doesn't matter which way your antenna is pointed. It comes in almost full strength here in Arlington no matter which way my antenna is facing. The good news for you is that they will abandon that tower in Burke on FEB 17, and move to NW DC.
> 
> 
> Do you notice the problem with channel 5 mainly on windy days?



Thanks for the good news about the tower shutting down in Feb. Hopefully that will solve my problems with 5.1. As for the windy day question, I haven't noticed a direct correlation. Fortunately Fox is the one network that I can get in HD over DirecTV, so I just switch over to that station when 5.1 starts giving me problems.


But I'm curious - is wind a common problem? Is that only when you have trees in the way (which I do)? I have gotten up on my roof and checked my 4221 antenna - it's solid as a rock and I can't imagine it moving, even in high wind, since it's such a thin wire mesh.


----------



## prth8machine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/14971448
> 
> 
> Please list them off so I can make a post about them and update the charts
> 
> 
> Thanks



In Montgomery County the new HD channels on are as follows.


FX HD 553

WGN HD 568

ESPNews HD 572

Speed HD 583

Tennis Channel HD 592

World Fishing HD 597

MAV TV HD 598

Fox Business HD 617

Fox News HD 618

Bio HD 629

QVC HD 650

Planet Green HD 668

Travel Channel HD 670

ABC Family HD 699

Hallmark Movie HD 740

MGM HD 744

Disney HD 780

Toon Disney HD 781


I don't have a subscription to Starz, Showtime, or The Movie Channel, so I can't confirm those ones.


All of the listed HBOs and Cinemax channels are live for me though


HBO HD 899

HBOwest HD, HBO 2, HBO2 west, Signature, Signature west, Family, Family west, Comedy, Comedy west, Zone, Zone west, Latino, Latino west: 901-913


Cinemax, Cinemax west, More Max, More Max west, Action, Action west, Thriller, Thriller west, WMAX, AtMax, Five Star Max, Outer Max: 920-931


----------



## JayMan007




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *prth8machine* /forum/post/14972645
> 
> 
> In Montgomery County the new HD channels on are as follows.
> 
> 
> I don't have a subscription to Starz, Showtime, or The Movie Channel, so I can't confirm those ones.
> 
> 
> All of the listed HBOs and Cinemax channels are live for me though



Sounds like you've upgrade to Extreme HD. You may already know this but, FiOS has an Entertainment Package that includes Starz, Showtime, Movie Channel, (Encore), HBO, & Cinemax for $30.


Not sure what you're paying for HBO/Max, but it might be worth $8 more.


----------



## prth8machine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JayMan007* /forum/post/14974121
> 
> 
> Sounds like you've upgrade to Extreme HD. You may already know this but, FiOS has an Entertainment Package that includes Starz, Showtime, Movie Channel, (Encore), HBO, & Cinemax for $30.
> 
> 
> Not sure what you're paying for HBO/Max, but it might be worth $8 more.



Ya, I switched over to the Extreme HD. I only have the HBO/Cinemax package because it's free at the moment. Though with all these new channels and my love of movies, it's going to be hard to let it go. I'll have a difficult decision to make in a week or so.


----------



## Mike20878




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ladd* /forum/post/14967455
> 
> 
> Comcast Frederick MD -- My Motorla HD DVR box was updated overnight.
> 
> 
> A few minor visual changes noted so far:
> 
> 
> The various selection boxes seem smaller
> 
> 
> Watching a recording to the very end finishes differently (it stops on PAUSE, waiting for a command, rather than going directly to "Delete/Don't Delete")



I've noticed that recently but didn't realize I'd received an update.


----------



## Tom Harms

Just forced a connection with Tivo and no guide data yet for the new FiOS HD channels. Probably have to use the guide data available on the SD channels for a few days.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Tom Harms* /forum/post/14974799
> 
> 
> My 3 Tivos were already updated this morning. Had to go into Settings/Channel Listings and add all of the new HD channels for the guide to work on them.



What zip code are you in? I don't get any guide data for any of the new channels.


If you getno guide data either, then Tivo wasn't updated, just the CC was updated. Checking them in the channel list does nothing except show them as channels.


I've forced a couple of connections to Tivo, and I have nothing.


It's amazing to me that Tivo can't get their act together with this.


----------



## Tom Harms

My mistake. Thought it was there this morning. I'm 22151


----------



## jacindc

This Comcast DC customer just got an e-mail saying that the Digital Classic Tier folks will get 15 new channels on Nov. 1, but didn't say which ones. Oh, and the prices are going up.


----------



## prth8machine

There is a NHL Center Ice Preview starting tonight on FiOS. Not sure how long it's going for, but I'm watching the Lightning @ Sabres right now. PQ is on par with most other SD stuff I've watched, perhaps a little worse. But it's certainly watchable.


----------



## Marcus Carr

FYI:

*FCC orders Time Warner to carry MASN*

http://blogs.newsobserver.com/sports...-to-carry-masn


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14978438
> 
> 
> FYI:
> 
> *FCC orders Time Warner to carry MASN*
> 
> http://blogs.newsobserver.com/sports...-to-carry-masn



I've heard that TWC is already appealing this...


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jacindc* /forum/post/14975265
> 
> 
> This Comcast DC customer just got an e-mail saying that the Digital Classic Tier folks will get 15 new channels on Nov. 1, but didn't say which ones. Oh, and the prices are going up.





> Quote:
> NOTICE OF PRICE ADJUSTMENT COMCAST OF THE DISTRICT, LLC CUID DC0002
> 
> 
> The following channels will move from Digital Preferred to Digital Classic: AFRICA CHANNEL (678), BBC AMERICA (114), BIO (115), DO-IT-YOURSELF (121), FINE LIVING (122), GAC (147), HISTORY INTERNATIONAL (116), INDIEPLEX (167), INVESTIGATION DISCOVERY (111), LIFETIME MOVIE NETWORK (119), LOGO (163), MILITARY CHANNEL (112), NICK 2 (132), PLANET GREEN (113), CMT PURE Country (145), RETROPLEX (168), SUNDANCE (165) While we continue to make these investments, Comcast, like many other companies, is experiencing increased business and operational costs in today's challenging economic environment. As a result, beginning November 1, 2008 we are adjusting some of our prices as noted below. If you are currently enjoying a promotion, your current pricing will remain in effect until the scheduled expansion.


 http://publicnoticeads.com/MD/search...08_8215356.HTM


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jnelaine* /forum/post/14971600
> 
> 
> But I'm curious - is wind a common problem? Is that only when you have trees in the way (which I do)? I have gotten up on my roof and checked my 4221 antenna - it's solid as a rock and I can't imagine it moving, even in high wind, since it's such a thin wire mesh.



Yes, the wind can create reception issues if you have enough trees closeby. When the trees move in the wind, the leaves create multipath issues.(Especially UHF)Your digital tuner becomes confused with the unstable signal environment and may freeze or pixelate as a result. When all the leaves fall your reception may improve.


----------



## jnelaine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/14983422
> 
> 
> Yes, the wind can create reception issues if you have enough trees closeby. When the trees move in the wind, the leaves create multipath issues.(Especially UHF)Your digital tuner becomes confused with the unstable signal environment and may freeze or pixelate as a result. When all the leaves fall your reception may improve.



Thanks, I'll try to pay attention to the weather the next time 5.1 starts to crap out on me. FWIW, my other OTA HD channels (4.1, 7.1, 9.1 and 26.1) NEVER have a problem.


----------



## joblo

While Digital Rules is correct about the wind phenomenon, you would need to be fairly close to the stations for that to affect VC5/RF36 without also affecting VC7/RF39 or VC9/RF34.


What you’re describing could be a result of overload-generated interference. There are non-broadcast services that operate intermittently in the UHF band. These can beat with broadcast signals and thus generate intermittent interference on particular channels only.


If your picture degrades at regularly timed intervals, I would suggest looking at channels 17 and 18 on an analog set for any intermittent signals or noise patterns that match that timing. If so, you can probably solve the problem with attenuators and/or filters.


----------



## jnelaine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/14984426
> 
> 
> While Digital Rules is correct about the wind phenomenon, you would need to be fairly close to the stations for that to affect VC5/RF36 without also affecting VC7/RF39 or VC9/RF34.
> 
> 
> What you're describing could be a result of overload-generated interference. There are non-broadcast services that operate intermittently in the UHF band. These can beat with broadcast signals and thus generate intermittent interference on particular channels only.
> 
> 
> If your picture degrades at regularly timed intervals, I would suggest looking at channels 17 and 18 on an analog set for any intermittent signals or noise patterns that match that timing. If so, you can probably solve the problem with attenuators and/or filters.



Hmmm, very interesting - although you started to lose me with talk like "attenuators and/or filters"







. I don't watch VC5/RF36 very often, mostly only for House or Skins games. But I did notice the other night that it was rock-solid until 8:30 when the World Series started. Then it started crapping out big time -- and the weather didn't change.


----------



## jnelaine

Does anyone know when WRC 4 and WJLA 7 are planning on switching over to HD for their nightly news broadcasts? It must be embarrassing to them that WUSA has been in HD so long, or is it just that the anchors are afraid to be in HD?


----------



## Marcus Carr

American Chopper is in HD on WBFF.


----------



## dg28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jnelaine* /forum/post/14988484
> 
> 
> Does anyone know when WRC 4 and WJLA 7 are planning on switching over to HD for their nightly news broadcasts? It must be embarrassing to them that WUSA has been in HD so long, or is it just that the anchors are afraid to be in HD?



The answer is no one knows. With recent budget cuts however, it doesn't look like this is going to happen anytime soon. Believe me, neither station is "embarassed" when WRC4 is first in news ratings and WJLA7 is second. What's emabarassing is that WUSA9's early adoption of HD for news has not helped their ratings one bit.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/14990174
> 
> 
> The answer is no one knows. With recent budget cuts however, it doesn't look like this is going to happen anytime soon. Believe me, neither station is "embarassed" when WRC4 is first in news ratings and WJLA7 is second. What's emabarassing is that WUSA9's early adoption of HD for news has not helped their ratings one bit.



Something I pointed out many pages ago. Yet people here are convinced just changing to HD makes all the difference. Apparently not.


----------



## jnelaine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/14990243
> 
> 
> Something I pointed out many pages ago. Yet people here are convinced just changing to HD makes all the difference. Apparently not.



I just meant from a technology standpoint. It seems odd that the other stations are so late to the party. But, it hasn't stopped me from watching channel 4 news exclusively.


I remember WRC mentioning MANY months ago that they were working on a new studio for the HD broadcast, but I haven't heard anything since.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/14990174
> 
> 
> The answer is no one knows. With recent budget cuts however, it doesn't look like this is going to happen anytime soon. Believe me, neither station is "embarassed" when WRC4 is first in news ratings and WJLA7 is second. What's emabarassing is that WUSA9's early adoption of HD for news has not helped their ratings one bit.



Without a doubt, NBC4 puts out the highest quality news product. Too bad it's indistinguishable technology-wise from something that might have been produced 15 years ago.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/14990957
> 
> 
> Without a doubt, NBC4 puts out the highest quality news product. Too bad it's indistinguishable technology-wise from something that might have been produced 15 years ago.



It's always (ultimately) about the content. Period. (Not just regarding news programs.)


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/14965742
> 
> 
> I got the info for the Legend of the Seeker HD satellite feed, and I've put it in the schedule to record, so the season premier should be shown in HD this weekend.
> 
> 
> Cheers -



Success!


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14968071
> 
> *More analog shut-off tests announced*
> 
> 
> Oct 27, 2008 2:44 PM
> 
> 
> ION Media Networks, along with NBC Universal, Telemundo and members of the Association of Public Television Stations, will schedule analog shut-off tests in multiple major markets, including Hartford, CT; Los Angeles, New York and *Washington, D.C.*
> 
> 
> These tests are in preparation for the Feb. 17, 2009, government mandated analog shut-off and transition to digital television. Nearly all broadcasters, cable operators and satellite providers have joined in the effort.
> 
> 
> The tests will begin in New York City, with a two-minute shutdown between 5:59 and 6:01 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 28. Thirteen New York metropolitan area stations will participate.
> 
> *Subsequent one-minute tests will take place in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Dec. 2*, and two 30-minute tests in Hartford on Wednesday, Dec. 3. In addition, the broadcast partners will participate in existing tests being conducted across the country, like Philadelphia, San Francisco, and other areas with varied population densities and terrains.
> 
> http://broadcastengineering.com/hdtv...nnounced-1027/



Why would they need to test shutting off the analog signal? What does shutting it off for a minute or two or thirty accomplish?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/14993660
> 
> 
> Why would they need to test shutting off the analog signal? What does shutting it off for a minute or two or thirty accomplish?



To get the attention of viewers who still watch the analog broadcasts. The short shutoff also flags any local cable systems that are still using the analog broadcast source signal. And a mass shutoff of the analog broadcasts by most stations in a market at the same time gets a lot of publicity. The shutoff should longer than just 1 minute, but we may see longer interruptions by stations as the analog shutdown date approaches. If any lessons came out of the early shutdown in the Wilmington, NC market, it was the need to be aggressive in getting the attention of the analog OTA viewers that they need to take action to continue to get OTA stations.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/14991046
> 
> 
> It's always (ultimately) about the content. Period. (Not just regarding news programs.)



Eh, I think most people select their news channel based on familiarity with the on-air personalities. As WJLA and WRC have shown these last few years, the easiest way to shake up the ratings is to bring in/let go high-profile personalities that viewers are comfortable with. Big acquisitions by WJLA have brought big gains in ratings. Sloppy cuts at WRC have driven away some key personalities and, with them, what was once a dominant position in the ratings.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/14965742
> 
> 
> I got the info for the Legend of the Seeker HD satellite feed, and I've put it in the schedule to record, so the season premier should be shown in HD this weekend.
> 
> 
> Cheers -



On what channel? Everythiing I saw was 4x3, even on HD channels. It looks like just WGN and DCA are carrying it?


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/14994171
> 
> 
> Eh, I think most people select their news channel based on familiarity with the on-air personalities. As WJLA and WRC have shown these last few years, the easiest way to shake up the ratings is to bring in/let go high-profile personalities that viewers are comfortable with. Big acquisitions by WJLA have brought big gains in ratings. Sloppy cuts at WRC have driven away some key personalities and, with them, what was once a dominant position in the ratings.



Yeah, sure... That's why Katy Couric has huge ratings...


The personalities matter, but they are secondary to content.


I've grown to appreciate the importance of writers for all TV content, over just about everything else.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/14994421
> 
> 
> On what channel? Everythiing I saw was 4x3, even on HD channels. It looks like just WGN and DCA are carrying it?



WNUV. I expect that it was on CW 50 in HD also.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14993374
> 
> 
> Success!



Looked nice, didn't it? I watched the downlink to make sure it was coming in OK. I didn't watch the show...


----------



## 4HiMarks




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *terp97* /forum/post/14935346
> 
> 
> Anybody having problems with NBC4? I tend to have no or in and out signal in the early morning around 6:30amEDT. Had no issue with any channel for the past 3 years and all of the sudden NBC4 is having issues. Do i do another search for the OTA Scan with my HR10-250 Direct TV receiver?
> 
> 
> NBC4 has been no help.. not surprised since they still have not gone to HD news and WUSA re did the HD look and is even better.
> 
> 
> Thanks,



I am having problems with both WRC and WBAL. I tried to set a timer on my E* 622 to record the SNL presidential Bash OTA tonight, but both channels displayed a "signal lost" message. No other networks are affected, and the satellite feed for WRC is live as well. Could my tuner go bad only for selected channels? It would seem to be ahuge coincidence that both are NBC stations. The towers are in opposite directions from me (I live in Laurel) and they aren't broadcasting on adjacent frequencies either, so I'm at a loss. I have another 622 that picks it up just fine.


-Chris


----------



## CycloneGT

As a member of the Vast right wing conspiracy, we disabled the local NBC stations to keep their SNL "skits" from influencing the public (I know, a little late now isn't it?).


Oh, and don't forget, Those who want to vote for McCain are to do so on Tuesday, those who wish to Cast their votes for Obama are to do so on Wednesday. ... now back to my am radio.










The redskins should be in HD on WDCA-DT tonight, since its a MNF game.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/14994171
> 
> 
> Eh, I think most people select their news channel based on familiarity with the on-air personalities. As WJLA and WRC have shown these last few years, the easiest way to shake up the ratings is to bring in/let go high-profile personalities that viewers are comfortable with. Big acquisitions by WJLA have brought big gains in ratings. Sloppy cuts at WRC have driven away some key personalities and, with them, what was once a dominant position in the ratings.



If NBC4 would get rid of Pat Collins their ratings would go WAY up.


----------



## aholbert32

Just spoke to Comcast and they confirmed that Howard County will get FX HD, Fox News HD and Speed HD on Nov. 20. Just in time for the Shield finale.


----------



## JRM01

I was trying to help someone out on another forum. He has installed a Zenith Digital Converter Box and now gets WRC-DT on channel 48-1, but his guide data (for TiVo) is expecting it to be on channel 4-1.


It sounds like either the PSIP data is incorrect or his Zenith box is not properly interpretting it.


Any known problems here like that?


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aholbert32* /forum/post/14998006
> 
> 
> Just spoke to Comcast and they confirmed that Howard County will get FX HD, Fox News HD and Speed HD on Nov. 20. Just in time for the Shield finale.



Same in Baltimore City.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aholbert32* /forum/post/14998006
> 
> 
> Just spoke to Comcast and they confirmed that Howard County will get FX HD, Fox News HD and Speed HD on Nov. 20. Just in time for the Shield finale.



The Shield is not in HD...


----------



## Marcus Carr

The CBS Evening News is in HD on WJZ. It's a special one hour edition. We'll see if it continues to be in HD after tomorrow.


Dr. Phil is still in SD. They said they were working on syndicated HD but that's looking like B.S at this point. WJZ and WBAL are the only Baltimore stations without any of their syndicated shows in HD.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Ugh. Terminator was in HD on WBFF for ten minutes, then was in SD for the rest of the show.


Prison Break is in SD.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> If NBC4 would get rid of Pat Collins their ratings would go WAY up.



They would get.... more.... stories.... in if they.... did.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Fox News Channel HD, FX HD and Speed HD -- have been added to Comcast's high-def lineups in Annapolis and Calvert, Charles and Anne Arundel counties in Maryland.


 http://www.tvpredictions.com/comcast110408.htm


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15000117
> 
> 
> Ugh. Terminator was in HD on WBFF for ten minutes, then was in SD for the rest of the show.
> 
> 
> Prison Break is in SD.



Sorry... We were having some splicer problems last night...


Actually, according to Fox, it was a splicer problem (actually, they said it was a "local" problem - meaning me, first), according to the splicer guys, it was a Fox problem. With having both ends pointing fingers at the other, it took me a while to find the problem. It turned out that the problem was with a cable -between- the Fox equipment and the splicer (still Fox's equipment), and I had to have the splicer guy prove it to the Fox guys by reading out the fault log on the splicer.


The Fox guys are supposed to call me this morning (oops, it's 2:44 PM... Still waiting) to make sure it's fixed for tonight. I've bypassed their suspect cables with one of my own, and the signal seems stable, but I'm keeping an eye on it.


Thanks for watching!


----------



## prth8machine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/15002220
> 
> 
> They would get.... more.... stories.... in if they.... did.



ROFL. I had no idea who it was until you typed that. Thanks for the help!


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/14999530
> 
> 
> The CBS Evening News is in HD on WJZ. It's a special one hour edition. We'll see if it continues to be in HD after tomorrow.



Waiting with baited breath to see if WJZ might have used last night's CBS Evening News to start continued HD broadcasts of the program.


----------



## Marcus Carr

On 12/1, Comcast in Baltimore wil replace MOJO with Versus HD at 226. Golf HD will go full time at 254.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

WRC in SD during 11pm hour showing the speeches. Did they forget to flip the switch thinking local news was on?


----------



## Marcus Carr

I noticed that WBAL was in SD during part of the national coverage.


----------



## raidbuck




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15008502
> 
> 
> On 12/1, Comcast in Baltimore wil replace MOJO with Versus HD at 226. Golf HD will go full time at 254.



Same for Harford County.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/15005863
> 
> 
> Waiting with baited breath to see if WJZ might have used last night's CBS Evening News to start continued HD broadcasts of the program.



It's in HD again tonight at least.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/15008765
> 
> 
> WRC in SD during 11pm hour showing the speeches. Did they forget to flip the switch thinking local news was on?



they started with the 11 NEWS then flipped back to national with the call that Obama won and never switched back over to HD.


----------



## iontyre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/14999211
> 
> 
> The Shield is not in HD...



That is what I've heard, but FX does show a lot of decent movies, hopefully many of those are shown in HD....


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/15005863
> 
> 
> Waiting with baited breath to see if WJZ might have used last night's CBS Evening News to start continued HD broadcasts of the program.



Back in SD tonight.


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15020520
> 
> 
> Back in SD tonight.



Bummer!


----------



## 4HiMarks




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/14999211
> 
> 
> The Shield is not in HD...



As I understood it, "The Shield" was shot in various formats varying from film, to handheld SD, to HD depending on the scenes, because the producers wanted grainy realism (like you'd get on "Cops", I guess). How FX chooses to transmit it is another story of course, and I have E* which isn't onboard with FXHD anyway...


----------



## kkessler

Any one else have really poor reception of the NFL HD network last night for the Broncos-Browns game? I was bouncing back and fourth between that and the Maryland-Virginia Tech game on ESPN HD, and the Hokie game was coming in just fine, so I assume the problem wasn't on my end. The NFL HD network was really unwatchable.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kkessler* /forum/post/15023674
> 
> 
> Any one else have really poor reception of the NFL HD network last night for the Broncos-Browns game? I was bouncing back and fourth between that and the Maryland-Virginia Tech game on ESPN HD, and the Hokie game was coming in just fine, so I assume the problem wasn't on my end. The NFL HD network was really unwatchable.



Was it constantly unwatchable or was it on and off. It looked great on DirecTV (was loud) when it was on. Why I ask if it was on and off was because a few times during the night, the HD channel went off with a purchase error message and I was wondering if something in the signal triggered it to drop. But when it was on, it was absolutely gorgeous.


----------



## Count Blah




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kkessler* /forum/post/15023674
> 
> 
> Any one else have really poor reception of the NFL HD network last night for the Broncos-Browns game? I was bouncing back and fourth between that and the Maryland-Virginia Tech game on ESPN HD, and the Hokie game was coming in just fine, so I assume the problem wasn't on my end. The NFL HD network was really unwatchable.



FiOS NFL HD was horrible during the game for me.


----------



## HDDAVID

I also have Fios, and not only was the NFL Network unwatchable, but there was problems on Fox News Channel too


----------



## mikepinkerton

Wait....content? On local news? It's the same on all channels. Shootings in the district, panic about some impending storm (buy bread! buy bread!), cat stuck in a tree in Woodbridge, and maybe a "did you know that if you give your car keys to a stranger they might drive away with your car" on-your-side story.


DopplerViperVR-XLR-HD-DoubleHeckaSuperRadar notwithstanding, what's different besides the personalities?


-Mike


----------



## tonyd79

WMAR is a rolling mistake machine.


Right now, they have SD of one game and sound of another on their HD channel. Same on 2-2 (SD channel).


WJLA has the right game and sound.


----------



## Scott R. Scherr

I was just about to post. Same thing on Directv -- both HD and SD channels.


Audio is to Penn State game. Video is to Oklahoma-Texas A & M. It is very strange.


Scott


----------



## tonyd79

WMAR HD is back again. I think SD is still messed up.


----------



## tonyd79

Well, at least they are putting a ticker up and acknowledging the problem. But they should be good at that these days. For the last month or so, WMAR has been a disaster.


----------



## tonyd79

Oh, great. They had the HD channel right now they have SD of the Penn State game and the audio of what must be the Oklahoma game.


----------



## tonyd79

Gawd. HD is back to normal but SD is still Oklahoma picture, Penn State audio. That means they will mess up the HD again, probably.


Can we get their license revoked?


----------



## ktsmith

Certainly agree that WMAR is experiencing major technical problems. The last six months things seem to be falling apart down there. They always had a great product, but it seems like they cant get much right. Really disappointing.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Can we get their license revoked?



I'd like to apply the same comment to WJLA.


----------



## ktsmith

Anybody watching last night? It was like watching a foreign film without the subtitles. Audio was so out of sync with video that it was difficult to watch the programming. Is anyone in their management watching or listening to their on air product?


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ktsmith* /forum/post/15040466
> 
> 
> Anybody watching last night? It was like watching a foreign film without the subtitles. Audio was so out of sync with video that it was difficult to watch the programming. Is anyone in their management watching or listening to their on air product?



what product?


----------



## CycloneGT

In the broadcast TV world, the viewer is the product. Its always funny when people complain about a TV station as if they were the customers. In reality the viewers don't pay a cent to the TV station. Its the advertisers that do, and they aren't paying for TV programs, they are paying out to get your eyeballs and ears for 30 seconds at a time.


Viewers complaining is a nuisance, advertisers complaining is a crisis.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/15047476
> 
> 
> In the broadcast TV world, the viewer is the product. Its always funny when people complain about a TV station as if they were the customers. In reality the viewers don't pay a cent to the TV station. Its the advertisers that do, and they aren't paying for TV programs, they are paying out to get your eyeballs and ears for 30 seconds at a time.
> 
> 
> Viewers complaining is a nuisance, advertisers complaining is a crisis.



Nice quote! Having said that, I like to keep the viewers happy, too. I am one, and although the viewers aren't paying the bills, they are the reason the advertisers are doing so.


Cheers -


----------



## markbulla

BTW, we had a failure of our HD ingest server Monday morning, and it failed to catch the two House of Payne HD feeds for tonight, so the program will be seen in SD.


Sorry -


----------



## ktsmith

As a perceived nuisance to television broadcast professionals, I wonder how many advertisers will stay when the nuisances all watch another option? Just my opinion and apparently Mark's.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Everytime I have flipped thru My 20 in DC, "House of Payne" is in SD. They have the ability to show syndicated shows in HD such as "Raymond" and "Desperate Housewives"


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/15049705
> 
> 
> Everytime I have flipped thru My 20 in DC, "House of Payne" is in SD. They have the ability to show syndicated shows in HD such as "Raymond" and "Desperate Housewives"



It's available in HD, we've been showing it in HD for a few weeks now. The satellite feed is from 4-5 AM (two half-hour shows) on Galaxy 28, transponder 19 every weeknight. It could be that they can't record HD satellite feeds, and the other syndicated HD shows come in by other means.


----------



## inlogan

Anyone having issues with receiving the TV Guide info from MPT channel 22? I'm not getting any of the VBI data for the TVGOS on that channel the past two days.


----------



## nottenst

I don't know if it is just me, but on Comcast I just lost the 117-x and 118-x QAM channels. I watched NBC last night, but ABC just now wasn't coming in even though I got FOX on 132-1. I tried NBC and CBS and they don't appear to be coming in. I'm doing a new scan right now.


----------



## nottenst

It appears that the stuff on 117-x and 118-x just went to 122-x and 123-x. Thank you Comcast.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *inlogan* /forum/post/15051717
> 
> 
> Anyone having issues with receiving the TV Guide info from MPT channel 22? I'm not getting any of the VBI data for the TVGOS on that channel the past two days.



Are there any other channels in the area that send out TVGOS? I thought that CBS stations did?


----------



## inlogan

MPT and WETA send out the analog TVGOS and WJZ and WUSA send out the digital version now. My Sony DVR can receive both, however it has a preference for the analog TVGOS. I could get it from WETA too, but they turn their transmitter off in the early morning hours when my DVR is likely to receive the TVGOS data. I may have to try to force my unit to get the digital feed from WUSA like some other people have been doing for my DVR. I emailed engineering at MPT but haven't heard back yet.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/15055459
> 
> 
> Are there any other channels in the area that send out TVGOS? I thought that CBS stations did?


----------



## tjfounder




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/15053072
> 
> 
> I don't know if it is just me, but on Comcast I just lost the 117-x and 118-x QAM channels. I watched NBC last night, but ABC just now wasn't coming in even though I got FOX on 132-1. I tried NBC and CBS and they don't appear to be coming in. I'm doing a new scan right now.




Yep. I have the same problem. I can get Fox and 50 on 132 but 4 7 9 on 117- 118 are gone. Comcast probably moved them again. I will re scan. Hopefully they will be back to less than 4 digit sub channels so the guide data is useful again.


----------



## tjfounder




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/15053115
> 
> 
> It appears that the stuff on 117-x and 118-x just went to 122-x and 123-x. Thank you Comcast.



Thanks for the update. Still Comcast has kept the subchannels as 4 digit and that makes my DVR a VCR as far as functionally goes.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/15053072
> 
> 
> I don't know if it is just me, but on Comcast I just lost the 117-x and 118-x QAM channels. I watched NBC last night, but ABC just now wasn't coming in even though I got FOX on 132-1. I tried NBC and CBS and they don't appear to be coming in. I'm doing a new scan right now.



Same with me in College Park. I put a signal meter on the coax and there was no signal strength on 117 and 118. I missed RetroTV.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/15060533
> 
> 
> Same with me in College Park. I put a signal meter on the coax and there was no signal strength on 117 and 118. I missed RetroTV.



Put up a cheap antenna and you can have it without Comcast.


----------



## tjfounder




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/15060754
> 
> 
> Put up a cheap antenna and you can have it without Comcast.



OTA is a crapshoot where I live. Ive tried several Antennas. Its always hit and miss.


----------



## mapper




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *inlogan* /forum/post/15056299
> 
> 
> MPT and WETA send out the analog TVGOS and WJZ and WUSA send out the digital version now. My Sony DVR can receive both, however it has a preference for the analog TVGOS. I could get it from WETA too, but they turn their transmitter off in the early morning hours when my DVR is likely to receive the TVGOS data. I may have to try to force my unit to get the digital feed from WUSA like some other people have been doing for my DVR. I emailed engineering at MPT but haven't heard back yet.



I thought that digital TVGOS was going to only be on CBS O&O, like WJZ and not WUSA? Of course, I can't recieve WJZ with my tabletop antenna, so WJZ is inconvenient.


So thats why my guide data has blanks all the time, darn WETA...


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/15053115
> 
> 
> It appears that the stuff on 117-x and 118-x just went to 122-x and 123-x. Thank you Comcast.



Might be a trend, as with Cox. I think the cable cos have wised up to folks finding out about clear QAM and are putting them in a range outside of the Internet RF range. There are many people that have cable Internet only and have been getting a bunch of clear QAM ch "free" (because the clear QAM chs were in the vicinity of the Internet RF range and can't be filtered out with the analog filter at the nearest junction/pole).


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/15060912
> 
> 
> I thought that digital TVGOS was going to only be on CBS O&O, like WJZ and not WUSA? Of course, I can't recieve WJZ with my tabletop antenna, so WJZ is inconvenient.
> 
> 
> So thats why my guide data has blanks all the time, darn WETA...



I think the deal between TVGOS and CBS is to eventually have it at all stations, regardless of ownership. Analog TVGOS has only 3 months left so that's a lost cause at this point.


----------



## Ladd

A quick note for future readers searching for information about Comcast in Frederick, MD and CableCards.


I just had a Multi-Stream CableCard (Mcard) installed in my new TiVoHD and the entire process took less than 10 minutes.


Note that my visit two days earlier to the local Comcast office to inquire about a possible card pickup and self-install ("no - we don't do that because there are too many problems") elicited the comment "We don't have Multi-Stream cards -- we only have one-way cards".


I mentioned that one-way and two way protocols are different than single stream cards and multi-stream cards, but no matter. I asked the counter person to type into the Info field of the work order "Customer requests Multi-Stream CableCard for installation into TiVo HD" and hoped the install people would know more than the customer service folks.


Lucky for me, this time I was right.


----------



## imacdonald




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/15062000
> 
> 
> Might be a trend, as with Cox. I think the cable cos have wised up to folks finding out about clear QAM and are putting them in a range outside of the Internet RF range. There are many people that have cable Internet only and have been getting a bunch of clear QAM ch "free" (because the clear QAM chs were in the vicinity of the Internet RF range and can't be filtered out with the analog filter at the nearest junction/pole).



I thought that was why there is a $10 difference between a bare cable modem and cable modem with tv service, to the basic cable that is unfiltered.


----------



## aholbert32

Just switched from Comcast to Fios (Howard County) and I love it. My only dissapointment was that Fios didnt have NBA TV. Boy was I happy to wake up this morning, scroll through the guide and see that Fios is adding NBA TV HD to channel 589. Right now it says coming soon but hopefully it will be up soon.


----------



## bucnasty

verizon added HSN HD immedeately and has put coming soon for NHL HD (587) NBA HD (589) and that pack of HD channels like recepies, pets, comedy, cars hd etc....


----------



## systems2000

While watching Smallville on WNUV tonight, I did a little research on my reception. My CECB says it was a 720P program and that I had a 71-72% "Signal Strength" during the complete show. What I find interesting is that the "Signal Quality" ranged from non-existant to 91% and that I would get periods of start and stop motion. Has anyone else experienced this from WNUV?


I'm located ~71 miles from the transmitter, have a CM3020 with a new Channel Master pre-amp for Extreme Deep Fringe, and have to deal with double-edge diffraction reception. Currently, the antenna is 26' off the ground, but, hopefully, I'll be moving it to the 40' tower tomorrow.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *imacdonald* /forum/post/15063354
> 
> 
> I thought that was why there is a $10 difference between a bare cable modem and cable modem with tv service, to the basic cable that is unfiltered.



It depends on the location but in some markets on the QAM side you'd get the same chs whether you paid for basic cable or not. The $10 extra might get you some analg chs - but those are going away anyway. A lot of it also depends on the dedication of the technicians/cable co - when one cancels the TV portion of an Internet/TV package will they send a tech out to install the filter?


----------



## systems2000

Maybe I've found a reason. Time to see who is implementing *ATSC-E*.

From WIKI 


> Quote:
> *Error Correction*
> 
> Error correction is a technology that is used by the ATSC tuner to make sure that any data that is missing can be corrected. For instance, sometimes interference or a poor-quality signal will cause the loss of data information that the ATSC tuner receives. With error correction, the tuner has the ability to perform a number of checks and repair data so that a signal can be viewed on a TV set.
> There is a subsection in the ATSC standard (ATSC-E) that allows broadcasters to add extra (and variable types) of error correction to their broadcast streams.
> This error correction service is not mandatory in the US, nor is it mandatory in Canada.
> It is not known how many HDTV receivers support this error correction standard.
> For the transmission of HDTV at 720 or 1080, an extra 1% to 3% added error correction codes will help reduce some of ATSC's poorer performance with weak signals under adverse multipath conditions.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15068579
> 
> 
> While watching Smallville on WNUV tonight, I did a little research on my reception. My CECB says it was a 720P program and that I had a 71-72% "Signal Strength" during the complete show. What I find interesting is that the "Signal Quality" ranged from non-existant to 91% and that I would get periods of start and stop motion. Has anyone else experienced this from WNUV?
> 
> 
> I'm located ~71 miles from the transmitter, have a CM3020 with a new Channel Master pre-amp for Extreme Deep Fringe, and have to deal with double-edge diffraction reception. Currently, the antenna is 26' off the ground, but, hopefully, I'll be moving it to the 40' tower tomorrow.



I watched Smallville on WNUV last night, and had no breakups or signal problems. Because I wasn't having any problems, I didn't check the signal level. I'm about 25 miles from the transmitter.


I didn't get any calls about any problems from last night, either.


We did a test with ATSC-E about 1.5 years ago, with a 54.2 subchannel. It helped with trying to pick up a signal in a bad multipath area. It used a lot of bits for error correction that would otherwise go toward getting a nice HD picture. I'm pretty sure that no one in the US is using this.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15068579
> 
> 
> .... I would get periods of start and stop motion.?.....I'm located ~71 miles from the transmitter



At 71 miles from the transmitter; occasional hiccups are inevitable unless you are lucky enough to have some type of elevation advantage. A state of the art UHF only antenna like a CM 4228 or AD 91-XG is your best bet for those hard to recieve UHF signals. Even the best combo antenna can't match the performance of a UHF separate.


----------



## systems2000

No elevation advantage here. My next door neighbor can tee off a golf ball right over I-81 from his front yard.


----------



## PGHammer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/14951175
> 
> 
> Where is WTTG in HD on Comcast? Not in Howard County. We get 4, 5, 7, 9, 26 and 32 all in glorious SD. Only Baltimore is in HD.



I'm in Prince George's (Comcast). Most games have been in HD (when available that way) for two years now. WTTG's larger problem (in fact, it's true of all the competition) is that WUSA-TV/DT is kicking their tails outside of sports (especially in news); worse, it's headed into college hoops season (and WTTG shows no local hoops at all).


----------



## cableuser001

Hi,

I am within 15 miles NW of the towers in DC. CW's digital transmission is at 125KW, rest of the big 4 are at 1MW. I am using DTV Pal (from echostar). The antenna is a DIY coat hanger antenna. I tried the Phillips MANT 940, but even then, CW is breaking up (60% signal). On this device anything less than 60% has issues, so I want to be at least at 70% on average.


I am unable to get CW unless I have the antenna high above (which is not possible on a permanent basis, as I live in a rented property).


Also, for someone who knows some technical details about antennas, CW has a frequency of 692 - 698 MHz, so a wavelength of 0.431m.


I cannot hoist a large antenna to a height, but possibly a single loop which might be less ugly.


My questions

1. Does anyone know if CW is going to switch to 1MW transmission any sooner? Right now they transmit analog at 1MW and digital at 125KW.


2. Can I make a loop antenna with a circumference of 0.431/2=0.216m and get this channel reliably?


Any ideas?


Thanks.


----------



## baldheadjim

I need to know the name of a good antenna installer in the Salisbury, MD area. Any ideas?


----------



## Marcus Carr

Changes on Comcast in Baltimore City on 12/18:


Shop NBC moves from 280 to 283.

Home Preview Channel no longer available.

MLB Network added at 280.

Daystar added at 287.

CBS College Sports moves from Sports & Entertainment to Digital Classic.


----------



## machpost

I just noticed that this Saturday's Raycom ACC game of the week, Clemson at Virginia, is going to be on Fox 5 instead of WDCA. Does anyone know if this move is permanent? Hopefully it's going to be in HD, as the games have been on WDCA this season.


----------



## rviele




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *baldheadjim* /forum/post/15086913
> 
> 
> I need to know the name of a good antenna installer in the Salisbury, MD area. Any ideas?



try action antenna out of baltimore/ washington area , phone no is 4102420440.


----------



## dg28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/15087386
> 
> 
> I just noticed that this Saturday's Raycom ACC game of the week, Clemson at Virginia, is going to be on Fox 5 instead of WDCA. Does anyone know if this move is permanent? Hopefully it's going to be in HD, as the games have been on WDCA this season.



I believe they've been doing that most of this season. Remember, Fox owns both WTTG and WDCA.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Cox is excited to add five new HD channels to our digital lineup effective December 16, 2008:
> 
> 
> Hallmark Movie HD on channel 743
> 
> Planet Green HD on channel 749
> 
> The Weather Channel HD on channel 752
> 
> AMC HD on channel 753
> 
> WGN HD on channel 754
> 
> 
> Several additional HD channels and two standard digital channels will launch between mid-December 2008 and February 2009, including:
> 
> 
> Fox Business standard digital channel 260
> 
> Fox Business HD on channel 755
> 
> Fox News HD on channel 756
> 
> Speed HD on channel 757
> 
> FX HD on channel 758
> 
> Cartoon HD on channel 759
> 
> WE HD on channel 760
> 
> IFC HD on channel 761
> 
> Comedy HD on channel 762
> 
> BET HD on channel 763
> 
> Fuel standard digital channel on 259


 http://www.cox.com/fairfax/bulletins...l_launches.asp


----------



## kopesetic

Hi All,


I recently subscribed to Comcast Limited Basic for $17.99 and Cable modem service. Comcast's web site advertises that I should be able to receive the digital/HD channels for the OTA channels that I am eligible to receive.


When I do a channel scan on my TV's QAM (Sharp LC-37GD6U) tuner I only get a few of the stations I expect. The scan remembers many different channels, but there is not picture on most of the channels. Only a few channels actually had a picture. For example, WTTG (15.1), WJLA and subs (17.1-3), WETA and subs (17.4-8).


I am looking for WRC and WUSA so that I can watch sports in HD.


Any ideas about what channels I should be looking on? Am I lucky to be getting what I get or should I complain about not getting some channels?


Thanks for any ideas.


Kevin


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kopesetic* /forum/post/15093055
> 
> 
> I am looking for WRC and WUSA so that I can watch sports in HD.
> 
> 
> Any ideas about what channels I should be looking on? Am I lucky to be getting what I get or should I complain about not getting some channels?



You should get all the locals but complaining to a CSR who doesn't even know what clear QAM is won't get you very far. Till they completely fix all their chs you may be stuck with watching the analogs.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kopesetic* /forum/post/15093055
> 
> 
> I recently subscribed to Comcast Limited Basic for $17.99 and Cable modem service. Comcast's web site advertises that I should be able to receive the digital/HD channels for the OTA channels that I am eligible to receive.
> 
> 
> When I do a channel scan on my TV's QAM (Sharp LC-37GD6U) tuner I only get a few of the stations I expect. The scan remembers many different channels, but there is not picture on most of the channels. Only a few channels actually had a picture. For example, WTTG (15.1), WJLA and subs (17.1-3), WETA and subs (17.4-8).
> 
> 
> I am looking for WRC and WUSA so that I can watch sports in HD.



I'm surprised that Comcast's web site advertises this. In any case, sometimes the channels are not where you expect them and they also change. Recently in my area most of the local channels just moved to 122-x and 123-x. That included ABC, CBS, and NBC, while FOX and the CW stayed at around 132-x (if I remember correctly). You really need to patiently try out the stations and build yourself a map. One note is that in one area (I think it is around 86 in our area) the On Demand signals from people in your neighborhood appear. That can make things a bit confusing. I'm sure someone here in your area probably has a channel map you can work from.


----------



## SUOrangeman

Cox Fairfax channel 742 now reflects the new additions mentioned in joblo's post above.


-SUO


----------



## steeler

OTA'ers out there any thought of the type/model antenna you are going to buy for use after February 9 ?


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *steeler* /forum/post/15104027
> 
> 
> OTA'ers out there any thought of the type/model antenna you are going to buy for use after February 9 ?



I've been using my big old antenna with the rotor that's been on my chimney for years. It's got both VHF and UHF, so I won't have problems with stations that go back to VHF.


I'm sorry that I don't have the model number. It's been up there for about 20 years...


----------



## baldheadjim




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rviele* /forum/post/15088009
> 
> 
> try action antenna out of baltimore/ washington area , phone no is 4102420440.



Thanks I will give them a call


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/14962942
> 
> 
> The Annapolis Comcast system added Fox News HD-221, FX-HD-242, and Speed Channel HD-222 this morning.
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> 
> Steve in Shady Side, MD



any word on Nova or in my case Manassas getting those channels? they are listed on the Manassas/Prince William channel lineup on their website but are not in the cable box yet.


----------



## CycloneGT

I'm gonna stick with my OTA UHF antenna at first and see how I do with VHF reception. Luckily both 7 & 9 are available on Dish, so even if I can't get them via OTA, I won't really lose them. I will miss their sub channels since those are two stations who's subchannels I actually use.


----------



## steeler




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/15107754
> 
> 
> I'm gonna stick with my OTA UHF antenna at first and see how I do with VHF reception. Luckily both 7 & 9 are available on Dish, so even if I can't get them via OTA, I won't really lose them. I will miss their sub channels since those are two stations who's subchannels I actually use.




What UHF antenna do you have?


----------



## CycloneGT

A CM4228. In Analog I can get VHF 7 and 9 with pretty clear PQ. 5, 4, and 2 are horrible. But 7 and up look ok to me.


----------



## steeler




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/15109793
> 
> 
> A CM4228. In Analog I can get VHF 7 and 9 with pretty clear PQ. 5, 4, and 2 are horrible. But 7 and up look ok to me.



That's a lot of antenna for Boyds MD. I have a CM4221 and can't get any VHF analog channels clear but it's a killer digital UHF antenna way out here in Hamilton. I was looking at the new CM4228HD the upgraded version of your antenna. The specs show it receives high VHF signals from Ch 7 on up into the full UHF range which is perfect for this area. Problem is the 4228HD is quite a bit bigger than my current antenna and also bigger than the discontinued CM4228 so I will have to relocate the new antenna when/if I get it.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast has just added FX HD, Fox News HD, and Speed HD in Baltimore City.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15110905
> 
> 
> Comcast has just added FX HD, Fox News HD, and Speed HD in Baltimore City.



Same in Howard County.


----------



## lax01




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/15111376
> 
> 
> Same in Howard County.



any word on MoCo? I've been waiting for Speed and FX for FOREVER


----------



## kingpong

Nice of Comcast to finally give us those 3 new HD channels but then require the Digital Classic package to get them despite the SD versions all being included in the Digital Starter package. I really want Speed HD, but I'm not about to pay the $15 extra a month to get it.


Naturally Comcast's site hasn't been updated to show the new channel listings. Of course, that wouldn't help anyways given how many errors are in the channel list, like how they show Mojo as included in Digital Starter when it actually required Digital Classic.


Update: Eventually the new channels were authorized. No more black screens. Yay.


----------



## jsilva982

any news on these channels coming to comcast in DC?


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/15111376
> 
> 
> Same in Howard County.



So any idea what channel numbers they are? I'm in Maple Lawn (HoCo, I think) at work, and I don't see the new channels.


I'll try to reboot the box and see if they come up...


-John


UPDATE: Reboot worked, they are there, but no guide data.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *steeler* /forum/post/15110234
> 
> 
> That's a lot of antenna for Boyds MD. I have a CM4221 and can't get any VHF analog channels clear but it's a killer digital UHF antenna way out here in Hamilton. I was looking at the new CM4228HD the upgraded version of your antenna. The specs show it receives high VHF signals from Ch 7 on up into the full UHF range which is perfect for this area. Problem is the 4228HD is quite a bit bigger than my current antenna and also bigger than the discontinued CM4228 so I will have to relocate the new antenna when/if I get it.



Since you are having such good luck with the 4221, why not just _augment_ it with a _"real"_ VHF antenna?

http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...p?PROD=Y5-7-13 

or
http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?prod=YA1713 


Combine the 2 antennas with a UVSJ

http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?prod=UVSJ 


IMO, it's too much of a gamble at your distance to spend all that money on a new 4228 and hope it works.(No matter what CM says; it is a _UHF_ antenna with "some" VHF capabilites)


This is much cheaper too.


----------



## CycloneGT

It is a lot of Antenna. There was a guy here on the Forum named Tahoerob who used to post daily like many of us. Well he offered it up one day and at the time my Attic antenna wasn't cutting it. So I had Dave from Fairfax antenna install it along with a rotator. Is it to much antenna? Well, I get every channel that I list on the first post, so I have nothing to complain about, and maybe that's why it was worth it.


----------



## steeler




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/15114388
> 
> 
> Since you are having such good luck with the 4221, why not just _augment_ it with a _"real"_ VHF antenna?
> 
> http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...p?PROD=Y5-7-13
> 
> or
> http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?prod=YA1713
> 
> 
> Combine the 2 antennas with a UVSJ
> 
> http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?prod=UVSJ
> 
> 
> IMO, it's too much of a gamble at your distance to spend all that money on a new 4228 and hope it works.(No matter what CM says; it is a _UHF_ antenna with "some" VHF capabilites)
> 
> 
> This is much cheaper too.




I thought of that but I don't want 3 antenna's on my house (UHF, VHF, D*)


The 4228 and 4228HD are 2 different antenna's. http://www.warrenelectronics.com/antennas/4228HD.htm 


Also I like to deal with Warren Electronics. They are great and are usually much cheaper than Solid Signal, for the 4228HD Warren is $15.00 cheaper.


----------



## steeler




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/15114736
> 
> 
> It is a lot of Antenna. There was a guy here on the Forum named Tahoerob who used to post daily like many of us. Well he offered it up one day and at the time my Attic antenna wasn't cutting it. So I had Dave from Fairfax antenna install it along with a rotator. Is it to much antenna? Well, I get every channel that I list on the first post, so I have nothing to complain about, and maybe that's why it was worth it.




I wasn't being critical and you can't beat a free antenna!


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *steeler* /forum/post/15104027
> 
> 
> OTA'ers out there any thought of the type/model antenna you are going to buy for use after February 9 ?



Currently, I'm using a Channel Master VHF/UHF/FM CM-3020 (on a rotor) with a CM-0264DSB pre-amp mounted at 26'. I'm trying to get it moved to my 40' tower and make some evaluations about where I go next from there.


I'd like to test both Extreme Deep Fringe UHF and VHF antennas. I may need to move to a twin ganged UHF yagi before it's all said and done.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cableuser001* /forum/post/15085029
> 
> 
> My questions
> 
> 1. Does anyone know if CW is going to switch to 1MW transmission any sooner? Right now they transmit analog at 1MW and digital at 125KW.
> 
> 
> 2. Can I make a loop antenna with a circumference of 0.431/2=0.216m and get this channel reliably?
> 
> 
> Any ideas?
> 
> 
> Thanks.



1) I don't think they will be going to 1MW until Feb.

2) Try a Di-Pole instead. It would be easy to make, small, and outputs 300 Ohms.


----------



## aaronwt

I use a couple of Square shooter antennas which have worked very well with UHF the last 4.5 years. Hopefully there won't be any problems with VHF. Although it is a backup to FIOS.


At my girlfriends who has OTA only in FOrt Washington. I got her a couple of RCA table top antennas(ANT1251) that has separately built in variable amps for UHF and VHF. They work exteremly well and pick up all the stations in Baltimore and DC. And they are small and barely take up any space. Although once VHF is used I guess I need to extend the VHF antennas. Right now they are hidden.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cableuser001* /forum/post/15085029
> 
> 
> Hi,
> 
> I am within 15 miles NW of the towers in DC. CW's digital transmission is at 125KW, rest of the big 4 are at 1MW. I am using DTV Pal (from echostar). The antenna is a DIY coat hanger antenna. I tried the Phillips MANT 940, but even then, CW is breaking up (60% signal). On this device anything less than 60% has issues, so I want to be at least at 70% on average.
> 
> 
> I am unable to get CW unless I have the antenna high above (which is not possible on a permanent basis, as I live in a rented property).
> 
> ...
> 
> 1. Does anyone know if CW is going to switch to 1MW transmission any sooner? Right now they transmit analog at 1MW and digital at 125KW.



I missed seeing your post, so a belated reply. I have no problems getting WDCW-DT 50 at 16 miles from Sterling even with an indoor Silver Sensor antenna. WDCW-DT is operating at 125 kW on UHF 51, but that is still a decent digital power level for UHF. You might get better results with 2 or 4 bay bowtie antenna for the UHF stations and there are plans for a DIY 4 bay bowtie.


WDCW-DT will flash cut to 50 on February 18, currently authorized to operate at 122 kW. WDCW-DT filed a maximized power application to increase the power post-transition to 1000 kW, but the FCC has not granted their application yet. The FCC has seemingly been slow to process the maximize power applications. Only a few have been granted so far for our area. BTW, WJLA-DT 7 is at 646 kW on UHF 39 and WRC-DT is at 813 kW on UHF 48; only 2 of big 4 in DC are at 1000 kW.


On the subject of antennas, the CM4228 8 bay has more gain than the CM4221 4 Bay. But the CM4228 (or the new CM4228H made-in-China version) is much more directional than the CM4221. So for locations where the stations are scattered far apart in different directions, the CM 4221 is the more useful. I have a CM 4221 in the attic and added a Winegard YA-6713 upper VHF antenna (since discontinued) to be ready for February 18 (89 days to go).


----------



## steeler




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15117994
> 
> 
> I missed seeing your post, so a belated reply. I have no problems getting WDCW-DT 50 at 16 miles from Sterling even with an indoor Silver Sensor antenna. WDCW-DT is operating at 125 kW on UHF 51, but that is still a decent digital power level for UHF. You might get better results with 2 or 4 bay bowtie antenna for the UHF stations and there are plans for a DIY 4 bay bowtie.
> 
> 
> WDCW-DT will flash cut to 50 on February 18, currently authorized to operate at 122 kW. WDCW-DT filed a maximized power application to increase the power post-transition to 1000 kW, but the FCC has not granted their application yet. The FCC has seemingly been slow to process the maximize power applications. Only a few have been granted so far for our area. BTW, WJLA-DT 7 is at 646 kW on UHF 39 and WRC-DT is at 813 kW on UHF 48; only 2 of big 4 in DC are at 1000 kW.
> 
> 
> On the subject of antennas, the CM4228 8 bay has more gain than the CM4221 4 Bay. But the CM4228 (*or the new CM4228H made-in-China version) is much more directional than the CM4221*. So for locations where the stations are scattered far apart in different directions, the CM 4221 is the more useful. I have a CM 4221 in the attic and added a Winegard YA-6713 upper VHF antenna (since discontinued) to be ready for February 18 (89 days to go).



How do you know the CM4228HD is much more directional than the CM4221? The antenna isn't even on the market yet and there are no product reviews.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *steeler* /forum/post/15120487
> 
> 
> How do you know the CM4228HD is much more directional than the CM4221? The antenna isn't even on the market yet and there are no product reviews.



The CM 4228HD is still two stacks of 4 bowties side-by-side. The only major change in the design are two continuous horizontal screens (with horizontal bars only) across the width of the antenna which is obviously aimed at improving upper VHF reception (and fix the notch for VHF 8 reception in the current CM4228). Probably some changes to the feed line. But those mods are not going to change the beam pattern for UHF reception much.


Beam pattern for CM 4221: http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/cm4221.html 

Beam pattern for CM 4228: http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/cm4228.html


----------



## carltonrice

I have a CM4228 on my rrof with a rotor right now and my plan is just to wait until the change in February and see whether I can still pick up channels 7, 9, 11, and 13 when they revert. I get them with my indoor antennae here in Laurel, so I'm hopeful that even thought the CM4228 is UHF only, it will get enough of a signal to keep me from having to replace it.


----------



## cableuser001

Thanks all for their suggestions. I'll try this. I have a few more questions.


1. The antenna on top our building was fixed by the housing people and I get all channels except WRC/NBC . I get it barely, and I see a lot of signal dropping. All the towers of NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX are at the same location. So, why am I getting it so bad?


2. For the antenna, what gage of wire is suggested. Someone was using coat hanger, someone else used #8 copper wire. How does the gauge of the wire affect the reception.


3. For a DB4 DIY antenna made out of coat hangers, can I use a closed triangle instead of open ended Vs, for the elements. I just want to eliminate any sharp ends and also, I have seen someone using a bow-tie design. However, this bow tie design was just a single one. Any ideas?


Thanks.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15117799
> 
> 
> 1) I don't think they will be going to 1MW until Feb.
> 
> 2) Try a Di-Pole instead. It would be easy to make, small, and outputs 300 Ohms.


----------



## systems2000

How well do you receive CW50? WRC is on 48 at full power (813 KW) and 50 is at partial power of 125 KW. Maybe you have a dip in your antenna that affects 48.


The bigger the wire (copper is best), the better the gain.


----------



## cableuser001

I can't receive CW50 at all. With MANT940 antenna, I was barely able to receive CW50.


Thanks.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15124137
> 
> 
> How well do you receive CW50? WRC is on 48 at full power (813 KW) and 50 is at partial power of 125 KW. Maybe you have a dip in your antenna that affects 48.
> 
> 
> The bigger the wire (copper is best), the better the gain.


----------



## steeler




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cableuser001* /forum/post/15124154
> 
> 
> I can't receive CW50 at all. With MANT940 antenna, I was barely able to receive CW50.
> 
> 
> Thanks.



Where are you located?


----------



## carltonrice

CW50 is my weakest station as well. I can get it with the roof antenna aimed just right, but it's still not that stable. Can't get it at all with the indoor antenna. My24 is about on that same level from Baltimore.


----------



## steeler




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/15130617
> 
> 
> CW50 is my weakest station as well. I can get it with the roof antenna aimed just right, but it's still not that stable. Can't get it at all with the indoor antenna. My24 is about on that same level from Baltimore.



I get CW50 just fine out here in Steeler country


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/15130617
> 
> 
> CW50 is my weakest station as well. I can get it with the roof antenna aimed just right, but it's still not that stable. Can't get it at all with the indoor antenna. My24 is about on that same level from Baltimore.



For digital broadcast, WDCW-DT's 125 kW on UHF 51 is not that weak a signal. There is approximately a 16:1 ratio between equivalent analog and digital power (ERP to be specific). The coverage maps for WDCW-TV's 4168 kW analog broadcast and the digital 125 kW are not that different.


There is a possible source of interference, WMAR-DT ABC 2 broadcasting on UHF 52 at 602 kW in Baltimore. But it should only be a issue for those closer to the WMAR-DT's broadcast tower in NW Baltimore or north of it where the signal from WMAR-DT is much stronger than the WDCW-DT's signal. Directional antennas in some spots can help. The adjacent channel issue for those 2 stations will go away after February 17 when WDCW-DT 50 flash cuts to UHF 50 and WMAR-DT moves to UHF 38 at 1000 kW.


But WDCW-DT should not be that difficult to get withing the outer edges of this coverage map area except up close to Baltimore: http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...=DT623485.html . Since WDCW-DT is in the upper UHF channel range, it will have higher loss for long cable runs. If the cable is RG-59 for a medium to long length run, switching to shielded RG-6 might help with getting WRC-DT on UHF 48 or WDCW-DT on UHF 51.


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15131206
> 
> 
> There is a possible source of interference, WMAR-DT ABC 2 broadcasting on UHF 52 at 602 kW in Baltimore. But it should only be a issue for those closer to the WMAR-DT's broadcast tower in NW Baltimore or north of it where the signal from WMAR-DT is much stronger than the WDCW-DT's signal. Directional antennas in some spots can help. The adjacent channel issue for those 2 stations will go away after February 17 when WDCW-DT 50 flash cuts to UHF 50 and WMAR-DT moves to UHF 38 at 1000 kW.



That is what I hope will happen in February. When the stations stop playing musical chairs, then we'll have to see where we're at and what's still lacking. Where I live, although I'm on 6 miles outside the DC beltway and 25 miles outside the Baltimore beltway, the stations from TV Hill in Baltimore are all strong with the closer DC transmitters not so much. It is probable that the Baltimore frequencies could be causing some interference in my case. WMAR-DT is the strongest of my signals.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/15131240
> 
> 
> It is probable that the Baltimore frequencies could be causing some interference in my case. WMAR-DT is the strongest of my signals.



Yes, with Baltimore & DC being about 180 degrees opposite of each other, that is very likely.


----------



## leesweet

Been away from this thread for ages, and finally came back to see what was the story for February OTA. Glad to see we only need to worry about 7 and 9.


I tested my CM4221, running a spare splitter output into the "antenna in" on my old Sammie DLP (from 2003: no ATSC!), and 7 and 9 are good enough (I forgot how analog looked...







) that it should be fine come February.


So, for anyone in the South Riding/SE Loudoun/Western Fairfax area in a similar situation who hasn't tested, you may be good to go.


(Unless I've misdigested what's in the last twenty pages of this thread and the 'what's changing in Feb nationally' thread...







)


----------



## steeler




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *leesweet* /forum/post/15133397
> 
> 
> Been away from this thread for ages, and finally came back to see what was the story for February OTA. Glad to see we only need to worry about 7 and 9.
> 
> 
> I tested my CM4221, running a spare splitter output into the "antenna in" on my old Sammie DLP (from 2003: no ATSC!), and 7 and 9 are good enough (I forgot how analog looked...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ) that it should be fine come February.
> 
> 
> So, for anyone in the South Riding/SE Loudoun/Western Fairfax area in a similar situation who hasn't tested, you may be good to go.
> 
> 
> (Unless I've misdigested what's in the last twenty pages of this thread and the 'what's changing in Feb nationally' thread...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> )



Hmmmm, you think you can get high VHF with your 4221 UHF only antenna. That's interesting. You are about the same distance from the towers as me. Hopefully my 4221 will produce the same results and I won't have to buy a UHF/VHF antenna. Can you pull in any B'more stations at your location?


----------



## CycloneGT

Actually its funny how you put a sad face







about how analog looks. I did a scan with my TV's analog tuner the other day. This analog TV had either had Dish Network SD connected to it, or a digital converter box. Well after the analog scan there were a few channels that looked really good. Much better than they look (and what I've gotten acclimated too) on Dish Network due to compression.


----------



## cableuser001

For the first time, I could barely get my Echostar TR-40 to scan CW50. However, it is at 54% and all I get is a blank screen. I get the PSIP EPG, since it is scanned, but no video. This is at 15miles northwest of DC.


Hope it improves after Feb 09.


Does anyone know if they are increasing their transmission power any sooner? I have seen some discussions about their application for doing the same, but unaware of any developments.


Thanks.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15131206
> 
> 
> For digital broadcast, WDCW-DT's 125 kW on UHF 51 is not that weak a signal. There is approximately a 16:1 ratio between equivalent analog and digital power (ERP to be specific). The coverage maps for WDCW-TV's 4168 kW analog broadcast and the digital 125 kW are not that different.
> 
> 
> There is a possible source of interference, WMAR-DT ABC 2 broadcasting on UHF 52 at 602 kW in Baltimore. But it should only be a issue for those closer to the WMAR-DT's broadcast tower in NW Baltimore or north of it where the signal from WMAR-DT is much stronger than the WDCW-DT's signal. Directional antennas in some spots can help. The adjacent channel issue for those 2 stations will go away after February 17 when WDCW-DT 50 flash cuts to UHF 50 and WMAR-DT moves to UHF 38 at 1000 kW.
> 
> 
> But WDCW-DT should not be that difficult to get withing the outer edges of this coverage map area except up close to Baltimore: http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...=DT623485.html . Since WDCW-DT is in the upper UHF channel range, it will have higher loss for long cable runs. If the cable is RG-59 for a medium to long length run, switching to shielded RG-6 might help with getting WRC-DT on UHF 48 or WDCW-DT on UHF 51.


----------



## dmulvany

I've got a request of people in the viewing area of WTTG (channel 5) and WDCA (channel 20) who have OTA digital TV equipment, particularly if the DTV equipment was manufactured before 2008. Could you check one evening to see if you have problems getting captions on 5.1 and/or 20.1 for reruns, i.e., *syndicated* programs like "The Simpsons," "Seinfield" and "King of the Hill", which are not broadcast live by satellite? (The digital captions for reruns are created on the fly by different technology (owned by the station) compared to the digital captions from (live) programs broadcast by satellite; the former is a problem while the latter is not an issue right now.)


I've been trying to get these captioning problems addressed FOR OVER A YEAR. I'm finally in communication with the engineering department about these problems, but more help is needed from people who have different kinds of digital TV equipment.


(The captions seem to be fine for prime-time shows broadcast by satellite. Digital captions from syndicated programs on WTTG and WDCA are received intact by two 2008 DTV devices that I have, but not by my 2006 HDTV---the digital captions disappear altogether after a few minutes.)


Whether or not you see digital captions throughout the program, it would be useful to know what brand of HDTV or DTV equipment you have and approximately when it was manufactured.


My guess is that the delay in the captions that are upconverted from analog to digital by WTTG and WDCA is causing older DTV equipment to be unable to decode the captions at all once the lack on synchronization occurs, but for some unknown reason, newer DTVs can still keep decoding the delayed captions.


There are two problems: the unacceptable delay in the captions and the inability of some TVs to show any of those delayed captions at all. No one knows what changed in the manufacturing process to allow some (newer? different brands of?) TVs to decode those delayed captions and at what point that change occurred.


So if different people in this viewing area could check out the status of captions from different digital TV equipment and let me know the particulars, that could go a long way towards trying to solve these problems before thousands of people are stuck with unworkable captions on February 18th, 2009.


If you'd like to help out, please email me at [email protected] with "Report on captioning for digital programs from WTTG or WDCA" in the subject line and the following information in the body of your email:


1. Manufacturer of your DTV equipment:


2. Model number (if available)


3. Date of manufacture (on back of TV) or date purchased:


4. What rerun (syndicated TV program) you watched with digital captions turned on your DTV equipment:


5. How long did you watch with the captions turned on? (Please watch at least ten minutes):


6. Did all of the captions show up, even if there was a delay? If possible, please record the time of any problems that occurred:


7. Any other observations you think might be useful or relevant:


BTW, no one is getting paid anything extra to do this troubleshooting. I'm a person with severe hearing loss who depends on captioning and who would like to get these problems figured out before people with older HDTVs are stuck not being able to watch some digital programming next February 18th.


Thanks in advance for your help!


Dana Mulvany


----------



## markbulla

Hi everyone -


We have been using an old exciter on WBFF-DT for a few weeks to see if doing so would fix the audio problems that we were having on DirecTV. I haven't seen any postings of problems for a while, so that may have helped the problem.


Yesterday, I updated the software on the newer exciter, and put it back on the air. Please let me know if you start experiencing the popping audio problem again, especially on DirecTV.


Thanks -


----------



## Lenonn

Anyone have audio problems on WUSA last night (Monday, the 24th)? My mother said she has audio problems, and I did, too... was it a problem with WUSA, or with RCN (my cable provider)? The dialog was so low volume, you could barely hear it - it seems to have started a few minutes into _The Big Bang Theory_, and continued through _How I Met Your Mother_. It seems to have been fixed by the time _Two and a Half Men_ started.


----------



## mr b

Lenonn,


Had the same problem via FIOS.


----------



## dg28

Same problem OTA


----------



## mdviewer25

not exactly HD related but Comcast of Prince George's County is showing WDCW on analog channels 3 and 20. WDCA 20 has disappeared.


----------



## Lenonn




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/15147903
> 
> 
> Same problem OTA



Thank you, everyone. It's good to know it's not just me. I've fired off an e-mail to WUSA about this incident.


----------



## bmfc1

I had the same problem in MoCo. It was fixed half-way through HIMYM.


----------



## Lenonn




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bmfc1* /forum/post/15152581
> 
> 
> I had the same problem in MoCo. It was fixed half-way through HIMYM.



I received a response e-mail from WUSA (I cut out the names for privacy purposes):



> Quote:
> _You are absolutely correct. We had an issue on our HD feed for almost 20 minutes last night. This was our problem and not CBS's. Without going into too much detail, this was essentially human error. We have the issue corrected and we should not be having this problem again.
> 
> 
> Thank you for contact me about this (I'll take all the help I can get!). Please feel free to contact me again if you experience any issues._


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/15149360
> 
> 
> not exactly HD related but Comcast of Prince George's County is showing WDCW on analog channels 3 and 20. WDCA 20 has disappeared.



I don't try to understand Comcast programming, but I now find that my basic cable in P.G county provides the same program on 3-0 in analog, on 84-18 in SD digital, and on 133-601 in 720p digital. These are all identified as My-20.


----------



## Mike20878

Our Comcast tv (all channels, not just HD) was barely watchable around 7:30pm Monday night. The weather wasn't that bad out, so I don't know if it can be blamed.


----------



## dg28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Lenonn* /forum/post/15153516
> 
> 
> I received a response e-mail from WUSA (I cut out the names for privacy purposes):



Good for WUSA for: (1) actually responding to you, and; (2) being honest in their response instead of giving you some corporate BS.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Mike20878* /forum/post/15155220
> 
> 
> Our Comcast tv (all channels, not just HD) was barely watchable around 7:30pm Monday night. The weather wasn't that bad out, so I don't know if it can be blamed.



A friend of mine that lives near you reported the same thing. Said his internet was fine, but TV was screwed. That's Comcast for ya!










Just wanted to confirm that it wasn't just you.


----------



## Mike20878




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/15156607
> 
> 
> A friend of mine that lives near you reported the same thing. Said his internet was fine, but TV was screwed. That's Comcast for ya!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Just wanted to confirm that it wasn't just you.



A board member at a recent HOA meeting (I'm in the Lakelands) said it'll be six years until FiOS comes here.


----------



## haggisbingo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/15091311
> 
> http://www.cox.com/fairfax/bulletins...l_launches.asp



Thanks- but, HDNET please..........


----------



## mikepinkerton




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Lenonn* /forum/post/15153516
> 
> 
> I received a response e-mail from WUSA (I cut out the names for privacy purposes):



Interesting, I record it both HD and standard-def and it had the same audio problem on std-def as well.


-Mike


----------



## imacdonald

I just saw that weta is running a digital test on tuesday at 5:28pm. It doesn't look that exciting, from www.weta.org/digital 



> Quote:
> Washington-area DTV broadcast test is on December 2
> 
> 
> All television stations in the Washington area will broadcast a special DTV alert at the same time for two minutes on December 2, 2008 starting at 5:28 pm.
> 
> 
> If your television set is still receiving an analog broadcast signal, you will see this alert. This means that that television set is not ready for the digital transition occurring nationwide on February 17, 2009.
> 
> 
> If you do not see this alert then that means your television set is receiving a digital signal and you are ready for February 17.



It will be interesting to see if comcast/verizon/cox have switched to digital feeds.


----------



## mikepinkerton

Why is Kentucky v. Tennessee blacked out on ESPN2 on D* in NoVA?


What other network is it on? I can't find it anywhere. Should someone call D* and let them know?


-Mike


----------



## FineWare




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikepinkerton* /forum/post/15177008
> 
> 
> Why is Kentucky v. Tennessee blacked out on ESPN2 on D* in NoVA?



It wasn't really blacked out. The MD/BC game ran long, and that is what was being blacked out. Once that game was over the blackout was lifted.


----------



## SUOrangeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *imacdonald* /forum/post/15174054
> 
> 
> I just saw that weta is running a digital test on tuesday at 5:28pm. It doesn't look that exciting, from www.weta.org/digital
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It will be interesting to see if comcast/verizon/cox have switched to digital feeds.



If I am not mistaken, WJLA7 is running a test at that time as well.


-SUO


----------



## mchief99

Last night was a mess. CWHD - WDCAHD and WETAHD were off the air on Comcast. I assume this is a Comcast problem. The SD feeds were fine. And I can't see all these HD feeds being down at the same time.


----------



## imacdonald




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SUOrangeman* /forum/post/15180272
> 
> 
> If I am not mistaken, WJLA7 is running a test at that time as well.
> 
> 
> -SUO



WRC (nbc4) are doing it as well, so it looks like they might have got together to do this. I was doing some searching and found a forum where people were upset about their digital tv's failing on one channel via dish networks, they were all annoyed that the station hadn't done their work to become digital


----------



## Lenonn

I'm still waiting for RCN to get Universal HD and SciFi HD. One day it's on their lineup, the next day it's not, then the next day it is, and then again it's not.


----------



## markbulla

Hi all -


In case there's anyone from Discovery who reads this, for the last week or two, when I'm watching Discovery HD on Dish Network, many times when they go to a commercial break, the picture will freeze after a couple of seconds, then both the audio will go away for 3-4 seconds, then everthing will come back. It repeats this until the program comes back. It doesn't happen every commercial break, but enough times that it gets annoying... It doesn't matter if it's a national ad, or a promo for another show on the Discovery channel. Also, I've only noticed it on Discovery HD.


It never occurs during the actual program, just the commercials. Since the commercials are what's paying the bills, that seems to be kind of bad, to me...


----------



## mikepinkerton




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *FineWare* /forum/post/15177735
> 
> 
> It wasn't really blacked out. The MD/BC game ran long, and that is what was being blacked out. Once that game was over the blackout was lifted.



Thanks FineWare! I was going crazy 


-Mike


----------



## afiggatt

*Digital Transition Summary for DC, Baltimore, Hagerstown Stations*


The following is my attempt at summarizing the pre and post transition digital channels, power levels, and status of filings for the full power stations in the DC, Baltimore, and Hagerstown markets. I sorted the list by the post-transition physical broadcast channel, which I think is more useful for highlighting the upper VHF stations and possible signal conflicts. The technical shorthand terms are ERP (Effective Radiated Power) in kW, HAAT (antenna Height Above Average Terrain) in meters, CP = Construction Permit granted by the FCC. A number of stations filed maximized power applications in June on which the FCC has not acted on yet.


At the bottom is a separate list for the digital low power (LD) stations in DC and the stronger digital low power CPs in the western edge of the DC area. Some of the LD CPs may not be built; I suspect some of them are placeholders for future filings for better channel allotments. The analog low power stations do not have to shut down next Feb. 17. In this research, I found that WZDC-DC Telemundo 25 recently filed for and was granted a digital flash cut on UHF 25 post-transition. Their digital allotment provides for an increased coverage area over their current analog one, although the coverage pattern is still directional favoring the east. When WHAG-TV 25 shuts down its’ analog signal on Feb. 17, that will eliminate interference problems which should help picking up WZDC-CA NW of DC.


The columns are: Station, Location, Pre-transition actual digital channel, Pre-transition DT ERP, Post-transition actual digital channel, Post-Transition current ERP allotment, post-transition HAAT in meters, and Notes/Comments. Hope the list is readable.

Code:


Code:


Station         Location        PreDT   ERP(kW) PostDT  ERP(kW) HAAT(m) Notes
WJLA-DT ABC 7   DC              39      646     7       13.6    235     maximized app pending for 30 kW
WUSA-DT CBS 9   DC              34      1000    9       12.6    235     
WBAL-DT NBC 11  Baltimore       59      513     11      5       299     
WWPX-DT ion 60  Martinsburg     12      23      12      23      314     Petition pending to move DTV operations to 51 in VA
WJZ-DT CBS 13   Baltimore       38      1000    13      28.8    295     To operate on STA basis on DT 13 (9.8kW) until 5/15/09.
WFDC-DT uni 14  DC              15      325     15      1000    227     CP granted for 1000 kW post-transition
WVPY-DT PBS 42  Front Royal     21      50      21      50      400     app filed in Oct 08 for 100 kW post-transition
WNVC-DT MHz 56  Fairfax         57      dark    24      160     221     Maximized app for 160 kW granted, off air until 02/18/09
WHAG-DT NBC 25  Hagerstown      55      0.9     26      575     376     
WETA-DT PBS 26  DC              27      90      27      90      254     Petition pending to move to 51 for DTV operation at 674 kW
WFPT-DT PBS 62  Frederick       28      30      28      41.2    158     Maximized app for 41.2 kW granted
WMPB-DT PBS 67  Baltimore       29      14      29      42.6    309     Maximized app for 42.6 kW granted
WNVT-DT MHz 30  Goldvein        30      160     30      160     229     
WHUT-DT PBS 32  DC              33      100     33      100     254     maximized app pending for 1000 kW
WPXW-DT ion 66  Manass->DC      43      90      34      110     221     maximized app pending for 1000 kW
WDCA-DT MyN 20  DC              35      500     35      500     227     maximized app pending for 950 kW
WTTG-DT Fox 5   DC              36      1000    36      1000    227     
WMAR-DT ABC 2   Baltimore       52      613     38      1000    312     
WJAL-DT ind 68  Hagerstown      16      6       39      105     372     
WNUV-DT CW 54   Baltimore       40      845     40      845     373     
WUTB-DT MyN 24  Catonsville     41      200     41      200     308     maximized app pending for 290 kW
WMPT-DT PBS 22  Annapolis       42      150     42      150     289     maximized app pending for 516 kW
WWPB-DT PBS 31  Hagerstown      44      209     44      209     359     maximized app pending for 1000 kW
WBFF-DT Fox 45  Baltimore       46      550     46      550     373     
WRC-DT NBC 4    DC              48      813     48      813     242     
WDCW-DT CW 50   DC              51      125     50      122     253     maximized app pending for 1000 kW

Digital Low Power Stations in DC and in the western edge of the DC market
WMDO Telef 47   DC              8       0.198   8       0.198   150     on the air in late summer 08.
W08EE WV PBS    Martinsburg     8       0.3     8       0.3     281     on the air
WWTD ind 49     DC              -       -       14      0.1     179     CP granted Jan 08
WDDN Dayst 23   DC              -       -       21      1       213     CP granted Mar 07
WZDC Telem 25   DC              -       -       25      4.6     116     CP granted Oct 08 for digital flash cut post-transition
WIAV AsiaVis 58 DC              -       -       44      0.1     45      CP granted May 08
WAZW rlg 48     Winchester      -       -       46      12      78      CP granted Jan 07
W51CY CW 51     Hagerstown      -       -       51      15      379     Satellite TX for WDCW, tower located east of Hagerstown


----------



## Trip in VA

How did you calculate the HAAT on the low-powered stations?


- Trip


----------



## EricHarley

Yes, the audio stutter had disappeared and now it's back.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/15183824
> 
> 
> How did you calculate the HAAT on the low-powered stations? - Trip



Clicked on the Calculate HAAT link on the FCC detailed TV query results web page for each LD station.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15184962
> 
> 
> Clicked on the Calculate HAAT link on the FCC detailed TV query results web page for each LD station.



Nice! I hadn't noticed that before. I'm unobservant. =)


- Trip


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15181875
> 
> 
> Hi all -



Was Legend of the Seeker only available in SD this weekend? It was in SD on WNUV and WGN America.


----------



## Trip in VA

I heard it was a distribution problem and was in SD all over.


- Trip


----------



## DBLClick

It appears this morning, Fox has added the Speed Channel, Fox News and FX all in HD. More More More.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15185694
> 
> 
> Was Legend of the Seeker only available in SD this weekend? It was in SD on WNUV and WGN America.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/15185747
> 
> 
> I heard it was a distribution problem and was in SD all over.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Sorry - I knew we didn't get it in HD, but I wasn't sure why... I'll try to post it if we have any problems in the future, and thanks for the info -


----------



## mchief99




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DBLClick* /forum/post/15186433
> 
> 
> It appears this morning, Fox has added the Speed Channel, Fox News and FX all in HD. More More More.



My Tivo announced the new channels, and the guide data is there - no picture on FX or Fox - Speed has a picture. I quess Comcast has trouble turning on channels when they announce them.


----------



## Marcus Carr

MOJO ceased to exist today. Versus HD and Golf HD are still combined and available on Comcast. The official date for the separate channels is 12/8.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> SALISBURY Comcast said it has added three new high definition networks to its programming for digital cable customers on the Lower Shore.
> 
> 
> Comcast customers in Wicomico, Worcester and Somerset counties can now watch Fox News Channel HD, FX HD and Speed HD.


 http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/2.../81201027/1002


----------



## rustycruiser

So anyone contact WBAL recently regarding 5.1 sound? I am still patiently waiting for them to rectify this oversight. Anyone get any communication from them that they are at least aware of it? I have emailed in the past, and never gotten a reply.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rustycruiser* /forum/post/15193700
> 
> 
> So anyone contact WBAL recently regarding 5.1 sound? I am still patiently waiting for them to rectify this oversight. Anyone get any communication from them that they are at least aware of it? I have emailed in the past, and never gotten a reply.



Don't waste your time.


----------



## chrisherbert

It's hard to believe that anyone would prefer Golf HD full time to Mojo. Mojo was a pretty decent channel.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast has moved Versus/Golf HD to 226 where MOJO was. Its old location at 254 is now Golf HD. But both are still showing the combined programming for now.


----------



## afiggatt

According to DCRTV: "DC DTV "Test" Today - 12/2 - We tipped you earlier. Now more. At 5:28 PM today, WRC/4, WDCA/20, WTTG/5, WETA/26, WJLA/7, WHUT/32, WUSA/9, WDCW/50, WFDC/14, and WPXW/66 will participate in a digital TV "test" - interrupting their analog signal for two minutes to inform viewers that "if they see this message" they're not ready for the DTV switch-off in February....."


So all the DC stations will participate in this "test" today. I think a 2 minute "test" is too short, but even that will help get some people's attention. The test may be most useful to those on small cable or in-house systems in the area. While the bigger players like Comcast, RCN should either have or will soon switch to the digital channel source for their basic analog/SD tier, there may well be small cable systems or dedicated in-house systems for motels or retirement homes/communities that are still passing on the analog broadcast signal.


A more useful test for those who are already all digital on their OTA viewing would be for WJLA-DT 7 and WUSA-DT 9 (and WBAL-DT 11 and WJZ-DT 13) to do a temporary flash cut - maybe late at night - to their upper VHF channels so people can see if their antenna setup can get the VHF station. But this test would have be at least half-hour long so we have time to re-scan and measure signal strengths.


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15195980
> 
> 
> A more useful test for those who are already all digital on their OTA viewing would be for WJLA-DT 7 and WUSA-DT 9 (and WBAL-DT 11 and WJZ-DT 13)



I posted this before but there is something about the DC and Baltimore CBS feed that does not work with my Toshiba HDTV OTA audio. I can not get audio on either WUSA-DT 9 (9.1) or WJZ-DT 13 (13.1). I have done dozens of rescans. Second time this has occured.


----------



## howie14

This is a simple question, probably, but I will admit to my ignorance on the issue. My mother-in-law lives in a brick rowhouse in the Dundalk MD area (21222). Currently, we are using an indoor amplified antenna for her OTA, but it is really spotty. She receives no PBS from either digital 22 or 67 and both 2 and 45 cut in and out.


I've been wanting to install a low maintenance outdoor antenna (I'm a little scared of dealing with her steep roof to install a larger one, and I'm pretty sure she wouldn't allow me to pay for a pro to do the work.)


Does anyone familiar with the area know what I'd need to guarantee reception of the Baltimore locals (about 11 miles away) and what more I'd need to pull in DC (35-40 miles away)? It looks like I have about a 73 degree span between Baltimore and DC towers.


I'd check over in hardware, but I was hoping for some advice from someone with knowledge of the terrain.


----------



## CycloneGT

My first thought would be to put a antenna up in the attic. At only 11 miles you really shouldn't have any problems with the Baltimore channels. The DC channels will depend on your reception of course. A Channel Master 4221 UHF antenna is pretty good and narrow enough to fit up in an attic. At 11 miles, you shouldn't need to amplify.


----------



## howie14




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/15198431
> 
> 
> My first thought would be to put a antenna up in the attic. At only 11 miles you really shouldn't have any problems with the Baltimore channels. The DC channels will depend on your reception of course. A Channel Master 4221 UHF antenna is pretty good and narrow enough to fit up in an attic. At 11 miles, you shouldn't need to amplify.



Thanks. Will that still work when 11 and 13 return to VHF?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *howie14* /forum/post/15198718
> 
> 
> Thanks. Will that still work when 11 and 13 return to VHF?



At 11 miles and provided the signals are reasonably strong in the attic, the CM 4221 should work for VHF 11 and 13. I would not expect it to get WJLA-DT 7 and WUSA-DT 9 at ~ 38 miles when they switch. But I could be wrong, depends on how strong the signals are at your mother-in-law's house.


The Channel Master 4221 UHF antenna is useful for locations where there is a wide spread between stations. So it is a good start for your situation. Assuming the attic is not lined with metal, the CM 4221 should do a lot better than an indoor antenna down inside the house. Depending on how the townhouse is oriented, you could mount the CM 4221 high up on the side of the house, using a satellite dish J mount. If you get the CM 4221, I would try aiming it towards the DC stations and see if it can pick up the closer Baltimore stations off to the side. If getting WJLA-DT 7 and WUSA-DT 9 is important and they don't come in reliably after February 17, you could add a short range upper VHF antenna and a VHF/UHF combiner next spring.


There is a new version of the CM4221 which has come out, the CM4221HD (see http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...p?prod=4221-HD ).


BTW, make sure you use RG-6 co-axial cable for the antenna run, not RG-59. RG-59 has notably higher dB loss per foot for UHF frequencies than RG-6, so RG-6 should be used for cable runs of any significant length.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *E55 KEV* /forum/post/15196149
> 
> 
> I posted this before but there is something about the DC and Baltimore CBS feed that does not work with my Toshiba HDTV OTA audio. I can not get audio on either WUSA-DT 9 (9.1) or WJZ-DT 13 (13.1). I have done dozens of rescans. Second time this has occured.



If you get a solid video picture, the issue is not with the RF broadcast channel. I would start by double checking that you have not set SAP or some other funky audio selection for those 2 stations. If that does not fix it, then contact the stations and Toshiba. Could be an issue with the audio encoding used by the CBS affiliates, but I don't recall seeing complaints from others here with Toshiba or other TV or tuners in getting the OTA audio for those 2 stations. Might be worthwhile to see if there is a firmware upgrade for your specific Toshiba TV model.


----------



## starfiter

can anyone clear up for me why Comcast Anne Arundel County does not show WRC TV 4,WUSA TV 9 and WJLA TV 7 in HD?


----------



## mapper




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *E55 KEV* /forum/post/15196149
> 
> 
> I posted this before but there is something about the DC and Baltimore CBS feed that does not work with my Toshiba HDTV OTA audio. I can not get audio on either WUSA-DT 9 (9.1) or WJZ-DT 13 (13.1). I have done dozens of rescans. Second time this has occured.



That is quite peculiar. afiggatt's explanation maybe right that some sort of odd audio selection may be enabled. But I have a Toshiba TV that does the exact same thing, except the problem extends to all OTA channels. It could be that the TV needs a firmware update to correct your issue. Sometimes the TV's DSP chip hangs and gives the result you (don't) hear. Of course that's not to say that the stations could be sending slightly erroneous data, and the DSP chip can't keep up with the error checking it maybe doing. Hopefully I could answer your question.


----------



## machpost

I noticed during the DTV test that on RCN cable here in D.C., the special message showed up on the SD channels for WHUT and WETA, even though I thought the digital signals for both were now being used.


----------



## tjman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/15200093
> 
> 
> I noticed during the DTV test that on RCN cable here in D.C., the special message showed up on the SD channels for WHUT and WETA, even though I thought the digital signals for both were now being used.



Same for WRC on Dish Network (on an SD set top box).


----------



## wmcbrine

Did not appear on WRC on Fios.


----------



## alexandriahokie




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15194740
> 
> 
> Comcast has moved Versus/Golf HD to 226 where MOJO was. Its old location at 254 is now Golf HD. But both are still showing the combined programming for now.



We are getting VS.HD on 226 in Alexandria....in *STANDARD DEFINITION* if you can believe that. Still no FX, Speed or FNC.


----------



## ammar249

Washington DC Area DTV test through Verizon FiOS


4 WRC - news continued

5 WTTG- DTV Test Bars appeared (anchor also mentioned that the bars appeared on most of the monitors in the studio)









7 WJLA - news continued

9 WUSA - news continued


504, 505, 507, 509 - news continued


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15199228
> 
> 
> If you get a solid video picture, the issue is not with the RF broadcast channel. I would start by double checking that you have not set SAP or some other funky audio selection for those 2 stations. If that does not fix it, then contact the stations and Toshiba. Could be an issue with the audio encoding used by the CBS affiliates, but I don't recall seeing complaints from others here with Toshiba or other TV or tuners in getting the OTA audio for those 2 stations. Might be worthwhile to see if there is a firmware upgrade for your specific Toshiba TV model.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/15199365
> 
> 
> That is quite peculiar. afiggatt's explanation maybe right that some sort of odd audio selection may be enabled. But I have a Toshiba TV that does the exact same thing, except the problem extends to all OTA channels. It could be that the TV needs a firmware update to correct your issue. Sometimes the TV's DSP chip hangs and gives the result you (don't) hear. Of course that's not to say that the stations could be sending slightly erroneous data, and the DSP chip can't keep up with the error checking it maybe doing. Hopefully I could answer your question.




Thanks. If the TV was set to SAP or other then all channels would be affected and not just the CBS feeds. This is the second time it has happened. The first time CBS DC was multicasting March Madness on 9.1 & 9.2 and then sound came back. The CBS DC Tech Director told me they were using a "new (on loan), more efficeint, ATSC encoder". Since there is no sound on both CBS broadcasts from DC and also Baltimore I suspect CBS as there broadcast setups are probably the same.


I doubt firmware can be upgraded in this set - there is no usb or RS232 port?


----------



## Marcus Carr

I noticed a new iTV (interactive TV) submenu on my Comcast menu. The only selection so far is Caller ID.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *alexandriahokie* /forum/post/15201195
> 
> 
> We are getting VS.HD on 226 in Alexandria....in *STANDARD DEFINITION* if you can believe that. Still no FX, Speed or FNC.



It's just a remap of 254, when I watched it everything appeared either in HD or upconvert.


----------



## dmulvany

So far, it appears that Dish and RCN had not yet changed over to digital feeds for all local broadcasts, and Verizon FIOS did not have a digital feed for WTTG (channel 5).


Customers of these services who rely on captioning need to be concerned about this due to the technical requirements to transmit digital captioning. The longer these companies wait to set up their digital feed, the more likely there will be problems with the captioning on these feeds.


Did anyone notice problems with local broadcasts received by Comcast?


Dana


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dmulvany* /forum/post/15205207
> 
> 
> So far, it appears that Dish and RCN had not yet changed over to digital feeds for all local broadcasts, and Verizon FIOS did not have a digital feed for WTTG (channel 5).
> 
> 
> Customers of these services who rely on captioning need to be concerned about this due to the technical requirements to transmit digital captioning. The longer these companies wait to set up their digital feed, the more likely there will be problems with the captioning on these feeds.
> 
> 
> Did anyone notice problems with local broadcasts received by Comcast?
> 
> 
> Dana



How can ATSC be over an anlog feed? It's digital, by definition.


----------



## URFloorMatt

The future of WRC? Presumably HD would be in the cards, but the cost appears to be a complete gutting of the existing staff and talent.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fredfa* /forum/post/15205425
> 
> 
> Coming soon to a TV newsroom in your city?
> *The Business of Television*
> *WNBC set for makeover*
> *Network gambles on radical new strategy*
> 
> By Mike Flaherty, *Variety*, December 3, 2008
> 
> 
> At one of the media world's most potent addresses, 30 Rockefeller Center, a radical makeover is under way just down the hall from "Today" and "Saturday Night Live."
> 
> 
> The stem-to-stern transformation of WNBC, the Peacock's flagship O&O, aims to turn it from just another local affil to a "content center" reaching websites, taxis, grocery stores -- even hospital delivery rooms.
> 
> 
> The $15 million project entails not just a physical renovation and tech upgrade but a massive exodus of veteran (read: pricey) staffers, with just a handful staying onboard as of Jan. 1. Battered by the economy, NBC Universal parent GE, not to mention station owners such as News Corp., Tribune and Sinclair, are watching closely to see if Gotham will provide a survival guide for local news.
> 
> 
> Union leaders and media watchdogs, meanwhile, characterize the change as a lawless, dehumanizing assault on journalistic tradition. And those clinging to jobs describe a bizarre scene with vets on one side of the newsroom and relative tyros on the other, with nary a word being exchanged.
> 
> 
> "They don't call Cheez-Whiz 'cheese' on the package; they call it a 'cheese product'," said one survivor. "What's going to be produced here isn't really news. It's a news product. And you have to wonder what will happen when a major story breaks and you have someone from a small market who was cheap enough to hire."
> 
> 
> Two changes in particular have made heads spin -- one is the systematic retraining of the staff. The other is a pool arrangement with Fox whereby the routine day-to-day events (e.g., a mayoral news conference) will be handled by one station and shared with the other. The cost-cutting plan was announced by NBC for some major markets, beginning with a January tryout in Philadelphia.
> 
> 
> The pool deal portends fewer unique stories and a loss of the competitive stakes that drive most TV journos. The retraining is more drastic -- seasoned, Emmy-winning cameramen and writers are now out in the field reporting or writing, and vice versa. Crews no longer pile into satellite trucks to chase a police shooting in Queens. A single "content producer" grabs a high-end camcorder and a notepad and heads to the scene.
> 
> 
> WNBC is used to setting trends of a different variety. For more than a decade, beginning in the late 1970s and through the 1980s, it served as a high-toned farm system for the networks, birthing a lifestyle-infused genre with "Live at Five." Alums include "Today" co-host Matt Lauer , CNN's Jack Cafferty and onetime "20/20" co-anchor John Miller .
> 
> 
> Two mainstays remain amid the construction rubble: Chuck Scarborough and Sue Simmons , the city's longest-running co-anchor duo. Ensconced with long-term deals, they have not been unseated despite the station's overall ratings decline (though station insiders say Simmons has rebuffed several buyout offers).
> 
> 
> Since Nov. 17, Scarborough and Simmons(who still get occasional on-air ribbing by former 30 Rock neighbor David Letterman ) have been perched on a sleek new set. The cosmetic change pales next to the upheaval that began in the spring when WNBC execs announced that its newsroom would be remade.
> 
> 
> Over the summer, many of the station's off-mic employees were told that their positions were being eliminated but that they could apply to be part of a new team of "content producers" feeding the main station as well as a planned 24/7 digital channel.
> 
> 
> As the makeover progresses, WNBC continues to languish in the ratings cellar. It averaged a paltry 17,000 viewers at 5 p.m. in October, compared with 38,000 at Fox's WNYW , 71,000 at WCBS and 126,000 at WABC . At 6, it garnered an anemic 28,000 demo viewers as opposed to the 41,000, 58,000 and 133,000 of its respective rivals.
> 
> 
> Then, of course, came the collapsing economy. According to Jeff Logsdon, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets Equity Research Group, local TV is "the first to feel (a recession) and the last to recover from it."
> 
> * Ed McEwan , Local 11 prexy of the National Assn. of Broadcast Employees and Technicians, which has represented the station's cameramen, writers and editors, believes that NBC's Washington, D.C., outlet, WRC, will soon morph into a "content center." A WNBC rep confirms it's "certainly a model that's being evaluated for our other stations."*
> 
> 
> "We have the opportunity to evolve into a very dynamic channel," said the station's prexy and general manager, Tom O'Brien. "We're making a $15 million investment in technology that will simplify the workflow." As a result, "some jobs may not exist in their current form and the new jobs will be aligned to the way we need to produce multimedia content."
> 
> 
> But where O'Brien sees streamlining and modernizing, others see less salient motives. "It's partly union busting and it's partly done for financial reasons," McEwan said of the overhaul, noting that NABET has filed six labor grievances since June, all of which have been settled.
> 
> 
> Originally, WNBC announced that the content producers would not be union jobs and that existing employees would have to give up their memberships in order to apply for the new positions. In late October a deal was struck to allow those workers to keep them. The content producer ranks now include union and nonunion employees, and are salaried positions.
> 
> 
> In addition, daily hires -- freelance unionized personnel, many of whom worked full-time hours -- have been eliminated.
> 
> 
> "The amazing thing is that they want to get rid of all this high-priced talent and they're cutting back on everything, but we are just down the hall from 'Today,' the ultimate cash cow. So while we can't even get coffee anymore, they're setting up these elaborate catered breakfasts down there."
> 
> 
> O'Brien wouldn't comment on prospective budget savings or staff cuts that will result from the changes. One former staffer who spoke on condition of anonymity (released personnel were required to sign a pledge not to sue the station or speak to the media) said management's moves are doomed to result in a skeleton crew charged with creating a generic, inferior product.
> 
> 
> "It's a miserable place to be," said the staffer, who claimed that a shrinking stable of professional cameramen has made it increasingly difficult to find a crew for on-the-street segments. "The people who are staying are saying, 'Oh my god, who's left to do the work?' "
> 
> 
> The staffer alleged that, despite that reality, "Making the 5 and 6 o'clock newscasts is irrelevant to these changes."
> 
> 
> McEwan agreed. "They've decided that they're really not interested in quality ... they just want to put something on to fill the airtime."
> 
> 
> O'Brien admitted that the round-the-clock cable channel is "not news-focused" and will emphasize lifestyle coverage, much of which will come from the LX.TV production shingle, which was acquired by NBC Local Media in January. Nevertheless, he insisted that the over-the-air coverage "won't get softer."
> 
> 
> McEwan and the former WNBC staffer claimed that the station has let go many longtime, highly paid staffers while hiring younger people willing to work for less. O'Brien denied the charge, saying "We have the best of both worlds -- experienced talent that viewers embrace as well as (employees) who embrace change."
> 
> 
> Former executive Al Primo , who pioneered WABC's "Eyewitness News" format in 1968, however, is skeptical: "They should not lose sight of what made 'Eyewitness' successful, which was a lot of original reporting, a lot of people-to-people coverage, and the things that require reporters to get out and talk to the newsmakers themselves." Now, Primo groused, "they're going to send in some kid with a minicam."
> 
> http://www.variety.com/article/VR111...goryid=14&cs=1


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/15205530
> 
> 
> How can ATSC be over an anlog feed? It's digital, by definition.



The issue is that the source is a NTSC analog channel. Dish, RCN, and Verizon for at least WTTG 5 are still taking the analog broadcast signal and converting to a digital SD signal. Dish is apparently still converting to getting the digital station signal in many markets. This complicates the closed caption data path. I expect Dish and other STBs are grabbing the digitalized line 21 signal (aka EIA-608) for the CC data. If they get the SD channel directly from the ATSC broadcast, they should be able to provide the superior EIA-708 format caption data (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EIA-708 ). See it is not THAT complicated.










I hope the stations do another analog shutdown test again soon. I should have checked Verizon to see what was being shown in the basic 2-49 SD set for WFDC 14, WETA 26, WHUT 32, MPT. This is strictly curiosity on my part, because I only watch the HD version of the locals or in the Locals plus set. Verizon is getting the digital broadcast version of WHUT-DT 32 because it is in the Local Plus set and the digital channel is at QAM 78. Figured they did that to be ready for WHUT-DT to add sub-channels or go HD.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/15205530
> 
> 
> How can ATSC be over an anlog feed? It's digital, by definition.



They would have to downconvert the ATSC broadcast, and run it through a digital to analog converter then use the NTSC video and audio signals to put into their modulators. An easy way to do that would be to use a $40 gov'ment converter box...


BTW, when you downconvert and D to A the signal, the captions change back to 608... Sorry.


Also, BTW, the Baltimore broadcasters are putting together a DTV soft test for Dec. 17. It's supposed to be at 5:45 PM, IIRC.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15205814
> 
> 
> I hope the stations do another analog shutdown test again soon.



There will be three more tests in the next 30 days.


----------



## cableuser001

Try the Phillips MANT940 antenna from Home Depot or Walmart. This is small ( about the size of a VHS tape) and is easy to setup on a railing. I am not sure if Baltimore has PBS but I am 15 miles from DC stations and get them well.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *howie14* /forum/post/15197352
> 
> 
> This is a simple question, probably, but I will admit to my ignorance on the issue. My mother-in-law lives in a brick rowhouse in the Dundalk MD area (21222). Currently, we are using an indoor amplified antenna for her OTA, but it is really spotty. She receives no PBS from either digital 22 or 67 and both 2 and 45 cut in and out.
> 
> 
> I've been wanting to install a low maintenance outdoor antenna (I'm a little scared of dealing with her steep roof to install a larger one, and I'm pretty sure she wouldn't allow me to pay for a pro to do the work.)
> 
> 
> Does anyone familiar with the area know what I'd need to guarantee reception of the Baltimore locals (about 11 miles away) and what more I'd need to pull in DC (35-40 miles away)? It looks like I have about a 73 degree span between Baltimore and DC towers.
> 
> 
> I'd check over in hardware, but I was hoping for some advice from someone with knowledge of the terrain.


----------



## sheezaym




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/15123304
> 
> 
> I have a CM4228 on my rrof with a rotor right now and my plan is just to wait until the change in February and see whether I can still pick up channels 7, 9, 11, and 13 when they revert. I get them with my indoor antennae here in Laurel, so I'm hopeful that even thought the CM4228 is UHF only, it will get enough of a signal to keep me from having to replace it.



You should be just fine with your current 4228A. I am located in Northwest Missouri and our only VHF digital station is on channel 7 located in Kansas City. Even though 7 is not one of the 4228A's strongest gain channels, it works great! We are located 65+ from the X-mitter. Signal level is 57%, but it's solid. I had a bent up 4228A with a 5 element channel 7 yagi before I replaced it with a brand new 4228A and used it solo. My signal was only 59 to 62% with it. LONG LIVE OUR 4228A!


----------



## Marcus Carr

The CBS Evening News is in HD on WJZ. Let's see if they can keep it going this time.


----------



## markbulla

Just out of curiosity, did CW Washington have any problems with their HD feed this evening?


CW changed satellite transponders today, and they were unable to actually get the right signal up on it, so they changed back to the original transponder at 7:53... I'm glad I stayed to make sure everything would work...


.


----------



## CycloneGT

I also have a CM4228 and when I use the analog tuner on my TV it gets Ch 7 and Ch 9 pretty clearly. So I am hopeful that it will continue to provide all my channels after those two switch back to VHF.


----------



## mchief99

Stilll not receiving the new HD channels (221,222,242). Sent Comcast an email to ask when they would be live, they stated they were on now and to call CSR. Called CSR and got the standard dumb - 'I don't think they are on until after the first of the year' Sent the email to a supervisor. Got a call back that they 'quessed they must be on' and they would send a tech to my house to fix my cable cards. Now I have to keep an incompetent tech from screwing thing up worse. I suspect I know more about cable cards that COMCAST having fought the war before with a TV and Tivo. COME ON FIOS.


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mchief99* /forum/post/15232559
> 
> 
> Stilll not receiving the new HD channels (221,222,242). Sent Comcast an email to ask when they would be live, they stated they were on now and to call CSR. Called CSR and got the standard dumb - 'I don't think they are on until after the first of the year' Sent the email to a supervisor. Got a call back that they 'quessed they must be on' and they would send a tech to my house to fix my cable cards. Now I have to keep an incompetent tech from screwing thing up worse. I suspect I know more about cable cards that COMCAST having fought the war before with a TV and Tivo. COME ON FIOS.



Please do let us know what happens. Can't imagine what they could mean by "fixing" your cards, other than restaging them from the head end (which they can do remotely without a tech visit) or replacing them with newer versions.


Good luck.


----------



## maestro73

I'm not receiving 221,222, or 242 either. Guess I need to call them as well.


----------



## Trip in VA

I have reason to believe that WNVC-DT 24 has done some testing, I assume overnight with WUTB at some point. Anyone observe this?


- Trip


----------



## mjw703

I'm in Arlington on Comcast and I'm not getting the new Fox HD Channels either, and I have an HD box. Is anyone getting them on the Mogo or DC systems?


----------



## Mingo

For anyone watching the Pacquiao/DeLaHoya fight on Cox Cable in the Fairfax viewing area, is it showing up as standard definition and hot in HD like I paid for?!?


----------



## MrHifi

My Channels 213 and 214, Fox WBFF and WNUV are just small blocks (pixelated0 and are unwatchable on Comcast Annapolis. Anyone have a solution?


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> *New HD channels in Anne Arundel County, MD*
> 
> 
> Changes effective Jan. 19, 2009.
> 
> 
> 220- Fox Business Network HD
> 
> 230-Green TV HD
> 
> 243-Toon Disney HD
> 
> 247-Lifetime Movie Network HD
> 
> 256-ESPNews HD
> 
> 258-MGM HD
> 
> 219-Biography HD
> 
> 
> Also DOCSIS 3.0 is coming towards select markets in AACO. First communities should see 50/5 plan along with D2 22/4 plan by late December/early January.


 http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r215...ndel-County-MD 


If past history is any indication, should make its way to Baltimore.


----------



## amorris525

From dcrtv.com:


WJLA news to go HD on Monday.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *amorris525* /forum/post/15238951
> 
> 
> From dcrtv.com:
> 
> 
> WJLA news to go HD on Monday.



Yippee!!


----------



## ammar249











> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/15240130
> 
> 
> Yippee!!




finally the day has come...


----------



## pong




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Mingo* /forum/post/15235595
> 
> 
> For anyone watching the Pacquiao/DeLaHoya fight on Cox Cable in the Fairfax viewing area, is it showing up as standard definition and hot in HD like I paid for?!?



I called them last night and ask if they have this fight in another HD channel and the response that I got is NO and they're only broadcasting this on Channel 501 and in SD.I'll give them a call again tomorrow to see if I can get a refund coz they're advertising this fight in HD.I suggest you do the same thing.


----------



## djp952

Anyone else having OTA problems with WJLA-DT tonight, or is it just me? No other D.C. channels are acting up, quite the contrary - they're all spot-on, but WJLA is unwatchable from up here in Elkridge. Very low signal strength.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *amorris525* /forum/post/15238951
> 
> 
> From dcrtv.com:
> 
> 
> WJLA news to go HD on Monday.



If this is true, then WJLA-DT will be the 2nd station in the DC market with HD locals news! Took long enough. With the reports of WTTG-DT and the Fox network upgrading the local news studios and equipment to HD, I expected WTTG-DT would be the next station in DC for HD news, but I guess not. With the budget cuts and gutting of the NBC network, it is a good question whether WRC-DT will even have much of a real news operation, SD or HD, by this time next year. From the industry news posted last spring, WMAR-DT 2 and WJZ-DT 13 in Baltimore should be getting close to going HD news in the next few months, if they have not been delayed by budget issues.


Speaking of WJLA-DT ABC 7, the FCC granted their post-transition maximized power application this past week. WJLA-DT is authorized to operate at 30 kW on VHF 7 after next February 17, rather than the 13.6 kW they were previously set for. Maybe Robert can fill us in on whether WJLA-DT will be flash cutting to 13.6 kW on February 17 with the increase to 30 kW coming later or whether WJLA-DT will start up at 30 kW right after the analog shutdown.


----------



## mikepinkerton

Lately on D* WJLA has been very very loud during commercials (or their HD content is very very quiet). No other channel has problems, but i'm constantly turning up/down on WJLA.


Anyone else see this?

-Mike


----------



## HDDAVID

This past Friday WJZ not only had the CBS Evening News in HD BUT Entertainment Tonight in HD too! Will wonders ever cease?


OK WBAL, now its your turn to get the syndicated programs in HD and add Dolby Digital.

And how about WMAR, WJZ and WBAL going into HD newscasts??


----------



## CycloneGT

Well, Robert had said over the years that WJLA was getting HD equipment, cameras here, studio equipment there. So it was a just a matter of time. News Channel 8 likely has most of the HD pieces in place too, but would need more support all of the parties involved to take on the costs of HD.


----------



## wkearney99

For anyone that wants to know which channels exist both in HD and not, here's a list for Montgomery County's FIOS lineup:

Code:


Code:


HD   Analog  Station name
503     3        CW  WDCW HD
504     4        NBC  WRC HD
505     5        FOX  WTTG HD
506     6        My WDCA HD
507     7        ABC  WJLA HD
509     9        CBS  WUSA HD
526     26       PBS  WETA HD
568     29       WGN America HD
550     50       USA HD
551     51       TNT HD
552     52       TBS HD
553     53       FX HD
570     70       ESPN HD
572     72       ESPNews HD
573     73       ESPNU HD
574     74       ESPN2 HD
576     76       Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic HD
583     83       Speed HD
585     85       Big Ten Network HD
587     87       NHL Network HD
588     88       NFL Network HD
589     89       NBA TV HD
590     90       Versus HD
600     100      CNN HD
602     102      CNBC HD+
617     117      Fox Business Network HD
618     118      Fox News HD
619     119      The Weather Channel HD
620     120      Discovery Channel HD
621     121      National Geographic Channel HD
622     122      Science Channel HD
628     128      History Channel HD
629     129      Bio HD
630     130      Animal Planet HD
639     139      TLC HD
640     140      Lifetime HD
641     141      Lifetime Movie Network HD
650     150      QVC HD
651     151      HSN HD
664     164      Food Network HD
665     165      HGTV HD
668     168      Planet Green HD
669     169      Wealth TV HD
670     170      Travel Channel HD
680     180      Sci-Fi Channel HD
681     181      A&E HD
682     182      Crime & Investigation Network HD
685     185      Bravo HD
699     199      ABC Family HD
740     240      Hallmark Channel HD
780     250      Disney Channel HD
781     251      Toon Disney HD
592     303      The Tennis Channel HD
593     304      Golf HD
597     317      World Fishing Network HD
598     318      MavTV HD
840     340      Starz HD
842     342      Starz Edge HD
845     345      Starz Kids & Family HD
847     347      Starz Comedy HD
850     350      Encore HD
865     365      Showtime HD
866     366      Showtime West HD
867     367      Showtime Showcase HD
868     368      Showtime Showcase West HD
869     369      Showtime 2 HD
870     370      Showtime 2 West HD
873     373      Showtime Extreme HD
874     374      Showtime Extreme West HD
885     385      TMC HD
886     386      TMC West HD
887     387      TMC Xtra HD
888     388      TMC Xtra West HD
899     400      HBO HD
901     401      HBO West HD
902     402      HBO 2 HD
903     403      HBO 2 West HD
904     404      HBO Signature HD
905     405      HBO Signature West HD
906     406      HBO Family HD
907     407      HBO Family West HD
908     408      HBO Comedy HD
909     409      HBO Comedy West HD
910     410      HBO Zone HD
911     411      HBO Zone West HD
912     412      HBO Latino HD
913     413      HBO Latino West HD
920     420      Cinemax HD
921     421      Cinemax West HD
922     422      More Max HD
923     423      More Max West HD
924     424      Action Max HD
925     425      Action Max West HD
926     426      Thriller Max HD
927     427      Thriller Max West HD
928     428      WMAX HD
929     429      At Max HD
930     430      Five Star Max HD
931     431      OuterMax HD

I wanted a list of what was in both formats so I could program my Tivo to only use the ones in HD. I want my Tivo to avoid recording anything from the non-HD channels. I'm told some folks prefer to use non-HD channels for some 'unimportant stuff' as a way to save disk space. I don't have the time to worry THAT much about it, and have a 750gb drive on there anyway.


Don't know if anyone else needs or wants it, but I thought I'd share.


----------



## carltonrice

Who would have guessed a few years ago that WJLA would step up second in this market? With Good Morning America, The View, Oprah, ABC News, WoF, Jeopardy, and ABC prime time all in HD, that's a major part of their broadcast day in HD.

*From DCRTV:

7's News To Go HD Monday - 12/7 - DCRTV hears that Channel 7/WJLA will launch high-def local newscasts on Monday. Also, look for "a newly-enhanced set, lighting, graphics, and logo." Currently, only Channel 9/WUSA offers HD local news in the DC market.....*


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15183802
> 
> 
> *
> Code:
> 
> 
> Code:
> 
> 
> Station         Location        PreDT   ERP(kW) PostDT  ERP(kW) HAAT(m) Notes
> WJLA-DT ABC 7   DC              39      646     7       13.6    235     maximized app pending for 30 kW
> WUSA-DT CBS 9   DC              34      1000    9       12.6    235
> WBAL-DT NBC 11  Baltimore       59      513     11      5       299
> WWPX-DT ion 60  Martinsburg     12      23      12      23      314     Petition pending to move DTV operations to 51 in VA
> WJZ-DT CBS 13   Baltimore       38      1000    13      28.8    295     To operate on STA basis on DT 13 (9.8kW) until 5/15/09.
> WFDC-DT uni 14  DC              15      325     15      1000    227     CP granted for 1000 kW post-transition
> WVPY-DT PBS 42  Front Royal     21      50      21      50      400     app filed in Oct 08 for 100 kW post-transition
> WNVC-DT MHz 56  Fairfax         57      dark    24      160     221     Maximized app for 160 kW granted, off air until 02/18/09
> WHAG-DT NBC 25  Hagerstown      55      0.9     26      575     376
> WETA-DT PBS 26  DC              27      90      27      90      254     Petition pending to move to 51 for DTV operation at 674 kW
> WFPT-DT PBS 62  Frederick       28      30      28      41.2    158     Maximized app for 41.2 kW granted
> WMPB-DT PBS 67  Baltimore       29      14      29      42.6    309     Maximized app for 42.6 kW granted
> WNVT-DT MHz 30  Goldvein        30      160     30      160     229
> WHUT-DT PBS 32  DC              33      100     33      100     254     maximized app pending for 1000 kW
> WPXW-DT ion 66  Manass->DC      43      90      34      110     221     maximized app pending for 1000 kW
> WDCA-DT MyN 20  DC              35      500     35      500     227     maximized app pending for 950 kW
> WTTG-DT Fox 5   DC              36      1000    36      1000    227
> WMAR-DT ABC 2   Baltimore       52      613     38      1000    312
> WJAL-DT ind 68  Hagerstown      16      6       39      105     372
> WNUV-DT CW 54   Baltimore       40      845     40      845     373
> WUTB-DT MyN 24  Catonsville     41      200     41      200     308     maximized app pending for 290 kW
> WMPT-DT PBS 22  Annapolis       42      150     42      150     289     maximized app pending for 516 kW
> WWPB-DT PBS 31  Hagerstown      44      209     44      209     359     maximized app pending for 1000 kW
> WBFF-DT Fox 45  Baltimore       46      550     46      550     373
> WRC-DT NBC 4    DC              48      813     48      813     242
> WDCW-DT CW 50   DC              51      125     50      122     253     maximized app pending for 1000 kW
> 
> Digital Low Power Stations in DC and in the western edge of the DC market
> WMDO Telef 47   DC              8       0.198   8       0.198   150     on the air in late summer 08.
> W08EE WV PBS    Martinsburg     8       0.3     8       0.3     281     on the air
> WWTD ind 49     DC              -       -       14      0.1     179     CP granted Jan 08
> WDDN Dayst 23   DC              -       -       21      1       213     CP granted Mar 07
> WZDC Telem 25   DC              -       -       25      4.6     116     CP granted Oct 08 for digital flash cut post-transition
> WIAV AsiaVis 58 DC              -       -       44      0.1     45      CP granted May 08
> WAZW rlg 48     Winchester      -       -       46      12      78      CP granted Jan 07
> W51CY CW 51     Hagerstown      -       -       51      15      379     Satellite TX for WDCW, tower located east of Hagerstown
> 
> *


*


W51CY CW 51 shutdown last December 7th due to interference to Comcast reception equipment of WDCW digital. Pissed me and my wife off, because we missed the finally to two of their shows last Fall.*


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> WJLA news to go HD on Monday.



All that revenue from those extra commercials at the end of Jep!, local movies pre-empting ABC shows, news specials, and infomercial overload on the weekends is being put to good use! A safe bet WRC will be the last to switch.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/15243686
> 
> 
> All that revenue from those extra commercials at the end of Jep!, local movies pre-empting ABC shows, news specials, and infomercial overload on the weekends is being put to good use! A safe bet WRC will be the last to switch.



Well, they better get all the money they can because after Pushing Daisies is over in a few weeks, my time watching ABC is over. No NBA, no news, no Jeopardy...Nothing...You can thank the bean counters at Disney Corporate for that.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15240452
> 
> 
> Maybe Robert can fill us in on whether WJLA-DT will be flash cutting to 13.6 kW on February 17 with the increase to 30 kW coming later or whether WJLA-DT will start up at 30 kW right after the analog shutdown.



This has not been decided. We are still developing the plan. Since we travel up the same pipe that WUSA does, we have to be on the same page.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/15242278
> 
> 
> Who would have guessed a few years ago that WJLA would step up second in this market? With Good Morning America, The View, Oprah, ABC News, WoF, Jeopardy, and ABC prime time all in HD, that's a major part of their broadcast day in HD.



Let me jump in here to manage expectations... Not all of the HD gear is ready to go today, but will be phased in over the next couple of weeks. I only say this to head off the old *'its not HD until its ALL in HD'* complaints that normally get fired off here.


Please be patient and PLEASE tell us your thoughts.


----------



## afiggatt

Verizon Fios added NHL Network SD (87) and HD (587) today to the Washington Metro and Baltimore markets (and Richmond and other east coast markets). The Center Ice single HD channel, NHL game HD is active at channel 1474. The NBA HD channel is still listed as "coming soon" in the guide.


Verizon also added the start-up MLB Network SD on channel 86, currently showing old highlight or game programming. Scroll on the MLB SD channel states the official launch is at 6 PM on January 1, 2009 so it will likely be old highlight filler until then. MLB may not have started up an HD feed yet, but Verizon will add MLB Network HD.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/15243800
> 
> 
> This has not been decided. We are still developing the plan. Since we travel up the same pipe that WUSA does, we have to be on the same page.



If you can tell us, will WJLA-DT and WUSA-DT do any early testing of the digital flash cut conversion ahead of February 17? If you do shut down the analog broadcast and fire up the digital broadcast on VHF 7 for a short time, presumably very late at night, ahead of February 17, could you post an announcement here in advance? We will have to do re-scans afterwards, but it would be useful for some to find out if their current antenna setup will work for WJLA-DT and WUSA-DT on 7 & 9 ahead of time.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15244660
> 
> 
> If you can tell us, will WJLA-DT and WUSA-DT do any early testing of the digital flash cut conversion ahead of February 17? If you do shut down the analog broadcast and fire up the digital broadcast on VHF 7 for a short time, presumably very late at night, ahead of February 17, could you post an announcement here in advance? We will have to do re-scans afterwards, but it would be useful for some to find out if their current antenna setup will work for WJLA-DT and WUSA-DT on 7 & 9 ahead of time.



I'll see what I can do.


----------



## ammar249

Is WJLA debuting their HD newscast at noon or at 5pm?


UPDATE: WJLA in HD on its 12pm newscast.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Well, they better get all the money they can because after Pushing Daisies is over in a few weeks



Substitute "Boston Legal" for "Pushing Daisies" for me. Reality rules at ABC, sadly even more so in 2009.


And it's good to see Robert back here posting, frustrations about WJLA are intended for higher ups with the last name of Allbritton.


----------



## systems2000

Can any of the D.C. station personel (posting on this forum) tell me if viewers in the Cumberland Valley (Chambersburg, PA) are going to be receiving any D.C. stations after the transition? I know that the FCC moved us to the Harrisburg/Lancaster/York DMA a few years back, but the problem is, I don't get any of those stations via digital (except WGCB).


My setup (26' pole, CM3020, & CM pre-amp) only receives WMAR (very inconsistent), WBAL, & WNUV (when conditions are right) and WJZ (CBS), WWPB (MPT), WJAL (ind), & WWPX (iON) solidly. I'd really like to get FOX, ABC, & MyNetwork. My reception is 2-edge from either DMA.


I see where WDCA (MyNetwork) will be going to 950Kw, WMAR (ABC) to 1000Kw, WUTB (MyNetwork) to 310Kw, WBFF (FOX) to 550Kw, WDCW (CW) to 1000Kw, WNUV (CW) to 845 Kw, and who knows what will happen when 7, 9, 11, & 13 go back to VHF-HI.


Will W51CY be turned back ON?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15245586
> 
> 
> Can any of the D.C. station personel (posting on this forum) tell me if viewers in the Cumberland Valley (Chambersburg, PA) are going to be receiving any D.C. stations after the transition? I know that the FCC moved us to the Harrisburg/Lancaster/York DMA a few years back, but the problem is, I don't get any of those stations via digital (except WGCB).
> 
> 
> My setup (26' pole, CM3020, & CM pre-amp) only receives WMAR (very inconsistent), WBAL, & WNUV (when conditions are right) and WJZ (CBS), WWPB (MPT), WJAL (ind), & WWPX (iON) solidly. I'd really like to get FOX, ABC, & MyNetwork. My reception is 2-edge from either DMA.
> 
> 
> I see where WDCA (MyNetwork) will be going to 950Kw, WMAR (ABC) to 1000Kw, WUTB (MyNetwork) to 310Kw, WBFF (FOX) to 550Kw, WDCW (CW) to 1000Kw, WNUV (CW) to 845 Kw, and who knows what will happen when 7, 9, 11, & 13 go back to VHF-HI.
> 
> Will W51CY be turned back ON?



Some of the stations you list have filed maximized power applications, but the FCC has not granted - or denied - them yet: WDCA-DT (at 500 kW on 35), WUTB-DT (at 200 kW on 41), WDCW-DT (to be at 122 kW on 50). So unless the FCC acts soon and the stations are ready to operate at increased power at the transition, don't expect them to increase on Feb. 18. WNUV-DT 54 and WBFF-DT 45 are operating at their post-transition power, so unless you have interference from an analog station for those two, you will not get better reception for those two after February 17.


I expect WBAL-DT 11 at only 5 kW on VHF 11 will be the leading problem station to get among the big four + PBS in the 2 cities after the transition. If you currently get WJZ-DT 13, you should get WMAR-DT 2 after Feb 17 as WMAR is taking over WJZ's UHF 38 antenna & 1000 kW power.


At your deep fringe range, you should consider getting a dedicated / better UHF antenna. If your CM pre-amp is the 7777, you could add a Antennas Direct XG-91 UHF antenna and keep the CM3020 for VHF reception. Look at the UHF gain chart for H (CM 3018, smaller sister to the 3020) versus T (XG91) at http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/comparing.html . Around 4 dB more for the XG-91 on average. The CM4228 is better for lower UHF according to the computer model, but the CM4228 is heavy with a wind load issue that might overload your mast.


As for W51CY analog, I did not find a temporary shut down filing for going off the air, but I may have missed it. You should contact or call the WDCW engineering dept for answers on their plans for the digital flash cut of W51CY.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Dr. Phil* was in also in HD on WJZ.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15244660
> 
> 
> If you can tell us, will WJLA-DT and WUSA-DT do any early testing of the digital flash cut conversion ahead of February 17? If you do shut down the analog broadcast and fire up the digital broadcast on VHF 7 for a short time, presumably very late at night, ahead of February 17, could you post an announcement here in advance? We will have to do re-scans afterwards, but it would be useful for some to find out if their current antenna setup will work for WJLA-DT and WUSA-DT on 7 & 9 ahead of time.



So WJLA is going back to VHF 7 after the analog shutoff? What other stations are going back to VHF?

I think some people will be in for a surprise if they have a UHF only antenna.


I'll need to keep a watch for if you post a time you will be testing. I'll need to make sure my girlfriend can receive WJLA on VHF when the analogs are shutdown. She would be really pissed if she missed her ABC soaps and ABC primetime shows. I only use OTA as a backup, with FIOS as my primary source. But my girlfriend is strictly OTA and since getting her a couple of TiVoHD boxes earlier this year, she went all digital. I have to make sure nothing gets screwed up with her reception in February.


----------



## systems2000

I have the 0264DSB pre-amp with the UHF/VHF segments decoupled. 100' RG-6 Quad downlead to the central distribution area in the garage. The house is wired with RG-6 Quad and fed by a 25dB DA. I've been trying to get a good day to relocate the CM3020 to the top of the 40' tower I've installed.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Caught part of the 5pm newscast and thought it looked good over D* And the logo is off to the far right, nice and simple. No crazy WUSA animation!


----------



## kingpong

Does anyone know which tier Comcast put Versus HD on? Since the split a week ago I'm getting Golf HD, but not Versus, despite getting Versus in SD. Since Versus took the spot of Mojo, and I didn't get Mojo, I'm not too hopeful about Versus. I'm going to miss WEC in HD...


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/15248858
> 
> 
> Caught part of the 5pm newscast and thought it looked good over D* And the logo is off to the far right, nice and simple. No crazy WUSA animation!



I caught the beginning of the 5 PM newscast and while it looked nice, the logo was precariously close to the right-hand margin on my 42" 720p Panasonic Plasma.


----------



## dg28

WJLA News in HD: What, still 4x3 SD weather map and live shots? No HD video in the field or HD sports highlights?


Just kidding, Robert. Happy you all have made the switch. The only thing I noticed is the set doesn't seem as well lit/bright as WUSA. Otherwise looks great.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/15249235
> 
> 
> WJLA News in HD: What, still 4x3 SD weather map and live shots? No HD video in the field or HD sports highlights?
> 
> 
> Just kidding, Robert. Happy you all have made the switch. The only thing I noticed is the set doesn't seem as well lit/bright as WUSA. Otherwise looks great.



it will be a work in progress for the next couple of weeks.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/15248786
> 
> 
> So WJLA is going back to VHF 7 after the analog shutoff? What other stations are going back to VHF?
> 
> I think some people will be in for a surprise if they have a UHF only antenna.



Yes, some people will be in for a surprise on February 18 depending on the UHF antenna they have and the distance they are from DC and Baltimore. I posted a summary of the current and future digital broadcast channels for the DC and Baltimore market stations last weekend at http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...2#post15183802 .


----------



## steeler

Warren Electronics now has the CM 4228HD in stock.

http://www.warrenelectronics.com/antennas/4228HD.htm


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kingpong* /forum/post/15248873
> 
> 
> Does anyone know which tier Comcast put Versus HD on? Since the split a week ago I'm getting Golf HD, but not Versus, despite getting Versus in SD. Since Versus took the spot of Mojo, and I didn't get Mojo, I'm not too hopeful about Versus. I'm going to miss WEC in HD...



I am getting Versus in HD. I have no sports pack on my Comcast setup. The only thing I have is digital with HD.


----------



## Marcus Carr

If you were getting Versus before you should still be getting it.


----------



## djp952

Checked out the 11:00 news on WJLA ... looks great, but I second that the logo is too far to the right. It's cut off on my CRT-based HDTV. Not the end of the world by any means, especially since I live in the Baltimore metro and *should* be watching WBFF right now - lol










Thanks WJLA ... WUSA's news is just too ... shall we say ... busy?


----------



## CycloneGT

11pm newscast looks great. The bug is off to the side which is nice, I'm going to guess that its position will be adjusted for overscan and brought a little closer to the center.


Looks really good.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15250030
> 
> 
> Yes, some people will be in for a surprise on February 18 depending on the UHF antenna they have and the distance they are from DC and Baltimore. I posted a summary of the current and future digital broadcast channels for the DC and Baltimore market stations last weekend at http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...2#post15183802 .



Thanks!


----------



## Marcus Carr

The 1:35A.M. rerun of Entertainment Tonight is also in HD on WJZ.


----------



## machpost

Attached is a snapshot from silicondust.com of WJLA's news last evening.


EDIT: Attaching the image seems to have shrunk it. Go here for the full-resolution capture:
http://img.lineupui.silicondust.com/...ot_6530739.jpg


----------



## CycloneGT

Yeap, that Looks HD to me.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Looks like upconverted SD with sidebars to me. Looks like thier sports segment isn't in HD.


I'll try to take a look at the newscast today if I can get a signal. My Silver Sensor is damaged.


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DBLClick* /forum/post/15186433
> 
> 
> It appears this morning, Fox has added the Speed Channel, Fox News and FX all in HD. More More More.



Manassas City does not have those channels. It should if PWC gets them right? When can i expect them in Manassas?


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15252932
> 
> 
> Looks like upconverted SD with sidebars to me. Looks like thier sports segment isn't in HD.
> 
> 
> I'll try to take a look at the newscast today if I can get a signal. My Silver Sensor is damaged.



One of two things... It may have been a pre-recorded clip or pre-pro or there was an HD issue which had us dump the camera to SD. All of the studio equipment is HD. Weather will be in HD soon.


----------



## ammar249

Does WJLA plan on having Live 16:9 SD field shots from reporters as WUSA or be a first with 16:9 in HD?


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ammar249* /forum/post/15254591
> 
> 
> Does WJLA plan on having Live 16:9 SD field shots from reporters as WUSA or be a first with 16:9 in HD?



We are working to full HD on any source that belongs to us....live shots, helicopters, bureaus and skycams.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/15250884
> 
> 
> Checked out the 11:00 news on WJLA ... looks great, but I second that the logo is too far to the right. It's cut off on my CRT-based HDTV. Not the end of the world by any means, especially since I live in the Baltimore metro and *should* be watching WBFF right now - lol
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks WJLA ... WUSA's news is just too ... shall we say ... busy?



Well, you could watch WBFF at 10, and WJLA at 11. That would work!


.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

WUSA seems to have made no progress lately getting their field shots, highlights, etc... in HD. It looks like WJLA will be passing them soon. And in a few months, no switching back and forth on Jeopardy! (end credits in SD, despite no Oprah promos v/o) and Wheel. Please no animated logo graphics like WUSA and WTTG on the news.


----------



## ammar249

I do agree with some previous posters that the news set does indeed look a bit dim for HD.


Also something which I've noticed, the set of 2 black 4:3 tv monitors on each side of the anchors desk does make the whole set in HD look a little awkward, hopefully in the future they would be changed over to flat panels.


----------



## Marcus Carr

WJLA news looks good (yes, it needs a little more light). Will be cool to see HD from the helicopter.


----------



## Gerald C




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/15250920
> 
> 
> 11pm newscast looks great. The bug is off to the side which is nice, I'm going to guess that its position will be adjusted for overscan and brought a little closer to the center.



Overscan?!







Just how is "overscan" defined with digital imagers and displays that most of us have now? Does your computer monitor perform overscan any more? Of course not!


The original rationale for overscan was to crop the garbage edge that CRTs tended to produce. I'm content to watch the entire 1080x1920 pixel map, thank you


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Entertainment Tonight is now being shown in HD on WUSA. Probably goes for The Insider too.


----------



## machpost

Unfortunately, overscan is still an issue, since many flat panel displays, especially plasma, don't necessarily show the entire 1920x1080 field with their factory settings. This is quite evident on my 42" Panasonic, just from viewing the HDNet test pattern. I know it can be adjusted, but I'm not adventurous enough to start poking around in hidden service menus, where I could potentially screw things up pretty good


----------



## Marcus Carr

Some of us still have CRTs.


----------



## Belcherwm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15261234
> 
> 
> Some of us still have CRTs.



Mutiple, HD capable, CRTs


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Belcherwm* /forum/post/15261353
> 
> 
> Mutiple, HD capable, CRTs



Well, not multiple, but definitely HD capable!


----------



## Marcus Carr

One big, chunky, manly, HD capable CRT. (And one small, wimpy LCD.)


----------



## CycloneGT

Yep, Overscan is still part of the scene. I don't like it either, but I acknowledge its existence and still expect the bug to be moved over a bit more from the edge.


I just hope that they don't put it in a 4:3 safe area. I hate that the networks have started to do that.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wkearney99* /forum/post/15242110
> 
> 
> For anyone that wants to know which channels exist both in HD and not, here's a list for Montgomery County's FIOS lineup:
> 
> 
> Don't know if anyone else needs or wants it, but I thought I'd share.



Thanks for posting the list. It helped me clean up my first post listing.


If anyone else can "proofread" my initial post to see if my ch listings are correct, I would appreciate it. The list was easy keep accurate when there was only 5 or 6 HD channels in existence. Today its a bit harder.


----------



## Marcus Carr

MOJO needs to be removed from the chart.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikepinkerton* /forum/post/15240492
> 
> 
> Lately on D* WJLA has been very very loud during commercials (or their HD content is very very quiet). No other channel has problems, but i'm constantly turning up/down on WJLA.
> 
> 
> Anyone else see this?
> 
> -Mike



WJLA has been quite unbearable on commercials on Comcast for quite a number of weeks. They HD content is not very quiet compared with everyone else - I had that at the same level as other stations while I either need to mute or turn the commercials a whole bunch. The other stations are much more bearable.


----------



## maestro73

I agree. Ever since they restored DD 5.1 WJLA is very loud relative to other channels.


----------



## imacdonald

Does anyone have a good contact for WHUT? I have a Tivo HD that just upgraded to the V11 software, and now it thinks I have 2 WHUT channels, the first WHUTDT where I get channel information and no signal, the second WHUT-DT where I get the signal, but no channel information. My guess is sending out the channel identifier as WHUT-DT instead of WHUTDT.


After a quick look at other channels the convention seems to be that the channels should be called ****DT without the dash. I had a similar issue with WNVC which I couldn't get tivo to resolve and is currently not a issue since they are off the air.


----------



## URFloorMatt

Today, NBC's O&O in Philadelphia, WCAU, ran its first HD news broadcast. WRC and NBC's affiliate in Charlotte, NC, are now the only two NBC affiliates in the top 25 DMAs without HD news.


Three NBC O&Os are still not in HD: WRC, KNSD in San Diego, and WVIT in Connecticut (but the latter was up for sale until recently, so plans are probably just getting underway). With WNBC having finished its restructuring into a "content center" and WRC allegedly the next to go through a similar transformation, hopefully we'll get word about HD soon.


----------



## mikepinkerton




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/15264660
> 
> 
> WJLA has been quite unbearable on commercials on Comcast for quite a number of weeks. They HD content is not very quiet compared with everyone else - I had that at the same level as other stations while I either need to mute or turn the commercials a whole bunch. The other stations are much more bearable.



Ok, so it's both D* and Comcast. Robert, care to comment on the WJLA audio levels?


-Mike


----------



## rviele




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15261806
> 
> 
> One big, chunky, manly, HD capable CRT. (And one small, wimpy LCD.)



would you trade it for a nice 52" inch plasma?


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rviele* /forum/post/15267939
> 
> 
> would you trade it for a nice 52" inch plasma?



I don't know about Marcus, but the only way my HD CRT is ever leaving me is when either it or I die. I'm hoping the latter happens first so I never ever have to put an LCD in the living room ... hate those things.


edit to stay on-topic ... we watched WJLA tonight and didn't notice much, if any, of a volume issue. It's still nowhere near as far off as WJZ. Aren't there specifications and standards in place by now so all broadcasters can set this up to roughly the same point?


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rviele* /forum/post/15267939
> 
> 
> would you trade it for a nice 52" inch plasma?



No. (For one thing I'd be losing 3"...)


----------



## MrHifi




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/15268832
> 
> 
> I don't know about Marcus, but the only way my HD CRT is ever leaving me is when either it or I die. I'm hoping the latter happens first so I never ever have to put an LCD in the living room ... hate those things.
> 
> 
> edit to stay on-topic ... we watched WJLA tonight and didn't notice much, if any, of a volume issue. It's still nowhere near as far off as WJZ. Aren't there specifications and standards in place by now so all broadcasters can set this up to roughly the same point?



Over a period of 25 years, I owned 3 CRT projectors. My OPTOMA HD81-LV is much much better than the best one. Fact, not fancy. I am very picky.


----------



## CycloneGT

I remember back in 2002 I was going to spend $4k on a Sony 34" CRT. Luckily my wife gave me a hard time, so I had to do research to build up my case. In that time I found 42" plasmas which while a bit more expensive, was only 65lbs vs the 206lbs for the CRT. Considering that I had to lift the thing up 6 feet into a hole in the wall. Plus they were just as wide as the hole, meaning I would have a very hard time accessing the jacks on the back when needed with that large CRT.


Still the PQ on the CRTs are excellent. Still more vivid than any other of the mediums.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/15271785
> 
> 
> I remember back in 2002 I was going to spend $4k on a Sony 34" CRT. Luckily my wife gave me a hard time, so I had to do research to build up my case. In that time I found 42" plasmas which while a bit more expensive, was only 65lbs vs the 206lbs for the CRT. Considering that I had to lift the think up 6 feet into a hole in the wall. Plus they were just as wide as the hole, meaning I would have a very hard time accessing the jacks on the back when needed with that large CRT.
> 
> 
> Still the PQ on the CRTs are excellent. Still more vivid than any other of the mediums.



If you'd have waited three years, you could have gotten the Sony 34" CRT for under 1500. That's what I did.










And I totally agree, the CRT looks a lot nicer than any of my friends' HDTVs. Their TVs are definitely a lot bigger than mine, but they usually have theirs in too small of a room. Mine wins the PQ contest, hands down. Plus the 34" Sony works perfectly in my living room.


----------



## MrHifi

Greg,


I'm in Davidsonville if you care to see a really beautiful display. I would select my Optoma HD81-LV front projector ahead of any CRT. I also now own a Sony 32" LCD that I paid 4K for 5 years ago. After 4 years looking for a display that came close to my ProFeel, I selected the KDL 32" XBR 2 piece. Picture is unbelievable butthe tune only acomodates QAM64 not 256 which is what everyone uses. I just bought a Dell 30" LCD display for $2K. It puts everything else to shame. I run it at 1920x1200. THe CRT was gorgeous for half a century. I owned SONY Profeels and XBR's since the early '80's and loved them but they can not compare to today's state of the art monitors.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Comcast Speeding Up Internet In Chicago, Atlanta, Baltimore (CMCSA)*


Dan Frommer | December 11, 2008 12:00 PM


More Comcast (CMCSA) markets are getting the cable company's fastest Internet offerings: Comcast says today it's upgrading its Chicago, Atlanta, Baltimore, and Fort Wayne, Ind. markets to so-called *"DOCSIS 3.0"* before the end of the year.


What's this mean? Subscribers will be able to purchase Internet service as fast as 50 Mbps download speed -- which means downloading at up to 6.25 megabytes per second, about six times faster than typical cable modem speeds. (It'll take some time to roll out in each market. But Comcast is getting to its goal of building out 20% of its network with the faster service by the end of the year.)


What's the point? As phone companies like Verizon (VZ) and AT&T (T) go after Comcast's customers with fast, fiber-based Internet offerings, Comcast needs to keep up. This should help.


And the speed increases will make streaming HD content from Comcast's new video rivals -- Hulu, Apple's (AAPL) iTunes, Netflix (NFLX), etc. -- a much better experience. And it'll help out content delivery networks like Akamai Technologies (AKAM), which has complained that most Americans don't have fast enough Internet service available for HD video streaming.

http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/12/...ng-up-internet


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Comcast To Roll Out Extreme 50 Mbps High-Speed Internet Service in Baltimore*


Comcast Will Introduce Two New, Faster Speed Tier Options and Will Double Speeds for Most Existing Customers For No Additional Cost


Baltimore, MD - December 11, 2008


Comcast, the nation’s leading provider of entertainment, information and communications products and services, today announced it is making the leap from broadband to wideband with the launch of next-generation DOCSIS 3.0 in the Baltimore market. With wideband, Comcast will introduce a new echelon of Internet speed tiers, which will redefine the customer experience online and create a platform for Internet innovation in the years ahead.

*In December, Comcast will begin to roll out the new services to residential homes and businesses throughout the communities it serves in the Baltimore market, including areas in Anne Arundel County, City of Annapolis and Howard County, with the remainder of the market expected to be completed by the first half of 2009.*


With wideband, Comcast will offer among the fastest speeds available today, including the Extreme 50 tier with download speeds of up to 50 Mbps. Wideband will also enable Comcast to double speeds for the majority of existing high-speed Internet customers at no additional cost.


“We are pleased to be rolling out this next generation service to our customers, which will dramatically enhance their online experience,” said Fred Graffam, senior vice president of Comcast’s Beltway Region. “This technology, combined with our advanced fiber optic network, will enable us to continue to offer our customers even faster speeds and an entirely new phase of Internet innovation.”


As part of the wideband deployment, Comcast will launch two new premium speed tiers to its residential and business class customers. Both new services are ideal for households or businesses simultaneously using several computers or Internet-connected devices. They also will appeal to those who simply want some of the fastest speeds available today:


New Residential Tiers


Extreme 50, offering up to 50 Mbps of downstream speed and up to 10 Mbps of upstream speed at $139.95/month.*

Ultra, offering up to 22 Mbps of downstream speed and up to 5 Mbps of upstream speed at $62.95/month.*

With Extreme 50, Comcast customers will be able to download a high-def movie (6 GB) in about 16 minutes, a standard-def movie (2 GB) in about 5 minutes and a standard-def TV show (300 MB) in a matter of seconds. Customers with Extreme 50 also will be able to download digital photos, songs and games faster than ever.


In addition to the new speed tiers, Comcast also is increasing speeds for most of its existing customers.


Performance tier customers will benefit from doubled downstream and upstream speeds, offering up to 12 Mbps and 2 Mbps, respectively.

Performance Plus customers will be upgraded to Comcast’s Blast! tier, which will double their download speeds to up to 16 Mbps and provide up to 2 Mbps of upload speed.

Plus, with PowerBoost® technology, customers are able to enjoy even faster speeds to download and upload files such as videos, games, music and photos.


New Business Class Tiers


Business customers will benefit from wideband with increased efficiency and productivity. Customers can sign up for the Deluxe 50 Mbps / 10 Mbps tier for $189.95/month, which includes a full suite of features and support. As part of their service, Comcast Business Class customers receive Microsoft Communication Services, providing corporate-class e-mail, calendaring and document sharing, as well as additional benefits such as firewall protection, static IP addresses, multiple e-mail addresses and business class 24/7 customer support. Existing business class customers also will receive complimentary speed increases—speeds on the Starter tier will be doubled to up to 12 Mbps / 2 Mbps and a new Premium Tier also will be introduced, offering speeds up to 22 Mbps / 5 Mbps for only $99.95/month.


To find out when wideband will be available customers can visit www.comcast.com/fastestfast or call

1-800-Comcast.


*Pricing for residential customers and requires subscription to Comcast Cable service.

http://www.comcast.com/About/PressRe....ashx?PRID=829


----------



## cpldc

My two cents on WJLA HD news, since they want comments:


1-- Overscan issues are fine. The logo is right at the edge of my cheap 19" HDTV. That TV has some serious overscan issues since it is 16:10 and thus has to lose a lot of the left and right edges to fill the screen without distortion (and it still cuts some of the top and bottom--I never see VBI artifacts)


2-- Set, colors, graphics are all great. It looks more like the HD newscasts I've seen in bigger cities.


Overall I'm satisfied. I think they've done a great job--definitely better than WUSA, which lost me when they started the distracting animations and such.


----------



## rviele




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrHifi* /forum/post/15272900
> 
> 
> Greg,
> 
> 
> I'm in Davidsonville if you care to see a really beautiful display. I would select my Optoma HD81-LV front projector ahead of any CRT. I also now own a Sony 32" LCD that I paid 4K for 5 years ago. After 4 years looking for a display that came close to my ProFeel, I selected the KDL 32" XBR 2 piece. Picture is unbelievable butthe tune only acomodates QAM64 not 256 which is what everyone uses. I just bought a Dell 30" LCD display for $2K. It puts everything else to shame. I run it at 1920x1200. THe CRT was gorgeous for half a century. I owned SONY Profeels and XBR's since the early '80's and loved them but they can not compare to today's state of the art monitors.



looks like i'll stay with my rca, its fed thru a lg3510 and the rca has been isf calibrated so it looks pretty good to these old tired eyes.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/15272545
> 
> 
> If you'd have waited three years, you could have gotten the Sony 34" CRT for under 1500. That's what I did.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And I totally agree, the CRT looks a lot nicer than any of my friends' HDTVs. Their TVs are definitely a lot bigger than mine, but they usually have theirs in too small of a room. Mine wins the PQ contest, hands down. Plus the 34" Sony works perfectly in my living room.



Yeah, I remember the following years watching that TV drop rapidly in price. I think that it was expensive at first because back then having an integrated ATSC tuner was a big deal. Not sure if it had two?


I will say about three years later my friends dad ended up getting the same (but newer model) plasma. Mine: $3850 His: $1300.


I rationalized out the 3 years of good use that I had because .... well that's all I had...


----------



## Voyager06




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15273150
> 
> *Comcast To Roll Out Extreme 50 Mbps High-Speed Internet Service in Baltimore*
> 
> 
> Comcast Will Introduce Two New, Faster Speed Tier Options and Will Double Speeds for Most Existing Customers For No Additional Cost
> 
> 
> Baltimore, MD - December 11, 2008
> 
> 
> Comcast, the nation's leading provider of entertainment, information and communications products and services, today announced it is making the leap from broadband to wideband with the launch of next-generation DOCSIS 3.0 in the Baltimore market. With wideband, Comcast will introduce a new echelon of Internet speed tiers, which will redefine the customer experience online and create a platform for Internet innovation in the years ahead.
> 
> *In December, Comcast will begin to roll out the new services to residential homes and businesses throughout the communities it serves in the Baltimore market, including areas in Anne Arundel County, City of Annapolis and Howard County, with the remainder of the market expected to be completed by the first half of 2009.*
> 
> 
> With wideband, Comcast will offer among the fastest speeds available today, including the Extreme 50 tier with download speeds of up to 50 Mbps. Wideband will also enable Comcast to double speeds for the majority of existing high-speed Internet customers at no additional cost.
> 
> 
> We are pleased to be rolling out this next generation service to our customers, which will dramatically enhance their online experience, said Fred Graffam, senior vice president of Comcast's Beltway Region. This technology, combined with our advanced fiber optic network, will enable us to continue to offer our customers even faster speeds and an entirely new phase of Internet innovation.
> 
> 
> As part of the wideband deployment, Comcast will launch two new premium speed tiers to its residential and business class customers. Both new services are ideal for households or businesses simultaneously using several computers or Internet-connected devices. They also will appeal to those who simply want some of the fastest speeds available today:
> 
> 
> New Residential Tiers
> 
> 
> Extreme 50, offering up to 50 Mbps of downstream speed and up to 10 Mbps of upstream speed at $139.95/month.*
> 
> Ultra, offering up to 22 Mbps of downstream speed and up to 5 Mbps of upstream speed at $62.95/month.*
> 
> With Extreme 50, Comcast customers will be able to download a high-def movie (6 GB) in about 16 minutes, a standard-def movie (2 GB) in about 5 minutes and a standard-def TV show (300 MB) in a matter of seconds. Customers with Extreme 50 also will be able to download digital photos, songs and games faster than ever.
> 
> 
> In addition to the new speed tiers, Comcast also is increasing speeds for most of its existing customers.
> 
> 
> Performance tier customers will benefit from doubled downstream and upstream speeds, offering up to 12 Mbps and 2 Mbps, respectively.
> 
> Performance Plus customers will be upgraded to Comcast's Blast! tier, which will double their download speeds to up to 16 Mbps and provide up to 2 Mbps of upload speed.
> 
> Plus, with PowerBoost® technology, customers are able to enjoy even faster speeds to download and upload files such as videos, games, music and photos.
> 
> 
> New Business Class Tiers
> 
> 
> Business customers will benefit from wideband with increased efficiency and productivity. Customers can sign up for the Deluxe 50 Mbps / 10 Mbps tier for $189.95/month, which includes a full suite of features and support. As part of their service, Comcast Business Class customers receive Microsoft Communication Services, providing corporate-class e-mail, calendaring and document sharing, as well as additional benefits such as firewall protection, static IP addresses, multiple e-mail addresses and business class 24/7 customer support. Existing business class customers also will receive complimentary speed increasesspeeds on the Starter tier will be doubled to up to 12 Mbps / 2 Mbps and a new Premium Tier also will be introduced, offering speeds up to 22 Mbps / 5 Mbps for only $99.95/month.
> 
> 
> To find out when wideband will be available customers can visit www.comcast.com/fastestfast or call
> 
> 1-800-Comcast.
> 
> 
> *Pricing for residential customers and requires subscription to Comcast Cable service.
> 
> http://www.comcast.com/About/PressRe....ashx?PRID=829



No mention of the 250gb download cap in that press release.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/15408...ow_factor.html 


> Quote:
> Called wideband by Comcast, but officially known as DOCSIS 3.0, the high-speed service seems like a bandwidth hog's dream. That is, until you realize that Comcast's 250GB monthly download cap remains in place. Keep to the cap, however, and the benefits are obvious. Extreme 50 customers should be able to download a high-def movie (6 GB) in about 16 minutes, Comcast says.


----------



## mchief99




Marcus Carr said:


> *Comcast To Roll Out Extreme 50 Mbps High-Speed Internet Service in Baltimore*
> 
> 
> I guess that means we can reach our 250GB limit that much faster and get the high-speed service cancelled.


----------



## MrChad

Any Loudoun Co. Comcast customers have F/X HD, Fox News HD or Speed HD yet? They are listed on the Comcast channel lineup, but they haven't appeared on my Tivo HD yet (channels 221, 222 and 242, respectively).


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/15274173
> 
> 
> Yeah, I remember the following years watching that TV drop rapidly in price. I think that it was expensive at first because back then having an integrated ATSC tuner was a big deal. Not sure if it had two?
> 
> 
> I will say about three years later my friends dad ended up getting the same (but newer model) plasma. Mine: $3850 His: $1300.
> 
> 
> I rationalized out the 3 years of good use that I had because .... well that's all I had...



My KV-34HS420 has zero ATSC tuners. Pretty sure it's the last Sony CRT to not include one. I think it was succeeded by the XBR970, which did include an ATSC tuner.


----------



## systems2000

*"Comcast To Roll Out Extreme 50 Mbps High-Speed Internet Service in Baltimore"*


Still will not get me to ever go back to Comcast.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/15261148
> 
> 
> Entertainment Tonight is now being shown in HD on WUSA. Probably goes for The Insider too.



Yep.


----------



## machpost

While flipping through the channels last night, I could've sworn I saw that WJLA's logo had been moved into the 4:3 safe area.


----------



## TimGoodwin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/15278879
> 
> 
> While flipping through the channels last night, I could've sworn I saw that WJLA's logo had been moved into the 4:3 safe area.




It was, I noticed the same thing. I guess all the talk about over scan made them move it.


----------



## machpost

RCN in D.C. finally added WMPT-DT to the line-up yesterday. This is probably old news to most of you, but MPT "HD" is a complete joke. Despite the fact that they produce the program, Motorweek was presented windowboxed. And while Sesame Street was listed in the guide this morning as being in HD, it was 4:3 SD on WMPT-DT. The only program in true HD that I've seen so far is NewsHour.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/15278879
> 
> 
> While flipping through the channels last night, I could've sworn I saw that WJLA's logo had been moved into the 4:3 safe area.



Well, my CECBs are set to 4:3 crop, so I never saw the logo until now.


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TimGoodwin* /forum/post/15278964
> 
> 
> It was, I noticed the same thing. I guess all the talk about over scan made them move it.




HA! Nice try.


It was moved to better line up with the SD branding for now. Just for now.


----------



## bogdanmi




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15273150
> 
> *Comcast To Roll Out Extreme 50 Mbps High-Speed Internet Service in Baltimore*





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mchief99* /forum/post/15275053
> 
> 
> I guess that means we can reach our 250GB limit that much faster and get the high-speed service cancelled.



At that speed you will hit the Comcast 250GB cap in about 12 hours.


Yet another reason why I switched to FIOS.


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *imacdonald* /forum/post/15265959
> 
> 
> Does anyone have a good contact for WHUT? I have a Tivo HD that just upgraded to the V11 software, and now it thinks I have 2 WHUT channels, the first WHUTDT where I get channel information and no signal, the second WHUT-DT where I get the signal, but no channel information. My guess is sending out the channel identifier as WHUT-DT instead of WHUTDT.



Not it.


The identifiers that you see without a dash come from the guide data (from Tribune, via TiVo). They override anything provided by PSIP. The "WHUT-DT" is from PSIP, and you're seeing it because there's no guide data for that channel. But neither identifier is the problem.


It could be that WHUT-DT is identifying itself as 33-1 in its PSIP, when it should be 32-1. (Is that what you're seeing?) ISTR something like that happening earlier.


Me, I have only one 32-1, on which I receive nothing, so I don't know. You could try scanning, and/or rebooting.


On an unrelated note, I'm watching WJLA news in HD for the first time right now (just found out about it), and it's flickering constantly. I can't watch much more of this.


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrChad* /forum/post/15275081
> 
> 
> Any Loudoun Co. Comcast customers have F/X HD, Fox News HD or Speed HD yet? They are listed on the Comcast channel lineup, but they haven't appeared on my Tivo HD yet (channels 221, 222 and 242, respectively).



still waiting in Manassas as well for those channels


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> With Extreme 50, Comcast customers will be able to download a high-def movie (6 GB) in about 16 minutes, a standard-def movie (2 GB) in about 5 minutes and a standard-def TV show (300 MB) in a matter of seconds.



That's all marketing speak that has little to do with reality. Everyone knows that the tier you pay for and real download speeds don't match many times. It's very unlikely you'll download a 2GB file in 5 min at 5PM.


----------



## CycloneGT

I'd like to congradulate all of us who have helped make the Wash DC metro are the number one market for HD penetration!



> Quote:
> *Nielsen: HDTV Penetration Doubles
> 
> At the end of last year, HDTV penetration was 13.5 percent*
> 
> _Dec 11, 2008
> 
> 
> -By Katy Bachman_
> 
> 
> High definition TV penetration has nearly doubled from a year ago, according to Nielsen data released Thursday (Dec. 11). As of Nov. 30, HDTV penetration reached 23.2 percent of all U.S. households, up from 12.8 percent a year ago. At the end of last year, HDTV penetration was 13.5 percent.
> 
> 
> Among the 18 largest local markets where Nielsen measures TV audiences using local people meters, *Washington, D.C. had the highest HDTV penetration at 31.1 percent*, followed by Boston (30.5 percent), New York (30.2 percent), Seattle-Tacoma (29.8 percent) and Philadelphia (29.1 percent).
> 
> 
> Detroit had the lowest HDTV penetration at 20.9 percent. Other markets falling below the national average were Minneapolis-St. Paul (21.6 percent) and Miami-Ft. Lauderdale (21.4 percent).
> 
> 
> Nielsen attributed the increased penetration to a number of factors, including the lower prices for HDTV sets and the increased availability of programming in high definition, as well as the impending transition to DTV broadcast on Feb. 17.
> 
> 
> "With nearly a quarter of homes equipped with high definition televisions, the demand for high definition content will only increase," said Steve McGowan, senior vp of client research initiatives for Nielsen.
> 
> 
> Certain genres are more popular in HDTV homes than others, with sports events and sports commentary having the highest index of viewing. Homes with HDTV watch 54 percent more sports than non-capable HDTV households.
> 
> 
> Other popular HDTV genres include political content, award ceremonies and situation comedy, indexing at 125, 110, and 100, respectively.



We have more deeply penetrated the HD adoption rates than any other city. That should satisfy even the most reluctant of our neighbors.


Also congradulations to Katy Bachman for using both Penetration and Double in her article's title, I'm sure that will lead to many hilarious search engine mishaps.


----------



## Potatoehead

I noticed today that wjla was broadcasting analog on channel 49 as well as 7. Earlier messages noted that it was in their plans to maintain a low power station on channel 49 after the transition. It looks like it is reality!


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/15283181
> 
> 
> That's all marketing speak that has little to do with reality. Everyone knows that the tier you pay for and real download speeds don't match many times. It's very unlikely you'll download a 2GB file in 5 min at 5PM.



That's why FIOS is better. Anytime of day, any day of the week I will always hit 50mbs with my FIOS connection.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/15283181
> 
> 
> That's all marketing speak that has little to do with reality. Everyone knows that the tier you pay for and real download speeds don't match many times. It's very unlikely you'll download a 2GB file in 5 min at 5PM.



You mean 10pm. At 5pm everyone in the Wash-Metro area is either still at work or trapped in traffic somewhere.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Potatoehead* /forum/post/15283756
> 
> 
> I noticed today that wjla was broadcasting analog on channel 49 as well as 7. Earlier messages noted that it was in their plans to maintain a low power station on channel 49 after the transition. It looks like it is reality!



That would be the low power station WWTD-LP 49 which was broadcasting the WUFO "network" until last August. Albritton, owners of WJLA, leased WWTD-LP to broadcast a analog simulcast of WJLA. I think they started the WJLA simulcast a few weeks ago. Don't know how long past the transition they plan to keep the WJLA analog broadcast on WWTD-LP. I suspect Albritton will find that it won't be that worthwhile because once people get the converter boxes to watch the other major networks including WJLA-DT, why bother watching the analog version on WWTD-LP?


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/15285535
> 
> 
> That's why FIOS is better. Anytime of day, any day of the week I will always hit 50mbs with my FIOS connection.



I'm looking to go fios in early 2009. Is that a special tier or is that the standard package?


----------



## Lenonn

Sometime yesterday we in Silver Spring started receiving SciFiHD on RCN. Also, we seem to have CNBC HD, too. I don't know how long we've had that one, though.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15285607
> 
> 
> That would be the low power station WWTD-LP 49 which was broadcasting the WUFO "network" until last August. Albritton, owners of WJLA, leased WWTD-LP to broadcast a analog simulcast of WJLA. I think they started the WJLA simulcast a few weeks ago. Don't know how long past the transition they plan to keep the WJLA analog broadcast on WWTD-LP. I suspect Albritton will find that it won't be that worthwhile because once people get the converter boxes to watch the other major networks including WJLA-DT, why bother watching the analog version on WWTD-LP?



They started including it in their station IDs a few weeks ago, but I've been checking and I never saw a signal there before Potatoehead's post. This has been a hectic week so I can't remember when I last checked but I don't think it's been on more than a week.


I think it's pointless, myself, because the people most likely to need the service are probably also the ones least likey to have an antenna that can receive it.


Btw, do you know what happened with the TV Nightlight legislation? Did anything actually pass or did it die?


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/15280946
> 
> 
> Not it.
> 
> 
> The identifiers that you see without a dash come from the guide data (from Tribune, via TiVo). They override anything provided by PSIP. The "WHUT-DT" is from PSIP, and you're seeing it because there's no guide data for that channel. But neither identifier is the problem.
> 
> 
> It could be that WHUT-DT is identifying itself as 33-1 in its PSIP, when it should be 32-1. (Is that what you're seeing?) ISTR something like that happening earlier.
> 
> 
> Me, I have only one 32-1, on which I receive nothing, so I don't know. You could try scanning, and/or rebooting.



This is TiVo’s problem, not the station’s.


TiVo provides listings for channels in its database only, not for scanned channels. Scanning allows you to tune channels not in the database, but unless you notify TiVo to add the channel to its database, you will never get program listings for those channels. Although TiVo does display PSIP station IDs for scanned channels if it finds them, it does not correlate those IDs with its database or read any PSIP program listings, so it doesn’t really matter what the station does with PSIP.


In the case of WHUT, TiVo’s database incorrectly identifies the RF channel for WHUTDT as 32 rather than 33, so that’s where it looks for it, and of course, there’s only an analog channel there, so it can’t tune it. A scan will find the channel on 33, if you can receive it, but you will get no listings. Even if the PSIP identified that station as WHUTDT instead of WHUT-DT, you would still have one WHUTDT with listings and a black screen, and one WHUTDT with a picture and no listings.


TiVo had the same problem with WNVCDT when it was on the air, because its database listed the RF as 56 rather than 57. (And still does.)


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/15285938
> 
> 
> I'm looking to go fios in early 2009. Is that a special tier or is that the standard package?



I'm on the 50/20 tier. If you are in Northern Virginia the price is $90 a month. The other areas are $140 a month.


I know with the $90 a month pricing it doesn't qualify for any bundle discounts since the discount is already built into the price. But you can still get a double bundle discount with home phone and TV or a discount with cell service and TV service.(which is what I'm doing since I dropped my landline. It gives me $13 off the Extreme HD price)


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/15287329
> 
> 
> I'm on the 50/20 tier. If you are in Northern Virginia the price is $90 a month. The other areas are $140 a month.



Didn't know that the 50 down / 20 up tier was less expensive here. But the 20/5 tier is plenty fast enough for me - and a lot cheaper. tonyd79, Verizon has aggressive bundle discounts for the 10/2 and 20/5 internet speeds, the TV packages, and phone packages. Verizon recently changed the TV product packages adding a HD Extreme package which provides all the HD channels, except for the premium movie channels. I think the most common bundle the HD viewers are going for is the 20/5 net, HD Extreme along with whichever set of movie packages, and phone landline/cell options. You can look up the various options for TV, net, phone here: http://www22.verizon.com/residential/fiostv . Click on the channel line-up tab to get the current Fios channel line-ups.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/15286844
> 
> 
> They started including it in their station IDs a few weeks ago, but I've been checking and I never saw a signal there before Potatoehead's post. This has been a hectic week so I can't remember when I last checked but I don't think it's been on more than a week.
> 
> ...
> 
> Btw, do you know what happened with the TV Nightlight legislation? Did anything actually pass or did it die?



I think the TV Nightlight legislation allowing some analog stations to stay on the air for 30 days after 2/17/09 didn't get out of Congress with all the other stuff going on. They might try again to pass a new bill in January, but it is way, way late in the process to pick out and find stations which can keep an analog signal on the air without interferring with digital channel moves by other stations, are able and willing to spend the $ to maintain a 24/7 info loop analog broadcast to do so.


WWTD-LP may have started up the WJLA simulcast recently. I haven't checked analog 49 myself in some time. Noisy analog picture from Sterling.


----------



## mark_e




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/15285938
> 
> 
> I'm looking to go fios in early 2009. Is that a special tier or is that the standard package?



tonyd79-


My daughter, who also lives in Columbia has had FIOS for a while now. She received a mailer yesterday offering her a $150 service credit for everyone who she refers that goes to FIOS. You may want to have a friend/family member/neighbor who has FIOS look into it so they can get the credit for your switch.


I'm going to do the same next month as well. I'm fed up with Comcast's pricing and lack of channels in Howard County. I spoke to a regional manager, and they are just not willing to compete on price unless you take their phone service. I can't because I need distinctive ring which they don't offer. His suggestion was that I take a phone line and not use it







. The numbers I ran come out to a savings of over $1000 per year for all services.


----------



## imacdonald




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/15280946
> 
> 
> 
> It could be that WHUT-DT is identifying itself as 33-1 in its PSIP, when it should be 32-1. (Is that what you're seeing?) ISTR something like that happening earlier.



WHUT-DT is listed as 32-1 digital frequency 33 (picture no guide data)

WHUTDT is listed as 32-1 digital frequency 32 (guide data no picture)


I only have tivo's so I am not sure if they have a way to display the PSIP data. I just remember a comment (which I can't find) saying that WNVC was advertising the wrong information in PSIP data, I think it was 57-1 Mhz1 on frequency 57 rather than 56-1.


----------



## tonyd79

Guys, thanks for the answers. My sister has Fios in Bethesda, I can let her get the finders fee if I follow through on the switch.


I have DirecTV for most stuff and Comcast for internet. When I look at Fios, I see a lot of stuff DirecTV doesn't have (DC locals and more movie channels), so I will want to steer Fios that way. Comcast has practically nothing DirecTV doesn't have (only WGN and a local or two) and DirecTV has the sports packages and other stuff I want, so DirecTV and Fios is a good match for me.


Thanks again.


----------



## ACW112983

Anyone know if Comcast in Arlington will be getting Spike TV HD anytime soon?


----------



## billodom




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Also congratulations to Katy Bachman for using both Penetration and Double in her article's title, I'm sure that will lead to many hilarious search engine mishaps.



















> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15288015
> 
> 
> I think the TV Nightlight legislation allowing some analog stations to stay on the air for 30 days after 2/17/09 didn't get out of Congress with all the other stuff going on.



Actually it did. The House passed S. 3663 on Wednesday, December 10, as one of its last items of the year. It now goes to the President. Hopefully it will have no effect on the transition.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *billodom* /forum/post/15294677
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Actually it did. The House passed S. 3663 on Wednesday, December 10, as one of its last items of the year. It now goes to the President. Hopefully it will have no effect on the transition.



Thanks for pointing that out. I would have thought the news of the House passage would have been posted at avsforum and the subject of debate, but I may have missed it. Industry press article at http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6621803.html . Presumably Bush will sign the bill.


Wonder which stations, if any, in the DC market would be able and willing to maintain an analog signal with an info loop for 30 days pass Feb. 17? WJLA, WUSA, WDCW are flash cutting to their analog channel, so they can't. WETA 26 is blocking WHAG-DT 25 from full power operation on UHF 26, so they can't. Don't know if WDCA 20 or WFDC 14 are blocking any other digital stations. The 2 low VHF stations, NBC owned WRC 4 and Fox owned WTTG 5, are probably the best candidates given the few number of full power low VHF stations after the transition.


The Baltimore stations get a little more complicated. WBAL 11 and WJZ 13 are flash cutting to their analog channel. WNUV 54, WFPT 62, WMPB 67 are out of core, so they hae to shut off. WUTB 24 is blocking WNVC-DT in Fairfax from going on the air at all. IIRC, WMAR 2's analog antenna is slated for removal after Feb. 17, so new antennas can be put up for WMAR-DT and WJZ-DT. Don' t know about WMPT 22.


----------



## systems2000

20 & 14 are clear of any digital stations here in Hagerstown/Chambersburg. I don't know about NE, E, SE, S, or SSW of D.C. _NOTE: WWTD-LD will be transmitting on 14 in Washington at 0.1KW_


Same with WMPT-22 in Annapolis.


----------



## aaronwt

They shouldn't need an extra 30 days. i keep seeing messages posted during many of the shows I watch. If people use OTA then they certainly must not be watching it since the messages are everywhere about the digital cutoff. Why they would need to broadcast a message for 30 days past the cutoff makes no sense when they have been constantly sending a barrage of messgaes during the programming for many months already.


I'm pretty much sick of seeing it. People I know that couldn't care less about digital know about it and see the messages all the time too. The messages are working, but why would they need to keep broadcasting it after analog should be cutoff. I've been waiting for this analog cutoff for 7.5 years now. Since I first started watching and recording the digital OTA programming. I'll be glad when it's finally done and I don't have to hear about it any more.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/15299305
> 
> 
> If people use OTA then they certainly must not be watching it since the messages are everywhere about the digital cutoff. Why they would need to broadcast a message for 30 days past the cutoff makes no sense when they have been constantly sending a barrage of messgaes during the programming for many months already.



For those few who really don't get it and will only complain after the programming is really cut off.


----------



## machpost

The money that would be spent on keeping those analog transmitters on for an extra 30 days and producing the content would be better spent on buying a truckload of converter boxes, and rounding up volunteers to distribute and install them in the homes of the low-income elderly in our area who are most likely unprepared for the transition.


----------



## afiggatt

The early shutdown in the Wilmington, NC market showed that no how matter how much public notice and scrolling messages on the screen they provide, that a lot of people will not act until the analog signal is actually gone. Many people are confused about the transition (heck, I still see articles in the mainstream press which show a poor understanding of the transition), so they are just not dealing with it. Not a bad idea to keep 1 or 2 analog stations on the air in each market for 30 days post-transition with information on what to do so people don't think their TV is broken. Just rather late in the game to decide to do this. But the FCC probably could have ordered all stations that have a full power digital signal that covers >90% of their market to interrupt the analog broadcast 1-3 days prior to the scheduled analog shutdown for that station and show nothing but information messages.


According to Broadcasting & Cable, we have another analog shut-off "test" scheduled for tonight, Dec. 15, at 11:28 to 11:30 PM. Quoting part of the article: "Eleven stations in the market will simulate the cut-off of analog signals at 11:28-11:30 p.m. on Dec. 15, and at 7:28-7:30 p.m. on Dec. 17, when markets across the country will do their own variations on cut-off tests; then between 10:28 and 10:30 a.m. on Dec. 23." Time to check the cable & satellite SD channels to see how many are still from the analog source.


----------



## mdviewer25

Would like to know if anyone get TNT HD in the clear. I only have video no audio and it tells me that it is encrypted.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/15299305
> 
> 
> I'm pretty much sick of seeing it. People I know that couldn't care less about digital know about it and see the messages all the time too. The messages are working, but why would they need to keep broadcasting it after analog should be cutoff.



For those who wake up from a 5 year coma the day after the switchover.


----------



## PaulGo

*WUSA-TV moves to one-man-band ENG*

Dec 15, 2008 9:34 AM


WUSA-TV, the CBS affiliate in Washington, D.C., will become the first station in the nation's capital to replace its news crews with one-person multimedia journalists, who will shoot and edit news stories single-handedly.


The change, reported by the Washington Post, will blur the distinctions between the station's reporters and its camera and production workers. For decades, TV journalists have worked in teams, with the lines of responsibility regulated by union rules or simple tradition, according to the newspaper.


The transition is driven by increasing financial pressure on TV stations, as advertisers disappear from nightly newscasts and audiences scatter to the growing number of channels and Web sites.


WUSA, owned by Gannett, also plans an across-the-board cut in reporters' salaries as it increases their responsibilities. Multimedia journalists will earn 30 to 50 percent less than what traditional reporters have been earning, with salaries topping out at around $90,000 annually, according to the newspaper's sources.


The station will switch to the new system early next year, becoming one of the first stations in a major market to revamp its entire newsroom. Its agreement is with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which represents on-air reporters, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which represents production employees. Union members said they expect the agreement to be ratified.


A competing station, WRC-TV, Channel 4, is expected to begin phasing multimedia journalists into its newsroom later next year as part of a sweeping cost-cutting effort by its parent, NBC Universal. WJLA-TV, Channel 7, has already used some of the work of multimedia reporters employed by NewsChannel 8, the cable station that is owned by the parent of WJLA-TV, Allbritton Communications.


Veteran television journalists told the newspaper their concern isn't the quantity of news that can be produced but the quality, because not all TV journalists are skilled enough to do a job formerly handled by specialists.


There are some people who will be very good at this, and some not as much, said Bill Lord, WJLA's news director. If you're forcing everyone to do things against their skill levels and desire, your product suffers.


Lord says stations in Nashville and San Francisco have used multimedia journalists on an experimental basis in recent years but have backed away because of falling quality and declining ratings.


The upcoming changes at WUSA have soured veteran reporter Gary Reels, who began working at the station in 1980. Reels has decided to take a buyout offer from the station and will leave Dec. 23. He doesn't know yet what he'll be doing next.

It takes a lot of time to shoot and edit and write and prepare a story, and if you have one person doing all that, something has to give, he said. For those people who want to take the challenge of adding all that to their workload, my hat's off to them. But it's not something at my ripe old age that I care to venture into.

http://broadcastengineering.com/hdtv...band-eng-1215/


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PaulGo* /forum/post/15306001
> 
> *WUSA-TV moves to one-man-band ENG*
> 
> Dec 15, 2008 9:34 AM
> 
> 
> WUSA-TV, the CBS affiliate in Washington, D.C., will become the first station in the nation's capital to replace its news crews with one-person multimedia journalists, who will shoot and edit news stories single-handedly.
> 
> 
> The change, reported by the Washington Post, will blur the distinctions between the station's reporters and its camera and production workers. For decades, TV journalists have worked in teams, with the lines of responsibility regulated by union rules or simple tradition, according to the newspaper.
> 
> 
> The transition is driven by increasing financial pressure on TV stations, as advertisers disappear from nightly newscasts and audiences scatter to the growing number of channels and Web sites.
> 
> 
> WUSA, owned by Gannett, also plans an across-the-board cut in reporters' salaries as it increases their responsibilities. Multimedia journalists will earn 30 to 50 percent less than what traditional reporters have been earning, with salaries topping out at around $90,000 annually, according to the newspaper's sources.
> 
> 
> The station will switch to the new system early next year, becoming one of the first stations in a major market to revamp its entire newsroom. Its agreement is with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which represents on-air reporters, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which represents production employees. Union members said they expect the agreement to be ratified.
> 
> 
> A competing station, WRC-TV, Channel 4, is expected to begin phasing multimedia journalists into its newsroom later next year as part of a sweeping cost-cutting effort by its parent, NBC Universal. WJLA-TV, Channel 7, has already used some of the work of multimedia reporters employed by NewsChannel 8, the cable station that is owned by the parent of WJLA-TV, Allbritton Communications.
> 
> 
> Veteran television journalists told the newspaper their concern isn't the quantity of news that can be produced but the quality, because not all TV journalists are skilled enough to do a job formerly handled by specialists.
> 
> 
> There are some people who will be very good at this, and some not as much, said Bill Lord, WJLA's news director. If you're forcing everyone to do things against their skill levels and desire, your product suffers.
> 
> 
> Lord says stations in Nashville and San Francisco have used multimedia journalists on an experimental basis in recent years but have backed away because of falling quality and declining ratings.
> 
> 
> The upcoming changes at WUSA have soured veteran reporter Gary Reels, who began working at the station in 1980. Reels has decided to take a buyout offer from the station and will leave Dec. 23. He doesn't know yet what he'll be doing next.
> 
> It takes a lot of time to shoot and edit and write and prepare a story, and if you have one person doing all that, something has to give, he said. For those people who want to take the challenge of adding all that to their workload, my hat's off to them. But it's not something at my ripe old age that I care to venture into.
> 
> http://broadcastengineering.com/hdtv...band-eng-1215/



Sounds like a pretty terrible idea, to me.


----------



## CycloneGT

In the end it will end up like all of those other innovations that we don't like when we hear about them, but somehow accept them over time.


----------



## afiggatt

Scanned through the SD locals in the 2-49 range on Verizon Fios during the analog shut-off "test". Verizon flunked it for WFDC 14, MPT 22, WETA 26. The other broadcast locals passed. Verizon has the digital feed for MPT and WETA, so they just need to downconvert the HD signal. Don't know if Verizon is getting the digital SD signal for WFDC Uni 14.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/15307046
> 
> 
> Sounds like a pretty terrible idea, to me.




It probably can't hurt their ratings. And they will save money too.


----------



## lax01

Anybody get popping on NBC-HD? Specifically with Comcast...all other channels are fine but it seems like with the DD5.1, you get intermittent popping...really annoying


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PaulGo* /forum/post/15306001
> 
> *WUSA-TV moves to one-man-band ENG*
> 
> Dec 15, 2008 9:34 AM
> 
> 
> WUSA-TV, the CBS affiliate in Washington, D.C., will become the first station in the nation's capital to replace its news crews with one-person multimedia journalists, who will shoot and edit news stories single-handedly.



Now where have I heard of this before... Hmm, oh wait, this was on in the late 80s - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Headroom_(TV_series )


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/15304798
> 
> 
> Would like to know if anyone get TNT HD in the clear. I only have video no audio and it tells me that it is encrypted.



It has been that way on Comcast for a while.


Neil


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lax01* /forum/post/15308577
> 
> 
> Anybody get popping on NBC-HD? Specifically with Comcast...all other channels are fine but it seems like with the DD5.1, you get intermittent popping...really annoying



Yes, very annoying. It's not horrible, but it's distracting, and just frequent enough so you can't ignore it.


I use OTA for NBC-HD, so it must be a source-signal problem.


Yet another data point that the engineers in the networks are asleep, or drunk, or playing video games most of the time. Or perhaps just completely unqualified for their jobs.

*Here's another one - CBS-HD (DC) sends out a 5.1 signal, but is only "filling" the FL/FR channels* (at least on Survivor and Amazing Race, all I watch on the station). Brilliant.


Broadcast network engineers I think are mostly promoted from window washers. Sorry, that's unfair to window washers...


----------



## lax01




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/15309762
> 
> 
> Yes, very annoying. It's not horrible, but it's distracting, and just frequent enough so you can't ignore it.
> 
> 
> I use OTA for NBC-HD, so it must be a source-signal problem.
> 
> 
> Yet another data point that the engineers in the networks are asleep, or drunk, or playing video games most of the time. Or perhaps just completely unqualified for their jobs.
> 
> *Here's another one - CBS-HD (DC) sends out a 5.1 signal, but is only "filling" the FL/FR channels* (at least on Survivor and Amazing Race, all I watch on the station). Brilliant.
> 
> 
> Broadcast network engineers I think are mostly promoted from window washers. Sorry, that's unfair to window washers...



Good, I was apart to tear apart my system looking to end the noise....its really quite annoying


----------



## systems2000

When are the broadcasters going to activate the "Auto-Aspect-Ratio" feature for program content, so that I don't have to keep changing the Aspect Ratio between shows/programs?


I'd really like to leave my system set to "Auto" and let it do all the Ratio changing instead of doing it manually.


----------



## systems2000

WNPB-DT out of Morgantown, WV has activated a bunch of digital translators and all are using the primary channel number of 24 as their "Call Sign." This has become a problem in the Shenandoah/Cumberland Valley, for those who were receiving WUTB 24 out of Baltimore. WNPB has a transmitter on channel 8, at 60KW (not ERP), out of Martinsburg, WV.


I find it interesting that the FCC doesn't have these translators in their TVQuery database.


This is the first, of several (~4) interference problems, I will see when this transition become complete.

*NOTE:*

Found the information in the FCC Query Database by accident. It's W08EE-D a LD station. http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=167357


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15312128
> 
> 
> WNPB-DT out of Morgantown, WV has activated a bunch of digital translators and all are using the primary channel number of 24 as their "Call Sign." This has become a problem in the Shenandoah/Cumberland Valley, for those who were receiving WUTB 24 out of Baltimore. WNPB has a transmitter on channel 8, at 60KW (not ERP), out of Martinsburg, WV.
> 
> ...
> 
> This is the first, of several (~4) interference problems, I will see when this transition become complete.



The digital and analog translators are in the FCC database as you found out. You just have to look for them with the right query. W08EE-D is broadcasting at 300 Watts on VHF 8, not 60 kW (which would make it a seriously powerful digital upper VHF station).


I would not call conflicting PSIP channel mapping "interference". It can get confusing if WO8EE-D is mapped to WNPB-DT channel 24.x when you can get WUTB-DT 24 OTA as well. But the physical RF channels are different. WUTB-DT My 24 is broadcasting on UHF 41 and will stay there after the transition. Your ATSC tuner should show both stations depending on how the firmware works; the 2nd one scanned in should get put at a higher sub-channel number. If you get both on a single scan, it should find W08EE first (WV PBS has 3 sub-channels according to wikipedia) and likely puts WUTB-DT at 24.4. Awkward, but both stations should be there. What do you get on your ATSC tuner(s)?


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/15309602
> 
> 
> It has been that way on Comcast for a while.
> 
> 
> Neil



I'm still trying to figure out why they removed the Qam channels for all of the Baltimore stations. MPT doesn't even show up anymore.


----------



## Trip in VA

The PSIP standard apparently say that translators should use the major channel number of the station they're translating. So W08EE-D is actually doing everything right.


- Trip


----------



## SUOrangeman

I didn't see any update posted, but Cox-Fairfax did add the following HD offerings today:


Hallmark HD (premium/not a part of "basic" HD package?)

Weather Channel HD (no "Local on the 8s?", just the national version)

Planet Green HD (premium/not a part of "basic" HD package?)

AMC HD

WGN HD

Fox News HD

Speed HD

FX HD


CycloneGT, the chart in the first post doesn't reflect our other additions from the last round which included Lifetime Movies, CMT, VH1, Nickelodeon, MTV, Spike, and the Golf/Versus split.


-SUO


----------



## Marcus Carr

*D.C. Council Gives FiOS TV Green Light*


Verizon Awarded 15-Year Franchise for District of Columbia


By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 12/16/2008 1:45:00 PM


The Washington, D.C. city council approved a 15-year cable franchise with Verizon Communications, which expects to start offering its FiOS TV service to residents starting in 2009 in competition with Comcast.


The Council of the District of Columbia on Tuesday passed legislation granting Verizon the cable franchise unanimously (with one abstention). The legislation must be approved by Mayor Adrian Fenty.


Under the terms of the franchise, Verizon will make FiOS TV available throughout D.C. over the next nine years.


The D.C. Council today has taken a bold step forward for residents who deserve more choice in who provides their pay-TV service, William Roberts, Verizon regional president for Maryland and Washington, D.C., said in a statement.


According to Verizon, the franchiseas previously negotiated with the District of Columbia Office of Cable Televisioncommits to nine public, educational and government channels, with the possibility of adding five more; support for those channels in the form of a 3% fee on gross revenues, and an "extensive and appropriate set of customer service provisions."

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6623256.html


----------



## Marcus Carr

PRESS RELEASE

*D.C. Residents Closer to Much-Deserved Cable TV Choice*


Last update: 2:45 p.m. EST Dec. 16, 2008


WASHINGTON, Dec 16, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- D.C. Council Takes 'Bold Step Forward' in Approving Franchise Legislation; Verizon to Offer Its Award-Winning FiOS TV Service Throughout District Within Nine Years; First Residents Will be able to Order Service Within a Year


The Council of the District of Columbia Tuesday (Dec. 16) unanimously approved, with one abstention, legislation authorizing Verizon Washington DC to offer its all-fiber-optic FiOS TV service to District residents. As part of the 15-year cable franchise included in the legislation, Verizon will make FiOS TV available throughout the District over the next nine years. The legislation now moves to Mayor Adrian M. Fenty for his signature into law. The following response should be attributed to William R. Roberts, Verizon regional president for Maryland and Washington, D.C.:


"The D.C. Council today has taken a bold step forward for residents who deserve more choice in who provides their pay-TV service. And Verizon is eager to begin offering District residents FiOS TV, an award-winning, superior alternative to their current cable TV service, with more high-definition channels and innovative interactive features cable companies don't provide.


"In reviewing the franchise legislation, the Committee on Public Services and Consumer Affairs, under the leadership of Committee Chair Mary Cheh, received testimony from dozens of District residents who called for more cable competition. We salute the committee's thorough examination.


"We thank Mayor Fenty and his administration for their continued support throughout this process, and we urge the mayor to sign this legislation quickly so that Verizon can start bringing the many benefits of cable TV choice to District residents in 2009."


SOURCE Verizon

http://news.prnewswire.com/ViewConte...4943029&EDATE=


----------



## systems2000

The WNPB Engineer told me that they were transmitting at 60 watts. I thought he miss spoke and meant 60KW, that's why I noted that the value I posted was not ERP.


He and I had that conversation about designators and he did reference the FCC mandate but he doesn't like it either, because of the PSIP conflicts.


----------



## SUOrangeman

Rather than bother CycloneGT about updated channels in the first post, I've imported his chart into a Google Docs spreadsheet:

http://snurl.com/wash-balt-hdtv (sn URL)


I think I've updated VA-Cox properly, adding the appropriate channel numbers. There's also a comment in the "VA-Cox" header cell with the URL to the official Cox-Fairfax lineup.


This document is editable by anyone. If you get prompted to log in, you are probably blocking cookies from Google.


I only ask that some responsible readers update and verify the information within the spreadsheet ... noting any changes on the second worksheet ('Update History' link at the bottom). Due to my vBulletin=>csv=>GoogleDocs conversion, I am fairly certain that some data in the last three colums are "off by one."


Enjoy!


-SUO


NOTE: Some columns to the right of VA-Cox may be off a little.


----------



## Big J

One needs an account to access that page.

J


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SUOrangeman* /forum/post/15316545
> 
> 
> Rather than bother CycloneGT about updated channels in the first post, I've imported his chart into a Google Docs spreadsheet:
> 
> http://snurl.com/wash-balt-hdtv (sn URL)
> 
> 
> I think I've updated VA-Cox properly, adding the appropriate channel numbers. There's also a comment in the "VA-Cox" header cell with the URL to the official Cox-Fairfax lineup.
> 
> 
> This document is editable by anyone. If you get prompted to log in, you are probably blocking cookies from Google.
> 
> 
> I only ask that some responsible readers update and verify the information within the spreadsheet ... noting any changes on the second worksheet ('Update History' link at the bottom). Due to my vBulletin=>csv=>GoogleDocs conversion, I am fairly certain that some data in the last three colums are "off by one."
> 
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> 
> -SUO
> 
> 
> NOTE: Some columns to the right of VA-Cox may be off a little.



I've updated the channel numbers for RCN, and added a line for MLB Network HD, since I had the upcoming channel number for RCN.


----------



## SUOrangeman

Big J - I don't claim to be a Google Docs expert. The spreadsheet is *supposed* to be editable by anyone without an account. However, even I've been prompted to log in at times, while I haven't been prompted at other times. Same thing happens with my Blu-Ray audio chart.


Thanks for the updates, machpost. Silly question: Is is safe to say that all of the HBO/MAX/SHO channels on RCN are premium or are they included by default? I'd only want to shade them blue, if needed.


-SUO


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SUOrangeman* /forum/post/15319576
> 
> 
> Thanks for the updates, machpost. Silly question: Is is safe to say that all of the HBO/MAX/SHO channels on RCN are premium or are they included by default? I'd only want to shade them blue, if needed.
> 
> 
> -SUO



The HBO, MAX, SHO, and TMC channels are indeed premiums. There is also a "Premium HD Suite" now, which includes HD Theater, Smithsonian HD, HDNet & Movies, MGM HD, Universal HD, and Hallmark Movies HD. I've also marked those as premium.


----------



## tonyd79

I haven't seen it yet but users on dbstalk are reporting that DirecTV has added MPT (Annapolis 22) in HD today for the Baltimore market.


----------



## Gerald C




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/15320141
> 
> 
> I haven't seen it yet but users on dbstalk are reporting that DirecTV has added MPT (Annapolis 22) in HD today for the Baltimore market.



I wish that WMPT-DT 22 (42) would increase their OTA power level! Their programming just seems to make more sense than WETA-DT.


----------



## Gerald C

Does anyone know if WUSA-DT will participate in CBS digital TVGOS data broadcasting? I know they are not O&O, but various OTA devices, including the new DishDVR, can make good use of the TVGOS data. This site seems to imply that Washington is/will miss out:

http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=tvgos


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Gerald C* /forum/post/15321547
> 
> 
> I wish that WMPT-DT 22 (42) would increase their OTA power level! Their programming just seems to make more sense than WETA-DT.



I agree. Too bad almost none of it is HD.


----------



## systems2000

Here is the Station List that I'm working off to try and re-acquire the anaolg stations I'll be loosing when the digital transition happens in Feb. I thought those who live along the I-81 corridor might like to have a better understanding of what will happen.


*CURRENT ATSC CHANNEL**FUTURE ATSC CHANNEL**NTSC CHANNEL (VIRTUAL)**CITY**NETWORK**CALL**39 (646)**7 (30)**7 (316)**DC**ABC**WJLA-DT**58 (907)/8 (0.3)**8 (7.5)/(0.3)**8 (110)**/50 "24" (11.94)**York/Lancaster / Martinsburg**NBC / WV-PBS**WGAL-DT / W08EE-D (WNPB-DT)**34 (1000)**9 (12.6)**9 (316)**DC**CBS**WUSA-DT**10 (16.2)**10 (19.7)**27* (2140)**Harrisburg**ABC**WHTM-DT**59 (513)**11 (5)**11 (316)**Baltimore**NBC**WBAL-DT*12 (23)12 (23)60 (2040)Martinsburg_i_ONWWPX-DT*38 (1000)**13 (28.8)**13 (316)**Baltimore**CBS**WJZ-DT**15 (325)**15 (1000)**14 (2680)**Arlington**Univision**WFDC-DT**4 (2.3)/21 (50)**21 (450)/(100)**21 (1200) & 42 (141)**Harrisburg & Front Royal**CBS & VA PBS**WHP-DT & WVPY-DT*23 (500)23 (500)15 (1050)LancasterCWWLYH-DT24 (1000)24 (1000)23* (708)AltoonaABCWATM-DT*55 (.9)**26 (575)**25 (1350)**Hagerstown**NBC**WHAG-DT*27 (90)27 (90)26 (2290)DCPBSWETA-DT*28 (30)**28 (41.2)**62 (3160)**Frederick**PBS**WFPT-DT**29 (14)**29 (1000)**8 (166)**Johnstown**FOX**WWCP-DT*30 (500)30 (500)49 (646)Red LionIndependentWGCB-DT32 (883)32 (883)10 (231)AltoonaCBSWTAJ-DT*33 (100)**33 (1000)**32* (5000)**DC**Howard Univ.**WHUT-DT**34 (1000)/(110)**34 (1000)/(1000)**6 (70.8) & 43 (350)**Johnstown & Manassas**NBC & iON**WJAC-DT & WPXW-DT**35 (500)**35 (950)**20 (3980)**DC**MyNetwork**WDCA-DT**36 (1000)/(50)**36 (1000)/(140)**5 (100) & 33 (1100)**DC & Harrisburg**FOX & PBS**WTTG-DT & WITF-DT**37**37**37**Everywhere**Not Used**N/A**52 (602)**38 (1000)**2 (100)**Baltimore**ABC**WMAR-DT**39 (34)**39 (105)**68 (3890)**Chambersburg/Hagerstown**Entravision**WJAL-DT*40 (845)40 (845)54 (5000)BaltimoreCWWNUV-DT*41 (200)**41 (290)**24 (1170)**Baltimore**MyNetwork**WUTB-DT**44 (209)**44 (1000)**31 (4070)**Hagerstown**MPT PBS**WWPB-DT*46 (550)46 (550)45 (1290)BaltimoreFOXWBFF-DT47 (933)47 (933)43 (2140)York/LancasterFOXWPMT-DT48 (813)48 (813)4 (100)DCNBCWRC-DT*51 (125)**50 (1000)**50 (4168)**DC**CW**WDCW-DT*-51 (15)51 (64)ChambersburgCWW51CY (WDCW-LD)
() = Power Level in KW ERP
*Blue* = Two stations on the same Frequency
*Purple* = Frequncy Change June 12th 2009
*Orange* = Power Increase

*NOTE (1):* *Frequency* changes will also include *Power Level* changes.

*NOTE (2):* The list is sorted by the real channel numbers for June 12th, 2009.


----------



## biker19

Has anyone with FIOS Internet had their speed increased? I noticed that FIOS lowest tier Internet is now 10/2 yet my connection is still 5/2.


----------



## CycloneGT

Last time I checked, my 5/2 was still 5/2. Someone said that you had to call them up to get them to bump it up. I haven't done it since I fear that they'll mis-hear me and upgrade me to the $10 more a month package.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SUOrangeman* /forum/post/15316545
> 
> 
> Rather than bother CycloneGT about updated channels in the first post, I've imported his chart into a Google Docs spreadsheet:
> 
> http://snurl.com/wash-balt-hdtv (sn URL)



Pretty slick. Good use of Google Docs too.


I edited it. It has some of the Fox Cable channels listed for Dish. They aren't there yet. Wish they were.


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Gerald C* /forum/post/15321583
> 
> 
> Does anyone know if WUSA-DT will participate in CBS digital TVGOS data broadcasting? I know they are not O&O, but various OTA devices, including the new DishDVR, can make good use of the TVGOS data. This site seems to imply that Washington is/will miss out:
> 
> http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=tvgos



WUSA-DT started transmitting digital TVGOS data on October 1, confirmed via email discussions I had with a WUSA engineer. I'm now getting it on my Sony DVR via local Comcast cable card mapped to QAM channel 212 (WUSA-HD). However, can't say how well it can be picked up OTA on 9.1; that could be somewhat dependent on which version TVGOS firmware you have (my Sony has V8) and, of course, your antenna setup.


----------



## Marcus Carr

WRC just showed an HD car commercial during the local news.


----------



## Marcus Carr

WMAR, WBAL, WJZ, and WBFF all passed the DTV test on Comcast today at 5:45.


----------



## albertso

dspadoni & GeraldC,


A group of us with LG-3410A DVR's are awaiting the OTA transmission of Version 7 data on the HD channels.


I got an e-mail response, after asking WUSA about the TVGOS v7 data. The engineering staff indicated that they are receiving a TVGOS stream, and were unsure of which versions of TVGOS data is in it. Here is the answer:

We asked TV Guide this very question and they responded back that as of now, they are not sending version 7 on the HD feeds. They are on the Analog feeds but we only carry the TV Guide Data on HD here.


The next release is being bench tested and they hope to implement early in Q1 2009.


Best Regards, Richard


Richard Gorbutt

Manager of Technology



We hope that the v7 data in the VBI will be available either through the DVR itself or by using the Dish DTVPal converter box. Thus far, information is very limited.


----------



## euckersw




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SUOrangeman* /forum/post/15315760
> 
> 
> I didn't see any update posted, but Cox-Fairfax did add the following HD offerings today:
> 
> 
> Hallmark HD (premium/not a part of "basic" HD package?)
> 
> Weather Channel HD (no "Local on the 8s?", just the national version)
> 
> Planet Green HD (premium/not a part of "basic" HD package?)
> 
> 
> -SUO



I have the same situation with Hallmark and Planet Green. Not that I'm dying to see the Hallmark HD channel, but looking at cox.com it would appear that both of these channels should be on the regular HD tier, and that we should be receiving them. Anybody else have any ideas?


One other note. My Tivo informed me that Cox also added the new MLB channel (SD only, for now) on channel 261. There again, I don't get the channel, probably because it's part of the special sports tier that I don't currently pay for (I believe it's $5 a month). Once they add the HD channel I think I'll probably upgrade, though...


----------



## Marcus Carr

D* added MPT HD in Baltimore today.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6623771.html


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15322466
> 
> 
> Here is the Station List that I'm working off to try and re-acquire the anaolg stations I'll be loosing when the digital transition happens in Feb. I thought those who live along the I-81 corridor might like to have a better understanding of what will happen.



Good job putting all that info together! However, you need to be careful in some of the post-transition power levels you have in the table. Some of the stations have filed maximized power applications which have not yet been granted or denied: WWPB-DT, WMPT-DT, WVPY-DT, WPXW-DT, WDCA-DT, WUTB-DT, WHUT-DT, WDCW-DT, and others. If you are using the FCC database listings, "APP" means application which the FCC has not acted on yet. The "CP" and "CP Mod" are construction permits granted by the FCC, so the station is authorized to operate at or go to that allotment. For the maximize filings, that means after midnight, Feb. 17. "LIC" = Licensed operation.


BTW, WBFF-DT is operating at 550 kW, not the 46 kW shown in the table. WBFF-DT's database entry needs to be cleaned up.


If you update the table, in the post-transition column, you might want to list authorized post-transition power and what the station has asked for in a (xxx|yyy) format. For WMPT-DT, that would be (150|516). The FCC may grant more maximize filings tomorrow, but at this close to the transition, wouldn't count on the station being ready to operate at the increased power on Feb. 18.


BTW, for those who have a hard time getting WMPT-DT 22, the maximize power filings were granted for WFPT-DT 62 (28) in Frederick from 30 to 41.2 kW and WMPB-DT 67 (29) in Baltimore from 14 to 42.6 kW. So you might be able to get MPT from those stations when they increase power if you can't get WMPT-DT itself.


----------



## aaronwt

The VHF power levels seem much lower. Was that the deciding factor for WJLA and WUSA to switch back to their VHF frequency?

That would be a big savings on their electric bill.


I can see why Nielsen moved the February sweeps to March. There will probably be a fair amount of people that have problems with channels moving from UHF to VHF, not to mention the other issues people will have with the digital switch.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15322466
> 
> 
> Here is the Station List that I'm working off to try and re-acquire the anaolg stations I'll be loosing when the digital transition happens in Feb. I thought those who live along the I-81 corridor might like to have a better understanding of what will happen.
> 
> 
> *CURRENT ATSC CHANNEL**FUTURE ATSC CHANNEL**NTSC CHANNEL (VIRTUAL)**CITY**NETWORK**CALL**39 (646)**7 (30)**7 (316)**DC**ABC**WJLA-DT**58 (907)/8 (0.3)**8 (7.5)/(0.3)**8 (110)**/50 "24" (11.94)**York/Lancaster / Martinsburg**NBC / WV-PBS**WGAL-DT / W08EE-D/WNPB-DT**34 (1000)**9 (12.6)**9 (316)**DC**CBS**WUSA-DT**10 (16.2)**10 (19.7)**27* (2140)**Harrisburg**ABC**WHTM-DT**59 (513)**11 (5)**11 (316)**Baltimore**NBC**WBAL-DT*12 (23)12 (23)(30?)60 (2040)Martinsburg_i_ONWWPX-DT*38 (1000)**13 (28.8)**13 (316)**Baltimore**CBS**WJZ-DT**15 (325)**15 (1000)**14 (2680)**Arlington**Univision**WFDC-DT**4 (2.3)/21 (50)**21 (450)/(100)**21 (1200) & 42 (141)**Harrisburg & Front Royal**CBS & VA PBS**WHP-DT & WVPY-DT*23 (500)23 (500)15 (1050)LancasterCWWLYH-DT24 (1000)24 (1000)23* (708)AltoonaABCWATM-DT*55 (.9)**26 (575)**25 (1350)**Hagerstown**NBC**WHAG-DT*27 (90)27 (90)26 (2290)DCPBSWETA-DT*28 (30)**28 (41.2)**62 (3160)**Frederick**PBS**WFPT-DT**29 (14)**29 (1000)**8 (166)**Johnstown**FOX**WWCP-DT*30 (500)30 (500)49 (646)Red LionIndependentWGCB-DT32 (883)32 (883)10 (231)AltoonaCBSWTAJ-DT*33 (100)**33 (1000)**32* (5000)**DC**Howard Univ.**WHUT-DT**34 (1000)/(110)**34 (1000)/(1000)**6 (70.8) & 43 (350)**Johnstown & Manassas**NBC & iON**WJAC-DT & WPXW-DT**35 (1.172)**35 (950)**20 (3980)**DC**MyNetwork**WDCA-DT**36 (1000)/(50)**36 (1000)/(140)**5 (100) & 33 (1100)**DC & Harrisburg**FOX & PBS**WTTG-DT & WITF-DT**37**37**37**Everywhere**Not Used**N/A**52 (602)**38 (1000)**2 (100)**Baltimore**ABC**WMAR-DT**16 (6)**39 (105)**68 (3890)**Chambersburg/Hagerstown**Independent**WJAL-DT*40 (845)40 (845)54 (5000)BaltimoreCWWNUV-DT*41 (.53)**41 (290)**24 (1170)**Baltimore**MyNetwork**WUTB-DT**44 (209)**44 (1000)**31 (4070)**Hagerstown**MPT PBS**WWPB-DT**46 (46.6)**46 (550)**45 (1290)**Baltimore**FOX**WBFF-DT*47 (933)47 (933)43 (2140)York/LancasterFOXWPMT-DT48 (813)48 (813)4 (100)DCNBCWRC-DT*51 (125)**50 (1000)**50 (4168)**DC**CW**WDCW-DT*-51 (15)50 (1000)ChambersburgCWW51CY (WDCW-LD)
> 
> () = Power Level in KW ERP
> *Blue* = Two stations on the same Frequency
> *Purple* = Frequncy Change Feb 17th 2009
> *Orange* = Power Increase
> 
> *NOTE:* *Frequency* changes will also include *Power Level* changes.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15325438
> 
> 
> D* added MPT HD in Baltimore today.
> 
> http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6623771.html



Really? No kidding?


----------



## bmfc1

The Baseball Network is now in MoCo on 280. It's a preview of the 1/1 launch.


----------



## Marcus Carr

MLB Network (SD) added on Comcast in Baltimore City.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SUOrangeman* /forum/post/15315760
> 
> 
> Weather Channel HD (no "Local on the 8s?", just the national version)



It's coming. Apparently it's being tested on Cablevision in NYC right now: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...8#post15294488 


Looks pretty nice, judging from the video clip in that thread.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/15327423
> 
> 
> It's coming. Apparently it's being tested on Cablevision in NYC right now: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...8#post15294488
> 
> 
> Looks pretty nice, judging from the video clip in that thread.




It does look nice. We have it on FIOS. I get more use from The Weather Channel HD than from any of the ESPN channels.


----------



## Gerald C




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/15326246
> 
> 
> The VHF power levels seem much lower. Was that the deciding factor for WJLA and WUSA to switch back to their VHF frequency?
> 
> That would be a big savings on their electric bill.



I would guess that is correct reasoning in general. But there can be other factors to consider. See here and here for some of the details. Also, while channels 7 and 9 will be fine, reusing lower VHF channels can be more problemmatic. The lowest freqs (chan 2-3) are subject to impulse noise interference, and the mid lows (4-6) can be affected significantly by spurious emissions from home computers, routers, etc.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15326237
> 
> 
> Good job putting all that info together! However, you need to be careful in some of the post-transition power levels you have in the table. Some of the stations have filed maximized power applications which have not yet been granted or denied: WWPB-DT, WMPT-DT, WVPY-DT, WPXW-DT, WDCA-DT, WUTB-DT, WHUT-DT, WDCW-DT, and others. If you are using the FCC database listings, "APP" means application which the FCC has not acted on yet. The "CP" and "CP Mod" are construction permits granted by the FCC, so the station is authorized to operate at or go to that allotment. For the maximize filings, that means after midnight, Feb. 17. "LIC" = Licensed operation.



You are correct! I listed the higher amount, knowing that that was a power level that could be their maximum, if their application was approved.


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15326237
> 
> 
> BTW, WBFF-DT is operating at 550 kW, not the 46 kW shown in the table. WBFF-DT's database entry needs to be cleaned up.



According to the FCC database, the 550KW is only a DT CP. They have a DS STA license of 35 (341 meters) & 46.6KW's (372.8 meters). I wonder if they'll ever remove the current NTSC antenna (386 meters) and move the ATSC antenna 13 meters higher.


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15326237
> 
> 
> If you update the table, in the post-transition column, you might want to list authorized post-transition power and what the station has asked for in a (xxx|yyy) format. For WMPT-DT, that would be (150|516). The FCC may grant more maximize filings tomorrow, but at this close to the transition, wouldn't count on the station being ready to operate at the increased power on Feb. 18.



Thanks for the feedback. I like that idea.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15328733
> 
> 
> According to the FCC database, the 550KW is only a DT CP. They have a DS STA license of 35 (341 meters) & 46.6KW's (372.8 meters). I wonder if they'll ever remove the current NTSC antenna (386 meters) and move the ATSC antenna 13 meters higher.



The FCC database is notorious for its inaccuracies.

http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws....ility_id=10758 


That's their license to cover, filed almost 4 years ago. They're operating at the 550 kW level.


EDIT: Also note that STAs expire if not renewed every 6 months, and the WBFF STAs have not been renewed since that time.


- Trip


----------



## systems2000

The FCC has set power level maximum for DT VHF (2-13) at 30KW, while the power level maximum for DT UHF (14-69) is set at 1000KW. After Feb 17th 2009, the frequencies for the channel range of 52 to 69 are to be allocated for other uses.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15328813
> 
> 
> The FCC has set power level maximum for DT VHF (2-13) at 30KW, while the power level maximum for DT UHF (14-69) is set at 1000KW. After Feb 17th 2009, the frequencies for the channel range of 52 to 69 are to be allocated for other uses.



The absolute maximum ERPs allowed by the FCC for digital VHF low 2-6 is 45 kW and 160 kW for upper VHF 7-13. But few stations have been authorized to broadcast near those ERPs for VHF. Looking at Falcon_77's spreadsheet ( http://www.rabbitears.info/ss/ ), there are 2 stations who will be at 45 kW on VHF 5 post-transition (KHAS-DT in Nebraska, KYES-DT in Anchorage, Alaska). KDMT-DT 12 in Beaumont, TX will be at 160 kW on VHF 12 and will probably burn through any interference they may get.










For NTSC analog, the long standing limits are VHF low: 100 kW, VHF high: 316 kW, UHF: 5000 kW. The approximate ATSC replication for 5000kW NTSC UHF would be nominally 350 kW, so UHF analog stations that are operating at 800 to 1000 kW digitally - assuming same height for the antenna - should actually improve their coverage area for the digital broadcast over what they have for analog.


Meanwhile, getting this back to our market, WBAL-DT 11 in Baltimore which broadcasts at 316 kW analog will be at a very modest 5 kW digital on VHF 11 post-transition. I'm anticipating a lot of, hey, what happened to WBAL-DT postings here after February 17.


BTW, you left WNVC-DT MHz 56 off your list which will be broadcasting at 160 kW on UHF 24 out of Fairfax, VA post-transition. If you get the weaker DC stations, you might get WNVC-DT after it goes back on the air. But you may also get some interference between WNVC-DT and WATM-DT out of Altoona, if you get WATM-DT now. They are packing the stations and channels a lot closer together with the removal of UHF 52-69 and that will create some problems.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/15322867
> 
> 
> Last time I checked, my 5/2 was still 5/2. Someone said that you had to call them up to get them to bump it up. I haven't done it since I fear that they'll mis-hear me and upgrade me to the $10 more a month package.



Yeah, I don't want to rock the boat but I'm just checking if anyone was bumped up without a call.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15331948
> 
> 
> The absolute maximum ERPs allowed by the FCC for digital VHF low 2-6 is 45 kW and 160 kW for upper VHF 7-13. But few stations have been authorized to broadcast near those ERPs for VHF. Looking at Falcon_77's spreadsheet ( http://www.rabbitears.info/ss/ ), there are 2 stations who will be at 45 kW on VHF 5 post-transition (KHAS-DT in Nebraska, KYES-DT in Anchorage, Alaska). KDMT-DT 12 in Beaumont, TX will be at 160 kW on VHF 12 and will probably burn through any interference they may get.



One minor nitpick, the 45 kW and 160 kW limits are only valid in Zone II. Washington DC and most of the northeast and Great Lakes region is in Zone I. There, the limits are 10 kW and 30 kW, respectively.


- Trip


----------



## systems2000

I would consider that a clarification. Since there will not be any VHF-low stations in the Altoona/Baltimore/DC/Harrisburg-Lancaster-York areas, 10KW doesn't make a difference to my list. As for WNVC-DT, since I don't get it now, I didn't consider it. I guess I'll take a look.


What network is it?


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15334180
> 
> 
> As for WNVC-DT, since I don't get it now, I didn't consider it. I guess I'll take a look.
> 
> 
> What network is it?



WNVC-DT operated on channel 57 at 7.3 kW from a side-mounted antenna. You very likely were unable to see it even before it signed off on 09/30/08 (it will return on 02/18/09).


It's called MHz. The main (56-1) is "MHz WorldView" and airs a number of foreign newscasts (in English) and other odds and ends. The subchannels are dedicated to specific languages.


I love MHz WorldView.


- Trip


----------



## systems2000

Looking at the Service Contour Map (41 dBu) of WNVC-DT, it doesn't appear that they are looking to service the I-81 corridor, although Frederick should be able to receive it.


The FCC shows that it is owned by the VA-PBS and there is a VA-PBS station serving the Front Royal area (which I get) on ATSC 21 (WVPY-DT).


I doubt I'll ever be able to see WETA (26) again also.


----------



## systems2000

Trip,


I was looking at your site and noticed that you were showing a co-ord between WPXW & WJLA. Shouldn't it be between WPXW & WUSA?


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15334552
> 
> 
> Trip,
> 
> 
> I was looking at your site and noticed that you were showing a co-ord between WPXW & WJLA. Shouldn't it be between WPXW & WUSA?



That's what I thought. I'm just listing what the FCC filing said, thus the question mark.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15334416
> 
> 
> The FCC shows that it is owned by the VA-PBS and there is a VA-PBS station serving the Front Royal area (which I get) on ATSC 21 (WVPY-DT).
> 
> 
> I doubt I'll ever be able to see WETA (26) again also.



Virginia is not Maryland. Its PBS stations are not commonly owned. WNVC and WNVT are owned by Commonwealth Public Broadcasting, which also owns WCVE/WCVW Richmond and WHTJ in Charlottesville. WVPT and WVPY are owned by a different group and have completely different programming.


As far as WETA goes, we'll see what happens there. A lot is still up in the air.


- Trip


----------



## markbulla




systems2000 said:


> According to the FCC database, the 550KW is only a DT CP. They have a DS STA license of 35 (341 meters) & 46.6KW's (372.8 meters). I wonder if they'll ever remove the current NTSC antenna (386 meters) and move the ATSC antenna 13 meters higher.
> 
> 
> QUOTE]
> 
> 
> The reason that the NTSC antenna is 13 meters higher is because it is connected to the top of the DTV antenna. We can't move the DTV antenna up, there would be nothing to put it on...
> 
> 
> .


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/15334690
> 
> 
> Virginia is not Maryland. Its PBS stations are not commonly owned. WNVC and WNVT are owned by Commonwealth Public Broadcasting, which also owns WCVE/WCVW Richmond and WHTJ in Charlottesville. WVPT and WVPY are owned by a different group and have completely different programming.



I saw that it was owned by "Commonwealth." I thought that since PA and VA consider themselves Commonwealth's instead of States, that it was owned by the Commonwealth of VA.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15336653
> 
> 
> I saw that it was owned by "Commonwealth." I thought that since PA and VA consider themselves Commonwealth's instead of States, that it was owned by the Commonwealth of VA.



A useful summary of the programming for WNVC and WNVT-DT can be found at wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WNVC . Once WNVC-DT goes back on the air, they should resume having at least 4 sub-channels on each station with a total of 8 unique MHz 1 to 8 sub-channels. It is an interesting use of the multiple sub-channel capability with digital broadcasting. More useful than another weather sub-channel. Since they don't have a HD sub-channel, no picture quality issues with 4 to 5 SD sub-channels. The post-transition digital coverage area for WNVC-DT on UHF 24 is larger than the analog WNVC-TV 56, but it sounds as if you will fall outside of their DT coverage area.


----------



## bal1012

WBAL has began using an HD bug during telecasts. I wonder if this is a sign that they will soon begin HD newscasts.


----------



## jacindc

FX-HD, Fox News HD, and Speed HD popped up in my Tivo channel list today for Comcast DC. (No Tivo message yet about them being added, and no guide data--I just happened to be wandering through making my Favorites lineup, and saw them)


I wish Santa would bring me Weather Channel HD.


----------



## Marcus Carr

WBAL is showing NFL Network's coverage of the Ravens game in HD. It has the local HD bug.


----------



## Deezul

I think my CM7777 is bad. I've had it for 3 years. Is it possible? I have my D* HD TiVo hooked up via OTA as well, and I found a few shows I had set to record via OTA this week. Tonight I tried to watch those shows, but discovered they had not been recorded due to no signal. I checked a few channels, and found no signal. I hooked up my TV directly from the CM 7777, and the only channel I'm getting in fine is the Goldvein MHz feed - but it's only a few miles from my house.


Because my digital channels except for 30-X aren't coming in, and I am getting a picture, but snowy, on 4, 5, 7, and 9, I don't believe it's the antenna. Would a CM 7777 only last 3 years? I know I can just go buy another one, hook it up, and find out. But this weekend the weather is not ideal to be climbing on the roof. Could it also just be one end as well, the end that I have to plug in and send to my 1x4 splitter? The inside portion was not warm; should it be when it's plugged in?


----------



## jswclw

I have a 7775. For what it's worth, I have tried to unplug it to see what signal I get without it. The answer, absolutely nothing. When it is not getting power, it doesn't just stop amplifying, it seems to completely block the signal from the antenna.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Deezul* /forum/post/15347759
> 
> 
> I think my CM7777 is bad. I've had it for 3 years. Is it possible?



Yes. It is a piece of electronics, it can fail. But I would check the power supply first. I had to replace the power supply for my CM 7777 by buying a discounted returned unit at solidsignal. The circuit board for the power supply is not very well made. If you have a multi-meter, connect a short co-axial cable to the power supply (plugged in) and check the DC voltage from the center wire to the outer shield. If there is no voltage, you likely have a bad power supply. But you should also unplug the power supply, wait several minutes, and plug it back in. That fixed my CM 7777 once when I was getting no channels.


If you are very close, the WNVT-DT signal may be strong enough to be picked by the cable after the CM 7777. If the CM 7777 is dead or there is no power to it, there is very little signal coming from the antenna. If you want to get some stations while waiting for a replacement unit, you will have to climb up there and bypass the CM 7777. But triple check the ladder placement and each step you take - we are in for windy weather today.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Deezul* /forum/post/15347759
> 
> 
> I think my CM7777 is bad. I've had it for 3 years. Is it possible? I have my D* HD TiVo hooked up via OTA as well, and I found a few shows I had set to record via OTA this week. Tonight I tried to watch those shows, but discovered they had not been recorded due to no signal. I checked a few channels, and found no signal. I hooked up my TV directly from the CM 7777, and the only channel I'm getting in fine is the Goldvein MHz feed - but it's only a few miles from my house.
> 
> 
> Because my digital channels except for 30-X aren't coming in, and I am getting a picture, but snowy, on 4, 5, 7, and 9, I don't believe it's the antenna. Would a CM 7777 only last 3 years? I know I can just go buy another one, hook it up, and find out. But this weekend the weather is not ideal to be climbing on the roof. Could it also just be one end as well, the end that I have to plug in and send to my 1x4 splitter? The inside portion was not warm; should it be when it's plugged in?




My CM 7777 from ~2005 only lasted a couple of years. After my 7777 broke, I put a Radio Shack amp back up until the analogs started looking really snowy. The RS amp, even when brand new wasn't as good as the 7777. I recently bought another 7777 and it's working great (for now). If my current 7777 breaks, I will buy another. It's difficult to find an amp with a low noise level. A noisy amp will really kill a digital signal.


----------



## ahsan

Anybody noticing choppy audio on the SNF Panthers-Giants game tonight? Had to flip to Desperate Housewives just to confirm my new HT wasn't at fault.


----------



## CycloneGT

I noticed the Choppiness on WRC. I have switched over to WBAL and its smooth as silk.


----------



## Johnnycanal

yeah - choppy crowd noise on WRC


----------



## rkolsen




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bal1012* /forum/post/15341693
> 
> 
> WBAL has began using an HD bug during telecasts. I wonder if this is a sign that they will soon begin HD newscasts.



I noticed that as well. There is a Broadcasting and Engineering article concerning their upgrade to HD Production. (_I would have posted the link but I dont have enough posts, just google WBAL HD News, the article is the third result._ There have been occasional segments broadcasted from the new control room


But this morning they had major technical issues that lasted for over an hour. For a while they were broadcasting MSNBC's Simulcast and on occasion Weather Plus. The Today show went on time, and the first two or three live news breaks they had no graphics and the picture quality sucked. The HD feed was broadcasting but there was no audio, how ever you could hear proper audio on their SD feed, from Comcast.


So far they have gave no information on what was happened. How ever during one of the news segments concerning the winter weather Neal Estano was shown working the computer systems on the new set. So I guess its any minute now.


----------



## rkolsen

Now here is the link: http://broadcastengineering.com/be-e...uction-system/


----------



## systems2000

I got a surprise tonight! I'm getting WTTG! Maybe there's hope yet that I'll be better off than I thought come Feb.


After I peaked the signal, I did a rescan. No WJLA, No WRC, No WUSA, No WDCW, No WDCA, & No WETA.


----------



## systems2000

What's going on with WWPX (12) 60-1?


I can't watch any _i_ON Christmas Movies.


----------



## Trip in VA

Right now, all I see on my local ION is a Power Juicer infomercial. Nothing Christmas-y about that!










You know, unless you want to get that special someone a juicer.










Seriously though, is it off the air or on the air with a blank screen? What exactly is wrong with it?


- Trip


----------



## Deezul

Any local places to buy Channel Master amplifiers? I'll probably just buy another CM 7777 and see if it works. I believe my local Radio Shack has it, but it was about $90. I bought it online for $60. Gas prices now a bit lower, I"m willing to do a bit of driving if I can find it cheap.


----------



## CycloneGT

You might try that Electronic place in Laurel. Honestly, I just used solid signal .com and it was delivered pretty quick.


----------



## systems2000

For the last 24 hours, 60-1 has been switching between the program and a test pattern with some words similar to "_i_ON NOC Media."


Haven't seen it during the short time this afternoon that I've looked at it, for the show "A Grandpa for Christmas."


----------



## rviele




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Deezul* /forum/post/15365029
> 
> 
> Any local places to buy Channel Master amplifiers? I'll probably just buy another CM 7777 and see if it works. I believe my local Radio Shack has it, but it was about $90. I bought it online for $60. Gas prices now a bit lower, I"m willing to do a bit of driving if I can find it cheap.



baynesville electronics in towson has them. i think their number is 8320082.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15367345
> 
> 
> For the last 24 hours, 60-1 has been switching between the program and a test pattern with some words similar to "_i_ON NOC Media."
> 
> Haven't seen it during the short time this afternoon that I've looked at it, for the show "A Grandpa for Christmas."



A quick check a few minutes ago showed regular programming on WWPX-DT 60.1. BTW, how far are you from the broadcast towers in NW DC if you can only get WTTG-DT Fox 5 intermittently?


While posting about Ion, on Friday the FCC granted the WPXW-DT Ion 66 maximization request to operate at 1000 kW on UHF 34 post-transition. WPXW-DT will be moving from Fairfax to the WUSA-DT 9 digital 34 antenna in NW DC, but had been allocated to run at 110 kW post-transition. Since WUSA-DT is currently at 1000 kW on UHF 34, WPXW-DT should be at 1000 kW on Feb 18 and will have the same coverage as WUSA-DT does now. However, those located some miles NE of Baltimore may run into an interference issue as WCAU-DT NBC 10 in Philadelphia will be moving to UHF 34 post-transition.


On the news front, President Bush signed the analog night-light bill today which will allow some analog stations to stay on the air for 30 days after Feb. 17 with info messages and any emergency broadcasts. Which stations will opt to do so and will be able to do so has not been announced.


----------



## systems2000

70.04 miles (2-edge), according to the FCC and GPS co-ordinates. My APEX DT502 is the only CECB that is able to acquire it.


Why is WTTG-DT 17:00 Newscast not in 16:9?


----------



## rkolsen




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bal1012* /forum/post/15341693
> 
> 
> WBAL has began using an HD bug during telecasts. I wonder if this is a sign that they will soon begin HD newscasts.



They now have a winter weather advisory bug up now. Much better than downsizing the picture.


They just downsized the picture for a weather advisory scroll on the lower third.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15369015
> 
> 
> 70.04 miles (2-edge), according to the FCC and GPS co-ordinates. My APEX DT502 is the only CECB that is able to acquire it.
> 
> 
> Why is WTTG-DT 17:00 Newscast not in 16:9?



WTTG-DT local news is SD. Only WJLA-DT 7, WUSA-DT 9, WBFF-DT 45 have local news in HD in the DC & Baltimore markets (so far).


70 miles puts you in deep fringe range, especially for UHF reception. Looking back at our earlier posts, you have a CM-3020 antenna. The CM 3020 is not a top of the line deep fringe antenna for UHF. You should consider using the CM 3020 for VHF only and adding a Antennas Direct XG-91 for UHF. Or a CM-4228 for UHF if your mast can handle the weight and wind load. Look at the comparision UHF gain charts at http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/comparing.html .


----------



## Digital Rules

Any word on WJZ news going HD? I have noticed a huge improvement in their studio & recorded news PQ. The detail on live studio shots is amazing!!


----------



## nottenst

We lost our power yesterday for a couple of hours. When the power came back on I went to our VCRs to use the autoset clock function. For some reason it didn't work yesterday and I tried it again today. This happened both on antenna and cable connected VCRs. It appears that the local PBS stations have already taken the clock signal from their analog broadcasts. I just did a quick search and found an article about how this will be the case starting with the change, but am still surprised it has already taken place.



> Quote:
> *Most VCR's and DVD recorders rely on the PBS analog signal via Antenna will be out of sync*
> 
> 
> When I was outside talking to my girlfriend about the digital transition. I found out that most DVD recorders, and VCR's rely on the PBS analog signal while using an antenna for to set the clock which it does for me. After Feburary 17, 2009 the signal from PBS will completely go off air causing the VCR and DVD recorder to be out of sync with the time.
> 
> 
> Also I bet other electronic devices such as other video equipment that use the signal also depend on the PBS clock signal to set clocks to keep things in synchonization. Without that analog PBS signal via antenna things such as DVD recorders and VCR's and some DVR's even in the professional fields will be out of sync causing logging problems for time stamps of video recordings such as in the TV and radio stations across the country rely on time based information. Some electronic devices might rely on the PBS analog signal for business purposes, government and schools. Also some security cameras that rely on VCR's and DVR's need the synchronized time signal to keep a tab on what time the event occured rely on this PBS clock signal from the outside antenna. Most video equipment used in the professional fields for video editing will be affected real bad. A converter box will not do a bit of good cause the signal transmitted in the digital carrier does not contain the "subcarrier" information will not be able to set the clock automatically to keep the clock set even if the clock needs to set ahead or back an hour. The standard definition signal however wil contain PBS but the clock signal will not be available to use to set the clock. Most DVD recorders and VCR's rely on the PBS signal through the analog tuner using the antenna, not satellite, but it will possibly be available through analog cable , not a passive digital tuner or satellite receiver such as directTV or dish network. If you have a VCR, DVD recorder, video camera, or DVR with a analog tuner that receives PBS and sets the clock automatically be prepared for a huge disappointment.
> 
> 
> GCC Engineering


 http://snardfarker.ning.com/group/dt...-dvd-recorders


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/15372052
> 
> 
> Any word on WJZ news going HD? I have noticed a huge improvement in their studio & recorded news PQ. The detail on live studio shots is amazing!!





> Quote:
> WJZ plans to have its studio broadcasts in HD by the end of the year, says Vice President and General Manager Jay Newman, with the rest of the newscast following suit in March or April next year. WBAL plans to broadcast the studio portion of its newscasts in HD by February, says President and General Manager Jordan Wertlieb.
> 
> 
> WMAR (Channel 2) has no plans to broadcast local news in HD, but is "investigating our options," says Vice President General Manager Bill Hooper. "We're more focused on making sure that we're up to speed on the digital conversion, which we have no choice on," he says.


 http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showp...&postcount=587


----------



## Digital Rules

Thanks Marcus!!


----------



## systems2000

16:9 doesn't mean HD.


I'm still looking for a good sunny day (40°+) without wind so that I can climb my 40' tower to setup the rotor, homemade bearing, and 10' center pole, then I can move everything from the 26' pole.


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15372274
> 
> http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showp...&postcount=587
> 
> 
> WJZ plans to have its studio broadcasts in HD by the end of the year, says Vice President and General Manager Jay Newman, with the rest of the newscast following suit in March or April next year. WBAL plans to broadcast the studio portion of its newscasts in HD by February, says President and General Manager Jordan Wertlieb.



If this was the status 6 months ago, I wonder if it's still the status given the economic upheaval taking place in broadcasting. The end of the year is about a week away and it's hard to imagine WJZ cutting over to HD Newscasts before the end of the year given the shortened work week.


----------



## ACW112983

I want Spike HD









I wish G4 would get an HD channel...


----------



## URFloorMatt

G4 does have an HD channel, since Dec. 8.


----------



## ACW112983




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/15378431
> 
> 
> G4 does have an HD channel, since Dec. 8.



I wish.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G4_(TV_channel)#G4HD 


> Quote:
> G4HD was scheduled to be launched on December 8, 2008.[26] However, it did not launch, another in a long list of corporate failures that have plagued the network in recent years.


----------



## URFloorMatt

Actually, according to this thread , some Comcast and TWC subs have G4 HD (and Style HD, which Wikipedia also says failed to launch).


It's possible that these channels have no HD programming yet. Comcast may have lit up these HD channels even though no programming would be available until early 2009 simply because five new HD channels markets better than only three.


Comcast has also stated that G4 won't see substantial HD programming until Q3 when the G4 studios finish transition to HD, so maybe they're holding off a significant push for G4 carriage across their own subs until next fall.


----------



## ACW112983




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/15381579
> 
> 
> Actually, according to this thread , some Comcast and TWC subs have G4 HD (and Style HD, which Wikipedia also says failed to launch).
> 
> 
> It's possible that these channels have no HD programming yet. Comcast may have lit up these HD channels even though no programming would be available until early 2009 simply because five new HD channels markets better than only three.
> 
> 
> Comcast has also stated that G4 won't see substantial HD programming until Q3 when the G4 studios finish transition to HD, so maybe they're holding off a significant push for G4 carriage across their own subs until next fall.



Ah, that makes sense. Thanks









It's odd, because some G4 OnDemand stuff is HD. Apparently Spike HD's not available though


----------



## systems2000

Interesting discovery this morning, 31-1 (WWPB-DT) shows Sesame Street as 1080i and it's in 16:9. I don't believe I ever noticed that before.


I also see where 60-1 (WWPX-DT) is showing a Kodak Infomercial during the 10:00 hour, while 60 analog (WWPX-TV) is showing the 700 Club.


----------



## systems2000

What's up with WTTG-DT (5-1) and WJLA-DT (7-1) tonight?


I couldn't get the side bars removed when I set my APEX DT502 to 16:9. It worked on other channels and even the WJLA subs. I had the problem during "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader" and the ABC "Special."


----------



## TheKrell

I've been seeing occasional macroblocking on WETA-Kids channel 26.3, all tuners, for several weeks. Other channels, and even other WETA sub-channels, don't do this.


I claim this is a WETA issue, or else I would see this on _other_ WETA sub-channels as well. (All subchannels are on one UHF carrier.)


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TheKrell* /forum/post/15389571
> 
> 
> I've been seeing occasional macroblocking on WETA-Kids channel 26.3, all tuners, for several weeks.



Yes it is a WETA problem. The macroblocking is also evident on Verizon Fios channel 472.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15364159
> 
> 
> What's going on with WWPX (12) 60-1?
> 
> 
> I can't watch any _i_ON Christmas Movies.



WWPX 60.1 has just recently switched from simulcasting the analog signal from WPXW to a direct satellite feed. The picture is 100% better now.


----------



## systems2000

Has anyone else noticed the stop/start issue with WDCW-DT (50-1)? I originally thought it was my location, until last night.


I was setting up a friends house with CECB's, in two different rooms, on two different homemade antennas. His location has a much stronger Quality/Signal level, than my location, and the problem existed on both of his CECB's. It seems to happen only during the Primetime shows that are produced in HD.


----------



## systems2000

I'm still getting some "ghosting" on WWPX-DT (60-1) during some programming. It's definitly a lot better.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15392775
> 
> 
> I'm still getting some "ghosting" on WWPX-DT (60-1) during some programming. It's definitly a lot better.



The "ghosting" you see on WWPX-DT Ion 60.1 in Martinsburg is part of the digital picture, not because of your tuner or antenna. WWPX is a satellite station of WPXW Ion 66 in Manassus. WWPX get the analog signal from WPXW over the air with an antenna and puts that out as the analog 60 and digital 60.1 broadcast. The ghosting is part of the analog picture WWPX gets at long range. The other 3 sub-channels for Qubo, Life, Worship are from a direct digital satellite feed, so the picture quality for those sub-channels are fine.


The reason I know this is that earlier this year I sent an email to Ion asking what happened to their announced plan to go HD in early 08 and added a question about the poor picture quality for 60.1. I got a call from the station engineer for WWPX 60 who explained why. WPXW 66 adds in local commercials to the Ion programming, so WWPX 60 gets the Ion network programming from WPXW OTA. The station engineer also told me WWPX was ready to go HD, he had the equipment in place. Didn't ask how they will get the digital signal from WPXW-DT when the analog station goes away or Ion finally goes HD in the 1st quarter of 09. Maybe they will get it OTA when WPXW-DT 66 takes over WUSA-DT's UHF 34 digital broadcast out of NW DC. Ion has WWPX 60 up for sale, BTW.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15394342
> 
> 
> WWPX get the analog signal from WPXW over the air with an antenna and puts that out as the analog 60 and digital 60.1 broadcast.



Are you sure this hasn't changed?

60.1 & 66.1 are showing completely different programming at this time.(Infomercials) The picture on 60.1 is ghost free. Maybe they only do this at certain times.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/15395839
> 
> 
> Maybe they only do this at certain times.



Now at 11:00, they are both showing the same program, and it's sharper & brighter on 60.1.


----------



## URFloorMatt

So, is WUSA colluding with DirecTV to prevent those of us in Washington from ever watching a good AFC game? I am so incredibly sick and tired of getting stuck with the g**d**** Ravens every single week while countless classic AFC matchups get national coverage that I can't watch.


Seriously, what would it take to make WUSA *STOP* selecting into Ravens games rather than the default national coverage? WUSA needs to realize that Baltimore has its own CBS affiliate! How about serving what has to be the large majority of your viewership that lives in Virginia, WUSA???


Argh, my frustration boils. Ninety-two percent of the country will be watching a classic matchup between the Jets and Dolphins. Those of us in WUSA's coverage area will get stuck with the other six percent of viewers trapped in Ravens hell.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

And the game is now in SD. Watching the Jets on Sunday Ticket. CBS is having some major problems today as that game was breaking up as well on the HD feed. Things look to be fixed on both games (looking at the game mix channel), however WUSA has not switched back.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/15395839
> 
> 
> Are you sure this hasn't changed?
> 
> 60.1 & 66.1 are showing completely different programming at this time.(Infomercials) The picture on 60.1 is ghost free. Maybe they only do this at certain times.



You are right, the picture on WWPX-DT 60.1 is much improved. It had the ghosting on it not long ago. So they have switched to a digital feed, presumably to get ready for the analog shutdown and Ion going 720p HD on their primary x.1 channel.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

WUSA now frozen for over an hour - what the heck is going on over there (it's not a CBS problem as the NFL Game Mix feed was ok).


----------



## voltore




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/15398321
> 
> 
> So, is WUSA colluding with DirecTV to prevent those of us in Washington from ever watching a good AFC game? I am so incredibly sick and tired of getting stuck with the g**d**** Ravens every single week while countless classic AFC matchups get national coverage that I can't watch.
> 
> 
> Seriously, what would it take to make WUSA *STOP* selecting into Ravens games rather than the default national coverage? WUSA needs to realize that Baltimore has its own CBS affiliate! How about serving what has to be the large majority of your viewership that lives in Virginia, WUSA???
> 
> 
> Argh, my frustration boils. Ninety-two percent of the country will be watching a classic matchup between the Jets and Dolphins. Those of us in WUSA's coverage area will get stuck with the other six percent of viewers trapped in Ravens hell.



Stations have no control over what game is shown. The great NFL masters control that.


As for the other problems, from what I gather, there were some serious transponder problems of one type or another and in the excitement a Dolby decoder locked up killing some of the audio on HD and so they had to take the SD feed or it would have been a silent movie albeit in color.


Most of what happened was out of their control, they damage limited as best as they could.


----------



## markbulla

Here's an FCC page that has coverage maps that show coverage area gain/loss of each channel from the DTV transition: http://www.fcc.gov/dtv/markets/ 


Click on Baltimore or Washington to see the maps. It's also interesting to see the network maps, which show the gain or loss over the entire country.


Mark


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15404485
> 
> 
> Here's an FCC page that has coverage maps that show coverage area gain/loss of each channel from the DTV transition:
> 
> ...
> 
> Click on Baltimore or Washington to see the maps. It's also interesting to see the network maps, which show the gain or loss over the entire country.



Mark, thanks for posting the link. These are different than the subset of maps of digital stations with significant changes in coverage which was discussed in the Final DTV allotment sticky thread: http://www.fcc.gov/dtv/markets/report2.html .


Stations in our market with notable changes in the modeled coverage are WBAL 11, WMAR 2, WUTB 24 and WETA 26 (net coverage increase BTW), WFPT 62, WTTG 5. But some of us are of the opinion that the loss for the VHF stations moving to UHF is overstated because much of the modeled loss can be made up with high gain UHF antennas (provided terrain is not severely blocking the signal path).


PS. The FCC comparision map for WPXW Ion 66 is pretty messed up. Even at the original 110 kW allotment in NW DC, why would the station lose all the viewers to to NE? WPXW-DT 66 will take over WUSA-DT's UHF 34 transmitter and antenna and has been granted it's application to run at 1000 kW.


----------



## howie14




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/15398321
> 
> 
> Argh, my frustration boils. Ninety-two percent of the country will be watching a classic matchup between the Jets and Dolphins. Those of us in WUSA's coverage area will get stuck with the other six percent of viewers trapped in Ravens hell.



Now you know how those of us on the Baltimore end have felt about having the Redskins on WBFF virtually every week.


Of course, as someone else already pointed out, it's not WUSA's (or WBFF's) fault. And if Snyder and Bisciotti ever get their way, we will be one market for NFL purposes and those few times that the stations actually get to opt out of coverage of the team at the opposite end of the parkway will be gone.


----------



## howie14

Boy, yesterday was a day for DTV problems. During the Ravens game I was recording, CBS must have lost the HD feed as we spent much of the first half in SD. Then my signal from WRC for the Chargers game kept breaking up even though I had the antenna pointed right at it.


Good times...


----------



## dg28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/15398321
> 
> 
> So, is WUSA colluding with DirecTV to prevent those of us in Washington from ever watching a good AFC game? I am so incredibly sick and tired of getting stuck with the g**d**** Ravens every single week while countless classic AFC matchups get national coverage that I can't watch.
> 
> 
> Seriously, what would it take to make WUSA *STOP* selecting into Ravens games rather than the default national coverage? WUSA needs to realize that Baltimore has its own CBS affiliate! How about serving what has to be the large majority of your viewership that lives in Virginia, WUSA???
> 
> 
> Argh, my frustration boils. Ninety-two percent of the country will be watching a classic matchup between the Jets and Dolphins. Those of us in WUSA's coverage area will get stuck with the other six percent of viewers trapped in Ravens hell.



D.C. is considered a secondary market by the NFL for the Ravens. WUSA has no control over it. If you're really looking for a long-term solution your only option right now D*'s Sunday Ticket (or hanging out a place that has it).


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15405009
> 
> 
> PS. The FCC comparision map for WPXW Ion 66 is pretty messed up. Even at the original 110 kW allotment in NW DC, why would the station lose all the viewers to to NE?



Because the much more powerful signals of WHUT-DT 33 and WDCA-DT 35 would stomp on its tiny signal in those areas.


- Trip


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15405009
> 
> 
> ...Stations in our market with notable changes in the modeled coverage are WBAL 11, WMAR 2, WUTB 24 and WETA 26 (net coverage increase BTW), WFPT 62, WTTG 5. But some of us are of the opinion that the loss for the VHF stations moving to UHF is overstated because much of the modeled loss can be made up with high gain UHF antennas (provided terrain is not severely blocking the signal path)...



WUTB 24 is the one that stands out to me the most. They lose a lot of coverage to the south in Prince George's County. Won't really notice until next summer when WDCA shows a Nats game instead of Smackdown on a Friday night.


----------



## lizh

Hi all. I'm a complete newbie to this digital world, and my introductory experience this weekend has left me baffled. I bought a new Sony Bravia (old TV is 10 yrs old) and did an autoprogram. Everything worked fine--I was picking up great reception on digital and analog stations...until it hit 47.1 (WMDO), and then the picture started flashing on and off, the TV wouldn't take any commands (except power off) from the remote, it wouldn't go to any other channels, or anything. I spent an hour and a half on the phone w/ the Sony tech people, we re-booted the TV several times, etc. Nothing helped, and it actually got worse, so I couldn't even get the other stations any more--just the WMDO flashing on and off. I brought the TV back and got a new one....and the very first autoprogram froze up on WMDO. So now I'm back to my old TV, wondering what I'll do on Feb. 17.


I live on Capitol Hill in DC and get GREAT analog reception with rabbit ears (I'm on the top floor of the highest building in the neighborhood). Does anyone have ANY ideas what might be happening and how I can solve the problem? I really don't want to have to get cable when I live in a place with such good OTA reception.


Thanks for any help...I'm completely lost on this one.


----------



## Digital Rules

WMDO still has a problem with their PSIP decoder. (Ever since they went digital ;3 or so months ago) I can't understand why they haven't addressed the problem yet????? On my tuners the channel number displayed rapidly changes from channel 1 to channel 47. There is nothing wrong with the tuner on your TV(s).


Do you watch any of the analog VHF channels now, or are you only viewing the digital ones?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/15405773
> 
> 
> Because the much more powerful signals of WHUT-DT 33 and WDCA-DT 35 would stomp on its tiny signal in those areas.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Why would the 100 kW UHF 33 signal of WHUT-DT and 500 kW UHF 35 signal of WDCA-DT stomp that much on then alloted 110 kW UHF 34 for WPXW-DT? Not that much of a dB difference between them. Yes, WHUT-DT filed a maximization request to increase to 1000 kW post-transition and WDCA-DT for 950 kW, but of the three, only WPXW-DT has so far been granted it's maximization request for 1000 kW on UHF 34. Even the directional antenna pattern they have for WPXW-DT on it's original 110 kW allotment still don't account for the orange triangles marking loss of reception to the east and north. I think there was a messed up parameter entry in the computation for the WPXW-DT post-transition comparison map.


----------



## lizh




There is nothing wrong with the tuner on your TV(s).[/QUOTE said:


> Except that I can't watch TV. I can't change off the WMDO channel, I can't program the TV to skip over it. The TV either sticks on WMDO, or it shuts itself down, then starts up again only to freeze on the same station again.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/15406153
> 
> 
> WMDO still has a problem with their PSIP decoder. (Ever since they went digital ;3 or so months ago) On my tuners the channel number displayed rapidly changes from channel 1 to channel 47. There is nothing wrong with the tuner on your TV(s).



Except for the firmware in the tuner in the Sony Bravia TV. A bad PSIP data field should not cause well written & tested tuner firmware to crash. Since people are getting WMDO-LD even with the bad channel # displayed, one solution may be to get a different brand TV or a (SD only) converter box to use with the Sony TV until WMDO-LD fixes their PSIP data. Has anyone contacted the station about the problem? Or contacted the FCC - which might get WMDO's attention?


My tuners detect WMDO-LD on VHF 8 from Sterling, but I have not been able to get a lock on the station with the upper VHF antenna in the attic. So I have not seen this bad PSIP problem myself.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lizh* /forum/post/15406231
> 
> 
> Except that I can't watch TV. I can't change off the WMDO channel, I can't program the TV to skip over it. The TV either sticks on WMDO, or it shuts itself down, then starts up again only to freeze on the same station again.



A UVSJ filter will solve the problem temporarily until WMDO gets it's act together.(You can borrow mine) It will work as long as you don't watch any analog VHF channels now. Someone else may have a better solution; but this will work.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lizh* /forum/post/15406231
> 
> 
> Except that I can't watch TV. I can't change off the WMDO channel, I can't program the TV to skip over it. The TV either sticks on WMDO, or it shuts itself down, then starts up again only to freeze on the same station again.



Can you get into the menu? If you can, go in and erase that channel! There should be a way to do that in there someplace.


Good luck!


.


----------



## lizh




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15406305
> 
> 
> Can you get into the menu? If you can, go in and erase that channel! There should be a way to do that in there someplace.
> 
> 
> Good luck!
> 
> 
> .



tried that. once you get to that station on the menu, it tunes that station in, and then I'm back in la-la land where nothing works. I'm especially confused by the fact that the second Bravia never even went through the motions of letting me see other stations before it latched onto WMDO and freaked out. It hooked straight onto that station during the first auto-program run, and then I was stuck.


I'm thinking I like afigatt's suggestion of trying another brand, but if anyone has any other ideas, (thanks, Digital Rules, for the filter idea), I'm 'listening'. this has baffled everyone I know.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15406164
> 
> 
> Why would the 100 kW UHF 33 signal of WHUT-DT and 500 kW UHF 35 signal of WDCA-DT stomp that much on then alloted 110 kW UHF 34 for WPXW-DT? Not that much of a dB difference between them. Yes, WHUT-DT filed a maximization request to increase to 1000 kW post-transition and WDCA-DT for 950 kW, but of the three, only WPXW-DT has so far been granted it's maximization request for 1000 kW on UHF 34. Even the directional antenna pattern they have for WPXW-DT on it's original 110 kW allotment still don't account for the orange triangles marking loss of reception to the east and north. I think there was a messed up parameter entry in the computation for the WPXW-DT post-transition comparison map.



The maps were created before the FCC approved the 1000 kW signal they now have approval for.


Because the pattern is directional. Very, very directional. In its weakest nulls (which were north and east), the power was 0.039 kW ERP. That's 39 watts. Compare to even just WHUT's 100 kW, that's more than 34 dB higher than what WPXW-DT would have done on that pattern.

A link to the pattern in question. 


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lizh* /forum/post/15406403
> 
> 
> tried that. once you get to that station on the menu, it tunes that station in, and then I'm back in la-la land where nothing works. I'm especially confused by the fact that the second Bravia never even went through the motions of letting me see other stations before it latched onto WMDO and freaked out. It hooked straight onto that station during the first auto-program run, and then I was stuck.
> 
> 
> I'm thinking I like afigatt's suggestion of trying another brand, but if anyone has any other ideas, (thanks, Digital Rules, for the filter idea), I'm 'listening'. this has baffled everyone I know.



That's a great TV!! I wouldn't take it back yet. Once you do a scan with the VHF filter (WMDO is actually on VHF-8), you won't need to use the filter unless you do a re-scan. The re-scan shouldn't be necessary until 2-17-09. By then the problem should be fixed.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/15406153
> 
> 
> WMDO still has a problem with their PSIP decoder. (Ever since they went digital ;3 or so months ago) I can't understand why they haven't addressed the problem yet????? On my tuners the channel number displayed rapidly changes from channel 1 to channel 47. There is nothing wrong with the tuner on your TV(s).
> 
> 
> Do you watch any of the analog VHF channels now, or are you only viewing the digital ones?



From their website ( http://wfdc.entravision.com/p1253.html ) - they don't have their Chief Engineer listed, but here's their General Manager's e-mail address: [email protected] 


Cheers -


----------



## lizh




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/15406631
> 
> 
> That's a great TV!! I wouldn't take it back yet. Once you do a scan with the VHF filter (WMDO is actually on VHF-8), you won't need to use the filter unless you do a re-scan. The re-scan shouldn't be necessary until 2-17-09. By then the problem should be fixed.



I already took it back. I was pulling my hair out and starting to believe in evil spirits coming across the airwaves and taking over my TV (OK, maybe not, but it was really ticking me off!). Maybe I gave up too fast--didn't know this forum existed, for example--but what do you think the chances are that a different brand wouldn't have the same problem? I'm a gal who likes to have things work when I plug them in--not looking for a project...


----------



## Digital Rules

LG should work since they are the parent company of Zenith; who makes the DTT-900 & 901 converter boxes that works fine with WMDO. Others her may have suggestions if you aren't interested in the LG brand.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/15406464
> 
> 
> The maps were created before the FCC approved the 1000 kW signal they now have approval for.
> 
> 
> Because the pattern is directional. Very, very directional. In its weakest nulls (which were north and east), the power was 0.039 kW ERP. That's 39 watts. Compare to even just WHUT's 100 kW, that's more than 34 dB higher than what WPXW-DT would have done on that pattern.



I didn't realize or had forgotten that the antenna pattern that was originally specified for WPXW-DT post-transition was so extremely directional. No wonder WPXW 66 wanted to get the 1000 kW maximization using WUSA-DT's current antenna pattern.


----------



## DRal

I thought Arlington Comcast was adding Fox News/FX and some other channels to their HD lineup. Can anyone tell me if this is going to happen? If so when?


Thanks


----------



## URFloorMatt

Next Monday, Live with Regis and Kelly goes HD. I'm assuming if WJLA can carry Wheel and Jeopardy in HD, they can carry Live in HD as well?


(Do they air Oprah in HD?)


----------



## lizh

Thanks for the advice. You all are the first folks I've come across who had a clue about what the problem could be, let alone how to fix it. Thanks for nothing, Sony tech guy....


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lizh* /forum/post/15406403
> 
> 
> tried that. once you get to that station on the menu, it tunes that station in, and then I'm back in la-la land where nothing works.



Need to disconnect antenna while doing this so it cannot tune it.


----------



## lizh




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/15409682
> 
> 
> Need to disconnect antenna while doing this so it cannot tune it.



did that, too. this one is a real stumper.


----------



## joblo

Ok, so it's not the tuning that sends the Sony out to lunch, but the bad data in the channel table itself. That means your only option is to keep that channel out of the table in the first place.


A workaround in DC prior to 2009-02-18 would be to keep the antenna disconnected until the auto scan passes channel 8, because all the digital channels are currently on UHF. But this will not work once channel 7 and 9 move back to VHF.


More generally, the way to get past PSIP problems is to avoid auto scans altogether and add channels manually. Most TVs and CECBs will add channels to the virtual channel table if you simply tune the RF channel of each desired channel, one by one. With some sets, there’s a menu option to do the same. This is, of course, a pain, and you may have to do a little research to find all the relevant RF channels, but it does work.


TVs and CECBs that do NOT let you add channels manually should definitely be avoided, however. PSIP problems will be a fact of life in the digital era, no matter what happens with WMDO. Anybody who thinks there will never be another PSIP issue after 2009-02-18 is dreaming.


afigatt is absolutely right, of course, that faulty PSIP data should NEVER crash a tuner. But there will always be the possibility of data idiosyncrasies that software engineers haven’t considered, so even if your tuner doesn’t crash today, you can never be sure it won’t crash tomorrow, unless you’ve written and verified the software yourself. The best you can do is insure that your TV or CECB allows manual tuning, to protect yourself against being put completely out of business by one station’s faulty data.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/15410476
> 
> 
> A workaround in DC prior to 2009-02-18 would be to keep the antenna disconnected until the auto scan passes channel 8, because all the digital channels are currently on UHF. But this will not work once channel 7 and 9 move back to VHF.
> 
> 
> More generally, the way to get past PSIP problems is to avoid auto scans altogether and add channels manually.



A VHF and UHF combiner with the antenna connected to the UHF input should filter out the VHF signals. There is of course, WWPX-DT Ion 60 on VHF 12 out in Martinsburg, but that may not show up for an antenna in DC anyway. But that fix is only good until WJLA 7, WUSA 9, WBAL 11, WJZ 13 all switch their digital broadcasts to their upper VHF channels after midnight on February 17->18. WMDO-LD needs to fix their PSIP data, but maybe they don't know they have a problem.


As for manual tuning, not all ATSC tuners allow for this. The Zenith DTT901 converter box has a handy menu option to directly select the RF channel and show signal strength. But a 19" Samsung HDTV I have does not allow manual tuning at all from what I can find. OTOH, the older Samsung SIR-T451 ATSC STB does allow manual tuning if you enter a channel number that has not been assigned. There is no industry standard for this - and there should be (to provide for a manual tuning option).


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/15408854
> 
> 
> Next Monday, Live with Regis and Kelly goes HD. I'm assuming if WJLA can carry Wheel and Jeopardy in HD, they can carry Live in HD as well?
> 
> 
> (Do they air Oprah in HD?)



that would be am accurate assumption.


----------



## Belcherwm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15404485
> 
> 
> Here's an FCC page that has coverage maps that show coverage area gain/loss of each channel from the DTV transition: http://www.fcc.gov/dtv/markets/
> 
> 
> Click on Baltimore or Washington to see the maps. It's also interesting to see the network maps, which show the gain or loss over the entire country.
> 
> 
> Mark



Looks like WRC-4 and WTTG-5 are incurring a significant reduction in coverage.


I find it interesting that the maps show no coverage from the Balt. stations out to my area in western Prince William County in VA either now or after the transition. I've been receiving pretty much every Balt. station since I put up a roof mounted antenna 7 years ago.


----------



## machpost

RCN in D.C. has launched MLB Network in HD on channel 695 and SD on 391.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15327343
> 
> 
> MLB Network (SD) added on Comcast in Baltimore City.



I understand that MLB Network is part of the digital package and not part of the sports package, so it doesn't cost extra.


But any word on if they will be in HD on Comcast? I see only SD so far and it is in the SD range of channels, not the HD in Howard County.


----------



## dmulvany

Hi, folks. Yesterday, I received delivery of a top-rated 1080p HDTV, a 40-inch Samsung, with 120 Hz refresh rate, that I had bought online due to reading very good reviews about this HDTV. I set up the digital, customizable captions on it using yellow text on a black background.


Unfortunately, I discovered a severe problem with WJLA's digital captions on channel 7.1.


Specifically, what I saw happen was the digital captions building up on the screen over time for two different pre-recorded prime-time programs and eventually cluttering up the entire screen. Old captions were staying at the top of the screen and moving up, while new ones were showing up on the bottom. I haven't seen this kind of captioning problem before with any other digital TV equipment.


WJLA's digital captions are also problematic for my 2006 Sharp HDTV, which can't decode them at all. Thus neither of my HDTVs are able to decode digital captions from WJLA even though they can decode digital captions from other stations. This tells me there is something unusual about how WJLA is transmitting its digital (CEA-708) captions for non-live, prime time programming on their digital channel.


(On the other hand, my Insignia converter box and my Panasonic DVD writer are both able to decode WJLA's digital captions, so there is a difference in how TV equipment from different manufacturers are processing the digital captions.)


I am really, really disappointed. I had certainly hoped that a brand new HDTV from Samsung, particularly a top-rated one reviewed by Consumer Reports, would not have any problem at all decoding captions. I think there's an interactive effect between what WJLA is doing, though, and how certain manufacturers are decoding captions. If the TV stations use signal processors and captioning equipment correctly, they should be eliminating such problems, though there may also be a problem with their captioning equipment being faulty. (WJLA uses an Evertz caption encoder.)


If any of you have a digital TV, could you let me know your own experience getting digital captions (the customizable kind) for the local ABC station, WJLA, on their digital channel, especially with non-live prime time programming? (If you change the color of the foreground, or the text, to yellow, and can then see yellow captions, then you'll know you've set up the digital captions correctly. Many people, however, have found it difficult to set up the customizable captions and don't realize they didn't do so correctly, particularly if they didn't change the text color. Default captions will still be black and white.)


Unfortunately, WJLA has not given me the courtesy of responding to my emails to them reporting recent captioning problems, so I do plan to file a complaint with the FCC if I don't get a response from WJLA by next Monday. I think it would be helpful to find out what other digital TV equipment has problems decoding digital captions from WJLA, so I'm asking for your help by letting me know if you have any problems seeing the digital Service1 or CS1 captions, not the analog, CC1 captions, on the digital channel from WJLA, especially for the pre-recorded prime time programs. (I'm not seeing a problem with live captioning, which uses a different captioning process, or with the Samsung's basic CEA-608 captioning.)


Let me know the brand and model number of the HDTV you're using as well as the date of manufacture or the date you bought it.


If you have an HDTV that you are using with an antenna but you're not sure how to program it to decode the digital, CS1 or Service1 captions even after following all the instructions in your HDTV's user manual (please do this first), feel free to email me privately at [email protected] .


If this problem isn't fixed in time, I won't be able to watch any WJLA programs, like "Lost," with digital captions from this $1200 Samsung 40" HDTV after February 17th, and that will probably be true for other people in this area who have Samsung HDTVs and possibly HDTVs from certain other manufacturers as well. (I may have to end up returning the HDTV and eating the $57 shipping cost because there was no way I could know ahead of time about the Samsung's inability to decode the problematic digital captions from WJLA.)


If we can find out that there are even more DTV manufacturers involved than Samsung and Sharp which can't decode digital captions from WJLA, that might impress upon WJLA, Evertz and the FCC that they need to take more action to troubleshoot this problem.


Dana


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dmulvany* /forum/post/15426249
> 
> 
> If we can find out that there are even more DTV manufacturers involved than Samsung and Sharp which can't decode digital captions from WJLA, that might impress upon WJLA, Evertz and the FCC that they need to take more action to troubleshoot this problem.



With GMA on this morning, I have checked on two TV's, one off-air (Westinghouse [don't laugh]) and one with Fios (Sony), and I do not see any issues with setting preferences with colors and CC. Right now, I am looking at lime green letters on a purple background with a 50% transparency. No problems with either monitor.


I have also analyzed the bit stream and our captions are within the specs.


I will check at noon during the news to check the local side.


----------



## robertforsyth

I just checked the 8:25 and the 8:55 transition from network to local news and back to network. There were no issues with either of my TV's with custom captions.


I will check at noon, but things look good on my end.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

Dana,


So far this morning, I haven't seen any captioning problems on WJLA-DT. I'm using a 52" Sony Bravia, model #KDL-52V4100. I will check again during Prime Time and let you know if I notice anything then. I will also check my other television (26" Vizio) with a built-in ATSC tuner and my two CECB set-top boxes (Insignia & Magnavox) as well. You can chat with me directly on yahoo (screenname: steve_in_shadyside) if you notice it happening at a certain time and would like me to check any/all of my equipment.


Steve


----------



## imacdonald




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dmulvany* /forum/post/15426249
> 
> 
> Hi, folks. Yesterday, I received delivery of a top-rated 1080p HDTV, a 40-inch Samsung, with 120 Hz refresh rate, that I had bought online due to reading very good reviews about this HDTV. I set up the digital, customizable captions on it using yellow text on a black background.
> 
> Dana



I believe that samsung has released a firmware updates for the lcd TVs, might be worth searching for it to see if it would fix your problem.


----------



## knnirs

Dana,

Sorry to learn of your problem, but I am glad to note that Robert has responded.

I tested my HP SL4282N HDTV, and find nothing unusual on the captions for Channel 7.1 at 10:15 AM. I did note that most of the commercials did not provide captions. My tv was purchased in September of 2008.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/15429786
> 
> 
> With GMA on this morning, I have checked on two TV's, one off-air (Westinghouse [don't laugh]) and one with Fios (Sony), and I do not see any issues with setting preferences with colors and CC. Right now, I am looking at lime green letters on a purple background with a 50% transparency. No problems with either monitor.



I have long observed odd behavior for the captions on WJLA-DT. The Sony DHG-HDD250 HD-DVR (which I use for OTA only) does not display any captions for WJLA-DT in the custom mode. I have had to switch to the embedded old caption data with white text & blocked out background to see CC for WJLA-DT ABC network programs. The Samsung SIR-T451 ATSC tuner will show the captions, but they don't get cleared properly. The captions stay there and move up the screen in a manner similar to what dmulvany describes.


My guess is that there is a bad parameter setting in the EIA-708 caption field. Perhaps a latency or how long to display the captions parameter. The firmware in the tuners act differently for invalid or unexpected values. When I first started watching digital broadcasts OTA, for one local station, I was seeing generally no captions, but sometime the captions would sometimes flash on the screens for a very short time. After I contacted the station, turns out the CC settings were set to display the captions for either zero time or some very short period, so the tuner would start to load the captions and then wipe them from the display. You should take a look at all the CC parameter settings.


----------



## dmulvany




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/15429953
> 
> 
> I just checked the 8:25 and the 8:55 transition from network to local news and back to network. There were no issues with either of my TV's with custom captions.
> 
> 
> I will check at noon, but things look good on my end.



Robert, thanks for checking, but you were only looking at live captioning, which isn't the problem. GMA is live. The problem I've been seeing is with digital captions from pre-recorded prime time programming, like "Lost" and "Ugly Betty," which I've never been able to see intact on my Sharp HDTV from WJLA-DT (though it decodes digital captions from other stations). Somehow, pre-recorded captioning is being transmitted differently from WJLA than the live captioning is.


afigatt confirms he's seen exactly the same problem with his Samsung equipment on WJLA-DT, and he's also seen no digital captions from WJLA on his Sony equipment (similar to the problem I have on my Sharp HDTV). So now there are three known and different brands of DTV equipment that can't decode the pre-recorded digital captions from WJLA: Samsung, Sharp and Sony, although they can decode captions from other stations. Again, please note that live captioning from news and sports games is fine, so it's important to check out the digital captions from non-live, pre-recorded, prime time programming. (Upconverted captions from syndicated programs may be treated differently from the pre-recorded prime time programs.)


Tonight, for example, "America's Funnies," "Grey's Anatomy" and "Private Practice" would be examples of prime-time, pre-recorded programming that are beamed by ABDC's satellite that I've never been able to watch on WJLA-DT with my Sharp HDTV. The football game is live and would use live captioning. My Sharp and Samsung HDTVs can get live digital captions fine from WJLA, so that's not the problem; it's only the pre-recorded captions that are being sent out incorrectly via either ABC or WJLA.


BTW, my Sharp HDTV cannot be forced to show only the analog-type captions on digital channels, although the Samsung can. (Conversely, the Samsung won't automatically display analog-style captions if no CEA-708 captions are being sent.) Thus I've never been able to see intact captions on WJLA-DT on my Sharp HDTV. The TV manufacturers are different in how they handle decoding CEA-608 or CEA-708 captions, and a spokesperson from the National Association of Broadcasters has stated that HDTVs are not required to decode CEA-608 captions. Both types of captions need to be sent out intact so that all HDTVs will be able to decode either CEA-608 or CEA-708 captions on the digital channel.


Dana


----------



## dmulvany




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/15430199
> 
> 
> Dana,
> 
> 
> So far this morning, I haven't seen any captioning problems on WJLA-DT. I'm using a 52" Sony Bravia, model #KDL-52V4100. I will check again during Prime Time and let you know if I notice anything then. I will also check my other television (26" Vizio) with a built-in ATSC tuner and my two CECB set-top boxes (Insignia & Magnavox) as well. You can chat with me directly on yahoo (screenname: steve_in_shadyside) if you notice it happening at a certain time and would like me to check any/all of my equipment.
> 
> 
> Steve



Thanks very much, Steve! Since afigatt reported that he has seen digital captioning problems from WJLA-DT on his Sony DHG-HDD250 HD-DVR, it may be more likely for you to see a problem with digital captions from WJLA-DT on non-live, pre-recorded programs tonight with your own Sony (like "Grey's Anatomy" and "Private Practice."). In his case, the digital CEA-708 captions (aka Service1, CS1 or advanced closed captions) don't show up at all, similar to the problem I experience with my Sharp HDTV.


It'll also be interesting to hear how your Vizio HDTV does. I have an Insignia converter box but not a Magnavox converter box, so it would be interesting to see if your Magnavox can decode the digital captioning consistently.


My Insignia box, made by LG, often has been able to show the digital captions from WJLA-DT but sometimes there have been problems and I've had to use the analog captions instead.


I think it would be helpful to watch the digital captions for at least ten minutes or so. Sometimes the digital captions will be fine at first but then every other phrase will be dropped and then all the captioning drops out altogether.


I'll add your Yahoo screen name; mine is dmulvany. I have a lot of other IM addresses and I'm also on Facebook (use [email protected] to find me) so if anyone else here would like to connect with me via chat or email or Facebook, please feel free to contact me---just let me know you're following up on the WJLA-DT digital captioning problems.


Again, thanks very much! It's been quite frustrating never being able to watch "Ugly Betty" or "Lost" in high definition on my Sharp HDTV---for more than the two years I've had the TV. I really appreciate everyone's help trying to figure out what's going on.


Dana


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15410735
> 
> 
> A VHF and UHF combiner with the antenna connected to the UHF input should filter out the VHF signals. There is of course, WWPX-DT Ion 60 on VHF 12 out in Martinsburg, but that may not show up for an antenna in DC anyway. But that fix is only good until WJLA 7, WUSA 9, WBAL 11, WJZ 13 all switch their digital broadcasts to their upper VHF channels after midnight on February 17->18. WMDO-LD needs to fix their PSIP data, but maybe they don't know they have a problem...



WMDO-8 will be about 15 dB weaker than WUSA-9 and about 20dB wealker than WJLA-7 at most reception locations, so one Mickey Mouse autoprogram remedy would be to use a couple of $3 UVSJ band separators and simply pad down the VHF side until the receiver sees 7 and 9 but doesn't see 8. Unfortunately for those DC metro residents who want to get Baltimore WBAL-11 and WJZ-13, they might not be able to sustain adeqate signal strength for those two channels to enable them to be detected.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dmulvany* /forum/post/15431820
> 
> 
> 
> It'll also be interesting to hear how your Vizio HDTV does. I have an Insignia converter box but not a Magnavox converter box, so it would be interesting to see if your Magnavox can decode the digital captioning consistently.
> 
> 
> My Insignia box, made by LG, often has been able to show the digital captions from WJLA-DT but sometimes there have been problems and I've had to use the analog captions instead.
> 
> 
> Dana



My 52" Sony Bravia shows no captioning at all on 7.1 during Grey's Anatomy. However, I do see captions on 2.1 and 7.0 (analog).


In addition, both CECBs that I own, an Insignia and a Magnavox, show captions just fine on 7.1 right now. All 3 of these tuners are receiving the signals over-the-air.


It seems that a cheap converter box does a better job than a $2500 tv. This really doesn't surprise me. This tv has other issues too. It doesn't handle HDMI from computers very well and the TVGOS system is totally worthless when receiving signals over-the-air. It does have an awesome HD picture though. Nothing is perfect. I'm just glad that I didn't own a 30 GB Zune.


Thanks,


Steve


----------



## Digital Rules

I can't believe the FCC has allowed WMDO-8 to ignore this problem for so long. Could it be that so few people can actually receive them?


It's ashamed that this has caused lizh so much trouble!!


The station management doesn't seem to be too concerned.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/15435539
> 
> 
> I can't believe the FCC has allowed WMDO-8 to ignore this problem for so long. Could it be that so few people can actually receive them?
> 
> 
> It's ashamed that this has caused lizh so much trouble!!
> 
> 
> The station management doesn't seem to be too concerned.



I can see that there's a digital signal on 8, but it's too weak to decode where I live.


----------



## dmulvany




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/15435325
> 
> 
> My 52" Sony Bravia shows no captioning at all on 7.1 during Grey's Anatomy. However, I do see captions on 2.1 and 7.0 (analog).
> 
> 
> In addition, both CECBs that I own, an Insignia and a Magnavox, show captions just fine on 7.1 right now. All 3 of these tuners are receiving the signals over-the-air.
> 
> 
> It seems that a cheap converter box does a better job than a $2500 tv.



I continued not to be able to see any captions at all on my Sharp HDTV for all three of the pre-recorded prime time programs on WJLA-DT---even though I could see captions for some of the commercials.


On this thread alone, we have seen that there are at least three different brands of DTV equipment that all have trouble decoding WJLA-DT's digital captions although they can decode digital captions from other channels: Samsung, Sony and Sharp. There may be others as well. (LG, Magnavox and Panasonic DTV equipment might not have these problems, however.)


I think there's clearly something that WJLA needs to change about the way it's sending out the digital captions for pre-recorded, prime-time programs so it's not causing problems for the DTV equipment from the first three and possibly other manufacturers. The DTV equipment can decode digital captions just fine from other stations, so there's something abnormal about how WJLA is sending out its digital captions that might be very easy to fix and which could eliminate the current captioning problems for the thousands of owners who have DTV equipment from these manufacturers.


Dana


----------



## dmulvany




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/15435539
> 
> 
> I can't believe the FCC has allowed WMDO-8 to ignore this problem for so long. Could it be that so few people can actually receive them?
> 
> 
> It's ashamed that this has caused lizh so much trouble!!
> 
> 
> The station management doesn't seem to be too concerned.



I think the FCC generally relies on people to file complaints before it will act. Someone would actually need to file a written complaint with the station and then with the FCC if there isn't a satisfactory response. Quite possibly nobody has ever filed a complaint with the FCC. Their web site is at www.fcc.gov .


FWIW, the 40" Samsung I just got doesn't allow me to manually add channels either. It's not letting me see some channels (54.1 and the subchannels of 66) that I can get elsewhere within my house. Ironically, I might have to hook up a cheap converter box in order to see those programs on my expensive HDTV (if I decide to keep it).


Dana


----------



## AntAltMike

I hadn't been following this thread recently. Is the channel 8 WMDO problem reported recently here believed to be widespread? I haven't had any of my customers complain to me about it


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/15436702
> 
> 
> I hadn't been following this thread recently. Is the channel 8 WMDO problem reported recently here believed to be widespread? I haven't had any of my customers complain to me about it



Their PSIP is malfunctioning. Evidently it causes serious issues with some tuners. I will hook my Channel Master CECB back up & try it. I believe it had issues also. The Zenith units just exhibit a rapidly changing virtual channel number (1-47-1-47-1 . . . .) which prevents the channel from locking in the favorites memory. Manual channel entry is the only option.


----------



## PaulGo

Some FCC broadcast ma;s of our area (analog vs digital).

http://www.fcc.gov/dtv/markets/maps_...hington_DC.pdf 

http://www.fcc.gov/dtv/markets/maps_...hington_DC.pdf


----------



## Voyager06

Has anyone else noticed a slight voice-sync issue with WBFF over E*? I receive WBFF both OTA and with E* and have noticed a very slight sync issue. I seems like the audio is off by about .5 seconds to me.


----------



## systems2000

WWPX again, didn't have the 700 Club on 60.1 this morning. I had to watch it on 60. They had another infomercial running during the time slot. About 10-15 min into the 700 Club, I did notice that there was a quick switchover to the Infomercial (then back), on 60.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15438603
> 
> 
> WWPX again, didn't have the 700 Club on 60.1 this morning. I had to watch it on 60. They had another infomercial running during the time slot. About 10-15 min into the 700 Club, I did notice that there was a quick switchover to the Infomercial (then back), on 60.



Does WWPX do any HD? The 700 Club is in HD here in the Virginia Beach/Norfolk market...


----------



## CycloneGT

Wasn't Weather Plus supposed to have ended at New Years? I haven't checked, and I don't have OTA here at work? What happened to NBC4 and 11's sub-channels?


----------



## PaulGo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/15438682
> 
> 
> Wasn't Weather Plus supposed to have ended at New Years? I haven't checked, and I don't have OTA here at work? What happened to NBC4 and 11's sub-channels?



It still on Comcast cable. Also over the air it is on WRC and WBAL, except it does not appear to be national just local weather.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/15438662
> 
> 
> Does WWPX do any HD? The 700 Club is in HD here in the Virginia Beach/Norfolk market...



Cuurently WWPX _i_ON; 60-1 Infomercial is 480i, 60-2 Lambchops is 480i, 60-3 Girls Gone Fishing is 480i, and 60-4 Worship is 480i.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/15438662
> 
> 
> Does WWPX do any HD? The 700 Club is in HD here in the Virginia Beach/Norfolk market...



WWPX-DT 60 (12) and WPXW-DT 66 (43, post 34) are Ion network stations and currently SD sub-channels only. Ion is supposed to go 720p HD sometime in the 1st quarter of 09. Whether they will show 700 Club in HD and what Ion will do with the informercials that fill up much of their daily programming is anybody's guess.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/15438662
> 
> 
> Does WWPX do any HD? The 700 Club is in HD here in the Virginia Beach/Norfolk market...



We do get THE 700 CLUB in HD on WBFF 45.1 from Baltimore.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/15438682
> 
> 
> Wasn't Weather Plus supposed to have ended at New Years? I haven't checked, and I don't have OTA here at work? What happened to NBC4 and 11's sub-channels?



Both are still airing weather, using a local feed I'd guess with the recycled WeatherPlus equipment.


- Trip


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey

Folks, I need your help.


I am about to move from Oakton, VA to Centreville, VA. That means I will have to give up FiOS ( I think) and get Cox or a satellite service. I will be living in the area close to where 29 goes over 28 (north east of that ZIP code 20120).


I need suggestions as which service is the best, quality wise. Is Cox better than what I used to have long time ago ? (I have had FiOS for almost 2 years now).


What about internet?


Your help and input are much appreciated.


----------



## aaronwt

I think, if I ever move, the availabilty of FIOS will be my number one priority.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/15443143
> 
> 
> I am about to move from Oakton, VA to Centreville, VA. That means I will have to give up FiOS ( I think) and get Cox or a satellite service. I will be living in the area close to where 29 goes over 28 (north east of that ZIP code 20120).



Did you check the address for Fios availability? The dslreports Fios location map shows homes around Rt. 29 & 28 intersection with Fios service ( http://www.dslreports.com/gmaps/fios ). If Fios is not available at the place you are moving to, it may not be far off from becoming available.


The map shows the areas where Verizon has not rolled out Fios - west of Centreville, Manassas, big hole for DC. Those poor deprived people.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

I just got home and turned on the tv and I'm fairly sure the news guy on WBAL stated that they will be on their new set in HD tomorrow. Just thought I'd share.


Steve


----------



## CycloneGT

HD Set and HD Broadcast can be two different things. But we will see.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/15444154
> 
> 
> I think, if I ever move, the availabilty of FIOS will be my number one priority.



Well, I would too, but not when you are buying a house. I love my services with FiOS but I could not turn down the offer because of it.


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15444396
> 
> 
> Did you check the address for Fios availability? The dslreports Fios location map shows homes around Rt. 29 & 28 intersection with Fios service ( http://www.dslreports.com/gmaps/fios ). If Fios is not available at the place you are moving to, it may not be far off from becoming available.
> 
> 
> The map shows the areas where Verizon has not rolled out Fios - west of Centreville, Manassas, big hole for DC. Those poor deprived people.



Actually I did check that and saw that some people had it. I don't know if it is something with the FiOS database that can't qualify my address or something else.


I will try couple more times before I finally commit myself to other services.


Cox offers 15 Mbps internet (not sure if I will get all of that) but the HD selection doesn't come close.


I don't think Cox has gone fiber optic here in NoVA yet, has it? I know it did in Hampton Roads.


Thanks for the suggestion though.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/15444753
> 
> 
> Actually I did check that and saw that some people had it. I don't know if it is something with the FiOS database that can't qualify my address or something else.
> 
> 
> I will try couple more times before I finally commit myself to other services.



If it is a fairly new house, there may be errors or gaps in the Verizon database. If you are at the house, you could look for ONTs at the service areas on the back of houses in the immediate area and/or the buried Fios distribution boxes in the neighborhood. If you are buying through a realtor, the realtor should be able to find out what services are available for the house.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/15444718
> 
> 
> Well, I would too, but not when you are buying a house. I love my services with FiOS but I could not turn down the offer because of it.



Buying a house would be the main reason for me to have FIOS at the top of my priority list. No different than some of people I know with children put the school in the area as the top priority when they looked for a house. But I have no desire to deal with a house so I'll just stick with my condo. Just dealing with my girlfriends house is more than enough for me. Although she has FIOS in her area but I still haven't been able to convince her to get it yet. Her 768kbs DSL and OTA only TV is almost torture sometimes.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Upcoming MASN HD availability has been posted for various areas and providers.










http://masnsports.com/2007/09/find-masn.html


----------



## TVJunkyMonkey




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15445666
> 
> 
> Upcoming MASN HD availability has been posted for various areas and providers.
> 
> http://masnsports.com/2007/09/find-masn.html



You do know it is from Sep 2007, right?


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TVJunkyMonkey* /forum/post/15446235
> 
> 
> You do know it is from Sep 2007, right?



The chart has been updated since then. Comcast had been using Mojo for HD games, which was channel 226 in many areas. Now the channel number is 247, which is currently HD On Demand.


----------



## CycloneGT

I'm still at a loss that Dish doesn't have MASN HD. I mean MASN-HD is only a part time channel, and Dish only carried RSNs in HD on a part time basis. I would have thought that they would have been on the same page and signed a deal easily. I mean Dish does have MASN SD, so its not like they can't agree on anything.


----------



## SUOrangeman

I've added the MLB-HD information to the Wash/Balt HDTV spreadsheet in my signature. Any other updates?


-SUO


----------



## Istari1

Anyone else getting little static clicks/pops on 211 watching the NFL game? GD it's annoying. None of the other stations are doing it.


----------



## rkolsen




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Istari1* /forum/post/15449631
> 
> 
> Anyone else getting little static clicks/pops on 211 watching the NFL game? GD it's annoying. None of the other stations are doing it.



I haven't noticed it.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/15444611
> 
> 
> I just got home and turned on the tv and I'm fairly sure the news guy on WBAL stated that they will be on their new set in HD tomorrow. Just thought I'd share.
> 
> 
> Steve



Steve: Heres the link: http://www.wbaltv.com/news/18205112/detail.html they have been airing promos for it.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

Just saw an HD advertisement on WBAL-DT that announced that the 11 news is now in HD. I guess we'll get to see how it looks after the football game tonight.


Steve


----------



## thestaton




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Istari1* /forum/post/15449631
> 
> 
> Anyone else getting little static clicks/pops on 211 watching the NFL game? GD it's annoying. None of the other stations are doing it.



yeah it was irritating as hell. I had just setup a new TV and thought the speaker was busted. I'm visiting maryland for a few weeks from lexington, ky and I'm not impressed with the NBC feed here in the least.


watching both games today on a 60" Mitsu OTA there are the annoying pops, and the PQ isn't great compared to what I'm used to.


also noticed that the audio level on the local CBS 13-1 I think was really loud compared to the rest of the stations.


----------



## rkolsen




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/15450989
> 
> 
> Just saw an HD advertisement on WBAL-DT that announced that the 11 news is now in HD. I guess we'll get to see how it looks after the football game tonight.
> 
> 
> Steve



Hopefully this means they won't downsize the picture whenever there is a weather or urgent news bulletin. And anyone else notice that the 11 bug keeps being placed in the wrong spot?


----------



## djp952

I like the WBAL HD set. Not too cluttered/busy at all. It's certainly not as teched up as WBFF's, but I for one really appreciate WBAL finally making the leap.


>> The bug ... 4:3 safe ... oh well

>> The graphics seem properly set up for overscanning sets like mine. Maybe a bit too much, but we'll see Monday morning when the ticker is going.


WBAL, if you're watching .... APPROVE.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/15448318
> 
> 
> I'm still at a loss that Dish doesn't have MASN HD. I mean MASN-HD is only a part time channel, and Dish only carried RSNs in HD on a part time basis. I would have thought that they would have been on the same page and signed a deal easily. I mean Dish does have MASN SD, so its not like they can't agree on anything.



There is no MASN-HD at this point in time. MASN-HD was a part time feed that was only live for 80 Os and Nats games during the last MLB season. MASN-HD won't start as a full time HD channel until March. Hopefully Verizon and Dish will add MASN-HD at the launch, not months later.


----------



## rustycruiser

Now they just need to upgrade to 5.1 sound.


----------



## rkolsen




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rustycruiser* /forum/post/15452844
> 
> 
> Now they just need to upgrade to 5.1 sound.



Very good, I was going to do a screen grab but alas you beat me to it. Done very well, but does a news cast necessarilly need 5.1 surround sound? In my opinion the pillarboxing with the lower third there's too much blue on the screen.


I wonder when they will upgrade their portable units to HD.


Tom Tasselmeyer looked like he had botox, while Donna Hamilton looked great.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Woah. I was looking for WJZ news to go HD. Didn't expect it form WBAL first.


In addition to 5.1, WBAL needs to get syndicated shows in HD (Oprah, Ellen, Regis).

http://www.wbaltv.com/news/18205112/detail.html


----------



## rkolsen




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15453449
> 
> 
> Woah. I was looking for WJZ news to go HD. Didn't expect it form WBAL first.
> 
> 
> In addition to 5.1, WBAL needs to get syndicated shows in HD (Oprah, Ellen, Regis).
> 
> http://www.wbaltv.com/news/18205112/detail.html



Well according to a previous Baltimore Sun article it was stated that WJZ was to go HD by the end of 2008 and WBAL by Spring 2009. That new control room looks has been installed for over two months, sometimes they have shot prerecorded news segments from there, so I guess it was just a matter of finishing up the studio or wiring or something, because about a week ago concerning winter weather one of the meteorologists was shown using a weather computer in the new studio.


As for the syndicated shows, I emailed the programming director specifically regarding that question.


Out of the four networks, WBAL and NBC in general is my favorite station.


----------



## Marcus Carr

They also need to stop dropping to SD to show the lottery numbers.


Between their lack of 5.1 and their history of stretching, WBAL has certainly not been one of my favorites.


----------



## rkolsen




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15453648
> 
> 
> They also need to stop dropping to SD to show the lottery numbers.
> 
> 
> Between their lack of 5.1 and their history of stretching, WBAL has certainly not been one of my favorites.



I just meant news wise, and I have noticed they have stretched their syndicated showings. As for the lottery, during the playoff game they did a split screen which was full 16:9 showing both pictures, but the lottery drawing was still in 4:3 mode; its beyond me why they cant move one of their camera's to another location in the building.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*11 Launches HD Local News, To End Analog Signal Early*


- 1/4 - Channel 11/WBAL has become the second TVer in Baltimore and fourth TVer in the DC-Baltimore region to launch high-def local news. On 1/3, it also unveiled a new news set and graphics package. More at wbaltv.com. Baltimore's Channel 45/WBFF and DC's Channel 7/WJLA launched HD local news in 2008, with DC's Channel 9/WUSA running it several years. Also, we're told that Channel 11 says it's planning to discontinue its traditional analog TV broadcasts on 1/21, about four weeks before the national digital TV deadline of 2/17. WBAL is scheduled to move its current DTV signal from UHF channel 59 back to its longtime perch of VHF channel 11.....

http://dcrtv.com/


----------



## rkolsen




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15453679
> 
> *11 Launches HD Local News, To End Analog Signal Early*
> 
> 
> - 1/4 - Channel 11/WBAL has become the second TVer in Baltimore and fourth TVer in the DC-Baltimore region to launch high-def local news. On 1/3, it also unveiled a new news set and graphics package. More at wbaltv.com. Baltimore's Channel 45/WBFF and DC's Channel 7/WJLA launched HD local news in 2008, with DC's Channel 9/WUSA running it several years. Also, we're told that Channel 11 says it's planning to discontinue its traditional analog TV broadcasts on 1/21, about four weeks before the national digital TV deadline of 2/17. WBAL is scheduled to move its current DTV signal from UHF channel 59 back to its longtime perch of VHF channel 11.....
> 
> http://dcrtv.com/




They have aired commercials about the reduction of the analog signal strength, in order to complete the digital facility and increase broadcast coverage. If you looked at the FCC maps for WBAL they would loose a significant amount of viewers when switching to digital only broadcasting.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bal1012* /forum/post/15341693
> 
> 
> WBAL has began using an HD bug during telecasts. I wonder if this is a sign that they will soon begin HD newscasts.



Unfortunately, they are not using that bug for the news.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Finally, HD Doppler in HD!


----------



## AntAltMike

From WJLA, 7.3:



> Quote:
> As of 5:00 AM on January, 2009, Equity Media Holding Corp's contract to serve the Retro Television Network has Expired. EMHC attempted to coordinate a seamless transition, but despite repeated attempts to comunicate with Luken Communications representatives, it received no response. Please direct any questions regarding the RTN network, programming and delivery of services to:
> 
> 
> Luken Holdings Inc.
> 
> 735 Broad Street, Suite 1204
> 
> Chattanooga, TN 37402
> 
> 423-756-1200



It has been reported at SatelliteGuys that the satellite linked RTN feeds have already been moved to another satellite, and that a few local TV stations that have some common ownership interest appear to be unaffected by this disruption, which was caused in part by a bankruptcy of one of the parties.


Too bad if it disappears locally. It has actually become my most watched TV channel.


----------



## jacindc

The loss of RTN (and specifically Emergency! and Dragnet) will be deeply felt in this household.


----------



## rkolsen




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/15452702
> 
> 
> I like the WBAL HD set. Not too cluttered/busy at all. It's certainly not as teched up as WBFF's, but I for one really appreciate WBAL finally making the leap.
> 
> 
> >> The bug ... 4:3 safe ... oh well
> 
> >> The graphics seem properly set up for overscanning sets like mine. Maybe a bit too much, but we'll see Monday morning when the ticker is going.
> 
> 
> WBAL, if you're watching .... APPROVE.


 EngadgetHD used your image!


----------



## Trip in VA

I sincerely doubt RTN is gone for good.


- Trip


----------



## thestaton

man the nfl pregame today on fox 45-1 looks horrible. I just tuned in from CBS which looked fantastic.


----------



## jgantert

Bummer about RTN, I'll miss my nightly Night Gallery recordings... It was one of my most watched channels, as I'm OTA only.


----------



## Trip in VA

Has RTN come back up for you guys yet? I hear it's coming back up slowly, it's back in Detroit and Austin, but not here in Roanoke where WSET 13-2 (co-owned with WJLA) is still showing the red slide of death...


- Trip


----------



## folksnake

Hi All-

This talk about RTN is intriguing me. I live in the Frederick, MD area, and use the Frederick Comcast cable. Just a few weeks back, I bought an HDTV, and in scanning the channels, was able to pick up some DTV channels that had previously been unavailable to my old (analog) TV set.


One of the channels that I've happened upon at times showed old shows--like Leave It To Beaver, or dramas I didn't even recognize. A few nights back I saw a Rockford Files...*was that RTN*? I _think_ it was on one of Channel 7's sub-channels.


The tricky thing about it was that I never hung around long enough to see a network ID, and the Channel 7 subchannel showed their weather radar most of the day, it seemed. I think the RTN-like stuff only appeared at night; anyway, it struck me as being inconsistent.


I wish I knew when it was on, and what it was going to show (their website seems to be down). Seemed pretty cool. I'll keep a lookout for it.


----------



## Trip in VA

WJLA's weather is on 7-2, RTN is on 7-3.


- Trip


----------



## folksnake




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/15457452
> 
> 
> WJLA's weather is on 7-2, RTN is on 7-3.
> 
> - Trip



Interesting...I'll have to look at it more closely. I have to admit, since getting this new TV, all the channels have been completely changed, so I'm still trying to learn the line-up.


Thanks!


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/15456984
> 
> 
> Has RTN come back up for you guys yet? I hear it's coming back up slowly, it's back in Detroit and Austin, but not here in Roanoke where WSET 13-2 (co-owned with WJLA) is still showing the red slide of death...



As of 6:08 PM EST, WJLA-DT 7.3 is showing the red slide of hey, Luken Communications, where are you?


----------



## folksnake

I just checked my lineup, and here in Frederick on Comcast, on my set (a Samsung LN40A630), Channel 7 shows up like this:


17-1 is "WJLA HD"

17-2 is "7 WX"

17-3 is "7 Local"


The odd thing, to me, is that the red screen of RTN is on 17-2, which the digital tuner says should be the Weather channel. And 17-3, called "local" by the tuner, is showing the weather radar. Huh!


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15457550
> 
> 
> As of 6:08 PM EST, WJLA-DT 7.3 is showing the red slide of hey, Luken Communications, where are you?




I don't think it comes right back in every market. As I understand it, there is one group of stations that continues to have the rights to carry the service and just has to change its reception means, whereas for most stations, probably including WJLA, some new contractual rights will have to be negotiated with someone.


----------



## systems2000

7-3 has been my target channel since I found out about it. Bummer!







I just moved my CM3020 to the 40' tower today, so that I could continue to work towards 7-3.


I still need to setup the rotor and thrust bearing with 10' center shaft. Then I can find my "Sweet Spot" and hopefully get a little more hieght.










I did acquire 5, 9, 20, 24, 54 solidly now. I'll be waiting to see what happens with WBAL, if they really do make the digital transition to 11, on the 21st. It'll give me an idea of what will happen to my reception of VHF-High stations.


----------



## CycloneGT

The Raven's weekend sports show that is on after the 11pm news is in HD on WBAL.


It sure would be nice to see a local team in the Superbowl again.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/15460064
> 
> 
> The Raven's weekend sports show that is on after the 11pm news is in HD on WBAL.



Meanwhile WRC unceremoniously bought out George Michael's contract last weekend and ended the Redskins Report/Full Court Press immediately following broadcast.


Ugh.


----------



## Marcus Carr

The midday lottery on WBAL was SD with red side bars. The evening lottery was in a small 4:3 window. The network program was in a separate 16:9 window. They were in front of a 16:9 background.


----------



## lax01

Any chance Comcast in MoCo will get FXHD for the Nip/Tuck and Damages premieres??????? Didn't think so


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Sony Pictures Television (SPT) will announce it is making the syndicated comedy Seinfeld available to broadcast stations in high-definition for the first time. HD episodes of the long-running sitcom will be ready to air on stations beginning Jan. 26.


 http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6625774.html 


Hopefully WUTB will show it in HD.


----------



## Trip in VA

RTN is finally operational again here in the Roanoke area this morning, how about on WJLA?


- Trip


----------



## rkolsen

Regis wasn't in HD on WBAL. Briefly during the news cut ins or weather segments - there would be a 4:3 image of the 5 day forecast, A few studio shots were in SD, but with the HD lower third.


I noticed that the lower third on the HD feed during the morning news wasn't there on the SD feed.


Also they had a newscroll going over top of Today show graphics.


----------



## PaulGo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/15462291
> 
> 
> RTN is finally operational again here in the Roanoke area this morning, how about on WJLA?
> 
> 
> - Trip



It is back on WJLA.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15461591
> 
> http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6625774.html
> 
> 
> Hopefully WUTB will show it in HD.



WTTG-DT Fox 5 has Seinfeld in the DC market and they have been showing syndicated shows in HD, so they should also be able to show Seinfeld in HD. However, Seinfeld in HD is cropped to 16:9 on TBS-HD (with a little from the original framing added on the side), how will that work for the SD converter boxes and SD cable channels? Center cut the cropped 16:9 (ouch) or set the AFD to letter box it? On second thought, that is one reason for delaying the syndication roll-out of Seinfeld in HD - wait until the digital transition is almost done so the AFD option is in place (in theory anyway).


----------



## systems2000

Anyone else notice that WWPX-DT programming, on all four channels, is blank?


----------



## systems2000

Regis and Kelly looked very "Washed Out" to me today, on 11-1. Am I the only one?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15459164
> 
> 
> I'll be waiting to see what happens with WBAL, if they really do make the digital transition to 11, on the 21st. It'll give me an idea of what will happen to my reception of VHF-High stations.



If you are referring to the WBAL news posted at dcrtv.com, there is no indication that WBAL will be shutting down their analog early. There are no FCC filings I can find nor was there anything at the wbaltv.com website. The FCC requires 30 days of advance public notice for a early shutdown with a lot of announcements shown on the TV broadcast. I have not heard about any of that. WBAL however did state in their FCC submissions they will reduce their analog broadcast power ahead of time so they can shut down one of their VHF 11 transmitter cabinets and modify it for digital broadcast. I think dcrtv.com confused a scheduled analog power reduction by half on Jan 21 with an early shutdown and transition for WBAL-DT 11.


----------



## mark_e




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15462975
> 
> 
> If you are referring to the WBAL news posted at dcrtv.com, there is no indication that WBAL will be shutting down their analog early. There are no FCC filings I can find nor was there anything at the wbaltv.com website. The FCC requires 30 days of advance public notice for a early shutdown with a lot of announcements shown on the TV broadcast. I have not heard about any of that. WBAL however did state in their FCC submissions they will reduce their analog broadcast power ahead of time so they can shut down one of their VHF 11 transmitter cabinets and modify it for digital broadcast. I think dcrtv.com confused a scheduled analog power reduction by half on Jan 21 with an early shutdown and transition for WBAL-DT 11.



They have been running a message with a screen crawl that their analog power will be reduced on 1/21 and some analog viewers may lose the signal. It suggests viewing the digital feed.


----------



## howie14

Has anyone noticed a power reduction on WRC-DT of late? In the last week or so, it has become a little unreliable for me.


I live in southern Carroll Co. and keep my outdoor antenna pointed toward DC most of the time to get the maximum number of channels. The other major DC stations are all rock solid for me.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15462780
> 
> 
> WTTG-DT Fox 5 has Seinfeld in the DC market and they have been showing syndicated shows in HD, so they should also be able to show Seinfeld in HD. However, Seinfeld in HD is cropped to 16:9 on TBS-HD (with a little from the original framing added on the side), how will that work for the SD converter boxes and SD cable channels? Center cut the cropped 16:9 (ouch) or set the AFD to letter box it? On second thought, that is one reason for delaying the syndication roll-out of Seinfeld in HD - wait until the digital transition is almost done so the AFD option is in place (in theory anyway).



Well, that explains why Sony redid all the title cards for the HD presentation. They're in the 4:3 safe frame.


So yes, Sony appears perfectly fine with what is effectively a zoom job for 4:3 users after center cut crops the already cropped picture. And why wouldn't they be?


----------



## jgantert

So does anyone have the schedule for the new RTN7? Looks like the current programming is completely different from the previous programming ( http://static.wjla.com/documents/rtn.pdf ).


Could this be the national schedule? http://cfc.whtm.com/external.cfm?p=rtn_schedule


----------



## Trip in VA

The current RTN feed is temporary until Luken Communications gets their new equipment in Chattanooga all sorted out. The original schedule should be returning at some point in the near future.


- Trip


----------



## systems2000

Oh Well! I've been able to slowly get the Baltimore digital stations reliably. WUTB is the weakest at the moment (2, 11, 13, 24, & 54 - no WBFF), but I wasn't able to get WMAR this morning.


While watching the news on 2, 11, & 13, I noticed that WBAL doesn't seem to be a clear as the others. I also noticed 13 has a much higher volume setting.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rkolsen* /forum/post/15462530
> 
> 
> Regis wasn't in HD on WBAL.



Ellen and Oprah were also still in SD. (But at least they used that new, tiny, transparent bug.)


----------



## rkolsen




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15467010
> 
> 
> Oh Well! I've been able to slowly get the Baltimore digital stations reliably. WUTB is the weakest at the moment (2, 11, 13, 24, & 54 - no WBFF), but I wasn't able to get WMAR this morning.
> 
> 
> While watching the news on 2, 11, & 13, I noticed that WBAL doesn't seem to be a clear as the others. I also noticed 13 has a much higher volume setting.



As a Comcast suscribe, I noticed on WBAL's HD feed has just been a bit grainy over the anchors picture, not the studio shots.


And earlier this morning I noticed that WBALs Lower third (containing weather and traffic information) on the HD feed was non existant on the SD feed, but they did have a partial lower third showing the story topic and persons names.


----------



## systems2000

Looking at the 6pm news, it appears to be clearer (2 & 13 are still sharper). The volume on 11 is the lowest of 2, 11, & 13. Of the three, I like the WJZ set the best (bright & colorful), then WMAR, and lastly WBAL. WBAL comes across (to me) as being really sterile.


----------



## dmulvany




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15462829
> 
> 
> Anyone else notice that WWPX-DT programming, on all four channels, is blank?



As of 6:20 pm today, all four channels were present.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Jeopardy! in SD tonight. Did JLA show Regis and Kelly in HD this am?


----------



## Marcus Carr

Great, WBAL has added a Ravens bug next to their 11 bug.


----------



## systems2000

WBAL needs to replace their "Harbor Cam" with a High-Def unit.


----------



## machpost

Will MPT EVER get consistent with their HD programming? Both WETA and MPT were showing the same program during primetime last night. It was listed as HD on the guide for both. WETA presented it widescreen in HD. What does MPT do? You can probably guess, it was fully windowboxed







Even Motorweek, which they produce themselves in widescreen SD, is inconsistently presented. Sometimes it's proper widescreen, sometimes windowboxed.


----------



## systems2000

I finally had a chance to see what would happen to my Sunkey SK-801ATSC, when it acquires two stations that are sending the same "Virtual Channel" number. They come up as 24-1 (WNPB-DT), 24-1 (WUTB-DT), 24-2 (WNPB-DT), 24-3 (WNPB-DT), 24-4 (WNPB-DT).


So it looks like there will be duplicate "Virtual Channel" numbers. What fun.


----------



## systems2000

Regis & Kelly (4:3, where's 16:9?) are washedout again today, on WBAL-DT.


----------



## systems2000

What's going on with WUTB-DT (720P)? I have a "Signal Strength" of 68%, but the picture starts "Blocking" when it gets a "Signal Quality" of less than 60%. "Siganl Quality," generally bounces between 13% and 80%, staying above 60% most of the time.

http://www.TVFool.com/ shows that I should be getting a level of -19.1dB (NM)/-109.9dBm (Power).


That brings up another issue. Why am I not receiving WBFF-DT at -15.2dB (NM)/-106.0dBm (Power)? I'm getting WBAL-DT solidly and it's at -16.5db (NM)/-107.3 dBM (Power).


----------



## Trip in VA

There's a 24-4? What's on that? I received the W08EE-D signal on Friday and it only went up to 24-3...


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15473205
> 
> 
> What's going on with WUTB-DT (720P)? I have a "Signal Strength" of 68%, but the picture starts "Blocking" when it gets a "Signal Quality" of less than 60%. "Siganl Quality," generally bounces between 13% and 80%, staying above 60% most of the time.
> 
> http://www.TVFool.com/ shows that I should be getting a level of -19.1dB (NM)/-109.9dBm (Power).
> 
> 
> That brings up another issue. Why am I not receiving WBFF-DT at -15.2dB (NM)/-106.0dBm (Power)? I'm getting WBAL-DT solidly and it's at -16.5db (NM)/-107.3 dBM (Power).



If you are using a high gain pre-amp, I am guessing intermodulation distortion from your strong locals. It's a delicate balancing act to get those weak fringe stations with those strong signals coming from Clear Spring, MD. Things should improve for you when the analogs go dark.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15467010
> 
> 
> Oh Well! I've been able to slowly get the Baltimore digital stations reliably. WUTB is the weakest at the moment (2, 11, 13, 24, & 54 - no WBFF), but I wasn't able to get WMAR this morning.
> 
> 
> While watching the news on 2, 11, & 13, I noticed that WBAL doesn't seem to be a clear as the others. I also noticed 13 has a much higher volume setting.



I've been complaining about WJZ's loud volume setting for years. Its for all programming, network and local. WUSA is too low in comparison.


----------



## markbulla

Hi all -


As of about 1:30 this afternoon, WBFF started broadcasting on 45.2 with a slate for ThisBaltimore. On Jan 12, we will be putting on ThisTV ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_TV ), which will have movies and shows from MGM.


We don't have any program guide info for it yet, and I haven't found a web page for it yet, but here's a link for page that has the schedule: http://titantvguide.titantv.com/apg/...x?siteid=52545 (scroll to the bottom of the page)


_


----------



## Digital Rules

Excellent!!


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/15473728
> 
> 
> There's a 24-4? What's on that?



My mistake. It only has three channels.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/15473936
> 
> 
> If you are using a high gain pre-amp, I am guessing intermodulation distortion from your strong locals. It's a delicate balancing act to get those weak fringe stations with those strong signals coming from Clear Spring, MD. Things should improve for you when the analogs go dark.



I have a 40' tower with a Channel Master CM3020 Deep Fringe antenna and a 0265DSB pre-amp (FM Trap active), that feeds a TrunkLine 20-TDA25 25dB UHF/VHF/FM DA (FM Trap active). This feeds a 6dB In-line attenuator, in front of a 2-way splitter, that feeds two other 2-way splitters.


I still have to tweak the antenna height. I've also been debating about replacing the TrunkLine with a CM3410 .

*NOTE:* Had to remove the DA from the system to eliminate the dropouts on WNUV-DT.


----------



## cdipierr2

Does anyone know if NBC changed their broadcast power today?


My mother in law lives in Annapolis and could previously receive both WBAL and WWRC both analog (11 & 4) and digital (11-1, 4-1, etc.).


But as of this afternoon all those channels seem to be barely coming in. In the case of the digital stations, not coming in at all.


The rest of her reception (CBS, FOX, ABC) is unchanged, so I'm suspicious that NBC might be changing things around.


Any info is appreciated as we live out of the area so it's tough to get good info.


Quick additional note, this seemed to start occurring at 1:32 this afternoon as there was a show being recorded (Tivo) on 11-1 that suddenly cut out.


Thanks for any help.


----------



## systems2000

I lost WBAL-DT completely sometime today and it's still not up. I had attributed it to the weather. I'm still getting WMAR-DT, WJZ-DT, WUTB-DT, & WNUV-DT.


----------



## systems2000

I'm still experiencing the video stop/start (choppiness) issue on WNUV-DT, that I was getting when the antenna was at it's old mounting location. It only happens on Prime-Time programming that is 16:9 and HD (ie. Smallville, 90210, etc.). It doesn't matter which CECB I'm using. Has anyone else seen this?


----------



## Digital Rules

No issues with WBAL 11.1 here in Arlington. (40 miles from TV Hill)


----------



## cdipierr2




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15480811
> 
> 
> I lost WBAL-DT completely sometime today and it's still not up. I had attributed it to the weather. I'm still getting WMAR-DT, WJZ-DT, WUTB-DT, & WNUV-DT.



This seems to mirror my MIL's situation.


I know the weather is "bad" there at the moment, but seemed like an odd loss.


----------



## Belcherwm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15480878
> 
> 
> I'm still experiencing the video stop/start (choppiness) issue on WNUV-DT, that I was getting when the antenna was at it's old mounting location. It only happens on Prime-Time programming that is 16:9 and HD (ie. Smallville, 90210, etc.). It doesn't matter which CECB I'm using. Has anyone else seen this?




What's your location? Add it to your info.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cdipierr2* /forum/post/15478781
> 
> 
> Does anyone know if NBC changed their broadcast power today?
> 
> 
> My mother in law lives in Annapolis and could previously receive both WBAL and WWRC both analog (11 & 4) and digital (11-1, 4-1, etc.).
> 
> But as of this afternoon all those channels seem to be barely coming in. In the case of the digital stations, not coming in at all.



NBC does not control the broadcast power of each of their stations. WBAL 11 is owned by Hearst-Argyle Television. WRC 4 in DC is NBC owned & operated. We have rainy weather today which can degrade marginal strength digital signals. It is possible that one of them is operating at reduced digital power because of transmitter problems or for adjustment work, but I would be surprised if both were.


I have been having trouble getting WBAL-DT 11 for the past several weeks. Dropouts to no picture at times. For me, WBAL-DT 11 has always been the most marginal of the Baltimore stations. UHF 59 does not propagate as well over hills as lower UHF or VHF. I have moved the antenna in the attic to get WBAL-DT back, but it is a tricky adjustment to not lose other distant stations off in other directions. I chalk the adjustment up to the changing seasonal weather. Reception issues should get easier once possible interfering analog signals are gone. But I don't know if I will be able to get WBAL-DT 11 reliably when it switches back to VHF 11 at a rather weak power. February 18 is going to be interesting.


----------



## cdipierr2




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15481325
> 
> 
> NBC does not control the broadcast power of each of their stations. WBAL 11 is owned by Hearst-Argyle Television. WRC 4 in DC is NBC owned & operated. We have rainy weather today which can degrade marginal strength digital signals. It is possible that one of them is operating at reduced digital power because of transmitter problems or for adjustment work, but I would be surprised if both were.
> 
> 
> I have been having trouble getting WBAL-DT 11 for the past several weeks. Dropouts to no picture at times. For me, WBAL-DT 11 has always been the most marginal of the Baltimore stations. UHF 59 does not propagate as well over hills as lower UHF or VHF. I have moved the antenna in the attic to get WBAL-DT back, but it is a tricky adjustment to not lose other distant stations off in other directions. I chalk the adjustment up to the changing seasonal weather. Reception issues should get easier once possible interfering analog signals are gone. But I don't know if I will be able to get WBAL-DT 11 reliably when it switches back to VHF 11 at a rather weak power. February 18 is going to be interesting.



I realize the NBCs are independently owned and operated, but I notice that down here (in NC) that NBC is dropping its analog strength for whatever reason. I was wondering if the NBC stations in DC area were doing something similar. To be honest 4-1 was always tough, but 11-1 was crystal clear, no problems, no stutters before today. She's located in Annapolis which is about 10 miles closer to Baltimore broadcast than DC, so I'm not surprised that they'd be better on the whole. The unfortunate part is that her antenna is an old roof antenna that's near to impossible to adjust (for her anyway).


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cdipierr2* /forum/post/15481445
> 
> 
> I realize the NBCs are independently owned and operated, but I notice that down here (in NC) that NBC is dropping its analog strength for whatever reason.



If you're referring to WNCN, they're converting half their analog transmitter into a digital transmitter for use when they flash-cut back to channel 17 on the transition date. WBAL-11 analog will be cutting power for the same reason in a while. WRC is unaffected.


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules

It seems that WBAL has finally stopped doing their stretch-o-vision.










The weather today is having no effect on reception here. WBAL 11.1 comes in full strength, as always. The only constant problem Baltimore channel is WUTB 24.1.(occasional hiccups) It is much weaker than the measly 14kw signal from WMPB 67.1.


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cdipierr2* /forum/post/15481445
> 
> 
> I realize the NBCs are independently owned and operated, but I notice that down here (in NC) that NBC is dropping its analog strength for whatever reason.



The point that trip is trying to make is that the networks have nothing to do with what happens at their affiliates (other than when the network's parent owns a station). ABC/CBS/NBC/FOX/CW have nothing to do with the station's everyday operation. The stations should be called by their call letters. If you don't know the call letters, then you can describe the station as "Big City's NBC _affiliate_" appears to be having power level problems. The stations are affiliates, even if owned by a network. If you know the station is owned and operated by a network parent, you can say, for example, NBC O&O, instead of NBC affiliate.


I see that you are new to the forum, so please keep in mind that I'm posting just to inform as to how stations are described. No offense intended. You are not the only person who describes stations this way.


Welcome to AVS, it can really be a fun place.


----------



## cdipierr2




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mrvideo* /forum/post/15481696
> 
> 
> The point that trip is trying to make is that the networks have nothing to do with what happens at their affiliates (other than when the network's parent owns a station). ABC/CBS/NBC/FOX/CW have nothing to do with the station's everyday operation. The stations should be called by their call letters. If you don't know the call letters, then you can describe the station as "Big City's NBC _affiliate_" appears to be having power level problems. The stations are affiliates, even if owned by a network. If you know the station is owned and operated by a network parent, you can say, for example, NBC O&O, instead of NBC affiliate.
> 
> 
> I see that you are new to the forum, so please keep in mind that I'm posting just to inform as to how stations are described. No offense intended. You are not the only person who describes stations this way.
> 
> 
> Welcome to AVS, it can really be a fun place.



I understand the terminology issue. I relayed them as Washington & Baltimore NBC affiliates because in my line of work a lot of times you have to find the common denominator. In this case, both NBC affiliates were affected at the same time. Additionally, my local NBC (WNCN) happened to be running messages about lower power broadcasts, therefore I figured perhaps NBC was mandating that its affiliates all do this on a specific date. It was just a guess, as I'm in no way as connected to what's happening as the AVS vets are.


In any event, I guess we're out of luck since only one other person seems to report any WBAL problems. It still seems suspicious to me because prior to today the signal was up in the 80-90% range (as reported by a converter box), but it just proves that OTA is as unreliable now as it was in the 1970s. Was hoping to avoid having to swap to cable, but I guess that's the way it goes.


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cdipierr2* /forum/post/15481809
> 
> 
> Additionally, my local NBC (WNCN) happened to be running messages about lower power broadcasts, therefore I figured perhaps NBC was mandating that its affiliates all do this on a specific date.



Others can verify this, but no station can reduce their power, or increase their power, without official permission from the FCC. If there is equipment failure that forces a reduction in power, that is fine, but I think the FCC has to be informed.



> Quote:
> In any event, I guess we're out of luck since only one other person seems to report any WBAL problems. It still seems suspicious to me because prior to today the signal was up in the 80-90% range (as reported by a converter box), but it just proves that OTA is as unreliable now as it was in the 1970s. Was hoping to avoid having to swap to cable, but I guess that's the way it goes.



The only real way to prove a power reduction is with real RF detection equipment. There could be a number of factors to cause your reception to appear to be less than normal. Which does indeed indicate that DTV OTA reception isn't any better than analog OTA reception. Hell, it can be more problematic.


I wouldn't call going to cable to be any more reliable. The local reception thread is full of people complaining about cable problem this or cable problem that. There no perfect delivery method.


----------



## cdipierr2




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mrvideo* /forum/post/15481859
> 
> 
> Others can verify this, but no station can reduce their power, or increase their power, without official permission from the FCC. If there is equipment failure that forces a reduction in power, that is fine, but I think the FCC has to be informed.



I suppose that's the case, but I'm not the FCC, I can only report what the station states in their crawl.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mrvideo* /forum/post/15481859
> 
> 
> The only real way to prove a power reduction is with real RF detection equipment. There could be a number of factors to cause your reception to appear to be less than normal. Which does indeed indicate that DTV OTA reception isn't any better than analog OTA reception. Hell, it can be more problematic.
> 
> 
> I wouldn't call going to cable to be any more reliable. The local reception thread is full of people complaining about cable problem this or cable problem that. There no perfect delivery method.



I do realize there are a lot of factors to reception, but going from best-signal she receives to completely out in the span of a minute is problematic, which is why I posted here in the first place as I was looking to see if it was a systematic problem.


As for cable, anecdotally, I can count on 1 hand the # of hours my cable has been out in the last 10 years. This isn't 100% obviously, but it's certainly better then the alternative. And even in those cases it's typically been digital cable or cable-card related, etc. I can't remember the last time analog cable was down, which in this case is all we'd be looking for.


----------



## mrvideo




cdipierr2 said:


> I suppose that's the case, but I'm not the FCC, I can only report what the station states in their crawl.
> 
> 
> 
> I understand that. I was just adding that AFAIK it does require permission before it can happen, other than the mentioned technical difficulties (don't want that transmitter melting down trying to keep the power at max allowed power)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Quote:
> I do realize there are a lot of factors to reception, but going from best-signal she receives to completely out in the span of a minute is problematic, which is why I posted here in the first place as I was looking to see if it was a systematic problem.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Most definately worth asking. I'm not disputing that. It is an excellent troubleshooting clue. If others have the same issue, then it ain't you.
> 
> 
> It was the calling the station NBC, that I just wanted to correct. There was absolutely nothing wrong with posting the query.
> 
> 
> In most cases, the query is regarding signal quality. Someone posts that the CBS video of the basketball game is macroblocking. No, the CBS video is just fine as it is being fed to the station at 35-40 Mbps, it is the local CBS affiliate that is causing the macroblocking. That is the reason for the distinction.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Quote:
> As for cable, anecdotally, I can count on 1 hand the # of hours my cable has been out in the last 10 years. This isn't 100% obviously, but it's certainly better then the alternative. And even in those cases it's typically been digital cable or cable-card related, etc. I can't remember the last time analog cable was down, which in this case is all we'd be looking for.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Really, you don't want HD via cable? That is where the complaints with cable are. Not that it fails as a result of an outage, but problems with tuning channels, quality of said digital channels, etc. Up time doesn't appear to be a major complain in my area.
> 
> 
> You have been posting to this thread about the signal level of the digital stations, so why would you resort to cable only to get analog? That confuses me?
> 
> Click to expand...
Click to expand...


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cdipierr2* /forum/post/15481886
> 
> 
> I can't remember the last time analog cable was down, which in this case is all we'd be looking for.



I assume you know the days of analog cable are also numbered, like OTA. But unlike a mandate from the FCC with a hard date, it'll be the cable co's choice when it decides to pull the plug.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cdipierr2* /forum/post/15481809
> 
> 
> I understand the terminology issue. I relayed them as Washington & Baltimore NBC affiliates because in my line of work a lot of times you have to find the common denominator. In this case, both NBC affiliates were affected at the same time. Additionally, my local NBC (WNCN) happened to be running messages about lower power broadcasts, therefore I figured perhaps NBC was mandating that its affiliates all do this on a specific date. It was just a guess, as I'm in no way as connected to what's happening as the AVS vets are.
> 
> 
> In any event, I guess we're out of luck since only one other person seems to report any WBAL problems. It still seems suspicious to me because prior to today the signal was up in the 80-90% range (as reported by a converter box), but it just proves that OTA is as unreliable now as it was in the 1970s. Was hoping to avoid having to swap to cable, but I guess that's the way it goes.



Have you looked at the Tropospheric Ducting Forecast?

http://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo.html 


conditions aren't favorable right now.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cdipierr2* /forum/post/15481886
> 
> 
> I suppose that's the case, but I'm not the FCC, I can only report what the station states in their crawl.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I do realize there are a lot of factors to reception, but going from best-signal she receives to completely out in the span of a minute is problematic, which is why I posted here in the first place as I was looking to see if it was a systematic problem.
> 
> 
> As for cable, anecdotally, I can count on 1 hand the # of hours my cable has been out in the last 10 years. This isn't 100% obviously, but it's certainly better then the alternative. And even in those cases it's typically been digital cable or cable-card related, etc. I can't remember the last time analog cable was down, which in this case is all we'd be looking for.



Another option is to get a better antenna for OTA broadcasts. At my girlfriends that just involved getting a table top antenna with a built in amplifier for VHF and UHF where the amplification for each can be adjusted independently. It cost under $40. That solved any problems she had. Now she can reliably pick up everything in Baltimore and DC.

And since she has no desire to get cable, this was a very inexpensive solution that gave superb results. Coupled with the TiVoHD boxes, she is now all set for the switch to digital.


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/15481519
> 
> 
> It seems that WBAL has finally stopped doing their stretch-o-vision.



Hooray! Hope it's permanent.


I've had no issues with reception of WBAL-DT in the last few days.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15480878
> 
> 
> I'm still experiencing the video stop/start (choppiness) issue on WNUV-DT, that I was getting when the antenna was at it's old mounting location. It only happens on Prime-Time programming that is 16:9 and HD (ie. Smallville, 90210, etc.). It doesn't matter which CECB I'm using. Has anyone else seen this?



I've had one other complaint about the same problem. I haven't been able to find the problem that is causing the issue... Still looking, though.


_


----------



## cdipierr2

As to why just analog cable ... she doesn't have an HD set. The convertor box and HD Tivo are just down converting to her SD TVs. If she were to get cable, she'd still have the benefits of a good signal.


We did try an indoor antenna when we were setting this up and reception was awful, couldn't pull in just about anything.


I'll check out the forecast site. Thanks.


Out of curiosity, can someone tell me what's likely to happen on Feb 18th? I'm under the impression that the digital broadcasts move from UHF to the VHF frequencies, but practically should we expect better signal reception when this takes place?


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cdipierr2* /forum/post/15483563
> 
> 
> As to why just analog cable ... she doesn't have an HD set. The convertor box and HD Tivo are just down converting to her SD TVs. If she were to get cable, she'd still have the benefits of a good signal.
> 
> 
> We did try an indoor antenna when we were setting this up and reception was awful, couldn't pull in just about anything.
> 
> 
> I'll check out the forecast site. Thanks.
> 
> 
> Out of curiosity, can someone tell me what's likely to happen on Feb 18th? I'm under the impression that the digital broadcasts move from UHF to the VHF frequencies, but practically should we expect better signal reception when this takes place?



At my girlfriends without the amplified tabletop antenna her reception was terrible too. But just that little bit of amplification allowed her to go from a getting a few unreliable channels to getting all the DC and Baltimore stations reliably.


The Antenna I got is http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1171058630563 

It's not very big, and not ugly either. And can easily be hidden if need be.

It's only $33 at BB now although I got mine cheaper online. With BestBuy you can try it out and if it doesn't work you can return it for a refund.


Also I think only two DC stations are moving to VHF. the rest are staying on UHF. Not sure about Baltimore. Someone had a link to what each station was doing in each city, but I don't know it offhand.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cdipierr2* /forum/post/15483563
> 
> 
> Out of curiosity, can someone tell me what's likely to happen on Feb 18th? I'm under the impression that the digital broadcasts move from UHF to the VHF frequencies, but practically should we expect better signal reception when this takes place?



The four upper VHF stations in DC and Baltimore will move their digital channel from UHF to their analog VHF channels on February 18: WJLA-DT 7, WUSA-DT 9, WBAL-DT 11, and WJZ-DT 13. The other moves and power increases will all be on UHF. Two stations taking over vacated DT antennas are WMAR-DT 2 on UHF 52 to WJZ-DT's current UHF 38 antenna & 1000 kW ERP, WPXW-DT Ion 66 in Manassas on UHF 43 will move to DC and use WUSA-DT's current UHF 34 antenna & 1000 kW ERP. Other significant changes are WNVC-DT MHz 56 in Fairfax will return to the air on UHF 24 which might be picked up in Annapolis. WHAG-DT NBC 25 in Hagerstown will go full power on UHF 26, but that is out of range for Annapolis.


I posted a summary table on what the stations are doing here around the beginning of December. I should update it and repost it in a few days.


The word of the day for February 18 will be to do a channel rescan - probably multiple times until the dust settles.


----------



## cdipierr2

You guys are great, thanks for the info on UHF/VHF changes on 2/18.


As for the antenna, that's very similar to one we got from Best Buy (also an RCA), but it picked up very little. It was amplified however, and that amplifier is currently inline on her rooftop antenna. It makes a big difference for the roof antenna as well.


----------



## systems2000

Don't forget that WWPX-DT, in Martinsburg, is already on channel 12, operating at 23KW and looking to go to 30KW.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15485459
> 
> 
> Don't forget that WWPX-DT, in Martinsburg, is already on channel 12, operating at 23KW and looking to go to 30KW.



Since it's a direct simulcast of WPXW-DT, there's no point in wasting any effort on it.


And I don't see an application to go to 30 kW. Where did you see that?


- Trip


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15483343
> 
> 
> I've had one other complaint about the same problem. I haven't been able to find the problem that is causing the issue... Still looking, though.



Is there any datastream information (Video/Audio/PCR PID's) that I can feedback to you? When are you going to implement "Set by Program" or "Auto Aspect" ratio? It would be nice to be able to have that feature on my CECB's to be worth something.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/15485511
> 
> 
> Since it's a direct simulcast of WPXW-DT, there's no point in wasting any effort on it.



I was just pointing out that there are other VHF stations in the Baltimore/D.C. DMA. You also have W08EE-D (WNPB-DT) in Martinsburg, which is already on 8, operating at 0.3KW


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/15485511
> 
> 
> And I don't see an application to go to 30 kW. Where did you see that?



I can't remember at the moment and it's in my notes, so I'd assume I saw it in the FCC Database. I'll check.


----------



## Trip in VA

You might be thinking of their rejected app several years ago to relocate their analog signal from channel 60 to channel 12. The FCC turned that one down quickly.


- Trip


----------



## systems2000

That's what it was.


----------



## systems2000

WWPX-TV is currently Off-Air.


I guess they're doing a lot of In-House transmitter work.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15485605
> 
> 
> Is there any datastream information (Video/Audio/PCR PID's) that I can feedback to you? When are you going to implement "Set by Program" or "Auto Aspect" ratio? It would be nice to be able to have that feature on my CECB's to be worth something.



Anything you want to send would be useful, although I've looked at them here. More info is always better!


I'm still trying to come up with a way to do the auto-aspect ratio thing. THe problem is that everything that comes out of our servers, or goes through our master control is upconverted to 720p, so nothing that I put downstream sees a 4:3 aspect ratio - just a 16:9 with pillars. The metadata info isn't there yet, either...


_


----------



## alexandriahokie

For all of the fans of FX's Damages which starts tonight, I noticed on the HD OnDemand channel guide (Arlington/Alexandria) that it looks like they might put the show up there. I was hoping we would have FX HD by now since it's been listed on Comcast's cable lineup for close to 3 months, but alas nada. On the HD menu, it's under TV Series -> Damages (scroll down). Nothing is in there yet, but I'm hoping they put tonight's premiere up tomorrow. I can wait a day to watch it in HD. And it's past my bedtime anyway.


----------



## systems2000

Comcast always promises long before it delivers, except for price increases.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15488521
> 
> 
> I'm still trying to come up with a way to do the auto-aspect ratio thing. THe problem is that everything that comes out of our servers, or goes through our master control is upconverted to 720p, so nothing that I put downstream sees a 4:3 aspect ratio - just a 16:9 with pillars.



So, somewhere during the upconversion process, the system automatically inserts 16:9 pillars. I would think the upconverting equipment manufacturer could give an answer to this issue.


Why do you need upconversion anyway? Why not feed the 4:3 material straight to the transmitters?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_scaler 


> Quote:
> However, remember under no circumstances will an upscaling/upconverting DVD player provide "high-definition content", since video information can only be retained or lost in each successive conversion step, but not created.


 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspect_ratio_(image) 


> Quote:
> Both PAL and NTSC have provision for some data pulses contained within the video signal used to signal the aspect ratio (See ITU-R BT.1119-1 - Widescreen signaling for broadcasting). These pulses are detected by television sets that have widescreen displays and cause the television to automatically switch to 16:9 display mode. When 4:3 material is included (such as the aforementioned commercial), the television switches to a 4:3 display mode to correctly display the material. Where a video signal is transmitted via a European SCART connection, one of the status lines is used to signal 16:9 material as well.


 Widescreen Signaling and Active Format Description (AFD) 


Does the HD Primetime material go through this upconversion equipment also? Maybe this is where the freeze framing is coming from.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/15466742
> 
> 
> The current RTN feed is temporary until Luken Communications gets their new equipment in Chattanooga all sorted out. The original schedule should be returning at some point in the near future.



Wow, I can't figure out what the heck RTN is feeding into RTN7. Programming seems random, and doesn't even start/stop at the 30 minute breaks.


I was watching Magnum PI (started around maybe 8:35pm?) then at 8:59pm, it switched to A-Team credits. Then at 9:00pm the same Magnum PI episode re-started. Strange stuff going on there.


Is Night Gallery even on anymore? I can't seem to find it. Tivo seems to record McHale's Navy in its time slot (well, mostly in its timeslot).


-John


----------



## billodom




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *thestaton* /forum/post/15456471
> 
> 
> man the nfl pregame today on fox 45-1 looks horrible. I just tuned in from CBS which looked fantastic.



This was a quote from last Sunday but could have been from any NFL Sunday for the last several years. Once CBS started telecasting the NFL Today in HD, they left Fox's widescreen standard definition in the dust. Who knows when if ever Fox will switch their LA studio to HD. The amazing thing to me is that so few people post about it.


On a positive note, I tuned into WBAL's 11 o'clock news tonight and was very impressed with their presentation. I will only say that the news will not truly be in HD until the field reports are also in HD. It will be interesting to see who steps up first in that regard. But then, like the comparison between CBS and Fox, will the average viewer even notice?


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15490626
> 
> 
> So, somewhere during the upconversion process, the system automatically inserts 16:9 pillars. I would think the upconverting equipment manufacturer could give an answer to this issue.
> 
> 
> Why do you need Upcoversion anyway? Why not feed the 4:3 material straight to the transmitters?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Does the HD Primetime material go through this upconversion equipment also? Maybe this is where the freeze framing is coming from.



There are a number of pieces of equipment in the chain that will only allow 720p video to go through, so we have to have conversion equipment in line to make sure that it is in that format. Also, the video servers that we use only put out 720p - they have the converters built in. I agree that fewer conversions gives you a better end result, but once the material is in 720p, any converters further downstream just pass it through.


The primetime HD material does go through converters, but it's handled a little differently. The CW HD material comes in as 1080i, and is cross-converted to 720p. I would agree with you that this could be the problem, but 1: we get several other HD shows the same way (Stargate Atlantis, and American Chopper are two examples), and 2: the problem doesn't show up in master control or on my TV at home. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the encoding process, but no problems are showing up on the test equipment that I have.


I'm still looking, though...


It's wierd the problems that only show up in literally one or two places... There's a man that calls me up pretty regularly who doesn't have any audio on local programming on WBFF, but it comes in fine during prime-time. As far as I've heard, he's the only one, and again, I can't find the problem that would cause that...


_


----------



## systems2000

I haven't seen SGA or American Chopper, so I can't comment on what the material looks like here. What time periods are they on so that I can check?


I'll assume, for the moment, that this also applies to the "*AFD*" issue.


----------



## howie14




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/15492223
> 
> 
> Wow, I can't figure out what the heck RTN is feeding into RTN7. Programming seems random, and doesn't even start/stop at the 30 minute breaks.
> 
> 
> I was watching Magnum PI (started around maybe 8:35pm?) then at 8:59pm, it switched to A-Team credits. Then at 9:00pm the same Magnum PI episode re-started. Strange stuff going on there.
> 
> 
> Is Night Gallery even on anymore? I can't seem to find it. Tivo seems to record McHale's Navy in its time slot (well, mostly in its timeslot).
> 
> 
> -John




I understand that RTN-7 is "taking what's available" until Luken Communications can get all the regional feeds sorted out. It is hard to understand, though, why the shows start at random times.


I record "Ironside" for my wife and it's been starting anywhere from 10:05AM to 10:30AM. I'm now recording a 2 hour block each day to cover it. "Kojak", which wouldn't even normally be on RTN-7's schedule, started at 2:47 PM on Tuesday.


Hopefully, the uplinks get straightened out soon.


----------



## AntAltMike

I notices that there was no program on WMPT-22.2 last evening, while Cyrano was running on 22.1 Is that something that is occasionally done to make more bandwidth available for the HD program?


----------



## Gerald C

Speaking of WMPT-DT [22/42], does anyone know what their transmitter upgrade plans are for (1) the Feb 19 transition, (2) thereafter? I had understood that they had either applied for or received permission to increase power levels....? Right now, I don't even get the slightest signal from them in NoVa.


----------



## mdviewer25

I know this forum is supposed to be for HD but does anyone else have problems with the analog feed of WGN on cable. I have Comcast Prince George's County and its hooked straight into the TV. The picture is too dark. Of course, Comcast was clueless about the problem when I emailed them.


----------



## mdviewer25

problem fixed. wonder what was wrong?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Gerald C* /forum/post/15498142
> 
> 
> Speaking of WMPT-DT [22/42], does anyone know what their transmitter upgrade plans are for (1) the Feb 19 transition, (2) thereafter? I had understood that they had either applied for or received permission to increase power levels....? Right now, I don't even get the slightest signal from them in NoVa.



WMPT-DT 22 (42) filed a post-transition maximization power request to increase from the current 150 kW to 516 kW on UHF 42, but the FCC has not acted on this filing yet. So there should be no change in WMPT-DT reception on Feb. 18 (assuming no last minute delay) except perhaps the elimination of interference from WVPY-TV PBS 42 in Front Royal for those further west of DC.


However, more modest maximization filings have been granted for: 1) WFPT-DT 62 (28) in Frederick from the current 30 kW to 41.2 kW, 2) WMPB-DT 67 (29) in Baltimore from 14 kW to 42.6 kW. If you don't get WFPT-DT now, the increase to 42.6 kW won't help much. But I can get WMPB-DT 67 (with dropouts in poor weather) from Sterling if I place the CM 4221 right. Whenever WMPB-DT 67 increases to 42.6 kW, it might come in solid. Although getting it really doesn't matter as I get MPT OTA from WFPT-DT.


I don't get WMPT-DT 22 very often. My antenna is looking length-wise down a row of townhouses in that direction, so that is probably why. But I have wondered if the weak analog signal from WVPY-TV 42 in the other direction is a factor. One of the things it will be interesting to find out on February 18, provided Congress doesn't blink and delay the transition which is suddenly looking like a real possibility. Time to get off the pot and get this transition done, IMO.


----------



## systems2000

I was wondering why I was getting MPT 67-_x_ the other night. It was coming in almost as good as MPT 31-_x_.


WBAL-DT is back.


----------



## rustycruiser

Every time WBAL seems to take a small step forward, they invariably take a larger one back. Going HD for news was a nice forward step. But now the big step back? The constant logos and graphics they are now pasting all over the prime time shows. Thank God I can pull in WRC 4 from DC. They might have an extra subchannel, but at least the picture isn't covered with unneeded graphics. And my rear speakers actually get used, as unlike WBAL, the provide 5.1 sound. Way to suck, WBAL!


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15494713
> 
> 
> I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the encoding process, but no problems are showing up on the test equipment that I have.
> 
> 
> I'm still looking, though...



Here's some stats from tonight's Smallville (watched in 16:9), maybe it can help you find the problem:

Smallville had ~1 second intervals between freezing (happening on Supernatural now).

*NOTE:* Tyler Perry's House of Pain is also freezing (both episodes). I'm now seeing it on My Wife & Kids (in 4:3) and it doesn't matter if I set the CECB to 4:3 or 16:9.

*2-1:* 68/84, *11-1:* 62/62, *13-1:* 88/100, *24-1:* 78/97, *31-1:* 88/22, *54-1:* 84/100, & *68-1:* 98/100 (Rated in Signal Strength/Signal Quality).


*Commercials*   *With Freezing**Format**Without Freezing**Format*Olive Garden16:9Smallville Promo4:3H&R Block CW Promo4:3Snowmen 13 Promo4:3T-Mobile16:9Notorious Promo4:3Oreo Double Stuff16:9Select Harvest Light4:3Inkheart16:9Olay4:3Sprint16:9Reese's4:3Wal-Mart4:3Visine4:3TurboTax4:3KFC4:3Olive Garden16:9Gossip Girl Promo4:3  Dunkin' Donuts4:3  Abovetheinfluence.com4:3  Everybody Hates Chris Promo4:3  My Wife & Kids Promo4:3  Cochran Firm4:3  Invention Resource4:3  Rock-A-Mation Promo16:9  My Wife & Kids Promo4:3  Supernatural Promo4:3  Monistat4:3  Red Bull4:3  90210 Promo4:3


----------



## zyvo23

anyone having issues with 45-1? in Columbia over QAM the game is almost unwatchable. Lots of stuttering and pixelization.


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/15499771
> 
> 
> I know this forum is supposed to be for HD but does anyone else have problems with the analog feed of WGN on cable. I have Comcast Prince George's County and its hooked straight into the TV. The picture is too dark. Of course, Comcast was clueless about the problem when I emailed them.



My wife watches WGN(79) on Comcast basic cable, and the video is very dark at some times, and very good at other times. I assime the problem for Comcast is that they are capturing an OTA signal from a weak-signal station, and putting that signal on the cable without any real supervision. This is a free program, so complaints are likely to be ignored.


----------



## Marcus Carr

I've always had a poor picture on analog WGN, as well as a couple of the low-numbered analog channels. (Fortunately, I now have WGN in HD on Comcast.)


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15506327
> 
> 
> I've always had a poor picture on analog WGN, as well as a couple of the low-numbered analog channels. (Fortunately, I now have WGN in HD on Comcast.)



Must be nice. After being one of the first places in the area to get HD via Comcast, we seem to be the last in getting any new HD.


----------



## Mike20878

In the news yesterday, Obama is pushing for a delay in the digital TV switch:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123144336503065213.html


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zyvo23* /forum/post/15503186
> 
> 
> anyone having issues with 45-1? in Columbia over QAM the game is almost unwatchable. Lots of stuttering and pixelization.



Sorry - I didn't see this until now. Since you said QAM, and you're in Columbia, you're on Comcast, I'm assuming.


I didn't get any calls or e-mails last night or today about any problems (cable, or otherwise). Did it clear up?


_


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Mike20878* /forum/post/15510039
> 
> 
> In the news yesterday, Obama is pushing for a delay in the digital TV switch:



This last minute push for a transition delay is being discussed at http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1105820 and in the HOTP thread. If you had asked me a week ago, I would had said with no action taken by the last Congress in Nov/Dec, that Feb 17 was locked-in. With the recent statements from the powers that be, a delay is looking possible. But a delay would leave WNVC-DT MHz 56 and WHAG-DT NBC 25 along with other stations across the US twisting in the wind on firing up their full coverage digital broadcast.


----------



## systems2000

Is it me or is WJZ-DT off by +1:00 on their Time Stamp?


----------



## systems2000

Here is feedback for the 20:00 to 21:00 shows:

NOTE: There was a complete audio drop at about 20:48 for about 5-10 seconds.


*Commercials*   *Bad**Format**Good**Format*NotoriousWS within 4:3Dunkin' Donuts4:3Select Harvest Light4:390210 Promo4:3Dove*4:3TP Promo4:3Dove*4:3The Game Promo4:3Ritz16:9Bonds Not Easily Broken Jackson-Hewitt*4:3KFC4:3McDonalds*4:313 Promo4:3Sprint16:9Lactaid4:3H&R Block4:3Nationwide4:3Charmin*4:3Cochrin Firm4:3DTV2009.gov4:3Comcast4:3Gossip Girl*4:3One On One Promo4:3Weed (drug)4:3Campbell Select Harvest4:3AT&T - Dino16:9NotoriousWS within 4:3Chevy - Traverse16:990210 Promo4:3   
* Very little freezing


----------



## djp952

What on this Earth is going on at WMAR? I've had problems with this channel for so long, I'm getting close to deleting it.


Tonight, for example, a Media Center PC was pixelating/stuttering with audio issues. Of course at first I blamed myself, like always, but when I found absolutely nothing wrong I switched to the TV's internal tuner, hooked up to an antenna I designed specifically for Baltimore. Same problems. Signal strength/quality was 100% at all times, but Jeopardy/Wheel was just painful to watch tonight.


Is nobody else having regular problems with WMAR? From my house, they are the absolute worst channel in DC/Balt right now. Nothing but technical problems all around.


I don't mean to rant, really, but it's so frustrating to spend so much time looking at your own equipment just to find out that yet again the problem is at the source. I even hooked up TSReader to an ATSC tuner and it reported not a single solitary issue, I'm quite literally seeing what WMAR is transmitting.


I can't wait for 2/17, well, make that 3/17, let's give everyone a month to sort it all out. My homemade VHF antenna is primed and ready to go, bring on VHF WJLA and WUSA, I'm so sick of WMAR and WJA and their inability to get this stuff right. I can only prey that the D.C. VHF signals are powerful enough to get all the way up here reliably. Seem OK on analog, so I'm hopeful!


----------



## URFloorMatt

So, Seinfeld will start network syndication in HD on January 26. Will WTTG be carrying it in HD? (I'm guessing not in the near future.)


----------



## paula




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/15473020
> 
> 
> Will MPT EVER get consistent with their HD programming?



In a shining example of -- for lack of a better word -- inconsistency, last Tuesday hour one of "The Story of India" was shown in full screen HD; hour two in postage stamp.


----------



## systems2000

WMAR-DT is very solid here without any issues. Granted WJZ-DT is the absolute best of all the Baltimore stations I currently receive. Reception may improve when WMAR-DT goes to 38 and increases their power.


My "Order of Station" reliability at 72 miles and 2-edge:

WJZ-DTChannel 38* (1000 KW)WMAR-DTChannel 52* (602 KW)WNUV-DTChannel 40 (845 KW)WBAL-DTChannel 59* (513 KW)WUTB-DTChannel 41 (200 KW)**WBFF-DTChannel 46 (550 KW)

* Don't Get
* Increasing Power (WUTB-DT may already be at full power)
* Changing Frequencies


----------



## EBinMD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/15514831
> 
> 
> What on this Earth is going on at WMAR? I've had problems with this channel for so long, I'm getting close to deleting it.
> 
> 
> Tonight, for example, a Media Center PC was pixelating/stuttering with audio issues. Of course at first I blamed myself, like always, but when I found absolutely nothing wrong I switched to the TV's internal tuner, hooked up to an antenna I designed specifically for Baltimore. Same problems. Signal strength/quality was 100% at all times, but Jeopardy/Wheel was just painful to watch tonight.
> 
> 
> Is nobody else having regular problems with WMAR? From my house, they are the absolute worst channel in DC/Balt right now. Nothing but technical problems all around.
> 
> 
> I don't mean to rant, really, but it's so frustrating to spend so much time looking at your own equipment just to find out that yet again the problem is at the source. I even hooked up TSReader to an ATSC tuner and it reported not a single solitary issue, I'm quite literally seeing what WMAR is transmitting.
> 
> 
> I can't wait for 2/17, well, make that 3/17, let's give everyone a month to sort it all out. My homemade VHF antenna is primed and ready to go, bring on VHF WJLA and WUSA, I'm so sick of WMAR and WJA and their inability to get this stuff right. I can only prey that the D.C. VHF signals are powerful enough to get all the way up here reliably. Seem OK on analog, so I'm hopeful!



I've been having problems with WMAR too. Lots of stuttering and break ups. I thought maybe it was my equipment, but I switched channels and didn't have a problem. I'm using Directv and live in Balto County.


----------



## systems2000

Just saw on WNUV-DT, the ACC game between UMD & GT, that it is in 16:9, and I'm not getting any freeze-ups.

NOTE: Forgot to mention that "One on One" had video Stop/Start Freezing last night.


----------



## euckersw

Just checked the channel lineup for Cox in Fairfax, and noticed the following HD channels will be added on 1/27:


Fox Business HD (Channel 755)

Cartoon HD (Channel 759)

WE HD (Channel 760)

IFC HD (Channel 761)

Comedy HD (Channel 762)

E! HD (Channel 764)

Biography HD (Channel 765)

MLB HD (Channel 766)


Very nice!


----------



## mdviewer25

Tyler Perry's House of Payne has been available in HD syndication for months now. Why hasn't WDCA 20 aired it in HD yet? They show Everybody Loves Raymond in HD. WNUV CW Baltimore shows it in HD.


----------



## mdviewer25

I thought all Wizards home games were supposed to be in HD. Why is CW50 showing Bobcats @ Wizards in SD?


----------



## ceeaton




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15516107
> 
> 
> WMAR-DT is very solid here without any issues. Granted WJZ-DT is the absolute best of all the Baltimore stations I currently receive. Reception may improve when WMAR-DT goes to 38 and increases their power.
> 
> 
> My "Order of Station" reliability at 72 miles and 2-edge:
> 
> WJZ-DTChannel 38* (1000 KW)WMAR-DTChannel 52* (602 KW)WNUV-DTChannel 40 (845 KW)WBAL-DTChannel 59* (513 KW)WUTB-DTChannel 41 (200 KW)**WBFF-DTChannel 46 (550 KW)
> 
> * Don't Get
> * Increasing Power (WUTB-DT may already be at full power)
> * Changing Frequencies



Thanks for that little table. I've been scratching my head for a month wondering why I can pick WNUV-DT and WJZ-DT (and occasionally WBFF_DT), but I can't pick up WMAR, WBAL or WUTB. I've had my TVFool chart in front of me, but having spelled out in a chart did the trick. I'm using a DBGH which isn't really great for channel 51 or above.


Many thanks!

Craig


----------



## guadalupegrande4

Where was this bug supposed to go?

I can see it in the 4x3 area, but why so high? Wha?

And why so dark? At least NBC's bug is lighter/dimmer/whatever.

 


And when did WBAL start with the "ding" before the advisories/alerts? Ugh.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rustycruiser* /forum/post/15502733
> 
> 
> Every time WBAL seems to take a small step forward, they invariably take a larger one back. Going HD for news was a nice forward step. But now the big step back? The constant logos and graphics they are now pasting all over the prime time shows. Thank God I can pull in WRC 4 from DC. They might have an extra subchannel, but at least the picture isn't covered with unneeded graphics. And my rear speakers actually get used, as unlike WBAL, the provide 5.1 sound. Way to suck, WBAL!


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Back in the mid 1990s, the NBC station in Raleigh used to plaster crap like that on the screen, self-promoting themselves. Link to contact the geniuses at WBAL:
http://www.wbaltv.com/station/index.html


----------



## zyvo23




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15510320
> 
> 
> Sorry - I didn't see this until now. Since you said QAM, and you're in Columbia, you're on Comcast, I'm assuming.
> 
> 
> I didn't get any calls or e-mails last night or today about any problems (cable, or otherwise). Did it clear up?
> 
> 
> _





Yes, Comcast. It did clear up. Playoffs were fine over the weekend. Thanks.


----------



## systems2000

Why does MPT keep putting side bars on 16:9 programming? Are they trying to get large screens back down to 20"?


----------



## imacdonald

I have been curious what WETA is going to once they loose there analogue channel, since they are one of the few (only?) stations that broadcasts content on analogue that isn't rebroadcast on a digital channel, so I did a little googling and found the following

http://www.kued.org/uploads/pdfs/165...tvplan2008.pdf 



WETA TELEVISION CHANNELS

Current

WETA TV 26

WETA HD

WETA Kids

WETA Create

WETA World


Post-Transition (TBD)

WETA TV

WETA HD

WETA Kids

WETA Create


So it looks like they are dropping world and moving the current WETA to a standard def subchannel and continuing their cop out of pulling the PBS HD feed rather than program their own HD channel.


Does anyone know if this is still accurate?


I also thought this was a little amusing since I didn't see it in person

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX0DCxTB-Fo 

(the analogue shutoff test)


----------



## Trip in VA

I sure hope that's not WETA's plan. If it is, that's pretty dull. Three kids shows on at once?


- Trip


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Docisis 3.0* is now available on Comcast in Anne Arundel County MD, according to http://www.comcast.com/fastestfast/ (using my parents' zip code).


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *imacdonald* /forum/post/15529202
> 
> 
> I have been curious what WETA is going to once they loose there analogue channel, since they are one of the few (only?) stations that broadcasts content on analogue that isn't rebroadcast on a digital channel, so I did a little googling and found the following
> 
> http://www.kued.org/uploads/pdfs/165...tvplan2008.pdf
> 
> 
> 
> WETA TELEVISION CHANNELS
> 
> Current
> 
> WETA TV 26
> 
> WETA HD
> 
> WETA Kids
> 
> WETA Create
> 
> WETA World
> 
> 
> Post-Transition (TBD)
> 
> WETA TV
> 
> WETA HD
> 
> WETA Kids
> 
> WETA Create
> 
> 
> So it looks like they are dropping world and moving the current WETA to a standard def subchannel and continuing their cop out of pulling the PBS HD feed rather than program their own HD channel.
> 
> 
> Does anyone know if this is still accurate?
> 
> 
> I also thought this was a little amusing since I didn't see it in person
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX0DCxTB-Fo
> 
> (the analogue shutoff test)



I'm pretty sure they're already doing that. 26.1 is WETA HD, .2 and .3 are WETA Kids and WETA Create, and 26.4 is WETA SD.


----------



## PaulGo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15530027
> 
> *Docisis 3.0* is now available on Comcast in Anne Arundel County MD, according to http://www.comcast.com/fastestfast/ (using my parents' zip code).



Also in my area. In fact although I have a Docsis 2.0 cable modem my upload and download speeds have more than doubled, and I have the standard Comcast service.


----------



## imacdonald




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/15531104
> 
> 
> I'm pretty sure they're already doing that. 26.1 is WETA HD, .2 and .3 are WETA Kids and WETA Create, and 26.4 is WETA SD.



Yeah, I noticed that as well when I continued searching, but 26 and 26.4 don't quite match, for example eastenders is on 26 on a saturday morning and not on 26.4. The programming deviates from about Midnight till about 4pm. Very frustrating since 26 is the only analogue channel I am still forced to use.


----------



## systems2000

WETA-DT is (and will be) transmiting on UHF channel 27. WHAG-DT needs UHF Channel 26 to be able to go full power.


----------



## machpost

ABC 7 news tonight is not in HD. What happened?


----------



## markbulla

Before anyone says it, sorry for the big, annoying, bright bug in the bottom left corner on 45.2. The equipment to turn it on and off that I was expecting today, didn't come in. Consequently, I have to have an ID up all of the time...


_


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Neither is World News Tonight. They just told me they are having "lots of problems"

As of 6:55, WNT is back in HD. There is no ABC network programming tonight in HD.


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/15537052
> 
> 
> Neither is World News Tonight. They just told me they are having "lots of problems"
> 
> As of 6:55, WNT is back in HD. There is no ABC network programming tonight in HD.



You mean my home computer system, fed by a 10' C-Band dish is doing better than expensive commercial gear?







Now that is funny.


Yes, I know, my computer system isn't trying to get the feed from the IRD to the DTV transmitter


----------



## systems2000

Is that all ABC, or is it just WMAR-DT or WJLA-DT?


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15536989
> 
> 
> Before anyone says it, sorry for the big, annoying, bright bug in the bottom left corner on 45.2. The equipment to turn it on and off that I was expecting today, didn't come in. Consequently, I have to have an ID up all of the time...
> 
> 
> _



It happens ... just glad to have 45.2 back on the air, you were missed in at least one household. Is there anyplace that one could find scheduling info for this channel? Even the EIT/ETT stream is telling me just "ThisTV Programming".


----------



## djp952

Does anyone know what WETA is doing with UHF 51? I've asked them before many months ago, and they replied that "Channel 51 is allocated to WDCW until the transition" (duh), but there is still a "DR" filing on record with the FCC:

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?state...&slon2=&size=9 


I haven't been able to find ANY information on this, and was hoping you folks could shed some light as to what this filing is about. My current post-transition DIY Yagi can't get 51, and the wife would hurt me if she misses out on any WETA programming.


Thanks!


----------



## Trip in VA

The DR (Digital Reassignment or Reallocation or something like that) is still pending due to the conflicting filing from WWPX-DT.


Here's the WETA application: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/r...ent=6520031591 


The conflicting WWPX application: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/r...ent=6520031565 


I have no further information.


- Trip


----------



## systems2000

51 WDCW-TV shutdown in early December 2007. It looked to me like it is supposed to come back as 51 WDCW-DT after the transition. So why is WETA-DT and WWPX-DT trying to gain access to the same frequency?


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15539543
> 
> 
> 51 WDCW-TV shutdown in early December 2007. It looked to me like it is supposed to come back as 51 WDCW-DT after the transition. So why is WETA-DT and WWPX-DT trying to gain access to the same frequency?



WDCW-DT remains on channel 51 until 02/17/09. The signal that shut down is W51CY in Chambersburg.


WETA-DT wants to get off of channel 27 because it is restrained from increasing power due to WFPT-DT 28 in Frederick.


WWPX-DT wants to relocate to the tower site of WINC-FM in order to rimshot DC (WWPX is up for sale) and cannot do that on channel 12 due to WWBT-12 in Richmond.


So they're both seeking channel 51. I personally hope that WETA-DT gets it.


- Trip


----------



## systems2000

That's the transmitter I was referring to, but they also have authorization for a 15KW transmission as an LD.


I've been looking forward to having this transmitter come online, so that I could have a CW station that is LOS.







I really got PO'ed when it went off the air two days before the season finallies of their programs. Wife's still PO'ed.










It has taken me 13 months to get CW back!







Just in time to lose FOX come next month, unless Baltimore can up their transmitter (WTTG-DT is already maxed and WPMT-DT is almost maxed) or someone installs a LD.


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *imacdonald* /forum/post/15529202
> 
> 
> I have been curious what WETA is going to once they loose there analogue channel, since they are one of the few (only?) stations that broadcasts content on analogue that isn't rebroadcast on a digital channel, so I did a little googling and found the following
> 
> 
> Post-Transition (TBD)
> 
> WETA TV
> 
> WETA HD
> 
> WETA Kids
> 
> WETA Create
> 
> 
> So it looks like they are dropping world and moving the current WETA to a standard def subchannel and continuing their cop out of pulling the PBS HD feed rather than program their own HD channel.



That is indeed a little interesting. PBS will no longer distribute a national program service in SD after Feb 10th. Starting on the 11th, all stations have to use the HD national feed for the HD and SD content. The only SD "channels" that will remain for stations to place on their DTV SD streams are: Create, V-me and World.


There is no reason to maintain both SD and HD main channels. Our local PBS affiliate, part of Wisconsin Public Television (except in Milwuakee), has dropped the separate SD and HD feeds. The analog channel is now a cut of the HD feed, when they go to net. WPT does do their own programming. I really haven't watched them in years.


So why WETA is doing what they are doing is beyond me. Sounds like a phone call to their general manager might be in order.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PaulGo* /forum/post/15531470
> 
> 
> Also in my area. In fact although I have a Docsis 2.0 cable modem my upload and download speeds have more than doubled, and I have the standard Comcast service.



Here's mine. My zip code didn't show DOCSIS 3.0 availability. Not sure how accurate this speed test is.

 




My results from http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ :


Download Speed: 13581 kbps (1697.6 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 2382 kbps (297.8 KB/sec transfer rate)


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15539646
> 
> 
> That's the transmitter I was referring to, but they also have authorization for a 15KW transmission as an LD.
> 
> 
> I've been looking forward to having this transmitter come online, so that I could have a CW station that is LOS.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I really got PO'ed when it went off the air two days before the season finallies of their programs. Wife's still PO'ed.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It has taken me 13 months to get CW back!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Just in time to lose FOX come next month, unless Baltimore can up their transmitter (WTTG-DT is already maxed and WPMT-DT is almost maxed) or someone installs a LD.



WBFF-DT is already at full power. It's not going to get any higher power.


.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/15539118
> 
> 
> It happens ... just glad to have 45.2 back on the air, you were missed in at least one household. Is there anyplace that one could find scheduling info for this channel? Even the EIT/ETT stream is telling me just "ThisTV Programming".


 http://titantvguide.titantv.com/apg/...x?siteid=52545 (scroll to the bottom of the page)


Sorry about the program guide. That's another thing that I was told was going to be there yesterday...


:


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15540610
> 
> 
> Here's mine. My zip code didn't show DOCSIS 3.0 availability. Not sure how accurate this speed test is.



Does Comcast still have Power Boost? When I last had Comcast Internet, in Summer 2007, (before I got FIOS) I always had 30mbs download speeds on those tests because we had 30mbs Powerboost in my area.(I don't remember what the upload powerboost was)


----------



## BMoreRavens

I am in A.A. county and received a email the other day saying my area was upgraded but the speeds were still the same. I have been checking every day for the last few days and this morning it looks like it is finally working.


My download is a little faster but upload is much faster. Before I was about 32000 down and 2200 up.


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15536989
> 
> 
> Before anyone says it, sorry for the big, annoying, bright bug in the bottom left corner on 45.2. The equipment to turn it on and off that I was expecting today, didn't come in. Consequently, I have to have an ID up all of the time...
> 
> 
> _



Glad to see more progamming but the PQ for 45.2 is terrible. I just can't watch it.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15540912
> 
> 
> WBFF-DT is already at full power. It's not going to get any higher power.



How about a LD for those of us West of Frederick?


----------



## drkashner

Mark,

Legend of the Seeker on 54.1 was in SD again this week. Is it going back to HD? I hadn't been watching the reruns, but this weeks was new, and in SD


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *BMoreRavens* /forum/post/15541265
> 
> 
> I am in A.A. county and received a email the other day saying my area was upgraded but the speeds were still the same. I have been checking every day for the last few days and this morning it looks like it is finally working.
> 
> 
> My download is a little faster but upload is much faster. Before I was about 32000 down and 2200 up.



Are you north of 50 (North Arundel Comcast - Milersville) or south (Annapolis Comcast)?


Docsis 3.0 is supposed to be capable of 50Mbps... wonder how high they'll go.


----------



## BMoreRavens

Glen Burnie


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15542812
> 
> 
> How about a LD for those of us West of Frederick?



If I follow your posts correctly, I am somewhat surprised that you get WNUV-DT CW 54, but not WBFF-DT Fox 45. Yes, WNUV-DT is at 845 kW on UHF 40, but WBFF-DT is on the same tall tower in NW Baltimore at 550 kW on UHF 46 which is not that much less power in dB terms. WNUV-DT and WBFF-DT antennas are 373 meters HAAT (Height Above Average Terrain) while the nearby tower for WJZ, WMAR, WBAL antennas are 295 to 312 meters HAAT. In general, I would expect those who get WNUV-DT to be able to get WBFF-DT. WNUV-DT and WBFF-DT have always been rock solid for me, while WBAL-DT and WMAR-DT are more touchy to antenna location & aim.


Looking at stations to the NW, could you be getting any interference from WKBS-DT 47 on UHF 46 in Altoona, PA? WKBS-DT is not that powerful at 50 kW, but if you are on the outer NW fringe of WBFF-DT reception area, you start to approach the outer SE fringe of WKBS-DT's coverage. Don't know whether WBFF-TV's analog 45 signal could be causing a problem if the WBFF-DT 46 signal is marginal.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *drkashner* /forum/post/15545884
> 
> 
> Mark,
> 
> Legend of the Seeker on 54.1 was in SD again this week. Is it going back to HD? I hadn't been watching the reruns, but this weeks was new, and in SD



Yeah - they should all be in HD. I'll look into it.


:.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*D.C. Mayor Signs Bill Approving Verizon FiOS TV*


Telco Will Begin Offering FiOS TV Service Later in 2009


By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 1/13/2009 3:41:00 PM


Verizon Communications is one step away from bringing FiOS TV to the nation's capital after District of Columbia mayor Adrian M. Fenty signed legislation into law Monday night approving the telco's 15-year cable franchise in the city.


As part of the agreement, Verizon will make FiOS TV available over the next nine years throughout D.C., where it will compete with incumbent cable provider Comcast. The first residents will be able to order FiOS TV within a year, according to Verizon.


The Washington, D.C., city council approved the franchise last month.


The final step required in the franchising process will be a 30-day congressional review.


"Verizon now will begin the upgrade of our District telecommunications network with fiber-optic connections directly to consumers' homes, William Roberts, Verizon's regional president for Maryland and Washington, D.C., said in a statement. We plan to begin offering the first District residents our award-winning FiOS TV service later this year. Our FiOS Internet service with ultra fast speeds also will be available to consumers."

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6629303.html


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15546931
> 
> 
> Looking at stations to the NW, could you be getting any interference from WKBS-DT 47 on UHF 46 in Altoona, PA?



According to all the information I've been working with, WTAJ-DT and WATM-DT are my only real viable stations out of the Altoona area.


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15546931
> 
> 
> Don't know whether WBFF-TV's analog 45 signal could be causing a problem if the WBFF-DT 46 signal is marginal.



I'm not sure either, although there is heavy interference on WBFF-TV. I'd love to get an O-scope view of my systems reception, at several points in the system.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15542812
> 
> 
> How about a LD for those of us West of Frederick?



I persoanlly think you may need a higher gain UHF antenna to pull in the distant DC/Baltimore stations reliably. I am only able to get the stations in your area when using the 91-XG, just outside DC. Nothing else will bring in WWPB from Clear Spring, MD 24/7. I just looked at the specs for the CM 3020, and the UHF average gain is listed as only 9.5 average db. I wouldn't do anything until the transition though. The intermodulation distortion from your strong local analogs that are degrading your reception will soon be history.(Hopefully)


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15547369
> 
> 
> According to all the information I've been working with, WTAJ-DT and WATM-DT are my only real viable stations out of the Altoona area.
> 
> 
> I'm not sure either, although there is heavy interference on WBFF-TV. I'd love to get an O-scope view of my systems reception, at several points in the system.



But what type of interference?


Please tell us where you are, and provide a complete list of channels that you DO receive, both analog and digital, so we can offer more intelligent guesses.


----------



## systems2000

1st group of Cell phone images, from analog reception on a 20" television in my bedroom. Photos taken during the 19:00 hour on 1/13/2009.


----------



## systems2000

2nd group of Cell phone images, from analog reception on a 20" television in my bedroom. Photos taken during the 19:00 hour on 1/13/2009.


While taking the images, I noticed that there is some sort of repeating interference on WUTB-TV24 (see images).


----------



## systems2000

Here is an image of WPMT-TV 43. The antenna was not moved and is currently pointed to ~134° Magnetic.


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15546931
> 
> 
> If I follow your posts correctly, I am somewhat surprised that you get WNUV-DT CW 54, but not WBFF-DT Fox 45. Yes, WNUV-DT is at 845 kW on UHF 40, but WBFF-DT is on the same tall tower in NW Baltimore at 550 kW on UHF 46 which is not that much less power in dB terms.



My parents are 10 miles NW of Hagerstown, the only Baltimore stations they can get are 54 and 45, sometimes 5 and 20 out of DC, All there analogs from both DC and Baltimore are good. If only Baltimore and DC stations would consider LD's or a DTS where W51CY is located.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15548105
> 
> 
> 1st group of Cell phone images, from analog reception on a 20" television in my bedroom. Photos taken during the 19:00 hour on 1/13/2009.



Why analog reception? Just because you can get the analog picture doesn't mean you will get the digital signal.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *E55 KEV* /forum/post/15541353
> 
> 
> Glad to see more progamming but the PQ for 45.2 is terrible. I just can't watch it.



The PQ is not bad on my SD set.(though probably not too hot on an HD set) The compression is reasonable for a subchannel. Looks much better than WJLA'S 7.3.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/15539179
> 
> 
> The DR (Digital Reassignment or Reallocation or something like that) is still pending due to the conflicting filing from WWPX-DT.
> 
> 
> Here's the WETA application: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/r...ent=6520031591
> 
> 
> The conflicting WWPX application: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/r...ent=6520031565
> 
> 
> I have no further information.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Thank you very much Trip! I looked high and low for those things for a long time, I suppose I'm not so good at navigating the FCC's site. Funny how the engineers at WETA couldn't just say this, but oh well.


I'm mixed on opinion here myself. WETA-DT (27) is rock-solid for us up here in Elkridge MD, so I'm not sure why they would need more coverage area than they already have. On the other hand, it would be nice to group them together with WRC (48) and WDCW (50 post-transition) frequency-wise. Other than 15, 27 is the oddball low UHF frequency for the D.C. metro's big stations, and as one that makes his own antennas, it's far easier when they're all close together.


I love WETA, and donate to them every year, but would personally rather see them stay put on 27. Given my druthers, I would have WRC and WDCW move down in frequency below the Baltimore channels, too, so I could just make a simple UHF combiner to have my cake and eat it too. *sigh*


----------



## systems2000

The posted analog images are to show the reception quality of my analog stations reception quality and the interference that two get continously.


As I've said before, I get WMAR-DT, WBAL-DT, WJZ-DT, WUTB-DT (weakest of the group), & WNUV-DT on my Sunkey SK-801ATSC's, APEX DT502's, and Insignia NS-DXA1-APT.


I get continous brealups on the Insignia with WUTB-DT and WNUV-DT, with intermittent breakups on the other stations.


My Zinwell ZAT-970A receives WJZ-DT, WUTB-DT, and WNUV-DT. It doesn't register WMAR-DT or WBAL-DT.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/15549792
> 
> 
> I love WETA, and donate to them every year, but would personally rather see them stay put on 27. Given my druthers, I would have WRC and WDCW move down in frequency below the Baltimore channels, too, so I could just make a simple UHF combiner to have my cake and eat it too.



It would be much simpler to have fixed specialized antennas, with combiners, than to use a rotor/combo antenna to find narrow direction reception, which digital reception requires over analog reception.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/15549792
> 
> 
> I love WETA, and donate to them every year, but would personally rather see them stay put on 27. Given my druthers, I would have WRC and WDCW move down in frequency below the Baltimore channels, too, so I could just make a simple UHF combiner to have my cake and eat it too. *sigh*



Glad to help. The FCC site is a pain to navigate; I learned how to do it slowly over the period of more than a year. So now I have a page on my site which details channel change applications so that others don't have to dig through it themselves.


- Trip


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15547332
> 
> *D.C. Mayor Signs Bill Approving Verizon FiOS TV*
> 
> 
> Telco Will Begin Offering FiOS TV Service Later in 2009
> 
> 
> By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 1/13/2009 3:41:00 PM
> 
> 
> Verizon Communications is one step away from bringing FiOS TV to the nation's capital after District of Columbia mayor Adrian M. Fenty signed legislation into law Monday night approving the telco's 15-year cable franchise in the city.
> 
> 
> As part of the agreement, Verizon will make FiOS TV available over the next nine years throughout D.C., where it will compete with incumbent cable provider Comcast. The first residents will be able to order FiOS TV within a year, according to Verizon.
> 
> 
> The Washington, D.C., city council approved the franchise last month.
> 
> 
> The final step required in the franchising process will be a 30-day congressional review.
> 
> 
> "Verizon now will begin the upgrade of our District telecommunications network with fiber-optic connections directly to consumers' homes, William Roberts, Verizon's regional president for Maryland and Washington, D.C., said in a statement. We plan to begin offering the first District residents our award-winning FiOS TV service later this year. Our FiOS Internet service with ultra fast speeds also will be available to consumers."
> 
> http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6629303.html



That's good news. Some folks will have three cable providers to choose from (Comcast, RCN, FiOS). I wonder if that will have any affect on cable rates.


----------



## joblo

systems2000,


In order to formulate a reasonable theory about possible causes of interference with *distant* stations, one needs to know about *local* reception, because that's often the cause of the interference.


And we need to know approximately where you are. Within say, 5 miles. What's the closest town to you that we could find on a map?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/15551771
> 
> 
> And we need to know approximately where you are. Within say, 5 miles. What's the closest town to you that we could find on a map?



systems2000, the zip code would be sufficient to look up how far you are approx from the broadcast stations. You listed which Baltimore digital stations you get. Do you get the current WHAG-DT 25 low power signal? The snapshots of your analog pictures show pictures from the wrong side of the digital cliff effect unfortunately (assuming same coverage area between analog & digital which is a coarse assumption). If you manually tune to channel 46 for WBFF-DT, what do you get on the signal meter?


----------



## systems2000

Leaving the antenna pointed ~134° Magnetic, the local stations I receive strongly are WJAL-DT & WWPX-DT. I do get WWPB-DT Intermittently. If I was to adjust the antenna a little bit to the North, I would get WGCB-DT solidly.


If I point the antenna South (currently I have to climb the 40' tower to do this), I would get WWPB-DT, WVPY-DT , & W08EE-D (WNPB-DT) solidly (I would loose WMAR-DT, WBAL-DT, WJZ-DT, WUTB-DT, & WNUV-DT in the process). I do not get WHAG-DT at all (although, my neighbor (who is about 100 yards North of me) does - local woods).


Marion, PA

*WBFF-DT (RF 46):* Signal Strength 0% - Signal Quality 0%


----------



## systems2000

Current reception numbers:


*Station**Signal Strength**Signal Quality*WMAR-DT58%65%WBAL-DT53%41%WJZ-DT80%100%WUTB-DT (6° off-axis)69%6-91% (fluctuating) - 89-91 (non-fluctuating)WWPB-DT (103° off-axis)84%42%WBFF-DT0%0%WNUV-DT75%100%WWPX-DT (93° off-axis)84%73%WJAL-DT (154° off-axis)87%100%


----------



## sfm529




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/15550824
> 
> 
> That's good news. Some folks will have three cable providers to choose from (Comcast, RCN, FiOS). I wonder if that will have any affect on cable rates.



I live in Silver Spring and have all three Cable providers (Comcast, RCN, Verizon) available and I didn't see any special rates. I had RCN and switched to Fios, RCN didn't seem to care when I was leaving them for Verizon.


----------



## systems2000

My RCA DTA800B1 gets WMAR-DT (with breakups), WJZ-DT, WWPB-DT, WNUV-DT, WWPX-DT, & WJAL-DT. It does not receive WBAL-DT or WUTB-DT.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*The Nats On TV*


This year, it will be a little bit easier to watch the Nationals on TV. Sometimes, you'll even be able to watch them on two channels at once. MASN has just announced a partnership with WDCW-TC (DC50) which will allow the local CW affiliate to broadcast 20 games this season.


The Nats peripatetic TV existence can sometimes be confusing -- they are sometimes on MASN... or MASN2... which is the same channel for Comcast subscribers as, um, CSPAN... or is it CSPAN2? -- so let me be clear about what this DC50 deal means.


* First of all, this year, MASN and/or MASN2 will broadcast each and every Nats game, EXCEPT for those that might be turned into national Fox broadcasts.


* At least 100 of those games will be shown in HD. (Last year, only 40 were.)


* When a game is shown on DC50 -- that will happen mostly for Sunday afternoon games -- fans can still watch the Nats on MASN or MASN2. (In other words, you get the always-enthralling choice of comparing the feeds, the color intensity of each, etc. It's like watching the State of the Union address.)


* For those 20 games, DC50 will also show MASN's pre- and post-game shows.


* If DC50 is broadcasting a MASN or MASN2 HD game, DC50 will also show the game in HD.


* Now, some background. Beginning in 2005, MASN had an over-the-air contract in place with WDCA-20, which showed anywhere from 68 to 25 games annually. This was especially helpful when the Nats first moved to the District and many of the area's biggest cable providers -- Comcast and Cox -- didn't carry MASN. However, there was also a problem with this situation. Whenever WDCA-20 carried a Nats game, MASN and/or MASN2 did not. Plus, WDCA-20 didn't carry the pre- and post-game stuff; MASN or MASN2 did. Thus, fans who wanted any Nats coverage before or after the game would be flipping channels and searching. Now, the WDCA-20 contract has expired, so MASN was able to start fresh.


* By the way, MASN spokesman Todd Webster, when I spoke with him today, wasn't yet ready to reveal the team's exact HD schedule for the year. He said an announcement on that is in the works.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/nat...ats_on_tv.html


----------



## systems2000

*TVFool Info:

Pre-Transition
*

*Station**NM(dB)**Power(dBm)**Path*WWPB-DT47.7-43.1LOSW51CY--LOSWWPX-DT42.5-48.3LOSWJAL-DT39.6-51.2LOSWHAG-DT29.4-61.5LOSW08EE-D22.8-68.1LOSWVPY-DT9.5-81.31-EDGEWJZ-DT-16.9-107.82-EDGEWNUV-DT-18.8-109.62-EDGEWMAR-DT-21.2-112.12-EDGEWBFF-DT-21.7-112.52-EDGEWBAL-DT-22.9-113.72-EDGEWUTB-DT-24.4-115.32-EDGE
*Post Transitiuon*

*Station**NM(dB)**Power(dBm)**Path*WHAG-DT59.2-31.6LOSWJAL-DT53.7-37.1LOSWWPB-DT47.7-43.1LOSW51CY43.1-47.8LOSWWPX-DT42.8-48.0LOSW08EE-D22.8-68.1LOSWVPY-DT10.4-80.51-EDGEWMAR-DT-16.9-107.82-EDGEWNUV-DT-17.4-108.22-EDGEWJZ-DT-21.2-112.02-EDGEWBAL-DT-21.4-112.32-EDGEWBFF-DT-21.7-112.52-EDGEWUTB-DT-24.5-115.42-EDGE


----------



## mdviewer25

Update: I have been able to view WUTB-DT. The catch is I have to stand up holding my antenna pointed to the ceiling. Any word on why WDCA doesn't air House of Payne in HD (from my previous post)


----------



## kurbkidc

I have never owned/rented a DVR. Can I get some info from folks out there with a Comcast HD DVR. I am specifically interested in hearing from peeps in Prince William County (Manassas). Like how many HD hours of content will it hold? How many programs can you record at once? Etc.


Thanks everyone!


----------



## Marcus Carr

*WBAL Launches HD Newscasts*


George Winslow -- Multichannel News, 1/13/2009 12:21:00 PM


Hearst-Argyle Television’s WBAL-TV in Baltimore has launched local newscasts in high-definition.


The channel 11 NBC affiliate is the market’s second station to offer HD local news; Fox affiliate WBFF-TV launched its HD newscast in June 2008.


With the upgrade, WBAL now produces over 30 hours of news and local programming each week, according to station president and general manager Jordan Wertlieb.


“We’ve been the leader in news for a long time and we saw this as an opportunity to offer consumers a major enhancement to our newscasts,” Wertlieb said. “Besides the obvious benefits for viewers with HD sets, we have an all new set and much better weather and traffic graphics. I think we are most proud of the fact that this provides major benefits to all consumers, whether or not they currently have HD sets.”


The HD newscasts launched Saturday, Jan. 3, after the National Football League contest between the San Diego Chargers and the Indianapolis Colts but WBAL has been working on the upgrade for some time.


“As part of the renovations to our building, we moved out of our current studio last June and were working from a temporary studio while we were doing the upgrades to the studio and master control room,” Wertlieb said.


WBAL director of engineering, Jeff Halapin, noted that the station gutted the old studio, which allowed it to completely “rebuild our core infrastructure, control room and studio, while keeping our current [standard-definition] path totally intact.” The new set was designed by the FX Group under the direction of the station’s director of creative services, Steve Bamonti.


WBAL tapped integrator Communications Engineering Inc. to build the new control room and HD infrastructure. “We built our core infrastructure around an Evertz EQX routing switcher,” Halapin said. “The EQX is a great router. We also chose Evertz for all of our terminal gear, closed captioning and profanity delay facilities.”


In the new control room, they deployed the Sony 8000G production switcher, Wheatstone D-10 audio control surface and Barco for our control room displays.


“We drive all the monitoring in the control room with 2 Evertz MVP display processors and tie all the control and tally together with redundant Image Video TSI-1000 controllers,” Halapin said.


In the studio and newsroom, they use Sony HDC-1400L model cameras with Canon HJ17X76BIRSE lenses and Autoscript prompter hardware for the cameras. The Sony BVMA14F5U Master Series controls the robotics, camera shading areas and the TD confidence monitors.


For the on-air look, they deployed VizRT graphics engines and artist workstations. “We have 4 engines for the control room and one engine for the master control branding,” he said.


As part of the upgrade, the station also made significant improvements to its traffic and weather systems. “We performed a major upgrade to our weather production system by adding True-View HD weather graphics along with the new MAX product from WSI,” Halapin said. WBAL also added the HD version of Traffic Pulse for its morning traffic reports.


In terms of advice for other stations making the move to HD, Halapin recommends that they choose an integrator like CEI that is very familiar with the process and that they also set aside adequate time to do rehearsals on the news system. Prior to the launch of the newscasts, WBAL anchors and staff spent more than six weeks rehearsing and familiarizing themselves with the new setup.


“I think proper rehearsal time is the largest contributing factor to our successful launch,” he said.

*The station has not yet moved to producing HD from the field. That would take until late this year or 2010, though Wertlieb said no definite timetable has been set.*

http://www.multichannel.com/article/...06.html?q=wbal


----------



## Artjohn




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *sfm529* /forum/post/15553028
> 
> 
> I live in Silver Spring and have all three Cable providers (Comcast, RCN, Verizon) available and I didn't see any special rates. I had RCN and switched to Fios, RCN didn't seem to care when I was leaving them for Verizon.



FIOS is on the pole, and supposedly ready to be offered the end of this month (Jan 2009), but still dark in our section of Chevy Chase.


Are you satisfied with your switch from RCN to FIOS?


----------



## joblo

systems2000:


Bottom line first: I suspect 42/44 beat destroys digital on 46. What does analog 42 look like?


Second, get a rotor so you can easily turn your antenna off-axis to maximize D/U ratio. This is absolutely your best investment at this point.


Rotor adjustments will be easiest with a fast-responding signal meter. Avoid those that take several seconds to stabilize after you tune a channel. Don’t be fooled by numbers like “strength” and “quality”. I personally find the bar graph on Zenith/Insignia more useful than the numbers – even double numbers like you posted – on many other models like Apex, Sansonic, and so on. Your mileage may vary, of course.


On boxes that use numbers, fluctuating numbers can indicate interference or multipath.


Re your analogs:


You show 5, but not 4. Is 4 much snowier than 5? If so, suspect digital co-channel. Most likely Harrisburg, possibly Norfolk.


11 shows multipath/ghosts. You may need HAG for NBC post-transition.


Slight sparklies on 13 suggest amp overload from strong digital, probably 12. Potential problem post-transition.


60Hz hum on 20.


Is the point of posting double pix on 24/45 to show you have intermittent interference on those? If so, suspect out-of-band/mobile causing intermittent amp overload. Suggest trying to correlate that w/digital breakups.


Slight analog co-channel on 43, possibly Norfolk. Southeast VA reuses many DC-Baltimore channels, could cause outage on digitals when tropo is present. Also possible digital co-channel from 43 in northern VA.


WPMT-DT might be easier Fox digital catch than WBFF, but again, need rotor.


Of course, maybe you already know this stuff, I don’t know. Anyway, that’s what I see, right off the top of my head.


I think afiggatt overstates the matter in categorically pronouncing you on the wrong side of the cliff, but you’re in that vicinity, so getting reliable digital figures to be tricky.


Good luck.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Fox And NBC To Share In DC*


WTTG and WRC in talks to pool video, share chopper.


By Michael Malone -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/14/2009 5:02:00 PM


On the heels of Fox and NBC O&Os sharing video in Chicago, which came on the heels of Fox and NBC O&Os sharing video in Philadelphia, Fox and NBC O&Os in Washington are in talks to share content as well.


We have plans to do something with Fox, says WRC Washington President/General Manager Michael Jack. I don't know the details, but it's similar (to the Philadelphia share), with pooling of video and some chopper sharing.


Jack says the partnership has not advanced to trial mode yet.


At the start of 2009, WFLD and WMAQ began sharing helicopter footage (and costs) in Chicago, and Fox Senior V.P. of News Sharri Berg said a larger video sharing agreement was likely to follow. The beginning of the year also marked the official launch of the Local News Service video share between WTXF and WCAU in Philadelphia, which began testing the partnership last spring. The plan is to join forces on static stories like news conferences, thus freeing up resources for more enterprising stories.


When the latter was announced, NBC and Fox executives said they'd look to share in markets where both own a station, while also aiming to sell video to other stations.


WRC's Jack did not have a time frame for the Washington partnership. It's going to happen, he says. We just haven't figured out the depth of it yet.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6629732.html


----------



## Johnnycanal

from Engadget HD


Washington Nationals to see at least 100 games in HD


01-14-2009



Last year, locals in and around the Metro DC area considered it a miracle that Washington Nationals games were broadcast in high-def at all. Now that MASN has had some time to get its act fully together, it's no wonder that fans are expecting more. This season, at least 100 of the club's games -- which will air on MASN or MASN2 -- will be shown in HD compared to just 40 last year, and of course, any that end up on FOX as national telecasts will also be featured in high-definition. Unfortunately, it seems that actually finding the game could be an issue for novice channel surfers, but all the details are ready for digestion in the read link below.


[Image courtesy of NationalsClub]


----------



## systems2000

Granted, a rotor will give me the ability to fine-tune stations. I have three rotors and I'm waiting for it to get a little warmer (and still air) to climb the 40' tower and install the mounting, dry bearing, rotor, and shaft for antenna.


When I was on Comcast, they kept saying that the local Emergency radio system was always interfering with channel 18.


Thinking about interference, I decided to take a hard look at the frequency spectrum from 41-49 and found the following stations within reception range.


*Channel**Station*Notes41W41AO / WUTB-DT / WVIA-DT (Tropo)Strongest first42W42CK / WVPY-TV / WPMT-DT1st 2 are within 12dB spread43WPMT-TV / WPXW-DT / W43BP (Less than -111dB)1st 2 are 29dB spread44WWPB-DT / WVIA-TV (Tropo - less than -111dB) 45WBFF-TV / WOLF-DTWithin a 2dB spread46WBFF-DT / WKBS-DT / WHTJ-DTAll within 8dB spread47WPMT-DT / WKBS-TV (1-edge - less than -111dB)Possible less than 4dB spread48WAZW-CA / WRC-DT 49WGCB-TV / WHSV-DT


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15558774
> 
> 
> Thinking about interference, I decided to take a hard look at the frequency spectrum from 41-49 and found the following stations within reception range.



I should have phrased my comment about you being on the wrong side of the digital cliff more carefully. I should have said you are on the challenging edge. Of multiple markets.










Your lack of a signal for WBFF-DT 45, given that you get WNUV-DT 54 solidly, is not simple to figure out although there are number of good ideas here. Hope it clears up after the analog shutdown if you have not gotten better results before then.


For the Baltimore post-transition, you should be ok for WMAR-DT 2 on UHF 38. But WJZ-DT 13 is switching to a directional VHF 13 antenna. In case you don't know, WJZ-DT has filed for a STA to operate at 9.8 kW post-transition using the current omni-directional VHF 13 antenna. They will put up a new directional VHF 13 antenna in place of the then defunct digital antennas with a target date of operation at 28.8 kW by April 22 (assuming shutdown occurs on Feb. 17). So you and others may see some changing response for WJZ-DT after the transition. WJZ-DT's 18 page STA engineering attachment if anyone is interested: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/f...ibit_id=695522 .


WUTB-DT filed a post-transition maximization request to increase from 200 kW to 290 kW with the same directional pattern, but the FCC has not acted on it yet. Of the Baltimore stations, WBAL-DT 11 post-transition reception with a 5 kW VHF 11 signal is the hardest to predict. But if WHAG-DT 25 goes to full power on schedule, you can get NBC in HD from that station.


----------



## drkashner




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15547083
> 
> 
> Yeah - they should all be in HD. I'll look into it.
> 
> 
> :.



Thanks Mark, and thanks for being here to complain to.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15557611
> 
> *Fox And NBC To Share In DC*
> 
> 
> WTTG and WRC in talks to pool video, share chopper.



This should work out well, as they already share the honor of having the last two local newscasts that aren't in HD.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/15561765
> 
> 
> This should work out well, as they already share the honor of having the last two local newscasts that aren't in HD.



Oddly enough, the Fox and NBC stations in Baltimore are the only two with HD news.


----------



## dg28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15562384
> 
> 
> Oddly enough, the Fox and NBC stations in Baltimore are the only two with HD news.



Of course the difference being the DC Fox and NBC stations are network O&Os, while the Baltimore stations are not.


----------



## Trip in VA

DCRTV reports that WJAL is off the air due to fire.


Is that just the analog, or are both signals off the air? I'm assuming both are off the air, but just want to be sure.


- Trip


----------



## dmulvany

Mark, thought I'd let you know that 54.1 is doing a good job of providing synchronized captions for "Stargate Atlantis" and other syndicated programs even though other digital channels like 5.1 haven't been able to do so (their captions are delayed and intermittent on my Sharp HDTV). Could you tell us what kind of caption encoder or bridge is being used on 54.1?


The other stations like WTTG and WDCA haven't been able to figure out why they have a delay in their upconverted captions for their pre-recorded, syndicated programs, and it would be nice to know how other stations are able to do that successfully.


----------



## systems2000

I was wondering last night why the digital was out. Just checked and both are off the air.


I know from personal face-to-face conversation, that they have been nursing really old equipment, for a couple of years now.


----------



## dmulvany




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dmulvany* /forum/post/15426249
> 
> 
> Hi, folks. Yesterday, I received delivery of a top-rated 1080p HDTV, a 40-inch Samsung, with 120 Hz refresh rate, that I had bought online due to reading very good reviews about this HDTV. I set up the digital, customizable captions on it using yellow text on a black background.
> 
> 
> Unfortunately, I discovered a severe problem with WJLA's digital captions on channel 7.1.
> 
> 
> Specifically, what I saw happen was the digital captions building up on the screen over time for two different pre-recorded prime-time programs and eventually cluttering up the entire screen. Old captions were staying at the top of the screen and moving up, while new ones were showing up on the bottom. I haven't seen this kind of captioning problem before with any other digital TV equipment.
> 
> 
> WJLA's digital captions are also problematic for my 2006 Sharp HDTV, which can't decode them at all. Thus neither of my HDTVs are able to decode digital captions from WJLA even though they can decode digital captions from other stations. This tells me there is something unusual about how WJLA is transmitting its digital (CEA-708) captions for non-live, prime time programming on their digital channel.
> 
> 
> (On the other hand, my Insignia converter box and my Panasonic DVD writer are both able to decode WJLA's digital captions, so there is a difference in how TV equipment from different manufacturers are processing the digital captions.)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Dana



I've got good news and bad news to report.


Somehow, the problem with WJLA-DT's digital captions were fixed for the Samsung HDTV----but not for the Sharp HDTV.


I've finally been able to watch "Lost" in high-definition----on the Samsung HDTV!


The digital captions from WJLA-DT still don't show up on my Sharp HDTV, though, even though digital captions from most other stations show up fine on that HDTV. I suspect that Sony HDTVs have the same problem.


The other bad news is that the overlapping captions seen on the Samsung are showing up from other stations for pre-recorded syndicated programs.


I shot a 14 mb video of these problems for a movie being shown on 20.1 last Saturday. Be sure to turn on the sound, and switch to full screen, and then you can detect both a significant delay in the captions as well as the overlapping captions as time marches on.


See:

http://picasaweb.google.com/dana.mul...ngJanuary2009# 



I suspect that the problem is a problematic interaction between an Evertz caption encoder with a bridge to upconvert 608 captions to 708 captions, and the Samsung caption decoder. The stations that have problematic captions seem to use a non-HD Evertz caption encoder and I think there's something amiss with how the Evertz caption bridge is working that's causing some caption decoders a lot of trouble. For one thing, there's a significant delay and mismatch between the captions and the audio and visual on 5.1 and 20.1 for pre-recorded, syndication programs, so that may be causing particular problems for the caption decoders from Sharp and Sony DTVs.


It would be nice to know how the problem with WJLA-DT's digital captions were fixed for the Samsung HDTV----Robert Forsyth, could you share that information with us?


Dana


----------



## gmucklow

WJLA is up on both analog and digital.


----------



## systems2000

Not WJLA. WJAL.


I just got back from their main office in Marion, PA and there isn't anyone there. I'm going to assume that the problem is at the transmitting tower.


----------



## kingpong

Looks like an electrical fire at the WJAL transmitter site. Doesn't sound too good...

http://www.herald-mail.com/?cmd=disp...95&format=html 

http://www.publicopiniononline.com/ci_11459215


----------



## Knicks_Fan

I work close to WJLA and would have heard the sirens. They have had some problems over the last day or so (no HD feeds of Wheel and Jeopardy again) coincidentially. I also noticed they still can't do HD when they have weather inserts/school closings, even on the local news.


----------



## systems2000

*The fire was at WJAL, not WJLA!*


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15564838
> 
> *The fire was at WJAL, not WJLA!*



Wait, I think I'm confused... where was the fire again?


(I kid, I kid! But seriously, have ye folks no reading comprehension?







)


----------



## systems2000

 http://www.DCRTV.com/ story:



> Quote:
> *Fire Knocks WJAL Off Air* - 1/15 - A "total loss" fire last night in the transmitter building for the Hagerstown area's Channel 68/WJAL has knocked the station off the air. The blaze happened on the top of a mountain in Peters Township, Pennsylvania. There were no injuries. More than 40 firefighters responded, but the icy conditions of the road created a serious obstacle, according to Hagerstown's WHAG-TV . Once firefighters arrived and found a running water source, it took about 20 minutes to put out the flames. The initial cause is unknown, but officials say it's related to an electrical malfunction. WJAL is off-air and there is no word on how long its signal will be down. WJAL carries a large amount of syndicated and infomercial fare. It's offered to some satellite TV subscribers in the DC area.....


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15564838
> 
> *The fire was at WJAL, not WJLA!*



To reduce the confusion, how about we say that the fire was at WJAL 68 located north of Hagerstown, MD? (way off at the NW edge of the Washington DC DMA). WJAL 68 versus WJLA ABC 7 is easier to follow.


From the news, it appears that WJAL transmitter facility is a total loss. Question is whether all the analog, current low power digital UHF 16, and post-transition DT UHF 39 transmitter cabinets were all located in that building? If so, WJAL-DT 68 could be off the air for some time. Hope their fire insurance was paid up.


----------



## systems2000

My understanding is that all that equipment is. Even their downlink equipment. As soon as their engineer gets back with me, I'll know for sure.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dmulvany* /forum/post/15562935
> 
> 
> Mark, thought I'd let you know that 54.1 is doing a good job of providing synchronized captions for "Stargate Atlantis" and other syndicated programs even though other digital channels like 5.1 haven't been able to do so (their captions are delayed and intermittent on my Sharp HDTV). Could you tell us what kind of caption encoder or bridge is being used on 54.1?
> 
> 
> The other stations like WTTG and WDCA haven't been able to figure out why they have a delay in their upconverted captions for their pre-recorded, syndicated programs, and it would be nice to know how other stations are able to do that successfully.



Sorry - I didn't get this until now (things are busy at work...). I'll get you the info in the morning.


We originally had issues with captions on recorded programs. It turned out that the video playout servers wouldn't put out the captions consistantly in HD, but they would in SD. We purchased some boxes that would allow us to add the captions from the SD output onto the HD programs. This box also does a good job of fixing problems in 'iffy' captions. I really like it - all you do is plug it in, and feed the HD programming through it, and it does it's thing automatically. Nothing to set, nothing to adjust. It just works!


I'll let you know the specifics tomorrow.


BTW, thanks for watching!


.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *drkashner* /forum/post/15545884
> 
> 
> Mark,
> 
> Legend of the Seeker on 54.1 was in SD again this week. Is it going back to HD? I hadn't been watching the reruns, but this weeks was new, and in SD



I found a couple of problems with the satellite controller schedule that I fixed today. The feed is tomorrow afternoon, so I'll make sure that it goes OK.


The SD version comes from a back-up IP-based delivery system that we use in the case of a problem with the HD feed. It turns out that there were problems for the last three weeks, but you were the only one that let me know about it... Thanks!


:


----------



## systems2000

 markbulla, 


What's with the sound this evening? Smallville didn't seem as loud as usual and it kept varying in volume.


----------



## systems2000

Got a message back from WJAL engineering.


Partial:


> Quote:
> "Back up on comcast, and working out nodes to some others. New trans coming, 83kw. Up in about 30 to 60 days."



Looks like cable users will be viewing WJAL long before OTA.










I feel for them.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15567604
> 
> markbulla,
> 
> 
> What's with the sound this evening? Smallville didn't seem as loud as usual and it kept varying in volume.



You watch OTA, correct?


I watched it on WNUV-DT OTA, and I didn't experience that.


As a matter of fact, I recorded it on the DVR, and I'm watching the playback - The volume is good (a bit higher than the WBFF news that I just turned away from), and it isn't varying in level.


I'm afraid that I don't have an answer for you... Sorry.


:.


----------



## systems2000

Correct. I didn't think about cutting a DVD. Maybe I should do that and send it to you.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dmulvany* /forum/post/15563105
> 
> 
> The digital captions from WJLA-DT still don't show up on my Sharp HDTV, though, even though digital captions from most other stations show up fine on that HDTV. I suspect that Sony HDTVs have the same problem.



The digital captions for the pre-recorded series ABC network programs don't show up on the Sony HD-DVR for WJLA-DT 7. What is odd is that they show up on WMAR-DT 2 for the same program. The Sony HD-DVR has digital captions for WJLA-DT for Good Morning America and other news shows so there is something different about the data path for captioning for the prime time series programs. The Sony HD-DVR shows digital captions for other network stations. The Samsung 19" HDTV and T451 ATSC tuners work fine for WJLA-DT, so this is one of those odd specific equipment/brand problems.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15567674
> 
> 
> Got a message back from WJAL engineering.
> 
> 
> Looks like cable users will be viewing WJAL long before OTA.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I feel for them.



Is their way to transition to DTV? I assume they won't bother putting up the analog again.


----------



## systems2000

Agreed! That's one way to go off the air.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dmulvany* /forum/post/15562935
> 
> 
> Mark, thought I'd let you know that 54.1 is doing a good job of providing synchronized captions for "Stargate Atlantis" and other syndicated programs even though other digital channels like 5.1 haven't been able to do so (their captions are delayed and intermittent on my Sharp HDTV). Could you tell us what kind of caption encoder or bridge is being used on 54.1?
> 
> 
> The other stations like WTTG and WDCA haven't been able to figure out why they have a delay in their upconverted captions for their pre-recorded, syndicated programs, and it would be nice to know how other stations are able to do that successfully.



The captioning box that I was referring to is called a "DTV captioning legalizer", model number CB512, and is made by a company called EEG Enterprises.

.


----------



## dmulvany




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15570899
> 
> 
> The captioning box that I was referring to is called a "DTV captioning legalizer", model number CB512, and is made by a company called EEG Enterprises.
> 
> .



Thanks, Mark! It's so helpful to get this specific info from you as well as your observations with the HD captions. I'm very glad that you had noticed the captioning problems and figured out a way to resolve them.


FYI, I had set up another thread on this forum for engineers to share their observations about causes of different captioning problems. It's at:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1036515 


If you have a chance, could you share your thoughts there about the specific problems you originally saw with the HD captions and whatever other information would be useful for other engineers to know? Stations all over the U.S. are having problems delivering the digital captions intact for some situations, and your experience might be able to help them resolve the problems much more quickly.


Thanks so much for being on this thread!


Dana


----------



## dmulvany




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15568273
> 
> 
> The digital captions for the pre-recorded series ABC network programs don't show up on the Sony HD-DVR for WJLA-DT 7. What is odd is that they show up on WMAR-DT 2 for the same program. The Sony HD-DVR has digital captions for WJLA-DT for Good Morning America and other news shows so there is something different about the data path for captioning for the prime time series programs. The Sony HD-DVR shows digital captions for other network stations. The Samsung 19" HDTV and T451 ATSC tuners work fine for WJLA-DT, so this is one of those odd specific equipment/brand problems.



Good observation about getting captions intact from the other local ABC station, Alan. That way, we know the problem isn't with the national broadcast of caption data but is with the equipment or settings at the *station* level, i.e., WJLA.


So, to summarize, some Sony and Sharp DTV equipment (from different owners in different locations) are consistently unable to decode digital captions from WJLA-DT because of how WJLA is sending out the advanced closed caption data for prime-time pre-recorded programs like "Lost" and "Private Practice." The same equipment does not have trouble decoding captions from another local ABC station, and the same equipment can decode live captions from WJLA-DT just fine. There appears to be a problem for certain brands of DTV equipment with how the CEA-708 caption data for pre-recorded programs are being sent out by WJLA-DT.


One solution might be for WJLA to use the other solution just mentioned by markbulla on this thread: the "DTV captioning legalizer", model number CB512, which is made by EEG Enterprises, and which cleans up captioning problems that were previously showing up on HD channels.


Dana


----------



## nottenst

One weird thing with captioning last night. I was watching the CW on the DC HD channel last night (Smallville) and the captions ended incomplete at the DC50 (or WB50) bug.


----------



## dmulvany




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/15572578
> 
> 
> One weird thing with captioning last night. I was watching the CW on the DC HD channel last night (Smallville) and the captions ended incomplete at the DC50 (or WB50) bug.



I hadn't noticed that problem myself or heard about that kind of thing happening. Do let the station know about that problem; it may be a brand new one that they don't know about. Their contact information can be found at:

http://www.dc50tv.com/pages/contact_us 


Dana


----------



## kurbkidc

I have never owned/rented a DVR. Can I get some info from folks out there with a Comcast HD DVR. I am specifically interested in hearing from peeps in Prince William County (Manassas). Like how many HD hours of content will it hold? How many programs can you record at once? Etc.


Thanks everyone!


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dmulvany* /forum/post/15572764
> 
> 
> I hadn't noticed that problem myself or heard about that kind of thing happening. Do let the station know about that problem; it may be a brand new one that they don't know about. Their contact information can be found at:
> 
> http://www.dc50tv.com/pages/contact_us
> 
> 
> Dana



I filled out the feedback form on the site and mentioned that I was getting the signal via Comcast.


----------



## systems2000

I realized (this afternoon) that I had a "Mental Lapse," when I posted that the WJAL downlinks were at the transmitting location. WJAL had actually installed a new satellite dish field at their Marion, PA office this Summer. They then use a microwave LOS link to their transmitting tower (15 miles away).


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kurbkidc* /forum/post/15572921
> 
> 
> I have never owned/rented a DVR. Can I get some info from folks out there with a Comcast HD DVR. I am specifically interested in hearing from peeps in Prince William County (Manassas). Like how many HD hours of content will it hold? How many programs can you record at once? Etc.
> 
> 
> Thanks everyone!



I believe it will hold 20 hours of HD and it can record 2 channels at once.


----------



## keeper

Hey guys, I live in Dillsburg,Pa. Been getting all Baltimore stations with an attic antenna for the last few years. Been looking around the net and it seems that once analog goes off WJZ and WMAR will decrease their power to my area. North-West York county. In reading they both applied for a larger area to cover-the same as their analog does. Does anyone know what site I can look at to see if their applications have been approved? Thanks


----------



## dg28

Don't know if this just started today, but WUSADT was displaying textaul information in the HD wings during the sports segment. I believe they were showing Wizards highlights, I mean lowlights, in 4X3 SD and were displaying Wizards stats in the wings. If you have much overscan on your tv, the stats will be partailly cut off.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *keeper* /forum/post/15574827
> 
> 
> Hey guys, I live in Dillsburg,Pa. Been getting all Baltimore stations with an attic antenna for the last few years. Been looking around the net and it seems that once analog goes off WJZ and WMAR will decrease their power to my area. North-West York county. In reading they both applied for a larger area to cover-the same as their analog does. Does anyone know what site I can look at to see if their applications have been approved? Thanks



Unless channel 12-Martinsburg, WV relocates to a different channel, WBAL & WJZ will have to remain at low power, or use a directional antenna. The FCC website shows the up to date stats for all 3 stations at this time.(To the best of my knowledge)

http://www.fcc.gov/mb/video/tvq.html


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *keeper* /forum/post/15574827
> 
> 
> Hey guys, I live in Dillsburg,Pa. Been getting all Baltimore stations with an attic antenna for the last few years. Been looking around the net and it seems that once analog goes off WJZ and WMAR will decrease their power to my area. North-West York county. In reading they both applied for a larger area to cover-the same as their analog does. Does anyone know what site I can look at to see if their applications have been approved? Thanks



Do you mean WBAL 11? Or are you asking about the analog to digital coverage areas? There are no pending requests for power increases for WMAR-DT 2 and WJZ-DT 13 post-transition because they are at or close to the maximum allowed for their bands.


WMAR-DT 2 will be taking over WJZ-DT's UHF 38 transmitter which is running at the maximum allowed 1000 kW. WMAR will have a nominal loss of coverage area because of the difference in propagation from the long wavelength of low VHF 2 compared to shorter wavelength UHF. If you get the current digital signal for WJZ-DT 13, you should be set for WMAR-DT 2 post-transition.


WJZ-DT 13 will switch from a omni-directional VHF 13 antenna to a directional antenna for VHF 13 after the new antenna goes up by late April (assuming no hold on the analog shutdown). See my earlier post for their reduced 9.8 kW STA operation right after Feb. 17. The directional antenna will cut signal strength to the west and northwest. WJZ-DT will be operating at 28.8 kW, just under the maximum 30 kW allowed for upper VHF. The antenna pattern for WJZ-DT 13 on VHF 13 (see http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=25455 ) show a strength of 0.699 at azimuth 350 degrees. That works out to around 20 kW signal strength in your direction which is pretty strong for digital upper VHF.


WBAL-DT 11 will stick with their current omni-directional antenna but at only 5 kW for VHF 11. The reason for the reduced power as Digital Rules posted is to keep interference down for WWPX-DT Ion 60 in Martinsburg which managed to snag a VHF 12 allotment some time back.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15576597
> 
> 
> WBAL-DT 11 will stick with their current omni-directional antenna but at only 5 kW for VHF 11. The reason for the reduced power as Digital Rules posted is to keep interference down for WWPX-DT Ion 60 in Martinsburg which managed to snag a VHF 12 allotment some time back.



Yeah, it kinda stinks how WWPX managed to grab that and affect WBAL. I like what WJZ did to combat the issue by switching to a directional, and wish WBAL would have either done the same or request a new UHF frequency rather than cut their power so much. I live close to TV Hill (Elkridge), all things considered, but due to topology issues I'm very worried that I will lose a reliable WBAL post-transition, herculean efforts on the roof not withstanding.


The FCC should have never given VHF12 to WWPX, IMO. I'm all for the little guy in general, but in this case I think the major networks should have prevailed.


----------



## Digital Rules

You should be OK with WBAL in Elkridge. 5 kw at such close range is more than enough power. We have a digital VHF station 6 miles away in DC with _"much"_ less power (198 watts). My neighbor even picks it up with this tiny antenna.

http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...p?prod=HD-1080 


I installed an antenna in Manassas, and was surprised to see some activity from that weak channel 8 on the signal display (Not decodable though)


----------



## keeper




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15576597
> 
> 
> WBAL-DT 11 will stick with their current omni-directional antenna but at only 5 kW for VHF 11. The reason for the reduced power as Digital Rules posted is to keep interference down for WWPX-DT Ion 60 in Martinsburg which managed to snag a VHF 12 allotment some time back.



Thanks for the help. I never thought that I would get worse reception after the transition but it seems that way. For the people on the fringe like myself we could lose channels that we have been able to receive for years. People are not going to be happy. I live in Pa but at my location I am unable to catch cbs and abc in Harrisburg due to a mountain just north and west. Most Baltimore channels are strong here. I'm pretty high up.

I don't understand how channel 12 can interfere with Baltimore. There is a huge mountain that divides the two. When I lived in Thurmont and now in PA I never got so much as a blip in that direction of any channels. I couldn't even receive Hagerstown channels.


----------



## sfm529




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Artjohn* /forum/post/15556070
> 
> 
> FIOS is on the pole, and supposedly ready to be offered the end of this month (Jan 2009), but still dark in our section of Chevy Chase.
> 
> 
> Are you satisfied with your switch from RCN to FIOS?



Very satisfied, the internet is so much faster and the TV is very good as well. The only issue I see occasionally is that the TV guide is not always accurate with Fios. This is a known issue with Fios that I have seen on several online forums.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *keeper* /forum/post/15578083
> 
> 
> I don't understand how channel 12 can interfere with Baltimore. There is a huge mountain that divides the two. When I lived in Thurmont and now in PA I never got so much as a blip in that direction of any channels. I couldn't even receive Hagerstown channels.



By "huge mountain", do you mean the northern end of the Blue Ridge? The WWPX 60 tower is located on a ridge west of Martinsburg, WV which puts the antennas at a pretty good height. I get WWPX-DT 60 on VHF 12 at 23 kW ERP at 48 miles away just fine here in Sterling, even from the backend of a Winegard YA-6713 upper VHF antenna currently aimed at DC. Post-transition, I will probably have to aim the antenna at Baltimore to get the more distant WBAL-DT and WJZ-DT (43 miles) which will put WWPX-DT off at a poor angle, but that won't matter much as WPXW-DT Ion 66 will be booming out of DC at 1000 kW on UHF 34.


The interference issue is not in Baltimore itself, but with those located at either edges of the two stations overlapping coverage zones. If the signal from one digital station is so many dB stronger than one on a adjacent channel, it can interfere with reception of the weaker signal.


The original post-transition assignment for WBAL-DT 11 called for a directional antenna at, I think, 7 kW (Trip may have the numbers). CBS owned WJZ-DT 13 opted to put up a new directional antenna which would keep the interference within acceptable limits in the direction of WWPX-DT in the west and northwest, but allowed them to put out a strong signal in other directions. WJZ-DT was able to get a 28.8 kW ERP. WBAL-DT decided to stick with their current omni-directional VHF 11 antenna and accept a lower power of 5 kW in all directions. It is going to be interesting to see how it plays out.


A delay in the analog shutdown could make it even more complicated if stations can go ahead and shut down analog if they want to. Would WUTB-TV 24 go off the air to allow WNVC-DT 56 to go live on UHF 24? Would WETA-TV 26 go dark to allow WHAG-DT 25 to go live on UHF 25? I figure the big four in each city would opt to keep their analog going.


----------



## systems2000

Also, WJAL-DT (16) is waiting for WJLA-DT to vacate channel 39 and WPXW-DT (34) can't go full power until WUSA-DT vacates channel 34.


----------



## mdviewer25

Why is the Maryland/Florida State game not in HD? I thought all ACC games would be in HD this season. Does anyone have the schedule of which games would be in HD?


----------



## systems2000

Markbulla,


Why is the volume on "The Vanishing" (on WUTB-DT) seem to be so low? Is it something with the Network feed?


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15583029
> 
> 
> Markbulla,
> 
> 
> Why is the volume on "The Vanishing" (on WUTB-DT) seem to be so low? Is it something with the Network feed?



Heck if I know. I don't work there...


WUTB gets their signal via fiber. They don't have a local master control.


.


----------



## systems2000

I was thinking you did.


----------



## dmulvany




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15475801
> 
> 
> Hi all -
> 
> 
> As of about 1:30 this afternoon, WBFF started broadcasting on 45.2 with a slate for ThisBaltimore. On Jan 12, we will be putting on ThisTV ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_TV ), which will have movies and shows from MGM. _



Hi, Mark. The information for 45.2 says that some of the programs are captioned, but I've checked multiplel times and the captions aren't coming through. Are there plans to pass through the captions any time soon? I and many others can't watch the programming on 45.2 without any captioning, of course.


(BTW, since some stations are discontinuing use of their non-HD caption encoders due to upgrading to HD caption encoders, maybe these could be used instead on the new digital channels that aren't HD.)


Dana


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dmulvany* /forum/post/15585838
> 
> 
> Hi, Mark. The information for 45.2 says that some of the programs are captioned, but I've checked multiplel times and the captions aren't coming through. Are there plans to pass through the captions any time soon? I and many others can't watch the programming on 45.2 without any captioning, of course.
> 
> 
> (BTW, since some stations are discontinuing use of their non-HD caption encoders due to upgrading to HD caption encoders, maybe these could be used instead on the new digital channels that aren't HD.)
> 
> 
> Dana



I noticed that the captioning wasn't working the other day, so I e-mailed the engineer at ThisTV, and I got this reply:


"On the CC. We shut the uplink captions off as we are cleaning up the language issues in the CC stream. They will be back full force on 1/26."


Apparently they weren't taking the bad words out of the captioning, so they turned it off.


I'm sorry that there's no captioning, but I'm not getting any to send out. As soon as they are back, they will be back on the air. They were working for the first week we were on the air.


.


----------



## Marcus Carr

HBO is free on Comcast today because of thier inauguration special.


----------



## dmulvany




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15587294
> 
> 
> I noticed that the captioning wasn't working the other day, so I e-mailed the engineer at ThisTV, and I got this reply:
> 
> 
> "On the CC. We shut the uplink captions off as we are cleaning up the language issues in the CC stream. They will be back full force on 1/26."
> 
> 
> Apparently they weren't taking the bad words out of the captioning, so they turned it off.
> 
> 
> I'm sorry that there's no captioning, but I'm not getting any to send out. As soon as they are back, they will be back on the air. They were working for the first week we were on the air.
> 
> 
> .



Thanks for being on top of the captioning, Mark. I appreciate this information!


BTW, did you know that a lot of TVs and converter boxes won't automatically decode CEA-608 captions on digital channels? A brand new Samsung HDTV that I got won't show any captions for 32.1 and 66.1 when it's set to the default captioning mode, and it's a real hassle to go into the menu to force the TV to show CC1 captions for ALL channels, and then change the settings back (I don't like the analog captions from the Samsung and much prefer the 708 captions). I say this because if only CEA-608 captions are sent out on 45.2, a lot of people using advanced closed captions may not be able to see any captions at all and won't realize why.


I think the FCC did not realize this problem itself at all and that DTV equipment isn't required to decode 608 caption data automatically when no 708 caption data is being transmitted.


The very popular LG converter boxes don't automatically decode 608 caption data either. (The Insight and Zenith converter boxes are both made by LG.)


I'm hoping, therefore, that stations will go ahead and provide CEA-708 caption data on their digital channels as soon as possible. The 7.3 channel for WJLA isn't doing that; they're providing only 608 caption data for the very few programs that do come with caption data.


Dana


----------



## folksnake

Marcus, I think its only "free" if you have their digital box...not sure about that., but that's the impression I got.


From an article I read online: "Viewers must have a subscription to Comcast's digital service; the programs will not be available to those who do not have a set-top box."


So much for "free"!


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *folksnake* /forum/post/15587480
> 
> 
> Marcus, I think its only "free" if you have their digital box...not sure about that., but that's the impression I got.
> 
> 
> From an article I read online: "Viewers must have a subscription to Comcast’s digital service; the programs will not be available to those who do not have a set-top box."
> 
> 
> So much for "free"!



Good thing I have a box then.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15587403
> 
> 
> HBO is free on Comcast today because of thier inauguration special.



I'd rather not have to do a ten minute "auto-program" scan to find it. Can anyone tel me its actual channel number on Comcast in Prince George's County?


----------



## Marcus Carr

Heh, they shut it off right after the show was over.


That's all you get for free!


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15589061
> 
> 
> Heh, they shut it off right after the show was over.



HBO East and West HD are still in the clear on Verizon Fios, however. HBO East HD is QAM 94-612 and West HD is QAM 22-672 for the Verizon subscribers. However it is a good news / bad news thing: the good news is that HBO East HD in unscrambled so anyone with a STB or clear QAM tuner hooked can watch the repeat of the inauguration concert at 7 PM; the bad news is that HBO is currently showing the Will Ferrell movie, Blades of Glory.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15589061
> 
> 
> Heh, they shut it off right after the show was over.



Back on for the repeat.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Legend of the Seeker is back in HD tonight on WNUV.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

I wonder how much "local" coverage (my D* program guide shows NBC4 airing their own parade coverage at 2:30pm) will be in HD? Both WUSA and WRC show a lot of local origin programming tomorrow.


----------



## voltore




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/15592675
> 
> 
> I wonder how much "local" coverage (my D* program guide shows NBC4 airing their own parade coverage at 2:30pm) will be in HD? Both WUSA and WRC show a lot of local origin programming tomorrow.



WUSA has HD cameras near the White House for anchors and has HD circuits back to the station as well as some othr HD paths. Microwave will remain SD as too many sites and too little bandwidth for us







We're anchoring remotely from now until end of tomorrow.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *folksnake* /forum/post/15587480
> 
> 
> Marcus, I think its only "free" if you have their digital box...not sure about that., but that's the impression I got.
> 
> 
> From an article I read online: "Viewers must have a subscription to Comcast’s digital service; the programs will not be available to those who do not have a set-top box."
> 
> 
> So much for "free"!



Apparently it was available in clear QAM.










http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun...Postcode=21215


----------



## systems2000

I saw that the "Seeker" was on, but got busy and forgot about watching it.


----------



## AntAltMike

If anyone in Washington, DC gets to use channel 51, will they have to broadcast from the same tower as channel 50? Have any other "co-located", adjacent channel transmitters been spaced two miles apart?


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/15598886
> 
> 
> If anyone in Washington, DC gets to use channle 51, will they have to broadcast from the same tower as channel 50? Have any other "co-located", adjacent channel transmitters been spaced two miles apart?



The FCC requires stations to be within 14 miles. 2 miles is common.


- Trip


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Been trying to watch NBC's coverage. WRC keeps popping in and out of HD, and has interuppted coverage twice in the 8am hour for commercials and a local news break. Both times they have woken up, and then stayed in SD for several minutes. The station tells me it is New York doing this. Also: The local parade coverage will in SD - big surprise.


Update: All 4 locals have gone to their own coverage, foregoing the HD network feeds for their crappy SD remotes. What a joke


----------



## dmulvany

Last night, I was watching "CSI Miami" on my new Samsung HDTV with digital captions and checked "True Beauty" on 7.1 (WJLA-DT) during a commercial break. Although I'd been able to watch "Lost" with problem-free digital captions last week on the Samsung, the "accumulating captions" problem showed up again with "True Beauty." Check out the video that I made showing the terrible accumulation of captions at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/dana.mul...25874525815634 


The captions continue to accumulate until they cover up most of the screen. Changing the channel does re-start the accumulation process, so there may be a problem with the Samsung's cache? These problems were not seen with the "CSI Miami" broadcast and seem to happen only with pre-recorded captions for *some* programs from *some* stations, not live captioning.


I was surprised to see this problem on WJLA-DT again as I thought Robert Forsyth had somehow managed to clean up how WJLA-DT was processing the digital captions. Many pre-recorded programs on WJLA-DT were fine last week. But something clearly went awry with the captions for "True Beauty." Again, my Samsung can decode captions fine for most pre-recorded programs, but some programs are giving the HDTV fits.


(There's also a problem with the WJLA-DT digital captions for some Sharp and Sony HDTVs as documented earlier on this thread. With those DTVs, the digital captions don't show up at all.)


Dana

Rockville, MD


----------



## systems2000

How are the DR applications for WWPX-DR and WETA-DR affect the construction permit "Flash Cut" LD that WDCW has for W51CY?


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15607799
> 
> 
> How are the DR applications for WWPX-DR and WETA-DR affect the construction permit "Flash Cut" LD that WDCW has for W51CY?



W51CY, as an LP, has no protection. If WETA or WWPX get channel 51, and can show W51CY is causing them interference, W51CY is required to move or go off the air.


I imagine that if that happened, W51CY would move to 50 and act as an on-channel booster for WDCW.


- Trip


----------



## systems2000

Being that W51CY antenna is located 680.9 Meters above mean sea level (ABSL) and planned operation of 15KW, what's the likelyhood that could happen? Wouldn't that cause interference of their primary, 1000KW, transmitter?


How would that affect W50DE's 11.94KW transmitter out of Martinsburg?


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15608048
> 
> 
> Being that W51CY antenna is located 680.9 Meters above mean sea level (ABSL) and planned operation of 15KW, what's the likelyhood that could happen? Wouldn't that cause interference of their primary, 1000KW, transmitter?
> 
> 
> How would that affect W50DE's 11.94KW transmitter out of Martinsburg?



I doubt W50DE will stay on the air too long after the transition date.


They would probably go directional to cut all power to the east. Then they'd time the transmitters such that in places where the main signal makes it over the mountain, the signals either sync up or generate only enough multipath that a modern receiver can deal with it.


I haven't done enough research to know how much multipath, artificial or otherwise, modern receivers can handle. If I wasn't bogged down in Differential Equations homework, I would probably go look for it right now.


- Trip


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/15608110
> 
> 
> I doubt W50DE will stay on the air too long after the transition date.
> 
> 
> They would probably go directional to cut all power to the east. Then they'd time the transmitters such that in places where the main signal makes it over the mountain, the signals either sync up or generate only enough multipath that a modern receiver can deal with it.
> 
> 
> I haven't done enough research to know how much multipath, artificial or otherwise, modern receivers can handle. If I wasn't bogged down in Differential Equations homework, I would probably go look for it right now.
> 
> 
> - Trip



I really wish other stations would have follow WDCW and install translators or do a DTS







, when 51 was on analog they would come in clear with just a UHF loop. I've also noticed improvement on digital and analog both since WJAL 68/16 is off-air, I'm able to pick up several Baltimore digitals without dropouts now, and even get analog 27 and 33 from Harrisburg with a UHF loop.


----------



## systems2000

I wondered that myself, but didn't find any difference with my setup/location.


----------



## dewster1977

Well analog 67 is clear as it was many years ago now, and several Baltimore digital come is well now. What really amazed me was the reception with and indoor antenna ( I have a tv in the spare bedroom with just and amplified set-top antenna) use to only get 25, 31, 38, 60, 68. Now I also get 27, 33, 21 clear, and even 7, 8, 9, 11, 13 come in snowy. I was amazed. Maybe there is hope yet???


----------



## joblo

Currently on Cox channel 155 (Weatherscan) crawl in Fairfax County:



> Quote:
> With the Digital Transition PBS affiliates WHUT & WMPT have elected to move to digital carriage. On Feb-17 WHUT ch.32 will move to ch.815. On Mar-31 WMPT ch.22 will move to HD ch.767. Cox will carry WMPT2 on ch.812 & V-ME on ch.813. WETA will be carried on analog & digital ch.26


----------



## jorwex

I've been to antennaWeb & tvfool, but I wanted to get a personal validation before I go get an antenna.


I'm in Baltimore in a 3 story rowhouse between two taller houses. Tvfool & AntennaWeb are both consistent in saying that all but PBS & MNT (meh) are 3.8 miles away, at 350 degrees.


So I'm in an urban setting with tall buildings and antennaweb says a yellow code antenna should be fine, and tvfool says an indoor one should be okay, but I feel like I may need an attenuator because I'm so close.


Do I need one meant for multipath blocking? I'm skeptical of an indoor antenna working where I am, but what do I know. I was prepared to go for a roof-mounted antenna, but I'd love to hear what others recommend.


Thanks


P.S. I'm going for OTA only in lieu of getting cable.


----------



## Digital Rules

Hi Jorwex,


I would try a basic VHF/UHF indoor antenna first, and return it if you do not get satisfactory results. I brought a TV to work in the heart of downtown DC last week, and was surprised at the results. Just using a simple bowtie antenna sitting on the counter brought in all the UHF stations in the city fairly well.


If this doesn't work, you may need to go outside. The smallest I would go with would be the Winegard 1080

http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...p?prod=HD-1080 


If multipath is severe I recommend the Winegard Ghost Killer-HD7210P; even though you won't be needing VHF-LOW. I used one and was able to get all the Baltimore digital channels except 67 & 24 in my high multipath location, 40 miles away.

http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...p?prod=ANWGHST 


I wouldn't worry about overload, as long as you don't use an antenna amplifier.(Not recommended)


Hope this helps, Glen


----------



## systems2000

I'm glad to see that WWPX is broadcasting "Octopussy" in full widescreen.


----------



## systems2000

Has anyone else noticed better sound for "A View to a Kill" (WWPX-DT), then there is for "Smallville" (WNUV-DT)? It's almost like "Smallville" is in mono.


----------



## ceeaton

WLYH-DT (15) and WNUV-DT seem to be matching up pretty well on sound quality running the same thing -- they do sound muted compared to any other broadcast currently running...


----------



## systems2000

I noticed WUTB-DT was doing the same thing. WMAR-DT, WBAL-DT, & WJZ-DT seemed to be OK.


----------



## machpost

RCN has just added Tennis Channel HD, presumably for the Australian Open.


----------



## JoeInNVa

Comcast /Alex/arlington still have place holders for Speed HD, FX HD and Fox News HD...Been there for almost a month now or has it been over a month?


----------



## dspadoni




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/15632190
> 
> 
> Comcast /Alex/arlington still have place holders for Speed HD, FX HD and Fox News HD...Been there for almost a month now or has it been over a month?



Since early November as I recall


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dspadoni* /forum/post/15633407
> 
> 
> Since early November as I recall



same deal with Manassas although prince william has those channels I called and told them and they said its coming soon,


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Allbritton handed out a batch of pink slips at its Channel 7/WJLA and NewsChannel 8 broadcast complex in Rosslyn this morning. We're told that at least 30 workers got cut - many in the back office, but also as many as seven on-air personalities. Including longtime reporter Andrea McCarren. Also among the cut: Weekend anchor and reporter Alisa Parenti, weekend sports anchor Greg Toland, and reporters Sarah Lee and Emily Schmidt.


 http://dcrtv.com/


----------



## systems2000

A quick scan of the channels I receive revealed the following information, gathered at the start of the 9:00pm hour.

*Channel**Resolution**Frequency**Sound*2-1*1280x720p**60Hz*Dolby Digital2-2704x480i30HzDolby Digital2-3704x480i30HzDolby Digital11-1*1920x1080i*30HzDolby Digital11-2704x480i30HzDolby Digital13-1*1920x1080i*30HzDolby Digital24-1*1280x720p**60Hz*Dolby Digital31-1*1920x1080i*30HzDolby Digital31-2704x480i30HzDolby Digital31-3704x480i30HzDolby Digital42-1*1920x1080i*30HzDolby Digital42-2704x480i30HzDolby Digital42-3540x480i30HzDolby Digital54-1*1280x720p**60Hz*Dolby Digital60-1528x480i30HzDolby Digital60-2704x480i30HzDolby Digital60-3704x480i30HzDolby Digital60-4528x480i30HzDolby Digital


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Allbritton handed out a batch of pink slips at its Channel 7/WJLA and NewsChannel 8 broadcast complex in Rosslyn this morning. We're told that at least 30 workers got cut - many in the back office, but also as many as seven on-air personalities. Including longtime reporter Andrea McCarren. Also among the cut: Weekend anchor and reporter Alisa Parenti, weekend sports anchor Greg Toland, and reporters Sarah Lee and Emily Schmidt.



Was sorry to hear this. They deserved better. While Mr. Allbritton relaxes in his expensive Georgetown home, others are out of work. Perhaps ABC 7 can run infomercials 24x7 on the weekends to raise extra dough. They are pre-empting the entire network lineup tonight (granted repeats of the "Lost" episodes from earlier this week, but it is amazing how much they pre-empt ABC shows).


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/15638691
> 
> 
> Was sorry to hear this. They deserved better. While Mr. Allbritton relaxes in his expensive Georgetown home, others are out of work. Perhaps ABC 7 can run infomercials 24x7 on the weekends to raise extra dough. They are pre-empting the entire network lineup tonight (granted repeats of the "Lost" episodes from earlier this week, but it is amazing how much they pre-empt ABC shows).



Well in this economy they need to do something to keep the money flowing and stay in the black.

And if the DTV transition gets delayed that's going to cost every station alot of extra money that was not budgeted for.


In general I would expect most TV stations around the country to have layoffs this year, especially if the digital transition is delayed.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/15638934
> 
> 
> Well in this economy they need to do something to keep the money flowing and stay in the black.
> 
> And if the DTV transition gets delayed that's going to cost every station alot of extra money that was not budgeted for.
> 
> 
> In general I would expect most TV stations around the country to have layoffs this year, especially if the digital transition is delayed.



I'm not sure if this has been mentioned here or not, that new bill was modified so that stations could still make their switch on 2/17 if they choose to do so. The cost involved with the potential delay was cited as a main reason. I believe the new wording makes the analog cutoff more of a window between Feb and June rather than another specific date, but all full-power analog must cease and 700Mhz still be cleared by June.


Of course, with all the frequency changes that are going to take place, it's still a mess without a coordinated hard date. *sigh*


edit: I, for one, hope Balt/DC sticks it to the FCC and Congress and just does it all on 2/17 like they planned. How many people in this region are going to go dark? I can't believe it's that many, even in the more rural MD/VA locations.


----------



## dmulvany

Many TV stations in the Washington, DC area are NOT ready to go all digital.


Here's a status report of captioning problems on digital channels that many TV station engineers still need to address before they turn off the analog channel, for which the captioning is usually working very well. If they don't fix these problems, then people who rely on captions could be left with much worse access to the station's programming than they had before.


I set up a separate thread to collect status reports on captioning on digital channels from different geographical areas in the U.S.A. Here's the report that I provided on that thread:


I'm in the greater Washington, DC area. I use a 2006 Sharp HDTV, a 2008 Insignia converter box, and a late 2008 Samsung HDTV with rabbit ear antennas. My Sharp and Samsung HDTVs are set up to display CEA-708 captions but both HDTVs will display analog captions from analog input. (My Samsung HDTV's default captioning mode will not automatically decode analog-style, CEA-608 captions on digital channels if there are no CEA-708 captions, although my Sharp usually will.)


As required, all local TV stations transmit analog-style caption data, but not all transmit CEA-708 data (the kind that can be customized). I've indicated below which stations are transmitting 708 data by using the number 708. Usually I've only indicated whether there are known problems with the CEA-708 caption data. (I've also included some additional information I happened to learn over the past few months.)



Channel 4.1: WRC (NBC) 708



Channel 5.1: WTTG (Fox) 708 Severe delay with captions for syndicated programs, and some DTVs like my Sharp cannot decode any captions at all (neither 608 or 708) after a few minutes. (Problems also occur when the audio is no longer in sync with the video.) Uses the Evertz 8084 caption encoder (until switching to an HD encoder on January 30th).



Channel 7.1: WJLA (ABC) 708 No captions for prime-time, prerecorded programs like "Lost" show up at all on some Sony and Sharp HDTVs. Captions for other programs sometimes "accumulate" for Samsung DTV equipment, eventually obscuring the screen.


7.3 608 only; most programs not captioned (may be temporarily exempt)


Channel 9.1: WUSA (CBS) 708 Occasional disappearance and then rapid flitting of captions for prime-time, pre-recorded programs like "CSI"


Channel 11.1 WBAL (NBC) 708 (rarely watched)


Channel 14.1 WFDC 608 (Spanish program, never watched)


Channel 20.1: WDCA (MyNetworkTV) 708 Same issues with pre-recorded syndicated programs as 5.1, WTTG (uses same engineering room)


Channel 22.1: MPT (PBS) 708

22.2 708 (Captions for prime-time program did not show up on Sharp HDTV but did on Insignia CECB)


Channel 26.1: WETA (PBS) 708 (all subchannels: 26.1, 26.2, 26.3, 26.4)


Channel 32.1: WHUT 608 only


Channel 45.1: WBFF (Fox) 708


Channel 50: CW50 (CW) 708 (problems seen with delayed captions for some syndicated programs like "Two and a Half Men")


Channel 54.1 (CW) 708 Synchronized captions for pre-recorded, syndicated programs like "Stargate Atlantis;" uses DTV caption legalizer from EEG.


Channel 66.1: ION 608 only Synchronized captions for reruns of old syndicated programs like "MASH"


Summary: WJLA is the worst offender. It really needs to address the severe captioning problems experienced by users of some Sony, Sharp and Samsung DTV equipment, which experience those problems from WJLA's digital captions but not from other stations. WJLA is not ready to go all digital until it has resolved these captioning problems, which it should have done a long time ago when captioning problems were first brought to its attention. (According to afigatt, another ABC affiliate (2.1) does not cause the same captioning problem with Samsung equipment.) I have no idea if WJLA engineers are doing anything at all to try to resolve these problems.


Other stations have problems that need to be addressed as well, as indicated above. I've hesitated to give an absolutely clean bill of health to any station because I've sometimes seen intermittent caption transmission problems even with WRC (4.1) and WETA (26.1) and I'm not sure whether those problems are a result of equipment problems or could be due to some fluke in the environment.


Captioning is *so* important to deaf and hard of hearing people. It's really been wonderful. Sadly, I'm afraid the digital transition could have an extremely negative impact on people who use captions if stations don't resolve their captioning problems before they turn off the only channels that do have good captions.


Dana


----------



## SUOrangeman

I've updated the Google Docs chart (see my sig below) to reflect the recent additions:


Added MPT subchannels per Cox carriage announcement (and AVSForum)

Added WHUT per Cox carriage announcement (and AVSForum)

Added Comedy Central to DirecTV (per AVSForum)

Added Tennis HD to RCN (per AVSForum)


I also encourage some fine souls to start adding channel numbers for your carrier. The community thanks you in advance!


-SUO


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/15639831
> 
> 
> edit: I, for one, hope Balt/DC sticks it to the FCC and Congress and just does it all on 2/17 like they planned. How many people in this region are going to go dark? I can't believe it's that many, even in the more rural MD/VA locations.



Anyone know what the provision is for converting to digital? I saw some headlines that suggested some markets could go ahead on 2/17, but I didn't see any articles explain under what conditions that was possible.


Is it still the same old standard--85% of OTA users equipped with digital?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/15645047
> 
> 
> Anyone know what the provision is for converting to digital? I saw some headlines that suggested some markets could go ahead on 2/17, but I didn't see any articles explain under what conditions that was possible.
> 
> 
> Is it still the same old standard--85% of OTA users equipped with digital?



The proposed bills are still in committee and the specifics of the proposed delays to June 12 are still being hammered out. But the bill in the House committee would allow stations to shut down their analog broadcast on Feb. 17 if they want to with advance notice. There is no market dependent consideration in this. We are in a permissive analog shutdown phase already where stations can go ahead and shut down their analog if they want to. 180 stations across the US have terminated their analog broadcast already and according to Falcon_77's count, 311 stations in total have indicated that they have or will shut down analog prior to Feb. 17. The likely framework of a delay is that they will change the forced shutdown date to June 12, but allow stations on their own to decide if they want to shut down analog at any time prior to that. Call it the chaos plan. So, it is possible that with a lot of publicity Congress will postpone the February 17 date to June 12, but 30% or 40% of the full power stations across the US will have shut down their analog broadcast by February 18 anyway. But until and *if* Congress passes a bill and the FCC posts rulings, no one knows what the rules will be. There are only 23 days left!


Big question in the DC and Baltimore markets is which stations might shut analog down by February 18 regardless of what Congress does. A lot of PBS stations are among the stations filing to shut down early or on February 17, most likely in many cases, because they are cash strapped and it costs money to keep two broadcasts going. So would WETA-TV PBS 26 shut down anyway which would allow WHAG-DT NBC 25 to finally go full power? In many cases, I expect the decisions have not yet been made by the station and corporate bosses because they are waiting to get a read on the political terrain and see what happens in Congress.


----------



## CuseHokie

Comcast customers...


Is it true that ESPNHD is now part of Digital Starter?


My promotion(s) are ending in another month, so I'm planning on my next move.


I -only- watch HD... well 98% of the time I guess.










Premiums are overrated...


I'm happy getting up through 254...



Thanks for the feedback in advance!


----------



## aaronwt

Leave it to the government to make things even more confusing for the consumer.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15645962
> 
> 
> The proposed bills are still in committee and the specifics of the proposed delays to June 12 are still being hammered out. But the bill in the House committee would allow stations to shut down their analog broadcast on Feb. 17 if they want to with advance notice. There is no market dependent consideration in this. We are in a permissive analog shutdown phase already where stations can go ahead and shut down their analog if they want to. 180 stations across the US have terminated their analog broadcast already and according to Falcon_77's count, 311 stations in total have indicated that they have or will shut down analog prior to Feb. 17. The likely framework of a delay is that they will change the forced shutdown date to June 12, but allow stations on their own to decide if they want to shut down analog at any time prior to that. Call it the chaos plan. So, it is possible that with a lot of publicity Congress will postpone the February 17 date to June 12, but 30% or 40% of the full power stations across the US will have shut down their analog broadcast by February 18 anyway. But until and *if* Congress passes a bill and the FCC posts rulings, no one knows what the rules will be. There are only 23 days left!
> 
> 
> Big question in the DC and Baltimore markets is which stations might shut analog down by February 18 regardless of what Congress does. A lot of PBS stations are among the stations filing to shut down early or on February 17, most likely in many cases, because they are cash strapped and it costs money to keep two broadcasts going. So would WETA-TV PBS 26 shut down anyway which would allow WHAG-DT NBC 25 to finally go full power? In many cases, I expect the decisions have not yet been made by the station and corporate bosses because they are waiting to get a read on the political terrain and see what happens in Congress.


----------



## Voyager06




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/15652873
> 
> 
> Leave it to the government to make things even more confusing for the consumer.



Thank the new Obama administration for throwing the monkey wrench. This is one change that did not need to be changed. The date was firm for two years and now Congress, at the urging of the Obama newbies, thinks it needs to act to overrule the FCC. Absolutely ridiculous.


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Voyager06* /forum/post/15653964
> 
> 
> Thank the new Obama administration for throwing the monkey wrench. This is one change that did not need to be changed. The date was firm for two years and now Congress, at the urging of the Obama newbies, thinks it needs to act to overrule the FCC. Absolutely ridiculous.



Right, because a McCain administration wouldn't have delayed it.


----------



## Voyager06




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Deezul* /forum/post/15654825
> 
> 
> Right, because a McCain administration wouldn't have delayed it.



I don't want to spark a political debate here. The request for a delay came from the Obama transition team. Now the Democratic leadership in Congress is on the bandwagon. I haven't heard of any Republicans pushing for a delay. For some reason, someone in the Obama admin wants to make a political issue of this. My point was that Congress could have acted anytime over the last two years to change the DTV date. Why now?

*I guess that I was wrong. Now the Senate Republicans are falling in line.* http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817...069TX1K0001121 


> Quote:
> "I had serious concerns about shifting the digital television transition without a sound plan to inform consumers or address the converter box coupon shortage," Sen. Hutchison, a Texas Republican and ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, said in a statement. "I am pleased that Chairman Rockefeller worked with me to address many of the concerns with the early proposals."
> 
> 
> Democratic senators Jay Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota last week announced plans for a bill that would push the switch from analog to digital TV signals from February 17 to June 12.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dmulvany* /forum/post/15587462
> 
> 
> Thanks for being on top of the captioning, Mark. I appreciate this information!
> 
> 
> BTW, did you know that a lot of TVs and converter boxes won't automatically decode CEA-608 captions on digital channels? A brand new Samsung HDTV that I got won't show any captions for 32.1 and 66.1 when it's set to the default captioning mode, and it's a real hassle to go into the menu to force the TV to show CC1 captions for ALL channels, and then change the settings back (I don't like the analog captions from the Samsung and much prefer the 708 captions). I say this because if only CEA-608 captions are sent out on 45.2, a lot of people using advanced closed captions may not be able to see any captions at all and won't realize why.
> 
> 
> I think the FCC did not realize this problem itself at all and that DTV equipment isn't required to decode 608 caption data automatically when no 708 caption data is being transmitted.
> 
> 
> The very popular LG converter boxes don't automatically decode 608 caption data either. (The Insight and Zenith converter boxes are both made by LG.)
> 
> 
> I'm hoping, therefore, that stations will go ahead and provide CEA-708 caption data on their digital channels as soon as possible. The 7.3 channel for WJLA isn't doing that; they're providing only 608 caption data for the very few programs that do come with caption data.
> 
> 
> Dana



I noticed some closed captioning on some commercials on 45.2 today. I think they (ThisTV) may be testing something...


.


----------



## mdviewer25

Can someone please tell me why Comcast of Prince George's county is wasting space by broadcasting a test pattern on not only analog channel 71 but also on 104-1? Also, what happened to the Baltimore qam channels?


----------



## Marcus Carr

HDPPV on Comcast in Baltimore is now HDMEV (HD Movies and Events). It has UFC, Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway, TNA wrestling, and something called Test Game (which is only $.01).


----------



## BMoreRavens

Anyone having audio sync problems with WBFF news HD tonight via DIRECTV?


I watched 24 live before the news came on and it was fine but as soon as the news started the audio has been out of sync.


EDIT: I just switched over to OTA and having the same problem.


----------



## afiggatt

WUTB-DT My 24 is showing Seinfeld in HD tonight for the 11 PM broadcast. This is first day that Seinfeld was to be made available in syndication in HD, so it is nice to see a local station has it at the start. WTTG-DT Fox 5 did not have Seinfeld in HD earlier in the evening, probably will add it soon.


----------



## dmulvany




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15587294
> 
> 
> I noticed that the captioning wasn't working the other day, so I e-mailed the engineer at ThisTV, and I got this reply:
> 
> 
> "On the CC. We shut the uplink captions off as we are cleaning up the language issues in the CC stream. They will be back full force on 1/26."
> 
> 
> Apparently they weren't taking the bad words out of the captioning, so they turned it off.
> 
> 
> I'm sorry that there's no captioning, but I'm not getting any to send out. As soon as they are back, they will be back on the air. They were working for the first week we were on the air.



Two movies that were listed as being closed-captioned on 45.2 weren't, including one showing at 12 am on 1/27/2009.











Sounds like ThisTV is a brand new company. I hope they're not going to renege on providing the captions just because they need to edit them for TV.


P.S. I saw captions show up for some commercials on 45.2 also.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *BMoreRavens* /forum/post/15660312
> 
> 
> Anyone having audio sync problems with WBFF news HD tonight via DIRECTV?
> 
> 
> I watched 24 live before the news came on and it was fine but as soon as the news started the audio has been out of sync.
> 
> 
> EDIT: I just switched over to OTA and having the same problem.



It looked fine to me, at least after I drove in and fixed it...


It was a hardware problem.


.


----------



## euckersw




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *euckersw* /forum/post/15518429
> 
> 
> Just checked the channel lineup for Cox in Fairfax, and noticed the following HD channels will be added on 1/27:
> 
> 
> Fox Business HD (Channel 755)
> 
> Cartoon HD (Channel 759)
> 
> WE HD (Channel 760)
> 
> IFC HD (Channel 761)
> 
> Comedy HD (Channel 762)
> 
> E! HD (Channel 764)
> 
> Biography HD (Channel 765)
> 
> MLB HD (Channel 766)
> 
> 
> Very nice!



Just checked this morning and it's official - Cox in Fairfax is now receiving all HD channels mentioned above.


----------



## SUOrangeman

I've updated my Google Docs chart per today's additions on Cox (link in signature).


I also attempted to sum up the HD offerings (non-On Demand) of all the providers listed. Let's see if this makes any sense.









Code:


Code:


DishTV w/ OTA: 54 HD channels + 8 OTA subschannels + 8 MHz + 23 pay/premium
     DirecTV w/ OTA: 66 HD + 8 subs + 8 MHz + 11 premium
     Wash - Comcast: 36 HD + 4 subs + 4 premium
         Wash - RCN: 52 HD + 3 subs + 8 MHz + 23 premium + 2 coming soon
           VA - Cox: 50*HD + 7 subs + 11 premium + 8 MHz (as premium) + 5 coming soon (* = non-dedicated MASN)
         Millennium: 14 HD + 4 premium
     Balt - Comcast: 39 HD + 2 subs + 4 premium
Wash - Verizon FiOS: 66 HD + 3 subs + 43 premium

Be mindful that my numbers are strictly based on the original chart posted by CycloneGT in the first post, my own experience with Cox-Fairfax, and subsequent posts in this thread. If something is incorrect, feel free to update the chart yourself!


With that said, let the shouting match begin!


-SUO


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Voyager06* /forum/post/15653964
> 
> 
> Thank the new Obama administration for throwing the monkey wrench. This is one change that did not need to be changed. The date was firm for two years and now Congress, at the urging of the Obama newbies, thinks it needs to act to overrule the FCC. Absolutely ridiculous.



I think this would have happened with or without the Obama admin. Congress was bound to get cold feet the closer things got to 2/17.


I was wondering if stations might decide to shut down before June 12th in spite of the change given the sorry state of the economy and all the cost cutting going on. In Baltimore, because WMAR-DT is supposed to use WJZ-DT's channel assignment (38), I guess there'd be a lot of mutual agreement that needs to take place with the frequency swapping. Obviously WMAR won't be able to shut down their broadcast on the channel 2 frequency until WJZ moves their DT to 13 and turns over 38 to them. But I would guess at this point from a budgeting perspective, stations probably were planning on reducing their electric bills come 2/17, so this may really impact their budgets.


In the end, it I would imagine this will be pretty confusing for the masses. And it strikes me that some of the other problems this country is now faced with are so much more complex. If we can't do a simple switchover from analog to digital TV after 10 years of trying, it doesn't bode well for a number of other problems facing us.


----------



## machpost

Speaking of This TV, dcrtv.com is reporting that it will be showing up soon on 50.2.


----------



## quentenstash

I don't know if anybody saw this, but the one state has already gone digital: Hawaii. The transition happened on Jan. 15th.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15660973
> 
> 
> WUTB-DT My 24 is showing Seinfeld in HD tonight for the 11 PM broadcast. This is first day that Seinfeld was to be made available in syndication in HD, so it is nice to see a local station has it at the start. WTTG-DT Fox 5 did not have Seinfeld in HD earlier in the evening, probably will add it soon.



If they can show Morning Show with Mike & Juliet in HD, they should be able to show Everybody Loves Raymond and Seinfeld in HD. Whenever they show Everybody Loves Raymond on Fox 5 its never in HD. Even though My20 shows it in HD (most of the time). Two and a Half Men wasn't in HD yesterday on DC50. It must have been an episode from season 1?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *quentenstash* /forum/post/15666611
> 
> 
> I don't know if anybody saw this, but the one state has already gone digital: Hawaii. The transition happened on Jan. 15th.



Yes, this was discussed in the DTV allotment and transition threads. Trip and Falcon_77 have maintaining lists of what stations are doing. See http://www.rabbitears.info/ss/ for Falcon_77's latest spreadsheet and summary. For Trip's website, try his site map http://www.rabbitears.info/sitemap.php . As of last Friday, at least 180 stations have shut off their analog broadcast.


Three of them are in our area: WNVT-DT 30 which was one of the first to go digital only back in 2003, WNVC MHz 56 (57) which shut down in September on the expectation they could start up on UHF 24 on February 18 (and may be dark for 4 more months unless WUTB-TV 24 goes dark), and WJAL 68 in the Hagerstown market which had a recent transmitter fire which destroyed their analog and pre DT 16 transmitter building. WJAL 68 could be in a bind because their post DT channel is UHF 39 which is currently in use by WJLA-DT ABC 7.


Assuming the House passes a June 12 delay bill and it looks very likely, it is going to be interesting to see what the stations in the DC and Baltimore markets do. Since this is a major market and subject to a little extra attention from Congress, most stations may opt to keep their analog for four more months. So far, I have not noticed any of the local stations in the recent rash of Silent STA filings stating they will shut down on February 17, regardless of the possible June 12 extension. However, WJZ 13 and WUSA 9 are both selling or leasing their pre-transition DT transmitters and antennas to other stations. Did the lawyers have enough foresight to add a escape clause in case Congress delayed the Feb. 17 transition? If not, the owners of WMAR and WPXW Ion 66 could make things difficult for CBS (WJZ) and Gannet (WUSA).


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/15666630
> 
> 
> If they can show Morning Show with Mike & Juliet in HD, they should be able to show Everybody Loves Raymond and Seinfeld in HD. Whenever they show Everybody Loves Raymond on Fox 5 its never in HD. Even though My20 shows it in HD (most of the time). Two and a Half Men wasn't in HD yesterday on DC50. It must have been an episode from season 1?



WTTG-DT Fox 5 has shown Raymond in HD. I've noticed it a number of times channel surfing. But I've seen it in SD sometimes as well. WTTG-DT appears to be erratic on whether they show Raymond in HD. Looking it up, Two and a Half Men started on CBS in 2003. Since it is on CBS, undoubtedly in HD from the start with that date. Might be that WDCA 20 missed the HD feed and had to fall back to the SD feed. HD syndication is still hit or miss.


----------



## systems2000

Looking at a Query search of the FCC database, It appears I'm not going to get WBFF-DT until the transition is over.










There are 16 entries within 150KM of my location for 45-47. If I was to spread that to 41-47, I get 36 entries.








 

TV Query Results -- Video Division (FCC) USA.pdf 32.734375k . file


----------



## phantomplebe

I am in the early stages of setting myself up for HD OTA, and am using an analog television to test antennas before I start lugging around my big LCD. I built one of the coat hanger antennas, but do not get the channels I would expect. I am in Columbia, so I think I should be getting Baltimore and DC stations, but I am only able to get the VHF stations, plus 65, 71, and 73 in UHF. Looking at the channel listing on the first page, though, I don't see any of those analog stations listed. What am I picking up? 73 especially comes in crystal clear and has kids shows, so might be PBS. I am not picking up 45 or 54, which I thought would be easy stations to get. Any ideas?


----------



## systems2000

Check to make sure your television isn't set for cable.


----------



## phantomplebe

Leave it to me to not even realize that you had to select antenna vs cable. Thanks, 45 is coming in crystal clear, and I get a variety of other channels including DC. Its time to get me some HD.


----------



## mdviewer25

Tuesday, January 27, 2009: second night Seinfeld is not in HD on WTTG-DT. WDCA 20 also airs it at 11:30pm. Wonder if they will show it in HD?


----------



## mark_e




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *phantomplebe* /forum/post/15668274
> 
> 
> I am in the early stages of setting myself up for HD OTA, and am using an analog television to test antennas before I start lugging around my big LCD. I built one of the coat hanger antennas, but do not get the channels I would expect. I am in Columbia, so I think I should be getting Baltimore and DC stations, but I am only able to get the VHF stations, plus 65, 71, and 73 in UHF. Looking at the channel listing on the first page, though, I don't see any of those analog stations listed. What am I picking up? 73 especially comes in crystal clear and has kids shows, so might be PBS. I am not picking up 45 or 54, which I thought would be easy stations to get. Any ideas?



Using a Terk amplified indoor antenna on top of a bookcase, aimed at DC, I get all the DC and Baltimore digital channels. Sometimes I'll have to aim it for break-ups, but most of the time it works fine without touching it. It comes in handy for my all too frequent Comcast outages, like the one last Saturday and Sunday!


----------



## cjghome

Just need to make sure I understand the Local HDTV broadcast signal through the Cox Cable provider.


I have to work Super Bowl sunday...The company I work for has Cox Digital Cable...


If I understand correctly, Cox is suppose to broadcast/pass thru local channels if HDTV if available...


Does anyone what channel is NBC(WRC) transmitting there Digital signal on?...


I have a 42" Vizio w/ASTC QAM tuner, I'm hoping to connect the coxial cable and auto tune and pick up the Super Bowl... I'm I correct on this...


Please advise...


Thanks..

Charlie


----------



## markbulla

They just said on the news that WBFF Fox 45 is still planning on turning off their analog transmitter on Feb. 17.


.


----------



## systems2000

If I undersatnd the announcement they just made on WHAG-TV a few min. ago, WHAG will discontinue analog broadcast on Feb 15, 2009.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15670994
> 
> 
> If I undersatnd the announcement they just made on WHAG-TV a few min. ago, WHAG will discontinue analog broadcast on Feb 15, 2009.



If that is the case, what will WHAG do for their full power digital signal? WHAG-DT 25 cannot fire up on UHF 26 until WETA-TV 26 goes off the air. Could they have an agreement with WETA that WETA-TV 26 will go dark on February 17, regardless of what Congress does? Or was the WHAG announcement put into place before management realized that Congress is serious about this June 12 delay?


If WBFF-TV 45 goes dark on February 17 even with the June 12 delay, good for them!


Also, Ion Network announced today that they will go HD in 20 markets starting on February 16. Washington DC is on the list of 20 markets, but the press release did not say whether this applies to both WWPX-DT 60 in Martinsburg or WPXW-DT 66. WPXW-DT was scheduled to move to WUSA-DT's UHF 34 transmitter on Feb. 18 after WUSA-DT flash cut to VHF 9; no clue how a delay to June 12 would play out for WPXW-DT. Press release at http://www.ionmedia.tv/press/press.cfm?id=142 .


----------



## afiggatt

A bunch of silent STA filings were posted to the FCC database tonight. Both WBFF-TV 45 and WNUV-TV 54 - Sinclair stations - filed to shut down on February 17, period. WNUV's filing, see exhibit down at the bottom of the form: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws....1&fac_num=7933 .


Hope Mark gets the memo soon.


----------



## systems2000

Looks like the stations are taking the transition issue into their own hands and be damned with the politicians. *Good for them!*


----------



## systems2000

I like how they are protecting themselves.











> Quote:
> ALTHOUGH THE DTV TRANSITION DATE HAS NOT YET BEEN EXTENDED, THIS TERMINATION NOTIFICATION IS BEING PROVIDED OUT OF AN ABUNDANCE OF CAUTION.


----------



## JoeInNVa

Comcast of Alexandria and Arlington customers!

Is anyone receiving SCI-HD, DISNEY-HD and ABC Family-HD?


I have not been able to receive them since last Friday and these 3 seem to ALWAYS go out for some reason. Anyone else experiencing this?


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15671482
> 
> 
> A bunch of silent STA filings were posted to the FCC database tonight. Both WBFF-TV 45 and WNUV-TV 54 - Sinclair stations - filed to shut down on February 17, period. WNUV's filing, see exhibit down at the bottom of the form: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws....1&fac_num=7933 .
> 
> 
> Hope Mark gets the memo soon.



I usually find out things when there's enough time to accomplish the task.


_


----------



## budmaca1

I'm must starting to research switching from Comcast to DirecTV. I live in western Howard County, MD. Comcast provides both DC and Balt local channels, and in HD only Baltimore. DirecTV says for my zip code (21797 Woodbine), it will only provide Baltimore channels, period. I live one mile north of a zip code (20833 Brookeville) where they only provide DC channels. I need DC channels. I live 23 miles north of DC and 23 miles west of Baltimore. Can I talk DirecTV into "pretending" I'm in the adjoining zip code to get DC stations? Also, I have 4 TVs, two are HDTV. Right now the cable comes in the house to a 4-way splitter. Will this not work for HD satellite? OTA antenna? What type, from whom, recommended installer, .... Other considerations? Advice please.


----------



## systems2000

The 4-way will probably need to be replaced with a multi-switch.


I'd use a local installer (you don't loose anything). If you have any problems, you know who you'll be dealing with. When you call the National 800 number, you'll more than likely get a National installer company, who hire employees at low wages, who (most of the time) are less experienced and don't care about "Job 1."


----------



## Onazuka




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *budmaca1* /forum/post/15672993
> 
> 
> I'm must starting to research switching from Comcast to DirecTV. I live in western Howard County, MD. Comcast provides both DC and Balt local channels, and in HD only Baltimore. DirecTV says for my zip code (21797 Woodbine), it will only provide Baltimore channels, period. I live one mile north of a zip code (20833 Brookeville) where they only provide DC channels. I need DC channels. I live 23 miles north of DC and 23 miles west of Baltimore. Can I talk DirecTV into "pretending" I'm in the adjoining zip code to get DC stations? Also, I have 4 TVs, two are HDTV. Right now the cable comes in the house to a 4-way splitter. Will this not work for HD satellite? OTA antenna? What type, from whom, recommended installer, .... Other considerations? Advice please.



I live near you. I have an OTA antenna pointed at DC (funny, I can get great DC reception but almost no Baltimore reception). I use OTA for DC HD locals and Comcast for everything else. BTW, I was a long time DirecTV customer from the time they came out in 1994 until 2008.


You won't get anywhere with DirecTV. The only way you can do this is have them install at your house and then later call them and say you "moved" your service to a DC address but still get your bills online or to you address. I "moved" to my fathers house in Tulsa OK one March for a month so that I could get local ACC basketball tournament games in HD.


Someday all the channels on Comcast will be digital and HD and you'll get those DC stations in HD.


----------



## mchief99




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/15672523
> 
> 
> Comcast of Alexandria and Arlington customers!
> 
> Is anyone receiving SCI-HD, DISNEY-HD and ABC Family-HD?
> 
> 
> I have not been able to receive them since last Friday and these 3 seem to ALWAYS go out for some reason. Anyone else experiencing this?



Haven't seen any problem with the above channels.


----------



## budmaca1

What kind of OTA do you have? Who installed? Roof mount? Attic? On dish? Cost? What prompted you to switch from DirecTV to Comcast?


I'd rather not leave Comcast; however, they are nickel and diming me to death. I'm paying $35 extra per month for one standard and two HD cable boxes. I signed up for their triple bundle (phone, TV, Internet), and at the end of the 12 month term, my cost will balloon for TV. If I switch to DirecTV, I'll save significantly on the base cost, the fees for HD and receivers, and get more HD channels.


----------



## phantomplebe

Now that I have my coat hanger antenna working I decided to hook it up to my HTPC (Avertv Combo tuner) and see what kind of reception I could get. Only problem is that it is in my basement, entirely below grade, but I figured I could at least try. I couldn't believe that media center actually detected pretty much all the Baltimore and DC stations and I even got great reception on a couple of them. This is with my antenna sitting on a shelf, top of the antenna about 2 feet below ground. Now I just need 100ft of coax so that I can put the antenna in the attic. I can't believe I actually got a picture from underground...


----------



## phantomplebe




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *budmaca1* /forum/post/15673946
> 
> 
> What kind of OTA do you have? Who installed? Roof mount? Attic? On dish? Cost? What prompted you to switch from DirecTV to Comcast?
> 
> 
> I'd rather not leave Comcast; however, they are nickel and diming me to death. I'm paying $35 extra per month for one standard and two HD cable boxes. I signed up for their triple bundle (phone, TV, Internet), and at the end of the 12 month term, my cost will balloon for TV. If I switch to DirecTV, I'll save significantly on the base cost, the fees for HD and receivers, and get more HD channels.



It is normally pretty easy to call Comcast at the end of your promotion, tell them you are going to Directv since its cheaper, and they will offer whatever the current promotion is.


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Onazuka* /forum/post/15673725
> 
> 
> I live near you. I have an OTA antenna pointed at DC (funny, I can get great DC reception but almost no Baltimore reception). I use OTA for DC HD locals and Comcast for everything else. BTW, I was a long time DirecTV customer from the time they came out in 1994 until 2008.
> 
> 
> You won't get anywhere with DirecTV. The only way you can do this is have them install at your house and then later call them and say you "moved" your service to a DC address but still get your bills online or to you address. I "moved" to my fathers house in Tulsa OK one March for a month so that I could get local ACC basketball tournament games in HD.



Wrong. My old HR10-250 and my current HR20s allow me to enter a secondary ZIP code. I've put in a Baltimore ZIP code, and it will download both the DC and Baltimore channel listings. Get DirecTV for the Baltimore feeds, put in a ZIP code for DC, and away you go.


----------



## markbulla

 http://mobile.broadcastingcable.com/...s_In_House.php 


:


----------



## systems2000

Doesn't that make you feel less stressed?


----------



## systems2000

Has WWPX-DT lost it's feed? I'm getting strong Quality and Strength, but there's no content.

UPDATE: Content is back.










I'm also noticing reception degredation (Signal Quality) of Baltimore stations, due to the ½" of ice on my CM3020 and Ice Fog.


----------



## mark_e




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *phantomplebe* /forum/post/15674230
> 
> 
> It is normally pretty easy to call Comcast at the end of your promotion, tell them you are going to Directv since its cheaper, and they will offer whatever the current promotion is.



That was pretty much my experience, but when my promotion ran out in Novemeber they told me it is now their policy not to back-to-back promos,even though there is a FIOS box on my lawn. They suggested I take their phone service and not even use it, but at the end of the year, no more savings. I ran it up through Comcast Cares







(that's what they call their executive resolution service) and was told that consistently. They gave me an internet and tv discount for 6 months, which is enough for me to get a good FIOS promo and revise the house infrastructure. Even without a promo, and with renting 2 additional STBs, it comes out over $1000 a year cheaper than my current landline and Comcast bills.


----------



## ceeaton




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15677262
> 
> 
> I'm also noticing reception degredation (Signal Quality) of Baltimore stations, due to the ½" of ice on my CM3020 and Ice Fog.



I had a funny thing happen today...with 1" of ice on my antenna, when I got home around 3pm, I was getting MPT at 75-80% on my CM7000, when I usually get it at 45-50% without the ice. Was it just a coincidence??? Or can ice help in some instances? You had a degraded signal, which is what I was expecting...


----------



## StevenJB

For some people a possible DTV transition delay from Feb 17 until Jun 12 won't make much difference or be of much help. The following is hilarious but unfortunately a lot of it is for real in the real world:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy-pD-M0rY4 


and then there is this:

http://dd.wcsx.com/?p=642


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *stevenjb* /forum/post/15681420
> 
> 
> for some people a possible dtv transition delay from feb 17 until jun 12 won't make much difference or be of much help. The following is hilarious but unfortunately a lot of it is for real in the real world:
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy-pd-m0ry4
> 
> 
> and then there is this:
> 
> http://dd.wcsx.com/?p=642



Hilarious


----------



## rustycruiser

For those of you looking for the 3D glasses for the Super Bowl commercial and/or Chuck episode, I managed to find them locally at a CVS. (Specificallly, at the CVS in Burtonsville at the corner of 29 and 198)


----------



## Marcus Carr

FYI, my nearest CVS didn't have them, so it's not all locations.


----------



## rustycruiser




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15691569
> 
> 
> FYI, my nearest CVS didn't have them, so it's not all locations.



They weren't very visible or displayed well at all, or even in the drinks aisle in the CVS I went to. Just a blue box with the glasses in flat sheets in it. The box did have Chuck on the front of it. I walked by it once before noticing it on a second trip by.


----------



## Marcus Carr

I searched the store thoroughly. They are only available in select CVS stores. I'm going to try K-Mart today. According to the 800 number they should be available at Target tomorrow.


----------



## afiggatt

My local Bloom grocery store (in north part of Sterling VA) has a stand with the 3D glasses. The stand was off in the bakery section. So some Bloom stores may have them. But the stand is easy to overlook.


----------



## systems2000

Which would also be Food Lion, to those who have them.


----------



## nottenst

The Chuck website has a list of stores


> Quote:
> Intel has produced over 125 million pairs of the 3D glasses, which are being distributed by PepsiCo through the SoBe Lifewater brand. The glasses are available at 25,000 SoBe Lifewater retail displays and are FREE to consumers. Some of the retail locations include:
> 
> 
> Kroger
> 
> Ralph's
> 
> Frys
> 
> Safeway/Vons
> 
> Supervalu
> 
> Food Lion
> 
> A & P
> 
> Pathmark
> 
> Coburns
> 
> Fresh Brands
> 
> Hy Vee
> 
> Nash Finch
> 
> Roundy's
> 
> Winn Dixie
> 
> K-Mart
> 
> Dollar General
> 
> Hess (select stores)
> 
> CVS (select geographies)
> 
> Meijer (on 1/31)
> 
> Target (on 1/31)



I'll probably be trying Safeway and Target this weekend.


----------



## markbulla

From Washingtonpost.com: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...012904496.html 


.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15697183
> 
> 
> From Washingtonpost.com: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...012904496.html
> 
> 
> .



Darn it!!

I wish they knew what they were doing. If people weren't confused before the will be now that some channels will switch and some won't. And with some of the converter boxes you will have to do a rescan every time that there are changes.


At least if they switched at the same time, you could do one rescan and be done with it.


what's going to hapen in the DC area with the stations? i really don't feel like going to half a dozen houses just so I can get a picture for my family and friends when there are changes. If they all decide to switch on the delayed date, i'll only need to do it once. but if they switch on different dates I'll have to do it multiple times which will be a PITA.


----------



## nottenst

On the way home I stopped off at Shoppers Food Warehouse and they had a display by one of the entrances with the Chuck 3D glasses.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/15697234
> 
> 
> 
> 
> what's going to hapen in the DC area with the stations?



I know that both WNUV CW Baltimore and WBFF Fox 45 are both planning on shutting down on February 17, 2009 at 11:59 PM. We have announcements on both channels to that effect.


:


----------



## ACW112983

Anyone know when/if we in Arlington will get Spike HD?


----------



## Marcus Carr

No glasses at the local K-Mart.


----------



## GregAnnapolis

There were glasses at the Giant (grocery store) in the Festival Plaza off Riva Rd in Annapolis, near the front of the store (kinda near the registers). As rustycruiser said, "Just a blue box with the glasses in flat sheets in it." I spotted it completely by accident; this was about a week ago.


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/15698486
> 
> 
> There were glasses at the Giant (grocery store) in the Festival Plaza off Riva Rd in Annapolis, near the front of the store (kinda near the registers). As rustycruiser said, "Just a blue box with the glasses in flat sheets in it." I spotted it completely by accident; this was about a week ago.



Weis in Glen Burnie/Pasadena had the display near the back... plenty of glasses. Possibly the Laurel stores, if they are still open.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15667985
> 
> 
> WTTG-DT Fox 5 has shown Raymond in HD. I've noticed it a number of times channel surfing. But I've seen it in SD sometimes as well. WTTG-DT appears to be erratic on whether they show Raymond in HD. Looking it up, Two and a Half Men started on CBS in 2003. Since it is on CBS, undoubtedly in HD from the start with that date. Might be that WDCA 20 missed the HD feed and had to fall back to the SD feed. HD syndication is still hit or miss.



Some of the posts in the HDTV Programming forum have suggested that most of the HD feeds for syndication are only sent over the satellite once rather than twice, so if you screw it up (or miss it entirely) you don't get an HD feed for the day.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15697551
> 
> 
> I know that both WNUV CW Baltimore and WBFF Fox 45 are both planning on shutting down on February 17, 2009 at 11:59 PM. We have announcements on both channels to that effect.



So far, no other stations in DC and Baltimore markets have filed to shut down on or before Feb. 17. Well, except for WNVC MHz 56 which has been dark since September and WNVT-DT MHz 30 which turned off it's analog in 2003. There are a large number of PBS stations among those who have already shut down or recently filed that they will do on Feb. 17. The reason given by most of the PBS stations or the state wide public station corporations is they did not budget for operating analog past Feb. 17 and don't have the funds on hand.


The odds are very good that Congress will enact a postponement of the final analog shutdown day to June 12, but allow stations to shut off analog before then. So far, in our markets, no word from MPT, WETA PBS 26, or WHUT PBS 32 on whether they will keep operating past Feb. 17. Wonder if MPT would keep the flag ship WMPT-TV 22 on the air, but shut down most of the other analog MPT stations. WHUT-TV 32 has a 5000 kW analog broadcast which must run up a hefty electric bill to operate. WETA-TV 26 is blocking WHAG-DT 25 from firing up a full power digital broadcast on UHF 26.


Among the commercial stations, I would think that NBC owned WRC 4 and Fox owned WTTG 5 & WDCA My 20 are almost certain to keep their analog until the end. Their analog is not blocking anyone and all they have to do is turn it off. WJLA ABC 7 and WUSA 9 are flash cutting back to their analog channel, so depends on if they want to go ahead and get it done. WUSA has the complication of turning over their UHF 34 broadcast to WPXW Ion 66 who might want to take it on Feb. 18.


In Baltimore, WBAL 11 is flash cutting to 11, but at a weak power. They may opt to keep analog going until the end. CBS owned WJZ 13 and Scripps owned WMAR 2 are doing a joint antenna and transmitter shuffle so they will have to work out together what they want to do. That leaves Fox owned WUTB 24 which is blocking WNVC-DT 56 from going on the air. Question is whether Fox would give a public station a break and shut down WUTB-TV 24 on Feb. 17 or not.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Got the 3D glasses today at Target at Mondawmin Mall. I got there at noon just before they were brought out. There were still plenty there when I left an hour later.


----------



## systems2000

Why is/was WTTG-TV running a 1KHz tone on the SAP? I noticed it at the start of Stargate Atlantis.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Fox 5 6pm news is in HD! Remotes in 4:3 SD.


----------



## machpost

Today's Wake Forest - Georgia Tech basketball game was produced in HD, but was carried in SD on WDCA. Just like last week's game of the week. What's going on? They showed several Nationals games last season, as well as ACC football, in HD.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Today's Wake Forest - Georgia Tech basketball game was produced in HD, but was carried in SD on WDCA. Just like last week's game of the week. What's going on? They showed several Nationals games last season, as well as ACC football, in HD.



I recall several times last season My 20 having issues broadcastng Nats games that MASN aired in HD, after verifying by calling MASN and letting them know My 20 was having issues. There is no good way to contact WDCA. The MASN feed of course, was blacked out. I'll see if SNF Mixer has any more info on this (he works for Raycom) and send him a private message.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/15704679
> 
> 
> I recall several times last season My 20 having issues broadcastng Nats games that MASN aired in HD, after verifying by calling MASN and letting them know My 20 was having issues. There is no good way to contact WDCA. The MASN feed of course, was blacked out. I'll see if SNF Mixer has any more info on this (he works for Raycom) and send him a private message.



They're currently (as of 8:15pm) showing the MD vs. Miami game in SD on WDCA and WNUV. The Wizards vs. Clippers game on WDCW 50 is in SD. I thought all Wizards home games were supposed to be in HD. Why is it that OTA sports is so hit or miss?


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/15705027
> 
> 
> They're currently (as of 8:15pm) showing the MD vs. Miami game in SD on WDCA and WNUV. The Wizards vs. Clippers game on WDCW 50 is in SD. I thought all Wizards home games were supposed to be in HD. Why is it that OTA sports is so hit or miss?



For what it's worth, it looks like the Miami - Maryland game isn't being produced in HD, but that doesn't excuse the fact that the available HD game earlier today wasn't broadcast in HD on WDCA. I seem to recall they had some issues with Raycom HD football games at the beginning of the season last fall, as well.


----------



## systems2000

Is anyone else noticing any audio issues with WUTB-DT tonight? Seems very low for the movie.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/15704243
> 
> 
> Fox 5 6pm news is in HD! Remotes in 4:3 SD.



At 10 they started out showing Talk Show, then went to the news. It was in SD at first. 16:9 SD footage during some reports. HD weather map.


----------



## afiggatt

It seems as if it was only yesterday that people were whining that WUSA-DT 9 was the only station in DC and Baltimore with HD local news...


Now we have 3 stations in DC and 2 in Baltimore with HD local news. As many predicted, WRC NBC 4 is the last of the big four in DC with local news in SD. And no word on when they will upgrade. Checking the WTTG-DT 10 PM Saturday news to see what the HD looks like - studio segments look good, but just how many commercial breaks do they have for this program???


----------



## URFloorMatt

Let's just say it's not an hour-long news program because they produce more content than all their thirty-minute competitors.


If speculation is correct and NBC4 will undergo the same "transformation" (i.e. gutting) that WNBC went through, we are indeed a ways off from local news in HD on WRC. That re-start took three months to accomplish, and WNBC was already HD before they started it. Honestly, if WRC is doing HD news before the end of the year, I'll be pleasantly surprised. I wish they'd get to it though; the new HD package they have for WNBC is very clean and slick.


And let's not forget that WRC is the only NBC affiliate in the top 26 markets without HD news. How deep into the DMA rankings will you be able to go without finding an NBC affiliate doing SD local news before WRC finally upgrades?


----------



## CycloneGT

FOX 5 News in HD.


----------



## cmc1002001

somone have a video caputure .Is the setup like Fox 29 in Philly for HD


----------



## Knicks_Fan

I'd be surprised if it isn't sometime in 2010 before we see WRC go "LOCALS ONLY" HD (I hate that new website) news. No HD news, no HD syndicated fare despite their supposedly having the equipment to do so.



> Quote:
> And let's not forget that WRC is the only NBC affiliate in the top 26 markets without HD news. How deep into the DMA rankings will you be able to go without finding an NBC affiliate doing SD local news before WRC finally upgrades?



Just the fact that you had to go down 26 positions says it all.


----------



## dg28

And oh the irony, WRC is the perrenial ratings leader for news in the D.C. market. Even after dumping George Michael and cutting costs they retain a large lead over their competitors. Now they're the only DC station without HD news. So the question is, for local news ratings purposes, does it matter?


I still would not be surprised to see WRC make the switch in conjuntion with the analog shut-off on Feb. 17.


----------



## systems2000

The only time HD would matter to me, is when there is a nice city shot for the weather. Like WBAL Inner Harbor shot. Is that HD yet?


----------



## lax01

FYI: Got 16 3-D glasses at Giant on Old Georgetown Road


----------



## Deezul

I got a set from 7-11; they had a huge stack behind the counter. Granted, the game is over, but if you want to watch Chuck Monday night, you still might find them.


And I got to say, I was more impressed with the Sobe commercial than the trailer.


----------



## Digital Rules

Looks like WTTG-5 is using stretch-o-vision now. YUK!!


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Deezul* /forum/post/15713097
> 
> 
> I was more impressed with the Sobe commercial than the trailer.



Agreed!


----------



## MrHifi

CH. 11 WBAL's audio for non Dolby Digital programs is so loud on Comcast Annapolis cable that it distorts. No other channel distorts or is this loud. I use a MOT 3416. Only Ch.11 overloads the amplification stages within the 3416. The problem is in the transmission not at my end.


On a related issue...When will WBAL and WJZ use DD exclusively? I normally use my LG 3410A HD DVR's to pick up WUSA and WRC. Both of these have superior audio to the Baltimore stations. Certainly no distortion occurs. BTW. If I use my 3410A's to capture the cable delivered WBAL, I get the same distortion from a too loud audio signal. It appears that Comcast is doing something wrong.


----------



## cmc1002001




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cmc1002001* /forum/post/15707282
> 
> 
> somone have a video caputure .Is the setup like Fox 29 in Philly for HD



Anyone know where on WTTG Fox 5's website they're offering a video screenshot of their news in HD


----------



## jacindc

Just did a Channel List check on my HD Tivo with Comcast cable cards, and I see channels 230 and 280 listed, but with no channel info.


230 doesn't have anything being broadcast, but 280 is the MLB network.


They're not listed in Comcast's lineup on their web site. (Spiffy online channel list and programming guide, finally. I stopped even trying to use it probably a year ago, so hadn't seen the upgrade.)


I see that Comcast's channel lineup still doesn't list Fox News HD (channel 222). I've had it coming in on my Tivo for at least a month (launched the same time as FXHD), but it never has any guide info.


----------



## Marcus Carr

During the Super Bowl there were local HD commercials on WBAL for BMW of Towson, The Maryland Lottery, and YWGC Realty.


----------



## CycloneGT

We had an HD ad for Giant Food in DC.


----------



## Mike20878




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15702879
> 
> 
> Got the 3D glasses today at Target at Mondawmin Mall. I got there at noon just before they were brought out. There were still plenty there when I left an hour later.



I picked some up at my local Safeway. They were just sitting up at the customer service counter in a tray. The manager said they didn't send him a display.


----------



## Mike20878




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Deezul* /forum/post/15713097
> 
> 
> I got a set from 7-11; they had a huge stack behind the counter. Granted, the game is over, but if you want to watch Chuck Monday night, you still might find them.
> 
> 
> And I got to say, I was more impressed with the Sobe commercial than the trailer.



Ugh... I missed it cuz my two year-old grabbed my glasses after the movie trailer.


----------



## msmckay

Over the last months I have noticed that digital WRC 4-1 has had a very week signal. I have the same problem with 45-1. 50-1, and 54-1. Sometimes they come in fine but mostly not. I see that they are all in the same frequemcy range 36 - 54 (600 - 715MHz). Is there some reason why these channels have lousy reception? Could it have something to do with the analog to digital transition?

I have a Radio shack VU-190XR in my attic with a distribution amplifier.

Panasonic PT-5-LCX64 HDTV

Location: South of Purcellville in Loudoun county 36.5 miles from the transmitter (4)


----------



## kurbkidc

I am in Manassas and along Lomond Dr South. I am looking to switch to Fios. I dont see CSN HD being available in my area according to verizon. Can anyone in my area with Fios confirm if they do or dont carry this channel. Seems dumb to not carry it. Thanks!


----------



## Tom Harms

Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic HD is #576


----------



## kurbkidc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Tom Harms* /forum/post/15717466
> 
> 
> Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic HD is #576



Tom,

Thanks for the prompt reply. I see you are springfield. Are you sure we are on the same system and that i would get the channel? I dont wanna switch if they dont carry that channel. Again, thanks!


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *msmckay* /forum/post/15717133
> 
> 
> Over the last months I have noticed that digital WRC 4-1 has had a very week signal. I have the same problem with 45-1. 50-1, and 54-1



How close is the distribution amp to the antenna? You want the distribution as close as possible to the antenna.


I personally would go with a Channel Master 7777 pre-amp instead of a distribution amp at your near fringe location. It will allow you to boost the signal right at the antenna before the signal loses strength in the coax cable run. I am assuming putting the antenna outside is not an option.


It's quite normal for the signal strengths to vary on different channels at different times. I find it necessary to rotate my antenna at times even though all the stations are coming from the exact same direction.


----------



## Tom Harms




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kurbkidc* /forum/post/15717501
> 
> 
> Tom,
> 
> Thanks for the prompt reply. I see you are springfield. Are you sure we are on the same system and that i would get the channel? I dont wanna switch if they dont carry that channel. Again, thanks!



Think we are in the Northern Virginia/Washington DC area, but I get my info from here:
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/vzfiostv


----------



## kurbkidc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Tom Harms* /forum/post/15717466
> 
> 
> Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic HD is #576



Tom,

I just checked all springfield zip codes and they do indeed show the channel on the lineup, but my zip says it isnt available. Also, you are in a different county than I am, so I could see the lineup being different.


AVS Forum Readers,

Any others out there, maybe in my locale, with any further info?


Thanks Tom/Everybody


----------



## Knicks_Fan

WBAL really angered their viewers yesterday during the Super Bowl, shrinking down the screen during Springsteen's concert for the Maryland Lottery numbers, and constantly displaying a "Ravens Broadcast Team" logo in lower right during the entire game.


Apparantly, the Lottery draw is required to be on at 8:10pm. Couldn't they have made an exception for one night. I am not going to get into the whole discussion (like over on dcrtv.net) about if you were missing anything with the Boss' performance last night.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kurbkidc* /forum/post/15717575
> 
> 
> Tom,
> 
> I just checked all springfield zip codes and they do indeed show the channel on the lineup, but my zip says it isnt available. Also, you are in a different county than I am, so I could see the lineup being different.
> 
> 
> AVS Forum Readers,
> 
> Any others out there, maybe in my locale, with any further info?



On Verizon Fios, the entire Washington Metro area gets the same channel line-up, except for the public/educational/government channels. To get the channel line-up for Verizon Fios, go to http://www22.verizon.com/Residential...nnelLineup.htm . The PDF files were last updated in November, but with the exception of HSN (not) HD and Encore HD which were added several months ago, the HD line-up is accurate as of today. 593 Golf HD has been added in other markets and should show up here soon (here being VHO 4 in Verizon parlance). The other two Fios line-ups in the VHO 4 region are for Anne Arundel/Howard County in MD which gets both DC and Baltimore broadcast locals and Baltimore which gets just the Baltimore stations.


----------



## kurbkidc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15717861
> 
> 
> On Verizon Fios, the entire Washington Metro area gets the same channel line-up, except for the public/educational/government channels. To get the channel line-up for Verizon Fios, go to http://www22.verizon.com/Residential...nnelLineup.htm . The PDF files were last updated in November, but with the exception of HSN (not) HD and Encore HD which were added several months ago, the HD line-up is accurate as of today. 593 Golf HD has been added in other markets and should show up here soon (here being VHO 4 in Verizon parlance). The other two Fios line-ups in the VHO 4 region are for Anne Arundel/Howard County in MD which gets both DC and Baltimore broadcast locals and Baltimore which gets just the Baltimore stations.



afiggatt,

That was some good info there! Thank you so much for that.







I guess there is an error on Verizons listing for my zip. Damn you internets! (shakes fist at sky) Glad to hear I will be able to see my Caps in HD. Again, thank you and have a great one.


----------



## carltonrice

I was stunned that WBAL did this in the middle of the Springsteen half-time. I was at a Superbowl party and watching on an analog set, so it occurred both on the analog and digital broadcasts. And if this is contractually required, it makes one wonder why a network affil would sign up to interrupt their 8 pm programming for something that anyone can read in a newspaper or get online. Had I been recording the Springsteen concert, I'd have been perturbed, but I guess that's what the broadcast/entertainment industry has come to now. Perhaps the half time entertainment should have it in their contract that no local affil can interfere with the broadcast performance.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/15717625
> 
> 
> WBAL really angered their viewers yesterday during the Super Bowl, shrinking down the screen during Springsteen's concert for the Maryland Lottery numbers, and constantly displaying a "Ravens Broadcast Team" logo in lower right during the entire game.
> 
> 
> Apparantly, the Lottery draw is required to be on at 8:10pm. Couldn't they have made an exception for one night. I am not going to get into the whole discussion (like over on dcrtv.net) about if you were missing anything with the Boss' performance last night.


----------



## msmckay

"


> Quote:
> How close is the distribution amp to the antenna? You want the distribution as close as possible to the antenna.
> 
> 
> I personally would go with a Channel Master 7777 pre-amp instead of a distribution amp at your near fringe location.



I have the distribution next to the antenna (6 ft) mainly because cables take different paths in the house. All cable is RG-6 Quad Shield.


The odd thing is that the signals from 5-1, 7-1 and 9-1 all remain strong while 4-1 completely dissapears.


----------



## afiggatt

WTTG-DT Fox 5 had Seinfeld in HD tonight at 7:30 PM.


BTW, for those who get the Salisbury stations OTA, both WBOC CBS 16 and WDPB PBS 64 have filed notices with the FCC that they plan to shut their analog broadcast down on Feb. 17, even if Congress enacts a delay.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *msmckay* /forum/post/15720151
> 
> 
> "
> 
> 
> I have the distribution next to the antenna (6 ft) mainly because cables take different paths in the house. All cable is RG-6 Quad Shield.
> 
> 
> The odd thing is that the signals from 5-1, 7-1 and 9-1 all remain strong while 4-1 completely dissapears.



Others here have mentioned issues with channel 4.1. I would suggest trying moving the antenna to a different spot in the attic to find a better sweet spot. It must be a bear to manuever that monster in the attic though.


I ran into a similar issue also when helping a friend with receiving channel 4.1 in Manassas. We moved the roof mouted antenna only 6 inches and it solved the problem.


----------



## machpost

Maryland Public Television still can't decide how the hell it wants to present its in-house produced widescreen SD Motorweek on its flagship station. This week: back to windowboxed. This is getting ridiculous.


----------



## dmulvany

I noticed for the first time tonight that WRC wasn't able to show any real-time (live) captions of either type (analog or digital) for their digital channel, 4.1, at least at 7:30 pm or 11 pm Monday night (and at those times, real-time captioning had to be provided). Thankfully it did show pre-recorded captions for "Chuck," "Heroes," and "Medium," but I had to switch to the analog channel to see any live captions for the news at 11 pm.


(Note: I *was* able to see real-time captioning for the Tonight Show. It'll be interesting to see whether locally-transmitted realtime-captioning for local news will show up tomorrow.)


I know that WTTG and WDCA just switched to an HD caption encoder on late on January 30th and are still working out problems, and captions had been missing on those channels for a while this weekend.


[Pre-recorded captions of both kinds are inconsistent for 20.1. They didn't show up at all at 11:30 pm tonight for "Seinfeld" for either the digital or analog channel even though they showed up earlier for "King of the Hill" via my Insignia converter box--but not for my 2006 Sharp HDTV.]


Accumulating captions are still showing up from 7.1 on my Samsung HDTV for programs like "The Bachelor."


Part of the problem may be that a lot of station engineers don't realize they need to work with their DTV MPEG encoder to extract the caption data and re-insert it, and if they don't do that properly, the caption data gets corrupted.


Dana


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kurbkidc* /forum/post/15717501
> 
> 
> Tom,
> 
> Thanks for the prompt reply. I see you are springfield. Are you sure we are on the same system and that i would get the channel? I dont wanna switch if they dont carry that channel. Again, thanks!




It's 576 here in Woodbridge.


----------



## DRal

I am moving out to Vienna VA and would like to get opinion on what provider I should go with Cox, FIOS or Direct TV? I would like HD DVR, just need that for one room. In my other rooms I was just planning on using basic cable so do not need a box but would like the ability to tune in QAM channels, I know I will not get that with Direct TV so QAM is not too important. Will be looking to get Internet service as well.


All input is appreciated.


Thanks


----------



## systems2000

WWPX-DT has been off the air since before 09:00. Anyone know what's happening there? I'm getting "Signal Strength," but no "Signal Quality." Even the Sub-Channels.


----------



## kurbkidc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/15721989
> 
> 
> It's 576 here in Woodbridge.



Thanks aaronwt!


I have made my decision and will be switching to FIOS. I'm looking forward to all the new (to me anyways) HD channels they have.


----------



## Marcus Carr

E* has added Fox News HD.

http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-net...p-running.html


----------



## CycloneGT

Supposedly there is more expected on Wednesday. Considering that FOX and Viacom and two biggest hold outs, this could really shore up Dish's HD lineup.


----------



## joblo





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DRal* /forum/post/15723804
> 
> 
> I am moving out to Vienna VA and would like to get opinion on what provider I should go with Cox, FIOS or Direct TV?



No experience with DirecTV, but I currently have both Cox and FiOS.


FiOS definitely has more HD, including most, but not all, of the HD channels Cox has. The difference in value for the premium services is striking: Cox has 4 premium HDs, one per service, while FiOS has over 40 (FORTY) HD premiums at a comparable price.


OTOH, for everything non-HD, Cox PQ is clearly superior. FiOS really doesn’t have any SD at all, they have HD and LD. FiOS non-HD material, including all the non-HD on-Demand stuff, is comparable to VHS EP or a 6-hour DVD recording in quality.


I like the FiOS DVR a little better, but YMMV. The Cox DVR occasionally fails to record programs or deletes programs prematurely for no apparent reason. But the FiOS DVR will not start a recording unless it has a generous amount of space available to complete it, and sometimes does not add space back to the free pool after a program is deleted until you reboot it. This behavior is more predictable than the Cox DVR, but still annoying, especially when you want to start a long live recording while still watching something else you then plan to delete.


FiOS is all digital; no analog, but the basic tier is all clear-QAM. Cox has a full digital simulcast, but also continues to provide basic and expanded basic tiers in analog. Most broadcast digitals, including all broadcast HD, are available in clear QAM on both services, but MHz channels and Weatherscan are clear on FiOS, scrambled on Cox. PEG channels are clear on FiOS, but the digital simulcasts of these are scrambled on Cox, as is all of expanded basic, which will probably go digital anyway later this year. Finally, Cox is using Switched Digital for many channels, and seems to be moving towards an all Switched Digital system. No Switched Digital so far on FiOS.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/15725268
> 
> 
> OTOH, for everything non-HD, Cox PQ is clearly superior. FiOS really doesn't have any SD at all, they have HD and LD. FiOS non-HD material, including all the non-HD on-Demand stuff, is comparable to VHS EP or a 6-hour DVD recording in quality.



Anybody else experience this with Verizon?


----------



## Digital Rules

IMO, Verizon FIOS SD is as about good as it gets for cable/satellite. It's light years better than any VHS player. Some channels are compressed(especially premium movie channels), but I don't think Verizon is doing the compressing.


I do feel the local SD channels look slightly better with my CECB; but still excellent overall.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/15724221
> 
> 
> Supposedly there is more expected on Wednesday. Considering that FOX and Viacom and two biggest hold outs, this could really shore up Dish's HD lineup.



Fox Business SD has been added. HD is coming soon. (Maybe tomorrow?)


http://www.broadcastingcable.com/art...sh_Network.php


----------



## CycloneGT

Yep. On the last Charlie Chat Dish put up a bunch of Viacom channels and a few fox channels as their "coming soon in HD" list. I think that there was also a press release about Dish and Viacom signing a deal. Dish has likely been holding off on adding these new HD channels until Feb since there will be a price increase at the same time.


Its easier for people to stomach a price increase when there is actually new channels in the lineup.


I do wonder what Dish is going to do with the SD local channels once Analog goes off the air? I know that they will carry a SD version of the digital channels, but will it be letterboxed or cropped?


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/15726188
> 
> 
> I do wonder what Dish is going to do with the SD local channels once Analog goes off the air? I know that they will carry a SD version of the digital channels, but will it be letterboxed or cropped?



One weird thing is that some SD NBC shows which used to be letterboxed (as recently as December) are just cropped now. I don't know if it is DishNetwork or NBC doing it.


----------



## dmulvany




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dmulvany* /forum/post/15721687
> 
> 
> I noticed for the first time tonight that WRC wasn't able to show any real-time (live) captions of either type (analog or digital) for their digital channel, 4.1, at least at 7:30 pm or 11 pm Monday night (and at those times, real-time captioning had to be provided).



I've learned that these captioning problems were due to some kind of problematic interaction with the text crawl announcing school closures and were fixed by 11 a.m. this morning.


Dana


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/15726188
> 
> 
> 
> I do wonder what Dish is going to do with the SD local channels once Analog goes off the air? I know that they will carry a SD version of the digital channels, but will it be letterboxed or cropped?



We all filled out forms with that question, to let Dish, Direct, Comcast, Fios, etc. know what we preferred. I can't speak for the other stations, but WNUV and WBFF put down letterbox, unless they have AFD (active format description) working. The WBFF morning news has an L-bar that a lot ov viewers like, and if they were to crop the sides, the info in the vertical part of the L-bar would be lost.


Currently we are sending out a letterbox AFD, but I'm working on a way to change it per program so that those still with analog TVs won't have to change the zoom on their digital converter box to get rid of the black bars,


.


----------



## inlogan

I just saw this on WJLA and had to take a pic. They must be cutting the copy editors in this "ecomony."


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/15725774
> 
> 
> IMO, Verizon FIOS SD is as about good as it gets for cable/satellite.



Then you either have better Verizon FiOS quality than I do, or you haven't seen really good SD, such as that provided by Cox digital cable or Bell ExpressVu. Dish Network SD is a notch below that, but still better than Verizon, IMO.


I should note that in making these comparisons, I am focusing primarily on resolution/ detail/sharpness rather than other aspects of PQ. Verizon SD does not have the instability of tape, for instance, or the digital compression artifacts of 6-hour DVD recordings. But it is definitely a *softer* picture than what is available from other providers. The difference might not be all that noticeable on a smaller screen CRT, but on an HD-capable large screen, the difference between comparable channels on Cox and Verizon is glaringly obvious. It's not a close call at all.


And despite Verizon's all-digital claim, there are actually analog video artifacts -- specifically the type of color moire that S-video luminance/chrominance separation eliminates -- visible in the crawls on Verizon's Weatherscan channel 49. The Cox version of this same channel, in addition to being sharper, has no such defects.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/15727455
> 
> 
> One weird thing is that some SD NBC shows which used to be letterboxed (as recently as December) are just cropped now. I don't know if it is DishNetwork or NBC doing it.



I just watched last night's Heroes and that was definitely letterboxed last year. WRC last night showed it as 4:3. I sent WRC a feedback question on their website to ask them about it.


----------



## mapper

Um, I beg to differ, while Cox may "look" sharper, it looks washed out, whereas Verizon's PQ is quite clear with little artifacts at all.


And Verizon does not modify the compression and picture quality(except for the current IMG bug) on its channels, therefor, The Weather Channel is/was providing a worse feed for Weatherscan.


Channels like Nickelodeon, CNN, Disney, ESPN, and Discovery have looked sharper compared to Cox(I did a side by side comparison before dumping Cox). In fact, because of the 6(or so) SD channels per QAM slot on Verizon, I thought that all customers would not see picture quality tumble. Guess I was wrong. In addition, the bit rate on Cox's SD channels floats near 3 mbps, and Verizon runs whatever the provider supplies them with. But I suppose YMMV, maybe bad RG-6 running to the FiOS you saw?


EDIT: Haha, I didn't even notice the WJLA picture. Albritton must have some serious cash flow issues to remove spell check.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15728258
> 
> 
> We all filled out forms with that question, to let Dish, Direct, Comcast, Fios, etc. know what we preferred. I can't speak for the other stations, but WNUV and WBFF put down letterbox, unless they have AFD (active format description) working.



Oh gosh, I hope they don't do that, because that will mean all 4:3 content, such as what was on 45 and 54 just a few minutes ago, will be windowboxed. And I think cable/sat companies will get complaints about that.


But if you think that's the right thing to do, then why aren't you letterboxing your HD signal on analog 45 and 54 right now, just as WJLA is doing with its analog simulcast on LP channel 49? Why should cable/sat companies letterbox American Idol and ACC Basketball for their analog/SD customers when you are not doing that for your OTA analog viewers?


Fortunately, in the cable and satellite signals I'm seeing, the trend seems to be toward zooming/cropping, which best preserves what analog cable and satellite viewers are accustomed to.


Note, btw, that AFD has to be processed either at the cable/satellite headend, or in the feed provided by the station itself. Most analog TVs and STBs do not have zoom functionality, either manual or automatic.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Here we go again, another ACC RAYCOM game available in HD, and My 20 is having problems. For a brief moment at the start, the game was in HD (with choppy sound), but has been in SD since. The station tells me "engineering is aware and working on the problem"


Why doesn't WDCA work to fix this issue once and for all?


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/15729137
> 
> 
> Um, I beg to differ, while Cox may "look" sharper, it looks washed out, whereas Verizon's PQ is quite clear with little artifacts at all.



I see no difference in contrast between Verizon and Cox's digital channels. Cox analog channels do have noise and other analog defects, but that is not a fair comparison.



> Quote:
> And Verizon does not modify the compression and picture quality(except for the current IMG bug) on its channels, therefor, The Weather Channel is/was providing a worse feed for Weatherscan.



Well, then I would suggest Verizon should demand that The Weather Channel fix that. It's not like the end user has any control over it. Any way you slice it, it's Verizon's responsibility.



> Quote:
> But I suppose YMMV, maybe bad RG-6 running to the FiOS you saw?



Dude, seriously... you cannot possibly believe that, can you?


I have maybe 15 feet of brand new Verizon-supplied RG-6 plus one splitter between the fiber drop and the STB, after which it's HDMI to the screen.


But that's irrelevant, because bad RG-6 *cannot* downrez digital video. If the RG-6 were bad, the picture would pixelate or macroblock or display other digital defects.


The resolution is what it is, period. And it ain't as good as Cox. Maybe it *was* as good as Cox _at your house, when you dropped Cox,_ but right here, right now, it ain't.


Edit: And if the notion of RG-6 downrezzing isn't absurd enough, consider how smart that RG-6 must be to so perfectly distinguish the SD and HD signals it's carrying. Because Cox and Verizon HD look identical, it's only the SD that looks different.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/15728908
> 
> 
> Then you either have better Verizon FiOS quality than I do, or you haven't seen really good SD, such as that provided by Cox digital cable or Bell ExpressVu. Dish Network SD is a notch below that, but still better than Verizon, IMO.
> 
> 
> I should note that in making these comparisons, I am focusing primarily on resolution/ detail/sharpness rather than other aspects of PQ. Verizon SD does not have the instability of tape, for instance, or the digital compression artifacts of 6-hour DVD recordings. But it is definitely a *softer* picture than what is available from other providers.



You do know that the reason for the soft SD on the Fios STBs is because of the SD channel image processing software in the last several IMG releases? This is supposed to be fixed in the next IMG release, 1.6.1, which is in beta testing. The SD channels on a clear QAM tuner look fine. Most of the SD channels look ok to me, but then with a 100+ HD channels, the SD channels become less important. Also, my setup is component cables to the TV with 480i output for the SD channels which might be better than other approaches. But, I have not followed the details. But this is a Fios issue, which is better discussed in the Fios specific threads.


----------



## machpost

The Maryland-UNC game on WDCA is in SD yet again, even though this one is definitely being produced in HD. Apparently WDCA is suddenly incapable of syndicated HD


----------



## Knicks_Fan

I think their engineers gave up... again. Well played, MY 20.

Will this be fixed by next week's UNC-Duke game? Doubtful.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15729495
> 
> 
> You do know that the reason for the soft SD on the Fios STBs is because of the SD channel image processing software in the last several IMG releases? This is supposed to be fixed in the next IMG release, 1.6.1, which is in beta testing.



No, I didn't. I haven't been reading Verizon or STB threads. Thanks for letting me know.



> Quote:
> The SD channels on a clear QAM tuner look fine.



Edit: Ok, this bothered me a bit, because although I thought I recalled checking the broadcast SD signals via Verizon clearQAM when it was first installed, and thinking they weren’t as good as they should be, I couldn’t figure out why that should be the case, so I decided to look again. And it seems you are right. Through a TiVoHD without a cable card, the Verizon and OTA versions seem to be the same.


However, the color moire on Verizon channel 49 is present on every tuner, including TiVoHD without a cable card.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15729495
> 
> 
> But this is a Fios issue, which is better discussed in the Fios specific threads.



But I’m not discussing that. Note that I’ve edited the subject line of the previous posts and this one to indicate clearly that I am comparing Cox with Verizon, as they exist locally, which is what the o.p. asked about.


While the software issue you mentioned is interesting and perhaps explanatory, it doesn’t change the fact that, because I'm currently relying on provider-supplied STBs, SD currently looks better to me on Cox than Verizon, which again, is in answer to the original question.


----------



## cpldc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *msmckay* /forum/post/15720151
> 
> 
> "
> 
> 
> I have the distribution next to the antenna (6 ft) mainly because cables take different paths in the house. All cable is RG-6 Quad Shield.
> 
> 
> The odd thing is that the signals from 5-1, 7-1 and 9-1 all remain strong while 4-1 completely dissapears.



WRC-DT is on channel 48, which is also used by a few low-power stations and relays not too far from where you are. I think the closest is WAZW 48 from Winchester. Fluctuations in propagation of said station could explain why WRC goes away while the others don't. I'm not aware of nearby stations using the DT frequencies of the others.


Unfortunately, since they are a low-power station they are under no obligation to shut their analog off anytime soon, and WRC is staying on that same channel post-transition. If this is indeed the source of your problem, which I suppose you could check by viewing channel 48 analog while experiencing problems with WRC-DT, your best course of action would be repositioning or using a different UHF antenna.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cpldc* /forum/post/15730180
> 
> 
> WRC-DT is on channel 48, which is also used by a few low-power stations and relays not too far from where you are. I think the closest is WAZW 48 from Winchester. Fluctuations in propagation of said station could explain why WRC goes away while the others don't. I'm not aware of nearby stations using the DT frequencies of the others.



WAZW 48 should only interfere with WRC-DT 4 reception at the western edge of Loudoun county are and is clearly a problem on the western side of the Blue Ridge. msmckay didn't say where he was, so I overlooked his post (thread has been busy lately also). WAZW-LD does have a construction permit for a digital broadcast on UHF 46, but don't know when they plan to switch to that. Of course, operating on UHF 46 will likely interfere with those who get WBFF-DT 45 (46) from out near Winchester and western Loudoun.


msmckay, do you get WDCW-DT 50, WETA-DT 26, WHUT-DT 32? Those might give us a better understanding of your reception issues. Your location in terms of the town would help too.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/15729683
> 
> 
> While the software issue you mentioned is interesting and perhaps explanatory, it doesn’t change the fact that, because I'm currently relying on provider-supplied STBs, SD currently looks better to me on Cox than Verizon, which again, is in answer to the original question.



Well, that's not entirely accurate, since the IMG bug affects only the HD-capable STBs. Standard STBs are unaffected.


----------



## clifburns

Why all this discussion of SD picture quality and cropping in the HDTV forum? People with HDTVs don't care whether Heroes is cropped to 4:3 on the local NBC affiliate's SD channel, since it isn't cropped on their, er, *HD* channel.


What next? Will we have a discussion of what cellphone provides the best video?


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *clifburns* /forum/post/15732214
> 
> 
> Why all this discussion of SD picture quality and cropping in the HDTV forum? People with HDTVs don't care whether Heroes is cropped to 4:3 on the local NBC affiliate's SD channel, since it isn't cropped on their, er, *HD* channel.
> 
> 
> What next? Will we have a discussion of what cellphone provides the best video?




Which one?


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/15731585
> 
> 
> Well, that's not entirely accurate, since the IMG bug affects only the HD-capable STBs. Standard STBs are unaffected.



More useful information. Thank you.


( Too bad I couldn't get any of this info from Verizon. But I know that's a vain hope....)


Still, I don't have any standard STBs, and the o.p. specified that s/he wanted one HD DVR and the ability to see clear QAM on other TVs. So while we have now established that the limited number of clear QAM SD channels will look fine on those other TVs, for the rest of the SD channels, my assessment stands. They look really bad to me (compared to Cox, Dish, etc.), and apparently, they will for hir too, unless s/he happens to like very soft pictures.


And btw, the fact that this bug has been out there for _*the last several IMG releases*_ is inexcusable, imo. I'm sorry if Verizon FiOS is a sacred cow for some people, but I call em as I see em. Verizon has a lot of great HD that nobody else has right now, which is why I have it, but bad is bad, and on a Verizon HD box, the SD looks bad - as in *awful*.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *clifburns* /forum/post/15732214
> 
> 
> Why all this discussion of SD picture quality and cropping in the HDTV forum? People with HDTVs don't care



Speak for yourself. Until *every* channel is HD, I care very much what SD looks like on my HDTV.



> Quote:
> whether Heroes is cropped to 4:3 on the local NBC affiliate's SD channel, since it isn't cropped on their, er, *HD* channel.



And occasionally I do glance at the analog TVs in the kitchen and other rooms, so I care about that, too, thank you very much. And the picture on those TVs is small enough as it is, thank you, without having it windowboxed by the cable/satco, as Mark Bulla's suggestion would have it.


----------



## jeepmon




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15720463
> 
> 
> WTTG-DT Fox 5 had Seinfeld in HD tonight at 7:30 PM.



Seinfeld was once again in HD last night, however, both nights the sound has been off drastically. Has anyone else noticed this?


I'm watching thought FIOS QAM, haven't check with the STB or OTR.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

 On the DCRTV mailbag , there is some discussion of what happened with the audio and video of the UNC/MD game on RaycomI added a thread on the HDTV Programming forum.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *clifburns* /forum/post/15732214
> 
> 
> Why all this discussion of SD picture quality and cropping in the HDTV forum? People with HDTVs don't care whether Heroes is cropped to 4:3 on the local NBC affiliate's SD channel, since it isn't cropped on their, er, *HD* channel.
> 
> 
> What next? Will we have a discussion of what cellphone provides the best video?



It has long been the practice of the HDTV forums to also discuss the impact of the transition from NTSC to ATSC broadcasting. Therefore Digital SD broadcasting has always been a part of the HDTV forums. Why do we care?


Well, the MSOs that carry the 4:3 analog channels today will have to substitute them with their digital equivalents when the analog signal stops. For the most part that means a 16:9 720p or 1080i signal will have to be down converted to 4:3 480i. Converting is no problem, those Coupon Eligible converter boxes do that for $40. But we wonder what Comcast, DirectTV, Dish, and COX are going to do since they have to make a choice on the aspect that will be presented. Will they letterbox the 16:9 signal which will preserve the full programming screen, or will they crop in to give a larger full screen view?


While I enjoy HD on my Plasma, there are still two 27" NTSC CRT TVs that work just find in my house and I will likely continue to use them for a long time. So it is of interest to see how this is going to play out.


----------



## msmckay

afiggatt, cpldc


Thanks for helping. I am out in western Loudoun County, about 5 miles south of Purcellville. I didn't know about WAZW 48 from Winchester. I have never seen it when I scan the channels.


WDCW 50-1 and WNUV 54-1 also have very low signal strength although they have been viewable in the past. 54-1 is usually stronger than 50-1

26-1 - 26-1 Always come in strong. 32-1 is Good but I don't check it regularly.


Just to make things more convoluted, my HD TIVO recorded Heroes Monday night with no breaking up or pixilation! Tuesday night there was no signal at WRC 4-1.


I think I will move the attic monster antenna a few feet and see what happens


----------



## DRal




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/15725268
> 
> 
> No experience with DirecTV, but I currently have both Cox and FiOS.
> 
> 
> I like the FiOS DVR a little better, but YMMV. The Cox DVR occasionally fails to record programs or deletes programs prematurely for no apparent reason. But the FiOS DVR will not start a recording unless it has a generous amount of space available to complete it, and sometimes does not add space back to the free pool after a program is deleted until you reboot it. This behavior is more predictable than the Cox DVR, but still annoying, especially when you want to start a long live recording while still watching something else you then plan to delete.
> 
> 
> FiOS is all digital; no analog, but the basic tier is all clear-QAM. Cox has a full digital simulcast, but also continues to provide basic and expanded basic tiers in analog. Most broadcast digitals, including all broadcast HD, are available in clear QAM on both services, but MHz channels and Weatherscan are clear on FiOS, scrambled on Cox. PEG channels are clear on FiOS, but the digital simulcasts of these are scrambled on Cox, as is all of expanded basic, which will probably go digital anyway later this year. Finally, Cox is using Switched Digital for many channels, and seems to be moving towards an all Switched Digital system. No Switched Digital so far on FiOS.



Thank you everyone for your input. While there was some great info provided I did not get a definitive answer. Maybe I will order Cox test it for a few months then test FIOS for a few months then make a determination on my own.


Thank you


----------



## systems2000

480i doesn't mean 4:3.


I get nothing but 480i with my CECB's and still receive 16:9 programming. I believe the jist of what markbulla is trying to do is configure his equipment to let the receiving equipment automatically determine the "Aspect Ratio" (ie. my CECB or your television or VCR/DVR/DVD-R/DVD-RW).


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *clifburns* /forum/post/15732214
> 
> 
> Why all this discussion of SD picture quality and cropping in the HDTV forum? People with HDTVs don't care whether Heroes is cropped to 4:3 on the local NBC affiliate's SD channel, since it isn't cropped on their, er, *HD* channel.



I do have an HDTV but I was watching 24 in HD at the time and recording Heroes, which on my recorder was coming in as an SD signal. Before, when it was letterboxed, I could use zoom to get a full picture on my HDTV, now I can get a slightly distorted picture or watch it as 4:3 and miss part of the image.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*DTV Transition Date Delay - Senate & House approve, headed to President*

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1113369


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15737245
> 
> *DTV Transition Date Delay - Senate & House approve, headed to President*
> 
> http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1113369


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15737245
> 
> *DTV Transition Date Delay - Senate & House approve, headed to President*



So what does this mean to us in Baltimore/DC land? When are the frequency changes going to happen now?


-John


----------



## systems2000

I saw a segment, on the 17:00 WBAL-TV News, reporting the vote on this Bill. At the end of the segment, they started to inform the viewer how to get information on the transition, while throwing up a graphic showing "14 Days" to Feb. 17th/18th cutoff.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/15738225
> 
> 
> So what does this mean to us in Baltimore/DC land? When are the frequency changes going to happen now?



In the Baltimore & DC markets, only Sinclair owned WBFF 45 and WNUV 54 have so far filed to shut off on February 17 even if Congress enacted a delay. Other stations may join them. I suspect many of the station owners and managers are still deciding what to do. The FCC is scheduled to have a major public meeting tomorrow where there may be new rules issued. As I posted a few days ago, my bet would be that NBC owned WRC 4, Fox owned WTTG 5 and WDCA 20 will keep their analog on the air until the end. We will see about the rest. The stations in DC may feel extra pressure to keep analog on the air than stations elsewhere.


The stations that are dependent on other stations turning off their analog or current digital - WNVC MHz 56, WHAG NBC 25, and WJAL 68 - to get full digital coverage may be stuck for four more months.


----------



## systems2000

I'm betting WJLA, WUSA, WBAL, WJZ, WHAG ,& WDCW will definitely go to post transition configurations.


I believe WRC, WBFF, WWPX, WUTB, WNUV, WTTG, WDCA, WETA, & WVPY are already where they should be.


I don't know what WWPB, WMAR, WPXW, WHUT, & WFDC will do.


----------



## lax01

Anybody noticing white horizontal lines on the left edge of the picture on ABC-HD (Scrubs and now Lost) via MoCo Comcast?


Very annoying...


----------



## imacdonald

Watching Fox45 at 10 pm and the first story had the interesting side effect of giving us surround sound wind while filming on location


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lax01* /forum/post/15739734
> 
> 
> Anybody noticing white horizontal lines on the left edge of the picture on ABC-HD (Scrubs and now Lost) via MoCo Comcast?
> 
> 
> Very annoying...



Just watched Lost via D* DVR, and I saw the lines too. So it must have been the network feed.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *msmckay* /forum/post/15734993
> 
> 
> WDCW 50-1 and WNUV 54-1 also have very low signal strength although they have been viewable in the past. 54-1 is usually stronger than 50-1
> 
> 26-1 - 26-1 Always come in strong. 32-1 is Good but I don't check it regularly.
> 
> ...
> 
> I think I will move the attic monster antenna a few feet and see what happens



Yes, move the antenna in the attic to see if that helps. Attics can have dead spots.


Analog WAZW-LP 48 shouldn't be that much of a problem south of Purcellville, but you could be in a location that is picking enough of a signal coming over the Blue Ridge off of the backlobe of the antenna to interfere with WRC-DT's UHF 48 signal. (Nominal coverage for WAZW-LP http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...=CA279607.html ). That you have low signal strength for WDCW-DT 50 which is currently on UHF 51 suggests that the greater dB signal per foot loss for the higher UHF channels for the cable run might be an issue.


The VU-190XR is a good VHF antenna, ok for UHF. If you still have problems with reception of the physical UHF stations after adjusting the antenna, you might want to look into getting a Channel Master pre-amp in place of the Radio Shack distribution amp. The Radio Shack distribution amps are not that highly regarded. Lots of useful info at http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ISSUES/erecting_antenna.html if you have not seen the web site.


----------



## lax01




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Deezul* /forum/post/15739985
> 
> 
> Just watched Lost via D* DVR, and I saw the lines too. So it must have been the network feed.



Weird...must be something wrong with the ABC source...audio was garbage as well...


----------



## CycloneGT

I saw the white line on Lost from our Dish Network feed.


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lax01* /forum/post/15739734
> 
> 
> Anybody noticing white horizontal lines on the left edge of the picture on ABC-HD (Scrubs and now Lost) via MoCo Comcast?



Huh? There is no _Scrubs_ tonight. On ABC it is last week's _Lost_ (enhanced), this week's _Lost_ and then _Life on Mars_.


It was not a network feed problem (and yes, I have proof).


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15729495
> 
> 
> You do know that the reason for the soft SD on the Fios STBs is because of the SD channel image processing software in the last several IMG releases? This is supposed to be fixed in the next IMG release, 1.6.1, which is in beta testing. The SD channels on a clear QAM tuner look fine. Most of the SD channels look ok to me, but then with a 100+ HD channels, the SD channels become less important. Also, my setup is component cables to the TV with 480i output for the SD channels which might be better than other approaches. But, I have not followed the details. But this is a Fios issue, which is better discussed in the Fios specific threads.



One Verizon FiOS respondent in VHO13 in the Seattle area on one of the discussion forums said that he had received the very first download of IMG 1.6.1 on 14 Jan and said that his SD PQ was now "HD quality" as a result of the new IMG update. However, because of the brand new audio problems caused by 1.6.1, the roll out to the other VHOs will be delayed. We here in VHO4 were supposed to get 1.6.1 on 18 Feb but I'm sure that date will certainly slip. Have you heard about or read about any updates as to when 1.6.1 will be rescheduled for VHO4?


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/15741463
> 
> 
> brand new audio problems caused by 1.6.1



oh gawd....



> Quote:
> One Verizon FiOS respondent in VHO13 in the Seattle area on one of the discussion forums



AVS thread? Verizon forum? Could you provide a source please, because now it looks like I may have to start paying attention...


Poor SD PQ I can live with, but bad audio will definitely displease me...


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15739148
> 
> 
> I'm betting WJLA, WUSA, WBAL, WJZ, WHAG ,& WDCW will definitely go to post transition configurations.



I’ll take that bet, at least as far as the DC stations are concerned. Fox 5 applied for nightlight service, and NBC 4 is O&O and sticking with its UHF digital. No way those guys will turn off analog, and that means ABC and CBS won’t either, because DC is a top 10 market, and so they’ll take heat from the networks if they try that.


Even in Baltimore, I have my doubts about Sinclair turning off Fox 45 analog unless the other majors do, also. Fox owns My24 in Baltimore, so putting Fox at a competitive disadvantage there might not be the smartest move if Sinclair wants to keep the Fox affiliation long term. (Especially in Baltimore, where they seem to like a game of musical affiliates every few years.







)


I know Sinclair has filed with the FCC to turn off 45 and 54, but I’m not sure I’ll believe it until I see it on Feb. 18.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lax01* /forum/post/15739734
> 
> 
> Anybody noticing white horizontal lines on the left edge of the picture on ABC-HD (Scrubs and now Lost) via MoCo Comcast?
> 
> 
> Very annoying...



I saw it on Lost and Life on Mars via PGCo Comcast last night. I am glad to know it wasn't my set.


----------



## Eben




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lax01* /forum/post/15739734
> 
> 
> Anybody noticing white horizontal lines on the left edge of the picture on ABC-HD (Scrubs and now Lost) via MoCo Comcast?
> 
> 
> Very annoying...



I saw these on both shows on DirecTV's WJLA. Don't know whether they were there OTA as I watched recordings of them.


----------



## Eben




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lax01* /forum/post/15740429
> 
> 
> Weird...must be something wrong with the ABC source...audio was garbage as well...



Yeah, my receiver said the audio was Dolby Digital, but it sounded flat and had no sense of "space" (surround).


----------



## kenrowe

105 HD telecasts for each team:

Orioles http://www.masnsports.com/pdfs/2009_...s_schedule.pdf 

Nationals http://www.masnsports.com/pdfs/2009_...s_schedule.pdf


----------



## CycloneGT

Yeah, it looks like MASN-HD will be 24/7 starting April 1st (no joke). Looks like it won't be on Dish again this year.

www.dcrtv.com


----------



## CycloneGT

I'm going to put together a table for the first post that will cover the analog cut off. I figured I'd put it here for critical comments before I paste it over to there. Plus I think that these tables are cool and I intend to update the grids on the first post with these tables eventually.


StationNetworkNTSC AnalogATSC DigitalProposed DateActual DateCommentWMARABC2386/12/09  WRCNBC4486/12/09  WTTGFOX5366/12/09  WJLAABC776/12/09  WUSACBS996/12/09  WBALNBC11116/12/09  WPXWION60386/12/09  WJZCBS13136/12/09  WFDCUNI14156/12/09  WDCAMyNet20356/12/09  WMPTPBS22426/12/09  WUTBMyNet24416/12/09  WETAPBS26276/12/09  WNVTMhz53306/12/09  WHUTPBS32336/12/09  WBFFFOX45462/17/09 Intends to shutdown NTSC on 2/17WDCWCW50506/12/09  WNUVCW54402/17/09 Intends to shutdown NTSC on 2/17WNVCMhz 246/12/09  WFPTPBS62286/12/09  WPAXION66436/12/09  WMPBPBS67296/12/09


----------



## Trip in VA

Will you include the Hagerstown area? It's in the DC DMA...


Also, WNVT's analog was on 53 rather than 30.


- Trip


----------



## CycloneGT

Even though Hagerstown is in the DC DMA, its really too far out for anyone in the DC area to receive. I've never been able to receive a signal from there and I'm on Mont county which is NW of DC, so I'm closer than most.


I'll correct the WNVT data.


Thanks


PS. I'll give $100 imaginary dollars to whoever can figure out how I can insert a Carriage Return inside of a cell in these vBulletin tables.


----------



## joblo

New rules posted: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_publi...FCC-09-6A1.pdf 


All stations intending to terminate on or before Feb. 17 must notify FCC *again* NLT 23:59, Monday, February 9, and update their 387s. So let's wait and see what Sinclair does now before making assumptions about 45 and 54.


----------



## systems2000

How can the FCC issue new rules, when it's not even LAW yet, and not supposed to be signed by President Barack Hussein Obama, until tomorrow afternoon.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/15741871
> 
> 
> oh gawd....
> 
> 
> AVS thread? Verizon forum? Could you provide a source please, because now it looks like I may have to start paying attention...
> 
> 
> Poor SD PQ I can live with, but bad audio will definitely displease me...



I don't remember exactly where and what forum that I saw the specific quote but it did stick out in my mind. Every single comment that I have read concerning IMG 1.6.1 as it relates to SD PQ has been very positive. That is to say that not once did I read a comment in which the respondent was not happy with the way that his SD PQ now looked as a result of 1.6.1 as compared to 1.6.0. The only question that I have now is how does the SD PQ under IMG 1.6.1 compare with IMG 1.5 which was before all of the SD PQ trouble started? The SD PQ with IMG 1.5 was absolutely drop-dead stunning in my opinion. Verizon is proposing an adjustable lever or sliding scale with five or so settings that the viewer will be able to adjust and set sharpness to his or her taste. My guess is that this new feature will arrive with the introduction of IMG 1.7.


BTW, the original audio issues involved the QIP7200 and QIP7216 STBs. The SD PQ problems were associated with only the QIP6200 and the QIP6416 STBs. If you have the 7XXX STB then your SD PQ should have remained excellent after the introduction of IMG 1.6.0 this past October. 7XXX STBs just encountered the audio, recording, and channel unavailable problems with 1.6.0.


If you want to keep up on all of the cutting edge issues and discussions concerning Verizon FiOS TV then try this web site. It is excellent and a must:

http://forums.verizon.com/vrzn/board?board.id=FiOS_TV


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/15744922
> 
> 
> I'm going to put together a table for the first post that will cover the analog cut off. I figured I'd put it here for critical comments before I paste it over to there. Plus I think that these tables are cool and I intend to update the grids on the first post with these tables eventually.



I think you should list the pre-trans/current digital channel and the post-transition digital channel in that table. As I read the FCC notice, stations will not be allowed to change their current digital channel on February 17/18, even if they are flash cutting to their analog channel without filing a new STA and getting permission to do so. The stations on their final digital channel and allotment have the freedom to shut down analog, but any station changing their digital channel is likely stuck until June 12.


You have errors for the 2 Ion stations. WWPX-DT Ion 60 is on VHF 12 and will stay there, WPXW-DT Ion 66 (DT 43) is moving to UHF 34 in NW DC. In Sterling, I get WWPX-DT 60 over the air just fine and can get WWPB-DT 41 on UHF 44 out in Hagerstown if I re-aim the antenna. I expect I will be able to get WHAG-DT NBC 25 once it fires up it's DT 26 broadcast as the digital signal will be more powerful than the analog, although that almost certainly won't happen until June now. I can repost the list of what all stations in the 2 markets are doing minus the new delay I posted here 2 months ago, if that will help.


----------



## keeper

I have two questions


Will WJZ still be off air for two months starting in Feb to build another antenna?

Is WMAR just taking over WJZs current tower when they switch to 38?

Thanks


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/15745362
> 
> 
> New rules posted: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_publi...FCC-09-6A1.pdf
> 
> 
> All stations intending to terminate on or before Feb. 17 must notify FCC *again* NLT 23:59, Monday, February 9, and update their 387s. So let's wait and see what Sinclair does now before making assumptions about 45 and 54.



I was just watching FOX45 News at 5:30 PM and they DID NOT mention that the time for analog-to-digital had been extended to June 12th. Instead, they re-iterated that they "would be turning off their analog signal FOR GOOD on February 17th." It was like they were deliberatively not wanting the public to know that they have an option to leave it up until June 12th. It was very emphatic the way the newscaster indicated that "there are 12 days to go."


----------



## electrictroy

Just curious-


Why does this thread merge two separate DMAs? By mergin them, you've created one huge region that covers from the West Virginia border all the way to the Eastern Shore. Wouldn't it make more sense to separate them?


Also I like the idea of the chart. I wish someone would create that chart for the Harrisburg area.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *electrictroy* /forum/post/15747416
> 
> 
> Just curious-
> 
> 
> Why does this thread merge two separate DMAs? By mergin them, you've created one huge region that covers from the West Virginia border all the way to the Eastern Shore. Wouldn't it make more sense to separate them?
> 
> 
> Also I like the idea of the chart. I wish someone would create that chart for the Harrisburg area.



DC and Baltimore are something like 30 miles apart, and people in one city view the stations in the other over-the-air.


Besides, even without Baltimore, it would still stretch almost to the Eastern Shore. Just look at where the eastern edge of the DC DMA is.


- Trip


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *keeper* /forum/post/15746802
> 
> 
> Will WJZ still be off air for two months starting in Feb to build another antenna?
> 
> Is WMAR just taking over WJZs current tower when they switch to 38?



WJZ 13 was not going to go off the air for 2 months after Feb. 17. They were to operate from their current omni-directional VHF 13 antenna at 9.8 kW after Feb. 17 under a STA (Special Temporary Authority). WMAR will take over WJZ's current UHF 38 antenna at 1000 kW. After February 17, a new directional VHF 13 antenna and a new UHF 38 antenna was to put in place of the current WMAR VHF 2 and UHF 52 antennas. All of these antennas are on the same candelabra tower. Then WJZ-DT will switch to the new VHF 13 antenna at an increased 28.8 kW, but with a directional pattern. I think one of the UHF 38 antennas becomes the auxiliary backup antenna for WMAR-DT. Simple!










Since WJZ 13 is CBS Owned & Operated and the big 4 broadcast networks are all stating they plan to keep their O&O stations on the air until June 12, my guess is that WMAR 2 and WJZ 13 will keep their analog signals on the air and postpone their transition plans and antenna work until after June 12.


----------



## mark_e




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15747605
> 
> 
> WJZ 13 was not going to go off the air for 2 months after Feb. 17. They were to operate from their current omni-directional VHF 13 antenna at 9.8 kW after Feb. 17 under a STA (Special Temporary Authority). WMAR will take over WJZ's current UHF 38 antenna at 1000 kW. After February 17, a new directional VHF 13 antenna and a new UHF 38 antenna was to put in place of the current WMAR VHF 2 and UHF 52 antennas. All of these antennas are on the same candelabra tower. Then WJZ-DT will switch to the new VHF 13 antenna at an increased 28.8 kW, but with a directional pattern. I think one of the UHF 38 antennas becomes the auxiliary backup antenna for WMAR-DT. Simple!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Since WJZ 13 is CBS Owned & Operated and the big 4 broadcast networks are all stating they plan to keep their O&O stations on the air until June 12, my guess is that WMAR 2 and WJZ 13 will keep their analog signals on the air and postpone their transition plans and antenna work until after June 12.



On last night's Eyewitness [email protected], WJZ ran a crawl saying they will stop analog broadcasting on 6/12. Not only did they make a decision, but they updated their crawl! Of course, nothing in this situation is definite!


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/15745104
> 
> 
> Even though Hagerstown is in the DC DMA, its really too far out for anyone in the DC area to receive. I've never been able to receive a signal from there and I'm on Mont county which is NW of DC, so I'm closer than most.



Some Hagerstown area stations come in quite well here in Arlington with an antenna just 10 feet above the roofline. If possible, it would be nice to see those stations listed in your chart also.










Is there any word on WDCN-LD? They are still listed as being on UHF 38. I haven't noticed any crews working on their tower in the last few months.


----------



## mapper

Quick question to Verizon FiOS users, did the PEGs move? I can't find them in the 60s or 70s. Do I need to do a rescan?(I usually don't bother, it takes a while)


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/15740955
> 
> 
> I saw the white line on Lost from our Dish Network feed.



I just looked at the TiVo and Cox recording from last night. The lines were presnet on WJLA OTA and cable, but not on WMAR.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/15748736
> 
> 
> Is there any word on WDCN-LD? They are still listed as being on UHF 38. I haven't noticed any crews working on their tower in the last few months.



The WDCN-LD on 38 is an application filed in 2006 which has not been granted and no longer applies as UHF 38 will be used by WMAR-DT 2 in Baltimore after June 12. Looking up the filing, WDCN-LP 6 is still silent on VHF 6 because of interference issues with WTTG-TV Fox 5. In their January 22, 2009 request to extend their silent STA filing, they wrote "IN AN EFFORT TO RESOLVE PREVIOUS INTERFERENCE, WDCN-LP INSTALLED AN EXPENSIVE CUSTOM MANUFACTURED FILTER. WDCN-LP HAS BEEN UNABLE TO RESOLVE THE INTERFERENCE ISSUES AND REQUESTS AUTHORITY FOR ITS VISUAL SIGNAL TO REMAIN DARK. ON FEBRUARY 17, FOX CHANNEL 5 WILL CEASE BROADCASTING ON ANALOG CHANNEL 5, AND THERE SHOULD NO LONGER BE ANY INTERFERENCE ISSUES."


Oops. I guess they will stay dark on a visual broadcast for 4 more months. Do they still have a audio only broadcast? Should check sometime on the FM radio when I am in their coverage area.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15749069
> 
> 
> Oops. I guess they will stay dark on a visual broadcast for 4 more months. Do they still have a audio only broadcast? Should check sometime on the FM radio when I am in their coverage area.



Thanks!!


Yes, there is an audio only station broadcasting on 87.7. I was trying to get some info on the station to see how much power they are running. Not quite sure where to find this info.


It was so nice to lose most of our interference issues when the WAVA/WBIG tower was dismantled a while back. Some of the interference seems to have come back.


----------



## joblo

What does WDCN broadcast in audio only?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/15749161
> 
> 
> What does WDCN broadcast in audio only?



It's a Spanish music station. They seem to be a commercial station also.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/15746718
> 
> 
> BTW, the original audio issues involved the QIP7200 and QIP7216 STBs. The SD PQ problems were associated with only the QIP6200 and the QIP6416 STBs. If you have the 7XXX STB then your SD PQ should have remained excellent after the introduction of IMG 1.6.0 this past October. 7XXX STBs just encountered the audio, recording, and channel unavailable problems with 1.6.0.



Thanks for the info. I have 6xxx boxes I believe. Can I just ask for the others or is there an associated service difference that costs money?


----------



## systems2000

Here is a link to a table I created for the Hagerstown area (in this thread) back in the middle of December.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...6#post15322466 


Creating a table isn't that hard. use the word "table" between []'s and do the same with a "/table" at the end. A "hard return" = rows, while a "|" creates a column divider.

*HARRISBURG - YORK - LANCASTER*

*Station**NTSC**Current ATSC**Post ATSC**Network*WGAL-DT8588NBCWHTM-DT271010ABCWHP-DT21421CBSWLYH-DT152323CWWGCB-DT493030IndependentWITF-DT333636PBSWPMT-DT434747FOX


----------



## CycloneGT

I just wish that I could put a "soft return" inside of a cell.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kenrowe* /forum/post/15744336
> 
> 
> 105 HD telecasts for each team:
> 
> Orioles http://www.masnsports.com/pdfs/2009_...s_schedule.pdf
> 
> Nationals http://www.masnsports.com/pdfs/2009_...s_schedule.pdf



So does this mean WJZ will carry the O's opener in HD and all other games in SD just like last year?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mapper* /forum/post/15748902
> 
> 
> Quick question to Verizon FiOS users, did the PEGs move? I can't find them in the 60s or 70s. Do I need to do a rescan?(I usually don't bother, it takes a while)



The PEGs were moved here in Sterling to QAM 127 and 128 over a month ago. Verizon moved the PEGs to those QAM channels in a number of markets. My guess is that they are revising how the PEGs are distributed to free up QAM channels. People have been reporting the SD locals being moved around in other markets and the PSIP channel mapping turned off for a few days. Apparently as part of preparation for what was to be the Feb. 17 shutdown. I have been rescanning periodically looking for new QAM channels, but the only recent change to the locals was the adding of WPXW-DT main Ion 66.1 channel to the PSIP line-up. Ion is supposed go HD in the DC market on Feb. 16 so the HD sub-channel should be available to the clear QAM tuners.


----------



## systems2000

Voice your opinion about the "Delay Bill" to the White House now!

http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing_room/dtv_delay_act/


----------



## 4HiMarks




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/15740955
> 
> 
> I saw the white line on Lost from our Dish Network feed.



I saw them on my Dish feed as well. I was afraid it was a symptom that my DLP was getting ready to fail. Glad I was wrong. We've had enough repairs recently.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Baltimore is gaping hole in Verizon's FiOS grid*


Jay Hancock


January 24, 2009


Mark Phillips of Ednor Gardens in Baltimore sees ads everywhere for Verizon's high-speed Internet and cable service.


He reads about "FiOS" in the paper. He wants to be your customer, Verizon. His family keep jamming their slower DSL line with entertainment downloads. When he streams video from Hulu.com, his daughter might not be able to do schoolwork online.


He doesn't really want Comcast's broadband product. FiOS lays fiber-optic cable right to your door, which he says is faster and more secure.


When will Verizon bring FiOS to Baltimore? he wants to know. He signed up for the "Want to know when FiOS Internet Service will be in your neighborhood?" e-mail notification. Silence. He bugs people in the Verizon Wireless stores. They don't know.


Jay Hancock Jay Hancock Recent columns


"I see ads everywhere, but I'm in limbo," says Phillips, a family physician. "I can't get a straight answer."


I couldn't get a straight answer either, but there seems to be creeping progress. The pressure is rising on Verizon to start serving Maryland's biggest city.


This is an educated guess: The company will start stringing cable and digging trenches in Baltimore in 2010, four years after it began bringing FiOS to Howard County and other, wealthier suburbs.


Marilyn Harris-Davis, executive director of Baltimore's Office of Cable and Communications, held what she described as "informal" contacts with Verizon this week. She wouldn't give details, and neither would Verizon.


"I anticipate they'll submit an application soon," she said. "My gut says within the next quarter or two."


That would launch negotiations probably lasting the balance of the year, with the first lines being laid next year.


"There's really nothing new to report on Verizon's plans to offer FiOS in Baltimore City," says Verizon spokeswoman Sandra Arnette. "We have not entered into franchise discussions with the city. We've only had some informal conversation. And I have no idea when formal discussions might begin."


The Phillips family's pent-up FiOS demand is typical. Baltimoreans inquire about FiOS "all the time," Harris-Davis says. "They write to the mayor. They write to this office. They call this office."


Comcast's Baltimore broadband products, the legacy of a 1980s cable franchise, don't have all the business to themselves. For household customers, Comcast competes with satellite TV, DSL Internet providers, including Verizon, and others.


But people want two cable competitors, a situation that has demonstrably lowered broadband prices in neighborhoods where Comcast and Verizon compete.


The masses are crying, yearning for broadband utopia. It's great public relations for Verizon.


Except when it's not. Verizon's strategy of connecting suburbs before it gets to older cities has prompted repeated charges of redlining - tapping the upscale gravy while depriving poorer folks of the best telecom products.


Wilmington, Del., "will not tolerate redlining of cable television service," said that city's News Journal. A New Jersey minister accused Verizon of proposing "a plan that leaves behind residents of apartment buildings and rural areas," according to the Courier-Post of Cherry Hill.


A Citigroup study a couple of years ago found that families served by FiOS in New Jersey, Connecticut and New York made 67 percent more than the average U.S. household income, reported the National Journal.


Verizon has said it makes sense to wire suburbs first because there are fewer regulatory and physical obstacles.


"As for redlining, it's against the law," Arnette said via e-mail. "And it runs counter to our 100-year legacy of providing great customer service. We do not discriminate in providing our voice, broadband or FiOS TV service."


Baltimore "is very much part of the discussion" about where to go next, she said.


You can get FiOS in parts of Annapolis as well as certain neighborhoods in Anne Arundel, Howard, Baltimore, Montgomery and Prince George's counties. Verizon just signed deals with Bel Air and La Plata. It's negotiating with Harford and Charles counties.


As if to prove it's not allergic to big cities, it's negotiating with Philadelphia and has reached agreements with New York, Tampa and Washington.


But even within cities the redlining issue crops up.


The Philadelphia negotiations, which began in June, bogged down partly over which neighborhoods would be connected first, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.


It's no surprise Verizon wants to wire houses that are likely to generate a return on its investment. It's spending an estimated $23 billion to run cable past 18 million homes by the end of 2010. This economy can use that kind of capital expenditure.


But it's past time to hook up the Phillipses and the rest of Charm City. With deals struck or under negotiation in other big East Coast cities, Baltimore is a gaping urban hole in the FiOS grid.


The Philly talks are almost wrapped up. The Washington contract was signed last week. Verizon lawyers are about to have time on their hands. There's business to do in Baltimore.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business...4197769.column


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/15749202
> 
> 
> Thanks for the info. I have 6xxx boxes I believe. Can I just ask for the others or is there an associated service difference that costs money?



I have been told that the QIP7216 STBs are not available in the VHO4 region. I already tried to exchange my two QIP6416s without success. Even if the QIP7216 STBs were available, the Tech Support people will not approve any exchange. Their reasoning is that the 7XXX series STBs already have enough of their own specific issues so they say that you are only jumping from the frying pan into the fire and that they (Verizon) do nor want to be held responsible after you start bitching about the many problems associated with the 7XXX STBs. They have a point, I'll admit. Except for the SD PQ issue with the 6XXX STBs, I cannot think of another problem with these boxes. BTW, the QIP7216 STB costs the same rental fee.


Look, I'm like you. I am very frustrated with the SD PQ on my two QIP6416s. It drives me crazy but there is little that I can do about it short of buying a Tivo or installing M cards directly into my television. With Tivo, I still need an M card as well as a Tivo subscription. If I install an M card directly into my TV then I lose the IMG.


Be patient. Eventually, we will get IMG 1.6.1 and finally IMG 1.7.0. Then, our SD PQ problems will be a bad memory. Of course, I don't even want to think about all of the brand new issues that will probably surface with 1.7! LOL!


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/15761161
> 
> 
> I have been told that the QIP7216 STBs are not available in the VHO4 region. I already tried to exchange my two QIP6416s without success. Even if the QIP7216 STBs were available, the Tech Support people will not approve any exchange. Their reasoning is that the 7XXX series STBs already have enough of their own specific issues so they say that you are only jumping from the frying pan into the fire and that they (Verizon) do nor want to be held responsible after you start bitching about the many problems associated with the 7XXX STBs. They have a point, I'll admit. Except for the SD PQ issue with the 6XXX STBs, I cannot think of another problem with these boxes. BTW, the QIP7216 STB costs the same rental fee.



Actually, I was asking more out of curiosity about their policy. And I think you gave me a better answer than I would have gotten from Verizon's first level customer support. (Not real impressed with that so far.)


As I said, bad audio, especially if it affects HD channels, would bother me a lot more than bad SD PQ, so it doesn't sound like a swap I'd be eager to make.



> Quote:
> Look, I'm like you. I am very frustrated with the SD PQ on my two QIP6416s. It drives me crazy but there is little that I can do about it short of buying a Tivo or installing M cards directly into my television. With Tivo, I still need an M card as well as a Tivo subscription. If I install an M card directly into my TV then I lose the IMG.



What I do about it (for now) is watch Cox, Bell, or Dish. And I have a TiVoHD XL on the 30-day trial, but it has other problems, so I may not keep it.



> Quote:
> Be patient. Eventually, we will get IMG 1.6.1 and finally IMG 1.7.0. Then, our SD PQ problems will be a bad memory. Of course, I don't even want to think about all of the brand new issues that will probably surface with 1.7! LOL!



Heh.


Seriously, though, if 1.6.1 has audio problems, I hope they skip it and go directly to 1.7! (Preferably after testing someplace else... see, I'm _very_ patient.







)


----------



## ACW112983

A few questions:

-Once the transition takes place, will the picture be NOTICEABLY better?

-When will Comcast get Spike HD?









-Is it true FIOS is coming to Arlington in March?


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *acw112983* /forum/post/15765324
> 
> 
> a few questions:
> 
> -once the transition takes place, will the picture be noticeably better? *it will be if you are getting it ota analog.*
> 
> -when will comcast get spike hd?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *2011 (guesstimate)*
> 
> -is it true fios is coming to arlington in march? *arlington already has fios, it's just not available in all areas of arlington yet.*



1


----------



## electrictroy

-once the transition takes place, will the picture be noticeably better?


No. About half of the stations you used to watch on analog will disappear completely (I went from 20 downto just 10), and a blank digital screen is obviously inferior to an analog image.


> Quote:
> Mark Phillips reads about "FiOS" in the paper. He wants to be your customer, Verizon. His family keep jamming their slower DSL line with entertainment downloads. When he streams video from Hulu.com, his daughter might not be able to do schoolwork online.



My DSL is currently 0.7 megabit, but I have the option to go to 12 megabit. That should be plenty of room for dad to watch his videos AND for daughter to access text-only homework sites. Just upgrade.


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/15747442
> 
> 
> DC and Baltimore are something like 30 miles apart, and people in one city view the stations in the other over-the-air.



That's true, but I still think they should be separated. I'm sitting here in PA, trying to find information about Baltimore stations, but having to weed-through a lot of DC-related crap.


Vice-versa, someone living in West Virginia doesn't give a wit about Baltimore stations. All they care about is D.C.


Two separate markets (as defined by both rabbitears and Nielsen) - two separate threads. That would make it easier for readers to find the info they need. (IMHO)


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *electrictroy* /forum/post/15767712
> 
> 
> Two separate markets (as defined by both rabbitears and Nielsen) - two separate threads. That would make it easier for readers to find the info they need. (IMHO)



We have two regional sport nets - CSN MA and MASN - that cover both cities. We have a dominant cable provider, Comcast, which provides service to Baltimore, MD suburbs & exurbs, DC, and many of the Northern VA suburbs and exurbs. Verizon Fios provides service to Baltimore, Washington Metro, and Anne Arundel/Howard County all from the same VHO #4 (Video Head Office). When Verizon adds a new national HD channel, they add it to the entire VHO at once (with the recent exception of the one time only channel re-alignment).


Most of the OTA viewers in this thread get the stations in both Baltimore and DC because of the overlap in their coverage zones. You just happen to be on the outer northern fringe of the Baltimore market and can't get the DC stations (although some of them might show up after the analog shutdown, you never know). We have dedicated threads for Washington DC Comcast and Verizon, but they don't get much activity. Given the high amount of overlap and what is essentially a dual city market, it is best to leave this as a unique thread that combines 2 DMA markets.


PS. I expect Verizon will add Golf HD this week as a new QAM sub-channel has shown up at QAM 25 which is where Golf HD is in other markets.


----------



## Rustito

Going to sign up for FIOS and noticed that MSNBC was omitted from online channel lineup for zip 20817. My neighbors with FIOS get MSNBC on channels 103 and 1545, yet these channels are omitted from online channel line-up.


FIOS seems to change packages etc. so I want to be sure they didn't blackout MSNBC to new customers without an upgrade or something crazy like that!! So my question is whether anyone in the area who has recently signed up for FIOS saw MSNBC omitted from the channel line-up yet actually gets MSNBC and whether they signed-up for the Essentials or the Extreme HD package??


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Rustito* /forum/post/15769752
> 
> 
> Going to sign up for FIOS and noticed that MSNBC was omitted from online channel lineup for zip 20817. My neighbors with FIOS get MSNBC on channels 103 and 1545, yet these channels are omitted from online channel line-up.



MSNBC (SD) is part of the standard Essentials channel line-up. When the MSNBC HD channel starts up (last word was months ago for 2nd qtr of 09) and whenever after that Verizon gets around to adding it, you will need to subscribe to the HD Extreme package to get it. All the "new" national HD channels require the HD Extreme package.


What you may be seeing is that MSNBC is NOT available to Verizon subscribers in much of the NYC area because CableVision has an long standing exclusive arrangement with MSNBC which blocks Verizon from carrying MSNBC in markets where they overlap with Cablevision. The online channel line-up generation code may have some glitches with respect to MSNBC. Check the PDF file.


----------



## Rustito

Actually I did read about the problems with MSNBC in parts of NY and NJ. That caused me to double check my zip online although I live in MD - so I put in my zip and the Verizon online lineup for both Essentials and Extreme HD totally skipped the MSNBC channels - both when I searched by channel number and then alphabetically. The National pdf lists MSNBC but not when I search my zip specifically. That is what prompted me to ask my neighbors with FIOS who all said they get MSNBC. So I wanted to be sure it actually is an error with the online channel listing and not something about the packages for new users. Plan to call Verizon Monday to check.


----------



## electrictroy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15768809
> 
> 
> Most of the OTA viewers in this thread get the stations in both Baltimore and DC because of the overlap in their coverage zones. You just happen to be on the outer northern fringe of the Baltimore market and can't get the DC stations



I see your point, but I disagree with it. Even when I lived inside the Baltimore DMA I had no interest in the D.C. stations, because D.C. does not reach all the way to Bel Air Maryland. Or Aberdeen. Or Havre de Grace. Or any of the other towns across the bay.


BACK TO TOPIC:


Which Baltimore stations are turning-off their analog on February 17?


----------



## derwin0




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *electrictroy* /forum/post/15774843
> 
> 
> BACK TO TOPIC:
> 
> 
> Which Baltimore stations are turning-off their analog on February 17?



Sinclair has pretty much announced they are switching over on Feb 17th, that includes:

WBFF-45 (FOX)


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *derwin0* /forum/post/15774920
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Not sure what Scrips Howard is doing with WMAR-2 (ABC), which has a complicated change to 38.



Since WJZ is currently on 38, and they will have to wait until that frequency is clear, they will have to change at the same time, or later than WJZ - June 12th.

.


----------



## Pesky1

What is the digital status of Wash DC Channel 50? My antenna/DTV lost this channel and can't locate it. I can still see it on analog. Previously, it was a fairly strong digital channel. I am in Fredericksburg, VA.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Pesky1* /forum/post/15775224
> 
> 
> What is the digital status of Wash DC Channel 50? My antenna/DTV lost this channel and can't locate it. I can still see it on analog. Previously, it was a fairly strong digital channel. I am in Fredericksburg, VA.



WDCW-DT 50 is coming in fine here in Sterling, VA. The digital broadcast is currently on UHF 51, can you manually tune to 51 and read the signal meter?


----------



## afiggatt

On the Feb. 17 postponement to June 12, has anyone seen any announcements from MPT or WHUT on whether they are planning to keep their analog broadcasts on the air until June 12? With CBS (WJZ 13), NBC (WRC 4), Fox (WTTG 5, WDCA 20, WUTB 24), Gannett (WUSA 9), Hearst-Argyle (WBAL 11) all announcing they plan to keep the analog stations they own on the air until June 12 (except for specific circumstances), we won't see many analog stations in the DC and Baltimore markets going dark on Feb. 17. WJZ-TV 13, WUTB-TV 24, WUSA-TV 9 all block moves by other stations. In the Post article late last week, it was indicated that WETA-TV 26 will keep going (and blocking WHAG NBC 25 in the process). Sinclair owned WBFF 45 and WNUV 54 may be it for our area for Feb. 17.


We will know in another day or two for sure as all stations have to file a Feb. 17 shutdown notice with the FCC by the end of today or else keep their analog going to at least March 13. I was just wondering if MPT or WHUT has said anything publicly.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15776624
> 
> 
> 
> 
> We will know in another day or two for sure as all stations have to file a Feb. 17 shutdown notice with the FCC by the end of today or else keep their analog going to at least March 13. I was just wondering if MPT or WHUT has said anything publicly.



Another way to tell is that starting tomorrow, the FCC is requiring the stations that are shutting down to run 5 minutes of informational crawl per hour. WBFF and WNUV are going to run a 2.5 minute crawl at 2 minutes after the hour and at 2 minutes after the half hour.


A couple of days prior to the shut-off, they are requiring 10 minutes of crawl per hour...


:


----------



## Pesky1




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15776520
> 
> 
> wdcw-dt 50 is coming in fine here in sterling, va. The digital broadcast is currently on uhf 51, can you manually tune to 51 and read the signal meter?



thanks!!


----------



## systems2000

WHAG-TV has informed me that they are staying on the air until June.


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15776939
> 
> 
> Another way to tell is that starting tomorrow, the FCC is requiring the stations that are shutting down to run 5 minutes of informational crawl per hour. WBFF and WNUV are going to run a 2.5 minute crawl at 2 minutes after the hour and at 2 minutes after the half hour.
> 
> 
> A couple of days prior to the shut-off, they are requiring 10 minutes of crawl per hour...
> 
> 
> :



Will these crawls be run on both analog and digital stations or only on the analog channel? Seems a bit much to run these crawls over all the programming.


By the way, did anyone watching Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice get a lot of audio dropouts on WMAR-DT last Thursday? When I watched these on my DVR on Saturday, it seemed like a lot of dropout considering I usually get excellent signal strength on WMAR-DT.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15776939
> 
> 
> A couple of days prior to the shut-off, they are requiring 10 minutes of crawl per hour...



When exactly are WBFF-TV and WNUV-TV planning to turn off the analog transmission? Right at midnight on February 17? Any special programming plan for just before the shutoff? Dig up the national anthem late night sign-off tape or cut to an old test pattern before cutting the transmitters? I'll have to switch to the analog tuner and watch the last few minutes of WBFF-TV and WNUV-TV.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *electrictroy* /forum/post/15774843
> 
> 
> I see your point, but I disagree with it. Even when I lived inside the Baltimore DMA I had no interest in the D.C. stations, because D.C. does not reach all the way to Bel Air Maryland. Or Aberdeen. Or Havre de Grace. Or any of the other towns across the bay.



But you are in the minority. The vast majority has a shared interest in the two cities.


----------



## keeper

Anyone have an idea if WJZ is still going through with their tower work or will they wait for June?


----------



## electrictroy

If WBFF is going 100% digital, hopefully they'll boost their power so I can see the Orioles games without stutter.


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/15779735
> 
> 
> But you are in the minority. The vast majority has a shared interest in the two cities.



By that reasoning we should just merge D.C. and Baltimore and York/Harrisburg into one giant market, since a "vast majority" live in a place to receive all three.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *electrictroy* /forum/post/15784029
> 
> 
> By that reasoning we should just merge D.C. and Baltimore and Lancaster and Philadelphia into one giant market, since a "vast majority" live in a place to receive all three, or even all four.



I think you'll find there's not a "vast majority" who can receive all four. All residents of DC can see Baltimore OTA, and all residents of Baltimore can see DC OTA.


- Trip


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/15784047
> 
> 
> I think you'll find there's not a "vast majority" who can receive all four. All residents of DC can see Baltimore OTA, and all residents of Baltimore can see DC OTA.
> 
> 
> - Trip



But the majority of people in the "DC area" do not live in the District of Columbia.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/15784100
> 
> 
> But the majority of people in the "DC area" do not live in the District of Columbia.



I still doubt they see Philly or Lancaster, and plenty of folks in Northern VA or parts of Maryland surrounding can probably see Baltimore.


- Trip


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/15784047
> 
> 
> I think you'll find there's not a "vast majority" who can receive all four. All residents of DC can see Baltimore OTA, and all residents of Baltimore can see DC OTA.
> 
> 
> - Trip



While that might technically be true:


1) Most providers (FIOS, DirecTV, etc.) only give you one set, so you're only watching DC or Baltimore, not both.


2) OTA folks tend to point their single antenna in one direction, getting only one set, again so you're watching DC or Baltimore, not both


3) Other than a few sports games, the content is identical, so there's no driving factor to get both


Bottom line, while there may be some exceptions, the vast majority of people in this area only receive and watch one set of the locals. It would make sense to split this thread, but it's also not a huge burden to sift through the irrelevant posts.


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/15784100
> 
> 
> But the majority of people in the "DC area" do not live in the District of Columbia.



You'd be surprised what you can get with a decent antenna and pre-amp. I'm in Fauquier County, and when its a clear night, I can usually get 2 of the Baltimore stations. Granted, I have a CM 7777 pre amp and CM 3016 antenna mounted on my chimney. I wish now I had bought the CM 3020 as it might have gotten me all 4.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Deezul* /forum/post/15784117
> 
> 
> You'd be surprised what you can get with a decent antenna and pre-amp. I'm in Fauquier County, and when its a clear night, I can usually get 2 of the Baltimore stations. Granted, I have a CM 7777 pre amp and CM 3016 antenna mounted on my chimney. I wish now I had bought the CM 3020 as it might have gotten me all 4.



I don't think anyone is debating what's possible. But I think you'd agree that the vast majority of people aren't doing this.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15779509
> 
> 
> When exactly are WBFF-TV and WNUV-TV planning to turn off the analog transmission? Right at midnight on February 17? Any special programming plan for just before the shutoff? Dig up the national anthem late night sign-off tape or cut to an old test pattern before cutting the transmitters? I'll have to switch to the analog tuner and watch the last few minutes of WBFF-TV and WNUV-TV.



My plan is to turn them off according to the original plan: 11:59:59 PM on February 17, 2009.


I like the national anthem idea! I can probably do that.


I'll see what I can do about the test pattern, too.


BTW, the latest that I've heard is that we're supposed to have a "night-light" signal up for a couple of weeks so, at this point, the transmitters aren't actually going off, just the analog programming is going to stop.


.


----------



## msmckay




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Deezul* /forum/post/15784117
> 
> 
> You'd be surprised what you can get with a decent antenna and pre-amp. I'm in Fauquier County, and when its a clear night, I can usually get 2 of the Baltimore stations. Granted, I have a CM 7777 pre amp and CM 3016 antenna mounted on my chimney. I wish now I had bought the CM 3020 as it might have gotten me all 4.



I have to agree with Deezul. I am out in western Loudoun. I just install a CM7777 on a new 91XG antenna. I can receive with beautiful digital clarity: 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 20, 24, 26, 30, 32, 45, 54, 60, 62, and 66. Of course not all at the same time. And for some reason I cant pull in 4 or 50. But I am working on that.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15784203
> 
> 
> I like the national anthem idea! I can probably do that.
> 
> 
> I'll see what I can do about the test pattern, too.
> 
> 
> BTW, the latest that I've heard is that we're supposed to have a "night-light" signal up for a couple of weeks so, at this point, the transmitters aren't actually going off, just the analog programming is going to stop.



Would it be legal to keep the analog transmitters on after Feb. 17 if the station filed for a shutdown on 2/17, but did not file for the night-light program? But there is so much confusion over the rules and process, I'll leave that to those trying to make sense of the FCC rulings.


I vote for the national anthem followed by one of the old test patterns with a crawl that says that this analog station is about to go off the air at midnight and we mean it! None of that June 12 crap for us! (or something more acceptable to management.







)


----------



## drjlb

I know this question has been asked several times, but has anyone in PWC (Woodbridge area) started receiving the 3 channels from Comcast that were supposed to come online back in Nov? That is, FX HD, Fox News HD and Speed HD. With Nascar just around the corner, it would be nice to get Speed.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *keeper* /forum/post/15780591
> 
> 
> Anyone have an idea if WJZ is still going through with their tower work or will they wait for June?



The primary tower works consists to replacing the WMAR-TV analog VHF 2 and DT UHF 52 antennas with a new directional VHF 13 for WJZ-DT and UHF 38 antenna for WMAR-DT. Can't do that until they shut off analog and do the channel switches. But with the transition for those 2 stations in June, they will have more hours of daylight to do tower work, better weather except for thunderstorms, and might be able to do advance prep work to reduce the time it takes to put up the new WJZ-DT VHF 13 antenna and bump up the power. However the power increase will be offset to the NW by the move from the current omni-directional antenna to a directional one.


electrictroy, WBFF-DT Fox 45 will not be increasing it's power on UHF 46 after the analog shutdown. The shutdown of just the WBFF-TV 45 analog signal (along with a few other analog stations in the region) could provide the opportunity to see if the adjacent channel analog signal on UHF 45 is a major factor in the problem in getting WBFF-DT to the NW up in PA. But I suspect that interference from other directions is a bigger factor.


Only those who live north of Baltimore have a good chance to get the Harrisburg/York stations. The main DC and Baltimore tower groupings are only a little more than 30 miles apart while the Baltimore and Harrisburg stations are over 60 miles apart.


----------



## lax01




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *drjlb* /forum/post/15784708
> 
> 
> I know this question has been asked several times, but has anyone in PWC (Woodbridge area) started receiving the 3 channels from Comcast that were supposed to come online back in Nov? That is, FX HD, Fox News HD and Speed HD. With *F1* just around the corner, it would be nice to get Speed.



Fixed it for you










I'm wondering the same thing about MoCo...I really want FXHD and SpeedHD


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *msmckay* /forum/post/15784412
> 
> 
> I have to agree with Deezul. I am out in western Loudoun. I just install a CM7777 on a new 91XG antenna. I can receive with beautiful digital clarity: 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 20, 24, 26, 30, 32, 45, 54, 60, 62, and 66. Of course not all at the same time. And for some reason I cant pull in 4 or 50. But I am working on that.



I can understand having difficulty with 50, but I am seeing a trend with areas to the west having problems with WRC-4-DT. (I was surprised how much tweaking was needed to get it with a good antenna as close in as Manassas) I'm wondering if this is happening because the transmit antenna is mounted on the side of the tower instead of the top? It would hope WRC will move the digital antenna to the top of the tower after the transition. Though I guess with the tight economy, this may not be the case.


----------



## Gerald C

Is anyone else experiencing signal glitches on WUSA-DT (9/34)? I have a friend in Arlington (close) with a new DishPal DVR, and WUSA-DT is driving her nuts with regular audio/video interruptions.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Gerald C* /forum/post/15785373
> 
> 
> Is anyone else experiencing signal glitches on WUSA-DT (9/34)? I have a friend in Arlington (close) with a new DishPal DVR, and WUSA-DT is driving her nuts with regular audio/video interruptions.



It sounds like multipath. I have the same issue with both WUSA & WBAL when using the Channel Master 7000 CECB. My other CECB's don't have this problem. What kind of antenna is she using?


----------



## systems2000

Are WBFF-TV and WNUV-TV planning on reducing power during the "Night-Light" period?


I get serious audio/video interference on WBFF-TV and barely get WNUV-TV due to some sort of secondary audio interference. Any interference elimination that can happen in that frequency range may help me get WBFF-DT at 550KW. I get WUTB-DT at 310KW, so I'm looking forward to the elimination of excessive interference.


WNUV-DT is one of my stronger stations, in the Baltimore direction.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *msmckay* /forum/post/15784412
> 
> 
> I have to agree with Deezul. I am out in western Loudoun. I just install a CM7777 on a new 91XG antenna. I can receive with beautiful digital clarity: 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 20, 24, 26, 30, 32, 45, 54, 60, 62, and 66. Of course not all at the same time. And for some reason I cant pull in 4 or 50. But I am working on that.



Odd that you can't get WDCW-DT 50 (51) which is broadcasting at 125 kW, more power than WETA-DT 26 (DT 27, 90 kW) or WHUT-DT 32 (DT 33, 100 kW) which are around the same height & location and also get many of the Baltimore stations. Can't be because of greater cable run dB loss for higher UHF channels since WBAL-DT 11 is on UHF 59. OTOH, you are not getting WMAR-DT 2 on UHF 52 which is stronger for me than WBAL-DT. Which suggests you may have a problem with digital reception in the UHF 48 to 52 band??


Analog low power WAZW-CA 48 broadcasts on UHF 48 in Winchester on a highly directional pattern, but I would not expect interference from it to be much of a problem on the eastern side of the Blue Ridge. WRC-DT 4 is on UHF 48. If you are stuck, willing to try and can do it without breaking your neck, you could put up a chicken wire or other metal mesh screen behind the 91-XG. The screen should not be in contact with the antenna so it is electrically isolated from the antenna. The screen might block possible interfering signals from WAZW or other stations in the other direction. However, it is easier to do this if the antenna is in the attic than if it is on a mast on the roof.







Or just wait for June 13 and see what happens. You very likely will need a upper VHF antenna then to go with the 91-XG if you don't have a VHF antenna.


----------



## msmckay




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15785785
> 
> 
> 
> If you are stuck, willing to try and can do it without breaking your neck, you could put up a chicken wire or other metal mesh screen behind the 91-XG. The screen should not be in contact with the antenna so it is electrically isolated from the antenna. The screen might block possible interfering signals from WAZW or other stations in the other direction. However, it is easier to do this if the antenna is in the attic than if it is on a mast on the roof.



That is a very interesting idea. How large (Area) should the screen be? I think some left over hardware cloth (0.5 "square grid) would work very well.


----------



## mark_e

Ocean Pines Independent

February 10, 2009


*WBOC decides to stick to original digital date*


Station says conversion delay would cause confusion


By Deborah Gates

Staff Writer


SALISBURY -- Tuesday, Feb. 17, 11:59 p.m.: a date and time that will live in infamy for television viewers stuck with an analog TV and no cable television service or digital converter box.


That's when WBOC dismantles outdated analog transmitters and by law, steps into the future of all-digital broadcasting. Lower Shore ABC affiliate WMDT-47 and Maryland Public Television Channel 28 went all-digital months ago, and viewers without a digital television set, known as DTV, or a converter box attached to their analog TV set lost the stations months ago.


Viewers who stay in the technological past after next week lose access to WBOC, too.


Congress last week approved a four-month extension of the FCC's Feb. 17 deadline to drop analog transmission, to June 12. The CBS affiliate, the last local station on the Lower Shore of Delmarva to go all-digital, is sticking to the original deadline, saying that months of transmitting in both analog and digital modes to allow viewers time to prepare have been costly and energy-wasteful.


"The old (analog) transmitters are huge room-sized pieces of equipment that take massive amounts of electricity to operate," said Craig Jahelka, WBOC vice president and general manager. "Aside from the horrendous cost of operation, we're pumping huge amounts of electricity into a transmitter that virtually no one is watching any more. That's not only a huge cost to our bottom line, but it's a waste of electricity."


Viewers affected for certain would be those with an analog TV and no cable. Subscribers to satellite TV service, such as DirecTV or Dish Network, would also need a DTV or a converter box to view local stations after next week because the satellite companies don't carry signals for WBOC, WMDT, MPT or their partner stations. Satellite subscribers with an analog TV and a converter box would also need an antenna to improve reception for local stations.


Converter boxes can be purchased at most technology retailers that sell digital televisions. Households also can contact DirecTV, the Federal Trade Commission, WBOC or other local stations about where to purchase a converter box or how to get a discount.


"The overwhelming majority of people no longer rely on this analog signal. Besides, we've been pounding the Feb. 17 date into the ground for a year now," Jahelka said. "To change that date would serve no useful purpose and would only cause confusion."

[email protected] 


410-749-7171


----------



## systems2000

*BRAVO!*


Too bad more stations don't come right to the point like WBOC did.


Which brings me to the point I've wondered all along; Where are the green & ecology psychos (Al Gore anyone?), when it really makes a difference?


----------



## CycloneGT

Agreed, the last minute date change is a bad misstep. Those who aren't ready in Feb, but will be ready in June are likely very few in number. Chances are if you are not going to be ready next week, you also won't be ready in June.


----------



## Trip in VA

In fairness to WBOC, two of the four full-service analog stations on the Delmarva peninsula have already gone digital-only (WCPB and WMDT) so it's not like they're the only station going digital. Plus WRDE-LD 31 signed on recently as a digital-only RTN/MyNet.


- Trip


----------



## systems2000

Granted, but my original post still has merit.


----------



## albertso

HI,


For those who use Version 7 (analog) TVGOS for Guide data for VCR/DVR equipment, the data is now being transmitted on WUSA-DT (34). I have been waiting because I need to use it for getting the Guide for my LG LST-3410A DVR. The DTVPal converter box has a special mode that translates the data from the DTV signal to the format that is used by the 3410A (and other like equipment). There is a much more detailed discussion of this topic in the LG LST-3410A Review and Discussion area of the forum, for those of you who are interested.


----------



## systems2000

Well, I've got some pretty lousy reception tonight. I've lost WABC-DT & WBAL-DT. WUTB-DT & WNUV-DT are coming and going so much, they're almost unwatchable. I'm even getting breakup on WJZ-DT. Analog is heavier with snow, then usual too.


Could it be the rain fog?


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15790812
> 
> 
> I've lost WABC-DT



I wasn't aware that you had WABC-DT... that would be some catch....


----------



## joblo

WWTD-LP 49, which was simulcasting WJLA-DT in letterbox mode, seems to be dark here tonight.


Anybody else?


----------



## ceeaton




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15790812
> 
> 
> Well, I've got some pretty lousy reception tonight. I've lost WABC-DT & WBAL-DT. WUTB-DT & WNUV-DT are coming and going so much, they're almost unwatchable. I'm even getting breakup on WJZ-DT. Analog is heavier with snow, then usual too.
> 
> 
> Could it be the rain fog?



I'm getting the same thing up here in PA. WJZ has a range of 20-52, WNUV 28-60, WMPT 18-32... all on a CM-7000 converter box to my computer TV card. My 32LG60 seems to be holding onto the signals better -- fewer dropouts.

All stations are 40-50 miles away and are stable in "normal" weather. It was raining up here pretty heavily. On a normal day the difference between the top and bottom of the range hangs around 5.


Craig


----------



## Potatoehead




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/15790886
> 
> 
> WWTD-LP 49, which was simulcasting WJLA-DT in letterbox mode, seems to be dark here tonight.
> 
> 
> Anybody else?



I noticed that it was dark yesterday but I thought it might have been reception issues. I guess there is no reason for the simulcast with the delay in the transition. Maybe they will start it up again in May or maybe they have decided that it is no longer necessary.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15776939
> 
> 
> Another way to tell is that starting tomorrow, the FCC is requiring the stations that are shutting down to run 5 minutes of informational crawl per hour. WBFF and WNUV are going to run a 2.5 minute crawl at 2 minutes after the hour and at 2 minutes after the half hour.
> 
> 
> A couple of days prior to the shut-off, they are requiring 10 minutes of crawl per hour...



Caught the crawl on analog 45 tonight... no crawl on digital 45... is that intentional?


If so, *THANK YOU* very much for the noise-free digital service!


(My reading of the FCC notice was that the crawl is only required on analog...)


----------



## mark_e




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/15789253
> 
> 
> In fairness to WBOC, two of the four full-service analog stations on the Delmarva peninsula have already gone digital-only (WCPB and WMDT) so it's not like they're the only station going digital. Plus WRDE-LD 31 signed on recently as a digital-only RTN/MyNet.
> 
> 
> - Trip



In addition, the only way to get Fox and CW out there are as sub channels on WBOC and WMDT. So there has been a long standing incentive for OTA viewers to go digital. In fact, WBOC was selling subsidized converter boxes (fixed to their signal) about four years ago. There are probably many fewer analog viewers on the shore than in most markets. There really was no upside for them to continue analog with their main OTA competition, WMDT having switched months ago.


An interesting aside is the way WBOC has been running promos touting cable over satellite since as WBOC puts it, they refuse to carry our signal. Watching TV on the other shore is a totally different experience from what we're used to here in the Baltimore/Washington market.


----------



## systems2000

OOOPS! I meant WMAR-DT.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *msmckay* /forum/post/15788070
> 
> 
> That is a very interesting idea. How large (Area) should the screen be? I think some left over hardware cloth (0.5 "square grid) would work very well.



Hard to say how big the screen should be. You want to block off the backlobe of the antenna and cut down on signal spilling around the edges. Maybe start with something 3 to 5 ft across, located a foot or more behind the reflection screen of the 91-XG. The screen does not have to be a fine mesh. UHF 48 to 50 has a wavelength of around 0.44 meters or ~17". Chicken wire screen or screen with a 4" x 4" spacing size (


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15784203
> 
> 
> My plan is to turn them off according to the original plan: 11:59:59 PM on February 17, 2009.
> 
> 
> I like the national anthem idea! I can probably do that.
> 
> 
> I'll see what I can do about the test pattern, too.
> 
> 
> BTW, the latest that I've heard is that we're supposed to have a "night-light" signal up for a couple of weeks so, at this point, the transmitters aren't actually going off, just the analog programming is going to stop.
> 
> 
> .



So why the last second of February 17th and not the first second of February 17th?


Why at the end of the 17th and not at the beginning? Or was this the plan all along with the stations?


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15776939
> 
> 
> Another way to tell is that starting tomorrow, the FCC is requiring the stations that are shutting down to run 5 minutes of informational crawl per hour. WBFF and WNUV are going to run a 2.5 minute crawl at 2 minutes after the hour and at 2 minutes after the half hour.
> 
> 
> A couple of days prior to the shut-off, they are requiring 10 minutes of crawl per hour...



Another illegal item being done by the FCC. Doing things in anticipation of the law being signed. Where is the Justice Dept when we need them?


BTW, my local ABC affiliate just did their crawl, because they are shutting down. But the idiots also did the crawl over the HD channel. Dumb.


----------



## electrictroy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *electrictroy* /forum/post/15784029
> 
> 
> By that reasoning we should just merge D.C. and Baltimore and York/Harrisburg into one giant market, since a "vast majority" live in a place to receive all three.



P.S.


Someone living in Owings Mills, Timonium, Towson, or the surrounding suburbs can indeed view all three markets. So why don't we merge D.C., Baltimore, and York/Harrisburg into one giant thread?


Because it would be wrong. Each market should be kept separated. D.C. and Baltimore should be split, just as Nielsen does with their designated markets areas.


----------



## GregAnnapolis

Every couple years, we have this discussion. And every couple years, the result is the same. Washington DC and Baltimore remain merged. I think we've tried splitting them in the past, and it's been a failed experiment. Any "old-timers" want to chime in?


Obviously I'm going to be opposed to a split, because I live in Annapolis and I receive DC and Baltimore pretty much equally. For much of my childhood, I didn't even realize that it was anything unusual to receive two sets of local channels. Anyone who lives between DC and Baltimore pretty much receives both. Heck, lots of people *IN* DC and Baltimore can receive both. There are always going to be people on the fringe of one who cannot receive the others. However, it does not make sense in my mind to inconvenience the many people who actually live in the area in order to benefit those who live on the outside edges. (Please do not take this to mean that those on the fringe are any less valuable to the community here.) In my eyes, the DC and Baltimore markets are very much linked, even if Nielson counts them as separate.


----------



## Gerald C




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by Gerald C
> Is anyone else experiencing signal glitches on WUSA-DT (9/34)? I have a friend in Arlington (close) with a new DishPal DVR, and WUSA-DT is driving her nuts with regular audio/video interruptions.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/15785498
> 
> 
> It sounds like multipath. I have the same issue with both WUSA & WBAL when using the Channel Master 7000 CECB. My other CECB's don't have this problem. What kind of antenna is she using?



I agree the symptoms could be explained by multipath, but I don't think that's what is happening. The antenna is a large, attic mounted yagi, and she gets strong, stable signal on all DC (analog) stations (VHF and UHF), without any hint of multipath. Of course, you can't 'see' the effects of multipath as readily on digital, but it would surprise me if that was the case. At my location (a few miles away), I occasionally get very, very brief dropouts on WUSA-DT as well, with the observed effect usually just affecting audio, but the TV does display a message (lost signal) also.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *electrictroy* /forum/post/15794339
> 
> 
> P.S.
> 
> 
> Someone living in Owings Mills, Timonium, Towson, or the surrounding suburbs can indeed view all three markets. So why don't we merge D.C., Baltimore, and York/Harrisburg into one giant thread?
> 
> 
> Because it would be wrong. Each market should be kept separated. D.C. and Baltimore should be split, just as Nielsen does with their designated markets areas.



Nielsen may do that but economically, geographically and even in many cases, legally, Baltimore and Washington are ONE market.


We have BWI airport. We have common sports team coverage in all the major media. We have common regional cable channels. The major newspapers are available in each other's town. The baseball and football teams have the same exact market footprint. And more.


While Baltimore and Washington may have their own network stations, they are actually too close for that to make any real sense other than historic.


Give it up. There will always be someone on the fringe of a market area that will have the same issue you do.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/15791263
> 
> 
> Caught the crawl on analog 45 tonight... no crawl on digital 45... is that intentional?
> 
> 
> If so, *THANK YOU* very much for the noise-free digital service!
> 
> 
> (My reading of the FCC notice was that the crawl is only required on analog...)



Yes, that was intentional, and you're welcome.


I actually wanted to do this starting last November, but I was voted down...


In the Baltimore area, we only did 2 "soft tests" at a time that a good portion of the population was driving home from work. I thought that it would be nice to have the info up at least once in every show, so that everyone that watched anything on our station would get the info, even if they were watching after midnight.

.


----------



## CycloneGT

I always figured it was fine to put the notification on the digital signal, because some customers may watch the digital signal on the primary TV, but may still be effected on their secondary analog TVs. So keeping them informed of the analog cut off is still important, even if they do have digital to some extent.


As for splitting this thread. That call comes up about once a year. The end result is always the same, the thread is strongest with both DC and Baltimore combined. There have been sub threads in the past for Comcast or Verizon, or RCN, and each dies a lonely death. After six years, this thread remains one of the strongest here at AVS because of the group frequent posters who like to discuss and help each other out.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/15798391
> 
> 
> I always figured it was fine to put the notification on the digital signal, because some customers may watch the digital signal on the primary TV, but may still be effected on their secondary analog TVs. So keeping them informed of the analog cut off is still important, even if they do have digital to some extent.



Some notification, yes, I agree. That's what PSAs are for.


But 5-10 min./hr. of crawl on the digital channel? No, only the analog channel needs that.


When a station puts that stuff on their digital channel, I switch to another affiliate/network/etc., even if it means choosing SD over HD, or watching a different program altogether.




> Quote:
> As for splitting this thread. That call comes up about once a year. The end result is always the same, the thread is strongest with both DC and Baltimore combined.



I agree. I live in northern VA, but I watch Baltimore as well as DC stations, and have done ever since I was a kid and first discovered I could.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Obama Makes It Official: DTV Deadline Extended To June 12*


President Signs DTV Transition Bill Into Law


John Eggerton -- Multichannel News, 2/11/2009 3:00:03 PM MT


President Barack Obama has signed the bill extending the DTV date from Feb. 17 to June 12.


His transition team had called for the date to be moved, and the bill was passed a week ago. But the president had pledged to put bills out for a five-day public comment period, which he did with the DTV bill.


"During these challenging economic times, the needs of American consumers are a top priority of my administration," the president said Wednesday.

"This law, which was crafted in a bipartisan way and passed overwhelmingly in the House and Senate, ensures that our citizens will have more time to prepare for the conversion.


"Millions of Americans, including those in our most vulnerable communities, would have been left in the dark if the conversion had gone on as planned, and this solution is an important step forward as we work to get the nation ready for digital TV. My administration will continue to work with leaders in Congress, broadcasters, consumer groups and the telecommunications industry to improve the information and assistance available to our citizens in advance of June 12."

http://www.multichannel.com/article/...To_June_12.php 



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JimboG* /forum/post/15797645
> 
> 
> Looks like an awful lot of markets have at least one station that wants to kill analog by February 17th.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://republicans.energycommerce.ho...px?NewsID=6832


----------



## ceeaton




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/15798391
> 
> 
> As for splitting this thread. That call comes up about once a year. The end result is always the same, the thread is strongest with both DC and Baltimore combined. There have been sub threads in the past for Comcast or Verizon, or RCN, and each dies a lonely death. After six years, this thread remains one of the strongest here at AVS because of the group frequent posters who like to discuss and help each other out.



I agree. I've learned so much off this thread in 3 months. Keep it up!


And thank you all.


----------



## systems2000

WBAL ran a DTV spot in Spanish late this afternoon. Anyone else see it?


----------



## systems2000

I spent today doing some tower work.










I'm now able to get WNUV-DT, without the video stopping and starting.










I'm still not able to get WBFF-DT.


----------



## ceeaton

For our northern Maryland viewers....


WITF-TV TO OBSERVE ORIGINAL DTV TRANSITION DATE OF FEBRUARY 17, 2009
http://netcommunity.witf.org/digitaltv 



FYI: This was just posted by Dewd in the Harrisburg post. I just saw a commercial earlier this hour emphatically stating that they (WITF) would make the transition to DT only at 10am on February 17th.


Yea team!


----------



## fmsjr

I say we split the forum into a "Washington/Baltimore HDTV" forum, and a "Let's split the Washington / Baltimore Forum" forum.










Actually it is good to see info from other markets, sometimes just to see what we might be missing here, or how good we have some things. For example, 5.1 vs. 2.0, other differences.


----------



## Digital Rules

I am assuming WBOC-DT 16 will increase their power to the post transition level on 2-18. Does anyone know if this is true?


Thanks


----------



## fmsjr

I just saw a weather-watch crawl on analog 45 that didn't appear on digital... or at least not on FiOS. And now there's a T-storm warning graphic on analog but not on 45-1 or FiOS 510.

Is that a side-effect of splitting the DTV crawl between analog & digital?


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/15800064
> 
> 
> I am assuming WBOC-DT 16 will increase their power to the post transition level on 2-18. Does anyone know if this is true?
> 
> 
> Thanks



They have a permit to increase power, but it's not going to be a huge help. Whenever they boost it, it'll go from 635 to 740 kW, a boost of only 0.66 dB.


- Trip


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/15800064
> 
> 
> I am assuming WBOC-DT 16 will increase their power to the post transition level on 2-18. Does anyone know if this is true?



Don't think they can. I think the granted permit for WBOC-DT 16 (DT 21) to go from the current 635 kW to 740 kW is a post-transition maximization CP. The post-transition power maximization allotments are one of the many items that are throw in confusion by this last minute delay, but they are all probably postponed until after June 12 unless the station can file a new application and get it granted before then. However going from 635 kW to 740 kW is a small increase in power in dB terms.


PS. Trip beats me to it! Again!


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15800377
> 
> 
> PS. Trip beats me to it! Again!



Not having a life can have its benefits.










But your post provided some more relevant info than mine did anyway.


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/15800296
> 
> 
> They have a permit to increase power, but it's not going to be a huge help. Whenever they boost it, it'll go from 635 to 740 kW, a boost of only 0.66 dB.
> 
> 
> - Trip



I guess I won't see much of a difference here until WDCA-20 analog goes dark. I thought at one time there was going to be someone right here in DC with a channel 21 assignment; but now I can't find it????


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/15800501
> 
> 
> I guess I won't see much of a difference here until WDCA-20 analog goes dark. I thought at one time there was going to be someone right here in DC with a channel 21 assignment; but now I can't find it????


 http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?call=wddn 


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules

Wow Trip, you don't miss a beat!!


While you are at it, how about WDCN-LD? They are still listed as being on UHF 38 post transition, but I hope they will use VHF-6 since there is already a channel 6 antenna on the tower in use (Audio only @ 88.7 MHZ) I hope they stay off UHF!!


Thanks!!


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/15800501
> 
> 
> I thought at one time there was going to be someone right here in DC with a channel 21 assignment; but now I can't find it????



WVPY-DT out of Front Royal at 50KW.


----------



## Trip in VA

They don't have an application in to use channel 6 digitally, but that channel 38 won't be granted with WMAR-DT right there in Baltimore, which can easily be seen in DC.










Okay, no, stop, I shouldn't reopen that can of worms.


- Trip


----------



## rkolsen

WBAL HD on Comcast just froze for a minute. Must of been an error in the downlink feed - the HD bug was still in the picture. Then the picture downsized with a 16:9 scroll and had single channel audio.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15800693
> 
> 
> WVPY-DT out of Front Royal at 50KW.



Thanks systems2000,


I get a very low reading from WVPY-DT now; but never enough to decode. The only watchable Virginia Public Television here is W58DK from Ruckersville, VA (very snowy)


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/15800862
> 
> 
> Thanks systems2000,
> 
> 
> I get a very low reading from WVPY-DT now; but never enough to decode. The only watchable Virginia Public Television here is W58DK from Ruckersville, VA (very snowy)



There's actually a DT-21 transmitter at the W58DK site, I'm told. 1 kW ERP.


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/15800892
> 
> 
> There's actually a DT-21 transmitter at the W58DK site, I'm told. 1 kW ERP.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Interesting, that is the same exact direction I am seeing activity on 21. Maybe that is what I am seeing?????? Front Royal is furthur north.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/15800930
> 
> 
> Interesting, that is the same exact direction I am seeing activity on 21. Maybe that is what I am seeing?????? Front Royal is furthur north.



Quite possibly. Where I am, W58DK is a very, very faint analog, no sign of DT-21.


WVPT and WVPY are operating a DTS under an experimental license and has been doing so for a number of years. In addition to the main transmitters, they have on-channel repeaters at each of their analog translator sites. There are two additional channel 11 transmitters, and three additional channel 21 transmitters.


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules

I guess that's why it's not listed on TV FOOL. It's hard to believe that 1 kw can be detected so far away, even with WBOC coming in a bit stronger from the east & adjacent channel 20 pounding in only 4 miles away. Digital TV is amazing!!


----------



## Trip in VA

I was told 1 kW ERP, but I'm not sure. I was also told 0.4 kW ERP on the channel 11 transmitter here in Charlottesville, but a more recent call to an engineer said it's only 0.1 kW. No wonder I can't see it.


- Trip


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/15801108
> 
> 
> I guess that's why it's not listed on TV FOOL. It's hard to believe that 1 kw can be detected so far away, even with WBOC coming in a bit stronger from the east & adjacent channel 20 pounding in only 4 miles away. Digital TV is amazing!!



I would stll suspect the 50 kW UHF 21 signal from WVPY-DT. I get signal hits for DT 21 and have gotten - or got what I thought was - WVPY-DT by turning my CM 4221 around in the direction of the station and messing with the antenna location. I was looking forward to seeing if the reception of WVPY-DT on UHF 21 would improve when the WDCA-TV 20 3980 kW analog broadcast 16+ miles in the other direction went away. But that experiment will have to wait until June 13 for an answer now.


WVPY-DT has applied for an increase to 100 kW, but the FCC has not acted on the application.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15801239
> 
> 
> I would stll suspect the 50 kW UHF 21 signal from WVPY-DT. I get signal hits for DT 21 and have gotten - or got what I thought was - WVPY-DT by turning my CM 4221 around in the direction of the station and messing with the antenna location. I was looking forward to seeing if the reception of WVPY-DT on UHF 21 would improve when the WDCA-TV 20 3980 kW analog broadcast 16+ miles in the other direction went away. But that experiment will have to wait until June 13 for an answer now.



The easy way to find out is what does TV-58 look like versus TV-42? Analog, of course.



> Quote:
> WVPY-DT has applied for an increase to 100 kW, but the FCC has not acted on the application.



Wow, I had completely missed that application. Thanks for the heads-up.


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules

Thanks Alan,


It's hard to say which one it is. The view to the south-southwest is the only completely unobstucted view from here. I discovered last week that Richmond WRLH-DT 35 (26) is decodable some nights when WETA analog goes off the air @ 2 AM. The flashing strobe light on top of WNVC's tower is easily visible from the 2nd floor. It's about 6 miles from here.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/15801318
> 
> 
> The easy way to find out is what does TV-58 look like versus TV-42? Analog, of course.



TV-58 is usually very noisy. When I first came across it, it took me a while to figure out what station it was. I'll check after the winds die down. But you should be off cursing the FCC for the 123 stations who have now to meet the FCC conditions for turning off analog next week, including WBOC, WCAV and WVIR.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15801393
> 
> 
> But you should be off cursing the FCC for the 123 stations who have now to meet the FCC conditions for turning off analog next week, including WBOC, WCAV and WVIR.



Already done. Now I'm sitting here watching filings come in, and thinking about how many 387s have backed up on me...


- Trip


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15801393
> 
> 
> TV-58 is usually very noisy. When I first came across it, it took me a while to figure out what station it was. I'll check after the winds die down. But you should be off cursing the FCC for the 123 stations who have now to meet the FCC conditions for turning off analog next week, including WBOC, WCAV and WVIR.



Probably easier to continue analog for now than meet those conditions, especially when you're the only analog station left in the market like WBOC.


I mean, 60 days of "enhanced" nightlight, including local news, plus call centers, community outreach and such?


Why not just continue your analog simulcast for now and file for early termination in March or April under the flex procedures?


----------



## machpost

Did anyone notice if the basketball game on WDCA was in HD last night? I didn't get a chance to watch.


----------



## SUOrangeman

UNC @ Duke was in HD on WDCA20 last night. I don't follow the ACC that closely (Go GMU, and ... err, Syracuse ... I guess







), but ESPN had the game as well. However, I guess some coverage finagling required that ESPN show us another game instead.


-SUO


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmsjr* /forum/post/15800289
> 
> 
> I just saw a weather-watch crawl on analog 45 that didn't appear on digital... or at least not on FiOS. And now there's a T-storm warning graphic on analog but not on 45-1 or FiOS 510.
> 
> Is that a side-effect of splitting the DTV crawl between analog & digital?



That's actually a "feature" of the Fox splicer.


The splicer is literally the last piece of equipment in the chain prior to the signal going out to the transmitter, and it replaces the signal that comes from our master control with a signal that is coming via satellite from Fox. Currently, there is no way to have our weather warning on the air during prime-time network programming, other than taking Fox's HD signal off the air and replacing it with an upconverted SD signal for as long as the weather bug is up.


Fox is currently working on an upgraded system that will allow us to do this, but it's not available yet.


One interesting thing that you may not ever see - if we have an EAS (emergency alert system) announcement during prime-time, I have it so the Fox plicer will switch back to our master control signal so that you will be able to see and hear it. Otherwise, the splicer would not allow the EAS through. It will stay on the upconverted SD signal until the next commercial break. That's also being addressed in the new system.

.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15804515
> 
> 
> That's actually a "feature" of the Fox splicer.
> 
> 
> The splicer is literally the last piece of equipment in the chain prior to the signal going out to the transmitter, and it replaces the signal that comes from our master control with a signal that is coming via satellite from Fox. Currently, there is no way to have our weather warning on the air during prime-time network programming, other than taking Fox's HD signal off the air and replacing it with an upconverted SD signal for as long as the weather bug is up.
> 
> 
> Fox is currently working on an upgraded system that will allow us to do this, but it's not available yet.
> 
> 
> One interesting thing that you may not ever see - if we have an EAS (emergency alert system) announcement during prime-time, I have it so the Fox plicer will switch back to our master control signal so that you will be able to see and hear it. Otherwise, the splicer would not allow the EAS through. It will stay on the upconverted SD signal until the next commercial break. That's also being addressed in the new system.
> 
> .



Interesting... No issue like that on our FOX station. They can run HD crawls (including EAS) and graphics. Actually, the Big 5 around here can do it...


----------



## raidbuck

While I understand the Balt-Wash combined thread, I have always wanted a Balt-Was Comcast thread like most other areas, and tried, but that never went anywhere. Certainly the antenna folks dominate the discussion so a Comcast thread would be pretty small, but for those of us who don't use antennas (there must be many like me with just Comcast) it would have made keeping up easier.


Rich N.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/15744922
> 
> 
> I'm going to put together a table for the first post that will cover the analog cut off. I figured I'd put it here for critical comments before I paste it over to there. Plus I think that these tables are cool and I intend to update the grids on the first post with these tables eventually.
> 
> 
> StationNetworkNTSC AnalogATSC DigitalProposed DateActual DateCommentWMARABC2386/12/09  WRCNBC4486/12/09  WTTGFOX5366/12/09  WJLAABC776/12/09  WUSACBS996/12/09  WBALNBC11116/12/09  WPXWION60386/12/09  WJZCBS13136/12/09  WFDCUNI14156/12/09  WDCAMyNet20356/12/09  WMPTPBS22426/12/09  WUTBMyNet24416/12/09  WETAPBS26276/12/09  WNVTMhz53306/12/09  WHUTPBS32336/12/09  WBFFFOX45462/17/09 Intends to shutdown NTSC on 2/17WDCWCW50506/12/09  WNUVCW54402/17/09 Intends to shutdown NTSC on 2/17WNVCMhz 246/12/09  WFPTPBS62286/12/09  WPAXION66436/12/09  WMPBPBS67296/12/09




Did this ever get filled in and posted anywhere? I just called WHUT and they say they are maintaing their analog until June 12th, but then I called WMPT and they said their analog would be shut off sometime in APRIL, but they didn't give me an exact date. Neither stations website has been updated to reflect any extensions beyond February 17th.


----------



## CycloneGT

No I never did post it. I'll do that now.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/15805863
> 
> 
> Did this ever get filled in and posted anywhere? I just called WHUT and they say they are maintaing their analog until June 12th, but then I called WMPT and they said their analog would be shut off sometime in APRIL, but they didn't give me an exact date. Neither stations website has been updated to reflect any extensions beyond February 17th.



Both WBFF-TV 45 and WNUV-TV 54 are shown on the FCC appendix list as indicated they may opt to run as a nightlight station after Feb. 17, but I have not seen the applications for that. The list of stations that filed to shut down on Feb. 17 and the 123 stations that the FCC issued new rules for them to meet or not be allowed to shut down on Feb. 17 can be found at http://www.fcc.gov/dtv/ . The lists of stations are under the Appendixes.


There are stations in other markets that have stated they plan to shut analog down in April, but I don't think any of them have filed for that yet. They may be waiting for the dust to settle (or for the storm to pass) from the Feb. 17 filings and events and then file a 30 day shutdown notice. Interesting that MPT might shut down some or all their remaining stations in April. I hope they do so we can make some progress to finally turning off the analog broadcasts and clear the logjam of interference issues.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/15805044
> 
> 
> Interesting... No issue like that on our FOX station. They can run HD crawls (including EAS) and graphics. Actually, the Big 5 around here can do it...



Perhaps I gave you the wrong impression, or maybe they are doing something that I don't understand - we can (and do) put up HD crawls and graphics. The only time that you can't see them is during prime-time when the splicer substitutes the Fox HD feed for ours.


Since Fox only gives us an SD feed (they use the ASI stream in the splicer), we can't just splice back and put our graphics and crawls over anything but the SD feed that they do supply. I don't understand where your local Fox station would be getting the network HD feed, since Fox uses addressable receivers that they can change the channels around on remotely. Even if I had an extra HD satellite receiver (which I don't), I would have to be lucky (which I'm not) to have it on the correct channel when I needed it to do put a bug/crawl/EAS over.


Again, we only run into this problem when we are in HD network programming.


:


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15806973
> 
> 
> Perhaps I gave you the wrong impression, or maybe they are doing something that I don't understand - we can (and do) put up HD crawls and graphics. The only time that you can't see them is during prime-time when the splicer substitutes the Fox HD feed for ours.
> 
> 
> Since Fox only gives us an SD feed (they use the ASI stream in the splicer), we can't just splice back and put our graphics and crawls over anything but the SD feed that they do supply. I don't understand where your local Fox station would be getting the network HD feed, since Fox uses addressable receivers that they can change the channels around on remotely. Even if I had an extra HD satellite receiver (which I don't), I would have to be lucky (which I'm not) to have it on the correct channel when I needed it to do put a bug/crawl/EAS over.
> 
> 
> Again, we only run into this problem when we are in HD network programming.
> 
> 
> :



These crawls, on WVBT/43 FOX, have run many times during primetime; weather closings, election results, etc.


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *drjlb* /forum/post/15784708
> 
> 
> I know this question has been asked several times, but has anyone in PWC (Woodbridge area) started receiving the 3 channels from Comcast that were supposed to come online back in Nov? That is, FX HD, Fox News HD and Speed HD. With Nascar just around the corner, it would be nice to get Speed.



they took those channels off the comcast.com listings for PWC and Manassas so who knows at this point.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15806493
> 
> 
> Interesting that MPT might shut down some or all their remaining stations in April.



Following up on my own post, 2 of the 6 MPT stations are already digital only: WCPB 28 in Salisbury, MD moved from UHF 56 to 28 around December 18, 2008 and WGPT 36, way out at the western end of MD in Oakland, MD, moved from UHF 54 to 36 on December 8, 2008. In both cases, MPT stated in their filings that they had to do the conversion in December or wait until after March because the contractor would not be available until then. Of course, this was done in December when we all thought the Feb. 17 deadline was a deadline. Wonder how many complaints from the remaining analog viewers they got?. Anyway MPT is already 1/3rd of the way done to shutting down their analog broadcasts. Maybe they will indeed pull the plug on the other four analog signals in April.


----------



## ACW112983

So apparently my zipcode (22203) gets FIOS, but not according to the Fios webpage










Any word on when/if Comedy Central HD's coming to Comcast?


Simpsons in HD Sunday! Yay


----------



## electrictroy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ceeaton* /forum/post/15799865
> 
> 
> For our northern Maryland viewers.... WITF-TV TO OBSERVE FEBRUARY 17



Yes. Since I live in the (apparently) unusual situation of receiving three markets, I've been keeping track of which stations are switching off:


Baltimore: 45, 54

York-Harrisburg: 33, 15

Philadelphia: None within range of me.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *drjlb* /forum/post/15784708
> 
> 
> I know this question has been asked several times, but has anyone in PWC (Woodbridge area) started receiving the 3 channels from Comcast that were supposed to come online back in Nov? That is, FX HD, Fox News HD and Speed HD. With Nascar just around the corner, it would be nice to get Speed.



No FIOS in your area yet? We've had FIOS in my area of Woodbridge(Rippon Landing) for 1.5 years now.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/15807056
> 
> 
> These crawls, on WVBT/43 FOX, have run many times during primetime; weather closings, election results, etc.



I'll try and get in touch with someone there and find out what they are doing.


Thanks for the info!


.


----------



## SUOrangeman

(Link to live document in signature)


I've taken CycloneGT's transition date data and merged it with system2000's transition power chart from December. At the moment, it seems appropriate in putting those datasets together. Let's see how it looks (obviously looks better in the real Google Docs version):











-SUO


----------



## TheKrell

I was wondering if CycloneGT would update his table for MHz Networks. I claim WNVT (transmitter in Goldvein, VA) went digital-only on ATSC channel 30 a long time ago. Wikipedia claims 2003.


WNVC has got to be hurting right now. They were transmitting from a highly-visible tower in Merrifield, VA (I495 and RT50 interchange) until Sept 1, 2008. They shut down both analog and digital transmissions early in order to swap antennas in preparation for the digital transition to their new channel 24. That tower work was completed Oct 26, 2008. But now they can't turn on again until Baltimore station WUBT vacates channel 24 on June 12! What a mess.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TheKrell* /forum/post/15813877
> 
> 
> I claim WNVT (transmitter in Goldvein, VA) went digital-only on ATSC channel 30 a long time ago. Wikipedia claims 2003.



FWIW, WNVT-DT 30 is licensed in Goldvien, but the transmitter is located high atop Independent Hill, just 6 miles south of Manassas (Rts.234 & 619) Their signal gets out quite well considering their modest power level.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*MASN READY TO LAUNCH FULL TIME HD CHANNEL*


POSTED February 13, 2009 | 11:09 AM


MASN to launch full time HD channel


By: Jim Williams

The Examiner


The Mid Atlantic Sports Network will be launching a full time high definition channel in time for this season’s coverage of the Nationals and Orioles. There will be 210 regular season games broadcast in HD this season by MASN giving area baseball fans one game every night in the highest broadcast form.


That means both the Nationals and Orioles will have 105 games broadcast this season in HD.


Some of the highlights of the 2009 schedule will be the marquee teams featured in HD the Yankees (21 games), Phillies (19 games), Red Sox (21 games) and Mets (12 games).


The network is making other changes to further enhance their broadcasts including new cameras that will bring fans closer to the action. *The network will utilize an X-Mo camera, a new high-speed HD camera, that shoots more than 300 frames per second for crystal clear replays of the biggest moments on the field.* The same camera was used during NBC's Super Bowl telecast last month, which captured Santonio Holmes' winning TD catch. In addition, MASN will debut a new broadcast look and graphics package for game broadcasts and for O's Xtra and Nats Xtra in 2009.


Having a dedicated channel will help improve the quality the broadcasts because when Comcast put the games on MOJO the channel was not adjusted for sports. According Richard Holl a broadcast engineer: “For sports to be seen at their best in high definition they should be aired on a channel that has been calibrated for sports telecasts. That is what has been done for CSN-HD, they have set that channel up for sports coverage. Once a cable company sets the channel to adapt to the speed of movement that you get in sports then other traditional HD broadcasts like movies, or sit-coms, etc will be fine. I think that having a dedicated channel will really serve the viewers of MASN well as long as the cable company sets it up properly from the start and there no reason that they shouldn’t.”


As for the rest of the tradional games on MASN in 2009 the breakdown will be the Orioles with 95 games on MASN and 66 games on MASN2. Viewers in the Baltimore area will be able to watch 20 MASN-produced Orioles games simulcast on the network's over-the-air partner, WJZ-TV Channel 13.


The Nationals will have 95 live games on MASN and an additional 67 on MASN2. Washington DC-area viewers will also be able to watch 20 selected Sunday afternoon games on DC50 which is the new over the air partner for the Nationals and MASN. They will replace MY20 and will air both the Nats Xtra pre and postgame shows which will be something new for the fans in the Washington area.


As far as spring training goes there will be six games on MASN starting on March 6th when the Orioles host the Nationals in Fort Lauderdale. The other live televised spring training games will feature the Red Sox, Marlins and Braves.


Kudos for MASN to have live coverage of the Adam Dunn presser on Thursday. Good job done by Byron Kerr and Phil Wood.


More to come on the channel next week.

http://www.dcexaminer.com/opinion/bl...-39556932.html


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TheKrell* /forum/post/15813877
> 
> 
> I was wondering if CycloneGT would update his table for MHz Networks. I claim WNVT (transmitter in Goldvein, VA) went digital-only on ATSC channel 30 a long time ago. Wikipedia claims 2003.
> 
> 
> WNVC has got to be hurting right now.



The table is incomplete and is missing WNVC-DT 56 and WNVT-DT 30 from what I can see. Looks to be north end of the DC-Baltimore focused with all the PA stations that you have to be north of Baltimore to get. Maybe I should update/revise the table I generated for the DC & Baltimore market stations including the LPs & maximization status and repost it.


Earlier this week, while assembling info for Trip's web page, I looked up the WNVT filing to see when exactly they shut down the analog 53 broadcast. It was either late 2003 or early 2004. WNVT-DT was one of the first existing stations to go digital only. According to the filings, the reason was that the tower could not accommodate 2 full power TV antennas and a combined antenna would have been expensive. So they opted to save money and go digital only which they have made use of with 4, now 5, SD sub-channels. WNVT-DT 30 has a 160 kW ERP which is not a weak signal for digital UHF.


Yes, WNVC 56 was sandbagged by the delay. Their problem is made worse because WUTB-TV 24 is owned by Fox and Fox has stated they intend to keep all their O&O stations analog on the air until June 12. Commonwealth Public Broadcasting Corporation which operates WNVC & WNVT is not likely to have any leverage to persuade Fox to shut down a commercial station.


----------



## jgantert

So what happened to RTN7? Right in the middle of the Incredible Hulk at a about 6:30pm it goes black? 7-1 and 7-2 still going strong, but 7-3 black screen.


Any ideas?


-John


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15814352
> 
> 
> As for the rest of the tradional games on MASN in 2009 the breakdown will be the Orioles with 95 games on MASN and 66 games on MASN2. Viewers in the Baltimore area will be able to watch 20 MASN-produced Orioles games simulcast on the network's over-the-air partner, WJZ-TV Channel 13.



But will they be in HD?


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15801239
> 
> 
> WVPY-DT has applied for an increase to 100 kW, but the FCC has not acted on the application.



Nice to know! I get WVPY-DT fairly well, but that extra 50 KW will make it rock solid and I'll have to see what happens to my system when it comes to trying to get WHP-DT at 450KW


----------



## TheKrell




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/15816764
> 
> 
> So what happened to RTN7? Right in the middle of the Incredible Hulk at a about 6:30pm it goes black?



It's back on as of 10:20PM Friday Feb 13.


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MASN* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> For sports to be seen at their best in high definition they should be aired on a channel that has been calibrated for sports telecasts.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/15818166



hehe, no kidding.


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> “For sports to be seen at their best in high definition they should be aired on a channel that has been calibrated for sports telecasts.”



What the Frak was that person smoking when s/he said that?


What hype will they think of next?


----------



## dmulvany

For the first time, I saw captions (analog only) on programming from the "This" network on 45.2 today (late afternoon/early evening). I hadn't seen any captions when I checked on 1/12/2009. Mark, do you know when they started transmitting caption data again?


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dmulvany* /forum/post/15823755
> 
> 
> For the first time, I saw captions (analog only) on programming from the "This" network on 45.2 today (late afternoon/early evening). I hadn't seen any captions when I checked on 1/12/2009. Mark, do you know when they started transmitting caption data again?



It's been a while, actually. They don't have captioning on everything, though. I haven't been able to discern a pattern of what movies have captioning, and what movies don't. Hopefully the program guide is correct...?


.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TheKrell* /forum/post/15818026
> 
> 
> It's back on as of 10:20PM Friday Feb 13.



Strange, my TivoHD happened to record that episode, and on the TivoHD it wasn't a black screen, it was a black screen with green lines. This went on for about 10-20 minutes, then the picture came back. I guess they just lost the satellite feed or something? Oh well. Digital blip I guess.


----------



## systems2000

I've seen the crawls on WNUV-TV lately and everytime, I'll switch to WUTB-TV to see if it's running one at the same time, but I've still not seen a crawl on WUTB-TV.


Why does the crawl tell viewers that a converter box can be purchased at electronics stores, when there are just as many retail stores that carry them (Shoppers, CVS, Rite-Aid, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target, etc.)? Why not just point them to the DTV website locator?


----------



## afiggatt

Mark, question on WBFF-TV 45 and WNUV-TV 54 - will both stations act as night-light stations after Tuesday night? I see both stations on the FCC list as Y(es) for night-light status. If so, how long will they keep broadcasting in night-light mode? With all the other major stations in the market staying on the air, the only benefit of a night-light PSA broadcast is to notify people that WBFF-TV and WNUV-TV have really truly ended their analog broadcast (for normal programming) for those who somehow missed or ignored the constant messages in place of a blank screen. After a few days, one would think almost every of the more regular remaining analog OTA viewers would get the message.


As it stands, it appears that over 700 stations, maybe as high as ~780, in the US will have no analog broadcast (with some of these in night-light status for a time) after February 17. With 1809 full power stations, that is about 40% of all full power stations. Unfortunately few of those are in the DC and Baltimore markets.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15826519
> 
> 
> I've seen the crawls on WNUV-TV lately and everytime, I'll switch to WUTB-TV to see if it's running one at the same time, but I've still not seen a crawl on WUTB-TV.



Fox owned WUTB-TV My 24 is not shutting down on February 17. All of the broadcast networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox) are keeping their owned & operated stations on the air until June 12, except in specific circumstances. WBFF-TV 45 and WNUV-TV 54 are owned by Sinclair Broadcasting which is shutting down many of their stations on the original Feb. 17 date.


----------



## systems2000

I keep mixing WBFF and WUTB up. Sorry.


----------



## systems2000

How much intereference would I be getting from WKBS-DT at 200KW (63 miles single-edge -23dB) or WAZW-LD at 12KW (53 miles 2-edge) to prevent WBFF-DT at 550KW (66 miles 2-edge -22dB) from being received? I've also got WBFF-TV (45) at 1290KW (66 miles 2-edge -28.5), WKBS-TV (47) at 1510KW (63 miles single-edge), and WMPT-DT at 933KW (59 miles 2-edge -17dB) for adjacent channels.


I also have a major power distribution line about 100 yards to the North of my place. It comes directly from a Switching Facility and Generation plant that are about ½-1 mile from my house.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15826580
> 
> 
> Mark, question on WBFF-TV 45 and WNUV-TV 54 - will both stations act as night-light stations after Tuesday night? I see both stations on the FCC list as Y(es) for night-light status. If so, how long will they keep broadcasting in night-light mode? With all the other major stations in the market staying on the air, the only benefit of a night-light PSA broadcast is to notify people that WBFF-TV and WNUV-TV have really truly ended their analog broadcast (for normal programming) for those who somehow missed or ignored the constant messages in place of a blank screen. After a few days, one would think almost every of the more regular remaining analog OTA viewers would get the message.
> 
> 
> As it stands, it appears that over 700 stations, maybe as high as ~780, in the US will have no analog broadcast (with some of these in night-light status for a time) after February 17. With 1809 full power stations, that is about 40% of all full power stations. Unfortunately few of those are in the DC and Baltimore markets.



Both WNUV and WBFF are going to have night-lite messages. I haven't yet been told how long the messages are supposed to be kept up...


.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15827122
> 
> 
> WAZW-LD at 12KW (53 miles 2-edge)



I don't think WAZW-LD (-CA analog 48) in Winchester, VA is on the air yet with a digital broadcast on DT 46. When it does goes on the air, it will make reception of WBFF-DT 45 (DT 46) a challenge for western Loudoun, western Fauquier (if anyone gets WBFF-DT from that far away), and Jefferson (WV) counties. Don't think if would be much of a problem as far north as you are, but I could be wrong. Meanwhile their analog UHF 48 broadcast interferes with WRC-DT 4 (48) reception out in western Loudoun and west of the Blue Ridge, so when the LP station does convert to digital, people may gain a major DC station, but lose a Baltimore station.


Your digital and analog interference possibilities at UHF 45 and 46 make my head swim. When WBFF-TV 45 goes dark, it will give you the opportunity to see if it is the sole cause is the cause of your WBFF-DT reception problems. WKBS-TV 47 is apparently staying on the air until June.


----------



## systems2000

My head has been swimming for awhile.


They're probably not my only stations on the spectrum. Such is life when your centered on Altoona, Harrisburg/York/Lancaster, Baltimore, and D.C., with a bunch of locals and LP's thrown in.










I've discovered a few additional issues being on the fringe. One biggy is 300 Ohm lead placement. It's a major issue. I've got about 10' of it between the antenna posts and the pre-amp. Depending upon how I route it, I can either receive a station or it will completely disappear. What Fun!


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15827359
> 
> 
> I don't think WAZW-LD (-CA analog 48) in Winchester, VA is on the air yet with a digital broadcast on DT 46.



That might explain why http://www.tvfool.com/ didn't list it, although it also could be because there were too many other stations of higher power that pushed it off the list.


----------



## dmulvany




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15824107
> 
> 
> It's been a while, actually. They don't have captioning on everything, though. I haven't been able to discern a pattern of what movies have captioning, and what movies don't. Hopefully the program guide is correct...?
> 
> 
> .



The This network is actually showing some high-rated movies! Last night, it showed an R-rated, three-star movie, Jack and Sarah, made in 1995, with captions. I ended up recording it on TiVo.


Unfortunately, "The Black Stallion" isn't showing with closed captions right now even though the televised program guide said it had CCs. I had never seen this movie, and it's rated with 3 1/2 stars, so I was really looking forward to it. It was made in 1979. As a movie for children, foul language shouldn't have been an issue.


I was going to publicize this new channel high and wide among people who watch captioning until I saw "the Black Stallion" wasn't captioned even though it was supposed to be. The program guide really needs to be accurate to avoid disappointing people. :-(



Dana


----------



## dmulvany




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dmulvany* /forum/post/15827726
> 
> 
> 
> Unfortunately, "The Black Stallion" isn't showing with closed captions right now even though the televised program guide said it had CCs.



Correction: The program guide from TiVo shows that "The Black Stallion" was closed captioned. The guide from the station, 45.2, does not.


Anyone know why TiVo's guide would be incorrect?



Dana


----------



## DC_SnDvl

Anyone have the contact info for the fox 5 controll room. they don't have the race in HD and my 4 year old is blowing a gasket?


----------



## jgantert

So what's going to happen after the analog switchoff? Would channel 5 just have a blank screen now, since there won't be any SD analog feed anymore when someone forgets to flip the switch?


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/15828664
> 
> 
> So what's going to happen after the analog switchoff? Would channel 5 just have a blank screen now, since there won't be any SD analog feed anymore when someone forgets to flip the switch?



There wont be a problem. This is probably a problem with the splicer or something else.


----------



## CycloneGT

Its on HD over on 45.1 WBFF. I have watched Ch5 jump in and out of HD. 45 is solid HD.


----------



## kalnel

I'm in a high-rise in Friendship Heights, MD, facing north with line-of-site to the old 20 and 26 towers on River Road. I can get all the digital D.C. and Balto stations (and Hagerstown 24) OTA, but I can't get any of the WETA digital stations. From several maps I've seen, it looks like 26 is broadcasting in digital from the same tower as WRC (about a mile from me, but on the opposite side of my building), so I'm curious why I can't pick them up when I get the digitals on the same tower (or in the same direction).


Also, any gossip about Comcast MoCo adding more HD news? We haven't had any new HD channels in a while, and I'd think news would be a priority in this market.


Thanks,

kal


----------



## ACW112983




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ACW112983* /forum/post/15808534
> 
> 
> So apparently my zipcode (22203) gets FIOS, but not according to the Fios webpage
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Any word on when/if Comedy Central HD's coming to Comcast?
> 
> 
> Simpsons in HD Sunday! Yay



Anybody?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kalnel* /forum/post/15829053
> 
> 
> I'm in a high-rise in Friendship Heights, MD, facing north with line-of-site to the old 20 and 26 towers on River Road. I can get all the digital D.C. and Balto stations (and Hagerstown 24) OTA, but I can't get any of the WETA digital stations. From several maps I've seen, it looks like 26 is broadcasting in digital from the same tower as WRC (about a mile from me, but on the opposite side of my building), so I'm curious why I can't pick them up when I get the digitals on the same tower (or in the same direction).



WETA-DT PBS 26 is broadcasting on UHF 27. Have you tried manually tuning to 27 to see what the signal meter shows? Also, what antenna are you using? Have you tried different antenna locations? Your antenna might be in a dead spot for WETA-DT reception.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kalnel* /forum/post/15829053
> 
> 
> (and Hagerstown 24)



Are you sure you don't mean WHAG 25 (they will be on RF26 after the analog shutdown)?


----------



## kalnel




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15830936
> 
> 
> Are you sure you don't mean WHAG 25 (they will be on RF26 after the analog shutdown)?



D'oh -- yes, that's exactly what I mean. Thanks for catching that.


As far as antennae, nothing special, but I've tried several -- a Radio Shack triangle ($19.99), an old UHF/FM loop, rabbit ears, and nothing. Using "nothing" or the rabbit ears, I can pick up all the D.C. digitals (except 26) and WMAR-2. With the other two, I get "everything," except for WETA.


(Yes, I realize that rabbit ears aren't designed for digital, but they seem to work well enough for me...)


I've moved them around a lot in different rooms in my apartment and pointing them in different directions, but I get nothing for WETA -- 0% signal when I try 27 manually or when I let my TV receivers or the converter box search.


I have a feeling it must be because I'm so close to the towers and on the wrong side of the building. (If I lived across the hall, I'd have line of site with their digital tower.)


It's not a big deal, since I'm mainly interested in pulling in the Baltimore stations (which I don't get on Comcast), but I'm curious about it. I was surprised to see that the Balto digital stations all seem to lock in easier OTA than any of the Washington digitals, despite (or because of?) my proximity to the D.C. towers. Conversely, I get great pictures on all of the D.C. analogs, but very bad reception on the Baltimore analogs.


(I have some similar problems with radio signals where I am. Even though I can see several towers from my windows -- and could darn near string cables to them -- I can only receive about four stations on AM or FM.)


kal


----------



## jgantert

Simpsons and KOTH looked great in HD tonight! Glad to see 5 did flip the HD switch for both shows (unlike NASCAR).


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kalnel* /forum/post/15831623
> 
> 
> (I have some similar problems with radio signals where I am. Even though I can see several towers from my windows -- and could darn near string cables to them -- I can only receive about four stations on AM or FM.)kal



All that FM is detrimental to your TV reception. My situation is similar here in North Arlington with 4 FM stations 1/2 mile away. I recommend ordering a UVSJ, & HLSJ to help reduce most of the uneeded strong signals from entering your TV.


Connect the UVSJ between the antenna & TV to reduce everything _"except"_ UHF. After the transition, switch out the UVSJ with the HLSJ to allow _"both"_ VHF-HI & UHF to go to your TV.


UVSJ- http://yhst-18278607509093.stores.ya...pico-0389.html 


HLSJ- http://yhst-18278607509093.stores.ya...pico-0144.html


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kalnel* /forum/post/15831623
> 
> 
> 
> (Yes, I realize that rabbit ears aren't designed for digital, but they seem to work well enough for me...)



...and exactly where did you get this realization?







The amount bogus info bandied about during this transition is incredible.


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/15832879
> 
> 
> ...and exactly where did you get this realization?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The amount bogus info bandied about during this transition is incredible.



You see, since rabbits are biological creatures that does not work in the world of 1s and 0s as digital does, they do not work properly with digital signals. If you were to purchase a jackalope ear antenna it would work. The jackalope is a animal of SCIENCE, which is what makes digital work.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/15807056
> 
> 
> These crawls, on WVBT/43 FOX, have run many times during primetime; weather closings, election results, etc.



OK, it turns out that I actually do know what I'm doing!


The answer is that WVTB doesn't have a splicer. Since they are an O and O (owned and operated by Fox), they get all of their programming from the Fox headend in New Jersey via optical fiber. They don't have a master control at their facility, and they don't put their local programming in there, as is the case with WUTB here in Baltimore. Since they don't have a splicer, anything that they put over the source from New Jersey locally, goes out on the air.


Since I do have a splicer, anything that I put ovet the video locally gets removed by the splicer when the Fox HD programming is going out. I still have to switch back to an SD program (i.e., splice to local), to put out an EAS or weather crawl/bug.


.


----------



## SUOrangeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15806493
> 
> 
> ... The list of stations that filed to shut down on Feb. 17 ... can be found at http://www.fcc.gov/dtv/ . The lists of stations are under the Appendixes. ...



Here's the official PDF of all stations (as of 10 Feb).


-SUO


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15833666
> 
> 
> OK, it turns out that I actually do know what I'm doing!
> 
> 
> The answer is that WVTB doesn't have a splicer. Since they are an O and O (owned and operated by Fox), they get all of their programming from the Fox headend in New Jersey via optical fiber. They don't have a master control at their facility, and they don't put their local programming in there, as is the case with WUTB here in Baltimore. Since they don't have a splicer, anything that they put over the source from New Jersey locally, goes out on the air.
> 
> 
> Since I do have a splicer, anything that I put ovet the video locally gets removed by the splicer when the Fox HD programming is going out. I still have to switch back to an SD program (i.e., splice to local), to put out an EAS or weather crawl/bug.
> 
> 
> .



WVBT is owned by LIN...


- Trip


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SUOrangeman* /forum/post/15834057
> 
> 
> Here's the official PDF of all stations .



Out of date. The FCC initially kicked back 106 stations on that list, but then allowed 53 of them to shut down analog. Of the remaining 53, some had to file a reason to be allowed to shut down, but most threw in the towel and agreed to keep their analog going. Hopefully the FCC will post a new complete list of all stations and their analog status tomorrow, so we can review it and generate an accurate list of whose analog will be off on Feb. 18 and which stations will running night-light analog for a time.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/15834486
> 
> 
> WVBT is owned by LIN...
> 
> 
> - Trip



crap - bad info...?


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15836921
> 
> 
> crap - bad info...?



No worries... Don't know their setup at WVBT but they don't have to take the picture to SD to show digital OTA customers crawls, station logos, etc no matter where the program is coming from...


----------



## ACW112983

They did KOTH VERY quietly. Looked alright.

Simpsons looked GREAT.


----------



## kalnel




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/15832879
> 
> 
> ...and exactly where did you get this realization?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The amount bogus info bandied about during this transition is incredible.



OK, I feel like a moron, but I SWEAR I've read/heard that in several places.

















In fact, I had the impression that you need a "special" antenna -- as in, nothing anyone already owns could possibly do the job -- in order to get digital broadcasts. With all the various home-grown bowtie approaches I've seen online, I pretty much assumed that I was just having really great luck with my old antenna.


(I've actually been an antenna moron for years. All through high school, I used an old magnetic whip-style CB antenna for my stereo tuner, despite people telling me that it wouldn't work. It did...)


@Digital Rules -- Thanks for the tips on the UVSJ and the HLSJ. I will give them a try.


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kalnel* /forum/post/15838756
> 
> 
> In fact, I had the impression that you need a "special" antenna -- as in, nothing anyone already owns could possibly do the job -- in order to get digital broadcasts. With all the various home-grown bowtie approaches I've seen online, I pretty much assumed that I was just having really great luck with my old antenna.



The antenna is designed to funnel RF, in a certain frequency range, down the cable to the intended receiver. There is no such thing as a digital transmission. All RF transmissions are analog. What makes the old NTSC transmissions different from the ATSC transmissions is the modulation scheme. The scheme we are using, 8VSB, makes it appear that digital bits are being sent over the air. It is a complicated mess. It is the same thing for satellite transmissions. In the early days, the 36 MHz wide satellite transponder used FM to send out the video and audio (simplification because audio subcarriers existed). Today, the same 36 MHz wide transponders use QPSK (Quad Phase Shift Key) and 8PSK (8 Phase Shift Key) to send digital audio and video to the networks, which take the video and audio and transmit that to you. The same C and Ku-band dishes are used. The same applies to OTA reception. If you have a currently working antenna, it should work for digital. The problem is in the signal strength and possible multi-path problems. The best place for an antenna is outside, on the roof.



> Quote:
> (I've actually been an antenna moron for years. All through high school, I used an old magnetic whip-style CB antenna for my stereo tuner, despite people telling me that it wouldn't work. It did...)



You got away with a lot of things for FM (VHF range, just above channel 6). UHF and the 8VSB modulation scheme make things a little tougher.


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ACW112983* /forum/post/15837154
> 
> 
> They did KOTH VERY quietly. Looked alright.
> 
> Simpsons looked GREAT.



Until you stepped through the portion of the opening scene where the landscape is quickly scanned. The low bitrate that Fox uses for HD brought out plenty of encoder errors, since every new image frame (23.976 fps) overloaded the MPEG-2 encoder, as there weren't enough bits to go around.


Fox has lots of encoder problems due to the lack of bandwidth. When you pack four SD and four HD channels per 73 Mbps transponder, something has to give.


As soon as Fox stops sending SD, they can get those bits back. But, with the new analog cutoff date, I doubt that they can do it when they originally planed, as there are lots of Fox stations that need the SD feed (including the one in my DMA).


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mrvideo* /forum/post/15839071
> 
> 
> As soon as Fox stops sending SD, they can get those bits back. But, with the new analog cutoff date, I doubt that they can do it when they originally planed, as there are lots of Fox stations that need the SD feed (including the one in my DMA).



There was an article detailing this in the HOTP thread. Fox was not planning to shut off its analog signal until August, so it will continue as planned.


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/15840015
> 
> 
> There was an article detailing this in the HOTP thread. Fox was not planning to shut off its analog signal until August, so it will continue as planned.



Huh? Fox O&O stations can't broadcast analog past June 12, 2009.


I better go find that article.


----------



## URFloorMatt

Here it is. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...1#post15757881 



> Quote:
> Fox’s distribution plans aren’t impacted by the postponement, said Fox president of engineering Andrew Setos. The broadcast network, which currently transmits separate HD and SD satellite feeds, will in early April begin deploying new Motorola MPEG-2 satellite radios at its owned stations and affiliates that can simultaneously output a 16:9 HD stream and a downconverted, 4:3 standard-def stream.
> 
> 
> The new Motorola receivers should be installed at all broadcast affiliates by mid-August, at which point Fox will stop transmitting its SD feed, as originally scheduled.



CBS plans to end its analog satellite feed on March 3. ABC's plans are now in flux.


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/15840229
> 
> 
> Here it is. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...1#post15757881



Ah. Misunderstood, when you said analog, I thought you meant their OTA stations. The sat feeds are technically MPEG-2 digital feeds. Fox hasn't done analog sat feeds (other than current syndicated programming) in ages.


Unless owners, like Sinclair's local Fox affiliate, get their act together and upgrade the analog plants to HD-SDI, the 4:3 analog output of the new receiver will be required for a while.



> Quote:
> CBS plans to end its analog satellite feed on March 3. ABC's plans are now in flux.



Again I have to assume the SD feed via the DCII+ DSR-4800/DSR-4810. I'd have to check my notes, but the CW SD feed will go away at the same time.


ABC is working on the transition, as tests have been spotted. Will the testing stop? I would hope not. Now is as good a time as any to continue testing. I guess it will be depend on how many stations still need a SD feed. But testing can still continue. My local ABC affiliate is all HD-SDI. They stopped using the SD feed a few months ago and as of 1 pm CT today, they will never need it again.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/15840229
> 
> 
> Here it is. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...1#post15757881
> 
> 
> 
> 
> CBS plans to end its analog satellite feed on March 3. ABC's plans are now in flux.



Cool article. If they are going to cram less into the same satellite space could we see better HD from networks, ESPECIALLY NBC???


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SUOrangeman* /forum/post/15812826
> 
> 
> (Link to live document in signature)
> 
> 
> I've taken CycloneGT's transition date data and merged it with system2000's transition power chart from December. At the moment, it seems appropriate in putting those datasets together. Let's see how it looks (obviously looks better in the real Google Docs version):



Thanks for posting that. I was about to ask for the old ATSC/new ATSC channel info before seeing your post. That is key to keep in mind so we remember we need to rescan for those stations that are changing.


----------



## Marcus Carr

The Comcast lineup for Baltimore City at Comcast.com has WETA HD at 219. Don't know if this is a mistake or a future channel. I already have MPT HD at 220. (I have WETA in SD.)


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/15841195
> 
> 
> Cool article. If they are going to cram less into the same satellite space could we see better HD from networks, ESPECIALLY NBC???



Not sure, but with the SD feed going away, the networks will need to broadcast a backup HD feed for sun outages, etc.


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/15844589
> 
> 
> Not sure, but with the SD feed going away, the networks will need to broadcast a backup HD feed for sun outages, etc.



Except for The CW (until about a week ago), all of the networks were feeding HD on two different birds.


With NBC the bitrate of their HD is lower than CBS, ABC and The CW. Actually I have to find out about CBS. Even though NBC has gone DVB-S2 and H.264, they are cramming 3 HD streams and a SD stream on the transponder. If you take the H.264 bitrate and double it, it doesn't meet the 2:1 ratio for recompression. If you go with 17.5 Mbps MPEG-2, you want a little more than that with H.264 (or about 18 Mbps). I remember it being less. I will double check for sure. But, with most stations also doing a SD stream, the ATSC HD bitrate is down to 15 Mbps, at most, so NBC has no problem with that.


The NBC main feed is via Ku and the backup is on C-band.


CBS has gone DVB-S2 and are doing two MPEG-2 4:2:2 streams. I'll have to find out what the bitrate is. But, sending 4:2:2 offsets some of the issues going to 4:2:0.


ABC is moving toward DVB-S2, but since they aren't doing that yet, I have not heard how many HD streams will be on each transponder, other than they will be H.264.


The CW is currently doing DVB-S QPSK single HD 4:2:0 MPEG-2 stream. On Sunday another transponder is lit for the west coast.


ABC is the same, currently a single HD stream DVB-S per transponder, at more than double the highest ATSC bitrate. But ABC runs an east and west transponder nightly, except that Nightline on the west coast is done via the east HD transponder.


----------



## Potatoehead




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15843117
> 
> 
> The Comcast lineup for Baltimore City at Comcast.com has WETA HD at 219. Don't know if this is a mistake or a future channel. I already have MPT HD at 220. (I have WETA in SD.)



Down here in Calvert County, the Comcast lineup has added MPT HD at 219. We already have WETA HD at 220. Since it is the closest transmitter, it would make sense to add MPT HD.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15843117
> 
> 
> The Comcast lineup for Baltimore City at Comcast.com has WETA HD at 219. Don't know if this is a mistake or a future channel. I already have MPT HD at 220. (I have WETA in SD.)



If Comcast puts the DC stations they have on in HD then I am less likely to bolt to Fios for local HD and internet.


BTW, it is also for Howard County on the website. Also, MASNHD is listed at 247, which is now an on demand channel.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/15847312
> 
> 
> BTW, it is also for Howard County on the website. Also, MASNHD is listed at 247, which is now an on demand channel.



I see that MASN HD is also listed for Baltimore.


But they are still missing some HD channels I already have: FX, Fox News, Speed.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/15847312
> 
> 
> If Comcast puts the DC stations they have on in HD then I am less likely to bolt to Fios for local HD and internet.
> 
> 
> BTW, it is also for Howard County on the website. Also, MASNHD is listed at 247, which is now an on demand channel.



Funny, that was one of the last straws when I left Comcast for FiOS. I'm in Anne Arundel County, and Comcast yanked the DC locals (in HD) that had been available via clear QAM but not mapped on the STBs. Combine that with the degraded HD quality and the fact that FiOS was getting ready to hit 100+ HD channels without any added degradation...


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15784203
> 
> 
> My plan is to turn them off according to the original plan: 11:59:59 PM on February 17, 2009.
> 
> 
> I like the national anthem idea! I can probably do that.
> 
> 
> I'll see what I can do about the test pattern, too.
> 
> 
> BTW, the latest that I've heard is that we're supposed to have a "night-light" signal up for a couple of weeks so, at this point, the transmitters aren't actually going off, just the analog programming is going to stop.
> 
> 
> .



Well, that didn't work as smoothly as I had hoped... The audio switched, but the video didn't, so I had to re-wire the signals on-the-fly...


Anyway, the night-light programming is up on both WNUV and WBFF.


_


----------



## afiggatt

WBFF-TV Fox 45 and WNUV-TV CW 54 in Baltimore are now in "night-light" status. So far, both stations are looping through short programs on how to hook and use a converter box on the analog broadcast. Here's hoping they don't do the night-light for long.


Other local station notes.


WBAL-TV NBC 11 has filed to stay at reduced power on the analog broadcast until June. WBAL reduced the analog 11 power in January to modify one of the transmitter cabinets for digital 11 operation for what they thought would be a Feb. 17 shutdown and digital channel move. WBAL states that it would be impratical to return the modified transmitter back to analog operation.


The Ion Network has delayed it's HD upgrade for the primary x.1 Ion channel until March 16. So it will be another month before we see WWPX-DT 60 and WPXW-DT 66 with a HD sub-channel and presumably some HD programming in prime-time.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15849255
> 
> 
> Well, that didn't work as smoothly as I had hoped... The audio switched, but the video didn't, so I had to re-wire the signals on-the-fly...
> 
> 
> Anyway, the night-light programming is up on both WNUV and WBFF.



Beat me by a couple of minutes. If you can, let us know whether you get a flood of phone calls on what happened to the analog broadcast and how to use a converter box.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15849285
> 
> 
> Beat me by a couple of minutes. If you can, let us know whether you get a flood of phone calls on what happened to the analog broadcast and how to use a converter box.



One phone call, so far... Wondering why we were the only station that shut off the analog programming.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15849255
> 
> 
> Well, that didn't work as smoothly as I had hoped... The audio switched, but the video didn't, so I had to re-wire the signals on-the-fly...
> 
> 
> Anyway, the night-light programming is up on both WNUV and WBFF.
> 
> 
> _



WBFF seemed to cut out here for a bit. Was there a power reduction?


Love the old IDs, btw. How ancient are they?


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/15849473
> 
> 
> WBFF seemed to cut out here for a bit. Was there a power reduction?
> 
> 
> Love the old IDs, btw. How ancient are they?



Channel 45 is now 6 dB lower than full power. I'd do the math, but I'm too tired...


I got the IDs from youtube. I'm sorry that it didn't work out at 11:59:59...


=


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15849255
> 
> 
> Well, that didn't work as smoothly as I had hoped... The audio switched, but the video didn't, so I had to re-wire the signals on-the-fly...



I saw that on 45... the two video streams were fighting each other for a second at the end. Then the station seemed to go off altogether briefly.


I love the classic sign-off stuff. The Indian!











> Quote:
> _Anyway, the night-light programming is up on both WNUV and WBFF._



How long for?


P.S. After checking out 45 and 54, I decided to see if any other analogs were shutting down unannounced (ya never know, eh?). And then I realized, to my dismay, that my Silver Sensor wasn't picking up anything in the VHF band. I knew it was a UHF antenna, but I'd kinda hoped it could still pick up hi-VHF... hmm. (They specifically mention the Silver Sensor and its UHF-only status in the "night-light" program, BTW.)


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15849266
> 
> 
> The Ion Network has delayed it's HD upgrade for the primary x.1 Ion channel until March 16. So it will be another month before we see WWPX-DT 60 and WPXW-DT 66 with a HD sub-channel and presumably some HD programming in prime-time.



I'm not sure WWPX is one of the stations going HD on 3/16. WPXW/66 is, though...


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15849566
> 
> 
> Channel 45 is now 6 dB lower than full power. I'd do the math, but I'm too tired...
> 
> 
> I got the IDs from youtube. I'm sorry that it didn't work out at 11:59:59...



Well, you can run the national anthem and old test patterns when you shut the analog broadcasts off for real. Please post here in advance when the plug is pulled, so you know that somebody is watching.










Only 1 phone call after the switch to the night light? Probably will get some more today, but if the Feb. 17 shutdown happens without much fuss, should encourage other stations to go ahead and file to shut down in April.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Somebody at work mentioned that they can't watch Jerry Springer today.


----------



## joblo

Oh, the humanity!!!


----------



## Marcus Carr

The transition is a good thing.


----------



## systems2000

I was wondering why WBFF-TV was coming in clearer and almost audible. 6dB? Maybe there is hope.


How long until they both go OFF the Air? Definitely let us know when and how much time you'll give for the turn-off.


Did WNUV-TV get a power reduction also? I'm getting better reception this morning on both stations (viewable and audio).

*NOTE:* WBFF-TV 1290KW -6dB *should* = 322.5KW & WNUV-TV 5000KW -6dB *should* = 1250KW


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15850876
> 
> 
> Well, you can run the national anthem and old test patterns when you shut the analog broadcasts off for real. Please post here in advance when the plug is pulled, so you know that somebody is watching.



+1 ... I want to be present when the static starts. *Mark, WBFF*: Thanks for sticking to the original transition plan!!


I also can't believe how much better the analog is at the reduced power. I've never seen what WBFF-TV looked like ghost-free until this morning. Not too bad, actually


----------



## afiggatt

New game: count and list the errors in this Baltimore Sun article: http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertai...,3036759.story .


Major errors: 1) WBOC in Salisbury was one of the stations that was pressured to keep the analog on, so WBOC-TV 16 is still on the air. 2) There is no WJLA in Hagerstown, presumably meant WJAL 68 which went off the air in mid-January because the transmitter building was destroyed in a fire. 3) The FCC did not force 123 stations to keep broadcasting in analog, but instead dropped the number to 106 of stations they wanted justification from of which 53 quickly were allowed to shut down and another 12? or so which were allowed after they explained why.


The stations should get together and assemble a converter installation and outreach team that will go to homes & retirement homes, bringing along a batch of antennas, and get some of the elderly shut-ins set up. Would make for good press coverage.


----------



## KA9Q




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15747605
> 
> 
> WMAR will take over WJZ's current UHF 38 antenna at 1000 kW.



Will WMAR also assume WJZ's physical channel 38 digital transmitter? They're all at the same physical site, so why not?


I don't understand the reason for this complicated swap. WMAR, as a lowband VHF station, could have just put digital on 38 from the beginning and WJZ could have used 52 for its temporary digital until 13 went digital.


What happens to all those lowband VHF channels after the transition? What happens to all those surplus DTV transmitters and antennas? Just how many billions has this transition cost so far? Not that it's not worthwhile, just asking.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/15850350
> 
> 
> I'm not sure WWPX is one of the stations going HD on 3/16. WPXW/66 is, though...



WWPX-DT 60 in Martinsburg is a satellite station of WPXW-DT 66 in Manassas for the primary Ion channel. Since WPXW 60 is part of the Washington DC DMA and Ion did list Washington DC as one of the 20 markets they have stations in that is going HD first, I would think that the odds are WWPX-DT 60.1 will go 720p HD when WPXW-DT 66.1 does. But we will find out in a month, assuming Ion does not delay the HD upgrade again.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15853780
> 
> 
> WWPX-DT 60 in Martinsburg is a satellite station of WPXW-DT 66 in Manassas for the primary Ion channel. Since WPXW 60 is part of the Washington DC DMA and Ion did list Washington DC as one of the 20 markets they have stations in that is going HD first, I would think that the odds are WWPX-DT 60.1 will go 720p HD when WPXW-DT 66.1 does. But we will find out in a month, assuming Ion does not delay the HD upgrade again.



Remember, though, that WWPX-DT is up for sale. Given that, they may not want to put the money into it.


- Trip


----------



## mrvideo

I'd have to go back and check the FCC releases, but IIRC, plain ole nightlite is 2 weeks and nightlite plus is until 4/18 (60 days).


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *KA9Q* /forum/post/15853744
> 
> 
> I don't understand the reason for this complicated swap. WMAR, as a lowband VHF station, could have just put digital on 38 from the beginning and WJZ could have used 52 for its temporary digital until 13 went digital.



I could (and have) rant for about an hour as to how poorly I think the DTV allocations were done. Granted, there are only so many channels to go around and we needed 2x the number of them, but it still defies both logic and what I thought were actual rules.


Take our lovely post-transition UHF block of 33,34,35,36,38,40,41,42 as a shining example. Aren't you supposed to maintain a separation between channels? Isn't that a rule?


I'm also still ticked that they couldn't divvy up the new UHF channels so all of D.C. was in one range and all of Baltimore was in another. It would make people in the middle's (like me!) lives a lot easier. Swap the Baltimore MPT (29) with WRC (48), and move WDCW (50) down under 38 somewhere. Then swap WMPT (42) with WMAR (38), and you have this awesome setup where all of D.C. is = 40, and you have Annapolis smack dab in the middle. OTA bliss. You could now get a diplexer set for UHF 38 to join the cities together with 2 antennas, and then throw in a Join-Tenna to grab WMPT if you need yet another PBS. Perfecto. I understand it's not quite that easy in practice, but we can't even try right now. At least VHF is now split up nicely, I suppose.


Yeah, I know, that only applies to people that want both cities and happen to be in the middle (therefore not able to get the fringe D.C. market channels), there are other interference issues and calculations that need to be taken into account, but ... everything just feels like it was thrown together without any regard to trying to do it "right". $0.02.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/15856054
> 
> 
> I could (and have) rant for about an hour as to how poorly I think the DTV allocations were done. Granted, there are only so many channels to go around and we needed 2x the number of them, but it still defies both logic and what I thought were actual rules.
> 
> 
> Take our lovely post-transition UHF block of 33,34,35,36,38,40,41,42 as a shining example. Aren't you supposed to maintain a separation between channels? Isn't that a rule?



No. With analog you did, but digital signals have a "mask filter" which prevents leakage onto adjacent channels. Stations can co-exist side-by-side.


Now there are rules anyway. Stations can only be side-by-side if the towers are within a certain distance. WUTB-DT 41 and WMPT-DT 42 are an example of what happens when the rule isn't followed. WUTB lost a ton of coverage.


I agree with your overall points though, it would be nice if this could have been condensed better.


- Trip


----------



## systems2000

In my case, I'm going to have several (what fun):


WMAR-DT *38*, WJAL-DT *39*, WNUV-DT *40*, & WUTB-DT *41*

WBFF-DT *46*, WPMT-DT *47*, & WRC-DT *48*

WTAJ-DT *32*, WHUT-DT *33*, WJAC-DT *34*/WPXW-DT *34*, WDCA-DT *35*, & WTTG-DT *36*

WJLA-DT *7*, WGAL-DT *8*, WUSA-DT *9*, WHTM-DT *10*, WBAL-DT *11*, WWPX-DT *12*, & WJZ-DT *13*

WLYH-DT *23* & WATM-DT *24*

WWCP-DT *29* & WGCB-DT *30

NOTE:* I see I've left out WHAG-DT *26* & WETA-DT *27* - this is because I don't know how well WETA will be received here.

Currently, I have the following active RF channels within reception range:
2 - 4,5 - 7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14 - 20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36 - 38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52 - 54,55,56 - 58,59,60 - 62 - 66,67


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/15856132
> 
> 
> No. With analog you did, but digital signals have a "mask filter" which prevents leakage onto adjacent channels. Stations can co-exist side-by-side.



And that argument co-exists nicely beside djp952's point.


Transmitters and receivers may be able to process adjacent channels, but receiving adjacent channels from different antennas, especially on UHF, is prohibitively expensive for home installations.


As for MPT, I'd prefer if they had just one strong transmitter on TV Hill with the rest of the Baltimore majors, instead of the three weak sisters in Annapolis, Frederick, and Owings Mills, none of which I can get reliably at my location in northern VA.


----------



## joblo

systems2000,


No offense, but your previous posts don't suggest that you could ever receive all those channels.


Do you have any evidence of signal from Johnstown-Altoona, for instance?


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/15856571
> 
> 
> And that argument co-exists nicely beside djp952's point.
> 
> 
> Transmitters and receivers may be able to process adjacent channels, but receiving adjacent channels from different antennas, especially on UHF, is prohibitively expensive for home installations.
> 
> 
> As for MPT, I'd prefer if they had just one strong transmitter on TV Hill with the rest of the Baltimore majors, instead of the three weak sisters in Annapolis, Frederick, and Owings Mills, none of which I can get reliably at my location in northern VA.



As an Annapolitan, I rather like WMPT being located in Annapolis, thankyouverymuch!










I drive past it every day on my way to work, in fact. It's on the eastern side of I-97 (so it's on my right as I drive north).


----------



## systems2000

Depending upon the direction I point my antenna, all the analogs are viewable to some extent (I get WHTM-TV 10 & WGAL-TV 8 very well) and the digitals are capable of stopping my scans for recognition, but not receivable.

I can show you 2,4,5,7,8,9,10,11,13,20,22,24,25,26,31,43,45,50,54,60 analogs any day you want and I'm getting 2,11,13,24,31,42,54,60 digital without moving my antenna from 134° magnetic.


----------



## systems2000

WMAR-DT and WBAL-DT are not coming in tonight.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/15856884
> 
> 
> As an Annapolitan, I rather like WMPT being located in Annapolis, thankyouverymuch!



And do you watch only PBS or do watch other channels also?


If the latter, wouldn't a co-located equal power PBS serve you just as well? (Perhaps instead of one, there should be two: one at TV Hill, and the other in Bethesda.)


Isolated full-power transmitters are fine for those who only want to watch that particular channel. For everyone else, they are a nuisance, because they either generate harmful interference with other channels for those too close to them, or require extra reception effort for those far away from them.




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15857083
> 
> 
> I get WHTM-TV 10 & WGAL-TV 8



Clarify please. WHTM is digital on 10, WGAL is analog on 8.


Or do you mean WTAJ-TV 10?


----------



## Digital Rules

I e-mailed WBOC-DT 16 and they "_did_" in fact increase their power level on Tuesday.

_Yes. The power maximization approved by the FCC was completed yesterday morning. Glad you’re seeing us clearly.


Craig Jahelka


Vice President & General Manager


WBOC-TV / FOX 21 / Interactive


1729 North Salisbury Blvd.


Salisbury, MD 21801_


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/15856054
> 
> 
> Take our lovely post-transition UHF block of 33,34,35,36,38,40,41,42 as a shining example. Aren't you supposed to maintain a separation between channels? Isn't that a rule?
> 
> 
> I'm also still ticked that they couldn't divvy up the new UHF channels so all of D.C. was in one range and all of Baltimore was in another. It would make people in the middle's (like me!) lives a lot easier. Swap the Baltimore MPT (29) with WRC (48), and move WDCW (50) down under 38 somewhere. Then swap WMPT (42) with WMAR (38), and you have this awesome setup where all of D.C. is = 40, and you have Annapolis smack dab in the middle. OTA bliss. You could now get a diplexer set for UHF 38 to join the cities together with 2 antennas, and then throw in a Join-Tenna to grab WMPT if you need yet another PBS. Perfecto.



That is a bit complicated. You have to look at the surrounding markets to see how those other channels fit. As it stands, DC may have two contiguous DT channel blocks if the FCC ever grants WETA-DT's petition to switch to DT 51. We would have a block of 4 stations on 33, 34, 35, 36 and another one at 48, low power station on 49 which could be used for a LD, 50, and 51.


However, without doing a full channel review, on the face of it, it would have better to locate WMPB-DT 67 (DT 29) north of Baltimore on DT 39, so it would be placed between WJZ->WMAR on DT 38 and WNUV on DT 40. Then put WJAL 68 out north of Hagerstown currently set for DT 39 post on some open channel that minimizes problems.


----------



## rviele




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15857258
> 
> 
> WMAR-DT and WBAL-DT are not coming in tonight.



up here on the susquehanna wmar and wbal are coming in fine.


----------



## systems2000

You were asking about Altoona and I transposed Harrisburg. Good catch.


----------



## joblo

If you have strong analog on WTAJ-10, WATM-23, and WKBS-47, then afiggatt could be right about WKBS-DT46 interfering with WBFF-DT46. (Although I'm dubious because the Johnstown thread says they are still doing 6.1 kW per STA.)


Do you have signal from Harrisburg and Lebanon, or just York/Lancaster?


----------



## Trip in VA

systems2000:


For you and other folks up that way, W38AN, the WITF translator in Chambersburg, filed a displacement yesterday. They want to do 5 kW on channel 33, digitally.


- Trip


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/15858728
> 
> 
> If you have strong analog on WTAJ-10, WATM-23, and WKBS-47, then afiggatt could be right about WKBS-DT46 interfering with WBFF-DT46. (Although I'm dubious because the Johnstown thread says they are still doing 6.1 kW per STA.)
> 
> 
> Do you have signal from Harrisburg and Lebanon, or just York/Lancaster?



WATM-TV 23 cancels out WLYH-DT 23, while WKBS-TV 47 cancels out WPMT-DT 47. WKBS-DT 46 should be at 50KW and has an APP in for 200KW. I still have high power analog stations on 45 & 47.


According to http://www.tvfool.com/ WHP-TV 21 is at -10.7dB, WHTM-TV 27 is at -14.3dB (currently 73° off-axis and producing herring bones), and WITF-TV 33 is supposedly somewhere below -36dB.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/15858743
> 
> 
> W38AN, the WITF translator in Chambersburg, filed a displacement yesterday. They want to do 5 kW on channel 33, digitally.



Great! Right smack with WHUT-DT at 1000KW.










At least I can see the tower from my roof and yard. Straight through the Power Distribution Lines.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15857258
> 
> 
> WMAR-DT and WBAL-DT are not coming in tonight.



They both came back (at the same time) at approx. 22:00.










I've noticed a couple of times now, where I'll loose both these stations around 19:00 or 20:00 and then get them back about 22:00 or 23:00.


Life with 2-edge reception.


----------



## systems2000

Is there any information on when WDCW-DT, WWPB-DT, WDCA-DT, WPXW-DT, WHUT-DT, WETA-DT, and WFDC-DT go to full power?


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15859072
> 
> 
> They both came back (at the same time) at approx. 22:00.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I've noticed a couple of times now, where I'll loose both these stations around 19:00 or 20:00 and then get them back about 22:00 or 23:00.
> 
> 
> Life with 2-edge reception.



Check the Tropospheric Ducting Forecasts to see when you will get the best reception. I used to do this in the early 2000's so I would know when I would get great reception from the Baltimore ABC station when WJLA was not broadcasting in HD yet on their digital signal.

http://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo.html


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/15857268
> 
> 
> And do you watch only PBS or do watch other channels also?



The "







" signifies a joke -- I had hoped it was pretty clear I wasn't exactly being serious...


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mrvideo* /forum/post/15855545
> 
> 
> I'd have to go back and check the FCC releases, but IIRC, plain ole nightlite is 2 weeks and nightlite plus is until 4/18 (60 days).



According to FCC 09-2 paragraph 1, nightlight programming is "for a period of 30 days after the February 17, 2009 DTV transition date". Later in the same document, paragraph 7 says "Thus, as required by this Act, our analog nightlight program will permit eligible full-power television stations, as described below, to continue their analog braodcasting for a period of up to 30 days beginning on February 18, 2009, for the limited purpose of providing public safety and digital transition information"... "The 30-day period ends at 11:59:50 on March 19, 2009.


If you have another reference, please let me know - this one doesn't address nightlight plus at all...


.


----------



## Gerald C




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/15856054
> 
> 
> Take our lovely post-transition UHF block of 33,34,35,36,38,40,41,42 as a shining example. Aren't you supposed to maintain a separation between channels? Isn't that a rule?



As others have said, the rules vary drastically between analog and digital transmission. You can read lots more here . One FCC assessment concluded that DTV stations can operate with 0 dB D/U ratio on adjacent channels - i.e., no problem. And DTV can operate adjacent to NTSC channels with only 10 dB D/U. I believe the latter may be compromised in some markets in the current transition environment.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15860819
> 
> 
> According to FCC 09-2 paragraph 1, nightlight programming is "for a period of 30 days after the February 17, 2009 DTV transition date".
> 
> []
> 
> If you have another reference, please let me know - this one doesn't address nightlight plus at all...



FCC 09-2 implements SAFER, which was passed in December. Because of the delay, that will not be applicable until June 13 through July 12.


By nightlight plus, I think the FCC means what it called enhanced nightlight in FCC 09-7 . Note the first bullet on page 4 and associated footnote:



> Quote:
> Ensure that at least one station that is currently providing analog service to an area within the DMA that will no longer receive analog service after February 17, 2009 will continue broadcasting an analog signal providing, at a minimum, DTV transition and emergency information, as well as local news and public affairs programming (enhanced nightlight service [11]) for at least 60 days following February 17, 2009. The local news, public affairs, or other programming may include commercial advertising.
> 
> 11. The enhanced nightlight service contemplated here is not the same as the material specified in the Analog Nightlight program (which will apply to continued analog TV service for a period of up to 30 days after the DTV transition date). See Implementation of Short-term Analog Flash and Emergency Readiness Act; Establishment of DTV Transition Analog Nightlight Program, MB Docket No. 08-255, Report and Order, FCC 09-2 (rel. Jan. 15, 2009) (Analog Nightlight Order). Rather, because this is part of the pre-transition time period, the enhanced nightlight service will include other programming--at a minimum, local news and public affairs--in addition to DTV transition and emergency information.



On the other hand, for those stations not subject to enhanced nightlight requirements, the FCC's encouragement to provide at least two weeks of SAFER-type nightlight still applies. See FCC 09-6 , at the top of page 7:



> Quote:
> We encourage stations that terminate their analog signal on February 17, 2009, to continue to broadcast on their analog signal information regarding their transition and, if necessary, emergency information. Stations in Wilmington, NC and Hawaii that transitioned early on a market-wide basis voluntarily broadcast a slate describing the transition and providing sources for information about actions viewers should take to retain television service. Similarly, the Commission recently implemented analog nightlight service in anticipation of the planned February 17, 2009 DTV transition deadline in compliance with the Analog Nightlight Act. We find this DTV transition information particularly important to limit viewer confusion in light of the change in DTV transition deadline and the station's termination of normal analog programming. We urge stations to air this analogous nightlight programming for a minimum of two weeks following their termination of normal analog programming. Stations that intend to provide this limited programming should so indicate in their analog termination notification to the Commission. We note that, because the overall transition is not taking place on February 17, stations may provide this nightlight-type service after their analog termination on February 17, even if they are not included in the list of stations eligible to participate in the analog nightlight program.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15858993
> 
> 
> WATM-TV 23 cancels out WLYH-DT 23, while WKBS-TV 47 cancels out WPMT-DT 47. WKBS-DT 46 should be at 50KW and has an APP in for 200KW. I still have high power analog stations on 45 & 47.
> 
> 
> According to http://www.tvfool.com/ WHP-TV 21 is at -10.7dB, WHTM-TV 27 is at -14.3dB (currently 73° off-axis and producing herring bones), and WITF-TV 33 is supposedly somewhere below -36dB.



Yes, but what can you actually _*see*_?


Sorry, but I think TVFool is an aptly named site that often misleads people into thinking they can get things that they really can’t or vice-versa. I mean, it’s fine for LOS predictions about nearby stations. But db-accurate predictions for stations 60, 80, 100 miles away, using multi-edge diffraction models? You gotta be kidding…


In the real world, there’s no substitute for sweeping an antenna 360 degrees and seeing what you get. In the real world, geography and prevailing atmospheric conditions favor signals from certain directions and distances over others in ways you couldn’t begin to predict with a simple analysis that runs in a few seconds on a web server.


Case in point, I once lived in a basement apartment in Charlottesville, VA, where one of the few FM stations I received was a class A on 92.1 from Mercersburg, PA. (You probably know this station.) It was weak and subject to occasional fading, but I could listen to it all day long, day in and day out. And I could get it a little in my car if I parked in front of my apartment. But elsewhere in the building, at the other end of the parking lot, or any place else in town, I never heard a trace of that station. Most places around town, what I heard on 92.1, if I heard anything at all, was a station near Richmond, VA. Do an FMFool analysis for that address, and the PA station won’t even make the list.


I’ve run TVFool for a number of locations with which I’m familiar, and some of what it predicts is dead on, and other stuff it predicts is sheer nonsense. It should definitely be taken with several grains of salt.


So you say you can get WTAJ-TV 10 well, which suggests that WHTM-DT isn’t causing you too much of a problem. What evidence do you have that WHTM-TV 27 has anything to do with the herringbones on that channel? Can you watch that channel if you aim your antenna at it or not? What about WHP? Can you see anything of that through the digital snow from WVPY if you point your antenna at it? Or if not, do you lose lock on WVPY?


----------



## dmulvany

Today I did an automatic rescan on my Sharp HDTV and got 18 analog channels and 39 digital channels, using a carefully positioned rabbit-ear antenna on the third floor of my townhouse. (I'm in north Rockville near Gaithersburg.)


Some analog stations without digital equivalents being picked up are:

23 (CEA-608 captions)

24 (very poor reception, no captions received)

62 (really bad reception, no captions received)

67 (really bad reception, no captions received)


I am NOT picking up 50.2 and don't think I ever have.


I get these digital channels with both my Insignia converter box and the Sharp HDTV:


2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 4.1,4.2,4.3,5.1,7.1,7.2,7.3,9.1,9.2,

11.1,11.2,13.1,14.1,

20.1,22.1,22.2,22.3,26.1,26.2,26.3,26.4,

30.1,30.2,30.3,30.4,30.5,32.1,

45.1,45.2,

50.1,54.1,

66.1,66.2,66.3,66.4


(The reception of 30.1-30.5 is weak, however.)


I'm pleased at how many channels I can pick up for free with just a rabbit ear antenna that isn't even powered. Many of these stations are more than 31 miles away. (It's also nice to have choices among the different affiliates since some affiliates are still having problems generating clean caption data, like WJLA. I still couldn't watch prime time programs last night from WJLA on my Sharp HDTV since WJLA isn't transmitting CEA-708 caption data properly.)


Dana


----------



## systems2000

I'm in the process of getting my rotator mounted and for any antenna re-alignment, is to climb the 40' tower. As soon as I get the rotator properly installed, I'll let you know about Altoona and Harrisburg/Lancaster/York beyond WGAL-TV, WGCB-DT, and WTAJ-TV.


Dewster1977 (who lives in Mercersburg, PA) posted this http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...8#post15848888


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dmulvany* /forum/post/15864956
> 
> 
> I am NOT picking up 50.2 and don't think I ever have.
> 
> ...
> 
> since some affiliates are still having problems generating clean caption data, like WJLA. I still couldn't watch prime time programs last night from WJLA on my Sharp HDTV since WJLA isn't transmitting CEA-708 caption data properly.)



You are not getting WDCW-DT 50.2 because WDCW-DT is only broadcasting a single 50.1 sub-channel at this time. The station is on the list of stations that are supposed to carry the "This TV" programming, but they have not added it yet.


As for WJLA-DT 7, I still don't get CEA-708 captions displayed on my Sony HDD250 DVR for prime time scripted series ABC programming. The CEA-708 CC show up on the Samsung T451 tuner, so there is something funky with the CEA-708 captions put out by WJLA-DT. The CCs show up on the Sony DVR for the same prime time programming on WMAR-DT 2. Someday all the stations will get all this stuff (CC, guide, clock, PSIP channel mapping) working correctly, right? Right?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15859236
> 
> 
> Is there any information on when WDCW-DT, WWPB-DT, WDCA-DT, WPXW-DT, WHUT-DT, WETA-DT, and WFDC-DT go to full power?



If you are asking about the maximization applications or the channel change petition in case of WETA-DT, the FCC has not acted on many of them yet. Of the stations you listed, the only ones that I think the FCC has granted is WFDC-DT Uni 14 (15) post-transition increase from 100 to 1000 kW and WPXW-DT 66 to run at 1000 kW on UHF 34. Unless WFDC-DT gets permission to increase earlier, they can't do that until after June 12. WPXW-DT can't do anything until WUSA-DT 9 flash cuts back to back to VHF 9, freeing up their DT 34 equipment.


The FCC pretty much has ground to a stop on granting or denying the maximization applications. Probably been a wee bit busy dealing lately dealing with the transition mess.


----------



## systems2000

OH GREAT! I forgot I've got a conflict on 34.










WJAC-DT and WPXW-DT

*NOTE:* Conflicts:

*Channel**Station #1**Station #2*8WGAL-DT (7.5)WWCP-DT (9.3)21WVPY-DT (50)WHP-DT (450)34WPXW-DT (1000)WJAC-DT (1000)38WMAR-DT (1000)W38AN (5) (13 miles - LOS)

I'm beginning to realize that I must sit at the most optimum point for OTA interference testing.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15867411
> 
> 
> OH GREAT! I forgot I've got a conflict on 34.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> WJAC-DT and WPXW-DT
> 
> *NOTE:* Conflicts:
> 
> *Channel**Station #1**Station #2*8WGAL-DT (7.5)WWCP-DT (9.3)21WVPY-DT (50)WHP-DT (450)34WPXW-DT (1000)WJAC-DT (1000)38WMAR-DT (1000)W38AN (5) (13 miles - LOS)
> 
> I'm beginning to realize that I must sit at the most optimum point for OTA interference testing.



W38AN-D wants channel 33, not 38.


- Trip


----------



## wmcbrine

I'm watching WMAR-DT news right now, and although the main picture is a mediocre upconvert, the graphic bar at the bottom (with rotating weather and traffic) appears to be in HD (though still 4:3). I don't know when this started. Here's hoping it presages a full HD newscast.


----------



## Marcus Carr

WMAR's set is "fully HD-ready" according to this:

http://www.fxgroup.tv/portfolio/


----------



## gmucklow




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15866046
> 
> 
> You are not getting WDCW-DT 50.2 because WDCW-DT is only broadcasting a single 50.1 sub-channel at this time. The station is on the list of stations that are supposed to carry the "This TV" programming, but they have not added it yet.



Does anybody know when/if 50.2 will carry the THIS network in Washington, DC?


Baltimore has it on WBFF 45-2.


----------



## mdviewer25

What is my20 doing with Smackdown? It looks like their letterboxing the HD signal or something. I checked WUTB-DT and they're showing it in HD but I couldn't stand up holding the antenna that long.


----------



## Marcus Carr

News Release

*Harford County, Md., Awards Cable Franchise to Verizon*


Vote Paves the Way for Innovative, Competitive Choice for TV Service, Delivered Over the Nation's Most Advanced All-Fiber-Optic Network Straight to Consumers' Homes


February 18, 2009

Media Contact:

Sandra Arnette, 410-393-7109


BEL AIR, Md. - Residents in Harford County, Md., are a major step closer to having an innovative, reliable and competitive alternative for their television services, thanks to a unanimous vote by the Harford County Council on Tuesday (Feb. 17) authorizing Verizon to offer its fiber-optic-powered FiOS TV.


FiOS TV is delivered over Verizon's all-fiber-optic network, which brings the power and capacity of fiber optics directly into people's homes and has industry-leading quality and reliability. Fiber delivers amazingly sharp pictures and sound, and has the capacity to transmit a wide array of high-definition programming that is so clear and intense it seems to leap from the TV screen. It also delivers Internet download speeds of up to 50 Mbps* (megabits per second) and upload speeds of up to 20 Mbps, as well as high-quality voice services.


In Maryland, Verizon currently offers FiOS Internet and FiOS TV services to dozens of communities in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Howard, Montgomery and Prince George's counties, and parts of Bel Air. The company plans to begin offering FiOS Internet and FiOS TV in Aberdeen and other areas of Harford County in April.


"Approval of Verizon's video franchise is great news for Harford County residents, who soon will have more choice for their video entertainment," said William R. Roberts, Verizon's regional president in Maryland and Washington, D.C. "We commend the Harford County Council and its staff for their dedication and hard work throughout this process.


"Clearly, they recognize and support the technological advantage and competitive benefits - as well as the distinctive edge in economic development and quality of life - that fiber will bring to their community," Roberts added.


Verizon currently offers FiOS TV to more than 9.2 million homes in parts of 14 states: California, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia and Washington state.


FiOS TV Service Highlights


FiOS TV service highlights include:


* More than 500 all-digital channels grouped by genres such as entertainment, sports, news, marketplace, movies and family, making it easy for audiences to find their favorite programming.


* Approximately 108 high-definition (HD) channels in Maryland, with extraordinary clarity and theater-quality sound.


* An industry-leading library of 14,000 video-on-demand (VOD) titles each month, 70 percent of which are free. Verizon's VOD library also includes more than 1,200 HD titles.


* An innovative interactive media guide (IMG) that helps customers quickly and easily find and enjoy content from TV listings, VOD catalogs and the digital video recorder (DVR), as well as personal music and photos from a home network. Among the features of the IMG are:


o Multi-Room DVR - Verizon's Home Media DVR allows customers to stream recorded HD and standard-definition (SD) programs to up to six other TV sets throughout the home. This includes the ability to watch three separately recorded shows on three TV sets at the same time, plus pause recorded programming in one room and continue watching in another.


o Widgets - Customers have one-touch, on-demand access to local weather and traffic reports shown on TV screens. Widgets provide local traffic and weather reports, daily local and national news headlines, daily national sports headlines, community news, and daily horoscopes.


o Free casual games - With the remote control and an HD set-top box, customers can access chess, solitaire and wordplay.


o "What's Hot on FiOS TV" - Features information on the most-popular programs currently being broadcast in the region and the most popular VOD titles.


o "Wait for Me" - Allows customers to pause live programming, change channels, and then return to the paused program and pick up where they left off.


o Channel sorting options - Customers can create two separate lists of favorite channels for family members. Customers also can filter channels in the guide by genre, for instances where a customer only may want to see HD content, international channels or kids programming, among others.


Programming choices for Hispanic, African-American, Asian, Russian and other multicultural audiences are available in every market, making FiOS TV an outlet for emerging and independent networks to showcase their diverse programming.


Consumers in Harford County can check online at www.verizon.com/fios for more information or to request that Verizon contact them when FiOS Internet and FiOS TV services become available. Customers also can call their local Verizon sales office or 888-GET FiOS (888-438-3467).


* NOTE: actual (throughput) speeds will vary.


Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), headquartered in New York, is a leader in delivering broadband and other wireline and wireless communication innovations to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers. Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving more than 80 million customers nationwide. Verizon's Wireline operations include Verizon Business, which delivers innovative and seamless business solutions to customers around the world, and Verizon Telecom, which brings customers the benefits of converged communications, information and entertainment services over the nation's most advanced fiber-optic network. A Dow 30 company, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of nearly 224,000 and last year generated consolidated operating revenues of more than $97 billion. For more information, visit www.verizon.com .

http://newscenter.verizon.com/press-...md-awards.html


----------



## afiggatt

We have had several station tables posted here recently, but I figured I would post my own cut at summarizing the DT channels and plans for all the stations in the DC, Baltimore and Hagerstown (subset of DC) markets. Some of the info provided showed the post-transition maximization power applications submitted by the stations, but the FCC has not acted on many of them, so until then, people should use the officially allotted ERP as the basis for figuring out antenna needs. Now to see if the table format looks ok.

*Digital Transition Summary for DC, Baltimore, Hagerstown Stations – February 22, 2009*


The following is an updated summary of the pre and post transition digital channels, power levels, and status of filings for the full power stations in the DC, Baltimore, and Hagerstown markets. I hope some find this list useful to prepare for the postponed to June 12 analog shutdown and DT channel shuffle. The list is sorted by the post-transition physical broadcast channel, which I think is more useful for highlighting the upper VHF stations and possible signal conflicts. The technical shorthand terms are ERP (Effective Radiated Power) in kW, HAAT (antenna Height Above Average Terrain) in meters, CP = Construction Permit granted by the FCC. A number of stations filed maximized power applications last June which the FCC has still not acted on yet.


At the bottom is a separate list for the digital low power (LD) stations in DC and the stronger digital low power CPs in the western edge of the DC area. Some of the LD CPs may not be built; some of them are likely placeholders for future filings for better channel allotments. The analog low power stations and translators do not have to shut down on June 12. WZDC-DC Telemundo 25 was granted a digital flash cut on UHF 25 post-transition. Their digital allotment provides for an increased coverage area over their current analog one, although the coverage pattern is still directional favoring the east. When WHAG-TV 25 analog signal is turned off, that will eliminate interference problems which should help picking up the analog WZDC-CA 25 NW of DC.


The columns are: Station, Location, Pre-transition physical digital channel and pre-transition DT ERP in kW, Post-transition physical digital channel and *current* ERP allotment in kW, post-transition HAAT in meters, and Notes/Comments.


*Station**Location**Pre-DT (ERP kw)**Post-DT (ERP kw)**Post HAAT(m)**Notes*WJLA-DT ABC 7DC39 (646 kW)7 (30 kW)235 mMaximized app for 30 kW granted.WUSA-DT CBS 9DC34 (1000)9 (12.6)235 WBAL-DT NBC 11Baltimore59 (513)11 (5)299Only 5 kW on VHF 11 post-transition! Reception may be troublesome.WWPX-DT Ion 60Martinsburg12 (23)12 (23)314Petition pending to move DTV operations to 51 in VA which conflicts with WETA’s 51 petition.WJZ-DT CBS 13Baltimore38 (1000)13 (28.8)295To operate on 9.8 kW STA on DT 13 for 1-2 months post-trans until new directional ant installedWFDC-DT uni 14DC15 (325)15 (1000)227Maximized app granted for 1000 kW post-transitionWVPY-DT PBS 42Front Royal21 (50)21 (50)400Maximized app filed in Oct 08 for 100 kWWNVC-DT MHz 56Fairfax57 (7.3, dark)24 (160)221App for 160 kW granted, off air until WUTB-TV 24 shuts downWHAG-DT NBC 25Hagerstown55 (0.9)26 (575)376Post DT 26 channel blocked until WETA-TV 26 shuts downWETA-DT PBS 26DC27 (90)27 (90)254Petition pending to move to 51 for DTV operations at 674 kWWFPT-DT PBS 62Frederick28 (30)28 (41.2)158Maximized app for 41.2 kW grantedWMPB-DT PBS 67Baltimore29 (14 )29 (42.6)309Maximized app for 42.6 kW grantedWNVT-DT MHz 30Goldvein30 (160)30 (160)229 WHUT-DT PBS 32DC33 (100)33 (100)254maximized app pending for 1000 kWWPXW-DT Ion 66Manassas->DC43 (90)34 (1000)221maximized app for 1000 kW granted, taking over WUSA-DT’s pre-trans DT 34 transmitterWDCA-DT MyN 20DC35 (500)35 (500)227maximized app pending for 950 kWWTTG-DT Fox 5DC36 (1000)36 (1000)227 WMAR-DT ABC 2Baltimore52 (613)38 (1000)312Taking over WJZ-DT’s pre-trans DT 38 transmitterWJAL-DT ind 68Hagerstown16 (6)39 (105)37201/14/09 Fire destroyed analog/pre-DT transmitter buildingWNUV-DT CW 54Baltimore40 (845)40 (845)373Switched to analog night-light Feb. 18 for up to 30 daysWUTB-DT MyN 24Catonsville41 (200)41 (200)308maximized app pending for 290 kWWMPT-DT PBS 22Annapolis42 (150)42 (150)289maximized app pending for 516 kWWWPB-DT PBS 31Hagerstown44 (209)44 (209)359maximized app pending for 1000 kWWBFF-DT Fox 45Baltimore46 (550)46 (550)373Switched to analog night-light Feb. 18 for up to 30 daysWRC-DT NBC 4DC48 (813)48 (813)242Filed for nightlight operation after June 12WDCW-DT CW 50DC51 (125)50 (122)253maximized app pending for 1000 kWDigital LPs  Lic/CPs  WMDO Telef 47DC8 (0.198)8 (0.198)150on the air in late summer 08.W08EE WV PBSMartinsburg8 (0.3)8 (0.3)281on the airWWTD ind 49DC-14 (0.1)179CP granted Jan 08WDDN Dayst 23DC-21 (1)213CP granted Mar 07WZDC Telem 25DC-25 (4.6)116CP granted Oct 08 for digital flash cut post-transitionWIAV AsiaVis 58DC-44 (0.1)45CP granted May 08, analog LP off the air?WAZW rlg 48Winchester-46 (12)78CP granted Jan 07W51CY CW 51Hagerstown-51 (15)379Satellite TX for WDCW, tower located east of Hagerstown


----------



## CycloneGT

Looks great.


----------



## AbMagFab

How come the major networks are going from 100's of kW to 10's of kW after the move? Am I missing something?


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/15891053
> 
> 
> How come the major networks are going from 100's of kW to 10's of kW after the move? Am I missing something?



VHF (7-13) requires much less power to cover the same area than UHFs (14-51) do.


- Trip


----------



## gmucklow




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/15891053
> 
> 
> How come the major networks are going from 100's of kW to 10's of kW after the move? Am I missing something?



VHF broadcasts take less power than UHF to cover the same area.


In this area, some major networks will move their digital channels back to their original VHF channels after the analog channels are shut off.


However, Channel 11 from Baltimore may still be a problem at only 5 KW.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gmucklow* /forum/post/15891754
> 
> 
> VHF broadcasts take less power than UHF to cover the same area.
> 
> 
> In this area, the major networks will move their digital channels back to their original VHF channels after the analog channels are shut off.



Gotcha...


So with a Tivo, will PSIP information make this automatic, or will I have to wait 3 weeks for Tivo to update whatever they have to update? (I use OTA for my HD locals, and FIOS for everything else, but not locals.)


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/15891763
> 
> 
> Gotcha...
> 
> 
> So with a Tivo, will PSIP information make this automatic, or will I have to wait 3 weeks for Tivo to update whatever they have to update? (I use OTA for my HD locals, and FIOS for everything else, but not locals.)



If February 17 was any indication, you'll be waiting three weeks as they manage to not only not update stations that moved, but move stations that didn't change anything.


- Trip


----------



## gmucklow




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/15891763
> 
> 
> Gotcha...
> 
> 
> So with a Tivo, will PSIP information make this automatic, or will I have to wait 3 weeks for Tivo to update whatever they have to update? (I use OTA for my HD locals, and FIOS for everything else, but not locals.)



I don't have experience with Tivo, but you may need to do a new channel scan to find the new channels.


----------



## dmulvany




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15866046
> 
> 
> You are not getting WDCW-DT 50.2 because WDCW-DT is only broadcasting a single 50.1 sub-channel at this time. The station is on the list of stations that are supposed to carry the "This TV" programming, but they have not added it yet.



Thanks for clearing this up for me.



> Quote:
> As for WJLA-DT 7, I still don't get CEA-708 captions displayed on my Sony HDD250 DVR for prime time scripted series ABC programming. The CEA-708 CC show up on the Samsung T451 tuner, so there is something funky with the CEA-708 captions put out by WJLA-DT. The CCs show up on the Sony DVR for the same prime time programming on WMAR-DT 2. Someday all the stations will get all this stuff (CC, guide, clock, PSIP channel mapping) working correctly, right? Right?



Thanks for confirming your Sony still isn't showing CEA-708 captions for prime-time non-live programming from WJLA. I actually called WJLA more than a week ago to find out how to complain about captioning problems there, and was told by the male person who answered that WJLA was already working on the captioning problems. He refused to give me his name or the name of anyone else to receive a written complaint. He even refused to give me a fax number to use for sending WJLA a written complaint. He basically indicated he had been told to tell anyone who called that they were already working on the captioning problems even though I've been telling them via their web site about these captioning problems for two years to no avail (which I told him). His attitude indicated that HE was annoyed by ME calling to report this problem. There was absolutely no concern expressed about WJLA's audience of caption users experiencing these ongoing problems at all. I guess WJLA doesn't want any deaf or hard of hearing people or other users of captioning to be watching their programming, which should be of great concern to their advertisers since ten percent of the population has hearing loss.


WJLA still hasn't resolved their problems with CEA-708 captions for their prime time non-live programming even though Robert Forsyth, WJLA's engineer, has been told about those problems on this very forum months ago; his public response here was to monitor captions for LIVE programming from GMA in the morning, which was NOT associated with the problems that Alan, Steve and I have seen (for NON-LIVE prime time programming). I've sent him two private messages via the AVS Forum to which Forsyth has never responded.


People who have Sony, Sharp and Samsung DTV equipment will continue to have problems watching WJLA's prime time programming with CEA-708 captions. If we're lucky, we'll be able to switch to watching WMAR-DT on 2.1 instead while we wait for the FCC to give WJLA a well-deserved, hefty fine.


----------



## Gerald C




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dmulvany* /forum/post/15892687
> 
> 
> ... to use for sending WJLA a written complaint.



I recommend you write it out, addressed to the General Manager, then use the plain ol' US Postal Service to deliver it to WJLA's main street address. Emails, faxes, and telephone complaints don't receive the same level of attention. Why? Broadcasters are required by the FCC to file and maintain written complaints from the public. And this book of complaints can be used against them when the time comes for license renewal.


But more importantly, the FCC has specific requirements for you to follow when making a complaint about closed captioning. See the section "Filing a Complaint" in this guide .


----------



## BJG2005

I've been receiving HD OTA for a couple of years now. Occassionally (often when it rains), I get drop-outs, particularly Channel 7-1 and sometimes Channel 4-1. When it becomes unwatchable, I just switch to the analog station.


With those stations eventually going away, I wanted to know what I should do. Then I read about changes in power levels (but it also shows power levels dropping, but for different frequencies, making an apples to apples comparison not immediately obvious). Will these stations, in effect, be increasing their power, so I should experience fewer drop outs?


I live between Middleburg and Purcellville, VA. So, yes, I'm a ways out there.


I currently have a large Radio Shack antenna on the roof and a good line facing East. From the antenna, I run about 60' of coax to a power splitter, and then to TVs and DVR.


Should I just hold pat because signal strength will go up? Should I get an antenna mounted preamp? Can I run a preamp with the powered splitter?


Thanks, in advance, for your comments.


----------



## phantomplebe




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *BJG2005* /forum/post/15901736
> 
> 
> I've been receiving HD OTA for a couple of years now. Occassionally (often when it rains), I get drop-outs, particularly Channel 7-1 and sometimes Channel 4-1. When it becomes unwatchable, I just switch to the analog station.
> 
> 
> With those stations eventually going away, I wanted to know what I should do. Then I read about changes in power levels (but it also shows power levels dropping, but for different frequencies, making an apples to apples comparison not immediately obvious). Will these stations, in effect, be increasing their power, so I should experience fewer drop outs?
> 
> 
> I live between Middleburg and Purcellville, VA. So, yes, I'm a ways out there.
> 
> 
> I currently have a large Radio Shack antenna on the roof and a good line facing East. From the antenna, I run about 60' of coax to a power splitter, and then to TVs and DVR.
> 
> 
> Should I just hold pat because signal strength will go up? Should I get an antenna mounted preamp? Can I run a preamp with the powered splitter?
> 
> 
> Thanks, in advance, for your comments.



Mounting an amp closer to the antenna is certainly worth a shot. 60' is a decent amount of coax to drive unamplified. I don't know much about how broadcast power will be changing, but given your location more amplification can't hurt.


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *BJG2005* /forum/post/15901736
> 
> 
> I currently have a large Radio Shack antenna on the roof and a good line facing East. From the antenna, I run about 60' of coax to a power splitter, and then to TVs and DVR.
> 
> 
> Should I just hold pat because signal strength will go up? Should I get an antenna mounted preamp? Can I run a preamp with the powered splitter?
> 
> 
> Thanks, in advance, for your comments.



Make sure that you antenna is pointed correctly. Just a few degrees off can make a huge difference. I ran 100' from my pre-amp to the power supply, and at 45 miles from the transmitters, I'd get the four networks in the 90s all the time. I have to run new cable as evidently I have a short in the current line, so I'll shorten in up a little bit.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *BJG2005* /forum/post/15901736
> 
> 
> I live between Middleburg and Purcellville, VA. So, yes, I'm a ways out there.
> 
> 
> I currently have a large Radio Shack antenna on the roof and a good line facing East. From the antenna, I run about 60' of coax to a power splitter, and then to TVs and DVR.



You're about 36 miles from WJLA's antenna. It's to the EbS (east by south) of you...


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *BJG2005* /forum/post/15901736
> 
> 
> I've been receiving HD OTA for a couple of years now. Occassionally (often when it rains), I get drop-outs, particularly Channel 7-1 and sometimes Channel 4-1. When it becomes unwatchable, I just switch to the analog station.



Since you already have the distribution amp, I would try getting it closer to the antenna if possible. Make sure you have RG-6 cable running from the antenna to the amp. If you are getting all the other DC stations issue free, the antenna is probably pointed correctly, but you may need to raise or lower it a few inches to find a better sweet spot for the problem channels.


If these measures do not provide satisfactory reception, you may need to replace the distribution amp with a pre-amp.


There is a low power station broadcasting on the same frequency as WRC-DT 4 in Winchester, but I seriously doubt that is causing a problem.


Hope this helps


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *BJG2005* /forum/post/15901736
> 
> 
> I live between Middleburg and Purcellville, VA. So, yes, I'm a ways out there.
> 
> 
> I currently have a large Radio Shack antenna on the roof and a good line facing East. From the antenna, I run about 60' of coax to a power splitter, and then to TVs and DVR.



What model Radio Shack antenna do you have if you know? Just because it is a large antenna, does not mean it performs very well for UHF. The VHF/UHF antennas often tend to work better for VHF than for UHF. WJLA-DT will move to VHF 7 and with a large VHF antenna, you will probably be set for WJLA-DT 7 and WUSA-DT CBS 9. Out where you are there is the possibility of interference from analog WAZW-LP 48 in Winchester which is on UHF 48, same as WRC-DT 4.


You could add a pre-amp, but it is easier to maintain the system if you don't have to have a pre-amp. Is your coax RG-6 or RG-59? If RG-59, replace it with good quality shielded RG-6. RG-59 has increasing dB signal loss per foot the higher you go in UHF compared to RG-6.


----------



## afiggatt

Verizon Fios added MLB HD today to channel 586 for the Washington Metro market. Don't know about the rest of VHO 4 yet, but I would expect they did.


----------



## msmckay




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *BJG2005* /forum/post/15901736
> 
> 
> I live between Middleburg and Purcellville, VA. So, yes, I'm a ways out there.
> 
> 
> I currently have a large Radio Shack antenna on the roof and a good line facing East. From the antenna, I run about 60' of coax to a power splitter, and then to TVs and DVR.
> 
> 
> Should I just hold pat because signal strength will go up? Should I get an antenna mounted preamp? Can I run a preamp with the powered splitter?
> 
> 
> Thanks, in advance, for your comments.



Yes, Definitely get an amplifier. I too am out in the Loudoun Valley fringe. Per the recommentations of others in this forum I purchased The CM7777. It definetly helps.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *msmckay* /forum/post/15902972
> 
> 
> Yes, Definitely get an amplifier. I too am out in the Loudoun Valley fringe. Per the recommentations of others in this forum I purchased The CM7777. It definetly helps.



The Channel Master 7777 is an excellent choice given your low signal strengths.


----------



## Deezul

SolidSignal is a good place to get them; I've purchased two from them. And it appears the second one I just bought was not needed. No, I don't want to sell it. Because the moment I do put it in the mail, I WILL need it.


----------



## JoeInNVa

ANyone else getting breakups on 210-212 on Comcast in Alexandria/Arlington?


----------



## folksnake

Joe, I'm getting breakups, rolling lines, etc here in Frederick, MD, on all my channels. I don't have digital cable service, but my HDTV pulls some digital channels in, just the same. They are breaking up, giving me a "Weak or No Signal" warning. It's been happening since last night when I turned the set on at 11pm,, probably started before that.


I just lost my cable modem a few minutes ago, though it's hard to know if that's related. I'm going to have to call Comcast--wish I could simply call the local folks like the old days. Hate to go through whatever distant office I'll be routed through. Here goes, anyway...


----------



## msmckay

Has anyone out there tried the ganged antenna method as described on the HDTV Primer site? " http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ " Had any luck?


If I do put two antennas on a combiner, How far apart do they have to be to NOT interfer with each other? It has been too long since I took that electromagnetics class.


I have been playing around some and have been able to pull in some distant stations only to loose one nearby. Trade-offs.


----------



## dg28

Now that WRC has bought the rights for the Redskins pre-season games, it will be interesting to see if they broadcast them in HD. Remember, this is the same station that it the ONLY local station in the D.C. market not broadcasting their local news in HD. Maybe (hopefully) CSN will produce the games for them in HD as they did when the games were previously broadcast on WUSA9.


----------



## Jimmy

The audio for the local HD channels on Comcast is driving me nuts. Why does the center channel keep going in and out especially during commercials and sometimes even on prime shows I only get the LF and RF speakers. This only happens on the locals. I use optical for the audio connection. The box is the comcast (moto) DVR. Thanks


----------



## systems2000

At 36 miles and having issues, you probably need to overhaul your antenna and cabling. Are there any trees, close-by, that would block your reception, in that direction?


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/15911899
> 
> 
> Now that WRC has bought the rights for the Redskins pre-season games, it will be interesting to see if they broadcast them in HD. Remember, this is the same station that it the ONLY local station in the D.C. market not broadcasting their local news in HD. Maybe (hopefully) CSN will produce the games for them in HD as they did when the games were previously broadcast on WUSA9.



I believe that they will be on CSN also.


----------



## BJG2005




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/15902648
> 
> 
> Since you already have the distribution amp, I would try getting it closer to the antenna if possible. Make sure you have RG-6 cable running from the antenna to the amp. If you are getting all the other DC stations issue free, the antenna is probably pointed correctly, but you may need to raise or lower it a few inches to find a better sweet spot for the problem channels.
> 
> 
> If these measures do not provide satisfactory reception, you may need to replace the distribution amp with a pre-amp.
> 
> 
> There is a low power station broadcasting on the same frequency as WRC-DT 4 in Winchester, but I seriously doubt that is causing a problem.
> 
> 
> Hope this helps




Thanks, everyone.

Yes, it's RG-6. Can't really shorten it much. It's on the roof, down the side of the house, and across to the other side of the house.


So, if I get the preamp, I should pull out the powered splitter?

If I get a CM-7777, how many TVs can I drive? I'm planning to add a couple of TVs.


Again, thanks so much.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *BJG2005* /forum/post/15901736
> 
> 
> I currently have a large Radio Shack antenna on the roof and a good line facing East. From the antenna, I run about 60' of coax to a power splitter, and then to TVs and DVR.



Do you know which RS antenna you have? How high is it?


What is the make/model of the powered splitter?


How much cable between the powered splitter and the TV's and DVR?


What does http://www.tvfool.com/ show for POST reception levels?


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/15911899
> 
> 
> Now that WRC has bought the rights for the Redskins pre-season games, it will be interesting to see if they broadcast them in HD. Remember, this is the same station that it the ONLY local station in the D.C. market not broadcasting their local news in HD. Maybe (hopefully) CSN will produce the games for them in HD as they did when the games were previously broadcast on WUSA9.



I don't have any insider information, but I am 100% certain these games will still be in HD.


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *BJG2005* /forum/post/15922136
> 
> 
> Thanks, everyone.
> 
> Yes, it's RG-6. Can't really shorten it much. It's on the roof, down the side of the house, and across to the other side of the house.
> 
> 
> So, if I get the preamp, I should pull out the powered splitter?
> 
> If I get a CM-7777, how many TVs can I drive? I'm planning to add a couple of TVs.
> 
> 
> Again, thanks so much.



You can leave the splitter, but connect it after the amp from the CM7777. That's what I have. I have a 4 way splitter. I usually have 3 always connected, and occasionally connect the 4th. And again, I had 100' of cable, so you shouldn't have signal problems if it's Antenna->pre-amp->amp->splitter->set top boxes.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/15924835
> 
> 
> I don't have any insider information, but I am 100% certain these games will still be in HD.



If they are to be broadcast in HD on channel 4, then WRC is going to have to take a huge technological leap forward. Maybe this will push them to take their newscasts to HD finally.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/15927195
> 
> 
> If they are to be broadcast in HD on channel 4, then WRC is going to have to take a huge technological leap forward. Maybe this will push them to take their newscasts to HD finally.



That's not necessarily true - I was putting HD ACC basketball games on the air on WNUV before we put in our HD master control. It just takes some outside of the box thinking.


It's a good thing to hope for, though!


.


----------



## dg28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/15927195
> 
> 
> If they are to be broadcast in HD on channel 4, then WRC is going to have to take a huge technological leap forward. Maybe this will push them to take their newscasts to HD finally.



We can only hope that that Redskins were smart enough to include language in their contract with WRC that the pre-season games must be produced and available in HD. That's what the NFL did in its contracts with their broascast partners.


----------



## SUOrangeman

I tried to update the GoogleDocs file (see sig, 'Transition of Local Stations' worksheet) to reflect the info in afiggatt's post-transition chart from last week. Please verify/edit for correctness.


-SUO


----------



## mdviewer25

Is it me, or does it seem like HD equipment is banned on the UVA campus? I can't remember the last time I saw a Virginia basketball game in HD. Also, I would like to know what qam channels people in Prince George's can get right now. I get the HD locals, Music Choice, A&E HD at 134-3, Oxygen at 110-11, and a few SD repeats like WGN, and TV Guide Network


----------



## gmucklow




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SUOrangeman* /forum/post/15930198
> 
> 
> I tried to update the GoogleDocs file (see sig, 'Transition of Local Stations' worksheet) to reflect the info in afiggatt's post-transition chart from last week. Please verify/edit for correctness.
> 
> 
> -SUO



The DirecTV/w OTA column shows all the main network HD channels missing, but with the subchannels present. While I don't have DirectTV -- Can this be right?


----------



## DulacLancelot




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15886538
> 
> *Digital Transition Summary for DC, Baltimore, Hagerstown Stations - February 22, 2009*



Hey, that is such a useful table, afiggatt, thanks!

I've whittled it down to the following, and added Compass Heading/Distance columns below for the purpose of my questions.


*Station**Location**Pre-DT (ERP kw)**Post-DT (ERP kw)**Post HAAT(m)**Degrees**Miles**Notes*WJLA-DT ABC 7DC39 (646 kW)7 (30 kW)235 m8120.9Maximized app for 30 kW granted.WUSA-DT CBS 9DC34 (1000)9 (12.6)2358120.9 WFDC-DT uni 14DC15 (325)15 (1000)2278320.6Maximized app granted for 1000 kW post-transitionWETA-DT PBS 26DC27 (90)27 (90)2548120.9Petition pending to move to 51 for DTV operations at 674 kWWNVT-DT MHz 30Goldvein30 (160)30 (160)22918915.2 WHUT-DT PBS 32DC33 (100)33 (100)2548120.9maximized app pending for 1000 kWWPXW-DT Ion 66Manassas->DC43 (90)34 (1000)2211347.6maximized app for 1000 kW granted, taking over WUSA-DT's pre-trans DT 34 transmitterWDCA-DT MyN 20DC35 (500)35 (500)2278020.9maximized app pending for 950 kWWTTG-DT Fox 5DC36 (1000)36 (1000)2278020.9 WRC-DT NBC 4DC48 (813)48 (813)2428320.6Filed for nightlight operation after June 12WDCW-DT CW 50DC51 (125)50 (122)2538123.9maximized app pending for 1000 kW

So the above table lists the channel line-up I want to receive. And I am able to receive all those channels except for WFDC UNI 14. *Looking at the above table, could anyone explain why that is?* From a recent previous post, I read that it would go over to 1000kW upon switchover and thought, "Oh, THAT's why I can't get that station; it's not at max power, yet." But then, looking at this table, you can see that its current power is at 325kW, and that is a good amount higher than some of the other stations, at the same transmitter location, that I get very well, like WETA, which may be my strongest signal at my current antenna position (indoor antenna, precisely positioned/rotated to receive all the channels in the table). *Could my bad reception for 14.1 be because it is at the lowest frequency of all my channels? Do you think this implies that I will also have trouble getting channels 7.1 and 9.1 when they move from frequencies 39 and 34 to frequencies 7 and 9?*

*Also, why that drastic power decrease after the switchover for WJLA and WUSA?* Do they expect that somehow at the new frequency the siganl will carry just as far with the lower power??


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DulacLancelot* /forum/post/15938336
> 
> 
> And I am able to receive all those channels except for WFDC UNI 14. *Looking at the above table, could anyone explain why that is?* From a recent previous post, I read that it would go over to 1000kW upon switchover and thought, "Oh, THAT's why I can't get that station; it's not at max power, yet." But then, looking at this table, you can see that its current power is at 325kW, and that is a good amount higher than some of the other stations, at the same transmitter location, that I get very well, like WETA, which may be my strongest signal at my current antenna position (indoor antenna, precisely positioned/rotated to receive all the channels in the table). *Could my bad reception for 14.1 be because it is at the lowest frequency of all my channels? Do you think this implies that I will also have trouble getting channels 7.1 and 9.1 when they move from frequencies 39 and 34 to frequencies 7 and 9?*
> 
> *Also, why that drastic power decrease after the switchover for WJLA and WUSA?* Do they expect that somehow at the new frequency the siganl will carry just as far with the lower power??



What antenna are you using? WFDC-DT 14 on UHF 15 has a pretty strong signal. I can get it here in Sterling with any antenna I have tried. The boost to 1000 kW which will happen sometime after June 12 is more for indoor antennas in poorer reception spots and deep fringe viewers.


The power requirements for upper VHF for the same coverage range are much lower than for UHF. For analog, WJLA-TV 7 and WUSA-TV 9 are broadcasting at the maximum allowed ERP (Effective Radiated Power) of 316 kW for upper VHF while WHUT-TV 32 is at the maximum allowed for UHF at 5000 kW. Digital ERPs are lower because the ERPs are calculated differently (peak versus average). WJLA-DT 7 will be at the maximum allowed in Zone 1 for upper VHF at 30 kW ERP. 1000 kW ERP is the maximum allowed for digital UHF.


----------



## frecklespugsley

I'm in College Park and I'm hooked up to comcast cable and I have an HDTV capable of having those "dashed" channels. I've managed to find a couple of them, but they changed and I've found them again, but I feel like there are a lot more.


CBS used to be 9-1, but now it's 122-3.


I've been searching and searching and I find things about OTA channels and broadcasting analog and digital stations, but I can't seem to find an actual listing of the "dashed" channels.


Anyone know anything?


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *frecklespugsley* /forum/post/15944642
> 
> 
> I'm in College Park and I'm hooked up to comcast cable and I have an HDTV capable of having those "dashed" channels. I've managed to find a couple of them, but they changed and I've found them again, but I feel like there are a lot more.
> 
> 
> CBS used to be 9-1, but now it's 122-3.
> 
> 
> I've been searching and searching and I find things about OTA channels and broadcasting analog and digital stations, but I can't seem to find an actual listing of the "dashed" channels.
> 
> 
> Anyone know anything?



I have been using Comcast Basic in Beltsville for clear QAM channels for several years. If you search on "knnirs" you will find many inputs.


Comcast may or may not be thhe same in College Park and Beltsville, but I have a total of more than 300 channels. In addition different TV tuners use different code for QAM tuning.

Try 122-1,122-2,122-3,122-4 122-5

123-1,123-2,123-3 123-4, 123-5 123-6, 123-7

132-1,132-2,

124-1,134-2,134-3

I hope this will get you started.


----------



## systems2000

I got my antenna moved to the rotor yesterday and here is what I'm currently receiving:


*CHANNEL**CALL SIGN**NETWORK*2-1WMARCBS HD2-2WMARCBS-SD2-3WMARRadar5-1WTTGFOX7-1WJLAABC7-2WJLARadar7-3WJLARTN8-1WGALNBC8-2WGALThisTV9-1WUSACBS9-2WUSARadar10-1WTAJCBS11-1WBALNBC11-2WBALRadar13-1WJZCBS20-1WDCAMyNetwork24-1WUTBMyNetwork24-1WNPBWV PBS24-2WNPBWV PBS24-3WNPBWV PBS25-1WHAGNBC31-1WWPBMD PBS31-2WWPBMD PBS31-3WWPBVMe42-1WVPYVA PBS42-2WVPYVA PBS42-3WVPYVMe43-1WPMTFOX45-1WBFFFOX45-2WBFFThisTV49-1WGCB 49-2WGCBMyFamily54-1WNUVCW60-1WWPXiON60-2WWPXQUBO60-3WWPXiON Life60-4WWPXWorship
I'll be putting in an order for a CM 3412 to replace my TrunkLine DA. I hope the lower NF will allow better reception/viewing.


I still need to do my antenna vertical peak adjustment.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15946073
> 
> 
> I got my antenna moved to the rotor yesterday and here is what I'm currently receiving:



You are doing pretty good with the rotor setup! Did you raise the antenna height? Now you get WBFF-DT 45 which is good to hear. Curious that you get all of the DC stations which have strong UHF signals except for WRC-DT 4. Do you get anything on the signal meter for UHF 48?


----------



## systems2000

Because of the weather (missed me







) East of here (along the I-95 corridor), my reception has been plagued with dropouts tonight. I'll have better quality reports when it clears up and I get the antenna elements at least 32.16" (channel 7) above the top of the tower.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15946909
> 
> 
> Did you raise the antenna height?



No. I'd like to get at least another 10' though.

*NOTE:* I climbed the tower this morning and took a measurement between the antenna and the top of the tower. Looks like I need to raise the rotor about ½" minimum. I've got a 12'x1" pipe (or I may go get a galv. one) that I plan on replacing the 5' antenna mast with.


----------



## systems2000

Why is WTTG putting Side-Bars on 16:9 programming? I caught Stargate Atlantis Sunday, before the race, and had to set the image to 4:3 to get 16:9. Isn't this a little redundant?


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15951434
> 
> 
> Why is WTTG putting Side-Bars on 16:9 programming? I caught Stargate Atlantis Sunday, before the race, and had to set the image to 4:3 to get 16:9. Isn't this a little redundant?



I have been recording and viewing that show like that for 3 years now.


----------



## systems2000

MPT does the same thing. Sheesh!


----------



## sharp_eyes

Did anyone else in the Baltimore area experience weird clicking noises during the commercials on NBC tonight? We have DirectTV, and plasma tv.


----------



## Marcus Carr

There were brief sound problems tonight on WBAL during the NBC shows.


----------



## pixar




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15956267
> 
> 
> There were brief sound problems tonight on WBAL during the NBC shows.



Actually its still seems to be there this morning as we were watching the Today show. More like an intermittent crackle. Kinda like what you hear from a fireplace. Atleast thats what I'm hearing. The other HD channels like FoodTV, HGTV, HD Theater, Discovery, Palladia, NatGeo...everything else on HD that isnt a local channel sounds fine. Maybe its just the local channels.


----------



## Marcus Carr

The audio was tinny and the volume dropped during parts of the NBC programs. I didn't notice anything on other channels. Watching on Comcast.


----------



## pixar




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/15956863
> 
> 
> The audio was tinny and the volume dropped during parts of the NBC programs. I didn't notice anything on other channels. Watching on Comcast.



Hmm thx Marcus. We did experience the drop and the tinny but there have have been clicks or what could be called pops on NBC since last nite. It could just be good ol' Directv, any which way its still a relief that its not my brand nu 111FD!


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pixar* /forum/post/15957005
> 
> 
> Hmm thx Marcus. We did experience the drop and the tinny but there have have been clicks or what could be called pops on NBC since last nite. It could just be good ol' Directv, any which way its still a relief that its not my brand nu 111FD!



DC NBC has had clicks for the last year or so. They're not super loud, but annoying in a HT environment. They seem to rotate around the channels every 15 seconds or so. Sometimes you can ignore them, but during quiet scenes, they are distracting.


----------



## pixar




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/15957549
> 
> 
> DC NBC has had clicks for the last year or so. They're not super loud, but annoying in a HT environment. They seem to rotate around the channels every 15 seconds or so. Sometimes you can ignore them, but during quiet scenes, they are distracting.



Thx for the info AbMagFab. Its a pity...I wish they would fix these things!


----------



## machpost

Looks like MASN is testing out their 24/7 HD channel. They're showing content from the SD channel pillarboxed right now.


----------



## mdviewer25

Does anyone in PG know if The Comcast Network (formerly CN8) is now only on digital cable? It was on channel 21 but now that is just static. Yet another channel that mysteriously has disappeared over the last two years (see MTV2, Tru TV, GAC to name a few). Something seemed strange when the TV Guide Network would list it as CNPH the Philadelphia version. Also, according to them, Jewelry TV is supposed to be on channel 23. Maybe I'm missing something since I don't have a box (connected straight to TV).


----------



## systems2000

Sounded like they were in a tin can on my OTA system. Very annoying.


Was it my recording or did CBS drop the audio at the end of Big Bang last night?


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/15957895
> 
> 
> Looks like MASN is testing out their 24/7 HD channel. They're showing content from the SD channel pillarboxed right now.



Where are you seeing this, out of curiosity?


----------



## CycloneGT

I'd venture a guess and say that he is watching the MASN SD channel and is seeing stuff pillar boxed.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/15959668
> 
> 
> Where are you seeing this, out of curiosity?



Channel 687 on RCN in D.C., if that's what you're asking. This channel has long been labeled as MASN HD, but before today, it was just a remap of the 480i SD channel when there wasn't a Nats or O's game on in HD.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast to add MASN HD in Charles, Calvert, Frederick, and Carroll Counties on 4/1.


Also in Charlottesville, Palmyra, Greene Co. and Lake Monticello, VA.


The Comcast Network will require a digital box.

http://www.publicnoticeads.com/MD/se...sults.asp?T=PN 

http://classifieds.dailyprogress.com..._BEFORE(TODAY)


----------



## mark_e




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15958771
> 
> 
> Was it my recording or did CBS drop the audio at the end of Big Bang last night?




Sound dropped for a few seconds during the last scene (just prior to the credits) on WJZ-DT via Comcast Howard County.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/15961473
> 
> 
> Channel 687 on RCN in D.C., if that's what you're asking. This channel has long been labeled as MASN HD, but before today, it was just a remap of the 480i SD channel when there wasn't a Nats or O's game on in HD.



That's exactly what I was looking for; thanks.


----------



## markbulla

Hi all -


I'm going to be turning the WNUV and WBFF analog transmitters off tonight at 11:59:59 PM, in case anyone wants to watch. I'm planning on playing the end-of-broadcast-day thing that I did when I took the programming off a couple of weeks ago at around 11:55 PM, then shutting them off.


End of an era!


.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mark_e* /forum/post/15962438
> 
> 
> Sound dropped for a few seconds during the last scene (just prior to the credits) on WJZ-DT via Comcast Howard County.



The recording was of WJZ-DT. Thanks!


----------



## systems2000

Thanks Mark! I'll do my best to watch.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15962988
> 
> 
> I'm going to be turning the WNUV and WBFF analog transmitters off tonight at 11:59:59 PM, in case anyone wants to watch. I'm planning on playing the end-of-broadcast-day thing that I did when I took the programming off a couple of weeks ago at around 11:55 PM, then shutting them off.



Cool. I got the Sony HD-DVR set to record WNUV-TV going dark for real.


How many phone calls and questions about the analog shutdown have you and the 2 stations been getting since Feb. 17? More than you expected or less?


----------



## GregAnnapolis

Good night, WBFF-TV and WNUV-TV.


----------



## gmucklow




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15962988
> 
> 
> Hi all -
> 
> 
> I'm going to be turning the WNUV and WBFF analog transmitters off tonight at 11:59:59 PM, in case anyone wants to watch. I'm planning on playing the end-of-broadcast-day thing that I did when I took the programming off a couple of weeks ago at around 11:55 PM, then shutting them off.
> 
> 
> End of an era!
> 
> 
> .



I watched it -- in fact, I was able to switch from WBFF, after you shut it off, over to WNUV and just catch the shutdown there as well.


End of an era, indeed -- The era began in 1941...


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15964038
> 
> 
> Cool. I got the Sony HD-DVR set to record WNUV-TV going dark for real.
> 
> 
> How many phone calls and questions about the analog shutdown have you and the 2 stations been getting since Feb. 17? More than you expected or less?



I guess I've gotten fewer phone calls than I've expected. The interesting thing is that everyone that I've talked to has either a converter box or an HDTV (with the exception of the lady that was told by Best Buy that the TV she was buying in Jan. 2008 had "a digital tuner" in it - turned out that it didn't have an ATSC tuner in it...), but they are having problems setting them up. I'd say 75% of them are "only seeing the infomercial about how to hook up a converter" when they are tuned into the station through their converter box or HDTV, meaning that they are looking at the analog channel, not the digital channel. It's surprising how the different manufacturers activate the ATSC tuners - some TVs have a different RF input, some have a button on the remote control, some you just tune in. A lot of people have never done a channel scan, most of them haven't really read the manual...


The rest of the problems have been with reception. Turns out that you have to move the antennas around to get a reliable signal... I got a call the other day from a lady who was having difficulty getting a reliable signal with her rabbit-ear antenna. It turned out that she was calling from Rockville...


Anyway, I expect a lot of calls tomorrow (well, today, actually) when nothing is on the analog channels anymore.


:


----------



## guadalupegrande4

Last few nights I've noticed some audio problems with WBAL. Last night during a few shows, mostly noticed it during Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, where bits got really tinny. I recorded some of it, and it sounded a bit better from the .ts file than live.

I've also noticed some strange blocking, like bad compression effects. It only happens with WBAL. Its more pronounced during a live broadcast, I can't seem to notice it on the recorded .ts files.

I was worried it was my card, but why would it only affect one station?


Glad to see that I wasn't the only one with at least the tinny audio problems.


Tonight during Leno I had some more problems. Some total audio drop-outs, then it switched from HD to letterboxed/4x3 SD, and around. It seemed to get fixed then.


All of this is OTA DTV, using a Dvico FusionHDTV7 Dual Tuner within Windows XP.


Also, bye analog WBFF and WNUV.


----------



## CycloneGT

I watched too. It was good to see the old WBFF-TV logo. You gotta put the sign off up on YouTube sometime. Loved seeing the National Anthem again too, even with 60s era jets.


----------



## guadalupegrande4




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15964309
> 
> 
> The rest of the problems have been with reception. Turns out that you have to move the antennas around to get a reliable signal... I got a call the other day from a lady who was having difficulty getting a reliable signal with her rabbit-ear antenna. It turned out that she was calling from Rockville...
> 
> 
> :



Having a few sets here with converter boxes, and the card in my PC... yeah, direction of the antenna has a huge effect. As does having people walk by.


Never been too up on the UHF/VHF thing, either, but watched some of that analog thing on WBFF tonight, and learned a bit. Heh.

If you have the wrong antenna, a normal set of rabbit ears, you may still not get _ANY_ DTV signal!










Almost makes me want to build one of those DIY antenna to sit behind my TV.


----------



## rkolsen

WBAL HD on Comcast has seemed to have audio problems all day when they are airing NBC content.


Now just a constant beep on HD but SD fine.


----------



## guadalupegrande4




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rkolsen* /forum/post/15964394
> 
> 
> WBAL HD on Comcast has seemed to have audio problems all day when they are airing NBC content.
> 
> 
> Now just a constant beep on HD but SD fine.



OTA WBAL dropped audio, then had some during the commercials, then went to a whine/buzz. Its getting annoying.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*O's in HD*


By Kate Wheeler on January 31, 2009 7:44 PM


As many of you already know, MASN will be launching a full-time HD channel in April, bringing you twice as many O's games in HD this season.


What most of you have been asking about though is if the MASN HD channel will be available to subscribers of Verizon FiOS, and the answer is not yet.


Comcast, DirecTV, Cox and RCN will all carry the full-time HD channel; but as MASN works with its 22 existing cable and satellite affiliates to deliver HD to as many homes as possible, they're holding off on expanding the HD output until any and all problems can be addressed first.

*"We want to ensure that any problems experienced by providers or viewers will be addressed before expanding the HD schedule further," MASN said. "Just as other regional networks increased the number of HD games they televised over time, there is no doubt that in the coming years, MASN will continue to expand its HD game schedule."*


So if you have Verizon FiOS, you might not be able to reap the full benefits of a full-time MASN HD channel where you can watch your O's in high-definition just yet, as the decision is ultimately made by each distributor; Verizon FiOS might not carry MASN's HD signal this season, but with your patience, MASN will continue to work toward expanding the reach of its full-time HD channel as rapidly as possible, and the result will be well worth the wait.


In the meantime, MASN will still bring you every Orioles game, complete with pre-and postgame shows; *and if you really can't wait to see the O's in HD, come out to the Yard and check out the new HD setup Oriole Park will be sporting coming Opening Day.*

http://masnsports.com/2009/01/os-in-hd.html


----------



## SUOrangeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gmucklow* /forum/post/15937388
> 
> 
> The DirecTV/w OTA column [on the GoogleDocs file] shows all the main network HD channels missing, but with the subchannels present. While I don't have DirectTV -- Can this be right?



gmucklow (as well as CycloneGT)-


The first post of this thread labels those channels as "XS." I'm not exactly sure what that means, so I left it blank on the GoogleDocs file. Like you, I am not a subscriber. Perhaps you have to explicitly subscibe to those channels, which may require some location-based eligibility (i.e., D*TV may require you to be within some local range of the OTA signal before they'll give it to you via sat). I think my parents have a similar issue, given that they live 60 miles out from their closest city (Richmond), but don't get the locals.


If my hypothesis is correct, I don't think it completely explains why some subchannels appear to be fully offered, but the main channel is not.


On the other hand, if the sat receivers include an OTA (err, ATSC) tuner, ... and that's the only way you can get the main channels, then my GoogleDocs chart is correct. You're technically not getting those channels via sat.


Surely, som sat expert will clear all of this up.










-SUO


----------



## systems2000

Great exit Mark! "AIM HIGH AMERICA!" I especially loved the Indian Test Pattern.


I thought I caught another station right after the transmission went dead. I did a search of the FCC TVQuery for 200 KM on RF 54, but came up empty in that direction for another analog station.


----------



## systems2000

While playing with the rotor last night, I found a "Sweet Spot" to be able to get a majority of the Baltimore and D.C. stations at the same time. I did a scan with my DT502, since it won't add stations, and then tested the DT502 EPG for datat from the stations. Here are my results:


*Station**EPG Data*WTTG12 hrsWJLA (-1 & -3)12 hrsWUSA24 hrsWJZ12 hrsWDCA6 hrsWNPB12 hrsWUTB6 hrsWWPB12 hrsWVPY12 hrsWWPX24 hrs+ (updates every 5-10 sec)


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SUOrangeman* /forum/post/15966188
> 
> 
> gmucklow (as well as CycloneGT)-
> 
> 
> The first post of this thread labels those channels as "XS." I'm not exactly sure what that means, so I left it blank on the GoogleDocs file. -SUO



Yeah, I kinda did that years ago. The X simply means that the channel should be present with a OTA antenna. I added the "S" later to indicate channels that are also available via Satellite. I guess its a mess now and should be cleaned up. I"m hoping to rebuild those grids using the "table" feature of the site one day. I tried it a few weeks ago with the other part of the grid and had mixed results.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/15962675
> 
> 
> That's exactly what I was looking for; thanks.



I've attached a rough approximation of what I'm seeing on MASN HD. It's not a true screenshot, but rather a photo of my TV screen...











The picture quality is a VAST improvement from the awful MASN SD channel.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/15970756
> 
> 
> I've attached a rough approximation of what I'm seeing on MASN HD. It's not a true screenshot, but rather a photo of my TV screen...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The picture quality is a VAST improvement from the awful MASN SD channel.



Oh wow; I can't wait. That does look a hell of a lot better!


----------



## AVS Reader




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *guadalupegrande4* /forum/post/15964361
> 
> 
> Having a few sets here with converter boxes, and the card in my PC... yeah, direction of the antenna has a huge effect. As does having people walk by.
> 
> 
> Never been too up on the UHF/VHF thing, either, but watched some of that analog thing on WBFF tonight, and learned a bit. Heh.
> 
> If you have the wrong antenna, a normal set of rabbit ears, you may still not get _ANY_ DTV signal!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Almost makes me want to build one of those DIY antenna to sit behind my TV.



I built a single-bay Gray-Hoverman antenna out of a 2x4 & some Romex wire. It is very fragile with wire that flexible but it works surprising well with a little amplification. Stashed behind a door I can pick up most of the Baltimore (~ 52 miles away) & Philadelphia (~ 45 miles away) stations most of the time.


----------



## DulacLancelot




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15938807
> 
> 
> What antenna are you using? WFDC-DT 14 on UHF 15 has a pretty strong signal. I can get it here in Sterling with any antenna I have tried. The boost to 1000 kW which will happen sometime after June 12 is more for indoor antennas in poorer reception spots and deep fringe viewers.
> 
> 
> The power requirements for upper VHF for the same coverage range are much lower than for UHF. For analog, WJLA-TV 7 and WUSA-TV 9 are broadcasting at the maximum allowed ERP (Effective Radiated Power) of 316 kW for upper VHF while WHUT-TV 32 is at the maximum allowed for UHF at 5000 kW. Digital ERPs are lower because the ERPs are calculated differently (peak versus average). WJLA-DT 7 will be at the maximum allowed in Zone 1 for upper VHF at 30 kW ERP. 1000 kW ERP is the maximum allowed for digital UHF.



Hey, thanks for the interesting info and inquiring more in order to try and help. Sorry to be so late in replying back to you when you were so quick.


As for the antenna, it is an indoor antenna, a Samsung Axession, a powered Silver Sensorish (~1-ft triangle) antenna, with an extra amplifier after it, too. I've tried everything, including various giant outdoor antennas in various rooms in my apartment with various amplifiers, and this gets the best reception. I realize "everything" is a very ambiguous term, but there is a long history of what I've tried and I'll spare you the boredom unless you really need to know and ask again.


It is, however, pertinent how tenuous this signal that I do get is. In order to get all the channels that I have mentioned, I have to place the antenna in exactly the right xyz coordinates, and this spot happens to be at a window/wall boundary. Some channels come in when the antenna is completely blocked by the wall, and others come in when given complete access to the window, but I can manage both sets of channels if I place the antenna just right. Also intriguing is that although the transmitter locator webpage tells me that most of my signals, which also happen to be the furthest ones, are coming from about 81 degrees and yet my best reception is when I have the thing pointed at about 120 degrees.


If I had not been able to get any signal, I would not have been surprised. In fact, until I found this antenna, I was not able to get anything. But I am able to get everything, everything except WFDC-14 on UHF 15, despite the fact that its transmitter in basically in the same place as most of the others, maybe the same place as WRC which I get fine, so I'm just wondering. WFDC does come in ok if I turn the antenna to about 160 degrees but then I lose most everything else. Also, WFDC prefers the "wall" placement of the antenna over "window" placement.


Any insight? Or is this just an example of the inexactness of antenna science?


Thanks!


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DulacLancelot* /forum/post/15976521
> 
> 
> Hey, thanks for the interesting info and inquiring more in order to try and help. Sorry to be so late in replying back to you when you were so quick.
> 
> 
> As for the antenna, it is an indoor antenna, a Samsung Axession, a powered Silver Sensorish (~1-ft triangle) antenna, with an extra amplifier after it, too. I've tried everything, including various giant outdoor antennas in various rooms in my apartment with various amplifiers, and this gets the best reception. I realize "everything" is a very ambiguous term, but there is a long history of what I've tried and I'll spare you the boredom unless you really need to know and ask again.
> 
> 
> It is, however, pertinent how tenuous this signal that I do get is. In order to get all the channels that I have mentioned, I have to place the antenna in exactly the right xyz coordinates, and this spot happens to be at a window/wall boundary. Some channels come in when the antenna is completely blocked by the wall, and others come in when given complete access to the window, but I can manage both sets of channels if I place the antenna just right. Also intriguing is that although the transmitter locator webpage tells me that most of my signals, which also happen to be the furthest ones, are coming from about 81 degrees and yet my best reception is when I have the thing pointed at about 120 degrees.
> 
> 
> If I had not been able to get any signal, I would not have been surprised. In fact, until I found this antenna, I was not able to get anything. But I am able to get everything, everything except WFDC-14 on UHF 15, despite the fact that its transmitter in basically in the same place as most of the others, maybe the same place as WRC which I get fine, so I'm just wondering. WFDC does come in ok if I turn the antenna to about 160 degrees but then I lose most everything else. Also, WFDC prefers the "wall" placement of the antenna over "window" placement.
> 
> 
> Any insight? Or is this just an example of the inexactness of antenna science?
> 
> 
> Thanks!



It sounds like what you're experiencing is "multipath conditions",(reflecting signals of the same channel cancelling each other out depending on frequency), and not low signal level. And adding an amplifier may make the problem much worse. Remember that the "signal level" on your receiver or converter box is not actually signal strength or level, but quality of the digital bitstream being received.


In my many years at this game I've never seen an indoor antenna that will receive all DTV stations equally without a bunch of moving around.


Outdoor antennas are the best route.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DulacLancelot* /forum/post/15976521
> 
> 
> As for the antenna, it is an indoor antenna, a Samsung Axession, a powered Silver Sensorish (~1-ft triangle) antenna, with an extra amplifier after it, too. I've tried everything, including various giant outdoor antennas in various rooms in my apartment with various amplifiers, and this gets the best reception. I realize "everything" is a very ambiguous term, but there is a long history of what I've tried and I'll spare you the boredom unless you really need to know and ask again.



Where are you located? Zip or your town will do. Have you tried antennas without an amplifier? In many cases, especially if one is close to the broadcast towers, the amplifier can make digital reception worse by overloading the front end of the digital receiver. But turning off the amp doesn't test working without the pre-amp because that can all but shut off the signal path from the antenna.


I'm in Sterling, 16-18 miles from the DC broadcast towers and 43 miles from the Baltimore towers. I can get all the DC and most of the Baltimore digital stations WITHOUT an amp with a Channel Master 4221 4 Bay bowtie in the attic. I have a CM 7777 pre-amp to get the weaker stations, WMAR-DT 2 (52) and WBAL-DT 11 (59 at 513 kW) in Baltimore of those 2 station groups. I have been having trouble recently getting WBAL-DT reliably which is odd because I can get WMPB-DT MPT 67 (DT 29 at 14 kW) north of Baltimore much of the time. Wierd, but I have a dead spot in the attic for WBAL-DT's current signal. However, I plan to try to see what stations I can get without the pre-amp after June 12. I'm hoping I can dump the pre-amp then. OTOH, I may need it to get the Hagerstown stations then.


One major cause of poor digital reception is the use of a cheap pre-amp or any amp which it is not needed.


----------



## gwlaw99

I am getting pixelated reception. I am in 20816 which is very close to several stations. I have a Vizio Vo32L and am using a Radio Shack unpowered antenna. I was thinking of getting the small monoprice outdoor antenna and using it indoors (without power). Seems to get great reviews. Thoughts?


I also have Fios and have been trying to get HDTV channels by plugging the coax cable directly into my coax port. I can get 2 HD channels but the quality is not great. Aren't they supposed to supply all over the air HD channels free? I have an HD box in another room and it works great.


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15962988
> 
> 
> I'm going to be turning the WNUV and WBFF analog transmitters off tonight at 11:59:59 PM, in case anyone wants to watch.



I thought the night light service had to run for a month or two? I saw the first transition, but I missed this one because I wasn't expecting it. Oh well.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gwlaw99* /forum/post/15978628
> 
> 
> I am getting pixelated reception. I am in 20816 which is very close to several stations. I have a Vizio Vo32L and am using a Radio Shack unpowered antenna. I was thinking of getting the small monoprice outdoor antenna and using it indoors (without power). Seems to get great reviews. Thoughts?.



Don't know what you mean by small monoprice outdoor antenna. Have you tried different locations for the Radio Shack antenna? What Radio Shack antenna are you using?



> Quote:
> I also have Fios and have been trying to get HDTV channels by plugging the coax cable directly into my coax port. I can get 2 HD channels but the quality is not great. Aren't they supposed to supply all over the air HD channels free? I have an HD box in another room and it works great.



Yes, Verizon provides the HD and SD digital locals in the clear. The digital broadcast locals are located at QAM 71 to 76, 78 with the 8 HD locals at QAM 71 to 74. But all of the stations with HD sub-channels are mapped by the QAM tuners I have tried to their broadcast channel numbers as Verizon passes the PSIP channel mapping info. Are you sure you are seeing the HD channels? Verizon also passes public, music, local channels in the clear. The non-mapped digital locals are: WNVT-DT, WNVC-DT are at QAM 75, WPXW-DT Ion 66 was recently moved to QAM 76 (my guess in preparation for Ion going HD in mid-March), WHUT-DT PBS 32 at QAM 78.


I happen to do a QAM channel scan today to see if any new QAM subs had been added this week and noticed that NHL HD is currently in the clear at QAM 54 because there is a free preview this week for the NHL channel.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15962988
> 
> 
> Hi all -
> 
> I'm going to be turning the WNUV and WBFF analog transmitters off tonight at 11:59:59 PM, in case anyone wants to watch. I'm planning on playing the end-of-broadcast-day thing that I did when I took the programming off a couple of weeks ago at around 11:55 PM, then shutting them off.
> 
> End of an era!



Mark,


How will WNUV be branded after June 12? Can you still call yourself WNUV-DT54? You are now and will continue transmitting on DTV Channel 40 after June 12 but can still map your PSIP to DTV Channel 54-1 until June 12. However, after June 12, Channel 54 can no longer be used for actual DTV transmissions because everything from Channels 52 through 69 are being sold off by the FCC. Can you still map your PSIP to DTV54-1 even though Channel 54 is no longer being used after June 12 for actual transmitting or if not then does that mean that you must rebrand as WNUV-DT40?


Will WBFF-TV45 rebrand as WBFF-DT46?


I imagine that most if not all low VHF analog channels 2-6 who will switch permanently to UHF DTV after June 12 will map their UHF DTV transmissions onto their original analog channel numbers. Included are WMAR-2 and WRC-4. Do you agree?


Thanks


----------



## DulacLancelot




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15977499
> 
> 
> Where are you located? Zip or your town will do.



I'm in Centreville, VA. To review, here is the list of channels I'm able to get at my current antenna position (except for WFDC), with extra columns added for distance and compass heading to the transmitters from my position.


*Station**Location**Pre-DT (ERP kw)**Post-DT (ERP kw)**Post HAAT(m)**Degrees**Miles**Notes*WJLA-DT ABC 7DC39 (646 kW)7 (30 kW)235 m8120.9Maximized app for 30 kW granted.WUSA-DT CBS 9DC34 (1000)9 (12.6)2358120.9 WFDC-DT uni 14DC15 (325)15 (1000)2278320.6Maximized app granted for 1000 kW post-transitionWETA-DT PBS 26DC27 (90)27 (90)2548120.9Petition pending to move to 51 for DTV operations at 674 kWWNVT-DT MHz 30Goldvein30 (160)30 (160)22918915.2 WHUT-DT PBS 32DC33 (100)33 (100)2548120.9maximized app pending for 1000 kWWPXW-DT Ion 66Manassas->DC43 (90)34 (1000)2211347.6maximized app for 1000 kW granted, taking over WUSA-DT's pre-trans DT 34 transmitterWDCA-DT MyN 20DC35 (500)35 (500)2278020.9maximized app pending for 950 kWWTTG-DT Fox 5DC36 (1000)36 (1000)2278020.9 WRC-DT NBC 4DC48 (813)48 (813)2428320.6Filed for nightlight operation after June 12WDCW-DT CW 50DC51 (125)50 (122)2538123.9maximized app pending for 1000 kW



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15977499
> 
> 
> Have you tried antennas without an amplifier?



Yes, I've tried without, and I've tried with a few different amplifiers including some channelmaster one and many from Radio Shack. In almost every case, the amplifier destroyed the weak signal completely. The one that I have now is the only one that didn't do that, so I liked it the best. Now, it takes the output from my powered antenna from occassionally having glitches to being rock solid. The more impressive amplifier in my mind is the one built in to the powered antenna. They must have engineered that amp to match that antenna perfectly by impedance or something, because before this antenna, when I was trying everything from a 10-ft (or was it 11?) rooftop antenna (but in various rooms inside my apartment) to a Silver Sensor and various knock-offs, I found that I barely got something sometimes, but adding an amp would make any hint of there being a signal go away. I figured even an amp needed some amount to work with, and the amount it was getting was not enough and just got "absorbed" in the process of trying to "read" and amplify it.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15977499
> 
> 
> But turning off the amp doesn't test working without the pre-amp because that can all but shut off the signal path from the antenna.



You mean turning off the amplifier but leaving the coax cables connected to either side of it hoping that the signal will somehow make it through the turned-off amplifier? If so, yes, I understand.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15977499
> 
> 
> I'm in Sterling, 16-18 miles from the DC broadcast towers and 43 miles from the Baltimore towers.



I'm near what a friend and I like to refer to as The Centreville Triangle. Reception is exceptionally poor here for some reason although it is better both west and east of there. I don't know why.



I have not tried any "Channel Master 4221 4 Bay bowtie"-like antennas, though. That's an idea. I may have to try that. Thanks!


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/15980741
> 
> 
> How will WNUV be branded after June 12? Can you still call yourself WNUV-DT54? You are now and will continue transmitting on DTV Channel 40 after June 12 but can still map your PSIP to DTV Channel 54-1 until June 12.
> 
> ...
> 
> Will WBFF-TV45 rebrand as WBFF-DT46?



The short answer is no, both stations will continue to identify themselves by their analog channel because the FCC requires stations to do so. Except for stations that went all digital years ago such as WNVT-DT 30 (analog was on 53) and stations that got waivers to use their digital channel, all stations will be required to keep broadcasting their analog channel number even when that analog channel no longer exists. The FCC did not want to get into managing virtual channel assignments.


In the long run, I expect the FCC will relax the rules and allow stations, if they so choose, to use their new physical digital channel provided that the channel number is not used by any other station that overlaps their coverage area. Stations with established identities such as (WRC) NBC 4 or (WBFF) Fox 45 will want to keep their identity. On the other hand. if I were WPXW-DT Ion 66 or WWPX-DT Ion 60, I think I would rather be known as WPXW-DT Ion 34 and WWPX-DT Ion 12.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DulacLancelot* /forum/post/15980896
> 
> 
> I'm in Centreville, VA.
> 
> ...
> 
> Yes, I've tried without, and I've tried with a few different amplifiers including some channelmaster one and many from Radio Shack. In almost every case, the amplifier destroyed the weak signal completely. The one that I have now is the only one that didn't do that, so I liked it the best. Now, it takes the output from my powered antenna from occassionally having glitches to being rock solid. The more impressive amplifier in my mind is the one built in to the powered antenna.
> 
> ...
> 
> I'm near what a friend and I like to refer to as The Centreville Triangle. Reception is exceptionally poor here for some reason although it is better both west and east of there. I don't know why.
> 
> I have not tried any "Channel Master 4221 4 Bay bowtie"-like antennas, though. That's an idea. I may have to try that. Thanks!



Usually the amps that are built into the antennas are cheap crappy amps with poor noise levels. Most of the antenna with built-in amps sold at the local electronic stores such as Best Buy are overpriced and close to crap. You are at a bad spot for reception, have to check the terrain map, but IIRC, Centreville is at a lower elevation than the land to the NW between you and DC. Are you on a ground floor apartment or higher floor?


The Channel Master 4221 4 Bay is a very good UHF antenna, but it rather large for indoor use and may not work to get the upper VHF stations after the transition. See http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/cm4221.html . A two bay bowtie model with upper VHF dipoles might be more suitable. Or a CM 2016 antenna. Check with the antennas threads in the HDTV reception forum for info on the CM 4221 successor and other more compact UHF/upper VHF antenna options.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/15980741
> 
> 
> Mark,
> 
> 
> How will WNUV be branded after June 12? Can you still call yourself WNUV-DT54? You are now and will continue transmitting on DTV Channel 40 after June 12 but can still map your PSIP to DTV Channel 54-1 until June 12. However, after June 12, Channel 54 can no longer be used for actual DTV transmissions because everything from Channels 52 through 69 are being sold off by the FCC. Can you still map your PSIP to DTV54-1 even though Channel 54 is no longer being used after June 12 for actual transmitting or if not then does that mean that you must rebrand as WNUV-DT40?
> 
> 
> Will WBFF-TV45 rebrand as WBFF-DT46?
> 
> 
> I imagine that most if not all low VHF analog channels 2-6 who will switch permanently to UHF DTV after June 12 will map their UHF DTV transmissions onto their original analog channel numbers. Included are WMAR-2 and WRC-4. Do you agree?
> 
> 
> Thanks



By FCC rule, we have to send the PSIP info with our original channel number as the major channel number. IIRC, that was so the public would have one less thing to be confused by, during the change. I haven't seen anything saying that we should change that now, even though it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. That's one of my original concerns with the change - people will have no idea what frequency they are on, because "channel 2" (for example) is actually on frequency of channel 38. No one will know what band anything is in...


I'm sure the promotions people would prefer to keep it as 45.1 and 54.1, just for the "name" recognition.


.


----------



## CycloneGT

With the use a PSIP I'm surprised that UHF band broadcasters aren't scrambling down to get in to the Single Digits. I know that I would rather be FOX 3 or FOX 8 than 45.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/15983808
> 
> 
> With the use a PSIP I'm surprised that UHF band broadcasters aren't scrambling down to get in to the Single Digits. I know that I would rather be FOX 3 or FOX 8 than 45.



It would cause confusion and conflicts to do that. Plus the FCC smacks down stations that try to map to channels they have no claim to.


- Trip


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/15982683
> 
> 
> The FCC did not want to get into managing virtual channel assignments.



Huh? With this silly rule they ultimately are managing virtual channel assignments I do not believe that the FCC had anything to do with this silly, ok, stupid, rule.


As pointed out in another posting, it was to "eliminate" confusion. Ya right, it now creates other confusion. It was done because of the almighty $$$. Have to rebrand to the new channel number (if you didn't revert) was going to cost too much money.


Instead we get things like a poster of my local thread who helped family (I think) get their CECB scanned. Well, it didn't get channel 11, so he told him to punch it in manually. The family member punched in 47 and still got nothing. No, punch in 11. Why, they are channel 47? Do it anyway. Oh, there they are.


Ya, right, eliminate confusion.


----------



## systems2000

Myself, I don't brand a station by its RF channel number. I've always branded stations by their ID or network affiliation. I agree that using a channel ID like 2 instead of 38 is ridiculous.


In the end, it is what it is.


----------



## carltonrice

I've always thought the whole branding thing was too much emphasized for stations with too little return. ABC2, NBC4, ABC7, etc. doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. Being from Baltimore, it seemed that during the 80s, the stations were changing network affiliations every other year. I remember when 2 was NBC, 11 was CBS, and 13 was ABC. And even more recently there was The WB, MyNetwork. And besides that they're always a different number on most cable systems anyhow. So, I've always had to do the translations in my head. I know inherently on my DirecTV system that if I want to watch HBO-HD it's 501 or if I want to watch CNN it's 202. But if I'm at someone else's home and they've got Comcast, then I need to know that WJZ is on 212.


At the rate the broadcast networks are shedding themselves of dramas and sitcoms of interest, I guess eventually we'll become a youtube.com society anyhow.


Having said all of that, does anyone know the history of why in most major cities (NY, LA, Chicago), NBC is usually 4, CBS is usually 2, and ABC is usually 7? Why did things start out with those particular channel numbers/frequencies?


----------



## URFloorMatt

What kind of financial shape is WRC in? Well, it looks like they canceled Redskins Report/Full Court Press so they could run infomercials for Ultimate Healing at 7:30pm on Saturday nights.


On an unrelated note, anyone know why WTTG only runs Seinfeld in HD on weeknights? Why not weekends?


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15982917
> 
> 
> By FCC rule, we have to send the PSIP info with our original channel number as the major channel number. IIRC, that was so the public would have one less thing to be confused by, during the change. I haven't seen anything saying that we should change that now, even though it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. That's one of my original concerns with the change - people will have no idea what frequency they are on, because "channel 2" (for example) is actually on frequency of channel 38. No one will know what band anything is in...
> 
> 
> I'm sure the promotions people would prefer to keep it as 45.1 and 54.1, just for the "name" recognition.
> 
> 
> .



So what happens if a new station comes online and is granted a channel that used to be an analog? For example, if I started up a new channel here in Baltimore and they gave me UHF 26, I should be "WDJP-DT 26", but that's not possible because of WETA's PSIP. I know it's far fetched, I'm just curious what the rules are.


Actually, I do wonder if WBAL might try to move back to UHF if the 5kW doesn't work out. I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that a defunct local analog frequency like 45, might be near the top of the list since it's more likely to play well with others in our general geographic area.


Just pondering. Unless of course someone wants to buy me a TV station for "WDJP-DT" - lol.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/15992441
> 
> 
> So what happens if a new station comes online and is granted a channel that used to be an analog? For example, if I started up a new channel here in Baltimore and they gave me UHF 26, I should be "WDJP-DT 26", but that's not possible because of WETA's PSIP. I know it's far fetched, I'm just curious what the rules are.



27-1. If that's taken (there'd likely be overlap with WHTM-DT), then they choose an available channel. 38-1, for example, might work.


- Trip


----------



## systems2000

It would also become 26-1, just like WETA. I have two stations PSIPing 24-1 (WNPB), 24-1 (WUTB), 24-2 (WNPB), 24-3 (WNPB) now. The lower true RF channel takes the first position, then the next true RF, and so on. This carries into the sub-channels also.


Definitely, this doesn't bode well for timer recording.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15992883
> 
> 
> It would also become 26-1, just like WETA. I have two stations PSIPing 24-1 (WNPB), 24-1 (WUTB), 24-2 (WNPB), 24-3 (WNPB) now.



Do you have any TVs/devices that produce a guide from the stream data? If so, how does it handle that situation?


My Bravia's internal guide is shot to hell from stuff like this, since it managed to pick up some conflicting PSIP signals from Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Virginia stations (WNPB was one of them!) and is essentially useless, since it doesn't know the difference between 24.1 and 24.1, for example.


What silly rules. The only time I'm in favor of PSIPs that don't match the physical channel is when a channel has extended itself with an alternate frequency. I believe WNVC/WNVT will do this (especially if you ask my PC), it looks like virtual 30.7 and 30.8 are actually 57.3/57.4 (or 24.3/24.4 when they come back on the air).



I wish that the FCC would put quality rules in place and force stations wanting subchannels to license a second frequency for them, making the PSIPs extremely useful in that case, but we all know that will never happen. Just look at what's happening with WETA-DT1 and WUSA-DT1 quality wise lately. The picture quality difference between WJZ and WUSA is rediculous, and WUSA only has a single very low bitrate subchannel sucking it's bandwidth down. [Unforunately, WJZ happens to be very hard for me to get reliably from bad multipath right now, so I'm stuck with WUSA until the transistion is complete and I can put my final antenna designs in the attic].



*sigh*


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15992883
> 
> 
> It would also become 26-1, just like WETA. I have two stations PSIPing 24-1 (WNPB), 24-1 (WUTB), 24-2 (WNPB), 24-3 (WNPB) now.



No, it would not. Your situation with 2 stations mapped to 24-1 is unusual. The FCC has laid out rules for new stations selecting their virtual channel number. The default is for the new station to use their physical RF channel number unless it conflicts with another station virtual number. In that case, the new station gets to choose their virtual number from the virtual channels not in use in their coverage area. There may be a station using channel 37 someday.


But a station in Baltimore is not going to use 26 as a physical channel because WHAG-DT in Hagerstown will be broadcasting on UHF 26. Channels that we might see a new startup use which would conflict might be 14, 20?, 32, 45.


----------



## systems2000

WJAL-DT is back on the air. Scan channel 39 to acquire.


My Sunkey SK-801ATSC's automatically added the channel, without scanning.


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/15997732
> 
> 
> WJAL-DT is back on the air. Scan channel 39 to acquire.
> 
> 
> My Sunkey SK-801ATSC's automatically added the channel, without scanning.



Yeh I noticed they came on DT-39. It had wiped out WJLA-DT 39 for most of us on this side of the county, guess we will have to wait till they move back to CH 7. Has it affected WJLA 7 for you?


----------



## systems2000

That's why I lost WJLA-DT!


I noticed the other day that I couldn't get WJLA-DT and thought it was atmospheric conditions.


The fun just keeps on coming.










I wonder how WJAL is cooling the transmitter? Last I knew, they had not rebuilt the shack and the trailer they're using for housing the transmitter, doesn't have A/C.


----------



## dewster1977

I e-mailed WJLA Ch 7, I looked at the FCC database and saw an application to test their post digital transmitter, but it dosen't appear to have been granted yet, so I'm wondering if this is just a test?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dewster1977* /forum/post/15998259
> 
> 
> Yeh I noticed they came on DT-39. It had wiped out WJLA-DT 39 for most of us on this side of the county, guess we will have to wait till they move back to CH 7. Has it affected WJLA 7 for you?



Which county are you in? WJAL-DT filed for a Special Temporary Authority (STA) to operate at 34 kW on DT 39 compared to their post-transition ERP of 105 kW. The STA was granted on February 23, if I am reading the FCC data correctly. (WJAL 68 has a bunch of confusing FCC filings because they want to move to DC). Even if WJAL-DT 68 is operating at the reduced ERP of 34 kW, looks like they will interfere with WJLA-DT 7 over much of Frederick county as well as Hagerstown area if WJAL-DT keeps their STA signal on the air until WJLA-DT 7 flash cuts back to VHF 7.


Not only do we have 2 DT stations significantly interfering with one another, the stations have dyslexic call signs.


----------



## dewster1977

I'm in Franklin County, PA, the worst part is I can see WJAL's transmitter from here about 5 miles away.


----------



## systems2000

I can see it at ~15 miles. The antenna is at 42 meters AGL, although it is on top of the ridge at 655 meters ASL. Their 41dBu contour does show them swallowing up Frederick, Brunswick, Bedford, Gettysburg, and Charlestown and reaching the edges of Westminster, Mt.Airy, Cumberland, Winchester, Hanover, and Carlisle.


----------



## systems2000

Does anyone know what W34DW-D is doing?
They had a CP and transmitter for RF 38. That was rescinded, due to WJZ/WMAR. They reapplied for RF 34 and sent the transmitter back to be tuned for RF 34. They are looking to be on the air in about a month.


They have two CP's for RF 34 & RF 38. RF 34 puts them in conflict with WUSA-DT (Lic) and WPXW-DT (CP MOD), while RF 38 puts them in conflict with W38AN (TX), WJZ-DT (Lic), and WMAR-DT (CP).


Are they looking to use RF 34 after June 12th?
W34DW-D will be operating on RF 34 and using the call sign WNPB (24).


What are they going to do with W08EE-D?
W08EE-D will stay on the air and also continue using the call sign WNPB (24).


----------



## systems2000

I've noticed, over the past couple of days, that I'm having a real hard time receiving WJZ and WNUV, while WMAR and WBAL are coming in much stronger. Anyone else noticing issues?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16005622
> 
> 
> I've noticed, over the past couple of days, that I'm having a real hard time receiving WJZ and WNUV, while WMAR and WBAL are coming in much stronger. Anyone else noticing issues?



I would suspect WJAL(39) is causing adjacent channel issues with WJZ(38) & WNUV(40).


----------



## dewster1977

One of the DTT-901's I set up for a neighbor has lost WJLA, WJZ and WNUV since WJAL wet on DT 39.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dewster1977* /forum/post/16006115
> 
> 
> One of the DTT-901's I set up for a neighbor has lost WJLA, WJZ and WNUV since WJAL wet on DT 39.



The loss of the stations is not good. While WJLA-DT ABC 7 and WJZ-DT CBS 13 will flash cut to their upper VHF channels in June, WMAR-DT 2 will move to UHF 38 and WNUV-DT 54 will stay on UHF 40. Anyone who has lost reception of the stations since WJAL-DT fired up on UHF 39 should contact the stations they are no longer getting to let them know that they are losing OTA viewers because of the interference. Surprised that your neighbor would lose WNUV-DT, but must be getting a strong signal from WJAL-DT. One possibility is that WJAL-DT needs to tighten up it's broadcast signal for spilling over into the adjacent channel frequencies. Maybe Mark can comment on this.


With the increased packing of stations due to the loss of 18 UHF channels (52-69), WJAL-DT's location well away from other broadcast stations & between a number of markets and the selection/allotment of UHF 39 is not ideal. Don't know if there is a better post-transition UHF channel WJAL-DT could have chosen.


If reception of WJZ-DT and WNUV-DT continues to be lost, might have to get a more directional antenna with a high front-to-back ratio and a rotator to reduce the signal from WJAL-DT. Don't know if there is a notch filter for UHF 39 that could knock down the signal for UHF 39, but narrow enough that it wouldn't attenuate UHF 38 or 40 very much.


----------



## easyt

Last night was the first time I've hooked up my OTA audio through my speakers. Everything sounded wonderful until I started getting frequent popping sounds...like the speakers were clipping.











I was distraught and started trying to figure which component of my theater was to blame. I ended up isolating it to NBC, though. Does anyone else get a bad audio signal from NBC? Was is just last night, or is it an ongoing issue? Will it get resolved?


----------



## lax01




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *easyt* /forum/post/16008045
> 
> 
> Last night was the first time I've hooked up my OTA audio through my speakers. Everything sounded wonderful until I started getting frequent popping sounds...like the speakers were clipping.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I was distraught and started trying to figure which component of my theater was to blame. I ended up isolating it to NBC, though. Does anyone else get a bad audio signal from NBC? Was is just last night, or is it an ongoing issue? Will it get resolved?



Been hearing it for weeks over Comcast...its definitely a problem with the NBC source material...very annoying


----------



## systems2000

I don't get WRC-DT or WHAG-DT, while getting the Baltimore/D.C. stations and I don't point to WGAL-DT, unless I need WMPT-DT. I can't comment on what's happening on those stations, but WBAL-DT has been having issues for at least a week.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16006757
> 
> 
> With the increased packing of stations due to the loss of 18 UHF channels (52-69)...



Looking at the channel assignments from my location, it appears the local market also has 16-19 off-limits for some reason or limited to very low power transmitters.

*NOTE:* There are no DT or TV stations licensed for these frequencies.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16008600
> 
> 
> Looking at the channel assignments from my location, it appears the local market also has 16-19 off-limits for some reason or limited to very low power transmitters.
> 
> *NOTE:* There are no DT or TV stations licensed for these frequencies.



Land mobile operations on 17 and 18 in DC.


- Trip


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Cox Expands Baseball Coverage with MLB Extra Innings and MASN HD*


CHESAPEAKE, Va., March 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Baseball fans in Hampton Roads can catch more big league action as Cox Communications expands its baseball coverage with the addition of MLB Extra Innings and MASN HD in April.


Beginning April 6, Cox will bring MLB Extra Innings to channels 671 - 684. Cox Digital Cable subscribers have two options for the MLB Extra Innings pay-per-view season: Auto-Renewal/Early Bird Customers for $169 or Regular Season for $199. A free early bird preview will be available from April 6 to 12. Visit www.indemand.com to receive customized schedules via e-mail.


Also adding to Cox's unprecedented baseball coverage and growing line-up of high-definition channels, is MASN HD. *On April 1, MASN HD will be seen on channel 739* and will show over 200 games of the Washington Nationals and the Baltimore Orioles.


Aside from airing HD games every night of the season, MASN HD also carries Baltimore Ravens pre-season games, selected NCAA basketball, football and lacrosse games, and ESPN News. The network carries over 500 live sporting events every year.


"We are very pleased to add MLB Extra Innings and MASN HD to our extensive coverage of baseball games which includes FOX HD, ESPN HD and Cox 11. These two additions are a double treat for sports fans, especially baseball lovers," said Gary McCollum, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Cox Hampton Roads.


Last January, Cox added the MLB Network on digital cable channel 214, which provides access to up to 80 out-of-market regular season MLB games each week. It features the biggest MLB stars, classic games and live coverage of games.


In addition to MLB Extra Innings and MASN HD, Cox will also offer a treat for soccer buffs with the MLS Direct Kick, available as pay-per-view beginning March 21 on channels 657 to 660. Cost of Auto-Renewal and Regular Season Package is $79, while Half Season Package costs $49.

http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayRe...4985634&EDATE=


----------



## Marcus Carr

*City of Aberdeen, Md., Joins Bel Air and Harford County in Awarding Cable Franchise to Verizon*


--Vote Paves the Way for Innovative, Competitive Choice for TV Service, Delivered Over the Nation's Most Advanced All-Fiber-Optic Network Straight to Consumers' Homes


Last update: 2:46 p.m. EDT March 10, 2009


ABERDEEN, Md., March 10, 2009 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- This city's residents are a major step closer to having an innovative, reliable and competitive alternative for their television services, thanks to a unanimous vote by the City Council on Monday (March 9) authorizing Verizon to offer its fiber-optic-powered FiOS TV.


FiOS TV is delivered over Verizon's all-fiber-optic network, which brings the power and capacity of fiber optics directly into people's homes and has industry-leading quality and reliability. Fiber delivers amazingly sharp pictures and sound, and has the capacity to transmit a wide array of high-definition programming that is so clear and intense it seems to leap from the TV screen. It also delivers Internet download speeds of up to 50 Mbps* (megabits per second) and upload speeds of up to 20 Mbps, as well as high-quality voice services.


In Maryland, Verizon currently offers FiOS Internet and FiOS TV services to dozens of communities in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Howard, Montgomery and Prince George's counties and parts of Bel Air. The company plans to begin offering FiOS Internet and FiOS TV in Aberdeen and other areas of Harford County in April.


"Approval of Verizon's video franchise is great news for Aberdeen residents, who soon will have more choice for their video entertainment," said William R. Roberts, Verizon's regional president in Maryland and Washington, D.C. "We commend the mayor, City Council of Aberdeen and its staff for their dedication and hard work throughout this process.


"Clearly, they recognize and support the technological advantage and competitive benefits -- as well as the distinctive edge in economic development and quality of life - that fiber will bring to their community," Roberts added.


Verizon currently offers FiOS TV to more than 9.2 million homes in parts of 14 states: California, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia and Washington.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/stor...%7D&dist=msr_3


----------



## systems2000

D.C. has some sort of Emergency Management on RF 16. So who's on RF 19?


We also have room on VHF-Lo.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16012653
> 
> 
> D.C. has some sort of Emergency Management on RF 16. So who's on RF 19?
> 
> 
> We also have room on VHF-Lo.



16 and 19 are off-limits because they're adjacent to the aforementioned 17 and 18.


- Trip


----------



## CycloneGT

Ugh. My plasma is broke. Repairman won't be here until Monday. Its 6yrs old, so its been good so far. Part of me secretly wishes that it dies so that I can get a True HD model with HDMI, both of which weren't reasonable in 2003.


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/16018409
> 
> 
> Ugh. My plasma is broke. Repairman won't be here until Monday. Its 6yrs old, so its been good so far. Part of me secretly wishes that it dies so that I can get a True HD model with HDMI, both of which weren't reasonable in 2003.



Sorry to hear that. Is it still under warranty? If not, then toss it and start shopping.


----------



## rviele




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/16018409
> 
> 
> Ugh. My plasma is broke. Repairman won't be here until Monday. Its 6yrs old, so its been good so far. Part of me secretly wishes that it dies so that I can get a True HD model with HDMI, both of which weren't reasonable in 2003.



maybe its time for that new pioneer kuro that you always wanted.


----------



## CycloneGT

Well, I called Panasonic and they were actually very good with on phone support. Considering that I have a "commercial" model, I was surprised to get a support tech on the phone in about 10 minutes. He walked me through a scripted attempt to recover the Plasma (ie pull the plug, plug it back in, try it again). They then gave me the number of a authorized service center in Silver Spring. That is good because when I first bought this beast back in 2003, one of the drawbacks was that if your commercial plasma needed servcie, you had to drive or ship it up to Secacus NJ for service.


I'm glad to see that is no longer the case. This place in Silver Spring will do a house call out here in Germantown for just $90. Thats worth it to me, since I would sweat profusely if I had to drive it over to Cherry Hill rd for service waiting for a pot hole to jar the glass.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/15992982
> 
> 
> Do you have any TVs/devices that produce a guide from the stream data? If so, how does it handle that situation?



All of my CECB's seem to handle the problem with ease and I've not seen any problem with PSIP data streams.


----------



## systems2000

Am I seeing correctly, that WJAL-DT has put in a CP MOD for 105KW from 83KW on RF 39 post-transition? I believe WJAL-DT is presently operating at 34KW.


At 41dBu, they're going to be able to reach Cumberland, Winchester, Hanover, Westminster, Carlisle and very likely received in Gaithersburg, Leesburg, Altoona, York, Harrisburg, Germantown, Huntington and maybe even Somerset, Johnstown, Baltimore and NW D.C.

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...DT1272398.html


----------



## bmfc1

When was the last time that Comcast customers in Montgomery County got a new HD channel?


----------



## kenrowe




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bmfc1* /forum/post/16024294
> 
> 
> When was the last time that Comcast customers in Montgomery County got a new HD channel?



It's been some time. What is interesting is that the Montgomery County line-up on Comcast.com includes WMPT-HD, FX-HD, Fox News-HD, Speed-HD and MASN-HD. I'm not sure if this is an error or a sign of what is about to come.


----------



## CycloneGT

Dish Network added a few HD channel yesterday. BET Jazz (never heard of this one), Showtime too, Showtime Showcase, and TMC-HD. Of course without my plasma working, I'm not viewing them. Besides, I'm not sure BET Jazz is a premium channel, but the others I don't sub to.


----------



## Eben

Anyone else experience no signal last night on 7-3 (WJLA's "old show network" subchannel)? I could get 7-1 OTA, but 7-2 (weather) and 7-3 were MIA.


----------



## dmulvany




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15964309
> 
> 
> I guess I've gotten fewer phone calls than I've expected. The interesting thing is that everyone that I've talked to has either a converter box or an HDTV (with the exception of the lady that was told by Best Buy that the TV she was buying in Jan. 2008 had "a digital tuner" in it - turned out that it didn't have an ATSC tuner in it...)



That happened to my mother when she bought an "HDTV" from Costco. Even up until last year, Costco.com was still calling TVs HDTVs when they had a built-in NTSC tuner and were only HD-ready.



> Quote:
> The rest of the problems have been with reception. Turns out that you have to move the antennas around to get a reliable signal... I got a call the other day from a lady who was having difficulty getting a reliable signal with her rabbit-ear antenna. It turned out that she was calling from Rockville...



I'm in north Rockville and on the third floor near a southern-facing window, I can get 45.1 and 45.2 with a signal strength of 80% with an unamplified rabbit ear antenna that's split four ways. I can also get WMAR (2.1) at about 80% too under the same conditions. The antenna happens to be arranged just right! (I'm not as lucky on the second floor, where I haven't been able to get some of the more distant stations.)


Dana


----------



## jgantert

Looks like TiVo HD has screwed up the frequency maps for Channels 7-1 thru 7-3. They are using frequency 7 now. I guess this is the problem with delaying the digital transition. Oh well. Hopefully they will fix this soon!


----------



## systems2000

Anyone else seeing no EPG for WWPX?


----------



## weaver6




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Eben* /forum/post/16027091
> 
> 
> Anyone else experience no signal last night on 7-3 (WJLA's "old show network" subchannel)? I could get 7-1 OTA, but 7-2 (weather) and 7-3 were MIA.



Yesterday morning, I couldn't get any of them. Now I only get 7-1. This is on my DirecTV DVR. Unfortunately, my TV tuner isn't working right. If it keep this up, I may dig out an old digital tuner I have and try it.


----------



## systems2000

I just did a quick review of stations within 120KM of my location and found that there is only four RF frequencies that will be clear of any transmissions after June 12th.


They are 14, 20, 31, & 45.


There are five frequencies that are used by low-power stations: 22 (W22DA), 25 (WZDC), 42 (W42CK), 42 (WVPY) - _Going away?_, 43 (W43BP), and 49 (WWTD-LP).


With that being said, I wonder why WNPB would try to use RF 34 for their W34W-D transmitter, with WUSA-DT putting out 1000KW on RF 34 and WPXW-DT increasing their power to 1000KW post-transition? I think I would have tried for 20 or 31.


----------



## Trip in VA

Well, you can rule out 20 because of WVPY-DT 21. Too much interference. Same problem for 45 and WWPB-DT 44.


14 gets ruled out because of the possibility of interference from various licenses immediately below channel 14, mostly in the form of two-way communications.


That does leave 31. Maybe they planned to sign it on before the transition and wanted a clear channel for that purpose, otherwise I don't know off-hand why.


- Trip


----------



## systems2000

So the D.C. / Baltimore DMA looses another UHF channel (14) for use by DTV. Great! That makes six of the 38 UHF frequencies off-limits. That's about 16%!


Are 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, & 37 off-limits everywhere? I know why 37 is off-limits - Radio Astronomy.


They could have looked at RF 49. I thought DTV was supposed to be able to exist as adjacent channels. You've got 33, 34, 35, & 36 in D.C. and 40 & 41 in Baltimore.


----------



## Trip in VA

14 isn't off limits, it's just more prone to interference. If you look at the UHF channels, 14 is the one least used.


16-19 are off-limits within a certain distance of DC. Same goes for 18-21 and Philadelphia, 14-17 and New York, etc. There's a specific rule about it noted in my site's FAQ, I'm just checking in between homework problems so I'm not going to grab it right this second.


Stations can exist adjacent as long as they're close together. Note that the stations on 33-34-35-36 all transmit from within 2-3 miles of each other. Note also how WETA is trying to get moved to 51 because their channel 27 is short-spaced to WFPT-DT 28 in Frederick and cannot boost power.


- Trip


----------



## dewster1977

I don't know why they would want 51 with W51CY that is only 30 miles +/- to the north east of Frederick although W51CY's pattern favoures southern PA


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dewster1977* /forum/post/16031410
> 
> 
> I don't know why they would want 51 with W51CY that is only 30 miles +/- to the north east of Frederick although W51CY's pattern favoures southern PA



W51CY has no protection. If they overlap with WETA-DT on 51, WETA can tell them to move.


- Trip


----------



## dewster1977

Interesting... didn't know that Thanks. Sounds like the posibility is that some of the translators or LP's could get forced into the VHF-lo band...???


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dewster1977* /forum/post/16031457
> 
> 
> Interesting... didn't know that Thanks. Sounds like the posibility is that some of the translators or LP's could get forced into the VHF-lo band...???



See WKOB-LP in New York, recently applied for channel 2...


- Trip


----------



## dmulvany

While watching "Eleventh Hour" tonight on WUSA's 9.1 on my 2006 Sharp LCD HDTV, there was suddenly a loud harsh sound every few seconds or so, accompanied by a flickering of the video at the time of the sound. It lasted for perhaps three minutes or so. The signal strength wasn't weak--it was about 90%.


I've never experienced that before----has anyone else? Any idea what could have caused that? I'm guessing it was something caused by the station because my HDTV hasn't continued to do that.


(Every now and then, my HDTV does freeze and stop working, and I have to unplug the TV to get it to work again. The problem that happened above was brand new, though.)


Dana


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16031341
> 
> 
> 16-19 are off-limits within a certain distance of DC. Same goes for 18-21 and Philadelphia, 14-17 and New York, etc. There's a specific rule about it noted in my site's FAQ, I'm just checking in between homework problems so I'm not going to grab it right this second.



Who's got "18-21" off-limits?


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16031341
> 
> 
> Stations can exist adjacent as long as they're close together.



So it's a FCC rule that is preventing it and not the DTV demod.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16032745
> 
> 
> Who's got "18-21" off-limits?



It's the exact same thing, public safety communications on 19-20. Please see here:

http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_20...7cfr73.623.htm 


Half-way down the page is a table showing which channels are reserved where.



> Quote:
> So it's a FCC rule that is preventing it and not the DTV demod.



Um, it's an FCC rule based on observations that signals too close together interfere.


- Trip


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *weaver6* /forum/post/16030001
> 
> 
> Yesterday morning, I couldn't get any of them. Now I only get 7-1. This is on my DirecTV DVR. Unfortunately, my TV tuner isn't working right. If it keep this up, I may dig out an old digital tuner I have and try it.




My girlfriend had a problem yesterday with both her TiVo HDboxes. In the Guide WJLA is now listed as WJLA-HD instead of WJLA-DT. So there isn't any guide data for it and none of her 8 ABC recordings were made. And when you try to tune to the WJLA-DT she doesn't get a signal. She does with WJLA-HD but since there was no guide data it didn't record. Now the really odd thing is, her TiVoHD in the basement, did record the programs properly, even with the change. So at least all she had to do was transfer the content to the Bedroom TiVoHD to watch. I had her set up manual recordings for her ABC shows this morning and afternoon. Hopefully it will work itself out.


I still wonder why the guide data changed. Why is WJLA-DT now WJLA-HD?


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dmulvany* /forum/post/16031735
> 
> 
> While watching "Eleventh Hour" tonight on WUSA's 9.1 on my 2006 Sharp LCD HDTV, there was suddenly a loud harsh sound every few seconds or so, accompanied by a flickering of the video at the time of the sound. It lasted for perhaps three minutes or so. The signal strength wasn't weak--it was about 90%.



I was watching it via Comcast and experienced the same thing. I switched to the analog channel and the same thing was going on. When it stopped they were only broadcasting a 4:3 picture on the HD channel, though they could have expanded it later and I didn't notice. I am guessing that it was a WUSA problem, but it might have been Comcast.


There are quite a few addresses at
http://www.wusa9.com/company/contact/default.aspx 

and I might try a few of them. I wrote to the Programming Associate and the Director of Technology. If they respond I'll post something more.


----------



## nottenst

Speaking of HD problems. Some weeks ago I mentioned that the DC WB channel DC50 was having some closed captioning problems. I was seeing it with the HD signal for Smallville. I think it persisted throughout the last set of original episodes. I contacted them and they said their engineers would be working on it.


> Quote:
> We have adjusted some equipment that may improve the captions on your receiver during CW network programming.



They asked me to respond as to whether the problem persisted. When Reaper started again last week, it appeared to have cleared up and it was also okay this week on both Reaper and Smallville.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/16034017
> 
> 
> In the Guide WJLA is now listed as WJLA-HD instead of WJLA-DT.



This is because Tivo has changed the frequency of WJLA to 7 from 39. You have probably done a manual scan, so it knows there is also a channel out on frequency 39.


I've called Tivo support and asked to get the frequency changed back, but it will take 5-7 business days (if they even do it at all). You should call as well.










-John


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/16034264
> 
> 
> I was watching it via Comcast and experienced the same thing. I switched to the analog channel and the same thing was going on. When it stopped they were only broadcasting a 4:3 picture on the HD channel, though they could have expanded it later and I didn't notice. I am guessing that it was a WUSA problem, but it might have been Comcast.
> 
> 
> There are quite a few addresses at
> http://www.wusa9.com/company/contact/default.aspx
> 
> and I might try a few of them. I wrote to the Programming Associate and the Director of Technology. If they respond I'll post something more.



I received a reply, for what it's worth:


> Quote:
> Thank you for your e-mail and comments regarding Eleventh Hour.
> 
> Please note that CBS did have technical issues last night.
> 
> Problems were addressed within the program.


----------



## dmulvany




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/16035727
> 
> 
> I received a reply, for what it's worth:



Thanks. It's good to know the problem wasn't with my HDTV!










I'm curious about what caused it. It sounded awful and like my HDTV was dying!


----------



## herbtyson




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/16034017
> 
> 
> My girlfriend had a problem yesterday with both her TiVo HDboxes. In the Guide WJLA is now listed as WJLA-HD instead of WJLA-DT.



We encountered the same thing on our Tivo HD box. I tried restarting and resetting, thinking that the hardware had gotten zapped somehow. I was relieved to learn that it wasn't a problem with our box, but annoyed that there isn't a solution.


I read elsewhere that some Tivo HD devices were not affected. I wonder why.


Our two HDTVs and my tuner card on my computer were not affected, so I'm assuming that the other person's assertion that TiVo themselves did it is correct. I can't fathom why they did it, though, and I hope either that they undo it or that the program guide catches up.


When I redid the guided setup, only channel 7 analog was found. When I did a manual channel scan, however, 7-1 WJLA-HD and 7-2/7-3 both SD (rather than the previous DT) were found. Programming, however, says TO BE ANNOUNCED.


My television identifies them as WJLA-HD and SD ratther than DT, but I don't know if it's always been that way, as I never had a reason to notice before. I guess I'll call TiVo and gripe.


----------



## herbtyson

I called, too. Other complaints weren't in the system yet. Hopefully, they will get it fixed. When people try over the weekend to watch their Tivo'd recordings from WJLA, I suspect that there will be an influx of complaints.


----------



## billodom




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/15982917
> 
> 
> By FCC rule, we have to send the PSIP info with our original channel number as the major channel number. IIRC, that was so the public would have one less thing to be confused by, during the change. I haven't seen anything saying that we should change that now, even though it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. That's one of my original concerns with the change - people will have no idea what frequency they are on, because "channel 2" (for example) is actually on frequency of channel 38. No one will know what band anything is in...
> 
> 
> I'm sure the promotions people would prefer to keep it as 45.1 and 54.1, just for the "name" recognition.
> 
> 
> .



Sometime back I bought an ATSC tuner card for my desktop and today had Fairfax Antenna run a line from my rooftop antenna to the desktop (Vista Home Premium OS with Windows Media Center). The EPG (Version 3.0) for the Media Center displays programming information for all the local channels--DC and Baltimore--with two exceptions: WBFF and WNUV. The call letters and channel number is displayed for each. Any thoughts on why the EPG is not acquiring the data?

Incidentally, if anyone in NoVA needs OTA work, I highly recommend Fairfax Antenna. They installed my antenna over seven years ago and it has served me flawlessly. AVS Forum members also get a 5 percent discount.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *billodom* /forum/post/16038167
> 
> 
> Sometime back I bought an ATSC tuner card for my desktop and today had Fairfax Antenna run a line from my rooftop antenna to the desktop (Vista Home Premium OS with Windows Media Center). The EPG (Version 3.0) for the Media Center displays programming information for all the local channels--DC and Baltimore--with two exceptions: WBFF and WNUV. The call letters and channel number is displayed for each. Any thoughts on why the EPG is not acquiring the data?
> 
> Incidentally, if anyone in NoVA needs OTA work, I highly recommend Fairfax Antenna. They installed my antenna over seven years ago and it has served me flawlessly. AVS Forum members also get a 5 percent discount.



Well... I'm not surewhat the problem is. That's the first I've heard of that one... At first blush, it sounds like it must be something in my setup since I have seperate PSIP generators for each channel (one could have crapped out, but probably not both at the same time). Unfortunately, I'm out of town at the moment, so I can't check.


Anyone else having this problem?


.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/16038748
> 
> 
> Well... I'm not surewhat the problem is. That's the first I've heard of that one... At first blush, it sounds like it must be something in my setup since I have seperate PSIP generators for each channel (one could have crapped out, but probably not both at the same time). Unfortunately, I'm out of town at the moment, so I can't check.
> 
> 
> Anyone else having this problem?
> 
> 
> .



No problems with WBFF/WNUV here through Windows Media Center, which is *very* sensitive to PSIP data. A quick check of the streams in TSReader looks good too for both channels.


----------



## dmulvany




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *billodom* /forum/post/16038167
> 
> 
> Sometime back I bought an ATSC tuner card for my desktop and today had Fairfax Antenna run a line from my rooftop antenna to the desktop (Vista Home Premium OS with Windows Media Center). The EPG (Version 3.0) for the Media Center displays programming information for all the local channels--DC and Baltimore--with two exceptions: WBFF and WNUV. The call letters and channel number is displayed for each. Any thoughts on why the EPG is not acquiring the data?



I'm getting the guide information for both stations just fine even though the signal strength is about 55% for 54.1 and 80% for 45.1. What's your signal strength for these stations?


----------



## inlogan

Mark,


Is there any reason why the daily Simpsons and Family Guy episodes between 6 and 8 on WNUV seem to start about two minutes before the top and bottom of the hour? The 6pm Simpsons ends and then Family Guy is supposed to start at 6:30, but I notice that it seems to begin at around 6:28. The 7pm Simpsons seems to start around 6:58. I noticed this when I tried to record a few with my DVR. My DVR records all the prime time shows on WNUV fine and on other channels so I think it's just these shows between 6 and 8.


Thanks!

Rich


----------



## imacdonald




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *herbtyson* /forum/post/16036782
> 
> 
> We encountered the same thing on our Tivo HD box. I tried restarting and resetting, thinking that the hardware had gotten zapped somehow. I was relieved to learn that it wasn't a problem with our box, but annoyed that there isn't a solution.



I have been having an ongoing discussion with WHUT and tivo about getting tivo guide data to sync up the actual channel, it turns out that that TIVO matches the guide data to the channel using the station identifier in the PSIP information. WHUT just corrected this they changed there channel identifier from WHUT-DT to WHUTDT and now TIVO is happily record BBC World news for me again.


I just got a channel master digital converter box to see what kind of picture it gives, an noticed that it displays a non call sign name for channels, so in that field it still shows WHUT as WHUT-DT.


From what was set they are calling the channel WJLA-HD, which is the problem. On the tivo, I would go into Settings -> channels I recieve, then look to see if there at two different call signs for WJLA, if there are then call WJLA and complain to there engineering group, that they need to have a the channel station call sign in the PSIP data match what is listed in the tribuion listings on services like zap2it.com, it should be WJLADT (no dashes)


----------



## imacdonald




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/16034017
> 
> 
> My girlfriend had a problem yesterday with both her TiVo HDboxes. In the Guide WJLA is now listed as WJLA-HD instead of WJLA-DT. So there isn't any guide data for it and none of her 8 ABC recordings were made.



I checked on my HD tivo and see the same thing, anyone have a telephone number for them that works on the weekend? I just sent the following to WJLA using http://cfc.wjla.com/contact.cfm I suggest you do the same thing.


UGENT:


Please forward to your digital engineering department


Please reverse the PSIP channel identifier change you made to the 7-1, 7-2, 7-3. You have broken TIVO's ability to record HD shows over the air.


TIVO matches its guide data to the channel using the station identifier listed in the PSIP information included with the digital channels. Someone made a change the PSIP information is listing WJLA cahnnels as


7-1 WJLA-HD

7-2 WJLA-SD

7-3 WJLA-SD


This is incorrect and breaks TIVO's ability to record shows from WJLA

The channel identifiers should be


7-1 WJLADT

7-2 WJLADT2

7-3 WJLADT3


This channel call sign needs to match the channel identifier in the tribune guide data and also listed on zap2it.com. If you look at all the other channels in the area you will see their PSIP channel identifier matches the channel identifier listed on zap2it.com


My guess is that you wanted to update the friendly channel name in PSIP data and updated the channel call sign as well, which still raises the question on why you have two channels called WJLA-SD with different programming.


I have been working with WHUT on this very issue and they have just corrected their PSIP data to allow my HD tivo to record their programming again.


Thank you


----------



## Trip in VA

The data I have dating back several months has the WJLA-HD and WJLA-SD call signs.


- Trip


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Comcast To Carry MASN-HD On 4/1, Also Adding MPT-HD In DC Area*


- 3/12 - Area cable TV giant Comcast will be adding the new fulltime high-def channel from the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network on 4/1. On channel 247. MASN carries both the Orioles and the Nationals. Also, we hear that Comcast will be rolling out the HD and digital standard-def subchannels of Baltimore-based Maryland Public Television to its DC area subscribers this spring. Including Spanish public TV network v-me. Currently, only the main SD signal of Channel 22/WMPT is carried south of the Patuxent River. Does this mean that Comcast will start carrying rival DC-based public TVer WETA's HD and SD digital subchannels in the Baltimore metro? Stay tuned.....

http://dcrtv.com/ 


They probably will add WETA HD in Baltimore, since, as I posted before, it's listed in the lineup at Comcast.com.


----------



## imacdonald




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16041287
> 
> 
> The data I have dating back several months has the WJLA-HD and WJLA-SD call signs.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Does your data list

50-1 as CW50 or WDCWDT

45-2 as ThisTV or WBFFDT2


There seems to be 2 identifiers in PSIP one has the call sign and the other is a friendly name. When you do a channel scan on the Tivo all the channels are listed as XXXXDT, XXXXDT2, XXXXDT3 etc, with the exception of WJLA, Mhz and 44-1 which is listed as KWTKT-DT. Mhz on 57 is off air at the moment, and i am sure i remember 44-1 being discussed before, but I don't get it so it hasn't bothered me. I tried looking at the PSIP spec, but it was less than informative about the different fields.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *imacdonald* /forum/post/16041507
> 
> 
> Does your data list
> 
> 50-1 as CW50 or WDCWDT
> 
> 45-2 as ThisTV or WBFFDT2



WJLA-HD. http://www.rabbitears.info/screencap...a/1051-0_0.htm 


CW50. http://www.rabbitears.info/screencap.../30576-0_0.htm 


My WBFF data is outdated and thus has "Good TV." I'll have to get new data on it.



> Quote:
> There seems to be 2 identifiers in PSIP one has the call sign and the other is a friendly name. When you do a channel scan on the Tivo all the channels are listed as XXXXDT, XXXXDT2, XXXXDT3 etc, with the exception of WJLA, Mhz and 44-1 which is listed as KWTKT-DT. Mhz on 57 is off air at the moment, and i am sure i remember 44-1 being discussed before, but I don't get it so it hasn't bothered me. I tried looking at the PSIP spec, but it was less than informative about the different fields.



The stream contains a "call sign" and some of them contain an "extended call sign." Most receivers use the standard call sign, though my WinTV-D prioritizes the extended call sign if it's available.


I see no extended call sign in either WJLA or WDCW (granted, the data is a few months old).


- Trip


----------



## imref

so is WJLA fixed now?


We have a DirecTV HD-DVR (non-TiVo) with an external antenna. We have a season pass set to record Emergency! at 3:00 PM every day on channel 7-1, as of Wednesday it is no longer recording, nor can I tune into any of their over-the-air channels. I just checked a few minutes ago and the channel is blank.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *inlogan* /forum/post/16040261
> 
> 
> Mark,
> 
> 
> Is there any reason why the daily Simpsons and Family Guy episodes between 6 and 8 on WNUV seem to start about two minutes before the top and bottom of the hour? The 6pm Simpsons ends and then Family Guy is supposed to start at 6:30, but I notice that it seems to begin at around 6:28. The 7pm Simpsons seems to start around 6:58. I noticed this when I tried to record a few with my DVR. My DVR records all the prime time shows on WNUV fine and on other channels so I think it's just these shows between 6 and 8.
> 
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Rich



Hey Rich -


You know, I've noticed that, and meant to ask the master control manager about it, but I never remember to do it... I'll send myself an e-mail as a reminder.


.


----------



## billodom




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dmulvany* /forum/post/16039774
> 
> 
> I'm getting the guide information for both stations just fine even though the signal strength is about 55% for 54.1 and 80% for 45.1. What's your signal strength for these stations?



I will post my information with some supporting pictures and hopefully Mark and anyone else can lend some edification. About signal strengths (SS): the WMC (Windows Media Center) lists both 45 and 54 at 100 percent. The ATSC tuner in my TV lists WBFF at 8 out of 10 bars and WNUV at 5 out of 10. On a related issue, I am also unable to tune WBAL through WMC. I can through my TV tuner. SS is 1 out of 10. SS for WMAR is also 1 out of 10 but WMC receives it solidly. Some of these glitches may be related to this period of flux before the digital transition is completed in June. Isn't it true that WBFF and WNUV are the only two major channels that actually went all-digital? I don't know if that has anything to do with the glitch in the WMC information or not. WMC gets its programming from Zap2it and their listings are fine when I access them online.

About the attached pictures: Notice in the one named List the lack of identifying info for WBFF and WNUV. Also note that WJZ is showing up at channel 38. In other words, they are identified as both 38 and 13. I wonder why? In the one named WBAL, note the discrepancy in their info compared to the other channels. Is this affecting my ability to tune them? The last picture is self-explanatory showing no data for WBFF and WNUV.

Any help would be appreciated.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *imacdonald* /forum/post/16041160
> 
> 
> Please reverse the PSIP channel identifier change you made to the 7-1, 7-2, 7-3. You have broken TIVO's ability to record HD shows over the air.



PSIP data is *NOT* the problem on the TIVO boxes. It is the digital frequency map, as I have already reported twice on this thread.


First picture shows the channel in the frequency map. Second picture shows the channel from the channel scan (freq 39) which is the correct frequency.


-John


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *imref* /forum/post/16041849
> 
> 
> so is WJLA fixed now?
> 
> 
> We have a DirecTV HD-DVR (non-TiVo) with an external antenna. We have a season pass set to record Emergency! at 3:00 PM every day on channel 7-1, as of Wednesday it is no longer recording, nor can I tune into any of their over-the-air channels. I just checked a few minutes ago and the channel is blank.



So what frequency are you trying to receive WJLA on? They were supposed to switch to VHF 7 back in Feb, but that got pushed back to June, so they are still on UHF 39 for now. Maybe your receiver got the same update the TIVO boxes got and is trying to tune to VHF 7 to get a digital signal??? Just a guess.


----------



## imref




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/16042668
> 
> 
> So what frequency are you trying to receive WJLA on? They were supposed to switch to VHF 7 back in Feb, but that got pushed back to June, so they are still on UHF 39 for now. Maybe your receiver got the same update the TIVO boxes got and is trying to tune to VHF 7 to get a digital signal??? Just a guess.



I'm not sure - I just checked signal strength for channel 7-1, 7-2, and 7-3 and it is 100%, but I can't figure out what signal it is set to in either my DirecTV TiVo or my DirecTV HDR (I have two separate boxes with OTA antennas).


All I know is that everything has been working fine for well over a year now, until Wednesday. Now all I get on either 7-1, 7-2 or 7-3 is a blank screen.


Anything I can try?


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dmulvany* /forum/post/16036695
> 
> 
> Thanks. It's good to know the problem wasn't with my HDTV!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm curious about what caused it. It sounded awful and like my HDTV was dying!



I was worried that my speakers might be dying if it went on much longer.


----------



## weaver6




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *imref* /forum/post/16042999
> 
> 
> I'm not sure - I just checked signal strength for channel 7-1, 7-2, and 7-3 and it is 100%, but I can't figure out what signal it is set to in either my DirecTV TiVo or my DirecTV HDR (I have two separate boxes with OTA antennas).
> 
> 
> All I know is that everything has been working fine for well over a year now, until Wednesday. Now all I get on either 7-1, 7-2 or 7-3 is a blank screen.
> 
> 
> Anything I can try?



I have an HR20-100 and an HR21-100 with an AM-21. Rerunning antenna setup allowed me to receive 7-1, but still not 7-2 or 7-3. So, perhaps some information was updated, but not for all of the subchannels. Oh, and FWIW, Emergency! is on 7-3.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

For the Terps and for no major problems with the ACC games on Saturday

And with under a minute left in the Maryland-Duke game, My 20 goes blank. Not sure if it was a Raycom or local problem. The SD channel was working.


----------



## bfdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/16042595
> 
> 
> PSIP data is *NOT* the problem on the TIVO boxes. It is the digital frequency map, as I have already reported twice on this thread.
> 
> 
> First picture shows the channel in the frequency map. Second picture shows the channel from the channel scan (freq 39) which is the correct frequency.



What he said.


On Thursday, Tribune updated their information with the post-shutoff frequency assignments for a number of affiliates -- including ABC7 (WJLA) in DC, NBC10 (WCAU) in Philly, NBC13 (WTHR) in Indianapolis, ABC13 (WLOS) in NC, NBC11 (KARE) in Minneapolis, among others. It looks like their system was set to do this on March 12 when it should have happened June 12.


This affects all products that use Tribune for OTA mapping, including TiVo, DirecTV, and Windows Media Center.


If TiVo users call to complain, Tribune should fix these channels and their frequency assignments in the next few days. Until then, people with TiVo and DirecTV receivers may be forced add the correct frequency with a channel scan, from which they can schedule manual recordings. If you don't have TiVo, you can contact Tribune or [preferably] call the local affiliate and ask them to contact Tribune.


----------



## Eben

As of around 3 pm this afternoon, on OTA through a DirecTV AM21 I am receiving WJLA 7-1, but NOT 7-2 or 7-3. The unit tunes to 7-2 or -3, but all I get is a 771 (I think) searching for signal error.


----------



## imacdonald




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/16042595
> 
> 
> PSIP data is *NOT* the problem on the TIVO boxes. It is the digital frequency map, as I have already reported twice on this thread.
> 
> 
> First picture shows the channel in the frequency map. Second picture shows the channel from the channel scan (freq 39) which is the correct frequency.
> 
> 
> -John



I originally thought the same thing, but last time I talked to TIVO, they said they don't do anything based on the frequency, and said it is purely based on the channel identifier. I have gone through this multiple times with TIVO and the only time things got fixed was after asking the broadcaster to update their PSIP information, so tivo can match. I have seen similar issues with Mhz and WHUT and both times they had a mismatch on the call sign, for WHUT they had WHUT-DT, rather than WHUTDT and Mhz1 rather than WNVCDT. I would welcome being proved wrong, but I had zero success going through tivo asking them to to fix there frequency maps, and only had success when I talked to the broadcast station, either way I think you will have more success complaining to WJLA rather than Tivo since they are the ones that feed guide data to tribune.


----------



## jgantert

bfdtv, thanks for the official word. I've called TiVo last Thursday (first to report it, I think). The official channel change incident report (for zip code 21045 at least) is 82872. I'm not sure if they have to switch over zip codes individually or if they can do the entire DMA.


-John


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *billodom* /forum/post/16042590
> 
> 
> I will post my information with some supporting pictures and hopefully Mark and anyone else can lend some edification. About signal strengths (SS): the WMC (Windows Media Center) lists both 45 and 54 at 100 percent. ... Isn't it true that WBFF and WNUV are the only two major channels that actually went all-digital? I don't know if that has anything to do with the glitch in the WMC information or not. WMC gets its programming from Zap2it and their listings are fine when I access them online.
> 
> About the attached pictures: Notice in the one named List the lack of identifying info for WBFF and WNUV. ... The last picture is self-explanatory showing no data for WBFF and WNUV.
> 
> Any help would be appreciated.



I was able to record House last week off of WBFF, so I thought it must have been working okay then. Last night I was going to try to record The Simpsons and I got the no data line just as in your picture. Is there any chance that we need to modify something in our setup?


----------



## nwar




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/16054799
> 
> 
> I was able to record House last week off of WBFF, so I thought it must have been working okay then. Last night I was going to try to record The Simpsons and I got the no data line just as in your picture. Is there any chance that we need to modify something in our setup?



I've lost guide data for 45 and 54 as well. My guess is it happened a few days ago.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/16054799
> 
> 
> I was able to record House last week off of WBFF, so I thought it must have been working okay then. Last night I was going to try to record The Simpsons and I got the no data line just as in your picture. Is there any chance that we need to modify something in our setup?





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nwar* /forum/post/16057066
> 
> 
> I've lost guide data for 45 and 54 as well. My guess is it happened a few days ago.



Well, I know that we're putting out guide data, and nothing has been changed in quite a while (since our last update in early February).


Do your set-ups pick up the guide data OTA, or does it come from some on-line source?


Thanks


.


----------



## bfdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/16060352
> 
> 
> Well, I know that we're putting out guide data, and nothing has been changed in quite a while (since our last update in early February).
> 
> 
> Do your set-ups pick up the guide data OTA, or does it come from some on-line source?



I don't know what they are using, but Tribune (used by TiVo / DirecTV / WMC) has 45-1 and 54-1 correctly mapped in the DC metro area.


As far as I am aware, the only incorrectly mapped Tribune station in DC/VA/MD is WJLA (this happened last Tuesday).


----------



## afiggatt

The FCC is requiring all stations that still have an analog broadcast to fill out a new Analog Service Termination Notification form by today to state when they plan to shut down their analog broadcast - not just by the day, but also which 6 hour window. With a bunch of different boxes to fill out on whether they are a major network affiliate, nightlight status, what the station is doing to help the consumers, etc. The form is buried in the correspondence folder, so it takes time to find the filing for each station. Only some of the stations have filed so far. But, if I have kept track of this correctly:


WFPT-TV MPT 62 in Frederick, MD will shut down on the morning of April 16. Good.


Will be be shutting down between 6 AM and 12 Noon on June 12: WMPT-TV MPT 22, WMPB-TV MPT 67, WWPB-TV MPT 31, WUTB-TV My 24, WETA-TV PBS 26.


Once all of the stations filings are available and I have time to go through them, I will update my summary table of the transition plans for all of the stations in DC, Baltimore, and Hagerstown markets.


----------



## REDSKINSFAN47

same here on directv h20 and hr20,but tv tuners are fine,still no 7-2 or 7-3


----------



## billodom




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/16060352
> 
> 
> Well, I know that we're putting out guide data, and nothing has been changed in quite a while (since our last update in early February).
> 
> 
> Do your set-ups pick up the guide data OTA, or does it come from some on-line source?
> 
> 
> Thanks
> 
> 
> .



Mark, as you can see, the supplier info is provided by Zap2it. I purposely removed WBFF and WNUV from my EPG so they would show up in this .xml file. Thanks for looking into this.
Code:


Code:


© 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Service: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=8430


----------



## nwar




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/16060352
> 
> 
> Do your set-ups pick up the guide data OTA, or does it come from some on-line source?



Just to clarify, I'm in the same boat as billodom. Running Media Center and the channels are fine, just the Zap2it guide data is gone.


----------



## imref




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *REDSKINSFAN47* /forum/post/16064901
> 
> 
> same here on directv h20 and hr20,but tv tuners are fine,still no 7-2 or 7-3



Still out for me, I contacted WJLA through their web site over the weekend, haven't gotten a response. I contacted Retro Television Network which WJLA airs (well, until last week at least) on 7-3 to see if they can help.


----------



## djp952

I was wondering if any of you gurus out here know when the FCC will make a decision on who's going to get UHF 51 post-transition?


Since we've had this delay until June, I've been wasting time remodeling my 'final' antennas for both Baltimore and D.C., and if WETA moves from 27 to 51 I can do something different (and far slicker) than I had originally planned on.


Probably not, but I know you guys are rather well informed


----------



## Trip in VA

djp952, your guess is as good as mine.


- Trip


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *billodom* /forum/post/16065824
> 
> 
> Mark, as you can see, the supplier info is provided by Zap2it. I purposely removed WBFF and WNUV from my EPG so they would show up in this .xml file. Thanks for looking into this.
> Code:
> 
> 
> Code:
> 
> 
> © 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Service: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=8430



Sorry for sending the code again - I don't know what parts I can edit out..


I sent a note to Zap2it from their website yesterday asking for help, but I haven't heard anything back from them, yet.


Could the problem be that WBFF and WNUV don't have their analog transmitters on anymore? I'm asking because I noticed this line in the code near the top: hnt="HEADEND_NETWORK_TYPE_LOCAL_ANALOG_ANTENNA"


The only other thing that I can see is that WBFF, WNUV, and WNVC are the only stations that don't have an affiliation with their listings. I expect that that is either a symptom or a clue... WNVC's analog transmitter is off too, isn't it?

.


----------



## systems2000

WBFF-TV and WNUV-TV discontinued operation over a week ago.


If your assumption is correct, then the entity that generates the XML file is the problem source.


----------



## systems2000

With two -DT stations trying for RF 51 and a -LD station already there, I'm sure there's lots of communication (paperwork) being generated.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *imacdonald* /forum/post/16041160
> 
> 
> This channel call sign needs to match the channel identifier in the tribune guide data and also listed on zap2it.com.



Why don't the Tribune Guide and Zap2It.com change their Channel Identifier information to match the FCC, which uses the dash?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/16068046
> 
> 
> The only other thing that I can see is that WBFF, WNUV, and WNVC are the only stations that don't have an affiliation with their listings. I expect that that is either a symptom or a clue... WNVC's analog transmitter is off too, isn't it?.



Yes, WNVC Mhz 56 in Fairfax, VA shut down their analog and low power digital broadcast in September. Since there is no broadcast signal at all for WNVC (until June 12 it appears), there is no EPG data for the OTA PC tuners to worry about!


----------



## SUOrangeman

This morning, the TWC Local-on-the-8s scroll on Cox-Fairfax claimed that MASN HD and Cox HD will arrive on channels 770 and 771 come next Tuesday (24th).


I'll make sure the chart in my sig gets updated.


3/25 update: I can confirm the availability of MASN HD and Cox HD.


-SUO


----------



## waka7

I was re-scanning the comcast dc (capitol hill neighborhood) clear qam channels last night and I discovered that some of them had changed. Most notably, the channels 86 through 89 which used to carry the video on demand programs no longer have any clear qam signals. When I scan them, channels are shown to exist, but I don't get any video or audio (just a blank screen) like I did before. This leads me to believe comcast is encrypting their VOD. Has anyone else noticed this? Is comcast now encrypting their VOD?


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *waka7* /forum/post/16071023
> 
> 
> I was re-scanning the comcast dc (capitol hill neighborhood) clear qam channels last night and I discovered that some of them had changed. Most notably, the channels 86 through 89 which used to carry the video on demand programs no longer have any clear qam signals. When I scan them, channels are shown to exist, but I don't get any video or audio (just a blank screen) like I did before. This leads me to believe comcast is encrypting their VOD. Has anyone else noticed this? Is comcast now encrypting their VOD?



I don't really have any concrete idea, but we have a Comcast box upstairs and wanted to watched a VOD show downstairs via clear QAM not too long ago. I started it playing upstairs and was unable to find the program downstairs.


----------



## jgantert

Great news, Tivo has fixed their channel frequency map for 7-1, 7-2 and 7-3! Make sure to manually update and connect to the Tivo server if you can't tune in these channels.


Should be fixed for DirecTV boxes as well, but I can't verify this.


----------



## imref

Working here as well. I spoke to a guy from WJLA today (real nice, called me right away). He said that nothing had changed from their end and they were working with TiVo to figure out what happened. Glad to hear it is resolved.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/16068046
> 
> 
> 
> I sent a note to Zap2it from their website yesterday asking for help, but I haven't heard anything back from them, yet.
> 
> .



I spoke to a guy at Zap2it (they didn't call me, I had to search around for a number which I found here: http://tms.tribune.com/contacts.html ), who told me that "if the data is correct on the website then they (the viewers) will have to call Microsoft to complain. We send them the data, but Microsoft must be parsing it wrong." And he went on to explain that they don't support the data after it goes to Microsoft.


I didn't think that that was a particularly good option (he didn't have Bill Gates' phone number), so after some discussion, he agreed to send the information that I gave him to the account representative who deals with Microsoft... Hopefully, something will be figured out....?


I'm sure that they wouldn't mind if other people call them and discuss it with them - after all, they wouldn't put their phone numbers on a public web page if they did, would they?


.


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *waka7* /forum/post/16071023
> 
> 
> I was re-scanning the comcast dc (capitol hill neighborhood) clear qam channels last night and I discovered that some of them had changed. Most notably, the channels 86 through 89 which used to carry the video on demand programs no longer have any clear qam signals. When I scan them, channels are shown to exist, but I don't get any video or audio (just a blank screen) like I did before. This leads me to believe comcast is encrypting their VOD. Has anyone else noticed this? Is comcast now encrypting their VOD?



I have Comcast in Hillcrest area and never remember seeing any VOD shows. This is my HD channel lineup using QAM and no cable box:


FOX - 15.1

CW - 15.2

MY20 - 16.1

NBC - 117.1

CBS - 117.3

ABC - 118.1

PBS - 118.3

A&E - 124.3


----------



## SUOrangeman

On Cox-Fairfax, the VOD channels "placeholders" are always there, but there's no content until someone on my local trunk is actually watching a VOD program. Since I have an HDHomeRun, I can see that those VOD channels are not encrypted.


Could Comcast's system work similarly?


-SUO


----------



## bullwinklehdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/16071647
> 
> 
> Great news, Tivo has fixed their channel frequency map for 7-1, 7-2 and 7-3! Make sure to manually update and connect to the Tivo server if you can't tune in these channels.
> 
> 
> Should be fixed for DirecTV boxes as well, but I can't verify this.



Its back on my DirecTV HR10-250


----------



## Skeptic Tank




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *waka7* /forum/post/16071023
> 
> 
> Has anyone else noticed this? Is comcast now encrypting their VOD?



I'm getting the same result in P. G. County.


Given the nature of some of the available On Demand material, I'd been assuming there was a technical reason preventing encryption. I can't believe it was just an oversight.


----------



## afiggatt

All of the local stations which still have a analog broadcast have filed their "Analog Service Termination Notification" form with the FCC stating their shutdown dates and times. Only WFPT MPT 62 in Frederick, MD in the 2 markets will be shutting down "early" on the morning of April 16. All the other stations which still have a analog broadcast in the greater DC and Baltimore markets will stay on the air until June 12. However, many of the stations will be shutting down in the morning or afternoon of 6/12, not at midnight. The catchphrase for June 12 should be "rescan day!".


WRC-TV 4 will operate as a nightlight station for 2 weeks until June 26.

WTTG-TV 5 will operate as a nightlight station for a month until July 12.

None of the stations in Baltimore will run in nightlight mode after June 12 (because none of them could even if they wanted to).


So after April 12, the following stations will be digital only having successfully made it to the analog exit ramp: WNVT-DT 30, WBFF-DT 45, WNUV-DT 54, WFPT-DT 62, and WJAL-DT 68.


----------



## nwar




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/16068046
> 
> 
> I sent a note to Zap2it from their website yesterday asking for help, but I haven't heard anything back from them, yet.



Just got home from work and checked to make sure I recorded all of the Terps game. I noticed my guide data is back on WBFF-DT and WNUV-DT.


----------



## billodom




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/16072153
> 
> 
> I spoke to a guy at Zap2it (they didn't call me, I had to search around for a number which I found here: http://tms.tribune.com/contacts.html ), who told me that "if the data is correct on the website then they (the viewers) will have to call Microsoft to complain. We send them the data, but Microsoft must be parsing it wrong." And he went on to explain that they don't support the data after it goes to Microsoft.
> 
> 
> I didn't think that that was a particularly good option (he didn't have Bill Gates' phone number), so after some discussion, he agreed to send the information that I gave him to the account representative who deals with Microsoft... Hopefully, something will be figured out....?
> 
> 
> I'm sure that they wouldn't mind if other people call them and discuss it with them - after all, they wouldn't put their phone numbers on a public web page if they did, would they?.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nwar* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I noticed my guide data is back on WBFF-DT and WNUV-DT.



Ditto for me. Good job, Mark. Way to light a fire under somebody's rear end







. I had to "re-download" guide data to get the listings and once I did, voila. Incidentally, the .xml file now shows affiliation for WNVC as "Independent" so I guess their data would come through as well. For anyone who didn't pick up on it, I did learn, thanks to you and bfdtv, that Zap2it is owned by Tribune.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nwar* /forum/post/16080923
> 
> 
> Just got home from work and checked to make sure I recorded all of the Terps game. I noticed my guide data is back on WBFF-DT and WNUV-DT.



Great to hear. I didn't check that myself, but I presume it will be back for me and I can try to get the Simpsons on Sunday.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *waka7* /forum/post/16071023
> 
> 
> I was re-scanning the comcast dc (capitol hill neighborhood) clear qam channels last night and I discovered that some of them had changed. Most notably, the channels 86 through 89 which used to carry the video on demand programs no longer have any clear qam signals. When I scan them, channels are shown to exist, but I don't get any video or audio (just a blank screen) like I did before. This leads me to believe comcast is encrypting their VOD. Has anyone else noticed this? Is comcast now encrypting their VOD?



I just noticed last night too. It was ok while it lasted but I say good riddance. You would be watching a show and it would freeze, change channels, or just go off so I did a rescan to get rid of channels 85 through 89. I wish they would stop encrypting TNT-HD on channel 127-2 so I can get audio along with the video.


----------



## pulling69

Anyone else with Cox in Fairfax have Comedy Central HD become unavailable starting last week? The channel is still in the guide but when we try to tune into it on either of the HD boxes it says "currently unavailable."


----------



## REDSKINSFAN47




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/16071647
> 
> 
> Great news, Tivo has fixed their channel frequency map for 7-1, 7-2 and 7-3! Make sure to manually update and connect to the Tivo server if you can't tune in these channels.
> 
> 
> Should be fixed for DirecTV boxes as well, but I can't verify this.



hr 20 is ok now,i think hr20 was ok last night too


----------



## cdubea

TVGOS blinked out again the other night here in Reston. Went through the drill like the last time they changed it unannounced only this time it's been two days and nada. Have our friends at Comcast in Reston discontinued broadcasting TVGOS?


Thanks


chris


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

I'm not sure when the outage started, but during the 6 PM hour today, WBAL-DT has been off the air. There is zero signal on channel 59 right now. Comcast (Annapolis) must not have a fiber hook-up with the studio because channel 211 is also absent.


I'm watching WBAL's analog signal over-the-air right now. There hasn't been any mention of technical issues since I've been watching. Comcast is carrying the SD version of WBAL on channel 11. They must have manually switched to the analog version.


Steve in Shady Side, MD


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/16088481
> 
> 
> I'm not sure when the outage started, but during the 6 PM hour today, WBAL-DT has been off the air. There is zero signal on channel 59 right now. Comcast (Annapolis) must not have a fiber hook-up with the studio because channel 211 is also absent.
> 
> 
> I'm watching WBAL's analog signal over-the-air right now. There hasn't been any mention of technical issues since I've been watching. Comcast is carrying the SD version of WBAL on channel 11. They must have manually switched to the analog version.
> 
> 
> Steve in Shady Side, MD



You beat me to the punch. I was just about to post that I had zero signal for WBAL OTA. I wonder what they are doing.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/16088481
> 
> 
> I'm not sure when the outage started, but during the 6 PM hour today, WBAL-DT has been off the air. There is zero signal on channel 59 right now. Comcast (Annapolis) must not have a fiber hook-up with the studio because channel 211 is also absent.
> 
> 
> I'm watching WBAL's analog signal over-the-air right now. There hasn't been any mention of technical issues since I've been watching. Comcast is carrying the SD version of WBAL on channel 11. They must have manually switched to the analog version.
> 
> 
> Steve in Shady Side, MD





They just came up at 6:41PM

.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

Has anyone found a fix for the annoying sound dropout problem on the Comcast HD-DVR (Motorola 6412)??


Almost every time I fast forward, rewind, skip back, or skip forward, the sound fails and I have to power down or stop and restart the program. So annoying!


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/16088590
> 
> 
> They just came up at 6:41PM
> 
> .



You must watch the competition pretty closely!


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/16088761
> 
> 
> You must watch the competition pretty closely!



;-)


I was looking to see if I could see what the problem was (to see if I could help), and I had my TV tuned to WBAL-DT when it came back on. I was looking at them with my spectrum analyzer when they came back up - there was nothing there prior to 6:41.


It could have been caused by a number of things - from a bad exciter to a power outage, but it's staying up, so it must be fixed!


:


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/16088898
> 
> 
> ;-)
> 
> 
> I was looking to see if I could see what the problem was (to see if I could help), and I had my TV tuned to WBAL-DT when it came back on. I was looking at them with my spectrum analyzer when they came back up - there was nothing there prior to 6:41.
> 
> 
> It could have been caused by a number of things - from a bad exciter to a power outage, but it's staying up, so it must be fixed!
> 
> 
> :



What surprised me is that Comcast is picking up WBAL-DT over the air! I thought Comcast said that they were connected directly to most of the tv studios around here. Maybe that was just for the DC locals (that they no longer carry via QAM in HD in AA County). That's a sore subject with me, as you can maybe tell. I live closer to DC than Baltimore, but can no longer get HD locals on Comcast, nor can I watch the DC channels on any of my analog TVs without a digital cable box. What's really bad is that the weather forecasts for my area are covered by the DC locals. Good thing I have an antenna. Too bad Comcast's signal leaks from a nearby telephone pole and screws up my local reception for about half of the broadcast tv band. I suppose I'll have to move if I ever want to try and DX again.


----------



## systems2000

Give Comcast a call. They are required by the FCC to eliminate all leakage.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/16088970
> 
> 
> What surprised me is that Comcast is picking up WBAL-DT over the air! I thought Comcast said that they were connected directly to most of the tv studios around here. Maybe that was just for the DC locals (that they no longer carry via QAM in HD in AA County). That's a sore subject with me, as you can maybe tell. I live closer to DC than Baltimore, but can no longer get HD locals on Comcast, nor can I watch the DC channels on any of my analog TVs without a digital cable box. What's really bad is that the weather forecasts for my area are covered by the DC locals. Good thing I have an antenna. Too bad Comcast's signal leaks from a nearby telephone pole and screws up my local reception for about half of the broadcast tv band. I suppose I'll have to move if I ever want to try and DX again.



DirecTV and FIOS get a direct feed of the HD channels from the Baltimore stations. Dish Network and Comcast pick them up over the air. Comcast is working on a system that will include a fiber feed from WBFF, but it's still in the planning stage.

.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/16094128
> 
> 
> DirecTV and FIOS get a direct feed of the HD channels from the Baltimore stations. Dish Network and Comcast pick them up over the air. Comcast is working on a system that will include a fiber feed from WBFF, but it's still in the planning stage.
> 
> .



I sure wish Verizon would offer FIOS service in my area. The town that I live in is fairly densely populated but it may not have a large enough total population in Verizon's eyes. Comcast is lagging behind other companies with regards to HD offerings. I really dislike watching tv in standard definition these days. I'm not willing to put up with satellite's limitations/issues either at the moment. As much as I complain about the Motorola HD-DVR, I've heard worse things about the satellite company's HD-DVRs.


----------



## fmw63




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/16088481
> 
> 
> I'm not sure when the outage started, but during the 6 PM hour today, WBAL-DT has been off the air. There is zero signal on channel 59 right now.



Oh, so that's what happened. That was around the time I was putting my diy antenna on the roof, and thought I had an aiming problem...










Hard to adjust an antenna when the signal's not even there...


----------



## CycloneGT

hahaa. What luck!


----------



## 4HiMarks




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/16095418
> 
> 
> I sure wish Verizon would offer FIOS service in my area. ... I'm not willing to put up with satellite's limitations/issues either at the moment. As much as I complain about the Motorola HD-DVR, I've heard worse things about the satellite company's HD-DVRs.



What limitations/issues are those? The 622 from E* is fantastic. No way would I give that up for the POS Verizon offers, and I have FiOS for internet. I can't speak for the other sat company.


----------



## afiggatt

Verizon Fios added MASN-HD to channel 577 this morning in the Washington Metro market! I see it was added to Hampton Roads as well, so it should be available in the rest of VHO 4, Baltimore and Anne Arundel/Howard Counties, and VHO 9, Richmond. MASN-HD does not officially launch until April 1, so it will probably be all upconverted SD until then. Good to see Verizon add a HD channel at launch, not 3-6 months later.


The channel is not in the guide yet, normal procedure is for the guide to be updated later in the day. However a cold reboot of the STB forces a guide update if Fios subscribers want to see the guide sooner.


----------



## jperk10

So, with FiOS adding MASN-HD and MASN reporting a while back there will be 105 Nats and O's games each in HD what happens when they're both on. Will there be a MASN2-HD station added for those games?


----------



## GregAnnapolis

jperk10, per the schedule at masnsports.com, there are no HD conflicts, and there is no MASN2-HD... at least not this season. Anyway the schedules are posted right on the main page there, it shouldn't be too hard to find them.


I hope that if everything goes well, we will see MASN2-HD in 2010, and all 162 games for each team will be in HD. *crosses fingers*


I have the Orioles schedule printed out and hanging up in my cube, and there is a whooooooooole lot of HD showing.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *4HiMarks* /forum/post/16105472
> 
> 
> What limitations/issues are those? The 622 from E* is fantastic. No way would I give that up for the POS Verizon offers, and I have FiOS for internet. I can't speak for the other sat company.



I have to agree. I also have the 622 and have had it for about 3 years now. Its a great DVR and I've really been happy with it. Plus dish has continually added features to it over the years.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16110783
> 
> 
> Verizon Fios added MASN-HD to channel 577 this morning in the Washington Metro market! I see it was added to Hampton Roads as well, so it should be available in the rest of VHO 4, Baltimore and Anne Arundel/Howard Counties, and VHO 9, Richmond. MASN-HD does not officially launch until April 1, so it will probably be all upconverted SD until then. Good to see Verizon add a HD channel at launch, not 3-6 months later.
> 
> 
> The channel is not in the guide yet, normal procedure is for the guide to be updated later in the day. However a cold reboot of the STB forces a guide update if Fios subscribers want to see the guide sooner.



I can confirm that it is available in Anne Arundel County on channel 577, with guide data.


----------



## mapper

Well, well, it looks like Verizon got its act together for MASN. Its unfortunate that MASN HD is not available for Premier customers though. I tried to to tune to it, but the CableCARD diagnostic screen says "NOT_SUBSCRIBED".


----------



## inlogan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/16042212
> 
> 
> Hey Rich -
> 
> 
> You know, I've noticed that, and meant to ask the master control manager about it, but I never remember to do it... I'll send myself an e-mail as a reminder.
> 
> 
> .



Hey Mark,


Did you ever find out about the Family Guy and Simpsons starting times that begin before the top and bottom of the hour?


Thanks,

Rich


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *inlogan* /forum/post/16115358
> 
> 
> Hey Mark,
> 
> 
> Did you ever find out about the Family Guy and Simpsons starting times that begin before the top and bottom of the hour?
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Rich



Sort of... I'm trying to get it fixed, or at least the program guide info corrected. Keep reminding me, if it isn't fixed soon.


.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/16115672
> 
> 
> Sort of... I'm trying to get it fixed, or at least the program guide info corrected. Keep reminding me, if it isn't fixed soon.
> 
> 
> .



Following up, the issue was brought up in the manager's meeting today. The regional manager for the station wasn't aware of it, and didn't approve of it, so he was going to address the issue with the scheduling people.


Hopefully the problem will be resolved within the next couple of days (the schedule is already in the computer for at least today and tomorrow - it is difficult to make reasonably big changes to it once it's there, so they will probably change it starting with the first schedule that they haven't already sent down.


:


----------



## inlogan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/16120430
> 
> 
> Following up, the issue was brought up in the manager's meeting today. The regional manager for the station wasn't aware of it, and didn't approve of it, so he was going to address the issue with the scheduling people.
> 
> 
> Hopefully the problem will be resolved within the next couple of days (the schedule is already in the computer for at least today and tomorrow - it is difficult to make reasonably big changes to it once it's there, so they will probably change it starting with the first schedule that they haven't already sent down.
> 
> 
> :



Thanks! It'll make it a lot easier to record them now.


----------



## euckersw




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/16113510
> 
> 
> jperk10, per the schedule at masnsports.com, there are no HD conflicts, and there is no MASN2-HD... at least not this season.



I thought the same thing, but I have Cox in Fairfax and they've now added MASN HD, and also a "Cox HD" channel, which the listing states is "Reserved for MASN HD Overflow Programming". When tuning into the channel it has a blueish background and just says "Cox HD". Wierd - anybody know what it's for?


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *euckersw* /forum/post/16127099
> 
> 
> I thought the same thing, but I have Cox in Fairfax and they've now added MASN HD, and also a "Cox HD" channel, which the listing states is "Reserved for MASN HD Overflow Programming". When tuning into the channel it has a blueish background and just says "Cox HD". Wierd - anybody know what it's for?



Well that would be pretty impressive. I guess we'll just have to 'stay tuned', huh?


----------



## Marcus Carr

Overflow channel? Hmm...


Cox lineup, including MASN HD and "COX HD":

http://www.cox.com/fairfax/docs/Fairfax.pdf


----------



## machpost

RCN also has a space in their lineup right after MASN HD which is presumably reserved for a future MASN2 HD, but I doubt we'll see this until 2010 at the very earliest. I know they've mentioned the possibility of going after the Capitals and/or Wizards TV contracts in the future, which would likely facilitate the need for an HD overflow channel, but I don't know anything about the status of those. And with the potential for ESPN Regional syndication going HD this fall with the addition of SEC football, this could also bring about the need for a second HD channel, whenever there are multiple syndicated HD college football games to be carried at the same time.


And speaking of HD overflow channels, has there been any news about Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic adding a CSN+ HD feed?


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/16127428
> 
> 
> And speaking of HD overflow channels, has there been any news about Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic adding a CSN+ HD feed?



A year ago Comcast said they hoped to have CSN+ HD in 2009.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...9#post13314279


----------



## carltonrice

Will the MASN-HD channel be on DirecTV?


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/16130842
> 
> 
> Will the MASN-HD channel be on DirecTV?



Yes... It's ready to go...


----------



## BMoreRavens




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/16130842
> 
> 
> Will the MASN-HD channel be on DirecTV?



The part time channel is already there but the full time channel will launch April 1st on DIRECTV.


----------



## REDSKINSFAN47




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/16130842
> 
> 
> Will the MASN-HD channel be on DirecTV?



640-1 on D*


----------



## REDSKINSFAN47

any new news on hd news casts for channels 2,4,13


----------



## systems2000

Anyone else notice 4-1 showing up on their DTV systems? It appears to be WV PBS and has a designator of PEE-4LA.


----------



## systems2000

Is it my APEX box or is the EPG data for WTTG-DT completely missing between the 7:00pm Simpsons listing and the 10:00pm News for tonight?


----------



## systems2000

I see the data came up when 8:00pm rolled around.


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16138886
> 
> 
> Anyone else notice 4-1 showing up on their DTV systems? It appears to be WV PBS and has a designator of PEE-4LA.



Could it be the new translator in Mineral County on 34??? I will have to check...


----------



## systems2000

W34DW-D, they're supposed to be identifying themselves as 24, per the main Engineer in the main facility (all WV PBS transmitters will be identified as channel 24).


I'm not finding any reference, in the FCC database, to a "PEE-7LA."


Since my APEX DT502 doesn't show "REAL" RF channels, I'm not able to pinpoint the station and my other active units (Sunkey, Zinwell, and Insignia) don't seem to be finding it.


----------



## systems2000

I thought there was something wrong with the audio on the MPT broadcast of "Sound Stage" this morning. It took me awhile to realize that the broadcast was in Stereo and not Surround Sound.










Tom Petty ROCKED!! Especially with Stevie Nicks.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *REDSKINSFAN47* /forum/post/16136198
> 
> 
> 640-1 on D*



When it goes full time, it will be 640.


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p

So FIOS finally is installing lines in my neighborhood, Manassas Va how long from where they mark the lines on my front yard with paint to when I will be watching FIOS?


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DVDO+WESTY=1080p* /forum/post/16155207
> 
> 
> So FIOS finally is installing lines in my neighborhood, Manassas Va how long from where they mark the lines on my front yard with paint to when I will be watching FIOS?



It was 5 months for me in Virginia Beach...


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DVDO+WESTY=1080p* /forum/post/16155207
> 
> 
> So FIOS finally is installing lines in my neighborhood, Manassas Va how long from where they mark the lines on my front yard with paint to when I will be watching FIOS?



What part of Manassas is getting FIOS? Are you inside the city limits?


Thanks!!


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16155683
> 
> 
> What part of Manassas is getting FIOS? Are you inside the city limits?
> 
> 
> Thanks!!



Sumner Lake in the city limits, most of the city is already active my neighborhood is one of the last ones to get onboard


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/16155554
> 
> 
> It was 5 months for me in Virginia Beach...



dang, that long huh? oh well comcast it is then for the time being, thanks


----------



## Marcus Carr

*MASN Launches MASN HD Wednesday*


By MASN Staff on March 30, 2009 4:41 PM | Permalink


Dedicated HD channel to televise 210 HD Nationals and Orioles games in 2009


MASN, the local leader in live sports entertainment and the television home of the Nationals and Orioles, will launch its full-time HD channel on Wednesday, April 1 and will televise 210 Major League Baseball games in high definition in 2009. Both teams' home-openers will be televised in high-definition, including the Orioles vs. Yankees at Oriole Park at Camden Yards live at 4:00 p.m. on April 6 and the Nationals vs. Phillies at Nationals Park live at 3:00 p.m. on April 13.

*MASN will televise in HD the teams' final pre-season tune-up on Saturday, April 4th as the Nationals host the Orioles at Nationals Park live at 6:00 p.m.*


MASN HD will televise 105 Nationals and 105 Orioles games in high definition this season. The network will shoot and produce every Nationals and Orioles game in high-definition for archival purposes and for rebroadcast the next day on MASN HD.


MASN HD will now occupy a permanent channel position in the HD lineup of its cable and satellite carriers throughout a seven-state television territory. MASN and MASN 2 will remain unchanged.


With three channels this season, the easiest way to locate MASN, MASN2, or MASN HD is for viewers to check the channel guide on their televisions. Viewers can also log onto masnsports.com for a full listing of cable and satellite channel positions for MASN, MASN2 and MASN HD.


Most of MASN's cable providers are carrying MASN HD this season, including Antietam, Armstrong*, Atlantic Broadband, Bay Country, Broadstripe, Charter*, Comcast*, Cox, DirecTV, Easton, Harron Metrocast*, NTelos, Openband, RCN, Reds Cable, and Verizon FIOS.


* May not carry MASN HD in all regions within MASN's television territory.

http://masnsports.com/2009/03/masn-l...-wednesda.html


----------



## Marcus Carr

WZDC (Telemundo) to go HD within the next 12 months.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1134559


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/16163600
> 
> 
> WZDC (Telemundo) to go HD within the next 12 months.



Interesting. I would have thought that Univision would be the first Spanish language network to go HD. WZDC-CA is on UHF 25 with a very directional pattern favoring the eastern half of DC because of WHAG-TV 25 in Hagerstown. I have never seen a hint of WZDC-CA OTA from Sterling, only WHAG-TV on analog 25.


WZDC has a construction permit (CP) for a digital flash cut at 4.6 kW on UHF 25, so once they do the flash cut, they could offer a HD broadcast. However, according to wiki, WZDC is owned by ZGS Broadcast Holdings, it is not a Telemundo O&O station, so it may not go HD in the 12 month period. The digital CP retains the directional coverage of the analog 25 antenna even though WHAG-TV will vacate UHF 25 (post DT is 26). The FCC WZDC-LD 25 projected digital coverage map is at http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...DC1260576.html .


----------



## Marcus Carr

*FiOS TV Adds Mid-Atlantic Sports Network in High-Definition for Subscribers in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia*


SILVER SPRING, Md., March 31 /PRNewswire/ -- FiOS TV Extreme HD subscribers in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia now can watch their favorite regional professional or collegiate baseball, football and lacrosse teams in high definition by tuning to Channel 577, the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) HD. All FiOS TV customers in the mid-Atlantic region currently receive MASN in standard definition.


"Verizon continues to deliver the ultimate high-definition home-entertainment experience with the launch of MASN HD," said Mary Ellen Payne, Verizon's vice president of sales and marketing for the Potomac region. "FiOS TV is the best and only place to watch high-definition sports programming. With our stunning picture-and-sound quality, we give our customers a front row seat to all the regional sports content and action -- an experience that goes beyond old-fashioned cable."


MASN, owned by the Baltimore Orioles and the Washington Nationals baseball franchises, serves areas including Delaware, Maryland, Harrisburg and southeastern Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.


With MASN HD, customers can follow their favorite regional baseball teams, including the Nationals and Orioles, and watch shows such as "Nats/Orioles Xtra Pre and Post-Game Show," which covers game news, analysis, highlights and more. During the football season, Ravens fans can tune into "1 Winning Drive," which airs live from the Ravens facility and provides inside coverage of the team and weekly game breakdowns. Sports fans looking to catch up on the latest action around the industry can enjoy lively discussions on "The Tom Davis Show" every Saturday morning.


In addition to the professional sports content, MASN also carries 30 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) football games with double- and triple-headers on Saturdays in the fall, and lacrosse matchups during the spring featuring games from team favorites such as Duke, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins and North Carolina.


Only Verizon delivers all-digital TV service over America's most advanced network, which is all-fiber all the way to customers' homes. FiOS TV scored highest in J.D. Power's "2008 Residential Television Service Satisfaction Study for the East Region," which includes Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia.


FiOS TV offers a broad collection of programming, with more than 500 all-digital channels and 14,000 video-on-demand (VOD) titles each month -- 70 percent of which are free. Verizon's VOD library also includes more than 1,300 HD titles. FiOS TV is currently available to more than 9.2 million homes in 14 states -- California, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia and Washington State.


For more information on FiOS TV, consumers can visit www.verizon.com/fiostv or call their local Verizon sales office or 888-438-3467.

http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayRe...4998117&EDATE=


----------



## radagast123

Hi, all - newbie here!


I'm really impressed by the level of knowledge and experience I've seen on this forum.


Anyway, I've been having a technical problem with FOX 45 digital over the air broadcast and I'm at a loss as to what it could be.

*Background*:

*TV set*: Hitachi 32HDL52 (32" in LCD set with built in ATSC tuner) Not a great set, but it did come with a digital tuner, which was nice back in 2005.

*Antenna*: basic "rabbit ears" that works reasonably well most of the time.

*Location*: about 10 miles due south of Baltimore in a south-facing, 3rd floor apartment.

*Problem*: Ever since about mid to late February (about the time of the original Digital TV transition), FOX 45.1 has basically become non-functional on Sundays. When I switch to FOX 45.1, all I get is a blank screen and stuttering sound. Eventually, the TV "crashes" requiring the power to be cycled to reboot it - normally, when there is a weak signal, it displays a "bad or no signal" message. Oddly, the commercials on FOX 45.1 will come through just fine, and then when the actual show returns, things go right back to blank screen + stuttering sound. FOX 45.2 may also be affected. The rest of the week, however, FOX 45.1 and FOX 45.2 are just fine. This problem never happened before mid to late February and has never been seen on any other channel. Nothing about my setup has changed in years.


Any thoughts as to what this could be? I don't know if it is my end or their end - I'd think it would be there end since nothing has changed in my set up, but I also find it hard to believe that they've been broadcasting "messed up" signals through prime time Sunday (Simpsons, Family Guy, etc.) for over a month now.


Thanks!


----------



## Trip in VA

Has it happened only on network programming? Like, does it occur during the week on network programming, or on Sunday during local programming?


- Trip


----------



## radagast123

It has only happened on Sunday - things work fine weekday mornings and evenings (no idea what happens during the day since I'm at work then.)


----------



## systems2000

I was having the same problem with WNUV-DT before WJAL-DT came back online (overpowered by adjacent channel now). What I found was that the problem was caused by antenna alignment. I believe it's a good sign of DTV Multipath.


The problem seems to be exacerbated by 1080i conversion to 480i.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast has added *MASN HD* in Baltimore City.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/16168671
> 
> 
> Comcast has added *MASN HD* in Baltimore City.



And in Alexandria/Arlington.


----------



## radagast123

"I was having the same problem with WNUV-DT before WJAL-DT came back online (overpowered by adjacent channel now). What I found was that the problem was caused by antenna alignment. I believe it's a good sign of DTV Multipath.


The problem seems to be exacerbated by 1080i conversion to 480i."


I had considered multi-path as a source of the problem, but even after moving my little rabbit ears antenna all over the room and facing it in every direction, the problem continued - nothing would improve it (could never get a picture and the sound always stuttered). While I do have to move the antenna a bit to get the best reception on other channels, I've never seen anything like this before.


Could some other channel be overpowering FOX 45? But if so, why only on Sundays (and why only during the broadcast show and not the commercials?)


I don't know... I'm at a loss here as to what to do. I can't install a huge antenna (I live in an apartment) - is there any hardware upgrade that would make a difference or am I stuck as long as whatever is causing this continues?


Thanks for the suggestions and help so far.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/16163456
> 
> *MASN Launches MASN HD Wednesday*
> 
> 
> By MASN Staff on March 30, 2009 4:41 PM | Permalink
> 
> 
> Dedicated HD channel to televise 210 HD Nationals and Orioles games in 2009
> 
> 
> MASN, the local leader in live sports entertainment and the television home of the Nationals and Orioles, will launch its full-time HD channel on Wednesday, April 1 and will televise 210 Major League Baseball games in high definition in 2009. Both teams' home-openers will be televised in high-definition, including the Orioles vs. Yankees at Oriole Park at Camden Yards live at 4:00 p.m. on April 6 and the Nationals vs. Phillies at Nationals Park live at 3:00 p.m. on April 13.
> 
> *MASN will televise in HD the teams' final pre-season tune-up on Saturday, April 4th as the Nationals host the Orioles at Nationals Park live at 6:00 p.m.*
> 
> 
> MASN HD will televise 105 Nationals and 105 Orioles games in high definition this season. The network will shoot and produce every Nationals and Orioles game in high-definition for archival purposes and for rebroadcast the next day on MASN HD.
> 
> 
> MASN HD will now occupy a permanent channel position in the HD lineup of its cable and satellite carriers throughout a seven-state television territory. MASN and MASN 2 will remain unchanged.
> 
> 
> With three channels this season, the easiest way to locate MASN, MASN2, or MASN HD is for viewers to check the channel guide on their televisions. Viewers can also log onto masnsports.com for a full listing of cable and satellite channel positions for MASN, MASN2 and MASN HD.
> 
> 
> Most of MASN's cable providers are carrying MASN HD this season, including Antietam, Armstrong*, Atlantic Broadband, Bay Country, Broadstripe, Charter*, Comcast*, Cox, DirecTV, Easton, Harron Metrocast*, NTelos, Openband, RCN, Reds Cable, and Verizon FIOS.
> 
> 
> * May not carry MASN HD in all regions within MASN's television territory.
> 
> http://masnsports.com/2009/03/masn-l...-wednesda.html



Today's Marlins vs. Orioles game from Ft. Lauderdale is scheduled to be in HD, too. It'll be replayed at 7 PM.


I really like the fact that they're producing EVERY game in HD. This leaves the door open for an HD overflow channel in the future. Near future, I hope.


----------



## tonyd79

MASN HD is live on DirecTV on 640 this morning.


----------



## Scott R. Scherr

I can't understand why MASN can't get Directv to add a temporary channel to air the second HD game on MASN2. MASN is taping all 162 games for the O's and Nat's in HD and Directv often adds temp channels for the extra games on other channels.


Scott


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *radagast123* /forum/post/16169410
> 
> 
> I had considered multi-path as a source of the problem, but even after moving my little rabbit ears antenna all over the room and facing it in every direction, the problem continued - nothing would improve it (could never get a picture and the sound always stuttered). While I do have to move the antenna a bit to get the best reception on other channels, I've never seen anything like this before.
> 
> 
> Could some other channel be overpowering FOX 45? But if so, why only on Sundays (and why only during the broadcast show and not the commercials?)



Your description indicates a decoding problem, not a multi-path or signal strength problem. If it occurs only during the program and not in the commercials, WBFF-DT is doing something that your ATSC tuner or TV hardware can't handle. Why only on Sunday is the seriously weird part. I could see in some unusual way if it occurred only for Fox prime time programming or only for local programming. But only on Sundays?? That the TV "crashes" suggests a bug in the firmware. Do the dropouts occur ONLY for Fox network feed programming or does it occur for the local news and syndicated programming? Maybe Mark Bulla can provide some clues.


I don't recall seeing anyone else here post about a similar problem, so the problem may be specific to your TV ATSC tuner firmware. You could check the Hitachi website or contact Hitachi to see if there is a known problem with your model tuner and if there is a firmware upgrade (if the TV firmware can even be updated).


If you are 10 miles south of Baltimore on the south facing side of the building, you should be able to get WTTG-DT Fox 5 in DC. Have you tried to get WTTG-DT OTA? If you have a rabbit ear and UHF loop tabletop antenna, there are better indoor antennas. A Silver Sensor is a good indoor UHF antenna, albeit somewhat directional. If you can find one, a Terk HDTVi (the much cheaper NON amplified version) combines a Silver Sensor with rabbit ears for VHF. You will need VHF reception on June 12 when WJLA-DT 7, WUSA-DT 9, WBAL-DT 11, WJZ-DT 13 all move their digital broadcast from UHF to their upper VHF channel.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Scott R. Scherr* /forum/post/16170171
> 
> 
> I can't understand why MASN can't get Directv to add a temporary channel to air the second HD game on MASN2. MASN is taping all 162 games for the O's and Nat's in HD and Directv often adds temp channels for the extra games on other channels.



I doubt if DirecTV is the issue for a part time MASN2-HD feed. It is Comcast and the other cable operators who have to find the bandwidth for a part time HD channel. It also costs money to provide a 2nd HD distribution feed to all the service providers.


The real solution to the Os and Nats TV schedule conflicts is for one of the teams to move to Comcast Sports-Net Mid-Atlantic. Except for April, baseball is a good fit for a sports network with NBA and NHL teams. Having 2 winter major league sports teams on 1 RSN and 2 MLB teams on the other RSN is a poor use of resources. But Peter Angelos wanted the Nats to be on MASN, so we are stuck with a undercapitalized RSN with 2 MLB teams with frequent broadcast schedule conflicts.


But the TV ratings for the Nats last year were terrible and the Os only not quite as terrible. Besides the teams being bad, I think people were still confused on where to find the games: MASN or MASN2 and often didn't know where MASN2 was on their channel line-up. The lousy ratings may also be another reason for no MASN2-HD this year. Hard to justify the bandwidth to provide it if the TV ratings were that bad. Hopefully the Nats and Os will be better teams and more interesting to watch this year rather than boring bad teams, so the ratings improve. The Os and Nats have to be better, right? Right?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *radagast123* /forum/post/16166394
> 
> 
> Anyway, I've been having a technical problem with FOX 45 digital over the air broadcast and I'm at a loss as to what it could be.



Have you ever tried a complete re-scan of your channels? I would give that a try if you haven't already.


----------



## radagast123

*afiggatt*: Thanks for the suggestions! It may very well be a decoding problem. I'll have to check Hitachi's website or see if I can find a servicer in the area who has some idea what to do with this thing...


I really don't understand the "only on Sundays" part of the problem since it does sound very strange. Yet the TV lets me watch the local FOX morning news during the week and various shows on FOX in the evenings during the week, but it no longer displays anything during Sunday prime time and for the rest of the day on Sundays as well from what little I've seen (I don't watch much TV on Sundays except in the evening.)


I also thank you for the suggestions about getting a better antenna.

*Digital Rules* Good suggestion: I did try a rescan this past Sunday (while I was having problems with FOX 45), but the end result was still the same.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *radagast123* /forum/post/16169410
> 
> 
> "I was having the same problem with WNUV-DT before WJAL-DT came back online (overpowered by adjacent channel now). What I found was that the problem was caused by antenna alignment. I believe it's a good sign of DTV Multipath.
> 
> 
> The problem seems to be exacerbated by 1080i conversion to 480i."
> 
> 
> I had considered multi-path as a source of the problem, but even after moving my little rabbit ears antenna all over the room and facing it in every direction, the problem continued - nothing would improve it (could never get a picture and the sound always stuttered). While I do have to move the antenna a bit to get the best reception on other channels, I've never seen anything like this before.
> 
> 
> Could some other channel be overpowering FOX 45? But if so, why only on Sundays (and why only during the broadcast show and not the commercials?)
> 
> 
> I don't know... I'm at a loss here as to what to do. I can't install a huge antenna (I live in an apartment) - is there any hardware upgrade that would make a difference or am I stuck as long as whatever is causing this continues?
> 
> 
> Thanks for the suggestions and help so far.



Um... Well, there's no difference in the way we broadcast on Sundays - it's the same network source as any other evening, same transmitter, etc. If I were to guess (and it's ONLY a guess), I would have to say that there's an interfence source someplace close to you.


There are some DTV receivers that you can set the RF output channel on (my Dish Network receiver is one example). Maybe someone close has something like that hooked up at the same time as an antenna, and they are broadcasting channel 46 (that's the actual channel that WBFF-DT broadcasts on)...


It's going to be tough to find. It would be interesting to see if the signal is good up to a certain time every week, or if it's just random.


A more directional antenna (like a silver sensor, or the like) would help get rid of interference, unless it was coming from the same direction as WBFF.


BTW, where are you located?

.


----------



## radagast123

"Um... Well, there's no difference in the way we broadcast on Sundays - it's the same network source as any other evening, same transmitter, etc. If I were to guess (and it's ONLY a guess), I would have to say that there's an interfence source someplace close to you.


There are some DTV receivers that you can set the RF output channel on (my Dish Network receiver is one example). Maybe someone close has something like that hooked up at the same time as an antenna, and they are broadcasting channel 46 (that's the actual channel that WBFF-DT broadcasts on)...


It's going to be tough to find. It would be interesting to see if the signal is good up to a certain time every week, or if it's just random.


A more directional antenna (like a silver sensor, or the like) would help get rid of interference, unless it was coming from the same direction as WBFF.


BTW, where are you located?"


*Mark* An interferance source had crossed my mind, but from what, I wonder? I have heard that airplanes can cause interference, and I live in Glen Burnie, not far from the airport, but I can't think of anything that they could be doing that would have only started in mid February of this year, only happens on Sundays, and only affects FOX 45. Then again, I wouldn't even know who to ask about such a thing... Hmmm... maybe somebody else in the apartment building is somehow interfering with the signal?


Thanks for the note about the "real" channel used by FOX 45. That information (real channels vs. call signs) has been very helpful to me since I found it on this forum a month ago since the "manual channel entry" system for digital TV on my TV only uses the REAL broadcast channels, vs. the call-signs. So, I'd need to enter channel 46 for FOX, vs. channel 45, 45.1, etc. That one baffled me for a while...


Thanks for the help and information!


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16170335
> 
> 
> I doubt if DirecTV is the issue for a part time MASN2-HD feed. It is Comcast and the other cable operators who have to find the bandwidth for a part time HD channel. It also costs money to provide a 2nd HD distribution feed to all the service providers.
> 
> 
> The real solution to the Os and Nats TV schedule conflicts is for one of the teams to move to Comcast Sports-Net Mid-Atlantic. Except for April, baseball is a good fit for a sports network with NBA and NHL teams. Having 2 winter major league sports teams on 1 RSN and 2 MLB teams on the other RSN is a poor use of resources. But Peter Angelos wanted the Nats to be on MASN, so we are stuck with a undercapitalized RSN with 2 MLB teams with frequent broadcast schedule conflicts.
> 
> 
> But the TV ratings for the Nats last year were terrible and the Os only not as terrible. Besides the teams being bad, I think people were still confused on where to find the games: MASN or MASN2 and often didn't know where MASN2 was on their channel line-up. The lousy ratings may also be another reason for no MASN2-HD this year. Hard to justify the bandwidth to provide it if the TV ratings were that bad. Hopefully the Nats and Os will be better teams and more interesting to watch this year rather than boring bad teams, so the ratings improve. The Os and Nats have to better, right? Right?




DirecTV has already allocated a channel spot for MASN2 HD. They already have MASN2 SD and in the DirecTV method of doing things, they just add a "-1" to the channel for part time HD. So, 641-1 is MASN2 HD. They can switch a feed in there anytime they want to. It costs them nothing for the rest of the time.


The issue would be for sure MASN providing a second feed. They will probably not do so until more than just DirecTV provides them with space because of the cost.


----------



## radagast123

I'm going to have to take back what I said about FOX 45.1 only vanishing on Sundays - it just disappeared this evening at 8:00 pm: the screen went black and the audio started stuttering. It still hasn't happened in the mornings (or at least during the morning news up until 7:30 when I leave for work), but it has now happened during "prime time" in addition to Sundays, where the problem started. No other channels are affected - even FOX 45.2 is still behaving normally.


----------



## raidbuck

Was MLB Network in HD supposed to start on April 1st on Comcast? I'm in Harford County.


Thanks,


Rich N.


----------



## machpost

RCN in D.C. has added Ion HD on channel 615 today, but I'm pretty sure it's a national feed, and not WPXW-DT. Boston Legal is airing in HD right now.


Has WPXW gone HD yet? I'm in multipath hell here surrounded by buildings taller than mine and can't get it here with rabbit ears.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/16175877
> 
> 
> Has WPXW gone HD yet? I'm in multipath hell here surrounded by buildings taller than mine and can't get it here with rabbit ears.



WPXW-66.1, And WWPX-60.1 are still only broadcasting 480i.


----------



## AntAltMike

I just saw a notice on WETA saying that their analog signal will go off at 12:30 PM on June 12th. Have the other stations announced the exact time of their shut-offs?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *radagast123* /forum/post/16175240
> 
> 
> I'm going to have to take back what I said about FOX 45.1 only vanishing on Sundays - it just disappeared this evening at 8:00 pm: the screen went black and the audio started stuttering. It still hasn't happened in the mornings (or at least during the morning news up until 7:30 when I leave for work), but it has now happened during "prime time" in addition to Sundays, where the problem started. No other channels are affected - even FOX 45.2 is still behaving normally.



This does not sound like an interference problem. WBFF-DT 45.2 is part of the same broadcast signal as 45.1. The fact that 45.1 went blank at 8 PM when WBFF-DT switches to the Fox network feed should be a clue for Mark to look at. But no one else has reported a similar problem with WBFF-DT here as far as I recall, so this may be, as I posted before, a bug in the TV ATSC tuner firmware.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/16176272
> 
> 
> I just saw a notice on WETA saying that their analog signal will go off at 12:30 PM on June 12th. Have the other stations announced the exact time of their shut-offs?



I have not noticed stations posting exact times, but stations which still have an analog broadcast were required several weeks ago to file the time of day to a 6 hour window when they plan to shut down. A number of the remaining analog stations in the DC and Baltimore markets will be shutting down in the morning or afternoon of June 12, not at midnight.


This week WFPT-DT MPT 62 in Frederick and WMPB-DT MPT 67 in Baltimore filed for licenses to operate at increased power levels. Sometime after February 17 they must have increased their broadcast power. WFPT-DT (DT 28) was at 30 kW and went to 41.2 kW which is not a big increase. WMPB-DT (DT 29) however went from 14 to 42.6 kW. That explains why I noticed WMPB-DT 67 (DT 29) showed up on a channel scan for me a few weeks ago. I have gotten WMPB-DT OTA before, but only occasionally. Still not a rock solid signal, but the station now shows up on channel scans. Anyone else noticed improved OTA reception for WMPB-DT in the past month or so?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16177011
> 
> 
> Anyone else noticed improved OTA reception for WMPB-DT in the past month or so?



The signal is solid here in Arlington. Only WUTB-DT is still weak. On the other hand WUTB analog comes in very clearly.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *radagast123* /forum/post/16175240
> 
> 
> I'm going to have to take back what I said about FOX 45.1 only vanishing on Sundays - it just disappeared this evening at 8:00 pm: the screen went black and the audio started stuttering. It still hasn't happened in the mornings (or at least during the morning news up until 7:30 when I leave for work), but it has now happened during "prime time" in addition to Sundays, where the problem started. No other channels are affected - even FOX 45.2 is still behaving normally.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16176798
> 
> 
> This does not sound like an interference problem. WBFF-DT 45.2 is part of the same broadcast signal as 45.1. The fact that 45.1 went blank at 8 PM when WBFF-DT switches to the Fox network feed should be a clue for Mark to look at. But no one else has reported a similar problem with WBFF-DT here as far as I recall, so this may be, as I posted before, a bug in the TV ATSC tuner firmware.



Yep, that's a clue. I don't know what that means, though... As I mentioned before, nothing changes on Sunday (at least not here). Maybe there's some sort of change at Fox. I'll see if anyone else is having the same problem...


BTW, there's an on-going discussion going on about un-licensed equipment that can cause interference to the broadcast signals. Some companies want to manufacture equipment that is supposed to look for broadcast signals, and if it doesn't find anything, it will use the frequency to broadcast it's own signals on. Unfurtunately, every time they test it, the equipment fails to find all of the broadcast signals, so the equipment could potentially cause interference problems. Here's a web page about it: http://www.interferencezones.com/ 

.


----------



## fmw63




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16177011
> 
> 
> WMPB-DT (DT 29) however went from 14 to 42.6 kW... Anyone else noticed improved OTA reception for WMPB-DT in the past month or so?



I'm here in Landover Hills (20784) , and I can get WMPB-DT, however WUTB-DT has yet to show up at all on any of my boxes, with various antennae, but I can get analog 24.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmw63* /forum/post/16178789
> 
> 
> I'm here in Landover Hills (20784) , and I can get WMPB-DT, however WUTB-DT has yet to show up at all on any of my boxes, with various antennae, but I can get analog 24.



WUTB-DT My 24 (DT 41 at 200 kW) has a directional antenna pattern compared to analog WUTB-TV that cuts the signal strength to the south of the antenna located in Catonsville. Your zip code puts you in the projected coverage area ( http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...DT1233410.html ), but many people to the south of WUTB-DT have reported problems in getting the digital signal, even those not very far south. The antenna pattern has two notable notches, but in principle still should be putting out 40 kW at 160 and 200 degrees azimuth. But it appears to be weaker than that.


WUTB-DT has a pending application to increase power to 290 kW post-transition, but the FCC has not acted on that yet. An increase from 200 kW to 290 kW is modest and is not likely to make much difference in reception for those who can't get the current digital broadcast at all.


----------



## radagast123




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16176798
> 
> 
> This does not sound like an interference problem. WBFF-DT 45.2 is part of the same broadcast signal as 45.1. The fact that 45.1 went blank at 8 PM when WBFF-DT switches to the Fox network feed should be a clue for Mark to look at. But no one else has reported a similar problem with WBFF-DT here as far as I recall, so this may be, as I posted before, a bug in the TV ATSC tuner firmware.



It certainly could be a bug in the firmware, but I may be out of luck if that is the case: Hitachi's website has only 1 reference to the 32HDL52 - the ad from 2005 or 2006 touting just how wonderful a TV it is... considering my experiences with it over the past few years, that is rather... far-fetched.


The plot thickens: Last night after Fox 45.1 vanished at 8:00 pm, I went back to check it a bit after 10 pm when the local FOX news came on, and it was back as if nothing had happened. No problems this morning with the local news, either.


If somebody IS somehow broadcasting over this channel in the area, that's going to be nearly impossible to find or resolve.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16179360
> 
> 
> The antenna pattern has two notable notches, but in principle still should be putting out 40 kW at 160 and 200 degrees azimuth. But it appears to be weaker than that.



Actually, you have to square the field value before you multiply it, so it's 8.57 kW rather than 40 kW.


- Trip


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Comcast will roll out the HD signal of WETA's local rival, Maryland Public Television, on its DC area systems on 4/15 via channel 219.....


 http://dcrtv.com/


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Camden Yards Has New Look For Opening Day*


Reporting

Adam May BALTIMORE (WJZ) ―


Opening Day is just a few days away.


As Adam May reports, at Camden Yards they're rolling out the green carpet and showing off some of the improvements.


They say the grass is always greener, and this year it actually is.


There's new sod that's darker and more durable, but it's still tough to maintain.


"It changes. Every day I have to be on guard every day, ready for what comes my way," said Nicole Sherry, head groundskeeper.


Crews have just completed replacing signs, inspecting seating areas and painting some important details.


"The logos for the top of the dugouts, so the fans can tell the birds are going to win this year, and they're going to have a great time," said Steve Karkoski, painter.


There's also tons of new food at the park from high-end seafood at the club level to little apple pies.


"I like the buffalo shrimp and grist in Camden Club, and in the general concession, the chicken soft tacos are very good," said Chad Vandergrift, chef.


There's also new soft pretzels, barbecued ribs and the return of the classics.


A new high-end control room will also send better music to 530 new speakers. *Last year's new $5 million Jumbotron gets a new high definition signal.


"We're getting true high def from the MASN TV truck, so it's fully HD from beginning to end," said Vince Steier, Stadium Authority.*


Installing the sound system alone took 6,600 man hours . That's usually done in a year but this was done in months.

http://wjz.com/sports/camden.yards.o....2.973513.html


----------



## systems2000

I noticed MPT 67 showing up on my scans also. I can even watch it (barely).


----------



## ojready

is there a list of the clearqam channels for northern va comcast?


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/16180533
> 
> http://dcrtv.com/



hopefully that includes Manassas and Prince William Co, thanks


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *radagast123* /forum/post/16180001
> 
> 
> It certainly could be a bug in the firmware, but I may be out of luck if that is the case: Hitachi's website has only 1 reference to the 32HDL52 - the ad from 2005 or 2006 touting just how wonderful a TV it is... considering my experiences with it over the past few years, that is rather... far-fetched.
> 
> 
> The plot thickens: Last night after Fox 45.1 vanished at 8:00 pm, I went back to check it a bit after 10 pm when the local FOX news came on, and it was back as if nothing had happened. No problems this morning with the local news, either.
> 
> 
> If somebody IS somehow broadcasting over this channel in the area, that's going to be nearly impossible to find or resolve.



So, since yesterday wasn't Sunday, I should assume that you're now losing the FOX prime-time signal everyday, I guess.


That makes a bit more sense, although it doesn't make it easier to find the problem. It means that you're TV isn't happy with the FOX network feed at all. I haven't heard of this particular problem before, but I used to get phone calls from a guy who would lose his audio whenever FOX network came up. We never did find that problem...


Anyhow, it's probably not an interference problem.

.


----------



## radagast123

*Mark*: Yep, that's correct - FOX network dropped out and it wasn't Sunday out during 8-10 "prime time" and it wasnt' Sunday.


Well, at least that probably narrows the problem down, though I haven't the faintest idea how to get it fixed... new firmware for a mediocre 4-year old TV set - oh, boy?! The sad irony is that I bought the set so I'd be ready for the DTV conversion way ahead of schedule - and now it has some sort of problem with some DTV! Argh!



Hmmm... digging around a bit online, I have seen some folks (though often not over the air) having problems with FOX because it is 720p, no 1080i.


Here's a random link to such an example:

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r218...Fox-syndicated 


That being said, I haven't had this problem before when FOX broadcast in 720p, and the set is supposed to be capable of handling that, so maybe this idea is just a dead-end... but I am not sure...


Digging around a bit more on this website, I have another hit: references to "black screen with audio fragments" on FOX during primetime this month - this is exactly what I'm seeing - chadamorrill (the original poster with this problem) even had the same strangeness where sometimes the commercials would show up fine while the show would not...

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...php?p=16172968 


And here's another hit on the Phoenix thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...php?p=16096150 


Same symptoms - the blank screen and popping audio when FOX switches into prime-time mode.



At this point, though I may be wrong, it looks like the FOX HD splicer is the prime suspect for whatever is taking down my TV during prime time on that channel.


Of course, if this IS the case, I'm not sure what can really be done about it...


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *radagast123* /forum/post/16191263
> 
> *Mark*: Yep, that's correct - FOX network dropped out and it wasn't Sunday out during 8-10 "prime time" and it wasnt' Sunday.
> 
> 
> Well, at least that probably narrows the problem down, though I haven't the faintest idea how to get it fixed... new firmware for a mediocre 4-year old TV set - oh, boy?! The sad irony is that I bought the set so I'd be ready for the DTV conversion way ahead of schedule - and now it has some sort of problem with some DTV! Argh!
> 
> 
> 
> Hmmm... digging around a bit online, I have seen some folks (though often not over the air) having problems with FOX because it is 720p, no 1080i.
> 
> 
> Here's a random link to such an example:
> 
> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r218...Fox-syndicated
> 
> 
> That being said, I haven't had this problem before when FOX broadcast in 720p, and the set is supposed to be capable of handling that, so maybe this idea is just a dead-end... but I am not sure...
> 
> 
> Digging around a bit more on this website, I have another hit: references to "black screen with audio fragments" on FOX during primetime this month - this is exactly what I'm seeing - chadamorrill (the original poster with this problem) even had the same strangeness where sometimes the commercials would show up fine while the show would not...
> 
> http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...php?p=16172968
> 
> 
> And here's another hit on the Phoenix thread:
> 
> http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...php?p=16096150
> 
> 
> Same symptoms - the blank screen and popping audio when FOX switches into prime-time mode.
> 
> 
> 
> At this point, though I may be wrong, it looks like the FOX HD splicer is the prime suspect for whatever is taking down my TV during prime time on that channel.
> 
> 
> Of course, if this IS the case, I'm not sure what can really be done about it...



I have some issues with WBFF/Fox network programming as well, but only through Windows Media Center. If it helps at all, what happens to me is that Media Center will have a momentary cow during commericals. I assume this is a switch between local/national ads, but I have no evidence to back that up. What I see is a momentary and complete drop-out during commercials while WBFF is airing national content, regardless of what it is. For what it's worth, if I switch to WTTG, there are no issues at all.


My TVs themselves don't have any issue with WBFF, regardless of the programming source, it's only Windows Media Center for me. Up until now I've assumed it's an issue with the software, but if there is some kind of stream "boogering" happening from WBFF that's knocking your TV out, it would certainly explain what I see here.


Mark, if there is anything I can do to assist in troubleshooting, whether it's WBFF's issue or not, please PM and let me know. I'm always willing to help as much as I can


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

As of 1:15 AM on Saturday, I am now able to receive the following newly unencrypted QAM SD channels on the Annapolis Comcast system: WEATHER, TRAV, SPEED, FOOD, TRUTV, VERSUS, BRAVO, STYLE, E, MASN, CMT, CNBC, GSN, MSNBC, HISTORY, HALMRK, TVLAND, IONSAT, AETV, LIFE, SPIKETV, FX, TCM, EWTN, IONSAT, CSPAN, MASN/CS, ANIMAL, TVONE, DIS_HTH, HSN, QVC, CNN, HGTV, BET, TOON, COMEDY, MTV, NIK, SCIFI, AMC, DSC, TLC, VH1, DISN, USA, ESPN 2, WFDC, WGN, TBS, FOX NEWS, WTTG, ESPN, WUTB, TNT, CSN, and ABC FAM.


If this is permanent, my QAM-ready televisions will become a little more useful. My HDHomeRun box will become 5000% more useful too! I can't reliably stream HD content wirelessly to my laptop, but SD makes the trip via 802.11g just fine.


Steve in Shady Side


I bet this is just temporary. It looks like Comcast may be shifting some stuff around to find room for a new HD channel or three. There is a duplication of channels on 126 and 130. Not sure why they need to unencrypt everything to do a shuffle.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/16193708
> 
> 
> As of 1:15 AM on Saturday, I am now able to receive the following newly unencrypted QAM SD channels on the Annapolis Comcast system: WEATHER, TRAV, SPEED, FOOD, TRUTV, VERSUS, BRAVO, STYLE, E, MASN, CMT, CNBC, GSN, MSNBC, HISTORY, HALMRK, TVLAND, IONSAT, AETV, LIFE, SPIKETV, FX, TCM, EWTN, IONSAT, CSPAN, MASN/CS, ANIMAL, TVONE, DIS_HTH, HSN, QVC, CNN, HGTV, BET, TOON, COMEDY, MTV, NIK, SCIFI, AMC, DSC, TLC, VH1, DISN, USA, ESPN 2, WFDC, WGN, TBS, FOX NEWS, WTTG, ESPN, WUTB, TNT, CSN, and ABC FAM.
> 
> 
> If this is permanent, my QAM-ready televisions will become a little more useful. My HDHomeRun box will become 5000% more useful too! I can't reliably stream HD content wirelessly to my laptop, but SD makes the trip via 802.11g just fine.
> 
> 
> Steve in Shady Side
> 
> 
> I bet this is just temporary. It looks like Comcast may be shifting some stuff around to find room for a new HD channel or three. There is a duplication of channels on 126 and 130. Not sure why they need to unencrypt everything to do a shuffle.



If they are unencrypting expanded basic channels, they may be preparing to distribute free DTAs, and eventually eliminate the analog versions of these channels, freeing up bandwidth for more HD channels. Comcast calls it Project Cavalry.

http://www.cable360.net/ct/sections/features/34302.html


----------



## radagast123

Thanks for the help:


There's a thread over in the HDTV Technical forum with more info:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...3#post16194583 


Based upon that info, it may be the AFD/Bar Data that is being passed by FOX via their splicer and an inability of certain older tuners to handle that data.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *antaltmike* /forum/post/16176272
> 
> 
> i just saw a notice on weta saying that their analog signal will go off at 12:30 pm on june 12th. Have the other stations announced the exact time of their shut-offs?



























sweet!


I've been waiting for this since 2001!


----------



## Potatoehead




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/16194263
> 
> 
> If they are unencrypting expanded basic channels, they may be preparing to distribute free DTAs, and eventually eliminate the analog versions of these channels, freeing up bandwidth for more HD channels. Comcast calls it Project Cavalry.
> 
> http://www.cable360.net/ct/sections/features/34302.html



Our Comcast cable tends to follow the same path as in AA county. We received a card a few weeks ago saying that up to 2 additional free DTAs would be distributed for digital starter and above levels of service beginning April 15. I have been hoping that that means Project Cavalry is coming here.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Potatoehead* /forum/post/16196125
> 
> 
> Our Comcast cable tends to follow the same path as in AA county.



Same here. Haven't gotten anything in the mail yet.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Potatoehead* /forum/post/16196125
> 
> 
> Our Comcast cable tends to follow the same path as in AA county. We received a card a few weeks ago saying that up to 2 additional free DTAs would be distributed for digital starter and above levels of service beginning April 15. I have been hoping that that means Project Cavalry is coming here.



I wonder what this DTA looks like. I hope it's not as big as my huge Motorola STB. Does anyone know the brand name or model of this Comcast digital to analog adapter?


----------



## Potatoehead




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/16198017
> 
> 
> I wonder what this DTA looks like. I hope it's not as big as my huge Motorola STB. Does anyone know the brand name or model of this Comcast digital to analog adapter?



I think they are about the size of the OTA digital to analog converters. Not so big as the Motorola. I did some more checking. It appears that all of the analog channels are being duplicated. CN8 has gone to digital only. For the channels I checked, my Motorola DVR is pointing at the digital copy rather than the analog copy. Seems like they are moving forward to going digital for most or all of the channels. For the areas of the country that they have done this (Boston, Chicago, etc. ) this has meant a lot more HD channels.


----------



## djp952

Anyone else having audio sync issues with WBAL-DT the past few days? Admittedly I didn't watch much WBAL this week (we record our NBC progamming from WRC since they have 5.1), but WBAL news has definately been off, and tonight's SNL had the same problem. WRC-DT is fine across the board.


I e-mailed WBAL, but if anyone else is having the same problem it might help if you e-mail them as well.


Thanks!


----------



## carltonrice

I am a DirecTV subscriber in Laurel. DirecTV considers me in the DC area instead of Baltimore. I noticed that according to my STB, I am NOT subscribed to MASN-HD (640), but I am subscribed to MASN2 (641) and MASN2-HD(641-1). I called DirecTV and was told that MASN is NOT part of my local service like CSN-HD, but MASN2 is. The agent tried to explain what would be shown on MASN2 was games that I should see of the Nats and Orioles that ARE NOT OTA like today's game on WJZ. What's the deal? Shouldn't this work just like Comcast SportsNet? Why should I have to pay for an additional sports package ($12/month) to get my local baseball team from DirecTV?


----------



## JoeInNVa

Anyone else getting Breakups on MASN-HD?


Lots of breakups on Comcast of Alexandria, almost unwatchable.


----------



## maestro73




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/16209850
> 
> 
> Anyone else getting Breakups on MASN-HD?
> 
> 
> Lots of breakups on Comcast of Alexandria, almost unwatchable.



I've had the game on for a while but I've been out of the room most of the time. I just popped out to see and all looks well.


----------



## JoeInNVa

Ugh...MASN 2 SD is terrible to watch and they way the NATS are playing is not helping.


----------



## Marcus Carr

The game is in HD on WJZ.


----------



## CrispyCritter




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/16209850
> 
> 
> Anyone else getting Breakups on MASN-HD?
> 
> 
> Lots of breakups on Comcast of Alexandria, almost unwatchable.



I'm fine on MASN-HD on Comcast-Montgomery County. No problems at all, other than my TiVo doesn't know that channel 247 exists!



A separate question: can Comcast folks in Montgomery County get analog channel 58 (Cartoon Network)? I haven't gotten it for 4-5 days. It comes on fine on my digital tivo (digital simulcast on channel 58) but not on any of my analog tuners. It's still listed as part of the standard service by Comcast.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CrispyCritter* /forum/post/16210095
> 
> 
> I'm fine on MASN-HD on Comcast-Montgomery County. No problems at all, other than my TiVo doesn't know that channel 247 exists!
> 
> 
> 
> A separate question: can Comcast folks in Montgomery County get analog channel 58 (Cartoon Network)? I haven't gotten it for 4-5 days. It comes on fine on my digital tivo (digital simulcast on channel 58) but not on any of my analog tuners. It's still listed as part of the standard service by Comcast.



Probably a weak signal for my TIVO and it keeps losing it.

ALex/Arlington was a test bed for HD back in 02 and now it seems like we are dead last in everything...But without any competition, Comcast can drag their feet...

FIOS GET IN HERE!!!


----------



## kenrowe




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CrispyCritter* /forum/post/16210095
> 
> 
> A separate question: can Comcast folks in Montgomery County get analog channel 58 (Cartoon Network)? I haven't gotten it for 4-5 days. It comes on fine on my digital tivo (digital simulcast on channel 58) but not on any of my analog tuners. It's still listed as part of the standard service by Comcast.



QAM58 is now a digital channel. I believe that MASN-HD sits there. Cartoon is only available on CH 58 via a STB.


----------



## weaver6




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/16209279
> 
> 
> I am a DirecTV subscriber in Laurel. DirecTV considers me in the DC area instead of Baltimore. I noticed that according to my STB, I am NOT subscribed to MASN-HD (640), but I am subscribed to MASN2 (641) and MASN2-HD(641-1). I called DirecTV and was told that MASN is NOT part of my local service like CSN-HD, but MASN2 is. The agent tried to explain what would be shown on MASN2 was games that I should see of the Nats and Orioles that ARE NOT OTA like today's game on WJZ. What's the deal? Shouldn't this work just like Comcast SportsNet? Why should I have to pay for an additional sports package ($12/month) to get my local baseball team from DirecTV?



You should receive MASN-HD. I'm on DirecTV in the DC area, and I get it.


----------



## bullwinklehdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *weaver6* /forum/post/16211150
> 
> 
> You should receive MASN-HD. I'm on DirecTV in the DC area, and I get it.



I do too, I'm in Germantown - keep trying with a different CSR.


If you go to the DirecTV website, under the Sports tab go to Regional Sports Networks-you'll get a form where you can put in your zip code and it will tell you your networks-mine shows both CSN (642) and MASN (640). See what you get.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/16209279
> 
> 
> I am a DirecTV subscriber in Laurel. DirecTV considers me in the DC area instead of Baltimore. I noticed that according to my STB, I am NOT subscribed to MASN-HD (640), but I am subscribed to MASN2 (641) and MASN2-HD(641-1). I called DirecTV and was told that MASN is NOT part of my local service like CSN-HD, but MASN2 is. The agent tried to explain what would be shown on MASN2 was games that I should see of the Nats and Orioles that ARE NOT OTA like today's game on WJZ. What's the deal? Shouldn't this work just like Comcast SportsNet? Why should I have to pay for an additional sports package ($12/month) to get my local baseball team from DirecTV?



The person you spoke to is wrong. MASN and MASN2 have the exact same footprint and it for sure covers the DC area.


----------



## chrisherbert

WJLA HD has really been looking bad lately (via DC Comcast). Lots of compression artifacts in motion. Did they change something? Add subchannels?


----------



## zebras23

Not that it was worth watching, but MASN HD replayed the Nats v. Marlin game around 8ish last night in HD. It was on the Verizon FiOS guide as a rebroadcast of the Yankees v. Os game but was the Nats game. The quality - of the picture that is - was very good.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/16209850
> 
> 
> Anyone else getting Breakups on MASN-HD?
> 
> 
> Lots of breakups on Comcast of Alexandria, almost unwatchable.



Comcast seems to be getting worse late quite frequently when watching HD on many channels for me in Bowie. There sometimes is some pixelation for a few seconds or the video pauses while (luckily) the audio continues. I think that happened a couple times on House last night. I presume it is Comcast's fault, but I have no real idea.


----------



## systems2000

WWPX-DT is not broadcasting the 700 Club, while WWPX-TV is. Why does this keep happening?


I've also found who 4-1 (PEE-7LA) is. WNPB-DT 24-2 (DT) and 24-3 (HD) is missing 24-1. It appears someone didn't double-check their PSIP information. During a scan it is the first station that is found (before WWPX) and shows all three channels (4-1, 24-2, 24-3).


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chrisherbert* /forum/post/16212656
> 
> 
> WJLA HD has really been looking bad lately (via DC Comcast). Lots of compression artifacts in motion. Did they change something? Add subchannels?



It's the same over the air. "Dancing with the Stars" was essentially unwatchable on a mere 40" set. WMAR's stream was fine. I'm actually quite surprised Comcast has the same stream we get over the air. Do they grab WJLA off an antenna?


I haven't checked the bandwidth they're giving to 7.2 and 7.3 lately, but it's possible they've upped one of them, screwing over the main HD stream. (An application called TSReaderLite can be used on a PC to get info like the bandwidth for each stream).


I hope it's temporary and WJLA hasn't joined WETA and WUSA on my list of channels that used to look wonderful and just don't anymore.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

MASN looked very good yesterday on D*... the Yankees did not. My only complaint is the "squeezebox" 2-line ticker which pops up, compressing the screen vertically, and basically useless (don't need all these ads). The pic quality also seemed to suffer somewhat when this happened.


I sent an e-mail over to WJLA asking for someone (Robert has been MIA lately here) to address the concerns about HD pic quality. I know, don't hold my breath waiting for anyone there to respond.


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16214608
> 
> 
> WWPX-DT is not broadcasting the 700 Club, while WWPX-TV is. Why does this keep happening?
> 
> 
> I've also found who 4-1 (PEE-7LA) is. WNPB-DT 24-2 (DT) and 24-3 (HD) is missing 24-1. It appears someone didn't double-check their PSIP information. During a scan it is the first station that is found (before WWPX) and shows all three channels (4-1, 24-2, 24-3).



I wonder which translator that is W34DW in Mineral County or W07DN in Warrdensville?


----------



## djp952

I checked WJLA in TSReader. These number fluctuate up and down, but are a pretty good indicator of how much bandwidth has been allocated overall. These are just the video streams


WJLA-DT ~ 12Mbps

WJLA-DT2 ~ 2Mbps

WJLA-DT3 ~ 2.5Mbps


WMAR-DT ~ 12Mbps

WMAR-DT2 ~ 3.3Mbps

WMAR-DT3 ~ 3Mbps


So at least right now at this moment in time (6:30pm), it's not a difference in how much they're allocating for the HD channel. It could be different during primetime, but that wouldn't make much sense.


At least with WUSA, there is a 3Mbps difference from WJZ (no subchannels), so the lack of macroblocking in the blacks on WJZ makes sense. I have no idea what they did over there at WJLA to make Dancing look so bad last night. Maybe an encoder issue.


----------



## bwhitney

I have been ready to install my new antennas for HDTV reception and have been fighting getting WRC-DT. I know I am in a fringe area (near Martinsburg, WV) so I am using the XG91 + YA-1713 antennas with a Channel Master 7778 amplifier (the 7777 has been sold out everywhere).


I received all channels I expected based upon TVFool predictions except WRC on Channel 4.1-4.3. I manually entered channel 48.1 and using the signal indicator on my Sony TV I could see a locked signal with no errors and a signal level consistent with my distance, but the screen said no signal.


Since I could see a locked signal at a level higher than other stations I receive I just kept looking and found WRC main feed on 48.3, 4.2 on 48.4, etc. No matter how much I scan, I can't get my Sony to map 48.3 to 4.1, etc. All other channels are fine.


Any ideas on how to get my Sony to properly map WRC to 4.1...?


Thanks for any help.


----------



## ceeaton




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16177011
> 
> 
> Anyone else noticed improved OTA reception for WMPB-DT in the past month or so?



Sorry for the delayed reply---WMPB-DT has definitely improved it's signal up here. We just went through two days of nasty wind, and the channel used to drop out every minute or so. We haven't noticed it at all, and I haven't changed anything with my OTA setup since early February...which was a TV change. The better reception was noticed at the end of the February here...


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bwhitney* /forum/post/16218626
> 
> 
> I received all channels I expected based upon TVFool predictions except WRC on Channel 4.1-4.3.
> 
> Any ideas on how to get my Sony to properly map WRC to 4.1...



You've got a couple things working against you. I am assuming you are amplifying both VHF & UHF. You may want to try unhooking the YA-1713 from the amp, and see if overload from VHF channels 8 & 12 are keeping WRC-DT from locking in. If possible, try testing the system with no amplification on either antenna. Overload from any local channels may compromise your fringe channel reception.


You also have an analog channel 48 in Winchester, VA that may be giving you issues. If that's the case, you may be SOL.


If you haven't already tried, you may want to experiment with different heights(higher/lower), or different locations on your roof for a sweet spot for WRC-DT.


Hope this helps


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bwhitney* /forum/post/16218626
> 
> 
> I can't get my Sony to map 48.3 to 4.1, etc. All other channels are fine.
> 
> 
> Any ideas on how to get my Sony to properly map WRC to 4.1...?
> 
> 
> Thanks for any help.



Do a completely new scan (no "add channels" or anything like that). Sony TVs will not detect virtual channel numbers for stations that are manually entered like 48-3 was.


It's a Sony thing.


- Trip


----------



## systems2000

WO8EE-D (Martinsburg) is supposed to be sending PSIP data for 24-1, but it's sending PSIP data as 4-1. I talked to the head engineer, for WNPB in Morgantown, and he said they would send someone out to check the PSIP regenerator at the WO8EE transmitter.


----------



## bwhitney




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16219554
> 
> 
> You've got a couple things working against you. I am assuming you are amplifying both VHF & UHF. You may want to try unhooking the YA-1713 from the amp, and see if overload from VHF channels 8 & 12 are keeping WRC-DT from locking in. If possible, try testing the system with no amplification on either antenna. Overload from any local channels may compromise your fringe channel reception.
> 
> 
> You also have an analog channel 48 in Winchester, VA that may be giving you issues. If that's the case, you may be SOL.
> 
> 
> If you haven't already tried, you may want to experiment with different heights(higher/lower), or different locations on your roof for a sweet spot for WRC-DT.
> 
> 
> Hope this helps



Thanks for the feedback. The confusing part to me is I get great reception of WRC on 48.3 (and 48.4 and 48.5), just can't get it to show up as 4.1.


When I tune WRC manually at 48.3 the signal is good, it just won't map back to 4.1. I have the same on 8.3, a good signal, that is suppose to be 24.1. It looks like all channels with their primary feed on .3 of the rf channel won't map to the "logical" channel of x.1.


Could signal level effect channel mapping? I figured the stations or the TV is not mapping correctly.


----------



## systems2000

That would be WAZW-CA transmitting at 36.8 kW ERP.


I can't get WRC-DT (here in Chambersburg, PA) either.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bwhitney* /forum/post/16219637
> 
> 
> Could signal level effect channel mapping?



I doubt it. I thought you weren't getting WRC at all. It sounds more like a mapping problem caused by W08EE-D. Someone here in DC had a problem recently with a Sony TV because of our local channel 8's malfuctioning PSIP encoder.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16219572
> 
> 
> Do a completely new scan (no "add channels" or anything like that). Sony TVs will not detect virtual channel numbers for stations that are manually entered like 48-3 was.
> 
> 
> It's a Sony thing.



Please read my post.


- Trip


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bwhitney* /forum/post/16218626
> 
> 
> I have been ready to install my new antennas for HDTV reception and have been fighting getting WRC-DT. I know I am in a fringe area (near Martinsburg, WV) so I am using the XG91 + YA-1713 antennas with a Channel Master 7778 amplifier (the 7777 has been sold out everywhere).
> 
> 
> I received all channels I expected based upon TVFool predictions except WRC on Channel 4.1-4.3. I manually entered channel 48.1 and using the signal indicator on my Sony TV I could see a locked signal with no errors and a signal level consistent with my distance, but the screen said no signal.



As Digital Rules posted, there is a low power analog station, WAZW-CA 48, on UHF 48 in Winchester which may be interfering with your reception of WRC-DT 4. The interference may be why the Sony TV didn't pick up WRC-DT 4 on the digital channel scan. By tuning to the station manually and keeping the tuner on UHF 48 for a longer time, the tuner locks onto the digital signal. Why it shows 48-3 and not 48-1, I'll have to check the digital broadcast for WRC-DT.


As for the Sony TV not changing to the mapped channel number, my Sony HD-DVR does the same thing. I have to do a scan for it to show new sub-channels and changes to mapped channels. All the other ATSC tuners I have will change to the mapped channel # on a manual entry of the physical RF channel number.


WAZW-CA has a construction permit for a low power 12 kW digital broadcast on UHF 46 which will eliminate the interference with WRC-DT, but I have not seen any info on when the Class A station will switch to digital. Low power stations don't have to shut down their analog broadcast on June 12. However, by moving to UHF 46 with a more powerful signal, the station may block reception of WBFF-DT Fox 45 (DT 46) for people located in the western fringe of the WBFF-DT reception area.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16219830
> 
> 
> Why it shows 48-3 and not 48-1, I'll have to check the digital broadcast for WRC-DT.



Like most stations, the MPEG-2 program number for WRC-DT 4-1 is 3. Thus, 48-3.

http://www.rabbitears.info/screencap.../47904-0_0.htm 


- Trip


----------



## cpldc

I just noticed WJLA is sending out 1080i now. To make sure I'm not crazy, I captured it with TSReader:

http://staticky.com/tsr/wjla-1080.htm 


The PQ right now is very good, during "Cupid," but I've never seen that show before and can't make a comparison. This is also on my laptop, not on a large TV.


Is the ABC network feed at 720p? That would of course make any improvement purely imaginary--if this is intentional, anyhow.


----------



## Digital Rules

The macroblocking is still terrible on WJLA. WMAR looks fine.


----------



## mapper




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cpldc* /forum/post/16220004
> 
> 
> I just noticed WJLA is sending out 1080i now. To make sure I'm not crazy, I captured it with TSReader:
> 
> http://staticky.com/tsr/wjla-1080.htm
> 
> 
> The PQ right now is very good, during "Cupid," but I've never seen that show before and can't make a comparison. This is also on my laptop, not on a large TV.
> 
> 
> Is the ABC network feed at 720p? That would of course make any improvement purely imaginary--if this is intentional, anyhow.



I also saw the 1080i scaling on my CableCARD TV. Peculiar, I could swear that the ABC national network feed is 720p. "Cupid" does look nice, though it probably has nothing to do with the 1080i. It may be a PSIP goof, or it maybe real.


Maybe Robert(from WJLA) has some insight on this?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cpldc* /forum/post/16220004
> 
> 
> I just noticed WJLA is sending out 1080i now. To make sure I'm not crazy,



No, you are not crazy. The info fields shows 1080i for WJLA-DT 7.1 OTA and I also see 1080i for the clear QAM channel on Verizon Fios. From the posts I've read, the ABC network feed is indeed 720p, although at a higher data rate to the affiliates. Don't know why WJLA-DT would do this - unless it is an experiment or someone messed up the decoder configuration. If there is a trend for broadcast stations, it is towards 720p because 720p allows for more efficient compression so, in theory anyway, they can squeeze more sub-channels in without hurting the picture quality as much. Ion choose 720p, although WPXW-DT 66.1 and WWPX-DT 60.1 are still 480i SD.


I wish WMAR-DT would drop the pointless 2.2 SD simulcast of the 2.1 HD sub-channel. If they gave that bandwidth back to the HD sub-channel, then we could switch to WMAR-DT for better picture quality for ABC programming.


----------



## lax01




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16220102
> 
> 
> The macroblocking is still terrible on WJLA. WMAR looks fine.



Castle was absolutely awful looking last night (ABC7 thru Comcast)


----------



## djp952

Ah! That certainly explains what's going on with WJLA. Good catch!


I'm with you guys though, that makes no sense.


edit: I don't think the contact link on WJLA's web site works. It might have, but I think all it did was clear out everything I typed and refresh the page. Anyone hear back from them?


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast changes for Baltimore City:
*

WETA HD*, WETA Create, WETA Kids added on 4/14


9 channels added (moved) to Digital Starter on 4/14


To help make room for these and future channel additions, the

following channels, including the sports neighborhood, will be

moving on Tuesday, April 14:


MPT-Select 200 to 268

MPT V-me 201 to 269

Big Ten Network 257 to 715

Horse Racing TV 259 to 717

TV Games 260 to 718

ESPNEWS 261 to 719

FOX College Sports Atlantic 262 to 720

FOX College Sports Central 263 to 721

FOX College Sports Pacifi c 264 to 722

ESPN Classic 265 to 723

FOX Soccer Channel 267 to 725

GOL TV English 268 to 726

NBA TV 273 to 749

CBS College Sports 274 to 732

NFL Network 275 to 733

NHL Network 276 to 734

The Tennis Channel 277 to 735

MLB Network 280 to 738


The following channels will now require a digital box on:


Wednesday, April 1

The Comcast Network


Tuesday, April 14

WETA-SD

Cartoon Network


New Music Choice lineup effective 4/15

http://comcastchannelchanges.com/cha...timoreCity.pdf 


With the sports channels moving away from the HD channels, and three analogs being dropped, hopefully they are making room for more HD.



Changes in DC, DE, MD, NC, VA, WV in April:

http://comcastchannelchanges.com


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/16221354
> 
> 
> Comcast changes for Baltimore City:
> *
> 
> WETA HD*, WETA Create, WETA Kids added on 4/14
> 
> 
> 9 channels added (moved) to Digital Starter on 4/14
> 
> 
> To help make room for these and future channel additions, the
> 
> following channels, including the sports neighborhood, will be
> 
> moving on Tuesday, April 14:
> 
> 
> MPT-Select 200 to 268
> 
> MPT V-me 201 to 269
> 
> Big Ten Network 257 to 715
> 
> Horse Racing TV 259 to 717
> 
> TV Games 260 to 718
> 
> ESPNEWS 261 to 719
> 
> FOX College Sports Atlantic 262 to 720
> 
> FOX College Sports Central 263 to 721
> 
> FOX College Sports Pacifi c 264 to 722
> 
> ESPN Classic 265 to 723
> 
> FOX Soccer Channel 267 to 725
> 
> GOL TV English 268 to 726
> 
> NBA TV 273 to 749
> 
> CBS College Sports 274 to 732
> 
> NFL Network 275 to 733
> 
> NHL Network 276 to 734
> 
> The Tennis Channel 277 to 735
> 
> MLB Network 280 to 738
> 
> 
> The following channels will now require a digital box on:
> 
> 
> Wednesday, April 1
> 
> The Comcast Network
> 
> 
> Tuesday, April 14
> 
> WETA-SD
> 
> Cartoon Network
> 
> 
> New Music Choice lineup effective 4/15
> 
> http://comcastchannelchanges.com/cha...timoreCity.pdf
> 
> 
> With the sports channels moving away from the HD channels, and three analogs being dropped, hopefully they are making room for more HD.
> 
> 
> 
> Changes in DC, DE, MD, NC, VA, WV in April:
> 
> http://comcastchannelchanges.com



BOO!!!! They are getting rid of Arena Rock!!! BOO!!!!


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/16221354
> 
> 
> Changes in DC, DE, MD, NC, VA, WV in April:
> 
> http://comcastchannelchanges.com



I just downloaded the changes for my area (Bowie in PG County). There are parallel changes with MPT digital channels added and MPT-SD no longer available on analog on Channel 22. Go to the Comcast website to see just what the situation is in your area. The PDF was MD_PrinceGeorge.pdf


----------



## cpldc

Huh. Well, I recorded a bit of WJLA after I went to bed last night and saw the macroblocking everyone's talking about. It must have been that the scenes I briefly saw before were mostly static. On this display 720p and 1080i look about the same for well-produced shows.


EyeTV indicates the video stream is 1920x1080, so it isn't necessarily just the PSIP. When viewing in a window and not full-screen the size changes based on the resolution of the stream, and its size is also matching that of a 1080i stream, for what that's worth. It still doesn't make much sense, though.


----------



## machpost

WJLA-DT 7-1 is definitely 1080i now:


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16219830
> 
> 
> 
> WAZW-CA has a construction permit for a low power 12 kW digital broadcast on UHF 46 which will eliminate the interference with WRC-DT, but I have not seen any info on when the Class A station will switch to digital. Low power stations don't have to shut down their analog broadcast on June 12. However, by moving to UHF 46 with a more powerful signal, the station may block reception of WBFF-DT Fox 45 (DT 46) for people located in the western fringe of the WBFF-DT reception area.



Great...

.


----------



## PaulGo

I don't understand why WJLA would switch to 1080i since all of ABC's network programming is in 720p. Also when running two subchannels 720p should give better performance to the HD channel.


----------



## chrisherbert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PaulGo* /forum/post/16223411
> 
> 
> I don't understand why WJLA would switch to 1080i since all of ABC's network programming is in 720p. Also when running two subchannels 720p should give better performance to the HD channel.



Yeah, it's insane to switch the channel to 1080i when the network feed is 720p. Hopefully it's an easy fix and not an actual decision on the part of the station.


----------



## Trip in VA

Wouldn't be the first station to do it. I know the Hearst and Belo stations do it.


- Trip


----------



## chrisherbert

But why would they do it?


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p

allright Manassas get 4 new HD


219 MPT HD

221 FX HD

222 Fox News HD

242 Speed HD


finally


and if I look at the realignment spaces are being made for 190-209 and 255-264 for more HD channels to come. so in theory comcast is making room for an additional 30 channels on top of the soon existing 44 HD channels now. 74 total getting closer I'll take it!


----------



## afiggatt

Verizon Fios added the national feed of YES-HD (Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network) to channel 595 today in the Washington Metro market. The channel showed up starting yesterday in other markets without even a rumor that it was coming. Before Yankees fans get too excited, according to posts elsewhere, the Yankee and NJ Nets games will be blacked out outside of the NY market area. But apparently the pre- and post game shows along with the rest of the programming will be available.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chrisherbert* /forum/post/16224416
> 
> 
> But why would they do it?



The reason I heard is that 1080i gear is cheaper than 720p gear (as in local news) and so those companies bought 1080i gear.


Further, a lot of HD syndication comes to them in 1080i and it might be easier to process all that programming from all those different sources in the original 1080i rather than having to convert it all to 720p.


I'd ask an actual engineer though. Doesn't someone from WJLA check in here once in a while?


- Trip


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16225947
> 
> 
> Verizon Fios added the national feed of YES-HD (Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network) to channel 595 today in the Washington Metro market. The channel showed up starting yesterday in other markets without even a rumor that it was coming. Before Yankees fans get too excited, according to posts elsewhere, the Yankee and NJ Nets games will be blacked out outside of the NY market area. But apparently the pre- and post game shows along with the rest of the programming will be available.



Does that make it 111 HD channels on Fios in our area?


----------



## mdviewer25

So now I need a STB to watch Clean House (Style ch 118 on April 14 allegedly). Comcast has gone too far.


----------



## chrisherbert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16225948
> 
> 
> The reason I heard is that 1080i gear is cheaper than 720p gear (as in local news) and so those companies bought 1080i gear.
> 
> 
> Further, a lot of HD syndication comes to them in 1080i and it might be easier to process all that programming from all those different sources in the original 1080i rather than having to convert it all to 720p.
> 
> 
> I'd ask an actual engineer though. Doesn't someone from WJLA check in here once in a while?
> 
> 
> - Trip



The news broadcasts look awful too. Also, I believe that typically it's quite easy for them to convert 1080i to 720p (and vice versa) on the fly. They certainly did so with the syndicated broadcasts of Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, and they looked just fine.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16225947
> 
> 
> Verizon Fios added the national feed of YES-HD (Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network) to channel 595 today in the Washington Metro market. The channel showed up starting yesterday in other markets without even a rumor that it was coming. Before Yankees fans get too excited, according to posts elsewhere, the Yankee and NJ Nets games will be blacked out outside of the NY market area. But apparently the pre- and post game shows along with the rest of the programming will be available.



It's just bizarre that a cable company would carry a RSN like YES nationally, especially since every live game will have to be blacked out outside the New York market.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chrisherbert* /forum/post/16227066
> 
> 
> The news broadcasts look awful too.



I think that's a function of the low bandwidth more than anything else. My local PBS station has anywhere from 8-11 Mbps dedicated to their primary 1080i sub and it looks just miserable. At least your local station isn't broadcasting 2.6 Mbps of null packets for no good reason.


- Trip


----------



## klgrl7681




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/16221354
> 
> 
> Changes in DC, DE, MD, NC, VA, WV in April:
> 
> http://comcastchannelchanges.com



Has anybody downloaded the changes for Loudoun county (VA)? The PDF seems to be missing from the site, I keep getting an internal server error.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *klgrl7681* /forum/post/16229703
> 
> 
> Has anybody downloaded the changes for Loudoun county (VA)? The PDF seems to be missing from the site, I keep getting an internal server error.



It looks like someone misspelled Loudoun in the link. Here's the file:
http://comcastchannelchanges.com/cha...VA_Loudoun.pdf


----------



## klgrl7681




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/16229968
> 
> 
> It looks like someone misspelled Loudoun in the link. Here's the file:
> http://comcastchannelchanges.com/cha...VA_Loudoun.pdf



I missed that. Thanks!


----------



## chrisherbert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16227709
> 
> 
> I think that's a function of the low bandwidth more than anything else. My local PBS station has anywhere from 8-11 Mbps dedicated to their primary 1080i sub and it looks just miserable. At least your local station isn't broadcasting 2.6 Mbps of null packets for no good reason.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Perhaps, but everything looked fine before they switched to 1080i -- including the news.


My local PBS station is unwatchable. I think they have four SD subchannels.


----------



## bucnasty

is the blackout of yankee games national, or is it because they're playing the orioles and we have the MASN feed 20 or so channels down?


Strange enough the SD feed is not included


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Any opposing team's broadcast of the Orioles and Nats games is blacked out, and this includes ESPN (except Sunday nights) which was blacked out Monday for the CC Sabathia implosion against the O's. Not sure exactly what the rules are with Fox Saturday baseball telecasts.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chrisherbert* /forum/post/16231462
> 
> 
> Perhaps, but everything looked fine before they switched to 1080i -- including the news.



That's what I mean. At 720p, that low bandwidth figure looked okay--not perfect, but okay. At 1080i... it's too low.



> Quote:
> My local PBS station is unwatchable. I think they have four SD subchannels.



WETA? The last capture I had from them showed 12.4 Mbps on the main 1080i sub. Not quite as bad as WJLA right now, but still not pretty.


The SD subs, though, must look pretty bad at 1.7 Mbps.


- Trip


----------



## chrisherbert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16231921
> 
> 
> That's what I mean. At 720p, that low bandwidth figure looked okay--not perfect, but okay. At 1080i... it's too low.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> WETA? The last capture I had from them showed 12.4 Mbps on the main 1080i sub. Not quite as bad as WJLA right now, but still not pretty.
> 
> 
> The SD subs, though, must look pretty bad at 1.7 Mbps.
> 
> 
> - Trip



WETA looks much, much worse than WJLA. I'm not sure what the bitrate is but it's awful.


Doesn't NBC (not sure of the callsign) have the same about bitrate as WJLA? They're 1080i and they mostly look fine.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chrisherbert* /forum/post/16233254
> 
> 
> WETA looks much, much worse than WJLA. I'm not sure what the bitrate is but it's awful.



Interesting. I'd have to see an updated capture, but the difference could be in the encoder. If WJLA has a newer encoder, even with WETA's higher bitrate, it could make WJLA look much better.



> Quote:
> Doesn't NBC (not sure of the callsign) have the same about bitrate as WJLA? They're 1080i and they mostly look fine.



The side-conversion from 720p to 1080i could possibly introduce artifacts, but again, the age of the encoder may be the reason here. Especially since NBC needs to get Universal Sports with its high motion balanced against the HD, I could see NBC going for some pricey encoders to make that happen.


- Trip


----------



## chrisherbert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16233490
> 
> 
> Interesting. I'd have to see an updated capture, but the difference could be in the encoder. If WJLA has a newer encoder, even with WETA's higher bitrate, it could make WJLA look much better.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The side-conversion from 720p to 1080i could possibly introduce artifacts, but again, the age of the encoder may be the reason here. Especially since NBC needs to get Universal Sports with its high motion balanced against the HD, I could see NBC going for some pricey encoders to make that happen.
> 
> 
> - Trip



WJLA's image isn't just bad, it's also strange. It doesn't look quite like any other compression I've seen. There's a strange "pulsing". It just seems like complete incompetence.


----------



## lax01

Lost looked like absolutely garbage...looks REALLY REALLY BAD


----------



## CycloneGT

Dish Network has added a bunch of Viacom HD channels. MTV, VH1, Comedy Central, Nick, Spike, and CMT.


----------



## nottenst

Last night on NBC (WRC) on Comcast (PG County) in HD, the picture broke up about a half dozen times from 8 PM to 10 PM. In one scenario it would be coming in good and then just freeze and then restart with the audio sometimes continuing. In another scenario the picture would break up into almost a jigsaw puzzle for a second or two before reforming. Is this a general Comcast problem, a Comcast feed to my house problem, or a WRC problem?


In any case, I thought things were much worse than on WJLA with Lost Wednesday night.


----------



## maestro73

Same problem in Alexandria. Had to watch it OTA.


----------



## mchief99

Looks like HD channels that were promised last Dec are finally showing up. FXHD, FOXNEWSSHD, SPEEDHD, APR 14. I see no mention of MLBHD?


I also wonder about WGNHD which is apparently coming/available in Baltimore.


Here were are in Alexandria at the end of the cable.


----------



## clifburns

"Lost" -- which I just watched on my TiVo last night -- looked awful on WJLA. Serious macroblocking when there was any movement. The image resolution looked like a widescreen SD broadcast at best. What a disaster. Does anyone at WJLA even look at their own HD broadcasts? Or do they just not care?


----------



## cpldc

I just sent them a message online, if it helps any. You can also get their phone number from http://cfc.wjla.com/contact.cfm -- that might be a better option.


Last time I contacted a station was a few weeks back, when I asked WETA about the audio sync problems during News Hour. It was about a second off for a few days, but was/is a bit off almost all the time. They said it was probably because the digital picture is much clearer than the analog, so I could now see it was off-sync!


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mchief99* /forum/post/16238686
> 
> 
> Looks like HD channels that were promised last Dec are finally showing up. FXHD, FOXNEWSSHD, SPEEDHD, APR 14. I see no mention of MLBHD?
> 
> 
> I also wonder about WGNHD which is apparently coming/available in Baltimore.
> 
> 
> Here were are in Alexandria at the end of the cable.


 http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...4#post16221354


----------



## howie14




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bucnasty* /forum/post/16231745
> 
> 
> is the blackout of yankee games national, or is it because they're playing the orioles and we have the MASN feed 20 or so channels down?



Yankee games will always be blacked out outside of the NY market. They want you to buy Extra Innings.


----------



## djp952

FYI, got an e-mail back from WBAL today -- they've fixed the audio sync issues they've been having with the HD programming lately.


THANK YOU WBAL !!!


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cpldc* /forum/post/16240232
> 
> 
> You can also get their phone number from http://cfc.wjla.com/contact.cfm -- that might be a better option.



Rings and rings and rings ... no answer. They must have replaced their PBX with a 1080i encoder as well










I'm still not convinced that the e-mail contact form even works. Did you get the sense that it merely refreshed the page on you as well, or did you get some kind of confirmation that your message was sent? If the latter, I'll try again.


edit: Happened to stop on 7.3 tonight for a bit ... even that stream is messed up. It's till 480i, but it has a significant 'soap opera' effect (more than usual IMO) and has the same macroblocking on motion.


I'm *really* hoping that this is some kind of old junky backup encoder we're seeing and this isn't permanent. Maybe the good hardware has been moved around in preparation for the switch back to channel 7... one can dream


----------



## mchief99




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/16240261
> 
> http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...4#post16221354



I guess I missed your point?


----------



## mdviewer25

1. Why aren't there more clear qam HD channels? I only get the HD locals (4, 5, 7, 9, 20, 26, and 50), Versus HD, and A&E HD.


2. Why did Comcast remove the Baltimore clear qam channels (2, 11, 13, and 22)?


3. When they add MPT HD and the subchannels will they be available via clear qam?


4. Why is WPXW 66 and the subchannels not available? I thought they were supposed to have all locals available via clear qam.


----------



## cpldc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/16241604
> 
> 
> Rings and rings and rings ... no answer. They must have replaced their PBX with a 1080i encoder as well
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm still not convinced that the e-mail contact form even works. Did you get the sense that it merely refreshed the page on you as well, or did you get some kind of confirmation that your message was sent? If the latter, I'll try again.



It could be broken, too--I got no confirmation message.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *clifburns* /forum/post/16239695
> 
> 
> "Lost" -- which I just watched on my TiVo last night -- looked awful on WJLA. Serious macroblocking when there was any movement. The image resolution looked like a widescreen SD broadcast at best. What a disaster. Does anyone at WJLA even look at their own HD broadcasts? Or do they just not care?



Mine didn't look anything like a widescreen SD broadcast. There was still more detail than what you see with SD. There was more macroblocking than usual. But there is always macroblocking, it's just a matter of how much. Even my HD recordings from 2002 or 2003(whenever WJLA changed their digital broadcast to HD)have macroblocking before they added the subchannels when they used more bandwidth for the main channel.


What happend to Robert? He used to post periodically in this thread, or is he not with WJLA anymore?


----------



## Jim Miller

We're in Parkton, MD, about 5 miles from the MD/Penn line off I-83. I heard from a local Verizon installer that they expected to have FIOS up here sometime this year. Anyone have any idea how far north they've gotten in Baltimore county?


tia


jtm


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/16246727
> 
> 
> 1. Why aren't there more clear qam HD channels? I only get the HD locals (4, 5, 7, 9, 20, 26, and 50), Versus HD, and A&E HD.
> 
> 
> 2. Why did Comcast remove the Baltimore clear qam channels (2, 11, 13, and 22)?
> 
> 
> 3. When they add MPT HD and the subchannels will they be available via clear qam?
> 
> 
> 4. Why is WPXW 66 and the subchannels not available? I thought they were supposed to have all locals available via clear qam.



I think that $$$ is probably the answer to most of this. I hope we'll be able to see MPT HD when they remove the analog, but we'll have to wait until it happens mid-week. For that matter, all the clear QAM on Comcast might be in different locations when they change things. A rescan will definitely be in order. I have been given a couple of different reasons for why they removed the Baltimore channels, but it probably comes down to wanting to reserve space for things they can charge you.


----------



## CrispyCritter




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Jim Miller* /forum/post/16252190
> 
> 
> We're in Parkton, MD, about 5 miles from the MD/Penn line off I-83. I heard from a local Verizon installer that they expected to have FIOS up here sometime this year. Anyone have any idea how far north they've gotten in Baltimore county?



See Maryland construction info which gives very nice detailed info on what streets they're currently working on.


----------



## Jim Miller

@Crispycritter:


there's hope. hunt valley is about 13 miles south of here.


thanks!!


jtm


----------



## raidbuck




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mchief99* /forum/post/16238686
> 
> 
> Looks like HD channels that were promised last Dec are finally showing up. FXHD, FOXNEWSSHD, SPEEDHD, APR 14. I see no mention of MLBHD?
> 
> 
> I also wonder about WGNHD which is apparently coming/available in Baltimore.
> 
> 
> Here were are in Alexandria at the end of the cable.



In the Baltimore area we have WGNHD but no mention of MLBHD. Yesterday when I signed up for Extra Innings I asked about the MLBHD channel and the service rep (who is from Bel Air) said it was coming, so I am very disappointed that it isn't included in the Apr 14 update.


Oh well....


Rich N.


----------



## chrisherbert

How does MPT compare to WETA? WETA looks like garbage.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chrisherbert* /forum/post/16258520
> 
> 
> How does MPT compare to WETA? WETA looks like garbage.



Personal opinion: MPT looks much better than WETA, perhaps only because they have one less channel. But, I'm pretty sure they still show a great deal of letterboxed programming on the main channel. Zooming it in to fill the screen may look just as bad, if not worse, then WETA.


You should also let them know how displeased you are with their quality. The more of us that do, the better chance we stand at getting them to do something about it.


Other recent notes:


- Audio is still (or again?) off on WBAL. Re-contacted the engineering department (edit: I think they think I'm crazy)

- Cold Case looked PHENOMINAL on WUSA last night. I'm hoping maybe they've tweaked something over there, but I doubt it


----------



## chrisherbert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/16258867
> 
> 
> Personal opinion: MPT looks much better than WETA, perhaps only because they have one less channel. But, I'm pretty sure they still show a great deal of letterboxed programming on the main channel. Zooming it in to fill the screen may look just as bad, if not worse, then WETA.
> 
> 
> You should also let them know how displeased you are with their quality. The more of us that do, the better chance we stand at getting them to do something about it.
> 
> 
> Other recent notes:
> 
> 
> - Audio is still (or again?) off on WBAL. Re-contacted the engineering department (edit: I think they think I'm crazy)
> 
> - Cold Case looked PHENOMINAL on WUSA last night. I'm hoping maybe they've tweaked something over there, but I doubt it



I send WETA an email about once per year asking them to improve the quality of their HD subchannel.


I'm not really a fan of PBS's programming (why is NPR so good and PBS so awful?) but it will be nice to have a decent quality alternative for those rare public TV shows that I want to watch.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/16221354
> 
> 
> Comcast changes for Baltimore City:
> *
> 
> WETA HD*, WETA Create, WETA Kids added on 4/14
> 
> 
> 9 channels added (moved) to Digital Starter on 4/14
> 
> 
> To help make room for these and future channel additions, the
> 
> following channels, including the sports neighborhood, will be
> 
> moving on Tuesday, April 14:
> 
> 
> MPT-Select 200 to 268
> 
> MPT V-me 201 to 269
> 
> Big Ten Network 257 to 715
> 
> Horse Racing TV 259 to 717
> 
> TV Games 260 to 718
> 
> ESPNEWS 261 to 719
> 
> FOX College Sports Atlantic 262 to 720
> 
> FOX College Sports Central 263 to 721
> 
> FOX College Sports Pacifi c 264 to 722
> 
> ESPN Classic 265 to 723
> 
> FOX Soccer Channel 267 to 725
> 
> GOL TV English 268 to 726
> 
> NBA TV 273 to 749
> 
> CBS College Sports 274 to 732
> 
> NFL Network 275 to 733
> 
> NHL Network 276 to 734
> 
> The Tennis Channel 277 to 735
> 
> MLB Network 280 to 738
> 
> 
> The following channels will now require a digital box on:
> 
> 
> Wednesday, April 1
> 
> The Comcast Network
> 
> 
> Tuesday, April 14
> 
> WETA-SD
> 
> Cartoon Network
> 
> 
> New Music Choice lineup effective 4/15
> 
> http://comcastchannelchanges.com/cha...timoreCity.pdf
> 
> 
> With the sports channels moving away from the HD channels, and three analogs being dropped, hopefully they are making room for more HD.
> 
> 
> 
> Changes in DC, DE, MD, NC, VA, WV in April:
> 
> http://comcastchannelchanges.com



All changes were made this morning, except the most important one: WETA-SD and Cartoon Network are still analog. WETA HD looks good so far.


----------



## lax01

MoCo was said to get:


Tuesday, April 14

FOXNEWS HD Channel 222

FX HD E Channel 221

SPEED HD E Channel 242


Can anyone confirm? Can't wait for F1 in Widescreen!


----------



## CrispyCritter




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lax01* /forum/post/16262602
> 
> 
> MoCo was said to get:
> 
> 
> Tuesday, April 14
> 
> FOXNEWS HD Channel 222
> 
> FX HD E Channel 221
> 
> SPEED HD E Channel 242
> 
> 
> Can anyone confirm? Can't wait for F1 in Widescreen!



I can confirm everything except for 242. Channels 219,221,222, 268,269, 277,278,279,280 were all to be added today and are coming in fine (well, quality on some of the secondary channels is not great). I'm not getting anything on 242.


----------



## lax01




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CrispyCritter* /forum/post/16262700
> 
> 
> I can confirm everything except for 242. Channels 219,221,222, 268,269, 277,278,279,280 were all to be added today and are coming in fine (well, quality on some of the secondary channels is not great). I'm not getting anything on 242.



UGH! Do you have the Sports package? I want F1 in 480p!


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p

Manassas confirmed 219 MPT-HD 221 FX HD 222 Fox News HD 242 SPeed HD thanks


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chrisherbert* /forum/post/16258520
> 
> 
> How does MPT compare to WETA? WETA looks like garbage.



MPT also shows a ton of programming completely windowboxed on their HD channel, which is really annoying. I've even seen it switch back in forth in the middle of a program.


----------



## systems2000

I've contacted MPT several times about their annoying habit of "Side-Pillars' on 16:9 material. If I find the same program on WV PBS, I'll watch it there instead.


NOTE: Supposedly, PA PBS (WITF) is doing the same thing. I don't get WITF digitally and can't confirm this, until W38AN-DT comes online.


----------



## nottenst

Has anyone done a Comcast QAM scan and seen if anything has changed along with their digital channel changes?


----------



## ojready




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/16263591
> 
> 
> Has anyone done a Comcast QAM scan and seen if anything has changed along with their digital channel changes?



I'm not sure what you mean exactly, but I have a Pinnacle PCTV HD card and ALL the clearqam channels from comcast (alex) are encrypted.


----------



## alexandriahokie

I'm not getting 221, 222 and 242 in Alexandria - it says it isn't authorized (but, of course, all the new MPT stations worked). They put a ticket in. If anyone else in Alexandria/Arlington isn't getting those channels can you please call Comcast? They said if someone else calls they will get on it fast. Otherwise...I'm waiting until some TBD point. Thanks.


----------



## Potatoehead




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/16263591
> 
> 
> Has anyone done a Comcast QAM scan and seen if anything has changed along with their digital channel changes?



We have had many changes over the last couple of weeks. All analog channels are now also available in low-def digital in clear QAM. A few more changes (stations were moved around) were made this morning with the addition of MPT. Of course it could be different with your part of the system.


----------



## cpldc

WJLA is back to 720p, fortunately. The picture looks to be back to normal.


----------



## maestro73




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *alexandriahokie* /forum/post/16266072
> 
> 
> I'm not getting 221, 222 and 242 in Alexandria - it says it isn't authorized (but, of course, all the new MPT stations worked). They put a ticket in. If anyone else in Alexandria/Arlington isn't getting those channels can you please call Comcast? They said if someone else calls they will get on it fast. Otherwise...I'm waiting until some TBD point. Thanks.



Not sure if your issue was resolved, but the same thing happened to me. I rebooted the box a couple of times (the second time I unplugged it for a good 10 minutes) and everything eventually worked. I did experience sound breakups every 30-60 seconds but that went away after the second reboot and unplugging/replugging all my HDMI cables. Could have been a handshake issue.


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/16263591
> 
> 
> Has anyone done a Comcast QAM scan and seen if anything has changed along with their digital channel changes?



Any changes are relative to your specific location. I think you have the same connection as mine, and th only change I have noted is that channel 22, which was MPT, is now gone.


----------



## lax01

North Bethesda has Speed-HD and FX-HD


w00t!


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/16262459
> 
> 
> All changes were made this morning, except the most important one: WETA-SD and Cartoon Network are still analog. WETA HD looks good so far.



Channels are now digital only.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *alexandriahokie* /forum/post/16266072
> 
> 
> I'm not getting 221, 222 and 242 in Alexandria - it says it isn't authorized (but, of course, all the new MPT stations worked). They put a ticket in. If anyone else in Alexandria/Arlington isn't getting those channels can you please call Comcast? They said if someone else calls they will get on it fast. Otherwise...I'm waiting until some TBD point. Thanks.



I had the same message. I did some things, came back half an hour later and started to call Comcast then just flipped to the channel and BAM they were there. This was about 6-630PM. SO maybe they forgot to do something.


I am still getting breakups on MASN HD though. It's like the signal is too weak or something...


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/16267980
> 
> 
> Any changes are relative to your specific location. I think you have the same connection as mine, and th only change I have noted is that channel 22, which was MPT, is now gone.



That was what I wanted to know. I had been wondering whether any channels were now clear that weren't before or were no longer clear that were or if anything moved. At the moment the network channels that I watched last night were in the same location.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lax01* /forum/post/16268626
> 
> 
> North Bethesda has Speed-HD and FX-HD
> 
> 
> w00t!



"North Bethesda" - and by that you mean Rockville? There's nothing wrong with Rockville, why do so many of you insist on pretending you live somewhere else?


----------



## lax01




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/16271550
> 
> 
> "North Bethesda" - and by that you mean Rockville? There's nothing wrong with Rockville, why do so many of you insist on pretending you live somewhere else?



lol I actually didn't mean it that way...I just wasn't sure if all of MoCo county was on the same channel line-up. Also, when I searched on the Comcast site for my zip code, it showed 20852 as North Bethesda. I typically write Rockville as my address on all mail too...


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/16263591
> 
> 
> Has anyone done a Comcast QAM scan and seen if anything has changed along with their digital channel changes?



In PG: MPT SD on 22 is now gone

before: 133-1 through 4 was MHz 30 and the subchannels, 133-7 my20

after: 133-1 my 20, 133-2 through 4 MPT HD and the subchannels


shopNBC moved from 106-5 to 106-6, oxygen moved from 110-11 to 110-10, style is still on 51


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/16271550
> 
> 
> "North Bethesda" - and by that you mean Rockville? There's nothing wrong with Rockville, why do so many of you insist on pretending you live somewhere else?



Don't forget "North Potomac" aka Gaithersburg.










I of course live in Rural affluent Boyds, as opposed to Germantown which zipcode wise is about 300 yards away.


----------



## silentbob1974

I have a TiVo Series 3 + CableCARD. The new channel lineup (with the sports package networks in the 700s) appears to have been implemented, but my TiVo program guide isn't based on the new lineup. Any idea how to make that happen?


----------



## Ken H

WBFF will replay House and 24 on Saturday


WBFF (Channel 45) has set a time for the replays of the Monday night episodes of House and 24 that were disrupted by problems in transmission.


House will air Saturday at 1 p.m. followed by 24 at 2 p.m., according to Bill Fanshawe, general manager of the station. The House replay is a bit of a victory, because normally episodes are delayed eight days even online. Fanshawe had to get permission from Fox and the Writers Guild of America for the Saturday replays.


"Again, we apologize to viewers," Fanshawe said Wednesday in an interview. "And we are grateful and excited that Fox and the Writers Guild are allowing us to air the shows Saturday."


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/16272875
> 
> 
> In PG: MPT SD on 22 is now gone
> 
> before: 133-1 through 4 was MHz 30 and the subchannels, 133-7 my20
> 
> after: 133-1 my 20, 133-2 through 4 MPT HD and the subchannels
> 
> 
> shopNBC moved from 106-5 to 106-6, oxygen moved from 110-11 to 110-10, style is still on 51



I did a scan last night and saw similar results, though I had digital MPT on 133-1,2,3 and My20 on 133-4. 93-X has a whole bunch of Sports on Demand displays, an MLB extra innings display and there were some games actually playing on some of them last night. I don't know if that was because someone in the area had ordered it or if they were really available.


I saw MASN on 102-510. 22-X had a whole bunch of foreign language channels. Our local town channels were put on 104-x in addition to their usual analog area. Some weird subchannel locations which may have been in these places before - I saw a version of My20 on 84-18, TruTV on 83-121, Bravo on 103-86, and ABC Family on 103-120. A&E HD was on 134-2.


----------



## afiggatt

*WPXW-DT Ion 66 goes HD*

Sometime in the last several days, WPXW-DT Ion 66 (currently DT 43) finally switched to 720p HD on their 66.1 main sub-channel. I had not checked in several days, so I don't know if they switched yesterday or earlier in the week. As of this morning, the satellite WWPX-DT Ion 60 (DT 12) station in Martinsburg, WV was still SD on 60.1. Now we have to check to see if any of the movies and prime time series repeats are in HD. Reports are that Boston Legal and NCIS are being shown in HD.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16278351
> 
> *WPXW-DT Ion 66 goes HD*
> 
> Sometime in the last several days, WPXW-DT Ion 66 (currently DT 43) finally switched to 720p HD on their 66.1 main sub-channel... Now we have to check to see if any of the movies and prime time series repeats are in HD. Reports are that Boston Legal and NCIS are being shown in HD.



WPXV/49 in SE VA went HD yesterday... The 1998 movie "You've Got Mail" which ran twice yesterday was in HD...


----------



## systems2000

With the fog this morning, I'm getting better reception and able to get a better read on my setup. After doing a rescan at 189°M, I was able to temporarily add WBAL, WRC-DT, MHz, and Ion (66 out of D.C.).


I also found that I'm showing analog on 2, 3 (WHSV - 100.5 miles), 4, 5, 6 (ABC - Back-side reception of WJAC-TV? - 77.4 miles), 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 20, 22, 23 (WDAW-LP? - 77.52 miles), 24, 25, 26, 28, 31, 32, 38, 42, 46, 47, 48 (WAZW-CA? - 52.82 miles), 49, 50 (Co-Channel Interference), 51, 53, 54, 56, 57, 60, 61, 62, 64, 65, 66, & 67.


This might explain why I have specific problems getting WLYH-DT, WATM-DT, WTAJ-DT, WJZ-DT, WBFF-DT, WPMT-DT, WRC-DT, WDCW-DT and other DTV stations based on antenna direction. Looks like my situation isn't going to get optimum, until June 12th.


----------



## systems2000

I found it interesting to tune to channel 37 and see how little noise was being produced. Made for a nice baseline comparison.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16278351
> 
> *WPXW-DT Ion 66 goes HD*
> 
> Sometime in the last several days, WPXW-DT Ion 66 (currently DT 43) finally switched to 720p HD on their 66.1 main sub-channel. I had not checked in several days, so I don't know if they switched yesterday or earlier in the week. As of this morning, the satellite WWPX-DT Ion 60 (DT 12) station in Martinsburg, WV was still SD on 60.1. Now we have to check to see if any of the movies and prime time series repeats are in HD. Reports are that Boston Legal and NCIS are being shown in HD.



I wonder if Comcast will carry it here. I have Ion and Ion Life in SD.


----------



## afiggatt

WFPT-TV MPT 62 in Frederick was supposed to turn off their analog broadcast today and it appears they have done so. So WFPT 62 is now digital only on UHF 28. This is the only station that in both DC and Baltimore that was shutting down analog after February 17 and before the big shutdown & channel shuffle on June 12.


----------



## gmucklow

Anybody else notice WHUT transmitting a blank screen on their digital virtual channel 32-1 on OTA RF channel 33 for the last few days?


----------



## machpost

Yesterday RCN in D.C. switched channel 615 from Ion-HD to WPXW-HD. WPXW doesn't broadcast any local programming that I'm aware of, though.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gmucklow* /forum/post/16284029
> 
> 
> Anybody else notice WHUT transmitting a blank screen on their digital virtual channel 32-1 on OTA RF channel 33 for the last few days?



Yeah, I saw that too. I almost thought it was bug in my DVR.


----------



## Falcon_77




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16282856
> 
> 
> WFPT-TV MPT 62 in Frederick was supposed to turn off their analog broadcast today and it appears they have done so. So WFPT 62 is now digital only on UHF 28. This is the only station that in both DC and Baltimore that was shutting down analog after February 17 and before the big shutdown & channel shuffle on June 12.



Is more time really helping? On the main delay thread, I noticed that DC is reported as being LESS prepared now at 3.7% completely unprepared vs. 3.3% on 3/1. Baltimore went in the opposite direction (0.99 vs. 2.77), which makes me wonder how reliable this data really is.


From what I've seen in the LA area, the educational efforts basically froze in early February after the vote and we still aren't back to where we were in December, at least as respects informational spots, website updates, etc.


Are any soft analog shut-off tests still being conducted? I can't get any info from the LA stations on this and I haven't seen any in a long time now.


----------



## Jack D

Can anyone explain to me how it is that, at least some of the time, when I'm watching HD movies from Comcast (through a TIVO box) the info pop up box says the audio is in stereo but when I look at my surround processor it says it's receiving a DD 5.1 audio stream? thx


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Falcon_77* /forum/post/16288174
> 
> 
> Is more time really helping? On the main delay thread, I noticed that DC is reported as being LESS prepared now at 3.7% completely unprepared vs. 3.3% on 3/1. Baltimore went in the opposite direction (0.99 vs. 2.77), which makes me wonder how reliable this data really is.
> 
> 
> From what I've seen in the LA area, the educational efforts basically froze in early February after the vote and we still aren't back to where we were in December, at least as respects informational spots, website updates, etc.
> 
> 
> Are any soft analog shut-off tests still being conducted? I can't get any info from the LA stations on this and I haven't seen any in a long time now.



I think there are a lot of questions about the reliability of the % not prepared for the analog shutdown numbers. Not an easy or simple number to measure. Still, those are the numbers that are being publicized and used. My guess is that % not prepared numbers will drop only marginally between now and June 12 as most of the remaining not prepared percentage are those who will do nothing until all the analog stations are off the air.


From what I have seen here, the on-air announcements for the shutdown went to almost zero in February. I have not heard about any soft analog shut-off tests, but I don't watch analog broadcast channels, so I wouldn't know unless it was in the news or posted here. The shutdown "tests" and scrolling announcement should start up again on the remaining analog stations as June 12 approaches, but I agree there was a major loss of momentum with the last minute 4 month postponement.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gmucklow* /forum/post/16284029
> 
> 
> Anybody else notice WHUT transmitting a blank screen on their digital virtual channel 32-1 on OTA RF channel 33 for the last few days?



You are right, that what I noticed the past several days several times channel surfing pass WHUT-DT. But I never watch WHUT-DT 32 as if I am going to watch PBS programming, I'll get it from the HD channels on MPT or WETA, even if they are bit starved HD. Have to wonder if anyone from WHUT 32 is even monitoring their digital broadcast?


----------



## Potatoehead

A while ago I received a card from comcast saying that beginning Apr. 15 we could get 2 free cable digital conversion boxes (they call them digital transport adapters) for use on TVs without clear QAM tuners. I picked one up today. After a few attempts, I got them to work properly. They are Pace boxes and are about 1 inch tall and 5 inches wide. The only connections on the back are Coax in and Coax out. Of course they only work on the clear QAM Lo-Def channels, but they added clear QAM digital duplicates of all of the analog channels recently. I pick up a few additional channels like 7.3 (RTN) over pure analog.


It seems to be working well and my older TV the digital picture is much better than the analog. On my HD set the difference is not so large. The old TV's analog tuners probably were not very good.


Hope this is a sign that we are moving towards an all digital cable.


----------



## maestro73




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/16209850
> 
> 
> Anyone else getting Breakups on MASN-HD?
> 
> 
> Lots of breakups on Comcast of Alexandria, almost unwatchable.



Joe...has this been occurring since you posted this message? I'm now expierencing periodic tiling and breakups with audio and picture.


Anyone else in Alex/Arl seeing issues?


Of course, Comcast has to crap the bed when the Sox are in HD.


----------



## carltonrice

So, when June 12th rolls around, I wonder what stations in the Baltimore/Washington area will still be broadcasting SD news. And, how long will it be before the syndication and daytime network programs all become HD or at least widescreen SD.


----------



## DC_SnDvl

Wrc



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/16292097
> 
> 
> so, when june 12th rolls around, i wonder what stations in the baltimore/washington area will still be broadcasting sd news. And, how long will it be before the syndication and daytime network programs all become hd or at least widescreen sd.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/16292097
> 
> 
> So, when June 12th rolls around, I wonder what stations in the Baltimore/Washington area will still be broadcasting SD news. And, how long will it be before the syndication and daytime network programs all become HD or at least widescreen SD.



Which year? 2010? WRC.


----------



## biker19

 http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...7FoBQD97LV98G0 




> Quote:
> Washington will be the first U.S. city to get free digital TV broadcasts for mobile devices like cell phones, laptop computers and in-car entertainment systems, broadcasters were set to announce Monday.
> 
> 
> Broadcasts using new "mobile DTV" technology are expected to begin in late summer from five stations: local affiliates of CBS, NBC, PBS and Ion and one independent station owned by Fox.



If this is true, the stations must already be working on the equipment for this. Like the June 12 work is not enough. Yay, now you can get TV in your car while driving around the Beltway.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *maestro73* /forum/post/16289662
> 
> 
> Joe...has this been occurring since you posted this message? I'm now expierencing periodic tiling and breakups with audio and picture.
> 
> 
> Anyone else in Alex/Arl seeing issues?
> 
> 
> Of course, Comcast has to crap the bed when the Sox are in HD.



I am still getting it. It's been hell all weekend. Only got to see the Friday game in HD. The rest of the games my box was unable to pick up a signal for MASN-HD, both my TIVO and my SA Box. I think it's jammed in with Science Channel, Disney and Family Channel. All of those are either breaking up or don't get tuned...everything else is fine though.


----------



## maestro73

Ok thanks. With me, everything else is fine except MASN-HD. I went throught this last year, although the situation was much worse then (many channels). I hope it's not the beginning of the same issue. I sent some emails but as of last night it was still crapping out.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/16301972
> 
> 
> If this is true, the stations must already be working on the equipment for this. Like the June 12 work is not enough. Yay, now you can get TV in your car while driving around the Beltway.



The first city? You mean the launch in Raleigh last week wasn't the first?










I wish these things would at least try to make sense...


- Trip


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16302275
> 
> 
> The first city? You mean the launch in Raleigh last week wasn't the first?



Some folks consider the Raleigh roll out just a "test" case. Not sure what will be different in DC - the number of devices with which to recieve this stuff will still be very limited.


Just thought of something - what RF freq will this use?


----------



## CycloneGT

I keep staring at my G1 thinking about all of the Computer Technology that they somehow fit into this little device. I compare it to desktop PC and I come away thinking about how remarkable it is that they somehow have managed to fit so much into a little computer. Off the top of my head the following features come to mind.


1. Cellular Phone

2. 3G Radio

3. 2G Edge Radio

4. 802.11 WiFi

5. Linux Computing Platform (ie a embed PC)

6. MicroSD media storage

7. Keyboard

8. Trackball

9. 3.? Megapixel camera

10. Speaker Phone

11. Bluetooth.

12. USB connectivity

13. Rechargable battery

14. Color Video Screen

15. Touchscreen controls.

16. GPS

17. Compass / Accelerometer orientation.


I'm sure there are even a few more that I am missing. But one thing that stood out when I was watching a Youtube clip on the thing, or a Formula One race that I had transferred from my PC, was that it could not watch OTA TV. I mean why can't it? It already performs four kinds of a radio communications, is TV that much harder? It already has the Video and Audio capabilities built in. Add a big enough class 6 MicroSD card and heck, it could even theoretically act as a DVR.


But I dismissed those thoughts remembering articles before about how ATSC didn't work for mobile vehicles and that it had to do with modulation and 8VSB vs CODFM [sic]. So to see today's announcement is quite a surprise, but a welcomed one.


I would really like to be able to tune into the local channels with my phone. And with such a small screen size, I likely won't be complaining about PQ either.


Articles at:

http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/17674.cfm 


and

http://www.dcrtv.com 


More info at http://www.omvc.org/ 



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DCRTV* /forum/post/0
> 
> *DC Broadcasters To Offer Free Mobile DTV - 4/20 -* Broadcasters are set to announce later today that Washington DC will be the first city in the US to receive free digital TV broadcasts for mobile phones, laptops, and in-car entertainment systems. The broadcasts using "mobile DTV" technology will hit the market in July or August and will come from the local affiliates of CBS (WUSA 9), NBC (WRC 4), PBS (WETA 26), Fox (WTTG 5), and Ion (WPXW 66). More from afterdawn.com.....



I guess my confusion lies with how this will be transmitted. Are the existing ATSC tranmissions going to somehow be modified to be "mobile friendly" or are there going to be an entire 2nd set of TV transmissions taking place? And to think, I thought that all of this digital TV new was about over.


----------



## Trip in VA

What confused me was the way it said "an independent station owned by Fox" which is to say NOT WTTG. (I'd e-mail DCRTV Dave but he usually ignores me.) I'm assuming they mean WDCA, which is not independent, but who knows.


- Trip


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/16302494
> 
> 
> Some folks consider the Raleigh roll out just a "test" case. Not sure what will be different in DC - the number of devices with which to recieve this stuff will still be very limited.
> 
> 
> Just thought of something - what RF freq will this use?



The same ones they'll be using post-transition. It's not a separate service.


- Trip


----------



## Gerald C




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/16303086
> 
> 
> I guess my confusion lies with how this will be transmitted. Are the existing ATSC tranmissions going to somehow be modified to be "mobile friendly" or are there going to be an entire 2nd set of TV transmissions taking place?



Mobile DTV will be transmitted within the ATSC datastream. This does require some additional equipment, and of course bandwidth. Depending on how many channels a broadcaster chooses to devote to M-DTV and the quality factor (the standard allows up to 480p), significant bandwidth can theoretically be used - e.g. 1-5 Mb - which gets subtracted from the 19.4 Mb total available.


----------



## Trip in VA

Each "section" of bandwidth used by Mobile DTV is a fixed 0.917 Mbps, so any bandwidth used is in multiples of that. WRAL in Raleigh is using 3 sections, I have a capture of KKPX in San Francisco while they were testing with 4 sections, and right now in Las Vegas they're demoing at the NAB show with 8 sections on KVMY. (I think 8 is the limit)

http://www.rabbitears.info/screencap...l/8688-0_0.htm 


This is a capture from WRAL-DT. TSReader doesn't know how to interpret the Mobile DTV part yet, but you can see its bandwidth usage if you scroll all the way to the bottom and note the 0x1eee feed.


- Trip


----------



## djp952

I was really hoping mobile DTV would fade away into obscurity, but it seems to be gaining speed?


I don't want to sound like a broken record, but aren't we already getting a bad enough picture from some of the locals? Pretty soon we'll be down to under 10Mb/s for a 1080i stream here.


Not that anyone here can do anything about it, I'm just upset that I've spent so much time and money and effort on DTV over the past few years and all that's happened is the picture has gotten worse and worse as time went on.


I personally think mobile DTV should be done as either LP transmissions on unused TV frequencies or even stick in the cell phone spectrums. The TV frequencies are so low it's going to be hard to have an effective antenna that fits in a PDA/cell phone/iPod as it is. Can you imagine the feat required to get a channel like WBAL, on VHF 11, broadcasting at whatever their new really low ERP is from a handheld device? Just doesn't make a lot of sense to me.


Sorry to be so off-topic.


----------



## Trip in VA

Mobile DTV hasn't had a chance to fail or succeed yet. I can't see cell phone companies allowing mobile DTV into their phones. That'll seriously harm its ability to go anywhere.


It's difficult to know exactly what the future is with regard to mobile DTV. There's no clear cut "this will fail" or "this will succeed" like there are with some other technologies.


- Trip


----------



## chrisherbert

Ugh, more junk to steal bandwidth from the HD subchannel.


Why can't local stations provide cable/sat/fiber providers with a separate, high quality version of their HD channel? Why do they have to use the same compressed version that goes out over the air?


----------



## systems2000

How do I find data on two cell towers I have close to me? I'd like to get the GPS on these towers, along with height and transmitting frequencies.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16307102
> 
> 
> How do I find data on two cell towers I have close to me? I'd like to get the GPS on these towers, along with height and transmitting frequencies.



I like www.cellreception.com though you're not going to learn anything about the transmitting frequencies. If the tower is owned by the company you might be able to tell, else you won't even be able to tell who's on it.


The FCC no longer requires cell phone operators to register new cell sites, so using the FCC site is limited at best, and for operators in the 1.9 GHz band, there aren't any cell site registrations as far as I can tell.


- Trip


----------



## Falcon_77




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16306476
> 
> 
> I can't see cell phone companies allowing mobile DTV into their phones. That'll seriously harm its ability to go anywhere.



Why would it harm the ability to go anywhere? Can't people just tune into the locals by market?


I don't think cell phone companies just want to charge a premium for the service, whether or not it comes OTA or through the cell network by way of their back-end deals.


Also, TV stations should choose between having Mobile DTV or fewer/no subs. Having multiple subs, mobile DTV and an HD main would place a serious strain on bandwidth.


Having all the locals share Mobile DTV facilities on a separate channel sounds too logical to ever get anywhere.










...not that we can spare a full power channel in some markets, though perhaps a 15kW LP facility would be sufficient.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Falcon_77* /forum/post/16307255
> 
> 
> Why would it harm the ability to go anywhere? Can't people just tune into the locals by market?



If their cell phone has that feature locked out/disabled, they really can't tune anything. And I doubt people will want to carry yet another device when their MP3 player will do video for them as well.



> Quote:
> I don't think cell phone companies just want to charge a premium for the service, whether or not it comes OTA or through the cell network by way of their back-end deals.



I have US Cellular, so I wouldn't know anything about it, but I've had Verizon customers tell me things like Bluetooth are locked out for them. I would not be the least bit surprised to find the free OTA service locked out so as to force people to buy their own service.


- Trip


----------



## systems2000

Thanks Trip,


It supplied some information, but the two towers close to my house were not in the database.







I guess I'll be taking a short road trip to the towers and see if there is some posted information.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Gerald C* /forum/post/16303620
> 
> 
> Mobile DTV will be transmitted within the ATSC datastream. This does require some additional equipment, and of course bandwidth.



That's what I thought, but then was confused as to how a "regular" ATSC stream that can't be recieved in a mobile environment, then is somehow "modified" and then all of a sudden it can be recieved.










Some details of the spec can be found in http://www.atsc.org/standards/cs_doc...1-ATSC-M-H.pdf - it is interesting to note that it uses MPEG4 for video and AAC for audio


I do foresee a potential problem - the info contained in the ATSC M/H stream may confuse some improperly programmed older DTV recievers (cause when they were desigend ATSC M/H did not exist) and cause issues. I'm thinking of cheap CECBs and such.


With the M/H stream being IP transport based all kinds of things could be piped in there, besides video. I could see lots of stuff being put in there and eventually stations could (years down the road) switch their main progamming to the M/H side of the ATSC stream and make the legacy ATSC stream a single SD ch.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16308151
> 
> 
> Thanks Trip,
> 
> 
> It supplied some information, but the two towers close to my house were not in the database.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I guess I'll be taking a short road trip to the towers and see if there is some posted information.



All towers have to have their ASR (antenna structure registration) number posted in plain sight. You can look up the owners info here: http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrS...tionSearch.jsp 

or here: http://www.fccinfo.com/cmdpro.php?sz=L&wd=1280 


On the FCCinfo page, which, BTW, isn't associated with the FCC, you can also look up TV or radio station licenses within any distance of given coordinates. What I've done is to look up the ASR to get the coordinates, then use the coordinates to find out who's on the tower.


.

Sorry, I didn't realize that you were talking about cell phone towers. If they are over 200 feet, they will still have an ASR number, though.


----------



## systems2000

I've got the owners of both towers now. Cingular on the one at 7° (1.3 KM) and Shenendoah Personal Communications on the other at 171.5° (D.C. stations are at 173.5°).


I have 12 other ones within 10 KM of my house.


----------



## systems2000

I also have four AM stations and 10 FM stations within 15 KM. All my local television stations are beyond 20 KM.


Sometime over the weekend, I received severe electrical interference across all my VHF stations (I forgot to check channel 20). It lasted for at least five min. I just realized that at the base of the SPC tower is the local PennDOT yard and next to that is a multi-function auction house. I'll bet they do welding at those locations. There's also a backyard racer close by too.


----------



## dg28

From Paul Farhi's online chat today at www.washingtonpost.com

_Reston, Va.: The thing I hate about local news is when the station you like best is the only one whose news is not in HD. I'm looking at you, Channel 4.


Paul Farhi: Well, that's going to change in a few weeks..._


----------



## systems2000

I talked to the Man-In-The-Know at SPC and the tower is 195' and operating A-Band.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16312947
> 
> 
> I talked to the Man-In-The-Know at SPC and the tower is 195' and operating A-Band.



If it means what I think it means, the A channel block is in the 850 MHz band.


- Trip


----------



## Marcus Carr

How long has King of Queens been in HD on WBFF?


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/16314531
> 
> 
> How long has King of Queens been in HD on WBFF?



at least a year


----------



## mdviewer25

Is there anyone out there who can pick up TNT HD in the clear unencrypted? It is so annoying having video and no audio especially now during the NBA playoffs. It would be nice to see more than just the Sunday ABC game (which is usually Kobe's Lakers or LeBron's Cavs) in HD.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/16314622
> 
> 
> Is there anyone out there who can pick up TNT HD in the clear unencrypted? It is so annoying having video and no audio especially now during the NBA playoffs. It would be nice to see more than just the Sunday ABC game (which is usually Kobe's Lakers or LeBron's Cavs) in HD.



We had TNT-HD via clear-QAM here in AA County for a long while. It's been encrypted now for a few months. One thing I noticed is that the audio would sometimes be absent. Not sure why that happens on some clear QAM channels. WTTG-DT also had this audio issue (on non Comcast equipment only).


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/16312390
> 
> 
> From Paul Farhi's online chat today at www.washingtonpost.com
> 
> _Reston, Va.: The thing I hate about local news is when the station you like best is the only one whose news is not in HD. I'm looking at you, Channel 4.
> 
> 
> Paul Farhi: Well, that's going to change in a few weeks..._



I'll believe it when I see it. This would be huge for WRC. Despite every other local broadcasting their local news in HD, I still turn to channel 4 first.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

I did notice that the channel 4 newcast appeared to be from a corner of a room the other day and not from the usual studio.


----------



## Digital Rules

Is it just me, or does WNUV-DT 54 have serious audio sync issues? The motion is very jerky, but the PQ is excellent otherwise. I notice this on all our TV's.


Just watched WBOC-DT 16 news for the first time in HD. Very impressive production quality for such a small market. The graphics are right up there with WBAL-DT 11. Can't understand why WRC is so far behind the ball?????


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/16315117
> 
> 
> I'll believe it when I see it. This would be huge for WRC. Despite every other local broadcasting their local news in HD, I still turn to channel 4 first.



Word was that WRC would go through the same rebranding that the New York affiliate did. It took them three months to rebuild everything from the ground up there, and I think we're about three or four months since that job was completed. We haven't heard anything out of WRC on that front though.


----------



## aaronwt

What happened to WTTG 5-1 yesterday? They were not broadcasting in HD last night. I was going to watch Fringe, but since it wasn't in HD, I couldn't put myself through the pain of watching an SD show.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16316080
> 
> 
> Is it just me, or does WNUV-DT 54 have serious audio sync issues? The motion is very jerky, but the PQ is excellent otherwise. I notice this on all our TV's.



I had the same problem before I lost WJZ-DT & WNUV-DT, due to WJAL-DT (39) powering up. I found that if you detune your antenna, it helps to clean up the problem.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/16317091
> 
> 
> What happened to WTTG 5-1 yesterday? They were not broadcasting in HD last night. I was going to watch Fringe, but since it wasn't in HD, I couldn't put myself through the pain of watching an SD show.



I was quite surprised last night in watching Fringe. Seeing it both letter-boxed and pillor-boxed was not a pleasant surprise.


Later, WJLA swtiched from HD to SD for at least 10 minutes (probably more) during The Unusuals.


I am assuming that it is the stations and not Comcast doing this.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16316080
> 
> 
> Is it just me, or does WNUV-DT 54 have serious audio sync issues? The motion is very jerky, but the PQ is excellent otherwise. I notice this on all our TV's.
> 
> 
> Just watched WBOC-DT 16 news for the first time in HD. Very impressive production quality for such a small market. The graphics are right up there with WBAL-DT 11. Can't understand why WRC is so far behind the ball?????



What kind of TVs do you have? I've heard of a couple of problems when people are viewing WNUV on Samsung and Sanyo TVs, but it's rare. I haven't been able to replicate the problem here, and it's odd that WBFF doesn't seem to have the same issue, since it's set up exactly the same way...


.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/16317517
> 
> 
> I was quite surprised last night in watching Fringe. Seeing it both letter-boxed and pillor-boxed was not a pleasant surprise.
> 
> 
> Later, WJLA swtiched from HD to SD for at least 10 minutes (probably more) during The Unusuals.
> 
> 
> I am assuming that it is the stations and not Comcast doing this.



Yes WTTG primetime was in SD last night, but WBFF was in HD.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/16317554
> 
> 
> What kind of TVs do you have? I've heard of a couple of problems when people are viewing WNUV on Samsung and Sanyo TVs, but it's rare. I haven't been able to replicate the problem here, and it's odd that WBFF doesn't seem to have the same issue, since it's set up exactly the same way...
> 
> 
> .



Thanks Mark,


It is in fact a Samsung TV, but I've I have seen the same thing on the CM 7000 CECB. It seems to happen on HD only FWIW. I'll re-check my CECB's again next time I see it happen to make sure.


Thanks also to Systems 2000. I'll try adjusting the antenna next time also.










On a side note, what is the best way to contact the FCC regarding a PSIP issue from a station. The WMDO-DT 47 issue has not been resolved and it is quite annoying on my new TV.










Thanks again!!


----------



## raidbuck

I'm in Harford County. I was wondering why we don't have WETAHD like Baltimore has? Usually we are the same as the city.


I'm also wondering why we don't have MLBHD yet. I thought we would get it Apr 1st, then April 14th, still nothing.


Thanks,


Rich N.


----------



## systems2000

To remind everyone, I had the WNUV-DT "Freezing" problem on all the CECB's that I've tested and it would be at it's worst when "Primetime" programming was being shown.


Granted, it did happen at other times also, but not nearly as annoying. Since I didn't get WBFF-DT, I can't give a comparison between the two.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *raidbuck* /forum/post/16319503
> 
> 
> I'm in Harford County. I was wondering why we don't have WETAHD like Baltimore has? Usually we are the same as the city.
> 
> 
> I'm also wondering why we don't have MLBHD yet. I thought we would get it Apr 1st, then April 14th, still nothing.
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> 
> Rich N.



I believe it has something to do with the FCC's 50 mile must carry rule. If I'm correct, the cable company doesn't have to/can't carry any station outside the 50 mile radius if there is a closer affiliate available.


----------



## systems2000

Well, I've found that the SPC tower is 152°M at .69 KM distance. FCC TVQuery says WUSA-DT is at 152.63°.


I don't know how this information changes anything:


> Quote:
> License, application, and construction permit (CP) coordinates shown in the TV Query are *NAD 27* coordinates.
> 
> Antenna Structure Registration (ASR) coordinates are *NAD 83*.



Pretty good information tool at this link: http://boulter.com/gps/distance/


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16316080
> 
> 
> Is it just me, or does WNUV-DT 54 have serious audio sync issues? The motion is very jerky, but the PQ is excellent otherwise. I notice this on all our TV's......




My USDTV box blinks every couple of seconds during HD programming. I noticed that last night during CW primetime programming and during House of Payne


----------



## aptt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> From Paul Farhi's online chat today at www.washingtonpost.com
> 
> 
> Reston, Va.: The thing I hate about local news is when the station you like best is the only one whose news is not in HD. I'm looking at you, Channel 4.
> 
> 
> Paul Farhi: Well, that's going to change in a few weeks...



So there is a good chance News4HD might premiere in time for May sweeps.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/16317091
> 
> 
> What happened to WTTG 5-1 yesterday? They were not broadcasting in HD last night. I was going to watch Fringe, but since it wasn't in HD, I couldn't put myself through the pain of watching an SD show.



I have used the contact us form on their website to request them to replay it in HD. I'm sure my request will be forwarded to /dev/null.










BTW, I didn't watch the SD version either. Too painful. haha.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/16317554
> 
> 
> What kind of TVs do you have? I've heard of a couple of problems when people are viewing WNUV on Samsung and Sanyo TVs, but it's rare. I haven't been able to replicate the problem here, and it's odd that WBFF doesn't seem to have the same issue, since it's set up exactly the same way...
> 
> 
> .



My Dynex TV (made by Samsung) does the same thing. Fortunately, I don't watch that TV, my wife's usually busy watching Idol on it...


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/16321949
> 
> 
> I have used the contact us form on their website to request them to replay it in HD. I'm sure my request will be forwarded to /dev/null.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BTW, I didn't watch the SD version either. Too painful. haha.



I guess I'll be renting it from Amazon in HD on my TiVo later this week. I don't really want to pay $3 to watch it, but I also have no desire to watch it in SD.


----------



## systems2000

Playing with my configuration lately, I was able to watch WJZ-DT tonight and was wondering why the 20:00-20:30 show looked washed out? WTTG-TV audio right now is almost non-existent.


I've been also noticing lately that WWPX-DT runs infomercials, while WWPX-TV runs the 700 Club most mornings. What's going on there?


I've been getting reception from 66 (WPXW-DT) & 67 (WMPB-DT) digital lately. I'll be putting up a M8 this weekend.


----------



## systems2000

While reviewing my DTV channel list information, I just realized why I'm not able to get some DTV stations:


WHP-DT (21 (CBS)) is blocked by WRC-TV (4 (NBC))

WHTM-DT (27 (ABC)) is blocked by WTAJ-TV (10 (CBS))

WLYH-DT (15 (CW)) is blocked by WATM-TV (23 (ABC))

WATM-DT (23 (ABC)) is blocked by WUTB-TV (24 (MyN))

WJLA-DT (7 (ABC)) is blocked by WJAL-DT (68)

WDCW-DT (50 (CW)) is blocked by W50DE (50 (WV PBS))


This continues to re-enforce my dislike for the Transition Delay.







At least it's given me the chance to continue trying different designs and configurations. It would be more work with only digital and not having a Spectrum Analyzer.


I forgot to mention that I've also been picking up WFDC-DT lately.


----------



## systems2000

Does anyone know what a "_Class A Study for 2nd Round_" refers to?


I see WJAL (39) has an application for a DM (at 83 KW mounted at 168 Meters) on the same tower as WRC (NBC Telemundo), WMDO (Entravision), WFDC (Telefutura), and WWTD DC Broadcasting.

*NOTE:* WJAL is owned by Entravision.


----------



## Trip in VA

If I had to guess, it's probably a study to determine whether or not the station would interfere with an existing class A station.


Their petition to relocate to Silver Spring has been denied but they've appealed it. Entravision wants to put WJAL-DT in Washington for TeleFutura I believe.


(WMDO-LD and WFDC-DT are both owned by Entravision, by the way. WFDC-DT is Univision now.)


- Trip


----------



## nottenst

An article in today's Washington Post about the removal of MPT from Comcast's analog tier:


> Quote:
> MPT's Digital Move Angers Cable Viewers
> 
> By Paul Farhi
> 
> Washington Post Staff Writer
> 
> Thursday, April 23, 2009
> 
> 
> Message to cable companies: Don't mess with public TV. If you do, you'll hear about it.
> 
> 
> For the past week, confused and angry viewers have flooded Comcast cable systems and Maryland Public Television (MPT) with calls and e-mails, all of them essentially imploring, "I want my MPT!" The inquiries and outrage came after Comcast moved the public broadcasting station from its "basic" lineup of channels to the digital tier on cable systems throughout the Washington area.
> 
> 
> The problem: A lot of Comcast's customers don't subscribe to digital cable, and thus can no longer receive MPT. The only way to do so now is to get a digital converter box from Comcast, or install a pair of rabbit-ear antennas and pull it in over the air.
> 
> 
> Neither Comcast nor MPT will say how many people have protested the change or called with questions, but the change affected tens of thousands of cable homes in Montgomery, Prince George's, Frederick, Calvert and Charles counties in Maryland, as well as in the District, and Arlington, Alexandria, Loudoun and Prince William counties and Reston in Northern Virginia. "We've had quite a few calls," said MPT spokesman Michael Golden, declining to offer a specific count. "More than 'many.' "
> 
> 
> Access to Washington area viewers is of critical importance to MPT, which is based in the Baltimore suburb of Owings Mills, because local viewers are some of its largest pledge-drive contributors. Losing a portion of these viewers, and their donations, could hurt at a time when public broadcasters are under financial pressure.
> 
> 
> Comcast said it moved MPT with the station's consent and cooperation. Since the cable company already offers its Washington area basic subscribers two other public TV stations, Arlington-based WETA and District-based WHUT, the Philadelphia-based cable giant decided to move MPT off basic, said Jaye Linnen, a Comcast spokeswoman. WETA and WHUT carry some, but not all, of the same PBS programs as MPT.
> 
> 
> MPT didn't come away empty-handed. In addition to MPT's main channel, Comcast also added two other MPT offerings to its Washington area digital lineup, MPT-2 and V-me, a Spanish-language channel. "We think it's good for consumers of public broadcasting that they have more choice, and more programming to choose from than they had before," Golden said.
> 
> 
> Comcast said it will offer digital converter boxes to anyone who still wants to watch MPT, but there's a slight catch. The boxes are free for a year; after that, customers will pay an additional $3.65 per month to rent the boxes.
> 
> 
> The move appears to have caught many viewers by surprise. MPT announced the change in a press release dated April 14 -- the same day the switch was made. According to Golden, Comcast alerted viewers to the change in their monthly bills for the last two months.
> 
> 
> Nevertheless, the whole episode infuriates Karen Travis, a Bethesda resident who has complained about the change to Comcast, MPT and local officials.
> 
> 
> MPT "is an important disseminator of information" about state and local politics, Travis said. "I woke up one morning and suddenly one of those sources of information was snatched away from me. It's particularly galling that I now have to pay a corporate behemoth like Comcast for it."
> 
> 
> What's more, as a Maryland resident, her taxes directly support MPT through state subsidies, she said. She's also contributed directly to MPT, but that could change: Travis said she's asked MPT for a refund.


 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...042203608.html


----------



## aaronwt

I'll be glad when all analog is gone from OTA and cable.


----------



## voltore




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aptt* /forum/post/16321077
> 
> 
> So there is a good chance News4HD might premiere in time for May sweeps.



May Sweeps start today(23rd) so, if true...... (But I doubt it!)


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16318329
> 
> 
> 
> On a side note, what is the best way to contact the FCC regarding a PSIP issue from a station. The WMDO-DT 47 issue has not been resolved and it is quite annoying on my new TV.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks again!!



I don't know if it's the "best way", but there's FCC contact info on the fcc.gov page here: http://www.fcc.gov/contacts.html , and here: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/bis.html .

.


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/16325652
> 
> 
> An article in today's Washington Post about the removal of MPT from Comcast's analog tier:
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...042203608.html



The information I receive about Comcast seldom matches my situation, because Comcast never gives any information about their QAM channels. I have been watching MPT on analog for many months, and my channel went dead a little over a week ago. I found MPT on a clear QAM digital channel 133-162 two days later, and it is now fine with a 1080i HD signal. I have the most basic Comcast connection at $15.00 per month.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/16323108
> 
> 
> I guess I'll be renting it from Amazon in HD on my TiVo later this week. I don't really want to pay $3 to watch it, but I also have no desire to watch it in SD.



Well, actually got a reply back from WTTG Engineering... short and sweet...


"Sorry, we will not."


Not exactly what I was hoping for. For reference, here is what I asked:


"Are you going to be replaying Fringe in HD since it was only shown in SD last night (4/21)?


Please let me know when it will be shown again in HD so that I can set my DVR to record it."


Oh well. Nuts.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/16325836
> 
> 
> I'll be glad when all analog is gone from OTA and cable.



So once analog is gone, are we still going to have the problem of the digital channels forgetting to flip the HD switch? Sometimes I notice on ABC 7 that they don't immediately flip the switch when they come back from commercial breaks. Will this be better after they don't have to support analog anymore? Heck, sometimes they wait a few minutes into the show after a commercial break before it switches back into HD. Very annoying.


----------



## systems2000

Why does it require a manual switch? The data stream can supply all the information the DTV sets need to set Aspect Ratios and quality format. Is it something to do with the Unions?


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16330236
> 
> 
> Why does it require a manual switch? The data stream can supply all the information the DTV sets need to set Aspect Ratios and quality format. Is it something to do with the Unions?



Something I've also wondered as well. Why, on a DIGITAL channel, is the feed not always DIGITAL? If the reason is "the commercials" why not convert them to digital immediately when you receive them? I know I'm going out on a limb here, but usually isn't a commercial shown more than once?


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/16329756
> 
> 
> So once analog is gone, are we still going to have the problem of the digital channels forgetting to flip the HD switch? Sometimes I notice on ABC 7 that they don't immediately flip the switch when they come back from commercial breaks. Will this be better after they don't have to support analog anymore? Heck, sometimes they wait a few minutes into the show after a commercial break before it switches back into HD. Very annoying.



The worst case I've seen was during The Unusuals on Tuesday night. Usually there is only a few seconds wait to get back into HD, but they must have switched into SD in order to put a wrap-around notice about the digital transition around the show and didn't switch back for what seemed like 10 minutes or so.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/16326128
> 
> 
> I don't know if it's the "best way", but there's FCC contact info on the fcc.gov page here: http://www.fcc.gov/contacts.html , and here: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/bis.html .
> 
> .



Thanks Mark,


I'll give it a shot. Too bad WMDO doesn't have a caring engineer like your station does.


----------



## raidbuck




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16320051
> 
> 
> I believe it has something to do with the FCC's 50 mile must carry rule. If I'm correct, the cable company doesn't have to/can't carry any station outside the 50 mile radius if there is a closer affiliate available.




Thanks for the information. Interestingly, we in Harford County still get WTTG-HD Fox from DC. It was added while Sinclair and Comcast couldn't reach an agreement and remains 2 years after the agreement was done.

I wanted WETA because it is a better station than MPT and shows more PBS digital/HD shows (IMHO). Oh well.....


Rich N.


----------



## systems2000

I've been seeing more transition ads from the stations lately. WJAL-DT is even running some. The most interesting one so far was the one WTTG-TV ran tonight. It showed a map of the surrounding Counties and they overlayed it with a reception circle. They then informed you that if you were on the edge, you'd need a high-gain antenna and anyone outside of the circles wouldn't be able to receive them at all. I'm way outside of their circle and get them great.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16338294
> 
> 
> I'm way outside of their circle and get them great.



Yeah, but dude .. you have like a 40' tower - not exactly indicative of the common man's aerial







lol.










I like that the stations are getting more serious about it and providing information like that, even if it's on the conservative side. That said, I don't see a need for any scrollers and/or more warnings on digital channels that aren't changing, like WTTG, since if you're seeing it already, you will continue to see it.


I liked what they did on WUSA last night, though. The message, while overly HUGE, was to warn that the channel is changing back to VHF and you might need a VHF antenna to continue to receive it after 6/12. I know more than a few people that didn't understand that part of the transisition, and am glad the broadcasters are making it known.


----------



## Dwight Shrute

Anyone with FIOS in MD, can you tell me if most of their HD channels are CCI blocked?


Comcast for me blocks nearly every HD channel I would ever want to record to my computer (ESPN, Discovery, TNT, Science, and Nat Geo).


----------



## mdviewer25

Is there anyway we can convince Comcast to unencrypt TNT HD for the NBA playoffs?


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dwight Shrute* /forum/post/16340444
> 
> 
> Anyone with FIOS in MD, can you tell me if most of their HD channels are CCI blocked?
> 
> 
> Comcast for me blocks nearly every HD channel I would ever want to record to my computer (ESPN, Discovery, TNT, Science, and Nat Geo).



No the channels are not blocked or locked down in Annapolis but I do have problems getting firewire working sometimes. It's weird; it'll start up just fine, but trails off to completely nonfunctional within 5 seconds. But most of the time it works just fine.


When I was on Comcast in Annapolis, they did not have channels blocked, so either that is a recent thing or you are misinterpreting something. You did not list a location, which may help us give you better information.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/16341959
> 
> 
> Is there anyway we can convince Comcast to unencrypt TNT HD for the NBA playoffs?



Unfortunately, I doubt it VERY much.


----------



## davidjplatt

OK - WUSA (Channel 9) has now reached the heighth of stupidity - put a scrolling banner about their frequency change to VHF on June 12, 2009 at the top of the screen during the Barbra Streisand Concert special.


Thanks WUSA for making sure I had that on the recording on my DVR - what idiots. Thanks for ruining the recording.


----------



## systems2000

What was with ABC (WMAR-DT) broadcasting the Nationwide race in 4:3? Was WJLA-DT also in 4:3? I also found it very annoying that the ABC crew seem to be in LOVE with Jr.


----------



## Jack D

Is there is mapping of channels into QAM frequencies available for CC in DC, Montgomery Co, MD area? If not, is there some way I check for myself? I'm interested because I want to know which channels CC is grouping into the same QAM thereby reducing the quality of the broadcast.


thanks for any help.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *davidjplatt* /forum/post/16342371
> 
> 
> OK - WUSA (Channel 9) has now reached the heighth of stupidity - put a scrolling banner about their frequency change to VHF on June 12, 2009 at the top of the screen during the Barbra Streisand Concert special.
> 
> 
> Thanks WUSA for making sure I had that on the recording on my DVR - what idiots. Thanks for ruining the recording.



Anytime they post this info during a show it would ruin the recording. But I guess that is the only way to make sure people see it. Otherwise, anyone with DVR would skip over it.

Of course most people who understand what this means are probably already prepared for it or are planning for it. The people that aren't prepared are probably teh same people that have no idea what moving to VHF means.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *davidjplatt* /forum/post/16342371
> 
> 
> OK - WUSA (Channel 9) has now reached the heighth of stupidity - put a scrolling banner about their frequency change to VHF on June 12, 2009 at the top of the screen during the Barbra Streisand Concert special.
> 
> 
> Thanks WUSA for making sure I had that on the recording on my DVR - what idiots. Thanks for ruining the recording.



1. It's Barbara Streisand

2. When do you suggest they do it? 2AM when no one is watching or doing it with the most visibility?


----------



## raidbuck




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/16341959
> 
> 
> Is there anyway we can convince Comcast to unencrypt TNT HD for the NBA playoffs?



I'm going to ask a really dumb question. Why would you care about TNTHD being unencrypted. Isn't it in the standard digital package and HD included? So don't you get it if you get TNT SD? See, I told you it was dumb.


Thanks,


Rich N.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/16341959
> 
> 
> Is there anyway we can convince Comcast to unencrypt TNT HD for the NBA playoffs?





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/16341993
> 
> 
> Unfortunately, I doubt it VERY much.



You could give them money...


----------



## systems2000

What's going on with WWPX-DT? I'm receiving a 88% signal strength and 85% signal quality and the signal is continuously breaking up. I also don't understand why they keep running "Infomercials," during the "700 Club" hour.


----------



## carltonrice

Happened to be scanning channels this afternoon and noticed that WBAL-DT is showing The Oprah Winfrey Show in HD this afternoon. Is today the first time they've shown it this way or just the first time I've seen it?


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/16350446
> 
> 
> You could give them money...



I don't want to give them anything extra. With all the analog channels they have taken away the past year I figure they can add that one.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16351779
> 
> 
> What's going on with WWPX-DT? I'm receiving a 88% signal strength and 85% signal quality and the signal is continuously breaking up. I also don't understand why they keep running "Infomercials," during the "700 Club" hour.



Did WWPX-DT improve for you today at all? It barely comes in here tonight. Maybe they are running at reduced power?????


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16354374
> 
> 
> It barely comes in here tonight. Maybe they are running at reduced power?????



How's reception from Richmond or Philly tonight?


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16354391
> 
> 
> How's reception from Richmond or Philly tonight?
> 
> 
> - Trip



Richmond WWBT-TV 12 barely comes in. There doesn't seem to be any tropo activity tonight.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16354412
> 
> 
> Richmond WWBT-TV 12 barely comes in. There doesn't seem to be any tropo activity tonight.



Ah well, there goes my theory.










- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules

I thought the same thing. The activity has been strong the past few days with this crazy weather.










I'm still hoping VPT will be receivable here post-transition. I'm hoping when analog DC 20 goes away, channel 21 will come in better from Washington, or Front Royal, VA.


----------



## systems2000

I just checked my numbers again and I'm getting 99% quality and 88% strength. I believe the problem is with their receiving equipment. The WPXW-DT link must have an issue.


----------



## Digital Rules

Maybe they're upgrading to HD on 60.1?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16354374
> 
> 
> Did WWPX-DT improve for you today at all? It barely comes in here tonight. Maybe they are running at reduced power?????



Yes, there is something weird going on with WWPX-DT Ion 60.1. Earlier tonight, I could not get a stable picture. Now, the picture on 60.1 is off-center with color break-ups (and is some lame infomercial). The signal meter strength was a little off earlier, but I am getting the normal 7 bars (out of 10). 60-2, 60-3, 60-4 look normal. Probably something messed up with the equipment. But then again, maybe they are adding in new equipment to go HD.


----------



## mchief99

Any body bother to watch WASNHD Nationals game last night. In spanish - shifted to the SD channel and - english. Someone forgot to ...


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/16352187
> 
> 
> Happened to be scanning channels this afternoon and noticed that WBAL-DT is showing The Oprah Winfrey Show in HD this afternoon.



Yep. Ellen and Regis are still SD.


----------



## systems2000

I just checked my ZAT-970A and it is showing the program material on 60.1 as 480i.


----------



## Trip in VA

Hmm... from the FCC site this morning. WIAV-LP 58 wants to relocate the analog down to 4. They also had a approval for a digital companion channel on 44, but they've now simultaneously sought to displace it to 43.


- Trip


----------



## systems2000

Am I the only one or is WHAG-TV bleeding over to 24 (WUTB-TV) and 26 (WETA-TV)? I've noticed this since Monday.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mchief99* /forum/post/16359183
> 
> 
> Any body bother to watch WASNHD Nationals game last night. In spanish - shifted to the SD channel and - english. Someone forgot to ...



Sorry for the stupid question, but what is WASNHD? Is this a cable channel?

_


----------



## ACW112983

When's Comcast freaking getting Spike HD?










EDIT: And Comedy Central HD?









And the NFL Network


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16361994
> 
> 
> Hmm... from the FCC site this morning. WIAV-LP 58 wants to relocate the analog down to 4. They also had a approval for a digital companion channel on 44, but they've now simultaneously sought to displace it to 43.



So WIAV-LP Asiavision 58 wants to operate a 3 kW analog broadcast on VHF 4 and has filed for a 10 kW digital broadcast on UHF 43, both post-transition? The station filed for Silent STA last fall to go dark because of financial difficulties and I assume is off the air on UHF 58. Their UHF 58 broadcast has a small coverage area north of DC, so not many people on this forum could tell us whether it is dark or not.


UHF 43 is being freed up by the move of WPXW-DT Ion 60 (DT 43) to DT 34 when it takes over WUSA-DT's current digital broadcast. The DT 43 10 kW signal has a decent coverage area, better than the proposed analog VHF 4 coverage. If they have financial problems, why bother with the analog VHF 4 application? Unless it is a backup or they can get VHF 4 transmitter equipment dirt cheap - which OTOH is a possibility. DT 43 engineering attachment with coverage map is at http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/f...346&q_num=5100 for anyone curious. If they can't afford to maintain their curent analog broadcast, the odds have to be poor that they can operate at either of the new channels.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/16364396
> 
> 
> Sorry for the stupid question, but what is WASNHD? Is this a cable channel?



I think he meant MASN-HD. I saw part of that game - 7th inning I think - and the sound was in English. But with hollow sounding 2.0 audio so maybe they were having technical problems?


----------



## cpldc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16364716
> 
> 
> So WIAV-LP Asiavision 58 wants to operate a 3 kW analog broadcast on VHF 4 and has filed for a 10 kW digital broadcast on UHF 43, both post-transition? The station filed for Silent STA last fall to go dark because of financial difficulties and I assume is off the air on UHF 58. Their UHF 58 broadcast has a small coverage area north of DC, so not many people on this forum could tell us whether it is dark or not.



I couldn't get a positive ID, but a few weeks ago I was getting a faint analog on 58 that I figured was WIAV. I think I'm just barely in the contour for them but hadn't checked the channel before (and it was too weak to show up on a scan). It appeared to be a movie of some sort. The only other 58 I can think of is W58DK way out in Virginia, and the program listed for VPT at that time was something I think I'd have recognized.


So, in other words, I _think_ they are still running analog. I think their transmitter location would make digital viable for only a very small number of people.


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16363406
> 
> 
> Am I the only one or is WHAG-TV bleeding over to 24 (WUTB-TV) and 26 (WETA-TV)? I've noticed this since Monday.



I have always had bleed over on 24 and 26 from WHAG-TV 25 when pointed between south and west, Unlike WJAL-TV 68 which would bleed over on 65, 66, 67, 69, 70, 71


----------



## systems2000

I was getting channel 3 and 6 very clear, earlier this evening. I was also able to watch the Nationals/Phillies game on 17 (MyNetwork). Since my antenna was pointed to 133°, I'm assuming I was getting Philadelphia stations.

I was also getting:*19* - Very Faint - B&W - No Audio
*23* - Edge (Color/B&W) - PBS
*32* - Same as 19
*42* - Very, Very Faint
*61* - Good - _i_ON


Makes me wonder what's going to happen with ATSC reception and tropo situations and even of more concern is going to be co-channel interference.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ACW112983* /forum/post/16364634
> 
> 
> When's Comcast freaking getting Spike HD?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> EDIT: And Comedy Central HD?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And the NFL Network



They have the NFL Network, SD and HD.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/16370302
> 
> 
> They have the NFL Network, SD and HD.



Not after today.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/16370302
> 
> 
> They have the NFL Network, SD and HD.



Isn't it an extra cost too?


----------



## ACW112983




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/16370651
> 
> 
> Isn't it an extra cost too?



My point exactly. My parents (who have Cox) get it all


----------



## systems2000

I just noticed tonight that WBAL-DT reruns their 5pm and 11pm News on 11-2. I LIKE IT! They even do a Sports show, on their 11-2 sub-channel. Much better than doing Weather all day. Nice to see someone there has a "Thinking Cap" on. Way to get outside the "BOX" WBAL.


----------



## CycloneGT

Yeah, I noticed that they had the sports show on 11-2 over the weekend. It was even my EPG.







Looks like they even have a Raven's draft special on tomorrow during primetime.


----------



## systems2000

Just discovered that WBAL-DT -2 is fixed at 4:3 ratio. I realized it while they were doing the Weather, during the Newscast.


What's up with that?


Isn't their Newscast in 16:9?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16381568
> 
> 
> Isn't their Newscast in 16:9?



Yes, and it is just awesome in HD.


I don't think I've ever seen any 16:9 subchannels now that you mention it. My guess is that it steals too much bandwidth from the main channel.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16382635
> 
> 
> Yes, and it is just awesome in HD.
> 
> 
> I don't think I've ever seen any 16:9 subchannels now that you mention it. My guess is that it steals too much bandwidth from the main channel.



Uses the exact same amount of bandwidth as 4:3, but requires additional equipment, I think.


These stations all have widescreen SD.

http://www.rabbitears.info/oddsanden...request=widesd 


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16382684
> 
> 
> Uses the exact same amount of bandwidth as 4:3, but requires additional equipment, I think.
> 
> 
> These stations all have widescreen SD.
> 
> http://www.rabbitears.info/oddsanden...request=widesd
> 
> 
> - Trip



Thanks Trip,


The extra equipment issue makes good sense. I assumed it wasn't possible because I have never seen Delmarva's Fox 21.2 run in widescreen.


----------



## systems2000

I checked the EPG for 11-2 (I'm watching Saturday Morning News now) and they are really getting outside the box. They will be broadcasting L&O SVU tonight at 7:00pm on 11-2.


They also are running the film critics show after TVHill.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast's Project Cavalry (analog reclamation) is coming to the Baltimore area.



> Quote:
> Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) expects to shell out $1 billion for an "all-digital" project that will enable the MSO to reclaim 40 to 50 channels of analog spectrum and free up room for Docsis 3.0, a broader video-on-demand (VoD) library, ethnic programming fare, and more than 100 linear hi-def channels.
> 
> 
> ...Comcast already has the project underway in areas such as Portland, Ore., Seattle, and the Bay Area, and is starting to tee it up in its Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Baltimore markets. By the end of the quarter, Comcast had completed the job in about 5 percent of its footprint.


 http://www.lightreading.com/document...6164&site=cdn&


----------



## Dwight Shrute




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/16341987
> 
> 
> No the channels are not blocked or locked down in Annapolis but I do have problems getting firewire working sometimes. It's weird; it'll start up just fine, but trails off to completely nonfunctional within 5 seconds. But most of the time it works just fine.
> 
> 
> When I was on Comcast in Annapolis, they did not have channels blocked, so either that is a recent thing or you are misinterpreting something. You did not list a location, which may help us give you better information.



I'm in Baltimore City currently (I was in Baltimore County about a year ago and they blocked the exact same channels).


And as for the way I checked, I just turned off my cable box, pressed the enter button the remote which brought up that list of info. I went to Current Channel and under each of those channels I listed it said CCI: 0x02.


----------



## cjs2000

Just ordered FIOS today for Falls Church. They are running the home phone, 20/5 internet, and Extreme HD for 109.99/mo with $150 cash card.


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cjs2000* /forum/post/16397267
> 
> 
> Just ordered FIOS today for Falls Church. They are running the home phone, 20/5 internet, and Extreme HD for 109.99/mo with $150 cash card.



I took the same FiOS deal a couple of weeks ago. It was installed on Saturday. So far, only a couple of things I noticed as I am moving from DirecTV. I miss the caller ID display on the TV screen with DirecTV and haven't come across that feature in FiOS TV yet. Also, the guide information in DirecTV's guide seemed a bit more comprehensive. I also miss that the DirecTV box had an ATSC tuner to pick up OTA. I enjoyed watching the Baltimore stations, but all of the service providers consider me to be part of the DC service area. After having DirecTV for over 15 years, I'm sure it'll take a couple of days to get used to the new channel numbers and the remote control button placements. The picture on FiOS may actually be a little bit crisper than what I'm used to. I am beginning to wonder if the multiroom DVR is ready for primetime. The non-DVR STB remote doesn't seem to take instructions easily from the remote, but the installer alluded to an issue they were having and hope to correct.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cjs2000* /forum/post/16397267
> 
> 
> Just ordered FIOS today for Falls Church. They are running the home phone, 20/5 internet, and Extreme HD for 109.99/mo with $150 cash card.



Wow! That's a great deal. I pay almost that much for Extreme HD and my lower end Verizon cell service. I only get a $13 discount by combining those two since i dropped my landine last year and my 50/20 internet tier doesn't qualify for a discount since they only charge $90.


And rumor is that 20/5 tier might increase to 25/25 at the end of June. The rumor is that they will only have three speed tiers instead of four. 10/10, 25/25, 75/25.


And if that happens that makes your $110 a month deal even sweeter.


----------



## cjs2000

I'm pretty excited about it, except they are charging me an additional $40/mo for 1 multi room DVR and 2 HD boxes, which will cover three tv's altogether. And another $16 for HBO. But it is still about $50 less than Cox cable...


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/16397451
> 
> 
> I took the same FiOS deal a couple of weeks ago. It was installed on Saturday. So far, only a couple of things I noticed as I am moving from DirecTV. I miss the caller ID display on the TV screen with DirecTV and haven't come across that feature in FiOS TV yet.



Doesn't FiOS have widgets for TV which includes caller ID??


----------



## Tom Harms




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/16400408
> 
> 
> Doesn't FiOS have widgets for TV which includes caller ID??



Yes, Verizon Call Assistant is free.


----------



## systems2000

Is WPXW being prevented from showing the 700 Club on WWPX-DT?


I decided to check WPXW-DT for the 700 Club this morning and found that it is being broadcasted during the 10:00am hour (at 720P). It's also on WPXW-TV and WWPX-TV, but not on WWPX-DT.


Why do they list the 700 Club in their EPG, but show the tape of some organization wanting support to save the Jews?


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Cox Rolls DOCSIS 3.0 Into Northern Virginia*


Ultimate Internet Package Offers Up 50 Mbps Downstream


Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 5/5/2009 8:32:35 AM MT


Cox Communications is expanding its top-speed broadband service - with up to 50 Mbps downstream - to residential and business customers in Northern Virginia.


The operator is offering the DOCSIS 3.0-based Ultimate Internet service, which provides 5 Mbps upstream, in Fairfax County and Fredericksburg, Va., markets. Standard price for the residential Ultimate Internet package will be $139.99 per month, with an introductory rate of $109 per month.


By offering a 50-Mbps tier, Cox will be able to compete head-to-head with Verizon's FiOS Internet service, which currently markets the same maximum download speeds.


Cox last month launched DOCSIS 3.0-based service in Lafayette Parish, La. The operator said it plans to offer Ultimate Internet to several additional markets by the end of 2009, and to more than two-thirds of its footprint in 2010.


"Our customers have said they want an online experience that allows them to do more, do it faster and on a network they trust. DOCSIS 3.0 lets them do that," Cox Northern Virginia general manager Janet Barnard said in a statement.


Customers can find more information about Cox's high-speed Internet services at www.cox.com/highspeedinternet .

http://www.multichannel.com/article/...n_Virginia.php


----------



## carltonrice

Thanks for the heads up. I'll look into how to set the call assistant set up in the FiOS TV's widgets.


As another question maybe someone can answer, when you're using the multi-room DVR on the non-DVR STB, are the remote control signals for FF, rewind, etc. supposed to work. I find that there is an extremely long delay that makes using these type features difficult. Anybody else have experience with this?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16401419
> 
> 
> Is WPXW being prevented from showing the 700 Club on WWPX-DT?
> 
> 
> I decided to check WPXW-DT for the 700 Club this morning and found that it is being broadcasted during the 10:00am hour (at 720P). It's also on WPXW-TV and WWPX-TV, but not on WWPX-DT.



You have asked this question here before. Have you emailed Ion about it?


My guess is that it has to do with broadcast area rights. A quick search for WAZT shows that WAZT family of low power religious stations in the Shenandoah valley broadcasts the 700 Club at 9 AM weekdays. The AZTV "network" probably has exclusive broadcast rights for their market which preclude WWPX 60 in Martinsburg from carrying the 700 Club. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WAZT for the stations.


Most of their stations have gotten construction permits for low power digital broadcasts at 10 to 15 kW UHF or WAZT-LD for 300 watts on VHF 8 which will notably boost their coverage area over their current analog coverage -and add to possible interference issues. No idea on when they plan to go digital, but I expect there are would be WRC-DT 4 (DT 48) viewers north of Winchester who would like WAZW-CA 48 to move to DT 46.


----------



## PCW

Is anyone who has FiOS service in No. Virginia experiencing digital dropouts and glitches on channel 505 (Fox) that appear randomly? I have noticed it for a couple of weeks when the show breaks for a commercial or at other random times. On the non-HD channel (5) I checked and there's no problem.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PCW* /forum/post/16407687
> 
> 
> Is anyone who has FiOS service in No. Virginia experiencing digital dropouts and glitches on channel 505 (Fox) that appear randomly? I have noticed it for a couple of weeks when the show breaks for a commercial or at other random times. On the non-HD channel (5) I checked and there's no problem.



Yes, I noticed this most recently with my Fringe recording last night from 505. And it was also there from my Dollhouse recording last week.

I haven't had a chance to check out my 5-1 OTA recordings to see if it was there too. I'll need to look at them tonight if I remember.


----------



## mark_e




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PCW* /forum/post/16407687
> 
> 
> Is anyone who has FiOS service in No. Virginia experiencing digital dropouts and glitches on channel 505 (Fox) that appear randomly? I have noticed it for a couple of weeks when the show breaks for a commercial or at other random times. On the non-HD channel (5) I checked and there's no problem.



I noticed it the other night during the 10 PM news here in Maryland. I only saw it during some commercials. I checked the diagnostics menu on my TiVo and it showed no uncorrected (or corrected) errors, so I attributed it to their feed, not FIOS.


----------



## PCW




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mark_e* /forum/post/16408554
> 
> 
> I noticed it the other night during the 10 PM news here in Maryland. I only saw it during some commercials. I checked the diagnostics menu on my TiVo and it showed no uncorrected (or corrected) errors, so I attributed it to their feed, not FIOS.



Thanks for the confirmation. I was hoping it was not FiOS.


----------



## PCW




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/16408548
> 
> 
> Yes, I noticed this most recently with my Fringe recording last night from 505. And it was also there from my Dollhouse recording last week.
> 
> I haven't had a chance to check out my 5-1 OTA recordings to see if it was there too. I'll need to look at them tonight if I remember.



Thanks, I'll look for your test results tomorrow.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PCW* /forum/post/16409542
> 
> 
> Thanks, I'll look for your test results tomorrow.



I just checked for it. I thought I had a backup recording on 5-1, but it's also a recording from 505. I must have deleted the 5-1 season pass at some time.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mark_e* /forum/post/16408554
> 
> 
> I noticed it the other night during the 10 PM news here in Maryland. I only saw it during some commercials. I checked the diagnostics menu on my TiVo and it showed no uncorrected (or corrected) errors, so I attributed it to their feed, not FIOS.



Are you watching WTTG Fox 5 from Washington or WBFF Fox 45 from Baltimore?

.


----------



## AbMagFab

Just watched House and AI from this week and last week, and I think there was only one minor hiccup during the program. If there was anything else, it wasn't noticable.


This is all OTA 5-1 on a Tivo Series 3.


----------



## mark_e




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/16415818
> 
> 
> Are you watching WTTG Fox 5 from Washington or WBFF Fox 45 from Baltimore?
> 
> .



Mark,


Sorry I wasn't clear. It was WTTG as the OP said. I haven't noticed any problems on either of your channels.


----------



## compuwizz

WETA seems to be broadcasting in 720p now.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *compuwizz* /forum/post/16420493
> 
> 
> WETA seems to be broadcasting in 720p now.



With 3 subchannels, maybe this will help reduce the compression artifacts???? It looks pretty good right now, but not broadcasting any complex scenes at the moment.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mark_e* /forum/post/16416933
> 
> 
> Mark,
> 
> 
> Sorry I wasn't clear. It was WTTG as the OP said. I haven't noticed any problems on either of your channels.



I appreciate the info.


Just trying to head off problems!

.


----------



## CycloneGT

Dish network has added Speed, FX, Logo, MavTV, and Fashion HD Channels to their lineup today.


----------



## mark_e




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/16420721
> 
> 
> I appreciate the info.
> 
> 
> Just trying to head off problems!
> 
> .



Mark,


It is nice to know someone cares.










I usually watch Fox programming on WBFF, but since I watch the 6 PM news out of Baltimore, if I'm not watching primetime or TiVo, I'll watch the DC news on WTTG.


BTW, there is a thread on this at BBR, http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r223...Picture-Freeze . It contains this post:

reply to stevee9

I DVR'ed 24 and watched in on Tuesday night. I didn't notice any pixelation or sound drop outs. However, I recorded the WBFF-45 HD feed which some of you probably do not have. I find that channel a bit more stable than Fox 5 in DC.


Thanks. Keep up the good work!


Mark


----------



## dneily

Is anyone else enjoying MASN-HD baseball as much as I am?


I set my DVR to record all of the live games or "encore" games in HD, then play them back if either the Nats or Orioles win.


Last night's Nats come-from-behind victory over the LA Dodgers was truly thrilling.


Except for a couple of games on Fox, the entire 162-game schedules for each team will be available on MASN-HD. If my math is correct, that's 324 HD baseball games this year!!


I'm in HD Sports heaven.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dneily* /forum/post/16425178
> 
> 
> Is anyone else enjoying MASN-HD baseball as much as I am?
> 
> 
> I set my DVR to record all of the live games or "encore" games in HD, then play them back if either the Nats or Orioles win.
> 
> 
> Last night's Nats come-from-behind victory over the LA Dodgers was truly thrilling.
> 
> 
> Except for a couple of games on Fox, the entire 162-game schedules for each team will be available on MASN-HD. If my math is correct, that's 324 HD baseball games this year!!
> 
> 
> I'm in HD Sports heaven.



I'm definitely enjoying it. It's just too bad there isn't an HD overflow channel yet. Interestingly enough, the live HD feed of the game not being broadcast on MASN HD is available somewhere out there, because I've seen live look-ins of Nationals games on MLB Network that were in HD, while the Orioles were being broadcast live on MASN HD. Several cable companies do have the capacity and even a channel reserved for MASN2 HD, so hopefully it'll be live for next season.


----------



## dneily




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/16428678
> 
> 
> I'm definitely enjoying it. It's just too bad there isn't an HD overflow channel yet. Interestingly enough, the live HD feed of the game not being broadcast on MASN HD is available somewhere out there, because I've seen live look-ins of Nationals games on MLB Network that were in HD, while the Orioles were being broadcast live on MASN HD. Several cable companies do have the capacity and even a channel reserved for MASN2 HD, so hopefully it'll be live for next season.



Unfortunately, there was no HD encore telecast of the Nats win last night. The game was shown in progress on MASN-HD starting with the 7th inning. All of the Nats scoring took place in innings 2 through 6!


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/16428678
> 
> 
> I'm definitely enjoying it. It's just too bad there isn't an HD overflow channel yet. Interestingly enough, the live HD feed of the game not being broadcast on MASN HD is available somewhere out there, because I've seen live look-ins of Nationals games on MLB Network that were in HD, while the Orioles were being broadcast live on MASN HD. Several cable companies do have the capacity and even a channel reserved for MASN2 HD, so hopefully it'll be live for next season.



Probably getting the feed back to the MASN mothership. They don't store the HD game in the mobile facility. It is the lack of distribution to cable companies and satellite companies that MASN doesn't have. Trust me, if they did, they would be on DirecTV at a minimum.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Gaithersburg, Md., Awards Cable Franchise to Verizon*

http://newscenter.verizon.com/press-...md-awards.html


----------



## dneily




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/16433213
> 
> 
> Probably getting the feed back to the MASN mothership. They don't store the HD game in the mobile facility. It is the lack of distribution to cable companies and satellite companies that MASN doesn't have. Trust me, if they did, they would be on DirecTV at a minimum.



During last night's HD replay of the Nat's game, an announcer came on to say "Due to time constraints, we move further on in the game." The telecast then skipped about one inning.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dneily* /forum/post/16435874
> 
> 
> During last night's HD replay of the Nat's game, an announcer came on to say "Due to time constraints, we move further on in the game." The telecast then skipped about one inning.



Yeah, that happens on NESN and others on replays.


----------



## djp952

Anyone else in Howard, MD having problems with WRC-DT 48 this weekend? I've never had an issue with this channel since setting up my D.C. stuff more than a year ago, but have had all kinds of issues this weekend.


The culprit seems to be signal strength (75-80 vs. 95-100 previously), not interference, but since I don't have a spectrum analyzer (yet) I can't really confirm that. I thought it might be the wind we had, but that's long gone and the problems persist.


This seems to happen to me from time to time with the D.C. channels, so I'm hoping that it's just a temporary issue at the source, but if you guys know of anything that's going on that will save me troubleshooting time, I'd really appreciate it !!


----------



## afiggatt

Verizon Fios added 4 of the 6 Entertainment Studios *.tv HD channels to the Washington Metro market this morning. They added these 4 channels to the Richmond market as well. The channels added were: 558 ES.tv, 633 Pets.tv, 674 MyDestination.tv, and 676 Recipe.tv. The other 2 channels: 599 Cars.tv and 695 Comedy.tv (not to be confused Comedy Central HD the real comedy channel) have reportedly been delayed but are to be added soon.


Contain your excitement.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/16384333
> 
> 
> Comcast's Project Cavalry (analog reclamation) is coming to the Baltimore area.
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.lightreading.com/document...6164&site=cdn&



And is underway in the DC/Beltway area.

http://www.comcastvoices.com/


----------



## bal1012

Don't be surprised if *WJZ begins broadcasting their local news in HD very soon*. While watching NCIS this evening an HD bug popped up.










Full Screen 1 
Full Screen 2


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/16408548
> 
> 
> Yes, I noticed this most recently with my Fringe recording last night from 505. And it was also there from my Dollhouse recording last week.
> 
> I haven't had a chance to check out my 5-1 OTA recordings to see if it was there too. I'll need to look at them tonight if I remember.



I did not see any problems this week with 24 last night and Fringe tonight.


----------



## systems2000

Has WJZ-TV reduced power?


I'm getting more "Snow" and other interference lately.


WHAG-TV (25) reduced their power over two weeks ago, when they started multiplexing their transmission and bleeding over WUTB-TV (24) and WETA-TV (26). Luckily, I get WUTB-DT fairly well. WETA-TV is now lost to me. :sad:


----------



## Digital Rules

The tropo activity has been high lately. Sometimes it can degrade or even wipe out normally reliable stations. That may explain your recent issues with WJZ.


WJZ-TV is very good here. I don't see much difference with WHAG. It was never that great in the first place. I'm surprised it comes in at all with another channel 25 only a few miles from here.


----------



## jeepmon




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16444399
> 
> 
> Verizon Fios added 4 of the 6 Entertainment Studios *.tv HD channels to the Washington Metro market this morning. They added these 4 channels to the Richmond market as well. The channels added were: 558 ES.tv, 633 Pets.tv, 674 MyDestination.tv, and 676 Recipe.tv. The other 2 channels: 599 Cars.tv and 695 Comedy.tv (not to be confused Comedy Central HD the real comedy channel) have reportedly been delayed but are to be added soon.
> 
> 
> Contain your excitement.



It is very difficult to contain my excitement over these new ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

(oh, sorry - fell asleep watching ES.tv) channels


----------



## PCW




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/16449704
> 
> 
> I did not see any problems this week with 24 last night and Fringe tonight.



I didn't notice it either with 24 or Fringe. Hopefully it's been fixed.


----------



## systems2000

There's a new CP filed on W51CY with the following change "WBDC BROADCASTING, INC." to "WDCW BROADCASTING, INC.. DEBTOR-IN-POSSESSION."
http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws....ion_id=1304013 


What does this mean for WDCW?


----------



## systems2000

I forgot to mention that the WHAG engineer told me that they will not be transmitting any sub-channels and their primary will be 1080i.


----------



## Trip in VA

Tribune went into bankruptcy last year. It's very old news.


Bankrupt companies always show that way in FCC filings.


- Trip


----------



## systems2000

Can someone explain why I see multiple "Service Contour Map" values, when I'm browsing through the FCC TV Query Database (ie. 36, 41, & 51 dBu)?


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16456508
> 
> 
> Can someone explain why I see multiple "Service Contour Map" values, when I'm browsing through the FCC TV Query Database (ie. 36, 41, & 51 dBu)?



UHF digitals have a noise limited contour at 41 dBu, whereas it's 36 dBu for upper VHF and 28 dBu for low-VHF.


Similar numbers exist for analogs but I don't know them off the top of my head.


- Trip


----------



## systems2000

The 51 dBu was from an UHF-LD. I see that the same UHF-TX has a 74 dBu.


I did a quick check of analog with the following result:

47 dBu = VHF-Lo

56 dBu = VHF-High

64 dBu = UHF


Are these the "Protected Zones?"


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16456835
> 
> 
> The 51 dBu was from an UHF-LD. I see that the same UHF-TX has a 74 dBu.
> 
> 
> I did a quick check of analog with the following result:
> 
> 47 dBu = VHF-Lo
> 
> 56 dBu = VHF-High
> 
> 64 dBu = UHF
> 
> 
> Are these the "Protected Zones?"



Basically, yes. That's the protected coverage contour.


- Trip


----------



## afiggatt

*Digital Transition Summary for DC, Baltimore, Hagerstown Stations - May 13, 2009*


The following is an updated summary of the pre and post transition digital channels, power levels, and status of filings for the full power stations in the DC, Baltimore, and Hagerstown markets. I hope some find this list useful to prepare for the June 12 analog shutdown and DT channel shuffle. The list is sorted by the post-transition physical broadcast channel, which I think is more useful for highlighting the upper VHF stations and possible signal conflicts. The technical shorthand terms are ERP (Effective Radiated Power) in kW, HAAT (antenna Height Above Average Terrain) in meters, CP = Construction Permit granted by the FCC.


Some of the station comments show the post-transition maximization power applications submitted by the station last year, but the FCC has still not acted on many of them, so until then, people should use the officially allotted ERP as the basis for figuring out antenna needs. In the past several months, the FCC did grant increased post-transition ERPs for WVPY-DT PBS 42 and WWPB-DT MPT 31, but I don't know if those stations are ready to increase power on June 13.


At the bottom is a separate list for the digital low power (LD) stations in DC and the stronger digital low power CPs in the western edge of the DC area. Some of the LD CPs may not be built; some of them are likely placeholders for future filings for better channel allotments. The analog low power stations and translators do not have to shut down on June 12. WZDC-DC Telemundo 25 was granted a digital flash cut on UHF 25 post-transition with an increased coverage area over their current analog one. When WHAG-TV 25 analog signal is turned off, that will eliminate interference problems which should help picking up the analog WZDC-CA 25 NW of DC.


The columns are: Station, Location, Pre-transition physical digital channel and pre-transition DT ERP in kW, Post-transition physical digital channel and *current* ERP allotment in kW, post-transition HAAT in meters, and Notes/Comments.


*Station**Location**Pre-DT (ERP kw)**Post-DT (ERP kw)**Post HAAT(m)**Notes*WJLA-DT ABC 7DC39 (646 kW)7 (30 kW)235 mMaximized app for 30 kW granted.WUSA-DT CBS 9DC34 (1000)9 (12.6)235 WBAL-DT NBC 11Baltimore59 (513)11 (5)299Only 5 kW on VHF 11 post-transition! Some current OTA WBAL viewers will lose station!WWPX-DT Ion 60Martinsburg12 (23)12 (23)314Petition pending to move DTV operations to 51 in VA which conflicts with WETA's 51 petition.WJZ-DT CBS 13Baltimore38 (1000)13 (28.8)295To operate on 9.8 kW STA on DT 13 for 1-2 months post-trans until new directional ant installedWFDC-DT uni 14DC15 (325)15 (1000)227Maximized app granted for 1000 kW post-transitionWVPY-DT PBS 42Front Royal21 (50)21 (100)400Maximized app for 100 kW grantedWNVC-DT MHz 56Fairfax57 (7.3, dark)24 (160)221App for 160 kW granted, off air until WUTB-TV 24 shuts downWHAG-DT NBC 25Hagerstown55 (0.9)26 (575)376Post DT 26 channel blocked until WETA-TV 26 shuts downWETA-DT PBS 26DC27 (90)27 (90)254Petition still pending to move to 51 for DTV operations at 674 kWWFPT-DT PBS 62Frederick28 (30)28 (41.2)158Increased ERP to 41.2 kW in February, Analog off the air.WMPB-DT PBS 67Baltimore29 (14 )29 (42.6)309Increased ERP to 42.6 kW in FebruaryWNVT-DT MHz 30Goldvein30 (160)30 (160)229 WHUT-DT PBS 32DC33 (100)33 (100)254maximized app pending for 1000 kWWPXW-DT Ion 66Manassas->DC43 (90)34 (1000)221maximized app for 1000 kW granted, taking over WUSA-DT's pre-trans DT 34 transmitterWDCA-DT MyN 20DC35 (500)35 (500)227maximized app pending for 950 kWWTTG-DT Fox 5DC36 (1000)36 (1000)227Will be an analog nightlight station after June 12WMAR-DT ABC 2Baltimore52 (613)38 (1000)312Taking over WJZ-DT's pre-trans DT 38 transmitterWJAL-DT ind 68Hagerstown16 (6)39 (105)372Analog off the air, operating at STA 34 kW on UHF 39WNUV-DT CW 54Baltimore40 (845)40 (845)373Analog off the air.WUTB-DT MyN 24Catonsville41 (200)41 (200)308maximized app pending for 290 kWWMPT-DT PBS 22Annapolis42 (150)42 (150)289maximized app pending for 516 kWWWPB-DT PBS 31Hagerstown44 (209)44 (1000)359maximized app for 1000 kW grantedWBFF-DT Fox 45Baltimore46 (550)46 (550)373Analog off the air.WRC-DT NBC 4DC48 (813)48 (813)242Will be an analog nightlight station after June 12WDCW-DT CW 50DC51 (125)50 (122)253maximized app pending for 1000 kWDigital LDs  Lic/CPs  WMDO Telef 47DC8 (0.198)8 (0.198)150on the air in late summer 08.W08EE WV PBSMartinsburg8 (0.3)8 (0.3)281on the airWWTD ind 49DC-14 (0.1)179CP granted Jan 08WDDN Dayst 23DC-21 (1)213CP granted Mar 07WZDC Telem 25DC-25 (4.6)116CP granted Oct 08 for digital flash cut post-transitionWIAV AsiaVis 58DC-44 (0.1)45Applied for 10 kW ERP on UHF 43WAZW rlg 48Winchester-46 (12)78CP granted Jan 07W51CY CW 51Hagerstown-51 (15)379Satellite TX for WDCW, tower located east of Hagerstown, plans not known


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16456462
> 
> 
> I forgot to mention that the WHAG engineer told me that they will not be transmitting any sub-channels and their primary will be 1080i.



That probably won't last as the station owners (Nexstar broadcasting) will eventually want to add sub-channels for additional revenue streams. But until then, if WHAG-DT NBC 25 dedicates close to the full channel bandwidth available to the HD sub-channel, it could make WHAG-DT the go to station for watching Sunday night football and whatever worthwhile NBC programs are still left for those who can get WHAG-DT over the air.


WHAG will be switching from a 1350 kW analog UHF 25 broadcast to a 575 kW digital UHF 26 broadcast, which is, in terms of analog to digital power levels, a respectable power increase with a larger reception area. Some to the northwest of DC and west of Baltimore who find analog WHAG-TV very noisy may find that WHAG-DT comes in fine once WHAG-DT goes full power after June 12.


----------



## aaronwt

So what time are the stations switching things on June 12th? I have over twelve devices with ATSC tuners and I only what to do a rescan once for each device


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/16457714
> 
> 
> So what time are the stations switching things on June 12th? I have over twelve devices with ATSC tuners and I only what to do a rescan once for each device



Apparently, different stations are transitioning at different times. There's a list someplace...


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/16457714
> 
> 
> So what time are the stations switching things on June 12th? I have over twelve devices with ATSC tuners and I only what to do a rescan once for each device



If you only want to do it once, you'll probably have to wait until after 23:00 hours (11:00 p.m. for those civi's







).


----------



## systems2000

Is it me or is WMAR-DT News not supplying CC? It also appears WUTB-DT doesn't have CC either.


How much lag time is everyone seeing on WBAL-DT and _i_ON?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/16457714
> 
> 
> So what time are the stations switching things on June 12th? I have over twelve devices with ATSC tuners and I only what to do a rescan once for each device



Some of the local stations are shutting down the analog in the morning, some in the afternoon, and some will do the big switch at midnight. If you want to avoid a lot of rescans, wait until June 13. But even then, there may be some stations that run into technical problems and won't be at full power on their new channel for several days. I should go through the FCC filings and list the 6 hour shut down window checked off for each station.


----------



## systems2000

I've found that the "Auto/ON" setting of the APEX DT502 took awhile before the CC information began showing on WMAR-DT and WUTB-DT. Is it the CECB's or the system that creates such a long delay on some situations?


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Univision says its 148 owned and affilated TV stations will conduct a network-wide analog shut-off test on May 16 between 9:30 and 10 p.m., during Univision's popular Sabado Gigante program.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It will be the first of a series of prime time shut-off tests for Univision. Hispanics and other minorities are among the FCC's DTV at-risk populations because of relatively high percentages of analog-only viewership.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Other network primetime shut-off tests will follow on May 18, June 2, and June 4.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Univision is also participating in the FCC'backed national shut-off tests May 21.


 http://www.multichannel.com/article/...do_Gigante.php


----------



## systems2000

Reception was so good tonight, that I was able to catch the last five minutes of Smallville and watch the Season Finale of Supernatural. Too bad I didn't know I was getting rock solid reception of WJZ-DT and WNUV-DT earlier, so that I could watch all of Smallville.


WJZ-DT is at 100%/85% and WNUV-DT is at 43-63%/79% (Quality/Strength).


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16458425
> 
> 
> Some of the local stations are shutting down the analog in the morning, some in the afternoon, and some will do the big switch at midnight. If you want to avoid a lot of rescans, wait until June 13. But even then, there may be some stations that run into technical problems and won't be at full power on their new channel for several days. I should go through the FCC filings and list the 6 hour shut down window checked off for each station.



So for DC, is WUSA the only one changing their digital frequency? (And what's the over/under on when Tivo will have this updated?)


----------



## Gerald C




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/16465558
> 
> 
> So for DC, is WUSA the only one changing their digital frequency?



No, also WJLA and WPXW. WETA has applied to change theirs also (from 27 to 51).


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Gerald C* /forum/post/16465871
> 
> 
> No, also WJLA and WPXW. WETA has applied to change theirs also (from 27 to 51).



Great. So assuming Tivo screws this up like they have every other time, I won't be able to record CBS or ABC for like 2 weeks.


Yippee.


----------



## systems2000

Baltimore will also be changing several channels WMAR (52 to 38), WBAL (59 to 11), & WJZ (38 to 13).


WDCW will be changing from 51 to 50 and WHAG will be changing 55 to 26.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/16465558
> 
> 
> So for DC, is WUSA the only one changing their digital frequency? (And what's the over/under on when Tivo will have this updated?)



Go and look at the table I posted Wednesday in message #8931.


In the DC market, five stations will be on new physical RF channels come June 13. WJLA ABC 7, WUSA CBS 9, and WDCW 50 will switch back to their analog channels, WPXW-DT Ion 66 will move from 90 kW UHF 43 in Manassas to 1000 kW UHF 34 in DC, and WNVC-DT MHz 56 will finally return to air on UHF 24.


In Baltimore, three stations will move their RF channels: WBAL NBC 11, WJZ CBS 13 will switch back to their analog channels and WMAR-DT ABC 2 will move from out-of-core UHF 52 to UHF 38 (taking over WJZ's current digital broadcast).


In Hagerstown, which is a subset of the DC market, as noted, WHAG-DT NBC 25 will move from a low power 900 Watt broadcast on UHF 55 to a 575 kW broadcast on UHF 26. WJAL-DT 68 will presumably increase to 105 kW on UHF 39 with the interference problem with WJLA-DT out of the way.


As for Tivo, they should be ready for this switch. They have had PLENTY of advance warning about it. But would a move of the physical RF channel pose an issue for Tivo? The station ID code in the PSIP data stays the same, the mapped channel stays the same, only the physical broadcast channel changes. A rescan may be all that the Tivo needs.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16466663
> 
> 
> As for Tivo, they should be ready for this switch. They have had PLENTY of advance warning about it. But would a move of the physical RF channel pose an issue for Tivo? The station ID code in the PSIP data stays the same, the mapped channel stays the same, only the physical broadcast channel changes. A rescan may be all that the Tivo needs.



You'd think it would be easy, but when JLA or WB50 was adding sub-channels a while ago, Tivo had to push out channel updates to even allow it to tune to the channel, independent of the guide information.


And at one point they screwed it up so that the channel wasn't visible at all (unless you tuned to the underlying RF channel). Eventually Tivo pushed out an update to fix that as well.


So I don't think the Tivo acts like a regular ATSC tuner in that regard, and they have the channel mapping matrix in some configuration somewhere that they need to update when things change.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/16466712
> 
> 
> So I don't think the Tivo acts like a regular ATSC tuner in that regard, and they have the channel mapping matrix in some configuration somewhere that they need to update when things change.



Actually with Tivo, you can still do a manual scan and pick up the new channels just like a standard ATSC tuner, you just wont get any guide data on the new channels. This is why back in Feb when they decided to change WJLA to RF7, we lost that channel, but if you did a manual scan, you could tune in that channel. In the guide there was two WJLA channels. One on RF7 with guide data and one on RF38(?) without guide data that you could actually tune to.


I suspect something similar will happen June 12th. All the channels that change RF frequency will go black. You will need to rescan. The guide will have duplicate channels with no info that you can tune to.


-John


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Anyone else having issues with WJLA's pic on D*? Since last night, a series of lines is showing up. moving from bottom to top. It actually looks more like analog interferance than anything else.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/16471990
> 
> 
> Actually with Tivo, you can still do a manual scan and pick up the new channels just like a standard ATSC tuner, you just wont get any guide data on the new channels. This is why back in Feb when they decided to change WJLA to RF7, we lost that channel, but if you did a manual scan, you could tune in that channel. In the guide there was two WJLA channels. One on RF7 with guide data and one on RF38(?) without guide data that you could actually tune to.
> 
> 
> I suspect something similar will happen June 12th. All the channels that change RF frequency will go black. You will need to rescan. The guide will have duplicate channels with no info that you can tune to.
> 
> 
> -John



But the net result is my Tivo basically won't work for those channels until Tivo fixes them, right? I don't watch live TV.


I sure hope Tivo has their act together this time. They really blew it with the last RF change (as you mention), it took them many days to get it straightened out, and they totally screwed up the Verizon remapping. Both were widely publicized and widely available information.


I have a sinking feeling I'll be missing all my June/July recordings from ABC and CBS and WB...


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/16472318
> 
> 
> But the net result is my Tivo basically won't work for those channels until Tivo fixes them, right? I don't watch live TV.



True, but you could still watch them live if you absolutely had to. Luckily all of the current shows seasons are ending, and it shouldn't be too much of an inconvenience.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/16472766
> 
> 
> True, but you could still watch them live if you absolutely had to. Luckily all of the current shows seasons are ending, and it shouldn't be too much of an inconvenience.



Sadly for me, I get sucked into the summer reality shows... Big Brother on CBS will likely be going on at that time. Not sure if there's anything I care about on ABC, but I thought I heard of some timeshifting summer series coming in, but maybe that was the fall?


Anyway, I wish Tivo could get their act together on this. Yes, I'm condemning them before anything happens, but the past is the best predictor of the future...


----------



## afiggatt

*Listed Analog shutdown times for DC, Baltimore, Hagerstown Stations*


The following is a summary of the analog shutdown times filed by the full power stations in the DC, Baltimore, and Hagerstown markets. The stations that are shutting down on June 12 filed the time of day they plan to shut down with the FCC. The FCC form had a checklist for the 6 hour window: Morning (6 AM to Noon), Afternoon (Noon to 6 PM), and Evening (6 PM to midnight). However, this is only the time they plan to turn off the analog broadcast. The stations that are flash cutting to their current analog channel or moving to a different digital channel might take part of the day to do so. Some may even have digital broadcasts on 2 different physical channels for a while - which could be interesting to see what the ATSC tuners do with that.


Note that many of the stations will be shutting down in the morning or afternoon, not at midnight. WHAG 25 checked off that they will keep their analog broadcast on the air until the evening of June 12, but in their 387 transition stats form they stated they will start construction on the tower on June 10 and use a helicopter to install a new digital antenna in the place of their current analog antenna. That can't be done instantly, so WHAG is likely to only have their low power DT 55 broadcast for a time.


This table is based on the digital transition table I posted a few days ago, so it still has the stations listed in order of their post-transition physical RF broadcast channel. The columns are: Station, Location, Pre-transition physical digital channel and pre-transition DT ERP in kW, Post-transition physical digital channel and *current* ERP allotment in kW, post-transition HAAT in meters, and Analog shutdown comment. The technical shorthand terms are ERP (Effective Radiated Power) in kW, HAAT (antenna Height Above Average Terrain) in meters.


*Station**Location**Pre-DT (ERP kw)**Post-DT (ERP kw)**Post HAAT(m)**Analog Shutdown*WJLA-DT ABC 7DC39 (646 kW)7 (30 kW)235 mMorning, 6/12WUSA-DT CBS 9DC34 (1000)9 (12.6)235Morning, 6/12WBAL-DT NBC 11Baltimore59 (513)11 (5)299Afternoon, 6/12WWPX-DT Ion 60Martinsburg12 (23)12 (23)314Evening, 6/12WJZ-DT CBS 13Baltimore38 (1000)13 (28.8)295Afternoon, 6/12WFDC-DT uni 14DC15 (325)15 (1000)227Evening, 6/12WVPY-DT PBS 42Front Royal21 (50)21 (100)400Evening, 6/12WNVC-DT MHz 56Fairfax57 (7.3, dark)24 (160)221Off since SeptemberWHAG-DT NBC 25Hagerstown55 (0.9)26 (575)376Evening, 6/12WETA-DT PBS 26DC27 (90)27 (90)254Morning, 6/12WFPT-DT PBS 62Frederick28 (30)28 (41.2)158Off on April 16WMPB-DT PBS 67Baltimore29 (14 )29 (42.6)309Morning, 6/12WNVT-DT MHz 30Goldvein30 (160)30 (160)229Analog shut down in 2003WHUT-DT PBS 32DC33 (100)33 (100)254Afternoon, 6/12WPXW-DT Ion 66Manassas->DC43 (90)34 (1000)221Evening, 6/12WDCA-DT MyN 20DC35 (500)35 (500)227Afternoon, 6/12WTTG-DT Fox 5DC36 (1000)36 (1000)227Nightlight until July 12WMAR-DT ABC 2Baltimore52 (613)38 (1000)312Afternoon, 6/12WJAL-DT ind 68Hagerstown16 (6)39 (105)372Off in January due to fireWNUV-DT CW 54Baltimore40 (845)40 (845)373Off on March 2, 2009WUTB-DT MyN 24Catonsville41 (200)41 (200)308Morning, 6/12WMPT-DT PBS 22Annapolis42 (150)42 (150)289Morning, 6/12WWPB-DT PBS 31Hagerstown44 (209)44 (1000)359Morning, 6/12WBFF-DT Fox 45Baltimore46 (550)46 (550)373Off on March 2, 2009WRC-DT NBC 4DC48 (813)48 (813)242Nightlight until June 26WDCW-DT CW 50DC51 (125)50 (122)253Morning, 6/12


----------



## systems2000

What about the midnight to 6 a.m. time period?


Back in February, WHAG was announcing that they would be turning off their analog transmitter a week before. This was so they could do the tower work. Maybe their looking to do the same.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16475377
> 
> 
> What about the midnight to 6 a.m. time period?
> 
> 
> Back in February, WHAG was announcing that they would be turning off their analog transmitter a week before. This was so they could do the tower work. Maybe their looking to do the same.



None of the stations in the DC or Baltimore market checked off the 6/12 midnight to 6 AM option. The most recent 387 transition report filed by WHAG in April states they will keep their analog broadcast on the air until June 12 ( http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws....&fac_num=25045 ). Maybe they meant to check off to shut down early morning on June 12 on the analog termination form. Then spend June 12 swapping out the main antenna. Somewhat risky to wait until June 12 if there is bad weather that day. But since WETA-TV 26 has stated that it plans to stay on the air until the morning of June 12, WHAG may have decided to keep their analog on the air until the last day (Friday) and if they are off the air over most of that weekend, so be it.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16475707
> 
> 
> None of the stations in the DC or Baltimore market checked off the 6/12 midnight to 6 AM option. The most recent 387 transition report filed by WHAG in April states they will keep their analog broadcast on the air until June 12 ( http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws....&fac_num=25045 ). Maybe they meant to check off to shut down early morning on June 12 on the analog termination form. Then spend June 12 swapping out the main antenna. Somewhat risky to wait until June 12 if there is bad weather that day. But since WETA-TV 26 has stated that it plans to stay on the air until the morning of June 12, WHAG may have decided to keep their analog on the air until the last day (Friday) and if they are off the air over most of that weekend, so be it.



Really excellent effort on your part to follow the transition through June 12th. Your lists make the process of transition so much easier to follow.


Since you are well versed with the DTV transition, there is something that I would like your comment on as well as any other like-minded individual. It's been bothering me and I am quite concerned for the sake of many many thousands in the area who will be affected.


It concerns the post digital transition statuses of NBC WBAL-DT 11 and CBS WJZ-DT 13 in Baltimore. As you know, both Baltimore stations in order to protect post digital transition ion WWPX-DT 12 in Martinsburg, will have to either vastly curtail their power or employ a highly restrictive directional antenna. WBAL on DTV 11 will only be allowed a 5KW non-directional DTV transmitter. WJZ on DTV 13 will only be allowed a 28.8KW highly restrictive directional DTV transmitter. Viewers in far distances will have reception issues with WBAL and distant viewers outside of Baltimore in the direction of Martinsburg will also have problems with WJZ. Both of these channels are major network outlets as well.


Now as you also know WWPX-DT 12 wants to relocate to DTV 51 post transition. But, so does WETA-DT 27 in Washington. I hate to pick on WETA, but isn't it in everybody's interest (except WETA's) for WWPX to be moved from DTV 12 to 51? This way both WBAL and WJZ could run full power non-directional transmitters which I believe would be 30KW each. Again, I have nothing against WETA but the FCC should do that which benefits the greater good. What do you think? Would you care to speculate whether the FCC is aware of what I am proposing?


----------



## systems2000

I believe the FCC is going on the perceived notion that, with DTV, there is not an issue with "Adjacent Channel" interference, like you have with analog. You can see examples of this all through the frequency allocation list:


WJLA (7), WGAL (8), & WUSA (9)

WBAL (11), WWPX (12), & WJZ (13)

WHAG (26), WETA (27), WFPT (28), WMPB (29), & WGCB (30)

WHUT (33), WPXW (34), WDCA (35), & WTTG (36)

WMAR (38), WJAL (39), WNUV (40), & WUTB (41)

WBFF (46), WPMT (47), & WRC (48)


Not to mention all the "Co-Channel" interference from analog and digital Class "A", LPA, & Translator stations.


Go here ( http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/audio/tvq.html ) and use 115KM (71.5 Miles) distance. You'll be surprised what you see.


That being said, RF 20, 31, & 45 (from my location) appear to be open frequencies. RF 49 has WWTP-LD and RF 22 has W22DA as the sole transmitter for those frequencies.

*Afterthought:* I don't see Philadelphia, Eastern Shore, or Fredericksburg on my 115KM search. Those in Baltimore and D.C. will catch even more stations then I do.


----------



## mikepinkerton




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16476646
> 
> 
> WJLA (7), WGAL (8), & WUSA (9)
> 
> WBAL (11), WWPX (12), & WJZ (13)
> 
> WHAG (26), WETA (27), WFPT (28), WMPB (29), & WGCB (30)
> 
> WHUT (33), WPXW (34), WDCA (35), & WTTG (36)
> 
> WMAR (38), WJAL (39), WNUV (40), & WUTB (41)
> 
> WBFF (46), WPMT (47), & WRC (48)



I guess this is a silly question, but what happens to the "branding" of the stations that are changing channel numbers to something totally new (such as WETA, WRC, or WTTG)?


Will WTTG no longer be "Fox 5" and now call themselves "Fox 36"? I can't imagine a day when WETA isn't 26. Having first moved here in 1981, it's gonna take a little getting used to  I know in the day of 500-channel scrolling guides it's not so important, but I still associate the local channels with their analog number. Guess I'm getting old 


-Mike


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikepinkerton* /forum/post/16476967
> 
> 
> I guess this is a silly question, but what happens to the "branding" of the stations that are changing channel numbers to something totally new (such as WETA, WRC, or WTTG)?
> 
> 
> Will WTTG no longer be "Fox 5" and now call themselves "Fox 36"? I can't imagine a day when WETA isn't 26. Having first moved here in 1981, it's gonna take a little getting used to  I know in the day of 500-channel scrolling guides it's not so important, but I still associate the local channels with their analog number. Guess I'm getting old
> 
> 
> -Mike



RF PSIP channel.


Fox 5 DT is *currently* on UHF 36. ATSC/PSIP allows remapping of channels, so you can "tune" to channel 5-1, but actually be tuning to UHF 36.


Totally for branding. Already resolved.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/16475874
> 
> 
> Now as you also know WWPX-DT 12 wants to relocate to DTV 51 post transition. But, so does WETA-DT 27 in Washington. I hate to pick on WETA, but isn't it in everybody's interest (except WETA's) for WWPX to be moved from DTV 12 to 51? This way both WBAL and WJZ could run full power non-directional transmitters which I believe would be 30KW each. Again, I have nothing against WETA but the FCC should do that which benefits the greater good. What do you think? Would you care to speculate whether the FCC is aware of what I am proposing?



Actually, what WWPX Ion 60 proposed was to move to UHF 51 AND to a new antenna location some miles south of their current location. Ion has WWPX up for sale and likely filed the petition so if it was approved, the station would have the broadcast rights for a location with a larger population. However, if WWPX-DT moved to UHF 51, it would interfere with WDCW-DT 50 reception in the western edge of the DC area. And there is no alternate station for CW programming to the west. The complication of the conflicting WWPX-DT and WETA-DT's petition to move to UHF 51 may be the reason why WDCW-DT's maximization application to increase to 1000 kW has not been granted.


Keep in mind that WETA-DT is running at only 90 kW on UHF 27 and can't increase power much at UHF 27 because of interference issues with WFPT-DT 62 on UHF 28. There are likely a lot of WETA-DT analog OTA viewers who probably can't get WETA-DT's current digital broadcast. As Systems2000 posted, with digital broadcast, it is more efficient to have co-located stations on adjacent channels to pack the frequency space. In DC, we have WRC-DT on UHF 48, currently have analog WWTD-LP on UHF 49, will have WDCW-DT on UHF 50. By putting WETA-DT on UHF 51, the station could likely increase to the 674 kW they asked for. There probably would be space for a 15 kW digital low power station on UHF 49 if WWTD-LP does a flash cut or folds up & another LD station takes the channel space.


WWPX-DT Ion 60 on VHF 12 does create problems for WBAL-DT and WJZ-DT. CBS owned WJZ-DT is spending the money to put up a new directional antenna that will allow them to get good coverage to the north, east, and south. But Hearst-Argyle owned WBAL opted not to spend money on a new directional antenna and went for only 5 kW total power. However, WHAG-DT 25 should be able to provide NBC HD programming for those who lose WBAL-DT in the western fringe. But OTA viewers to the east and north of Baltimore may not have alternate stations for NBC.


For CBS programming, people way west of Baltimore may have to rely on getting WUSA-DT. The better solution would be for WWPX-DT to find another UHF channel to broadcast on if there is one available. Or, heck, move to VHF 4 at 30 kW for kicks. Or for WWPX-DT to reduce power, because once WPXW-DT Ion 66 is at 1000 kW in NW DC, it will reach the majority of the WWPX-DT 60 OTA viewers population wise. However, if Ion can't find a buyer for WWPX, don't know what they will do with the station.


By taking away 18 UHF channels from TV broadcasting, UHF 52 to 69, the spectrum in the mid-Atlantic region is a lot more crowded with stations jostling each other for the remaining frequency and coverage space. Some stations get improved coverage, some don't. See how complicated this gets?


----------



## StevenJB

afiggatt, maybe I am missing something but I still cannot understand from your explanation why WBAL-11 and WJZ-13 are restricting their power and coverage patterns. systems 2000 says that adjacent channel interference is not an issue with DTV if I understand him correctly. If that is correct then WJZ and WBAL do not have to protect WWPX-12. Am I wrong?


If that is true then why are WBAL and WJZ restricting their patterns? Do they have other alternatives which they are rejecting? Are you saying that WBAL is voluntarily restricting their power to a meager 5KW and could use more if they wanted to? Could WJZ run a more non directional pattern at 28.8KW?


Sometimes I really begin to wonder if the powers-that-be (FCC) have thought out the consequences of their assignments. DTV reception is highly problematic as you well know. Once the analog is off for good we are stuck with a lot of questions and concerns. I am honestly predicting that the American public is going to scream bloody murder when they no longer can receive the stations that they could before.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/16477896
> 
> 
> If that is correct then WJZ and WBAL do not have to protect WWPX-12.



It's not correct. They do have to protect WWPX-DT.


- Trip


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16477962
> 
> 
> It's not correct. They do have to protect WWPX-DT.- Trip



Alright, agreed, WBAL-DT and WJZ-DT must protect WWPX-DT. Doesn't WWPX-DT, in turn, have to protect WBAL-DT and WJZ-DT? Why is WWPX-DT going to be allowed to output as much as 23KW post transition using a 314m tower when WBAL-DT is being restricted to only 5KW using only 299m tower, post transition and they are adjacent channels to each other? If WJZ-DT must protect WWPX-DT by using a directional antenna how is WWPX-DT protecting WJZ-DT? What am I missing?


Trip, let me ask you the same question. If WWPX-DT is allowed to move from DTV 12 to DTV 51 wouldn't that allow WBAL-DT and WJZ-DT to maximize their power allowable on high VHF (7-13) and run a non directional antenna?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/16477896
> 
> 
> afiggatt, maybe I am missing something but I still cannot understand from your explanation why WBAL-11 and WJZ-13 are restricting their power and coverage patterns. systems 2000 says that adjacent channel interference is not an issue with DTV if I understand him correctly. If that is correct then WJZ and WBAL do not have to protect WWPX-12. Am I wrong?
> 
> 
> If that is true then why are WBAL and WJZ restricting their patterns? Do they have other alternatives which they are rejecting? Are you saying that WBAL is voluntarily restricting their power to a meager 5KW and could use more if they wanted to? Could WJZ run a more non directional pattern at 28.8KW?



Adjacent channel interference with digital (ATSC) broadcasting is an issue for stations that are not located within so many kilometers of each other or not far enough apart (Trip can provide the km separation numbers).The reason is that if one station's signal is so many dB stronger than the adjacent channel, as can occur for someone located close to the broadcast tower of 1 station but far enough away from the station on the adjacent channel, then the stronger station will interfere with the weaker signal. If the broadcast towers are close together, then they can pack 3-4 stations on adjacent channels. Which is what we have in DC with WHUT-DT on 33, WUSA-DT on 34 (soon to be WPXW-DT), WDCA-DT on 35, WTTG-DT on 36.


WBAL-DT 11 was originally allocated 6.91 kW by the FCC in the earlier post-transition allotment assignments, but that may have been for a directional antenna. WBAL-DT probably could have asked for a little more power than 5 kW, but a little more power is not going to make much difference. I would think the FCC staff is fully aware of the situation, but they have to follow the rules and have to nominally treat each station as more or less equal in their rights to spectrum space. If WBAL and WJZ really want to maintain OTA coverage in the western edge of their coverage area, they could negotiate with Ion to accept more interference for WWPX-DT, ask for reduced power for WWPX, or buy WWPX outright and move it to a different channel, but the latter raises all sorts of legal questions and is a rather expensive solution.


The solution for some to getting WBAL-DT 11 and WJZ-DT 13 after June 12 from further away is to get a good upper VHF antenna with a rooftop or attic setup. I get WWPX-DT at 23 kW on VHF 12 just fine at 48 miles from the backside of a upper VHF antenna. I think the bigger problem is going to be with the OTA viewers with indoor rabbit ear antennas who are used to getting a noisy, but watchable (to them anyway) picture for WBAL and WJZ who are 10, 15, 20 more miles away. Many of them are going to have trouble getting solid reception for WBAL-DT 11 with the converter box come June 13.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/16478224
> 
> 
> Alright, agreed, WBAL-DT and WJZ-DT must protect WWPX-DT. Doesn't WWPX-DT, in turn, have to protect WBAL-DT and WJZ-DT? Why is WWPX-DT going to be allowed to output as much as 23KW post transition using a 314m tower when WBAL-DT is being restricted to only 5KW using only 299m tower, post transition and they are adjacent channels to each other? If WJZ-DT must protect WWPX-DT by using a directional antenna how is WWPX-DT protecting WJZ-DT? What am I missing?
> 
> 
> Trip, let me ask you the same question. If WWPX-DT is allowed to move from DTV 12 to DTV 51 wouldn't that allow WBAL-DT and WJZ-DT to maximize their power allowable on high VHF (7-13) and run a non directional antenna?



WWPX-DT was there before WJZ-DT or WBAL-DT, or so is the logic of the FCC. Because of that, 11 and 13 have to protect 12 but not the other way around.


Now the reason for the power difference is that I have been told (you'll want to ask someone who's more knowledgeable before you take my word) that the station below an adjacent station causes more interference. That is, 11 interferes with 12 more than 13 does.


If WWPX-DT gets their move, then absolutely they could go omni-directional. However, then WWPX-DT starts interfering with WDCW-DT across northern Virginia in an interference problem worse than the existing WETA-DT/WFPT-DT problem.


I've actually typed up a document that I plan to submit to the FCC proposing a solution to hopefully make everyone happy. I've actually had it typed out for several months and just haven't gotten around to finishing it up. I plan to mail it to the FCC and to the stations involved. Here's a copy of it if anyone here is interested: http://data.quelorant.com/08-99-COMM-MOD.pdf 


EDIT: Updated version posted.


- Trip


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16478269
> 
> 
> I've actually typed up a document that I plan to submit to the FCC proposing a solution to hopefully make everyone happy. I've actually had it typed out for several months and just haven't gotten around to finishing it up. I plan to mail it to the FCC and to the stations involved. Here's a copy of it if anyone here is interested: http://data.quelorant.com/08-99-COMM-MOD.pdf EDIT: Updated version posted.- Trip



My compliments to you on a very well written proposal. Of course, I am not a trained engineer so my comments lack a technical background. Your proposal does appear to satisfy the issues that you discussed.


My advice is get this document formalized as quickly as possible. The more people that you can get involved the sooner the better. June 12th is coming up fast.


Just my two cents worth.


----------



## systems2000

Northern Baltimore will be covered by WGAL-DT.


WDCW has a satellite transmitter (W51CY), just East of Hagerstown, that operates on RF 51 and will come on-line June 12th. It has been there for years as an analog transmitter, but was turned OFF (Dec, 2007), when WDCW-DT started broadcasting on RF 51 pre-transition. I've been waiting to get CW back since then.


----------



## systems2000

Trip,


Your proposal doesn't acknowledge the existence of W51CY 15KW transmitter on RF 51 and owned by WDCW.


----------



## dewster1977

It would also put WMAR (moving to 38) in the same boat as WBAL and WJZ are now. 18 or 19 may be and option for Martinsburg


----------



## systems2000

17, 18, & 19 are not used in the Baltimore/D.C. area.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/16477039
> 
> 
> RF PSIP channel.
> 
> 
> Fox 5 DT is *currently* on UHF 36. ATSC/PSIP allows remapping of channels, so you can "tune" to channel 5-1, but actually be tuning to UHF 36.
> 
> 
> Totally for branding. Already resolved.



But will it stay that way? They currently have channel 5 on analog which will go away soon. At which time they will be channel 36.

Will channels 4 and 5 be available for someone to use in the future? If so then Fox 5 would have to stop calling themselves that at some point if someone else took over channel 5 digitally.

Or are those lower VHF channels not used for any digital stations?


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/16478541
> 
> 
> My compliments to you on a very well written proposal. Of course, I am not a trained engineer so my comments lack a technical background. Your proposal does appear to satisfy the issues that you discussed.
> 
> 
> My advice is get this document formalized as quickly as possible. The more people that you can get involved the sooner the better. June 12th is coming up fast.
> 
> 
> Just my two cents worth.



Thanks. I've actually had most of that typed up since October. I just really am dreading figuring out who to mail them to. I mean, I've sent formal comments to the FCC before, but this one will also be sent to the stations in question.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16479301
> 
> 
> Trip,
> 
> 
> Your proposal doesn't acknowledge the existence of W51CY 15KW transmitter on RF 51 and owned by WDCW.



It doesn't need to. W51CY is a translator, and as such will have to move when/if WETA-DT/WWPX-DT moves to 51. For purposes of allocations, it might as well not exist.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dewster1977* /forum/post/16479565
> 
> 
> It would also put WMAR (moving to 38) in the same boat as WBAL and WJZ are now. 18 or 19 may be and option for Martinsburg



1) 18 and 19 are out due to Land Mobile concerns in DC.


2) The proposed tower site by WWPX-DT is further south and would have to protect WMAR (since the 39 allotment would be newer than WMAR-DT's approved 38). Also, WJLA would be the ABC affiliate for that area, rather than WMAR.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/16479728
> 
> 
> But will it stay that way?



Yes. A station signing on DT-05 would map to 36-1.


- Trip


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/16479728
> 
> 
> But will it stay that way? They currently have channel 5 on analog which will go away soon. At which time they will be channel 36.
> 
> Will channels 4 and 5 be available for someone to use in the future? If so then Fox 5 would have to stop calling themselves that at some point if someone else took over channel 5 digitally.
> 
> Or are those lower VHF channels not used for any digital stations?



Low VHF 2-6 will be available for digital broadcast. The post-transition channels are 2-51 except for UHF 37 which is reserved for radio astronomy. However, because low VHF (54 to 88 MHz) is prone to RF interference, only 40 full power stations in the US selected low VHF in their post-transition allotments, most of those in rural areas. The big exception to that is WPVI-DT ABC 6 in Philadelphia which will flash cut to VHF 6 on June 12.


What we will likely see for Low VHF is a number of low power stations moving there because it is cheaper to operate at low VHF. Religious and educational stations mostly, more interested in getting cable carriage than OTA reception. If another station starts up on VHF 4 or VHF 5 in the coverage area of WRC-DT or WTTG-DT, that station will have to choose a unused virtual channel channel to map to. The FCC has laid out very specific rules on this.


I expect in a few years, once the analog transition is done and over with, that the FCC will relax the rules a bit for virtual channels and allow stations to map to their physical broadcast channel if that station wants to, provided that no other station in that or adjacent markets is using that mapped channel number. If you were running WPXW-DT Ion 66, which does not have that strong an identity IMO, wouldn't you rather have it known as WPXW Ion 34? But if you are WRC, which has called itself WRC 4 or NBC 4 for decades, you will stick with WRC 4, not WRC 48. But this is getting off topic for the DC thread as these topics are national issues which have been discussed a number of times in the final DTV table of allotments sticky thread.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16480051
> 
> 
> Thanks. I've actually had most of that typed up since October. I just really am dreading figuring out who to mail them to. I mean, I've sent formal comments to the FCC before, but this one will also be sent to the stations in question.



Go ahead and send to them. Good ideas in your proposal, although it would require 3 stations to get new digital broadcast equipment. However, all 3 have asked for new channel assignments so they are prepared to do so. I assume the reason that WETA-DT has not been granted it's petition to move to 51 is because of the conflicting petition from WWPX. Too bad, because the FCC could have granted that petition last fall, which might have given WETA enough time to be ready to switch to UHF 51 on June 12.


If WETA-DT were to move to 51, what would that do for opening up UHF 27 in adjacent markets far enough away from WFPT on 28?


> Quote:
> 2) The proposed tower site by WWPX-DT is further south and would have to protect WMAR (since the 39 allotment would be newer than WMAR-DT's approved 38). Also, WJAL would be the ABC affiliate for that area, rather than WMAR.



Did you mean WJLA ABC 7, not independent WJAL 68? (There should be a rule about dyslexic call signs in overlapping markets







).


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16480162
> 
> 
> If WETA-DT were to move to 51, what would that do for opening up UHF 27 in adjacent markets far enough away from WFPT on 28?



It doesn't do much, really. 27 is taken in Philly which does a lot to limit availability. Between that, WHAG-DT 26 in Hagerstown, and WRLH-DT 26 in Richmond, there aren't many places a 27 could be implemented successfully as a full-service station. Maybe in the Shenandoah Valley or something it would work, but I haven't looked at it too closely.



> Quote:
> Did you mean WJLA ABC 7, not independent WJAL 68? (There should be a rule about dyslexic call signs in overlapping markets
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ).



Yes I did. D'oh! I've fixed it.


- Trip


----------



## aaronwt

Thanks!



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16480108
> 
> 
> Low VHF 2-6 will be available for digital broadcast. The post-transition channels are 2-51 except for UHF 37 which is reserved for radio astronomy. However, because low VHF (54 to 88 MHz) is prone to RF interference, only 40 full power stations in the US selected low VHF in their post-transition allotments, most of those in rural areas. The big exception to that is WPVI-DT ABC 6 in Philadelphia which will flash cut to VHF 6 on June 12.
> 
> 
> What we will likely see for Low VHF is a number of low power stations moving there because it is cheaper to operate at low VHF. Religious and educational stations mostly, more interested in getting cable carriage than OTA reception. If another station starts up on VHF 4 or VHF 5 in the coverage area of WRC-DT or WTTG-DT, that station will have to choose a unused virtual channel channel to map to. The FCC has laid out very specific rules on this.
> 
> 
> I expect in a few years, once the analog transition is done and over with, that the FCC will relax the rules a bit for virtual channels and allow stations to map to their physical broadcast channel if that station wants to, provided that no other station in that or adjacent markets is using that mapped channel number. If you were running WPXW-DT Ion 66, which does not have that strong an identity IMO, wouldn't you rather have it known as WPXW Ion 34? But if you are WRC, which has called itself WRC 4 or NBC 4 for decades, you will stick with WRC 4, not WRC 48. But this is getting off topic for the DC thread as these topics are national issues which have been discussed a number of times in the final DTV table of allotments sticky thread.


----------



## systems2000

Channels 2 through 6 are still available, but not likely to be desirable by any high power station. These frequencies are prime for a lot of interference (especially lightning) and prevents the FM band from expanding.


----------



## OrleansDawg

I have a question for locals in downtown DC (Around Capital Hill)


I am moving to DC and have been apartment rental shopping for several days now....and am ABSOLUTELY floored at the lack of DirecTV apartments I have found in the city. Now, a few places allow me to get DirecTV if I want but the apartments they have available are either closed off to the Southern Sky or some other problem that would interfere with the service


So, does anyone have a recommendations for someone looking for a DirecTV place near Capital Hill?


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *OrleansDawg* /forum/post/16485815
> 
> 
> I have a question for locals in downtown DC (Around Capital Hill)
> 
> 
> I am moving to DC and have been apartment rental shopping for several days now....and am ABSOLUTELY floored at the lack of DirecTV apartments I have found in the city. Now, a few places allow me to get DirecTV if I want but the apartments they have available are either closed off to the Southern Sky or some other problem that would interfere with the service
> 
> 
> So, does anyone have a recommendations for someone looking for a DirecTV place near Capital Hill?



Sports fan or something?


----------



## OrleansDawg




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/16486076
> 
> 
> Sports fan or something?



Saints fan










I am just moving from another city where I had Comcast and it was miserable not being able to watch my Saints without going to a bar so I told myself I would find a DirecTV place.


I figured I would find 1-2 DirecTV apartments but alas, I have come up empty after a few days


Just curious if anyone knew of any good ones towards Cap Hill that maybe they stay at or stayed at


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *OrleansDawg* /forum/post/16486112
> 
> 
> Saints fan
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I am just moving from another city where I had Comcast and it was miserable not being able to watch my Saints without going to a bar so I told myself I would find a DirecTV place.
> 
> 
> I figured I would find 1-2 DirecTV apartments but alas, I have come up empty after a few days
> 
> 
> Just curious if anyone knew of any good ones towards Cap Hill that maybe they stay at or stayed at



Another possibility - some apartment buildings have centralized the DirecTV service. So even if it's not south facing, it's what's available in the building. (That might be what you're saying, if so, sorry!)


----------



## OrleansDawg




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/16486188
> 
> 
> Another possibility - some apartment buildings have centralized the DirecTV service. So even if it's not south facing, it's what's available in the building. (That might be what you're saying, if so, sorry!)



Good thought. I will ask about that.


----------



## systems2000

I believe that is what he has had a problem finding and would like references, from those in the know, to where he can find one.


----------



## DRal

Good day to all. I am in Vienna VA using COX. I have a HD DVR box and I want to transfer shows from my DVR to my computer. It would be great if I can transfer shows/video from my computer to my DVR. Is this possible if so what do I need to do this.


Thanks for all the help.


----------



## gmucklow




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *OrleansDawg* /forum/post/16485815
> 
> 
> I have a question for locals in downtown DC (Around Capital Hill)
> 
> 
> I am moving to DC and have been apartment rental shopping for several days now....and am ABSOLUTELY floored at the lack of DirecTV apartments I have found in the city. Now, a few places allow me to get DirecTV if I want but the apartments they have available are either closed off to the Southern Sky or some other problem that would interfere with the service
> 
> 
> So, does anyone have a recommendations for someone looking for a DirecTV place near Capital Hill?



Well, the Hyde Park condo near the Ballston Metro on the Orange Line in Arlington has DirecTV satellite dishes on the roof, as well as Comcast and FIOS and a digital HDTV master antenna system for local channels. Some rental units are available with DirectTV included. At least one is available now.


----------



## cpldc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *OrleansDawg* /forum/post/16486270
> 
> 
> Good thought. I will ask about that.



That seems like a better idea. I can't think of any apartments on the Hill that have balconies or other areas you could use to mount a dish of your own. I only know of one building that has/had DirecTV but it's far up in NW, and uses a central system.


Some other parts of DC have RCN instead of Comcast, if that's preferable. I'm not familiar with sports programming.


----------



## URFloorMatt

NBC Charlotte has switched to HD local news. That makes WRC the only NBC affiliate in the top 25 markets without an HD news broadcast. In fact, there are only 15 NBC affiliates in the top 50 markets without an HD news broadcast.


Among the four major networks, there are only two affiliates in the top 10 markets without an HD news broadcast. Fox Boston is the other.


----------



## OrleansDawg




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gmucklow* /forum/post/16489972
> 
> 
> Well, the Hyde Park condo near the Ballston Metro on the Orange Line in Arlington has DirecTV satellite dishes on the roof, as well as Comcast and FIOS and a digital HDTV master antenna system for local channels. Some rental units are available with DirectTV included. At least one is available now.



Thanks for the suggestion. I called them today and was told they didn't have any for rent and were just selling....which makes sense but damn


Spent all of today and kept finding places with Comcast/RSN only. Ugh.


Maybe I will just have to give up on DirecTV.


----------



## CHIA

Cap Hill has a lot of rental houses that you could probably put an antenna on. Check craigslist or yarmouth management. Otherwise, there are a bunch of new large apt buildings near the baseball park that might have service in the building. I think one is called capitol yards.


Separate question - I lost WETA digital reception the last couple of days. I'm in the city, have a rooftop antenna, and have usually had good reception with WETA and other stations (CBS 9 and PBS 22 are sometimes spotty). Any ideas why problems with WETA digital , when the analog reception is still good? And, with the Jun 12 transition, will reception improve? I saw the transition list posted here and it looked like a number of stations will dramatically reduce power, am I reading wrong?


----------



## OrleansDawg

Thanks for the Cap Yards place. I will give them a call tomorrow


I have tried Craigslist and the other site but it seems like a lot are in Arlington or those that DO have Sat capabilities are in sketchy locations, etc....


Beggers can't be choosers I guess


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CHIA* /forum/post/16493047
> 
> 
> Separate question - I lost WETA digital reception the last couple of days. I'm in the city, have a rooftop antenna, and have usually had good reception with WETA and other stations (CBS 9 and PBS 22 are sometimes spotty). Any ideas why problems with WETA digital , when the analog reception is still good? And, with the Jun 12 transition, will reception improve? I saw the transition list posted here and it looked like a number of stations will dramatically reduce power, am I reading wrong?



I have not observed any problems with WETA-DT reception recently.


If you are looking at the current UHF power for the stations moving to upper VHF, it takes less power for VHF to provide the same coverage area. The question for upper VHF (7-13) is whether 12.6 kW omni-directional (WUSA-DT), or 28.8 kW directional (WJZ-DT) will be adequate to match the analog and current digital broadcast coverage. WBAL-DT 11 at 5 kW will not match their current analog coverage, period.


----------



## gmucklow




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *OrleansDawg* /forum/post/16492472
> 
> 
> Thanks for the suggestion. I called them today and was told they didn't have any for rent and were just selling....which makes sense but damn
> 
> 
> Spent all of today and kept finding places with Comcast/RSN only. Ugh.
> 
> 
> Maybe I will just have to give up on DirecTV.



That is incorrect. I know the owner of a Hyde Park condo unit -- I think it is 603 -- it is a very large one bedroom unit with Direct TV and it is for rent now. Maybe you need to talk to a broker or something. There is a lock box on the door. The metro will take you to Capital South station without a transfer.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast will move NFL Network from the Sports Entertainment Package to Digital Classic by August 1.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...4#post16488884


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *OrleansDawg* /forum/post/16486112
> 
> 
> ...I figured I would find 1-2 DirecTV apartments but alas, I have come up empty after a few days
> 
> 
> Just curious if anyone knew of any good ones towards Cap Hill that maybe they stay at or stayed at



I don't have any comprehensive, timely way of keeping track of this, but most of the DC apartment complexes I do business with that have DirecTV have not yet upgraded to 3-Ku satellite, let alone 5-satellite KuKa. The nine most popular HDTV channels are on the 3 satellite system, whereas the rest are only on the five satellite system. But if you only want, say, the NFL Sunday Ticket, or if your desires are more modest than that, you should be able to find a building that has DirecTV "Sat A" (101 deg) availability.


You might call MDU Communications and see if they will tell you of any client buildings of theirs in that locality. They are by far the largest DirecTv system operator in your market.


A few years ago, I remember speaking to one Arlington resident who would not move into Washington DC until Comedy Central became available.


----------



## jacindc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *OrleansDawg* /forum/post/16493403
> 
> 
> Thanks for the Cap Yards place. I will give them a call tomorrow



Just to add another data point, the Capitol Yards buildings were pre-wired for FiOS, and are supposed to be among the first buildings in DC to get FiOS TV:

http://www.jdland.com/dc/index.cfm?id=2888 



--jd


----------



## OrleansDawg

First, I want to thank everyone who gave me suggestions. I did in fact follow up on them all (including Capital Yards)


But, I want to specifically thank Mike. I took your advice and called MDU who gave me several apartment complexes in which they do work with and I found a FANTASTIC place right on the red-line that has DirecTV.


All I care about is Sunday Ticket anyway so the locals and all that are not a biggie


Thank you everyone! It really helped


----------



## fmsjr

What is up with the FiOS move of the DC channels from their logical locations to 516 - 519?!?


----------



## systems2000

Atmospheric conditions have been terrible this week. I'm even losing my analog stations. This morning WTTG-TV was even out. I was losing everything.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmsjr* /forum/post/16507045
> 
> 
> What is up with the FiOS move of the DC channels from their logical locations to 516 - 519?!?



They are fine here, still 504, 505 etc.

Although I use TiVos.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmsjr* /forum/post/16507045
> 
> 
> What is up with the FiOS move of the DC channels from their logical locations to 516 - 519?!?



No changes here in Arlington with the locals. (504, 505....)


----------



## voltore

I just had FiOS installed today and they're 504,5,7,9 etc. where I expect them.


So far so good, although Mrs Voltore noticed no MTV HD rather too quickly!


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16507219
> 
> 
> Atmospheric conditions have been terrible this week. I'm even losing my analog stations. This morning WTTG-TV was even out. I was losing everything.



The tropo has just been insane lately. A high front to back ratio yagi antenna is the best way to minimize it's effects.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmsjr* /forum/post/16507045
> 
> 
> What is up with the FiOS move of the DC channels from their logical locations to 516 - 519?!?



Your location says Arnold, MD which is in Anne Arundel county which gets the locals for both DC and Baltimore. The channel line-up at the Fios TV website shows the big 4 DC locals at 504 to 509, the Baltimore locals packed in at 510 to 514 with MPT at 522, WUTB at 524, WETA at 526. Don't know why the DC locals would have been remapped to 516 to 519; doesn't make sense. Any other Fios TV subscribers in Anne Arrundel or Howard County getting the DC locals at 516-519?


----------



## dmulvany

I've been away from this thread for quite a while, but wanted to comment that last week, after more than two and a half years of NOT being able to see captioned, primetime, pre-recorded programming on my Sharp HDTV from WJLA, WJLA has finally fixed that particular problem! I've been able to see 708 captions on my Sharp HDTV for "Lost" and "Grey's Anatomy" last week and this week! I don't know what WJLA did to fix that particular problem, however.


Other people here who have Samsung and Sony HDTVs have reported problems viewing captions from WJLA (for primetime, prerecorded programming) and might want to doublecheck what they're able to see now.


WUSA (9.1) has still been having problems providing consistent EIA-708 captioning for their nationally broadcast programming; every now and then, the captions disappear for a while and then fly by too quickly to be read. This has been happening both with primetime programs like "Criminal Minds" and "CSI" and was also seen with a day-time soap opera.


WDCA is still providing *delayed* captions for locally broadcast, syndicated programming (like "Law and Order: Criminal Intent" at 20.1 at midnight), and as far as I know, the same problem exists from WTTG for "The Simpsons" at 7 p.m. on 5.1).


Dana


----------



## Marcus Carr

*21 Additional HD Channels Added to Cox Line-Up in Hampton*

*Fort Monroe also Included in Channel Line-up Expansion*


HD channels Provided at No Additional Cost to Customers


CHESAPEAKE, Va., May 22 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 22, Cox customers in Hampton will have access to an additional 21 high-definition channels. With these additions, customers can now receive up to 56 HD channels. U.S. Army base Fort Monroe is included in the expansion of service.


Also, Cox HD offerings are made available at no additional cost to customers -- this includes the numerous HD offerings found in FreeZone. HD channels, with their line-up designations, include the following:

Code:


Code:


1.  BET HD (channel 739)             12. Lifetime Network HD (channel 709)
    2.  Bravo HD (channel 761)           13. MTV HD (channel 722)
    3.  Cartoon Network HD (channel 717) 14. Nickelodeon HD (channel 729)
    4.  CMT HD (channel 733)             15. Planet Green HD (channel 813)
    5.  CNBC HD (channel 725)            16. Sci-Fi HD (channel 740)
    6.  Comedy Central HD (channel 732)  17. Speed Channel HD (channel 763)
    7.  E! HD (channel 741)              18. Spike HD (channel 756)
    8.  Fox News Channel HD              19. USA HD (channel 718)
        (channel 764)                    20. Versus HD (channel 734)
    9.  FX HD (channel 716)              21. VH1 HD (channel 767)
    10. Hallmark Movie Channel HD
        (channel 859)
    11. Lifetime Movie Network HD
        (channel 809)

"We are excited about our enhanced HD services in Hampton as well as on the Fort Monroe base. These changes reflect our commitment to be the most trusted provider in Hampton Roads. We work hard to give our customers the best service and value for their money; this is one reason we provide HD channels at no additional cost to our customers," said Gary McCollum, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Cox Hampton Roads.


The additional 21 HD channels also are available to customers in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Gloucester, Poquoson, parts of Williamsburg, Newport News, West Point, New Kent, and King and Queen County.


Later this year, James City County, York County and other areas on the Peninsula will have access to these channels as Cox continues to enhance its hybrid-fiber based network.


To receive these additional HD channels, customers must have the appropriate level of service with Cox, a high-definition television, and HD receiver and/or CableCARD. (As an example, customers must already receive CNBC in standard definition in order to receive CNBC in HD.)


Finally, on May 22, York County and James City County will have access to Lifetime Network HD (channel 709) in place of Science Channel HD (channel 760). Science Channel HD will assume its prior line-up position, along with access to additional channels, after Cox completes its network enhancements in these communities.


"Our network upgrades are bringing more high definition channels to our customers. We are temporarily switching some channels to accommodate this upgrade. Lifetime Network is one of the 15 highest rated cable networks in Hampton Roads and offers terrific original programming and movies. Additional high definition channels in York County and James City County are scheduled soon after the upgrades to the network are completed," said Jennifer Garrett, Vice President of Sales and Marketing.


For more information contact Felicia Blow at (757) 222-8432 or at [email protected] 


About Cox Communications


Cox Communications is a multi-service broadband communications and entertainment company with more than 6.2 million total residential and commercial customers. The third-largest cable television company in the United States, Cox offers an array of advanced digital video, high-speed Internet and telephony services over its own nationwide IP network, as well as integrated wireless services. Cox Business is a full-service, facilities-based provider of communications solutions for commercial customers, providing high-speed Internet, voice and long distance services, as well as data and video transport services for small to large-sized businesses. Cox Media offers national and local cable advertising in traditional spot and new media formats, along with promotional opportunities and production services. Cox Communications wholly owns and operates the Travel Channel. More information about the services of Cox Communications, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises, is available at www.cox.com , www.coxbusiness.com , and www.coxmedia.com . In Hampton Roads, Cox has more than 400,000 basic cable subscribers.


SOURCE Cox Communications

http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayRe...5031317&EDATE=


----------



## SUOrangeman

If I'm not mistaken, Cox-NoVA already had those channels minus one (BET HD).


The Local on the 8s scroll on the Weather-SD Still regularly shows that MPT HD and subs will be added around March 22nd. I haven't seen any other mentions of forthcoming additions.


-SUO


----------



## SiousBark

Do many in DC have FiOS?


I have heard about it but still haven't met anyone with it


----------



## aaronwt

At one point 56 HD channels would have been exciting. I would have loved to have 56 HD channels in 2001.

But now with other providers having over twice as many HD channels, 56 channels doesn't cut it.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/16508548
> 
> *21 Additional HD Channels Added to Cox Line-Up in Hampton*
> 
> *Fort Monroe also Included in Channel Line-up Expansion*
> 
> 
> HD channels Provided at No Additional Cost to Customers
> 
> 
> CHESAPEAKE, Va., May 22 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 22, Cox customers in Hampton will have access to an additional 21 high-definition channels. With these additions, customers can now receive up to 56 HD channels. U.S. Army base Fort Monroe is included in the expansion of service.
> 
> 
> Also, Cox HD offerings are made available at no additional cost to customers -- this includes the numerous HD offerings found in FreeZone. HD channels, with their line-up designations, include the following:
> 
> Code:
> 
> 
> Code:
> 
> 
> 1.  BET HD (channel 739)             12. Lifetime Network HD (channel 709)
> 2.  Bravo HD (channel 761)           13. MTV HD (channel 722)
> 3.  Cartoon Network HD (channel 717) 14. Nickelodeon HD (channel 729)
> 4.  CMT HD (channel 733)             15. Planet Green HD (channel 813)
> 5.  CNBC HD (channel 725)            16. Sci-Fi HD (channel 740)
> 6.  Comedy Central HD (channel 732)  17. Speed Channel HD (channel 763)
> 7.  E! HD (channel 741)              18. Spike HD (channel 756)
> 8.  Fox News Channel HD              19. USA HD (channel 718)
> (channel 764)                    20. Versus HD (channel 734)
> 9.  FX HD (channel 716)              21. VH1 HD (channel 767)
> 10. Hallmark Movie Channel HD
> (channel 859)
> 11. Lifetime Movie Network HD
> (channel 809)
> 
> "We are excited about our enhanced HD services in Hampton as well as on the Fort Monroe base. These changes reflect our commitment to be the most trusted provider in Hampton Roads. We work hard to give our customers the best service and value for their money; this is one reason we provide HD channels at no additional cost to our customers," said Gary McCollum, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Cox Hampton Roads.
> 
> 
> The additional 21 HD channels also are available to customers in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Gloucester, Poquoson, parts of Williamsburg, Newport News, West Point, New Kent, and King and Queen County.
> 
> 
> Later this year, James City County, York County and other areas on the Peninsula will have access to these channels as Cox continues to enhance its hybrid-fiber based network.
> 
> 
> To receive these additional HD channels, customers must have the appropriate level of service with Cox, a high-definition television, and HD receiver and/or CableCARD. (As an example, customers must already receive CNBC in standard definition in order to receive CNBC in HD.)
> 
> 
> Finally, on May 22, York County and James City County will have access to Lifetime Network HD (channel 709) in place of Science Channel HD (channel 760). Science Channel HD will assume its prior line-up position, along with access to additional channels, after Cox completes its network enhancements in these communities.
> 
> 
> "Our network upgrades are bringing more high definition channels to our customers. We are temporarily switching some channels to accommodate this upgrade. Lifetime Network is one of the 15 highest rated cable networks in Hampton Roads and offers terrific original programming and movies. Additional high definition channels in York County and James City County are scheduled soon after the upgrades to the network are completed," said Jennifer Garrett, Vice President of Sales and Marketing.
> 
> 
> For more information contact Felicia Blow at (757) 222-8432 or at [email protected]
> 
> 
> About Cox Communications
> 
> 
> Cox Communications is a multi-service broadband communications and entertainment company with more than 6.2 million total residential and commercial customers. The third-largest cable television company in the United States, Cox offers an array of advanced digital video, high-speed Internet and telephony services over its own nationwide IP network, as well as integrated wireless services. Cox Business is a full-service, facilities-based provider of communications solutions for commercial customers, providing high-speed Internet, voice and long distance services, as well as data and video transport services for small to large-sized businesses. Cox Media offers national and local cable advertising in traditional spot and new media formats, along with promotional opportunities and production services. Cox Communications wholly owns and operates the Travel Channel. More information about the services of Cox Communications, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises, is available at www.cox.com , www.coxbusiness.com , and www.coxmedia.com . In Hampton Roads, Cox has more than 400,000 basic cable subscribers.
> 
> 
> SOURCE Cox Communications
> 
> http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayRe...5031317&EDATE=


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *voltore* /forum/post/16507402
> 
> 
> I just had FiOS installed today and they're 504,5,7,9 etc. where I expect them.
> 
> 
> So far so good, although Mrs Voltore noticed no MTV HD rather too quickly!



Pull up the guide... see if there's a note under the description for each show (when highlighted)... "moving to 51x on 6/18"


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16507520
> 
> 
> The tropo has just been insane lately. A high front to back ratio yagi antenna is the best way to minimize it's effects.



I really hope this is what's been wrong with WRC for me the past couple weeks, I have a number of trashed recordings here since I was stupid enough to not switch them to WBAL.


How do you know what the tropospheric conditions are, and is there any way to determine what effect it will have on reception (or is it basically random)?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/16513291
> 
> 
> I really hope this is what's been wrong with WRC for me the past couple weeks, I have a number of trashed recordings here since I was stupid enough to not switch them to WBAL.



Are you only having a problem with WRC? If only 1 channel is a problem a slight height adjustment (up or down) may be all you need. UHF frequencies can have small dead spots as close as 15-20 miles out from the transmitter. If your WRC is marginal to begin with, tropo can possibly wipe it out. The leaves on the trees will weaken the signal also. The height adjustment may help with this too. If not, a higher gain antenna may be needed.


Tropo conditions occur mostly in warmer weather, especially when a high pressure system has been over us for a few days. When the tailedge of the high pressure system arrives(moist air surging from the south), it is almost guaranteed. The tropo activity is very low tonight.


----------



## systems2000

Well, I've lost WMAR-DT, WBAL-DT, WJZ-DT, and WMPB-DT tonight. WNUV-DT and WUTB-DT are coming and going real bad. Can't get WTTG-DT, WUSA-DT, or 66 from D.C. either (I didn't look at WDCA-DT).


I haven't tried to see if I can get WTAJ-DT, WGAL-DT, WPMT-DT, or WGCB-DT.


----------



## OldHud

Thursday night I lost WTTG during the news, so I was flipping through all the usually unreceivable channels, when one DT-28 (virtual) locked on and I found myself watching WCBS DT-2. For what it's worth, this network flagship station out of New York does not transmit any subchannels.


----------



## mdviewer25

If Comcast has its own network (CN8), why do they still show Comcast local edition on Headline News? It blocks out regular programming which is really annoying.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

D* has added WETA-HD. Not impressed (as has been discussed here) with the pic quality: audio breakups, macroblocking.


----------



## dmulvany




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/16521248
> 
> 
> D* has added WETA-HD. Not impressed (as has been discussed here) with the pic quality: audio breakups, macroblocking.



I watch WETA-HD over the air and have generally been very pleased with the picture quality at about a 75-80% signal level. I suspect that some of the pay TV service providers aren't ensuring their antenna for WETA is properly oriented to get the WETA signal, and poor reception has also adversely affected the transmission of the captioning as well for some people (though that's speculation on my part).


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *OldHud* /forum/post/16514699
> 
> 
> For what it's worth, this network flagship station out of New York does not transmit any subchannels.



All CBS owned & operated stations are void of subchannels as far as I know. I wonder how much longer they can afford the lost revenue????? I do notice a bit less compression on WJZ.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dmulvany* /forum/post/16522862
> 
> 
> I watch WETA-HD over the air and have generally been very pleased with the picture quality at about a 75-80% signal level. I suspect that some of the pay TV service providers aren't ensuring their antenna for WETA is properly oriented to get the WETA signal, and poor reception has also adversely affected the transmission of the captioning as well for some people (though that's speculation on my part).



Looks good here on Comcast.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

I called D* up and let them know what's up. No issues with signal strength last night when I checked my H21. Still was nice to see the concert for the first time (for me) in HD.


----------



## aaronwt

Anyone have any problems with WJLA or WUSA this weekend? At my girlfriends we kept losing those signals on Saturday Night and Sunday night. It was fine during the day. The signal is normally solid.


I'll be glad after June 12th rolls around. My girlfriend isn't too happy about the change occuring during the day(since it will affect her recordings) and also having to rescan the channels on her two TiVos, three digital TVS, OTA converter box and both of her mothers OTA converter boxes.


I just hope the signals are better and not worse after June 12th on the new frequencies.


----------



## Digital Rules

I do remember noticing WUSA-DT 9 being off the air for a while on Saturday.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SiousBark* /forum/post/16511056
> 
> 
> Do many in DC have FiOS?
> 
> 
> I have heard about it but still haven't met anyone with it



Nobody in DC proper has FiOS yet. At least not FiOS TV, as far as I know. I've heard rumors that Verizon is currently installing fiber in parts of the city, but that is also just hearsay.


----------



## Trip in VA

Wow, check out the WWPX-DT DTS app. This is fun. Wonder what it means for the 51 petition?


- Trip


----------



## fmw63




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16527069
> 
> 
> Wow, check out the WWPX-DT DTS app. This is fun. - Trip



Where do we see this?


----------



## CycloneGT

Wow just think. We have less than a month before they extend the Analog shutdown again.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16527069
> 
> 
> Wow, check out the WWPX-DT DTS app. This is fun. Wonder what it means for the 51 petition?



If I read it correctly, I find the DTS application to be bizarre. They want to put a 100 Watt VHF 12 transmitter in NW DC? What will that do for WBAL-DT 11 and WJZ-DT 13 reception in NW DC? I am in the coverage area of the proposed WWPX2-DTS application and I have no difficulty in getting WWPX-DT Ion 60 on VHF 12 from the backend of a YA-6713 upper VHF antenna aimed the other way at DC. I was also able to get WWPX-DT pretty reliably with a CM 4221 UHF antenna, also aimed the other way. WWPX-DT is not a weak station here, although there may be gaps at the lower elevation green spots in their application.


WWPX-DT 60 has the same exact programming as WPXW-DT 66, soon to be blasting at 1000 kW on UHF 34 out of NW DC. The only reason I can see for this DTS application is to get WWPX-DT 60 a stronger presence in the DC market (and maybe cable carriage?) to enhance the value of the station to try to get someone to buy WWPX. I bet Ion realizes that the petition to move to DT 51 at a new location is not likely to be granted, so this is their plan B.


To see the application, the FCC application search webpage is at http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/p...d/app_sear.htm . Enter the station call sign such as WWPX to see their application and filings. The WWPX-DTS application is at http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws....&fac_num=23264 with the engineering attachment down near the bottom of the form.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/16528539
> 
> 
> Wow just think. We have less than a month before they extend the Analog shutdown again.



There will be no more extensions. There are no serious political moves to postpone the analog shutdown again. The FCC has a bunch of support operations in place and the $40 coupons are being mailed. The die is cast.


Only 17 days until analog shutdown and the great digital broadcast channel shuffle! June 12 and 13 are going to be interesting days!


----------



## URFloorMatt

How come WJLA doesn't air Oprah or General Hospital in HD? (Apologies if this has been covered before.)


----------



## Potatoehead

We got a message this morning that Comcast will be adding WPXW(66) HD on June 12. Seems like something else is happening June 12.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16526154
> 
> 
> I do remember noticing WUSA-DT 9 being off the air for a while on Saturday.



That would explain why my Harpers Island recording stopped around 30 minutes. Bastards!


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Potatoehead* /forum/post/16531257
> 
> 
> We got a message this morning that Comcast will be adding WPXW(66) HD on June 12. Seems like something else is happening June 12.



I got a message too - about job opportunities or something. Whoopee!


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/16530612
> 
> 
> How come WJLA doesn't air Oprah or General Hospital in HD? (Apologies if this has been covered before.)



I don't know about General Hospital, but WJLA does air Oprah in HD, unless of course they're replaying an older, pre-HD episode.


----------



## howie14




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/16531328
> 
> 
> That would explain why my Harpers Island recording stopped around 30 minutes. Bastards!



WUSA was out for over an hour. Luckily, I checked the recording _and_ luckily the Orioles were on 13 on Saturday night. I was able to record Harper's off of WJZ at 3:30 in the morning, I think.


I missed one episode the week they switched to Saturdays, though.


----------



## howie14




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/16531509
> 
> 
> I don't know about General Hospital, but WJLA does air Oprah in HD, unless of course they're replaying an older, pre-HD episode.



I don't think ABC shows any of its soaps in HD yet.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *howie14* /forum/post/16535108
> 
> 
> I don't think ABC shows any of its soaps in HD yet.




General Hospital is in HD.


----------



## ACW112983

So I assume that when Comcast users get NFLN in August (FINALLY; to find out we were not only getting that but also the U-albeit in SD but still better than nothing-and 360, I was





















) it included the HD?


And Comcast REALLY needs to get Spike HD, Comedy Central HD, and G4HD.


----------



## kingpong

WMAR is showing the season premiere of Wipeout in SD. Proper HD on WJLA.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Wheel of Fortune was also in SD on WMAR.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/16531509
> 
> 
> I don't know about General Hospital, but WJLA does air Oprah in HD, unless of course they're replaying an older, pre-HD episode.



General Hospital was supposed to start airing in HD back in April. I'll have to ask my girlfriend if it's in HD since she records with a TiVoHD everyday from WJLA OTA.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kingpong* /forum/post/16538263
> 
> 
> WMAR is showing the season premiere of Wipeout in SD. Proper HD on WJLA.



"Proper" except for that intermittent blur problem or whatever it is, which the Indy 500 thread revealed to be a local problem.


----------



## rkolsen

Any word when E! HD is coming to Comcast in Baltimore


----------



## Marcus Carr

What the hell's wrong with WMAR? At least three HD shows were SD tonight.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/13384645
> 
> 
> I think you're fine, I had the same problem up here in Elkridge. It was Media Center, not the stations. Find your "atscchannels.xml" file (Vista = C:\\ProgramData\\Microsoft\\eHome\\EPG\\prefs; XPMCE will be rooted in a different location). You will see incorrect physical channels for both WUSA and WDCW. (If you get Maryland OTA, you might see a bad physical channel for WMAR as well)
> 
> 
> Here are the correct entries:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yours will likely say "50", "9", and "38" respectively.
> 
> 
> I had to make that file read-only to stop Media Center from overwriting it. The "Guide" information seems to be wrong, they're jumping the gun and using the 2009 designations for these channels.
> 
> 
> I also had to add a temporary fake DTV channel to the guide to get it to reload this file. I added 51.1 WCDWX. It won't tune (obviously), but MCE needed something to kick start it. If I remove that fake channel, it reverts back to not tuning WUSA and WDCW again, but leaves WMAR alone.



I'm just quoting this as a reminder to myself that I and others will need to undo this fix in June when the transition finally takes place. I would guess that we just need to undo the read-only aspect and Media Center will overwrite "atscchannels.xml" with the new channels which will at last be in place.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/16199185
> 
> 
> Anyone else having audio sync issues with WBAL-DT the past few days? Admittedly I didn't watch much WBAL this week (we record our NBC progamming from WRC since they have 5.1), but WBAL news has definately been off, and tonight's SNL had the same problem. WRC-DT is fine across the board.
> 
> 
> I e-mailed WBAL, but if anyone else is having the same problem it might help if you e-mail them as well.
> 
> 
> Thanks!



Have you tried to re-scan your receiver? Sometimes lip sync will be out and a reboot to rescan helps.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/16542390
> 
> 
> Have you tried to re-scan your receiver? Sometimes lip sync will be out and a reboot to rescan helps.



Actually, WBAL audio has seemingly been perfect for me lately, although they've increased their volume/DRC levels significantly, now rivaling WJZ on the "oh my goodness, please turn it down" scale







I haven't had any complaints about their studio programming in a couple/few weeks now.


I'd have to list WBAL on a very short list of stations that not only read consumer feedback, but act on it. The other members of the club being WBFF/WNUV and to an extent WETA (Their new 720p format is better given the bandwidth contraints, but they still need to work on it *a lot*).

*edit*: I stand corrected. The audio was noticably off on the 11:00 news tonight (6/1/09)


----------



## mdviewer25

From DCRTV: Area cable giant Comcast took out a batch of ads in Saturday's Washington Post announcing that's it putting the high-def signal of Ion's Channel 66/WPXW on channel 209 and the standard-def signal of Channel 50/WDCW's digital subchannel This TV, a movie network from MGM, on channel 206. On its DC area systems by the end of June.....


I didn't know Channel 50/WDCW had added a subchannel.


----------



## alren

Does Comcast give HDTV without Digital cable? I'm not talking about the clear channels.


I've standard cable included in as part of my apartment rent. I was wondering, do I need to pay for digitial + HD to get more HD channels.


Thanks


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/16554937
> 
> 
> I didn't know Channel 50/WDCW had added a subchannel.



There is no WDCW-DT 50.2 ThisTV broadcast sub-channel yet. Tribune owned WDCW-DT is on the list of ThisTV stations, so if Comcast plans to add the ThisTV sub-channel by the end of June, WDCW-DT presumably plans to add the ThisTV sub-channel soon. WBFF-DT 45.2 in Baltimore has had the ThisTV programming for some months.


Only 13 days until the big analog shutdown and digital channel shuffle on June 12! Time to start, and this time they really really mean it, the final countdown.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *alren* /forum/post/16555078
> 
> 
> Does Comcast give HDTV without Digital cable? I'm not talking about the clear channels.
> 
> 
> I've standard cable included in as part of my apartment rent. I was wondering, do I need to pay for digitial + HD to get more HD channels.
> 
> 
> Thanks



No it does not. To get anything besides the Major Networks, you need to get a box or card.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Verizon Makes FiOS TV Available to Nearly 8,000 Households in Charles County, Md., Following Recent Cable Franchise Approval*

http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayRe...5035860&EDATE=


----------



## markbulla

Hi guys -


2 things.


First, in case anyone is interested, I'm adding a SAP channel to 45.1 today. I've had it wired up for some time, but I never had any requests to have it activated, until today. From what I can tell, we'll be the only channel in Baltimore that has SAP on the digital channel.


On the Panasonic in my office, I can pull up the SAP with (not surprisingly) the SAP button on the remote control. It tells me that I'm on "Audio Track 1 (or 2) of 2".


Normally, the audio on the SAP channel will be the same as the main audio. It will have other audio during FOX network programming (If I hooked everything up correctly), i.e. spanish or descriptive audio.


Second thing - I was losing the WTTG-HD feed on my Dish Network receiver last night. At random times, a screen would pop up and let me know that the receiver was searching for the signal. When I went to the next channel up (WJLA), it was there, and WTTG would be there when I channeled down, but it would go away again after a few minutes. I had just watched 60 minutes on WUSA for an hour with no problems. Did anyone else have a problem with the Sunday night line-up on FOX-5 last night?


Cheers -


----------



## SUOrangeman

Thanks to the excellent work that is URFloorMatt's national HD chart, I've revamped the DC/Balt chart that I have up on GoogleDocs (link in my sig). Although I've *temporarily* turned off the ability for anyone to edit the document, I ask that you take a look to see if this chart reflects what's currently available from your provider.


I realize that I did lose the channel numbers for Cox, RCN, and FiOS, but I've got that information in a Excel file (as of March 2009). Unfortunately, GoogleDocs doesn't handle Excel cell comments too well. I would appreciate getting channel lineup links (if posted somewhere) via PM.


Oh, I think I flipped past RetroTV on Cox ?806? yesterday. If I'm not mistaken, that's 7.3. I don't think Cox has been offering that subchannel for a long time.


-SUO


----------



## Jim Reeve




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/16535283
> 
> 
> General Hospital is in HD.



General Hospital was carried by WJLA in HD for about a week, then it was right back to SD. I questioned the station about this via email, but got no response.


Does anyone have any knowledge of why WJLA decided to dump the HD version?


ABC still produces the show in HD and labels it as such when the program opens, so the change back to SD is strictly a local issue.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Jim Reeve* /forum/post/16572747
> 
> 
> General Hospital was carried by WJLA in HD for about a week, then it was right back to SD. I questioned the station about this via email, but got no response.
> 
> 
> Does anyone have any knowledge of why WJLA decided to dump the HD version?...



Maybe they want to give more bandwidth to "Bachelor Father."


----------



## Jim Reeve

Thanks! I had exactly the same thought.


----------



## KLJ

i live in p.g. county, md, and use directv for 99% of my t.v. viewing.


i also have basic comcast cable do to the fact i use comcast for interent. just for fun, i did an auto scan of the basic cable channels on my bravia xbr4 and discovered that i could get all the mlb baseball games (standard def.) between channels 93 and 94.


is this common knowledge and is this common in other locations?


----------



## SiousBark

I have a question for people


I have found a nice, cheap place in DC that will allow me to get DirecTV and I am extremely happy


But, it will take some work to get it installed and when I say that, I don't mean building anything but it may have to be attached to the back-right side of the house and it may be a LITTLE too difficult for a regular install


So, is there anyone in DC that people recommend for DirecTV installs that may be a bit more personal?


I don't think this is anywhere near as impossible but I figure it may take a bit more touch than a regular guy


Or hell, maybe I am putting down DirecTV and they will do this?


----------



## afiggatt

*WMPT-DT 22 post-transition power increase*


Last year WMPT-DT 22 filed a maximization application to increase their digital broadcast power after the analog shutdown from the current 150 kW on UHF 42 to 516 kW. Because of complicated interference concerns, that application was stalled. In May, WMPT-DT filed a (pleading) Special Temporary Authority (STA) application noting that they have had over 1500 complaints about digital reception, for an increase to 439 kW after June 12. The FCC has granted the STA. So sometime after 6/12, depending on how long it takes them to get the equipment in place, WMPT-DT will almost triple their broadcast power which should help with the spotty reception for many.


The WMPT-DT attachment to their STA application (3 page PDF file) shows why asking for increased power in the crowded mid-Atlantic region gets complicated: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/f...911&q_num=5200 .


----------



## afiggatt

I emailed engineering at MPT and got a reply within minutes! WMPT-DT 22 should be at the increased power level by next week, although there will be adjustments and re-calibrations to "ensure proper operation at the new power level". Looking at the STA again, it is not just for post-transition so WMPT-DT can go to the higher power right now.


----------



## jacindc

Any other Comcast DC customers notcing that ESPN2HD isn't working, or is it just me? (all other channels working fine, it's just ESPN2HD)


----------



## pamajestic

*WJLA & WUSA Digital Testing*


I stumbled on to WJLA & WUSA doing digital testing on channel 7 & 9 today shortly after 3am. I was a little disappointed with the signal strength I was receiving. I am 61 miles north but it was signifanctly lower than what I receive on channels 39 & 34. At this point I’m hoping the testing was at a reduced power.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Comcast updates for DC, DE, MD, NC, VA, WV in June*

http://comcastchannelchanges.com/ 



Changes for Comcast of Baltimore City (Nothing exciting):

http://comcastchannelchanges.com/cha...timoreCity.pdf 


Check out these channel changes effective Tuesday,

June 30th for Baltimore City.


The following channel will be added:


fittv

Channel 181

Digital Classic


If you currently subscribe to Digital Starter, you will receive these channels

at no additional cost as they move from Digital Classic to Digital Starter!


Bio

Channel 115


History International

Channel 116


To help make room for these and future channel additions, the following

channel will be moving.


Channel: Moving From:

MUN2 636 to 178


The following channel will move from Digital Starter to Digital Classic:

MoviePlex

Channel 149

http://comcastchannelchanges.com/cha...timoreCity.pdf


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pamajestic* /forum/post/16580538
> 
> 
> I stumbled on to WJLA & WUSA doing digital testing on channel 7 & 9 today shortly after 3am. I was a little disappointed with the signal strength I was receiving. I am 61 miles north but it was signifanctly lower than what I receive on channels 39 & 34. At this point I'm hoping the testing was at a reduced power.



They may have been adjusting the transmitter and antenna setup. We will have to wait until June 13 to get a good handle for the reception of WJLA-DT 7, WUSA-DT 9, WBAL-DT 11, WJZ-DT 13 after they flash cut for real. However WJZ-DT will be operating at a lower power of 9.8 kW from their current omni-directional VHF 13 antenna until they install a new directional antenna for 28.8 kW peak power by August 1 (with notably weaker power to the west).


Would be useful to learn about the digital testing in advance so people could get up and do a scan to see what happens. I'm curious whether I will be able to get WMDO-LD on VHF 8 when WJLA-DT 7 and WUSA-DT 9 go digital on the adjacent channels. My tuners detect WMDO-LD, but I have not been able to get a lock on it from 16 miles out. But with the analog shutdown only a little more than a week away, we will find out the good and bad news for the four stations flash cutting to upper VHF soon enough.


----------



## systems2000

Has anyone else seen that WWPX-DT has the 700 Club back on? I just found it. I wish I could know if it's going to stay that way. If not, I may not be able to get that program after the 12th.










As for CBS, If WJZ-DT will not be broadcasting towards Hagerstown, WUSA-DT doesn't reach there, I currently can't get WHP-DT, that means I'll need to setup a channel 32 yagi for WTAJ-DT.


How in the World does the FCC think viewers can be prepared for the transistion, with all the uncertainty that exists? If I can't get Y&R for the wife, when the 15th comes, I'm dead meat. I'm sure I can, but I'll have to retrain her on what channel and antenna setting (WTAJ-DT) for her recordings. Just what she'll want, more things to do to get her Soap.


----------



## tangfoot

Can anyone here recommend a decent indoor antenna for use in Columbia?

Or some suggestions for jury rigged attic antennas?


----------



## systems2000

Have you checked out EscapeVelocity's thread on Indoor Antennas ?


----------



## mark_e




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tangfoot* /forum/post/16586349
> 
> 
> Can anyone here recommend a decent indoor antenna for use in Columbia?
> 
> Or some suggestions for jury rigged attic antennas?



I have a Terk amplified antenna (HDTVa pro) that picks up all of the DC and Baltimore digital channels from the first floor of my house. It works pretty well just aimed at DC for both, but sometimes it would need a little aiming for a particular station. It was my son's and I used it during (frequent) Comcast outages or to watch DC HD channels that Comcast didn't carry. It hasn't been used since I switched to FIOS about 2 months ago.


Two points to note:


1) I'm at a pretty high point off Route 108 near Howard High where the county has water towers and their main radio transmitter.


2) All of the stations are now on UHF. After the big switch and some move back to VHF with reduced effective power and more directional antennae, this may change.


If you're not in a rush, re-post or PM me in about 10 days and I'll check it then.


----------



## scootdog

Hi I am new and just registered after browsing for sometime. I live in PA just north of Hagerstown, MD. I have a cm-4221 pointed towards Hagerstown and get NBC25, PBS31, ION60 out of Marinsburg, WV, and VA PBS out of Front Royal.


Today when I was checking my digital channels. Digital channel 60.1, 60.2, 60.3, and 60.4 for ION out of Martinsburg were showing up differently. 60.1 and 60.2 came up as WUSA 9.1 and Radar 9.2, but were showing the ION channels. 60.3, and 60.4 were broadcasting as 12.5 and 12.6. It showed up this way on a 19" Sanyo HDTV and my Artec convert box, but the Artec could not even pick up the 12.5 and 12.6 just the 9.1 and 9.2 showing WUSA, but broadcasting ION.


How and why is the ION station out of Martinsburg showing a station id of WUSA out of Washington DC? This is really weird. Also, NBC 25 now has no signal and hopefully will come back on June 12.


----------



## Digital Rules

You're right, something is really weird with the Martinsburg ION station. Their PSIP is now mapping to 12-3, 12-4, 12-5, & 12-6. I can only get analog on UHF 60 now. Maybe they are preparing to switch to 720P on the main channel????


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16583738
> 
> 
> Has anyone else seen that WWPX-DT has the 700 Club back on? I just found it. I wish I could know if it's going to stay that way. If not, I may not be able to get that program after the 12th.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> As for CBS, If WJZ-DT will not be broadcasting towards Hagerstown, WUSA-DT doesn't reach there, I currently can't get WHP-DT, that means I'll need to setup a channel 32 yagi for WTAJ-DT.



You have asked about the 700 Club on the two Ion stations before. I don't think anyone here can provide a reliable answer. Have you emailed Ion at the contact link at http://www.iontelevision.com/? Do you currently get WUSA-DT 9 with your current antenna setup? If so, you should be able to get WPXW-DT Ion 66 after they take over the WUSA UHF 34 transmitter.


As for the CBS stations, we will have to wait to see the reception for WUSA-DT 9 and WJZ-DT 13 after next Friday. WJZ-DT will be broadcasting around 7 kW in the direction of Hagerstown after they put up the directional antenna at 28.8 kW. With some luck, you may be able to still get WJZ-DT then. Or not.


I am also seeing the weird PSIP mapping going on with WWPX-DT Ion 60 on VHF 12. They are mapping to 9-1, 9-2??


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tangfoot* /forum/post/16586349
> 
> 
> Can anyone here recommend a decent indoor antenna for use in Columbia?
> 
> Or some suggestions for jury rigged attic antennas?



If you want to get both the DC and Baltimore stations, you need a non-directional antenna setup. A flat bowtie UHF antenna such as the CM-4221 4 Bay antenna can pick up UHF stations over a wide spread in azimuth including stations in the opposite direction. It has some pickup for upper VHF, but hard to say how well it will work after June 12 for the digital stations on upper VHF. Check the antenna threads in the HDTV Technical forum for a ton of info.


----------



## systems2000

No, I haven't e-mailed them. I had just resigned myself to lossing the "700 Club."


I did a reset and rescan with one of my Sunkey's and found that I'm now getting 9.1, 9.1, 9.2, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4, 9.5, & 9.6 with WUSA-DT and WWPX-DT. I did notice that 9.1 showed a Jim Carrey movie (no sound) and I thought I saw a HD logo.


I've been getting WNUV-DT fairly well for the last two weeks and WBFF-DT has been coming and going.


----------



## pclement




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16588514
> 
> 
> No, I haven't e-mailed them. I had just resigned myself to lossing the "700 Club."
> 
> 
> I did a reset and rescan with one of my Sunkey's and found that I'm now getting 9.1, 9.1, 9.2, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4, 9.5, & 9.6 with WUSA-DT and WWPX-DT. I did notice that 9.1 showed a Jim Carrey movie (no sound) and I thought I saw a HD logo.
> 
> 
> I've been getting WNUV-DT fairly well for the last two weeks and WBFF-DT has been coming and going.



Does anyone know if after the digital transition whether channels (such as 9.1) will become just 9 or will digital channels contine to be 9.1, 9.2, etc? Just curius.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pclement* /forum/post/16590552
> 
> 
> Does anyone know if after the digital transition whether channels (such as 9.1) will become just 9 or will digital channels contine to be 9.1, 9.2, etc? Just curius.



Digital stations will continue to be 7.1, 9.1, 9.2, 30.5 and at their analog channel base number.


There was a FCC STA filing by WHAG NBC 25 in Hagerstown earlier this week asking for permission to shut the analog down for good at 4 AM on June 10. The low power UHF 55 digital broadcast may have to shut down for a while as well. The details are all laid out in their explanation in the STA filing:


"THE INSTANT FILING REQUESTS SPECIAL TEMPORARY AUTHORITY (STA) TO TERMINATE THE ANALOG FACILITY ASSOCIATED WITH WHAG-TV ON JUNE 10, 2009 TWO DAYS EARLIER THAN PREVIOUSLY ANTICIPATED IN ORDER TO ACCOMMODATE THE INSTALLATION OF THE STATIONS POST-TRANSITION DTV EQUIPMENT. AS EXPLAINED BELOW, SUCH INSTALLATION MAY TAKE PLACE ON JUNE 11, 2009, DEPENDING ON WEATHER CONDITIONS.


AS THE COMMISSION IS AWARE, WHAG-TV IS AUTHORIZED TO OPERATE ITS ANALOG FACILITIES ON CHANNEL 25, ITS PRE-TRANSITION DTV FACILITIES ON CHANNEL 55 AND ITS POST-TRANSITION FACILITIES ON CHANNEL 26. WHAG-TV IS PRECLUDED FROM OPERATING ITS POST-TRANSITION FACILITIES ON CHANNEL 26 UNTIL WETA-TV, WASHINGTON, DC TERMINATES ITS ANALOG OPERATIONS ON CHANNEL 26. WETA-TV HAS ADVISED THE COMMISSION THAT IT WILL BE TERMINATING ANALOG OPERATIONS BETWEEN 6:01 A.M. AND 12:00 NOON ON JUNE 12, 2009.


WHAG-TV OPERATES ITS ANALOG AND DTV FACILITIES ON A REMOTE MOUNTAINTOP SITE IN CLEAR SPRINGS, MARYLAND. THE ONLY ROAD ENABLING ACCESS TO THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN IS SO NARROW THAT IT IS NOT POSSIBLE FOR A TRUCK OR OTHER MOTOR VEHICLE TO TRANSPORT THE STATIONS NEW DTV ANTENNA, WHICH HAS BEEN ASSEMBLED AT ANOTHER LOCATION, TO THE TOWER SITE. ACCORDINGLY, THE ONLY MEANS OF DELIVERING THE NEW DTV ANTENNA TO THE SITE IS VIA HELICOPTER. THERE ARE A VERY LIMITED NUMBER OF COMPANIES THAT ARE AVAILABLE FOR THIS TYPE OF WORK, AND SCHEDULING A CREW REQUIRES MANY MONTHS NOTICE. THE HELICOPTER CONSTRUCTION CREW THAT NEXSTAR BROADCASTING, INC. (NEXSTAR) WAS ABLE TO SECURE FOR THIS PURPOSE IS NOT AVAILABLE ON JUNE 12, 2009. THE WORK HAS BEEN SCHEDULED FOR JUNE 10, 2009, WHICH ALLOWS AN EXTRA DAY IN CASE THERE ARE WEATHER PROBLEMS THAT WOULD PREVENT THE HELICOPTER FROM FLYING TO THE TOWER SITE.


UNDER THE CURRENT PLAN, WHAG-TV INTENDS TO TERMINATE ITS ANALOG OPERATIONS AT 4:00 A.M. ON JUNE 10, 2009, WITH WORK COMMENCING SHORTLY THEREAFTER. WHILE WORK IS ONGOING, IT MAY ALSO BE NECESSARY TO TERMINATE WHAG-TVS PRE-TRANSITION DTV OPERATIONS, IN ORDER TO AVOID HUMAN RF EXPOSURE. ONCE THE INSTALLATION OF THE POST-TRANSITION DTV FACILITY IS COMPLETE, WHAG-TV WILL RESUME DTV OPERATIONS ON ITS PRE-TRANSITION CHANNEL (55) AND WILL AWAIT CONFIRMATION FROM WETA-TV ON JUNE 12 THAT ITS ANALOG OPERATIONS HAVE TERMINATED BEFORE WHAG-TV WILL COMMENCE OPERATING IN DTV FORMAT ON ITS POST-TRANSITION CHANNEL (26). IN THE MEANTIME, NEXSTAR HAS ARRANGED FOR WHAG-TVS SIGNAL TO BE DELIVERED TO LOCAL MVPD HEADENDS VIA FIBER, SO THAT MOST OF WHAG-TVS VIEWERS WILL BE COMPLETELY UNAFFECTED BY THE CONSTRUCTION WORK TAKING PLACE ON JUNE 10 OR 11." More text on why the STA should be granted follows.


----------



## systems2000

"MOST OF WHAG-TVS VIEWERS WILL BE COMPLETELY UNAFFECTED BY THE CONSTRUCTION WORK TAKING PLACE ON JUNE 10 OR 11."


That doesn't include me.







OTA viewers that are not close to WHAG-DT, or have a small clump of trees between them and the transmitter, can't receive the 0.9KW transmission. I'm one, yet my neighbor 300yards away, with a clear view to the transmitter, gets WHAG-DT very well.


From the beginning, WHAG-TV has been notifying the FCC about the need to terminate early.


I saw this morning that WWPX-DT only had the main channel (still 9.1) operating, but no audio.


----------



## dewster1977

I just checked WWPX and when I tuned to 60.1 it switch to WUSA-DT only get 9.1 and 9.2 tried to tuned to 60.3 and 60.4 and there gone now... What is going on with them???


----------



## scootdog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dewster1977* /forum/post/16593766
> 
> 
> I just checked WWPX and when I tuned to 60.1 it switch to WUSA-DT only get 9.1 and 9.2 tried to tuned to 60.3 and 60.4 and there gone now... What is going on with them???



I now have the 60.3 ION Life and the 60.4 Religious channel coming in on 12.5 and 12.6 on my 19" Sanyo HDTV, but they will not come in on my Artec converter box. The 9.1 ION and 9.2 Qubo come in on both.


The 9.1 ION is showing as WUSA and the 9.2 is showing as Radar. I get no signal at all from DC. I wonder if they are putting a translator for WUSA on the Marinsburg tower? Probably not, but that would be awesome! Anyone have a clue why ION 60 is showing up as WUSA?


----------



## systems2000

I just checked and they are still on RF12, but only broadcasting -1 and -2. I found that I get the audio on all my CECB's (Insignia -APT, Sunkey SK-801ATSC's, & Zinwell ZAT-970A), but my APEX DT502 doesn't. All of them are identifying the channel and program information as and from WUSA-DT. I'm also getting two sets of each channel with no information on the second set. My Zinwell also identifies the programming as 480i.


----------



## dewster1977

I only got a .1 and .1 stiil shows on RF 12 but displayed as 9.1 & 9.2, someone would have had to change the PSIP data on them. I saw an fcc transfer to debitor in posession, wonder if they found a buyer for the station


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dewster1977* /forum/post/16593960
> 
> 
> I saw an fcc transfer to debitor in posession, wonder if they found a buyer for the station



ION went bankrupt. I don't think a buyer's been found.


- Trip


----------



## systems2000

I thought I'd do an EPG and Time check on the stations I receive, while my antenna is pointed at 131° (Baltimore), and here are my results:


*Channel**ID**Time Variance**Hours of EPG*2WMAR-DT-0:01311WBAL-DT+0:029-1013WJZ-DT*Reference*9-1024WUTB-DT+0:019-1031WWPB-DT+0:029-1054WNUV-DT+0:024860WWPX-DT+0:021267WMPB-DT+0:021268WJAL-DT-0:05N/A

For those who care, my Signal & Quality Levels are as follows:


*Channel**ID**Quality**Strength**AXIS From Station*2WMAR-DT52-6353-54-2.411WBAL-DT27-4045-46-2.413WJZ-DT10084-2.424WUTB-DT23-3162-63-7.831WWPB-DT43-5178-79-106.354WNUV-DT39-6275-76-2.360WWPX-DT86-8987-95.768WJAL-DT58-8187-157.7

I didn't include WMPB-DT (67), because it isn't reliable unless the antenna is off-axis -11. I also don't pull-in WVPY-DT (42) or W08EE-D (WNPB-DT 24) at this compass heading.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16593988
> 
> 
> ION went bankrupt. I don't think a buyer's been found.



The complete National Network?


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16594017
> 
> 
> The complete National Network?



Yep. It was big news not too long ago.


- Trip


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16594023
> 
> 
> Yep. It was big news not too long ago.



The Ion network filed chapter 11 as part of a financial restructuring process with debt holders to reduce their debt. The press articles on the bankruptcy filing indicate Ion is planning to continue to operate and acquire more programming. Not going out of business, but obviously on shaky ground given the economy and the tough times for broadcast stations.


I doubt if WUSA-DT has brought WWPX-DT 60 because if they did, they would be putting CBS programming on it and WWPX-DT would have to keep the channel 12 ID. I wonder if the PSIP glitch is somehow related to the impending move of WPXW-DT 66 in Manassas to the WUSA-DT UHF 34 transmitter in NW DC. WWPX-DT 60 is a satellite station of WPXW-DT 66. Maybe they are sending the feed to WWPX-DT 60 through the new site and they are using PSIP equipment which has leftover WUSA-DT configuration in it. My Samsung T451 still has the 60.1, 60.2 channels as 9.1, 9.2. The Sony HD-DVR which does NOT remap channels or find new sub-channels without a full scan still shows all four sub-channels for WWPX-DT at 60.1 to 60.4. Very weird. I wonder if WWPX-DT 60 even knows they are putting out messed up PSIP data?


----------



## dewster1977

I just cleared RF 12 and rescanned, still showing RF 12 as 9.1 and 9.2, wonder what happened to .3 and .4 when I tried to enter 12.4 manually it switched to 9.1. Very weird.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dewster1977* /forum/post/16594277
> 
> 
> I just cleared RF 12 and rescanned, still showing RF 12 as 9.1 and 9.2, wonder what happened to .3 and .4 when I tried to enter 12.4 manually it switched to 9.1. Very weird.



Try 12.5 and 12.6 instead of 12.4.


- Trip


----------



## dewster1977

I tried 12.3 to 12.20 and all take me to WUSA 9.1 12.2 takes me to 9.2 9 radar. I can't get WPXW out of DC so I don't know if they still have all there sub channels up or only have two now also.


----------



## Trip in VA

Puzzling. I'd love to see some TSReader on that...


- Trip


----------



## dewster1977

Trip, I'll see if I have a tunercard that will work with the TSreader lite software, but it will have to wait till morning, I've been work 11 to 14 hours a day this week.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dewster1977* /forum/post/16594331
> 
> 
> I can't get WPXW out of DC so I don't know if they still have all there sub channels up or only have two now also.



No changes on WPXW-DT 66.


My Samsung LCD is picking up WWPX-DT 60 on 9.1, 9.2, 12.3, 12.4, 12.5, & 12.6. No program info is available on any of the 12.x channels.


This should be quite an interesting week!!


----------



## systems2000

I don't have a tuner card and haven't tried acquiring WPXW-DT. Sorry I can't help with that information.










I also did a rescan on my APEX and Insignia boxes earlier today.


----------



## ACW112983

What is this 7.1, 9.1, etc stuff? I don't get that (I have Comcast cable FWIW).


----------



## ProjectSHO89




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ACW112983* /forum/post/16595643
> 
> 
> What is this 7.1, 9.1, etc stuff? I don't get that (I have Comcast cable FWIW).



If you have cable, it's not relevant. It's only part of the digital OTA stuff.


Google "virtual channel"


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *KLJ* /forum/post/16573453
> 
> 
> i live in p.g. county, md, and use directv for 99% of my t.v. viewing.
> 
> 
> i also have basic comcast cable do to the fact i use comcast for interent. just for fun, i did an auto scan of the basic cable channels on my bravia xbr4 and discovered that i could get all the mlb baseball games (standard def.) between channels 93 and 94.
> 
> 
> is this common knowledge and is this common in other locations?



I get them too on channels 93.1 through 93.14 in 480i. Should be in HD because some of those games are supposed to be HD. Would be nice to see it.


----------



## ACW112983




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ProjectSHO89* /forum/post/16595765
> 
> 
> If you have cable, it's not relevant. It's only part of the digital OTA stuff.
> 
> 
> Google "virtual channel"



Ah, thanks


----------



## scootdog

I am copy and pasting this quote that someone (my apologies that I don't have your name) posted on here awhile back. "I have spoken with most of the station engineers and WBDC 50 in wasington will be moving their current digital Ch 51 back to Blue Ridge Summit and WPMT 43 in York will be installing a digital translator in the same area after February once some of the channels open back up."


I sent this quote to both stations Saturday and received a reply today from an engineer at WMPT 43 in York. Good news is he replied on a Sunday I am impressed. Bad news is he said that this project is now on hold indefinitely. When I here back from WBCD 50 I will let you know.


This does not look good for those of us in the greater Hagerstown area. I think I read somewhere that Tribune is the owner of both stations and they are in a financially poor state. I hope that we still will get CW50. The TV Fool website is showing it as broadcasting, but I get 0 signal. When I here back from WBCD 50 I will let you know.


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *scootdog* /forum/post/16604067
> 
> 
> I am copy and pasting this quote that someone (my apologies that I don't have your name) posted on here awhile back. "I have spoken with most of the station engineers and WBDC 50 in wasington will be moving their current digital Ch 51 back to Blue Ridge Summit and WPMT 43 in York will be installing a digital translator in the same area after February once some of the channels open back up."
> 
> 
> I sent this quote to both stations Saturday and received a reply today from an engineer at WMPT 43 in York. Good news is he replied on a Sunday I am impressed. Bad news is he said that this project is now on hold indefinitely. When I here back from WBCD 50 I will let you know.
> 
> 
> This does not look good for those of us in the greater Hagerstown area. I think I read somewhere that Tribune is the owner of both stations and they are in a financially poor state. I hope that we still will get CW50. The TV Fool website is showing it as broadcasting, but I get 0 signal. When I here back from WBCD 50 I will let you know.



That would have been me, I haven't e-mailed Jim latley. I have found him to be the most responsive and knowlegeable station engineer in this area, not only on reception of his own station, but other stations as well.


I know those of us in southern PA are not in the DC DMA, but many of us have grown use to the Balto & DC stations for many years and have never really watch the Harrisburg stations, although I am in the Harrisburg/York/Lancaster/Lebanon DMA the only stations I get are WHTM and WITF


----------



## 4HiMarks

Hi,


I have not had cable in years, and never had it in Mont. Co. My mom lives in Silver Spring (zip 20901), and has the basic "lifeline" cable which gets little more than broadcast channels. She has a cable-ready TV and no cable box (connects direct to wall). She apparently saw the article in Sunday's Post and called me to find out if she is going to lose her channels on Friday. I got her a converter and set-top antenna, but she lives in the Sligo Creek "valley" so reception stinks, especially for 26, the only channel she really cares about.


When the TH development was built 40+ years ago, there was some sort of community antenna system connected to a (300 ohm!) jack in the basement. I have no idea if it still works or is connected to anything, and she swears up and down that it doesn't even exist, because "it isn't mentioned in the by-laws(!)". The wall on the other side of the jack is unfinished and I have verified that there is a coax cable (cloth-jacketed!) going to it from somewhere.


I have two questions:


1) Is Comcast Montgomery going to use the transition as an excuse to require customers such as my mom to upgrade to digital or otherwise require a cable box?


2) Regardless of the answer to 1), is it worth even trying to see whether the basement jack will work?


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *4HiMarks* /forum/post/16605462
> 
> 
> Hi,
> 
> 
> I have not had cable in years, and never had it in Mont. Co. My mom lives in Silver Spring (zip 20901), and has the basic "lifeline" cable which gets little more than broadcast channels. She has a cable-ready TV and no cable box (connects direct to wall). She apparently saw the article in Sunday's Post and called me to find out if she is going to lose her channels on Friday. I got her a converter and set-top antenna, but she lives in the Sligo Creek "valley" so reception stinks, especially for 26, the only channel she really cares about.
> 
> 
> When the TH development was built 40+ years ago, there was some sort of community antenna system connected to a (300 ohm!) jack in the basement. I have no idea if it still works or is connected to anything, and she swears up and down that it doesn't even exist, because "it isn't mentioned in the by-laws(!)". The wall on the other side of the jack is unfinished and I have verified that there is a coax cable (cloth-jacketed!) going to it from somewhere.
> 
> 
> I have two questions:
> 
> 
> 1) Is Comcast Montgomery going to use the transition as an excuse to require customers such as my mom to upgrade to digital or otherwise require a cable box?
> 
> 
> 2) Regardless of the answer to 1), is it worth even trying to see whether the basement jack will work?



1. No BUT they are moving all their channels so you will need a box eventually. The digital transition has NOTHING to do with what you receive from Comcast.


2. Doesnt hurt to try.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *scootdog* /forum/post/16604067
> 
> 
> This does not look good for those of us in the greater Hagerstown area. I think I read somewhere that Tribune is the owner of both stations and they are in a financially poor state. I hope that we still will get CW50. The TV Fool website is showing it as broadcasting, but I get 0 signal. When I here back from WBCD 50 I will let you know.



If by WBDC 50, you mean WDCW 50 in DC, they have a construction permit (CP) to digitally flash cut their analog W51CY translator. They refiled the application in April for some reason and were granted the CP in May, so there is some recent filing action on the translator. From what I have been told here, W51CY has been silent for some time because of interference with WDCW-DT which is currently on UHF 51. The 15 kW digital allotment for W51CY provides a significant boost in coverage area over the analog; page 10 of this PDF 2006 technical application shows the difference: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/f...346&q_num=5110 . If they fire up W51CY on digital, looks like people in Martinsburg and Frederick should get W51CY OTA.


WDCW-DT 50 will be flash cutting this Friday from 125 kW on UHF 51 to 122 kW on 50. Not a strong signal compared to the stations operating at 1000 kW. WDCW filed a maximization application for an increase to 1000 kW on UHF 50 last year, but the FCC has not granted it yet. Their application might have been stalled by the WWPX-DT Ion 60 petition to move to UHF 51 at a new location. Tribune Broadcasting , the owners of WDCW 50 and a bunch of other stations, is operating in Chapter 11 bankruptcy so that can throw a monkey wrench into capital spending plans. Would be useful to hear whether they will be starting up W51CY as a digital station after this Friday.


----------



## 4HiMarks




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/16605873
> 
> 
> 1. No BUT they are moving all their channels so you will need a box eventually. The digital transition has NOTHING to do with what you receive from Comcast.


*I* know that, but try explaining it to my 77-year-old mother. I have heard that many cable co's (or perhaps it is just unscrupulous CSRs, if there is a difference between a company and its employees/contractors) are using the general confusion over the transition to get people to upgrade their service even though they might not need to.


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *4HiMarks* /forum/post/16605964
> 
> *I* know that, but try explaining it to my 77-year-old mother. I have heard that many cable co's (or perhaps it is just unscrupulous CSRs, if there is a difference between a company and its employees/contractors) are using the general confusion over the transition to get people to upgrade their service even though they might not need to.



I am replying as an 88 year old great grandfather. I have basic cable in P.G. county, and at the present time I get all of the local channels from D.C. and Baltimore with a digital-tuning TV. I expect to continue to receive these signals next week, but i'm not certain.


----------



## 4HiMarks




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/16606173
> 
> 
> I am replying as an 88 year old great grandfather.



Relevance? The fact that you even know about this forum and can post on it puts you light years ahead of her in technological savvy.


> Quote:
> I have basic cable in P.G. county, and at the present time I get all of the local channels from D.C. and Baltimore with a digital-tuning TV. I expect to continue to receive these signals next week, but i'm not certain.



So to sum up, you live in a different location, you have equipment she doesn't, and you aren't sure if even you are going to get anything next week.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *4HiMarks* /forum/post/16607049
> 
> 
> Relevance? The fact that you even know about this forum and can post on it puts you light years ahead of her in technological savvy.
> 
> 
> 
> So to sum up, you live in a different location, you have equipment she doesn't, and you aren't sure if even you are going to get anything next week.



Yikes man, he was just trying to help...


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16605949
> 
> 
> Would be useful to hear whether they will be starting up W51CY as a digital station after this Friday.



Shoot, I wonder if they'll light it up as an analog again! Without DT-51 to worry about, they could put it back on the air as an analog until they find the money to convert it...


- Trip


----------



## scootdog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16608851
> 
> 
> Shoot, I wonder if they'll light it up as an analog again! Without DT-51 to worry about, they could put it back on the air as an analog until they find the money to convert it...
> 
> 
> - Trip



Here is the email I got today from DC50 regarding the broadcasting from the Blue Ridge Summit tower. "I spoke to my Director of Engineering and as of now, it probably won't happen this year. Thanks, Tanya"


So, no Fox from York or CW from DC coming from the tower at Blue Ridge Summit. What a waste of a good tower.


----------



## afiggatt

Tribune Broadcasting must be having serious money issues if they can't even afford to start up a translator they own. My suggestion for those living out in the larger Hagerstown who can't get WDCW-DT 50 over the air after this Friday is call the station and write Tribune. If they get enough complaints, that may prod them to shake the money loose to fire up the translator, either in analog or digital.


If WDCW-DT were to have it's maximization application granted, the increase to 1000 kW would boost their OTA coverage considerably. But that assumes WDCW has the funds to add the additional transmitter hardware - unless they will be using their existing UHF 50 analog transmitter racks. Trip, do you know of any interference concerns other than the WWPX ch 51 petition that would cause a delay in granting WDCW's maximization application?


Speaking of WWPX, I see that WWPX-DT Ion 60 in Martinsburg has fixed their PSIP problem! The station is now mapping to 60.1 to 60.4.


Only 5 more days to the analog shutdown! (Well, for full power stations that are not night lighting.)


----------



## systems2000

AWW, HELL NO!! I want my W51CY back! Time for the petition website.










W51CY ceased operation the first week of December 2007, due to interference to Comcast receiving WDCW-DT transmission. I'd love to see W51CY be fired back-up as an analog translator if not digital. The question I have is why would that be a problem if they have all the equipment operating in D.C. now?


I'll have to see how well I get WTTG-DT or WBFF-DT come Saturday.


For the Hagerstown area:

"*V*" ChannelTrue ChannelCall SignNetworkWhat will Happen248W08EE-D (WNPB-DT)WV PBSNothing6012WWPX-DT_i_ONNothing4221WVPY-DTVA PBSPower Increase 50 to 1002526WHAG-DTNBCChannel Change & Power Increase6839WJAL-DTInd.Power Increase from 34 to 1053144WWPB-DTMPTPower Increase from 209 to 1000

I'm still trying to clarify what is exactly going to happen with W38AN-LD (PA PBS (38)) (33) & W34DW-D (WNPB-DT (24)) (34). I think W38AN-LD will start broadcasting at 5KW and there will not be any changes for W34DW-D.


I've already told the wife that she'll need to record Y&R from Altoona on Friday (WTAJ-DT 10 (33)).

*NOTE:* I also saw that WWPX-DT fixed their PSIP problem.


----------



## dewster1977

I e-mailed Jack wells at WNPB to inquire about W34DW, here was his reply


"We had to turn off W34DW due to interference to WJAC from Johnstown PA. We hope to get a displacement from the FCC to ch 30 after the analog shut off. If we get the dis[placement it will take us several months to get ch 30 running. Ch 41 analog will keep operating for the foreseeable future."


I think friday is going to be a nightmare west of Braddock and South Mountains. As of tonight, my relable stations are

Digital

WWPB RF 44 PBSWHTM RF 10 ABCWVPY RF 21 PBSWDCA RF 35 MyNetWWPX RF 12 ION

Analog Clear with little snow

WMAR 2 ABCWRC 4 NBCWTTG 5 FoxWJLA 7 ABCWGAL 8 NBCWUSA 9 CBSWTAJ 10 CBSWBAL 11 NBCWJZ 13 CBSWDCA 20 My NetWHP 21 CBSWHAG 25 NBCWETA 26 PBSWHTM 27 ABCWWPB 31 PBSWMPT 43 FOXWWPX 60 ION

Quite a loss IMO not even all the major networks


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/16606173
> 
> 
> I am replying as an 88 year old great grandfather. I have basic cable in P.G. county, and at the present time I get all of the local channels from D.C. and Baltimore with a digital-tuning TV. I expect to continue to receive these signals next week, but i'm not certain.



If you have cable, there will be no changes.


----------



## systems2000

I'm taking a "Wait & See" attitude. At least I know I'll get clear reception from WTTG-TV on what has happened and how to hookup a CECB.










My Clear (minor snow) channels (outside the valley) are/were 2, 4 (worst), 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 20, 22, 24, 43, & 51.


----------



## systems2000

I was just thinking, I believe most stations will have their systems transitioned by early evening for a couple of reasons;


1) On a calm day, most winds start after Noon.

2) The stations want to be back on the air for their Newscasts and Primetime.

3) Stations will want to minimize overtime.

4) Stations will want as much "Problem Buffer" as possible.


Maybe that's why I'm seeing all the stations announcing that they will be switching soon after the Noon Hour begins.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dewster1977* /forum/post/16610760
> 
> 
> I e-mailed Jack wells at WNPB to inquire about W34DW, here was his reply
> 
> 
> "We had to turn off W34DW due to interference to WJAC from Johnstown PA. We hope to get a displacement from the FCC to ch 30 after the analog shut off. If we get the dis[placement it will take us several months to get ch 30 running. Ch 41 analog will keep operating for the foreseeable future."



That will clearup WPXW-DT also. If they go to RF30, then we'll probably loose WGCB-DT. Nice to know I have a chance for WJAC-DT now, but since it's NBC I will not be doing anything extra to acquire it.


dewster1977,


If you put a "|" between your entries in your table, you'll get the cells (_make sure you have the same number of "|" on each line before the "Hard-Break"_).

*NOTE:* For those who want to know, to "*BOLD*" your text or heading, do not "*BOLD*" the "|" or past the "Hard-Break," just the text to be bolded. Same goes for underlining, italicizing, color, and size. I haven't figured out how to justify yet.


----------



## DVDO+WESTY=1080p

FIOS now available in Manassas City finally, June 15th my appointment date, will be a great day, 110 HD channels and all digital.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dewster1977* /forum/post/16610760
> 
> 
> I think friday is going to be a nightmare west of Braddock and South Mountains. As of tonight, my relable stations are
> 
> Digital
> 
> WWPB RF 44 PBSWHTM RF 10 ABCWVPY RF 21 PBSWDCA RF 35 MyNetWWPX RF 12 ION



Odd that you get WDCA-DT 20 on RF 35 at 500 kW, but not the adjacent RF channels for WUSA-DT 9 on RF 34 and WTTG-DT 5 on RF 36, both at 1000 kW. But if you are picking up some Harrisburg stations, WITF-DT 33 on RF 36 could be blocking WTTG-DT on RF 36. WJAC-DT NBC 6 in Johnstown on RF 34 could be interfering with WUSA-DT on RF 34. WRC-DT 4 on RF 48 gets interference from analog low power WAZW-LP 48 in Winchester on the northwestern part of the WRC-DT reception area.


With the taking away of 18 UHF channels and the closer packing of stations, the co-channel interference issues for those located in the fringes between multiple markets are a real problem. But if the interfering stations are at long ranges in other directions, a quality directional antenna setup with a high front to back ratio and a rotator might pull some of the interference prone stations in.


If you are getting the Hagerstown stations, you will lose WHAG-TV 25 tomorrow morning when they shut down the analog transmitter, but get the full power digital broadcast when they turn it on Friday afternoon. WJLA-DT ABC 7 will be broadcasting at 30 kW on VHF 7, so if you get their analog 7 signal reasonably well, you should get their new digital signal. Upper VHF does carry better over hills than UHF. You might get WUSA-DT 9 when they switch to VHF 9 at 12.6 kW and move off from the UHF 34 interference. By Saturday, you should have a few more reliable digital stations.


Unfortunately, the maximize power applications for WDCW-DT 50 (RF 50, 122 kW post) and WHUT-DT 32 (RF 33, 100 kW) to increase to 1000 kW have not been acted on by the FCC. WETA-DT 26 petition to move to UHF 51 at 574 kW has also not been acted on.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Comcast Going High Speed In Washington, Surrounding Metro Areas*


Will start making "leap" from broadband to wideband service in the Anacostia neighborhood starting this month


By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/9/2009 10:57:06 AM MT


High-speed broadband is a big target in Washington as policymakers decide how to define, and roll out, universal broadband, particularly to lower income and rural areas.


Comcast isn't making those policymakers look very far to see its efforts to launch the cable indsutry's next generation of high-speed Internet access, Docsis 3.0.


The nation's largest cable operator said it has begun rolling out 50 mbps service in Washington and the surrounding metro area.


Comcast will start making the "leap" from broadband to so-called wideband service in the Anacostia neighborhood of the city starting this month. Anacostia has a large minority and lower-income population, just the target group some broadband proponents say need access to high-speed Internet to help close the digital and socio-economic divides.


Comcast says speeds will double for high-speed customers at no charge. It is also adding the service to parts of Arlington and Alexandria, Va., and Montgomery County and Prince George's County, Md., all part of the Washington Metro area.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/art...etro_Areas.php


----------



## systems2000

WHAG-TV has been going off the air (during the day) for the last two days.


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16613187
> 
> 
> Odd that you get WDCA-DT 20 on RF 35 at 500 kW, but not the adjacent RF channels for WUSA-DT 9 on RF 34 and WTTG-DT 5 on RF 36, both at 1000 kW. But if you are picking up some Harrisburg stations, WITF-DT 33 on RF 36 could be blocking WTTG-DT on RF 36. WJAC-DT NBC 6 in Johnstown on RF 34 could be interfering with WUSA-DT on RF 34. WRC-DT 4 on RF 48 gets interference from analog low power WAZW-LP 48 in Winchester on the northwestern part of the WRC-DT reception area.



Yea i thought that was funny about getting WDCA, but when I looked at the other RF for the surrounding markets I realized my problem.


----------



## systems2000

I lost WUSA-DT when W34DW-D came on-line. I've not been able to get WUSA-DT for a while now. I've never been able to get WRC-DT.


The stations I can currently count on reliably from Balt./D.C. are WMAR-DT, WBAL-DT, WJZ-DT, WUTB-DT, WNUV-DT, & WMPB-DT. I just ran a check and found all D.C. stations are unviewable at the moment.


The only stations I can get from Harrisburg/Lancaster/York are WGAL-DT (58), WPMT-DT (47), & WGCB-DT (30).


----------



## mdviewer25

just did a rescan and there's a ton of new clear qam channels for Comcast PG. Mostly SD versions of the analog channels such as 4, 5, 7, 9, 22, 26, 32, newschannel 8, QVC, HSN and the Comcast Network to name a few. The MLB Network is at 21-2 in HD


----------



## afiggatt

Anyone else getting stronger signals for WMPT-DT 22 on UHF 42? Last night and today, I have been able to get the station OTA, although with dropouts. It could be atmospheric conditions as I have gotten WMPT-DT for short periods before, but they may have increased their power, perhaps to the 439 kW STA that they were granted on May 29. I'm on the outer part of WMPT-DT reception area in Sterling and possibly subject to interference from analog WVPY-TV 42 in Front Royal (which will go away on Friday).


----------



## Skeptic Tank




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/16616046
> 
> 
> just did a rescan and there's a ton of new clear qam channels for Comcast PG. Mostly SD versions of the analog channels such as 4, 5, 7, 9, 22, 26, 32, newschannel 8, QVC, HSN and the Comcast Network to name a few. The MLB Network is at 21-2 in HD



Could you list the new clear QAM channel numbers between 103 and 122?

My decrepit Samsung SIR-T451 can't scan past 103 without rebooting so I have to enter those manually. Thanks.


----------



## afiggatt

*Digital Transition Summary for DC, Baltimore, Hagerstown Stations - June 9, 2009*


Word of the day(s) for June 12 and June 13: *RESCAN*! This is my final update to the digital transition summary table I have posted several times before as the transition day is almost here. I hope that some of you find this helpful. For the cable/sat only members, don't worry, the OTA oriented postings will die down in a week or two.


The following is an updated summary of the pre and post transition digital channels, power levels, and status of filings for the full power stations in the DC, Baltimore, and Hagerstown markets. I hope some find this list useful to prepare for the June 12 analog shutdown and DT channel shuffle. The list is sorted by the post-transition physical broadcast channel, which I think is useful for highlighting the upper VHF stations and possible signal conflicts for those on the outer edges of these markets. The technical shorthand terms are ERP (Effective Radiated Power) in kW, HAAT (antenna Height Above Average Terrain) in meters, CP = Construction Permit granted by the FCC.


Some of the station comments show the post-transition maximization power applications submitted by the station last year, but the FCC has still not acted on some of them, so until then, people should use the officially allotted ERP as the basis for figuring out antenna needs. In the past several months, the FCC did grant increased post-transition ERPs for WVPY-DT PBS 42 and WWPB-DT MPT 31, but I don't know if those stations are ready to increase power on June 13.


At the bottom is a separate list for the digital low power (LD) stations in DC and the stronger digital low power CPs in the western edge of the DC area. Some of the LD CPs may not be built; some of them are likely placeholders for future filings for better channel allotments. The analog low power stations and translators do not have to shut down on June 12.


The columns are: Station, Location, Pre-transition physical digital channel and pre-transition DT ERP in kW, Post-transition physical digital channel and *current* ERP allotment in kW, post-transition HAAT in meters, filed analog shutdown time window, and Notes/Comments.


*Station**Location**Pre-DT (ERP)**Post-DT (ERP)**Post HAAT**Analog Shutdown**Notes*WJLA-DT ABC 7DC39 (646 kW)7 (30 kW)235 mMorning 6/12Maximized app for 30 kW granted.WUSA-DT CBS 9DC34 (1000)9 (12.6)235Morning 6/12WBAL-DT NBC 11Baltimore59 (513)11 (5)299Afternoon 6/12Only 5 kW VHF 11 post-transition! Some current OTA WBAL viewers will lose station!WWPX-DT Ion 60Martinsburg12 (23)12 (23)314Evening 6/12Petition pending to move DTV operations to 51 in VA which conflicts with WETA's 51 petition.WJZ-DT CBS 13Baltimore38 (1000)13 (28.8)295Afternoon 6/12Will at 9.8 kW STA on DT 13 for 1-2 months post-trans until new directional ant installedWFDC-DT uni 14DC15 (325)15 (1000)227Evening 6/12Maximized app granted for 1000 kW post-transitionWVPY-DT PBS 42Front Royal21 (50)21 (100)400Evening 6/12Maximized app for 100 kW grantedWNVC-DT MHz 56Fairfax57 (7.3, dark)24 (160)221Off since SeptemberOff air until WUTB-TV 24 shuts downWHAG-DT NBC 25Hagerstown55 (0.9)26 (575)3764 AM 6/10Will start on post DT 26 channel 12 Noon 6/12WETA-DT PBS 26DC27 (90)27 (90)254Morning 6/12Petition still pending to move to 51 for DTV operations at 674 kWWFPT-DT PBS 62Frederick28 (30)28 (41.2)158Off on April 16Increased ERP to 41.2 kW in FebruaryWMPB-DT PBS 67Baltimore29 (14 )29 (42.6)309Morning 6/12Increased ERP to 42.6 kW in FebruaryWNVT-DT MHz 30Goldvein30 (160)30 (160)229 Analog shut down in 2003WHUT-DT PBS 32DC33 (100)33 (100)254Afternoon 6/12maximized app pending for 1000 kWWPXW-DT Ion 66Manassas->DC43 (90)34 (1000)221Evening 6/12taking over WUSA-DT's pre-trans DT 34 transmitterWDCA-DT MyN 20DC35 (500)35 (500)227Afternoon 6/12maximized app pending for 950 kWWTTG-DT Fox 5DC36 (1000)36 (1000)227July 12Analog nightlight station until July 12WMAR-DT ABC 2Baltimore52 (613)38 (1000)312Afternoon 6/12Taking over WJZ-DT's pre-trans DT 38 transmitterWJAL-DT ind 68Hagerstown16 (6)39 (105)372Off in JanuaryOperating at STA 34 kW on UHF 39WNUV-DT CW 54Baltimore40 (845)40 (845)373Off on March 2 WUTB-DT MyN 24Catonsville41 (200)41 (200)308Morning 6/12maximized app pending for 290 kWWMPT-DT PBS 22Annapolis42 (150)42 (439)289Morning 6/12STA for 439 kW granted, maximized app pending for 516 kWWWPB-DT PBS 31Hagerstown44 (209)44 (1000)359Morning 6/12maximized app for 1000 kW grantedWBFF-DT Fox 45Baltimore46 (550)46 (550)373Off on March 2 WRC-DT NBC 4DC48 (813)48 (813)242June 26Analog nightlight station until June 26WDCW-DT CW 50DC51 (125)50 (122)253Morning 6/12maximized app pending for 1000 kWDigital LDs  Lic/CPs   WMDO Telef 47DC8 (0.198)8 (0.198)150 on the air in late summer 08.W08EE WV PBSMartinsburg8 (0.3)8 (0.3)281 on the airWWTD ind 49DC-14 (0.1)179 CP granted Jan 08WDDN Dayst 23DC-21 (1)213 CP granted Mar 07WZDC Telem 25DC-25 (4.6)116 CP granted Oct 08 for digital flash cut post-transitionWIAV AsiaVis 58DC-44 (0.1)45 Applied for 10 kW ERP on UHF 43WAZW rlg 48Winchester-46 (12)78 CP granted Jan 07W51CY CW 51Hagerstown-51 (15)379 Satellite TX for WDCW located east of Hagerstown, not planning to start up in 2009


----------



## AbMagFab

I think I asked this before, but why is the power so much lower on DC ABC and CBS post transition?


----------



## imref

Hi all, On DirecTV I see tonight that the Orioles are on MASN (640) in HD, the Nats are on MASN2 in SD (641).


The guide shows 641-1 (MASN2-HD) but it says "To be announced" and there is nothing on it right now. Does anyone know if there are any plans to to show Nats games in HD on 641-1 when the O's are on MASN?


Thanks!


----------



## mapper

From what I have read on VHF-Hi stations, the power for WJLA and WUSA, and for any other VHF station is lower because VHF is on a lower frequency than UHF, requiring less power to penetrate.


----------



## Digital Rules

WJLA-DT & WUSA-DT should be receivable around 50-70 miles away with the right antenna & average terrain conditions. (YMMV)


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/16616836
> 
> 
> I think I asked this before, but why is the power so much lower on DC ABC and CBS post transition?



Low VHF (2-6, 54 to 88 MHz) and upper VHF (7-13, 174 to 216 MHz) require less power than UHF (14-69, 470 to 806 MHz, soon to be limited to 14-51) to provide the same coverage. For analog broadcasts, the maximum allowed power is 100 kW for low VHF, 316 kW for upper VHF, 5000 kW for UHF. For example, WJLA-TV 7 and WUSA-TV 9 are at 316 kW, WHUT-TV 32 is 5000 kW.


For digital ATSC broadcasts, the maximum allowed power (ERP) for Zone 1 (which includes our area) is 10 kW low VHF, 30 kW upper VHF, and 1000 kW UHF. WJLA-DT ABC 7 will be at the maximum ERP allowed for upper VHF.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Skeptic Tank* /forum/post/16616745
> 
> 
> Could you list the new clear QAM channel numbers between 103 and 122?
> 
> My decrepit Samsung SIR-T451 can't scan past 103 without rebooting so I have to enter those manually. Thanks.



104-1 = SD version of ch 71 (PIN) no audio

106-6 = Shop NBC

109-1 through 109-14 = local government/public access channels and TV Guide

110-3 = Gospel Music Channel

110-9 = Oxygen

110-10 = INSP

110-12 = G4


My SIR-T451 does the same thing. I haven't rescanned that one yet. The sad part is that doesn't go past 125 so you don't get any of the music choice channels at 130-1 through 130-50, Fox5 HD at 132-1, CW50 HD at 132-2, My20 HD at 133-1, MPT HD at 133-2, or A&E HD at 134-2.


----------



## scootdog

W08EE WV PBS Martinsburg 8 - I read somewhere that this station will increase power in August. Not that I really need another PBS station.


Speaking of PBS stations WVPY-DT PBS 42 Front Royal 21 (50) 21 (100) this power increase should help as this station comes and goes for me (usually can get it in the evening and at night, but not in the morning or day). Does anyone else notice that signal strength is better on broadcasts at night? If so, what is the reason for this? Also, Tonight I have noticed a marginal signal boost and they may have possibly already increased power.


WWPB-DT PBS 31 Hagerstown 44 (209) 44 (1000) don't really see the need for such an increase on this station as it is the strongest signal I get here in Southern Franklin County PA. The increase may drive my signal meter out of the TV. I hope this does not interfere with anything. Perhaps the PBS stations have the public funds available to pay for the increase in juice that some of the other stations do not. A good example would be W51CY CW 51 east of Hagerstown not firing up their tower on the mountain.


WJAL-DT ind 68 Hagerstown 16 (6) 39 (105) this increase should also be good as I get a weak signal, but it will not come in and I am 20 miles away.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *scootdog* /forum/post/16617393
> 
> 
> WWPB-DT PBS 31 Hagerstown 44 (209) 44 (1000) don't really see the need for such an increase on this station as it is the strongest signal I get here in Southern Franklin County PA. The increase may drive my signal meter out of the TV. I hope this does not interfere with anything. Perhaps the PBS stations have the public funds available to pay for the increase in juice that some of the other stations do not.



I can only imagine how strong WWPB-DT will be where you are.(Ouch!!) It comes in quite well in Arlington now with a rooftop antenna, and no amp. On the other hand, we don't get any Virginia Public Television digital stations here. Hopefully the Front Royal station will come in after June 12.


----------



## dewster1977

Actually WVPY was a little worse for me tonight lot of break-ups, usually it is solid day and night and TVfool list it as -21 for me. I have noticed that since Yesterday when I had the Winegard 7084 installed with CM 7777 (to replace an VU-160) WRC, WDCA and WUSA come in better and I no longer get WJAL RF39 5 miles away(At +67) when pointed to DC and WJLA 7 RF39 trys to decode


----------



## Digital Rules

Lots of tropo activity last night, and some this morning, but not as much. This can cause reception issues with normally stable stations.


----------



## AbMagFab

Did I read that some of the DC locals are testing their new locations and broadcasting digital signals on them? Anyone know if this is still going on?


I'd like to do a rescan to see if my current bowtie will pick up JLA and USA here at ~20 miles from DC (and very high up).


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *scootdog* /forum/post/16617393
> 
> 
> W08EE WV PBS Martinsburg 8 - I read somewhere that this station will increase power in August.



W08EE-D is at 300 Watts, the maximum power allowed for VHF low power stations and translator. They can't increase their power and stay as a translator on VHF 8.



> Quote:
> Speaking of PBS stations WVPY-DT PBS 42 Front Royal 21 (50) 21 (100) this power increase should help as this station comes and goes for me (usually can get it in the evening and at night, but not in the morning or day). Does anyone else notice that signal strength is better on broadcasts at night? If so, what is the reason for this? Also, Tonight I have noticed a marginal signal boost and they may have possibly already increased power.



TV broadcast signals propagate better at night, same as AM and FM radio.



> Quote:
> WWPB-DT PBS 31 Hagerstown 44 (209) 44 (1000) don't really see the need for such an increase on this station as it is the strongest signal I get here in Southern Franklin County PA. The increase may drive my signal meter out of the TV. I hope this does not interfere with anything. Perhaps the PBS stations have the public funds available to pay for the increase in juice that some of the other stations do not.



There may be gaps in reliable WWPB-DT coverage at 209 kW in western MDor along the northern MD border. PBS stations and PBS state organizations have been, in general, strapped for money for years and their situation got much worse last fall with many corporate sponsors drying up. PBS stations made up a large chunk of the stations that shut down their analog broadcast in February and in the 2nd smaller wave on April 16 because they did not have the money to maintain both analog and digital broadcasts.


MPT may be in better financial shape than most state wide PBS organizations. But of their 6 stations, WCPB and WGPT went digital only last December, WFPT 62 in Frederick in April. I suspect the reason to increase WWPB-DT 31 to 1000 kW is because a) they can, b) the electric bills are lower for a 1000 kW digital broadcast are still lower than for the 4070 kW analog, and c) to protect themselves against white space broadband devices while they can.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/16618468
> 
> 
> Did I read that some of the DC locals are testing their new locations and broadcasting digital signals on them? Anyone know if this is still going on?



Some of the stations have reportedly done some early flash cut testing, but at 3 or 4 AM in the morning. Would have been nice to learn about these tests in advance so people could check out their reception - well, those who are willing to get up at 3 or 4 AM. But in 2+ days, we are going to find out how well our antenna setups work, one way or the other.


WHAG-TV NBC 25 in Hagerstown is now off the air. Another analog station bites the dust. If anyone lives in view of WHAG's broadcast tower, keep an eye out for a helicopter removing and lifting a new antenna on the tower. Also, this means the interference for low power WZDC-CA Telemundo 25 has gone away. Some people north of DC may now get a noisy WZDC where before they got a noisy WHAG-TV. I don't see any signals for WZDC-CA here in Sterling, but I am outside of their very directional analog coverage area.


----------



## scootdog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16618839
> 
> 
> W08EE-D is at 300 Watts, the maximum power allowed for VHF low power stations and translator. They can't increase their power and stay as a translator on VHF 8.



"Both WNPB and WSWP are constructing alternate digital antenna locations which will provide the same digital coverage as the current analog coverage.

These changes should be completed on or before August 18, 2009. Viewers should perform a channel scan after these changes are made."


This is the quote I was referencing. I thought this would apply to W08EE-D. Thanks for the correction.


----------



## Skeptic Tank




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/16616988
> 
> 
> 104-1 = SD version of ch 71 (PIN) no audio
> 
> 106-6 = Shop NBC
> 
> 109-1 through 109-14 = local government/public access channels and TV Guide
> 
> 110-3 = Gospel Music Channel
> 
> 110-9 = Oxygen
> 
> 110-10 = INSP
> 
> 110-12 = G4



Thanks for the quick reply. I'm looking forward to getting G4 on my downstairs TV now.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/16616988
> 
> 
> The sad part is that doesn't go past 125 so you don't get any of the music choice channels at 130-1 through 130-50, Fox5 HD at 132-1, CW50 HD at 132-2, My20 HD at 133-1, MPT HD at 133-2, or A&E HD at 134-2.



I know. If I could find a suitable replacement with both VGA output and optical sound (and I weren't such a cheapskate), I'd have replaced it by now with something better.


----------



## Gerald C




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16616628
> 
> 
> Anyone else getting stronger signals for WMPT-DT 22 on UHF 42?



Yes, I observed the same thing on Mon and Tues evenings, but now it's gone. It could be tropo, but I doubt it, since I've *never* been able to pick up DT42 before where I am in west Alexandria. I suspect they are experimenting with the higher power Tx, which will hopefully become the default operation on Friday.


----------



## Digital Rules

WMPT-DT should be relatively easy to get already in most of northern VA with the proper outdoor antenna. I installed a small outdoor antenna 50 miles west of Annapolis 2 weeks ago, & was surprised how well it came in.(No pre-amp) The location is in a terrain challenged area just west of Dulles airport.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...c5347d02d523de


----------



## systems2000

HURRAY! WUTB-TV and WETA-TV are back.


----------



## joblo

WETA's web site says it will end analog at noon.


WUSA's web site says it will end analog and move digital from 34 to 9 at noon.


WTTG's web site says channel 5 will switch to nightlight service at 12:01 PM.


I expect all the other DC stations that selected morning or afternoon on their FCC forms will also switch at noon or 12:01 PM. This includes 4, 5, 7, 9, 20, 26, 32, and 50.


WJZ's web site reports it will switch at 12:30 pm. Expect WMAR and WBAL will switch at the same time.


WVPT's web site reports WVPT and WVPY will cease analog at 11:59:59, but it doesn't specify AM or PM. Based on the FCC filings previously listed by afiggatt, I assume they mean PM.


Haven't found any info beyond aforementioned FCC filings for WFDC, WUTB, MPT, or ION stations.


----------



## aaronwt

Yes the noon/12:01PM switch is a pain. Since you won't get your scheduled programs on WUSA and WJLA until you have your receiver do a rescan. My girlfriend records all afternoon shows from them and is going to miss her programming unless she is home to do the rescan.


----------



## systems2000

I'm going to miss having WMAR-DT on RF52. It's been much more stable than RF38.


I left VM's for WDCW ((202) 965-5050) and WITF ((717) 704-3000) about W51CY and W38AN. Hopefully, I'll hear back from them soon.


The wife was very upset about WBAL-DT last night. She listened to me and setup the VCR to record from 20:00-22:00. Everything looked great before we left the house and even looked fine when we returned at 23:00.


Then she looked at the tape. She found that all she recorded was about three to five minutes of the show and then for the next two hours the tape showed was "*Weak Signal*." She's still blaming me and not happy about how this bodes for viewing television after Noon tomorrow.


----------



## cpldc

Bad news for those near Martinsburg who wish to get WDCW-DT after it transitions to 50: "Yes both channel 50 analog and channel 8 digital will continue for the

foreseeable future." That's from the Director of Engineering at WV Public Broadcasting, in reference to W50DE and W08EE-D.


Despite being weaker, W50DE is LOS to many locations in that area. At least in Hagerstown the weaker but closer-in analog signal obliterated that of WDCW. Since its analog operation was 5MW and this was still a problem, I doubt that WDCW boosting its power on DT-50 would help.


----------



## systems2000

Why would you want those two digital stations to shut-down their transmitters?


Turning W51CY back "ON" would solve WDCW's problem. I don't care if they even bring it back up as analog.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *phantomplebe* /forum/post/15901797
> 
> 
> Mounting an amp closer to the antenna is certainly worth a shot. 60' is a decent amount of coax to drive unamplified. I don't know much about how broadcast power will be changing, but given your location more amplification can't hurt.



60' of good quality RG6 coax should be fine. Not to bash Radio Shack too much (they do sell excellent antennas), but their RG6 is horrible. Whomever makes it skimps on the braided shield, thus allowing leakage and multipath issues.


It's usually best to avoid amplification directly out of the antenna for reception of DTV signals. All but a couple of amps on the market today generate noise which can be destructive to reception, along with not being linear across the VHF and UHF bands. A good quality amp can be best used for only making up for splitter losses when feeding multiple locations, again not as a way of "pulling in" DTV signals. Radio Shack amps whereas claiming bandwidth out to 900Mhz., actually fall far short of those specs. RS amps also generate quite a bit of noise. When used for distribution, a commercial quality CATV amp is best.


Speaking of splitters; make sure you use only the number of spigots that you need with any open spigots are terminated with 75 ohm resistors. I recommend using only high quality 2Ghz splitters.


----------



## Gerald C




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16624093
> 
> 
> WMPT-DT should be relatively easy to get already in most of northern VA with the proper outdoor antenna.



Unfortunately, that's not been my experience. I suspect it is very dependent on your location HAAT. And hopefully, after Fri, all will be improved


----------



## cpldc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16625999
> 
> 
> Why would you want those two digital stations to shut-down their transmitters?
> 
> 
> Turning W51CY back "ON" would solve WDCW's problem. I don't care if they even bring it back up as analog.



W50DE is an analog transmitter. Its replacement is W08EE-D. I only asked the engineer about the analog station.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16625400
> 
> 
> I'm going to miss having WMAR-DT on RF52. It's been much more stable than RF38.



I hear that, and ... I'm only 10 miles from the tower. WJZ on 38 has been a nightmare for us. I don't think we've even bothered trying to tune it in for 6-8 months. With WJLA moving to 7 and WMAR moving to 38 I think we'll be ABC-less for a while at my house until I sort out how to clean 38 up and get VHF set up again.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16625400
> 
> 
> The wife was very upset about WBAL-DT last night. She listened to me and setup the VCR to record from 20:00-22:00. Everything looked great before we left the house and even looked fine when we returned at 23:00.



What was wrong with WBAL for you last night? Granted, I'm basically right on top of them here, but we watched WBAL quite a bit last night and this morning and it was fine. Did they reduce power on 59 in prep for tomorrow or something?


----------



## wmcbrine

WETA appears to be in quasi-nightlight mode -- they're showing "Get Ready for Digital TV" in a loop, on their analog channel only.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/16627829
> 
> 
> What was wrong with WBAL for you last night? Granted, I'm basically right on top of them here, but we watched WBAL quite a bit last night and this morning and it was fine. Did they reduce power on 59 in prep for tomorrow or something?



At 70 miles with 2-edge reception, I believe the atmospheric conditions (storms) caused the station to go away at my location. At least I'll finally be able to receive WHAG-DT tomorrow and not have to worry about it any more.


----------



## scootdog

systems200 if you would not mind posting your setup I am curious as I think I am fairly close to your location in Franklin County, PA. I was wondering about antenna type, height, motorized, etc. Also, what brand HDTV or converter your using. Thanks.


----------



## systems2000

Just got off the phone with WITF and they are acquiring bids for equipment on W38AN (Digital). They have the cash and are willing to spend it. W38AN (33 at 5KW) is hopefully going to be on the air by late August. W38AN (38 - WJZ-DT/WMAR-DT interference) will continue to broadcast past tomorrow.


----------



## systems2000

Someone at WETA just leaned on the FFWD button and ran through about five min of DTV info.










I'm getting tired of the "Hype" that these programs are putting out. DTV *DOES* use analog transmission. DTV *IS NOT* better for those on the CLIFF.


----------



## systems2000

Here you go scootdog;

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...6#post16470496 

and
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...3#post15830893 

and
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...4#post15946674


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/16627829
> 
> 
> I hear that, and ... I'm only 10 miles from the tower. WJZ on 38 has been a nightmare for us. I don't think we've even bothered trying to tune it in for 6-8 months. With WJLA moving to 7 and WMAR moving to 38 I think we'll be ABC-less for a while at my house until I sort out how to clean 38 up and get VHF set up again.



For me in Sterling, WJZ-DT 13 on UHF 38 at 1000 kW has been much more reliable and east to get compared to WMAR-DT 2 on UHF 52 at 613 kW and WBAL-DT on UHF 59 at 513 kW. WBAL-DT is the weakest and most prone to dropouts of the 3, in part because it is/(soon to be was) located at the upper end of the UHF range with the poorest propagation. Of course, the UHF antenna used plays a big role in this because of different gain responses over the UHF channels. The UHF antenna comparison chart at http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/comparing.html shows this.


I suspect that some locations have had a more difficult time getting WJZ-DT on UHF 39 because of adjacent channel interference from WJLA-DT 7 on UHF 39 at 646 kW in DC. That goes away tomorrow when WJLA-DT moves to 7. However, for systems2000 and those located well NW of Baltimore, WJAL-DT 68 near Chambersburg, PA will be increasing to 105 kW on UHF 39 which is not going to help with WMAR-DT 2 reception on 38. The FCC should allow WJAL-DT to either move to DC or have it to relocate to a tower in Hagerstown so it is co-located with the other Hagerstown antennas, if there is a good UHF channel slot left for WJAL-DT to use there.


As for WMPT-DT 22 on 42, I have never gotten the digital station reliably where I am in north Sterling. My antenna is in the attic and WMPT-DT is in a poor direction, basically lengthwise down a row of the top of townhouses. My signal strength on UHF 42 is back to 1-3 bars, so either it was tropo earlier in the week or WMPT-DT was testing increased power in preparation for a permanent increase to 439 kW tomorrow. I get WFPT-DT 62 in Frederick just fine and even now get WMPB-DT 67 in Baltimore much of the time, so getting WMPT-DT is not vital. With WWPB-DT MPT 31 in Hagerstown going to 1000 kW, I might well get that even with the CM 4221 aimed at Baltimore, which could put me in the rather redundant position of getting four MPT stations OTA.


----------



## systems2000

This "Ready For DTV" program really settled in on me yesterday. I was about to change out my center pole, when I thought that peaking my reception would be for naught.


The Mid-Atlantic has so many changes starting tomorrow, that I believe everyone will need to re-evaluate their OTA setup. After all the stations have completed their transition, there will be RF changes, power changes, antenna location changes, triple-beats, AM/CB/FM/HAM/airline interference, co-channel, and adjacent channel issues will be completely new to everyone.


That means no one is ready.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16629145
> 
> 
> The FCC should allow WJAL-DT to either move to DC



ARRRGGH! No! We're finally getting rid of RF 39 and its adjacent channel interference and I definitely don't want it back!


I assume you mean that they should move to DC on a *different* channel, yes?


----------



## mdviewer25

was: MLBHD on 21-2

now: ionHD on 21-1


wonder if this was done to black out the Red Sox/Yankees Game or if Comcast caught a mistake and fixed it.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/16630119
> 
> 
> ARRRGGH! No! We’re finally getting rid of RF 39 and its adjacent channel interference and I definitely don’t want it back!
> 
> 
> I assume you mean that they should move to DC on a *different* channel, yes?



WJAL-DT (68) RF39 isn't going anywhere at the moment. What they will be doing is increasing their transmitter power to 105KW (currently 34KW).


What will be going away is WJLA-DT (7) RF39 in D.C. (operating at 646KW).


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/16630119
> 
> 
> ARRRGGH! No! We're finally getting rid of RF 39 and its adjacent channel interference and I definitely don't want it back!
> 
> 
> I assume you mean that they should move to DC on a *different* channel, yes?



WJAL 68 filed an petition several years ago (or longer?) to move to Silver Spring and operate on channel 16. The FCC has never acted on it. The reason to move to DC proper is that would give Entravision Communications, who owns WJAL and a number of Univision & Telefutura - including WFDC 14 and WMDO-CA 47 - another full power station in the DC market. They probably would put Telefutura programming on WJAL if it was moved to DC.


As far as I can tell, WWTD-LP 49 is still off the air. The low power station was supposed to provide WJLA 7 programming in analog after the original Feb 17 shutdown date. Anyone know if WJLA is planning to still do that after June 12? If WWTD-LP is totally dependent on WJLA 7 to go on the air, that does not bode well for it. That would open UHF 49 for another DC station.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16631085
> 
> 
> As far as I can tell, WWTD-LP 49 is still off the air.



Correct,


There is presently nothing being broadcast on channel 49 . It's been off the air for a few months.


----------



## joblo

WUTB-24 crawl says they will cease analog at 11:59 AM.


WMPT-22 has been added to the nightlight list. Through June 26. They also filed an updated termination notice with the FCC to terminate between 12:01 PM and 6 PM, so presumably they will switch to nightlight during that time.


Full revised nightlight list here: http://www.fcc.gov/DA-09-1303A2.pdf


----------



## wmcbrine

All the station crawls I've seen seem to be saying noon -- or rather 11:59 (the "morning" group), or 12:01 (the "afternoon" group).


I bid a personal farewell to WUTB, the last analog I kept in my regular lineup. Your digital coverage sucks.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16631085
> 
> 
> WJAL 68 filed an petition several years ago (or longer?) to move to Silver Spring and operate on channel 16. The FCC has never acted on it.



The FCC dismissed it, then WJAL filed a petition for reconsideration. That has yet to be acted upon.


And it dates to before they had elected to move to channel 39, so I don't know that they'd move to 16 in DC.


- Trip


----------



## aaronwt

Well it's finally here. I've been waiting eight years for it. At least there should be some humorous news stories today about the switch.


----------



## systems2000

Just over two hours to go for the mayhem to begin. Too bad I don't have a Spectrum Analyzer to record the transition. Would be cool to see all the channels going and coming.


----------



## joblo

WDCW-50 has made the switch. Not sure exactly what time, but it was at the end of some program produced by NBC/Universal Studios, because that was the frozen screen on Cox Fairfax around 0945 this morning. Cox has now retuned its receiver and service is restored.


----------



## CycloneGT

Wow, today is the day that all TV becomes HDTV.










Funny how many times we have heard that over the years.


----------



## systems2000

Not "…HDTV…," DTV.


Not "…all tv…," Low-Power, Class "A," and translator stations will continue to broadcast analog.


As of 10:00, WMAR-TV and WRC-TV are gone from my system (I'm getting a CBS station on RF4). It also looks like WTTG-TV, WBAL-TV, WJZ-TV, & WUTB-TV have reduced power.


----------



## Trip in VA

Apparently there's a huge e-skip window on low-VHF today. I wish it was on another day when I could see it!


- Trip


----------



## gomo657




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/16633570
> 
> 
> WDCW-50 has made the switch. Not sure exactly what time, but it was at the end of some program produced by NBC/Universal Studios, because that was the frozen screen on Cox Fairfax around 0945 this morning. Cox has now retuned its receiver and service is restored.



DCW through comcast/DC is showing 480i through cable box other channels 720p/1080i. I noticed the past few days local commercials would switch to 480i the switch back afterwards.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/16624408
> 
> 
> WETA’s web site says it will end analog at noon.
> 
> 
> WUSA’s web site says it will end analog and move digital from 34 to 9 at noon.
> 
> 
> WTTG’s web site says channel 5 will switch to nightlight service at 12:01 PM.
> 
> 
> I expect all the other DC stations that selected morning or afternoon on their FCC forms will also switch at noon or 12:01 PM. This includes 4, 5, 7, 9, 20, 26, 32, and 50.
> 
> 
> WJZ’s web site reports it will switch at 12:30 pm. Expect WMAR and WBAL will switch at the same time.



WRC-4 onscreen countdown to noon.

WJLA-7 web site says “Mid-Day”.

WDCW-50 already gone.

WMAR-2, WBAL-11, and WJZ-13 crawls all say 12:30.

WUTB-24 crawl says 11:59 AM.


----------



## machpost

WJLA just made the switch. I'm getting a much better digital signal from 7 than I ever did from 39. Is VHF less susceptible to multipath interference than UHF? That's always been my problem here, as I'm on the lower floor of a tall building, where the only windows face the opposite direction from where most of the DC signals are broadcasting.


----------



## ajnabi

channel 4, 5, 7, 9, 20, 26, 32 just went down.


Finally I get Mhz channels clearly now... the best part for me has been that my small attenta actually picked up vhf 7 and 9 for which i wasn't sure if it was going to work or not.


----------



## joblo

20, 26, 32 also gone


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16633753
> 
> 
> Apparently there's a huge e-skip window on low-VHF today. I wish it was on another day when I could see it!
> 
> 
> - Trip



I'm seeing it.


----------



## systems2000

24 is gone.


I'm still getting WMAR-TV, WGAL-TV, WTAJ-TV, WBAL-TV, WJZ-TV, 22, 31, & 67


----------



## joblo

And now the *cool* stuff:


With WUTB-24 now gone, WNVC has started transmitting on 24.


RF24:

30-1 MHz1 Worldview

30-2 MHz2 NHK (English)

30-3 MHz3 Metro Chinese Network (Mandarin?)

30-4 MHz4 Russia Today (English)

30-5 MHz5 bvn (Dutch?)


RF30:

30-6 MHz6 SABC (South Africa -English)

30-7 MHz7 France 24 (English)

30-8 MHz8 NTA (Nigeria - English)

30-9 MHz9 VTV4 (no idea -something Asian, maybe Vietnamese?)

30-10 MHz10 Euronews (English)


----------



## mdviewer25

I'm getting a much stronger signal for 66 on RF 34. WJLA's signal sucks for me. WUSA right now is only at 55-65% and I have two 9-1's and 9-2's. one is blank the other has programming.


----------



## joblo

13 analog gone


----------



## systems2000

I turned my antenna towards Altoona (332°) for the Y&R recording (WTAJ-DT is rock solid at 100% Quality) and found that I get KTBS-TV (they'll transition at 18:30 today) and CW Pittsburgh (19).


I don't get WJLA-DT at all and WUSA-DT registers, but isn't strong enough to view. Looks like I've lost ABC.


----------



## pennstatefan

So long old friend... it was nice having WJAL and WUSA while it lasted. As I thought, with the switch to VHF my UHF only antenna does not pick up the stations here in Winchester. Guess I'll take the antenna down tomorrow as I don't see me putting up a VHF/UHF.


----------



## leesweet

Well, similar here in South Riding. I thought my UHF CM4221 would get enough of WJLA and WUSA, but on a DirecTV DVR, both are about 30%, and either pixelate horribly or don't lock in.


Now to redo the OTA DVR programming and then see what options I have for a combo antenna (if I want to go that route).


----------



## afiggatt

There are probably some confused OTA viewers out there who are getting Ion informercials when they tune to 9.1 and WMAR ABC 2.1 when they tune to WJZ 13.1.







WMAR-DT successfully moved to WJZ's RF 38. At the moment, I am not seeing any signals on RF 11 and RF 13 for WBAL-DT and WJZ-DT 13, so they must be off the air.


My channel scan slowed down for RF 24, but could not get a lock on WNVC-DT 56. I would expect a stable signal if WNVC-DT is at the alloted 160 kW on RF 24, so either WNVC-DT is not yet at full power or I will have to adjust the CM 4221 location and aim in the attic. The channel mapping problem with WUTB-DT 24.1 means that I have to hook up the Zenith DTT901 to my main antenna setup to get a signal strength reading.


WJLA-DT 7 and WUSA-DT 9 - 16 miles away - are coming in at a full 10 bars on RF 7 & 9 with a YA-1713 upper VHF antenna. I am not able to get a lock on WMDO-LD 47 on VHF 8, so the 198 Watt signal is not strong enough here. Interference with analog 7 & 9 was not the reason for not getting the low power station here. However, the tropo weather today means that we may have to wait a day or two before coming to final conclusions.


----------



## Remoteless




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16634766
> 
> 
> I turned my antenna towards Altoona (332°) for the Y&R recording (WTAJ-DT is rock solid at 100% Quality) and found that I get KTBS-TV (they'll transition at 18:30 today) and CW Pittsburgh (19).
> 
> 
> I don't get WJLA-DT at all and WUSA-DT registers, but isn't strong enough to view. Looks like I've lost ABC.



I'm picking up KTBS analog channel 3 out of Shreveport, Louisiana.


----------



## systems2000

I just watched KXAS-TV (100KW Fort Worth) terminate and FOX4 (I didn't catch the call sign) go into "Nightlight" service.


----------



## MrMike6by9

As of this hour, WMAR (2) is broadcasting a continuing repeat about digital conversation and who to contact for help.


YMMV


----------



## easyt

Alrighty, I'm one of the goobers that doesn't full understand the technical details of the transition. Anyone willing to help me out?


I'm in 20832, and according to the DC antenna maps, all the networks' antennas are in a pretty little line directly south of me.


So I got this antenna , which has worked great pre-transition. But, post-transition, I lost ABC & CBS. Do I need a different antenna? Can I add a VHF to this one and combine the signals to my tv?


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Remoteless* /forum/post/16634993
> 
> 
> I'm picking up KTBS analog channel 3 out of Shreveport, Louisiana.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16635026
> 
> 
> I just watched KXAS-TV terminate and FOX4 (I didn't catch the call sign) go into "Nightlight" service.



Nothing like that around here...


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *easyt* /forum/post/16635107
> 
> 
> So I got this antenna , which has worked great pre-transition. But, post-transition, I lost ABC & CBS. Do I need a different antenna? Can I add a VHF to this one and combine the signals to my tv?



I think you will have to add a VHF antenna to the 4 bay bowtie if you are no longer getting WJLA-DT ABC 7 and WUSA-DT CBS 9. You can add a separate VHF antenna with an inexpensive VHF/UHF combiner. You could try hooking up simple rabbit ears set to a length of around 31" in place of the 4 bay bowtie, do a scan, and see if it gets WJLA-DT 7 and WUSA-DT 9. If so, then get a combiner and use the rabbit ears. If the rabbit ears don't work, then look at upper VHF antennas or a new upper VHF/UHF antenna.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *leesweet* /forum/post/16634904
> 
> 
> Well, similar here in South Riding. I thought my UHF CM4221 would get enough of WJLA and WUSA, but on a DirecTV DVR, both are about 30%, and either pixelate horribly or don't lock in.
> 
> 
> Now to redo the OTA DVR programming and then see what options I have for a combo antenna (if I want to go that route).



I'll be out your way to finish up an antenna install tomorrow. I'm confident the Small Winegard Ghost Killer will work just fine that I put up in Aldie. (Braddock Rd, west side of Gum Springs Road in a low spot) I'll let you know once I do a re-scan. The Winegard 7694P is even smaller and a better choice.


----------



## afiggatt

I was wrong, WBAL-DT 11 and WJZ-DT 13 in Baltimore are on the air on their new digital channels. With a quick antenna re-aim, my tuner detects them, but can't get a lock. Memo to the FCC and WBAL: 5 kW on VHF 11 is NOT doing the job. This is going an interesting weekend climbing into the attic crawlspace to see if I find a location and aim to get WBAL, WJZ, WNVC 56, WMPT 22, WVPY 42.


----------



## mdviewer25

11 and 13 have to be off the air because I'm not getting anything for 11 and 13 is only at 2-6%. WMAR is much stronger (90%) at 38 than it was at 52. WJLA and WUSA are not as strong as they used to be (40-55%) and I don't think VHF was the right move for those signals.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *easyt* /forum/post/16635107
> 
> 
> Alrighty, I'm one of the goobers that doesn't full understand the technical details of the transition. Anyone willing to help me out?
> 
> 
> I'm in 20832, and according to the DC antenna maps, all the networks' antennas are in a pretty little line directly south of me.
> 
> 
> So I got this antenna , which has worked great pre-transition. But, post-transition, I lost ABC & CBS. Do I need a different antenna? Can I add a VHF to this one and combine the signals to my tv?



Yes, Use this antenna- http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...p?PROD=Y5-7-13 

Combine the 2 antennas using this- http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?prod=UVSJ


----------



## pennstatefan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16635212
> 
> 
> I'll be out your way to finish up an antenna install tomorrow. I'm confident the Small Winegard Ghost Killer will work just fine that I put up in Aldie. (Braddock Rd, west side of Gum Springs Road in a low spot) I'll let you know once I do a re-scan. The Winegard 7694P is even smaller and a better choice.



I was just looking at that Winegard antenna online and was going to post a link. Do you think something like that would pull in WJLA and WUSA from Winchester? I just don't want to put up some huge monstrosity on the roof.


----------



## compuguy1088




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16634939
> 
> 
> There are probably some confused OTA viewers out there who are getting Ion informercials when they tune to 9.1 and WMAR ABC 2.1 when they tune to WJZ 13.1.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> WMAR-DT successfully moved to WJZ's RF 38. At the moment, I am not seeing any signals on RF 11 and RF 13 for WBAL-DT and WJZ-DT 13, so they must be off the air.
> 
> 
> My channel scan slowed down for RF 24, but could not get a lock on WNVC-DT 56. I would expect a stable signal if WNVC-DT is at the alloted 160 kW on RF 24, so either WNVC-DT is not yet at full power or I will have to adjust the CM 4221 location and aim in the attic. The channel mapping problem with WUTB-DT 24.1 means that I have to hook up the Zenith DTT901 to my main antenna setup to get a signal strength reading.
> 
> 
> WJLA-DT 7 and WUSA-DT 9 - 16 miles away - are coming in at a full 10 bars on RF 7 & 9 with a YA-1713 upper VHF antenna. I am not able to get a lock on WMDO-LD 47 on VHF 8, so the 198 Watt signal is not strong enough here. Interference with analog 7 & 9 was not the reason for not getting the low power station here. However, the tropo weather today means that we may have to wait a day or two before coming to final conclusions.



For some reason...I can only get 9 on my media center ATSC tuner, but not 7.....and it has the VHF rabbit ears. I have no clue if it has anything to do with Vista's channel mapping or the antenna I'm using. One of our other tv's apparently has an antenna that now cannot get either 7 or 9 (both vhf).



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/16635273
> 
> 
> 11 and 13 have to be off the air because I'm not getting anything for 11 and 13 is only at 2-6%. WMAR is much stronger (90%) at 38 than it was at 52. WJLA and WUSA are not as strong as they used to be (40-55%) and I don't think VHF was the right move for those signals.



Agreed, only one of our tv's, can get both channels in the vhf spectrum (7 and 9), while my Vista media center (with tvpack) is not getting 7....either because of a channel mapping issue or my antenna.....


edit: it seems vista's channel mapping is screwed up....its still set for pre digital transition.....


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pennstatefan* /forum/post/16635350
> 
> 
> I was just looking at that Winegard antenna online and was going to post a link. Do you think something like that would pull in WJLA and WUSA from Winchester? I just don't want to put up some huge monstrosity on the roof.



The Winegrads are the smallest top performing antennas when you need VHF. Go to TV FOOL, and see what channel 7&9 look like at your location. If they show in the yellow zone, you should be OK with a smaller antenna. The red zone will need a larger version of that line.


----------



## joblo

In Fairfax City with CM3617 VHF-only antenna and 7-9-11-13 high-band mixer to balance signals, I still get 11 and 13, but the signal is definitely weak. It's still stronger than 24, which sometimes disappears completely, but much weaker than 2, 45, and 54.


If I bypass the filters, I can now lock WMDO-LD on 8, with signal readings similar to 11 with filters in place, but then 11 disappears in the bleed from 7 and 9. Since WMDO is on cable, I'll probably just live without it.


Btw, 11 and 13 have been broadcasting digital since about 1235, and I've seen no significant change in signal since that time. I think what we see is what we get, folks.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/16635466
> 
> 
> It’s still stronger than 24, which sometimes disappears completely, but much weaker than 2, 45, and 54.



Is 24 any better for you than before? 24 was much better for me when WETA would go off every night @ 2:00AM. I'm not home now, so haven't been able to compare reception.







You guys are lucky to be able to see history in the making.


----------



## imacdonald

I have a CM4221 on the roof, and I am in herndon so I am inching to see if I get the lower vhf channels and if I am going to have to get vhf antenna.


Anyone know if fairfax antenna are doing any specials for people where they installed a UHF only antenna? otherwise I will need to find someone with a long ladder to get on the roof.


----------



## systems2000

I'm not getting WJLA-DT, WUSA-DT, WBAL-DT, or WJZ-DT. WHAG-DT doesn't seem to be switched yet.


WUTB-DT and WNUV-DT are solid.


----------



## ajnabi

I am able to pick up channel 7 and 9 but 11 and 13 are totally gone for me here in herndon.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Remoteless* /forum/post/16634993
> 
> 
> I'm picking up KTBS analog channel 3 out of Shreveport, Louisiana.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16635026
> 
> 
> I just watched KXAS-TV terminate and FOX4 (I didn't catch the call sign) go into "Nightlight" service.



Getting radio stations from Kansas! Even RDS info is showing up. A station in Salina, KS is 1250+ miles from Virginia Beach...


----------



## wmcbrine

7, 9 and 13 are totally gone for me, and 11 nearly so. Of course this is with a Silver Sensor (only intended for UHF), but I _was_ getting all four in analog.


----------



## Tom Harms

Hoping my Winegard UHF CA-9095 antenna would pull in 7 & 9 ~ did not expect 11 & 13 ~ but no luck for any. Since the small VHF Winegard YA-6713 has been discontinued, just ordered the equivalent Antenna Craft Y5-7-13 Highband VHF Yagi (only 60" length), which should at least pull in 7 & 9. The UHF 9095 signal is split in six directions, so I may need a UHF/VHF antenna amp. I'll try without the amp first. My Springfield location (Beltway, Exit 54~ Braddock Rd) is in alignment for both DC & Baltimore stations. Tom


----------



## Remoteless

Getting 7, 9, 11, and 13 in Rockville


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16635547
> 
> 
> Is 24 any better for you than before? 24 was much better for me when WETA would go off every night @ 2:00AM. I'm not home now, so haven't been able to compare reception.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You guys are lucky to be able to see history in the making.



You're thinking of analog 24, I assume? I was using VCs to refer to digital signals. Yes, analog 24 was better when 26 wasn't there, but that's history.


Big problem for me on digital 41 was all the filtering necessary to knock down 39 enough so I could amplify 38 and 40 to distributable levels. Now that 39 is gone, I should be able to rework some of that which should also help 41 and 42. (Without filters and selective amplification, I really can't distribute Baltimore signals at all.)


It seems I also have a signal on digital 29 now, comparable to 11 and 13, but again, I'll have to change the filtering to distribute it, and even if/when I do, I think either or both of 29 and 42 are going to disappear anytime there's even moderate tropo from Philly. Fortunately, MPT is on FiOS, and as of today, also Cox.


Should make for an interesting weekend.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/16636136
> 
> 
> You're thinking of analog 24, I assume?



No,


WUTB-DT 24. Their analog signal was excellent here.


----------



## pcity

7 and 9 weren't working well for me in West Alexandria after the transition. Disappointing, since they used to be perfect when they were on their UHF channels and I thought the little amplifed VHF/UHF antenna I have would still be good. I'll try again tonight.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16636211
> 
> 
> No,
> 
> 
> WUTB-DT 24. Their analog signal was excellent here.



But why would WUTB-DT 24 (RF41) be better when 26 is off the air? In the analog world, I would suspect IF beat, but I didn't think digital tuners had that problem.


In any case, no, 26 had no effect on 41 that I ever discerned, and I wouldn't have expected it to, because the filters knocked 26 way down.


Btw, DT 24 has been pretty much unwatchable here this afternoon, so I'm hopeful this is as bad as it will get for 11 and 13.


----------



## leesweet




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16635212
> 
> 
> I'll be out your way to finish up an antenna install tomorrow. I'm confident the Small Winegard Ghost Killer will work just fine that I put up in Aldie. (Braddock Rd, west side of Gum Springs Road in a low spot) I'll let you know once I do a re-scan. The Winegard 7694P is even smaller and a better choice.



Thanks for the info... I have a call into Fairfax Antenna (who did my UHF), but I bet they are swamped.










I would have done this last year, but I did test 7 from this antenna for analog, and it wasn't too bad. One more victim of 'digital is pickier', I guess.


----------



## joblo

analog 2 is gone


----------



## wmcbrine

On a positive note, all of the DC locals (both SD and HD) on Fios acted like nothing had happened at all. Presumably none of them are sourced from OTA.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/16636512
> 
> 
> analog 2 is gone



WMAR-TV shut down their analog 2 broadcast before 11 AM this morning as far as I could tell.


Can anyone confirm if WHAG-DT NBC 25 is on the air on RF 26? The channel cross mapping conflict is a headache for checking RF signal strength when the tuner is not picking up the station on the scan.


Anyone know if WNVC 56 is at their alloted 160 kW power on RF 24? I am not getting it OTA at the moment. I see the WNVT-DT 30 sub-channels have been moved to 30-6 to 30-10. From their website, they are mapping the WNVC-DT 56 channels to 30-1 to 30-5 which is not following the FCC rules which require stations to stick with their analog channel number. Wonder if the FCC will bother to tell them to stop that.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/16636405
> 
> 
> But why would WUTB-DT 24 (RF41) be better when 26 is off the air?



I'm was getting blasted by WDCA & WETA-TV in Bethesda. I always had to turn my antenna about 20 degrees east of Baltimore to make WJZ-TV reliable because of overload.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16636638
> 
> 
> Can anyone confirm if WHAG-DT NBC 25 is on the air on RF 26? The channel cross mapping conflict is a headache for checking RF signal strength when the tuner is not picking up the station on the scan.



Are you receiving WWPB-DT 31 from Clear Spring, MD any better than before?


----------



## voltore

Pictures from WJLA and WUSA doing their transition.

http://www.dcrtv.com/mailbag.html


----------



## bmcent1

Hello -

I'm wondering if anyone would be so kind and take a look at this radar plot from a wanna-be HTDV geek (who's currently in training 

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...663d880e5846fd 


I'd like to pickup these major networks: ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, and PBS


I'm a little confused about AGL because, while I used a point from my GPS, the terrain falls off pretty quickly here. I wish there was an easy way to put in absolute above sea level in my case.


From what I can read of the plots, I might need to point in two different directions. I'm hell bent against a rotor because I'd like to record using a DVR and I'm not aware of that level of integration between DVR and rotor to automate that. I also vaguely remember issues with trying to combine two antennas causing interference with each other, but I don't remember the details. Money wise, I wouldn't mind buying 2 antennas if that's all it takes to eliminate a rotor.


I'm confused because there seems to be a significant number of "high VHF" in my area, although at some point I thought all HDTV was switching to UHF after the cut over.


Looks like a roof mounted antenna will be needed, but if I try one out in the attic first... is the same grounding necessary in the attic or is that not a concern because it's under a roof?


Thanks!


----------



## pamajestic

What a mess. 61 miles north of Washington 7 and 9 are gone. The Zenith CECB can see about 20 percent signal, nowhere near enough to lock. Pre transition signal was 75 - 80. 40 miles north of Baltimore and receiving 11 and 13 at about 70 percent with multiple drops on channel 11, pre transition was 100. This is all with a Funke PSP 1922 at 30 feet AGL. Sad, sad Day. I will send emails to all stations in the next few days with details.


I do now have WHAG 25 Hagerstown relatively solid at about 75 percent.


Pre transition I could receive all major stations in both markets very solid with the antennas parked in-between both cities with the exception of FOX Washington due to interference from Harrisburg.


----------



## pcity




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bmcent1* /forum/post/16636967
> 
> 
> From what I can read of the plots, I might need to point in two different directions. I'm hell bent against a rotor because I'd like to record using a DVR and I'm not aware of that level of integration between DVR and rotor to automate that. I also vaguely remember issues with trying to combine two antennas causing interference with each other, but I don't remember the details. Money wise, I wouldn't mind buying 2 antennas if that's all it takes to eliminate a rotor.



I would think that, at less than 40 miles to the transmitters, a good rooftop VHF/UHF antenna pointed at DC would get you all the major networks.

I doubt a second antenna or rotor would be necessary, so at least try with just one antenna before you buy anything else. All of the DC stations are at the same compass heading.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bmcent1* /forum/post/16636967
> 
> 
> I'm confused because there seems to be a significant number of "high VHF" in my area, although at some point I thought all HDTV was switching to UHF after the cut over.
> 
> 
> Looks like a roof mounted antenna will be needed, but if I try one out in the attic first... is the same grounding necessary in the attic or is that not a concern because it's under a roof?



You are at a complicated location with markets in different directions. You might consider a 4 bay bowtie for UHF as the flat plate bowties pick up UHF over a wide spread in azimuth. Then a medium range upper VHF antenna that is not too directional. Lots of different antenna setups to consider. Check the antenna threads in the HDTV Technical forum for advice. Also, read up on the antenna basics and comparisons at http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ISSUES/erecting_antenna.html .


As for VHF, no, VHF is not being taken away for TV broadcasting. The channels that have been re-assigned are UHF 52 to 69 which are much more useful for portable communications. The post-transition physical broadcast channels are 2 to 51, or more specifically: 2-6 low VHF, 7-13 upper VHF, and 14 to 51 UHF (except for UHF 37 which is reserved for radio astronomy). Because of interference issues, few full power stations have selected to use low VHF, so most markets will have their full power stations on 7-51.


A antenna in the attic does not have to be grounded. Doesn't hurt to do it if you have a ground point nearby, but not necessary. An outdoor antenna should be grounded.


----------



## Marcus Carr

WMAR-DT now has grey sidebars.


----------



## Belcherwm

Things are looking good. I didn't get all the stations with an initial scan on my DISH 612. But after I went back in and added some of them indivdiually they were all there. It took a little longer to lock on the "new" vhf channels.


Currently getting all the DC and Baltimore stations with my old (2001) Fairfax Antenna installed Radio Shack vhf/uhf antenna. In total, 54channels/subchannels.


----------



## cdipierr2

Is there anyone out there who does antenna work? My mother-in-law is caught in the middle of the transition. Pre-transition her rooftop antenna was working well. Post-transition not so much. Probably need a reaim at least, or maybe something new. I'm not in the area to help out, so was wondering if anyone does this sort of service.


ETA: She's in Annapolis.


----------



## djp952

Doh! WJLA, WUSA, WBAL, WJZ ... all gone. Poof. Bye-bye. Thankfully I was able to dig out an old prototype VHF antenna I made last year (and unbend it), climb up to the 8000 degree attic and get WBAL and WJZ back










All in all, I'm happy. I have 2 fully laid out designs for both Baltimore and DC that now I can finally implement and get up there. I've been waiting for a long time for this day.


Also, now we get 66 (freaking 100%) and 30 (75%) as expected ... not exactly a fair trade for NBC and CBS, but I suppose Drew Carey, Quantum Leap and Family Feud will suffice as my spot-on programming for a couple weeks.


edit: 50 is *totally* flaky, which is disappointing since 51 was spot-on. Oh well.


----------



## Deezul

Smart a$$ time...


Yay for me for getting a combo VHF/UHF channel 5 years ago, when final frequencies hadn't been picked! A simple rescan, and I'm all good. Took a chance at not being a "sheep" and getting a CM4228, and no worries post-transistion.


Sorry, had to do it.


----------



## jgantert

Looks like Tivo has F-d up 13's frequency, but has got the rest of them correct. Go figure. Oh, and Mhz 30 is still listed at frequency 30, but I'm getting it on frequency 24.


----------



## Potatoehead

I know it isn't the most important news today, but COMCAST added ION-HD in Calvert county today (209).


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bmcent1* /forum/post/16636967
> 
> 
> Looks like a roof mounted antenna will be needed, but if I try one out in the attic first... is the same grounding necessary in the attic or is that not a concern because it's under a roof?
> 
> 
> Thanks!



You will never get relaible reception with an attic antenna at your location. You have too many obstructions between you and the transmitters. It must be mounted outside above the roofline!!


----------



## Remoteless




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Deezul* /forum/post/16637449
> 
> 
> Smart a$$ time...
> 
> 
> Yay for me for getting a combo VHF/UHF channel 5 years ago, when final frequencies hadn't been picked! A simple rescan, and I'm all good. Took a chance at not being a "sheep" and getting a CM4228, and no worries post-transistion.
> 
> 
> Sorry, had to do it.



Ditto!


----------



## imref

i've been using a Terk indoor antenna for a couple of years to get digital sub-channels. I'm now getting "searching for signal" on WUSA and WJLA sub-channels.


Is this a temporary problem due to the switch? My antenna is connected to a DirecTV DVR (with the separate OTA tuner).


----------



## carltonrice

When the digital transition first started here in 1999, I got a UHF yagi. Now today, none of the stations that moved back to the VHF band are stable which is absolutely amazing considering that I could pick up their analog counterparts with the UHF antenna. I'll probably wait a bit before junking the UHF yagi and getting a new combo VHF/UHF antenna to see how things fall out.


----------



## afiggatt

I am now getting WNVC-DT ex-56 in Fairfax on RF 24 as 30-1 to 30-5. With WNVT-DT now mapped to 30-6 to 30-10, the channel line-up list shows a block of 10 subs from 30-1 to 30-10. Interesting way to map two separate stations to 1 group of sub channels. Also, not in accordance with FCC regs, as I understand it.


No joy so far on WBAL-DT 11 and WJZ-DT 13. My older T451 Samsung tuner detects them, but no lock so far. Will move the YA-6713 to a different location in the attic crawlspace as the next step after the weather settles down. The thunderstorms and tropo today muddle the situation with respect to reception for upper VHF. Also, no joy on WHAG-DT, although I was able to get a detection for it.


----------



## rviele




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/16637687
> 
> 
> When the digital transition first started here in 1999, I got a UHF yagi. Now today, none of the stations that moved back to the VHF band are stable which is absolutely amazing considering that I could pick up their analog counterparts with the UHF antenna. I'll probably wait a bit before junking the UHF yagi and getting a new combo VHF/UHF antenna to see how things fall out.



what's the story with wbal i've lost it i'm up in harford county.


----------



## Marcus Carr

I've lost WJLA and WUSA. WDCW is easier to get. I'm getting WPXW for the first time. Using an indoor Phillips PHDTV3 UHF/VHF antenna.


WPXW is showing Sudden Impact in HD.


----------



## mdviewer25

maybe the tropo effect but since i moved furniture around i once again get WBOC-DT at 45% even though i no longer get 11 or 13 on any tv.


----------



## pennstatefan

I can't figure out how companies like WJLA, WBAL, WJZ, and WUSA can set up a digital broadcast that runs perfectly for years on their digital frequency. Then on the day of the transition, just shut down what was proven to be working and switch to something that nobody in the viewing area has even seen, used, or tested. I knew that I was going to have issues because of a UHF only antenna but this is like beta testing a product and the day before you release it, you rewrite the whole thing and go live anyway. And everyone is wondering why this transition didn't go smoothly.


Rant over. Enjoy your evening. Off to watch game 7 of the Stanley Cup. At least that's on WRC and they're running the same configuration that they've always had.


----------



## chapelrun




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pennstatefan* /forum/post/16634790
> 
> 
> So long old friend... it was nice having WJAL and WUSA while it lasted. As I thought, with the switch to VHF my UHF only antenna does not pick up the stations here in Winchester. Guess I'll take the antenna down tomorrow as I don't see me putting up a VHF/UHF.



I live in Berryville, VA and just rescanned - - I get both 7 and 9 crystal clear. I do have a very old Channel Master for VHF amplified by a Channel Master 7777.


Also, I work in Winchester VA - - I rescanned the OTA at work and it got both 7 and 9 (BTW, the antenna at work looks terrible with many missing VHF elements - - - - I bet you could easily get 7 and 9 with even a small VHF antenna.


Don't give up yet!!!


----------



## jbahlman

I lost 7 and 9 today after the transition. I got 7 at around 85-90% and 9 at 100% before. Now my Dish Network box doesn't see them at all. I removed all channels and scanned again.

I get 5,20,26,50 at better than 90% and 4 at 83%.


I live in Ashburn and have a Radio Shack UHF/VHF antenna in my attic.

I will try and hook it up to my tv tuner on my laptop later.


I was just hoping someone has an idea why i would lose them even though i have a VHF antenna. The signal is 0% for both these. I am hoping to not have to climb up in the hot attic to adjust it.


----------



## billodom




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/16633624
> 
> 
> Wow, today is the day that all TV becomes HDTV.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Funny how many times we have heard that over the years.



Cyclone, you blew it with your clarification. I wonder how long it would have taken someone to "correct" your misunderstanding, O you of a zillion posts.


----------



## SUOrangeman

Cox NoVA updates:


Added MPTDT (767), MPT2 (812), and ?MPT3? (22, SD simulcast of MPT as far as I can tell ... I thought this was s'posed to be V-ME)

Added WPXW Ion (715), displacing Palladia to 769

Added WHUT (32, I guess)


Kind weird that Cox moved Palladia just to put Ion on 715. I kinda wished they has tried to mimic their SD channel numbers when they went HD. Might have avoided some of this.


I updated my GoogleDocs chart (see link in sig) for Cox. Perhaps some folks can help me update the other providers in the coming days.


-SUO


----------



## chapelrun

Frankly, I'm amazed !!! I'm now getting MORE channels than before the transition.


I live west of the Blue Ridge Mountains near Berryville, VA and just rescanned about 15 minutes ago. Currently getting 47 watchable channels. Receiver is a DTVPAL DVR running the F207 Firmware.


My setup is a very old Channel Master for VHF and and XG-91 for UHF both amplified by a Channel Master 7777 Amp and Pre-AMP. Both antennas are pointed directly at the Washington DC stations. VHF Antenna is on top with the UHF about 6 feet below.


Channels 7 shows 85% and channel 9 shows 74% strength.


One interesting thing is that I was unable to get WETA before the transition with 0% signal but now I get 63% signal. I'm still hoping that WETA gets to move to UHF 51.


Another interesting thing is that channel 30 now has 10 sub-channels!!!


I'm very pleasantly suprised as I thought I would loss channels not gain them.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pennstatefan* /forum/post/16638298
> 
> 
> I can't figure out how companies like WJLA, WBAL, WJZ, and WUSA can set up a digital broadcast that runs perfectly for years on their digital frequency. Then on the day of the transition, just shut down what was proven to be working and switch to something that nobody in the viewing area has even seen, used, or tested.



Digital VHF is just not very indoor antenna friendly. The DTV spectrum is too overcrowded in our part of the country. It would have been better for the general public if the FCC didn't sell so many of the UHF frequency allotments. UHF just works better in general for DTV. Many people can't have/don't want a large outdor antenna.


The only real winners are the TV stations that did get VHF allotments. They are saving a tremendous amount of money on their electricity bills. But on the other hand, if they are losing lots of viewers, then it seems their advertising revenue would drop.


Doesn't make sense.


----------



## Digital Rules

Finally got home to check reception!!


These are the virtual DT channels I am getting solidly-2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 20, 22, 24, 26, 30, 31, 32, 45, 47, 50, 54, 60, 62, 66, & 67.


Only new channel so far is WHAG-DT25 (Goes in & out but PQ is outstanding!!-No subchannels).WMDO-DT 47 (real channel 8) has finally fixed their PSIP issue. Biggest improvement is WUTB-DT24. It is finally solid!!


----------



## FineWare

I have a DirecTV HR-20 that has the OTA channels pre-selected in such a way that no scanning is supposed to be required. For some reason, the only new channel that I'm seeing is 7-2 and 30-6 thru 30-10. Neither 7-1 nor 7-3 was remapped to from RF39 to RF7, and 30-1 thru 30-5 was not remapped to RF30 to RF24. Likewise, neither 9-1 nor 9-2 were remapped from RF34 to RF9.


I also have an older HR-10 that requires the OTA channels to be rescanned. Channels 7 and 9 both rescanned just fine. It also found RF24 and mapped those those channels to 30-1 thru 30-5 correctly. However, it didn't know what to do with 30-6 thru 30-10 that it discovered.


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *billodom* /forum/post/16638449
> 
> 
> Cyclone, you blew it with your clarification. I wonder how long it would have taken someone to "correct" your misunderstanding, O you of a zillion posts.



It's amazing how sarcasm is so easily lost.


BTW no WJLA or WUSA via CM4228 just east of Annapolis. Fortunately the rain has stopped long enough to climb up and replace the CM. Hope this Winegard 1080 isn't as bad as the reviews say. Then again, I can only use it for HD programs... it's the "HD" 1080










Not that I've procrastinated, but now I can finally secure the combiner that's been laying on the roof for 8 years.


----------



## rustycruiser

The good : Still have all the DC and Baltimore major channels on my TV with an 20 year old VHF/UHF attic mounted antenna. Gained the MHz channels (30.1-30.5) and Ion channels (66.1-66.4) which I could previously not pick up.


The bad: Lost DC channel 7 and 9 on my kitchen TV with a Silver Sensor. Gained the Ion Channels, but not the MHz.


The solution: Connect up the kitchen TV to the attic antenna when it is a little cooler.


All this is from Cockeysville MD in Northern Baltimore County. Pretty happy with the transition.


----------



## crbaldwin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jbahlman* /forum/post/16638419
> 
> 
> I was just hoping someone has an idea why i would lose them even though i have a VHF antenna. The signal is 0% for both these.



Same situation here in Fredericksburg. I got these stations perfectly before - now not even a "blip". How frustrating. I guess I will have to turn towards Richmond and try them again or I might just have to break down and get cable







.


----------



## weaver6




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *FineWare* /forum/post/16638689
> 
> 
> I have a DirecTV HR-20 that has the OTA channels pre-selected in such a way that no scanning is supposed to be required. For some reason, the only new channel that I'm seeing is 7-2 and 30-6 thru 30-10. Neither 7-1 nor 7-3 was remapped to from RF39 to RF7, and 30-1 thru 30-5 was not remapped to RF30 to RF24. Likewise, neither 9-1 nor 9-2 were remapped from RF34 to RF9.
> 
> 
> I also have an older HR-10 that requires the OTA channels to be rescanned. Channels 7 and 9 both rescanned just fine. It also found RF24 and mapped those those channels to 30-1 thru 30-5 correctly. However, it didn't know what to do with 30-6 thru 30-10 that it discovered.




My HR20-100 worked earlier for 7-1 and 9-1 (after the frequency change), but doesn't now. 7-2, 7-3, and 9-2 still come in fine. My HR21-100 (with the AM-21) receives 7-1 and 9-1 without problem.


----------



## TheKrell




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jbahlman* /forum/post/16638419
> 
> 
> I lost 7 and 9 today after the transition. I got 7 at around 85-90% and 9 at 100% before. Now my Dish Network box doesn't see them at all.



If it's a 612, I can sympathize. I think the firmware is buggy. I got zero channels until I un-amped my rooftop antenna. Now I get a few. Deleting the channels and rescanning 5 or 6 times seems to have recovered all the channels I care about. I did not have any problem like this with my 722, nor any of the other tuners in the house.


----------



## systems2000

I installed the CECB for my in-laws VHF antenna today and they picked up WJLA-DT, WUSA-DT, WWPX-DT, and WJZ-DT. The "Sweet-Spot" ended up at 144°M.


It aslo acquired WHTM-DT, when I pointed it towards 66°M. WGAL-DT goes to RF8 at 23:59.


I was surprised that they couldn't get WHAG-DT, WWPB-DT, or WJAL-DT. Especially since they live so close to those towers (10-15 miles).


They live NE of Mercersburg, PA.


----------



## jbahlman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TheKrell* /forum/post/16639146
> 
> 
> If it's a 612, I can sympathize. I think the firmware is buggy. I got zero channels until I un-amped my rooftop antenna. Now I get a few. Deleting the channels and rescanning 5 or 6 times seems to have recovered all the channels I care about. I did not have any problem like this with my 722, nor any of the other tuners in the house.



It is a 622. I have never had any issues before. I have have rescanned, deleted 7 and 9 and rescanned, and deleted all and rescanned and finally i did a check switch and reboot on the box.


After i finish watching the hockey game i'm gonna use my tv tuner and see if it picks them up.


----------



## bmcent1




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16637270
> 
> 
> You are at a complicated location with markets in different directions. You might consider a 4 bay bowtie for UHF as the flat plate bowties pick up UHF over a wide spread in azimuth. Then a medium range upper VHF antenna that is not too directional. Lots of different antenna setups to consider. Check the antenna threads in the HDTV Technical forum for advice. Also, read up on the antenna basics and comparisons at http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ISSUES/erecting_antenna.html .



Okay, thanks for the help! Feel like I'm on my way










Also thanks pcity and Digital Rules. I've got more reading to do but your replies have me headed in the right direction.


----------



## imacdonald

Similar to other people, I lost 11 WJZDT and 13 WBALDT and tivo has messed up the guide data for WNVC. I am in herndon with a CM4221 and an amplifier, that was left over from when the house had cox.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

What a horrible idea to return WJLA-DT, WUSA-DT, WBAL-DT, and WJZ-DT back to VHF!!! For years I have had rock-solid digital reception for all of these channels on UHF. I have a roof mounted (& rotatable) top-of-the-line VHF/UHF fringe yagi and all of the digital VHF channels are constantly pixelating and full of audio drops outs (bit errors). My signal level on these channels isn't weak either. There's just too much interference around here on VHF. I feel that we took a major step back today. I AM ONLY 30 MILES AWAY from DC and Baltimore. THIS IS RIDICULOUS!!!! All of my UHF DTV channels are coming in great by the way.


----------



## Digital Rules

The verdict is in. My donated Winegard "Ghost Killer" antenna is providing lots of happiness to a good friend with limited funds. All the DC stations still come in great(except WMDO-47), but to my surprise 11 & 13 are coming in also!!(11 is marginal though). Combined with a Winegard 8275 pre-amp it provides amazing reception to her less than ideal location. She especially likes MPT (22, 62, & 67) which she could not get with the large Radio Shack antenna it replaced.


----------



## Belcherwm

For those of you having trouble with the VHF channels, if you have a DISH box (at least the 612, I haven't rescanned my 722 yet) try going into Add Local and adding the channels individually that the scan isn't picking up. Also, it takes five to ten seconds to get a lock at first. Select DONE after each one so they are saved.


----------



## voltore

 http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/stor...7299&catid=158 


includes video from the Tower change.


----------



## rfunches

I lost all of the digital OTA channels over Comcast/Eastern Prince William after a rescan this evening. Any idea as to why? I had been picking them up straight from the demarc box with an HDTV, built-in digital tuner.


----------



## compuguy1088




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pennstatefan* /forum/post/16638298
> 
> 
> I can't figure out how companies like WJLA, WBAL, WJZ, and WUSA can set up a digital broadcast that runs perfectly for years on their digital frequency. Then on the day of the transition, just shut down what was proven to be working and switch to something that nobody in the viewing area has even seen, used, or tested. I knew that I was going to have issues because of a UHF only antenna but this is like beta testing a product and the day before you release it, you rewrite the whole thing and go live anyway. And everyone is wondering why this transition didn't go smoothly.
> 
> 
> Rant over. Enjoy your evening. Off to watch game 7 of the Stanley Cup. At least that's on WRC and they're running the same configuration that they've always had.



I'de have to agree....I'm having a lot of problems getting WUSA 9 and some minor issues with 7...and I live less than 20 miles from the transmitters!



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16638579
> 
> 
> Digital VHF is just not very indoor antenna friendly. The DTV spectrum is too overcrowded in our part of the country. It would have been better for the general public if the FCC didn't sell so many of the UHF frequency allotments. UHF just works better in general for DTV. Many people can't have/don't want a large outdor antenna.
> 
> 
> The only real winners are the TV stations that did get VHF allotments. They are saving a tremendous amount of money on their electricity bills. But on the other hand, if they are losing lots of viewers, then it seems their advertising revenue would drop.
> 
> 
> Doesn't make sense.



Great......basically all the tv's without a cable signal use indoor antennas.....only one of them can get both vhf channels.


----------



## cdipierr2

BTW to update, my MIL in Annapolis is now only really missing WUSA and WWJZ. Not really sure how to handle the situation as other UHF and VHF channels are doing fine. This seems to mirror others here on the forums though. Any idea if these two are transmitting lower power?


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SUOrangeman* /forum/post/16638458
> 
> 
> Cox NoVA updates:
> 
> 
> Added MPTDT (767), MPT2 (812), and ?MPT3? (22, SD simulcast of MPT as far as I can tell ... I thought this was s'posed to be V-ME)
> 
> Added WPXW Ion (715), displacing Palladia to 769
> 
> Added WHUT (32, I guess)
> 
> 
> Kind weird that Cox moved Palladia just to put Ion on 715. I kinda wished they has tried to mimic their SD channel numbers when they went HD. Might have avoided some of this.
> 
> 
> I updated my GoogleDocs chart (see link in sig) for Cox. Perhaps some folks can help me update the other providers in the coming days.
> 
> 
> -SUO



ClearQAM info for new Cox channels:


22 and 32 are on RF32, PSIP maps to 22 and 32,;but as noted, there is no V-ME. Hopefully, Cox will fix this.


ION-HD is on RF36 with MY20. 20 now maps to 20.1, but ION maps to 15.1 instead of 66.1.


No sign of MHz9 or MHz10 anywhere on the box, and still no MHz at all via clearQAM.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/16639616
> 
> 
> There's just too much interference around here on VHF. I feel that we took a major step back today. I AM ONLY 30 MILES AWAY from DC and Baltimore. THIS IS RIDICULOUS!!!! All of my UHF DTV channels are coming in great by the way.



What kind of interference? You are well within the coverage area of these stations. A good combo antenna that isn't overamplifed should have no problem. WJZ's weak 9kw signal is reaching a tiny antenna down in a hole over 50 miles away just fine. http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...663d7d02d523de


----------



## joblo

WPXW filed an updated termination notice with the FCC on June 4 changing to a morning shutdown, which is why they were able to go around noon with the others.


WFDC-14 has been showing a countdown clock indicating 11:59:59 shutdown.


The end of full power analog is near


(Except for nightlight damn you, WMPT! I shake my fist at you!!!







)


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16639620
> 
> 
> The verdict is in. My donated Winegard "Ghost Killer" antenna is providing lots of happiness to a good friend with limited funds. All the DC stations still come in great(except WMDO-47), but to my surprise 11 & 13 are coming in also!!(11 is marginal though).



Signal levels are up considerably here tonight. Might be a little early to pop the champagne on that.


----------



## joblo

Analog 14 is gone.


Nice countdown they did at the end.


And t-th-thas-th-that's all, folks.


Hallelujah!!!


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/16639823
> 
> 
> Signal levels are up considerably here tonight. Might be a little early to pop the champagne on that.



True,


There is some tropo tonight. WRLH Richmond is walking all over WHAG-DT25 Hagerstown.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16639795
> 
> 
> What kind of interference? You are well within the coverage area of these stations. A good combo antenna that isn't overamplifed should have no problem. WJZ's weak 9kw signal is reaching a tiny antenna down in a hole over 50 miles away just fine. http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...663d7d02d523de



Your guess is as good as mine. Before today, I had a perfect analog picture on channel 7, 9, 11, and 13 with no multipath or noticeable interference.


I am getting Richmond now. WRLH-DT and WTVR-DT are coming in strong.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cdipierr2* /forum/post/16639759
> 
> 
> BTW to update, my MIL in Annapolis is now only really missing WUSA and WWJZ. Not really sure how to handle the situation as other UHF and VHF channels are doing fine. This seems to mirror others here on the forums though. Any idea if these two are transmitting lower power?



WUSA-DT 9 is at 12.6 kW. WJZ-DT 13 is operating on a temporary basis from their omnidirectional formerly analog antenna at 9.8 kW until a new directional antenna is installed by August 1. Then WJZ-DT will go to 28.8 kW, but with reduced power to the west (in my direction







). For a complete summary of what all the full power stations in DC, Baltimore, Hagerstown are doing, go back to my post #9122 of June 9 at http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...2#post16616772 .


Don't when they switched today, but WWPX-DT Ion 60.1 is now operating at 720p.


So far no luck here with getting a lock on WBAL-DT 11 and WJZ-DT 13. I am going to be spending some time this weekend trying out alternate antenna locations, but it does not look good at my location for getting those two.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/16639891
> 
> 
> Your guess is as good as mine. Before today, I had a perfect analog picture on channel 7, 9, 11, and 13 with no multipath or noticeable interference. There's no tropo here yet tonight, so I know it's not atmospherics.
> 
> 
> EDIT: Maybe it's the swamp gas.



That's very strange. Briefly describe your antenna/amplifier system. WMPT analog looks pretty potent in your area. Could be an issue.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16637804
> 
> 
> Also, not in accordance with FCC regs, as I understand it.



Check ATSC A/65C, Annex B, Section 1, Number 5:


"If a broadcaster owns or controls broadcast licenses for two or more different RF channels having overlapping service areas, he may use a common major_channel_number for all services on all channels. He may choose the major_channel_number as determined above for any one of the RF channels. The values in the minor_channel_number fields must be partitioned to insure that there is no duplication of the two-part channel number in the DTV service area, including the overlapping DTV service areas of other broadcasters using that same major_channel_number."


- Trip


----------



## dewster1977

Well I have no problem with WJLA on ch 7 comes in very good, nothing for WUSA, WBAL or WJZ


----------



## AbMagFab

DC ABC and DC CBS come in perfectly for me.


Although Tivo screwed up and hasn't done any updated on their side yet - no surprises there...


It says WJZ 13-1 has a signal on it, but nothing coming in yet. I'll check again tomorrow.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16639945
> 
> 
> That's very strange. Briefly describe your antenna/amplifier system. WMPT analog looks pretty potent in your area. Could be an issue.



WMPT only gives me problems if I point my antenna directly at the transmitter. I think WMPT may have reduced their power quite a bit since starting their night light service. In the past, WMPT caused me problems with analog channel 24. Surprisingly, MHZ digital on 24 is one of my best channels now. ION on 34 is awesome now too. I could only sporadically receive ION on 43 before.


I have a fringe channel master VHF/UHF and a CM 7777. I have an HDHR so I can run TSReader. Not seeing any overloading on my system at this time checking out the HDHR config GUI signal strength meter.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16640017
> 
> 
> Check ATSC A/65C, Annex B, Section 1, Number 5:



Trip, thanks for the info. So what MHz is doing with WNVC-DT and WNVT-DT PSIP mapping is kosher. Does make for some confusion for someone not aware of the 2 physical RF stations when 30.1 to 30.5 is solid, but 30.6 to 30.10 are breaking up which I was seeing a little while ago experimenting with the antenna location.


I am now getting WWPB-DT MPT 31 and WMPT-DT 22 along with WFPT-DT 62. Maybe they increased power for WWPB-DT at midnight?


Beginning to wonder if adjacent channel interference from WWPX-DT 60 signal on VHF 12 is a factor in not locking on WBAL-DT 11 or WJZ-DT 13? Something to consider and experiment with blocking WWPX-DT.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/16640100
> 
> 
> WMPT only gives me problems if I point my antenna directly at the transmitter. I think WMPT may have reduced their power quite a bit since starting their night light service. In the past, WMPT caused me problems with analog channel 24. Surprisingly, MHZ digital on 24 is one of my best channels now. ION on 34 is awesome now too. I could only sporadically receive ION on 43 before.
> 
> 
> I have a fringe channel master VHF/UHF and a CM 7777. I have an HDHR so I can run TSReader. Not seeing any overloading on my system at this time checking out the HDHR config GUI signal strength meter.



With a good outdoor VHF antenna, you should have a range of about 65 miles over average terrian without an amp.(Except LP stations) AVS member Rick 0725 usually recommends only ampifying UHF. Amplifying VHF can cause too many problems with DTV. My antenna is only 7 feet off the roof, and it gets channel 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, & 13 unamplified. Even channel 12 from Richmond (6kw) comes in somewhat, with a much stronger channel 12 in Martinsburg, WV coming in from the side.


IMO, the 7777 is way too much pre-amp for your situation. A low gain/high input amp would be a better choice.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16640174
> 
> 
> With a good outdoor VHF antenna, you should have a range of about 65 miles over average terrian without an amp.(Except LP stations) AVS member Rick 0725 usually recommends only ampifying UHF. Amplifying VHF can cause too many problems with DTV. My antenna is only 7 feet off the roof, and it gets channel 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, & 13 unamplified. Even channel 12 from Richmond (6kw) comes in somewhat, with a much stronger channel 12 in Martinsburg, WV coming in from the side.
> 
> 
> IMO, the 7777 is way too much pre-amp for your situation. A low gain/high input amp would be a better choice.



I have a long cable run and a few splits. I've already tried it today without the amp and it was worse.


I've tried other amps. This one gives the best performance in my area. I'm quite a ways out from both cities.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/16640199
> 
> 
> I have a real long cable run. I've already tried it today without the amp. It's much worse.



Yes, but the crucial point of overload is the front end of the outside mounted pre-amp. Once the front end is overloaded, the damage is done, no matter how long the cable run. DTV requires conservative amplification, especially if you have any line of sight stations. High gain amps are geared toward 1 & 2 edge areas. If your signals are stronger than this, I wouldn't recommend more than a 17-19db gain pre-amp.
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...663d7d02d523de


----------



## pcity

Update from West Alexandria (indoor VHF/UHF amplified antenna, top floor of small apartment building):


Tried again to get 7 and 9. Was able to get 9 by repositioning the antenna and able to get 7 by switching out the amplified antenna for a simple whip antenna. Unfortunately, there's no scenario where I get both at the same time.


I figure I'll sacrifice 7. I think the multipath issues with high VHF are just too great here. I was never able to get the analog VHFs clearly either.


I can get 2 from Baltimore (still UHF, phew!) with a perfect signal, so I'll just use them for ABC. This is also just my bedroom TV- I have FIOS in the living room, so it's not really a huge issue. My final channel count with antenna in optimal position is: 2, 4, 5, 9, 14, 20, 22, 26, 30 (.1-.5 only), 32, 50, 54, 66.


----------



## bfdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/16640092
> 
> 
> DC ABC and DC CBS come in perfectly for me.
> 
> 
> Although Tivo screwed up and hasn't done any updated on their side yet - no surprises there...
> 
> 
> It says WJZ 13-1 has a signal on it, but nothing coming in yet. I'll check again tomorrow.



TiVo updated their guide information early Friday afternoon with the correct frequencies for the DC/VA stations. I forced a connection under Phone & Network at 4pm yesterday, and 30 minutes later, all DC/VA stations tuned fine. A few of the Baltmore stations did not tune, for whatever reason.


If your daily connection to download guide data wasn't scheduled until 2am this morning, and you did not force a connection earlier, then obviously you would not have been able to tune the stations with guide data.


----------



## TheKrell




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jbahlman* /forum/post/16639294
> 
> 
> It is a 622. I have never had any issues before. I have have rescanned, deleted 7 and 9 and rescanned, and deleted all and rescanned and finally i did a check switch and reboot on the box.



Thanks for the tip. I predict your 722 will have no issues.


As for my 612, this box is just plain weird. I had the opposite problem as you and the guy with the 622; when scanning with a 10dB distribution amp in the attic, channels 7 and 9 were the _only_ channels I got! With or without the amp, the SS of these stations was coming in at around 80-90. Possibly I could add the UHF channels manually using your technique, though that's a PITA since I have two of these receivers. I would really like to use that distribution amp, since the total number of stations I can tune on _most_ of my tuners is greatest with it in.


With the distribution amp, most of the DC stations were pegged at 100 on my SS meters, and I could at least scan in the Baltimore stations and MHz 6-10 (RF30). I live in Annandale. Without the amp, I don't see Baltimore and I don't see Goldvein (RF30).


My location is ideal for a dipole, because RF30 is in the opposite direction as the DC stations, with RF24 (MHz 1-5 only 2 miles away) parked near a null at 90 deg.







The problem is I chose a Winegard batwing antenna that is only a dipole at VHF frequencies; plus MHz 6-10 is coming off the back and passing through my roof twice. Obviously I should try swinging it around to point at Goldvein, and put the amp back in to see what happens.


What mystifies me is that I had no problem scanning in these channels _before_ the transition with any of my Dish receivers. A lot of channels disappeared, and WNVC appeared but (as planned) near a null of the antenna. WNVC is _not_ overloading that amp. I think something _else_ came on strong that I can't see with ATSC tuners, that is smashing my 612 tuner. FM perhaps?


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bfdtv* /forum/post/16640449
> 
> 
> TiVo updated their guide information early Friday afternoon with the correct frequencies for the DC/VA stations. I forced a connection under Phone & Network at 4pm yesterday, and 30 minutes later, all DC/VA stations tuned fine. A few of the Baltmore stations did not tune, for whatever reason.
> 
> 
> If your daily connection to download guide data wasn't scheduled until 2am this morning, and you did not force a connection earlier, then obviously you would not have been able to tune the stations with guide data.



It wasn't working as of 2:30pm at least, which was when I was last home and forced a connection. I rebooted for good measure, and nada.


I won't be home again until tonight though.


----------



## OldHud

To my surprise, I can receive both WJZ-13 and WBAL-11 out of Baltimore. Perhaps propagation is unusually good, but they came in last night and this morning. I added an Antennacraft Y10-7-13 below my XG-91 and CM 7777 in preparation for the stations' move to upper VHF. I have these antennas about 45' above ground, and the terrain here puts me about 100' above sea level. Unfortunately, there are nearby 150' hills in line to every station - the reason for putting the antennas up so high.


----------



## Bill Johnson

What relief after years of doubt! 7 (and 9) is as strong as ever on my attic 4228. I wonder if their antenna transmission patterns are now permanent or whether the stations could change things (beamtilt etc., have no clue what's involved) and therefore I could wake up tomorrow with no nada zilch reception of these vhf's????


----------



## BritInVA

Very confused, I'm in Ashburn, VA.


Prior to the cut-off I was receiving ALL local channels perfectly. Now not getting ABC (WJLA) but I can get ABC from Baltimore - WTF!


I have an 'Antennas Direct DB2 Multi Directional HDTV Antenna' in the loft and no obstructions.


Do I need a different Antenna or is WJLA gone for good?


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *BritInVA* /forum/post/16641557
> 
> 
> Very confused, I'm in Ashburn, VA.
> 
> 
> Prior to the cut-off I was receiving ALL local channels perfectly. Now not getting ABC (WJLA) but I can get ABC from Baltimore - WTF!
> 
> 
> I have an 'Antennas Direct DB2 Multi Directional HDTV Antenna' in the loft and no obstructions.
> 
> 
> Do I need a different Antenna or is WJLA gone for good?



What do you use for local OTA reception? If Tivo, you need to force a connection. If something else, you need to do a rescan for ATSC channels.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *BritInVA* /forum/post/16641557
> 
> 
> I have an 'Antennas Direct DB2 Multi Directional HDTV Antenna' in the loft and no obstructions.
> 
> 
> Do I need a different Antenna or is WJLA gone for good?



Yes, You need a real VHF antenna for any chance of getting 7 in Ashburn. This is your cheapest option. http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...p?PROD=Y5-7-13 

Join the 2 antennas together with this http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?prod=UVSJ 


If you want a one antenna solution http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...p?PROD=HD7694P


----------



## BritInVA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16641614
> 
> 
> Yes, You need a real VHF antenna for any chance of getting 7 in Ashburn. This is your cheapest option. http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...p?PROD=Y5-7-13
> 
> Join the 2 antennas together with this http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?prod=UVSJ
> 
> 
> If you want a one antenna solution http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...p?PROD=HD7694P



Thanks as I understand it both WJLA and WUSA were broadcasting all thru the pre-transition period on UHF given their viewers false information that they were all set for the transition......then on the transition day they switched to VHF......WTF is up with that










I do also have FiOS and get all channels on that but I only got the HD FiOS box in Family room. I only have a SD FiOS box in bedroom so was getting HD via antenna.


Thanks for the tips on getting channels back but WJLA and WUSA re complete an utter [email protected]#$%!


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16641614
> 
> 
> Yes, You need a real VHF antenna for any chance of getting 7 in Ashburn. This is your cheapest option. http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...p?PROD=Y5-7-13
> 
> Join the 2 antennas together with this http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?prod=UVSJ
> 
> 
> If you want a one antenna solution http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...p?PROD=HD7694P



I have this one:
http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...p?prod=ANC4228 


And it works perfectly out by me in Damascus, which I think is just about the same distance? I'm very high up with no obstructions, but still...


----------



## rustycruiser




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rustycruiser* /forum/post/16638975
> 
> 
> The good : Still have all the DC and Baltimore major channels on my TV with an 20 year old VHF/UHF attic mounted antenna. Gained the MHz channels (30.1-30.5) and Ion channels (66.1-66.4) which I could previously not pick up.
> 
> 
> The bad: Lost DC channel 7 and 9 on my kitchen TV with a Silver Sensor. Gained the Ion Channels, but not the MHz.
> 
> 
> The solution: Connect up the kitchen TV to the attic antenna when it is a little cooler.
> 
> 
> All this is from Cockeysville MD in Northern Baltimore County. Pretty happy with the transition.



Whoopsie. Spoke too soon. Woke up this morning and have lost 7 and 9. Must have been the atmospherics last night. Time to troubleshoot. Stupid VHF.


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rustycruiser* /forum/post/16641715
> 
> 
> Whoopsie. Spoke too soon. Woke up this morning and have lost 7 and 9. Must have been the atmospherics last night. Time to troubleshoot. Stupid VHF.



Did you rescan?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *BritInVA* /forum/post/16641684
> 
> 
> Thanks as I understand it both WJLA and WUSA were broadcasting all thru the pre-transition period on UHF given their viewers false information that they were all set for the transition......then on the transition day they switched to VHF......WTF is up with that



WUSA-DT 9 was running occasional scrolling messages for several months on their 9.1 broadcast that they were moving to VHF. Didn't say VHF 9 as I recall, but WUSA did provide a warning. I checked WJLA and WUSA websites yesterday and they both actually had info on their website about the channel move:
http://www.wusa9.com/life/programming/dtv/default.aspx 


But as we have been discussing for a long time in the DTV Final allotment thread, many stations across the US which were moving to their analog VHF channel from their pre-trans UHF channel were not making any effort at all to get that across to their viewers. Just do a rescan and you will be fine assurances. The move of 290 digital stations in total, some in February and around 190 of them yesterday, from UHF to VHF (most flash cutting to their analog channel) may be the most bungled aspect in the public education part of the transition and in the power levels alloted to the digital upper VHF stations.


----------



## spodonnell

Like others, prior to the DTV switch, I was receiving all the local stations perfectly, for almost 2 years. But since the switch, that's not the case.


I have 3 HDTVs, and 1 TiVoHD, and 1 TiVo Series 3, all devices are hooked up to the same Winegard HD 9075P, mounted rooftop outside. I'm located in Towson, about 6 miles from TV Hill in Baltimore. The antenna is pointed just about directly at TV Hill, but doesn't quite clear the roof lines in the neighborhood. I forced a connection on the TiVo's earlier, and have rescanned on all devices multiple times since the switch.


All devices seem to get different results. The one common thing is that I can't get WBAL 11-1 on any device. One TiVo shows a signal, but it is very weak, about 30%. The other flaky thing I've noticed is that one TiVo has picked up 2 seperate 13-1 channels, one being WJZDT and the other WJZ-TV. I get a picture from WJZ-TV, but not WJZDT, even though one TiVo shows a signal strength of around 70% for WJZDT.


One more tidbit, I have a buddy with a similar antenna mounted in his attic but lives a little further away. He was successful in getting back all his Baltimore channels.


My apologies for the long-windedness, just trying to provided all available details.


Does anyone know what gives?


----------



## stmon

For the most part, the stations I got before the switch have been unaffected. I now get the MHz channel 30, which is nice, and also the Ion channel 66, but unfortunately, my reception for Channel 9 is really spotty. Repositioning the antenna helps, but then it wrecks my other channels...


----------



## voltore




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *BritInVA* /forum/post/16641684
> 
> 
> Thanks as I understand it both WJLA and WUSA were broadcasting all thru the pre-transition period on UHF given their viewers false information that they were all set for the transition......then on the transition day they switched to VHF......WTF is up with that



Not quite, both channels have been saying we're moving, you need a VHF/UF antenna and also rescan.


p.s. you're not the only Brit in Va on the boards


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *spodonnell* /forum/post/16641809
> 
> 
> Like others, prior to the DTV switch, I was receiving all the local stations perfectly, for almost 2 years. But since the switch, that's not the case.
> 
> . . . . all devices are hooked up to the same Winegard HD 9075P, mounted rooftop outside.
> 
> Does anyone know what gives?



Unfortunately, the 9075 is a poor VHF antenna. If you were 2-3 miles closer, it would probably work. You will need to augment the antenna with a VHF-HI antenna, or replace the 9075 with a combo antenna if WAF is a concern.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/16640092
> 
> 
> DC ABC and DC CBS come in perfectly for me.
> 
> 
> Although Tivo screwed up and hasn't done any updated on their side yet - no surprises there...
> 
> 
> It says WJZ 13-1 has a signal on it, but nothing coming in yet. I'll check again tomorrow.



TiVo was fine for me. You had to have it connect to the TiVo service first. I think after 5PM yesterday(I had a box connect around 4PM that didn't have teh updated info and one that did around 5PM that was fine). Then after connecting do another channel scan and everything comes up fine.


----------



## BritInVA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *voltore* /forum/post/16641911
> 
> 
> Not quite, both channels have been saying we're moving, you need a VHF/UF antenna and also rescan.
> 
> 
> p.s. you're not the only Brit in Va on the boards



Well Hello fellow Brit in Va










I understand that they have been saying they were moving but not once when they were doing their short cut off did I have an issue - so maybe I was foolish for thinking everything was OK but seems strange that they were broadcasting on UHF prior to the switch. Even on the first post in this thread it appeared they were going to be broadcasting in UHF



> Quote:
> *Listing of Digtial stations in the Washington / Baltimore Region:*
> 
> 002-01 52 ABC WMAR-DT HDTV DD5.1
> 002-02 52 ABC WMAR-DT SD
> 002-03 52 ABC WMAR-DT Weather Net
> 004-01 48 NBC WRC-DT HDTV DD5.1
> 004-02 48 NBC WRC-SD Weather Plus
> 004-03 48 NBC WRC-SD Universal Sports
> 005-01 36 FOX WTTG-DT HDTV DD5.1 *Has local news in HDTV*
> 007-01 39 ABC WJLA-DT HDTV DD5.1 *Has local news in HDTV*
> 007-02 39 ABC WJLA-DT Weather Now
> 007-03 39 ABC WJLA-DT RetroTV
> 009-01 34 CBS WUSA-DT HDTV DD5.1 *Has local news in HDTV*
> 009-02 34 CBS WUSA-DT Doppler
> 011-01 59 NBC WBAL-DT HDTV *Has local news in HDTV*
> 011-02 59 NBC WBAL-SD Weather Plus Live - Stream
> 013-01 38 CBS WJZ-DT HDTV DD5.1
> 014-01 15 UNI WFDC-DT SD
> 020-01 35 MyNet WDCA-DT HDTV
> 022-01 42 PBS WMPT-DT MPT-HD DD5.1
> 022-02 42 PBS WMPT-DT MPT 2
> 022-03 42 PBS WMPT-DT MPT V-me
> 024-01 41 MyNet WUTB-DT HD
> 026-01 27 PBS WETA-DT HDTV/SD DD5.1
> 026-02 27 PBS WETA-DT Create
> 026-03 27 PBS WETA-DT Family
> 026-04 27 PBS WETA-DT World
> 030-01 30 MHz WNVT-DT MHz1 WorldView
> 030-02 30 MHz WNVC-DT MHz2 Russian
> 030-03 30 MHz WNVT-DT MHz3 French
> 030-04 30 MHz WNVT-DT MHz4 Nigerian
> 030-05 30 MHz WNVT-DT MHz5 Russian
> 032-01 33 PBS WHUT-DT SD
> 045-01 46 FOX WBFF-DT HDTV DD5.1 *Has local news in HDTV*
> 045-02 46 ThisTV WBFF-DT SD
> 050-01 51 CW WDCW-DT HDTV DD5.1
> 054-01 40 CW WNUV-DT HDTV DD5.1
> 057-01 57 MHz WNVC-DT MHz1 WorldView - _off the air until Feb 2009_
> 057-02 57 MHz WNVT-DT MHz6 Japanese - _off the air until Feb 2009_
> 057-03 57 MHz WNVC-DT MHz7 Dutch - _off the air until Feb 2009_
> 057-04 57 MHz WNVC-DT MHz8 Taiwanese - _off the air until Feb 2009_
> 062-01 28 PBS WFPT-DT MPT-HD DD5.1
> 062-02 28 PBS WFPT-DT MPT 2
> 062-03 28 PBS WFPT-DT MPT V-me
> 066-01 43 ionline WPXW-DT ion
> 066-02 43 ionline WPXW-DT qubo
> 066-03 43 ionline WPXW-DT ionW
> 066-04 43 ionline WPXW-DT Worship
> 067-01 29 PBS WMPB-DT MPT-HD DD5.1
> 067-02 29 PBS WMPB-DT MPT 2
> 067-03 29 PBS WMPB-DT MPT V-me
> 
> Orange indicates UHF Digital Channel assignments
> DD5.1 indicates Dolby Digital 5.1 capable stations



I've ordered the Antenna & Separator suggested by Digital Rules so hopefully in a week will be behind me.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16641614
> 
> 
> Yes, You need a real VHF antenna for any chance of getting 7 in Ashburn. This is your cheapest option. http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...p?PROD=Y5-7-13
> 
> Join the 2 antennas together with this http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?prod=UVSJ
> 
> 
> If you want a one antenna solution http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...p?PROD=HD7694P



Thanks for the link to the UHF VHF Band Separator/Combiner. I've been using a couple of combined Square Shooters for 5 years with no problems. I figured I would have problems with VHF since the Square Shooter is really designed for UHF.

I'm going to try the UHF VHF Band Separator/Combiner with an amplified VHF table top antenna first to see if I can get 7 and 9 with it. OTA is a backup for me now but I would like to get those two channels without having to replace one of my Square shooters. Especially since my options are limited since I'm in a condo. Not sure what else is out there for VHF that is similar to looks to the Square shooter.

Does anyone know of an antenna similar to the Square shooter that picks up VHF reliably?


----------



## spodonnell




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16642043
> 
> 
> Unfortunately, the 9075 is a poor VHF antenna. If you were 2-3 miles closer, it would probably work. You will need to augment the antenna with a VHF-HI antenna, or replace the 9075 with a combo antenna if WAF is a concern.



Thanks for the response. I was confused about VHF/UHF and analog/digital. I assumed all digital was broadcasted on UHF, apparently that's not the case.







I guess you can broadcast an analog signal and a digital signal on the same frequency.


Looks I'm in the market for another antenna!


----------



## rustycruiser




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rustycruiser* /forum/post/16641715
> 
> 
> Whoopsie. Spoke too soon. Woke up this morning and have lost 7 and 9. Must have been the atmospherics last night. Time to troubleshoot. Stupid VHF.



Yep. Rescanned on both tuners attached to the 20 year old attic antenna. No 7 and 9. I am about 40 miles away from the tower, so I figure I will re-aim, and if I get no joy, upgrade my antenna to a new UHF/VHF combo. Not a huge issue right now, but I like having both DC and Baltimore stations for when the NCAA and NFL games are different in the two markets.


----------



## bfdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/16642059
> 
> 
> Then after connecting do another channel scan and everything comes up fine.



Note a channel scan is unnecessary with a TiVo. Channel scans have no affect whatsoever on the Tribune-mapped stations. Channel scans only clutter your Channel List with more stations to uncheck.










You just have to wait 15-30 minutes after the connection completes for the guide information to index and update. It doesn't happen instantly. If you reboot your TiVo following the connection, it may reset that 15-30 indexing period.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bfdtv* /forum/post/16642701
> 
> 
> Note a channel scan is necessary. Channel scans have no affect the Tribune-mapped stations.
> 
> 
> You just have to wait 15-30 minutes after the connection completes for the guide information to index update. It doesn't happen instantly. If you reboot your TiVo following a connection, it may reset that 15-30 indexing period.



I know on the first one I tested it did not come up correctly until I did a rescan. This was after it loaded the data and got to 100%. It didn't show up properly until I deleted the old channels and rescanned. So I did it that way for the other TiVos as well.


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bfdtv* /forum/post/16640449
> 
> 
> TiVo updated their guide information early Friday afternoon with the correct frequencies for the DC/VA stations. ... A few of the Baltmore stations did not tune, for whatever reason.



They still have WJZ as being on physical channel 38 rather than 13, even though they _also_ (correctly) now map WMAR to 38. And there's something wrong with the MHz listings, since they show all the subchannels as being on physical channel 30, but I'm not sure what the correct numbers are there. You can see what TiVo thinks the physical channels are in the signal strength meter.


Edit: Also, all the analogs are still listed. Also, there's no listing for WHAG-DT, though WHAG is still there.


----------



## minkyboodle

Reading this thread made me glad, at first I thought I might be losing my mind with this madness!! I have a TV setup to receive OTA for a bedroom and a a Philips antenna I got cheap and have used no problems for 2 years in this setup. I'm in the Mount Vernon area in NOVA, under 16 miles from all the network broadcast towers. Before the transition I received WRC-DT (4.1), WTTG-DT (5.1), WJLA-DT (7.1), and WUSA-DT (9.1) fine. Now I can't get 7.1 and 9.1 to save my life. I realize they have switched over to VHF but I should get some type of signal I would think. I know its not the best set up I have but with this antenna before the transition I was able to view 7 and 9 analog channels with a minimal amount of snow. I would think I should get something, maybe the picture would break up etc. The TV's autoscan doesn't pick 7.1 or 9.1 up and I get no signal white noise when tuned to channels 7 or 9 (it does slow down at RF 7 and RF 9). No amount of fiddling with the spindle ears on the antenna improves this. Very frustrating indeed as in this area VHF is always dodgier than UHF. You guys think this situation will last? It seems it has to change. Thanks for listening to me vent reading these posts certainly helped my sanity a bit.









Scott


----------



## jgantert

Anyone with a Samsung TV having troubles with 50.1? I have a Dynex 42" plasma (Samsung knockoff with the 54.1 audio/video studder issue), and when I tune to 50.1 it locks up the TV. I need to unplug it to get it to work properly again. Was working fine yesterday (after the switch). So I wonder if they did something today? Was trying to watch Gladiator, but no luck.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/16643288
> 
> 
> Anyone with a Samsung TV having troubles with 50.1?



No problem on my Samsung LNA55037. No issues on any channels except WMPB-DT 67. Does it come in up in Columbia. I used to get it just fine.


----------



## Sharon L

My neighbor and I both lost 9 and 7. After much fiddling, I managed to get them back, but I am afraid what I did was not a good idea. I unplugged my Channel Master UHF antenna from its amp. Then plugged in a table top UHF/VHF antenna into that amp and then plugged the table top's amp into the wall. After this, I finally got 9 and 7. But considering I live just outside DC, this is ridicules.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *minkyboodle* /forum/post/16643169
> 
> 
> ...
> 
> Now I can't get 7.1 and 9.1 to save my life. I realize they have switched over to VHF but I should get some type of signal I would think. I know its not the best set up I have but with this antenna before the transition I was able to view 7 and 9 analog channels with a minimal amount of snow. I would think I should get something, maybe the picture would break up etc. The TV's autoscan doesn't pick 7.1 or 9.1 up and I get no signal white noise when tuned to channels 7 or 9 (it does slow down at RF 7 and RF 9). No amount of fiddling with the spindle ears on the antenna improves this.



Extend the rabbit ears (the "spindle ears") to a total length of around 33" to optimize it for VHF 7 and open them to very wide V. Try orienting the rabbit ears perpendicular to the direction to the broadcast towers in NW DC, but try other orientations if the first does not work. You should also try to move the antenna to different locations in the room, the higher up the better. Good luck, you will need it.


I was just listening to WTOP radio in the car and they are getting a flood of complaints from people who can no longer get channels 7 & 9. Played short excerpts of several of the complaints. Someone from the FCC was to be on after the commercial break, but I had to miss that. The loss of the reception of the upper VHF channels is now news. There is no short term fix unless the FCC bites the bullet and issues a series of emergency STAs allowing upper VHF stations to increase power. Many of the upper VHF stations are using only part of their former analog transmitter rack and could likely increase power rather quickly. The FCC may need to let WUSA-DT 9, WBAL-DT 11, WJZ-DT 13 go to 20 to 30 kW. WJLA-DT should be at 30 kW which is the statutory maximum for Zone 1.


I was able to get WJZ-DT 13 at 43 miles with dropouts later last night. Have some serious antenna testing and re-arranging to do to get WNVT-DT 30, WHAG-DT 25 off to the S and NW while getting the DC & Baltimore RF UHF stations along with a move of the upper VHF antenna to try to get WBAL-DT and WJZ-DT.


----------



## MrHifi

It took me hours of tweaking to get 7 and 9 to return on some of my tuners. I am in Davidsonville, MD in a very low spot. I use a medium gain antenna with a UHf biased amp and a distribution amp. My bedroom set will not lock 9.1 but all 6 others are fine.


----------



## Gerald C




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by afiggatt View Post
> 
> Anyone else getting stronger signals for WMPT-DT 22 on UHF 42?





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Gerald C* /forum/post/16623553
> 
> 
> Yes, I observed the same thing on Mon and Tues evenings, but now it's gone. It could be tropo, but I doubt it, since I've *never* been able to pick up DT42 before where I am in west Alexandria. I suspect they are experimenting with the higher power Tx, which will hopefully become the default operation on Friday.



Well, it seems that whatever WMPT-DT was experimenting with last Mon/Tues has not been implemented permanently. I still get absolutely zero signal on RF42







Hopefully, the higher power operation will commence soon!!


----------



## afiggatt

Followup on the WTOP radio interview with Bill Lake, the DTV coordinator for the FCC. The audio clip is currently available at http://www.wtop.com/?sid=595567&nid=92 . Please do not slam your head into the table or the wall while listening to his explanation of it is due to converter boxes not clearing out the channel assignment. I wonder if he even knows the difference between VHF and UHF.










BTW, as far as I can tell, WMPT-DT 22 is operating at increased power on UHF 42. I sent an email to the Director of Engineering at MPT asking about WMPT-DT WWPB-DT, but have not heard back yet.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *spodonnell* /forum/post/16642235
> 
> 
> Thanks for the response. I was confused about VHF/UHF and analog/digital. I assumed all digital was broadcasted on UHF, apparently that's not the case.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I guess you can broadcast an analog signal and a digital signal on the same frequency.
> 
> 
> Looks I'm in the market for another antenna!



Since you already have such a good UHF antenna, you can just combine it with an inexpensive VHF-HI antenna using a UVSJ. They should be separated about 3.5 feet, with the 9075 on top.

http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...p?PROD=Y5-7-13 
http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?prod=UVSJ


----------



## palmersh

Difficulties with WDCW (50-1) after the switch.

I have 6 HDTV tuners and/or TVs.

No problem with DirecTV HR20 and H20 STBs

No problem with Radio Shack Accurian STB

No problem with a 32" Vizio (VO32L)

I have two 22" Vizio (VO22L) sets - both have same problem(s) with 50-1.

Initially I was getting some pixelation late last night (after midnight).

I've rescanned channels a couple of times.

This morning, changing to 50-1 caused both sets to power down.

When unit was powered on through remote and was sitting on 50-1, it would power down.

Was pretty reproducible until I completely locked up set - had to power cycle.

Able to get around by powering on and then quickly moving off the channel.


I'm now back to pixelation, but at least the units are not powering down or freezing up.

It would appear something is in 50-1 stream that the VO22L doesn't like. The fact that things are changing would suggest the station is in a tweaking mode.


Thoughts are similar experiences are welcomed.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/16643005
> 
> 
> They still have WJZ as being on physical channel 38 rather than 13, even though they _also_ (correctly) now map WMAR to 38. And there's something wrong with the MHz listings, since they show all the subchannels as being on physical channel 30, but I'm not sure what the correct numbers are there. You can see what TiVo thinks the physical channels are in the signal strength meter.
> 
> 
> Edit: Also, all the analogs are still listed. Also, there's no listing for WHAG-DT, though WHAG is still there.



It seems that the channel assignments for Microsoft's Window Media Player are also not completely correct (eg WJZ). Some things have changed from before the transition, but other things did not update with the new program guide I got today.


----------



## tjman

In Chantilly, lost 7, 9 and 50 after the switch.


----------



## pamajestic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16643718
> 
> 
> Followup on the WTOP radio interview with Bill Lake, the DTV coordinator for the FCC. The audio clip is currently available at http://www.wtop.com/?sid=595567&nid=92 . Please do not slam your head into the table or the wall while listening to his explanation of it is due to converter boxes not clearing out the channel assignment. I wonder if he even knows the difference between VHF and UHF.



That Bill Lake is absolutely clueless. I can not find a email address for him. You would think being the DTV Coordinator for the FCC he would have a public address. If anyone finds it, please post it here.


----------



## markbulla




afiggatt said:


> Followup on the WTOP radio interview with Bill Lake, the DTV coordinator for the FCC. The audio clip is currently available at http://www.wtop.com/?sid=595567&nid=92 . Please do not slam your head into the table or the wall while listening to his explanation of it is due to converter boxes not clearing out the channel assignment. I wonder if he even knows the difference between VHF and UHF. QUOTE]
> 
> 
> That little tidbit he mentions at the very end, about needing an antenna that receives both UHF and VHF, comes a couple of years too late for a lot of people...


----------



## markbulla

BTW, it's probably an FCC requirement that made ch 7 run the crawl about needing to re-scan the channels during "Pushing Daisies". If I can see the channel, didn't I already do the re-scan?


I'm sure it makes sense to someone...


----------



## imref




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bfdtv* /forum/post/16642701
> 
> 
> Note a channel scan is unnecessary with a TiVo. Channel scans have no affect whatsoever on the Tribune-mapped stations. Channel scans only clutter your Channel List with more stations to uncheck.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You just have to wait 15-30 minutes after the connection completes for the guide information to index and update. It doesn't happen instantly. If you reboot your TiVo following the connection, it may reset that 15-30 indexing period.



what about a DirectDVR (their own brand, not the TiVo). Is there anything I can do to fix or just wait?


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *palmersh* /forum/post/16643934
> 
> 
> This morning, changing to 50-1 caused both sets to power down.
> 
> It would appear something is in 50-1 stream that the VO22L doesn't like.



Sounds very similar to my experiences with my Dynex (Samsung rebranded) TV. They must be mucking with the signal over at 50.1.


BTW, does anyone know if VHF is more sensitive to thunderstorms? I have noticed tonight with the storms passing thru that 7 and 9 were pixelating a bit, even though the signal meter was strong (mid 80's and steady on my Tivo HD). Strange. I was messing with the rotor to see if I could get a better signal, but I could not. Just wondering if lightning hurts VHF reception more than UHF?


----------



## StevenJB

The best way to do a rescan is to completely disconnect your antenna from the input to the ATSC tuner and then totally rescan with zero signal. This way every existing channel present is totally erased and you will have a totally clean tuner in which to reprogram. Then reconnect your antenna and then rescan. This avoids any possibility that the ATSC tuner might deal with more than one channel 7 or 9 to map.


I know the best way for the FCC to deal with the VHF problem. They should shut down VHF low 2 through 6 and VHF high 7 through 13 for all digital broadcasting. Give back to the broadcasters UHF 52 through 63. I know; there's zero chance of that happening.


This moron from the FCC is being obtuse or disingenuous, or both. Most people had already removed their old and large UHF/VHF antennas from their roof. The popular understanding whether correct or not was that DTV would use the UHF channels pre-transition as well as post transition. Most people don't know the difference between VHF and UHF or their respective frequencies. The FCC did a poor job of fully explaining the post transition phase and the repositioning back to VHF. Congress should have never allowed UHF 52 through 69 to be sold. The FCC and the Congress screwed the public just to make some money on the spectrum.


----------



## dewster1977

My best channels are all VHF channels 7 from DC 50+ miles with Braddock and South Mountain to go over, Also I do get 60 (RF12) Martinsburg 30 miles, 27 (RF10) and 21 when they were on (RF4) before they moved back to 21 from Harrisburg 50 miles.


----------



## scootdog

I don't think WJAL 68 Digital Channel 39 increased their power as advertised. My signal bar did not move at all since Friday and I still cannot get the channel with the tower being 20 miles away. I also have spotty reception with the PBS station out of Front Royal, VA. So, I am not so sure they increased there power either. WHAG 25 out of Hagerstown comes in great. ION 60 out of Martinsburg, WV and PBS 31 out of Hagerstown still come in great.


Basically with my CM 4221 pointed at magnetic 240 degrees I don't have any change in channels than what I had before Fridays transition. I even got up on the roof and pointed it towards Baltimore and DC and got nothing. The only exception is for a channel 32 with a low signal that will not tune in. Does anyone know what this channel 32 would be? The only guess I have is maybe the CBS station from Harrisburg, PA picking up from the rear of my antenna. If anyone knows for sure please let me know. Thanks.


On another note I went over to my father-in-law who was just discharge from prostate surgery to hook up his converter box. He rents a small guest shack on a farm. Their is a small old school antenna on the roof of the shack which is surrounded by trees and another building. The antenna is pointed towards Hagerstown. Surprisingly he got channel 2 and 13 out of Baltimore along with WHAG 25 out of Hagerstown. The weird thing is that he does not get PBS 31 out of Hagerstown with the uber strong signal near the WHAG tower. He also does not get ION 60 out of Martinsburg nor WJAL 68. This whole process has been weird.


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *scootdog* /forum/post/16646056
> 
> 
> I don't think WJAL 68 Digital Channel 39 increased their power as advertised. My signal bar did not move at all since Friday and I still cannot get the channel with the tower being 20 miles away. I also have spotty reception with the PBS station out of Front Royal, VA. So, I am not so sure they increased there power either. WHAG 25 out of Hagerstown comes in great. ION 60 out of Martinsburg, WV and PBS 31 out of Hagerstown still come in great.
> 
> 
> Basically with my CM 4221 pointed at magnetic 240 degrees I don't have any change in channels than what I had before Fridays transition. I even got up on the roof and pointed it towards Baltimore and DC and got nothing. The only exception is for a channel 32 with a low signal that will not tune in. Does anyone know what this channel 32 would be? The only guess I have is maybe the CBS station from Harrisburg, PA picking up from the rear of my antenna. If anyone knows for sure please let me know. Thanks.
> 
> 
> On another note I went over to my father-in-law who was just discharge from prostate surgery to hook up his converter box. He rents a small guest shack on a farm. Their is a small old school antenna on the roof of the shack which is surrounded by trees and another building. The antenna is pointed towards Hagerstown. Surprisingly he got channel 2 and 13 out of Baltimore along with WHAG 25 out of Hagerstown. The weird thing is that he does not get PBS 31 out of Hagerstown with the uber strong signal near the WHAG tower. He also does not get ION 60 out of Martinsburg nor WJAL 68. This whole process has been weird.



I get WJAL 68, but the meter didn't change on mine either.


I received this e-mail from WVPY when I asked them them about a power increase "Your email to Marilyn was forwarded to me for review and response. First let me say thanks for watching and for writing to WVPT - Virginia's Public Television. Secondly, yes, WVPT/Y DTV 21/42 is currently operating at full licensed power covering your location. Lastly, the good news is yes, we have applied for and received permission from the FCC to double the power. Our plans are to increase the transmitter power sometime late this fall or at the latest next spring as our funding permits. Thanks again for watching and please let me know if you have further questions about DTV that we can answer.Tony"


Also I lost WVPY when WHP moved back to 21, I was watching WVPY friday night and at 12:02 WVPY disappeared just like that.


If 32 is RF32 (not the virtual channel) that would be WTAJ from Altonna. I get that fine (I guess this will be my new channel for CBS since I lost WUSA)


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/16645984
> 
> 
> BTW, does anyone know if VHF is more sensitive to thunderstorms? I have noticed tonight with the storms passing thru that 7 and 9 were pixelating a bit, even though the signal meter was strong (mid 80's and steady on my Tivo HD). Strange. I was messing with the rotor to see if I could get a better signal, but I could not. Just wondering if lightning hurts VHF reception more than UHF?



Yes, VHF is more prone to breakups during thunderstorms than UHF.


Commenting on other posts, the chance of Congress giving back UHF 52 to 59 back (one of the proposals in the 90s was to use 7-59 for digital) is not zero, it is less than zero. The FCC can't get those channels back as the re-allocation of 52 to 69 was made into law by Congress. Upper VHF should be fine for digital broadcasting and provides advantages in longer reach over hillier terrain. There a number of reasons for the problems with upper VHF digital stations. The FCC probably set the power levels for upper VHF too low. Too many people brought UHF only antennas for digital. Or rabbit ears are not cutting it for many because of the cliff effect. Or that WBAL 11 is held to 5 kW to protect WVPT 51 on 11 in Harrisonburg (as the WBAL station engineer reminded me in an email tonight). I have no problems in getting WJLA 7 and WUSA 9 at 16 miles, have gotten WJZ at 43 miles with dropouts, no luck so far for WBAL.


I was wondering if WVPY 42 had increased their power because I didn't notice any obvious change in the too weak to lock signal levels on UHF 21.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dewster1977* /forum/post/16646104
> 
> 
> I get WJAL 68, but the meter didn't change on mine either.



Does WJAL-DT 68 have a PSIP problem on your TV. The dispaly on my TV keeps jumping from 68.1 to 39.3. They must have finally raised their power today. I have gotten zero activity from them until tonight.


----------



## dewster1977

I haven't noticed any problems with their PSIP, but it's not a station that I watch often.


----------



## dewster1977

Has anyone had problem with WMAR since they moved to 38, I use to get WJZ at night on 38, but haven't been able to get WMAR on 38


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dewster1977* /forum/post/16646328
> 
> 
> Has anyone had problem with WMAR since they moved to 38, I use to get WJZ at night on 38, but haven't been able to get WMAR on 38



About normal here (7 out of 10 bars).


I would suggest a 91-XG to augment your 7084, and a higher input pre-amp. The 7084 is an excellent antenna, but the 91-XG can't be beat for deep fringe UHF. The 7777 does not tolerate strong signals well. The Winegard HDP-269 would be your best bet. Conservative pre-amplification is a must with DTV when a mix of very strong & very weak signals are desired.


WJAL-DT 68 (real 39) must be like a torch where you are if I can pick it in Arlington


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dewster1977* /forum/post/16646328
> 
> 
> Has anyone had problem with WMAR since they moved to 38, I use to get WJZ at night on 38, but haven't been able to get WMAR on 38



In fact, of the Baltimore stations that played musical frequencies on Friday, WMAR is the only one I still get! Of course, when WJZ was on 38, they were rock solid for me.


----------



## tjman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tjman* /forum/post/16644215
> 
> 
> In Chantilly, lost 7, 9 and 50 after the switch.



... and this with an attic-mounted UHF/VHF antenna that formerly received the 7 and 9 analog (and digital) signals with no problem.


----------



## palmersh




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tjman* /forum/post/16644215
> 
> 
> In Chantilly, lost 7, 9 and 50 after the switch.



I'm getting all 3 OK in Chantilly with a Channel Master 4228 in my garage attic with an inline 10db amp. My DirecTV STB reports about 70-75% signal strength, but it works - haven't seen any pixelation anywhere.


----------



## Sharon L




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16646205
> 
> 
> Too many people brought UHF only antennas for digital. Or rabbit ears are not cutting it for many because of the cliff effect. didn't notice any obvious change in the too weak to lock signal levels on UHF 21.



Maybe you can answer a question a number of my friends/neighbors are asking me. What indoor antenna would you recommend for picking up High VHF stations like WUSA, WJLA. Most of their TV's reside on first floors.


Thanks


----------



## MrMolding

I'm in South Riding, VA and I originally got 4, 5, 7, and 9 analog from a twin lead antenna in my attic. I made it a few years ago and cut it to about a channel 5 length, hooked it to a balun and then into the VHF input on my 7777 and a CM 4221 into the UHF input. I did this just as a way to get VHF without buying yet another antenna.


At Friday at about 11:58 I was watching WUSA 9 analog when it was turned off. I rescanned and I did not get the new VHF digital 9. I do not claim to be an expert in this, but I figured since I got analog 9 well that I'd get digital 9 the same. Hmm.


So, I took an old set of rabbit ears that I found recently, hung from them a stud in my ceiling, ran them to the VHF input and now I have digital 9 at about 60% signal strength. I got break-ups during the storm last night and if this continues, I guess I'll invest in something like an antennacraft high band vhf. If anyone has a recommendation on a good VHF antenna that will fit into an attic, I'd appreciate the info.


----------



## gjvrieze




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Sharon L* /forum/post/16647818
> 
> 
> Maybe you can answer a question a number of my friends/neighbors are asking me. What indoor antenna would you recommend for picking up High VHF stations like WUSA, WJLA. Most of their TV's reside on first floors.
> 
> 
> Thanks



Not exactly an indoor antenna, but I think this is the best bet.. Best case get it outside, otherwise, as high up as possible, attics would work good too...


Winegard HD-1080...


----------



## Vast

Question on MHZ Networks (DTV CH 30-1 - 30-10):


I have a TivoHD and I get good signal strength on MHZ networks channels 30-1 through 30-10. However, I don't get a picture on channels 30-1 - 30-5. Channels 30-6 - 30-10 are good. The freq assignment on the Tivo list appears accurate...its 30.


Anyone else have this problem?


Thanks!


-Brandon


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Vast* /forum/post/16648929
> 
> 
> Question on MHZ Networks (DTV CH 30-1 - 30-10):
> 
> 
> I have a TivoHD and I get good signal strength on MHZ networks channels 30-1 through 30-10. However, I don't get a picture on channels 30-1 - 30-5. Channels 30-6 - 30-10 are good. The freq assignment on the Tivo list appears accurate...its 30.



No, 30-1 to 30-5 are actually broadcast by WNVC ex-56 in Fairfax physically broadcasting on UHF 24. 30-6 to 30-10 are from WNVT 30 located further south in Goldvein. WNVC was off the air for a long time waiting for WUTB-TV My 24 to vacate channel 24. If you get WUTB-DT My 24 which is on UHF 41, depending on the ATSC tuner firmware & interface, there might be a way to manually tune to RF 24 to check the signal strength for WNVC-DT.


As I understand it, the Tivos don't allow manual tuning and if there is an error in the channel mapping database, the Tivo won't get the station. You should inform Tivo of the error.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16649004
> 
> 
> As I understand it, the Tivos don't allow manual tuning and if there is an error in the channel mapping database, the Tivo won't get the station. You should inform Tivo of the error.



Yes, you should be able to get both stations in northern VA without too much trouble.


Channel 24's antenna is located in Merrifield @ Rt 495 & Rt 29

Channel 30's antenna is located just 5 miles south of Manassas on Rt 234 (Independent Hill)


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gjvrieze* /forum/post/16648905
> 
> 
> Not exactly an indoor antenna, but I think this is the best bet.. Best case get it outside, otherwise, as high up as possible, attics would work good too...
> 
> 
> Winegard HD-1080...



I have not kept up on on the discussions and reports of the newer upper VHF/UHF antennas, but I gather the HD-1080 has not gotten many positive reports for upper VHF performance. The problem with indoor VHF antennas is that you go in 1 step from a single dipole - rabbit ears - to a much larger antenna with multiple reflectors. For indoor, the next easiest step is to optimize the length of the rabbit ears for VHF 7. See http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/R...s.html#Getting .


Beyond that, there are some more compact upper VHF/UHF antennas available. If someone has a good UHF antenna and room in the attic, then a Winegard or Antennacraft upper VHF 7-13 antenna will be around 34" wide and easier to handle than a standard full VHF antenna which are 110" wide for VHF 2.


----------



## billodom

I had this exchange of e-mails earlier today:


> Quote:
> Bill Odom:
> 
> Your switch from UHF to VHF has cost me the ability to receive your channel. Good move, guys. Please consider upping your power or relocating back to UHF. I have received your channel for the last eight years with my rooftop antenna and now apparently I am SOL without paying for an oversized VHF antenna.
> 
> Jay Newman:
> 
> we are attempting to get approval from to raise power - well let you knowwhen we get approval.....
> 
> 
> Jay Newman, Vice President/General Manager
> 
> 
> 410 - 578 -7507



I contacted the WUSA digital hotline and received a call back from a gentleman named Victor Murphy. He can be reached at [email protected] . Apparently WUSA has no plans to boost their power, according to him.

I am pulling WUSA with 1 bar of signal strength (out of 10) and WJLA with about 5 out of 10. I have a call in to Fairfax Antenna. I'm not real keen about upgrading. I took a lot of grief from my HOA when I originally put up my UHF about eight years ago.


----------



## Trip in VA

WUSA can't boost power due to WBPH-DT in Allentown.


WJZ has a permit to increase power but with a directional antenna.


- Trip


----------



## crbaldwin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16641614
> 
> 
> Yes, You need a real VHF antenna for any chance of getting 7 in Ashburn. This is your cheapest option. http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...p?PROD=Y5-7-13
> 
> Join the 2 antennas together with this http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?prod=UVSJ



I was thinking about getting this but I have some tall trees in the way which causes my UHF signal strength to drop in the Spring/Summer when the leaves return. Is VHF more susceptible to this kind of interference/blockage? I am currently getting no signal at all for 7 & 9 but picked them up fine before the switch from UHF.


----------



## Vast




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16649004
> 
> 
> No, 30-1 to 30-5 are actually broadcast by WNVC ex-56 in Fairfax physically broadcasting on UHF 24. 30-6 to 30-10 are from WNVT 30 located further south in Goldvein. WNVC was off the air for a long time waiting for WUTB-TV My 24 to vacate channel 24. If you get WUTB-DT My 24 which is on UHF 41, depending on the ATSC tuner firmware & interface, there might be a way to manually tune to RF 24 to check the signal strength for WNVC-DT.
> 
> 
> As I understand it, the Tivos don't allow manual tuning and if there is an error in the channel mapping database, the Tivo won't get the station. You should inform Tivo of the error.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16649072
> 
> 
> Yes, you should be able to get both stations in northern VA without too much trouble.
> 
> 
> Channel 24's antenna is located in Merrifield @ Rt 495 & Rt 29
> 
> Channel 30's antenna is located just 5 miles south of Manassas on Rt 234 (Independent Hill)



Thanks for the info!


Sounds like it is a Tivo lineup problem, we'll see how long it takes them to get it squared away!


-Brandon


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *crbaldwin* /forum/post/16649555
> 
> 
> I was thinking about getting this but I have some tall trees in the way which causes my UHF signal strength to drop in the Spring/Summer when the leaves return. Is VHF more susceptible to this kind of interference/blockage? I am currently getting no signal at all for 7 & 9 but picked them up fine before the switch from UHF.



The leaves don't affect VHF as much as UHF. You should be OK with that antenna as long as you aren't looking for 11 & 13 out of Baltimore.


If you are having some issues with UHF also, why not consider a "combo" antenna with higher UHF gain as well?


----------



## dewster1977

I-emailed WJZ today and received the same response about a power increase.


I also cal the FCC DTV help line, got answered in under 5 minutes, The first rep I spoke with took my name and address and said according to her database I had 3 obtainable stations WHAG 25 WWPB 31 and WWPX 60. I told her that wasn't even a full complment of networks and if I could speak to some one technical, she transfered me and within 30 sec. had me connected to another person very understanding and responsive.


I explained to him that with analog I received all major networks from DC, Baltimore and Harrisburg, he said with analog that would be correct, but that according to their database I would only reliable receive the 3 channels above, he understood my frustration, and agreed that alot of stations are not reaching the areas they did before, WPVI in Philly was an example.


They are tracking areas with problems, and are sending me a form to fill out. They want people to let them know of the problems they are having.


Although they didn't solve my problems yet, I was pleased with the call centre.


I would suggest anyone else with losses call them and ask to speak to the technical support department and ask for a form also.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16649449
> 
> 
> WUSA can't boost power due to WBPH-DT in Allentown.
> 
> 
> WJZ has a permit to increase power but with a directional antenna.
> 
> 
> - Trip



I think we will see a flurry of STA filings this week from upper VHF stations looking to increase their power right up to the 0.5% interference limit. Or maybe a little beyond that with mutual agreements submitted by the conflicting stations. I have not yet gone back and looked at the WUSA-DT application for VHF 9 to see if they have much, if any, room for a power increase.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/16645984
> 
> 
> BTW, does anyone know if VHF is more sensitive to thunderstorms? I have noticed tonight with the storms passing thru that 7 and 9 were pixelating a bit,



I saw a lot of hiccups and minor breakups on both 11 and 13 last night while storms were in the area. DTVPal was much more plagued by this than Insignia box.




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16643718
> 
> 
> BTW, as far as I can tell, WMPT-DT 22 is operating at increased power on UHF 42. I sent an email to the Director of Engineering at MPT asking about WMPT-DT WWPB-DT, but have not heard back yet.



42 is much better here for the past couple days than in the past. Not sure if change coincided exactly with transition or not, so not sure if this is increased power or reduced interference.




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dewster1977* /forum/post/16646328
> 
> 
> Has anyone had problem with WMAR since they moved to 38, I use to get WJZ at night on 38, but haven't been able to get WMAR on 38



I've seen no significant change on 38.


In fact, I happened to be in the manual add channel screen on a DTVPal at RF38 when the switch happened. The RF didn't drop at all; there was no black screen, nothing. One instant it was WJZ-13, and the next it was WMAR-2.


Now that's what I call a flash cut!


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16649734
> 
> 
> I think we will see a flurry of STA filings this week from upper VHF stations looking to increase their power right up to the 0.5% interference limit. Or maybe a little beyond that with mutual agreements submitted by the conflicting stations. I have not yet gone back and looked at the WUSA-DT application for VHF 9 to see if they have much, if any, room for a power increase.



Here is an interesting video interview from WPVI 6 in Philadelphia...Maybe they underestamated they power need for DTV

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/video?id=6863745


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dewster1977* /forum/post/16649808
> 
> 
> Here is an interesting video interview from WPVI 6 in Philadelphia...Maybe they underestamated they power need for DTV
> 
> http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/video?id=6863745



They didn't underestimate, the FCC did. WPVI is at the FCC power limit for channel 6.


- Trip


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16649844
> 
> 
> They didn't underestimate, the FCC did. WPVI is at the FCC power limit for channel 6.
> 
> 
> - Trip



According to the video they may look at an STA according to the FCC rep


----------



## Trip in VA

I saw that video yesterday, and I'm hearing now that WLS in Chicago may be boosting power tomorrow to see if it helps, though I don't know by how much they're increasing it.


- Trip


----------



## joblo

Problems with channel 6?? Why, I'm shocked, _*shocked*_, *SHOCKED* to hear that.










I love the part where he extols the power-efficiency of digital. But using 10% of the power to produce black screens is not effiicient, it's just waste. It's only more efficient if it actually _*works*_...


Sheesh...


----------



## dewster1977

From looking at my signal meter in my DTT901 I receive a signal on all the channels that I had before just not enough to decode. From what I do and don't get I would think 25% would be more realistic than 10%


----------



## imref

hi everyone, I'm really confused - why is it that the analog cut over caused me to lose sub-channels for 7 and 9 in Haymarket.


I have two indoor Terk HDTV antennas, one connected to a DirecTV TiVo, and one connected to a DirecTV DVR.


Is this just an issue with the DVRs not having the right mapping info due to something changing on Friday or is it something else?


Thanks!


----------



## compuguy1088




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16649449
> 
> 
> WUSA can't boost power due to WBPH-DT in Allentown.
> 
> 
> WJZ has a permit to increase power but with a directional antenna.
> 
> 
> - Trip


 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WBPH-DT 


*sigh*, what about a directional antenna facing south into VA? Would that interfere with WBPH-DT? Compared to WJLA, there is only a small margin of area where I can get both signals with indoor antennae.


----------



## Trip in VA

They'd have to replace their antenna, which I gather is something they've been trying to avoid. I think they could do it, though, with an antenna protecting WBPH.


- Trip


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16650723
> 
> 
> They'd have to replace their antenna, which I gather is something they've been trying to avoid. I think they could do it, though, with an antenna protecting WBPH.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Why would the FCC have allowed another station use ch 9 if there was a chance of interference. A better Example is WTTG on RF36 in DC and WITF on RF 36 in Harrisburg, Most the allotments don't appear to have been thought through


----------



## crbaldwin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16649681
> 
> 
> The leaves don't affect VHF as much as UHF.
> 
> If you are having some issues with UHF also, why not consider a "combo" antenna with higher UHF gain as well?



There is not a lot of room in my attic for an antenna (I currently have a compact Clearstream4). Do you know of a good combo antenna under 5 feet long that would be good for 50 miles out? Thanks.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dewster1977* /forum/post/16650750
> 
> 
> Why would the FCC have allowed another station use ch 9 if there was a chance of interference. A better Example is WTTG on RF36 in DC and WITF on RF 36 in Harrisburg, Most the allotments don't appear to have been thought through



Because there's not enough channels left to let every channel have no interference.


- Trip


----------



## imacdonald




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Vast* /forum/post/16648929
> 
> 
> Question on MHZ Networks (DTV CH 30-1 - 30-10):
> 
> However, I don't get a picture on channels 30-1 - 30-5. Channels 30-6 - 30-10 are good. The freq assignment on the Tivo list appears accurate...its 30.
> 
> -Brandon



Yes, tivo tribune have screwed up the channel mappings, I have given up complaining to tivo, best bet complain to the station and tell them to get tribune to put in the correct mappings. They had the same problem when they were broadcasting on 67 last year.


I had the same problem with whut, they fixed it a couple weeks after I complained, not sure if my phone call made any difference or if was just a coincidence.


I plan on calling Mhz on monday,


I am also not happy with there lack of useful guide data on the Metro Chinese Network, they don't have anything useful on their website either, Anyone know a source of guide data for this channel? It is supposed to be a channel of the United States Broadcasting Company, based in Rockville, but I haven't been able to find a website for them. I am going to ask my wife to do a search in Chinese to see if she can find anything.


----------



## SQUIDWARD360

does anyone know why the WJLA feed for the NBA finals has looked horrible for basically every cable provider?


----------



## TheKrell

I am suffering inexplicable interference since Friday in the Annandale, VA area. I was formerly using a distribution amp in the attic, which I can no longer use at all or it wipes out _all_ reception by my Dish Network VIP 612 receivers. The only new sources I know about is WNVC RF24 channels 30.1-5, which I have carefully aligned with what's a near null in my Winegard batwing antenna. According to all the ATSC tuners I own, this alignment worked, and (without the amp) I get a SS on 30 that's a little lower than my strongest DC stations. So what's going on here? Why after then transition can I no longer use that attic distribution amp? Is there some _other_ source of interference (not tuned by an ATSC tuner) that came on last Friday?


----------



## voltore




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *billodom* /forum/post/16649333
> 
> 
> Apparently WUSA has no plans to boost their power, according to him.
> 
> I am pulling WUSA with 1 bar of signal strength (out of 10) and WJLA with about 5 out of 10. I have a call in to Fairfax Antenna. I'm not real keen about upgrading. I took a lot of grief from my HOA when I originally put up my UHF about eight years ago.



That's correct. According to the computer models we have hit the 0.5% interference with the station in Bethlehem, PA. We're all hoping that the model is wrong but that takes time to prove......


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16650785
> 
> 
> Because there's not enough channels left to let every channel have no interference.
> 
> 
> - Trip



I know first hand that is has caused WITF problems, when i e-mailed there engineer last thats why they are replacing the 0.377kw analog translator in Chambersburg with a digital one at 5kw


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *crbaldwin* /forum/post/16650764
> 
> 
> There is not a lot of room in my attic for an antenna (I currently have a compact Clearstream4). Do you know of a good combo antenna under 5 feet long that would be good for 50 miles out? Thanks.



If you only have 5 feet to work with, the Antennacraft Y5-7-13 combined with your existing C-4 would be your best bet. Are you using a pre-amp of any kind now? Where are you located?


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *voltore* /forum/post/16651082
> 
> 
> That's correct. According to the computer models we have hit the 0.5% interference with the station in Bethlehem, PA. We're all hoping that the model is wrong but that takes time to prove......



I was helping my parents with there converter tonight they get WJLA 7 solid, But WUSA 9 is constant breakup's and Fox 5 doen't come in at all these are the three channels they watch most.


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *billodom* /forum/post/16649333
> 
> 
> I took a lot of grief from my HOA when I originally put up my UHF about eight years ago.



Tell the HOA to stick their antenna rule up their collective a$$es. The feds outlawed said clauses years and years ago.


That said, they keep trying. In this case, the developer of a new area in Middleton, WI, has a no outside antenna clause, no sat dishes large than 20" and no solar panels. He obviouslu hired lawyers that were yes-men. The no sat dish rule, federally, is 1 meter. The state law outlawed the no solar panel clause.


The sad part is that there are those who do not know the law regarding this stuff and actually do what it says.


I'm glad I live in an older neighborhood in Madison before HOAs were dreamed of. So, not only do I have an outside antenna, I have a 10' and a 12' set of BUDs on my property. Not one neighbor has ever said squat over the years.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TheKrell* /forum/post/16650952
> 
> 
> I am suffering inexplicable interference since Friday in the Annandale, VA area. . . . . The only new sources I know about is WNVC RF24 channels 30.1-5 . . . . So what's going on here? Why after then transition can I no longer use that attic distribution amp?



WNVC RF 24 is very potent in Annandale (& here too) You will no longer be able to use a distribution amp. A better antenna that is capable of providing enough gain all on it's own will solve your problem. How much room do you have in your attic?


WNVC has caused one of my Baltimore stations to dissappear, and I'm not using any amplification.


----------



## TheKrell




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16651349
> 
> 
> WNVC RF 24 is very potent in Annandale (& here too) You will no longer be able to use a distribution amp.



No kidding. They're only 2.5 miles away from my house. However, I can indeed use a distribution amp if I carefully adjust the antenna (which I have done) so that it gets a weak signal from WNVC.


The sensitivity pattern of a dipole antenna has _nulls_ (zero signal strength) at 0 and 90 deg, which is pointed along the direction of the elements themselves. Obviously I don't want WNVC to be sitting _right exactly_ on a null, or I would receive no signal at all. Nevertheless, I adjusted my Winegard GS-1100 antenna so that the signal strength of WNVC (unamplified) is _lower than_ my DC stations. Is WNVC bouncing off something and coming in *on axis*? Maybe. But if so, I don't see that SS showing up on _any_ of my ATSC tuners.


I claim I'm getting something new, not tunable by an ATSC tuner, coming in *on axis*. And I furthermore claim it's not WNVC, which is sitting near a null of my antenna's sensntivity. Sorry; you can't use this trick in Arlington, although a conventional highly directional antenna with a high front-to-back ratio might do as well for you. Except for WNVT which would be precluded by that high front-to-back ratio.


----------



## HurricaneDavid

I am in Merrifield with my bedroom HDTV hooked up to Cox cable with no HD box or DVR. Prior to the digital conversion, I had received NBC, FOX, ABC, and CBS HD channels beautifully (4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 5.1, 7.1, 7.2, 9.1, & 9.2). Ever since the digital conversion, these channels have been all screwed up. I have rescanned at least 8 times (with each scan taking 10-15 mins). Here is what I have been receiving when I go to each of these channels:


4.1: NBC Live Digital Doppler XT

4.2: NBC Live Digital Doppler XT

4.3: NBC Live Digital Doppler XT

5.1: WUSA-HD

7.1: NBC Live Digital Doppler XT

7.2: NBC Live Digital Doppler XT

7.3: NBC Live Digital Doppler XT

9.1: No picture - Digital channel signal strength is too low

9.2: No picture - Digital channel signal strength is too low


WTF??? Please at least tell me I am not the only one having these problems with Cox...


----------



## ajnabi

I have a small roof top antenna and i am able to pick up all the dc channels ( i have lost all Baltimore channels) but the signal is bit low around 6 and i have seen breaks up in the signal few times. I am looking for recommendation for an amplifier or a good vhf/uhf antenna that i can put in the attic. I am attaching my tvfool image. Any help would be appreciated.


----------



## yekim54




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *HurricaneDavid* /forum/post/16651531
> 
> 
> I am in Merrifield with my bedroom HDTV hooked up to Cox cable with no HD box or DVR. Prior to the digital conversion, I had received NBC, FOX, ABC, and CBS HD channels beautifully (4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 5.1, 7.1, 7.2, 9.1, & 9.2). Ever since the digital conversion, these channels have been all screwed up. I have rescanned at least 8 times (with each scan taking 10-15 mins). Here is what I have been receiving when I go to each of these channels:
> 
> 
> 4.1: NBC Live Digital Doppler XT
> 
> 4.2: NBC Live Digital Doppler XT
> 
> 4.3: NBC Live Digital Doppler XT
> 
> 5.1: WUSA-HD
> 
> 7.1: NBC Live Digital Doppler XT
> 
> 7.2: NBC Live Digital Doppler XT
> 
> 7.3: NBC Live Digital Doppler XT
> 
> 9.1: No picture - Digital channel signal strength is too low
> 
> 9.2: No picture - Digital channel signal strength is too low
> 
> 
> WTF??? Please at least tell me I am not the only one having these problems with Cox...



I'm in Dunn Loring and my Cox cable clear QAM channels are fine. I did not even do a re-scan on the cable channels, only for the OTA channels.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TheKrell* /forum/post/16651511
> 
> 
> No kidding. They're only 2.5 miles away from my house. However, I can indeed use a distribution amp if I carefully adjust the antenna (which I have done) so that it gets a weak signal from WNVC.



The only power increase right in DC so far has been WFDC-DT 14. They have increased power form 325 kw to 1000kw. That may be adding to your issues, but I am still leaning towards WNVC. At 2.5 miles, you will not be able to attenaute that signal but so much no matter what you do. A paperclip would easily pick it up in your basement (If you have one)


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ajnabi* /forum/post/16651549
> 
> 
> I have a small roof top antenna and i am able to pick up all the dc channels ( i have lost all Baltimore channels) but the signal is bit low around 6 and i have seen breaks up in the signal few times. I am looking for recommendation for an amplifier or a good vhf/uhf antenna that i can put in the attic. I am attaching my tvfool image. Any help would be appreciated.



What antenna do you have now? If you want Baltimore again, you will need to keep the antenna outside.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16651637
> 
> 
> The only power increase right in DC so far has been WFDC-DT 14. They have increased power form 325 kw to 1000kw. That may be adding to your issues, but I am still leaning towards WNVC. At 2.5 miles, you will not be able to attenaute that signal but so much no matter what you do. A paperclip would easily pick it up in your basement (If you have one)



Do you think a channel 24 Join-Tenna hooked to nothing or a channel 24 trap of some kind might be successful in knocking out this particular problem?


- Trip


----------



## crbaldwin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16651259
> 
> 
> If you only have 5 feet to work with, the Antennacraft Y5-7-13 combined with your existing C-4 would be your best bet. Are you using a pre-amp of any kind now? Where are you located?



I am in Fredericksburg and only have an amplified splitter now (a generic one from Home Depot, I think). I was thinking about picking up the 10G202 preamp if I get the Y5-7-13 antenna from Solid Signal. I also might be able to fit the AntennaCraft HBU22 combo antenna up there but it would have to be about 6 feet lower than the C-4. Which do you think would be the better option (HBU22 alone or C-4 plus Y5-7-13)? Thanks for your help.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16651683
> 
> 
> Do you think a channel 24 Join-Tenna hooked to nothing or a channel 24 trap of some kind might be successful in knocking out this particular problem?
> 
> 
> - Trip



If the OP is just looking for DC stations, it would just be easier to avoid amplification altogether. I believe those jointennas are expensive.


----------



## bf3000

Anyone have any experience with the ClearStream4? I am looking to replace my Square Shooter (UHF only) since I have only marginal reception on channels 11 & 13 since the transition, and I am looking for antenna that isn't real big to put up on the roof. Thanks.


----------



## TheKrell




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16651637
> 
> 
> A paperclip would easily pick it up in your basement (If you have one)



Agree, but only if the paperclip isn't straightened out and pointed _directly_ at WNVC.










I just went through all my unamplified signal strengths according to my Dish 612 receiver. Channels 7 and 20 are at 100. Most of the rest (including WNVC) are showing mid eighties. 4, 14, 26, 50, and 66 are all seventies. These results are all scrambled according to tvfool.com. We know why 30 isn's so strong. But why is 66 and 14 in the bottom tier rather than the top?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *crbaldwin* /forum/post/16651777
> 
> 
> I am in Fredericksburg and only have an amplified splitter now (a generic one from Home Depot, I think). I was thinking about picking up the 10G202 preamp if I get the Y5-7-13 antenna from Solid Signal. I also might be able to fit the AntennaCraft HBU22 combo antenna up there but it would have to be about 6 feet lower than the C-4. Which do you think would be the better option (HBU22 alone or C-4 plus Y5-7-13)? Thanks for your help.



Definitely keep the C-4, and add the Y5-7-13. Join the 2 antennas together with a Channel Master 7777 or Winegard 2870 pre-amp.


The HBU-22 doesn't have enough gain for your situation. The best small combo is the Winegard 7694P, but your C-4 is much better on UHF.


----------



## compuguy1088




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dewster1977* /forum/post/16651285
> 
> 
> I was helping my parents with there converter tonight they get WJLA 7 solid, But WUSA 9 is constant breakup's and Fox 5 doen't come in at all these are the three channels they watch most.



This is the same situation I'm having with two of my tv's. I have not solved it with one in the kitchen, which has a bow-tie terk antennae (uhf only?), but the other tv with a CECB seems to get it if you put the rabbit ears down flat on both sides, non extended facing the transceiver (to the northeast).



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *HurricaneDavid* /forum/post/16651531
> 
> 
> I am in Merrifield with my bedroom HDTV hooked up to Cox cable with no HD box or DVR. Prior to the digital conversion, I had received NBC, FOX, ABC, and CBS HD channels beautifully (4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 5.1, 7.1, 7.2, 9.1, & 9.2). Ever since the digital conversion, these channels have been all screwed up. I have rescanned at least 8 times (with each scan taking 10-15 mins). Here is what I have been receiving when I go to each of these channels:
> 
> 
> 4.1: NBC Live Digital Doppler XT
> 
> 4.2: NBC Live Digital Doppler XT
> 
> 4.3: NBC Live Digital Doppler XT
> 
> 5.1: WUSA-HD
> 
> 7.1: NBC Live Digital Doppler XT
> 
> 7.2: NBC Live Digital Doppler XT
> 
> 7.3: NBC Live Digital Doppler XT
> 
> 9.1: No picture - Digital channel signal strength is too low
> 
> 9.2: No picture - Digital channel signal strength is too low
> 
> 
> WTF??? Please at least tell me I am not the only one having these problems with Cox...



When I scan qam on cox here, there are many duplicates for each major channel, and the sub channels.....on several physical channels. (partially something to do with sdv?)


----------



## pamajestic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dewster1977* /forum/post/16650750
> 
> 
> Why would the FCC have allowed another station use ch 9 if there was a chance of interference. A better Example is WTTG on RF36 in DC and WITF on RF 36 in Harrisburg, Most the allotments don't appear to have been thought through



The contour maps listed on the FCC web site overlap by a good 15 miles. Interference outside of the maps is one thing, but to admit that they overlap by 15 miles is ridiculous.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16651637
> 
> 
> The only power increase right in DC so far has been WFDC-DT 14. They have increased power form 325 kw to 1000kw. That may be adding to your issues, but I am still leaning towards WNVC. At 2.5 miles, you will not be able to attenaute that signal but so much no matter what you do. A paperclip would easily pick it up in your basement (If you have one)

















One MILLION WATTS?!?!


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TheKrell* /forum/post/16651817
> 
> 
> Agree, but only if the paperclip isn't straightened out and pointed _directly_ at WNVC.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I just went through all my unamplified signal strengths according to my Dish 612 receiver. Channels 7 and 20 are at 100. Most of the rest (including WNVC) are showing mid eighties. 4, 14, 26, 50, and 66 are all seventies. These results are all scrambled according to tvfool.com. We know why 30 isn's so strong. But why is 66 and 14 in the bottom tier rather than the top?



The trouble with this is that the signal strength readings in consumer equipment are not necessarily actual signal *strengths*, but more likely based on digital error rates. In other words, if the tuner front end is overloaded, you might see a lower number, even though the signal strength is really very high.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16651349
> 
> 
> WNVC has caused one of my Baltimore stations to dissappear, and I'm not using any amplification.



Which one?


----------



## systems2000

I hope evryone had a fun weekend.










Here's my current situation.

*ANALOG STATIONS (234°M)*

4 (NL), 5 (NL), 10 (PBS), 15 (PBS), 22 (PBS), 28 (PBS), 42 (3ABN), 48 (PBS), & 50 (W50DE). There's indication that I could be seeing even more, but I would need a spectrum analyzer to confirm.

*DIGITAL STATIONS**

2 (WMAR-DT 132°M), 5, 7, 9, 10 (WTAJ-DT 333°M), 13 (WJZ-DT 132°M), 24, 25, 31, 42, 43 (WPMT-DT 88°M), 49 (WGCB-DT 88°M), 54, 60, 66, 67, & 68.


I'm really surpised that I can't get WHAG-DT beyond a Southerly window. At 1000KW, I would think that I could get it without pointing the antenna towards the tower. WJAL-DT is receivable no matter where I point the antenna and it's much, much lower in transmitting power. Both are LOS and WJAL-DT is at 15 miles, while WHAG-DT is at 20 miles.

_*Trouble DTV stations are 2, 5, 7, 9, & 13.
_


----------



## compuguy1088

You should see the 13 page thread on the WJLA talk-back forums: http://cfc.wjla.com/forums/viewmessa...srow=1&erow=10 


Or the three pages of comments on one WUSA9 posting....

http://www.wusa9.com/money/story.asp...id=37#comments


----------



## TheKrell




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/16652085
> 
> 
> The trouble with this is that the signal strength readings in consumer equipment are not necessarily actual signal *strengths*, but more likely based on digital error rates. In other words, if the tuner front end is overloaded, you might see a lower number, even though the signal strength is really very high.



Aha! [Insert lightbulb here.] I think you've put your finger on the problem. I really can't do what I'm trying to do (null out WNVC) using a SS meter that operates like that.


Can you recommend a cheap meter that will?


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16652173
> 
> 
> I hope evryone had a fun weekend.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Here's my current situation.
> 
> *ANALOG STATIONS (234°M)*
> 
> 4 (NL), 5 (NL), 10 (PBS), 15 (PBS), 22 (PBS), 28 (PBS), 42 (3ABN), 48 (PBS), & 50 (W50DE). There's indication that I could be seeing even more, but I would need a spectrum analyzer to confirm.
> 
> *DIGITAL STATIONS**
> 
> 2 (WMAR-DT 132°M), 5, 7, 9, 10 (WTAJ-DT 333°M), 13 (WJZ-DT 132°M), 24, 25, 31, 42, 43 (WPMT-DT 88°M), 49 (WGCB-DT 88°M), 54, 60, 66, 67, & 68.
> 
> 
> I'm really surpised that I can't get WHAG-DT beyond a Southerly window. At 1000KW, I would think that I could get it without pointing the antenna towards the tower. WJAL-DT is receivable no matter where I point the antenna and it's much, much lower in transmitting power. Both are LOS and WJAL-DT is at 15 miles, while WHAG-DT is at 20 miles.
> 
> _*Trouble DTV stations are 2, 5, 7, 9, & 13.
> _



Are you still getting WVPY 42? I lost WVPY it when WHP moved it's digital back to 21.


----------



## maestro73




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SQUIDWARD360* /forum/post/16650943
> 
> 
> does anyone know why the WJLA feed for the NBA finals has looked horrible for basically every cable provider?



I have had no picture (blank screen), only sound, via Comcast Alex./Arl. on on WJLA-HD since I first checked yesterday afternoon. Comcast SD WJLA has some stuttering & breakups but is watchable. And like others, I can no longer receive WJLA-HD OTA anymore.


I noticed some other Comcast channels, like the WJLA sub RTN and ION, were stuttering as well.


----------



## Hardtimes

Someone @ WJLA REALLY needs to be fired over this debacle of a transition. I've received it fine for well over a year, almost 60 miles away and since they switched frequencies all has gone to hell. There's barely any info on their web site and I had to go to antenna web to find out they switched frequencies. People are already posting complaints on their site. How hard can this be? I guess they really don't care if they're broadcasting to the ether. What's that saying about a tree falling in the forest...


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Hardtimes* /forum/post/16653402
> 
> 
> Someone @ WJLA REALLY needs to be fired over this debacle of a transition. I've received it fine for well over a year, almost 60 miles away and since they switched frequencies all has gone to hell.



Just be glad that the transition is happening right now on a TV landscape with mostly repeats and "reality" on network channels for a few months as opposed to new programming as it could have been in February.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Hardtimes* /forum/post/16653402
> 
> 
> Someone @ WJLA REALLY needs to be fired over this debacle of a transition. I've received it fine for well over a year, almost 60 miles away and since they switched frequencies all has gone to hell. There's barely any info on their web site and I had to go to antenna web to find out they switched frequencies. People are already posting complaints on their site. How hard can this be? I guess they really don't care if they're broadcasting to the ether. What's that saying about a tree falling in the forest...



What debacle? The information was out there for a LONG time they would be going back to VHF and it's the FCC's fault that they cannot transmit with more power.


----------



## gjvrieze




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Hardtimes* /forum/post/16653402
> 
> 
> Someone @ WJLA REALLY needs to be fired over this debacle of a transition. I've received it fine for well over a year, almost 60 miles away and since they switched frequencies all has gone to hell. There's barely any info on their web site and I had to go to antenna web to find out they switched frequencies. People are already posting complaints on their site. How hard can this be? I guess they really don't care if they're broadcasting to the ether. What's that saying about a tree falling in the forest...



Can you post your TVfool results, I would like to see what WJLA's signal looks like at your location.


----------



## gjvrieze




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ajnabi* /forum/post/16651549
> 
> 
> I have a small roof top antenna and i am able to pick up all the dc channels ( i have lost all Baltimore channels) but the signal is bit low around 6 and i have seen breaks up in the signal few times. I am looking for recommendation for an amplifier or a good vhf/uhf antenna that i can put in the attic. I am attaching my tvfool image. Any help would be appreciated.



Did you mean WDCN-LP as channel 6, or something else, also, just as Digital Rules asked, I would like to your what your hardware currently is!


----------



## CycloneGT

I seem to have come out ok. The only channel that I lost was WBAL-DT. I have a CM4228 UHF only, so ch 7, 9, & 13 are weaker than before, but viewable.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Hardtimes* /forum/post/16653402
> 
> 
> Someone @ WJLA REALLY needs to be fired over this debacle of a transition. I've received it fine for well over a year, almost 60 miles away and since they switched frequencies all has gone to hell. There's barely any info on their web site and I had to go to antenna web to find out they switched frequencies....



Of the four stations in DC and Baltimore that switched their digital broadcast to upper VHF on Friday, WJLA 7 should be the best off for OTA reception. I just sent an email to them to see if I can get confirmation that they are operating at their full alloted 30 kW or not as the station was originally granted a 13.6 kW ERP (effective radiated power). 30 kW is the maximum allowed by the FCC for digital upper VHF in Zone 1.


The power levels for the four upper VHF stations:

WJLA-DT 7 : 30 kW omni-directional

WUSA-DT 9: 12.6 kW omni-directional

WBAL-DT 11: 5 kW omni-directional

WJZ-DT 13: currently operating under a STA (Special Temporary Authority) at 9.8 kW omni-directional on their "analog" 13 antenna, new directional antenna to be installed in the next 3-4 weeks for 28.8 kW ERP operation. However the directional antenna will markedly suppress broadcast power to the west of WJZ, so people living in that direction will not see much of a power increase from WJZ-DT when they move to the new directional antenna.


If WJLA-DT 7 is operating at 30 kW, then those who are not getting the station after adjusting the antenna location and aim will have to look at adding a upper VHF antenna or upgrading their antenna setup. I have no problems in getting WJLA-DT from 16 miles out in Sterling. Even a Silver sensor on the top floor can pick it up. It is WBAL and WJZ in Baltimore at 43 miles that are still gone for me, although I still have more upper VHF antenna locations to try.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/16652101
> 
> 
> Which one?



WWPB-DT 67. I don't really need the station since it is a duplicate MPT station. It was just more convenient to not have to rotate the antenna to recieve one of the other affiliates.


I was hoping to get the Virgina Public Television station from Front Royal, but still not seeing anything here. The only recevable VPT station is now off the air as far as I can tell (Analog channel 58)


----------



## Humnahey

I have a 4228 and my Directv HR20-100 now picks up 4, 5, 7, 9, and 50. I never got any of those channels before, but after the switch over they there.


I was able to get all the Baltimore channels, but 11 no longer comes in on my HR20-600. I am hoping an inline amp will help get the signal there since I have to split my antenna 3 ways.


Overall, I am happy with the switch over. More channels.....same antenna!


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JoeInNVa* /forum/post/16653551
> 
> 
> What debacle? The information was out there for a LONG time they would be going back to VHF and it's the FCC's fault that they cannot transmit with more power.



I was hoping that we would get better reception once the stations were at their final frequencies and not worse reception. As for the power situation being the FCC's fault - I hope that they will work something out. Apparentl;y ABC has some power issues in other cities -
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/art...ion_Issues.php 



> Quote:
> the FCC was doing some field analysis of how VHF stations "are experiencing problems in big cities." He said he has talked with stations and the commission is trying to figure out how to "adjust the technical parameters of these stations to improve their service in the cities."


----------



## keeper

I live near the mountain in Dillsburg,pa. I get Balt stations very well before the switch. I use the antennadirect 91. As of now I can get Wbal at very low strength. Once WJZ increases power I will purchase a vhf antenna. I am surprised to get a lock on wbal now as they are not operating at a very high power. Wjz now is mostly gone.


----------



## pclement




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *FineWare* /forum/post/16638689
> 
> 
> I have a DirecTV HR-20 that has the OTA channels pre-selected in such a way that no scanning is supposed to be required. For some reason, the only new channel that I'm seeing is 7-2 and 30-6 thru 30-10. Neither 7-1 nor 7-3 was remapped to from RF39 to RF7, and 30-1 thru 30-5 was not remapped to RF30 to RF24. Likewise, neither 9-1 nor 9-2 were remapped from RF34 to RF9.
> 
> 
> I also have an older HR-10 that requires the OTA channels to be rescanned. Channels 7 and 9 both rescanned just fine. It also found RF24 and mapped those those channels to 30-1 thru 30-5 correctly. However, it didn't know what to do with 30-6 thru 30-10 that it discovered.



My D* H10 picked up all of the stations after a rescan. My H20 still can not pick up 7 and 9 and show 0% signal while the H10 shows 70+. I've tried updating the zip codes, rescan, reset, etc with no luck. Even 13 is weak at 60% while the H10 and the other CECB show 100%. Seems like there is something with the H20 that doesn't allow it to see the signal.


----------



## Hardtimes




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16653804
> 
> 
> Of the four stations in DC and Baltimore that switched their digital broadcast to upper VHF on Friday, WJLA 7 should be the best off for OTA reception.



Thanks for the info, but WJLA is non-existant for me signal-wise. WUSA I'm getting spotty occasional signal around 9-14 db (out of 30). Seems JLA isn't maxed out power-wise and I haven't seen when/if they will. That's what I'm upset about - I feel like I've been lied to that if I had signal before the transition I would after. My antenna (4228), although UHF, picks up signals into the low VHF range and I checked the analog signals b4 the switch and all seemed fine. JLA knows they've got mondo problems - look at their website comment pages, not that the FCC isn't culpable too (what the government screwing something up







).


I really got used to having the DC locals to supplement the Balt ones due to some Baltimore stations screwing around with their primetime schedules, not broadcasting certain shows in HD even though they're available, etc.


I attached my TV Fool radar pic for ref.


----------



## howie14

I'm several days late to the DTV conversion party around here, but here goes.


In Eldersburg MD (21784), I am pleased with the additions of Mhz1-5 and the ION mux. ION is actually my strongest station when the antenna is pointed SW.


I still get WJZ and WBAL, but the power levels indicate that for recording purposes I'm going to have to turn my rotor toward Bmore instead of just leaving it pointed DC way. WRC has low readings no matter which way the antenna is turned, but still locks.


My mother-in-law's converter boxes gained a lot of stations without any rotor. Her antenna is locked toward Bmore (she lives in Dundalk-21222) and prior to conversion only received 2,11,13,24,45,54, and 67. Between her three converter boxes she has added 5,7,9,14,20,22,66. She's very pleased.


Finally, I wanted to note a cool distant signal I picked up after WMAR's analog signal went away. For about twenty minutes I was able to see KTBS Ch 3 in Shreveport. Really neat!


----------



## buckydc

FYI. Just noticed that WDCW has fired up there 50.2 Thistv subchannel, albeit with no audio or video. At least nothing my dtt901 can decode. They are transmitting PSIP info though. The current Thistv movie is something about drilling to the core of the earth to find a new species. Must be really dark/quiet down there.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> I really got used to having the DC locals to supplement the Balt ones due to some Baltimore stations screwing around with their primetime schedules, not broadcasting certain shows in HD even though they're available, etc



You mean... just like WJLA does with pre-emptions for old movies, news specials, and charity appeals? Never mind the engineers being asleep at the wheel.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Hardtimes* /forum/post/16654583
> 
> 
> My antenna (4228), although UHF, picks up signals into the low VHF range and I checked the analog signals b4 the switch and all seemed fine.



Unfortunately, with digital VHF being more subject to multipath, you will need a more directional antenna to continue receiving 7 & 9 from DC reliably. The 4228 just doesn't tolerate multipath well.


Your cheapest option is to augment the 4228 with the Antennacraft Y5-7-13. Combine the 2 antennas with a "UVSJ". If you desire a 1 antenna solution, the Winegard 7694P is the best bang for the buck.


----------



## compuguy1088




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16653804
> 
> 
> Of the four stations in DC and Baltimore that switched their digital broadcast to upper VHF on Friday, WJLA 7 should be the best off for OTA reception. I just sent an email to them to see if I can get confirmation that they are operating at their full alloted 30 kW or not as the station was originally granted a 13.6 kW ERP (effective radiated power). 30 kW is the maximum allowed by the FCC for digital upper VHF in Zone 1.
> 
> 
> The power levels for the four upper VHF stations:
> 
> WJLA-DT 7 : 30 kW omni-directional
> 
> WUSA-DT 9: 12.6 kW omni-directional
> 
> WBAL-DT 11: 5 kW omni-directional
> 
> WJZ-DT 13: currently operating under a STA (Special Temporary Authority) at 9.8 kW omni-directional on their "analog" 13 antenna, new directional antenna to be installed in the next 3-4 weeks for 28.8 kW ERP operation. However the directional antenna will markedly suppress broadcast power to the west of WJZ, so people living in that direction will not see much of a power increase from WJZ-DT when they move to the new directional antenna.
> 
> 
> If WJLA-DT 7 is operating at 30 kW, then those who are not getting the station after adjusting the antenna location and aim will have to look at adding a upper VHF antenna or upgrading their antenna setup. I have no problems in getting WJLA-DT from 16 miles out in Sterling. Even a Silver sensor on the top floor can pick it up. It is WBAL and WJZ in Baltimore at 43 miles that are still gone for me, although I still have more upper VHF antenna locations to try.



From what I've experienced, I've had more issues with WUSA 9 than 7 based on channel 9's weak power output. Its manageable with rabbit ear based vhf antennae, though the kitchen tv has a bowtie antennae (uhf only?), which is preventing the pickup of 7 and 9.


----------



## StevenJB

The FCC has dropped the ball. How much did they know about VHF DTV multipath issues before they recommended selling off Channels 52 through 69? I wonder if the negative situation is even more acute for those few stations that chose Channels 2 through 6, post-transition?


My understanding is that the FCC will entertain applications for transmitter power upgrades in August. Does anyone know anything about this? Because, I don't think that they can wait until August to do something for VHF DTV. More likely, the FCC is going to have to give these channels immediate authorizations to temporarily increase their ERP to 30 kW or more just to see if it helps.


It certainly doesn't help the FCC when four major upper VHF DTV stations are in their own front and back yard.


----------



## Deezul

I have a Channel Master 3018 antenna and a CM7777 pre-amp. I am about 45 miles from the main DC towers as the crow flies. I get mid to high 80s for WJLA and low 90s for WUSA. Just saying it can be done with a VHF antenna, IF you willing to roof mount. I wish now I picked up a 3020, since the antenna orientation to Baltimore is off just a bit, and I could probably aim right in the middle and pick them both up. Before the transition, when it was a clear, calm night, I could pick up the Baltimore stations fine.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16652173
> 
> 
> I hope evryone had a fun weekend.



Not bad, actually.


DX catches from the northeast this morning:


Harrisburg: WHP-21 (21),

Philly: KYW-3 (26), WHYY-12 (12), WPHL-17 (17), WPSG-57 (32)

Trenton: NJN-52 (43)


Also saw Daystar in analog on 45, and some Spanish station (I think Telefutura, but not 100% sure) on 28.


While this was happening, Baltimore and Annapolis MPT were knocked out as expected, as was WMDO-47. WBAL and WJZ also disappeared very briefly, but everything else held up fine.



> Quote:
> I'm really surpised that I can't get WHAG-DT beyond a Southerly window. At 1000KW, I would think that I could get it without pointing the antenna towards the tower. WJAL-DT is receivable no matter where I point the antenna and it's much, much lower in transmitting power. Both are LOS and WJAL-DT is at 15 miles, while WHAG-DT is at 20 miles.



More power could also mean stronger reflections and worse multipath.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TheKrell* /forum/post/16652448
> 
> 
> Aha! [Insert lightbulb here.] I think you've put your finger on the problem. I really can't do what I'm trying to do (null out WNVC) using a SS meter that operates like that.
> 
> 
> Can you recommend a cheap meter that will?



No, I don't have one of those. *AntAltMike* might know, if he's still reading the forum.


I have, however, learned to read the digital snow patterns on a couple of my sets, and I find that's occasionally useful in telling me if there's a strong, potentially overloaded digital signal present.


Don't know if I could find an antenna null that way or not, though, because the rotor on my roof antenna has been up there for 35 years and hasn't been turned in at least 5 years, so I'm afraid to use it for fear it will turn one way but not the other. One of these days, I'm going to fix that, but since the DVRs are happiest when the antenna stays locked on the DC-Baltimore-Philadelphia axis where it is, it isn't a high priority.


(Would be nice to DX some direction other than NE, but still, if you have to choose just one, I'll take it.







)


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16654025
> 
> 
> WWPB-DT 67. I don't really need the station since it is a duplicate MPT station. It was just more convenient to not have to rotate the antenna to recieve one of the other affiliates.



Agreed. It would definitely be more convenient for me, since as I said previously, I'm afraid to use my rotor these days. But WMPT is actually coming in pretty well for me now even off-axis, and the trouble with WMPB is that even if I have a signal, I'm not sure how to distribute it without destroying the RF30 MHz signals I'm feeding in from another antenna in the attic. I was reminded just this morning of how easily tropo destroys the WNVT signal from the roof antenna pointed NE.


Still, I would think you could trap 24 to get 29 back. Judging from your reception reports, you seem to have quite a bit of height and fairly strong signals.



> Quote:
> I was hoping to get the Virgina Public Television station from Front Royal, but still not seeing anything here. The only recevable VPT station is now off the air as far as I can tell (Analog channel 58)



So the faint analog I've been seeing this weekend on 58 is Asiavision?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/16655702
> 
> 
> Still, I would think you could trap 24 to get 29 back. Judging from your reception reports, you seem to have quite a bit of height and fairly strong signals.



WMPT-DT 22 comes in better without rotating since they raised their power, so it's not too bad. You can see the tower from 24 here when the leaves are off the trees. What's weird is that I still have to rotate the antenna about 20 degrees east of Baltimore to get RF 38 to come in. I thought that would not be the case when RF 39 went dark???


Nice DX catches from Philly!! I haven't ever gotten any digital DX from the northeast, but see NC on a rare occasion. Do you see WHAG-DT 25 from your location? I thought it would be better here since WWPB-DT 31 was solid even at 209kw. The HD picture on WHAG is about the best I've seen. Not having subchannels does make a difference!!


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/16655702
> 
> 
> So the faint analog I've been seeing this weekend on 58 is Asiavision?



WIAV-LP in College Park, MD. What kind of signal are you receiving? I get a snowy color picture in Olney about 11 miles NNW.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Hardtimes* /forum/post/16654583
> 
> 
> Thanks for the info, but WJLA is non-existant for me signal-wise. WUSA I'm getting spotty occasional signal around 9-14 db (out of 30). Seems JLA isn't maxed out power-wise and I haven't seen when/if they will. That's what I'm upset about - I feel like I've been lied to that if I had signal before the transition I would after. My antenna (4228), although UHF, picks up signals into the low VHF range and I checked the analog signals b4 the switch and all seemed fine.



The CM 4228 gain has a notch for VHF 8 and poorer gain for VHF 7 than 9 to 13. It is a UHF antenna with some performance for upper VHF, but the performance for VHF 7 is only a little better than rabbit ears. Your TVFool chart shows you 54 miles from WJLA. At that range, you should have been prepared to get a upper VHF antenna all along. Check the VHF performance for UHF antennas chart at HDTVPrimer for the CM4228: http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/comparing.html . According to the page on the old CM 4228, you can boost the VHF gain a little by tying the two screens together: http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/cm4228.html .


The higher gain of the CM 4228 for VHF 9 is likely why you are able to get WUSA 9, but the falloff for VHF 7 is why you can't get WJLA. We are now learning that a reasonably clean picture for analog VHF 7 & 9 does not translate to a stable lock when they go digital. Especially, if the station is going on the low side of the digital equivalent to 316 kW analog which should be around 20+ kW. Unfortunately, of the four upper VHF analog stations in DC and Baltimore, only WJLA-DT 7 exceeds that. WWPX-DT Ion 60 on VHF 12 at 23 kW has been a pretty strong station for me.


BTW, the same website has an analysis of the new CM 4228 HD and it is NOT a thumbs up: http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/TemporaryPage.html .


----------



## ajnabi




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16651663
> 
> 
> What antenna do you have now? If you want Baltimore again, you will need to keep the antenna outside.



i have this antenna "Channel Master CM 4220M Two-Bay HDTV / UHF Antenna" even though it says it's for UHF. I was able to pick up channel 7 and 9 with it. The reason i was asking for antenna for attic because i can't get to the roof.


----------



## minkyboodle

Thanks for the replies everyone and for the specific suggestions afiggatt. I basically had those rabbit ears in every possible position before but to be absolutely positive I made sure they were completely extended (over "33) and set them wide (flat horizontally so the were parallel to the ground even) and went perpendicular and every which way to try to get a signal. I moved all around the room and to different heights no satisfying results. That WTOP guy is unbelievable, just to satisfy him and the people at WJLA and WUSA I rescanned the TV, even scanned it once with no antenna connected to clear it all out. Surprise surprise that's not the problem. Here is my TVFool page I should be fine. In between my house and and the antenna direction is a stand of 6 30+ feel Carolina Pines. In addition to me cleaning out my gutters of their needles it seems VHF reception is adversely affected (Thank you neighbor!). The trees are not thick at all but I always got snow on the old analog VHF channels. Basically I am doing all of this for my father we have Cox and this is for him watching golf in the bedroom. It seems as if no indoor antenna solution is possible and its not worth it to me do something outdoors (or mess with the cable setup) just for these channels. Those forum links are illuminating, I just can't convince him that this is really the situation and its not likely to change. Guess the days of free TV OTA indoors are over at my household







Oh well, Cox gets all my money anyway









Scott


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/16655702
> 
> 
> So the faint analog I've been seeing this weekend on 58 is Asiavision?



WIAV-LP Asiavision 58 has a very limited coverage area NE of DC that does include the College Park area. I have never seen it from Sterling. I have seen the analog 58 signal from W58DK, the Virginia Public TV translator located west of Culpepper on the Blue Ridge at night, even though I am way outside the coverage area for it. I checked the analog tuner for channel 58 over the weekend and did not see it. No idea if W58DK is still on the air or not.


WIAV-LP recently filed 2 applications for displacement allotments: one for analog low power on VHF 4 at 3 kW with a modest increase in coverage and another one for digital low power on UHF 43 at 10 kW which would provide a major boost in population coverage of 1029% over their UHF 58 signal. If I were WIAV, I would hope the FCC grants the digital RF 43 application.


BTW, WHAG-DT NBC 25 is operating at 575 kW, not 1000 kW. Still a stronger signal than the analog 25 they had. I have picked up WHAG-DT with a Silver Sensor aimed at it on the upper floor, but I still have to rework my UHF setup to see if I can pull in WHAG-DT while also getting the DC and Baltimore stations.


----------



## dewster1977

I was able to lock onto WBAL, WJZ, WPXW, WDCA, WJLA and WUSA early this morning, but once the sun was up they dropped to low to decode, so atleast I know the signal is there.


I still see no reason someone should have to replace an antenna that has served them well for years (as long as it is the proper band). I just think the FCC really underestimated the needed power for DTV.


Anyone with problem should file a complaint with the FCC


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *buckydc* /forum/post/16654833
> 
> 
> FYI. Just noticed that WDCW has fired up there 50.2 Thistv subchannel, albeit with no audio or video. At least nothing my dtt901 can decode. They are transmitting PSIP info though. The current Thistv movie is something about drilling to the core of the earth to find a new species. Must be really dark/quiet down there.



I'm not seeing 50.2 at all. They must be testing things in preparation for the official launch.


----------



## TheKrell




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/16655692
> 
> 
> No, I don't have one of those. *AntAltMike* might know, if he's still reading the forum.



I've been discussing this WNVC overload problem with a ham colleague, and he has agreed with Digital Rules. He says, due to the 2.5mi distance, the signal is going to bounce off most anything and enter my antenna on axis, effectively filling in the nulls. So I can't get rid of this overload condition by rotating a dipole antenna.







So much for my well-laid plans. If this is true, and I think it is, then acquiring a SS meter is pointless, no pun intended.










This leaves attenuators, preferably tuned to RF24, to fix the situation and allow me to amplify again. I've been emailing the chief engineer at MHz Networks, but he says he has none, and instead recomended a tunable attenuator that costs $200.







Don't stations have to do something to ameliorate the situation near their transmitters?


----------



## Digital Rules

Any reason you don't want to replace the antenna? I think that would be the most cost effective way to solve your problem. You should easily be able to feed 3-4 TV's with an unamplified system & the right antenna.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16656799
> 
> 
> WIAV-LP Asiavision 58 has a very limited coverage area NE of DC that does include the College Park area.



You're right, there is a station on 58 analog. They are showing some pretty hard core hip-hop videos right now. (Not edited) I didn't think you could use the "F" word on commercial TV? I guess times are a chan'gin. It's called "The Real Hip-Hop Network".


----------



## TheKrell




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16658605
> 
> 
> Any reason you don't want to replace the antenna? I think that would be the most cost effective way to solve your problem. You should easily be able to feed 3-4 TV's with an unamplified system & the right antenna.



Was that addressed to me?


What antenna would you have me buy, and where should I point it? Note that I can get DC stations now, but not Baltimore and not WNVT as I could before the transition. My ham friend recommended a highly directional deep fringe antenna the better to ignore WNVC, plus a variable attenuator to keep the DC stations from blasting my tuners. Some of the other strong channels (66) are already pixelating, even using the relatively low-gain Winegard batwing _without an amp_ to confuse the issue.


3 HDTVs and 3 satellite receivers + 2 tuner sticks + 1 PCI tuner = 9 feeds already, not counting my old analog TVs and converter boxes (currently unhooked.)


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TheKrell* /forum/post/16658869
> 
> 
> Was that addressed to me?
> 
> 
> What antenna would you have me buy, and where should I point it? If it's ugly, it's going into the attic and not up on the roof.
> 
> 
> 3 HDTVs and 3 satellite receivers + 2 tuner sticks + 1 PCI tuner = 9 feeds already, not counting my old analog TVs and converter boxes (currently unhooked.)



Yes,


Are you just looking for the DC stations? I didn't realize you needed that many splits.


----------



## TheKrell




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16658915
> 
> 
> Are you just looking for the DC stations



No, I want them all







most particularly the Baltimore stations and WNVT that I had before WNVC came back on the air. I already have the DC stations, though some are (apparently) too strong even without amplification for the nearest tuners. I say that because my strongest stations are not showing up that way on my SS meters. Joblo attributed this to the meters not really measuring SS, but rather the digital error rate.


----------



## TheKrell

What happened? Everybody sort out their problems?


What are the FCC rules regarding interference between one station and others? I'm having big problems with a nearby station WNVC that just returned to the air last Friday. Don't they have to do something to mitigate the effect their transmissions are having on other stations?


----------



## Hardtimes




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16654937
> 
> 
> Unfortunately, with digital VHF being more subject to multipath, you will need a more directional antenna to continue receiving 7 & 9 from DC reliably. The 4228 just doesn't tolerate multipath well.
> 
> 
> Your cheapest option is to augment the 4228 with the Antennacraft Y5-7-13. Combine the 2 antennas with a "UVSJ". If you desire a 1 antenna solution, the Winegard 7694P is the best bang for the buck.




Thanks for the advice. I thought VHF was supposed to be better







I used to have a deep fringe yagi but it was too directional and wouldn't allow me to pick up Balt & DC without rotation, which is impractical with multiple sets viewing different channels simultaneously, hence the 4228. I printed out the Antennacraft info to look at but I wish there was a way to test it out before buying...


I have a 7777 pre amp which if I remember correctly has both UHF and VHF inputs. Can I skip the UVSJ and just plug the new antenna in there?


Thanks!


----------



## Hardtimes




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16656574
> 
> 
> The CM 4228 gain has a notch for VHF 8 and poorer gain for VHF 7 than 9 to 13. It is a UHF antenna with some performance for upper VHF, but the performance for VHF 7 is only a little better than rabbit ears. Your TVFool chart shows you 54 miles from WJLA. At that range, you should have been prepared to get a upper VHF antenna all along. Check the VHF performance for UHF antennas chart at HDTVPrimer for the CM4228: http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/comparing.html . According to the page on the old CM 4228, you can boost the VHF gain a little by tying the two screens together: http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/cm4228.html .



Thanks for the links!


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Hardtimes* /forum/post/16661618
> 
> 
> I have a 7777 pre amp which if I remember correctly has both UHF and VHF inputs. Can I skip the UVSJ and just plug the new antenna in there?
> 
> 
> Thanks!



Yeah, just be sure to crack the 7777 open and flip the switch that's inside. By default, I believe the 7777 is set for a combined VHF/UHF input only.


----------



## compuguy1088

There is now an article in the washington post about the DTV issues, linking to this thread:


> Quote:
> *Goodbye, Analog TV. Hello, Digital TV.*
> It's over. Except it's not.
> 
> http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fas...lo_digita.html


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TheKrell* /forum/post/16660865
> 
> 
> What happened? Everybody sort out their problems?
> 
> 
> What are the FCC rules regarding interference between one station and others? I'm having big problems with a nearby station WNVC that just returned to the air last Friday. Don't they have to do something to mitigate the effect their transmissions are having on other stations?



The FCC rules on interference deal with co-channel or adjacent channel spacing between stations. Your problem, if I have kept track through the sheer volume of posts here and other asvforum threads, is that you are located close to the WNVC tower, but the signal is overloading your distribution amp. The solutions to that are either to have no broadcast towers at all or place them miles away from any residential neighborhoods.


WNVC MHz 56 is at 160 kW which is not that strong a UHF signal compared to the 1000 kW maximum allowed for UHF digital or the 5000 kW that analog WHUT 32 was at. WNVC is on UHF 24, one up from the low power WDDN-LP Daystar 23 in DC with no nearby station operating on UHF 25. It is not a frequency interference problem, just a signal overload problem. A notch or suppression filter on the antenna feed to the amp should do the trick.


As for the thread quieting down, fatigue and the work week are probably the reason. I have been experimenting and hope that a CM 4221 with the backscreen removed will get me WHAG-DT 25 while also pulling in WNVT 30, WNVC, the DC and Baltimore UHF stations in different directions. My Winegard upper VHF antenna has pulled in WJZ 13 at 43 miles but only at night with a lot of dropouts and no luck at all on getting a lock for WBAL 11. 5 kW for upper VHF is not nearly enough for a station that was operating at 316 kW analog.


I also did some testing with rabbit ears and they were not adequate to get WJLA 7 and WUSA 9 reliably now at 16 miles. Hence the flood of complaints from both the pre-trans digital viewers who got UHF antennas with rabbit ears AND the analog viewers with rabbit ears who are not close to NW DC. Interestingly the CM 4221 did pull in WJLA and WUSA when I tried it, but that was a short test.


----------



## robpegoraro




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *compuguy1088* /forum/post/16662221
> 
> 
> There is now an article in the washington post about the DTV issues, linking to this thread:



Thanks for noticing that blog post! FYI, one of my colleagues, Kim Hart, is working on a piece about WJLA and WUSA's problems and welcomes reports from people who have been dealing with them. You can reach her at [email protected] .


----------



## nottenst

From reading the comments to Rob's Faster Forward I saw that WJLA has a page addressing some of the issues at
http://cfc.wjla.com/external.cfm?p=dtv_vhf 

One item of interest there:


> Quote:
> For the past 10 years, WJLA has operated their digital signals in the UHF (ultra high frequency) television band on channel 39. To provide a better signal to you, we returned to channel 7 when we made the FINAL transition to all-digital television. Channel 7 is in the VHF (very high frequency) television band and will provide a stronger, better signal to your home.



So, they thought we would be getting a better signal when they went from UHF to VHF, but apparently that does not seem to be the case at the moment.


----------



## euckersw




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SUOrangeman* /forum/post/16638458
> 
> 
> Cox NoVA updates:
> 
> 
> Added MPTDT (767), MPT2 (812), and ?MPT3? (22, SD simulcast of MPT as far as I can tell ... I thought this was s'posed to be V-ME)
> 
> Added WPXW Ion (715), displacing Palladia to 769
> 
> Added WHUT (32, I guess)
> 
> 
> -SUO



So for those of you who now receive both MPT and WETA is there any consensus as to which has better picture quality? I record The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer every night and I'm wondering if I should be recording the MPT version of the WETA version? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.


----------



## TheKrell

Thanks for all your comments, which are spot on.


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16663230
> 
> 
> A notch or suppression filter on the antenna feed to the amp should do the trick.



Fully agree! Only problem; I can't find a fixed notch filter except what appear to be very expensive custom-built OEM filters, and this tunable one for $70. Short of designing and building one myself, are there any suppliers out there that have more affordable filters?


----------



## compuguy1088




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/16663752
> 
> 
> From reading the comments to Rob's Faster Forward I saw that WJLA has a page addressing some of the issues at
> http://cfc.wjla.com/external.cfm?p=dtv_vhf
> 
> One item of interest there:So, they thought we would be getting a better signal when they went from UHF to VHF, but apparently that does not seem to be the case at the moment.



From reading that link, they apparently don't understand that for most people, the move from uhf to vhf has resulted in a WEAKER signal. When it was on uhf, ALL of our atsc tuners with indoor antennae were able to pick it up. Now it is restricted to quite a bit of fiddling/angling of the rabbit ears to get a WEAKER signal. One of our tv's cannot even get 9 because of its location. The only good thing is if your able to get wusa, it seems to have less multipath issues.


----------



## robpegoraro




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/16663752
> 
> 
> One item of interest there:So, they thought we would be getting a better signal when they went from UHF to VHF, but apparently that does not seem to be the case at the moment.



Right. But to be fair, _I'm_ one of the people who suggested that the move to VHF would only increase their coverage--the FCC's post-transition coverage predictions all said as much. So this current situation has led to some... [ahem] awkward interactions with a few readers.


- R


----------



## Belcherwm

Unlike most folks I seem to be doing pretty good with my reception of WJLA (99%) and WUSA (97%). I had to scan/add them individually on both my DISH 612 and 722.


This is from a post I wrote back in March 2004. Everything is the same except for my DISH receivers:



> Quote:
> I'm using an Radio Shack VU-120XR, w/ rotator, no preamp. Tried it in the attic but signal wasn't consistent. I bought all the equipment (~$150) and had Fairfax Antenna (~$200) put it up on my roof ( 40' to the peak & 45 degree pitch). It's on a tripod with about 15' of mast and three guy wires. Used RG6QS. Everthing is WELL grounded. Feeding a Dish 6000.
> 
> 
> After a couple of years I added a Radio Shack 15-1196, 1 in to 2 Bi Directional Amp, to split the signal to a second Dish 6000. A preamp did not improve my signal, but this amp did.
> 
> 
> I'm getting outstanding reception from D.C. (35mi) and Baltimore (60mi). I think a lot of my success is due to being several hundred feet above sea level.
> 
> 
> I went with the UHF/VHF setup playing the odds that some of the stations will revert back to their VHF signals for digital when everything shakes out.


----------



## fmw63

Really, how much of the WJLA & WUSA problem is people trying to pick up VHF channels with UHF antennas?


----------



## mdviewer25

How did WBAL end up with only 5kw of power and why did the FCC think that they had to protect ch. 12 from Martinsburg, WV when that channel is just a duplicate of ch. 34?


----------



## dg28

My experience so far: Lost WJLA and WUSA completely on an indoor UHF/VHF antenna (all locals came in fine before the transition via UHF). For my attic mount Radio Shack 15-2160 UHF-only antenna, I lost all Baltimore channels with the exception of WUTB24. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense that I would lose WMARDT and WBFFDT, since both are still broadcasting on UHF. Can get sporadic WUSA9 on this antenna, but no WJLA. I know this part of the equation is on me for having the UHF-only antenna at this point, but the rest of my story doesn't make a whole lot of sense.


----------



## joehult

So has anyone gotten any real explanation on wusa drop out. Are they reduced power, or using a temporary transmitter at the moment? Because I can get abc just fine, but the tv doesn't detect anything at channel 9.


----------



## MrHifi




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16663230
> 
> 
> The FCC rules on interference deal with co-channel or adjacent channel spacing between stations. Your problem, if I have kept track through the sheer volume of posts here and other asvforum threads, is that you are located close to the WNVC tower, but the signal is overloading your distribution amp. The solutions to that are either to have no broadcast towers at all or place them miles away from any residential neighborhoods.
> 
> 
> WNVC MHz 56 is at 160 kW which is not that strong a UHF signal compared to the 1000 kW maximum allowed for UHF digital or the 5000 kW that analog WHUT 32 was at. WNVC is on UHF 24, one up from the low power WDDN-LP Daystar 23 in DC with no nearby station operating on UHF 25. It is not a frequency interference problem, just a signal overload problem. A notch or suppression filter on the antenna feed to the amp should do the trick.
> 
> 
> As for the thread quieting down, fatigue and the work week are probably the reason. I have been experimenting and hope that a CM 4221 with the backscreen removed will get me WHAG-DT 25 while also pulling in WNVT 30, WNVC, the DC and Baltimore UHF stations in different directions. My Winegard upper VHF antenna has pulled in WJZ 13 at 43 miles but only at night with a lot of dropouts and no luck at all on getting a lock for WBAL 11. 5 kW for upper VHF is not nearly enough for a station that was operating at 316 kW analog.
> 
> 
> I also did some testing with rabbit ears and they were not adequate to get WJLA 7 and WUSA 9 reliably now at 16 miles. Hence the flood of complaints from both the pre-trans digital viewers who got UHF antennas with rabbit ears AND the analog viewers with rabbit ears who are not close to NW DC. Interestingly the CM 4221 did pull in WJLA and WUSA when I tried it, but that was a short test.



It took me 2 hours to adjust my father's rabbit ears 4 miles from the towers up Connecticut Avenue in Kensington. 7 and 9 are almost impossible to capture while picking up 5, 7, 20 and 26. Sad day for old folks. My 95 year old father who lives alone kept asking me "Why would they make it worse"?


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/16664800
> 
> 
> My experience so far: Lost WJLA and WUSA completely on an indoor UHF/VHF antenna (all locals came in fine before the transition via UHF). For my attic mount Radio Shack 15-2160 UHF-only antenna, I lost all Baltimore channels with the exception of WUTB24. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense that I would lose WMARDT and WBFFDT, since both are still broadcasting on UHF. Can get sporadic WUSA9 on this antenna, but no WJLA. I know this part of the equation is on me for having the UHF-only antenna at this point, but the rest of my story doesn't make a whole lot of sense.



Did you lose WBFF and WNUV? They didn't change anything...


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/16664618
> 
> 
> How did WBAL end up with only 5kw of power and why did the FCC think that they had to protect ch. 12 from Martinsburg, WV when that channel is just a duplicate of ch. 34?



WBAL-DT 11 is protecting WVPT-DT PBS 51 on RF 11 in Harrisonburg. There is also WHTM-DT ABC 27 on RF 10 in Harrisburg, PA their 5 kW application shows 0.1% population interference with. WPXW-DT Ion 60 on RF 12 is not a concern for WBAL-DT. I exchanged emails with the station engineer with WBAL over the weekend, he is well aware of the problems with the low power.


WUSA-DT 9 is at their post-transition allotment of 12.6 kW. They have to protect WGAL-DT NBC 8 in Lancaster, PA (0.03% interference) and WBPH-DT 60 on RF 9 in Bethelem, but WBPH-DT shows 0.0% interference in their 12.6 kW application. I suspect that WUSA-DT should be able to be alloted a higher power level without great difficulty, if WUSA asks. But how much more, I don't know.


WJZ-DT 13 is having to protect WWPX-DT - next channel down. *However, I just found in a CDBS search that WJZ-DT filed today a engineering STA to operate at 27.5 kW from their current omni-directional antenna!* The STA would cause 1.46% interference with WWPX. This would ONLY be in place until their new directional antenna was installed in 3 weeks. Which means I would likely lose WJZ-DT 13 when the new antenna is in place as the power in my direction in Sterling would be around 10 kW - what WJZ-DT has now.


WJZ-DT Engineering STA application: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws....&fac_num=25455 .


----------



## REDSKINSFAN47




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmw63* /forum/post/16664221
> 
> 
> Really, how much of the WJLA & WUSA problem is people trying to pick up VHF channels with UHF antennas?



i,ll bet alot,i live in woodbine md about 35 miles out,7 and 9 were good before but are a little better now.i have a small rca antenna on the roof,7,9 11,13 are tricky with indoor antennaa around here.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16665101
> 
> 
> WBAL-DT 11 is protecting WVPT-DT PBS 51 on RF 11 in Harrisonburg. There is also WHTM-DT ABC 27 on RF 10 in Harrisburg, PA their 5 kW application shows 0.1% population interference with. WPXW-DT Ion 60 on RF 12 is not a concern for WBAL-DT. I exchanged emails with the station engineer with WBAL over the weekend, he is well aware of the problems with the low power.



I didn't know about those PA channels. My next question would be Why don't they have a directional signal with more power going to the south.


----------



## voltore




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16665101
> 
> 
> WUSA-DT 9 is at their post-transition allotment of 12.6 kW. They have to protect WGAL-DT NBC 8 in Lancaster, PA (0.03% interference) and WBPH-DT 60 on RF 9 in Bethelem, but WBPH-DT shows 0.0% interference in their 12.6 kW application. I suspect that WUSA-DT should be able to be alloted a higher power level without great difficulty, if WUSA asks. But how much more, I don't know.



The 12.6KW allegedly shows WBPH-DT with the 0.05% interference. It was fiercely contested as well. Alas, we would love the max, in fact a nice 6dB would be even better but alas!


----------



## djp952

FYI, WBAL is going off the air tonight after Conan O'Brien:

http://www.wbaltv.com/news/19771981/detail.html 


I assume by "no service interruption" they mean non-OTA viewers 


I'm writing them another note about the volume being so high on WBAL-DT as well, anyone else wanna join me?


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmw63* /forum/post/16664221
> 
> 
> Really, how much of the WJLA & WUSA problem is people trying to pick up VHF channels with UHF antennas?



Well, I thought that was my problem. But then I ran my UHF antenna that on the roof with a rotor to the DTV and all of the channels are coming in at great signal strength with the UHF antenna. Even 7, 9, 11, and 13 are strong. So, I can't get them with a table top VHF/UHF antenna inside the house, but the UHF antenna on the roof is picking them up. The roof antenna is a Channel Master 4228 (which is the 8-bay bowtie) and I have a rotor. Aimed at Baltimore, the Baltimore stations are rock solid tonight and I'm getting the DC stations off of my FiOS TV service, so I'm back in business.


----------



## systems2000

Hey, folks!


I spent a good part of the day up on my tower. I replaced my 5' center pipe with a 12' pipe. This allowed me to move my rotor further down the tower, while raising the CM3020 to about 7' above the tower (it was less than 2' before). My CM3020 is now at about 45' height. I also received a call from a friend of mine, who has come across a 50' tower that the owner wants removed ASAP. Can you say 90-100'.










WTTG-DT and WJZ-DT are now 5x5. WJLA-DT is almost glitch free and I now get WBFF-DT and WDCA-DT, but I've completely lost WUSA-DT. I still don't get WMAR-DT or WRC-DT.


While I was trying to find the optimum height for my setup, I did notice that there is a very small window where I can get a 25% quality for WUSA-DT. It appears that ATSC isn't as forgiving as NTSC, when it comes to height. If I peaked for D.C., I lost Baltimore. OH, the fun!


Wish I had a portable spectrum analyzer.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/16665556
> 
> 
> I assume by "no service interruption" they mean non-OTA viewers



Or those that are sleeping.


----------



## dewster1977

I helped another elderly lady with her converter outside of Mercersburg with her Magnavox I was able to get 2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 20, 21, 24, 25, 27, 30, 31, 33, 45, 49, 50, 54, 60, 66, 67, 68. I was afraid WWPX on RF 12 would have caused problems with WBAL, but it is just as strong on the meter as WJZ and WWPX. Even WMAR on RF 38 comes in fine with no problems from WJAL on RF 39 at 4 miles with LOS. This is one person that has acutally gained channels. Setup is an older Winegard antenna and amp with rotor on a 30' tower. Granted she is on a slight hill, but still has two mountains blocking LOS. I think there is hope yet.


----------



## E55 KEV

I could not get WUSA 9.1 on a couple sets with UHF/VHF indoor antenna until this morning. I have to go over my Moms house and rescan her set as she has no 9.1 either. I also had no sound from 7.1 on a Toshiba set for about a week and now the sound is back.


Surprisingly I had no problem getting 7.1 or 9.1 with an indoor UHF only antenna. I am close to stations as I live inside DC. I have lost Baltimore 11.1 NBC and 13.1 CBS.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dewster1977* /forum/post/16665760
> 
> 
> I helped another elderly lady with her converter outside of Mercersburg with her Magnavox I was able to get 2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 20, 21, 24, 25, 27, 30, 31, 33, 45, 49, 50, 54, 60, 66, 67, 68. I was afraid WWPX on RF 12 would have caused problems with WBAL, but it is just as strong on the meter as WJZ and WWPX. Even WMAR on RF 38 comes in fine with no problems from WJAL on RF 39 at 4 miles with LOS. This is one person that has acutally gained channels. Setup is an older Winegard antenna and amp with rotor on a 30' tower. Granted she is on a slight hill, but still has two mountains blocking LOS. I think there is hope yet.



WOW! WETA-DT in Franklin County, PA? Being on the West side of the Valley, gives very good results. I'm surprised she didn't get WTTG-DT (FOX5) or WPMT-DT (FOX43).


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16665665
> 
> 
> I spent a good part of the day up on my tower. I replaced my 5' center pipe with a 12' pipe. This allowed me to move my rotor further down the tower, while raising the CM3020 to about 7' above the tower (it was less than 2' before). My CM3020 is now at about 45' height. I also received a call from a friend of mine, who has come across a 50' tower that the owner wants removed ASAP. Can you say 90-100'.



For that amount of trouble, why don't you get a better antenna setup? The CM-3020 is considered to be a medium grade VHF/UHF antenna. If you want better UHF performance, keep the CM-3020 for VHF, but add a AntennasDirect 91-XG for UHF. Looking at the specs, the 91-XG should provide about 3-5 dB more gain for UHF. If adding the 91-XG is a weight problem for the tower, then you should ask in the HDTV Technical forum what VHF/UHF antenna would the professional installers and deep fringe crowd would recommend.


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16666013
> 
> 
> WOW! WETA-DT in Franklin County, PA? Being on the West side of the Valley, gives very good results. I'm surprised she didn't get WTTG-DT (FOX5) or WPMT-DT (FOX43).



I haven't found anyone yet that can get WTTG, or WPMT, Even on the west side of the valley most of the UHF stations still have there hichups, I think there can still be improvements made. The only distant UHF I have found to be rock solid around here is WTAJ from Altoona on RF32. There are now two people that I know of the get WBAL solid, with no interference porblems from WWPX. My parents now get 7, 8, 9 and 13 ok, some breakups, but no WBAL and no UHF from DC period and only a couple from Baltimore. We are waiting for our complaint forms from the FCC. So far I'm a VHF supporter.


----------



## guadalupegrande4




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/16665556
> 
> 
> FYI, WBAL is going off the air tonight after Conan O'Brien:
> 
> http://www.wbaltv.com/news/19771981/detail.html
> 
> 
> I assume by "no service interruption" they mean non-OTA viewers



Well, we ARE in the minority. Guess I'll just tune into Craig Ferguson, as usual.


----------



## dewster1977

This is a long shot, but maybe the DC and Baltimore stations shoud look into a DTS system, From what I have been reading in theses forums and the Washington Post article a tower on South Mountain East of Hagerstown, one between Warrenton and Fredericksburg and one on the mountain between Berkely Springs and Winchester for DC, Might work since some of these staions are use to tower sharing. If you look at the DC DMA map they must be may who have no reception at all, expecially in western Md and W. Va.


----------



## guadalupegrande4

AND... there it went!


Glad to see they still stretch/shrink the screen willy nilly too.

News update? Let's shrink the video (not proportionally)!

And add in a little noise to alert people! People like that!

-stare-


----------



## chicken00

I live in Clarksville, MD, just west of Columbia. On Friday evening, I received a pixelating Ch. 13, 11, and 9, and intermittent 7. Now, with some fiddling of the amplified rabbit ears, I can get 7 and 9, but no 11 and 13. It's weird that in a Baltimore suburb, 19 miles from TV Hill, I can't get 2 out of the 3 network stations. Is it the multipath problem, or the low signal strength. I thought VHF meant better distance; or is it that rabbit ears just don't work that well. I received those stations fine on UHF prior to the switch. Can't they switch back to their UHF frequencies, or simulcast. I can't believe they want to lost their Howard County market, which based on some other comments from people in Columbia, seems likely.


----------



## pclement




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pclement* /forum/post/16654462
> 
> 
> My D* H10 picked up all of the stations after a rescan. My H20 still can not pick up 7 and 9 and show 0% signal while the H10 shows 70+. I've tried updating the zip codes, rescan, reset, etc with no luck. Even 13 is weak at 60% while the H10 and the other CECB show 100%. Seems like there is something with the H20 that doesn't allow it to see the signal.



I replaced the cable between the diplexor switch for OTA and the H20 receiver and was able to resolve the problem. I am now getting 70+ for 7 and 9 and 100% for 13. Took a while to determine that the problem was in the one short piece of cable. I am back to what I received before the transition with a few additional channels (ION and 21 -WHP out of Harrisburg much stronger). I still can not get digital channel 5 out of DC (although I used to several years ago). This seems to be a problem for others in PA as noted in some posts above.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16666109
> 
> 
> For that amount of trouble, why don't you get a better antenna setup? The CM-3020 is considered to be a medium grade VHF/UHF antenna. If you want better UHF performance, keep the CM-3020 for VHF, but add a AntennasDirect 91-XG for UHF. Looking at the specs, the 91-XG should provide about 3-5 dB more gain for UHF. If adding the 91-XG is a weight problem for the tower, then you should ask in the HDTV Technical forum what VHF/UHF antenna would the professional installers and deep fringe crowd would recommend.



I'm considering a change, but I want to go in the right direction, without wasting any finances. All who know me have come to understand the following about my life:


"If it's going to happen, it will happen to me."


"No repair or replacement goes smoothly."


"Just when you think your done, something breaks."


----------



## afiggatt

The Washington Post today has a story on the problems with the reception for WJLA 7 and WUSA 9 since they switched to VHF on Friday. The media coverage is finally getting around to discussing that the stations moved to VHF 7 and 9 and that many people may not have a good enough VHF antenna for their location. The FCC is still pushing the double scan, but that is not going to fix the problem for most tuners. Freda posted the article in the HOTP thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...0#post16667460 .


Has anyone seen reports or heard from WUSA that they are planning to ask for increased power?


----------



## TheKrell




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16663230
> 
> 
> A notch or suppression filter on the antenna feed to the amp should do the trick.



The closest I can find for a fixed notch filter for WNVC RF24 is this thing for $25.







It's spec'd to block channels 19-23, which I interpret to mean "cut the signal 60dB". As near as I can tell, since this isn't built for channel 24, is that I will only get around -6dB (in the center of channel 24). This is not even enough to bring WNVC down to the level of WPXW, my next most powerful station.


Why isn't there a good supply of these things available for _any_ channel we want?










And why oh why are all tuner manufacturers confusing us with a digital error rate meter rather than a simple signal strength meter?





















Recall that my most powerful stations all show _low_ "signal strength" on my tuners, rather than a big fat red 200% or something more evocative of what's going on. Had I not badly overloaded my distribution amp, and gotten help here, I never would have figured this out!


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TheKrell* /forum/post/16668244
> 
> 
> Had I not badly overloaded my distribution amp, and gotten help here, I never would have figured this out!



I'm not sure if you will like this idea, but I'll throw it out anyway. How about 2 combo antennas? Run 4-5 splits off each antenna un-amplified.


It looks to be quite pricey, as you have mentioned, to properly attenuate channel 24 to allow any kind of distribution amp to be used.


----------



## dg28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/16665076
> 
> 
> Did you lose WBFF and WNUV? They didn't change anything...



That's what I'm saying - doesn't make any sense at all (and I have re-scanned). I guess I should try what has been suggested- to restart receiver and unplug/plug back in my antenna.


----------



## tonyd79

Arrgh! MPT started to stretch SD content. They must have done this as part of the digital switchover. First program I watched on it was the Afternoon Tea comedies on Monday. Did old WBAL engineers start to work there?


I sent them an email.


----------



## bmcent1




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16637270
> 
> 
> You are at a complicated location with markets in different directions. You might consider a 4 bay bowtie for UHF as the flat plate bowties pick up UHF over a wide spread in azimuth. Then a medium range upper VHF antenna that is not too directional. Lots of different antenna setups to consider.



Thanks for the replies. Can anyone offer some recommended specific antennas for my case?


Here's my radar plot:
http://www.tvfool.com/option=com_wra...663d226d16c02c 


I'd like to get as many digital stations as possible, but I also don't want to fool with a rotor.


My home is down a hill (but 90 ft above a river valley), though it looks like my view toward Washington is somewhat "around" the hill, at least I won't be pointing an antenna directly into the hill.


I talked to permitting here in Frederick Co and I don't need one for a regular TV antenna that's less than 12' above the roof line. I have a 2 story house with a walk out basement in the back. I'm just guessing this might put the antenna height at 35' AGL, maybe it could be closer to 45' if I put a 12' mast at the peak of the roof.


They did mention 90 mph wind loading and suggested 110 mph to account for occasional ice storms we get around here.


I have no qualms about putting up a big antenna (or two, if a combination is better.)


Looking at the plot, my main concerns are ch 28 in the same direction as DC stations but much stronger, is that an overload situation? And I would like to pull in some stations other than DC (possibilities are Baltimore, Martinsburg, and Hagerstown) if there's an antenna pattern that can do it but figure I might need a high gain directional to get the best signals from DC given my distance and terrain.


Some antennas I was considering are the CM 4228 or AD 91XG (would need to pair it with something Hi-VHF for 7,and 9).


----------



## bmcent1




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bmcent1* /forum/post/16669645
> 
> 
> Some antennas I was considering are the CM 4228 or AD 91XG (would need to pair it with something Hi-VHF for 7,and 9).



Or maybe the AD DB8?


What is a good Hi-VHF antenna? I know I've seen it around here but I can't find it now... 5-7-9 ? I recall it's three hyphenated numbers but not remembering them exactly.


----------



## robpegoraro

I suppose I might as well try to get some free tech support here










As this TVFool plot shows , I shouldn't have any issues pulling in all of the nearby stations and some not-so-nearby broadcasts. Yet I do. So far, 4, 5, 14, 20 and 22 have come in very well, with good reception from 32 and 66. If I move the antenna closer to the window, I can get 7 and 50. If I lean it right against the window, I can even get 9 and 26 to show up as well as they did a year ago.


The antenna in question is a Terk model I bought in 1996 or so as a backup to cable (can't be the same model after so many years, but it looks like the TV4 model listed on Audiovox's site ). With that, I got all the big four networks, plus 20, 22, 26 and 50--and so had no problem telling readers "look, this works; I've seen what it can do in my own home with this antique antenna."


My home, in case any of this makes a difference, is a 1920 bungalow with walls that are mainly plaster-and-lath construction. It's about 280 feet above sea level, with large trees on most sides; starting about a half-mile to the north, there's a decent accumulation of 10 to 20-story buildings.


Any advice on what antenna I should try next? There is a Radio Shack downstairs from my office, so it's not like I'd have to go out of my way to test one antenna, then return it if it doesn't work.


Thanks...


- R


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/16668970
> 
> 
> That's what I'm saying - doesn't make any sense at all (and I have re-scanned). I guess I should try what has been suggested- to restart receiver and unplug/plug back in my antenna.



Is the 15-2160 amplified?


----------



## mattydr

I'm in Manassas, (~27 miles from most of the towers according to antennaweb) using a ClearStream4, which until the switch allowed me to pull in 4,5,7,9,20,32 and a few others that I generally never watched. Before the switch 7 and 9 on analog were watchable but not great. I was thinking this would mean I'd be able to get them after the switch back to VHF, but judging by the comments here that's not going to be the case. 7 and 9 are gone completely and for some reason 4 has become rather spotty. Ironically 7 and 9 were my best channels before the switch - nary a dropped frame or pixelation to be seen.


I guess my best option at this point is to get an upper VHF antenna and a signal combiner, but hearing that folks even much closer to DC are not able to get 7 and 9 is making me think it's going to be a lost cause. I'm unfortunately in a condo where roof mounting is not an option, and whatever I do mount needs to be relatively low-profile (hence the ClearStream4). Are those of us in the suburbs completely SOL on getting 7 and 9? No Lost, college football, and CBS NFL games is going to be painful. :\\


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

SPORADIC E ALERT!!!


Watching KTBS-3 (night light service) in Shady Side, MD right now. I've also seen Springfield, MO and a station out of TX while flipping between channel 2 and 3.


Sadly, sporadic E DX won't work with ATSC in the future. I'll guess this will be one of the last times ever to play with these long-haul DX opportunities.


EDIT: Now I've got KPRC in Houston!!


----------



## dg28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16670517
> 
> 
> Is the 15-2160 amplified?



Yes


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/16672051
> 
> 
> Yes



If you are really close to the WFPT-DT 62 tower off 270 (near the weigh station), you could be having issues their stronger signal. Is there anyway to test results with the amplifier bypassed, or with a different tuner?


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robpegoraro* /forum/post/16670454
> 
> 
> I suppose I might as well try to get some free tech support here
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> As this TVFool plot shows , I shouldn't have any issues pulling in all of the nearby stations and some not-so-nearby broadcasts. Yet I do. So far, 4, 5, 14, 20 and 22 have come in very well, with good reception from 32 and 66. If I move the antenna closer to the window, I can get 7 and 50. If I lean it right against the window, I can even get 9 and 26 to show up as well as they did a year ago.
> 
> 
> The antenna in question is a Terk model I bought in 1996 or so as a backup to cable (can't be the same model after so many years, but it looks like the TV4 model listed on Audiovox's site ). With that, I got all the big four networks, plus 20, 22, 26 and 50--and so had no problem telling readers "look, this works; I've seen what it can do in my own home with this antique antenna."
> 
> 
> My home, in case any of this makes a difference, is a 1920 bungalow with walls that are mainly plaster-and-lath construction. It's about 280 feet above sea level, with large trees on most sides; starting about a half-mile to the north, there's a decent accumulation of 10 to 20-story buildings.
> 
> 
> Any advice on what antenna I should try next? There is a Radio Shack downstairs from my office, so it's not like I'd have to go out of my way to test one antenna, then return it if it doesn't work.
> 
> 
> Thanks...
> 
> 
> - R



Rob,


I don't know how far out you are, but indoor reception of the VHF digital stations is almost impossible where I am located (even though I could receive a good picture on all of the VHF analogs before). Can you install an antenna outdoors or in an attic possibly?


If you must use an indoor antenna, make sure that you actually have movable and extendable/retractable dipoles for the VHF side of things. Those seem to work better in my experience and you don't need to spend a ton of money on something like that either. I wouldn't get one of the amplified rabbit ears as they just amplify all of the other noise in your home too. I bet the rabbit ears will work better if you turn off your computers while you're watching tv. My computers put out a lot of VHF interference.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bmcent1* /forum/post/16669645
> 
> 
> Here's my radar plot:
> http://www.tvfool.com/option=com_wra...663d226d16c02c
> 
> 
> I'd like to get as many digital stations as possible, but I also don't want to fool with a rotor.
> 
> 
> My home is down a hill (but 90 ft above a river valley), though it looks like my view toward Washington is somewhat "around" the hill, at least I won't be pointing an antenna directly into the hill.



The link does not work. But you posted a tvfool link on June 12 that does work. You are 10 miles NW from WFPT 62, would not worry too much about overloading. Basically you have the DC stations at ~35 miles at 150 degrees, the Baltimore stations at 33 to 39 miles at 93 to 103 degrees, the Hagerstown stations at 37 miles to the west. Almost all stations are 2 edge. Not a easy recommendation.


If you go with a rooftop or outdoor antenna, you should get a rotator. If you can find the right aim, you might not have to use it much, but I don't see all the stations coming in at one aim. With a 50 to 60 degree spread between the DC and Baltimore stations, you could try a 4 bay bowtie for UHF and a medium range upper VHF antenna. The CM 4221 would have been my recommendation, but Channel Master has replaced it with the CM 4221HD with mixed results. The 4 bay bowties have a wide pickup in azimuth and can get stations at 40 to 50 miles. But you may need to go a 8 bay bowtie for more gain, however, avoid the new CM 4228 HD.


For upper VHF, a medium range upper VHF antenna is less directional than a long range model so it might allow you to get WWPX-DT on VHF 12, WJLA 7, WUSA 9 and may be 11 & 13 in Baltimore if they fix the power output for those 2 in your direction.


Links to check:
http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ISSUES/erecting_antenna.html 
http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...p?PROD=Y5-7-13


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mattydr* /forum/post/16670967
> 
> 
> I'm in Manassas, (~27 miles from most of the towers according to antennaweb) using a ClearStream4,
> 
> ...
> 
> I guess my best option at this point is to get an upper VHF antenna and a signal combiner, but hearing that folks even much closer to DC are not able to get 7 and 9 is making me think it's going to be a lost cause. I'm unfortunately in a condo where roof mounting is not an option, and whatever I do mount needs to be relatively low-profile (hence the ClearStream4). Are those of us in the suburbs completely SOL on getting 7 and 9? No Lost, college football, and CBS NFL games is going to be painful. :\\



Get a upper VHF antenna. See my last post for a link to the antennacraft model. Winegard used to sell a YA-6713 50" long upper VHF, but dropped it. Winegard still off the 100" long YA-1713. The Clearstream 4 is worse than rabbit ears for VHF 7 & 9, see the chart down the page at http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/TemporaryPage.html .


I have been able to get WJLA 7 and WUSA 9 since Friday even with a Silver Sensor at 16 miles from the upper floor, although I would not recommend it for that. WJLA is putting out respectable power at 30 kW, so it should not be that hard to get. I suspect the reception problems for 7 & 9 are due to a range of causes: multipath in the city, people using rabbit ears, people using amplified UHF/ rabbit ears indoor antennas with crappy amplifiers, and UHF antennas that are supposed to work for upper VHF, but only if the VHF signal is really strong. Hopefully WUSA 9 will increase their power to > 20 kW which should help, but no word if that is in the cards.


----------



## systems2000

Rob,


You could also take a look at EV's thread on indoor antennas.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1037779


----------



## jgantert

Looks like ThisTV is broadcasting on 50.2 now with sound and picture. Same programming as 45.2.


BTW, my 4228 antenna is working fine in Columbia, MD picking up 7, 9, 11, 13, and all the UHF channels I care about. Much easier to get ION 66 now, and Mhz 30-1 thru 30-5 (on freq 24). Only problems are during the thunderstorms on 7-13, but sounds like that is to be expected on VHF.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/16672437
> 
> 
> Looks like ThisTV is broadcasting on 50.2 now with sound and picture. Same programming as 45.2.
> 
> 
> BTW, my 4228 antenna is working fine in Columbia, MD picking up 7, 9, 11, 13, and all the UHF channels I care about. Much easier to get ION 66 now, and Mhz 30-1 thru 30-5 (on freq 24). Only problems are during the thunderstorms on 7-13, but sounds like that is to be expected on VHF.



My VHF-high reception has improved quite a bit since Friday. I think the stations have done a little tweaking. I can stay locked on fairly well now. On channel 7, I still get a tiny bit of breakups/pixelation every once in awhile.


50.2 looks good. Thanks for the tip jgantert.


----------



## fedward

I rescanned Friday evening and looped through all my channels and had no trouble at all getting CW50, but I apparently lost it by Saturday night when they showed the original Matthau "Pelham" (which I had scheduled to record). I'm still not picking it up.


I'm on 13th St NW in Columbia Heights, with a Winegard MS-1000 (that's the non-amplified variety) on the roof. I can see the CW50 tower from the roof, and I haven't had reception problems with the digital signal since my most recent trip to the roof to tweak it.


The good news is that I didn't lose WJLA or WUSA, and I didn't expect to pick them up very well with that antenna.


----------



## dewster1977

I also posted this in the "upcomming changes thread"



I just received a call back from a Level 2 Technician, in regards to my call on sunday to the FCC DTV call centre. Had a 45 minute conversation with the technician. Very understanding and helpful. Explained my situtiation, he himself is in a similar one, he was served by a network of translators that received an over the air analog signal, and also has suffered a loss of staions, since the translators now broadcast snow.


It was never the intent for people to have to upgrade or replace their outdoor antennas unless they were the incorrect band. If you received an analog channel you should be able to receive the digital signal.


They need people to report their problems to the DTV call centre and ask for a complaint form, fill it out and return it. They need to see what areas are having problems, so like WPVI they can examin and try and solve the problems.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fedward* /forum/post/16672851
> 
> 
> I rescanned Friday evening and looped through all my channels and had no trouble at all getting CW50



Have you tried re-scanning since Friday evening. You may need to give it another shot. I'm not sure what time Friday CW 50 transitioned.


----------



## fedward

I should have mentioned that I rescanned before posting the question. Also, if I leave the tuner there long enough I'll get a blip of signal before it drops again, so I know I'm on the right frequency. I've also looked at it using the HDHomerun config tool and it's doing a weird lock-unlock bounce thing.


There's a chance this is a problem with the HDHomerun itself. I've had a ticket open with Silicon Dust about problems receiving one other channel, so this might be a related problem.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fedward* /forum/post/16673116
> 
> 
> I should have mentioned that I rescanned before posting the question. Also, if I leave the tuner there long enough I'll get a blip of signal before it drops again, so I know I'm on the right frequency. I've also looked at it using the HDHomerun config tool and it's doing a weird lock-unlock bounce thing.
> 
> 
> There's a chance this is a problem with the HDHomerun itself. I've had a ticket open with Silicon Dust about problems receiving one other channel, so this might be a related problem.



My HDHomerun doesn't have as sensitive of a tuner as my television's tuner. Which version of the software are you running? I usually update to the latest beta release on a weekly basis.


----------



## jsh5771




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16641614
> 
> 
> Yes, You need a real VHF antenna for any chance of getting 7 in Ashburn. This is your cheapest option. http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...p?PROD=Y5-7-13
> 
> Join the 2 antennas together with this http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?prod=UVSJ



This is a really good suggestion. I lost 7,9,11 and 13 after the transition, but after adding the above to my CM 4221 in the attic I was able to recover 7 and 9 very solidly and 13 marginally. Thanks.


----------



## gmucklow




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *buckydc* /forum/post/16654833
> 
> 
> FYI. Just noticed that WDCW has fired up there 50.2 Thistv subchannel, albeit with no audio or video. At least nothing my dtt901 can decode. They are transmitting PSIP info though. The current Thistv movie is something about drilling to the core of the earth to find a new species. Must be really dark/quiet down there.



WDCW 50.2 has been broadcasting the THIS TV Network for a couple of days now.


----------



## NightHawk

No problems in St.Mary's county Md. After a rescan I'm still solidly receiving both WJLA and WUSA at 75 to 80 % on both Dish 622's and a Samsung TV.


CM 4228 and 7777 amp, 51 miles, sea level.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gmucklow* /forum/post/16673894
> 
> 
> WDCW 50.2 has been broadcasting the THIS TV Network for a couple of days now.



The WDCW 50.2 sub-channel was added on Monday or thereabouts, but was a blank screen for 2 days. There was guide data with listings, but no picture. They added the This TV feed sometime yesterday.


I have not seen any notable changes in WDCW reception since they flashed cut from 51 to 50 on Friday morning. The ERP dropped from 125 kW to 122 kW, but that is a tiny difference. The digital signal propagation behavior might have changed with the channel and antenna change. The WDCW maximization application to increase to 1000 kW has still not granted or dismissed by the FCC.


For those north and northeast of Baltimore, WPVI ABC 6 in Philly filed an STA yesterday to increase to 30.2 kW on VHF 6 which is a major increase from the current post-transition 7.6 kW. There are a lot of people who can't get WPVI since the flash rate since last Friday. The 30.2 kW is the rough equivalent of 90 kW digital on upper VHF. If WPVI 6 gets the power increase, with the lack of other competing full power VHF 6 stations, that signal may come in at night in favorable atmospheric conditions over a wide area. Might even cause occasional interference to WDCN-LP 6 in Arlington if WDCN ever broadcasts a video signal.


----------



## rickp5000

HI. I was looking for a little help. I live on the Eastern Shore in Easton, MD and before last Friday I was able to pick up just about every local digital station from both DC and Baltimore with a UHF antenna in my attic. 14 was hard to get and sometimes 50 would go out but the rest came in fine. I had the antenna pointed towards somewhere between Baltimore and DC and that allowed me to get all the channels. Since Friday I have switched from my UHF to a UHF/VHF antenna which is probably about 10 years old but has never been inside and no matter what I do I can't get 7 or 9. Also with the UHF/VHF antenna I don't get 26 or 32 like I did with the UHF. This far out and trying to pick up both DC and Baltimore I didn't know the best setup, to continue using my UHF and get a VHF only and combine them. Amplify them? I also pickup WBOC and the PBS station from Salisbury which is in the opposite direction of where my antenna is pointing but I can't seem to get WMDT, the ABC & CW station from Salisbury. Is there any way to have 2 UHF antennas pointed in opposite directions and somehow combine them into one? Because the antennas are in the attic I can't use any sort of rotater and would rather not have to run additional wires, switches, etc. and don't want an ugly antenna outside on the roof, picky huh? I get both 7 and 9 through cable so the only real reason I like them is because of the sub channels with radar, but maybe their signal just doesn't come this far anymore?


----------



## crbaldwin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jsh5771* /forum/post/16673625
> 
> 
> This is a really good suggestion. I lost 7,9,11 and 13 after the transition, but after adding the above to my CM 4221 in the attic I was able to recover 7 and 9 very solidly and 13 marginally. Thanks.



Similarly, I added the Y5-7-13 to my Clearstream4 with the AP-2870 preamp and now I get 7 & 9 in the 70% range from my attic in Fredericksburg (even through pretty heavy trees to boot). I am quite pleased and a little shocked - we'll see if it holds up. Thank you, Digital Rules, for the recommendations!


By the way, I assume the preamp is designed to go outside and can deal with significant heat but I am a little concerned with the extreme heat in the attic (even with an attic fan).


----------



## mattydr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16672361
> 
> 
> Get a upper VHF antenna. See my last post for a link to the antennacraft model. Winegard used to sell a YA-6713 50" long upper VHF, but dropped it. Winegard still off the 100" long YA-1713. The Clearstream 4 is worse than rabbit ears for VHF 7 & 9, see the chart down the page at http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/TemporaryPage.html .
> 
> 
> I have been able to get WJLA 7 and WUSA 9 since Friday even with a Silver Sensor at 16 miles from the upper floor, although I would not recommend it for that. WJLA is putting out respectable power at 30 kW, so it should not be that hard to get. I suspect the reception problems for 7 & 9 are due to a range of causes: multipath in the city, people using rabbit ears, people using amplified UHF/ rabbit ears indoor antennas with crappy amplifiers, and UHF antennas that are supposed to work for upper VHF, but only if the VHF signal is really strong. Hopefully WUSA 9 will increase their power to > 20 kW which should help, but no word if that is in the cards.



Thats great information, thanks. I'm a little miffed now about the fact that the CS4 is advertised to have VHF cabilities. It seems they are so minimal that anybody buying a CS4 isn't going to be close enough to towers to pick up the VHF signals anyways. We'll see what an upper VHF antenna can do for me!


As far as UHF - in theory the CS4 should be plenty of antenna for my distance (~27 miles), but NBC4, WETA, and CW can all be fickle from time to time. Normal signal strength reported by the EyeTV software I'm using is around 60% for all three - enough to get a steady picture most of the time, but not much room for error. FOX, CBS, and ABC were always reliably above 70% before the switch. I'm assuming that any problems I'm having are due to the fact that I'm only able to mount the CS4 about 6 feet off the ground on the fence behind my condo. I guess an amplifier won't help me here, since I should already have plenty of gain in the antenna? Does anyone know if getting a taller mast, say to get it 10 or 12 feet of the ground, is likely to make much difference in my signal? Also, is there any way to know if an amplifier would help, or is it pretty much just try-it-and-see-what-happens?


----------



## Trip in VA

WJZ's emergency request to boost power to 27.5 kW on the omni was granted today. Wonder how long it will take to go on the air.


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16677272
> 
> 
> WJZ's emergency request to boost power to 27.5 kW on the omni was granted today. Wonder how long it will take to go on the air.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Good news!! Is there any chance that WBAL will ever be allowed to raise their power? When there are thunderstorms around, that measly 5kw signal just doesn't cut it. I thought it was solid till this morning.


----------



## Trip in VA

It can't hurt for them to ask, but so far, no action. I'm glued to the FCC site, checking every hour or so for new filings.


- Trip


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16677272
> 
> 
> WJZ's emergency request to boost power to 27.5 kW on the omni was granted today. Wonder how long it will take to go on the air.



Why would they want to transmit a solid signal omnidirectional signal for just a few weeks? That makes zero sense. Everyone will be thrilled when they can receive the 27.5 kW powerhouse only for some to become disappointed again in July when WJZ-DT goes permanently directional. I understand that the viewers in the west and northwest will be affected negatively by the directional pattern. Anyone have a link to the proposed directional pattern?


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/16669481
> 
> 
> Arrgh! MPT started to stretch SD content. They must have done this as part of the digital switchover.



It started a little before then, but yeah. They're not doing it consistently, though. One interesting thing about it: I now know that Fios' channel 22 is being center-cut from MPT-HD, because the same stretching appears there.


----------



## Trip in VA

It makes perfect sense. WJZ is trying to figure out if the higher power fixes the problem without having to swap antennas. If it doesn't, they might try to do something else rather than doing all the work just to find they have to do it again.


Plus, it fixes the problem for most of its viewers NOW rather than having to wait.


- Trip


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/16677783
> 
> 
> Why would they want to transmit a solid signal omnidirectional signal for just a few weeks? That makes zero sense. Everyone will be thrilled when they can receive the 27.5 kW powerhouse only for some to become disappointed again in July when WJZ-DT goes permanently directional. I understand that the viewers in the west and northwest will be affected negatively by the directional pattern. Anyone have a link to the proposed directional pattern?



I think WJZ 13 is trying to improve reception right away for those at closer range and those to the east, south, northeast who will benefit from the final 28.8 kW directional pattern when they switch to the new antenna. It might also buy time for those to the west to get better VHF antennas. However, I can not reliably get WJZ 13 now with a upper VHF antenna in the attic and the power in my direction will go back to around 10 kW with the new antenna.


There are now multiple entries, but the FCC data records for WJZ are at http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=25455 . Scroll down to Service designation: DT at 28.8 kW, construction permit. Check the directional polar plot (ouch). The service contour map for the directional antenna is at http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...DT1237603.html . The map is really optimistic to the west.


I have not seen any STA filings yet from WBAL 11 or WUSA 9. Both of them, especially WBAL, a poster child for inadequate upper VHF power assignments, could use to increase their power.


----------



## StevenJB

Thanks Trip and affigat for the replies. I already saw that map at http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...DT1237603.html . I thought that I was looking at a non-directional plot.


Trip, you are correct. If the 27.5 kW non-directional pattern fixes the problem then maybe the FCC will allow WJZ-DT to keep it permanently and allow WJZ-DT to scrap the directional antenna. For the next several weeks, the FCC can field test monitor the temporary 27.5 kW non-directional output and see how it affects others and use it as a basis to help decide what to do about the rest of the DTV stations having problems using upper VHF.


----------



## bmcent1




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16672278
> 
> 
> Basically you have the DC stations at ~35 miles at 150 degrees, the Baltimore stations at 33 to 39 miles at 93 to 103 degrees, the Hagerstown stations at 37 miles to the west. Almost all stations are 2 edge. Not a easy recommendation.
> 
> 
> [...]
> 
> 
> If you go with a rooftop or outdoor antenna, you should get a rotator. If you can find the right aim, you might not have to use it much, but I don't see all the stations coming in at one aim. With a 50 to 60 degree spread between the DC and Baltimore stations, you could try a 4 bay bowtie for UHF and a medium range upper VHF antenna. The CM 4221 would have been my



Thanks! Yes, it is still me trying to figure out the best setup going in so I don't have to tinker too much down the road.


Here is a new link from TV Fool -
http://http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d618af1b3310a15 


It is probably very similar to the one from the other day, but has one significant change. I went outside and estimated the height of the peak of my roof today (32' above average ground level), then I plugged in 42' for AGL in the TV Fool calculator figuring I will use a 10-12' mast which I have confirmed code will allow in my county.


It makes the reception look a little better.


Rather than use a rotator, I think I'll try first for the DC stations with a single antenna or one VHF and one UHF plus a combiner. It looks like I should pick up 7 stations all on the same compass heading, including all the major networks.


Down the line I might add a rotator or just another antenna to try for Baltimore stations, the real benefit would be for seeing different games when the NFL season picks back up.


I've read the primer and checked out the Y5-7-13. Based on the TV Fool results, it looks like the 5-7-13 should have enough gain, but I am worried about the terrain and still searching for a Hi-VHF with higher gain (without getting into the 12+ foot long horizontal models... I don't mind putting up several antennas but those really long ones look harder to work with and more likely to come down in an ice storm.)


An 8 bay for UHF would seem to give me some insurance / wiggle room against dropouts but it's unfortunate about the newer CM antennas performing so poorly. These are two I found that seem to fit the bill but one is not on the HDTV Primer graph and the other (the Winegard) has a different model number and I'm wondering if it could face the same problem as the newer CMs.

http://http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?prod=HD-8800 
http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?prod=U8000


----------



## afiggatt

Boy, that was fast. WJZ 13 has increased their power, although I don't know if they are at the specified 27.5 kW STA yet. May still be tweaking the transmitters. I am now getting WJZ 13, but with some dropouts. Moving the upper VHF antenna might fix that. There was a scroll on the screen stating they have increased power and if you know someone who has been unable to get WJZ, let them know and tell them to do a rescan.


----------



## bmcent1

I'm also looking at the Winegard HD 7698P. I don't see it mentioned often here, but it looks like a good 1 antenna solution, getting about 10 dBi Hi-VHF and 12+ dBi for UHF.


It's gain ramps up to 14 dBi at RF channel 48 which is the weakest of the major networks in DC from my area of Frederick.


----------



## bmcent1




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16679042
> 
> 
> Boy, that was fast. WJZ 13 has increased their power, although I don't know if they are at the specified 27.5 kW STA yet. May still be tweaking the transmitters. I am now getting WJZ 13, but with some dropouts. Moving the upper VHF antenna might fix that. There was a scroll on the screen stating they have increased power and if you know someone who has been unable to get WJZ, let them know and tell them to do a rescan.



Yay! Out of curiosity, can anyone venture a guess when/if the change would show up in TVFool information? They pull from the FCC's database but I have no idea (hope someone here does) if a temporary increase enters the same database that TVFool pulls from.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16679042
> 
> 
> Boy, that was fast. WJZ 13 has increased their power, although I don't know if they are at the specified 27.5 kW STA yet. May still be tweaking the transmitters. I am now getting WJZ 13, but with some dropouts. Moving the upper VHF antenna might fix that. There was a scroll on the screen stating they have increased power and if you know someone who has been unable to get WJZ, let them know and tell them to do a rescan.



Haven't seen the scroll, but I was thinking they probably had increased power, because the difference between 11 and 13 seems to have increased. But if they've announced it on air, I would think they've done all they're going to do for now.


I wonder if the FCC will require WJZ to provide on-air notice to western viewers who will lose signal if/when they do switch to the directional pattern.




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/16656172
> 
> 
> WIAV-LP in College Park, MD. What kind of signal are you receiving? I get a snowy color picture in Olney about 11 miles NNW.



Oh, nothing anywhere near that good, ever. In Fairfax, VA, I get a barely detectable picture and that's about it. On rare occasions I might here a little sound, but I could never make out a station ID unless it filled the whole screen in huge letters. W58DK Ruckersville was better with an attic antenna that WIAV has ever been with the roof antenna.




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16656150
> 
> 
> WMPT-DT 22 comes in better without rotating since they raised their power, so it's not too bad. You can see the tower from 24 here when the leaves are off the trees.



WMPT was back to its old signal levels here early in the week, especially during the cooler, rainy periods. This evening it's up again, but so is everything else. Because it's off-axis, I'm thinking it might be more susceptible to wet leaves on the trees than some of the other stations, but I don't know. Has it been confirmed that they are and have been operating at their increased power?


I'm also having problems with 11 and 13 when it rains, at least some of the time. I suspect I've got a leaky balun. I've had problems on low band for several years when it rains, but with analog high band seemed unaffected, and I never cared anyway, because the UHF digital versions were solid. VHF digitals are apparently more vulnerable.


Otoh, today's thunderstorms increased signal levels across the board, so 11 and 13 held up fine even when analog 4 did its usual rainy day thing. So more data is still needed.




> Quote:
> What's weird is that I still have to rotate the antenna about 20 degrees east of Baltimore to get RF 38 to come in. I thought that would not be the case when RF 39 went dark???



Possibly a 34-36 beat on 38? I think I have an advantage in that DC is about 15 degrees east of Baltimore here and I'm several miles farther away than you are. So I've always kept the antenna aimed pretty squarely at TVHill in Baltimore.




> Quote:
> Nice DX catches from Philly!! I haven't ever gotten any digital DX from the northeast, but see NC on a rare occasion. Do you see WHAG-DT 25 from your location? I thought it would be better here since WWPB-DT 31 was solid even at 209kw. The HD picture on WHAG is about the best I've seen. Not having subchannels does make a difference!!



Too much overload from DC in the northeast for you?


Northeast is the best direction for me. Back in the 70s and 80s, I did DX Tidewater quite a bit, occasionally saw eastern NC and I think even SC once or twice. Richmond is fairly common, but the terrain here slopes up to the South, so I've rarely seen the sort of clear pictures from there that I've often seen from Philly. I have picked up WTVR-DT with an attic antenna, but WWBT was never strong enough on 54 to override WNUV, and I never checked Richmond tropo after WNUV signed off in February.


I also had a weak but stable signal from WHSV-3 in Harrisonburg, and W58DK Ruckersville and it's predecessors on 49 and 41, before WHSV-DT and WHTJ-41 analog signed on. And I could often get faint traces of WVIR-29 analog in recent years with the attic 4-bay that I use for WNVT in Goldvein.


The northwest is not a good direction here at all, for some reason. I've never anything more than very snowy pix from 25, 31, 60, or 68, even with the roof antenna pointed in that direction. I doubt I could see any digital from there and I've never really looked.


Also, there's never seems to be much tropo boost in any westerly direction. I've seen WTAJ Altoona once in 35 years, Roanoke signals once or twice maybe, and WGHP High Point NC once. And all of those catches were very faint.


But to the northeast I have a downhill slope, and over the years I've seen everything from here to Boston at one time or other in analog. Best digital DX was WHDH Boston a few years back, which boomed in here for several hours one morning, overriding both Philly and Annapolis.


I also did pretty well DXing NYC digitals one summer, years ago. WCBS and WNYW locked for several hours on more than one occasion. I had a signal on 28 that I think was WNBC but it never decoded. WPIX flashed in once just long enough to see the PSIP. And WABC-DT was snowing up WBFF pretty regularly in the early September mornings that year.


But then all that came to a very sudden end. I can't recall locking any NYC digitals since, and channel 45 was never that snowy again until WBFF signed off for good.


----------



## fedward




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/16673367
> 
> 
> My HDHomerun doesn't have as sensitive of a tuner as my television's tuner. Which version of the software are you running? I usually update to the latest beta release on a weekly basis.



I'm now running the most recent beta (dated yesterday) with the same problem. I've had mystifying problems with WTTG-DT for a long time that finally came down to the HDHomerun's inability to stay tuned to it (diagnosed after a trip to the roof with the laptop and a different receiver, plus new terminations on every cable and a replacement antenna-mount preamp). As far as I can tell, whatever hardware problem it has staying locked onto WTTG-DT also affects WDCW.


I filed a ticket with Silicon Dust a few weeks ago about the WTTG problem and they'll replace it for me as soon as I can locate my receipt, which is easier said than done.


As for sensitivity, I've tuned the gain on the preamp for best reception on the HDHR, which is located where the drop enters my apartment. There are two much longer runs to both TVs, and if I watch live (*shudder*) I have to tweak the gain a little for certain stations. I'm pretty sure, however, that the problems on WTTG and (now) WDCW aren't signal strength related.


----------



## StevenJB

I am using a 30' high chimney mounted Channel Master CM-3679 VHF/UHF antenna with a CM-3418 8-way distribution amplifier. I can receive reliably a minimum of 85 and up to a maximum of 100+ on every single DTV station in the Washington-Baltimore region. Channel 11 and 13 will most of the time usually peak at 100. Still, I cannot raise a blip out of Hagerstown. Yet, WFPT-DT-62 in that same direction in Frederick on 28 UHF comes in at 98 or better.


Just a few minutes ago, I received WBOC-HD and SD from Salisbury, MD, some 85 miles away. What is strange is that WBOC-HD mapped to 16.1 like it would be expected to but the SD channel mapped to 21.2. I guess they have a PSIP issue.


What I miss the most about analog television is that analog reception was an excellent barometer and lead indicator for what kind of tropo was available. If I could receive Philadelphia or Richmond on analog then I knew that the DTV counterparts were available. I do miss analog because it was so forgiving. Digital is not forgiving at all. A couple of degrees of rotation in an outdoor antenna can cause a digital channel to literally drop off the cliff. A partial analog signal was snowy but viewable. A partial digital signal is for all intents and purposes non-existent.


I don't know how old you guys are but my late Dad bought our first television in June 1949, a 16-inch wonder. WMAL-TV7 began its broadcast day at 2:00 PM. WTOP-TV9, WNBW-TV4, and WTTG-TV5 started around the same time or an hour later. We had four reliable channels living in Hyattsville, MD. UHF didn't exist. Baltimore reception was snow. That's exactly 60 years to the month for me for analog. Now its all gone and not necessarily for the better.


----------



## fmsjr

Has anyone else lost TBS HD on FiOS (552)? We're not getting it on any STB... since about Tuesday.


----------



## joblo

TBS HD on FiOS 552 fine here.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/16679635
> 
> 
> Just a few minutes ago, I received WBOC-HD and SD from Salisbury, MD, some 85 miles away. What is strange is that WBOC-HD mapped to 16.1 like it would be expected to but the SD channel mapped to 21.2. I guess they have a PSIP issue.



21.2 is the correct mapping for FOX 21.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rickp5000* /forum/post/16675915
> 
> 
> ... Since Friday I have switched from my UHF to a UHF/VHF antenna which is probably about 10 years old but has never been inside and no matter what I do I can't get 7 or 9. Also with the UHF/VHF antenna I don't get 26 or 32 like I did with the UHF. This far out and trying to pick up both DC and Baltimore I didn't know the best setup, to continue using my UHF and get a VHF only and combine them. Amplify them? I also pickup WBOC and the PBS station from Salisbury which is in the opposite direction of where my antenna is pointing but I can't seem to get WMDT, the ABC & CW station from Salisbury. Is there any way to have 2 UHF antennas pointed in opposite directions and somehow combine them into one? ...



To point UHF antennas in opposite directions, they should be identical antennas, vertically stacked one over the other, and the co-axial cable length from the splitter to both antennas should be identical. Even with that, it is tricky to combine multiple antennas on the same band without filters. What UHF antenna do you have?


A 4 bay bowtie can get stations in opposite directions, even better with the back screen removed. I just did this to my CM 4221 4 Bay to try to get WHAG 25 to the NW with the antenna aimed to the east. It is working fine on WHAG, but now I am getting dropouts on WUTB 24 and the weaker & long range Baltimore stations. Removing the back screen loses 3 dB to the front.


If you were getting better results with the UHF antenna for the UHF stations, switch back to it. You could look at getting a upper VHF antenna and combine them with a VHF/UHF combiner. With all the recommendations for upper VHF antennas, I hope solidsignal and warrenelectronics stocked up ahead of the transition on VHF antennas!


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bmcent1* /forum/post/16679108
> 
> 
> Yay! Out of curiosity, can anyone venture a guess when/if the change would show up in TVFool information? They pull from the FCC's database but I have no idea (hope someone here does) if a temporary increase enters the same database that TVFool pulls from.



Doubt that Andy.S.Lee would try to deal with the short lived STAs. You could ask him to add the temporary ERP for WJZ 13, but it is expected to go away in 3? weeks when the new directional antenna is installed. Don't know if CBS is looking to keep the 27.5 kW omni-directional broadcast. They presumably have already brought the new antenna and broadcast antennas are not cheap.


----------



## mattydr

Well, I tried out my old HDTVo, which has much better VHF performance. With that I get 7 and 9 just fine, but 4 and 5 are borderline and 20,26, and 50 completely out. Is there a chance I could use the HDTVo & and my ClearStream4 with a combiner? Or will something be whacky because I'm running a VHF/UHF into the VHF side, and a VHF/UHF into the UHF side? The only catch is that the HDTVo has a built-in amp, and obviously I would have to leave the power supply out of the picture in this case.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mattydr* /forum/post/16680096
> 
> 
> Is there a chance I could use the HDTVo & and my ClearStream4 with a combiner? Or will something be whacky because I'm running a VHF/UHF into the VHF side, and a VHF/UHF into the UHF side? The only catch is that the HDTVo has a built-in amp, and obviously I would have to leave the power supply out of the picture in this case.



You can combine the 2 antennas with a UVSJ. It isolates the 2 bands so you can take full advantage of both antennas strengths. The UVSJ will also allow power to pass on the VHF side, so you should be able to use the amp if needed.


----------



## markbulla

I drove by TV Hill this evening to check out WJZ's and WMAR's new antennas - here's a picture. WJZ's is the larger one (it's a lower frequency, which has a longer wavelength, so the antenna is larger).


Cheers -


----------



## imacdonald

Looks like their power increase means I can get WJZ again, well at least during the night. I am getting about 53% on the signal strength on TIVO HD from a channel master 4221 and an amp.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *imacdonald* /forum/post/16680222
> 
> 
> Looks like their power increase means I can get WJZ again, well at least during the night. I am getting about 53% on the signal strength on TIVO HD from a channel master 4221 and an amp.



WJZ is now my strongest VHF channel by a long shot! Before WJZ boosted their power, I was barely able to keep it locked. Now, it's rock solid and registering 98% signal on my Sony TV's diagnostic screen. In addition, I can now receive it with my antenna pointed in almost any direction.


7, 9, and 11 are still touchy. I have to be aimed dead on to receive them and still receive occasional pixelation.


I'm receiving WTVR and WRLH out of Richmond tonight fairly well. Still zero signal for WWBT-12. Previous to last Friday, I could pick them up easily on RF54.


I now receive the following channels (listed by RF channel): WJLA-7, WUSA-9, WBAL-11, WJZ-13, WFDC-15, WBOC-21, WNVC-24, WETA-27, MPT28, MPT29, WNVT-30, WHUT-33, WPXW-34, WDCA-35, WTTG-36, WMAR-38, WNUV-40, WMPT-42, WBFF-46, WMDT-47, WRC-48, and WDCW-50. During tropo (which happens often since I'm near the Bay), I can also receive WPVI-6, WGAL-8, WHYY-12, WPHL-17, WTVR-25, WTVE-25, KYW-26, WGTW-27, WVBT-29, WAVY-31, and WPSG-32.


This afternoon, I picked up analog night light KPRC out of Houston, TX for the second day in a row via Sporadic E. That's only 1243 miles!


----------



## systems2000

WJZ-DT is 5x5 here.


----------



## ajnabi

is anybody else having issues with channel 9 right now.


----------



## Digital Rules

Wow, finally a respectable signal on WJZ, and no sub channels to boot!! Nothing beats low compression 1080i!! What is WBAL waiting for????? I would think they would have been the first in line to fix this train wreck.


I still can't believe the FCC thought that these anemic power assignments would be sufficient. Many here had raised doubts about this way before the transition. I thought the folks at the FCC were supposed to be the experts.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ajnabi* /forum/post/16680636
> 
> 
> is anybody else having issues with channel 9 right now.



Nope, 9 is coming in about the same that it has all week (weak but watchable).


I'm 30 miles out.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ajnabi* /forum/post/16680636
> 
> 
> is anybody else having issues with channel 9 right now.



No issues here, but only 4 miles away.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16680642
> 
> 
> Wow, finally a respectable signal on WJZ, and no sub channels to boot!! Nothing beats low compression 1080i!! What is WBAL waiting for????? I would think they would have been the first in line to fix this train wreck.
> 
> 
> I still can't believe the FCC thought that these anemic power assignments would be sufficient. Many here had raised doubts about this way before the transition. I thought the folks at the FCC were supposed to be the experts.



WFLA-DT down in Tampa has been broadcasting on VHF channel 7 for a long time. I'm surprised that no one complained about that channel before now (unless they were at a decent power level all along). WFLA may have had an advantage of a 2000' tower above very flat land.


I guess that no testing could be done here since every VHF slot was still analog and on the air until June 12th. You would have thought that some late night testing would have been done by someone though.


I'm sure the FCC's math and propagation modeling looked good on paper. There are so many variables that can put a crimp in those results though. ATSC is still touchy even after many tuner enhancements. Since June 12th, my father in Western NC has lost NBC, CBS, and Fox permanently. DTV and mountains don't get along too well.


----------



## Digital Rules

At 23kw, I never thought Martinsburg WV's WWPX-DT 60 (RF12) was suffiicient, even for 65 miles. I would think something closer to 30kw should be the norm to replicate what 316kw of analog would do.


The interference from electrical storms really affects the signal after 30 or so miles. The receiving antenna, no matter how good, cannot correct this. Only higher transmitter power can minimize it's effects. How in the world can anyone expect VHF-LO to ever work for DTV if VHF-HI is so susceptible to interference??? Thank god we didn't get stuck with any channels lower than 7.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16680642
> 
> 
> I thought the folks at the FCC were supposed to be the experts.



They focused more on interference concerns than coverage concerns. I can't really fault them for that, even if it was a poor move. The logic they probably used is that you can't see interference in digital like you can in analog, so you'd want to make sure you didn't have any excess interference if at all possible. And they did that without factoring in coverage closer in.


What makes me mad is the way the politicians who actually run the FCC these days were all patting each other on the back over a "job well-done" before noon on June 12, as though it was all over with and finished.



> Quote:
> Thank god we didn't get stuck with any channels lower than 7.



Yes, lucky you. =/


- Trip


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16680716
> 
> 
> At 23kw, I never thought Martinsburg WV's WWPX-DT 60 (RF12) was suffiicient, even for 65 miles. I would think something closer to 30kw should be the norm to replicate what 316kw of analog would do.
> 
> 
> The interference from electrical storms really affects the signal after 30 or so miles. The receiving antenna, no matter how good, cannot correct this. Only higher transmitter power can minimize it's effects. How in the world can anyone expect VHF-LO to ever work for DTV if VHF-HI is so susceptible to interference??? Thank god we didn't get stuck with any channels lower than 7.



I have been watching WPVI-6 out of Philly for several nights now. It's actually more solid that I thought it would be.


I hear people in Philly can't pick it up too well though. Many people have rabbit ears in urban areas, however. Rabbit ears aren't really optimized for that long of a wavelength and indoor electrical interference must wreck the signal too.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16680716
> 
> 
> How in the world can anyone expect VHF-LO to ever work for DTV if VHF-HI is so susceptible to interference??? Thank god we didn't get stuck with any channels lower than 7.



In all fairness to the FCC, the FCC tried their darndest to discourage stations from returning to VHF-LO, but the stations insisted and persisted. Finally because the FCC couldn't legally prohibit assignments for Channels 2 through 6, they relented. WPVI-DT was one of those stations which insisted on returning to Channel 6. Not only did WPVI get what they wanted but they got more than they bargained for.


----------



## gmucklow




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/16679457
> 
> 
> WMPT was back to its old signal levels here early in the week, especially during the cooler, rainy periods. This evening it's up again, but so is everything else. Because it's off-axis, I'm thinking it might be more susceptible to wet leaves on the trees than some of the other stations, but I don't know. Has it been confirmed that they are and have been operating at their increased power?



It looks like WMPT 22 reduced power on Thursday. Has anybody else noticed this? Does anybody know what is going on there, power wise?


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

I wish MHz TV would put Euronews on the channel 24 signal. I can barely receive 30 out of Goldvein. I used to watch Euronews via analog satellite when I was stationed in Europe in the 90s. In addition, MHz should insert Eurosport into their lineup. I could sit and watch some of the strange (but very entertaining) content on that channel for hours.


----------



## DinoT

I haven't checked my signal strength in a few days. I now see that everything is coming in much stronger than last Saturday.


I still don't get 7 and 9. Just waiting on my Y5-7-13 to get here from Solid Signal. 11 and 13 are coming in strong from my Attic mounted DB4.


I also noticed WJZ had a scrolling ticker. Basically said that they increased their power and to tell your friends that are no longer receiving WJZ. I am due west of the tower so I might suffer when they go directional.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16680738
> 
> 
> They focused more on interference concerns than coverage concerns.



Oh, no, no, no. That's waaay too generous.


What they focused on was interference from _*other TV stations*_, both co-channel and adjacent channel.


But as far as I can tell, *the FCC gave no consideration at all to the general ambient interference/noise* that is common on VHF these days in many urban and suburban areas.


I mean, seriously, I haven't seen pure 3 degree background noise on VHF in YEARS. What I see when no TV signals are present is snow riddled with interference patterns from somebody's microprocessor, or leaky monitor, or god knows what from god knows where. I've ruled out everything in my house but this stuff could be coming from anywhere, and I just can't run around to all the neighbors and ask what they've got that's generating noise on my TVs.


A few years ago I picked up an FM signal from a gym about three blocks away that was using some kind of wireless device to serve it customers while they used the treadmills. And there was some kind of intermittent herringbone on channel 13 for a couple of years or so a few years back. Thank god that went away or I probably wouldn't be seeing WJZ even at the higher power level. Then there medical telemetry near hospitals and, really, countless other sources of interference plaguing VHF these days. It's definitely worse on low band, but high band really isn't quiet, either.


Now I suppose the FCC could send field engineers out to chase all this stuff down on a case by case basis, but they could spend forever doing that, and the taxpayer has to pay for it. So really and truly, if you want to use VHF, and we're clearly stuck with in the band-crowded big cities, the only effective solution is to crank up the power and try to drown the noise out.


The $64K question in my mind is will the FCC's future rulings on WSD be informed by this experience or will they just barrel ahead with their theories on that as well?


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/16680744
> 
> 
> I have been watching WPVI-6 out of Philly for several nights now. It's actually more solid that I thought it would be.
> 
> 
> I hear people in Philly can't pick it up too well though. Many people have rabbit ears in urban areas, however. Rabbit ears aren't really optimized for that long of a wavelength and indoor electrical interference must wreck the signal too.



Roof antennas also offer the advantage of favoring horizontally polarized TV signals over randomly polarized noise.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/16680904
> 
> 
> Oh, no, no, no. That's waaay too generous.
> 
> 
> What they focused on was interference from _*other TV stations*_, both co-channel and adjacent channel.
> 
> 
> But as far as I can tell, *the FCC gave no consideration at all to the general ambient interference/noise* that is common on VHF these days in many urban and suburban areas.
> 
> 
> I mean, seriously, I haven't seen pure 3 degree background noise on VHF in YEARS. What I see when no TV signals are present is snow riddled with interference patterns from somebody's microprocessor, or leaky monitor, or god knows what from god knows where. I've ruled out everything in my house but this stuff could be coming from anywhere, and I just can't run around to all the neighbors and ask what they've got that's generating noise on my TVs.



One of my sources of VHF interference is from Comcast's leaky lines in my neighborhood. It would be a bad business decision for Comcast to fix this though! They can't have people getting free high-definition/digital over-the-air TV in a neighborhood wired for cable! I'm only kidding, but I can only imagine how many frustrated OTA viewers have probably subscribed to satellite or cable this week in markets with VHF DTV channels.


In case you're wondering, I have filled out the proper FCC complaint form. It's been a couple of months and the lines are still leaky. I guess the neighbors really close to the leak are able to watch the analog cable channels on their portable TVs.


----------



## systems2000

Speaking of interference from within the house, when I was at my in-laws setting up their CECB, I discovered that when I turned on the Shop-Vac, the VHF-Hi station they were watching pixalated and went out.


Looks like some CECB's need an A/C line filter.


----------



## FineWare




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *FineWare* /forum/post/16638689
> 
> 
> I have a DirecTV HR-20 that has the OTA channels pre-selected in such a way that no scanning is supposed to be required. For some reason, the only new channel that I'm seeing is 7-2 and 30-6 thru 30-10. Neither 7-1 nor 7-3 was remapped to from RF39 to RF7, and 30-1 thru 30-5 was not remapped to RF30 to RF24. Likewise, neither 9-1 nor 9-2 were remapped from RF34 to RF9.
> 
> 
> I also have an older HR-10 that requires the OTA channels to be rescanned. Channels 7 and 9 both rescanned just fine. It also found RF24 and mapped those those channels to 30-1 thru 30-5 correctly. However, it didn't know what to do with 30-6 thru 30-10 that it discovered.



We having fun yet?


Since last week I was able to rescan the HR-10, and reset the off-air settings of HR-20. Both now have full-up ATSC 7 and 9. However, I'm still not sure either guide knows to look for 30-1 thru 30-5 on RF24 yet. 30-6 thru 30-10 are fine on RF30, but still, only the HR-10 is able to show 30-1 thru 30-5 as the result of an RF scan. I'll wait til a nice bit of early evening ducting occurs in July/August to hunt for the rest.


I've also read some of the issues that people are having because of VHF. Keep in mind some of us out in the back 40 (in a valley with heavy foliage no less) can't do UHF well at all, so VHF is the only reliable mode for the widest area. Its says my location is Remington, but this is really a pin prick on the map called Lakota. Eventually these stations will realize that they will need to adjust their patterns and power levels accordingly. I would also think that adding VHF to those UHF-only antennas would be wise. How many people really got stung, buying a DTV-ready antenna that was UHF-only?


----------



## keeper

Just and FYI. I live by the mountain in York county pa. 58 miles from the transmitters in Baltimore. I have a low signal (all the time)on channel 11 and 13 (around 61). I use an attic mounted antenna direct 91 with no preamp. Going to be adding a vhf only in the next few weeks.


----------



## JoeInNVa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/16680215
> 
> 
> I drove by TV Hill this evening to check out WJZ's and WMAR's new antennas - here's a picture. WJZ's is the larger one (it's a lower frequency, which has a longer wavelength, so the antenna is larger).
> 
> 
> Cheers -



I dont think they work well like that...


----------



## pennstatefan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *FineWare* /forum/post/16681357
> 
> 
> How many people really got stung, buying a DTV-ready antenna that was UHF-only?



You may be surprised.


I remember reading this forum a few years back and a lot of people (professional and self installs) were installing new UHF only antennas because that's how they were told the new HD channels were going to be broadcast. Would be curious to go back to some of the old threads and see how many times it was said that 'you only need a UHF antenna to receive OTA HD broadcasts'.


----------



## hsweiss

What's the deal with Baltimore's Channel 24 digital reception? I live in Anne Arundel County just south of BWI Airport. I have an attic mounted UHF antenna pointed in the direction of TV Hill. Before the cutover, I could get the analog channel 24 on a simple UHF loop. But their digital signal has gone from OK to non-watchable (which probably tracked the growth of leaves on the surrounding trees). I was hoping that after the cutover that they would increase power or realign their DTV transmissions. But nothing has changed. On the other hand, I do get WMAR channel 2, WRC 4, WTTG 5, WBAL 11, WJZ 13, WMPT 22, WETA 26, WBFF 45, WNUV 54, and ION 66. WMAR has had the most change for the positive since the cutover - they used to be marginal but now their signal strength is great (I heard they took over WJZ's UHF xmitter). WBAL and WJZ went downhill on signal but with WJZ looks much better as of last night with their increased power. (Yes I do realize that I'm running a UHF antenna so I have no right to complain about VHF problems!). I also realize that 2, 11, 13, 45, and 54 are on TV Hill but channel 24 is slightly further to the west in Catonsville. Is UHF that directional? After all I'm getting WMPT 22 which is 180 degrees behind the direction in which my antenna is pointed and WETA which is about 240 degrees off. Thanks...


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Cox Launches New HD Channels in Line-Up, Including Family-Friendly Channels*


CHESAPEAKE, Va., June 18, 2009 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ ----Cox Communications customers now have access to new HD channels, including two new family friendly high-definition channels with the addition of Disney Channel HD and ABC Family HD to Cox's lineup.


Also, a variety of content from ABC Family, Disney Channel, Disney XD and SOAPnet will be available to Cox Digital Cable customers through the On DEMAND library on Channel 1.


"Cox is committed to offering our customers the highest quality HD channels and On DEMAND shows that they want and we are pleased to add more family-friendly programming to our high-definition lineup just in time for the summer months," said Jennifer Garrett, Vice President Sales and Marketing.


Disney Channel HD, located on channel 738, features the channel's Disney Channel Original Movies in high-definition as well as original live-action and animated series for older kids and Playhouse Disney programming for preschoolers.


ABC Family HD, located on channel 719, simulcasts ABC Family's popular line-up of original movies, series and specials.


WPXV HD ION, located on channel 749, features an array of hit television series, theatrical and made-for-television movies, and specials. Also, HBO2 HD will be added to channel 784.


Garrett adds, "HD service from Cox gives customers more of the high-quality HD programming they really want. Customers can watch everything from favorite prime time shows to the hottest sports match-ups in crystal clear high- definition. There is no extra HD programming fee and no extra equipment to buy."


With the noted channel launches, Cox customers can access up to 60 high definition channels -- all part of HD service with no additional monthly programming charge. These channels include the highest rated networks such as ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and PBS, as well as popular cable channels such as ESPN HD, ESPN 2 HD, Discovery HD, TNT HD and A&E HD.


Finally, for Cox customers in West Point, New Kent and King & Queen County only, WUPV HD CW Richmond will be added on channel 713.


Garrett notes, "With these additions and changes, we now offer nine local broadcasters in HD ... and every major local Richmond channel is offered in HD to Cox's western area customers."


Future additions


Cox is consistently enhancing its network with more features and functionality. Due to the planned schedule for network enhancements, Disney Channel HD, ABC Family HD, and HBO2 HD will be available to subscribers in James City County and York County later this year.


For more information, contact Felicia Blow at (757) 222-8432 or [email protected] .

http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/mar...ndly-channels/


----------



## Trip in VA

WUTB-DT has a highly directional antenna that puts almost no power to the south, so if you're south of their transmitter, you're likely not seeing much of anything.


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hsweiss* /forum/post/16681737
> 
> 
> Is UHF that directional?



WUTB-DT 24 (RF 41) is using a hightly directiuonal antenna pattern that limits it's power to areas due south of Baltimore.


This is required by the FCC to protect adjacent channel WMPT-DT 22 (RF42) from interference. You may be getting a more potent signal from WMPT, just east of Crofton, since they raised their power recently.


It looks like WUTB has in fact has already increased their power ouput. The old entry for 209kw has been removed from the FCC database.


***Ooops, Trip beat me to it !!


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hsweiss* /forum/post/16681737
> 
> 
> What's the deal with Baltimore's Channel 24 digital reception? I live in Anne Arundel County just south of BWI Airport. I have an attic mounted UHF antenna pointed in the direction of TV Hill.



As Trip posted, WUTB-DT 24 has a highly directional antenna pattern. They have interference issues on UHF 41 that they did not have on analog 24. WUTB-DT has been running at 200 kW, but filed a maximization application to increase to 290 kW last year. Checking the FCC database, WUTB now has a construction permit for the 290 kW, so the FCC must have granted their application recently. Don't know if WUTB is still at 200 kW or if they have or will soon increase to 290 kW. I can get WUTB-DT 24 in Sterling, but it is on the weak side compared to WMAR, WBFF, WNUV in Baltimore.


However, an increase to 290 kW is not likely to help that much to those located in the deep notches of the antenna pattern. To see the antenna pattern, go to http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=60552 , scroll down to channel 42, digital, Construction permit, Effective Radiated Power: 290 kW. Click on the Relative Field Polar Plot to see just how directional the antenna pattern is.


To get My Network programming in HD (or what is left of My Network programming), work on getting WDCA My 20 which is operating at 500 kW on UHF 35 in NW DC.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16681960
> 
> 
> However, an increase to 290 kW is not likely to help that much to those located in the deep notches of the antenna pattern.



IIRC, the 200Kw was at a lower height. For fringe viewers, the increase in height would make more difference than the power increase.


----------



## rickp5000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16679941
> 
> 
> To point UHF antennas in opposite directions, they should be identical antennas, vertically stacked one over the other, and the co-axial cable length from the splitter to both antennas should be identical. Even with that, it is tricky to combine multiple antennas on the same band without filters. What UHF antenna do you have?
> 
> 
> A 4 bay bowtie can get stations in opposite directions, even better with the back screen removed. I just did this to my CM 4221 4 Bay to try to get WHAG 25 to the NW with the antenna aimed to the east. It is working fine on WHAG, but now I am getting dropouts on WUTB 24 and the weaker & long range Baltimore stations. Removing the back screen loses 3 dB to the front.
> 
> 
> If you were getting better results with the UHF antenna for the UHF stations, switch back to it. You could look at getting a upper VHF antenna and combine them with a VHF/UHF combiner. With all the recommendations for upper VHF antennas, I hope solidsignal and warrenelectronics stocked up ahead of the transition on VHF antennas!




Thanks for the info. I have a 4 bay bowtie antenna that I had been using. Last night I stopped at Radio Shack and picked up this antenna I put it in a second floor attic, not over the second floor where it would be permanently mounted and started moving it around. Nothing I did would pick up channel 7 or 9. Channel 4 came in much stronger when it was pointed towards Baltimore and it picked up 16, 28, and 47 from Salisbury while pointed in the opposite direction. When I started moving it around I was actually able to pick up Channel 12, WHYY from Philly.


Would an amp help at all to get 7 and/or 9? Right now the antenna is only hooked up to 1 TV, probably 40 foot of RG6 in-between.


----------



## mdviewer25

I also picked up WJZ 13 here in Forestville at 45-50%. So now the only channels that I am without are WBAL 11 and WUTB 24. Also, WBOC has been strong for the past week. Two questions:


1.) Why do we still have analog 47? If this were off the air I would have picked up WMDT from Salisbury this morning. The signal was fluctuating between 10 and 40.


2.) Why can't MPT move their digital signal back to 22? This would eliminate the interference issues with WUTB.


----------



## hsweiss

Many thanks for the information. I had not seen this polar plot before and now its quite apparent why I can barely receive their signal. It sure would be nice if they had a bit more power to the southeast but all-in-all if I had to chose I'd rather have a good signal from WMPT 22 PBS than from WUTB 24 but once in a while I do have a need for a rerun of Everyone Loves Raymond!


----------



## CycloneGT

I updated the numbers on the initial post of this thread. Please proofread and let me know of any changes that need to be made.


Hard to Believe that this thread has been going on for nearly six years now.







I want to thank everyone who participates regularly for making this more than just a thread, but a community.


Here is the original thread. http://archive2.avsforum.com/avs-vb/...d.php?t=275834 Hard to believe how few HD channels there used to be (and that post was last updated in 2005). Back in in 2003 at this time there were only a few HD channels. HBO, Showtime, Discovery HD Theater, HDNet, and ESPN (which wasn't carried by anyone around here). It sure has grown since then.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16683099
> 
> 
> 2.If WMPT-DT 22 goes to RF 22, then there would be interference issues with WRIC-DT 8 (RF 22) Richmond.



WRIC is less of an issue than WNJS in Camden NJ.


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/16682402
> 
> 
> 1.) Why do we still have analog 47? If this were off the air I would have picked up WMDT from Salisbury this morning. The signal was fluctuating between 10 and 40.
> 
> 
> 2.) Why can't MPT move their digital signal back to 22? This would eliminate the interference issues with WUTB.



1.The low power analogs didn't have to transition on June 12. I'm not sure if they are working with a certain deadline, but channels 25, 47, & 58 are still broadcasting in analog from DC.


2.If WMPT-DT 22 goes to RF 22, then there would be interference issues with WRIC-DT 8 (RF 22) Richmond. With a good outdoor antenna, WUTB should be receivable to at least the southern edge of the DC beltway. I have noticed quite an improvement here in Arlington


----------



## pclement




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *keeper* /forum/post/16681433
> 
> 
> Just and FYI. I live by the mountain in York county pa. 58 miles from the transmitters in Baltimore. I have a low signal (all the time)on channel 11 and 13 (around 61). I use an attic mounted antenna direct 91 with no preamp. Going to be adding a vhf only in the next few weeks.



I get betwen 95% and 100% signal for 11 and 13 in southern York county using a VHF and UHF antennae with a signal booster. If you do not have a VHF antennae you should not get 11 and 13 (or 7 and 9 from DC or 8 from Harrisburg) since they are now broadcasting on VHF. You may need a signal booster, such as CM-7777, to get a consistent strong signal.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16683137
> 
> 
> WRIC is less of an issue than WNJS in Camden NJ.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Thanks Trip!!


----------



## pclement




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *FineWare* /forum/post/16681357
> 
> 
> We having fun yet?
> 
> 
> Since last week I was able to rescan the HR-10, and reset the off-air settings of HR-20. Both now have full-up ATSC 7 and 9. However, I'm still not sure either guide knows to look for 30-1 thru 30-5 on RF24 yet. 30-6 thru 30-10 are fine on RF30, but still, only the HR-10 is able to show 30-1 thru 30-5 as the result of an RF scan. I'll wait til a nice bit of early evening ducting occurs in July/August to hunt for the rest.
> 
> 
> I've also read some of the issues that people are having because of VHF. Keep in mind some of us out in the back 40 (in a valley with heavy foliage no less) can't do UHF well at all, so VHF is the only reliable mode for the widest area. Its says my location is Remington, but this is really a pin prick on the map called Lakota. Eventually these stations will realize that they will need to adjust their patterns and power levels accordingly. I would also think that adding VHF to those UHF-only antennas would be wise. How many people really got stung, buying a DTV-ready antenna that was UHF-only?



I get a strong signal, 80+, for 30-1 thru 30-5, but there is nothing there. The guide states these are for foreign countries/laguages? Is there really anything being broadcast?


----------



## pclement




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/16682555
> 
> 
> I updated the numbers on the initial post of this thread. Please proofread and let me know of any changes that need to be made.
> 
> 
> Hard to Believe that this thread has been going on for nearly six years now.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I want to thank everyone who participates regularly for making this more than just a thread, but a community.
> 
> 
> Here is the original thread. http://archive2.avsforum.com/avs-vb/...d.php?t=275834 Hard to believe how few HD channels there used to be (and that post was last updated in 2005). Back in in 2003 at this time there were only a few HD channels. HBO, Showtime, Discovery HD Theater, HDNet, and ESPN (which wasn't carried by anyone around here). It sure has grown since then.



A BIG thanks to cyclone GT for his work on this thread!


After making several adjustments after the transition, my OTA reception is the best it's ever been. I just do not know if it will last since reception of digital signals is so darn inconsistent.


----------



## TheKrell




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/16682555
> 
> 
> I updated the numbers on the initial post of this thread. Please proofread and let me know of any changes that need to be made.



Thanks Cyclone!


Quick note: MHz channel true frequency assignments are reversed. Subchannels 1-5 are on 24, 6-10 are on 30.


----------



## bmcent1




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/16682555
> 
> 
> I updated the numbers on the initial post of this thread. Please proofread and let me know of any changes that need to be made.



Amazing work! Thanks to you and everyone who keeps the information flowing here.


One comment after a proofread - The listing of channels shows several Hi-VHF channels in orange, and the note at the bottom of the table says orange represents UHF channels.


Edited to add -


On the "Who has what chart, what does XS mean? Most things are marked X but some are XS and I didn't see a key."


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pclement* /forum/post/16683251
> 
> 
> I get a strong signal, 80+, for 30-1 thru 30-5, but there is nothing there. The guide states these are for foreign countries/laguages? Is there really anything being broadcast?



Yes,


30.1-30.5 are broadcast from Merrifield, VA on RF24. 30.6-30.10 are broadcast from RF 30 in Manassas, VA. My guess is that your particular tuner isn't able to map all 10 subchannels since they are broadcast on 2 different frequencies.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16683676
> 
> 
> Yes,
> 
> 
> 30.1-30.5 are broadcast from Merrifield, VA on RF24. 30.6-30.10 are broadcast from RF 30 in Manassas, VA. My guess is that your particular tuner isn't able to map all 10 subchannels since they are broadcast on 2 different frequencies.



Webpage listing what is on the 10 MHz sub-channels: http://www.mhznetworks.org/index.php...d=36&Itemid=62 . My understanding is that some DirecTV, Dish, and the TivoHD STB/DVRs have a loaded memory table of where the local stations are so they can map them to the guide data. From other posts here, it appears that some may have an incorrect RF channel of 30 for WNVC because WNVT is on RF 30, but gets mapped to 30-6 to 30-10. The STB tuners should allow a manual entry, but there are many "features" of ATSC tuners in general that were poorly thought out at the practical level.


----------



## pclement




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16683676
> 
> 
> Yes,
> 
> 
> 30.1-30.5 are broadcast from Merrifield, VA on RF24. 30.6-30.10 are broadcast from RF 30 in Manassas, VA. My guess is that your particular tuner isn't able to map all 10 subchannels since they are broadcast on 2 different frequencies.



I am surprised I get a signal as I live in southern PA. It could be I am actually getting channel 49-1 (Redlion, PA) that broadcasts on 30-1 and the guide is showing it as the DC 30-1. I will check this tonight.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16683676
> 
> 
> Yes,
> 
> 
> 30.1-30.5 are broadcast from Merrifield, VA on RF24. 30.6-30.10 are broadcast from RF 30 in Manassas, VA. My guess is that your particular tuner isn't able to map all 10 subchannels since they are broadcast on 2 different frequencies.




What is the purpose of having them broadcast from two locations? Or is the content of the five sub channels repeated at each location. So 30.1 thorugh 30.5 is the same as 30.6 through 30.10?


----------



## pclement




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/16682555
> 
> 
> I updated the numbers on the initial post of this thread. Please proofread and let me know of any changes that need to be made.
> 
> 
> Hard to Believe that this thread has been going on for nearly six years now.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I want to thank everyone who participates regularly for making this more than just a thread, but a community.
> 
> 
> Here is the original thread. http://archive2.avsforum.com/avs-vb/...d.php?t=275834 Hard to believe how few HD channels there used to be (and that post was last updated in 2005). Back in in 2003 at this time there were only a few HD channels. HBO, Showtime, Discovery HD Theater, HDNet, and ESPN (which wasn't carried by anyone around here). It sure has grown since then.



50-2 is now broadcasting ThisTV. The list should be updated for 50-2. Thanks.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/16684007
> 
> 
> What is the purpose of having them broadcast from two locations? Or is the content of the five sub channels repeated at each location. So 30.1 thorugh 30.5 is the same as 30.6 through 30.10?



All 10 channels are part of the MHZ network. The studio for both stations is in Merrifield. I guess they did it this way because they couldn't cram 10 subchannels on 1 channel without making the picture unwatchable. I'm still wondering why WNVT is licensed in Golvein, VA? It's transmitter has always been near Manssas, even when it was a Virginia Public Television station.(Analog 53)


----------



## bwhitney

What happened to WUSA 9 today. Came home to find my normally marginal 55% signal in the totally unreceivable 30% range. Has anyone else seen this today?


Thanks


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bmcent1* /forum/post/16683626
> 
> 
> Amazing work! Thanks to you and everyone who keeps the information flowing here.
> 
> 
> One comment after a proofread - The listing of channels shows several Hi-VHF channels in orange, and the note at the bottom of the table says orange represents UHF channels.
> 
> 
> Edited to add -
> 
> 
> On the "Who has what chart, what does XS mean? Most things are marked X but some are XS and I didn't see a key."



Ok. I will fix the legend at the bottom. About the local channels. For the longest time, it was simply an X for a OTA channel. But when Satellite started to carry HD locals, I put an S next to the X. I'll put that in a legend also. I try to be a bit of a minimalist, so I tend to leave things "unsaid".


Oh, and thank you to all for the kind words. It is really all of you who make this thread what it is. I just scrape your comments and postings to make up the entries in the first post. I just did it to keep tract of milestones of this DTV transition, so we wouldn't have to dig through the old threads to recall key dates. Now that the Big date has come and gone, I'm not sure what the new "stories" will be. I'm guessing that the next things that we will have to look forward to will be the termination of SD networks in favor of their HD siblings. I'm sure the MSOs and content providers would love to get rid of the duplicity of SD/HD simulcasts.


----------



## bwhitney

WUSA signal has returned. It was reduced for at least 4 hours. I found it lost to me at lunch and I just checked it and it is back up to its marginal mid 50% range. Out here in God's country about the only two channels I am within the predicted FCC range is Channel 7 and 9, but they are now my weakest. I can get Channels 11, 13, 2, better that 7 and 9 out of Washington.


Any word of WUSA is seeking a power increase? Channel 7 is about 10% higher and much more stable. Both could use a significant power increase since we all now know the FCC prediction for VHF coverage is flat wrong.


----------



## howie14




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16684250
> 
> 
> All 10 channels are part of the MHZ network. The studio for both stations is in Merrifield. I guess they did it this way because they couldn't cram 10 subchannels on 1 channel without making the picture unwatchable. I'm still wondering why WNVT is licensed in Golvein, VA? It's transmitter has always been near Manssas, even when it was a Virginia Public Television station.(Analog 53)



Here in central MD, 30.1-.5 are very strong. 30.6-.10 are non-existent.


----------



## Bigfork

New member just wanted to pop in to A) say thanks and B) ask a quick question.


A) Thanks. Found this forum and this thread via Google when I lost WBAL and WJZ after a year of enjoying their digital broadcasts after finally dumping Comca$t. After reading this thread I now know what happened, why it happened and (I think) how to fix it.


B) Indirectly related to this thread I have a little question. I want to relocate my set top UHF/VHF antenna temporarily until (hopefully) WBAL ups it's signal (I've got WJZ working now). The PO of my house ran coax to various rooms and I was hoping to connect my antenna, a Turk HDTVa, in a back upstairs bedroom, connect it to a coax outlet and then find which coax line in the basement it is connected to and run it over to where my MythTV box is and then up to my TV. Since there are several lines in the basement run for various reasons what's the easiest way to tell which is connected to which? I was hoping that since I don't have a small TV to connect to in the basement could I simply connect a battery to the two conductors and then use a multimeter to look for the same voltage on one of the coax cables in the basement? Is there a simpler method?


Thanks,

Bigfork


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bigfork* /forum/post/16684771
> 
> 
> ... could I simply connect a battery to the two conductors and then use a multimeter to look for the same voltage on one of the coax cables in the basement? Is there a simpler method?



That should work, I've done similar things in the past. 9V batteries work well for this. Note that if you have any splitters or other devices on the line, they might not pass DC current. Unlikely given your explanation, just thought I'd point that out


----------



## aaronwt

So is there any chance of WUSA increasing their signal strength? I messed around with both my Square shooters today and I found a position that lowers WRC signal by 25% and that position gets me WJLA at the same strength as WRC. Not as high as I would like but it seems solid. I can get a faint signal from WUSA but it's not stong enough for my TiVos to show a picture. If they could transmist at the power of WJLA I would probably be able o get it. Otherwise what was one of my strongest stations is now my weakest.


----------



## chicken00

THE FCC IS COMING TO MY HOME! I live in Clarksville, MD (18 miles from TV Hill in Baltimore), and have complained to both WBAL 11 and WJZ 13 about my inability to receive their signals with amplified rabbit ears. (I'm also having intermittent problems with WUSA 9). On Wednesday, WBAL called me and asked for permission to give my name and phone # to the FCC, and today I received a call from the Columbia, MD field office of the FCC. They are sending technicians out to my house next week to take both indoor and outdoor signal strength readings. So I guess they are doing something about the VHF problem. WJZ has increased power, and I can see them now, when I couldn't the other day.


----------



## rviele




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chicken00* /forum/post/16685992
> 
> 
> THE FCC IS COMING TO MY HOME! I live in Clarksville, MD (18 miles from TV Hill in Baltimore), and have complained to both WBAL 11 and WJZ 13 about my inability to receive their signals with amplified rabbit ears. (I'm also having intermittent problems with WUSA 9). On Wednesday, WBAL called me and asked for permission to give my name and phone # to the FCC, and today I received a call from the Columbia, MD field office of the FCC. They are sending technicians out to my house next week to take both indoor and outdoor signal strength readings. So I guess they are doing something about the VHF problem. WJZ has increased power, and I can see them now, when I couldn't the other day.



i'd like to know if wbal is going to increase power i found out that wjz got permission from fcc. i live in harford county.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chicken00* /forum/post/16685992
> 
> 
> THE FCC IS COMING TO MY HOME! I live in Clarksville, MD (18 miles from TV Hill in Baltimore), and have complained to both WBAL 11 and WJZ 13 about my inability to receive their signals with amplified rabbit ears. (I'm also having intermittent problems with WUSA 9). On Wednesday, WBAL called me and asked for permission to give my name and phone # to the FCC, and today I received a call from the Columbia, MD field office of the FCC. They are sending technicians out to my house next week to take both indoor and outdoor signal strength readings. So I guess they are doing something about the VHF problem. WJZ has increased power, and I can see them now, when I couldn't the other day.



That's very cool







Point out to them that Howard County is also part of the D.C. metro for us, will ya? We should be able to get 7 and 9 as well as 11 and 13 up here, albeit not with rabbit ears, I think a proper antenna is expected at 25-30 miles out. Please let us know what they say about your situation.


----------



## DinoT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pclement* /forum/post/16683196
> 
> 
> I get betwen 95% and 100% signal for 11 and 13 in southern York county using a VHF and UHF antennae with a signal booster. If you do not have a VHF antennae you should not get 11 and 13 (or 7 and 9 from DC or 8 from Harrisburg) since they are now broadcasting on VHF. You may need a signal booster, such as CM-7777, to get a consistent strong signal.



I get Ch11 an Ch13 with a UHF only DB4 (4 bowtie). Pretty strong signals too.


----------



## Remoteless

47 has added a sub-channel


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Remoteless* /forum/post/16686902
> 
> 
> 47 has added a sub-channel



47? What channel is that? I thought 47 was still *analog* WMDO?


I can get about out 95% signal strength on that freq. aimed towards Baltimore, but I can't lock onto anything digital. Aimed towards D.C. I get nothing but noise.


Do you mean virtual 47, as in VHF 8? Apologies if so.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bigfork* /forum/post/16684771
> 
> 
> Since there are several lines in the basement run for various reasons what's the easiest way to tell which is connected to which? I was hoping that since I don't have a small TV to connect to in the basement could I simply connect a battery to the two conductors and then use a multimeter to look for the same voltage on one of the coax cables in the basement? Is there a simpler method?



Don't bother with the battery - just short the inner conductor to the outer fitting and look for a short at the other end. Introducing a voltage into something which you don't know how it's connected may cause a problem.

Might as well do this for all the coax runs in the house and make a diagram - this way you won't need to remember the next time.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/16687024
> 
> 
> 47? What channel is that? I thought 47 was still *analog* WMDO?
> 
> 
> I can get about out 95% signal strength on that freq. aimed towards Baltimore, but I can't lock onto anything digital. Aimed towards D.C. I get nothing but noise.
> 
> 
> Do you mean virtual 47, as in VHF 8? Apologies if so.



Remoteless is referring to WMDO-DT 47 (RF 8). They have in fact added a 47.2 subchannel. It is now showing music videos (LATN-VIDEOSA LACARTE).


I still don't see how this station could have more than a handful of viewers OTA. I can't imagine anything but an outdoor antenna picking them up over a mile away. At least they finally fixed their PSIP encoder. It only took 9 months.


----------



## Bigfork




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/16687170
> 
> 
> Don't bother with the battery - just short the inner conductor to the outer fitting and look for a short at the other end. Introducing a voltage into something which you don't know how it's connected may cause a problem.
> 
> Might as well do this for all the coax runs in the house and make a diagram - this way you won't need to remember the next time.



One of my friends suggested the same. That is even easier than the battery solution. Thanks.


Bigfork


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chicken00* /forum/post/16685992
> 
> 
> THE FCC IS COMING TO MY HOME! I live in Clarksville, MD (18 miles from TV Hill in Baltimore), and have complained to both WBAL 11 and WJZ 13 about my inability to receive their signals with amplified rabbit ears. (I'm also having intermittent problems with WUSA 9). On Wednesday, WBAL called me and asked for permission to give my name and phone # to the FCC, and today I received a call from the Columbia, MD field office of the FCC. They are sending technicians out to my house next week to take both indoor and outdoor signal strength readings. So I guess they are doing something about the VHF problem. WJZ has increased power, and I can see them now, when I couldn't the other day.



I've discovered a new problem with WJZ. Whenever I get WJZ to have stable reception, WUSA starts to break up and vice versa. Hope they can increase the power just a little on both.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16687565
> 
> 
> Remoteless is referring to WMDO-DT 47 (RF 8). They have in fact added a 47.2 subchannel. It is now showing music videos (LATN-VIDEOSA LACARTE).
> 
> 
> I still don't see how this station could have more than a handful of viewers OTA. I can't imagine anything but an outdoor antenna picking them up over a mile away. At least they finally fixed their PSIP encoder. It only took 9 months.



That channel doesn't even register for me. I think you have to have an outdoor antenna for that one. BTW, does anyone know if they will shut this analog station down in the future. I don't know if it is technically a low power or not.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16687565
> 
> 
> Remoteless is referring to WMDO-DT 47 (RF 8). They have in fact added a 47.2 subchannel. It is now showing music videos (LATN-VIDEOSA LACARTE).
> 
> 
> I still don't see how this station could have more than a handful of viewers OTA. I can't imagine anything but an outdoor antenna picking them up over a mile away. At least they finally fixed their PSIP encoder. It only took 9 months.



I don't understand why they haven't done what almost every other Entravision station has done. They're almost all multicasting their sister station(s), even if they're on the same tower and everything.


This would make so much sense:


14-1 Univision

14-2 TeleFutura

14-3 LATV

14-4 WJAL


- Trip


----------



## zaldwaik




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16641614
> 
> 
> Yes, You need a real VHF antenna for any chance of getting 7 in Ashburn. This is your cheapest option. http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...p?PROD=Y5-7-13
> 
> Join the 2 antennas together with this http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?prod=UVSJ
> 
> 
> If you want a one antenna solution http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...p?PROD=HD7694P



'

I am in the same situation and want to get the Y5-7-13, I already have the CM4221 in my attic. However, my attic opening is 33" diagonal, and the Y5-7-13 is 35" wide, do you know if it can be disassembled, or if there is a similar VHF antenna that is slightly smaller, but just as good?


Thanks


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16687565
> 
> 
> Remoteless is referring to WMDO-DT 47 (RF 8). They have in fact added a 47.2 subchannel. It is now showing music videos (LATN-VIDEOSA LACARTE).
> 
> 
> I still don't see how this station could have more than a handful of viewers OTA. I can't imagine anything but an outdoor antenna picking them up over a mile away. At least they finally fixed their PSIP encoder. It only took 9 months.



I live right in the middle of NW D.C., and I can't pull it in with an indoor antenna at all. And I'm pretty sure they're transmitting from somewhere very nearby.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zaldwaik* /forum/post/16687832
> 
> 
> '
> 
> I am in the same situation and want to get the Y5-7-13, I already have the CM4221 in my attic. However, my attic opening is 33" diagonal, and the Y5-7-13 is 35" wide, do you know if it can be disassembled, or if there is a similar VHF antenna that is slightly smaller, but just as good?



I double checked the manual for the Y series VHF antennas at the antennacraft website ( http://www.antennacraft.net/Yagi.html ). Just like the Winegard Y-6713 upper VHF antenna, the antenna elements fold up so you can get it through the opening. All upper VHF antennas will have reflectors around 34" to 35" wide to match the 1/2 wavelength of VHF 7.


Could anyone confirm that WJZ-DT 13 is still at the increased STA power of 27 kW - or at least appears to be at greater power than they were after the switch. I could not get WJZ last night, after it came in on Thursday with the power increase. I was messing with my antenna setup for the physical UHF stations (not easy getting WHAG 25, WNVC, WNVT, WFPT, WUTB all at the same time from Sterling), so I might have messed up VHF reception (lose coaxial, whatever).


----------



## SternLover21215

Hi everyone,


Like most people on this thread, the transition messed me up a little. I live in Baltimore and I have 2 Winegaurd ss-3300. Before the switch I was able to get all the Baltimore OTA stations in both my bedroom and basement, all the DC OTA stations in my bedroom, and all the DC stations except WJLA in my basement. Now, I've lost WUSA and WJLA and I'm not quite sure what to do to get them back.


When it comes to OTA antennas I have no knowledge. I read these forums and gained a little insight. I'm about 35 miles from WUSA and WJLA's towers. I really want to get an indoor antenna to pick up these stations because of my HOA and I don't know how to install a roof antenna (granted I can hire someone to do the installation). From the looks of things I may have to get a roof top. If anybody has any recommendations I'd greatly appreciate it. Since this is my first post I can't post my tvfool.com results.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16688034
> 
> 
> Could anyone confirm that WJZ-DT 13 is still at the increased STA power of 27 kW



I am seeing a much more robust signal than before on WJZ. I was getting 8 out of 10 bars for both WBAL & WJZ, but now WJZ is solid with 10 bars.


I'm not sure if WHAG-DT 25 is still tweaking or not. It doesn't come in well at night, but coming in great right now. I think the Richmond station on the same frequency is drowning it out at night. I'm not sure if this will affect you quite as much since you are further north.


----------



## MrMolding

After I lost 7 and 9, I tried using rabbit ears in my attic to get 7 and 9 in Chantilly (South Riding) and I had off and on pixelation with airplanes and rain. My signal strength was about 50-60% on my Sony TV.


So, I ordered an Antennacraft Y10 VHF-Hi 10 ft / 35 In wide and installed it in my attic yesterday. It fits between the 24 in on center rafters fairly well and I was able to point it right toward the DC towers (only at DC because it only fits lengthwise).


I am happy to report that with this monster in my attic, I get 97% signal strength for WUSA 9 and 87% signal strength for Channel 7. This goes into the VHF input on a 7777 preamp. I also have a 4221 pointed at DC for UHF and a 4228 pointed at Baltimore (spaced 4 feet apart) into a Lindsay combiner and then into the 7777.


I realize that this UHF setup is not recommended because of different UHF antenna types, but I get all of DC at at least 90% signal strength and MPT at 60% all in my attic. No other Baltimore/Annapolis at all I'm sorry to say.


But, if you can fit it, I really recommend the Y10. I originally wanted to try the Y5 because it's smaller, but I measured and the Y10 fit with great results.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16687812
> 
> 
> This would make so much sense:
> 
> 14-1 Univision
> 
> 14-2 TeleFutura
> 
> 14-3 LATV
> 
> 14-4 WJAL



Well, Univision is going HD, later this year IIRC. Don't want to load up a bunch of sub-channels, although that has not stopped Ion or NBC. TeleFuture is a different network which has a low power station in the DC market. May be legal issues with putting it on the Univision stations.


Telemundo is already HD in some markets, so WMDO-CA 47 might be planning to go HD on their low power VHF 8 broadcast. WMDO-LD is at 198 watts on VHF 8, don't know why they would not have applied for 300 Watts, the maximum allowed for low power VHF just to get a little better coverage. If the FCC changes the maximum power allowed for digital VHF in Zone 1, they might also increase the power limits for low power digital VHF.


The analog WMDO-CA 47 is a low power class A station. They will probably keep it on the air until they have to shut it down at the mandated shutdown for analog low power stations, but no date has been set for that beyond a possible 2012. As a Class A station, WMDO has protection for their broadcast channel that a LP or translator does not have, so they can't get bumped by a full power station channel move.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16688094
> 
> 
> Well, Univision is going HD, later this year IIRC. Don't want to load up a bunch of sub-channels, although that has not stopped Ion or NBC. TeleFuture is a different network which has a low power station in the DC market. May be legal issues with putting it on the Univision stations.



But this is exactly what Entravision does in Hartford, where WUVN is:


18-1 Univision

18-2 Univision (WHTX-LP Springfield MA)

18-3 TeleFutura (WUTH-CA)

18-4 LATV


And Entravision does lots of multicasting in other markets, see Laredo and Brownsville.


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrMolding* /forum/post/16688089
> 
> 
> So, I ordered an Antennacraft Y5 VHF-Hi 10 ft / 35 In wide and installed it in my attic yesterday. It fits between the 24 in on center rafters fairly well and I was able to point it right toward the DC towers (only at DC because it only fits lengthwise). . . . . . I am happy to report that with this monster in my attic. . . . .



If you decide to go with the larger model, the Winegard YA-1713 is a better choice. It is only 100" long versus 120" for the Antennacraft model. It's a few dollars cheaper, a better performer IMO, and already 75 ohm ready.


----------



## BritInVA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16641614
> 
> 
> Yes, You need a real VHF antenna for any chance of getting 7 in Ashburn. This is your cheapest option. http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...p?PROD=Y5-7-13
> 
> Join the 2 antennas together with this http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?prod=UVSJ
> 
> 
> If you want a one antenna solution http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...p?PROD=HD7694P



Thanks Digital Rules


This did the trick I combined the 'AntennaCraft Y5-7-13' to 'Antennas Direct DB2' and now get WJLA and WUSA.


I now get 4.1, 4.2. 4.3, 5.1, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 9.1, 9.2, 20.1, 30.1, 30.2, 30.3, 30.4, 30.5, 66.1, 66.2, 66.3 and 66.4.


Good signal on the VHF channels;

- WJLA (89)

- WUSA (87)


But UHF channels are weaker;

- WRC (67)

- WTTG (78)

- WPXW (76)

- WDCA (70)

- WNVT (76)


Not getting some of the others that thought I would

- WFDC

- WNVC

- WDCW

- WHUT

- WJAL

- WFPT


This is my TV Fool chart

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...618aa675578dde 


If any suggestions on improve the UHF signals/channels appreciate it. I have tried adjustmentsthe the UHF antenna but this is best I could get.


[EDIT] BT way this is an attic installation (plywood roof with asphalt shingles)


Cheers,

Mark


----------



## iontyre

On Comcast digital cable here in Harford County WBAL does not include 5.1 Dolby Digital. Do they broadcast OTA with 5.1? If not, are they planning to upgrade?


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16688094
> 
> 
> Well, Univision is going HD, later this year IIRC. Don't want to load up a bunch of sub-channels, although that has not stopped Ion or NBC. TeleFuture is a different network which has a low power station in the DC market. May be legal issues with putting it on the Univision stations.



To clarify/summarize:


Telefutura is a network owned by Univision Communications.

Telemundo is a network owned by NBC Universal.


Entravision is a station group owner that owns/operates primarily Univision/Telefutura duopolies, including WFDC and WMDO in DC.


Univision is on WFDC-14. (digital full power RF 15, analog no longer available)

Telefutura is on WMDO-47. (digital low power RF 8, analog class A on 47)

Telemundo is on WZDC-25. (analog only on 25, but with CP to flash cut 25 to digital)


I agree with Trip that it would make sense to put Telefutura on a WFDC sub-channel, and I've wondered for a long time why they don't do that. I suspect it has something to do with their effort to relocate WJAL from Hagerstown to DC, i.e. maybe they don't want to undermine their argument for needing another Spanish channel in DC. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense in light of what they do in other markets, but it's the best explanation I can come up with.


I also think it would make sense at this point to flip analog 47 back to Univision, as it was originally, before they decided that the more popular network belonged on the stronger channel.


Is LATV the same thing as LATN-VIDEOSA LACARTE?


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16688034
> 
> 
> Could anyone confirm that WJZ-DT 13 is still at the increased STA power of 27 kW - or at least appears to be at greater power than they were after the switch. I could not get WJZ last night, after it came in on Thursday with the power increase. I was messing with my antenna setup for the physical UHF stations (not easy getting WHAG 25, WNVC, WNVT, WFPT, WUTB all at the same time from Sterling), so I might have messed up VHF reception (lose coaxial, whatever).



Sure looks like it here, and I saw crawls promoting all through the night. I have seen some serious weather-related fades though. At one point in the wee hours this morning 11 and 13 both faded from an unusually strong signal to below threshold and then back to unusually strong over just 15-20 minute period.




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chicken00* /forum/post/16685992
> 
> 
> On Wednesday, WBAL called me and asked for permission to give my name and phone # to the FCC, and today I received a call from the Columbia, MD field office of the FCC.



What is your sense of WBAL's level of concern over this issue?


Given the lack of FCC filings, and the notice on WBAL's web site the other evening suggesting most viewers would "experience no service interruption" when they shutdown their transmitter for testing, I've been wondering how much they really care if they lose OTA audience.


WJZ is obviously very concerned, but I have my doubts about WBAL.


----------



## joblo

Anybody in northern Virginia have any signal from WVIR-DT in Charlottesville? I was seeing a signal on the attic 4-bay through most of last night and this morning on channel 32, but it's too weak to lock. At some point in the past couple of hours it must have locked though, because I now have the following in my Insignia channel list:


29-1 NBC29HD

29-2 Wx+

29-3 CW29


----------



## HIPAR




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/16688882
> 
> 
> 
> WJZ is obviously very concerned, but I have my doubts about WBAL.



If that's true, WBAL isn't operating in the public interest and they should have their license to broadcast canceled and lose carriage rights with pay providers.


--- CHAS


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *BritInVA* /forum/post/16688459
> 
> 
> This did the trick I combined the 'AntennaCraft Y5-7-13' to 'Antennas Direct DB2' and now get WJLA and WUSA.
> 
> 
> I now get 4.1, 4.2. 4.3, 5.1, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 9.1, 9.2, 20.1, 30.1, 30.2, 30.3, 30.4, 30.5, 66.1, 66.2, 66.3 and 66.4.
> 
> ...
> 
> Not getting some of the others that thought I would
> 
> - WFDC
> 
> - WNVC
> 
> - WDCW
> 
> - WHUT
> 
> - WJAL
> 
> - WFPT
> 
> 
> This is my TV Fool chart



Ignore the WJAL entry. Tvfool is including some older applications and low power listings that are in the FCC database, but were never granted or are obsolete construction permits. WJAL 68 (DT 39) is located up near Chambersburg, PA; the stronger listing is their years old application to move to Silver Spring. WZDC-LD on 26 and WDCN-LD on 38 don't exist because those channels ended up being used by full power stations (WHAG-DT, WMAR-DT).


Attic installations are subject to dead spots for reception. I have a CM 4221 4 bay in my attic and I can lose or gain weaker stations by moving it a foot. I have the CM 4221 mounting to a flat board using a attic mounting bracket (was $5 at Lowes) and I can slide the antenna across the floorboards around the attic crawlspace. If you have tried a bunch of alternate locations for the DB2 without success, you may need more UHF antenna gain. Ashburn is around 24 to 26 miles from the DC broadcast towers and if you are not at a good elevation, you might need to upgrade to a 4 bay bowtie.


WNVC 56 (DT 24) is licensed for Fairfax, but the antenna is in Merrifield, just off the beltway. You should aim the DB2 further south some 20 to 30 degrees to see if you get WNVC on 30-1 to 30-5 on a scan.

[Oops: edit fix - you are getting WNVC on 30.1 to 30.5, it is WNVT 30 on 30-6 to 30-10 located southeast of Manassus that you are not getting. Aim the DB2 almost due south and scan to see if you get 30.6+. Flat plate bowties have backlobes off at an angle, aim the DB-2 north of DC and see it it still comes in.)


BTW, I just want to check because I have seen others make this mistake - you know that the bowties are the front of the antenna so the side with the bowties should be facing in the direction of DC? If you find this a dumb question, no insult intended, but people have put up the flat bowties facing backwards.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *BritInVA* /forum/post/16688459
> 
> 
> Good signal on the VHF channels;
> 
> - WJLA (89)
> 
> - WUSA (87)
> 
> 
> But UHF channels are weaker;
> 
> - WRC (67)
> 
> - WTTG (78)
> 
> - WPXW (76)
> 
> - WDCA (70)
> 
> - WNVT (76)
> 
> 
> Not getting some of the others that thought I would
> 
> - WFDC
> 
> - WNVC
> 
> - WDCW
> 
> - WHUT
> 
> - WJAL
> 
> - WFPT



Mark,


You shouldn't have any problems getting many of those desired channels . A couple things to add to Afiggatt's suggestions


-How close are the antennas to each other. They need to be at least 3.5' apart to avoid interaction between them.


-If moving them apart doesn't help, you are a perfect candidate for a pre-amp. Since your antenna is inside the attic, I would recommend the Winegard 2870.


I donated my low gain Winegard combo antenna to someone in your area with much lower signals strengths. It works great only 10 feet off the roof of a 1 story house. With a pre-amp, all the DC stations are solid (except WMDO-DT 47), and all the Baltimore channels(except WBAL-DT 11) come in much better than I had expected.


----------



## SternLover21215




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chicken00* /forum/post/16685992
> 
> 
> THE FCC IS COMING TO MY HOME! I live in Clarksville, MD (18 miles from TV Hill in Baltimore), and have complained to both WBAL 11 and WJZ 13 about my inability to receive their signals with amplified rabbit ears. (I'm also having intermittent problems with WUSA 9). On Wednesday, WBAL called me and asked for permission to give my name and phone # to the FCC, and today I received a call from the Columbia, MD field office of the FCC. They are sending technicians out to my house next week to take both indoor and outdoor signal strength readings. So I guess they are doing something about the VHF problem. WJZ has increased power, and I can see them now, when I couldn't the other day.



I hope they use the information gained from your house to help fix these problems.


----------



## SternLover21215

Hi everyone,


Now that I can post the tvfool link this should help. I live in Baltimore and I have 2 Winegaurd ss-3300. Before the switch I was able to get all the Baltimore OTA stations in both my bedroom and basement, all the DC OTA stations in my bedroom, and all the DC stations except WJLA in my basement. Now, I've lost WUSA and WJLA and I'm not quite sure what to do to get them back.


When it comes to OTA antennas I have no knowledge. I read these forums and gained a little insight. I'm about 34 miles from the WUSA and WJLA's towers. I stopped by Radio Shack tonight and I saw these two antennas

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...&tab=techSpecs 

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2348191 


Would either of these antenna work if I set them up inside and used an amplifier? If anybody has any recommendations on better antennas or setup I'd greatly appreciate it. Here are my results form tvfool.com

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...618a73b6eea8ed 



P.S. Thanks for the tip BritInVa


----------



## ProjectSHO89




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SternLover21215* /forum/post/16690954
> 
> 
> Hi everyone,
> 
> 
> Now that I can post the tvfool link this should help. I live in Baltimore and I have 2 Winegaurd ss-3300. Before the switch I was able to get all the Baltimore OTA stations in both my bedroom and basement, all the DC OTA stations in my bedroom, and all the DC stations except WJLA in my basement. Now, I've lost WUSA and WJLA and I'm not quite sure what to do to get them back.
> 
> 
> When it comes to OTA antennas I have no knowledge. I read these forums and gained a little insight. I'm about 34 miles from the WUSA and WJLA's towers. I stopped by Radio Shack tonight and I saw these two antennas
> 
> http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...&tab=techSpecs
> 
> http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2348191
> 
> 
> Would either of these antenna work if I set them up inside and used an amplifier? If anybody has any recommendations on better antennas or setup I'd greatly appreciate it. Here are my results form tvfool.com
> 
> http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...618a73b6eea8ed
> 
> 
> 
> P.S. Thanks for the tip BritInVa




The first antenna would be useful for you. Might even work in an attic. The second is best left on the store's shelf as it is little different from what you have.


----------



## MrMolding




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16688196
> 
> 
> If you decide to go with the larger model, the Winegard YA-1713 is a better choice. It is only 100" long versus 120" for the Antennacraft model. It's a few dollars cheaper, a better performer IMO, and already 75 ohm ready.



Oops! I bought the Y10 and wrote in my post the Y5.


I'm pretty happy so far, but what are your thoughts on the Y10 vs. the YA1713?


----------



## systems2000

WHAG-DT went full-power and finished tweaking last Monday. I talked to the Engineer yesterday.


I was able to receive MHz this morning. I've also noticed the issue of 7 & 9, when I do antenna adjustments. Get one, lose one.


----------



## chamb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16691233
> 
> 
> WHAG-DT went full-power and finished tweaking last Monday. I talked to the Engineer yesterday.
> 
> 
> I was able to receive MHz this morning. I've also noticed the issue of 7 & 9, when I do antenna adjustments. Get one, lose one.



HAGERSTOWN Area

Yes, WHAG-DT 25.1 (RF26) is burning down the barn. Transmitter on top of the mountain with lots of power.


However, I suspect that the old 31, (WWPB -PBS on RF 44) and the old 68 (WJAL independent on RF 39) are not at full power. I get 31.1 at times but it breaks up. I never can get 68.1 at all.


WWPB is alloted almost twice the power of WHAG and I get WHAG fine. Since WWPB is very weak, I suspect they have not boosted their power. Maybe because of money problems or whatever. Since WHAG and WWPB are both on the same mountain, there is no reason other than a lack of power that should keep me from getting the channel. I am within 20 miles or so with no blockages in that direction.


----------



## scootdog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chamb* /forum/post/16691386
> 
> 
> HAGERSTOWN Area
> 
> Yes, WHAG-DT 25.1 (RF26) is burning down the barn. Transmitter on top of the mountain with lots of power.
> 
> 
> However, I suspect that the old 31, (WWPB -PBS on RF 44) and the old 68 (WJAL independent on RF 39) are not at full power. I get 31.1 at times but it breaks up. I never can get 68.1 at all.
> 
> 
> WWPB is alloted almost twice the power of WHAG and I get WHAG fine. Since WWPB is very weak, I suspect they have not boosted their power. Maybe because of money problems or whatever. Since WHAG and WWPB are both on the same mountain, there is no reason other than a lack of power that should keep me from getting the channel. I am within 20 miles or so with no blockages in that direction.



I am also in Franklin County and have a cm-4221 outside about 25 feet up on my roof. WWPB 31 is burning down the barn for me with a stronger signal then WHAG 25. I get both and ION 60 out of Martinsburg with no problems. I also get the VA PBS station out of Front Royal with some periodic breakups. WJAL 68 I cannot get as the signal is too weak. I started getting this in December (I think they must have increased power around that time), but lost it after their fire and never got it back since. What kind of antenna are you using? I find it odd that you have trouble getting WWPB 31 if you can get WHAG 25 with no problems.


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *scootdog* /forum/post/16691529
> 
> 
> I am also in Franklin County and have a cm-4221 outside about 25 feet up on my roof. WWPB 31 is burning down the barn for me with a stronger signal then WHAG 25. I get both and ION 60 out of Martinsburg with no problems. I also get the VA PBS station out of Front Royal with some periodic breakups. WJAL 68 I cannot get as the signal is too weak. I started getting this in December (I think they must have increased power around that time), but lost it after their fire and never got it back since. What kind of antenna are you using? I find it odd that you have trouble getting WWPB 31 if you can get WHAG 25 with no problems.



The PBS station is WVPY-42 RF21 from Front Royal, VA. I have no problems with WHAG, WWPB or WJAL. All my problems are related to the DC, Baltimore and Harrisburg stations. Are you able to get any of those?


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *HIPAR* /forum/post/16689010
> 
> 
> If that's true, WBAL isn't operating in the public interest and they should have their license to broadcast canceled and lose carriage rights with pay providers.
> 
> 
> --- CHAS



You're not serious, right? WBAL is using as much power as the FCC allowed them to use. You might be able to ding them for moving back to VHF 11 in the first place, but again .. the FCC sold the channel (59) they were operating on before 6/12 and they couldn't stay there.


If you want to blame somebody, I really think you're best served directing any and all ire towards the FCC. I've spoken to WBAL a number of times over the past year, and other than our friend Mark from WBFF/WNUV, they're the most concerned about OTA viewers like us than any other stations I've contacted, in my opinion of course.


(That said, WBAL, if you're watching .. PLEASE fix your audio levels!!)


----------



## systems2000

I receive WJAL-DT no matter which way my antenna points. That and WWPX-DT are my most solid stations. WHAG-DT and WWPB-DT are solid from about 150° to 320° and WTAJ-DT is solid from about 280° to 360°.


WTTG-DT, WJLA-DT, WDCA-DT, WPXW-DT, WVPY-DT, WBFF-DT, WPMT-DT, WGCB-DT, WUTB-DT (very good reception), & WNPB-DT are watchable and even reliable most of the time.


I do not get WRC-DT, WBAL-DT, WLYH-DT, WHP-DT, WITF-DT, WHTM-DT, WGAL-DT, & WDCW-DT.


I'm working on reacquiring WNUV-DT & WMAR-DT and WUSA-DT keeps coming and going.


----------



## BGAGG

Anyone have good news using the 7694P in the 21113 area code pointed directly at the DC stations (less than 25 miles away)? I am looking to place this on my roof (fairly good clear line of site to the towers) and want to get 7, 9, 11 and channel 13. The gain on all channels look good according to their tech specs. Thanks in advance.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrMolding* /forum/post/16691000
> 
> 
> Oops! I bought the Y10 and wrote in my post the Y5.
> 
> 
> I'm pretty happy so far, but what are your thoughts on the Y10 vs. the YA1713?



They are very close in performance, but I prefer the Winegard because it is 20" shorter, and has a cartridge mounted 75 ohm balun. Winegard products are generally better constructed than Antennacraft products also.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16691814
> 
> 
> I receive WJAL-DT no matter which way my antenna points. That and WWPX-DT are my most solid stations. WHAG-DT and WWPB-DT are solid from about 150° to 320° and WTAJ-DT is solid from about 280° to 360°.



I'm going to be riding through the area on Friday and I'm wondering if you think it's possible to get WTAJ-DT with a Silver Sensor anywhere along I-81. That's a station I would just love to have data for, but I don't know if I can get it.


Anything else I should look for while I'm in the area of Winchester through Shippensburg?


- Trip


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *BGAGG* /forum/post/16692440
> 
> 
> Anyone have good news using the 7694P in the 21113 area code pointed directly at the DC stations (less than 25 miles away)? I am looking to place this on my roof (fairly good clear line of site to the towers) and want to get 7, 9, 11 and channel 13. The gain on all channels look good according to their tech specs. Thanks in advance.



You are located between DC and Baltimore. The Winegard 7694P design is a moderately directional antenna, so you would likely need a rotator to get the stations in both cities. And digital reception and channel scans are generally not always user friendly for rotators. There is the possibility that you could aim the Winegard 7694P at the more distant stations in Baltimore and get the DC stations - or just the stronger physical RF UHF stations - off of a backlobe. But if you look at the 7694P spec sheet ( http://www.winegard.com/kbase/upload/HD7694P.pdf ), this antenna by design has a strong front to back ratio which means that it has little gain or pickup to the rear direction.


I think a lot of people located between DC and Baltimore have gone with a 4 or 8 bay bowtie antenna for the UHF channels because even with a backscreen, the bowties generally have good pickup in the opposite direction. The backscreen on a 2 or 4 bay can be removed for gain in both directions. I took the backscreen off of a CM 4221 this week to try to get WHAG 25 in Hagerstown which is to my NW while trying to get the Baltimore stations at 43 miles 62 degrees azimuth and the DC stations at 16-18 miles, 115 azimuth. Was a partial success as I was able to get WHAG, but the Baltimore physical RF UHF stations were subject to dropouts and WUTB going away. Anyway I am still experimenting with this, but that is another post.


Hopefully some others with practical experience who live or have set up antennas between DC and Baltimore can weigh in. My suggestion is that you consider getting a 4 bay bowtie - DB4 or the new CM 4221HD - combined with a short-medium range upper VHF antenna. based on reports, the new CM 4228 HD 8 bay which replaced the well regarded CM 4228 is to be avoided.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *BGAGG* /forum/post/16692440
> 
> 
> Anyone have good news using the 7694P in the 21113 area code pointed directly at the DC stations (less than 25 miles away)? I am looking to place this on my roof (fairly good clear line of site to the towers) and want to get 7, 9, 11 and channel 13. The gain on all channels look good according to their tech specs. Thanks in advance.



All the DC & Baltimore channels should come in fine with the 7694 with the exception of WMDO-DT 47. You will need a rotator to get both markets. Once WMPT analog goes off the air, you should also be able to get WBOC-DT 47 from Salisbury with the antenna pointed east.



*****Ooops, Afiggatt beat me to it!!


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chamb* /forum/post/16691386
> 
> 
> WWPB is alloted almost twice the power of WHAG and I get WHAG fine. Since WWPB is very weak, I suspect they have not boosted their power.



The weather we have been having since June 12 with almost daily thunderstorms and frequent tropo conditions is making judging station power or figuring out which stations have increased power subject to being wrong. So having said that, after the transition, I did not see any notable change in WWPB-DT 31 (RF 44) signal strength. I have rarely gotten a lock on WWPB-DT with the CM4221 aimed in the opposite direction prior to June 12 or for the week afterward. On Saturday, I manually selected channel 44 and presto, WWPB 31 popped up with a good signal strength. It is still there this morning. I did not checked for WWPB on Friday night, so my guess (and I could be wrong because of tropo) is that WWPB went to 1000 kW on Friday (or Saturday morning).


For the stations that have been granted increased power allotments post-transition, it would be useful to know which ones have increased power and which ones have not to help with configuring the antenna setup if the station is marginal. WVPY-DT 42 (RF 21) is still at 50 kW and won't increase to 100 kW until maybe later this year or next. WJZ-DT 13 increased to STA power of 27 kW until they put up the new antenna. WHAG-DT 25 (RF 26) went to 575 kW after they were at a lower power for the first few days after the transition. Don't know if WUTB 24 (RF 41) is still at 200 kW or has increased to the recently granted 290 kW.


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16693037
> 
> 
> I'm going to be riding through the area on Friday and I'm wondering if you think it's possible to get WTAJ-DT with a Silver Sensor anywhere along I-81. That's a station I would just love to have data for, but I don't know if I can get it.
> 
> 
> Anything else I should look for while I'm in the area of Winchester through Shippensburg?
> 
> 
> - Trip



Based on the local terrain, you might stand a chance around Exit 10 or 17 in PA, I pick up WTAJ with a 7084 on a 30' tower and I am blocked by the mountain 5 miles away. You might also be able to try for the Harrisburg stations, from Shippensburg if you stop around Lowes or Wal-Mart thats a little higher area. WITF RF36, WHP RF21 and WLYH RF23, WHTM is on VHF RF10


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chamb* /forum/post/16691386
> 
> 
> However, I suspect that the old 31, (WWPB -PBS on RF 44) and the old 68 (WJAL independent on RF 39) are not at full power. I get 31.1 at times but it breaks up. I never can get 68.1 at all.



From my location WWPB-DT 31 has always been pretty solid, but have not noticed a consistently higher reading on my signal strength meter. (3-4 bars out of 10). WHAG-DT 25 is not very reliable, especially at night.(Only 1 bar out of 10) It must be the different antenna patterns causing this. Not too sure about WJAL-DT 68. I have only seen it twice here.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dewster1977* /forum/post/16693264
> 
> 
> Based on the local terrain, you might stand a chance around Exit 10 or 17 in PA, I pick up WTAJ with a 7084 on a 30' tower and I am blocked by the mountain 5 miles away. You might also be able to try for the Harrisburg stations, from Shippensburg if you stop around Lowes or Wal-Mart thats a little higher area. WITF RF36, WHP RF21 and WLYH RF23, WHTM is on VHF RF10



I'm actually following 81 up to 78, so I'll be able to see the Harrisburg stations when I get closer. Actually, there's a stretch of I-78 where I can see WLYH-DT even when the car is moving.


I'll look for WTAJ if there's a rest stop in the area, though looking at the TVFool maps, I won't be betting on it.


- Trip


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16693071
> 
> 
> All the DC & Baltimore channels should come in fine with the 7694 with the exception of WMDO-DT 47. You will need a rotator to get both markets. Once WMPT analog goes off the air, you should also be able to get WBOC-DT 47 from Salisbury with the antenna pointed east.
> 
> 
> 
> *****Ooops, Afiggatt beat me to it!!



????What??? You mean WBOC-DT 16 (21) from Salisbury right? And when exactly is analog WMPT supposed to go off the air?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/16693577
> 
> 
> ????What??? You mean WBOC-DT 16 (21) from Salisbury right? And when exactly is analog WMPT supposed to go off the air?



Yes, WBOC-DT 16. (Thanks!!)


WMPT-TV should be pulling the plug 30 days after June 12.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16693614
> 
> 
> WMPT-TV should be pulling the plug 30 days after June 12.



According to the FCC list of participants in the analog nightlight program, WMPT 22 will shut down on June 26. Most stations either chose to stay on for 2 weeks or 4 weeks.


WRC-TV 4 - Ends June 26

WTTG-TV 5 - Ends July 12


If WTTG 5 is the last full power station to pull the analog plug in DC and Baltimore, hope they do a proper sendoff at the end.


----------



## ajnabi

Hi guys,


I was planning to put an antenna in the attic and it seems when the house was built they did put a RG cable (about 20 years old now) from the attic to the back of the house. I want to test the cable to see if it's working or not. How can i test it?


Thanks


----------



## scootdog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dewster1977* /forum/post/16691554
> 
> 
> The PBS station is WVPY-42 RF21 from Front Royal, VA. I have no problems with WHAG, WWPB or WJAL. All my problems are related to the DC, Baltimore and Harrisburg stations. Are you able to get any of those?



No I don't get anything from Baltimore or DC. My father-in-law gets 2 and 13 from Baltimore with a big old looking antenna about 20 feet off the ground. I use to get Baltimore analog stations with a small old fm radio antenna that was on the roof of my house when I bought it. The antenna was put up there in the 60's when I went to turn it the mast snapped and the thing hit the ground and was destroyed.


I was thinking about buying one of those Lava UHF/VHF combo antennas with the built in rotor and putting it on my chimney about 30 feet up and see what I get. Has anyone ever tried these? I noticed they are backordered on summitsource, so people must be buying them.


----------



## chamb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *scootdog* /forum/post/16691529
> 
> 
> I am also in Franklin County and have a cm-4221 outside about 25 feet up on my roof. WWPB 31 is burning down the barn for me with a stronger signal then WHAG 25. I get both and ION 60 out of Martinsburg with no problems. I also get the VA PBS station out of Front Royal with some periodic breakups. WJAL 68 I cannot get as the signal is too weak. I started getting this in December (I think they must have increased power around that time), but lost it after their fire and never got it back since. What kind of antenna are you using? I find it odd that you have trouble getting WWPB 31 if you can get WHAG 25 with no problems.



I am the original poster from yesterday that complained about not being able to get WWPB-DT 31. I do live further away from their transmitter than you do, but on Analog, it was much stronger that 25 analog. On digital, I barely have 31 and 25 is strong. I just do not understand it. I have the knowledge to troubleshoot it whenever I get some time. Even adding a UHF amp does not fix it. Rotating the antenna does not fix it.

I have a high gain UHF only Yagi which is directional but it picked up both analog 25, 31, 68, and 60 as well and digital 12 before June 12.

On June 12, I lost analog 31 and did not gain digital 31. Just does not make sense to me. I will fix it however.


I have a UHF Yagi above my garage but inside since antennas are restricted here. I have a coax ran to the TV cable box on the side of my garage. I disconnected the TV cable feed years ago and fed the UHF antenna into the 4 way splitter that they had installed.

I am thinking that this splitter is about 12 years old and may not have a wide enough frequency range to pass RF 44 and RF 39. TV Cable never had real high frequencies years ago. So the splitter is suspected.

Also, there may be an unterminated port on the splitter that is causing some type of reflection on RF 44. Something sure is not normal if RF 44 is at their allowed power. RF 12 and WHAG, (RF 26) are very hot here. It is hard to mess them up by doing anything. Yet RF 44 is very weak. Really strange.


I am totally blocked from Washington, DC and Baltimore by a mountain. No solution to that. I probably could get something from Harrisburg, York, Lancaster if I made an effort, but maybe not from inside the Garage Loft.

I use Directv and get all locals from Both DC and the Central Pa area. I am very lucky as I have 2 of each network stations and a bunch of independents.


----------



## chamb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16693306
> 
> 
> From my location WWPB-DT 31 has always been pretty solid, but have not noticed a consistently higher reading on my signal strength meter. (3-4 bars out of 10). WHAG-DT 25 is not very reliable, especially at night.(Only 1 bar out of 10) It must be the different antenna patterns causing this. Not too sure about WJAL-DT 68. I have only seen it twice here.



WHAG-DT 25, RF 26 in Hagerstown took their analog of the air early and used a helicopter to set a new Digital antenna on top of their existing tower on about June 11. Their transmitter is on top of the mountain at Clear Spring, Md, about 10 -12 miles WEST of Hagerstown and north of I-70. GREAT location however the location is hard to get to. They could not truck the 50 foot long antenna to the tower area. They had to lay on on the ground out in the open, connect it to a helicopter and lift it to the top of the mountain and set it on top of the tower. Very high antenna because of the mountain top location. They are supposedly using 575 KW of power, lower than some other stations on UHF, but the good height gives them fantastic range.

Having a new antenna might be giving them good coverage too.


WJAL is further north and in Pennsylvania along the same mountain. They are on RF 39 but with lower power.


----------



## dewster1977

chamb,


The splitter could be a possibility I had several that were only rated to something like 500Mhz, for me 31 is much stronger than 25, 31 @ 100% 25 @ 80% on the meter also 68 is @ 100%, but I'm less than 5 miles from the tower.


----------



## imacdonald

Tivo had a message on it saying that they have updated the channels and it now has guide data for 30-1 to 30-5.


Does anyone know anything about the MCN (metro chinese network)? I have done some google searches and came up with nothing other than the stuff on the Mhz site. I would love to find a source for useful guide data so I have some clue what is on the channel. Also the sound quality is horrible. The Mhz site says something about it coming from a company in Rockvile.


----------



## chamb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dewster1977* /forum/post/16695646
> 
> 
> chamb,
> 
> 
> The splitter could be a possibility I had several that were only rated to something like 500Mhz, for me 31 is much stronger than 25, 31 @ 100% 25 @ 80% on the meter also 68 is @ 100%, but I'm less than 5 miles from the tower.



Right now, I am not using a preamp so to be sure the preamp is not contributing to the problem. WHAG-DT (RF 26) is strong. WMPB-DT RF-44 is not watchable but I do see something at times. Very weak.


I am thinking I need to get to the splitter and maybe replace it. I may take a small tv up in the loft above my garage and place it very near the antenna and see what I get. Not going to be easy with no floor to stand on. A piece of plywood may be in order so I can maneuver above the garage ceiling. Might be easier to just buy a new splitter and place it in the TV Cable box. It may just be that the splitter was able to pass RF-31 but not RF-44. I do not have RF-39 either, so maybe it will not pass that frequency either.

I am about 20 miles east of the transmitters, so any mismatch might be enough to cause problems.


----------



## chamb

Anybody know if WHAG in Hagerstown might now jump on the Directv system.


Franklin County, Pa residents now have DC and Central Pa stations being fed to them. But WHAG in Hagerstown is only on the DISH system and not Directv.

I suspect Directv and WHAG had a squabble and could not agree on placing WHAG on DIRECTV. I am only guessing on that.


I suspect that it was expensive to get the WHAG signal up-linked to Directv since there was no satellite up-link ground station in Hagerstown.


But now, WHAG-DT could probably be received off the air in DC and placed with the other DC stations for a ride to directv via the satellite uplink in DC.

Thanks to no WHAG on Directv, I watch NBC on WGAL-DT from Lancaster or WRC-DT in DC via the Directv System. Time for WHAG & Directv to bury the hatchet and get the station on the satellite. Yes, I can receive the over the air WHAG-DT and watch it, but many times do not as I have two good NBC stations on Directv.

WHAG is the loser when I report my viewing habits to the pollster that determines viewer count during the sweeps.


----------



## scootdog

My friend in Hagerstown has direct tv and I thought he got WHAG. I will have to ask to be sure.


I bought an 8 way splitter splitter that has a power supply that works good. I only use 5 tv's with it. I use to have a 4-way eagle aspen splitter that a friend gave me that was on his porch when he bought his house. I believe it is an old direct tv sat splitter, but it had a port for an antenna feed also and it worked good. Something like that might work well for you. You could use it for your sat and antenna, but would need a diplexer to split the signal at your receiver with 2 short coaxial cords with one going to your sat in and one to your antenna in.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16693037
> 
> 
> I'm going to be riding through the area on Friday and I'm wondering if you think it's possible to get WTAJ-DT with a Silver Sensor anywhere along I-81. That's a station I would just love to have data for, but I don't know if I can get it.
> 
> 
> Anything else I should look for while I'm in the area of Winchester through Shippensburg?



Trip,


Try pulling over to the side of the On-Ramp of I-81 NB at Exit 10. I recommend at the top of the ramp. It should be a good spot for WHAG-DT, WJAL-DT, WTAJ-DT, and maybe even WWPX-DT, MPT, and WV PBS.


If you pull over into the construction equipment parking area of the Off-Ramp of NB I-81 Exit 10, you may even be able to see what you get from Baltimore, D.C., and York/Lancaster.

*NOTE:* You know that you'll be less than a quarter mile from WJAL-DT offices at that point. It's just West of I-81. You'll see it from the ramps.


----------



## Trip in VA

I usually stop at the West Virginia rest stops (free food) and I usually get WWPX there. I tried getting W08EE-D last time at the one on the MD border but didn't succeed. This time, I'll try it on the one on VA border rest stop.


I will consider that location. You really think WTAJ is a possibility? Will I need my amp?


- Trip


----------



## chamb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *scootdog* /forum/post/16696149
> 
> 
> My friend in Hagerstown has direct tv and I thought he got WHAG. I will have to ask to be sure.
> 
> 
> I bought an 8 way splitter splitter that has a power supply that works good. I only use 5 tv's with it. I use to have a 4-way eagle aspen splitter that a friend gave me that was on his porch when he bought his house. I believe it is an old direct tv sat splitter, but it had a port for an antenna feed also and it worked good. Something like that might work well for you. You could use it for your sat and antenna, but would need a diplexer to split the signal at your receiver with 2 short coaxial cords with one going to your sat in and one to your antenna in.



Nope - WHAG is on DISH but not Directv. I have Directv and it is not there. They need to fix this.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chamb* /forum/post/16695933
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I suspect that it was expensive to get the WHAG signal up-linked to Directv since there was no satellite up-link ground station in Hagerstown.
> 
> 
> But now, WHAG-DT could probably be received off the air in DC and placed with the other DC stations for a ride to directv via the satellite uplink in DC.
> 
> Thanks to no WHAG on Directv, I watch NBC on WGAL-DT from Lancaster or WRC-DT in DC via the Directv System. Time for WHAG & Directv to bury the hatchet and get the station on the satellite. Yes, I can receive the over the air WHAG-DT and watch it, but many times do not as I have two good NBC stations on Directv.
> 
> WHAG is the loser when I report my viewing habits to the pollster that determines viewer count during the sweeps.



Not that it matters for your post, but if it's like how they do it here in Baltimore, they send the signals via fiber to DirecTV. They do receive the signals off-air though, which has caused problems in the past - their receiver has developed a lip-sync issue.


----------



## southbalto




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *BGAGG* /forum/post/16692440
> 
> 
> Anyone have good news using the 7694P in the 21113 area code pointed directly at the DC stations (less than 25 miles away)? I am looking to place this on my roof (fairly good clear line of site to the towers) and want to get 7, 9, 11 and channel 13. The gain on all channels look good according to their tech specs. Thanks in advance.



I just ordered this antenna on Saturday. I''lll let you know how it works out.

I'm in Oella MD (well above the river though) and am hoping to pick up both DC and Baltimore.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chamb* /forum/post/16695850
> 
> 
> I am thinking I need to get to the splitter and maybe replace it. I may take a small tv up in the loft above my garage and place it very near the antenna and see what I get. Not going to be easy with no floor to stand on. A piece of plywood may be in order so I can maneuver above the garage ceiling. Might be easier to just buy a new splitter and place it in the TV Cable box.



Are you using a CECB? If so, could you troubleshoot by putting the CECB ahead of the splitter at the cable box and feeding the channel 3 output to your sets? Less risk of falling through the ceiling, that way.










(I agree your splitter and/or distribution coax is suspect.)


----------



## chamb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/16697353
> 
> 
> Not that it matters for your post, but if it's like how they do it here in Baltimore, they send the signals via fiber to DirecTV. They do receive the signals off-air though, which has caused problems in the past - their receiver has developed a lip-sync issue.



I am guessing, but I suspect the cost of a fiber link from Hagerstown to DC is too expensive. I really have no idea if the signal could be pulled off the air and placed on an up-link to Directv. But it sounds like it is a good idea. It should work. I suspect if they have trouble with it, the hardware or software just has a problem that needs to be fixed. This is all sort of new technology, so it may take a year or so until somebody really gets it done right.


----------



## chamb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/16698790
> 
> 
> Are you using a CECB? If so, could you troubleshoot by putting the CECB ahead of the splitter at the cable box and feeding the channel 3 output to your sets? Less risk of falling through the ceiling, that way.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> (I agree your splitter and/or distribution coax is suspect.)



I have one CECB and some digital sets. I might take the CECB outside to the splitter and pull the feed from the antenna off the splitter. I would only have 25 feet of coax from the antenna to the splitter. See what I get there before the splitter.


----------



## hsweiss




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chamb* /forum/post/16695497
> 
> 
> I am the original poster from yesterday that complained about not being able to get WWPB-DT 31. I do live further away from their transmitter than you do, but on Analog, it was much stronger that 25 analog. On digital, I barely have 31 and 25 is strong. I just do not understand it. I have the knowledge to troubleshoot it whenever I get some time. Even adding a UHF amp does not fix it. Rotating the antenna does not fix it.
> 
> I have a high gain UHF only Yagi which is directional but it picked up both analog 25, 31, 68, and 60 as well and digital 12 before June 12.
> 
> On June 12, I lost analog 31 and did not gain digital 31. Just does not make sense to me. I will fix it however.
> 
> I have a UHF Yagi above my garage but inside since antennas are restricted here. I have a coax ran to the TV cable box on the side of my garage. I disconnected the TV cable feed years ago and fed the UHF antenna into the 4 way splitter that they had installed.
> 
> I am thinking that this splitter is about 12 years old and may not have a wide enough frequency range to pass RF 44 and RF 39. TV Cable never had real high frequencies years ago. So the splitter is suspected.
> 
> Also, there may be an unterminated port on the splitter that is causing some type of reflection on RF 44. Something sure is not normal if RF 44 is at their allowed power. RF 12 and WHAG, (RF 26) are very hot here. It is hard to mess them up by doing anything. Yet RF 44 is very weak. Really strange.
> 
> 
> I am totally blocked from Washington, DC and Baltimore by a mountain. No solution to that. I probably could get something from Harrisburg, York, Lancaster if I made an effort, but maybe not from inside the Garage Loft.
> 
> I use Directv and get all locals from Both DC and the Central Pa area. I am very lucky as I have 2 of each network stations and a bunch of independents.



It could be the loss thru your splitter. But also you mention an outdoor antenna restriction. One of the 'good' things that the FCC did was eliminate those restrictions. It is illegal for any community to restrict the use of antennas because it restricts your ability to obtain OTA signals.


----------



## hsweiss




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16681960
> 
> 
> As Trip posted, WUTB-DT 24 has a highly directional antenna pattern. They have interference issues on UHF 41 that they did not have on analog 24. WUTB-DT has been running at 200 kW, but filed a maximization application to increase to 290 kW last year. Checking the FCC database, WUTB now has a construction permit for the 290 kW, so the FCC must have granted their application recently. Don't know if WUTB is still at 200 kW or if they have or will soon increase to 290 kW. I can get WUTB-DT 24 in Sterling, but it is on the weak side compared to WMAR, WBFF, WNUV in Baltimore.
> 
> 
> However, an increase to 290 kW is not likely to help that much to those located in the deep notches of the antenna pattern. To see the antenna pattern, go to http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=60552 , scroll down to channel 42, digital, Construction permit, Effective Radiated Power: 290 kW. Click on the Relative Field Polar Plot to see just how directional the antenna pattern is.
> 
> 
> To get My Network programming in HD (or what is left of My Network programming), work on getting WDCA My 20 which is operating at 500 kW on UHF 35 in NW DC.



Here's what someone at WUTB had to say about their signal:

_The FCC is about to or intends to approve our request for maximization.


It will give us 90 kilowatts more, bringing us up to 290.


Our radiation pattern will not change. We currently do have a radiation pattern to the south, although in your case, perhaps not far enough or there is some obstacle or terrain issues. We have viewers that can pick us up in the Washington DMA and Southern Maryland . And actually 22 is interfering more with us then us with them at this point._


If they've increased power, it didn't make any difference although I now see a marked increase in power coming from WJZ (but not WBAL which I can get but with low signal strength). One thing that I have noticed since WJZ and WBAL moved back to VHF - I no longer have a problem with aircraft induced multipath which was horrendous when they were on UHF (I live in the BWI flight path).


----------



## BZiggyZ

Hi Folks,


I am in northeast Baltimore (Hamilton area). I have a roof mounted antenna that a satellite provider installed when they relied on ota for local HD (I do not subscribe to satellite service). I used to get great HD reception but after the switchover, I'm seeing a lot of pixellation from WBAL NBC, WNUV CW, and WBFF FOX. I used to also get most D.C. stations. Antenna web says I should get a medium directional antenna. Any suggestions on the antenna or additional info?


Thanks!


----------



## SternLover21215

All,


Thanks ProjectSHO89 for the advice. I'm thinking I may go with it.


I did a little more research and was wondering if the Antennas Direct DB8 Multidirectional HDTV Antenna would allow me to pick up WUSA and WJLA from my location. I think this antenna would be a little more HOA friendly on my roof than most.


I noticed that some people were combining the DB4 with an AntennaCraft Y5-7-13 for the VHF signals. Would I have to combine an antenna like that to the DB8? I was thinking I wouldn't from its specs but I don't really know too much about antennas.


Here are my tvfool.com results again. This time I added height.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...618a93cc67f3bf 


Thanks


----------



## ProjectSHO89




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SternLover21215* /forum/post/16701387
> 
> 
> All,
> 
> 
> Thanks ProjectSHO89 for the advice. I'm thinking I may go with it.
> 
> 
> I did a little more research and was wondering if the Antennas Direct DB8 Multidirectional HDTV Antenna would allow me to pick up WUSA and WJLA from my location. I think this antenna would be a little more HOA friendly on my roof than most.
> 
> 
> I noticed that some people were combining the DB4 with an AntennaCraft Y5-7-13 for the VHF signals. Would I have to combine an antenna like that to the DB8? I was thinking I wouldn't from its specs but I don't really know too much about antennas.
> 
> 
> Here are my tvfool.com results again. This time I added height.
> 
> http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...618a93cc67f3bf
> 
> 
> Thanks



The DB8 by itself is unlikely to get your high-VHF channels out of DC. You'll have have to add in one of the antennas such as the Y5-713 or AD C5 for your high-VHF reception.


Of course, you can always tell your HOA to go pound sand since there is very little under federal law that they can do to stop you.


The Db2 or Db4 would work fine for the UHF channels that are in the green TVfool zone. The DB8 would be overkill and would put you at substantial risk of tuner overload.


----------



## mkfs

Tonight, WJLA's "RTN" content is gone; there are dancing horz green lines instead. 7.1 and 7.2 are normal.


This is not a RF issue; WJLA is 100% solid here


----------



## mdviewer25

1. Not really HD related but does anyone else have a distorted picture on Bravo? Everything is green.


2. Does anyone know if WBOC-DT is looking into having 21-2 go HD? It's been done before on ch 45 or 54 I forgot which one. There is a lot of content that should be in HD on that channel especially with it being a FOX affiliate. I don't even think they have the equipment necessary to show syndicated shows in HD on 16-1. Entertainment Tonight is in SD and Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy are on 21-2 which is in SD anyway.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mkfs* /forum/post/16702595
> 
> 
> Tonight, WJLA's "RTN" content is gone; there are dancing horz green lines instead. 7.1 and 7.2 are normal.
> 
> 
> This is not a RF issue; WJLA is 100% solid here



Yes,


I noticed this too.


On another note, WUTB-DT 24 is showing up as 41.3 on my TV. Anybody else experiencing this?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/16702659
> 
> 
> 1. Not really HD related but does anyone else have a distorted picture on Bravo? Everything is green.



Looks fine on Fios; both SD & HD.


----------



## rviele

does anybody know if wbal is going to get more power can't get it up here in harford county.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rviele* /forum/post/16702912
> 
> 
> does anybody know if wbal is going to get more power can't get it up here in harford county.



So far, nothing. If there's an FCC filing for more power, I'll definitely post about it.


- Trip


----------



## MrMolding




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mkfs* /forum/post/16702595
> 
> 
> Tonight, WJLA's "RTN" content is gone; there are dancing horz green lines instead. 7.1 and 7.2 are normal.
> 
> 
> This is not a RF issue; WJLA is 100% solid here



At 11:17 PM, I've got 7.1 and 7.2 with picture and audio.


I do have 7.3 RTV (It takes a Thief) with picture but no audio.


----------



## joblo

Anybody else seeing a signal drops on 13 tonight?


After days of markedly improved signal, my WJZ signal readings have been barely better than WBAL at times this evening. Anybody else seeing this or is it something local?


And what's up with the sound on WMDO 47.2? Insignia gets nothing but silence, DTVPal gets sound for a couple of seconds and then silence if coming from any channel other than 47.1, in which case it gets silence from the start also. But a cheapie 13" TruTech gets the sound just fine. Wtf??


Currently a black screen on RTN7: OTA, Cox, and FiOS.


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrMolding* /forum/post/16702941
> 
> 
> At 11:17 PM, I've got 7.1 and 7.2 with picture and audio.
> 
> 
> I do have 7.3 RTV (It takes a Thief) with picture but no audio.




...if you want to see _AND_ hear, too!


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/16703054
> 
> 
> Anybody else seeing a signal drops on 13 tonight?
> 
> ...
> 
> Currently a black screen on RTN7: OTA, Cox, and FiOS.



I don't see a change in WJZ 13 tonight, getting around 6 out of 10 bars. I did lose WJZ several days ago, but I fixed that by=y relocating and re-aiming the upper VHF antenna. But I expect to lose WJZ for good when they put up the new directional antenna.


WJLA 7.3 RTN is back to a blank screen. Likely having technical problems with the satellite downlink for the RTN feed or in the signal path in the station - or the RTN feed is messed up.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16703125
> 
> 
> I don't see a change in WJZ 13 tonight, getting around 6 out of 10 bars.



I was afraid of that. Looks like my channel 13 interference is back; that'll mean a complaint to the FCC if it continues.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16702751
> 
> 
> Yes,
> 
> 
> I noticed this too.
> 
> 
> On another note, WUTB-DT 24 is showing up as 41.3 on my TV. Anybody else experiencing this?



Yes, I had also noticed it. My Dish VIP 622 and 722 receivers can no longer receive WUTB-DT24 on 24. When I rescanned they mapped to RF 41. Their OTA signal on RF 41.3 has all of the PSIP data except for the correct call sign which now appears as "DTV". This may have something to do with WUTB increasing their ERP from 200kW to 290kW. Maybe they are tweaking their new signal and haven't gotten around to turning on the PSIP generator to switchover their PSIP data from their RF channel to their virtual channel.


----------



## joblo

No signal. Nothing. Zip. Nada.


46 looks like pure 3-degree background.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/16703399
> 
> 
> No signal. Nothing. Zip. Nada.
> 
> 
> 46 looks like pure 3-degree background.



What? Looks OK to me!


OK, I had to come in and fix it, but it looks fine now...


The control UPS fried - I had to replace it.


----------



## Vast




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Vast* /forum/post/16648929
> 
> 
> Question on MHZ Networks (DTV CH 30-1 - 30-10):
> 
> 
> I have a TivoHD and I get good signal strength on MHZ networks channels 30-1 through 30-10. However, I don't get a picture on channels 30-1 - 30-5. Channels 30-6 - 30-10 are good. The freq assignment on the Tivo list appears accurate...its 30.
> 
> 
> Anyone else have this problem?
> 
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> 
> -Brandon



Just FYI for anyone else with this problem Tivo updated the listings and I get all channels from the Mhz Networks via Tivo.


----------



## chug0lug

Ok, I don't know anything about Ohms, frequency, antenna's or any of that. Found this site after trying to figure out why channel 7 & 9 seemed to stop working. I think after reading I know what the problem is and what I need to do to fix it (I have a UHF antenna, one of the square one's with bowties?). My question is are there any sites or resources to explain how to properly install a second antenna and all of the connections? I tried contacting Fairfax Antenna's but haven't gotten any response. Thanks for the help.


----------



## Steve_in_MD

hello,


I'm an antenna novice looking for some recommendations -

I went through the steps at AntennaWeb, and based on my

location near downtown Silver Spring MD, it says that I need

a "Small Multi-Directional Antenna"


Just wondering what other people out there in the DC/MD/VA are using?

It seems like Winegard makes a lot of good antennas, but honestly, I'm getting lost with all the different models, and I'm not sure how to differentiate based on the tech specs.


Any advice would be appreciated.


Also, I wondering, would it be okay to have an electrician install a rooftop antenna or do you need to get dedicated "antenna installers" to have it done?


thanks,

steve


----------



## pclement




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pclement* /forum/post/16684002
> 
> 
> I am surprised I get a signal as I live in southern PA. It could be I am actually getting channel 49-1 (Redlion, PA) that broadcasts on 30-1 and the guide is showing it as the DC 30-1. I will check this tonight.



Okay, I checked and I am getting a signal from DC for 30-1 (30-2, etc.) but still no picture or sound. I guess the signal is too weak, but the channels do get picked up in a scan. Not sure I am missing much on the stations anyway.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_in_MD* /forum/post/16705145
> 
> 
> Also, I wondering, would it be okay to have an electrician install a rooftop antenna or do you need to get dedicated "antenna installers" to have it done?



Steve,


You could do it yourself. Have you taken a look through this thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=381623 


Also, you should post a link to your http://www.TVFool.com/ results.


----------



## SUOrangeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/16682555
> 
> 
> I updated the numbers on the initial post of this thread. Please proofread and let me know of any changes that need to be made.
> 
> 
> Hard to Believe that this thread has been going on for nearly six years now.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I want to thank everyone who participates regularly for making this more than just a thread, but a community.
> 
> 
> ...



I knew that I'd miss something cool when I go out-of-town. I too want to extend my thanks to CycloneGT for the excellent work in this thread. For those of you who responded with minor edits and updates, could you verify the GoogleDocs version of the who-has-what chart (link in my signature) is accurate? Thanks in advance!


-SUO


----------



## ss_sea_ya




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Bigfork* /forum/post/16684771
> 
> 
> ... Since there are several lines in the basement run for various reasons what's the easiest way to tell which is connected to which? I was hoping that since I don't have a small TV to connect to in the basement could I simply connect a battery to the two conductors and then use a multimeter to look for the same voltage on one of the coax cables in the basement? Is there a simpler method?
> 
> 
> Bigfork



If you have access to the first and last few feet, then check the markings on the cable. Usually the production run prints, every few feet, a "foot counter" (along with some other cable ID information (i.e type). Estimate the length of the cable (+/- 30') and check the other end. The one that is closest is likely the same cable. i.e. at one end you might find a number "3121" at the other you might find "3192" meaning the cable is 71 feet long between those two points. (i.e. 3192-3121=71).


Its also very unlikely that you will have two cables from different production runs that will have "foot index #' close on both ends.


----------



## ss_sea_ya




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ajnabi* /forum/post/16694755
> 
> 
> Hi guys,
> 
> 
> I was planning to put an antenna in the attic and it seems when the house was built they did put a RG cable (about 20 years old now) from the attic to the back of the house. I want to test the cable to see if it's working or not. How can i test it?
> 
> 
> Thanks



No need to test, just try it. it should be fine.


If you have problems and don't know if its the antenna pointing thing or the cable, then get a 100' cable, and temporarily bypass the house cable. Just make a temp run from the antenna, down the attic stairs and hallway to wherever your tuner is.


You could also use that same temp cable, and hook it up to the coax output of a VCR or DVD player, and connect it to the coax cable in the attic (again just temporarily run it down the hallway and up the attic stairs for the test.)

Of course, you will need a barrel connection (male-male) to tie the two cables in the attic.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chug0lug* /forum/post/16704397
> 
> 
> Ok, I don't know anything about Ohms, frequency, antenna's or any of that. Found this site after trying to figure out why channel 7 & 9 seemed to stop working. I think after reading I know what the problem is and what I need to do to fix it (I have a UHF antenna, one of the square one's with bowties?). My question is are there any sites or resources to explain how to properly install a second antenna and all of the connections? I tried contacting Fairfax Antenna's but haven't gotten any response. Thanks for the help.



If you have a bowtie UHF antenna, can you tell us how many bowties and what model number? Rooftop or attic mount? Using a pre-amp? Are you getting all the other DC stations which are on UHF with your UHF antenna - WRC 4 (RF 48), WTTG 5 (RF 36), WFDC 14 (RF 15), WDCA 20 (RF 35), WETA 26 (RF 27 and at only 90 kW), WNVC 30.1 to 30.5, WNVT 30.6 to 30.10, WHUT 32 (RF 33), WDCW 50?


If you are getting all of those from Bealton, then your UHF antenna is doing ok for UHF. Then you need to add a upper VHF (7 to 13) antenna to get WJLA 7 and WUSA 9. Generally not that difficult to do. From Bealton, you should go for a longer range upper VHF antenna such as the Winegard YA-1713 ( http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=YA1713 ). 100 inches long, 35" wide. Assuming you have a rooftop mount, put the upper VHF antenna several feet below the UHF antenna, aim it at NW DC. Combine the two antennas with a VHF-UHF signal joiner, such as this: http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?prod=UVSJ . If you have RG-59 coaxial in the cable run to the antenna, this would be a good time to replace it with good quality RG-6 (RG-6 has less loss per foot for UHF than RG-59).


Technical website, but should provide info that you can use: http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ISSUES/erecting_antenna.html . One warning is that I bet there is a major run on upper VHF antenna at the on-line dealers, so I hope solidsignal and the others stocked up in advance. Good luck!


----------



## mdemase

I'm in Purcellville, VA (about 8 miles West of Leesburg, VA). I have one of those pizza-box square OTA antennas hooked up to my HDTV (Samsung HL61A750). Prior to the DTV transition, I was receiving 5-1, 7-1, 9-1, 20-1, 26-1, 50-1 and a few misc MD HDTV stations as well. I can't exactly pin when it happened, but I've now lost all my main network DTV stations (7-1, 9-1, 50-1). I'm only picking up 5-1 (and I've never received 4-1). Can anyone help me figure out what's going on?


I checked the cables, I've re-scanned the TV a bunch of times and had no success. Did something change with the stations AFTER the DTV transition? Why would I lose channels after the transition?


----------



## mdviewer25

Just reposting from the old Delaware thread to see if I can get a response.


Does anyone know if WBOC plans on fixing their signal to be able to broadcast two HD channels(16-1 and 21-2)? Just thought about it while switching between WTTG FOX 5 from D.C. and FOX 21 Delmarva. I remember WNUV 54 experimenting with running a 1080i HD signal on the main channel(54-1) and a 720p HD signal on the subchannel (54-2) when they had a subchannel.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdemase* /forum/post/16708204
> 
> 
> I'm in Purcellville, VA (about 8 miles West of Leesburg, VA). I have one of those pizza-box square OTA antennas hooked up to my HDTV (Samsung HL61A750). Prior to the DTV transition, I was receiving 5-1, 7-1, 9-1, 20-1, 26-1, 50-1 and a few misc MD HDTV stations as well. I can't exactly pin when it happened, but I've now lost all my main network DTV stations (7-1, 9-1, 50-1). I'm only picking up 5-1 (and I've never received 4-1). Can anyone help me figure out what's going on?
> 
> 
> I checked the cables, I've re-scanned the TV a bunch of times and had no success. Did something change with the stations AFTER the DTV transition? Why would I lose channels after the transition?



WJLA 7, WUSA 9, WDCW 50 all flashed cut back to their analog broadcast channels. Are you still getting WETA 26, WDCA 20? Are you now able to get WHAG 25?


WDCW 50 changed from UHF 51 at 125 kW to UHF 50 at 122 kW which is a very small change in power, so you should still get it. One step to try is to disconnect the antenna coaxial cable from TV, do a scan to clear out all stations, then reconnect the antenna and repeat the scan.


You very likely need a better antenna for upper VHF reception to get WJLA 7 and WUSA 9. WRC 4 on RF 48 should be receivable in Purcellville, although there is the possibility of interference from analog low power WAZW 48 in Winchester. Your options are likely to either get a upper VHF antenna (see my post to the person in Bealton, VA) or to get a better combined upper VHF and UHF antenna such as one of the Winegard 76xx series (which will be much bigger than a pizza box).


----------



## lstorm

I'm in NOVA, Arlington to be specific. For some reason I still can't get FIOS and I'm beyond disgusted with the PQ of Comcast's "HD". Having said that, has anybody in the area change to DirecTV? How do you like it? I'm pretty sure I'm gonna take the plunge, was just hoping to get the opinion/s of somebody who already has.


----------



## Onazuka




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lstorm* /forum/post/16709367
> 
> 
> I'm in NOVA, Arlington to be specific. For some reason I still can't get FIOS and I'm beyond disgusted with the PQ of Comcast's "HD". Having said that, has anybody in the area change to DirecTV? How do you like it? I'm pretty sure I'm gonna take the plunge, was just hoping to get the opinion/s of somebody who already has.



I had DirecTV since they first came out in 1994 until 2008 when I switched to Comcast. (FIOS is in my neighborhood and will be available shortly). I can say that I will never go back to DirecTV, but my reasons may be different than yours. Here are the reasons I wrote up back in March 2008 a month after I switched:


1) I am saving $480 this year with Comcast over what I was pay for

DirecTV + Comcast Internet + Vonage and I'm getting Starz and

unlimited phone calls. With a plan to get rid of my home phone by

the end of this promotion and by dropping the free premium channels,

I'll be saving $504/year in subsequent years.


2 ) It always bugged me that I was paying $58/mo for just Internet

form Comcast, when I can get it much cheaper with their TV service.


3) I get Internet, phone, and TV all on one bill from one company.


4) I don't have to have some DirecTV installer put up my 3rd large

satellite dish in 10 years for which I really could not find a good location for.


5) I don't have any commitment with Comcast where I would have a 2

year commitment with DirecTV.


6) I only need to run one coax cable to all TV sets which I already

have. DirecTV needs 4 cables from the dish, 2 cables to each DVR (I

only have one cable to my bedroom TV) and ethernet cables to be able

to use the new on demand, not to mention a phone line.


7) Cable is 2 way. DirecTV can't provide 2 way internet and can't

have true on demand without having to use Comcast internet.


8) I get Washington DC local channels on Comcast so I have no need for

an antenna and all the problems I have had trying to keep antenna

reception over the year.


9) I get more local channels in HD form Comcast.


10) The future of TV is downloading on demand content from the

internet. Not recording a show being broadcast at a specific time on

a specific channel and storing it on your local hard drive until you

want to watch it. DirecTV is tied into the broadcast time slot model.


11) The cable industry is moving toward open cable (tru2way), and I

think this time it will happen. Within about a years time you should

able to go to Best Buy and buy a DVR from Sony, Samsung, LG, etc.,

that you can just plug into any cable system.


12) Computer media centers and tuners all work with cable and not

DirecTV.


13) I think Comcast will more than keep up with DirecTV in HD

channels. Heck, I've had Comcast for a month and today they just gave

me 5 more HD channels. When Comcast turns off their analog channels

this year, that will free up 75 analog channels. With 2-3 HD channels

per analog channel that means they can add 150-225 additional HD

channels. If they go to SDV the can probably offer over 300 HD

channels. I can't believe that I would need more than that.


14) My Comcast Internet service over the past 4 years has been almost

perfect ,and Cable TV and Comcast Digital Voice seem good too.


----------



## biker19

^ one of the most important issues in times of constant change is item 5.


----------



## TheKrell




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lstorm* /forum/post/16709367
> 
> 
> ,,,has anybody in the area change to DirecTV? How do you like it?



We've been happy with Dish Network. They have a great line of 3- and 4-tuner DVRs capable of recording up to 2 HD satellite channels and 2 OTA HD channels simultaneously. Almost all models with dual sat tuners can independently feed programs to 2 different TVs, although the TV2 output is SD-only.










Dish also offers the TurboHD packages, which are HD-only. Warning! These packages may be a good deal if you are trying to avoid paying for SD channels you will never watch. But the TurboHD packages may go away in the future because content providers insist on bundling SD with HD channels, and they effectively won't let Dish do what it started out to do (provide HD-only at a great price).


Finally, there's some 1080p content available on Dish that I don't believe DirectTV has.


----------



## chug0lug




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16706744
> 
> 
> If you have a bowtie UHF antenna, can you tell us how many bowties and what model number? Rooftop or attic mount? Using a pre-amp? Are you getting all the other DC stations which are on UHF with your UHF antenna - WRC 4 (RF 48), WTTG 5 (RF 36), WFDC 14 (RF 15), WDCA 20 (RF 35), WETA 26 (RF 27 and at only 90 kW), WNVC 30.1 to 30.5, WNVT 30.6 to 30.10, WHUT 32 (RF 33), WDCW 50?




I have a CM4228 mounted on the roof with a CM pre-amp (I think it's the really popular one that many people have, don't remember the model number). I get all of the other UHF channels mentioned. Would the Antenna Craft Y5-7-13 be enough for the VHF channels or do I need the larger antenna such as the Y10-7-13 or the Winegard you mentioned? You also said I need to make sure the VHF antenna is below the UHF. Just curious as to why that is? Also, how far apart do the two antenna's need to be? On different mounts? Last question is can I combine the two through my pre-amp? I'll have to check the RG-59 vs RG-6. I don't really know the difference in the two, but I'll see what's out there and make sure it's RG-6 once I gather what I need to fix the issue. FYI, I can get 7 & 9, but signal strength varies from 20-40 and cuts out more frequently than I'd care to live with. Sad since these two channels came in at 95+ before the switch. Thanks for all of the help!


----------



## SUOrangeman

I've updated the GoogleDocs chart with the following changes:


Reflected the Cox announcement of WHUT 32.2

Added iON 66 subchannels

Added channel numbers for FiOS additions


Can someone verify that these channels are now available on FiOS:


Spike HD 554

Comedy Central HD 690

MTV HD 710

VH 1 HD 717

CMT HD 721

Nick HD 752


Finally, my Cox bill states that MPT is not going to offer V-ME on 22.3. For my vantage point, it looks like they are using that subchannel to show an SD version of 22.1.


-SUO

*Follow-up:* Thanks all for the FiOS confirmations. I've updated the GoogleDocs chart. As far as WHUT, I'm only passing on what was mentioned in my most-recent Cox bill.


----------



## Trip in VA

There's a 32-2 coming? Any word on what content it will have?


- Trip


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16710790
> 
> 
> There's a 32-2 coming? Any word on what content it will have?
> 
> 
> - Trip



Speaking of WHUT, does anyone know if they're even planning on going HD?


----------



## Trip in VA

I'm not sure. I do know that they're on the list of stations looking at Mobile DTV. Look for that to show up on a few stations in the area during the summer.


- Trip


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SUOrangeman* /forum/post/16710730
> 
> 
> Can someone verify that these channels are now available on FiOS:
> 
> Spike HD 554
> 
> Comedy Central HD 690
> 
> MTV HD 710
> 
> VH 1 HD 717
> 
> CMT HD 721
> 
> Nick HD 752



Yes, Verizon added the 6 Viacom channels to the Washington Metro market (and presumably the rest of the VHO) this morning. The channels are live, but not in the guide yet. When Verizon adds new channels, they typically don't show up in the guide until later in the day unless one forces a reload of the guide data.


----------



## PaulGo

It appears Comcast is getting closer to implementing Project Calvary in Montgomery county. I did a rescan yesterday on my digital ready TV and they have moved or renumbered the broadcast channels (HD) to more logical locations, also many basic channels are now unscrambled (along with Universal HD and TNT HD).


----------



## lstorm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/16710332
> 
> 
> ^ one of the most important issues in times of constant change is item 5.



Yeah I agree with that, the commitment is why i'm hesitant. I'm sure everybody has seen the thread with the comparison of PQ between FIOS and Comcast, my picture is as bad if not worse and it really burns me b/c I hate watching TV on it at all, kinda sucks when you spend $2000+ on a 52" LCD TV and you prefer watching your 8.5 year old 25" CRT for everyday cable viewing







I just hope I can get FIOS soon, many of the surrounding streets have it, I'm wondering if its simply a matter of my apartment management company not wanting them to install it in our buildings? That alone would be reason enough for me to move.


----------



## rustycruiser




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SUOrangeman* /forum/post/16710730
> 
> 
> Can someone verify that these channels are now available on FiOS:
> 
> 
> Spike HD 554
> 
> Comedy Central HD 690
> 
> MTV HD 710
> 
> VH 1 HD 717
> 
> CMT HD 721
> 
> Nick HD 752



Up and running in Baltimore County.


----------



## msmckay




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdemase* /forum/post/16708204
> 
> 
> I'm in Purcellville, VA (about 8 miles West of Leesburg, VA). I have one of those pizza-box square OTA antennas hooked up to my HDTV (Samsung HL61A750). Prior to the DTV transition, I was receiving 5-1, 7-1, 9-1, 20-1, 26-1, 50-1 and a few misc MD HDTV stations as well. I can't exactly pin when it happened, but I've now lost all my main network DTV stations (7-1, 9-1, 50-1). I'm only picking up 5-1 (and I've never received 4-1). Can anyone help me figure out what's going on?
> 
> 
> I checked the cables, I've re-scanned the TV a bunch of times and had no success. Did something change with the stations AFTER the DTV transition? Why would I lose channels after the transition?



I am south of Purcellville and am able to receive all of the stations you listed plus 4-1, 14-1, 24-1, 30-1, 45.1, 60-1, and 66-1. I installed a YA1713 high VHF and a DB8 UHF antenna amplified with a CM7777. They are in my attack pointing out of the gable end.


Some of the stations are actually stronger after the transisition (7-1, 9-1 and 50-1,


So it is possible with the right equipment.


----------



## huesmann

I'm in Kensington, MD. I went from a UHF-only antenna to a Winegard HD-7000R, supposedly VHF/UHF/FM. I don't get a good signal from WUSA 9, occasional pixellation. All the other channels I'm more or less happy with. WUSA's digital signal was fine before the conversion. I do have a pre-amp at the antenna and an amplifier inside (signal is split to several devices). Anything I can do?


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Councilmania*


Keeping Tabs On The City Council's Activities So You Don't Have To


by Edward Ericson Jr.


On the agenda for *March 16*

*Resolution 09-0119R Deployment of FiOS Services in Baltimore City through the Verizon Maryland Network.* Asks for a reconstituted cable TV commission to join the Mayor's Office of Cable and Communications to tell the City Council why Verizon's FiOS service is available in surrounding jurisdictions but not in Baltimore City.


The Read: Comcast cable is the city's monopoly provider, and as such is supposed to be regulated in part by city government. One part of that regulatory system is the Cable Communications Advisory Commission. Councilman Cole discovered that the board has only six members--reflecting a City Council district system that was abolished about five years ago. "Even more troubling, I discovered that it doesn't exist," he says. Cole wants "someone" to appoint 14 new commissioners to this defunct board in order to hold hearings on why Verizon's FiOS system--a Comcast rival--has not yet been offered in Baltimore City. "I'll be blunt," Cole says. "I want FiOS in Baltimore." Councilman Bernard C. "Jack" Young (D-12th District) seconded that. "This service is not only cheaper, it's better," he says. "We were told it'd be years and years down the road before we would even be considered." Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke (D-14th district) said she had gotten constituent e-mail blaming the City Council for holding up FiOS. "Ladies and gentlemen," she said, addressing the Comcast TV audience, "We are not holding up FiOS. Whatever it is, we want it."


Bill 09-0306 Tax Sales--Deferral for Unemployed. Would implement a one-year delay on the sale of unemployed people's homes for non-payment of property taxes.


The Read: Councilwoman Agnes Welch (D-9th District) introduced this at the suggestion of the African American Housing Coalition, a new organization with "easily 50 members," according to James Crockett, who answers the phone at the number provided in the bill. Crockett says coalition members are realtors, appraisers, loan officers, underwriters, and housing counselors. "Because of the economy, we know that a lot of people are out of work and can't pay their taxes," he says. He describes the organization as "a movement" similar to the old civil rights movement, with no officers, per se. Welch lauded the group's idea to the council. "They would have made money on these [tax] sales," she says. "But they wanted to help."


"I always thought that FiOS was a soccer team in the European league." --Councilman Robert Curran (D-3rd District)


The next City Council meeting is scheduled for March 30 at 5 p.m.


© 2009 Baltimore City Paper

http://www.citypaper.com/printStory.asp?id=17771


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chug0lug* /forum/post/16710522
> 
> 
> I have a CM4228 mounted on the roof with a CM pre-amp (I think it's the really popular one that many people have, don't remember the model number). I get all of the other UHF channels mentioned. Would the Antenna Craft Y5-7-13 be enough for the VHF channels or do I need the larger antenna such as the Y10-7-13 or the Winegard you mentioned? You also said I need to make sure the VHF antenna is below the UHF. Just curious as to why that is? Also, how far apart do the two antenna's need to be? On different mounts? Last question is can I combine the two through my pre-amp? I'll have to check the RG-59 vs RG-6. I don't really know the difference in the two, but I'll see what's out there and make sure it's RG-6 once I gather what I need to fix the issue. FYI, I can get 7 & 9, but signal strength varies from 20-40 and cuts out more frequently than I'd care to live with. Sad since these two channels came in at 95+ before the switch. Thanks for all of the help!



If you have a CM 7777, it has separate switchable inputs for VHF and UHF. The UHF input can be switched to either UHF/VHF or UHF only. You could also insert a Pico Macom USVJ combiner into the cable run to the pre-amp and connect the VHF antenna that way as the USVJ has a DC power cutoff to the VHF signal path. Since VHF has less signal loss through co-axial cable, it is not uncommon to have a pre-amp for the UHF channels, but pass the VHF without a amp.


You do not have to mount the upper VHF antenna below the UHF antenna. You could mount it above the CM 4228. Generally, VHF antennas are mounted below the UHF (when using 2 antennas) because the VHF antenna is usually heavier and larger. Also, VHF propagates better than UHF closer to the ground, so most of the time, the UHF antenna is mounted higher of the two. The rule of thumb is to have several feet vertically between the antennas if possible.


If you getting all those stations with the CM 4228, the Antennacraft Y5-7-13 is likely to do the job. But you are pretty far away from DC and WUSA-DT 9 is not running at strong power for upper VHF, so it might not. Unless you are looking to pull in VHF stations over a spread in azimuth, you can go with the more directional and higher gain and longer Winegard YA-1713. It is $40 at solidsignal and comes with a 75 ohm co-axial connection.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *huesmann* /forum/post/16714657
> 
> 
> I'm in Kensington, MD. I went from a UHF-only antenna to a Winegard HD-7000R, supposedly VHF/UHF/FM. I don't get a good signal from WUSA 9, occasional pixellation. All the other channels I'm more or less happy with. WUSA's digital signal was fine before the conversion. I do have a pre-amp at the antenna and an amplifier inside (signal is split to several devices). Anything I can do?



Is the HD-7000R mounted in the attic or outdoors? Tried different locations and/or aims for the antenna? There is the possibility that the combination of the pre-amp and distribution amp is overloading the physical VHF channels, but I would expect that to happen to WJLA 7 first. Otherwise you may need more gain for upper VHF.


You should contact WUSA and tell them you can't get their signal reliably. I'm not sure why WUSA has not filed for increased power since so many other upper VHF stations that flash cut back to VHF are banging on the FCC's door (yelling, Scotty, we need more power!)


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Onazuka* /forum/post/16709418
> 
> 
> I had DirecTV since they first came out in 1994 until 2008 when I switched to Comcast. (FIOS is in my neighborhood and will be available shortly). I can say that I will never go back to DirecTV, but my reasons may be different than yours. Here are the reasons I wrote up back in March 2008 a month after I switched:
> 
> 
> 1) I am saving $480 this year with Comcast over what I was pay for
> 
> DirecTV + Comcast Internet + Vonage and I'm getting Starz and
> 
> unlimited phone calls. With a plan to get rid of my home phone by
> 
> the end of this promotion and by dropping the free premium channels,
> 
> I'll be saving $504/year in subsequent years.
> 
> 
> 2 ) It always bugged me that I was paying $58/mo for just Internet
> 
> form Comcast, when I can get it much cheaper with their TV service.
> 
> 
> 3) I get Internet, phone, and TV all on one bill from one company.
> 
> 
> 4) I don't have to have some DirecTV installer put up my 3rd large
> 
> satellite dish in 10 years for which I really could not find a good location for.
> 
> 
> 5) I don't have any commitment with Comcast where I would have a 2
> 
> year commitment with DirecTV.
> 
> 
> 6) I only need to run one coax cable to all TV sets which I already
> 
> have. DirecTV needs 4 cables from the dish, 2 cables to each DVR (I
> 
> only have one cable to my bedroom TV) and ethernet cables to be able
> 
> to use the new on demand, not to mention a phone line.
> 
> 
> 7) Cable is 2 way. DirecTV can't provide 2 way internet and can't
> 
> have true on demand without having to use Comcast internet.
> 
> 
> 8) I get Washington DC local channels on Comcast so I have no need for
> 
> an antenna and all the problems I have had trying to keep antenna
> 
> reception over the year.
> 
> 
> 9) I get more local channels in HD form Comcast.
> 
> 
> 10) The future of TV is downloading on demand content from the
> 
> internet. Not recording a show being broadcast at a specific time on
> 
> a specific channel and storing it on your local hard drive until you
> 
> want to watch it. DirecTV is tied into the broadcast time slot model.
> 
> 
> 11) The cable industry is moving toward open cable (tru2way), and I
> 
> think this time it will happen. Within about a years time you should
> 
> able to go to Best Buy and buy a DVR from Sony, Samsung, LG, etc.,
> 
> that you can just plug into any cable system.
> 
> 
> 12) Computer media centers and tuners all work with cable and not
> 
> DirecTV.
> 
> 
> 13) I think Comcast will more than keep up with DirecTV in HD
> 
> channels. Heck, I've had Comcast for a month and today they just gave
> 
> me 5 more HD channels. When Comcast turns off their analog channels
> 
> this year, that will free up 75 analog channels. With 2-3 HD channels
> 
> per analog channel that means they can add 150-225 additional HD
> 
> channels. If they go to SDV the can probably offer over 300 HD
> 
> channels. I can't believe that I would need more than that.
> 
> 
> 14) My Comcast Internet service over the past 4 years has been almost
> 
> perfect ,and Cable TV and Comcast Digital Voice seem good too.



As a D* subscriber who thought he'd never get Satellite, I'd like to response. I'll try to keep it as fact based and keep opinions to a minimum.


1, 2 3 - I'm paying $43 for just Internet through Comcast. They told me it would be raised, but it never did go up. Call and ask for a lower rate, can't hurt. And the same with asking for premium channels. When I hit my 5 year mark with D*, they gave me a year of showtime free. And I prefer my separate bills. A few smaller bills makes it look like I'm paying less, but that's just me.







Plus, since my phone, cable, and sat bills are due at different times, I can spread out the damage.


4 - My dish is exactly where I wanted it. Sometimes you get a good installer, sometimes you don't.


5 - Can't argue the contract.


6 - D* is moving to SVM, and it is slowly trickling out. It only runs one cable per box, even DVRs. And yes an ethernet cable is needed for on demand downloading. But a phone cord is no longer required. Ethernet can also be used for sharing DVR contents out to home computers, as well as viewing pictures and music from your PC.


7 - No arguement here


8 - I get DC locals as well through D*, without an antenna. What I can also do that you can't do on a Comcast box is connect an antenna, and get the antenna channels, get program listings, and record them as well.


9 - Comcast does have more HD local. What I do like about D*'s local service, is when I want to watch my locals, I tune to that channel, for SD or HD. There are seperate feeds, but I turn off the SD feed so when I put in "4" it's WRC in HD.


10 - Granted, D* doesn't have the network shows in their version of on demand, but it still has I believe most of the same on demand shows all the national cable channels offer.


11 - Remember when Cablecard was going to be compatible with everything, and you wouldn't have to use a box for anything. I'm just saying that what tru2way says it is and what is delivered are likely to be two very different things. Cable companies won't give up the revenue from renting boxes that easily.


12 - bSkyb, the satellite company in England, will soon offer the ability to watch TV from an Xbox 360. I'm sure that's a great test market before bringing D* to the 360. D* also showed the DirecTV box that would connect to a PC and use it as a media center at CES in 2008. yes, that was more than a year ago, but it was shown, so it's still a possibilty.


13 - D* still has plenty of room for satellite feed growth as well, and they right now do have more HD than Comcast.


14 - Like I said, my Internet is through Comcast, and I can't complain about that. But again, I like the ability to have OTA linked directly to my sat boxes so that if D* is down, and that's usually due to bad weather, I can still get my locals via the antenna without having to change to a differnet input.


Just my two cents from a happy D* customer.


----------



## cpldc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *huesmann* /forum/post/16714657
> 
> 
> I'm in Kensington, MD. I went from a UHF-only antenna to a Winegard HD-7000R, supposedly VHF/UHF/FM. I don't get a good signal from WUSA 9, occasional pixellation. All the other channels I'm more or less happy with. WUSA's digital signal was fine before the conversion. I do have a pre-amp at the antenna and an amplifier inside (signal is split to several devices). Anything I can do?



Kensington is only a few miles from the towers in Tenleytown, correct? That antenna should be adequate for such a location. I have something similar (CM 2001) and it works fine here, six miles away.


Unless you have some sort of terrain obstruction, the signals you are receiving there should be extremely strong. Since you said 'inside' for your amp, I'm assuming you have the antenna outside. You don't need a preamp, and probably don't need a distribution amp either. How many devices are you connecting? One thought I have is that the second harmonic from an FM station could be affecting channel 9, and the preamp is making it worse. Channel 9 is 186-192mhz, and if I recall correctly WTGB 94.7 is close by. Its second harmonic at 189.4mhz is in 9's range. Unfortunately, that kind of thing isn't as easy to see and test in the digital world. How did analog 9 look?


The amount of signal you get at a close-in location is often underestimated. Yesterday I connected 30dB worth of attenuators to my already split-in-two antenna feed from a widely-panned antenna (Winegard HD-1080, below the CM on the mast), connected by some 50 feet of coax, and while the off-axis stations like 24 from Fairfax and the super-weak WMDO-LD 8 were gone, every other DC station was in perfectly, even with only 1/1000th of the original signal.


----------



## hsweiss

I'm a Dish customer. I'm about to buy my 1st HD TV. I'm in a strange and maybe envious situation in that my HD provider options abound. I am in a well provisioned neighborhood with FiOS, Comcast, and Broadstripe (ex Millenium) systems available and obviously Dish and DirecTV.


I originally went to Dish after "suffering" with Comcast for way too many years and before FiOS was available. I currently have FiOS for internet (and very happy with it). I am quite happy with Dish service other than during the occasional heavy rain storm causing the usual "rain fade" dropout. But this is no worse than the constant dropouts I used to have with Comcast.


So, now that I'm just about ready to go HD what do you all have to say about the various providers available to me? Does one provide a superior HD picture vs. the competitors? Does satellite really beat out cable - I've heard that cable compresses far too much vs. satellite. Is DirecTV HD better than Dish or equivalent? I've seen FiOS HD at a friend's house and it looked great. But I have not seen Comcast (not that I'm all the excited to go back to them but I have heard that they have improved both their services and customer service).


Thanks in advance for advice & comments.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cpldc* /forum/post/16715923
> 
> 
> You don't need a preamp, and probably don't need a distribution amp either. How many devices are you connecting? One thought I have is that the second harmonic from an FM station could be affecting channel 9, and the preamp is making it worse.



Agree 100%!! Absolutelty no amplification is recommended at you distance. I also agree that FM may be part of your problem. I just loaned my FM trap to a friend living near the WMZQ/WBIG tower in Falls Church. His reception improved across the board, especially channels 9 & 11.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16715036
> 
> 
> You could also insert a Pico Macom USVJ combiner into the cable run to the pre-amp and connect the VHF antenna that way as the USVJ has a DC power cutoff to the VHF signal path.



I don't think this is correct.


Think of AC as a 60 Hz signal and DC as a 0 Hz signal. Absent extra circuitry, power will pass on the low but not the high side on any band separator.


Afaik, HLSJs and UVSJs have no such circuitry, so unless Pico has changed the design since my last purchase -- admittedly a number of years ago -- power passes only on the low-band side of an HLSJ and only on the VHF side of a UVSJ.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hsweiss* /forum/post/16716022
> 
> 
> I'm a Dish customer. I'm about to buy my 1st HD TV. I'm in a strange and maybe envious situation in that my HD provider options abound. I am in a well provisioned neighborhood with FiOS, Comcast, and Broadstripe (ex Millenium) systems available and obviously Dish and DirecTV.
> 
> 
> I originally went to Dish after "suffering" with Comcast for way too many years and before FiOS was available. I currently have FiOS for internet (and very happy with it). I am quite happy with Dish service other than during the occasional heavy rain storm causing the usual "rain fade" dropout. But this is no worse than the constant dropouts I used to have with Comcast.
> 
> 
> So, now that I'm just about ready to go HD what do you all have to say about the various providers available to me? Does one provide a superior HD picture vs. the competitors? Does satellite really beat out cable - I've heard that cable compresses far too much vs. satellite. Is DirecTV HD better than Dish or equivalent? I've seen FiOS HD at a friend's house and it looked great. But I have not seen Comcast (not that I'm all the excited to go back to them but I have heard that they have improved both their services and customer service).
> 
> 
> Thanks in advance for advice & comments.



Welcome to the forum. There are a lot of extremely knowledgeable people around here and they are always eager to help out with advice or with a problem.


I have both a full Dish Platinum HD package and I also have a Verizon FiOS Extreme HD top tier package. Both of these providers are fed into a Sony 70 inch Rear Projection XBR2 and a Sony 52 inch XBR9 LCD flat screen. The XBR9 is a 240 Hz technological phenomenon. Its color, black level, and life-like detail make it as close to HD state of the art perfection as you are likely going to currently find available anywhere. Sony, in my opinion, is the best HD TV, hands down. I am not revealing this information because I want to boast. I reveal it because you desire an opinion on which provider provides the best HD picture. If you want the best HD picture then you should seek to judge which provider's HD is best by using equipment which will provide you with the best results in which to compare each.


Some people have alleged that Dishnetwork compresses the HD picture they deliver. I have read opinions that they are sending out a 1440 X 1080 picture rather than the full 1920 X 1080. I don't know. Dish has had a shortage of transponders in the past but they recently launched one or two new birds that have enabled them to introduce many new HD channels. They currently have 84 national HD channels not including local HD which they provide to the DC and Baltimore area. They have also converted their HD channels from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 which has enabled them to maintain quality while saving bandwidth. Their HD STBs are the best there are. The VIP-622 and the VIP-722 DVRs are fantastic. They beat Tivo hands down. I have one each. The HD channel PQ is decent to excellent. It is a little on the soft side. The SD channel PQ tends to be a little soft and is nothing to write home about. However, I have two large HD displays. They magnify every detail. A large screen display does not give you a razor sharp picture for 480i SD. Dish has decent customer and technical support.


Verizon FiOS advertises and swears that they deliver to their subs the same exact picture that they receive from their providers. They do not add any compression and deliver to you the full bandwidth. I believe them. Their HD picture is not excellent. *It is absolutely breathtaking.* The picture actually jumps out at you like it was almost 3D. More importantly, their SD channels are almost as good as their HD counterparts even on a large screen display. The sound on FiOS is a little sharper, crisper, and louder than on Dish. FiOS now has 106 national HD channels not including HD locals which they also provide to the Wash-Balt region. The Motoroal STBs are clunky and problematic. They are FiOS's weak link. Their customer support and technical support are also adequate.


Here are the national HD line-ups for all providers:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...php?p=14422029 


Don't go with Comcast. They had been squeezing into each HD slot (called a QAM) three channels where only two belonged. Each QAM is supposed to be about 38.6 mB wide. Instead, each HD channel is about 12.8 mB instead of 19.3. That means that their HD is starved for bandwidth. Pictures have artifacts and pixelization. I hear that their customer service is also starved for bandwidth, so to speak.


You want my opinion, go with FiOS if you don't mind the Motorola STBs. You can always get a Tivo or a Moxi STB and then you would have the best of both worlds (PQ and STB).


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *lstorm* /forum/post/16711436
> 
> 
> I just hope I can get FIOS soon, many of the surrounding streets have it, I'm wondering if its simply a matter of my apartment management company not wanting them to install it in our buildings? That alone would be reason enough for me to move.



Apt buildings have their own challanges and not all of them are technical. Besides the issue with the building management Verizon must install special equipment in multi-unit buildings. Asking the management company would be the first step to find out about FIOS availability.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *huesmann* /forum/post/16714657
> 
> 
> I'm in Kensington, MD. I went from a UHF-only antenna to a Winegard HD-7000R, supposedly VHF/UHF/FM. I don't get a good signal from WUSA 9, occasional pixellation. All the other channels I'm more or less happy with. WUSA's digital signal was fine before the conversion. I do have a pre-amp at the antenna and an amplifier inside (signal is split to several devices). Anything I can do?



I live in Germantown MD, and I can barely get WUSA 9 now. It blacks out about half of the time. I have a VHF/UHF antennae in my attic, and I never had a problem before the switch over. Its clearly them.

J


----------



## TheKrell

Excellent review of providers, Steve. Thanks.


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/16716678
> 
> 
> They have also converted their HD channels from MPEG-4 to MPEG-2 which has enabled them to maintain quality while saving bandwidth.



Backwards.


----------



## southbalto

anyone in Oella/EC area doing OTA?


If so, could you comment on your experience?


----------



## southbalto

Have a Winegard 7694 on order but may look to a db4 w/ seperate vhf as back up plan.


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/16702659
> 
> 
> 2. Does anyone know if WBOC-DT is looking into having 21-2 go HD? It's been done before on ch 45 or 54 I forgot which one. There is a lot of content that should be in HD on that channel especially with it being a FOX affiliate. I don't even think they have the equipment necessary to show syndicated shows in HD on 16-1. Entertainment Tonight is in SD and Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy are on 21-2 which is in SD anyway.



WBOC can feed HD directly to cable/satellite head ends. There is not enough bandwidth in a 6MHz channel to fully support two HD streams. I suppose it's theoretically possible (not knowing what commercial encoders/MUXes support), but each of those streams would be a pixellated mess.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin* /forum/post/16717830
> 
> 
> WBOC can feed HD directly to cable/satellite head ends. There is not enough bandwidth in a 6MHz channel to fully support two HD streams. I suppose it's theoretically possible (not knowing what commercial encoders/MUXes support), but each of those streams would be a pixellated mess.



Lots of stations are doing it. I've seen it look "okay" though definitely not something I'd actively seek to have in my area.


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin* /forum/post/16717830
> 
> 
> WBOC can feed HD directly to cable/satellite head ends. There is not enough bandwidth in a 6MHz channel to fully support two HD streams. I suppose it's theoretically possible (not knowing what commercial encoders/MUXes support), but each of those streams would be a pixellated mess.



Probably not a good idea to have those 2 channels as HD streams. WBOC 16.1 is already noticeably bit starved when compared to WUSA & WJZ.


----------



## RockvilleJ

I’m glad to be part of this forum and hope that someone can provide some insights into my particular problem with digital TV reception. Some details: I live in Rockville MD, in a townhome community that does not allow external OTA antennas. Therefore I have a combination UHF/VHF antenna in my attic that has served me well over the years. It is not amplified. After the conversion on June 12, I lost signal channel 7, like many others, and had been receiving it perfectly on the prior UHF band. I am generally able to receive the other channels, with the exception of set of channel 30 shows.


I have subsequently discovered that I can receive channel 7 if my self built computer, built in Sept. 08, is not running. I can only assume that it is emitting electromagnetic interference that is affecting the signal strength of channel 7. I have done some reading about EMI on the web and there are various general solutions posed. They include moving either the antenna or the computer further apart (not practical in my situation), shielding the case, which I can only assume is already done to some degree, since it’s a reputable case maker and not cheap, or placing some kind of filter on the antenna lead that is mated to the interference. This last suggestion was from an amateur radio friend who says that they have to deal with interference on neighbor’s TVs routinely. This interference is so strong that I had to go into the parking lot in front of my home with a yagi antenna in order to get a signal when the computer was on. But, as soon as the computer is off, the TiVO signal strength bounces right up to around 85 out of 100. I thought that if I were able to obtain a portable gauss meter and use it to try and detect the particular component inside the computer that was responsible for emitting the EMI, I could simply replace that component. But I don't know if it could discriminate that well.


I realize that this question is a little off the path of this thread, but it does have to do with digital OTA reception and I’m hoping that there is someone out there who might have the insights or experience to help out.


----------



## hsweiss




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/16716678
> 
> 
> Welcome to the forum. There are a lot of extremely knowledgeable people around here and they are always eager to help out with advice or with a problem.
> 
> 
> I have both a full Dish Platinum HD package and I also have a Verizon FiOS Extreme HD top tier package. Both of these providers are fed into a Sony 70 inch Rear Projection XBR2 and a Sony 52 inch XBR9 LCD flat screen. The XBR9 is a 240 Hz technological phenomenon. Its color, black level, and life-like detail make it as close to HD state of the art perfection as you are likely going to currently find available anywhere. Sony, in my opinion, is the best HD TV, hands down. I am not revealing this information because I want to boast. I reveal it because you desire an opinion on which provider provides the best HD picture. If you want the best HD picture then you should seek to judge which provider's HD is best by using equipment which will provide you with the best results in which to compare each.
> 
> 
> Some people have alleged that Dishnetwork compresses the HD picture they deliver. I have read opinions that they are sending out a 1440 X 1080 picture rather than the full 1920 X 1080. I don't know. Dish has had a shortage of transponders in the past but they recently launched one or two new birds that have enabled them to introduce many new HD channels. They currently have 84 national HD channels not including local HD which they provide to the DC and Baltimore area. They have also converted their HD channels from MPEG-4 to MPEG-2 which has enabled them to maintain quality while saving bandwidth. Their HD STBs are the best there are. The VIP-622 and the VIP-722 DVRs are fantastic. They beat Tivo hands down. I have one each. The HD channel PQ is decent to excellent. It is a little on the soft side. The SD channel PQ tends to be a little soft and is nothing to write home about. However, I have two large HD displays. They magnify every detail. A large screen display does not give you a razor sharp picture for 480i SD. Dish has decent customer and technical support.
> 
> 
> Verizon FiOS advertises and swears that they deliver to their subs the same exact picture that they receive from their providers. They do not add any compression and deliver to you the full bandwidth. I believe them. Their HD picture is not excellent. *It is absolutely breathtaking.* The picture actually jumps out at you like it was almost 3D. More importantly, their SD channels are almost as good as their HD counterparts even on a large screen display. The sound on FiOS is a little sharper, crisper, and louder than on Dish. FiOS now has 106 national HD channels not including HD locals which they also provide to the Wash-Balt region. The Motoroal STBs are clunky and problematic. They are FiOS's weak link. Their customer support and technical support are also adequate.
> 
> 
> Here are the national HD line-ups for all providers:
> 
> http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...php?p=14422029
> 
> 
> Don't go with Comcast. They had been squeezing into each HD slot (called a QAM) three channels where only two belonged. Each QAM is supposed to be about 38.6 mB wide. Instead, each HD channel is about 12.2 mB instead of 18.3. That means that their HD is starved for bandwidth. Pictures have artifacts and pixelization. I hear that their customer service is also starved for bandwidth, so to speak.
> 
> 
> You want my opinion, go with FiOS if you don't mind the Motorola STBs. You can always get a Tivo or a Moxi STB and then you would have the best of both worlds (PQ and STB).



WOW - thanks! What a great review. I'm sure FiOS and Dish would love you to publish that - certainly FiOS. My concerns with FiOS have been exactly as you state - the clunky Motorola STB. I look at it and I look at my Dish 2-tuner 322 receiver which is so much smaller and has been completely trouble free for the 3+ years I've had dish (we won't talk about the wiring problems and the connectors constantly going bad but that was just a bad installer) vs. the Moto STB - yech.


Based on your observations of both (and my goodness you must have one hefty fill at the end of month with both FiOS and Dish), I will first try to wangle an HD upgrade out of Dish (competition is a wonderful thing to use as a threat to drop service) and see how that goes first before jumping to FiOS. One really nice thing I like about subscribing to satellite is that I pay a total of something like 25 cents in taxes on my bill as opposed to the local jurisdiction cable tariff, the local tax, the state tax, the excise tax, etc etc which totaled to a decent amount every month on my cable bill. Since FiOS was awarded a county cable franchise they too fall under the same tax umbrella whereas (so far) the satellite operators have escaped. My biggest beef with Dish has been with their local channel lineup - I get only the Baltimore stations and therefore only Maryland PBS (MPT) - I'd love to also get WETA from DC. But I know that this is NOT Dish's fault (at least not directly) since they are under a federal mandate to not provide out-of-area locals which the cable companies had been doing for years and only recently have been dropping because of $$.


Again - many, many thanks.


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RockvilleJ* /forum/post/16718097
> 
> 
> I'm glad to be part of this forum and hope that someone can provide some insights into my particular problem with digital TV reception. Some details: I live in Rockville MD, in a townhome community that does not allow external OTA antennas. Therefore I have a combination UHF/VHF antenna in my attic that has served me well over the years. It is not amplified. After the conversion on June 12, I lost signal channel 7, like many others, and had been receiving it perfectly on the prior UHF band. I am generally able to receive the other channels, with the exception of set of channel 30 shows.



It is my understanding that community associations CANNOT ban the use of outdoor antennae. This was part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. While they don't necessarily like them, they can't keep someone from doing it.


----------



## RockvilleJ




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/16718401
> 
> 
> It is my understanding that community associations CANNOT ban the use of outdoor antennae. This was part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. While they don't necessarily like them, they can't keep someone from doing it.




Yes, that is legally true. But in my case, my current antenna (inside the attic) works good if the computer is turned off. Plus, I'm not sure that putting it outside, say on the roof, would get far enough away to avoid the EMI. As noted in my first post, I had to go into the parking lot, about 30 feet away from the front of my home in order to get a signal strong enough to produce video.


----------



## cpldc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RockvilleJ* /forum/post/16719293
> 
> 
> Yes, that is legally true. But in my case, my current antenna (inside the attic) works good if the computer is turned off. Plus, I'm not sure that putting it outside, say on the roof, would get far enough away to avoid the EMI. As noted in my first post, I had to go into the parking lot, about 30 feet away from the front of my home in order to get a signal strong enough to produce video.



You shouldn't need to get it outside. You're close enough to use an attic antenna. Your computer should not be producing that much EMI in any case. I wouldn't bother with filters, since it's best to go after such interference at the source and it's unlikely that any filters would actually help, based on what you've described.


Ham RFI filters are usually high-pass filters that block out anything below channel 2 or notch out specific ham bands. It's usually a case of overload, where a strong (and intentional) signal overloads the TV's tuner and causes interference. This isn't the case with your computer; it could be overload, but it is more likely a defective component. Computers shouldn't cause that much interference, especially not at that part of the spectrum.


----------



## chug0lug




afiggatt said:


> ...You do not have to mount the upper VHF antenna below the UHF antenna. You could mount it above the CM 4228. Generally, VHF antennas are mounted below the UHF (when using 2 antennas) because the VHF antenna is usually heavier and larger. Also, VHF propagates better than UHF closer to the ground, so most of the time, the UHF antenna is mounted higher of the two. The rule of thumb is to have several feet vertically between the antennas if possible.
> 
> 
> 
> Ok, so it's not an issue of interference or anything, just that's what people tend to do. I currently have the CM4228 on a J-mount on the roof, and I was thinking about getting one of those tri-pod things to mount the antenna I purchase on the peak of the roof. Any reason this won't work or any other options I should consider instead of this set-up? Again, I'm pretty challenged when it comes to the "lingo" so please bare with me.
> 
> 
> On another note, thank goodness I found this forum to answer my questions and so I don't go out and spend $$ on things I don't need.
Click to expand...


----------



## TheKrell




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hsweiss* /forum/post/16718163
> 
> 
> My biggest beef with Dish has been with their local channel lineup - I get only the Baltimore stations and therefore only Maryland PBS (MPT) - I'd love to also get WETA from DC.



There is a thing called "moving" as opposed to really physically moving. You do this by calling up Dish and saying you want to move your service address (not billing address) to some location in the DC DMA, and voila. WETA and the rest. Obviously you want to make that call _after_ the installers come out to install any new equipment you may need for HD.


Caveat 1: You would then lose your Baltimore stations.

Caveat 2: WETA via Dish Network is not currently HD. This is not horrible IF you can get WETA OTA. (All current Dish HD receivers either come with, or have as an option, an ATSC tuner.)


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RockvilleJ* /forum/post/16718097
> 
> 
> I'm glad to be part of this forum and hope that someone can provide some insights into my particular problem with digital TV reception. Some details: I live in Rockville MD, in a townhome community that does not allow external OTA antennas. Therefore I have a combination UHF/VHF antenna in my attic that has served me well over the years. It is not amplified. After the conversion on June 12, I lost signal channel 7, like many others, and had been receiving it perfectly on the prior UHF band. I am generally able to receive the other channels, with the exception of set of channel 30 shows.
> 
> 
> I have subsequently discovered that I can receive channel 7 if my self built computer, built in Sept. 08, is not running. I can only assume that it is emitting electromagnetic interference that is affecting the signal strength of channel 7. I have done some reading about EMI on the web and there are various general solutions posed. They include moving either the antenna or the computer further apart (not practical in my situation), shielding the case, which I can only assume is already done to some degree, since it's a reputable case maker and not cheap, or placing some kind of filter on the antenna lead that is mated to the interference. This last suggestion was from an amateur radio friend who says that they have to deal with interference on neighbor's TVs routinely. This interference is so strong that I had to go into the parking lot in front of my home with a yagi antenna in order to get a signal when the computer was on. But, as soon as the computer is off, the TiVO signal strength bounces right up to around 85 out of 100. I thought that if I were able to obtain a portable gauss meter and use it to try and detect the particular component inside the computer that was responsible for emitting the EMI, I could simply replace that component. But I don't know if it could discriminate that well.
> 
> 
> I realize that this question is a little off the path of this thread, but it does have to do with digital OTA reception and I'm hoping that there is someone out there who might have the insights or experience to help out.



What is bothering your channel 7 DTV reception is not EMI nor RFI, but Impulse noise. The two typical devices that cause noise on the VHF band are the switching power supply in the CPU, and/or the computer monitor. Your case is not effective enough to shield out the noise, some of which is introduced to the neutral AC wiring in the house.


If there is electrical wiring in your attic, that would be more than likely the 'noise antenna', transmitting the noise from your computer power supply and thus disrupting your channel 7. The problem is the neutral connection is all bonded together, so all your home wiring would have the problem. An AC isolation transformer connected to your computer may help, but the neutral and ground pin are bonded at your electrical panel anyway. You could try an isolation transformer, then use a ground lift adaptor.. But you're effectively floating the ground for your computer connection. Depending on the situation, that may not be safe for the long haul.


Moving your antenna outdoors away from the interference and the ability to capture more TV signal, is always the best option.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TheKrell* /forum/post/16717175
> 
> 
> Excellent review of providers, Steve. Thanks.
> 
> Backwards.



Corrected today. Thanks for pointing that out.


----------



## RockvilleJ




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/16719536
> 
> 
> What is bothering your channel 7 DTV reception is not EMI nor RFI, but Impulse noise. The two typical devices that cause noise on the VHF band are the switching power supply in the CPU, and/or the computer monitor. Your case is not effective enough to shield out the noise, some of which is introduced to the neutral AC wiring in the house.
> 
> 
> If there is electrical wiring in your attic, that would be more than likely the 'noise antenna', transmitting the noise from your computer power supply and thus disrupting your channel 7. The problem is the neutral connection is all bonded together, so all your home wiring would have the problem. An AC isolation transformer connected to your computer may help, but the neutral and ground pin are bonded at your electrical panel anyway. You could try an isolation transformer, then use a ground lift adaptor.. But you're effectively floating the ground for your computer connection. Depending on the situation, that may not be safe for the long haul.
> 
> 
> Moving your antenna outdoors away from the interference and the ability to capture more TV signal, is always the best option.



Yes there is some wiring in the attic just to one utility box and two pull chain lights. I am a real neophyte when it comes to this subject, but I did have someone with engineering background suggest that I 'ground' the pc case to a water pipe, providing a separate ground from the one in the electrical system. Would that make a difference on a temporary basis to isolate the issue?


As an additional point of interest, I had previously noticed that the reception on my cell phone drops off to "No connection" if I am sitting at the computer. But if I go in the next room, about 20 feet away, it comes back enough to function.


I am not familiar with the terms 'AC isolation transformer' or 'ground lift adaptor'. Yes, I agree that I could move the antenna outdoors, although I'm not sure I could get far enough away to not be impacted by the interference.


At one point last year, prior to the transition to DTV, I had noticed that my analog channel 7 was picking up interference. It was during the time I was building the pc. But after I put the sides on, the interference went away.


Do you think that this could be coming from a particular component within the pc? If I could determine which one was responsible, I would switch it out for another brand.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hsweiss* /forum/post/16718163
> 
> 
> My biggest beef with Dish has been with their local channel lineup - I get only the Baltimore stations and therefore only Maryland PBS (MPT) - I'd love to also get WETA from DC. But I know that this is NOT Dish's fault (at least not directly) since they are under a federal mandate to not provide out-of-area locals which the cable companies had been doing for years and only recently have been dropping because of dollars.



From what I know and that isn't a hell of a lot, the Feds don't regulate what local channels are available to our region. FiOS won't deliver the Washington channels to Baltimore City and County because Channels 2, 11, 13, 24, 45, and 54 don't want the competition from Washington advertisers. The Baltimore channels want you to buy from local advertisers who pay for air time on their channels. The same is true in Washington. Channels 4, 5, 7, 9, 20, and 50 don't want you to watch their Baltimore counterparts because they want you to buy from their local advertisers. FiOS doesn't care one way or another. The must-carry law requires FiOS to carry certain local channels. The must-carry law doesn't exclude FiOS from carrying out of market channels. They do only what is legally mandated.


Howard and Anne Arundel Counties are luckier. They get all of the Baltimore locals and all of the Washington locals minus Channels 20 and 50. The 10 MHz channels from WNVC and WNWT on Channel 30.1 through 30.10 in NoVa are not available either in Howard or AA.


I'm in Montgomery. I get everything from Washington and NoVA and only MPT from Annapolis on FiOS. Dish is the same minus MPT. However, I have an outside UHF/VHF antenna and I can receive just about every DTV channel in the region including 25.1 in Hagerstown, 43.1 in York, plus all of the low power digital and analog channels from Washington.


Try to install some kind of external inside or outside UHF/VHF antenna so that you can receive the Washington locals. OTA digital reception is also the very best possible PQ for all of the locals.


----------



## chamb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RockvilleJ* /forum/post/16719840
> 
> 
> Yes there is some wiring in the attic just to one utility box and two pull chain lights. I am a real neophyte when it comes to this subject, but I did have someone with engineering background suggest that I 'ground' the pc case to a water pipe, providing a separate ground from the one in the electrical system. Would that make a difference on a temporary basis to isolate the issue?
> 
> 
> As an additional point of interest, I had previously noticed that the reception on my cell phone drops off to "No connection" if I am sitting at the computer. But if I go in the next room, about 20 feet away, it comes back enough to function.
> 
> 
> I am not familiar with the terms 'AC isolation transformer' or 'ground lift adaptor'. Yes, I agree that I could move the antenna outdoors, although I'm not sure I could get far enough away to not be impacted by the interference.
> 
> 
> At one point last year, prior to the transition to DTV, I had noticed that my analog channel 7 was picking up interference. It was during the time I was building the pc. But after I put the sides on, the interference went away.
> 
> 
> Do you think that this could be coming from a particular component within the pc? If I could determine which one was responsible, I would switch it out for another brand.



As mentioned by another poster, it probably is your monitor or the power supply in your PC.

Try turning off just your monitor while leaving your PC on. If your problem goes away, your monitor is the culprit. If your monitor is not the problem, I would replace the power supply in your PC. Try to do it yourself or get some cheap help. Power supplies are not normally hard to change. They can be bought at Staples or on-line. Get one that is MORE than 200 watts, 300 or 400 watts is preferred for best operation. Cost, around 50 bucks un-installed.

Maybe you can find somebody to install one on a temporary basis to prove that is the problem.

If you have any un-interruptible power supply EXTERNAL to the PC, that could be the problem too.

If you are using Wi-Fi, that COULD be the problem also, however that is not a main suspect.

Post again later when you have time to figure out what the problem is. Other people want to know.


----------



## RockvilleJ

I first tried the monitor. Even went so far as so unplug the brick, but no change in channel 7.


I do have a UPS and so I turned it off. But again no change on the TV.


I don't have WiFi.


As for the power supply, it's a new Zalman 750 watt unit. I regularly build pcs, so this was part of the components that I bought to build a new gaming pc for myself. The odd thing is that this was the 2nd power supply that I bought because after I got the first one and powered up, I noticed that I was getting interference on the analog (at the time) channel 7 so I immediately suspected the power supply. So, I RMA'd that one, which was an OCZ 750 watt unit and got the Zalman. I could try putting in another one that I have on hand just to see if by sheer coincidence that both power supplies were doing the same thing.


I also suspected the video card and again the current one is the 2nd one in the pc as it was replaced after the first one failed right after the pc was completed. And the interference occurred while each video card was in the pc.


The only other things that are have been in the pc from the start are 2 new SATA hard drives, new motherboard and new memory.


I appreciate the thoughts given here.


----------



## cpldc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RockvilleJ* /forum/post/16720612
> 
> 
> I first tried the monitor. Even went so far as so unplug the brick, but no change in channel 7.
> 
> 
> I do have a UPS and so I turned it off. But again no change on the TV.
> 
> 
> I don't have WiFi.
> 
> 
> As for the power supply, it's a new Zalman 750 watt unit. I regularly build pcs, so this was part of the components that I bought to build a new gaming pc for myself. The odd thing is that this was the 2nd power supply that I bought because after I got the first one and powered up, I noticed that I was getting interference on the analog (at the time) channel 7 so I immediately suspected the power supply. So, I RMA'd that one, which was an OCZ 750 watt unit and got the Zalman. I could try putting in another one that I have on hand just to see if by sheer coincidence that both power supplies were doing the same thing.
> 
> 
> I also suspected the video card and again the current one is the 2nd one in the pc as it was replaced after the first one failed right after the pc was completed. And the interference occurred while each video card was in the pc.
> 
> 
> The only other things that are have been in the pc from the start are 2 new SATA hard drives, new motherboard and new memory.
> 
> 
> I appreciate the thoughts given here.



I suppose you could try a couple of snap-on ferrite beads on the power cable. These could work, if you pick the right diameter for the cable:

https://www.amidoncorp.com/items/7 


It's again better if you try to get it at the source, but this _might_ prevent it from radiating out.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RockvilleJ* /forum/post/16720612
> 
> 
> I first tried the monitor. Even went so far as so unplug the brick, but no change in channel 7.
> 
> 
> I do have a UPS and so I turned it off. But again no change on the TV.
> 
> 
> I don't have WiFi.
> 
> 
> As for the power supply, it's a new Zalman 750 watt unit. I regularly build pcs, so this was part of the components that I bought to build a new gaming pc for myself. The odd thing is that this was the 2nd power supply that I bought because after I got the first one and powered up, I noticed that I was getting interference on the analog (at the time) channel 7 so I immediately suspected the power supply. So, I RMA'd that one, which was an OCZ 750 watt unit and got the Zalman. I could try putting in another one that I have on hand just to see if by sheer coincidence that both power supplies were doing the same thing.
> 
> 
> I also suspected the video card and again the current one is the 2nd one in the pc as it was replaced after the first one failed right after the pc was completed. And the interference occurred while each video card was in the pc.
> 
> 
> The only other things that are have been in the pc from the start are 2 new SATA hard drives, new motherboard and new memory.
> 
> 
> I appreciate the thoughts given here.



The noise from your power supply is probably radiating from two places, the case and up the power cord. Even if you could shield the noise through the case by another case or grounding, the noise is being sent like an antenna into the neutral wire. The neutral wire travels all over your home carrying the noise with it. A 750W supply is pretty big and probably the issue here.


The reason I suggested moving the antenna outside is to not only move away from the interference in the house and wiring, but the trick is to have the TV station signal received at a higher level than the interference. Your roof attenuates the TV signal, but the "antenna" in the form of your house wiring transmits the noise just a few feet away surrounding the TV antenna. The technical term used is called signal-to-noise ratio. The idea is to have a signal, much higher than the noise.


----------



## chamb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RockvilleJ* /forum/post/16720612
> 
> 
> I first tried the monitor. Even went so far as so unplug the brick, but no change in channel 7.
> 
> 
> I do have a UPS and so I turned it off. But again no change on the TV.
> 
> 
> I don't have WiFi.
> 
> 
> As for the power supply, it's a new Zalman 750 watt unit. I regularly build pcs, so this was part of the components that I bought to build a new gaming pc for myself. The odd thing is that this was the 2nd power supply that I bought because after I got the first one and powered up, I noticed that I was getting interference on the analog (at the time) channel 7 so I immediately suspected the power supply. So, I RMA'd that one, which was an OCZ 750 watt unit and got the Zalman. I could try putting in another one that I have on hand just to see if by sheer coincidence that both power supplies were doing the same thing.
> 
> 
> I also suspected the video card and again the current one is the 2nd one in the pc as it was replaced after the first one failed right after the pc was completed. And the interference occurred while each video card was in the pc.
> 
> 
> The only other things that are have been in the pc from the start are 2 new SATA hard drives, new motherboard and new memory.
> 
> 
> I appreciate the thoughts given here.



I would not suspect the hard drives or the memory, but I would not totally rule them out. I would look elsewhere first.

The 750 Watt power supply is a biggie, and I would swap it out with a spare at least for a moment. Could be a video card especially since you have one that probably is not very common.


You could be missing the 3rd wire Ground in your AC receptacle too. You case may not be grounded like you think it is. You may even have a main power panel that has a loose connection on this ground. Can you plug your PC into a different power source especially one in another room. Get a long Extension cord.

Your whole Main power Panel may have lost its ground.


A mother board could be causing this too, but I would look everyplace else first.


Try installing a smaller power supply if you have one. 750 Watts is going to output some RF noise. You can not shield the power supply much. You have to allow heat to escape.


----------



## RockvilleJ




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chamb* /forum/post/16721297
> 
> 
> I would not suspect the hard drives or the memory, but I would not totally rule them out. I would look elsewhere first.
> 
> The 750 Watt power supply is a biggie, and I would swap it out with a spare at least for a moment. Could be a video card especially since you have one that probably is not very common.
> 
> 
> You could be missing the 3rd wire Ground in your AC receptacle too. You case may not be grounded like you think it is. You may even have a main power panel that has a loose connection on this ground. Can you plug your PC into a different power source especially one in another room. Get a long Extension cord.
> 
> Your whole Main power Panel may have lost its ground.
> 
> 
> A mother board could be causing this too, but I would look everyplace else first.
> 
> 
> Try installing a smaller power supply if you have one. 750 Watts is going to output some RF noise. You can not shield the power supply much. You have to allow heat to escape.



I will swap out the power supply tomorrow for a smaller one that I know did not interfere before. As for the third wire ground, couldn't I use an electrical current testing tool between the hot wire and the ground wire to check out the continuity? If the ground isn't good, then the circuit won't be complete, right? I believe plugging the pc into another outlet, even on a different floor would still eventually go back to the issue of the ground in the main panel box. How would I now if the ground was not proper in the main panel box?


But if it was a loose ground wire in this particular outlet, then it would make a difference. Anyhow, I'll try out different outlets on different floors with an extension cord.


Regarding the video card, this is the 2nd one that I have had in the pc and changing it out when the first one died, didn't alter the interference and putting a different card in there would be problematic since it's a newer type slot for which I don't have any extra cards lying around. But I'll keep wrestling with the issue.


----------



## voltore

One thing I found when I moved from COX to FiOS, the local HD(Including WUSA which I keep an eye on with a fine toothcomb) looked better on the Motorola STB compared with the Cox Scientific STB. As I know they're doing a 19.39Mb/s passthrough onto a QAM carrier, I'm assuming the decoder is somewhat better (or they've cheated the response somewhere in the decoder!). I was somewhat surprised.


----------



## Digital Rules

Anybody know why we are getting WHAG 25 on FIOS channel 515? Is this a fluke?


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *huesmann* /forum/post/16714657
> 
> 
> I'm in Kensington, MD. I went from a UHF-only antenna to a Winegard HD-7000R, supposedly VHF/UHF/FM. I don't get a good signal from WUSA 9, occasional pixellation. All the other channels I'm more or less happy with. WUSA's digital signal was fine before the conversion. I do have a pre-amp at the antenna and an amplifier inside (signal is split to several devices). Anything I can do?



I still no longer get a good signal from 9.1 anymore. I contacted them and explained that I used to be able to before the conversion, but they had no advise. All they said, was that they were putting out as much power as they were allowed, and asked if I could get channel 7.

Any ideas?

J


----------



## SternLover21215

All,


I want to thank ProjectSHO89 for you great advise.


I decided to go with the DB2 and the AD C5 antennas. I did all my research figured out everything I needed. Well, I got up this morning this morning to order my equipment and I was just flipping through the channels and I noticed I had channel WJLA was coming in perfect and WUSA was coming in very spotty. For the past 2 weeks in Baltimore I haven't been able to get them. Have these station increased their power?


Now that I can get a WJLA and a spotty WUSA with my Winegard SS-3000, I'm thinking I can get a more powerful indoor antenna to get WUSA clear, or would it be better to get a DB2/DB4 and put it on the roof?


Any advise is appreciated.


----------



## voltore




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/16723506
> 
> 
> All they said, was that they were putting out as much power as they were allowed, and asked if I could get channel 7.Any ideas?
> 
> J



That's a fair response, then once we know that, we can ask more. A fair amount of emails don't give enough information to offer advice. Most often they won't give their location


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/16723506
> 
> 
> I still no longer get a good signal from 9.1 anymore. I contacted them and explained that I used to be able to before the conversion, but they had no advise. All they said, was that they were putting out as much power as they were allowed, and asked if I could get channel 7.
> 
> Any ideas?
> 
> J



The overamplification of your system is the root of your problem. Since WUSA is now on VHF, you are noticing it's effects now where you didn't before. How many devices do you need to power from your antenna? You shouldn't need any boost unless you are running maybe 6 or more tuners off that antenna. A paperclip should be able to pick up WUSA in Kensington.


----------



## chamb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RockvilleJ* /forum/post/16722184
> 
> 
> I will swap out the power supply tomorrow for a smaller one that I know did not interfere before. As for the third wire ground, couldn't I use an electrical current testing tool between the hot wire and the ground wire to check out the continuity? If the ground isn't good, then the circuit won't be complete, right? I believe plugging the pc into another outlet, even on a different floor would still eventually go back to the issue of the ground in the main panel box. How would I now if the ground was not proper in the main panel box?
> 
> 
> But if it was a loose ground wire in this particular outlet, then it would make a difference. Anyhow, I'll try out different outlets on different floors with an extension cord.
> 
> 
> Regarding the video card, this is the 2nd one that I have had in the pc and changing it out when the first one died, didn't alter the interference and putting a different card in there would be problematic since it's a newer type slot for which I don't have any extra cards lying around. But I'll keep wrestling with the issue.




Plugging the PC into a different outlet will prove if your outlet has a missing or loose ground connection, You are correct, It will not prove that main power panel is grounded correctly. A tester would probably prove an outlet had a totally missing ground, but might not catch a ground wire that is just loose and not connected tightly.


To prove a main power panel is not grounded properly, is really an electricians job. You want to know how to do things safely there. Sometimes a ground wire will loosen up there especially if aluminum wire was used. Aluminum tends to give problems like this, but it is used because it is cheaper than copper wire. It is normally just a matter of tightening up the big screws on the ground wires there, but again, you do not want to make a mistake there or you will get burned or even killed.


If your two video cards were of a different manufacturer, and you had the problems with both of them, then I would not think you have a video card problem. But if both cards were from the same manufacturer, then the video card is still a suspect. If both cards were the same model, you could have a manufacturers design problem and you could swap 10 of them and still have the problem.


I still suspect the power supply, but really it could be anything in the PC.

Yes, even a case fan. Not likely, but it does happen.

It could be memory, disk drives or a mother board. I would not suspect any of them, but it sure is difficult to troubleshoot it from a distance. CD or DVD drives would not be a suspect, but unplugging the power on them and booting the PC will prove if they are the culprits.

Try moving the various cable around. Make sure they are not tied together very tightly into a bundle.

Could it be a Cable or DSL modem that you are turning off when you turn the PC off? Anything else that gets turned off when you shut down you PC. Like a printer or scanner??? Or even a digital clock.

If you are not using Wi-Fi, are you using "power Line Networking"??


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SternLover21215* /forum/post/16723665
> 
> 
> . . . . . Well, I got up this morning this morning to order my equipment and I was just flipping through the channels and I noticed I had channel WJLA was coming in perfect and WUSA was coming in very spotty. For the past 2 weeks in Baltimore I haven't been able to get them. Have these station increased their power?



No,


The atmosphere has been favorable for long distance signal enhancement lately. This is very common in warmer weather.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16723478
> 
> 
> Anybody know why we are getting WHAG 25 on FIOS channel 515? Is this a fluke?



I was not expecting Verizon to add WHAG NBC 25 to the HD line-up. But it is there and in the guide this morning. Was expecting Verizon to add WPXW Ion 66 to the HD local line-up next - and they still have not. Hagerstown is a subset of the Washington DC market and the new WHAG digital broadcast signal now covers much of the north and western areas of the DC metro area (and west of Baltimore as well), so maybe Nexstar Broadcasting talked Verizon into carrying the HD channel.


I can get WHAG-DT over the air from Sterling, but it has been tricky to find a aim and location for the CM 4221 that also gets all the DC stations, WNVC 30.1, WNVT 30.6, and the Baltimore stations including WUTB 24 at the same time. The trade-off has been between getting WUTB 24 reliably or getting a stable picture for WHAG. I can get WHAG 25 with a indoor Silver Sensor if I aim the antenna to the NW.


The advantage to getting WHAG is that it currently has no SD sub-channels. Until WHAG add sub-channels - and very likely eventually will do so - it should offer better picture quality for NBC programming, especially for sports. Would be useful if someone with a TivoHD or PC tuner setup could measure the bandwidth for WRC 4.1 and WHAG 25.1. However, I have not seen any closed captions for WHAG-DT over the air, so the station is lagging in adding CC equipment. WHAG-DT apparently does not show any syndicated HD programming, but then again, neither does NBC owned WRC.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16723773
> 
> 
> The overamplification of your system is the root of your problem. Since WUSA is now on VHF, you are noticing it's effects now where you didn't before. How many devices do you need to power from your antenna? You shouldn't need any boost unless you are running maybe 6 or more tuners off that antenna. A paperclip should be able to pick up WUSA in Kensington.



I'm not in Kensington, I'm in Germantown, and I was getting 9.1 and 9.2 perfectly before.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/16724045
> 
> 
> I'm not in Kensington, I'm in Germantown, and I was getting 9.1 and 9.2 perfectly before.



Oooops, My apologies, I had you confused with huesmann.


You will be lucky to get WUSA-DT 9 reliably with any attic antenna in Germantown. Do you get WJLA-DT 7?


----------



## RockvilleJ




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chamb* /forum/post/16723790
> 
> 
> Plugging the PC into a different outlet will prove if your outlet has a missing or loose ground connection, You are correct, It will not prove that main power panel is grounded correctly. A tester would probably prove an outlet had a totally missing ground, but might not catch a ground wire that is just loose and not connected tightly.
> 
> 
> To prove a main power panel is not grounded properly, is really an electricians job. You want to know how to do things safely there. Sometimes a ground wire will loosen up there especially if aluminum wire was used. Aluminum tends to give problems like this, but it is used because it is cheaper than copper wire. It is normally just a matter of tightening up the big screws on the ground wires there, but again, you do not want to make a mistake there or you will get burned or even killed.
> 
> 
> If your two video cards were of a different manufacturer, and you had the problems with both of them, then I would not think you have a video card problem. But if both cards were from the same manufacturer, then the video card is still a suspect. If both cards were the same model, you could have a manufacturers design problem and you could swap 10 of them and still have the problem.
> 
> 
> I still suspect the power supply, but really it could be anything in the PC.
> 
> Yes, even a case fan. Not likely, but it does happen.
> 
> It could be memory, disk drives or a mother board. I would not suspect any of them, but it sure is difficult to troubleshoot it from a distance. CD or DVD drives would not be a suspect, but unplugging the power on them and booting the PC will prove if they are the culprits.
> 
> Try moving the various cable around. Make sure they are not tied together very tightly into a bundle.
> 
> Could it be a Cable or DSL modem that you are turning off when you turn the PC off? Anything else that gets turned off when you shut down you PC. Like a printer or scanner??? Or even a digital clock.
> 
> If you are not using Wi-Fi, are you using "power Line Networking"??



I will try plugging into a different circuit today. It is odd though that this only showed up when I built the new pc and not previously. So, that's what leads me to believe that it is something in the new pc and not a pre-existing condition like an improper ground in the main panel (although I could be off base in this reasoning).


The two video cards were from different manufacturers so I don't think that they are at the root of this problem.


I have DSL and the modem is on 24/7, as is another pc on my wired network, so it's not the modem. Likewise, my printer, which is about 4 years old, also stays on after the pc is shut down. I do have a power line networking setup tied into the wired network, but that was set up long after the pc was built and the problem showed up, so I don't think that's the culprit either.


So, I'm back to the power supply again. I was going to simply switch it out today, but realized that I don't have one that has the proper connectors so I'm on my way to Micro Center this morning to purchase one. Finger crossed.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16723478
> 
> 
> Anybody know why we are getting WHAG 25 on FIOS channel 515? Is this a fluke?



I was wondering the same thing.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16723916
> 
> 
> I was not expecting Verizon to add WHAG NBC 25 to the HD line-up. But it is there and in the guide this morning. Was expecting Verizon to add WPXW Ion 66 to the HD local line-up next - and they still have not. Hagerstown is a subset of the Washington DC market and the new WHAG digital broadcast signal now covers much of the north and western areas of the DC metro area (and west of Baltimore as well), so maybe Nexstar Broadcasting talked Verizon into carrying the HD channel.
> 
> 
> I can get WHAG-DT over the air from Sterling, but it has been tricky to find a aim and location for the CM 4221 that also gets all the DC stations, WNVC 30.1, WNVT 30.6, and the Baltimore stations including WUTB 24 at the same time. The trade-off has been between getting WUTB 24 reliably or getting a stable picture for WHAG. I can get WHAG 25 with a indoor Silver Sensor if I aim the antenna to the NW.
> 
> 
> The advantage to getting WHAG is that it currently has no SD sub-channels. Until WHAG add sub-channels - and very likely eventually will do so - it should offer better picture quality for NBC programming, especially for sports. Would be useful if someone with a TivoHD or PC tuner setup could measure the bandwidth for WRC 4.1 and WHAG 25.1. However, I have not seen any closed captions for WHAG-DT over the air, so the station is lagging in adding CC equipment. WHAG-DT apparently does not show any syndicated HD programming, but then again, neither does NBC owned WRC.



Thanks for the info


if the station stays on FIOS I will change my season passes for NBC shows to that station. None of the bradcasts are as good as they were eight years ago.

I can easily see the difference when comparing what HD is broadcast now on the DC stations to HD recordings I made eight years ago when they didn't have any subchannels.


----------



## CycloneGT

Well, we Dish Network customers have been getting WHAG for a long time now as part of the DC DMA. Since it has been SD only, I can't say that I've watched it that much other than a couple of "Hey, check this out" on the first days that it appeared.


Since for some reason Hagerstown is part of the DC DMA, I'm surprised that its not on all of the MSO that service the DC DMA.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16724202
> 
> 
> Oooops, My apologies, I had you confused with huesmann.
> 
> 
> You will be lucky to get WUSA-DT 9 reliably with any attic antenna in Germantown. Do you get WJLA-DT 7?



That's Germantown MD, just north of Gaithersburg in Montgomery County.

WJLA is no problem. Like I said, I was getting 9.1 and 9.2 (talk about exciting







) for a couple years until now. I do get it through Comcast, but I am considering just dropping cable altogether-or was until CBS disappeared. The OTA picture tends to be better than via cable.

J


----------



## Digital Rules

Hopefully, WUSA-DT 9 will increase their power to a more realistic level, but there is no word of that happening yet.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16723478
> 
> 
> Anybody know why we are getting WHAG 25 on FIOS channel 515? Is this a fluke?



Anyone know if FIOS is using a fiber feed, or OTA?


----------



## SternLover21215




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16723804
> 
> 
> No,
> 
> 
> The atmosphere has been favorable for long distance signal enhancement lately. This is very common in warmer weather.



Thanks Digital Rules, that explains why the stations didn't come in a little while ago. Guess I'll be putting in my order for my DB2 and AC C5 today.


----------



## chamb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16724781
> 
> 
> Anyone know if FIOS is using a fiber feed, or OTA?





Just my good educated guess ---- it is OTA since a fiber feed from Hagerstown to DC would be very costly. Small town stations generally do not have that type of money available, especially now when advertising income is probably way down. The good thing is that the WHAG OTA signal is of top quality.


----------



## chamb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RockvilleJ* /forum/post/16724297
> 
> 
> I will try plugging into a different circuit today. It is odd though that this only showed up when I built the new pc and not previously. So, that's what leads me to believe that it is something in the new pc and not a pre-existing condition like an improper ground in the main panel (although I could be off base in this reasoning).
> 
> 
> The two video cards were from different manufacturers so I don't think that they are at the root of this problem.
> 
> 
> I have DSL and the modem is on 24/7, as is another pc on my wired network, so it's not the modem. Likewise, my printer, which is about 4 years old, also stays on after the pc is shut down. I do have a power line networking setup tied into the wired network, but that was set up long after the pc was built and the problem showed up, so I don't think that's the culprit either.
> 
> 
> So, I'm back to the power supply again. I was going to simply switch it out today, but realized that I don't have one that has the proper connectors so I'm on my way to Micro Center this morning to purchase one. Finger crossed.



Another thought, coiling up cords can cause some funny problems. if you have the power cord coiled up or tied in a bundle of cables, try straightening that out.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chamb* /forum/post/16725551
> 
> 
> The good thing is that the WHAG OTA signal is of top quality.



I'm curious as to where they have the antenna for that? It would need to be well northwest of DC to avoid co-channel interference from Richmond.


----------



## joblo

*The word from WHAG Engineering:*



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16723478
> 
> 
> Anybody know why we are getting WHAG 25 on FIOS channel 515? Is this a fluke?



No, it is not a fluke. It is supposed to be available to the entire DC coverage area.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16724781
> 
> 
> Anyone know if FIOS is using a fiber feed, or OTA?


*Fiber* it is.


This is very nice, because I have no usable signal from WHAG at my location in Fairfax. Last night I moved an 8-bay all around the attic. Got KYW again, and later on WRLH, but if there was ever any signal from WHAG it was either way too weak to lock, or destroyed by the co-channel from Philly and Richmond.


----------



## joblo

WRC-4 went dark at 12:00 noon.

WMPT-22 went dark at 12:31 pm.


No ceremonies. They both just went to snow in the middle of the nightlight loop.


Meanwhile, WTTG-5 shrunk its nightlight program sometime in the past few days. It is now windowboxed.


Why can't stations get aspect ratios figured out? It's a nightlight program fer cryin' out loud. Whoever would want to see that in widescreen?


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/16719536
> 
> 
> What is bothering your channel 7 DTV reception is not EMI nor RFI, but Impulse noise. The two typical devices that cause noise on the VHF band are the switching power supply in the CPU, and/or the computer monitor. Your case is not effective enough to shield out the noise, some of which is introduced to the neutral AC wiring in the house.
> 
> 
> If there is electrical wiring in your attic, that would be more than likely the 'noise antenna', transmitting the noise from your computer power supply and thus disrupting your channel 7. The problem is the neutral connection is all bonded together, so all your home wiring would have the problem. An AC isolation transformer connected to your computer may help, but the neutral and ground pin are bonded at your electrical panel anyway. You could try an isolation transformer, then use a ground lift adaptor.. But you're effectively floating the ground for your computer connection. Depending on the situation, that may not be safe for the long haul.
> 
> 
> Moving your antenna outdoors away from the interference and the ability to capture more TV signal, is always the best option.



Electrical outlet feedback was exactly the same thing that popped into my head when I read the problem.


RockvilleJ,


Try using a true isolation UPS between your computer and wall outlet. Try looking for one with a network filtering capability for your Power Line Network.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RockvilleJ* /forum/post/16719840
> 
> 
> I did have someone with engineering background suggest that I 'ground' the pc case to a water pipe, providing a separate ground from the one in the electrical system. Would that make a difference on a temporary basis to isolate the issue?



Unless the water pipe is bonded to the electrical ground and your absolutely positive that it's metal from the computer to the ground bonding point, *DO NOT DO THIS!* You will create a ground potential issue, which can create a shock hazard capable of killing you. This can happen, when you touch the metal case of your computer and any other object that is metal and plugged into an electrical outlet.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16723916
> 
> 
> The advantage to getting WHAG is that it currently has no SD sub-channels. Until WHAG add sub-channels - and very likely eventually will do so - it should offer better picture quality for NBC programming, especially for sports. Would be useful if someone with a TivoHD or PC tuner setup could measure the bandwidth for WRC 4.1 and WHAG 25.1. However, I have not seen any closed captions for WHAG-DT over the air, so the station is lagging in adding CC equipment. WHAG-DT apparently does not show any syndicated HD programming, but then again, neither does NBC owned WRC.



I talked with the engineer at WHAG-DT and posted awhile back. They have no plans to add any sub-channels to their transmission. I'll see what I can find out about the other issues.


On another note, I finally connected with the engineer at WDCA about W51CY. They have submitted quote requests for converting to digital and are still planning on turning W51CY back "ON," when they get the conversion done. I asked about turning the analog transmission back "ON" and was told that they don't have any equipment to receive their primary DTV transmission for broadcasting. I wonder if they could use a CM7000?










Bottom line is that when Corporate gets their priority down to that level and they have the equipment, it will get done. We'll see it turned "ON," when it gets turned "ON."


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RockvilleJ* /forum/post/16724297
> 
> 
> I do have a power line networking setup tied into the wired network, but that was set up long after the pc was built and the problem showed up, so I don't think that's the culprit either.



Maybe so, but the card in the new PC build may be reacting differently. Try disconnecting the PC from this network.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chamb* /forum/post/16725551
> 
> 
> Small town stations generally do not have that type of money available, especially now when advertising income is probably way down.



WJAL-DT was sending their content to all the cable systems throughout the area via fiber (and may still be), when their facilities went up in smoke at the tower.


----------



## chamb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16725853
> 
> 
> I'm curious as to where they have the antenna for that? It would need to be well northwest of DC to avoid co-channel interference from Richmond.




I know exactly where the transmitter is at. At Clear Spring, Md West of Hagerstown and north of I-70. On top of a mountain with 575KW of Power.

Some station use more power, but they do not have the elevation. The height of the antenna allows for great coverage.


----------



## systems2000

I just checked my Sunkey SK-801ATSC CECB and WHAG-DT is broadcasting Oprah with CC1. I'll have to check the other programs and CECB's for more information later.

*UPDATE:* The Insignia -APT and APEX DT502 see it as "CC1," although I had to go into the menu on the APEX DT502 to activate it (the keypad button only allowed Auto and Service options). The Zinwell 970A sees it as "Caption1."


Does the station have the ability to put information in the PSIP stream to tell the CECB which options are available? I would have thought the "Auto" option on the APEX DT502 would have found the CC1 stream.


----------



## chamb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16726399
> 
> 
> WJAL-DT was sending their content to all the cable systems throughout the area via fiber (and may still be), when their facilities went up in smoke at the tower.



Now THAT really surprises me. I would suspect that the money is in short supply at that station. Who is paying for this?? Fiber rental is not cheap.


----------



## systems2000

WHAG-DT's antenna is 559.4 Meters AMSL here .


----------



## systems2000

What's going on with WBFF-DT sub-channel .2? I can see the ThisTV logo in the lower right corner, while the content is breaking up. I thought it was my reception at first, until I realized that I shouldn't be able to see the logo.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16726637
> 
> 
> What's going on with WBFF-DT sub-channel .2? I can see the ThisTV logo in the lower right corner, while the content is breaking up. I thought it was my reception at first, until I realized that I shouldn't be able to see the logo.



No issues here (10mi from tower). The quality of that program that's on now is pretty rotten, though










Is it still happening? Are the colors in the logo changing (since it's semi-transparent) or is it static for you? It sounds like a reception issue, I've seen where portions of the screen look OK with the rest garbage. Depends on the decoder and of course how they're encoding it. Or, I missed what you were seeing and it's all better now ... Mark is pretty quick fixing things up there!


We're having bad weather up here tonight. At this moment, there's a storm between me and the tower, but we're still drop-out free.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chamb* /forum/post/16726432
> 
> 
> I know exactly where the transmitter is at. At Clear Spring, Md West of Hagerstown and north of I-70. On top of a mountain with 575KW of Power.



Thanks,


I was referring to where FIOS was getting the signal from, but it appears to be a fiber feed.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

I'm watching KDFW-4 out of Dallas/Ft. Worth right now (night light service) pointing at the Southwest.


If I point to the North & NE, I am hearing Canadian TV (in French and English on 2, 3, and 4 (mostly audio only).


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Is it still happening? Are the colors in the logo changing (since it's semi-transparent) or is it static for you?



It was happening earlier this afternoon. During the movie "At The Earth's Core." Yes, the logo was still changing colors. The current movie is coming in fine.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/16725980
> 
> 
> WRC-4 went dark at 12:00 noon.
> 
> WMPT-22 went dark at 12:31 pm



Wow, I thought you were wrong about channel 22, but there appears to be another analog station on that same channel in Frederick Md. Now that WMPT-22 is gone, WBOC-DT 16 (RF 21) seems more stable than before.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/16727205
> 
> 
> I'm watching KDFW-4 out of Dallas/Ft. Worth right now (night light service) pointing at the Southwest.
> 
> 
> If I point to the North & NE, I am hearing Canadian TV (in French and English on 2, 3, and 4 (mostly audio only).



I can confirm your report -- I just went upstairs and turned on my good ol' PXL-2000-TV, and using the built-in antenna (!!!), I was able to get French audio on channel 2. I don't know enough French to know what the hell they're talking about though.







Also found ABC on channel 12, I assume that must be a low power station?


I am relatively close to Annapolis High School.


----------



## systems2000

W22DA in Frederick is operating at 37.3Kw.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/16727758
> 
> 
> I can confirm your report -- I just went upstairs and turned on my good ol' PXL-2000-TV, and using the built-in antenna (!!!), I was able to get French audio on channel 2. I don't know enough French to know what the hell they're talking about though.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Also found ABC on channel 12, I assume that must be a low power station?
> 
> 
> I am relatively close to Annapolis High School.



That channel 12 that you are getting is WMAR leakage from Comcast. I get it too where I live. I'm on the Annapolis system down here in South County.


I was actually able to see the CBC symbol at the lower right of the screen around 7. Now that the storms have gone through, Canada is gone :-(


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16727785
> 
> 
> W22DA in Frederick is operating at 37.3Kw.



I'm able to pick up WRIC 8.1 on channel 22 now at my house. The signal isn't real stable though. It gets strong then fades off the cliff for a minute and then comes back again. Should be a good station to watch during tropo periods.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16727650
> 
> 
> Wow, I thought you were wrong about channel 22, but there appears to be another analog station on that same channel in Frederick Md. Now that WMPT-22 is gone, WBOC-DT 16 (RF 21) seems more stable than before.



WBOC-DT is now my strongest, most stable CBS station. 9 is still relatively weak at my location. During the storms tonight, the lightning was making 7 and 9 pixelate every couple of seconds.


For Fox, 5 and 45 come in great here. No need to watch WBOC-DT's SD Fox channel.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

Now that the front has gone through, I'm watching a French Canadian show on channel 2 right now (9:30 PM). It's coming in quite clearly. Just saw some nudity too. Not something I've seen over-the-air since i left Europe.


----------



## wmcbrine

I'm getting WBAL really strong tonight OTA, which I hadn't since the transition. Is anyone else seeing this? I suppose it could just be the weather, but I'm seeing no change on WJZ (weak, breaking up), WUSA or WJLA (too weak to tune).


Cool to see WHAG on Fios, but I'm hearing some problems with the audio that aren't present on WRC (or WBAL, for that matter).


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/16728136
> 
> 
> I'm getting WBAL really strong tonight OTA, which I hadn't since the transition. Is anyone else seeing this? I suppose it could just be the weather, but I'm seeing no change on WJZ (weak, breaking up), WUSA or WJLA (too weak to tune).
> 
> 
> Cool to see WHAG on Fios, but I'm hearing some problems with the audio that aren't present on WRC (or WBAL, for that matter).



WBAL is still as weak as it has been around here. I have it at 43 on a scale of 100 and I have to aim my antenna precisely at Baltimore. I get a few breakups from time to time too. In comparison, WJZ is at 93/100 since they tripled their power.


----------



## yekim54




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/16727921
> 
> 
> Now that the front has gone through, I'm watching a French Canadian show on channel 2 right now (9:30 PM). It's coming in quite clearly. Just saw some nudity too. Not something I've seen over-the-air since i left Europe.



Where's the jpeg?


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *yekim54* /forum/post/16728241
> 
> 
> Where's the jpeg?



Was just watching and flipping channels on my living room TV. I have an HDHomerun box that's capable of screenshots, but that thing doesn't do analog, unfortunately.


It's interesting seeing what's on VHF-Low now that most US stations have left those channels. Reminds me of being off the coast a couple of hundred miles and catching blips of this and that.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *yekim54* /forum/post/16728241
> 
> 
> Where's the jpeg?



Here's the type of jpeg's that I can snap...


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

Thanks to WMPT turning off their night-light station today, here's a screenshot of WRIC now semi-receivable on RF 22 in Southern AA County.











I'm also now able to receive WNJN from Jersey. They are also on RF 22 (PSIP 23.1-23.3).


----------



## Digital Rules

All the Richmond stations are coming in well tonight. Even the 6kw channel 12 is decent.


I tried for the New Jersey RF 22, but WRIC is way too strong. About 75% off the back of the 91-XG (Ouch)


----------



## djp952

Wow! Tonight rules! I was able to actually see WHAG on a DC-pointed antenna for the first time, AND WBOC for a very brief few seconds on my Baltimore antenna! I had WHAG for almost 3 whole minutes without a drop-out, which is amazing considering I'm in Elkridge and that antenna is pointing nowhere near where it should be for that, AND it's in my attic.


Also, I noticed tonight that WMPT has moved their bug to the extreme lower right of the 16:9 screen. It doesn't look CRT safe, but it's a welcome change that I hope other stations follow now that the transition is complete (and I've gotten rid of my old HD CRT, so I have no overscan - lol)


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16728441
> 
> 
> All the Richmond stations are coming in well tonight. Even the 6kw channel 12 is decent.



I'm getting Richmond and Philly tonight. Can you receive 17 or 18? WPHL-17 is very strong right now. WMCN-18 is a little on the weak side.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/16728468
> 
> 
> I'm getting Richmond and Philly tonight. Can you receive 17 or 18? WPHL-17 is very strong right now. WMCN-18 is a little on the weak side.



No, I see nothing past Baltimore in that direction. I'm staring right into a ridge and other houses when pointed towards DC/Balt/Philly. They are all in the exact same direction from here. Richmond is pegging the meter on all but channel 12. Good view to the south only from here.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16728495
> 
> 
> No, I see nothing past Baltimore in that direction. I'm staring right into a ridge and other houses when pointed towards DC/Balt/Philly. They are all in the exact same direction from here. Richmond is pegging the meter on all but channel 12. Good view to the south only from here.



I still haven't been able to see WWBT on 12. My noise-floor is high here on VHF-high due to Comcast line leakage. I can see WTVR, WRIC, and WRLH right now. Pre-transition WWBT on 54 used to be my strongest Richmond station.


Seeing hints of Charlottesville now too...


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/16728530
> 
> 
> Seeing hints of Charlottesville now too...



WNVC (RF 24) is in the same direction as Charlottesville from here. I doubt it will ever come in here. WNVC is sooooo strong. You can see the tower from street level when the leaves are gone.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16728590
> 
> 
> WNVC (RF 24) is in the same direction as Charlottesville from here. I doubt it will ever come in here. WNVC is sooooo strong. You can see the tower from street level when the leaves are gone.



I have the same problem with WMPT now that they've raised their power. It takes out the two adjacents so bad that I'll never be able to watch WUTB on 41 or any channel that occupies 43 during tropo.


I can pick up WMPT with a paper-clip antenna (literally).


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

Got RF 19 out of Charlottesville via tropo.











19.1 is CBS19

19.3 is FOX27


----------



## Digital Rules

WUTB is much better here now, but only registers 2 out of 10 bars. Surprisingly enough, it is much more stable than WBAL, even though WBAL reads 7 out of 10 bars. VHF just seems too glitchy, even @ only 40 miles out.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

Now I'm getting Norfolk, VA. WHRO and WAVY are coming in strong.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16728661
> 
> 
> WUTB is much better here now, but only registers 2 out of 10 bars. Surprisingly enough, it is much more stable than WBAL, even though WBAL reads 7 out of 10 bars. VHF just seems too glitchy, even @ only 40 miles out.



The VHF stations need to have their power increased quite a bit if people are going to be able to really use them reliably. The only VHF channel that comes in fairly well for me now is WJZ. The rest of them are too susceptible to varying types of interference.


I was trying to watch 7.2 to see the radar during the big storm that came through earlier this afternoon. Lightning in the path was causing all kinds of glitches in the signal.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

WPSG-DT (57.1) RF 32











Also seeing KYW-DT 3.1 (RF 26), WTVE-DT 51.1 (RF 25), and WHYY-DT 12.


----------



## StevenJB

Where you are located, I assume, is pretty flat. Being very near to the Bay, you are close to a great conductor, salt water. DX reception should be easy or much easier that being inland. I can imagine how DX analog signals on VHF must have flooded your locale regularly.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/16728844
> 
> 
> Where you are located, I assume, is pretty flat. Being very near to the Bay, you are close to a great conductor, salt water. DX reception should be easy or much easier that being inland. I can imagine how DX analog signals on VHF must have flooded your locale regularly.



I've lived near the water for most of my life. I started this hobby on my own in the 1970s when I was about 6 or 7 years old. I used to live on the South end of Tampa Bay and could receive TV from far away cities (and one communist country) on many mornings with a 1966 black and white (tube) tv with rabbit ears.


I've spent lots of time at sea and have watched NTSC and PAL TV from hundreds of miles out at sea as well.


I lived in a mountainous area for a couple of years and could receive stations from 100+ miles away on a regular basis. I hated the multipath issues though.


The most distant DTV reception that I've had from my place in Maryland was WGBH-Boston a few years ago. The most reliable "kind of far away" DTV station that I could watch before June 12th was WRAL-53 (5.1) in Raleigh. They've now moved to 48 and of course WRC shares the same channel.


The longest distance radio reception that I've ever had was driving down I-26 in South Carolina when the FM dial filled with stations from Spain. The second longest was hearing Denver on FM while in Fort Walton Beach, FL during an intense storm.


These past couple of weeks has been interesting since most VHF-Low stations have been shutting off (and now their night-lights). I am happy that I can still watch analog tv for a couple of years from Canada if it's a hot summer day and cold front is moving this way. Today was the first day that I've seen Canadian TV.


----------



## StevenJB

Very impressive reception for pre-transition DTV. Now, we all have to get used to the post-transition and the low power for VHF. I'm having a very difficult time getting any DTV reception at all on VHF-LO or VHF-HI outside of 7, 8(47), 9, 11, 12(60), and 13 locally.


BTW, the day before yesterday, I was receiving a choppy but steady analog night-light signal on analog Channel 2 around 7PM. Reception from the antenna was best aimed towards the SW. I am located in central Montgomery County. Any ideas about where it was located?


----------



## Kelly From KOMO

A DT-DXer! Interesting!


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/16729356
> 
> 
> A DT-DXer! Interesting!



I've been doing it for years! I'm actually working on a feature for my website that allows one to record DTV DX in a public manner!


Whoops, did I say too much?










- Trip


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SternLover21215* /forum/post/16725372
> 
> 
> Thanks Digital Rules, that explains why the stations didn't come in a little while ago. Guess I'll be putting in my order for my DB2 and AC C5 today.



You can always check the Tropospheric Ducting Forecast

http://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo.html 


to see if conditions will be favorable.


I used to check this forecast regularly in the early 2000's when WJLA wasn't broadcasting HD yet. When conditions were favorable I was able to get a nice signal from the ABC station in Baltimore. So the forecast determined if I would set up my digital HD recordings of Alias, Philly, and other ABC shows I watched in HD back before WJLA started broadcasting in HD.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/16729016
> 
> 
> Very impressive reception for pre-transition DTV. Now, we all have to get used to the post-transition and the low power for VHF. I'm having a very difficult time getting any DTV reception at all on VHF-LO or VHF-HI outside of 7, 8(47), 9, 11, 12(60), and 13 locally.
> 
> 
> BTW, the day before yesterday, I was receiving a choppy but steady analog night-light signal on analog Channel 2 around 7PM. Reception from the antenna was best aimed towards the SW. I am located in central Montgomery County. Any ideas about where it was located?



I've been seeing that one almost every evening. It's KPRC-2 out of Houston, Texas.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16729403
> 
> 
> I've been doing it for years! I'm actually working on a feature for my website that allows one to record DTV DX in a public manner!
> 
> 
> Whoops, did I say too much?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> - Trip



I started DXing DTV after I purchased a Samsung SIR-T351 ATSC tuner about 5 or 6 years ago. That started a whole string of tuner purchases including the legendary LG LST-4200A. I'll admit that I had that tuner set on QAM mode more than ATSC.


I've seen that or similar ideas applied to radio DX applications, but not to TV. If you need a beta tester, please let me know.


If you ever want me to do a TSReader look into any of the DX stations that I can get via tropo, send me a PM.


----------



## systems2000

WDCA has a TS for RF20 at 957Kw. What's this about?


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/16729624
> 
> 
> If you ever want me to do a TSReader look into any of the DX stations that I can get via tropo, send me a PM.



Trip will take any info you can supply him.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/16729624
> 
> 
> If you ever want me to do a TSReader look into any of the DX stations that I can get via tropo, send me a PM.



Absolutely! I love having HTML Exports of just about everything. (All boxes checked except EIT and Thumbnails.) cpldc already sends me data for some of the local stations which he can receive, though there are some that he cannot see. I don't have any data on WNVT or WNVC yet, and I'd like to see new data for WPXW which I recall he has trouble receiving, in case they've started running the Mobile DTV stuff.


Any DX you see, I would love to have. (Though I already have data on most of the Richmond stations since they're so close to me.) Are you able to see WMDO-LD 8?


- Trip


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16729932
> 
> 
> Absolutely! I love having HTML Exports of just about everything. (All boxes checked except EIT and Thumbnails.) cpldc already sends me data for some of the local stations which he can receive, though there are some that he cannot see. I don't have any data on WNVT or WNVC yet, and I'd like to see new data for WPXW which I recall he has trouble receiving, in case they've started running the Mobile DTV stuff.
> 
> 
> Any DX you see, I would love to have. (Though I already have data on most of the Richmond stations since they're so close to me.) Are you able to see WMDO-LD 8?
> 
> 
> - Trip



I've never seen WMDO-LD. Comcast's line leakage in my neighborhood prohibits me from receiving weak VHF signals.


----------



## Trip in VA

No worries then. But yes, any DX, plus if you can see WNVC/WNVT, I'd love to have those.










- Trip


----------



## djp952

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* 
Absolutely! I love having HTML Exports of just about everything. (All boxes checked except EIT and Thumbnails.) cpldc already sends me data for some of the local stations which he can receive, though there are some that he cannot see. I don't have any data on WNVT or WNVC yet, and I'd like to see new data for WPXW which I recall he has trouble receiving, in case they've started running the Mobile DTV stuff.


Any DX you see, I would love to have. (Though I already have data on most of the Richmond stations since they're so close to me.) Are you able to see WMDO-LD 8?


- Trip
Here's WNVC and WPXW ... can't get WNVT right now, maybe after the sun goes down







I'd be happy to send you HTMs for all the channels I get, but they're not anything out of the ordinary.

 

fortrip.zip 4.716796875k . file


----------



## Trip in VA

Thanks.










WPXW has started Mobile DTV already, it would seem.


If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to see if any of the other stations denoted as having Mobile DTV "coming soon" on my website might have started already. WRC, WUSA, WDCA, and WHUT. And WBFF or WNUV in Baltimore, I can't remember which at the moment.


What stations do you receive?


- Trip


----------



## djp952

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* 
Thanks.










WPXW has started Mobile DTV already, it would seem.


If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to see if any of the other stations denoted as having Mobile DTV "coming soon" on my website might have started already. WRC, WUSA, WDCA, and WHUT. And WBFF or WNUV in Baltimore, I can't remember which at the moment.


What stations do you receive?


- Trip
No trouble at all. Everything I could think of attached in new zip.


I can't get WJLA/WUSA/WNVT at the moment, but pretty much all the other major Balt/Wash stations.



It seems when looking at these that I have a number of stations to complain to about their bitrates







No offense to anyone that likes the idea, but I still hope mobileDTV falls flat on it's face and dies a painful death. I swear the primary channels will be down to 6Mb/s before too long here. The FCC needs to put regulations in place NOW for quality, this is out of control.

 

morefortrip.zip 35.607421875k . file


----------



## Trip in VA

Thanks!










Which station bitrates are you referring to specifically? I'm sure you already know about the Fox stations having their bandwidth pre-set by Fox, and I think My is going that way as well.


Some of these stations are on statistical multiplexers that will juggle bandwidth around based on usage. The station I work for, WDBJ, has a statistical multiplexer. If you look at TSReader, it reports an average bitrate of around 14 Mbps, but if you watch the analyzer we have at the studio which gives the instantaneous bitrate, you find that the HD can go up to 17.1 Mbps if required during high motion, but on still scenes the bitrate is often quite a bit lower.


I know that MPT has a very aggressive stat muxer, as I've watched those bitrates fluctuate all over the place with TSReader even. ION does stat muxing as well, except I think Worship.Net is fixed at 1.95 Mbps on most stations. I think the CBS O&Os all have them too.


- Trip


----------



## Trip in VA

Picking through that data, I note that WHUT-DT has added UpdateTV. So if anyone asks about blank subchannels on 33-8 and 33-9, that's what it is.


- Trip


----------



## djp952

Anytime! I poked around with the channels that upset me, specifically WJZ, and you're right it does bounce around. Right now it's 15Mb/s on WJZ, I could swear when I looked earlier it was 8, which really ticked me off. My bad


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/16730623
> 
> 
> Anytime! I poked around with the channels that upset me, specifically WJZ, and you're right it does bounce around. Right now it's 15Mb/s on WJZ, I could swear when I looked earlier it was 8, which really ticked me off. My bad


----------



## systems2000

Does all this bit rate stuff have anything to do with the quality of reception for 45.2 and 7.3 being inferior to 45.1 and 7.1/7.2?


----------



## RockvilleJ




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chamb* /forum/post/16725581
> 
> 
> Another thought, coiling up cords can cause some funny problems. if you have the power cord coiled up or tied in a bundle of cables, try straightening that out.



So, for those that have been following this saga about my computer producing interference with channels 7-1 through 7-3, I finally this afternoon found the culprit. My case has two built in 120mm fans that have switches on them to select speeds, L/M/H. My goal for this pc when I built it was for it to be a quiet machine, even though I use it for gaming, so I had them set to the slow speed. As I was removing different parts to find out which was causing the EMI, I noticed that when I booted up, the fans didn't always start up, even though power was going to them. So, I disconnected them and the interference immediately went away. I reconnected and changed the speed to medium and got no interference. But back on slow and it came back. This is out of my area of knowledge, but it makes sense that there would be some EMI generated when the stator kept trying to get the rotor moving and it stayed motionless. Thanks for everyone's ideas.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16730870
> 
> 
> Does all this bit rate stuff have anything to do with the quality of reception for 45.2 and 7.3 being inferior to 45.1 and 7.1/7.2?



I'm no expert (obviously!), so take this with a grain of salt, but there is no real 'reception' difference between the primary and secondary channels. If your signal is good, as in you're not getting any errors at all (TEI, Sync, CRC, whatever they all are), you're getting what they're sending. It's still just one channel.


With my old TV, a Philips 30" HD CRT, I used to see that problem. On Sunday mornings, we would watch "GoodTV" on 45.2 and it would break up, but switching to 45.1 would reveal no issues at all. Turns out in the end that I had imperfect reception (multipath issues), and that TV just couldn't deal with it. A newer TV (and newer generation ATSC tuner) on the same antenna was fine. Our newest TV can decode amazingly weak/screwy signals, it blows my mind how much the reception technology has improved in just 4 years.


My guess is that your reception isn't perfect, and it just manifests at the decoder on the subchannels more than it does on the primary channel. Maybe there isn't as much error correction built into the subchannel streams (seems likely) or something like that.


If you have the capability of hooking something up to your PC, that tool TSReader is really great at capturing reception issues. It doesn't work with every PC-based tuner, but it does work with a lot of them. Granted, the tool doesn't really help you fix anything, but it does expose the effects of any changes you might make. I love it. But of course, I love all things PC and ATSC, so I'm not the best judge







I have 3 USB ATSC tuners, one older PCI card tuner, and 3 HDHomeRuns. I'm a bit of a freak.


I'd be happy to loan you a USB tuner, too. Let me see if the spare (Pinnacle 800e) works with TSReader or not. I'll PM you if it does, just reply back if you would want to borrow it.


----------



## chamb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RockvilleJ* /forum/post/16731144
> 
> 
> So, for those that have been following this saga about my computer producing interference with channels 7-1 through 7-3, I finally this afternoon found the culprit. My case has two built in 120mm fans that have switches on them to select speeds, L/M/H. My goal for this pc when I built it was for it to be a quiet machine, even though I use it for gaming, so I had them set to the slow speed. As I was removing different parts to find out which was causing the EMI, I noticed that when I booted up, the fans didn't always start up, even though power was going to them. So, I disconnected them and the interference immediately went away. I reconnected and changed the speed to medium and got no interference. But back on slow and it came back. This is out of my area of knowledge, but it makes sense that there would be some EMI generated when the stator kept trying to get the rotor moving and it stayed motionless. Thanks for everyone's ideas.



I guess I should brag a little as I did mention a case fan in post 9729. Of course, I mentioned every other possibility too and I sure did not highlight the case fan. The Fans sure can cause trouble, but you had about the worse case I ever heard of. You have the cause figured out. I have seen a case fan cause interference to electronic stuff before, but normally it is when the fan is wore out and normally it will be making some audible racket that allows you to hear that the fan is failing. Yours was different in that the fans were struggling to start and not making any audible noise that would lead you to think that they were bad.


Anyway, glad you figured it out. I knew it could be fixed. It is just a case of elimination by replacing one part at a time, Just like mechanics sometimes do when you car stalls and leaves you sit only to run fine when the mechanic arrives. The mechanic quite often will replace the part he thinks is most likely the problem. If he fails to guess right, he replaces the next likely suspect.


Tis good you found this problem as your case was probably close to overheating.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* 
Absolutely! I love having HTML Exports of just about everything. (All boxes checked except EIT and Thumbnails.) cpldc already sends me data for some of the local stations which he can receive, though there are some that he cannot see. I don't have any data on WNVT or WNVC yet, and I'd like to see new data for WPXW which I recall he has trouble receiving, in case they've started running the Mobile DTV stuff.


Any DX you see, I would love to have. (Though I already have data on most of the Richmond stations since they're so close to me.) Are you able to see WMDO-LD 8?


- Trip
Trip,


Here's the HTML export for WNVT.


Steve

 

wnvt.zip 2.388671875k . file


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

Trip,


Here's one more...


Steve

 

wmdt.zip 2.7333984375k . file


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

Enjoy.

 

wboc.zip 2.1767578125k . file


----------



## dvwannab

All,


I could use your help please. I am having problems picking up many channels that antennaweb.org reports as close as 12 miles away. I am in zip 22151 (Springfield, VA) and have had a CM4228 and a DB4 for over 3 years. Both antennas have been a mixed bag since the transition of which channels I receive.


The DB4 only picks up 4.1, 5.1, 7.1 and 20.1.

The CM4228 only picks up 4.1, 9.1, 20.1, 30.1, 33 and 66.


I want to tune all channels on one antenna to include channels I am not receving now like 8.1 (WMDO), 14.1 (Univision), 25.1 (Telemundo) and 26.1 (WETA PBS).


What antennas do you suggest and which ones have had the most success for you guys? Thanks.


----------



## TheKrell




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dvwannab* /forum/post/16736871
> 
> 
> The DB4 only picks up 4.1, 5.1, 7.1 and 20.1.
> 
> The CM4228 only picks up 4.1, 9.1, 20.1, 30.1, 33 and 66.



OK, 1st of all, *both* of those antennas are UHF-only, unless I don't understand what they are from the picture. Since the transition, both 7 and 9 are back on their former analog channels in the hi-VHF band. You really need a VHF antenna to pull them in.


IMHO a 4-bowtie antenna is overkill for our local UHF channels. The 4228 is even worse, and we might guess that you are overloading some tuners with excessively high signal strength. (Note that the so-called signal strength meter on ATSC tuners may read an inverse digital error rate, and not true SS. So "100" is obviously good, but "60" might be marginal, breaking up, and due to an excessively high signal rather than a weak signal. Gotta love those misleading meters!)


Anyhow, Springfield is not far away from me here in Annandale, and I had nothing but grief when WNVC RF24 channel 30.1-5 came back on June 12th. It was overloading several of my tuners, and I could not reliably receive several channels, most particularly WETA RF27 channel 26.1-4. Only by carefully nulling out (as best I could) WNVC by rotating my Winegard batwing antenna (approximately a dipole) could I get most of my channels back.


Perhaps you are having the same problem, and excessive signal strength is the root cause of the problem. Of course a VHF antenna would also help on 7 and 9.


----------



## dvwannab

Ok, understood on the VHF front.


What about 14 and 26? Does the overly aggressive signal the reason for not pulling these in as well?


So with a good VHF antenna I should be able to get everything from difgital 4.1 through 26.4, which are the channels I am most interested in?


----------



## fmw63




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/16728136
> 
> 
> I'm getting WBAL really strong tonight OTA, which I hadn't since the transition. Is anyone else seeing this? I suppose it could just be the weather, but I'm seeing no change on WJZ ...



Same here in Landover Hills, and it's coming off of the VU190 aimed at the DC stations! It barely would come in off the Baltimore antenna before. Plus a couple of blank sub-channels, too.


----------



## fmw63

and what's with 47.2 and no audio?


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmw63* /forum/post/16737046
> 
> 
> Same here in Landover Hills, and it's coming off of the VU190 aimed at the DC stations! It barely would come in off the Baltimore antenna before. Plus a couple of blank sub-channels, too.



I noticed that WBAL was quite a bit stronger here in Southern AA County earlier today (and still is now). I no longer need to point my antenna towards Baltimore to receive it. The FCC database still has WBAL at 5 KW. Wonder what they did.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dvwannab* /forum/post/16736871
> 
> 
> I could use your help please. I am having problems picking up many channels that antennaweb.org reports as close as 12 miles away. I am in zip 22151 (Springfield, VA) and have had a CM4228 and a DB4 for over 3 years. Both antennas have been a mixed bag since the transition of which channels I receive.
> 
> 
> The DB4 only picks up 4.1, 5.1, 7.1 and 20.1.
> 
> The CM4228 only picks up 4.1, 9.1, 20.1, 30.1, 33 and 66.



Unless you have local obstructions, you should be able to get all the DC stations except for WJLA 7 and WUSA 9 with the DB-4. The CM 4228 is a long range directional antenna. The CM 4228 should be able to get some of the Baltimore stations from Springfield as well as WJAL 7 and WUSA 9. I would expect the DB-4 to get the stronger Baltimore stations as well.


Where are the antennas located? In the attic or on the roof? How long is the cable run from the antennas to the TV? Are you using a pre-amp?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dvwannab* /forum/post/16737042
> 
> 
> Ok, understood on the VHF front.
> 
> 
> What about 14 and 26? Does the overly aggressive signal the reason for not pulling these in as well?
> 
> 
> So with a good VHF antenna I should be able to get everything from difgital 4.1 through 26.4, which are the channels I am most interested in?



The Winegard HD7694P is probably the best antenna for your situation. It is nearly impossible to overload a tuner with an antenna, especially now that the analog stations are gone. No amplification is recommended for your close in location.


WMDO-DT 47 may be tough to get depending on your exact location. With only 198 watts, theres not much you can do once you get about 15 miles outside of DC. The antenna must be outside for any chance of getting WMDO.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/16737154
> 
> 
> I noticed that WBAL was quite a bit stronger here in Southern AA County earlier today (and still is now). I no longer need to point my antenna towards Baltimore to receive it. The FCC database still has WBAL at 5 KW. Wonder what they did.



Probably just atmospheric conditions. I don't see any change tonight in WBAL 11 signal strength from here. I was able to get WBAL on Friday night for a hour or 2 for the 1st time since June 12, then back to no lock.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

Trip,


I was able to capture WPHL for you. There is fair tropo to the Northeast tonight.


Steve

 

wphl.zip 2.1201171875k . file


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/16737245
> 
> 
> Trip,
> 
> 
> I was able to capture WPHL for you. There is fair tropo to the Northeast tonight.
> 
> 
> Steve



Thanks!










- Trip


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16737239
> 
> 
> Probably just atmospheric conditions. I don't see any change tonight in WBAL 11 signal strength from here. I was able to get WBAL on Friday night for a hour or 2 for the 1st time since June 12, then back to no lock.



There is a little bit of an atmospheric enhancement tonight, but WBAL was stronger at 1 PM this afternoon. It's still not as strong as WJZ, but not right on the cliff like it was before.

*Edit at 11PM*: WBAL is now weak again like it was before. Oh well :-(


WUTB is now coming in for the first time since June 12th. WMPT usually drowns it out.


----------



## tunamike

I had most all the major DC AND BALT stations strong ysterday afternoon 2 4 5 7 9 11 13 24 45 54 and so on I am in South Central PA. The antennea was pointed east of the BAltimore towers. But just as I got cozy and comfortable with them all 6 PM or so they were gone. man this stuff is tricky and frustrating up this way



Dish 622 HD tuner

YA 1713

XG 91 @ 55" 675 AMSL


----------



## dvwannab

thanks digital rules will do that.


----------



## mdviewer25

finally found a spot where 7, 9, and 13 come in.

So here's what I get (third floor, Terk HDTVa):

2-1, 2, 3

4-1, 2, 3

5-1

7-1, 2, 3

9-1, 2

13-1

14-1

16-1

20-1

21-2

22-1, 2, 3

26-1, 2, 3, 4

30-1 through 30-10

32-1

45-1, 2

50-1, 2

54-1

66-1, 2, 3, 4


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

More tropo tonight. WPVI is running 2 HDs and 1 SD on VHF channel 6.









 

wpvi.zip 1.3017578125k . file


----------



## Digital Rules





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/16743543
> 
> 
> More tropo tonight. WPVI is running 2 HDs and 1 SD on VHF channel 6.



How does it look?


Have you tried anything from the south? WWBT-DT 12 is coming in nicely tonight. Richmonds only local HD newscast.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

KYW 3.1 (RF 26)









 

kyw.zip 2.0576171875k . file


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16743553
> 
> 
> How does it look?
> 
> 
> Have you tried anything from the south? WWBT-DT 12 is coming in nicely tonight. Richmonds only local HD newscast.



WHYY-12 is coming in very strong. I still haven't been able to catch WWBT. Do you think they'll petition the FCC for a power increase? I can receive just about every other Richmond station.


WPVI's second HD channel looks worse than WETA-26.1 HD. Very soft and compressed looking.


----------



## Trip in VA

WHYY is one I really need, can you get me that one?


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/16743639
> 
> 
> WHYY-12 is coming in very strong. I still haven't been able to catch WWBT. Do you think they'll petition the FCC for a power increase?



Hopefully they will. They lost a ton of OTA viewers since moving from UHF 54 to VHF 12. What a shame to spend all that money on such a good local HD news operation, and then lose so many viewers.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16743669
> 
> 
> Hopefully they will. They lost a ton of OTA viewers since moving from UHF 54 to VHF 12. What a shame to spend all that money on such a good local HD news operation, and then lose so many viewers.



After Baltimore's analog 54 shut off and before June 12th, 54 was my strongest Richmond station.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* 
WHYY is one I really need, can you get me that one?


- Trip
Here ya go trip...



12:04 AM EDIT: Whoa! I just got WHYY on channel 44 too. I didn't know that they were running on UHF too.

 

whyy.zip 1.3701171875k . file


----------



## Digital Rules

Wow, getting WPSG-DT 57 (RF32) for the first time. The tropo must be pretty strong to overcome RF33 only 4 miles away in the same direction.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

I just received WMGM on RF channel 36. I'm only 28 miles from WTTG-DT and this Atlantic City station is coming in rock solid.









 

wmgm.zip 1.8291015625k . file


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

Trip,


I'm picking up MyRTv9 on RF 31 (31.1). Their TSReader PIDs don't ID what city it's coming out of. Any ideas?


Looks like the same programming that 7.3 has on it. RTV is the only program on this entire channel!


Steve


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/16743787
> 
> 
> Trip,
> 
> 
> I'm picking up MyRTv9 on RF 31. Their TSReader PIDs don't ID what city it's coming out of. Any ideas?
> 
> 
> Steve



WTNH-DT9 New Haven, Ct???


----------



## Trip in VA

Capture it! That's WRDE-LD in Ocean City MD!


Correction: Rehoboth Beach MD.


- Trip


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16743822
> 
> 
> WTNH-DT9 New Haven, Ct



That's what my Google search came up with too, but I don't think it's WTNH. They don't air that retro tv programming do they?


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* 
Capture it! That's WRDE-LD in Ocean City MD!


Correction: Rehoboth Beach MD.


- Trip
Rehoboth is in Delaware.


It's not a real clean one. Just faded out too, so this one will have to do.


I just caught an LD from 90 miles away. 

 

myrtv9.zip 76.64453125k . file


----------



## djp952

You guys are having *way* too much fun. You're seriously making me consider another roof-top with a rotor here. Or a 40 foot tower in the backyard! (Yeah, the wife would go for that!) lol.


Amazing what you're picking up. Color me extremely impressed.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/16743862
> 
> 
> You guys are having *way* too much fun. You're seriously making me consider another roof-top with a rotor here. Or a 40 foot tower in the backyard! (Yeah, the wife would go for that!) lol.
> 
> 
> Amazing what you're picking up. Color me extremely impressed.



I should be in bed too. I have to get up at 5:30 for work.


This is fun. I didn't know the tropo was going to be this good tonight.


----------



## Digital Rules

Trip,


I'm seeing a WZTD-LD 45 & W39CO from Richmond. Do you kow how much power thay are broadcasting.


Thanks!!


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

Be happy that you don't live in AC. The NBC station there is in 480i SD.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16743884
> 
> 
> Trip,
> 
> 
> I'm seeing a WZTD-LD 45 & W39CO from Richmond. Do you kow how much power thay are broadcasting.
> 
> 
> Thanks!!



I'm seeing a religious program on analog 39 (pointed South). Guessing that's the same one you're seeing. 45 is too weak for me to decode.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/16743907
> 
> 
> I'm seeing a religious program on analog 39 (pointed South). Guessing that's the same one you're seeing. 45 is too weak for me to decode.



Yeah, thats it. I can't figure out from the FCC website how much power thay are using. 45 is very weak here also. It's a Telemundo affiliate.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

First time catch for WWBT-VHF 12 for me!!

 

wwbt.zip 8.5771484375k . file


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/16743932
> 
> 
> First time catch for WWBT-VHF 12 for me!!



Uh oh, looks like you may be calling in sick tomorrow morning.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16743939
> 
> 
> Uh oh, looks like you may be calling in sick tomorrow.



Nah, I'm done I guess. I have a busy day tomorrow. Hope the tropo gets even better for you guys that stay up even later. Take care! Steve


----------



## Digital Rules

The PQ on WHRO-DT 15 is simply amazing. I have never seen WETA look this good.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16743988
> 
> 
> The PQ on WHRO-DT 15 is simply amazing. I have never seen WETA look this good.



They do a great job over there..


----------



## hsweiss

Was it just me or were others having problems getting WBAL 11 last night (Mon)? They are usually not terribly strong at my location (at least not compared to WJZ) but they are usually better than 50 on the strength meter and watchable with only moderate pixilation. But not last night. It was down around 20 on the meter and definitely not watchable. WJZ 13 was still up around 75 and WMAR 2 was in the 80s so it couldn't be my antenna which hasn't moved and is pointed at the right place since all 3 are on the same tower (but albeit with VHF vs. UHF vs. different power levels). Thanks.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hsweiss* /forum/post/16744821
> 
> 
> Was it just me or were others having problems getting WBAL 11 last night (Mon)? They are usually not terribly strong at my location (at least not compared to WJZ) but they are usually better than 50 on the strength meter and watchable with only moderate pixilation. But not last night. It was down around 20 on the meter and definitely not watchable. WJZ 13 was still up around 75 and WMAR 2 was in the 80s so it couldn't be my antenna which hasn't moved and is pointed at the right place since all 3 are on the same tower (but albeit with VHF vs. UHF vs. different power levels). Thanks.



Probably just the atmospheric conditions last night. Another channel 11 from a distant city (NYC?) may have been trying to step on WBAL. I lost WTTG-DT last night to a station in Atlantic City.


Where in MD are you?


----------



## iamnotmad

Hi can someone tell me the difference between 22.1 (PBS) and 67.1 (PBS) in Baltimore. Two separate towers according to antenna web.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *iamnotmad* /forum/post/16745024
> 
> 
> Hi can someone tell me the difference between 22.1 (PBS) and 67.1 (PBS) in Baltimore. Two separate towers according to antenna web.



The WMPT-22 tower is near Crownsville, MD (along I-97 North about 3 or 4 miles North of Rt.50). the WMPB tower is up in Baltimore County.


----------



## iamnotmad




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/16745068
> 
> 
> The WMPT-22 tower is near Crownsville, MD (along I-97 North about 3 or 4 miles North of Rt.50). the WMPB tower is up in Baltimore County.



oh so just sep towers, same programming, both just normal pbs?

thanks a lot.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *iamnotmad* /forum/post/16745083
> 
> 
> oh so just sep towers, same programming, both just normal pbs?
> 
> thanks a lot.



Both stations are set up the exact same way with regards to programming. One HD and two SD subchannels on each. I can also receive channel 28 from the Eastern Shore. It's also set up the same way.


.1 is the HD version of MPT (not necessarily the National PBS-HD program). .2 is MPT2 is different from .1 and has a variety of PBS-type programming. The .3 is a Spanish language channel called V-Me. From wikipedia: "V-me pronounced veh-meh, Spanish for “see me., is one of America's largest Spanish TV networks. V-me entertains and informs Latino families in Spanish with primetime drama, music, sports, current affairs and Latin cinema, along with world class kids, food, lifestyle and nature. The 24-hour network launched in March 2007, and is currently available in over 70% of all Hispanic homes, making it the fastest-growing, and 4th-largest, US Hispanic TV network."

http://www.mpt.org


----------



## Trip in VA

Hey folks:


Sorry I vanished on you, I got too tired and went to bed.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/16743860
> 
> 
> Rehoboth is in Delaware.



Yes, turns out I'm an idiot. What else is new?











> Quote:
> It's not a real clean one. Just faded out too, so this one will have to do.
> 
> 
> I just caught an LD from 90 miles away.



I can't post it on the site, but I can still extract useful data from it. Thanks!











> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16743884
> 
> 
> Trip,
> 
> 
> I'm seeing a WZTD-LD 45 & W39CO from Richmond. Do you kow how much power thay are broadcasting.
> 
> 
> Thanks!!



W39CO is transmitting at 31 kW. WZTD-LP is transmitting at 72.6 kW. However, they're transmitting from different locations, which could explain the difference in reception.


Steve_AA: you were wondering if V-Me was related to PBS or not. To the best of my knowledge, it is.


- Trip


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16745170
> 
> 
> Hey folks:
> 
> 
> Sorry I vanished on you, I got too tired and went to bed.
> 
> 
> Yes, turns out I'm an idiot. What else is new?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I can't post it on the site, but I can still extract useful data from it. Thanks!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> W39CO is transmitting at 31 kW. WZTD-LP is transmitting at 72.6 kW. However, they're transmitting from different locations, which could explain the difference in reception.
> 
> 
> Steve_AA: you were wondering if V-Me was related to PBS or not. To the best of my knowledge, it is.
> 
> 
> - Trip



You're definitely not an idiot. Hope I didn't offend.


Wish there was a good DX chat room (other than the one on mIRC manned by that guy in New England that wants you to pay to be in the "club"). This is probably not the appropriate forum for all of our fun.


----------



## hsweiss




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/16744949
> 
> 
> Probably just the atmospheric conditions last night. Another channel 11 from a distant city (NYC?) may have been trying to step on WBAL. I lost WTTG-DT last night to a station in Atlantic City.
> 
> 
> Where in MD are you?



Millersville - right off I-97. Other than the usual pixilation and weak signal from WUTB 24, all the other stations were fine last night including ION 66 out of VA and WETA 26. But not WBAL.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/16745291
> 
> 
> You're definitely not an idiot. Hope I didn't offend.



Nah, I'm kidding. I should have remembered something like that, considering I was looking at my own listings at the time which listed it as being Rehoboth City, DE.



> Quote:
> Wish there was a good DX chat room (other than the one on mIRC manned by that guy in New England that wants you to pay to be in the "club"). This is probably not the appropriate forum for all of our fun.



The WTFDA? I'm a paying member. I get the monthly newsletter by snail mail and I really like the group of people involved in it. The fee is mostly to cover the cost of the newsletter.


If you prefer, I've got some forum software set up on my site for odd things that don't really belong here, if you'd like me to set up an area there to discuss this sort of thing. Because you're right, it really doesn't belong here.


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hsweiss* /forum/post/16745314
> 
> 
> Millersville - right off I-97. Other than the usual pixilation and weak signal from WUTB 24, all the other stations were fine last night including ION 66 out of VA and WETA 26. But not WBAL.



ION 66 has abandoned their transmitter site in Burke, VA (RF 43). They are now broadcasting from NW DC on WUSA's former UHF trannsmitter(RF 34-1000kw)


----------



## cpldc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16745323
> 
> 
> The WTFDA? I'm a paying member. I get the monthly newsletter by snail mail and I really like the group of people involved in it. The fee is mostly to cover the cost of the newsletter.
> 
> 
> If you prefer, I've got some forum software set up on my site for odd things that don't really belong here, if you'd like me to set up an area there to discuss this sort of thing. Because you're right, it really doesn't belong here.
> 
> 
> - Trip



WTFDA's forum is free and open, even if the club itself isn't. The club also has a e-mail list for members that is more active than the forum. I'm sure they would appreciate more DTV DX'ers on their site in any case.


----------



## cpldc

There's a short WBAL bit in this B&C article today, via DCRTV:



> Quote:
> WLS Chicago got permission for a two-week power boost, while WBAL Baltimore got permission to test some new equipment before deciding whether it will have to invest in it, said the spokesman.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/16744949
> 
> 
> I lost WTTG-DT last night to a station in Atlantic City.



That might explain why I've been having such a hard time with WTTG-DT over the last 12 hours or so.


----------



## mdviewer25

watching KYW 3 on RF 26 at 50-60%


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/16747889
> 
> 
> watching KYW 3 on RF 26 at 50-60%



update: just lost it! fluctuating between 8 and 40 %


----------



## mdviewer25

KYW is back at 45% and CW Philly 57 is at over 50%


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/16748351
> 
> 
> KYW is back at 45% and CW Philly 57 is at over 50%



gone now. still get WBOC


----------



## dvwannab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16737194
> 
> 
> Unless you have local obstructions, you should be able to get all the DC stations except for WJLA 7 and WUSA 9 with the DB-4. The CM 4228 is a long range directional antenna. The CM 4228 should be able to get some of the Baltimore stations from Springfield as well as WJAL 7 and WUSA 9. I would expect the DB-4 to get the stronger Baltimore stations as well.
> 
> 
> Where are the antennas located? In the attic or on the roof? How long is the cable run from the antennas to the TV? Are you using a pre-amp?



Sorry didnt see your post earlier.


The antennas are on my deck. The cable run is about 50-feet and then a signal splitter to various 4 locations, ranging from 10 to 25 feet.


The Bmore chaneels are being picked up during scan, but I cant tune them.


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cpldc* /forum/post/16745542
> 
> 
> There's a short WBAL bit in this B&C article today, via DCRTV:



Not 100% sure about that. WBAL 1090 got an STA to operate at reduced power omni at night for equipment tests. Didn't see anything about WBAL-TV.


----------



## TheKrell




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dvwannab* /forum/post/16750175
> 
> 
> The antennas are on my deck. The cable run is about 50-feet and then a signal splitter to various 4 locations, ranging from 10 to 25 feet.



Hmmm. With a 4-way splitter and no amp, my WNVC overload theory is probably underwater. Though I do still claim (even without an amp) that I had trouble on multiple tuners, even with a 4-way splitter and a low gain antenna, until I nulled out WNVC via antenna rotation. I am 2.5mi away from WNVC.


You aren't _combining_ those two antennas onto one coax, are you?


----------



## cpldc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin* /forum/post/16750591
> 
> 
> Not 100% sure about that. WBAL 1090 got an STA to operate at reduced power omni at night for equipment tests. Didn't see anything about WBAL-TV.



I saw that in the DCRTV mailbag. Apparently there are no recent WBAL-TV filings with the FCC. Looks like B&C reported incorrectly.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dvwannab* /forum/post/16736871
> 
> 
> Both antennas have been a mixed bag *since the transition* of which channels I receive.
> 
> 
> The DB4 only picks up 4.1, 5.1, 7.1 and 20.1.
> 
> The CM4228 only picks up 4.1, 9.1, 20.1, 30.1, 33 and 66.



What did you get with these antennas *before* June 12?




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dvwannab* /forum/post/16750175
> 
> 
> The cable run is about 50-feet and then a signal splitter to various 4 locations



Passive signal splitter? Not something you have to plug in, right?


----------



## dvwannab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TheKrell* /forum/post/16751116
> 
> 
> Hmmm. With a 4-way splitter and no amp, my WNVC overload theory is probably underwater. Though I do still claim (even without an amp) that I had trouble on multiple tuners, even with a 4-way splitter and a low gain antenna, until I nulled out WNVC via antenna rotation. I am 2.5mi away from WNVC.
> 
> 
> You aren't _combining_ those two antennas onto one coax, are you?



No the 2 antennas are not combined. They are on separate splitters.




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/16754032
> 
> 
> What did you get with these antennas *before* June 12?
> 
> 
> 
> Passive signal splitter? Not something you have to plug in, right?



Before June 12:


CM4228 with Samsung T451 tuner: 4.1 (hit and miss), 5.1 (always strong), 9.1 (always strong), 14.1 (rarely), 20.1 (always excellent), 26.1 (never) and all the rest I didnt care about.


DB4 with Samsung tuner: 4.1 (consistently strong), 5.1 (always strong), 7.1 (consistently strong), 9.1 (rarely), 14.1 (rarely), 20.1 (always excellent), 26.1 (consistently strong).


The splitter is passive.


----------



## vmalhotra




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dvwannab* /forum/post/16758409
> 
> 
> No the 2 antennas are not combined. They are on separate splitters.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Before June 12:
> 
> 
> CM4228 with Samsung T451 tuner: 4.1 (hit and miss), 5.1 (always strong), 9.1 (always strong), 14.1 (rarely), 20.1 (always excellent), 26.1 (never) and all the rest I didnt care about.
> 
> 
> DB4 with Samsung tuner: 4.1 (consistently strong), 5.1 (always strong), 7.1 (consistently strong), 9.1 (rarely), 14.1 (rarely), 20.1 (always excellent), 26.1 (consistently strong).
> 
> 
> 
> The splitter is passive.




Does it look like directionality issue? Are both aimed in same direction and how do they react on rotation by few degrees ....


----------



## Trip in VA

So, today was coming home from Poconos day, and I decided to stop at the rest stop on I-81 in West Virginia right next to the Maryland state line.


Now, you have to imagine me with the VHF bowtie set up on the roof of the car as I try to find a spot where the 0.3 kW signal of W08EE-D will decode.


20 minutes and multiple tries with and without the CM7777 amp later, I gave up, having failed to get it. It was very disappointing that I couldn't get it into the decoding range since WWPX-DT 12 had me maxed out on the bowtie.


I hope West Virginia PBS is thoroughly enjoying channel 8 for digital. I had their channel 50 analog completely pristine at the same time I couldn't lock the digital...


- Trip


----------



## dewster1977

Thats why I hope they can get W34DW up on some channel some day soon. WWPX comes in great 35 miles away with rabbitears, W08EE is hit and miss with a rooftop antenna.


----------



## dewster1977

Trip, did you ever catch WTAJ?


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dewster1977* /forum/post/16763108
> 
> 
> Trip, did you ever catch WTAJ?



No, and I forgot to PM system2000 about it before I left this morning...


- Trip


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16763112
> 
> 
> No, and I forgot to PM system2000 about it before I left this morning...
> 
> 
> - Trip



What about Harrisburg channels?


I was impressed by W34DW for the few days it was on untill WJAC complained about interference. I find it funny that after W34DW applied for displacement to CH30 WJAC has applied for a translator on CH 30 in Bedford 40 +- miles away, although it would be nice to have a real NBC besides WHAG


----------



## Trip in VA

I got them while in Harrisburg. Actually, WHP went from impossible catch on channel 4 to easiest catch on channel 21. I had their digital locking in while in motion at more than 25 miles.


WGAL: Never observed.

WLYH: Watched it while moving.

WHP: Watched it while moving.

WHTM: Locked it with rabbit ears, but finicky.

WITF: Managed a clean TSReader capture while moving.

WPMT: Managed a clean TSReader capture while moving.

WGCB: Not decoded while moving, but captured from atop a mountain near Bethel.


- Trip


----------



## dewster1977

I lost both WHP and WVPY now that WHP went back to 21. If I set the antenna just right I can get a bounce off the mountain for both, but its hit and miss, I wish WHP would have stayed on 4, never had to many problems with that.


----------



## URFloorMatt

Who do we contact at WRC to get them to air Early Today in HD weekdays at 4:30am? The show apparently went HD this past Monday with the launch of MSNBC HD, but WRC has not been airing it in HD.


I don't know the mechanics, but I'm a little surprised we have this "someone forgot to flip the switch" issue in a post-transition world.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Early Today is in HD on WBAL.


----------



## Jim Miller

Does anyone know if the now digital PBS stations are still transmitting time information to automatically set the clock in a TV?


tnx

jtm


----------



## systems2000

Trip,


djp952 has offered to loan me a USB tuner. As soon as I get it installed, I'll send you the information for W08EE-D and WTAJ-DT.


Also, I wasn't home most of the day yesterday.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16764024
> 
> 
> Trip,
> 
> 
> djp952 has offered to loan me a USB tuner. As soon as I get it installed, I'll send you the information for W08EE-D and WTAJ-DT.
> 
> 
> Also, I wasn't home most of the day yesterday.



Ooh, thanks! I can't wait.










Well, then I guess it didn't much matter whether I PMed you or not. Maybe next time.


- Trip


----------



## runninkyle17

Not really an HDTV question, but does anyone live around Germantown and use Verizon FIOS internet service?


I am trying to figure out which service provider to go with. I will get HDTV through them too, but I am more concerned about the internet service right now. Thanks in advance for any advice.


----------



## dvwannab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *vmalhotra* /forum/post/16760131
> 
> 
> Does it look like directionality issue? Are both aimed in same direction and how do they react on rotation by few degrees ....



After reading your post I got out my compass and it turns out my directionality was off by about 15-degrees. Not sure how, but it was. I turned them to point at about 43-degrees (use antennaweb.org for positioning).


The signal strength has gotton better on the channels I was getting before. 9.1 comes and goes. 14.1 comes in, but the signal is weak and so you get picture breakup quite often. Still nothing on 26.1. Interestingly, the signal strength on 20.1 went down after the rotation. Go figure.


----------



## sgtjim

Since the 6/12/09 DTV conversion with Channels 7 & 9 in DC switching to VHF has anyone else noticed picture freezes as a result of Comcast not having a strong enough antenna to receive these channels in Southern Md. I thought they said if you were hooked to cable there would be no problems. The freezes

are bad enough if you have an OTA setup but this is ridiculous.


----------



## Potatoehead

Spoke to a Comcast CSR today. She said that we were going to all digital (at least almost all) , in August. I know they are unreliable, but it makes sense since they are sending all of the channels in digital already. She also said they were going to scramble most of the channels. Hope she got that one wrong.


----------



## shelby68gt500

Finally received my Y10-7-13 (VHF Only) yesterday and actually climbed up into my sauna of an attic in the evening to get it rigged up. I had lost, 11, 13, 9 & 7the other week after the transition. Existing setup was 2 CM4228's stacked vertically in the attic about 25ft up with a 7775 preamp. Used to be able to get all of DC and Baltimore stations (MPT on 22 would come and go though) very reliably. New setup takes the 4228's into the UHF input of a 7777 and the new Y10-7-13 into the VHF only. Switches on the 7777 set for separate and FM Trap off (wanted FM for some receivers in the basement). Went with the Y10-7-13 due to its narrowness as I've had previous experience with large VHF installations in an attic. Needless to say I don't venture down that road any longer.

Anyway, do have it mounted (not much room due to the 4228's and ducting) and pointing towards Baltimore just like the 4228's. Good news is that 7 and 9 are back with anywhere from 76-90 on the signal strength meter. (I'm about 44 miles from the DC transmitters and 70 from Baltimore, standard 3rd story attic with asphalt shingles) Bad news is that I still don't get 11 and 13, but now I've now lost every Baltimore station after some adjustments this morning (just a bit cooler up there). With the temporary setup yesterday evening, I still had all Baltimore stations with the exception of 11 and 13. If anything, the last adjustment this morning was able to get the VHF further from the UHF's than last night, so don't think their spatial relationship is to blame, but other than a very slight pointing difference with VHF, I'm at a loss as to why I lost the rest of the Baltimore stations without touching the UHF's... Anyone have any ideas?


Thx, Bob


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *shelby68gt500* /forum/post/16765092
> 
> 
> I'm at a loss as to why I lost the rest of the Baltimore stations without touching the UHF's... Anyone have any ideas?
> 
> 
> Thx, Bob



The UHF & VHF antennas need to be at least 3.5' from each other to avoid interaction between them.


----------



## shelby68gt500

Dig,


Thanks for the input... but my setup last night had the VHF about 2ft from the UHF's.... now it is about 3ft with worse results... Don't understand why a 2ft distance seemed to work ok, but a 3ft spacing doesn't... I'm assuming that I'll spend some time back in the attic tweaking that VHF this weekend. Sure would like to get all of the Baltimore stations back...


Bob


----------



## Digital Rules

Hopefully you will be able to find a sweet spot that will work for the Baltimore channels.


Let me know if you have any luck with WBAL-DT 11. 40-50 miles seems to be as far as their 5kw signal can reach reliably. WJZ-DT 13 is much better(For now anyway)


----------



## shelby68gt500

Dig,


Quick jaunt up into the attic again. Had the wife on a walkie talkie guiding me this time... I've now got 2, 45 & 54 back from Baltimore and all the DC stations are still there as well. What I believe my issue was.... the VHF, even though it wasn't "in front of" the UHF, it was "forward" of it... As soon as I moved it a bit back, I'm where I'm at with the channels...


Bob


----------



## Digital Rules

Good to hear!!


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *sgtjim* /forum/post/16765018
> 
> 
> Since the 6/12/09 DTV conversion with Channels 7 & 9 in DC switching to VHF has anyone else noticed picture freezes as a result of Comcast not having a strong enough antenna to receive these channels in Southern Md. I thought they said if you were hooked to cable there would be no problems. The freezes
> 
> are bad enough if you have an OTA setup but this is ridiculous.



Have not noticed freezes, but I have noticed that there is no more of the venetian blind effect on channel 7 and channel 9 used to have a slight ghosting effect that is no longer there. Now they just look kind of fuzzy compared to the other channels.


----------



## rviele




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16765188
> 
> 
> Hopefully you will be able to find a sweet spot that will work for the Baltimore channels.
> 
> 
> Let me know if you have any luck with WBAL-DT 11. 40-50 miles seems to be as far as their 5kw signal can reach reliably. WJZ-DT 13 is much better(For now anyway)



wish i could get wbal up here in harford county after june 12 it went away.


----------



## mdviewer25

Comcast PG has done the strangest thing with their qam channels. They used to have SD versions of the broadcast channels in the 83 and 84 range. Now, they remapped them to where they would be on regular TV. 4 is on 4-11, 5 is 5-12, 7 is 7-31?, 9 is 9-32 and so on. In the midst of all of this they got rid of truTV which was on 83-8. That was only available through clear qam since they deleted the analog version on channel 66 a few years ago.


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/16763403
> 
> 
> Who do we contact at WRC to get them to air Early Today in HD weekdays at 4:30am? The show apparently went HD this past Monday with the launch of MSNBC HD, but WRC has not been airing it in HD.
> 
> 
> I don't know the mechanics, but I'm a little surprised we have this "someone forgot to flip the switch" issue in a post-transition world.



There's a contact form here:
http://www.nbcwashington.com/about_us/


----------



## Knicks_Fan

I know someone over there and will e-mail them directly.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Anyone else having issues watching "A Capital Fourth" on WETA-HD via D*? Same macroblocking, sound issues and such as on Memorial Day. I could not have cared less when Manilow was on, but I'd like to see the fireworks!


----------



## rviele




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rviele* /forum/post/16767492
> 
> 
> wish i could get wbal up here in harford county after june 12 it went away.



to what i had previously posted. i rescanned today and moved the antenna a couple of clicks and voila in pops wbal, wish some of my other channels were that easy.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rviele* /forum/post/16771800
> 
> 
> to what i had previously posted. i rescanned today and moved the antenna a couple of clicks and voila in pops wbal, wish some of my other channels were that easy.



Your original comment of "wish i could get wbal up here in harford county after june 12 it went away" is a scathing indictment of DTV on VHF. You shouldn't be having these problems as close as you are to Baltimore. It wasn't so long ago that some people could watch WBAL-TV11 analog from nearly 40 miles away with rabbit ears.


BTW, WPBT-TV2 analog in Miami, FL came booming in this afternoon with their night lite program. I guess that after July 12th, that too will be history. After that, Canadian DXing on analog will be all that's left except for Mexico and Cuba for the adventurous. On the bright side, we in the U.S. will have all of these totally clear analog channels in which to play around with.


----------



## ACW112983

FIOS now has Spike HD. Comcast needs to get it ASAP!


----------



## rviele




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/16772019
> 
> 
> Your original comment of "wish i could get wbal up here in harford county after june 12 it went away" is a scathing indictment of DTV on VHF. You shouldn't be having these problems as close as you are to Baltimore. It wasn't so long ago that some people could watch WBAL-TV11 analog from nearly 40 miles away with rabbit ears.
> 
> 
> BTW, WPBT-TV2 analog in Miami, FL came booming in this afternoon with their night lite program. I guess that after July 12th, that too will be history. After that, Canadian DXing on analog will be all that's left except for Mexico and Cuba for the adventurous. On the bright side, we in the U.S. will have all of these totally clear analog channels in which to play around with.



wbal had always been hard for me to get, even when it was on uhf. if they had been able to keep their transmitter power up when they moved to vhf we would not had any problem. i don't have any problem with any other stations. btw i get three versions of public tv washington baltimore and annaoplis.


----------



## Humnahey

Hopefully someone here can give me advice on my problem.


I currently have a Channel Master 4228 on my roof. Before the digital switch I was able to receive the Baltimore locals 2, 11, 13, 22, 45, and 54 on my three directv boxes (HR-100, HR-600, and H20-600).


Since the switch the HR20-100 is picking up all the channels and the DC locals. The HR20-600 won't pick up the DC locals and is missing 11 WBAL. The H20 brings both locals as well.


If I run the antenna to any of the TVs without any splitters, I can receive the channels I want, but once I split the feed it doesn't work. My antenna was installed by Fairfax Antenna and I do not have a ladder to reach my roof. Is there anything I can do on the ground to boost my signal so I don't lose stations when I split?


----------



## ProjectSHO89




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Humnahey* /forum/post/16774833
> 
> 
> Hopefully someone here can give me advice on my problem.
> 
> 
> I currently have a Channel Master 4228 on my roof. Before the digital switch I was able to receive the Baltimore locals 2, 11, 13, 22, 45, and 54 on my three directv boxes (HR-100, HR-600, and H20-600).
> 
> 
> Since the switch the HR20-100 is picking up all the channels and the DC locals. The HR20-600 won't pick up the DC locals and is missing 11 WBAL. The H20 brings both locals as well.
> 
> 
> If I run the antenna to any of the TVs without any splitters, I can receive the channels I want, but once I split the feed it doesn't work. My antenna was installed by Fairfax Antenna and I do not have a ladder to reach my roof. Is there anything I can do on the ground to boost my signal so I don't lose stations when I split?



Replace your splitter with a distribution amplifier.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Humnahey* /forum/post/16774833
> 
> 
> Hopefully someone here can give me advice on my problem.
> 
> 
> I currently have a Channel Master 4228 on my roof. Before the digital switch I was able to receive the Baltimore locals 2, 11, 13, 22, 45, and 54 on my three directv boxes (HR-100, HR-600, and H20-600).
> 
> 
> Since the switch the HR20-100 is picking up all the channels and the DC locals. The HR20-600 won't pick up the DC locals and is missing 11 WBAL. The H20 brings both locals as well.
> 
> 
> If I run the antenna to any of the TVs without any splitters, I can receive the channels I want, but once I split the feed it doesn't work. My antenna was installed by Fairfax Antenna and I do not have a ladder to reach my roof. Is there anything I can do on the ground to boost my signal so I don't lose stations when I split?



The CM-4228 is a UHF antenna:

http://www.channelmaster.com/product...ID=34&catID=33 


I am using a CM-3679 VHF/UHF antenna with a rotor:

http://www.channelmaster.com/product...ID=26&catID=33 


This CM-3418 distribution amplifier works for me:

http://www.channelmaster.com/product...ID=75&catID=40 


I connected the single lead down from the CM-3679 to the main input of the CM-3418. My 8 amplified signals then go to a basement TV and an a main floor TV. Each floor receives 4 separate amplified leads and has a receptacle plate of four RF female connectors. All wiring is RG-6.


You are using a primarily UHF-only antenna. That is your main problem. Also make sure that the installer used quad shield RG-6 instead of RG-59. Replace all RG-59 wherever possible. The signal loss using RG-6 is negligible but not so with RG-59.


Right now from Olney, MD, which is 15 miles from the Washington channels and 25 miles from the Baltimore channels I receive either an 85 to 95 minimum signal or a 100 plus maximum signal on every major channel in the region. Hagerstown, York, and Salisbury are received and locked in much of the time. I can receive low power analog and digital channels from the District.


Change your antenna to a VHF/UHF model with a rotor and use a distribution amplifier. I promise you that you will be amazed at the results.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/16775585
> 
> 
> The CM-4228 is a UHF antenna:
> 
> ...
> 
> You are using a primarily UHF-only antenna. That is your main problem. Also make sure that the installer used quad shield RG-6 instead of RG-59. Replace all RG-59 wherever possible. The signal loss using RG-6 is negligible but not so with RG-59.



The CM-4228 8 Bay (original model) has some gain for upper VHF (with a notch for VHF 8). A lot of people brought the CM-4228 in recent years before the transition because they hope it would work for upper VHF. See the gain chart "Using a UHF antenna for VHF" at http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/comparing.html . The UHF bowtie design is useful in our markets because it can pick up stations in different directions without a rotator with some luck. The problem with WBAL 11 is that at 5 kW on VHF 11, the signal is going to be marginal or flat out too weak for a lot of people further away until they get a high gain upper VHF antenna (and even then WBAL may still be gone). I would hope that Fairfax antenna would have used RG-6 co-axial, but it worthwhile to double check.


Weird how the HR tuners are working differently but the tuners are likely right at the edge of the cliff effect for the marginal stations at that point in the split distribution path. A good quality distribution amp such as the Channel Master should do the trick. If they have not been cleaned out of stock in the post 6-12 period, solidsignal.com or warrenelectronics.com are reliable on-line vendors. If the distribution amp does not solve the problem, then the next step may be to keep the CM-4428 and get a upper VHF antenna and a UVSJ.


----------



## aptt

I live in Montgomery County. Before the switch I could get all the channels locally and WMAR and WBAL just fine but not WJZ. Now i can get just WMAR but not WBAL. I have tried scanning and re-scanning since the switch and still nothing. If people are not able to get WBAL or WJZ, this might be good news for WMAR. But I don't know how i can get all Wash/Balt channels.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/16775585
> 
> 
> make sure that the installer used quad shield RG-6 instead of RG-59. Replace all RG-59 wherever possible. The signal loss using RG-6 is negligible but not so with RG-59.



While RG-59 is certainly not the best choice, it really only makes an appreciable difference with UHF frequencies. Since the problem is with VHF only, the recommendation of a distribution amp would be the best first approach. If this doesn't work, then the antenna will need replacement, or augmentation.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aptt* /forum/post/16776468
> 
> 
> I live in Montgomery County. Before the switch I could get all the channels locally and WMAR and WBAL just fine but not WJZ. Now i can get just WMAR but not WBAL. I have tried scanning and re-scanning since the switch and still nothing. If people are not able to get WBAL or WJZ, this might be good news for WMAR. But I don't know how i can get all Wash/Balt channels.



I thought I was able to get WJZ and WBAL before but WMAR was hard to get. Now, I can get WJZ and WMAR but I get no signal at all from WBAL. I went to http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/Stations.aspx and for my address that is the situation they say I should be in. WBAL requires a different level of antenna than the other stations.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/16777088
> 
> 
> WBAL requires a different level of antenna than the other stations.



Correct, in most cases rabbit ears and compact antennas will not receive WBAL well. You will need antenna that is 5'-6' in length.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aptt* /forum/post/16776468
> 
> 
> I live in Montgomery County. Before the switch I could get all the channels locally and WMAR and WBAL just fine but not WJZ. Now i can get just WMAR but not WBAL. I have tried scanning and re-scanning since the switch and still nothing. If people are not able to get WBAL or WJZ, this might be good news for WMAR. But I don't know how i can get all Wash/Balt channels.



Sorry, but you haven't told us anything about your antenna. Try and be more specific about where you live. Is it an apartment or a house or a condo? Reception of DTV is correlated to location, terrain, trees, buildings, and of course your choice of antenna. Where in Montgomery Co. do you live. I live in Montgomery Co. and I can reasonably assure you that receiving just about any DTV channel out of Baltimore is extremely difficult without an outside antenna or attic antenna. Receiving VHF DTV RF 11 and 13 with a small indoor antenna will be practically impossible. Even Washingtonians are having great difficulty with VHF DTV RF 7 and 9.


----------



## shelby68gt500

Would be interested to get folks opinions on whether it is better to combine UHF/VHF upstream of a CM7777 Preamp, then feeding the signal into the combined port or leaving them separate and discretely feeding them into their appropriate ports on the CM7777. Combining on the first option would be with the UVSJ from Solid Signal... I've assumed that bringing in each band by itself and combining in the CM7777 would be better than combining with a $4.00 item...


Thanks, Bob


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *shelby68gt500* /forum/post/16778603
> 
> 
> Would be interested to get folks opinions on whether it is better to combine UHF/VHF upstream of a CM7777 Preamp, then feeding the signal into the combined port or leaving them separate and discretely feeding them into their appropriate ports on the CM7777. Combining on the first option would be with the UVSJ from Solid Signal... I've assumed that bringing in each band by itself and combining in the CM7777 would be better than combining with a $4.00 item...
> 
> 
> Thanks, Bob



I could be wrong, but I believe the 7777 splits the combined input out into VHF/UHF for separate amplification and then recombines them again on the output. If that's true, you're probably better off using the separate inputs on the 7777, but it really shouldn't matter too much either way, UHF/VHF diplexers incur almost no loss at all.


----------



## ProjectSHO89




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16777229
> 
> 
> Correct, in most cases rabbit ears and compact antennas will not receive WBAL well. You will need antenna that is 5'-6' in length.



WBAL is on H-VHF channel 11. A tip-to-tip length of rabbit ears of around 30" is appropriate, not 5-6'.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ProjectSHO89* /forum/post/16779422
> 
> 
> WBAL is on H-VHF channel 11. A tip-to-tip length of rabbit ears of around 30" is appropriate, not 5-6'.



I was referring to a yagi stlye antenna like the Antennacraft Y5-7-13. That certainly would be one top heavy set of rabbit ears.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Regis and Kelly is in HD on WBAL.


----------



## kingpong




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/16780167
> 
> 
> Regis and Kelly is in HD on WBAL.



It has been in HD on WBAL since at least 6/15 (I was out of town the week before, maybe they went HD that week).


----------



## systems2000

*Oh, Man!*


My wife is going to be pissed when she finds out that CBS time shifted Y&R to 11:00am so that they could air the *STUPID* MJ special.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Oh no! She'll be totally lost after missing one day of her *STUPID* soap!


----------



## systems2000

She will not consider the Special *STUPID*, I do.


I agree about the *STUPID* Soap comment, but she'll still explode about it.


----------



## systems2000

She just came in the door and went ballistic. Called it.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16783374
> 
> *Oh, Man!*
> 
> 
> My wife is going to be pissed when she finds out that CBS time shifted Y&R to 11:00am so that they could air the *STUPID* MJ special.



This was a CBS network decision? Interesting... ABC just shelved their shows for tomorrow but it does throw off those Friday cliffhangers...


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16783374
> 
> *Oh, Man!*
> 
> 
> My wife is going to be pissed when she finds out that CBS time shifted Y&R to 11:00am so that they could air the *STUPID* MJ special.



If you have cable, Y&R is shown several times during the evening on SoapNet. I also think that CBS puts complete episodes of Y&R on their website for viewing.


----------



## huesmann




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cpldc* /forum/post/16715923
> 
> 
> Kensington is only a few miles from the towers in Tenleytown, correct? That antenna should be adequate for such a location. I have something similar (CM 2001) and it works fine here, six miles away.
> 
> 
> Unless you have some sort of terrain obstruction, the signals you are receiving there should be extremely strong. Since you said 'inside' for your amp, I'm assuming you have the antenna outside. You don't need a preamp, and probably don't need a distribution amp either. How many devices are you connecting? One thought I have is that the second harmonic from an FM station could be affecting channel 9, and the preamp is making it worse. Channel 9 is 186-192mhz, and if I recall correctly WTGB 94.7 is close by. Its second harmonic at 189.4mhz is in 9's range. Unfortunately, that kind of thing isn't as easy to see and test in the digital world. How did analog 9 look?



Yeah, I'm about 5 minutes outside the Beltway.


I have the signal split four ways, to two HDTV tuner cards in each of two HTPCs.


No idea about analog 9...never watched analog TV at this location.










Antenna is outside, attached to a piece of black iron pipe that's U-bolted to a stack coming out of my roof, maybe 3' off the roof. Preamp signal goes into distro/amp box inside by the computers.


----------



## RaginBajin

I'm in Haymarket and I was wondering what Antenna would everyone recommend for me out there. AntennaWeb is saying I'm max 32.5 miles away from any of the Major Locals. I'm just looking for DC locals and nothing else. I would really like an Indoor Antenna if possible, since I would have to check with my HOA about outdoor antennas. Our HOA is very very Picky, Dominion Valley.


Anybody with some info would be great.


Thanks!


----------



## systems2000

HOA's can't restrict outside antennas for television viewing per the FCC (it also applies to satellite dishes of 1 meter or less). There is a thread, in the HDTV Technical section, that is dedicated to indoor antennas.


----------



## systems2000

Can anyone tell me what the Channel 8 is that I saw referenced during a channel 7 newscast the other day.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16785778
> 
> 
> Can anyone tell me what the Channel 8 is that I saw referenced during a channel 7 newscast the other day.


 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newschannel_8 


- Trip


----------



## systems2000

OTA only. I don't have cable.


----------



## systems2000

So, it's a cable channel. OK, another piece of news to ignore. Nothing like making advertisements sound like news.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RaginBajin* /forum/post/16785610
> 
> 
> I'm in Haymarket and I was wondering what Antenna would everyone recommend for me out there.



Is an attic antenna an option for you? Rabbit ears are pretty much out of the question at your distance.


----------



## RaginBajin

Yeah, an attic antenna would work just fine for me. I was thinking that, but then read somethings that they are not that good. So I was just looking for some feedback.


----------



## StevenJB

DCRTV reports that the low-power analog TV Azteca America affiliate, analog Channel 69, WQAW-LP in Lake Shore, MD, has asked the FCC to allow it to move its transmitter to Crofton, MD, to digital UHF channel 20, in order to offer digital coverage to the DC and Baltimore metro areas.

http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/f...346&q_num=5000 


The application to the FCC read, in part:


DISPLACEMENT EXHIBIT:

THIS APPLICATION PROPOSES TO CHANGE THE CHANNEL OF WQAW-LP FROM OUT-OF-CORE CHANNEL 69 TO IN-CORE CHANNEL 20, AND TO CONVERT FROM ANALOG TO DIGITAL OPERATION. AS SHOWN BY THE ATTACHED EXHIBIT, THE NEW F(50,90)51 DBU PROTECTED CONTOUR OVERLAPS THE LICENSED F(50,50) 74 DBU CONTOUR. WQAW-LP WAS GRANTED A CP TO CHANGE FROM CHANNEL 69 TO CHANNEL 8 (BDISTVL-20060310ACY) BUT IT HAS BEEN DISPLACED FROM CHANNEL 8 BY THE DIGITAL OPERATIONS OF FULL-SERVICE TELEVISION STATION WGAL-DT, CHANNEL 8, LANCASTER, PA. ON DECEMBER 1, 2008, APPLICANT FILED A DISPLACEMENT APPLICATION TO SHIFT WQAW-LP FROM CHANNEL 69 TO CHANNEL 20 (FILE NO.BDISDTL-20081201ATE). THAT APPLICATION WAS DISMISSED ON MARCH 27, 2009 DUE TO PRE-TRANSITION INTERFERENCE TO THE ANALOG SERVICE OF STATION WDCA, CHANNEL 20, WASHINGTON, DC. THE INSTANT APPLICATION PROPOSES THE SAME FACILITIES AS THE DECEMBER APPLICATION.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/16787993
> 
> 
> DCRTV reports that the low-power analog TV Azteca America affiliate, analog Channel 69, WQAW-LP in Lake Shore, MD, has asked the FCC to allow it to move its transmitter to Crofton, MD, to digital UHF channel 20, in order to offer digital coverage to the DC and Baltimore metro areas.



Not that I am interested in their programming, but that would be right on top of me.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RaginBajin* /forum/post/16787382
> 
> 
> Yeah, an attic antenna would work just fine for me. I was thinking that, but then read somethings that they are not that good. So I was just looking for some feedback.



You'll probably be dissapointed with the performance of an attic-mounted antenna. Another good option may be a UHF/VHF marine (aka boat) style antenna. They are about one foot in diameter and look like a classic UFO shape. An antenna of this type can prove to be more hidden than the yagi style UHF/VHF higher gain antenna. The receive pattern is fairly omni-directional. I used one of these antennas in a mobile installation atop a rental car while performing a DTV survey of the Boise Idaho market. I was amazed how well it worked.


Depending on how far you are from the transmitter sites of choice, I recommend the non-amplified marine antenna, although the one with the amp seems to work pretty well vs. booster amps with conventional antennas even located a couple miles from transmission sites.


Here are links to a couple choices from West Marine: http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs...3&classNum=667 

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs...3&classNum=667 


Just hang on to your receipt in case it doesn't work. Granted they're a little pricey, but like I mentioned, the performance for DTV is pretty impressive. Just mount the antenna as high as possible above the roof line to minimize reflections from buildings and passing vehicles.


Good Luck!


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/16788489
> 
> 
> Not that I am interested in their programming, but that would be right on top of me.



Looking at the WQAW-LD application, they will be on the same tower as WMPT 22 (DT 42), but using a side mounted antenna. In an earlier filing, WQAW-LP 69 shut down on UHF 69 on June 12 because of interference with "'PUBLIC SAFETY FIRST RESPONDER RELAY NETWORK (800 MHZ BAND)". Looking at their analog coverage map, they probably had very few OTA viewers. Maybe boaters with digital TVs?







Like many other low power stations, they are using forced displacements to try to get much improved broadcast coverage. Although at 6.5 kW on UHF 20, WQAW-LD's coverage map strikes me as rather optimistic.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/16788599
> 
> 
> You'll probably be dissapointed with the performance of an attic-mounted antenna. Another good option may be a UHF/VHF marine (aka boat) style antenna.



I seriously doubt "_any_" compact antenna will have a chance with the weak signals from WUSA-DT 9, & WJLA-DT 7 in Haymarket. You will need a _"real_" yagi style VHF/UHF antenna to get those VHF stations any further out than Fairfax. The Winegard 769x series is the highest gain compact yagi out there. You may also need a quality pre-amp depending on the signal strengths at your location.


----------



## Cambio

My house is situated in Orange, VA, 73 miles SW of the towers in DC. Two years ago I installed a CM4228 and CM7777 in my third story attic with asphalt shingles.


Before the transition, I was able receive 4.1 rarely, 5.1 95 % of the time, 7.1 and 9.1 99.9% of the time. Post transition, WTTG is rock solid, but I rarely get a lock on the other three. Odly enough, even though I am not interested in them, I do solidly receive the Richmond networks 58 miles away with my CM4228 still pointed toward Washington.


My question is, what yagi style VHF antenna can I purchase to augment the CM4228 that will enable me to reliably receive WJLA and WUSA at 73 miles out?


----------



## Digital Rules

The Winegard YA-1713 is your best bet to augment the 4228. Nothing is guaranteed to be 100% reliable, but since you are getting Baltimore, I would think you have a pretty good shot.


----------



## Cambio




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16790658
> 
> 
> Nothing is 100% guaranteed to work for your situation, but the best separate available for VHF-Hi is the Winegard YA-1713. If reception is not reliable with the 1713, theres not much else you can do other than mount the antenna on the roof.



Thanks! I like the fact that the 1713 is only 8 ft. wide. I should be able to get it in my roof. My only concern is how far away I can get from the 4228 because of limited vertical attic height. I quess I'll have to move it to the otherside of a dormer.


----------



## Digital Rules

3.5' is ideal, but you can experiment with various placement options if you don't have the room.


----------



## joblo

DC Broadcasting filed applications last week to transmit 15 kW digital on channels 14 and 32 from the WRC/WFDC/WMDO tower at WFDC's height. The channel 32 signal would be reduced to the southwest to protect WVIR in Charlottesville. The channel 14 signal would be non-directional.


Asiavision filed last week to transmit 12 kW digital on channel 44 and 3 kW analog on channel 4 from the WRC/WFDC/WMDO tower at approximately WMDO's height. The digital signal would have a deep null to the northwest to protect WWPB in Hagerstown. The analog signal would be non-directional.


Predicted service contours:

Analog 4: http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...TX1319551.html 

Digital 14: http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...LD1319988.html 

Digital 32: http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...LD1319980.html 

Digital 44: http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...LD1319559.html


----------



## joblo

The FCC's digital coverage comparison maps for DC now include coverage for WETA and WWPX's proposed moves to channel 51, on pages 9 and 51, respectively.


Note that WWPX is proposing to transmit from the same mountaintop location as WINC-FM 92.5, which will extend their coverage beyond DC proper into Maryland, to include most the population of the DC DMA. I think it's obvious that WWPX is not interested in serving Martinsburg, WV, but is instead positioning the station for must carry on DC cable and satellite systems, in order to facilitate sale of the property separate from WPXW.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16788658
> 
> 
> Looking at their analog coverage map, they probably had very few OTA viewers. Maybe boaters with digital TVs?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Like many other low power stations, they are using forced displacements to try to get much improved broadcast coverage. Although at 6.5 kW on UHF 20, WQAW-LD's coverage map strikes me as rather optimistic.



WQAW is widely carried on Comcast, even in Virginia.


Like WWPX and many other stations, I think they view their broadcast operation primarily as an entry to cable and satellite carriage.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/16791538
> 
> 
> The FCC's digital coverage comparison maps for DC now include coverage for WETA and WWPX's proposed moves to channel 51, on pages 9 and 51, respectively.
> 
> 
> Note that WWPX is proposing to transmit from the same mountaintop location as WINC-FM 92.5, which will extend their coverage beyond DC proper into Maryland, to include most the population of the DC DMA. I think it's obvious that WWPX is not interested in serving Martinsburg, WV, but is instead positioning the station for must carry on DC cable and satellite systems, in order to facilitate sale of the property separate from WPXW.



IS that coverage map for real or a joke? WUSA doesn't have anywhere close to the coverage it shows.


----------



## shelby68gt500

Ragin, I'm a bit further out than you are here in Warrenton. I've got a CM4228 (UHF) along with the Y10-13-7 (VHF) into a CM7777 both in my attic with asphalt shingles. I get all of the DC stations just fine and can even get 2, 45 & 54 out of Baltimore. With the same type of setup, I'd be surprised if you didn't get about the same results or better. Keep the longer VHF antenna as far away as you can from the UHF, I had to make many trips to the attic to adjust the VHF as it was hampering my UHF... I used to get 11 and 13 from Baltimore before the transition when they were UHF, but no longer! (at least for now anyway)... Good luck... Bob


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/16792668
> 
> 
> IS that coverage map for real or a joke? WUSA doesn't have anywhere close to the coverage it shows.



I'd like to see how they define 'coverage', to be honest. I'm in Howard, MD and 7 and 9 are a lot closer to 'fringe' here than these maps certainly indicate. Other sources, like tvfool are far less optimistic and IMO closer to accurate for the H-VHF coverage right now.


I'm no RF engineer, but there's no way that's right for WJLA and WUSA with their current power levels. I'm outside the circles for the Hagertown channels and can get them on UHF if I try from my attic. I used to be able to get 66 from time to time on their old frequency, and I was WAY outside that circle. But yet 7 and 9 are still MIA (still waiting for my YA-5713). On analog I had them both very clearly (admittedly some snow) with just a cheesy folded dipole DB2-style beast I whipped up.


I'm still hopeful that people are seriously looking at the alotted VHF power levels as we speak and realizing they miscalculated something pretty badly


----------



## systems2000

I don't believe any of the coverage maps I've seen. I'm way outside the circles by 15 miles (minimum) and get both WJLA and WUSA (maybe not solid) viewable.


----------



## systems2000

What's going on with the "Aspect Ratio" of "Late Late Show?" It has a frame even in 4:3.


----------



## machpost

Does anyone know how cable must-carry rules apply to digital subchannels? RCN, in their infinite wisdom, decided they weren't going to carry MHz-5 anymore after it switched from BVN to Al Jazeera English on July 1, and I'm really unhappy about that decision. So we've got MHz 1-4 and 6-8, but no 5.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/16794996
> 
> 
> Does anyone know how cable must-carry rules apply to digital subchannels?



They don't.


- Trip


----------



## gary michaels

I hear a lot of talk from folks that say they can not get signals or that DT signals are not usable more than 40 miles out. Just for reference,


I live 15 west of Winchester, Va. and receive with a 98 signal quality the digital signals of channels 5, 9, 14, 20, 26, 32, 66. I have less signal on the others out of D.C. because of local interference from low power transmitters on top of digital channels 4, 7, and 50, but I do get very stable signals from them all out of D.C. 70+ miles away.


I also get stable signals from Baltimore digitals 2, 24, 45, 54 and even 67.

I can receive channel 13, and once in a while channel 11, but not reliably. Those Baltimore signals are about 91 miles from me.


Guys, do your home work and invest a little time and money. Digital TV while not perfect works. I could not get a snow free picture on anything out of D.C. or Baltimore before Digital. I also have a home in Charles town that receives everything out of both towns including channel 11 reliably at about 62 miles out.


What do I use for an antenna? My VHF antenna is about 20 years old and a combo like the CM 3679 with the UHF reflector taken off.


The UHF antenna system is 2 vertically stacked and directly connected CM 4228s. both of these feed a CM 7777 preamp.


I feed the house distribution system with RG 6. The antenna in Charles town is just a plain CM 3020 with the CM 7777 preamp.


Before channel 8 digital in Martinsburg, Wv. went on the air, I could watch the 198 watt signal of WMDO. While it sat right on the digital cliff, it was there. Yes, I do have a little higher look angle than others, I also have 1000+ foot ridges in the way of Baltimore and Washington. We also receive WTAJ-TV Altoona, Pa. with a reliable signal even with Cacapon mountain at 2600 feet in the way.


----------



## systems2000

Glad to see there's a fellow CM3020 user at 70+ miles (with edge-diffraction reception) getting good DTV also.


WTAJ-DT is one of my strongest stations. I e-MAIL'ed them about incorporating Franklin County into their weather forecast. Not sure if it'll happen, because they didn't seem to interested due to this area is not in their DMA.


----------



## Trip in VA

Keep an eye on WRC-DT with TSReader, I hear that Mobile DTV is supposed to show up there "by the end of the week."


- Trip


----------



## coredump4




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16730565
> 
> 
> Picking through that data, I note that WHUT-DT has added UpdateTV. So if anyone asks about blank subchannels on 33-8 and 33-9, that's what it is.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Getting WHUT's UpdateTV sub-channels over Cox cable should work, shouldn't they? The UpdateTV web site seems to indicate it works OTA and with digital cable. However, my Sony TV failed to pick up a firmware update I know for a fact was broadcast over UpdateTV. I was able to update the TV by putting the update on a USB stick, I'm just not sure why the UpdateTV method didn't work.


----------



## Trip in VA

I'm not sure if it's sent over digital cable or not. It's not something I'd thought about. I'm almost tempted to say that in general it would not be without special considerations by the cable company, but I'm not certain of that at all. It's purely a guess.


- Trip


----------



## Marcus Carr

Dish Network added MSNBC HD.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...1158996&page=3


----------



## coredump4




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *coredump4* /forum/post/16798971
> 
> 
> Getting WHUT's UpdateTV sub-channels over Cox cable should work, shouldn't they? The UpdateTV web site seems to indicate it works OTA and with digital cable. However, my Sony TV failed to pick up a firmware update I know for a fact was broadcast over UpdateTV. I was able to update the TV by putting the update on a USB stick, I'm just not sure why the UpdateTV method didn't work.



Well I went back to check my Cox channel lineup (I'm in Fairfax County, VA), and they do claim to carry WHUT-DT. However, I only have Extended Basic cable, and while I get many digital stations with this service, WHUT-DT is not one of them. Cox switched WHUT over to digital only in June.

I also had the TV re-scan for digital stations, just to be sure, and still don't get 33.8 and 33.9. Does anyone know if these channels are maybe mapped to other oddball channel numbers (I'm not using a cable box)?


----------



## RaginBajin

Anybody if there is a local company that sells the Channel Master Antennas? I'd like to maybe go get one this weekend if I could.


----------



## hsweiss

Channel Master's web site only provides on-line sales - no local distributors listed. RS only carries Winegard. You might try calling them: 877.746.7261


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RaginBajin* /forum/post/16802463
> 
> 
> Anybody if there is a local company that sells the Channel Master Antennas? I'd like to maybe go get one this weekend if I could.



JE Rice in the Manassas shopping center carries a few Channel Master models, but they may not accept returns. I wouldn't recommend Channel Master unless you can mount it outside. The gain on their antennas is low when size is a consideration.


I would personally recommend this antenna from Radio Shack if you need something right away. They have it in stock at the Manassas Mall store, and if it doesn't work satisfactorily for you, you can easily return it.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...gs#showReviews


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *RaginBajin* /forum/post/16802463
> 
> 
> Anybody if there is a local company that sells the Channel Master Antennas? I'd like to maybe go get one this weekend if I could.



If you're in Maryland try Mark Electronics in Beltsville.


----------



## mdyoung

Not sure if this is the correct place to ask this, but here goes. I live in Baltimore County, MD and about 2 weeks ago my Comcast Motorola digital HD box stopped picking up any channels. Worked fine when I ran the cable straight into the TV.


Today the Comcast tech came and he said the problem was caused due to the signal being too strong from the Motorola Signal Booster I was using. He took the old box to the truck and came back with what he said was another box. After disconnecting the Signal Booster and connecting the new Digital HD box everything seems to be working fine.


My BS detector came on when he said problem was due to the signal being too strong. So is this possible or was the cable box more likely the problem and he was feeding me BS?


----------



## ProjectSHO89




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdyoung* /forum/post/16808371
> 
> 
> Not sure if this is the correct place to ask this, but here goes. I live in Baltimore County, MD and about 2 weeks ago my Comcast Motorola digital HD box stopped picking up any channels. Worked fine when I ran the cable straight into the TV.
> 
> 
> Today the Comcast tech came and he said the problem was caused due to the signal being too strong from the Motorola Signal Booster I was using. He took the old box to the truck and came back with what he said was another box. After disconnecting the Signal Booster and connecting the new Digital HD box everything seems to be working fine.
> 
> 
> My BS detector came on when he said problem was due to the signal being too strong. So is this possible or was the cable box more likely the problem and he was feeding me BS?




he's the one with the meter, I'd go with his opinion.


Cable boxes typically will have a lower signal overload threshold than TV receivers and you probably overloaded it.


He probably installed a newer one with a higher threshold...


----------



## BGAGG

Tried to upgrade my Baltimore signal replacing a CM4220 with a CM2016 on my roof. I am in Odenton, MD and used to get all Baltimore stations, 2, 11, 13, 45, 54 and others. With the digital transition lost 11 and 13 to the switch to vhf. With the new CM2016, I set the FM trap correctly on my radioshack preamp to allow for vhf and get most channels but not 11 (NBC) and 13 (CBS) is marginal at best (30% signal and unwatchable). I am wondering what should be next to troubleshoot the problem or is this is related to the power issues for 11 and somewhat 13 and not much can be done. Can it be a direction issue even though the 2016 is omni-directional on vhf and I should tweak the direction of the new antenna or upgrade my pre-amp or get a better antenna such as the winnegard HD7694P?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *BGAGG* /forum/post/16811244
> 
> 
> Can it be a direction issue even though the 2016 is omni-directional on vhf and I should tweak the direction of the new antenna or upgrade my pre-amp or get a better antenna such as the winnegard HD7694P?



Unfortunately, the Channel Master 2016 is not a very good VHF antenna. The 7694 is much better, even on UHF.


I'm also thinking you would be better off without a pre-amp. It is likely doing more harm than good. If you must use a pre-amp, the Winegard HDP-269 is the only one worth considering. I would try a new higher quality antenna first.


----------



## systems2000

Did you try raising or lowering the antenna? You will have a plus or minus 32" elevation range for reception strength of VHF-Hi (UHF will be a lot less).


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *BGAGG* /forum/post/16811244
> 
> 
> . . . . . . . lost 11 and 13 to the switch to vhf.



Have you tried the 2016 without the pre-amp? You've got local TV & FM stations right on top of you.


----------



## BGAGG

Can I run the 2106 through the preamp on the roof but not through the amp that plugs into the outlet? Will that suffice trying without the amp?


I also can't really move the antenna up or down. The 2106 is in the same place as the old antenna. It is a 1 ft J-joint that is bolted down on the very top of the roof. The 32" delta height change on top of the roof could affect the signal drastically?


----------



## dewster1977




BGAGG said:


> Can I run the 2106 through the preamp on the roof but not through the amp that plugs into the outlet? Will that suffice trying without the amp?QUOTE]
> 
> 
> No, you will have to bypass both the preamp at the antenna and the power supply.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *BGAGG* /forum/post/16811822
> 
> 
> The 32" delta height change on top of the roof could affect the signal drastically?



Height shouldn't be an issue for VHF at your distance. I just installed an un-amplified antenna just 3 feet off the roof of a 1 story house yesterday. At 45 miles out channel 11 & 13 come in just fine, although an FM trap was needed to receive WBAL due to strong FM from less than 2 miles away.


----------



## BGAGG

What kind of FM trap and antenna did you use for the setup at 45 miles away?


Thanks for everyone's feedback. I am heading back on the roof to test without the pre-amp.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *BGAGG* /forum/post/16812521
> 
> 
> What kind of FM trap and antenna did you use for the setup at 45 miles away?
> 
> 
> Thanks for everyone's feedback. I am heading back on the roof to test without the pre-amp.



We used a VHF-HI only YA-1713. http://www.summitsource.com/winegard...le-p-4589.html 


An HLSJ was used to trap FM. http://yhst-18278607509093.stores.ya...pico-0144.html . It makes for an inexpensive and very effective trap if channels 2-6 aren't needed. The HLSJ is especially useful if there are any strong FM stations in the 88-91 MHZ area. Many FM traps do not work as well on these frequencies.


----------



## Hoopnoop

As far as I can tell, the recently added FIOS channels still haven't been posted. These are:


Spike HD 554

Comedy Central HD 690

MTV HD 710

VH 1 HD 717

CMT HD 721

Nick HD 752


----------



## joblo

*the party's over...*


The last analog nightlight in the DC/Baltimore area, WTTG-5 just went dark at 11:59 pm.


No fanfare. Just snow in the middle of the NAB loop.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/16814477
> 
> *the party's over...*
> 
> 
> The last analog nightlight in the DC/Baltimore area, WTTG-5 just went dark at 11:59 pm.
> 
> 
> No fanfare. Just snow in the middle of the NAB loop.



Actually, that should be the end for all of them, right? So now it's just Mexico and Canada? And the US Low Power stations.


----------



## Trip in VA

To the various folks running TSReader:


Any chance you could post captures now and again at the end of the week of:


- WRC

- WUSA

- WDCA

- WHUT

- WNVC

- WPXW

- WNUV


I'm looking for evidence of Mobile DTV transmission and the difference in bandwidth usage. It's scheduled to launch on July 15 though I think WPXW and WRC have already launched it.


Thanks.










- Trip


----------



## systems2000

Analog modulated VHF/UHF television stations left will be Low-Power, Translator, and Class "A."


----------



## RaginBajin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *shelby68gt500* /forum/post/16792907
> 
> 
> Ragin, I'm a bit further out than you are here in Warrenton. I've got a CM4228 (UHF) along with the Y10-13-7 (VHF) into a CM7777 both in my attic with asphalt shingles. I get all of the DC stations just fine and can even get 2, 45 & 54 out of Baltimore. With the same type of setup, I'd be surprised if you didn't get about the same results or better. Keep the longer VHF antenna as far away as you can from the UHF, I had to make many trips to the attic to adjust the VHF as it was hampering my UHF... I used to get 11 and 13 from Baltimore before the transition when they were UHF, but no longer! (at least for now anyway)... Good luck... Bob




Thanks for the info.


So, on Saturday, I just decided to try out an indoor antenna to just see what would happen. I purchased the HDTVa model from BestBuy, and I was quite surprised with it.


I put it on top of my Receiver inside the middle of the house. The antenna faced the correct direction and had to go through a lot of wall, stairs, garage, etc to get out. It picked up all the UHF channels super well. VHF channels, not so much. I couldn't even get a signal. These were channels 7 and 9. So I found a long RG6 cable, and connected the antenna next to the window, and I was able to pick up 7, 9 and everything else really well. With this test, I know I should easily be able to pick up everything I need and want from an Attic antenna. I mean the HDTVa is super small and not powered a lot. The CM7777 and a good UHF/VHF should be plenty in my eyes.


----------



## JD4x4

Hi all. Newb to the forum here and just checking in/passing my OTA info on for what it's worth. I'm in a tough location (in a bit of a valley w/lots of tall trees 360) in White Oak, MD; about 8 mi from all of the DC stations & 27 mi from Balt. Been chasing good reception of all OTA digital since about last spring. Indoor even w/amps has been only sporadic and (obviously) very directional. Since about last summer I've been using a RS outdoor VHF/UHF/Yagi in the attic and got mostly viewable DC with 5, 7, 9 (of the 4 majors) the worst. Frequent dropouts and especially in poor weather.


Post transition signals seemed to get worse, so I just installed an amplified RS Omni (cat# 15-1634) w/20db advertised gain in the attic split to 3 cables, and it's been excellent so far. Not perfect, but only rare dropouts on 5-7-9, and got me 2 in Balt and a strong 22. Considering 2 is 180deg from DC & my location and 22 is 90deg, I've stopped cursing digital and finally have analog quality (uninterrupted!) sound.


I'm going to try some roof placements and heights eventually, but wanted to pass on that the RS amplified omni seems to work pretty well in the attic, even with tall trees & LOS only to ch 50 for my height/location. Everything else here (at my current height) is 1 edge & 2 edge. Toughest channel picked up that's still watchable is 30.


Anyone here know who makes this RS model? Thanks for listening.


----------



## mkfs

So I have a Insignia and a DigitalStream DTX9950. The advantage of the DTX is: if you set it for Composite output, the RF out is pass-through, even when on. That way I could watch one thing, and record another. So it goes antenna->DTXin, DTXout->Insignia.



Lately, the DTX feeding my VCR has had zero use. (And what have you been watching that was worth recording???) But I decided to rescan it anyhow.



To make a long story short, in doing so I found that while the DTX does pass through; when on, it eats enough signal to turn both WUSA and WJLA on the Insignia from very solid to totally flaky. This was invisible to me prior to D-day.



Sigh, I guess I really need to spend a dollar at a hamfest and buy a splitter.... Who knows; next fall there might be something worth recording!


----------



## hsweiss




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mkfs* /forum/post/16816986
> 
> 
> So I have a Insignia and a DigitalStream DTX9950. The advantage of the DTX is: if you set it for Composite output, the RF out is pass-through, even when on. That way I could watch one thing, and record another. So it goes antenna->DTXin, DTXout->Insignia.
> 
> 
> 
> Lately, the DTX feeding my VCR has had zero use. (And what have you been watching that was worth recording???) But I decided to rescan it anyhow.
> 
> 
> 
> To make a long story short, in doing so I found that while the DTX does pass through; when on, it eats enough signal to turn both WUSA and WJLA on the Insignia from very solid to totally flaky. This was invisible to me prior to D-day.
> 
> 
> 
> Sigh, I guess I really need to spend a dollar at a hamfest and buy a splitter.... Who knows; next fall there might be something worth recording!



Just curious - I have a Digital Stream box which I am very happy with. It does a great job of bringing in channel 11 on VHF using a UHF antenna and a signal strength only in the mid 30s and does a great job on the stronger stations. Have you compared the Insignia and Digital Stream boxes on capture ability? I read a review a long time ago that gave the nod to the Digital Stream box which is why I bought it. But given that time has marched on, the transition has occurred, etc I wonder how the other boxes fare?


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/16814702
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/16814477
> 
> 
> The last analog nightlight in the DC/Baltimore area, WTTG-5 just went dark at 11:59 pm.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Actually, that should be the end for all of them, right? So now it's just Mexico and Canada? And the US Low Power stations.
Click to expand...


As of 4 am ET this morning, yes.


But when I posted that, at midnight ET, nightlights might still have been receivable by E skip from time zones to the west.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16815371
> 
> 
> To the various folks running TSReader:
> 
> 
> Any chance you could post captures now and again at the end of the week of:
> 
> 
> - WRC
> 
> - WUSA
> 
> - WDCA
> 
> - WHUT
> 
> - WNVC
> 
> - WPXW
> 
> - WNUV
> 
> 
> I'm looking for evidence of Mobile DTV transmission and the difference in bandwidth usage. It's scheduled to launch on July 15 though I think WPXW and WRC have already launched it.
> 
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> - Trip



I didn't see anything late last night on WRC... what exactly do you want? Record the mux, do the HTML export, or what?


I have a standard ATSC BDA tuner (USB) and TSReader Standard (whatever the paid one is that's not Professional, which is the expensive one)


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/16817586
> 
> 
> I didn't see anything late last night on WRC... what exactly do you want? Record the mux, do the HTML export, or what?
> 
> 
> I have a standard ATSC BDA tuner (USB) and TSReader Standard (whatever the paid one is that's not Professional, which is the expensive one)



Yeah, just an HTML export.


You're looking for an "Unknown Usage" stream chewing up a bunch of bandwidth, particularly a multiple of 0.917 Mbps. There's one on WPXW-DT at 0x1eee, though I've also seen it at 0x1ff9.


- Trip


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16817651
> 
> 
> Yeah, just an HTML export.
> 
> 
> You're looking for an "Unknown Usage" stream chewing up a bunch of bandwidth, particularly a multiple of 0.917 Mbps. There's one on WPXW-DT at 0x1eee, though I've also seen it at 0x1ff9.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Found one on WRC just now at 0x1ff9.


Separately, sending you a PM.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/16818146
> 
> 
> Found one on WRC just now at 0x1ff9.
> 
> 
> Separately, sending you a PM.



The one on WPXW seems to be 3.668 Mbps (x4) and the one on WRC seems to be 1.834 Mbps (x2). Of course, if I understand correctly, we can't watch these yet or really analyze them too much.


I'll collect whatever info you need, although I should warn you that some channels are elusive at my location -- I'm not exactly using professional equipment over here.







Just some bunny ears tossed up in a closet on the 2nd story of our Annapolis suburb house. Also a little home-built fractal antenna, but it's nothing too spectacular either.


Also, the video on WPXW's "HD" channel is pretty amusing at 8.8Mbps. Let's just say the picture quality is suffering a wee bit...


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/16819866
> 
> 
> The one on WPXW seems to be 3.668 Mbps (x4) and the one on WRC seems to be 1.834 Mbps (x2). Of course, if I understand correctly, we can't watch these yet or really analyze them too much.



You catch on quickly.










I'm somehow expecting to see 7.33 Mbps (x8) on WHUT-DT, but we'll just have to wait and see if I'm right or not.



> Quote:
> I'll collect whatever info you need, although I should warn you that some channels are elusive at my location -- I'm not exactly using professional equipment over here.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Just some bunny ears tossed up in a closet on the 2nd story of our Annapolis suburb house. Also a little home-built fractal antenna, but it's nothing too spectacular either.



Thanks. As long as it works, that's what matters.







I'm guessing that WNVC-DT 24 (30-1) is out of reach for you?


I wish it was possible to decode these transmissions, but as far as I know, nothing is available to the public to do so.


- Trip


----------



## DulacLancelot

has anyone gotten all 10 MHz channels to work?


for me, i've gotten the WNVC channels (RF 24) to work but not the WNVT ones (RF 30). the microsoft digital terrestial epg shows a digital channel 30-1 and maps it correctly to RF 24, so when i add 30-2, 30-3, 30-4, and 30-5, they all work. i cannot add the rest, of course, because they are on a different RF channel, 30. so i pick an unused logical channel (say 31, i've tried multiple) and start adding missing channels with RF 30. but none of those channels play when i click on them.







when i use the Digital Signal Strength thing in MCE, the RF 30 channels are even stronger than the RF 24 ones, a full 6 bars.


i can get the RF 30 channels fine using the software that came with my tuner card and with the WatchHDTV.exe program.


so has anyone gotten MHz1 through MHz10 working over the air in MCE 2005?


thanks!


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16819890
> 
> 
> I'm somehow expecting to see 7.33 Mbps (x8) on WHUT-DT, but we'll just have to wait and see if I'm right or not.



That's about what they allocate to the video, but it is SD.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16819890
> 
> 
> Thanks. As long as it works, that's what matters.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm guessing that WNVC-DT 24 (30-1) is out of reach for you?



Most of the time yeah. I used to get it pre-transition with a Phillips MANT510 indoor antenna, but I lent that to a friend so all my post-transition playing has been with bunny ears and other smaller passive antennas. It often shows up in my TSReader channel scan, but I get constant sync errors and never anything viewable.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16819890
> 
> 
> I wish it was possible to decode these transmissions, but as far as I know, nothing is available to the public to do so.



Yeah, it seems strange that there'd be no way at all to use these. Aren't these public airwaves?


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/16819941
> 
> 
> That's about what they allocate to the video, but it is SD.



That's why I'm thinking it. They've got a single SD video feed, plus 2 Mbps reserved for UpdateTV (the reservation is not shown in TSReader, though the artifacts of UpdateTV are), plus null packets. Makes perfect sense to me.



> Quote:
> Yeah, it seems strange that there'd be no way at all to use these. Aren't these public airwaves?



Right now, it's in testing. I've heard consumer receivers are targeted for the beginning of next year. I plan to have one ASAP.


- Trip


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16819953
> 
> 
> That's why I'm thinking it. They've got a single SD video feed, plus 2 Mbps reserved for UpdateTV (the reservation is not shown in TSReader, though the artifacts of UpdateTV are), plus null packets. Makes perfect sense to me.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Right now, it's in testing. I've heard consumer receivers are targeted for the beginning of next year. I plan to have one ASAP.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Regarding the bitrate, I suppose that's not unreasonable... how much of the Mobile DTV feed is used for error correction and how much is content? What is it, MP4 video?


On the mobile DTV units, well I provided more info in a PM, but let's say that yes, those tuners are coming soon. I've never seen one in person myself, but I've seen pictures of them.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/16820115
> 
> 
> Regarding the bitrate, I suppose that's not unreasonable... how much of the Mobile DTV feed is used for error correction and how much is content? What is it, MP4 video?



It varies. The station is in control. They could, in theory, have one video feed stretched across 8 groups (7.33 Mbps) which is the maximum number. I'm not certain, but I think the stations are going to mostly use two groups per video feed. And yes, it's in MPEG-4 at a specific resolution. I forget what resolution that is, exactly, but it's smaller than 480x272, as I remember being corrected.



> Quote:
> On the mobile DTV units, well I provided more info in a PM, but let's say that yes, those tuners are coming soon. I've never seen one in person myself, but I've seen pictures of them.



I've seen a picture as well. http://www.pixtree.com:8001/product_01.asp?P_NUM=58 


I'll be answering your PM in a few minutes. I have about three to answer suddenly.










- Trip


----------



## GregAnnapolis

Congrats to Trip in VA for being the owner of post #10000 in the current incarnation of the DC/Baltimore/Annapolis thread. Err, DC/Baltimore thread.


----------



## Trip in VA

WBAL is requesting an STA to operate at 26.6 kW.


- Trip


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16820554
> 
> 
> WBAL is requesting an STA to operate at 26.6 kW.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Best news I've heard all month!


Are you still looking for any stream data captures, or are you good?


----------



## GregAnnapolis

I'm picking up several Richmond stations (WRLH's DT-26 and WRIC's DT-22) in Annapolis using rabbit ears. Not very good reception, barely viewable, but enough came through to see the info in TSReader...


Also WCPB DT-28 from Salisbury.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/16820562
> 
> 
> Best news I've heard all month!
> 
> 
> Are you still looking for any stream data captures, or are you good?



If you can see WUSA-DT, I'd like that one. And WNVC-DT 24. But only if they have those Mobile DTV streams (0x1eee or 0x1ff9). Other than those, I'm good at the moment.


Thanks.










- Trip


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DulacLancelot* /forum/post/16819909
> 
> 
> so has anyone gotten MHz1 through MHz10 working over the air in MCE 2005?
> 
> 
> thanks!



MCE 2005 and the initial version that shipped with Vista were VERY sensitive to the PSIP data matching what it thinks it should be. For example, for the longest time up here I couldn't get WUTB, WHUT or WDCW on Media Center even though they would tune with other applications. (I didn't have anything like TSReader set up at that time, I don't know what the problem was).


Microsoft seems to have completely fixed that with the "TV Pack 2008" (OEM only, but you can find it) update to Vista Media Center and of course in Windows 7.


Back on topic ... find a file, I believe it's called "atscchannels.xml" and take a look inside that. You should be able to make manual modifications for just the 30.6-30.10 entries to point them to RF 30.


Question .. how do you tune 30.10 in MCE 2005? I thought it was limited to 9 channels (1301-1309)? Just curious, it's been a while for me, I use that "TV Pack" version of Media Center which has proper subchannel support (and depending on who you ask, lots of bugs)


----------



## djp952

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* 
If you can see WUSA-DT, I'd like that one. And WNVC-DT 24. But only if they have those Mobile DTV streams (0x1eee or 0x1ff9). Other than those, I'm good at the moment.


Thanks.










- Trip
Holy carp batman, I can actually see WUSA tonight ... on my stupid homemade Baltimore antenna! SWEET.


Both channels attached. Um, I didn't look if they had the streams or not - lol. I suppose it won't bring down AVS to just post anyway. I'm in WAY too good of a mood from catching WUSA with my crappy antenna (you should see it - it's PATHETIC. It was just a failed prototype!)

 

trip-0714.zip 5.4912109375k . file


----------



## Trip in VA

Thanks! No mobile streams yet, but I see where it's reserved. Looks like WNVC will be doing 2 groups for 1 M/H stream, while WUSA will have four groups for 2 M/H streams.


No guarantees on those numbers, I could be 100% wrong.


I'm off to bed now, catch everyone in the morning. Adios!


- Trip


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16820554
> 
> 
> WBAL is requesting an STA to operate at 26.6 kW.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Hope it works. With the exeception of WMAR, WBAL, and WJZ being on TV Hill, I still think given the fact that most of the Baltimore and DC towers are at low elevations fill in translators would better serve there needs.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dewster1977* /forum/post/16820669
> 
> 
> Hope it works. With the exeception of WMAR, WBAL, and WJZ being on TV Hill, I still think given the fact that most of the Baltimore and DC towers are at low elevations fill in translators would better serve there needs.



Can't speak for D.C., but the WMAR/WBAL/WJZ candelabra is actually lower in elevation than WBFF/WNUV and WUTB, and about the same as WMPB. You can actually see the elevation difference if you come up I-95, the WBFF/WNUV tower is notably taller.


I suppose transmitter elevation acceptability really depends on your location. A 500' tower would be great for everyone, but is probably quite impractical. In my case, I have line-of-sight to just about everything in D.C., but not a single Baltimore channel. This is ironic only because I live 2x farther away from D.C. than I do from Baltimore.


IMO, In this area translators are somewhat impractical because of how densely populated the frequency spectrum is already, and how close everything is together. For example, why would anyone bother with a WJLA translator north of D.C. when WMAR is available and WJLA can be acquired with a proper setup*? It's not that I disagree with you, I just think it's a somewhat impractical concept for our unique situation in Baltimore/Washington










* I still think the H-VHF channels are underpowered. Don't get me wrong on this! lol


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/16820888
> 
> 
> Can't speak for D.C., but the WMAR/WBAL/WJZ candelabra is actually lower in elevation than WBFF/WNUV and WUTB, and about the same as WMPB. You can actually see the elevation difference if you come up I-95, the WBFF/WNUV tower is notably taller.
> 
> 
> I suppose transmitter elevation acceptability really depends on your location. A 500' tower would be great for everyone, but is probably quite impractical. In my case, I have line-of-sight to just about everything in D.C., but not a single Baltimore channel. This is ironic only because I live 2x farther away from D.C. than I do from Baltimore.
> 
> 
> IMO, In this area translators are somewhat impractical because of how densely populated the frequency spectrum is already, and how close everything is together. For example, why would anyone bother with a WJLA translator north of D.C. when WMAR is available and WJLA can be acquired with a proper setup*? It's not that I disagree with you, I just think it's a somewhat impractical concept for our unique situation in Baltimore/Washington
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> * I still think the H-VHF channels are underpowered. Don't get me wrong on this! lol



I was thinking more to help the areas of Northern VA and Western Md


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16820554
> 
> 
> WBAL is requesting an STA to operate at 26.6 kW.
> 
> 
> - Trip



I wonder if the request is due to lost advertising revenue? I expected them to apply much sooner.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16821277
> 
> 
> I wonder if the request is due to lost advertising revenue? I expected them to apply much sooner.



Reading the paperwork, it sounds like they tried to find a UHF channel to move to and couldn't find one (45?).


This power boost fails the interference requirements, thus why it's under experimental authority.


- Trip


----------



## voltore




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16820577
> 
> 
> If you can see WUSA-DT, I'd like that one. And WNVC-DT 24. But only if they have those Mobile DTV streams (0x1eee or 0x1ff9). Other than those, I'm good at the moment.
> 
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> - Trip



You will see the streams in a couple of days or so.


----------



## BGAGG




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16811309
> 
> 
> Unfortunately, the Channel Master 2016 is not a very good VHF antenna. The 7694 is much better, even on UHF.
> 
> 
> I'm also thinking you would be better off without a pre-amp. It is likely doing more harm than good. If you must use a pre-amp, the Winegard HDP-269 is the only one worth considering. I would try a new higher quality antenna first.



Well I bypassed my Radio Shack amp and that was the problem. I am picking up all the UHF and VHF signals while pointing to Baltimore. I even get some DC channels coming in. Some are over 95% while 11 is around 60% so manageable. Should help with the increase signal gain submitted to the FCC. Thanks for everyone's help.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16821428
> 
> 
> Reading the paperwork, it sounds like they tried to find a UHF channel to move to and couldn't find one (45?).



Would WBAL be able to re-use WBFF's old analog antenna if they were granted UHF channel 45? I'm sure a new antenna would be quite expensive.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *BGAGG* /forum/post/16821921
> 
> 
> Well I bypassed my Radio Shack amp and that was the problem.



Good news!! I'm glad you tried removing the pre-amp before buying anything new!!


----------



## hsweiss




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16822008
> 
> 
> Would WBAL be able to re-use WBFF's old analog antenna if they were granted UHF channel 45? I'm sure a new antenna would be quite expensive.



Regardless it would have to be moved since they "live" on 2 different towers (side-by-side, but separate).


----------



## hsweiss




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16821428
> 
> 
> Reading the paperwork, it sounds like they tried to find a UHF channel to move to and couldn't find one (45?).
> 
> 
> This power boost fails the interference requirements, thus why it's under experimental authority.
> 
> 
> - Trip



I wonder why they can't go back to their pre-transition UHF channel assignment? Do you have a link to the FCC STA? I tried poking around on the FCC site but quickly got lost in the mess.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hsweiss* /forum/post/16822495
> 
> 
> I wonder why they can't go back to their pre-transition UHF channel assignment? Do you have a link to the FCC STA? I tried poking around on the FCC site but quickly got lost in the mess.



They were on channel 59 which is now history.


----------



## hsweiss




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16822567
> 
> 
> They were on channel 59 which is now history.



Oooh - I forgot they were living in "sold" frequency territory. I was thinking they were on 38 but that was WJZ and now WMAR.


----------



## StevenJB

I have a several questions. Is it correct that adjacent DTV channels on the same tower don't interfere with each other? If this is true then why doesn't the FCC authorize a single regional antenna for the entire Washington-Baltimore-Annapolis-Frederick-Hagerstown-Northern Virginia region? It could be centrally located and top out at 1,000 to 2,000 feet high. Every station could use adjacent UHF DTV channels. Aiming your antenna would be easy. Is this doable?


----------



## DulacLancelot




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/16820604
> 
> 
> MCE 2005 and the initial version that shipped with Vista were VERY sensitive to the PSIP data matching what it thinks it should be. For example, for the longest time up here I couldn't get WUTB, WHUT or WDCW on Media Center even though they would tune with other applications. (I didn't have anything like TSReader set up at that time, I don't know what the problem was).
> 
> 
> Microsoft seems to have completely fixed that with the "TV Pack 2008" (OEM only, but you can find it) update to Vista Media Center and of course in Windows 7.
> 
> 
> Back on topic ...



thanks for the response! i think this was on-topic, too, because i'm glad to know that the reason i preordered Windows 7 -- to make all my channel problems go away -- is valid.











> Quote:
> find a file, I believe it's called "atscchannels.xml" and take a look inside that. You should be able to make manual modifications for just the 30.6-30.10 entries to point them to RF 30.



yes, i've noticed that file, atscchannels.xml. and yes, i am able to make manual modifications to change those RF frequencies to 30, but it doesn't seem to work. i think what it was doing when i tried doing that was just detecting the RF change as an error and deleting the channels 30.6-30.9 (i didn't even try adding 30.10 just yet). but if you're convinced you had gotten it to work that way i'll try again more carefully.



> Quote:
> Question .. how do you tune 30.10 in MCE 2005? I thought it was limited to 9 channels (1301-1309)? Just curious, it's been a while for me, I use that "TV Pack" version of Media Center which has proper subchannel support (and depending on who you ask, lots of bugs)



yup, you are right that when adding channels through the GUI you can't get to the 2-digit subchannel 10, so i didn't push my luck in trying to add that into the atscchannels.xml file just yet. through the GUI, i was trying to add in the RF 30 channels at a new logical channel like 29 or 31 so the subchannels started at 1 again so i was not having the problem of reaching 10. i did trying adding subchannels up to 7 to see if 6 or 7 worked, but they didn't.


with the WatchHDTV.exe program, you manual add the logical and physical channel numbers, so i have WNVC as 24.1-24.5 and WNVT at 30.1-30.5. in the FusionHDTV application, however, which does auto channel scanning, both WNVC and WNVT show up as 30.1-30.5 but i guess somewhere internally the application is able to tell the WNVC 30-1 apart from the WNVT 30-1.


maybe i'll try that, change all the 30.1-30.5 RF numbers to 30 just to see if i can even see the RF 30 channels even though i just sacrificed the RF 24 ones.


----------



## systems2000

I changed out a dead television at my in-laws today and added the RCA DTA800B1 to the replacement Sylvania. They only have a VHF antenna at about 20' AGL.


When I reset the CECB and finished the channel scan, they had WJLA, WUSA, WBAL, WJZ, and WWPX. The system did register WHAG and WJAL, although both were unviewable. As soon as I get the new tower up and add the homemade vertical UHF antenna, they should get better. I think I'm going to have to get one of those old fringe VHF only antennas.


Not bad for just East of Mercersburg, PA.


----------



## Big J

Does anyone know if Comcast in Montgomery County moved the local channels today or last night. I just got home, and tried to put on the news, and all 3 networks are gone. OTA is fine (except WUSA). Cable channels are OK. I'm not using an STB, and its been fine for years.

I'm doing a rescan now, but am wondering where they are.

J


----------



## wmcbrine

I finally added a VHF/UHF combiner and some rabbit ears to my Silver Sensor, and now I get 13 reliably. 7, 9 and 11 are still bad. (11 is actually a bit worse than with just the Silver Sensor, which is odd.) I get 7 and 9 via Fios, so 11 is the only one I need. Hopefully the power boost will do it.


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/16823352
> 
> 
> I have a several questions. Is it correct that adjacent DTV channels on the same tower don't interfere with each other? If this is true then why doesn't the FCC authorize a single regional antenna for the entire Washington-Baltimore-Annapolis-Frederick-Hagerstown-Northern Virginia region? It could be centrally located and top out at 1,000 to 2,000 feet high. Every station could use adjacent UHF DTV channels. Aiming your antenna would be easy. Is this doable?



That would make to much sense to ever be done







. but would best serve everyone.


----------



## SiousBark

I do not get HD with my DirecTV MDU package so I just ordered a Terk HDTVa Indoor antenna to get the locals. I got a good direction to get a good amount and according to that antenna site, I am within 5-6 miles of all of them.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/16823352
> 
> 
> I have a several questions. Is it correct that adjacent DTV channels on the same tower don't interfere with each other? If this is true then why doesn't the FCC authorize a single regional antenna for the entire Washington-Baltimore-Annapolis-Frederick-Hagerstown-Northern Virginia region? It could be centrally located and top out at 1,000 to 2,000 feet high. Every station could use adjacent UHF DTV channels. Aiming your antenna would be easy. Is this doable?



No such tower exists or will be built. The network affiliates would throw fits. Fringe viewers would likely be left in the cold. Endless complaints would emerge about the tower from local residents.


It's completely doable from an engineering standpoint--most things are. From a political standpoint, it will never happen.


- Trip


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16826294
> 
> 
> No such tower exists or will be built. The network affiliates would throw fits. Fringe viewers would likely be left in the cold. Endless complaints would emerge about the tower from local residents.
> 
> 
> It's completely doable from an engineering standpoint--most things are. From a political standpoint, it will never happen.



It basically happened here in Madison. Keep in mind that at the time of the new tower construction, channel 57 was in Janesville.


Because the land that the University of Wisconsin owned was being sold, the TV tower that was on the land had to move. There were 5 separate TV towers in this town.


So, since the UW had to move, there was a notion placed out there of building a community tower. I do not have all of the details that evolved to ultimately allow the tower to be built.


As I understand it, it wasn't because of political reasons that kept the NBC affiliate from joining all of the other stations on the tower. It was purely financial. The station, WMTV and its owners, didn't want to give up the income from space rented out on their tower.


The 1200' three pointed tower was built in an area that already had the Fox47 tower and no where near residents. So there was no problem with getting it built.


As you know, channel 57 moved to Madison. But, because the community tower is already at 110% capacity, they weren't going to move there. ACME reached a deal with the owners of WMTV to replace their old tower with a new 1200' two-pointed tower (construction photos on my web site). I was told that management at WMTV didn't want to do it. ACME has a 100 year lease on the land and own's the tower. But, all income from tower space goes to WMTV's owners.


So, we've managed to move six stations to two towers. With the shutdown of analog channels, in theory, all stations could be on a single tower. With the 2nd tower being so new, it ain't gonna happen.


Never say never. That said, the odds of it happening in that area are indeed slim-to-none.


----------



## klothga

Anyone else notice some odd artifacts on WMPB-DT2? I'm seeing some weird shimmer/banding on grey mid tones, and odd vertical stripes on the far right. I've seen the stripes before, but not the shimmer. It is hard to show on a static image, but I've attached a few examples.


These are from the 7/14 8PM showing of Antiques Roadshow.


Thanks!

R C


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mrvideo* /forum/post/16826628
> 
> 
> Never say never. That said, the odds of it happening in that area are indeed slim-to-none.



The odds of DC and Baltimore merging, as was suggested, is zero. No super tower of both sets of stations (plus Hagerstown, etc) will arise.


A super tower for just Baltimore or just DC? Maybe. But for both? I don't see that happening, ever.


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *klothga* /forum/post/16826640
> 
> 
> Anyone else notice some odd artifacts on WMPB-DT2? Thanks!



Ever since they started using stretch-o-vision, I can't stand watching MPT. What are they smoking over there????????????


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16826294
> 
> 
> No such tower exists or will be built. The network affiliates would throw fits. Fringe viewers would likely be left in the cold. Endless complaints would emerge about the tower from local residents.
> 
> It's completely doable from an engineering standpoint--most things are. From a political standpoint, it will never happen. - Trip



I agree that it would never work politically. God forbid that people in the Washington area should watch the Baltimore network affiliates or vice versa. The republic would fail. I may be wrong and would like a correction if I so am but I think that this is the only region in the country with two full sets of network affiliates including Fox, NBC, ABC, CBS, CW, and My. Certainly, there is no other region with two full sets of affiliates barely 35 miles apart.


When Cable TV first started in Montgomery County more than 20 years ago, all Baltimore and Washington OTA locals were available. People began to take their antennas down. You didn't need one. All of the regional OTA locals were on the cable. Then one by one, each Baltimore local was removed from the channel lineup. It was like a large high fence was being constructed at the Patuxent River. We weren't supposed to watch Baltimore anymore. Fortunately for me, I never removed my antenna. I would wager that I am only one of a very very few who can watch Baltimore OTA DTV in my neighborhood. The channels are less than 25 miles away and yet they might as well be in California as far as the cable and small dish people are concerned. People in Montgomery County work in Baltimore. People in Baltimore work in downtown Washington or Rockville. Yet, we are not supposed to watch each others channels. Pretty damn stupid if you ask me. I thought that the FCC was supposed to do something about the must carry provisions here and the special circumstances that exist for the two metroplexes but I guess not.


Technically, it would be a dream come true. Fringe viewers would be left in the cold? Well, aren't they anyway? Build this super tower somewhere near Laurel, MD and build it very high; at least 1,500 to 2,000 feet high or more. It could deliver every channel up to 100 miles out. Build local repeaters in the fringe areas. You could eliminate duplicate services such as WWPX, WFPT, and WMPB. I just freed up at least three channels, didn't I? Does the world come to an end if someone watches 4, 5, 7, 9, 20, and 50 instead of 11, 45, 2, 13, 24, and 54, or vice versa? Let's face it, the technical problems now being encountered with DTV especially on VHF make this idea even more compelling.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16826653
> 
> 
> The odds of DC and Baltimore merging, as was suggested, is zero. No super tower of both sets of stations (plus Hagerstown, etc) will arise. A super tower for just Baltimore or just DC? Maybe. But for both? I don't see that happening, ever. - Trip



Two separate super towers, one each in Baltimore and Washington would be stupid beyond all belief. No offense is intended to you, Trip, but if Baltimore ever puts up such a tower than Washington would reply in kind.


Baltimore doesn't want its area population to watch Washington channels and vice versa. If Baltimore puts up a super tower making it easy for Washingtonians to watch Baltimore OTA then Washington affiliates would not stand idly by watching their viewers being syphoned off to Baltimore affiliates. They would build their own super tower and steal Baltimore viewers, wouldn't they?


The sane answer is regional cooperation. One tower serves all.


----------



## djp952

Whoa. Was there a power increase on WNVT or is that mystical "E" especially good tonight? I'm getting 30 with a 80-90 signal strength here (Elkridge, Howard, MD) from an attic antenna. Anyone else seeing 30 that couldn't before?


I really hope this is a power increase and the results are permanent. 30 was the only remaining UHF D.C. channel I wasn't getting ... and making me seriously consider actually climbing up on my ladder and doing this properly - lol.


edit: nuts, it's probably tropo. I can actually get 7 on my *UHF* D.C. antenna tonight (the VHF antenna is still MIA) too. Wow, WJLA .. long time no see! WUSA last night, WJLA tonight ... good week!
 

 

wnvt.htm.txt 21.5029296875k . file


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/16826983
> 
> 
> Two separate super towers, one each in Baltimore and Washington would be stupid beyond all belief. No offense is intended to you, Trip, but if Baltimore ever puts up such a tower than Washington would reply in kind.



None taken. I know it's something that won't happen. Just as a single tower covering both cities with all affiliates won't happen.


It suddenly occurred to me that there are spacing issues with Philly, Harrisburg, and Richmond that would prevent a number of stations in the region from using such a "super tower" if such a thing was to happen, so even on an engineering side, it's not really sensible to do so.


- Trip


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/16827007
> 
> 
> Whoa. Was there a power increase on WNVT or is that mystical "E" especially good tonight? I'm getting 30 with a 80-90 signal strength here (Elkridge, Howard, MD) from an attic antenna. Anyone else seeing 30 that couldn't before?



My normal peak signal for WNVT-DT RF30 (30.6 through 30.10) is about a 90-94 on my Dishnetwork VIP-722 meter when I aim my antenna towards a 200 degree azimuth. It is now easily 100 plus. I usually aim my antenna towards a 70 degree azimuth in order to get all channels at once. At 70 degrees azimuth, WNVT is normally about 60 to 64 which just locks it in. It now reads 73 or 74. That's quite a difference. All the other channels have their usual normal readings which leads me to believe that WNVT has changed something for the better.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

Trip,


This is the first time I have seen this channel. Usually Charlottesville is present on 503 MHz during SW tropo.


WCWG is out of the Greensboro/Winston Salem, NC DMA.


Steve

 

wcwg.zip 1.9375k . file


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

Trip,


Here's WUND (UNC) on RF-20 out of Elizabeth City, NC.


Steve

 

unc20.zip 1.9951171875k . file


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/16827350
> 
> 
> Trip,
> 
> 
> Here's WUND (UNC) on RF-20 out of Elizabeth City, NC.
> 
> 
> Steve



Thanks! I had been just about to e-mail my contact in Hampton Roads for a new capture of WUND, but I guess I don't have to now.










- Trip


----------



## hsweiss




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/16826983
> 
> 
> Two separate super towers, one each in Baltimore and Washington would be stupid beyond all belief. No offense is intended to you, Trip, but if Baltimore ever puts up such a tower than Washington would reply in kind.
> 
> 
> Baltimore doesn't want its area population to watch Washington channels and vice versa. If Baltimore puts up a super tower making it easy for Washingtonians to watch Baltimore OTA then Washington affiliates would not stand idly by watching their viewers being syphoned off to Baltimore affiliates. They would build their own super tower and steal Baltimore viewers, wouldn't they?
> 
> 
> The sane answer is regional cooperation. One tower serves all.



In reality, the WMAR-WBAL-WJZ TV Hill tower *is* the Baltimore "super tower." It was built in 1959 as a cooperative project between Baltimore's 3 TV stations. WBFF and WNUV, both owned by Sinclair, have an adjacent tower on TV Hill.


From Wikipedia:


In 1959, WJZ-TV built the world's first three-antenna candelabra tower, shared with WMAR-TV and WBAL-TV. The 730-foot (220 m) tower significantly improved the station's coverage in central Maryland, and also added new viewers in Pennsylvania and Delaware. It still operates from this 730-foot (220 m) tower today, which can be seen from Interstate 83 in Baltimore.


----------



## RaginBajin

I'm just surprised that many of these stations don't have repeaters everywhere to boost the signal a bit more for those fringe people.


----------



## machpost

Speaking of super towers, wasn't the big tower project up in Tenleytown supposed to consolidate most, if not all of the D.C.-area signals before it was aborted?


----------



## PaulGo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/16824309
> 
> 
> Does anyone know if Comcast in Montgomery County moved the local channels today or last night. I just got home, and tried to put on the news, and all 3 networks are gone. OTA is fine (except WUSA). Cable channels are OK. I'm not using an STB, and its been fine for years.
> 
> I'm doing a rescan now, but am wondering where they are.
> 
> J



I had to do a rescan to get the channels back. They seem to have moved several channels around. They now seem to have all the analog channles and some that were removed from analog now available in unscrambled digital,


----------



## tunamike

I have been playing with some different pre amps etc I really thought I had overlaod issues but maybe its just as everyone is saying it just weak signals help me understand please. I am back to the cm7777 with 1713 and xg91. I can get 13 all times 11 85% of the time 7 almost always 9 about 65 % 45 100%+ 24 WUTB 100% CHANNEL 5 ABOUT 50 % AND 2 AND 4 LIKE 25-30% of the time. This makes no sense why 45 ,24,&54 is fantastic and channel 2 from same location and UHF signal is margianal. And same from DC channels 4 and 5 marginal and 20 & whatever 24 2.3.4 WNUV are coming from are almost 100%. I even get channel 3(49.1-3) from Harrisonburg VA 90% of time good signal. So I must think my uhf system is up to par its just driving me crazy why I can't seem to get 2 and 4. my zip is 17225 with 55 foot tower AGL and 690 feet above ASL


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PaulGo* /forum/post/16828828
> 
> 
> I had to do a rescan to get the channels back. They seem to have moved several channels around. They now seem to have all the analog channles and some that were removed from analog now available in unscrambled digital,



Well, WRC and WUSA eventually came back in the same place (108.1 and 108.29 respectively). I'm wondering if they just had some technical issues. Yes, they seem to have all of the analog channels digitized now. They've done this before, and stopped it after a while. I'm also getting some random On-Demand leakage again that they stopped about a year ago. We'll see how long it lasts.

J


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tunamike* /forum/post/16829956
> 
> 
> I have been playing with some different pre amps etc I really thought I had overlaod issues but maybe its just as everyone is saying it just weak signals help me understand please.



What other pre-amps did you try? Your issue with not getting WMAR-2 (RF 38) is probably because of WJAL-39 (RF 39).


----------



## tunamike

i have tried cm 0068 with cm0549 combiner also some high dollar pre amp from England with the same combiner, also tried winegard ap2870 at top of tower and 20 feet down the tower and then back to the cm 7777 20 feet down the tower seems be the most stable


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/16827128
> 
> 
> My normal peak signal for WNVT-DT RF30 (30.6 through 30.10) is about a 90-94 on my Dishnetwork VIP-722 meter when I aim my antenna towards a 200 degree azimuth. It is now easily 100 plus. I usually aim my antenna towards a 70 degree azimuth in order to get all channels at once. At 70 degrees azimuth, WNVT is normally about 60 to 64 which just locks it in. It now reads 73 or 74. That's quite a difference. All the other channels have their usual normal readings which leads me to believe that WNVT has changed something for the better.



Well, whatever it was, it's gone now







Can't even lock onto 30 anymore. It was down to about 75% signal for me before work this morning, so it was probably environmental. If anyone knows different, like they were actually testing something, please let me know. I'd like to get 30, but it's not a big enough deal to change everything I have around just for that


----------



## Trip in VA

So, I hear that WDCA has lit up Mobile DTV. That makes three. Anything from WNVC, WUSA, WHUT, or WNUV?


- Trip


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16834136
> 
> 
> So, I hear that WDCA has lit up Mobile DTV. That makes three. Anything from WNVC, WUSA, WHUT, or WNUV?
> 
> 
> - Trip



Check WNUV next week - I think there will be something there next Wednesday.


.


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/16826983
> 
> 
> Two separate super towers, one each in Baltimore and Washington would be stupid beyond all belief. No offense is intended to you, Trip, but if Baltimore ever puts up such a tower than Washington would reply in kind.
> 
> 
> Baltimore doesn't want its area population to watch Washington channels and vice versa. If Baltimore puts up a super tower making it easy for Washingtonians to watch Baltimore OTA then Washington affiliates would not stand idly by watching their viewers being syphoned off to Baltimore affiliates. They would build their own super tower and steal Baltimore viewers, wouldn't they?
> 
> 
> The sane answer is regional cooperation. One tower serves all.



"Washington" and "Baltimore" have nothing to do with this. "Washington" and "Baltimore" do not put up towers. Commercial firms (could be broadcasters, could be others) build towers to host antennas (or, for AM, RF) designed to provide signal over a specified area. The specifications derive from proscribed limits for the class and location of the station and from limits imposed to provide a minimum service to an community and avoid interfering with already-licensed services. Tower location and size are further limited by local zoning.


Given the above, the ultimate location of a broadcast site is a business decision of the broadcaster. Broadcasters _broadcast_. They _want_ to maximize their audience. If a DC DTV station could make a business case for locating its antenna near Laurel, it would do it. WPXW's moving their transmitter site to NW DC (by buying WUSA's interim DTV facility) from southern Fairfax County is a classic example.


There are several valid technical reasons why a single transmission site for Washington and Baltimore would not work. First, DC stations would lose coverage of the south and Baltimore stations would lose coverage to the north. Second, many of the channel allocations would not work, despite the move being on the order of 20 miles. The spectrum is pretty full, so moving more than 10 channels around would affect many, many others.


From the business end, why would the broadcast networks and program syndicators want to deal with two stations with exactly the same service area? If the DC and Baltimore stations came from the same location, then we would end up with half as many stations.


Sorry to ramble on a bit off-topic, but I tire of the ill-informed conspiracy posts. The restricting of channels on cable is different. That's due to the regulatory framework to make the syndication market and local advertising in network shows work.


----------



## fmw63

Any news as to what's going to be on WBAL's 11.3 & 11.4?


----------



## fmw63

Has anybody heard any audio on 47.2 yet? I get nothing.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmw63* /forum/post/16835623
> 
> 
> Has anybody heard any audio on 47.2 yet? I get nothing.



It's very intermittent. I'll check it when I get home.


----------



## systems2000

tunamike,


Greencastle, PA is considered "Deep-Fringe" for D.C. and Baltimore. The FCC even removed Franklin County, PA from the D.C. DMA a couple of years back and attached it to the Harrisburg/Lancaster/York DMA.


If you rotate your antenna to around 322-330°, you'll find you should get WTAJ very well. WRC and WDCA are going to be very hard to acquire, due to adjacent and co-channel interference.


You're close to WHAG and WWPB and may find that you'll experience some signal overload.


----------



## tunamike

i do understand that but why some and not others and if it is truely overload or co channel interference would a dual attentuator i think its by winegard help about 10 days ago channel 68 RF12 was of the air for few hours mid day saturday afternoon a OMG i got everything from 3 in harrisonburg to 45 in baltomore and all the dc etc stations between with the antenenna aiming like 130degree halfway between baltimore and DC. short time they were gone and sure enough checked and 68 was on the air again.Can the vhf antenna be cut triommed etc to make channel 12 weaker etc and anything to the uhf side just digging for straws I guess. I am very compettitive and saw someone in this area seems to be getting all the signals and you know if he can I have to be better(heeeeheee). I think I have about as good of setup as one can do within reason in a small community. Just frustrated maybe a couple of power increases will help they appear to becoming and 13 and 7 are almost 100% so maybe 11,9 on VHF and 2 and 4 on UHF with a little power ill be there. Just a question are you getting much from Harrisburg besides 43,15 and 27 and any other stations beside 10 to the west.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmw63* /forum/post/16835616
> 
> 
> Any news as to what's going to be on WBAL's 11.3 & 11.4?



What makes you think there are an 11.3 and 11.4 coming? (Serious, not facetious question).


edit: 11.1 and 11.2 are programs 3 and 4, but that's different.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tunamike* /forum/post/16836227
> 
> 
> i do understand that but why some and not others and if it is truely overload or co channel interference would a dual attentuator i think its by winegard help about 10 days ago channel 68 RF12 was of the air for few hours mid day saturday afternoon a OMG i got everything from 3 in harrisonburg to 45 in baltomore and all the dc etc stations between with the antenenna aiming like 130degree halfway between baltimore and DC. short time they were gone and sure enough checked and 68 was on the air again.Can the vhf antenna be cut triommed etc to make channel 12 weaker etc and anything to the uhf side just digging for straws I guess. I am very compettitive and saw someone in this area seems to be getting all the signals and you know if he can I have to be better(heeeeheee). I think I have about as good of setup as one can do within reason in a small community. Just frustrated maybe a couple of power increases will help they appear to becoming and 13 and 7 are almost 100% so maybe 11,9 on VHF and 2 and 4 on UHF with a little power ill be there. Just a question are you getting much from Harrisburg besides 43,15 and 27 and any other stations beside 10 to the west.



WJAL 68 is on RF 39 and WWPX 60 is on RF 12. Baltimore and D.C. are 2-edge reception for the valley, while WJAL, WHAG, WWPB, WVPY, WWPX, W08EE-D, and soon to be W38AN and WDCW-LD are all LOS.


WWPB is transmitting at 1000KW, WHAG is transmitting at 575KW, and WJAL is transmitting at 105KW.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/16834352
> 
> 
> Check WNUV next week - I think there will be something there next Wednesday.
> 
> 
> .



How about the EPG for WNUV? It seems to say "DTV Program" from now till the end of time.


----------



## wmcbrine

I was seeing breakup on WUSA via Fios during the 5pm news, including "skipping" (like a record -- the same segment repeating a second later). This was with my TiVo Series 3. Did anyone else see this?


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tunamike* /forum/post/16836227
> 
> 
> i do understand that but why some and not others and if it is truely overload or co channel interference would a dual attentuator i think its by winegard help about 10 days ago channel 68 RF12 was of the air for few hours mid day saturday afternoon a OMG i got everything from 3 in harrisonburg to 45 in baltomore and all the dc etc stations between with the antenenna aiming like 130degree halfway between baltimore and DC. short time they were gone and sure enough checked and 68 was on the air again.Can the vhf antenna be cut triommed etc to make channel 12 weaker etc and anything to the uhf side just digging for straws I guess. I am very compettitive and saw someone in this area seems to be getting all the signals and you know if he can I have to be better(heeeeheee). I think I have about as good of setup as one can do within reason in a small community. Just frustrated maybe a couple of power increases will help they appear to becoming and 13 and 7 are almost 100% so maybe 11,9 on VHF and 2 and 4 on UHF with a little power ill be there. Just a question are you getting much from Harrisburg besides 43,15 and 27 and any other stations beside 10 to the west.



Currently, my solid stations are WTAJ 10, WLYH 15, WDCA 20, WUTB 24, WNPB 24, WHAG 25, WWPB 31, WVPY 42, WPMT 43, WGCB 49, WWPX 60, WPXW 66, and WJAL 68.


WJLA 7 and WBFF 45 are currently coming and going. I used to get WMAR 2, WTTG 5, WUSA 9, WJZ 13, WNUV 54, and WMPB 67. I've never been able to get WGAL 8, WHP 21, WHTM 27, or WDCW 50.


The ones who get solid reception for WJLA 7, WUSA 9, WBAL 11, and WJZ 13 are located on the West side of the valley and probably getting some signal boost from the reflections off the Tuscarora ridgeline.


I'm using a Channel Master CM3020 (mounted 50' AGL) and a Channel Master Spartan 3 DSB0064 pre-amp. Everytime I add height to my setup, the system becomes more stable and my received station list changes. I'm going for 60'+ for the top most antenna and I'm building channel cut antennas now (ie. RF23, RF32/33, RF47). I'm also communicating with a company (that supplies channel traps for cable companies) to acquire RF26 and RF 44 traps to use with a couple of jointennas.


----------



## fmw63




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/16837214
> 
> 
> What makes you think there are an 11.3 and 11.4 coming? (Serious, not facetious question).
> 
> 
> edit: 11.1 and 11.2 are programs 3 and 4, but that's different.



Because they show up there with a "no signal".


----------



## scootdog




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16837485
> 
> 
> and soon to be W38AN and WDCW-LD are all LOS.



"soon to be"? Do you know more specifically when that will be? I sent an email back in June to WDCW and they said that they would not be broadcasting from the Blue Ridge Summit tower anytime this year.


----------



## systems2000

I talked to Nick and he told me that it's on their agenda to get the transmitter back online. It's all dependent upon finance allocation from corporate. I inquired about WDCW turning the analog transmitter back ON and there wasn't a solid answer on that. I didn't think about asking Nick if he could use a CM7000 to receive the WDCW transmission and then feed it to the W51CY transmitter.


Since I've found that I can receive a bounced WLYH (90° off axis), I have not spent anymore time on the subject.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmw63* /forum/post/16835623
> 
> 
> Has anybody heard any audio on 47.2 yet? I get nothing.



No audio for me either since their first day on the air several weeks ago. It was intermittent during the first day as I remember. What puzzles me is what is the engineer on duty doing there? Sleeping?


Anybody getting WDCN-LP on Channel 6 analog? It's a Latino music station which transmits from Arlington. You can also hear the audio on your FM radio at 87.75 MHz, the audio frequency for Channel 6.


Try tuning in low VHF analog channels 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 during the evening. These channels are almost totally free of DTV interference around here. Canadian and Latino channels are showing up here especially during the summer months.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin* /forum/post/16834367
> 
> 
> Sorry to ramble on a bit off-topic, but I tire of the ill-informed conspiracy posts.



Sorry, but not only do I appear to be ill-informed. I actually am. As far as conspiracies go, last year I was paranoid. This year I am positive that everyone is out to get me!


----------



## Dave Loudin

From the southern side (King George, VA) this morning: tropo ducting is at work, as WHRO and WAVY from the Hampton Roads area and WMAR are nice and stable. In the meantime, WJLA and WDCW are gone and WUSA and WETA are sketchy. WVPT popped up above noise long enough to be added. Gotta love summer mornings.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/16839424
> 
> 
> No audio for me either since their first day on the air several weeks ago. It was intermittent during the first day as I remember. What puzzles me is what is the engineer on duty doing there? Sleeping?



This doesn't surprise me. It took over 6 months for them to fix their PSIP encoder.




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/16839424
> 
> 
> Anybody getting WDCN-LP on Channel 6 analog? It's a Latino music station which transmits from Arlington. You can also hear the audio on your FM radio at 87.75 MHz, the audio frequency for Channel 6.



Yes, they are still broadcasting in stereo from the WETA-FM tower in Arlington.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin* /forum/post/16839606
> 
> 
> From the southern side (King George, VA) this morning: tropo ducting is at work, as WHRO and WAVY from the Hampton Roads area and WMAR are nice and stable.



Nice tropo here too. Impressive HD news set on WAVY-10. Most field shots are in HD.


----------



## mdviewer25

A few things occurred to me this morning:

1.) There's really only two free UHF channels that can be used here, 43 & 44. Everything else in this region is used by either digital or low power analog.

2.) WBAL could probably relocate to 44 unless there's some channel in PA I'm not sure.

3.) I need WMDO to vacate analog 47 and increase power on 8. I get WBOC consistently and sometimes as high as 80% but it only sporadically goes to 10% on digital 47 (WMDT)

4.) 7 seems to be the weaker of the two digital VHF signals. I can get 9 & 13 but I have to move my antenna to get 7 and it is nonexistent on my kitchen TV. Luckily 2 is my strongest Baltimore channel.


----------



## MrHifi

I am in Davidsonville, MD and I have a medium range VHF/UHF Winegard with an amplifier skewed towards UHF. Since the switchover, my reception has improved dramatically.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/16837534
> 
> 
> How about the EPG for WNUV? It seems to say "DTV Program" from now till the end of time.



How are you watching the signal? I'm looking at it OTA in my office and it says "The Steve Wilcos Show", etc., currently.


Thanks for the input -


I just checked it OTA with my Streamscope, and there is good program guide info through 11 AM on Sunday on WNUV, WBFF and 45.2 ThisTV.

.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/16826983
> 
> 
> Baltimore doesn't want its area population to watch Washington channels and vice versa. If Baltimore puts up a super tower making it easy for Washingtonians to watch Baltimore OTA then Washington affiliates would not stand idly by watching their viewers being syphoned off to Baltimore affiliates.



In the unusual circumstance where a Washingtonian could not receive local affiliates but could receive these Baltimore affiliates, they might add viewers. But why would they siphon viewers?


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/16840111
> 
> 
> 2.) WBAL could probably relocate to 44 unless there's some channel in PA I'm not sure.



Not possible, because WWPB (MPT 31) Hagerstown, MD has that channel and is putting out at 1000KW.

*Regional Stations around Baltimore (125KM radius):* http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?state...lon2=45&size=9


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16841425
> 
> 
> Not possible, because WWPB (MPT 31) Hagerstown, MD has that channel and is putting out at 1000KW.



How come they can't go back to 31? I don't see too many interference issues with that channel unless 30 from Red Lion is a problem.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/16840111
> 
> 
> A few things occurred to me this morning:
> 
> 1.) There's really only two free UHF channels that can be used here, 43 & 44. Everything else in this region is used by either digital or low power analog.



WIAV-LP has applied to go digital on 44 I think. 43 likely would suffer interference issues from WMPT.



> Quote:
> 2.) WBAL could probably relocate to 44 unless there's some channel in PA I'm not sure.



WDPB and WWPB block 44. I didn't see anything amazingly wrong with 45, though I don't have the ability to run interference studies to know what problems it could face...



> Quote:
> 3.) I need WMDO to vacate analog 47 and increase power on 8. I get WBOC consistently and sometimes as high as 80% but it only sporadically goes to 10% on digital 47 (WMDT)



The most increase you'll get out of WMDO-LD is about 1 dB or so, probably not nearly enough.



> Quote:
> 4.) 7 seems to be the weaker of the two digital VHF signals. I can get 9 & 13 but I have to move my antenna to get 7 and it is nonexistent on my kitchen TV. Luckily 2 is my strongest Baltimore channel.



That's interesting, considering 7 has more than double the power 9 has.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/16841823
> 
> 
> How come they can't go back to 31? I don't see too many interference issues with that channel unless 30 from Red Lion is a problem.



They don't want to spend the money on new gear to go digital on 31, plus stations who gave up their pre-transition channels ran the risk of having to reduce coverage.


Further, there are interference issues with WTAJ, WGCB, and WNVT that would need to be hammered out.


- Trip


----------



## mdviewer25

Thanks for the info Trip. I'm just frustrated that I have to keep adjusting my antenna for 7. I wish there was a spot where all three (7, 9, & 13) all came in. When is WBAL going to increase their power and could UHF 51 be an option for them to use?


----------



## Trip in VA

51 is adjacent to 50 in DC, which would cause interference issues.


Plus, WETA and WWPX have already applied for 51 and no movement has occurred on that front, so I doubt WBAL wants to get buried in that mess.


I don't know when WBAL will increase power, just that it's been applied for.


- Trip


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16842264
> 
> 
> 51 is adjacent to 50 in DC, which would cause interference issues.....
> 
> 
> 
> - Trip



I don't remember any interference issues when WJZ was on 38 and WJLA was on 39. Aren't they far enough away where there wouldn't be any issues unlike WMPT and WUTB?


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/16841315
> 
> 
> How are you watching the signal? I'm looking at it OTA in my office and it says "The Steve Wilcos Show", etc., currently.
> 
> 
> Thanks for the input -
> 
> 
> I just checked it OTA with my Streamscope, and there is good program guide info through 11 AM on Sunday on WNUV, WBFF and 45.2 ThisTV.
> 
> .



Strange -- I could have sworn there was nothing there last night when I checked. I'll look again in a bit. I was using TSReader to look at the OTA signal. Thanks for checking into it.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/16842327
> 
> 
> I don't remember any interference issues when WJZ was on 38 and WJLA was on 39. Aren't they far enough away where there wouldn't be any issues unlike WMPT and WUTB?



The FCC squeezed stations in as best they could. I don't have any interference numbers for it (the technical exhibits are not posted online for applications that old), but I'm certain there were high interference numbers for that situation.


The "taboo zone" is 14-68 miles on adjacent channels.


- Trip


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16839698
> 
> 
> Nice tropo here too. Impressive HD news set on WAVY-10. Most field shots are in HD.



Same with WTKR/3 (UHF40)...


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/16842380
> 
> 
> Strange -- I could have sworn there was nothing there last night when I checked. I'll look again in a bit. I was using TSReader to look at the OTA signal. Thanks for checking into it.



Just let me know. I've seen weird stuff happen when there's a PSIP issue - things will work on some sets and not others, etc. If there's a problem, I'll delve into it further.


Cheers -


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/16842748
> 
> 
> Just let me know. I've seen weird stuff happen when there's a PSIP issue - things will work on some sets and not others, etc. If there's a problem, I'll delve into it further.
> 
> 
> Cheers -



Checked about 10 seconds ago and it looks fine today. *shrug*

http://kurly.net:666/tvsightings/200...90716-1809.htm shows what I saw yesterday.



To everyone, why would my digital tuner be occasionally reporting stuff on channel 60 and 64? TSReader is actually locking on channel 60 during a channel scan, but then getting constant sync errors. I was pretty sure we decommissioned those...?


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/16842327
> 
> 
> I don't remember any interference issues when WJZ was on 38 and WJLA was on 39. Aren't they far enough away where there wouldn't be any issues unlike WMPT and WUTB?



I do! WJZ was *very* unreliable for us just 10 miles out on 38. Constant drop-outs, especially during the 'fade' period in the late afternoon.


WMAR using the same equipment on 38 has been perfect since 6/12. The only thing I can think of that would have made such a staggering difference was the loss of WJLA on 39 from the opposite direction. WNUV on 40 was always excellent, but admittedly it's also perfect now. I haven't seen a drop-out on either of those channels since 6/12, even during thunderstorms.


FWIW, I have no issues with WUTB, even with WMPT's power increase, and I'm directly South of WUTB on the wrong side of their polar plot (WMPT is SE of me and is our strongest channel by far). I expected WUTB to get wrecked, but thankfully it hasn't.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/16843309
> 
> 
> I do! WJZ was *very* unreliable for us just 10 miles out on 38. Constant drop-outs, especially during the 'fade' period in the late afternoon.
> 
> 
> WMAR using the same equipment on 38 has been perfect since 6/12. The only thing I can think of that would have made such a staggering difference was the loss of WJLA on 39 from the opposite direction. WNUV on 40 was always excellent, but admittedly it's also perfect now. I haven't seen a drop-out on either of those channels since 6/12, even during thunderstorms.
> 
> 
> FWIW, I have no issues with WUTB, even with WMPT's power increase, and I'm directly South of WUTB on the wrong side of their polar plot (WMPT is SE of me and is our strongest channel by far). I expected WUTB to get wrecked, but thankfully it hasn't.



Where in MD are you and are you using an indoor or outdoor antenna?


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/16843377
> 
> 
> Where in MD are you and are you using an indoor or outdoor antenna?



Elkridge, and both .. depending on what TV or device you happen to be watching in my house. lol. I have an old LPDA on the roof pointed at Baltimore that we don't use anymore at all, and an entire laboratory of stuff in the attic


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/16842327
> 
> 
> I don't remember any interference issues when WJZ was on 38 and WJLA was on 39. Aren't they far enough away where there wouldn't be any issues unlike WMPT and WUTB?



When the transition happened, WJAL 68 (RF 39) increased their power to 105KW. As for RF 51, W51CY already has a license for RF 51.


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hsweiss* /forum/post/16817244
> 
> 
> Have you compared the Insignia and Digital Stream boxes on capture ability? I read a review a long time ago that gave the nod to the Digital Stream box which is why I bought it.



Well, I just switched to using the 9950 on the set; and on it, I can see 22 [MPT] tonight. I didn't even get that in NTSC. [An old Sony did years ago...] It's shown as weak but IS solid.


I now recall that the 9950 has some downsides. First is, the audio levels channel to channel are all over the map. The Insignia was pretty stable, but on the 9950; 7-3 [RTN] is weak, and others are LOUD.... It's also not as smart re: Zoom, but then as I just said, the Insignia is seemingly getting dumber in that area.


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/16837649
> 
> 
> I was seeing breakup on WUSA via Fios during the 5pm news, including "skipping" (like a record -- the same segment repeating a second later). This was with my TiVo Series 3. Did anyone else see this?



Yes, it's been doing so for a couple of days now.


----------



## sat_uplinker

For 6 years I've had great reception up in Frederick, MD on ALL the DC DTV stations using a 15 element yagi and a UHF preamp. I lost CBS and ABC when they changed back to VHF. (I sent a nasty email to the GMs saying they changed a perfectly good and working system for VHF, something that no one had the opportunity to test.) Since then, I made a 3 element yagi antenna for 185 MHz (ch 9) and am able to get WJLA but still nothing (except the ocassional breakup) on CBS.


Is anyone having a problem getting USA? According to the FCC site, their ERP is a paltry 12Kw, compared to 36Kw on WJLA. WUSA's UHF ERP was 1000Kw and was always my most reliable channel.


Here's how they look-









WUSA is the higher frequency carrier. Just not good enough to get a picture. JLA is reliably now though, I'm surprised I can't get USA. Anyone else having a problem with them now?


----------



## Trip in VA

I can't tell how many dB is represented by each line.


I'm rather amused with the very, very weak signals from WMDO-LD 8 and WBAL-DT 11 that I see in that picture.


- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16845112
> 
> 
> I can't tell how many dB is represented by each line.



Probably 2dB per division. If WJLA is three times as strong as WUSA, then it will be about 5dB stronger, but we can't see that because it is clipped off the top of the display.



> Quote:
> I'm rather amused with the very, very weak signals from WMDO-LD 8 and WBAL-DT 11 that I see in that picture.



Not surprising that WMDO-8 is about 13 dB weaker than channel 9 or that WBAL-11 is similarly weak, especially considering that if the dipole is square to the Washington transmission azimuth, then channel 11 is hitting it at maybe a 60 degree angle.


As far as WMDO is concerned, there is no problem locking onto a healthy signal that is down over 20dB from an adjacent one. During the transition, I used to pass channels 38 - 40 through a single bandpass filter in the Washington, DC market, with channel 39 being well over 20 dB stronger than 38 and 40, yet had no trouble locking onto them. Of course, I only receive signals on top of highrise buildings, so my signals were probably 30 or more dB stronger than those shown on this spectrum analyzer.


One problem can be seen by comparing the signal strength to the noise floor. The spectrum to the left of the channel 7 trace represents the noise floor. I can't read the bandwidth resolution on the blurry screen, but if it were 6 MHz (which it isn't), then the difference in the display levels would be the signal to noise level. Fortunately (?) that resolution is surely less than 1 MHz, possibly 100 KHz. For us to visually determine the signal to noise ratio, we'd either have to know the filter bandwidth, or if that scope can be set to 6 MHz and if it can be switched to 10 dB per division, we could then read the S/N more directly. An S/N ratio of at least 16 dB is need at the tuner input from which to decode an 8VSB signal.


If the S/N ratio is adequate, then the channel 9 problem may be excessive multipath, as evidenced by the jaggedness of the channel 9 trace. I think sat_uplinker is going to have to use an antenna with a longer boom to try to flatten out his channel 9 trace. Can sat_uplinker get channel 11 if he squares the dipole to the Baltimore transmission asimuth?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *sat_uplinker* /forum/post/16845089
> 
> 
> JLA is reliably now though, I'm surprised I can't get USA. Anyone else having a problem with them now?



Short of trying a higher gain antenna, you may benefit from an FM trap depending on your exact location.


I helped a friend install a high gain channel 7-13 antenna last week. Even though the antenna is not designed for FM, a $3.00 trap improved the signal for WBAL-11 from nothing to 65% @ 50 miles out. We also noticed an improvement on WJZ-13.


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/16837649
> 
> 
> I was seeing breakup on WUSA via Fios during the 5pm news, including "skipping" (like a record -- the same segment repeating a second later). This was with my TiVo Series 3. Did anyone else see this?



I've noticed this as well on FiOS with WUSA. Is Verizon aware of it?


----------



## sat_uplinker

Yes, the scope is set to 2 db/div, I can't tell the span or resolution bandwidth from the photo. Its a 35-lb Agilent/HP scope from work that I lugged up into the attic. (and at $15,000, I did not want to drop it!) That picture is coming from a FM dipole that I cut to 32 inches, or half-wave for channel 8. I later made a 3 element beam using the elements I hacked off a giant old VHF antenna on the roof at work, however it had only a few more db gain than the dipole. The boom on that antenna is only 3'. I guess I will have to make a longer yagi with more elements. I was thinking of a 6' boom with .2 wavelength element spacing.

What would that FM trap do for me? These frequencies are above the FM broadcast band.


Here's the UHF side


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *sat_uplinker* /forum/post/16849281
> 
> 
> What would that FM trap do for me? These frequencies are above the FM broadcast band.



If you have relatively strong FM in the vicinity, it can hinder reception of weak DTV stations. This is true of not only high band VHF antennas, but also UHF only models in extreme cases. For instance, you can pretty much forget about getting WBAL-11 anywhere close to DC without a proper FM trap.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO

Looks like your spectrum analyzer plots are suffering from multipath or impedance mismatch. The tops of the DTV carriers should be relatively flat, but yours are pretty jagged. Mounting that antenna outside would probably help alot. That spectrum analyzer is 50 ohms, so were you using a 75 to 50 ohm balun? As I mentioned, the impedance mismatch could also be the cause of the jagged carriers on your analyzer.


----------



## ota.dt.man

*The the dividing line for rain/ice/snow frequently occurs in the Baltimore / Washington, DC metro area.*


We're planning to move our antenna from the attic to the roof due to the DTV transition. Our county recommends an installation that can withstand 1/2" of ice and worst case wind gusts of up to 90 MPH.


1. What antennas have the minimum sq ft wind surface area and still provide dropout-free DTV reception sufficient for at least 40-45 miles?


2. What current model antennas have stood the test of time (several winters) in our area?


3. How have vertically stacked separate VHF & UHF antennas held up? (We're hoping to install a 91XG + YA-1713.)


4. What other things do we need to consider for ice & wind gusts?
Mast length, diameter, & type?
Maximum mast height above last mounting bracket without guy wires?
Alignment bearing with rotor?
Anything else?

Thanks!


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ota.dt.man* /forum/post/16850573
> 
> *The the dividing line for rain/ice/snow frequently occurs in the Baltimore / Washington, DC metro area.*
> 
> 
> We're planning to move our antenna from the attic to the roof due to the DTV transition. Our county recommends an installation that can withstand 1/2" of ice and worst case wind gusts of up to 90 MPH.
> 
> 
> 1. What antennas have the minimum sq ft wind surface area and still provide dropout-free DTV reception sufficient for at least 40-45 miles?
> 
> 
> 2. What current model antennas have stood the test of time (several winters) in our area?
> 
> 
> 3. How have vertically stacked separate VHF & UHF antennas held up? (We're hoping to install a 91XG + YA-1713.)
> 
> 
> 4. What other things do we need to consider for ice & wind gusts?
> Mast length, diameter, & type?
> Maximum mast height above last mounting bracket without guy wires?
> Alignment bearing with rotor?
> Anything else?
> 
> Thanks!



I've used the good Channel Master UHF-VHF combination antennas for cable receive sites atop 3,000 foot mountains with 100 mph gusts and frozen fog ice. The ice and wind on the antenna isn't what kills the antenna, but more the falling ice chunks from higher up on a tower. Unless you have a icy tree nearby to blow ice against the antenna, you'll probably be fine.


If you're using a taller mast to give you 30' of the desired Above Ground elevation, I suggest using a 2" galv. schedule 80 pipe for a mast. Mounting to your home like a chimney mount is easiest. Just make sure you electrically ground the mast really well to a good known ground. If the ground is at all questionable, drive a 10' ground stake below and run a copper ground cable clamped to the mast above and the ground stake below.


----------



## TheKrell




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/16852485
> 
> 
> If the ground is at all questionable, drive a 10' ground stake below and run a copper ground cable clamped to the mast above and the ground stake below.



10'?


----------



## sat_uplinker

The engineer at WUSA said they are only at 12.6kw because of a ch9 in Bethlehem PA. So today I built a 96", 8 element (1 DE, 1 reflector, 6 directors) yagi using only junk from my basement. I used a 1x2 for the boom, a wooden paint stirrer as the support for the driven element, and the other elements were held right on the boom with coax wire clamps. Spacing is at .2 wavelength @ 185 MHz. The elements were the same as I used for the first beam, I just had more of them. The performance is good, I get a cleaner signal and WUSA is breakup-free. I also ordered a FM trap on ebay for $4 so Ill throw that in too.


----------



## ProjectSHO89

Nice home-brew antenna.


A suggestion: Locate your balun so the flat-leads run straight (not twisted) rearward, secure it so it doesn't move, and just run the coax straight off the rear of your 1 X 2 boom.


That twist in the balun flat wires can cause a measurable mismatch and can be eliminated by a simple dressing of the leads.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TheKrell* /forum/post/16853074
> 
> 
> 10'?



Yes, you need 8-10' of ground rod to get a proper ground capable of (hopefully) dissipating a couple million volts of lightning. To be even more careful, two bonded ground rods driven 10' apart is even better but not always practical as a dedicated antenna ground.


It's also good installation practice to have an in-line ground adaptor just prior to the coax entering your home.


I've seen the damage caused by lighting striking an outdoor antenna. Trust me, you don't want to cheap-out on having a safe installation. The choices boil down to this: Reliable, free OTA TV reception for years, or having your house burn down.


----------



## shelby68gt500

Back to tinkering with my CM4228, Y10-7-13 & CM7777 setup in my attic in another effort to reacquire WBAL and WJZ since the changeover. Attic is limited in maneuverability for the VHF due to rafters, but I've been moving it around and running tests to see if I should just give up. I've found that moving the VHF (never gets closer than about 3ft to the 4228) can drastically effect the reception of the 4228. Some locations (none that were in any way in front of the 4228) would cause me to lose every UHF station. I've found a good location that still gets me 2, 45 & 54 fairly solid out of Baltimore, but still nothing more than a blip on the signal meter for WJZ and WBAL, with 7 and 9 out of DC strong, but no 50. I do have the FM trap on the 7777 OFF as I wanted the FM reception for some receivers in my basement. Just how much of a bump should I expect if I switch that FM trap to ON? I'm assuming that will effectively negate any FM reception that I'm currently getting...


Thanks, Bob


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *shelby68gt500* /forum/post/16854596
> 
> 
> Just how much of a bump should I expect if I switch that FM trap to ON? I'm assuming that will effectively negate any FM reception that I'm currently getting...
> 
> 
> Thanks, Bob



You will pretty much lose all FM with the trap turned on. I would try it just for the heck of it to see if WJZ-13 will come in at all. Hopefully WBAL will raise their power soon so you may have better odds on getting them too.


The 1713 isn't really designed for FM, but it seems to be working well for you.


----------



## HDTV Sparky

I just have this picture of someone standing on top of a six foot ladder trying to drive a 10 ft. grounding rod in the ground. Get it in two feet, hit a rock, move it , try gain, hit a rock , pull it back out. I just can't see how that would work.

Obviously, must be a way to do it that I've never thought of.

I have two outside antennas on each end of the house, 25 ft mounting pipe along side of the house,@ ground level, one foot in the ground, other end mounted to the peak of the house. So far ...,so good, !


----------



## ota.dt.man

Hi Kelly,


Thanks for sharing your significant experience and recommendations.


HDTV Sparky raises a good question. Practically, how does an average homeowner drive an 8 to 10 ft ground rod into the ground?


Thanks


----------



## AbMagFab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ota.dt.man* /forum/post/16855389
> 
> 
> Hi Kelly,
> 
> 
> Thanks for sharing your significant experience and recommendations.
> 
> 
> HDTV Sparky raises a good question. Practically, how does an average homeowner drive an 8 to 10 ft ground rod into the ground?
> 
> 
> Thanks



Don't mostly people attach it to their water main? At least when you have a real copper main?


I have both, as I was lucky enough that the folks who installed my generator also installed a 10-foot ground rod. And I installed a 6 or 8 foot ground rod when I put in my satellite dish.


If you have a new-ish house, the backfill around the foundation, within about 4-6 feet of the house, is usually easy to drive a copper rod into.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ota.dt.man* /forum/post/16855389
> 
> 
> Hi Kelly,
> 
> 
> Thanks for sharing your significant experience and recommendations.
> 
> 
> HDTV Sparky raises a good question. Practically, how does an average homeowner drive an 8 to 10 ft ground rod into the ground?
> 
> 
> Thanks



As in other projects, the right tool really helps. Most electricians use an adaptor attached to a BIG roto-hammer. The adaptor is a tube end that slides over the end of the ground rod like one of those metal fence post drivers. All one does is crank up the roto-hammer and the weight of the hammer combined with the hammering action, drives a 10' ground rod a few minutes or less. Even if you hit a rock half way down, the rock usually breaks so no need to move the rod. I've rented the tools from the local rental house. One trick I learned was to sharpen the end of the rod with a grinder first, that way it goes through the soil and rock that much quicker.


I realize its kind of a pain to rent a special tool to do the job right, but in the end, standing back and looking at the job well done combined with the ability to sleep that much more soundly at night while the lightning flashes is well worth the time and investment.


----------



## ota.dt.man




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/16855426
> 
> 
> Don't mostly people attach it to their water main? At least when you have a real copper main?
> 
> 
> If you have a new-ish house, the backfill around the foundation, within about 4-6 feet of the house, is usually easy to drive a copper rod into.



We're on well water. The pipe from the well through the foundation is plastic. There is a completely buried ground rod for breaker box but it is at the other end of the house.


Per the National Electric Code (NEC), a separate ground rod is needed for the antenna. Additionally, the NEC requires copper wire connecting the antenna ground rod to the breaker box ground rod.


"4-6 feet of the house" sounds like a solution.


Thanks


----------



## ota.dt.man




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/16855497
> 
> 
> a BIG roto-hammer
> 
> One trick sharpen the end of the rod with a grinder first



Hi Kelly,


Excellent tips! There is no substitute for experience.

Thanks!


----------



## Cambio

I just received my Winegard YA 1713 and have a technical question. The bottom half of the cartridge housing box fits the top, but the "Y" shaped terminals do not line up with the aluminum leads in the top half. When they are snapped together, only the green circuitboard (for lack of a better description) in the bottom half presses against the aluminum leads in the top half. I other words, there is no metal to metal contact. Does this work through induction or something? I'm at a loss.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Cambio* /forum/post/16855774
> 
> 
> I just received my Winegard YA 1713 and have a technical question. The bottom half of the cartridge housing box fits the top, but the "Y" shaped terminals do not line up with the aluminum leads in the top half. When they are snapped together, only the green circuitboard (for lack of a better description) in the bottom half presses against the aluminum leads in the top half. I other words, there is no metal to metal contact. Does this work through induction or something? I'm at a loss.



More than likely not inductance but capacitance. If there aren't copper traces on the circuit board that mate up to the antenna feed, then it could be the printed circuit board thickness makes up a dielectric and capacitor.


----------



## southbalto

I got a winegard 7694 a few weeks ago. There should be metal leads on either end of the green circut board. Call or e-mail winegard to confirm but I think you may need to return it.


----------



## Cambio




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *southbalto* /forum/post/16856701
> 
> 
> I got a winegard 7694 a few weeks ago. There should be metal leads on either end of the green circut board. Call or e-mail winegard to confirm but I think you may need to return it.



After two hours of trying to get in touch with Winegard, they confirmed that they packaged the wrong cartridge housing. Makes me wonder how many other people will be receiving this antenna with the same problem.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Cambio* /forum/post/16857003
> 
> 
> After two hours of trying to get in touch with Winegard, they confirmed that they packaged the wrong cartridge housing. Makes me wonder how many other people will be receiving this antenna with the same problem.



Made in China!


----------



## Eben

I realize you guys are trying to optimize TV reception, but do you know of a good knowledge base regarding AM and FM radio reception. I've tried those Radio Shack things and they're no better (and sometimes worse) than the "speaker wire" antenna that came with my Onkyo. In my car I get quite a lot of the local FM and AM, but my home theater receiver gets only some of the area FM stations and nothing on AM.

TIA


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Eben* /forum/post/16857226
> 
> 
> I realize you guys are trying to optimize TV reception, but do you know of a good knowledge base regarding AM and FM radio reception. I've tried those Radio Shack things and they're no better (and sometimes worse) than the "speaker wire" antenna that came with my Onkyo. In my car I get quite a lot of the local FM and AM, but my home theater receiver gets only some of the area FM stations and nothing on AM.
> 
> TIA



Other than a separate RF loop antenna, there isn't a good combination antenna for both AM and FM. Besides that, your home stereo tuner will probably either have a 75 ohm FM antenna "F" connection and a spade or terminal connection for a 300 ohm AM antenna.


You may try the CCrane Company: http://www.ccrane.com They have a lot of AM and shortwave receivers and accessories including antennas.


----------



## euckersw




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *euckersw* /forum/post/16663887
> 
> 
> So for those of you who now receive both MPT and WETA is there any consensus as to which has better picture quality? I record The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer every night and I'm wondering if I should be recording the MPT version of the WETA version? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.



Any thoughts on this? I figure that MPT should have better picture quality as they only have 1 subchannel (vs. 3 subchannels for WETA), but I wanted to get some other people's opinions. Thanks.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *euckersw* /forum/post/16858115
> 
> 
> Any thoughts on this? I figure that MPT should have better picture quality as they only have 1 subchannel (vs. 3 subchannels for WETA), but I wanted to get some other people's opinions. Thanks.



My opinion is WMPT. They're 1080i and maintain a higher bitrate on the main channel than WETA does. However, WETA has looked a LOT better since they switched to 720p. (Oh, and WMPT has 2 subs, 22.2 and 22.3 V-Me)


It's all preference - why not record one night on WETA and the next on WMPT and see which one looks better to you?


----------



## euckersw




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/16858225
> 
> 
> My opinion is WMPT. They're 1080i and maintain a higher bitrate on the main channel than WETA does. However, WETA has looked a LOT better since they switched to 720p. (Oh, and WMPT has 2 subs, 22.2 and 22.3 V-Me)
> 
> 
> It's all preference - why not record one night on WETA and the next on WMPT and see which one looks better to you?



Oh, I though they only had 1 subchannel, as I believe we only get 1 on Cox. Anyway, good info. Thanks.


----------



## ProjectSHO89




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ota.dt.man* /forum/post/16855389
> 
> 
> Hi Kelly,
> 
> 
> Thanks for sharing your significant experience and recommendations.
> 
> 
> HDTV Sparky raises a good question. Practically, how does an average homeowner drive an 8 to 10 ft ground rod into the ground?
> 
> 
> Thanks



I use my big rotary drill set on the impact setting...


----------



## Jim Miller

your local truevalue hw store will happily rent you an impact drill which will make short work of the 8ft rod.


for effective lightning protection the coax should enter the house very near the service panel and be immediately grounded to the service ground located there.


jtm


----------



## djp952

I'm pleased to report that an Antennacraft Y5-7-13 installed in an attic and merely aimed somewhere towards D.C. is more than adequate for reception of both WJLA and WUSA from Elkridge (zip 21075). 98% signal strength on both, drop-out free after 30 minutes.


My signal _quality_ is a little low (75%), but I need to adjust the height, and aim it properly still. It's also running into a 7777, which is almost undoubtedly overkill. I know it's pointed about 5-10 degrees too far East, did it on purpose so I have to lug the laptop up there tomorrow and aim it properly










It's worth the $25 it cost. My only knock against it is that it doesn't come with a balun and you have to supply it. I used a Channel Master 0089, always had good luck with those.


I took detailed measurements of it, and modeled it in 4Nec2. While I admittedly do not have the NEC skills to account for the metal boom and the fact that the driven element is actually _electrically connected_ to the boom (???), the model showed that this is an *excellent* antenna for VHF 7-12, given the relatively small size. My model fell apart rapidly at VHF 13, though. So much so that I wouldn't recommend it for WJZ 13 more than maybe 30-35 miles out. Please take that with a grain of salt, I admittedly could not account for each and every property of this antenna in the model and it could be just as stellar at 13 as it is at 7.


Y5-7-13 for Washington ... *Highly Recommend*

Y5-7-13 for Baltimore ... Highly Recommend for WBAL, not so sure for WJZ at a distance


FWIW, I can get WJZ just fine with this antenna, even though it's pointed at D.C. But then again I can get WJZ with a monopole from my location. lol.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/16859631
> 
> 
> Y5-7-13 for Washington ... *Highly Recommend*
> 
> Y5-7-13 for Baltimore ... Highly Recommend for WBAL, not so sure for WJZ at a distance



The Y5-7-13 is a great antenna. It should work reliably for WJZ up to 50 miles out un-amplified; WBAL, about 30-35 miles. In most cases, I do no like to amplify VHF. It just isn't necessary unless in a deep fringe situation.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16859814
> 
> 
> The Y5-7-13 is a great antenna. It should work reliably for WJZ up to 50 miles out un-amplified; WBAL, about 30-35 miles. In most cases, I do no like to amplify VHF. It just isn't necessary unless in a deep fringe situation.



Good advice! I went digging in my "TV Stuff" box and found a nice CM VHF/UHF combiner, would you recommend attaching the Y5-7-13 after the 7777 on the downlead, or would you think that an attenuator between the Y5-7-13 and the 7777 would work better?


Of course I can try both ways easily enough, but honestly I've been debating recently as to the possible benefits of using a variable attenuator _before_ a big amp like the 7777. Am I right or very wrong in thinking that you can attenuate most of the noise/multipath the antenna is picking up and then amp it for a good clean signal through a 4-way split?


(I really need a Spectrum Analyzer)


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/16859888
> 
> 
> I went digging in my "TV Stuff" box and found a nice CM VHF/UHF combiner, would you recommend attaching the Y5-7-13 after the 7777 on the downlead . . . .



Yes, this is what I would do. Please let us know if this helps!!


----------



## systems2000

I believe all grounding is done within 5' of entering a structure per the NEC. I also believe the code calls for no less than a 9' ground rod. Any additional ground rods serving the structure "*MUST*" be interconnected (with ground strap or 6AWG solid copper) to prevent "Ground Potential" shock. *Do not put any sharp bends in the ground wire!*


I used to install "Star" grounds, which required nine 9' ground rods and a regular application of brine.

*Don't forget to ground your tower or mounting pole.*


I also use a cable ground block at the tower and the structure entrance.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16860864
> 
> 
> I believe all grounding is done within 5' of entering a structure per the NEC. I also believe the code calls for no less than a 9' ground rod. Any additional ground rods serving the structure "*MUST*" be interconnected (with ground strap or 6AWG solid copper) to prevent "Ground Potential" shock. *Do not put any sharp bends in the ground wire!*
> 
> 
> I used to install "Star" grounds, which required nine 9' ground rods and a regular application of brine.
> 
> *Don't forget to ground your tower or mounting pole.*
> 
> 
> I also use a cable ground block at the tower and the structure entrance.



You're correct. In fact, if I bothered to rent a BA rotohammer and ground rod driving tool, I'd go ahead and drive two 10' rods 10' apart then bond them together. With the red clay soil and lightning around these parts, I'd want to make sure the ground was pretty good. After all, ground rods are cheap! Okay the copper ground wire is a little pricey, but you'll only have to do it once.


----------



## afiggatt

WBAL 11's Special Temporary Authority application to test increased power at15.6 kW and 26.6 kW has been granted. WBAL applied for 2 alternate power levels to see how much interference they create with other stations. According to WBAL's filing, they have the equipment to increase to 26.6 kW, so the station should be able to increase power pretty quickly.


----------



## hsweiss




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16866432
> 
> 
> WBAL 11's Special Temporary Authority application to test increased power at15.6 kW and 26.6 kW has been granted. WBAL applied for 2 alternate power levels to see how much interference they create with other stations. According to WBAL's filing, they have the equipment to increase to 26.6 kW, so the station should be able to increase power pretty quickly.



Finally! Excellent news. I'm only 16 miles from TV Hill but WBAL has been exasperating. Some nights its great (despite a relatively low signal strength) and some nights (like last night) they are unwatchable. All the while, WJZ (with its added power) comes in like a champ. Now if only WNUV increases their power and maybe even their signal radius, life would be good (if one could think of old Seinfeld re-runs as a good life?)


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *euckersw* /forum/post/16858115
> 
> 
> Any thoughts on this? I figure that MPT should have better picture quality as they only have 1 subchannel (vs. 3 subchannels for WETA), but I wanted to get some other people's opinions. Thanks.



For HD, MPT is better. They are broadcasting at 1080i whereas WETA went down to 720p. Actually, I think MPT's SD channel is a bit better too.

J


----------



## shelby68gt500




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16866432
> 
> 
> WBAL 11's Special Temporary Authority application to test increased power at15.6 kW and 26.6 kW has been granted. WBAL applied for 2 alternate power levels to see how much interference they create with other stations. According to WBAL's filing, they have the equipment to increase to 26.6 kW, so the station should be able to increase power pretty quickly.



Just heard that WBAL won't start testing at these higher power levels until early August....


----------



## jjnv

Hi all,


I was trying to get my DVR(Sony DHG-HDD) working last night when I realized there was no signal. I had signal when I started playing with the settings of the DVR. This morning, I found out the whole house was out. I have over the roof HDTV antenna and a UHF/VHF pre-amp (in attic) set up by Fairfax Antenna. The wiring is super complicated. What could cause complete outage? Could it be the pre-amp?


Many thanks for your help,


Jane


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jjnv* /forum/post/16871553
> 
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> 
> I was trying to get my DVR(Sony DHG-HDD) working last night when I realized there was no signal. I had signal when I started playing with the settings of the DVR. This morning, I found out the whole house was out. I have over the roof HDTV antenna and a UHF/VHF pre-amp (in attic) set up by Fairfax Antenna. The wiring is super complicated. What could cause complete outage? Could it be the pre-amp?
> 
> 
> Many thanks for your help,
> 
> 
> Jane



It could be the pre-amp, but I've never lost mine. I have lost the power supply that provides power to the pre-amp though. It would be a wall-wart power supply going into a power inserter (it looks kind of like a splitter, but has the power wire going into it instead of the third RF cable).


Good luck!

.


----------



## southbalto

I'm located 10 miles west south west of baltimore and about 25 miles north of D.C. in Oella, Md. I installed a winegard 7694 a couple weeks ago and have had good results. I'm pulling in all of Baltimore and 4/5/7/9/50/66 out of D.C.


WETA and MHZ have been very spotty.


Just curious to find out if anyone in my area (elkridge/columbia/Ellicott City/Catonsville) has been able to pullin MHZ consistantly.


My next step is to add a Winegard amp. Hope that does the trick.


----------



## Jimbo666

Yesterday I ran an OTA update scan for new digital channels on my Sony Bravia KDL26S2010 and after finding 5 new channels at about the half way point in the scan, progress stopped. The new channels are for MHz Networks at 30.1 through 30.5. The signal is too weak to actually use them here in Baltimore, but they are now added to the channel list.


I called Sony and was advised to factory reset the TV and rescan from scratch. This resulted in the scan stalling at about the same point and after only getting some of the channels I received before I did the reset.


Anyone else with a Sony notice anything like this recently? It seems related to a recent change with MHz Networks because these channels have not shown up in prior scans.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Jimbo666* /forum/post/16876443
> 
> 
> This resulted in the scan stalling at about the same point and after only getting some of the channels I received before I did the reset.



Not sure if your Sony will do this but, pause the scan right before it gets to channel 24, then unhook the antenna. Restart the scan, and then stop again quicky after passing 24. Re-hook the antenna, & resume scanning. This procedure may not work for Sony, but it does on Samsung models.


----------



## Jimbo666

Thanks, I don't think the Sony can pause, but I did something similar and got back close to where I was.


The antenna is an amplified Square Shooter, so after I picked up as many channels as I could until the stall with the amplifier in place, I re-ran the scan with the power to the amplifier off. As soon as the TV picked up one additional new station I ran to the basement and powered the amp back up. Without the amp, the TV likely doesn't see channel 30.1 and the scan ran to completion.


It's just weird that this just started after having been able to scan for new channels for so long. I'm only guessing about the MHz Network having something to do with this. The same thing also happens with another similar Sony in the house so I don't think both TV's could have gone bad at the same time.


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *southbalto* /forum/post/16874870
> 
> 
> I'm located 10 miles west south west of baltimore and about 25 miles north of D.C. in Oella, Md. I installed a winegard 7694 a couple weeks ago and have had good results. I'm pulling in all of Baltimore and 4/5/7/9/50/66 out of D.C.
> 
> WETA and MHZ have been very spotty.
> 
> Just curious to find out if anyone in my area (elkridge/columbia/Ellicott City/Catonsville) has been able to pullin MHZ consistantly.
> 
> 
> My next step is to add a Winegard amp. Hope that does the trick.



I am a little further south in Beltsville, and with the CM4228 in the attic WETA and MHZ give 100% signals.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16860614
> 
> 
> Yes, this is what I would do. Please let us know if this helps!!



Unfortunately, I had to take down the Y5-7-13 temporarily due to the fact that it went where I had an antenna especially for 48 (4) and 50 set up with a UHF 49 JoinTenna hooked into the main feed. The C4 I'm currently using for the rest of D.C. has issues with those upper channels and we had major problems with them without the special set up, so I had to put it back to prevent an argument with the Mrs.


When I do get around to finding a new home for the VHF, I'll try it sans-amp and let you guys know what happens. I don't think I can get enough signal to push it through a 4-way split without help, but we'll see! Maybe in August.


----------



## howie14




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *southbalto* /forum/post/16874870
> 
> 
> I'm located 10 miles west south west of baltimore and about 25 miles north of D.C. in Oella, Md. I installed a winegard 7694 a couple weeks ago and have had good results. I'm pulling in all of Baltimore and 4/5/7/9/50/66 out of D.C.
> 
> 
> WETA and MHZ have been very spotty.
> 
> 
> Just curious to find out if anyone in my area (elkridge/columbia/Ellicott City/Catonsville) has been able to pullin MHZ consistantly.
> 
> 
> My next step is to add a Winegard amp. Hope that does the trick.



I'm northwest of you in Eldersburg and I pull MHz 1-5 in without problem. My tuners don't even see MHz 6-10, though.


WETA is low strength, but it locks.


I'm using an old Radio Shack UHF/VHF/FM antenna on a rotor with a Channel Master preamp. Sorry I don't recall the model numbers, I've had the antenna since 1995.


I just leave the antenna pointed toward DC and I seem to pull in both cities without difficulty. Before analog shutdown, I did have to move the antenna to be sure the Baltimore stations didn't break up.


You aren't getting My20, 14, or 32?


----------



## gary michaels




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Jimbo666* /forum/post/16876443
> 
> 
> Yesterday I ran an OTA update scan for new digital channels on my Sony Bravia KDL26S2010 and after finding 5 new channels at about the half way point in the scan, progress stopped. The new channels are for MHz Networks at 30.1 through 30.5. The signal is too weak to actually use them here in Baltimore, but they are now added to the channel list.
> 
> 
> I called Sony and was advised to factory reset the TV and rescan from scratch. This resulted in the scan stalling at about the same point and after only getting some of the channels I received before I did the reset.
> 
> 
> Anyone else with a Sony notice anything like this recently? It seems related to a recent change with MHz Networks because these channels have not shown up in prior scans.



Yes, I have noticed the same stalling of the progress bar on my Sony up here in the Va. hills north of Winchester. I disconnected the antenna and the scan does complete, so I assume that something being broadcast is confusing the scan program. I already have all the mhz scanned in, but it still does not complete.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Jimbo666* /forum/post/16876443
> 
> 
> Yesterday I ran an OTA update scan for new digital channels on my Sony Bravia KDL26S2010 and after finding 5 new channels at about the half way point in the scan, progress stopped. The new channels are for MHz Networks at 30.1 through 30.5. The signal is too weak to actually use them here in Baltimore, but they are now added to the channel list.
> 
> 
> I called Sony and was advised to factory reset the TV and rescan from scratch. This resulted in the scan stalling at about the same point and after only getting some of the channels I received before I did the reset.
> 
> 
> Anyone else with a Sony notice anything like this recently? It seems related to a recent change with MHz Networks because these channels have not shown up in prior scans.



I have a Sony SXRD, and scanned about a week or so ago. I didn't have any problems. I did pick up the Mhz stations, but had no issues.

J


----------



## fmw63

Hi almost neighbor! I work in Beltsville, but don't live there.












> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/16877685
> 
> 
> I am a little further south in Beltsville, and with the CM4228 in the attic WETA and MHZ give 100% signals.


----------



## mdviewer25

Here's something strange: When I tune to 54-1 I get a blank screen, when I go one channel up it goes to another 54-1 (the right one from Baltimore), when I went to my signal meter for the blank one it said it was on RF 21 (16-1 from Salisbury). Anyone else have this mix up?


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/16884440
> 
> 
> Here's something strange: When I tune to 54-1 I get a blank screen, when I go one channel up it goes to another 54-1 (the right one from Baltimore), when I went to my signal meter for the blank one it said it was on RF 21 (16-1 from Salisbury). Anyone else have this mix up?



It's probably completely and totally irrelevant, but there were a lot of problems on 54 (40) tonight with blank screens when they were trying to advertise the thunderstorm warnings earlier tonight. I don't see how that would tie into your issue with 16.1 coming up as 54, but I can corroborate the blank picture on Baltimore's 54.1 tonight. (Note: 54 (40) is one of my few 'perfect' channels .. 100% on strength/SNR at all times of the day since 6/12 ... I can pretty much guarantee that I saw what they were broadcasting)


----------



## Marcus Carr

On 7/30, Comcast is moving NBATV and NHL Network to Digital Classic. NFL and NFL HD move to Digital Starter. ESPN Classic moves to Sports and Entertainment.


----------



## hsweiss

Anyone having problems with WJZ since Thu night? I thought it was just due to the storms Thu night. But Fri night and even this morning (Sat) its the same: very weak signal strength, pixilation when there is a picture, but most of the time nothing because the signal is too weak. Nothing has changed on my end - in fact WJZ's tower-mate WBAL is now better than they had been over the past couple of weeks and WMAR is just outstanding.


----------



## machpost

Okay, this is getting to be ridiculous. On MPT-HD this morning...











Whoever is responsible for this mess should be embarrassed.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*AccuWeather Goes High-Def in Baltimore*

*CBS O&O WJZ-TV Launches CinemaLive HD'*


by George Winslow -- Multichannel News, 7/22/2009 3:33:04 PM EDT


CBS owned-and-operated station WJZ-TV in Baltimore has launched the weather display system CinemaLive HD from AccuWeather, a move AccuWeather hopes will help it break into larger markets and ink more deals with bigger station groups.


"Before we introduced this system, we had a few stations in the top 25 markets but most of our clients were in [markets] 25 to 200," said AccuWeather founder and president Dr. Joel N. Myers. "We see CinemaLive as a real game changer that will allow us to enter those top 25 markets."

*Additionally, CinemaLive has also launched on WJLA in Washington, D.C.*, an Albritton Communications-owned ABC affiliate, said Myers. "We recently got a commitment from the Journal Broadcast Group as the exclusive provider of weather solutions," he added. "We expect a number of additional group deals like that to come about in the next few months."


Several factors set the product apart, according to Myers, including its forecasting tools, ease of use, integration with Microsoft Virtual Earth, high-quality graphics and its use of virtual sets.


"You wind up with the kind of network quality graphics and presentation that local stations are usually not able to do," he said.


In a tough economic climate, the system also has some significant cost advantages for stations going to HD for their weather. "One of the questions we've gotten from stations is whether going to HD will require a more expensive set," Myers said. "One of the great advantages of CinemaLive HD is that it offers virtual set technology, which is really a savings because some of these sets can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.


"Even if you are working with a relatively limited existing green-screen area, you can deliver an image of a very large newsroom or presentation without doing a lot of reworking of the physical sets," he said.


These features also dramatically improve quality and help eliminate the traditional problem of the weather presenter getting in the way of the map or graphics.


"Many of the people that are using CinemaLive now have the presenter stand in a 360-degree 3-D environment," Myers said. "It is really changing the way the weather is presented."


The system is also easily integrated into some of their other products and allows stations to seamlessly repurpose content for mobile and Internet offerings. "We are a major player with weather online and on mobile, so there is a lot we can do to help stations with their three screen strategies," Myers said.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/...#&source=title


----------



## rviele




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/16885130
> 
> 
> It's probably completely and totally irrelevant, but there were a lot of problems on 54 (40) tonight with blank screens when they were trying to advertise the thunderstorm warnings earlier tonight. I don't see how that would tie into your issue with 16.1 coming up as 54, but I can corroborate the blank picture on Baltimore's 54.1 tonight. (Note: 54 (40) is one of my few 'perfect' channels .. 100% on strength/SNR at all times of the day since 6/12 ... I can pretty much guarantee that I saw what they were broadcasting)



speaking of weather relatred issues i rescanned last night and got 35 channels. best i've ever done. baltimore washington and salisbury on one setting.


----------



## Vast

Anyone else having issues getting NBC 4 this morning? My Tivo was able to get all of SNL last night. When I woke up this morning I get 0 signal...


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Vast* /forum/post/16889714
> 
> 
> Anyone else having issues getting NBC 4 this morning? My Tivo was able to get all of SNL last night. When I woke up this morning I get 0 signal...



It must be down. It isn't showing up in either SD or HD on RCN.


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Vast* /forum/post/16889714
> 
> 
> Anyone else having issues getting NBC 4 this morning? My Tivo was able to get all of SNL last night. When I woke up this morning I get 0 signal...



NBC DTV DOWN! I have 2 of my antenna sets programmed to auto start with NBC Today Show at 8AM on Sundays and this morning nothing. There is nothing on 4-1, 4-2 or 4-3. I check 3 ATSC tuner sets connected to 2 different antennas and nothing. The Comcast cable feed is ok. I went to www.NBCwashington.com to see if they had any information and nothing there either. I sent an email as I could not find a local phone number to call in a report.


----------



## E55 KEV

I left my tv on tuned to 4-1. NBC Service for Washington DC back on at 8:42am


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *E55 KEV* /forum/post/16889744
> 
> 
> I left my tv on tuned to 4-1. NBC Service for Washington DC back on at 8:42am



Only 6 minutes of NBC broadcast. Now back off at 8:48am


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *E55 KEV* /forum/post/16889754
> 
> 
> Only 6 minutes of NBC broadcast. Now back off at 8:48am



Back on at 8:51am


----------



## Patdeisa

Is anyone having issues with QUBO, channel 66.2? I can get 66.1, 66.3, and 66.4 fine, but 66.2 is blank. The tv says it locks onto the station, but nothing is coming through.


----------



## Patdeisa




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Jimbo666* /forum/post/16876443
> 
> 
> Yesterday I ran an OTA update scan for new digital channels on my Sony Bravia KDL26S2010 and after finding 5 new channels at about the half way point in the scan, progress stopped. The new channels are for MHz Networks at 30.1 through 30.5. The signal is too weak to actually use them here in Baltimore, but they are now added to the channel list.
> 
> 
> I called Sony and was advised to factory reset the TV and rescan from scratch. This resulted in the scan stalling at about the same point and after only getting some of the channels I received before I did the reset.
> 
> 
> Anyone else with a Sony notice anything like this recently? It seems related to a recent change with MHz Networks because these channels have not shown up in prior scans.



I have a KDL32S3000 and am having the same issue. I accidentally went to auto scan versus the add scan, and now I'm missing channels 4.1-4.3, 5.1, 20.1, and 50.1-50.2 if I stop the scan at the stuck point.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Patdeisa* /forum/post/16892180
> 
> 
> I have a KDL32S3000 and am having the same issue. I accidentally went to auto scan versus the add scan, and now I'm missing channels 4.1-4.3, 5.1, 20.1, and 50.1-50.2 if I stop the scan at the stuck point.



Many ATSC tuners allow manual tuning and will add a station to the list if it finds a station at the physical RF channel. However, the software in the ATSC tuners vary widely in whether they allow direct channel entry. Try tuning to 33.1 (or 33.3), 34, 35, 36, 48, 50.1 to see if the DC stations show up. I have not seen any problems with tuning or scanning for WNVC 30.1 (RF 24), but the station must be doing something to mess up some tuners. Has anyone gotten a response from WNVC?


----------



## pamajestic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Patdeisa* /forum/post/16890563
> 
> 
> Is anyone having issues with QUBO, channel 66.2? I can get 66.1, 66.3, and 66.4 fine, but 66.2 is blank. The tv says it locks onto the station, but nothing is coming through.



I noticed it was missing a few days ago on my VIP722, but for some odd reason it works fine on my Zenith converter box.


----------



## Jimbo666




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Patdeisa* /forum/post/16892180
> 
> 
> I have a KDL32S3000 and am having the same issue. I accidentally went to auto scan versus the add scan, and now I'm missing channels 4.1-4.3, 5.1, 20.1, and 50.1-50.2 if I stop the scan at the stuck point.



I've tried a couple of different ways to pick up the missing channels and this works ok.


1. Run the add channels scan with the antenna attached and carefully note the position of the progress bar where the scan stalls and then cancel the scan.


2. Disconnect the antenna (using an A/B switch makes this much easier) and re-run the scan. As soon as the scan passes the point where the stall occurred, reconnect the antenna and the scan should complete and pick up additional channels.


The timing of the reconnect if critical. Too early and the scan stalls again, too late and you miss one or two channels you want. It took me about three times to get all of the channels back.


----------



## tunamike

Anyone notice wmar 2 rf 38, big increase in signal. Not sure if wjal 68 rf 39 reduced power or what but i have been getting 38 wmar like 85% the last few days. I have not been able to get rf 38 channel 13 or channel 2 since wjal went on the air on rf 39 back in april.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tunamike* /forum/post/16894335
> 
> 
> Anyone notice wmar 2 rf 38, big increase in signal.



WMAR has been running maximum allowable power since it took over RF 38. Maybe WJAL is fine tuning their power or directional antenna pattern in your direction. I am noticing quite an increase on WHAG-25 here. It has gone from one bar to 5 bars(out of 10). Have you noticed a change on WHAG?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/16886262
> 
> 
> Okay, this is getting to be ridiculous. On MPT-HD this morning...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Whoever is responsible for this mess should be embarrassed.



Anything is better than that annoying stretch-o-vision.


----------



## tunamike

well with me being only 12 miles from hags' tower its hard to tell if there a difference or not. I did notice some of the other posts having trouble with channel 4 wrc I am not getting any signal at all from that channel. If wmar (2) stays this way and just a little bit more power from channel 11 wbal I would be pretty happy right now I will be getting all the majors from DC and Baltimore very well finally.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16894448
> 
> 
> WMAR has been running maximum allowable power since it took over RF 38. Maybe WJAL is fine tuning their power or directional antenna pattern in your direction. I am noticing quite an increase on WHAG-25 here. It has gone from one bar to 5 bars(out of 10). Have you noticed a change on WHAG?



I've also noticed a more stable and bigger window (82° to 188°) for WMAR. I'll talk with Lucky and see what's happening at WJAL. WHAG informed me awhile back that they were at full-power and done fine-tuning their system.


Lately, I have noticed a big difference in weather related reception.


What was happening with WBFF yesterday? They had a serious echo chamber going on with Fox News and I also noticed it on ThisTV. I know it wasn't a network issue because WPMT didn't have the echo.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/16886262
> 
> 
> Okay, this is getting to be ridiculous. On MPT-HD this morning...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Whoever is responsible for this mess should be embarrassed.



Is this on cable, by any chance? Apparently Comcast is doing that to the WNUV signal, on both the analog and on HD.


Update - they just changed the 45 HD signal so that it's "postage stamped". too, as of 2:00ish.. We have a call into our contact there, but haven't heard back.

.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16894725
> 
> 
> 
> What was happening with WBFF yesterday? They had a serious echo chamber going on with Fox News and I also noticed it on ThisTV. I know it wasn't a network issue because WPMT didn't have the echo.



I watched WBFF yesterday evening, this morning, and just now, and I don't have a problem with the audio... I also just checked ThisTV, and the audio is OK. I haven't changed anything in the transmission path on WBFF (we're doing the mobile test on WNUV, if anyone can see it).


I can't think of anything that would effect both WBFF and ThisTV. There's nothing in common until after both channels are encoded.


Also, we have not received any calls or e-mails from anyone about this (but the e-mails trickle down hill from the GM, so there can be quite a delay...)


I'm not sure what the issue is - I'd be interested to find out!


BTW, was this OTA or some other source?

.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/16896091
> 
> 
> Is this on cable, by any chance? Apparently Comcast is doing that to the WNUV signal, on both the analog and on HD.
> 
> 
> Update - they just changed the 45 HD signal so that it's "postage stamped". too, as of 2:00ish.. We have a call into our contact there, but haven't heard back.
> 
> .



We saw that on MPT this weekend OTA, on both WMPT and WMPB. We hadn't noticed any audio issues with WBFF, but honestly we didn't watch much TV yesterday afternoon/evening.


----------



## albertso

COMCAST MOCO has moved QAM channels around again. 4.1 and 9.1 are now up at 108.1 and 108.3. They used to map to 4.1 and 9.1 but do not now. 5.1 is now at 5.1 and 7.1 is at 17.1. I do not know if they really moved them or just changed the PSIP info to reflect different locations.


----------



## scootdog

I have WJAL 68 (39.1) for the first time since the fire, so they must have done some tweaking. I now also have to try to not get WHAG 25 (26.1) as it is blazing here in Franklin County, PA. It will be interesting to see what other changes come about with the many tv signals as time goes on.


----------



## djp952

I don't know what WRC was up to, but since they went off the air today around noon, I've had the most spectacular signal from them (see attached). Whatever you guys did, keep it up!!! And if you didn't actually do anything ... DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING.


(Prior to today, WRC would be 'jumpy' for me, the signal-to-noise ratio would fluctuate a great deal, now it's pretty solid.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *albertso* /forum/post/16898875
> 
> 
> COMCAST MOCO has moved QAM channels around again. 4.1 and 9.1 are now up at 108.1 and 108.3. They used to map to 4.1 and 9.1 but do not now. 5.1 is now at 5.1 and 7.1 is at 17.1. I do not know if they really moved them or just changed the PSIP info to reflect different locations.



I dunno. WRC has always been 108.1 and WUSA at 108.19 (?). Last night, they were gone. This is the second time in a 2 week period they have disappeared on me. Last time, they came back the next day-we'll see about this time.

J


----------



## gary michaels

I'm one of the folks that have found their Sony TV hanging up when performing a scan or digital channel add. This morning I ran it again and just before it stalled it found 2 new channels. the first was 33.8 labeled DATA. the second was channel 0. that comes at the end of the channel list. I can not then go back to 2 by moving forward only channel down to it. could it be this stalling problem is not being caused by the channel 30 signals but WHUT 32 doing something off standard.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/16896212
> 
> 
> BTW, was this OTA or some other source?



LOL - I don't know of any source (other than OTA) that would allow me to have access to WPMT FOX out of Lancaster, WTAJ CBS out of Altoona, WHAG NBC from Hagerstown, and WBFF/WNUV FOX/CW from Baltimore on the same system.










Thanks for checking markbulla.


This morning (at 139° on my digital rotator control) my APEX DT502 is acquiring WMAR, WBAL, WJZ, WUTB, WHAG, WWPB, WBFF, WNUV, WWPX, WJAL, and whatever MPT 22 and 67 is.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gary michaels* /forum/post/16900356
> 
> 
> I'm one of the folks that have found their Sony TV hanging up when performing a scan or digital channel add. This morning I ran it again and just before it stalled it found 2 new channels. the first was 33.8 labeled DATA. the second was channel 0. that comes at the end of the channel list. I can not then go back to 2 by moving forward only channel down to it. could it be this stalling problem is not being caused by the channel 30 signals but WHUT 32 doing something off standard.



Yea, I just found channel 0 last night. It wasn't there when I scanned a couple of weeks ago. I can't forward after it either.

J


----------



## Jimbo666




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gary michaels* /forum/post/16900356
> 
> 
> I'm one of the folks that have found their Sony TV hanging up when performing a scan or digital channel add. This morning I ran it again and just before it stalled it found 2 new channels. the first was 33.8 labeled DATA. the second was channel 0. that comes at the end of the channel list. I can not then go back to 2 by moving forward only channel down to it. could it be this stalling problem is not being caused by the channel 30 signals but WHUT 32 doing something off standard.



If this is unique to Sony, maybe the Sony tuner is off standard...


----------



## Voyager06




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16900451
> 
> 
> 
> This morning (at 139° on my digital rotator control) my APEX DT502 is acquiring WMAR, WBAL, WJZ, WUTB, WHAG, WWPB, WBFF, WNUV, WWPX, WJAL, and whatever MPT 22 and 67 is.



22 and 67 are the same. It is Maryland Public Television (PBS). The 22 tower is located near Annapolis and the 67 tower is near Owings Mills (I think).


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gary michaels* /forum/post/16900356
> 
> 
> I'm one of the folks that have found their Sony TV hanging up when performing a scan or digital channel add. This morning I ran it again and just before it stalled it found 2 new channels. the first was 33.8 labeled DATA. the second was channel 0. that comes at the end of the channel list. I can not then go back to 2 by moving forward only channel down to it. could it be this stalling problem is not being caused by the channel 30 signals but WHUT 32 doing something off standard.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Jimbo666* /forum/post/16900640
> 
> 
> If this is unique to Sony, maybe the Sony tuner is off standard...



According to RabbitEars, 33.8 and 33.9 are UpdateTV data streams. Whether WHUT has not configured something correctly or the Sony tuners have a bug is not clear.


----------



## Trip in VA

Sony tuners don't handle UpdateTV streams properly.


- Trip


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/16896091
> 
> 
> Is this on cable, by any chance? Apparently Comcast is doing that to the WNUV signal, on both the analog and on HD.



It was on cable, RCN to be specific.


----------



## Jimbo666




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin* /forum/post/16901232
> 
> 
> According to RabbitEars, 33.8 and 33.9 are UpdateTV data streams. Whether WHUT has not configured something correctly or the Sony tuners have a bug is not clear.



I hope something gets straightened out, the workaround is pretty cumbersome and Sony was not much help when I called them...


----------



## tunamike

systems2000


you must be close to my loacation i pretty much got the same exact channels at 137 degrees Still have a little trouble with the vhf 7 9 and 11 just wondering if channel 60 ion rf 12 is messing with my vhf channels and I am not sure how to degrade it if this is true!!


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *albertso* /forum/post/16898875
> 
> 
> COMCAST MOCO has moved QAM channels around again. 4.1 and 9.1 are now up at 108.1 and 108.3. They used to map to 4.1 and 9.1 but do not now. 5.1 is now at 5.1 and 7.1 is at 17.1. I do not know if they really moved them or just changed the PSIP info to reflect different locations.



WRC-HD is now 108.1801 and WUSA-HD is now 108.1803.

Am I going to have to rescan every other week now?

I'm underwhelmed.

Jack


----------



## mdviewer25

What is UpdateTV and why doesn't my tuner pick it up?


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Voyager06* /forum/post/16900814
> 
> 
> 22 and 67 are the same. It is Maryland Public Television (PBS). The 22 tower is located near Annapolis and the 67 tower is near Owings Mills (I think).



I knew all that. I didn't have the call-signs when I posted. That's what I was referring to.


----------



## systems2000

WTAJ is throwing a fit today. I had to set the Zinwell to WJZ for the wife's Y&R. Lucky it was coming in solid, after I added a 6dB pad to the input of the DA. WTAJ was still breaking up afterwards.


----------



## albertso

Jack,


My 3410a shows 4.1 & 2 at 108.1 & 2 and 9.1 & 2 at 108.3 & 4.


For how long, I do not know... Rescans are not fun, especially with this machine. Screws up the TV Guide ON-Screen (TVGOS). It is just starting to work again after the big switcheroo.


Thanks for the info.


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/16903505
> 
> 
> What is UpdateTV and why doesn't my tuner pick it up?



Go to rabbitears.info for full details. In brief, UpdateTV is an OTA method of delivering firmware updates to some devices.


----------



## Remoteless

 http://www.updatelogic.com/network.html 

My Sammy picks up 33.8, 33.9 on scans.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *albertso* /forum/post/16904769
> 
> 
> Jack,
> 
> 
> My 3410a shows 4.1 & 2 at 108.1 & 2 and 9.1 & 2 at 108.3 & 4.
> 
> 
> For how long, I do not know... Rescans are not fun, especially with this machine. Screws up the TV Guide ON-Screen (TVGOS). It is just starting to work again after the big switcheroo.
> 
> 
> Thanks for the info.



Yea, they are also playing peek-a-boo with the digital versions of their analog channels and some digital only channels. I lost History international, and gained TBS-HD, and Universal HD for now.

Go figure.

J


----------



## hsweiss




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hsweiss* /forum/post/16886040
> 
> 
> Anyone having problems with WJZ since Thu night? I thought it was just due to the storms Thu night. But Fri night and even this morning (Sat) its the same: very weak signal strength, pixilation when there is a picture, but most of the time nothing because the signal is too weak. Nothing has changed on my end - in fact WJZ's tower-mate WBAL is now better than they had been over the past couple of weeks and WMAR is just outstanding.



I thought I'd update this. Besides posting this, I had also sent email to WJZ. Their engineers were great - they got back to me several times over the weekend (thanks guys!). Turns out, WJZ did make a change last Thu - they went to their directional antennas and rather than starving me signal-wise, they are now blasting me. We determined that I'm in their full-power lobe and their signal was overdriving my Radio Shack Digital Stream DTV converter box.


I have an antenna in the attic - no pre-amp (only 16 miles from TV Hill) and had been getting WJZ great before the Thu change. The WJZ engineers suggested that I disconnect my pre-amp (ain't got one) or try a pair of rabbit ears just to see what happens. Before the DTV transition, I tried rabbit ears and got only 1 station (MPT 22 since their tower is only about 6 miles from my house). But I tried the rabbit ears anyway - low and behold the almost non-existent signal from WJZ went up to near 90 on the Digital Stream signal strength meter!


One suggestion was to use a 6dB F Pad in line but I fear that this will attenuate all the stations, none of which are overdriving me other than WJZ. But weirdly enough, by moving my DTV converter box off the top of my TV to the side of it has reduced the overdrive enough to enable me to watch WJZ w/o any dropouts. Its only about 65-70 on the signal strength meter but now works fine. Gotta love the "black art" of RF propagation!


----------



## howie14

Does anyone know if WMAR-2 plans to continue broadcasting the 4x3 SD feed of its progamming on its subchannel forever? I guess I might have understood it prior to the analog shutdown...ok, not really. But I don't see any need for it now.


----------



## gary michaels

The problem with Sony TV tuners stalling halfway on scans seems to have been worked out this morning. I did several and had no problem. anybody else find that they have been healed ?


----------



## systems2000

Maybe this is why I'm acquiring Baltimore stations more easily. WMAR, WJZ, and WNUV are 100% reliable now and WBAL, WUTB, and WBFF are dictated by the day/night atmosphere.


WPMT doesn't seem to have been affected, but I may have to re-evaluate the WTAJ issue.


----------



## Jim Miller




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hsweiss* /forum/post/16906706
> 
> 
> I thought I'd update this. Besides posting this, I had also sent email to WJZ. Their engineers were great - they got back to me several times over the weekend (thanks guys!). Turns out, WJZ did make a change last Thu - they went to their directional antennas



Is there a description of their new pattern available? I'm in Parkton, (along I83 near PA line) where are you located?


tnx

jtm


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Jim Miller* /forum/post/16906895
> 
> 
> Is there a description of their new pattern available? I'm in Parkton, (along I83 near PA line) where are you located?
> 
> 
> tnx
> 
> jtm



Here is the polar pattern
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/polarplot...99&p360=0.799& 


This is the projected coverage map
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...DT1237603.html 


Looks like you are getting right around 50% of the signal strength that you were getting before the new antenna was installed.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *howie14* /forum/post/16906788
> 
> 
> Does anyone know if WMAR-2 plans to continue broadcasting the 4x3 SD feed of its progamming on its subchannel forever? I guess I might have understood it prior to the analog shutdown...ok, not really. But I don't see any need for it now.



Its not just WMAR, WETA does it too. I don't see the point either. Strangely, Comcast MOCO gives a digital SD version of all of the major networks. Seems like a waste to me.

J


----------



## gary michaels

one thing is missing from the discussion about the new WJZ directional antenna. they have been using a horizontally polarized pattern they are now elliptical. I have found that stations with the elliptical pattern do better in just about all areas.


----------



## systems2000

If this can be quantified and confirmed, maybe the FCC needs to mandate elliptical patterns for full-power stations.


----------



## Sammer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16909177
> 
> 
> If this can be quantified and confirmed, maybe the FCC needs to mandate elliptical patterns for full-power stations.



It probably can't be quantified and confirmed in all reception situations. Although the proponents of elliptical and circular polarization claim a 4 to 5db improvement (doubling power gives 3db) it appears that improvement applies only to certain circumstances such as indoor antennas, terrain issues, and VHF stations being received with UHF antennas. One thing for sure is that any station interested in the upcoming M/H mobile standard would probably want both horizontal and vertical polarization.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Sammer* /forum/post/16909363
> 
> 
> It probably can't be quantified and confirmed in all reception situations. Although the proponents of elliptical and circular polarization claim a 4 to 5db improvement (doubling power gives 3db) it appears that improvement applies only to certain circumstances such as indoor antennas, terrain issues, and VHF stations being received with UHF antennas. One thing for sure is that any station interested in the upcoming M/H mobile standard would probably want both horizontal and vertical polarization.



Usually a 10-15% vertical component is all that is needed or desired on the transmission side, especially in the UHF band. Those stations that made the move to a 50-50 power split have had issues with additional multipath reflections from delayed vertical reflections received by horizontal only antennas.


----------



## Jimbo666




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gary michaels* /forum/post/16906804
> 
> 
> The problem with Sony TV tuners stalling halfway on scans seems to have been worked out this morning. I did several and had no problem. anybody else find that they have been healed ?



Same here in Baltimore. I'm glad you posted, I was not sure if something actually changed or if the current thick atmospheric conditions were preventing reception of the offending signal.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

On D* last night, noticed a WHUT-HD logo vs. a plain old WHUT logo. The actual channel still looked SD on D*, the entire 16x9 pic still was framed. Anyone with over-the-air receivers notice this?


----------



## Cambio

I have a YA 1713 and a CM4228 running into a CM7777, all three are in my attic. I have the power supply located just a couple of feet after the preamp, then a 30'-40' run to the TV with no splitters in between. Does it matter where the power supply is placed in that run? I've read conflicting answers about this and wonder if I should move it.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Cambio* /forum/post/16914406
> 
> 
> Does it matter where the power supply is placed in that run?



No, reception wise, it shouldn't matter. It may shorten the life of the power supply if the attic temperature is excessively high though.


----------



## Cambio




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16914570
> 
> 
> No, reception wise, it shouldn't matter. It may shorten the life of the power supply if the attic temperature is excessively high though.



Good point, I hadn't thought of that.


On Solid Signal's website under the description of of the CM7777, the "up the coax cable" in the following statement is what I found most confusing:


"The unit inside the building injects voltage up the coax cable, so there is no need to put a power supply outside."


They make it sound as if you have the power supply too close to preamp, then the remaining distance to the tv, in my case 30 to 40 feet, won't be amplified.


----------



## ProjectSHO89




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Cambio* /forum/post/16914674
> 
> 
> Good point, I hadn't thought of that.
> 
> 
> On Solid Signal's website under the description of of the CM7777, the "up the coax cable" in the following statement is what I found most confusing:
> 
> 
> "The unit inside the building injects voltage up the coax cable, so there is no need to put a power supply outside."
> 
> 
> They make it sound as if you have the power supply too close to preamp, then the remaining distance to the tv, in my case 30 to 40 feet, won't be amplified.



No, that's not what they meant.


The power supply inserter can go anywhere in the line between the TV/CECB and the amplifier module and the amplified signal will still go all the way to the receiver end.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ProjectSHO89* /forum/post/16915477
> 
> 
> No, that's not what they meant.
> 
> 
> The power supply inserter can go anywhere in the line between the TV/CECB and the amplifier module and the amplified signal will still go all the way to the receiver end.



...as long as there are no non-power passing splitters or other equipment between the power inserter and the amplifier.

.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast has moved NFL Network/HD to Digital Starter.


There is a blank channel among the sports channels. Might be ESPNU.


----------



## iontyre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/16916745
> 
> 
> Comcast has moved NFL Network/HD to Digital Starter.
> 
> 
> There is a blank channel among the sports channels. Might be ESPNU.



Nice. Now where are msnbc-hd and tcm-hd?


----------



## systems2000

Why would you have a need for "Classic Movies" to be HD


----------



## djp952

What's up with WRC tonight? They're broadcasting but most of the PSIP data is missing. Media Center can't do a thing with it. TSReader can decode it, but there is close to no stream information at all. All I can see is the PAT data, and even that's incomplete.


edit: Sent WRC an e-mail ... hopefully they can get this fixed up soon







They seem to have had some issues recently.


----------



## Trip in VA

It looks like their PSIP computer locked up. Probably needs a reboot...


- Trip


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16917811
> 
> 
> It looks like their PSIP computer locked up. Probably needs a reboot...
> 
> 
> - Trip



Must be running Windows







[I'm allowed to say that since I'm a huge Windows guy - lol]


----------



## Trip in VA

It probably is. Guide Builder does run on Windows.


Not that I imagine Guide Builder is the only source of PSIP, but I think most TV stations do run lots of Windows machines in critical locations.


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/16917786
> 
> 
> What's up with WRC tonight? They're broadcasting but most of the PSIP data is missing.



Thanks, I thought something was wrong with my TV. I can only get WRC on 48.3, 48.4 & 48.5.


----------



## bxs122

I am so close to ditching OTA once and for all - that is even after spending years advising how great it is.


Few years ago I built a HTPC running MCE and had a couple ATSC tuner cards for OTA receive.


Living outside DC we received all the local HD channels without any issue - then June 12th happened and everything went to s**t.


I've had to go in and manually add back channels then edit them again and again and again and after almost a month I am still not where I was before the change over.


On one channel (9.1, I think CBS) I cannot get a clean signal without hiccups. I have removed an attenuator, put it back, removed it again.

On another channel (4.1, frequency 48) I had this working for a while then a few days ago it stopped with No Signal.


Like I said, before the conversion I never had a problem the last couple of years.


Does anyone have any suggestions?


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16917811
> 
> 
> It looks like their PSIP computer locked up. Probably needs a reboot...
> 
> 
> - Trip




Their computer, or them......?


Interestingly, my Insignia will accept the the raw "48" and give me the primary channel, but on 48-3. My DTX9950 is not as helpful....


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bxs122* /forum/post/16917874
> 
> 
> Does anyone have any suggestions?



Why are you using an attenuator? You don't have any strong signals in Ashburn.


----------



## bxs122




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/16899871
> 
> 
> I don't know what WRC was up to, but since they went off the air today around noon, I've had the most spectacular signal from them (see attached). Whatever you guys did, keep it up!!! And if you didn't actually do anything ... DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING.
> 
> 
> (Prior to today, WRC would be 'jumpy' for me, the signal-to-noise ratio would fluctuate a great deal, now it's pretty solid.



So did WRC bump the signal strength?? I use MCE and while it shows a solid strong signal on 4.1 it cannot lock in the signal. I have tried an attenuator but that did nothing.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bxs122* /forum/post/16917874
> 
> 
> I am so close to ditching OTA once and for all - that is even after spending years advising how great it is.
> 
> 
> Few years ago I built a HTPC running MCE and had a couple ATSC tuner cards for OTA receive.
> 
> 
> Living outside DC we received all the local HD channels without any issue - then June 12th happened and everything went to s**t.
> 
> 
> I've had to go in and manually add back channels then edit them again and again and again and after almost a month I am still not where I was before the change over.
> 
> 
> On one channel (9.1, I think CBS) I cannot get a clean signal without hiccups. I have removed an attenuator, put it back, removed it again.
> 
> On another channel (4.1, frequency 48) I had this working for a while then a few days ago it stopped with No Signal.
> 
> 
> Like I said, before the conversion I never had a problem the last couple of years.
> 
> 
> Does anyone have any suggestions?



I've been using Windows Media Center almost exclusively since 8/08 for all my TV needs and overall have been very happy with it. It's what enabled me to get both Baltmore and D.C. seamlessly without a rotor. That said, yes, they continue to mess with the guide data and depending on what version of MCE you're speaking of, it can create a complete and total nightmare. My immediate advise would be to get Windows 7 when it comes out, it's leaps and bounds better for OTA than anything that came before it (except "TV Pack" which was an OEM-only deal for Vista that not everyone has access to). My other advise would be to PM me for a more in-depth discussion or perhaps head over to "The Green Button" ( http://www.thegreenbutton.com ) for a more appropriate forum to deal with Media Center issues 


I'd be happy to help you any way I can, but be forewarned ... I lent an AVS member an ATSC USB tuner and it's been nothing but a nightmare for him. My advise/help may not be all that good ...


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bxs122* /forum/post/16917911
> 
> 
> So did WRC bump the signal strength?? I use MCE and while it shows a solid strong signal on 4.1 it cannot lock in the signal. I have tried an attenuator but that did nothing.



WRC is having problems tonight, devices like computers that rely on PSIP data to be correct will not be able to tune it. Best to wait until they fix it before getting too frustrated.


FWIW, Media Center, especially the XP and original Vista versions, is EXTREMELY sensitive to the PSIP data being correct. Windows 7 and "TV Pack" for Vista is much much better with that, but even they can't tune WRC tonight -- the data they're sending is just too far gone right now.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bxs122* /forum/post/16917874
> 
> 
> On one channel (9.1, I think CBS) I cannot get a clean signal without hiccups. I have removed an attenuator, put it back, removed it again.



If you are having problems with WUSA-9 in Ashburn, I would suspect an inadequate antenna. WUSA has a very robust signal up to 30-40 miles from DC when a proper outdoor or attic mounted antenna is used.


----------



## bxs122




> Quote:
> Why are you using an attenuator? You don't have any strong signals in Ashburn.



Years ago when i first setup ABC was having issues due to multipath and the attenuator cleaned it up. I thought the issue I was now experiencing was same but it isn't.



> Quote:
> WRC is having problems tonight, devices like computers that rely on PSIP data to be correct will not be able to tune it. Best to wait until they fix it before getting too frustrated.
> 
> 
> FWIW, Media Center, especially the XP and original Vista versions, is EXTREMELY sensitive to the PSIP data being correct. Windows 7 and "TV Pack" for Vista is much much better with that, but even they can't tune WRC tonight -- the data they're sending is just too far gone right now.



Well that is really good to hear - I knew I should've posted long before I started tearing into my HTPC.

I think I recall this having happened a few times before.

What is interesting is I also have a TivoHD that pulls for Fios (via CableCard) as well as OTA and the OTA is pulling 4.1 just fine. It also is not experiencing the hiccups on 9.1 like I am in Vista MCE.



> Quote:
> My immediate advise would be to get Windows 7 when it comes out, it's leaps and bounds better for OTA than anything that came before it (except "TV Pack" which was an OEM-only deal for Vista that not everyone has access to).



I'll have to keep that in mind - as a Software Architect I belong to MSDN and have Win 7 but didn't want to put it on my HTPC until it was either RC or final and I was certain I was going to keep going with MCE.

Generally when this happens I go through the pains of working the atscprefs.xml snd that resolves it.

Where I really need help is in dealing with hiccups on 9.1 that for years worked fine until the digital conversion. I don't want to move my antenna (its been in position four years) and I am not sure Win 7 would help since this I believe has more to do with the ATSC vBox tuner cards and their drivers.

On Win 7 which tuner cards are you using?


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16917953
> 
> 
> If you are having problems with WUSA-9 in Ashburn, I would suspect an inadequate antenna. WUSA has a very robust signal up to 30-40 miles from DC when a proper outdoor or attic mounted antenna is used.



I disagree. I'm about 20 miles from WUSA, and I cannot get it with my attic antenna. I get all of the other DC stations.

J


----------



## markbulla




----------



## shelby68gt500




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/16918616
> 
> 
> I disagree. I'm about 20 miles from WUSA, and I cannot get it with my attic antenna. I get all of the other DC stations.
> 
> J



Gents, I have to agree With Digital... I had the same issues as you guys did when they did the changeover in June. At that time, all I had in my attic was 2 stacked CM4228's (primarily a UHF only antenna). I lost both WUSA and WRC myself. Once I put up a Y-10-7-13 VHF combined with the UHF's thru a CM7777, WUSA and WRC were there with no issues. Now, it did take a bit of playing around (I'm still not done yet as I want to get WBAL and WJZ from Baltimore again, 2, 45 & 54 come in just fine) with the VHF to find a good location in the attic as it would have a VERY BAD effect on UHF reception depending on where I had it located in relation to the UHF antennas. I'm alot further out than Ashburn, so I'd be willing to bet that as long as you have both UHF and VHF antennas in your attic (or better, outside) it is just a matter of adjusting their relationship to each other.


----------



## bxs122




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *shelby68gt500* /forum/post/16918751
> 
> 
> Gents, I have to agree With Digital... I had the same issues as you guys did when they did the changeover in June. At that time, all I had in my attic was 2 stacked CM4228's (primarily a UHF only antenna). I lost both WUSA and WRC myself. Once I put up a Y-10-7-13 VHF combined with the UHF's thru a CM7777, WUSA and WRC were there with no issues. Now, it did take a bit of playing around (I'm still not done yet as I want to get WBAL and WJZ from Baltimore again, 2, 45 & 54 come in just fine) with the VHF to find a good location in the attic as it would have a VERY BAD effect on UHF reception depending on where I had it located in relation to the UHF antennas. I'm alot further out than Ashburn, so I'd be willing to bet that as long as you have both UHF and VHF antennas in your attic (or better, outside) it is just a matter of adjusting their relationship to each other.



I have the CM4228 in my attic and like you it was fine until the changeover - actually all my channels were fine after the changeover. It is only in the last few weeks 9.1 started with the hiccups; on my Tivo OTA 9.1 (same source) works fine. And channel 4.1 went away completely but I understand that has happened to others as well.

I would think that if I were experiencing a signal issue I would be seeing these same problems on my Tivo Series 3.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *shelby68gt500* /forum/post/16918751
> 
> 
> Gents, I have to agree With Digital... I had the same issues as you guys did when they did the changeover in June. At that time, all I had in my attic was 2 stacked CM4228's (primarily a UHF only antenna). I lost both WUSA and WRC myself. Once I put up a Y-10-7-13 VHF combined with the UHF's thru a CM7777, WUSA and WRC were there with no issues. Now, it did take a bit of playing around (I'm still not done yet as I want to get WBAL and WJZ from Baltimore again, 2, 45 & 54 come in just fine) with the VHF to find a good location in the attic as it would have a VERY BAD effect on UHF reception depending on where I had it located in relation to the UHF antennas. I'm alot further out than Ashburn, so I'd be willing to bet that as long as you have both UHF and VHF antennas in your attic (or better, outside) it is just a matter of adjusting their relationship to each other.



I have no problem with any other VHF station.


----------



## shelby68gt500




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/16918883
> 
> 
> I have no problem with any other VHF station.



Big J, If you have both UHF and VHF antennas, then I'd bet that it is spatial relationship of the two that is hampering you. It sure was for me. I ended up doing the walkie talkie thing with the wife to get positioning to where I can get not only WUSA and WRC, but also some of the Baltimore stations. You mention that you get all the other DC stations on VHF fine. Actually (and Digital, correct me if I'm an idiot) the only DC stations on VHF currently (that were on UHF before the changeover) are WUSA and WJLA. All others are UHF. VHF stations in Baltimore are WJZ and WBAL with all others being UHF. The CM4228 apparently (or so I've heard anyway) has some high VHF reception, but I didn't have any luck with it. Could be due to the fact that mine is in my attic though.


----------



## J-D-H

WRC mapping problem?


As of today the WRC channels vanished here on our Vizio VX20L. Yesterday all was well; this morning channels 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3 are gone. I tried resetting the set (via that menu item), pulling the power plug for 5-10 minutes, several rescans, etc., but no WRC. So then on a hunch I decided to look up the mapping info for this station and found that it is channel 48.x. Sure enough, our TV set shows that it has found 48.1, 48.2, and 48.3. So now that we know where to look, WRC is perfectly viewable by using these channels numbers. But why do these suddenly refuse to map to 4.x as before? Can anyone shed light on this? Thanks!


John


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *shelby68gt500* /forum/post/16919106
> 
> 
> Big J, If you have both UHF and VHF antennas, then I'd bet that it is spatial relationship of the two that is hampering you. It sure was for me. I ended up doing the walkie talkie thing with the wife to get positioning to where I can get not only WUSA and WRC, but also some of the Baltimore stations. You mention that you get all the other DC stations on VHF fine. Actually (and Digital, correct me if I'm an idiot) the only DC stations on VHF currently (that were on UHF before the changeover) are WUSA and WJLA. All others are UHF. VHF stations in Baltimore are WJZ and WBAL with all others being UHF. The CM4228 apparently (or so I've heard anyway) has some high VHF reception, but I didn't have any luck with it. Could be due to the fact that mine is in my attic though.



I have a UHF/VHF antenna, so I'm not sure how this applies to me-maybe I'm missing something (wouldn't be the first time). I was under the impression that WRC was VHF, being channel 4 (4.1). When this was first discussed here after the change, the general consensus by folks on this forum was that I'd never be able to get WUSA with an attic antenna from Germantown. That was incorrect? Now I'm confused.

Frankly, If I could get WUSA, I would probably drop Comcast.

J


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *J-D-H* /forum/post/16919261
> 
> 
> WRC mapping problem?



Yes, they are having computer problems related to their PSIP encoder since yesterday. I'm sure their phone has been ringing off the hook.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/16919312
> 
> 
> Frankly, If I could get WUSA, I would probably drop Comcast.
> 
> J



What type of antenna are you using? I haven't had any problems with WUSA even in poor signal areas 30 miles away. Only channel 50 starts to become a problem at that distance for me.


----------



## iontyre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16917783
> 
> 
> Why would you have a need for "Classic Movies" to be HD



You are kidding, right? Though for now TCM is upconverting their existing masters, as I understand it they will be getting remastered versions of the movies in high definition eventually. You do understand that anything shot on film can be rescanned to high definition, right? Those "Classic Movies" are going to be a real revelation when we get to see them!


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16919415
> 
> 
> What type of antenna are you using? I haven't had any problems with WUSA even in poor signal areas 30 miles away. Only channel 50 starts to become a problem at that distance for me.



I honestly don't know off the top of my head. Its an older one, amplified.

J


----------



## hsweiss




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/16919312
> 
> 
> I have a UHF/VHF antenna, so I'm not sure how this applies to me-maybe I'm missing something (wouldn't be the first time). I was under the impression that WRC was VHF, being channel 4 (4.1). When this was first discussed here after the change, the general consensus by folks on this forum was that I'd never be able to get WUSA with an attic antenna from Germantown. That was incorrect? Now I'm confused.
> 
> Frankly, If I could get WUSA, I would probably drop Comcast.
> 
> J



Nope - WRC is UHF on *real* channel 48. All of the VHF channels below 7 are now on UHF. Only the upper VHF band is still in business (7-13).


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/16919644
> 
> 
> I honestly don't know off the top of my head. Its an older one, amplified.
> 
> J



Anyway you can take a pic?


----------



## aptt

WRC is airing The Ellen Degeneres Show for the first time in HD. (The show has been airing in HD since September 8, 2008.)


----------



## aaronwt

I don't even watch WRC anymore. Not since FIOS added the NBC station from Hagerstown. Since it isn't as bitstarved as the broadcast from WRC is.


Although I do still watch the weather from 4.2 on WRC from my antenna.


But since WUSA is crap now, I'm pretty much trying to switch all my watching to FIOS only and not use OTA anymore. WUSA went from my strongest station to my weakest. The same was true at several other locations in my girlfriends family. Everyone has a UHF/VHF antenna. but the signal is crap, even the one that is located in DC.


WJLA can come in but not WUSA.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/16918883
> 
> 
> I have no problem with any other VHF station.



I heard rumours that some local stations that are having issues with VHF reception (customer complaints) are considering moving back to a UHF freq. I know that I really have to make an effort now to get WBAL-DT, and with WJLA-DT being at the very low end of the VHF range, they are difficult on my UHF only antenna.


I would welcome any of them moving back to UHF, but I'm sure they'd rather stay with the VHF electrical bill.


What do you guys think about a channel moving back to UHF?


----------



## gwlaw99

Does anyone know when Comedy Central is going to be available in Bethesda.


----------



## systems2000

It's going to be awful hard for them to find enough open cahnnels.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/16920832
> 
> 
> What do you guys think about a channel moving back to UHF?



Unfortunately, there aren't any UHF slots available. I think channel 45 is available in Baltimore, but that's pretty much it.


----------



## Trip in VA

I'm sure they could be shoehorned in if they really wanted it, but it'd be a royal PITA. No way to move all four area VHF signals to UHF without shuffling other UHF channels around, so it would take quite a bit of money.


- Trip


----------



## J-D-H




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16919344
> 
> 
> Yes, they are having computer problems related to their PSIP encoder since yesterday. I'm sure their phone has been ringing off the hook.



Thanks for the explanation. No doubt you're right about their phone line if this problem means that many/most folks can no longer watch their broadcasts on their normal 4.x indicated channels! I suppose the only choice here is to do re-scans every day or so and hope that their remaining engineering guys (those who haven't been fired) get it fixed soon.


John


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *J-D-H* /forum/post/16921564
> 
> 
> Thanks for the explanation. No doubt you're right about their phone line if this problem means that many/most folks can no longer watch their broadcasts on their normal 4.x indicated channels! I suppose the only choice here is to do re-scans every day or so and hope that their remaining engineering guys (those who haven't been fired) get it fixed soon.
> 
> 
> John



It's been fixed since sometime before noon today.


----------



## bullwinklehdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/16919312
> 
> 
> I have a UHF/VHF antenna, so I'm not sure how this applies to me-maybe I'm missing something (wouldn't be the first time). I was under the impression that WRC was VHF, being channel 4 (4.1). When this was first discussed here after the change, the general consensus by folks on this forum was that I'd never be able to get WUSA with an attic antenna from Germantown. That was incorrect? Now I'm confused.
> 
> Frankly, If I could get WUSA, I would probably drop Comcast.
> 
> J



I'm in Germantown and I get WUSA and WJLA fine with an attic mounted Channel Master 4228 antenna and 7777 pre amp.


----------



## systems2000

What is going on with WNUV Friday primetime audio? The primary audio track keeps coming and going, when it's there. This is (at least) the second week it's been happening.


----------



## J-D-H




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/16921741
> 
> 
> It's been fixed since sometime before noon today.



Great. I'll rescan. Thanks.


----------



## tunamike

Can a strong uhf signal overload interfeer or other wise mess with a weak vhf channel and vice versa?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tunamike* /forum/post/16926376
> 
> 
> Can a strong uhf signal overload interfeer or other wise mess with a weak vhf channel and vice versa?



Yes,


Both strong signals, & their harmonics can sometimes cause problems with reception; even on different bands. When amplification is used, it becomes much more likely.


----------



## folksnake




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16919344
> 
> 
> Yes, they are having computer problems related to their PSIP encoder since yesterday.



Would this issue account for the trouble I was having today with my mother-in-laws set in Culpeper? Around 2 o'clock today I could not get a usable signal out of the WRC channels--one bar maximum signal strength.


Then, this evening when I revisited the problem (without changing anything at all) I found that the signal strength was tremendous--maybe 5 or 6 bars, about as good as any station ever gets out at her place, with essentially a perfect picture...


Or would this particular issue not affect signal strength?


----------



## tunamike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16927023
> 
> 
> Yes,
> 
> 
> Both strong signals, & their harmonics can sometimes cause problems with reception; even on different bands. When amplification is used, it becomes much more likely.



that being the case any recommendations if I have a problem with 1 VHF(12) and 2 UHF (25) and (31) If I would get the 2700 dual attentuator from winegard for the uhfs and a notch filter for 12 vhf would this kill my other signals that bad. I have ya1713 could it be cut to not recieve channel 12?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tunamike* /forum/post/16929050
> 
> 
> that being the case any recommendations if I have a problem with 1 VHF(12) and 2 UHF (25) and (31) recieve channel 12?



You may want to try the technical forum for the best suggestions.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...3#post16920393


----------



## robertforsyth

Not saying we are going to do this, nothing has been decided...


What would you give as feedback/advise on WJLA returning to UHF? I know there is an occupant on channel 39, but it seems there are more issues with high-band V than anyone thought.


Again, I am NOT announcing anything or even saying we are considering it. But as I sit here on a Sunday afternoon, I was pondering possibilities.


Any thoughts?


Thanks


- Robert


----------



## Trip in VA

I would say that it's a great idea, and to please please please tell your sister station WSET to keep channel 34 instead of returning to channel 13.


You wouldn't be able to get 39 back, but moving to 14 might work for you.


- Trip


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/16930356
> 
> 
> Not saying we are going to do this, nothing has been decided...
> 
> 
> What would you give as feedback/advise on WJLA returning to UHF? I know there is an occupant on channel 39, but it seems there are more issues with high-band V than anyone thought.
> 
> 
> Again, I am NOT announcing anything or even saying we are considering it. But as I sit here on a Sunday afternoon, I was pondering possibilities.
> 
> 
> Any thoughts?
> 
> 
> Thanks
> 
> 
> - Robert



Well for me living north of Hagerstown a return to 39 would be bad, I have little problem with 7 being on VHF


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/16930356
> 
> 
> Not saying we are going to do this, nothing has been decided...
> 
> 
> What would you give as feedback/advise on WJLA returning to UHF? I know there is an occupant on channel 39, but it seems there are more issues with high-band V than anyone thought.
> 
> 
> Again, I am NOT announcing anything or even saying we are considering it. But as I sit here on a Sunday afternoon, I was pondering possibilities.
> 
> 
> Any thoughts?
> 
> 
> Thanks
> 
> 
> - Robert



I, and many other people, would likely drive downtown and shower you with affection (platonic, of course).


I think it's wonderful news that you guys are even thinking about this, and I would LOVE for it to happen. I miss my RTN







Still trying to get something reliable for 7 and 9 set up here myself, without a whole lot of luck.


I believe that figuring out a way to get back into UHF would make the most people happy (myself included) and of course give you the coverage you used to have, give or take. But ... is there any possibility that the FCC will allow you test a higher powered VHF signal first? My thought here is twofold. First, a lot of people have already bitten the bullet and gotten a VHF antenna set up. I speculate that you're getting a great deal more coverage than WUSA is, so there might be a lot of people that spent time and money to what amounted to just getting WJLA back again. Moving back to UHF would potentially negate their efforts. Second, if such a test were successful and ended up proving that the VHF power estimates were way low, it would ultimately benefit all of the VHF broadcasters out there and not just WJLA. Of course, if such a test proved that the FCC was right about power levels and interference, all that would be lost is some time and money.


Maybe you could swap frequencies with WJAL and give them VHF 7  "ABC 39 News" sounds good to me!


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/16930356
> 
> 
> Not saying we are going to do this, nothing has been decided...
> 
> 
> What would you give as feedback/advise on WJLA returning to UHF? I know there is an occupant on channel 39, but it seems there are more issues with high-band V than anyone thought.
> 
> 
> Again, I am NOT announcing anything or even saying we are considering it. But as I sit here on a Sunday afternoon, I was pondering possibilities.
> 
> 
> Any thoughts?
> 
> 
> Thanks
> 
> 
> - Robert



I know my girlfriend and several members in her family would love it. Especially since they watch several hours of soaps on WJLA every afternoon. Ever since the switch their signal has been unreliable, while on UHF it was rock solid.




For me I was able to adjust my antennas to get it, but WJLA is also unreliable for me too. Although it is fine80% of the time. And WUSA is nonexistent for me. Prior to the switch they were both rock solid.


But even 80% reliability is not good enough. I've had to change all my season passes to the FIOS broadcast of the local digital channels. My girlfriend and several of her family members don't have that luxury since they are sticking with OTA reception only. Altough one of them did switch to DirecTV, but I have not been able to push the others to satellite/cable. I've been trying to convince my girlfriend for almost fifteen years to switch and I thought the digital transition might be the final push I needed to get her to switch, bit no luck. She is sticking with OTA.


The combination of OTA only and a slow internet connection sucks. I'm used to FIOS TV and a 50mbs connection at home. I go to my girlfriends and I have to deal with OTA only and a slow 768kbs connection. If I could at least get her to switch to a FIOS internet connection I would be pleased, but she just won't budge.


----------



## OldHud

I have no trouble receiving WJLA or WUSA. I had to add an Antennacraft Y10-7-13 antenna just below my UHF, but 7 & 9 are reliable. Stormy weather causes intermittent glitches. I assume its from lightning strikes.


I also have an old Radio Shack VU-120 on a shorter mast, and it has no trouble with 7 or 9 but sometimes it doesn't receive receive WTTG and WRC .


This is deep fringe territory, 55 miles from the DC towers. Just filing my reception report for Robert.


----------



## ProjectSHO89

If you stay on VHF, you'll probably be unable to compete with the UHF signals for the new mobile stuff that's coming.


----------



## jgantert

So did anyone lose 4-1 around 8:47 tonight? My TivoHD stopped recording Merlin at the 47 minute mark. Usually this means the signal went dead. It picked back up for The Storm at 9pm, which was strange.


Actually, looks like it went dead at 8:30, but picked back up around 8:43. Oh well. Strange recording. Guess I will have to wait until it is available to watch online. Gotta love digital TV! Good stuff, they really got the bugs worked out!


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/16930356
> 
> 
> What would you give as feedback/advise on WJLA returning to UHF?



I strongly dislike the interference I get from the lightning strikes and VHF. It's very annoying with all the thunderstorms here in the summer. I don't have any issue with UHF. For this reason alone, I would recommend the switch back to UHF. I'm not sure what, if any, affect snow will have on VHF reception in the winter.


I'm in Columbia, so my VHF and UHF signals are strong otherwise.


-John


----------



## systems2000

I noticed "Everybody Hates Chris" had that audio problem this afternoon again. Is there a problem with the feed to WNUV or is there something wrong at WNUV that has a problem with the show?


As for WJLA, my In-Laws only have a VHF antenna at the moment and get 7, 9, 11, 13, & 60 without any problems. They are located in Mercersburg, PA. If you haven't done so already, have you thought about going to a circular transmission?


----------



## dewster1977

One of the biggest problems in the DC/Baltimore/Harrisburg area is the allocation of channels, I know pre-transition this was impossible to help, but little though appears to have been given to post transition.


How could channel 36 been assigned to both DC and Harrisburg, and 21 to both Harrisburg and Front Royal. Prior to the transition I got WTTG 36 and WVPY 21 almost all the time now WTTG, WITF, WHP and WVPY are almost impossible to get.


I would have thought for as long as this was being planned and worked out, there would have been a better plan for channel assignments.


----------



## Trip in VA

WITF changed nothing. They were on 36 then and now. Same for WTTG. I don't understand how anything could have changed.


- Trip


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16932535
> 
> 
> I noticed "Everybody Hates Chris" had that audio problem this afternoon again. Is there a problem with the feed to WNUV or is there something wrong at WNUV that has a problem with the show?



According to the reports I've gotten this morning, there's a problem with the 5.1 audio. When master control switched to the back-up receiver with the stereo audio, it "worked great".


I'll look into it today.

.


----------



## tunamike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/16930356
> 
> 
> Not saying we are going to do this, nothing has been decided...
> 
> 
> What would you give as feedback/advise on WJLA returning to UHF? I know there is an occupant on channel 39, but it seems there are more issues with high-band V than anyone thought.
> 
> 
> Again, I am NOT announcing anything or even saying we are considering it. But as I sit here on a Sunday afternoon, I was pondering possibilities.
> 
> 
> Any thoughts?
> 
> 
> Thanks
> 
> 
> - Robert



I would love it and maybe you can bring the other 3 VHF 9,11,and 13 with you. That happening would seem to eliminate all the people in the Dc Baltimore areas no signal complaints in one big move. That said if thats not a doable option hopefully you all will get an increase in power like 13 WJZ did.


----------



## systems2000

WTTG was easy to get prior to the transition. It's much harder to acquire now, but that could be because I raised my antenna a few feet.


----------



## tunamike

you know you have to love this stuff I could barley get 5 nor any of the DC stations prior to the conversion now I get the DC stations 5 included better than the Baltimore ones since conversion


----------



## imref

Two quick questions:

- Just wanted to confirm that FiOS in NoVa carries MASN, MASN-2, and MASN-HD? I'm in western prince william county.


- Are there any plans for MASN to add a 2nd HD channel so we Nats fans can watch more errors in HD?


Thanks!


----------



## Jim Miller

I just got a flier from Comcast offering digital adapters for additional TVs. Not clear what the offer is for. Is this SDV or merely CQAM adapters?


If the latter then most ATSC TVs seem to come QAM equipped.


tnx

jtm


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Jim Miller* /forum/post/16935752
> 
> 
> I just got a flier from Comcast offering digital adapters for additional TVs. Not clear what the offer is for. Is this SDV or merely CQAM adapters?
> 
> 
> If the latter then most ATSC TVs seem to come QAM equipped.
> 
> 
> tnx
> 
> jtm



It's for use with analog TVs to continue to receive channels that will no longer be available in analog. It's part of Comcast's bandwidth reclamation (Project Cavalry) in order to add more HD channels and DOCSIS 3.0.


Hopefully the city will get similar fliers soon. (Haven't checked the mail today.)


----------



## ota.dt.man

 Tornado Touches Down in Md.; Tree Crumples Van on I-66 in Rosslyn 

Washington Post - Martin Weil - ‎Jul 31, 2009‎

Twisters Rip Up Property in Frederick County 

Washington Post - Martin Weil - ‎Aug 2, 2009‎


Severe Weather Sweeps Across Region 

WJLA - ‎Jul 31, 2009‎


Weather Service Confirms 2 Tornadoes On Friday 

WJZ - ‎Aug 2, 2009‎


Strong Storms Move Through Md. 

WBAL TV - ‎Jul 31, 2009‎

*Historical info*:
College Park Tornado of September 24, 2001 , Videos 


La Plata Tornado of April 28, 2002 , Videos 

Maryland tornadoes by county 

NWS Sterling, VA
*While we're on the subject of high winds .....*

Obviously, no antenna can withstand a direct hit from a tornado. However, is your rooftop antenna as secure as it can be against severe thunderstorms?
How far above the last mast mounting bracket is your antenna?
Are guy wires properly installed if needed for your installation?
Did you use schedule-80 galvanized pipe?


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16934785
> 
> 
> WTTG was easy to get prior to the transition. It's much harder to acquire now, but that could be because I raised my antenna a few feet.



Same for me, WTTG was one of my better channels, but since the transition I don't get it, I know WITF was going to increase power from 50kW to 124kW, but I don't know if they have or when they did, but something happened.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/16933708
> 
> 
> According to the reports I've gotten this morning, there's a problem with the 5.1 audio. When master control switched to the back-up receiver with the stereo audio, it "worked great".
> 
> 
> I'll look into it today.
> 
> .



Just keeping you honest.









Thanks.


----------



## dg28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/16930356
> 
> 
> Not saying we are going to do this, nothing has been decided...
> 
> 
> What would you give as feedback/advise on WJLA returning to UHF? I know there is an occupant on channel 39, but it seems there are more issues with high-band V than anyone thought.
> 
> 
> Again, I am NOT announcing anything or even saying we are considering it. But as I sit here on a Sunday afternoon, I was pondering possibilities.
> 
> 
> Any thoughts?
> 
> 
> Thanks
> 
> 
> - Robert



Please do move back to UHF!! I have much difficulty getting WJLADT on both my antennas, while both of them get WUSADT and the other D.C. stations perfectly fine. Can't even get WJLADT on an indoor UHF/VHF antenna when I get all other DC stations perfectly fine.


----------



## ota.dt.man




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/16930356
> 
> 
> Not saying we are going to do this, nothing has been decided...
> 
> 
> What would you give as feedback/advise on WJLA returning to UHF? I know there is an occupant on channel 39, but it seems there are more issues with high-band V than anyone thought.
> 
> 
> Again, I am NOT announcing anything or even saying we are considering it. But as I sit here on a Sunday afternoon, I was pondering possibilities.
> 
> 
> Any thoughts?
> 
> 
> Thanks
> 
> 
> - Robert



Robert,


Thank you for asking for feedback form the AVS forum.


Post 6/12, we've had much more trouble with reception dropouts for both WJLA & WUSA than when both stations DTV transmissions were UHF. We are 40 miles from the WJLA tower.


Ideally, it would be great if WJLA, WUSA, WBAL, and WJZ all broadcast a UHF signal. Thus, a single UHF antenna could receive all the DTV programming in the Baltimore / Washington, DC metro area.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16930364
> 
> 
> but moving to 14 might work for you.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Actually, 49 would be the best (W49DC-D would have to move). 45 is open, but it might have problems with the Baltimore grouping.


20, 22, 23, 31, 32, 40, & 43 could be other options, but LD's may have to move.


----------



## Trip in VA

49 has spacing problems with WHSV I think. (Seriously.)


If WHSV were to move to a lower channel (and I seriously like that idea), then 49 would be a good option, absolutely.


22 - Spacing problem with WRIC-22.

23 - Spacing problem with WNVC-24.

31 - Spacing problem with WNVT-30.

32 - Spacing problem with WVIR-32.

40 - WNUV?

43 - Spacing problem with WMPT-42.


20 could be made to work, but it's a tight squeeze with WVPY-21 and WBOC-21.


- Trip


----------



## dewster1977

What is the min. distance between co-channels suppose to be?


----------



## Trip in VA

122 miles, though it can be closer for existing allotments so long as an interference study proves that less than 0.5% interference will result.


- Trip


----------



## dewster1977

Looking at the FCC site I don't see many channels that would be possible, although there are many already underspaced. Didn't the FCC use to have an allocation of what channels could be assinged to certain cities, or did they do away with it, when channels starting chosing to stay with their current channel or pick a new one? Wouldn't it have been easier if the FCC had just assigned a station a channel. The mid-atlantic appears to be plaqued with this problem. NY, Philly, DC/Baltimore, Richmond, just a few I have looked at it the different forums.


----------



## Trip in VA

Dewster:



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16938905
> 
> 
> 122 miles, though *it can be closer for existing allotments so long as an interference study proves that less than 0.5% interference will result*.



Stations can also get interference waivers from stations involved. WWBT got one recently to boost power despite causing something like 4% interference to WVEC.


And yes, there's a lot of short-spacing.


- Trip


----------



## mkfs

What with the mess that VHF propagation prediction has brought us, I got to wondering....


Both VHF and UHF channels have some minimum geographical separation, +/- factors from interference studies, etc. I've read but forgotten the SOP.


But we have a new potential clash. You could have oh RF 23 and RF 37 nearby, even on the same tower, with no issue.... but suppose both are DTV "Channel 6"? I suspect the average DTV decoder is going to get very confused...There's some provision for cooperative use, al-la "Channel 30" but what happens when Jill AVS'er, halfway inbetween, has a big antenna and gets to choose?


The current "Channel" separation is a historic holdover from NTSC but I wonder if the FCC has set out a hard rule on this issue?


----------



## dewster1977

If what you are refering to is having the same RF ch in 2 different directions I have that very problem. My DTT901 dosen't like it to well, WVPY 42 RF21 50kW at 64 miles 211 magnetic and WHP 21 RF21 at 500kW 65 miles 67 magnetic. I have trouble getting either of them .


----------



## systems2000

I missed WNUV (40) and WTAJ on 32.


In an overlap area, where the transmissions are marginally close to each other in receive level, you don't get either station. I believe you need a very large difference to drive one or the other station into the S/N ratio for reception.


As for two stations broadcasting the same Virtual Channel Number, that's already happening with 24 (WUTB and WNPB (WV PBS)). The first RF channel gets the first listing, while the second RF channel gets the next and continues (ie. 24-1, 24-1, 24-2, 24-2, 24-3, 24-3, etc).


----------



## machpost

RCN has just announced that they've selected TiVo as their primary DVR platform: http://investor.rcn.com/releasedetai...leaseID=400858 


According to the press release, RCN is the first cable provider to make the TiVo their standard DVR offering.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16923037
> 
> 
> What is going on with WNUV Friday primetime audio? The primary audio track keeps coming and going, when it's there. This is (at least) the second week it's been happening.



I found the problem - I may have mentioned that we are involved with a mobile video test right now. The people doing the test brought in a rack of equipment that has a new HD encoder in it, which I provided signals for. When they set it up on Friday 7/24, they set the HD encoder to take the first two channels of audio that are embedded in the video stream, i.e., left and right. That didn't effect us too much during the day, because the 5.1 channel synthesizer leaves a lot of the dialog in the left and right channels, but at prime-time, we switch in the CW satellite feed which has real 5.1 audio, and almost all of the dialog is in the center channel, which we weren't broadcasting. This makes the dialog and some of the music sound really low, while other stereo music and some sound effects sound really loud (since you turned up the TV to hear the dialog).


As far as master control could see, they were sending out 5.1 audio. Unfortunately, the off-air receiver only shows a stereo downmix, so all they could see was that the audio was low, not that there was no center channel or surround audio.


I reconfigured their encoder to use the seperate 5.1 audio, which corrected the problem.


Thanks again for bringing this to my attention.


.


----------



## hsweiss

Has anyone heard when WUTB or WBAL will be increasing power? I had email from a WUTB engineer saying they would be increasing to 290 KW and there was a WBAL filing with the FCC to experiment with higher power levels. WUTB seems to have gotten a bit better of late (is this because of the extras 90 KW?) but WBAL is still a toss up - sometimes ok and sometimes horrible.


----------



## systems2000

Mark,


You're awsome!!


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/16939830
> 
> 
> RCN has just announced that they've selected TiVo as their primary DVR platform: http://investor.rcn.com/releasedetai...leaseID=400858
> 
> 
> According to the press release, RCN is the first cable provider to make the TiVo their standard DVR offering.



Sounds better than the stripped-down, buggy TiVo software Comcast is trying to use on Motorola DVRs.


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16939804
> 
> 
> 
> As for two stations broadcasting the same Virtual Channel Number, that's already happening with 24 (WUTB and WNPB (WV PBS)). The first RF channel gets the first listing, while the second RF channel gets the next and continues (ie. 24-1, 24-1, 24-2, 24-2, 24-3, 24-3, etc).




I'd assume that what happens here with VC30 is the one transmitter declares itself as 30-1,2,3,4,5; and the second as 30.6,7,8,9...But that's deliberate cooperation. I was thinking of 2 isolated stations where a viewer could just happen to see both.


But in your case they are interleaved? I can see several problems with that. First the viewer confusion as to which station is which. [Not a major problem on PBS...unless it's beg-a-thon week.]


Secondly, when one goes down, does the viewer then get 24.1,3,5 or does it appear as 1,2,3 until the other station gets back up?


----------



## pclement




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dewster1977* /forum/post/16939661
> 
> 
> If what you are refering to is having the same RF ch in 2 different directions I have that very problem. My DTT901 dosen't like it to well, WVPY 42 RF21 50kW at 64 miles 211 magnetic and WHP 21 RF21 at 500kW 65 miles 67 magnetic. I have trouble getting either of them .



I have the same issue with channel 5 FOX out of Washington and channel 33 PBS out of Harrisburg, PA. Both are on RF 36. I can never get channel 33 and only ocassionly get 5. I can get other channels from both markets most of the time. I do not have a solution to this problem. It seems the channels simpply cancel each other out.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mkfs* /forum/post/16940984
> 
> 
> I'd assume that what happens here with VC30 is the one transmitter declares itself as 30-1,2,3,4,5; and the second as 30.6,7,8,9...But that's deliberate cooperation. I was thinking of 2 isolated stations where a viewer could just happen to see both.



That's what is happening in the above case. One is PBS out of WV and the other is MyNetwork out of Baltimore.


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mkfs* /forum/post/16940984
> 
> 
> But in your case they are interleaved? I can see several problems with that. First the viewer confusion as to which station is which. [Not a major problem on PBS...unless it's beg-a-thon week.]



That is how the CECB's handle the "Virtual Channel" information supplied.


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mkfs* /forum/post/16940984
> 
> 
> Secondly, when one goes down, does the viewer then get 24.1,3,5 or does it appear as 1,2,3 until the other station gets back up?



Nothing changes. The information is retained (just like those viewers on rotors). You end up with alternating channels that are blank. You still have 24-1, 24-1, 24-2, 24-2, 24-3, 24-3.


----------



## ota.dt.man

It would be great if The FOX Report with Shepard Smith was available to OTA viewers. A 30-minute Fox Report would be serious competition for the three current OTA nightly news programs.


At the very least, The FOX Report should be test marketed in Washington, DC on WTTG.


Perhaps if enough OTA viewers emailed or called and expressed interest in The FOX Report, they might offer it.
 WTTG FOX5 
[email protected]
[email protected]
1-888-369-4762


----------



## chug0lug

So I was trying to help an elderly friend get figured out with the basics (4,5,7 & 9). She had an old antenna that had been up since about 1978 and was only getting the upper VHF channels (7,9). Unfortunately, I know just enough to get into a mess, but not enough to figure everything out. She purchased a Winegard YA 7698p. My father and I put it up tonight and we still only get the upper VHF channels. The only thing we can think of as a potential problem is the old antenna had the old twin flat-lead cable, so we had to use an adapter to connect to the coax connection on the new antenna. Would this be the problem or is there other issues we aren't thinking about? The antenna is on the roof and I'd gues she's about 50 miles from the stations (Remington, VA). Also, there is no amp or booster I'm aware of that's connected. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated as I really don't have a clue. I didn't expect 98 signal strength, but this evening we got absolute 0. Thanks


----------



## Trip in VA

Twin lead is TERRIBLE for UHF. You might want to swap that out with some RG-6.


- Trip


----------



## HDTV Sparky




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chug0lug* /forum/post/16944589
> 
> 
> So I was trying to help an elderly friend get figured out with the basics (4,5,7 & 9). She had an old antenna that had been up since about 1978 and was only getting the upper VHF channels (7,9). Unfortunately, I know just enough to get into a mess, but not enough to figure everything out. She purchased a Winegard YA 7698p. My father and I put it up tonight and we still only get the upper VHF channels. The only thing we can think of as a potential problem is the old antenna had the old twin flat-lead cable, so we had to use an adapter to connect to the coax connection on the new antenna. Would this be the problem or is there other issues we aren't thinking about? The antenna is on the roof and I'd gues she's about 50 miles from the stations (Remington, VA). Also, there is no amp or booster I'm aware of that's connected. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated as I really don't have a clue. I didn't expect 98 signal strength, but this evening we got absolute 0. Thanks



Possible, the Tv is set to cable instead of 'over the air'

It would get VHF OK, But not any UHF stations!


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chug0lug* /forum/post/16944589
> 
> 
> She purchased a Winegard YA 7698p. My father and I put it up tonight and we still only get the upper VHF channels. The only thing we can think of as a potential problem is the old antenna had the old twin flat-lead cable, so we had to use an adapter to connect to the coax connection on the new antenna.



Just as Trip stated, I would also suspect the twin lead as the main problem. Replacing the cable with some good RG-6 should improve things dramatically. The 7698 antenna is about as good as it gets. Just going by the generic TV Fool results for Remington shows DC, Charlottesville, & Richmond stations available.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *HDTV Sparky* /forum/post/16944747
> 
> 
> Possible, the Tv is set to cable instead of 'over the air'
> 
> It would get VHF OK, But not any UHF stations!



If they're using a NTSC television and a CECB, it will not matter.


----------



## quentenstash

While playing around with the converter box tonight, I came across 14-2. First time I've ever come across Univision adding a second channel, so I'm curious to see what it'll be.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chug0lug* /forum/post/16944589
> 
> 
> The antenna is on the roof and I'd gues she's about 50 miles from the stations (Remington, VA). Also, there is no amp or booster I'm aware of that's connected. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated as I really don't have a clue.



How high off the roof is the antenna? Are there any trees or tall buildings near?


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chug0lug* /forum/post/16944589
> 
> 
> So I was trying to help an elderly friend get figured out with the basics (4,5,7 & 9). She had an old antenna that had been up since about 1978 and was only getting the upper VHF channels (7,9). Unfortunately, I know just enough to get into a mess, but not enough to figure everything out. She purchased a Winegard YA 7698p. My father and I put it up tonight and we still only get the upper VHF channels. The only thing we can think of as a potential problem is the old antenna had the old twin flat-lead cable, so we had to use an adapter to connect to the coax connection on the new antenna. Would this be the problem or is there other issues we aren't thinking about? The antenna is on the roof and I'd gues she's about 50 miles from the stations (Remington, VA). Also, there is no amp or booster I'm aware of that's connected. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated as I really don't have a clue. I didn't expect 98 signal strength, but this evening we got absolute 0. Thanks



There aren't any lower VHF channels in the DC area any more. 7 and 9 are the only VHF channels now. Everything else is UHF isn't it? Are there any lower VHF channels in other cities?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/16945454
> 
> 
> There aren't any lower VHF channels in the DC area any more. 7 and 9 are the only VHF channels now. Everything else is UHF isn't it? Are there any lower VHF channels in other cities?



Yes, there are around 40 full power stations broadcasting on VHF low 2-6 in the US. WBRA PBS 15 in Roanoke, VA is on VHF 3 - and is not making for many happy OTA viewers. The most prominent low VHF station in terms of population coverage is WPVI ABC 6 on VHF 6 in Philadelphia which is now cranking at 30 kW which is a lot for digital low VHF.


In the DC area, there is the low power analog WDCN-LP 6 in Arlington, but I don't know if the station is still only broadcasting audio on FM 87.7 or has fired up a video broadcast yet. WMDO-LD Telefutura 47 is on VHF 8 at 198 Watts, but I have never manage to lock to the signal from my attic in Sterling.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/16930356
> 
> 
> What would you give as feedback/advise on WJLA returning to UHF? I know there is an occupant on channel 39, but it seems there are more issues with high-band V than anyone thought.



Catching up on posts here...


For the record, I have had little difficulty in getting WJLA 7 at 30 kW at 16 miles since the switch. From the top floor and attic crawlspace, I have been able to lock on to WJLA 7 with a Winegard upper VHF antenna aimed at Baltimore (~50 degrees away from DC direction); in a short test was able to get WJLA 7 and WUSA 9 with a CM 4221 4 Bay bowtie, and even get WJLA 7 with a Silver Sensor antenna. Maybe WJLA could look into increasing power to 45 or 50 kW if the FCC is willing to consider it.


My upper VHF problems have been with the Baltimore stations at 43 miles. Lost WJZ 13 when they switched to the omni-directional antenna at 9.8 kW (was able to lock to it at night sometimes with dropouts). When WJZ 13 got their STA and increased to 27.5 kW, then I could get it just fine. Lost WJZ 13 last week when they switched to the new directional antenna which is putting out around 8 kW in my direction. I can detect WJZ on the signal meter, but can't get a reliable lock. Oh well. Have not been able to get WBAL 11 at the miserable 5 kW with the exception of 1 or 2 brief periods at night since the switch. Figure I should be to get WBAL when they test the 26.6 kW power.


Have to do more experiments with alternate upper VHF antenna locations to see if I can get WJZ 13 back. If I can't, but can get WBAL, that will mean I can get 3 NBC stations OTA (WRC 4, WHAG 25, WBAL 11), but only 1 CBS station, WUSA 9. WJZ is a CBS owned & operated station which means no sub-channels which is a useful option to have for CBS sports events.


----------



## chug0lug




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16944992
> 
> 
> Just as Trip stated, I would also suspect the twin lead as the main problem. Replacing the cable with some good RG-6 should improve things dramatically. The 7698 antenna is about as good as it gets. Just going by the generic TV Fool results for Remington shows DC, Charlottesville, & Richmond stations available.



Thanks for all of the advice. We'll try using RG-6 and see if that makes things better. I'll also check the TV setting to make sure it is correct. I'll post our results once we try the new cable.


----------



## fmw63

In Landover Hills, and not at the top either







and surrounded by tall trees.

For DC stations west, I'm using an RS VU-190, and for Channel 30, a DB-4 and Join-tenna, (the Join-tenna actually made the ch30 reception worse, which means not there most of the time), so maybe I'll go back to just a combiner. The amp is an Antennacraft 10G212.


Since the VU-190 is a vhf/uhf combo, I get all of the DC stations 10 miles away, and even Baltimore's Ch2 (on RF38), which must be their tower location, because I could get 13 when it was using rf38. Still haven't seen the real Ch38, don't know if they're broadcasting yet.


For Baltimore 30 miles to the north, a GH4, the smallest one here : http://www.jedsoft.org/fun/antennas/dtv/gh.html 


This one gets 2, 11, 13, 22 from Annapolis, 45, 54 & 67. 24 is still a no-show. The amp is an HDP269 and inside, more boost with an Eagle Aspen 25db dist amp, but they will be replaced with an 8275.


Not too bad for being surround by trees, maybe I'll post some pics of the trees later...




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/16945756
> 
> 
> Catching up on posts here...
> 
> 
> For the record, I have had little difficulty in getting WJLA 7 at 30 kW at 16 miles since the switch...
> 
> My upper VHF problems have been with the Baltimore stations at 43 miles. Lost WJZ 13 when they switched to the omni-directional antenna at 9.8 kW (was able to lock to it at night sometimes with dropouts).... Oh well. Have not been able to get WBAL 11 at the miserable 5 kW with the exception of 1 or 2 brief periods at night since the switch.


----------



## pclement

This site is a little slow today so I thought I would post a listing of what I get for OTA since the transition from the Baltimore/Washington/Harrisburg areas.


Excellent = good signal 95% of the time without moving the antennae (Keep at 220°)

Good = good signal 95% of the time after moving antennae.

Fair = good signal 80% of the time

Poor = rarely get a good signal



Off The Air and DirecTV Satellite Local Channels




No. Channel Call Affiliation Description Reception Angle

1 2-1 WMAR ABC HD Excellent 220°

2 2-2 WMAR ABC SD Excellent 220°

3 2-3 WMAR WEATHER HD Excellent 220°

4 3-1 KYW CBS HD Good 45°

5 4-1 WRC NBC HD Excellent 220°

6 4-2 WRC WEATHER SD Excellent 220°

7 4-3 WRC SPORTS SD Excellent 220°

8 5-1 WTTG FOX HD Poor 225°

9 6-1 WPVI ABC HD Good 45°

10 6-2 WPVI ABC HD Good 45°

11 6-3 WPVI WEATHER HD Good 45°

12 7-1 WJLA ABC HD Excellent 220°

13 7-2 WJLA WEATHER HD Excellent 220°

14 7-3 WJLA RTV SD Excellent 220°

15 8 HR WGAL NBC SD D*-SAT N/A

16 8-1 WGAL NBC HD Excellent 220°

17 8-2 WGAL THIS SD Excellent 220°

18 9-1 WUSA CBS HD Excellent 220°

19 9-2 WUSA WEATHER HD Excellent 220°

20 11-1 WBAL NBC HD Excellent 220°

21 11-2 WBAL WEATHER HD Excellent 220°

22 12-1 WHYY PBS HD Good 45°

23 12-2 WHYY Y-ART SD Good 45°

24 12-3 WHYY Y-INFO SD Good 45°

25 13-1 WJZ CBS HD Excellent 220°

26 14-1 WFDC UNI SPANISH Good 220°

27 15-1 WLYH CW HD Excellent 220°

28 17-1 WPHL MYNET HD Good 45°

29 17-2 WPHL THIS SD Good 45°

30 20-1 WDCA MYNET HD Good 220°

31 21 HR WHPD CBS SD D*-SAT N/A

32 21-1 WHPD CBS HD Excellent 220°

33 21-2 WHPD MYNET SD Excellent 220°

34 22-1 WMPT PBS HD Excellent 220°

35 22-2 WMPT PBS SD Excellent 220°

36 22-3 WMPT VME SD Excellent 220°

37 24-1 WUTB MYNET HD Excellent 220°

38 25-1 IND SD Good 45°

39 26-1 WETA PBS HD Good 220°

40 26-2 WETA CREATE SD Good 220°

41 26-3 WMPT FAMILY SD Good 220°

42 26-4 WMPT TV26 SD Good 220°

43 27 HR WHTM ABC SD D*-SAT N/A

44 27-1 WHTM ABC HD Good 270°

45 27-2 WHTM MYNET SD Good 270°

46 30.1 WNVC WORLDVIEWSD Poor 272°

47 30.2 WNVC NHK WORLDSD - JAPANESE Poor 272°

48 30.3 WNVC MCN SD - CHINESE Poor 272°

49 30.4 WNVC RTV SD - RUSSIA Poor 272°

50 30.5 WNVC BVN DUTCHSD - AL JAZEERA Poor 272°

51 30.6 WNVC SABC SD - SOUTH AFR Poor 272°

52 30.7 WNVC FRANCE 24SD Poor 272°

53 30.8 WNVC NTA SD - NIGERIA TV Poor 272°

54 30.9 WNVC VTV4 SD - VIETAMESE Poor 272°

55 30.10 WNVC EURONEWSSD Poor 272°

56 32-1 WHUT PBS SD Good 220°

57 33 HR WITF PBS SD D*-SAT N/A

58 33-1 WITF PBS None

59 43 HR WPMT FOX SD D*-SAT N/A

60 43-1 WPMT FOX HD Excellent 220°

61 45-1 WBFF FOX HD Excellent 220°

62 45-2 WBFF THIS SD Excellent 220°

63 49-1 WGCB CHRISTIANSD Excellent 220°

64 49-2 WGCB MY FAMILYSD Excellent 220°

65 50-1 WDCW CW HD Excellent 220°

66 50-2 WDCW THIS SD Excellent 220°

67 54-1 WNUV CW HD Excellent 220°

68 54-2 WNUV THIS SD Excellent 220°

69 66-1 WMPB ION SD Excellent 220°

70 66-2 WMPB QUBO SD Excellent 220°

71 66-3 WMPB ION W SD Excellent 220°

72 66-4 WMPB WORSHIP SD Excellent 220°

73 67-1 WMPB PBS HD Excellent 220°

74 67-2 WMPB PBS SD Excellent 220°

75 67-3 WMPB VME SD Excellent 220°


Antennae: Radio Shack RS VU-90

Pre-Amplifier: Channel Master CM 7777

Signal Booster Distributer: Channel Master CM 3044 -4 Outlets


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Comcast expands county digital service*


Company providing free converters to most basic cable customers


By MARC SHAPIRO Staff Writer


Published 08/05/09

*Comcast will upgrade its cable service in Anne Arundel County and Annapolis this fall, giving a free digital converter to almost all its remaining basic cable subscribers.*


Advertisement In a nationwide program, Comcast will give converters and digital-cable boxes to thousands of residential and business subscribers to free up space on its network for faster Internet, more high-definition channels and more video on demand.


"It's going to benefit all of our customers," said Scott Allison, senior vice president of regional operations. "By going digital, we'll be able to compress the digital signal to free up more space."


The World of More program will target Comcast's remaining analog customers over the next two years. Company officials declined to say how many county subscribers will be offered the scanner, but estimated it at about 15 percent nationwide.


Subscribers to the expanded basic service in the county and Annapolis can ask for the converters immediately. Starting next month, the conversion will mean some changes in the channel lineups.


Limited basic customers, which Allison described as a small number, will not get the upgrade.


Comcast said the change will allow it to make more efficient use of its countywide fiber-optic infrastructure. One analog channel takes up the same amount of space as 10 digital or three HD channels, Allison said.


"The customers want more choice, more services, and they want it when they want it," he said. "Down the road, we could have infinite amounts of on demand."

*Comcast will ship one digital set-top box and two converters with do-it-yourself instructions on request. Customers also can pick up the boxes at customer-service centers in Millersville and Annapolis.*


For an $18 fee, Comcast will send a technician to install the box and converters.


"It's so easy to do this," Allison said. "These DTAs (digital-to-analog converters) are very fast. It happens in minutes."

*Channels with start to switch on or about Sept. 28, when the first 24 channels will go digital. Another 23 will switch around Oct. 28, and 38 new high-definition channels will launch Oct. 10, officials said.*


John Lyons, county cable administrator, said most cable companies are making an effort to go digital.


"It's part of the transition with the whole cable industry to make space for the HD channels, which everybody wants," he said. "They just have to go to a more efficient way of sending the cable channels."


There also is an element of competition. Verizon offers all-digital television and Internet services through its FiOS network.


Comcast, however, remains the county's largest cable company. It has more of the county's 151,921 cable subscribers than either FiOS or Broadstripe, according to Lyons' office.


And while company officials said the changeover won't be tied to a rate hike, it follows a 6.4 percent increase in November, according to TV4US, a nonprofit organization that tracks cable-consumer issues.


Lyons said he expects some customers to be frustrated by having to deal with new technology and changes in the way their TVs work.


Unlike Comcast, Broadstripe still promotes its analog service.


"There's a lot of folks out there that are cost-conscious consumers and they're just looking for a lower-cost alternative," said John Bjorn, general manager for Broadstripe's mid-Atlantic region. "Probably about 30 percent of our subscribers are analog."


However, he expects all customers to change over to digital eventually.


"Even they are going to transition eventually because everybody wants to see more things, people want to see the high definition," Lyons said.


Yesterday, the company announced a new pricing program called Broadstripe Forever, which locks in rates for life for good customers who sign up for voice, TV and video.


The company began offering the lifetime price guarantee Monday to new and existing residential customers for about $130 for video, high-speed Internet and phone service. It will be available for a limited time only, according to a release.

http://www.hometownannapolis.com/new...l-service.html


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pclement* /forum/post/16947999
> 
> 
> This site is a little slow today so I thought I would post a listing of what I get for OTA since the transition from the Baltimore/Washington/Harrisburg area.



What area do you live?


----------



## systems2000

I don't care about HD. If I wanted HD, I'd go outside and see it in Super HD (my own eyes). Using words like "everybody" needs to be stricken from politics and media.


----------



## URFloorMatt

When did WRC start broadcasting Dr. Phil in HD? Just happened to flip past and noticed it was HD today.


----------



## pclement

Southern York County, PA.


----------



## tunamike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/16945454
> 
> 
> There aren't any lower VHF channels in the DC area any more. 7 and 9 are the only VHF channels now. Everything else is UHF isn't it? Are there any lower VHF channels in other cities?



for ::::chugolug



have to agree are you sure you are trying to get virtual channels 2 4 and 5 by using there rf UHF frequencies


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> When did WRC start broadcasting Dr. Phil in HD? Just happened to flip past and noticed it was HD today.



They told me it wouldn't be until fall, unless someone screwed up and used the "HD equipment" improperly! Was "Ellen" in HD?


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/16953023
> 
> 
> They told me it wouldn't be until fall, unless someone screwed up and used the "HD equipment" improperly! Was "Ellen" in HD?



It was.


----------



## chug0lug




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chug0lug* /forum/post/16946324
> 
> 
> Thanks for all of the advice. We'll try using RG-6 and see if that makes things better. I'll also check the TV setting to make sure it is correct. I'll post our results once we try the new cable.




Well, we tried the new cable and things got better, though we never were able to pick up nbc (4.1). We only got a marginal signal using the existing mounting hardware and location, so we tried just taking on the higher part of the roof and things go much better. Then she decided she didn't want the antenna there 'cause it would be ugly and since she basically doesn't watch TV much at all, she said it wasnt' worth the trouble. So after all of that, she just had the old VHF only antenna put back up.


As far as the whole VHF/UHF thing, I realize only upper VHF frequencies are being used, so when I orginally posted trying to get 4, 5, 7 & 9 I was talking about the actual channel I tune the TV to. I know "4.1 and 5.1" are actually some UHF frequency, but I don't follow this stuff enough to know what they are. Guess I should have said NBC and Fox. Thanks for all of the help and suggestions, now we just gotta see if we can return the antenna


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chug0lug* /forum/post/16954406
> 
> 
> Well, we tried the new cable and things got better, though we never were able to pick up nbc (4.1). We only got a marginal signal using the existing mounting hardware and location, so we tried just taking on the higher part of the roof and things go much better. Then she decided she didn't want the antenna there 'cause it would be ugly and since she basically doesn't watch TV much at all, she said it wasnt' worth the trouble. So after all of that, she just had the old VHF only antenna put back up.
> 
> 
> As far as the whole VHF/UHF thing, I realize only upper VHF frequencies are being used, so when I orginally posted trying to get 4, 5, 7 & 9 I was talking about the actual channel I tune the TV to. I know "4.1 and 5.1" are actually some UHF frequency, but I don't follow this stuff enough to know what they are. Guess I should have said NBC and Fox. Thanks for all of the help and suggestions, now we just gotta see if we can return the antenna



Check your address on TVfool.com. It will generate a table for you that lists what channels you ought to be able to get. Additionally, it will list the "Real" and "Virt" channels. The "Virt" channels are what you know them by -- like 4, 5, 7, 9. The "Real" channels will tell you whether a specific channel is VHF/UHF. For example, 4.1 is 48, 5.1 is 36, 7.1 is 7, and 9.1 is 9. (There's no way to know this without looking it up, basically.)


I hope I'm not giving you old news -- my apologies, if I am.


----------



## kobra860

When is Comcast getting Spike in HD?


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/16956520
> 
> 
> Check your address on TVfool.com. It will generate a table for you that lists what channels you ought to be able to get. Additionally, it will list the "Real" and "Virt" channels. The "Virt" channels are what you know them by -- like 4, 5, 7, 9. The "Real" channels will tell you whether a specific channel is VHF/UHF. For example, 4.1 is 48, 5.1 is 36, 7.1 is 7, and 9.1 is 9. (There's no way to know this without looking it up, basically.)
> 
> 
> I hope I'm not giving you old news -- my apologies, if I am.



The very first post of this thread also has pretty comprehensive information like this


----------



## AntAltMike

Yesterday, between 4:30 and 5:00 PM, a CECB box I was stepping through tuned to a local 15.3, which appeared to be a Spanish weather subchannel. This box locates Univision on 14.1 and shows a blank screen on 14.2. The 15.3 was gone within minutes, and never got entered into the box channel momory. Anyone know anything about it?


----------



## sgtjim

Title says it all.


----------



## jgantert

NBC NFL game not in HD on 4-1 or 11-1. What gives?


----------



## sgtjim

Glorious HD in So. Md Comcast country on 4.1


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/16971888
> 
> 
> NBC NFL game not in HD on 4-1 or 11-1. What gives?



In HD on D* on 4.


----------



## URFloorMatt

For the record, I tuned in this morning and Early Today was in HD on WRC. With this, Dr. Phil, and Ellen now in HD, WRC has recently added 2.5 hours of fresh HD every weekday. Just think how much they'd have if they could get their local newscasts in HD.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Deezul* /forum/post/16972416
> 
> 
> In HD on D* on 4.



So how could it be in SD on OTA, but HD on D*?










OTA had the commercials in HD but the game was 4:3. 11-1 had the thunderstorm warning weatherbug, so maybe they had to be in SD. 4-1 didn't so they should had been in HD.


----------



## systems2000

The pre-season game was 1080i and 16:9 on WHAG-DT.


Did anyone else notice WHAG-Dt go off the air for a period over the weekend? WWPX-DT has been off the air since about 9:40 (or was it 10:40) last night. Did they loose a transmitter or receiver?


I wasn't too happy about it happening during "Blazing Saddles." Did anyone else pickup on _i_ON "Blanking" of the word "******," but allowing the word "*****" to be broadcast. For Pete Sake, it's a Mel Brooks film. Of course it's going to be full of pre-Political Correctness "Stereo-Types."










They cut the film also, because the part of the scene where Hedley starts to chock on the hard candy he is sucking on is missing.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/16973631
> 
> 
> So how could it be in SD on OTA, but HD on D*?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> OTA had the commercials in HD but the game was 4:3. 11-1 had the thunderstorm warning weatherbug, so maybe they had to be in SD. 4-1 didn't so they should had been in HD.



That's strange, it was in HD on RCN.


----------



## SJKurtzke




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/16973463
> 
> 
> For the record, I tuned in this morning and Early Today was in HD on WRC. With this, Dr. Phil, and Ellen now in HD, WRC has recently added 2.5 hours of fresh HD every weekday. Just think how much they'd have if they could get their local newscasts in HD.



I have a feeling NBC will be a national cable network before WRC has their newscasts in HD


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> I have a feeling NBC will be a national cable network before WRC has their newscasts in HD



Are they the last NBC O&O not to go HD for their local news.


As for "Blazing Saddles" - I'll watch it on DVD. I can't stand all the screen crap on ION - "Positively Entertaining"


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/16971888
> 
> 
> NBC NFL game not in HD on 4-1 or 11-1. What gives?



The beginning of the game was in HD with 5.1 audio OTA on 4-1.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/16974366
> 
> 
> Are they the last NBC O&O not to go HD for their local news.



No, the NBC affiliate in San Diego is an O&O and not yet in HD either.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Monday, August 10, 2009, 2:07pm EDT | Modified: Monday, August 10, 2009, 2:24pm

*Washington Redskins expand media partnership with Comcast*


Washington Business Journal - by Tierney Plumb Staff Reporter


Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic has signed a new multi-year deal to be the exclusive local high-definition (HD) provider for Washington Redskins preseason games.

*The Bethesda-based network will air the first, second and fourth preseason games in HD, while NBC-4 will cover those games in standard-definition.*


“This is huge because sports fans flock to HD, and it’s driven growth,” said Tim Fitzpatrick, spokesman for Comcast.


The Redskins’ preseason opener pits the team against the Baltimore Ravens on Aug. 13.


The deal also includes a one-on-one interview with Redskins Coach Jim Zorn on Mondays, as well as exclusive interviews with other members of the coaching staff.


Comcast SportsNet will continue to air its pre and post game shows, Redskins Kickoff and Redskins Postgame Live.


On-air personalities for the 2009 NFL season include Chick Hernandez, Kelli Johnson, Trevor Matich, Brian Mitchell, Antonio Freeman, Doc Walker, and Doug Gansler.


Comcast SportsNet will keep broadcasting live from its set at FedExField for every home game.

http://www.bizjournals.com/washingto...0/daily13.html


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic has signed a new multi-year deal to be the exclusive local high-definition (HD) provider for Washington Redskins preseason games.
> 
> *The Bethesda-based network will air the first, second and fourth preseason games in HD, while NBC-4 will cover those games in standard-definition.*



Is WRC carrying the games in SD because CSN wants to claim HD exclusivity for the broadcasts, or are the games exclusively in HD on CSN because WRC is incapable or unwilling to broadcast them in HD due to some technical incapability? It wouldn't surprise me if it were the latter. I can't remember who broadcast the preseason games over-the-air last season, (was it WUSA?) but I'm almost certain they were in HD.


----------



## Marcus Carr

They were in HD on WUSA.


----------



## URFloorMatt

I believe all preseason games will be in HD this year. WRC may actually be the only local broadcaster not carrying preseason games in HD. Deplorable. And to think, they led the way with color broadcasting and were one of the test broadcasters for HDTV. How far they've fallen.


I'm glad FiOS has CSN-MA HD, even though I will probably watch very little preseason football.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/16976677
> 
> 
> They were in HD on WUSA.



So was my Dynex TV somehow converting the 4-1 signal to SD just for the football game, but back to HD for the commercials? I call BS on that one. 4-1 isn't WUSA, that's 9-1, right? The game was on 4-1 last night for sure, and was in 4:3 for atleast the first quarter (as far as I made it).


Maybe since it was a retro-themed game, they decided to forgo HD as well to complete the retro look and feel?


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/16976929
> 
> 
> WRC may actually be the only local broadcaster not carrying preseason games in HD.



I'm not sure about that. Last year it was the Skins and the Colts in the pre-season opener on NBC, and that game was in HD. I think someone over at NBC just F'd up, or maybe some storms passed thru earlier in the day and knocked out their equipment.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/16976950
> 
> 
> So was my Dynex TV somehow converting the 4-1 signal to SD just for the football game, but back to HD for the commercials? I call BS on that one. 4-1 isn't WUSA, that's 9-1, right? The game was on 4-1 last night for sure, and was in 4:3 for atleast the first quarter (as far as I made it).
> 
> 
> Maybe since it was a retro-themed game, they decided to forgo HD as well to complete the retro look and feel?



You and Marcus are talking about two different things, I think?


But the game was in HD last night on WRC 4-1, over-the-air. I did not look at WBAL 11-1, but I can tell you that I received HD OTA on 4-1 both during the game and during commercials. I'm curious what happened that led you to believe otherwise -- and I'm not doubting you, so don't take this as a slam.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/16978018
> 
> 
> But the game was in HD last night on WRC 4-1, over-the-air. I did not look at WBAL 11-1, but I can tell you that I received HD OTA on 4-1 both during the game and during commercials. I'm curious what happened that led you to believe otherwise -- and I'm not doubting you, so don't take this as a slam.



Strange, maybe it was my TV then. But the game was in 4:3 with black bars on the left and right. Then when the commercials came on, it was full screen 16:9 (well, for the commercials in HD). The game was never in 16:9. 4-1 was in DD 5.1, tho.


Same behavior on 11-1, but they had the thunderstorm weatherbug going. I think that requires SD.


Anyone with a Samsung OTA TV watch the game? I have a Dynex, but its just a rebadged Samsung.


Just checked my TV, I did have it set to AUTO. So maybe they incorrectly had the resolution flag set to 4:3, and my TV was resizing the picture to 4:3. I'll set it to WIDE (16:9) to make sure it doesn't do this again.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/16976961
> 
> 
> I'm not sure about that. Last year it was the Skins and the Colts in the pre-season opener on NBC, and that game was in HD. I think someone over at NBC just F'd up, or maybe some storms passed thru earlier in the day and knocked out their equipment.



I just saw the NFL Network ad. This year, all 65 preseason games will be in HD. The NFL Network will be reairing them all this month in the run up to the new season.


WRC might not be the only affiliate not offering preseason games in HD, but they are certainly the largest and they are in a very, very small (and deplorable) class of stations that will not be bringing preseason games in HD.


----------



## sat_uplinker

Am I the only one not getting audio on WUSA? Its totally silent for me. WJLA and everything else is fine. Maybe I need to reboot my receiver, but its strange that's the only channel I'm not getting audio on.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/16976950
> 
> 
> So was my Dynex TV somehow converting the 4-1 signal to SD just for the football game, but back to HD for the commercials? I call BS on that one.



I call not paying attention.








I was talking about last year.


----------



## howie14

The lede in the WBJ article tells the story:

*"Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic has signed a new multi-year deal to be the exclusive local high-definition (HD) provider for Washington Redskins preseason games."*


CSN paid the Redskins for the rights to be the only HD outlet for their locally produced preseason games. WRC cannot contractually use the HD feed for its simulcast.


Any Redskins preseason game broadcast nationally would be exempted.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/16979579
> 
> 
> I call not paying attention.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I was talking about last year.



Gotcha.







So was it really in HD on 4-1 this year, or was my TV just playing tricks on me?


----------



## Trip in VA

WETA, apparently tired of waiting for action on their petition for channel 51, has now asked for a fill-in translator on channel 31 in Dickerson, MD.


- Trip


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/16974366
> 
> 
> Are they the last NBC O&O not to go HD for their local news.



What IS their excuse anyway? Are they just too cheap?

J


----------



## systems2000

WETA is a D.C. PBS station. How do they get to place a transmitter in MD that doesn't even reach D.C.? That's no different than MPT putting a transmitter in Harrisburg.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/16986570
> 
> 
> What IS their excuse anyway? Are they just too cheap?
> 
> J



I'd love to hear the official answer to this question. From what I gather, it's a combination of things. It's been rumored that NBC has been going back and forth on whether or not to sell the station for quite a while now, which would certainly affect the decision to invest millions in upgrading to HD. But since they've recently upgraded the NBC News Washington studios which are housed in the same facility, I would think they've decided to hang on to the station. I've also heard that some asbestos issues were discovered during recent renovations there. And last but not least, NBC is indeed cheap, and they seem to have bizarre priorities on how they invest in their properties.


----------



## Dave Loudin

Snarky response: RF doesn't know about political boundaries. Besides, their studios are in Virginia.


Real response: WETA has a licensed coverage area and can take steps to solve reception problems within that coverage area.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/16987532
> 
> 
> I'd love to hear the official answer to this question. From what I gather, it's a combination of things. It's been rumored that NBC has been going back and forth on whether or not to sell the station for quite a while now, which would certainly affect the decision to invest millions in upgrading to HD. But since they've recently upgraded the NBC News Washington studios which are housed in the same facility, I would think they've decided to hang on to the station. I've also heard that some asbestos issues were discovered during recent renovations there. And last but not least, NBC is indeed cheap, and they seem to have bizarre priorities on how they invest in their properties.



Considering the fact that they keep bragging about being the #1 local news, you would think they had a little more pride in it. Things won't stay that way. They are going to start losing views rapidly, if they haven't already. I'm watching them less and less as time goes on.

J


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/16987698
> 
> 
> Considering the fact that they keep bragging about being the #1 local news, you would think they had a little more pride in it. Things won't stay that way. They are going to start losing views rapidly, if they haven't already. I'm watching them less and less as time goes on.
> 
> J



As the other local news outlets started going HD, I would switch to watching them for a while, but I've found myself going back to NBC4 time after time. They must be confident enough in their ratings that they don't view every other local English-language news broadcast going HD as a threat to their dominance.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16986698
> 
> 
> WETA is a D.C. PBS station. How do they get to place a transmitter in MD that doesn't even reach D.C.? That's no different than MPT putting a transmitter in Harrisburg.



Until June 12, 2009, WETA's analog transmitter was on River Road in Bethesda, Maryland, sharing the candelabra tower there with analog WDCA-20 and WHUT-32.


WETA is owned by some tri-state consortium about which I know little else.


What I would like to know is, how is it that Virginia Public Television doesn't have a station with broadcast coverage of about half a million people in what is commonly called "Northern Virginia". Next week, I am going to try to receive and process the Virginia Public Television signal from Front Royal for a seventeen story building just inside the beltway in Mclean, but based on the TV fool analysis, it will be tough even with a high gain antenna and bandpass filters.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/16987831
> 
> 
> As the other local news outlets started going HD, I would switch to watching them for a while, but I've found myself going back to NBC4 time after time. They must be confident enough in their ratings that they don't view every other local English-language news broadcast going HD as a threat to their dominance.



Yea, I like Wendy Reiger, but I go to WUSA for the 6:00 news.

J


----------



## Kelly From KOMO

Granted this is a technical discussion board and all; but I have to say for a media market the size of DC, the local newscasts are pretty bad. I've seen a lot of local newscasts around the country, some small market local news I've seen rivals or surpasses the overall quality and execution of the local DC stations.


NBC-4 stands as an example of a station mailing-it-in everyday with their news. Recent examples which make my point occurred last week. Two days in a row, Barbara Harrison (morning anchor) didn't clip on her mics and did the entire 7:56AM news hit sounding like she was on the other end of a tunnel. Two days in a row! How can a veteran anchor forget to clip on her mics? Maybe she needs to cut the length of her smoke breaks down and arrive on set sooner. Clearly a total lack of caring about the quality of the product.


Their automation is obviously using "timed event triggers" and frequently cuts off the tail of network programming when transitioning to a local break or news hit. Especially during live network programming breaks float by a few seconds, so you simply can't expect to run on time triggers. The breaks need to be triggered manually. The net result on NBC 4 is a really clunky presentation.


If I were the general manager of a major station like NBC-4 with all the frequent and sometimes hourly miscues, I'd be ashamed. And don't get me started on their anchors acting seemingly half asleep during their newscasts.


Okay rant over..


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Ouch!

Kelly, do you work at KOMO, as in Seattle's ABC affiliate? I agree with your comments about NBC-4, but to totally rip on Washington news is a bit much. KOMO is still doing news in 16x9 SD, and last I heard STILL doesn't show Wheel and Jeopardy in HD (which if true, is the largest market in the US not airing shows in HD). I used to watch KOMO back when DirecTV had PrimeTime24!


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *antaltmike* /forum/post/16988141
> 
> 
> what i would like to know is, how is it that virginia public television doesn't have a station with broadcast coverage of about half a million people in what is commonly called "northern virginia". Next week, i am going to try to receive and process the virginia public television signal from front royal for a seventeen story building just inside the beltway in mclean, but based on the tv fool analysis, it will be tough even with a high gain antenna and bandpass filters.




wnvc/wnvt.


----------



## andgarden

Just curious, AntAltMike, when you do OTA for a building, do you crossencode to QAM, or is the equipment still to expensive for that.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/16988141
> 
> 
> I am going to try to receive and process the Virginia Public Television signal from Front Royal for a seventeen story building just inside the beltway in Mclean, but based on the TV fool analysis, it will be tough even with a high gain antenna and bandpass filters.



Thanks Mike,

Let us know what you come up with. Even with an excellent view of areas west, I don't even get a whiff of RF21 from that direction. WBOC is too much of a deal breaker for me from the east also. I would imagine WBOC would be even stronger at 17 stories up.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *andgarden* /forum/post/16988469
> 
> 
> Just curious, AntAltMike, when you do OTA for a building, do you crossencode to QAM, or is the equipment still to expensive for that.



I haven't yet done QAM conversion, but I have done some heterodyne frequency shifting to avoid ingress interference and to distribute the signals more efficiently at lower frequencies.


I pay a little over $700 per channel for heterodyne frequency converters. If I used Blonder Tongue QAM transcoders, my total per channel processing cost, when one allocates a share of the cost of a rack frame, a power supply and harness, might be around $1,200 per channel. But the main reason I don't ever transcode in multiple dwelling units it that most of the antenna system users are old people who are very low end, technically, and most of them use CECBs that will not process QAM.


As far as hotels are concerned, almost any doing a digital upgade use LG TVs which are "smart" enough to correctly decode 8VSB signals even if they find them on "cable" frequency channels. What I don't yet know is, if I use Pro:Idiom for DirecTV QAM channels, if the LG TV will still be able to simultaneously process 8VSB either on UHF channels or on cable channels.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16988471
> 
> 
> ...Let us know what you come up with....



I'll let you know what I did, but you won't be able to replicate it. I will be putting a high gain antenna 200 feet off the ground, it will go into a channel 21 bandpass filter (approx. $200), be preamplified, then into another similar bandpass filter and then be "post-preamplified" ( I just made that term up) again.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/16988592
> 
> 
> I'll let you know what I did, but you won't be able to replicate it.



Do you think you will have issues with WBOC, Their signal is pretty strong most nights here in north Arlington.


Thanks, Glen


----------



## andgarden

So if I understand you correctly Mike, you're still creating a new (cleaner) waveform? It seems like if you can get a stable signal of useable quality at the bottom of the antenna, you should be able to send it to the whole building.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *andgarden* /forum/post/16988664
> 
> 
> So if I understand you correctly Mike, you're still creating a new (cleaner) waveform? It seems like if you can get a stable signal of useable quality at the bottom of the antenna, you should be able to send it to the whole building.



Only the transcoder configuration, which demodulates and remodulates, creates a new waveform. The heterodyne converter just subtracts a carrier wave to bring the tuned channel down to, I think 43 MHz center frequency for SAW filtering, just as your old analog converter box lets you shift any input channel down to VHF 3/4, and then adds a carrier to upconvert it to the desired distribution channel.


In order for the signal coming off the antenna to be suitable for mixing with other channels, it has to be at least twenty dB stronger than any other channels coming off that coax, but the field strength of the Front Royal WVPY-21 is over 70 dB weaker than WNVC-24, so while double bandpass filtering off the channel 24 will get me as 21/24 ratio that is suitable to permit tuning of channel 21, the remaining channel 24 and some other signals will still be unacceptably strong at that point and would interfere with the other channels in the system if simply combined with them.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/16988416
> 
> 
> Ouch!
> 
> Kelly, do you work at KOMO, as in Seattle's ABC affiliate? I agree with your comments about NBC-4, but to totally rip on Washington news is a bit much. KOMO is still doing news in 16x9 SD, and last I heard STILL doesn't show Wheel and Jeopardy in HD (which if true, is the largest market in the US not airing shows in HD). I used to watch KOMO back when DirecTV had PrimeTime24!



Hi Knicks_Fan, I used to work at KOMO, but am now here in the DC area. For some reason one can't change their "handle" on this board without re-registering...


I'm not intentionally ripping per se' (gross generalizing perhaps), but I was amazed how all of the local news stations located in or near the news-center of the US, don't present at a higher level than many smaller or medium-sized markets. Not clipping on your mic two times in two days? Unreal! Day after day up-cutting or clipping every break during a marquis show like Today? Unheard of! I realize too that things break and mistakes happen, but to keep making the same mistake over and over is not reasonable and shows an overall lack of caring


I've been in this business for a long time and realize that sometimes well tenured, sucessful stations and talent end up resting on their laurels. But with increasing competition for eyeballs from other forms of media, why would such large stations be willing to settle for such mediocrity?


Regarding KOMO's news operation; you're correct that KOMO up-converts from 16:9 SD. The ironic thing is they have HD studio cameras. The reason for the up-conversion since 1998, is due to the lack of an HD production switcher and other HD production gear. The parent company, Fisher Communications had planned on replacing all the equipment to be full HD, but the economy went into the tank just before ordering equipment. Maybe when revenue starts coming through the door again they will finish the job.


It is interesting though when you realize that absolutely no station in the United States who has switched to HD news, has seen any increase in ratings or revenue. It's difficult sometimes for a station owner to justify (or swallow the bitter pill afterwards) of a multi-million dollar expense for an HD news production conversion with absolutely no return on their investment.


Another rather amusing point is about three years ago, Broadcast Engineering Magazine did an article about some engineer from NYC I believe, traveling around the country with a special mobile equipment package, recording some of the pioneer HD local news operations. KOMO was one of the stations mentioned as being an HD news pioneer. I guess it just goes to show that most consumers (and some experts), can't tell the difference between 16:9SD and 16:9 HD.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16988647
> 
> 
> Do you think you will have issues with WBOC, Their signal is pretty strong most nights here in north Arlington.



How do you know it is strong? Can you process it? For me, it is 90 miles away and in the opposie direction, with a "2 edge" signal path and with its calculated field level being over 10 dB weaker than my WVPY-21.


BTW, when I just re-ran the address through TV fool, its chart did not include transmitter azimuths.


----------



## gjvrieze




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/16988471
> 
> 
> Thanks Mike,
> 
> Let us know what you come up with. Even with an excellent view of areas west, I don't even get a whiff of RF21 from that direction. WBOC is too much of a deal breaker for me from the east also. I would imagine WBOC would be even stronger at 17 stories up.



Yes, I am waiting to hear Mike's results too!


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/16988230
> 
> 
> If I were the general manager of a major station like NBC-4 with all the frequent and sometimes hourly miscues, I'd be ashamed. And don't get me started on their anchors acting seemingly half asleep during their newscasts.



Actually, I think they are ashamed.

If you go to their website-formerly nbc4.com now http://www.nbcwashington.com/ 

You have to really HUNT to find any references to WRC.

J


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16986698
> 
> 
> WETA is a D.C. PBS station. How do they get to place a transmitter in MD that doesn't even reach D.C.? That's no different than MPT putting a transmitter in Harrisburg.



It fills in part of their coverage area that is getting demolished by WFPT-28.


If MPT had a station getting demolished in Harrisburg and Harrisburg was within their coverage contour, they'd be allowed to fix that coverage.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/16988141
> 
> 
> What I would like to know is, how is it that Virginia Public Television doesn't have a station with broadcast coverage of about half a million people in what is commonly called "Northern Virginia".



Don't be confused by the name "Virginia Public Television." They are not a state-wide PBS network. I take VPT to mean "Valley Public Television" which is much more accurate. WNVT/WNVC are owned by WCVE in Richmond and are technically the PBS stations for northern Virginia.



> Quote:
> Next week, I am going to try to receive and process the Virginia Public Television signal from Front Royal for a seventeen story building just inside the beltway in Mclean, but based on the TV fool analysis, it will be tough even with a high gain antenna and bandpass filters.



You may or may not have more luck with their on-channel booster in the Stanardsville area. http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...DS1302316.html It's only doing 500 watts ERP but at least it's on your side of the mountains.


- Trip


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/16987532
> 
> 
> I'd love to hear the official answer to this question. From what I gather, it's a combination of things. It's been rumored that NBC has been going back and forth on whether or not to sell the station for quite a while now, which would certainly affect the decision to invest millions in upgrading to HD.



Yeah, that's true. But you have to wonder why. If you can't make money with a local television station in a news-oriented city such as Washington, D.C., I don't know how you run a successful news organization anywhere. It's not like there's a lot of competition from a quality standpoint. WUSA is and always has been a disaster, and WTTG prefers tabloid news to real news most hours of the day. For its size and perhaps but for Baltimore's proximity, there would probably be six or seven local news broadcasts, as there are in LA and NYC, instead of just four.


And it's not like you're a newcomer either. WRC is a storied news institution that, at least in the not-so-distant past, was the most respected broadcast news institution in Washington, and certainly one of the most respected nationwide for its in-depth reporting as well.


It takes some real quality management to run something like that right into the ground in a fertile environment for the news business like DC, but leave it to NBCU, I guess, and anything's possible.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/16989732
> 
> 
> Yeah, that's true. But you have to wonder why. If you can't make money with a local television station in a news-oriented city such as Washington, D.C., I don't know how you run a successful news organization anywhere. ...



It may not be as good a market for local news as it seems. I've read that about 3/4s of the adults living in this market didn't settle here until their adulthood, whereas in New Hampshire, which I hail from, it is half and half. As a result, I still read my "local" New Hampshire newspaper on the internet every day, even though I haven't lived there for over two decades, but I skip the metro section when I read the print Washington Post each morning. I suspect that, on a per capita basis, the television news audience in this market is much less interested in local news than it is just about anywhere else, except maybe Florida.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/16988790
> 
> 
> It is interesting though when you realize that absolutely no station in the United States who has switched to HD news, has seen any increase in ratings or revenue. It's difficult sometimes for a station owner to justify (or swallow the bitter pill afterwards) of a multi-million dollar expense for an HD news production conversion with absolutely no return on their investment.



Which reinforces my confusion about why it even matters that two people sitting behind a studio counter, getting SD feeds from the field, need to be in HD.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO

You're absolutely correct. As mentioned, KOMO was a prime example of that.. One can run up-converted 16:9 SD and 98% of your average consumers are happy with the picture on their local news. Typically only the AV Geeks (no offense intended), get grumpy about up-converted 16:9, but in the end they represent a small portion of the viewership and a portion who doesn't participate in Nielsen ratings anyway.


Sure there is the self-promotion of saying your station is broadcasting in HD for news, but what does that get you really? Looks great, but content is what really matters. The old saying still holds true, content is king.


----------



## Digital Rules

The PQ on WRC-4 local news is superb for 480i when viewed on an HD set. It's almost better than WJLA-7.(Too dark) I have noticed the graphic in the lower right corner has been improved in the last month or so. Maybe the change to HD is in the works.


----------



## URFloorMatt

Having a website probably doesn't drive viewership to your newscast anymore than broadcasting in HD does, but that hasn't stopped every single local news station no matter how small the market from building a news website either.


But, for that matter, is there any evidence that Fox, CBS, ESPN, and NBC have seen increased ratings due to broadcasting the NFL in HD? Or any other sport? Or any prime time or other programming in HD whatsoever? Perhaps for Blu Ray sales of season sets of television series, but that's a very limited segment of all the programming broadcast in HD, and a fairly recent development at that.


----------



## systems2000

I did a little research on my reception yesterday and found the following issues:


*STATION1**NM**DIRECTION(M)**STATION2**NM**DIRECTION(M)**DIFFERENCE**WJAL-DT* (los)53.8288°*W43BP* (2-edge)-13.1264°66.9dB*W08EE-D* (los)22.8227°*WGAL-DT* (2-edge)-4.288°27.0dB*WVPY-DT* (los)20.7219°*WHP-DT* (2-edge)-12.463°33.1dB*W38AN* (los)17.4355°*WMAR-DT* (2-edge)-15.2134°32.6dB*WHTM-DT* (2-edge)0.861°*WAZT-CA* (2-edge)-17.4223°18.2dBW34DW-D (1-edge)-0.9241°*WPXW-DT* (2-edge)-21.7164°20.8dBW07DN-D (los)-4.3229°*WJLA-DT* (2-edge)-13.5164°9.2dB*WAZW-CA* (2-edge)-14.7220°*WRC-DT* (2-edge)-21.6164°6.9dBWKBS-DT (1-edge)-16.7331°*WBFF-DT* (2-edge)-19.8134°3.1dB*WITF-DT* (2-edge)-18.563°*WTTG-DT*(2-edge)-19.4164°0.9dB*W41AO* (1-edge)-18.5242°*WUTB-DT* (2-edge)-21.8140°3.3dB*W35BT* (2-edge)-19.460°*WDCA-DT* (2-edge)-22.2164°2.8dB

Has anyone determined the dB difference required to override another station?

*NOTE:* Also on RF7, besides W07DN-D & WJLA-DT, I have W35BT (at a level of -11.2NM / 2-edge / 64°).

*LEGEND:*

*GREEN*Receive 100% of the time*RED*Don't Receive at all*ORANGE*Receive with Breakups*BLUE*Analog stations*BLACK*Analog Viewable (No Color or Audio)


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/16991299
> 
> 
> One can run up-converted 16:9 SD and 98% of your average consumers are happy with the picture on their local news.



I definitly agree that 16:9 is worthwhile, especially for weather maps and it's nice for outside reporting of wars, fires, accidents, floodings, political events, etc (HD may be nice for these, but don't limit the bandwidth).


----------



## tunamike

just wondering have you or anyone else noticed channel 11 WBAL they must have increased power to test level they are like my best VHF channel now and for 4 WRC I have not got them with any regularity since they were having trouble 2 weeks ago. Also does anyone know if the 2 DC VHF stations 7 and 9 are seeking to raise there power levels Thanks


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16992787
> 
> 
> Chart



W35BT analog is gone. That one shouldn't be an issue.


To tunamike: WJLA's power is already maxed out. Pretty sure WUSA can't increase power due to interference to WBPH in Bethlehem PA.


- Trip


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16992408
> 
> 
> chart



Nice presentation. Don't forget that your receive antenna will add to those margins, perhaps as much as 20dB or so, since in all but one case, there's a significant spread in azimuth between co-channels. I don't know what the desired/undesired ratio has to be for reliable reception, though.


----------



## hsweiss




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tunamike* /forum/post/16993197
> 
> 
> just wondering have you or anyone else noticed channel 11 WBAL they must have increased power to test level they are like my best VHF channel now and for 4 WRC I have not got them with any regularity since they were having trouble 2 weeks ago. Also does anyone know if the 2 DC VHF stations 7 and 9 are seeking to raise there power levels Thanks



Unlike you, I'm still having reception problems with WBAL-11. I sent them email via the web site a couple of weeks ago asking about their plans to increase power and I got a "I'll get back to you when I get back to the office" but never got anything more from them. At least at my place (Severna Park) I don't see any evidence of increased power. I could get WJZ-13 (also VHF) just fine until they switched over to their directional antenna and then they were overloading me with something like 99% of their power. I sent them email and had an email dialogue going with their engineers on a Sat afternoon trying to figure out what was going on. They suggested I try a pair of rabbit ears and sure enough, WJZ locked in solid which it wouldn't on my attic mounted antenna.


----------



## systems2000

Try using a variable attenutor on your attic antenna.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/16993260
> 
> 
> W35BT analog is gone. That one shouldn't be an issue.



Good to know. The FCC and TVFool.com need to do a better job clearing old data.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin* /forum/post/16993380
> 
> 
> …there's a significant spread in azimuth between co-channels.



I do understand the azimuth spread levels.


Since I live smack between four DMA's and have lots of LP's, Class "A," and translators around, I'm mostly concerned with the amount of radiation bouncing around me (noise floor), including cell towers, FM transmitters, military, aviation (lots of flight paths over my house - hot tub confirmation), and EMS communication.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tunamike* /forum/post/16993197
> 
> 
> just wondering have you or anyone else noticed channel 11 WBAL they must have increased power to test level they are like my best VHF channel now and for 4 WRC I have not got them with any regularity since they were having trouble 2 weeks ago.



I don't get WBAL-DT, so I wouldn't know.


----------



## tunamike

strange its been rocking here in greencastle souther franklin co last 2 days


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16993805
> 
> 
> Good to know. The FCC and TVFool.com need to do a better job clearing old data.



Ha ha ha. You crack me up!










Seems like eons ago, but I used to try to parse FCC data into relevant information. Without actually being in-market, it's devilishly hard to decide what data should be tossed, so I can empathize with the TVFool guys.


----------



## systems2000

tunamike,


Did you see this post (and the one before it)?


----------



## tunamike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16994971
> 
> 
> tunamike,
> 
> 
> Did you see this post (and the one before it)?



no sorry I had forgotten I posted there earlier I have been thinking I might have to do some of the same types of trials I have even dropped my amp to where i can swap hook and unhook as needed around 10 feet from tower bottom I have unhooked the uhf side and see if that helps any it does seem to help but very very small I have about 3 pre amps and several antenea I need to get rid of. Well I will keep experimenting I am just glad that right now I am getting all the baltimore stations very good and very consistant that was my prmary goal thanks mike


----------



## mdviewer25

Finally get WBAL at between 60 and 70 percent. It's actually better than WJZ which is at between 35 and 45 percent but with a steady picture. Of course this is on the third floor, I haven't checked the other tvs yet.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/16995871
> 
> 
> Finally get WBAL at between 60 and 70 percent. It's actually better than WJZ which is at between 35 and 45 percent but with a steady picture. Of course this is on the third floor, I haven't checked the other tvs yet.



Yeah, wow, what a difference. Went from 65-70 S/N to 95-98 S/N here, with a perfectly solid 100% on raw signal strength. I'm definately sending them a message. I would suggest anyone else that is happy with this do the same, it might help them to have something to show the FCC from viewers like us!


Better signal than WJZ by a small margin, too (95% strength, 94% S/N). Color me a happy camper!


----------



## Marcus Carr

Ravens/Skins are in HD on WBAL (and CSN).


----------



## rustycruiser




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/16996375
> 
> 
> Ravens/Skins are in HD on WBAL (and CSN).



SD on WRC in DC


----------



## jsmar

I live in Fort Collins, CO and receive OTA stations from the Denver market. A few stations in that market (KPXC and KUSA) have announced plans to broadcast Mobile DTV programming, but they have not done so as of yet.


I'd like to work on decoding that data if possible, and would like to get a head start before I can capture my own data from a Denver station. Washington D.C. appears to have the most stations broadcasting Mobile DTV right now, although I believe that was part of an experiment, so I don't know if they are still actively broadcasting Mobile DTV data.


Anyway, I'm wondering if there is someone in this group who has the ability to capture a 60 second full transport stream of one of the OTA stations that are still broadcasting Mobile DTV data (look for content on either pid 0x1eee or pid 0x1ff9) and is willing to make the file available to me to download (it will wind up being around 130 Mbytes, so some of you who can capture such a file may not be able to upload it somewhere or make it available through other means).


Please contact me via a private message if you can help out.


Thanks!


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rustycruiser* /forum/post/16996405
> 
> 
> SD on WRC in DC



I don't think WRC is going to get any pre-season football in HD this year. They're 0 for 2 so far.


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tunamike* /forum/post/16993197
> 
> 
> just wondering have you or anyone else noticed channel 11 WBAL they must have increased power to test level they are like my best VHF channel now and for 4 WRC I have not got them with any regularity since they were having trouble 2 weeks ago. Also does anyone know if the 2 DC VHF stations 7 and 9 are seeking to raise there power levels Thanks



Yes WBAL did increase their power, I e-mailed Sandy at WBAL this morning, didn't say to what level, I'll e-mail again and ask. I use to get WJZ fine to they switched to their directional antenna. I really think the interference issue needs to be revisited.


When WJZ was at 27kW ? and now that WBAL has increased power, i had no problems with interference on WHTM RF10 WWPX RF12, both were and are still as strong as they were before.


They need to do more real world testing and stop trusting computer models. let stations like WUSA 9 and WGAL 8 increase to 30kW or more for a few days and look and the interference issue in the real world.


----------



## mdviewer25

I wonder whether this is the 15 kw level or 26 kw level. I remember someone saying they were going to test both levels to determine any interference problems with other channels. If it's just 15 then I think they should go up to the next level because the reception is still hit or miss. I only have one tv that can get a solid signal for WBAL. I have to move the antenna around too much on the others and when I move away from the antenna the reception breaks up too much. Anyone know what power level WBAL and WJZ are transmitting their signal at right now?


----------



## URFloorMatt

Are these new sets I'm seeing on CSN-MA? I haven't watched much besides Caps games since the NFL season ended and never paid much attention. It also looks like a lot more use of widescreen instead of pillar bars, if I'm remembering correctly.


They're definitely showing new CSN promos in HD, but no highlights or studio shots. Those are just widescreen. Any chance we're going to see an HD upgrade by the time the regular season comes around?


----------



## tunamike

the picture quality on wrc looks like something a ninth grade student is producing compared to wbal's what a shame


----------



## bmcent1




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/16996449
> 
> 
> I don't think WRC is going to get any pre-season football in HD this year. They're 0 for 2 so far.



Is there any rhyme or reason, or anyway to know in advance which networks will have the games in HD?


I was hoping to catch the game in HD tonight, only to find that WRC has it in SD. Comcast in Frederick, MD seems to carry the Washington OTA stations. My TVFool plot looks pretty grim in terms of hopes of catching Baltimore stations (down in the gray below the pink.)


Also, whoever said it's in HD on CSN... is that Comcast Sports Network?


What does WHAG carry when it's a Baltimore/Washington game?


What's the frugal ("cheap"  fan's best option for catching a good number of NFL games in HD. I don't want to go for a super premium Comcast package and Direct TV is out of the question because of the 2 yr contract.


----------



## URFloorMatt

Damn it. I completely forgot about WHAG, which FiOS now carries. They brought regular NBC programming, which I would've preferred to watch.


Yes, CSN is Comcast Sports Network.


All regular season NFL games will be in HD on CBS, Fox, NBC, and ESPN. All Redskins preseason will be in HD only on Comcast Sports Network.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/16996587
> 
> 
> Anyone know what power level WBAL and WJZ are transmitting their signal at right now?



TV Fool shows [email protected] & [email protected] Comparing previous & current readings seems about right with these numbers from my location when WJZ's directional antenna pattern is factored in.


----------



## systems2000

WNUV-DT needs to get rid of the new CW logo. It's bad enough on my 20" monitor, I can't imagine what someone with a 52" enjoys about it.


----------



## Digital Rules

Kudos to WBAL for carrying the game in HD. It looks fantastic.


Only in SD on Richmond's ABC affiliate. It looks just as bad as WRC.


----------



## Marcus Carr

The replay on MASN is in HD.


----------



## mdviewer25

Finally found a position where 7, 9, 11, & 13 all come in. Only around 50% for each but the picture is steady. Had move the VHF dipoles from fully extended to two thirds extended. Accepted the fact that I have to move my antenna in a different direction for WBOC. On another note, has anyone else lost WHUT 32 (33). Its been out since last night.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16997191
> 
> 
> WNUV-DT needs to get rid of the new CW logo. It's bad enough on my 20" monitor, I can't imagine what someone with a 52" enjoys about it.



Sorry - the CW logo comes on the CW network feed. I can't get rid of it - it's in the picture...

.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Replay on NFL Network today at 3. All of their games are in HD.


----------



## CrispyCritter

Does anybody have Comcast, Montgomery County, with cablecards? We lost the Encore movie channels (channels 150, 152, 154 ..., for example) a couple of days ago. We get the cablecard diagnostic screen when tuned to any of them, which is normally a sign that the channel is not in the package. All other digital/HD channels are fine.


A Comcast front-line rep confirmed that the channels are in our package, sent hits to our cablecards, and has sent a note to engineering to ask them to check into settings at the head end (all she can do for a first call, really - I was expecting to have to call a couple of times before I got the note to engineering







)


It would be nice to have confirmation that this is a general problem for my next call, if there's someone out there who can check.


----------



## systems2000

Marcus,


Is that three lines of text permanent or do you think it'll go away soon?


----------



## mdviewer25

Signals from best to worst:
Baltimore

WMPT 22 (42) 97%

WNUV 54 (40) 90%

WBFF 45 (46) 85%

WMAR 2 (38) 80%

WBAL 11 (11) 50%

WJZ 13 (13) 45%

WMPB 67 (29) 30%

WUTB 24 (41) 9% unwatchable

DC

WDCA 20 (35) 95%

WDCW 50 (50) 90%

WFDC 14 (15) 85%

WPXW 66 (34) 80%

WETA 26 (27) 80%

WTTG 5 (36) 80%

WRC 4 (48) 80%

WHUT 32 (33) 75%

WNVC 30-1 through 5 (24) 70%

WNVT 30-6 through 10 (30) 60%

WUSA 9 (9) 55%

WJLA 7 (7) 50%

Salisbury

WBOC 16 (21) 60%*

WMDT 47 (47) 0%


* have to turn antenna to opposite direction


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> the picture quality on wrc looks like something a ninth grade student is producing compared to wbal's what a shame



I thought only CSN had the "exclusive" on yesterday's game on the ******* network, as their bug kept stating. Did WBAL air the Comcast or MASN (Ravens network) feed? MASN relegated the Ravens to MASN-2 SD.


----------



## URFloorMatt

WBAL aired the Ravens feed. CSN only has exclusive rights to the Redskins HD feed.


Which raises a question. How does NFL Network decide which feed to air in its replays? It looks like they're airing the Ravens feed from last night's game.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Because CSN had the "HD exclusive", NFL Network couldn't show their feed either?


Or maybe they show the home team feed.


----------



## VARTV

Getting WBAL tonight in Virginia Beach with my antenna pointed WSW...


----------



## dewster1977

Late morning I was getting WBAL from the SE at 75 miles, as always since their power boost, but when I turned to Harrisburg stations, got WBRE DT 28 (RF11) at 140 miles. No problems with interference from one another, lasted to mid afternoon then lost WBRE.


----------



## mkfs

was missing here tonight.


Did the squirrel die?


----------



## hsweiss




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hsweiss* /forum/post/16993552
> 
> 
> Unlike you, I'm still having reception problems with WBAL-11. I sent them email via the web site a couple of weeks ago asking about their plans to increase power and I got a "I'll get back to you when I get back to the office" but never got anything more from them. At least at my place (Severna Park) I don't see any evidence of increased power. I could get WJZ-13 (also VHF) just fine until they switched over to their directional antenna and then they were overloading me with something like 99% of their power. I sent them email and had an email dialogue going with their engineers on a Sat afternoon trying to figure out what was going on. They suggested I try a pair of rabbit ears and sure enough, WJZ locked in solid which it wouldn't on my attic mounted antenna.



That was the way is WAS - I checked WBAL TV over the weekend and its MUCH better now that they've increased their power. Hopefully, the FCC will give them permanent authority to stay at the increased power levels.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> CSN only has exclusive rights to the Redskins HD feed.



I hope this type of nonsense stops in the future. Not everyone gets CSN. If this were 1966, Comcast would have the exclusive "living color broadcast rights" and NBC4 would be relegated to a fuzzy B&W feed.


----------



## howie14




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/17001273
> 
> 
> WBAL aired the Ravens feed. CSN only has exclusive rights to the Redskins HD feed.
> 
> 
> Which raises a question. How does NFL Network decide which feed to air in its replays? It looks like they're airing the Ravens feed from last night's game.



Last year, NFL Network showed the home team feed for the first half and the visitor for the second (or was it the other way around). This year, they seem to be sticking with the home team's feed for all the games.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO

Please allow me to take a moment and give credit where credit is due. After my rant and mailing-it-in comments last week directed at NBC4 and in particular Barbara Harrison's news-hits that she does during the Today show mornings, someone who reads this forum over there must have passed the word along. Barbara has been showing up on time with her mic on, and she seems more engaged and animated in her presentation than usual. The presentation is frankly 100% better!


Regarding their late to local breaks and switching via clock triggers from the network, it looks as if that is better, but now I'm seeing local spots within a local break being up/down-cut. Not a big deal from a viewers perspective, but advertisers may take exception to losing the last couple seconds of their spots. But hey, whether my rants made any differrence or whether it was purely coincidental, kudos to NBC4 for figuring it out.


Oh and if you folks need help straightening out your automation issues, I have quite a bit of experience in that arena and would be glad to consult.


----------



## tunamike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hsweiss* /forum/post/17012521
> 
> 
> That was the way is WAS - I checked WBAL TV over the weekend and its MUCH better now that they've increased their power. Hopefully, the FCC will give them permanent authority to stay at the increased power levels.



please if you get a moment e mail 11 wbal engineer address and tell them about youre success they need all the ammo they can get to keep the increased power He even gave me a call on that subject


----------



## hsweiss




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tunamike* /forum/post/17013722
> 
> 
> please if you get a moment e mail 11 wbal engineer address and tell them about youre success they need all the ammo they can get to keep the increased power He even gave me a call on that subject



I'd be more than happy to if I knew what address to use? I tried emailing them thru their web site selecting "engineering" as the receipient to ask if they had increased power. Apparently that email dropped into a mailbox for a guy named Chris Bryant. I got an automated reply that he'd respond when he got back. After two weeks, I sent a note directly to Chris Bryant and again got a "I'll respond when I get back" message. On the other hand, WJZ and WUTB both responded very quickly when I asked about power levels or changes to their broadcasts.


----------



## DK745

Just received a notice in the mail from Comcast (Anne Arundel County) about the upcoming channel changes.


On or about Saturday, October 10th, these 38 NEW High Definition channels will be launched:


BET

Big Ten Network

Bio

Bravo

Cartoon Network

CBS College Sports

CMT

CNBC

HLN

Comedy Central

Disney XD

E

Encore

ESPNEWS

FOX Business

Fuse

G4

Hallmark Movie Channel

IFC

Lifetime

Lifetime Movie Network

MGM

MLB Network

MTV

NBA TV

NHL Network

Nick

Planet Green

QVC

Spike

Style

Turner Classic Movies

The Weather Channel

Travel Channel

Tru TV

TV One

VH1

WE


Also has a list of what channels are being moved that require digital equipment on which days and how/what you get with a Digital cable box and Digital adapter.


----------



## knnirs

Do you receive any info as to whether any of these channels will be clear QAM?


----------



## mdviewer25

Did WBAL turn their power down? It's only 10% right now compared to the 50% for the past week.


----------



## mjw703




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DK745* /forum/post/17014215
> 
> 
> Just received a notice in the mail from Comcast (Anne Arundel County) about the upcoming channel changes.
> 
> 
> On or about Saturday, October 10th, these 38 NEW High Definition channels will be launched:
> 
> 
> BET
> 
> Big Ten Network
> 
> Bio
> 
> Bravo
> 
> Cartoon Network
> 
> CBS College Sports
> 
> CMT
> 
> CNBC
> 
> HLN
> 
> Comedy Central
> 
> Disney XD
> 
> E
> 
> Encore
> 
> ESPNEWS
> 
> FOX Business
> 
> Fuse
> 
> G4
> 
> Hallmark Movie Channel
> 
> IFC
> 
> Lifetime
> 
> Lifetime Movie Network
> 
> MGM
> 
> MLB Network
> 
> MTV
> 
> NBA TV
> 
> NHL Network
> 
> Nick
> 
> Planet Green
> 
> QVC
> 
> Spike
> 
> Style
> 
> Turner Classic Movies
> 
> The Weather Channel
> 
> Travel Channel
> 
> Tru TV
> 
> TV One
> 
> VH1
> 
> WE
> 
> 
> Also has a list of what channels are being moved that require digital equipment on which days and how/what you get with a Digital cable box and Digital adapter.



Nice HD additions. I hope Comcast in Arlington won't be too far behind.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/17014764
> 
> 
> Did WBAL turn their power down? It's only 10% right now compared to the 50% for the past week.



Could be atmospheric? No change here, still rocking 100% strength / 98% S/N ratio.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/17014764
> 
> 
> Did WBAL turn their power down? It's only 10% right now compared to the 50% for the past week.



No change here in Arlington. Bouncing between 8-10 bars out of 10.


----------



## clifburns




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CrispyCritter* /forum/post/16998566
> 
> 
> Does anybody have Comcast, Montgomery County, with cablecards? We lost the Encore movie channels (channels 150, 152, 154 ..., for example) a couple of days ago. We get the cablecard diagnostic screen when tuned to any of them, which is normally a sign that the channel is not in the package. All other digital/HD channels are fine.
> 
> 
> A Comcast front-line rep confirmed that the channels are in our package, sent hits to our cablecards, and has sent a note to engineering to ask them to check into settings at the head end (all she can do for a first call, really - I was expecting to have to call a couple of times before I got the note to engineering
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> )
> 
> 
> It would be nice to have confirmation that this is a general problem for my next call, if there's someone out there who can check.



I lost Showtime and Cinemax in the same fashion about a month ago. Calling the CSRs was useless because all they did was confirm that they were in my package and send hits to the box. Then they wanted to schedule someone to replace the cablecards. I sent a complaint to DC's OCTT which got a regional VP involved and they admitted it had nothing to do with the cablecards and was a problem that had to be fixed by the people who handle the cablecard authorizations. Send an email to Patrick_Carroll (at) CABLE (d0t) COMCAST (d0t) c0m, who was the guy who fixed my situation.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Cox Launches Seven New HD Channels August 20*


~Aug. 27, Cox Launches 24 New HD Channels in York County~


CHESAPEAKE, Va., Aug. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Cox Communications continues to expand its high definition programming with the launch of seven new HD channels in the Greater Hampton Roads region on August 20.


Also, on August 27 in York County, Cox will launch an additional 24 high definition channels. With these additions, Cox's HD channel offerings total 67 of the most requested high definition channels available.


The channels to be launched on August 20 throughout the region are as follows:


Bio HD (channel 828)

Encore HD (channel 810)

Fox Business Channel HD (channel 8180)

MLB Network HD (channel 814)

NBA TV HD (channel 833)

Pay Per View Events Channel HD (channel 701)

The Weather Channel HD (channel 724)


The HD channels to be launched on August 27 for York County customers are noted below. They will be made available to Cox customers in Upper and Lower York County, Bethel Manor, USCG Training Station, and Yorktown Naval Weapons Station.


ABC Family HD (channel 719) HBO2 HD (channel 784)

BET HD (channel 736) Lifetime Network HD (channel 709)

Bravo HD (channel 761) MTV HD (channel 722)

Cartoon Network HD (channel 717) Nickelodeon HD (channel 729)

CMT HD (channel 733) Planet Green HD (channel 813)

CNBC HD (channel 725) Science Channel HD (channel 760)

Comedy Central HD (channel 732) Syfy HD (channel 740)

Disney HD (channel 738) Speed Channel HD (channel 763)

E! HD (channel 741) Spike HD (channel 756)

Fox News Channel HD (channel 764) USA HD (channel 718)

FX HD (channel 716) Versus HD (channel 734)

Hallmark Movie Channel HD (channel 859) VH1 HD (channel 767)


(The 24 additional HD channels are already available to customers in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Gloucester, Poquoson, parts of Williamsburg, Newport News, West Point, New Kent, and King and Queen County.)


To receive the new HD channels, customers must have the appropriate level of service with Cox. The following Cox services are required for the noted networks:


Code:


Code:


Cox Standard service,        ABC Family HD, BET HD, Bravo HD, Cartoon
    Digital Gateway service      Network HD, CMT HD, CNBC HD, Comedy Central
    and Expanded HD service      HD, Disney Channel HD, E! HD, Fox News
                                 Channel HD, FX HD, Lifetime Network HD, MTV
                                 HD, Nickelodeon HD, Syfy HD, Speed Channel
                                 HD, Spike HD, USA HD, Versus HD, and VH1 HD

    Cox Standard service,        Lifetime Movie Network HD
    Digital Gateway service
    and Movie Tier

    Cox Standard service,        Planet Green HD
    Digital Gateway service
    and the Discovery Tier

    Cox Standard service,        Hallmark Movie Channel HD
    Digital Gateway service
    and Variety Tier

    Cox Limited Basic, Digital   HBO2 HD
    Gateway, Cox HD and HBO
    subscription

"Cox offers a wide selection of HD channels. In keeping with our goal to be a 'friend in the digital age,' Cox makes all of its HD channels available to customers at no additional monthly charge," said Jen Garrett, Cox Vice President of Sales and Marketing.


Finally, James City County will have access to the new HD channels launched as Cox continues to upgrade its network. For more information contact Felicia Blow at (757) 222-8432 or at [email protected] .

http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayRe...5079036&EDATE=


----------



## hsweiss




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/17014764
> 
> 
> Did WBAL turn their power down? It's only 10% right now compared to the 50% for the past week.



It was fine at my house last night (Severna Park).


----------



## systems2000

I checked this morning and was able to rescan my APEX DT502's to acquire WBAL. At around 10:00 hours, I tried to get a read on all my CECB's (APEX DT502 (x2), ZAT-970A, & ZAT-950A), that are configured for Baltimore reception, and they all lost WBAL. I'll check over the next 24 hours to see what happens.


----------



## iontyre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DK745* /forum/post/17014215
> 
> 
> Just received a notice in the mail from Comcast (Anne Arundel County) about the upcoming channel changes.
> 
> 
> On or about Saturday, October 10th, these 38 NEW High Definition channels will be launched:
> 
> 
> BET
> 
> Big Ten Network
> 
> Bio
> 
> Bravo
> 
> Cartoon Network
> 
> CBS College Sports
> 
> CMT
> 
> CNBC
> 
> HLN
> 
> Comedy Central
> 
> Disney XD
> 
> E
> 
> Encore
> 
> ESPNEWS
> 
> FOX Business
> 
> Fuse
> 
> G4
> 
> Hallmark Movie Channel
> 
> IFC
> 
> Lifetime
> 
> Lifetime Movie Network
> 
> MGM
> 
> MLB Network
> 
> MTV
> 
> NBA TV
> 
> NHL Network
> 
> Nick
> 
> Planet Green
> 
> QVC
> 
> Spike
> 
> Style
> 
> Turner Classic Movies
> 
> The Weather Channel
> 
> Travel Channel
> 
> Tru TV
> 
> TV One
> 
> VH1
> 
> WE
> 
> 
> Also has a list of what channels are being moved that require digital equipment on which days and how/what you get with a Digital cable box and Digital adapter.



Where the heck is MSNBC? I want my hidef Morning Joe!


----------



## bmcent1

Hi All -

I'm thinking of getting Digital Preferred from Comcast in Frederick county. I'm told that is the cheapest package that includes ESPN HD.


I want to use this with a tuner card in my HTPC. Comcast said I need either a cable card or to rent one of their boxes for an additional $7.95 / mo.


Can anyone confirm if the box is actually needed or if ESPN is sent in clear QAM?

I'm cursing NFL for putting MNF on ESPN...


I forgot to ask Comcast if NFL Network is included in Digital Preferred, but I'd have the same question about to this forum anyway (seems like you always get conflicting information when talking to Comcast.)


----------



## CrispyCritter




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *clifburns* /forum/post/17017911
> 
> 
> I lost Showtime and Cinemax in the same fashion about a month ago. Calling the CSRs was useless because all they did was confirm that they were in my package and send hits to the box. Then they wanted to schedule someone to replace the cablecards. I sent a complaint to DC's OCTT which got a regional VP involved and they admitted it had nothing to do with the cablecards and was a problem that had to be fixed by the people who handle the cablecard authorizations. Send an email to Patrick_Carroll (at) CABLE (d0t) COMCAST (d0t) c0m, who was the guy who fixed my situation.



Thanks. The basic issue turns out to be that Comcast is gradually putting copy protection on the movie channels (CCI byte = 0x02). They started with the premium movie channels a month ago, and have worked their way down to the non-premium movie channels (Encore in my case). The copy protection mechanism depends on the cablecard host (my TiVo) being paired with the cablecards; Comcast Montgomery has not enforced this pairing in the past. Everytime a cablecard is moved to a new host it needs to be re-paired; my TiVo was replaced a while back, so the pairing info that Comcast had stored was out of date.


Now that they're enforcing pairing i certainly hope they're going to offer re-pairing over the phone/web like other Comcast franchises. The tech who came out today said he's been doing an awful lot of just calling up and reading numbers to their back end folks - he was appreciative of the fact I had all the numbers all ready for him to read!


----------



## iontyre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bmcent1* /forum/post/17021059
> 
> 
> Hi All -
> 
> I'm thinking of getting Digital Preferred from Comcast in Frederick county. I'm told that is the cheapest package that includes ESPN HD.
> 
> 
> I want to use this with a tuner card in my HTPC. Comcast said I need either a cable card or to rent one of their boxes for an additional $7.95 / mo.
> 
> 
> Can anyone confirm if the box is actually needed or if ESPN is sent in clear QAM?
> 
> I'm cursing NFL for putting MNF on ESPN...
> 
> 
> I forgot to ask Comcast if NFL Network is included in Digital Preferred, but I'd have the same question about to this forum anyway (seems like you always get conflicting information when talking to Comcast.)




ESPN-HD was in clear QAM here in Harford County till about a month ago (channel 112.1). It is gone now. It was nice while it lasted. Now only available on the one DVR equipped TV in the house.


----------



## mdviewer25

Must have been atmospheric because WBAL is back to normal today


----------



## Digital Rules

Does WJAL DT-68 have a PSIP issue; or is it my TV? The channel number keeps jumping from 39.3 to 68.1.


Thanks


----------



## Digital Rules

WDCN is broadcasting a test pattern in analog on VHF-6. I assume they are broadcasting from the WETA-FM tower in North Arlington. Anybody else seeing this?


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/17024026
> 
> 
> WDCN is broadcasting a test pattern in analog on VHF-6. I assume they are broadcasting from the WETA-FM tower in North Arlington. Anybody else seeing this?



Nothing but noise on 6 here, but I'm probably not the best choice for a test for a D.C. VHF channel


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bmcent1* /forum/post/17021059
> 
> 
> Hi All -
> 
> I'm thinking of getting Digital Preferred from Comcast in Frederick county. I'm told that is the cheapest package that includes ESPN HD.
> 
> 
> I want to use this with a tuner card in my HTPC. Comcast said I need either a cable card or to rent one of their boxes for an additional $7.95 / mo.
> 
> 
> Can anyone confirm if the box is actually needed or if ESPN is sent in clear QAM?
> 
> I'm cursing NFL for putting MNF on ESPN...
> 
> 
> I forgot to ask Comcast if NFL Network is included in Digital Preferred, but I'd have the same question about to this forum anyway (seems like you always get conflicting information when talking to Comcast.)



Here in Montgomery County you need a box or card to get it. The only HD channels that are clear QAM besides the locals, is Universal HD and TNT HD.

J


----------



## gary michaels




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/17024026
> 
> 
> WDCN is broadcasting a test pattern in analog on VHF-6. I assume they are broadcasting from the WETA-FM tower in North Arlington. Anybody else seeing this?



I have a B-, but very viewable picture on them using a high band V only antenna 72 miles out to the west.


----------



## bmcent1




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/17025103
> 
> 
> Here in Montgomery County you need a box or card to get it. The only HD channels that are clear QAM besides the locals, is Universal HD and TNT HD.
> 
> J



Okay, thanks for the feedback. The boxes have always been too buggy IMO and my tuner card doesn't accept a cable card. I think I'll pass this year and see if FIOS gets here by next.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

Great technical article about why VHF doesn't work as well for DTV as UHF does...

http://www.tvtechnology.com/article/85628


----------



## Marcus Carr

I called Comcast and DTAs are not available in Baltimore City yet. They got them in Baltimore County two weeks later than expected. (Expected date was 6/15.)


DOCSIS 3.0, however, is now available at my address and parts of the city.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bmcent1* /forum/post/17025387
> 
> 
> Okay, thanks for the feedback. The boxes have always been too buggy IMO and my tuner card doesn't accept a cable card. I think I'll pass this year and see if FIOS gets here by next.



Yea, I refuse to get a cable box, and they couldn't get a cable card to work in my TV. They tried two different cards, and I finally said forget it.

J


----------



## Mike20878




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/16974162
> 
> 
> The pre-season game was 1080i and 16:9 on WHAG-DT.
> 
> 
> Did anyone else notice WHAG-Dt go off the air for a period over the weekend? WWPX-DT has been off the air since about 9:40 (or was it 10:40) last night. Did they loose a transmitter or receiver?
> 
> 
> I wasn't too happy about it happening during "Blazing Saddles." Did anyone else pickup on _i_ON "Blanking" of the word "******," but allowing the word "*****" to be broadcast. For Pete Sake, it's a Mel Brooks film. Of course it's going to be full of pre-Political Correctness "Stereo-Types."
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> They cut the film also, because the part of the scene where Hedley starts to chock on the hard candy he is sucking on is missing.



Please tell me they didn't censor the baked beans scene? The last time I saw it on network tv they cut out the gas sounds!


Wasn't the "N" word pretty much blanked by the movie itself? I remember the scene with the line "the sherrif's a Ni....gong." Something to that effect...


----------



## mdviewer25

Was able to lock onto WMDT last night for the first time in months. saw ten minutes of "Married...With Children" on 47-2 The CW Network before I lost it. The signal strength fluctuated from 9 to 40 when I checked the meter but there were no bars on the meter while I was watching.


----------



## pmturcotte

For the last 5 years I've received my Directv OTA channels through a rooftop antenna that the previous owner had installed and have had a perfect picture with no issues - live in Alexandria, VA.


Now I find that WJLA (7-1) and WUSA (9-1) are not coming in at all. I have no issues with the other OTAs (4-1/2, 5-1 etc) or even 9-2 which is the WUSA weather feed.


I am not sure when this started but it must have been recently. I apologize for not being an antenna/tech genius but is this something I can correct on my end? It is not a rooftop antenna I can get to.


----------



## weaver6




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pmturcotte* /forum/post/17041720
> 
> 
> For the last 5 years I've received my Directv OTA channels through a rooftop antenna that the previous owner had installed and have had a perfect picture with no issues - live in Alexandria, VA.
> 
> 
> Now I find that WJLA (7-1) and WUSA (9-1) are not coming in at all. I have no issues with the other OTAs (4-1/2, 5-1 etc) or even 9-2 which is the WUSA weather feed.
> 
> 
> I am not sure when this started but it must have been recently. I apologize for not being an antenna/tech genius but is this something I can correct on my end? It is not a rooftop antenna I can get to.



Reset the antenna (not satellite) settings: Parental, Fav's and Setup, System Setup, Sat & Ant, Antenna Setup, Reset Settings.


Rerun the Initial Setup in the same menu, and reenter the zip codes.


That should clear it up.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *weaver6* /forum/post/17042127
> 
> 
> Reset the antenna (not satellite) settings: Parental, Fav's and Setup, System Setup, Sat & Ant, Antenna Setup, Reset Settings.
> 
> 
> Rerun the Initial Setup in the same menu, and reenter the zip codes.
> 
> 
> That should clear it up.



Only if the antenna receives VHF since those stations moved from UHF to VHF two months ago.


----------



## pmturcotte




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/17043567
> 
> 
> Only if the antenna receives VHF since those stations moved from UHF to VHF two months ago.



Well I'm guessing thats the problem then - the antenna itself is probably @ 8 years old. Can still receive all the other OTAs though (4-1/2/3, 5-1, 7-2/3, 9-2)











Thanks for the quick update.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pmturcotte* /forum/post/17043783
> 
> 
> Well I'm guessing thats the problem then - the antenna itself is probably @ 8 years old. Can still receive all the other OTAs though (4-1/2/3, 5-1, 7-2/3, 9-2)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for the quick update.



You must have missed all the posts when the digital switch happened and WUSA and WJLA went to VHF. My antennas can receive VHF but I can't get anywhere close to the reception I had when they were on UHF. I can get WJLA in after repositioning my antennas, but WUSA is a lost cause for me.

They went from being my best received channel to my worst.


----------



## pmturcotte




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/17043985
> 
> 
> You must have missed all the posts when the digital switch happened and WUSA and WJLA went to VHF. My antennas can receive VHF but I can't get anywhere close to the reception I had when they were on UHF. I can get WJLA in after repositioning my antennas, but WUSA is a lost cause for me.
> 
> They went from being my best received channel to my worst.



Yeah thats my bad, I only check in on this thread a couple times a year...


----------



## weaver6




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pmturcotte* /forum/post/17043783
> 
> 
> Well I'm guessing thats the problem then - the antenna itself is probably @ 8 years old. Can still receive all the other OTAs though (4-1/2/3, 5-1, 7-2/3, 9-2)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for the quick update.



I assumed since you get 9-2, which is now VHF, that the antenna was capable of VHF reception. Have you tried resetting the antenna settings and redoing the antenna initilization, as described in my previous post? I had to do that after the DTV switchover.


----------



## tonyd79

Just got my new modem from Comcast for DOCSIS in Howard County. Now getting 15+ download speeds. Not bad. What are FIOS speeds like?


Also, I know Comcast is rolling out more HD. Any word on DC locals for Howard County (as Fios has) or more HBO channels? Those are all reasons for Fios for me (plus cost).


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/17044758
> 
> 
> Just got my new modem from Comcast for DOCSIS in Howard County. Now getting 15+ download speeds. Not bad. What are FIOS speeds like?



Mine's around 10 Mbps, last I checked, but that's that's a cheaper package. You could push 25 if you wanted.


Also, note that even if Comcast adds more HD, they'll probably be three to a QAM, and look worse than FiOS.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/17046288
> 
> 
> Also, note that even if Comcast adds more HD, they'll probably be three to a QAM, and look worse than FiOS.



Good point, if they do that. They should be turning off analog soon.


----------



## ahsan

I was watching the beginning of the Skins game on NFL Network on FIOS and at some point I switched to Comcast. Then I attempted to go back to NFL and its missing. I figured maybe it was blackout related (but why is the channel completely missing, never seen that before). Now the Skins game is over but NFL Network is still missing!


----------



## PCW

Is anyone experiencing intermittant video dropouts or microblocking on WUSA Channel 9 in the Washington, DC area? I have had this problem for a number of days and it's only on this channel. Thanks.


----------



## sgtjim

Comcast in Charles Co. Southern Md has now added 35 HD Channels. All HD channels are now in the 800 series from 800-895. They did not ADD TCM,Tru TV or HLN AND ENCORE HAS A PLACEHOLDER AT 891. They now total 72 channels with the locals. The lineup is similar to post #10443 above. The card they sent in the mail advising of this update stated it was for Charles & St. Mary's customers. This occurred less than 30 days since they shut off the first 20 analog channels and before they shutdown the remaining 20.


----------



## mdviewer25

I decided to review all of the new SD digital channels that have shown up and been moved around in clear QAM for Comcast Prince George's and discovered that some are repeated up to 4 times when you include their analog equivalents.


Here's the list:


81-10 = G4

82-3 = WGN

82-4 = EWTN

82-6 = INSP

82-7 = TBN

82-11 = MASN 2

93-2 = MLB Extra Innings (SD) (just this one channel, the rest are encrypted)

101-5 = On Demand preview

102-4 = TRAVEL

102-6 = C-SPAN 2

102-10 = HSN

102-11 = QVC

102-12 = C-SPAN

104-1 = PIN (channel 71)

106-7 = Gospel Music Channel

108-12 = On Demand preview (double vision)

109-1 = Channel 96 (which is the same as channel 78)

109-2 = Channel 95 (TV Guide)

109-3 = Channel 69

109-4 = channel 70

109-5 = channel 72

109-6 = channel 73

109-7 = channel 74

109-8 = channel 75

109-9 = channel 77

109-10 = channel 78 (same as channel 96)

109-13 = channel 76

110-3 = ABC Family

110-7 = SHOP NBC

110-8 = Bravo

114-8 = EWTN

127-3 = NEWS 8


If you include the analog channels, channel 96/78 (PG Public Schools) is repeated four times. I never understood why it was repeated twice in the first place. EWTN is repeated three times on 99, 82-4, and 114-8. They also have SD versions of the locals mapped to where they would be located OTA (ex. WRC is mapped to 4-11, WTTG is mapped to 5-32). Seems unnecessary since the have the HD versions of the same channels. They got rid of the Baltimore channels in clear QAM for whatever reason and then they bring out all of these duplicates.


----------



## djp952

Sorry, the original post/reply was a while ago and I was too lazy to find it ...


It was finally cool enough to go up to the attic again this evening, and I repositioned the Y5-7-13 to the point where both 7 and 9 were coming in very strong (25-30dB) on my laptop's tuner.


I tried just hooking it up to the post-amplifier downstream with a diplexer, but as I feared the signal was nowhere near good enough to be split 4 ways without amplification. So i hooked it back up to the VHF input of a 7777.


My problem is 7, believe it or not. Occasional dropouts due to signal/noise ratio being low (60% at best). 9 is fine, with a S/N of 90-95%. I'm assuming at this point that the antenna is picking up a lot of "air noise" on 7 and I'm not doing myself any favors with the rather hot 7777 amp.


What would the suggestion be at this point? Outside is NOT an option, no matter how much I would like to and how certain I am that I would have the world's best 7-9 signal that way (one word ... wife). Does anyone think that an attenuator would help in this situation?


----------



## djp952

For Trip or anyone else who cares, due to either good fortune or the high pressure system that's on us right now, I'm getting each and every channel I typically expect to get tonight. Updated TSReader HTM files attached in a .zip.

 

dcbaltchannels.zip 79.98046875k . file


----------



## djp952

Whoa! I'm a DXer!! I did a channel scan on my Bravia on my "best of both worlds" antenna that it's hooked to, and I picked up 3 very cool stations. I tried with my HDHomeRun that's attached to a different antenna pointed at D.C. and I got all 3 !!

*KYW*. "K" YW. Awesome. Also WPHL and WNJS. Perfectly watchable!! TSReader attached as proof.


edit: Bummer, KYW is Philadelphia. And here I thought I was picking up something from the other side of the Mississippi without even trying. I also found WPSG on my Baltimore antenna! Best. Night. Ever. (Note: my antennas are fixed and point nowhere near Philly, let alone Camden, NJ, that's why I think this is so cool)


edit 2: And WTVE. Attachment #3. OK, I'm done now.

 

djp952-dx-wtve.zip 2.3515625k . file

 

djp952-dx-wpsg.zip 2.7060546875k . file

 

djp952-dx.zip 11.52734375k . file


----------



## Trip in VA

Thanks.










The new data for WNVC, in particular, confirms the presence of Mobile DTV.


- Trip


----------



## mkfs

Hope this is on-topic for here. Friends in the District suddenly loop-qualify for RCN after years of not. But there's been no construction so "huh?" seems in order.


They're considering a switch from Comcrap err Comcast. It's an ugly mess to try & make A-B comparisons, given the loads of hype that both sides dish out.


They are interested in comments from RCN TV users in the area. What do you think of their HD quality; do they degrade them as much as it has been reported Comcast does? Comments on the channel lineup?


Does anyone use RCN with CableCards?


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17051432
> 
> 
> For Trip or anyone else who cares, due to either good fortune or the high pressure system that's on us right now, I'm getting each and every channel I typically expect to get tonight. Updated TSReader HTM files attached in a .zip.



Check out

http://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo.html 


for the Tropospheric Ducting Forecast if you want to know ahead of time when conditions will be favorable to get the stations. I used these forecasts in the early 2000's to know when I could make a reliable HD recording from the Baltimore HD stations. Since most of the time I could barely receive them.


----------



## southbalto




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17051432
> 
> 
> For Trip or anyone else who cares, due to either good fortune or the high pressure system that's on us right now, I'm getting each and every channel I typically expect to get tonight. Updated TSReader HTM files attached in a .zip.



Me too. For whatever reason WETA and MHZ reception comes in much better in the evenings. Usually I don't recieve any signal during the day.


Last night they were rock solid.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/17049344
> 
> 
> I decided to review all of the new SD digital channels that have shown up and been moved around in clear QAM for Comcast Prince George's and discovered that some are repeated up to 4 times when you include their analog equivalents.
> 
> ...
> 
> They got rid of the Baltimore channels in clear QAM for whatever reason and then they bring out all of these duplicates.



Thanks for the review. It is good to have a good reference here even though I have gone through the exercise a few times and written it down somewhere ...


As far as the Baltimore channels, they have some explanation, which I think comes down to $ somehow.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17051206
> 
> 
> It was finally cool enough to go up to the attic again this evening, and I repositioned the Y5-7-13 to the point where both 7 and 9 were coming in very strong (25-30dB) on my laptop's tuner.
> 
> 
> I tried just hooking it up to the post-amplifier downstream with a diplexer, but as I feared the signal was nowhere near good enough to be split 4 ways without amplification. So i hooked it back up to the VHF input of a 7777.
> 
> 
> My problem is 7, believe it or not. Occasional dropouts due to signal/noise ratio being low (60% at best). 9 is fine, with a S/N of 90-95%. I'm assuming at this point that the antenna is picking up a lot of "air noise" on 7 and I'm not doing myself any favors with the rather hot 7777 amp.



I was thinking signal overload, myself; 7 broadcasts at way more power. So sure, try an attenuator.


----------



## John_D

Can anyone recommend a good installer or is anyone here looking for some business, if so please let me know. I am hoping a Winegard 7695P will bring in the major DC channels from my location. Thanks.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17051206
> 
> 
> . . . . . So i hooked it back up to the VHF input of a 7777.
> 
> 
> My problem is 7, believe it or not. Occasional dropouts due to signal/noise ratio being low (60% at best). 9 is fine, with a S/N of 90-95%.



Can you try just one tuner hooked straight to the Y5-7-13 & see what you get? I'm afraid some of the strong TV/FM signals from Baltimore may be overloading the "_input_" of the 7777. Is the FM trap set to the _"in"_ position?


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/17049344
> 
> 
> I decided to review all of the new SD digital channels that have shown up and been moved around in clear QAM for Comcast Prince George's and discovered that some are repeated up to 4 times when you include their analog equivalents.
> 
> 
> Here's the list:
> 
> 
> 81-10 = G4
> 
> 82-3 = WGN
> 
> 82-4 = EWTN
> 
> 82-6 = INSP
> 
> 82-7 = TBN
> 
> 82-11 = MASN 2
> 
> 93-2 = MLB Extra Innings (SD) (just this one channel, the rest are encrypted)
> 
> 101-5 = On Demand preview
> 
> 102-4 = TRAVEL
> 
> 102-6 = C-SPAN 2
> 
> 102-10 = HSN
> 
> 102-11 = QVC
> 
> 102-12 = C-SPAN
> 
> 104-1 = PIN (channel 71)
> 
> 106-7 = Gospel Music Channel
> 
> 108-12 = On Demand preview (double vision)
> 
> 109-1 = Channel 96 (which is the same as channel 78)
> 
> 109-2 = Channel 95 (TV Guide)
> 
> 109-3 = Channel 69
> 
> 109-4 = channel 70
> 
> 109-5 = channel 72
> 
> 109-6 = channel 73
> 
> 109-7 = channel 74
> 
> 109-8 = channel 75
> 
> 109-9 = channel 77
> 
> 109-10 = channel 78 (same as channel 96)
> 
> 109-13 = channel 76
> 
> 110-3 = ABC Family
> 
> 110-7 = SHOP NBC
> 
> 110-8 = Bravo
> 
> 114-8 = EWTN
> 
> 127-3 = NEWS 8
> 
> 
> If you include the analog channels, channel 96/78 (PG Public Schools) is repeated four times. I never understood why it was repeated twice in the first place. EWTN is repeated three times on 99, 82-4, and 114-8. They also have SD versions of the locals mapped to where they would be located OTA (ex. WRC is mapped to 4-11, WTTG is mapped to 5-32). Seems unnecessary since the have the HD versions of the same channels. They got rid of the Baltimore channels in clear QAM for whatever reason and then they bring out all of these duplicates.



MOCO Comcast is doing the same thing, but at different positions. They are far more scattered across the dial here. I will say, that some of the digital versions do look better-notably Sci-fi (Syfy) and the food network, 2 of the worst looking national networks out there.

J


----------



## mlmorg

Hi all,


I will be moving to baltimore city in a month or two. I will probably be getting comcast internet (unless someone has a better alternative) but no cable tv. I have an hdtv with a qam tuner and would like to know the best way to get the major networks in hd. I used to live in new york and plugged my hdtv directly into the cable line in the wall (had time warner cable internet but no tv) and got all networks in hd. Will I be able to do this in baltimore with comcast internet and no cable tv? If not, what would you all suggest as an antenna? I would assume I wouldn't need anything too substantial because downtown is probably close enough to the towers.


Thanks for any help you all can give!


----------



## rviele




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *John_D* /forum/post/17053065
> 
> 
> Can anyone recommend a good installer or is anyone here looking for some business, if so please let me know. I am hoping a Winegard 7695P will bring in the major DC channels from my location. Thanks.



call action antenna they are in catonsville


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/17053414
> 
> 
> Can you try just one tuner hooked straight to the Y5-7-13 & see what you get? I'm afraid some of the strong TV/FM signals from Baltimore may be overloading the "_input_" of the 7777. Is the FM trap set to the _"in"_ position?



It was getting a pretty good signal with just my laptop's tuner up there, hooked directly to the antenna. I use that method to aim before hooking things up to the Matrix







Both 7 and 9 were good without the amp.


You know ... I didn't think to check the FM trap. I *believe* I made sure it was off, but I'll have to go check to be certain. Man will I feel dumb if that's disabled!! Will post back after work.


----------



## RaginBajin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rviele* /forum/post/17054369
> 
> 
> call action antenna they are in catonsville



PM me and I can give you a guy that has setup my Dish, Antenna and did some of my In-wall setup.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17054448
> 
> 
> It was getting a pretty good signal with just my laptop's tuner up there, hooked directly to the antenna. I use that method to aim before hooking things up to the Matrix
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Both 7 and 9 were good without the amp.
> 
> 
> You know ... I didn't think to check the FM trap. I *believe* I made sure it was off, but I'll have to go check to be certain. Man will I feel dumb if that's disabled!! Will post back after work.



OK, FM trap was in, I don't have to feel stupid. Attenuator was a bad idea, even at the minimum setting it only made things worse. It seems it's just a poor signal after all.


More unhooking, more moving around, found a better spot that seems to have good (90-95%) S/N for both 7 and 9 when it's all hooked up through the 7777 and the splitters. I also found that keeping the balun and the feedline parallel to the boom made a modest positive difference.


Will let you know, but I'm not scheduling any recordings on WJLA just yet









*edit:* You have to love this stuff. With me in the attic WUSA was 100/100 (dBm/S-N), now it's 100/75. lol. I guess I just need a 200lb bag of human parts next to it and it will all be good. WJLA is solid at the moment (100/94), but again we'll see. I'm sure I'll be spending a lot of time up there now that fall is on it's way







Thanks again for all the suggestions gang! I'll get it working properly at some point!


----------



## southbalto

I don't know what it is but after 9:30 each night i go from zero reception on WETA and MHz network to stable.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mkfs* /forum/post/17051845
> 
> 
> They are interested in comments from RCN TV users in the area. What do you think of their HD quality; do they degrade them as much as it has been reported Comcast does? Comments on the channel lineup?



I can't compare HD quality with Comcast as I've never subscribed to their service since going HD, but I have no problems with RCN's HD quality. They don't place more than two HD channels on a QAM, and in the case of the premium tier channels (HDNet, MGM HD, HBO, etc.,) I'm pretty sure the signals are passed through without any further compression. I think this might be the case with the local broadcast channels, as well.


And RCN offers more than 100 HD channels now, which is far more than what Comcast offers in D.C., the last time I checked.


----------



## howie14




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ahsan* /forum/post/17046651
> 
> 
> I was watching the beginning of the Skins game on NFL Network on FIOS and at some point I switched to Comcast. Then I attempted to go back to NFL and its missing. I figured maybe it was blackout related (but why is the channel completely missing, never seen that before). Now the Skins game is over but NFL Network is still missing!



Skins should have been blacked out on NFLN (they were blacked out on DISH). I guess FIOS was late lifting the blackout after the game ended?


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

What's wrong with WBAL-DT's audio? The audio levels constantly go up and down. Sometimes it gets so super loud that I have to turn the channel in frustration. This has been happening for a while now. Has anyone else noticed?


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/17062739
> 
> 
> What's wrong with WBAL-DT's audio? The audio levels constantly go up and down. Sometimes it gets so super loud that I have to turn the channel in frustration. This has been happening for a while now. Has anyone else noticed?



Yes. I've contacted them a number of times about audio issues since the switch back to 11. First it was too loud, now it does indeed fluctuate up and down. It's very annoying.


You can e-mail them, they usually respond in a couple days. I've personally gotten bored trying to justify the problems I see/hear to them and just watch WRC when their equipment isn't working right. Except for news, I still like WBAL news the best, even if the audio is usually out of sync


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/17051646
> 
> 
> The new data for WNVC, in particular, confirms the presence of Mobile DTV.



I was looking at the TSReader outputs, and all of the "mobile DTV" stations _but_ WUSA have a dedicated 1.8-3.5 Mbps carrier, with the name of "Unknown carrier" or "ATSC-M/H" that appears on the bottom diagram. WUSA sends a bunch of null packets. So how do you know that WUSA sends a mobile TV signal, yet?


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mlmorg* /forum/post/17054213
> 
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> 
> I will be moving to baltimore city in a month or two. I will probably be getting comcast internet (unless someone has a better alternative) but no cable tv. I have an hdtv with a qam tuner and would like to know the best way to get the major networks in hd. I used to live in new york and plugged my hdtv directly into the cable line in the wall (had time warner cable internet but no tv) and got all networks in hd. Will I be able to do this in baltimore with comcast internet and no cable tv? If not, what would you all suggest as an antenna? I would assume I wouldn't need anything too substantial because downtown is probably close enough to the towers.
> 
> 
> Thanks for any help you all can give!



The cost of ordering Comcast internet on its own it is about the same as ordering internet plus basic TV in PG County, so probably also as well in Baltimore. With basic TV service then you can get the local networks directly through the wall with your QAM tuner.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/17064635
> 
> 
> I was looking at the TSReader outputs, and all of the "mobile DTV" stations _but_ WUSA have a dedicated 1.8-3.5 Mbps carrier, with the name of "Unknown carrier" or "ATSC-M/H" that appears on the bottom diagram. WUSA sends a bunch of null packets. So how do you know that WUSA sends a mobile TV signal, yet?



WUSA has 3.67 Mbps of 0x1eee. That's Mobile DTV.


- Trip


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17051206
> 
> 
> My problem is 7, believe it or not. Occasional dropouts due to signal/noise ratio being low (60% at best). 9 is fine, with a S/N of 90-95%. I'm assuming at this point that the antenna is picking up a lot of "air noise" on 7 and I'm not doing myself any favors with the rather hot 7777 amp.



Try your setup with the trap "OFF" and see if that makes a difference. You could also try using the FM trap adjustment to attenuate the RF7 level a bit.


I found that my "NEW" CM pre-amp didn't have the right adjustment for WJLA-TV before the transition (bad reception of RF7). While I adjusted the pre-amp, I had someone monitor the television.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*D.C. Pols To Light FiOS Sept. 1*


Verizon Expects to Begin Offering Service in Nation's Capital Later This Year


Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 8/27/2009 1:41:06 PM EDT


Verizon Communications will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Sept. 1, with mayor Adrian Fenty and other city officials to mark the official launch of the telco's FiOS network upgrade in the nation's capital.


The telecommunications company said it expects to begin offering FiOS TV and Internet services in parts of the District of Columbia starting later this year, competing with cable incumbent Comcast. Fenty in January approved the telco's 15-year cable franchise with the city.


The event is scheduled for Sept. 1 at 10:30 a.m. at 1600 19th St. S.E. near Minnesota Avenue. According to Verizon, the D.C. officials will take turns splicing fiber-optic lines following the ribbon-cutting ceremony.


Scheduled to be on hand are Fenty, D.C. Councilmember Mary Cheh, D.C. Office of Cable Television director Eric Richardson and Verizon regional president William Roberts.


Verizon said its construction teams have been working in D.C.'s southeast quadrant to lay fiber-optic cabling. The franchise agreement obligates Verizon to make FiOS TV available throughout the District within the next nine years.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/...iOS_Sept_1.php


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/17073922
> 
> 
> ...The franchise agreement obligates Verizon to make FiOS TV available throughout the District within the next _*nine*_ years...



Wow! I wonder what outside target date that Fenty negitiated down from. Within nine years, we probably won't even be using FiOS anymore.


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/17074594
> 
> 
> Wow! I wonder what outside target date that Fenty negitiated down from. Within nine years, we probably won't even be using FiOS anymore.



Charles County just rolled over & accepted a similar timeframe there.

http://www.charlescounty.org/verizon..._franchise.pdf 


Be sure and see the "Line Extension Policy" part.


Of course, the Commissioners are so busy congratulating themselves that their tongues are sore and their backs slapped raw.


The finest govenment money can buy....


----------



## Marcus Carr

That's probably still a lot sooner than Baltimore City will get it.


----------



## gfparker

I'm in west Fairfax county near the intersection of I66 and the Fairfax County Parkway. Since the conversion, I've been having problems with ch 4 reception on my Windows Media Center tuner. Signal strength looks ok but the video jumps/stutters frequently but only on ch4. However ch4 seems to come in fine on my Samsung HDTV which has a built in tuner. The Media Center tuner is an ATI 650 pci tuner.


Since ch 7 & 9 switched to VHF, I added an older Radioshack VHF/UHF antenna to the attic along with the UHF antenna I had been using. Each antenna goes thru an amplifier then gets combined (I just used an old splitter in reverse) into a 100+ ft coax run to the basement. Once in the basement it gets split again to go to 2 tvs and 2 Media Center computers. I get 7 & 9 fine now along with 5, but cannot get 4 to stop jumping.


Is it ok to just use a splitter to combine the two antennas? Is the fact that one antenna is UHF/VHF and the second is just UHF causing me problems? The amplifier on the UHF/VHF is an old unit from Home Depot, but the amplifier on the UFH is a newer Winegard amp. Any help anyone can give me would be appreciated.


----------



## rviele




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/17076429
> 
> 
> That's probably still a lot sooner than Baltimore City will get it.



what the verizon guy told me today when he installed my fios was that because i live out in the county and my phone lines are overhead i got it quicker


----------



## PaulGo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gfparker* /forum/post/17076556
> 
> 
> I'm in west Fairfax county near the intersection of I66 and the Fairfax County Parkway. Since the conversion, I've been having problems with ch 4 reception on my Windows Media Center tuner. Signal strength looks ok but the video jumps/stutters frequently but only on ch4. However ch4 seems to come in fine on my Samsung HDTV which has a built in tuner. The Media Center tuner is an ATI 650 pci tuner.
> 
> 
> Since ch 7 & 9 switched to VHF, I added an older Radioshack VHF/UHF antenna to the attic along with the UHF antenna I had been using. Each antenna goes thru an amplifier then gets combined (I just used an old splitter in reverse) into a 100+ ft coax run to the basement. Once in the basement it gets split again to go to 2 tvs and 2 Media Center computers. I get 7 & 9 fine now along with 5, but cannot get 4 to stop jumping.
> 
> 
> Is it ok to just use a splitter to combine the two antennas? Is the fact that one antenna is UHF/VHF and the second is just UHF causing me problems? The amplifier on the UHF/VHF is an old unit from Home Depot, but the amplifier on the UFH is a newer Winegard amp. Any help anyone can give me would be appreciated.



I have a similar setup except I use a UHF antenna for Baltimore stations and a VHF/UHF antenna (in my attic) for DC stations, they both go through the splitter unamplified and then go through a UHF/VHF amplifier. It seems to work OK the only stations I have problems with are 11 and 13 (Baltimore). I also get channel digital channels 30, 66 and 67 from other locations.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gfparker* /forum/post/17076556
> 
> 
> Is it ok to just use a splitter to combine the two antennas? Is the fact that one antenna is UHF/VHF and the second is just UHF causing me problems? The amplifier on the UHF/VHF is an old unit from Home Depot, but the amplifier on the UFH is a newer Winegard amp. Any help anyone can give me would be appreciated.



Yes ... and no







I have some experience here, I tried this almost 2 years ago and then spent the next 8 months learning more about Physics.


The reverse splitter trick technically works, but here's what happens. First off, you're losing >50% of the signal from each source (~3.5dB). Not a big deal if you amplify first and then combine. The more important problem is that if each antenna "sees" the same channel, even if it's via a weak reflection, you end up with multiple standing waves on the line at the same frequency. Unless you're the luckiest person ever, these waves will not be in phase and will cancel each other out to some degree and confuse the receiver. In essence, you're creating multipath. By amplifying the signals before combining them, you're creating some really nasty multipath










Given the description, that's what I think is happening here. Since the UHF-only antenna has no appeciable gain for 7 and 9, all you're losing is 3.5dB at the combiner on those channels. Since it's already been amplified, not a problem. On the UHF side, however, you're playing with fire. Apparently 4 (UHF 48) has it the worst with your setup, but I would bet that given a change in weather/temperature you'd find more and more channels exhibit the same problem, especially as we head into the winter months.


Let me ask you this ... what is your goal? Was it to just get 7 and 9 back? If that is the case, what you want is a VHF/UHF diplexer, not a splitter. Hook the Radio Shack antenna to the VHF side and the UHF antenna to the UHF side .. BEFORE any amplification. A diplexer is an RF filter that can combine the low VHF frequencies with the high UHF frequencies with almost no loss at all, and it has the benefit that any UHF signals picked up on the VHF antenna are completely filtered out for you, and won't cause you any more grief.


Now, be advised, depending on what model # your Winegard amp is (please tell us and we can look it up), it may not be able to amplify VHF. The one from Home Depot is probably not a very good device, I personally don't recommend using it (GE model perhaps?). If the Winegard amp cannot amplify VHF, you can still try it and see what happens, but it's likely you may need an amplifier capable of handling both VHF and UHF.


My personal advise would be to try a VHF/UHF diplexer first (also called a "combiner" if you're Googling or trying radioshack.com), then run the combined signal into the Winegard amp, and see what happens. If it works well, it's a cheap easy solution. If you don't get good results on the VHF side, you probably want/need a different amplifier.


----------



## tonyd79

Don't see it reported here but DirecTV has turned on WNUV HD and WUTB HD. That means all Baltimore HD locals are on DirecTV now.


----------



## Trip in VA

WJLA has filed an STA to increase power from 30 kW to 52 kW. We have to see what the FCC says.


- Trip


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/17077520
> 
> 
> WJLA has filed an STA to increase power from 30 kW to 52 kW. We have to see what the FCC says.
> 
> 
> - Trip



I hope they let them give it a try.


----------



## re_nelson




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/17077520
> 
> 
> WJLA has filed an STA to increase power from 30 kW to 52 kW. We have to see what the FCC says.



...and where will that leave WUSA with its comparatively puny 12.6 kW ERP? If the FCC approves the 52 kW for ACC, channel 9 will be some 6 dB down relative to its VHF competitor and tower mate.


Of course, this presumes that ``power density'' is a significant factor in reception as the filing asserts.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dewster1977* /forum/post/17077620
> 
> 
> I hope they let them give it a try.



+1 here, a resounding +1. I also hope that if they do, we know in advance when it will happen so we can assist with before/after data for WJLA







I think they'll let them try it, personally.


Any word on how it's been going with WBAL's STA? Anybody in range of VHF 12 having issues with 11 being more powerful?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17078246
> 
> 
> Anybody in range of VHF 12 having issues with 11 being more powerful?



WBAL has no affect on VHF 12 from my location in Arlington.


----------



## Trip in VA

I can't see WUSA being able to get any kind of power increase on channel 9. WBPH up there is just too constrictive.


If I was Gannett, I'd look at channel 14 very hard.


- Trip


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/17078571
> 
> 
> I can't see WUSA being able to get any kind of power increase on channel 9. WBPH up there is just too constrictive.



True, but if it turns out that the interference rules on VHF have been overestimated, which really seems to be the case from everything I've read to date, a power increase might still be possible. If all these STAs from VHF channels are working out, wouldn't the rules end up getting changed?


I'm still definately in favor of these stations trying it out to see what happens. The longer they wait the less acceptable these kinds of things will be to the public. Before the fall season starts is ideal










Didn't all of this happen before in the 1930s or something? I vaguely recall reading about VHF propogation being drastically underestimated originally, too.


It will work out at some point. I'm glad stations like WBAL and WJLA are taking the initiative, since in the end it will help the other stations.

*edit:* I hate to admit this, but I'm also in favor of the FCC playing favorites when it makes sense to do so. WPBH preventing WUSA from reaching it's designated viewers doesn't make sense. It does to fans of WPBH, I'm sure, but let's consider the greater good here. WUSA is a major network affiliate, I can't believe that WPBH's viewership even scratches the surface of what WUSA's is.


----------



## re_nelson




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17078693
> 
> 
> ...
> 
> I hate to admit this, but I'm also in favor of the FCC playing favorites when it makes sense to do so. WPBH preventing WUSA from reaching it's designated viewers doesn't make sense. It does to fans of WPBH, I'm sure, but let's consider the greater good here. WUSA is a major network affiliate, I can't believe that WPBH's viewership even scratches the surface of what WUSA's is.



Is programming content at all a consideration when the FCC evaluates a facility upgrade or channel change?


The WWAZ/Fond du Lac channel change request cites the Hispanic audience that will be served by relocating the site to the Milwaukee antenna farm. Likewise, the WLS/Chicago channel change notes coverage of the Gay Pride Parade and Mexican Independence Day as examples of its commitment to local programming.


Bringing this matter of content closer to Washington, if programming factors in at all, doesn't WETA have a much stronger case for moving to channel 51 than does WWPX?


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17078693
> 
> 
> Didn't all of this happen before in the 1930s or something? I vaguely recall reading about VHF propogation being drastically underestimated originally, too.
> 
> 
> It will work out at some point. I'm glad stations like WBAL and WJLA are taking the initiative, since in the end it will help the other stations.
> 
> *edit:* I hate to admit this, but I'm also in favor of the FCC playing favorites when it makes sense to do so. WPBH preventing WUSA from reaching it's designated viewers doesn't make sense. It does to fans of WPBH, I'm sure, but let's consider the greater good here. WUSA is a major network affiliate, I can't believe that WPBH's viewership even scratches the surface of what WUSA's is.



Experimenting for a broadcast station can be an expensive proposition, depending on the capacity of the transmitter and antenna. Generally you need to make sure the physics and allocation work on paper, before you spend the money.


Regarding your question about when VHF propagation was determined.. Prior to when the original VHF TV station construction permits were being issued in the 1940's, the assumption for both transmission and reception to allocation was calculated. The assumption was, and still is with DTV; that a receive antenna would be horizontal polarity, of at least 10dB gain and installed outside at 30 feet above ground. If this installation is typical, then the theory and practice work perfectly. Fast forward to 2009 and none of the original assumptions took into account 'rabbit ear' antennas, antennas mounted in attics, etc. Modern construction of homes may have foil or mylar coated insulation, noisy house wiring caused by consumer electronic devices (computers and florescent lights), etc. All of these factors cause attenuation or interference to the VHF signal through walls. Of course the antennas indoors have less gain also.


So now is where the tricky part comes into play. It's true that VHF signals (especially DTV which are rated at RMS power, not peak power like NTSC), propagate much further on the horizon than UHF signals. So the issue with interfering with a co-or ajacent channel in another market is a huge factor, but now the field strength to penetrate buildings within a market is compromised. Depending on the individual situation, the FCC may be stuck. Do they authorize a higher power with the risk of interference to viewers to other markets? Or do they keep the power lower and have upset OTA viewers without outdoor antennas within a market?


To me it was silly to allow stations to go back to a VHF channel. Not only has it created confusion with viewers who got used to receiving a UHF signal, but it has put the stations in an unfortunate PR and financial bind in having to possibly upgrade their facilities more than twice.


----------



## hsweiss




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/17079656
> 
> 
> 
> To me it was silly to allow stations to go back to a VHF channel. Not only has it created confusion with viewers who got used to receiving a UHF signal, but it has put the stations in an unfortunate PR and financial bind in having to possibly upgrade their facilities more than twice.



Right on! It caused headaches and confusion for the broadcasters and for the consumers.


----------



## SternLover21215

Hey everyone, I had a quick question. Is anyone having issues seeing the substations of WJLA (7.2 and 7.3) and WUSA (9.2)? I'm not sure is the problem is Directv or not. I have my roof antennas connected to the off air antenna in my Directv receiver. I pick up 7.1 and 9.1 flawlessly but the substations don't come in. The funny thing is that the Directv guide has show listings for 7.3. I didn't know if it was something I could fix or if it was something else. Thanks


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/17065300
> 
> 
> WUSA has 3.67 Mbps of 0x1eee. That's Mobile DTV.



I don't know where you get this -- I checked your official TSReader of WUSA , and it shows 3.44 Mbps of "0x1fff MPEG-2 NULL Packet". Absolutely no mention of "0x1eee" -- unlike WPXW channel 66 , with 3.66 Mbps of "0x1eee Unknown usage".


Maybe you have a later TSReader cap that I can't access, but I still don't see how you can confirm Mobile DTV at WUSA, yet. However, I will admit that I've seen 9-1 macroblocking heavily recently, on a standard-def TV.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/17079656
> 
> 
> ... The assumption was, and still is with DTV; that a receive antenna would be horizontal polarity, of at least 10dB gain and installed outside at 30 feet above ground. If this installation is typical, then the theory and practice work perfectly. Fast forward to 2009 and none of the original assumptions took into account 'rabbit ear' antennas, antennas mounted in attics, etc. Modern construction of homes may have foil or mylar coated insulation, noisy house wiring caused by consumer electronic devices (computers and florescent lights), etc. All of these factors cause attenuation or interference to the VHF signal through walls. Of course the antennas indoors have less gain also.



There's another factor with DTV that I wonder how much thought was put into, and that's the "acceptable quality" factor. With analog TV, you could get something that's watchable if your tolerance for some ghosting/snow was moderate. The exact same signal level at the antenna with DTV might be worthless. I'm a prime example of this phenominon. I had an antenna that "got" 7 and 9 analog just fine, the picture was quite good actually, but it wasn't perfect. That exact same antenna couldn't provide enough signal for any receiver I have to lock onto 7 digital at all. 7 was/is at the maximum alotted power for VHF, so in theory that shouldn't have happened, right? I suppose that's why I keep harping that the numbers have to be wrong ... lol







WUSA isn't anywhere near the max, so I don't consider that to fall into the same category, really just WJLA.


edit: it's not like I can do anything about it, I suppose I'm just arguing for the sake of arguing here ... sorry







... very troll-like behavior on my part.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *re_nelson* /forum/post/17079616
> 
> 
> Likewise, the WLS/Chicago channel change notes coverage of the Gay Pride Parade and Mexican Independence Day as examples of its commitment to local programming.
> 
> 
> Bringing this matter of content closer to Washington, if programming factors in at all, doesn't WETA have a much stronger case for moving to channel 51 than does WWPX?



Under that theory, WUSA has the strongest case of them all, considering its for-profit status. However, I'll still give the nod to WETA because of their interference issue with WHAG. Didn't they file for 51 before WWPX?



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/17079656
> 
> 
> To me it was silly to allow stations to go back to a VHF channel. Not only has it created confusion with viewers who got used to receiving a UHF signal, but it has put the stations in an unfortunate PR and financial bind in having to possibly upgrade their facilities more than twice.



In theory, you have a point; however, there was simply too much money to be had in channels 52-54, let alone the others. It's like how ABC put that second HD subchannel on, purely for the money -- ABC picture quality be damned.


Additionally, how much could revenue possibly be taken away by a weak OTA signal? Something like 80% of viewers have cable or satellite, anyway, and especially the more affluent people that advertisers tend to crave. I read somewhere that half of those that have OTA can still get the VHF OTA signals, leaving maybe 9-10% of the populous. OTA people tend to be older and poorer people, neither of which are advertiser-friendly crowds. I could see a station manager or two deliberately using a lower-power VHF to their advantage, by "forcing" some OTA viewers to sign up for basic cable. Why? So the station can get $.50-1.00/sub/month off the backend, not just for them, but for everyone else subscribed to cable -- all to make up the difference in any lost revenue. Plus, the power bills, transmitter maintenance costs, and any potential new transmitter costs, are kept lower. Then again, I'm cheap.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17080980
> 
> 
> I had an antenna that "got" 7 and 9 analog just fine, the picture was quite good actually, but it wasn't perfect. That exact same antenna couldn't provide enough signal for any receiver I have to lock onto 7 digital at all. 7 was/is at the maximum alotted power for VHF, so in theory that shouldn't have happened, right? I suppose that's why I keep harping that the numbers have to be wrong ... lol



And they could be wrong. However, a dedicated VHF preamp and VHF-UHF combiner might do the trick for both 7 and 9. That's cheaper than 7 and 9 upping their power.


----------



## Eben




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SternLover21215* /forum/post/17080125
> 
> 
> Hey everyone, I had a quick question. Is anyone having issues seeing the substations of WJLA (7.2 and 7.3) and WUSA (9.2)? I'm not sure is the problem is Directv or not. I have my roof antennas connected to the off air antenna in my Directv receiver. I pick up 7.1 and 9.1 flawlessly but the substations don't come in. The funny thing is that the Directv guide has show listings for 7.3. I didn't know if it was something I could fix or if it was something else. Thanks



What DirecTV receiver are you using? Have you tried direct tuning to 7.3? Have you tried tuning to 7.1 and then using up channel to get to 7.2?


----------



## SternLover21215




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Eben* /forum/post/17081408
> 
> 
> What DirecTV receiver are you using? Have you tried direct tuning to 7.3? Have you tried tuning to 7.1 and then using up channel to get to 7.2?



Eben,


I have an HR20 receiver. I've tried direct tuning to 7.3 directly and using the up channel. The funny thing is that I can get the substations for other channels like 4.2, 4.3, and 50.2. I'm assuming the signal for the substations is coming from the same source as the other stations.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/17080820
> 
> 
> I don't know where you get this -- I checked your official TSReader of WUSA , and it shows 3.44 Mbps of "0x1fff MPEG-2 NULL Packet". Absolutely no mention of "0x1eee" -- unlike WPXW channel 66 , with 3.66 Mbps of "0x1eee Unknown usage".
> 
> 
> Maybe you have a later TSReader cap that I can't access, but I still don't see how you can confirm Mobile DTV at WUSA, yet. However, I will admit that I've seen 9-1 macroblocking heavily recently, on a standard-def TV.



Whoops. I thought I'd recently uploaded a newer one, but I guess I didn't...


I was actually referring to the one that djp952 posted: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showp...ostcount=10474 


I plan to use that data, I just need to rename them, edit out the EIT data (this is the really time-consuming part) and then upload them to RabbitEars.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/17080983
> 
> 
> Under that theory, WUSA has the strongest case of them all, considering its for-profit status. However, I'll still give the nod to WETA because of their interference issue with WHAG. Didn't they file for 51 before WWPX?



No, WETA and WWPX were filed before the June 20, 2008 deadline, which means the FCC will treat them as mutually exclusive and as though they were filed on the same date.


- Trip


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/17080983
> 
> 
> ...
> 
> Something like 80% of viewers have cable or satellite
> 
> ...
> 
> I read somewhere that half of those that have OTA can still get the VHF OTA signals, leaving maybe 9-10% of the populous
> 
> ...
> 
> a dedicated VHF preamp and VHF-UHF combiner might do the trick for both 7 and 9. That's cheaper than 7 and 9 upping their power.



Really?!?


According to Nielsen, the DC DMA has over 2.3 million households. (Let's ignore Baltimore just to keep it simple.)


So, in other words, you're saying -- using your figures from above -- that the purchase, installation, and *continuous operation* -- you realize that the power supplies for these preamps will consume a couple of watts or so of electricity, each, right?? -- of some _*200,000 or more additional VHF preamps*_ would be cheaper than channel 7 and 9 throwing a bit more juice at their VHF transmitters???


----------



## mdviewer25

WHUT is now in HD (1080i). Don't know exactly when it changed but I was surfing through the channels and saw an HD logo at the bottom of the screen.


----------



## mikemikeb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/17081728
> 
> _*200,000 or more additional VHF preamps*_ would be cheaper than channel 7 and 9 throwing a bit more juice at their VHF transmitters???



For some, a preamp won't be needed; an RG-6 cable will suffice. In any case, I was only giving an example for him; I wouldn't recommend a preamp for 200,000 people. Additionally, it wouldn't be a "bit" more power on 7 and 9. The power bill would go up pretty significantly with higher VHF powers. A switch to UHF would be another thing, entirely.


I looked up the location of Elkridge, MD; it's located inbetween DC and Baltimore's towers. Perhaps the antenna is already pointed towards Washington, but if it isn't, then pointing that way might fix the problem, without losing any Baltimore stations.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/17082396
> 
> 
> WHUT is now in HD (1080i). Don't know exactly when it changed but I was surfing through the channels and saw an HD logo at the bottom of the screen.



Just checked the OTA tuner. 32-1 is 1080i HD; 32-2 is 480i SD feed. Currently no audio on 32-2.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/17082767
> 
> 
> I looked up the location of Elkridge, MD; it's located inbetween DC and Baltimore's towers. Perhaps the antenna is already pointed towards Washington, but if it isn't, then pointing that way might fix the problem, without losing any Baltimore stations.



LOL, I have to assume you're talking about me there! Yeah, it's pointed towards D.C. I have separate systems for D.C. and Baltimore







Being as in-between as I am, it's nigh on impossible to get both from a single system, I spent a very long time trying! Now I use a computer and separate tuners hooked to each city's antenna system so there is no worries about aiming or trying to receive channels from nulls or rear gain. (I've been at this a while, and contrary to what I might sound like, I'm pretty thrilled overall with my results ... you can't argue with close to 50 channels, even if 33% of them are PBS - heh)


edit: 32.2 no audio confirmed. Let's give them some time. There was also stretch-o-vision going on earlier on 32.1. Thanks for the heads-up, I've added the channel and am looking forward to even MORE PBS programming from here in rainy downtown Elkridge!! (I jest, but I actually really appreciate having WMPT, WETA and WHUT available to me. I also get WMPB, which is handy for nights were scheduling recordings are tight on the D.C. array). The wife loves WHUT, when she gets back from Germany next year I think the fact that it's finally HD will make her a pretty happy camper. [If anyone wants to know, she's Navy Reserve and was activated last month and will be gone until next October .. hence my increased trolling time at avsforum  ]


----------



## Trip in VA

Any chance of new TSReader data on WHUT?


- Trip


----------



## djp952

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* 
Any chance of new TSReader data on WHUT?


- Trip
Your wish ... my command. Enjoy








 

whut-tsreader-08282009.zip 2.5966796875k . file


----------



## Drewdawg

I was watching FOX 21 tonight on Verizon FiOS and was wondering what was up with the anamorphic look. I thought, since we get FOX-21 HD they were taking that feed for the SD channel (5) and doing something wierd with it.


Then I tuned OTA (Zenith DTT901) and found 21.2 was indeed 16x9 ratio. I checked again with my Sylvania STB and it showed it to be SD 16x9.


This seems like a good compromise as I couldn't believe you could get anywhere near an acceptable picture with both 1080i and 720p on one channel. I'm not sure if 21.2 is 480i or 480p as there's nothing on the net about this. I'm sure it just happened as I usually tune in FOX 21.


I just hope they don't flop back to 4x3 and make me look stupid.










So check it out!







Believe me, it was 16x9 as I typed this.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17083275
> 
> 
> Your wish ... my command. Enjoy



Thanks.







My observations:


1) It's in 1440x1080i. Someone got a setting wrong somewhere along the way.


2) The Mobile DTV has vanished but there's exactly 3.67 Mbps worth of null packets. I'm assuming they'll bring the MobileDTV back online in that space sooner rather than later.


3) UpdateTV is still there, though I'm having a hard time figuring where the 2 Mbps it occasionally uses will be coming from. I imagine it'll get sucked from the HD, already down at 11.2 Mbps.


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Drewdawg* /forum/post/17083333
> 
> 
> I was watching FOX 21 tonight on Verizon FiOS and was wondering what was up with the anamorphic look. I thought, since we get FOX-21 HD they were taking that feed for the SD channel (5) and doing something wierd with it.
> 
> 
> So check it out!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Believe me, it was 16x9 as I typed this.



The OTA picture of FOX 21 looks very weird on my Samsung LCD. It has a peculiar squeezed look to it. (Looks like 4x2.5???) It was the same way last night. OTOH, the picture on CBS 16 is actually pretty darn good. It actually looks better than WUSA-9 with the Redskins game. The macroblocking is just terrible on WUSA with complex scenes.


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/17080983
> 
> 
> I could see a station manager or two deliberately using a lower-power VHF to their advantage, by "forcing" some OTA viewers to sign up for basic cable. Why? So the station can get $.50-1.00/sub/month off the backend, not just for them, but for everyone else subscribed to cable.




Is there a kickback arrangement such that the cableco pays the broadcast station per user? I know the cableco pays such for cable program sources and there is a "must carry" rule. But I assumed it was to the local broadcaster's advantage to directly pipe their content to the head end; I didn't know they got directly paid for same.


----------



## Digital Rules

WHUT-32.1 is broadcasting in widescreen 1080i tonight. There is also a 32.2 subchannel showing up, but no programming yet.


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/17083393
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 3) UpdateTV is still there, though I'm having a hard time figuring where the 2 Mbps it occasionally uses will be coming from.





Is it actually doing anything, anywhere?


----------



## Trip in VA

I've heard about Sony TVs (I think?) getting updated with it.


- Trip


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/17083584
> 
> 
> WHUT-32.1 is broadcasting in widescreen 1080i tonight. There is also a 32.2 subchannel showing up, but no programming yet.



WHUT-HD RF33.1 is broadcasting 1080i 16:9 HD to virtual 32.1. WHUT-SD RF33.2 is broadcasting 480i 4:3 SD to virtual 32.2. 32.2 is featuring a white WHUT logo on the lower right corner of the 4:3 black background.


----------



## StevenJB

WMDO-LD RF8.1 is broadcasting 480i *16:9* SD to virtual 47.1. WMDO-LD RF8.2 is broadcasting 480i 4:3 SD to virtual 47.2. WMDO-LD RF8.1 is broadcasting its own black sidebars or pillars onto the 16:9 picture in order to reduce the viewing area to 4:3. I am pointing this out in particular because they are *NOT* using ugly stretch-o-vision to achieve a full 16:9 picture. Hooray for WMDO-LD because they would rather keep their picture in true perspective rather than pull the same ugly crap that WBAL-HD did for the longest time with their ugly stretched picture for local WBAL original 4:3 source material for their non NBC network or local WBAL programming which they stretched to 16:9.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/17083796
> 
> 
> I've heard about Sony TVs (I think?) getting updated with it.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Yup. My Bravia self-updated via this service a few months ago. I'm of course against this service


----------



## mlmorg




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/17065256
> 
> 
> The cost of ordering Comcast internet on its own it is about the same as ordering internet plus basic TV in PG County, so probably also as well in Baltimore. With basic TV service then you can get the local networks directly through the wall with your QAM tuner.



seems like internet is $43 and tv is $57 here after 6-month promotions end. I'm pretty positive I'll be able to get local networks with my qam even without basic service...can anyone confirm that? The question I had was if I would be able to get these major networks in HD just hooked up to the wall with my qam tuner or will I have to get an antenna?


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mlmorg* /forum/post/17093332
> 
> 
> seems like internet is $43 and tv is $57 here after 6-month promotions end. I'm pretty positive I'll be able to get local networks with my qam even without basic service...can anyone confirm that? The question I had was if I would be able to get these major networks in HD just hooked up to the wall with my qam tuner or will I have to get an antenna?



When I had Comcast for only INternet, they put a filter on my line that prevented me from getting those channels.

Although I live in Prince William County.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/17083965
> 
> 
> WHUT-HD RF33.1 is broadcasting 1080i 16:9 HD to virtual 32.1. WHUT-SD RF33.2 is broadcasting 480i 4:3 SD to virtual 32.2. 32.2 is featuring a white WHUT logo on the lower right corner of the 4:3 black background.



They really need to move that big WHUT logo over a bit. Nearly half of it is cut off on old tube TVs.


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/17093447
> 
> 
> When I had Comcast for only INternet, they put a filter on my line that prevented me from getting those channels.
> 
> Although I live in Prince William County.



A friend in VA was so far away from the HCF node [2.5 miles...] they could never get his modem sync'ed unless they took all the filters out.....


----------



## Eben




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SternLover21215* /forum/post/17081476
> 
> 
> Eben,
> 
> 
> I have an HR20 receiver. I've tried direct tuning to 7.3 directly and using the up channel. The funny thing is that I can get the substations for other channels like 4.2, 4.3, and 50.2. I'm assuming the signal for the substations is coming from the same source as the other stations.



Hmmm, I have an HR21-100 with AM-21 and am getting 7.3 OTA. Have you tried rebooting your HR20? If that doesn't help, try redoing OTA setup.


----------



## mlmorg




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/17093447
> 
> 
> When I had Comcast for only INternet, they put a filter on my line that prevented me from getting those channels.
> 
> Although I live in Prince William County.



ugh... so what channels are people getting with antennas in the city?


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/17083965
> 
> 
> WHUT-HD RF33.1 is broadcasting 1080i 16:9 HD to virtual 32.1. WHUT-SD RF33.2 is broadcasting 480i 4:3 SD to virtual 32.2. 32.2 is featuring a white WHUT logo on the lower right corner of the 4:3 black background.



32.1 has the same studder and audio sync problem as 54.1 on my Dynex (aka Samsung) TV. Oh well, atleast its HD now, and works fine on my other tuners.


----------



## doubleagent

Hello, I'm moving to Baltimore (Federal Hill) from Syracuse, NY where TimeWarner uses Switched Digital Video to send some channels. I use a Tivo and they supplied me with a Tuning Adapter via USB that allows me to access those channels with CableCards.


Does Comcast utilize SDV and make tuning adapters available? I've gotten two different answers from Comcast (Online and local office).


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17087302
> 
> 
> Yup. My Bravia self-updated via this service a few months ago. I'm of course against this service



Interestingly, I just found that a friend's new Bravia has no Cablecard slot. Somehow, I thought that they were required on all new sets...


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mkfs* /forum/post/17103693
> 
> 
> Interestingly, I just found that a friend's new Bravia has no Cablecard slot. Somehow, I thought that they were required on all new sets...



I've never had a set with a CableCard slot, and everything I have here is less than 2 years old. The Bravia is like 8 months old.


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17103756
> 
> 
> I've never had a set with a CableCard slot



Well, given the choices seem to be:

Rent $$ cable box from cableco; have yet _another_ remote to manage
Get cablecard installed in set.
???

#2 has some attraction....


----------



## radioflyer410




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *doubleagent* /forum/post/17103616
> 
> 
> Hello, I'm moving to Baltimore (Federal Hill) from Syracuse, NY where TimeWarner uses Switched Digital Video to send some channels. I use a Tivo and they supplied me with a Tuning Adapter via USB that allows me to access those channels with CableCards.
> 
> 
> Does Comcast utilize SDV and make tuning adapters available? I've gotten two different answers from Comcast (Online and local office).



Comcast in Baltimore does not use SDV, so not digital adapter needed - at least as of now.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mkfs* /forum/post/17104200
> 
> 
> Well, given the choices seem to be:
> 
> Rent $$ cable box from cableco; have yet _another_ remote to manage
> Get cablecard installed in set.
> ???
> 
> #2 has some attraction....



My Sony SXRD has a cable card slot. Comcast tried twice to install one for me, but couldn't get it to work properly. I told them to forget it. Cable companies HATE cable cards. I've got cable going straight to my set. Luckily, I never opted for premium channels, so I got could bypass a box.

J


----------



## Tom Harms

My Sharp Aquos LCDs with cable card slots will only work with S-Cards, not M-Cards.


----------



## machpost

I was just looking at the Caps' schedule for this season, and roughly a dozen games are getting pushed to CSN+, mostly in November. I wonder if Comcast Sportsnet is any closer to lighting up an HD alternate channel anytime soon. If I'm not mistaken, some of the other CSNs have this already.


----------



## ACW112983

Anyone know anything about NFL RedZone? HD? Sports package needed? ETC.


And for the love of God WHEN WILL COMCAST GET SPIKE HD??? It already has HD for OnDemand.


----------



## Grayson73

Has anyone with Comcast in Montgomery County been able to get one of the new Motorola DCX 34xx STBs? I went to the Rockville location today and they didn't have any.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17103756
> 
> 
> I've never had a set with a CableCard slot, and everything I have here is less than 2 years old. The Bravia is like 8 months old.




My 2005 Samsung HD 1080P DLP set had a cable card slot.

My 2008 Samsung DLP and 2008 Samsung LCD does not have a cable card slot.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/17108691
> 
> 
> My 2005 Samsung HD 1080P DLP set had a cable card slot.
> 
> My 2008 Samsung DLP and 2008 Samsung LCD does not have a cable card slot.



I get the impression that they are or already have phased out cable cards. Most people never heard of them, and cable companies don't want to lose the revenue (No on demand).

J


----------



## CrispyCritter




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/17108960
> 
> 
> I get the impression that they are or already have phased out cable cards. Most people never heard of them, and cable companies don't want to lose the revenue (No on demand).
> 
> J



Yes, most TV manufacturers have phased them out due to lack of demand and loads of customer complaints of them not working due to cable company ineptitude. The cable companies are much better now that they're trained (because of TiVo which have no current alternative except cablecards), but the TV manufacturers are still not going back to them in general.


The cable companies can't phase them out - they're legally required to fully support them.


----------



## Jim Miller

what's with 13.8 and 13.9? seems to be a dupe of 13.1.


power to burn?


jtm


----------



## mattydr

Seems like some of what WHUT is broadcasting is being sent out correctly, and some of it is getting unnecessarily smashed between horizontal black bars. For example, Sesame Street looks great, but they ran Helvetica all smashed down. You gotta love the irony of getting the children's program right, but botching the presentation of a show with a bunch of designers talking about a font. See attachments for examples.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO

The second image looks as if someone ran a 4:3 program into an aspect radio converter (ARC) which was set to 16:9 anamorphic stretch.


----------



## mattydr

Or maybe it's a 16:9 source framed for 4:3, then stretched out to 16:9? Ugh.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikemikeb* /forum/post/17080983
> 
> 
> However, I'll still give the nod to WETA because of their interference issue with WHAG.



What interferrence? WHAG is on 26 and WETA is on 27.


----------



## Trip in VA

WETA's interference problem is with WFPT-28.


- Trip


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mattydr* /forum/post/17112257
> 
> 
> Or maybe it's a 16:9 source framed for 4:3, then stretched out to 16:9? Ugh.



The SD version is even worse. Widescreen programs are double-squished. Hopefully they get it figured out soon, but MPT has been doing the same sort of thing for years, and they still haven't gotten it totally right. And they need to move that logo bug over a little bit, because I'd venture to say that most of us don't have TVs that do full 1:1 pixel mapping.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO

Where I work now has this same sort of thing happen all the time but in reverse. Sometimes network or syndicated programming comes in 16:9 via satellite and whomever captures it doesn't pay attention to the aspect ratio. The program gets ingested into the system and played out 4:3 without being run through an ARC, thus looking all squished and ugly. By the time it starts playing it's too late. But ultimately I get the phone call or E-mail. "Did you see program XYZ?" "Why did it look so bad?"


Other than archived content, hopefully as more 16:9 programming becomes available, this issue will pretty much go away by itself.


----------



## Dave Loudin

For the first time ever, I could not decode WTTG and WDCA. Suspecting that interference was up, I tried for Baltimore and Hampton Roads stations. No luck with Baltimore, but WHRO (normal tropo) and, for the first time, WTKR were popping in. No sign of WAVY, though.


----------



## Mike20878




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/16948253
> 
> *Comcast expands county digital service*
> 
> 
> Company providing free converters to most basic cable customers



I already got a letter offering this and received my free converters. I'm in MoCo.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast will add the NFL Redzone channel in Baltimore on 9/13 (SD).


----------



## guenckj

I cam finally get all Balt. & Wash stations from Laurel (except WUTB-24) with a Digital Stream converter box and an HDTV UHF/VHF long range antenna. Many other converter box brands (especially Apex) are apprently terrible.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *guenckj* /forum/post/17130872
> 
> 
> Many other converter box brands (especially Apex) are apprently terrible.



What other converter boxes did you try?


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *guenckj* /forum/post/17130872
> 
> 
> I cam finally get all Balt. & Wash stations from Laurel (except WUTB-24) with a Digital Stream converter box and an HDTV UHF/VHF long range antenna. Many other converter box brands (especially Apex) are apprently terrible.



You shouldn't need a long-range antenna from Laurel. Are you in a particularly bad location?


Also, out of curiosity, are you using a rotor? If not, which way did you aim the antenna? It's pretty cool if you can get them all on one aerial without moving it from Laurel MD! I spent a looooong time trying that trick, was never successful. Had to go with 2 separate arrays and use a PC to combine them into a 'seamless' system ..


----------



## MrHifi

In the 1950's, the National Bureau of Standards (now NTIS), studied signal strength, i.e. reception capability around the Washington, DC area. Laurel, had the best reception in the area. I learned this from a tech who worked on the project and later worked for me.


----------



## rviele




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrHifi* /forum/post/17133059
> 
> 
> In the 1950's, the National Bureau of Standards (now NTIS), studied signal strength, i.e. reception capability around the Washington, DC area. Laurel, had the best reception in the area. I learned this from a tech who worked on the project and later worked for me.



just wanted to say hi art haven't heard from you in a while


----------



## carltonrice

I'm in Laurel and I pick up WUTB 24 with no problem since the transition. I still use my UHF-only antenna on the roof with a rotor. When it's aimed at Baltimore, I get all the Baltimore stations which tend to be stronger than the DC stations from my part of Laurel.


----------



## MrHifi




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rviele* /forum/post/17133068
> 
> 
> just wanted to say hi art haven't heard from you in a while



It is nice hearing from old friends. Thank you


----------



## TeddyK

So I have been watching the City's website which slated a late 2009 to early 2010 deployment for fios in alexandria. The date was getting closer. This threw some cold water on any hope I had of getting rid of Comcast any time soon (from the Post):


"Things aren't moving along as quickly in another Fios-deprived jurisdiction, Alexandria. Although a page on the city's Web site predicts Fios availability "in late 2009 or 2010," Verizon has yet to sign a phone or TV franchise agreement with the city, and spokesmen Eric Rabe and Henry Mitchell had no progress to report on that front. On Thursday, Rose Boyd, Alexandria's director of citizen assistance, said the city would revise that page."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...090404156.html 


Anybody have any idea why there is such a delay?


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/17098507
> 
> 
> 32.1 has the same studder and audio sync problem as 54.1 on my Dynex (aka Samsung) TV. Oh well, atleast its HD now, and works fine on my other tuners.



OTA WHUT-SD RF 33.2 on virtual 32.2 is now mapping additionally to virtual Channel 1.0 with no PSIP anywhere. WHUT-HD on 32.1 does not have any PSIP either. My Dish VIP722 STB has been receiving both channels with a one second freeze-frame strobe-like picture ever since 32.2 came on. No strobe picture for OTA.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/17135759
> 
> 
> OTA WHUT-SD RF 33.2 on virtual 32.2 is now mapping additionally to virtual Channel 1.0 with no PSIP anywhere. WHUT-HD on 32.1 does not have any PSIP either. My Dish VIP722 STB has been receiving both channels with a one second freeze-frame strobe-like picture ever since 32.2 came on. No strobe picture for OTA.



Sounds like their PSIP encoder went back to factory defaults or just froze up. That happens because after all, it runs under Windows!


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/17136328
> 
> 
> Sounds like their PSIP encoder went back to factory defaults or just froze up. That happens because after all, it runs under Windows!



LOL. If it was Linux, it would take a custom kernel build to change, and if was OS/X it would have been locked into Steve-Job's-age-at-time-of-compile.1 without being jailbroken first







j/k of course Kelly


----------



## yesongs

I have an HR20 and an H20 side by side in my living room. The HR20 is hooked up to a 42" plasma and the H20 just got a new 19" LCD so that two football games can be watched at once.


Here is the issue - I read of some over the air issues after the digital switch and a rescan fixed the HR20 completely, but I cannot get the H20 to dispaly 2-1, 9-1, 11-1, or 13-1


I have re-done the set up, rescanned, etc


Any other suggestions?


TIA


Eddie


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *yesongs* /forum/post/17142489
> 
> 
> I have an HR20 and an H20 side by side in my living room. The HR20 is hooked up to a 42" plasma and the H20 just got a new 19" LCD so that two football games can be watched at once.
> 
> 
> Here is the issue - I read of some over the air issues after the digital switch and a rescan fixed the HR20 completely, but I cannot get the H20 to dispaly 2-1, 9-1, 11-1, or 13-1
> 
> 
> I have re-done the set up, rescanned, etc
> 
> 
> Any other suggestions?
> 
> 
> TIA
> 
> 
> Eddie



Disconnect the H20 from OTA, rescan so it finds nothing, reconnect antenna, rescan.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/17135759
> 
> 
> OTA WHUT-SD RF 33.2 on virtual 32.2 is now mapping additionally to virtual Channel 1.0 with no PSIP anywhere. WHUT-HD on 32.1 does not have any PSIP either. My Dish VIP722 STB has been receiving both channels with a one second freeze-frame strobe-like picture ever since 32.2 came on. No strobe picture for OTA.



I'm also getting 0.0 "data1" from them, I assume. Still have PSIP on 32.1 with the judder. Whoopie.


So any idea what causes the strobe/judder picture?


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/17144001
> 
> 
> I'm also getting 0.0 "data1" from them, I assume.



I'm seeing this too, on my Panasonic TV.


----------



## ProjectSHO89




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *yesongs* /forum/post/17142489
> 
> 
> I have an HR20 and an H20 side by side in my living room. The HR20 is hooked up to a 42" plasma and the H20 just got a new 19" LCD so that two football games can be watched at once.
> 
> 
> Here is the issue - I read of some over the air issues after the digital switch and a rescan fixed the HR20 completely, but I cannot get the H20 to dispaly 2-1, 9-1, 11-1, or 13-1
> 
> 
> I have re-done the set up, rescanned, etc
> 
> 
> Any other suggestions?
> 
> 
> TIA
> 
> 
> Eddie



On my H20s (2 of them), I had to delete all channels using the remote, then rescanned. The H20s could not re-allocate a previously used virtual channel assignment whose operating frequency had changed.


----------



## yesongs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Deezul* /forum/post/17143988
> 
> 
> Disconnect the H20 from OTA, rescan so it finds nothing, reconnect antenna, rescan.



Thank you, but this did not fix things - even trying again after a system re-boot


Anyone have any other suggestions?


Eddie


----------



## ACW112983

So yeah, apparently for Comcast NFL RedZone is only in the 700s. No HD?


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ACW112983* /forum/post/17145908
> 
> 
> So yeah, apparently for Comcast NFL RedZone is only in the 700s. No HD?



Maybe that's why they aren't charging $50 like FIOS is? FIOS will have the SD and HD versions.


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TeddyK* /forum/post/17134985
> 
> 
> So I have been watching the City's website which slated a late 2009 to early 2010 deployment for fios in alexandria.
> 
> Anybody have any idea why there is such a delay?



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


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


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


----------



## aaronwt

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


----------



## BigDaddyRoy

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

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

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

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


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


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


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


----------



## Marcus Carr

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


----------



## djp952

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


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


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


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







Building the yagi for 27 was a lot easier. I might contact TinLee about a custom diplexer for the channels under 33, but that seems like a lot of $$ for foreign news and channel 15. Maybe if one of the VHF channels moves back into lower UHF.


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


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *yesongs* /forum/post/17145786
> 
> 
> Thank you, but this did not fix things - even trying again after a system re-boot
> 
> 
> Anyone have any other suggestions?
> 
> 
> Eddie



Try the H20 specific thread.


----------



## yekat

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


----------



## mark_e




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmsjr* /forum/post/16507045
> 
> 
> What is up with the FiOS move of the DC channels from their logical locations to 516 - 519?!?



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


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

SD

WRC from 4 to 16

WTTG from 5 to 17

WJLA from 7 to 18

WUSA from 9 to 19

WMDO from 21 to 24

UNI from 20 to 21

WUTB from 24 to 9

HD


WRC from 504 to 516

WTTG from 505 to 517

WJLA from 507 to 518

WUSA from 509 to 519

WUTB from 524 to 509


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


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17150011
> 
> 
> Is there any chance that adding a low/high VHF combiner with a cap on the low VHF input to use it as a filter help with that?



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



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17150011
> 
> 
> The 42XG is great at the higher frequencies, not so much on the lower ones. It seems to really fall apart under UHF 35 or so.



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


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mark_e* /forum/post/17153716
> 
> 
> They finally did this re-alignment overnight. The IMG hasn't been updated _(guide was updated as of ~noon)_ on the VZ box, and my TiVo doesn't have data either, although the channel map has updated and they can be added manually. I put a lineup change request on the TiVo website.
> 
> 
> If anyone in Howard/AA counties lost the postcard, the changes are:
> 
> SD
> 
> WRC from 4 to 16
> 
> WTTG from 5 to 17
> 
> WJLA from 7 to 18
> 
> WUSA from 9 to 19
> 
> WMDO from 21 to 24
> 
> UNI from 20 to 21
> 
> WUTB from 24 to 9
> 
> HD
> 
> 
> WRC from 504 to 516
> 
> WTTG from 505 to 517
> 
> WJLA from 507 to 518
> 
> WUSA from 509 to 519
> 
> WUTB from 524 to 509
> 
> 
> Since the channels are virtual, it all seems pointless, but it has happened!



Well that seems like an odd choice.


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


----------



## mark_e




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/17155339
> 
> 
> Well that seems like an odd choice.
> 
> 
> So was this only for the area between DC and Baltimore?



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


----------



## Marcus Carr

RCN to add NFL RedZone HD.

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


----------



## PaulGo

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










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


----------



## Marcus Carr

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


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


----------



## djp952

I sold out to the man.


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


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


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


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


----------



## Trip in VA

Noooo!


- Trip


----------



## andgarden

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


----------



## kalnel




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PaulGo* /forum/post/17162840
> 
> 
> Got this in the mail today for Montgomery County - the digtal transition (elimination of analog channels) will finally begin on November 30 (15 analog channels deleted) with the second phase about 35 days later (January 6) when an additional 21 analog channels will be deleted. So after the transition only analog channels 2 through 34 will be available. On December 12th we will be getting 48 new HD channels.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Based on this Comcast should have room after January 6 to add a lot more channels.



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


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


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/17164187
> 
> 
> Noooo!
> 
> 
> - Trip



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


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


If there's any regret, it's that I won't have the complete 2-city setup working anymore and I can't give you TSReader reports anymore. That was really fun for me







I'll still be able to hook you up with stats from 4 (48), 5 (36), 20 (35), 32 (33), 50, and 66 (34) from the antenna that I intend to keep at this point, though [42XG + CM7777]. Those are the only channels that particular aerial gets 99-100% from the location I happen to have it 


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


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/17163120
> 
> 
> The RedZone SD is in the Comcast guide in Baltimore. Can't confirm if the channel is live.
> 
> 
> I have NFLRZ at 734 and NFLRD at 263 near the HD channels. They are on different QAMs. 263 could be the HD version. It wasn't announced like 734 was.













I'd say that seals it.


----------



## tangfoot




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17164155
> 
> 
> I was home sick today and thanks to the rain had a most miserable experience trying to watch TV.
> 
> 
> It was so frustrating trying to watch the US Open coverage on either 9 or 13, that I've had it.



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


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


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


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tangfoot* /forum/post/17165704
> 
> 
> In your opinion, is there any OTA solution for me? Would an amplifier be of any use at all?



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

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

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


----------



## mjw703

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


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PaulGo* /forum/post/17162840
> 
> 
> Got this in the mail today for Montgomery County - the digtal transition (elimination of analog channels) will finally begin on November 30 (15 analog channels deleted) with the second phase about 35 days later (January 6) when an additional 21 analog channels will be deleted. So after the transition only analog channels 2 through 34 will be available. On December 12th we will be getting 48 new HD channels.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Based on this Comcast should have room after January 6 to add a lot more channels.



I haven't gotten the info in the mail yet.

Those listed as going digital are already available via QAM tuner without a box. Will they still be available as such? If they decide to block them, and require an upgraded subscription, I'll cancel my cable.

J


----------



## Jim Miller

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


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


jtm


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Jim Miller* /forum/post/17166579
> 
> 
> it depends on where they put them. if below ch100 then it's possible they'll still be on basic and clearqam.
> 
> 
> i haven't seen any channel assignments for these where i live in balto county.
> 
> 
> jtm



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

J


----------



## Big J

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

J


----------



## mlmorg

Hi all,


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


Thanks for any help, it would be much appreciated.


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


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17164423
> 
> 
> 
> It was $12.99/mo, you can't blame me, right?? Don't think badly of me!!! heh.



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


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mlmorg* /forum/post/17168245
> 
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> 
> I live in downtown Baltimore and am thinking of the buying the Terk HDTVa antenna (maybe even the ss-3000). Has anyone had experience with this antenna in the city area? I only really care about getting abc, nbc, cbs, fox and possibly pbs. What antennas have people used in the city and how have they been? Will my qam tuner be able to pick these up if the antenna works fine?
> 
> 
> Thanks for any help, it would be much appreciated.
> 
> 
> ** forgot to ask -- are these channels broadcast in hd?



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


----------



## rviele




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17164155
> 
> 
> I sold out to the man.
> 
> 
> I was home sick today and thanks to the rain had a most miserable experience trying to watch TV. In fairness, I think my house grounding rod may need to be replaced which is probably MOST of the problem with the rain, but still. It was so frustrating trying to watch the US Open coverage on either 9 or 13, that I've had it.
> 
> 
> I ordered the FiOS "Local TV" package and I'm now out of this game. VHF sucks and I'm done trying. Fall season starts in a week, and I absolutely have to have good recordings to send my lovely wife who's in Germany for the next YEAR patching up our injured servicemen and servicewomen. No CBS at all that works during inclement weather is just not an acceptable situation.
> 
> 
> I still get to keep one antenna to pick up the slack with missing FiOS channels from D.C. (20, 50, 66), so my fun isn't completely over, but still ... I've had enough. Those channels are easy.
> 
> 
> Thank you all for your assistance and time lately, but I'm probably going to just fade away into hard-wired obliviousness here. LOL. Oh, and if you'll forgive me ... SCREW VHF.



unfortunately i went over to the dark side also, being up in harford county out in the woods i took it all hook line and sinker. one consolation i get to watch my beloved gators football.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17164423
> 
> 
> Don't think badly of me!!! heh.



Nah, you're fine. I can't blame you given the unusable CBS station problem.


- Trip


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/17106478
> 
> 
> My Sony SXRD has a cable card slot. Comcast tried twice to install one for me, but couldn't get it to work properly. I told them to forget it. Cable companies HATE cable cards. I've got cable going straight to my set. Luckily, I never opted for premium channels, so I got could bypass a box.
> 
> J




Given that the Cablecos were dragged kicking and screaming into supporting cablecards at all; I'm shocked, just shocked, that they wouldn't couldn't make them work. A friend had that issue with Brighthouse but persisted until they fixed all their internal issues...



But here's a related question: How can you tell which channels you'll be able to get with a direct connection and which you can't? This if RCN would be the cableco.


----------



## mjones73

Anyone having glitching issues with WJZ HD via Directv? Been watching the Ravens game and it's been dropping out and glitching the whole game.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mkfs* /forum/post/17172296
> 
> 
> Given that the Cablecos were dragged kicking and screaming into supporting cablecards at all; I'm shocked, just shocked, that they wouldn't couldn't make them work. A friend had that issue with Brighthouse but persisted until they fixed all their internal issues...
> 
> 
> 
> But here's a related question: How can you tell which channels you'll be able to get with a direct connection and which you can't? This if RCN would be the cableco.



It turned out, that I didn't need a cable card-I just wanted the locals in HD, and they didn't say that they were QAM available.

You just have to do a scan, and see what turns up. I don't know if you can get premium channels via QAM since I only pay for expanded basic. The placement is somewhat random, so it helps to bookmark the channels, or put them on you favorites list. I do get TNT-HD and Universal-HD. I used to get random VOD, but they plugged that leak. That's fine, since usually all I ever got was either kid's shows or porn.

J


----------



## nottenst

I was attempting to watch the Ravens game yesterday over the air on WJZ and having trouble when I noticed that one ear of the antenna still had a couple of inches to come out. To my surprise that made all the difference.


----------



## carltonrice

I was wondering if any of the HD news laggards in the area would be rolling out HD News in time for the fall season.


----------



## RalphArch




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mkfs* /forum/post/17172296
> 
> 
> Given that the Cablecos were dragged kicking and screaming into supporting cablecards at all; I'm shocked, just shocked, that they wouldn't couldn't make them work. A friend had that issue with Brighthouse but persisted until they fixed all their internal issues...
> 
> 
> 
> But here's a related question: How can you tell which channels you'll be able to get with a direct connection and which you can't? This if RCN would be the cableco.



You should get what you pay for; except no on demand and guide etc.


For COMCAST Montgormery County I was getting a different set of channels on two of my cable card tvs. PITA to get a technician out and check out the cable card on the one set as to why some of my premiums weren't coming in; but after that visit I was still missing some. Turns out they didn't have correct subscription information for me in the central database tied to the card in that TV. And the standard help techs can't fix it; you have to get to another level of help if you have problems. But they have to fix it; in my case no charge for the house visit but I had to take off and be home.


One problem with cable cards is that since there is no guide, people like me tend to hide the unsubscribed channels to minimize hassle when surfing channels. So when new channels are added you won't see these if you have them hidden for surfing convenience.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/17176727
> 
> 
> I was wondering if any of the HD news laggards in the area would be rolling out HD News in time for the fall season.



Heh, I'm almost convinced that WRC will never, EVER roll out HD news.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/17177827
> 
> 
> Heh, I'm almost convinced that WRC will never, EVER roll out HD news.



Me too.

J


----------



## URFloorMatt

What normally comes on CBS at 9pm on Mondays? According to my FiOS guide, WUSA will be airing the Dr. Oz premiere tonight at that time. Assuming that's accurate, I guess it's because they couldn't air it this afternoon due to U.S. Open coverage.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Dr. Oz was in SD on WBAL.


----------



## dexter6

Hi Everyone!


I'm new to the DC Area and new to this thread, though I've been on the forums for a little while now. I've been having some problems with my Comcast HD signal and was wondering if anybody else has seen this.


I've got the Motorola HD Box (DCX3200) and I get a pixelated picture when using my AT&T cell phone. It appears to only effect SciHD (217) and FXHD (221) to my knowledge, but it may effect more than that.


Some quick Googling revealed I'm not crazy ( http://www.broadbandreports.com/foru...eless~start=20 ) but I was wondering if I'm the only one in the DC Area with this problem.


Does anyone have a channel list by frequency like what is posted in that link? I'd like to confirm the range of channels affected by my phone.


Does anyone think the Ferrite beads will do anything? My experience with Comcast tells me I'm going to get the SOL response from them, so I figured I'd check with the experts.


Thanks in advance!


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dexter6* /forum/post/17180283
> 
> 
> Does anyone think the Ferrite beads will do anything? My experience with Comcast tells me I'm going to get the SOL response from them, so I figured I'd check with the experts.
> 
> 
> Thanks in advance!



Radio Shack has some ferrite chokes they stock, it can't hurt to try. You can undoubtedly get them WAY cheaper somewhere else, though










I personally don't think it will do much, though. It's probably more likely that the tuner inside the cable box isn't adequately shielded. Do you have the coax grounded? I think cable does it like you would with OTA with a grounding block outside the house hooked to the Earth ground. Also make sure all your connections are good through the entire system. I've heard that loose connectors can cause an increased sensitivity to interference.


Are you using an amplifier anywhere? If so, you might want to try unhooking that to see if perhaps the amp is making things worse.


One easy way to see if maybe your system itself might have a flaw would be to find somebody else with the same box and use your phone over there


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/17179367
> 
> 
> Dr. Oz was in SD on WBAL.



Yikes!


----------



## Marcus Carr

WBAL likes to do things half way. They have two syndicated shows in HD and two that should be. They have HD news but still no DD5.1 at any time.


----------



## howie14




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mjones73* /forum/post/17172418
> 
> 
> Anyone having glitching issues with WJZ HD via Directv? Been watching the Ravens game and it's been dropping out and glitching the whole game.



I was at the game and recording it OTA through my DISH DVR. The DVR's OTA tuner is pretty flaky and I lost almost the entire game due to whatever problems they were having.


----------



## hsweiss

Anyone else lose MPT Channel 22? I'm pointed towards Baltimore TV Hill but have been able to get channel 22 with 80%+ signal on the backside of my antenna (only 6 miles away due south). The last couple of weeks I've noticed that their signal strength had degraded a bit but I had no reception problems. Last night (Mon) they were completely gone - 22.1, 22.2, and 22.3. I could still receive 26.[1-4], 14.1, 50.[1-2] all from DC on the backside of the antenna. I rescanned a couple of times too - nothing. Have they jacked around with their xmission pattern?


----------



## Jim Miller

My daughter is less than 2 miles from the tower and occasionally loses all signal. I think they've got a screw loose.


jtm


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hsweiss* /forum/post/17185291
> 
> 
> Anyone else lose MPT Channel 22? I'm pointed towards Baltimore TV Hill . . .



You may have been experiencing tropo activity from RF channel 42 in Philadelphia last night. The activity was moderate last night.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/17179367
> 
> 
> Dr. Oz was in SD on WBAL.



It was HD on WUSA today. Hard to believe that's the same tiny studio that Late Night with Conan O'Brien used for 16 years. "Oprah money" indeed.


----------



## hokiefan

I'm looking for anyone that lives out in haymarket/manassas/leesburg that is picking up baltimore stations. In particular, WJZ. What type of antenna/amp are you using? Thanks!


----------



## Belcherwm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hokiefan* /forum/post/17186970
> 
> 
> I'm looking for anyone that lives out in haymarket/manassas/leesburg that is picking up baltimore stations. In particular, WJZ. What type of antenna/amp are you using? Thanks!



Here's a post from a couple months ago.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...2#post16664202


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hokiefan* /forum/post/17186970
> 
> 
> I'm looking for anyone that lives out in haymarket/manassas/leesburg that is picking up baltimore stations. In particular, WJZ. What type of antenna/amp are you using? Thanks!



I've put up 2 antenna systems recently in the Manassas, & Leesburg areas. The Baltimore stations come in much better in Leesburg than in Manassas, but neither location provided _"reliable"_ digital reception. The heavy air traffic from Dulles airport is a deal breaker in most of these areas.


WJZ & WBAL are not even 100% in Fairfax or Arlington using a Winegard YA-1713. You'll see an occasional hiccup that you never see on the Baltimore UHF stations. And you can forget watching them with a thunderstorm within 20-30 miles. Unfortunately, the FCC didn't do enough research on this VHF thing.


----------



## hsweiss




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/17185625
> 
> 
> You may have been experiencing tropo activity from RF channel 42 in Philadelphia last night. The activity was moderate last night.



Seems that might have been it - I rescanned again tonight and Channel 22.[1-3] MPT is back on the air.


----------



## hsweiss




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Jim Miller* /forum/post/17185356
> 
> 
> My daughter is less than 2 miles from the tower and occasionally loses all signal. I think they've got a screw loose.
> 
> 
> jtm



I've never had drop outs from Channel 22 before - they have been rock solid. I wonder if your daughter is suffering from signal overload (I had that problem after WJZ 13 changed to their directional antennas).


----------



## URFloorMatt

Looks like WUSA is finally doing 16:9 promos for local programming and news. Unfortunately, like WTTG, they're in SD. At least the one I saw for Dr. Oz and the afternoon programming block was. Couldn't tell if the bump for the 11pm weather forecast was or not.


----------



## djp952

@Jim Miller:


FWIW, 22 (42) is rediculously powerful from here in Elkridge. It's the only DTV channel I can tune by simply putting my finger on the coax jack (no lie). I would seriously consider overload (as per hsweiss) given her distance from the tower.


Time will probably tell on this one. Tropo comes and goes, but as we move into the winter months, if the issue starts to get worse and worse, overload becomes more and more likely.


You could contact WMPT to see if they would hook you up with a single channel attenuator for 42 given your proximity, but be advised that you'll almost undoubtedly lose 54 (40) and 24 (41) from Baltimore, if those are a concern. I believe Channel Master's JoinTennas have been discontinued, but if in the end you feel that a single channel injector/attenuator is in order, a company named TinLee still makes them. Probably more $$ than it's worth.


$0.02










edit: I didn't even ask ... are you using an amplifier?


----------



## Big J

Anyone else have Mont. County Comcast play peek-a-boo with some of the locals yesterday? I seem to have lost some of them again. Have they moved them (again)?

J


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/17179367
> 
> 
> Dr. Oz was in SD on WBAL.



WBAL had shown a promo in at least widescreen. False advertising.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Both Wheel and Jeopardy! were in SD last night on WJLA, but the Leon Harris news special at 8pm (Pre-empting a repeat of Wipeout) was in HD!


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/17197134
> 
> 
> Both Wheel and Jeopardy! were in SD last night on WJLA, but the Leon Harris news special at 8pm (Pre-empting a repeat of Wipeout) was in HD!



I thought Wipeout was new?


----------



## aaronwt

I know it ran earlier in the summer. They had ads for it at every movie I saw at the theater.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/17197228
> 
> 
> I thought Wipeout was new?



Not for us. Kudos to WJLA for picking the timeslot of ABC's only summer hit to air some time-wasting news special on healthcare reform.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/17198304
> 
> 
> Not for us. Kudos to WJLA for picking the timeslot of ABC's only summer hit to air some time-wasting news special on healthcare reform.



They're going to air that episode of Wipeout again, don't worry. It's on at like 2am some evening. Check your Tivo season pass. Probably won't be in HD tho.


----------



## lax01

Anybody getting Channel Available Shortly on FOX-HD in Montgomery County? First episode of Fringe and I'm watching in SD...so lame


----------



## aaronwt

Fringe was good tonight!


----------



## robertforsyth

Following-up on my earlier posts, WJLA was unable to locate a suitable UHF channel in and around Washington, DC. WJLA is now focused on solving, if at all possible, the myriad of reception problems that have arisen on high-band VHF channels since the DTV transition.


As part of this effort, WJLA recently received temporary authority from the FCC to increase WJLA's ERP. The FCC approved this increase to allow WJLA to conduct testing to determine if the resulting stronger signals overcome any of the reception problems.


We encourage all to conduct their own tests and to share your results on this page. Your work will be instrumental in determining whether the FCC should approve power increases for high-band VHF stations.


- Robert


----------



## Trip in VA

So are you saying the power increase has now been implemented?


- Trip


----------



## robertforsyth




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/17202176
> 
> 
> So are you saying the power increase has now been implemented?
> 
> 
> - Trip



Yes, 52kw ERP


----------



## Trip in VA

Awesome news. I hope it helps. I hope you can convince sister station WSET down here to do a power boost too if their move back to VHF is as problematic as VHF moves have been elsewhere.


- Trip


----------



## Marcus Carr

Dr. Oz is in HD on WBAL now. It was SD when I last checked on Monday.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/17195130
> 
> 
> Anyone else have Mont. County Comcast play peek-a-boo with some of the locals yesterday? I seem to have lost some of them again. Have they moved them (again)?
> 
> J



I did yet another rescan. The locals are now at 4.1, 5.1 etc., even without a box. Go figure.

Its about time they did something logical.

J


----------



## Belcherwm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/17202159
> 
> 
> Following-up on my earlier posts, WJLA was unable to locate a suitable UHF channel in and around Washington, DC. WJLA is now focused on solving, if at all possible, the myriad of reception problems that have arisen on high-band VHF channels since the DTV transition.
> 
> 
> As part of this effort, WJLA recently received temporary authority from the FCC to increase WJLA's ERP. The FCC approved this increase to allow WJLA to conduct testing to determine if the resulting stronger signals overcome any of the reception problems.
> 
> 
> We encourage all to conduct their own tests and to share your results on this page. Your work will be instrumental in determining whether the FCC should approve power increases for high-band VHF stations.
> 
> 
> - Robert



Robert,

I had a solid signal back in June, 99% on My DISH 612/722 boxes. Today I can't get a lock on your signal at all. Still getting WUSA right around 99%.


----------



## mdviewer25

WNUV CW54 still has glitches when they show syndicated HD shows. Depending on what equipment you are using, the show will blink to a screen that say "off air" for a split second. I am currently watching House of Payne while this is occurring. I am using a USDTV HD box OTA. This is the only one that reacts this way.


----------



## Potatoehead




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/17202273
> 
> 
> Yes, 52kw ERP



Not seeing any change here. Very similar signal as Ch. 9 like before.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Wizards Announce TV Schedule*


The Washington Wizards and Comcast SportsNet released their 2009-2010 broadcast schedule today. It features all 82 regular season games plus three preseason games, including 66 on Comcast SportsNet, 14 on CSN+, one on the Comcast Network and 15 national television appearances. *Fifty-two games will be in high definition.
*

The preseason games to be broadcast are Oct. 9 vs. Dallas (in high definition), Oct. 14 at Cleveland and Oct. 20 at Philadelphia. The regular season begins Oct. 27 at Dallas.


Seven games will be televised on ESPN, one on TNT and eight on NBA-TV.


ESPN: Nov. 4 vs. Miami, Nov. 18 vs. Cleveland, Nov. 27 at Miami, Dec. 18 at Golden State, March 7 at Boston and April 7 at Orlando


TNT: Dec. 10 vs. Boston


NBA-TV: Nov. 21 at San Antonio, Nov. 28 vs. Charlotte, Dec. 26 at Minnesota, Dec. 28 at Memphis, Jan. 18 vs. Portland, Feb. 22 vs. Chicago and Mar. 13 vs. Orlando


For the complete local broadcast schedule visit www.csnwashington.com .

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/wiz...wizardsinsider


----------



## pclement




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/17202159
> 
> 
> Following-up on my earlier posts, WJLA was unable to locate a suitable UHF channel in and around Washington, DC. WJLA is now focused on solving, if at all possible, the myriad of reception problems that have arisen on high-band VHF channels since the DTV transition.
> 
> 
> As part of this effort, WJLA recently received temporary authority from the FCC to increase WJLA's ERP. The FCC approved this increase to allow WJLA to conduct testing to determine if the resulting stronger signals overcome any of the reception problems.
> 
> 
> We encourage all to conduct their own tests and to share your results on this page. Your work will be instrumental in determining whether the FCC should approve power increases for high-band VHF stations.
> 
> 
> - Robert



Solid signal in Southern York County, PA (east of I-83). I do get dropouts during certian weather events. But generally very good reception.


----------



## dneily




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/17205732
> 
> *Wizards Announce TV Schedule*
> 
> 
> 
> For the complete local broadcast schedule visit www.csnwashington.com .



Marcus,


No complete schedule on the above link?!


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/17202273
> 
> 
> Yes, 52kw ERP



I'm picking up 7-1 OTA for the first time since the transition. No breakup at all.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/17202159
> 
> 
> Following-up on my earlier posts, WJLA was unable to locate a suitable UHF channel in and around Washington, DC. WJLA is now focused on solving, if at all possible, the myriad of reception problems that have arisen on high-band VHF channels since the DTV transition.
> 
> 
> As part of this effort, WJLA recently received temporary authority from the FCC to increase WJLA's ERP. The FCC approved this increase to allow WJLA to conduct testing to determine if the resulting stronger signals overcome any of the reception problems.
> 
> 
> We encourage all to conduct their own tests and to share your results on this page. Your work will be instrumental in determining whether the FCC should approve power increases for high-band VHF stations.
> 
> 
> - Robert



As of today, WJLA is completely unusable from here in Elkridge, MD. It's gotten a great deal worse. Almost impossible to get a signal lock at all. Haven't made any changes at all on this end, just tried to watch RTN and decided to poke my head over here when I couldn't. It's not amplifier overload, WUSA 9 and all UHF channels are fine. Ideas?


edit: Hooked a tuner directly to the antenna, same issue. WUSA is 100% perfect right now, WJLA has a very strong signal but only a 35% S/N ratio and will not lock. It was an 85-90% S/N ratio previously (after adding a low VHF filter). Interestingly enough, a homemade UHF Yagi antenna with extreme negative gain on VHF 7 I have can lock the channel for brief periods of time. My guess at this point is extreme multipath (that Yagi I made locks 11 and 13 from the back without any issue too - I love that antenna). I almost feel bad for saying this, but from my location I think 52kW is actually too much! lol


Will try an attenuator at the antenna, even if it's just academic to do so. I don't need WUSA tonight for anything!


edit 2: Attenuator = no love. It's a variable 0-20dB attenuator. WUSA disappears completely about 25% on the knob, WJLA stays at 100% strength and a really bad S/N ratio until I'm almost at the maximum 20dB, then it disappears. Using a Y5-7-13 in an attic. Gotta be multipath that wasn't there yesterday. Again, I realize this is academic at best, and I've already decided to go with a FiOS Locals Only package (Sunday!!!) to solve my DTV reception issues with WJLA, WUSA, WBAL and WJZ.


Not worried about it for my own purposes. Just trying to provide meaningful feedback while I still have the equipment to do so in place. eBay firesale starts Monday! LOL.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/17202159
> 
> 
> Following-up on my earlier posts, WJLA was unable to locate a suitable UHF channel in and around Washington, DC. WJLA is now focused on solving, if at all possible, the myriad of reception problems that have arisen on high-band VHF channels since the DTV transition.
> 
> 
> As part of this effort, WJLA recently received temporary authority from the FCC to increase WJLA's ERP. The FCC approved this increase to allow WJLA to conduct testing to determine if the resulting stronger signals overcome any of the reception problems.
> 
> 
> We encourage all to conduct their own tests and to share your results on this page. Your work will be instrumental in determining whether the FCC should approve power increases for high-band VHF stations.
> 
> 
> - Robert



Solid signal for 7 now in Annapolis MD near Annapolis High School. Much stronger than 9, which I still struggle with. To round out the VHF in our area, 11 and 13 from Baltimore are fine. Prior to today, I struggled with 7 and 9 -- now only 9.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dneily* /forum/post/17206311
> 
> 
> Marcus,
> 
> 
> No complete schedule on the above link?!


 http://www.nba.com/wizards/news/tvschedule_090917.html


----------



## robertforsyth

Thanks for the early feedback. Please keep it coming.


----------



## tanfan

I can now receive channel 7 (WJLA) with an EZ-HD antenna http://www.dennysantennaservice.com/...v_Antenna.html (same as an RCA ANT751) leaning against the wall in a second-floor bedroom, connected to a Channel Master CM 7777 preamp and a Zenith DTT901 digital converter box. My zip code is 21046.


I still can't receive channel 9 (WUSA) with the same setup.


(I can still receive channels 7 and 9 with my rooftop (old) CM 4228 antenna and CM 7777 preamp.)


----------



## Toaster Oven

WJLA went from 99% strength and zero dropouts to 75-80% strength with the occasional dropout here in College Park. WUSA is still at 99% strength. I'm using a RCA ANT751 antenna and have tried swapping between Winegard HDP-269 and AP8700 pre-amps. But I still get dropouts either way now.


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/17207827
> 
> 
> Thanks for the early feedback. Please keep it coming.



I believe that WJLA gave me 100% signal before. Now it is at 85% at all antenna angles from 0 t0 260 degrees. It drops to as low as 75% as I rotate the attic 4228 antenna to 360 degrees. The performance at 85% is excellent, but I never saw the insensitivity to antenna angle before. I get good signals from all the channels except WUBT, which doesn't go above 5% at any angle.

This was my report of tests about 9:30 AM. Now at 2:00 PM the signal is at 100% instead of 85%, and still not sensitive to antenna angle.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/17207827
> 
> 
> Thanks for the early feedback. Please keep it coming.



Robert, thank you and WJLA for putting forth the effort on this. I really think you guys are doing the broadcast TV community a major service by testing out increased VHF power for DTV.


----------



## crbaldwin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/17207827
> 
> 
> Thanks for the early feedback. Please keep it coming.



WJLA has been mostly unwatchable for the last few days for me here in Fredericksburg. It was very solid before. My tuner (HDHomerun) shows a "Signal Quality" alternating between 0% and 40% and a "Symbol Quality" at a constant 0%. If possible please return it to the way it was now that the new shows are starting up.


----------



## nottenst

Thursday night there was a glitch with Comcast in my area. Or at least the feed going to my house. It happened at around 8:10 PM. I was watching Bones in HD and for about a minute or so the channel changed to something else and then eventually it went back to Bones. At the same time I was taping Weekend Update on NBC. On my tape at about the same time it went from NBC to some local county feed for a minute or so and then returned back to NBC.


It was very weird. Has anyone else experienced something similar?


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/17207827
> 
> 
> Thanks for the early feedback. Please keep it coming.



Robert,


The signal appears to be more stable here in Shady Side, MD (30 miles directly East of DC). Before you increased power, my picture would pixelate often. In addition, I don't need to have my antenna so precisely pointed as before for channel 7.


I have an outdoor (roof-mounted) fringe VHF/UHF yagi with CM 7777 preamp and receive all Baltimore, DC area, and Salisbury stations well at my location.


What type of polarization are you guys running? I've heard that some of the DTV coverage problems can be fixed on VHF by running elliptical or circular polarization vice horizontal. This type of change may be especially helpful for people using indoor antennas or maybe even attempting to watch your ATSC-M/H broadcast in the future.


Steve L.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast has added a second HD PPV channel in Baltimore on channel 259.


----------



## djp952

FYI, WJLA 7 is coming in fine again tonight. Maybe they put the power level back or adjusted something else?


edit: while most of my rediculously elaborate TV setup has been unhooked since the original post and hidden from prying Verizon eyes, that UHF Yagi I mentioned before is still hooked up, and I'm still getting WJLA on it! (And not WUSA, so I don't believe Tropo is at work here). I *think* they're still at 52kW and must have changed something else. Polarization? Robert?


Are you farther out fringe folks still receiving WJLA tonight? It's looking very very good from Elkridge, MD as compared with yesterday.


----------



## crbaldwin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17210910
> 
> 
> Are you farther out fringe folks still receiving WJLA tonight? It's looking very very good from Elkridge, MD as compared with yesterday.



Yes, I got a solid signal in Fredericksburg last night and it seems to still be solid this morning (no changes in my setup).


----------



## artwire

Comcast DC with direct coax connection -- has anyone else lost MHz this morning? It was there yesterday (at 22.1 - 10) and now , poof, gone. I rescanned and I'm significantly down on the number of analog stations being tuned in -- and some of digitals that were in the clear are disappearing, now, too. In addition to Mhz disappearing, Fox HD, which was coming in around 16 has moved to 5.1 and MPT HD and subchannels-- which were coming in around 16.3, 4, 5 is now blank .... apparently moved back to 22, -- which may be why MHZ's ten subchannels have disappeared. Did any of you get a mailing about reduction /movement of channels? Losing MHz is an unhappy surprise... though, it is good that MPT is back - presumably for good...


Also, do you get AMC and TCM in the clear in HD? They are showing up as being 'scrambled' here, but others in Md have told me they get it without a STB.


Thanks for any info you can share.


----------



## AntAltMike

I never get any audio on 47.2 LATV with my Dynex 13" CRT TV. Is anyone else getting audio on that sub channel?


----------



## AntAltMike

I noticed that 66.1 and 66.2 had rock solid video yesterday, but 66.3 and 66.4 would pixilate when there was significant movement. Similarly, 7.1 was solid during a football game, but 7.3 similarly seemed bit starved. Does anyone know if the less important sub channels get less forward error correction? I was on an outstanding antenna when I observed this (over 200 feet above ground level AGL, line of sight, typical 10 dBmV or more signal strength, signal quality tested excellent on my Blonder Tongue BTPDA-4)


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/17213259
> 
> 
> I never get any audio on 47.2 LATV with my Dynex 13" CRT TV. Is anyone else getting sudio on that sub channel?



Yes.


Mike, have you had any luck with Virginia Public Television at the high rise building in Mclean?


Thanks, Glen


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *artwire* /forum/post/17212697
> 
> 
> Comcast DC with direct coax connection -- has anyone else lost MHz this morning? It was there yesterday (at 22.1 - 10) and now , poof, gone. I rescanned and I'm significantly down on the number of analog stations being tuned in -- and some of digitals that were in the clear are disappearing, now, too. In addition to Mhz disappearing, Fox HD, which was coming in around 16 has moved to 5.1 and MPT HD and subchannels-- which were coming in around 16.3, 4, 5 is now blank .... apparently moved back to 22, -- which may be why MHZ's ten subchannels have disappeared. Did any of you get a mailing about reduction /movement of channels? Losing MHz is an unhappy surprise... though, it is good that MPT is back - presumably for good...
> 
> 
> Also, do you get AMC and TCM in the clear in HD? They are showing up as being 'scrambled' here, but others in Md have told me they get it without a STB.
> 
> 
> Thanks for any info you can share.



Comcast Mont. County did the same thing as far as locals go. Still have MHZ, which I believe is right next to MPT. I don't think I get AMC or TCM in HD, but I do get TNT-HD and Universal-HD without a STB.

J


----------



## Ad-Rok

I'm getting very choppy audio during the Comcast rebroadcast of the Redskins game right now on WTTG 5 HD (15-1) -- anyone else experiencing this? I have some suspicion that my audio card might be to blame, but I'm not sure. Is it the feed, or is it me?


Thanks,

Adam


----------



## StevenJB

I measure OTA signal strength using two Dishnetwork STB receivers. One STB is the VIP-622 and the other is the VIP-722. Each STB has a 75-ohm input to which an RG-6 OTA antenna can be attached. The on-screen menu is then able to display each of the OTA DTV channels and sub-channels and also display a signal strength.


Before June 12, I received WMAR-DT2 (RF-52) a solid 100+ on both STBs. The meter stops at 100. Post transition, WMAR-DT2 assumed the former facilities of WJZ-DT and switched to RF-38. My signal strength dropped to 91-92 on both STBs, the exact signal strength of WJZ-DT when it used to use RF-38.


Now and possibly within the past few days, I am now receiving a 99-100 reading for WMAR-DT. This is a full time increase of around 8. I say full time because the meter is a steady mostly 100 or infrequent 99. Prior to the past few days, WMAR never exceeded 91-92 maximum even when my roof mounted antenna was optimumly aimed at the transmitter.


BTW, I have not changed the direction that my roof antenna has been pointing to for at least the past three weeks.


Has anyone else noticed any improvement for WMAR-DT2 (RF-38) recently? Does anyone who monitors the FCC database or anyone else for that matter know of any facilities changes for WMAR-DT?


----------



## djp952

Hey guys/gals .... if I wanted to split a cable-level signal 10 ways, which do you think is the better option:


1) Run into 6-way splitter, then branch off to a 4-way drop-amp


2) Run into a 2-way splitter, then branch off to a 6-way splitter and a 4-way splitter


There's plenty of signal to go around, and both seem to work about the same (and both are apparently sufficient), but I'm wondering what you think is the "better" way of doing this. Basically, I have a 6-way that drives the house wiring and a 4-way to drive my HDHomeRun tuners. I would say that the HDHomeRuns are more important, since they are used a LOT more than the TV's internal tuners.


I know, not specifically related to Balto/DC HDTV, but I trust you guys/gals. I can make it on topic .... WJLA still looks great from here in Elkridge tonight over-the-air.


----------



## ss_sea_ya




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17210910
> 
> 
> FYI, WJLA 7 is coming in fine again tonight. Maybe they put the power level back or adjusted something else?



I'm not getting diddly squat/zippo in Alex. Va/Kingstowne area. Balt ch 2 coming in almost ok, so watched a little king kong there...


----------



## ajnabi

I can't seem to get WUSA today... but WJLA 7 certainly has improved here for me in Herndon. I use to get between 65 to 69 signal strength on dish VIP622 now it's in upper 70s and lower 80s...Thank you for upping the signal.


----------



## mkfs

The EPG on Chan 20 has been empty for several days.


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/17202159
> 
> 
> Following-up on my earlier posts, WJLA was unable to locate a suitable UHF channel in and around Washington, DC. WJLA is now focused on solving, if at all possible, the myriad of reception problems that have arisen on high-band VHF channels since the DTV transition.
> 
> 
> As part of this effort, WJLA recently received temporary authority from the FCC to increase WJLA's ERP. The FCC approved this increase to allow WJLA to conduct testing to determine if the resulting stronger signals overcome any of the reception problems.
> 
> 
> We encourage all to conduct their own tests and to share your results on this page. Your work will be instrumental in determining whether the FCC should approve power increases for high-band VHF stations.
> 
> 
> - Robert



I'm located 12 miles NW of Hagerstown, the increased power has made an OK at night / nothing durning the day signal, to a rock solid 24/7 signal for me. Hope they let you keep the increased power.


----------



## dneily




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/17207770
> 
> http://www.nba.com/wizards/news/tvschedule_090917.html



Marcus,


Thanks very much.


----------



## bwhitney

I am between Charles Town and Martinsburg off Rt. 9 in West Virginia and WJLA has gone from a marginal 60% to a solid 70% on my Tivo, while WUSA has dropped from 56% to 48-50% in the last month, and is now basically unwatchable.


It is clear the FCC model for VHF power is flawed and all VHF Hi Channels need significantly more power to reach the same viewers. I am not talking about interference, just plain signal level.


My setup is a YA-1713 VHF with a XG91 UHF and CM 7777 on a rotor 35' height, no trees or other local obstructions.


----------



## Vila




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/17202159
> 
> 
> Following-up on my earlier posts, WJLA was unable to locate a suitable UHF channel in and around Washington, DC. WJLA is now focused on solving, if at all possible, the myriad of reception problems that have arisen on high-band VHF channels since the DTV transition.
> 
> 
> As part of this effort, WJLA recently received temporary authority from the FCC to increase WJLA's ERP. The FCC approved this increase to allow WJLA to conduct testing to determine if the resulting stronger signals overcome any of the reception problems.
> 
> 
> We encourage all to conduct their own tests and to share your results on this page. Your work will be instrumental in determining whether the FCC should approve power increases for high-band VHF stations.
> 
> 
> - Robert



Robert, Thanks a lot for doing this. My respect for Channel 7 grew tremendously.

It is puzzling, because before DTV switch among analog channels 7 and especially 9 were the least noisy channels (among 4 - 66) in Manassas VA, especially 9. So, I presumed that digital channels are quite robust against noise. To my surprise they completely disappeared after the switch. I have rooftop antenna with about 36 db amplifier tuned to the max amplification.

Sometimes I could receive them with sound and/or video freezes very late at night. More often I could watch channel 2 (than 7), but it is not stable either.


That is until yesterday I discovered that I could watch "King Kong" at 8 pm; but it was good for about 2 hours and then signal drops reappeared around 10:30 pm.

Before power increase my digital HDTV would show 10% of signal when it could find channel 7 and my DTV converter box would show about 30%.

Now HDTV gives 20% and converter box around 40%.


So, if anything, I'd wish increase in power was permanent and even a bit higher, say in the range 60-100% of previous analog channel power.


Thanks again!


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Vila* /forum/post/17220828
> 
> 
> Robert, Thanks a lot for doing this. My respect for Channel 7 grew tremendously.
> 
> It is puzzling, because before DTV switch among analog channels 7 and especially 9 were the least noisy channels (among 4 - 66) in Manassas VA, especially 9. So, I presumed that digital channels are quite robust against noise. To my surprise they completely disappeared after the switch. I have rooftop antenna with about 36 db amplifier tuned to the max amplification.
> 
> Sometimes I could receive them with sound and/or video freezes very late at night. More often I could watch channel 2 (than 7), but it is not stable either.
> 
> 
> That is until yesterday I discovered that I could watch "King Kong" at 8 pm; but it was good for about 2 hours and then signal drops reappeared around 10:30 pm.
> 
> Before power increase my digital HDTV would show 10% of signal when it could find channel 7 and my DTV converter box would show about 30%.
> 
> Now HDTV gives 20% and converter box around 40%.
> 
> 
> So, if anything, I'd wish increase in power was permanent and even a bit higher, say in the range 60-100% of previous analog channel power.
> 
> 
> Thanks again!



What type/brand of amplifier are you using? I have found that some of the noisier high gain amplifiers actually do more harm than good (to a digital signal). Have you tried removing the amp? Also, if your amp has an FM trap, is it on or off?


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/17213926
> 
> 
> Has anyone else noticed any improvement for WMAR-DT2 (RF-38) recently? Does anyone who monitors the FCC database or anyone else for that matter know of any facilities changes for WMAR-DT?



Since June 12, WMAR-DT 2 (RF 38) has been licensed to operate at 1000 kW which is the maximum power allowed for digital UHF. The station can not increase power. The improvement might have been due to atmospheric conditions, a local change in the propagation path for WMAR-DT, or a change in a interfering station on RF 38 or 39.


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/17207827
> 
> 
> Thanks for the early feedback. Please keep it coming.



Rock solid here in Arnold, a few miles east of Annapolis. Nice work! I barely get WUSA, and only on 1 or 2 receivers.

2 Winegard HD1080s at 90 degree angles (Baltimore & DC), combined with a basic 2-way splitter, CM7778, then split 4 ways. Perfectly stable on an inexpensive Sylvania 19" TV/monitor, older Sony KDS50 XBR1, a Coby tuner, and TiVo HD.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Vila* /forum/post/17220828
> 
> 
> . . . . .Manassas VA. . . . . I have rooftop antenna with about 36 db amplifier tuned to the max amplification.



!!!!!!OUCH!!!!!!


You shouldn't be needing any amplifier in Manassas except for maybe channel 50 or 22. Channel 30, broadcasting from just south of Manassas is most certainly overloading your amplifier. A good rooftop antenna with a low gain pre-amp (12 db), or a quality distribution amp should provide excellent reception for you. Channel 7 & 9 have always had a very robust, easy to recieve signal in Manassas.


----------



## gregchak

Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum but not to AVS. I recently moved to the area and am attempting to setup my antenna for my media center pc. Antennaweb.org shows that the major 4 networks (and others) are all within 4 degrees of each other. I'm in Fairfax, just outside the beltway. Of those 4, I get nothing from 7 and too many breakups for 9 to make it watchable. From what I have read, 7 is having issues but I haven't heard anything about 9. I have a CM 4228. Its not necessarily rated for VHF and from the info on antennaweb.org, 7 and 9 are the only two not in the UHF band. I'm not running any sort of filters, traps or amplification, and my antenna is propped up pointing towards the towers in my attic.


With that, a couple of questions. One, is this distinctively lower signal from 7 and 9 what others are seeing? Two, is the data at antennaweb.org up to date and accurate; i.e post-transition channel assignments, etc.? And, three, being as 7 and 9 are broadcasting in the VHF range, would it be better to get an antenna that would handle the VHF signals better, and are there other CM 4228 owners out with similar results?


Thanks for the info.


[scratch that question 2, just saw the first post on the thread]


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gregchak* /forum/post/17222029
> 
> 
> (and others)I'm in Fairfax, just outside the beltway. Of those 4, I get nothing from 7 and too many breakups for 9 to make it watchable. From what I have read, 7 is having issues but I haven't heard anything about 9. I have a CM 4228.
> 
> Thanks for the info.



I would first try an FM trap on your present antenna. You've got a tremendous amount of strong FM in Merrifield & Falls Church which can be a deal breaker for VHF reception. If that doesn't help, you will need a real channel 7-69 antenna which should yield rock solid reception of all DC stations. (You'll still need the FM trap no matter what you use).


I've tried the 4228 here and it was a poor performer for me. There is too much signal reflection in urban areas for this type of antenna from my experience, especially if mounted inside.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/17221408
> 
> 
> Since June 12, WMAR-DT 2 (RF 38) has been licensed to operate at 1000 kW which is the maximum power allowed for digital UHF. The station can not increase power. The improvement might have been due to atmospheric conditions, a local change in the propagation path for WMAR-DT, or a change in a interfering station on RF 38 or 39.



I understand what you are saying. WJZ-DT13 (RF-38) never exceeded a 92 reading for me when it used 38 and that was for many months. Right now, WMAR shows no signs of dropping down from its 100 reading. Very strange. Do you notice anything different about WMAR where you live, afiggatt?


----------



## Trip in VA

They probably redid the transmitter calibrations which would have improved the signal/noise ratio coming out of the transmitter.


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/17222635
> 
> 
> Do you notice anything different about WMAR where you live,



No noticable change here in Arlington. It's still the weakest UHF from Baltimore except for WUTB-24.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17214781
> 
> 
> Hey guys/gals .... if I wanted to split a cable-level signal 10 ways, which do you think is the better option:
> 
> 
> 1) Run into 6-way splitter, then branch off to a 4-way drop-amp
> 
> 
> 2) Run into a 2-way splitter, then branch off to a 6-way splitter and a 4-way splitter
> 
> 
> There's plenty of signal to go around, and both seem to work about the same (and both are apparently sufficient), but I'm wondering what you think is the "better" way of doing this. Basically, I have a 6-way that drives the house wiring and a 4-way to drive my HDHomeRun tuners. I would say that the HDHomeRuns are more important, since they are used a LOT more than the TV's internal tuners.
> 
> 
> I know, not specifically related to Balto/DC HDTV, but I trust you guys/gals. I can make it on topic .... WJLA still looks great from here in Elkridge tonight over-the-air.



It depends on where the splits occur. For example, if the purpose is to feed two stories of your home, then split 1X2 with one half going to the lower floors and the other going upper. Then sub split only to the devices you have on that particular floor. Say you have four receivers or cable boxes on the upper floor, take your upstairs feed and only use a 1x4 splitter with all four outputs terminated. Same with downstairs. Just remember, only buy the number of splits you need because each split reduces signal level by around 3dB (50%). If you have any open ports for whatever reason, terminate the open ports with 75 ohm termination resistors or the entire system balance and bandwidth will be compromised.


Amplify only if you determine the signal level is too low for reliable reception. Don't assume you will need amplification, because many amplifiers will cause more problems than they fix. Install amplification before a large split only to make up for loss from previous splits or long cable runs. Make sure the amplifier you choose has bandwidth of at least 1ghz, with no built in VHF-FM trap switch.


Remember to only use passive splitters rated at 2gHz or more and only use high quality RG6 cable. Stay away from Radio Shack coax, as the shield is quite poor.


----------



## aa72dallas

Can ATSC-M/H A/153 signals be received with a typical CECB? If not, what would be the best way to watch mobile signals on a "regular living room tv"? Thanks!


----------



## Trip in VA

To the first question, no, and to the second, no device currently exists for that purpose.


- Trip


----------



## ProjectSHO89




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aa72dallas* /forum/post/17225214
> 
> 
> Can ATSC-M/H A/153 signals be received with a typical CECB? If not, what would be the best way to watch mobile signals on a "regular living room tv"? Thanks!




No.


Watch the regular HD/SD stream in your living room and the mobile stream on your hand-held/portable device while on the go. It doesn't make a bit of sense to do otherwise.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/17223792
> 
> 
> It depends on where the splits occur. For example, if the purpose is to feed two stories of your home, then split 1X2 with one half going to the lower floors and the other going upper. Then sub split only to the devices you have on that particular floor. Say you have four receivers or cable boxes on the upper floor, take your upstairs feed and only use a 1x4 splitter with all four outputs terminated. Same with downstairs. Just remember, only buy the number of splits you need because each split reduces signal level by around 3dB (50%). If you have any open ports for whatever reason, terminate the open ports with 75 ohm termination resistors or the entire system balance and bandwidth will be compromised.
> 
> 
> Amplify only if you determine the signal level is too low for reliable reception. Don't assume you will need amplification, because many amplifiers will cause more problems than they fix. Install amplification before a large split only to make up for loss from previous splits or long cable runs. Make sure the amplifier you choose has bandwidth of at least 1ghz, with no built in VHF-FM trap switch.
> 
> 
> Remember to only use passive splitters rated at 2gHz or more and only use high quality RG6 cable. Stay away from Radio Shack coax, as the shield is quite poor.



Wow, thank you Kelly! Much appreciated advice







Since Sunday night, I've been running with the 6-way split to the 4-way distribution amp (CM3044) to drive the 4 HDHomeRun tuners and so far I've seen nothing but 100% signal and S/N ratio across the board on all 10 tuners.


Quick question, though ... why 2GHz splitters? I was under the impression that the 5MHz-1GHz are actually the better choice for cable/OTA.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ProjectSHO89* /forum/post/17226742
> 
> 
> No.
> 
> 
> Watch the regular HD/SD stream in your living room and the mobile stream on your hand-held/portable device while on the go. It doesn't make a bit of sense to do otherwise.



It does if the mobile stream has non-duplicated content.


I haven't followed this issue at all, so I have no idea what the regs are, but I was under the impression that mobile stream content would not necessarily duplicate standard HD/SD streams. Is this not correct?


----------



## Trip in VA

There's no requirement, but I believe at the moment there is no unique mobile content to view. If there is, I've seen nothing to suggest it.


- Trip


----------



## gregchak




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/17222171
> 
> 
> If that doesn't help, you will need a real channel 7-69 antenna which should yield rock solid reception of all DC stations. (You'll still need the FM trap no matter what you use).



Is there a particular antenna people have had good success with? Where is a good place to buy stuff like this in and around the Fairfax area?


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17227310
> 
> 
> Wow, thank you Kelly! Much appreciated advice
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Quick question, though ... why 2GHz splitters? I was under the impression that the 5MHz-1GHz are actually the better choice for cable/OTA.



It's a simple answer really.. Pretty much all the passive splitters available, even with with specs out to 2gHz., are not flat in response to 2gHz. Most splitters start dropping 3dB or more in frequency response around 450-500mHz below the published upper frequency. So a 1gHz splitter is really only flat (sort of) to 450mHz, and a 2gHz splitter is only flat out to 1.4Ghz. Many of the OTA and HD cable channels are running in the 500-700mHz range. Given channels are each 6mHz in bandwidth for OTA, and the data on cable runs even higher, reliable signals depend on good, broad bandwidth. In the world of HD, bandwidth is everything.


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/17202159
> 
> 
> We encourage all to conduct their own tests and to share your results on this page. Your work will be instrumental in determining whether the FCC should approve power increases for high-band VHF stations.
> 
> 
> - Robert



So far, the extra power is just enough to push reception reliability to 90%. I haven't had the chance to check mid-days. 9 is right at detection in the evenings.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gregchak* /forum/post/17228214
> 
> 
> Is there a particular antenna people have had good success with? Where is a good place to buy stuff like this in and around the Fairfax area?



I don't know of any local stores that carry FM traps. I usually order from Solid Signal, or Summit Source. The Pico Macom "HLSJ" makes a great FM trap at a low cost. You can also google "FM TRAP", & find a few online vendors that still have the old Radio Shack traps available at a reasonable price.


Either the Winegard HD7694P, or Antennacraft HBU-22 would be a good channel 7-69 antenna for your location.


----------



## djw99

anybody know if comcast broadcasts wusa 9 in hd in anne arundel county? I know we have the sd version with the box. if they don't have the hd version thru a box can we get it thru a unencrypted qam channel?


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djw99* /forum/post/17234247
> 
> 
> anybody know if comcast broadcasts wusa 9 in hd in anne arundel county? I know we have the sd version with the box. if they don't have the hd version thru a box can we get it thru a unencrypted qam channel?



It doesn't look they do.


Go here: https://www.comcast.com/Localization...shx%3farea%3d0 and type in your street address/zip code to make sure. I see WUSA, but not with any "HD" qualification like there is on the Baltimore channels.


Since you get the SD version, why not just plug the coax into the TV directly and see what works and what doesn't?


For what it's worth, FiOS does WUSA 9 HD ClearQAM in Howard/AA and the bitrate is slightly better than it is OTA. For the best picture on network stuff, you should stick with WJZ, in my opinion.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djw99* /forum/post/17234247
> 
> 
> anybody know if comcast broadcasts wusa 9 in hd in anne arundel county?



No. Only the Baltimore channels, WTTG, and WETA.


----------



## Marcus Carr

According to customer service, DTAs from Comcast will be available in Baltimore City at the beginning of October.


----------



## Mike20878

I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this. Can an apartment building contract with only Comcast and ban all others, including satellite? I thought that was illegal.


Thanks.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Mike20878* /forum/post/17239689
> 
> 
> I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this. Can an apartment building contract with only Comcast and ban all others, including satellite? I thought that was illegal.
> 
> 
> Thanks.



Sure, its technically their building so they can have whatever requirements for cable or utilities they please. Chances are they already have a Comcast POP in the basement, so to add other providers installing their gear could potentially create a mess and complexity. Some won't let you bolt dishes to their structure because aesthetics nor would they want holes drilled in the walls.


----------



## dneily

Here is the Washington Capitals 2009-10 TV schedule for CSN and national networks:

http://capitals.nhl.com/club/schedule.htm


----------



## opaque




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dneily* /forum/post/17240666
> 
> 
> Here is the Washington Capitals 2009-10 TV schedule for CSN and national networks:
> 
> http://capitals.nhl.com/club/schedule.htm



Thanks for posting that. The only thing that upsets me about being able to see all the games is that nearly 1/4th of them are not in HD. If CSN can put out CSN+, why can't it do CSN+HD???


On a side note... does anyone here think it is ever possible that we'll get Baltimore channels in NOVA on fios?? Would be great for football season and I used to be able to pick up a very snowy analog wayyyy back in the day.


Please don't say Baltimore is out of market because FIOS does provide us with out of market broadcasting (YES - the NY Yankeeeees network which I find extremely annoying).


----------



## Trip in VA

No, because Baltimore is out of market. (Had to say it.) YES is not an over-the-air channel and thus is not governed by the same rules.


- Trip


----------



## Weasel

I'm in Capitol Hill and just want to get the big 4 networks in HD OTA. Anyone have any specific recommendations for an antenna? I live in a townhouse and don't have access to the roof to mount anything. I'm not worried about picking anything up from Baltimore or anything, just the local networks. Thanks.


----------



## aa72dallas

The reason I want to watch the mobile signal in my living room is that I have to adjust my rabbit ears meticulously for each channel, and I was hoping the more resilient mobile signal might eliminate the need to adjust so much.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/17240419
> 
> 
> Sure, its technically their building so they can have whatever requirements for cable or utilities they please. Chances are they already have a Comcast POP in the basement, so to add other providers installing their gear could potentially create a mess and complexity. Some won't let you bolt dishes to their structure because aesthetics nor would they want holes drilled in the walls.



I could be wrong, but I believe there are laws in some jurisdictions that prevent an apartment building from awarding exclusivity to one cable provider or another. I know that my building here in D.C. had an exclusive deal with RCN for a long time, but Comcast suddenly became available here a few years ago. And I was led to believe that it was a result of some law or regulatory change. I'm not sure if this is true, though.


----------



## DC_SnDvl

Volume of ch 7 WJLA


Anyone else having volume issues with ch 7. The last for times I have watched something on ch 7 the volume hase been twice as loud as other stations?


I am getting it over Directv.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/17243101
> 
> 
> I could be wrong, but I believe there are laws in some jurisdictions that prevent an apartment building from awarding exclusivity to one cable provider or another. I know that my building here in D.C. had an exclusive deal with RCN for a long time, but Comcast suddenly became available here a few years ago. And I was led to believe that it was a result of some law or regulatory change. I'm not sure if this is true, though.



You are correct, but there are loopholes: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld a 2007 Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") order prohibiting the owner's of apartment buildings, condominiums and other multi-unit residential properties from entering into exclusive contracts for providing cable T.V. services. The FCC relied upon Section 628(b) of the Communications Act. The FCC's position is that to restrict a multi-unit residential project's access to only one cable provider forecloses the expansion of fiber and phone, video and internet bundling services; thereby, denying residences the benefits of increased competition, lower prices and improved content and services.


That being said, if the building owner doesn't have a exclusive written agreement with a cable provider, then it's entirely up to the discretion of the building owner or manager as to whether a competing provider has access to their property.


This rule doesn't apply to satellite antenna installations, because of the required attachment of a dish to the structure.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *opaque* /forum/post/17240827
> 
> 
> On a side note... does anyone here think it is ever possible that we'll get Baltimore channels in NOVA on fios?? Would be great for football season and I used to be able to pick up a very snowy analog wayyyy back in the day. Please don't say Baltimore is out of market because FIOS does provide us with out of market broadcasting (YES - the NY Yankeeeees network which I find extremely annoying).



Verizon FiOS will NOT provide the Washington channels to Baltimore and will NOT provide Baltimore channels to Washington. The local broadcasters would make a huge stink about additional network outlets invading their territory. The reason is simple. It's all about advertising revenues. Baltimore and Washington are separate markets. I'm sure that WRC-DT4 does not appreciate FiOS carrying Hagerstown's NBC WHAG-DT25 into the Washington area.


The only market crossover is the FiOS service to Howard and Anne Arundel counties. They get all of the Baltimore channels (2,11,13,22,24,45,and 54) plus all of the Washington channels except for 20, 30, and 50.


Your only option is to hook up an external VHF/UHF antenna if you want Baltimore. That's exactly what I did.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/17245654
> 
> 
> Verizon FiOS will NOT provide the Washington channels to Baltimore and will NOT provide Baltimore channels to Washington. The local broadcasters would make a huge stink about additional network outlets invading their territory. The reason is simple. It's all about advertising revenues. Baltimore and Washington are separate markets. I'm sure that WRC-DT4 does not appreciate FiOS carrying Hagerstown's NBC WHAG-DT25 into the Washington area.
> 
> 
> The only market crossover is the FiOS service to Howard and Anne Arundel counties. They get all of the Baltimore channels (2,11,13,22,24,45,and 54) plus all of the Washington channels except for 20, 30, and 50.
> 
> 
> Your only option is to hook up an external VHF/UHF antenna if you want Baltimore. That's exactly what I did.



I don't watch WRC-DT4 since FIOS put WHAG-D25 on. The Hagerstown station has a better picture since it has a higher bitrate than the DC station.


I hope there are no plans to remove it. At least I hope they give us ample warning if they do.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/17245994
> 
> 
> I don't watch WRC-DT4 since FIOS put WHAG-D25 on. The Hagerstown station has a better picture since it has a higher bitrate than the DC station. I hope there are no plans to remove it. At least I hope they give us ample warning if they do.



Hagerstown is tied into the Washington DMA. I cannot foresee any plans to remove WHAG-DT from the Washington area channel lineup.


Do you measure bitrate? What kind of equipment is needed?


----------



## opaque




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/17245654
> 
> 
> Verizon FiOS will NOT provide the Washington channels to Baltimore and will NOT provide Baltimore channels to Washington. The local broadcasters would make a huge stink about additional network outlets invading their territory. The reason is simple. It's all about advertising revenues. Baltimore and Washington are separate markets. I'm sure that WRC-DT4 does not appreciate FiOS carrying Hagerstown's NBC WHAG-DT25 into the Washington area.
> 
> 
> The only market crossover is the FiOS service to Howard and Anne Arundel counties. They get all of the Baltimore channels (2,11,13,22,24,45,and 54) plus all of the Washington channels except for 20, 30, and 50.
> 
> 
> Your only option is to hook up an external VHF/UHF antenna if you want Baltimore. That's exactly what I did.



RE: antenna... Been there, tried that







Too far away and I'd need an zoning permit to put up a tower tall enough to get the signals.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/17245654
> 
> 
> The only market crossover is the FiOS service to Howard and Anne Arundel counties. They get all of the Baltimore channels (2,11,13,22,24,45,and 54) plus all of the Washington channels except for 20, 30, and 50.



And that's only because Howard and Anne Arundel count as part of both markets for certain ratings. Otherwise, we would also have only one or the other available to us. There are only a very small number of places in the U.S. that fall into multiple markets, and with the prevalence of cable over broadcast, I'm surprised they haven't just pushed Howard and AA exclusively into Baltimore. The radio side is much trickier than the TV side here.


If anyone wants to know, the full compliment of full-power D.C. channels that you can get typically get OTA from Howard/AA but aren't on FiOS are ... WDCA 20, WMPT 22 **, WNVC/T 30, WDCW 50 and WPXW 66. WFDC 14 _technically_ exists, but only as a converted analog channel. If/when WFDC goes beyond 480i I doubt FiOS will pick that up.


** WMPB 67 from Baltimore is exactly the same as WMPT 22, and that's what FiOS in H/AA provides. (I actually cloned 67.x on my HTPC to 22.x so the wife doesn't get annoyed - lol)


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/17246139
> 
> 
> Do you measure bitrate? What kind of equipment is needed?



The general rule of thumb is that the less sub-channels there are, the higher the primary channel's bitrate will be. (All ATSC channels have an identical overall bitrate - 19.39Mb/s or something like that). Some things, like MobileDTV, or how they have their stuff configured, can affect that, but in general you should get the best picture from the channels that have the least number of subchannels. No special equipment required!


You can, however, measure this data with a computer-based tuner and a tool called "TSReader". The tool examines the ATSC stream in detail and provides information about each of the substreams, including the current bitrates. As I learned from the folks out here, it's easy to be fooled by these numbers sometimes, though. Made that mistake at least twice










The computer-based "HDHomeRun" tuners can also provide that information, since they only send the relevant streams to the PC over ethernet. It reports the total data rate of both the video and audio streams as a single number.


There are probably other ways, but the PC-based tools are likely to be the easiest. TSReader has a "Lite" version that's even free, but it doesn't support every single PC tuner on the market.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/17245994
> 
> 
> I don't watch WRC-DT4 since FIOS put WHAG-D25 on. The Hagerstown station has a better picture since it has a higher bitrate than the DC station.
> 
> 
> I hope there are no plans to remove it. At least I hope they give us ample warning if they do.



Honestly, I don't see much, if any, difference between WHAG and WRC.


But I really wish they'd give us an alternate ABC station. The PQ on WJLA is just really, really awful. Sports are unwatchable. Their news programs (all of which are now in HD) look like widescreen SD. Jeopardy is a blurry mess. Scripted programming is only barely tolerable. It is bar none the worst looking HD channel to which I have access.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/17247733
> 
> 
> Honestly, I don't see much, if any, difference between WHAG and WRC.
> 
> 
> But I really wish they'd give us an alternate ABC station. The PQ on WJLA is just really, really awful. Sports are unwatchable. Their news programs (all of which are now in HD) look like widescreen SD. Jeopardy is a blurry mess. Scripted programming is only barely tolerable. It is bar none the worst looking HD channel to which I have access.



You should see the HD on WPXW 66 (on DT 34). Thankfully they don't carry anything of interest to me.


But I agree, now that I get WJLA reliably, it is easy to say that I prefer WMAR's picture quality to WJLA's. I do not get WHAG so I cannot compare WHAG to WRC directly.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/17247733
> 
> 
> Honestly, I don't see much, if any, difference between WHAG and WRC.



For the most part they do look the same. Occasionally during fast motion or complex scenes, I do see more compression artifacts on WRC.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/17247733
> 
> 
> But I really wish they'd give us an alternate ABC station. The PQ on WJLA is just really, really awful.



Most of that is because of the ABC network, not WJLA. While I can see a noticable difference on Richmonds sub-channel free ABC affiliate, the PQ is never quite as sharp as FOX, NBC, or CBS (except for Good Morning America)


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17246792
> 
> 
> And that's only because Howard and Anne Arundel count as part of both markets for certain ratings. Otherwise, we would also have only one or the other available to us. There are only a very small number of places in the U.S. that fall into multiple markets, and with the prevalence of cable over broadcast, I'm surprised they haven't just pushed Howard and AA exclusively into Baltimore. The radio side is much trickier than the TV side here.



The lucky good folks in Mercer County, NJ fall into a multiple market situation, too, for FiOS. They receive the network outlets from both Philly and NYC in HD. They are in the only county in all of NJ that gets both markets. I do notice however that Mercer does not get all of the Philly market's channels nor do they get all of the NYC market's channels. There are certain channels that are exclusive only to the Philly and NYC markets.

http://www22.verizon.com/NROneRetail...CLU_081909.PDF


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/17248574
> 
> 
> For the most part they do look the same. Occasionally during fast motion or complex scenes, I do see more compression artifacts on WRC.



The compression artifacts make a big difference. I run my broadcast sources through an Algolith Flea to minimize them, but I can still see more from the DC station than from the Hagerstown station.


----------



## Belcherwm




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Belcherwm* /forum/post/17205459
> 
> 
> Robert,
> 
> I had a solid signal back in June, 99% on My DISH 612/722 boxes. Today I can't get a lock on your signal at all. Still getting WUSA right around 99%.



Well I've got WJLA back at 100%. Not sure what happened last week.


----------



## sboller




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gregchak* /forum/post/17228214
> 
> 
> Is there a particular antenna people have had good success with? Where is a good place to buy stuff like this in and around the Fairfax area?




So here's an interesting story. After the digital transition in June, channels 7 and 9 moved back to their VHF frequencies, so the antenna we were using from our house in Fairfax no longer received them (it was a Radio Shack DA-5200).


Just last week I finally got around to ordering an AntennaCraft Y5-7-13, which is a VHF antenna. I installed it the attic of our townhome, and out of curiosity I ran a channel scan with only that antenna connected.


So hurray, there's our old friends 7 and 9 again, but what really suprised me was that this "VHF antenna" also reliably pulls in channels 4,5 20, 26, 30, 32, and 66! The only one it can't get is CW 50!


I have no idea how this stuff works, and how some bundle of poles in my attic that weighs almost nothing can magically make stuff appear on the TV. Anyway, I ordered it from Solid Signal, along with a couple of connector-type thingies. It arrived within a few days.


----------



## djp952

I found this ironic and thought the story might be appreciated ....


I got into the whole OTA/DIY thing for one reason back in January '08. That was to get WMPT reliably. Our (now known to be too) massive roof aerial was getting all the local HDs perfectly well, except for PBS, which happened to be my wife's favorite channel. Then, when I pointed something in that general direction and picked up most of the DC locals, well, I was hooked










Almost 2 years later, I was tearing down "the lab" up in the attic and cleaning everything up. Since FiOS doesn't have WMPT (but does have WMPB), I figured "why not" and left one mast in place. Dug out my original SR15 Yagi, pointed it to 162 degrees, Join-Tennaed it into the surviving 42XG/7777 system (for 20, 50 and 66). Crap reception







Oh well, right?


On a hunch, I went up there one final time with the C1 that has been running Baltimore UHF for me pretty much perfectly since the spring. Replaced the SR15, pointed it somewhere close to 162 degrees. Buttoned up the attic.


Lo and behold ... after almost 2 years of work ... WMPT 22 (42) is showing 100% across the board. Been scanning for 2 hours, not a single error. Not a single blip below 100%







To be honest, I've never considered WMPT a challenge, it's extremely powerful from my location, but then again it was also never really perfect because I was always trying to do something else at the same time.


My wife will love this when she gets back from Germany. I finally did what I told her I was going to all along










Hey - for what it's worth, the Antennas Direct C1 is a brilliant little antenna. Ever since I installed it, I honestly have had close to zero issues with the Baltimore UHF channels. I'm 10.6 miles out from the main towers, and 5.x from WUTB. It has a really wide radiation pattern and fairly low gain, which can be ideal for suburban locations like mine. The gain is so low, it doesn't seem to pick up much in the way of multipath (a real problem 5 or so miles from BWI and 400 yards from I-95), and you can amplify the snot out of it. Proved it's worth once again for me this evening for the strong signal of WMPT. (The C4, on the other hand, is in my humble opinion a piece of crap -- anybody want one? lol)


----------



## Gerald C

I searched and found a couple of prior posts about problems with WHUT-DT, but thought I would raise the question again and post a video that shows what is happening with my Dish 622 and 722 receivers. While live OTA doesn't seem to be affected as much, any Dish DVR recording of WHUT is practically unwatchable!! Not only are there periodic dropouts, but the DVR's trick buttons (which rely on reliable timecode) are completely useless! Help. How can we get this fixed?! (BTW, I'm getting 100% signal strength - that's not the problem)


Sample video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D24HG3v0VOI


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Gerald C* /forum/post/17257603
> 
> 
> problems with WHUT-DT. . . . live OTA doesn't seem to be affected as much



Do you ever see this problem with live OTA?


----------



## Gerald C




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/17257832
> 
> 
> Do you ever see this problem with live OTA?



Essentially, no, at least nothing nearly as severe. But I need to do some more observing and testing. Keep in mind that the term 'live' when watching on a DVR is questionable, since you are really watching a slightly delayed, buffered stream.


----------



## howie14




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Gerald C* /forum/post/17257603
> 
> 
> I searched and found a couple of prior posts about problems with WHUT-DT, but thought I would raise the question again and post a video that shows what is happening with my Dish 622 and 722 receivers. While live OTA doesn't seem to be affected as much, any Dish DVR recording of WHUT is practically unwatchable!! Not only are there periodic dropouts, but the DVR's trick buttons (which rely on reliable timecode) are completely useless! Help. How can we get this fixed?! (BTW, I'm getting 100% signal strength - that's not the problem)
> 
> 
> Sample video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D24HG3v0VOI



I have a ViP211 with external HDD and I have found that I'm much more likely to experience program breakup on the OTA channels if I'm watching a DVRed program then if I had watched it live.


This week I recorded the Ravens game (WJZ) on both the DISH DVR and on a DVD player using my HDTV's tuner as the source. The DVD is fine, but the DVR was just one long breakup.


----------



## mattydr

Not sure if 7 and/or 9 are still experimenting with different power levels? Of late my C4 has *almost* had enough to get the channels. Strangely, both have a high-60s-70 signal strength, but are still choppy. My experience in the past has been that with UHF channels, they are more of the classic either-you-get-it-or-you-dont, with a dramatic dropoff from perfect quality to unwatchable mess. Is that different with digital on VHF? With 7 and 9, it seems like a mostly steady signal, with lots of blips. Borderline watchable if you're taking in a football game and you care who wins.


I finally tried putting up an upper-VHF yagi, and the results have been mixed. It's definintely an improvement over the C4, but even with stead ~70% signal stregth, I still get semi-regular blips and hiccups. Is that indicative of a multipath problem? I'm combining the Yagi and the C4 with a CM 7777. The amplification gives me a 5-10% signal boost on most UHF channels, but doesn't seem to make much a difference either way on VHF. I guess part of the problem is that I am in Manassas, on the ground floor of a condo. It's a fluke of the way the condos are oriented that I even have a decent view of the towers, but I'm still longing for the good ol' days when 4, 5, 7, and 9 all came in great on my C4. :-(


On the plus side, I was able to get Fox 45 from Baltimore yesterday, so I got a double-header on FOX.


----------



## Dave Loudin

Mattydr, is your antenna inside or outside? I finally correlated hiccups on my weaker channels to a pump motor kicking on, so you could be dealing with impulse noise interference.


I've had a Radio Shack VU-90 in the attic for 10 years that has served me well for analog and digital reception. Baltimore is only slightly east in azimuth from DC here, and Richmond is a little past 180 degrees from DC, so DX can be pretty cool. I kept the antenna in place with strings attached to the rafters.


After analog shut-off, I pretty much lost WJLA and WUSA. I could catch 7 most evenings and 9 occasionally. UHF reception was still good. For the first time in ages, I checked on the antenna a couple of days ago and found it laying on the duct work, closer to the house wiring. That's when it hit me - noise! Along with catching more of the power noise, the antenna has been over the ceiling fan that runs almost all the time, catching the additional noise from the motor.


I've moved the antenna towards one end of the attic and resuspended it. Pointing is not optimum, as it was too hot to work in the attic any longer. However, WJLA is now back to 90% reliability and I can get WUSA every morning and evening. Signal strength is low, still.


Lesson: local noise really matters.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Cox to Launch ESPN360.com in Hampton Roads on September 30*


High-Speed Internet Customers Gain Access to More Than 3,500 Live Events Online, Including Hundreds of College Football Games


CHESAPEAKE, Va., Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Just as college football gets into full swing, Cox and ESPN today announced that Cox High Speed Internet and Cox Business Internet customers in Hampton Roads will have access to ESPN360.com beginning September 30. ESPN360.com is ESPN's 24/7 broadband sports network, which offers more than 3,500 live, global sports events annually. It will be available at no cost to fans who receive their high-speed Internet service from Cox.


"This season, not only can Cox customers view more than 400 football games, including tons of free high-definition action with digital cable, but with the addition of ESPN360, fans will have access to even more football games," said Gary McCollum, Cox Senior Vice President and General Manager. "Making ESPN360.com available for free to our high-speed Internet customers is just one more way Cox is committed to providing the best value to our customers."


ESPN360.com features live online sports coverage from a broad array of global events including (but not limited to):


Basketball: NBA, Euroleague, FIBA, NCAA Men's and Women's basketball, WNBA;

Football: NCAA College Football, AFL;

Global Soccer: FIFA World Cup events and global qualifiers, Confederations Cup, Football League (UK), Carling Cup (UK), La Liga (Spain), Italian Serie A, Portuguese Liga Sagres, MLS, US National team, international "friendlies" and more;

Global Baseball: MLB, World Baseball Classic, College World Series, Little League World Series;

Tennis: multi-court coverage of all four "grand slam" events and select other tennis events;

Golf: extensive coverage of the US Open, The Masters, The Open Championship and more;

Lacrosse: Major League Lacrosse, NCAA College Lacrosse;

Misc. Sports: X Games and Winter X Games, NCAA Hockey and Softball, Open-wheel Racing, Professional Racquetball, International Polo and more.


Upcoming Virginia highlights include:


10/11/09; 7:00PM; NHRA VIRGINIA NATIONALS

10/29/09; 7:30PM; NORTH CAROLINA/VIRGINIA TECH; ESPN COLLEGE FOOTBALL PRIMETIME

11/05/09; 7:30PM; VIRGINIA TECH/EAST CAROLINA; ESPN COLLEGE FOOTBALL PRIMETIME

11/30/09; 7:00PM; PENN STATE/VIRGINIA; 2009 BIG TEN/ACC CHALLENGE PRESENTED


Through a sleek, simple video player accessible via ESPN360.com, the service gives consumers control over their broadband sports viewing experience -- providing reliable, high-quality video and the ability to pause, rewind and fast-forward live events. With the ability to deliver up to 15 simultaneous live events, fans are able to toggle between events in a main viewing window, and with a single click, jump to another event. Video can be viewed in widescreen (16:9) and normal (4:3) views and can be expanded to full screen or reduced to a compact size. Recently completed events are archived and available for on-demand replay.


Cox customers can visit www.cox.com/espn360 from their home computer or a computer served by Cox Business Internet service to learn more and link to the ESPN360 content.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-relea...-62316597.html


----------



## mattydr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin* /forum/post/17264834
> 
> 
> Mattydr, is your antenna inside or outside? I finally correlated hiccups on my weaker channels to a pump motor kicking on, so you could be dealing with impulse noise interference.
> 
> 
> I've had a Radio Shack VU-90 in the attic for 10 years that has served me well for analog and digital reception. Baltimore is only slightly east in azimuth from DC here, and Richmond is a little past 180 degrees from DC, so DX can be pretty cool. I kept the antenna in place with strings attached to the rafters.
> 
> 
> After analog shut-off, I pretty much lost WJLA and WUSA. I could catch 7 most evenings and 9 occasionally. UHF reception was still good. For the first time in ages, I checked on the antenna a couple of days ago and found it laying on the duct work, closer to the house wiring. That's when it hit me - noise! Along with catching more of the power noise, the antenna has been over the ceiling fan that runs almost all the time, catching the additional noise from the motor.
> 
> 
> I've moved the antenna towards one end of the attic and resuspended it. Pointing is not optimum, as it was too hot to work in the attic any longer. However, WJLA is now back to 90% reliability and I can get WUSA every morning and evening. Signal strength is low, still.
> 
> 
> Lesson: local noise really matters.



Hmmm, it's outside, mounted on the fence that encloses all the HVAC units for my building. At the moment, I've got flawless reception and none of the units are running. I'll have to check up on it next time I'm having a reception problem. When you say noise, you're just talking about electric/power noise, not vibration/wind from the units running, right? I wonder if getting a mast a few feet taller would help. Thanks for the tip.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mattydr* /forum/post/17269352
> 
> 
> Hmmm, it's outside, mounted on the fence that encloses all the HVAC units for my building. At the moment, I've got flawless reception and none of the units are running. I'll have to check up on it next time I'm having a reception problem. When you say noise, you're just talking about electric/power noise, not vibration/wind from the units running, right? I wonder if getting a mast a few feet taller would help. Thanks for the tip.



The taller the better. Also keep in mind that a few inches here or there can make a big difference, believe it or not! Also, you might want to consider adding a Low/High VHF combiner, with a 75ohm terminator cap on the low VHF port, to assist in filtering out any noise you're receiving below the FM bands. The combiner I used [Pico Macom HLSJ: http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp...Combiner-(HLSJ ) ] really helped to remove noise from neighbor's lawn mowers and things like that. Of course, now it's in my big "TV stuff" box, but it did help while it was needed


----------



## imref

Has anyone heard if MASN will launch a 2nd HD channel next year so it can show both Nats and O's games in HD instead of relegating one to SD when they are on at the same time?


----------



## Potatoehead

We lost 24 analog channels on Comcast today as part of the digital upgrade. Hopefully that means lots of new HD channels soon.


----------



## nottenst

Does anyone know why Comcast On Demand has started having shows with the advertisements that were originally broadcast? I noticed this with the last two Psych episodes (which the Comcast info says are just 4X minutes though they run an hour) and just saw it with Sunday night's Mad Men. It is a bit disconcerting. I guess it might be a new deal with some of the networks or it might be a mistake of some kind.


----------



## afiggatt

Verizon Fios added 4 HD channels today to the Washington DC market:

649 WE TV (Women’s Entertainment)

716 Fuse HD

731 AMC HD

894 IFC HD


However, I am getting constant breakups for 731 AMC and 716 Fuse HD. They are placed down low on the QAM center frequency of 69 MHz which is same frequency band as VHF 4. Anyone else in the northern VA or DC market having problems with 731 AMC HD?


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Potatoehead* /forum/post/17270352
> 
> 
> We lost 24 analog channels on Comcast today as part of the digital upgrade. Hopefully that means lots of new HD channels soon.



Likewise in Anne Arundel. 21 of those 24 have a banner inviting us to order a digital converter. There sure are a lot of clear QAM channels though.


----------



## djp952

markbulla, if you're reading this ....


Ever since I switched to FiOS I've noticed that the Fox 45 local news has had a really annoying audio problem. The audio is constantly popping, kinda similar to noise you might hear on an analog audio system. I've tried contacting Verizon, but they really have no clue about things like this. I'd be happy to contact Fox 45 directly, but was kinda hoping since you frequent this forum, you might be a better choice since you probably just won't send me into the "call Verizon, who will tell me to call WBFF, who will tell me to call Verizon" loop.


It happens on all TVs and computers, I'm 100% certain I'm hearing exactly what FiOS is sending me. If I tune WBFF-HD over the air, the audio is perfectly fine using the same equipment, so it's certainly not WBFF's issue in and of itself







I also confirmed with a friend in Ellicott City that he hears the same problems on FiOS with the local news.


Thanks for your time, and if you can check out your news on FiOS, I'd really appreciate it







Hopefully you hear the same thing I do.


edit: Everyone else, have you noticed that WBAL's audio has now gone "too quiet" from "too loud"? I really wish there was a standard in place for audio levels. I really appreciate that they finally dialed it down, but they're still not in line with all the other channels around here. (Be careful what you wish for, I suppose)


----------



## mark_e




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/17276166
> 
> 
> Verizon Fios added 4 HD channels today to the Washington DC market:
> 
> 649 WE TV (Women's Entertainment)
> 
> 716 Fuse HD
> 
> 734 AMC HD
> 
> 894 IFC HD
> 
> 
> However, I am getting constant breakups for 734 AMC and 716 Fuse HD. They are placed down low on the QAM center frequency of 69 MHz which is same frequency band as VHF 4. Anyone else in the northern VA or DC market having problems with 734 AMC HD?



I have AMC HD on 731, not 734 on the Howard/AA system, but it is still on 69 MHz.


I didn't see any interference on either my VZ 7100 box or my TiVo.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17276626
> 
> 
> markbulla, if you're reading this ....
> 
> 
> Ever since I switched to FiOS I've noticed that the Fox 45 local news has had a really annoying audio problem. The audio is constantly popping, kinda similar to noise you might hear on an analog audio system. I've tried contacting Verizon, but they really have no clue about things like this. I'd be happy to contact Fox 45 directly, but was kinda hoping since you frequent this forum, you might be a better choice since you probably just won't send me into the "call Verizon, who will tell me to call WBFF, who will tell me to call Verizon" loop.
> 
> 
> It happens on all TVs and computers, I'm 100% certain I'm hearing exactly what FiOS is sending me. If I tune WBFF-HD over the air, the audio is perfectly fine using the same equipment, so it's certainly not WBFF's issue in and of itself
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I also confirmed with a friend in Ellicott City that he hears the same problems on FiOS with the local news.
> 
> 
> Thanks for your time, and if you can check out your news on FiOS, I'd really appreciate it
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hopefully you hear the same thing I do.



Thanks for your input. The challenge that we have here at the station is that FIOS isn't available here, so we can't monitor it directly. I have to rely on people like you to let us know about problems like this. That's exactly why I read this forum (almost) ever morning.


I'll see what I can find out about the problem.

.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/17276166
> 
> 
> Verizon Fios added 4 HD channels today to the Washington DC market:
> 
> 649 WE TV (Women's Entertainment)
> 
> 716 Fuse HD
> 
> 734 AMC HD
> 
> 894 IFC HD
> 
> 
> However, I am getting constant breakups for 734 AMC and 716 Fuse HD. They are placed down low on the QAM center frequency of 69 MHz which is same frequency band as VHF 4. Anyone else in the northern VA or DC market having problems with 734 AMC HD?



I just noticed these in the TiVo guide this morning. I didn't see any problems in the few minute sthat I looked at them. But also my TiVo shows AMC HD on 731 instead of 734.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mark_e* /forum/post/17277272
> 
> 
> I have AMC HD on 731, not 734 on the Howard/AA system, but it is still on 69 MHz.
> 
> 
> I didn't see any interference on either my VZ 7100 box or my TiVo.



My bad, AMC HD is on 731, not 734. I wrote 734 for the list and repeated my mistake. The breakups are still there on 716 and 734 as of this morning, although not as bad as last night. Since other people in VHO4 are not seeing this, the question is whether the interference problems are in the Sterling CO/VHO, the line to my neighborhood or just my house? If the breakups are still there later today, then I will contact Verizon tech support.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/17278542
> 
> 
> My bad, AMC HD is on 731, not 734. I wrote 734 for the list and repeated my mistake. The breakups are still there on 716 and 734 as of this morning, although not as bad as last night. Since other people in VHO4 are not seeing this, the question is whether the interference problems are in the Sterling CO/VHO, the line to my neighborhood or just my house? If the breakups are still there later today, then I will contact Verizon tech support.



I had a situation like you described earlier this year that affected only three or four HD channels.

My problem was caused by the coax connection at the ONT. It was only a quarter of a turn loose. Just by tightening the connection, the problem with those channels was fixed. Now I check my connection every few months to make sure it doesn't happen again. Although I have no idea how it got loose. I have connections that are over eight years old that have never come loose like that. And I don't know why a tech would be messing with it.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO

Here is an excellent article and industry discussion about VHF-DTV with a consultant who knows the science of DTV inside and out: http://www.tvnewscheck.com/articles/...aily.2/?page=2


----------



## DK745

New Comcast HD channels aren't supposed to be launched until October 10th here in AA, but they have two channels up there now. CBS College Sports HD (it says Not Authorized, but I get the channel in SD without the sports package) and NBATV HD which does come in. CBS College Sports is on 854 and NBA TV is on 863. Comcast sent a second list a few weeks ago saying where all the HD channels would be and they were all in the 800s.


I wonder if they will add more channels than they advertised since we are only getting 38 while I see others are getting more than 40 HD channels such as Tennis Channel HD, WGN HD, and ESPNU HD, but they have to wait until November or December for those.


----------



## Marcus Carr

I have those two channels in the guide as of this morning but they are not labeled or authorized yet. Analog reclamation hasn't happened or been announced in Baltimore City yet. I guess they have room to squeeze a few channels in. We got RedZone HD a few weeks ago.


----------



## Potatoehead




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/17282743
> 
> 
> I have those two channels in the guide as of this morning but they are not labeled or authorized yet. Analog reclamation hasn't happened or been announced in Baltimore City yet. I guess they have room to squeeze a few channels in. We got RedZone HD a few weeks ago.



I checked where comcast put the two new channels (CBS-C HD and NBAHD). They put it on analog channel 29 - one of the channels reclaimed on our system on Sept. 28. I wonder how or if they will be able to add these channels without the reclamation.


----------



## systems2000

At 147° Magnetic (D.C. is 162° Magnetic), I currently get (APEX DT502):


*Station**Strength**Quality**Off-Axis*WMAR-DT57%92%+15°WTTG-DT71%25-62% (40-50%)-15°WJLA-DT86%100%-15°WUSA-DT83%35% (_Not Watchable_)-15°WJZ-DT58%20% (_Blank Screen_)+15°WDCA-DT66%24% (_Not Watchable_)-15°WHAG-DT90%81%-90°WWPB-DT82%13% (_Not Watchable_)-89°WVPY-DT85%24% (_Artifacts_)-72°WNUV-DT52%32% (_Not Watchable - Unusual_)+15°WWPX-DT90%100%-79°WJAL-DT90%100%-142°

WJLA-DT has been rock-solid lately. Before, I could only receive it on a good night.


I'll re-check in the morning.


----------



## systems2000

Lots of pixilation in all directions this morning.


*Station**Strength**Quality**Off-Axis*WMAR-DT55%54-90% (_Artifacts_)+15°WTTG-DT74%29-60% (_Artifacts_)-15°WJLA-DT86%80-86% (_Artifacts_)-15°WUSA-DT83%11-26% (_Blank Screen_)-15°WJZ-DT54%0% (_Blank Screen_)+15°WDCA-DT68%42-54% (_Artifacts_)-15°WHAG-DT89%63% (_Artifacts_)-90°WWPB-DT82%0-16% (_Not Watchable_)-89°WVPY-DT72%0% (_Not Watchable_)-72°WNUV-DT56%50-83% (_Artifacts_)+15°WWPX-DT89%100%-79°WJAL-DT90%100%-142°


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/17279734
> 
> 
> Here is an excellent article and industry discussion about VHF-DTV with a consultant who knows the science of DTV inside and out: http://www.tvnewscheck.com/articles/...aily.2/?page=2



Cavell, Mertz is the firm behind http://www.fccinfo.com -- an addictive way to waste lots of time. The Google Earth plugin is even worse....


----------



## msmckay

Did any of you Over the Air folks notice that the premier of CSI New York on the 23rd and Lie to Me on the 29th were broad cast without any sound? I did not watch in real time. I let them record on my HD TiVo to watch a few days later. In both cases the picture was very clear with no breakups or other obvious problem.


Thanks


----------



## systems2000

I don't watch drama, cop, or medical shows (except Scrubs), so I can't give you an answer.


----------



## systems2000

What's up with WTTG's EPG? Most of the time there's no information.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/17278359
> 
> 
> Thanks for your input. The challenge that we have here at the station is that FIOS isn't available here, so we can't monitor it directly. I have to rely on people like you to let us know about problems like this. That's exactly why I read this forum (almost) ever morning.
> 
> 
> I'll see what I can find out about the problem.
> 
> .



I don't know if it's a coincidence or if I owe you a load of thanks, but I'm watching Fox 45 News at 10 right now, and I'm not hearing any weird pops or other strangeness







Yea! Thanks Mark!!! [even if it is a coincidence -- you are very kind to come out here and listen to us and offer to look into issues we encounter with the systems you have influence over, and I think we all appreciate it]


----------



## dewster1977

Has something recently changed at WMAR. I have never been able to receive any signal from them before. Now (thursday and friday) they are rock solid at 90% to 95%


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *msmckay* /forum/post/17286416
> 
> 
> Did any of you Over the Air folks notice that the premier of CSI New York on the 23rd and Lie to Me on the 29th were broad cast without any sound? I did not watch in real time. I let them record on my HD TiVo to watch a few days later. In both cases the picture was very clear with no breakups or other obvious problem.
> 
> 
> Thanks



There was audio on my OTA recordings for both of those shows. Although Lie to Me came on the 28th, not the 29th.

My OTA recordings were on a Series 3 box(OLED display) My FIOS recordings are on TiVoHD boxes now.


And surprisingly the WUSA recording had no glitches. I'm picking up WUSA much better than I could a few months ago. Back then I couldn't get much of anything.

The only reason I even have those recordings on my TiVos is because I have one that has leftover season passes. I normally watch my recordings from FIOS instead of OTA since the analog cutoff.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*The Leno effect*


WBAL feels pain due to lead-in, WJZ firmly in first place for ratings


By David Zurawik | Baltimore Sun TV critic


12:14 p.m. EDT, October 2, 2009


We are only two weeks into the new fall season, but already it looks as if we have an answer to the question of the TV year: How will Jay Leno do in prime time for NBC?


The answer: Pretty well when he is up against reruns or other weak competition, but not very well at all when he is faced with top-notch, first-run programs of the sort CBS is now throwing up against the lantern-jawed comedian on an almost nightly basis this fall.


And while NBC can probably live with being a low-cost alternative to the other networks on most nights, affiliates like Baltimore's WBAL (Channel 11), look as if they are going to be feeling some pain in the pocketbook as a result of NBC's bold move. After decades of a back-and-forth struggle between WBAL and WJZ for leadership in late news, the battle appears to be over in the new post-Leno era with WJZ firmly in first place for the first two weeks of the new season thanks in large part to the power of CBS dramas at 10 o'clock swamping Leno. And there is no single broadcast more important to a local station's fortunes than the late news.


"My thoughts on Leno is that we have always considered Jay Leno at 10 p.m. [to be] a 52-week strategy," WBAL General manager Jordan Wertlieb said this week, echoing a NBC network talking point that says you can't judge Leno solely by what he does against first-run programming. "We expect the program to perform better when running against repeats on the competition and to be the alternative viewing choice when running against first run programming. The first three weeks of the program have bore that out exactly."


NBC has been emphasizing the importance of taking a long view on Leno since the new season started on Sept. 21, and ratings in three different times periods for the network and its affiliates started heading south in the wake of the move.


Here is what the landscape looks like nationally in the wake of one of the biggest shifts since the networks embraced reality shows as NBC upended its prime-time schedule -- replacing expensive 10 p.m. dramas with Leno's new show to drastically cut programming costs.


On the one hand, NBC has reached the 2.0 rating in adult demographics from 10 to 11 p.m. on which it has been selling Leno to advertisers, according to The Hollywood Reporter. But that is down more than 40 percent from what the network averaged in the time period last year with series like "ER" and Law & Order: SVU."


And as a result, NBC stations across the country are down about 15 percent with their late local news from 11 to 11:30 p.m. -- with Baltimore's WBAL firmly part of that pattern.


And the losses extend into late night, with "Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" down more than 20 percent from what Leno was doing last year in the time period.


Consider the tremendous difference that 10 p.m. lead-ins made in Baltimore during the late news time period the last three weeks.


During the week of Sept. 14 when Leno debuted and the other channels still had network reruns, "The Jay Leno Show" averaged 84,700 households in the Baltimore market for four nights (The night of Sept. 14 is excluded because of U.S. Open tennis running into late news on CBS.)


Meanwhile, CBS prime-time programming during the 10 p.m. hour was viewed in only 66,000 Baltimore homes on the same four nights.


With the help of that lead-in, WBAL was the number one station in late local news in Baltimore with an average audience of 72,600 homes for the week. WJZ, by comparison, was runner-up with 60,500 households for its 11 p.m. newscast.


But look at what has happened since the new season started on Sept. 21, and CBS rolled out the likes of "The Good Wife" and "The Mentalist" at 10 p.m. on weeknights.


CBS has given WJZ a lead-in audience of 114,300 Baltimore area homes, and the local station has won the 11 p.m. newscast by holding onto 86,900 of them.


Leno and NBC, meanwhile, have delivered a lead-in of only 49,500 homes to WBAL, and the station has managed to average an audience of 52,800 homes. Even though, WBAL's news overachieves on its network lead-in, that audience delivered by Leno and NBC is so small that the station finishes a distant second to WJZ. That's the kind of fallout that is coming to be known as The Leno Effect.


And the pattern holds straight through to 12:35 p.m. as "Late Show with David Letterman" now clobbers Conan O'Brien locally.


"That's a huge swing," says Douglas Gomery, a media economist at the University of Maryland. "And the difference over the course of the season will be measured in the tens of millions of dollars in local station revenue."


Pointing to "The Oprah Effect" and the way Oprah Winfrey lifts the fortunes of local stations that are lucky enough to have her talk show leading into their early news, Gomery says, "Lead-ins matter -- it's just a fact. People have tended for years and years to go from the show they are watching at 10 p.m. to the late news on that channel."


While the move might prove to be cost effective for NBC in the short term, it is already hurting the affiliates. But maybe NBC is only concerned about its own fortunes in the short term, as the network is reportedly up for sale, with Comcast said to be the latest potential buyer.


"NBC certainly isn't thinking about its affiliates with the Leno move," Gomery says. "This is no way to run a network if you are in it for the long haul -- I don't care what kind of new spin they are offering about looking at 52 weeks now that they've seen Leno's premiere week audience disappear. If I'm running an NBC affiliate all I'm thinking about is how much money the Leno move is starting to cost me."

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertai...,6818228.story


----------



## sboller




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dewster1977* /forum/post/17289999
> 
> 
> Has something recently changed at WMAR. I have never been able to receive any signal from them before. Now (thursday and friday) they are rock solid at 90% to 95%



I logged in here this morning to find out this exact same thing! I have a TV connected to an INDOOR antenna (Phillips MANT940) on the ground floor of our home in Fairfax. At that pont the antenna is maybe 8 feet above ground, in a room, and outside there are tons of houses, trees, and buildings in every direction. I don't really know how it receives anything, but it does.


I did a rescan last night and got WMAR for the first time ever. And it was rock solid, no dropouts. I checked this morning and it's still there! This TV can't get CW 50 from DC, and WHUT channel 32 is iffy, but I'm getting WMAR from 50 miles away? Odd.


----------



## metrognomicon




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *BigDaddyRoy* /forum/post/17147571
> 
> 
> On the minus side, by my count, the "standard service" folks, who currently have 59 channels, will be dropping 45, down to 14 channels, unless they get their digital equipment. I guess this means I have until Nov 17 to get my mother in law her DTAs. The costs of progress!



This would include one of my father, who is paying for Comcast "digital starter" package but is now getting only a very few channels on the internal tuners-- and they want him to start renting boxes for all the TVs at $10 a pop. It's absolutely infuriating. Not to mention the inconvenience of finding locations for the boxes and yet another remote control for aging parents to learn. We've wasted many hours with Comcast and they won't budge -- the bill goes up by $40/mo and that's that.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dewster1977* /forum/post/17289999
> 
> 
> Has something recently changed at WMAR. I have never been able to receive any signal from them before. Now (thursday and friday) they are rock solid at 90% to 95%



WMAR 2 and WJZ 13 were putting up new stacked UHF 38 / VHF 13 antennas this past summer while operating off of the pre-transition VHF 13 and UHF 38 (WJZ) antennas on the tower. WJZ needed to switch to a directional antenna to reduce broadcast power to the west which caused me to lose WJZ 13 OTA when they switched.


My guess is that WMAR 2 switched to the new antenna. WMAR has been operating at the maximum power allowed for digital UHF at 1000 kW since June 12 and the new antenna is at the same 312 meter HAAT on the big candelabra in NW Baltimore. But the new antenna may have a somewhat different polarization pattern or there may have been some problems with the pre-transition UHF 38 antenna that caused WMAR to spend a half a million bucks or more on a new UHF 38 broadcast antenna. The pre-transition UHF 38 antenna becomes the backup antenna.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/17297642
> 
> 
> WMAR 2 and WJZ 13 were putting up new stacked UHF 38 / VHF 13 antennas this past summer while operating off of the pre-transition VHF 13 and UHF 38 (WJZ) antennas on the tower. WJZ needed to switch to a directional antenna to reduce broadcast power to the west which caused me to lose WJZ 13 OTA when they switched.
> 
> 
> My guess is that WMAR 2 switched to the new antenna. WMAR has been operating at the maximum power allowed for digital UHF at 1000 kW since June 12 and the new antenna is at the same 312 meter HAAT on the big candelabra in NW Baltimore. But the new antenna may have a somewhat different polarization pattern or there may have been some problems with the pre-transition UHF 38 antenna that caused WMAR to spend a half a million bucks or more on a new UHF 38 broadcast antenna. The pre-transition UHF 38 antenna becomes the backup antenna.



Those things don't seriously cost $500K, do they? Given the margins on broadcast TV nowadays, I think we all owe WMAR a thank-you if that figure is accurate. Holy cow.


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *sboller* /forum/post/17295289
> 
> 
> I logged in here this morning to find out this exact same thing! I have a TV connected to an INDOOR antenna (Phillips MANT940) on the ground floor of our home in Fairfax. At that pont the antenna is maybe 8 feet above ground, in a room, and outside there are tons of houses, trees, and buildings in every direction. I don't really know how it receives anything, but it does.
> 
> 
> I did a rescan last night and got WMAR for the first time ever. And it was rock solid, no dropouts. I checked this morning and it's still there! This TV can't get CW 50 from DC, and WHUT channel 32 is iffy, but I'm getting WMAR from 50 miles away? Odd.



WMAR is still comming in strong here since thursday, I only had some issues here on Saturday afternoon.


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/17297642
> 
> 
> WMAR 2 and WJZ 13 were putting up new stacked UHF 38 / VHF 13 antennas this past summer while operating off of the pre-transition VHF 13 and UHF 38 (WJZ) antennas on the tower. WJZ needed to switch to a directional antenna to reduce broadcast power to the west which caused me to lose WJZ 13 OTA when they switched.
> 
> 
> My guess is that WMAR 2 switched to the new antenna. WMAR has been operating at the maximum power allowed for digital UHF at 1000 kW since June 12 and the new antenna is at the same 312 meter HAAT on the big candelabra in NW Baltimore. But the new antenna may have a somewhat different polarization pattern or there may have been some problems with the pre-transition UHF 38 antenna that caused WMAR to spend a half a million bucks or more on a new UHF 38 broadcast antenna. The pre-transition UHF 38 antenna becomes the backup antenna.



Anyone know if WMAR switched to a new antenna?


----------



## Drewdawg




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *sboller* /forum/post/17295289
> 
> 
> I logged in here this morning to find out this exact same thing! I have a TV connected to an INDOOR antenna (Phillips MANT940) on the ground floor of our home in Fairfax. At that pont the antenna is maybe 8 feet above ground, in a room, and outside there are tons of houses, trees, and buildings in every direction. I don't really know how it receives anything, but it does.
> 
> 
> I did a rescan last night and got WMAR for the first time ever. And it was rock solid, no dropouts. I checked this morning and it's still there! This TV can't get CW 50 from DC, and WHUT channel 32 is iffy, but I'm getting WMAR from 50 miles away? Odd.



Not odd really as my setup is the same as yours, indoor loop, first floor on a Sylvania SRZ3000 and UHF 38 (first WJZ then WMAR) has always been reliable. I'm located just west of Dover, DE so I'm 56 miles out from Baltimore. Shows what a megawatt can get you.


----------



## ota.dt.man

We've been experiencing consistent OTA reception issues (mostly audio dropouts) with WUSA for about two weeks now. The audio dropouts have been so frequent that it is impossible to follow a program in which one is interested - very annoying! Channel 9 is now our least reliable DTV station.


We're about 40 miles away in Frederick County. However, channels 4, 5, 7, 14, 20, 26, 30, 32, 50, 62, and 60 have not been a consistent reception issue like WUSA.


We've not had any difficulty receiving WUSA for over 20 years. Analog broadcasts and UHF DTV were not an issue. However, ever since June 12, 2009, when WUSA moved their DTV transmission to VHF, consistent reception quality has been challenging.


Has anyone else had similar issues with WUSA recently?


Thanks


----------



## Dave Loudin

I'm not going to post details until I get a few more days of observation in, but since I moved the attic antenna away from ductwork and power wires, WJLA and WUSA have become much more reliable (90%, 75%).


----------



## nottenst

Comcast rearranged QAM last night in my area. At least the local network stations went to their regular (ABC = 7-1, CBS = 9-1, NBC = 4-1) locations. I didn't do a scan and test at the time. I was frantically trying to get Desp. H/W at 9 PM on 123-1 when it didn't appear and then saw that 7-1 worked.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ota.dt.man* /forum/post/17299324
> 
> 
> Has anyone else had similar issues with WUSA recently?



Are you seeing this on more than one tuner? I haven't any difference in the Manassas or Dulles area with 9. It has never been a problem.


----------



## ota.dt.man




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/17300262
> 
> 
> Are you seeing this on more than one tuner?



Yes, frequent audio dropouts with both our tuners: a Samsung DTB-H260F and a CM-7000. This situation has caused me to remove the splitter to the second floor TV in attempt to maximize the signal strength to the first floor TV system - the one we use the most.


The signal strength meter on the Channel Master CM-7000 typically displays an average signal strength of about 40-50% for WUSA. However, there is a rapid and continuous signal strength variation from 0% to about 80%. When the signal strength drops below 20% we experience audio dropouts.


At one point last night we lost audio & video on channel 9. However, watching "Three Rivers" last night was not an issue.


For the past couple weeks we've had great difficulty listening to Letterman & Ferguson. Is WUSA turning down their power after prime time?


I'm aware that an attic mounted an antenna yields sub-optimal results compared to a roof-mounted antenna. However, we currently have no consistent difficulty receiving channels 4, 5, 7, 14, 20, 26, 30, 32, 50, 62, and 66. Only channel 9 has been consistently problematic.

*Question*:

We have *Belden RG-6* going from the attic antenna to the basement. However, the coax going from the basement to the bedrooms and family room has no brand name or model # and is smaller in diameter than RG-6 (perhaps RG-59?).


Would upgrading the *basement to family room coax* to *Belden RG-6* provide a significant increase in the signal strength to our CM-7000 and thus prevent audio dropouts and the cliff effect on Ch 9?


Or would we be more likely to solve this issue by replacing all the coax from the antenna to the family room with *Belden RG-11*?


Thanks


----------



## Digital Rules

Does WUSA work well with the splitter removed? Are you using any type of amplification? For some reason, I've always had a problem with WUSA (UHF & VHF) on my CM-7000 converter. No other tuners have a problem with it.


----------



## ota.dt.man




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/17301795
> 
> 
> Does WUSA work well with the splitter removed?



No.


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/17301795
> 
> 
> Are you using any type of amplification?



Yes,

CM-0100DSB (FM trap switched on)

VHF: 16 dB gain, 3.0 dB noise, 56 dBmV output capability

UHF: 23 dB gain, 2.2 dB noise, 50 dBmV output capability


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17289702
> 
> 
> I don't know if it's a coincidence or if I owe you a load of thanks, but I'm watching Fox 45 News at 10 right now, and I'm not hearing any weird pops or other strangeness
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yea! Thanks Mark!!! [even if it is a coincidence -- you are very kind to come out here and listen to us and offer to look into issues we encounter with the systems you have influence over, and I think we all appreciate it]



Thanks, although I didn't get through to anyone at Verizon about it. Maybe there's someone on the forum who would rather remain anonymous...


.


----------



## Digital Rules

I'm leaning towards attenuation from the attic install causing the dropouts.


Weak VHF stations are also very susceptible to any interference/overload. Is it possible to hook up one TV to the antenna with no amplification to help eliminate that possibility?


----------



## ota.dt.man




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/17302290
> 
> 
> I'm leaning towards attenuation from the attic install causing the dropouts.



Yes, attic-mounted antennas will have reduced signal compared with roof-mounted antennas. However, we currently have no consistent difficulty receiving channels 4, 5, 7, 14, 20, 26, 30, 32, 50, 62, and 66 with our attic-mounted antenna.


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/17302290
> 
> 
> Weak VHF stations are also very susceptible to any interference/overload. Is it possible to hook up one TV to the antenna with no amplification to help eliminate that possibility?



Our antenna was sufficient for analog TV. When DTV was first available along with analog broadcasts and most DTV signals were UHF in DC, our antenna was not sufficient to overcome the cliff effect so I added the CM-0100DSB cartridge amplifier that was specifically designed for our antenna - problem solved.


If necessary, I can temporarily remove the pre-amp.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/17300237
> 
> 
> Comcast rearranged QAM last night in my area. At least the local network stations went to their regular (ABC = 7-1, CBS = 9-1, NBC = 4-1) locations. I didn't do a scan and test at the time. I was frantically trying to get Desp. H/W at 9 PM on 123-1 when it didn't appear and then saw that 7-1 worked.



I also noticed that last night. They have not touched WTTG, WDCA, and WDCW yet. They're still on 132 and 133. I'm still hoping for more HD available in the clear besides just A&E and Versus.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ota.dt.man* /forum/post/17302361
> 
> 
> .Our antenna was sufficient for analog TV.



WUSA is very low powered compared to their previous analog output signal. It doesn't look like they will be allowed to increase their power anytime soon either. It can certainly be very tricky even with a good antenna at your distance.


I generally don't find much benefit to pre-amping VHF when hooked to one TV, so I always try bypassing that as a first step to see if it makes a difference either way. The line loss in your coax cable is not the cause.


----------



## ota.dt.man




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/17302944
> 
> 
> I generally don't find much benefit to pre-amping VHF when hooked to one TV



Understood. We had two TVs connected to the attic antenna. I only recently disconnected the 2nd floor TV & splitter in an attempt to improve reception to our main TV.


A preamp wasn't needed for analog. However it was necessary at our location to overcome the cliff effect when the DC stations began broadcasting digital UHF signals in addition to analog.


I'll test the system w/o the preamp as you suggest later this week.


----------



## iontyre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *metrognomicon* /forum/post/17297591
> 
> 
> This would include one of my father, who is paying for Comcast "digital starter" package but is now getting only a very few channels on the internal tuners-- and they want him to start renting boxes for all the TVs at $10 a pop. It's absolutely infuriating. Not to mention the inconvenience of finding locations for the boxes and yet another remote control for aging parents to learn. We've wasted many hours with Comcast and they won't budge -- the bill goes up by $40/mo and that's that.



What? They are supposed to offer all their customers two DTA's free, and if you do not have a full feature cable box you get one of those too, and extra DTA's are supposed to be $1.99. Where are you getting this $10 a pop from?


----------



## Hardtimes




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/17202159
> 
> 
> We encourage all to conduct their own tests and to share your results on this page. Your work will be instrumental in determining whether the FCC should approve power increases for high-band VHF stations.
> 
> 
> - Robert



I thought something was a little different in the signal lately. While not reliable to watch full-time, it does come in occasionally now at night whereas before I couldn't get anything unless the weather was just right.


I'm up in Edgewood using a 4228 about 25' up with a CM7777 preamp going to 4 tuners. I've tried a Antennas Direct (?) 1713 with no luck. My UHF actually had better performance which is bizarre! Not sure how some people are getting WJLA & WUSA from PA without some crazy equipment.


It's nice to see a station actually trying to work with the viewers instead of ignoring them. Thanks for that Robert!


----------



## systems2000

When are the broadcasters going to fix their PSIP DST time function?


WWPB, WWPX, & WDCA are the only stations that are showing accurate DST information on my CECB's.


WMAR, WPSU, WTTG, WJAL, WTAJ, WJZ, WLYH, WUTB, WNPB, WHAG, WVPY, WPMT, & WNUV are one hour behind and screwing with my EPG and timer settings.


NOTE: I don't receive WRC, WUSA, WBAL, WDCW, or WPXW and WBFF isn't currently coming in.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/17306504
> 
> 
> When are the broadcasters going to fix their PSIP DST time function?
> 
> 
> WWPB, WWPX, & WDCA are the only stations that are showing accurate DST information on my CECB's.
> 
> 
> WMAR, WPSU, WTTG, WJAL, WTAJ, WJZ, WLYH, WUTB, WNPB, WHAG, WVPY, WPMT, & WNUV are one hour behind and screwing with my EPG and timer settings.
> 
> 
> NOTE: I don't receive WRC, WUSA, WBAL, WDCW, or WPXW and WBFF isn't currently coming in.



It seems strange that all those stations would have their PSIP generator clocks set to Standard Time only.


At the station end, all that makes up the clock is in the PC that provides the PSIP data. Since most PSIP generators run under Windows, it's a simple matter to have the machine change it's clock according to the time of year. Most stations even use Windows Time Server, or have their PSIP generator clock tied-in and calibrated to the house master clock system.


Please excuse the silly question, but have you checked the menu of your STB to make sure there isn't some sort of setting to allow for DST?


----------



## rkolsen




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *BigDaddyRoy* /forum/post/17147571
> 
> 
> I saw that someone posted the Anne Arundell County "World of More" Comcast schedule, but I did not see that anyone posted the *Baltimore County Comcast schedule*, which is also out now. I received the flier in the mail while I was away on vacation, so I'm not sure the exact day it arrived. All dates are listed as "Starting On or about/around" so take with typical two grains of salt:
> 
> 1st Round Channel moves - Nov 17 (21 Channels moving to digital equipment only - AnimalPlanet, E, EWTN, Food, FX, Hallmark, HGTV, History, Lifetime, MSNBC, Mtv, Syfy, TBN, TCM, Weather, TLC, TNT, truTV, Travel, TVLand, & Versus - some real biggies in there)
> 
> 2nd Round Channel moves - Dec 17 (24 Channels moving to digital equipment only - A&E, ABCFamily, BET, Bravo, Cartoon, CNBC, CNN, HLN, CSN, Comedy Central, Discovery, Disc Health, Disney, ESPN, ESPN2, FoxNews, Golf, MASN, Nick, Speed, Spike, TBS, TVOne, USA, VH1 - more big names here too)
> 
> New High Definition Channel Adds - Nov 28. All of these are HD, to avoid typing 'HD' over and over again.
> 
> 
> BET, BigTen, bio, Bravo, Cartoon Network, CBS College Sports, CMT, CNBC+, HLN, Comedy Central, DisneyXD, E, Encore, ESPNEWS, ESPNU, FoxBiz, fuse, G4, Hallmark, IFC, MLB Exta Innings/NHL Center Ice Featured Games (1 channel), NBA League Pass/MLS Direct Kick Featured Games (1 channel), IND PPV (had this previously, it went away to make room for others, now it's returning?), Lifetime, Lifetime Movies, MGM, MLB Network, Mtv, MSNBC, NBATV, NHL Network, Nick, PlanetGreen, QVC, Spike, Style, TCM, Weather, Tennis Channel, Travel, truTV, tvOne, VH1, We. Channel numbers were also listed, indicating a move of the HD channel block / cluster moving into the 800s, which will match other Comcast systems I have seen channels listed for online.
> 
> 
> By my count, that is 44 new HD channels; 3 of which are PPV (the two sports "season" pack ones, and INDPPV) and 3 which are in the Sports Entertainment Pack (BigTen, CBS College Sports, & Tennis), making the other 38 new national HD cable nets. Add that to Baltimore County Comcast's current 43 channels, including 8 local networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CW, Independent, PBS-DC, & PBS-Balt), 2 regional sports nets (CSNDC and MASN), and 4 premiums (HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, & Starz). That should give Comcast Baltimore County subs, like me, a total of 87 HD channels, with about 77 of them available to so-called Digital Classic (I think; I get the terms mixed up), customers. Pretty sweet.
> 
> 
> On the minus side, by my count, the "standard service" folks, who currently have 59 channels, will be dropping 45, down to 14 channels, unless they get their digital equipment. I guess this means I have until Nov 17 to get my mother in law her DTAs. The costs of progress!




When did you receive this in the mail?


----------



## Doug Mac

Great article in Sun Wash Post Business section on cable companies by Rob Pegoraro. Bottom line, in the most technically advanced country we are all now stuck watching TV through a STB......what a waste of electricity


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Did you want to watch Wheel or Jeopardy? Nope, time for another Allbritton fundraisier featuring the two idiots running for governor.


I wish the FCC would take away WJLA's license with the endless pre-emptions.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/17300237
> 
> 
> Comcast rearranged QAM last night in my area. At least the local network stations went to their regular (ABC = 7-1, CBS = 9-1, NBC = 4-1) locations. I didn't do a scan and test at the time. I was frantically trying to get Desp. H/W at 9 PM on 123-1 when it didn't appear and then saw that 7-1 worked.



Also, just noticed tonight they have PSIP data for the remapped QAM channels too.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/17307592
> 
> 
> It seems strange that all those stations would have their PSIP generator clocks set to Standard Time only.
> 
> 
> At the station end, all that makes up the clock is in the PC that provides the PSIP data. Since most PSIP generators run under Windows, it's a simple matter to have the machine change it's clock according to the time of year. Most stations even use Windows Time Server, or have their PSIP generator clock tied-in and calibrated to the house master clock system.
> 
> 
> Please excuse the silly question, but have you checked the menu of your STB to make sure there isn't some sort of setting to allow for DST?



My Zinwell ZAT-970A v1 and 2, APEX DT502's, and Sunkey SK-801ATSC are doing the same thing.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Hardtimes* /forum/post/17305844
> 
> 
> I've tried a Antennas Direct (?) 1713 with no luck. My UHF actually had better performance which is bizarre!



Did you try the 1713 un-amplified to 1 tuner only? You shouldn't have much trouble with WJLA unless you are down in a hole. My 1713 reliably receives a much weaker channel 12 @ 65 miles away. (75 feet of cable, & _"no"_ amplification) Proper amplifier selection is crucial when dealing with fragile VHF stations.


----------



## DK745

The new HD channels for Comcast are live in Anne Arundel County. There are no surprises here, all the channels they advertised are there. They are located in the 800s while all of the old HD channels are still located in their old spots in the 200s in addition to the 800s except for HBO, Showtime, Starz, Cinemax, HDPPV1 and 2, and WTTG (Fox DC, only HD DC station we get.)


----------



## Potatoehead




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DK745* /forum/post/17312071
> 
> 
> The new HD channels for Comcast are live in Anne Arundel County. There are no surprises here, all the channels they advertised are there. They are located in the 800s while all of the old HD channels are still located in their old spots in the 200s in addition to the 800s except for HBO, Showtime, Starz, Cinemax, HDPPV1 and 2, and WTTG (Fox DC, only HD DC station we get.)



Same here in Calvert County.


----------



## sboller




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *sboller* /forum/post/17295289
> 
> 
> Quote:
> 
> Originally Posted by dewster1977 View Post
> 
> Has something recently changed at WMAR. I have never been able to receive any signal from them before. Now (thursday and friday) they are rock solid at 90% to 95%
> 
> 
> 
> I logged in here this morning to find out this exact same thing! I have a TV connected to an INDOOR antenna (Phillips MANT940) on the ground floor of our home in Fairfax. At that pont the antenna is maybe 8 feet above ground, in a room, and outside there are tons of houses, trees, and buildings in every direction. I don't really know how it receives anything, but it does.
> 
> 
> I did a rescan last night and got WMAR for the first time ever. And it was rock solid, no dropouts. I checked this morning and it's still there! This TV can't get CW 50 from DC, and WHUT channel 32 is iffy, but I'm getting WMAR from 50 miles away? Odd.



And now it's gone again. Gone as in "Signal Strength 0 db." I suspected it would be temporary, and it was. I'm not sure why I was getting it those few days.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *sboller* /forum/post/17312158
> 
> 
> And now it's gone again. Gone as in "Signal Strength 0 db." I suspected it would be temporary, and it was. I'm not sure why I was getting it those few days.



The atmosphere has been very favorable for long distance reception lately after dark.


----------



## rkolsen




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DK745* /forum/post/17312071
> 
> 
> The new HD channels for Comcast are live in Anne Arundel County. There are no surprises here, all the channels they advertised are there. They are located in the 800s while all of the old HD channels are still located in their old spots in the 200s in addition to the 800s except for HBO, Showtime, Starz, Cinemax, HDPPV1 and 2, and WTTG (Fox DC, only HD DC station we get.)





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Potatoehead* /forum/post/17312081
> 
> 
> Same here in Calvert County.



Where did you see the advertising?


----------



## DK745




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rkolsen* /forum/post/17312938
> 
> 
> Where did you see the advertising?



We got two ads in the mail. One talked about all the analog channels being moved and listed what HD channels we were going to get, then that same thing came a few weeks before the first set of analog channels went to digital saying to act now to keep seeing the channels (this also listed the channel numbers for the new HD channels.)


Both of those said On or About October 10th for the new HD channels; other than that I haven't seen any advertising on TV or messages on my cable box or anything to indicate that this happened. I just kept checking the 800 channels to see if they were there.


----------



## Potatoehead




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DK745* /forum/post/17312987
> 
> 
> We got two ads in the mail. One talked about all the analog channels being moved and listed what HD channels we were going to get, then that same thing came a few weeks before the first set of analog channels went to digital saying to act now to keep seeing the channels (this also listed the channel numbers for the new HD channels.)
> 
> 
> Both of those said On or About October 10th for the new HD channels; other than that I haven't seen any advertising on TV or messages on my cable box or anything to indicate that this happened. I just kept checking the 800 channels to see if they were there.




We did not receive as much notice. We received a notice that DTA's were available about 5 months ago - no schedule or list of new channels. After that there was nothing. Perhaps the ads just got lost in the mail.










Still I am very happy that we are finally over the hump with many analog channels gone and space for more HD channels.


----------



## rkolsen

We just got the DTA notices in the beginning of August with no date to complete the by. Needless to say I ordered them right away.


Whats funny is that my grandmother who lives with us did not like how long it takes to change the channel to channels under 12 on her old TV- she thought buying a new one would fix it and when I gave her the same DTA adapter remote she said I thought the TV would come with a remote. She gets inpatient with waiting 2 extra seconds for channels instead of them changing right away.


I should really get her an HD box - but that would screw her up even more.


----------



## dewster1977

WMAR is still coming in great for me, as of 9pm wednesday.


----------



## Marcus Carr

CBS College Sports HD and NBA TV HD are in my Comcast guide. They say Not Authorized at this point.


----------



## rkolsen

I have seen that for a while in the County - but still not authorized.


----------



## DK745

NBA TV HD is active for me, CBS College Sports HD says Not Authorized though.


----------



## systems2000

*WJLA* (2-edge) has now joined *WMAR* (2-edge), *WTAJ* (2-edge), and *WNUV* (2-edge) as being very dependable for viewing (Just as good as my *LOS* stations *W08EE-D*, *WHAG*, *WWPB*, *WVPY*, *WWPX*, & *WJAL*), even with the 40+ mph winds that I had affecting my CM3020 at 55' AGL and ~10' above my ladder tower.


The antenna sway and bounce was wild to watch.


----------



## iontyre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/17318115
> 
> 
> CBS College Sports HD and NBA TV HD are in my Comcast guide. They say Not Authorized at this point.



Here in Harford County we have CBS College Sports HD now on 854. I get it, and do not have the Sports package, so once again I think Harford Counties Comcast technicians are a little misinformed (we got the NFL Redzone channel in HD for the first three weeks without the package too! Finally lost that after the 4pm games on week 4.)


I don't see NBA TV HD anywhere, just the SD version (in the 700's somewhere).


----------



## jacindc

I've been reading pretty religiously, and don't think I've missed any posts, but just in case.... Has there been any news yet regarding Comcast in DC taking the plunge to get all these HD channels? Or do we have to wait for FiOS to start showing up in the city (next year) to light a fire under them?


----------



## systems2000

Has anyone else noticed that WJLA is still using the WJLA-TV call sign? I just saw it on the RTN sub-channel.


Shouldn't they be using WJLA-DT?


----------



## rkolsen

I don't know. I know WBAL still uses WBAL TV for their top of the hour station identifiers and got rid of the WBAL TV/ WBAL DT when the switch occured.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rkolsen* /forum/post/17323964
> 
> 
> I don't know. I know WBAL still uses WBAL TV for their top of the hour station identifiers and got rid of the WBAL TV/ WBAL DT when the switch occured.



Every morning around 2:30 AM, WBAL runs it's sign on for the new "broadcast day". It bothers me that they still mention a visual and aural frequency. In a digital world, it's just a 6 MHz-wide pipe of data. WBAL should update their daily sign on message now that they no longer broadcast in NTSC.


----------



## rkolsen




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/17326993
> 
> 
> Every morning around 2:30 AM, WBAL runs it's sign on for the new "broadcast day". It bothers me that they still mention a visual and aural frequency. In a digital world, it's just a 6 MHz-wide pipe of data. WBAL should update their daily sign on message now that they no longer broadcast in NTSC.




Sometimes its on at 2:00 after Carson Daly.


----------



## Jim Miller

Just spent a lovely hour on the phone with my 89 year old father in law trying to explain why his VCR will only now record on ch3 due to Comcast switching to all DTA in his area.


He's confused and unhappy that his VCR is now pretty useless since it now has no way of selecting a channel for recording.


ugh


jtm


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Jim Miller* /forum/post/17327906
> 
> 
> Just spent a lovely hour on the phone with my 89 year old father in law trying to explain why his VCR will only now record on ch3 due to Comcast switching to all DTA in his area.
> 
> 
> He's confused and unhappy that his VCR is now pretty useless since it now has no way of selecting a channel for recording.
> 
> 
> ugh
> 
> 
> jtm




How does he feel about the fact that ever since the last power outage, he now can only record shows that start at 12:00?


----------



## Jim Miller

he's learned how to deal with that. took some time...


we're now seeing if his vcr has an ir blaster on it. i doubt it.


btw, before calling me he spent a lovely hour discussing vcrs with comcast support apparently in bangalore (or similar).


they had no clue.


comcast isn't making life easy for him.


jtm


----------



## mjw703




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jacindc* /forum/post/17322397
> 
> 
> I've been reading pretty religiously, and don't think I've missed any posts, but just in case.... Has there been any news yet regarding Comcast in DC taking the plunge to get all these HD channels? Or do we have to wait for FiOS to start showing up in the city (next year) to light a fire under them?



I wouldn't expect Fios to scare Comcast to add any new HD channels in DC anytime soon. In Arlington we've had Fios for years and we won't get any new channels until well into next year. But at least you are using Motorola equipment, which means you will have analog reclamation sooner than us Virginians which is the key to getting more HD channels.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Jim Miller* /forum/post/17328194
> 
> 
> he's learned how to deal with that. took some time...
> 
> 
> we're now seeing if his vcr has an ir blaster on it. i doubt it.
> 
> 
> btw, before calling me he spent a lovely hour discussing vcrs with comcast support apparently in bangalore (or similar).
> 
> 
> they had no clue.
> 
> 
> comcast isn't making life easy for him.
> 
> 
> jtm



It's probably little consolation and generally useless info, but FiOS doesn't use SDV and has no plans to do so in the forseeable future. It might be a better option for him short-medium term than Comcast. Although, long term I would really try to push him into a DVR that supports ClearQAM. Switching from VHS to DVD isn't nearly as big of a jump in my opinion as dealing with SDV and a plethora of remote controls. Just a thought.


Of course, if his area doesn't have FiOS, well ... nevermind.


----------



## DK745




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DK745* /forum/post/17319438
> 
> 
> NBA TV HD is active for me, CBS College Sports HD says Not Authorized though.



CBS College Sports HD is active now.


----------



## Jim Miller

as a nearly 90 year old on fixed income, plumping for a dvr monthly outlay really isn't feasible. plus he and his wife are accustomed to watching their tapes on vcrs in their bedrooms rather than in the living room.


dtas may be wonderful for comcast and those wanting more hd channels but make it hard on those who can't afford the latest and greatest.


jtm


----------



## systems2000

I post the following information for WJLA and those who are working through reception issues for RF7.


On my setup (here in Franklin Co., PA), my reception of WJLA has a 14° (144°-158°) window.

*NOTE:* According to the FCC Database, I have three other RF7 transmitters within 63 miles of my location (W07CD (TX), W07DP-D (LD), W07DN-D (LD)).


----------



## cableuser001

Why are WJLA-DT and WUSA-DT on VHF? I was under the impression that the whole point of DTV transition was to free up VHF frequencies. Any thoughts?


Thanks.


----------



## Gerald C




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *cableuser001* /forum/post/17332450
> 
> 
> Why are WJLA-DT and WUSA-DT on VHF? I was under the impression that the whole point of DTV transition was to free up VHF frequencies.



Nope. The purpose was to (1) provide a modern television transmission standard that not only provided a higher quality picture, but also did so more efficiently with digital compression, and (2) to free up (that is, sell $$) UHF channels 52-69 [note that UHF channels 70-81 had already been deleted for use by TV stations]. With respect to WJLA and WUSA remaining on VHF, they are able to save significantly on their electric power consumption (roughly 90%) vs. a corresponding UHF station, and there was initial hope/assumption that the characteristics of VHF which were advantageous in the analog NTSC days would carry over to ATSC. Unfortunately, the opposite of the latter seems to be the experience after the transition.


----------



## Doug Mac




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Jim Miller* /forum/post/17330282
> 
> 
> as a nearly 90 year old on fixed income, plumping for a dvr monthly outlay really isn't feasible. plus he and his wife are accustomed to watching their tapes on vcrs in their bedrooms rather than in the living room.
> 
> 
> dtas may be wonderful for comcast and those wanting more hd channels but make it hard on those who can't afford the latest and greatest.
> 
> 
> jtm



agree - comcast needs a senior's program


----------



## hokiefan

Anyone else having problems with WTTG?


----------



## skinsfan64

I am having problems with WTTG via DirecTv.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hokiefan* /forum/post/17335934
> 
> 
> Anyone else having problems with WTTG?



Yes, both OTA & FIOS


It looks to be a network issue.


----------



## jgantert

Looks like WTTG just went SD and pixelated. OTA only here. No sound, unwatchable.


----------



## Digital Rules

OTA is a mess. FIOS has switched to SD, but OK otherwise.


----------



## jgantert

So anyone have a phone number to call?


----------



## jgantert

Ut oh, grey screen now on the Tivo HD....


----------



## Digital Rules

I'm sure they are well aware of the problem. FIOS went blank for about a minute, but back on now.


Too bad WBFF isn't carrying the game.


----------



## dmorack

SD feed pixelated with little to no sound and HD feed non-existant (black screen) on Cox in Fairfax County.


----------



## robinsmw

This is a Fox 5 problem, not a network problem. I have DirecTV Sunday Ticket. On the RedZone channel (which basically switches around to different games) the Skins game is coming in clear. I wish Fox 5 would just release the blackout on the game since they can't figure out how to fix the problem.


----------



## dmorack

WTTG's SD channel on Cox in Fairfax County is back. The HD channel is showing the SD feed.


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/17323265
> 
> 
> Has anyone else noticed that WJLA is still using the WJLA-TV call sign? I just saw it on the RTN sub-channel.
> 
> 
> Shouldn't they be using WJLA-DT?



Post-transition, the "-DT" thing is no longer required.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/17337498
> 
> 
> Post-transition, the "-DT" thing is no longer required.



Exactly. Just like we'll slowly start to see the "HD" thing bleed off as the next new thing comes along. Anyone else remember "Stereo" or, for that matter, "Color" emblazened on everything? I'm aging myself here. lol. (1972, just barely young enough to remember the devices known as Black & White TVs)


I do agree that the video/audio frequencies message should be changed, though. It's not even true anymore.


----------



## REDSKINSFAN47




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/17335948
> 
> 
> Looks like WTTG just went SD and pixelated. OTA only here. No sound, unwatchable.



+1 game ok on sunday ticket glad i got it


----------



## REDSKINSFAN47




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17337580
> 
> 
> Exactly. Just like we'll slowly start to see the "HD" thing bleed off as the next new thing comes along. Anyone else remember "Stereo" or, for that matter, "Color" emblazened on everything? I'm aging myself here. lol. (1972, just barely young enough to remember the devices known as Black & White TVs)
> 
> 
> I do agree that the video/audio frequencies message should be changed, though. It's not even true anymore.



i had a 12 inch little b&w tv with 1 little antenna on it,ghosts on many channels mid 70s


----------



## mkfs

Is Comcast in MD or RCN peddling any kind of house-wide DVR system? I.e. set up from any set; play back from any? I have a neighbor seeking same.


----------



## huesmann

Wondering whether or not some of you other FIOS peeps have the same guide issue that I do on occasion.


When I use Channel Up or Channel Down, sometimes the program listing that appears on the screen doesn't change to the right listing, instead showing the previous channel's listing. Sometimes it will flash the correct listing for a few milliseconds before returning to the old channel's listing. For example, I could change from NBC, hit the up button several times and land on CBS, but the screen would still be showing the NBC listing until it goes off.


Naturally this makes surfing difficult to see what's playing on a channel before surfing past.


----------



## Dave Loudin

Via DCRTV, WTTG's issues Sunday were due to a Nielsen encoder failure that had to be patched around.


----------



## maestro73

Is anyone in Alex./Arl. experiencing no picture but clear sound on TBS-HD 232 and ESPN HD 252? I also have no picture/sound on Universal HD 250.


I did the old unplug and reset but it didn't fix it.


Thanks


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin* /forum/post/17341498
> 
> 
> Via DCRTV, WTTG's issues Sunday were due to a Nielsen encoder failure that had to be patched around.



So I wonder how they did the Nielsen ratings before the digital switchover?










Too bad 45 didn't carry that game. Oh well. Turned out to be a horrible loss anyways. I don't see Zorn lasting the season.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *huesmann* /forum/post/17339416
> 
> 
> Wondering whether or not some of you other FIOS peeps have the same guide issue that I do on occasion.
> 
> 
> When I use Channel Up or Channel Down, sometimes the program listing that appears on the screen doesn't change to the right listing, instead showing the previous channel's listing. Sometimes it will flash the correct listing for a few milliseconds before returning to the old channel's listing. For example, I could change from NBC, hit the up button several times and land on CBS, but the screen would still be showing the NBC listing until it goes off.
> 
> 
> Naturally this makes surfing difficult to see what's playing on a channel before surfing past.



People still channel surf?


I use my TiVos, rarely watching in realtime. A Redskins game is one of the few exceptions.


----------



## Jonesy11




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *maestro73* /forum/post/17343066
> 
> 
> Is anyone in Alex./Arl. experiencing no picture but clear sound on TBS-HD 232 and ESPN HD 252? I also have no picture/sound on Universal HD 250.
> 
> 
> I did the old unplug and reset but it didn't fix it.
> 
> 
> Thanks



250 is still blank, had a few issues with 252, earlier but seems good now.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *huesmann* /forum/post/17339416
> 
> 
> Wondering whether or not some of you other FIOS peeps have the same guide issue that I do on occasion.
> 
> 
> When I use Channel Up or Channel Down, sometimes the program listing that appears on the screen doesn't change to the right listing, instead showing the previous channel's listing. Sometimes it will flash the correct listing for a few milliseconds before returning to the old channel's listing. For example, I could change from NBC, hit the up button several times and land on CBS, but the screen would still be showing the NBC listing until it goes off.
> 
> 
> Naturally this makes surfing difficult to see what's playing on a channel before surfing past.



Do you have a QIP7xxx series STB? My son has a QIP7xxx series STB and has the same exact problem when changing channels. He also gets a full green screen on occasion due to the HDMI handshake issues he has between his Sony XBR TV and the FiOS Motorola STB. BTW, I have two QIP6xxx (6416) STBs and I have none of these problems with either STB.


The good news is that that the entire FiOS viewership will be getting a new interactive media guide/menu downloaded to their STB within the next two months region by region depending on where you live. It will be called IMG 1.7 and it will allegedly fix the video issues with the QIP7xxx series STBs. Hope this helps. The bad news is that every time FiOS gives us a new IMG update, it creates new and different problems at the same time that it fixes the old ones.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/17343713
> 
> 
> People still channel surf?
> 
> 
> I use my TiVos, rarely watching in realtime. A Redskins game is one of the few exceptions.



I do occasionally, when I'm really bored. The truth is, that there is so little on that I _really_ want to watch, that it isn't worth it to even own a Tivo. The very few things I do insist on seeing, I end up buying on disc.

J


----------



## maestro73




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Jonesy11* /forum/post/17344669
> 
> 
> 250 is still blank, had a few issues with 252, earlier but seems good now.



Thanks for checking/confirming. The games came back on not long after I posted but not 250.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mkfs* /forum/post/17338707
> 
> 
> Is Comcast in MD or RCN peddling any kind of house-wide DVR system? I.e. set up from any set; play back from any? I have a neighbor seeking same.



It's not available yet, but RCN is rolling out TiVo boxes as their standard DVRs sometime in January, and they will be capable of transferring recorded programs from room to room: http://www.rcn.com/tivo


----------



## Vila




> Quote:
> What type/brand of amplifier are you using? I have found that some of the noisier high gain amplifiers actually do more harm than good (to a digital signal). Have you tried removing the amp? Also, if your amp has an FM trap, is it on or off?





> Quote:
> !!!!!!OUCH!!!!!!
> 
> 
> You shouldn't be needing any amplifier in Manassas except for maybe channel 50 or 22. Channel 30, broadcasting from just south of Manassas is most certainly overloading your amplifier. A good rooftop antenna with a low gain pre-amp (12 db), or a quality distribution amp should provide excellent reception for you. Channel 7 & 9 have always had a very robust, easy to recieve signal in Manassas.



Thanks everyone for suggestions (my first post on page 357, http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...8#post17220828 ). Here is a bit more about my setup in Manassas: some kind of rooftop antenna is in the attic - don't know brand and don't know whether it is VHF/UHF or just UHF. Then RadioShack amplifier (I think it is 36 db, but maybe 24) and then 2 2-way splitters. My first digital to analog tuner is after the first splitter relatively close to amplifier. My HDTV sits after both splitters and relatively long cable run. Like I said, before the DTV switch I had a bit noisy, but watchable analog channels and after buying HDTV very watchable same digital channels.

Among analog VHF WUSA (9) was the best and 7 WJLA was close second. 5 was worse and ch. 4 was difficult to watch. So I deduct that my antenna has VHF capability.

Ch 14, 20, 26 were very good. When putting amplifier and orienting antenna I've spent quite a time to figure the best reception and amplifier is on max gain, reducing the gain slightly degraded weak channels. Before putting in amplifier I've tried just antenna - almost everything was very weak and noisy.


So, after the switch, 7 and 9 disappeared, being the most strong analog channles. Heck, I even found official very detailed map, which shows that in my location there should be no change whatsoever in reception after the switch. The only reason I could think of is that with the switch power of the transmitters was reduced thinking that digital signal is more protected against noise.

After increasing power on 7 I see 40% of strength on my digital to analog tuner and almost no dropouts. Whereas 9 shows also 40%, but then dropouts are frequent and during them slider jumps between 0 and 20%. I tried to experiment by Steve's suggestion with FM trap on amp. It has 2 positions "in" and "Off" and always been in "in" position. When I switch to "off" channel 7 goes from 40% to 0% right away.

All other channels are at 100% except a couple very close at 90-95%.

HDTV at the end of the line shows ch.7 at 20% and after long stable reception 10 - 120 minutes bad dropouts suddenly appear for 1 - 30 minutes. I considered that something interferes with a signal - my first thought was - refrigerator. But after observing for several days - I cannot pinpoint the problem in the house, maybe something outside. Air conditioning is completely off these days.

So if anything - I consider putting addtional 10 db amplifier for the HDTV line only, providing that increase in power on 7 is permanent.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO

Step #1. Take Radio Shack amplifier with FM trap and throw in the trash.


Those amps are rubbish. They generate more noise than amplify signal and they are not linear enough for reliable DTV use.


----------



## systems2000

Replace the Radio Shack Amplifier with a Channel Master CM7777 pre-amplifier.


----------



## systems2000

I checked my In-Laws fixed VHF antenna (see photos) reception tonight (they live outside Mercersburg, PA) and found the following:


*Station**Strength**Quality**WJLA*60%100%*WUSA*56%61-99%*WBAL*59%61-78%*WJZ*60%100%*WWPX*66%75%*WJAL*64%100%
*NOTE:* They are also using a Channel Master 300 Ohm input/output (four TV) distribution amplifier.


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/17348817
> 
> 
> Step #1. Take Radio Shack amplifier with FM trap and throw in the trash.
> 
> 
> Those amps are rubbish. They generate more noise than amplify signal and they are not linear enough for reliable DTV use.



Believe it or not, but I've been using one of those RatShack amps for 15 years, and it "works" for me, as I'm even pulling in WUSA reliably with an attic-mounted VU-120 antenna. In my engineering heart, I know that chucking that beast for the CM-7777 could improve things, but I hate to change something that works.


Adding to the points I've made about noise, I confirmed that a compact fluorescent lamp on the second floor, within 15 feet of the antenna, was killing my reception last night. Every channel was afflicted with drop-outs, WUSA went below threshhold, and WJLA and WETA were mostly pixellated messes. With the CFL off, everything was back to normal.


----------



## Vila




> Quote:
> Believe it or not, but I've been using one of those RatShack amps for 15 years, and it "works" for me, as I'm even pulling in WUSA reliably with an attic-mounted VU-120 antenna. In my engineering heart, I know that chucking that beast for the CM-7777 could improve things, but I hate to change something that works.



Same here. This RS amplifier works for 8 years and before the DTV switch analog channels were Ok and adding this amp improved all channels significantly. Signal strength on analog 7 and 9 was around 70%. Now after the switch the best I could sometimes get on 7 & 9 is 10% - that's before power increase. Nowadays 7 gives almost stable 20%. The only explanation I see - the power drop on transmitters was significant after the switch.

Yesterday I was in the house alone and 9 was watchable for about an hour and then suddenly became very bad. I suspected that there could be something in the house which interferes. So I went and checked that nothing worked (like a fridge) and switched off all lamps and disconnected computers. No luck. But 7 is Ok now - almost no dropouts.


----------



## shelby68gt500

Now that my attic is a bit more of a comfortable work environment, looking to revisit tweaking my antenna system to hopefully reacquire WBAL and WJZ and possibly even some of the Charlottesville/Richmond stations.

My antenna setup is as follows: CM4228 & CM4228HD stacked vertically in the attic about 25ft up, combined thru a splitter/combiner into the UHF input of a CM7777. A Y10-7-13 also in the attic going into the VHF input of the CM7777. FM trap on the 7777 is OUT as I wanted FM down to my basement. TV Fool report: http://www.tvfool.com/index.php?opti...pper&Itemid=90 

All antennas are pointed directly at Baltimore, but I only get WBAL very intermittently and WJZ not at all. Used to get them when they were on UHF just fine. WMAR & WBFF come in just fine now. All DC stations are fine with the exception of 50 which will go away from time to time on some of my tuners, but not all.

My questions are:

1. If I turn on the FM trap on the CM7777, should I expect any noticable increase on reception on VHF or UHF? (especially concerning #2 below)

2. There is an LP analog transmitter 1.7 miles from my house that is on Ch 23, could this possibly be interfering with my reception of Baltimore stations or overloading my CM7777, and if so, how to rectify?

3. Looking at taking the CM4228HD off the "stacked" arrangement and moving it to the other end of my attic facing south to try and get Charlottesville and/or Richmond stations, but would still combine it with the CM4228 before the CM7777. Anyone else up my way (Warrenton, VA) pulling in anything from C'ville or Richmond? TV Fool report appears to tell me that I should get C'ville better than DC stations...


----------



## nottenst

I just received an "Attention Comcast Customers" postcard in the mail. It says that Digital Starter currently "includes a standard digital converter and remote on the primary outlet. Effective November 16, 2009, Digital Starter and above levels of video service will include a standard digital converter or digital adapter on the primary outlet, digital adapters for up to 2 additional outlets, and up to 3 remotes." So, I am wondering whether this means that they are going to have no analog service at all soon. I'd guess they will be mailing out the extra digital adapters, but there isn't anything about that. Later this week I might attempt to ask someone at customer service, but I wouldn't bet on an informed answer. If they do get rid of the analog service, I could do with the 2 adapters as I still have one analog TV and one VCR connected to cable outlets in addition to the one that currently uses the digital converter box and 2 HD TVs. I guess I'll have to wait and see.


----------



## djp952

You know, those RS amps actually have a purpose







They're exceptionally good at reducing multipath problems in the DTV world. Provided you have a good primary signal to work with that will stay well above the noise floor, the garbage the amp introduces won't confuse DTV tuners trying so hard to discern which signal is which.


When we had the big (again, now known to be waaaay too big) aerial, DTV wouldn't work at all at first. I added the RS amp (15dB noise, I think) and we got perfect Baltimore DTV, on the moderately powered stations anyway (this was 2005/06ish). Same antenna with a 7775 was horrible, absolutely horrible. And I thought I was upgrading!


Just wanted to point out that the 'best' equipment isn't always ideal. That said, the 'proper' equipment always is. I was using improper equipment and it happened to work out for us at the time.


----------



## John_D

I live in Parkville (21234) and just installed a Winegard 7694p on my roof and thought I would share my experience. The azimuth for the Baltimore stations is 247 and 235 for DC. I am 8 miles from Baltimore and 43 miles from DC according to TV Fool. My main goal was to get DC so I pointed the antenna at 235 as best as I could. I thought that WUSA (9) would be the most difficult channel to receive that I really wanted so I optimized the signal strength using that channel with my DirecTV HR-200 set top box. I thought that if I pointed at DC that the Baltimore stations would come in without issue since I am so close to TV Hill. The results are pretty good but I do have 2 issues. WJZ (13) is at 100% but I get no lock, I think that I am getting too much signal. WNUV (54) suffers from multipath when I point to DC, the signal meter jumps from 20 to 80. I have a direct run to my TV that is not amplified or split of about 25 feet. I did try the ATSC tuner in my Sony TV and it would not lock 13 either. Overall I am very happy with the 7694p and here are my results:


2 100

4 75

5 65

7 90

9 55

11 100

13 100 (will not lock)

14 85

20 75

22 68

24 95

26 60

32 55

45 100

50 60

54 (20-80 jumping)

66 80

67 55


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *John_D* /forum/post/17360192
> 
> 
> The results are pretty good but I do have 2 issues. WJZ (13) is at 100% but I get no lock, I think that I am getting too much signal.



Nice to hear you are getting decent results.










You may want to try an FM trap to help with WJZ. If you are real close to any FM transmitters, it may actually improve you overall reception as well.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/17355859
> 
> 
> I just received an "Attention Comcast Customers" postcard in the mail. It says that Digital Starter currently "includes a standard digital converter and remote on the primary outlet. Effective November 16, 2009, Digital Starter and above levels of video service will include a standard digital converter or digital adapter on the primary outlet, digital adapters for up to 2 additional outlets, and up to 3 remotes." So, I am wondering whether this means that they are going to have no analog service at all soon. I'd guess they will be mailing out the extra digital adapters, but there isn't anything about that. Later this week I might attempt to ask someone at customer service, but I wouldn't bet on an informed answer. If they do get rid of the analog service, I could do with the 2 adapters as I still have one analog TV and one VCR connected to cable outlets in addition to the one that currently uses the digital converter box and 2 HD TVs. I guess I'll have to wait and see.



I just called and found out that the postcards were supposed to only go out to Montgomery County right now and aren't supposed go out to PG County residents until December or so with a January transition for us. What the person on the phone said was that people with analog sets will be able to receive the local network channels without a box after the transition date, but CNN, ESPN and so forth will be digital only and so require a digital converter or adapter.


----------



## msmckay




Vila said:


> Thanks everyone for suggestions (my first post on page 357, http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...8#post17220828 ). Here is a bit more about my setup in Manassas: some kind of rooftop antenna is in the attic - don't know brand and don't know whether it is VHF/UHF or just UHF. ]
> 
> 
> Sounds like you may have an UHF only antenna. If the elements (Rods sticking out from the main central bar are in the range of 4 and 6 inches then it is a . If the elements are between UHF13 to 50 inches then it is a VHF antenna. The there are both sizes, then it could be a combination.
> 
> 
> Channels 7 and 9 are in the upper VHF band so if you can't get them since the transition, you probably need to add a UHF antenna to the attic. Surf over to Antenns Direct or Solid Signal and explore.
> 
> 
> 
> While I'm up, has anyone noticed that WDCW 50 has dropped considerably in signal strength? The best signal strength reading I can get is 33 on my HD TiVo. Adjecent channel WRC comes in at 72.


----------



## djp952




msmckay said:


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Vila* /forum/post/17345892
> 
> 
> While I'm up, has anyone noticed that WDCW 50 has dropped considerably in signal strength? The best signal strength reading I can get is 33 on my HD TiVo. Adjecent channel WRC comes in at 72.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> No change noted here (93%). Could just be the weather. Rain can do funny things.
Click to expand...


----------



## djw99

Anyone know when annapolis, md comcast will be getting the center ice hd channel? It didn't seem to come thru in the recent round of hd channel additions. Also have some unknown channels in the 900's, 914 and 956 anyone know what these are?


----------



## C*Tedesco

Anyone watching the Redskins game on WUSA HD? To me the colors on the Chiefs seem way overbright. Floursescent almost. I thought it was my TV, but I"m thinking it's the Network. Anyone can confirm?


Or it it the jerseys the Chiefs are wearing?


----------



## DulacLancelot

i watch OTA tv on my Windows MCE 2005 system.

i use the cyberlink decoder that comes with PowerDVD 7.3.


whenever there is an NFL game or pregame show on tv, the center audio channel doesn't work.

if i recall, it happens regardless of which station (WRC, WTTG, WJLA, WUSA), but at the moment, i can confirm definitely it is happening on WUSA and WTTG.


all other programming that i have come across works great, though. for example, Numb3rs, which i think is a good example of 5.1 audio on WUSA, does indeed sound great.


some people in this thread seem to have a very good understanding of broadcast encodings, especially specific to the local stations.


does anyone know what it is about the NFL broadcast audio that sets it apart from most other audio? perhaps if it knew how it was different, i would know what it is on my system that needs to be fixed.


thanks!


----------



## Digital Rules

The color seems a bit over saturted. The macroblocking is very noticable at times also.


----------



## C*Tedesco

Yes, macro blocking has never been worse. Horrible reception.


----------



## hokiefan

lol did Synder pull the plug on the CBS broadcast of the Redskins. Oh wait, it just came back in SD.


----------



## R. Aster




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *C*Tedesco* /forum/post/17376101
> 
> 
> Anyone watching the Redskins game on WUSA HD? To me the colors on the Chiefs seem way overbright. Floursescent almost. I thought it was my TV, but I"m thinking it's the Network. Anyone can confirm?



This game hurt my eyes also. Nothing to do with the uniforms, though.


----------



## gfparker

Anyone having problems receiving channel 4 in Washington tonight? Neither of my MCE machines or Samsung tv's are showing any signal strength? However a decoder box in the bedroom is working fine. I'm OTA with an antenna in the attic.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gfparker* /forum/post/17377443
> 
> 
> Anyone having problems receiving channel 4 in Washington tonight? Neither of my MCE machines or Samsung tv's are showing any signal strength? However a decoder box in the bedroom is working fine. I'm OTA with an antenna in the attic.



No problems here. 97% from 21075. I am seeing quite a bit more fluctuation on signal quality (SNR) than I typically do, though. (42XG attic-mount with a 7777).


My experience from this location is that as the weather gets cold on clear nights multipath becomes a lot worse around here. It could be as simple as that. Although I thought Samsung tuners were top-notch (don't have any myself - Sony snob). PC tuners are typically, again from my personal experience only, not good at all in multipath scenarios.


If the problem persists until Tuesday/Wednesday when we warm up again and then goes away, you might want to consider waiting for a truly cold and clear night and re-aiming/moving the antenna a bit. Again, just an off-the-cuff opinion, I could (and am likely) way off the mark on what the issue is, but it definately sounds like multipath. Where are you located geograhpically?


----------



## jcapellman

I am in Elkridge, MD and am using the Artec AN2 Flat Indoor Antenna mounted on my sliding door of my porch (on the 3rd floor of an apartment complex) and was wondering what my best choice would be for upgrading the antenna? I am able to get 11 channels, but the channel with the Titan/Patriot game tonight had the sound going in and out, the video was amazing though (1080i signal).


Thanks!


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> 45 & 54's CE To RT In DC - 10/18 - DCRTV hears that Mark Bulla, the chief engineer for Sinclair's Channel 45/WBFF and Channel 54/WNUV in Baltimore, is heading to DC to be chief engineer for Russia Today Television and its new bureau here. He starts on 11/2. You can watch the English language Russia Today at russiatoday.com and via Falls Church-based MHz Networks on Channel 30.4/WNVC and via Comcast channel 274...



Hmm. As someone who just bailed out on a sinking company, I can relate.







Good luck with the new opportunity Mark.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/17378702
> 
> 
> Hmm. As someone who just bailed out on a sinking company, I can relate.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Good luck with the new opportunity Mark.



Thanks - I appreciate the sentiment, but actually, Sinclair is doing really well, as of late. I'm leaving to take advantage of the opportunity to do more managerial work (supervising, budgeting, etc.) that I'm not going to be able to get at Sinclair anytime soon. It's important for my career to take that step.


I'm still close enough to help out from time to time, too.


.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/17381102
> 
> 
> Thanks - I appreciate the sentiment, but actually, Sinclair is doing really well, as of late. I'm leaving to take advantage of the opportunity to do more managerial work (supervising, budgeting, etc.) that I'm not going to be able to get at Sinclair anytime soon. It's important for my career to take that step.
> 
> 
> I'm still close enough to help out from time to time, too.
> 
> 
> .



Congrats, Mark! I'm sure everyone here will miss our conduit into Sinclair engineering, but it sounds like a wonderful opportunity. See if you can get WNVT 30 to boost the power up a couple (or 20) notches, huh? (just kidding)


Thanks for all your attention and support out here, and the best of luck with the new gig.


----------



## albertso

Mark, all the best at your new place. Your responses to us here have been great. Thank you and good luck,


----------



## systems2000

Markbulla,


Have you taught your replacement about the goodwill generated by that replacement monitoring and posting here? We'll be looking forward to that.


Good Luck on your future.


----------



## cableuser001

If anyone has configured the sub-channels manually, would you care to share the atscchannels.xml file?


Thanks.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> The future of television has arrived for more than 25,000 additional homes and businesses in Baltimore County as Verizon introduces FiOS TV via the company's revolutionary all-fiber-optic network.
> 
> 
> ...The new areas to get Verizon's revolutionary *FiOS* triple play of TV, Internet and voice services are Arbutus, Catonsville, Dundalk, Edgewood, Hunt Valley, North Point and Woodlawn.
> 
> 
> ...In Maryland, Verizon's FiOS TV and FiOS Internet services are available to dozens of communities in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Charles, Harford, Howard, Montgomery and Prince George's counties, including Aberdeen, Annapolis, Bel Air, LaPlata and Rockville.


 http://newscenter.verizon.com/press-...-cable-tv.html


----------



## CycloneGT

Well, now Mark can post as a regular geek, like the rest of us.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/17381102
> 
> 
> Thanks - I appreciate the sentiment, but actually, Sinclair is doing really well, as of late. I'm leaving to take advantage of the opportunity to do more managerial work (supervising, budgeting, etc.) that I'm not going to be able to get at Sinclair anytime soon. It's important for my career to take that step.
> 
> 
> I'm still close enough to help out from time to time, too.
> 
> 
> .



Good luck, Mark. You have been a great asset for us and for Sinclair just by being here.


----------



## armand1

Advice on OTA antenna


I live in Nw DC and had been getting Baltimore channel 13 just fine up until the transition with a Wineguard 8-bay. I am 34.5 miles away with lots of tall buidings around. I'm sure I'm not the only one that lost reception. I am a long time Colts and now Ravens fan and would like to to be able to watch the Ravens on WJZ channnel 13. How are people getting channel 13 these days, any advice?


Missed most of the Ravens game this Sunday. Argggggh! Tried 3 different digital converter boxes and rotated the antenna and no luck. but fortuneatly DC (CBS) channel 9 switched over to the Ravens game in the last 4 minutes.


----------



## robertforsyth

In our continuing efforts to improve the WJLA over-the-air digital signal, the station recently increased the effective radiated power from 30 kW to 52 kW.


This 73% increase was designed to improve the signal density and enhance the reception by indoor/set-top rabbit ear antennas.


We would be interested to know whether you or any viewers/friends have noticed any improvement in the channel 7 signal.


Some 'before the power increase' and 'after the power increase' feedback would be VERY helpful.


Thanks


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/17381102
> 
> 
> I'm leaving to take advantage of the opportunity to do more managerial work (supervising, budgeting, etc.) that I'm not going to be able to get at Sinclair anytime soon.
> 
> 
> .



AND, I assume, enjoy the fun & challenge of a cross-DC commute daily! This will encourage you to arrive early [~5am] and leave late [>7pm]; so you bosses will be happy too...


----------



## URFloorMatt

Here's my obligatory query into any developments regarding an HD local news broadcast from WRC: any new word? I haven't been keeping up with it lately. But I'm assuming it's not happening this year. Maybe if/when Comcast purchases NBC, the upgrade will become a priority. My first inclination is that Comcast would jettison all the O&Os to avoid regulatory ownership headaches though.


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/17394867
> 
> 
> In our continuing efforts to improve the WJLA over-the-air digital signal, the station recently increased the effective radiated power from 30 kW to 52 kW.
> 
> 
> This 73% increase was designed to improve the signal density and enhance the reception by indoor/set-top rabbit ear antennas.
> 
> 
> We would be interested to know whether you or any viewers/friends have noticed any improvement in the channel 7 signal.
> 
> 
> Some 'before the power increase' and 'after the power increase' feedback would be VERY helpful.
> 
> 
> Thanks



Robert, I'm not in DC and not using rabbit ears, I'm in Franklin Co. PA. With the power increase Ch 7 is now solid 99% of the time for me and my parents. Almost as good as the analog days. Still some blips from time to time, but nothing to serious.


----------



## systems2000

 robertforsyth ,


Did you see my post (top of page 360 and maybe on 359), after the last time you made this request?


I'm also in Franklin Co., PA with Deep-Fringe 2-edge reception.


James


----------



## mkfs

And it was easy ...



WJLA can turn the power back; I'm set now!!!!



[It's actually a multi-freq moonbounce rig but.....]


----------



## HDTV Sparky




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/17394867
> 
> 
> 
> We would be interested to know whether you or any viewers/friends have noticed any improvement in the channel 7 signal.
> 
> 
> Some 'before the power increase' and 'after the power increase' feedback would be VERY helpful.
> 
> 
> Thanks



Up here in Yok County Pennsylvania, channel 7 has never been solid.

Actually none of the DC stations were solid and reliable.

After reading the above post, I checked all the DC stations for comparison and found channel 7 is far ahead of the pack and solid.

From unwatchable ,......to 85% strength, compared to the 40- 60% for the others.


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *robertforsyth* /forum/post/17394867
> 
> 
> We would be interested to know whether you or any viewers/friends have noticed any improvement in the channel 7 signal.
> 
> 
> Some 'before the power increase' and 'after the power increase' feedback would be VERY helpful.
> 
> 
> Thanks



I'm 45 miles south, with a Radio Shack VU-120 in the attic, about 20 feet below line of sight. After transition, you and WUSA virtually disappeared, only occasionally at night would either my older Samsung tuner or GE CECB decode you. Your signal was near threshhold most of the time, however. Upon power increase, nighttime reception became reliable, and daytime reception went from zero to 40% reliability.


I've since moved the antenna from the center of the attic to one end, getting better isolation form the house wiring and ceiling fans. Now I have 100% reliable reception of you and about 80% of WUSA (outages during the day, mostly.) Of note, a compact fluorescent light about 15 feet away on the floor below will knock you (and WUSA) almost completely out and cause hits on WRC, WTTG, and WDCA.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *armand1* /forum/post/17394220
> 
> 
> Advice on OTA antenna
> 
> 
> I live in Nw DC and had been getting Baltimore channel 13 just fine up until the transition with a Wineguard 8-bay. I am 34.5 miles away with lots of tall buidings around. I'm sure I'm not the only one that lost reception.



WJZ is noticably weaker as well in northern VA since the directional antenna was put into service. You likely need to augment the 8 bay with something like this. http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp...u=716079000987 Combine the 2 antennas with http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp...iners&sku=UVSJ 


WJZ should be reliable out to Fairfax or so with the right outdoor antenna set-up.


----------



## huesmann




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/17345013
> 
> 
> Do you have a QIP7xxx series STB? My son has a QIP7xxx series STB and has the same exact problem when changing channels. He also gets a full green screen on occasion due to the HDMI handshake issues he has between his Sony XBR TV and the FiOS Motorola STB. BTW, I have two QIP6xxx (6416) STBs and I have none of these problems with either STB.
> 
> 
> The good news is that that the entire FiOS viewership will be getting a new interactive media guide/menu downloaded to their STB within the next two months region by region depending on where you live. It will be called IMG 1.7 and it will allegedly fix the video issues with the QIP7xxx series STBs. Hope this helps. The bad news is that every time FiOS gives us a new IMG update, it creates new and different problems at the same time that it fixes the old ones.



Yes, I have a QIP7200, I think. We'll see whether or not there's any real improvement...


And to the previous poster, yes, I occasionally still channel surf when bored.


----------



## chapelrun

Yankee's vs. Angels was supposed to be on WTTG 5 starting at 7:30 pm


Wassup!!!!


----------



## mdviewer25

Game 6 postponed due to rain. rescheduled for Sunday night. Game 7 (if necessary) on Monday night


----------



## systems2000

The game was rained out. I guess the Angels will have to wait until tomorrow to takedown the Yankees.


----------



## systems2000

Has anyone else noticed that the broadcast stations are limiting their broadcast quality (specifically those with only one channel)?


Here is what I found about the stations I receive:

*V-CHANNEL**RF-CHANNEL**STATION**QUALITY*238WMAR720P/480i/480i315WPSU1080i/480i/480i536WTTG720P77WJLA720P/480i/480i99WUSA1080i/480i1032WTAJ1080i1313WJZ1080i1523WLYH1080i2035WDCA720P248W08EE-D (WNPB)1080i/480i/480i2441WUTB720P2526WHAG1080i3144WWPB1080i/480i/480i4221WVPY1080i/480i/480i4347WPMT720P/480i4546WBFF720P/480i4930WGCB480i/480i5440WNUV720P6012WWPX720P/480i/480i/480i6839WJAL480i

With the exception of WLYH (CW), the only networks doing 1080i are CBS, NBC, & PBS. All the PBS stations (MD, PA, VA, & WV) have two sub-channels.


Why do independent stations only broadcast in 480i?


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/17414038
> 
> 
> Why do independent stations only broadcast in 480i?



Money???


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/17414038
> 
> 
> Has anyone else noticed that the broadcast stations are limiting their broadcast quality (specifically those with only one channel)?
> 
> 
> Here is what I found about the stations I receive:
> 
> *V-CHANNEL**RF-CHANNEL**STATION**QUALITY*238WMAR720P/480i/480i315WPSU1080i/480i/480i536WTTG720P77WJLA720P/480i/480i99WUSA1080i/480i1032WTAJ1080i1313WJZ1080i1523WLYH1080i2035WDCA720P248W08EE-D (WNPB)1080i/480i/480i2441WUTB720P2526WHAG1080i3144WWPB1080i/480i/480i4221WVPY1080i/480i/480i4347WPMT720P/480i4546WBFF720P/480i4930WGCB480i/480i5440WNUV720P6012WWPX720P/480i/480i/480i6839WJAL480i
> 
> With the exception of WLYH (CW), the only networks doing 1080i are CBS, NBC, & PBS. All the PBS stations (MD, PA, VA, & WV) have two sub-channels.
> 
> 
> Why do independent stations only broadcast in 480i?



In your chart, I see only 2 stations "limiting quality" by doing 480i and they probably can't afford the HD equipment.


If I read between the lines, you are saying 720p is "limiting quality?" Not so. It is a choice between the two standards. Many arguments over what is better, 1080i or 720p.


----------



## inlogan

Anyone else lose WRC over the air? It dropped out this morning when I was watching it and I can't get a signal at all.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/17415480
> 
> 
> In your chart, I see only 2 stations "limiting quality" by doing 480i and they probably can't afford the HD equipment.



It probably has even more to do with the fact that little or none of their programming is available in HD.


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *inlogan* /forum/post/17415482
> 
> 
> Anyone else lose WRC over the air? It dropped out this morning when I was watching it and I can't get a signal at all.



Yes, no signal here either.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *inlogan* /forum/post/17415482
> 
> 
> Anyone else lose WRC over the air? It dropped out this morning when I was watching it and I can't get a signal at all.



Same here in Columbia, zero signal. Everything else is ok, so I don't think it's my setup.


----------



## inlogan

WRC is down until 3


WRC-TV's over-the-air signal will go dark for several hours Sunday due to routine maintenance to the station's transmitter.


Viewers who watch WRC-TV over the air will be without the station's signal from approximately 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday (Oct. 25). Cable TV subscribers will not notice the outage.


Sorry for any inconvenience this causes.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *inlogan* /forum/post/17415482
> 
> 
> Anyone else lose WRC over the air? It dropped out this morning when I was watching it and I can't get a signal at all.



WRC is on FIOS, but no OTA.


----------



## HDTV Sparky

Can't believe no one has mentioned Baltimore's WJZ Tv -13-1 now has local High Def news!

They were testing it 'live' Saturday night @ 11, then made the announcement this morning (sunday) their now High - def. Beautiful.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/17415480
> 
> 
> In your chart, I see only 2 stations "limiting quality" by doing 480i and they probably can't afford the HD equipment.



That's because they are the only two independents.


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/17415480
> 
> 
> If I read between the lines, you are saying 720p is "limiting quality?" Not so. It is a choice between the two standards. Many arguments over what is better, 1080i or 720p.



What about 1080P?


Between the lines is more about users with plasma televisions wanting 1080i broadcasting.


----------



## Dave Loudin

Not enough bandwidth for 1080p.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *inlogan* /forum/post/17415792
> 
> 
> WRC is down until 3
> 
> 
> WRC-TV's over-the-air signal will go dark for several hours Sunday due to routine maintenance to the station's transmitter.
> 
> 
> Viewers who watch WRC-TV over the air will be without the station's signal from approximately 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday (Oct. 25). Cable TV subscribers will not notice the outage.
> 
> 
> Sorry for any inconvenience this causes.



Wow - for all the years watching back in the analog days I don't ever remember this happening. Pull the plug on the OTA transmitter for 6 hrs in the middle of the day - really?


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *HDTV Sparky* /forum/post/17416004
> 
> 
> Can't believe no one has mentioned Baltimore's WJZ Tv -13-1 now has local High Def news!
> 
> They were testing it 'live' Saturday night @ 11, then made the announcement this morning (sunday) their now High - def. Beautiful.



Probably because I stopped watching them when other newscasts went HD. I guess I'll tune back in tonight and see what's up. Now, I guess we're just waiting on WMAR.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/17416031
> 
> 
> That's because they are the only two independents.
> 
> 
> What about 1080P?
> 
> 
> Between the lines is more about users with plasma televisions wanting 1080i broadcasting.



Nobody broadcasts in 1080p. It is not included in the broadcast standards. The only sources for 1080p are Blu Ray (and HD DVD) and satellite.


It has NOTHING to do with plasma or LCD or LED or projection or whatever.


BTW, there is enough bandwidth to broadcast 1080p depending upon the frames per second (DirecTV's 1080p/24fps file size is actually smaller than their 1080i/60fps in most cases). It is just that nothing supports it for broadcast. And, given what it takes to equip broadcasters in terms of money, it may be a long way off.


And don't assume 1080p will be that much better anyway. There is not enough bandwidth at all for Blu Ray data rates. The 1080p stuff on DirecTV is slightly better than the 1080i but not that much different.


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/17418023
> 
> 
> Now, I guess we're just waiting on WMAR.



And WRC!


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/17422644
> 
> 
> And WRC!



On the subject of WRC, their sound on dish HD is really bad tonight. There's no high frequency to it - it's really muffled during Jay Leno. It's OK on WBAL ota, though.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *HDTV Sparky* /forum/post/17416004
> 
> 
> Can't believe no one has mentioned Baltimore's WJZ Tv -13-1 now has local High Def news!
> 
> They were testing it 'live' Saturday night @ 11, then made the announcement this morning (sunday) their now High - def. Beautiful.




Looks like its a race between 2 & 4 to see who is going to be last to have their news in HD.


----------



## bal1012

For those who haven't tuned in yet:


----------



## Hardtimes

That's cool! Denise doesn't look too bad in HD (for an 'old broad')


----------



## Hardtimes




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/17310470
> 
> 
> Did you try the 1713 un-amplified to 1 tuner only? You shouldn't have much trouble with WJLA unless you are down in a hole. My 1713 reliably receives a much weaker channel 12 @ 65 miles away. (75 feet of cable, & _"no"_ amplification) Proper amplifier selection is crucial when dealing with fragile VHF stations.




Sorry for the delay - I don't check this thread too often unless there's a problem.


I'm not down in a hole but Edgewood is only 100' above sea level (according to wunderground; where I'm at is probably closer to 60) plus my 20' of antenna elevation probably doesn't help. Also I mistakenly said 1713 when I meant I used a Y5-7-13. I'm thinking I probably should have gotten the 1713. Anyway, I tried all kinds of scenarios - hooked in to the 7777 with my 4228, FM trap in/out, bypassed the amp, had a wire running directly to my computer's tuner in the bedroom with a monitor on the roof for remote tuning. Nothing worked better than my original setup and now my neighbors think I'm nuts.


----------



## John_D




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *John_D* /forum/post/17360192
> 
> 
> I live in Parkville (21234) and just installed a Winegard 7694p on my roof and thought I would share my experience. The azimuth for the Baltimore stations is 247 and 235 for DC. I am 8 miles from Baltimore and 43 miles from DC according to TV Fool. My main goal was to get DC so I pointed the antenna at 235 as best as I could. I thought that WUSA (9) would be the most difficult channel to receive that I really wanted so I optimized the signal strength using that channel with my DirecTV HR-200 set top box. I thought that if I pointed at DC that the Baltimore stations would come in without issue since I am so close to TV Hill. The results are pretty good but I do have 2 issues. WJZ (13) is at 100% but I get no lock, I think that I am getting too much signal. WNUV (54) suffers from multipath when I point to DC, the signal meter jumps from 20 to 80. I have a direct run to my TV that is not amplified or split of about 25 feet. I did try the ATSC tuner in my Sony TV and it would not lock 13 either. Overall I am very happy with the 7694p and here are my results:
> 
> 
> 2 100
> 
> 4 75
> 
> 5 65
> 
> 7 90
> 
> 9 55
> 
> 11 100
> 
> 13 100 (will not lock)
> 
> 14 85
> 
> 20 75
> 
> 22 68
> 
> 24 95
> 
> 26 60
> 
> 32 55
> 
> 45 100
> 
> 50 60
> 
> 54 (20-80 jumping)
> 
> 66 80
> 
> 67 55



Update - I added a Winegard AP-4700 UHF only amp that I had laying around. 13 and 54 are stable and my signal strength went up on most of the DC UHF stations. I also get WBOC from Salisbury even though my antenna is pointed away from it. I also get WNVC sporadically now. I am extremely impressed with the results from this setup.


----------



## rkolsen




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bal1012* /forum/post/17425376
> 
> 
> For those who haven't tuned in yet:



I guuess I didn't notice because they are using the same graphics and set. I only watch WBAL on my HDTV and sometimes the other stations on SDTVs. I just don't care for WMAR, WJZ, or WBFF's news operations. I am still waiting for WBAL to HD ENG.


----------



## systems2000

For those who have not noticed, WHAG has been Off-Air since before the 11:00p.m news last night. They have a problem at the transmitter and are working to get it back On-Air ASAP.


----------



## steeler

Sorry if this subject has been brought up before, I have been away and have not posted for a while. Is anyone having problems getting a VHF signal from WUSA and WJLA using a CM 4221?


----------



## steeler




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/17434307
> 
> 
> For those who have not noticed, WHAG has been Off-Air since before the 11:00p.m news last night. They have a problem at the transmitter and are working to get it back On-Air ASAP.



WHAG is back up now.


----------



## Hardtimes

Has anyone else noticed how bad WMAR Ch2's sound is the past few days? Sounds garbled, distorted, and broken up. It was especially bad/noticeable on Dancing w/ Stars when Taylor Swift was performing. Problem seems to be at the source since I noticed it on OTA, Comcrap's analog signal, and DirecTV's signal.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Hardtimes* /forum/post/17435023
> 
> 
> Has anyone else noticed how bad WMAR Ch2's sound is the past few days? Sounds garbled, distorted, and broken up. It was especially bad/noticeable on Dancing w/ Stars when Taylor Swift was performing. Problem seems to be at the source since I noticed it on OTA, Comcrap's analog signal, and DirecTV's signal.



I didn't notice anything unusual last night from 8-9:00 PM. To be fair, I was only using the TV's crappy internal speaker system at the time.


----------



## Potatoehead

We lost the rest of our Comcast analog channels above ch. 20 last night. The first half went away about a month ago. Should have plenty of room for more HD channels now! Maybe we can even get some of the Baltimore local HD channels back.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *steeler* /forum/post/17434949
> 
> 
> Sorry if this subject has been brought up before, I have been away and have not posted for a while. Is anyone having problems getting a VHF signal from WUSA and WJLA using a CM 4221?



You're trying to receive VHF channels with a UHF antenna.


----------



## steeler




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/17437047
> 
> 
> You're trying to receive VHF channels with a UHF antenna.



Not trying..... getting VHF with my 4221! I was wondering if anyone else is getting channels 7 and 9 with this antenna?


----------



## rkolsen

WJZ does not have HD ENG shots but does have what appears to be HD Chopper shots.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast has duplicated most of the HD channels in the 800s in Baltimore City, even though we haven't received word on Project Cavalry/World of More yet.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/17438996
> 
> 
> Comcast has duplicated most of the HD channels in the 800s in Baltimore City, even though we haven't received word on Project Cavalry/World of More yet.



I haven't been keeping up. Is Cavalry coming to Howard County or did I see that it was not because we are not Motorola based?


----------



## Marcus Carr

*DC Station WJLA Won't Blur Breast Exam*


Will show unobscured exam to show viewers proper way to give self test


By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/29/2009 10:51:22 AM


WJLA Washington says it will feature demonstrations of breast self-examinations without obscuring any body parts during a four-part series in the 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. news over the next two days (Oct. 29 and 30).


"Touch of Life: The Guide to Breast Self Examination" is in conjunction with Breast Cancer Awareness Month, according to station spokeswoman Abby Fenton, director of community relations. It also comes in the first days of the November sweeps period, when ratings help determine ad rates for stations.


"This unique television event will include a clinical demonstration of a breast self-exam without obscuring any of the breast area," the station says in bold, underlined type in the release announcing the series. News series involving mammograms or self-examinations are not unusual and blurring is standard practice, but the station said its news team discovered that many women don't know how to properly perform the test.


"I don't think the sweeps piece is as important as the fact that we are doing a piece about breast cancer because we have figured out that women in this area don't know how, when or how often, and that is really what we are getting at," says Fenton.


And what of the appearance that it could be a stunt? "It's irrelevant," she says. "If people want to take it as a sweeps piece, that is their business. But we're also doing something that is really important to women."


The series will include an interview with Elizabeth Edwards, fighting her own battle with cancer, and will be supported with a phone bank in partnership with Inova Breast Care Institute.


Fenton says there will be a "viewer discretion" content advisory.


Ironically, one of the first casualties of the FCC's indecency crackdown on nudity after Justin Timberlake bared too much of Janet Jackson's anatomy was the fleeting view of a female breast in a hospital setting, which was blurred on an episode of ER after affiliates expressed concern.


There should be no such issues with a news show, however. While news is not exempt from indecency enforcement, it has a much higher bar, and the 11 p.m. airing would be in the FCC's safe harbor for nudity (10 p.m.-6 a.m.).

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/art...reast_Exam.php 


Wonder if this will be in HD.


----------



## Marcus Carr

From *2007*:


SCRIPPS *SPEEDS* CONVERSION TO HD NEWS WITH ADOPTION OF JVC ProHD


JVC to Provide all 10 Scripps Stations with ProHD Cameras, Recorders and Monitors


...All Scripps broadcast television stations will be upgraded to JVC’s ProHD. ABC-affiliate stations: KNXV-TV Phoenix, AZ, WFTS-TV Tampa, FL, *WMAR-TV Baltimore, MD,* WXYZ-TV Detroit, MI, WCPO-TV Cincinnati, OH, WEWS-TV Cleveland, OH. NBC-affiliate stations: WPTV-TV West Palm Beach, FL, WSHB-TV Kansas City, MO, KJRH-TV Tulsa, OK. Independent station: KMCI-TV Lawrence, KS.

http://pro.jvc.com/pro/pr/2007/releases/scripps.html 


Yep, any day now...


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/17439789
> 
> *DC Station WJLA Won't Blur Breast Exam*
> 
> 
> Will show unobscured exam to show viewers proper way to give self test
> 
> 
> By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/29/2009 10:51:22 AM
> 
> 
> WJLA Washington says it will feature demonstrations of breast self-examinations without obscuring any body parts during a four-part series in the 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. news over the next two days (Oct. 29 and 30).
> 
> 
> "Touch of Life: The Guide to Breast Self Examination" is in conjunction with Breast Cancer Awareness Month, according to station spokeswoman Abby Fenton, director of community relations. It also comes in the first days of the November sweeps period, when ratings help determine ad rates for stations.
> 
> 
> "This unique television event will include a clinical demonstration of a breast self-exam without obscuring any of the breast area," the station says in bold, underlined type in the release announcing the series. News series involving mammograms or self-examinations are not unusual and blurring is standard practice, but the station said its news team discovered that many women don't know how to properly perform the test.
> 
> 
> "I don't think the sweeps piece is as important as the fact that we are doing a piece about breast cancer because we have figured out that women in this area don't know how, when or how often, and that is really what we are getting at," says Fenton.
> 
> 
> And what of the appearance that it could be a stunt? "It's irrelevant," she says. "If people want to take it as a sweeps piece, that is their business. But we're also doing something that is really important to women."
> 
> 
> The series will include an interview with Elizabeth Edwards, fighting her own battle with cancer, and will be supported with a phone bank in partnership with Inova Breast Care Institute.
> 
> 
> Fenton says there will be a "viewer discretion" content advisory.
> 
> 
> Ironically, one of the first casualties of the FCC's indecency crackdown on nudity after Justin Timberlake bared too much of Janet Jackson's anatomy was the fleeting view of a female breast in a hospital setting, which was blurred on an episode of ER after affiliates expressed concern.
> 
> 
> There should be no such issues with a news show, however. While news is not exempt from indecency enforcement, it has a much higher bar, and the 11 p.m. airing would be in the FCC's safe harbor for nudity (10 p.m.-6 a.m.).
> 
> http://www.broadcastingcable.com/art...reast_Exam.php
> 
> 
> Wonder if this will be in HD.




I can see them getting complaints to the FCC for the 5Pm airing.


----------



## rkolsen




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/17438996
> 
> 
> Comcast has duplicated most of the HD channels in the 800s in Baltimore City, even though we haven't received word on Project Cavalry/World of More yet.



I always wondered why Comcast duplicated their channels in the county we have duplicates of HBO HD, Sho HD, Starz! HD, and Max HD. These channels are both in the 200s as well as in the 300s next to their respective SD channels in the different packages. Do these duplicate channels take up more bandwidth? Or is it something like a virtual channel that PSIP uses?


----------



## DCRanger

Did anybody else have reception issues on WTTG Oct 25th during the Vikings/Steelers game? I'm using Direct TV, SD receiver and the audio/video feeds were horrible during the game. Tried contacting WTTG and they wouldn't respond. Also had the same reception problems during "So You Think You Can Dance" earlier this week.


----------



## PaulGo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rkolsen* /forum/post/17441767
> 
> 
> I always wondered why Comcast duplicated their channels in the county we have duplicates of HBO HD, Sho HD, Starz! HD, and Max HD. These channels are both in the 200s as well as in the 300s next to their respective SD channels in the different packages. Do these duplicate channels take up more bandwidth? Or is it something like a virtual channel that PSIP uses?



These duplicate channels do not take up any additional bandwidth - they are the same channels mapped to to different channel numbers.


----------



## rkolsen

That's what I was guessing but wasn't sure.


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/17439871
> 
> 
> From *2007*:
> 
> 
> SCRIPPS *SPEEDS* CONVERSION TO HD NEWS WITH ADOPTION OF JVC ProHD
> 
> 
> JVC to Provide all 10 Scripps Stations with ProHD Cameras, Recorders and Monitors
> 
> 
> ...All Scripps broadcast television stations will be upgraded to JVC’s ProHD. ABC-affiliate stations: KNXV-TV Phoenix, AZ, WFTS-TV Tampa, FL, *WMAR-TV Baltimore, MD,* WXYZ-TV Detroit, MI, WCPO-TV Cincinnati, OH, WEWS-TV Cleveland, OH. NBC-affiliate stations: WPTV-TV West Palm Beach, FL, WSHB-TV Kansas City, MO, KJRH-TV Tulsa, OK. Independent station: KMCI-TV Lawrence, KS.
> 
> http://pro.jvc.com/pro/pr/2007/releases/scripps.html
> 
> 
> Yep, any day now...



I could swear that one of the field stories last night had a 4:3 pic that was a squeezed 16:9.


----------



## Greeby




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rkolsen* /forum/post/17432271
> 
> 
> I guuess I didn't notice because they are using the same graphics and set. I only watch WBAL on my HDTV and sometimes the other stations on SDTVs. I just don't care for WMAR, WJZ, or WBFF's news operations. I am still waiting for WBAL to HD ENG.



WJZ studio cams look like SD widescreen to me...not HD. There is no sharpness there like there is on 45 and 11.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Greeby* /forum/post/17443839
> 
> 
> WJZ studio cams look like SD widescreen to me...not HD. There is no sharpness there like there is on 45 and 11.



Looks pretty good to me. Kudos to Denise for not having her up close shots blurred.


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Greeby* /forum/post/17443839
> 
> 
> WJZ studio cams look like SD widescreen to me...not HD. There is no sharpness there like there is on 45 and 11.



Did anyone else notice tonight that there was a high pitched tone on throughout the 11 PM newscast on WJZ?


----------



## rkolsen




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/17444308
> 
> 
> Did anyone else notice tonight that there was a high pitched tone on throughout the 11 PM newscast on WJZ?



No I did not notice it. I am transfering it to my comuter from my TiVo to take some screen grabs for a website. But I briefly watched the 4 PM news - there were some technical issues: Sally's mic not being on when during the beginning, instead of having the view of both anchors at first it was only Vic, the teleprompter didn't work with Sally on the first story she was saying "ah" and "um" alot. Also my big complaint is for the weather radar imagery it looks like it is just upconverted from 4:3.


It appears like someone mentioned before - CBS did this on the cheap end.

*Edit*After watching a part of the 11 PM newcasts it appears as if they only have one or two studio cams. When the show started at 11 it showed with both anchors and did a quick zoom over to Vic. The crew I think needs more training. Yet another reason why I prefer WBAL news operation.


----------



## circusdog

For some reason, I have lost signal on WJLADT (1071) in my Vista Media Center. My other sets have good signal, but this Vista box doesn't.


I have posted on theGreenButton as well, and followed the advice with no change in the situation.


Is anyone else experiencing problems?


Thanks

Gil


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *steeler* /forum/post/17437520
> 
> 
> Not trying..... getting VHF with my 4221! I was wondering if anyone else is getting channels 7 and 9 with this antenna?




Sure, if you are close enough.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *circusdog* /forum/post/17445672
> 
> 
> For some reason, I have lost signal on WJLADT (1071) in my Vista Media Center. My other sets have good signal, but this Vista box doesn't.



As long as you know the signal is good getting the the HTPC, then it's a software/hardware issue inside the unit. Maybe a simple rescan might fix it. You might get better answers in the HTPC section.


----------



## steeler




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/17445775
> 
> 
> Sure, if you are close enough.



Do you have a 4221? Anyone else out there have one?


----------



## aaronwt

has anyone noticed that WRC has been missing the subchannel in the audio stream this week? I see the Hagerstown station still has a 5.1 signal while WRC has been 5.0. And the bass has been greatly reduced so it seems like the 5.1 signal is being truncated to 5.0


----------



## artwire




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/17355859
> 
> 
> I just received an "Attention Comcast Customers" postcard in the mail. It says that Digital Starter currently "includes a standard digital converter and remote on the primary outlet. Effective November 16, 2009, Digital Starter and above levels of video service will include a standard digital converter or digital adapter on the primary outlet, digital adapters for up to 2 additional outlets, and up to 3 remotes." So, I am wondering whether this means that they are going to have no analog service at all soon. I'd guess they will be mailing out the extra digital adapters, but there isn't anything about that. Later this week I might attempt to ask someone at customer service, but I wouldn't bet on an informed answer. If they do get rid of the analog service, I could do with the 2 adapters as I still have one analog TV and one VCR connected to cable outlets in addition to the one that currently uses the digital converter box and 2 HD TVs. I guess I'll have to wait and see.




I got the postcard, too - no other info.... it seems this is a major transition since I'm getting the majority of channels still as analog on my Digital Starter service. I did a count yesterday and was really shocked by how little 'digital' was coming in on my "digital cable" subscription -- nearly all of the so-called digital stations that I receive via QAM tuner are available over the air. I'm trying to ascertain whether or not the switch from analog to digital that they announced by POSTCARD actually means that if you have a digital tuner, you now will get these stations on the digital QAM tuner, or if they will just disappear. I understand analog tv owners absolutely need to have the d-to-a converter in order to see them, but there has been little explanation as to the impact on those of us with digital tuners. None of my neighbors seem to be aware of the upcoming change. It's going to be a mess. I find it very troubling the way cc is handling this... and I would seriously doubt that they are just going to mail the adapter to you without a specific request.


Also, if we are currently paying for a full-featured STB (I have one, but it appears we may need another)-- will it now be free since we are supposedly now "entitled" to one? Many questions..... few answers.... two weeks to go....


for now my concern is for these 'analog' stations that are part of my 'digital' cable service... the ones that are not already duplicated on the digital side ...


ANALOG reception only


31 HSN

32 WHUT (pbs)

34 weather channel

35 HLN

36 CNN

37 FoxNews

38 MSNBC

39 CNBC

41 Discovery

43 TLC

44 animal planet

45 CN

46 Disney

47 Nick

48 TV land

50 History

52 Hallmark

54 Lifetime

55 HGTV

56 food

57 oxygen

59 E

61 syfy

62 tnt

63 fx

64 TruTV

65 USA

66 TBS

67 Spike

68 comedy central

69 GSN


I do get Travel, Bravo, A & E, QVC, and shopNBC with the digital tuner so I erased those mid-range stations from my list above, but all these other channels "in the middle" of the lineup (30 - 70) are in question .... AMC and TCM disappeared long ago, and only can be received with a STB, not with the digital tuner.


It would be interesting to see how everyone fares after this change is implemented...


----------



## jacindc

Those of you who got the postcard from Comcast--where are you? I got one, and I'm in DC. Did the folks on other systems who've gone through the big digital change get this postcard in advance of all of the changes?


----------



## Potatoehead




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jacindc* /forum/post/17456090
> 
> 
> Those of you who got the postcard from Comcast--where are you? I got one, and I'm in DC. Did the folks on other systems who've gone through the big digital change get this postcard in advance of all of the changes?



We received the post card about 7 months ago and are just finishing the transition now. Hopefully it will be quicker for you.


----------



## rkolsen




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jacindc* /forum/post/17456090
> 
> 
> Those of you who got the postcard from Comcast--where are you? I got one, and I'm in DC. Did the folks on other systems who've gone through the big digital change get this postcard in advance of all of the changes?



Baltimore County, MD we got the postcard for the DTA's at the end of July and received our boxes within 3 days of placing the order.


----------



## Jim Miller

I also received the card and my DTAs but misplaced the card. I know the cutover is soon for Balto but don't recall the details. Anyone have them that could post?


tnx

jtm


----------



## artwire

In DC -- supposedly it is effective as of Nov 16th, but there's very little info for non-analog customers. Do these channels simply move to digital lineup,where QAM tuners can pick them up when we rescan, or do they disappear entirely? Will they be encrypted? Seems like a big change with very little customer info .... in my estimation, we shouldn't each have to call CC individually, and each get a different answer when we do, as they try to get us to buy expanded services and rent more equipment ... one by one.


----------



## CycloneGT

Looks like CW 50 has been added to Dish's HD lineup sometime in this past week.


----------



## rkolsen




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Jim Miller* /forum/post/17457705
> 
> 
> I also received the card and my DTAs but misplaced the card. I know the cutover is soon for Balto but don't recall the details. Anyone have them that could post?
> 
> 
> tnx
> 
> jtm



Jim - go to www.comcast.com/digitalnow so you can order the DTAs.


----------



## Jim Miller

I've already received my DTAs. I just don't know what the cutover plan is for Baltimore County.


jtm


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *artwire* /forum/post/17458073
> 
> 
> In DC -- supposedly it is effective as of Nov 16th, but there's very little info for non-analog customers. Do these channels simply move to digital lineup,where QAM tuners can pick them up when we rescan, or do they disappear entirely? Will they be encrypted? Seems like a big change with very little customer info .... in my estimation, we shouldn't each have to call CC individually, and each get a different answer when we do, as they try to get us to buy expanded services and rent more equipment ... one by one.



I contacted Comcast about this.

They will not be encrypted, and your QAM tuner will pick them up. Here in Montgomery County, I am already getting a digital version of _every_ analog channel with my QAM tuner. They are in bizarre places, so you will have to do a rescan if you aren't getting them already.

J


----------



## ACW112983

Any news on Spike HD, G4HD, and Comedy Central HD for Comcast (in Arlington)?

I mean seriously, Fox News HD, HGTV, Food HD, Golf HD, but no Spike, G4, or Com. Cent. HD???


----------



## msmckay




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *inlogan* /forum/post/17415792
> 
> 
> WRC is down until 3
> 
> 
> WRC-TV's over-the-air signal will go dark for several hours Sunday due to routine maintenance to the station's transmitter.
> 
> 
> Viewers who watch WRC-TV over the air will be without the station's signal from approximately 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday (Oct. 25). Cable TV subscribers will not notice the outage.
> 
> 
> Sorry for any inconvenience this causes.



Is WRC still off the air for the OTA folks? I lost it last week. I see why now. But I did not get it back as of late Sunday night.


Guess I'll rotate one of the antennas towards Hagerstown to pullin WHAG 25 for my Heroes fix.


Here is an unrelated question for the RF engineers in the crowd. Can the outputs of two CM7777s be conbined without damage to the Amps?


Thanks


----------



## URFloorMatt

I happened to flip on WRC today during Ellen and noticed they were running an HD lower-third promo bug for the Daily Connection at 3pm. I guess that makes sense since the NBC4 bug has been in HD since WRC started airing Ellen in HD.


Good to see they've got their transition priorites straight at WRC.


----------



## Marcus Carr

WJZ started using HD graphics before their news went HD.


At least WRC has Ellen in HD, unlike WBAL (who has Dr. Oz and Oprah in HD before and after it).


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Armstrong Adds Primetime Games As Part Of NFL Network Renewal*


Operator Will Present Eight Contests To Subscribers On Value, HD Advantage Packages


Mike Reynolds -- Multichannel News, 11/2/2009 4:08:42 PM


Armstrong and NFL Network have reached a multiyear contract extension that adds the service's primetime game schedule for the first time.


The operator, which provides video, high-speed Internet and telephone services to customers in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky and Maryland, has been carrying NFL Network since 2005. NFL Network is available to Armstrong digital customers as part of its Value Package (channel 466) and to its high-definition customers as part of the HD Advantage Package (channel 180).


The new deal, terms of which were not disclosed, enables Armstrong to present NFL Network's eight primetime games, which kick off this season on Nov. 12 with the Chicago Bears visiting the San Francisco 49ers. Given its service area, NFL Network's Dec. 10 coverage of the defending champion Pittsburgh Steelers at the Cleveland Browns should be of particular appeal to pro pigskin fans.


"Armstrong has carried NFL Network since 2005," said Jeff Ross president of Armstrong in a statement."We serve some of the most avid NFL fans in America and are pleased to continue offering our customers the most in depth coverage of NFL football."


"We are pleased to extend and expand our relationship with Armstrong," added NFL Network COO Kim Williams. "Armstrong subscribers will now get even more football when our Thursday Night Football schedule kicks off on November 12."

http://www.multichannel.com/article/...rk_Renewal.php


----------



## rkolsen




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/17462929
> 
> 
> WJZ started using HD graphics before their news went HD.
> 
> 
> At least WRC has Ellen in HD, unlike WBAL (who has Dr. Oz and Oprah in HD before and after it).



I wonder if Dr. Oz & Oprah are broadcast in HD because they use the same distributor and or if the feed is sent out the day of the broadcast?


----------



## raidbuck

I'm in Harford County. I've been having repeated sound breakups on 213 Fox out of Baltimore (8300 DVR) but not on Fox from DC on 255. Has anyone else had this problem?

The sound breakups make watching 213 almost impossible.


Thanks,


Rich N.


----------



## OldHud




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *msmckay* /forum/post/17461919
> 
> 
> Here is an unrelated question for the RF engineers in the crowd. Can the outputs of two CM7777s be combined without damage to the Amps?
> 
> Thanks



Yes, but depending on the signals you are trying to add, it may not help. What is the input to the amplifiers? What are you trying to do?


----------



## overdrive51

Harford County also, same HDVR and audio problem with 213.


----------



## artwire




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/17460620
> 
> 
> I contacted Comcast about this.
> 
> They will not be encrypted, and your QAM tuner will pick them up. Here in Montgomery County, I am already getting a digital version of _every_ analog channel with my QAM tuner. They are in bizarre places, so you will have to do a rescan if you aren't getting them already.
> 
> J



Thanks, BigJ. That's good to hear. (too bad they didn't mention it in their postcard, or online....) I guess I'll wait and see what happens rather than rushing to get some sort of extra box - I will probably opt for a regular STB anyway, in order to have the extra options, but the low end converters do give a clue as to their arcane channel mapping, so maybe one of those would be handy, too.


I think their information on line is deceptive: They say to continue to receive the channels you're entitled to with the digital subscription you need

_


Digital Set Top Box (which offers On Demand, plus an on-screen guide, in addition to digital quality and sound)


OR


New digital adapter (which offers full digital quality and sound)


OR


New digital TV (Tru2Way, enabled with CableCARD), which you’ll need to purchase at a local retailer
_



it suggests that a 'new digital tv' has to be enabled with Tru2way or cableCARD) in order to function properly.


----------



## arubaflower




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *armand1* /forum/post/17394220
> 
> 
> Advice on OTA antenna
> 
> 
> I live in Nw DC and had been getting Baltimore channel 13 just fine up until the transition with a Wineguard 8-bay. I am 34.5 miles away with lots of tall buidings around. I'm sure I'm not the only one that lost reception. I am a long time Colts and now Ravens fan and would like to to be able to watch the Ravens on WJZ channnel 13. How are people getting channel 13 these days, any advice?
> 
> 
> Missed most of the Ravens game this Sunday. Argggggh! Tried 3 different digital converter boxes and rotated the antenna and no luck. but fortuneatly DC (CBS) channel 9 switched over to the Ravens game in the last 4 minutes.



My Dad who lives in PG County no longer gets WJZ, as well. Although, the HD signal came in perfectly before the transition. I used to go over to my Dad's to watch Ravens games on WJZ when they weren't shown on WUSA. Now the antenna can't find WJZ at all, which is frustrating because all the other Baltimore stations come in just fine.


I am sure there is a technical reason as to why WJZ's transmission is different from the other stations, and perhaps putting up a new antenna might solve the problem. But it's seems a bit much to replace an antenna just because of one problem station.


----------



## HDTV Sparky




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *arubaflower* /forum/post/17469776
> 
> 
> ....and perhaps putting up a new antenna might solve the problem. But it's seems a bit much to replace an antenna just because of one problem station.



I had to replace a UHF only antenna to receive Baltimore 11 and 13.

Football season was here and although Comcast carries both stations up here in Pennsylvania, their not HD. Bite the bullet......, new antenna. You'll have it for years to come and in the long run be worth it.

Ofcourse, just my opinion.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *arubaflower* /forum/post/17469776
> 
> 
> Now the antenna can't find WJZ at all, which is frustrating because all the other Baltimore stations come in just fine.
> 
> 
> I am sure there is a technical reason as to why WJZ's transmission is different from the other stations, and perhaps putting up a new antenna might solve the problem. But it's seems a bit much to replace an antenna just because of one problem station.



Does your dad live near Morningside, MD? If your dad is getting WBAL-11 well, he may only need to add an FM trap to fix the problem.


The strong FM in the Arlington/Falls Church VA area makes WBAL-11 & WJZ-13 tough to receive, even with the best antenna set-up.


----------



## msmckay




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *OldHud* /forum/post/17466499
> 
> 
> Yes, but depending on the signals you are trying to add, it may not help. What is the input to the amplifiers? What are you trying to do?



I have an XG91pointed at DC and a DB8 pointed at Balt combined into the UHF port of one CM777. A YA1713 Pointed at DC is on the VHF input.


The Second CM7777 has a second DB8 pointed at Hagerstown to pickup WWPB 31 MPT.


WRC 4 is marginal and WDCW 50 will not lock. Location is South of Purcellville.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *msmckay* /forum/post/17471243
> 
> 
> WRC 4 is marginal and WDCW 50 will not lock. Location is South of Purcellville.



What does your TV FOOL report look like?


----------



## msmckay




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/17471392
> 
> 
> What does your TV FOOL report look like?



The best signal is WJLA 7, 1-Edge @ -64.1dBm

Channel 4 is 1-Edge @ -76.6 dBm

Channel 50 is 2-Edge @-87.8 dBm

Suprisingly channels WUTB 24 and WMDO 8 come in fine even they are lower on the list.


----------



## Digital Rules

I'm surprised you aren't getting 4 & 50 better. I put a low gain combo antenna outside in a very low spot near Dulles airport. http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...8adfc4e70c3a7e It has no problem with all the DC stations except for WMDO. Even MPT from Frederick is reliable with a Wineagard 8275 feeding 3 sets. Dulles airport is a deal breaker for reliable Baltimore reception from this location.


Are your antennas outside?


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *msmckay* /forum/post/17471569
> 
> 
> The best signal is WJLA 7, 1-Edge @ -64.1dBm
> 
> Channel 4 is 1-Edge @ -76.6 dBm
> 
> Channel 50 is 2-Edge @-87.8 dBm
> 
> Suprisingly channels WUTB 24 and WMDO 8 come in fine even they are lower on the list.



2-edge @ -90dBm can be a *considerable* challenge. If TvFool is accurate about channels 48/50 for you, I'd honestly consider cable/FiOS if WRC/WDCW are deal-breakers for you. Again, *assuming* TvFool is accurate, you're not going to get 48/50 100% reliably without a fairly "killer" setup, like a 30' high tower or something like that. I don't mean to be a jerk, but in my opinion you're looking for more than ATSC can provide for you. All my experiences to date indicate that if you're farther out than about -65dBm for UHF channels, or -50dBm for VHF channels, you just won't be very happy redardless of the antenna you choose.


----------



## Jim Miller

FWIW, I found that TVFool was giving me a 2edge reading because it really didn't place my house very accurately. That's a real problem since we are on top of a 700ft MSL hill instead of where TVF put us: down in a nearby valley at 500ft.


Once I used the interactive version of TVF I could see the problem clearly and moved the indicator to the proper location and I became LOS to Balto. That took me from needing a big outside antenna to rabbit ears.


good luck


jtm


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17471799
> 
> 
> 2-edge @ -90dBm can be a *considerable* challenge.



If the antenna is mounted indoors, I agree 100%.


I have gotten excellent results even with the low gain suburban "Winegard Ghost Killer" antenna mounted outside with proper pre-amp selection. Most signals are 2 edge. Even the Baltimore stations(-90's)come in fine until a jet crosses in front of the antenna.


----------



## Marcus Carr

WMAR was in SD from about 8:52 to 9:14.


----------



## ProjectSHO89




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17471799
> 
> 
> 2-edge @ -90dBm can be a *considerable* challenge. If TvFool is accurate about channels 48/50 for you, I'd honestly consider cable/FiOS if WRC/WDCW are deal-breakers for you. Again, *assuming* TvFool is accurate, you're not going to get 48/50 100% reliably without a fairly "killer" setup, like a 30' high tower or something like that. I don't mean to be a jerk, but in my opinion you're looking for more than ATSC can provide for you. All my experiences to date indicate that if you're farther out than about -65dBm for UHF channels, or -50dBm for VHF channels, you just won't be very happy redardless of the antenna you choose.



You're far too negative in your assessments. I routinely see excellent reception at long ranges with sometimes dismal TVF predictions. It DOES take a proper antenna selection and proper height to pull off. Fringe and deep fringe reception has always required these attributes and, as someone who grew up living in such an area, I saw plenty of antennas that were both large and tall.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *artwire* /forum/post/17467295
> 
> 
> Thanks, BigJ.
> 
> I think their information on line is deceptive: They say to continue to receive the channels you're entitled to with the digital subscription you need
> 
> _
> 
> 
> Digital Set Top Box (which offers On Demand, plus an on-screen guide, in addition to digital quality and sound)
> 
> 
> OR
> 
> 
> New digital adapter (which offers full digital quality and sound)
> 
> 
> OR
> 
> 
> New digital TV (Tru2Way, enabled with CableCARD), which you’ll need to purchase at a local retailer
> _
> 
> 
> 
> it suggests that a 'new digital tv' has to be enabled with Tru2way or cableCARD) in order to function properly.



Well, yea, it is deceptive. They would like you to have 2 way, so they can make even more money off of you. If you are paying for their digital package, which I think includes on demand, that does need to have 2 way. They are hoping people like me will upgrade our subscription. I only have standard service, which means I only get their analog channels plus local HD as QAM clear. The transition really only effects those of us who are analog only. They really don't like standard service-I had to hunt for it on their website. I also had to ask them to take me off their mailing and phone list, since they were calling me every few days. I do get the TV guide channel now FWIW.

J


----------



## Potatoehead

We got some new HD channels last night. Not sure exactly what we had before - but it looks like they added WGNHD, Tennis HD, MLB HD, ESPNUHD, GAMEHD, TEAMHD, OUTHD, Lifetime HD, BIO HD. We now have all of the non-premium Comcast HD channels listed in the AVS Forum HD channel list. I would think the additional premium HD channels (HBO, SHO, etc.) should be coming soon.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *artwire* /forum/post/17467295
> 
> 
> Thanks, BigJ. That's good to hear. (too bad they didn't mention it in their postcard, or online....) I guess I'll wait and see what happens rather than rushing to get some sort of extra box - I will probably opt for a regular STB anyway, in order to have the extra options, but the low end converters do give a clue as to their arcane channel mapping, so maybe one of those would be handy, too.
> 
> 
> I think their information on line is deceptive: They say to continue to receive the channels you're entitled to with the digital subscription you need
> 
> _
> 
> 
> Digital Set Top Box (which offers On Demand, plus an on-screen guide, in addition to digital quality and sound)
> 
> 
> OR
> 
> 
> New digital adapter (which offers full digital quality and sound)
> 
> 
> OR
> 
> 
> New digital TV (Tru2Way, enabled with CableCARD), which you'll need to purchase at a local retailer
> _
> 
> 
> 
> it suggests that a 'new digital tv' has to be enabled with Tru2way or cableCARD) in order to function properly.



Wouldn't you need that to be able to receive the encrypted channels?


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ProjectSHO89* /forum/post/17472688
> 
> 
> You're far too negative in your assessments. I routinely see excellent reception at long ranges with sometimes dismal TVF predictions. It DOES take a proper antenna selection and proper height to pull off. Fringe and deep fringe reception has always required these attributes and, as someone who grew up living in such an area, I saw plenty of antennas that were both large and tall.



Certainly true! I just no longer believe that ATSC is going to be 100% reliable at those signal levels. Like DR said, it's all good until a plane flies by or there's an ice storm between you and the tower, etc. Not having a reliable source for NBC could be a very frustrating situation (like mine with CBS). I apologize.


I also noticed something else in the original post that might be more of a problem ... the 2 UHF antennas are combined into one input on the 7777. I also see that was the whole point of the question in the first place. doh.


msmckay, have you tried unhooking the Baltimore DB8 so you only have the XG91 going into the amp to see what that does for 48/50? If both antennas receive the same frequencies and you combine them without a filter of some kind, the signals can be out of phase and cancel each other out. The DB8 is very directional, but you might still be picking up 48/50 on it. The other DB8 pointed towards Hagerstown and combined in downstream of the amps could also cause the same issues.


It might be worth your time to take a look at what each antenna can "see" on it's own and what the signal levels roughly are for those channels. If you're getting a moderate amount of signal on more than one antenna, combining those antennas could cause you issues for those channels (or it could also make them better, or make one worse and one better, etc).


----------



## yekim54




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *steeler* /forum/post/17446750
> 
> 
> Do you have a 4221? Anyone else out there have one?



I have a CM 4221 antenna. After they switched to VHF in June, I lost WJLA, WUSA, WBAL, and WJZ. Haven't gone up on the roof to try repositioning the antenna because I can get WJLA and WUSA via QAM on Cox Cable when needed. I'm in Dunn Loring.


I also have the CM7777 booster that allows me to get the Baltimore UHF stations.


----------



## OldHud




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17473016
> 
> 
> msmckay, have you tried unhooking the Baltimore DB8 so you only have the XG91 going into the amp to see what that does for 48/50? If both antennas receive the same frequencies and you combine them, the signals can be out of phase and cancel each other out... combining those antennas could cause you issues for those channels.



I concur. You're probably causing yourself trouble by trying to combine too many antennas where more than one antenna receives the same signal.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17471799
> 
> 
> 2-edge @ -90dBm can be a *considerable* challenge. If TvFool is accurate about channels 48/50 for you, I'd honestly consider cable/FiOS if WRC/WDCW are deal-breakers for you. Again, *assuming* TvFool is accurate, you're not going to get 48/50 100% reliably without a fairly "killer" setup, like a 30' high tower or something like that. I don't mean to be a jerk, but in my opinion you're looking for more than ATSC can provide for you. All my experiences to date indicate that if you're farther out than about -65dBm for UHF channels, or -50dBm for VHF channels, you just won't be very happy redardless of the antenna you choose.



You need to re-evaluate your cut-off point.


My CM3020, with a Channel Master 026_x_DSB Spartan 3 pre-amplifier, mounted on a 55' tower gets solid 2-edge reception from the following:


*REAL RF**STATION**dBm LEVEL*7WJLA-100.347WPMT-102.823WLYH-103.238WMAR-104.336WTTG-106.835WDCA-106.932WTAJ-109.430WGCB-110.241WUTB-110.7

To be fair, let me add that I don't get the following stations (except a few that are intermittent):


*REAL RF**STATION**dBm LEVEL*10 (possible interference from WAZT-CA analog)WHTM-88.48 (blocked by W08EE-D)WGAL-92.736 (blocked by WTTG)WITF-101.421 (blocked by WVPY)WHP-102.511WBAL-103.233 (will be blocked by W38AN)WHUT-106.29WUSA*-107.546 (Possible interference from WKBS)WBFF*-108.648 (possible interference from WAZW-CA analog)WRC-109.313WJZ*-110.1


----------



## ProjectSHO89




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *yekim54* /forum/post/17473017
> 
> 
> I have a CM 4221 antenna. After they switched to VHF in June, I lost WJLA, WUSA, WBAL, and WJZ. Haven't gone up on the roof to try repositioning the antenna because I can get WJLA and WUSA via QAM on Cox Cable when needed. I'm in Dunn Loring.
> 
> 
> I also have the CM7777 booster that allows me to get the Baltimore UHF stations.



Try a "double re-scan" first. Many receivers, whether a TV or a CECB, do not properly handle a change in operating frequency and consequently benefit from getting "flushed" first.


Those channels are now on VHF and you may find it necessary to add more VHF capability with either an add-on or a different antenna.


----------



## msmckay




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *OldHud* /forum/post/17473231
> 
> 
> I concur. You're probably causing yourself trouble by trying to combine too many antennas where more than one antenna receives the same signal.



I agree. I spent many evenings "playing" in the attic with the two DB8s combined before the amp. trying to improve UHF 48 and 50 reception. Using the ideas I found on the HDTV primer site. I'd set them both pointing at DC and vary the distance between an inch and take reception data from an HDTiVo. Any improvment in one channel would be balanced by a loss in another.


My next step is to combine the two DB8s pointing at Baltimore and Hagerstown on one amp. Since there is almost 80 degrees directional differende there there will be little interference. I'll leave the XG91 on its own amp with the VHF YA1713.


All of the antenns are in the attic. The DC and Baltimore antennas point out the gable end, and the Hagerstown is pointing through shingles.



> Quote:
> msmckay, have you tried unhooking the Baltimore DB8 so you only have the XG91 going into the amp to see what that does for 48/50? If both antennas receive the same frequencies and you combine them, the signals can be out of phase and cancel each other out... combining those antennas could cause you issues for those channels.



Yes I have and was able to pull in WRC 4 (48) very well but still could not receive WDCW 50. Of course 45 and 54 were gone too but 24 still had good signal strength.


The odd thing is that 4 and 50 were fine all summer. They dissappeared in the last three weeks. Tropo effects?


So combining the amplifier outputs will have the same phase cancellation problems as combining the antennas before the input to an amp? But it won't harm the amps? I ahve the two amps feeding separate Tivos now.


Thanks for all the suggestions.


----------



## systems2000

Does anyone know if WHSV (RF42) is active yet? TVFool says it is ABC. Is this correct? If so, Where's the primary station?


Interesting that they appear to be transmitting from the same tower as WVPY, who used to be RF42 analog and are still using channel 42 for their virtual channel number. TVFool says I should be getting a LOS of -92.0 from there.


----------



## gary michaels

Don't think you will get it. the ERP is only 1000 Watts and they share the channel with MPT 22 (42 RF) out of Annapolis. The transmitter output is only something like 38 watts. I talked to their people who indicated it would not be till later in November before they get it up. The will carry WHSV out of Harrisonburg, VA.


----------



## DCGuy64

Hi, I recently moved to a high-rise apt in Arlington, and I bought a Terk HDTVi antenna. It doesn't seem to be working too well. When I ran it through my Tivo DVR, it only got three (non-digital) channels, and they were useless anyway. Plugging it directly into my TV (Samsung LCD 42") worked a lot better, however the signal seems to drop a lot, no matter where the antenna is placed, and this is true on most channels. I'm < 10 miles from the broadcast towers, so I should be fine, but I'm confined to indoor options since it's an apartment building. Any suggestions on indoor antennas? I'm considering an amplified one such as the Terk FDTV1 or FDTV2, or even the Antennas Direct DB2. Not sure what to do, I'd definitely like one that gets a strong enough signal to use the Tivo.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gary michaels* /forum/post/17475805
> 
> 
> Don't think you will get it. the ERP is only 1000 Watts and they share the channel with MPT 22 (42 RF) out of Annapolis. The transmitter output is only something like 38 watts. I talked to their people who indicated it would not be till later in November before they get it up. The will carry WHSV out of Harrisonburg, VA.



We'll see how it goes. I get WVPY fairly well and, since it's LOS, there might be a chance, since I get stations with a lot lower dBm levels.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DCGuy64* /forum/post/17476008
> 
> 
> Hi, I recently moved to a high-rise apt in Arlington, and I bought a Terk HDTVi antenna. It doesn't seem to be working too well. When I ran it through my Tivo DVR, it only got three (non-digital) channels, and they were useless anyway. Plugging it directly into my TV (Samsung LCD 42") worked a lot better, however the signal seems to drop a lot, no matter where the antenna is placed, and this is true on most channels. I'm
> 
> 
> try this RCA Amplified antenna
> http://www.amazon.com/RCA-Indoor-Amp...373968&sr=8-15
> 
> 
> I set up several at my girlfriends house in Fort washington. They work fairly well and are inexpensive. Plus it has a separate variable adjustment for UHF and VHF amplification.
> 
> 
> Bestbuy used to sell them for twice what Amazon sells them for. so if Bestbuy still sells them you could pick one up and try it out. And if it works then just order from Amazon and return the expensive one back to bestbuy.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *msmckay* /forum/post/17474713
> 
> 
> All of the antenns are in the attic. The DC and Baltimore antennas point out the gable end, and the Hagerstown is pointing through shingles.



I don't feel so bad for my ill-advised -90dBm comment now







Maybe this will get me off the hook!! I think everyone will agree that -90 indoors is honestly pushing the limit (I hope they do anyway! lol). Best I've ever pulled in from my attic was -115dBm, and that was with a 7 foot long Yagi specifically designed for that channel and it wasn't what I'd call "reliable". Far from it, actually











> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *msmckay* /forum/post/17474713
> 
> 
> So combining the amplifier outputs will have the same phase cancellation problems as combining the antennas before the input to an amp? But it won't harm the amps? I ahve the two amps feeding separate Tivos now.



If you amplify both signals and then combine them, they've still both been amplified by an (assumed) idential amount, so any cancellation that was there before should be just about the same. It's possible that if you amplify one antenna and not the other, or attenuate one sufficiently prior to combination/amplification that the amplified signal will be relatively immune to the effects of the errant signal. Without something like a Spectrum Analyzer, it's pretty much trial and error.


There shouldn't be anything you can do (within reason) that will hurt the 7777 amplifiers. If a signal is too strong, it may cause the amp to go into "overload", but that doesn't cause physical damage.


edit: Depending on your desires/needs, you might want to look into filters, like the (now obsolete?) Channel Master JoinTenna. TinLee Electronics also makes them. I say 'depending' because there is likely no perfect solution, given the RF situation in our area. Ideally, all of Baltimore would be in one frequency range and D.C. in another, and a simple diplexer would suffice, but that's not the case so when you add something like a channel injector, you potentially lose something to gain something else. Personal example: I had (and still have, actually) a 42XG that was perfectly placed for 48 and 50, but didn't do so well on many other DC channels. I used a channel 49 JoinTenna to combine that with a C4 to create my D.C. feed, which then went into the amplifier. Anything the C4 "saw" on 48 or 50 was filtered out, and anything the 42XG "saw" other than 48-50 was also filtered out, so no problems with multiple signals. But ... in this specific case there would also be some attenuation on UHF 46 (WBFF), so if I was trying to use the C4 for that channel, I could have lost it or at least made it less reliable. It can get complicated quickly, but I thought I'd mention it. [side note: I still use a JoinTenna with a little C1 to add WMPT 42 into the 42XG, which is now only used for 34, 35 and 50 -- the locals FiOS doesn't carry here. Single channel injectors work really really well if the situation is appropriate]


----------



## systems2000

Complicated! You're not kidding. Looking to use multiple antennas, here is what Tinlee recommended for my situation.


NOTE: That doesn't include Baltimore or D.C.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/17477768
> 
> 
> Complicated! You're not kidding. Looking to use multiple antennas, here is what Tinlee recommended for my situation.
> 
> 
> NOTE: That doesn't include Baltimore or D.C.



Holy cow. 7 aerials and what had to be a heck of a lot of $$ on equipment. TV just isn't worth that level of effort!


----------



## SUOrangeman

I realize that this is an HDTV thread, but did anyone else on Cox-Fairfax lose some analog channels yesterday? I have one TV without a cable box/DVR that lost all of the clear QAM channels and the analog channels from 60-69 (MTV, VH1, CMT, BET, Weather). I scanned again before going to sleep last night and it appears the clear QAM channels were back, but not those analog channels I mentioned. Those were still gone as of this morning.


I also had to re-scan on my HDHomeRun/Vista MC to get the clear QAM channels working again. Thankfully, I was able to still capture the Bill Cosby event on WETA.


I could tell that my HD DVR had been reset this morning (powers on to channel 01), but I didn't scroll through any active channels.


-SUO


----------



## biker19

^ I assume that is part of the transition to get rid of the analogs. The shuffling of the QAM chs has been going on for some time - including temp loss of signal.


----------



## Eben




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SUOrangeman* /forum/post/17481296
> 
> 
> I realize that this is an HDTV thread, but did anyone else on Cox-Fairfax lose some analog channels yesterday? I have one TV without a cable box/DVR that lost all of the clear QAM channels and the analog channels from 60-69 (MTV, VH1, CMT, BET, Weather). I scanned again before going to sleep last night and it appears the clear QAM channels were back, but not those analog channels I mentioned. Those were still gone as of this morning.
> 
> 
> I also had to re-scan on my HDHomeRun/Vista MC to get the clear QAM channels working again. Thankfully, I was able to still capture the Bill Cosby event on WETA.
> 
> 
> I could tell that my HD DVR had been reset this morning (powers on to channel 01), but I didn't scroll through any active channels.
> 
> 
> -SUO



My in-laws live in Fx Co just outside Falls Church and they lost all channels below 700 on their TVs. They're retired so had all day to spend trying to contact Cox, but no dice. Customer service either rang with no answer or was busy. I e-mailed Cox on their behalf, but no reply so far.


----------



## steeler




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ProjectSHO89* /forum/post/17474712
> 
> 
> Try a "double *re-scan*" first. Many receivers, whether a TV or a CECB, do not properly handle a change in operating frequency and consequently benefit from getting "flushed" first.
> 
> 
> Those channels are now on VHF and you may find it necessary to add more VHF capability with either an add-on or a different antenna.




That is exactly what did the trick for me. I lost ch's 7 and 9 during the transition. I did one re-scan and both came in perfectly using my CM 4221 and a CM 7777.


----------



## steeler




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *msmckay* /forum/post/17471569
> 
> 
> The best signal is WJLA 7, 1-Edge @ -64.1dBm
> 
> Channel 4 is 1-Edge @ -76.6 dBm
> 
> Channel 50 is 2-Edge @-87.8 dBm
> 
> Suprisingly channels WUTB 24 and WMDO 8 come in fine even they are lower on the list.



Where do you live? Lincoln Va???


----------



## msmckay




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *steeler* /forum/post/17483608
> 
> 
> Where do you live? Lincoln Va???



No, A little west of there. between Telegraph Sprincs and 690.


----------



## artwire




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DCGuy64* /forum/post/17476008
> 
> 
> Hi, I recently moved to a high-rise apt in Arlington, and I bought a Terk HDTVi antenna. It doesn't seem to be working too well. When I ran it through my Tivo DVR, it only got three (non-digital) channels, and they were useless anyway. Plugging it directly into my TV (Samsung LCD 42") worked a lot better, however the signal seems to drop a lot, no matter where the antenna is placed, and this is true on most channels. I'm
> 
> 
> Do you have a Tivo that picks up digital and analog signals? I didnt think there were any "non-digital channels" to be gotten OTA these days....
> 
> 
> I'm wondering if you need some type of input switch flipped or menu reset so that your Tivo can pick up the OTA DIGITAL signal? Sounds to me like it may not be an antenna problem...but rather a setting problem. You should be getting more than you're seeing from that location. For what it's worth, I have indoor DB2 style in the window sill which is giving me great results downtown despite various midrise buildings in the vicinity that might be blocking or bouncing the signal. The DB2 is supposed to be UHF only, but it still picks up all the locals (I think one of them recently switched over to VHF). I also have older indoor antennas that pick up MOST but not all of the stations, including Baltimore.
> 
> 
> Have you tried redirecting it or moving it to a different location? Have you tried it in the window sill? I am very happy with my DB2, but even the older antennas pick up much more than you're describing (I bought the DB2 to try to pick up WNVC in virginia, which had a weaker signal -- it works for me in one window, but not the other). Experiment with the location a bit, just to see if you can get it to work before you buy a new antenna. If you're still not picking anything up on the digital side, it might be time to look over the (hate to say it) Tivo manual just to be sure it's set correctly for antenna (and DIGITAL) input.
> 
> 
> 
> PS Is the Tivo a really old model? I'm just guessing since I don't know much about tivo offerings, but if it has an analog only tuner, that might explain things. If that's the case, you can use antenna to CECB converter box to Tivo input to record your ota shows. I'm doing that with an old vcr that had analog only tuner and it works fine.


----------



## msmckay




> Quote:
> *Originally Posted by DCGuy64*
> 
> Hi, I recently moved to a high-rise apt in Arlington, and I bought a Terk HDTVi antenna.



This may seem nuts, but did you tell your TiVo where you live now? part of the setup process is to enter your new zip code. If you didn't do that your Tivo may be lost looking for the stations it used to receive.


----------



## SUOrangeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SUOrangeman* /forum/post/17481296
> 
> 
> I realize that this is an HDTV thread, but did anyone else on Cox-Fairfax lose some analog channels yesterday? ...



I went to the GMU basketball game last night, so I didn't delve deep into this problem. I did notice that the Weather Channel was back this morning on my non-DVR TV.


-SUO


----------



## keeper

I live in north-western York County in PA by the mountain. I am using an AD91 uhf I think its called with no preamp. I think I am around 58 miles away from Baltimore. Since the change I get wjz at 60% and Wbal at 69%. Pretty solid signal with some dropouts but not a lot. How much would adding a preamp CM that I already have but don't use and adding a upper vhf antenna improve my signal? Also, both of my uhf antennas are installed in the attic and will stay there. I have really good elevation at my location thus Baltimore stations come in very good. Thanks


----------



## ss_sea_ya

For about the last week or so, I no longer seem to get Channel 7. Did something change other than the leave's falling off the trees? Which, should have improved reception!


All other DC channels seem to come in ok.


----------



## yekim54




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ProjectSHO89* /forum/post/17474712
> 
> 
> Try a "double re-scan" first. Many receivers, whether a TV or a CECB, do not properly handle a change in operating frequency and consequently benefit from getting "flushed" first.
> 
> 
> Those channels are now on VHF and you may find it necessary to add more VHF capability with either an add-on or a different antenna.



Thanks for the advice ... but ... I did a double rescan and then triple rescan and still no luck getting channel 7 (WJLA) or 9 (WUSA).


----------



## ProjectSHO89




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *yekim54* /forum/post/17492858
> 
> 
> Thanks for the advice ... but ... I did a double rescan and then triple rescan and still no luck getting channel 7 (WJLA) or 9 (WUSA).



Then follow the second step of my recommendation. The easy stuff has to be tried first and you didn't indicate that you may have already done so. Since my wife still hasn't gotten me a crystal ball for a gift, I have to rely on only what is reported.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ss_sea_ya* /forum/post/17492824
> 
> 
> For about the last week or so, I no longer seem to get Channel 7. Did something change other than the leave's falling off the trees? Which, should have improved reception!
> 
> 
> All other DC channels seem to come in ok.



The leaves falling off the trees can certainly affect your reception. (Usually better; sometimes worse) Are you using an indoor, or outdoor antenna?


I cannot get WMAR-2 at all now unless I point the antenna towards Annapolis which is about 35 degrees off axis from Baltimore. All other Baltimore channels are fine. My guess is multipath.


----------



## lineman20109




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *SUOrangeman* /forum/post/17481296
> 
> 
> I realize that this is an HDTV thread, but did anyone else on Cox-Fairfax lose some analog channels yesterday? I have one TV without a cable box/DVR that lost all of the clear QAM channels and the analog channels from 60-69 (MTV, VH1, CMT, BET, Weather). I scanned again before going to sleep last night and it appears the clear QAM channels were back, but not those analog channels I mentioned. Those were still gone as of this morning.
> 
> 
> I also had to re-scan on my HDHomeRun/Vista MC to get the clear QAM channels working again. Thankfully, I was able to still capture the Bill Cosby event on WETA.
> 
> 
> I could tell that my HD DVR had been reset this morning (powers on to channel 01), but I didn't scroll through any active channels.
> 
> 
> -SUO



A Dominion Power problem caused an outage at the Cox headend in Merrifield. The UPS Cox had failed during a switch to backup generation causing a whole lot of problems.


----------



## yekim54




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ProjectSHO89* /forum/post/17493072
> 
> 
> Then follow the second step of my recommendation. The easy stuff has to be tried first and you didn't indicate that you may have already done so.



What's the second step? You mean adding a VHF antenna?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *yekim54* /forum/post/17497378
> 
> 
> What's the second step? You mean adding a VHF antenna?



I would personally try eliminating the 7777 first. It is _"way"_ too much pre-amp for your location. That big tower in Merrifield has a potent UHF station which has been broadcasting since 6-12 of this year. (It slightly overloads my system in Arlington with no amp at all) The nearby FM is also not helping your situation.


Try your system without the pre-amp first & see what happens hooked to when only hooked to 1 TV. This will give a good idea of what you need to do next.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...bc273ab2f16faa


----------



## Marcus Carr

The season premiere of Legend of the Seeker is in SD in WNUV. Fortunately, WGN America actually managed to show it in HD. Usually it's the other way around.


----------



## systems2000

Why did they go from 16:9 to 4:3?


----------



## ss_sea_ya




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/17493372
> 
> 
> The leaves falling off the trees can certainly affect your reception. (Usually better; sometimes worse) Are you using an indoor, or outdoor antenna?
> 
> 
> I cannot get WMAR-2 at all now unless I point the antenna towards Annapolis which is about 35 degrees off axis from Baltimore. All other Baltimore channels are fine. My guess is multipath.




I am using an outdoor yagi type UHF/VHF antenna in the attic. So it hasn't moved. Post transition Ch 7/ABC reception has always been borderline . Ch 9 seems to be sufficient.


Since this is a recent change, maybe with the leaves down, I may need to readjust my antenna slightly. Like you suggested, change in the multipath.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*MASN To Televise Nine Georgetown Basketball Games*


Regional Sports Network's Hoyas Slate Tips Off Nov. 28


MCN Staff -- Multichannel News, 11/10/2009 1:29:51 PM


MASN will post up with nine Georgetown men's basketball game during the 2009-10 season.


The regional sports network tips off its coverage on Nov. 28 with the Hoyas hosting Lafayette at the Verizon Center live at noon.


Now in its fourth season of covering Hoyas hoops, MASN will televise inter-conference games with Mt. St. Mary's (Nov. 30) and Old Dominion (Dec. 19), as well as Big East matchups against DePaul (Jan. 3), Marquette (Jan. 6), Villanova (Jan. 17), Rutgers (Jan. 23, Feb. 14) and South Florida (Feb. 3). *The Villanova contest and the first game against the Scarlet Knights will be telecast in HD.*


The official cable network of George Mason University, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and the Big South Conference, MASN features hundreds of NCAA basketball games in at least 13 different conferences each season. With over 80 Big East games, MASN is also home to the Big East Game of the Week.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/...ball_Games.php


----------



## armand1




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/17493372
> 
> 
> The leaves falling off the trees can certainly affect your reception. (Usually better; sometimes worse) Are you using an indoor, or outdoor antenna?
> 
> 
> I cannot get WMAR-2 at all now unless I point the antenna towards Annapolis which is about 35 degrees off axis from Baltimore. All other Baltimore channels are fine. My guess is multipath.



Digital Rules,

Which Yagi antenna are you using?

I live in NW DC and have been using a Winegard 8800 8-Bay antenna for the past 2 years with very good reception of all the VA, DC, Annapolis and Balt, MD stations with one slight rotation. Now, after the transition, I don't get Ch 11 and 13, but I still get channels 2, 45, and 54.

I am most interested in getting Channel 13 and realized that they shifted to the lower VHF band - 216 MHz after this June. What antenna would you (or anyone else in the DC area) suggest to get Baltimore Channel 13. Or can anyone suggest something I can do to my Winegard 8800 to improve channel 13 reception?

Thanks in advance.


Note: Amps don't work for me as I already have numerous multipath issues.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/17509212
> 
> *MASN To Televise Nine Georgetown Basketball Games*
> 
> 
> Regional Sports Network's Hoyas Slate Tips Off Nov. 28
> 
> 
> MCN Staff -- Multichannel News, 11/10/2009 1:29:51 PM
> 
> 
> MASN will post up with nine Georgetown men's basketball game during the 2009-10 season.
> 
> 
> The regional sports network tips off its coverage on Nov. 28 with the Hoyas hosting Lafayette at the Verizon Center live at noon.
> 
> 
> Now in its fourth season of covering Hoyas hoops, MASN will televise inter-conference games with Mt. St. Mary's (Nov. 30) and Old Dominion (Dec. 19), as well as Big East matchups against DePaul (Jan. 3), Marquette (Jan. 6), Villanova (Jan. 17), Rutgers (Jan. 23, Feb. 14) and South Florida (Feb. 3). *The Villanova contest and the first game against the Scarlet Knights will be telecast in HD.*
> 
> 
> The official cable network of George Mason University, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and the Big South Conference, MASN features hundreds of NCAA basketball games in at least 13 different conferences each season. With over 80 Big East games, MASN is also home to the Big East Game of the Week.
> 
> http://www.multichannel.com/article/...ball_Games.php



Sounds like MASN is finally capable of carrying syndicated college games in HD.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *armand1* /forum/post/17512241
> 
> 
> What antenna would you (or anyone else in the DC area) suggest to get Baltimore Channel 13. Or can anyone suggest something I can do to my Winegard 8800 to improve channel 13 reception?
> 
> Thanks in advance.



Are you looking for a 1 antenna solution, or do you want to augment the 8800 with a dedicated VHF-HI antenna?


----------



## kalnel

Slightly OT, but just curious: Does anyone know why the reruns of CSINY that 9 runs on weekend latenight are in SD, not HD? I'm guessing it's a syndication cost thing, but I don't know.


Wish they were HD -- that show is BEAUTIFUL in HD. Amazing NYC and high-tech shots.


----------



## Jack D

I did a search on this thread but didn't find much discussion about the Pace boxes that CC in Montgomery Co, MD are now deploying. I have long since used Tivo boxes but my GF just had an tech visit and the guy installed a Pace RNG-110 box which seems worse than the Motos that I used to have. PQ seems sloppy on HD channels. There are very minimal setup options for the box itself. What gives? I thought the talk was that CC was going to the newer Motos which, among other things, would do pass-through of native resolution. Is it just my imagination or are these Paces POSs? thanks.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> GAITHERSBURG, Md., Nov. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- The future of television has arrived for more than 2,100 homes and businesses in Gaithersburg as Verizon introduces FiOS TV via the company’s revolutionary all-fiber-optic network.
> 
> 
> FiOS TV and Internet services are available this week in parts of the following communities: Brighton Highlands, Candlewood Park, Deer Park, Derwood Station, Medland Station, Needwood Estates, Oakmont Manor, Parkside Estates, Walnut Grove, Walnut Hill and West Deer Park.


 http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/...___NY10627.htm


----------



## aaronwt

great service but lousy billing. although they have been improving.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kalnel* /forum/post/17523491
> 
> 
> Slightly OT, but just curious: Does anyone know why the reruns of CSINY that 9 runs on weekend latenight are in SD, not HD? I'm guessing it's a syndication cost thing, but I don't know.
> 
> 
> Wish they were HD -- that show is BEAUTIFUL in HD. Amazing NYC and high-tech shots.




You should have seen what CSi looked like 8 years ago when WUSA dedicated more bandwidth to the HD broadcast.


I recently watched some of my HD recordings I made back in 2001 and I was amazed at how much better those shows from 2001 look when compared to what is being shown now.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Quote:
> 
> GAITHERSBURG, Md., Nov. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- The future of television has arrived for more than 2,100 homes and businesses in Gaithersburg as Verizon introduces FiOS TV via the company's revolutionary all-fiber-optic network.
> 
> 
> FiOS TV and Internet services are available this week in parts of the following communities: Brighton Highlands, Candlewood Park, Deer Park, Derwood Station, Medland Station, Needwood Estates, Oakmont Manor, Parkside Estates, Walnut Grove, Walnut Hill and West Deer Park.
> http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/...___NY10627.htm



They sure are going _awfully_ slow in Montgomery County. I wonder how many years it will be before they hit Germantown.

J


----------



## kalnel




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/17528490
> 
> 
> They sure are going _awfully_ slow in Montgomery County. I wonder how many years it will be before they hit Germantown.
> 
> J



My parents have had FIOS Internet and TV in Germantown for a while now. They put the fiber-optic lines in at least three years ago, if not longer.


----------



## systems2000

While using my battery powered portable AM/Stereo FM/cassette (with broken antenna) at the hot tub last night, I found that I could listen to 100.7 (the Bay) without a problem. I enjoyed the block of Black Sabbath.










This got me to thinking about my Deep Fringe, 2-edge, reception. I sure need to get a Spectrum Analyzer view of my situation.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/17535382
> 
> 
> This got me to thinking about my Deep Fringe, 2-edge, reception. I sure need to get a Spectrum Analyzer view of my situation.



I have one now, but its resolution is too low to see much of value on FM. Could definitely look at TV stuff though.


- Trip


----------



## Jim Miller

make sure to use the interactive version of tvfool and verify the location of the icon. mine had me at a nearby location but 200ft lower in elevation as a result. what was previously 2 edge turned out to be los and rabbit ears.


jtm


----------



## armand1




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/17513684
> 
> 
> Are you looking for a 1 antenna solution, or do you want to augment the 8800 with a dedicated VHF-HI antenna?



Maybe augment the 8800 with a dedicated VHF-HI antenna, to be able to get Channel 13, since I get almost all other channels in Baltimore, Annapolis and DC

perfectly.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kalnel* /forum/post/17530049
> 
> 
> My parents have had FIOS Internet and TV in Germantown for a while now. They put the fiber-optic lines in at least three years ago, if not longer.



Yes, I thought I saw them putting down lines a few years back, but it is still not available to all of Germantown. I've inquired, and I still cannot get it yet.

J


----------



## E55 KEV

antenna feed for DC WRC/NBC channel 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 has been down since 7:10am today.


----------



## aaronwt

Whats going on with WRC 4? They are still missing the .1 subwoofer channel on my primetime recordings(I have no idea about the rest of the day)

I'm going need to start recording again from the Hagerstown channel on FIOS if this keeps up. There is a noticeable difference in bass between the two broadcasts.


----------



## spinee




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *E55 KEV* /forum/post/17542645
> 
> 
> antenna feed for DC WRC/NBC channel 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 has been down since 7:10am today.



i lost mine at around 7:03. i was sure it'd be back up by noon, but here we are 6 hours later with nothing on the air.


----------



## carltonrice

According to the dcrtv.com blog...

*More Power Problems For NBC DC, No NBC4 News At 4 & 5* - 11/16 - Earlier today, DCRTV told you that Channel 4/WRC, which also serves at NBC's Washington news bureau, suffered power problems on Sunday. Now, we're told that the problems continue on Monday. With newsroom computers and video servers down, and a non-functioning control room. Pepco attempted to switch back to main power around 3 PM and more equipment was affected, a source tells DCRTV. An audio operator even got shocked when this switch was made, we hear. NBC's MSNBC is doing live Washington shots from the lawn at WRC's 4001 Nebraska Avenue facility, using a satellite truck, instead of from Capitol Hill or the White House, we're told. Update: Channel 4 aired Ellen Degenerous at 4 PM and MSNBC's "Hardball" with Chris Matthews live from Los Angeles at 5 PM, instead of its local newscasts....


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *spinee* /forum/post/17544056
> 
> 
> i lost mine at around 7:03. i was sure it'd be back up by noon, but here we are 6 hours later with nothing on the air.



Is the feed still available on local cable systems?


----------



## TheKrell




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/17545962
> 
> 
> Is the feed still available on local cable systems?



Don't know about that, but the broadcast is back as of 10:10PM. Showing Jay Leno.


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/17545962
> 
> 
> Is the feed still available on local cable systems?



WRC channel 4 was fine on Comcast.


----------



## kalnel




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/17542261
> 
> 
> Yes, I thought I saw them putting down lines a few years back, but it is still not available to all of Germantown. I've inquired, and I still cannot get it yet.
> 
> J



That's a drag. They've had it since early 2006.


I haven't switched to FIOS yet, but I think I will eventually. It's going to be a major PITA because when Verizon strung cable in my building last year, they put the interface box on the opposite end of my apartment from where the Comcast line comes in. They're going to have to run cable all over -- through closets, across two bathrooms, into four rooms -- to hook me up. (And in an old building with concrete ceilings and floors, that means running around the edges of the floor molding.)


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kalnel* /forum/post/17548091
> 
> 
> That's a drag. They've had it since early 2006.
> 
> 
> I haven't switched to FIOS yet, but I think I will eventually. It's going to be a major PITA because when Verizon strung cable in my building last year, they put the interface box on the opposite end of my apartment from where the Comcast line comes in. They're going to have to run cable all over -- through closets, across two bathrooms, into four rooms -- to hook me up. (And in an old building with concrete ceilings and floors, that means running around the edges of the floor molding.)



I'm probably not going to bother. If they are going to give my area of Germantown such low priority, then they clearly don't want my business. They are going to have to put an interface box on my house and run extra wires while I thank them for the inconvenience. I don't think so.

J


----------



## ethos_unum

I'm in the chantilly area. Anyone having issues getting WJLA(channel 7)? I had 80%+ signal quality (according to HDhomerun) and now it drops to waivering between 0 & 60 in sig qual. Coincidently, i did start getting WUSA(chan 9) at 80+ instead now where it used to be waivering below 50. Both 7 and 9 have 95% signal strength according to the same hdhome run meter.


Just wanted to see if anyone else was having similar results or not.


----------



## systems2000

I saw last night where _i_ON Life is now doing full run, widescreen movies, during the evening hours (I watched Caddyshack - Magnum Force was after).


Anyone else notice what appears to be a new change?


----------



## TheKrell




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ethos_unum* /forum/post/17552425
> 
> 
> Both 7 and 9 have 95% signal strength according to the same hdhome run meter.



Interesting. I didn't know the HDHomeRun had both meters. Makes me want to run right out and buy one. To answer the question, I'm having no trouble with WJLA this evening. I'm reading 6 bars (the max) on my ArcSoft TotalMedia player. What it's actually reading, nobody but ArcSoft knows. Of course this reading is _after_ going through two cheap amps in series.











> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/17553782
> 
> 
> I saw last night where ION Life is now doing full run, widescreen movies, during the evening hours



Well, sure enough. Something with Sean Connery right now. I think it's _Just Cause_. Only trouble is that it's being broadcast as a letterboxed 4:3. WETA's PBS-kids subchannel does that a lot. Other than saving a bit of bandwidth encoding the black bands, I don't see any justification for this stupidity. Why not use one of the SD 16:9 modes?


----------



## systems2000

According to my AOL TV listings, Just Cause is on now and Batman Forever is after.


What's worse is when PBS does 16:9 within 4:3 (non-changable apsect) with 4:3 content.


----------



## ethos_unum




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TheKrell* /forum/post/17553982
> 
> 
> Interesting. I didn't know the HDHomeRun had both meters. Makes me want to run right out and buy one. To answer the question, I'm having no trouble with WJLA this evening. I'm reading 6 bars (the max) on my ArcSoft TotalMedia player. What it's actually reading, nobody but ArcSoft knows. Of course this reading is _after_ going through two cheap amps in series.



The hdhomerun config gui although simple does what it needs to do. Shows the signal strength, sig qual, and sym qual or at least represents them as a percentage. I've been satisfied thus far with it. When i got it, microcenter had it the cheapest (and in store so no shipping) compared to any other place i saw online. Looks like that still might be true.











Screencap of hdhomerun config screen if you're curious.



Now after patience, relocating, and aiming looks like i got it just right, at least for now to get 7 now with enough quality to watch. Thanks for the confirmation TheKrell


----------



## TheKrell




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/17554076
> 
> 
> What's worse is when PBS does 16:9 within 4:3 (non-changable apsect) with 4:3 content.



Oh man that makes my head hurt and I'm not even looking at it! Let' see. What I was describing is a 16:9 program letterboxed and broadcast as 4:3. This puts a frame around the whole thing (on a widescreen TV). But you say it's 4:3 content... So, it's horizontally stretched as well as being framed all the way around? Lovely.


----------



## systems2000

NO. What I'm saying is that PBS will show 4:3 content on a 4:3 screen with bars all the way around (postage stamp). I don't have a 16:9 television, so I can't imagine how that must look.


Watching the last five min. of Just Cause (with the flashing red lights) and the opening credits of Batman Forever (zooming text) makes me glad I don't own a flat screen.


----------



## TheKrell

And while I'm griping about stupid digital conversion settings, here's another that I see a lot on WETA and WPXW, and elsewhere. These stations are converting the whole darn 525 line analog broadcast, VBI and all, into 480 digital video lines. This results in a flashing line (for the closed captioning) being visible along the top of the picture on digital TVs. This is so _wrong_, I don't even know where to begin.


----------



## systems2000

Tomorrow night, _i_ON Life is showing "The Last Boyscout" and "The Enforcer."

Thursday night, it will be "On Deadly Ground" and "The Rookie."

Friday night, is "Out for Justice" and "Heat."


Looks like alternate viewings of movies that have run on the main channel.


----------



## systems2000

I don't see that much any more, but I don't get WETA or WPXW (I do get WWPX).


----------



## shammib




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ad-Rok* /forum/post/9682406
> 
> 
> Yes, I am actually, and it's frustrating as heck! I want my superbowl!
> 
> 
> Question: does anyone know what channel WUSA-9 (HD) is on Comcast digital cable rebroadcast? I need an alternate for the OTA broadcast, and it's not coming through on physical channel 9-1.
> 
> 
> Using the MyHD MDP-130. Help appreciated!
> 
> 
> Thanks much,
> 
> Adam



Hi


I have the same problem with this channel. Did you find a solution? I would appreciate it if you could share it with me.


Thanks

Sam


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Verizon in the City of Baltimore [?]*


As part of Verizon Maryland's recent government relations outreach, company representatives held an informational meeting with Baltimore City Council members in October 2009 to discuss topics such as Verizon's presence in the city, its flagship FiOS product, and video services.


Currently, Verizon is focused on meeting our FiOS deployment commitments in communities where we have video franchises. However, company officials were encouraged to learn that there is enthusiastic support among Council members and their constituents for the company pursuing a video franchise in the City.

http://www22.verizon.com/about/commu...baltimore.html


----------



## Albireo

Hello all,


I've been reading this thread and found that other viewers are having trouble receiving WITF / WTTG due to the channel conflict on channel 36. I actually sent correspondence to the FCC (see below) about this channel conflict. In my mind it is completely unacceptable and I encourage others to do the same. I live south of Gettysburg, just 5 miles from the Mason Dixon line. Channel 5 used to be so easy to obtain pre-transition, now it is virtually impossible, even with separate high-gain VHF/UHF antennas at 50 ft with a CM7777. I can't imagine why the FCC would allow two stations less than 100 miles apart to share the same television broadcasting bandwidth! With all of the empty channels it's a disgrace to the taxpayer to be paying for services that are not making the best use of our dollars, and a dissapointment to the consumer to be missing out on a once-enjoyed channel due to unprofessional planning.


___________________

Sent: Friday, November 20, 2009 1:06 PM

To: '[email protected]'

Cc: '[email protected]'

Subject: RE: CIMS00002285184 - Digital OTA Television - Channel Conflict


Good afternoon,


I greatly appreciate the return message and information. The links you provided to the service contour maps are very helpful as well to take a closer look at the signal overlap that is occurring between WITF and WTTG (both using the television frequency spectrum associated with channel 36). Thank you for providing them.


Based on the number of available unused channels in the region, it seems to be unacceptable to have channel overlap in the service contour maps if there is remaining bandwidth that could be used to eliminate such overlap, particularly with two popular and widely viewed television stations such as WITF (PBS) and WTTG (FOX). Had the stations in question been independent networks or low power stations, the channel conflict would not be as big of a problem.


I would like to think that there was a high-level bandwidth optimization study conducted pre-transition to ensure that any channel overlap was minimized to the greatest extent possible by making use of all the available bandwidth for television broadcasting (Channels 7 thru 51). However, based on the handful of unused channels in the region (which through my brief studies appears to be the channels 12, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 31, 32, 37, 43, and 49) it appears that such an optimization study was not thoroughly conducted. This particular bandwidth conflict between WITF and WTTG could have been easily prevented with some additional foresight and can be remedied through a well-thought-out channel reassignment for WITF or WTTG to one of the above thirteen channels that are determined not to conflict with other neighboring television markets, assuming that such a channel exists.


Looking at the overlap in the service contour maps, it's fair to say that this particular channel conflict is affecting thousands of people near the Mason-Dixon border, many of whom commute to the DC metro area and are accustomed to the DC news, weather, and traffic updates provided by stations like WTTG. Washington DC stations are part of the reception area of the Mason-Dixon border region (Northern Maryland / South-Central PA) and this channel conflict unnecessarily reduces the available stations that can be received.


On behalf of those viewers in the Mason-Dixon region, I kindly request that the FCC take a closer look at this particular channel conflict to determine if there is a way to improve and/or eliminate it. I believe that a field study in the Mason-Dixon region would reveal the true scope of the situation and the number of viewers affected and would warrant the actions necessary to alleviate the issue.



I thank you for your time and for your efforts.



Very Respectfully,



-----Original Message-----


From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]


Sent: Friday, November 20, 2009 11:38 AM


Subject: CIMS00002285184 - Digital OTA Television - Channel Conflict



You are receiving this email in response to your inquiry to the FCC.



Dear Mr. Schwartz,



In the license application process, there are very strict engineering studies required before a station can be licensed and begin broadcasting. The studies are designed to prevent interference. In those rare instances when a problem might occur, the station(s) experiencing the problem can often work a cooperative solution.



Both WITF and WTTG have selected channel 36 from their DTV table of allotments in Rule Section 73.622 and have conducted engineering studies to eliminate objectionable interference to one another as much as possible. WITF increased its power from 50 kW to 124 kW post-transition. WTTG has maintained its power at 1000 kW post transition. Their post transition contours only overlap in Northern Maryland near the Mason-Dixon Line. You may view WITF service contour at http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...DT1299653.html . WTTG's service contour may be viewed at http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...=DT401000.html .



The FCC Media Bureau has created contact points at the Commission, accessible via toll-free telephone numbers, by fax, or over the Internet, dedicated to providing information to members of the public regarding how they can become involved in the Commission's processes. Should you have questions about how do so, including inquiries about our complaint or petitioning procedures or the filing and status of the license renewal, modification or assignment or transfer application for a particular station, you may contact one of our Broadcast Information Specialists, by calling, by facsimile, or by sending an e-mail, as noted below:



· If your question relates to a radio station:




Toll-Free: (866) 267-7202 (Voice) or (877) 479-1433 (TTY)


Fax: (202) 418-1411


E-Mail: [email protected] 



· If your question relates to a television station:




Toll-Free: (866) 918-5777 (Voice) or (866) 787-6222 (TTY)


Fax: (202) 418-2827


E-Mail: [email protected] 



Thank you again for your inquiry.


Best regards,


TSR36


Representative Number : TSR36


____________________________________________


Sent: Tuesday, November 17, 2009 10:01 AM

To: '[email protected]'

Subject: Digital OTA Television - Channel Conflict


Good morning,


I am writing in regard to a Digital OTA Television channel assignment conflict in the Mid-Atlantic region. I live in south-central Pennsylvania and have noticed that there are two television stations less than 100 miles apart that are sharing the same channel bandwidth and causing reception issues. From my location, I am able to easily receive Harrisburg/York, Baltimore, Washington DC, and Hagerstown Digital OTA television stations. There is only one channel that is being used simultaneously in two of these markets and as a result is creating conflicts with reception.


In the Harrisburg, PA market, WITF-DT (Virtual Channel 33) is transmitting on Channel 36.


In the Washington, DC market, WTTG-DT (Virtual Channel 5) is transmitting on Channel 36.


As seen on the below TV station chart for my location, there are many empty OTA channels that could have been selected (indicated by gaps in the real channels data which is in blue text). For example, none of the bandwidth associated with the channels between 16 and 20 (inclusive) and channels 31-32 is being used in the region. Prior to the digital changeover, both WITF and WTTG were easily received from my location (as they were channels 33 for WITF and 5 for WTTG). Now that both stations are transmitting on channel 36, practically speaking, it is electromagnetically impossible to receive the weaker of the two channels from my location (WTTG), even with the highest gain antennas on the market today. Furthermore, if I am not mistaken I believe WITF has and/or will be increasing its signal strength in the near future which will expand the number of consumers like me that will be affected by this channel conflict.


I ask that you route this request to the appropriate department within the FCC which provides guidance on how television channel assignments are made. I believe this particular circumstance represents an unnecessary channel conflict that could be remedied by using a small portion of the available remaining TV broadcasting bandwidth and reassigning one of the stations to a new channel.


As a ham radio operator, I am keenly interested in ensuring that we are all being good stewards of the bandwidth provided to us. As a consumer and taxpayer, it is both my pleasure and responsibility to provide this information to you and your professional staff at the FCC.


Thank you for your time.



Very Respectfully,


----------



## Dave Loudin

You should take a few moments with the alternate channel search feature at rabbitears.info. None of the channels you list are available options for WTTG, but 49 and 16 meet allocation spacing requirements for WITF. Don't forget that 37 is not available for anyone! Since you are outside of WTTG's service area, I believe that you would not have any standing to try and force a channel change on WITF to solve your WTTG reception issues.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Finally got a postcard today about DTAs for Comcast in Baltimore City. Effective 12/23, Digital Starter and above will include a free digital converter or DTA on the primary outlet and up to two free additional DTAs. No mention of analog reclamation yet.


----------



## Albireo

Thanks for the information, Dave. I agree with what you're saying but would like an explaination of who and/or why thought that having two channel 36's less than 100 miles apart was a good idea. This is clearly not enough separation between two major channels and should never have occurred in the first place. Remedying the issue is much more difficult than putting in the planning before implementation. It's the whole concept of Independent Verification & Validation (IV&V) which is done on many such projects before they go live. I think the FCC discounted the number of people that live in the overlap of the service areas of WITF and WTTG. For instance, Westminster, MD is in both service areas and it is a large town / small city. What used to be a very solid signal in south-central PA has turned into a completelely inaccessible station all because people that we are paying as taxpayers did not do their jobs correctly.


I was taught in engineering school to take a big-picture look at something to ensure it makes sense before implementation. Apparently the FCC did not employ these core engineering concepts and they had more than enough time as the transition was delayed. It's a shame on our government. Some will say that this isn't really that important (TV), which is true to a certain extent, however when it's yours and my hard-earned money paying for services and goverment agencies, it is a very big deal indeed.


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/17554360
> 
> 
> NO. What I'm saying is that PBS will show 4:3 content on a 4:3 screen with bars all the way around (postage stamp). I don't have a 16:9 television, so I can't imagine how that must look.



Start with a 4:3 picture. Add sidebars to make it 16:9. Now, add letterbox bars to make it 4:3 again. Finally, add sidebars _again_ to make it 16:9.





















Yeah, I've seen that on PBS... I'm not sure if it was MPT or WETA.


----------



## Digital Rules

Anyone notice WUTB-24 harder to get now? Fringe stations are the same or slightly better with the leaves gone, but WUTB is right on the digital edge now?????


Thanks!!


----------



## rviele




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/17576251
> 
> 
> Anyone notice WUTB-24 harder to get now? Fringe stations are the same or slightly better with the leaves gone, but WUTB is right on the digital edge now?????
> 
> 
> Thanks!!



wutb comes in fine for me and i'm in harford county in the woods


----------



## ss_sea_ya




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Albireo* /forum/post/17573830
> 
> 
> why thought that having two channel 36's less than 100 miles apart was a good idea.



I'm 14 miles south of WTTG and have issues with poor reception...


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Albireo* /forum/post/17573830
> 
> 
> Thanks for the information, Dave. I agree with what you're saying but would like an explaination of who and/or why thought that having two channel 36's less than 100 miles apart was a good idea. This is clearly not enough separation between two major channels and should never have occurred in the first place.



Per the current allocation rules, these allocations would fail. However, you have to consider how the allocations came into existence in the first place. Remember that the FCC tried to overlay a second television service that would replicate the first without creating interference. Obviously, that could not happen, so compromises had to be made, especially here in the congested northeast (where even FM allocations fail.) The protection standards for these transition allotments were less strict.


Now, after they invested a lot of money in erecting a second antenna and a new transmitter plant, stations were asked to choose what channel they wanted post-transition. The choices were a) analog, b) digital, or c) punt (defer to the next round.) This process was repeated at least three times, as some stations were stuck in bad spots and elected to wait to see what allotments might become available. WTTG wisely elected to keep their UHF assignment. WITF did not have good choices, and, without a lot of money to spend (my guess), went with their DTV channel.


The channel selection process did not produce an optimized solution. However, I believe it was the most _fair_ process available, as it maximized service while minimizing additional capital expense. A fully optimized solution would have likely forced many stations to build a _third_ facility. So, in my opinion, the FCC chose to sacrifice technical quality for an executable process. They chose wisely.


Could there have been additional testing before moving forward? Of course. However, with all the variables involved, there was no way to be even 75% confident that everything would work as predicted. Sometimes, a system has to be implemented in order to fully reveal all the behaviors. Fortunately, the current spectrum plan is not fixed in concrete, and stations are petitioning for facility changes to deal with service issues. In WITF's case, their "maximization" request is predicted to cause less than 1% additional interference to WTTG than their current 50kW max-DA. The OET-69 process _does_ account for terrain effects, so allocations that appear to fail via allocation contour plots still pass muster.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin* /forum/post/17585837
> 
> 
> Per the current allocation rules, these allocations would fail. However, you have to consider how the allocations came into existence in the first place. Remember that the FCC tried to overlay a second television service that would replicate the first without creating interference. Obviously, that could not happen, so compromises had to be made, especially here in the congested northeast (where even FM allocations fail.) The protection standards for these transition allotments were less strict.
> 
> 
> Now, after they invested a lot of money in erecting a second antenna and a new transmitter plant, stations were asked to choose what channel they wanted post-transition. The choices were a) analog, b) digital, or c) punt (defer to the next round.) This process was repeated at least three times, as some stations were stuck in bad spots and elected to wait to see what allotments might become available. WTTG wisely elected to keep their UHF assignment. WITF did not have good choices, and, without a lot of money to spend (my guess), went with their DTV channel.
> 
> 
> The channel selection process did not produce an optimized solution. However, I believe it was the most _fair_ process available, as it maximized service while minimizing additional capital expense. A fully optimized solution would have likely forced many stations to build a _third_ facility. So, in my opinion, the FCC chose to sacrifice technical quality for an executable process. They chose wisely.
> 
> 
> Could there have been additional testing before moving forward? Of course. However, with all the variables involved, there was no way to be even 75% confident that everything would work as predicted. Sometimes, a system has to be implemented in order to fully reveal all the behaviors. Fortunately, the current spectrum plan is not fixed in concrete, and stations are petitioning for facility changes to deal with service issues. In WITF's case, their "maximization" request is predicted to cause less than 1% additional interference to WTTG than their current 50kW max-DA. The OET-69 process _does_ account for terrain effects, so allocations that appear to fail via allocation contour plots still pass muster.



I think you're right on the money Dave.


The largest thing that the FCC put as much stock into as they probably should have, especially for VHF-DTV, was the amount of consumers using "rabbit ear" style or attic mounted antennas. The model used for allocation including the Longley Rice calculations, still assumed (as was in the 1940's) the original TV reception model of X-gain receive antenna mounted outside at least 30' AGL. Until too late in the game, the commission really didn't adequately educate consumers that an outdoor antenna was REALLY important to receive OTA DTV reliably.


Another misstep in many markets was that stations involved, nor the FCC, adequately communicated to viewers the plans for some stations return back to a VHF channel. In many cases that left viewers whom had already been watching DTV stations on UHF with a much higher field strength, confused as to what happenned.


----------



## Albireo

Once again, I thank you for the excellent response Dave. Your technical expertise shines through and your message explains why things are the way they are. Unfortunately for me, I tend to be the person who believes there is only one way to conduct an engineering project, the technically sound way. You bring up some great points about cost, execution, practicality, etc. that are undoubtedly reasons why unnecessary channel conflicts are occurring in the field. As always, hindsight is 20/20 and we all know that the digital transition could have been orchestrated better.


Since I also believe that no corrective action will take place (e.g. WITF moving their broadcast to another viable channel), I am thinking about ways that I can tweak my rig to receive WTTG successfully. I'd appreciate any constructive feedback on this.


Below are the signal details for both WITF and WTTG from my location obtained through TVfool.com, assuming a 50-ft antenna height. I am currently using a Winegard YA-1713 (VHF-HI) and Channel Master 3023 (UHF Yagi) mounted on the same mast, pointing in the same direction, and being amplified by a CM7777.


What I find amazing is that while WTTG is only 10 miles more distant from my location than WITF (55.6 miles vs. 44.5 miles), WITF's signal is many times stronger, despite WTTG's strong broadcasting power in comparison to WITF. I can only ponder that it has to do with the surrounding terrain and relative height Above Sea Level of the broadcast antenna at WITF in comparison to WTTG.


WITF-DT: NM 27.2 dB, Pwr -63.7 dB, Line of Sight, 44.5 miles, 23 degrees

WTTG-DT: NM 6.6 dB, Pwr -84.3 dB, 2EDGE, 55.6 miles, 174 degrees


The orientation of the signals means that there is a 151 degree angle between WITF and WTTG from my location, which means that I am likely running into an issue with receiving WITF on the back-end of my antenna, among other things.


The biggest aspect of WTTG that I miss is their 10 o'clock news, which is the best one around in my opinion. I receive all the other DC DTV channels with ease from my location (including virtual channels 4, 5, 7, 9, 14, 20, 26, 32, 50, and 66).


I am thinking about setting up another UHF antenna on the ground and placing a conductive screen behind it to see if I can block out WITF and receive WTTG. I also considered locating a Channel Master 4251, but have come to find out that the F/B ratio is not so good on those as the reflector radials are spaced too far apart to block out rear signals effectively.


I am also pondering whether it would be better to mount an antenna lower to eliminate the line of sight to WITF. I'm thinking that the higher I go with an antenna, the more it benefits WITF to a greater extent than WTTG (which is not line of sight). I'm also thinking about mounting an antenna below the roof line pointing to WTTG as the siding is aluminum and would be on the back-side of the antenna and may help to block out WITF.


My location is roughly 3 miles north of the Mason-Dixon line. Through a friend, I know that WTTG can be successfully received in Taneytown, Maryland, which is roughly 7 miles south of my location. The $64,000 question is where exactly is the “cutoff” zone for WTTG and am I within spitting distance to find a workable solution to receive the signal. It seems that no matter what, WITF and WTTG cancel each other out when I point my antenna to the Washington DC area as the signal strength meter barely moves. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!


----------



## Dave Loudin

Thanks for the kind words. Alberio, I still have a little trouble with "unnecessary" in describing channel conflicts. Taken in context, these conflicts were unavoidable. In WITF's case right now, they apparently (have to couch this, since I can't see all the data) have a couple of choices for a new channel they could petition for if they wanted. I'm sure they have consulted with a professional to size up their options, and maximizing their current facility appears to be the best way forward for them.


I don't know if you've explored using the maps feature of TVFool. I have to go that route to get a better prediction as the approximation of my street address is much closer to line-of-sight to DC than I really have. A quick tutorial:


1) at the interactive TV Coverage Browser page, enter as much of your address as you like and click "map this"

2) drag the receive location marker to where it needs to be. Depending on the imagery available, you can get very precise with this.

3) adjust antenna height. Every time you click away from the box, the signal predictions will update. You can soon find out how far you are from line-of-sight for a particular path.

4) choosing a radio button by a station will plot that station's coverage on a map. You can get a good idea of what is shadowing you that way.


2-edge paths are pretty tough catches, generally. Perhaps a single-channel yagi for WTTG might help. Good luck!


----------



## Trip in VA

This particular situation could have been prevented, most likely, but would have required a lot of extra expense that stations did not want to take on. For example, WITF probably could have moved to 16, though I've never tested that with interference analysis software. I would have to imagine WITF could not afford to change channels.


WTTG has nowhere else to go, so it'd be left to WITF to resolve.


- Trip


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/17586016
> 
> 
> The largest thing that the FCC put as much stock into as they probably should have, especially for VHF-DTV, was the amount of consumers using "rabbit ear" style or attic mounted antennas. The model used for allocation including the Longley Rice calculations, still assumed (as was in the 1940's) the original TV reception model of X-gain receive antenna mounted outside at least 30' AGL. Until too late in the game, the commission really didn't adequately educate consumers that an outdoor antenna was REALLY important to receive OTA DTV reliably.



Agreed. However, I think we can cut the FCC some slack here for a couple of reasons. _First_, there have been a lot of moving parts with regards to trying to adequately assess how well ATSC digital television propagates. Changing some of the basic assuptions about the reciever adds complexity and communicating to industry, let alone the general public, was already challenging. _Second_, the FCC was looking to replicate service areas (the Grade B contour) that were predicted using the original method. Like needed to be compared to like, or else complexity rears its head, again. The interpretation of this data was a real problem.


The "VHF nightmares" , as Trip likes to call them, fell out of this process. The equivalent field strength needed for ATSC reception similar to Grade B NTSC plus the propagation characteristics of VHF led to the really low ERPs. Tightening of interference criteria further compromised many stations that chose their analog VHF channels, as there were pre-transition VHFs that stuck around to box them in. The full impact of these allotments wasn't appreciated until there were a lot of observations (or, non-observations) available.


I've noticed that one of the methods for fixing VHF problems is for several stations to increase power together. That keeps the interference-free reception area between them roughly the same (see WPXI Philadelphia, WRGB Schenectady, and a station in Connecticut). A similar tactic was used in the AM band years ago for the local channels (1230, 1240, etc.) The default facility was 1000 watts day, 250 watts night. The drop in nighttime power was a sop, at best, in cutting down on the skywave interference level. A confederation of operators finally convinced the FCC that the rise in manmade noise countered any benefit in reduced interference, so the requirement to cut power at night was withdrawn.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/17586016
> 
> 
> Another misstep in many markets was that stations involved, nor the FCC, adequately communicated to viewers the plans for some stations return back to a VHF channel. In many cases that left viewers whom had already been watching DTV stations on UHF with a much higher field strength, confused as to what happenned.



AMEN!


----------



## armand1

Can anyone in DC or VA get Channel 13 (WJZ) in Baltimore using an Over The Air antenna, if so, what type of antenna are you using? I live in 20815 and can't seem to get it. I get channels 2 and 45 easily, but not 13.


----------



## danboot

Does anyone know what HD DVR box Cox is currently issuing? I am moving to Fairfax VA and just curious to what box the are using now.


Thanks

Dan


----------



## dmorack




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *danboot* /forum/post/17588963
> 
> 
> Does anyone know what HD DVR box Cox is currently issuing? I am moving to Fairfax VA and just curious to what box the are using now.



Cox in Fairfax uses the Scientific Atlanta 8300HD DVR running SARA.


-Doug


----------



## SUOrangeman

Per my latest Cox-Fairfax bill, we'll be getting the following channels in the second half of December:


777 msnbcHD

763 BET HD

774 ABC Family HD

775 Disney HD

787 HBO2 HD

788 More Max HD

789 TMC HD


-SUO


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *armand1* /forum/post/17588818
> 
> 
> Can anyone in DC or VA get Channel 13 (WJZ) in Baltimore using an Over The Air antenna, if so, what type of antenna are you using? I live in 20815 and can't seem to get it. I get channels 2 and 45 easily, but not 13.



What antenna(s) are you presently using? I've used the Winegard YA-1713 both here in Arlington, & Annandale with great results. It picks up channels 7, 8, 9, 11, 12 & 13.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *armand1* /forum/post/17588818
> 
> 
> Can anyone in DC or VA get Channel 13 (WJZ) in Baltimore using an Over The Air antenna, if so, what type of antenna are you using? I live in 20815 and can't seem to get it. I get channels 2 and 45 easily, but not 13.



The exact azimuth you are at with respect to WJZ 13's broadcast location makes a big difference because of the directional pattern of WJZ's antenna. Your zip code puts you at around an azimuth of 235 degrees for WJZ which in turn results in a broadcast signal of around 11 kW give or take on VHF 13 in your direction. At 33 miles, depending on the specifics of your location, you should be able to pull in WJZ with a rooftop upper VHF antenna, but no guarantees. I'm at a even worse azimuth for WJZ 's pattern here in Sterling and get a signal but can't get a reliable lock.


The directional pattern for WJZ can be seen at the 28.8 kW entry for WJZ-DT at http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=25455 .


----------



## djp952

I'm sorry (not really) for the shameless and merciless OT plug, but I just *have* to share. If you tune into WBFF Fox 45 on 12/2 and watch the 10pm newscast, my lovely wife "Lieutenant Commander Laura Back" is going to be wishing me and all of Baltimore a holiday greeting from Landstuhl, Gemany.

Thank you very much WBFF for participating in this program, thank you very much Laura for taking care of our injured servicemen and servicewomen over there, and thank you very much avsforum gang for giving me something to do while she's been gone for so long.


Again, apologizes for being so off-topic, but I thought you guys/gals might get a kick out of seeing this. If not, I really am honestly sorry for wasting your time.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Albireo* /forum/post/17586399
> 
> 
> My location is roughly 3 miles north of the Mason-Dixon line. Through a friend, I know that WTTG can be successfully received in Taneytown, Maryland, which is roughly 7 miles south of my location. The $64,000 question is where exactly is the cutoff zone for WTTG and am I within spitting distance to find a workable solution to receive the signal. It seems that no matter what, WITF and WTTG cancel each other out when I point my antenna to the Washington DC area as the signal strength meter barely moves. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!



You've certainly got a tough situation on your hands. Without going to a elaborate or multiple antenna set-up, I would personally try the highest F/B ratio antenna available first. AFAIK, that is the 91-XG. I would try the different scenarios you mentioned with placement & heights to find the best possible sweet spot for WTTG. You may even want to try this with only 1 set, & no amplification for testing purposes to make sure the amp doesn't aid WITF in "overriding" WTTG.


I find the 91-XG very good at rejecting signals from the back. I regularly see RF 25 & 47 from Richmond with just the slightest bit of tropo. Both of those frequencies are also used in DC only 5 miles behind the antenna.


----------



## Albireo

Thanks for the suggestions, Digital Rules! The ideas are greatly appreciated and may just do the trick to pull in enough WTTG signal for a lock. I've been looking at the 91-XG after reading about it on AVS yesterday but was on the fence about whether its F/B ratio would be enough to overcome the difference in signal strength between WITF and WTTG at my location. Your post has given me hope that a workable solution exists and I really like your "out-of-the-box" creative ideas on this.


My fear is that with all of the newly proposed WGAL translators, my area may run into additional channel conflicts if the translators are approved. So, this could potentially turn into a new trend that fringe zones lose channels if the FCC approves translators in areas in which the use of a translator is not bonefied and warranted. As an example, WGAL is looking to put a translator on channel 27 in Carlisle, PA, which is the same channel that WETA-DT transmits on out of DC. Worse yet, WGAL is looking to put a translator on 31 just west of Gettysburg, PA, which is the same channel that WETA-TV is looking to put a translator on just northeast of Leesburg, VA. I know my eyes would be spinning if I worked at the FCC and all of these translator applications were coming in! I can only hope that they follow the "KIS" philosophy - Keep it Simple - and only approve translator applications that are 100% legitimate and do not cause loss of service on other stations for viewers. WGAL most certainly does not need 6 translators as they are requesting, imagine if every station felt they were entitled to 6 translators (or even one)!


----------



## Trip in VA

WGAL wouldn't need to seek 6 translators except that there's no channel on which for them to put a 1000 kW UHF signal. Even channel 43, the clearest channel at that location, fails badly even at low power levels.


- Trip


----------



## Albireo

Please forgive me for not knowing the answer, but why is it that WGAL desires a UHF channel? I may have missed some news or posts on this thread and that's why I'm asking. WHTM-DT is also VHF-HI in the region, do they also desire to move to UHF? Consider me a dummy when it comes to this as I really have no knowledge of this topic.


From my current and previous locations, all of the VHF-HI channels seem to come in as strong, if not more reliably than the UHF channels in the Harrisburg, Baltimore, and Washington DC areas (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13). I'm having a hard time picturing why a station would want to move from lower frequencies that generally propagate further to higher frequencies based on my limited knowledge and amateur radio days. I'm hoping it doesn't have to do with people being unwilling to purchase VHF antennas as antennas are about the best bang-for-the-buck purchase that one can make in my estimation. I was amazed at how inexpensive my latest antennas came out to be when I ordered them a month ago.


----------



## ss_sea_ya

After post transitions, Ch 7,9 went back to VHF-HI, and many people around the beltway suddenly lost those channels, even with VHF antennas. So much so that I Ch 7 asked for a TX power increase. I am sure there was a discussion about this somewhere above, but also here:

http://www.highdefforum.com/local-hd...mit-power.html


----------



## mdviewer25

Has anyone else noticed fewer QAM channels when doing a scan for Comcast PG? I used to pick up a total of at least 440 channels. The last two I did only gave me 287. I also lost the HD versions of 7, 26, and 66.


----------



## kalnel

You guys will appreciate this. I have a friend in Germantown who got an HD PVR from Comcast over the weekend, only to find that the picture was breaking up on History HD, HGTV, Food, and Versus. So he called Comcast and arranged for a tech to come by yesterday to check the signal. (The signal has always been a little sketchy--OD flakes out regularly.)


Comcast tech comes out, checks the signal, declares it sufficient, then says, "I see you're using an RCA modem. That often causes HD channels to break up. You'll need to rent a modem from us..."


Now, here's the REALLY funny part: He has FIOS internet.


----------



## biker19

^ LOL. I guess he doesn't have FIOS TV yet in the area?


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/17599846
> 
> 
> Has anyone else noticed fewer QAM channels when doing a scan for Comcast PG? I used to pick up a total of at least 440 channels. The last two I did only gave me 287. I also lost the HD versions of 7, 26, and 66.



Comcast QAM signals change. At the present time, in Beltsville with Basic Comcast I find ABC 720P at 123-701, Weta 720P at 123-704. I don't use 66 so I don't know where to find it. I do seem to have more QAM channels now than a month ago, although most of them are SD copies of normal channels.


----------



## kalnel




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/17600956
> 
> 
> ^ LOL. I guess he doesn't have FIOS TV yet in the area?



I don't know, but he's checking into it!


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/17572039
> 
> 
> Currently, Verizon is focused on meeting our FiOS deployment commitments in communities where we have video franchises. However, company officials were encouraged to learn that there is enthusiastic support among Council members and their constituents for the company pursuing a video franchise in the City.



i.e.: We're only interested in you if we were able to strongarm your city/county into the deal we want. Meanwhile, we're letting the regulated copper phone plant fall into the sewer.


----------



## mkfs

Has WMPT raised power/altered its pattern? I note that it's now viable if not robust in Wheaton with 25 yo RG58, and an equally-old roof antenna pointed 90d away... I suspect it's the case the leaves are mostly gone but...


----------



## rkolsen

In Baltimore County Comcast has added QVC HD, TWC HD, HLN HD, MSNBC HD , CNBC HD + , Fox Business HD, Comedy Central HD, Spike HD, Bravo HD, E! HD, Lifetime HD, WE HD, Travel HD, TruTV HD, ESPN News HD, ESPN U HD, and CBS COllege Sports HD.


----------



## rkolsen




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rkolsen* /forum/post/17604510
> 
> 
> In Baltimore County Comcast has added QVC HD, TWC HD, HLN HD, MSNBC HD , CNBC HD + , Fox Business HD, Comedy Central HD, Spike HD, Bravo HD, E! HD, Lifetime HD, WE HD, Travel HD, TruTV HD, ESPN News HD, ESPN U HD, and CBS COllege Sports HD.



Actually all that were listed in a previous page were added, I just didn't notice them at that time.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/17601020
> 
> 
> Comcast QAM signals change. At the present time, in Beltsville with Basic Comcast I find ABC 720P at 123-701, Weta 720P at 123-704. I don't use 66 so I don't know where to find it. I do seem to have more QAM channels now than a month ago, although most of them are SD copies of normal channels.



I had a lot more last week. I don't know what Comcast did but now I'm only picking up even numbered QAM channels. They also remap the locals to their OTA spots so 4.1 - 4.3, 9.1 and 9.2 are there but 7.1 - 7.3 has disappeared along 26.1 - 26.4 since they were on digital 123.


----------



## hsweiss




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/17576251
> 
> 
> Anyone notice WUTB-24 harder to get now? Fringe stations are the same or slightly better with the leaves gone, but WUTB is right on the digital edge now?????
> 
> 
> Thanks!!



I'm southeast of WUTB in Anne Arundel County. I could sometimes get a lock on them over the summer - some nights good, some nights bad. After the leaves dropped, they dropped off entirely. Repeated scans don't see WUTB at all. If anything I would have expected to gain signal with the leaves dropping. I sent them email asking what was going on - but no response.


On the other hand, I am having lots more problems locking WJZ-13 with the loss of leaves. After their transition to their directional antennas I lost them entirely but not because of lack of signal - in fact just the opposite. They were over driving me. But it turned out that simply moving my converter box around dropped the signal enough to get a decent lock. But now with the loss of leaves, nothing helps. I've even tried using an in-line attenuator - didn't do anything.


When I get a change I might try re-pointing my antenna further toward the West. Maybe I'll drive off axis a bit from WJZ and start picking up WUTB again.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hsweiss* /forum/post/17611626
> 
> 
> I'm southeast of WUTB in Anne Arundel County. I could sometimes get a lock on them over the summer - some nights good, some nights bad. After the leaves dropped, they dropped off entirely.



I'm starting to wonder if the stronger signal from WMPT-22 is partly to blame.







WUTB-24 came in fine here last winter when WMPT-22 was operating at a lower power level.


----------



## mkfs

While doing a rescan, my DTX9950 suddenly showed 48-3,4,5 They are duplicates of WRC, but I wonder why these now appear on the RF vice virtual channels?


----------



## systems2000

WRC is actually transmitting on RF 48. The WRC channel 4 on your CECB is the result of the stupid transition decision to continue letting stations be identified by their previous RF channel #. This is why most members identify stations by their "Call-Letters" instead.


----------



## chamb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/17620496
> 
> 
> WRC is actually transmitting on RF 48. The WRC channel 4 on your CECB is the result of the stupid transition decision to continue letting stations be identified by their previous RF channel #. This is why most members identify stations by their "Call-Letters" instead.



My Opinion - Stations should now be required to use their ACTUAL channel number and "Get Over" using the old channel numbering. Many people are not sharp enough to understand the need for a VHF or UHF antenna when all of the stations are using false channel numbers. If a station is actually on 48, then they need to identify as 48. No exceptions. This was a political decision to keep people happy, but it sure was a bad bad decision.

It is way past time for the FCC to wise up and give every station a few months to convert all identification over to the real channel number. WRC and all others can use the real channel numbers. WRC is actually better off being on channel 48 than on channel 4. They should just start identifying as WRC - 48 and forget about 4. Get it done.


----------



## systems2000

Now that the leaves are pretty much gone between me and the transmitters, I've found that my reception has drastically changed and I've been able to identify my most reliable stations for year round viewing.


WMAR38 (2)BaltimoreABC122.6°WJLA7 (7)D.C.ABC152.1°WTAJ32 (10)AltoonaCBS321.5°WLYH23 (15)HarrisburgCW355° (peaked)WDCA35 (20)D.C.MyN152.1°W08EE-D (WNPB)8 (24)MartinsburgWV PBS215.5°WHAG26 (25)HagerstownNBC226.8°WWPB44 (31)HagerstownMD PBS226.8°WVPY21 (42)Front RoyalVA PBS208.9°WPMT47 (43)YorkFOX78.1°WGCB30 (49)Red LionInd86.4°WNUV40 (54)BaltimoreCW122.5°WWPX12 (60)Martinsburg_i_ON215.5°WJAL39 (68)ChambersburgInd279.2°

I'm still waiting for W38AN (WITF - PA PBS) 33 and W51CY (WDCW (LD) - CW) 51 to come on-line.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/17621740
> 
> 
> Now that the leaves are pretty much gone between me and the transmitters, I've found that my reception has drastically changed and I've been able to identify my most reliable stations for year round viewing.



Good to hear!! Do you see an improvement on "_all_ " stations? I thought you were getting WUTB at one point. Any new catches?


----------



## systems2000

WTTG, WUSA, WJZ, & WUTB are pretty much unwatchable, while WBFF has completely disappeared. I've stopped trying for duplicate stations beyond those that I get or have mentioned.


I'm now setting my sites on peaking and fine tuning the most reliable stations and will see how that affects the others. Anyone have a Spectrum Analyzer that can go down to below -110dBm that they want to lend out?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/17619667
> 
> 
> I'm starting to wonder if the stronger signal from WMPT-22 is partly to blame.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> WUTB-24 came in fine here last winter when WMPT-22 was operating at a lower power level.



It's such an awesome day I couldn't resist tweaking antenna height to hopefully improve WUTB. The much weaker WBOC-16 & WMPB-67 are now better than ever, but WUTB is no better. (Ended up going about 10 inches lower) I'm now thinking WUTB's directional antenna is sending much less power to areas south than TV FOOL has predicted. I have changed my conclusion about WMPT-22 being strong enough here to cause adjacent channel issues with WUTB-24.


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/17620496
> 
> 
> WRC is actually transmitting on RF 48.



Errr.... I know where WRC transmits. My question was: is WRC doing something different so their data stream is decoded both at '4'; and again at 48? The 48 presentation lacked the PSIP data. I thought there was one set of PSIP for all virtual channels on a carrier, but now I'm not sure. It's the first time I've seen this, and it's only true for WRC, not any other stations.


----------



## aaronwt

I know WRC still wasn't broadcasting the subwoofer channel with the last show I watched from them.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/17621929
> 
> 
> Anyone have a Spectrum Analyzer that can go down to below -110dBm that they want to lend out?



I won't lend it out, but I will be coming up your way again at the end of December. We could try once again to meet up since it didn't work out last year.


I've got a Sencore SLM 1456CM. It won't do measurements in dBm, but I've found it to be reasonably sensitive.


- Trip


----------



## systems2000

AAHH!! The joy of receiving multiple PBS's from different States. WVPY is showing Frank Sinatra, WWPB is showing André Rieu, while W08EE-D is showing the Celtic Women. I can't wait for W38AN (WITF) and wish I could still get WETA.


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/17621740
> 
> 
> Now that the leaves are pretty much gone between me and the transmitters, I've found that my reception has drastically changed and I've been able to identify my most reliable stations for year round viewing.



I've given up untill spring. Still most of my stations are out of market.

ABCWHTM, WJLA and WMARNBCWHAG and WBALCBSWTAJPBSWWPBIONWWPX

Still no FOX


----------



## systems2000

Deleted.


----------



## mkfs

A friend in 20616 has a rooftop antenna, nothing exotic. It's WAY below the tree line. Cell coverage is miserable.


a) He gets Baltimore WBAL, WMAR, WJZ solidly, but no trace of WMPT.


b) He has no trouble on WJLA, & WUSA, but can barely see WRC.


c) He gets both sets of 30. (1-5 & 6-10)


I could not explain it.


----------



## Hardtimes




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Hardtimes* /forum/post/17428503
> 
> 
> ...I'm not down in a hole but Edgewood is only 100' above sea level (according to wunderground; where I'm at is probably closer to 60) plus my 20' of antenna elevation probably doesn't help. Also I mistakenly said 1713 when I meant I used a Y5-7-13. I'm thinking I probably should have gotten the 1713. Anyway, I tried all kinds of scenarios - hooked in to the 7777 with my 4228, FM trap in/out, bypassed the amp, had a wire running directly to my computer's tuner in the bedroom with a monitor on the roof for remote tuning. Nothing worked better than my original setup and now my neighbors think I'm nuts.




I finally got some time to install my 1713 to try to get Ch 7 & 9. Got it from SolidSignal, open box special, so I figured why not. Anyway, after much tweaking and experimenting, I'm now able to FINALLY get a pretty reliable Ch 7 @ ~ 65% signal (16-18 db) and Ch. 9 about 3 db lower







I still have a few more tweaks to try but hate to mess with a good thing and am happy to have my dual market ABC & CBS back! Thanks again to Robert Forsyth from WJLA for trying to help their viewers.


----------



## jgantert

Heads up - new RTN 7 programming starts today.

http://www.myretrotv.com/prog_schedules/WJLA.pdf 


Peter Gunn

I Spy

Daniel Boone

The Rifleman

Cisco Kid


Gone are Incredible Hulk, Hitchcock Presents, and Night Gallery (and others).


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/17629782
> 
> 
> Heads up - new RTN 7 programming starts today.
> 
> http://www.myretrotv.com/prog_schedules/WJLA.pdf




Be nicer if RTN every got their head out of their serial port, and resumed reporting episode data to Times Mirror/Zap2It... It stopped when the coup took place, and we've seen nothing since.


Too bad *I Spy* isn't on at a better time; I still enjoy it...


----------



## mkfs

Tonight "Chan 4" has no working EPG.


I still see RF48-3,4,5 & they never did.....


Related?


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mkfs* /forum/post/17630150
> 
> 
> Be nicer if RTN every got their head out of their serial port, and resumed reporting episode data to Times Mirror/Zap2It... It stopped when the coup took place, and we've seen nothing since.
> 
> 
> Too bad *I Spy* isn't on at a better time; I still enjoy it...



I know what you mean about the episode info. I still haven't seen two episodes of Night Gallery (Silent Snow Secret Snow and Hell's Bells). Guess I'll have to watch them some other way.


I've never actually watched I Spy, so I'm looking forward to it.


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/17631410
> 
> 
> 
> I've never actually watched I Spy, so I'm looking forward to it.




Their tradecraft stinks, but the repartee between Cosby and Culp makes it all worthwhile.


It was not just the first series with a black lead, it was also the first with no studio. It was filmed all around the world.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/17629782
> 
> 
> Heads up - new RTN 7 programming starts today.
> 
> http://www.myretrotv.com/prog_schedules/WJLA.pdf
> 
> 
> Peter Gunn
> 
> I Spy
> 
> Daniel Boone
> 
> The Rifleman
> 
> Cisco Kid
> 
> 
> Gone are Incredible Hulk, Hitchcock Presents, and Night Gallery (and others).



Have they started lobbing the top and bottom off the picture? All of the sudden, I'm only getting 1/2 of their channel symbol in the corner. I don't watch it that often, only an occasional movie, but I just noticed this.

On an unrelated note, what am I getting on channel 1? I haven't identified it yet. I did a rescan, and it popped up.

J


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/17629782
> 
> 
> Heads up - new RTN 7 programming starts today.
> 
> http://www.myretrotv.com/prog_schedules/WJLA.pdf
> 
> 
> Peter Gunn
> 
> I Spy
> 
> Daniel Boone
> 
> The Rifleman
> 
> Cisco Kid
> 
> 
> Gone are Incredible Hulk, Hitchcock Presents, and Night Gallery (and others).



I wish RCN would carry this channel. For whatever reason, they seem to be the only cable provider in this area that doesn't carry it.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/17632617
> 
> 
> Have they started lobbing the top and bottom off the picture? All of the sudden, I'm only getting 1/2 of their channel symbol in the corner. I don't watch it that often, only an occasional movie, but I just noticed this.
> 
> On an unrelated note, what am I getting on channel 1? I haven't identified it yet. I did a rescan, and it popped up.
> 
> J



Last time I checked, channel 1 was the SD channel for WHUT 32. I still have no idea why it's mapped to channel 1. On another note, I was able to tune into some of the QAM channels that were skipped during my last scan. However, I am still missing a lot. My scans used to get at least 440 analog and digital channels now it only gets 285.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/17632969
> 
> 
> Last time I checked, channel 1 was the SD channel for WHUT 32.



Can someone please tell me how such a glaring mistake can sit unchanged for months? Do they even have engineers at WHUT?


----------



## Kelly From KOMO

Are you receiving WHUT Over The Air or cable? If OTA then chances are the station PSIP generator is running on it's default settings, or the station may be running static PSIP via their HDTV encoder, possibly because their PSIP generator failed. Either way, I doubt the discrepancy is because they're not paying attention.


If watching via cable, then chances are the cable company doesn't have the PSIP tables set up correctly.


----------



## Gerald C




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/17633188
> 
> 
> Can someone please tell me how such a glaring mistake can sit unchanged for months? Do they even have engineers at WHUT?



There are even more problems with WHUT's transmission. My Dish 622/722 DVR's will receive their live broadcast OK, but exhibits all sorts of problems recording/buffering it. Something is bad wrong with their PSIP and/or other ATSC transmission protocols.


----------



## hsweiss




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hsweiss* /forum/post/17611626
> 
> 
> I'm southeast of WUTB in Anne Arundel County. I could sometimes get a lock on them over the summer - some nights good, some nights bad. After the leaves dropped, they dropped off entirely. Repeated scans don't see WUTB at all. If anything I would have expected to gain signal with the leaves dropping. I sent them email asking what was going on - but no response.
> 
> 
> On the other hand, I am having lots more problems locking WJZ-13 with the loss of leaves. After their transition to their directional antennas I lost them entirely but not because of lack of signal - in fact just the opposite. They were over driving me. But it turned out that simply moving my converter box around dropped the signal enough to get a decent lock. But now with the loss of leaves, nothing helps. I've even tried using an in-line attenuator - didn't do anything.
> 
> 
> When I get a change I might try re-pointing my antenna further toward the West. Maybe I'll drive off axis a bit from WJZ and start picking up WUTB again.



Here's what I got in response to my email to WUTB:

_WUTB hasn't made any recent changes.

We are still working on the plans to build out the DTV transmitter slightly increasing our power and reach, but nothing has happened yet with that.

Thanks for staying in touch although it's a frustrating e-mail you are sending since we don't want to loose you as a viewer._


So I wonder what's going on?


----------



## Potatoehead




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hsweiss* /forum/post/17633978
> 
> 
> 
> So I wonder what's going on?



I am further south than you in Calvert County and have not noticed any change in the signal. I used to have problems getting this channel, until I realized that I had to point the antenna directly at this station and let all of the other channels be a bit less than optimal. Otherwise receiving WUTB was impossible. By the way my antenna is just mounted in my attic.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Gerald C* /forum/post/17633527
> 
> 
> There are even more problems with WHUT's transmission. My Dish 622/722 DVR's will receive their live broadcast OK, but exhibits all sorts of problems recording/buffering it. Something is bad wrong with their PSIP and/or other ATSC transmission protocols.



Same problem with my Dynex TV. I tried emailing them, and they just put me on a spam list. So now I just don't watch that station, and tune into one of the several other PBS stations I receive. No sweat off my back, just one more email address to add to my spam list.


----------



## Apostate

What happened to Mhz channels, 30.1 - 30.5? One day they were there, next they were gone. Their web site is still up so I am assuming they are still in business. Did they cut down their transmission power or something?


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/17629782
> 
> 
> Heads up - new RTN 7 programming starts today.
> 
> http://www.myretrotv.com/prog_schedules/WJLA.pdf
> 
> 
> Peter Gunn
> 
> I Spy
> 
> Daniel Boone
> 
> The Rifleman
> 
> Cisco Kid
> 
> 
> Gone are Incredible Hulk, Hitchcock Presents, and Night Gallery (and others).



Cisco Kid is LAME. No way can that last. "Hey Cisco!" "Hey Pancho!" "HaHaHaHaHa". Was there any more to it than that?


I can't help but notice how much Daniel Boone looks like Davey Cockett.


I hope they bring back Mannix. It had a great run on TV Land.


By the way, WB Network had a retro-Saturday of its own a few years ago, running their really campy, early 1960s detective series, including Surf Side Six, Seventy Seven Sunset Strip and Hawaiian Eye. You can't imagine how ridiculous the dialog was...or maybe you can.


Trivia question (no fair Googling): Who was the host of the pilot episode of Wheel of Fortune? Hint: he had previously starred in one of the old, WB detective series


----------



## systems2000

Is it me or is there becoming an epidemic on stations PSIP systems coming up empty? I'm always finding the EPG on my Zinwell having many stations with no entries. It used to be only one or two and only once in awhile.


----------



## TheKrell




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Apostate* /forum/post/17644551
> 
> 
> What happened to Mhz channels, 30.1 - 30.5? One day they were there, next they were gone.



I observe no problem here, and I tried all 5 subchannels.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Apostate* /forum/post/17644551
> 
> 
> What happened to Mhz channels, 30.1 - 30.5? One day they were there, next they were gone. Their web site is still up so I am assuming they are still in business. Did they cut down their transmission power or something?



Are you aware that they are broadcast from a different transmitter at a different location than are 30.6 to 30.10? 30.1 to 30.5 are broadcast on UHF channel 24 from Falls Church, whereas channels 30.6 to 30.10 are broadcast on channel 30 from someplace called Goldvein that is somewhere near Manassas


----------



## Digital Rules

Good point Mike!! WNVT-30 broadcasts from high atop Independent Hill 6 miles south of downtown Manassas. I don't think they ever did broadcast from Goldvein, which is a good 25 miles south of the actual transmitter.


----------



## Dave Loudin

What was ch. 53 analog was originally a Fredericksburg allocation. In order to have the transmitter as close to DC as possible, a petition to move the community of license to Goldvein (a grocery store and a few houses on Rt. 17 in southern Fauquier) was approved, allowing the transmitter site to be up in Prince William County along Rt. 234 at Independence Hill.


There also may be a studio location wrinkle to this - there are studio-to-transmitter-site or studio-to-COL distance limits that used to be more strict. WNVC/WNVT have always had the same studio location in Merrifield.


----------



## MrHifi




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Apostate* /forum/post/17644551
> 
> 
> What happened to Mhz channels, 30.1 - 30.5? One day they were there, next they were gone. Their web site is still up so I am assuming they are still in business. Did they cut down their transmission power or something?



I am in Davidsonville, MD, 8 miles west of Annapolis. 30.1 is almost impossible to get any more. Up until 2 weeks ago it was strong via my rooftop antenna.


----------



## hsweiss




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Potatoehead* /forum/post/17638111
> 
> 
> I am further south than you in Calvert County and have not noticed any change in the signal. I used to have problems getting this channel, until I realized that I had to point the antenna directly at this station and let all of the other channels be a bit less than optimal. Otherwise receiving WUTB was impossible. By the way my antenna is just mounted in my attic.



My antenna is also mounted in the attic. But its not dead-on for WUTB whose tower is in Catonsville - slightly to the west of the rest of the Baltimore stations who are located on TV hill which is essentially dead-on true north from my location. I know that when I was first playing around with DTV converter boxes and antennas I could not get WUTB with my antenna indoors on the 2nd floor but they did come in after I raised it another story in the attic. So its always been touch-and-go from here. The weird thing is if they haven't changed anything, and I haven't changed anything, and if the leaves came down which should only enhance the signal, why would they drop off? When I get the time & energy to climb up into the attic I will try to re-point slightly to the west to see if it makes a difference.


----------



## systems2000

I've lost WUTB here to, but I attributed it to tropo propogation interference being more enhanced (stations reaching further) by the loss of folige.


----------



## systems2000

I finally replaced my Trunkline 20-TDA25 25dB UHF/VHF/FM distribution amplifier with a Channel Master 3414 4-way 8dB distribution amplifier.


This allowed me to eliminate a 2-way splitter and 6db attenuator on the input to the Trunkline amplifier (at the closet). I now have the ability for a future set and to run a coax to my neighbor.


With this new configuration, I now get WUSA, WBAL, WJZ, and WUTB fairly reliably and WTTG is showing signs of returning.










I forgot to order an LPF-700 and a couple of HLSJ's.










I'll work on positioning until I get those.


----------



## Apostate




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrHifi* /forum/post/17647138
> 
> 
> I am in Davidsonville, MD, 8 miles west of Annapolis. 30.1 is almost impossible to get any more. Up until 2 weeks ago it was strong via my rooftop antenna.



Thanks. I thought I was losing my mind.










I was getting the channels fine and then one day *poof* no signals at all.


I wonder what happened.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/17647621
> 
> 
> I've lost WUTB here to, but I attributed it to tropo propogation interference being more enhanced (stations reaching further) by the loss of folige.



I tested WUTB out tonight for you guys OTA, and unfortunately I don't see any difference from earlier in the year. I'm distinctly on the "bad" side of their radiation pattern, but I'm also only 5 miles away. Sorry I can't be of assistance. I tried.


----------



## AntAltMike

Has anyone had any audio probelms with WJLA? I have half a dozen Channel Master CM-7000 CECBs in multiple dwelling unit headends that I leave set on channel 7, and each has been losing the audio probably an average of once a week for the last few months, and it stays off until someone powers the box off and on, but there is nothing wrong with these units, as I have swapped them with other units in the same headends but the problem stays with channel 7.


I just swapped them all out for iNet SSR1921 boxes, so I'll be keeping an eye on them and my fingers crossed. Since the CM-700 is now a discontinued product, I probably won't otherwise try to' "get to the bottom" of this, since I will need the half dozen CM-7000s I just pulled out as spares for future replacements.


----------



## hsweiss




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17652298
> 
> 
> I tested WUTB out tonight for you guys OTA, and unfortunately I don't see any difference from earlier in the year. I'm distinctly on the "bad" side of their radiation pattern, but I'm also only 5 miles away. Sorry I can't be of assistance. I tried.



Sorry - I'm not sure what you mean - you still have them or you've also lost them and can't reacquire them even at 5 miles from their tower?


----------



## Apostate




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/17645493
> 
> 
> Are you aware that they are broadcast from a different transmitter at a different location than are 30.6 to 30.10? 30.1 to 30.5 are broadcast on UHF channel 24 from Falls Church, whereas channels 30.6 to 30.10 are broadcast on channel 30 from someplace called Goldvein that is somewhere near Manassas



I am up near College Park, MD. I never got 30.6 to 30.10 but I have gotten 30.1 to 30.5 without any problems. I was just trying to figure out what happened. I hope Mhz boost their power up again.


----------



## systems2000

I spent some time last night sweeping the sky to see how my system improvements have affected my reception. Sweeping from 000° to 360°, I didn't find any signals from channel 2 to 6 and channel 10. I also verified that I don't see any signals from WGAL 8.


I also swept through the channels I do acquire and peaked each one to acquire the following (by true RF):

*STATION**SIGNAL**QUALITY**DIRECTION**PATH**DISTANCE*WJLA90%70%150°2-Edge71 milesW08EE-D89%83%188°*LOS*34 milesWUSA85%53%150°2-Edge71 milesWBAL50%22%117°2-Edge65.5 milesWWPX90%100%216°*LOS*34 milesWJZ50%56%117°2-Edge65.5 milesWVPY90%77%188°*LOS*71 miles (?)WLYH70%27%000°Bounce71 milesWHAG90%100%across a wide range*LOS*20 milesWGCB82%68%83°2-Edge58.5 milesWTAJ85%100%330°2-Edge63.5 milesWPXW50%6%?2-Edge71 milesWDCA50%21%150°2-Edge70 milesWMAR20%81%117°2-Edge65.5 milesWJAL90%100%across a wide range*LOS*15 milesWNUV20%35%117°2-Edge65.5 milesWUTB20%21%133°2-Edge63 milesWWPB90%100%across a wide range*LOS*21 milesWPMT65%53%86°2-Edge58.5 miles


----------



## hsweiss




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/17655018
> 
> 
> I spent some time last night sweeping the sky to see how my system improvements have affected my reception. Sweeping from 000° to 360°, I didn't find any signals from channel 2 to 6 and channel 10. I also verified that I don't see any signals from WGAL 8.
> 
> 
> I also swept through the channels I do acquire and peaked each one to acquire the following (by true RF):
> 
> *STATION**SIGNAL**QUALITY**DIRECTION*WJLA90%70%150°W08EE-D89%83%188°WUSA85%53%150°WBAL50%22%117°WWPX90%100%216°WJZ50%56%117°WVPY90%77%188°WLYH70%27%000°WHAG90%100%across a wide rangeWGCB82%68%83°WTAJ85%100%330°WPXW50%6%?WDCA50%21%150°WMAR20%81%117°WJAL90%100%across a wide rangeWNUV20%35%117°WUTB20%21%133°WWPB90%100%across a wide rangeWPMT65%53%86°



Just curious - what's the definition of "signal" vs. "quality"? Is signal meant to be signal strength where 100% would be best? In most cases in your chart, higher signal indicates higher quality - which is exactly what I would have expected. But I'm curious about WMAR where you show signal=20% but quality=81%. That one surprises me.


----------



## howie14




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrHifi* /forum/post/17647138
> 
> 
> I am in Davidsonville, MD, 8 miles west of Annapolis. 30.1 is almost impossible to get any more. Up until 2 weeks ago it was strong via my rooftop antenna.



I'm in Eldersburg MD, 13 miles southeast of Westminster, and when the digital conversion occurred I was getting passable locks on 30.1-.5, 26.1-.4 and 4.1-.3. They all take a great deal of tweaking to pull in now. Some days WRC doesn't come in at all.


I'm also locking in WGAL 8.1-.2 with a weak but lockable signal even with the antenna turned toward DC. That too is a change from back in the summer.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

Driving North on I-97 this morning, I noticed that the old WMPT-22 tower is being disassembled. Looks like tricky work since the old tower is fairly close to the new tower with guy wires crisscrossing each other.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hsweiss* /forum/post/17655260
> 
> 
> Just curious - what's the definition of "signal" vs. "quality"?



These numbers were from my Zinwell ZAT-970A (*027*) converter. It has a dual meter (like APEX DT502's, Sunkey SK-801ATSC's, and others). They measure Signal Strength and the Quality/Integrity of the Data present.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hsweiss* /forum/post/17655260
> 
> 
> Is signal meant to be signal strength where 100% would be best?



Yes.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hsweiss* /forum/post/17655260
> 
> 
> In most cases in your chart, higher signal indicates higher quality - which is exactly what I would have expected. But I'm curious about WMAR where you show signal=20% but quality=81%. That one surprises me.



I don't have an answer for that and it's still what I get. I can say that it was more in line with the others before the change.


----------



## mdviewer25

Does anyone else have Comcast QAM channels remapped to different numbers? My Samsung T451 gets an SD version of WJLA at 84-1. On my Toshiba TV, it remaps that channel to 7-31 which means I don't see the other QAM channels on 84 including the Comcast Network, Comcast Sportsnet, ESPN2, and TBS.


----------



## ACW112983

I'm glad I don't have to worry about all this 9.1 stuff or QAM, 'cause I don't get it at all.


Anyone hear anything more about new Comcast HD channels for Northern VA?


----------



## Jim Miller

Not in NoVa but here in Baltimore County (Comcast) I was able to find some 8xx replicas of 2xx and added them last weekend. No Tivo guide info showed up for several days. But last night I noticed Tivo had guide info for those channels even though there still has been no "Channel Lineup has Changed" message for them yet. So the changes must still be in progress here.


jtm


----------



## Marcus Carr

Univision and TeleFutura go HD on Monday. The schedule so far:


December 7, 2009, 12:01 AM (local time):

New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Atlanta


December 14, 2009, 12:01 AM (local time):


Austin, Chicago, Dallas, Fresno, Houston, Raleigh, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Francisco, Bakersfield


December 21, 2009, 12:01 AM (local time):

Miami, Phoenix, Douglas, Flagstaff, Tucson, Salt Lake City

http://www.univision.com/content/con...ml?cid=2194649


----------



## Trip in VA

It looks like only Univision's O&O stations are going (except WQHS in Cleveland), and TeleFutura affiliates only in markets where Univision also owns the Univision affiliate.


WFDC is owned by Entravision, thus it is not included on the list. I have to wonder if Entravision will add HD at some point.


- Trip


----------



## mjw703




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ACW112983* /forum/post/17661028
> 
> 
> I'm glad I don't have to worry about all this 9.1 stuff or QAM, 'cause I don't get it at all.
> 
> 
> Anyone hear anything more about new Comcast HD channels for Northern VA?



I've read on the Comcast forums on dslreports that Comcast is finally going to start testing Cisco DTA's soon (for those of us on Scientific Atlanta systems, which is what Arlington is.) After they get deployed, then we can expect to see new HD channels. DCRTV.com reports that this won't happen until the middle of 2010.


----------



## imref

Rob Dibble sent a tweet out yesterday saying that all Nationals and Orioles game would be available via HD next season, so I guess that means MASN 2 will be available in HD. Anyone hear which systems might carry it?


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *imref* /forum/post/17664694
> 
> 
> Rob Dibble sent a tweet out yesterday saying that all Nationals and Orioles game would be available via HD next season, so I guess that means MASN 2 will be available in HD. Anyone hear which systems might carry it?



This is great news. I assume that RCN will carry MASN2 HD, as they've carried all MASN programming since day one, and they have unused channels in the HD tier next to both MASN HD and CSN HD, presumably reserved for both channels' respective future HD overflow feeds.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Makes sense, with most Comcast systems making room for more HD recently.


----------



## albertso

Hi Folks,


COMCAST MOCO did the first part of the "all digital" switch today (or last night). No notice, at least recently. Hope all of us have our boxes ready...


----------



## Jim Miller

Nearly 100 HD channels now shown on Comcast Balto County on 8xx channels. Still haven't received notice on Tivo of their existence.


jtm


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *albertso* /forum/post/17670649
> 
> 
> Hi Folks,
> 
> 
> COMCAST MOCO did the first part of the "all digital" switch today (or last night). No notice, at least recently. Hope all of us have our boxes ready...



I believe they did it a few days earlier. As a side note, I lost all digital channels, except, locals, for a few hours yesterday afternoon.

J


----------



## Marcus Carr

*MASN to Launch 2nd HD Channel For Nats, O's*


TVPredictions.com


Washington, D.C. (December 7, 2009) -- MASN, the regional sports channel that broadcasts Washington Nationals and Baltimore Oriole games, is launching a second High-Definition channel, according to Sports Business Journal.


The publication writes that the move will enable the sports network to broadcast every Oriole and Nats game in high-def in the 2010 season.


In the 2009 season, MASN was only able to offer 100 Oriole and 100 Nats games in HD because it had just one high-def channel.


Sports Business Journal writes that DIRECTV and Comcast are among the TV providers expected to carry the second MASN HD channel.


The publication added that the second HD channel will be launched in April.

http://www.tvpredictions.com/masn120709.htm


----------



## Marcus Carr

*MASN to launch second HD channel*


Washington Business Journal - by John Ourand Contributing Writer


The Mid-Atlantic Sports Network is launching a second high-definition television channel in April, ensuring that every Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles game will be available in high definition next season.


Most of the Baltimore and Washington area cable and satellite providers have agreed to carry MASN2 HD as part of affiliate deals that allow for overflow channels. MASN uses a second channel when the Nationals and Orioles are playing at the same time.


Unlike its standard-definition version, MASN2 HD will be a dedicated stand-alone channel that telecasts pre- and postgame shows and select games.


On Comcast's system in Washington, for example, the standard-definition MASN2 shares a channel with the standard-definition C-SPAN2.


Comcast and Cox are the dominant cable operators in the Baltimore-Washington area. DirecTV also is expected to carry the new channel.


This marks a change from 2005, when Comcast and MASN were in the midst of a bitter carriage dispute that kept the regional sports network off of the area's biggest cable system during the Nationals' inaugural season.


The move to 100 percent HD continues a trend that every regional sports network has been pursuing, even though television executives can't point to increased ratings or ad revenue for HD.


In 2008, MASN telecast 40 Orioles games and 40 Nationals games in HD. Last season, it telecast 105 games each.


This is the next logical step for the network, MASN spokesman Todd Webster said.


Other RSNs also are planning to go all HD with their telecasts this year, too. Last year, four of the six Comcast SportsNets with baseball telecast all of the games in HD. This year, all six are expected to go 100 percent HD.


And last year, about half of the Fox Sports Nets with baseball telecast all games in HD. This year, most of them will be all HD.


MASN plans to split Orioles and Nationals games evenly between MASN HD and MASN2 HD, rather than assigning a team for each network.


Everything needs to be divided equally with both teams, Webster said. Putting one team on a second channel would not be fully equitable.

http://washington.bizjournals.com/wa...07/daily3.html


----------



## Marcus Carr

*MASN To Launch MASN2 HD for 2010*


By MASN Staff on December 7, 2009 9:14 AM


MASN, the television home of the Washington Nationals and the Baltimore Orioles, will launch a high definition overflow channel beginning in the spring of 2010, the network announced today. The launch of MASN2 HD will allow the network to televise every Orioles and Nationals game live and in high-def throughout the season. The majority of MASN's cable and satellite affiliates will be prepared to carry the channel for the 2010 MLB campaign throughout the network's seven-state television territory.


Beginning in April, the network will televise every game and every play -- more than 320 Major League Baseball games in all -- in crystal-clear high definition. Nationals and Orioles game replays will still appear on the network's flagship high definition channel, MASN HD. O's Xtra and Nats Xtra, the network's exclusive pregame and postgame shows, will be televised in HD live and on location from the ballpark during every home game for both teams.


MASN's high definition telecasts of every Nationals and Orioles game next season builds upon the network's efforts in 2009, when the network produced and transmitted a high definition game every day of the season. Two hundred and ten of these productions were broadcast live on MASN's flagship HD channel. The 2010 launch of MASN2 HD, which will televise approximately 130 live games, positions MASN as the leading regional sports network in the United States with 320 Major League Baseball high definition telecasts.


"In only its fourth season, MASN continues to set the standard for regional sports programming, with national-caliber broadcast talent, state of the art in-game technology, and the most in-depth coverage of the Nationals and Orioles," said MASN spokesman Todd Webster. "MASN is proud to be the first RSN in the region to offer every one of its professional games in high definition. And with every play and every game in HD in 2010, fans will be closer to the action than ever before."


MASN HD will continue to occupy a permanent channel position in the HD lineup of its cable, satellite and fiber optic carriers throughout the MASN's seven-state television territory. MASN2 HD will also occupy a dedicated channel position, and will be active during the pregame, game, and postgame show for approximately 130 dates when both the Nationals and Orioles are playing simultaneously.


"We're very excited about the launch of MASN2 HD because this is great for our fans, who can now enjoy every single one of our games in crisp high definition" said Nationals president Stan Kasten. "This is even more good news for the Nationals heading into the 2010 season."


"I continue to be impressed by MASN's commitment to providing our fans with the most technologically advanced and professionally-produced telecasts in all of Major League Baseball," said Orioles president of Baseball Operations, Andy MacPhail. "They continue to push the envelope and set the standard for regional networks."


With four channels in operation for the 2010 season, the easiest way to locate MASN, MASN2, MASN HD and MASN2 HD, will be for viewers to check their on-screen channel guides using their television remote. A full listing of cable, satellite and fiber optic channel positions will be available at MASNsports.com.


With Every Play and Every Game in crystal clear high definition, pre and post game shows before and after every game, state of the art "Game Day" on-location sets at Nationals Park and Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the best broadcast talent in baseball, and 24/7 online coverage at MASNsports.com, MASN is the home of the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals.

http://masnsports.com/2009/12/masn-t...hd-for-20.html


----------



## shelby68gt500




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/17656115
> 
> 
> Driving North on I-97 this morning, I noticed that the old WMPT-22 tower is being disassembled. Looks like tricky work since the old tower is fairly close to the new tower with guy wires crisscrossing each other.



How is the old tower oriented versus the new one? I'm curious if the removal of the old tower would have any effect on reception to the southwest. Some of my digital tuners can pickup 22 fairly consistently, others don't see it at all. I'd really like to pull in MPT consistently to supplement WETA and WHUT.


----------



## rkolsen




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Jim Miller* /forum/post/17670724
> 
> 
> Nearly 100 HD channels now shown on Comcast Balto County on 8xx channels. Still haven't received notice on Tivo of their existence.
> 
> 
> jtm



My HD Channels in Baltimore County showed up the day before Thanksgiving and finally showed up in my TiVo last week on December 2nd.


----------



## Jim Miller

I see them on my Tivo and there is guide info there as well but I never received a notice of movement.


jtm


----------



## Gerald C

DCRTV.COM reports:



> Quote:
> 12/3 - A DCRTV tech guru tells us that Channel 7/WJLA is asking the Federal Communications Commission to allow it to add a UHF relay on channel 39 to improve its digital signal coverage. Like many TV stations that moved their digital signals from UHF back to their original VHF channels back in June at the digital TV deadline, WJLA says that some viewers have been having trouble receiving the DC market's ABC affiliate. However, our tech guru tells us that the new UHFer could create interference to some area stations that use adjacent frequencies. More at fcc.gov .....


----------



## tripleM

My retired parents live in Loudoun Cty VA & they are on expanded analog cable with Comcast. Apparently this weekend, CC went to all digital out there.

They lost all their QAM signals on their HDTV's.


Can some1 tell me what they need to do with Comcast to regain the signals?

I've read that CC are giving out DTA boxes to expanded analog subscribers but since I am in Richmond, I know nothing about their policies.

How many DTA boxes are they allowed to get with out charge?

Is CC truncating any programing with this all digital transition for expanded analog subs?


TIA


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *shelby68gt500* /forum/post/17672470
> 
> 
> How is the old tower oriented versus the new one? I'm curious if the removal of the old tower would have any effect on reception to the southwest. Some of my digital tuners can pickup 22 fairly consistently, others don't see it at all. I'd really like to pull in MPT consistently to supplement WETA and WHUT.



The old tower is SW of the new one, but it wasn't quite as high as the new one so I don't think you will notice any difference.


Only about 1/4 of the old tower left as of this morning.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/17673063
> 
> 
> My retired parents live in Loudoun Cty VA & they are on expanded analog cable with Comcast. Apparently this weekend, CC went to all digital out there.
> 
> They lost all their QAM signals on their HDTV's.
> 
> 
> Can some1 tell me what they need to do with Comcast to regain the signals?
> 
> I've read that CC are giving out DTA boxes to expanded analog subscribers but since I am in Richmond, I know nothing about their policies.
> 
> How many DTA boxes are they allowed to get with out charge?
> 
> Is CC truncating any programing with this all digital transition for expanded analog subs?
> 
> 
> TIA



Have they rescanned their TVs? Here in Montgomery county, we get a digital version of all on the analog stations, even ones they didn't remove. I have expanded basic (analog), and have no problems getting QAM clear channels. That said, Comcast does have a tendency to play Peek-a-Boo with the QAM clear channels, requiring a rescan ever few months, and yesterday I lost all of them for several hours for some odd reason. They came back on their own.

J


----------



## systems2000

I see that there will be an estimated 184,860 viewers across WMAR, WJAL, & WWTD-LD, that will loose these stations (mostly WWTD-LD). From their coverage map, it looks like most of their problem area is within D.C. itself and the surrounding hill/forested terrain.


----------



## Digital Rules

Is WWTD-LD38 even on the air?


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/17673993
> 
> 
> Have they rescanned their TVs? Here in Montgomery county, we get a digital version of all on the analog stations, even ones they didn't remove. I have expanded basic (analog), and have no problems getting QAM clear channels. That said, Comcast does have a tendency to play Peek-a-Boo with the QAM clear channels, requiring a rescan ever few months, and yesterday I lost all of them for several hours for some odd reason. They came back on their own.
> 
> J



Yeah - I haven't suggested that to them yet.

But that was my first inclination also.


Will do thanks!


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/17674188
> 
> 
> I see that there will be an estimated 184,860 viewers across WMAR, WJAL, & WWTD-LD, that will loose these stations (mostly WWTD-LD). From their coverage map, it looks like most of their problem area is within D.C. itself and the surrounding hill/forested terrain.



?? According to the OET-69 analysis summary, WJLA's proposal will affect only 6469 (assuming no overlap) people beyond those _already_ suffering interference to these stations. Those 178391 (again, assuming no overlap) are scattered about, and there's nothing saying that all these folks would be affected by WJLA's proposal.


----------



## Trip in VA

And WWTD-LD will operate on channel 14. The channel 38 app is invalidated by the presence of WMAR.


- Trip


----------



## systems2000

I didn't catch that about WWTD-LD being on the same frequency as WMAR. I wonder why WJLA didn't note that, since they made a point that there were other stations they excluded from their analysis.


----------



## Trip in VA

Because as a low-powered station, WWTD-LD would get bumped off the frequency anyway. It's required to vacate or accept interference.


Actually, this is a fill-in translator, so it's not like a full-service station. Ignore me, I'm slow. (Feeling flu-ish today.)


- Trip


----------



## Apostate




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Apostate* /forum/post/17651809
> 
> 
> Thanks. I thought I was losing my mind.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I was getting the channels fine and then one day *poof* no signals at all.
> 
> 
> I wonder what happened.



I got the MHz channels! I checked last night and I got them back.


One day, no signals. Next day, full signals. WTF.










I cannot believe that TV stations still have not gotten their stuff together.







It's been six months since the official transition!


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Apostate* /forum/post/17678966
> 
> 
> I got the MHz channels! I checked last night and I got them back.
> 
> 
> One day, no signals. Next day, full signals. WTF.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I cannot believe that TV stations still have not gotten their stuff together.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It's been six months since the official transition!



This is quite normal when the seasons change. I find the use of a rotator necessary even with most of the signals in the same direction.


The multipath patterns can change when the leaves fall off the trees which may require re-pointing of the antenna to maximize signal strength.


----------



## hsweiss




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Apostate* /forum/post/17678966
> 
> 
> I got the MHz channels! I checked last night and I got them back.
> 
> 
> One day, no signals. Next day, full signals. WTF.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I cannot believe that TV stations still have not gotten their stuff together.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It's been six months since the official transition!



In email exchanges I've had with several stations, they say they are learning new things every day!


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Apostate* /forum/post/17678966
> 
> 
> I got the MHz channels! I checked last night and I got them back.
> 
> 
> One day, no signals. Next day, full signals. WTF.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I cannot believe that TV stations still have not gotten their stuff together.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It's been six months since the official transition!



My home is in Stafford up on a hill looking out at the Potomac. I get all the Mhz channels just fine OTA, always have. In fact, among the 36 channels I receive, they are the most solid. The most difficult reliable reception for me is WRC channel 48, but I suspect that's because of multipath and too much receive antenna gain.


----------



## kalnel

I know some of you follow Comcast news. In Montgomery, they activated a bunch of the new HDs today. I just put a lineup of what I'm seeing as of this afternoon in the Comcast thread.


----------



## John_D




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/17680060
> 
> 
> My home is in Stafford up on a hill looking out at the Potomac. I get all the Mhz channels just fine OTA, always have. In fact, among the 36 channels I receive, they are the most solid. The most difficult reliable reception for me is WRC channel 48, but I suspect that's because of multipath and too much receive antenna gain.



Do you get the 2nd set which is WNVT and map to 30-6 through 30-10? I am in Baltimore and put up an antenna that is too small (Winegard 7694p) to get the first set which is WNVC on 30-1 through 30-5. I am thinking about going to a larger antenna. I get them occasionally. I really enjoy the International programming when I can receive them.


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *John_D* /forum/post/17681545
> 
> 
> Do you get the 2nd set which is WNVT and map to 30-6 through 30-10? I am in Baltimore and put up an antenna that is too small (Winegard 7694p) to get the first set which is WNVC on 30-1 through 30-5. I am thinking about going to a larger antenna. I get them occasionally. I really enjoy the International programming when I can receive them.



Both my older Samsung tuner and a GE cheapo tuner will map WNVT to 30-5 to 30-10 whether or not WNVC has been mapped in also.


----------



## imref

MASN launched MASN2 HD:

http://masnsports.com/2009/12/masn-t...hd-for-20.html 


Anyone know if FiOS will carry MASN2 HD?


----------



## ss_sea_ya

Yea, I've pretty much lost reliable reception on 5, 7 & 9. Whats strange, is 5 & 20 broadcast from same location with 5 at twice the power, yet 20 comes in fine, while 5 doesn't.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Apostate* /forum/post/17678966
> 
> 
> I got the MHz channels! I checked last night and I got them back.
> 
> 
> One day, no signals. Next day, full signals. WTF.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I cannot believe that TV stations still have not gotten their stuff together.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It's been six months since the official transition!



I can receive WNVT RF30 pretty good at night (due the solar radiation/noise floor being lower). I usually have to point my antenna directly at the transmitter (SW of me). It's one of the weakest stations that I can receive in Southern AA County. During the daytime it is fully pixelated.


I can also receive RF 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 21, 24, 27, 28, 29, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 40, 42, 46, 47, 48, and 50. 41 would come in if WMPT wasn't so close to me (12 miles as a crow flies).


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *imref* /forum/post/17682624
> 
> 
> MASN launched MASN2 HD:
> 
> http://masnsports.com/2009/12/masn-t...hd-for-20.html
> 
> 
> Anyone know if FiOS will carry MASN2 HD?



Hopefully, but I haven't seen any confirmation yet.


From the MASN Web site :



> Quote:
> NOTE: The following systems have committed to carrying MASN2 HD in 2010: Armstrong, Atlantic Broadband Cumberland, Atlantic Broadband Middletown/Chesapeake, Bay Country, Charter Manteo NC, Charter Roanoke Rapids NC, Charter Suffolk VA, Charter Waverly VA, Comcast, Cox Hampton Roads, Cox Northern Virginia, Cox Roanoke, DirecTV, Easton, Harron-Metrocast, Broadstripe, NTELOS, Openband, RCN, Reds, & Antietam.


----------



## nottenst

Has anyone else experienced "deja vu" on Comcast when watching football? Last Sunday a couple of times the a few seconds would repeat exactly. (No, it wasn't instant replay.) It was the signal just going back in time a few seconds and then continuing on from there. Anyway, I've seen it every now and then on football games.


Meanwhile, on the one TV where I am getting the signal through a box for some reason it is starting to break up recently. I am seeing some digital artifacts every now and then.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ss_sea_ya* /forum/post/17683030
> 
> 
> Yea, I've pretty much lost reliable reception on 5, 7 & 9. Whats strange, is 5 & 20 broadcast from same location with 5 at twice the power, yet 20 comes in fine, while 5 doesn't.



That actually could be your problem. In my case, WRC came in perfectly with an alligator clip lead sticking out of the F connector on the TV, but when I connnected it to my new outdoor antenna, the "signal strength" for WRC plummeted to 22% from 70% with wild fluctuations. Sure I picked up many more channels with the higher gain antenna, but the multipath killed reception of WRC.


Remember that the "signal strength" meter on your TV or STB is not measuring actual field strength, but data quality. Multipath reflections of strong signals can cause the signal or data quality to fall below acceptable reception ability. In numerous installations I've seen, people are befuddled because they put up giant high gain antennas aimed at 1MW UHF DTV stations 10 miles away and can't figure out why their "signal strength" is so low.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/17686281
> 
> 
> Hopefully, but I haven't seen any confirmation yet.
> 
> 
> From the MASN Web site :



DirecTV has had the channel number in the guide since MASN HD was launched (641-1). Finally programming for it!


----------



## quentenstash




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/17686425
> 
> 
> Has anyone else experienced "deja vu" on Comcast when watching football? Last Sunday a couple of times the a few seconds would repeat exactly. (No, it wasn't instant replay.) It was the signal just going back in time a few seconds and then continuing on from there. Anyway, I've seen it every now and then on football games.
> 
> 
> Meanwhile, on the one TV where I am getting the signal through a box for some reason it is starting to break up recently. I am seeing some digital artifacts every now and then.



That also happened during the ALCS and World Series.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> *Comcast Upgrades DVR Features In DC, PG* - 12/9 - Comcast is making digital enhancements for its TV customers in DC and Prince George's County making it easier, faster, and more convenient for customers to schedule, record, manage, and watch cable TV. Such as remote digital video recorder (DVR) scheduling capabilities, and an interactive feature that will give customers the ability to purchase items, upgrade service, or learn more about the program or commercial they are seeing, all with a click of their remote controls. Comcast says it plans to roll out the changes to its other DC market systems in early 2010.....


 http://www.dcrtv.com/


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/17686425
> 
> 
> Meanwhile, on the one TV where I am getting the signal through a box for some reason it is starting to break up recently. I am seeing some digital artifacts every now and then.



The box was relatively hot last night when I was trying to program it to record something. The picture was even worse than before. When I had a chance later, I removed the box and the channels I could get directly looked perfectly good. There is a Comcast customer service center relatively close to where I work, so, today I returned the box. They gave me a new one that looks completely different. I'm hoping that I'll have no problems getting this connected up tonight.


----------



## systems2000

Isn't there a D.C. Comcast thread for all this Comcast stuff?


----------



## HDTV Sparky




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/17699860
> 
> 
> isn't there a d.c. Comcast thread for all this comcast stuff?



+1


----------



## jacindc

Nine new HD channels on Comcast DC today, and all non-movie HD channels now in the 800s (in addition to the old ones currently remaining in the 200s):

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...php?p=17700120 


(posted in the Comcast DC thread, which does exist for the people above just asking about it)


----------



## Doug Mac

yes there is a Wash DC Comcast thread as mentioned by others.....we asked the moderator to change the name to include the surrounding areas


we would like to leave this thread to the OTA folks


----------



## aptt

To me this is great news. from dcrtv.com


4 Preparing For HD Local Newscasts - 12/11 - DCRTV hears that construction on a new high-definition control room at Channel 4/WRC will begin in January, allowing the NBC station to join DC TV news rivals 5, 7, and 9 by offering HD local newscasts by spring 2010. We're told that there's a new digital router already at 4001 Nebraska Avenue ready to be installed. It's expected to be on the air sometime in March or April.....


Finally!


----------



## systems2000

While I was at my In-Laws today (rural Mercersburg, PA), I checked (using a Sunkey SK-801ATSC) their reception (VHF Only) and found the following:


*Station**V-RF (Real)**Distance**Level %**Quality %**Direction (M)**WJLA*7 (7)74.269100156°*WUSA*9 (9)74.268100156°*WBAL*11 (11)73.171100129°*WJZ*13 (13)73.170100129°*WHAG*25 (26)13.580100215°*WWPX*60 (12)28.57881213°
_All stations are rock solid._
*

SETUP NOTE:* They only have a large VHF antenna, 300 Ohm cabling, and a very old 4-way Channel Master 300 Ohm distribution amplifier. It is fix mounted (25' AGL) & pointed about half-way between Baltimore and D.C. (~142-143° Magnetic).


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Doug Mac* /forum/post/17703621
> 
> 
> yes there is a Wash DC Comcast thread as mentioned by others.....we asked the moderator to change the name to include the surrounding areas
> 
> 
> we would like to leave this thread to the OTA folks



I prefer to hear about all my options in one thread, not have to get news about varioius systems from all over the place. You would need several Comcast threads (not all the same system). Then you would need a few Fios threads. And RCN and other cable systems. Then there is the matter of local coverage from satellite systems. And I want to hear about all of them, not just the system(s) have in place.


----------



## jacindc

This thread has been the home to all things HD in the area for a long long time--if the OTA people want their own sandbox, can't they go start their own thread?


I much prefer having it all in one place, since I have all manner of OTA and Comcast (both Motorola and Tivo) setups.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aptt* /forum/post/17703995
> 
> 
> To me this is great news. from dcrtv.com
> 
> 
> 4 Preparing For HD Local Newscasts - 12/11 - DCRTV hears that construction on a new high-definition control room at Channel 4/WRC will begin in January, allowing the NBC station to join DC TV news rivals 5, 7, and 9 by offering HD local newscasts by spring 2010. We're told that there's a new digital router already at 4001 Nebraska Avenue ready to be installed. It's expected to be on the air sometime in March or April.....
> 
> 
> Finally!



Great news, indeed. But I'll believe it when I see it. This is about the third or fourth time we've heard this rumor over the past few years.


----------



## jtmonz

I'm a bit confused by this whole Comcast/DTA bit.


Could someone tell me if Comcast is now broadcasting most of their standard cable channels (previously NTSC) as clear QAM channels?


I'm moving to Laurel soon and would like to know if I need to update my Mythbox ahead of time.


Thanks.


----------



## biker19

^ You won't know for sure till you hook it up and things could change at any time. This whole clear QAM thing won't settle down till they completely pull the plug on analog.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

Is WUSA, WNVC, and WDCW off the air right now (12:30)? I'm seeing no signal from any of these channels.


Edit: Looks like they are back at 12:40.


----------



## hokiefan

WBFF 45.1 has been dropping out every so often for me, anyone else experiencing any problems? Normally I have no problem with reception, but of course today for the Ravens game I'm having issues. Signal quality is not fluctuating much, 75-78%. Not sure if its multipath or something else.


----------



## REDSKINSFAN47

i was getting a low power analog channel 6 from fairfax i can barely see it,it looked to have 3 stooges on it with spanish audio,just wandered if someone closer to dc could tell me if this channel is all spanish,the only analog i can get good here is channel 23 daystar its almost clear.


----------



## Digital Rules

Analog channel 6(WDCN) is broadcasting from Arlington, VA on the WETA-FM tower. (Next to Arlington Hospital; or whatever it is called this week







) It is actually a Spanish music radio station that shows silent B&W movies on the video portion of the channel.


----------



## jacindc

After two days of increasingly bad breaking up on all Comcast DC channels (not just HD channels), the entire slew of new and mirrored HD channels in the 800s disappeared from my Tivo-with-cablecards box on Sunday night around 10 pm, and have not returned. (The breakups mostly disappeared then, too.) The 800s channels are still on my Comcast Motorola box. Any other DC'ers out there with cable cards seeing the same thing?


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Analog channel 6(WDCN) is broadcasting from Arlington, VA on the WETA-FM tower.



Are you sure on that?


If it's who I think, it's _Signal Above_ from the Garden City AT&T tower along Lee Highway. You can see the cross-polarized Yagi's above the top platform; they are the only shiny antennas up there.


The transmitter is in the grayish modular building under the tower.


The AT&T tower was adjacent to WAVA's AM/FM site; and has a detuning network to compensate. WAVA is gone; the AM tower had guys and ground radials on AT&T property, and when it was sold off, was SOL. [Actually, after lots of lawsuit dollars...]


I never grasped WDCN's business model. I thought it was going to be religious broadcasting, given the law firm's known specialty in same.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mkfs* /forum/post/17719467
> 
> 
> Are you sure on that?
> 
> 
> The AT&T tower was adjacent to WAVA's AM/FM site; and has a detuning network to compensate. WAVA is gone; the AM tower had guys and ground radials on AT&T property, and when it was sold off, was SOL. [Actually, after lots of lawsuit dollars...]



Yes, WDCN-LP6 is a different tower 1/4 mile south of Lee Hwy on George Mason Drive.


And yes, it was a welcome relief when the WAVA/WBIG tower was taken down a few years ago. Not sure if one of the transmitters were defective or what, but the interference was horrendous on phones, VCR's, TV's, car alarms, etc . . . .


----------



## REDSKINSFAN47

thanks for the responce,an interesting combination,that would explain 3 stooges and spanish audio.i just can't quite see it,audio is good just don't understand any of it. wava is gone they go way back.(wava rocks the nation)


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/17719691
> 
> 
> Yes, WDCN-LP6 is a different tower 1/4 mile south of Lee Hwy on George Mason Drive.



Yes, on ASN 1045808 but its legal address is on 22nd St.



> Quote:
> And yes, it was a welcome relief when the WAVA/WBIG tower was taken down a few years ago. Not sure if one of the transmitters were defective or what, but the interference was horrendous on phones, VCR's, TV's, car alarms, etc . . . .



Just the consequence of having an AM transmitter in a neighborhood now filled with badly designed, RF-sensitive, gadgets. The solution was lost years ago when the FCC believed EIA's "rather than require devices meet a spec; we'll fix any that someone complains about..."


BTW, WAVA-FM moved to the WETA tower.


----------



## systems2000

Interestingly tonight, I found that I was getting a solid lock on WTAJ, while I was peaked for WUSA. When I'm viewing Baltimore or D.C., I had never previously checked my reception of WTAJ. This really surprised me considering the CM3020's ability to reject stations on the back-side.


Lately I've been able to acquire WUSA fairly well. Have they done anything different lately or is the improvement due to the fact that I removed an interference filter, which I had installed backwards?


----------



## Jim Miller

Are the 8xx channels on Comcast in Balto Co a permanent fixture or a temp location while other changes are being made?


tnx

jtm


----------



## voltore




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/17721669
> 
> 
> Interestingly tonight, I found that I was getting a solid lock on WTAJ, while I was peaked for WUSA. When I'm viewing Baltimore or D.C., I had never previously checked my reception of WTAJ. This really surprised me considering the CM3020's ability to reject stations on the back-side.
> 
> 
> Lately I've been able to acquire WUSA fairly well. Have they done anything different lately or is the improvement due to the fact that I removed an interference filter, which I had installed backwards?



Not yet. No changes, but hopefully soon.


----------



## Marcus Carr

The On Demand video about the digital migration has shown up on Comcast in Baltimore City. 12/23 is the date to start ordering DTAs according to a postcard I got a few weeks ago. No date for removal of analog signals has been given yet.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> HERNDON, Va., Dec. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- 'Tis the season to give and *Cox Communications Northern Virginia* (NOVA) is doing its part. The company is adding 13 new high-definition (HD) channels to its lineup beginning tomorrow, Dec. 16, bringing Cox NOVA's total HD channel offering to 78, just in time for the holidays. Channels launching include msnbc HD, BET HD, ABC Family HD, Disney HD, HBO2 HD, More Max HD, TMC HD, Encore HD, Tennis Channel HD, Investigation Discovery HD, BBC America HD, Starz Edge HD and Disney XD HD.


 http://www.prnewswire.com/news-relea...-79339147.html


----------



## howie14

Is anyone having any issues with OTA TVGOS?


My guide is showing "no listing" for 2-1, 2-2 and 7-1 while all other channels are updating nightly.


----------



## Gerald C




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *howie14* /forum/post/17737410
> 
> 
> Is anyone having any issues with OTA TVGOS?



There is more discussion of this in the HD Recorder forum in the DTVPal thread (the DTVPal uses TVGOS for its preferred guide info).


----------



## vmalhotra




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Gerald C* /forum/post/17737470
> 
> 
> There is more discussion of this in the HD Recorder forum in the DTVPal thread (the DTVPal uses TVGOS for its preferred guide info).




My DTVPal was showing 7.1 info on the TVGOS, unless it was PSIP, not sure how one can tell. I know most of my guide data was from TVGOS.


----------



## mdviewer25

not exactly HD related but why is WNUV 54 showing that exact same episode of Family Guy at 7:30 that they aired at 6:30?


----------



## URFloorMatt

As I'm watching the weather broadcasts for today, kudos to WJLA for having the least obtrusive weather crawl. WUSA's presentation isn't that bad but it's a bit unnecessary. As for WTTG, I think I've read here they can't do a weather crawl in HD, and that's why they drop the picture down to 4:3 letterbox, which is a shame because their graphic package is the cleanest of the bunch.


And then there's WRC, which looks really awful, even for 4:3.


----------



## mdviewer25

9-2 for college basketball, AWFUL!! looks worse than watching on a computer.


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/17575859
> 
> 
> Start with a 4:3 picture. Add sidebars to make it 16:9. Now, add letterbox bars to make it 4:3 again. Finally, add sidebars _again_ to make it 16:9.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yeah, I've seen that on PBS... I'm not sure if it was MPT or WETA.



Here's an example from MPT -- the Peter, Paul and Mary special that's on right now. How the hell does this happen?









Attachment 161383 


They just cut to a pledge break, which is in 16:9 postage stamp format. But the show itself seems to be entirely 4:3.


----------



## Lenonn

Watching SNL (digital - channel 604, on RCN) and having audio drop-outs every few minutes. No idea why - I'm assuming it's the weather. When they've occurred in-sketch, it almost seems like the censors bleeping things out.


Anyone else having issues? I just want to make sure it's not the cablecard.


----------



## kalnel




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Lenonn* /forum/post/17753417
> 
> 
> Watching SNL (digital - channel 604, on RCN) and having audio drop-outs every few minutes. No idea why - I'm assuming it's the weather. When they've occurred in-sketch, it almost seems like the censors bleeping things out.
> 
> 
> Anyone else having issues? I just want to make sure it's not the cablecard.



I'm having it too. I'm watching on Comcast in Montgomery County. Recorded that way on two of my DVRs, one on channel 804, the other on 211. Both WRC HD.


----------



## howie14




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Gerald C* /forum/post/17737470
> 
> 
> There is more discussion of this in the HD Recorder forum in the DTVPal thread (the DTVPal uses TVGOS for its preferred guide info).



Thanks. After two weeks of no listings for WMAR and several days of no listing for WJLA, the listings magically reappeared on Saturday.


I have no idea what might have changed.


----------



## Dave Loudin

Potential good news for those who lost WUSA - they have requested a hike to 52 kW from 12.6 kW on an experimental basis (details here ). They're going to set up a measurement program where interference to WGAL and WBPH are predicted to see what power they can maintain without impacts to others.


----------



## chamb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin* /forum/post/17763367
> 
> 
> Potential good news for those who lost WUSA - they have requested a hike to 52 kW from 12.6 kW on an experimental basis (details here ). They're going to set up a measurement program where interference to WGAL and WBPH are predicted to see what power they can maintain without impacts to others.



What took them so long to even think about doing this ??


----------



## Trip in VA

Probably hammering out the deal that would get WBPH to allow the 14% (!) interference it's going to cause them.


- Trip


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/17765873
> 
> 
> Probably hammering out the deal that would get WBPH to allow the 14% (!) interference it's going to cause them.
> 
> 
> - Trip



I'd imagine they must be considering a new directional antenna as part of their final solution, and are just seeing how far they can crank things up before screwing everyone else over to get a handle on what radiation patterns/power levels they might be able to ultimately use.


It makes sense to me, anyway. If the models/predictions aren't indicative of real-world performance, good old experimentation is required!


----------



## chamb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/17765873
> 
> 
> Probably hammering out the deal that would get WBPH to allow the 14% (!) interference it's going to cause them.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Just what could they have offered WBPH that would have caused them to accept the interference?? They really had nothing to offer that I can see. It surprises me that this was acceptable unless there is something else we do not know.


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chamb* /forum/post/17767532
> 
> 
> Just what could they have offered WBPH that would have caused them to accept the interference?? They really had nothing to offer that I can see. It surprises me that this was acceptable unless there is something else we do not know.



A little digging, and I think I have the answer. First, the plot of interference (and predicted 14% interference) to WBPH is for WBPH's current 3.2 kW (max-DA) operation, detailed here . WBPH ended up with channel 9 post-transition by substituting it for their original out-of-core channel 59 in 2006. Part of their justification was poverty, as they are a viewer-supported station.


Note in WUSA's filing that new interference to another WBPH facility @ 89 kW (max-DA), detailed here , is only 2.4%, a little bit less than what would be caused to WGAL. I think the carrot here is help in building the new facility.


----------



## Trip in VA

What's interesting is that just yesterday WHAS in Louisville filed paperwork to make a power boost from 5.2 kW up to 16.4 kW on their own omni permanent. They did real world testing to determine whether predicted 8.2% interference to WLFI actually occurred. The testing found that there was no change in reception of WLFI. So WLFI agreed to accept the non-existent interference.


Perhaps the same thing will occur with WUSA's testing.


- Trip


----------



## Dave Loudin

I agree with you, Trip. No matter how detailed modelling gets, nothing beats real measurements (so long as there are enough of them.) Besides, you want to have an allocation process that tends to overpredict interference rather than underpredict.


----------



## Iggier

Hi - New here but have lurked in the past. I see a few related posts but can anyone else, who, like myself, receives only OTA broadcasts (I live in Rockville) confirm that they've lost TVGOS listings.


For several days recently, WJLA 7.1 dropped off TVGOS. It then returned but showed no listings for several days. Shortly thereafter (over this past weekend), the TVGOS screen showed no listings for any channels. Same situation this morning (Tues, Dec. 22).


Why can't WUSA9 post a status/update on their website? It's worthless trying to contact them.


----------



## Trip in VA

Because WUSA's whole control over TVGOS is the ability to reboot the box if Rovi tells them to, or remove it from the system if it's causing problems. Otherwise, Rovi has 100% control over it and you should call them.


- Trip


----------



## voltore




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/17768759
> 
> 
> Because WUSA's whole control over TVGOS is the ability to reboot the box if Rovi tells them to, or remove it from the system if it's causing problems. Otherwise, Rovi has 100% control over it and you should call them.
> 
> 
> - Trip



We shouldn't reboot the box, we never know it's causing problems unless it causes issues with the main signal. Rovi can and often do reboots. We can bypass in emergency


----------



## mkfs

Looks like DC has everything you need....


*D.C. wasted $4 million on TV studio*The D.C. agency that regulates cable television in the city "wasted over $4 million" on a high-definition television studio that was never built, according to a report from the Office of the Inspector General.


The report, released late last week, says the D.C. Office of Cable Television violated procurement policies by issuing a sole-source contract to a start-up company "without adequate justification and reasonable assurance" that the contractor could do the work.


In addition to the cost of the contract, which was canceled before the project was completed, the cable TV office bought more than $3 million in new HDTV equipment that was never installed or used.


......


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/17768759
> 
> 
> Because WUSA's whole control over TVGOS is the ability to reboot the box if Rovi tells them to, or remove it from the system if it's causing problems. Otherwise, Rovi has 100% control over it and you should call them.
> 
> 
> - Trip



I am having trouble getting TVGOS on my Sony DVR. Power went out on Saturday Oct 19 and the clock has been off ever seen. Also the lineup is not complete anymore.


----------



## Marcus Carr

DTAs are available from Comcast in Baltimore City as of today. I just ordered my two free DTAs.


----------



## systems2000

For me, the increase in power at WUSA should stabilize their signal here. Generally, I can currently get solid reception, but there are times during PT that I get audio drop-outs and horizontal loss of picture segments. They don't coincide.


I can now set my antenna, so that I receive WMAR, WJLA, WUSA, WBAL, WDCA, WUTB, & WNUV at the same time. Granted they're not all 100%, 100% of the time, but it's close.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mkfs* /forum/post/17773857
> 
> 
> Looks like DC has everything you need....
> 
> 
> *D.C. wasted $4 million on TV studio*The D.C. agency that regulates cable television in the city "wasted over $4 million" on a high-definition television studio that was never built, according to a report from the Office of the Inspector General.
> 
> 
> The report, released late last week, says the D.C. Office of Cable Television violated procurement policies by issuing a sole-source contract to a start-up company "without adequate justification and reasonable assurance" that the contractor could do the work.
> 
> 
> In addition to the cost of the contract, which was canceled before the project was completed, the cable TV office bought more than $3 million in new HDTV equipment that was never installed or used.
> 
> 
> ......



Maybe WRC can buy it


----------



## dms_dc

Hi all -


I haven't been getting any TVGOS data from WUSA since 12/17. Does that jive with other people's experience at the moment? Before it went down completely, I had the ABC with no listings for a week or so.


Anyway, for the heck of it I decided to rescan the channels, since I haven't done that in a long time. It came up with a couple weird things I've never seen before:


0.0 data 1

33.8 data 1


Anyone seen those "channels" or have any idea what they mean? You can tune to them, you just get a blank screen. Just for the heck of it, I checked if there were TVGOS packets coming in on either one (of course, no).


----------



## FineWare




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/17705667
> 
> 
> Great news, indeed. But I'll believe it when I see it. This is about the third or fourth time we've heard this rumor over the past few years.



First WRC News needs to fix some of their digital cameras. They over compress them so much that the picture looks like old-school Kinescope, but tintyped in color. Really annoying to watch.


----------



## chap_gfva




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dms_dc* /forum/post/17790059
> 
> 
> Hi all -
> 
> 
> I haven't been getting any TVGOS data from WUSA since 12/17. Does that jive with other people's experience at the moment? Before it went down completely, I had the ABC with no listings for a week or so.
> 
> 
> Anyway, for the heck of it I decided to rescan the channels, since I haven't done that in a long time. It came up with a couple weird things I've never seen before:
> 
> 
> 0.0 data 1
> 
> 33.8 data 1
> 
> 
> Anyone seen those "channels" or have any idea what they mean? You can tune to them, you just get a blank screen. Just for the heck of it, I checked if there were TVGOS packets coming in on either one (of course, no).




I have a Sony DHG500 DVR and I too have lost all listing data since (about) 12/17/2009 my last day with any listings just fell off the guide last night. Simply resetting zip code has not resolved problem. This DVR has worked for 5+ years -- and is still working in every other respect. I am assuming that this is a problem with the feed coming from WUSA? I seem to recall an episode a couple of years ago (approx) where the listing went out for several days as well.


I have not rescanned the channels -- but did try the forced reset (zip code = 00000 followed by entering my correct zip code an hour later) and am currently waiting to see if this resolves the matter overnight.


Has anyone already checked with Rovi Corp to see if they can remotely debug (better yet solve this problem)?


TV without a DVR is becoming unbearbale (commercials -- arrrgh)!!


----------



## ETGorm

I also have lost TVGOS in Washington DC since about December 17, 2009.


I reinstalled and two new channels were scanned: a "data 1" channel and a "data" channel. These two channels are not viewable and TVGOS still was not functioning Over-the-Air on my DTVPal DVR.


----------



## mkfs

Whatever is going on with my DTX 9950 is back. It can not see 20's EPG, and finds WRC at 48-3/4/5 as it did before. My Insignia does find the EPG. I think I hear Twilight Zone music.


----------



## xbgamer

When did WETA start broadcasting in 720p? I was going through some of the Christmas stuff I captured on Friday and my files all show WETA's HD channel as broadcasting in 720. Arent they supposed to be doing 1080i?


----------



## otacool




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ETGorm* /forum/post/17791879
> 
> 
> I also have lost TVGOS in Washington DC since about December 17, 2009.
> 
> 
> I reinstalled and two new channels were scanned: a "data 1" channel and a "data" channel. These two channels are not viewable and TVGOS still was not functioning Over-the-Air on my DTVPal DVR.



My DTV Pal did exactly the same. I tried may tricks but still not work.


----------



## ACW112983

So DC and Mont. CO have new HD channels for Comcast...what about Northern VA?


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ETGorm* /forum/post/17791879
> 
> 
> I also have lost TVGOS in Washington DC since about December 17, 2009.
> 
> 
> I reinstalled and two new channels were scanned: a "data 1" channel and a "data" channel. These two channels are not viewable and TVGOS still was not functioning Over-the-Air on my DTVPal DVR.



I noticed I lost TVGOS on 12/19/2009. I emailed WUSA and got this reply:


"Please contact TVGOS customer support at [email protected] or 1-800-386-7380. TVGOS is responsible for the maintenance and administration of their data."


I forwarded the email to Rovi. No word yet.


----------



## PaulGo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *xbgamer* /forum/post/17792674
> 
> 
> When did WETA start broadcasting in 720p? I was going through some of the Christmas stuff I captured on Friday and my files all show WETA's HD channel as broadcasting in 720. Arent they supposed to be doing 1080i?



It has been at least six months ago that I noticed it, It makes sense since they are also broadcasting three SD channels. Because of the poor HD quality I suggested this to them over a year ago along with eliminating one of the SD channels. I doubt my suggestion caused them to do it but 720p is easier to combine when broadcasting so many channels.


----------



## dms_dc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *E55 KEV* /forum/post/17793248
> 
> 
> I noticed I lost TVGOS on 12/19/2009. I emailed WUSA and got this reply:
> 
> 
> "Please contact TVGOS customer support at [email protected] or 1-800-386-7380. TVGOS is responsible for the maintenance and administration of their data."
> 
> 
> I forwarded the email to Rovi. No word yet.



Looks like we're all in the same boat with this setup. I sent Rovi an e-mail as well.


----------



## chap_gfva




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dms_dc* /forum/post/17793635
> 
> 
> Looks like we're all in the same boat with this setup. I sent Rovi an e-mail as well.



Given that both cable-card based and OTA DVRs (and TVs) are all experiencing the same loss of on-screen TVGOS data, it certainly seems logical that the source of the problem is the embedded TVGOS data feed (or lack thereof) coming from WUSA (not sure what else could it be at this point?).


I will email Rovi as well. Maybe a lot of emails will prompt them to look into this...?


It seems curious that that Rovi doesn't have a mechanism to continuously monitor their installed equipment base (i.e., other than waiting for emails from their customer base)?


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chap_gfva* /forum/post/17793690
> 
> 
> Given that both cable-card based and OTA DVRs (and TVs) are all experiencing the same loss of on-screen TVGOS data, it certainly seems logical that the source of the problem is the embedded TVGOS data feed (or lack thereof) coming from WUSA (not sure what else could it be at this point?).
> 
> 
> I will email Rovi as well. Maybe a lot of emails will prompt them to look into this...?
> 
> 
> It seems curious that that Rovi doesn't have a mechanism to continuously monitor their installed equipment base (i.e., other than waiting for emails from their customer base)?



I changed my zip code to an Anne Arundel zip and now my TVGOS data gets populated by WJZ's data (which is up and running). I have been using WUSA's for years, but WUSA hasn't passed TVGOS data in a couple of weeks now.


Edit: I had my TV Guide originally set for 20151 (Chantilly, VA) since I mainly use my antenna for the channels that I can't get in HD from Comcast in Anne Arundel.


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/17797114
> 
> 
> I changed my zip code to an Anne Arundel zip and now my TVGOS data gets populated by WJZ's data (which is up and running). I have been using WUSA's for years, but WUSA hasn't passed TVGOS data in a couple of weeks now.
> 
> 
> Edit: I had my TV Guide originally set for 20151 (Chantilly, VA) since I mainly use my antenna for the channels that I can't get in HD from Comcast in Anne Arundel.



I tried doing a G* test using Baltimore's WJZ channel 13.1 and I got nothing new. The ATSC Test: Fails with channel 13.1 G* test. My DVR setup will not bring in channel 13.1 reception. I did not change the zip. What Anne Arundel zip did you use?


----------



## Iggier




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/17797114
> 
> 
> I changed my zip code to an Anne Arundel zip and now my TVGOS data gets populated by WJZ's data (which is up and running).



This is a great solution, but it doesn't work for those of us in DC and the nearby 'burbs whose reception can't pull Baltimore stations (specifically WJZ).


Interestingly though, from Montgomery County on my OTA-only set up, I can get WMAR-DT, but no other stations from that region. Too bad as I miss MPT 22.


I would hope that everyone who has lost TVGOS data in DC (going on more than two weeks now) emails Rovi.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *E55 KEV* /forum/post/17798421
> 
> 
> I tried doing a G* test using Baltimore's WJZ channel 13.1 and I got nothing new. The ATSC Test: Fails with channel 13.1 G* test. My DVR setup will not bring in channel 13.1 reception. I did not change the zip. What Anne Arundel zip did you use?



I use 21401 (Annapolis) which makes my TVGOS pull from WJZ. WJZ also has the listings for most of the DC channels. I had to manually edit/add the DC channels in from the long list of disabled channels.


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/17798600
> 
> 
> I use 21401 (Annapolis) which makes my TVGOS pull from WJZ. WJZ also has the listings for most of the DC channels. I had to manually edit/add the DC channels in from the long list of disabled channels.



Thanks, I will try it. No sure if it will work since I can not pickup 13.1 programming. Can you get 13.1 programming from Chantilly?


----------



## dms_dc

Unfortunately I can not pick up Baltimore stations. Nice option for those who can.


I got the expected reply back from WUSA:


I have alerted TVGOS that they are experiencing an issue. Unfortunately, WUSA has no maintenance or administrative capabilities for the TVGOS stream. I'm hoping the problem can be resolved this week..


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *E55 KEV* /forum/post/17798815
> 
> 
> Thanks, I will try it. No sure if it will work since I can not pickup 13.1 programming. Can you get 13.1 programming from Chantilly?



I'm actually near Annapolis. I had my TVGOS set up with a Chantilly zip code so I could trick my tv to get DC listings vice Baltimore.


A couple of years ago, WJZ's TVGOS listings included Pittsburgh and Cleveland channels and my Sony Bravia was calling DC's channel 9 WCPO among other annoying anomalies.


Now that I'm back on WJZ's listings, those problems seem to have been corrected. I plan to stay with the Baltimore provided TVGOS listings since WUSA has let this issue happen for more than 2 weeks.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/17799256
> 
> 
> WUSA has let this issue happen for more than 2 weeks.



I will once again point out that Rovi controls the TVGOS gear, not WUSA.


The same thing could just as easily happen at WJZ.


- Trip


----------



## Iggier




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chap_gfva* /forum/post/17793690
> 
> 
> Given that both cable-card based and OTA DVRs (and TVs) are all experiencing the same loss of on-screen TVGOS data, it certainly seems logical that the source of the problem is the embedded TVGOS data feed (or lack thereof) coming from WUSA (not sure what else could it be at this point?).
> 
> 
> I will email Rovi as well. Maybe a lot of emails will prompt them to look into this...?
> 
> 
> It seems curious that that Rovi doesn't have a mechanism to continuously monitor their installed equipment base (i.e., other than waiting for emails from their customer base)?




Rovi replied to my email re: WUSA dead data stream with the following, and I quote:

_An update was recently made in this area and we are wondering if the TV Guide has returned. If it is not, please reset the TV Guide; to do this you will need to go to set up with in the TV Guide, hit the down arrow once, and type in 653274147 (won't see these numbers on the screen). The TV Guide will disappear and the unit may restart. After this you will need to leave the TV off from 11:45pm - 6:00am. If you are still having issues, please provide us with the following information:


Cable Provider:


Zip Code:


Model Number:


Set up (Cable Ready, Cable Box, Cable Card):


Thank you,

CE Tech Support_


I ran the reset process and there's been some progress. No listings yet, but three of the four check-off items on my Sony's TVGOS status page are completed and I am only awaiting the next transmission of programming data. TVGOS diagnostic screens indicate that host channel has reappeared too.


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Iggier* /forum/post/17799618
> 
> 
> An update was recently made in this area and we are wondering if the TV Guide has returned. If it is not, please reset the TV Guide; to do this you will need to go to set up with in the TV Guide, hit the down arrow once, and type in 653274147 (won't see these numbers on the screen). The TV Guide will disappear and the unit may restart.



I got the same email today from Rovi. But I had noticed correct clock and some listings before I opened the email. So I will wait to do the 653 option since things are coming back.


I have never heard of this '653' menu? Is it a new support menu number?


----------



## Iggier




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *E55 KEV* /forum/post/17800860
> 
> 
> I got the same email today from Rovi. But I had noticed correct clock and some listings before I opened the email. So I will wait to do the 653 option since things are coming back.
> 
> 
> I have never heard of this '653' menu? Is it a new support menu number?



The reset worked. It took a few hours for everything to populate, but the grid and all listings have returned in full. I'm tempted to email Rovi's reset email to WUSA9 so they can instruct viewers.


I have to wonder how many other viewers are experiencing this problem and are clueless as to how to proceed


----------



## Marcus Carr

I see that "Ellen" is in HD on WBAL. Not sure when it started since I stopped checking almost two months ago.


----------



## chap_gfva




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *E55 KEV* /forum/post/17800860
> 
> 
> I got the same email today from Rovi. But I had noticed correct clock and some listings before I opened the email. So I will wait to do the 653 option since things are coming back.
> 
> 
> I have never heard of this '653' menu? Is it a new support menu number?



Take a look at this website -- it is no longer being maintained but it does provide a nice summary for a couple of the diagnostic screens, including the 653274147 diagnostic screen.

spiffspace.com/sonydvr.html 


FYI: My Host Station ID has now been repopulated (it was blank yesterday) -- and my system time came back this morning, so I'm planning on waiting a day to see if the TVGOS starts repopulating (i.e., before I start performing any resets on my DVR).


----------



## chap_gfva




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chap_gfva* /forum/post/17801545
> 
> 
> Take a look at this website -- it is no longer being maintained but it does provide a nice summary for a couple of the diagnostic screens, including the 653274147 diagnostic screen.
> 
> spiffspace.com/sonydvr.html
> 
> 
> FYI: My Host Station ID has now been repopulated (it was blank yesterday) -- and my system time came back this morning, so I'm planning on waiting a day to see if the TVGOS starts repopulating (i.e., before I start performing any resets on my DVR).



I should probably have mentioned, the "Host Chan" field for the Wash DC metro area should read (1:0-9) -- for the analog WUSA station.


This diagnostic data is accessed using the 753159852 diagnostic code.


See info below from the "spiffSpace website"...


From spiffspace.com/sonydvr.html :

The TVGOS diagnostic/info menu: This can be accessed by pressing , then moving the cursor up to the SETUP menu item on the top bar. Press , then 753159852. This gives you a series of screens that show info like Host Channel, VBI info, and numerous other pages of system info. One of the most useful screens is accessed by immediately pressing after entering this "753..." menu. This page shows you the Host Channel (among other things).


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chap_gfva* /forum/post/17801625
> 
> 
> I should probably have mentioned, the "Host Chan" field for the Wash DC metro area should read (1:0-9) -- for the analog WUSA station.



Why the analog station instead of 9-1?


----------



## chap_gfva

Well I should have said ... My "Host Chan" field on my Sony DHG-HDD500 DVR currently reads 1:0-9 -- and it was completely blank yesterday.


I probably shouldn't presuppose what it "should read" until I see TVGOS data coming back.


PS: I'm not sure what it read before Dec 17th (start of the TVGOS outage).


----------



## chap_gfva

As of 8 PM today I have started to receive (sporadic) updated TVGOS programming on a few channels (the first updates my DVR has displayed in 10 days). My DVR has only been off for short periods of time today so I'm not surprised by the limited updates (a few stations have updated listings for today and day 8) -- and system time is now correct.


Looks like WUSA's TVGOS server may finally be back up and running.


----------



## dms_dc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Iggier* /forum/post/17801270
> 
> 
> The reset worked. It took a few hours for everything to populate, but the grid and all listings have returned in full. I'm tempted to email Rovi's reset email to WUSA9 so they can instruct viewers.
> 
> 
> I have to wonder how many other viewers are experiencing this problem and are clueless as to how to proceed



I got the email from Rovi today as well. Tonight I checked and I have partially filled out listings over 8 days (but not fully), and my host channel and flags are set normally.


Are you saying that after doing the reset, you got *full* listings, every day fully populated with no "no listings" sprinkled around, for the full 8 days?


I hesitate to do a reset and possibly lose the grid for a week or two like happened to me before, if I don't really have to.


I am also concerned that, like someone else noted, I am currently not receiving any packets on the ATSC slicer screen. So I don't know if they are now sending nothing at all except during scheduled downloads or if it came back up and went back down or .......


----------



## rkolsen




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/17801346
> 
> 
> I see that "Ellen" is in HD on WBAL. Not sure when it started since I stopped checking almost two months ago.




It's been like that for about two months. Once in a while an SD episode "usually a rerun" pops in the mix though.


----------



## Iggier




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dms_dc* /forum/post/17804231
> 
> 
> Are you saying that after doing the reset, you got *full* listings, every day fully populated with no "no listings" sprinkled around, for the full 8 days?



The grid is fully populated in terms of channels, time increments and listings. However, after checking it out early this morning (and the set was off during the overnight hours), only 1.5 days worth of program listings appear. I have no idea whether future transmissions will increase the number of programmed days.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rkolsen* /forum/post/17805153
> 
> 
> It's been like that for about two months. Once in a while an SD episode "usually a rerun" pops in the mix though.



Figures it started right after I stopped checking.


----------



## chap_gfva




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Iggier* /forum/post/17805374
> 
> 
> The grid is fully populated in terms of channels, time increments and listings. However, after checking it out early this morning (and the set was off during the overnight hours), only 1.5 days worth of program listings appear. I have no idea whether future transmissions will increase the number of programmed days.



The TVGOS data stream only populates selected days into the future w/ each daily update.


See paragraph 2.1.2 of the following link:

http://www.spiffspace.com/sonydvr.html 


So getting a partially filled programming guide is to be expected -- it can take up to a week to fully fill in the data gaps. If you have today and tomorrow then all is probably good.


----------



## nottenst

A Comcast technician came in and appears to have fixed out feed. A few years ago a technician put an amplifier in our system in order to boost the signal so we could get things working properly on our TVs - especially the HDTV. It appears that a few weeks ago they must have made some adjustment to main box outside and our amplifier isn't needed anymore. In fact, it was boosting the errors so much that we were having serious problems with the TV on a cable box. So, the end results of the visit was that he removed the amplifier, redid some cable ends and now things appear to work.


One thing he mentioned was that on April 15, they are going to flip a switch and the only channels available via QAM direct from the cable outlet will be ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX. We will need a box for all other channels. They'll provide one or two boxes for "free" and charge $1 or $2/month for any additional ones.


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/17809402
> 
> 
> AOne thing he mentioned was that on April 15, they are going to flip a switch and the only channels available via QAM direct from the cable outlet will be ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX. We will need a box for all other channels. They'll provide one or two boxes for "free" and charge $1 or $2/month for any additional ones.



Oh well, I will be losing my free cable channels, which I rarely look at.







I have Comcast internet service only.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/17809402
> 
> 
> A Comcast technician came in and appears to have fixed out feed. A few years ago a technician put an amplifier in our system in order to boost the signal so we could get things working properly on our TVs - especially the HDTV. It appears that a few weeks ago they must have made some adjustment to main box outside and our amplifier isn't needed anymore. In fact, it was boosting the errors so much that we were having serious problems with the TV on a cable box. So, the end results of the visit was that he removed the amplifier, redid some cable ends and now things appear to work.
> 
> 
> One thing he mentioned was that on April 15, they are going to flip a switch and the only channels available via QAM direct from the cable outlet will be ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX. We will need a box for all other channels. They'll provide one or two boxes for "free" and charge $1 or $2/month for any additional ones.



Surely PBS, My and WB (perhaps ION depending on where you are) are also remaining ClearQAM, right? I'm not being facetious, I watch for this stuff for my friends with Comcast and need to let them know if only the "big four" are remaining unencrypted.


edit: Of course I don't "need" to, wrong word ... "want" to.


----------



## tripleM

So Loudoun Comcast flipped the switch @ my parent's house & now they need digital converter boxes to get their expanded 'analog' lineup.

However, by using these boxes, they have no HD via clear QAM for the locals or PBS.


Is there anything my folks can do to regain the local HD besides using an antenna?


----------



## bfdtv




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/17812465
> 
> 
> So Loudoun Comcast flipped the switch @ my parent's house & now they need digital converter boxes to get their expanded 'analog' lineup.
> 
> However, by using these boxes, they have no HD via clear QAM for the locals or PBS.
> 
> 
> Is there anything my folks can do to regain the local HD besides using an antenna?



If the TV has an internal QAM tuner, you could split the cable coax and run on line to the TV. Switching between the cable box and the TV tuner may be too much trouble for your parents (it would be for mine). In that case, the alternative would be to rent the HDTV STB from Comcast; that should add $5-10/mo to their bill.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PaulGo* /forum/post/17793392
> 
> 
> It has been at least six months ago that I noticed it, It makes sense since they are also broadcasting three SD channels. Because of the poor HD quality I suggested this to them over a year ago along with eliminating one of the SD channels. I doubt my suggestion caused them to do it but 720p is easier to combine when broadcasting so many channels.



WETA looks nothing like it used to. Recently I found my hard drive with HD recordings from WETA in 2001. Those recordings look so much better than anything they've broadcast in the last few years.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17810131
> 
> 
> Surely PBS, My and WB (perhaps ION depending on where you are) are also remaining ClearQAM, right? I'm not being facetious, I watch for this stuff for my friends with Comcast and need to let them know if only the "big four" are remaining unencrypted.
> 
> 
> edit: Of course I don't "need" to, wrong word ... "want" to.



I didn't ask him about the other stations, but I would guess that one PBS station plus those others would remain. Still you never know. By tripleM's message it seems they've already done it in Loudon and PBS is available. Unfortunately, as well, if you get their box to get the other stations then you lose the free HD on the major network ones.


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *E55 KEV* /forum/post/17809468
> 
> 
> Oh well, I will be losing my free cable channels, which I rarely look at.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I have Comcast internet service only.



These are the HD networks I get with QAM tuner and no cable box in DC:


ABC

A&E

CBS

CW

FOX

ION

NBC

MY20

PBS

Versus


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/17812465
> 
> 
> So Loudoun Comcast flipped the switch @ my parent's house & now they need digital converter boxes to get their expanded 'analog' lineup.
> 
> However, by using these boxes, they have no HD via clear QAM for the locals or PBS.
> 
> 
> Is there anything my folks can do to regain the local HD besides using an antenna?



You could split the coax cable and use a remote controlled cable switch to switch the TV from the Comcast box to the direct cable and use the internel TV QAM tuner. Radio Shack has such a switch.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *E55 KEV* /forum/post/17815578
> 
> 
> These are the HD networks I get with QAM tuner and no cable box in DC:
> 
> 
> ABC
> 
> A&E
> 
> CBS
> 
> CW
> 
> FOX
> 
> ION
> 
> NBC
> 
> MY20
> 
> PBS
> 
> Versus



exact same HD channels here in Prince George's too


----------



## derek




> Quote:
> Looks like WUSA's TVGOS server may finally be back up and running.



As of last night I still wasn't getting VBI data on my Sony DVR (WUSA-DT via FIOS.) Anyone else confirm getting vbi/atsc slicer updates?


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *knnirs* /forum/post/17816028
> 
> 
> You could split the coax cable and use a remote controlled cable switch to switch the TV from the Comcast box to the direct cable and use the internel TV QAM tuner. Radio Shack has such a switch.



Thanks to u & bdftv for the info.


----------



## dms_dc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *derek* /forum/post/17820795
> 
> 
> As of last night I still wasn't getting VBI data on my Sony DVR (WUSA-DT via FIOS.) Anyone else confirm getting vbi/atsc slicer updates?



I am finally showing ATSC slicer packets coming in via OTA from WUSA as of 1 pm today.


My sequence has been something like this:

- no packets since 12/18, eventually bricked

- after Rovi claimed was fixed, checked and saw full grid with partial listings over 8 days

- host channel and host flags were all set normally

- no packets seen coming in on ATSC slicer screen over any random checks since Rovi supposedly fixed the stream

- checked this morning and clock was wrong, host channel was gone, and looks like it had done a reset of its own - all counters were reset to 0

- checked again around 1 pm and clock was reset, and finally packets are showing incrementing on ATSC slicer


Right now I appear to have full listings across all days, with data coming in and clock set.


Host channel is still blank, and host flags are 0xc68. The only thing I know from that is that since it reset, no timezone packet has come in.


On the VBI info screen, everything is 0 or n/a except for ClkSet packets.


For whatever all that is worth....


----------



## Hunter68

Hi all,


I need someone to install a new HDTV antenna for my locals. Anyone know of a good service company to use out my way? I plan on using Windows 7 media center. I bought the Happauge 2250, also I was looking at this antenna...Outdoor Ultra Long-Range Digital TV (DTV) Antenna Clearstream 4


Any other thoughts would be appreicated. I currently have Directv and will get rid of them. I can't see paying 90.00 per month for the next 30 years when we don't watch much tv.


----------



## steelerhater




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/17779928
> 
> 
> For me, the increase in power at WUSA should stabilize their signal here. Generally, I can currently get solid reception, but there are times during PT that I get audio drop-outs and horizontal loss of picture segments. They don't coincide.
> 
> 
> I can now set my antenna, so that I receive WMAR, WJLA, WUSA, WBAL, WDCA, WUTB, & WNUV at the same time. Granted they're not all 100%, 100% of the time, but it's close.




Hi,

You appear to be getting WJLA and WUSA washington channels at your PA location. Do you get WTTG and WRC as well? I ask because I'm in Baltimore and get WTTG and WRC strong but cannot even acquire WJLA and WUSA signals, which I used to get up until about a year ago or so. I have a good Winegard mounted on the roof of my house which is on a hill so I am puzzled that I cannto get WJLA and WUSA anymore. Like to know your set up if you can get these two stations.

Thanks.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *steelerhater* /forum/post/17834911
> 
> 
> Hi,
> 
> You appear to be getting WJLA and WUSA washington channels at your PA location. Do you get WTTG and WRC as well? I ask because I'm in Baltimore and get WTTG and WRC strong but cannot even acquire WJLA and WUSA signals, which I used to get up until about a year ago or so. I have a good Winegard mounted on the roof of my house which is on a hill so I am puzzled that I cannto get WJLA and WUSA anymore. Like to know your set up if you can get these two stations.



What type of Winegard antenna do you have? WJLA 7 and WUSA 9 used to digitally broadcast on UHF, but flash cut to their analog upper VHF channels last June.


WJLA 7 is currently broadcasting on VHF 7 at 30 kW. WUSA 9 is currently broadcasting at only 12.6. kW, but has filed an application to experimentally increase to 52 kW. Which, interestingly enough, appears to have been granted by the FCC on December 23. From 16 miles out, I have no problems getting WJLA 7 or WUSA 9, even with a Silver Sensor UHF indoor antenna (well, from the upper floor anyway. Have not tried it elsewhere). Also, checking the FCC application database, WJLA 7 filed for an increase to 52 kW as well, but the FCC has not acted on the WJLA application yet. I have not been monitoring the FCC filings, so I missed that.


Now only if WBAL 11 and WJZ 13 in Baltimore would file for increased power over what they currently run at. The problem with WJZ 13 is that they are stuck with a directional antenna pattern which clobbers reception to the west because of interference concerns with WWPX Ion 60 which is on VHF 12.


----------



## Trip in VA

WJLA is running at 52 kW and has been for some time.


- Trip


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/17841724
> 
> 
> WJLA is running at 52 kW and has been for some time.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Has WUSA increased their strength yet? I didn't notice any difference at my girlfirends house this weekend so I'm guessing they haven't. She will be really pleased when they do increase their power since it's the worst station for her.


----------



## Trip in VA

It's not a blanket permit to increase power. It's permission to increase power in conjunction with interference testing. They'll be making sure it doesn't trash WBPH-9 or WGAL-8.


- Trip


----------



## Trip in VA

Question: Can *anyone* receive a clean signal out of W08EE-D in Martinsburg? I was passing through today and at the rest stop by the Maryland border I had my VHF bowtie on the roof of the car which got W08EE-D up to 90%, but TSReader was reporting more than 3,000 continuity errors per second and the MPEG decoder kept crashing. The one data capture I got that wasn't a complete loss is also badly corrupted.


WWPX-DT 12 decoded cleanly at 70% on the rabbit ears in the car. I really don't get it.


- Trip


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Hunter68* /forum/post/17834782
> 
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> 
> I need someone to install a new HDTV antenna for my locals. Anyone know of a good service company to use out my way? I plan on using Windows 7 media center. I bought the Happauge 2250, also I was looking at this antenna...Outdoor Ultra Long-Range Digital TV (DTV) Antenna Clearstream 4
> 
> 
> Any other thoughts would be appreicated. I currently have Directv and will get rid of them. I can't see paying 90.00 per month for the next 30 years when we don't watch much tv.



Action Antenna covers your area.


----------



## Falcon_77




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/17841528
> 
> 
> Now only if WBAL 11 and WJZ 13 in Baltimore would file for increased power over what they currently run at.



WBAL is currently at 26.6kW, right? This filing indicates that they are.

https://licensing.fcc.gov/cdbs/CDBS_...um=1&exhcnum=1 



> Quote:
> Hearst submits that while the proposed continued operation with 26.6 kW is theoretically predicted to cause interference in excess of the 0.5 percent limit in Section 73.616(e) of the Commission's Rules with respect to certain stations, no such actual interference from WBAL- TV's 26.6 kW STA operation has been reported.


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/17841939
> 
> 
> Question: Can *anyone* receive a clean signal out of W08EE-D in Martinsburg? I was passing through today and at the rest stop by the Maryland border I had my VHF bowtie on the roof of the car which got W08EE-D up to 90%, but TSReader was reporting more than 3,000 continuity errors per second and the MPEG decoder kept crashing. The one data capture I got that wasn't a complete loss is also badly corrupted.
> 
> 
> WWPX-DT 12 decoded cleanly at 70% on the rabbit ears in the car. I really don't get it.
> 
> 
> - Trip



My parents get it fine in Mercersburg, PA 30 miles out, but yet 1/4 mile away from them i get nothing from it.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Falcon_77* /forum/post/17842708
> 
> 
> WBAL is currently at 26.6kW, right? This filing indicates that they are.



Yes. However, even after WBAL increased to 26.6 kW, I still can't get the station reliably with the Winegard upper VHF antenna in the attic. I have obstructions in the direction of Baltimore with the top of other townhouses and a ridge line. The Baltimore UHF stations come in ok, I think the VHF signals are not penetrating the walls of the houses as well as UHF.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> New Chopper For 11 - 12/24 - A DCRTVer tells us that Baltimore's Channel 11/WBAL will debut its new "SkyTeam 11 HD Chopper" in January.....


 http://dcrtv.com/


----------



## gmucklow

I used to get DW-TV on the MHz network OTA broadcasts on virtual channel 30 in the Washington, DC area. These have disappeared. I also got it over the internet -- which has also disappeared -- including from their own web site in Germany. It detected that I was coming in from the US and popped up a message that said that DW-TV can be freely distributed anywhere in the world EXCEPT the United States because of legal problems.


Does anybody know which of our wonderful cable companies have managed to pull this off?


----------



## crookdimwit

Extremely newbie question here, but I'm about to cut the cord with Comcast this month and working with a HTPC and off-air HDTV...


I'm looking at some indoor antennas (we're renting right now). Anyone have any recommendations for an indoor antenna that works well with DC-area off-air broadcasts?


Thanks!

- Matt


----------



## Voyager06




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/17841724
> 
> 
> WJLA is running at 52 kW and has been for some time.
> 
> 
> - Trip





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/17841912
> 
> 
> It's not a blanket permit to increase power. It's permission to increase power in conjunction with interference testing. They'll be making sure it doesn't trash WBPH-9 or WGAL-8.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Well, it is working quite well up here in NE Maryland. Before the power increase, I could only pick up WUSA late at night or in the pre-dawn AM. Now I can get a solid signal lock all day. It has not interfered with reception of WGAL in my area. I hope WUSA gets approval to keep the extra power.


----------



## jgantert

Poker After Dark now in HD on WRC 4-1!


----------



## Sigmakan

Hello all,


First time poster. I recently unboxed my HD antenna and found that I have lost many channels from when I last used it June (2009). I re did the channel search on my TV and still could not find these channels. In particular I cannot find WJLA. I live in silver spring and have my indoor antenna pointed in the correct direction but still cannot receive a signal.


I have a terk antenna. (cant post link)


Any help would be appreciated.


----------



## ProjectSHO89




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Sigmakan* /forum/post/17858884
> 
> 
> Hello all,
> 
> 
> First time poster. I recently unboxed my HD antenna and found that I have lost many channels from when I last used it June (2009). I re did the channel search on my TV and still could not find these channels. In particular I cannot find WJLA. I live in silver spring and have my indoor antenna pointed in the correct direction but still cannot receive a signal.
> 
> 
> I have a terk antenna. (cant post link)
> 
> 
> Any help would be appreciated.



WJLA moved back to VHF-7. If your indoor antenna doesn't have rabbit ears, it probably won't work now for WJLA.


Additionally, you should probably try a memory erase scan of your receiver. Many of them got confused by the change of the physical channel from the transition and required the old data to be flushed out before accepting new.


If your antenna has an amplifier, try the unit with the amplifier removed from the circuit.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *crookdimwit* /forum/post/17852454
> 
> 
> Extremely newbie question here, but I'm about to cut the cord with Comcast this month and working with a HTPC and off-air HDTV...
> 
> 
> I'm looking at some indoor antennas (we're renting right now). Anyone have any recommendations for an indoor antenna that works well with DC-area off-air broadcasts?
> 
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> - Matt



I just picked up a Terk HDTVi and I'm pretty happy with it. This is the non-amplified version; depending on your location, the amplified HDTVa might be better. I'm in a high-rise in the middle of Northwest D.C. where multipath interference is a huge problem, and I can get all the full-power Washington locals clearly except for MPT and WNVT/WNVC. I could probably get the latter two with some fiddling, but I think MPT is a lost cause without an outdoor antenna here. I get WJLA without even having to extend the rabbit ears, but WUSA requires them. Of the channels I do pull in, WETA is probably the hardest to get.


----------



## Sigmakan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ProjectSHO89* /forum/post/17860526
> 
> 
> WJLA moved back to VHF-7. If your indoor antenna doesn't have rabbit ears, it probably won't work now for WJLA.
> 
> 
> Additionally, you should probably try a memory erase scan of your receiver. Many of them got confused by the change of the physical channel from the transition and required the old data to be flushed out before accepting new.
> 
> 
> If your antenna has an amplifier, try the unit with the amplifier removed from the circuit.



Thank you for the response. Extending the rabbit ears allows me to pick up 7.1, 7.2, and 7.3 but the signal quality is terrible (15%). Turning the amplifier on and off seems to have no effect on the signal quality.


Placing a hand on the antenna and a hand on the base gives me a 60% signal which results in a perfect picture.


I suspect that living in an apartment decreases my VHF reception but has no effect on UHF reception, does this sound correct? Any solutions to this?


Apologies for the stupid question, I am a novice at this and I'd really like to receive WJLA in HD.


Thanks!


----------



## PhillyGuy

Does anyone know which digital channels are available in Baltimore City with QAM?


I assumed all the locals are in the clear.


Are these channels mapped to the correct channel number? Thanks


----------



## Marcus Carr

On January 12, Comcast in Baltimore will update its guide to A28.

www.comcast.com/newguide


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *steelerhater* /forum/post/17834911
> 
> 
> Hi,
> 
> You appear to be getting WJLA and WUSA washington channels at your PA location. Do you get WTTG and WRC as well? I ask because I'm in Baltimore and get WTTG and WRC strong but cannot even acquire WJLA and WUSA signals, which I used to get up until about a year ago or so. I have a good Winegard mounted on the roof of my house which is on a hill so I am puzzled that I cannto get WJLA and WUSA anymore. Like to know your set up if you can get these two stations.
> 
> Thanks.



I've never been able to get WRC-DT (I believe it's due to co-channel interference) and I used to get WTTG fairly consistently (Again I believe I have increased co-channel interference), now it's very marginal.


My fiancé's brother lives in a two story, single family dwelling in Dundalk and he gets WRC and WTTG solidly (along with pretty much all the other network channels from Baltimore and D.C.), using a combo unit (without pre-amp) mounted on the roof.


----------



## HDTV Sparky




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/17856762
> 
> 
> Poker After Dark now in HD on WRC 4-1!



I'm sure as most others , I record 'Poker after dark' for viewing later.

After reading your post I checked and sure enough, it's in HD on WBAL


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/17841724
> 
> 
> WJLA is running at 52 kW and has been for some time.
> 
> 
> - Trip



That (and WUSA along with WBAL power increases) would explain why I can now set a heading, on my antenna, that will give me WMAR, WJLA, WUSA, WBAL, WUTB, & WNUV (besides my locals - WHAG, WWPB, WWPX, & WJAL), all at the same time. I've also noticed a much broader window for WJLA & WUSA.


----------



## Trip in VA

Okay, I don't need it now, but around the end of the month, I'm going to need new TSReader data from WFDC. I just read an article that stated WFDC will also be participating in the Mobile DTV trials and that it will be coming on the air with it "after CES."


- Trip


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *HDTV Sparky* /forum/post/17871666
> 
> 
> I'm sure as most others , I record 'Poker after dark' for viewing later.
> 
> After reading your post I checked and sure enough, it's in HD on WBAL



Yeah, I DVR it as well. This week started the new season, so I guess it's in HD for everyone. Nice to see, as the rest of NBC's poker shows have been HD for a while now. Even that horrible one, Face the Ace (blech).


----------



## systems2000

I just discovered that the JVC TV, which was given to me over the NewYears weekend, is a 36" EDTV with 800 lines of resolution. YEAH! Not bad for free (and it works).










Now I just need to find a place to put it, since it will not fit within my entertainment center.

*JVC AV-36D303*
3-Line Digital Comb Filter
Component Video Input
Illuminated Universal Remote with TV, VCR and DVD Control Capability
S-Video Input
800 Lines Horizontal Resolution
Hyper Scan High Speed Channel Changer
36" Diagonal Full Square Dark Tinted Picture Tube
BBE High Definition Audio
NEW Half Tone Icon Based On-Screen Display
MTS Stereo with SAP
Hyper Surround Sound
Front Firing Side Speakers
Audio Output 4.0 Watts x 2 Speakers
Return +
NEW Interactive Plug in Menu
Theater Status (Standard, Theater, Dynamic)
Multi-Function Timer
Sleep Timer
Channel Guard
Closed Caption w/Text
Black Level Expansion
Apacon
V-Chip
XDS Auto Clock Set with ID Display
3 AV Inputs (2 Rear, 1 Front)
AV Compu Link III
Fixed Audio Output
Energy Star Compliant
RF Input
2 Years Picture Tube, 1 Year Parts & Labor Warranty
Weight 149.6 lbs.
Width 37 7/8"
Height 30 1/2"
Depth 24 1/2"


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/17879266
> 
> 
> Okay, I don't need it now, but around the end of the month, I'm going to need new TSReader data from WFDC. I just read an article that stated WFDC will also be participating in the Mobile DTV trials and that it will be coming on the air with it "after CES."
> 
> 
> - Trip



There's a 0x1FFF stream on WFDC now, I forget if that's Mobile DTV or not. LMK, I'd be happy to capture for you


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/17889471
> 
> 
> There's a 0x1FFF stream on WFDC now, I forget if that's Mobile DTV or not. LMK, I'd be happy to capture for you



No, 0x1fff are the null packets. It's 0x1eee or 0x1ff9 I believe that contains Mobile DTV data.


Thanks for looking, I'll be checking in again soon enough.










- Trip


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/17884476
> 
> 
> I just discovered that the JVC TV, which was given to me over the NewYears weekend, is a 36" EDTV with 800 lines of resolution. YEAH! Not bad for free (and it works).
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Now I just need to find a place to put it, since it will not fit within my entertainment center.
> 
> *JVC AV-36D303*
> 3-Line Digital Comb Filter
> Component Video Input
> Illuminated Universal Remote with TV, VCR and DVD Control Capability
> S-Video Input
> 800 Lines Horizontal Resolution
> Hyper Scan High Speed Channel Changer
> 36" Diagonal Full Square Dark Tinted Picture Tube
> BBE High Definition Audio
> NEW Half Tone Icon Based On-Screen Display
> MTS Stereo with SAP
> Hyper Surround Sound
> Front Firing Side Speakers
> Audio Output 4.0 Watts x 2 Speakers
> Return +
> NEW Interactive Plug in Menu
> Theater Status (Standard, Theater, Dynamic)
> Multi-Function Timer
> Sleep Timer
> Channel Guard
> Closed Caption w/Text
> Black Level Expansion
> Apacon
> V-Chip
> XDS Auto Clock Set with ID Display
> 3 AV Inputs (2 Rear, 1 Front)
> AV Compu Link III
> Fixed Audio Output
> Energy Star Compliant
> RF Input
> 2 Years Picture Tube, 1 Year Parts & Labor Warranty
> Weight 149.6 lbs.
> Width 37 7/8"
> Height 30 1/2"
> Depth 24 1/2"



150lbs!


----------



## systems2000

Sure enough! It's a two man lift job. Still in my Jeep.


----------



## HDTV Sparky




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/17893283
> 
> 
> Sure enough! It's a two man lift job. Still in my Jeep.



Keep it in the jeep for the rest of the winter, .....extra weight is good for traction!


Then in the spring it'll already be in the jeep when you take it to the dump !

The GOODWIIL probably won't want it.


----------



## gary michaels

WAZW-LD went on the air this weekend using channel 46 with 15 kw. The result is that WBFF which was very viewable on the same channel is now no longer a choice for anyone watching with an antenna up and down the I-81 corridor. The same company operates analog transmitters on channels 28 and 48 which is why people in the area have no reception of WRC. All 3 transmitters have the same programming. The channel 28 and 48 transmitters are on the same tower. Somebody must have a very good friend in Washington. If you have your choices limited by these stations, the name, phone number and e-mail to complain to is. Ron Croom, 540-459-8810 [email protected] . And of course the F.C.C


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gary michaels* /forum/post/17898509
> 
> 
> WAZW-LD went on the air this weekend using channel 46 with 15 kw. The result is that WBFF which was very viewable on the same channel is now no longer a choice for anyone watching with an antenna up and down the I-81 corridor.



I wasn't sure whether or not this was true since it isn't reflected in the TV FOOL database yet. The FCC website indicates the transmitter is located in Strasburg, Va. Thanks for the confirmation Gary.









http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-serv...LD1318489.html


----------



## systems2000

Well, there goes my attempt to try to re-acquire WBFF.










They have color bars on -2, -3, & -4 and there is a graphic of the "ON AIR" light with the following "You are watching WAZW-LD Winchester, VA. Please let us know you're watching. Call 800-459-8810 or send email to [email protected]" on -1.


My primary antenna gets a 30%/15% on the Zinwell. My secondary (fixed and unamplified) system that is optimized for that direction, gets a signal level in the lower third of my Insignia. It shows it's there, but doesn't decode.


----------



## pclement

Does anyone know if channel 20 (DC) and/or channel 54 (Balt) will be broadcasting any ACC Basketball in HD this year?


----------



## mkfs

Just visited a friend @ Georgetown U. who has RCN as a CATV source. She is stuck with a silver Motorola box [model unknown] that literally is 1.5U rack size; all it needs is ears.


In that postage stamp dorm room; it's a royal PITA. It does not have HDMI, either, but does output FW, USB & RGB at least.


Doesn't RCN offer anything smaller?


----------



## Marcus Carr

The new Comcast guide (A28) download happened this morning.


There are new unlabeled channels in the guide at 1052, 2211, and 2514. These are the only four-digit channels.


For some reason Game Show Network is showing where RedZone and RedZone HD are positioned.


----------



## neo_sapien

Hello Washingtonians and/or fellow Marylanders.


I have Comcast cable in Montgomery County, and the overcompressed HDTV they send out is frustrating to me. So, I hooked up an Indoor HDTV antenna , (which only receives channel 4, channel 5, and channel 20, no channel 7 or 9, no matter which direction I aim it) and figured, hey, maybe at least I can start recording the superior OTA HD channels, instead of Comcast's overcompressed local HD channels.


But now, to my surprise, I'm seeing that NBC has a lower bitrate than Comcast, and FOX's bitrate is equal to Comcast's. Great God, man! How can this be? Has the world gone mad? Shaken to my very core, I did some simultaneous recordings to verify this anomalous bitrate madness, and cut out the commercials before examining the bitrate in MediaInfo.


NBC Nightly News - WRC DT Channel 4.1 Antenna 7:30PM - *11.0Mbps*

NBC Nightly News - WRC DT Channel 211 Comcast 7:30PM - *12.4Mbps*


The Simpsons - WTTG DT Channel 5.1 Antenna 12:00AM - *15.6Mbps*

The Simpsons - WTTG DT Channel 213 Comcast 12:00AM - *15.6Mbps*


What's going on here? I had thought that OTA would be delivering a pure, 19.39Mbps signal, better even than FIOS TV.


----------



## Trip in VA

Both stations are using a variable bitrate encoder, which means that during scenes that compress well, like solid black, non-moving images, upconverted SD, and cartoons (like the Simpsons) it can push the bitrate down without harming the picture quality. Plus, Fox's network HD only goes up to 16 Mbps due to limitations at the network's end.


I don't know the deal with NBC.


- Trip


----------



## neo_sapien

I'm afraid that the bitrate has been pushed down too far, and it is harming the picture quality. NBC OTA's NBC Nightly News broadcast was rather blocky at 11mbps for 1080i.


Does the conventional wisdom, that OTA provides the best quality, and certainly better than Comcast, not hold true in our area?


----------



## PaulGo

Comcast does not alter the compression of local HD channels. Most broadcast channels add one or two SD channels (PBS and ION add more) which cuts down the bit rate af the HD channels.


----------



## neo_sapien

Ah. Might as well disconnect the antenna, then, if Comcast's local channels are the exact same quality as OTA.


----------



## iontyre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pclement* /forum/post/17910963
> 
> 
> Does anyone know if channel 20 (DC) and/or channel 54 (Balt) will be broadcasting any ACC Basketball in HD this year?



Terps were in HD on channel 54 just last night. Sadly, they lost...when are they going to learn how to shoot layups? Jeez, one of them actually missed the rim entirely on a second try after getting his own rebound!


And why is it whenever a terp is under the basket and tries to go up for a layin there are two guys from the opposing team right there PUSHING HIM DOWN and no foul is called? Are you telling me they both got nothing but ball? HA!!! Gregory was holding his head looking for blood and they made no call!


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *iontyre* /forum/post/17916631
> 
> 
> Terps were in HD on channel 54 just last night. Sadly, they lost...when are they going to learn how to shoot layups? Jeez, one of them actually missed the rim entirely on a second try after getting his own rebound!
> 
> 
> And why is it whenever a terp is under the basket and tries to go up for a layin there are two guys from the opposing team right there PUSHING HIM DOWN and no foul is called? Are you telling me they both got nothing but ball? HA!!! Gregory was holding his head looking for blood and they made no call!



HD on MY 20 (WDCA) last night as well.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mkfs* /forum/post/17913937
> 
> 
> Just visited a friend @ Georgetown U. who has RCN as a CATV source. She is stuck with a silver Motorola box [model unknown] that literally is 1.5U rack size; all it needs is ears.
> 
> 
> In that postage stamp dorm room; it's a royal PITA. It does not have HDMI, either, but does output FW, USB & RGB at least.
> 
> 
> Doesn't RCN offer anything smaller?



I'm pretty sure all the current Motorola HD DVRs are about the same size. If she's looking for HD minus the DVR functionality, RCN offers the DCX-3200, which is about half the width. I don't know how it works for college students, but for regular customers, they're pretty good about exchanging boxes at their downtown location.


----------



## ACW112983




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/17914261
> 
> 
> The new Comcast guide (A28) download happened this morning.
> 
> 
> There are new unlabeled channels in the guide at 1052, 2211, and 2514. These are the only four-digit channels.
> 
> 
> For some reason Game Show Network is showing where RedZone and RedZone HD are positioned.



Makes sense. They probably shut RZ down since the season's over.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ACW112983* /forum/post/17917908
> 
> 
> Makes sense.



Not really. GSN has it's own channel position.


Coincidentally, my DTAs arrived today.


----------



## leroybrown

Does anyone know if Comcast carries the DCT or DCH3416 DVR in Loudoun county?


----------



## winchesterdoug




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bwhitney* /forum/post/16218626
> 
> 
> I have been ready to install my new antennas for HDTV reception and have been fighting getting WRC-DT. I know I am in a fringe area (near Martinsburg, WV) so I am using the XG91 + YA-1713 antennas with a Channel Master 7778 amplifier (the 7777 has been sold out everywhere).
> 
> 
> I received all channels I expected based upon TVFool predictions except WRC on Channel 4.1-4.3. I manually entered channel 48.1 and using the signal indicator on my Sony TV I could see a locked signal with no errors and a signal level consistent with my distance, but the screen said no signal.
> 
> 
> Since I could see a locked signal at a level higher than other stations I receive I just kept looking and found WRC main feed on 48.3, 4.2 on 48.4, etc. No matter how much I scan, I can't get my Sony to map 48.3 to 4.1, etc. All other channels are fine.
> 
> 
> Any ideas on how to get my Sony to properly map WRC to 4.1...?
> 
> 
> Thanks for any help.



I have the same problem with not receiving WRC 4 NBC here in Winchester, Va. - I have found out it is because the FCC has licensed a small low power Christian station (WAZW) to use the exact same frequency (channel 48) that WRC-TV in D.C. uses. Why they have allowed this duplication with another station only 70 miles away, I have no idea. But I filed a complaint with the FCC about this today - because just last week this same small station started using yet another frequency channel 46 supposedly for their digital broadcasts (although it is just a blank screen now) - and that has now prevented me from viewing WBFF Fox 45 in Baltimore which also uses channel 46. This may be what is causing your problem there as well. This whole thing is absolutely ridiculous as far as I am concerned. Two stations should NOT be using the same frequencies to broadcast on - when it means the larger station (which broadcasts in HD as well) is blocked.


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *winchesterdoug* /forum/post/17920979
> 
> 
> Two stations should NOT be using the same frequencies to broadcast on - when it means the larger station (which broadcasts in HD as well) is blocked.



As I said in another thread, these allocations meet interference standards set forth by the FCC. Whenever TV stations apply for changes to their operations or a new station is proposed, the applicant has to provide the results of an interference analysis referred to as OET-69 (for the FCC document that describes it). The analysis includes running propagation calculations over a grid of locations that cover the service areas of each station. New operations of any sort have to demonstrate that they create new interference to less than 0.5% of the service area of any other station.


To visualize this, use the coverage map feature (online TV maps) of TVFool . Note how little signal from WRC-DT is projected to get into the Valley and how little signal frojm WAZW-CA gets out of the Valley. By the way, WAZW was on 48 FIRST, back in 1990.


----------



## stump69

I was referred here from another thread (Philips 3575) for a question. I have Comcast cable in Montgomery County, MD with NO set-top box. On my Panasonic TC32LX60 HDTV, WUSA comes in on channels 9-1 and 9-2.


Does anyone here know the QAM channel assignment for WUSA for a QAM tuner? Comcast uses some sort of virtual channels for the locals that confuses the tuner in my Philips DVDR3575H for recording purposes. I've located all the other local HD channels as below:


NBC WRC 4-1, 4-2 and 4-3 have virtual assignments 108.1, 108.2 & 108.3

FOX WTTG 5-1 has a virtual assignment of 37.1

ABC WJLA 7-1 is located at 111.1

MNTV WDCA 20-1 converts to 38.1

CW WDCW 50-1 has been found on the 3575H at (surprise!!) 50.1

*CBS WUSA 9-1 is nowhere to be found on my tuner.*










If anyone can help, I would appreciate it! The analog recordings from Comcast's [extended basic] signal aren't very good, whereas the HD from the other locals as described above are fantastic.


----------



## Big J

9.1 works on my QAM tuner fine via Montgomery Co. Comcast, as of last night.



> Quote:
> Ah. Might as well disconnect the antenna, then, if Comcast's local channels are the exact same quality as OTA.



I always thought the PQ from OTA was _slightly_ sharper (depending on the show) than Comcast with my attic antenna, but not significantly.

Perhaps its just me.

J


----------



## Marcus Carr

I just got off the phone with Comcast. The date for digital migration in Baltimore City is February 12. Channels above 28 will go digital-only.


Hopefully that means more HD in the next couple of weeks after that.


----------



## MarcusInMD

I stopped by a local comcast location and asked about all digital in Carroll County, MD. They women said they already were all digital (I believe she was wrong?).


We now have DOCSIS 3 speeds locally, however, I don't believe we have all the channels that other locations have. Anyone have ideas of when this will actually occur here? I want to switch from Dish to reduce costs and get back into Tivo perhaps.


Thanks.


----------



## tmeader

Anyone in the Anne Arundel area been able to get any info from Comcast on when we'll see the A28 guide update? I've tried the online Comcast chat, and they know nothing about it. Likewise calling the local number, they can't tell me anything either. Getting quite frustrated.... HATE repeat recordings.


----------



## MrHifi




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *leroybrown* /forum/post/17920766
> 
> 
> Does anyone know if Comcast carries the DCT or DCH3416 DVR in Loudoun county?



I use a 3416. Everything about it works beautifully except that its HDMI output always goes to 720P on startup when the source is HD. You have to manually switch it to 1080i. I've tried 2 different units and they both do the same thing. A real PIA.


I am in Davidsonville so can't answer your question. Sorry.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*MASN vs. CSN, in HD*


"The upcoming spring launch of MASN's second HD channel, MASN2-HD, will allow the regional sports network to televise every Orioles and Nationals game -- that's more than 320 games -- in 'crystal-clear high definition.' "


That's via Press Box Online, and it's a development that will allow MASN to trumpet its complete HDness, especially in regards to regional competitors.


"MASN is proud to be the first sports network in the region to offer every one of its professional games in high definition," MASN spokesman Todd Webster said in the story. Hmm, wonder what other sports network in the region he might be referring to? Regional sports network feud!


Because people are obsessed with this issue, I asked Comcast SportsNet about its overflow CSN+ games for the Wizards and Capitals, which do not currently air in "crystal-clear high definition."

*"Our commitment to HD includes investigating how best to begin providing CSN+ programming in HD, and we will announce timing and other specifics when they become available," a CSN spokesman wrote me.*


I'd also like to clear up one consistent misconception that has made Caps fans mighty angry. There's a sense that the Caps are getting the short end of the HD stick compared with the Wizards, but that's not exactly right.


CSN has 62 Caps games, with 12 pushed onto CSN+ and one on The Comcast Network. There are a total of 49 HD games. CSN, meantime, has 66 Wizards games, with 14 pushed onto CSN+ and one on The Comcast Network. There are a total of 52 HD games.


Those proportions strike me as nearly identical, which is how you'd hope the network would handle its two biggest sports properties. Some Caps fans have suggested that the Caps' success should merit preferential treatment, but I think that's a recipe for future disaster. The Caps have had 10 CSN+ games already this season, while the Wizards have only had 7, which is probably why Caps fans have been feeling aggrieved, but the equation will even out shortly.


As for ratings, I'm trying to work on a larger piece on this issue, but there's no doubt that games on CSN+ do considerably worse than games on CSN. Data I've seen suggests that Caps games on CSN+ have an audience about half the size of games on CSN, and that the gap between the two numbers has grown since last season. There are no doubt several reasons: CSN+ is harder to find, is unavailable to at least some local viewers, and is occasionally ghastly to look at. Ted Leonsis had a few things to say on these issues in a recent blog post, asking CSN to


* "Get more HD as promised. Why isn't every Capitals game shot and broadcast in HD?"


and


* " Fix the quality of CSN Plus. The picture shouldn't look like 1970's circa production value."


As always, I'll note that The Post has a business relationship with CSN, and that I love that network dearly, especially when Michael Jenkins is slipping "Pants on the Ground" references into his hosting duties.


By Dan Steinberg | January 15, 2010; 11:54 AM ET

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcs...csn_in_hd.html


----------



## pclement




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *iontyre* /forum/post/17916631
> 
> 
> Terps were in HD on channel 54 just last night. Sadly, they lost...when are they going to learn how to shoot layups? Jeez, one of them actually missed the rim entirely on a second try after getting his own rebound!
> 
> 
> And why is it whenever a terp is under the basket and tries to go up for a layin there are two guys from the opposing team right there PUSHING HIM DOWN and no foul is called? Are you telling me they both got nothing but ball? HA!!! Gregory was holding his head looking for blood and they made no call!



Thanks. Yes, I did get the ACC in HD. I think this was the first game this season. I hope to see many more. Too bad the Terps lost, but the ACC is really wide open and eight wins should get MD in the Dance. I still think Duke will win the regular season and UNC second. NCSU, UVA and BC should be the bottom three and everyone else in the middle. Only UVA does not have a loss and everyone has a win. Going to be an exciting season!


----------



## iontyre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pclement* /forum/post/17931503
> 
> 
> Thanks. Yes, I did get the ACC in HD. I think this was the first game this season. I hope to see many more. Too bad the Terps lost, but the ACC is really wide open and eight wins should get MD in the Dance. I still think Duke will win the regular season and UNC second. NCSU, UVA and BC should be the bottom three and everyone else in the middle. Only UVA does not have a loss and everyone has a win. Going to be an exciting season!



We are getting a bit OT, but just let me say, I don't think eight wins is going to be enough. They did nothing in the pre-ACC schedule to add to their resume (lost every game against quality opponents), so they need to be a bit special in the ACC to make the dance. At least 9 wins, and maybe two tourney wins on top of that.


----------



## mdviewer25

Is anyone else experiencing problems with Comcast QAM channels? This morning I've seen analog channels black out or freeze for long periods of time and QAM channels disappear and reappear later. I'm in Prince George's county and don't know when they are supposed to go all digital. I have not received any notices about that yet so I don't think that what they are doing.


----------



## bigdawgte

I'm in Largo and we've had the same thing and worse this last week or so. Worse yet, whatever they're doing has been causing my Hdhomerun (tuner) to go nuts. My wife counted that all channels, Comcast QAM and OTA would freeze every 5 minutes for 30 seconds for several nights. I thought that the tuner(s) were dying until I tracked the problem down to something Comcast was doing.










Just glad to have figured it out before I spent any money....


----------



## pclement




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *iontyre* /forum/post/17932579
> 
> 
> We are getting a bit OT, but just let me say, I don't think eight wins is going to be enough. They did nothing in the pre-ACC schedule to add to their resume (lost every game against quality opponents), so they need to be a bit special in the ACC to make the dance. At least 9 wins, and maybe two tourney wins on top of that.



You could be right. Depends if those wins include UNC and Duke. Last year we had a big win over MSU that also helped. Still too early to say, but the PAC10 and SEC seem down and there may be less competition for the Dance. Big East is loaded again. I don't think the Big Ten is as good as some (ESPN) claim. Heck they only one the challenge because a certain Tiger team could not hold a 27 point lead at home in the 2nd half! I think Coach Willimas has this MD team playing up to their potential now so even 9 wins is not out of the question.


But this is not a sports blog. It is a AV blog. I really enjoy the games in HD and on a big screen. Can usually see fouls better and toes over the 3 point line.


Thanks to 54-1 and 20-1 for showing the ACC games in HD.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/17936571
> 
> 
> Is anyone else experiencing problems with Comcast QAM channels? This morning I've seen analog channels black out or freeze for long periods of time and QAM channels disappear and reappear later. I'm in Prince George's county and don't know when they are supposed to go all digital. I have not received any notices about that yet so I don't think that what they are doing.



When I had someone here for service he said that April 15 is when PG County is supposed to flip the switch (or at least my area of it).


----------



## Coolboarder10

I was wondering why 45 dropped out and come to find out this is the reason why. This is unexceptable. I have had these channels for months. If I could get channel 50 I wouldn't mind so much since THIS Movie channel is partnered with them. But I can't get 50. I already miss This Movie channel a lot. What are the odds of us getting our station back? Please help me. I will do what the people in this great forum recommend.


----------



## Digital Rules

Coolboader10,


Where are you located? You should be able to post a TV FOOL report with 1 or 2 more posts.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/17938833
> 
> 
> When I had someone here for service he said that April 15 is when PG County is supposed to flip the switch (or at least my area of it).



Earlier today, I made sure all my cables were tightly screwed and the freezing problem stopped for now. However, some QAM channels have disappeared. Also, they are remapping the local channels in a weird way. The HD OTA channels are remapped to their right channels but when I tune to 84-1 it goes to 7-31. On another tuner, it stays on 84-1 and also includes the Comcast Network, TBS, and ESPN2 in that group. Those SD cable channels don't show up on my TV. Have they sent anything to anyone else about free DTA's or converter boxes?


----------



## Coolboarder10

I live near Martinsburg Wv.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Coolboarder10* /forum/post/17940311
> 
> 
> I live near Martinsburg Wv.



Do you receive any of the other DC UHF stations?(4,5,14,20,26,32, or 66)


----------



## Coolboarder10

I recieve 2,4,5,7,9.14,20 both 24's, 25,26,30,31,33,42,54,60,66,67

I can sometimes get 11,13,42 and the high end of the mhz of 30.


----------



## Trip in VA

His problem with 50 is analog W50DE which is still on the air for some reason, probably because W08EE-D is so difficult to receive.


His problem with 46 (45-1) is digital WAZW-LD from Winchester.


The FCC really needs to get W50DE off the air or onto another channel. That, or Tribune needs to light up W51CY-D already.


- Trip


----------



## Coolboarder10

What can I do to get WDCW-DT 50? Getting that station would also get me This Tv again. The only problem is I don't have an easy add on scan to get more channels in my tuner. So It's a big pain in the butt to have to auto scan every time and lose the last group of channels to get new ones. At least with 45 It was close enough with my DC stations that I didn't have to rescan.


----------



## Trip in VA

If you still have an analog TV you can hook up to your antenna, you want to make analog 50 look as weak as you possibly can. The weaker it looks, the more likely you are that WDCW will be able to break through and decode for you. That might be your best bet.


- Trip


----------



## Coolboarder10

I don't know how else to do that especially since my antenna isnt even in that direction. My antenna is around 107 to 137 degrees. I have an hdtv and a few analong tvs with converter boxes


----------



## systems2000

W50DE doesn't have any requirement to discontinue transmission.


Contact WDCW and ask them to turn W51CY back ON. I've been after them to turn it back "ON" ever since their primary transmitter switched back to 50 from 51.


With WAZW-LD on the air, your reception of WBFF is gone.


Speaking of WAZW-LD, I just checked and their transmitter seems to be off the air at the moment, unless they turned down their power.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/17940501
> 
> 
> His problem with 50 is analog W50DE which is still on the air for some reason, probably because W08EE-D is so difficult to receive.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Thanks Trip







,


I forgot about W50DE. Unfortunately the generic TV FOOL report for Martinsburg looks pretty bleak for WDCW-50.







I have found DC50 a challenge to receive once you get beyond 30 miles or so from DC without a good antenna & pre-amp.


----------



## Coolboarder10




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/17940887
> 
> 
> W50DE doesn't have any requirement to discontinue transmission.
> 
> 
> Contact WDCW and ask them to turn W51CY back ON. I've been after them to turn it back "ON" ever since their primary transmitter switched back to 50 from 51.
> 
> 
> With WAZW-LD on the air, your reception of WBFF is gone.
> 
> 
> Speaking of WAZW-LD, I just checked and their transmitter seems to be off the air at the moment, unless they turned down their power.



Will the FCC be able to help us people in and around Martinsburg get WBFF 45 again by having the new 45 change station numbers? Is W51CY the same as WDCW 50?


----------



## systems2000

Since you are outside the WBFF "Service Contour," you need to consider it gone. I've already checked with them, months ago, and they have no plans to increase their power.


W51CY is WDCW's translator for the valley. I want ThisTV also.

*NOTE:* At my location, WDCW doesn't even register on TVFOOL, while W51CY (LOS) is shown at 43.2dB (NM) and WBFF (1edge) is shown at -17.8dB (NM), with WAZW-LD not even listed, although I do have WKBS-DT coming from 331° (M) on RF46 at -16.9dB (NM).


Also, WNUV and WWPX can't be found in my TVFOOL report either, even though both are very strong. WWPX is LOS and WNUV is 2edge.


----------



## Coolboarder10

So what is the best way of contacting W51CY? So hopefully we can get ThisTv on 50.

Do you happen to know of any other towers coming near us from any other major networks such as another NBC or Fox? and if so when?


----------



## Coolboarder10

i guess I should do a rescan and see what this new 45 is all about. Is it still just a blank screen? Does it have any sub channels?


----------



## systems2000

WDCW can be reached at (202) 965-5050 http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws....ility_id=64680 


I just checked the Service Contour of W51CY and It covers Brunswick, Chambersburg, Charlestown, Frederick, Gettysburg, Hagerstown, Hancock, Martinsburg, McConnellsburg, Shippensburg, Taneytown, and Thurmont.


WAZW-LD is on RF46, and so is WBFF ( Service Contour ) and WKBS ( Service Contour ).


----------



## Coolboarder10




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/17941345
> 
> 
> WDCW can be reached at (202) 965-5050 http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws....ility_id=64680
> 
> 
> I just checked the Service Contour of W51CY and It covers Brunswick, Chambersburg, Charlestown, Frederick, Gettysburg, Hagerstown, Hancock, Martinsburg, McConnellsburg, Shippensburg, Taneytown, and Thurmont.
> 
> 
> WAZW-LD is on RF46, and so is WBFF ( Service Contour ) and WKBS ( Service Contour ).



So I should just call WDCW (202) 965-5050 and tell them to turn up the power on there tower?


----------



## winchesterdoug




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Coolboarder10* /forum/post/17941007
> 
> 
> Will the FCC be able to help us people in and around Martinsburg get WBFF 45 again by having the new 45 change station numbers? Is W51CY the same as WDCW 50?



I am in Winchester, Va. and I too lost WBFF Fox 45 and This TV on 45.2 about 10 days ago and I had been receiving the stations very strongly for over a year. I have been trying to find out on here what to do about this and all I keep hearing is "there is nothing I can do" but I don't believe that. There is a low power Christian TV station in Winchester - WAZW - that keeps adding translators on frequencies used by larger TV stations. I have been researching the FCC's own regulations about LPTV and interference with other stations - WAZW-CA is on channel 48 and it seems WAZW-CA was on 48 before WRC-TV NBC 4 in Washington DC started using it for digital. But WAZW on channel 46 (which is what WBFF FOX 45 uses) - is showing as a digital low power TV station- and according to FCC regulations LPTV stations have "secondary spectrum priority" and must not interfere with reception of full-service TV stations. It doesn't say anything about "service contour maps" or how far out the station is or any of that other stuff that people keep quoting me. It just says that LPTV stations must not interfere with reception of existing or even new "full service" TV stations. So why then is this WAZW transmitting in the last 10 days on channel 46 and blocking WBFF Fox 45 out of Baltimore? The answer is- they shouldn't be. I filed a complaint three days ago with the FCC over this matter and also have written the station general manager at WBFF-TV hoping to get some help and input on this. This clearly should not be happening.


----------



## Trip in VA

I wish you the best of luck, but past experience with the FCC is that anything outside the coverage contour is not protected and the FCC will not care. Believe me, I live outside the coverage contours of most of my local stations too, and the FCC has told me that I am SOL.


- Trip


----------



## Coolboarder10

Not to get off topic but I have a question about digital tuners. Since the digital ota tuner in my hdtv sucks. It won't let me add channels to my channel list after my inital scan. Is it possiable to get an external digital tuner so I can rotate my ota outdoor antenna and get all my channels saved. Then some how hook it up to my tv and not have to use the built in tuner with out any picture quality loss?


----------



## winchesterdoug




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/17941486
> 
> 
> I wish you the best of luck, but past experience with the FCC is that anything outside the coverage contour is not protected and the FCC will not care. Believe me, I live outside the coverage contours of most of my local stations too, and the FCC has told me that I am SOL.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Who designs these "service contour maps" and on what are they based? I have looked at some of them and many TV stations are receivable far beyond these boundaries that are shown on these maps. Is there a reason for being so conservative with regard to reception areas shown?


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Coolboarder10* /forum/post/17941426
> 
> 
> So I should just call WDCW (202) 965-5050 and tell them to turn up the power on there tower?



I don't believe you'll be able to get them to do that, since they have to go through a bunch of hoops with the FCC for clearance and their transmitter/antenna may already be at designed maximum output.


What you can do is strongly urge them to re-activate their translator W51CY. I've even suggested that they use a CECB and retransmit the content via analog, until they get the equipment for DTV.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *winchesterdoug* /forum/post/17941518
> 
> 
> Who designs these "service contour maps" and on what are they based? I have looked at some of them and many TV stations are receivable far beyond these boundaries that are shown on these maps. Is there a reason for being so conservative with regard to reception areas shown?



I'll let Dave Loudin field this one, because I have my own opinions of the FCC's contour maps (which match your opinions).


- Trip


----------



## ProjectSHO89




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *winchesterdoug* /forum/post/17941518
> 
> 
> Who designs these "service contour maps" and on what are they based? I have looked at some of them and many TV stations are receivable far beyond these boundaries that are shown on these maps. Is there a reason for being so conservative with regard to reception areas shown?



The service contour map is based on predicted signal levels (see the specific map's legend for the forecast level) generated by a computer program. It is not meant to be a definitive prediction of reception of a given station, but instead it outlines the area in which the signal is to be protected from interference.


See http://www.fcc.gov/ftp/Bureaus/MB/Da...s/mapinfo.html for details.


----------



## systems2000

WBFF could go back to RF45 and WRC could go to RF20.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/17943305
> 
> 
> WBFF could go back to RF45 and WRC could go to RF20.



WBFF requested 45 during the channel elections and the FCC said no. WDCA requested 20 during the channel elections and was also told no.


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules

Trip,


Do you think RF 45 was denied because of RF 44 in Clear Spring, MD?


----------



## Trip in VA

I suspect it was related to WWPB, WDPB, or both.


- Trip


----------



## winchesterdoug




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/17943340
> 
> 
> WBFF requested 45 during the channel elections and the FCC said no. WDCA requested 20 during the channel elections and was also told no.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Well, if that is the case and the stations were told "no" for those channel elections then the FCC most certainly shouldn't be allowing low power television stations to be broadcasting on their current frequencies and blocking the transmissions of full-service stations. Something just doesn't seem right here.


----------



## Trip in VA

That's how the rules are written. A station like WAZW-LD runs a Longley-Rice interference study. If it can show that it will cause interference to less than 0.5% of the population covered by a particular full-powered station, then it will be allowed. In the case of WBFF, given that much of the population is centered around Baltimore and DC, I suspect 0.5% interference could actually be a very large *land* area.


This is an area where the FCC's engineering rules could use some improvement. There are many cases where the prediction says one thing and the real world says another, and I wish the FCC would use the real world to make judgments (as they did in the 50's, I might point out) rather than the computer models which, as useful as they can be, are not perfect.


- Trip


----------



## winchesterdoug




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/17943749
> 
> 
> That's how the rules are written. A station like WAZW-LD runs a Longley-Rice interference study. If it can show that it will cause interference to less than 0.5% of the population covered by a particular full-powered station, then it will be allowed. In the case of WBFF, given that much of the population is centered around Baltimore and DC, I suspect 0.5% interference could actually be a very large *land* area.
> 
> 
> This is an area where the FCC's engineering rules could use some improvement. There are many cases where the prediction says one thing and the real world says another, and I wish the FCC would use the real world to make judgments (as they did in the 50's, I might point out) rather than the computer models which, as useful as they can be, are not perfect.
> 
> 
> - Trip



I agree. They are definitely not perfect. As written then, they are depriving large populations in rural areas who depend on OTA TV to watch network television affiliates, the ability to view those larger stations if they are going to allow anyone who wants to - to set up a low power TV station. These smaller "special interest" stations can block out transmissions from urban stations. Sounds like a plan to get everybody to subscribe to cable and satellite, even if they don't want to. What choice do you have, if networks are blocked from viewing by smaller low power stations? The whole thing is utterly ridiculous. Of course, we do have to remember we are dealing with a government agency.


----------



## systems2000

Well, I'll be moving in the next month or so.










One location I was looking at, is about six miles NNW of where I'm at now. Just for fun, I decided to do a TVFOOL report on a setup very similar to what I have here. I found some interesting information.

*Harrisburg stations become receivable:*

NM for WHTM would increase by 25.7dB and goes from 2edge to 1edge

NM for WITF would increase by 24.8dB and goes from 2edge to 1edge

NM for WHP would increase by 24.0dB and goes from 2edge to 1edge

NM for WLYH would increase by 3.0dB

NM for WGCB would increase by 2.2dB

NM for WPMT would increase by 0.7dB


While the NM for WGAL (RF8) would increase by 6.7dB and the NM for W08EE-D would decrease by 5.5dB, there is still a 14.8dB spread between them and I expect W08EE-D would still be receivable.

*Locals decrease in intensity:*

WHAG would decrease by 3.2dB NM (59.3 to 56.1 - hottest station)

WJAL would decrease by 1.7dB NM (53.8 to 52.1)

WWPB would decrease by 3.4dB NM (54.6 to 51.2)


WHSV-TV would go from LOS to 1edge

WVPY would go from LOS to 1edge

W34DW-D would go from 2edge to 1edge

WAZW-LD would go from LOS to 2edge and the NM would decrease from 10.2dB to 1.8dB

*Altoona stations:*

NM for WATM would increase by 5.0dB and go from 2edge to 1edge

WTAJ doesn't even show up on the report, although I suspect it's would be receivable.


There is only a 0-5dB change in the status of the Baltimore and D.C. stations and they all stay 2edge.

What really caught my attention were the receive levels of WHTM, WITF, and WHP making huge jumps into the "+" levels.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *winchesterdoug* /forum/post/17947419
> 
> 
> What choice do you have, if networks are blocked from viewing by smaller low power stations?



Blockage can also come from neighboring DMA's. Since I sit smack dab in between Altoona, Harrisburg, and Baltimore/D.C., there are plenty of opportunities for co-channel interference.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/17947490
> 
> 
> Well, I'll be moving in the next month or so.



How difficult is it to take down your tower


----------



## systems2000

Remove the antennas, unbolt the brackets, and let it fall into the yard.










Actually, I have a couple of reels of conduit rope that will let me lower it into the yard (along with a couple of buddies to walk the tower down), where I'll unbolt the 10' sections.


----------



## Coolboarder10

I just wanted people to know that I emailed the Fcc about the whole Wbff 45 channel loss. They sent me back an auto responce email with an id number. Fingers crossed that they will actually do something. I also emailed Ron Croom at wazw. I have not recieved anything back from him yet. I also want people to know that because of this whole situation that I am very worried about the way the Fcc is going to vote in Feb about lossing more digital spectdrum to broadband wirerless. We should all take more of a stand and try to keep our channels.


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *winchesterdoug* /forum/post/17941518
> 
> 
> Who designs these "service contour maps" and on what are they based? I have looked at some of them and many TV stations are receivable far beyond these boundaries that are shown on these maps. Is there a reason for being so conservative with regard to reception areas shown?



First, what do we mean by service area worthy of protection? Two things: a signal level that is easily received and generally free of natural noise AND at range, available over a majority of locations. Outside of its service area, a signal does not become instantly gone, it is now generally subject to natural interference and is harder to receive over most locations. Protection of service areas (at full-power levels for sure) usually preserves reception in the fringe areas to a point, but does not guarantee them.


Calculating signal level for VHF and UHF broadcast service areas contains one major approximation - fixing antenna height for a direction at the Height Above Average Terrain in that direction. Determining HAAT involves only the first 16 km along a direction, so terrain blockage beyond this distance is ignored - the prime reason why contour plots diverge from coverage maps based on Longley-Rice predictions. As a result, the contour plots tend to overestimate coverage, especially in places where tall ridges shadow large portions of the potential service area. This also means that this method should never underestimate coverage. This is a good thing, especially when contour protection is used for FM proposals that fail minimum spacing requirements.


Let me emphasize that the contour plot method is meant to estimate service available to a majority of potential receivers. Can stations be received beyond that range? Certainly. However, the fraction of receivers that catch that signal begins to decrease rapidly.


For TV, with the advent of widely available digital terrain data and computer horsepower, a second step has been added using Longley-Rice predictions - the calculation of additional interference over an entire service area. Actually, this is more than one step - it is an algorithm as follows:

* Determine the service area of the subject station and run Longley-Rice predictions for that station to a grid of points across that area.

* Run Longley-Rice predictions to the grid of points for every station that could interfere with the subject station

* Assess the coverage of the subject station at each point as:

- covered

- no coverage, no interference (terrain blockage)

- no coverage due to interference

* Run Longley-Rice predictions for the proposal to the grid of points

* Reassess coverage of the subject station to measure interference impact (how many additional points fail due to interference)


As you can see, bringing more precision into spectrum allocation decisions ramps up the computer resource requirements quickly. Bringing more precision also leads to closer spacing between stations, which is unavoidable with the pressure on spectrum for TV broadcast. This means that bringing more precision also leads to less opportunity for DX reception, which honestly, is what watching WBFF in the Winchester and Martinsburg areas is.


There is no way that a majority of receivers in the Winchester and Martinsburg areas can receive WBFF. Does it make sense as a matter of policy to protect WBFF's coverage to the few who can see it? If so, then that policy applied uniformly would force a lot of stations off the air.


----------



## Jimmy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/17949450
> 
> 
> How difficult is it to take down your tower



Mine was 3 sections, not counting the base in the cement. I put it up by myself and could take it down by myself. It depends on how long it's been up. The hardest part is getting the bolts loose. I also had and used a lineman's safety belt, which always made it easy to work on the antenna. You just lean back in the belt, lift the section up and out, and lower the section with a rope.


----------



## gary michaels




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin* /forum/post/17955646
> 
> 
> There is no way that a majority of receivers in the Winchester and Martinsburg areas can receive WBFF. Does it make sense as a matter of policy to protect WBFF's coverage to the few who can see it? If so, then that policy applied uniformly would force a lot of stations off the air.



Dave, having homes in both the Winchester and Martinsburg areas, I can tell you that with a simple, basic outside antenna just about anyone can and do or should I say did receive WBFF on a regular basis along with the rest of the signals out of both DC and Baltimore including WBAL and WJZ. In these outside of big city areas many people depend on these signals. In allowing the low power service to cover up these signals is a great disservice to a huge number of people.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gary michaels* /forum/post/17956786
> 
> 
> Dave, having homes in both the Winchester and Martinsburg areas, I can tell you that with a simple, basic outside antenna just about anyone can and do or should I say did receive WBFF on a regular basis along with the rest of the signals out of both DC and Baltimore including WBAL and WJZ. In these outside of big city areas many people depend on these signals. In allowing the low power service to cover up these signals is a great disservice to a huge number of people.



I believe the licensees of the LPTV's would probably disagree with you.


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gary michaels* /forum/post/17956786
> 
> 
> Dave, having homes in both the Winchester and Martinsburg areas, I can tell you that with a simple, basic outside antenna just about anyone can and do or should I say did receive WBFF on a regular basis along with the rest of the signals out of both DC and Baltimore including WBAL and WJZ. In these outside of big city areas many people depend on these signals. In allowing the low power service to cover up these signals is a great disservice to a huge number of people.



I'm originally from central WV where OTA reception required some effort, so I completely understand where you're coming from. However, I honestly think you're overestimating the percentage of homes that could receive WBFF. Check out the plot at TVFool to see what I mean. You will see similar results for other DC/Baltimore stations - the Blue Ridge casts quite a shadow.


To see how accounting for terrain effects leads to greater spectrum use, look at how W38AN's coverage bumps right up against WHUT's . There is no getting around this in the northeast, especially.


To tie these plots back to my last post, what people are asking for is to _protect_ reception to regions that are shaded purple on TVFool's reception maps. That has never happened in allocation policy before, and certainly won't start now. Reception in these areas has been _possible_ through protection of the green-shaded areas of high-power stations.


----------



## Dave Loudin

For Coolboarder 10, winchesterdoug, gary michaels, and others, my discussion on protection was limited to primary services only, meaning full-power or Class A low-power stations. Secondary services, such as LPTV, must not, as we noted before, interfere with primary services. You all have documented cases where an LPTV has affected your reception of a primary service, and you have the right to file a complaint with the FCC. However, I believe that you will not succeed in forcing the offending operation off the air, as I don't believe you can find a _lot_ of other people with the same circumstances. You have to clearly demonstrate that the Longley-Rice predictions _over an area_ are wrong.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin* /forum/post/17958564
> 
> 
> To see how accounting for terrain effects leads to greater spectrum use, look at how W38AN's coverage bumps right up against WHUT's . There is no getting around this in the northeast, especially.



Currently, W38AN (RF33) is not on the air and looks to be awhile before it is. Last I knew from talking with the engineers, they haven't even purchased the equipment yet.


----------



## winchesterdoug




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/17957935
> 
> 
> I believe the licensees of the LPTV's would probably disagree with you.



According to the FCC's own regulations - LPTV stations have "secondary spectrum priority" to full-service stations. And that LPTV stations MUST NOT cause interference to the reception of existing or future full-service television stations. WBFF-TV Fox 45 out of Baltimore is a network affiliate station with a very strong signal (and no, it does not require a powerful antenna to receive) but for some unknown reason the FCC is allowing a small religious LPTV station to use the same frequency as WBFF-TV (channel 46) and this is depriving many viewers in the valley from receiving the transmissions from a Fox affiliate TV station. To any sensible person, this is a no-brainer. WBFF-TV Fox 45 was transmitting on digital channel 46 over a year ago - and there is no reason why there signal should be blocked by a low power local interest TV station. This whole situation is totally ridiculous and very frustrating. It is beyond reason.


----------



## Coolboarder10

Right on Winchesterdoug. What other people might not remember is that Wazw-ld is also using 2 other transmitters that are analog. Which brings there total transmitters up to 3. And they are using all 3 transmitters to send out the same exact programming. In some cases there analog tranmitter is blocking out another station WRC. So you might be losing up to 5 channels right there alone. And the rumor is that there going to use another tower that will use the same channel as 54 out of Baltimore as well. If that happens some people might lose up to 6 channels. That is ridiculas. We shouldn't be forced to lose our major network channels. If anything we should be getting more.


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/17960550
> 
> 
> Currently, W38AN (RF33) is not on the air and looks to be awhile before it is. Last I knew from talking with the engineers, they haven't even purchased the equipment yet.



I realized that after I posted, but TVFool doesn't have a plot for WAZW-LD yet.


Winchesterdoug, did you read anything I wrote yesterday? Have you looked at the WBFF coverage plot I pointed to? It's not "an unknown reason" why WAZW-LD could use 46 - the engineering models (not the contour plots - the Longley-Rice ones) show that they can. You will need more than two or three complaints to force a change.


----------



## winchesterdoug




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Coolboarder10* /forum/post/17962340
> 
> 
> Right on Winchesterdoug. What other people might not remember is that Wazw-ld is also using 2 other transmitters that are analog. Which brings there total transmitters up to 3. And they are using all 3 transmitters to send out the same exact programming. In some cases there analog tranmitter is blocking out another station WRC. So you might be losing up to 5 channels right there alone. And the rumor is that there going to use another tower that will use the same channel as 54 out of Baltimore as well. If that happens some people might lose up to 6 channels. That is ridiculas. We shouldn't be forced to lose our major network channels. If anything we should be getting more.



Yes, WAZW is also slated to set up a low power digital station on channel 40 as well. This will then block us from receiving the CW affiliate WNUV channel 54 out of Baltimore because they transmit on digital channel 40. We already can't get CW WDCW 50 out of Washington DC because there is a low power analog station on channel 50 in Martinsburg blocking WDCW's transmission. So then we will not have ANY of the CW network's programming making it into the valley. I am particularly distressed that the FCC allows an unlimited number of these low power stations and translators to transmit on so many channels already being used by network affiliates with strong signals, and then blocking those varied channels from being received. But it seems that you and I are the only ones upset about this. Everybody else seems to think it is just fine. I wonder if there is some kind of legal action that could be taken to void this monopolizing of so many channels for just one entity? I just don't think it is fair.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Coolboarder10* /forum/post/17962340
> 
> 
> Right on Winchesterdoug. What other people might not remember is that Wazw-ld is also using 2 other transmitters that are analog. Which brings there total transmitters up to 3. And they are using all 3 transmitters to send out the same exact programming. In some cases there analog tranmitter is blocking out another station WRC. So you might be losing up to 5 channels right there alone. And the rumor is that there going to use another tower that will use the same channel as 54 out of Baltimore as well. If that happens some people might lose up to 6 channels. That is ridiculas. We shouldn't be forced to lose our major network channels. If anything we should be getting more.



Actually there are no rules for whether several LPTV's carry the same programming. It happens all the time.


I've also run across consumer complaints where a DTV viewer is trying to watch large market station at a distance, but receives interference from a co-or adjacent channel LPTV. In both cases, the LPTV was well within it's allocation with measured field strength at or less that the calculated licensed level at that distance. In one instance, the folks complaining were using a high gain antenna with amplifier in an attempt to 'pull in' I believe the CBS affillate station almost 90 miles away.


Of course to be fair I've seen some pretty shoddy licensed LPTV operations that have created interference, but for the most part those are few and far between.


It will be interesting to see how the Commission will handle allocations and CP's to LP analog stations wanting to transition to ATSC prior to the estimated next deadline of 2012, given what we've learned post-transition. I'm not sure if there will be enough room to accomodate all the LPs and translators.


----------



## Sammer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *winchesterdoug* /forum/post/17960838
> 
> 
> To any sensible person, this is a no-brainer. WBFF-TV Fox 45 was transmitting on digital channel 46 over a year ago - and there is no reason why there signal should be blocked by a low power local interest TV station. This whole situation is totally ridiculous and very frustrating. It is beyond reason.



You mean to any sensible viewer. You're not only on the fringe of WBFF reception but you're also in a different DMA so you don't count toward their ratings. If WAZT tried to put an LD on channel 36 in your area the reaction of both the Fox station involved and the FCC would be very different.


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *winchesterdoug* /forum/post/17964344
> 
> 
> I am particularly distressed that the FCC allows an unlimited number of these low power stations and translators to transmit on so many channels already being used by network affiliates with strong signals, and then blocking those varied channels from being received. But it seems that you and I are the only ones upset about this. Everybody else seems to think it is just fine. I wonder if there is some kind of legal action that could be taken to void this monopolizing of so many channels for just one entity? I just don't think it is fair.



You seem to be ignoring me entirely. I've tried to walk you through how the spectrum allocation process works, what the models used in the process show (the WBFF plot), and what you would need to do to effect change.


Quite simply, WBFF is predicted to NOT be a "strong signal" in your _area_ and the spectrum analysis method I described predicts less than 0.5% additional interference to WBFF's service area. Outside of getting many other people to join you in complaining about interference (with some evidence that they could actually receive WBFF before), you are out of luck. Sorry.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/17964385
> 
> 
> Actually there are no rules for whether several LPTV's carry the same programming. It happens all the time.



Just look at WNPB and WGAL.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/17965267
> 
> 
> Just look at WNPB and WGAL.



WGAL hasn't been approved, and WNPB's various translators are designed to cover different parts of West Virginia.


- Trip


----------



## systems2000

I was pointing out how one station has more than one transmitter, on different RF's.


----------



## Trip in VA

Ah, okay.










- Trip


----------



## systems2000

Speaking of WGAL, they are on the verge of getting approval for the 32.2Kw increase (from 14.1Kw), but need to work some minor issues out, with the station North of them.


----------



## winchesterdoug




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Sammer* /forum/post/17964393
> 
> 
> You mean to any sensible viewer. You're not only on the fringe of WBFF reception but you're also in a different DMA so you don't count toward their ratings. If WAZT tried to put an LD on channel 36 in your area the reaction of both the Fox station involved and the FCC would be very different.



Yes, you have a good point about that.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*MASN Announces 2010 Baseball Television Schedule*


By MASN Staff on January 21, 2010 10:37 AM


(Washington D.C.) -- MASN, the television home of the Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles, announced today its Major League Baseball programming schedule for the 2010 season. With the April launch of MASN2 HD, MASN will carry every game and every play -- 320 MLB games -- in high definition throughout the season.


The Nationals will have 95 live games on MASN and MASH HD and an additional 67 on MASN2 and MASN2 HD. Washington DC-area viewers will also be able to watch nearly every Sunday afternoon Nationals game on MASN's over-the-air partner, DC50. MASN's partnership with DC50 will feature 20 Nationals games, including Opening Day, simulcast on the Washington broadcast network.


The Orioles will play 95 games live on MASN and MASN HD and 63 games on MASN2 and MASN2 HD. Viewers in the Baltimore area will be able to watch 20 MASN-produced Orioles games simulcast on the network's over-the-air partner, WJZ-TV Channel 13. Three games are currently scheduled to appear on national networks.


"MASN continues to raise the bar for regional sports programming by featuring every single Nationals and Orioles game in glorious HD. With MASN's innovative in-game technology, national-caliber broadcasters and 24/7 coverage of the Nationals and Orioles, MASN is providing maximum access to baseball fans," said MASN spokesman Todd Webster. "Nats and O's fans only need to know two channel positions on their remote control to watch every Nats and O's game in HD."


The easiest way for fans to locate MASN, MASN2, MASN HD and MASN2 HD will be for viewers to check their on-screen channel guides using their television remote. A full listing of cable, satellite and fiber optic channel positions will be available at MASNsports.com. Fans can also pick up MASN's television schedule at both teams' FanFest celebrations in January. The Orioles' FanFest is Saturday, January 23 and the Nationals' NatsFest is Sunday, January 31.


With Every Play and Every Game in crystal clear high definition, pre and post game shows before and after every game, an All Star talent team, and 24/7 online coverage at MASNsports.com, MASN is the home of the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals.


The Nationals television schedule is available here.

http://www.masnsports.com/pdfs/2010_...s_schedule.pdf 


The Orioles television schedule is available here.

http://www.masnsports.com/pdfs/2010_...s_schedule.pdf 

http://masnsports.com/2010/01/masn-a...aseball-t.html


----------



## Coolboarder10

You know whats Ironic? I have never had this many problems,complaints, and stressed out nights about ota tv Untill this whole digital upgrade last year. Ota is all I have ever had for over 28 years. And I have never moved outside of my viewing area. This is the first time that I have ever lost major channels due to other stations interferring with the signals. And for what. Because there not in the green shaded areas. I only have one major channel in the green shaded area. Nbc 25. And it's programming isn't always as good as Wrc 4. I get a total nuber of 0 in the yellow shaded area because I can't recieve Abc 42. I get 3 major networks in the red area. I get 5 in the gray now because I lost 45. So you guys think that this is fair? That I should only have one major network channel protected. Unbeleavable. What are people like Gary, Winchesterdoug and I supposed to do now? It's not like We can get major ota channels from another market. Heck were in an area that has baltimore and dc. It has to be one of the better markets to recieve ota to begin with.


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Coolboarder10* /forum/post/17977930
> 
> 
> I only have one major channel in the green shaded area. Nbc 25. And it's programming isn't always as good as Wrc 4. I get a total nuber of 0 in the yellow shaded area because I can't recieve Abc 42. I get 3 major networks in the red area. I get 5 in the gray now because I lost 45. So you guys think that this is fair? That I should only have one major network channel protected. Unbeleavable. What are people like Gary, Winchesterdoug and I supposed to do now? It's not like We can get major ota channels from another market. Heck were in an area that has baltimore and dc. It has to be one of the better markets to recieve ota to begin with.



I agree that your situation is disappointing, but fairness, honestly, depends on the point of view. That you have been able to pull in DC and Baltimore has been to this point a happy by-product of 1) full-power stations protecting each other and 2) enough spectrum for LPTV to stay generally away from full-power stations.


Let me explain a little more about point 1. Protecting a signal from interference means keeping the _sum_ of unwanted signals from exceeding a threshhold below it. To use some made-up numbers, if protection means maintaining a 40dB ratio between wanted and unwanted, and the minimum signal level to be protected is 41dB above 1 microvolt, then where the protected signal is 41dB, all unwanted signals can't add up to be more than 1dB. Imagine how far away a full-power station must be to guarentee that. For fringe area viewers, that will leave some margin between wanted/unwanted, and using the necessary outdoor antenna helps to discriminate between the signals even more.


For point 2, low-power services such as translators and LPTV have a greater interest in operating on the quietest frequencies possible, as, of course, having veiwers in their fringe area means more to them. Prior to the DTV transition, there was enough room for these stations to generally stay away from full-power fringe areas. Now there is not, and that hurts all parties, as you can tell.


Since I quoted used numbers earlier, let me use them to explain why fringe-area reception is not protected. For the sake of this discussion, let's assume that your signal level is another 10 dB down, or 31 dB. For full protection, that means unwanted signals must be -9dB, and this much lower level is much farther from the desired station than the last example. This would either increase the required separation between stations dramatically, or force across-the-board power reductions. Either way, that's a tremendous penalty to pay for _all_ viewers, and you would still lose service in the long run.


With the added precision of assessing interference in TV broadcasting, the FCC opened the door to using terrain shielding for allocation decisions. We would not be having this discussion if the Blue Ridge was not between Winchester and DC/Baltimore. WAZW-LD could not set up shop on 46 with any meaningful signal.


In the long run, no one has the "right" to have all major networks OTA. If you think you have it bad, at my parent's house in central WV, they get exactly zero protected signals and only one station in the red with a roof-top antenna.


----------



## Dave Loudin

On a related note, the FCC has updated the packages of maps that compare analog and digital TV service. Included in the DC metro package is WJLA's 30kW upgrade, but not WUSA's proposed power hike. DC's package is here (14.1 MB pdf) and Baltimore's is here (4 MB pdf).


----------



## Sammer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin* /forum/post/17978601
> 
> 
> Prior to the DTV transition, there was enough room for these stations to generally stay away from full-power fringe areas. Now there is not, and that hurts all parties, as you can tell.



There really should have been two more UHF channels for digital television. Now that CTIA - The Wireless Association has made it publicly known that they really want the spectrum from at least 25 more UHF TV channels expect things to get worse rather than better for antenna TV viewers in the future even if IMHO that's not in the public interest.


----------



## aaronwt

As OTA viewers become less and less, things will eventually change. People want all that wasted spectrum that 10% of the population receive OTA TV from. And each year fewer people use it.


I wouldn't be surpised in a few years if the government starts offering incentives for TV stations to stop broadcasting OTA to reclaim more spectrum. It's either that or try and push them off.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/17981914
> 
> 
> As OTA viewers become less and less, things will eventually change. People want all that wasted spectrum that 10% of the population receive OTA TV from.



10% of people have *only* OTA. This number does not take into account people who may have cable or satellite on one set while still retaining OTA sets in other parts of their homes.


- Trip


----------



## Kelly From KOMO

There was a similar discussion on the Seattle OTA board about the future of OTA viewing. Rather than typing it all over, here is the copied and pasted version:


Quote:

Originally Posted by Whidbey

"Interesting. Do we have a right to free TV? Or are we at the mercy of the goodwill of broadcasters?"


Speaking as an industry hack, I wouldn't say you have a 'right' to free over the air TV, especially since most are commercial entities. That being said, broadcasters obviously want you to watch their programming, and will do what is within their power as a licensee to make sure you can.


Really there are several issues afoot here:


OTA transmission systems are expensive to build, maintain and operate. Over the past twenty years, the influx of cable and satellite access has created an assumption on the part of consumers that the only way one can watch TV is via a cable or satellite subscription. In fact, 90% of television viewers nationwide are subscribers to cable or satellite TV. OTA viewership is (depending on the market) between 2 and 10%. With the whole DTV transmission conversion fiasco behind us, I think broadcasters are really looking at the relevance of maintaining OTA systems into the future. The challenge is weighing the costs of maintaining OTA verses the free feed sent to the cable system(s).


Now add in the new administration at the FCC. Recently the new FCC Commissioner commissioned a study from Professor Stuart Benjamin "Roasting the Pig to Burn Down the House" about where to find spectrum for public broadband access. The opinion of the report " (to paraphrase) was that the FCC should just take spectrum away from DTV because not only is local television becoming irrelevant, the use of spectrum from DTV is excessive and unnecessary. A .pdf copy of the 13 page report is available on-line.


Based on the report, last month the FCC suggested that broadcasters consider giving up some of their 6mHz channel to provide space for public broadband. Needless the say most broadcasters were unamused by this proposal, given the fact they had just been required to spend billions on the government-mandated DTV conversion. One of the suggestions by the FCC was some form of profit sharing in markets where broadcasters agreed to give up some of their channel space which could be auctioned off to the highest bidder. The down side for consumers would be the end of HD broadcasting from a station who agreed-to, or were forced to give up a portion of their channel.


So yes, OTA is in jeopardy for the long haul I suppose. If you want free OTA to continue and potentially grow in popularity, both broadcasters and the public need to get out and promote the method. At the same time, if the report boils your blood like it did mine; sit down and write your Congressperson an E-mail, objecting to any proposed alteration of the current TV broadcast band or removal of channel space from existing broadcasters.


In my view, there are hundreds of channels of available-unused spectrum out there reserved for the use of the government and government defense contractors. They should look to that spectrum first before poaching the already crowded broadcast bands.


----------



## winchesterdoug




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Coolboarder10* /forum/post/17977930
> 
> 
> You know whats Ironic? I have never had this many problems,complaints, and stressed out nights about ota tv Untill this whole digital upgrade last year. Ota is all I have ever had for over 28 years. And I have never moved outside of my viewing area. This is the first time that I have ever lost major channels due to other stations interferring with the signals. And for what. Because there not in the green shaded areas. I only have one major channel in the green shaded area. Nbc 25. And it's programming isn't always as good as Wrc 4. I get a total nuber of 0 in the yellow shaded area because I can't recieve Abc 42. I get 3 major networks in the red area. I get 5 in the gray now because I lost 45. So you guys think that this is fair? That I should only have one major network channel protected. Unbeleavable. What are people like Gary, Winchesterdoug and I supposed to do now? It's not like We can get major ota channels from another market. Heck were in an area that has baltimore and dc. It has to be one of the better markets to recieve ota to begin with.



All these problems stem from the fact that for some reason the FCC decided back in 1982 to provide opportunities for small low power TV stations to go on the air. There was already, even at that time, a limited amount of broadcast spectrum availability. This potential problem should have been foreseen when they approved the unlimited ability of these LPTV's to start operation. Now we are seeing this mess with all kinds of special interest (actually, what I call "limited interest") stations on the air and preventing people from seeing more widely appealing network affiliate stations. It particularly galls me when you might have two network affiliates - such as the CW WDCW on 50 out of Washington and WNUV CW 54 out of Baltimore- both having their signals blocked and unobtainable because of other stations operating on the same frequency. We already cannot get WDCW 50 out of Washington because of an analog station on 50 in Martinsburg - and now when this WAZW-LD starts using channel 40 - it will prevent those of us in the valley from viewing the only other CW station left to us, which is WNUV CW 54 out of Baltimore. I am also getting quite agitated at all these people attempting to justify what is taking place by saying it is perfectly "allowable" and we basically have "no right" to view these network channels that are 70 or 80 miles away - because they are not right here in our own backyard. Well, duh, we have put up OTA antennas to receive these metro area stations precisely because we do NOT have large network affiliates in our rural areas and we depend on the broadcasts from the D.C. and Baltimore stations. Allowable or not, I personally do not appreciate having my freedom of choice to watch what stations I want to watch (and can receive easily) stymied - simply because someone else wants to set-up their own special interest station and in the process block out reception of a larger well-established station. Yeah, yeah, I know they can do it. But this just a matter of common sense. I have read all the facts and figures and map configurations and everything else that people have posted on here - and all the postings about the FCC regulations - but when it is all said and done- we never had all these problems when I was growing up receiving the metropolitan area TV stations. It was a "given" and we never thought anything about it. Now all of a sudden we have to "justify" and "make a case" as to why we should be able to receive our network affiliate stations out of Washington and Baltimore. The reason is - because we are in rural areas and cannot support our own network affiliates and we depend on those transmissions from the urban areas. This is why it is a critical problem when the FCC allows small LPTV stations to broadcast on the same frequencies as those larger stations and impedes rural viewers ability to receive them. It is not a matter of service contour maps, or projected reception populations or engineering- but it should be a matter of common sense. But I do agree, that when we are fighting for common sense- we are fighting a losing battle.


----------



## Sammer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *winchesterdoug* /forum/post/17982179
> 
> 
> We already cannot get WDCW 50 out of Washington because of an analog station on 50 in Martinsburg.



"I feel your pain" but that translator is part of a statewide public broadcasting network and their digital translator is apparently a VHF nightmare. Translator stations have been around since long before 1982 and many of them do provide rural areas reception of major network affiliates. In a more ideal world there would be enough money and an allotment for a full power public broadcasting station in Martinsburg.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/17982107
> 
> 
> Speaking as an industry hack, I wouldn't say you have a 'right' to free over the air TV, especially since most are commercial entities.



I believe this is a false premise to begin with.


Broadcasters request, and are granted, transmission rights at the discretion of the FCC and those rights are supposed to be for the benefit of the public interest. I would think that implies a form of "right" to the general public. What is going on at the FCC today, is all about acquiring dollars for the Federal programs and greasing the palms of special interest groups.


For sure, the general public has taken OTA Television for granted, while those who understand the implications try to hold the ground. Stations and Networks, especially Networks, need to realize that OTA viewers want good programming and not rehashed crap.


When is the last time a new show was given more than a month to survive?


For myself, I was very disappointed when Threshold was terminated. It was two years before I started watching Smallville and a year before Supernatural. Sometimes it takes awhile for the public to get interested. Personally, I have no interest in most shows being carried by ABC, CBS, or NBC (exceptions are The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, Castle, The Middle, & Gary Unmarried).


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Sammer* /forum/post/17982646
> 
> 
> In a more ideal world there would be enough money and an allotment for a full power public broadcasting station in Martinsburg.



In the world of analog, there was an allotment for 44* in Martinsburg. West Virginia PBS never built it, and so that allotment was deleted and the channel used instead for WWPB-DT.


- Trip


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/17984108
> 
> 
> In the world of analog, there was an allotment for 44* in Martinsburg. West Virginia PBS never built it, and so that allotment was deleted and the channel used instead for WWPB-DT.
> 
> 
> - Trip



In the 80's and early 90's West Virginia PBS had their translator on 44 (W44AA), but moved it to channel 50 after asking for a displacement when WWPB-DT was assigned Channel 44 for their digital signal.


I lost both WV PBS on 44 and WBDC on 50, because of this at the time.


----------



## dewster1977




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Coolboarder10* /forum/post/17977930
> 
> 
> You know whats Ironic? I have never had this many problems,complaints, and stressed out nights about ota tv Untill this whole digital upgrade last year. Ota is all I have ever had for over 28 years. .



The big problem in "our area" (Western MD, S Central PA, and the WVA Panhandle) is for 50+ years we watched Baltimore or DC, although most of us are outside their DMA, that was what we were able to get (2,4,5,7,9,11,13) without every having to adjust your antenna. (WGAL started on CH 4 and the Harrisburg stations were UHF and didn't carry very far)


I'm in the Harrisburg DMA and none of the major networks are predicted to cover my area, although WHAG an NBC affilate located in the Washington DMA is receivable without an antenna at all.


So because we are not in a stations DMA, they don't have to cover they same area they did in analog, Yet stations in your DMA, don't have to increase their signals to cover their DMA, Makes no sense to me.


I must say that since WJLA and WUSA have increased power they are receivable 95% of the time for me now, I know most are against VHF for digital, but for me the VHF's are my most reliable.


----------



## Dave Loudin

DMA has nothing to do with this - physics does. The point I've tried to make is there is a limit to how far you can _protect_ stations before requiring tremendous separations that would lead to less service for everyone. That DC/Baltimore TV has been receivable in the Shenandoah Valley, the Eastern Panhandle of WV, and western Maryland is due to geography. If Elkins was a big city and the Allegheny Mountains weren't in the way, you would have grown up with something else. As it is, potential interference from Weston, Wheeling, and Pittsburgh doesn't stand a chance to cause trouble.


----------



## Sammer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin* /forum/post/17986006
> 
> 
> DMA has nothing to do with this - physics does. The point I've tried to make is there is a limit to how far you can _protect_ stations before requiring tremendous separations that would lead to less service for everyone.



DMA may have nothing to do with it from a technical perspective but it sure does from a business perspective. Whether a commercial station challenges such interference is a business decision and what DMA the interference occurs in most definitely does influence that decision. Stations can even hire their own experts and challenge FCC decisions in court.


----------



## Potatoehead

Saw a message from Comcast today. They will be adding WHUT HD next Thur. Jan. 28th on our system (putting it on ch 202, one of the locations of the SD version of WETA).


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Sammer* /forum/post/17987288
> 
> 
> DMA may have nothing to do with it from a technical perspective but it sure does from a business perspective. Whether a commercial station challenges such interference is a business decision and what DMA the interference occurs in most definitely does influence that decision. Stations can even hire their own experts and challenge FCC decisions in court.



If you want to dismiss the DMA or technical perspective and look at it from a business perspective, then the fact is no TV station benefits nor is responsible for broadcasting to viewers outside the DMA. Chances are better than 99% that viewers outside a market don't contribute to public stations nor frequent advertisers within the market in which the station serves.


----------



## Coolboarder10

Winchesterdoug

Can you or someone else please tell me when we are going to loose our next channel.

WNUV CW 54 because of WAZW-LD using the same channel 40.

Do you really think it will block out our viewing area just like it has with Wbff 45?

Thanks.


----------



## gary michaels




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Coolboarder10* /forum/post/17990843
> 
> 
> Winchesterdoug
> 
> Can you or someone else please tell me when we are going to loose our next channel.
> 
> WNUV CW 54 because of WAZW-LD using the same channel 40.
> 
> Do you really think it will block out our viewing area just like it has with Wbff 45?
> 
> Thanks.



I understand that the C.P. for the ch. 40 transmitter expired on 1-12-10. I did not see an extension filed. The company that runs that station did ask for extension of the ch. 46 transmitter C.P. and did not get it. They cited money problems if I remember correctly. By the way, that group of transmitters are to some degree financed by a "foundation" that is a kind of collective of alleged religious groups. The programming on these stations did at one point have something other than what looks to be paid religious programming, but as of late it looks like bucks for Jesus 24/7. Most of the programming seems to be of the nationally syndicated hell fire and brim stone type from the huge mega church organizations. The whole thing reminds me of a 70's soul song called "stealing in the name of the Lord." Wow, what a great pubic service they are.


----------



## winchesterdoug




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Coolboarder10* /forum/post/17990843
> 
> 
> Winchesterdoug
> 
> Can you or someone else please tell me when we are going to loose our next channel.
> 
> WNUV CW 54 because of WAZW-LD using the same channel 40.
> 
> Do you really think it will block out our viewing area just like it has with Wbff 45?
> 
> Thanks.



They were slated to use channel 40 (which WNUV 54 uses) - but I do not know the exact time frame when it was to be completed. And, yes, it would definitely have interfered with and blocked us from receiving CW 54 out of Baltimore, which would have left the valley with NO CW affiliate station since CW 50 out of Washington DC is already blocked by an analog station in Martinsburg. I have not seen any further info. about the progress of WAZW taking over 40 for their Front Royal, Va. facility. Hopefully it won't happen or at least be delayed for a while. I have noticed that WBFF Fox 45 has been back on the air here in my area (Winchester, Va.) for the last week or so. I don't know what is up with that, as the signal had been missing since Jan. 5. Let's enjoy it while we can.


----------



## Trip in VA

That's a good point, the channel 40 permit looks to be past its expiration date without an extension filed. Perhaps they decided to only build out one of the transmitters since the two overlapped so much.


- Trip


----------



## uvaeer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin* /forum/post/17986006
> 
> 
> DMA has nothing to do with this - physics does. The point I've tried to make is there is a limit to how far you can _protect_ stations before requiring tremendous separations that would lead to less service for everyone. That DC/Baltimore TV has been receivable in the Shenandoah Valley, the Eastern Panhandle of WV, and western Maryland is due to geography. If Elkins was a big city and the Allegheny Mountains weren't in the way, you would have grown up with something else. As it is, potential interference from Weston, Wheeling, and Pittsburgh doesn't stand a chance to cause trouble.



Did someone else here grow up in Elkins too?


----------



## systems2000

If we can get WDCW to fire-up W51CY, then there would be a CW station, within the valley. That would finally give me ThisTV, especially since WGAL isn't looking to install the Gettysburg transmitter anytime soon and I can't get WBFF or WDCW.


As for WAZW, I have not received a signal from the RF46 transmitter for about a week. I was wondering if they had reduced their power or it had gone off the air.


----------



## winchesterdoug




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/17993518
> 
> 
> If we can get WDCW to fire-up W51CY, then there would be a CW station, within the valley. That would finally give me ThisTV, especially since WGAL isn't looking to install the Gettysburg transmitter anytime soon and I can't get WBFF or WDCW.
> 
> 
> As for WAZW, I have not received a signal from the RF46 transmitter for about a week. I was wondering if they had reduced their power or it had gone off the air.



Who knows what is going on with that station- WAZW. I never did receive a picture from them on channel 46, when they were blocking WBFF Fox 45's signal. It sure has been a real mess though. I have noticed that WBFF and This Network are both back on 46 here at my location, which is Winchester, Va. God knows, how long that will be the case.


----------



## Coolboarder10

Man you guys are lucky. I still can't get WBFF 45 in the daytime at all. If and I mean if everything is perfect I can only get 2 bars or about 25-40 percent signal on a clear night. And it takes me about 5-10 mins to fine tune the outdoor antenna. And the only time period to receive the statoins is after 10pm. My signal used to be 80-90 percent before all of this nonsence. It would be nice for them to fire up channel 50. But since my new hdtv doesn't have an easy add on scan I will have to loose all my channels everytime I go to scan for that station to watch it. Since 50 is in the opposite direction to the DC/Balt stations I watch. Like I have said before. This is all so frustrating compared to the old days.


----------



## Coolboarder10

Oyea Thanks for updating me on the whole channel 40 deal guys. I hope it never ever happens.


----------



## gecoffin

Live in Woodbridge VA and getting a new LCD TV. I am still on Analog Basic in my area

Should I be able to receive HD on the local network stations

ABC,FOX and by just plugging the cable into the box and not using the

Comcast HD Box


Thanks

Gary


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gecoffin* /forum/post/17997376
> 
> 
> Live in Woodbridge VA and getting a new LCD TV. I am still on Analog Basic in my area
> 
> Should I be able to receive HD on the local network stations
> 
> ABC,FOX and by just plugging the cable into the box and not using the
> 
> Comcast HD Box
> 
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Gary



Here in Montgomery County MD, you can get the local HD channels by plugging the cable directly into the TV, assuming it has a QAM tuner. I have one step up from basic, but still all analog, and I get everything I should plus more without a cable box. I assume your situation should be the same.

J


----------



## fmw63




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *winchesterdoug* /forum/post/17994461
> 
> 
> Who knows what is going on with that station- WAZW. I never did receive a picture from them on channel 46, when they were blocking WBFF Fox 45's signal. It sure has been a real mess though. I have noticed that WBFF and This Network are both back on 46 here at my location, which is Winchester, Va. God knows, how long that will be the case.




How far south would WAZW cause problems? I've been reading about this for a few weeks, and hadn't put 2&2 together... I'm in PG county Md, and a few weeks ago I was trying to scan channels on an old Samsung SIR-TS360 receiver, and I couldn't find CH45. I thought it was just the receiver not being sensitive enough...


----------



## Trip in VA

Here's a map I made for WAZW-LD:

http://www.rabbitears.info/contour.p...=1318489&map=Y 


It may load slowly or not at all, as the file is massive.


I plan to make WBFF later in the afternoon and will post here once it's available.


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmw63* /forum/post/17999817
> 
> 
> How far south would WAZW cause problems?



WAZW shouldn't cause any problems east of Haymarket/Leesburg, VA. The transmitter is well south of Winchester in Strasburg.


WBFF should come in well with a proper antenna in Landover Hills.

FCC's WAZW Contour Map


----------



## winchesterdoug




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmw63* /forum/post/17999817
> 
> 
> How far south would WAZW cause problems? I've been reading about this for a few weeks, and hadn't put 2&2 together... I'm in PG county Md, and a few weeks ago I was trying to scan channels on an old Samsung SIR-TS360 receiver, and I couldn't find CH45. I thought it was just the receiver not being sensitive enough...



I wouldn't think that WAZW would cause you any problems east of Leesburg, Va. - but who knows. This has all been such a royal mess since they were supposedly going on the air digital - back on Jan. 5 on channel 46 (which is also WBFF Fox 45's digital channel) - through this whole time though, I never have seen a picture on the screen from WAZW-LD. The screen was always "blank" and saying "no signal". It seems all they have managed to do is tie up a frequency used by another much larger station and block out that station's signal. But the FCC evidently approved this - so we have them to thank for this mess.


----------



## winchesterdoug




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Coolboarder10* /forum/post/17996954
> 
> 
> Man you guys are lucky. I still can't get WBFF 45 in the daytime at all. If and I mean if everything is perfect I can only get 2 bars or about 25-40 percent signal on a clear night. And it takes me about 5-10 mins to fine tune the outdoor antenna. And the only time period to receive the statoins is after 10pm. My signal used to be 80-90 percent before all of this nonsence. It would be nice for them to fire up channel 50. But since my new hdtv doesn't have an easy add on scan I will have to loose all my channels everytime I go to scan for that station to watch it. Since 50 is in the opposite direction to the DC/Balt stations I watch. Like I have said before. This is all so frustrating compared to the old days.



Hey Coolboarder I am sorry to hear that you still can't pick up WBFF 45. You are in Martinsburg - right? How far is that from Baltimore? I am in Winchester, Va. about 80 miles west of Baltimore. - I have been able to pick up WBFF again for the last week - day and night- about 80% signal strength. It has always been one of my stronger stations. You should be able to receive it too, as you are not that far from me here in Winchester, Va. - I did have to make sure that my outdoor antenna was mounted pretty high up in the air- 30 feet. And I have it aimed directly at the Baltimore transmitters. I assume your antenna is very high up in the air too- right? Because it seems that elevation of the antenna is definitely the key as these UHF signals are "line of sight". - I use an 8-bowtie style UHF antenna - called the DB8 - sold by Antennas Direct - and it has been a very good antenna - pulling in far away stations from Baltimore. I do NOT have a rotator or a mast-mounted pre-amp - as those are just more things to wear out and break down - and 30 ft. is pretty high up, to have to replace things. - but I do have an INDOOR pre-amp that I use, that a friend gave me who works for a cable company (yeah, good one- huh?) - It is called an Electroline "drop amp" and you hook your outside antenna coaxial into the "RF input" jack on the amp and then your coaxial cable into the back of your TV. It provides +15 db to the signal and I suspect this is why I am able to receive those far away Baltimore channels. - I have noticed that it definitely makes a difference. The nice thing is that I can use this pre-amp inside the house next to the TV - and don't have to worry about it being outside in the weather. You might want to try doing this. - They are also sold on the internet- (if you don't know anybody at a cable company). It's called a "Electroline" drop-amp. You can Google it and find them. Hopefully some of these things will work for you. OTA television is a great thing- because cable and satellite is a total rip-off - and we all have to stick together and help each other out with our reception problems. Good luck.


----------



## fmw63




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/18000674
> 
> 
> WAZW shouldn't cause any problems east of Haymarket/Leesburg, VA. The transmitter is well south of Winchester in Strasburg.
> 
> 
> WBFF should come in well with a proper antenna in Landover Hills.



Yes. It had been, and the other Baltimore stations, too, except for 24. Just thought it was unusual that I was having problems with it now. I'll look for it again tonight.


----------



## winchesterdoug




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmw63* /forum/post/18001935
> 
> 
> Yes. It had been, and the other Baltimore stations, too, except for 24. Just thought it was unusual that I was having problems with it now. I'll look for it again tonight.



Actually, I am glad to hear that - because people on here kept telling me that as long as it was less than 0.5 per cent of WBFF's viewing area that was being interfered with and blocked - then WAZW was perfectly within their right to broadcast on WBFF's frequency channel of 46. Well, if this was blocking your reception down as far as you live from Winchester- that would certainly be more than 0.5 percent. I don't know anything at all about these regulations and percentages that people kept quoting me. All I know is I was receiving a good strong signal for WBFF Fox 45 out of Baltimore for over a year and then all the sudden it went away- because some low power Christian station decided they wanted to use the same channel (46) that WBFF was broadcasting on. But then this past week I have been able to receive WBFF Fox 45's signal again. Who knows what is going on? I still maintain that the whole thing is ridiculous.


----------



## Trip in VA

As promised, here's a map for WBFF to go with WAZW-LD's map.

http://www.rabbitears.info/contour.p...=1337726&map=Y 


- Trip


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/18000674
> 
> 
> WAZW shouldn't cause any problems east of Haymarket/Leesburg, VA. The transmitter is well south of Winchester in Strasburg.
> 
> 
> WBFF should come in well with a proper antenna in Landover Hills.
> 
> FCC's WAZW Contour Map



I don't believe that Contour Map, since TVFool says it is 71.2 miles from my location and a 10.2 dB NM. I received the signal without a problem and did see a static image for a couple of days.


----------



## systems2000

Trip,


I like how your map shows "RED" reception on the Eastern slopes of the ridges (especially the Eastern slope of the Tuscarora Ridge (West of I-81)), while the valleys and Western slopes not going to have reception.


----------



## Trip in VA

My maps are run assuming 13 feet rather than the FCC standard of 30 feet. It's designed to better account for indoor reception than the FCC predictions.


- Trip


----------



## fmw63




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *winchesterdoug* /forum/post/18002145
> 
> 
> Actually, I am glad to hear that - because people on here kept telling me that as long as it was less than 0.5 per cent of WBFF's viewing area that was being interfered with and blocked - then WAZW was perfectly within their right to broadcast on WBFF's frequency channel of 46... But then this past week I have been able to receive WBFF Fox 45's signal again. Who knows what is going on? I still maintain that the whole thing is ridiculous.



Just tried 45 with another receiver, and it comes in pretty well. But, WNUV 54 seems to have disappeared, while I can still get 2, 11, 13, 22, 45 & 67...


----------



## winchesterdoug




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/18002716
> 
> 
> As promised, here's a map for WBFF to go with WAZW-LD's map.
> 
> http://www.rabbitears.info/contour.p...=1337726&map=Y
> 
> 
> - Trip



The map is interesting, although I admit, I am not sure I understand it. Is the area enclosed in the circle supposed to be just the area that the FCC wants the WBFF 45 signal to be received, or estimates where it will be received, or where they believe it is actually being received? If the station is not supposed to be received outside of this blue circle- then the map is wrong. Because I live in the city limits of Winchester and since WBFF (Fox) and also WNUV (CW) in Baltimore went digital back in February 2009 (they were early in transitioning) -I have received WBFF Fox 45's signal very strong and clear with about 80% signal strength. I have an outside UHF antenna mounted 30 ft. in the air. Are these projected reception areas based on actual practicalities or some engineer's computer model? Because if they are- then they need to get out in the field and actually determine how far some of these digital TV signals do indeed travel. They don't all "fall off a cliff" like so many people love to espouse. But in all fairness though, both WBFF Fox 45 and WNUV CW 54 out of Baltimore are transmitting at much more powerful levels than most of the other stations. I believe it is something like over 800 KW. Whereas some digital stations are transmitting at maybe 30 or 50 KW. This difference in power would indeed make a huge difference in reception areas.


----------



## Trip in VA

The blue line is the FCC's coverage contour. This is the one we keep talking about that is the area protected from outside interference.


The multi-colored map overlay is the computer generated coverage pattern. Bear in mind that I'm running it at 13 feet rather than the FCC standard 30 feet so as to better account for indoor antennas. This means that the map is pessimistic with regard to reception on roof antennas; the red area is not necessarily the end of receivable signal, but should be pretty close without going insane on a tower and whatnot.










- Trip


----------



## gary michaels




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/18005153
> 
> 
> The blue line is the FCC's coverage contour. This is the one we keep talking about that is the area protected from outside interference.
> 
> 
> The multi-colored map overlay is the computer generated coverage pattern. Bear in mind that I'm running it at 13 feet rather than the FCC standard 30 feet so as to better account for indoor antennas. This means that the map is pessimistic with regard to reception on roof antennas; the red area is not necessarily the end of receivable signal, but should be pretty close without going insane on a tower and whatnot.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> - Trip



Here we go again. The projected contours are only calculations. The real world is another animal. Many people in the I-81 corridor do receive the signals out of Baltimore and Washington with regularity at usable signal levels, without “going crazy” with antennas and towers. Many of these people do not have cable available to them. What I have seen as demonstrated facts do not parallel the calculations. Below is a list of stations I can receive. I can in some cases get 2 stations on the same channel depending on where I point my antenna. Yes, you can get 2 different digital stations using the same channel or an analog and digital using the same channel, but you must luck out on your location for that. Most of the time if you have 2 stations on the same channel you get nothing.

After 40+ years in the broadcast industry, I can tell you that propagation is an inexact science at best.

RF CHANNEL REGULARLY RECEIVABLE

6 ANALOG WDCN-LP FAIRFAX, VA.

7 WJLA WASHINGTON (7)

7 W07DN-D WARDENSVILLE, WV. (24)

9 WUSA WASHINGTON (9)

10 ANALOG WAZT-CA WOODSTOCK, VA.

11 WBAL BALTIMORE (11)

12 WWPX MARTINSBURG, WV. (60)

13 WJZ BALTIMORE (13)

15 WFDC ARLINGTON, VA. (14)

21 WVPY FRONT ROYAL, VA. (42)

23 ANALOG WDDN-LP WASHINGTON

23 W23DR-D ROMNEY, WV. (24)

24 WNVC FAIRFAX, VA. (30)

26 WHAG HAGERSTOWN, MD. (25)

27 WETA WASHINGTON (26)

28 ANALOG WAZF-CA WINCHESTER, VA.

29 WMPB BALTIMORE (67)

30 WNVT GOLDVEIN, VA. (30)

32 WTAJ ALTOONA, PA. (10)

33 WHUT WASHINTON (32)

34 WPXW MANASSAS, VA.(66)

35 WDCA WASHINGTON (20)

36 WTTG WASHINGTON (5)

38 WMAR BALTIMORE (2)

39 WJAL HAGERSTOWN, MD. (68)

40 WNUV BALTIMORE (54)

41 W41DK-D KEYSER, WV. (24)

42 WMPT ANNAPOLIS, MD. (22)

43 ANALOG W43BP CRESAPTOWN, MD.

44 WWPB HAGERSTOWN, MD. (31)

46 WBFF BALTIMORE (45)

46 WAZW-LD WINCHESTER, VA (46)

47 WMDO-CA WASHINGTON

48 ANALOG WAZW-CA WINCHESTER, VA.

48 WRC WASHINGTON (4)

50 WDCW WASHINGTON (50)

50 ANALOG W50DE MARTINSBURG, WV.


----------



## Dave Loudin

One more time, a handy reference for the difference between maps.

*Contour:* Used for initial allocation studies and used to define service areas. Signal propagation calculations factor in only the first 16km of terrain needed to establish antenna HAAT. Advantages: easy to calculate (360 if you calculate for every degree), tends to overestimate (better bias for allocation studies than the alternative) Disadvantages: Terrain blockage, scattering, or any other effects are not accounted for, so NOT APPROPRIATE FOR INDIVIDUAL RECEPTION ASSESSMENT.

*Longely-Rice:* Used to assess TV signal reception at a point. Point-to-point propagation calculation that uses entire terrain profile along the path. Blockage, scattering, and other effects are accounted for. Advantages: Best method for individual reception assessment. Only way to account for scattering effects of terrain. Disadvantages: Creating a map requires repeating entire path calculation for each point plotted. Accuracy dependent on terrain database resolution and on step size between "pixels," or calculation points. Scary amount of data to toss around.


Another way to look at this: The contour method is a statistical abstraction to quickly portray *area* coverage that is the next step to accuracy from drawing circles. Longely-Rice is a point-to-point method that can be applied to an area only through brute force.


----------



## gary michaels

Perhaps what is really needed when it comes to all this discussion about tossing in low power TV stations, is for the F.C.C to do a better job reviewing what "serving the public" means and a closer look at each situation before blindly referring to the current holy books of propagation. I believe many of these "toss ins" were politically motivated by special interest groups that were owed a favor.


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *winchesterdoug* /forum/post/18004479
> 
> 
> Is the area enclosed in the circle supposed to be just the area that the FCC wants the WBFF 45 signal to be received, or estimates where it will be received, or where they believe it is actually being received? If the station is not supposed to be received outside of this blue circle- then the map is wrong.



Please, the FCC DOES NOT WANT ANYTHING here except for regulations to be followed. Reception inside the circle, outside the circle, or on the moon depends on how the signals of licensed broadcasters on that channel add up at your location. A station can be received beyond the service area contour, but it is likely not to be with an antenna at 30 feet. Trip's map is an excellent illustration of the points I've been trying to make.


Towards the east, where the terrain is relatively flat, note that along the blue line there is a mix of yellow/red at about 50/50. By moving beyond the line, the mix tends more to the red and by moving inside the line, the mix tends more to the yellow. This is what I mean about abstracting area coverage - the blue line is meant to represent a range where *half* of receive locations have the contour's signal level.


For azimuths between Dale City and Newark, DE, to the SW to W to NE, the contour is *overpredicting* coverage, as distant terrain is ignored. Instead of a 50/50 mix of yellow/red, the distribution is more red/blank to entirely blank.


The only place where the contour is *underpredicting* coverage is on the Potomac River.


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gary michaels* /forum/post/18005637
> 
> 
> Perhaps what is really needed when it comes to all this discussion about tossing in low power TV stations, is for the F.C.C to do a better job reviewing what "serving the public" means and a closer look at each situation before blindly referring to the current holy books of propagation. I believe many of these "toss ins" were politically motivated by special interest groups that were owed a favor.



This is absolutely false. The "current holy books of propagation" you are sneering at is actually an engineering process built over 50-plus years of building an allocation model that can be uniformly applied across the US and that is supported by neighboring countries. This process has evolved with experience and with the computational resources available.


LPTV is an example of serving the public, as the FCC has been encouraged to equate having more stations to be in the public interest.


----------



## fmw63

Finally ordered some RG6 to replace the main cable into the house, and was planning to do that Saturday. It should be warm enough for roof work, I thought. Today is 47, Wednesday is supposed to be 51, and then I looked at Saturday's forecast - a high of 28 and snow!







waaaaaaaa


----------



## systems2000

Winchesterdoug,


You need to do some reading to get better clarity about how DTV works.


Cliff-Effect is the point of RF signal level where the digital decoding device no longer recognizes the data stream in the RF signal and produces the pixalization and black screen you see on you television.


The power level differences between some stations is due to what type of stations they are, where they are located, and what band they are broadcasting in.


Terrain, location, antenna type and height, cabling, CECB or television type, and more will affect whether or not you will receive a particular station. OTA reception is not an exact sience and requires a lot of field engineering and experimentation. It also requires a little knowledge and resignation to what stations will be possible to receive and those that won't.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmw63* /forum/post/18007379
> 
> 
> Finally ordered some RG6 to replace the main cable into the house, and was planning to do that Saturday. It should be warm enough for roof work, I thought. Today is 47, Wednesday is supposed to be 51, and then I looked at Saturday's forecast - a high of 28 and snow!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> waaaaaaaa



Yes a possible major snowstorm is headed our way again. I just wish it wasn't on the weekend. I would rather it be in the middle of the week so I could get off work a couple of days.


----------



## EMoMoney

Is there a TBS outage in Baltimore City right now? (Comcast)


----------



## Dave Loudin

To winchesterdoug, coolboarder10, gary michaels, and others out by Winchester and Martinsburg, it would be very useful to see how your reception compares to Longley-Rice predictions. The best way to get accurate calculations that can be easily shared is to use tvfool.com. Click on the "Start Maps" button, enter your zip code and other address bits, then click "map this." You will get a page with a google map with a marker and some prediction data below. Drag the marker to your exact location (surprisingly easy), then update the antenna height to what you have. After the predictions update, click the "make radar plot" button. Use the instructions to share the data with us.


If the net result of your antenna, coax cable, preamp, etc. is zero loss, then you should be able to decode stations listed with an NM of zero or greater. If you're getting results at odds with predictions, then that would be very good to know. The only way to have a chance of getting LPTVs blocking your reception of DC and Baltimore off the air is to show that the FCC's OET-69 methodology for evaluating coverage and interference is seriously underestimating the main station's coverage to you and _many_ others.


By the way, the FCC's process is no mystery. Read all about it here .


----------



## winchesterdoug




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin* /forum/post/18010679
> 
> 
> To winchesterdoug, coolboarder10, gary michaels, and others out by Winchester and Martinsburg, it would be very useful to see how your reception compares to Longley-Rice predictions. The best way to get accurate calculations that can be easily shared is to use tvfool.com. Click on the "Start Maps" button, enter your zip code and other address bits, then click "map this." You will get a page with a google map with a marker and some prediction data below. Drag the marker to your exact location (surprisingly easy), then update the antenna height to what you have. After the predictions update, click the "make radar plot" button. Use the instructions to share the data with us.
> 
> 
> If the net result of your antenna, coax cable, preamp, etc. is zero loss, then you should be able to decode stations listed with an NM of zero or greater. If you're getting results at odds with predictions, then that would be very good to know. The only way to have a chance of getting LPTVs blocking your reception of DC and Baltimore off the air is to show that the FCC's OET-69 methodology for evaluating coverage and interference is seriously underestimating the main station's coverage to you and _many_ others.
> 
> 
> By the way, the FCC's process is no mystery. Read all about it here .



Thank you. This is good information to know.


----------



## Coolboarder10

Hey Winchesterdoug

I seem to be getting 45 a lot better as of last night


----------



## Coolboarder10

I read the fcc info and it's a little to confusing for me.

I used tvfool before I got all of my antenna equiment. Just to make sure that I would be able to recieve the channels I wanted. That way I didn't waste my time and money.

Up untill I lost 45 I was overjoyed. But now that it's back again I couldn't be happier. The only thing that could be better is if I could recieve my channels in 1080p. But that will never happen. I will post my info here from tvfool shortly.


----------



## Coolboarder10

here is the second letter i recieved from the fcc. The first time i emailed them they didn't even understand my complaint. So I had to resend it reworded differently and hoped that someone else would read it.


You are receiving this email in response to your inquiry to the FCC.


In the license application process, there are very strict engineering studies required before a station can be licensed and begin broadcasting. The studies are designed to prevent interference. In those rare instances when a problem might occur, the station(s) experiencing the problem can often work a cooperative solution.


Conditions of non-reception, poor reception, and/or electrical interference to radio/TV sets do not indicate an FCC rule violation and the FCC will not investigate these conditions.


If you believe a licensed broadcast station's signal is experiencing interference, you may consider contacting the affected station. If the station operator believes an interference condition exists, the operator may contact the FCC.


The FCC will investigate interference complaints SUBMITTED BY BROADCASTERS.


----------



## Coolboarder10

What makes me mad is that I told them about the 2 stations using the same channel number. And that is the reason why wbff is being blocked out. I also told them that it was a low power station blocking out a high powered station. I have also emailed wbff 3 times and they have never emailed me back.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Coolboarder10* /forum/post/18012670
> 
> 
> The FCC will investigate interference complaints SUBMITTED BY BROADCASTERS.



Yep, this is exactly what the FCC told me when I complained about some interference two years ago.


- Trip


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> *11 Readies New Chopper* - 1/27 - Channel 11/WBAL upgrades both chopper and camera system. *Sky Team 11 HD to debut soon.* In the picture (right), we see 11's old chopper on the right, and the new chopper being equipped on the left. It'll be "HD news from the air for Baltimore," a source tells DCRTV.....


 http://www.dcrtv.com/


----------



## winchesterdoug




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Coolboarder10* /forum/post/18012393
> 
> 
> Hey Winchesterdoug
> 
> I seem to be getting 45 a lot better as of last night



Hey, glad to hear you are getting WBFF Fox 45 much better again. Maybe all this interference from the low power station that was transmitting on channel 46 is behind us (at least for now). Let's hope so. I too, have been receiving Fox 45 and This Network 45.2 regularly for the last week. I read on here the other day from a gentleman that said even his WBFF signal in Landover Hills, Md. had been blocked. If that is indeed the case, then that low power station was even interfering with WBFF's signal in their OWN reception area. I would think that Fox 45 would file an objection to that.


----------



## winchesterdoug




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Coolboarder10* /forum/post/18012685
> 
> 
> What makes me mad is that I told them about the 2 stations using the same channel number. And that is the reason why wbff is being blocked out. I also told them that it was a low power station blocking out a high powered station. I have also emailed wbff 3 times and they have never emailed me back.



Yeah, I have written the General Manager at WBFF a letter too, asking what he thought of this whole situation and what WBFF planned on doing about the interference and subsequent blocking of their signal by a low power station. I never received an answer from him either. I personally think it is very poor public relations and just generally a poor business practice to ignore people when they take the time to write you a letter. It says a lot about your company. People on here have told me that WBFF didn't care about it - one way or the other. It seems they were right. - If it happens again and I can't receive WBFF 45 - I will just readjust my antenna toward D.C. and watch WTTG Fox 5 out of Washington DC. - I haven't done this so far, because I don't have a rotator and the antenna has to be adjusted manually and it is 30 feet in the air. But since WBFF doesn't seem to care about this, then I will start watching WTTG 5 the next time their signal goes off for some stupid reason.


----------



## Coolboarder10

Channel 9 was totally cool when I emailed them last year about there digital transition and what they were going to do with there channel number. They responded the next day. Not only that but also told me about stations 7,11,and 13. I can't beleave how wbff is treating it's viewers. There just like the fcc.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast has added WHUT HD in Baltimore City.


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *winchesterdoug* /forum/post/18018427
> 
> 
> I read on here the other day from a gentleman that said even his WBFF signal in Landover Hills, Md. had been blocked. If that is indeed the case, then that low power station was even interfering with WBFF's signal in their OWN reception area. I would think that Fox 45 would file an objection to that.



For the sake of illustration only, if this were the only complaint within WBFF's service area, then that's acceptable (the 0.5% of viewers provision). An excellent depiction of how caused interference could pop up in a service area, look at pages 6 and 7 of WUSA's request (granted) for higher power. See how WUSA's proposal creates interference both near and far to WBPH?


On a related note, the operator of the LP's and Class A's in question had to reveal a bit about their business in order to get an extension of time to build their Luray operation. See the exhibits attached to this .


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/18019743
> 
> 
> Comcast has added WHUT HD in Baltimore City.



We've had it for about a month on RCN in DC, and it's been a pleasant surprise. After many months of the most bizarre stretching/squeezing/warping of aspect ratios you can imagine, it seems they've gotten things ironed out over there. It's nice to have three different PBS affiliates to choose from now.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin* /forum/post/18020155
> 
> 
> On a related note, the operator of the LP's and Class A's in question had to reveal a bit about their business in order to get an extension of time to build their Luray operation. See the exhibits attached to this .



Interesting stuff!


----------



## Coolboarder10

So do you guys think that the wazw ld 46 tower will be back up and working soon? Or do you think that they just don't have the money to keep it on? I hope it never comes back on.


----------



## bfdtv

_I didn't see this mentioned._


RCN in DC is looking for 10-15 people to test a new high-definition TiVo with a 250-320GB hard drive. This TiVo will support VOD and external hard drives, among other enhancements.


To get in on this, send a private message to *rcnman* over on DSLReports. More details here .


----------



## jacindc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/18019743
> 
> 
> Comcast has added WHUT HD in Baltimore City.



DC Comcast now, too. Channel 202 (and 802).


----------



## winchesterdoug




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Coolboarder10* /forum/post/18029207
> 
> 
> So do you guys think that the wazw ld 46 tower will be back up and working soon? Or do you think that they just don't have the money to keep it on? I hope it never comes back on.



I think that eventually the WAZW-LD 46 will be up and running. But probably not anytime soon, because of the money concerns. But the FCC has indeed licensed them to use 46 - so it is there waiting for them, when they get the money to get started. I still maintain that the whole thing is ridiculous. Why wouldn't the FCC assign WAZW another channel that was used much further away instead of one so close like WBFF Fox 45 in Baltimore. There were others that would not have caused this interference with existing network affiliate stations. It just doesn't make any sense. I am not contacting WBFF 45 anymore about it, as evidently they could care less. If it happens again (the blockage) I will just watch WTTG Fox 5 out of Washington.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jacindc* /forum/post/18037025
> 
> 
> DC Comcast now, too. Channel 202 (and 802).



Also Howard County. We don't get much here but we got this one.


----------



## StevenJB

Prior to the June 12th transistion, WGAL-DT8 in Lancaster, PA, was broadcasting on UHF Channel DTV58 using a power of 907kW from a 393m high tower. The transmitter is 69.3 miles from my home. I could on occasion receive this channel during good tropo conditions by aiming my antenna to a direction of 19 degrees. After the transition, WGAL-DT switched to VHF Channel DTV8 using a power of 14.1 kW from a 419m high tower at the same location. I can no longer receive WGAL-DT now that it is using VHF Channel DTV8. Recently, WGAL-DT was approved for a STA power of 32.2kW. The new coverage map now puts me in reasonable contention to receive a WGAL-DT signal now using 32.2kW.


However, there is now one additional potential problem to receiving the increased powered WGAL-DT. WMDO-LD47, a Latino low powered digital channel in NW Washington, DC, now broadcasts on VHF Channel DTV8 using a power of 0.198 kW from a 0.0m high tower. WMDO-LD is 10.6 miles from my home. I can receive this channel reliably 100% of the time by aiming my antenna to a direction of 190 degrees. Reception is about 62-65 on a 100 scale. My question is this. After reading the discussion on WAZW-LD, a low powered a DTV channel causing co-channel interference to Baltimore's WBFF-TV45 over in Winchester, VA, both transmitting on UHF DTV46, will my 100% reliable reception of WMDO-LD prevent me from locking in on WGAL-DT? Remember, I would receive WGAL-DT from a 19 degree direction whereas WMDO-LD would be received at a 190 degree direction, almost two opposite directions.


I don't pretend to understand DTV very well. Back in the good old/bad old days of analog, I would often receive two stations on the same channel during high tropo summer days. I could simultaneously receive Philadelphia and Norfolk on Channel 3, Lancaster and Petersburg/Richmond on Channel 8, Philadelphia and Norfolk on Channel 10, and Wilmington and Richmond on Channel 12. Depending upon how I aimed my antenna, both cities would come in sometimes clearly. But, now this is the digital era. Reception rules have changed. I have read that both channels can completely cancel out each other sometimes or that only one can be received.


Assuming that WGAL-DT's signal is now powerful enough for me to receive under their new STA, will WMDO-LD prevent it from ever appearing for me?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/18038722
> 
> 
> Assuming that WGAL-DT's signal is now powerful enough for me to receive under their new STA, will WMDO-LD prevent it from ever appearing for me?



Unfortunately, I think you've got many other obstacles in addition to WMDO working against you to receive WGAL "_reliably_".










1.Adjacent channels 7 & 9 are now pumping out 52kw

2.WGAL shows up as 2 edge even with an antenna height of 200 feet from Olney.

3.Even the best VHF antennas don't have very good F to B ratios.

4.I find VHF signals at that distance to be much less stable then UHF.


Do you see any other stations from the York-Harrisburg area?


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/18038848
> 
> 
> Unfortunately, I think you've got many other obstacles in addition to WMDO working against you to receive WGAL "_reliably_".
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 1.Adjacent channels 7 & 9 are now pumping out 52kw
> 
> 2.WGAL shows up as 2 edge even with an antenna height of 200 feet from Olney.
> 
> 3.Even the best VHF antennas don't have very good F to B ratios.
> 
> 4.I find VHF signals at that distance to be much less stable then UHF.
> 
> 
> Do you see any other stations from the York-Harrisburg area?



WPMT-DT43 RF47 from York comes in during the summer at about 50% of the time reliability for me.


----------



## systems2000

I discovered yesterday, that I can now receive WMAR, WJLA, WUSA, WPMT, & WGCB (along with WWPX and WJAL) at the same time.


I'm attributing this to the increase in power to WJLA and WUSA and the ability of VHF to have a greater tolerance to off-axis reception.


I like this setup, now that WGCB is using their -2 sub-channel for Universal Sports. This gives me ABC, CBS, FOX, RTV, and USports, without moving my primary antenna (I get _i_ON, MPT, NBC, VPT, & WVPT on my secondary antenna (fixed)).


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/18044058
> 
> 
> I like this setup, now that WGCB is using their -2 sub-channel for Universal Sports.



You do understand that USports is going to be heavily macroblocked. Not only because of the low bitrate of the SD stream, the feed itself from NBC is horrible. The few, and I mean few, times that I've looked at the feed, I had to stop, as the macroblocking was horrible.


----------



## systems2000

I don't notice it much, via my ZAT-970A CECB connected to my 1992 20" Toshiba monitor.










Their -1 is only 480i also.


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/18044366
> 
> 
> Their -1 is only 480i also.



What? No HD?


Even so, as mentioned, the feed is heavily macroblocked during action, which is a lot when it comes to sports


----------



## Trip in VA

WGCB is an independent station which transmits only in 480i.


- Trip


----------



## systems2000

I just watched a segment on surfing and they were showing some awsome waves. I didn't see any macroblocking. It looked better than some of the movies on _i_ON.


We'll see how it looks, when I setup the 36" SDTV I've acquired (sometime next month - hopefully, before Spring).


----------



## Digital Rules

I see a ton of mosquito noise on channel 4-3's U Sports. Both Ion HD 60.1 & 66.1 have some kind of weird intermittent compression artifact going on as well.


----------



## mkfs

What is with WDCA-20 and their EPG, vs my CECB? It's been down for days on my 9950, but my Insignia is fine. And the 9950 is fine on every other channel...


----------



## derek

Anyone having issues with TVGOS from WUSA-DT (again!?!?) Seems like they resolved things about a month ago and my Sony has been fairly stable (FIOS) getting VBI packets. However last night noticed no VBI data and my grid only has a few days of data left.


----------



## rkolsen

WJZ HD is not coming in for me in Baltimore County on Channels 212 and 813.


----------



## albertso

Hi Derek,


My answer is YES. I have a Ver 7 TVGOS machine (LG -3410a DVR) and I lost all listings about 3 days ago. It was working fairly well since the last issue, but not now.


----------



## Potatoehead

Message this morning on our Comcast Box. 4 new HD channels to be added tomorrow. Hallmark(830), Gospel Music Channel(887), History International(876) and Investigation Discovery(899).


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Comcast has added WHUT HD in Baltimore City.
> 
> DC Comcast now, too. Channel 202 (and 802).
> 
> Also Howard County. We don't get much here but we got this one.



Oddly, not MoCo. I did a rescan, and on one channel, there was a message saying, despite what was advertised, WHUT HD will not be offered. I do get it with my antenna.

J


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Potatoehead* /forum/post/18059248
> 
> 
> Message this morning on our Comcast Box. 4 new HD channels to be added tomorrow. Hallmark(830), Gospel Music Channel(887), History International(876) and Investigation Discovery(899).



It's as if they are adding channels in alphabetical order.


----------



## systems2000

*FYI:*


This morning, I did a check of WJLA and WUSA reception windows and found the following rotor values (using my 15 year old CM3020):


WUSA - 110° to 198°

WJLA - 150° to 189°


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Caps Friday game moves to CSN HD*


By now you've probably heard that the Caps' home game against the Thrashers on Friday has been moved off Comcast SportsNet + and onto Comcast SportsNet HD, with the Wizards game in Orlando shifting off CSN and onto CSN+. Maybe the reasoning is obvious, but just in case, I checked with a network spokesman. Turns out that it takes several days of advance time to make such a switch smoothly, and the network didn't want to take any chances that the Caps could be chasing a record 13th straight win while on the non-HD channel.


"The Capitals are on a remarkable winning streak, and due to overwhelming fan interest and the potential of Friday's game being very significant for the team, we moved the game to our primary channel so we can deliver it in HD," the spokesman wrote me. "Although they need another win to extend the streak to this weekend, we made the decision earlier this week in order to make the logistical arrangements required in a programming change like this."


The original lineup called for the Caps to have 12 games on CSN+ and the Wizards to have 14. With the switch, it changes to 11 and 15. No more complaints about hoops bias, ok? The Thrashers game was the last time the Caps were scheduled to be on CSN+ this season.


As for the persistent complaints (mostly from Caps fans) about CSN+ being unavailable for Verizon FiOS subscribers in some counties, those worries should be over. I'll quote from the FiOS release, which went out Tuesday afternoon:


Hey Wizards and Caps fans, we've heard your cries and we're answering. Starting [Tuesday], FiOS TV customers in Maryland and Virginia will have Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic Plus (CSN+), the CSN MA overflow channel that gets you your Caps and Wizards games.


As many of you know, we've been offering these games on FiOS1, a local channel that's available in the D.C. metro area, but does not include parts of Maryland and Virginia. We've worked closely with Comcast on this, and found a solution that gives FiOS TV customers all of the Caps and Wizards games they want. We'll continue to offer the CSN+ content on FiOS1 in the D.C. metro area, and on channel 334 in the rest of the region.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcs...es_to_csn.html


----------



## DK745




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Potatoehead* /forum/post/18059248
> 
> 
> Message this morning on our Comcast Box. 4 new HD channels to be added tomorrow. Hallmark(830), Gospel Music Channel(887), History International(876) and Investigation Discovery(899).



I wonder where WGN (830) will be moved to.


Nice to see them adding more HD channels, hopefully they add more soon.


----------



## biker19

Anyone have Cox Internet installed recently in NoVA? What kind of modem are they using? Verizon won't let me keep my current FIOS deal when I move next month and I'll be jumping ship to Cox.


----------



## yekim54




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/18061786
> 
> 
> Anyone have Cox Internet installed recently in NoVA? What kind of modem are they using? Verizon won't let me keep my current FIOS deal when I move next month and I'll be jumping ship to Cox.



What's your current FiOS deal? Is Verizon making you pay the early termination fee?


----------



## Potatoehead




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DK745* /forum/post/18061216
> 
> 
> I wonder where WGN (830) will be moved to.



In a separate message they said WGN was moving to 814.


----------



## inlogan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *derek* /forum/post/18052323
> 
> 
> Anyone having issues with TVGOS from WUSA-DT (again!?!?) Seems like they resolved things about a month ago and my Sony has been fairly stable (FIOS) getting VBI packets. However last night noticed no VBI data and my grid only has a few days of data left.



I have a DTV Pal DVR and have full listings for 7 days.


----------



## DK745

Hallmark, History International, Gospel Music, and Investigation Discovery HD have all been added. There's also a channel on 901 that's just TBA and says "One moment please this channel should be available shortly." which could be nothing since 956 has been like that for a long time now.


----------



## Jim Miller

I'm on Comcast in Balto County. Anyone know if the duplicates of the 200 series channels in the 800 block are permanent or just a temporary holding place during some channel shuffling?


tnx

jtm


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *yekim54* /forum/post/18061968
> 
> 
> What's your current FiOS deal? Is Verizon making you pay the early termination fee?



$40/mo for a 5MB connection. They won't let me transfer that over and forcing me to take their $55/mo 15MB connection. No early termination fees - I've had FIOS since it first came out 4.5 years ago.


Cox currently offers a 3 MB connection at $30/mo - that is enough for our household. Even their next tier is only $40/mo. I briefly tried Cox and stayed with FIOS because the service is better but not $25 better. I'm looking to buy a modem and just wondering what they are installing now - their online list of compatible modems seems to be outdated (and very few have Wi-Fi built in).


----------



## derek




> Quote:
> riginally Posted by derek
> 
> Anyone having issues with TVGOS from WUSA-DT (again!?!?) Seems like they resolved things about a month ago and my Sony has been fairly stable (FIOS) getting VBI packets. However last night noticed no VBI data and my grid only has a few days of data left.



Last night was seeing VBI packets...so looks like WUSA-DT is back (TVGOS) after a brief hiccup.


----------



## rcavicchi

I have a myhd card pulling in ota in the Gaithersburg area. I'm finding that while I get PBS, NBC, FOX from both Balt and DC, I cannot get CBS (9 in DC 13 in Balt). Does CBS broadcast in some format that is different from the other networks, and that perhaps is not compatible with the myhd card?


----------



## Remoteless




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rcavicchi* /forum/post/18072581
> 
> 
> I have a myhd card pulling in ota in the Gaithersburg area. I'm finding that while I get PBS, NBC, FOX from both Balt and DC, I cannot get CBS (9 in DC 13 in Balt). Does CBS broadcast in some format that is different from the other networks, and that perhaps is not compatible with the myhd card?



Channel 9 works fine on my MYHD-130 It's probably your antenna


----------



## weaver6

Both 9 and 13 are broadcasting on VHF. As was sated earlier, it may be your antenna, which may not receive VHF.


----------



## ProjectSHO89

If you want either CBS station, get a pair of rabbit ears.


----------



## Jimmy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DK745* /forum/post/18061216
> 
> 
> I wonder where WGN (830) will be moved to.
> 
> 
> Nice to see them adding more HD channels, hopefully they add more soon.



We haven't seen any message for HD adds in Frederick. What goes?


----------



## DK745

Well channel 901 is showing something now. It's not in HD though, but it's "Comcast Live" talking about the switch to the name Xfinity among other things. Caught the end of it and it's beginning again so it might be on a loop. At the end and beginning it also said "This telecast is a private transmission intended solely for the employees of Comcast."...


We got a message here saying we were getting 4 new HD channels and that WGN was moving (which I didn't see when I made that post.) It would only make sense to do it in the parts of MD that have already started this "World of More", so not sure why they haven't done it in Frederick yet.


----------



## nottenst

WUSA preempted at least Medium to show snow coverage. They are supposed to show Medium at 1:37 AM tonight (or so) ...


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/18079925
> 
> 
> WUSA preempted at least Medium to show snow coverage. They are supposed to show Medium at 1:37 AM tonight (or so) ...



and Ghost Whisperer at 12:37 AM and Numb3rs at 2:37 AQM


----------



## aaronwt

WJLA is doing the same thing with their SOAPs(only at 3AM) they prempted this afternoon. My girlfriend was pissed that they decided to have coverage of the storm starting at noon.


----------



## systems2000

We're watching the shows on WTAJ.


----------



## mchief99

And the NASCAR Bud Shootout Saturday night is apparently going to be SNOW COVERAGE ON FOX 5 according to TIVO.


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mchief99* /forum/post/18080381
> 
> 
> And the NASCAR Bud Shootout Saturday night is apparently going to be SNOW COVERAGE ON FOX 5 according to TIVO.



I sure hope not - we got the idea, it's snowing - I can look out my window.










About the only thing saw that was interesting was what seemed to be mobile HD video from one of the weather guys driving around in his SUV.


----------



## ProjectSHO89




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/18081411
> 
> 
> I sure hope not - we got the idea, it's snowing - I can look out my window.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> About the only thing saw that was interesting was what seemed to be mobile HD video from one of the weather guys driving around in his SUV.



You're lucky it's HD video..


The local Fox affiliate here in St Louis was offering up crappy "iPhone Video Technology" from a reporter's car. Talk about a waste of ATT's limited bandwidth! Freezing frames, out of focus, jerky motion, etc.


Sigh....


----------



## kenrowe

Tonight's NASCAR Bud Shootout has been moved to ch 20.


----------



## systems2000

WJLA had a guy driving South on I-270 this morning and he was using Skype.


WPMT was showing "Pole" runs this afternoon and advertising the race tonight.


----------



## voltore




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/18084339
> 
> 
> WJLA had a guy driving South on I-270 this morning and he was using Skype.



WUSA had plenty of mobile Skype stuff today.


----------



## URFloorMatt

Hopefully this wasn't already asked, but will WUSA axe its subchannels for the SuperBowl? The NFL this season has been less than impressive on WUSA. Lots of macroblocking during fast motion.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/18085077
> 
> 
> Hopefully this wasn't already asked, but will WUSA axe its subchannels for the SuperBowl? The NFL this season has been less than impressive on WUSA. Lots of macroblocking during fast motion.



They never have before, so I would not hold out hope.


----------



## systems2000

I wasn't really interested in the "SNOW" coverage, since my road was down to asphalt at about 11:00 and my drive was cleared by 15:00. Of course it was nice to see the Sun by 16:00.


----------



## aaronwt

Now that they have started plowing our parking area, I'll have to dig out from piles of snow 5 feet high to get the cars out.










They certainly had alot of snow coervage the past two days from the local channels. I'm glad it's over with.


----------



## URFloorMatt

Thankfully WUSA has killed the weather crawl for SuperBowl coverage.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/18087813
> 
> 
> Thankfully WUSA has killed the weather crawl for SuperBowl coverage.



No such luck on WJZ. Might have to set up the antenna.


----------



## DK745




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/18088639
> 
> 
> No such luck on WJZ. Might have to set up the antenna.



I'd be very surprised if they had it on during the game. It's just pre-game stuff anyway not like it's too important. I'm also hoping they turn it off since Comcast doesn't have the DC channels in HD (besides fox) and I don't have an antenna.


----------



## systems2000

I would have been very upset if WPMT or WDCA had run crawls during the shootout last night.


Thankfully, I have WTAJ to fallback on, since they don't have a sub-channel.


WTTG has now come back to my system since the snow has piled on to the ground. I'll see how long I retain them.


I've also lost WVPY (both antennas - fixed and pre-amped) the last two days at least. Anyone know what's happening down there?


----------



## URFloorMatt

Is WTTG going to ruin tonight's House with their snow crawl?


EDIT: FYI, I'm watching the latest snow update on WRC, and they just mentioned that they'll be moving back into their main studio "in a few more weeks." So the long journey to HD news at WRC may finally be coming to an end.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/18095991
> 
> 
> Is WTTG going to ruin tonight's House with their snow crawl?



Yup, Channel 9 is now forecasting 16-24 inches from DC to the north towards Baltimore. WTF????????


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/18096252
> 
> 
> Yup, Channel 9 is now forecasting 16-24 inches from DC to the north towards Baltimore. WTF????????



WooHoo!! Finally a storm in the middle of the week. Hopefully I can stay home from work for the rest of the week if we get closer to 24"!!


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/18096252
> 
> 
> Yup, Channel 9 is now forecasting 16-24 inches from DC to the north towards Baltimore. WTF????????



No crawl, but no HD either.


----------



## rustycruiser

Has anyone else noticed a black line that runs horizontally across the top of the picture on WMAR whenever they have their (hugely over sized and irritating) weather warning bug on the screen. It appears a few inches below the bezel of both my plasma and CRT HDTVs. Bad enough that I have started recording WJLA instead due to the distraction of the line and the bug.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/18095991
> 
> 
> Is WTTG going to ruin tonight's House with their snow crawl?
> 
> 
> EDIT: FYI, I'm watching the latest snow update on WRC, and they just mentioned that they'll be moving back into their main studio "in a few more weeks." So the long journey to HD news at WRC may finally be coming to an end.



It seems a little too late, especially with their talent walking or WRC firing them. I just read that Bob Ryan might be leaving WRC for WJLA.


WRC is the last place I go for news now. I thought they had the worst coverage of the snow storm out of the four stations this past weekend.

Of course being in SD doesn't help either since they have less real estate on the screen to show the information.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/18098336
> 
> 
> It seems a little too late, especially with their talent walking or WRC firing them. I just read that Bob Ryan might be leaving WRC for WJLA.
> 
> 
> WRC is the last place I go for news now. I thought they had the worst coverage of the snow storm out of the four stations this past weekend.
> 
> Of course being in SD doesn't help either since they have less real estate on the screen to show the information.



They have probably been waiting for someone to buy NBC before upgrading. Their news has been getting progressively sloppier over time, perhaps morale is down(?). I'm not a fan of Bob Ryan-one of the reasons I watch WJLA news @6 is for their weather. I'll stop if Ryan moves over.

J


----------



## rustycruiser




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rustycruiser* /forum/post/18098146
> 
> 
> Has anyone else noticed a black line that runs horizontally across the top of the picture on WMAR whenever they have their (hugely over sized and irritating) weather warning bug on the screen. It appears a few inches below the bezel of both my plasma and CRT HDTVs. Bad enough that I have started recording WJLA instead due to the distraction of the line and the bug.



The line in question:


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/18098336
> 
> 
> Of course being in SD doesn't help either since they have less real estate on the screen to show the information.



Real Estate doesn't have anything to do with SD or HD. 4:3 and 16:9 screen format is completely independent from picture quality.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/18102699
> 
> 
> Real Estate doesn't have anything to do with SD or HD. 4:3 and 16:9 screen format is completely independent from picture quality.



True but typically if a programs native resolution is in HD, it's in a 16:9 Aspect Ratio, and if it's native resolution is in SD it's in a 4:3 AR.


The channels that broadcast their news in HD were using a 16:9 AR and they seemed to try and use that real estate to show the info dealing with the snow.

While WRC was using a 4:3 AR and had less space to show the broadcast and the other pertinent info.


----------



## CivicBeater

Is anyone currently having a problem with WBAL? My property is in Columbia and as of yesterday reception has ceased.


----------



## ACW112983

When I go to Comcast's Fancast, they have the new HD channels, but I don't have them yet


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CivicBeater* /forum/post/18106841
> 
> 
> Is anyone currently having a problem with WBAL? My property is in Columbia and as of yesterday reception has ceased.



A little weaker than normal here in Arlington,(7 out of 10 bars) but OK otherwise other than an occasional hiccup.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/18107157
> 
> 
> A little weaker than normal here in Arlington,(7 out of 10 bars) but OK otherwise other than an occasional hiccup.



I've been having occasional hiccups on WBAL lately, too. I thought that it was just a reception issue...


----------



## chamb

I thought one of the advantages of Digital TV was the elimination of any snow.

Did not work for me.
*







I have more snow now than I ever did before Digital TV.*


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/18108424
> 
> 
> I've been having occasional hiccups on WBAL lately, too. I thought that it was just a reception issue...



It's the wind.


----------



## systems2000

It sure would be nice if WUSA would increase their bandwidth on the sub-channel. I don't mind them pushing their normal programming over, so they can have continuous coverage of the blizzard, but please supply enough bandwidth to prevent macro-blocking of simple movements.

_Thought:_ Why not do the blizzard coverage on the sub-channel?


----------



## systems2000

WBAL is strong for me.


20" of viewable snow here.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/18109335
> 
> _Thought:_ Why not do the blizzard coverage on the sub-channel?



Exactly!!!!!


----------



## Marcus Carr

New HD on Dish today:


363 - Indieplex HD

365 - Retroplex HD

9430 - Tru TV HD

9450 - BBC America HD

9474 - E! HD

9482 - Hallmark (E)

9483 - Sportsman HD

9512 - Showtime West HD

9520 - Fox Soccer Channel HD


----------



## afiggatt

Somehow in the middle of the blizzard, Verizon Fios added the local Ion HD channel today to channel 513, presumably the feed from WWPX Ion 66. Would expect that Verizon will eventually also add WHUT HD 32 to the HD locals. BTW, the reports are that Verizon will be adding MSNBC HD to all markets this week just in time for the Winter Olympics.


----------



## steeler

Has anyone heard anything about WRC going to start HD local newscasts? They are in a temporary studio now while their normal studio gets upgraded/remodeled.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/18110113
> 
> 
> Somehow in the middle of the blizzard, Verizon Fios added the local Ion HD channel today to channel 513, presumably the feed from WWPX Ion 66. Would expect that Verizon will eventually also add WHUT HD 32 to the HD locals. BTW, the reports are that Verizon will be adding MSNBC HD to all markets this week just in time for the Winter Olympics.



Any idea why channel 20 is on 506 instead of 520? 22 is on 522 and 26 is on 526. I can see why 66 and 50 aren't in the proper spot but I don't see the reason for 20 being on 506?


I've really only just noticed it when I was trying to switch between 505 and 507 for the storm coverage.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/18110617
> 
> 
> Any idea why channel 20 is on 506 instead of 520? 22 is on 522 and 26 is on 526. I can see why 66 and 50 aren't in the proper spot but I don't see the reason for 20 being on 506?



If you look at the Verizon Baltimore and the joint market Anne Arrundel - Howard county line-ups, the Baltimore locals are clustered from 509 to 514. The line-up made some sense with a unique set from 510 to 514, but then they added WUTB 24 to 509 in Baltimore. I think Verizon wanted to have the stations from each city in 2 groups. But the Anne Arrundel - Howard County HD locals is a little strange with the DC locals from 516 to 519. Based on WHUT being at 32 in the 2-49 SD local block, WHUT 32 HD should end up at 532 when(ever) it gets added, so at least that would make sense.


----------



## systems2000

Just spoke with an engineer for WVPY and he informed me that they *are* off the air (OTA) and that they expect a bulldozer to have the road cleared (to the tower) so they can fix the problem today.










He also confirmed for me that the ABC transmitter (WHSV) *is* on the same tower and has been operational. I don't think I'll be able to acquire it until W42CK terminates their transmission.


----------



## systems2000

For those here in the Valley and who would like to add their 2¢ (to get the transmitters activated), here are the contact numbers for W51CY (WDCW) and W38AN (WITF):


W51CY - (202) 965-5050 #8 -- Nick Doshe ?

W38AN - (717) 704-3000


----------



## aptt

1) On Monday, the WRC anchors said they will be anchoring on their temporary set for the next few weeks, while there are upgrades are being made to their other studio. So, they will probably be back in the other studio by hopefully the end of the Olympics on February 28th or the beginning of March.


2) MSNBC HD finally premiered this morning on Fios. It can be found on channel 603.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *steeler* /forum/post/18110506
> 
> 
> Has anyone heard anything about WRC going to start HD local newscasts? They are in a temporary studio now while their normal studio gets upgraded/remodeled.



I believe the last I heard was spring, maybe March or April: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...5#post17703995


----------



## AntAltMike

I've lost the sound on 4.1 only off-air on a Magnavox TV with an internal digital tuner. I have sound on 4.2, 4.3, and fortunately, on 11.1 which is Baltimore NBC. Is anyone else having audio problems with 4.1 off-air?


----------



## gmucklow




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/18126455
> 
> 
> I've lost the sound on 4.1 only off-air on a Magnavox TV with an internal digital tuner. I have sound on 4.2, 4.3, and fortunately, on 11.1 which is Baltimore NBC. Is anyone else having audio problems with 4.1 off-air?



Nope


----------



## winchesterdoug

I had written on here last month that those of us in the Winchester Va.-Martinsburg W. Va. area and the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia had suddenly lost our strong OTA signal for WBFF Fox 45 out of Baltimore, Md. because the FCC had allowed a low power digital Christian TV station (WAZW-LD in Winchester) - to use the same broadcast frequency - channel 46 - that WBFF Fox 45 was using. This low power signal was also blocking even some viewers in Maryland from receiving their WBFF broadcasts. I had written a couple letters to WBFF about this problem and also called them a couple times. I was beginning to think that they didn't care about this interference and blockage issue from this low power WAZW station- because I hadn't heard anything back from them. Well, it appears that they indeed DO CARE VERY MUCH about their signal being blocked to viewers here in the valley (as well as some Maryland areas). I received a phone call from WBFF's Director of Engineering last week about this problem and it seems the station has received a number of complaints from viewers across a wide area of their coverage. Evidently, a large area of their OTA availability has been effected by the sudden appearance of this low power Christian station. The engineer went on to tell me that WBFF has petitioned the FCC to increase their signal strength toward the valley to overcome this interference from this low power station which is blocking their signal. I asked him what is the likelihood of this actually happening and he is said that the parent Fox corporation is backing the station on this issue - and will commit their attorneys to resolve this, if it becomes necessary. He seemed to be very informed on this, and sounded like WBFF really is concerned about this interference. I wrote this engineer again today and asked him to please keep me informed on the outcome of all this. As of today, I do see that I am receiving WBFF Fox 45 again with no problem. Let's hope it stays that way. I know there were also others on here, who were also very concerned about losing their Fox network affiliate broadcasts. It seems that WBFF has taken an interest in this, and is working on resolving the situation. Good for them.


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/18110113
> 
> 
> Would expect that Verizon will eventually also add WHUT HD 32 to the HD locals.



It's been there for a while, at least here -- on channel 470. It started as SD, switched to HD. They just didn't move it to 532, as one would expect to fit with their numbering scheme. (I sometimes wonder if they even realize it's HD now, but surely they'd notice a thing like that.)


----------



## Jim Miller

Comcast in Baltimore Co has duplicated much of their 2xx channels on 8xx. Does anyone know what is going on?


tnx

jtm


----------



## PaulGo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Jim Miller* /forum/post/18131279
> 
> 
> Comcast in Baltimore Co has duplicated much of their 2xx channels on 8xx. Does anyone know what is going on?
> 
> 
> tnx
> 
> jtm



It appears the 800 to 899 channels will be the new home for the HD channels. This was also done in Montgomery County, MD. It would be nice if Comcast came out with a new channels listing showing all the 800 to 899 HD channels, but I guess they are too busy just saying we have new HD channels.


----------



## tripleM

Question & help please:


My parents have commiecast & ever since they went all digital in Loudoun Cty, they have been forced to use a commiecast box with their expanded basic plan.


However, based on recs from this board, we were able to remove the box & took the cable from the wall straight into their ATSC/QAM TV - like before the total digital transition - & was able to get their TV to tune into all the stations like the box.


The big difference: the locals & PBS are NOT coming through as HD.


What could be happening?

I can understand all the cable channels would still be in SD but I thought the signal from the locals should be in HD regardless if I use the commicast box or not.


----------



## Ken H




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Jim Miller* /forum/post/18131279
> 
> 
> Comcast in Baltimore Co has duplicated much of their 2xx channels on 8xx. Does anyone know what is going on?
> 
> 
> tnx
> 
> jtm



They are going nationally to a uniform channel lineup.


----------



## Ken H




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/18137628
> 
> 
> Question & help please:
> 
> 
> My parents have commiecast & ever since they went all digital in Loudoun Cty, they have been forced to use a commiecast box with their expanded basic plan.
> 
> 
> However, based on recs from this board, we were able to remove the box & took the cable from the wall straight into their ATSC/QAM TV - like before the total digital transition - & was able to get their TV to tune into all the stations like the box.
> 
> 
> The big difference: the locals & PBS are NOT coming through as HD.
> 
> 
> What could be happening?
> 
> I can understand all the cable channels would still be in SD but I thought the signal from the locals should be in HD regardless if I use the commicast box or not.



Look for PBS HD in a different channel number than it was/is on the box or via OTA. It maybe found over 100, 200.


And trust me, Comcast is about the least 'commie' of any company you'll come across. They are capitalists through and through.


----------



## Jim Miller

Ken


does this mean the 8xx channels are permanent replacements for the 2xx ones?


I ask because if so I should set my Tivo season passes accordingly.


Tnx

jtm


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/18137628
> 
> 
> Question & help please:
> 
> 
> My parents have commiecast & ever since they went all digital in Loudoun Cty, they have been forced to use a commiecast box with their expanded basic plan.



In my case in P.G. county the HD signals are in the 122 to 135 channels.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ken H* /forum/post/18137945
> 
> 
> Look for PBS HD in a different channel number than it was/is on the box or via OTA. It maybe found over 100, 200.
> 
> 
> And trust me, Comcast is about the least 'commie' of any company you'll come across. They are capitalists through and through.



That was just a jest Ken as you well know of their ironfist on the local cable franchises.

Anyhow back on topic - the odd thing is their bedroom TV is able to capture the locals in HD no problems after today's rescan in the 112.xx-115.xx range.


I was just wondering if maybe this was a commiecast impeding the free signal of the locals or was it an inadequate ATSC tuner on their Mitsubishi DLP.


----------



## Coolboarder10

Winchesterdoug

The news about WBFF Fox 45 is awesome. This is the best news I've heard in a while. Omost as good as hearing that the snow will be over for at least a whole week. Maybe then can actually keep the roads clear from all the drifting snow. I will contact them again and hopefully they will be able to increase there signal strenth. I have also noticed that Ion doesn't use there 60.4 channel anymore as of last week. Keep up the good work and thanks again Winchesterdoung.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Jim Miller* /forum/post/18138947
> 
> 
> Ken
> 
> 
> does this mean the 8xx channels are permanent replacements for the 2xx ones?
> 
> 
> I ask because if so I should set my Tivo season passes accordingly.
> 
> 
> Tnx
> 
> jtm



The TiVO Season passes should automatically change accordingly. At least they always have for me when a channel is moved or when I've gone to a different provider.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tripleM* /forum/post/18137628
> 
> 
> Question & help please:
> 
> 
> My parents have commiecast & ever since they went all digital in Loudoun Cty, they have been forced to use a commiecast box with their expanded basic plan.
> 
> 
> However, based on recs from this board, we were able to remove the box & took the cable from the wall straight into their ATSC/QAM TV - like before the total digital transition - & was able to get their TV to tune into all the stations like the box.
> 
> 
> The big difference: the locals & PBS are NOT coming through as HD.
> 
> 
> What could be happening?
> 
> I can understand all the cable channels would still be in SD but I thought the signal from the locals should be in HD regardless if I use the commicast box or not.



They _should_ come in as HD. Here in MoCo, they come in fine. The problem, is that you may have to really search for them. For some reason, Comcast also has a digital SD version, of the HD channels. Here they've been pretty stable at the same place they would be as OTA-4.1, 5.1 7.1 etc., but at one point they were all over the place. Perhaps a rescan is in order.

J


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/18145142
> 
> 
> They _should_ come in as HD. Here in MoCo, they come in fine. The problem, is that you may have to really search for them. For some reason, Comcast also has a digital SD version, of the HD channels. Here they've been pretty stable at the same place they would be as OTA-4.1, 5.1 7.1 etc., but at one point they were all over the place. Perhaps a rescan is in order.
> 
> J



That's what I see also BigJ. They have a set of duplicate SD channels for NBC 4 here in Loudoun & the same for ABC & CBS (not sure of Fox).


Guess a rescan is in order the next time I am @ my parent's place.


Thanks.


----------



## Coolboarder10




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/18114194
> 
> 
> For those here in the Valley and who would like to add their 2¢ (to get the transmitters activated), here are the contact numbers for W51CY (WDCW) and W38AN (WITF):
> 
> 
> W51CY - (202) 965-5050 #8 -- Nick Doshe ?
> 
> W38AN - (717) 704-3000



If W51CY gets turned on will that block out any of our other channels that we already recieve?? I would hate to have this cause another problem for us viewers in the valley . Thanks for the update and info systems2000


----------



## systems2000

W51CY is on RF51.


What is the news about WBFF that you are referencing?


----------



## winchesterdoug

Coolboarder - Yes, I was as upset about the interference situation with WBFF Fox 45 as you were. Why should we just sit back and take losing one of our network affiliate stations? Well, we shouldn't. It took a while, but they (Fox) have been keeping in touch with me and their Director of Engineering has assured me that their parent corp. - Fox - does not want to lose viewers either. I was very glad when he called me and said that WBFF would definitely do what they have to do to address this situation. I will be sure to post on this site any new developments on this, to keep those affected up to date on what is going on. Don't worry- I will not give up on this, and I will keep striving for a resolution.


----------



## ACW112983

Where's Northern VA's 800 HD channels?


----------



## Coolboarder10




systems2000 said:


> W51CY is on RF51.
> 
> 
> I thought that W51CY isn't broadcasting. If so is it digital? If it is not broadcasting and they deciede to start will that channel cause any problems for us viewers in the valley?


----------



## Coolboarder10

Hey Winchesterdoug and everybody in the valley, I too called Wbff 45. I also talked to there Director of Engineering yesterday. He told me that they are all set to increase the signal strenth as of today. But they have to wait for the Fcc. He told me it could take any where from this week till a few months. I told him that I had emailed the fcc and that they didn't even understand my problem and that they didn't even care. He told me that's how a lot of people feel. He also told me there were lots of people complaining about lossing there station and really wants to get things worked out asap. I also asked him about what he thought about the fcc in the near future taking back the spectdrum from ota. He told me he and a lot of the other local stations are really worried about that. I also told him that I was upset by the fact that I had emailed there station 3 times and no one ever got back to me. He told me that they get so much email it's hard to respond to everyones. But did say to just call him back with anymore concerns. I then told him that they did a good job with the storm coverage and am very pleased to have there station back on.


----------



## chapelrun

I just noticed that the Worship channel on 66-4 or 60-4 is gone.


Does anyone know what happened?


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chapelrun* /forum/post/18162834
> 
> 
> I just noticed that the Worship channel on 66-4 or 60-4 is gone.
> 
> 
> Does anyone know what happened?



ION dropped The Worship Network on 2/1/2010... http://www.worship.net/article/january-2010-newsletter/


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Coolboarder10* /forum/post/18158576
> 
> 
> I thought that W51CY isn't broadcasting. If so is it digital? If it is not broadcasting and they deciede to start will that channel cause any problems for us viewers in the valley?



W51CY ceased broadcasting about December 2007. I was told that it was because Comcast was having issues acquiring WDCW's digital transmission at the time. WDCW is in receivership and currently don't have the funds to convert W51CY to digital.


As long as there isn't another transmitting RF51, I don't believe it should cause any interference with another station.

*NOTE:* WETA and WWPX are trying to acquire access to the channel. Not sure why WWPX would want it, since they are pretty solid on RF12.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

VHF DTV operators should check out this article:

http://broadcastengineering.com/infr...-vhf-dtv-0219/


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/18166026
> 
> 
> Not sure why WWPX would want it, since they are pretty solid on RF12.



They're solid in Hagerstown, but 12 can't move into DC. The channel 51 petition sought to relocate to whatever mountain WINC-FM 92.5 is on in order to get coverage of DC.


- Trip


----------



## systems2000

But doesn't WPXW do that?

*SIDEBAR:* Did anyone else see the 3D TV segment on WJLA a few minutes ago? Sets are to be hitting the stores by this Spring and three networks are already producing programming.


----------



## systems2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/18168198
> 
> 
> VHF DTV operators should check out this article:
> 
> http://broadcastengineering.com/infr...-vhf-dtv-0219/



I decided (and posted) about a year ago that stations could overcome a lot of the DTV fade issues and problem reception areas (and be best served), by using "Circular Polarized" transmit antennas.


Good to see that that's being acknowledged.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *systems2000* /forum/post/18169414
> 
> 
> But doesn't WPXW do that?



WPXW isn't for sale though. WWPX is.


- Trip


----------



## rachurch

Apologies if this is covered elsewhere, but I couldn't find anything.


What content does Verizon FiOS provide to subscribers online (besides HBOGO)? I'm wondering if I can get by with fewer set-tops and use a computer instead. Is there a listing online?


Thanks!


----------



## systems2000

Try http://www.titantv.com/


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/17923754
> 
> 
> I just got off the phone with Comcast. The date for digital migration in Baltimore City is February 12. Channels above 28 will go digital-only.




Didn't happen. I got this response from Comcast:



> Quote:
> The digital transition process in Baltimore City has started and should be completed by the middle of the year. You may have received or should start to receive information about the process and what you need to do to get ready.



Also saw this:



> Quote:
> Comcast has switched some, but not all, of its DC and Baltimore area cable TV systems to mostly digital. However, some systems, like Arlington, Reston, Howard, and Baltimore city, await equipment that won't be available until summer.....


 http://www.dcrtv.com/


----------



## systems2000

Last night, I saw WJLA news rerun the segment on 3D Televisions.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*City to Verizon: What are we, chopped liver?*

*Absence of FiOS in Baltimore angers council members, consumer advocates*


By Larry Perl

[email protected] 


Where is Baltimore FiOS?


Matthew Weinstein has been asking that question a lot in the past month, especially at community meetings around north Baltimore.


In the past month, Weinstein has lobbied community associations in Charles Village, Homeland and Mt. Washington to join him in asking the question -- and he is seeking the support of the Greater Homewood Community Corp.


Weinstein, 46, is on the warpath against Verizon, which has brought FiOS, its heavily advertised brand of high-speed, fiberoptic Internet service, to much of the state, but not to Baltimore City.


And Weinstein, who lives in the Charles Village-Abell area, is not just a neighborhood gadfly or David versus Goliath. He's the Baltimore region and federal issues director of Progressive Maryland, a nonprofit advocacy organization.


And he has at least some support on the City Council, which is considering a non-binding resolution calling on Verizon to bring FiOS to the city.


Progressive Maryland has fought for lower energy pricing, more progressive personal and corporate income tax codes and the reduction of fraud in the workplace, among other issues in recent years, according to its Web site, www.progressivemaryland.org . Now, it is pushing hard for health care reform.


But Weinstein and Progressive Maryland are also taking Verizon to task for bypassing Baltimore as it laid the groundwork for FiOS in other jurisdictions.


"We're demanding equal treatment," Weinstein said in an interview Jan. 17 during a general membership meeting of the Charles Village Civic Association.


He said his lobbying effort has nothing to do with whether he likes FiOS personally.


"We're not looking at it as, will people like it. We're looking at it as a digital divide issue," he said.


Progressive Maryland and some city officials say Verizon doesn't want to spend the money to install the system in a densely populated urban area. Progressive Maryland says Baltimore is the only major jurisdiction in Maryland that is not yet wired for FiOS.


Verizon told the City Council that it has no plans to apply for a franchise agreement with the city, Progressive Maryland states in a flier that Weinstein handed out at the Charles Village meeting.


City Council member William Cole IV has introduced a non-binding resolution calling on Verizon to bring FiOS to Baltimore.


Cole said a coalition of community groups has formed to call for FiOS in the city, and that a public hearing on his resolution is being scheduled for March or early April.


Bringing FiOS to the city is important because Comcast has the market cornered on bundled Internet, phone and cable TV service, Cole said.


"We want the competition," he said. "It's frustrating that we're so far behind."


Cole said he thinks Verizon Maryland would like to bring FiOS to Baltimore but that its corporate office has "zero interest."


And he said there is an untrue rumor being spread, partly by Verizon representatives at Verizon stores and mall kiosks, that the City Council is blocking FiOS by charging too much in conduit rental fees for access to the city's underground wiring network.


City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke, who represents north Baltimore, supports Cole's resolution, and criticized Verizon at the Charles Village meeting.


"They don't want to come into urban areas," Clarke said. "As soon as they get over their fear of urban infrastucture, we will welcome them."


In its flier that Weinstein handed out, headlined, "Where is Bmore FiOS?," Progressive Maryland concedes that installing FiOS in given geographic areas "involves a significant investment of resources."


Verizon advertises fiber optic technology as "communication at the speed of light," transmitting data at five times the speed of DSL or cable. All 32 volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica can be sent in less than a second, Verizon claims.


But Weinstein and other critics say Verizon doesn't want to spend the money for FIOS in Baltmore because it could be more expensive in an urban area.


Weinstein says it could be done less expensively by using existing phone wires, and Cole agrees.


"The development (of FiOS) in urban areas is not more difficult than in rural areas," Cole said.


In its flier, Progressive Maryland said Verizon delayed its wiring of the nation's capital for FIOS, too, but changed its mind after a grassroots campaign in Washington.


In an e-mail statement, Verizon doesn't deny that money is a factor in its decision to not invest in the city, at least for now.


"Verizon is not deploying FiOS in Baltimore City or in any other new areas in Maryland or across the country at this time because we're now focused on delivering our FiOS services in those communities where we already have approved cable franchises and where we already have begun to build our FiOS network," said spokeswoman Sandra Arnette. "We have extensive deployment obligations in several states and are working to fulfill them."


She also stated that Verizon decides where to deploy the system based partly on "the ability to rapidly deploy our network. This involves review of material and supply issues, workforce locations, technology locations and other related business factors."


But Arnette said that "just because we're not deploying FiOS in a particular area now doesn't mean we won't do so in the future. We just can't say when that will happen right now."


Cole said Verizon's reluctance to bring FiOS to the city "smacks of redlinng," a claim that Arnette denied.


"Race, ethnicity and income are never factors in this decision," she said in her e-mail. "Verizon does not redline. We never have and never will. It's illegal, immoral and counter to our century-old legacy of providing good service to Baltimore residents. Our commitment to diversity is evident in many communities where FiOS is now offered, such as Dundalk, Essex, Glen Burnie, Milford Mills, Randallstown and Woodlawn."


But it's clear that the criticism is having an effect.


"We understand people's concerns, and we can and will carry those back to our business," Arnette said.

http://www.explorebaltimorecounty.co...chopped-liver/


----------



## ACW112983

Hey Baltimore, stop bitchin'. At least your Comcast has Spike and Comedy Central HD


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ACW112983* /forum/post/18196291
> 
> 
> Hey Baltimore, stop bitchin'. At least your Comcast has Spike and Comedy Central HD



No it doesn't.


----------



## howie14

I wish to announce that after months of searching-well, not _too_ hard-I stumbled upon my OTA antenna's "sweetspot" where I can pickup most Baltimore/DC signals without much breakup. I intend to only turn the rotor once in awhile to keep it functioning.


This setting has locked down WETA-26 as well as 30-1 through 5. Those had been pretty much worthless since late summer.


The exceptions to this are WRC-4 and CW-50. 50 doesn't lock in at all and 4 seems to vary with the weather or something.


I wonder why I used to get 4 and sometimes 50 but don't now. An engineer from WRC was kind enough to respond to me on that problem last year, but we never were able to figure how my reception actually got worse over time for that specific station only.


----------



## winchesterdoug

Coolboarder - I'm glad you were able to talk to the Director of Engineering too, at WBFF-TV. - I think it is important to show that there are quite a few of us that are concerned about this interference and blockage issue with these small low power stations. I have spoken to him as well before, and he said he is new in that post at the station- but he seems to genuinely care about our concerns. So that is a good thing. I have also received two different calls from the FCC in the last two days about the complaint I filed about the low power WAZW-LD station in Winchester blocking WBFF-TV's transmission. They took down my documentation over the phone about this situation and today the FCC person asked me if WBFF was still blocked or if I was receiving the station again? I told them that I have been receiving the station again for the last few weeks. So, they took all this information down but couldn't really tell me if WBFF's request for a power increase went through. I have a feeling that this is something that we are all going to have to keep on top of - and follow up with.


----------



## ss_sea_ya

I think cox cable fairfax recently changed some of the "direct" cable channels. I "now" (meaning I just did a rescan of my channels on the cable input) vs what I had last fall) get a bunch of local channels in digital, including 4.3.

Prob worthwhile to add some updates to the first post.


----------



## biker19

Did any analogs disappear and were the QAM chs moved?


----------



## ss_sea_ya

don't think any of the analog's where changed, just a bunch of digitals added. It is a little screwed up, as there are ton's of digital channels that show up but appear to be unused (and not just scrambled). They also have two channel 9-1's. And there is an analog ch 4 and digital ch 4-1. So hitting 4 on your remote, give you analog 4 and not 4-1. Also haven't been able to find a listing either for all these.


----------



## marshman442

will be dropping my Verizon service and will be using an OTA antenna for 3 TV's in my house. I have a Plasma & LCD's.


Can someone in the Baltimore / Annapolis area make some recommendations for an HDTV antenna for reaching both Baltimore and Washington stations from zip code 21108?


- What type of reception quality should I expect for this area? Is there going to be a big difference in the picture quality from cable service vs . OTA reception?


I live in a wooded area and can mount the antenna approx 15' above the ground. I have aluminum siding on the house so an attic mount is probably not a good idea.


also any input on a rotor set-up vs. two antenna(s) would be helpful Also, Is there any other equipment I will need? Splitters / boosters / etc?


Please help.


Thanks.


----------



## arxaw

marshman442, please don't post the same question in multiple threads. See responses in the other thread you started.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Looks like it's official (this time): April 7.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *marshman442* /forum/post/18231778
> 
> 
> ...Can someone in the Baltimore / Annapolis area make some recommendations for an HDTV antenna for reaching both Baltimore and Washington stations from zip code 21108?...





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *arxaw* /forum/post/18233931
> 
> 
> marshman442, please don't post the same question in multiple threads. See responses in the other thread you started.



I don't see a problem with a person with a reception problem posting in both the general thread and in his own local one. There are a lot of forum members who regularly visit one of those threads but not the other that may be willing and able to assist him.


Marshman442 might get away with using a round, "flying saucer/trashcan lid" type antenna, like an MS-2000. Back when I did residential, I was sometimes able to get acceptable analog reception in his area using such an antenna.


----------



## mjw703




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/18237720
> 
> 
> Looks like it's official (this time): April 7.



Thanks for posting this. I expect to see this sometime in 2014 for our Arlington system.


----------



## adams828

Hi everyone - moving to a new place in Rockville (from an apt.) and finally do have the option for FIOS.


Can anyone share their experiences with FIOS?


I had comcast many years ago and switched (after many internet outages) to RCN and have been relatively happy. However at least FIOS is marketed as 'better than cable' - just trying to figure out if that's true..


----------



## CycloneGT

I have had Fios internet since 2005 and it has been rock solid. But I don't have their TV. From what I have seen and heard about it though, it gets thumbs up.


----------



## biker19

^ +1


----------



## jacindc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/18237720
> 
> 
> Looks like it's official (this time): April 7.



Got mine in DC, too, with a "network enhancement" starting date of March 16.


----------



## chrisherbert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *adams828* /forum/post/18245735
> 
> 
> Hi everyone - moving to a new place in Rockville (from an apt.) and finally do have the option for FIOS.
> 
> 
> Can anyone share their experiences with FIOS?
> 
> 
> I had comcast many years ago and switched (after many internet outages) to RCN and have been relatively happy. However at least FIOS is marketed as 'better than cable' - just trying to figure out if that's true..



FIOS is much, much better than cable (for the moment, anyway).


----------



## iontyre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chrisherbert* /forum/post/18251107
> 
> 
> FIOS is much, much better than cable (for the moment, anyway).



That is a matter of personal opinion, one I do not share.


----------



## Jimmy

I opened my current Comcast bill the other day to find out, to my surprise, that it had gone down $30. The explaination indicated that I had cancelled Showtime, which also cancelled my "2 Play" subscription. I never cancelled anything. I visited the Comcast office in Fredereick to see what was up. They looked at my account and could not see what was going on. They said as long as I still had Showtime, don't worry about it. The only thing they thought it might be was the change to XFinity. The agent thought they were moving me from the "2-Play" over to XFinity and the package includes what I get not ------only cheaper. Does this make sense? Did anybody else see any such change? I do like the $30 cheaper but I have a feeling at some point Showtime will disapper from my line-up.


----------



## chrisherbert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *iontyre* /forum/post/18252213
> 
> 
> That is a matter of personal opinion, one I do not share.



What's better about cable?


----------



## Digital Rules

Have had FIOS in Arlington for over 3 years & very pleased so far. Internet speed is higher than advertised (Paying for 15/5, but getting 20/5) Picture quality just as good as OTA. Only 2 outages so far & both were addressed immediately.


----------



## Potatoehead




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chrisherbert* /forum/post/18255964
> 
> 
> What's better about cable?



I have a feeling that the opinions about which is better (FIOS or cable)may be different for those areas which have completed the analog reclamation and those who have not. In areas that have completed the analog reclamation, the cable channel selection is comparable to FIOS. Of course, it depends on what channels you want the most. The picture quality is often a bit worse for cable (not sure it is enough for most people to notice - but it is enough to irritate some people). And then there is price, contracts and service.


----------



## mchief99

Recorded CSI last night (Tivo), and it was a mess. Broken picture and sound - unwatchable for about 15 minutes then clearer up after FF. This was Comcast Alexandria channel 212 CBS. The next program was fine (Mentalist).


Anyone else experience this or might I have a hard drive going bad. Hope not, just put a 1TB in a few months ago.


----------



## bmcent1

Hi -

It's been a while since I checked in on this thread and just wanted to ask if anything has changed significantly in antennas or broadcast power over the past year.


Here is my TV Fool plot:
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...b7c8f5a58fb704 


I really want to receive the 4 major networks. I'm reasonably close to the tower(s) at about 35 miles. All the Washington, DC stations are at 153 or 154 degrees. But I'm down in a valley and everything is 2 edge.


Wondering if there is a single antenna that will work, or if I should go with a VHF for 7,9 and something else for 34-36 + 48 and a splitter / combiner.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bmcent1* /forum/post/18266411
> 
> 
> Wondering if there is a single antenna that will work, or if I should go with a VHF for 7,9 and something else for 34-36 + 48 and a splitter / combiner.



Both channel 7 & 9 have had some significant power increases, so your chances of reliable reception are pretty darn good now. The Winegard HD7698P would be a good choice for a 1 antenna solution. (I'm a bit worried about WRC-4 though with any combo antenna which just won't have the extra gain a dedicated UHF antenna will provide)


If you don't mind 2 antennas, the Winegard YA-1713 , plus the AD 91-XG would be an even better choice in my opinion. The Channel Master 7777 pre-amp would work well with either scenario.


Hope this helps!!


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bmcent1* /forum/post/18266411
> 
> 
> Hi -
> 
> It's been a while since I checked in on this thread and just wanted to ask if anything has changed significantly in antennas or broadcast power over the past year.
> 
> 
> Here is my TV Fool plot:
> http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...b7c8f5a58fb704
> 
> 
> I really want to receive the 4 major networks. I'm reasonably close to the tower(s) at about 35 miles. All the Washington, DC stations are at 153 or 154 degrees. But I'm down in a valley and everything is 2 edge.
> 
> 
> Wondering if there is a single antenna that will work, or if I should go with a VHF for 7,9 and something else for 34-36 + 48 and a splitter / combiner.



Try the Square Shooter(I guessthey still make them). I've been using two of them with a combiner and preamp here in Woodbridge for six years. Since WUSA and WJLA have increased their signal strength on VHF I've been getting a good signal from them.

Hopefully when the foilage is on the trees the signal will still be fine.


----------



## iontyre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *chrisherbert* /forum/post/18255964
> 
> 
> What's better about cable?



For me its customer support. Verizon has given me problems when it come to support on DSL service I help support at a business location. Comcast on the other hand always bends over backward to find solutions to any problems with TV or internet that I have had. I'm getting great picture on Comcast (except for ABC, but I am getting the impression that is the networks fault...), and totally reliable internet service. I can't see a reason to chance changing to a company that has given me support issues in the past.


----------



## danboot

Does anyone know if I can buy a HD cable box directly from cox. Wanted HD in spare room in the house but do not want DVR and want to keep the cost down as much as possible. I know I can get the local HD over the air but I also want ESPN Food Network, Discovery, etc in HD but do not want to rent if i do not have to.


Thanks,

Dan


----------



## bmcent1

Good news about 7 and 9! Thanks for the antenna suggestions too.


----------



## chrisherbert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *iontyre* /forum/post/18270560
> 
> 
> For me its customer support. Verizon has given me problems when it come to support on DSL service I help support at a business location. Comcast on the other hand always bends over backward to find solutions to any problems with TV or internet that I have had. I'm getting great picture on Comcast (except for ABC, but I am getting the impression that is the networks fault...), and totally reliable internet service. I can't see a reason to chance changing to a company that has given me support issues in the past.



I'm comparing FIOS to Arlington/DC Comcast, which hasn't shut off the analog channels (yet), and FIOS has hugely better picture quality. It's not even close. It's not just the HD channels that look better, the standard definition ones do too. On Comcast they're barely watchable, on FIOS they are quite nice. FIOS also has a much better selection of channels, and the guide is fast and modern looking -- not the Commodore 64-type junk that Comcast provides. And the internet is faster.


I've never had any big problems with Comcast's support but the quality and selection just isn't anywhere near FIOS.


----------



## Digital Rules

We had terrible service from Verizon till we switched to FIOS. Now, it's like we are dealing with a completely different company. Service is always prompt & comprehensive.


I'm thinking they do that to get as many people off copper as possible when FIOS is available in the area???


----------



## MrHifi

At almost a 40% higher price tag, FIOS should provide naked dancing girls on every channel. I am the last person on my block to stay with Comcast. I have done so because they are a lot cheaper and the PQ in HD is comparable. I watch a 96" wide screen and I'm very picky so for those who see a difference, I would make sure you are comparing apples to apples.


----------



## systems2000

I've signed the lease on a new residence and will start moving tomorrow. It is about three or four miles (almost due West) of my current location. I'm going to rework my CM3020 and put the top antenna at about 65'.


I ran the TVFool report and found that most of the stations (I currently receive) vary from 0.2 to 1.9dB. I have three stations (that I don't currently receive) increasing their NM by 6.9dB (WGAL), 11.8dB (WITF), & 12.1dB (WHTM).


Even though I already get WTAJ, WPMT, and WGCB solidly, they will increase in strength also (3.1, 4.4, & 4.9dB).


Let the games begin!








 

Television.pdf 66.189453125k . file


----------



## beboram

I already have an OTA on the roof but need someone to switch it out for a larger/better one and also add two more lines to two rooms.


----------



## rviele




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *beboram* /forum/post/18287929
> 
> 
> I already have an OTA on the roof but need someone to switch it out for a larger/better one and also add two more lines to two rooms.



call action antenna 4102420440


----------



## Marcus Carr




----------



## AcuraCL




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rviele* /forum/post/18288125
> 
> 
> call action antenna 4102420440



I had very bad service from them a couple of years ago. They did not mount the antenna rotator at 0 degrees; they cut all cables too short, necessitating splices to reach the equipment; the mounted the preamp too far away from the antenna; they miswired the antenna rotator and it didn't even rotate. They did an unprofessional job.


I'd look for another installer personally.


----------



## mdviewer25

Does anyone know if 11 and 13 decreased their power or changed the direction of their signal?


----------



## systems2000

It's probably the atmosphere. Last night I was getting WJZ with 100% signal strength and 80% quality. This morning I was back to both WBAL and WJZ not coming in. I thought WJZ had done a power increase and was glad to see it.


----------



## rabdab




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/18288341
> 
> 
> Does anyone know if 11 and 13 decreased their power or changed the direction of their signal?



when did your problems start?


11 works fine (at a 45% signal) 13 is horrible (at a 78% signal) the audio breaks up and occasionally the picture too.


My problems started around Sunday. (3/7) I am in Westminster/Carroll county


----------



## Digital Rules

11 & 13 are fine here. There has been a good bit of atmospheric tropo activity the last few days that may be affecting reception for some viewers.


----------



## iontyre




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/18288154



Lucky dog! Hopefully now they can start concentrating on updating Harford County!


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *danboot* /forum/post/18276035
> 
> 
> Does anyone know if I can buy a HD cable box directly from cox. Wanted HD in spare room in the house but do not want DVR and want to keep the cost down as much as possible. I know I can get the local HD over the air but I also want ESPN Food Network, Discovery, etc in HD but do not want to rent if i do not have to.



No, you can't. It is unlikely any cableco will provision a personally owned STB. A Tivo or MCE equiped PC w/ cable card is overkill for what you need. Have you tried to see what clear QAM chs are available? You might be able to live with that - otherwise you'll need to get their STB.


----------



## rviele




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AcuraCL* /forum/post/18288162
> 
> 
> I had very bad service from them a couple of years ago. They did not mount the antenna rotator at 0 degrees; they cut all cables too short, necessitating splices to reach the equipment; the mounted the preamp too far away from the antenna; they miswired the antenna rotator and it didn't even rotate. They did an unprofessional job.
> 
> 
> I'd look for another installer personally.



i'm surprised i've worked with brian for close to 20 years on cband as well as ota and have yet to have a problem


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast will add MASN2 HD on April 7 in Baltimore.


----------



## maestro73

Does anyone have one black letterbox bar (top of screen) on ABC 7 WJLA-HD through Comcast ALex/Arl? Both the SD and HD channels are jacked. I can't receive the OTA signal to check it but I can receive WMAR-HD OTA and there is no issue.


----------



## weaver6




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *maestro73* /forum/post/18310322
> 
> 
> Does anyone have one black letterbox bar (top of screen) on ABC 7 WJLA-HD through Comcast ALex/Arl? Both the SD and HD channels are jacked. I can't receive the OTA signal to check it but I can receive WMAR-HD OTA and there is no issue.



DirecTV is the same, as is the OTA signal. Actually, there seems to be a thin bar at the bottom also.


----------



## maestro73

Cool. Thx. WJLA issues. Just noticed the bottom after you pointed it out.


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/18278542
> 
> 
> We had terrible service from Verizon till we switched to FIOS. Now, it's like we are dealing with a completely different company. Service is always prompt & comprehensive.
> 
> 
> I'm thinking they do that to get as many people off copper as possible when FIOS is available in the area???



Gee, whatever could give you _that_ idea?


I'm sure it has _*nothing*_ to do with the copper plant being regulated, and the glass being totally unregulated.....


----------



## mkfs

So trying to watch Off Beat Cinema, and it is way more Off than usual. The video and audio are frozen, with occasional spurts taking you ahead a few seconds at a time.


Since my signal is solid, and both the main & 7.2 are OK; I guess the wet string from RTN to WJLA must be frayed or such...


But it's now been like that for well over an hour; I gather WJLA must not have anyone on the premises on a weekend who monitors such?


----------



## Jim Miller

Sunspot 1054 launched a CME which will likely hit on Wednesday. I wonder if the satellite network feeds will be affected?

http://spaceweather.com/ 


jtm


----------



## danboot




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/18294500
> 
> 
> No, you can't. It is unlikely any cableco will provision a personally owned STB. A Tivo or MCE equiped PC w/ cable card is overkill for what you need. Have you tried to see what clear QAM chs are available? You might be able to live with that - otherwise you'll need to get their STB.



Thanks, I do not have a tv with QAM tuner. Guess I will just have to get a STB.


----------



## howie14




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rabdab* /forum/post/18289052
> 
> 
> when did your problems start?
> 
> 
> 11 works fine (at a 45% signal) 13 is horrible (at a 78% signal) the audio breaks up and occasionally the picture too.
> 
> 
> My problems started around Sunday. (3/7) I am in Westminster/Carroll county



Interesting. I'm in Eldersburg and I had a horrible time with 11 Wednesday night (3/10). It seemed to get better after 10:30 PM.


Has WGAL already increased its signal? I hadn't been receiving it since I turned the antenna more toward DC recently, but it was booming in for me the last two days.


Still can't get WRC consistently (or 50 at all), though.


----------



## howie14




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mkfs* /forum/post/18312282
> 
> 
> So trying to watch Off Beat Cinema, and it is way more Off than usual. The video and audio are frozen, with occasional spurts taking you ahead a few seconds at a time.
> 
> 
> Since my signal is solid, and both the main & 7.2 are OK; I guess the wet string from RTN to WJLA must be frayed or such...
> 
> 
> But it's now been like that for well over an hour; I gather WJLA must not have anyone on the premises on a weekend who monitors such?



RTV 7.3 had its station ID running over and over again from 6:30 to 7PM last night.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rabdab* /forum/post/18289052
> 
> 
> when did your problems start?
> 
> 
> 11 works fine (at a 45% signal) 13 is horrible (at a 78% signal) the audio breaks up and occasionally the picture too.
> 
> 
> My problems started around Sunday. (3/7) I am in Westminster/Carroll county



I just checked last week and noticed that the position I used for 11 & 13 didn't work anymore. It's better now but there are still a lot of audio and picture breakups for 11. I still can't even get a signal for 11 on my downstairs televisions.


----------



## afiggatt

When did WFDC Univision 14 go 1080i HD? It is not a channel I watch, but I was stepping through the channels and there was a HD program on.


----------



## Digital Rules

Hmmm, I've never seen 16:9 programming on channel 14. Did it look like HD?


Ooops, never mind, I see it now.


----------



## Trip in VA

Any chance I could get updated TSReader data on WFDC?


- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/18325075
> 
> 
> When did WFDC Univision 14 go 1080i HD? It is not a channel I watch, but I was stepping through the channels and there was a HD program on.



Beats me but FWIW, when I programmed a TV today, it DIDN'T find a 14.2. Usually, it does but when selected, it either says "audio only" or weak or no signal, depending on the model of tuner.


----------



## djp952

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* 
Any chance I could get updated TSReader data on WFDC?


- Trip
As always, happy to oblige








 

wfdc-03172010.zip 2.9404296875k . file


----------



## Trip in VA

Thanks!










Looks like the standard Univision setup, but with Mobile DTV running where there would normally be an SD sub. Interesting...


- Trip


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/18325318
> 
> 
> Any chance I could get updated TSReader data on WFDC?
> 
> 
> - Trip



It's HD now. http://kurly.net/tvsightings/20100317/ 


Just did a quick scan from 7 to 52. As an aside, I did see the MHz 1-5 at RF24, but not well enough to capture anything.


That link uses RF channel numbers, just like in the past.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/18325952
> 
> 
> As always, happy to oblige



Figures, you post yours while I'm preparing mine.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/18325973
> 
> 
> It's HD now. http://kurly.net/tvsightings/20100317/
> 
> 
> Just did a quick scan from 7 to 52. As an aside, I did see the MHz 1-5 at RF24, but not well enough to capture anything.
> 
> 
> That link uses RF channel numbers, just like in the past.



Ooh, new captures of the other stations. Thanks!










- Trip


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/18325999
> 
> 
> Ooh, new captures of the other stations. Thanks!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> - Trip



No problem. I got these using my little portable USB tuner, my laptop, and a set of plain ol' rabbit ears on the 2nd floor of the house, without moving the rabbit ears during the scan. Can't believe I got WBOC clean.


----------



## tonyd79

Channels in the 800s have shown up on Comcast Howard County. My Tivo doesn't have guide data for them but they are there. All the HDs that are in the 200s replicated. Guess the move is starting in Howard County.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Coalition presses Verizon to bring high-speed Internet service to Baltimore*


City bypassed on FiOS, bus billboards will say


Using a bus billboard campaign, a coalition of 20 churches, labor groups and community organizations is trying to pressure Verizon Maryland to bring its next-generation, high-speed Internet service to Baltimore.


The service, marketed as FiOS, is available or being rolled out in several counties around the city and in Washington, but critics accuse Verizon of leaving Baltimore out of expansion plans. With high-capacity fiber-optic wiring, FiOS can offer television, telephone and Internet download speeds of up to 50 megabits per second - many times faster than a typical digital-subscriber line or cable-modem connection.


"As anyone who is a native of Baltimore knows, there's a long history of companies not investing in Baltimore," said Matthew Weinstein, Baltimore regional director for Progressive Maryland, the nonprofit that organized the coalition.


Weinstein, who kicked off the campaign at a small rally outside Verizon Maryland's headquarters in downtown Baltimore, accused the company of "redlining" Baltimore - of avoiding poor inner-city neighborhoods and choosing instead to invest in more affluent suburbs. The bus billboard that Progressive Maryland commissioned states: "This bus isn't the only thing passing you by. Verizon's bringing high speed Internet everywhere but Baltimore."


Sandra Arnette, a Verizon Maryland spokeswoman, denied that the company is ignoring Baltimore.


"Not once have we ever said we're not coming to Baltimore City," Arnette said.


But, she said, Verizon has already agreed to build the FiOS network in other parts of the state and has put a halt on new deployments nationwide so that it can focus on building out the areas where it has existing commitments.


"There are other major cities where we're not currently offering the service," Arnette said. "But that's not to say we won't be looking to move into those areas in the near future. We just ask people to be patient."


Verizon FiOS is available to communities in 16 states, Arnette said. The company is offering the service at least in some parts of several major cities, including Los Angeles, Washington, New York, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Richmond, Va., and a handful of cities in New Jersey.


In addition to Baltimore, FiOS is not available in Boston, Syracuse, Albany or Buffalo, Arnette said.


In Maryland, Arnette said, FiOS is in various stages of deployment in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Harford, Howard, Montgomery and Prince George's counties.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business...,7212708.story


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Comcast Switching 3 More DC Systems To Digital*


3/17 - With Montgomery and Loudoun counties area converted to mainly digital, area cable TV giant Comcast has set it sights on three other DC area cable systems for the conversion, which will allow the firm to add a batch of new high-def channels and more broadband services branded with the Xfinity moniker. *This spring, Washington DC, Prince George's County, and Reston are being switched over to digital, expect for the most basic tier of local broadcast and public access channels. DC and PG will be done in a two-step process in March and April, while Reston will have a three-step process through May.* Reston, we're told, is one of the first Comcast systems to go digital that doesn't use Motorola converter boxes, and therefore is a bit of a more complicated switch. Comcast is providing up to three additional devices for free to subscribers of those three systems, who'll need the gear to continue watching most expanded basic channels, a la ESPN and CNN. Comcast says it hopes to have the remainder of its DC area systems, including Arlington, Alexandria, and Prince William County, converted to digital by later this year.....

http://www.dcrtv.com/


----------



## bakerman

All my OTA channels are gone. I live in Columbia what's up with that. I rescanned for them and nothing.


Any help?


----------



## ProjectSHO89




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bakerman* /forum/post/18333024
> 
> 
> All my OTA channels are gone. I live in Columbia what's up with that. I rescanned for them and nothing.
> 
> 
> Any help?



Obviously, something failed in your antenna or receiver system.


Start by doing some basic checks for unplugged or damaged connections and that your antenna is still there.


"Diagnosis by osmosis" isn't likely to succeed, you will have to get up and do some checking.


----------



## bakerman

Thanks. Kinda weird it just quit.


----------



## MrHifi

Is Comcast still broadcasting the analog TVGOS information in their Annapolis area? I have 3 HD DVR's from LG that used that signal. An LG tuner I have also used the data. None of them show the programming info. any more. Also, these devices relied on a time signal to set the clock. This appears to have failed also. Is this being broadcast. If neither is being broadcast, is there any way around the problem using one of the digital to analog converters?


----------



## systems2000

Anyone throughout the valley or towards Baltimore/D.C. register 33-3 (W38AN - WITF) yet?


Dewster pointed out that WITF turned on their translator here in Chambersburg and I'm receiving it 100x100. About time I get PA PBS.


----------



## TimGoodwin

Does anybody know of an antenna company in the Baltimore area other then Action Antenna?


Thanks


----------



## SUOrangeman

Cox-Northern Virigina slated to get NBA TV, ESPNU HD, ESPN News HD, and Epix HD on April 1st, per my most recent bill. I could've sworn that NBA TV (SD) was already available here and this "new" offering is among the HD channel numbers.


-SUO


----------



## systems2000

This may be my last post for a couple of weeks, since I'm now well into my move and will be doing utility changes this weekend.


I do want to let everyone know that I setup a temporary antenna system, at the new location. I used my homemade circular and the trapezoid I found. I mounted them on two poles that I drove into the ground. The VHF-High circular is centered 48" AGL and the UHF trapezoid is centered at 33" AGL. They feed into a UVSJ and run directly (no pre-amp or DA) to one of my Zinwell CECB's. I'll get a picture before I tear it down.


I currently receive WTTG, WJLA, WUSA, 14 (don't know the call sign), WDCA, MHz 1-5, WHAG, WWPB, W38AN, WWPX, 66 (can't remember the call sign - WPXW?), and WJAL. This will work fine until I get the new setup installed.










My old location gave me fits with WTTG and I couldn't acquire 14, MHz 1-5, or 66.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TimGoodwin* /forum/post/18357617
> 
> 
> Does anybody know of an antenna company in the Baltimore area other then Action Antenna?
> 
> 
> Thanks



Sorry, but I don't. Have you tried action antenna?


----------



## AntAltMike

Stansbury Decker used to to antenna work out of Baltimore, but I haven't had occasion to contact them in the last decade. Also, I remember that a company named Baltimore Sound once did work on an antenna in a highrise building there, but I don't know if they do or did single family residental antenna work


----------



## systems2000

What's going on with image uploading?


I tried to upload a photo of my temporary setup and the system keeps telling me the "file upload failed."


----------



## mdviewer25

Comcast Prince George's completed phase 1 of their switch to digital and the following channels have a message that they enhanced their network:

27 - The Weather Channel

30 - msnbc

36 - TNT

37 - HIST

39 - BRAVO

40 - AMC

41 - SYFY

45 - cartoon network

46 - animal planet

47 - TLC

50 - lifetime

52 - HGTV

53 - E!

54 - FOOD

55 - TRAVEL

64 - VS.


They still have they digital qam channels in the clear and VS. and A&E in HD. Also, they have all the locals mapped to their regular channels. One interesting note, they have mHZ on 22.1 through 22.10 but also mapped MPT to 22 so it's two 22.1, 22.2, and 22.3


----------



## howie14




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TimGoodwin* /forum/post/18357617
> 
> 
> Does anybody know of an antenna company in the Baltimore area other then Action Antenna?
> 
> 
> Thanks



If you actually go 20th century and use the phone book, you'll find several on Baltimore's east side. I was going to use one to fix my mother-in-law's antenna last year, but my brother in law and I wound up doing a duct tape kind of job ourselves.


Since we never hired anyone, I can't recommend.


----------



## artwire




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/18383991
> 
> 
> Comcast Prince George's ... One interesting note, they have mHZ on 22.1 through 22.10 but also mapped MPT to 22 so it's two 22.1, 22.2, and 22.3



The double 22s are a little annoying if you're trying to record -- you have to set the station manually to be sure you're on the right channel (if you leave it to the timer to decide for remote recordings, you may be disappointed). It also screws up "favorite' channel settings. Mine keeps defaulting to spanish MPT 22-3 instead of MHz worldview. (22-3)


----------



## joblo

Well, clearly, the double 22s are a mistake. Have you complained to Comcast about it?


(And if for some reason, that goes nowhere, contact the county franchising authority and the FCC, in that order.)


ETA: You might also want to contact MHz and MPT -- especially MHz, since theirs is the number that's wrong.


----------



## systems2000

Hey gang,


Using the shortest cable outlet and my Zinwell ZAT-950A, I tried the new location with my CM3414 and got the following results tonight, for my temporary setup pointed towards D.C.:


STATIONSIGANLQUALITYWMAR603WRC6845WTTG7031WJLA100100WUSA100100WBAL6320WFDC6868WDCA7080WHAG10080WNVC100100WWPB100100W38AN10071WVPY1003WWPX100826250366687467543WJAL10079


----------



## Marcus Carr

*4's HD Local News Coming In Late April*


3/30 - More Channel 4/WRC news. Look for the debut of high-def local newscasts on 4 during the last week of April. "Rehearsals are now underway with the new set and control room, they are expected to be ready to go by then," we hear. The switch would make Channel 4 the last of DC's major local TV news operations to go HD.....

http://www.dcrtv.com/


----------



## aptt

Finally!


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Finally (Seconded). Let's hope the whole operation is HD, including field reports.


----------



## carltonrice

Which (I guess) just leaves WMAR...



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/18404634
> 
> *4's HD Local News Coming In Late April*
> 
> 
> 3/30 - More Channel 4/WRC news. Look for the debut of high-def local newscasts on 4 during the last week of April. "Rehearsals are now underway with the new set and control room, they are expected to be ready to go by then," we hear. The switch would make Channel 4 the last of DC's major local TV news operations to go HD.....
> 
> http://www.dcrtv.com/


----------



## jgantert

So, is this new for DC50? Shrinking the show to 1/4 the size, and showing a commercial? I noticed this on the last Legend of the Seeker (March 28th, at the 6:43 mark -- see screen cap).


I've only noticed this during credits before, not actually during the show. Very annoying.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/18405733
> 
> 
> Finally (Seconded). Let's hope the whole operation is HD, including field reports.



Heh. Let's not get ahead of ourselves now. Seems like it might be at least some field reports. They run a lot of letterboxed promos (even for news reports) these days.


But more significantly, this means MTP should switch soon too.


----------



## jacindc

Does anyone else in DC (Comcast) have problems with their Tivos (HD) not getting the guide data for new HD channels (going back to the last batch added a few months ago, with BIO HD, LMN HD, etc.)? These are the new channels in the 800s. If existing channels from the 200s now are in the 800s as well, that guide data is fine, but with the exception of the Travel Channel HD, I'm not getting the guide data for the new HDs. (hopefully with the batch added today, some switch will be flipped somewhere and the guide data will arrive?)


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jacindc* /forum/post/18410764
> 
> 
> Does anyone else in DC (Comcast) have problems with their Tivos (HD) not getting the guide data for new HD channels (going back to the last batch added a few months ago, with BIO HD, LMN HD, etc.)? These are the new channels in the 800s. If existing channels from the 200s now are in the 800s as well, that guide data is fine, but with the exception of the Travel Channel HD, I'm not getting the guide data for the new HDs. (hopefully with the batch added today, some switch will be flipped somewhere and the guide data will arrive?)



Force a download by connecting to the Tivo Service (under Setup/Settings/Phone & Network).


If that doesn't do it, then go to the Tivo website and fill out the form about incorrect channels. I had to do that in Howard County when they added the 800s.


----------



## adamshipley




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jacindc* /forum/post/18410764
> 
> 
> Does anyone else in DC (Comcast) have problems with their Tivos (HD) not getting the guide data for new HD channels (going back to the last batch added a few months ago, with BIO HD, LMN HD, etc.)? ......



Yes, Same problem I having. I have submitted a couple lineup changes a month ago. I have also called TiVo to complain about the slowness about the update. All I get from them is the problem is be escalated.


Here is the link to TiVo's lineup report page...

http://www.tivo.com/setupandsupport/...neup_tool.html


----------



## jacindc

Well, after a forced download and a restart that came from it, now all the new HD channels (including the ones that arrived a few months ago, except for Travel HD) are gone from the Tivo lineup altogether. Just forced another download, but that didn't bring them back. I remember this happening once with the December batch, and they eventually came back (albeit without the guide info). Hopefully it'll get straightened away.


(The already existing HD channels that were copied up to the 800s are still there, though.)


----------



## Marcus Carr

*UPGRADE! - City plans digital upgrade to keep MTV, History Channel, ESPN at work*


Tuesday, 30 March 2010 23:43


I want my MTV was the famous '80s catchphrase used by cable operators to lure customers to order the popular music video channel.


And now, according to a memo sent to all Baltimore agencies, city employees will have to ask for a planned digital upgrade to keep getting MTV, ESPN, and other popular cable channels at work.


An internal memo sent to city employees from the Mayor's Office of Cable and Communications on March 25 outlines plans to upgrade the city's analog in-office cable service by installing digital boxes in city agencies that request them.


The new digital boxes will be installed at a cost of $1.99 per box ,which will be assessed to each city agency that requests the upgrade.


The new boxes will allow employees continued office access to more than 40 additional channels like ESPN, MTV, the History Channel, F/X, and Animal Planet while on the job. If city agencies sticlk to the basic analog cable plan, the will be stuck with basic local broadcast channels only.


The memo said Comcast Cable will begin installing the new digital boxes by April 5.

http://investigativevoice.com/index....ject&Itemid=44


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Source: CSN To Move To 4 If NBC Merger OKed*


3/30 - A source tells DCRTV that Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic could move its studios and offices from Bethesda to NBC's Channel 4/WRC in northwest DC if the merger between Comcast and NBC/Universal is approved. "The second floor is now vacant, it was cleared out for the American University deal which fell through due to the Comcast talks," we're told. Last year, there was talk of NBC selling its Nebraska Avenue broadcast complex, which includes the Washington bureau for NBC News, to neighboring American University for a tax break, and then leasing-back the space. It remains to be seen how much consolidation will take place been CSN and WRC's sports department if and when the merger occurs. Stay tuned.....

http://www.dcrtv.com/ 



Maybe CSN will finally have HD in the studio.


----------



## jacindc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *adamshipley* /forum/post/18412242
> 
> 
> Yes, Same problem I having. I have submitted a couple lineup changes a month ago. I have also called TiVo to complain about the slowness about the update. All I get from them is the problem is be escalated.
> 
> 
> Here is the link to TiVo's lineup report page...
> 
> http://www.tivo.com/setupandsupport/...neup_tool.html



thanks. I reported the lineup problem, but since I just couldn't bear to wait a second longer for the new channels, I decided to take a chance and set up my Tivo using a Montgomery County zip code, where the channels match [mostly! not any differences that bother me, they're mostly in the analog channels that I don't watch] and have been in place for a good while now. I went to the Channel Lineup and hit Enter for "this is not my lineup" and then let it go through that portion of guided setup. And it appears to have worked! I'll go back to the DC lineup when I hear that it's in place.


----------



## VARTV

Getting WMAR in Virginia Beach this morning...


----------



## Remoteless

Picking up WHRO Hampton Rhoads tonight.


----------



## adamshipley




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jacindc* /forum/post/18419889
> 
> 
> I'll go back to the DC lineup when I hear that it's in place.



It looks like the DC lineup got updated sometime yesterday. When I got home today, all the 800's except for two channels (VH1 and GMC) have guide data.


----------



## jacindc




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *adamshipley* /forum/post/18426649
> 
> 
> It looks like the DC lineup got updated sometime yesterday. When I got home today, all the 800's except for two channels (VH1 and GMC) have guide data.



Thanks. I had sent in a request for a guide change, and they wrote me yesterday afternoon to say it'd been fixed. I was looking at the ZaptoIt listings and not seeing the new channels, so I appreciate your heads up. As soon as I can wrangle the TV away from my husband, I'll reset.


----------



## albertso

Hi All,


Anybody out there in DC-Land still use TVGOS V7 Guide information. I have been experimenting with my LG LST-3410A, and until last Friday, or so, I was getting solid guide data from COMCAST MOCO on channel 29.0. Now it appears to be gone. Auto search does not find any channel with data. Could be COMCAST; could be WUSA. Thouhts???


----------



## knnirs

In scanning through channels yesterday I heard part of Tigers interview on WJLA, and the video being displayed was of a studio with no people. The sound was fine.

How can this happen?


----------



## Potatoehead

MASN2 HD is now live on the Calvert County Comcast system (channel 844)


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast in Baltimore City has added:


MASN2 HD (showing ESPNews in HD)

3DTV (for The Masters)


----------



## Potatoehead

Noticed a quick glimpse of local HD on Ch. 4 when they cut back to the local weather studio from the Today show. The forecasts were still SD - just the face shot for the weather personality was in HD. Looks like they are trying it out in small doses.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Nats opener show a strong ratings increase on MASN-HD*


By: Jim Williams

Examiner Sports Columnist

04/07/10 11:08 AM EDT


The Nationals home opener Monday against the Phillies on MASN showed a dramatic ratings increase over last year which is great news for both the team and the network.


The combo of WDCW and MASN-HD pulled a 1.6 rating which is a big increase over last years opener which came in at a 0.5 rating.


There is no question that the Nationals need to get better numbers but this is a very good start over last year and if the team can play close to .500 ball then their audience should grow.


For the team there needs to be strong ratings in Virginia and the Maryland suburbs and that is where this team will have to establish a base that they can then grow. It really is the state of Virginia with two counties in Maryland, Montgomery and Price Georges that are key to the Nationals.


MASN has a strong footprint in those areas and now the team just needs to play competitive baseball.


The Nats can be encouraged by the success of the Caps who started out with a base following and were able to grow it to the #2 professional team in town.


So Nats fans there is hope but like all sports it starts with winning.


But good to see strong opening day numbers that is always welcme news.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/sp...-90091957.html


----------



## Marcus Carr

*O's opener lands MASN their biggest audience ever*


By: Jim Williams

Examiner Sports Columnist

04/07/10 3:16 PM EDT


The Orioles opening night loss to Tampa Bay was the themost watched program ever aired on MASN.The game logged an impressivre 6.9 HH (household) rating.


The rating was 50% higher than the 2009 Road Opener --- a 4.2 HH rating in 2009 vs. 6.9 HH rating in 2010.


More than 105,000 viewers in the Baltimore DMA tuned in to watch the O's on MASN.


In addition, MASN had higher ratings (i.e. beat out) other critically acclaimed broadcast programming, including LOST, The Biggest Loser, Parenthood and other network shows.


To be clear - there have been instances when WJZ carries a MASN simulcast of the game (typically Sunday afternoons) when the Orioles have had a bigger cumulative rating (combining ratings from MASN and WJZ) --- but for a MASN rating in the Baltimore DMA --- this was the Orioles biggest.


The great expectations of Orioles in 2010 could set a ratings record come Friday with the game being seen on both WJZ and MASN-HD.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/sp...-90114877.html


----------



## jgantert

Wow, so many people watching two of the worst teams in baseball... At least they are in HD.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/18450415
> 
> 
> Wow, so many people watching two of the worst teams in baseball... At least they are in HD.



Not in HD if you have Dish Network.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*4 Launches HD Local News*


4/8 - NBC-owned Channel 4/WRC debuted its high-def local news broadcasts this morning. The station is last of DC's four major TV news operations to provide local HD newscasts. Does that mean that NBC News shows coming from the Washington bureau, also in WRC's building, will also be in HD from now on? A la "Meet The Press" this Sunday? Stay tuned.....

http://www.dcrtv.com/


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/18450728
> 
> 
> Not in HD if you have Dish Network.



So far, only MASN is HD on DirecTV and Fios as well. DirecTV says it will have the Nats Thursday in HD on MASN2, so it must be a bandwidth issue. No idea what is happening with Fios.


----------



## zebras23

I'm hearing from a person I know at FiOS in Arlington that MASN2HD will not be added to the lineup until August of this year - by which time the Nats will be mathmatically elminated from the playoffs - if not alredy.


----------



## BMoreRavens

It appears now that the O's game may be in HD tonight on MASN 2 for DirecTV customers. They updated the guide in the last few hours and it now shows on 641-1.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *BMoreRavens* /forum/post/18453185
> 
> 
> It appears now that the O's game may be in HD tonight on MASN 2 for DirecTV customers. They updated the guide in the last few hours and it now shows on 641-1.



I am seeing that as well. We will have to verify that it plays. I have seen MASN2 HD data be incorrect on DirecTV.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *zebras23* /forum/post/18452089
> 
> 
> I'm hearing from a person I know at FiOS in Arlington that MASN2HD will not be added to the lineup until August of this year - by which time the Nats will be mathmatically elminated from the playoffs - if not alredy.



Wow. That is slow. But never fear, there is always YES National to watch.


----------



## carltonrice

When WUTB was converting from analog to digital, I seem to remember that they were going to use digital channel 41 with a transmitter in Catonsville near route 40 and Rolling Rd. I happened to drive by there earlier today, and it appeared that there was no "stick" at the top of the transmitting tower. Did they end up putting a digital transmitter on TV Hill or in some other location or did I miss the transmitter on top of the tower in Catonsville?


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/18451729
> 
> *4 Launches HD Local News*



Correction: only weather updates during The Today Show were in HD.

http://dcrtv.com/mailbag.html


----------



## Marcus Carr

*4 Tests HD Local News, Launch In 2 Weeks*


4/8 - Updated. NBC-owned Channel 4/ WRC debuted its high-def local news broadcasts this morning. The station is last of DC's four major TV news operations to provide local HD newscasts. NBC4 was back to standard-def on the 11 AM and Thursday evening newscasts. A source tells us: *"WRC is just testing the HD during the 'Today' cut-ins, no other show is going HD right now. The launch of regular HD shows is still about two weeks away. 'Meet The Press' will be in HD soon, but construction on the network HD control room is yet to start. Look for that this summer".....*

http://dcrtv.com/


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/18454198
> 
> 
> When WUTB was converting from analog to digital, I seem to remember that they were going to use digital channel 41 with a transmitter in Catonsville near route 40 and Rolling Rd. I happened to drive by there earlier today, and it appeared that there was no "stick" at the top of the transmitting tower. Did they end up putting a digital transmitter on TV Hill or in some other location or did I miss the transmitter on top of the tower in Catonsville?



FCC says your memory is right.

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?call=WUTB 


Not sure about your eyesight.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/18288154



Analog channels are still there. Guess it will be "about" instead of "on".


----------



## mchief99

I see the 8xx channels have shown up on my Tivo. No guide data yet, but MASN2HD and MASN are up and running on 844 and 845 on Arlington/Alexandria system. Also got a rate increase yesterday for June 1.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Happened to notice WRC's AM news breaks are now in HD - finally. The weather graphics are still SD. Didn't wake up early enough to see if the early morning news was in HD. According to DCRTV, they are only doing the HD during "Today" show cut ins for now. It's a start.


----------



## machpost

I grabbed a few sloppy "captures" of WRC's HD news segments this morning:


----------



## aptt

Here a few pictures I took with my digital camera of WRC in pre-HD mode. From what I have seen it looks very good.


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/18454198
> 
> 
> When WUTB was converting from analog to digital, I seem to remember that they were going to use digital channel 41 with a transmitter in Catonsville near route 40 and Rolling Rd. I happened to drive by there earlier today, and it appeared that there was no "stick" at the top of the transmitting tower. Did they end up putting a digital transmitter on TV Hill or in some other location or did I miss the transmitter on top of the tower in Catonsville?





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/18456342
> 
> 
> FCC says your memory is right.
> 
> http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?call=WUTB
> 
> 
> Not sure about your eyesight.



So it must be that the 'stick' is mounted on the side of the transmitter rather than on top. It would seem like they would have moved it to the top by now to get more power and a wider footprint.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/18460408
> 
> 
> So it must be that the 'stick' is mounted on the side of the transmitter rather than on top. It would seem like they would have moved it to the top by now to get more power and a wider footprint.



Maybe that is part of the reason the signal strength in areas south of Baltimore is much weaker than the predicted coverage indicates?


----------



## fmw63

Not picking on any particular person, but I've often wondered why do people post medium or even low-res photos of a tv screen's HD image?


----------



## ProjectSHO89




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmw63* /forum/post/18469590
> 
> 
> Not picking on any particular person, but I've often wondered why do people post medium or even low-res photos of a tv screen's HD image?



Because the forum limits file size for graphics to prevent drowning in massively-sized files. For remotely hosted files, a large graphic screws with the screen formatting when viewing.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmw63* /forum/post/18469590
> 
> 
> Not picking on any particular person, but I've often wondered why do people post medium or even low-res photos of a tv screen's HD image?



I posted the photos of the screen simply to show that the program was in HD, not for the purpose of examining the show's quality, pixel-by-pixel. Besides, I don't have the necessary hardware to do full-on frame capture.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*COMCAST SPORTSNET ANNOUNCES COMPREHENSIVE COVERAGE SURROUNDING WASHINGTON CAPITALS FIRST-ROUND PLAYOFF SERIES*


NETWORK TO DELIVER ALL OPENING-ROUND GAMES AGAINST MONTREAL IN HIGH-DEFINITION; REGULAR SEASON CLOSES AS HIGHEST-RATED IN NETWORK HISTORY


Bethesda, Md. (April 12, 2010) - Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, the region's leader in television and online sports coverage, announced that it will broadcast all seven possible games of the Washington Capitals Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series against the Montreal Canadiens in high-definition (HD), beginning with Game One on Thursday, April 15 at 7 p.m.


Comcast SportsNet's live game coverage of the first-round series against Montreal will be anchored by play-by-play announcer Joe Beninati, analyst Craig Laughlin and reporter Al Koken. Comcast SportsNet hockey analyst Alan May and Capitals beat reporter Lisa Hillary will also offer analysis, reporting and special features throughout the playoffs.


Comcast SportsNet's comprehensive coverage surrounding the Capitals this postseason includes expanded coverage throughout the network's news and entertainment programs, including Capitals Postgame Live. Hosted by Koken and May, Capitals Postgame Live will provide expert news, analysis and opinion in an expanded half-hour format immediately following each Capitals playoff game.


The network's half-hour news program, SportsNite, will provide extensive Capitals coverage every day with special pregame elements leading into each game broadcast at 6:30 p.m. Washington Post Live, Comcast SportsNet's daily hour-long sports and entertainment talk show, will offer expanded coverage throughout the playoffs, highlighted by Capitals-related guests and content, including a special Capitals playoff edition, which will debut on Tuesday, April 13, at 7 p.m. and re-air throughout this week.


Comcast SportsNet's special 30-minute feature, Capitals: Behind the Lens, which gives viewers an inside look into the network's live coverage of the Capitals, will be airing throughout the playoffs. The program, which debuted on Sunday, highlights the logistical and technical aspects involved in live event programming, as well as the people that play key roles in the broadcast, including Beninati, Laughlin and Koken.


CSNwashington.com, the region's leading source for online sports news and analysis, will provide complete daily coverage of the Capitals throughout the Stanley Cup playoffs, including video, breaking news, online chats and features by reporters Corey Masisak and Ryan O'Halloran. Fans can sign up to have real-time scores for the Capitals playoff games delivered to their mobile devices at CSNwashington.com.


During the 2009-10 NHL regular season, the Capitals delivered their highest-rated season in Comcast SportsNet history and their third consecutive season of double-digit ratings growth on the network, earning a 1.6 average household rating in the Washington market, which is equal to approximately 37,000 households. Combined with the Baltimore television market, the Capitals attracted an average audience of approximately 45,000 households this season. Since 2006-07, Capitals ratings on Comcast SportsNet have skyrocketed more than 300 percent, the largest increase of any U.S.-based NHL team during that span.


Capitals Eastern Conference Quarterfinals Television Schedule:



Day Date Time Game Television


Thur. April 15 7 p.m. Montreal at Washington Comcast SportsNet HD


Sat. April 17 7 p.m. Montreal at Washington Comcast SportsNet HD


Mon. April 19 7 p.m. Washington at Montreal Comcast SportsNet HD


Wed. April 21 7 p.m. Washington at Montreal Comcast SportsNet HD


*Fri. April 23 7 p.m. Montreal at Washington Comcast SportsNet HD


*Mon. April 26 7 p.m. Washington at Montreal Comcast SportsNet HD


*Wed. April 28 TBD Montreal at Washington Comcast SportsNet HD


*If Necessary

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/04/12...f-series/48023


----------



## fmw63

Thanks, just curious.













> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/18470527
> 
> 
> I posted the photos of the screen simply to show that the program was in HD, not for the purpose of examining the show's quality, pixel-by-pixel. Besides, I don't have the necessary hardware to do full-on frame capture.


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/18470527
> 
> 
> I posted the photos of the screen simply to show that the program was in HD, not for the purpose of examining the show's quality, pixel-by-pixel. Besides, I don't have the necessary hardware to do full-on frame capture.



Because simply posting, "NBC4 news is now in HD" was too difficult?


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Deezul* /forum/post/18474856
> 
> 
> Because simply posting, "NBC4 news is now in HD" was too difficult?



If he hadn't have posted pictures, someone would have asked for them. "Okay" pictures are better than no pictures, and I doubt anyone honestly confused those for actual captures. You don't think that if he had actual captures, he'd have posted them instead? Give him a little credit, come on.










I think that the people giving him a hard time over this are being a little too picky. The people posting things here are effectively volunteers, it's not like anyone owes you (or anyone else) anything.


----------



## Deezul




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/18475008
> 
> 
> I think that the people giving him a hard time over this are being a little too picky. The people posting things here are effectively volunteers, it's not like anyone owes you (or anyone else) anything.



But WHY post the pictures? Is stating it in a post not enough? Are people now that lazy that they can't tune in to the TV show at the respective time and verify it for themselves? It's one thing to post pictures to say, "I have a problem with channel X. Here is what I see." It's quite another to post, "Look, if you're too lazy to read a post and turn you TV on, I've done the work for you!" Should I post pictures of every show I see when it's HD, because saying it is not enough?


Sorry to go on a rant, but I've never understood why someone posts pictures just to post them.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Deezul* /forum/post/18475601
> 
> 
> But WHY post the pictures? Is stating it in a post not enough? Are people now that lazy that they can't tune in to the TV show at the respective time and verify it for themselves? It's one thing to post pictures to say, "I have a problem with channel X. Here is what I see." It's quite another to post, "Look, if you're too lazy to read a post and turn you TV on, I've done the work for you!" Should I post pictures of every show I see when it's HD, because saying it is not enough?



I realize I'm wasting my time here, but here are a few reasons...


1)Curious people who want to get a basic idea of what it looks like might be at work or otherwise away from a TV at 9 AM on a Friday morning


2)This wasn't an entire hour or even half hour TV show, it was a two minute segment buried in a network program that not everybody wants to sit through


3)Regardless of how you feel, this is kind of a big deal to some people for various reasons


----------



## HDTV Sparky

I for one appreciate you including the pictures.



"Are people now that lazy ...." actually, I'm in Pennsylvania and "can't tune in to the TV show at the respective time and verify it for themselves"


Thanks !


----------



## artwire




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *HDTV Sparky* /forum/post/18476964
> 
> 
> I for one appreciate you including the pictures.
> 
> 
> 
> "Are people now that lazy ...." actually, I'm in Pennsylvania and "can't tune in to the TV show at the respective time and verify it for themselves"
> 
> 
> Thanks !



I was really surprised to see the wide format broadcast on the NBC local news over the weekend. Thought it was a fluke or a test, til I saw your picture. (thanks). Must be hell to be a reporter going on the air at 4 am and knowing people are going to be seeing all your dark circles in high def.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *HDTV Sparky* /forum/post/18476964
> 
> 
> I for one appreciate you including the pictures.



Ditto. Thanks.


----------



## rviele

did anybody have audio problems with cbs baltimore during ncis last nite around 830 pm?


----------



## bxs122

Did not see anyone else post an issue which is a bummer since that means it might be me.


Setup is a HTPC using Windows 7 Media Center with a same setup I've had for quite a few years no issues - exception was the changeover when a few when UHF to VHF and so I added a second antenna in the attic for VHF support.


The other night we noticed NBC shows like Parenthood and Trauma are falling apart as in it looks like a dramatic drop in OTA digital signal strength.


What is strange is later in the evening when the local news on 4.1 is on the problems are gone.


I also have FIOS over Tivo and one of their own DVRs so will try parallel recording for compare tonight.


Just wanted to see if anyone else is experiencing NBC 4.1 issues in D.C. ???


----------



## Jim Miller

One of the things we are going to start seeing is increased disruption of satellite feeds due to solar activity. Local origination obviously doesn't have this problem.


Get used to it, solar cycles are about a decade long.


jtm


----------



## Ken H

Topic merged.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*WRC-TV to debut sleek new set with move to HD*


Posted by NewscastStudio


Washington D.C.’s NBC affiliate, WRC-TV, will soon launch its news in HD with a new set.


The set, designed by Clickspring Design and fabricated by blackwalnut, features a large RP screen with LED and metal elements.


The overall design matches Clickspring’s previous work on MSNBC and WCAU-TV, other NBC properties.


The set is a major change for WRC-TV, moving away from its dated set with wood and glass blocks. The new set is built for HD and features many layers to add depth.


The new set is very modern and will stand out from the existing stations in the market.


The set also features an interview round table, though the choice of outdated chairs in this picture doesn’t seem to match.


Look for the HD debut sometime in the next 2 weeks.

http://www.newscaststudio.com/blog/2...new-set-in-hd/


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/18488381
> 
> *WRC-TV to debut sleek new set with move to HD*
> 
> 
> Posted by NewscastStudio
> 
> 
> Washington D.C.'s NBC affiliate, WRC-TV, will soon launch its news in HD with a new set.
> 
> 
> The set, designed by Clickspring Design and fabricated by blackwalnut, features a large RP screen with LED and metal elements.
> 
> 
> The overall design matches Clickspring's previous work on MSNBC and WCAU-TV, other NBC properties.
> 
> 
> The set is a major change for WRC-TV, moving away from its dated set with wood and glass blocks. The new set is built for HD and features many layers to add depth.
> 
> 
> The new set is very modern and will stand out from the existing stations in the market.
> 
> 
> The set also features an interview round table, though the choice of outdated chairs in this picture doesn't seem to match.
> 
> 
> Look for the HD debut sometime in the next 2 weeks.
> 
> http://www.newscaststudio.com/blog/2...new-set-in-hd/



The pictures of the new set have curiously disappeared from that blog post. From what I saw, it's a huge improvement over the set they've been using for a while, which could easily pass for something from 20 years ago.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO

While they're at it, can they do something about Barbara? Talk about a 'veteran anchor' mailing it in every day she's on..


----------



## Dave Loudin

Ducting is back this morning! The usual suspects: WMAR, WBAL, WMPT from the north and WHRO and WAVY from the south.


----------



## Potatoehead

Got message from Comcast on our box today saying that a set top box will be REQUIRED beginning May 17 to received any channels except the remaining analog channels (2-20, 98-99). Sounds like they will be encrypting the QAM channels. Not good.


----------



## MrHifi

I'm on Annapolis Comcast and now my digital tuners are almost worthless. Comcast has made it necessary to use their boxes for all channels except a very few locals and religious channels.


----------



## sjaveed

Folks,


I live in 21046 and am in the middle of switching away from Comcast to an OTA antenna. I just picked up a DB4 from Antennas Direct who claim that "It will pull in all UHF frequencies and most higher level VHF frequencies with a range of about 55 miles". It's a omnidirectional antenna.


I just installed it in the attic and am able to pick up a lot of stations from DC and a few from Baltimore but I can't pick up WJZ and WBAL (among others) which I need to watch the Ravens 


Does anyone else have this kind of setup and are you able to get WJZ? Alternatively, do I need to get a VHF antenna to get the missing channels? Any recommendations?


I was looking at the ClearStream 5 from Antennas Direct but it's fairly pricey. I'd love a cheaper alternative.


Thanks!

S


----------



## Digital Rules

I would try the RCA-ANT751 or the Winegard 7694 . Both of these models are _*"real"*_ VHF/UHF antennas & will do much better on the 4 local VHF channels available in the Columbia area.


You may get away with pointing the antenna towards the weaker channels & pick up the other channels directly off the back of the antenna without having to rotate.


----------



## sjaveed

Digital Rules,



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/18501727
> 
> 
> I would try the RCA-ANT751 or the Winegard 7694 . Both of these models are _*"real"*_ VHF/UHF antennas & will do much better on the 4 local VHF channels available in the Columbia area.



Thanks for the quick response! I looked at both those antennae and it looks like they're both spec'ed for the 7-65 channel range. Do I need to look at anything below 7?


Also since I'm now looking at the RCA-ANT751, would I be able to replace my DB4 with this or would I have to use the RCA in conjunction with the DB4?


Thanks in advance!


----------



## joblo

The DB4 is NOT an omnidirectional design, but it could function bidirectionally -- ideal for Columbia -- if you remove the reflector screen. Try rotating the antenna around to see if you can pick up WJZ in some other orientation.


I wouldn't think you would need much antenna to get 7-9-11-13 in Columbia. I would try making a dipole out of twinlead and looking for a sweet spot before spending a lot of money.


----------



## ProjectSHO89

As noted, the DB4 is not "omni" - and the manufacturer does not claim it is, either. It is classified as a "multi-directional" UHF antenna.


If you're already getting the UHF stations of interest from both DC and Baltimorre, I wouldn't toss the DB4. I would make a simple high-VHF folded dipole or loop of copper plumbing tubing and combine it with the DB4 using a UVSJ. I believe it was holl_ands who posted his experiment with 1/2" copper tubing. I made one last year and use it as a reference dipole to compare commercial high-VHF antennas to. It's perfectly bidirectional (which is likely suitable for your location) and is easy to construct if you can solder copper pipe.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrHifi* /forum/post/18497143
> 
> 
> I'm on Annapolis Comcast and now my digital tuners are almost worthless. Comcast has made it necessary to use their boxes for all channels except a very few locals and religious channels.



Get a box or TV(if they still make them) that takes cable cards. No need to use the Comcast boxes.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ProjectSHO89* /forum/post/18503109
> 
> 
> As noted, the DB4 is not "omni" - and the manufacturer does not claim it is, either. It is classified as a "multi-directional" UHF antenna.



Yeah, but that's sort of a joke, rather like those mileage figures that antenna manufacturers provide.


It's multi-directional in the same sense that a dipole is multi-directional. The bow-ties function like dipoles, and stacking four of them vertically doesn't change the horizontal pattern. So there should be two main lobes in opposite directions, just like with a dipole, with the back lobe attenuated somewhat by the reflector screen. Although I can't tell the exact dimensions of the elements from the diagram, the driven elements are almost certainly tuned for low UHF (14-51). It is possible that the stacking connectors function as a vertical dipole at high VHF (7-13), which would make it omni at those frequencies, but vertical polarization is not the way to go, in any case, so this is not really a great antenna for VHF.



> Quote:
> If you're already getting the UHF stations of interest from both DC and Baltimorre, I wouldn't toss the DB4. I would make a simple high-VHF folded dipole or loop of copper plumbing tubing and combine it with the DB4 using a UVSJ.



Simpler still would be to get a pair of rabbit ears, probably less than $5 at RS, and extend each ear approx. 15 inches (or slightly less to optimize for 13), oriented 180 degrees opposite each other so they form a straight line. Then walk or crawl around the attic, holding the antenna at arm's length by the plastic in the center, and look for a sweet spot where reception on 7-9-11-13 is good. The antenna should be held horizontal and broadside to DC and Baltimore (such that the ends point out to Hagerstown and Annapolis). When a good sweet spot is found, the antenna should be fixed there with a wood or other non-metallic frame, or perhaps tied there with string.


Then combine output with DB4 using UVSJ as suggested.


Also definitely consider removing reflector screen from DB4 if that can be done in a non-destructive, reversible way. DB4 should be oriented vertically and broadside to DC and Baltimore, and separated by a few feet from the VHF antenna, ideally with one either below or above the other, so neither disrupts the pattern of the other.


----------



## carltonrice

It is my guess that if this antenna were installed on the roof instead of the attic then you would be able to pull WJZ and WBAL. I have a similar design CM 4248 on my roof and here in Laurel, I've found a couple of sweet spots where I can pull both DC and Baltimore (all stations).


An antenna in the attic is bound to pick up a lot of reflected signals which can also be a bigger factor in the VHF range. Moving the antenna to the roof removes the issue of reflected signals.




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *sjaveed* /forum/post/18501593
> 
> 
> Folks,
> 
> 
> I live in 21046 and am in the middle of switching away from Comcast to an OTA antenna. I just picked up a DB4 from Antennas Direct who claim that "It will pull in all UHF frequencies and most higher level VHF frequencies with a range of about 55 miles". It's a omnidirectional antenna.
> 
> 
> I just installed it in the attic and am able to pick up a lot of stations from DC and a few from Baltimore but I can't pick up WJZ and WBAL (among others) which I need to watch the Ravens
> 
> 
> Does anyone else have this kind of setup and are you able to get WJZ? Alternatively, do I need to get a VHF antenna to get the missing channels? Any recommendations?
> 
> 
> I was looking at the ClearStream 5 from Antennas Direct but it's fairly pricey. I'd love a cheaper alternative.
> 
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> S


----------



## Marcus Carr

On Monday [Dish Network] announced it has added eight HD channels: Epix HD, G4 HD, Headline News HD, History International HD, Nat Geo Wild HD, ShortsHD, Style HD and Turner Classic Movies HD.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/...D_Channels.php


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/18504455
> 
> 
> It is my guess that if this antenna were installed on the roof instead of the attic then you would be able to pull WJZ and WBAL. I have a similar design CM 4248 on my roof and here in Laurel, I've found a couple of sweet spots where I can pull both DC and Baltimore (all stations).
> 
> 
> An antenna in the attic is bound to pick up a lot of reflected signals which can also be a bigger factor in the VHF range. Moving the antenna to the roof removes the issue of reflected signals.



You're correct! Also remember the physics involved; that the wavelength of a VHF signal is much longer than that of UHF. The longer the wavelength, the less chances it will penetrate through solid material. An example is listening to AM radio with a very long wavelength (hundreds of feet depending on frequency) under a bridge, in a tunnel, or in a building. The longer wavelength combined with a lower field strength because of assumed propagation characteristics, mean the chances of reliable reception within an attic is reduced considerably.


The assumption way back when TV stations were originally licensed within their particular allocation, were that the receive antenna would be of a particular gain, mounted at least thirty feet above ground level to attain line of site with the transmission point.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/18504455
> 
> 
> I have a similar design CM 4248 on my roof



Huh?


The 42*4*8 is -- or was; I don't think they've made any for years -- a "Diamond Quantum[tm]" antenna. It was a long Yagi design with a corner reflector at the back, where the directors were shaped like diamonds on either side of the boom -- hence the name. It's hard to find a good picture of one on the web these days, but it's shown in a CM catalog I have from sometime last century. (And I have a 4257, which was the bigger, top of the line version of that series, in a box in my attic.)


Perhaps what you have is the 42*2*8, which has gone through a lot of revisions, but is and always has been some variation of an 8-bay bowtie, which is basically a doubling of a 4-bay bowtie, the 4221, which is in turn, very similar to the DB4.


The thing is, though, the 8-bay versions, in my experiecne, are far superior to the 4-bay versions at high-VHF. I've always suspected that was because the horizontal stacking connectors in the 8-bay functioned as a high-band dipole.


----------



## carltonrice

You are right. I meant to say I have a 4228 on the roof. It's confusing because before I had that device, I had a 4248 on the roof. Either way, the 4228 seems to pick up all the local high VHF stations.




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/18506096
> 
> 
> Huh?
> 
> 
> The 42*4*8 is -- or was; I don't think they've made any for years -- a "Diamond Quantum[tm]" antenna. It was a long Yagi design with a corner reflector at the back, where the directors were shaped like diamonds on either side of the boom -- hence the name. It's hard to find a good picture of one on the web these days, but it's shown in a CM catalog I have from sometime last century. (And I have a 4257, which was the bigger, top of the line version of that series, in a box in my attic.)
> 
> 
> Perhaps what you have is the 42*2*8, which has gone through a lot of revisions, but is and always has been some variation of an 8-bay bowtie, which is basically a doubling of a 4-bay bowtie, the 4221, which is in turn, very similar to the DB4.
> 
> 
> The thing is, though, the 8-bay versions, in my experiecne, are far superior to the 4-bay versions at high-VHF. I've always suspected that was because the horizontal stacking connectors in the 8-bay functioned as a high-band dipole.


----------



## machpost

RCN is now offering the TiVo Premiere DVR to customers in the DC area for $19.95/month. The big advantage to renting the box from RCN is the availability of VOD: http://www.rcn.com/dc-metro/digital-cable-tv/tivo-in-dc


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/18288154



Pushed back to 4/21 or 4/24. Analog cut and HD adds on the same day.


----------



## Marcus Carr

press release

April 20, 2010, 10:08 a.m. EDT

*DIRECTV Continues To Deliver More Full Time HD Than Any Other Provider With The Addition Of Over 30 New HD Channels --Bringing DIRECTV's HD Lineup to More Than 160*


MSNBC HD, ESPNU HD, Travel Channel HD, Hallmark Channel HD, Lifetime HD and Univision HD Are Among the New HD Channels to Begin Launching in May


EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Apr 20, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- DIRECTV, the world's most popular video service, continues to deliver more full time HD channels than any other television provider in the nation with the addition of over 30 new HD channels. These new channels will begin rolling out in May and will continue in the following few months bringing DIRECTV's total HD channel lineup to more than 160.


Among the 30 new HD channels that DIRECTV will begin launching next month are:

Code:


Code:


CSN Bay Area HD           Showtime Beyond HD
CSN California HD         Showtime Next HD
Encore HD East            Showtime Women HD
ESPNU HD                  Starz Cinema HD
FSN Florida HD            Starz In Black HD
GolTV HD                  Telefutura HD West
Hallmark Channel HD       TMC Xtra HD East
Hallmark Movie Channel HD Travel Channel HD
HBO2 East HD              Univision HD East
HBO Zone HD               WGN HD
Lifetime HD               Additional DIRECTV Cinema Channels
MSNBC HD

"From day one we have led the way with HD and, to the dismay of our competitors, that has not changed," said Derek Chang, executive vice president, Content Strategy and Development for DIRECTV. "While DISH Network is very skilled at grossly inflating their HD numbers, you'd be hard pressed to find an actual list of comprehensive HD channels that match their recent claims. We invite consumers to go to DIRECTV.com/hdchannels to see a list of all of DIRECTV's more than 160 HD channels. We challenge DISH to publish a list of all their full-time HD channels so consumers can decide and count for themselves."


In addition to the new HD channels, beginning this June, DIRECTV will launch a suite of 3D channels, which will include N3D(TM) powered by Panasonic, ESPN 3D, a 3D DIRECTV Cinema channel; and a 3D DIRECTV on Demand channel.


DIRECTV continues to lead the industry with the most sports in HD by broadcasting exclusive interactive sports packages like NFL SUNDAY TICKET(TM) and NCAA(R) MEGA MARCH MADNESS(TM) all in crystal-clear HD. DIRECTV will also continue to add HD content to its DIRECTV on Demand platform. In addition, DIRECTV delivers local HD programming to 138 markets, representing 92 percent of U.S. TV households.


About DIRECTV


DIRECTV /quotes/comstock/15*!dtv/quotes/nls/dtv (DTV 36.15, -0.01, -0.03%) is the world's most popular video service delivering state-of-the-art technology, unmatched programming, the most comprehensive sports packages available and industry leading customer service to its more than 25 million customers in the U.S. and Latin America. In the U.S., DIRECTV offers its more than 18.5 million customers the capacity for more than 200 HD channels in Dolby 5.1 theater-quality sound, access to exclusive sports programming such as NFL SUNDAY TICKET(TM), award winning technology like its DIRECTV(R) DVR Scheduler and higher customer satisfaction than the leading cable companies for nine years running. DIRECTV Latin America, through its subsidiaries and affiliated companies in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia, and other Latin American countries, leads the pay-TV category in technology, programming and service, delivering an unrivaled digital television experience to 6.5 million customers. DIRECTV sports and entertainment properties include three Regional Sports Networks (Northwest, Rocky Mountain and Pittsburgh) as well as a 65 percent interest in Game Show Network. For the most up-to-date information on DIRECTV, please call 1-800-DIRECTV or visit directv.com.


SOURCE: DIRECTV

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dir...k=MW_news_stmp


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast removed the first set of analog channels within the last hour.


----------



## carltonrice

From DCRTV.com this morning...


4 To Launch HD News Today - 4/22 - A source tells DCRTV that Channel 4/WRC will be launching its local news high-def broadcasts today (Thursday) starting with the 11 AM show. We've reported that the NBC station has a new HD friendly new set. Stay tuned.....


----------



## aptt

It is finally here! At 11am this morning, WRC became the last station in DC to launch local news in HD.


----------



## Potatoehead




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/18520923
> 
> 
> From DCRTV.com this morning...
> 
> 
> 4 To Launch HD News Today - 4/22 - A source tells DCRTV that Channel 4/WRC will be launching its local news high-def broadcasts today (Thursday) starting with the 11 AM show. We've reported that the NBC station has a new HD friendly new set. Stay tuned.....



Saw some of it at 11 AM. It was good to see WRC finally in HD (I think I even saw a remote in HD). But it didn't blow me away. Maybe I am expecting too much for their first HD broadcast and I am used to HD from the other channels, but everything just looked very plain to me.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Verizon FiOS: get ready for a public hearing, Baltimore-style*


It seems the resentment with Verizon continues to build in Baltimore as a city council member (Bill Cole) is calling for a public hearing next week to air out the reasons why the telecom company isn't installing its next-generation FiOS network in the city.


Cole and other critics of the company say Verizon has avoided the city while expanding the network in counties around Baltimore, and putting profits over fairness. Verizon, on the other hand, points to other cities it has and has not built the network in and said they're following a long-term growth plan. Plus, they argue, they never said they wouldn't roll it out in Baltimore. They're just not doing it in the near future.


Telecom companies are probably going to come under increasing fire to expand their networks in a way that's perceived as fair by the public, as the notion of broadband equality takes hold. The FCC has made expansion of higher-capacity broadband a major part of its 10-year plan to improve the nation's internet infrastructure.

*So, if you're in Baltimore and want to speak your views on Verizon's lack of FiOS in Baltimore, head to City Hall at 5 p.m. this Wednesday to make your case. City councilmembers and Verizon officials will be there to listen.*

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news...baltimore.html


----------



## sjaveed




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/18501727
> 
> 
> I would try the RCA-ANT751 or the Winegard 7694. Both of these models are _*"real"*_ VHF/UHF antennas & will do much better on the 4 local VHF channels available in the Columbia area.



So I ended up trying a number of things including:

Rotating the DB4 to see if I could catch WJZ (didn't work)
Buying a rabbit-ear antenna from Walmart and sticking it in the top floor window with the antennae forming a flat line with the broadside facing Baltimore (didn't work)
Considered making an antenna myself (couldn't find easy to follow instructions)


Finally I bought the Winegard HD7694P and took it up to the attic and unfolded all the elements and hooked it up but left it lying on the attic floor pointing in the direction of Baltimore. Great Success! WJZ comes in clearly now. I even get the DC stations. I haven't turned it around to maximize the stations I can tune but that's for later tonight.


Thank you everyone and specially Digital Rules!


I'd love to get more information about building my own antenna, though. Any pointers on a good site which would show me how without assuming I'm a telecom engineer? 


Thanks!


----------



## CycloneGT

Ok. I'm a bit of skeptic here.


Verizon stops deploying their wildly popular FiOS because they cite costs. Ok, I can see where running fiber everywhere can be quite expensive and hard to justify on a bottom line. Especially when it will take years an years to recoup. Plus at the time, Verizon was worried about Comcast and others taking away their dial-tone copper customers with VoIP services. Instead what has happened was that Verizon Wireless & iPhone/AT&T have taken away most Verizon copper dial-tone customers.


What I think that Verizon is betting on, is that they will claim national fiber is not financially feasible. With all the talk of a national broadband plan, they will lobby to get federal infrastructure $$$ to continue FiOS. If they had continued to build out on their own, there would never have been all that wonder free federal $$$ to feast on.


I for one would like to see a city be able to eject Verizon and bring in someone else, or at least make it possible to other fiber competitors to enter the market.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/18520923
> 
> 
> From DCRTV.com this morning...
> 
> 
> 4 To Launch HD News Today - 4/22 - A source tells DCRTV that Channel 4/WRC will be launching its local news high-def broadcasts today (Thursday) starting with the 11 AM show. We've reported that the NBC station has a new HD friendly new set. Stay tuned.....



Yes, the local news is now in HD. Saw it at 4 and 5PM yesterday.

Victoria Johnson looked green-not sure if it was her make up or the lighting.

Most of their taped stuff was still in SD, so there was a lot of annoying switching back and forth between SD and HD. The cameramen had a few issues. I guess they need more practice.

Wendy Reiger needs a lighter touch with her make up.

They bragged a lot about being HD, but since they were the last local news to go HD, perhaps they shouldn't.

J


----------



## Marcus Carr

One of WRC's studio cameras looked stretched during an overhead view on the 6:00 news. Some of the SD was stretched. The camera on the sports guy was softer than the main camera.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Wednesday, April 28, 2010


Hearing: Community Development Subcommittee, William H. Cole, Chair


5:00 PM Du Burns Council Chamber, 4th floor, City Hall

09-0119R Deployment of FIOS Services in Baltimore City through the Verizon Maryland Network


This hearing will be broadcast live on TV25.

http://www.baltimorecitycouncil.com/...e_calendar.htm


----------



## jacindc

ESPNUHD, Tennis HD, Outdoor HD, WGNHD, and I think a few others arrived on DC Comcast.


Doesn't seem like there's too many big HD channels out there left to be pining for?


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/18527191
> 
> 
> One of WRC's studio cameras looked stretched during an overhead view on the 6:00 news. Some of the SD was stretched. The camera on the sports guy was softer than the main camera.



That's OK, they used to show some of the wide-screen footage squished into an SD frame, so I guess it balances out.









They really need to get their act together.

J


----------



## billiefan2000

I read online that WDCA in DC is going to make Fox Business channel


a broadcast sub-channel on WDCA 20 for those who dont have cable



anyone know if that is true cause I have been hearing Fox Business and CNBC are going to become broadcast sub-channels in some cities


i.e. like ION and Telemundo and Daystar are both broadcast and cable stations.


----------



## aptt

It was only the first day they switched to HD. Everything can't be perfect the first time. Hopefully things will improve today and in days to come. Remember WJLA had their problems when they first went HD.


----------



## uvaeer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jacindc* /forum/post/18527466
> 
> 
> ESPNUHD, Tennis HD, Outdoor HD, WGNHD, and I think a few others arrived on DC Comcast.
> 
> 
> Doesn't seem like there's too many big HD channels out there left to be pining for?



Just HDNet (which I think is on some Comcast systems, possibly grandfathered in under old agreements) and perhaps BBC America, which isn't on any Comcast systems.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/18527191
> 
> 
> One of WRC's studio cameras looked stretched during an overhead view on the 6:00 news. Some of the SD was stretched. The camera on the sports guy was softer than the main camera.



Yeah. Usually soft focus doesn't bother me much, but it was really soft on the sports guy. It couldn't have been unintentional. Think Czarniak made that a requirement?


The weather camera was really green. And although the green screen is HD, they really need to upgrade their weather software. It looks ancient compared to the other networks with higher resolution graphics.


The studio still feels pretty claustrophobic. That must be a really small building.


----------



## rkolsen

Can anyone post screen grabs of WRC HD?


----------



## carltonrice

These were posted the other day.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...0#post18525150 



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rkolsen* /forum/post/18531800
> 
> 
> Can anyone post screen grabs of WRC HD?


----------



## dg28

Yeah, not impressed so far with the HD news on WRC. I will give it a chance to improve though. Studio shots look very distant, and what's up with showing both anchors while only one of them is talking? Wondering is the distant shots and soft focus have anything to do with the anchors preferences? I know WUSA has been HD for awhile, and for right now it's no contest between the look and feel of the HD between the two. The quality of WRC news is so much better though, so I will give them a chance to to improve things.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dg28* /forum/post/18532889
> 
> 
> Yeah, not impressed so far with the HD news on WRC.



Very disappointing so far.







I was hoping it would be at least as good as NBC 11 or even Richmonds NBC 12, but unfortunately it's not even close. Even low budget WBOC-16 looks much better.


The picture looks hazy & very blue. Where's the color?????


----------



## machpost

Seems like they were experiencing some major issues this morning. Most if not all of the studio shots other than the main desk and the weather guy were in 4:3 SD. Growing pains.


----------



## aptt

Just give it some time. Things should start finally coming together. But overall, I'm just happy WRC finally went HD.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO

I suspect they may be getting used to the whole HD production thing.


I fould myself chuckling at one shot in particular the other evening.. Their blonde sports-babe, Lindsey, or whatever her name is.. Was in a single-shot, but the camera back focus seemed completely out of whack. Usually there is one of two reasons for that: 1) The Ops folks don't know how to adjust the cameras to work for single head-shot from a two-shot, or 2) Sports babe has some blemishes or bad makeup that doesn't look so good in HD, so she insists on jacking the focus to fuzz things up a little.


I actually worked with an anchor a few years ago that actually had jacking the focus if the camera was too clear written into his contract. We had to dedicate one studio camera to his slightly skewed focus.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *billiefan2000* /forum/post/18528325
> 
> 
> I read online that WDCA in DC is going to make Fox Business channel
> 
> 
> a broadcast sub-channel on WDCA 20 for those who don't have cable.



That would be appreciated. I actually like to watch Dave Ramsey at 8pm on Fox Bidnez. I tried to like Stossel, but he sure lost something once leaving 20/20. Maybe its the talk show format.


----------



## aptt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/18540159
> 
> 
> I suspect they may be getting used to the whole HD production thing.
> 
> 
> I fould myself chuckling at one shot in particular the other evening.. Their blonde sports-babe, Lindsey, or whatever her name is.. Was in a single-shot, but the camera back focus seemed completely out of whack. Usually there is one of two reasons for that: 1) The Ops folks don't know how to adjust the cameras to work for single head-shot from a two-shot, or 2) Sports babe has some blemishes or bad makeup that doesn't look so good in HD, so she insists on jacking the focus to fuzz things up a little.
> 
> 
> I actually worked with an anchor a few years ago that actually had jacking the focus if the camera was too clear written into his contract. We had to dedicate one studio camera to his slightly skewed focus.




I emailed the station about that camera problem and hope they get it so that camera can finally look like a crisp HD picture. My eye hurt sometimes because of that camera and I have to look away so it doesn't hurt too much.

*UPDATE:* Looks like they got my email. And the camera back focus is finally clear.


Hi Abric:


Thanks for your e-mail.


I'm glad you like our new look ... We're excited, too. But, as you

point out, we've got some bugs to work out. Our engineers have been

fixing some video and filter issues, and we do have some audio kinks to

work out as well. Please be patient with us.


Matt



Matt Glassman

Senior Producer of Content

NBC4 News Washington

(202) 885-4433
[email protected]


----------



## rkolsen




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/18540159
> 
> 
> I actually worked with an anchor a few years ago that actually had jacking the focus if the camera was too clear written into his contract. We had to dedicate one studio camera to his slightly skewed focus.



Okay, so how bad was this anchorman's face that it was written into his contract?


----------



## jeepmon




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aptt* /forum/post/18543326
> 
> 
> I emailed the station about that camera problem and hope they get it so that camera can finally look like a crisp HD picture. My eye hurt sometimes because of that camera and I have to look away so it doesn't hurt too much.
> 
> *UPDATE:* Looks like they got my email. And the camera back focus is finally clear.
> 
> 
> Hi Abric:
> 
> 
> Thanks for your e-mail.
> 
> 
> I'm glad you like our new look ... We're excited, too. But, as you
> 
> point out, we've got some bugs to work out. Our engineers have been
> 
> fixing some video and filter issues, and we do have some audio kinks to
> 
> work out as well. Please be patient with us.
> 
> 
> Matt
> 
> 
> 
> Matt Glassman
> 
> Senior Producer of Content
> 
> NBC4 News Washington
> 
> (202) 885-4433
> [email protected]



Glad to hear they're aware!!


I can't handle watching a green Veronica Johnson. I believe the picture was actually crisper before they went HD. Not to mention watching one anchor sitting there while the other anchor is talking and not even on the screen - it seems to me their editing is worse than before (yes, I know hard to believe).


I've watched the NBC4 news for years in SD while the others were in HD just waiting for the day when they would go HD and now that they have I'm quite disappointed!! I know it's been less than a week, however, you'd think they would have had time to practice and get the bugs out.


And since I'm up on my soapbox, showing background screen graphics for a segment they're not even doing (yet) haooens more and more frequently.


Sorry for the ranting and raving, just disappointed that what used to be the best local news seems to be slipping and shows no sign of improving.


I'm done!!!


----------



## TimGoodwin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jeepmon* /forum/post/18545712
> 
> 
> Glad to hear they're aware!!
> 
> 
> I can't handle watching a green Veronica Johnson. I believe the picture was actually crisper before they went HD. Not to mention watching one anchor sitting there while the other anchor is talking and not even on the screen - it seems to me their editing is worse than before (yes, I know hard to believe).
> 
> 
> I've watched the NBC4 news for years in SD while the others were in HD just waiting for the day when they would go HD and now that they have I'm quite disappointed!! I know it's been less than a week, however, you'd think they would have had time to practice and get the bugs out.
> 
> 
> And since I'm up on my soapbox, showing background screen graphics for a segment they're not even doing (yet) haooens more and more frequently.
> 
> 
> Sorry for the ranting and raving, just disappointed that what used to be the best local news seems to be slipping and shows no sign of improving.
> 
> 
> I'm done!!!




I agree with everything you said! Lets hope it does improve quickly!


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jeepmon* /forum/post/18545712
> 
> 
> I believe the picture was actually crisper before they went HD



Agree 100%. I feel most of the problem is the new studio itself. Whoever designed it should be looking for new job. They would have been better off just getting new cameras & kept the old studio & graphics for the time being. The new studio is just downright embarrassing IMO. It has none of the personality & snap the old dated one had.


And what's up with the _*stretch-o-vision*_??????


----------



## aaronwt

How can an image be crisper in SD? there is no detail to an SD picture when compared to an HD picture. You can see much, much more detail in the HD image from NBC4 than you could with the SD image.


Besides, isn't a crisp SD image an Oxymoron?


----------



## Digital Rules

I agree the HD picture is crisper, but it lacks the contrast that the SD had.


----------



## jeepmon




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/18545836
> 
> 
> How can an image be crisper in SD? there is no detail to an SD picture when compared to an HD picture. You can see much, much more detail in the HD image from NBC4 than you could with the SD image.
> 
> 
> Besides, isn't a crisp SD image an Oxymoron?



It's because I'm an Oxymoron (sans the Oxy part) myself










What I meant was "to me" the picture looked clearer before they went to HD - now it looks soft. I always thought NBC4 studio shots were pretty good for SD.


Perhaps it's only psychological since I expect it to look better and it's not living up to my expectations. Speaking of that I'm late for my shrink appt!!


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jeepmon* /forum/post/18546022
> 
> 
> It's because I'm an Oxymoron (sans the Oxy part) myself
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What I meant was "to me" the picture looked clearer before they went to HD - now it looks soft. I always thought NBC4 studio shots were pretty good for SD.
> 
> 
> Perhaps it's only psychological since I expect it to look better and it's not living up to my expectations. Speaking of that I'm late for my shrink appt!!



I think part of it has to do with the background projection behind them. It looks like dog doo-a fuzzy overly blue projection that I find annoying. They said at one point that it was a 4K projector, but it sure doesn't look like it. I think a better background would do wonders personally. Plus, as others have said, we don't need to see both anchors at the same time.

Just my 2 cents.

J


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rkolsen* /forum/post/18545245
> 
> 
> Okay, so how bad was this anchorman's face that it was written into his contract?



I didn't think it was that bad. He was an older guy, probably 60+, but apparently was concerned that too many of his liver spots were showing.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/18546968
> 
> 
> I didn't think it was that bad. He was an older guy, probably 60+, but apparently was concerned that too many of his liver spots were showing.



Both Meridith Viera from the Today Show & Bill O'Reilly from Fox News use the blur cam. Funny how they can just blur Meredith's face, but everything else is sharp as a tack.










Kudos to Denise Koch from WJZ-13 for not using the blur cam!!


----------



## rkolsen




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/18547539
> 
> 
> Both Meridith Viera from the Today Show & Bill O'Reilly from Fox News use the blur cam. Funny how they can just blur Meredith's face, but everything else is sharp as a tack.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Kudos to Denise Koch from WJZ-13 for not using the blur cam!!



I alway's thought Meredith Vieira's picture looked pretty good and never seemed to be blurry to me.


----------



## Marcus Carr












The new HD channels were added after midnight.


----------



## ACW112983

Any time now Arlington can add those


----------



## mchief99

I hope you are holding your breath - seems the only thing we get is a rate increase on June 6.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/18547539
> 
> 
> Funny how they can just blur Meredith's face, but everything else is sharp as a tack.



CNN was notorious for using that technology in the run-up to the 2008 elections. I'm not sure if they did away with it or just figured out how to make it much less obvious.


I've decided that NBC4 needs to do something else with the background screen. There's entirely too much blue. Do like Chris Matthews and put the White House back there. Something. Anything but the blue wash.


----------



## aptt

NBC 4 is finally doing something with the background screen. Recently, during the newscasts they are using live shots of their skywatcher cameras. They are using it a lot more during the morning and midday newscasts, while during the evening they show the cameras during the weather forecasts. They don't use the cameras during the late night newscasts.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/18556294
> 
> 
> .
> 
> 
> I've decided that NBC4 needs to do something else with the background screen. There's entirely too much blue. Do like Chris Matthews and put the White House back there. Something. Anything but the blue wash.



Yes, this would help quite a bit to add some snap to the rather cold looking studio. The overall PQ does seem to have improved somewhat over the last few days.


----------



## Trip in VA

Any folks in Annapolis and/or Baltimore, keep an eye out for a signal on RF 20 some time before June 12, 2010. WQAW-LD 20 has filed an STA with the FCC to sign on before that time, but with a temporary antenna that is aimed north at Baltimore.


Programming will likely be Azteca America, which is only SD.


- Trip


----------



## Trip in VA

Also, WBAL has filed to make their experimental 26.6 kW power level permanent.


- Trip


----------



## rkolsen




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/18556294
> 
> 
> CNN was notorious for using that technology in the run-up to the 2008 elections. I'm not sure if they did away with it or just figured out how to make it much less obvious.
> 
> 
> I've decided that NBC4 needs to do something else with the background screen. There's entirely too much blue. Do like Chris Matthews and put the White House back there. Something. Anything but the blue wash.



And what is that technology called?


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rkolsen* /forum/post/18562432
> 
> 
> And what is that technology called?



In the analog world, I think it used to be called "chroma key".


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/18562176
> 
> 
> Any folks in Annapolis and/or Baltimore, keep an eye out for a signal on RF 20 some time before June 12, 2010. WQAW-LD 20 has filed an STA with the FCC to sign on before that time, but with a temporary antenna that is aimed north at Baltimore.
> 
> 
> Programming will likely be Azteca America, which is only SD.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Just 2 days ago, I caught WDDN-LD 22 (23.1) for the first time. I'm 30 miles East of DC so the low power signal is right at the cliff. My antenna must be pointed precisely at 277 degrees. +/- 3 degrees and there's zero signal.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/18564439
> 
> 
> Just 2 days ago, I caught WDDN-LD 22 (23.1) for the first time. I'm 30 miles East of DC so the low power signal is right at the cliff. My antenna must be pointed precisely at 277 degrees. +/- 3 degrees and there's zero signal.



Thanks for the news.










- Trip


----------



## Falcon_77

*All Systems Go' For May 3 Launch of Mobile Digital TV Consumer Showcase in Washington, D.C.*

http://www.omvc.org/_assets/docs/pre...-NAB-FINAL.pdf 


The Mobile DTV thread can be found here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...1029236&page=3


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/18562755
> 
> 
> In the analog world, I think it used to be called "chroma key".



They still do in the digital world too.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/18562176
> 
> 
> Any folks in Annapolis and/or Baltimore, keep an eye out for a signal on RF 20 some time before June 12, 2010. WQAW-LD 20 has filed an STA with the FCC to sign on before that time, but with a temporary antenna that is aimed north at Baltimore.
> 
> 
> Programming will likely be Azteca America, which is only SD.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Seeing lots of activity on channel 20 this morning no matter which way the antenna is pointed. So far only able to decode UNC-TV 2.1 on RF 20?????


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/16917920
> 
> 
> I've been using Windows Media Center almost exclusively since 8/08 for all my TV needs and overall have been very happy with it. It's what enabled me to get both Baltmore and D.C. seamlessly without a rotor. That said, yes, they continue to mess with the guide data and depending on what version of MCE you're speaking of, it can create a complete and total nightmare.



What are the current proper settings to get WJZ and WBAL through Windows Media Center? I thought I had them but they just aren't coming in for me today. Thanks.


----------



## rkolsen




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/18562755
> 
> 
> In the analog world, I think it used to be called "chroma key".





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/18566602
> 
> 
> They still do in the digital world too.



I was referring to the technology that has selective blurring - You mentioned that CNN used it leading up to 2008. I personally never seen selective blurring and think Meredith Vieira looks great in HD.


----------



## rkolsen

Anyone else have an issue with WBAL'S HD Bug that appears during the broadcasts. Normally it doesn't bothering me but on shows like TODAY sometimes it is on top of the lower third. I emailed the Engineering Dept at them if they could do anything to fix that - such as putting WBAL TV right next to the time and temp in the other lower third that TODAY has.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/18572912
> 
> 
> What are the current proper settings to get WJZ and WBAL through Windows Media Center? I thought I had them but they just aren't coming in for me today. Thanks.



WBAL is on physical channel 11, WJZ is on physical channel 13.


Hmmm... they fixed all this some time ago, it just may be a reception problem. The original MC problem was the physical channel numbers were wrong. Often. They moved the channels from UHF to VHF too early, and then once that was fixed, they took a long time to move them from UHF to VHF after the switch.


It was pretty hot and humid yesterday, that can change your reception characteristics, especially if you're using a non-VHF antenna to receive VHF channels or have it attic mounted, etc. Are you still having problems?


----------



## Marcus Carr

*The high stakes of Comcast upgrade in Baltimore*


If nothing else, last week's City Council hearing on why Verizon has not rolled out FiOS, its next-generation broadband Internet service, in Baltimore has put cable TV on the local media agenda.


Viewers, whose eyes might normally glaze over at talk of cable and Internet delivery systems, are clearly thinking and talking about why and how cable TV programming is and isn't delivered to homes in this city.


The discussion is part of a larger political and cultural one going on nationally about what some call "broadband equity": who does and who doesn't have access to the wealth of information now available to citizens of Digital America. And not all levels of citizenship in that realm of American media life are equal these days.


In fact, those who do not at least get on the digital train are going to be left hopelessly behind in terms of the kinds of news and information they can get from TV. And that includes customers in Baltimore City of Comcast, the cable and Internet provider that does do business here.


Comcast is in the midst of a digital upgrade, and customers have been receiving fliers in the mail telling them that in some cases they will need to contact Comcast and get new digital equipment if they want to continue to receive all their favorite channels. The good news: The basic equipment is free if you install it yourself, according to Comcast. The bad news: Ignore the fliers, and the next time you try to tune in an all-news cable channel like CNN during a big, breaking news event, it might not be there.


Baltimore Sun reporter Gus Sentementes covered the City Council hearing on FiOS, and at his BaltTech blog, he wrote, "There seem to be at least two camps in this debate: Those who question Verizon's motives for not expanding FiOS in Baltimore on moral and socioeconomic grounds. And then there are those who argue that as a for-profit business, it's really Verizon's call on where and when they roll out their services, based on market conditions."


This issue is becoming more and more political, which means I'll be writing about it more. And let me offer a word of warning to the city officials and City Council members who bristle at the suggestion that one reason Verizon isn't interested in rolling out new service in Baltimore City is the cozy relationship some folks on the city payroll seem to have had with TCI, the cable company that held the city franchise before Comcast took over.


Here's the word of warning: When I came to work as TV critic at The Sun in 1989, I was appalled by what I saw as potential conflicts of interest between city officials and TCI. But I was basically told at the time by lifetime residents of Baltimore, "That's the way things are done here in Chinatown, Jake."


I've been here long enough to know those days are gone. So be careful, or someone like me might go back and actually look beyond the high-sounding rhetoric coming out of City Hall today to examine the real history of relationships between elected officials and cable operators like TCI here.


As for the reality facing Comcast customers today, those who will be most affected are those who receive expanded basic cable, the second tier of Comcast cable coverage. This includes channels like CNN, MSNBC and Fox News. By the end of the month, you will need digital equipment to receive them.


Comcast is offering a carrot for those who get the digital equipment: They will start getting 35 additional channels at no extra cost including AMC, Bloomberg TV and the NFL Network.


Like so many things in media today, the move is mostly about bandwidth, according to Alisha Martin, a spokeswoman for Comcast.


"Moving our second tier of analog channels to exclusive digital delivery will free up a tremendous amount of bandwidth on our network to be able to offer more HD, faster Internet, more On-Demand all of these things our customers are asking for," she said.


"One analog channel actually consumes the same amount of bandwidth as 10 digital channels or three HD channels, so you can imagine how much bandwidth we'll be able to free up by moving these channels," Martin said. "This move will allow us to use our network more efficiently; it will essentially triple the amount of space on our network. Look at the world, and it's really going digital."


University of Maryland media economist Douglas Gomery accepts Comcast's explanation as far as it goes. As a Comcast customer, he just went through the upgrade in Montgomery County, and he has no major complaints for the moment anyway. But he says there is likely to be more to the upgrade than Comcast is telling its customers right now and that's not such good news.


"Will moving those channels make for more efficient use of the network? Yes. Is it more economical, as the spokeswoman alleges? Absolutely," Gomery says. "But what's missing here is the punch line: What's Comcast going to do with that extra bandwidth? You know what it's going to do: It's going to put stuff on it that's going to cost us more money. They are going to up the content to justify rate increases."


Comcast has added 39 new HD channels in Baltimore City as it moves expanded basic channels to digital.


"And when you couple that with the new channels you mentioned like AMC and the NFL Network that customers will get when they move to digital, that is textbook for what a cable operator has to do to justify higher rates down the road," Gomery said. "Do we know for a fact that's what will happen? No, of course not. But there's a pretty clear historical pattern as to how this game is played. Yes, going digital is generally a good thing, and even if it wasn't, there's really no way you can avoid it. But you can bet long-term it won't be free with the giant media corporations who control that bandwidth today."


Comcast subscribers in Baltimore can call 1-800-COMCAST for more information on the move to digital and how to obtain the equipment they need.


Posted by David Zurawik at 6:50 PM

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/ente...upgrade_a.html


----------



## Kelly From KOMO

So is David insinuating that those who can't get some form of cable TV or access to the public Internet, that somehow they're being left behind or to the point of becoming societal castoff? If that's the case then to me, his blog contains a lot of populist, consumerist, hyperbole.


To me, the benchmark of an individual's quest for knowledge is not guided by whether they can get cable TV or broadband Internet access, but how bad they want the news or information. There are, as there has been for ages, a way of getting news and knowledge with a little bit of effort. One could get off their a$$, walk down to their local library and read the daily paper or various magazines. Now you can even access the Internet on a computer at the local library for free.


Unlike the old days when accurate journalism meant something, emphasizing on getting the story right', if you will. Today in the digital era, we have niche' news channels that pride themselves on presenting biased information, while the public Internet contains news and information that, in my opinion, may be 60% accurate if you're lucky. So having 150 channels of niche' programming benefits our society as a whole how?


Even being rather a tech-guy, I have trouble with the whole rights' for Ma and Pa to be able to update their Facebook page without using a dial-up connection or at their local library. The same goes with watching cable TV really; it's a luxury that one must be able to afford and is available, but it doesn't make you any more or less intelligent nor enlightened if you can't.


----------



## Trip in VA

Can I get new TSReader data on WTTG? I've been told the station has added Mobile DTV.


- Trip


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> "One analog channel actually consumes *the same amount of bandwidth as 10 digital channels or three HD channels*, so you can imagine how much bandwidth we'll be able to free up by moving these channels," Martin said. "This move will allow us to use our network more efficiently; it will essentially triple the amount of space on our network. … Look at the world, and it's really going digital."



Ha.


----------



## djp952

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* 
Can I get new TSReader data on WTTG? I've been told the station has added Mobile DTV.


- Trip
Attached.

 

wttg.htm.txt 16.580078125k . file


----------



## Trip in VA

Thanks for the data! I don't see any Mobile DTV in it though. Hm...


- Trip


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/18576102
> 
> 
> WBAL is on physical channel 11, WJZ is on physical channel 13.
> 
> 
> Hmmm... they fixed all this some time ago, it just may be a reception problem.



Maybe it is just reception then. I guess I'll have to check one of my analog TVs to see how I best point the antenna there and see if I can duplicate that with my PC antenna.


----------



## fmw63

I've picked it up too. Well, only a little. Only 1 of my 3 boxes receives it well. The Samsung SIR-TS360 gets it, but displays it as 22-1, the Centronics ZAT501HD (upgraded) receives the signal as 23-1, with very choppy audio and no video (the PCR ID is 50, unlike most of the other stations' 49), the Zenith SAT520 doesn't get it at all.




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/18564514
> 
> 
> Thanks for the news.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> - Trip


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmw63* /forum/post/18582051
> 
> 
> I've picked it up too. Well, only a little. Only 1 of my 3 boxes receives it well. The Samsung SIR-TS360 gets it, but displays it as 22-1, the Centronics ZAT501HD (upgraded) receives the signal as 23-1, with very choppy audio and no video (the PCR ID is 50, unlike most of the other stations' 49), the Zenith SAT520 doesn't get it at all.



I see it as 23.1 on my Zenith DTT-901 with good signal strength, but the audio is pretty much non-existent.


----------



## fmw63




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmw63* /forum/post/18582051
> 
> 
> I've picked it up too. Well, only a little. Only 1 of my 3 boxes receives it well. The Samsung SIR-TS360 gets it, but displays it as 22-1, the Centronics ZAT501HD (upgraded) receives the signal as 23-1, with very choppy audio and no video (the PCR ID is 50, unlike most of the other stations' 49), the Zenith SAT520 doesn't get it at all.



UPDATE: The Samsung still gets it as 22-1. the ZAT501 gets it now as 21-1, the Zenith SAT520 still doesn't get it at all, and the little Eviant 7" showed it as 23-1 for about 5 seconds, then displayed it as 21-1! What's happening?!


----------



## REDSKINSFAN47

on h20 D* receiver this channel maps at 22-1,22-2and3 are still mpt,mpt 22hd can now be found on 42-1.in the bedroom on sanyo tv this daystar channel maps at rf22-1 right beside 22-1 pbs,and channel 8-1 except during ducting when wric richmond is in town on 8-1.


----------



## Marcus Carr

What's up with WBFF? They were only in HD for about 20 minutes tonight. They also dropped out of HD Sunday night.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/18585333
> 
> 
> What's up with WBFF? They were only in HD for about 20 minutes tonight. They also dropped out of HD Sunday night.



What 20 minutes? I just FFed through Glee and it was all HD. This was on Fios. You are Comcast or OTA?


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/18581519
> 
> 
> Maybe it is just reception then. I guess I'll have to check one of my analog TVs to see how I best point the antenna there and see if I can duplicate that with my PC antenna.



Erm, not trying to burst any bubbles, but what do you expect to find in Baltimore on analog? As far as I know, there is nothing left analog around here, it's all digital now. There *might* be some low power analogs in D.C. or Hagerstown, but I haven't been keeping up with analog for some time now. Pretty certain that there is zero analog in Baltimore, though.


What are you using for an aerial? Maybe I/we/they can help to further explain what might be happening with your setup as we appoach the summer months here in MD.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/18585930
> 
> 
> Erm, not trying to burst any bubbles, but what do you expect to find in Baltimore on analog? As far as I know, there is nothing left analog around here, it's all digital now. There *might* be some low power analogs in D.C. or Hagerstown, but I haven't been keeping up with analog for some time now. Pretty certain that there is zero analog in Baltimore, though.



Pretty certain? WMJF-LP Channel 16, Towson, MD.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...-LP%26type%3dA


----------



## clarksonknight

Has anyone seen news about when FiOS TV will start getting turned on in DC? I'm moving to a new complex down by Nats Park that has FiOS internet, but no TV. There's no savings in it for me if I have to get my internet from VZ and TV from Comcast.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/18585487
> 
> 
> What 20 minutes? I just FFed through Glee and it was all HD. This was on Fios. You are Comcast or OTA?



During Idol. Watched on Comcast. I'll set up the antenna tonight. I Guess Comcast is still using the OTA feed.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/18586603
> 
> 
> During Idol. Watched on Comcast. I'll set up the antenna tonight. I Guess Comcast is still using the OTA feed.



Ah. I recorded Idol off WTTG off Fios so I cannot check it out.


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/18581519
> 
> 
> Maybe it is just reception then. I guess I'll have to check one of my analog TVs to see how I best point the antenna there and see if I can duplicate that with my PC antenna.



I don't watch WBAL and WJZ very often, but I just checked with my HP TV connected to a 4228 antenna in the attic with a setting of 190 degrees. I get 11-1,11-2, and 13-1 very well. I find the setting of 190 as the best compromise to get the D.C. and Baltimore channels.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/18585930
> 
> 
> Erm, not trying to burst any bubbles, but what do you expect to find in Baltimore on analog? As far as I know, there is nothing left analog around here, it's all digital now.



I thought I didn't need to specify - it is my analog TV with a digital to analog converter (Dish DTVPal) and a plain rabbit ears antenna. With that setup I can get some measure of signal strength vs. antenna pointing. Then I can go to the antenna by my PC and put that in the same orientation.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/18585333
> 
> 
> What's up with WBFF? They were only in HD for about 20 minutes tonight. They also dropped out of HD Sunday night.



OTA was fine on Sunday, all night. I know that they have been working on setting up another path to Comcast so that they (Comcast) can insert commercials different than the ones that they put on OTA. I would guess that they are having some sort of issue with it...


----------



## Marcus Carr

Happened again on Comcast tonight during Idol. OTA was HD for the whole show. Hopefully it will be resolved soon.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/18590537
> 
> 
> OTA was fine on Sunday, all night. I know that they have been working on setting up another path to Comcast so that they (Comcast) can insert commercials different than the ones that they put on OTA. I would guess that they are having some sort of issue with it...



Marvelous! When Marcus was asking about it, I was thinking "Gee, it was nice when Mark was around." And here you are!


----------



## Coolboarder10




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/18562176
> 
> 
> Any folks in Annapolis and/or Baltimore, keep an eye out for a signal on RF 20 some time before June 12, 2010. WQAW-LD 20 has filed an STA with the FCC to sign on before that time, but with a temporary antenna that is aimed north at Baltimore.
> 
> 
> Programming will likely be Azteca America, which is only SD.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Will this block out any channels like 20.1 wdca?


And can some one find the link to the fox business new sub channel on 20.1. I think that will be awesome. Thanks.


----------



## weaver6

Univision HD is now on DirecTV.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/18590537
> 
> 
> OTA was fine on Sunday, all night. I know that they have been working on setting up another path to Comcast so that they (Comcast) can insert commercials different than the ones that they put on OTA. I would guess that they are having some sort of issue with it...



So let me get this straight.. Comcast will be covering spots from the local FOX affiliate? Wow! If I were the GM of that station, I wouldn't be very happy about that! Especially with cable penetration being 80+% of my total audience within the market.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/18593987
> 
> 
> So let me get this straight.. Comcast will be covering spots from the local FOX affiliate? Wow! If I were the GM of that station, I wouldn't be very happy about that! Especially with cable penetration being 80+% of my total audience within the market.



Comcast will be covering COMCAST spots. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but they are spending a lot of money at a lot of stations so that they can replace the "get Comcast" spots with "get more Comcast" spots on the signals that are going to the cable system. The thought is - "Why try to get people who are already watching cable to switch to cable. We could sell them pay-per-view, or upgraded services during that time..."


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/18594772
> 
> 
> Comcast will be covering COMCAST spots. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but they are spending a lot of money at a lot of stations so that they can replace the "get Comcast" spots with "get more Comcast" spots on the signals that are going to the cable system. The thought is - "Why try to get people who are already watching cable to switch to cable. We could sell them pay-per-view, or upgraded services during that time..."



Interesting.. I've actually watched several AI shows this season locally on WTTG and don't recall seeing all that many regional Comcast spots. As you, it seems like a lot of trouble and additional expense to install all the gear to cover your own spots. Something doesn't ad up (pardon the pun) here..


If I were the GM at WTTG, I'd be REALLY nervous that a local cable MSO has the the ability to cover any spot or programming on my station, even if its over their own scheduled spots. It's a slippery slope. To me, if Comcast wanted to run an alternate spot during their run in prime, then they can get my station the spot and I'll be pleased to run it.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/18594979
> 
> 
> Interesting.. I've actually watched several AI shows this season locally on WTTG and don't recall seeing all that many regional Comcast spots. As you, it seems like a lot of trouble and additional expense to install all the gear to cover your own spots. Something doesn't ad up (pardon the pun) here..
> 
> 
> If I were the GM at WTTG, I'd be REALLY nervous that a local cable MSO has the the ability to cover any spot or programming on my station, even if its over their own scheduled spots. It's a slippery slope. To me, if Comcast wanted to run an alternate spot during their run in prime, then they can get my station the spot and I'll be pleased to run it.



I used to work for Arbitron as a dev on an acquired (and real POS) software product that was used for media buying for TV, and I was told a few years ago that this was completely against the rules for broadcast channels. I make no claims at being right about this, but it absolutely came up more than once and I was told in no uncertain terms that it could never happen for broadcast channels. Curious how true that was/is .... (and it's pretty off-topic to ask here)


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/18585994
> 
> 
> Pretty certain? WMJF-LP Channel 16, Towson, MD.
> 
> http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...-LP%26type%3dA



Hence the reason I left wiggle-room in my verbiage







lol. I stand corrected, but Towson isn't exactly at the same azimuth as the primary Baltimore towers (depending on your location, of course!). I'm still wrong, just trying to add a little justification!


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/18595839
> 
> 
> I used to work for Arbitron as a dev on an acquired (and real POS) software product that was used for media buying for TV, and I was told a few years ago that this was completely against the rules for broadcast channels. I make no claims at being right about this, but it absolutely came up more than once and I was told in no uncertain terms that it could never happen for broadcast channels. Curious how true that was/is .... (and it's pretty off-topic to ask here)



I could be wrong, maybe I'll have to look it up, but I don't think there is anything in the rules that specifically says anything about a cable MSO covering their own spots on their own cable system. I believe there is some loose verbiage that ensures a cable company can't "alter" the channel carried without permission of the station. Maybe WTTG had to give permission or lose the ad buy with Comcast, who knows. If so then what's next? Cable companies will be covering Saturday morning paid programming with their own paid programming? Like I said, if this is indeed the case, it's a slippery slope.


Of course, I have a love-hate relationship and feelings toward cable companies. So far as a broadcaster we're stuck in a dysfunctional relationship with them.


----------



## afiggatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Coolboarder10* /forum/post/18591959
> 
> 
> Will this block out any channels like 20.1 wdca?
> 
> 
> And can some one find the link to the fox business new sub channel on 20.1. I think that will be awesome. Thanks.



WDCA-DT 20 is broadcasting on RF 35, so WQAW-LP 20 broadcasting on RF 20 won't be interfering with WDCA. There is WVPY PBS 42 out west in Front Royal broadcasting on RF 21 which get some interference from WQAW-LP at the eastern edge of the WVPY reception area. BTW, does anyone know if WVPY 42 has increased their power to 100 kW from 50 kW?


----------



## Trip in VA

Yes, WVPY has increased power.


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *afiggatt* /forum/post/18596900
> 
> 
> BTW, does anyone know if WVPY 42 has increased their power to 100 kW from 50 kW?



Even with the power increase, their signal does not reach the DC metro area. I believe AntAltMike tried getting it from a high rise near Tysons & never reported back any luck getting it.


----------



## ota.dt.man

03-07-10


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bmcent1* /forum/post/18266411
> 
> 
> Hi -
> 
> It's been a while since I checked in on this thread and just wanted to ask if anything has changed significantly in antennas or broadcast power over the past year.
> 
> 
> Here is my TV Fool plot:
> http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...b7c8f5a58fb704
> 
> 
> I really want to receive the 4 major networks. I'm reasonably close to the tower(s) at about 35 miles. All the Washington, DC stations are at 153 or 154 degrees. But I'm down in a valley and everything is 2 edge.
> 
> 
> Wondering if there is a single antenna that will work, or if I should go with a VHF for 7,9 and something else for 34-36 + 48 and a splitter / combiner.



03-07-10


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/18268003
> 
> 
> Both channel 7 & 9 have had some significant power increases, so your chances of reliable reception are pretty darn good now. The Winegard HD7698P would be a good choice for a 1 antenna solution. (I'm a bit worried about WRC-4 though with any combo antenna which just won't have the extra gain a dedicated UHF antenna will provide)
> 
> 
> If you don't mind 2 antennas, the Winegard YA-1713 , plus the AD 91-XG would be an even better choice in my opinion. The Channel Master 7777 pre-amp would work well with either scenario.
> 
> 
> Hope this helps!!



03-09-10


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bmcent1* /forum/post/18276802
> 
> 
> Good news about 7 and 9! Thanks for the antenna suggestions too.



Hi bmcent1,


How are your 2 edge Frederick County antenna plans coming?


----------



## winchesterdoug

I live in Winchester, Va. and am a regular viewer of WBFF-TV Fox 45 out of Baltimore, Md. - Their OTA signal was fine yesterday morning (Fri. May 7) - but yesterday afternoon there was no OTA signal at all. Nothing, not even a weak signal. It is still like that today (Sat.)- The reception up until now, has been fine with this station, now all the sudden nothing at all. Has anybody else had this problem? Any ideas what might be going on? Their sister station WNUV CW 54 is still on the air and I am receiving them fine. I had this problem for a short while back in January 2010 when a local lower power Digital TV station here in Winchester WAZW was supposed to be going on the air using the same frequency as WBFF (which is channel 46) - but then they had trouble with financing, and I was able to receive the OTA WBFF Fox 45 signal once again - up until yesterday. Anybody know anything at all about this? Thanks.


----------



## nottenst

In my latest Comcast bill it says


"Our latest network enhancement is complete. Do you have the right equipment? After June 15, any TV without a digital device will only be able to receive channels 2-9, 14-18, 20, 24-26, 69-79, 96, 98 and 99."


I thought that was the way it has been for the past month or so.


----------



## Ken H

Topics merged.


----------



## voltore




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/18594979
> 
> 
> Interesting.. I've actually watched several AI shows this season locally on WTTG and don't recall seeing all that many regional Comcast spots. As you, it seems like a lot of trouble and additional expense to install all the gear to cover your own spots. Something doesn't ad up (pardon the pun) here..
> 
> 
> If I were the GM at WTTG, I'd be REALLY nervous that a local cable MSO has the the ability to cover any spot or programming on my station, even if its over their own scheduled spots. It's a slippery slope. To me, if Comcast wanted to run an alternate spot during their run in prime, then they can get my station the spot and I'll be pleased to run it.




It's far more common that you think Comcast do this with many stations and in many markets. They just cover their own spots and it's done by the station at the station end. Most stations that do it in this market have been doing for nearly a year!


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *winchesterdoug* /forum/post/18604018
> 
> 
> I live in Winchester, Va. and am a regular viewer of WBFF-TV Fox 45 out of Baltimore, Md. - Their OTA signal was fine yesterday morning (Fri. May 7) - but yesterday afternoon there was no OTA signal at all. Nothing, not even a weak signal. It is still like that today (Sat.)- The reception up until now, has been fine with this station, now all the sudden nothing at all. Has anybody else had this problem? Any ideas what might be going on? Their sister station WNUV CW 54 is still on the air and I am receiving them fine. I had this problem for a short while back in January 2010 when a local lower power Digital TV station here in Winchester WAZW was supposed to be going on the air using the same frequency as WBFF (which is channel 46) - but then they had trouble with financing, and I was able to receive the OTA WBFF Fox 45 signal once again - up until yesterday. Anybody know anything at all about this? Thanks.



I watched WBFF on Saturday in Laurel, MD without a problem. Of course, I'm a lot closer that you are...


----------



## danboot

I have a question hopefully someone can answer for me. I recently lost my job and need to make budget cuts, wish the government felt the same way but I digress.


I currently have Cox Supreme Bundle (172 digital TV channels, Internet and phone), I am living in Fairfax.


So here is my question, does anyone know if I was to drop the Cox Supreme Bundle, get rid of everything and just get Internet from Cox will that include basic cable, channels 2-102?


My thinking is if I just get Internet from Cox that would include channels 2-102 because how would Cox be able to block those basic channels?


Any and all input is appreciated.


Thank you,

Dan


----------



## howie14

I had a lot of trouble with OTA reception on Saturday. I usually have a couple of locations where I can set my antenna and pickup Wash/Balt signals without turning the antenna for each one. On Saturday, every station needed to have the antenna "fine tuned". SNR/signal quality was all over the place.


I'm guessing this had to do with the weather disturbance and the wind gusts. Everything was fine again yesterday.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *danboot* /forum/post/18610255
> 
> 
> I have a question hopefully someone can answer for me. I recently lost my job and need to make budget cuts, wish the government felt the same way but I digress.
> 
> 
> I currently have Cox Supreme Bundle (172 digital TV channels, Internet and phone), I am living in Fairfax.
> 
> 
> So here is my question, does anyone know if I was to drop the Cox Supreme Bundle, get rid of everything and just get Internet from Cox will that include basic cable, channels 2-102?
> 
> 
> My thinking is if I just get Internet from Cox that would include channels 2-102 because how would Cox be able to block those basic channels?
> 
> 
> Any and all input is appreciated.
> 
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> Dan




I don't know about Cox, but with Comcast in my area, they put an RF blocker on the coax cable. It would let the Internet frequencies pass and block the other frequencies. And to remove it you would have to open up the Comcast box in the ground and also have a special tool to remove(I saw this when I got TV service again for 6 months and saw what the tech did to reactivate my TV service). The last time Comcast used it, they came out the next day to put it on when I had dropped their TV service. Although this was a couple of years ago.


----------



## winchesterdoug

thank you for your response. I suspect it is the same local low power station that was interfering back in January that is causing the problem. It is WAZW-LD here in Winchester which is going to be broadcasting on the same channel (46) as WBFF Fox 45 uses. Why Fox doesn't use 45 instead of 46 is beyond me. - I believe that was because of another one of the FCC's stupid decisions in not allowing WBFF to use 45 and giving them 46 instead and hence this problem now with this local low power station (WAZW) using 46 and thereby blocking WBFF 45 in our area. Seems like it is permanent this time.


----------



## ACW112983

Dammit Comcast, get off your ass and give NOVA Spike HD, Comedy Central HD, and G4HD


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ACW112983* /forum/post/18610782
> 
> 
> Dammit Comcast, get off your ass and give NOVA Spike HD, Comedy Central HD, and G4HD



Was it really necessary to post this in both DC threads?

J


----------



## KLJ




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/18610600
> 
> 
> I don't know about Cox, but with Comcast in my area, they put an RF blocker on the coax cable. It would let the Internet frequencies pass and block the other frequencies. And to remove it you would have to open up the Comcast box in the ground and also have a special tool to remove(I saw this when I got TV service again for 6 months and saw what the tech did to reactivate my TV service). The last time Comcast used it, they came out the next day to put it on when I had dropped their TV service. Although this was a couple of years ago.



it may have just been an oversight on comcast's part but i live in p.g. county and got rid of comcast tv many years ago (going with only internet service) and still received all channels through 100 at least (not sure exactly how high they go). i've recently purchased a basic tv package because i needed a cablecard for my tivo.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *KLJ* /forum/post/18613369
> 
> 
> it may have just been an oversight on comcast's part but i live in p.g. county and got rid of comcast tv many years ago (going with only internet service) and still received all channels through 100 at least (not sure exactly how high they go). i've recently purchased a basic tv package because i needed a cablecard for my tivo.



In our area of the PG County the cost of the internet package alone used to be (and may still be) slightly more than the combined cost of the limited basic plus internet package.


----------



## danboot




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/18610600
> 
> 
> I don't know about Cox, but with Comcast in my area, they put an RF blocker on the coax cable. It would let the Internet frequencies pass and block the other frequencies. And to remove it you would have to open up the Comcast box in the ground and also have a special tool to remove(I saw this when I got TV service again for 6 months and saw what the tech did to reactivate my TV service). The last time Comcast used it, they came out the next day to put it on when I had dropped their TV service. Although this was a couple of years ago.



Thanks everyone for your input. I guess there is one true way to find out, drop digital cable and keep Internet and keep fingers crossed.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *danboot* /forum/post/18615423
> 
> 
> Thanks everyone for your input. I guess there is one true way to find out, drop digital cable and keep Internet and keep fingers crossed.



If you're using a modern TV with a built in digital tuner, you should be able to do a cable scan and see all the local channels in DTV and HD. At least in DC, I believe Comcast also moved several of their basic cable channels like CNN to QUAM digital which are still available (albeit with weird channel numbers) if you scan using a digital tuner.


Cable companies act like the only way you can get digital service or HD is with their digital package and a cable box. That isn't true. Even ultra-basic-stripped-down cable service has all the local TV stations and several cable networks available in their digital formats, including HD at no charge. Where you need a digital cable box are only premimum channels, movies, VOD, etc.


One day I caught Comcast in their little deception. I asked if I could subscribe to the stripped-down basic cable for something like $22.00 a month. Reluctantly the rep said I could, but wouldn't I like to see HD channels too? I asked 'couldn't I just get local networks in HD as part of the ultra basic package? She said..well..uh not really. So I replied with, how interesting it is that Comcast is required by the FCC to give me all the local channels in whatever format they broadcast in, as part of any package. After some back-peddling, she said.."Oh, I guess you're right.. apparently you can see the local channels in HD as part of our basic package, but you won't be able to upgrade to HBO, Showtime, or any of our premium packages without a cable box." To which I replied.. "I'll live without your premium packages thanks."


----------



## KLJ




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/18615222
> 
> 
> In our area of the PG County the cost of the internet package alone used to be (and may still be) slightly more than the combined cost of the limited basic plus internet package.



internet alone was costing me about $60. tv/internet is now costing me about $80.. the extra $20 is well worth it to have my tivo working properly..


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast.com has the following HD channels listed for Baltimore City so I guess we'll get these soon.


NBA League Pass / MLS Direct Kick

NHL Center Ice / MLB Extra Innings

NHL Center Ice / MLB Extra Innings 2

TBN

EWTN

WFDC Univision

WZDC Telemundo

WMDO Telefutura


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *winchesterdoug* /forum/post/18610636
> 
> 
> Why Fox doesn't use 45 instead of 46 is beyond me. - I believe that was because of another one of the FCC's stupid decisions in not allowing WBFF to use 45 and giving them 46 instead.



If I recall correctly, WBFF _chose_ 46 as their final channel. Not an FCC decision outright.


----------



## Trip in VA

WBFF elected channel 45 in the first round and was rejected by the FCC, resulting in using 46.


Elected channel 45: https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws...&fac_num=10758 


Disapproved: http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws....ility_id=10758 


Fell back on 46: https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws...&fac_num=10758 


- Trip


----------



## machpost

RCN added WFDC-DT and WMDO-LD to the HD line-up today.


----------



## wmcbrine

I think WRC news is looking pretty good now, especially since they added more interesting backdrops. The one remaining problem is the aspect ratio on non-studio segments, which they screw up constantly. Come on people, it's not that hard.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

Just watched the weather from Newfoundland, CA a minute ago. I'm picking up Canadian channels on 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 this afternoon.


Edit: FM radio too! 107.5 and 106.1 has French on it. All of the empty holes are filling up with stations.


----------



## rkolsen

WBAL had been airing some reports in SD Widescreen earlier this week leading up to the Preakness. I could have sworn they were HD and thought something changed with the bit rate. Apparently they only have 6 cameras capable of SD wide screen. But they are slowly going to move to SD Widescreen in the field and more cameras are on the way. (I wonder if the new cameras are the one's that Hearst just ordered and will the pre taped segments be in HD or SD)


And they are going to produce a live HD Preakness Show from Pimlico from 2:00 - 4:30 Saturday Morning.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/18634602
> 
> 
> Just watched the weather from Newfoundland, CA a minute ago. I'm picking up Canadian channels on 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 this afternoon.
> 
> 
> Edit: FM radio too! 107.5 and 106.1 has French on it. All of the empty holes are filling up with stations.



Anything good on?


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/18634699
> 
> 
> Anything good on?



Lots of Canadian radio and TV to pick from right now. Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and Newfoundland mostly. Even saw a hint of analog on channel 8, so the MUF is pretty high. Gotta get on the road and head to the Baysox game. Maybe I can still pick up some strange stuff in my car on the way over there.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/18633759
> 
> 
> I think WRC news is looking pretty good now, especially since they added more interesting backdrops. The one remaining problem is the aspect ratio on non-studio segments, which they screw up constantly. Come on people, it's not that hard.



Are the bnackdrops HD yet? The few times I noticed them there was no detail to them, so I'm assuming they were SD.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/18638220
> 
> 
> Are the bnackdrops HD yet? The few times I noticed them there was no detail to them, so I'm assuming they were SD.



The back drop looks more like some kind of a screen. (DLP???) Kind of like what "*THE WEATHER CHANNEL*" uses.


----------



## Coolboarder10

To Winchester Doug and all the people in the valley. We need to contact the Fcc again along with Alan at Wbff Fox45 to voice our frustration. I am sick and tired of not getting Fox45 now. And I am even more worried about losing Wrc4 now because of the people at the fcc just giving away the same station frequancies. I can't beleave this is 2010 and we are having this many problems with ota tv. Just think how bad it can get if they start taking back the spectdrum. I will start calling the fcc and fox45 on monday. When I talked to Alan last he told me that they were going to increase the power and were waiting on the fcc for the go ahead. So hopefully they can increase there power now even sooner and get our station back.


----------



## rkolsen




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/18638640
> 
> 
> The back drop looks more like some kind of a screen. (DLP???) Kind of like what "*THE WEATHER CHANNEL*" uses.



It is rear projection but not sure about the specs.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/18638220
> 
> 
> Are the bnackdrops HD yet? The few times I noticed them there was no detail to them, so I'm assuming they were SD.



Yeah, looks like the source material is SD and sometimes stretched.


Not sure why though. The ones on MTP look HD. Maybe that's just the distance to the screens masking it though. The screens on the WRC set are much closer.


Seems like WRC and MSNBC/NBC News could use the same cameras for local shots and just grab the feed when they needed it.


----------



## winchesterdoug

And because of this decision - WAZW-LD - a low power digital station in Winchester is now up and running and using channel 46 - thereby effectively blocking those of us in the valley from ever receiving WBFF Fox 45 out of Baltimore (which, by the way, had been coming in very strong and clear). Thanks FCC! I would be interested in knowing how many people closer to the DC-Maryland area are now blocked from receiving WBFF 45 because of this.


----------



## winchesterdoug

I'm with you Coolboarder - and the ***** about this whole thing is - this low power station broadcasting digitally on channel 46 (which WBFF uses) - is so weak that I have to have my antenna pointed directly at their transmitter or I can't pick it up and it is supposed to be a Winchester station - and I live in Winchester! But even though the station is too weak to effectively receive here - somehow this configuration is blocking WBFF's much stronger signal from reaching many people up and down the valley. It is a really messed up situation. And get this, this same station is STILL broadcasting their analog signal on channel 48 even though their digital signal is up on 46. By still using 48 they continue to block us here from receiving WRC-TV NBC channel 4 in Washington DC which uses 48. This stinks.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rkolsen* /forum/post/18641003
> 
> 
> It is rear projection but not sure about the specs.



I think they boasted that it was a 4K projector.

That said, its not the sharpest picture in the world-still, it way better than the blue blob that used earlier. I have to agree with the earlier post, that they are getting better.

J


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/18644438
> 
> 
> I think they boasted that it was a 4K projector.
> 
> That said, its not the sharpest picture in the world-still, it way better than the blue blob that used earlier. I have to agree with the earlier post, that they are getting better.
> 
> J



They also mentioned on day 1 that it was a Panasonic projector.


----------



## Dave Loudin

We've been through this in excruciating detail. Again, the facts:


* Winchester is outside of WBFF's predicted service area, NO MATTER THE MODEL USED.


* WAZW-LD request for channel 46 was approved because the detailed propagation modeling showed no significant increase of interference to WBFF or any other station.


* The procedure outlined in OET-69 includes "planning factors" that try to account for the typical receiver/antenna setup. These can distort the interference calculations somewhat.


* Redefining the allocation scheme to protect service such as WBFF provides to Winchester would silence many currently-licensed full-service stations.


* WAZW-LD, as a Low Power TV station, is a _secondary_ user of the spectrum, and cannot interfere with _any_ usable service from another station.


Therefore, winchesterdoug, coolboarder, and others _can_ protest WAZW's operations. However, since their reception of WBFF is better than models predict, the FCC may require detailed information in order to figure out what's going on.


If WAZW is forced to move or go silent, this will not extend WBFF's service area. If a full-power station with facilities that meet allocation criteria were to begin operation on 46 in such a way that compromises reception of WBFF in Winchester, then that reception will remain compromised.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

This morning, as promised, Comcast went ahead and encrypted all clear QAM channels that don't fall in the (analog mirrored) basic tier of 11-24, 68, and 70.


My HD Homerun box is now pretty much a paperweight, with the exception of the area's OTA ATSC channels.


I am on the Annapolis system BTW.


Steve


----------



## aaronwt

I see Bob Ryan starts on WJLA today.


----------



## chuck21401




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/18644941
> 
> 
> This morning, as promised, Comcast went ahead and encrypted all clear QAM channels that don't fall in the (analog mirrored) basic tier of 11-24, 68, and 70.
> 
> 
> My HD Homerun box is now pretty much a paperweight, with the exception of the area's OTA ATSC channels.
> 
> 
> I am on the Annapolis system BTW.
> 
> 
> Steve



Yep. Me too. Researching options now.


----------



## URFloorMatt

Anyone want to explain why WTTG drops The Simpsons out of HD every week during the final commercial break? Surely if this was a national issue it would've been brought up in the other forum already.


The weird thing is the HD bug remains even though The Simpsons shifts to 4:3 letterbox.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/18645294
> 
> 
> I see Bob Ryan starts on WJLA today.



My deepest sympathies to WJLA,

J


----------



## Marcus Carr

WBFF no longer drops to SD.


----------



## aptt

I don't understand Ryan jumping to WJLA. That station is only good for picking up talent from other DC stations and CNN because they can't be a great station with the ones they have there now. I mean, how many changes in talent has that station had? I am sorry but I am a News4 watcher and I always will be. Plus Bob Ryan is going to be doing only the 11pm broadcast. I'm asleep by then. Anyway, to more news, according to dcrtv.com it seems former 9 weather caster Kim Martucci will be doing freelance on the weekends at Channel 4. Good for her. 9's loss is 4's gain.


dcrtv.com


----------



## aaronwt

I see Kim Martucci will be doing some weather work for WRC now. what is it, musical weather people?


----------



## Digital Rules

Baltimore's WNUV-54 will start carrying COOL TV beginning 6/1 on 54.2


----------



## dmorack




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/18645799
> 
> 
> Anyone want to explain why WTTG drops The Simpsons out of HD every week during the final commercial break? Surely if this was a national issue it would've been brought up in the other forum already.
> 
> 
> The weird thing is the HD bug remains even though The Simpsons shifts to 4:3 letterbox.



I've been working with WTTG Engineering over the past month or two regarding this same issue. Their diagnosis: "We are receiving faulty network control signals." They appeared to have the problem fixed last week.


Much to my disappointment, I reported the problem again Sunday night. WTTG Engineering responded yesterday saying "We're looking into it."


-Doug


----------



## Digital Rules

Wow, never noticed till tonight how much more detail you can see on WMPT vs WETA. (Same program on both channels) Is it due to compression or 720p vs 1080i?


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/18654511
> 
> 
> Wow, never noticed till tonight how much more detail you can see on WMPT vs WETA. (Same program on both channels) Is it due to compression or 720p vs 1080i?



I've noticed that too. I think its due to 720p Vs. 1080i. I always watch MPT for the same show if showing at the same time.

J


----------



## URFloorMatt

Audio issues tonight on WJLA. Better get that fixed...


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/18288154



The second set of analog channels were removed this morning.


----------



## Digital Rules

WMDO-47.1 is broadcasting in 1080i as of today. Excellent PQ, but I can't imagine they have many viewers with such a low powered signal.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/18665729
> 
> 
> WMDO-47.1 is broadcasting in 1080i as of today. Excellent PQ, but I can't imagine they have many viewers with such a low powered signal.



They will get more when Comcast adds it.


----------



## winchesterdoug

Does anybody know the date when low power TV stations have to switch from analog to digital as mandated by the FCC?


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *winchesterdoug* /forum/post/18668077
> 
> 
> Does anybody know the date when low power TV stations have to switch from analog to digital as mandated by the FCC?



There isn't one.


- Trip


----------



## winchesterdoug

Thank you, and that's a very curious situation.


----------



## mdviewer25

Does anyone else have no audio for WRC 4 on Comcast using a DTA box? It's the only channel that on mute


----------



## Trip in VA

Well, rode up I-81 today. I observed WAZW-LD 46 on the air, but they're broadcasting nothing but null packets--the digital equivalent of dead air. That's why WBFF has disappeared and WAZW-LD has not appeared for anybody.


- Trip


----------



## winchesterdoug

Yes, well WBFF Fox 45 and their sub-channel 45.2 "This TV" which showed older movies are both definitely no longer viewable in the valley as far - as up to Martinsburg, W. Va. from what I can tell. - I too, have noticed that there is nothing being broadcast on WAZW-LD 46.1 - and I can no longer receive WBFF 45 either. I have also noticed that WAZW is still broadcasting their analog signal on channel 48. I still just don't get how this one small low power outfit can be allowed to monopolize all these channels like this. It doesn't seem right.


----------



## URFloorMatt

Kudos to WJLA for failing to bring the Aloha to Lost live, and then failing to bring it from beginning to end because apparently they don't know how to time-delay the five minutes that they ran over from 12:30 until 12:35.


And then, thanks for not bringing it in HD. Not that it matters since their HD always looks like garbage anyway.


What an affiliate. Are we really in a top ten DMA? You'd never know.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/18679071
> 
> 
> Kudos to WJLA for failing to bring the Aloha to Lost live, and then failing to bring it from beginning to end because apparently they don't know how to time-delay the five minutes that they ran over from 12:30 until 12:35.
> 
> 
> And then, thanks for not bringing it in HD. Not that it matters since their HD always looks like garbage anyway.
> 
> 
> What an affiliate. Are we really in a top ten DMA? You'd never know.



That's unfortunate. I guess I'll just be able to see what's there and then try again on Saturday when they are rebroadcasting it after the rebroadcast of the finale.


----------



## Coolboarder10

I'm right there with you thought for thought Winchesterdoug. I am waiting for the fcc to send me some complaint forms and am hoping for the best. I also tired to find out when and if Wbff45 will increase there power.

So Winchesterdoug you can't recieve Wrc4 at all anymore?

And when will WAZW-LD 46.1 actually start broadcasting?


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aptt* /forum/post/18646160
> 
> 
> I don't understand Ryan jumping to WJLA.
> 
> 
> 
> dcrtv.com




I can gue$$ why he'd do that.....


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/18679071
> 
> 
> Kudos to WJLA for failing to bring the Aloha to Lost live, and then failing to bring it from beginning to end because apparently they don't know how to time-delay the five minutes that they ran over from 12:30 until 12:35.



WJLA aired the same thing from 0035-0135 that WMAR aired from 0005-0105. And it aired the same way later on out west.



> Quote:
> And then, thanks for not bringing it in HD.



But yeah, showing it in SD was lame.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

I knew WJLA would screw it up. Be glad they even showed "Kimmel" (recall they were the last major ABC affiliate to even air his show) vs. an infomercial.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mkfs* /forum/post/18682188
> 
> 
> I can gue$$ why he'd do that.....



It looks like more people will be headed to WJLA from other local stations if Allbritton gets his way.


----------



## aptt

Speaking of which from DCRTV.com:


7 Wants Czarniak, Gentzler - 5/25 - DCRTV hears from an inside source at Channel 7/ WJLA that station owner Robert Allbritton has the checkbook open and is ready to "bury" longtime DC TV news leader Channel 4/WRC "by buying away their talent." He is willing to pay big bucks to nab both Lindsay Czarniak and Doreen Gentzler when their contracts come due at the NBC station - Czarniak's this summer. With Gentzler up for renewal in two years, she could be wooed with a $1 million Allbritton offer, we're told. Allbritton just stole Bob Ryan from 4 for a rumored $600,000 a year.....


----------



## CycloneGT

I watched Metropolitan Opera Carmen on WMPT last night. Real nice. I let the kids stay up to 11pm to watch.


Good thing, I had missed it on WETA last weekend.


----------



## luv4skating

Which is better for the money??


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aptt* /forum/post/18688721
> 
> 
> Speaking of which from DCRTV.com:
> 
> 
> 7 Wants Czarniak, Gentzler - 5/25 - DCRTV hears from an inside source at Channel 7/ WJLA that station owner Robert Allbritton has the checkbook open and is ready to "bury" longtime DC TV news leader Channel 4/WRC "by buying away their talent." He is willing to pay big bucks to nab both Lindsay Czarniak and Doreen Gentzler when their contracts come due at the NBC station - Czarniak's this summer. With Gentzler up for renewal in two years, she could be wooed with a $1 million Allbritton offer, we're told. Allbritton just stole Bob Ryan from 4 for a rumored $600,000 a year.....



From what I hear, WRC didn't renew Ryan's contract so his non-compete wasn't enforceable. Apparently Ryan is a friend of Doug Hill, so Doug wanted to firm up their weather on channel 7 through the 11 by putting Ryan there. It looks good on paper, but unless something falls into your lap as this apparently did, poaching talent from the market leader in an attempt to jump start ratings is a dubious strategy which backfires more than not.


Most viewers stick with what they know. If they're used to getting their local news from a particular station, that's where they go, even if there is a slight talent shuffle elsewhere in the market. WRC, like many NBC affiliated stations when NBC as a network was top dog a while back, benefit by that viewer habit.


To me having recently come into the market, I don't get it. DC is market #5, but I've seen stations in markets 50+ that have better local news than this town has, WRC included in that critique. Of course I don't mean that as some personal attack against any talent in the market, I've just watched a lot of local newscasts over the past 20 years. Mailing-it-in seems to be the norm, and the local FOX affiliate, trying to be hip and flashy, to me looks to be trying to circumvent lack of actual journalism skills with flashy graphics and sound. Although to be fair, channel 5 has taken on the standard FOX affiliate news format and look. They probably can't tweak it too much.


----------



## Marcus Carr

New HD channels on Comcast in Baltimore this morning:


Team HD

Game HD

ESPNU HD

Big Ten HD

NHL HD

MLB HD

Tennis HD

Outdoor HD (SD also)


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/18695765
> 
> 
> 
> 
> To me having recently come into the market, I don't get it. DC is market #5, but I've seen stations in markets 50+ that have better local news than this town has, WRC included in that critique. Of course I don't mean that as some personal attack against any talent in the market, I've just watched a lot of local newscasts over the past 20 years. Mailing-it-in seems to be the norm, and the local FOX affiliate, trying to be hip and flashy, to me looks to be trying to circumvent lack of actual journalism skills with flashy graphics and sound. Although to be fair, channel 5 has taken on the standard FOX affiliate news format and look. They probably can't tweak it too much.



I have to agree. Local news isn't what it used to be here.

J


----------



## kadeeu




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/18644941
> 
> 
> This morning, as promised, Comcast went ahead and encrypted all clear QAM channels that don't fall in the (analog mirrored) basic tier of 11-24, 68, and 70.
> 
> 
> My HD Homerun box is now pretty much a paperweight, with the exception of the area's OTA ATSC channels.
> 
> 
> I am on the Annapolis system BTW.
> 
> 
> Steve



Comcast of Montgomery just did the same thing yesterday. That was the one thing keeping me from going satellite or FIOS, but now that I need a box for every TV there is no difference.


----------



## voltore




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/18695765
> 
> 
> To me having recently come into the market, I don't get it. DC is market #5, but I've seen stations in markets 50+ that have better local news than this town has, WRC included in that critique. Of course I don't mean that as some personal attack against any talent in the market, I've just watched a lot of local newscasts over the past 20 years.



DC is #9 having slipped 1 a couple of years ago, although still a Top 10 market.


This is a very tricky market as MD viewers don't care about VA and v.v. No one seems to care about DC and it has a very high transient population who don't know where PG County is and will move out in 3 years still happy to not know where PG county is.....


----------



## aaronwt

When I was traveling around the country I thought most local news I saw was crap compared to this area. This area also seems to be more serious about the news too. Many other places were so bad that it caused uncontrollable laughter. They were like something out of a comedy skit or movie.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/18697000
> 
> 
> When I was traveling around the country I thought most local news I saw was crap compared to this area. This area also seems to be more serious about the news too. Many other places were so bad that it caused uncontrollable laughter. They were like something out of a comedy skit or movie.



I mostly agree with this, but consider that of all the cities in America, DC is no doubt either the first or second most prolific for organic news to develop, thanks to it being the seat of government. It surprises me how often the local broadcasters focus on trivial news items, though I understand that they can't really compete with Fox News and MSNBC sucking up all the oxygen on this front.


But even still, WRC is a shell of its former self. It used to be a formidable news organization in its own right, but NBCU budget cuts have taken a noticeable toll. WTTG is a tabloid affair. It's poor coverage and mostly sensationalized; it is by far the weakest of the four local stations, and what I would consider typical of a local news operation in this country.


The reality is most people turn to their news station for weather and traffic updates, and any idiot can run a news broadcast competent enough to deliver that information frequently and effectively. Serious or investigative journalism is simply no longer within the reach of local news broadcasts.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *voltore* /forum/post/18696668
> 
> 
> 
> This is a very tricky market as MD viewers don't care about VA and v.v. No one seems to care about DC and it has a very high transient population who don't know where PG County is and will move out in 3 years still happy to not know where PG county is.....



Yea, that sounds about right. That said, NOVA is still clearly favored by all of the stations. Heaven forbid, if a storm comes and blows over a bush in an affluent neighborhood in VA, all channels send a crew over to camp out and report on it for days.









I know where PG county is. Kind of wished I didn't...

J


----------



## jeepmon




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/18697372
> 
> 
> I mostly agree with this, but consider that of all the cities in America, DC is no doubt either the first or second most prolific for organic news to develop, thanks to it being the seat of government. It surprises me how often the local broadcasters focus on trivial news items, though I understand that they can't really compete with Fox News and MSNBC sucking up all the oxygen on this front.
> 
> 
> But even still, WRC is a shell of its former self. It used to be a formidable news organization in its own right, but NBCU budget cuts have taken a noticeable toll. WTTG is a tabloid affair. It's poor coverage and mostly sensationalized; it is by far the weakest of the four local stations, and what I would consider typical of a local news operation in this country.
> 
> 
> The reality is most people turn to their news station for weather and traffic updates, and any idiot can run a news broadcast competent enough to deliver that information frequently and effectively. Serious or investigative journalism is simply no longer within the reach of local news broadcasts.



I used to watch WTTG news until it became "All American Idol News". Switched over to WRC and it was good. Then annoying Mousy Spencer shows up - ugh!! Adding insult to injury was Kimberly Suiters - I believe she is probably one of the most condescending people I've ever seen, she tries to be syrupy sweet, but it doesn't work. Jim Vance, on the other hand, is greaaat!!


----------



## winchesterdoug

Coolboarder- I am afraid that we may have lost reception of WBFF Fox 45 for good- as the FCC rules on all this are so convoluted. - WAZW-LD is now on the air and broadcasting on channel 46 which is the exact same channel that WBFF Fox 45 uses. I am not able to get WTTG Fox 5 out of Washington because of extremely tall and thick trees behind my house (the neighbor's trees) blocking line-of-sight digital signals from the southeast (Washington area signals) - with analog signals these trees were never a problem- but these new digital signals are "finicky" and hard-to-receive. So much for progress - right? I have scored a bit of a break though, - because here in Winchester - Harrisonburg Va. ABC-TV affiliate WHSV-TV 3 - has just started operating a translator on Signal Knob mountain in Strasburg, Va. which is beaming OTA signals to Winchester of ABC-TV channel 3.1, Fox TV Network is on sub-channel 3.2 and they have My Network TV on sub-channel 3.4 - so I at least have a Fox channel I can watch now. Thank God. - But the signal for the WHSV-TV sub-channels is extremely low - just 1 KW of power - yep, 1 KW - so I had to buy another small UHF antenna and mount it on the bottom of my main antenna's mast and point it toward Strasburg, Va. - to the south of me. But at least I have my Fox network back now - since I can no longer view Fox 45 out of Baltimore. This has all been such a royal pain in the butt.


----------



## aaronwt

I can't watch WRC anymore because of that crappy background. It looks like crap. If you are going to show outside scenery in an HD broadcast you should make sure it doesn't look like an SD mess.

A solid colored background would be infinitely better top look at.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*45's Newscast To Air On 54* - 5/27 - Baltimore's Sinclair-owned Channel 45/WBFF's 11 PM "Late Edition" newscast will re-air 90 minutes later, at 12:30 AM, on Sinclair-operated Channel 54/WNUV.....

http://dcrtv.com/


----------



## Coolboarder10

Winchesterdoug

That is great news for you. I am glad something good has come of this for someone. But what about Wrc Nbc4? Can you still get there channel?


----------



## winchesterdoug

No, I cannot get WRC-TV NBC 4 - even though it is a strong signal - about 800 KW - because that damned WAZW-CA is STILL broadcasting their analog signal on channel 48 - which is the SAME channel that WRC-TV NBC uses in Washington. Who is in charge and making decisions at the FCC anyway?? There is no way in hell that this one little low power TV station should be monopolizing all these different channels - with the exact SAME content - and blocking out all these full-power network stations. And I don't CARE if it is because of some "service contour map" of perceived reception areas or not - which is what everybody keeps telling me - the reality is - that these stations ARE received over much broader population areas - and sometimes just plain common sense SHOULD prevail. Oh sorry- I forgot - we are dealing with a government agency - so common sense just goes out the window. It is all so damn ridiculous.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*CEI signed to help upgrade Comcast SportsNet facility to HD*


May 28, 2010 10:14 AM, By Michael Grotticelli


System design and integration firm Communications Engineering (CEI) has been selected by Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic to upgrade and expand Comcast SportsNet's Bethesda, MD, studio and news facilities HD capability. *The HD upgrade project will be completed by September and enhance the original programming that originates from the studio*, as well as improve the functionality of the facility.


The Comcast SportsNet project, which involves work in many different areas of the facility (from studio to transmission), will include upgrades to the production control room and studio, two additional master control rooms, equipment core area, transmission system and additional edit suites.


Under terms of the new agreement, CEI will handle final design, equipment procurement, systems integration, installation, testing, training and overall project management for the HD upgrade and expansion.


The key elements of the project include Apple Final Cut Pro edit systems; Chyron Hyperx3 character generators and Cameo graphics management; Click Effects HD clip server system; Fingerworks telestrator; Fujinon HD lenses; Harris waveform monitors, terminal equipment, Velocity edit systems, Nexio Volt servers and NetVX HD encoders; Image Video tally system; Miranda Master Control Switching, NVision Routing and Kaleido-X multi-image processors; Panther Trixy and Vario Jib; and Sony MVS8000 switcher, HXC HD cameras, test monitors and professional displays.


Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic is the official television partner of the Washington Redskins, Washington Capitals, Washington Wizards, D.C. United, Atlantic Coast Conference and Colonial Athletic Association. The regional sports network delivers more than 500 live sporting events per year, along with Emmy Award-winning news, analysis and entertainment programming, to more than 4.7 million homes throughout the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia, as well as parts of West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

http://broadcastengineering.com/news...-upgrade-0528/


----------



## Marcus Carr

*New HD 'RavensVision' boards to debut at M&T Bank Stadium this weekend*


May 28, 2010 - When fans flock to M&T Bank Stadium for the NCAA men's lacrosse Final Four this weekend, they will be able to view the action like never before.


That's thanks to the addition of the new $7 million, high definition "RavensVision" boards, which were unveiled at a news conference on Thursday. The boards are located above the lower deck at the east and west ends of the facility, which is also home of the NFL's Baltimore Ravens.


We tested RavensVision earlier this week, and the picture quality is spectacular, said Larry Rosen, the Ravens' vice president of broadcasting, in a statement. Our boards already receive a lot of attention because of their locations in the lower bowl. We think the quality of these pictures will match the best of any high def TV. The visual is stunning.


Each RavensVision screen measures 24 feet high and 100 feet wide. Those dimensions would equal a 1,234-inch diagonal TV screen. It would take 600 37-inch flat screen TVs to equal one of these giant LED (light emitting diode) boards. Nearly 2.5 million individual LEDs provide the image on the two screens, allowing the highest quality pictures in the brightest sunlight and at night events.


The Ravens and the Maryland Stadium Authority shared the costs of the new boards.


The MSA is pleased that our partnership with the Ravens made it possible to develop this state of the art video board system to enhance not only the NFL fan experience, but also for the many others who visit the stadium year round, said Michael Frenz, MSA's executive director, in a statement. M&T Bank Stadium is a revenue-generating asset of the state, and the MSA is committed to keeping it in the top tier of facilities nationwide.


One of the reasons these new boards were installed is that repair parts for the previous SmartVision screens, installed in 1998, have become obsolete.


Our continued investment at M&T Bank Stadium is to enhance our fans' game-day experience and to attract more non-Ravens events, Ravens team president Dick Cass said. We work to create an environment that is more compelling than a fan's staying at home and watching our games on television. RavensVision will be a significant part of our presentation. We're excited for our fans and others to see these dramatic video boards.


Cass also noted that the NFL's very popular Red Zone television package will be included in the video presentation during games. Red Zone features live and taped feeds of every score made by NFL teams.


The RavensVision boards were developed and produced by Daktronics. Other stadiums that feature the Daktronics' HD-X boards include the new stadium at the Meadowlands, home of the NFL's N.Y. Giants and Jets, as well as the homes of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Indianapolis Colts and baseball teams like the Minnesota Twins, Arizona Diamondbacks and the New York Mets.


A new control room that can allow the high def boards to work at peak quality is now being installed at M&T Bank Stadium by Diversified Systems. Integrating the control room with RavensVision is the Baltimore-based Video Production Company.


Also announced is that more than 500 Sony flat screen, high definition televisions are also being installed throughout M&T Bank Stadium.


SOURCE: Baltimore Ravens

http://www.corridorinc.com/corridor-...m-this-weekend


----------



## jgantert

So, anyone picking up 21.1 (WDDN-DT)? I picked it up steady this morning in Columbia, MD but can't seem to now. Anyone know anything about this? I only see web references to WDDN-LP which is analog 23, but I was picking up 21.1 on digital 21.


BTW, at the time it was broadcasting it was the Daystar TV network.


-John


----------



## Trip in VA

WDDN-LD transmits on channel 22 and seems to be mapping to 21-1, though I had thought they were supposed to be mapping to 23-1.


- Trip


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/18706834
> 
> 
> WDDN-LD transmits on channel 22 and seems to be mapping to 21-1, though I had thought they were supposed to be mapping to 23-1.



You're right it was frequency 22 (not 21), but it was on 21.1. Have they been broadcasting long in digital, or was it just a fluke that I was able to pick them up yesterday?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/18708258
> 
> 
> You're right it was frequency 22 (not 21), but it was on 21.1. Have they been broadcasting long in digital, or was it just a fluke that I was able to pick them up yesterday?



They've been on for a few weeks now. The PSIP is all over the place though. My Samsung shows it as 22.1 & Zenith converter as 23.1.


----------



## REDSKINSFAN47




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/18708418
> 
> 
> They've been on for a few weeks now. The PSIP is all over the place though. My Samsung shows it as 22.1 & Zenith converter as 23.1.



my samsung picked up this channel on 22-1 and 8-1,it is now gone compleatly

mpt was at 42-1 and 22-2 and 22-3


----------



## Frankie20




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/18706747
> 
> 
> So, anyone picking up 21.1 (WDDN-DT)? I picked it up steady this morning in Columbia, MD but can't seem to now. Anyone know anything about this? I only see web references to WDDN-LP which is analog 23, but I was picking up 21.1 on digital 21.
> 
> 
> BTW, at the time it was broadcasting it was the Daystar TV network.
> 
> 
> -John



WDDN-LD been announcing for a while now that they were going to switch to digital (the analog was on channel 23). My Insignia converter is showing WDDN-LO on 22 or virtual channel 23.1. It should be noted that this is a low-power digital station, so it's not surprising your only receiving it from time-to-time. I'm in Greenbelt and even tho I'm only 10.8 miles from the tower with my antenna pointed at them, I'm getting the channel at about 50% strength...


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Frankie20* /forum/post/18710451
> 
> 
> It should be noted that this is a low-power digital station, so it's not surprising your only receiving it from time-to-time.



You're not kidding it's weak. RF 22 from Richmond is walking all over WDDN tonight & I'm only 8 miles away.


----------



## djp952

I had 22 today for a while (Elkridge, MD) with my D.C. antenna, but it croaked after dusk. I'll post a TSReader for it the next time it's working. If I recall, the PSIP was set to 23.x on it today.


----------



## jgantert

Actually, turns out I am still picking it up, but they switched to 23.1. I had to manually tune my Tivo to get it. So, why would they keep changing the PSIP info?


----------



## Frankie20

You guys know that WDDN is a religious channel...


----------



## REDSKINSFAN47




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/18710771
> 
> 
> You're not kidding it's weak. RF 22 from Richmond is walking all over WDDN tonight & I'm only 8 miles away.



is rf 22 from richmond channel 8-1


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *REDSKINSFAN47* /forum/post/18712416
> 
> 
> is rf 22 from richmond channel 8-1



Yes


----------



## albertso

Looks like COMCAST MOCO has scrambled most of the channels that they have removed from the analog tier. A few are still available via QAM tuners, but the large majority are gone. And now the little box with only an RF output is mandatory. Oh well...


----------



## pclement




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/18653812
> 
> 
> Baltimore's WNUV-54 will start carrying COOL TV beginning 6/1 on 54.2



I did not see a 54-2 as of 6:30 this morning. Did this actually happen?


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pclement* /forum/post/18716015
> 
> 
> I did not see a 54-2 as of 6:30 this morning. Did this actually happen?



Not yet (as of right now 5:20pm)...


----------



## Digital Rules

Looks like Cool TV is on the air in only 5 markets so far.


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/18711435
> 
> 
> Actually, turns out I am still picking it up, but they switched to 23.1. I had to manually tune my Tivo to get it. So, why would they keep changing the PSIP info?



I decided I should test my HP TV with my attic antenna on WDDN-LD.

I set the tv to 21-1 and at 11:am this morning I made an RF connection, but there was no program. I checked for signal strength and the reading was 100 %.

I checked for information and received this report:

"7:03 AM June 1 Tue NO Signal English WDDN-LD No Rating Digital AIR 21-1"


The clock was running as it changed to 7:04 and then 7:05 before I switched channels. I checked again at 2:00 PM and 8:00 PM and only the time changed, still 4 hours off.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pclement* /forum/post/18716015
> 
> 
> I did not see a 54-2 as of 6:30 this morning. Did this actually happen?



As of 6:15 AM on June 2nd, still no 54.2. No Cool TV subchannels have been added in Richmond either.


----------



## Frankie20

Cool TV is probably going to start within May but not on a specific date...


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/18719211
> 
> 
> As of 6:15 AM on June 2nd, still no 54.2. No Cool TV subchannels have been added in Richmond either.



Nor SE VA...


----------



## Trip in VA

A source tells me July 1, but I'm not sure how reliable that is.


- Trip


----------



## Jimmy

Is anybody on here an early adaptor of 3D? Comcast (ESPN), reportedly, is to show some World Cup games in 3D, like the Masters was. It is supposed to start on June 11th but I haven't seen anything from Comcast about it. I have a Panasonic 58VT25 coming on June 12. I went through the early HD years and DirecTV. Now I will be an early bleeder for 3D.


----------



## solman989

I just lost WDCA 20 a couple days ago (OTA signal strength excellent) on my Windows media center but can still receive it on the TV's tuner. Anybody else running media center able to receive this channel? Trying to figure out if something at the station changed or if it's just my setup. The other channels work fine.


----------



## machpost

Does anyone know if WFDC-DT actually broadcasts any programming in HD? This channel was just added to our cable lineup and I have yet to see anything that isn't 4:3 SD on there. Univision HD would be nice to have for the World Cup.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/18724093
> 
> 
> Does anyone know if WFDC-DT actually broadcasts any programming in HD? on there.



Yes, they do 1080i HD OTA.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *albertso* /forum/post/18713772
> 
> 
> Looks like COMCAST MOCO has scrambled most of the channels that they have removed from the analog tier. A few are still available via QAM tuners, but the large majority are gone. And now the little box with only an RF output is mandatory. Oh well...



My Dad in Loudoun County just told me that commiecast did that to him this AM when he woke up to his expanded basic lineup via QAM.


I have to see it for myself this weekend when I visit but that's bad news since we tried that commiecast box earlier in the year & it didn't provide a decent picture @ all even for the locals.


Speaking of rf output on that box, why can't we still get the locals in HD via the box?


----------



## leroybrown

QAM went away for me in Ashburn this morning as well. NFL and NBA networks are still on though


----------



## biker19

Does anyone use an MCE PC with a QAM tuner with Cox cable?


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *leroybrown* /forum/post/18724703
> 
> 
> QAM went away for me in Ashburn this morning as well. NFL and NBA networks are still on though



Boo for you too.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *solman989* /forum/post/18723593
> 
> 
> I just lost WDCA 20 a couple days ago (OTA signal strength excellent) on my Windows media center but can still receive it on the TV's tuner. Anybody else running media center able to receive this channel? Trying to figure out if something at the station changed or if it's just my setup. The other channels work fine.



I see the same problem, but the data looks correct. The Guide data is still showing it on UHF 35, with a virtual channel number of 20.1.


Media Center is pretty finicky, it could be that WDCA's PSIP information is messed up today. If I get a chance later, I'll look into this more, but I think we're headed out for the evening and I won't get a chance. Just wanted to let you know that I can't tune it with Media Center either, it's not something wrong on your end.


I can also diff the last couple guide data files to see if something in there did change that I usually don't look for.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/18724478
> 
> 
> Yes, they do 1080i HD OTA.



Thanks. I've noticed that WFDC is broadcasting 1080i on 14.1, but I haven't noticed any Univision programming on that channel in actual HD yet.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/18727378
> 
> 
> Thanks. I've noticed that WFDC is broadcasting 1080i on 14.1, but I haven't noticed any Univision programming on that channel in actual HD yet.



Some prime time programming & commercials are in HD. Still see lots of SD.


----------



## solman989




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/18727019
> 
> 
> Just wanted to let you know that I can't tune it with Media Center either, it's not something wrong on your end.
> 
> 
> I can also diff the last couple guide data files to see if something in there did change that I usually don't look for.



Good to know, thanks.


----------



## DRal




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/18725170
> 
> 
> Does anyone use an MCE PC with a QAM tuner with Cox cable?



Biker I have Windows Media Center with QAM tuner. I live in Fairfax.


----------



## SUOrangeman

Cox Cable via HDHomeRun into 7MC (Annandale)


-SUO


----------



## jorwex

My 1 year $29.99/mo promo Digital Starter Comcast deal is expiring in a month for Baltimore and I'm looking for other deals.


I keep getting some very tempting Dish Network ads in the mail, but I've never had satellite before. Our row home has large dish on the roof (I've been told by a contractor that it says DirecTV on it), larger than the ones you see on the sides of houses sometimes...


But anyway, my hesitation is that I don't know how much of an issue weather related drop outs are in our area (downtown Baltimore). It's not like we're in teh southwest and there's dust kicking up everywhere cuz of wind. Will we lose reception regularly?


I apologize if this is not the appropriate place to ask the question.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jorwex* /forum/post/18734472
> 
> 
> I keep getting some very tempting Dish Network ads in the mail, but I've never had satellite before. Our row home has large dish on the roof (I've been told by a contractor that it says DirecTV on it), larger than the ones you see on the sides of houses sometimes...
> 
> 
> But anyway, my hesitation is that I don't know how much of an issue weather related drop outs are in our area (downtown Baltimore). It's not like we're in the southwest and there's dust kicking up everywhere cuz of wind. Will we lose reception regularly?



I live in Bowie and the times when we've had weather dropouts were when there were really fierce thunderstorms in the area. I don't recall any other times.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *solman989* /forum/post/18723593
> 
> 
> I just lost WDCA 20 a couple days ago (OTA signal strength excellent) on my Windows media center but can still receive it on the TV's tuner. Anybody else running media center able to receive this channel? Trying to figure out if something at the station changed or if it's just my setup. The other channels work fine.



I poked around, and I can't figure out why WDCA isn't working. I re-ran TV setup on my desktop PC, and it works just fine. I see nothing implicitly wrong with the Media Center channel information, or anything notably different between my existing HTPC channel info and my refreshed desktop PC channel info. The PSIP on the channel seems fine. Media Center tunes the proper channel fine. It's just not working.


You can try re-running TV setup, I guess. I'm going to wait a while longer since I also have FiOS and setting up Media Center for all those channels and tuners isn't worth the hassle for me










Let me know if you do get it working again!


----------



## mdviewer25

Anyone else picking up WMDT 47 from Salisbury? I'm getting a good signal with just a few breakups. I know it won't last though and it will be gone tomorrow with the return of the sun. Why can't they be as strong as WBOC which is there almost all the time now? Also, WJZ has a better signal than WBAL. Whatever signal WJZ is transmitting WBAL needs to copy it.


----------



## mdviewer25

I knew it was too good to be true. While I was typing, a bunch of planes flew overhead going to Andrews Air Force Base and scrambled the picture. I'll probably never get WMDT back the rest of the night.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/18736044
> 
> 
> I knew it was too good to be true. While I was typing, a bunch of planes flew overhead going to Andrews Air Force Base and scrambled the picture. I'll probably never get WMDT back the rest of the night.



Came back just as strong as WBOC at 57%. Most likely will disappear tomorrow when the tropo is gone


----------



## solman989




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/18735693
> 
> 
> You can try re-running TV setup, I guess. I'm going to wait a while longer since I also have FiOS and setting up Media Center for all those channels and tuners isn't worth the hassle for me
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Let me know if you do get it working again!



You know, I also re-ran TV setup with no luck. I have sort of given up and will just wait it out and see. In the meantime, its back to the built-in tuner for WDCA...no timeshifting


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast will add ESPN 3D in Baltimore.

http://www.pressboxonline.com/story.cfm?id=6253


----------



## DRal

Ok I have a cable tv's with QAM tuner and tv tuner in my computer with QAM tuner. We do not have cable but we get all the OTA channels, plus channels 2-55 plus MASN, BRAVO, ABCFamily and HBO and Cinemax. Now here is something that is interesting, a friend of mine who lives literally 1 mile away does not get these channels with his QAM tuner. We both have Cox for internet.


Does it make sense that I get these channels and he does not?


----------



## pmturcotte

Sorry if this is a repeat question in this thread but the pop-up ads now completely block my use of the search function...


But why is the WUSA weather radar sub-channel (9-2 on DTV) not in HD - I get them via a good rooftop antenna? It says it is HD but its clearly not. When I was watching WUSA on 9-1 last night it was clear that the weather radar is *available* in HD but it is not broadcast that way on 9-2.


Again if this has been discussed, my apologies, but I cannot use the search function.


----------



## PaulGo

It would take up too much of the available bandwidth and degrade the picture quality of 9-1.


----------



## Blue123




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *solman989* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> You know, I also re-ran TV setup with no luck. I have sort of given up and will just wait it out and see. In the meantime, its back to the built-in tuner for WDCA...no timeshifting



I lost WDCA (20.1) last week, even though 7MC indicates a full signal. Running setup again didn't fix it.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Blue123* /forum/post/18742790
> 
> 
> I lost WDCA (20.1) last week, even though 7MC indicates a full signal. Running setup again didn't fix it.



I still can't figure this one out myself. It's working fine on my desktop through the same HDHomeRun tuner that the other machines use. I'm getting WCDA over-the-air same as you guys.


I'll take another look at the guide data. It has to be something screwy in there.


Hopefully this is OK for this thread, I think it's relevant enough to continue discussing, but if anyone disagrees, PM me and I'll stop and PM the other folks if I figure this out


edit: I still can't find anything wrong with the guide data, I'm going to ask SiliconDust to have a look at what my 2 different machines are doing to my HDHomeRuns, maybe they can help determine why one works and one doesn't. I'm recording a debug session for them now.


Attachment: WDCA working on my Win7 x64 Desktop. Doesn't work anywhere else.


----------



## TheKrell




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pmturcotte* /forum/post/18742103
> 
> 
> But why is the WUSA weather radar sub-channel (9-2 on DTV) not in HD... It says it is HD but its clearly not.



Darn good question. I guess they started promoting it before they were ready.


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PaulGo* /forum/post/18742746
> 
> 
> It would take up too much of the available bandwidth and degrade the picture quality of 9-1.



I have two comments:


1) Ha! That never stopped anybody before.

2) It's a computerized weather radar picture only. I'll bet it can be compressed down to a tiny stream possibly no bigger in HD than the current analog capture.


----------



## SUOrangeman

UnivisionHD appeared on Cox-Fairfax recently (as far as I can tell). Copa de Mundial? (I'm sure I butchered that; it's been years since I last played FIFA '97.)


-SUO


----------



## PaulGo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TheKrell* /forum/post/18744475
> 
> 
> Darn good question. I guess they started promoting it before they were ready. I have two comments:
> 
> 
> 1) Ha! That never stopped anybody before.
> 
> 2) It's a computerized weather radar picture only. I'll bet it can be compressed down to a tiny stream possibly no bigger in HD than the current analog capture.



9-2 is already digital and compressed.


----------



## machpost

9-1 already looks pretty bad.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *leroybrown* /forum/post/18724703
> 
> 
> QAM went away for me in Ashburn this morning as well. NFL and NBA networks are still on though



We lost QAM on the 15th here in MoCo. Oddly, they left the digital versions of all the analog channels we get and they left Universal HD for some reason.

I'm so disgusted with Comcast.

J


----------



## Blue123




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/18744283
> 
> 
> I still can't figure this one out myself. It's working fine on my desktop through the same HDHomeRun tuner that the other machines use. I'm getting WCDA over-the-air same as you guys.
> 
> 
> I'll take another look at the guide data. It has to be something screwy in there.
> 
> 
> Hopefully this is OK for this thread, I think it's relevant enough to continue discussing, but if anyone disagrees, PM me and I'll stop and PM the other folks if I figure this out
> 
> 
> edit: I still can't find anything wrong with the guide data, I'm going to ask SiliconDust to have a look at what my 2 different machines are doing to my HDHomeRuns, maybe they can help determine why one works and one doesn't. I'm recording a debug session for them now.
> 
> 
> Attachment: WDCA working on my Win7 x64 Desktop. Doesn't work anywhere else.



Just FYI - I'm using Hauppauge HVR-1850 cards, so it's probably not your HDHR.


----------



## Albireo

To whom it may concern:


I have been posting on the Harrisburg HDTV thread regarding new and pending translators that conflict with existing neighboring stations.


In brief, I live at the intersection of the Harrisburg, Baltimore, and Washington DMAs, roughly 3 miles north of the Mason Dixon line in Pennsylvania. This area is a sweet spot for receiving OTA television but I am noticing an alarming trend that is chipping away at the available stations.


I used to enjoy WTTG for its 10pm evening news. However, thanks to the DTV transition there are now two stations sharing channel 36 that are merely ~100 miles apart (WITF and WTTG). I can only speculate that this was a result of poor planning by the FCC as there are other channel assignments that could have been made to prevent this conflict.


As difficult as losing WTTG was, I am now faced with losing other channels due to the addition of nearby translators.


Just recently, WITF added a translator near Chambersburg PA (W38AN) and has put this translator on channel 33, which happens to be the same bandwidth occupied by WHUT (Washington DC). What happened when this translator was turned on? You guessed it, I completely lost WHUT, a signal that used to be solid. The worst part about it is the fact that WITF (36) is one of the strongest signals to begin with from my location, so as to why the FCC allowed this translator I am completely dumbfounded.


On the pending list, WGAL has proposed a translator in Carlisle, PA on Channel 27, the very same bandwidth occupied by my favorite channel, WETA in Washington DC. WGAL's signal in my location (Mason Dixon line) is very strong (VHF 8) and I am blown away that there are people having trouble receiving the station. I suspect that people are refusing to install VHF antennas and are complaining and WGAL is making irrational requests for up to 6 translators to help calm the masses. The real problem is that the FCC might be too eager to approve such requests without thoroughly reviewing the ramifications of the neighboring viewers. I really don't want to lose WETA, so I am very concerned about this.


Bottom line is that there are many people in south-central PA that prefer to receive Baltimore / DC channels over Harrisburg channels (I know this by simply driving around and looking at tv antenna orientations) and the new translator requests are threatening to derail the traditional broadcast TV model and limit the viewers' choices.


I have submitted my feedback to the FCC directly but have not received any feedback to date. I would encourage others that are impacted by new/pending translators to contact the FCC and share your experiences.


On a positive note, on Sunday, June 6, I locked in Channel 12 (WWBT) out of Richmond, VA. It was at around 7:30am and the EM conditions must have been just right. The distance between WWBT and my house is roughly 160 miles! Needless to say, I was absolutely amazed to be watching the weather forecast for Richmond/Norfolk from my Pennsylvania television. For those interested, my setup includes a Winegard YA-1713 and Channel Master CM-3023 mounted at roughly 50 feet. I also just installed a Clearstream 4 oriented towards Baltimore to pick up the channels in that DMA without having to rotate my antenna. Thanks to Dish Network providing me with my Harrisburg DMA channels (for free), I can now receive all 3 DMAs without having to rotate my antenna! I am thrilled with this setup.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Albireo* /forum/post/18747347
> 
> 
> I can only speculate that this was a result of poor planning by the FCC as there are other channel assignments that could have been made to prevent this conflict.



I'd be interested to know what your alternate channel assignments are.



> Quote:
> The worst part about it is the fact that WITF (36) is one of the strongest signals to begin with from my location, so as to why the FCC allowed this translator I am completely dumbfounded.



Because people in Chambersburg cannot receive the main WITF signal despite being in the Harrisburg DMA. I was there last week and with my Silver Sensor + amp outdoors, no sign of WITF-36.



> Quote:
> WGAL's signal in my location (Mason Dixon line) is very strong (VHF 8) and I am blown away that there are people having trouble receiving the station.



Is that on an outdoor or indoor antenna?



> Quote:
> I suspect that people are refusing to install VHF antennas and are complaining and WGAL is making irrational requests for up to 6 translators to help calm the masses.



I sincerely doubt WGAL wants to spend the money to build out six UHF translators. I suspect what will happen is they'll light up channel 49 in Harrisburg, find that it resolves most of their problems, and leave it at that. If people can get WITF at 50 kW, I imagine they'll get WGAL-49 at 15 kW without too much trouble.


They were likely filed "just in case." Plus it keeps anyone else from using those channels until they know for sure.



> Quote:
> The real problem is that the FCC might be too eager to approve such requests without thoroughly reviewing the ramifications of the neighboring viewers.



Stations are required to demonstrate that they do not cause interference to more than 0.5% of the population capable of receiving those neighboring market stations.


- Trip


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Blue123* /forum/post/18746270
> 
> 
> Just FYI - I'm using Hauppauge HVR-1850 cards, so it's probably not your HDHR.



I know, I even made sure to indicate as much to SiliconDust. The HDHRs are capable of sending diagnostic information back to SD, so I was able to give them data on a tuning request that worked and one that didn't. They did look at it for us (they rule), and indicated that Media Center is tuning the channel but not asking for the data streams.


The recommendation was to disable WDCA from the Guide and then do a channel scan in Media Center. I'm doing that now, waiting for results before hitting "Submit Reply". If this works (and even if it doesn't), I think we owe SiliconDust our thanks for looking into a problem that's got nothing to do with them










(Probably need an account to see this)
http://www.silicondust.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8870 

Results:


- Media Center found 4 new channels, 2 were ones I had previously disabled , 1 was WDDN-LD, and the remaining one was WDCA-DT.

- After setting my Guide up to use just the ATSC HDHomeRuns for WDCA ... *it works*! I also had to clean up the channels it found that I didn't want, but water under the bridge.


SiliconDust rocks. Hope this works for you guys as well. If it does, and you can drop SD a line to thank them, I think it's a nice gesture.


PS - I highly recommend applying the KB981129 hotfix to Win7 before you do any channel scans. It prevents the scan from locking up and making you miserable.


----------



## Potatoehead

Comcast (Calvert County) added two new HD local Spanish language stations to our system today - WFDC 794 and WMDO 795. Just in time for the World Cup!


----------



## Blue123




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/18748904
> 
> 
> I know, I even made sure to indicate as much to SiliconDust. The HDHRs are capable of sending diagnostic information back to SD, so I was able to give them data on a tuning request that worked and one that didn't. They did look at it for us (they rule), and indicated that Media Center is tuning the channel but not asking for the data streams.
> 
> 
> The recommendation was to disable WDCA from the Guide and then do a channel scan in Media Center. I'm doing that now, waiting for results before hitting "Submit Reply". If this works (and even if it doesn't), I think we owe SiliconDust our thanks for looking into a problem that's got nothing to do with them
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> (Probably need an account to see this)
> http://www.silicondust.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8870
> 
> Results:
> 
> 
> - Media Center found 4 new channels, 2 were ones I had previously disabled , 1 was WDDN-LD, and the remaining one was WDCA-DT.
> 
> - After setting my Guide up to use just the ATSC HDHomeRuns for WDCA ... *it works*! I also had to clean up the channels it found that I didn't want, but water under the bridge.
> 
> 
> SiliconDust rocks. Hope this works for you guys as well. If it does, and you can drop SD a line to thank them, I think it's a nice gesture.
> 
> 
> PS - I highly recommend applying the KB981129 hotfix to Win7 before you do any channel scans. It prevents the scan from locking up and making you miserable.



Thank you for pursuing this! I will give this a try later tonight.


----------



## solman989




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/18748904
> 
> 
> The recommendation was to disable WDCA from the Guide and then do a channel scan in Media Center. I'm doing that now, waiting for results before hitting "Submit Reply". If this works (and even if it doesn't), I think we owe SiliconDust our thanks for looking into a problem that's got nothing to do with them



Thanks for update, and kudos to SiliconDust. This worked!


----------



## CivicBeater

Anyone having issue with WMAR off-air today?


----------



## Blue123




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *solman989* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for update, and kudos to SiliconDust. This worked!



Worked for me, as well!


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jorwex* /forum/post/18734472
> 
> 
> My 1 year $29.99/mo promo Digital Starter Comcast deal is expiring in a month for Baltimore and I'm looking for other deals.
> 
> 
> I keep getting some very tempting Dish Network ads in the mail, but I've never had satellite before. Our row home has large dish on the roof (I've been told by a contractor that it says DirecTV on it), larger than the ones you see on the sides of houses sometimes...
> 
> .



Saw in my latest MotorTrend for a big ad by DirecTV starting @ $19.99 for all the locals plus ~100 channels including the must haves CNN, ESPN, HGTV.

Another $5/mos gets you HD.


----------



## howie14




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Albireo* /forum/post/18747347
> 
> 
> ...On a positive note, on Sunday, June 6, I locked in Channel 12 (WWBT) out of Richmond, VA. It was at around 7:30am and the EM conditions must have been just right. The distance between WWBT and my house is roughly 160 miles! Needless to say, I was absolutely amazed to be watching the weather forecast for Richmond/Norfolk from my Pennsylvania television. For those interested, my setup includes a Winegard YA-1713 and Channel Master CM-3023 mounted at roughly 50 feet. I also just installed a Clearstream 4 oriented towards Baltimore to pick up the channels in that DMA without having to rotate my antenna. Thanks to Dish Network providing me with my Harrisburg DMA channels (for free), I can now receive all 3 DMAs without having to rotate my antenna! I am thrilled with this setup.



I live south of you in central MD and I guess I'm just far enough away that the translator problems you describe don't affect me at all. I get all Washington/Balt stations plus channel 8. My biggest problem is signal to noise ratio and I wish bypassing my Channel Master amplifier was a little easier so I could find out in these digital days if I'd lose anything without it. It was a must for analog but now I'm not sure.


I used to pick up analog Channel 6 in Richmond pretty regularly. The coolest thing about the switch to digital is that from noon to 1PM I was getting channel 3 analog out of Louisiana quite clearly because all the other noise between here and there was gone.


I haven't picked up any out of market digital yet, though.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast has added ESPN 3D in Baltimore City.


----------



## Albireo

[Thanks for the reply, Trip.]



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/18747677
> 
> 
> I'd be interested to know what your alternate channel assignments are.
> 
> 
> [I believe a peer mentioned that Channel 16 could have been used for WITF instead of 36.]
> 
> 
> Because people in Chambersburg cannot receive the main WITF signal despite being in the Harrisburg DMA. I was there last week and with my Silver Sensor + amp outdoors, no sign of WITF-36.
> 
> 
> [Chambersburg is a good hop from Harrisburg, no one should be trying to use a compact antenna from Chambersburg. In these rural parts, all TV viewers should be expected to have an outdoor antenna that fulfills the needs of a rural TV viewer (e.g. VHF yagi, UHF yagi/grid). I'd like to see if anyone is having trouble receiving WITF-36 with an outdoor yagi, as I would be amazed if that was actually happening. Viewers need to be accountable to ensure their rig is fit for their location and modify it if necessary.]
> 
> 
> Is that on an outdoor or indoor antenna?
> 
> 
> [I currently have a Winegard YA-1713, Channel Master 3023, and Antenna Direct Clearstream 4 mounted approximately 40 to 50 feet. I am using the former two antennas to receive DC stations and the latter antenna to receive Baltimore stations (roughly 30 degrees apart). I receive my "local" stations through Dish Network (WGAL, WHP, WHTM, WITF, WLYH).].
> 
> 
> I sincerely doubt WGAL wants to spend the money to build out six UHF translators. I suspect what will happen is they'll light up channel 49 in Harrisburg, find that it resolves most of their problems, and leave it at that. If people can get WITF at 50 kW, I imagine they'll get WGAL-49 at 15 kW without too much trouble.
> 
> 
> They were likely filed "just in case." Plus it keeps anyone else from using those channels until they know for sure.
> 
> 
> [I sure hope you're correct. All I know is that I lost a channel that was easily received (WHUT) because of a new translator and that is most definitely a negative thing. And, I can only assume that the other pending translators may get approved, wiping out other channels from my (and other local resident's) tvs. I see this as a possible trend in the broadcast tv arena and am simply noting my frustrations with this trend.
> 
> 
> Stations are required to demonstrate that they do not cause interference to more than 0.5% of the population capable of receiving those neighboring market stations.
> 
> 
> [I don't know the numbers, but can only speculate that the number of affected people is greater than 0.5%. I imagine it has affected some/most of the Gettysburg/Littlestown/Emmitsburg area. As to the population number specifics, I do not know. What I do know is that it most definitely is affecting my location. Regardless, WITF and WTTG are two major stations that should not be sharing the same bandwidth due to their relative close proximity, as it goes against good engineer practices. Just like WHP isn't sharing the same bandwidth with WRC, as it wouldn't make common sense due to the close proximity.]
> 
> 
> [My largest complaint to the FCC is to have too low expectations on viewers to be responsible for installing the appropriate tv reception equipment for their locations. Broadcast TV is being provided for free to viewers, on the condition that the viewers install the necessary equipment to receive the signals.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ]
> 
> 
> - Trip



[Thanks again Trip for opening dialogue on this issue.]


----------



## Albireo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *howie14* /forum/post/18758555
> 
> 
> I live south of you in central MD and I guess I'm just far enough away that the translator problems you describe don't affect me at all. I get all Washington/Balt stations plus channel 8. My biggest problem is signal to noise ratio and I wish bypassing my Channel Master amplifier was a little easier so I could find out in these digital days if I'd lose anything without it. It was a must for analog but now I'm not sure.
> 
> 
> I used to pick up analog Channel 6 in Richmond pretty regularly. The coolest thing about the switch to digital is that from noon to 1PM I was getting channel 3 analog out of Louisiana quite clearly because all the other noise between here and there was gone.
> 
> 
> I haven't picked up any out of market digital yet, though.



Thanks for the reply. You are quite a bit south of my location so I wouldn't expect the translator problems to impact you. I believe the affected area is roughly along the mason-dixon line, and may include some/all of the area from Hanover, PA to Greencastle, PA. I live approximately 3 miles north of the mason-dixon line in the Gettysburg/Littlestown area.


That is quite impressive that you picked up 3 out of Louisiana before. I used to do DXing with my Amateur Radio license and I can relate to how exciting it is to receive something from so far away. I have been trying to receive WWBT (12) ever since I received it last week, but so far no luck. The conditions must have been just perfect as that was a 160 mile haul on hi-VHF.


My biggest disappointment so far has been losing WTTG. Lucikly, I have WBFF to rely on for 10pm HD news, although I much preferred WTTG. My "local" channel, WPMT 43, does not yet have HD news. PA is definitely behind the curve on this front and this is why many viewers in my neck of the woods (south-central PA) point their antennas southward to Baltimore/DC.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Albireo* /forum/post/18761921
> 
> 
> [Thanks for the reply, Trip.]



The way you replied makes this hard to respond to. Let's see...



> Quote:
> I believe a peer mentioned that Channel 16 could have been used for WITF instead of 36.



That was me. That resolves one issue, now what about all the rest of the short-spaced allotments? Also, who is going to pay for WITF to move to 16?



> Quote:
> Chambersburg is a good hop from Harrisburg, no one should be trying to use a compact antenna from Chambersburg. In these rural parts, all TV viewers should be expected to have an outdoor antenna that fulfills the needs of a rural TV viewer (e.g. VHF yagi, UHF yagi/grid). I'd like to see if anyone is having trouble receiving WITF-36 with an outdoor yagi, as I would be amazed if that was actually happening. Viewers need to be accountable to ensure their rig is fit for their location and modify it if necessary.



It clearly bothered them enough that they felt it necessary to have an analog translator in the area as well, so it's nothing new to digital.



> Quote:
> I currently have a Winegard YA-1713, Channel Master 3023, and Antenna Direct Clearstream 4 mounted approximately 40 to 50 feet. I am using the former two antennas to receive DC stations and the latter antenna to receive Baltimore stations (roughly 30 degrees apart). I receive my "local" stations through Dish Network (WGAL, WHP, WHTM, WITF, WLYH).



.


So you actually have an atypical setup. The typical person is definitely not up 40-50 feet (even the FCC only uses 30 feet) and have a single V/U antenna on their roof. If they even have a roof antenna. I remember hearing somewhere that 80% of OTA viewers are on indoor antennas, but as I don't remember where I heard it, I don't know how reliable that number is.



> Quote:
> I sure hope you're correct. All I know is that I lost a channel that was easily received (WHUT) because of a new translator and that is most definitely a negative thing. And, I can only assume that the other pending translators may get approved, wiping out other channels from my (and other local resident's) tvs. I see this as a possible trend in the broadcast tv arena and am simply noting my frustrations with this trend.



Understood. I actually disagree; anything that makes more people come to OTA (like stronger signals leading to more reliable reception of local signals) and thus makes it more popular and saves it from the loons at the FCC is good to me.


You have other Fox and PBS stations; in fact, you have lots of them. Where it's a problem in my mind are where signals overlap and there are no alternatives, like WCBS and WFSB are both CBS and both on 33 and there are no other CBS stations available. If my local PBS had moved to channel 26 like they proposed at one point, they'd have clashed with the Fox in Richmond and been wiped out, thus losing PBS for me more than being on channel 3 already has.



> Quote:
> I don't know the numbers, but can only speculate that the number of affected people is greater than 0.5%.



Really? I would have expected the populations of DC and Baltimore would leave far less than 0.5% of the WTTG population in parts of rural Pennsylvania.



> Quote:
> I imagine it has affected some/most of the Gettysburg/Littlestown/Emmitsburg area. As to the population number specifics, I do not know. What I do know is that it most definitely is affecting my location. Regardless, WITF and WTTG are two major stations that should not be sharing the same bandwidth due to their relative close proximity, as it goes against good engineer practices. Just like WHP isn't sharing the same bandwidth with WRC, as it wouldn't make common sense due to the close proximity.



I don't disagree, but there are simply not enough channels to fit everyone in perfectly. Believe me, I've tried to make it work. Somewhere along the way things are going to overlap. And with the FCC war drums beating, I don't expect it to get any better.



> Quote:
> My largest complaint to the FCC is to have too low expectations on viewers to be responsible for installing the appropriate tv reception equipment for their locations. Broadcast TV is being provided for free to viewers, on the condition that the viewers install the necessary equipment to receive the signals.



If the DTV transition taught us anything, it's that the FCC had expectations that were way WAY *WAY* too high for people's reception equipment. Falcon_77 in Los Angeles used a number of 10 dB attenuators to determine analog versus digital reception. When all the digital signals finally dropped out with 30 dB or so of padding, he looked at the analog and said "that's unwatchable." I looked at the pictures he sent and said that's how I watched Star Trek on UPN for all those years, and I know plenty of other people in the same boat with major network affiliates. He then said something to the effect of "if that's the case, we're in trouble." As the complaints regarding VHF in particular showed, we were.


- Trip


----------



## Albireo

Thanks for your response. I sense a bit of animosity coming from your last message. I am writing as a peer and professional, and am in no way putting blame on anyone here. If that slant was implied, my apologies.


As to the format for replying, I am not very familiar with the methods for inserting replys, so my apologies.




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/18762296
> 
> 
> The way you replied makes this hard to respond to. Let's see...
> 
> 
> 
> That was me. That resolves one issue, now what about all the rest of the short-spaced allotments? Also, who is going to pay for WITF to move to 16?
> 
> 
> _________
> 
> 
> That's one less issue to worry about then. The goal should be to optimize the use of the broadcast bandwidth, not necessarily perfect it (if that is not feasible). In this instance, there is a workable solution.
> 
> 
> In terms of who is going to pay for it, that is a step beyond the issue. The problem is that it should never have happened in the first place, so there should be at least an admission of the conflict by the responsible party. Many other stations had to change their transmission frequencies and buy new equipment, so why was WITF and/or WTTG left without having to do so, particularly with such close proximity (~100 miles) with each other. If you look at the WITF signal coverage map, it extends well into Maryland, so it appears to me that the signal power/transmit height is too great for that particular channel with a nearby channel using the same spectrum WTTG. The overlap is significant.
> 
> 
> ____________________
> 
> 
> It clearly bothered them enough that they felt it necessary to have an analog translator in the area as well, so it's nothing new to digital.
> 
> 
> ___________
> 
> 
> If there are problems in a specific area, then the translator should be designed to target that area (Chambersburg) through directionality and transmission power, with minimal bleedover into neighboring areas that do not have issues with reception. WITF-36 is the strongest signal from my location and is line of site at 40 feet, despite being 40+ miles away. A translator is definitely not needed here.
> 
> 
> _____________
> 
> .
> 
> 
> So you actually have an atypical setup. The typical person is definitely not up 40-50 feet (even the FCC only uses 30 feet) and have a single V/U antenna on their roof. If they even have a roof antenna. I remember hearing somewhere that 80% of OTA viewers are on indoor antennas, but as I don't remember where I heard it, I don't know how reliable that number is.
> 
> 
> ___________
> 
> 
> I completely agree that my setup is a atypical. However, the only atypical part is the height, the equipment itself is completely typical for rural viewers and is easily and cheaply obtained. It should be on the onus of viewers to do the homework to determine what equipment is needed to receive tv signals in their area(s). In rural/remote areas, no one should be using an indoor antenna unless there happens to be stations very close by.
> 
> 
> _____________
> 
> 
> 
> Understood. I actually disagree; anything that makes more people come to OTA (like stronger signals leading to more reliable reception of local signals) and thus makes it more popular and saves it from the loons at the FCC is good to me.
> 
> 
> ____________
> 
> 
> I understand your view as well and agree. I'm all for stronger signals, but only if they don't interfere with markets immediately adjacent. Otherwise, it is just redistributing the issue from one group of people to another.
> 
> 
> ____________
> 
> 
> You have other Fox and PBS stations; in fact, you have lots of them. Where it's a problem in my mind are where signals overlap and there are no alternatives, like WCBS and WFSB are both CBS and both on 33 and there are no other CBS stations available. If my local PBS had moved to channel 26 like they proposed at one point, they'd have clashed with the Fox in Richmond and been wiped out, thus losing PBS for me more than being on channel 3 already has.
> 
> 
> ____________
> 
> 
> I completely agree and am thankful for the stations that I have access to. I am merely looking at this from an EE standpoint. I am the type of person that believes strongly in optimization and making a system as efficient as possible. We just identified one case of a poor frequency assignment, and I imagine that there are dozens (?) more such cases in the country. If just these were addressed, that would be a great step towards meeting the goal.
> 
> 
> ___________
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Really? I would have expected the populations of DC and Baltimore would leave far less than 0.5% of the WTTG population in parts of rural Pennsylvania.
> 
> 
> ___________
> 
> 
> As I mentioned, I am only speculating, I am not a statistician by profession and do not know the population distribution. I do know that there are a fair amount of people in south-central pa and northern maryland that are likely affected by the same issue I am. Could it be less than 0.5% (1 in 200)? I suppose it could. I can't make that call.
> 
> 
> ___________
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I don't disagree, but there are simply not enough channels to fit everyone in perfectly. Believe me, I've tried to make it work. Somewhere along the way things are going to overlap. And with the FCC war drums beating, I don't expect it to get any better.
> 
> 
> ___________
> 
> 
> Overlap is ok, as long as it doesn't occur with immediately adjacent DMAs. If the overlapping DMAs are two layers apart, it's not an issue.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> If the DTV transition taught us anything, it's that the FCC had expectations that were way WAY *WAY* too high for people's reception equipment. Falcon_77 in Los Angeles used a number of 10 dB attenuators to determine analog versus digital reception. When all the digital signals finally dropped out with 30 dB or so of padding, he looked at the analog and said "that's unwatchable." I looked at the pictures he sent and said that's how I watched Star Trek on UPN for all those years, and I know plenty of other people in the same boat with major network affiliates. He then said something to the effect of "if that's the case, we're in trouble." As the complaints regarding VHF in particular showed, we were.
> 
> 
> ____
> 
> 
> Yes, the inherent nature of digital TV required all viewers to re-evaluate their equipment and in some cases make upgrades. However, throughout the technology boom, there have been many other instances where consumers have had to do the same thing (e.g. CDs introduced to replace cassettes). Someone at some point made the decision that the benefits of digital tv outweighed the detriments, and the general community must have agreed as a whole for it to have taken place. Unfortunately, there were many people that did not know what was taking place, for whatever reasons, and it caught them off guard. It represents an important life lesson I suppose to always keep the eyes and ears open and ask lots of questions.
> 
> 
> ____
> 
> 
> - Trip



Thanks again for your reply, I do appreciate and respect the insight that you bring to this forum.


----------



## Jimmy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/18760714
> 
> 
> Comcast has added ESPN 3D in Baltimore City.



What channel do you have it on? I can't find it here in Frederick. We had the Masters, thought sure we would have the WC.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jimmy* /forum/post/18763158
> 
> 
> what channel do you have it on?



980.


----------



## conversr

Not much activity on the Comcast Forum, so I'll ask here: Anyone receiving World Cup in 3D in Montgomery County?


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Albireo* /forum/post/18763026
> 
> 
> Thanks for your response. I sense a bit of animosity coming from your last message. I am writing as a peer and professional, and am in no way putting blame on anyone here. If that slant was implied, my apologies.
> 
> 
> As to the format for replying, I am not very familiar with the methods for inserting replys, so my apologies.



I feel bad. I intended no animosity. However, I was frustrated as I wrote my reply, and that's likely what you sensed. Anything that is left inside QUOTE tags as your responses have been, are erased when I myself press the "QUOTE" button. Therefore, I was having to copy and paste each piece of your message in to quote it. In the future, if you remove the QUOTE tags in your responses, it will be much easier to reply to your messages.










First of all, I'd just like to say that I don't think you and I are all that different in opinion actually; I spend a lot of time playing devil's advocate on these things simply to try to figure out what the various points and counterpoints are in an effort to make my own opinions better reflect reality and all available information.



> Quote:
> In terms of who is going to pay for it, that is a step beyond the issue. The problem is that it should never have happened in the first place, so there should be at least an admission of the conflict by the responsible party. Many other stations had to change their transmission frequencies and buy new equipment, so why was WITF and/or WTTG left without having to do so, particularly with such close proximity (~100 miles) with each other. If you look at the WITF signal coverage map, it extends well into Maryland, so it appears to me that the signal power/transmit height is too great for that particular channel with a nearby channel using the same spectrum WTTG. The overlap is significant.



It happened in the first place because there weren't enough channels. Basically, when the transition process started, the final channel plan was supposed to be channels 7-59, so allotments outside that range were avoided to prevent stations from having to move twice, if possible. That's why there were almost no allotments in the 60s except in places where they couldn't be avoided, like WLVT-62, WPVI-64, WUVP-66, and WCAU-67 in Philly. Even 2-6 were avoided, and we saw WHP wound up on 4 because there really wasn't anywhere else to put it. It's important to keep in mind that, from what I've been told, a computer did this. It was designed to try to pack things in with as little predicted interference as possible.


The other component to this is that when the allotments were made, analog was still around. Between WLYH-15 and WNEP-16, there would have been no way for WITF to be assigned channel 16.


And besides, whether it should have happened or not, the reality is that it did happen. Someone would have to pay for it, and I know WITF is not a station that's flush with cash. (I remember being told they were supposed to light up a subchannel and couldn't afford the gear, not sure how accurate that is.) Though if the FCC gets their repacking wish, it may happen anyway. We may see a great equipment exchange pop up for stations rechanneling all over the place. Better to swap gear around than spend $500,000 or more on new gear and labor for a second or third time.



> Quote:
> If there are problems in a specific area, then the translator should be designed to target that area (Chambersburg) through directionality and transmission power, with minimal bleedover into neighboring areas that do not have issues with reception. WITF-36 is the strongest signal from my location and is line of site at 40 feet, despite being 40+ miles away. A translator is definitely not needed here.



If your computer and connection are fast enough, here's a coverage map off my website of W38AN-D on channel 33. It uses the same Longley-Rice modeling the FCC uses, except at a receive height of 13 feet instead of the FCC's 30 foot standard.

http://www.rabbitears.info/contour.p...=1296978&map=Y 


Bear in mind that the DMA stretches down I-81 to the Maryland state line, so even cities like Waynesboro would need coverage from this translator. There's a very tiny bit of signal that jumps over the mountains, but I'd say that's pretty well contained as I doubt much can be done about that little bit of knife-edge diffraction.



> Quote:
> I completely agree that my setup is a atypical. However, the only atypical part is the height, the equipment itself is completely typical for rural viewers and is easily and cheaply obtained. It should be on the onus of viewers to do the homework to determine what equipment is needed to receive tv signals in their area(s). In rural/remote areas, no one should be using an indoor antenna unless there happens to be stations very close by.



And yet many people do. I've visited so many homes near me, 60 miles from my local ABC and 80-90 miles from the rest, where people with rabbit ears got only the ABC and they were happy with that. Many people I know with roof antennas have a single V/U combo antenna or VHF-only antenna, sometimes with an amp and sometimes without, and were very happy with their snowy or non-existent analog reception on UHF and reasonably clean reception on VHF. When the transition came, many who hooked up CECBs could scan in just 15-1 (RF channel 3) with no picture decoding, and nothing else. Instead of putting up a new antenna, they got satellite.


(In fairness, I imagine people in your area are more likely to have UHF antennas since all the networks in Harrisburg except for NBC were on UHF in analog. In my area, the big three were all on VHF, plus in the right places, PBS was available from WUNC-4 in North Carolina.)



> Quote:
> I understand your view as well and agree. I'm all for stronger signals, but only if they don't interfere with markets immediately adjacent. Otherwise, it is just redistributing the issue from one group of people to another.



I guess it depends on your school of thought. If the argument is that everyone should have access to each network and not necessarily as many stations as possible, then the added translators solve a problem. Whether right or wrong, this is the modern attitude, especially in the face of DMAs and network exclusivity. If the argument is that people should have access to as many stations as possible, even if they're duplicates, then you're correct. I'm actually not sure where I fall on this issue, though I think that with Mobile DTV being the likely future of over-the-air broadcasting, the first argument will win out regardless of what I think. The only way to get building penetration is with lots of power and lots of extra transmitters.



> Quote:
> I completely agree and am thankful for the stations that I have access to. I am merely looking at this from an EE standpoint. I am the type of person that believes strongly in optimization and making a system as efficient as possible. We just identified one case of a poor frequency assignment, and I imagine that there are dozens (?) more such cases in the country. If just these were addressed, that would be a great step towards meeting the goal.



As a fellow EE, I also like the idea of an efficient system. However, one could make the argument that having WTTG and WITF on the same channel is most efficient because the most people are benefiting from use of that same spectrum.


There are actually a lot of things we could do to improve efficiency that make a lot of sense, but they're not politically possible. I argued from the beginning that the converter boxes should have supported MPEG-4 such that increased compression could take place, but it's now too late. People are not going to go out and buy new boxes so soon after the transition. Same story with changing to a modulation scheme that would allow for single frequency networks to work properly. And stations buying new and pricey gear designed to last 20+ years are not going to want to toss it after less than 5.


Moving WITF to 16 would certainly clear things up for you, but I'm not sure that "efficiency" is a clear-cut enough word to describe it, as it seems to me to be a matter of point of view.



> Quote:
> As I mentioned, I am only speculating, I am not a statistician by profession and do not know the population distribution. I do know that there are a fair amount of people in south-central pa and northern maryland that are likely affected by the same issue I am. Could it be less than 0.5% (1 in 200)? I suppose it could. I can't make that call.



First of all, I want to apologize here. My sentence sounded exceptionally rude, and I did not intend it to be. Please accept my apology.


This FCC rule is actually an obvious shot at rural viewers. If your main city has 1 million people in it and your rural edges have only 5,000, you can bury those 5,000 in interference without issue. But of course, requiring 0% interference is also unreasonable as you have people on mountaintops who can see everything for 200 miles that would make channels unusable over enormous distances.


I absolutely agree that there should be separation between markets for co-channel, but even under such a rule, would Baltimore not fit under that definition for you? Disregarding the I-81 corridor for a second (I think Hagerstown should be its own DMA anyway) the Baltimore market is largely in between DC and Harrisburg and I don't think any of the Baltimore stations are co-channel with Harrisburg. I could see the FCC making that argument even if such a rule existed.


With that said, I don't think there are enough channels in the band to make such a rule work. There are co-channel stations between New York, Philly, and Scranton and when you add up the numbers of stations in the three markets, there are more stations than there are channels in 7-13, 21-36, and 38-51 (plus adding in places on 14-20 which actually are usable in the various parts of the region). I have not done similar math for Baltimore, DC, and Harrisburg, but I suspect it to have a similar problem.



> Quote:
> Yes, the inherent nature of digital TV required all viewers to re-evaluate their equipment and in some cases make upgrades. However, throughout the technology boom, there have been many other instances where consumers have had to do the same thing (e.g. CDs introduced to replace cassettes). Someone at some point made the decision that the benefits of digital tv outweighed the detriments, and the general community must have agreed as a whole for it to have taken place. Unfortunately, there were many people that did not know what was taking place, for whatever reasons, and it caught them off guard. It represents an important life lesson I suppose to always keep the eyes and ears open and ask lots of questions.



A number of people don't want to know and they don't want to think about it. They just know their TV worked fine for the last 50 years and now "you broke it." (I took calls at a TV station on transition day, and I can't count the number of times my coworkers and I heard that.) They don't view it as a personal failing, they view it as someone else causing them a problem, and thus it's that someone's responsibility to fix it.


And if not, then they buy cable and satellite as then there's someone to yell at on the phone when it doesn't work.










- Trip


----------



## rkolsen

Just an FYI you need an MPEG 4 Capable box to receive ESPN 3D and while it costs nothing you have to call them up to enable it. Comcast ESPN 3D Faq.


----------



## Jimmy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/18763275
> 
> 
> 980.



Thanks, WOOHOO! It wasn't there yesterday but we have it today.


----------



## Jimmy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *conversr* /forum/post/18763318
> 
> 
> Not much activity on the Comcast Forum, so I'll ask here: Anyone receiving World Cup in 3D in Montgomery County?



Hey Conversr We have it comming in on Ch. 980 in Frederick. It wasn't there yesterday but I just tuned in and it is 3D alright!


----------



## conversr

After calling Comcast and being shunted around to multiple numbers, I was finally connected to someone who identified himself as a Comcast ESPN3D rep. He told me that ESPN 3D is only compatible with certain specified Comcast-supplied boxes, and is specifically NOT compatible with a cable card, which I am using in my Tivo HD XL box.


This really sucks! My new 3D TV is being delivered Monday, but the BD player is on backorder, so it looks like I won't have any 3D content to view.


I'll check around on some Tivo forums to see if what the Comcast guy says is correct.


----------



## Dave Loudin

Alberio, we had a conversation about allocations before. In fact, it was started by your comments about WITF/WTTG. I thought that you had realized that you were looking at the end result of an algorithm that was constrained by spectrum, demand, cost, and other factors. Trip has reviewed many of those factors with you just now. Do you remember the last time we discussed this?


As far as translators go, Trip also reviewed the facts with you. I invite you to look back to the problems some folks around Winchester have had.


----------



## aaronwt

Did anyone figure out what the problem was with WDCA? My girlfriend said she lost it earlier in the month on her Series 3 TiVos. I just checked on my TiVo Premieres and I don't get anything either. The signal strength is showing up at 80 out of 100. the same as before but I get no picture and the TiVo shows a message that says "Problem with the signal on this antenna channel. trying again"


I did a rescan of the OTA channels and the results stay the same. Strong signal but no picture and the message on the screen.


I guess I'll need to hook the antenna up to the TV to see if there are any different results.


----------



## aaronwt

Hmm, something is going on. I just connected the antenna to a Samsung LCD set and did a channel scan. I get a picture there from the TV tuner for WDCA but I can't get anything from the TiVo even though it has a strong signal.


----------



## ProjectSHO89




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/18770237
> 
> 
> Hmm, something is going on. I just connected the antenna to a Samsung LCD set and did a channel scan. I get a picture there from the TV tuner for WDCA but I can't get anything from the TiVo even though it has a strong signal.



Force a re-scan on the Tivo.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ProjectSHO89* /forum/post/18773515
> 
> 
> Force a re-scan on the Tivo.



Yes. that was the first thing I did. The results were the same. I just knwo it affects both my girlfriends Series 3 tiVos and my Series 4 TiVos, but it didn't affect teh Samsung set. I guess I'll check it out with my Toshiba set to see what that does.


----------



## Albireo

Thanks for the reply, Trip. I am also in agreement that we are thinking along the same lines. Unfortunately, living in a rural area, there aren't too many people looking out for you in terms of available services. Without the availablility of cable or high-speed internet, I rely on broadcast tv and am especially attuned to the airwaves. My observations indicate that, in my area, there is a potential for loss of channels commencing in a way that it has not before. In this particular instance, there is little that I can do as a viewer to "regain" those channels (unlike the digital transition, where the viewer could generally install bigger/better/higher/multiple antennas with a positive effect). It is generally a losing battle to try to tune a channel being shared by sources of roughly equal distance from the viewer. For rural viewers like myself that are on the fringe of multiple DMAs, each translator that is added has the potential to block existing stations. As I see it, if the trend continues, fringe zones (such as the area I live in) will continue to lose stations. The best thing I can do is share my experiences and attempt to inform, discuss, and learn from other rural viewers.


Dave: Thanks for your reply as well. I do recall past conversations. I may be mistaken, but I am using this forum to reach out to fellow viewers that may be experiencing some of the same reception issues that I am, as well as to inform people near my community (and other communities straddling multiple DMAs) of potential trends for rural viewers. I have not seen a similar discussion to date from other viewers on these boards, so I am trying to get the word out that translators are not a win-win solution for all viewers (as is probably the general public opinion on the matter). I have also attempted to reach out to viewers on the Harrisburg AVS forum on this topic, but to date have not received a report of similar issues. I may very well be in a unique situation, but I suspect other fringe viewers are also impacted.


Thanks again for the replies as I appreciate the opportunity to interact/discuss.


----------



## katiecakes

Okay - I know I'm going to sound like a total idiot. I certainly feel like one trying to glean info/help from this thread. But, I'm shameless (and desperate) so here goes.


I'm not a huge tv person, so I didn't see the need for cable (altho I have a comcast hi speed cable for my computer) or satellite dish, etc. etc. Since the switchover, I've been able to watch all the local Baltimore networks as well as most of the DC stations as well as both pbs affiliates, channels, 24, 54 and a bunch of others. (btw, I live in the Ellicott Mills section of Catonsville) My tv is a sony bravia kdl32xbr6 and I've done fine with an RCA 1845gm antennae which is one of those flat jobs. My reception has been great and, for the most part, I've really had no complaints. UNTIL a couple of weeks ago.


I have no idea what changed, but all of a sudden, I lost almost every channel I had been able to get before and went down to a total of seven channels: channel 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, which are WMARhd, WMARdt, and WxNET respectively, channel 24 WUBTD, 45.1 WBFF, 45.2 WBFF2, and 54.1 WNUVD.


I've lost all of WBAL, WJZ, MPT, and the DC stations as well as a few spanish stations that I don't really care about.


This happened once before shortly after the switchover, but it only lasted a few days and things were in such flux back then. It corrected itself less than a week later. But this has persisted for several weeks. I've tried reprogramming the channels just about every day. I've plugged and unplugged the antennae, moved it around, etc. etc. Nothing works and I have no clue as to what the precipitating cause of this was.


Does anyone have any ideas? Should I just purchase a new (and presumably better) antennae? Is there something else I should try? I'm seriously thinking about going with the cheapest DISH offer that I see advertised, even though I'd really like to avoid it. As I said, I don't watch all that much tv, but I do watch SOME and being limited this way sucks.


HELP PLEEEEZ !!!


----------



## Dave Loudin

Albeiro, no worries, overall, but I was taken aback a little by your description of the WITF/WTTG allocation. The implication was that stupid people had to be involved to do such a thing. I thought we had moved on to understand that less than optimal situations develop when you try to gracefully integrate parallel broadcast services (which, ya gotta admit, was what NTSC and transition ATSC were).


A couple of points that you should carry with you in evangelizing for rural service:


1) the FCC has a method for determining service area. It wildly overpredicts in hilly/mountainous terrain and underpredicts in perfectly flat areas. A station enjoys protection from interference from any other service in this area. This method is slightly better than using distances between transmitters as far as spectrum usage goes


2) LPTV (digital or analog) and translators are a *secondary* service, and cannot cause interference to any primary service, period. In other words, if a full-power station delivers service outside its nominal service area, then a translator can't wipe it out.


The key to get a translator shut down/moved is to get enough people to complain about it.


I'm moving this to the table of allotments/channel change thread.


----------



## Dave Loudin

katiecakes, don't worry! You can do one thing to help us help you better: go to TVFool.com, select the Start MAPS option, ensure that the red pointer is right over your location (you can zoom the map in as needed), update the height of where you would put your antenna, then click the create radar plot button. The instructions with the resulting page tell you how to share that with us.


Before seeing your report, there are a couple of possibilities:


Are there trees close by? They can severely impact reception once the leaves come out, especially after it rains.


Have you changed anything electrical in the house, like switching to those new CFL bulbs or having a computer power brick plugged all the time? Added electrical noise can knock out reception.


With the warmer weather, propagation of distant signals will sometimes be enhanced (this is a sporadic thing, though). The extra interference will, all together now, knock out normal reception.


I'm not a big fan of the flat antennas.


----------



## katiecakes

First, to answer your questions, the ONLY thing that has changed inside the house (in the same room as the tv actually) is that I moved the couch a couple of feet. I don't think that's the problem, because I tried moving it back to see if that had any effect and it didn't.


I do have lots of trees on my lot, but I was getting fine reception even after they were all in full bloom.


I was very skeptical about the flat panel antenna, but it was the one recommended and it worked so well until recently. I don't mind purchasing a new antenna at all. My preference, however, IS an indoor antenna - I don't want to have to go thru the trouble of mounting an outdoor antenna.


I did run a report on TV Fool anddddd here it is:


www DOT tvfool DOT com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d9fbeb0d62e8b1b (apparently I'm too new to post urls so maybe this will work)


ANY help is very greatly appreciated. Georgetown Law definitely didn't prepare me for this... sigh


----------



## katiecakes

One more thing .....


I'm not entirely certain of this, but ALMOST certain, that wmar, wjz, and wbal all transmit from the same place - i.e. tv hill in Baltimore. The one difference that I did note after looking at dtv.gov is that the stations that I get now are all transmitted on a uhf band. WJZ and WBAL are listed as broadcasting via Hi-V. I don't know if that has always been the case, or if that represents something that has changed very recently (i.e. if it changed a few weeks ago, then it would coincide with when I stopped being able to get them..)


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *katiecakes* /forum/post/18776517
> 
> 
> One more thing .....
> 
> 
> I'm not entirely certain of this, but ALMOST certain, that wmar, wjz, and wbal all transmit from the same place - i.e. tv hill in Baltimore. The one difference that I did note after looking at dtv.gov is that the stations that I get now are all transmitted on a uhf band. WJZ and WBAL are listed as broadcasting via Hi-V. I don't know if that has always been the case, or if that represents something that has changed very recently (i.e. if it changed a few weeks ago, then it would coincide with when I stopped being able to get them..)



I think Dave is right on the mark, it's the warm humid air and the changes it causes that's probably caused the recnt change with your reception. I was unable to find a picture of that exact antenna, but I think I know what you're using based on the description.


You're right, WBAL, WJZ and WMAR all transmit from the same location. WBFF and WNUV are also very close by to that tower, you can see both towers from I-95. WBAL and WJZ are broadcasting on VHF again, and it's been that way for almost a year now. They've both actually increased their power notably since the original conversion, and you're plenty close based on the tvfool report.


The problem is, little antennas aren't very good for VHF. VHF requires a physically larger antenna to get the same reception as smaller antennas do for UHF. If you picture the typical rooftop TV antenna, all those long rods are for VHF. The little pointy part in front is for UHF.


When you're close to the signal, UHF antennas will frequently "work" for VHF, but anything at all, weather, moisture in the air, a lawn mower nearby, can knock it out. Like Dave said, other channels might be traveling farther and reaching your antenna, and since the "gain" is so low, probably negative, for VHF, the TV tuner just can't figure out which signal is which. Not the most technical explanation, sure, but the short of it is that the antenna is likely insufficient.


Here's something you can try. Do you have an old pair of rabbit ears lying around? If you do, try hooking them up instead of the RCA antenna. Make about a 45-degree "V" with them, and point it towards Baltimore ("point" in this case means if you're looking towards Baltimore, you see the "V", the rods themselves are 90 degrees away from Baltimore). My guess is that WBAL and WJZ will probably tune in.


If rabbit ears work for WBAL and WJZ, you should probably consider a new antenna. Not sure what to recommend, though, VHF antennas are by nature big and don't look good on a shelf







Do you have an attic? Attic-installed antennas aren't anywhere near as good/reliable as outdoor ones, but you can hide a much larger/uglier device up there. I think a *small* UHF/VHF antenna in the attic will get you very reliable reception from Baltimore. D.C., probably not, since a new antenna will likely be more "directional", which means it can't pick up channels from the back or the sides very well. Given your proximity to Baltimore, you really shouldn't need much at all, but it should be designed for both VHF and UHF.


Just my thoughts










edit: This will make pretty much everyone out here cringe, but if rabbit ears work for WBAL/WJZ well enough for you and you don't want to go crazy, if you can find a place to hide the rabbit ears that still works well enough for you, like expanding them flat and putting them on a shelf, or taping them to the back of an entertainment center, etc, for a few bucks you can get a little device that can combine them with the RCA so that the rabbit ears will be for WBAL/WJZ and the RCA for all the other UHF-based channels. It's a possibility. It won't be ideal by any means, but I look at how close you are to the towers and can't help but think there's something cheap and easy you might be able to do here.


----------



## Dave Loudin

WBAL and WJZ moved their digital broadcasts to their analog channels when analog broadcasting ended (and WMAR moved to 38 at the same time). So that's not the problem either. My other questions were "shots in the dark" to eliminate issues that I and others have come across. I'll check out your report.



Here is her TVFool report.


----------



## Dave Loudin

Holy cow! You're only a mile from WUTB and six miles from TV Hill! The most important data in your report, however, is that you are shadowed by a nearby hill. Click on any of those stations in the table and a path profile will open in a new window. You can see how you are shadowed.


Guess what. Diffracted paths are more sensitive to air density changes than line of sight. With the soupy air we've had, the characteristics of the path have changed, and multipath combinations have likely changed and are giving you fits.


Before I continue, I have to ask if the RCA antenna is amplified. If so, you have been VERY lucky to get anything, as WUTB should be absolutely swamping it. If the antenna amp is not overloaded, then your tuner certainly is. If WPOC or 98Rock show up on multiple places on any of your FM radios, then a similar thing is happening to your TV's tuner.


The first thing you should try is the Terk HDTV*i*. I emphasize the _i_, as that specifies the UNamplified model. Beyond looking kinda cool, it has modest directivity (the ability to discriminate or favor one direction over another) and a slight positive gain. Rabbit ears are integrated for VHF reception. Experiment with aim, as pointing the skinny end towards TV Hill might not be the best solution. Although this applies more for outside antennas, you should also elevate the front of the antenna 10 degrees or so. djp952 already told you how to use the rabbit ears.


Good luck!


----------



## TheKrell




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *katiecakes* /forum/post/18776467
> 
> 
> I was very skeptical about the flat panel antenna, but it was the one recommended and it worked so well until recently



I'll bet the amp in that antenna died, or it's switched off, or the power cord fell out of the receptacle.


----------



## Digital Rules

I'm wondering if WUTB has recently increased their power? I'm not sure if they ever increased their power during the transition.










Any amplified antenna that close to the transmitters is susceptible to issues. The unampilfied Terk antenna looks like a good recommendation from Dave.


----------



## AntAltMike

We just "lost" all our unencrypted basic in Berwyn Heights (next to College Park) this morning. Now, only the "lifeline" tier, digital and analog, is unencrypted. Guess I'll have to get a "box". I've been the free rider here, with the residents with boxes splitting the cable bill among them.


----------



## tripleM




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/18779418
> 
> 
> We just "lost" all out unencrypted basic in Berwyn Heights (next to College Park) this morning. Now, only the "lifeline" tier, digital and analog, is unencrypted. Guess I'll have to get a "box". I've been the free rider here, with the residents with boxes splitting the cable bill among them.



Sorry to hear that. Maybe another resident with a expanded digital package who doesn't need an analog box can get 1 for you.

My landlord @ her place gets 2 full boxes that she uses & 3 basic boxes of which 2 she doesn't need.


So she gave them to me, I activated it online, & the commiecast signal for the expanded cable comes through no problems.

I just used a splitter to get my unencrypted signal (mostly OTA's) in HD.

Otherwise, I just watch the other cable channels in SD.


Same as before when it was coming straight from the wall to my QAM'ed TV.


----------



## katiecakes

YAYYYYYYYY !!!


Ah guys, thank you all so much ! Here, I thought that the fact that the antenna was indeed amplified meant it was better (duh!).


We picked up the Terk as recommended this evening. Abracadabra, presto chango, etc. etc. Problem solved. Good thing, too. In laws are visiting this weekend and if I can't park them in front of the tv for at least some portion of the time.....
























Thanks again.


----------



## Dave Loudin

I'm glad that worked for you.


Don't feel bad about the amplifier business. Unless you have studied the theory, there's no way you would know that.


----------



## tadr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/18779418
> 
> 
> We just "lost" all out unencrypted basic in Berwyn Heights (next to College Park) this morning. Now, only the "lifeline" tier, digital and analog, is unencrypted. Guess I'll have to get a "box". I've been the free rider here, with the residents with boxes splitting the cable bill among them.



we lost them here in NW DC too. I'm dreading having to buy a cablecard tuner for my htpc now....


----------



## DRal

Sorry for the repost



Ok I have a cable tv's with QAM tuner and tv tuner in my computer with QAM tuner. We do not have cable but we get all the OTA channels, plus channels 2-55 plus MASN, BRAVO, ABCFamily which are channels 100, 101 and 102 and HBO channel 110.1 and Cinemax 110.21. Now here is something that is interesting, a friend of mine who lives literally 1 mile away does not get these channels with his QAM tuner. We both have Cox for internet so that is our service provider.


Does it make sense that I get these channels and he does not?


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/18770205
> 
> 
> Did anyone figure out what the problem was with WDCA? My girlfriend said she lost it earlier in the month on her Series 3 TiVos. I just checked on my TiVo Premieres and I don't get anything either. The signal strength is showing up at 80 out of 100. the same as before but I get no picture and the TiVo shows a message that says "Problem with the signal on this antenna channel. trying again"



I had this issue earlier this month on WDCA on my Tivo HD. A reboot fixed it for me.


----------



## theaveng

What's the deal with WMAR2? When I looked-up their listing on the FCC it said their frequency 38 transmitter was "under construction"? Are they still broadcasting on the old frequency 52 transmitter?


Also are they really sending 1000 kilowatts? That sounds really high - http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?call=WMAR


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DRal* /forum/post/18783507
> 
> 
> Sorry for the repost
> 
> 
> 
> Ok I have a cable tv's with QAM tuner and tv tuner in my computer with QAM tuner. We do not have cable but we get all the OTA channels, plus channels 2-55 plus MASN, BRAVO, ABCFamily which are channels 100, 101 and 102 and HBO channel 110.1 and Cinemax 110.21. Now here is something that is interesting, a friend of mine who lives literally 1 mile away does not get these channels with his QAM tuner. We both have Cox for internet so that is our service provider.
> 
> 
> Does it make sense that I get these channels and he does not?



Unfortunately, yes. Different sections of Cox's system could configured differently. The chs available could also be a simple missing filter that folks without TV service are supposed to have on their line.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *theaveng* /forum/post/18783822
> 
> 
> What's the deal with WMAR2? When I looked-up their listing on the FCC it said their frequency 38 transmitter was "under construction"? Are they still broadcasting on the old frequency 52 transmitter?
> 
> 
> Also are they really sending 1000 kilowatts? That sounds really high - http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?call=WMAR



I would assume WMAR is using the former WJZ-13 digital transmitter & antenna.


As far as the 1000 kw's, I'm sure thats correct, but I do find channel 2 a little harder to get in most of northern VA than the less powerful channels 45 & 54.


----------



## Trip in VA

The FCC is slow to act on covering apps which would show WMAR as "licensed." It was filed a year ago by WMAR and is awaiting action, but confirms they're at 1000 kW on channel 38.


- Trip


----------



## rkolsen




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *conversr* /forum/post/18766366
> 
> 
> After calling Comcast and being shunted around to multiple numbers, I was finally connected to someone who identified himself as a Comcast ESPN3D rep. He told me that ESPN 3D is only compatible with certain specified Comcast-supplied boxes, and is specifically NOT compatible with a cable card, which I am using in my Tivo HD XL box.
> 
> 
> This really sucks! My new 3D TV is being delivered Monday, but the BD player is on backorder, so it looks like I won't have any 3D content to view.
> 
> 
> I'll check around on some Tivo forums to see if what the Comcast guy says is correct.



Comcast just added Tivo Series 3, HD, and Premiere to their ESPN 3D Compatibility list.


----------



## conversr

From another forum, I found a link to a Comcast FAQ which says


[[Note: TiVo series 3 and Premiere HD/DVRs currently support the HD 3D format that ESPN3D will be broadcast in. For that reason, if you have a TiVo receiver, you will be able to access to ESPN3D. You must contact Comcast to have ESPN3D enabled on your account.]]


I'm receiving Comcast 980, listed on the guide as ESPN 3D "To Be Announced". However, when I tune the Tivo HD to that channel, all I get is a gray screen. Signal strength shows as 100.


Seems like the possibilities are:


the Tivo HD XL will NOT decode ESPN3D, despite what Comast says,;

OR

despite calling a few days ago, Comcast has NOT activated the chanel for me.


Anything else?


----------



## machpost

RCN has just added the following new HD Channels:


619 BET HD

625 Spike TV HD

632 Comedy Central HD

649 Nickelodeon HD

675 MTV HD

676 VH-1 HD

677 CMT HD


----------



## DRal

Living in Fairfax and was getting HBO and Cinemax using my QAM tuner, but lost them, it happened sometime over the weekend.


Dang


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DRal* /forum/post/18805262
> 
> 
> Living in Fairfax and was getting HBO and Cinemax using my QAM tuner, but lost them, it happened sometime over the weekend.
> 
> 
> Dang




One has to wonder if cableco reps are lurking in here for people pointing out their mistakes?


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Again tonight, Wheel and Jeopardy! are in SD on WJLA. This has been happening a lot lately. Does this happen in Baltimore? Does anyone at WJLA even care?


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/18807861
> 
> 
> Again tonight, Wheel and Jeopardy! are in SD on WJLA. This has been happening a lot lately. Does this happen in Baltimore? Does anyone at WJLA even care?



While I haven't watched the nightly games on our local ABCs in a while, it used to happen a great deal on WMAR. I have to assume it still does, WMAR has never really impressed me with keeping HD in HD. Other than "Lost" and for a while "FlashForward", I really haven't watched WMAR/WJLA at all for quite some time.


----------



## KLJ

don't post in here very often but i have a basic question.


i live in p.g. county and have basic comcast service (no receiver) plugged directly into the back of a vizio tv. since yesterday, i have lost every single digital channel. only analog channels work now. when i flip through the channel lineup, the digital channel number appears on the screen but no picture. i tried to re-scan the channel lineup with the tv with the same results.


my question is did comcast remove all the "clear" digital channels or did the digital tuner on my tv go belly up?


----------



## Jimmy

Is anyone using one of the newer Comcast DCX boxes and are they performing better than the DCTs? I'm not even sure if Comcast is even handing out the DCXs yet in Frederick. From what I read, we will need a DCX for future 3D programming. I have 3D now with the WC playing on my DCT with no problem but I hear this is going to change (MPEG2 to MPEG4). Right now my PQ is excellent with the DCT. I'd hate to loose that.


----------



## knnirs

Different parts of P.G. receive different choices on Comcast Basic. I lost many clear Qam channels in Beltsville a few days ago, but I still have the standard channels like 4,5,7,9 in digital.


----------



## Potatoehead




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Jimmy* /forum/post/18816958
> 
> 
> Is anyone using one of the newer Comcast DCX boxes and are they performing better than the DCTs? I'm not even sure if Comcast is even handing out the DCXs yet in Frederick. From what I read, we will need a DCX for future 3D programming. I have 3D now with the WC playing on my DCT with no problem but I hear this is going to change (MPEG2 to MPEG4). Right now my PQ is excellent with the DCT. I'd hate to loose that.



I switched from the DCT box to the DCX box a few months ago. They seemed to have plenty of the DCX's at our local office. I don't think you will see much difference in HD picture quality. There are a few nice features - it can handle native format, the disk is larger, and there is an adjustment to the sharpness for the SD channels. The sharpness adjustment seemed to give me a bit better picture for the SD channels. Some people say that the native format improves the HD picture, but I see little difference. The larger disk is always nice since you can save more stuff. Since getting the DCX, my box seems a bit flakier than before, but I am not sure if this is a result of the hardware or the software and firmware upgrades that have occurred since I switched.


----------



## Jimmy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Potatoehead* /forum/post/18821593
> 
> 
> I switched from the DCT box to the DCX box a few months ago. They seemed to have plenty of the DCX's at our local office. I don't think you will see much difference in HD picture quality. There are a few nice features - it can handle native format, the disk is larger, and there is an adjustment to the sharpness for the SD channels. The sharpness adjustment seemed to give me a bit better picture for the SD channels. Some people say that the native format improves the HD picture, but I see little difference. The larger disk is always nice since you can save more stuff. Since getting the DCX, my box seems a bit flakier than before, but I am not sure if this is a result of the hardware or the software and firmware upgrades that have occurred since I switched.



Thanks for the reply. I will check the Comcast office and see what they have. I'll also have to do some more searching about Comcast's plans for MPEG 4 and 3D. I've only read one other person's post that after the World Cup games, Comcast would not pass thru 3D content on MPEG 2 boxes. I don't like to hear about the "flakiness" though. That will take me back to early DirecTV days.


----------



## Skeptic Tank




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *KLJ* /forum/post/18816732
> 
> 
> don't post in here very often but i have a basic question.
> 
> 
> i live in p.g. county and have basic comcast service (no receiver) plugged directly into the back of a vizio tv. since yesterday, i have lost every single digital channel. only analog channels work now. when i flip through the channel lineup, the digital channel number appears on the screen but no picture. i tried to re-scan the channel lineup with the tv with the same results.
> 
> 
> my question is did comcast remove all the "clear" digital channels or did the digital tuner on my tv go belly up?



I'm in P.G. county too and most of the digital channels that were clear are now encrypted. The local broadcast channels(HD and SD) are still clear along with C-SPAN, and junk like QVC.


----------



## knnirs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Skeptic Tank* /forum/post/18823322
> 
> 
> I'm in P.G. county too and most of the digital channels that were clear are now encrypted. The local broadcast channels(HD and SD) are still clear along with C-SPAN, and junk like QVC.



I checked my list on Comcast Basic in Beltsville a few minutes ago, and I find a total of 60 digital channels, excluding the music channels. The list includes 7 as HD. I agree most of the non-HD channels are of low value.


----------



## AbMagFab

Anyone with FIOS in MoCo lose a bunch of channels (with cable cards/Tivo)? I just noticed, but they might have disappeared a while ago, as I don't generally watch live TV, and there's nothing much being recorded in the summer (and I get locals OTA).


Any ideas? Did FIOS shuffle the QAM lineup again?


Thanks,

Mark


----------



## JohnGZ28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab* /forum/post/18838458
> 
> 
> Anyone with FIOS in MoCo lose a bunch of channels (with cable cards/Tivo)? I just noticed, but they might have disappeared a while ago, as I don't generally watch live TV, and there's nothing much being recorded in the summer (and I get locals OTA).
> 
> 
> Any ideas? Did FIOS shuffle the QAM lineup again?
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Mark



They deleted a number of the duplicate movie channels


----------



## Trip in VA

Two things:


1) It looks like WAZW-LD 46 is back on the air. Can anyone see it and does it have programming this time around?


2) It looks like WQAW-LD 20 is on the air now mapping to 69-1 through 69-4. Is anyone seeing it, and if so, what programming do the various subs have? If someone can see it with TSReader, I'd be very appreciative if someone could get me updated data on it.


Thanks, all.










- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/18842452
> 
> 
> It looks like WQAW-LD 20 is on the air now mapping to 69-1 through 69-4.



Not even a whiff here in Arlington.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/18842929
> 
> 
> Not even a whiff here in Arlington.



The signal looks to be aimed primarily at Baltimore and it's on the WMPT tower.


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/18842961
> 
> 
> The signal looks to be aimed primarily at Baltimore and it's on the WMPT tower.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Thanks Trip!! WQAW is LOS & stronger here than 2 edge WBOC which is detected 24/7. I would have think the DTT 901 would show some activity if RF20 was on the air.










Hopefully Steve in Shady Side will chime in with better news.


----------



## Trip in VA

There's a possibility they're not yet on their permanent antenna. They have an STA to operate from a much more directional antenna that is much lower on the tower due to delays in the delivery of the permanent antenna, so that could be preventing you from seeing it.


- Trip


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/18842452
> 
> 
> Two things:
> 
> 
> 1) It looks like WAZW-LD 46 is back on the air. Can anyone see it and does it have programming this time around?
> 
> 
> 2) It looks like WQAW-LD 20 is on the air now mapping to 69-1 through 69-4. Is anyone seeing it, and if so, what programming do the various subs have? If someone can see it with TSReader, I'd be very appreciative if someone could get me updated data on it.
> 
> 
> Thanks, all.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> - Trip



From Annapolis, I (obviously) see WBFF-DT on RF46. I don't see anything on RF20, and I live close enough to the WMPT tower that I can get WMPT on RF42 with a paperclip as an antenna, and it prevents me from ever getting a good lock on RF41. (I don't think there's anything on RF43 or it'd probably affect that too.)


That said, I'm not between WMPT and Baltimore, so maybe it is possible that not enough signal is coming my direction?


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/18843836
> 
> 
> That said, I'm not between WMPT and Baltimore, so maybe it is possible that not enough signal is coming my direction?



If they're on the STA antenna, that's probably the case. It's literally aimed straight at Baltimore with no radiation in any other direction.


The permanent antenna looks to be much friendlier.


- Trip


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/18843207
> 
> 
> Thanks Trip!! WQAW is LOS & stronger here than 2 edge WBOC which is detected 24/7. I would have think the DTT 901 would show some activity if RF20 was on the air.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hopefully Steve in Shady Side will chime in with better news.



I have noticed the new antennas 1/2 way up the WMPT tower and it does appear to be on the North side of the tower. I'll check tonight to see if I can receive any signal on RF 20 and report back to you guys!!


WMPT comes in with a paper clip for me too.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/18843207
> 
> 
> Thanks Trip!! WQAW is LOS & stronger here than 2 edge WBOC which is detected 24/7. I would have think the DTT 901 would show some activity if RF20 was on the air.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hopefully Steve in Shady Side will chime in with better news.



Absolutely zero signal detected here in Southern AA County on RF20.


----------



## Trip in VA

Maybe they signed it on and then signed it off again. It definitely was showing up on SiliconDust, and in fact, still is: http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun...lineup_1171657 


It can take a while for signals which sign off to be reflected as gone on SiliconDust.


- Trip


----------



## jgantert

Still no 54.2 (TheCoolTV). Any word when that is supposed to go live?


----------



## oaks




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/18842452
> 
> 
> 
> 2) It looks like WQAW-LD 20 is on the air now mapping to 69-1 through 69-4. Is anyone seeing it, and if so, what programming do the various subs have? If someone can see it with TSReader, I'd be very appreciative if someone could get me updated data on it.
> 
> 
> - Trip



I see WQAW-LD here, near I-97 & MD-100, with a stable, if weak, signal. 40% signal strength, according to my TV's meter. (WMPT, on same tower?, blasts in at full strength.)


69.1 is showing the Spanish-language Azteca America network, 69.2 and 69.3 have billboards advertising this sub channel for rent, 69.4 is showing the same video as 69.1 but no audio.


I'm using a Winegard HD-1080 with Channel Master 7777 in the attic pointed at DC towers. Another set, using unamplified rabbit ears, can't lock on.


----------



## Trip in VA

Thanks.










- Trip


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *oaks* /forum/post/18862154
> 
> 
> I see WQAW-LD here... 69.2 and 69.3 have billboards advertising this sub channel for rent...



Interesting... why not...


----------



## Trip in VA

There are actually a number of LPTV stations which do that particularly out west. The Cocola stations are known for it, for instance.


- Trip


----------



## winchesterdoug




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/18842452
> 
> 
> Two things:
> 
> 
> 1) It looks like WAZW-LD 46 is back on the air. Can anyone see it and does it have programming this time around?
> 
> 
> 2) It looks like WQAW-LD 20 is on the air now mapping to 69-1 through 69-4. Is anyone seeing it, and if so, what programming do the various subs have? If someone can see it with TSReader, I'd be very appreciative if someone could get me updated data on it.
> 
> 
> Thanks, all.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> - Trip



Yes, WAZW-LD 46 is now on the air and broadcasting regularly much to my (and a lot of other people's) chagrin - because it knocked out the valley's reception for a full-power network affiliate WBFF Fox 45 out of Baltimore because the FCC allowed this low power Christian station to use the same channel (46) that WBFF Fox 45 was using thereby blocking Fox from being received in the here in the valley when WAZW started broadcasting. It was actually a double-edged sword because with this action we also lost WBFF's sub-channel 45.2 which was "This TV" which showed great old movies 24-7. So we lost two more desirable channels, to be preached at all day- great! WAZW-LD is broadcasting on 46.1 and also has three sub-channels - 46.2, 46.3 and 46.4 - which they currently only show color-bar patterns. Isn't that great? Real progress. Thank goodness at about the same time this debacle happened TV3 here (ABC Winchester) - put Fox on their sub-channel 3.2 and they put My Network TV on their sub-channel 3.4 - So at least we got a Fox affiliate here after losing the one of out Baltimore. But WAZW-LD is one of those stations just broadcasting religion and preaching all day and very little of anything with entertainment value. But I am constantly told on here that I just have to "put up with it" - so there you go. Great!


----------



## oaks




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/18864492
> 
> 
> There are actually a number of LPTV stations which do that particularly out west. The Cocola stations are known for it, for instance.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Pardon the simple camera snaps, but here are some screen shots for the WQAW-curious.

Attachment 179690 

Attachment 179691


----------



## Trip in VA

Thanks!










- Trip


----------



## Drewdawg




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/18854426
> 
> 
> Still no 54.2 (TheCoolTV). Any word when that is supposed to go live?



Yea, I'm looking forward to this channel as well. I liked the last music TV service they had and am looking forward to seeing how this compares.


I'm in Dover DE and get 54 (RF 40) quite well. I just hope it comes up before I move back to southern California next month.


----------



## StevenJB

Trip,


Do you know of any reasons why WQAW-LD in Annapolis has not gone full power or perhaps is not being allowed to go full power using Digital RF20?


Have you heard about or are you familiar with any Washington area low power digital stations using Digital Channels RF14, RF25, RF32, and RF44?

http://mysite.verizon.net/kj6ms/tvl-wadc.html


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/18876752
> 
> 
> Trip,
> 
> 
> Do you know of any reasons why WQAW-LD in Annapolis has not gone full power or perhaps is not being allowed to go full power using Digital RF20?



It depends on what you mean.


If you're asking why they're on a low-power license rather than full-service, it's because the FCC is not granting new full-service licenses. Plus there are fewer regulations for low-power broadcasters, so they're cheaper to operate, generally.


If you're asking why they're operating at reduced facilities, it's because their final antenna has not arrived yet.



> Quote:
> Have you heard about or are you familiar with any Washington area low power digital stations using Digital Channels RF14, RF25, RF32, and RF44?
> 
> http://mysite.verizon.net/kj6ms/tvl-wadc.html



They're not yet operating digitally.


- Trip


----------



## pmturcotte

Anyone else in the DC area been experiencing reception issues with Directv due to the heat/humidity?


I get my locals in HD via both rooftop antenna and DTV - and both are still coming in fine. But HD channels like ESPN 1/2, Travel Channel, Golf Channel etc have gotten awful the last few days. Not sure if its due to the humidity or not as this is the first time in 10 years or so as a DTV customer I can think of having heat related issues and just a week ago even during bad rain I did not lose a signal. Signal strength appears to be the same as its always been on the three main satellites - mid 90s.


Can record breaking heat indexes like this cause these symptoms - strong signal strength yet choppy/pixalated HD channels? Its been 10 summers now and I dont think I can remember a heat related issue before.


----------



## rkolsen

I am just wondering if anyone has an answer to this question that I just emailed WBAL TV-11's engineering department:



> Quote:
> On Wednesday's (7/7/10) newscast Marianne Bannister reported that BGE requested that it's customers reduce power and that BGE specifically asked WBAL to use Generator power. I guess my questions are how much power does WBAL, WIYY, and WBAL AM consume on a daily basis? Were the other TV Stations asked to use back up power? Can a single generator power an entire TV station and it's 25 KW transmitter? And finally could it be a way of BGE to get more money from the broadcasters who instead of using power straight from the grid and generate their own power using BGE's natural gas system?



After I sent the email I realized that they probably have several generators but could it be a way for the local electric company to exploint more money out of consumers. And Does anyone know how much power in a % does a TV station and it's transmitter take off from the grid.


----------



## billiefan2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT* /forum/post/18542605
> 
> 
> That would be appreciated. I actually like to watch Dave Ramsey at 8pm on Fox Bidnez. I tried to like Stossel, but he sure lost something once leaving 20/20. Maybe its the talk show format.



where I live I only have basic cable and fox business is on digital where I live. what is Stossel's show exactly?


----------



## billiefan2000




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Coolboarder10* /forum/post/18591959
> 
> 
> Will this block out any channels like 20.1 wdca?
> 
> 
> And can some one find the link to the fox business new sub channel on 20.1. I think that will be awesome. Thanks.



been unable to find it. I hope it does happens.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pmturcotte* /forum/post/18880874
> 
> 
> Anyone else in the DC area been experiencing reception issues with Directv due to the heat/humidity?
> 
> 
> I get my locals in HD via both rooftop antenna and DTV - and both are still coming in fine. But HD channels like ESPN 1/2, Travel Channel, Golf Channel etc have gotten awful the last few days. Not sure if its due to the humidity or not as this is the first time in 10 years or so as a DTV customer I can think of having heat related issues and just a week ago even during bad rain I did not lose a signal. Signal strength appears to be the same as its always been on the three main satellites - mid 90s.
> 
> 
> Can record breaking heat indexes like this cause these symptoms - strong signal strength yet choppy/pixalated HD channels? Its been 10 summers now and I dont think I can remember a heat related issue before.



I have not been but if you have a leaky LNB housing or cable connections, humdity can cause a problem. But in most cases you will see signal drops or fluctuations on your signal meter. (To see quicker fluctutions in signal, go into the signal meters area within the satellite signal screen (one of the boxes on the lower right of the screen. This will show you immediate changes, not the once every few seconds that the screen with all transponders on it does. You want to look at 99c, 103ca and 103cb for HD channels.)


How old is your dish? And wiring? You may need DirecTV to come check things out or you may want to replace outdoor cabling yourself and see if that helps.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*MASN2 HD Now on FiOS1 in D.C., Maryland, Virginia*


by Heather_Wilner on 07-13-2010 02:03 PM


Many of you have asked when MASN2 would become available in HD on FiOS TV. Well, the time is now. Whether you're rooting for the Nationals or the Orioles, or if you're looking forward to seeing the Ravens in high def, you'll now get it all on FiOS in HD.


MASN2 HD will be available on Channel 501 on FiOS1, our local channel for news, sports, traffic and weather. We offer FiOS1 throughout the D.C. metro area, including parts of Maryland and Virginia. Right now just the MASN2 programming will be in HD, but we hope to bring Verizon's local programs to you in high-def down the line. And for those of you in the area outside the FiOS1 footprint, we're working on a technical solution to make the MASN2 HD feed available to you as well.


Once the All Star Game is over, there will be plenty of action, starting this Friday when the Nationals play the Marlins. Let's see what Strasburg can do in HD.

http://forums.verizon.com/t5/Verizon...ia/ba-p/224794


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/18900787
> 
> *MASN2 HD Now on FiOS1 in D.C., Maryland, Virginia*
> 
> 
> by Heather_Wilner on 07-13-2010 02:03 PM
> 
> 
> Many of you have asked when MASN2 would become available in HD on FiOS TV. Well, the time is now. Whether you're rooting for the Nationals or the Orioles, or if you're looking forward to seeing the Ravens in high def, you'll now get it all on FiOS in HD.
> 
> 
> MASN2 HD will be available on Channel 501 on FiOS1, our local channel for news, sports, traffic and weather. We offer FiOS1 throughout the D.C. metro area, including parts of Maryland and Virginia. Right now just the MASN2 programming will be in HD, but we hope to bring Verizon's local programs to you in high-def down the line. And for those of you in the area outside the FiOS1 footprint, we're working on a technical solution to make the MASN2 HD feed available to you as well.
> 
> 
> Once the All Star Game is over, there will be plenty of action, starting this Friday when the Nationals play the Marlins. Let's see what Strasburg can do in HD.
> 
> http://forums.verizon.com/t5/Verizon...ia/ba-p/224794



It's not the full time dedicated channel though. It will be shared with the FiOS 1 channel on 501.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/18901373
> 
> 
> It's not the full time dedicated channel though. It will be shared with the FiOS 1 channel on 501.



The "full-time" channel is just a simulcast of ESPNews.


----------



## aptt

Well it's about time.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/18901568
> 
> 
> The "full-time" channel is just a simulcast of ESPNews.



Yes, but there is a channel being broadcast which FiOS is only partially broadcasting. No matter what MASN2 shows, FiOS is not showing 100% of the feed.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/18902030
> 
> 
> Yes, but there is a channel being broadcast which FiOS is only partially broadcasting. No matter what MASN2 shows, FiOS is not showing 100% of the feed.



It's just the cable company remapping ESPNews and sticking MASN2 on it.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/18902786
> 
> 
> It's just the cable company remapping ESPNews and sticking MASN2 on it.



Is it? The MASN2 programming schedule shows ESPN news on it. It seems odd that they would list a schedule and then have to rely on the cable provider to remap the espn programming for them. I would not trust any provider I've used to do it properly several times every day.


----------



## PaulGo

I believe MASN has actually acquired the rights for ESPN news and is showing this program when they have no content of their own.


----------



## machpost

I think the biggest concern with not having a full-time MASN2 HD channel is whether or not FiOS will consistently remember to flip the switch when there is a game on. Before it was in HD, MASN2 shared space with the community bulletin board on RCN, and there were many instances when the game simply didn't show up on the channel. It was completely impossible to get any resolution by calling RCN, and I can't imagine calling FiOS over a similar issue would get any better results. Calling MASN would sometimes do the trick, but it was almost always the result of someone on the cable operator side neglecting to flip a switch.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast used to put MASN2 on C-Span 2.


Since FiOS has ESPNews anyway, no programming is being missed.


----------



## biker19

Anyone else get the message (via e-mail for me) about Cox's new rates? I'm trying to figure out what the speeds are for the "new" internet Starter and Essential packages. They wouldn't lower the current speeds, would they?


----------



## imref




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/18903508
> 
> 
> I think the biggest concern with not having a full-time MASN2 HD channel is whether or not FiOS will consistently remember to flip the switch when there is a game on. Before it was in HD, MASN2 shared space with the community bulletin board on RCN, and there were many instances when the game simply didn't show up on the channel. It was completely impossible to get any resolution by calling RCN, and I can't imagine calling FiOS over a similar issue would get any better results. Calling MASN would sometimes do the trick, but it was almost always the result of someone on the cable operator side neglecting to flip a switch.



Watching Strasburg in HD and loving it!


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/18901373
> 
> 
> It's not the full time dedicated channel though. It will be shared with the FiOS 1 channel on 501.



Nor is it on in Howard County or any place further north.


----------



## dneily

Comcast Sportsnet has been telecasting the Wizards' NBA Summer League games. Steve and Phil are claiming the games are in "glorious HD." If it is indeed HD, it is perhaps the worst HD I've seen. I believe the same games are being telecast by the NBA channel (HD), and look a whole lot better.


Will somebody else confirm?


----------



## Ken H

Comcast Washington DC area subs:


Do you get HDNet and or HDNet Movies?


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dneily* /forum/post/18921123
> 
> 
> Comcast Sportsnet has been telecasting the Wizards' NBA Summer League games. Steve and Phil are claiming the games are in "glorious HD." If it is indeed HD, it is perhaps the worst HD I've seen. I believe the same games are being telecast by the NBA channel (HD), and look a whole lot better.
> 
> 
> Will somebody else confirm?



They look great on DirecTV's feed of NBATV...


----------



## mdviewer25

Here's an idea that I just thought of: I was thinking about how the signal for WUTB is not available to the south (i.e. P.G. , Montgomery, D.C.) and wondered what if WUTB-24(41) swapped signals with WNVC-56 mHZ(24). Also, WBAL should increase their power to the level of WJZ or slightly higher.


----------



## PaulGo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ken H* /forum/post/18932633
> 
> 
> Comcast Washington DC area subs:
> 
> 
> Do you get HDNet and or HDNet Movies?



No for Montgomery County, MD and I have not seen it advertised anywhere around the DC area.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/18937600
> 
> 
> Here's an idea that I just thought of: I was thinking about how the signal for WUTB is not available to the south (i.e. P.G. , Montgomery, D.C.) and wondered what if WUTB-24(41) swapped signals with WNVC-56 mHZ(24). Also, WBAL should increase their power to the level of WJZ or slightly higher.



WBAL is already operating at a power level similar to WJZ.


WNVC could not move to channel 41 due to the interference numbers that would result with regard to WNUV-40. They would not willingly put a null toward Baltimore (and thus DC).


- Trip


----------



## Ken H




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PaulGo* /forum/post/18937767
> 
> 
> No for Montgomery County, MD and I have not seen it advertised anywhere around the DC area.



Thx.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/18937600
> 
> 
> Here's an idea that I just thought of: I was thinking about how the signal for WUTB is not available to the south (i.e. P.G. , Montgomery, D.C.) and wondered what if WUTB-24(41) swapped signals with WNVC-56 mHZ(24).



I get a very excellent signal from WUTB-24 (41) here in Olney, MD using a rooftop antenna. My meter shows a consistent 98 percent. I can see why you have a reception problem in Forestville, MD. You're located to the south of the transmitter. You probably need a rooftop antenna for WUTB.

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/polarplot...00&p360=0.899&


----------



## Coolboarder10

Check it out everybody in the I -81 corridore and in the valley!!!

Channel 50-1 and 50-2 This Tv is now broadcasting. This is great news for everyone who lost Wbff 45. Yes I am still upset about that whole mess. But this pretty much makes up for it. And I am still excited about getting at least one more channel this fall. Cool Tv. Hopefully 54-2 will be up and running soon. It's great feeling when you can recieave more channels.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Coolboarder10* /forum/post/18945290
> 
> 
> Check it out everybody in the I -81 corridor and in the valley!!! Channel 50-1 and 50-2 This TV is now broadcasting. This is great news for everyone who lost WBFF45. Yes I am still upset about that whole mess. But this pretty much makes up for it. And I am still excited about getting at least one more channel this fall. Cool TV. Hopefully 54-2 will be up and running soon. It's great feeling when you can receive more channels.



Maybe I am missing something. Why are you all of a sudden receiving WDCW-DT50? Their digital signal has been on the air for several years. Also, WBFF-DT45 is a FOX affiliate, isn't it? How does receiving WDCW-DT50 which is an affiliate of The CW Network make up for the loss of a FOX affiliate?


----------



## Trip in VA

I'm assuming he means W51CY-D is on the air.


- Trip


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/18946303
> 
> 
> I'm assuming he means W51CY-D is on the air.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Thanks, Trip, but I still fail to understand how gaining The CW Network makes up for losing a heavyweight like the FOX Network.


Trip, I have a few questions for you while I've got your attention. After the June 12, 2009 transition, WJZ-DT had to request a temporary emergency STA because their licensed 9.8kW ERP non-directional signal on RF13 was largely ineffective in reaching their targeted audience. I believe that the emergency STA allowed them approximately ?27? kW ERP still using a non-directional pattern. They used this STA for about three months while they continued to construct their permanent and current directional facility, a 28.8 kW ERP directional antenna. I do remember that the new boosted up emergency temporary STA non-directional signal really gave them excellent coverage. Now, their permanent antenna has to protect WWPX-DT60 (RF12) in Martinsburg, I guess, so they have to limit their signal to the west.

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/polarplot...99&p360=0.799& 


Here are my questions:


1. Could WJZ-DT13 have kept that emergency temporary STA 27 kW non-directional pattern as a permanent facility if they had requested it from the FCC? Did that 27kW non-directional signal interfere with WWPX-DT?


2. WBAL-DT11 is using a *non-directional* antenna with a power of 26.6 kW ERP, aren't they on Channel 11? Why can they continue to have a *non-directional* pattern of almost 27 kW ERP and not WJZ?


Thanks, as always, for the invaluable expertise you bring to this board.


- StevenJB


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/18946569
> 
> 
> Thanks, Trip, but I still fail to understand how gaining The CW Network makes up for losing a heavyweight like the FOX Network.



He seems to have been more worried about This TV (on 45-2 and 50-2) than by Fox which is available both through WHSV 3-2 (SD) and WTTG 5-1 (HD).



> Quote:
> 1. Could WJZ-DT13 have kept that emergency temporary STA 27 kW non-directional pattern as a permanent facility if they had requested it from the FCC? Did that 27kW non-directional signal interfere with WWPX-DT?



If WWPX agreed to accept the interference, then yes. Whether it actually interfered or not, I don't know. What I do know is that the omni antenna is actually still on the tower and licensed at 4.5 kW for a backup, so I suspect they could go back to omni operation down the line.


But bear in mind that they'd already had the directional antenna purchased and fabricated (I think) by the time the transition took place, so they were not about to scrap it. They'd already had to scrap a channel 49 antenna in Pittsburgh.



> Quote:
> 2. WBAL-DT11 is using a *non-directional* antenna with a power of 26.6 kW ERP, aren't they on Channel 11? Why can they continue to have a *non-directional* pattern of almost 27 kW ERP and not WJZ?



They can't; they're operating under experimental authority. They've run into interference problems and have basically asked the FCC to ignore them. They had to sign interference acceptance agreements with WWPX and WHTM, and WVPT and WBRE want money in exchange for accepting the interference. (WBRE wants $420,000, which is unreasonable, thus why WBAL hopes the FCC will let them ignore the interference.)


Until they either make the necessary agreements or the FCC agrees to ignore them, they can only operate at 26.6 kW under experimental authority.



> Quote:
> Thanks, as always, for the invaluable expertise you bring to this board.
> 
> 
> - StevenJB



Glad to be able to lend a hand.







Let me know if there's anything else I can help with, or if you need the above info clarified.


- Trip


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/18946703
> 
> 
> They (WBAL) can't; they're operating under experimental authority. They've run into interference problems and have basically asked the FCC to ignore them. They had to sign interference acceptance agreements with WWPX and WHTM, and WVPT and WBRE want money in exchange for accepting the interference. (WBRE wants $420,000, which is unreasonable, thus why WBAL hopes the FCC will let them ignore the interference.) Until they either make the necessary agreements or the FCC agrees to ignore them, they can only operate at 26.6 kW under experimental authority. - Trip



That is an astonishing situation with WBAL and what you have described there. I had no idea that WBAL was still operating under the experimental authority after all this time. The FCC is literally caught between that proverbial rock and the hard place. They can't make WBAL go back to their 5 kW ERP licensed power because that won't work but they can't ignore the interference complaints indefinitely, can they? Baltimore is too big a city for the FCC to simply throw WBAL under the bus. WBAL provides NBC coverage to millions in MD, PA, and DEL. The fault lies with the FCC for failure to provide adequate, realistic, practical, and hands-on engineering and technical guidelines and models for High VHF digital television. It's too late now because the government has already given away UHF Channels 52 through 69. Now, they probably wish they had those back as well as 70 through 83!


You may get a big laugh from this because I am not an engineer. But, I have a solution and if I was the Chairman of the FCC, here is what I would do. It's really very simple. Let the market decide. Let every television station on High VHF (7 through 13) operate with an allowable maximum power not to exceed 50 kW ERP but not less than a minimum of 30 kW ERP using a non-directional pattern. Try it for a minimum of one year and see what the public has to say about reception and interference issues. A maximum allowed power of 50 kW ERP should satisfy the needs of the distant fringe area viewer located over 50 miles from the transmitter. You never had these problems with analog when 316 kW ERP was allowed. You always had a picture, albeit a little snowy, but it was viewable. Analog was forgiving. Digital is not. I'm afraid that the FCC never anticiapated how unforgiving DTV is. A 50 kW ERP non-directional signal should be very forgiving. What do you think?


----------



## Kelly From KOMO

Actually what the FCC didn't account for were the amount of viewers using rabbit ear antennas or antennas installed in attics. The assumption, as the way it's been since the 1940's in calculating coverage area, was the receive antenna would be of a certain gain, horizontally polarized, and 30 feet above ground level.


Longer wavelength, lower frequency channels, do indeed travel further but are less able to penetrate structures.


----------



## Dave Loudin

We should move any more discussion of this to the allocation thread, but here are a couple of other points to ponder:


1) the utility of a model is limited by the data that supports it


2) IIRC, the bulk of data used to build propagation models for VHF and UHF were collected at 30 feet.


3) fudge factors (there are always some) to compensate for various and sundry require a lot of testing to ensure that there are no undesirable effects


If there is to be some compensation for losses encountered by indoor reception, it would be factored in via statistics. Predictions are never made for 100% of cases, usually 90%, 50%, or 10% depending upon what is needed. So, if best estimates for indoor antenna use are 30% (just a number), those losses wouldn't be much of a factor to 50% locations predictions but would be a factor in 90% locations predictions.


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/18946956
> 
> 
> A 50 kW ERP non-directional signal should be very forgiving. What do you think?



There is precedent for something like this: AM stations on local service frequencies (Class C, old Class IV): 1230, 1240, 1340, 1400, 1450, and 1490 kHz. They were first licensed as 250 watts full-time. At some point, 1000 watts daytime was authorized and Class IV stations had to accept any interference caused. Eventually 1000 watts was authorized for nighttime hours in order to overcome greater local noise despite the massive increase in skywave interference.


A more recent example is the interference agreement between WPVI Philadelphia, WRGB Schenectady, and a PBS station in Connecticut, all on channel 6. They all agreed to raise power and accept whatever interference each of them caused to one another.


More about this in the allocation thread, but I disagree with letting the market decide...


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/18947730
> 
> 
> Actually what the FCC didn't account for were the amount of viewers using rabbit ear antennas or antennas installed in attics. The assumption, as the way it's been since the 1940's in calculating coverage area, was the receive antenna would be of a certain gain, horizontally polarized, and 30 feet above ground level. Longer wavelength, lower frequency channels, do indeed travel further but are less able to penetrate structures.



What the FCC also didn't account for were the fascist and dictatorial homeowner associations which forbid its members from installing outside antennas on their roofs through the use of restrictive covenants. I bought my two story single family colonial in 1984 before my county offered Cable TV. I was the first occupant in my neighborhood and fortunately before my HOA had promulgated its official covenants, I erected a UHF/VHF/FM antenna with a rotor in order to receive all of the available OTA channels in my region. My home is located 25 miles from Baltimore and 15 miles from Washington. An outside antenna gave me perfect OTA analog television reception from both cities. My home IS located within the Washington market. My HOA later challenged my right to erect an antenna and threatened me with legal action after their covenants became effective. I told them to shove their antenna exclusion rule where the sun didn't shine because my antenna predated their covenants. They backed down just as I expected they would.


Unknown to just about everyone outside of the Baltimore-Washington region is the little known fact that Baltimore and Washington are two distinct media markets within the same region. I believe that we're the only region in the country which has two complete sets of OTA TV channels for each market and yet Baltimore and Washington are but only 35 miles apart. Seattle/Tacoma, Dallas/Fort Worth, San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose all share a common set of OTA channels. Baltimore and Washington do not share because circa 1948 when the channel assignments were made by the FCC, both cities were totally and physically separate from each other.


Well, anyway around 1990 we got cable and the cable company covered both the Baltimore and Washington areas OTA locals. Slowly but surely, the company, which became Comcast, by 2000 completely discontinued coverage of one of the cities OTA analog channels depending upon your county of residence. The local Washington channels didn't want you watching Baltimore locals and vice versa because of advertising revenues. Fortunately, the bottom line was that I had an outside antenna so I could still pull in all of the Baltimore OTA locals.


Then came the mixed blessing of digital television. I have already told you that Comcast or the satellite providers cannot or will not offer people in the region both cities' full array of OTA local channels. With the nuances of digital television and without an outside antenna with a rotor you can just about forget about receiving a Baltimore local OTA digital television channel within the Washington metro area. You could always get some reception of the OTA analog channels using an attic antenna or even rabbit ears, but those days are history. Dependable and consistent reception of digital OTA television VHF high band channels 7 through 13 is near impossible without an outdoor roof antenna. There is your Catch 22. You can't receive digital OTA channels without an outside antenna but you may not be allowed to erect such an antenna or you can't and your cable company may not offer you service for that OTA local channel. Americans, by and large, took down and disassembled their outside antennas in the 1980s and 1990s because they figured cable would provide them with coverage. There was also developing a certain stigma with having an antenna on your chimney. Cable had snob appeal and if you had an antenna on your roof then that meant that you couldn't afford cable. Outside antennas were so blue collar and modern yuppies couldn't allow people to think that they were just a bunch of beer drinking ******** who god forbid didn't have cable. But, unfortunately, cable doesn't cover all of the digital television sub-channels. It's really absurd that the FCC created our digital television standards based upon the reception demographics of the 1950s and 1960s when just about everyone used a high gain antenna.


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/18948777
> 
> 
> What the FCC also didn't account for were the fascist and dictatorial homeowner associations which forbid its members from installing outside antennas on their roofs through the use of restrictive covenants.




Actually, Congress did. So long as you own the roof, you can put an antenna on it. Trumps all covenants.


----------



## mdviewer25

Who is using channel 39 now? Since WJLA left it to go back to 7, can't WBAL move to that or what about WUTB using 39 and WBAL using 51?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/18949607
> 
> 
> Who is using channel 39 now?


 WJAL north of Hagerstown, MD is presently using RF 39.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin* /forum/post/18949420
> 
> 
> Actually, Congress did. So long as you own the roof, you can put an antenna on it. Trumps all covenants.



I believe that Congress only exempted the less than one meter satellite dish from HOA covenants. Are you sure that Congress included the ordinary standard television antenna?


----------



## Jim Miller

Google "FCC otard"


jim


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/18949607
> 
> 
> Who is using channel 39 now? Since WJLA left it to go back to 7, can't WBAL move to that or what about WUTB using 39 and WBAL using 51?



Channel 39 would be short-spaced to WJAL and WLVT.


Channel 51 would be short-spaced to WDCW.


- Trip


----------



## SUOrangeman

Per my latest bill, Big Ten Network HD & CBS College Sports HD coming to Cox-Northern Virginia in Mid-August.


I finally checked on FiOS availability on the streets adjacent to mine in Annandale. Everyone's got it but me (multi-unit condominium) development.










-SUO


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/18950343
> 
> 
> I believe that Congress only exempted the less than one meter satellite dish from HOA covenants. Are you sure that Congress included the ordinary standard television antenna?



It covers both antennas and small satellite dishes, but that doesn't seem to stop HOAs from putting language in their bylaws that would lead the average person to believe that they are forbidden from putting an antenna or a dish on their roof.


The one exception to the OTARD rule I can think of is historic status of a structure or neighborhood. People who live in historic districts in DC are forbidden from putting a dish or an antenna anywhere on their home, if it is visible from the street.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/18950633
> 
> 
> Channel 39 would be short-spaced to WJAL and WLVT.
> 
> 
> Channel 51 would be short-spaced to WDCW.
> 
> 
> - Trip



I could see WBAL using 51. Wouldn't it be the same as when WJLA 7 was on 39 and they had WNUV 54 on 40?


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/18962413
> 
> 
> I could see WBAL using 51. Wouldn't it be the same as when WJLA 7 was on 39 and they had WNUV 54 on 40?



The FCC assigned those. These would be voluntary requests, held to an entirely different standard.


The rule back in 1999 or whenever was that you could apply for 2% more interference *on top of* whatever the FCC already had you causing.


The rule now is that if you apply for a new channel, it cannot cause more than 0.5% interference to any single allotment. So even though it would go back to exactly the way it was by putting WJLA on 39, for instance, it would be required to adhere to the 0.5% rule, making it virtually impossible to have assigned.


Same would be true for WBAL on 51.


And don't forget that WETA-27 and WWPX-12 still have pending mutually exclusive petitions for rulemaking to relocate to channel 51. (Notwithstanding the fact that WWPX on 51 would cause more than 30% (!) interference to WDCW.) I don't think the FCC has dealt with those yet.


- Trip


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/18962479
> 
> 
> ...
> 
> And don't forget that WETA-27 and WWPX-12 still have pending mutually exclusive petitions for rulemaking to relocate to channel 51. (Notwithstanding the fact that WWPX on 51 would cause more than 30% (!) interference to WDCW.) I don't think the FCC has dealt with those yet.
> 
> 
> - Trip



What if WWPX uses 44, then WBAL can stay on 11 and just increase their power to the south and southwest. Put WUTB on 39 same as WPXW on 34, WDCA on 35 and WTTG on 36. I've almost given up on trying to find a solution for WUTB because I don't want WMPT to move from 42. Since their analog 22 went off the air I can easily get WBOC from the Eastern Shore.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/18967589
> 
> 
> What if WWPX uses 44, then WBAL can stay on 11 and just increase their power to the south and southwest.



WWPB is already on 44.



> Quote:
> Put WUTB on 39 same as WPXW on 34, WDCA on 35 and WTTG on 36. I've almost given up on trying to find a solution for WUTB because I don't want WMPT to move from 42. Since their analog 22 went off the air I can easily get WBOC from the Eastern Shore.



You don't have to worry, as I doubt any of them will be moving.


- Trip


----------



## Frankie20

Looks like WDCW has a new oriental channel (50.3) called "New Tang Dynasty Television". According to wiki, the channel mainly focuses on human rights problems in China...


BTW, what happened with the CoolTV music channel that WNUV was suppose to get?


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Frankie20* /forum/post/18979060
> 
> 
> Looks like WDCW has a new oriental channel (50.3) called "New Tang Dynasty Television". According to wiki, the channel mainly focuses on *human rights problems in China*...



That would require broadcasting 24/7 without a single pause or commercial!


----------



## artwire




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PaulGo* /forum/post/18937767
> 
> 
> No for Montgomery County, MD and I have not seen it advertised anywhere around the DC area.



re: HDNet and or HDNet Movies ? ...Not in DC, either.


Speaking of which, where is FIOS available in DC? The three blocks around the Mayor's house? Every time I ask about our downtown neighborhood (which they promised in 07 would be up and running by 09) they say no... maybe 2012....


In 2009 press release they said 'are required' to deploy throughout the District over the next NINE years...


----------



## tuosfan

Hi,


I currently am living in Arlington, VA and wondered if anybody on here had any suggestions for picking up WJZ-Baltimore 13.1. I used to be able to pick it up before they switched to Hi-VHF. A rooftop antenna is not an option and I care ONLY about this channel.


My TVFool results:


WJZ-TV 13 (13.1) CBS 41.2 2Edge 1.1


Thanks in advance,

Andrew


----------



## Marcus Carr

After a download last night (and making my boxes unuseable for an hour after) my guide has listings for 15 days instead of 10.


Also, I finally see a soccer game listed on Team HD.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tuosfan* /forum/post/18993709
> 
> 
> Hi,
> 
> 
> I currently am living in Arlington, VA and wondered if anybody on here had any suggestions for picking up WJZ-Baltimore 13.1.



Andrew, What are you using now? Where do you live in Arlington?


If room permits, I suggest this antenna. It's the smallest antenna I know of with decent VHF performance. I mounted one to a fence only 5 feet off the ground & it works well down to around -55 on both VHF & UHF.


----------



## tuosfan

I was using a Terk HDTVa amplified antenna, it no longer could pull in 13.1 after they switched to Hi-VHF so it's sitting in a closet.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*No More Ravens Preseason Games For MASN* - 8/2 - The Baltimore-based Mid-Atlantic Sports Network will no longer be the "official cable network" for the Ravens. According to baltimoresun.com, the regional cable network and the Ravens were unable to reach an agreement, which ends a partnership that began in 2006, Ravens president Dick Cass confirmed Monday. "We've tried to work an arrangement with MASN along the lines with the arrangement we have had for the past four years and we're unable to work it out," Cass said. "So, we're pursuing alternatives." MASN spokesman Todd Webster said the split was amicable. "MASN remains a strong supporter of the Ravens' organization," he said. "We look forward to seeing them making another run to the playoffs." The Ravens' preseason opener will be broadcast on Channel 13/WJZ and ESPN, and the other preseason games will continue to be broadcast on Channel 11/WBAL. But the Ravens are working on keeping the games being aired in the Washington, Eastern Shore, and Harrisburg markets that MASN reached. An announcement for a new Ravens preseason network is expected later this week. DCRTV wonders: Could the new regional cable TV network home of the Ravens be Comcast SportsNet, which just started a Baltimore sports news website, CSNbaltimore.com? Stay tuned.....

http://dcrtv.com/


----------



## machpost

If CSN grabs the Ravens' rights, I wonder if that will push them to finally add a full-time, CSN+ feed in HD.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/18996448
> 
> *No More Ravens Preseason Games For MASN* - 8/2 - The Baltimore-based Mid-Atlantic Sports Network will no longer be the "official cable network" for the Ravens...



What restrictions does the NFL place on the cable transmissions of live out of market broadcasts? Allowing for the simultaneous availability of a second football game undermines trhe audience for the game being carried by the local network affiliate. Could Comcast choose to become the official network of the New England Patriots.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/18996919
> 
> 
> What restrictions does the NFL place on the cable transmissions of live out of market broadcasts? Allowing for the simultaneous availability of a second football game undermines trhe audience for the game being carried by the local network affiliate. Could Comcast choose to become the official network of the New England Patriots.



I believe Mid Atlantic Sports Network is what is known as an RSN, Regional Sports Network. Comcast is a national cable provider. It wouldn't be a good idea for a national cable provider to climb into exclusivity bed with any particular team. Same goes with their soon-to-be-network NBC. Networks form agreements with the league, not just a single region.


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tuosfan* /forum/post/18995450
> 
> 
> I was using a Terk HDTVa *amplified* antenna, it no longer could pull in 13.1 after they switched to Hi-VHF so it's sitting in a closet.



That is part of your problem. Depending on where you are in the county, you could be getting overload from WNVC or from WETA-FM or WMZQ. Usually, amplifying an indoor antenna is pointless for DTV - it doesn't improve the signal-to-noise ratio at the receiver. The Terk HDTV_i_ is what has worked well for many. I concur with the RCA antenna recommendation, too.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tuosfan* /forum/post/18995450
> 
> 
> I was using a Terk HDTVa amplified antenna, it no longer could pull in 13.1 after they switched to Hi-VHF so it's sitting in a closet.



I'm using the same antenna but I have to turn off the amplifier and take the dipoles down to halfway extended.


----------



## tuosfan

I went with the RCA antenna and I'm pulling in 2,11,13,24,and 54 quite nicely (75% or better). I cannot get 45 no matter what direction I point it in. 13 gets an 80% signal, but no sound..every other channel has sound! Any suggestions on how to get sound?


----------



## Trip in VA

Check your receiver for a SAP or Audio function. WJZ has SAP audio which can be Spanish or descriptive audio when active, and some stations make it silent when there's no such alternate audio for a given program.


- Trip


----------



## tuosfan

Nailed it! Now how do I get 45?


----------



## Trip in VA

What type of receiver are you using? Some of them will allow you to manually input a channel number. Try looking at 46-1 or 46-3 and if it allows you to tune either of them, see what the signal meter says.


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules

Yes, try punching in *46* & see what happens. WBFF-45 should be quite strong at your location, since you are already seeing the very weak WUTB-24.


----------



## tuosfan

When I type in 46, it automatically goes to 46-3. I get the message "Poor Signal Quality" and my Signal Meter says 10%. What is 46-3? Is that the SD feed for WBFF?


----------



## Digital Rules

That's very strange as there is no 45-3 or 46-3. Have you tried re-scanning all channels from scratch? If so, can you tell it to only scan for digital channels? Maybe try 46-0 if nothing else works.


----------



## tuosfan

Ok, so I kept trying to increase the signal of 46-3, once it got to 20%, my TV changed it to 45-1 and named it WBFF-HD. The best I can get so far is in the mid 20s with some blips here and there, but I think I'm getting very close!! Thanks for all your help everybody!


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tuosfan* /forum/post/18999804
> 
> 
> What is 46-3? Is that the SD feed for WBFF?





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/18999879
> 
> 
> That's very strange as there is no 45-3 or 46-3.



Some tuners, when looking for direct tuned signals, will only identify it if you have the correct MPEG2 Program Number. For WBFF, what PSIP shows as 45-1 is, in reality, 46-3 (RF channel 46, with MPEG2 Program Number 3).


I have that listed on RabbitEars in the column labeled "Physical Channel." Look here: http://www.rabbitears.info/market.ph...&callsign=wbff 


- Trip


----------



## joblo

Cox clearQAM viewers should rescan.


----------



## Big J

I recently (in the last month or so) lost WRC and MPT, but somehow gained WBAL. I had them last winter-is it the humidity? Anyone have a good explanation? I'm in Germantown Montgomery Co.

Just curious,

J


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/19022879
> 
> 
> I recently (in the last month or so) lost WRC and MPT, but somehow gained WBAL. I had them last winter-is it the humidity? Anyone have a good explanation? I'm in Germantown Montgomery Co.
> 
> Just curious,
> 
> J



Maybe yes, maybe no. One source I like to suggest is this one: http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ISSUES/erecting_antenna.html . He does a good job of explaining things like fading and multipath, which are likely reasons your reception may vary in August as opposed to January or February










What kind of antenna are you using, and is it outside or inside/attic? Outside all you may need is to re-adjust your aiming/height to deal with the changes summer/trees/humidity/etc causes. Inside or especially in a 110 degree high-humidity attic you may be fighting a losing battle. You'd need a fairly wide beamwidth to get both Baltimore and D.C. from Germantown reliably year-round with a single antenna, IMO. Wider beamwidth usually means lower gain and more susceptibility to fading/multipath/etc. But then again, what do I know, I gave up and got FiOS for locals last year and only use 1 high-gain yagi antenna pointed towards D.C. to fill in the missing channels







I gave up, doesn't mean you have to, right? LOL


----------



## Big J

Thanks for the reply. I don't know what kind of antenna it is off hand (amplified, UHF/VHF), its in the attic and came with the house. Its pointed towards DC, I'm not that interested in getting Baltimore, and I redid the connections a few years ago. My reception is mostly pretty good, so I'm not going to stress over it too much, its more out of curiosity. I do kind of miss Wendy Rieger.









Thanks for the link.

Jack


----------



## mikeineaston

Hi, new here. I live in Easton, MD and currently have 2 antennas in the attic, one pointed to Baltimore and one pointed towards DC. Having two antennas was the only way I could pick up 7, 9 and 11, 13 without moving it each time.


Anyway I rescanned the other day and I picked up WGAL 8, WLYH 15, and WUND 2, PBS from Elizabeth City, North Carolina on the antenna facing Baltimore. I thought the WUND was odd since it was so far away and the antenna was pointing in almost the opposite direction. I have checked it a few times and all but once its been there.


I was wondering if anyone else in the area as been able to pick these channels up? I know WGAL recently increased its power but according to TVFool I am barely in one of the last little coverage spots for their signal. Last night I watched CBS21 on CW15 at 10pm with signals in the upper 70's and low 80's.


I have been picking them up for a few days and I was wondering if these will stick around or if its just a temporary weather/atmosphere thing?


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mikeineaston* /forum/post/19034737
> 
> 
> I have been picking them up for a few days and I was wondering if these will stick around or if its just a temporary weather/atmosphere thing?



Welcome.










WUND is definitely atmospheric, and the others are almost certainly so.


- Trip


----------



## biker19

 http://www.lightreading.com/document...site=lr_cable& 



> Quote:
> In a deal announced early Thursday, Cox has agreed to promote and support TiVo's new broadband-ready Premiere HD-DVR at retail and to take full ownership of all the installation hassles that go with it. (See Cox, TiVo Connect at Retail , TiVo 'Premiere' DVRs Go Retail, and New TiVo DVRs Built for Web & Cable Content.)
> 
> 
> Cox is also integrating its video-on-demand (VoD) service, which currently holds about 15,000 hours of titles, while also embracing the box's ability to feed in Web video from TiVo's wide range of partners, which include Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) and Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN).
> 
> 
> This is the first US example of a retail set-top that integrates cable linear and on-demand video services with broadband video, plus a third-party interface (TiVo's, in this case). Panasonic , which just scuttled its tru2way TV products, baked in only two of those pieces -- cable linear and on-demand video.
> 
> 
> "We like providing more choice, and being in the business of linear and on-demand video, but we also fully understand consumers like access to broadband video," Cox VP of product development Steve Necessary tells Light Reading Cable. "This is a way to basically get both in the same box in a fashion that's pretty darn fast."
> 
> 
> Cox has committed to support the TiVo box in its "major" markets, phasing some of them in starting early next year. The MSO isn't saying which markets will offer that support first, but some candidates include Phoenix, Northern Virginia, San Diego, and Los Angeles.


----------



## biker19

^ for those Cox customers that want to cut the cable co STB cord.


----------



## jgantert

Cant believe the Redskins game on 4 isnt in HD! Feels like 1980.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/19046335
> 
> 
> Cant believe the Redskins game on 4 isnt in HD! Feels like 1980.



Same thing here in SE VA on Channel 3 WTKR. It's in HD on NFL Network and CSN...


----------



## Marcus Carr

CSN paid for exclusive HD rights.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/19046335
> 
> 
> Cant believe the Redskins game on 4 isnt in HD! Feels like 1980.



Technically, WRC-4 did broadcast the game in 1080i HD. I checked the OTA broadcast output of WRC-TV4.1 and it was definitely in 1080i HD 16:9. They were contractually prohibited from using HD full visual widescreen and had to broadcast the black side pillars as part of the 1080i 16:9 HD output signal which made the picture appear as 4:3. However, Channel 4.1 is always 1080i HD regardless of whether it is 16:9 or 4:3. Technically, any broadcast that is 720p or 1080i is considered HD quality even though black side pillars may be present. By the same opposite reasoning, CSNMA often carries some out of town Capitals hockey games using 480i 16:9 widescreen. The picture may be using a full 16:9 aspect ratio but technically is not HD but SD because it is not being carried in 720p or 1080i but 480i. In the case of these Capitals games, CSNMA is not using 480i Stretch-O-Vision. The actual picture is not stretched or distorted but is a true form full bodied accurate 16:9 aspect ratio 480i. Maybe somebody here can tell me whether CSNMA is actually using a 480i SD 16:9 aspect ratio or 480p ED 16:9 aspect ratio for these out of town games. 480p ED is used by Cable TV systems for the Music Choice channels in a 4:3 aspect ratio.


----------



## jgantert

No dice, that game was SD (technically upconverted to 1080i, but still SD).


I don't receive CSNMA so I can't tell what they do. Heck, I'm still waiting for TheCoolTV to turn on, instead we get a lame Chinese channel without English subs (54-3).


Thank goodness one of the pre-season games will be against the Ravens, so I'll be able to tune into 11 for a true HD broadcast!


----------



## biker19




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/19009410
> 
> 
> Cox clearQAM viewers should rescan.



Anything specific we should be finding? No noticeable changes noted.


----------



## Ken H

A couple of Verizon FiOS posts moved to proper forum: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...php?p=16127098


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/19050739
> 
> 
> Technically, WRC-4 did broadcast the game in 1080i HD. I checked the OTA broadcast output of WRC-TV4.1 and it was definitely in 1080i HD 16:9. They were contractually prohibited from using HD full visual widescreen and had to broadcast the black side pillars as part of the 1080i 16:9 HD output signal which made the picture appear as 4:3. However, Channel 4.1 is always 1080i HD regardless of whether it is 16:9 or 4:3. Technically, any broadcast that is 720p or 1080i is considered HD quality even though black side pillars may be present. By the same opposite reasoning, CSNMA often carries some out of town Capitals hockey games using 480i 16:9 widescreen. The picture may be using a full 16:9 aspect ratio but technically is not HD but SD because it is not being carried in 720p or 1080i but 480i. In the case of these Capitals games, CSNMA is not using 480i Stretch-O-Vision. The actual picture is not stretched or distorted but is a true form full bodied accurate 16:9 aspect ratio 480i. Maybe somebody here can tell me whether CSNMA is actually using a 480i SD 16:9 aspect ratio or 480p ED 16:9 aspect ratio for these out of town games. 480p ED is used by Cable TV systems for the Music Choice channels in a 4:3 aspect ratio.



It was a 4:3 480i SDI feed, run through an aspect ratio converter to add 'wings', then upconverted to 1080i, which is the NBC HD standard. The WRC ATSC DTV encoder is probably always set for 1080i, as are all CBS and NBC stations.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/19050739
> 
> 
> Technically, WRC-4 did broadcast the game in 1080i HD. I checked the OTA broadcast output of WRC-TV4.1 and it was definitely in 1080i HD 16:9. They were contractually prohibited from using HD full visual widescreen and had to broadcast the black side pillars as part of the 1080i 16:9 HD output signal which made the picture appear as 4:3. However, Channel 4.1 is always 1080i HD regardless of whether it is 16:9 or 4:3. Technically, any broadcast that is 720p or 1080i is considered HD quality even though black side pillars may be present. By the same opposite reasoning, CSNMA often carries some out of town Capitals hockey games using 480i 16:9 widescreen. The picture may be using a full 16:9 aspect ratio but technically is not HD but SD because it is not being carried in 720p or 1080i but 480i. In the case of these Capitals games, CSNMA is not using 480i Stretch-O-Vision. The actual picture is not stretched or distorted but is a true form full bodied accurate 16:9 aspect ratio 480i. Maybe somebody here can tell me whether CSNMA is actually using a 480i SD 16:9 aspect ratio or 480p ED 16:9 aspect ratio for these out of town games. 480p ED is used by Cable TV systems for the Music Choice channels in a 4:3 aspect ratio.



It was a 4:3 480i SDI feed, run through an aspect ratio converter to add 'wings', then upconverted to 1080i, which is the NBC HD standard. The WRC ATSC DTV encoder is probably always set for 1080i, as are all CBS and NBC stations.


Broadcast stations don't usually encode with 480i or 480P 16:9 on their primary channels if they do any HD at all. Most will take a 16:9 SD image and run it through an upconverter before going into their encoder which broadcasts at 1080i 16:9 or 720P 16:9 (for ABC and FOX affiliates).


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/18702021
> 
> *CEI signed to help upgrade Comcast SportsNet facility to HD*
> 
> 
> May 28, 2010 10:14 AM, By Michael Grotticelli
> 
> 
> System design and integration firm Communications Engineering (CEI) has been selected by Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic to upgrade and expand Comcast SportsNet's Bethesda, MD, studio and news facilities HD capability. *The HD upgrade project will be completed by September and enhance the original programming that originates from the studio*, as well as improve the functionality of the facility.



Studio shows are now in HD.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/19051810
> 
> 
> Anything specific we should be finding? No noticeable changes noted.



I only check it sporadically, probably every few months or so, but when I ran the scan a couple of weeks ago there was a lot of stuff I hadn't seen before. Hadn't seen anything about it here so I posted. I thought it might be temporary, but it's still the same today, so maybe not.


----------



## haggisbingo

I have to say I'm really enjoying channel 786 EpixHD here in Fairfax VA. I haven't seen anything talking about a trial so I'm hoping it's here to stay at no additional cost. Can anyone shed some light on this? thx


----------



## Marcus Carr

Dish has added AMC HD.


----------



## winchesterdoug

I am not sure where you live, but you might be getting interference on WBFF Fox 45 from that new low power Christian station that the FCC allowed to use the same channel as WBFF 45 - channel 46 - it is WAZW using 46 out of Winchester, Va. - There has been much consternation over this - as when they went on the air using the same frequency as Fox 45 in Baltimore- then WBFF 45 reception was blocked for all viewers here in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia - all the way up to Martinsburg, W. Va. - I have also heard reports of it interfering with WBFF's reception much closer to their viewing area down in Maryland as well. - I have no idea how or why the FCC allowed a low power secondary TV station to use the exact same channel - 46 - as an already existing full-power network affiliate. The only answer I get on here is "because they can". - I still think the whole thing is ridiculous. But I would bet that has something to do with you not being able to receive WBFF Fox 45 where you are located. It has to be the reason.


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *winchesterdoug*  /forum/post/19072327
> 
> 
> I have no idea how or why the FCC allowed a low power secondary TV station to use the exact same channel - 46 - as an already existing full-power network affiliate. The only answer I get on here is "because they can".



This is not true. We have tried to explain to you how the process works, and it is much more than "just because they can."


----------



## winchesterdoug

Yes. I have read all the explanations as to why they do the things they do and their rationale for doing it. But a lot of the decisions are not only unrealistic, but impractical as well. Typical of engineers looking at things on graphs and charts and projections and not taking into account actually how many people are watching these OTA stations that are impacted by these decisions. But it is clear, that they simply don't care, because they know that the public is virtually powerless to do anything about it. It is very sad really.


----------



## tylerSC

Sorry to hear about your frustrating reception problem...but are you not able to receive WTTG Fox-5 from DC instead? And what about the other DC/Baltimore stations? I understand digital reception of Baltimore channels in northern Va is more problematic than analog. Used to live near Leesburg Va for several years and got good analog reception from both areas, but of course those days are gone. Also miss Roy Rogers restaurants, but that's another topic...


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tylerSC* /forum/post/19075050
> 
> 
> ..Also miss Roy Rogers restaurants, but that's another topic...



Me, too. "Real food for real people". There's a Roy Rogers on US Route 1 in Ft. Belvoir. I always arrange to be hungry whenever I konw I'll be in that neighborhood.


FYI, Arby's got rid of the roast beef buns that had the burnt onions baked onto the top of them.


----------



## MrHifi

I hate the rubbery meat products that pass for roast beef at Arby's. Hate is not strong enough. I vote with my wallet and avoid Arby's. Loved Roy Rogers.


----------



## rviele




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrHifi* /forum/post/19076597
> 
> 
> I hate the rubbery meat products that pass for roast beef at Arby's. Hate is not strong enough. I vote with my wallet and avoid Arby's. Loved Roy Rogers.



if anybody wants the best pit beef in the world go up to elkton,md on rt 40 and go to fast eddies. you will never regret it. it is next door to the royal farms gas at the corner of mechanicsville rd and rt 40.


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *winchesterdoug* /forum/post/19074983
> 
> 
> Yes. I have read all the explanations as to why they do the things they do and their rationale for doing it. But a lot of the decisions are not only unrealistic, but impractical as well. Typical of engineers looking at things on graphs and charts and projections and not taking into account actually how many people are watching these OTA stations that are impacted by these decisions. But it is clear, that they simply don't care, because they know that the public is virtually powerless to do anything about it. It is very sad really.



Again, this is all patently untrue. There is a procedure for allocating channels and for changing or adding to those allocations. This all based on the physics of VHF/UHF propagation. The only arbitrary part of the process is the application for a construction permit - the applicant can propose whatever he wants. The assessment of applications by the FCC is NOT arbitrary.


Additionally, you _*do*_ have the power to change your situation. The low-power station is a secondary service that is not allowed to interfere with with primary (full-power and Class A) services. The trick is to find more people that used to watch WBFF and cannot now and get them to file complaints.


----------



## markbulla

For some reason my antenna isn't working so well any more...


Actually, the top of the old maple tree fell on my house. The antenna sacrificed itself to save the roof (I haven't found any roof problems yet). I have to get a new antenna - any suggestions in the Laurel area?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/19084108
> 
> 
> For some reason my antenna isn't working so well any more...



Yikes, you really lucked out. You should do quite well with a Winegard 7694 . Was that a Radio Shack antenna. (VU-160)?


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markbulla* /forum/post/19084108
> 
> 
> For some reason my antenna isn't working so well any more...
> 
> 
> Actually, the top of the old maple tree fell on my house. The antenna sacrficed itself to save the roof (I haven't found any roof problems yet). I have to get a new antenna - any suggestions in the Laurel area?



Back in the analog days, when I used to do residential installations in Laurel, I was able to get reception of all the stations from Washington, DC, Baltimore and Annapolis PBS using the basic omnidirectional "trash can lid" antennas. You should do better now, since those antennas functioned poorest on lowband channels 2, 4, and 5, which are no longer in use.


There is a hair-styling joint on Route 1 in Laurel by the Giant store that is using a Terk, "wand shaped" antenna to get Laurel and Washington, DC reception for 47 TVs.


Did you need to actually use the rotor to switch from Baltimore to Washington with your old set-up??


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Yikes, you really lucked out. You should do quite well with a Winegard 7694 . Was that a Radio Shack antenna. (VU-160)?



To tell you the truth, I was given the antenna by a friend of mine who didn't want it any more. I'm not sure of the model...


Thanks for the Winegard idea.


----------



## markbulla




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> Did you need to actually use the rotor to switch from Baltimore to Washington with your old set-up??



I usually aimed the antenna at Baltimore, and got the DC stations off the back side of the antenna, when I wanted to watch them off air.


I have the DC locals on Dish Network (which gives me the local station guide info), but it's always nice to see the picture with the full data rate!


I used the rotor to look around and see what else I could see.


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rkolsen* /forum/post/18881288
> 
> 
> 
> 
> After I sent the email I realized that they probably have several generators but could it be a way for the local electric company to exploint more money out of consumers. And Does anyone know how much power in a % does a TV station and it's transmitter take off from the grid.




belated reply:


Poco's offer different rates: X $/KWH if 24x7; {say} 0.75X if we can get you to reduce demand when needed. Many large consumers use the latter, inc. Ma Bell, big buildings etc.


The generators can be as small or large as you want; how big is your wallet? I've seen dual 500-750 KW White Superior Diesels in AT&T facilities. A large locomotive could be twice that.


The larger power bills for UHF is allegedly one reason some stations reverted to their old VHF assignments on D-Day.


----------



## VARTV

SINCLAIR BROADCAST GROUP and The COUNTRY NETWORK (TCN), a Country music video network located in NASHVILLE, have entered into an agreement to launch TCN on the broadcast digital tier in most of SINCLAIR's markets. Currently SINCLAIR is in 35 markets with 58 stations, covering 22% of the U.S. television households. (read more - AllAccess )

*NOTE:* TheCoolTV and Sinclair is a no-go???


----------



## wnyfox

*NOTE:* TheCoolTV and Sinclair is a no-go???[/quote]


You can look forward to both in many markets. CoolTV is still happening.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wnyfox* /forum/post/19092327
> 
> *NOTE:* TheCoolTV and Sinclair is a no-go???
> 
> 
> You can look forward to both in many markets. CoolTV is still happening.



Yep... I did get confirmation a little bit after my post...


----------



## joblo

Cox clearQAM freeview has ended.


----------



## Trip in VA

Anyone who wants to view ATSC-MH on traditional receivers, check here:

http://tvtechnology.com/article/105706 
http://www.mobile-dtv-viewer.com/DownloadATSC.html 


If you happen to give it a shot, I'd love to know what each MH-capable station in the DC/Baltimore markets is running.










- Trip


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/19106419
> 
> 
> Anyone who wants to view ATSC-MH on traditional receivers, check here:
> 
> http://tvtechnology.com/article/105706
> http://www.mobile-dtv-viewer.com/DownloadATSC.html
> 
> 
> If you happen to give it a shot, I'd love to know what each MH-capable station in the DC/Baltimore markets is running.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> - Trip



I run the Hauppauge 950Q tuner they mention, so I might give it a try. Thanks for the link!


----------



## Trip in VA

It should work on most tuners which use BDA drivers. I have it running on my Artec USB receiver and Falcon_77 has it running on his OnAir GT. My Pinnacle PCI does not seem to work with it.


- Trip


----------



## tonyd79

Yuck. Fios is center cutting WTTG for their SD version of the Steelers/Broncos game. WBFF is letterboxed as it should be.


----------



## rustycruiser

I sent WTTG an email about it last week. Apparently nobody there cares.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/19118622
> 
> 
> Yuck. Fios is center cutting WTTG for their SD version of the Steelers/Broncos game. WBFF is letterboxed as it should be.



Comcast did the same thing for WTTG. I also read on dcrtv.com that it also happened on DirectTV and Dish. I don't think they know that the picture is cropped that way. Hopefully, someone that works there will see it for themselves during the season and it will get fixed.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/19106419
> 
> 
> Anyone who wants to view ATSC-MH on traditional receivers, check here:
> 
> http://tvtechnology.com/article/105706
> http://www.mobile-dtv-viewer.com/DownloadATSC.html
> 
> 
> If you happen to give it a shot, I'd love to know what each MH-capable station in the DC/Baltimore markets is running.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> - Trip



I've installed it on my netbook, and after doing a scan, I'm seeing ATSC-M/H streams on the following stations:


WUSA

WFDC

MHz Networks (not sure if it's WNVC or WNVT)

WHUT

WPXW

WRC


The program seems really buggy on my netbook. I can't seem to actually view any of the channels, and chances don't look good that I'm going to pay for the license to use it after 7 days at this point.


It looks like some of the stations have multiple streams. I'm seeing "WTTG" and "FOX News" on WTTG's stream, so it looks like there might be some stuff out there that isn't available on the regular broadcasts. Too bad I can't get it to work right. I was hoping to try it out in the car this weekend, to see if I can actually get the "mobile" benefits using it this way.


Maybe the respective ATSC USB tuner manufacturers will update their software to integrate M/H tuning eventually.


EDIT: I played around with entering channel numbers manually, and apparently WPXW is streaming a bunch of interesting stuff: MSNBC, CNBC, qubo, MTV, Nick, and Comedy Central. Can't seem to get a picture from any of those streams, though. I was able to tune in WRC's mobile broadcast, as well as MHz1 and MHz7, and they all looked pretty nice.


----------



## Trip in VA

I spoke with someone at the company and they acknowledge it needs a fair bit of work. They just wanted to demonstrate the technology as soon as possible.


I'm curious if you could tell me what the various labels are for the MH subchannels on each station. (Also, WNUV in Baltimore should be running MH as well. I think WNVC-24 is the MH station from MHz.)


If you can't view them, it's possible you don't have the VLC libraries installed the way they want them. If you can get a viewer window to open and click the little wrench at the top right, the resulting screen will offer to download and install their VLC libraries such that you can watch video hopefully.


One final note, I was told that all the MH error correction is not yet implemented, so taking it on the road will be disappointing. They're aiming to have that corrected by October.


- Trip


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/19128495
> 
> 
> I'm curious if you could tell me what the various labels are for the MH subchannels on each station. (Also, WNUV in Baltimore should be running MH as well. I think WNVC-24 is the MH station from MHz.)



I grabbed a couple of the labels, but after running the scan and trying to view a stream, it would crash. The scan was taking quite a while. If I have time tonight, I'll give it another shot and try to get a full list of the labels. By entering frequencies manually, I was actually able to watch a couple of the mobile streams and they looked great.


The most interesting part was seeing the streams that were apparently available at one time here:




















While I could tune in the standard ATSC subchannels of these two using the program, I got a blank screen when I tried to tune in the "cable" channels listed. I'm guessing they were either used during the testing period before there were any commercially-available tuners, or it's part of some future subscription model. Very interesting, nonetheless.


----------



## Trip in VA

They're probably still there, but encrypted as part of the subscription model they've been working on. Still, very awesome.


When you get the chance, I'll be quite excited to see what the other local stations have to offer.







Thanks!


- Trip


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/19128495
> 
> 
> I'm curious if you could tell me what the various labels are for the MH subchannels on each station. (Also, WNUV in Baltimore should b
> 
> - Trip



This is everything I could pull in this evening:

WUSA:

'WUSA 9'


WFDC:

'Univision'

'E!'

'Food Network'


WHUT:

M/H Main


WPXW:

'MSNBC'

'CNBC'

'qubo'

'MTV'

'Nick'

'Comedy Central'


WDCA:

'WTG Fox5'

'Fox News'

'Fox Business'


WRC:

M/H Main


----------



## s_milberg

I can't seem to get WJLA anymore, which is odd because I get WHUT and WDCA, WPXW, and WUSA, all of which are apparently emitted from the same place based on the antennaweb distance and angle. I'm 2.7 miles SE of the emitter. It used to work mostly fine in the past, although when I would tune to that channel I would have to wait a bit longer than typical for the image to show up. Now I get zilch signal, no matter how long I leave the TV on that channel.


I have the RCA 751 rooftop mounted and pointed roughly in the direction of the towers (+- 10 degrees) with clear line of sight. I do have a large building directly behind the antenna, but all the other channels from that tower come in with about 75% strength and 100% quality (at least according to the pioneer 5020 tuner).


Thoughts?


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *s_milberg* /forum/post/19136536
> 
> 
> I can't seem to get WJLA anymore, which is odd because I get WHUT and WDCA, WPXW, and WUSA, all of which are apparently emitted from the same place based on the antennaweb distance and angle. I'm 2.7 miles SE of the emitter. It used to work mostly fine in the past, although when I would tune to that channel I would have to wait a bit longer than typical for the image to show up. Now I get zilch signal, no matter how long I leave the TV on that channel.
> 
> 
> I have the RCA 751 rooftop mounted and pointed roughly in the direction of the towers (+- 10 degrees) with clear line of sight. I do have a large building directly behind the antenna, but all the other channels from that tower come in with about 75% strength and 100% quality (at least according to the pioneer 5020 tuner).
> 
> 
> Thoughts?



I was wondering if anyone had any issues with WJLA recently. My girlfriend said that for a few days she could not get a signal from WJLA. Although I could still get one where I live. She lives in Fort Washington, although the signal came back for her at some point since she said she was going to watch her ABC soaps last night on the TiVo.


----------



## s_milberg

Anyone else having issues with WJLA OTA? Or alternatively, any one getting rock solid WJLA OTA from the DC Area (NW DC in particular)?


----------



## aaronwt

It could be the atmosphere. The Tropospheric Ducting forcast shows unfavorable reception for our area right now,


----------



## TheKrell

WJLA coming in perfectly for me at 10 mi SW of the tower.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/19132874
> 
> 
> This is everything I could pull in this evening:
> 
> WUSA:
> 
> 'WUSA 9'
> 
> 
> WFDC:
> 
> 'Univision'
> 
> 'E!'
> 
> 'Food Network'
> 
> 
> WHUT:
> 
> M/H Main
> 
> 
> WPXW:
> 
> 'MSNBC'
> 
> 'CNBC'
> 
> 'qubo'
> 
> 'MTV'
> 
> 'Nick'
> 
> 'Comedy Central'
> 
> 
> WDCA:
> 
> 'WTG Fox5'
> 
> 'Fox News'
> 
> 'Fox Business'
> 
> 
> WRC:
> 
> M/H Main



Thanks.










I think MH Main means it's there but hasn't decoded the MH yet...


- Trip


----------



## RandomMcFly

Hey local guys/girls,


Just moved to the NoVA area (Alexandria) from SW Ohio. I'm very unhappy with the HD-DVR that Comcast gave me (Cisco RNG200 w/Sara O.S.)... it's flat out ugly. I'm looking at building an HTPC with Windows 7 Media Center, but I'm wondering what channels I'll be able to get through the cable service. Again I'm happy with the channels I get (Disney HD for my toddler, ESPN HD & ABC/CBS/NBC/CNN HD, etc.)... are those channels "Clear QAM" meaning I'll get them if I use a digital tuner card in my HTPC? The list of channels earlier in this topic wasn't clear.


I understand this thread is geared more toward receiving HD channels over the air using an HD antenna, but any help would be appreciated.


----------



## RandomMcFly

What it looks like with the Comcast CISCO RNG200.










What it looks like with my Win7 Media Center hooked up.


----------



## s_milberg




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/19136974
> 
> 
> It could be the atmosphere. The Tropospheric Ducting forcast shows unfavorable reception for our area right now,



What i don't get though is that I'm getting multiple other channels from presumably the same tower just fine. Is it possible for the atmospheric disturbance to affect channel 7, but not 9, which appears to be co-located?


Could the problem be with my tuner/antenna? Or would it be impossible to just have one channel be off and all others perfectly fine?


----------



## s_milberg

Well, WJLA is back now. Signal strength is about 78%, 100% quality. Don't see the rhyme or reason.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *s_milberg* /forum/post/19138604
> 
> 
> Well, WJLA is back now. Signal strength is about 78%, 100% quality. Don't see the rhyme or reason.



The atmosphere was about as screwed up as it could possibly get the past 24 hours or so. Was picking up TV all the way from Florence, SC to Boston, MA. This morning, New York City was stronger than the locals. I recorded a few new finds. They were: wjar on 51.3 (10.1 providence RI), wcbs on 33.1 (2.1 ny), wnbc 28.3 (4.1 ny), wnyw 44.3 (5.1 ny), wtnh 10.3 (8.1 ct), wgbh 19.3 (2.1 MA), and wcvb 20.3 (5.1 MA). FM radio was the same by the way.


The only 2 local channels that I could receive this morning were WMPT and WNUV. The others, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 16, 20, 26, 32, 45, 50, and 66 were totally unreceivable due to other stations interfering with their physical channels.


----------



## bwallen




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/19142363
> 
> 
> The atmosphere was about as screwed up as it could possibly get the past 24 hours or so. Was picking up TV all the way from Florence, SC to Boston, MA. This morning, New York City was stronger than the locals. I recorded a few new finds. They were: wjar on 51.3 (10.1 providence RI), wcbs on 33.1 (2.1 ny), wnbc 28.3 (4.1 ny), wnyw 44.3 (5.1 ny), wtnh 10.3 (8.1 ct), wgbh 19.3 (2.1 MA), and wcvb 20.3 (5.1 MA). FM radio was the same by the way.
> 
> 
> The only 2 local channels that I could receive this morning were WMPT and WNUV. The others, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 16, 20, 26, 32, 45, 50, and 66 were totally unreceivable due to other stations interfering with their physical channels.



What sort of antenna do you have that you were getting stations from so far away? Also, where did you find out about the condition of the atmosphere? Forgive my naivete, but is this something you can get from the weather report?


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bwallen* /forum/post/19143710
> 
> 
> What sort of antenna do you have that you were getting stations from so far away? Also, where did you find out about the condition of the atmosphere? Forgive my naivete, but is this something you can get from the weather report?



It had nothing to do with my antenna. Check out this link http://www.om3rkp.cq.sk/articles.php?lng=en&pg=76 . It even talks a little about hurricanes. A good tropo forecast can be found at http://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo.html .


----------



## bwallen




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/19144167
> 
> 
> It had nothing to do with my antenna. Check out this link http://www.om3rkp.cq.sk/articles.php?lng=en&pg=76 . It even talks a little about hurricanes. A good tropo forecast can be found at http://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo.html .



Thanks for the info! I've also been having problems with WUSA, WJLA and WDCA. I can get Fox and WRC just fine though. Any thoughts? I used to get these stations, but now I can't. Does it have to do with the tropo forecast?


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bwallen* /forum/post/19145984
> 
> 
> Thanks for the info! I've also been having problems with WUSA, WJLA and WDCA. I can get Fox and WRC just fine though. Any thoughts? I used to get these stations, but now I can't. Does it have to do with the tropo forecast?



I didn't notice any tropo today so if you're still having problems, I would say that the issue is with something in your system. What type of antenna do you have (internal/external? VHF/UHF? UHF only?) Also, what city/town are you near? If you're not sure of your antenna type, post a pic.


If you're in an urban area, do you have any buildings nearby that may block your signal from whatever tower you are trying to receive from?


----------



## jgantert

Looks like we are going to get AntennaTV ( http://www.wgnamerica.com/shows/antenna/ ) starting January 3rd 2011 on Tribune stations (Channel 50 locally).


Sounds like what Good TV used to be.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/19147843
> 
> 
> Looks like we are going to get AntennaTV ( http://www.wgnamerica.com/shows/antenna/ ) starting January 3rd 2011 on Tribune stations (Channel 50 locally).
> 
> 
> Sounds like what Good TV used to be.



Will they be discontinuing their relatively new 50.3 Chinese channel? I just connected a former Comcast customer to an off-air antenna system that included that vchannel, and they were very pleased to see they would be getting it.


----------



## Frankie20




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/19147843
> 
> 
> Looks like we are going to get AntennaTV ( http://www.wgnamerica.com/shows/antenna/ ) starting January 3rd 2011 on Tribune stations (Channel 50 locally).
> 
> 
> Sounds like what Good TV used to be.



Sweet! I ended up taking 50.3 off my DTV box anyway, I just have to remember to put it back in January...


----------



## AntAltMike

I've measured a strong channel 12 (60.1-60.3) on the rooftop of the 18 story condominium at 1600 North Oak Street in Arlington recently. The bearing of maximum signal strength is due north, pointed at the Wisconsin Street tower cluster. Is this just an atmospheric fluke, or is there a low power repeater being operated here that I don't know about? The field strength is comparable to that of Baltimore channels 11 and 13.


Also, is the WWPX 60.x programming exactly the same as that of WPXW 66.x all day, or just in prime time? For that matter, does WPXW even run any independent reruns during the day anymore, or are all of their non-network hours used for infomercials. I remember when they used to carry The Love Boat, Bonanza and The A Team in the afternoon. Ah, the good old days!


----------



## Trip in VA

 http://www.rabbitears.info/contour.php?appid=1328932 


- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/19152252
> 
> http://www.rabbitears.info/contour.php?appid=1328932
> 
> 
> - Trip



So is this just something to cover reception holes in the WPXW 66.x Washington, DC metro coverage, rather than to extend some unique programming from the WWPX 60.x Fredericksburg station?


----------



## Digital Rules

Is the transmitter in Martinsburg off the air or something? Seems like this LP channel 12 would keep people close to the transmitter in DC from getting 11 & 13 out of Baltimore. Makes no sense to me since the signal from WPXW on UHF 34 gets out to fringe areas so well already?????? UHF 34 is the most robust DC signal from my experience.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/19152239
> 
> 
> 
> Also, is the WWPX 60.x programming exactly the same as that of WPXW 66.x all day, or just in prime time?



Yes, all day as far as I have seen. Same exact picture quality & programming. I see zero signal coming Martinsburg now & slightly lower signal levels from 11 & 13 than previously.


----------



## Marcus Carr

TMZ went HD today. WUTB showed it in HD.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/19152347
> 
> 
> So is this just something to cover reception holes in the WPXW 66.x Washington, DC metro coverage, rather than to extend some unique programming from the WWPX 60.x Fredericksburg station?



Neither. It was set up because at one time, they had WWPX up for sale and wanted to be able to claim it had DC coverage to increase the sale price.


This is also why they had applied to relocate WWPX from 12 to 51.


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules

So screw anyone in NW DC that may be interested in receiving channel 11 or 13 OTA? I thought FCC regulations would protect the viewing area of 11 & 13 from adjacent channel interference? We've got this ridiculous predicament between Nexstar & WBAL and then this is OK? What gives?


BTW Trip, really impressive how Rabbit Ears is so much more up to date than the FCC site. Keep up the good work.


----------



## Trip in VA

When WBAL and WJZ wanted their power increases, they had to get waivers from WWPX. The permission to build this [very weak] signal in DC was the condition WWPX put on it. Both agreed.


I *think* that's correct.


And I'm glad you like it!










- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules

Thanks Trip, the signal is certainly weak, so hopefully it won't affect those close to the tower.


----------



## Dave Loudin

The formal designation for WWPX's low power repeaters is DTS - distributed transmission system. The idea is to add synchronized localized transmitters to fill in terrain-blocked areas while causing minimal self-interference. Converting broadcast TV into an entirely DTS service was one of the ideas floated by the wireless comms. industry to try and pack the channels tighter.


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> So is this just something to cover reception holes in the WPXW 66.x Washington, DC metro coverage, rather than to extend some unique programming from the WWPX 60.x Fredericksburg station?



WPXW's COL is Manassas and WWPX's COL is Martinsburg.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Access Hollywood went HD today on WBAL.


----------



## URFloorMatt

It was not in HD on WRC. It took them several weeks to get Early Today running in HD, and that's straight off the network feed, so I'm not surprised.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/19158345
> 
> 
> It was not in HD on WRC. It took them several weeks to get Early Today running in HD, and that's straight off the network feed, so I'm not surprised.



I fired off an e-mail to NBC-4's programming department. There is no excuse for this.


----------



## machpost

According to dcrtv.com, CSN Plus is going HD. All Wizards games (and hopefully all Caps games) will be broadcast in HD this seasosn...



> Quote:
> CSN To Carry All Wizards Games In HD, CSN Plus To Go HD - 9/8 - Comcast SportsNet will carry 83 Washington Wizards games this season in high-def, including the 10 games that will be seen on Comcast SportsNet Plus. On area Comcast systems, the CSN Plus-HD channel will probably replace MASN2-HD channel 844 through the winter months, but you'll need to check with your local provider the location of CSN Plus-HD on other area systems. As details regarding Comcast SportsNet Plus HD carriage and channel location become available, you can check CSNwashington.com or CSNbaltimore.com for more information. CSN's carriage of the Wizards kicks off on October 5 with a preseason outing against the Mavericks. The network's regular-season broadcast schedule opens on October 30 when the Wizards play the Hawks. Steve Buckhantz and Phil Chenier will call the games, with Chris Miller handling sideline reporting work.....


----------



## aptt

Well Knicks_Fan, it looks like the e-mail worked. Access Hollywood made the switch to HD today.


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/19162574
> 
> 
> According to dcrtv.com, CSN Plus is going HD. All Wizards games (and hopefully all Caps games) will be broadcast in HD this seasosn...




I wonder is CSN Plus HD will make it to VZ FiOS?


----------



## CatMan932

Hi,


I'm new here, I have some limited technical knowledge on TV reception. I'm on the east side of Baltimore, in Bowleys Quarters MD. I can get the following stations on a regular basis (I'm in an apartment; the one advantage I have is being on the top floor). I'm using a TERK i1080 antenna pointed at my window with a tin foil reflector helping on some of the further off stations.


WMAR--2 (plus sub channels)

WRC--4 (plus sub channels)

WBAL--11 (plus sub channels)

WJZ--13

WDCA--20

WMPT--22 (plus sub channels)

WUTB--24

WETA--26 (plus sub channels)

WBFF--45 (plus sub channels)

WFTY--50 (plus sub channels)

WNUV--54

ION--66 (plus subchannels)


These stations are sometimes received;


WTTG--5

WFDC--14

WNVC--30 (plus subchannels)

WHUT--32 (plus subchannels)


The channel I would really like to get better reception on is WNVC. I like watching WorldView (much better news coverage than anything available on Cable these days). I can get it fairly reliably in the early morning, and about 50% of the time in the evenings. The tin foil reflector also helps when conditions are not the best. I checked their coverage map, and I'm only about 5 miles outside the boundary. That said, I would like to be able to receive it all the time; any ideas on what I could do antenna wise (it would have to be something indoors...







)?


----------



## Dave Loudin

Post a TVFool analysis ( www.tvfool.com ) based on your address and share the report's URL with us. Your address won't show. If you're projected to be outside of the station's service area by the simple method used to establish service areas, then you probably can't do much better than what you're doing with any other indoor antenna. The details of your report will give us a clue.


----------



## CatMan932

Hi,


Apparently I haven't posted enough here yet to paste a URL in. TV Fool did show WNVC as an outer fringe station. The thing is, some nights it comes in fine, other nights (like tonight) nothing.


----------



## TheKrell

The terk i1080 attempts to be an omnidirectional antenna. You will probably do much better with a directional antenna pointed at WNVC.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Comcast SportsNet to produce Wizards/Caps games all in HD*


by Mike Allen on September 9, 2010


Comcast SportsNet will produce all local Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals games this season in high-definition (HD). Comcast SportsNet holds the rights to local games played by the two teams, which includes 80 regular season Wizards games and 82 regular season Capitals games. This news comes via the Washington Post who reports that *even if the teams play on the same night, one of the Comcast SportsNet (CSN) produced games will be moved to Comcast SportsNet Plus (CSN+) but will still be broadcast in HD.* This is great news for Caps fans who got shafted out of hi-def last year when the Wizards happened to be playing the same night. The upcoming 2010/2011 season will be the first time the entire regular-season will be broadcast in high-definition.

http://www.hd-report.com/2010/09/09/...mes-all-in-hd/


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/19163765
> 
> 
> I wonder is CSN Plus HD will make it to VZ FiOS?



According to the press release , _"This season marks the first time that Comcast SportsNet Plus will be available in HD to all cable and satellite providers throughout the region. As details regarding Comcast SportsNet Plus HD carriage and channel location become available, check with your provider or go to CSNwashington.com or CSNbaltimore.com for information."_ It kind of sounds like all the local providers will be carrying it.


----------



## CatMan932




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TheKrell* /forum/post/19164319
> 
> 
> The terk i1080 attempts to be an omnidirectional antenna. You will probably do much better with a directional antenna pointed at WNVC.



Thanks for the above, any recomendations on which brand of antenna to buy?


----------



## tylerSC

The amplified Terk HDTVa is a better indoor antenna that has a good log periodic element optimized for UHF reception as well as rabbit ears for VHF which should help with 11 and 13, and perhaps 7 and 9 from DC as well. But better choices for indoor UHF antennas are Antennas Direct DB2, Clearstream 1 or 2, and Channel Master 4220 or 4221. And of course in the attic or outside placement is better.


----------



## CatMan932

Thanks again for the info.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast re-added NFL RedZone in Baltimore today.


----------



## TheKrell




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tylerSC* /forum/post/19168013
> 
> 
> The amplified Terk HDTVa is a better indoor antenna that has a good log periodic element optimized for UHF reception as well as rabbit ears for VHF which should help with 11 and 13, and perhaps 7 and 9 from DC as well.



I have one of those, and it seems to do much better w/o amplification than the Silver Sensor everybody raves about.


----------



## mdviewer25

WDCA has started showing Everybody Hates Chris in HD and they usually show House of Payne in HD. WNUV is still showing both shows in SD. I remember they used to show House of Payne in HD, however, some people (including myself) complained about the shows skipping on some receivers. Has this problem been fixed and will they be able to show more syndicated shows in HD?


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/19163765
> 
> 
> I wonder is CSN Plus HD will make it to VZ FiOS?



They show CSN Plus on Fios 1, which just recently went HD, as 501. So I can't see any barrier to it.


Fios 1 also carries MASN 2, and the MASN 2 programs are the only ones actually in HD so far.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/19174539
> 
> 
> They show CSN Plus on Fios 1, which just recently went HD, as 501. So I can't see any barrier to it.
> 
> 
> Fios 1 also carries MASN 2, and the MASN 2 programs are the only ones actually in HD so far.



501 is only available currently in a few counties, not the entire coverage area of CSN-MA.


It is not available in Howard County, for example.


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tylerSC* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The amplified Terk HDTVa is a better indoor antenna that has a good log periodic element optimized for UHF reception as well as rabbit ears for VHF which should help with 11 and 13, and perhaps 7 and 9 from DC as well.



NO, NO, NO! The HDTVi is exactly like the HDTVa, except with no amplifier. In most cases, an amplifier for an indoor antenna is a big waste of money, as it may have a net negative effect. For DTV, all preamps do is negate any signal loss in the cable between it and the receiver. Plus, amps add noise to the signal, at least 3dB worth. So, unless you've got more than 20 feet of coax between antenna and receiver, you're net signal-to-noise ratio will be lower with an amp. There's also the overload problem.


----------



## TheKrell




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TheKrell* /forum/post/19164319
> 
> 
> The terk i1080 attempts to be an omnidirectional antenna.



I would like to apologize for this claim which is probably bogus. Google "corrected" my model number and gave me a flat panel Terk omni model, when in fact the OP _probably_ meant he has the Terk HDTVi (which is most certainly directional). When I enclose the model number in quotes like so "i1080" I get only 75 returns. Without the quotes yields over 6 million.


----------



## armand1

OTA question...

Can anyone get Baltimore channel 13 from Bethesda?

I'd like to be able to watch the Ravens and was wondering if anyone has been successful with a decent OTA antenna. I have a Winegard 8800 and can get channels 45 and sometimes 2 in Baltimore, which are all in the same direction, and distance for me.

I don't understand why I can't get 13? Is it the channel signal strength, frequency or something else? Thanks in advance.


----------



## armand1

*OTA question...

Can anyone get Baltimore channel 13 from Bethesda?*


Reading posts here on page 405 form last month, others were asking the same question as I. One member recommended the RCA ANT751.

Does anyone have any experience with this antenna or know where I can get it locally?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *armand1* /forum/post/19183864
> 
> 
> Can anyone get Baltimore channel 13 from Bethesda?
> 
> , frequency or something else?



The ANT751 should do the trick, but I would go for the Winegard 7694 for about the same price if you have room. You can buy the ANT751 at Walmart, but it is about $25.00 cheaper from Amazon. I don't know of anyone who stocks the Winegard locally.


I'm a bit concerned that VHF 12 in NW DC may affect you, so I would go for the stronger Winegard to be on the safe side. It should work as well as your 8800 on UHF as well.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

WTTG still showing TMZ in SD. Don't these stations read their press releases.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Swift Justice With Nancy Grace was in HD today on WUTB.


----------



## Coolboarder10




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/19184651
> 
> 
> The ANT751 should do the trick, but I would go for the Winegard 7694 for about the same price if you have room. You can buy the ANT751 at Walmart, but it is about $25.00 cheaper from Amazon. I don't know of anyone who stocks the Winegard locally.
> 
> 
> I'm a bit concerned that VHF 12 in NW DC may affect you, so I would go for the stronger Winegard to be on the safe side. It should work as well as your 8800 on UHF as well.



You can buy winegard antennas from Denny's antenna service in Michagan. And if the antenna dosn't work out for you they will let you send it back.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *armand1* /forum/post/19183864
> 
> 
> OTA question...
> 
> Can anyone get Baltimore channel 13 from Bethesda?
> 
> I'd like to be able to watch the Ravens and was wondering if anyone has been successful with a decent OTA antenna. I have a Winegard 8800 and can get channels 45 and sometimes 2 in Baltimore, which are all in the same direction, and distance for me.
> 
> I don't understand why I can't get 13? Is it the channel signal strength, frequency or something else? Thanks in advance.



The Winegard HD8800 is a UHF antenna. Channel 13 is VHF. You'll need a VHF or combo UHF/VHF antenna mounted outside as a start.


I live in Stafford, VA., right along the Potomac and get channel 13 solid. Suffice it to say that I'm quite a bit further away from Baltimore than Bethesda is from Baltimore, so distance shouldn't be an issue for you.


I've got an RCA 16dB gain UHF/VHF combo antenna running into a ChannelMaster 7777 amp to make up for splitter and coax line loss only.


Have you run a check on TVfool to check terrain between channel 13 and your location? Again however, the proper antenna that works in the VHF band would be a logical place to start.


Good Luck!


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *armand1* /forum/post/19183864
> 
> 
> OTA question...
> 
> Can anyone get Baltimore channel 13 from Bethesda?
> 
> I'd like to be able to watch the Ravens and was wondering if anyone has been successful with a decent OTA antenna. I have a Winegard 8800 and can get channels 45 and sometimes 2 in Baltimore, which are all in the same direction, and distance for me.
> 
> I don't understand why I can't get 13? Is it the channel signal strength, frequency or something else? Thanks in advance.



I'm in Bowie, so it is a different situation, but I had not been able to get WJZ (Channel 13) for quite some time, but when I tried it out on Monday evening, I was able to get it for the Ravens game. It was really sensitive to my antenna placement.


----------



## mdviewer25

WNUV showed Everybody Hates Chris in HD for the first time this week, however Tyler Perry's House of Payne was still in SD. On another note, 13 is easy to get with a Terk HDTVi and HDTVa with the amp turned off. Of course I have height on my side being on the third floor. WBAL 11 has been the problem since the switch and lately WJLA has too. I can receive WBAL early in the morning before 10:00am and after sunset. WJLA has become more sensitive to where I put the antenna and usually goes out after 11:00am.


----------



## armand1




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/19194073
> 
> 
> I'm in Bowie, so it is a different situation, but I had not been able to get WJZ (Channel 13) for quite some time, but when I tried it out on Monday evening, I was able to get it for the Ravens game. It was really sensitive to my antenna placement.



nottenst,

What type of antenna do you have?


Thanks everyone for the posts. It looks like I need to get a VHF-high band antenna to get WJZtv-channel 13. I do get channels 45 and 2 which are on the UHF band at 15-25% signal strength, without dropouts with my Winegard 8800.

Looks like I'll be purchasing the Winegard HD7694P.


Thanks for the suggestions.


----------



## URFloorMatt

Put the DVR through the rounds yesterday to see what new programming is airing in HD in the DC metro area.


The Doctors is now in HD on WUSA9.

Swift Justice is in HD on WTTG5.

Nate Berkus is in HD on WRC4.


Someone mentioned Judge Alex in HD, but it looked like widescreen SD to me on WTTG5. If not, it's the worst HD program on television, hands down. Hard to say because I find all of their syndicated programming very lackluster. Swift Justice looked very soft but was HD.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Judge Alex is in HD on WUTB.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *armand1* /forum/post/19183864
> 
> 
> OTA question...
> 
> Can anyone get Baltimore channel 13 from Bethesda? I'd like to be able to watch the Ravens and was wondering if anyone has been successful with a decent OTA antenna. I have a Winegard 8800 and can get channels 45 and sometimes 2 in Baltimore which are all in the same direction and distance for me. I don't understand why I can't get 13? Is it the channel signal strength, frequency, or something else? Thanks, in advance.



Not only is WJZ-DT13 a VHF channel and you may only have a UHF antenna, but WJZ-DT13 is required by the FCC to limit its signal to the west in order to protect WWPX-DT12 in Martinsburg, WV.

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/polarplot...99&p360=0.799&


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *armand1* /forum/post/19194544
> 
> 
> It looks like I need to get a VHF-high band antenna to get WJZ-DT13. I do get channels 45 and 2 which are on the UHF band at 15-25% signal strength without dropouts with my Winegard 8800. Looks like I'll be purchasing the Winegard HD7694P.



Since you will be installing another roof top antenna may I make another couple of suggestions? Make sure that you always use high quality RG-6 coaxial cable for minimum signal loss and attenuation. I also recommend an internal distribution amplifier especially if you are supplying signal to more than one television. They are fantastic. I use the Channel Master CM-3418. I supply antenna to two televisions, several FM radios, and two satellite TV tuners. A distribution amp will restore any loss from a long cable run and will further amplify beyond the restored level. I receive a 95 to 100 percent signal from every Baltimore digital channel, almost 100 percent signal from every major Washington digital channel, as well as excellent reception from from Frederick, Hagerstown, and Northern Virginia from my home in Olney, MD. Try it and you won't be sorry.

http://www.channelmaster.com/Distrib...aster_s/33.htm


----------



## armand1

Thanks StevenJB,


Agreed, I will be using a high quality RG-6 coaxial cable. I've tried amps before without any luck. A Phillips and Radio Shack brand, maybe they were not good quality or maybe because I live in Bethesda with apartment buildings and interference all around. I'm using a Channel Master CM-7000 D2A - Digital TV tuner, which is the best one I've tried so far, even better than the tuner in new HDTVs. No other tuner or TV can get the Baltimore stations in my neighborhood except for the CM-7000. When I tried the amp it overloads the tuner.


I ordered the Winegard HD7694P today for $55 from Meijer with free shipping and return (if needed). This must be popular since everyone on the web is selling this antenna including Sports Authority, Ritzcamera, you name it...


I may be asking for amp or antenna advice after I set it up.

Thanks.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *armand1* /forum/post/19201272
> 
> 
> I may be asking for amp or antenna advice after I set it up.
> 
> Thanks.



It's doubtful than any amplifier will help as close as you are to so many strong signals. It will likely make things worse. You need to rely on antenna itself to do the job. The 7694 has the highest gain for the money & should easily drive up to 4 sets with no added amplification.


You may need an FM trap if 13 or 11 continue to be problematic. I find them quite beneficial at many locations inside the beltway when seeking the Baltimore VHF's.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *armand1* /forum/post/19194544
> 
> 
> nottenst,
> 
> What type of antenna do you have?



On one small TV I was just using the regular rabbit ears that came with it, but they extend out a decent length. Connected to my PC, I was using an antenna I bought at Target for $15 some years ago (I can get the model later at som time). It has a gradient dial for some adjustment on VHF and UHF.


Edit: Here's the antenna model - an RCA ANT130B.


----------



## nottenst

Did anyone here watch Nikita last night on the CW in HD? I was watching via my Comcast QAM feed and at times the picture looked quite bad - lots of artifacts and maybe etra grain. I don't know whether it was the source, the CW (DC50), Comcast's compression or what, but I was brought out of the show by the picture. I'm pretty sure the first episode last week looked better, and I've seen much better on other channels.


----------



## Frankie20

The Cool TV channel is finally on WNUV 54.2...


----------



## dneily




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/19196505
> 
> 
> Judge Alex is in HD on WUTB.



Judge Alex is also labeled as "HD" on WTTG-Fox 5.


I agree with another poster that Judge Alex "HD" looks more like upconverted widescreen than 1080i.


Could someone in Baltimore tell us how it looks on WUTB?


Swift Justice looks great, but I've become an instant non-fan of Nancy Grace. IMO she lacks two essential qualities to be a judge: respectability and impartiality.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Frankie20* /forum/post/19207162
> 
> 
> The Cool TV channel is finally on WNUV 54.2...



Good news for other Sinclair stations in the region like WRLH/Richmond and WTVZ/Norfolk. It's my understanding that WNUV is the regional hub...


----------



## wnyfox




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/19209471
> 
> 
> Good news for other Sinclair stations in the region like WRLH/Richmond and WTVZ/Norfolk. It's my understanding that WNUV is the regional hub...



It's not really a hub. It's an intermediate server location for file distribution. Neither Norfolk or Richmond have equipment installed yet. It will probably be about another week to ten days before you see COOLTV in those markets.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wnyfox* /forum/post/19210712
> 
> 
> It's not really a hub. It's an intermediate server location for file distribution. Neither Norfolk or Richmond have equipment installed yet. It will probably be about another week to ten days before you see COOLTV in those markets.



Ah... someone in the know...


----------



## skinsfan64

I've got Directv and the Cowboys/Bears game is not in HD Is this happening with anybody else?


Thanks


----------



## mikemikeb

It's not just you, *skinsfan64*. I'm getting Bears @ Cowboys in 4x3 SD widescreen upconverted on my HD feed, both OTA and through FiOS.


----------



## skinsfan64

Thanks mikemikeb, it must be the local Fox station...


----------



## aptt

Thanks goodness I'm not the only one.
*UPDATE - 1:30 pm:* Back to HD OTA and on FIOS.


----------



## wmcbrine

seems a lot like The Tube so far -- a very eclectic collection of videos. Which makes me wonder if the only reason Sinclair dropped The Tube was to force it out of business and replace it with an identical channel they controlled...


Last night, they were showing mostly 16:9 videos in 4:3 mode, as MTV has also been doing a lot lately. But this morning, they were letterboxing things that shouldn't be letterboxed.


----------



## Jim Miller

Does anyone know why Comcast (Baltimore County) has duplicated many of the 2xx channels into their 8xx tier?


Is this expected to last or is one or the other tier going to vanish?


tnx

jim


----------



## Ladd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Jim Miller* /forum/post/19219612
> 
> 
> Does anyone know why Comcast (Baltimore County) has duplicated many of the 2xx channels into their 8xx tier?
> 
> 
> Is this expected to last or is one or the other tier going to vanish?



I have the same thing here with Comcast Frederick County, MD. No clue as to why also.


----------



## armand1

*OTA question... Can anyone get Baltimore channel 13 from Bethesda?*

UPDATE:

Just installed the Winegard HD7694P and can't get Channel 13











I am getting a faint signal, but not strong enough to lock in. Any ideas?


By the way the Winegard 8800 is a far better UHF antenna than the 7694P.


----------



## bxs122

Anyone else suddenly not able to receive a signal from WTTG-DT??


I have it at 5.1 Frequency 36 and it has worked flawlessly the last year until tonight.


Did the Frequency change?


----------



## Remoteless

WTTG crapped out on my Haier in the kitchen around dinnertime. I rescanned still nothing. WTTG was working on my samsung and my sony.


----------



## CHG

I am not getting WTTG tonight either. Sat down to watch Fringe and noticed it did not record. Checked the signal, and nothing.


----------



## bxs122




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CHG* /forum/post/19236862
> 
> 
> I am not getting WTTG tonight either. Sat down to watch Fringe and noticed it did not record. Checked the signal, and nothing.



Very interesting - I hate to say it but I am glad I am not the only one.


Went to watch Fringe and Media Center said No Signal. Switched a few ATSC card sources and still nothing.


What is interesting is that regardless of ATSC OTA Card Source I am showing a strong signal. What is even more confusing is my Tivo OTA for that same channel is working just fine.


Bummer is I am about to ditch my Tivo and go all Media Center with my OTA ATSC cards ... cannot do that as long at WTTG-DT is failing.


----------



## PaulGo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Jim Miller* /forum/post/19219612
> 
> 
> Does anyone know why Comcast (Baltimore County) has duplicated many of the 2xx channels into their 8xx tier?
> 
> 
> Is this expected to last or is one or the other tier going to vanish?
> 
> 
> tnx
> 
> jim



They have done this also in Montgomery County. They just want to put all the HD channels in on place, since it is a duplicate it does not take any more bandwidth. I have read that they ultimately will but all the HD channels starting at 1000 and realigning the mess they currently have in the channels lineup.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *armand1* /forum/post/19236063
> 
> *OTA question... Can anyone get Baltimore channel 13 from Bethesda?*
> 
> UPDATE:
> 
> Just installed the Winegard HD7694P and can't get Channel 13
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I am getting a faint signal, but not strong enough to lock in. Any ideas?
> 
> 
> By the way the Winegard 8800 is a far better UHF antenna than the 7694P.



Sorry to hear about that. You may need an FM trap. I have one you can try if you would like. Are you receiving WBAL-11?


Very surprised to hear your UHF results are worse. I have used the 7694 in Alexandria & it is an excellent VHF/UHF performer. 7, 8, 9, 11, 12 & 13 are all solid. It even picks up the very weak WUTB-24 from from Baltimore without a preamp just 25 feet off the ground.


----------



## Dave Loudin

Tropo was up last night - WPVI RF6 from Philly and WGAL RF8 from Lancaster were available during prime time and late night. If you had trouble with other stations, it may have been more interference rather than technical changes.


----------



## Trip in VA

I caught DC this morning off an XG91 aimed at Richmond.


- Trip


----------



## CHG




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bxs122* /forum/post/19237197
> 
> 
> Very interesting - I hate to say it but I am glad I am not the only one.
> 
> 
> Went to watch Fringe and Media Center said No Signal. Switched a few ATSC card sources and still nothing.
> 
> 
> What is interesting is that regardless of ATSC OTA Card Source I am showing a strong signal. What is even more confusing is my Tivo OTA for that same channel is working just fine.
> 
> 
> Bummer is I am about to ditch my Tivo and go all Media Center with my OTA ATSC cards ... cannot do that as long at WTTG-DT is failing.



I am using a TiVo with OTA. Was still not getting WTTG late last night.


I did not check this morning, but will when I get home tonight.


----------



## Dave Loudin

I had no problems with ye olde Samsung tuner with WTTG last night.


----------



## rgathright

Anyone from California, Maryland?


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Well, I was going to watch the premiere of "Modern Family" that I missed Wednesday (forgot to DVR it). Instead WJLA is showing a 25 year old movie "Peggy Sue Got Married." I don't understand why ABC-7 constantly bumps network programming, repeats or not, for moldy old movies.


Allbritton must be short this month in local ad revenue


----------



## aptt

One of the many reasons I never watch WJLA.


----------



## rgathright




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rgathright* /forum/post/19240624
> 
> 
> Anyone from California, Maryland?



Does this town have any OTA capabilities? I checked antennaweb and it shows nothing.


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rgathright* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> Does this town have any OTA capabilities? I checked antennaweb and it shows nothing.



A pox on antennaweb. Use tvfool.com, instead.


----------



## BritInVA

Anyone have issues with WJLA & WUSA?


I'm in Ashburn and last week we had a thunderstorm go thru and since then I've been unable to get WJLA/WUSA. My antennas of in the roof space (not exposed) - could it be my VHF got fried?


----------



## HighEndWire




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *BritInVA* /forum/post/19250072
> 
> 
> Anyone have issues with WJLA & WUSA?
> 
> 
> I'm in Ashburn and last week we had a thunderstorm go thru and since then I've been unable to get WJLA/WUSA. My antennas of in the roof space (not exposed) - could it be my VHF got fried?



Works fine for me - I'm in Sterling. I keep mine in the attic as well


----------



## CHG




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *BritInVA* /forum/post/19250072
> 
> 
> Anyone have issues with WJLA & WUSA?
> 
> 
> I'm in Ashburn and last week we had a thunderstorm go thru and since then I've been unable to get WJLA/WUSA. My antennas of in the roof space (not exposed) - could it be my VHF got fried?



I am in Ashburn, and have had no trouble. I am only using indoor rabbit ears.


----------



## ss_sea_ya

I always have lots of problems with WJLA, about 14 Miles south of the towers, just east of the Kingstown area. Signal varies from nothing to borderline.


----------



## weaver6




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ss_sea_ya* /forum/post/19251392
> 
> 
> I always have lots of problems with WJLA, about 14 Miles south of the towers, just east of the Kingstown area. Signal varies from nothing to borderline.



WJLA is my strongest station. I'm about 10 miles south of the towers, about a mile WNW of the Masonic Temple.


----------



## ss_sea_ya

WJLA is supposed to be one of my strongest, but its not. I think the nearby hills to the east and north leave me in the shadow of its signal, tho channel 9 is consistently good. Just a dead spot for me for that channel.


[edit]. What is strange is I get the most PSIP data on that channel in my channel guide (DTVPAL DVR). I only know that during the evening reception is terrible, but no idea what it is during the day.


[edit]. Anyone else lose TVGOS data? My DTVPAL DVR hasn't had it for over week. Threw everything at it but the Kitchen sink (i.e. factory defaults), so may have to try that.

[edit 2]. TVGOS data is working again for me. Did not do a factory reset.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ss_sea_ya* /forum/post/19252299
> 
> 
> WJLA is supposed to be one of my strongest, but its not. I think the nearby hills to the east and north leave me in the shadow of its signal, tho channel 9 is consistently good. Just a dead spot for me for that channel.
> 
> 
> [edit]. What is strange is I get the most PSIP data on that channel in my channel guide (DTVPAL DVR). I only know that during the evening reception is terrible, but no idea what it is during the day.
> 
> 
> [edit]. Anyone else lose TVGOS data? My DTVPAL DVR hasn't had it for over week. Threw everything at it but the Kitchen sink (i.e. factory defaults), so may have to try that.



I have issues with WJLA, but not of the reception kind. this week they are pre-empting Wheel and Jeopardy on Wednesday for a "Decision 2010" news special. Surprised they didn't save that for Friday at 8pm.


Makes you wonder how much extra money Allbritton pulls in with all this extra local programming.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rgathright* /forum/post/19244660
> 
> 
> Does this town have any OTA capabilities? I checked antennaweb and it shows nothing.



That location in St.Mary's County in Southern Maryland should be centrally located for reception from Baltimore, Washington, Salisbury, Richmond, and Norfolk provided that you would use a high gain VHF/UHF antenna with an amplifier. In the good old days of analog, reception on the lower Bay would have been a slam dunk for a radius of over 75 miles.


----------



## Dave Loudin

*Don't* relay on antennaweb! Instead use a site like TVFool.com, which actually runs propagation predictions from all the stations to your location.


----------



## Frankie20

After doing a scan on my converter box last night, I found a second ION channel on station WWPX-TV. I'm getting it on VHF channel 12 (virtual 60). According to wiki, the station is located in Martinsburg, WV and is a relay for WPXW-TV ION.


BTW, is WZDC-CA analog channel 25 ever switching to digital? Yesterday they changed there logo to say "HD", but I'm guessing this is only for satellite subscribers...


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Frankie20* /forum/post/19267669
> 
> 
> After doing a scan on my converter box last night, I found a second ION channel on station WWPX-TV. I'm getting it on VHF channel 12 (virtual 60). According to wiki, the station is located in Martinsburg, WV and is a relay for WPXW-TV ION.



You are actually seeing a new translator of the Martinsburg station that is broadcasting from NW DC on VHF 12.


----------



## carltonrice

What stations in the DC market are putting out DD5.1? I notice that when I play Blu-Ray discs on my system, I get the DD5.1, but none of the local stations I get have any sound in the rear channels. Is this an issue with FiOS or are the local stations no longer passing it thru? Maybe this has come up before.


----------



## redknights




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *armand1* /forum/post/19236063
> 
> *OTA question... Can anyone get Baltimore channel 13 from Bethesda?*
> 
> UPDATE:
> 
> Just installed the Winegard HD7694P and can't get Channel 13
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I am getting a faint signal, but not strong enough to lock in. Any ideas?
> 
> 
> By the way the Winegard 8800 is a far better UHF antenna than the 7694P.



Any luck in getting channel 13? I'm also interested in channel 13 only to get the Ravens game when they are not air locally. I live in Gaithersburg, so I'm not to far from you.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *armand1* /forum/post/19201272
> 
> 
> 
> I ordered the Winegard HD7694P today for $55 from Meijer with free shipping and return (if needed).



Thanks for the heads up on the great deal you found. I also ordered a 7694 from Meijer to put up at a friends house. Have you had any better luck receiving WJZ-13?


Just lying on the ground outside my house through 100 feet of cable it picks up *all* the Wash/Balt stations except WUTB-24 well. It just doesn't make sense to me that you aren't seeing better results with it? I tried an 8800 here & it didn't work nearly as well as the 7694, even when on the roof.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/19271641
> 
> 
> What stations in the DC market are putting out DD5.1? I notice that when I play Blu-Ray discs on my system, I get the DD5.1, but none of the local stations I get have any sound in the rear channels. Is this an issue with FiOS or are the local stations no longer passing it thru? Maybe this has come up before.



See the very first post in this thread -- all the way back on page 1.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/19279485
> 
> 
> See the very first post in this thread -- all the way back on page 1.



That is a great starting point but some of the information (not 5.1, necessarily) is out of date as it hasn't been updated since April (?).


----------



## AntAltMike

This morning, I am watching a 1970 Jack Hanna wildlife show on WUSA, 9.2, the Washington, DC CBS affiliate, which is usually just a Doppler weather map. I have never seen any programming on that subchannel other than Doppler weather. Is that something new? Are there any other shows shown on that channel and, if so, is there a schedule anywhere?


I have never in my life seen a picture pixelate that. They showed a shot of a single leopard, and each time it moved even in the slightest, its spots became square. In fairness to the bandwidth allocation, the grass was waving behind it.


Does anyone know how much bandwidth WSUA is using for this channel?


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/19281585
> 
> 
> This morning, I am watching a 1970 Jack Hanna wildlife show on WUSA, 9.2, the Washington, DC CBS affiliate, which is usually just a Doppler weather map. I have never seen any programming on that subchannel other than Doppler weather. Is that something new? Are there any other shows shown on that channel and, if so, is there a schedule anywhere?



e/i programming... 3 hours per week, I believe...


----------



## carltonrice

I'm trying to figure out whether I'm having a problem with FiOS or my DD5.1 receiver. Yesterday, I did some channel surfing OTA (which is rare) and at the time of day I was sampling, only WBAL-DT, WMPB-DT, WETA-DT, WHUT-DT, and WDCA-DT were giving me some amount of rear channel sound. The NFL games on CBS (both WUSA-DT and WJZ-DT) had nothing in the rear channels and the NFL games of FOX (both WBFF-DT and WTTG-DT) had nothing in the rear. And with the FiOS, no channels seem to have any rear channel sound (including the commercial broadcast channels and other stations like HBO, Showtime, etc.)


I think I need to do some more OTA sampling tonight during primetime. I will try and remember to see what the two NBC affils give me during The Event and what CBS affils give me during Hawaii 5-O. Maybe I need to call VZ and ask what's up with the FiOS. Maybe it's a setting issue or maybe the box I have doesn't output it.


I didn't see the DD5.1 information you were referencing in the posts on the first page.


On another note, the DCRTV.com blog ( http://www.dcrtv.com ) indicates that WMAR-DT will begin HD News later today. I guess that completes the transition of all the major affils in Baltimore and DC to HD news. Now, I wonder when some of their other locally-produced fare will make the switch.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tonyd79* /forum/post/19281296
> 
> 
> That is a great starting point but some of the information (not 5.1, necessarily) is out of date as it hasn't been updated since April (?).





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/19279485
> 
> 
> See the very first post in this thread -- all the way back on page 1.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/19271641
> 
> 
> What stations in the DC market are putting out DD5.1? I notice that when I play Blu-Ray discs on my system, I get the DD5.1, but none of the local stations I get have any sound in the rear channels. Is this an issue with FiOS or are the local stations no longer passing it thru? Maybe this has come up before.


----------



## CycloneGT

Another from www.dcrtv.com 



> Quote:
> *Forsyth Leaves Allbritton - 10/2* - DCRTV hears that Robert Forsyth (left) is checking out of the great Allbritton empire after 17 years. He's been director of web technologies for the DC-based media firm, director of operations and engineering at Allbritton's WJLA-TV, and director of internet operations at WJLA. He remains president of internet firm InABox Technologies, which he founded in 2006.....



Robert used to post here frequently, especially when WJLA had frequent ATSC transitions issues. Looks like he is striking out on his own. Good Luck Robert.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/19281585
> 
> 
> This morning, I am watching a 1970 Jack Hanna wildlife show on WUSA, 9.2, the Washington, DC CBS affiliate, which is usually just a Doppler weather map. I have never seen any programming on that subchannel other than Doppler weather. Is that something new? Are there any other shows shown on that channel and, if so, is there a schedule anywhere?
> 
> 
> I have never in my life seen a picture pixelate that. They showed a shot of a single leopard, and each time it moved even in the slightest, its spots became square. In fairness to the bandwidth allocation, the grass was waving behind it.
> 
> 
> Does anyone know how much bandwidth WSUA is using for this channel?



Its on every Sunday morning. I don't know about the bandwidth, but the picture is always horrid.

J


----------



## Marcus Carr

MASN2 HD is now just an SD screen that says it will be back for the 2011 baseball season. CSN+ HD should replace it soon.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/19284751
> 
> 
> I didn't see the DD5.1 information you were referencing in the posts on the first page.



I just looked again and it was still there. The text "DD5.1" appears for each channel as appropriate (with WBAL being a notable exception, still not supporting DD5.1!). Did you make it past the list of dates at the top of that first post? The information you are looking for _is_ in the first post unless you somehow are getting a different first post.


----------



## Digital Rules

WMAR-2 news has finally gone HD. Not sure when they started, but looks pretty good.


----------



## carltonrice

OK. So I guess the problem has to be in my receiver settings since almost all of the stations are broadcasting in DD5.1. I'll have to research my receiver settings tomorrow and figure out why I'm getting DD5.1 on the blu-ray, but not on the FiOS box or the OTA.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/19287967
> 
> 
> I just looked again and it was still there. The text "DD5.1" appears for each channel as appropriate (with WBAL being a notable exception, still not supporting DD5.1!). Did you make it past the list of dates at the top of that first post? The information you are looking for _is_ in the first post unless you somehow are getting a different first post.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast has added *TBN HD* and *EWTN HD* in Baltimore.


They were listed on Comcast.com a few months ago but didn't show up until now.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/19289689
> 
> 
> Comcast has added *TBN HD* and *EWTN HD* in Baltimore.
> 
> 
> They were listed on Comcast.com a few months ago but didn't show up until now.



Wow.


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/19289272
> 
> 
> OK. So I guess the problem has to be in my receiver settings since almost all of the stations are broadcasting in DD5.1. I'll have to research my receiver settings tomorrow and figure out why I'm getting DD5.1 on the blu-ray, but not on the FiOS box or the OTA.



If you're using the FiOS DVR, hit 'Menu' and: Settings -> Audio -> Audio Format

Make sure it's "Surround".


How is your receiver hooked to the FiOS box?


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GregAnnapolis* /forum/post/19294237
> 
> 
> If you're using the FiOS DVR, hit 'Menu' and: Settings -> Audio -> Audio Format
> 
> Make sure it's "Surround".
> 
> 
> How is your receiver hooked to the FiOS box?



Thanks. It turned out that the problem was settings in the receiver. The Blu Ray player input was set to Dolby Digital, but the inputs for the FiOS box and the TV were set to PCM. My problem with the receiver is that everytime there's a power outage, I lose my settings. And the darn thing is so complicated to set up it's unbelievable.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

WJLA pre-emption Fridays continue with another 20 year old movie "The Big Picture" - pre-empting repeats of "The Middle" and "Modern Family" Robert Allbritton must really be desperate for local ad revenue. This is getting ridiculous.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO

Yep, until the economy gets better, all stations are turning over the sofa cushions looking for any additional revenue.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*TCN To Back CSN Plus*


- 10/7 - DCRTV hears that when Comcast launches its Comcast SportsNet Plus HD channel in early November, it will also include *a new HD version of The Comcast Network* via area Comcast systems. TCN-HD will air when CSN Plus-HD is not running an "overflow" Capitals or Wizards game, due to schedule conflicts on parent Comcast SportsNet. DCRTV has already told you that all "overflow" games on CSN Plus will now air in HD. The TCN backing of CSN Plus will also occur with the standard def feed - and will occur only on area Comcast systems. Other area TV providers will make different arrangements for their carriage of CSN Plus and CSN Plus-HD, we're told. Last year, Comcast used C-SPAN2 as the "background network" for CSN Plus. That was switched to ESPNews when the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network ran its MASN2 overflow channel during the summer. CSN Plus-HD will appear on channel 844 on Comcast systems, where MASN2-HD had been.....

http://www.dcrtv.com/


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/19301438
> 
> 
> Yep, until the economy gets better, all stations are turning over the sofa cushions looking for any additional revenue.



Good point. I am sure the economy has a lot to do with it. But I again forgot to DVR "Modern Family" and the repeat is being pre-empted Friday (Friday programming on ABC is currently repeat city, I will admit that).


I wish they would show the movie Saturday/Sunday - they show endless infomercials during most of the day!


----------



## dlarkin_dc












Picture quality, especially prime-time shows on Thursday and Friday nights are awful, and old issue that has come back with the fall lineup starting up again. Fox HD and WB HD, BBCA HD and SyFy HD I noted were very very poor PQ.


I've been having the same problem for almost a year, from day one I switched to digital TV. I've had three truck rolls four phone calls to support, and still have the problem. I had an 8240HDC and just had that swapped out for an 8300HD. I can see the new box has more mature decompression algorithms but I still get tiles/blocks/freezes.



Anyone? Any help? Any sugestions or ideas?


Dave


----------



## Kelly From KOMO

I have OTA for local channels and DirecTV for cable channels, so I can't help you specifically with Cox. That being said, here are some simple checks to make that your local cable repair/installer may not catch including:


* If this is a house and not an apartment and may contain existing CATV wiring being reused, check the coax into and around the home to make sure it is RG6, with no RG59 being used. Use only good quality coax, including Belden, etc. Stay away from Radio Shack RG6. It has a poor shield and is leaky. If the coax has exposed connectors that may have gotten wet, or are poorly installed, they should be replaced.


** If cable is being split to other parts of the home, make sure any passive splitter are rated to 2Ghz. They pack a lot of spectrum into that little cable. A passive splitter not only attenuates signal, but it can limit the bandwidth too. Again, stay away from RS brand, but you don't need to go with super expensive brands like Monster either. Make sure any open spigots on the splitter(s) are terminated with 75 ohm termination caps. Open spigots can cause impedance imbalances, extra loss and bumpy bandwidth.


Good luck!


----------



## redknights

I ended up ordering the Winegard 7694P because the Ravens game won't be air this weekend because the Redskins are playing at the same time. I was able to picked up channels 11 and 13 in Baltimore, but only at 54~60 percent. Channel still came in clear without any stuttering. It was mounted 5 feet off the ground. I took it to the roof and still got the same strength because I'm still not over the tree line. At least I don't have to pay for NFL Sunday Tickets from Directv anymore.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dlarkin_dc* /forum/post/19301745
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Picture quality, especially prime-time shows on Thursday and Friday nights are awful, and old issue that has come back with the fall lineup starting up again. Fox HD and WB HD, BBCA HD and SyFy HD I noted were very very poor PQ.
> 
> 
> I've been having the same problem for almost a year, from day one I switched to digital TV. I've had three truck rolls four phone calls to support, and still have the problem. I had an 8240HDC and just had that swapped out for an 8300HD. I can see the new box has more mature decompression algorithms but I still get tiles/blocks/freezes.
> 
> 
> 
> Anyone? Any help? Any sugestions or ideas?
> 
> 
> Dave



The following works on the 8240HDC and non-DVR boxes; the 8300 should be similar.


On the box, push and hold select until you see a flashing light or mail symbol. Then release select and push info. This will bring up a diagnostic screen. Use the volume-up key to advance to page 5, where you should see the frequency, level, S/N, corrected and uncorrected bytes under current QAM.


You can now use the number pad on the remote and channel up/down buttons to go to channels of interest and read the relevant info for those channels. You don't want to see any significant changes in corrected or uncorrected blocks as the second count increases. That would indicate noise on the line that needs to be corrected. The level should be near 0 dBmV, and the S/N should be 35 or so. Pay attention to frequency. If you see dips in signal level in particular frequency ranges, the signal is not flat and may need adjustment.


To exit diagnostic mode, push exit.


If you have multiple outlets in your house, repeat these tests on the different outlets. You should get similar readings on all outlets.


If you have an analog cable ready TV, hook that up to the cable line directly, bypassing the box, and make sure that all the analog channels are free of ghosts, sparklies, and snow. If not, you have either line noise due to ingress inside or outside the house, and/or you have a weak signal, and Cox needs to fix that.


----------



## rkolsen

Apparently WMAR went HD October 4, 2010 with their 11 PM newscast. Right now it's only a few days old and they still have a few kinks to work out. In my opinion WBAL still airs the best HD newscast.


----------



## bananagins

hi. i live in timonium and get comcast. up until yesterday, mynetwork 24 wutb was available in hd on the digital subchannel 26.3. but today, 26.3 has been replaced by weta kids, which is weird since 26.5 is also weta kids. has it moved? i can't find it anywhere else. i tried 24.1, 24.2, 24.3 but none of those channels has a signal. i can still watch it on channel 24 but the quality is terrible. anyone konw where wutb-hd is now? thx. sorry if this is not right place for this question!


----------



## bananagins

well i solved my own problem... it's weird, i did a auto channel search and 24.1 now comes up as wutb hd... even though i tried it before and it kept saying no signal.


----------



## armand1




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *redknights* /forum/post/19304374
> 
> 
> I ended up ordering the Winegard 7694P because the Ravens game won't be air this weekend because the Redskins are playing at the same time. I was able to picked up channels 11 and 13 in Baltimore, but only at 54~60 percent. Channel still came in clear without any stuttering. It was mounted 5 feet off the ground. I took it to the roof and still got the same strength because I'm still not over the tree line. At least I don't have to pay for NFL Sunday Tickets from Directv anymore.



I too want to get Channel 13 to watch the RAVENS. I bought the Winegard 7694P and do not get Channel 13 from Bethesda. Even after carefully pointing in the right direction. Probably because of a 60' Oak tree in the lot in front of my house, as well as, a high story-apartment complex behind the tree about a quarter a mile away.


I looked at the channel 13 signal details (thru the TV advanced menu) and I get 10-20% signal strength, SNR = 7-9dB, signal power of about -70. I noticed I get channel 45 with slightly higher signal strength with SNR= 10-20db. It won't lock in a channle unless the SNR is greater than 10. I guess there's a lot of interference in my neighborhood. I'm waiting until the leaves to fall off the tree to see if my reception will get any better.


----------



## redknights

armand1, I have about 4 trees that are over 30 feet tall that are blocking my way. These trees are 25 to 50 feet away from the antenna. I've adjusted the antenna and got the strength to 70.


I wonder if Winegard 7695p or 7696p will help you? They are $20 and $40 more than the 7694P. Hopefully with the leaves coming down soon, you can catch the Ravens games.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *armand1* /forum/post/19307251
> 
> 
> I too want to get Channel 13 to watch the RAVENS. I bought the Winegard 7694P and do not get Channel 13 from Bethesda.



Is this in the attic?

Are there any metal objects within a foot of the antenna.

Are you using an FM trap?

How is channel 11?


The antenna may just be in a dead spot for 13 & needs to be re-located. 6-12 inches side to side or up & down may do the trick.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *armand1* /forum/post/19307251
> 
> 
> I'm waiting until the leaves to fall off the tree to see if my reception will get any better.



Leaves won't really make a differnce with VHF. Something else is wrong.


----------



## armand1




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/19308244
> 
> 
> Is this in the attic?
> 
> Are there any metal objects within a foot of the antenna.
> 
> Are you using an FM trap?
> 
> How is channel 11?
> 
> 
> The antenna may just be in a dead spot for 13 & needs to be re-located. 6-12 inches side to side or up & down may do the trick.
> 
> 
> Leaves won't really make a differnce with VHF. Something else is wrong.



Digital Rules-- thanks for the ideas.

My Winegard HD7694 is outside on a pole about 8' above the roof (33' above the ground), but it is on the same pole, right above the Winegard HD8800 antenna. I do not get any channel 11 signal. I kept the HD8800 there because the uhf channels' reception was better for my TV in the basement. Also my wife doesn't like for me to climb up there. I'll try to remove it and maybe I can watch the Ravens on Sunday.


I don't have an FM trap. I guess I don't understand how it works and how that would improve reception for Channel 13 (@ 215 Mhz). I thought FM didn't go that high to interfere?


----------



## Digital Rules

The trap can help if FM is strong enough; even on UHF. I'm also starting to wonder if the new WPXW channel 12 in NW DC is affecting you? How far are you from the towers in NW DC?


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *armand1* /forum/post/19313608
> 
> 
> I don't have an FM trap. I guess I don't understand how it works and how that would improve reception for Channel 13 (@ 215 Mhz). I thought FM didn't go that high to interfere?



It's the 2nd harmonic that causes problems.


VHF-HI = 174-216 and twice 88-108 = 176-216, almost an exact match.


It's crucial to knock out any strong FM before the signal hits the tuner or any RF amplifier. In Bethesda, that really is the most obvious thing to try if you haven't already.


----------



## Dave Loudin

You've got 94.7 just a stone's throw away.


----------



## rkolsen

Here are some screen grabs from WMAR's recent HD launch.


__
https://flic.kr/p/5066691082
​ 
__
https://flic.kr/p/5066691082
​ ABC 2 HD News[/URL] by ryankolsen , on Flickr


__
https://flic.kr/p/5066081063
​ 
__
https://flic.kr/p/5066081063
​ ABC 2 HD News[/URL] by ryankolsen , on Flickr


__
https://flic.kr/p/5066080689
​ 
__
https://flic.kr/p/5066080689
​ ABC 2 HD News[/URL] by ryankolsen , on Flickr
_This shows Maryland's most powerful doppler radar that looks like it's from the early 80's._


__
https://flic.kr/p/5066691226
​ 
__
https://flic.kr/p/5066691226
​ ABC 2 HD News[/URL] by ryankolsen , on Flickr


__
https://flic.kr/p/5066081351
​ 
__
https://flic.kr/p/5066081351
​ ABC 2 HD News[/URL] by ryankolsen , on Flickr


__
https://flic.kr/p/5066082503
​ 
__
https://flic.kr/p/5066082503
​ ABC 2 HD News[/URL] by ryankolsen , on Flickr


I grabbed the best photo's I could. I still believe that the graphics and camera's are a little blurry. But I'll give them a little bit more time to work out the kinks. I have seen other Scripps stations that have gone HD with a similar graphics package that looks much better than this.


It's sad that a once great Baltimore news institution has fallen to fourth place in the news markets. I've recenlty heard that Fox 45's 11 PM newscast that airs at midnight on CW 54 beats out ABC2. Maybe this will help the ratings.


----------



## Marcus Carr

The governer's debate is in HD on WJZ and is being simulcast in HD on MPT.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rkolsen* /forum/post/19317803
> 
> 
> Here are some screen grabs from WMAR's recent HD launch. . . . I still believe that the graphics and camera's are a little blurry. But I'll give them a little bit more time to work out the kinks.



Unfortunately, it won't get much better until they either get rid of the stupid 2-2 channel, or get a better decoder.


Too bad neither WJLA-7 or WMAR-2 can deliver the full potential that the ABC network has to offer. WRIC-8 Richmond blows them both away with a noticably sharper picture.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/19322116
> 
> 
> Unfortunately, it won't get much better until they either get rid of the stupid 2-2 channel, or get a better decoder.
> 
> 
> Too bad neither WJLA-7 or WMAR-2 can deliver the full potential that the ABC network has to offer. WRIC-8 Richmond blows them both away with a noticably sharper picture.



WJLA is too busy looking for things to pre-empt on the ABC sched.


----------



## URFloorMatt

Nice graphics. WJLA's look like they're leftovers from the '90s (because they are).


I've always found it strange that WJLA and WRC can't seem to attract any talent in the graphics department in a top ten market. Probably even more so in WRC's case, who produces a lot of local ads and promos that just look incredibly amateur these days. Is there a reason they stubbornly refuse the packages put together by ABC/NBC?


----------



## carltonrice

Was the debate the first instance of a non-news, locally-produced HD show? I thought the quality was so-so for HD.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/19321213
> 
> 
> The governer's debate is in HD on WJZ and is being simulcast in HD on MPT.


----------



## armand1




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/19324261
> 
> 
> WJLA is too busy looking for things to pre-empt on the ABC sched.










I agree WJLA-7 is lame, they could have shown Ravens football Sunday afternoon instead of a infomercial. Do they really think people want to watch infomercials.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *armand1* /forum/post/19327323
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I agree WJLA-7 is lame, they could have shown Ravens football Sunday afternoon instead of a infomercial. Do they really think people want to watch infomercials.



Why would the local ABC station be showing an NFL game? ABC doesn't broadcast NFL games unless the local station was the high bidder to show a game locally that is normally shown on a cable station.


----------



## armand1




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/19327600
> 
> 
> Why would the local ABC station be showing an NFL game? ABC doesn't broadcast NFL games unless the local station was the high bidder to show a game locally that is normally shown on a cable station.



I thought ESPN and ABC were affiliated.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *armand1* /forum/post/19329883
> 
> 
> I thought ESPN and ABC were affiliated.



Ravens were on CBS.


----------



## rkolsen




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/19325588
> 
> 
> Was the debate the first instance of a non-news, locally-produced HD show? I thought the quality was so-so for HD.



I don't believe so. For the Preakness 2010 pre show WBAL TV rented an HD production truck and was on the air for about 3 hours prior to NBC's telecast in HD. It was a solid production and deserved to be HD.


----------



## Marcus Carr

The Baltimore Marathon on WBAL has HD helicopter shots. The rest is widescreen SD.


----------



## ACW112983

Why is MASN2 off the air? I like to watch College Football Overdrive in HD on MASN2's ESPNNEWS


----------



## mchief99

^^^Try channel 844 if you are on Comcast.


----------



## mjw703




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ACW112983* /forum/post/19344261
> 
> 
> Why is MASN2 off the air? I like to watch College Football Overdrive in HD on MASN2's ESPNNEWS



MASN2 will be off the air until the start of baseball season next year. If you want to watch ESPNNews in HD in Arlington, you'll have to wait until Comcast upgrades their cable system, which hopefully will be sometime in the next decade.


----------



## ACW112983




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mchief99* /forum/post/19344596
> 
> 
> ^^^Try channel 844 if you are on Comcast.



Tried that; no luck









> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mjw703* /forum/post/19344683
> 
> 
> MASN2 will be off the air until the start of baseball season next year. If you want to watch ESPNNews in HD in Arlington, you'll have to wait until Comcast upgrades their cable system, which hopefully will be sometime in the next decade.



I figured as such









Why take it off the air?


----------



## rkolsen




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/19344097
> 
> 
> The Baltimore Marathon on WBAL has HD helicopter shots. The rest is widescreen SD.



Some pretty good SD widescreen shots. Most of them didn't have that halo effect of blurriness, that they've had before.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ACW112983* /forum/post/19344688
> 
> 
> Why take it off the air?



It will probably be replaced with The Comcast Network HD/CSN+HD until baseball season. That's what they're doing in Baltimore.


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ACW112983* /forum/post/19344688
> 
> 
> Tried that; no luck
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I figured as such
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Why take it off the air?



Because MASN2 only exists so they can do Orioles and Nationals games at the same time. MASN2 has no programming during the baseball off season.


----------



## carltonrice

Is it me or is the volume on WMAR-DT's newscast unbelievably loud? At least on my DD5.1 system I find their volume to be way too loud.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

WJLA's at it again on Fridays. The next two weeks will feature a local "Decision 2010" news special and then another moldy 20 year old movie on "ABC 7 Cinema"


I admit most of what ABC shows on Fridays is repeats, but the movie is pre-empting a first-run news show on October 29th. Were so lucky to have Allbritton running the ABC station here in DC.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/19357420
> 
> 
> I admit most of what ABC shows on Fridays is repeats, but the movie is pre-empting a first-run news show on October 29th.



What news show? The only shows my TiVo lists as pre-empted on the 29th are a Charlie Brown special that also airs and is not pre-empted the night before, i.e. October 28th, and *Primetime: What Would You Do?*, which is basically a glorified *Candid Camera*, hardly a news show.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/19361614
> 
> 
> What news show? The only shows my TiVo lists as pre-empted on the 29th are a Charlie Brown special that also airs and is not pre-empted the night before, i.e. October 28th, and *Primetime: What Would You Do?*, which is basically a glorified *Candid Camera*, hardly a news show.



My source is WJLA's website, I also checked my DirecTV guide.


----------



## armand1

UPDATE







OTA question... Can anyone get Baltimore Channel 13 from Bethesda?


Thanks to DigitalRules and joblo I tried a Radio Shack 15-577C FM interference filter trap on my Winegard 7694P antenna and now I get Channel 13. You were right after checking FMfool I realized I was only 1.1 mile from the FM107.3 antenna tower. As "joblo" mentioned, it was the 2nd harmonic that caused problems. FM107.3 was causing a lot of interference on channel 13.


VHF Channel 13 = about 215 Mhz

FM107.3 x 2 = 214.6 Mhz, almost an exact match


You guys are geniuses, thanks for all your help!


----------



## Digital Rules

Good to hear you are getting 13 now. Those traps can really make a difference. Are you getting channel 11 now as well?


----------



## joblo

You're welcome, armand1. Always nice to read a success story.










Enjoy the Ravens!


----------



## Digital Rules

Looks like WBFF has just added "*The Country Network*" on sub-channel 45.3


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/19371865
> 
> 
> Looks like WBFF has just added "*The Country Network*" on sub-channel 45.3



Somehow I never considered Baltimore much of a Country Music market. But Hey, this channel will likely only be around for about 18 months anyway. I still miss "The Tube" from time to time. Early on they really had some good music.


----------



## Trip in VA

WPOC is #2 in the ratings.


- Trip


----------



## chambbj

I'm looking for antenna recommendations for a townhouse attic installation in Ashburn. I'm not concerned with attempting to receive anything but the major networks (FOX, NBC, ABC, CBS), along with WETA--and DC stations are just fine.


Apparently I'm too new a member to post the TV Fool URL, so instead I'll post the portion of the URL following the first slash:


?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3dcef3ea3866f35c


At first, I noticed that CM 4221 and 4228HD seemed to show up over and over again for the UHF signals, with a separate VHF antenna (e.g., Winegard HD-1080-HDTV or AntennaCraft Y5-7-13) being recommended for the few VHF stations (primarily ABC and CBS). I noticed that Antennas Direct DB2 and DB4 also get quite a few mentions for UHF (and appear to be more popular on Amazon FWIW). I've also seen that Fairfax Antenna (is it now Fairfax AV) seems to prefer the Winegard HD-7694 for attic installations, which would eliminate the need for separate UHF and VHF components, but would be less forgiving in terms of directionality (although really, all the stations are within about a 2-3 degree arc). The range (25-30 miles) may also begin to be a problem (I'm about 22+ miles out).


I'm also curious about pre-amps (CM 7777 almost seems to be a de facto standard), but I'm not sure that it's necessary. I imagine splitting to two TVs, one on the second floor and one in the basement.


I'd like to try to do this myself and save the cash (the attic install just seems to be a bit more in reach for me compared to going up onto the roof), but am beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed by the hardware options. I could continue reading product reviews, but at this point, I think I may be more interested in user testimonials from those with a similar situation.


I look forward to hearing everybody's thoughts!


----------



## Digital Rules

According to your TV FOOL report, signal strengths look pretty good at your location. Since you plan on an attic installation, I suggest nothing less than the Winegard HD7694P . The other antennas mentioned don't have enough real gain on VHF, so they would likely disappoint with an attic installation.


There are still no guarantees how well it will work in the attic, but you will likely need some amplification to power the 2 way splitter. I suggest the Winegard AP8700 preamp. You will need an outlet for the power supply *before* the 2 way splitter for the preamp to work correctly.


The only real problem DC channel in the western suburbs I've experienced is WDCW 50, & would likely require an outdoor install to be reliable.


----------



## Marcus Carr

This Week is in HD on WMAR. They moved it to 9:00 a.m. They also now have a local newscast at 6:30 p.m. Sundays.


----------



## wmcbrine

I'm moving in a few weeks, and I want to have an antenna installed, and also to have the new house wired with coax and cat6 jacks. Can I expect the same people to do both, or is the wiring a job for an electrician? Or who? Any recommendations for installers around here? How much of an investment am I looking at? Thanks for any advice.


----------



## rviele




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/19383775
> 
> 
> I'm moving in a few weeks, and I want to have an antenna installed, and also to have the new house wired with coax and cat6 jacks. Can I expect the same people to do both, or is the wiring a job for an electrician? Or who? Any recommendations for installers around here? How much of an investment am I looking at? Thanks for any advice.



get action antenna they are in the balto area at 410 242 0440


----------



## Gerald C

Is anyone receiving WMPT-DT Chan 22 (RF 42) from Annapolis via OTA? I'm getting zero signal now for a couple of weeks.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Gerald C* /forum/post/19394727
> 
> 
> Is anyone receiving WMPT-DT Chan 22 (RF 42) from Annapolis via OTA? I'm getting zero signal now for a couple of weeks.



Yes. It's been perfect here in Elkridge, but thanks to topography or something, WMPT happens to be our absolute stongest OTA channel. I don't recall ever seeing it drop form 100% signal strength.


----------



## hokiefan

WUSA is pre-empting Survivor to talk about the weather? Seriously?!?! Whats wrong with the little warning or watch text box or a scroll.


----------



## Gerald C




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/19395018
> 
> 
> Yes. It's been perfect here in Elkridge, but thanks to topography or something, WMPT happens to be our absolute stongest OTA channel. I don't recall ever seeing it drop form 100% signal strength.



Good for you, but I can't even get a hint of a signal in Alexandria. Something is definitely different than it was, and I've at least had some kind of reception for years until just recently. Maybe they're doing maintenance at reduced power?


----------



## Digital Rules

Courtesy of DCRTV 

"4 Launches NBC Washington Nonstop - 10/27 - DCRTV already tipped you. Now, NBC-owned Channel 4/WRC will launch NBC Washington Nonstop today at 1 PM on one of its digital TV subchannels."


----------



## E55 KEV

WOW! My QAM tuner is picking up 5 channels of NBA League Pass! No cable box - I only subscribe to internet.


----------



## dtv_junkie87




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/19400392
> 
> 
> Courtesy of DCRTV
> 
> "4 Launches NBC Washington Nonstop - 10/27 - DCRTV already tipped you. Now, NBC-owned Channel 4/WRC will launch NBC Washington Nonstop today at 1 PM on one of its digital TV subchannels."



Yep! Found the images for myself on SiliconDust (zip: 20066). NBC5 in Dallas/Fort Worth will probably get "Nonstop" early next year or so. I'm gonna miss the NBC O&O radar; IMO that was the best in-house local weather station ever!


----------



## Marcus Carr

Up To The Minute and the CBS Morning News went HD this week. The CBS Morning News is in HD on WJZ but they are still showing Up To The Minute in SD.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/19400392
> 
> 
> Courtesy of DCRTV
> 
> "4 Launches NBC Washington Nonstop - 10/27 - DCRTV already tipped you. Now, NBC-owned Channel 4/WRC will launch NBC Washington Nonstop today at 1 PM on one of its digital TV subchannels."



So did this go to 4.2 or 4.3?


----------



## Digital Rules

4.2


The NBC sports channel remains on 4.3.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Gerald C* /forum/post/19394727
> 
> 
> Is anyone receiving WMPT-DT Chan 22 (RF 42) from Annapolis via OTA? I'm getting zero signal now for a couple of weeks.



Your antenna is more than likely now sitting in a dead spot for that signal. Try moving it to a new spot & you will likely get 22 back. Just a few inches can make all the difference in the world with UHF.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast added *The Comcast Network HD/CSN Plus HD* in Baltimore this morning.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/19418664
> 
> 
> Comcast added *The Comcast Network HD/CSN Plus HD* in Baltimore this morning.



Unfortunately, I have yet to see any indication that non-Comcast cable providers in the region will be adding CSN Plus HD.


----------



## StevenJB

Just in case it hasn't been posted earlier, WBFF-DT (RF46) Fox in Baltimore is now using sub-channel 45.3 in 480i SD. The PSIP says "Country". 45.3 features Country music videos 24/7.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/19433498
> 
> 
> Just in case it hasn't been posted earlier, WBFF-DT (RF46) Fox in Baltimore is now using sub-channel 45.3 in 480i SD. The PSIP says "Country". 45.3 features Country music videos 24/7.



That means Norfolk soon to follow...


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/19429120
> 
> 
> Unfortunately, I have yet to see any indication that non-Comcast cable providers in the region will be adding CSN Plus HD.



Looks like just Cox so far.

http://www.csnwashington.com/common/...ellistings.pdf


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/19435073
> 
> 
> Looks like just Cox so far.
> 
> http://www.csnwashington.com/common/...ellistings.pdf



Don't know about the cable systems but that list is incorrect/incomplete/out of date. DirecTV is not listed as having CSN+HD but it is on 643-1.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/19435073
> 
> 
> Looks like just Cox so far.
> 
> http://www.csnwashington.com/common/...ellistings.pdf



I'm sure there will be plenty of pissed off Caps fans this winter, as there are 11 games on CSN+ that won't be available in HD if they aren't Comcast or Cox subscribers.


----------



## nottenst

Last night (I don't know whether it happened earlier), I lost NBC HD on my QAM feed from Comcast. I got the analog version (4), but not the HD 4.1. FOX (5.1) and CBS (9.1) were coming in with no problems. Did anyone else in the area experience this?


----------



## pclement




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/19459796
> 
> 
> Last night (I don't know whether it happened earlier), I lost NBC HD on my QAM feed from Comcast. I got the analog version (4), but not the HD 4.1. FOX (5.1) and CBS (9.1) were coming in with no problems. Did anyone else in the area experience this?



No problems with OTA.


----------



## AntAltMike

We seem to be getting some kind of NBA promo on Comcast in Berwyn Heights (next to College Park). It is being carried on 65.2, and when a game is not in progress, the screen simply says: iDEMAND NETWORKS TEAMHD.


Does anyone know how long this will remain a freebie?


----------



## Replenish

Has anyone else noticed WRC's feed is shifted up 16 pixels? It's been that way since september I think. Is there a contact page that would actually get through to whoever can fix it? None of the other local channels are coming in weird like WRC


----------



## aptt

Email Matt Glassman, the Senior Producer at WRC at [email protected] . He might be able to possibly help.

Or go to http://www.nbcwashington.com/contact-us/


----------



## Knicks_Fan

I wonder if it has anything to do with the annoying local news promos they put up during the intros to most NBC prime-time shows?


----------



## nottenst

The changes to NBC with NBC Washington Nonstop must be related to it disappearing from 4.1 in our QAM feed from Comcast. I found it back again at 122.1. Unfortunately, the CW seems to have vanished from 50.1 this week as well. I can't find that yet where it used to be (132.2).


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *E55 KEV* /forum/post/19400423
> 
> 
> WOW! My QAM tuner is picking up 5 channels of NBA League Pass! No cable box - I only subscribe to internet.



It's gone. It did not last.


----------



## E55 KEV

WRC NBC channels 4.1, 4.2 & 4.3 are not on the air this morning when I awoke at 8am. Cable feed is working.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *E55 KEV* /forum/post/19485335
> 
> 
> It's gone. It did not last.



"They" saw your post on AVSForum and "fixed" it...


----------



## Digital Rules

Does anyone know for sure if WBAL has reduced power to it's initial post transition level? It shows up as only 5000 watts on TV FOOL.


Thanks!!


----------



## Trip in VA

I haven't heard anything. I know the FCC went through and archived all the STAs on file not too long ago, so the WBAL record probably disappeared as a result.


- Trip


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/19485744
> 
> 
> Does anyone know for sure if WBAL has reduced power to it's initial post transition level? It shows up as only 5000 watts on TV FOOL.
> 
> 
> Thanks!!



According to the FCC database anyway, WBAL is licensed at 5kW ERP on channel 11, but has an application for 26.6kW ERP. So it appears they don't have an official Construction Permit issued for the new 26.6KW operation but as Trip indicated, they may be operating under an STA in the meantime, just not listed.


I get great OTA reception of WBAL where I live in Stafford, VA., even better than WRC whom is closer and better line-of-sight to my home.


----------



## jgantert

Anyone notice the sound cutting out on the Redskins game on 20-1? Only ProLogic digital, too.


I don't have cable so I can't tell if it is also on the ESPN feed that way.


----------



## mattydr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/19493535
> 
> 
> Anyone notice the sound cutting out on the Redskins game on 20-1? Only ProLogic digital, too.
> 
> 
> I don't have cable so I can't tell if it is also on the ESPN feed that way.



Yeah, I noticed the same thing. I was confused because I never have reception issues with 20-1. Signal is rock solid, so I came here to see if I was crazy. It's pretty annoying.


----------



## jgantert

Rut-Roh! SD on 20-1. Did ESPN go SD as well?


BTW, definitely not a signal strength issue. It's a problem at the source.


----------



## mattydr

Haven't noticed any sound problems since they cut to SD then back to HD. The only problem now is the game isn't worth watching anymore . . .


----------



## jgantert

Yeah looks like they fixed it after that. Too bad the Redskins never showed up for the game...


----------



## mdviewer25

The sound on 20-1 seems like its always low, especially when they show the old reruns of Sanford & Son, Good Times, and The Jeffersons in the afternoon. There are times when the sound just fades completely out and comes back in low.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/19485744
> 
> 
> Does anyone know for sure if WBAL has reduced power to it's initial post transition level? It shows up as only 5000 watts on TV FOOL. Thanks!!



My OTA reception numbers still indicate that WBAL-DT is still pushing out that 26.6 kW non-directional (ND) signal using its temporary STA authority. I remember what my reception numbers used to be when WBAL-DT was still using that 5kW ND signal. They were certainly not what they still currently are. I have not noticed any degradation in reception since the STA originally went into effect and I certainly would have noticed a drop back to 5kW. BTW, check the WBAL-DT ND coverage map against the WJZ-DT Directional Antenna (DA) coverage map. They are practically identical FWIW because the map for WBAL-DT is probably the same map that was once used for the 26.6kW ND STA :

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...bal%26type%3dD 

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...%26sitenum%3d0


----------



## Big J

Did anyone else lose WPXW (66.1)? Its always been one of my strongest receptions, and it just disappeared about 4:30 this afternoon.

J


----------



## weaver6




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/19504343
> 
> 
> Did anyone else lose WPXW (66.1)? Its always been one of my strongest receptions, and it just disappeared about 4:30 this afternoon.
> 
> J



I just checked, and I'm not receiving it. It wasn't my strongest station, but I used to receive it.


----------



## Big J

Thanks. Its always been the one station that I could always count on getting. Perhaps its storm related.

J


----------



## Big J

Well, at 6:30, its back.

J


----------



## CLT OTA Nut

Anyone able to find the caps game on in HD on directv? CSN-A 643 has the game on in SD but CSN-A HD 643-1 is not on, just has the directv picture. Suggestions?


----------



## euckersw

Has anybody noticed the picture jittering/shaking on WHAG? I access the channel via Verizon Fios, so I'm not sure if it's just the feed I'm receiving, but I've noticed on Sunday Night Football and Saturday Night Live that the whole picture is shaking ever so slightly (but it's annoying once you notice it).


----------



## Digital Rules

Quote:

Originally Posted by *euckersw* 
Has anybody noticed the picture jittering/shaking on WHAG?
Yes, it's the stations NBC feed. It's the same OTA.


----------



## rkolsen

Anyone notice that a few stations that broadcast off of television hill went off air today?


Here's a post from DCRTV's mailbag:


> Quote:
> All of the Baltimore local TV channels that have broadcast studios on Television Hill are offline on COMCAST Baltimore City and County. Not sure about OTA reception. WBAL 11, WJZ 13, FOX 45, & CW 54 are all blank. WMAR ABC 2, MPT 22, WUTB 24, & MPT 67 are all still on air, all of which have broadcast facilities away from TV Hill. Power outage of some kind on TV Hill? (11/20/10)


----------



## euckersw




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/19510739
> 
> 
> Yes, it's the stations NBC feed. It's the same OTA.



Has it been like this for awhile? I just got Fios a month or two ago, but didn't notice the shake until recently. If it's been like this for awhile, and no one at NBC is going to fix it that's truly unfortunately as I find the picture on WHAG to be superior to WRC.


-Scott


----------



## Big J

OK, what is going on with WPXW? There's no picture, but my TV says its getting a signal strength of 93 and its locked. I can even see the meter going up and down a point or two. If I go to a channel I cannot get, like MPT, it will give a signal strength of 40, and say not locked. Is it my TV? Antenna? I'm confused.

J


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/19522578
> 
> 
> OK, what is going on with WPXW?



Looks like their PSIP encoder is on the fritz. It's showing up as 34.3, 34.4 & 34.5 on my Samsung. It was like that yesterday afternoon as well. Channel 20 was having similar issues yesterday, but seems back to normal now.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *euckersw* /forum/post/19522570
> 
> 
> If it's been like this for awhile, and no one at NBC is going to fix it that's truly unfortunately as I find the picture on WHAG to be superior to WRC.



I noticed the shaky picture on the SD feed of the ACC game yesterday, so it's not just NBC. I guess they are waiting on a part to fix the problem????


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/19522962
> 
> 
> Looks like their PSIP encoder is on the fritz. It's showing up as 34.3, 34.4 & 34.5 on my Samsung. It was like that yesterday afternoon as well.



Do they know about this? Its been on and off for close to a week now. Seems kind of silly to me. Should I rescan?

J


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/19527130
> 
> 
> Do they know about this? Its been on and off for close to a week now. Seems kind of silly to me. Should I rescan?
> 
> J



I can't believe they don't know about it, but who knows???? Low power RF12 is still correct & shows up as channel 60.


A rescan will not help. Once fixed, your TV should fix itself & move the number back to 66.


----------



## Big J

OK, Thanks for that.

One odd little note. The channel ID used to just say ION (and QUBO, and ION LIFE respectively).

Now it says ION 18 for the main channel (?).

J


----------



## mkfs

For some reason, WRC seems to be 2 minutes ahead of other stations and NTP, as per my converter.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*ZDC To Launch HD Newscasts*


- 11/23 - DCRTV hears that Washington's Telemundo station, Channel 25/WZDC, unveiled its new news studios Monday in preparation for its high-def local programming launch on November 28th. We're told that WZDC's newscast will be the first Hispanic local news show to be in full 1080i. WZDC's facelift also includes a talent shift, with Nitza Perez anchoring the 6 PM and 11 PM newscasts, Jorge Andrés anchoring sports, and Roxana Solano doing weather. Angelica Herrera and Juliana Monsalve are the station's primary local beat reporters.....

http://dcrtv.com/


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mkfs* /forum/post/19531675
> 
> 
> For some reason, WRC seems to be 2 minutes ahead of other stations and NTP, as per my converter.



Yes I noticed that. It looks like their PSIP server/encoder is not running with network time sync enabled. Usually one sets up to calibrate to the NTP server, or the in-house master clock.


Either that or they're running on a backup PSIP encoder which isn't time synced, because I thought the time had been pretty much right on a month or so ago.


----------



## euckersw

I live in Falls Church, VA and just received an email from Verizon Fios today stating that on or after December 31, 2010 they would be removing WHAG from the channel lineup. Thought I'd pass along the news.


----------



## Digital Rules

Thanks, not quite sure why they carried it in the first place?


----------



## URFloorMatt

In the Fredericksburg area, FiOS now carries WTVR CBS 6 and WRLH Fox 35 out of Richmond in SD and HD. Any chance we could get those in the Virginia portions of the DC Metro area?


(For what it's worth, they also get WHAG all the way down in Fredericksburg.)


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/19536370
> 
> *ZDC To Launch HD Newscasts*
> 
> 
> - 11/23 - DCRTV hears that Washington's Telemundo station, Channel 25/WZDC, unveiled its new news studios Monday in preparation for its high-def local programming launch on November 28th. We're told that WZDC's newscast will be the first Hispanic local news show to be in full 1080i. WZDC's facelift also includes a talent shift, with Nitza Perez anchoring the 6 PM and 11 PM newscasts, Jorge Andrés anchoring sports, and Roxana Solano doing weather. Angelica Herrera and Juliana Monsalve are the station's primary local beat reporters.....
> 
> http://dcrtv.com/



There is absolutely no presence nor has there been of WZDC-CA (Digital RF25 mapped to 25.1) being broadcast on Digital RF25 as of Monday, November 28th. I have checked daily for any transmission and none has appeared since the above announcement appeared in DCRTV.


In fact, WZDC-CA25 Analog formerly WZDC-LP25 Analog continues to broadcast its 28.3kW analog signal on analog Channel 25 to this very moment. I am sure that you are aware of the simple fact that WZDC can not output a reliable digital signal on 25 while they broadcast in analog on the same physical channel. If WZDC was broadcasting in digital now then they would have shut down their analog transmitter to my reasoning and especially on the same physical channel!


Am I missing anything? Do any of you have any further information on WZDC digital? Right now, to the best of my knowledge there is no digital WZDC. The analog signal on Channel 25 is reasonably strong enough for me to receive it in Olney. My reception in Olney is not an issue. I can receive a reliable signal from WMDO-LD broadcasting on digital channel 8 from NW Washington. WMDO-LD transmits on digital Channel 8 and maps to 47.1 and 47.2. It's ERP is but a mere 198 watts (0.198 kW) and I still receive it reliably.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/19562637
> 
> 
> There is absolutely no presence nor has there been of WZDC-CA (Digital RF25 mapped to 25.1) being broadcast on Digital RF25 as of Monday, November 28th. I have checked daily for any transmission and none has appeared since the above announcement appeared in DCRTV.....



I service master antenna systems in highrise buildings in the Washington, DC metro area, and I think I picked it up during a channel scan with my test TV about a month ago, but I don't remember exactly when or where. If I stop by a highrise in the near future to service its antenna system, I'll scan for it again and view the antenna input on my spectrum analyzer.


----------



## REDSKINSFAN47

just did a scan of channels,i got a snowy picture on channel 6 and 25analog.nothing on channel 8 digital or 47-1 or 2.


----------



## Digital Rules

Only seeing an analog signal on RF 25 here.


----------



## StevenJB

Quote:

Originally Posted by *REDSKINSFAN47* 
just did a scan of channels. i got a snowy picture on channel 6 and 25 analog. nothing on channel 8 digital or 47-1 or 2.
You cannot scan analog channels. You either receive them or you don't. Analog channels can and will slowly appear out of the snow and then fade out again. Channel 6 is a low power Latino music station showing old Charlie Chaplin videos with Latino music for its audio. It is located in Arlington and its audio also appears at 87.75 mHz on your FM radio. Channel 25 analog is also there. Your antenna is just not powerful or sensitive enough to receive either channel. But, they are there. Channel 8 digital is very low power. It maps to 47.1 in 1080i HD. The picture quality is magnificent. I think that 47.1 might be Telemundo. 47.2 is a sister Latino 480i SD sub-channel feed. You need a good antenna to receive these stations. Woodbine just may be out of reach. I am less than 15 miles from these channels and I have an exceptional rooftop antenna with a rotor and distribution amplifier. Olney, MD is located on extremely high terrain which greatly helps me.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/19565540
> 
> 
> You cannot scan analog channels.



If you do a channel scan on a TV with both an analog and digital tuner, you can scan for analog channels.



> Quote:
> I think that 47.1 might be Telemundo.



TeleFutura. Univision's sister network.



> Quote:
> 47.2 is a sister Latino 480i SD sub-channel feed.



LATV.


- Trip


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/19566489
> 
> 
> If you do a channel scan on a TV with both an analog and digital tuner, you can scan for analog channels.
> 
> - Trip



You are correct. What I really meant to say was that analog television reception by direct entry on the keypad does not require the channel to have been scanned first. Scanning is not a perequisite for analog reception.


BTW, Trip, do you know what the status is of digital WZDC-CA? If WZDC uses RF25 as well as Virtual 25.1, then what happens to WHAG-DT26 which also uses Virtual 25.1? I already receive WHAG on 25.1. Will I receive both on 25.1?


I really wish that the FCC would prohibit the use of virtual channels. They are so confusing as well as unnecessary. Why should there be two virtual channels called 25.1 in the same region? WHAG should be called 26.1 and WZDC should be called 25.1. WETA should be called 27.1 and WRC should be called 48.1. If you want to be called 4.1, then transmit on VHF-LO Channel 4!


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/19567031
> 
> 
> BTW, Trip, do you know what the status is of digital WZDC-CA?



No, unfortunately. I don't think any of the ZGS stations have gone digital yet, actually.



> Quote:
> If WZDC uses RF25 as well as Virtual 25.1, then what happens to WHAG-DT26 which also uses Virtual 25.1? I already receive WHAG on 25.1. Will I receive both on 25.1?



It varies. A box that handles it correctly will simply show you both. 25.1 will be WZDC, then another channel up will be 25.1 as WHAG. Some boxes will only show one or the other.



> Quote:
> I really wish that the FCC would prohibit the use of virtual channels. They are so confusing as well as unnecessary. Why should there be two virtual channels called 25.1 in the same region? WHAG should be called 26.1 and WZDC should be called 25.1. WETA should be called 27.1 and WRC should be called 48.1. If you want to be called 4.1, then transmit on VHF-LO Channel 4!



I'll refrain from starting a debate on this, but the short version is: I strongly disagree!


- Trip


----------



## Kelly From KOMO

Quote:

Originally Posted by *StevenJB* 
You are correct. What I really meant to say I really wish that the FCC would prohibit the use of virtual channels. They are so confusing as well as unnecessary. Why should there be two virtual channels called 25.1 in the same region? WHAG should be called 26.1 and WZDC should be called 25.1. WETA should be called 27.1 and WRC should be called 48.1. If you want to be called 4.1, then transmit on VHF-LO Channel 4!
The FCC required stations to retain the original channel number in the PSIP channel ID during the transition in spite of the station actually moving physical channels. If the average viewer recalls seeing NBC and local programming on Channel 4 pre-transition, then it would be more confusing to know that channel 4, as local the viewers know it, is now technically channel 48. That combined with OTA viewing of DTV only representing about 10% of the total TV viewers, keeping it simple for the average viewer makes sense.


----------



## tylerSC

And as a marketing and branding issue, most stations are identified more by their analog channel assignment, especially in regard to local news programming which is heavily promoted. To change NBC-4 or News 4 to 48 would create confusion in brand identity; which is perhaps why WRC adopted "NBC Washington." And back in the day when they had Jim Vance, Doreen, Bob and George, and Arch, that was the top team that formed the News 4 identity. And Ch 9's Eyewitness News was a solid broadcast as well. Apparently now, WJLA-7 combines the best of both.


----------



## machpost

Yesterday I noticed that we're now getting Local on the 8s in HD here in Washington DC on RCN.


----------



## Big J

Well, WPXW is back. Were they always broadcasting at 720p? I thought they used to be 1080i. Am I mistaken?

J


----------



## Trip in VA

WPXW has been at 720p.


- Trip


----------



## mkfs

We get the wiggly green lines tonight instead of Jim Rockford


----------



## Big J

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* 
WPXW has been at 720p.


- Trip
OK. Thanks for that info.

J


----------



## hungryeyes22

Fox 45 has filed to upgrade their OTA signal to 655kw according to the Baltimore Media Blog on Facebook!


----------



## CLT OTA Nut




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hungryeyes22* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Fox 45 has filed to upgrade their OTA signal to 655kw according to the Baltimore Media Blog on Facebook!



According to their technical data as registered, they are currently licensed (and transmitting?) @ 655, or is that just temporary? (source rabbit ears)


----------



## hungryeyes22

Not sure, it was filed with the FCC on Nov 17th.


----------



## Trip in VA

It's an FCC filing quirk. Let me go fix that right now. (Good thing my database can override the FCC database.)


- Trip


----------



## Marcus Carr

WNUV showed a high school football game instead of Vampire Diaries and Nikita. (What is this, WJLA?







). They will be shown on Saturday.


----------



## hungryeyes22

lol, WNUV rarely interrupts CW Programming, except for ACC Basketball.


Also, "Smallville" & "Supernatural" from Friday will be aired Sunday, 3pm-5pm.



Quote:

Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* 
WNUV showed a high school football game instead of Vampire Diaries and Nikita. (What is this, WJLA?







). They will be shown on Saturday.


----------



## Marcus Carr

And they were in SD of course...


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/19596966
> 
> 
> And they were in SD of course...



Sounds like Amazon for me for Smallville....


----------



## hungryeyes22

From the Baltimore Media Blog on Facebook:


"Bad week for ABC 2..First, the wrongful accusation of the wrong person for a multiple theft with the wrong picture for OVER 12 HOURS, now they're deliberately censoring Network TV shows due to content involving child molestation. During a pivotal & rather explicit scene of the ABC hit "Private Practice", ABC 2 interrup...ts with a "11pm News Preview". Watch the scene below to be the judge.."


youtube link to video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4xH4HawQfs


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hungryeyes22* /forum/post/19600213
> 
> 
> From the Baltimore Media Blog on Facebook:
> 
> 
> "Bad week for ABC 2..First, the wrongful accusation of the wrong person for a multiple theft with the wrong picture for OVER 12 HOURS, now they're deliberately censoring Network TV shows due to content involving child molestation. During a pivotal & rather explicit scene of the ABC hit "Private Practice", ABC 2 interrup...ts with a "11pm News Preview". Watch the scene below to be the judge.."
> 
> 
> youtube link to video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4xH4HawQfs



My guess is someone inadvertently either scheduled the promo in their automation playlist or log, or the Master Control Operator inserted the promo into the wrong spot on the playlist. Based on the way it cut in and then back to the network, I don't think it was anything more than an accident.


----------



## pclement

Just curius. After the initial transition in 2009 I was able to get 20-1, 50-1 and 50-2 consistently with a strong signal. I was able to get a strong signal regardless of the orientation of the antennae. Then in Spring of 2010 neither of these signals started coming in strong and I only rarely get the signal even when I rotate the antennae. Everything on my end stayed the same. Did the stations make changes to their broadcast signals? Could I be getting interferrence from other stations?


----------



## Dave Loudin

Anybody getting a sniff of a new LD on ch. 45? Licensed yesterday with an app to delete a backlobe from the antenna pattern. TX site is near Davidsonville with a pattern aimed ENE.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin* /forum/post/19619416
> 
> 
> Anybody getting a sniff of a new LD on ch. 45?



Yes, seeing some activity on RF45 with the Zenith converter, but not enough to decode.


----------



## Trip in VA

I suspect it is just GCN religion.


- Trip


----------



## nottenst

Anyone else get a test HD framing signal for a minute or so instead of the beginning of Bones last night? It appeared that way on my FOX-5 signal. Today, fox.com has it online, so I can see what I missed, but it was quite weird.


----------



## winchesterdoug

Thank God for that signal increase request! Maybe then those of us viewers in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia can get our HD broadasts back of WBFF Fox 45 and the "This Network" movie channel on 45.2 that we LOST when the FCC allowed a low power Christian station (WAZW) to start broadcasting on the exact same RF channel (46) that Fox WBFF 45 was already using. It has been blocking us from receiving WBFF Fox's OTA signal for several months now. There is no way that this low power station should have been allowed to interfere with and block the OTA signal of a full-power network affiliate - but I haven't been able to get any help on this. Maybe this signal strength request will help overcome the interference from the low power station.


----------



## Jim Miller

yup on the bones issue. via comcast if that makes a difference.


jtm


----------



## drkashner




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/19629059
> 
> 
> Anyone else get a test HD framing signal for a minute or so instead of the beginning of Bones last night? It appeared that way on my FOX-5 signal. Today, fox.com has it online, so I can see what I missed, but it was quite weird.



It was on channel 45 over the air also. It must have come from Fox.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *winchesterdoug* /forum/post/19629126
> 
> 
> Maybe this signal strength request will help overcome the interference from the low power station.



I thought the owner of WAZW declared bankruptcy a few months back? Are they still on the air?


----------



## rviele




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/19629059
> 
> 
> Anyone else get a test HD framing signal for a minute or so instead of the beginning of Bones last night? It appeared that way on my FOX-5 signal. Today, fox.com has it online, so I can see what I missed, but it was quite weird.



yes i did to, couldn't figure what it was about.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst* /forum/post/19629059
> 
> 
> Anyone else get a test HD framing signal for a minute or so instead of the beginning of Bones last night?



Down here too in SE VA...


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pclement* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Just curius. After the initial transition in 2009 I was able to get 20-1, 50-1 and 50-2 consistently with a strong signal. I was able to get a strong signal regardless of the orientation of the antennae. Then in Spring of 2010 neither of these signals started coming in strong and I only rarely get the signal even when I rotate the antennae. Everything on my end stayed the same. Did the stations make changes to their broadcast signals? Could I be getting interferrence from other stations?



I've noticed 50.1 and its sub-stations have had weaker signals in the last few months, the same with WRC, despite my antenna pointing in their direction.

J


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *winchesterdoug* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Thank God for that signal increase request! Maybe then those of us viewers in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia can get our HD broadasts back of WBFF Fox 45 and the "This Network" movie channel on 45.2 that we LOST when the FCC allowed a low power Christian station (WAZW) to start broadcasting on the exact same RF channel (46) that Fox WBFF 45 was already using. It has been blocking us from receiving WBFF Fox's OTA signal for several months now. There is no way that this low power station should have been allowed to interfere with and block the OTA signal of a full-power network affiliate - but I haven't been able to get any help on this. Maybe this signal strength request will help overcome the interference from the low power station.



We have gone into great detail with you about how WAZW's operation met the predicted interference criteria set by the FCC. We also told you that WAZW'S operating class meant that it could not interfere with any reliable reception of another station. You, and as many others in you area that could get WBFF before as you can find, need to report your problem to the FCC. The ball is in your court.


----------



## wnyfox

Originally Posted by winchesterdoug

Thank God for that signal increase request! Maybe then those of us viewers in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia can get our HD broadasts back of WBFF Fox 45 and the "This Network" movie channel on 45.2 that we LOST when the FCC allowed a low power Christian station (WAZW) to start broadcasting on the exact same RF channel (46) that Fox WBFF 45 was already using. It has been blocking us from receiving WBFF Fox's OTA signal for several months now. There is no way that this low power station should have been allowed to interfere with and block the OTA signal of a full-power network affiliate - but I haven't been able to get any help on this. Maybe this signal strength request will help overcome the interference from the low power station.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin* /forum/post/19633089
> 
> 
> We have gone into great detail with you about how WAZW's operation met the predicted interference criteria set by the FCC. We also told you that WAZW'S operating class meant that it could not interfere with any reliable reception of another station. You, and as many others in you area that could get WBFF before as you can find, need to report your problem to the FCC. The ball is in your court.



FYI, WBFF is now operating at it's new power.


----------



## BenSanford

Has anyone had success using a Ceton 4-tuner CableCard Tuner with Cox cable. The card is supposed to be able to receive up to 4 streams of HDTV from Cable using a cable company supplied multistream cable card - and apparently there are a lot of satisfied customers of Ceton in other areas or with FIOS.


However, Cox in Northern VA uses SDV in their configuration which complicates the installation because "tuning adapters" are also required. Cox uses Cisco/Scientific Atlanta hardware (whose Tuning adapters only support 2 streams), so for that hardware Ceton says that two tuning adapters are required for a proper installation.


Problem is that Cox has apparently never heard of this, and say that their system only allows one tuning adapter to be provisioned per cableCard. One installer implied that this product has been installed at another customer, but Cox central seems clueless. I've had their installers come buy a couple of times, but the installers haven't seen this product before and are in the dark. They have connected everything as it should be, but the real issue appears to be with Cox network control who say that their system doesn't allow them to configure things the way that Ceton recommends. I've even tried to disable two of the 4 tuners in the Ceton tuner, but still haven't had success other than in receiving the "clear" channels like 704, 705, etc.


Anyone else faced this issue?


Ben

Falls Church


----------



## bxs122

Looks like OTA WTTG-DT is out ... of course this happened in the middle of Glee. Kids and Wife are all staring at me as though I did it. Good Grief


----------



## Belcherwm

Switch to WBFF


----------



## bxs122




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Belcherwm* /forum/post/19649301
> 
> 
> Switch to WBFF



What are the numbers on that?


Never mind - found it...I'm in NOVA - signal is coming in too weak.


----------



## Belcherwm

Time to upgrade your antenna. 98% signal strength from here in Haymarket.


----------



## bxs122




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Belcherwm* /forum/post/19649370
> 
> 
> Time to upgrade your antenna. 98% signal strength from here in Haymarket.



That is pretty good - what type of antenna are you using?


Actually what I should have asked was wether you were receiving WTTG??


----------



## Belcherwm

Sorry I checked and started watching TV. I have an old RS VHF/UHF antenna. Roof mounted. Rotor to dial it in. Lost signal on WTTG from DISH and OTA so switched to WBFF. I don't do OTA that often anymore. Nice to know I still have options.


----------



## Artjohn

FWIW, RCN cable lost WTTG as well.


----------



## mdviewer25

Quote:

Originally Posted by *bxs122* 
Looks like OTA WTTG-DT is out ... of course this happened in the middle of Glee. Kids and Wife are all staring at me as though I did it. Good Grief








Glad to know I wasn't the only one who lost WTTG. Had to switch to WBFF and even that had a few breakups probably due to the wind. Anyone know what happened because I had no signal at all for WTTG but it's back today.


----------



## jgantert

I lost WTTG last night on my Tivo HD OTA as well (grey screen). I thought my Tivo HD just needed a reboot, as it sometimes does.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/19563177
> 
> 
> I service master antenna systems in highrise buildings in the Washington, DC metro area, and I think I picked it up during a channel scan with my test TV about a month ago, but I don't remember exactly when or where. If I stop by a highrise in the near future to service its antenna system, I'll scan for it again and view the antenna input on my spectrum analyzer.



Mike, we were just talking about this last week!!!

TVNewsWeek


----------



## al.rob

I am trying to set up a media center PC using Windows XP Media Center Edition. It is working except for WHUT. On both the HD 32-1 and the SD 32-2, a picture flashes for a second, and then I get a blue screen with the error "Video Error - Files needed to display video are not installed or not working correctly. Please restart media center or restart the computer" Restarting the media center or the PC does no good, and it always does this. The other channels are fine, including the other PBS channels WETA and WMPT. The signal strength is good, and I have no trouble receiving WHUT with the Zenith DTT-901 CECB. Has anyone had this happen or know of a fix? I emailed WHUT and they replied that they had no idea but they would get back to me after checking with their PBS people. I have installed all of the Windows updates. Does WHUT require a special codec or something?


Another issue - the program guide works fine except for WRC channel 4, where the two sub-channels contain the same programming as the main channel. I know that this was an issue with XP media Center, but they must have fixed it in one of the updates as I get the program guide info for all sub-channels except WRCs. It's not that big a deal, but if anyone has a fix, I'd appreciate it.


Thanks,


Al


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *al.rob* /forum/post/19700268
> 
> 
> I am trying to set up a media center PC using Windows XP Media Center Edition. It is working except for WHUT. On both the HD 32-1 and the SD 32-2, a picture flashes for a second, and then I get a blue screen with the error "Video Error - Files needed to display video are not installed or not working correctly. Please restart media center or restart the computer" Restarting the media center or the PC does no good, and it always does this. The other channels are fine, including the other PBS channels WETA and WMPT. The signal strength is good, and I have no trouble receiving WHUT with the Zenith DTT-901 CECB. Has anyone had this happen or know of a fix? I emailed WHUT and they replied that they had no idea but they would get back to me after checking with their PBS people. I have installed all of the Windows updates. Does WHUT require a special codec or something?
> 
> 
> Another issue - the program guide works fine except for WRC channel 4, where the two sub-channels contain the same programming as the main channel. I know that this was an issue with XP media Center, but they must have fixed it in one of the updates as I get the program guide info for all sub-channels except WRCs. It's not that big a deal, but if anyone has a fix, I'd appreciate it.
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> 
> Al



While I've never had any issues with WHUT myself, I didn't get into HTPCs until Vista. I assume you're running XPMCE 2005 with the "update rollup 2"? (don't think DTV was possible without it, so likely so)


There is nothing discernably special about WHUT in and of itself from what I can tell, but a problem with an audio driver and/or codec could possibly cause that issue. My suggestion would be to head over to The Green Button ( http://www.thegreenbutton.com ) and ask there -- it's a site dedicated to all things Media Center, and believe me, the Balto/DC crowd is well represented










Wait .. come to think of it I believe WHUT broadcasts the data stream that is used to update firmware on certain TV sets (like Sony). If so, that may be throwing MCE 2005 a curveball it doesn't know how to handle. Trip, is this accurate, and do you know of any other locals that broadcast that stream for comparison purposes?


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/19700577
> 
> 
> Trip, is this accurate, and do you know of any other locals that broadcast that stream for comparison purposes?



Entirely possible.


I think WMPB (67-1) has it in addition to WHUT.


- Trip


----------



## al.rob

Thanks for the replies. Unfortunately, I cannot receive channel 67-1 for comparison. For now, I'll just wait and see what the WHUT people say. I assume I am using the MCE2005 "rollup", as I let it download all of the updates, and from what I have read, the guide doesn't work on the subchannels without the rollup.


Thanks,


Al


----------



## jgantert

AntennaTV (50.4?) has their listings online now. They go live January 7th in DC.

http://media.trb.com/media/acrobat/2...2-22145450.pdf 


Lots of newer movies, which is surprising for a retro-themed network. I was expecting older 50-60's movies like RTN. Oh, and one of my personal favorites HARDBODIES. Check it out! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087385/


----------



## jgantert

Actually, looks like AntennaTV is going to be on 50.2 ( http://www.antennatv.tv/affiliates/ ), so does that mean they are going to stop broadcasting ThisTV?


----------



## Trip in VA

No. They're moving This TV to a different subchannel. If it follows the pattern of other Tribune stations, they'll be putting it on 50-3 and moving NTDTV to 50-4.


- Trip


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/19704275
> 
> 
> No. They're moving This TV to a different subchannel. If it follows the pattern of other Tribune stations, they'll be putting it on 50-3 and moving NTDTV to 50-4.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Great news! Being OTA only, wouldn't want to lose ThisTV. I don't care about NTDTV (maybe it it had subtitles), but I'm sure others do.


----------



## winchesterdoug

Yes, unfortunately, they are still on the air and blocking us in the valley from receiving WBFF Fox 45. The current owner of the station has filed bankruptcy and owes millions of dollars according to the newspaper reports.


----------



## hungryeyes22

any word on a affiliate for Antenna Tv or ME-TV in Baltimore?


----------



## jgantert

Quote:

Originally Posted by *hungryeyes22* 
any word on a affiliate for Antenna Tv or ME-TV in Baltimore?
Strange why Baltimore keeps getting skunked, except for ThisTV. So far, all the retro channels are only in DC (RTN, AntennaTV).


----------



## al.rob




> Quote:
> Strange why Baltimore keeps getting skunked, except for ThisTV. So far, all the retro channels are only in DC (RTN, AntennaTV).



But Baltimore gets two music video channels, Country 45-3 and The CoolTV 54-2, that DC doesn't get. I guess someone decided that DC likes retro TV and Baltimore likes to watch music videos.


Al


----------



## hungryeyes22

I'd rather watch Classic TV..lol.


Cool TV was nice I have to admit on Christmas Day with nonstop Christmas Videos..


----------



## heh2000

Is Comcast in NoVA still recompressing HD to fit more channels?


----------



## jc5810

WBAL's owner (Hearst) is in negotiations with DirecTV. WBAL has an annoucement that if an agreement is not reached, DirecTV subscribers will lose WBAL on 1 January.

http://www.wbaltv.com/sponsors/26093872/detail.html


----------



## Ken H

Topics merged.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jc5810* /forum/post/19726845
> 
> 
> WBAL's owner (Hearst) is in negotiations with DirecTV. WBAL has an annoucement that if an agreement is not reached, DirecTV subscribers will lose WBAL on 1 January.
> 
> http://www.wbaltv.com/sponsors/26093872/detail.html



Agreement has been reached.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/...ans_Accord.php


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> AntennaTV (50.4?) has their listings online now. They go live January 7th in DC.
> 
> http://media.trb.com/media/acrobat/2...2-22145450.pdf
> 
> 
> Lots of newer movies, which is surprising for a retro-themed network. I was expecting older 50-60's movies like RTN. Oh, and one of my personal favorites HARDBODIES. Check it out! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087385/



Yea, They are now listed on TitanTV. They are having a Three Stooges marathon. No new channels at the moment. Will check it out on the 7th.

J


----------



## jgantert

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Big J* 
Yea, They are now listed on TitanTV. They are having a Three Stooges marathon. No new channels at the moment. Will check it out on the 7th.

J
Actually looks like it will be on the 3rd not sure where I got the 7th from. Zap2It already has the listings updated for 50.2


Update: Looks like I got the Jan 7th date from dcrtv.com. Maybe they are incorrect?


----------



## pakle

My parents have always gotten WNVT (30-3) over-the-air on their 15-yr old CRT TV and 5-yr old Philips LCD HD-READY TV (not HDTV) using a digital converter box, and the reception quality is always excellent. They don't have cable/satellite and live in Rockville, MD.


I just bought them an LG LCD HDTV (model 32LD400), and using a digital antenna, I can get all the channels they would receive on their 2 old TVs (that they watch), EXCEPT WNVT (30-3). It doesn't show up when I Autoscan the channels and always says NO SIGNAL when I try to manually add it . Other weaker channels such as MPT would still show but with lots of errors showing blocking artifacts, but 30-3 just shows nothing at all. I've put the LG HDTV side-by-side with the CRT, used the digital converter box with the digital antenna on the LG HDTV, still NO SIGNAL. It's as if this HDTV is inherently incapable of receiving or displaying this channel, but how can this be?


Anyone have any idea why this LG HDTV cannot receive 30-3 but their older TVs receive it just fine?


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pakle* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> My parents have always gotten WNVT (30-3) over-the-air on their 15-yr old CRT TV and 5-yr old Philips LCD HD-READY TV (not HDTV) using a digital converter box, and the reception quality is always excellent. They don't have cable/satellite and live in Rockville, MD.
> 
> 
> I just bought them an LG LCD HDTV (model 32LD400), and using a digital antenna, I can get all the channels they would receive on their 2 old TVs (that they watch), EXCEPT WNVT (30-3). It doesn't show up when I Autoscan the channels and always says NO SIGNAL when I try to manually add it . Other weaker channels such as MPT would still show but with lots of errors showing blocking artifacts, but 30-3 just shows nothing at all. I've put the LG HDTV side-by-side with the CRT, used the digital converter box with the digital antenna on the LG HDTV, still NO SIGNAL. It's as if this HDTV is inherently incapable of receiving or displaying this channel, but how can this be?
> 
> 
> Anyone have any idea why this LG HDTV cannot receive 30-3 but their older TVs receive it just fine?



Maybe the new set doesn't have as good of a tuner? That's one of the Megahertz channels. There are 10 of them. I get the first 5 here in Germantown. Apparently, the second five are broadcast from a different tower. They also seem to be mirrored on 24.1-24.5.

J


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pakle* /forum/post/19749837
> 
> 
> Anyone have any idea why this LG HDTV cannot receive 30-3 but their older TVs receive it just fine?



Is the LG receiving any of the other 30.1 thru 30.10 channels? Approximately where do they live?


----------



## pakle




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/19751797
> 
> 
> Is the LG receiving any of the other 30.1 thru 30.10 channels? Approximately where do they live?



The LG HDTV doesn't get any of the other 30.1-10 channels. The other 2 older TVs get 30.1-3 or 4, but definitely not all 10. They live in the Aspen Hill area of Rockville, if it matters.


To answer Big J, I see on the channel list on page 1 that 30.1-5 have 24 next to them in orange and it says "Orange indicates VHF/UHF Digital Channel assignments" but how do I try to see that? The Autoscan doesn't find a signal on channel 24.


----------



## StevenJB

WNVC-DT transmits on digital 24 and maps 5 sub-channels to digital 30 using 30.1 through 30.5. Reception for each sub-channel is identical to the other. If you receive 30.3 at a specific signal level then reception will be identical for 30.1, 30.2, 30.4, and 30.5. WNVC-DT transmits from Merrifield, VA, using 160 kW ERP non-directional.

http://maps.google.com/?q=http://www...FAX%26state=VA 


WNVT-DT transmits on digital 30 and also maps 5 sub-channels to digital 30 using 30.6 through 30.10. WNVT-DT transmits from near Dale City, VA, using 160kW ERP non-directional.

http://maps.google.com/?q=http://www...EIN%26state=VA


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pakle* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> My parents have always gotten WNVT (30-3) over-the-air on their 15-yr old CRT TV and 5-yr old Philips LCD HD-READY TV (not HDTV) using a digital converter box, and the reception quality is always excellent. They don't have cable/satellite and live in Rockville, MD.
> 
> 
> I just bought them an LG LCD HDTV (model 32LD400), and using a digital antenna, I can get all the channels they would receive on their 2 old TVs (that they watch), EXCEPT WNVT (30-3).



Are you saying that you changed antennas? If so, can you go back to the original antenna? There is no such thing as a "digital" antenna - it's all RF at this point.


----------



## Big J

I agree with Dave. If you changed antenna, switch back.

I'm not sure how the new TV works, but you can try to punch the channels in manually, to see if you can get them and if so add them to the favorites list (if possible).

J


----------



## pakle




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/19753384
> 
> 
> I agree with Dave. If you changed antenna, switch back.
> 
> I'm not sure how the new TV works, but you can try to punch the channels in manually, to see if you can get them and if so add them to the favorites list (if possible).
> 
> J



The 2 older TVs have their own indoor antennas (low-cost ones but still get great reception as mentioned before) and I did try both of those on the LG HDTV but still can't get 30.3.


I did try to manually add 30.3 to the channel list and add it to the favorites list, pretty much anything to force it to show me 30.3 if it had anything to show, but it never had anything to show.


My parents have pretty much resigned themselves to the fact that if they want to watch 30.3, they have to watch it on the older TV.


----------



## jgantert

Antenna TV is live on 50.2 This TV moves to 50.3. The Chinese TV that was on 50.3 isn't on air anymore.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Antenna TV is live on 50.2 This TV moves to 50.3. The Chinese TV that was on 50.3 isn't on air anymore.



I was just going to post that. You beat me to it.

J


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pakle* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> The 2 older TVs have their own indoor antennas (low-cost ones but still get great reception as mentioned before) and I did try both of those on the LG HDTV but still can't get 30.3.
> 
> 
> I did try to manually add 30.3 to the channel list and add it to the favorites list, pretty much anything to force it to show me 30.3 if it had anything to show, but it never had anything to show.
> 
> 
> My parents have pretty much resigned themselves to the fact that if they want to watch 30.3, they have to watch it on the older TV.



Darn! it may just be the new TV's tuner then. Sorry.

J


----------



## obeldobs

Howdy everyone,


From the transition, I'd had good luck receiving NBC on 48. Some months ago, I started to experience problems which got progressively worse, and now the station is nearly unwatchable.


I'm between Manassas and Clifton, near the Bull Run marina, and the terrain is heavily wooded and pretty rough. I have a channel master 4221 on a mast above my chimney (~40' above ground), on a rotor. I also use a channel master 7777 pre-amplifier, after which I split the cable 3 ways (I think). None of the hardware has changed.


Just about every Washington station is within a few degrees from my house, and all within 25 miles. I get every other station without any trouble. My sole problem is with 48, and it is fairly recent. I wrote WRC and they claim they haven't changed anything.


Does any of this make sense? Anybody else experiencing the same thing? More importantly, any suggestions? Can one use a distribution amp along with the pre-amp, and do you think it would help this situation?


Thanks for any insight or suggestions!


----------



## Digital Rules

I've had problems with WRC in Manassas as well. It's not the stations fault as it is one of the best DC stations at a friends house 65 miles west of DC. (4,5,26,30 & 66 are the only reliable ones)


I have found RF48 to be very sensitive to antenna height. I suggest experimenting with height in 6 inch increments. Start with lowering first. Higher is not always better when dealing with UHF. There should be plenty of signal available once a good sweet spot is found. I would suspect tree growth has altered signal patterns & created a dead spot for 48 at the antennas present location.


Additional amplification will likely overload your system. There are some fairly potent stations nearby in Merrifield & Independent Hill.


----------



## obeldobs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/19759043
> 
> 
> I would suspect tree growth has altered signal patterns & created a dead spot for 48 at the antennas present location.



I had thought of a new building going up, but I hadn't thought of trees. Trees make more sense.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/19759043
> 
> 
> Additional amplification will likely overload your system. There are some fairly potent stations nearby in Merrifield & Independent Hill.



Yup, that was my concern. Thanks!


I'll have to see how much leeway I have in moving the antenna. I didn't mention in the first post but I have the old VHF on top of the mast (for 7 and 9) and the UHF mounted halfway down. I can't go too high up because then the VHF blocks and I can't go too low because I need to clear my chimney caps.


I've thought about replacing the 4221 and the VHF with a 4228. But with an antenna that big, I'm worried about the wind torquing the mast, the rotor, or even (God forbid) the chimney.


----------



## Digital Rules

How is channel 50? I find that to be the hardest to receive UHF channel southwest of DC.


I suggest replacing the 4221 with a 91XG if you are planning on a new purchase. Lightweight, low wind load & great for high multipath situations.


----------



## obeldobs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/19759150
> 
> 
> How is channel 50? I find that to be the hardest to receive UHF channel southwest of DC.
> 
> 
> I suggest replacing the 4221 with a 91XG if you are planning on a new purchase. Lightweight, low wind load & great for high multipath situations.



Yes, Channel 50 is a little iffy. I don't watch it a lot so I've never fooled with too much.


I looked at the 91XG before picking the 4221. The 4221 would mount under the VHF and also it seemed less directional than the 91XG. Should I have gone with the 91XG? Can I mount it under the VHF antenna?


----------



## Digital Rules

Can you post a TV FOOL report here? Your address will not show up when posted.


A highly directional antenna would be best with all the trees around. You should get DC & Annapolis without rotating; not sure about Baltimore without seeing the report.


Any particular reason the VHF antenna is on top?


----------



## mjones73

For those of you up in Cecil County, Comcast is finally broadcasting HD. I'm currently getting all the local Baltimore main and sub digital channels and Golf HD via unencrypted QAM. My source tells me they've lit up 60 total. I've called Comcast and they don't have it in the computer yet that it's available but they are now looking into it on that end.


In the mean time, you can at least get locals to hold you over.


----------



## obeldobs

Here is the report. I guess there is no particular reason that the VHF is on top. I guess, just because it's always been on top









http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...da32e385b83934 


The Baltimore stations are within a few degrees of a straight line through Washington from my house. In the beginning I had hoped to pick them up, but never could. I wrote it off to the trees and terrain, because reception has never been very good here.


----------



## shelby68gt500

obeldobs, you should have little problem getting Baltimore stations from Manassas unless you are down in a ravine or have multipath issues, especially if your antennas are on the roof. I've got a 4228 and a Y10-7-13 in my attic out in Warrenton and pickup 2, 45 & 54 out of Baltimore just fine, 11 and 13 a bit more intermittently. I'd tweak your antenna relationship to each other slightly and then possibly move the mast to the other side of the chimney if that didn't help. It really doesn't take much movement to get a potentially better signal.


----------



## obeldobs

Hi Shelby, thanks for the input. I'm not in a ravine exactly, but I'm in a bowl. Based on what DR said and some things I've read here and there, I'm beginning to suspect multi-path issues. The signal strength is all over the place, which might be from multi-path interference. I guess the first order of business is to move it around and see what happens. If that doesn't help I'll get a more directional antenna and cross my fingers.


A GT500? Nice car! I ordered a Camaro convertible in November... expecting delivery in March.


----------



## shelby68gt500

obeldobs, You will probably end up making several trips to the roof to try different positioning, so leave your ladder up! I spent a number of weekends going back up into my attic to refine my positioning for the best possible reception from the Baltimore stations. It did finally pay off as my reception is now very consistent, no matter what season it is. Another thing you might want to attempt is an FM trap. There is an FM station much closer to me that is almost an exact harmonic of the frequency that WJZ broadcasts on. Before the FM trap, no beans at all, with the FM trap on, I do get WJZ pretty good during the evening hours or certain atmospheric conditions during the day. One last thought... you may also look at pointing your VHF in a slightly different direction or slightly off of directly at Baltimore, the reflection that may be causing you problems may be minimized by turning slightly. Shouldn't effect the DC stations as they are stronger. Let us know how things work out.

You should bring your new ride down to the Burger King on Rt 28 on Saturday evenings during the summer, lots of very nice cars show up there. I even get my car down there every couple of years...


----------



## bwallen

My antenna is picking up channels 33.8 and 33.8, but my TV says something like "out of range" or "mode not supported" (I'm not at home so I don't remember exactly). What's the deal with those channels?


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bwallen* /forum/post/19777904
> 
> 
> My antenna is picking up channels 33.8 and 33.8, but my TV says something like "out of range" or "mode not supported" (I'm not at home so I don't remember exactly). What's the deal with those channels?


 http://www.updatelogic.com/network.html 


- Trip


----------



## obeldobs

Shelby- I have a rotor, so the compass heading isn't a big worry. I'd like to get up there and experiment with different vertical heights. Then if that doesn't work I'll try the other side of the chimney like you suggested. If that doesn't work, I'll take DR's suggestion and try a more directional antenna. I'll try to get up there this weekend, but snow might be coming.


I hate going up there... I have to climb a ladder to the lower roof, pull it up, and then use it to get to the upper roof.


Maybe I'll see you at BK this summer! :^)


----------



## Gerald C




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *al.rob* /forum/post/19700268
> 
> 
> I am trying to set up a media center PC using Windows XP Media Center Edition. It is working except for WHUT. On both the HD 32-1 and the SD 32-2, a picture flashes for a second, and then I get a blue screen with the error "Video Error - Files needed to display video are not installed or not working correctly. Please restart media center or restart the computer" Restarting the media center or the PC does no good, and it always does this. The other channels are fine, including the other PBS channels WETA and WMPT. The signal strength is good, and I have no trouble receiving WHUT with the Zenith DTT-901 CECB. Has anyone had this happen or know of a fix? I emailed WHUT and they replied that they had no idea but they would get back to me after checking with their PBS people. I have installed all of the Windows updates. Does WHUT require a special codec or something?
> 
> ...



There is definitely something wrong with WHUT-DT's codec and/or PSIP. I have two DishNetwork ATSC receivers (a 622 and 722) and both have major problems with WHUT-DT. On the 722, I receive good audio, but the video consists of a series of freeze frames. On the 622, live viewing is generally OK, but any attempt to watch in DVR mode (with any delay involved) results in video and audio breakups about every five seconds.


----------



## TheKrell

WHUT seems to be showing a slate at the moment.


----------



## iontyre

Does anyone know the story with WBAL-TV? Why do we only get Dolby Stereo and no 5.1, at least on Comcast cable. It is the only local station that is not supplying Dolby Digital 5.1...


----------



## GregAnnapolis




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *iontyre* /forum/post/19796796
> 
> 
> Does anyone know the story with WBAL-TV? Why do we only get Dolby Stereo and no 5.1, at least on Comcast cable. It is the only local station that is not supplying Dolby Digital 5.1...



If I remember correctly, about 4-5 years ago, DD5.1 was coming "in a few weeks" on WBAL. I've been waiting ever since.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Maybe they spent all their upgrade money on the news. Give it 4-5 more years.


At least they don't do this anymore:


----------



## Trip in VA

Might there be someone in the right place with the right equipment to capture TSReader data on WMDO-LD 8? My data for it is 28 months out of date, and could really use an update.


For that matter, I have no data at all for WDDN-LD 23, can anyone with TSReader capture that one?


Thanks.










- Trip


----------



## guadalupegrande4

Is Human Target supposed to be on?

I remember seeing ads that it'd be on, but instead WBFF is airing Raising Hope!


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *guadalupegrande4* /forum/post/19818148
> 
> 
> Is Human Target supposed to be on?
> 
> I remember seeing ads that it'd be on, but instead WBFF is airing Raising Hope!



Fox must have decided to actually join the special news from Tuscon.


Looks like _Human Target_ 2hr will be done on a different night.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* 
Might there be someone in the right place with the right equipment to capture TSReader data on WMDO-LD 8? My data for it is 28 months out of date, and could really use an update.


For that matter, I have no data at all for WDDN-LD 23, can anyone with TSReader capture that one?


Thanks.










- Trip
Here's the files with everything checked.


By the way, I can only receive WWDN-LD. I get zero signal on channel 8. DTV via VHF doesn't work too well around here.

 

wddn.zip 36.5341796875k . file


----------



## Trip in VA

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* 
Here's the files with everything checked.


By the way, I can only receive WWDN-LD. I get zero signal on channel 8.
Thanks.










I just remembered that my WDCW is out of date too, due to the addition of Antenna TV. And for that matter, WBFF and WNUV are outdated too. Any chance you, or someone else, can snag those for me?










Thanks.


- Trip


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* 
Thanks.










I just remembered that my WDCW is out of date too, due to the addition of Antenna TV. And for that matter, WBFF and WNUV are outdated too. Any chance you, or someone else, can snag those for me?










Thanks.


- Trip
As requested.


In addition to Baltimore and DC, I can also receive the 3 stations out of the Salisbury, MD market too if you need those.

 

wnuv.zip 63.8642578125k . file

 

wbff.zip 101.8701171875k . file

 

wdcw.zip 108.69140625k . file


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/19830715
> 
> 
> As requested.
> 
> 
> In addition to Baltimore and DC, I can also receive the 3 stations out of the Salisbury, MD market too if you need those.



Ooh. Yes, please.










- Trip


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* 
Ooh. Yes, please.










- Trip
Salisbury/Dover attached.

 

wboc.zip 2.1767578125k . file

 

wmdt.zip 2.7333984375k . file

 

wcpb.zip 34.6142578125k . file


----------



## Trip in VA

Thanks.







That WCPB is not usable though, it has a bunch of uncorrectable ("TEI") errors in it.


- Trip


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* 
Thanks.







That WCPB is not usable though, it has a bunch of uncorrectable ("TEI") errors in it.


- Trip
I aimed my antenna better and recaptured WCPB for you.


By the way, I found an discrepancy on your web page. WZDC-CA is not off the air. Just checked and it's coming in strong 30 miles East of DC.

 

wcpb2_3_0.zip 95.4189453125k . file


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Steve_AA_Co_MD* /forum/post/19831374
> 
> 
> I aimed my antenna better and recaptured WCPB for you.



Thanks.











> Quote:
> By the way, I found an discrepancy on your web page. WZDC-CA is not off the air. Just checked and it's coming in strong 30 miles East of DC.



I only list digital stations, so a station on the air in analog is listed as "off the air."


- Trip


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/19831433
> 
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I only list digital stations, so a station on the air in analog is listed as "off the air."
> 
> 
> - Trip



I just looked up Charlotte County and it looks like you're on the extreme fringe of most over-the-air tv signals! Are you one of those type of guys that used extreme creativity to receive tv when you were younger? I certainly was! I spent some time in the Western NC mountains.


----------



## Trip in VA

Reception right here at home is actually not bad. The Roanoke TV stations are up on Poor Mountain, which approaches 4,000 feet above sea level, and at 79 miles I'm at about 525 feet on top of a hill, so I think I have line of sight anyway. (That said, I am using deep fringe roof antennas with amps to get my mostly-100% signal strengths. Indoors I can get usable signals from most, but not all.)


Now go down the wrong side of the hill and everything goes "Poof!" pretty quick. There were a lot of people in this county who in the analog world only received WSET-13 (ABC) and nothing else, especially those getting away with rabbit ears. Many with roof antennas had high-VHF only antennas that, in the world of analog got them the big three, but in the world of digital, now gets them just WSET 13-1/2 (co-owned with WJLA, amusingly enough) and scans in but does not actually display video for WBRA 15-1/2/3 (PBS) which is broadcast on low-VHF channel 3.


But I *am* doing my college thesis on high-VHF antenna designs for indoor use. Just yesterday I built some of the antennas I'll be testing.










- Trip


----------



## feddx

Hello again peoples. I'm back. Sort of. I have moved out to Strasburg, VA and have resurrected my Samsung SIR-T165 from the "Hello".


I'm currently using just the indoor antenna (a little Zenith ZHDTV1Z Yagi-ette) that I used in Fairfax with mixed results, but I'm looking to upgrade to a larger distributable solution. I am looking to mount this outside and use a rotor. I have nothing blocking it (if I mount it high on the home) and I'm up on a hill in a remote area. I'm currently pulling in local Winchester, and DC stations, but it would be nice to get more. Does anyone have any suggestions for the new (or slightly used) antenna? I see all the crap on EBay claiming over 100 miles for their product, but the experienced know that antennas measured in mileage are probably not worth it. I was thinking about a Winegard or CM, but finding objective information on TV antennas is proving to be tough.


Also, it would be good to talk to people on here from the Strasburg/Front Royal/Winchester area to see what they are getting.


Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Comcast adds high definition service in Elkton*


Posted: Tuesday, January 18, 2011 12:30 am


By Cheryl Mattix [email protected] | 1 comment


Comcast Cable began offering high-definition television service to its customers in the greater Elkton area last week, including North East and Charlestown.


"We are excited to announce that, as part of completion of recent enhancements to the plant, Comcast is launching 59 new channels on the Greater Elkton line-up," said Alisha Martin, a spokeswoman for the cable company.


Fifty-four of the 59 new channels are being offered in high-definition, while the other five channels are being offered in standard-definition service for digital cable customers in the Elkton service area.


"Customers can get an HD box today to start previewing these new HD channels before they launch officially Jan. 31," Martin said Jan. 10.


She said customers who want to get started with the new service can call 1-800-Comcast and have a new HD box sent to them, or they can pick one up at the customer service desk at the Comcast office in the Big Elk Mall in Elkton.


Customers who want to take advantage of the HD service will be charged an additional $9.25 a month, which includes the cost of the HD box.

http://www.cecilwhig.com/business/ar...cc4c03286.html


----------



## Marcus Carr

*WZDC Goes HD For Local News in D.C.*


Telemundo affiliate is first to offer Spanish-language local HD news in nation's capital


By George Winslow -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/19/2011 7:23:11 PM


The Telemundo affiliate in Washington D.C. WZDC will be launching a local newscast in HD this month, making it the first Spanish-language station in the nation's capital to delivery local news in HD. The station also announced that it will be launching its HD feed on Comcast's cable system in the market.


As part of the HD upgrade, station recently expanded its news studio with a state-of-the-art facility and will debut a new set and look as part of the HD launch this month. The station is owned by ZGS Communications, a Hispanic-owned media company headquartered in Arlington, Virginia that owns or operates 13 Spanish-language television stations.


"Telemundo Washington is proud to be the only Spanish-language station in the market broadcasting local content in HD," noted Julio Aliaga, Telemundo Washington's news director in a statement. "We are leading the way and are committed to providing our audience with the best and latest technology to enhance their viewing experience."

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/art...ws_in_D_C_.php


----------



## Trip in VA

HD on cable and analog over the air. How pleasant.


- Trip


----------



## Marcus Carr

I wish they would add it in Baltimore. We have the SD channel.


----------



## mjones73




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mjones73* /forum/post/19762349
> 
> 
> For those of you up in Cecil County, Comcast is finally broadcasting HD. I'm currently getting all the local Baltimore main and sub digital channels and Golf HD via unencrypted QAM. My source tells me they've lit up 60 total. I've called Comcast and they don't have it in the computer yet that it's available but they are now looking into it on that end.
> 
> 
> In the mean time, you can at least get locals to hold you over.



Just an update, you can order service now....


----------



## djp952

Have any of you guys seen some weird judder/dropped frames on the WMAR Jeopardy/Wheel programming OTA the past few weeks? My admittedly lame explanation as sent to WMAR engineering follows.


I'd really like to not have to go up in the attic and remove my filters to enable UHF 38 again just to see if this is broken OTA.


Thanks!



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952_to_WMAR* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Hello! I wanted to report a problem I've seen for many weeks now with the WMAR 7:00-8:00PM weekday Jeopardy!/Wheel of Fortune programming when viewed on Verizon FiOS service in Howard County (Elkridge; 21075).
> 
> 
> The programming seems to skip frames or judder quite a bit, almost as if it was a poorly encoded interlaced signal rather than progressive. I see this on all my TV ClearQAM tuners and all of my Windows Media Center PCs. A quick signal diagnostic in Media Center doesn't show anything out of the ordinary, it's a solid 59.94Hz with no errors. My Sony TV has a (somewhat useless) signal diagnostic and it also looks fine. I don't have access to anything that can truly dissect a QAM256 channel, so unfortunately I don't have much else to describe other than what I can see.
> 
> 
> The same programming when viewed on WJLA through FiOS has no such issues, everything looks great.
> 
> 
> The best way to see the issue would be during an airing of Jeopardy!. When the program zooms in one of the answers from the board, the animation is jumpy as if frames are being dropped. Watching the wheel spin on Wheel of Fortune is also a good way to illustrate the issue, or just watching the host/contestants on either show move around. I'd like to equate it to the Soap Opera videotape vs. film effect, but it's not really the same, my best explanation is still that it looks like a poorly interlaced signal.
> 
> 
> Anyway, I'm pretty confident that if it happens on all my equipment that everyone with FiOS is probably experiencing the issue. I do have an OTA setup that I could temporary modify to access WMAR on UHF38 again, if you would like to know if I see the same issues on broadcast. I honestly haven't tried OTA yet.
> 
> 
> Thanks for your time, and I hope it's something easily corrected. Please let me know if there is anything I can do on my end to aid in diagnosis.


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/19872890
> 
> 
> Have any of you guys seen some weird judder/dropped frames on the WMAR Jeopardy/Wheel programming OTA the past few weeks?



Before anyone tries to blame the HD sat feed for the problem, there is nothing wrong with the 1080i MPEG-2 feed.


----------



## Technique




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/19132874
> 
> 
> This is everything I could pull in this evening:
> 
> WUSA:
> 
> 'WUSA 9'
> 
> 
> WFDC:
> 
> 'Univision'
> 
> 'E!'
> 
> 'Food Network'
> 
> 
> WHUT:
> 
> M/H Main
> 
> 
> WPXW:
> 
> 'MSNBC'
> 
> 'CNBC'
> 
> 'qubo'
> 
> 'MTV'
> 
> 'Nick'
> 
> 'Comedy Central'
> 
> 
> WDCA:
> 
> 'WTG Fox5'
> 
> 'Fox News'
> 
> 'Fox Business'
> 
> 
> WRC:
> 
> M/H Main



How do I get WFDC 14.2 (E!) or 14.3 (Food Network) OTA? I can only get 14.1.


----------



## Trip in VA

Unless you are part of the OMVC Mobile DTV Technical Demo, you cannot receive them.


- Trip


----------



## Technique




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/19875993
> 
> 
> Unless you are part of the OMVC Mobile DTV Technical Demo, you cannot receive them.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Is it something I can subscribe to? That would be great.


----------



## Trip in VA

Not at this time.


Also bear in mind that the visual resolution would only be 416x240, as the streams are designed for mobile phones and other portable/handheld devices.


- Trip


----------



## Technique




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/19876315
> 
> 
> Not at this time.
> 
> 
> Also bear in mind that the visual resolution would only be 416x240, as the streams are designed for mobile phones and other portable/handheld devices.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Oh, crap, ya, that wouldn't be worth paying for at that resolution. I assumed that channels 14.2 and 14.3 in the DC area were somehow affiliated with Univision since they are 14.1 but I guess they are just leasing out their extra channels to Mobile DTV, which makes sense. Oh well, I'm fine watching cooking shows on PBS







Thanks Trip.


----------



## yekim54




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/19872890
> 
> 
> Have any of you guys seen some weird judder/dropped frames on the WMAR Jeopardy/Wheel programming OTA the past few weeks? My admittedly lame explanation as sent to WMAR engineering follows.
> 
> 
> I'd really like to not have to go up in the attic and remove my filters to enable UHF 38 again just to see if this is broken OTA.
> 
> 
> Thanks!



Yes, I noticed a slight judder on Wheel of Fortune via WMAR OTA earlier this week.


----------



## hookbill

Hey Trip, it's hook from Ohio. Due to this wonderful economy my wife has accepted a job in Virginia where she plans to be for 6 months. She is in Reston, VA.


She said the only provider in that area is Comcast and I know your specialty is OTA, but I'm looking for some answers about their service. They are telling her that she can get digital television with no HD and hs internet for 64.98. Over 80.00 for the install, ridiculous.


My question for you or anybody else who reads this is does this box that is supposedly "digital" only have component hook ups? It seems to me that she should at least be able to get local channels in HD, If so I'm going to give her some component cable to take with her, Maybe she can get some HD and still have a better picture then what's offered with just the rear cable hook up.


----------



## travon802




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hookbill* /forum/post/19879683
> 
> 
> Hey Trip, it's hook from Ohio. Due to this wonderful economy my wife has accepted a job in Virginia where she plans to be for 6 months. She is in Reston, VA.
> 
> 
> She said the only provider in that area is Comcast and I know your specialty is OTA, but I'm looking for some answers about their service. They are telling her that she can get digital television with no HD and hs internet for 64.98. Over 80.00 for the install, ridiculous.
> 
> 
> My question for you or anybody else who reads this is does this box that is supposedly "digital" only have component hook ups? It seems to me that she should at least be able to get local channels in HD, If so I'm going to give her some component cable to take with her, Maybe she can get some HD and still have a better picture then what's offered with just the rear cable hook up.





I work in Reston but live in MD so I can't really comment on the equipment. Here in MD, the digital equipment (model RNG110) does have HDMI, component and composite. The locals do not come in HD for me, so I bought an Antennas Direct antenna to cover that.


Word of advice on getting a better price from Comcast.. if possible, go to a local Best Buy or HHGregg and seek out a Comcast salesperson. You'll get a better monthly price and usually free install.


----------



## PaulGo

On the RNG110 - Comcast offers this box for SD viewing and HD viewing. Many times Comcast will miscode this box so it is only SD. You need to call Comcast and make sure thwy have HD turned on.


----------



## hookbill

Quote:

Originally Posted by *PaulGo* 
On the RNG110 - Comcast offers this box for SD viewing and HD viewing. Many times Comcast will miscode this box so it is only SD. You need to call Comcast and make sure thwy have HD turned on.
Well, she's paying just for digita, not HD. But I thought the locals would have to be in HD.


She really doesn't care. SD, HD, it's all the same to her.


----------



## CLT OTA Nut

Quote:

Originally Posted by *hookbill*
Well, she's paying just for digita, not HD. But I thought the locals would have to be in HD.


She really doesn't care. SD, HD, it's all the same to her.
Anyone know if there is clear qam locals in hd if she has an atsc/qam tuner?


----------



## PaulGo

In my area (Montgomery County) all the local channels are available in HD on clear QAM. If you want HD enabled on the RNG110 I think it only cost about a buck a month more.


----------



## hookbill




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PaulGo* /forum/post/19886429
> 
> 
> In my area (Montgomery County) all the local channels are available in HD on clear QAM. If you want HD enabled on the RNG110 I think it only cost about a buck a month more.



I don't know what box she got, and I'm sure she doesn't either but she is telling me the HD box is 10.00 extra a month.


Do you guys know is there anything you can get back if the tech shows up late. He was 20 minutes late, here in Time Warner land that's 20.00.


----------



## Potatoehead

Comcast added Antenna TV (50.2) on channel 201 here today. I enjoy the old shows.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hookbill* /forum/post/19886939
> 
> 
> I don't know what box she got, and I'm sure she doesn't either but she is telling me the HD box is 10.00 extra a month.
> 
> 
> Do you guys know is there anything you can get back if the tech shows up late. He was 20 minutes late, here in Time Warner land that's 20.00.



Yea, that sounds about right. If she has a QAM tuner, she can get the locals in HD by bypassing the box, but she won't get much else in the way of digital channels. I doubt if she can get anything from Comcast for being 20 minutes late. Their attitude has always been that you were lucky if they got to you on the right day.

J


----------



## mickisdaddy

I apologize if this question has already been asked here. I tried searching for anything similar, but there are a lot of messages in this thread.


I am living in Bel Air, Harford County, MD and am planning on cutting the cable when my contract with Directv is up next month. (Hundreds of channels and nothing but crap to watch) I want to buy an outdoor antenna to pick up OTA channels from Baltimore. Can someone that lives in my area give any suggestions? There are some large trees to the southwest of my house (in neighbors yard) in line of sight of Baltimore broadcast towers.


My plan was to use the same area (if not the same mast) that the Directv dish is to get away from the trees.


Just looking for antenna recommendations. Thanks in advance.


----------



## Digital Rules

The best advice can be given if you post a TV FOOL report so we can see how strong the signals are at your location. Your address will not be shown when posted here. Make sure you include the approxiamte height above ground level that the antenna will be mounted.


----------



## mickisdaddy

Okay great. I will go get that and post a link.


----------



## mickisdaddy

Here it is

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...3cf48048f654df


----------



## Digital Rules

All you need for Baltimore is a Winegard 7694 antenna. It should be enough to power 2-3 TV's without amplification as long as the antenna clears the roof or any other closeby buildings. If only 1 or maybe 2 TV's will be used, the ANT-751 or HBU-22 may do the job as well.


----------



## URFloorMatt

Well, in the unending joke that is WRC's adventure into 21st century technology, they've decided to run their weather crawl across the lower third and just scrunch the rest of the picture into the remaining two thirds. Graphics, fortunately (I suppose), are not also scrunched, but it's a mess.


WTTG, although it drops the picture to 16:9 letterbox and doesn't make very good use of space (none of them do, since they remain committed to 4:3), still has the cleanest presentation for my money.


I actually like the minimal nature of WRC's presentation. Why not just _not_ scrunch the picture? I think that would look fine.


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/19900661
> 
> 
> WTTG, although it drops the picture to 16:9 letterbox and doesn't make very good use of space (none of them do, since they remain committed to 4:3), still has the cleanest presentation for my money.



Being a Fox affiliate, during network programming it is the only choice that they have. Fox doesn't allow the stations to have access to the actual HD video. They are only provided an analog (yes analog) NTSC letterbox output to use for stuff like this, unless they spend a boatload of money to do something downstream of the splicer output.


But that will change once the crawl capability is finalized and the gear approved to do such things.


----------



## Marcus Carr

The CW will rerun last night's The Vampire Diaries and Nikita tonight. WNUV preempted them for college basketball. That means unlike the last time they were delayed on WNUV, they will of course be in HD.

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/201...comment-743750


----------



## Sammer

Spectrum crisis isn't real


"Julius' Scandal: Manufacturing Spectrum Crisis"

http://www.fastnetnews.com/a-wireles...pectrum-crisis


----------



## ACW112983

I'll cross-post this in the Comcast thread, but I got something in the mail today: March 15 Arlingtonians get, among others, Spike HD, Com. Cent. HD,and G4HD; April 12 among others the B10 and ESPNU.


----------



## parkay57




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hookbill* /forum/post/19886939
> 
> 
> I don't know what box she got, and I'm sure she doesn't either but she is telling me the HD box is 10.00 extra a month.
> 
> 
> Do you guys know is there anything you can get back if the tech shows up late. He was 20 minutes late, here in Time Warner land that's 20.00.



This is a bit late, but has your wife looked into Verizon FiOS?


----------



## Gerald C

Anyone else having reception problems with WJLA-DT? I got absolutely nothing on them last night or this a.m. I did not have time to perform a rescan (perhaps they changed some PSIP items?).


----------



## URFloorMatt

Watched Jeopardy tonight... How many subchannels is WJLA running now? That was really murky. It was bad even for DVD quality.


----------



## howie14

I haven't posted in some time. My OTA reception has fluctuated wildly this winter. Signal strength is still good, but my signal quality jerks around quite a bit. Tonight, with high winds, I had trouble with all my stations.


I'm considering bypassing the Channel Master mast amp I've been using since 1995 and seeing if that improves my situation.


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/20005609
> 
> 
> Watched Jeopardy tonight... How many subchannels is WJLA running now? That was really murky. It was bad even for DVD quality.



Agreed. Much pixelation and yuckiness tonight on WJLA.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *djp952* /forum/post/20012477
> 
> 
> Agreed. Much pixelation and yuckiness tonight on WJLA.



It might have something to do with the fact the IBM matches are being taped in Yorktown Heights, NY

(at the Watson Research Center) vs. Hollywood. Just a guess...


----------



## tonyd79




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/20015279
> 
> 
> It might have something to do with the fact the IBM matches are being taped in Yorktown Heights, NY
> 
> (at the Watson Research Center) vs. Hollywood. Just a guess...



Was fine on WMAR.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

WJLA pre-empted Jeopardy! Friday for a lame Oscar special, which was followed by another lame local Oscar special from Arch Campbell, pre-empting ABC programming again (Supernanny - admittably no great loss, but WJLA has pre-empted other night's shows for lame informercials and moldy old movies.


----------



## Ladd

Where has this thread gone?


----------



## fredfredfred

Thanks to everyone for all the info I have gathered lurking.


I have had a large directional antenna with rotator at about 40 feet high on Capitol Hill. I have not been able to get Channel 22 (now in Baltimore) since it went digital. I just bought a Winegard MS 1000 (MS1000). I now get 2 4 5 7 9 11 13 14 20 22 23 26 30 32 45 47 50 54 60 66 and 25, all crystal clear and with strong signals. It is still connected to the rotator since it is not really omnidirectional but it is not necessary. The Winegard people told me that the MS 2000, being amplified, would not work since I have a clump of stations about 6 miles away.


Very happy for $60, now I just have to figure out how to get sports and HBO for free.


----------



## Gerald C




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fredfredfred* /forum/post/20115968
> 
> 
> ...I have not been able to get Channel 22 (now in Baltimore) since it went digital. ...



Channel 22, WMPT-DT, broadcasts on RF channel 42 from Annapolis!


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fredfredfred* /forum/post/20115968
> 
> 
> I have not been able to get Channel 22 (now in Baltimore) since it went digital.



I'm surprised you can't get MPT. Can you manually add channels to your TV? If so, try punching in 42 & see if it brings in WMPT.


Their signal is very strong in most areas inside the DC beltway. It comes in well all the way out in Manassas with just a mediocre outdoor antenna.


----------



## moveright

I live in bel air, MD - 20 miles north of baltimore (maybe 30).


Anyhow, I've read good things about the winegard MS2000. do you all agree with that being a solid choice?


I'd love to put it in my attic but I'm not opposed to mounting it on the roof.


Also, are there any kid channels OTA?


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ladd* /forum/post/20111330
> 
> 
> Where has this thread gone?



So much for that new RAID array!


----------



## djp952




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *moveright* /forum/post/20124334
> 
> 
> I live in bel air, MD - 20 miles north of baltimore (maybe 30).
> 
> 
> Anyhow, I've read good things about the winegard MS2000. do you all agree with that being a solid choice?
> 
> 
> I'd love to put it in my attic but I'm not opposed to mounting it on the roof.
> 
> 
> Also, are there any kid channels OTA?



Eh ... probably not your best choice IMO. Those antennas are really intended for metropolitan use where the signals are all over the place, and even then they pick up a lot of multipath.


If you're shooting for Baltimore exclusively, pretty much everything from Bel Air will be in the same direction, you're likely better off with a good old LPDA/Yagi combination antenna (the big ugly metal ones). Note that you need one that handles High VHF to get WBAL (11) and WJZ (13). My assumption is that from Bel Air if you want reliable signal during inclement weather you're looking at a roof installation regardless.


As to your second question, Baltimore doesn't have any dedicated OTA kids channels that I can think of. Washington's WETA has one (26.3/PBS kids), as does WPXW from Manassas (66.2/qubo). You may be able to pick something up from Philadelphia (no clue what they have), but I think both of those particular D.C. channels would be a little unrealistic from Bel Air without some pretty darn good equipment. Could be wrong. A good high-gain directional antenna may be able to pick up WETA for you, it's in *kinda* the same direction as Baltimore from Bel Air.


I would recommend taking a trip out to tvfool.com. Plug in your address and how high you think your antenna would be and it will give you a pretty good indication of what you're up against.

*edit:* I plugged in 21014 as a zip code to tvfool, with an antenna height of 30 feet, and it's not so bad for Washington. It looks like you would definitely have to be on the roof and likely need a pre-amp, but WPXW may be realistic for you. WETA looks a little bleak, but still possible. At that antenna height and the location tvfool chose for me, Baltimore looks pretty good -- perhaps even good enough for an attic installation. I still wouldn't necessarly look into one of those multi-directional models, everything you want is essentially in the same direction. Both MPTs are a little off, the one in Annapolis (UHF42/22.x) is strongest, but 30 deg. off. The one in Baltimore (UHF29/67.x) is weaker and 25 deg. off. Given the tvfool report, my wag (wild-ass guess) would be for a medium-gain directional antenna on the roof pointed directly at WPXW. This may be enough to get you all the main Baltimore channels, WMPT out of Annapolis and a semi-reliable kids channel on WPXW. Or, it could get you nothing at all but a headache. Meaning: take anything I happen to say with a grain of salt










Good luck my friend!


----------



## Digital Rules

I agree with djp952 that you do have a good shot at Baltimore & possibly DC. A TV FOOL with an exact address would provide more beneficial information. Your address will not show up when the report is posted here.


----------



## Jim Miller

Also note that TVfool even with an exact address sometimes misplaces the site by a meaningful amount. In my case it had me at the floor of a nearby valley when in fact I'm on the neighboring hill. The difference was a two ridge poor signal predicted to what is actually LOS unimpeded to TV hill.


Look at the map provided and drag the indicator to the proper location.


Jim


----------



## SUOrangeman

As noted in other threads, Cox-Fairfax has added TruTVHD (channel 895) for the NCAA tourney games it will carry.


-SUO


----------



## alexandriahokie

I received the notice from Comcast of Arlington/Alexandria back in early February that today they were supposed to add a bunch of HD channels - mostly the ones the surrounding jurisdictions have had for a few years. As of this evening, I have nothing new. Does anyone else have them?


----------



## JGJGJG23




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *alexandriahokie* /forum/post/20155313
> 
> 
> I received the notice from Comcast of Arlington/Alexandria back in early February that today they were supposed to add a bunch of HD channels - mostly the ones the surrounding jurisdictions have had for a few years. As of this evening, I have nothing new. Does anyone else have them?



alexandriahokie,

I was wondering the same thing. I called Comcast Alexandria and they were completely clueless. They had no idea what's going on (had no clue of any new HD channels or the flyer that had them on it) and were unaware of any new channels.


I wanted to watch the NCAA Tournament in all HD this year. They told me to call back in a couple of hours. Customer service at it's best!


----------



## alexandriahokie




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JGJGJG23* /forum/post/20155363
> 
> 
> alexandriahokie,
> 
> I called Comcast Alexandria and they were completely clueless. They had no idea what's going on (had no clue of any new HD channels or the flyer that had them on it) and were unaware of any new channels



Comcast completely clueless? Surely you are kidding! But I'm glad I'm not the only one having this problem.


As I say, the only thing they are proficient at is perpetual incompetence. Sigh...let's hope by the morning we have TruTV HD. This will probably be the only time I'll ever watch that channel anyway.


----------



## mjw703

This is from a similar thread on DSLreports: Just finished a chat with Comcast Rep about the "Missing" channels. At least in Old Town Alexandria, the date has been moved to 3/29 at the earliest:


"Dan, as I checked on this, the adding of the HD channels was moved. There is no definite date yet on when this would be finalized but the earliest date would be on 03/29/11."



Did you really believe Comcast could do something correctly when they said they would? We'll be lucky to see some new HD channels by Christmas.


----------



## ACW112983




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mjw703* /forum/post/20155980
> 
> 
> This is from a similar thread on DSLreports: Just finished a chat with Comcast Rep about the "Missing" channels. At least in Old Town Alexandria, the date has been moved to 3/29 at the earliest:
> 
> 
> "Dan, as I checked on this, the adding of the HD channels was moved. There is no definite date yet on when this would be finalized but the earliest date would be on 03/29/11."
> 
> 
> 
> Did you really believe Comcast could do something correctly when they said they would? We'll be lucky to see some new HD channels by Christmas.


----------



## mchief99

My conservation with Comcast Corporate (we_can_help) is the magic date is now 3/24. Still doesn't help for the NCAA truTV. I guess we'll see what happens on the 24th.


----------



## mkfs

So neither of my converters can find WDCA ["20"] directly. It does show up at RF35-3 but with no guide data. Anyone else seeing this?


----------



## Digital Rules

WDCA's encoder that is responsible for displaying the virtual channel number is on the fritz. WDCA is actually on UHF 35, so that is why it is showing up as 35-3.


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/20167187
> 
> 
> WDCA's encoder that is responsible for displaying the virtual channel number is on the fritz. WDCA is actually on UHF 35, so that is why it is showing up as 35-3.




Why 35_-3_; other unencoded channels seem to appear at xx-1.


----------



## mchief99

And bingo - all the new HD channels lit up last night in Alexandria. No one at Comcast seems to know who is doing what to whom.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mkfs* /forum/post/20167252
> 
> 
> Why 35_-3_; other unencoded channels seem to appear at xx-1.



Not sure why it's 35.3 instead of 35.1? I see the same thing on my set. Maybe because there is a channel 35 in Richmond with virtual channel numbers 35.1 & 35.2???


----------



## Trip in VA

 http://www.rabbitears.info/market.ph...&callsign=wdca 


Observe the "Program Number" listed with RF channel number in the "Physical Channel" column.


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules

I assume this indicates some type of affiliation with Fox 5?


----------



## Trip in VA

The Program Number organizes the audio and video streams together into a Program, in this case Program 3, which PSIP then converts into 20-1. The FCC asked stations to adjust their audio and video streams to start at 0x0030 instead of 0x0010, and so to keep consistency with that change, many stations moved to Program 3 from Program 1.


- Trip


----------



## ACW112983




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mchief99* /forum/post/20168976
> 
> 
> And bingo - all the new HD channels lit up last night in Alexandria. No one at Comcast seems to know who is doing what to whom.



Here now in Arlington


----------



## dg12x

I'm in Arlington, but get "Not Authorized" on all the new channels. Three CSR's have sent signals, one did a 60 minute reinitialization, and I've done 2 reboots, but everything has remained the same. Anyone have any idea what may be going on here, because Comcast certainly doesn't?


A tech who checked my box remotely said it was fine, but I'm thinking that's probably all it could be at this point. Today, I've been noticing a bunch of pixelation and audio cut-outs on a variety of channels as well.


Thanks for any thoughts/ideas.


----------



## phillyman2011

I just bought a Hauppage 2250 Tuner card for my Windows 7 machine.....and right now I am trying to get all the HD channels set up for Cox cable Fairfax Va.


I cant find out where FX-HD is? I was able to locate all the other HD channels by manually adding them. FX shows up as 115-69 on my LED TV when I plug the cable directly into the TV. Does anyone know how I can get this channel to show up on W7MC?


----------



## Digital Rules

Any info on WWTD-D!? They are now broadcasting test patterns OTA on 49.1 through 49.4.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*MASN Announces 2011 Baseball Television Schedule for Orioles, Nationals*


By MASN Staff, March 23, 2011 2:07 PM


MASN, the television home of the Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles, today announced its Major League Baseball programming schedule for the 2011 season. Once again, all Nationals and Orioles games broadcast by MASN will be available in crystal-clear high definition.


The Nationals will have 95 games air live on MASN and MASN HD, and an additional 66 games on MASN2 and MASN2 HD. Viewers in the Washington, D.C., area will also be able to watch nearly every Sunday afternoon game on MASN's over-the-air partner, DC50. MASN's partnership with DC50 will feature 20 Nationals games, including opening day, which will be simulcast on the Washington broadcast network. One Nationals game is currently scheduled to be on a national broadcast network in 2011.


The Orioles will play 95 games live on MASN and MASN HD, with 65 additional games airing on MASN2 and MASN2 HD. Baltimore-area viewers will be able to watch 20 MASN-produced Orioles games on simulcast on WJZ-TV (Channel 13), the network's over-the-air partner. Two Orioles games are currently scheduled to appear on national broadcast networks.


"MASN continues to be a trendsetter for regional sports programming," said Jim Cuddihy, MASN's Executive Vice President of Programming & Marketing. "By broadcasting every Nationals and Orioles game in high definition, we'll be able to deliver unparalleled coverage of fans' favorite teams. MASN boasts innovative in-game technology, nationally renowned broadcasters and unparalleled 24/7 multi-platform coverage - all the hallmarks of the maximum access that has become synonymous with MASN. And by remembering just two positions on their remote controls, Nats and O's fans will be able to enjoy every game in HD."


To locate MASN, MASN HD, MASN2 and MASN2 HD, viewers should check their on-screen channel guides using television remote controls. A full listing of cable, satellite and fiber optic channel positions will be available at www.MASNsports.com .


With Every Play and Every Game in crystal-clear high definition, pregame and postgame shows before and after each Nationals and Orioles games, an all-star talent team and comprehensive online coverage at MASNsports.com, MASN is the indispensable destination for fans of the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals.

http://www.masnsports.com/masn_news_...nationals.html 

http://www.masnsports.com/pdfs/2011orioles.pdf 

http://www.masnsports.com/pdfs/2011nationals.pdf


----------



## Frankie20




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/20192044
> 
> 
> Any info on WWTD-D!? They are now broadcasting test patterns OTA on 49.1 through 49.4.



Seems to be too weak for my DTV box to lock into where I am...


Any idea what kind of content there going to have? Is this station going to be a relay again for ABC?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Frankie20* /forum/post/20224582
> 
> 
> Seems to be too weak for my DTV box to lock into where I am...
> 
> 
> Any idea what kind of content there going to have? Is this station going to be a relay again for ABC?



They are running a "coming soon" looped video on 49.1 that resembles something from the "UFO Network".


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Allbritton Plans To Relaunch NewsChannel 8*


- 3/31 - DCRTV hears that Allbritton is planning a "complete relaunch" of NewsChannel 8 later this year. *It will go HD* and assume the "WNWS" call letters, even though it's currently a cable-only, non-broadcast outlet. Last year, NC8 was co-branded TBD-TV, in a realignment with Allbritton's new local news website.....

http://www.dcrtv.com/


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/20236530
> 
> 
> Last year, NC8 was co-branded TBD-TV, in a realignment with Allbritton's new local news website.....



...that lasted a month or so, then vanished.....


----------



## machpost

I wonder what kind of carriage NewsChannel 8 HD will get.


In other local HD news, I noticed that MASN has upgraded their studios to HD. Their new "Mid Atlantic Sports Report" was in HD yesterday.


----------



## Gerald C

Anyone ever wonder if WJLA is missing an opportunity by not broadcasting NewsChannel 8 on a subchannel of their ATSC broadcast (WJLA-DT)? I can't imagine they have much audience (nor advertising revenue) for the retro TV channel they presently use on a subchannel.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Verizon Adds MASN2-HD*


- 4/1 - Come Monday, April 4, Verizon FIOS adds MASN2-HD in the Baltimore metro area, including Baltimore city and county, plus Anne Arundel and Howard, as well as in the Norfolk, Richmond, and Harrisburg areas.....

http://www.dcrtv.com/


----------



## jgantert

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Gerald C* 
Anyone ever wonder if WJLA is missing an opportunity by not broadcasting NewsChannel 8 on a subchannel of their ATSC broadcast (WJLA-DT)? I can't imagine they have much audience (nor advertising revenue) for the retro TV channel they presently use on a subchannel.
RTN7 is much better than NC8. A-Team, Knight Rider and The Incredible Hulk are much better than news 24-7. Unfortunately RTN7 also has to compete with AntennaTV. Not sure which one is doing better in the ratings, but both have great retro shows (Threes Company, Too Close For Comfort, All In The Family on AntennaTV).


----------



## Trip in VA

I've wondered why Allbritton hasn't considered using NewsChannel 8 as a launching pad for a potential news subchannel they could air nationwide. I wonder if there could be money in such a venture.


- Trip


----------



## Marcus Carr

*FCC OKs New Channel 5 For Eastern Shore*


- 4/2 - DCRTV hears that the Federal Communications Commission has awarded a new channel 5 digital TV allocation that would use Easton MD's WCEI (96.7 FM) tower just east of the Bay Bridge from Annapolis and have a potential city grade signal from Salisbury to Baltimore. The company that's bidding for the signal is Western Pacific Broadcasting, which recently won a bid for a channel 4 digital allocation near Atlantic City. The FCC can allocate a channel 5 operation so close to DC because DC's Channel 5/WTTG actually operates on UHF channel 36. More at FCC.gov.....

http://dcrtv.com/


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/20241239
> 
> 
> I wonder what kind of carriage NewsChannel 8 HD will get.



Guess we'll finally learn if WJLA looks like widescreen SD because of shoddy equipment or too many subchannels.


----------



## tylerSC

A friend in Manassas is complaining to me about cable bill and I suggested OTA. Is reception reliable for DC and Baltimore stations there or is it complicated by VHF issues? Would like to visit to help him out but it's about a 7-8 hour drive. But then again there is a new Roy Rogers restaurant now open there and I still have cravings for that Double R burger and some of that roast beef...


----------



## Digital Rules

The DC stations are easy to get in Manassas for the most part. The only iffy channel is 50 (The CW), but the right antenna will get it well. Baltimore has been unreliable in the areas I've tried with the 91-XG/YA-1713 antennas.


What general area does your friend live?


And yes, ate at the new Roy Rogers across from the hospital today & it was yummy. Try their killer cole slaw if you do stop in.


----------



## tylerSC




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/20286024
> 
> 
> The DC stations are easy to get in Manassas for the most part. The only iffy channel is 50 (The CW), but the right antenna will get it well. Baltimore has been unreliable in the areas I've tried with the 91-XG/YA-1713 antennas.
> 
> 
> What general area does your friend live?
> 
> 
> And yes, ate at the new Roy Rogers across from the hospital today & it was yummy. Try their killer cole slaw if you do stop in.



I forget the name of his neighborhood but it is off of the main exit off of 66. And I am definitely going to try and visit soon as I am hungry for some Roy's. They were always my favorite and they are slowly rebuilding the brand.


----------



## Dave Loudin

Run a TVFool.com prediction for his location, using the start maps option. You'll be presented with a google map with a red icon representing the receive location. Drag it to the right location (you can zoom in as needed), fix the antenna height, then click the make radar plot button. Bookmark the report you get. It will tell you what direction to point the antenna and how much gain you'll need. Read the signal analysis FAQ linked in the report to figure things out (it's really not hard.)


Just guessing, I'd bet a Winegard HD-7696 or an AntennaCraft HBU-44 would do the trick.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/20285684
> 
> 
> Guess we'll finally learn if WJLA looks like widescreen SD because of shoddy equipment or too many subchannels.



It must be the equipment. I've seen ABC look much better. Even WMAR is noticeably sharper with 2 subs.


Looks like ION has done something to improve their PQ. It looks better than I have ever remember seeing before.


----------



## systems2000

Can someone explain to me why I'm not seeing a channel 20 or 45 (Real) on my FCC query?


I set it for a radius of 126 KM (70+ miles) from Chambersburg, PA.


----------



## Trip in VA

Are you referring to W45DN-D and WQAW-LD? If so, it's because those stations are 85 miles away.


- Trip


----------



## ogbuehi

I know that this forum really focuses on OTA HDTV but I was hoping for some assistance. I've moved back into the northern VA area and I was wondering what my options were for purchasing HDTV (FIOS, Cox, Comcast). I'm moving to Lorton VA and was wondering what was available and what was best. I'm primarily looking for what offers the most HD channels (HBO, Showtime, Discovery etc.). I don't really care about sports or on demand. Being able to couple very fast internet would be great. Any advice would be much appreciated. If there's a better forum for this question feel free to let me know where to go. Thanks in advance.


----------



## mrvideo

@ogbuehi


You've been here for a long time, so you know that AVS Forum is about all things HD, no matter the legal source. While there is no such thing as best, as far as this forum is concerned, discussions about the merits of this or that are widely debated.


Therefore, your query about the merits of this or that provider in your area fits the reason why AVS Forum exists.


I personally do not have cable, fiber or DBS. Just OTA and my two BUDs. I refuse to pay programming providers money to plaster my HD screen with cluttler. I want to watch the program, not be bombarded with this or that snipe about this or that show, and increasingly, products. Even the bugs and the text surrounding the bugs annoy me.


----------



## ogbuehi

Well I typically enjoy watching movies without commercials but I do enjoy keeping HD material on my set at all times. Hopefully someone in this thread can give me a heads up so I don't have to male too blind of a choice.


----------



## systems2000

Since they are both Low-Power, why can't some of the locals in my area use them instead of the same channels as others?


----------



## mattydr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/20286024
> 
> 
> The DC stations are easy to get in Manassas for the most part. The only iffy channel is 50 (The CW), but the right antenna will get it well. Baltimore has been unreliable in the areas I've tried with the 91-XG/YA-1713 antennas.
> 
> 
> What general area does your friend live?
> 
> 
> And yes, ate at the new Roy Rogers across from the hospital today & it was yummy. Try their killer cole slaw if you do stop in.



I am in Manassas, but I live on the first floor of a condo building, so my antennas are only 8 feet or so off the ground. Just by luck the buildings run parallel to the necessary antenna direction. I use a ClearStream4 and a Y5-7-13 with a UHF/VHF combiner. CW is indeed dicey. NBC is good 90-95% of the time. CBS, ABC, FOX, no problem. I get FOX45 from Baltimore on good days too. I imagine with a rooftop mount and the right equipment you could pull a good bit of the Baltimore stuff reliably.


----------



## mdviewer25

WMDT 47 receivable this morning, tropo effect. Strong signal for WBOC. Any word on when the new digital signal on RF 20 is supposed to start?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/20382981
> 
> 
> Any word on when the new digital signal on RF 20 is supposed to start?



Not sure about channel 20. Are they broadcasting an analog signal now?


I'm still curious as to when WWTD-DT49 will begin broadcasting programming? They have been running test patterns on 49.1 through 49.4 for almost a month now.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/20383042
> 
> 
> Not sure about channel 20. Are they broadcasting an analog signal now?



If the reference is to WQAW-LD, it's been operating on 20 for something like a year now but at low power.



> Quote:
> I'm still curious as to when WWTD-DT49 will begin broadcasting programming? They have been running test patterns on 49.1 through 49.4 for almost a month now.



They're operating it under STA and the FCC filing made it sound like they wanted to get it up and running really quickly.

http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws....ility_id=56825 


"APPLICANT WOULD LIKE TO BEGIN BROADCASTING A DIGITAL SIGNAL BY USING THE EXISTING ANTENNA AND RETUNING THE EXISTING TRANSMITTER.


PROVIDING A DIGITAL SIGNAL IS IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST."


They had a permit for 14 that I think expired. I wonder if they'll try to keep 49.


- Trip


----------



## geostone

Hi, everyone! I'm in the Centreville, VA area and have a Winegard 7694 up on the house roof (about 30 feet high) along with an RF amp. Fairfax Antenna did the installation. I'm having trouble with WJLA 7.1 - 7.3. More often than not, no signal is received on multiple TVs. I'd think that given the transmit frequency WJLA would be one of my strongest stations. I'm wondering if anyone else has or has had similar problems with Ch. 7?


I've decided to keep my Verizon FiOS TV service for the main tv but use the Winegard for everything else. Time to cut back a bit on that Verizon bill!


George in Clifton (well, "Clifton Heights"!), VA


----------



## Kelly From KOMO

Sounds like not a low signal issue, but more than likely multipath. I would try bypassing the amplifier first and see if the WJLA reliability improves without losing other channels. Remember that the signal strength meter on your DTV receiver is not signal level, but signal quality. Signals delayed via reflection from man made and natural objects can cause what appears to be a low signal. Also sometimes amplifiers can be overwhelmed by too much signal and increase the chance of multipath or receiver frontend overload.


Good Luck!


----------



## JonSamuels




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *geostone* /forum/post/20388688
> 
> 
> I've decided to keep my Verizon FiOS TV service for the main tv but use the Winegard for everything else. Time to cut back a bit on that Verizon bill!



I know it's not quite an answer to your original question, but if your TVs have clear QAM tuners, you can run the FiOS coax directly into the TVs and get your local channels without using the converter box.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *geostone* /forum/post/20388688
> 
> 
> . . . .with an RF amp



Do you know if part of the amp is mast mounted, or is it just a one piece amp inside the house?


----------



## geostone




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Sounds like not a low signal issue, but more than likely multipath. I would try bypassing the amplifier first and see if the WJLA reliability improves without losing other channels. Remember that the signal strength meter on your DTV receiver is not signal level, but signal quality. Signals delayed via reflection from man made and natural objects can cause what appears to be a low signal. Also sometimes amplifiers can be overwhelmed by too much signal and increase the chance of multipath or receiver frontend overload.
> 
> 
> Good Luck!



thanks for your suggestion. i concur about multipath given that I'm equadistant from all of the DC transmitters. We'll know more later this week when the technician arrives.


George


----------



## geostone




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JonSamuels* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> I know it's not quite an answer to your original question, but if your TVs have clear QAM tuners, you can run the FiOS coax directly into the TVs and get your local channels without using the converter box.



thanks! I'll give itba try. But, you're right...I wantnthe antenna to work. Afterall,

i paid for the install!


George


----------



## geostone




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Do you know if part of the amp is mast mounted, or is it just a one piece amp inside the house?



it's mast-mounted.


George


----------



## geostone




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *geostone* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> thanks! I'll give itba try. But, you're right...I wantnthe antenna to work. Afterall,
> 
> i paid for the install!
> 
> 
> George



Here"s my TV Fool map.


----------



## Digital Rules

I would first suspect signal overload from the preamp if a high gain model was used. The 7694 is a very good VHF antenna & should be easily getting 7 reliably. Could be multipath, but generally more of an issue with UHF.


Are channel 9 & 50 OK? Do you get WMDO-47 at all?


----------



## geostone




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I would first suspect signal overload from the preamp if a high gain model was used. The 7694 is a very good VHF antenna & should be easily getting 7 reliably. Could be multipath, but generally more of an issue with UHF.
> 
> 
> Are channel 9 & 50 OK? Do you get WMDO-47 at all?



Channels 9 and 50 are fine. No reception of 47.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *geostone* /forum/post/20391532
> 
> 
> Channels 9 and 50 are fine. No reception of 47.



I've never received that 47. I always wondered why they picked RF 8 to transmit their signal. What is their strength anyway?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/20391768
> 
> 
> I've never received that 47. I always wondered why they picked RF 8 to transmit their signal. What is their strength anyway?



Only 200 watts. I'm guessing they are just running the minimum signal required to get them on the local cable networks.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/20391904
> 
> 
> Only 200 watts. I'm guessing they are just running the minimum signal required to get them on the local cable networks.



Considering LPTV stations don't get must-carry on cable...


Actually, WMDO recently filed to move to channel 22, seemingly forgetting that WDDN-LD was already on that channel.


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules

Thanks Trip, I'm wondering how many people actually get WMDO OTA? There are still those who should get 7 & 9 well but don't, even with their blow torch power levels.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/20392002
> 
> 
> Thanks Trip, I'm wondering how many people actually get WMDO OTA? There are still those who should get 7 & 9 well but don't, even with their blow torch power levels.



The answer is "not many." The data for WMDO on RabbitEars is more than two and a half years old just because nobody I'm in touch with can receive it. When I was in the area a few months ago, I tried using my VHF bowtie to receive it from about 10 miles out and couldn't get it high enough to decode, even though I had 7 and 9 in with huge signals.


- Trip


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/20391936
> 
> 
> Considering LPTV stations don't get must-carry on cable...
> 
> 
> Actually, WMDO recently filed to move to channel 22, seemingly forgetting that WDDN-LD was already on that channel.
> 
> 
> - Trip



I hope they don't move to 22, that would interfer with my signal to WBOC


----------



## Trip in VA

WDDN-LD is already on 22, so the interference wouldn't be much different, if at all.


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/20392863
> 
> 
> I hope they don't move to 22, that would interfer with my signal to WBOC



No need to worry. At 4 miles out WDDN is so weak it barely comes in here & has no effect on WBOC as far as I can tell.


----------



## fmw63




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/20392066
> 
> 
> The answer is "not many." The data for WMDO on RabbitEars is more than two and a half years old just because nobody I'm in touch with can receive it. When I was in the area a few months ago, I tried using my VHF bowtie to receive it from about 10 miles out and couldn't get it high enough to decode, even though I had 7 and 9 in with huge signals.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Yep, it sure is hard to get reliably. I'm about 10 miles to the east, and it was hard balancing positioning and preamp levels to get it. Being surrounded by trees didn't help much either...


----------



## geostone

Here's an update on my OTA situation.


Fairfax Antenna came out and installed slightly larger antenna (Winegard 7696 instead of 7695) and amp (8275 instead of 8700). The antenna was also relocated on the roof by a few feet. So far, good results on restoring Ch. 7. Also, during the day, I'm now able to get a few Baltimore stations that I couldn't get before (not all BAL, but a few!).

No charge for this equipment swap, BTW!


On another matter, I visited the Verizon store at Fair Oaks Mall and was able to swap a STB for a Motorola 7232 STB/DVR. What a pain in the butt. I did this thanks to reading notes here on AVS Forum. Dealing with Verizon over the phone (a phone company at heart, no less!) was a complete flop. For anyone else interested, best to just call the store!


----------



## fmw63




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/20392891
> 
> 
> WDDN-LD is already on 22, so the interference wouldn't be much different, if at all.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Are they still there? I haven't seen them all week.


----------



## fmw63




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Frankie20* /forum/post/20224582
> 
> 
> Seems to be too weak for my DTV box to lock into where I am...?



Same here in PG County.. My Eviant 7" portable picks it up, but not 1 of the other 3 STB's


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmw63* /forum/post/20407183
> 
> 
> Are they still there? I haven't seen them all week.



WDDN-LD is definitely licensed, even if there's been some type of equipment failure or something putting them off the air...


- Trip


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Cox Moves HDers To 1000+ Range*


- 5/9 - Cox, which owns the largest single cable system in the DC area - Fairfax County, announces that it will be moving all of its high-def channels to the 1000+ range. And, to make it easier to find local outlets, area TV stations will be put on their channel number - a la Channel 4/WRC will be placed on 1004, Channel 5/WTTG on 1005, Channel 7/WJLA on 1007, and Channel 9/WUSA on 1009.....

http://www.dcrtv.com/


----------



## SUOrangeman

You would think that Cox would at least consider regrouping all of its channels in a reasonable fashion (all sports channels in 600 range, moives in 700, etc.). But no, they just brought the mayhem of its SD channels over to the HD versions.


Besides, how many folks are still rockin' SD-only versions anymore (Weather Channel aside, for Local 8's)


-SUO


----------



## mattydr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/20285684
> 
> 
> Guess we'll finally learn if WJLA looks like widescreen SD because of shoddy equipment or too many subchannels.



How long has WJLA looked this bad? I don't watch a lot of TV, maybe I missed when this happened? I always remember LOST looking pretty good, was the fact that I like the show skewing my perception? I turned on Dancing with the Stars the other night on a whim, and I couldn't believe how bad it looked relative to what was on NBC, FOX, and CBS.


I'm watching OTA by the way.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mattydr* /forum/post/20421624
> 
> 
> How long has WJLA looked this bad?



WJLA has always been inferior to WMAR with regards to HD picture quality. ABC can look better on a station with no subchannels/better equipment though. When I can get Richmond's ABC affiliate the picture is noticably sharper & exhibits less artifacts.


----------



## carltonrice

I don't know if it's the first epsiode, but The McLaughlin Group was broadcast in widescreen (maybe HD) format for the first time tonight. I say, "maybe HD" because the image was very soft, so I couldn't tell if it was SD or HD. I think the program is recorded here in WUSA's studios, but is distributed nationally.


----------



## Trip in VA

As old as most of them are, I think I'd prefer it to be soft.


- Trip


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/20470493
> 
> 
> I don't know if it's the first epsiode, but The McLaughlin Group was broadcast in widescreen (maybe HD) format for the first time tonight. I say, "maybe HD" because the image was very soft, so I couldn't tell if it was SD or HD. I think the program is recorded here in WUSA's studios, but is distributed nationally.



I think I noticed a difference last week for 5/13/2011 show.


----------



## Marcus Carr

WMAR to add Live Well Network.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/art...ll_Network.php


----------



## rustycruiser




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/20489966
> 
> 
> WMAR to add Live Well Network.
> 
> http://www.broadcastingcable.com/art...ll_Network.php



So now we will have two ABC stations with crappy pictures. Perfect.


----------



## Trip in VA

WMAR already has an SD simulcast. I would suspect that will be the home of Live Well.


- Trip


----------



## rustycruiser

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* 
WMAR already has an SD simulcast. I would suspect that will be the home of Live Well.


- Trip
Does the SD simulcast steal 5 - 7 Mbps? Live Well does, in the "HD" form. Hopefully WMAR transmits the SD version, rather than "HD" one that the ABC O&Os carry.


----------



## Trip in VA

So far, the non-ABC O&O affiliates (five Belo stations, two Lilly stations, two stations in the Caribbean) all air the SD version.


- Trip


----------



## machpost

I just noticed this morning that WRC is now sending out a true 16:9 SD signal for their 4.2 Nonstop channel, so it actually fills out the screen properly without having to do any manual zooming. With so many SD channels switching to 16:9 these days, I wish they'd all do it this way instead of letterboxing it in a 4:3 window.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/20493455
> 
> 
> I just noticed this morning that WRC is now sending out a true 16:9 SD signal for their 4.2 Nonstop channel, so it actually fills out the screen properly without having to do any manual zooming.



I wonder if that's because much of the material has already been shown in HD on 4.1, so its already 16:9. I can't get WRC anymore, so I haven't kept up with it.

J


----------



## StevenJB

Quote:

Originally Posted by *machpost* 
I just noticed this morning that WRC is now sending out a true 16:9 SD signal for their 4.2 Nonstop channel, so it actually fills out the screen properly without having to do any manual zooming. With so many SD channels switching to 16:9 these days, I wish they'd all do it this way instead of letterboxing it in a 4:3 window.
My TV is also detecting a 16:9 480i SD signal on 4.2. But, WRC is broadcasting 4.2 in a 4:3 aspect ratio and not filling out the screen. People and objects appear elongated and skinny using this 4:3 aspect ratio. When I manually stretch the picture to wide screen 16:9 everything is proportional like it should be. However, that setting also stretches out every 4:3 480i SD channel to 16:9 which I do not want to do. Therefore, it's not my television. WRC should be broadcasting in widescreen if their PSIP data reads 16:9. In reality, WRC is now broadcasting black side pillar bars by squeezing 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio material incorrectly to a 4:3 aspect ratio.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/20500214
> 
> 
> But, WRC is broadcasting 4.2 in a 4:3 aspect ratio and not filling out the screen.



I'm wondering if this is the only way they could make it work? Fox 21 does the same thing & it works quite well considering it's only 480i.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/20500786
> 
> 
> I'm wondering if this is the only way they could make it work? Fox 21 does the same thing & it works quite well considering it's only 480i.



Forgive me if I appear dense. Make WHAT work? What is the purpose of telecasting a 16:9 widescreen program if you are going to purposely distort it to 4:3? I have seen before widescreen 480i broadcasted in a true 16:9 aspect ratio. It doesn't look half bad considering that all objects are proportional and not stretched laterally. Some sporting events are sent out in perfectly proportioned 16:9 480i. But for the life of me, why would WRC distort an original 16:9 program and thereby have to use black vertical side pillars? Why would they purposely squeeze original 16:9 widescreen material that probably was originally recorded in 720p HD or 1080i HD when they could broadcast it in 480i and still use proportional widescreen 16:9?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/20503046
> 
> 
> I have seen before widescreen 480i broadcasted in a true 16:9 aspect ratio.



I have never seen widescreen 480i, so I wasn't sure if was even possible.


----------



## KC4JGC




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/20503980
> 
> 
> I have never seen widescreen 480i, so I wasn't sure if was even possible.



Oh, yeah.. It's possible. WVEC in Norfolk broadcasts its news in widescreen SD. I'm sure many others do the same.


----------



## TheKrell

Of course it's possible. Widescreen DVD movies are done this way.


----------



## Digital Rules

I thought that only worked with 480p DVD's?


----------



## Trip in VA

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* 
I have never seen widescreen 480i, so I wasn't sure if was even possible.
This morning you sent me data on WBOC. Their 21-2 signal is in wide 480i.










- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* 
This morning you sent me data on WBOC. Their 21-2 signal is in wide 480i.










- Trip
Thanks Trip, I just tried 21-2 & I still have to leave the TV in stretch mode just like on 4-2. (But neither look stretched) I wasn't sure if they are actually broadcast as 16:9? Maybe some TV's automatically default to 4:3 unless forced to 16:9 when they detect 480 resolution?


----------



## Trip in VA

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* 
Thanks Trip, I just tried 21-2 & I still have to leave the TV in stretch mode just like on 4-2. (But neither look stretched) I wasn't sure if they are actually broadcast as 16:9? Maybe some TV's automatically default to 4:3 unless forced to 16:9 when they detect 480 resolution?
I've heard of things like that happening. There's a flag that stations like WBOC send that the 480i is widescreen, but I think some sets ignore it.


- Trip


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/20505822
> 
> 
> Thanks Trip, I just tried 21-2 & I still have to leave the TV in stretch mode just like on 4-2. (But neither look stretched) I wasn't sure if they are actually broadcast as 16:9? Maybe some TV's automatically default to 4:3 unless forced to 16:9 when they detect 480 resolution?



That may be the case. The picture on 4-2 filled out properly on both of my TVs, one a 42" Panasonic plasma connected to TiVo Premiere, the other a 32" Panasonic LCD connected to a Moto HD box.


----------



## Dave Loudin

4.2 filled the screen properly on my ancient Samsung tuner.


----------



## rustycruiser

It would be great if WRC didn't have a permanent black bar on 4.3 Universal Sports that distorts the picture. Even using zoom, you still have the bar present, while losing image at the bottom. If they would just center the image, I would be happy as I actually watch a fair bit of content on the channel.


Screencaps from a 4:3 commercial, and 16:9 Giro coverage on 4.3 Universal Sports.


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rustycruiser* /forum/post/20511470
> 
> 
> It would be great if WRC didn't have a permanent black bar on 4.3 Universal Sports that distorts the picture. Even using zoom, you still have the bar present, while losing image at the bottom. If they would just center the image, I would be happy as I actually watch a fair bit of content on the channel.



I know exactly what the issue is and so should the engineering staff at WRC. Give them a call after you finish reading this (during working hours of course).


For some idiotic reason they are adding VBI to the video they are getting. NBC is feeding the video as 704x480. WRC is adding VBI to the top of the video, making it 704x512. If they were feeding an analog NTSC circuit, then the VBI would be a must. But DTV doesn't have VBI.


So, the 704x512 video gets shrunk to 704x480 for the DTV encoder.


There is nothing you can do, other than complain to the engineering staff about the 32 lines of VBI.


To top it off, they aren't even injecting any VBI data. Either way, until you complain, they probably aren't going to fix it.


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/20505578
> 
> 
> I thought that only worked with 480p DVD's?



Oh hell no. Pure 480i or 480p 23.976/29.97 that is output from the DVD player as NTSC 525 line interlaced video.


480i/p anamorphic widescreen video is part of the DTV standard.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mrvideo* /forum/post/20511522
> 
> 
> I know exactly what the issue is and so should the engineering staff at WRC. Give them a call after you finish reading this (during working hours of course).
> 
> 
> For some idiotic reason they are adding VBI to the video they are getting. NBC is feeding the video as 704x480. WRC is adding VBI to the top of the video, making it 704x512. If they were feeding an analog NTSC circuit, then the VBI would be a must. But DTV doesn't have VBI.
> 
> 
> So, the 704x512 video gets shrunk to 704x480 for the DTV encoder.
> 
> 
> There is nothing you can do, other than complain to the engineering staff about the 32 lines of VBI.
> 
> 
> To top it off, they aren't even injecting any VBI data. Either way, until you complain, they probably aren't going to fix it.



More than likely the satellite receiver or whatever the video source this came from is set up to output overscan, which is showing the timecode and other VBI already in the video. I doubt that WRC is adding VBI or VITC to the stream.


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/20514027
> 
> 
> More than likely the satellite receiver or whatever the video source this came from is set up to output overscan, which is showing the timecode and other VBI already in the video. I doubt that WRC is adding VBI or VITC to the stream.



Before I posted, I double-checked by tuning in the C-band backup version of the NBC feeds. I'll have a friend verify the Ku feed.


The feed is 704x480, it is not 704x512. I've had a couple of IRDs and not one of them allowed me to add VBI to the 480i video. The feed was either 480 or 512. IIRC, before Fox changed their HD/SD 8PSK feeds, their QPSK SD feeds were 720x512 and were a PITA bcause of it.


I'll report back on the Ku feed to make sure that they aren't feeding 704x512.


----------



## mrvideo

^^^

Update to the above posting.


The Ku NBC feed of the Universal Sports SD video is the same as the C-band (which it better be, otherwise the C-band backup would be kinda useless), in that the video resolution is 704x480.


This definitely means that something is wrong at WRC. Either the IRD is capable of adding the VBI 32 lines to the 480i feed (which I suppose could be possible, as it is a newer IRD), or somewhere in their plant, it is getting added.


They need to be told that their video is screwed up and needs to be fixed.


I still find it hard to believe that their engineering staff doesn't know about this.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mrvideo* /forum/post/20515256
> 
> 
> ^^^
> 
> Update to the above posting.
> 
> 
> The Ku NBC feed of the Universal Sports SD video is the same as the C-band (which it better be, otherwise the C-band backup would be kinda useless), in that the video resolution is 704x480.
> 
> 
> This definitely means that something is wrong at WRC. Either the IRD is capable of adding the VBI 32 lines to the 480i feed (which I suppose could be possible, as it is a newer IRD), or somewhere in their plant, it is getting added.
> 
> 
> They need to be told that their video is screwed up and needs to be fixed.
> 
> 
> I still find it hard to believe that their engineering staff doesn't know about this.



So other than this forum, have you sent them an E-mail asking why the video resolution or underscan condition exists?


Many times upper or corporate management gives an order to put particular content on a dot2, 3, by a certain time. Depending on the content and the gear used to receive, an extra aspect ratio, newer IRD or other converter may not be available in house. So in order to meet the programming deadline, one has to make do while a new IRD or converter is ordered. My guess is they're coming out of an IRD with an NTSC output, then through an A/D converter, an aspect ratio converter, then into the router.


Really, I'm pretty sure there isn't a vast conspiracy nor intentional insertion of VBI. More likely they're waiting for a dedicated IRD with an SDI output to arrive. But aside from my guess, you can always just ask.


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/20516181
> 
> 
> So other than this forum, have you sent them an E-mail asking why the video resolution or underscan condition exists?



As I'm not the OP, the answer is no. If I lived there, then I would probably give them a call. Only to get it fixed for viewers who care about sports. I don't/



> Quote:
> My guess is they're coming out of an IRD with an NTSC output, then through an A/D converter, an aspect ratio converter, then into the router.



I seriously doubt that. IIRC, WRC is a NBC O&O, which means that corporate bought the necessary gear for all of the O&Os. Plus I doubt that it was a rush job in this case. BTW, I've not seen a video A/D that also captures the VBI, or at least gives the user an option to do so, or not.



> Quote:
> Really, I'm pretty sure there isn't a vast conspiracy nor intentional insertion of VBI. More likely they're waiting for a dedicated IRD with an SDI output to arrive. But aside from my guess, you can always just ask.



Nope, never thought that it was being done on purpose. As the feed is 8PSK, any IRD used to tune in the feed would have a SDI output. I don't know of any IRDs these days that don't, especially newer ones.


I just figure that it is a misconfiguration somewhere in the chain that has gone unnoticed.


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rustycruiser* /forum/post/20511470
> 
> 
> Screencaps from a 4:3 commercial, and 16:9 Giro coverage on 4.3 Universal Sports.



I have to ask, in order to cover all the bases. Just what was used to capture the images? OTA, cable, tuner, etc. Please be specific.


----------



## rustycruiser

Quote:

Originally Posted by *mrvideo* 
I have to ask, in order to cover all the bases. Just what was used to capture the images? OTA, cable, tuner, etc. Please be specific.
In this specific case, from Verizon Fios via Firewire from my STB. I can provide screencaps from the OTA channel via Firewire as well from my 34XBR960. They look the same. The channel has had this large band at the top for at least the last 1.5 years (since I moved here and found it)


----------



## Kelly From KOMO

Interesting.. When I watch the WRC 'dot' channels via OTA from my home in Stafford, VA., rather than the main channel via DirecTV. I tuned in last evening OTA and found both the dot channels were full screen, with no over or underscan. I wonder if this is something unique to Verizon, and how they're feeding their cable modulators? At least from what I saw, OTA looked fine.


----------



## Dave Loudin

Watching WRC OTA with an old Samsung tuner set to display 4:3 content in 4:3... 4.1 and 4.2 both display in 16:9 and 4.3 shows in 4:3. On 4.3, the black bar shows up top when SD content is played and letterboxed widescreen programming is shifted lower. This is a recent development and may have happened when 4.2 was set to widescreen.


----------



## rustycruiser




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/20516639
> 
> 
> Interesting.. When I watch the WRC 'dot' channels via OTA from my home in Stafford, VA., rather than the main channel via DirecTV. I tuned in last evening OTA and found both the dot channels were full screen, with no over or underscan. I wonder if this is something unique to Verizon, and how they're feeding their cable modulators? At least from what I saw, OTA looked fine.



For me,


1) via Fios : 4.2 is a 16x9 SD image broadcast in a 4x3 window, and 4.3 Universal Sports has the black band across the top.

2) via OTA : 4.2 is a 16x9 SD image broadcast fullscreen, and 4.3 Universal Sports has the black band across the top.


OTA, 4.3 is definitely not fine. It has had the black bar across the top for over a year plus, so I don't think the recent transition of 4.2 to widescreen played a part.


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rustycruiser* /forum/post/20519286
> 
> 
> For me,
> 
> 
> 1) via Fios : 4.2 is a 16x9 SD image broadcast in a 4x3 window, and 4.3 Universal Sports has the black band across the top.
> 
> 2) via OTA : 4.2 is a 16x9 SD image broadcast fullscreen, and 4.3 Universal Sports has the black band across the top.



For 4.2 OTA, sounds like your TV doesn't know that it is anamorphic widescreen.


For 4.3, the fact that a "cable" channel and OTA both have the VBI bar is what I was looking for.



> Quote:
> OTA, 4.3 is definitely not fine. It has had the black bar across the top for over a year plus, so I don't think the recent transition of 4.2 to widescreen played a part.



I wouldn't have expected a change to 4.2 to affect 4.3. So, why haven't you complained to WRC about 4.3?


----------



## rustycruiser




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mrvideo* /forum/post/20519412
> 
> 
> So, why haven't you complained to WRC about 4.3?



I plan to. Until recently, I didn't know if it was a Universal Sports problem, or local affiliate problem. When I visited my brother in a different market, his US looked normal, and that clued me in.


I will call, and reference your original post about the VBI and see if I get anywhere. Thanks for your help.


----------



## Replenish

I'm pretty sure WJLAs flexicoder is configured wrong. The "Blurry" thing is happening during the game right now


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rustycruiser* /forum/post/20519457
> 
> 
> Thanks for your help.



You are welcome.


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Replenish* /forum/post/20519555
> 
> 
> I'm pretty sure WJLAs flexicoder is configured wrong. The "Blurry" thing is happening during the game right now



The NBA Finals looks terrible on ABC. It's slightly better on WMAR than on WJLA, but ABC just absolutely sucks at picture quality during sports events.


----------



## Cheezebooger

Where is WQAW transmitting from? I am reading confusing info.


In some places I read it is transmitting on ch 20 from Crownsville MD, the same tower as WMPT.


In other places I read it is transmitting on ch 69 from a tower on Kent Island.


It is digital because I am receiving it on 69.1 thru 69.4 here in Gambrills MD.


----------



## Trip in VA

Same tower as WMPT. http://www.rabbitears.info/oddsanden...r&asrn=1225569 


- Trip


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice* /forum/post/20520045
> 
> 
> The NBA Finals looks terrible on ABC. It's slightly better on WMAR than on WJLA, but ABC just absolutely sucks at picture quality during sports events.



Yeah. WJLA is always a mess during high motion. The scorebug is swimming.


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/20530394
> 
> 
> Yeah. WJLA is always a mess during high motion. The scorebug is swimming.



As many of you know, I don't follow sports, but decided to look, as I know that my local affiliate's encoding of the game would look like crap, and it does.


First off, ABC proper doesn't do sports anymore. Everything is produced by their sister company ESPN.


That said, I looked at the network feed and what the local affiliate is putting out and it is night and day. The local affiliate has constant mosquito noise, which is easily seen in the score bug. The "swimming" that you see. Worse as the action moves back and forth across the court. When a flash goes off, the frame after the flash is usually full of macroblocking.


But, the H.264 feed that the stations get is really clean. No noise in the score bug at all and places where there should be macroblocking, there isn't.


Believe me when I say that ESPN/ABC is really putting out great looking video (for 720p), but the viewers never get to see it.


----------



## Cheezebooger

According to http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...&q=call%3dwqaw 


WQAW transmits 39.8 KW analog on channel 69 from Kent Island and 6.86 KW digital channel 20 [69.1-69.4] from Crownsville.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mrvideo* /forum/post/20530606
> 
> 
> As many of you know, I don't follow sports, but decided to look, as I know that my local affiliate's encoding of the game would look like crap, and it does.
> 
> 
> First off, ABC proper doesn't do sports anymore. Everything is produced by their sister company ESPN.
> 
> 
> That said, I looked at the network feed and what the local affiliate is putting out and it is night and day. The local affiliate has constant mosquito noise, which is easily seen in the score bug. The "swimming" that you see. Worse as the action moves back and forth across the court. When a flash goes off, the frame after the flash is usually full of macroblocking.
> 
> 
> But, the H.264 feed that the stations get is really clean. No noise in the score bug at all and places where there should be macroblocking, there isn't.
> 
> 
> Believe me when I say that ESPN/ABC is really putting out great looking video (for 720p), but the viewers never get to see it.



Oh, I think we're all well aware that this is an issue with WJLA specifically. What's amazing is how long it has been this way, and how many complaints there have been, to no effect.


----------



## jgantert

Is ThisTV on 50.3 no longer broadcasting? I just get a grey screen on my TivoHD. Still looks to have ThisTV on 45.2, so the network must still be alive.


Any news?


----------



## Digital Rules

Quote:

Originally Posted by *jgantert* 
Is ThisTV on 50.3 no longer broadcasting?
50.3 seems fine here.


----------



## mrvideo

Quote:

Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* 
Oh, I think we're all well aware that this is an issue with WJLA specifically. What's amazing is how long it has been this way, and how many complaints there have been, to no effect.
Another example of management not giving a rat's ass about the quality. I believe we have the same problem locally.


Hell, I believe it is a problem nation wide.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mrvideo* /forum/post/20561243
> 
> 
> Hell, I believe it is a problem nation wide.



The quality coming from ABC is certainly not the problem. Switching between WRIC & WJLA during the game last night was like going from 720p to 480p. WRIC does have one subchannel but still looks substantially better.


----------



## machpost

I wonder if WJLA's problem is the age of their equipment, or some sort of improper settings. 4.1 on WRC always looks excellent, even at 1080i, and they also have two subs that are probably using even more bandwidth than 7.2 and 7.3.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/20562501
> 
> 
> I wonder if WJLA's problem is the age of their equipment, or some sort of improper settings. 4.1 on WRC always looks excellent, even at 1080i, and they also have two subs that are probably using even more bandwidth than 7.2 and 7.3.



I've never gotten a reply from them on any topic, including this one. They

are still doing 4:3 SD on their news remotes!


----------



## aptt

Would this article help:
http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/2...jvc-hd-cameras


----------



## Marcus Carr

Ocean City:



> Quote:
> Comcast's analog channels will be delivered exclusively in digital format and digital equipment will be needed in order to view those channels. The plan is to launch more than 30 new HD networks for Ocean City customers in the coming weeks.
> 
> 
> ...The analog channels will move to a digital delivery in three phases. The first phase will occur on July 12 where some of the standard/expanded basic channels will be moved to digital. The second phase will occur on Aug. 16 where the remainder of those channels will be moved to digital. The third and final phase will occur on Oct. 5 and the limited basic channels will move to digital.


 http://www.mdcoastdispatch.com/artic...s-Frustrations


----------



## SUOrangeman

HD Local on the 8s on Cox-NoVA appears to have (finally?) gone "local." I'm no longer seeing the national variant on the HD feed. Is this really a new development?


-SUO


----------



## MrMike6by9

As this hour, the feed on FiOS in Baltimore is still national for the "8's".


YMMV


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Comcast To Add Ovation, Smithsonian*


- 6/24 - Area cable TV giant Comcast will be rolling out the Ovation cultural and arts channel throughout the DC area on June 30. On channel 155 standard-def and *946 high-def*. Also, Comcast will be adding the documentary-laden Smithsonian Channel on its DC area systems that don't already get it, via channel 194 standard-def. Comcast is not offering the high-def feed of the channel. Ditto with the African Channel, on 193 standard-def. All the above will be part of Comcast's Digital Preferred tier.....

http://www.dcrtv.com/index.html


----------



## jgantert

RTN7 really changed up their programming...

http://www.myretrotv.com/prog_schedules/WJLA.pdf 


It pretty much sucks now. No A-Team, Incredible Hulk, Knight Rider, etc... All the big name shows are gone. Replaced with 2-hour blocks of Daniel Boone and The Rifleman. What are they thinking? This is one of the worst line-ups on TV.


I guess Antenna TV has made more of an impact than I thought!


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/20634227
> 
> 
> RTN7 really changed up their programming...What are they thinking? This is one of the worst line-ups on TV.



NBC Universal pulled all programming, so Retro TV doesn't have much to work with.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/20635157
> 
> 
> NBC Universal pulled all programming, so Retro TV doesn't have much to work with.



If that's the case, they should have known their content agreement was going to expire, and should have gone out and found more content.


A channel without content isn't much of a channel...


----------



## Marcus Carr

New in Baltimore:


946 *Ovation HD* - first channel in the 900s

155 Ovation SD

193 Africa Channel SD

194 Smithsonian SD


----------



## PaulGo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/20635873
> 
> 
> New in Baltimore:
> 
> 
> 946 *Ovation HD* - first channel in the 900s
> 
> 155 Ovation SD
> 
> 193 Africa Channel SD
> 
> 194 Smithsonian SD



Where are you 3D channels located, in Montgomery County they are at 980 (ESPN) and 981. We a;sp got 946, 155 and 194. _ also noticed channel 174 Centric._


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/20635157
> 
> 
> NBC Universal pulled all programming, so Retro TV doesn't have much to work with.



Now would be a good time to make that an all news station ie channel 8.

J


----------



## Lxloco

Hello, all.


I was wondering if everyone in the Charm City area is still receiving TCM.


My current setup has the Comcast line feeding directly into a Magnavox 2160. This allows me to record one program while watching another. When I saw a movie on TCM that I want to record I noted the Scramble Program screen. For the last 45 days I've been occupied by things other than TCM movie recording.


Might anyone know if this move is permanent? Temporary? Is there a workaround?


Thinks for the insights.



Lex


----------



## genac

Howdy yall. I have a rooftop antenna -- came w the house, don't know provenance -- that picks up Baltimore yellow channels, all 228°, all within 6 miles or so. I can get these with cheap indoor rabbit ears. House is one story with large, elevated trees which I'm pretty sure are on side that DON'T affect signal.


I'd love to get WMPT -- 194°, 27 miles -- as well as DC, Harrisburg and Lancaster. Trouble is, everything I read suggests I need large, amplified, directional antenna to get WMPT, which will cripple local reception and still probably not get DC channels -- 232°, 42 miles. I guess I need a rotating antenna? Instead of or in addition to existing unit?


I believe I need the help of an experienced pro, somebody who knows antennae, can futz up on the roof, and shorten the cable run to my TV. (The existing run is to a room where the TV ain't). I'm concerned I'll spend hundreds of dollars and wind up with little more than I get now. Any advice re equipment or service appreciated.


* yellow

uhf WBFF-DT 45.1 FOX BALTIMORE, MD 228° 6.0 46

* yellow

uhf WNUV-DT 54.1 CW BALTIMORE, MD 228° 6.0 40

* yellow

vhf WBAL-DT 11.1 NBC BALTIMORE, MD 228° 6.1 11

* yellow

vhf WJZ-DT 13.1 CBS BALTIMORE, MD 228° 6.1 13

* yellow

uhf WMAR-DT 2.1 ABC BALTIMORE, MD 228° 6.1 38

* blue

vhf WGAL-DT 8.1 NBC LANCASTER, PA 9° 43.5 8

* blue

uhf WUTB-DT 24.1 MNT BALTIMORE, MD 241° 12.5 41

* blue

uhf WPMT-DT 43.1 FOX YORK, PA 10° 43.1 47

blue

uhf WMJF-LP 16 A1 TOWSON, MD 257° 1.5 16

* violet

uhf WGCB-DT 49.1 IND RED LION, PA 11° 34.5 30

* violet

uhf WMPB-DT 67.1 PBS BALTIMORE, MD 297° 10.9 29

* violet

uhf WMPT-DT 22.1 PBS BALTIMORE, MD 194° 27.3 42


----------



## Digital Rules

For Maryland Public Television you have a better shot at getting WMPB 67 just north of Baltimore. (Same programming as WMPT) Do you see that at all right now?


The other channels of interest will require either a rotor or 2nd antenna, but we will need to see a TV Fool report to see if it is even worth the effort.


----------



## genac

Wow, that's service! Here's my Fool rpt


www . tvfool . com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d03d9f743daaa8d


Thanks!


----------



## Digital Rules

The TV FOOL report link doesn't work. Try posting again. You need 3 to 5 posts before it will work. (Don't remember which number)


----------



## TheKrell

The link works if you remove the spaces around the dots.


----------



## genac

Here's post 3

NOPE


----------



## genac




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *genac* /forum/post/20664044
> 
> 
> Wow, that's service! Here's my Fool rpt
> 
> 
> www . tvfool . com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d03d9f743daaa8d
> 
> 
> Thanks!



Here post 4 -- majik number?








Fool rpt


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *TheKrell* /forum/post/20664431
> 
> 
> The link works if you remove the spaces around the dots.



Thanks!! http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...03d9f743daaa8d 


The DC stations are highly unlikely since they are so weak & in the exact same direction as TV Hill.


The York/Lancaster are stations are doable with a far suburban 7-69 antenna & a rotator (Around $80.00 each).


Do you see WMPB 67 with your present set-up? Is the present antenna just running striaght to 1 TV?


----------



## genac




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/20664362
> 
> 
> The TV FOOL report link doesn't work. Try posting again. You need 3 to 5 posts before it will work. (Don't remember which number)



Note it's posted below. 4 posts is the charm. Thanks!








http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...03d9f743daaa8d


----------



## genac




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/20664682
> 
> 
> Thanks!! http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...03d9f743daaa8d
> 
> 
> The DC stations are highly unlikely since they are so weak & in the exact same direction as TV Hill.
> 
> 
> The York/Lancaster are stations are doable with a far suburban 7-69 antenna & a rotator (Around $80.00 each).
> 
> 
> Do you see WMPB 67 with your present set-up? Is the present antenna just running striaght to 1 TV?



Yes, straight to 1 TV. However, the run is 50' longer than necessary. Will shorten for aesthetics anyway.


Why does TV Hill interfere w DC? Because of amplification required for DC? Can't I switch amplification on/off?


Any chance I'll need 2-6 VHF? Thinking about FCC band repacking + that Philly channel 6. Irrelevant?


Can rotator purchase be separate from antenna, or must they be matched? Likely they'll fit my existing pole? (Probably 1 1/4").


Please let me know if you have an opinion on :
Channel Master 2018 
Channel Master 4228HD 


Also, on Channel Master in general, and Crutchfield as a source.


If I plan to pay for professional installation service, am I better off buying through service provider?


THANK YOU


----------



## Digital Rules

Your local stations are strong enough to desensitize the tuner somewhat with the antenna pointed directly at them, thereby making it even harder to detect anything weak. It may work, but hard to say without trying. Just put up an antenna with a very similar situation outside DC & Baltimore is surprisingly good most of the time. Channel 11 & 13 can be sketchy at times, but it works well all things considered though WUTB is a no-show. Both WMPB & WMPT come in well.


I've never used either of those Channel Master antennas. I prefer Winegard or Antennacraft models since they are better designed for VHF reception in metro areas where multipath can present issues.


Philly's channel 6 is too weak at your location. I wouldn't be too concerned with the repacking issue either. I'm thinking any station will be very reluctant to switch to VHF LO with it's inherent interference issues. Even VHF-Hi is inferior to UHF for many now. (Me included)


The antenna & rotor can be purchased separately.


Not sure what to advise on having work done professionally in your area.


----------



## genac




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/20664682
> 
> 
> Thanks!! http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...03d9f743daaa8d
> 
> 
> The DC stations are highly unlikely since they are so weak & in the exact same direction as TV Hill.
> 
> 
> The York/Lancaster are stations are doable with a far suburban 7-69 antenna & a rotator (Around $80.00 each).
> 
> 
> Do you see WMPB 67 with your present set-up? Is the present antenna just running striaght to 1 TV?



Thanks again. I don't think I get WMPB 67 with my multi-directional* antenna. It's directly in line with tall trees on hillside in my back yard.


If I'm going to resort to trial and error, can you suggest a local antenna dealer with generous return policy?


*actually I have no idea what kind of antenna I have. Can I tell just by looking?


----------



## Digital Rules

Radio Shack carries the Antennacraft line, but they are pricey compared to online pricing.


Someone in the DC area has a new Winegard 7698 for $89.00 if you are interested. That would be my choice if taking a stab at the DC stations from your location.


----------



## genac




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/20665217
> 
> 
> Radio Shack carries the Antennacraft line, but they are pricey compared to online pricing.
> 
> 
> Someone in the DC area has a new Winegard 7698 for $89.00 if you are interested. That would be my choice if taking a stab at the DC stations from your location.



That thing's a beast! 14', 17 lbs. Where in DC did you find that price? I found one online for under $110 w shipping. Can you recommend somewhat smaller alternative?


This is the rotor package they sell. Might make sense to start with just the antenna, manipulate manually to prove rotor should help, then install rotor in a second step? Or will that cause double work? Rooftop is easily accessible.


Regarding the mast (already on my roof), is diameter all I need to fit? Is antenna weight a factor?


Thx x 1000000


----------



## tylerSC




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/20665217
> 
> 
> Radio Shack carries the Antennacraft line, but they are pricey compared to online pricing.
> 
> 
> Someone in the DC area has a new Winegard 7698 for $89.00 if you are interested. That would be my choice if taking a stab at the DC stations from your location.



That Winegard is probably the best choice or you could consider the Antennacraft HBU55. The Channel Master antennas are now made in China and not what they used to be. But the CM7777 is still considered a good preamp although may be too strong for your location.


----------



## Digital Rules

Someone on Craigslist had the 7698 for sale a few weeks ago. I have contact info if anyone is interested.


If size & returnabilty are a concern, I would get the Antennacraft HBU-33 from Radio Shack. You may be able to find a sweet spot where WMPB or WMPT will work without a rotator since it isn't overly directional. I would also pick up an FM trap from RS as well. It may help bring in 7 & 9 out of DC by reducing the screeching FM levels in the area.


----------



## mdviewer25

Weak signal lately for WBFF Fox 45(46). Strong signal for WMDT 47. I don't think one is affecting the other but lately it seems like the only Baltimore channels that are reliable are WMAR 2 and WNUV 54. Seems like WBOC is almost always there except on rainy days. Wish I could get more but I guess the channels I get now are good since I am using an indoor Terk HDTVa antenna.


----------



## mdviewer25

WBFF 45 came back about ten minutes after the above post last night and what a shock WMDT 47 is gone this morning. Still wish that WBAL and WJZ had a stronger signal in the same direction and WUTB had any signal at all.


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/20635157
> 
> 
> NBC Universal pulled all programming, so Retro TV doesn't have much to work with.



Is that what went down? I wondered at first but since I've memorized almost every line in _Rockford Files_ ('Jimmmmmyyyy....') a change was not unwelcome.


Police Story has not held up anywhere near as well as the Firebird guy, alas. I do enjoy DaVinci's Inquest. And they have picked up a sleeper, another Canadian offering: _Intelligence_


It would be nice if RTV would get together with TMS to get correct show and episode data onto Zap2it....but thinking Luken will ever actually do so is a real fantasy...


[How can you have a network named after silicone caulking, anyhow?]


----------



## genac




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *genac* /forum/post/20665164
> 
> 
> Thanks again. I don't think I get WMPB 67 with my multi-directional* antenna. It's directly in line with tall trees on hillside in my back yard.
> 
> 
> *actually I have no idea what kind of antenna I have. Can I tell just by looking?



UPDATE: I have a small ~5' directional antenna pointing straight at TV hill in Baltimore. Trouble is it's not connected to anything. See there's this giant loop of coax coming out of my bedroom ceiling, which I've been running ad hoc to my living room TV -- not a big junkie. Well I guess all the "antenna" benefit I've witnessed is from the coax alone because I crawled up on the roof and found a flat wire running from the antenna and tied off to the _outside_ of the coax run, which ostensibly runs to my bedroom.


Soooo, is it worth trying to replace the inconsequential flat wire running from the antenna with coax running straight to my living room set? It would likely at least give me reception of the 6 major Balt stations, plus possibly WMPB, which I've confirmed I don't get with rabbit ears nor coax magic.


I'll upload a photo of the antenna. It's got a 5'ish boom with 2 "wings" and around 18 probe thingies.


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/20637282
> 
> 
> Now would be a good time to make _[7.3]_ an all news station ie channel 8.



I don't think Allbritton wants to give away his "_up until recently known as TDB_" for free; he wants cableco's to pay him for it.


If he was, it could be on 7.2...


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *genac* /forum/post/20682168
> 
> 
> Soooo, is it worth trying to replace the inconsequential flat wire running from the antenna with coax running straight to my living room set? It would likely at least give me reception of the 6 major Balt stations, plus possibly WMPB . .



I would certainly attaching the coax to the antenna. With some careful aiming, WMPB may well work for you.


WMPB comes in well with nothing more than a small outdoor antenna at just about every location in metro DC I have tried so far, even as far out as Dulles airport.


----------



## AntAltMike

I just scanned a TV that is connected to a broadband antenna located atop a 200' building in McLean, and it picked up 49.1-49.4, with the main channel simply saying "Coming soon", and the other three sub-channels showing test bars. What will WWTD or whomever is now 49.X going to carry, and when will it come on?


I like it when it was the UFO channel.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/20699160
> 
> 
> What will WWTD or whomever is now 49.X going to carry, and when will it come on?
> 
> 
> I like it when it was the UFO channel.



They were on for about a month back in March with the same looped video. Don't know what they will be yet, but Trip may know something.


----------



## groove10

First post to AVS, but I've heard good things about this site.


I'm new to Baltimore (and the east coast) and I'm looking for information on service providers and options.


I just signed a lease on a townhome in the Butcher's Hill neighborhood.


1) What providers are there for TV?

2) What providers are there for internet?

3) How easy is to capture OTA HD signals from this neighborhood?

4) What providers have Fox Soccer HD, Fox Soccer Plus HD, and GolTV HD?

5) Are Univision, Galavision, and Telefutura OTA in BMore?

6) Is there anything else you can tell me about the area/neighborhood?


TIA!


----------



## oriolesmagic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *groove10* /forum/post/20706198
> 
> 
> First post to AVS, but I've heard good things about this site.
> 
> 
> I'm new to Baltimore (and the east coast) and I'm looking for information on service providers and options.
> 
> 
> I just signed a lease on a townhome in the Butcher's Hill neighborhood.
> 
> 
> 1) What providers are there for TV?
> 
> 2) What providers are there for internet?
> 
> 3) How easy is to capture OTA HD signals from this neighborhood?
> 
> 4) What providers have Fox Soccer HD, Fox Soccer Plus HD, and GolTV HD?
> 
> 5) Are Univision, Galavision, and Telefutura OTA in BMore?
> 
> 6) Is there anything else you can tell me about the area/neighborhood?
> 
> 
> TIA!



1) Within the city, there is only Comcast. Verizon FiOS is available in Baltimore County, Anne Arundel County and Howard County, but not the city.

2) For internet, it's Comcast or Verizon DSL.

3) All the main TV signals in Baltimore emanate from Television Hill, which is on the Northwest side of Baltimore. If you have problems getting one of WBAL, WMAR and WJZ, you'll likely have problems getting them all.

4) Comcast doesn't carry Fox Soccer Plus at all, Fox Soccer Channel and GolTV are SD-only. Verizon FiOS carries FSC HD now, but you might want to look into DirecTV who would be the only option carrying these in HD for you.

5) No. Baltimore has no Spanish-language affiliates, DC has all 3. WFDC is DC's Univision, it's carried on Comcast (channel 13 SD), and you may be able to get it OTA. The Telefutura in DC is low-powered, I doubt you'll get it.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast also carries Galavision and Telefutura in SD in Baltimore. They have some Univision programming in HD On Demand. Just soccer right now.


----------



## oriolesmagic

Comcast Baltimore does carry the local feeds of WMDO and WZDC on channels 563 and 565, respectively. WFDC is on channel 11 and channel 561. There's an Azteca affiliate as well, WQAW, carried on channels 198 and 568.


While some of these have HD feeds available closer to DC on Comcast systems, they are SD only on the Comcast Baltimore system.


----------



## ACW112983

Stupid Xfinity "upgrade" got rid of picture-in-picture


----------



## biker19

For those with Cox that have not rescanned for clear QAM channels in a while you might find something new.


----------



## mdviewer25

14-1 = WWTD ch 49

14-2 = test pattern

14-3 = test pattern

14-4 = test pattern


----------



## Lxloco

Sorry for the repost, but I am still curious about TCM being available via Comcast and, well, whether there is anything that can be done about this seemingly recent loss of a channel.


Is there any Comcast office that I should address my angry letters to? At what front door should I stamp my feet outside of?



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Lxloco* /forum/post/20653921
> 
> 
> Hello, all.
> 
> 
> I was wondering if everyone in the Charm City area is still receiving TCM.
> 
> 
> My current setup has the Comcast line feeding directly into a Magnavox 2160. This allows me to record one program while watching another. When I saw a movie on TCM that I want to record I noted the Scramble Program screen. For the last 45 days I've been occupied by things other than TCM movie recording.
> 
> 
> Might anyone know if this move is permanent? Temporary? Is there a workaround?
> 
> 
> Thinks for the insights.
> 
> 
> 
> Lex


----------



## biker19

The availability of any clear QAM channel other than the locals is a crap shoot at best and no one should expect them to be available. If you want TCM you'll have to either get a Comcast STB or a cable card equipped device. No amount of complaining will change the fact that the cable cos are not required to send their signals via clear QAM even if you pay for it.


----------



## Lxloco




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *biker19* /forum/post/20732969
> 
> 
> The availability of any clear QAM channel other than the locals is a crap shoot at best and no one should expect them to be available. If you want TCM you'll have to either get a Comcast STB or a cable card equipped device. No amount of complaining will change the fact that the cable cos are not required to send their signals via clear QAM even if you pay for it.



Thank you for the clear and informative response.


I suppose the only thing left to say is


HARUMPH!


----------



## Trip in VA

Has anyone observed WIAV-LD 44 on the air? My train is going to be stopped in DC for a while tomorrow and I need to know if I should be looking for it.










Thanks!


- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/20734870
> 
> 
> Has anyone observed WIAV-LD 44 on the air? My train is going to be stopped in DC for a while tomorrow and I need to know if I should be looking for it.



Its transmitter has the same coordinates as WRC. I haven't picked it up yet. Most of my systems on highrise, multiple dwelling units use a narrow bandpass filter for 48 and a wider filter for 33-36, so they wouldn't see it even if it was there.


One TV tuner thast I recently autoprogrammed found something called 14.1, etc, but I didn't determine of that was a virtual or an actual channel number.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/20734870
> 
> 
> Has anyone observed WIAV-LD 44 on the air? My train is going to be stopped in DC for a while tomorrow and I need to know if I should be looking for it.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> 
> - Trip



I'm not sure if it's the same station, but I can pretty easily pick up some low-powered digital station that broadcasts some basic, low-quality "coming soon" loop on the first sub-channel, and a test pattern on three other sub-channels. I'm about 1.8 miles from the transmitter site.


----------



## Digital Rules

Nothing new here on RF44 from DC, though still seeing a good signal from the MPT Hagertstown affiliate on 44.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/20737316
> 
> 
> I'm not sure if it's the same station, but I can pretty easily pick up some low-powered digital station that broadcasts some basic, low-quality "coming soon" loop on the first sub-channel, and a test pattern on three other sub-channels. I'm about 1.8 miles from the transmitter site.



You're probably picking up WWTD-LD transmitting on RF 14 with a virtual channel of 49.

http://maps.google.com/?q=http://www...TON%26state=DC 


WIAV-LD is supposed to transmit on RF 44 with a virtual channel of 58.

http://maps.google.com/?q=http://www...TON%26state=DC


----------



## Trip in VA

WWTD-LD 14 is currently mapping to 14-x for some reason, but I'm sure WFDC will be letting them know it's a bad idea very shortly.


I didn't see anything from WIAV-LD or WDDN-LD while in DC today. Didn't see WMDO-LD or WWPX-LD either, but VHF was a royal pain as always.


- Trip


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/20738270
> 
> 
> You're probably picking up WWTD-LD transmitting on RF 14 with a virtual channel of 49.
> 
> http://maps.google.com/?q=http://www...TON%26state=DC
> 
> 
> WIAV-LD is supposed to transmit on RF 44 with a virtual channel of 58.
> 
> http://maps.google.com/?q=http://www...TON%26state=DC



Yep, it's WWTD that I'm seeing. No sign of WIAV-LD here.


----------



## mdviewer25

Quote:

Originally Posted by *StevenJB* 
You're probably picking up WWTD-LD transmitting on RF 14 with a virtual channel of 49.

http://maps.google.com/?q=http://www...TON%26state=DC 


WIAV-LD is supposed to transmit on RF 44 with a virtual channel of 58.

http://maps.google.com/?q=http://www...TON%26state=DC
14-1 = WWTD ch 49

14-2 = test pattern

14-3 = test pattern

14-4 = test pattern


transmitting on RF channel 14. Wonder what the three test patterns will be?


----------



## joblo

No idea, but if they're going to keep stealing WFDC's VC, might be nice if they offered some Spanish programming.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/20748080
> 
> 
> No idea, but if they're going to keep stealing WFDC's VC, might be nice if they offered some Spanish programming.



WWTD-LD's virtual channel in 49. Their transmitting channel is 14. They are supposed to map to 49 and not appear on 14 but that is not happening at present. They are appearing only on 14. I imagine that the FCC does not require them to address and map their PSIP for 49 while they are in the test pattern stage.


I have stated before and I will state it again that in my opinion the FCC should mandate away the virtual channel requirement. They mandate it because the American viewing public (with the notable exception of the participants of this forum) are simpletons. Simpletons hate change. They cannot get their minds wrapped around the idea that WRC is no longer 4 but is actually 48. OMG! Or that 5 is really 36 now! Oy vey! You get the idea. Following the new assignments on channels 7 through 51 (forget about using low vhf 2 - 6) would be much easier without worrying about the old virtual

analog channel assignments.


I know that some here disagree with doing away with the virtual channels but lets move on. Analog is gone. Digital is here to stay. RF channels are supposed to map to virtual channels but sometimes they don't. Scanning is a mess when WFDC gets kicked off Virtual 14.1 to RF 15.1 because WWTD is not using its PSIP correctly. If the FCC would do away with the virtual channels then we would all know for sure where each channel is supposed to appear. If no one wants to transmit on 2 through 6 anymore and is not allowed to use 52 through 69 anymore (and CANNOT use 37 either) then why

use these channels as virtual I.D.'s? Just my 2 cents.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO

There is more than just the FCC involved with requiring the virtual channels on PSIP.. The government wanted to reduce confusion during the digital transition true, but over the years stations have honed their brand through the channel number. No station is interested in erasing and re-promoting their identity. Something like that costs potentially millions and may lead to a loss of viewers in the process. To use your example from a average viewer perspective; remembering NBC programming is available on channel 4 (albeit virtual), is much easier to remember than 48.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/20750067
> 
> 
> There is more than just the FCC involved with requiring the virtual channels on PSIP.. The government wanted to reduce confusion during the digital transition true, but over the years stations have honed their brand through the channel number. No station is interested in erasing and re-promoting their identity. Something like that costs potentially millions and may lead to a loss of viewers in the process. To use your example from a average viewer perspective; remembering NBC programming is available on channel 4 (albeit virtual), is much easier to remember than 48.



I totally disagree with you. The confusion is worse because of the virtual channels. WETA is on 26 but is really on 27. WFDC is on 14 but really is on 15. WBFF is on 45 but is really on 46. What is so difficult about learning a new set of numbers one last time when in some cases the virtual channel is but one silly channel away from the RF channel? WRC-4 is easier to remember only because its been that way for over 60 years. Change it now to WRC-48 and by the year 2070 no one will remember that it used to be WRC-4. If WETA used a virtual channel of 3 then would WETA-3 be easier to remember than WETA-26? Why is WETA-26 easier to remember than WETA-27? Is it because it is 50 years old? The stations are not going to lose viewers. That is patently absurd as well as bogus. There is but one NBC outlet in Washington. People will tune to it for Jay Leno whether it is on 4 or 40 or 400 or 4000. If they want to watch Leno, then they will tune to 48 just as easy as they will tune to 4! Why in the world would it cost WRC millions to officially change to 48? That is also absurd. Most people watch WRC on cable or satellite where it might not necessarily be assigned to 4. WNBW changed its call letters to WRC back in 1954. WMAL changed to WJLA. WTOP changed to WDVM and then to WUSA. WAAM changed to WJZ in 1959. WBAL switched from NBC to CBS and back to NBC regained from WMAR while WMAR switched from CBS to NBC in exchange with WBAL and then to ABC in exchange with WJZ which then became CBS. The earth didn't stop turning on its axis when each of these things happened, did it? The sun rose in the east the next morning just like it always does. Do away with the virtual channels and America will survive. Remember this, virtual channels are useless unless they can pay off our national debt!


----------



## mrvideo

While I too hate virtual channels, I know that they are not going to go away.


But, that said, Kelly's point about the cost, unfortunately, is very real. It costs millions of $$$ to rebrand. If the station only changed their real channel only once, I'd say tough. There are stations that have changed channels more than once.


Our local Fox affiliate went from 47 to 11. But, the owner, Sinclair, wanted all of their stations off the VHF band. Viewers in this market were having trouble getting 11, but not having issues getting the UHF channels that were broadcast from the same tower. So, after a long period of time, Sinclair finally got their UHF channel (49 I believe). It cost them a lot of money to go to 49. They couldn't use the old waveguides for 47, as they were cut to only work with 47 (the length). New antenna needed as well.


So, this particular station (actually Sinclair) would have spent a sh!tload of money rebranding to Fox11, only to have to do it all again a few years later as Fox49. And we all know how cheap Sinclair is. So cheap that this station is so low on the Sinclair totem pole, that the plant is still analog.


What I hate worse than virtual channels is multicasting. HD image quality is suffering because of all those SD sub-channels.


----------



## AntAltMike

Any word on Me-TV coming to Washington or Baltimore? Of the four rerun channels, they definitely have the best episode programming.


----------



## CLT OTA Nut




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Any word on Me-TV coming to Washington or Baltimore? Of the four rerun channels, they definitely have the best episode programming.



It is coming to wgcb, red lion PA, so if you have a good antenna and point it north, you will get it.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CLT OTA Nut* /forum/post/20760417
> 
> 
> It is coming to wgcb, red lion PA, so if you have a good antenna and point it north, you will get it.



Not a chance in Washigton, DC. Red Lion, PA is just over 70 miles away, but there is no line of sight, even from my highest highrise buildings (I service community antenna systems) and we have a channel 30 on Goldvein, Virginia that would surely overwhelm it, even with a highly directional antenna.


----------



## CLT OTA Nut




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> Not a chance in Washigton, DC. Red Lion, PA is just over 70 miles away, but there is no line of sight, even from my highest highrise buildings (I service community antenna systems) and we have a channel 30 on Goldvein, Virginia that would surely overwhelm it, even with a highly directional antenna.



True true. More useful for the B-more crowd.


I live in No. York Co. PA and pickup all Bmore stations and DC on good nights, so I'd figure since red lion is 25 miles south of me, you all will have some luck (depending on where you are)


----------



## danboot

Does anyone in the Fairfax VA area have Directtv CHOICE XTRA? I am wondering what they are paying in taxes. I see right now they are offering it for $42.99 which would be much less than I am paying for cable but I am interested to know what the EXTRA charges/taxes may be.


Thanks

Dan


----------



## Digital Rules

WZDC-25 has finally gone digital with 3 subchannels. (25.1-25.4) 25.1 is only 480i & the 3 sub channels are just test patterns. The signal is very weak & should have no detrimental effect on WHAG-25.1 for those in the immediate DC area.


----------



## CLT OTA Nut




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/20807955
> 
> 
> WZDC-25 has finally gone digital with 3 subchannels. (25.1-25.4) 25.1 is only 480i & the 3 sub channels are just test patterns. The signal is very weak & should have no detrimental effect on WHAG-25.1 for those in the immediate DC area.



WHAG is on RF26 so other than PSP problems, those who currently pickup WHAG and live near enough WZDC should be able to manually tune.


You would think with how crowded the spectrum is in the BoshWash corridor that they could consolidate some of those 480i only channels onto subchannels


----------



## Digital Rules

I see that WZDC's directional signal is focused to areas southeast of DC which explains why WHAG is much stronger at my location.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *danboot* /forum/post/20807929
> 
> 
> Does anyone in the Fairfax VA area have Directtv CHOICE XTRA? I am wondering what they are paying in taxes. I see right now they are offering it for $42.99 which would be much less than I am paying for cable but I am interested to know what the EXTRA charges/taxes may be.
> 
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Dan



I'm in Virginia Beach and have that package. Here's how it's listed on my bundled Verizon bill...


DIRECTV Sales Tax 1.50

DIRECTV Virginia Communication Services Tax 3.95


----------



## TheKrell




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *danboot* /forum/post/20807929
> 
> 
> Does anyone in the Fairfax VA area have Directtv CHOICE XTRA?



Just for completeness, I'm paying $3.50 in taxes with Dish and I'm in Fairfax.


----------



## machpost

As if the Redskins themselves weren't embarrassment enough, the game tonight is in SD on WRC. HD on CSN Washington only.


----------



## AntAltMike

Quote:

Originally Posted by *machpost* 
As if the Redskins themselves weren't embarrassment enough, the game tonight is in SD on WRC. HD on CSN Washington only.
Wasn't it the same way last year?


----------



## mdviewer25

Quote:

Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* 
Wasn't it the same way last year?
I think Comcast Sportsnet had exclusive HD rights last preseason and I guess this preseason too. How they managed to get it I don't know. I personally think that all sports should be in HD if it is OTA. I does look slightly better than years past when it was like watching a computer screen.


----------



## machpost

Quote:

Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*
Wasn't it the same way last year?
Yep. And it's still dumb.


----------



## CLT OTA Nut




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> Yep. And it's still dumb.



CSN - MA was blacked out in Harrisburg on D*, even though CSN -MA is my RSN.


----------



## StantonGuy

I usually just lurk here, but I wanted to say thanks for the HDOTA antenna recommendation from someone else from Capitol Hill. I ordered the same one (hope it works as well for me).


More broadly, I'm renovating the house and running wires everywhere after the HVAC system replacement left me two sets of holes running throughout the house. Do splitters for the TV reception degrade the signal significantly even if nothing is attached at the other end?


----------



## CLT OTA Nut




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StantonGuy* /forum/post/20832694
> 
> 
> I usually just lurk here, but I wanted to say thanks for the HDOTA antenna recommendation from someone else from Capitol Hill. I ordered the same one (hope it works as well for me).
> 
> 
> More broadly, I'm renovating the house and running wires everywhere after the HVAC system replacement left me two sets of holes running throughout the house. Do splitters for the TV reception degrade the signal significantly even if nothing is attached at the other end?



Yes they do. You can choose to go with a distributed amp splitter, but that is still going to add noise into the line which will degrade performance. Best thing to do is try it with and without splitters. You may have enough RF that it doesn't impact viewing.


----------



## StantonGuy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CLT OTA Nut* /forum/post/20832738
> 
> 
> Yes they do. You can choose to go with a distributed amp splitter, but that is still going to add noise into the line which will degrade performance. Best thing to do is try it with and without splitters. You may have enough RF that it doesn't impact viewing.



Thanks for the fast reply! What I'll probably do then is get a splitter and then only hook up the cables as needed. I'm running a lot of cables too (two to each room, one each side, or more in the living room and to the basement apartment so maybe 16 locations when all is said and done--though obviously not watching TV in all 16 at one time).


According to TVFool I'm just 5-6 miles from most of the DC broadcast stations and will be putting a Winegard MS 1000 Metrostar Omnidirectional Non-Amplified TV Antenna up on the roof this weekend so reception should be good.


Oh, does anyone (on the Hill at least) know if using that antenna and DC Access for internet causes any interference? Matt at DC Access didn't think it would. With DC Access I'll be getting my internet to the house wirelessly too. The antenna for that is facing pretty much due east so I don't think it should interfere if we place the antennae right.


----------



## CLT OTA Nut




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StantonGuy* /forum/post/20833176
> 
> 
> Thanks for the fast reply! What I'll probably do then is get a splitter and then only hook up the cables as needed. I'm running a lot of cables too (two to each room, one each side, or more in the living room and to the basement apartment so maybe 16 locations when all is said and done--though obviously not watching TV in all 16 at one time).
> 
> 
> According to TVFool I'm just 5-6 miles from most of the DC broadcast stations and will be putting a Winegard MS 1000 Metrostar Omnidirectional Non-Amplified TV Antenna up on the roof this weekend so reception should be good.
> 
> 
> Oh, does anyone (on the Hill at least) know if using that antenna and DC Access for internet causes any interference? Matt at DC Access didn't think it would. With DC Access I'll be getting my internet to the house wirelessly too. The antenna for that is facing pretty much due east so I don't think it should interfere if we place the antennae right.



If you are only 5-6 miles from the towers, your biggest concern might be overload... in that case, splitters shouldn't make a huge difference. Are you interested in pulling in B-More as well? If so, there are some creative ways you can do this without using a rotor (focusing lobes of the antenna's pattern with a short node towards DC and the long node towards Baltimore)


If only DC, I still don't know about a 16 way unamplified splitter, but you should be alright.


You might want to checkout a 2 way splitter off of the antenna going to 2 CM 3418 which are 8 way amplified "splitters" or distribution amps... Depending on how long the runs are this may help, and you may be able to have everything live at once.


You may still overload the RF with any amplification...


Are all 16 feeds going to a central junction?


----------



## StantonGuy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CLT OTA Nut* /forum/post/20833353
> 
> 
> If you are only 5-6 miles from the towers, your biggest concern might be overload... in that case, splitters shouldn't make a huge difference. Are you interested in pulling in B-More as well? If so, there are some creative ways you can do this without using a rotor (focusing lobes of the antenna's pattern with a short node towards DC and the long node towards Baltimore)
> 
> 
> If only DC, I still don't know about a 16 way unamplified splitter, but you should be alright.
> 
> 
> You might want to checkout a 2 way splitter off of the antenna going to 2 CM 3418 which are 8 way amplified "splitters" or distribution amps... Depending on how long the runs are this may help, and you may be able to have everything live at once.
> 
> 
> You may still overload the RF with any amplification...
> 
> 
> Are all 16 feeds going to a central junction?



Yes, I'd like to get Baltimore too, if I can. Fred on the Hill posted here that with the antenna I ordered (crossing fingers it gets here on time) that he got a lot of the stations.


The aim is the run the cable from the antenna to a central location in the house (it's a row house--14 feet wide--and run cables from there to the two bedrooms on the upstairs, common rooms on the first floor, as well as to the two bedroom basement apartment).


I have a small collection of smaller splitters I've gathered from over the years so I'll experiment and keep you posted. Not all of the cables are even run yet to all of the rooms.


Here is my location
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...3e4767a03f98dc 

so the DC stations should be strong. I do watch a lot of PBS and want to get as many of those as possible.


None of the cable runs will be terribly long from the central location.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO

Don't forget, you lose 3dB per split. Remember that each unused output of a splitter needs to be terminated with a 75 ohm termination, or you risk having even more loss and poor equalization


Another thing to check is make sure the splitter(s), especially if older units, have frequency response out to at least 1Ghz. There are a lot of 900 or even 450Mhz spliters floating around from the old analog cable days. These old splitters do not do well in the DTV world. Passive or active, the best splitters for DTV are rated for 2Ghz or above.


----------



## AntAltMike

Digital broadcast frequencies only go up to 698 MHz, and in this market, the highest frequency used is 692 MHz. While many old cable TV systems only carried channels up to 450 MHz, splitters rated to that frequency are very uncommon, as the previous incarnation of splitters were rated to 890 MHz (UHF channel 83). Splitters commonly rated to 806 MHz (UHF channel 69), 864 MHz (cable channel 135) or 890 MHz are all ideal for off-air use.


I used to use the MS-1000 antennas in this market because they often allowed passable reception from WMPT Annapolis, which was a very important channel for the older crowd, and I had good results using them in Laurel to catch both markets at near equal signal strength. Their weakness, of course, is that in a metropolitan area with tall buildings, they will also receive reflected signals more readily than would a directional antenna, but fortunately, digital signals are more impervious to the deleterious effects of a competing, reflected signal than were analog signals. In other words, if the reflected signal component is, say, 20 dB weaker than the desired, direct component, it will have no adverse effect on reception, whereas a reflected analog signal at that level would develop a ghost image.


That's the good news. The bad news is, because you can't actually "see" the reflected signal component, you can't gradually and continuously optimize your reception. I can do it with a spectrum analyzer. When a signal is corrupted by a reflection, the "plateau" image of the digital channel is not flat, and so I can turn the antenna until it flattens, but you can't do that.


I don't know if the current version of that antenna has a directionality indicator on it. An omni-directional antenna is not non-directional. I used to figure out where it was pointing by peaking it at a known transmitter and then marking it there, which also helped me keep my sanity when then trying to optimize it for reception of other stations.


I'd say that the first thing you should do is optimize it for Washington, DC reception and mark it so you can return it to that position. Then you might try to optimize if for Baltimore reception, keeping a close eye on your channel 24 reception because that will be the weakest Baltimore commercial station. If you can get 24 and see you are stable with the other channels, that might be your best orientation. If you can't get a stable 24, then you will have to use your own priorities in trying to stabilize any other Baltimore reception if you cannot find one unique sweet spot for the antenna's placement and orientation.


----------



## CLT OTA Nut

Anyone know if the 'Skins Colts game will be televised throughout the CSN-MA territory tonight or just in DC?


The last 'Skins Steelers game was blacked out for some reason in Harrisburg, although the Steelers feed was available locally on CBS.


CSN-MA is my RSN on D*... Hoping they won't black this out.


----------



## pahdtv

I just looked at the guide and the game tonight is blacked out for me. I have Dish and CSN-MA is also my RSN.I live near Hershey, Pa.


----------



## AntAltMike

About a decade ago, I got a call one Sunday from a person who was "a personal assistant to Dan Snyder, the owner of the Washington Redskins". He told me they had bought a training facility in Ashburn that had an inoperative C-Band system on it and they wanted to know if I could get it running in time for that evening's Pittsburgh/Dallas preseason exhibition game. This was before these games were available via DirecTV. I told him the call had forwarded to me at my warehouse, and that I would close up here and then go to see another customer in their area that I had promised I would drop in on if I was ever in the neighborhood, and then I would take care of them.


About ten minutes later he called me back and said, "Mr. Snyder said that if you'll do us first, you can charge us extra". While I'm sure that Mr. Snyder did in fact say that, I don't think this young man realized he was supposed to be coy about it.


I drove to their facility and saw that the dish's "actuator arm", which is the screwjack that moves it, was rusted solid and there was a bees nest in the reception feedhorn, and the receiver had a repair tag on it issued by one of my competitors a couple years earlier that pronounced it to be in need of shop service. I told the assistant that I would have no trouble restoring this system to service, but they would not be able to watch TV on it for another couple of hours.


About ten minutes later, he came back to the rooftop and said, "Mr. Snyder said he's going to watch the game elsewhere, but he wants you to complete the repair anyway." Well, there aren't a whole lot of "elsewhere's" where he could watch a game that is only being telecast in Pittsburgh and Dallas, but within minutes, a helicopter arrived and Danny ran out to it and flew off into the sunset. Must be nice...


----------



## Kelly From KOMO




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/20841966
> 
> 
> Digital broadcast frequencies only go up to 698 MHz, and in this market, the highest frequency used is 692 MHz. While many old cable TV systems only carried channels up to 450 MHz, splitters rated to that frequency are very uncommon, as the previous incarnation of splitters were rated to 890 MHz (UHF channel 83). Splitters commonly rated to 806 MHz (UHF channel 69), 864 MHz (cable channel 135) or 890 MHz are all ideal for off-air use.



I believe if you ran a bandwidth sweep using an RF network analyzer as I have, you would be surprised as to the equalization/bandpass/impedance characteristics of a splitter that is rated out to '900 Mhz' and one that is rated to 2Ghz. In fact, several of the 3 way splitters (one from RS in particular) saw high end attenuation approaching 8dB at 510Mhz, while some were not even close to flat across a single 6Mhz UHF channel space.


Trust me, splitters don't seem like they could make a difference, but rather could mean the difference between receiving some channels reliably and not.


----------



## CLT OTA Nut




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/20843655
> 
> 
> I believe if you ran a bandwidth sweep using an RF network analyzer as I have, you would be surprised as to the equalization/bandpass/impedance characteristics of a splitter that is rated out to '900 Mhz' and one that is rated to 2Ghz. In fact, several of the 3 way splitters (one from RS in particular) saw high end attenuation approaching 8dB at 510Mhz, while some were not even close to flat across a single 6Mhz UHF channel space.
> 
> 
> Trust me, splitters don't seem like they could make a difference, but rather could mean the difference between receiving some channels reliably and not.



Any "observations" on the CM 3418?


----------



## Kelly From KOMO

I haven't had an opportunity to test the CM 3418 Distribution Amp, but Channel Master generally makes some pretty good products.


----------



## StantonGuy

Thanks Kelly and CLT! The antenna is supposed to go up on the roof this morning. I don't have roof access from my house so however it gets oriented is probably how it's going to be for a long time.


I will definitely have to upgrade the splitters when I get that far on this project.


The biggest problem with consistent reception I have in this neighborhood is from the constant helicopters...


----------



## rviele

Quote:

Originally Posted by *StantonGuy* 
Thanks Kelly and CLT! The antenna is supposed to go up on the roof this morning. I don't have roof access from my house so however it gets oriented is probably how it's going to be for a long time.


I will definitely have to upgrade the splitters when I get that far on this project.


The biggest problem with consistent reception I have in this neighborhood is from the constant helicopters...








they wouldn't be those black helicopters that every ones been seeing would they?


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/20843655
> 
> 
> I believe if you ran a bandwidth sweep using an RF network analyzer as I have, you would be surprised as to the equalization/bandpass/impedance characteristics of a splitter that is rated out to '900 Mhz' and one that is rated to 2Ghz. In fact, several of the 3 way splitters (one from RS in particular) saw high end attenuation approaching 8dB at 510Mhz, while some were not even close to flat across a single 6Mhz UHF channel space.
> 
> 
> Trust me, splitters don't seem like they could make a difference, but rather could mean the difference between receiving some channels reliably and not.



I use a Blonder Tongue BTSA-5 as my primary field strength meter. It's bandwidth resolution selections are 100 KHz and 1 MHz. I also carry an Applied Instruments NS-1, 1-2000 MHz white noise source in its accessory pouch (they cut the price of those in half last year, from an unreasonable $380 down now to a somewhat less unreasonable $190), as the nummies who designed the BTSA-5 didn't include an internal noise generator like they had with the BTSA-4. I also carry a Chinese clone of the Hameg 1 GHz analyzer, which isn't really a lab grade device either but it does display a larger range of signal strengths, which is obviously more important when working with off-air signals than cable source ones.


Since my primary business is servicing master antenna systems in a metropolitan market that was one of the last to go to cable and which actually had a building code requirement that any multiple dwelling unit over a certain size had a community antenna system in it and I think that code requirement was in effect until the mid 1980s, I get to service a lot of equipment labeled "Finco", "Transifier" and "Lasalle", but admittedly, I see less Radio Shack components than any other.


One passive splitting component that consistently underperforms its published specs is the 8-way, vertical port splitter. I have tested several of the ones that are parallellagram shaped and found that they typically lost 15 to 16 dB. I broke three different brand ones open, including a Channel Master, and all three split signals by using two-way nodes with ferrite beads on them. The only 8-way vertical port splitter in a parallellagram case that lost just 11dB was a Blonder Tongue, but I didn't pry the back off to see its internal construction.


About a decade ago, when the DBS satellite industry (DirecTV and DISH) began extending the intermediate frequency range it used for certain products, some of the manufacturers of passive devices simply pasted 2,100 MHz stickers over the original 1,450 GHz ones, but unfortunately, that didn't stop them from rolling off starting at about 1,700 MHz. I had some where the sticker was put on upside down and the port locations don't even match the labels.


The satellite industry used to make readily available a bunch of oversized, flat splitters that were labeled 950-2,150 MHz that worked just fine at cable and broadcast frequencies, but the ones that were labeled 450-1,750 MHz were disasters. They would notch out cable channels 4 and 17 (which is a harmonic of 4). I used several of them in a 150 unit building I was wiring one Labor Day weekend when I had no access to additional parts, and wound up driving 200+ miles back there on my own dime to replace them.


Some of the Radio Shack splitter horror stories may come from one of their products having been misidentified. There were some UHF/VHF diplexers that had ambiguous labeling on the packaging that would lead the purchaser to think they were splitter/combiners when they weren't.


One thing to keep in mind when you contemplate the likely performance of a splitter that is "rated" to 2 GHz is that the impetus for manufacturing such a product isn't from any industry segment that places a premium on flatness in the lower half of that band. It is primarily from the satellite TV business, which now requires suitable performance in the 250-750 MHz range for DirecTV's fairly robust, WB (wide band) intermediate frequency signal distribution. Those signals (QPSK or 8PSK) can take a lickin' and keep on tickin'. If someone pays Scientific Atlanta prices for Scientific Atlanta products, they can be assured they are getting what they paid for. I used to say the same thing about Blonder Tongue, but Blonder Tongue started making what they called "Z-Line" products a decade ago because the master antenna business had become a "price" business. I won't libel those products here and will not make explicit criticisms of their low priced passive items, but can tell you that their active, Z-line products were technically inferior to their more expensive products and many did not meet their published specs.


I can buy splitters rated to 2 GHz for a dollar each bearing labels that say "Tru-Spec" or "Pico" but I would not expect or rely upon them to be flatter in the broadcast TV band (typically 174-692 MHz in most markets) than units rated to 800 or so MHz. A company making 2 GHz passives to be retailed for a buck each will simply assure that they pass the 10 MHz return signals and that they don't roll off more than about 5dB over their upper 500 MHz. The wholesale price of these components is too small for them to be manufactured as laboratory grade components.


A hobbiest has no way of confirming whether his more expensive splitter with the wider rated bandwidth is superior to his cheap ones he is contemplating replacing. He can pay Monster or Channel Plus big money but not necessarily get better performance.


A Metrostar 1000 antenna located within ten miles of fullpower transmitters with line of sight reception will typically develop over 20 dBmV of signal strength on those channels. A receiver will tune reliably with unamplified input signals down to -30 dBmV. An efficient 16-way split loses 14 dB. A crappy one might lose four or five more than that. The cable loss is maybe 6dB per hundred feet. I think he could split that signal making his own "pigtail" splices and not using splitters at all and his only fear would be ingress.


If I didn't have a signal meter and my spectrum analyzer to evaluate what I was installing, I'd probably buy a brand splitter that the local cable TV company was using, like Regal or Antronix. I replaced an entire, 120 port trunkline system with Antronix splitters that were rated to cable TV frequencies (typically, 1,000 MHz, maybe) and swept it and found it to be flawless. I have more faith in their flatness in the broadcast band than I would in the flatness of 2 GHz splitters labeled Tru Spec or Pico. You can get Antronix splitters in small quantities at reasonable prices on eBay.


----------



## StantonGuy




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rviele* /forum/post/20845692
> 
> 
> they wouldn't be those black helicopters that every ones been seeing would they?



Ha! I see all kinds and colors protecting the airspace here and spotlighting hoodlums occasionally. Seriously, for weeks after 9/11 it was pretty much a few times an hour 24/7. I'm just a few blocks from the Capitol building.


----------



## tylerSC




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Kelly From KOMO* /forum/post/20844404
> 
> 
> I haven't had an opportunity to test the CM 3418 Distribution Amp, but Channel Master generally makes some pretty good products.



That's true...their amps/preamps are very good but their antennas are not what they used to be. Chinese made imitations of their original American made products.


----------



## oriolesmagic

Does it always look this bad?


Finally made the jump to HD and Friday night was watching the Ravens/Chiefs preseason game (Atlantic Broadband cable) and there were tons of artifacts, especially during commercials. I also noticed some motion on the screen in text and within the abc 7 logo along the side of the screen.


Quit watching it, watching the re-air that night on NFL Network and it was much better picture quality.


Now that I've finally got HD, I don't think I can ever watch SD trash again.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *oriolesmagic* /forum/post/20851159
> 
> 
> Does it always look this bad?
> 
> 
> Finally made the jump to HD and Friday night was watching the Ravens/Chiefs preseason game (Atlantic Broadband cable) and there were tons of artifacts, especially during commercials. I also noticed some motion on the screen in text and within the abc 7 logo along the side of the screen.
> 
> 
> Quit watching it, watching the re-air that night on NFL Network and it was much better picture quality.
> 
> 
> Now that I've finally got HD, I don't think I can ever watch SD trash again.



WJLA has looked really bad for several years now.


----------



## mkfs

I refer to RTV, previously known as RTN; as seen on WJLA 7.3


Since they lost NBC material, their ad numbers must be somewhere in an ocean trench. Their only spots are PI's for ambulance chasers, Medicare maggots, and various 'colleges'...


Worse, they seem to have NO limit as to how often they run a given spot. They do some 2-4 times PER HOUR. If I have to listen to that _I have a daughter..._ one for the FlyByNightU one more time, I may well go bonkers and start holing some hardline.


Sigh, where's Angel Martin when I need him?


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mkfs* /forum/post/20860444
> 
> 
> ...where's Angel Martin when I need him?



Yesterday, when I was looking to see what programming was being carried on "Cloo" (formerly Sleuth), I went looking for the Rockford files and while it isn't on Cloo, I did find Rockford Files episodes available on the internet, at about four or five frames per second, for free, albeit with commercials for things that you couldn't pay me to buy.


Here ae the first three seasons on xfinity:

http://xfinitytv.comcast.net/tv/Rock.../full-episodes


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/20860715
> 
> 
> I did find Rockford Files episodes available on the internet, at about four or five frames per second, for free, albeit with commercials for things that you couldn't pay me to buy.



The first three seasons are available on Hulu; but RTN etc had all 6+ years. I see that on other shows as well, such as Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere; only the first years are there on Hulu. I assumed it was limited to those that made it to DVD.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mkfs* /forum/post/20860444
> 
> 
> I refer to RTV, previously known as RTN; as seen on WJLA 7.3
> 
> 
> Since they lost NBC material, their ad numbers must be somewhere in an ocean trench.



I agree, I never watch them anymore. AntennaTV is still great, tho! Finally finished Too Close For Comfort. I never saw the last season (where Henry became the editor of the Marin Bugler). It's like a new show without the daughters, and a new house and new cast. Strange.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/20866458
> 
> 
> ...Finally finished Too Close For Comfort. I never saw the last season (where Henry became the editor of the Marin Bugler). It's like a new show without the daughters, and a new house and new cast. Strange.



Have you ever seen the last season of Happy Days? It could have been renamed, "The Cunningham's Boarding House."


BTW, in case you missed it, Ernie eventually became the third son on My Three Sons.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/20866480
> 
> 
> Have you ever seen the last season of Happy Days? It could have been renamed, "The Cunningham's Boarding House."



Can't say I watched it that long... Looking back, I notice they jumped the shark in Season 5, but went on to make 11 seasons of Happy Days! That's probably 6 years I didn't watch...







Fortunately, Too Close For Comfort only ran for 6 seasons, which was already too long.


----------



## CatMan932

As it's going to be a stay at home weekend, I was just wondering if anyone here knows if the hurricane will effect tropo propagation. My power probably will probably go out before I can do much DXing, but I know rain is a good reflector, and I have a decent indoor antenna, the Terk i1080.


----------



## Digital Rules

The tropo forecast website is showing moderate activity in our area through early afternoon. Not seeing anything here though.


----------



## geostone

Honestly, do we really need four local stations regurgitating Irene news? Can't they take shifts? I know, they're competitors, but come on!


----------



## AntAltMike

Is everyone getting WETA broadcast TV OK? I'm not getting it here in College Park, but since my antenna is pointed at Baltimore, if they are on reduced power that might be enough to prevent me from getting an adequate signal off the antenna. I saw no mention of transmitter problems when I checked their website a few hours ago.


----------



## Digital Rules

There must have been some weird atmospheric activity last night. Reception was bizzare here last night as well on some stations.


----------



## etc50

Where can I find a list of the OTA channels and what's on TV?


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *etc50* /forum/post/20887417
> 
> 
> Where can I find a list of the OTA channels and what's on TV?



One place: titantv.com


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *etc50* /forum/post/20887417
> 
> 
> Where can I find a list of the OTA channels and what's on TV?


 zap2it.com


----------



## ProjectSHO89




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *etc50* /forum/post/20887417
> 
> 
> Where can I find a list of the OTA channels and what's on TV?



Among other sources, try titantv.com


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/20887950
> 
> zap2it.com





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ProjectSHO89* /forum/post/20887999
> 
> 
> Among other sources, try titantv.com



zap2it.com is run by THE tv listings service Tribune Media Services. I checked both for our area and both are incomplete though both had all the major channels listed...


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *etc50* /forum/post/20887417
> 
> 
> Where can I find a list of the OTA channels and what's on TV?


 www.tvguide.com


----------



## Trip in VA

I'm going to offer another vote for TitanTV. Even if it lists the wrong channels, it's completely customizable so in many cases you can make it correct for you.


- Trip


----------



## CLT OTA Nut




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *etc50* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Where can I find a list of the OTA channels and what's on TV?



Titan Tv


----------



## StevenJB

I just noticed today that Baltimore's WMAR-TV has discontinued the use of Virtual 2.2 as the 480i SD duplicate of 720p HD Virtual 2.1. 2.2 is now doing the weather; the same thing that 2.3 used to do. 2.3 is no longer being used at present and no longer scans. Since WMAR is an ABC sister of Washington's WJLA, does anyone have any knowledge whether 2.3 will be used like 7.3 or it will be dropped altogether?


----------



## geostone

According to rabbitears.info, WMAR 2.2 will broadcast the Live Well network "soon".


----------



## jgantert

Quote:

Originally Posted by *geostone* 
According to rabbitears.info, WMAR 2.2 will broadcast the Live Well network "soon".
Appears to be correct...
http://livewellnetwork.com/wmar-schedule/8290780 

"TV Schedule for Baltimore, Maryland

The Live Well Network will be broadcast in the Baltimore area on the following channels:

Over the Air 2.2

[Verizon] 463

Comcast 204"


----------



## jgantert

Anyone know if BounceTV ( www.bouncetv.com ) is going to have a Baltimore or DC affiliate when it launches September 26th?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/20906316
> 
> 
> Anyone know if BounceTV ( www.bouncetv.com ) is going to have a Baltimore or DC affiliate when it launches September 26th?



Maybe on one of the channel 49's that have been running test patterns for over a month now?


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/20906316
> 
> 
> Anyone know if BounceTV ( www.bouncetv.com ) is going to have a Baltimore or DC affiliate when it launches September 26th?



Not according to the list on Wikipedia, and I sure as hell hope that we get a MeTV first, but the key determinant will be what income it can generate. Maybe more advertisers will pay more for ads on black college, second tier sports coverage than they would to sponsor Daniel Boone and The Adventures of Robinhood.


Since there are already time slots allocated to JJ Walker as Jimmy (or is it Jimmy Walker as JJ?) and Fred Sanford (who I still watch) on other networks, I'm picturing BounceTV becoming the local broadcast Moesha/Urkel/What's Happenin' channel.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *geostone* /forum/post/20902834
> 
> 
> According to rabbitears.info, WMAR 2.2 will broadcast the Live Well network "soon".



Looks like 2.2 is LWN as of today! Tivo still has not updated the guide info, tho.


----------



## URFloorMatt

Some shows to be on the lookout for, new in HD, to see if local affiliates are carrying them in HD:


The Bold and the Beautiful on CBS @ 1:30 p.m. (beginning 9/7)

Inside Edition on WUSA9 @ 9:00 a.m.

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire on WJLA @ 12:30 p.m.

Litton's Weekend Adventure on WJLA @ 8:00 - 11:00 a.m. Saturdays


----------



## Marcus Carr

Looks like WBFF will start showing Millionaire next week.


----------



## pclement

What happen to the digital weather on 2-3? This is the last OTA weather channel in Baltimore.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pclement* /forum/post/20913290
> 
> 
> What happen to the digital weather on 2-3? This is the last OTA weather channel in Baltimore.



Apparently, 2-2 is now the Live Well Network, whatever that is. I think they should bring back WeatherNet Digital on 2-3. I think they might have been trying to eliminate one of their digital channels since 2-2 used to be a SD version of 2-1.


----------



## pclement

Quote:

Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* 
Apparently, 2-2 is now the Live Well Network, whatever that is. I think they should bring back WeatherNet Digital on 2-3. I think they might have been trying to eliminate one of their digital channels since 2-2 used to be a SD version of 2-1.
Not sure why they had 2-2 for SD for so long. I hope they return 2-3 to Digital Waether, but I would not hold my breath that this will happen. Both 7-2 and 9-2 have the digital weather, but it is for DC not Baltimore. My wife really liked the WMAR radar coverage (we do not have smart phones as a backup).


----------



## KC4JGC

Wouldn't count on your weather coming back. Though there's usually at least one station in every market in the mid atlantic region that has a 24/7 weather channel, unless that channel offers at least 3 hours of childrens programming per week, the station is in violation off the FCC's I/E programming regs. None of the stations in Norfolk have a wx channel for that reason. Maybe WMAR finally got that memo....


----------



## AntAltMike

Quote:

Originally Posted by *KC4JGC* 
Wouldn't count on your weather coming back. Though there's usually at least one station in every market in the mid atlantic region that has a 24/7 weather channel, unless that channel offers at least 3 hours of childrens programming per week, the station is in violation off the FCC's I/E programming regs. None of the stations in Norfolk have a wx channel for that reason. Maybe WMAR finally got that memo....
Last I knew, WUSA was meeting their chldren's programming requirement by running three hours of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom on Sunday mornings on its channel 9.2, which is otherwise a Doppler Weather sweep. They didn't even expand the bandwidth. Whenever a leopard moves, its spots become squares.


----------



## wcharlie

I'm in DC and usually get an excellent over-the-air signal from MPT (22.1 and 22.2) with a small UHF antenna. Since last night (Sept 9) that station's signal strength reads much lower, according to my Panasonic DVR. Anyone else seeing this or have information? Thanks.


I'm a first-time poster, so let me know if I'm in the wrong place or any other helpful hints.

Thanks, Charlie


----------



## Digital Rules

MPT-22 is at full strength here in Arlington. Your antenna may just need a minor adjustment.


Is the antenna inside or outside?


----------



## wcharlie

Hi Digital Rules; thanks for your response.


My antenna is indoors, but near a window with a view to the east. For the past 2 years, I almost always get signal meter readings of 98 to 100 for 22.1-22.3 with that small UHF antenna. I do have to turn the antenna for best reception of 26.1-26.4 or 32.2. Of course, 50.1-50.3 comes in fine no matter what.


Anyway, starting Friday evening, I noticed that the meter reading was 89-90 (this is the "signal meter" function on my Panasonic DMR-EZ48V). I have found that level to be a little low for reliable recording. The reading was still at that level at 11 a.m. EDT today (Sept 10). I did check just now (1 p.m. EDT) and the reading has increased to consistently 94-95 which should work just fine.


I'm guessing that it does have to do with the transmitter and I've sent an email to WMPT to inquire. If I get a response, I'll post again here.


Thanks,

Charlie


----------



## wcharlie

Time now 2 p.m. EDT Sept 10. I had not changed anything about my antenna position or orientation, and WMPT (22.1-22.3) is now reading its usual 99-100 on my "signal meter."


All's well with the World










Charlie


----------



## AntAltMike

Quote:

Originally Posted by *wcharlie* 
I'm in DC and usually get an excellent over-the-air signal from MPT (22.1 and 22.2) with a small UHF antenna. Since last night (Sept 9) that station's signal strength reads much lower, according to my Panasonic DVR. Anyone else seeing this or have information? ...
I just measured the WMPT 42 (actual channel) signal strength coming off a directional antenna on top of a 12 story building in McLean, Virginia using a for-really-real signal strength meter and saw no change from my previous reading of about three weeks ago.


----------



## mattydr

Watching the NFL games on FOX5 today, via FiOS in Manassas FWIW.


Anyone else hearing weird video-game like sounds in the crowd noise? I mean it sounds like someone is playing a Nintendo Game & Watch or something, I assume its compression artifacts, not sure though.


----------



## GoPhilly

Is anyone else having problems with WRC-DT, channels 4-1, 4-2, and 4-3? I haven't received them since Thursday afternoon. Thanks!


----------



## Kelly From KOMO

Nope. I'm in Stafford VA. and have been watching WRC off and on for the past two weeks with no issues, even in the heavy rain when my satellite gets rained out. Watching it right now in fact.


----------



## StevenJB

Does anyone have any updated info concerning the following low power digital stations that either may now be transmitting or intend to eventually transmit. Each of these low power digitals are in the Washington metro region and will eventually occupy many of the remaining available unassigned RF channels. I am not receiving any signal from each of these stations:


WQAW-LD RF20 Virtual 69

WDDN-LD RF22 Virtual 23

WRZB-LD RF32 Virtual 31

WDCN-LD RF43 Virtual 6

WIAV-LD RF44 Virtual 58

W45DN-D RF45 Virtual 23


Thanks.


----------



## Trip in VA

WQAW-LD is on the air, but I don't know anyone who receives it. http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun...lineup_6612035 


WDDN-LD was on the air but is now off pending resolution of a licensing issue. (They let their permit lapse by mistake and WMDO filed a competing permit.)


W45DN-D is supposedly licensed but I've never seen any evidence that it's on the air.


The rest are not yet operational.


- Trip


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/20938828
> 
> 
> WQAW-LD is on the air, but I don't know anyone who receives it. http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun...lineup_6612035
> 
> 
> WDDN-LD was on the air but is now off pending resolution of a licensing issue. (They let their permit lapse by mistake and WMDO filed a competing permit.)
> 
> 
> W45DN-D is supposedly licensed but I've never seen any evidence that it's on the air.
> 
> 
> The rest are not yet operational.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Trip, thanks always for the info and update. Reception of these LDs is a good performance measure for the efficiency of my antenna and distribution amp.


----------



## oaks




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/20938828
> 
> 
> WQAW-LD is on the air, but I don't know anyone who receives it. http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun...lineup_6612035




No change with WQAW-LD since I first spotted it in July 2010.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...4#post18862154 


69.1 = Azteca America

69.2 and 69.3 = billboard

69.4 = Video of 69.1 but no audio.


----------



## tylerSC




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/20906316
> 
> 
> Anyone know if BounceTV ( www.bouncetv.com ) is going to have a Baltimore or DC affiliate when it launches September 26th?



BounceTV should show up on WWBT-12 from Richmond as they have signed a contract with Raycom stations. Not sure if that channel is recievable in parts of DC market such as Fredericksburg or Manassas. I've heard that their VHF12 signal is hard to recieve. But I would expect a DC or Baltimore station to pick it up eventually, as there is a sizeable African-American population in that area.


----------



## fmw63




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GoPhilly* /forum/post/20936024
> 
> 
> Is anyone else having problems with WRC-DT, channels 4-1, 4-2, and 4-3? I haven't received them since Thursday afternoon. Thanks!



Yes, barely picking up anything last few days, but signal strength shows around 80 when it does come in, but continuously goes in and out. I thought it was the trees near me...


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast has added Game2 HD in Baltimore.


----------



## shelby68gt500




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pclement* /forum/post/20916859
> 
> 
> Not sure why they had 2-2 for SD for so long. I hope they return 2-3 to Digital Waether, but I would not hold my breath that this will happen. Both 7-2 and 9-2 have the digital weather, but it is for DC not Baltimore. My wife really liked the WMAR radar coverage (we do not have smart phones as a backup).



Spoke to the CE at WMAR yesterday and he informed that the Weather Radar that used to be seen on 2-3 will not be returning. For the foreseeable future, their channels will be as they are now, 2-1 being ABC HD and 2-2 being Living Well.


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmw63* /forum/post/20945889
> 
> 
> Yes, barely picking up anything last few days, but signal strength shows around 80 when it does come in, but continuously goes in and out. I thought it was the trees near me...



I haven't had any problems with WRC for a long time down this way, even with 12+ inches of rain soaking the roof above my attic antenna.


----------



## Digital Rules

WZDC-25 is now broadcasting OTA in 1080i HD. The sub-channels are gone.


----------



## OldHud




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GoPhilly* /forum/post/20936024
> 
> 
> Is anyone else having problems with WRC-DT, channels 4-1, 4-2, and 4-3? I haven't received them since Thursday afternoon. Thanks!
> 
> Kelly From KOMO: Nope. I'm in Stafford VA. and have been watching WRC off and on for the past two weeks with no issues, even in the heavy rain when my satellite gets rained out. Watching it right now in fact.
> 
> fmw63: Yes, barely picking up anything last few days, but signal strength shows around 80 when it does come in, but continuously goes in and out. I thought it was the trees near me...
> 
> Dave Loudin: I haven't had any problems with WRC for a long time down this way, even with 12+ inches of rain soaking the roof above my attic antenna.



I've had some problems in the evening. 4 has been dropping in and out recently. I normally get a dependable signal, so I assume the problem is interference from tropo conditions. I suppose it could be adjacent-channel interference from 49, which is very dependable, but their programming is kinda boring.


----------



## ota.dt.man




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *GoPhilly* /forum/post/20936024
> 
> 
> Is anyone else having problems with WRC-DT, channels 4-1, 4-2, and 4-3? I haven't received them since Thursday afternoon. Thanks!



Yes, during the week of Hurricane Irene and tropical storm Lee, we lost WRC Ch 4.1 (48) for at least 3 days - ZERO signal. We had to resort to WBAL 11 and WGAL 8 Lancaster, which typically are not consistent for us. Our backyard neighbor's evergreen windbreak (comprised of very tall >25 yr old Norway Spruce







) may have played a role. Another AVS member said that "_when the trees were wet they acted like a "wall of water" that blocked signals_." However, we didn't have reception issues with any of the other network stations out of DC during this these storms.


----------



## ota.dt.man

Has anyone tried the following:

http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/ganging.html 


See: "Example 1: Frederick, Maryland 21709" (scroll about 2/3 of the way down)


----------



## tylerSC

Well, since several DC and Baltimore channels are now VHF, not sure how well a UHF antenna will receive all the stations such as WJLA, WUSA, WBAL, and WJZ. A HiVHF/UHF combo antenna such as a WG 7696 and preamp may work better there, and perhaps a rotor. But maybe there is a sweet spot for both cities, not sure. But should be a good reception area for 2 major markets with the right set up. And another thing I like about Frederick, is that they still have plenty of Roy Rogers restaurants everywhere up there, whereas they almost disappeared everywhere else.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tylerSC* /forum/post/20965037
> 
> 
> Well, since several DC and Baltimore channels are now VHF, not sure how well a UHF antenna will receive all the stations such as WJLA, WUSA, WBAL, and WJZ. A HiVHF/UHF combo antenna such as a WG 7696 and preamp may work better there, and perhaps a rotor. But maybe there is a sweet spot for both cities, not sure. But should be a good reception area for 2 major markets with the right set up. And another thing I like about Frederick, is that they still have plenty of Roy Rogers restaurants everywhere up there, whereas they almost disappeared everywhere else.



From what I have personally read on the message boards since the June 2009 analog cutoff is that a UHF antenna is not very effective on high band VHF. Feel free to disagree with me. I have no personal knowledge because I never took down my old UHF/VHF antenna. When digital TV was in its infancy, the antenna people were telling everyone that they would have to get rid of their "analog" antennas because they wouldn't work for a digital signal. A lot of people took down their old antennas and installed "digital" UHF antennas because no stations were broadcasting digital on any VHF channels prior to June 2009. They couldn't because analog was still active on VHF RF2-13 until June 2009. No one anticipated that many of the old Hi-VHF RF7-13 analog stations would choose to return to their old analog assignments for digital because of the low transmitter power advantage. Now, many people are stuck with UHF only antennas because they thought that Hi-VHF RF7-13 would not be used anymore for digital as well as Lo-VHF RF2-6. I'm sure that the situation is even worse for those viewers who have to watch digital stations on Lo-VHF RF2-6 using a UHF antenna.


----------



## PaulGo

I do not believe their are any digital station procrastinating in the low-VHF range (2-6). This bandwidth was given back for other uses. Where I live I was able to get channels 11 and 13 when they were on UHF but not anymore. I would need another VHF antenna and it's not worth it. I do get channel 2 (UHF) and channel 54 consistently.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PaulGo* /forum/post/20977821
> 
> 
> I do not believe their are any digital station procrastinating in the low-VHF range (2-6).



You would be mistaken. The two nearest operating low-VHF stations are WPVI-6 in Philadelphia and my local WBRA-3 Roanoke.


- Trip


----------



## Dave Loudin

^^^ plus WDTV 5, Weston/Clarksburg, WV.


----------



## StevenJB

Also WCYB-TV Bristol, VA and a new CP for a DT station in Seaford, DE, both on 5 in the region.


----------



## StevenJB

Trip --


1. Shortly after the June 2009 post-transition, WBAL-11 was granted an emergency STA to increase their non-directional (ND) power from 5kW to 26.6 kW. I noticed that they have an approved CP on file with the FCC for 26.6 kW ND. Are they currently operating using 26.6 kW ND and can I assume that the 26.6 kW will be permanent?


2. I know that I asked you before but please bear with me because I am old and have a short attention span! Does WJZ-13 cause more interference to WPXW-12 then WBAL-11? Is that why WJZ-13 has to use a directional antenna?


3. Pertaining to WPXW-12, I assume that they are currently transmitting from near Martinsburg, WV using 23 kW ND? One of their FCC records indicates that they are also licensed to transmit from NW in DC with a power of 150 W using a DA on Channel 12. Are they transmitting from two separate locations?


Thanks


----------



## AntAltMike

Is anyone having any trouble with WTTG Fox-5 and WETA MyTV-20? I have had complaints reported to me from some reliable operators of master antenna systems that support large properties, but I haven't gone out to analyze the problems yet.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/20978590
> 
> 
> Is anyone having any trouble with WTTG Fox-5 and WETA MyTV-20?



Both are working fine in Falls Church. Using a Toshiba LCD if that helps any.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/20978590
> 
> 
> Is anyone having any trouble with WTTG Fox-5 and WETA MyTV-20? I have had complaints reported to me from some reliable operators of master antenna systems that support large properties, but I haven't gone out to analyze the problems yet.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/20978864
> 
> 
> Both are working fine in Falls Church.



Based on the reports I received, the problem, if there is/was one, will more likely be with specific tuners rather than location. I'll be visiting the complaining sites tday, but the engineer at WTTG said he was unaware of any change in their signal that might be causing anyone any problems.


----------



## Dave Loudin

Any particular time? I almost always tune in 5 or 20 at least once in the afternoon and once in the evening and have not had problem one (old Samsung tuner).


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/20978501
> 
> 
> Pertaining to WPXW-12, I assume that they are currently transmitting from near Martinsburg, WV using 23 kW ND? One of their FCC records indicates that they are also licensed to transmit from NW in DC with a power of 150 W using a DA on Channel 12. Are they transmitting from two separate locations?
> 
> 
> Thanks



Yes, two different locations. WPXW's allocation contour kisses NW DC, but RF 12 stands no chance due to terrain blockage. The repeater in DC is meant to be a fill-in for the northwest DC metro that they have the right to serve.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin* /forum/post/20979192
> 
> 
> Yes, two different locations. WPXW's allocation contour kisses NW DC, but RF 12 stands no chance due to terrain blockage. The repeater in DC is meant to be a fill-in for the northwest DC metro that they have the right to serve.



WPXW's Martinsburg signal was receivable here in Arlington with a small rooftop antenna, but the low power DC transmitter overrides that signal now.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/20978501
> 
> 
> Trip --



Dave already answered your third question, so I'll leave that one out.



> Quote:
> 1. Shortly after the June 2009 post-transition, WBAL-11 was granted an emergency STA to increase their non-directional (ND) power from 5kW to 26.6 kW. I noticed that they have an approved CP on file with the FCC for 26.6 kW ND. Are they currently operating using 26.6 kW ND and can I assume that the 26.6 kW will be permanent?



I can't be 100% sure they're at 26.6 kW, but I think they are at that level.



> Quote:
> 2. I know that I asked you before but please bear with me because I am old and have a short attention span! Does WJZ-13 cause more interference to WPXW-12 then WBAL-11? Is that why WJZ-13 has to use a directional antenna?



I don't remember which is worse, but I know they both interfere. The difference is that WWPX granted WBAL a waiver for that interference in exchange for a waiver allowing the construction of that second transmitter that Dave mentioned. WJZ I believe did not seek an interference waiver, thus the directional pattern.


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/20979575
> 
> 
> I can't be 100% sure they're at 26.6 kW, but I think they are at that level.



I'm pretty confident 11 is still at 26.6 kw's as it is still right on the receivable edge of the digital cliff in Manassas. 13 is still too weak to receive regularly at my test loaction.


----------



## Dave Loudin

I see 13 more often than 11 down here at the south end of the metro.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Just noticed that WJZ is doing live remotes and reports in HD


----------



## tylerSC




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/20979643
> 
> 
> I'm pretty confident 11 is still at 26.6 kw's as it is still right on the receivable edge of the digital cliff in Manassas. 13 is still too weak to receive regularly at my test loaction.



That's a change from the analog days as Baltimore channels used to be easily receivable in Northern Virginia. Also, in Alexandria and Arlington, I remember living in high rise apt. bldgs with master antennas on the roof that provided free OTA reception of most local DC and Baltimore stations. In most situations, in the DC metro area, did apartment and hotel antenna systems convert to digital for OTA reception? Or did they just switch to cable/sat? I remember most large apartment complexes there had very good local OTA antenna systems in the analog days and was just wondering if they were preserved and upgraded for digital.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tylerSC* /forum/post/20982233
> 
> 
> ...In most situations, in the DC metro area, did apartment and hotel antenna systems convert to digital for OTA reception? Or did they just switch to cable/sat? I remember most large apartment complexes there had very good local OTA antenna systems in the analog days and was just wondering if they were preserved and upgraded for digital.



Few if any hotels use demodulated broadcast digital as their source for local broadcast channels. Nearly all use DirecTV.


Quite a few condos upgraded their MATV systems to digital. Many had to because the right to free off-air service was incorporated into the deeds or bylaws. I service many such properties where lots of cable TV subscribers are also connected to the master antenna system to enable them to get Baltimore HDTV programming as well as continuing to be able to see the front door/lobby camera channel.


----------



## ota.dt.man

Washington, DC Signal Strength Report

9/23/11, Noon, Raining:


4.1 (*48*) - *0%*

5.1 (36) - 78-86%

7.1 - 66-74%

9.1 - 88-94%

20.1 (35) - 80-88%

26.1 (27) - 20-34%

32.1 (33) - 48-62%

50.1 - 48-60%

62.1 (28) - 100%

66.1 (34) - 94-100%


Why is WRC-TV the *only* DC station that we can't receive?


Is anyone else NW of DC having difficulty with WRC-TV?


----------



## MrHifi

In the 1950's, the National Bureau of Standards ran tests around the DC area looking at signal strength at various points of the compass around DC. The best reception occurred to the Northeast, i.e. Laurel, Beltsville, Hyattsville. Other areas did not fare as well including areas of Montgomery County and points to the south in Virginia. A technician who worked for me told me about the study in which he participated. He is gone now as are the VHF stations upon which testing was based. I d not have any more information but thought those in Laurel might like knowing their preferred status.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ota.dt.man* /forum/post/20990634
> 
> 
> Washington, DC Signal Strength Report
> 
> 9/23/11, Noon, Raining:
> 
> 
> 4.1 (*48*) - *0%*
> 
> 5.1 (36) - 78-86%
> 
> 7.1 - 66-74%
> 
> 9.1 - 88-94%
> 
> 20.1 (35) - 80-88%
> 
> 26.1 (27) - 20-34%
> 
> 32.1 (33) - 48-62%
> 
> 50.1 - 48-60%
> 
> 62.1 (28) - 100%
> 
> 66.1 (34) - 94-100%
> 
> 
> Why is WRC-TV the *only* DC station that we can't receive?
> 
> 
> Is anyone else NW of DC having difficulty with WRC-TV?



I haven't been following your plight in this thread, but in one recent post you said you can get channel 8 from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, meaning you are in the boonies somewhere. Have you posted a TVfool.com report for your exact location?


You are also not listing any signal for 14.1 (actual 15) which is transmitted from the same tower as WRC, and your WETA signal "strength" numbers are in the dumpster as well, so I suspect that you do not have a line of sight signal path to the Washington, DC transmitting towers.


----------



## oriolesmagic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrHifi* /forum/post/20990787
> 
> 
> In the 1950's, the National Bureau of Standards ran tests around the DC area looking at signal strength at various points of the compass around DC. The best reception occurred to the Northeast, i.e. Laurel, Beltsville, Hyattsville. Other areas did not fare as well including areas of Montgomery County and points to the south in Virginia. A technician who worked for me told me about the study in which he participated. He is gone now as are the VHF stations upon which testing was based. I d not have any more information but thought those in Laurel might like knowing their preferred status.



And this would make sense as to why WRC isn't found up here in Allegany County when all the other DC stations are.


----------



## guadalupegrande4

WNUV (The CW-Baltimore) is doubling up on the logo tonight! :\\

​

/edit - The logo's even on during the commercials....

​


----------



## ota.dt.man




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/20991141
> 
> 
> I haven't been following your plight in this thread, but in one recent post you said you can get channel 8 from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, meaning you are in the boonies somewhere. Have you posted a TVfool.com report for your exact location?
> 
> 
> You are also not listing any signal for 14.1 (actual 15) which is tranwmitted from the same tower as WRC, and your WETA signal "strength" numbers are in the dumpster as well, so I susspect that you do not have a line of sight signal path to the Washington, DC transmitting towers.



We are 40 miles NW of DC. Correct, not line of sight - 2edge.


4.1 & 14.1 on the same tower - very interesting.
4.1 (48) - 0-14%
14.1 (15) - 48-64%

Frequency related reception issue?


Equipment:
CM-3021 (4-bay) in a 2nd-floor S-facing window w/o a

screen.
CM-0100DSB preamp
2-way splitter
CM-7000 D-2-A converter
Samsung DTB-H260F ATSC tuner


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ota.dt.man* /forum/post/20991894
> 
> 
> ...4.1 & 14.1 on the same tower - very interesting.
> 4.1 (48) - 0-14%
> 14.1 (15) - 48-64%
> 
> Frequency related reception issue?..



Yeah, because channel 4.1 is on UHF 48, (677 MHz center frequency, IIRC) whereas 14.1 is on UHF 15 (479n MHz)


----------



## ota.dt.man




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/20992115
> 
> 
> Yeah, because channel 4.1 is on UHF 48, (677 MHz center frequency, IIRC) whereas 14.1 is on UHF 15 (479n MHz)



Mike,

Any recommended solutions?


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ota.dt.man* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Washington, DC Signal Strength Report
> 
> 9/23/11, Noon, Raining:
> 
> 
> 4.1 (48) - 0%
> 
> 5.1 (36) - 78-86%
> 
> 7.1 - 66-74%
> 
> 9.1 - 88-94%
> 
> 20.1 (35) - 80-88%
> 
> 26.1 (27) - 20-34%
> 
> 32.1 (33) - 48-62%
> 
> 50.1 - 48-60%
> 
> 62.1 (28) - 100%
> 
> 66.1 (34) - 94-100%
> 
> 
> Why is WRC-TV the only DC station that we can't receive?
> 
> 
> Is anyone else NW of DC having difficulty with WRC-TV?



I'm in Montgomery County, and rarely get WRC.

J


----------



## Digital Rules

I have had issues with WRC-4 in Manassas at one location while everything else worked well (except 50). I solved the issue by *lowering* the antenna about 1 foot & adding a low gain amplifier.


It's certainly no fault of WRC as it is one of the best DC stations at my test location near Madison, VA.(68 miles out)


----------



## ota.dt.man

Per AntAltMike, 4.1 & 14.1 are on the same DC tower. We can consistently receive 14.1 but not 4.1:
4.1 (*48*) - 0-14% (w/splitter), 0-32% (w/o splitter)
14.1 (15) - 48-64% (w/splitter)

Thus, it's not a factor of direction or distance.


Are there any reception techniques might help NBC WRC-4 (RF 48) or alternatively WBAL-11, other than a rooftop antenna at 40 miles with 2Edge reception?


----------



## StantonGuy

Quick update: so the omnidirectional antenna is up, no idea which way it's facing. I have one splitter on it in the attic with one end going to the master bedroom (only TV set up there currently with the renovations downstairs) and the other to a distribution panel (though nothing yet hooked up to the other end of those--working on it).


Here are the channels I'm getting now with signal strength according to my converter box (I didn't originally get 25, 32 and 54 for a while, but I just rescanned and picked them up):


4 NBC 85 (signal strength)

5 FOX 65

7 ABC 85

9 CBS 83

14 Uni 87

20 MyN 78

25 Tel 65

26 PBS 62

30 IND 57

32 PBS 36

49 IND 55

50 CW 76

54 CW 32

66 ION 73


All of the stations, including those with low signal, have fine picture quality (not a frequent viewer of many of the stations including the Spanish-language ones).


I used to get channel 22 PBS with the powered rabbit ears (funny now looking at the TV and not seeing them anymore) and would very much like to get it back (glad 32 reappeared too!). Any suggestions? Unfortunately, I don't have established roof access (requires hauling a two story ladder onto the back deck on floor up, then going up two stories from there; and of course, I have no such ladder). Typical Capitol Hill row house.




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StantonGuy* /forum/post/20834344
> 
> 
> Yes, I'd like to get Baltimore too, if I can. Fred on the Hill posted here that with the antenna I ordered (crossing fingers it gets here on time) that he got a lot of the stations.
> 
> 
> The aim is the run the cable from the antenna to a central location in the house (it's a row house--14 feet wide--and run cables from there to the two bedrooms on the upstairs, common rooms on the first floor, as well as to the two bedroom basement apartment).
> 
> 
> I have a small collection of smaller splitters I've gathered from over the years so I'll experiment and keep you posted. Not all of the cables are even run yet to all of the rooms.
> 
> 
> Here is my location
> http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...3e4767a03f98dc
> 
> so the DC stations should be strong. I do watch a lot of PBS and want to get as many of those as possible.
> 
> 
> None of the cable runs will be terribly long from the central location.


----------



## StantonGuy

Another update: Clear night tonight (first really clear night in a long time), so I rescanned and picked up 22 channels now (compared with 14 last time).


Channel-(signal strength before)/signal strength now
*2 ABC (NEW) 65*

4 NBC 85/86

5 FOX 65/90

7 ABC 85/92
*8 Spanish, not sure which, no EPG, 31*

9 CBS 83/90
*11 NBC (NEW) 46

13 CBS (NEW) 54*

14 Uni 87/93

20 MyN 78/90
*22 PBS (NEW) 60*

25 Tel 65/86

26 PBS 62/80

30 IND 57/78

32 PBS 36/77
*45 FOX (NEW) 60

47 WMDO, Spanish, not sure which (NEW) 32*

49 IND 55/

50 CW 76/90

54 CW 32/83
*60 ION (NEW) 40*

66 ION 73/74


Really happy with my decision now. Let's hope I can keep many of these new stations when the weather isn't so clear.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Just noticed that the Limited Basic channels are no longer available in analog and have a "digital equipment needed" message. Must have happened recently.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Comcast shifts last of its customers to digital*


October 06, 2011|Liz F. Kay


If you've got an analog television and subscribe to Comcast's "limited basic" package --- basically broadcast channels plus Univision and some government access --- you'll need some new equipment.


Comcast is offering customers up to three digital adapters at no additional monthly charge, said spokeswoman Alisha Martin. With the adaptors, these customers will get digital-quality picture and sound as well as an additional dozen channels.


Customers who subscribe to other levels of service have already moved to digital-only, she said.


The changes begin Thurs., Oct. 6. Customers can order a self-install kit by calling 1-877-634-4434 or going to www.Comcast.com/digitalnow . Or they can stop by a customer service center.


You can also have a technician professionally install them, but you'll have to pay a fee, Martin said.

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/201...igital-quality


----------



## gregchak

So I finally got a UHF and VHF antenna. It's a ClearStream 2 Complete. With my previous antenna, CM 4228, I was able to get everything except for WJLA because it did not do ell in the VHF spectrum. So I bought the ClearStream 2 Complete because it touted good reception in the high VHF 7-13. It came today so I installed it immediately. UHF channels come in surprisingly stronger than before, but I am still not able to get much more than a blip on my signal meter for WJLA. My line runs through a FM trap and amplifier.


Am I missing something here? Is there anything I need to do special to pick up WJLA? Thanks for the help!


----------



## ADTech

Greg,


What are you using for an FM Filter? I'd suspect that your issue is FM interference, but the efficiency of FM traps may vary at the low end of the FM band so that they still allow plenty of signal to get past it, especially affecting channel 7 with 2nd order harmonics. The old Radio Shack trap was such a unit. Our unit, on the other hand, completely wipes the FM band and might be what is needed if FMI is indeed the issue.


BTW, an amp ought not to be needed for the Fairfax area. It might also be a suspect. I'd suggest removing it for the time

being.


Also, how is channel 9? Its forecast power at your address is within a half a dB of channel 7.


Other possibilities: Other interference or multi-path.


----------



## gregchak




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ADTech* /forum/post/21110715
> 
> 
> Greg,
> 
> 
> What are you using for an FM Filter? I'd suspect that your issue is FM interference, but the efficiency of FM traps may vary at the low end of the FM band so that they still allow plenty of signal to get past it, especially affecting channel 7 with 2nd order harmonics. The old Radio Shack trap was such a unit. Our unit, on the other hand, completely wipes the FM band and might be what is needed if FMI is indeed the issue.
> 
> 
> BTW, an amp ought not to be needed for the Fairfax area. It might also be a suspect. I'd suggest removing it for the time
> 
> being.
> 
> 
> Also, how is channel 9? Its forecast power at your address is within a half a dB of channel 7.
> 
> 
> Other possibilities: Other interference or multi-path.



I do have a RS amp with a FM trap built in. It's one I bought probably 4-5 years ago. I use the amp because I have some long cable runs. I can see a noticeable decrease in signal strength with it turned off over those runs.


Channel 9 comes in great, running about 95% signal strength. That one came in good with my CM4228 also.


I removed the amp from the line and the signal degraded a lot and still no signal for channel 7. Which FM trap unit are you referring to?


----------



## ADTech

I used to have a few RS amps (both pre-amps and distribution amps) that I had previously accumulated over the last 10 years. When I finally got lab equipment here about 1 year and a half ago and tested them, they all went in the garbage can.


For the purpose of troubleshooting, simplify your reception system to a single cable run to a single set, preferably one with a signal or quality meter built in. If it can do direct RF channel access tuning without a scan (a Samsung, for example), even better.


Your TVfool numbers suggest that any amplifier would be both unnecessary and likely harmful to your reception unless carefully selected. Turning the amplifier off is not a valid test as unpowered amplifiers usually turn into 20-40 dB attenuators. You must completely remove or bypass it in order to assess the relative difference with or without the amp.


Your reception of channel 9 suggests the problem isn't the antenna itself. Therefore, I'd suggest it's still one of the two previously mentioned possibilities. FMI is is the easiest to test for so I'd try it first. Run to a Radio Shack store (yes, i know I don't care for their amps) and pick up an FM Trap, catalog # 15-0024. They're around $7-8 in the store, so they're not as cheap as those that can be ordered but they are convenient. The new RS trap is much better than their previous one at removing the low end of the FM band, but still might not be enough as it tails in gradually and tries to save channel 6 a bit. If the RS one doesn't do the trick, I can send you one of ours which is guaranteed to wipe the whole FM band by at least 20 dB. You may, in fact, need two of them in series.


If the trap doesn't work, the next thing is to try a different antenna location. Move it at least 5' in any direction and try again. You might find a spot that isn't affected by multi-path.


----------



## Digital Rules

Yikes, using a preamp in Fairfax is like using gasoline as starting fluid for a charcoal grill.










Seriously channel 7's signal is like a torch & should be no problem to receive in Fairfax. You need to start by completely getting rid of the pre-amp & connect one TV directly to the antenna. Unplugging the amp won't accomplish this... it must be physically removed from the circuit.


Then experiment with slight height adjustments to the antenna, or you may need to move it to a different location. You shouldn't need an FM trap unless you are very close to the large tower at 495 & Lee Highway.


If you still can't get channel 7, you will likely need to get a more directional antenna to resolve the issue. I have used the small RCA ANT-751 as far out as Manassas & get a solid signal on all DC channels. (except 50)


----------



## ProjectSHO89

He has a "real" VHF antenna... It's a simple dipole so it cannot reject multi-path, but it is correctly sized and qualified for VHF reception.


See the tech data sheet at http://www.antennasdirect.com/cmss_f...%2BVHF-TDS.pdf


----------



## Digital Rules

Yes, but if there is a lot of multipath, it can't see it working as well as a more conventional design.


----------



## Digital Rules

I suggested replacing the antenna as a last step, but still think the pre-amp or possibly FM as the cause the of problem.


I prefer to use more conventional designs to help avoid potential VHF multipath issues.


----------



## geostone

I'm in the Centreville area and had problems with Ch. 7 but not Ch. 9. Ended up having to relocate the antenna by a few feet on the roof and that solved the problem.


George


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ADTech* /forum/post/21111744
> 
> 
> If the trap doesn't work, the next thing is to try a different antenna location. Move it at least 5' in any direction and try again. You might find a spot that isn't affected by multi-path.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *geostone* /forum/post/21112317
> 
> 
> I'm in the Centreville area and had problems with Ch. 7 but not Ch. 9. Ended up having to relocate the antenna by a few feet on the roof and that solved the problem.
> 
> 
> George



This was a HUGE issue for me when I first installed my antenna. Moved (NOT turn) it a few feet and it was a world of difference! Definately a troubleshooting option...


----------



## gregchak

First, thanks everyone for your input. I have tried out all of the suggestions without any luck. I have taken the pre-amp with FM trap built-in out of the cable run. I have inserted the RS FM trap that was suggested (# 15-0024) at the antenna. I have moved the antenna to the other end of my attic; it was in the far north and I moved it to the far south end, house faces E-W. In all instances channel 9 comes in great. I am a bit befuddled at this point.


----------



## Digital Rules

Likely an attic induced multipath issue. I'm assuming there's no chance of mounting the antenna outside?


I have an ANT-751 or Winegard 7694 antenna you can borrow if you would like.


----------



## gregchak




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/21113103
> 
> 
> Likely an attic induced multipath issue. I'm assuming there's no chance of mounting the antenna outside?
> 
> 
> I have an ANT-751 or Winegard 7694 antenna you can borrow if you would like.



Yea, an outside mount isn't really an option. Our attic has insulation in the floor but not in the rafters.


I would definitely like to take you up on your offer of testing out a different antenna to see if it works better. PM me with your info.


----------



## Scott Gammans

WTTG seems to be having trouble remembering to "throw the switch" and turn on HD broadcasts. _Terra Nova_ was completely in SD last Monday night, and lately I've noticed that for whatever reason the last five minutes or so of _The Simpsons_ gets broadcast in SD. Does anyone know what's going on?


----------



## dmorack




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Scott Gammans* /forum/post/21116024
> 
> 
> WTTG seems to be having trouble remembering to "throw the switch" and turn on HD broadcasts. _Terra Nova_ was completely in SD last Monday night, and lately I've noticed that for whatever reason the last five minutes or so of _The Simpsons_ gets broadcast in SD. Does anyone know what's going on?



This same problem happened back in April 2010. The response I received from WTTG Engineering was:

"We were receiving faulty network control signals."


I reported the problem had returned a few weeks ago. I received no response.


-D.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ProjectSHO89* /forum/post/21112093
> 
> 
> He has a "real" VHF antenna... It's a simple dipole so it cannot reject multi-path, but it is correctly sized and qualified for VHF reception.



I could have used a better choice of words. I'm sure the Clearstream is quite capable in many situations, but was thinking the OP may need a stronger, more directional antenna for his situation. Curious to see what the final outcome is.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Scott Gammans* /forum/post/21116024
> 
> 
> WTTG seems to be having trouble remembering to "throw the switch" and turn on HD broadcasts. _Terra Nova_ was completely in SD last Monday night, and lately I've noticed that for whatever reason the last five minutes or so of _The Simpsons_ gets broadcast in SD. Does anyone know what's going on?



Is something different with the OTA broadcast than from FiOS? This issue did not occur on my recording of Terra Nova from WTTG on FiOS. It was in HD.

The only thing I've noticed with the few shows I've watched from WTTG this season is occasionally when coming back from commercials it has been in SD for a second or two before going to HD.


But all my recordings I watch are from FiOS now. Any of the few OTA recordings my TiVos make are only backups(one day I'll dump the Season Passes for the OTA recordings) and I never watch them.


----------



## Scott Gammans

Dunno. I watch WTTG via FiOS here in Brambleton. Could FiOS be putting the SD signal on the HD channel? In any event, I find Terra Nova only barely watchable as it is... I doubt I will bother to continue tuning in if WTTG can't be bothered to see that it's broadcast correctly.


----------



## URFloorMatt

I notice this regularly, particularly during The Simpsons broadcasts. It also happened today near the beginning of the GB-Minn broadcast.


I'm wondering if it has something to do with local ads/broadcast. WTTG can kill the HD feed, for instance whenever they do weather or news crawls. Obviously there are no crawls showing up, but I'm wondering if someone's asleep at the wheel on weekends.


I have never noticed it during a House or Fringe broadcast.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Scott Gammans* /forum/post/21117861
> 
> 
> Dunno. I watch WTTG via FiOS here in Brambleton. Could FiOS be putting the SD signal on the HD channel? In any event, I find Terra Nova only barely watchable as it is... I doubt I will bother to continue tuning in if WTTG can't be bothered to see that it's broadcast correctly.



If you were watching from FiOS then I don't know what the issue was. The feed here was definitely an HD feed since an SD feed has no detail in the picture.

I would have watched it from Hulu+ if it was broadcast in SD here.


Maybe your VHO is different than here and they did put the SD feed on?


----------



## gregchak




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/21116175
> 
> 
> I could have used a better choice of words. I'm sure the Clearstream is quite capable in many situations, but was thinking the OP may need a stronger, more directional antenna for his situation. Curious to see what the final outcome is.



Well it certainly isn't for a lack of trying. I have done everything I can think of. I have tweaked settings to the point where everything is about 92% on the signal meter, even channel 50. And channel 7 is still not found. I made a direct run from the antenna directly to a tuner box, removing all splitters, etc except for FM trap. Nothing. I tried a different antenna, a better FM trap. Nothing. I don't know what it is about where I am but that signal just won't work for me. Anyone else in the Merrifield area, west of Gallows have any luck with channel 7?


----------



## CLT OTA Nut




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gregchak* /forum/post/21121672
> 
> 
> Well it certainly isn't for a lack of trying. I have done everything I can think of. I have tweaked settings to the point where everything is about 92% on the signal meter, even channel 50. And channel 7 is still not found. I made a direct run from the antenna directly to a tuner box, removing all splitters, etc except for FM trap. Nothing. I tried a different antenna, a better FM trap. Nothing. I don't know what it is about where I am but that signal just won't work for me. Anyone else in the Merrifield area, west of Gallows have any luck with channel 7?



Clearstream 2 has a very low "front to back" ratio which means that it can't zero in on the signal you are looking for effectively. Sounds like you are going to need a more qualified, directional hi-vhf antenna. I'm a true believer in the Winegard VHF antenna products... maybe you could find an instance of a hi-vhf antenna that would fit the dimensions of your attic when aimed directionally that you could combine with your clearstream implementation as UHF... I think it's going to take more than a simple dipole (which is the VHF on your CS2Complete) to pull 7.


I had to do extensive research to figure out how to get RF6 from Philly, but with proper research, I now have it locked... even 90 miles away.


Best of luck. VHF is a fickle thing.


----------



## Sunocoguy

Could you please do us a favor!! Please take the antenna OUTSIDE and run the cable DIRECTLY to your TV or Tuner!! Do a rescan and report back if channel 7 will come in for you. The EXACT antenna that was dropped off to you WILL WORK in my frontyard and on the ground and will pick up BALTIMORE stations!! I live LESS than 5 miles from you!!


Thanks


----------



## ADTech

Greg,


You've received some very good advice so far, especially relocating the antenna for testing and to try other antennas with more directivity. Hope you take the opportunity to try those avenues out.


If you'd like, I'll be happy to send you a couple of our FM filters to see if it makes a difference as ours will completely wipe out ALL of the FM band. I'd sure like to see you be successful, and, of course, to learn what resolves your issue with this station.


Let me know.


Afterthought. Please do a "Double Rescan" and see if that helps. Your tuner might be befuddled.

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_publi...C-291403A1.pdf 


Have you tried more than one receiver, by chance?


----------



## gregchak

Thanks everyone for your helpful suggestions for my channel 7 issue. I am working through a few different things. Time is limited during the week for tinkering. I will definitely report back with my findings!


----------



## pclement




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *shelby68gt500* /forum/post/20948202
> 
> 
> Spoke to the CE at WMAR yesterday and he informed that the Weather Radar that used to be seen on 2-3 will not be returning. For the foreseeable future, their channels will be as they are now, 2-1 being ABC HD and 2-2 being Living Well.



Thanks for the update!


----------



## Dave Loudin

New DX from yesterday: WZDC-CD from 44 miles away. Nominally a -10 dB noise margin.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin* /forum/post/21137718
> 
> 
> New DX from yesterday: WZDC-CD from 44 miles away. Nominally a -10 dB noise margin.



Good reception for a low power digital at that distance. Remember the good old analog days when a good DX pickup was from several hundred miles away? Now, some of us have trouble receiving digital channels less than 40 miles away. I miss those days when I could receive Philly and Richmond reliably during the summer.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/21118050
> 
> 
> I notice this regularly, particularly during The Simpsons broadcasts. It also happened today near the beginning of the GB-Minn broadcast.
> 
> 
> I'm wondering if it has something to do with local ads/broadcast. WTTG can kill the HD feed, for instance whenever they do weather or news crawls. Obviously there are no crawls showing up, but I'm wondering if someone's asleep at the wheel on weekends.
> 
> 
> I have never noticed it during a House or Fringe broadcast.



It happened again tonight, as it always does, when the final segment returns after commercials. Picture is windowboxed, not HD, but the HD bug remains.


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/21147186
> 
> 
> It happened again tonight, as it always does, when the final segment returns after commercials. Picture is windowboxed, not HD, but the HD bug remains.



First off, the local affiliate HD bug, produced by the splicer, under control of Fox LA, will appear over the local screwup. That is because the local video is fed through the splicer.


As for the station not switching back to net correctly, that is all dependent on how they have things wired up and how much control the MC operator has.


There will be a tally output that goes to the splicer when the MCO punches up Fox net. But, if the operator hits the wrong button, i.e., the local bypass that contains the analog output from the Fox rack, the you get what you see. In the meantime, Fox net sends out the control bytes to the splicer that turns on the local affiliate bug and bingo, the wrong video with the bug.


To me it appears to be a MCO training issue with regard to the weekend staff.


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mrvideo* /forum/post/21147262
> 
> 
> To me it appears to be a MCO training issue with regard to the weekend staff.



This was my speculation as well, but it has been happening since The Simpsons went HD, which was over 2 years ago now.


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/21147556
> 
> 
> This was my speculation as well, but it has been happening since The Simpsons went HD, which was over 2 years ago now.



The way the broadcast chain works is the same, no matter what the program material is.


No idea why they like to screw with particular shows.


----------



## tvdrew




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/21147186
> 
> 
> It happened again tonight, as it always does, when the final segment returns after commercials. Picture is windowboxed, not HD, but the HD bug remains.



I sent Fox5DC an inquiry and received the following response:



> Quote:
> We appoligize. Fox Network uses a system that takes over control of our signal to give us HD. Somtimes that change doesn't work correctly and we are only left with an SD signal. Fox Network is aware of the problem and they are working to correct it.



(Impressive responsiveness--I used a website form and got this back within about an hour)


----------



## mrvideo

^^^^

Their splicer is broken? They haven't fixed it in 2 years? The splicer was changed out with the new 2.0 version. While it is true that the old splicer is still in the rack and being used, I don't remember where in the chain it is being used. I'd have to dig through the block diagram of the splicer rack to see.


In a nutshell, this doesn't make any sense. After two years, you'd think that a major market station would tell Fox to rip out the splicer rack that they have and put in a new one.


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *URFloorMatt* /forum/post/21147556
> 
> 
> This was my speculation as well, but it has been happening since The Simpsons went HD, which was over 2 years ago now.



BTW, The Simpsons going HD should have nothing to do with this problem. The reason is that even when the show was produced in SD, the video was upconverted to 720p for air, since ALL video had to be 720p when fed to the affiliates via their HD stream.


IIRC, Fox went 100% HD only with their network feed in the summer of 2010. Before that, they fed both SD and HD, for stations that were SD only. The local Fox affiliate is internally still analog, but with the splicer system they were still able to got HD for Fox net. They just put in an analog to 720p upconverter to feed the splicer. But, they were OTA digital as well as OTA analog (not all stations in the US were digital until the last moment, but major markets were).


Lastly, why only your market? I've not heard of any other Fox station having this issue.


----------



## Kelly From KOMO

Maybe you’ve uncovered a vast FOX HD conspiracy! Bandwidth conservation? “The truth is out there.”


Please...


----------



## Digital Rules

 http://www.broadcastingcable.com/art...th_WUSA_TV.php


----------



## joblo

Sounds good.


But I hope it's _*in addition to*_ rather than _*instead of*_ the radar subchannel. I check that channel practically every time I go out to decide whether or not to carry an umbrella, whether or not to look for indoor parking, etc. Most useful subchannel on the dial, imo.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/21165815
> 
> 
> Sounds good.
> 
> 
> But I hope it's _*in addition to*_ rather than _*instead of*_ the radar subchannel. I check that channel practically every time I go out to decide whether or not to carry an umbrella, whether or not to look for indoor parking, etc. Most useful subchannel on the dial, imo.



This surprises some people do this. I have a weather folder in my IE favorites with any link to up-to-the-minute forecasts, radar loops, weather discussions, etc... No way would I rely on an old loop of weather. This is one type of subchannel that never made it around here (SE VA)...


----------



## Remoteless




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/21166492
> 
> 
> This surprises some people do this. I have a weather folder in my IE favorites with any link to up-to-the-minute forecasts, radar loops, weather discussions, etc... No way would I rely on an old loop of weather. This is one type of subchannel that never made it around here (SE VA)...



WUSA 9-2 is live doppler radar


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Remoteless* /forum/post/21167489
> 
> 
> WUSA 9-2 is live doppler radar



Is it animated? I wrote my previous post assuming the OP has access to a computer...


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is it animated?



It is live. They will periodically jump back (30?) minutes and zip up to the present to show how features are moving.


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin* /forum/post/21175501
> 
> 
> It is live. They will periodically jump back (30?) minutes and zip up to the present to show how features are moving.



WUSA's radar feed is quite welcome in our house. I keep it up full time in one quad on our security screen, and full screen during storms.


----------



## jeffin

Hey everybody, first let me apologize if this is in the wrong place, I looked around the sight for a bit and tried some forum searches and couldn't come up with anywhere else.


I live in Montgomery Village (its between Gaithersburg and Germantown) and an interactive map I found says I am 31 miles away from TV Hill. I only care about getting the stations that carry Ravens games (WJZ mostly). So I was wondering:


1) Is possible to get a decent signal from TV Hill stations in Gaithersburg/Montgomery Village with an outdoor antenna? (I don't want to spend the time/money if smarter people then me have tried and failed.)


and


2) What set up would you recommend?


Thanks for any help you can give me,

Jeff


----------



## Digital Rules

Can you mount an antenna on the roof?


----------



## jeffin

Yes, I can mount an antenna on my roof.


----------



## Digital Rules

Using a generic address in Montgomery Village, a Winegard 7694P antenna would be my recommendation. Once you have 5 posts, an exact TV FOOL report can be posted here to make sure that particular antenna is sufficient.


----------



## armand1




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jeffin* /forum/post/21230195
> 
> 
> I live in Montgomery Village (its between Gaithersburg and Germantown) and an interactive map I found says I am 31 miles away from TV Hill. I only care about getting the stations that carry Ravens games (WJZ mostly).
> 
> 
> Thanks for any help you can give me,
> 
> Jeff



I was in the same boat as you last year. I live in Bethesda and now I can get Balt WJZ-TV Channel 13 using a Winegard HD7694P and a cheap $5 FM trap from radio shack. Assuming your tuner is fairly recent vintage you should be able to get better reception than me. I live 35.1 miles away from the Channel 13 tower. The FM trap was necessary for me because of interference from FM 107.3, a big thanks to others on this forum to help me solve this problem.


Now does anyone know how I can get WBAL-TV Channel 11 to watch the RAVENS' Thanksgiving game tonight. I assume due to adjacent or co-channel problems. According to TVfool I should be getting a stronger signal than channel 13 but I do not get any siganl for Channel 11 at all. Any ideas?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *armand1* /forum/post/21253014
> 
> 
> 
> Now does anyone know how I can get WBAL-TV Channel 11 . . . . I assume due to adjacent or co-channel problems. According to TVfool I should be getting a stronger signal than channel 13 but I do not get any siganl for Channel 11 at all. Any ideas?



I would first try a *full band FM trap* to more effectively attenuate the entire FM band.


Could be interference from channel 12 in NW DC , but the signal in Bethesda is weak enough where I'm thinking it shouldn't be detrimental to WBAL.


----------



## mrvideo

I'm curious as to how a FM trap is going to help with reception of channel 11, considering that FM starts immediately after channel 6.


I must be missing something.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mrvideo* /forum/post/21264279
> 
> 
> I'm curious as to how a FM trap is going to help with reception of channel 11, considering that FM starts immediately after channel 6.
> 
> 
> I must be missing something.



Second harmonics.


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules

I would use both traps simultaneously to really crush all the strong FM signals. Should end up with 30-40 db of attenuation with both in use.


----------



## mrvideo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/21264281
> 
> 
> Second harmonics.



Ah, forgot about those pesky little devils.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/21264235
> 
> 
> I would first try a *full band FM trap* to more effectively attenuate the entire FM band.
> 
> 
> Could be interference from channel 12 in NW DC , but the signal in Bethesda is weak enough where I'm thinking it shouldn't be detrimental to WBAL.



An HLSJ is definitely the best way to knock out FM harmonics where you don't need low band.


But in Bethesda, I suspect the problem on 11 might be a 7-9 beat, in which case you would need either a channel 9 trap or a channel 11 bandpass – a jointenna might work – to solve the problem.


----------



## guadalupegrande4

So I checked TitanTV to see what was on TV tonight, and noticed new episodes of the CW shows on tonight.


Tuned to CW Baltimore (54-1) and see the MPSSAA State Football Championships.


So I check on ​ .....

Top of page shows Supernatural as being on tonight. No mention of pre-emption, though the top article on the page is for the MPSSAA State Football Championships.


Check on the ​ page[/URL] , and it shows that Nikita and Supernatural are on. Course, they aren't.


So I decide to check Zap2it. ​ correctly list what's on tonight. Still no mention of any pre-emption or schedule movement... But scrolling through the schedule pages, I wanted to see if those 2 shows will be aired.. ​ at 8 and 9 pm[/URL] , for anyone wondering.


----------



## dmorack

Has anyone else noticed that the audio on NBC4 HD (1004) provided by Cox in Fairfax County is not Dolby Digital 5.1? It sounds like the audio was recorded with a $5 microphone. They insist it's my cable box even though I'm receiving all of the other channels with Dolby Digital 5.1. (Well, those that are broadcasting 5.1 anyway.)


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *guadalupegrande4* /forum/post/21292621
> 
> 
> So I checked TitanTV to see what was on TV tonight, and noticed new episodes of the CW shows on tonight.
> 
> 
> Tuned to CW Baltimore (54-1) and see the MPSSAA State Football Championships.
> 
> 
> So I check on ​ .....
> 
> Top of page shows Supernatural as being on tonight. No mention of pre-emption, though the top article on the page is for the MPSSAA State Football Championships.
> 
> 
> Check on the ​ page[/URL] , and it shows that Nikita and Supernatural are on. Course, they aren't.
> 
> 
> So I decide to check Zap2it. ​ correctly list what's on tonight. Still no mention of any pre-emption or schedule movement... But scrolling through the schedule pages, I wanted to see if those 2 shows will be aired.. ​ at 8 and 9 pm[/URL] , for anyone wondering.



Was correctly listed in my Comcast guide. One year they pre-empted The Vampire Diaries for this crap and showed it later - in SD. I watched it online.


----------



## guadalupegrande4




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/21299502
> 
> 
> Was correctly listed in my Comcast guide. One year they pre-empted The Vampire Diaries for this crap and showed it later - in SD. I watched it online.



Yup, watching now and its in cropped 4:3 (SD). You'd think they were fed the HD stream, so they should have it to show... :\\


----------



## Marcus Carr

Newschannel 8 to go HD in early January.

http://dcrtv.com/davetv.html


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dmorack* /forum/post/21297047
> 
> 
> Has anyone else noticed that the audio on NBC4 HD (1004) provided by Cox in Fairfax County is not Dolby Digital 5.1? It sounds like the audio was recorded with a $5 microphone. They insist it's my cable box even though I'm receiving all of the other channels with Dolby Digital 5.1. (Well, those that are broadcasting 5.1 anyway.)



If it is at all possible, try and get an OTA signal from WRC-HD 4.1 and compare it with WRC-HD on Cox. If the OTA channel is all right then the WRC link to Cox is at fault. The most likely cause of a single channel aberration on cable is the feed that the station supplies.


----------



## CycloneGT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/21305339
> 
> 
> Newschannel 8 to go HD in early January.
> 
> http://dcrtv.com/davetv.html



I still wish that it would end up on a Digital Sub Channel one day.


----------



## Potatoehead




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/21305339
> 
> 
> Newschannel 8 to go HD in early January.
> 
> http://dcrtv.com/davetv.html



Received card in mail today. Comcast Calvert County to add Newschannel 8 HD Jan. 27. (channel 808 - QVC to be moved).


----------



## compubit

Got my Jan 5th card in the mail on Monday too... 


J


----------



## Rick87Ju

All subchannels listed are in SD and stereo.


----------



## Potatoehead




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *compubit* /forum/post/21316971
> 
> 
> Got my Jan 5th card in the mail on Monday too...
> 
> 
> J



Things happen slower out here in the sticks.


Noticed new HD channel this morning (941). It is labeled CPN1H, but appears to be CSPAN-3 HD.


Still not all digital - but it looks like they are adding HD channels.


----------



## pclement




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Potatoehead* /forum/post/21317801
> 
> 
> Things happen slower out here in the sticks.
> 
> 
> Noticed new HD channel this morning (941). It is labeled CPN1H, but appears to be CSPAN-3 HD.
> 
> 
> Still not all digital - but it looks like they are adding HD channels.



What is the speed of light in the sticks?


----------



## URFloorMatt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/21305339
> 
> 
> Newschannel 8 to go HD in early January.
> 
> http://dcrtv.com/davetv.html



Saw an ad for it while watching the debate last night that mentioned carriage and channel numbers for FiOS and Xfinity.


----------



## joblo

WUSA has moved its bit-starved radar channel to 9.3, and put a higher resolution anamorphic widescreen picture on 9.2.


9.2 is currently showing Live Doppler 9000 HD, but presumably this is where Bounce TV will go when it launches.


9.3 is currently showing a three hour radar loop which really highlights the macroblocking. It looks a little better now than it did earlier today, but I don’t know if that’s because they’re still playing with bandwidth, or if there’s just less moving rain in the loop than there was earlier.


Hopefully they will ultimately put the live radar on 9.3, and that should look ok because it has very little motion.


Cox and Verizon are carrying only the bit starved 9.3 stream, not the new 9.2. Cox PSIP continues to identify it as 9.2, however, while Verizon PSIP now identifies it as 9.3.


----------



## Digital Rules

FWIW, the jump was from the WETA-FM tower. (Not TV)

http://www.arlnow.com/2011/12/15/bas...g-walnut-park/


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo* /forum/post/21354392
> 
> 
> 9.2 is currently showing Live Doppler 9000 HD, but presumably this is where Bounce TV will go when it launches.



Looks like Bounce TV has finally landed on 9.2


----------



## aaronwt

What the heck is Bounce TV?


So how much bandwidth is this taking away from 9.1?


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaronwt* /forum/post/21360837
> 
> 
> What the heck is Bounce TV?



google it.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *E55 KEV* /forum/post/21360850
> 
> 
> google it.



or Wiki it...


----------



## AntAltMike

I can't wait to watch Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom on 9.3 Sunday morning, if they still run it. Even with just one other video channel, it was so starved for bandwidth that when a leopard moved, its spots turned into squares.


I'm still bummed out that no one in this market has picked up MeTV yet, though that channel has already dropped The Streets of San Francisco, which I thought would be its strongest daytime show. I have to wonder if that was due to some kind of contractual problem rather than a pure ratings-driven decision.


Today's Saturday, Western-laden schedule includes The Rebel (Johnny Yuma, was a rebel...) Branded (marked as the one who ran...), The Guns of Will Sonnett (No brag. Just fact.), The Big Valley (The show that gave us Lee Majors and Linda Evans), The Wild, Wild West, Batman (guest-starring Cesar Romero as The Joker), and then, in prime time, Lost in Space, Star Trek, and after a mediocre (who am I to say?) movie, insomniacs can enjoy Get Smart, Car 54 Where are you? (Ooh! Ooh!), and two episodes of Honey West, followed by The Rogues. I'd probably watch about half of those shows.


Their Sunday lineup is weaker, but this weekend includes a Columbo episode guest starring Patrick McGoohan, followed by David Jansen as The Fugitive.


----------



## CatMan932

You mentioned Patrick McGoohan; sounds like the only show they are missing is The Prisoner...


----------



## mdviewer25

Last time I checked, WTTG Fox 5 showed The Big Bang Theory at 7:30pm and The Simpsons was only a HALF HOUR show. Yet titantv.com, comcast, and verizon all say The Simpsons airs from 7 - 8pm. Huh?


----------



## al.rob

Universal Sports (ch 4-3) gone? I noticed today that WRC only has two sub-channels now, and that Unversal Sports is no longer there. Is this permanent?


Al


----------



## al.rob

I just answered my own question. Per Wikipedia, effective January 2012, Universal Sports is cable/satellite only. I wonder if WRC will replace the lost sub-channel with something else?


Al


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *al.rob* /forum/post/21427521
> 
> 
> I just answered my own question. Per Wikipedia, effective January 2012, Universal Sports is cable/satellite only.



Searching Columbia, MD (21045), it's not on Comcast or FiOS either. Oh well. I'm surprised RTN outlasted it after they lost the Universal shows. Go figure.


Maybe we'll get News Channel 8?


----------



## Frankie20




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/21427909
> 
> 
> I'm surprised RTN outlasted it after they lost the Universal shows. Go figure.
> 
> 
> Maybe we'll get News Channel 8?



Another news channel?? F*$^ that!


Hopefully RTN gets replaced with Me-TV .












> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *al.rob* /forum/post/21427521
> 
> 
> I just answered my own question. Per Wikipedia, effective January 2012, Universal Sports is cable/satellite only. I wonder if WRC will replace the lost sub-channel with something else?
> 
> 
> Al



Thanks for the heads up, I just found out after reading your message.


----------



## Big J

Since Comcast is the majority shareholder in NBC/Universal, I'm not surprised. The shows will end up on Comcast's sports networks, I'm sure. Pity, my GF was looking forward to watching gymnastics. Neither of us wishes to get cable-we both cancelled Comcast.

J


----------



## AntAltMike

At about 2:45 PM today, I saw an ad on the SyFy channel saying that a new NBC Sports channel was launching today, so I went to the Comcast guide (Berwyn Heights - next to College Park), and it said that its channel 207, which had been WRC 4.3 was off the air. I then switched to my off-air tuner and got a test pattern on 4.3 (UHF channel 48), but a few minutes later, that signal was gone and a recscan of channels only found a 4.1 and a 4.2.


----------



## Potatoehead

Unfortunately, the new NBC sports channel is just a rebranding of Versus. Name has changed in my Comcast guide.


----------



## URFloorMatt

I suspect Universal Sports HD probably won't get widespread carriage until the London Olympics this summer, though Comcast systems may add it quicker.


----------



## aptt

It looks like today NewsChannel 8 began their HD feed on Verizon FiOS. It is airing in a pillarbox format (i.e., 4:3 aspect ratio picture), but are using a 16:9 control bar.


----------



## aptt

NewsChannel 8 is offically in HD as of 8:00 p.m. tonight with Capital Insider. Looks very good and it's about time!


----------



## wjzwontcomein

I live approx 30mi NW of Baltimore in 21158 at high elevation. Im using a CM4228 going to a CM7777 and then to power supply and out to TV.


I get 97/98 signal strength and am able to get 2,4,5,7,8,9,11,20,24,45,54,etc. but under no circumstances can I get even a sniff from 13 (WJZ). Paul Garnet (Engineering at JZ) suggested that I join the forum and post with the hope that someone else had encountered what I had.


Initially Paul thought an FM Trap would help (made sense since 107.7 FM is close to me) but the CM7777 has one (apparently on, there is no external switch). Ive tried multiple combinations (with/without preamp, skew, angle, etc) and consistently I get everything but JZ. We also thought the antenna might have issues with VHF but WBAL 11 comes in fine (Signal Strength 91).


Ive spend days (weeks even) trying to figure this out. Id like not to invest any more $ in a new antenna but try to make what I have work. Any suggestions are appreciated!!

[email protected]


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/21415569
> 
> 
> Last time I checked, WTTG Fox 5 showed The Big Bang Theory at 7:30pm and The Simpsons was only a HALF HOUR show. Yet titantv.com, comcast, and verizon all say The Simpsons airs from 7 - 8pm. Huh?



issue corrected as of 1/2/11


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wjzwontcomein* /forum/post/21445826
> 
> 
> . . . . but under no circumstances can I get even a sniff from 13 (WJZ)



The 4228 is primarily a UHF antenna, & any VHF reception is purely incidental. It can work well at times, but performance on VHF is unpredictable. I recommend augmenting the 4228 with one of these 3 VHF antennas for the most consitent reliability.

Very Good 
Better 
Best 



You could also try pre-filtering FM with a Radio Shack FM trap connected *before* the mast mounted pre amp. The FM trap inside the 7777 may not be providing enough attenuation if 107.7 is too strong.


Another thought is to try raising/lowering the antenna in 6 inch increments. It may be sitting in a dead spot for 13.


----------



## Retspin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wjzwontcomein* /forum/post/21445826
> 
> 
> I live approx 30mi NW of Baltimore in 21158 at high elevation. Im using a CM4228 going to a CM7777 and then to power supply and out to TV.
> 
> 
> I get 97/98 signal strength and am able to get 2,4,5,7,8,9,11,20,24,45,54,etc. but under no circumstances can I get even a sniff from 13 (WJZ). Paul Garnet (Engineering at JZ) suggested that I join the forum and post with the hope that someone else had encountered what I had.
> 
> 
> Initially Paul thought an FM Trap would help (made sense since 107.7 FM is close to me) but the CM7777 has one (apparently on, there is no external switch). Ive tried multiple combinations (with/without preamp, skew, angle, etc) and consistently I get everything but JZ. We also thought the antenna might have issues with VHF but WBAL 11 comes in fine (Signal Strength 91).
> 
> 
> Ive spend days (weeks even) trying to figure this out. Id like not to invest any more $ in a new antenna but try to make what I have work. Any suggestions are appreciated!!
> 
> [email protected]



The CM7777 has a switchable FM trap, but I believe you have to open the preamp up to get to it.


----------



## wjzwontcomein

Thanks for the suggestions. Ive now inserted an FM trap before the CM7777 and tried adjusting the antenna to different heights. Same result. WBAL 11 (90 Signal Strength), WJZ, also VHF, same transmitter location, 0 Signal Strength.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wjzwontcomein* /forum/post/21450220
> 
> 
> Same result. WBAL 11 (90 Signal Strength), WJZ, also VHF, same transmitter location, 0 Signal Strength.



Unfortunately it's hard to predict VHF performance with the 4228 from one channel to the next.


I have a 4228 in Falls Church, VA that surpisingly picks up 11 & 13 well with just an FM trap & no amplifier. The location has good elevation & the antenna is only 10 feet off the ground.


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wjzwontcomein* /forum/post/21450220
> 
> 
> Thanks for the suggestions. Ive now inserted an FM trap before the CM7777 and tried adjusting the antenna to different heights. Same result. WBAL 11 (90 Signal Strength), WJZ, also VHF, same transmitter location, 0 Signal Strength.



I have a CM4228 and WJZ and WBAL are both very stable in Laurel, MD. I can't pick them up at all with indoor UHF or VHF antennas, but the CM4228 on the roof gets them fine (which is sometimes handy for Ravens games). Although I am closer to the DC towers, Baltimore has always come in stronger for me than DC, but when I rotate toward DC, the CM4228 also has no trouble with WJLA or WUSA.


----------



## huesmann

Can someone explain to me why my channels keep switching? I have both ATSC and QAM thru FIOS. I record TV using Mindows Media Center. My NBC 4 channel keeps getting switched for one of the weather sub channels, and ABC 7 gets switched for MPT. What the hell is going on?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *huesmann* /forum/post/21456890
> 
> 
> Can someone explain to me why my channels keep switching?



Is this a recent issue, say like around the time of the 1.9 software update (about 1.5-2 months ago)?


----------



## rustycruiser

I just noticed during the Saints vs Lions playoff game that WBAL finally seems to have gone from 2.0 to 5.1 Dolby Digital sound. Not sure when it actually happened, as I usually watch WRC from DC due to the long history of WBAL only having 2.0 sound. Welcome to 10 years ago, WBAL!


----------



## huesmann




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/21457045
> 
> 
> Is this a recent issue, say like around the time of the 1.9 software update (about 1.5-2 months ago)?



Not sure. All I know is it's happened at least twice before, plus sometime this past week (Sunday or Monday, I think).


ETA: what is this software update you speak of?


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *huesmann* /forum/post/21459441
> 
> 
> what is this software update you speak of?



Verizon rolled out a software update about 1.5 months ago. The most noticeable change is the larger blue banner at the bottom of the picture.


We are also having issues with picture freezing in the morning since the update. It only affects the local fiber fed channels & I think there's a bug in the software. A co-worker in Fairfax is also having the problem. After about 30 seconds, the channel automatically changes to a random active channel.


Verizon has not found the problem as we have each replaced converter boxes & re-initiated them, but still have the problem 3-5 times each morning.


Hope this helps!!


----------



## elinter

Recently purchased a Denon AVR that has the Audyssey EQ Pro capability I'd like to use, but don't want to buy the pro calibration kit for $550 if I'm only going to use once or twice. I'm looking for like minded people in the DC metro area that would want to group together to purchase the kit and share. You'd still need to purchase the licence ($150) for your specific AVR, but we could share the cost burden of the kit. If we get 10 people, then it gets the total cost down to $205 each vice $700. If interested, please PM me.


If by chance someone in DC area already bought a kit and would be willing to rent it to me, I be grateful.


Regards,

Mike


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/21415569
> 
> 
> Last time I checked, WTTG Fox 5 showed The Big Bang Theory at 7:30pm and The Simpsons was only a HALF HOUR show. Yet titantv.com, comcast, and verizon all say The Simpsons airs from 7 - 8pm. Huh?





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/21446079
> 
> 
> issue corrected as of 1/2/11



issue back as of 1/11/12. What kind of guide information is WTTG sending out? I'm thinking its a problem on their end.


----------



## vferrari

I have some Panny DVD recorders that use TVGOS channel guides to simplify recording programming. It seems that Cox Fairfax is no longer transmitting data on the guide channel (CBS) for TVGOS - Wanted to check here to see if anyone else is seeing the same problem with any of their TVGOS enabled receivers to eliminate the possibility that it is a problem with my setup. Thanks.


----------



## Iggier




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *vferrari* /forum/post/21490313
> 
> 
> I have some Panny DVD recorders that use TVGOS channel guides to simplify recording programming. It seems that Cox Fairfax is no longer transmitting data on the guide channel (CBS) for TVGOS - Wanted to check here to see if anyone else is seeing the same problem with any of their TVGOS enabled receivers to eliminate the possibility that it is a problem with my setup. Thanks.



I can't speak to Cox's TVGOS transmission, but in I'm in Montgomery County watching OTA broadcast-only TV and TVGOS has been a mess for several weeks. Initially, only some of the grid populated, then TVGOS added more channels to the grid and again only some of the listings populated. Finally, earlier this week, the entire grid was filled in with programming. As of 1:00 a.m. or so last night and continuing this morning, each square in the grid says "no listing." It's hopeless to try to call or email Rovi. Maybe someone here has some answers?


----------



## vferrari




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Iggier* /forum/post/21491374
> 
> 
> I can't speak to Cox's TVGOS transmission, but in I'm in Montgomery County watching OTA broadcast-only TV and TVGOS has been a mess for several weeks. Initially, only some of the grid populated, then TVGOS added more channels to the grid and again only some of the listings populated. Finally, earlier this week, the entire grid was filled in with programming. As of 1:00 a.m. or so last night and continuing this morning, each square in the grid says "no listing." It's hopeless to try to call or email Rovi. Maybe someone here has some answers?



Thanks for the info Iggier, could be the death rattle of TVGOS rather than than a cable carrier issue then. It's definitely gone here in No VA.


----------



## ahsan

No sound out of my rears on FIOS 505 WTTG for the Saints Niners game. WTH


----------



## skinsfan64




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ahsan* /forum/post/21494184
> 
> 
> No sound out of my rears on FIOS 505 WTTG for the Saints Niners game. WTH



Same here; I have Directv.


So I would believe it is an issue with WTTG. This is nothing new for WTTG; also, bad picture. I have had the same problems all season long. You would think for one of the top viewing areas in the country they would have their act together...


----------



## Dave Loudin

Same problems OTA. Video stuttering, too. Worst football digital broadcast since early NBC bit-starved Notre Dame broadcasts.


----------



## effseesee

Watching the Ravens-Texans game on WUSA was extremely trying. Not enough bandwidth for 9.1.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *effseesee* /forum/post/21497926
> 
> 
> Watching the Ravens-Texans game on WUSA was extremely trying. Not enough bandwidth for 9.1.



Stunning picture on WJZ-13.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *effseesee* /forum/post/21497926
> 
> 
> Watching the Ravens-Texans game on WUSA was extremely trying. Not enough bandwidth for 9.1.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/21498162
> 
> 
> Stunning picture on WJZ-13.



Same here in SE VA on a CBS that has no subchannels...


----------



## ahsan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *skinsfan64* /forum/post/21494258
> 
> 
> Same here; I have Directv.
> 
> 
> So I would believe it is an issue with WTTG. This is nothing new for WTTG; also, bad picture. I have had the same problems all season long. You would think for one of the top viewing areas in the country they would have their act together...



Same issue for NYG @ GB. How long has this been going on? I seem to recall watching plenty of Skins games with DD 5.1 on FOX or maybe I just haven't been paying attention til this weekend???


----------



## StephenT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rustycruiser* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I just noticed during the Saints vs Lions playoff game that WBAL finally seems to have gone from 2.0 to 5.1 Dolby Digital sound. Not sure when it actually happened, as I usually watch WRC from DC due to the long history of WBAL only having 2.0 sound. Welcome to 10 years ago, WBAL!



I just noticed it today. A recording of Parenthood I had from last week kept noticeably switching from 2.0 to 5.1 which made me look at my receiver and notice it was Dolby. I had given up hope they'd ever switch. Hopefully the issues during Parenthood were kinks they now have ironed out.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *guadalupegrande4* /forum/post/21292621
> 
> 
> So I checked TitanTV to see what was on TV tonight, and noticed new episodes of the CW shows on tonight.
> 
> 
> Tuned to CW Baltimore (54-1) and see the MPSSAA State Football Championships.
> 
> 
> So I check on ​ .....
> 
> Top of page shows Supernatural as being on tonight. No mention of pre-emption, though the top article on the page is for the MPSSAA State Football Championships.
> 
> 
> Check on the ​ page[/URL] , and it shows that Nikita and Supernatural are on. Course, they aren't.
> 
> 
> So I decide to check Zap2it. ​ correctly list what's on tonight. Still no mention of any pre-emption or schedule movement... But scrolling through the schedule pages, I wanted to see if those 2 shows will be aired.. ​ at 8 and 9 pm[/URL] , for anyone wondering.



The Vampire Diaries was pre-empted for high school basketball. Again. Will be shown on Saturday, probably in SD. Again.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/21520485
> 
> 
> The Vampire Diaries was pre-empted for high school basketball. Again. Will be shown on Saturday, probably in SD. Again.



HD this time, unlike the Nikita episode in December.


----------



## gary michaels

Last fall WWTD-ch 49 was running a 30 second loop transmitted on ch 14. Then one day I could no longer get a lock. In fact almost no signal for the last 2 or 3 months.

This morning they are back. FCC says they run 15kw. They are considered a low power station. Still they reach over 70 miles away west of Winchester,Va with a 75-80 signal strength. Anybody know what is going on?


----------



## Digital Rules

WWTD-49 never went off the air, but has been running at very low power for quite some time. This is the first time it's been strong enough to decode here in Arlington since the summer. Maybe they are finally ready to start some programming????


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gary michaels* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> This morning they are back. FCC says they run 15kw. They are considered a low power station. Still they reach over 70 miles away west of Winchester,Va with a 75-80 signal strength. Anybody know what is going on?



I wish I knew. For some reason, reception of DC and Baltimore stations around Winchester is reliably stronger than what is predicted. Enjoy what you have, as WWTD is, indeed, licensed for 15 kW.


----------



## Trip in VA

Longley-Rice doesn't deal well with knife-edge diffraction, which is likely what causes decent reception in Winchester and Hagerstown.


- Trip


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/21561640
> 
> 
> WWTD-49 never went off the air, but has been running at very low power for quite some time. This is the first time it's been strong enough to decode here in Arlington since the summer.



Same in Fairfax City. Glad to know there was nothing wrong with my equipment.


----------



## URFloorMatt

So, I'm watching my DVR recording of this week's House, and at the return from commercial around the 25-minute mark, suddenly the My 20 bug pops up instead of the WTTG bug.


They seem to have a hell of a time with their feed at WTTG.


----------



## Dave Loudin

Grammys are in glorious stereo on WUSA OTA. Grumble...


----------



## Justkelly

I could be completely wrong, but I'm not sure the Grammy Awards this year were mixed in surround. I know starting back in 1995 they were rolling two trucks, one truck just for 5.1 mixing, but I heard they've gone back to single-truck to save costs. Nor could I find any information this morning on line that this year was being mixed surround. I've received other 5.1 audio during shows out of WUSA while in network programming, so I'm unclear why the station would intentionally not pass the 5.1 audio if available.


----------



## Marcus Carr

5.1 on WJZ.


----------



## Dave Loudin

Justkelley, I also normally have WUSA decode in 5.1, with actual 5.1 content (unlike WTTG's performance of late.) I was surprised to see STEREO displayed on the receiver last night.


Was there real 5.1 sound on WJZ?


----------



## Dave Loudin

Well, now. The problem may be on my end. All DC network affiliates are in stereo tonight. I'm routing HDMI from a Panasonic TV to a Pioneer receiver, which has been flawless to date. Before I go on a bug hunt, is everything really stereo?


EDIT----------------------


And now, this morning at 8, everything's back to normal.


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin* /forum/post/21646552
> 
> 
> Well, now. The problem may be on my end. All DC network affiliates are in stereo tonight. I'm routing HDMI from a Panasonic TV to a Pioneer receiver, which has been flawless to date. Before I go on a bug hunt, is everything really stereo?
> 
> 
> EDIT----------------------
> 
> 
> And now, this morning at 8, everything's back to normal.



i have an Onkyo receiver and sometimes when there's a power failure, all of its settings go back to default. I went for a few weeks last year with out DD5.1 thinking it was the stations when actually, the receiver had reset itself and was only playing the front channels.


----------



## Dave Loudin

I discovered the problem. When going from the "Vieracast" apps to OTA, the sound stays stereo until I cycle power. This has to be a recent development.


----------



## mdviewer25

Finally a steady signal for WUTB thanks to new location (Capitol Heights vs. Forestville). Wish they would increase the signal for WBAL and WJZ. Unfortunately had to say goodbye to WBOC.


----------



## Dave Loudin

Re: WBAL and WJZ, that's already been done.


----------



## Marcus Carr

*Bounce TV To 24* - 2/28 - Baltimore's MyTV Channel 24/WUTB plans its first digital subchannel. African American-oriented Bounce TV will launch later this year, we're told. DC's Channel 9/WUSA added the network, which runs reruns of "Soul Train," via one of its digital subchannels in late 2011.....

http://www.dcrtv.com/index.html


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/21708199
> 
> *Bounce TV To 24* - 2/28 - Baltimore's MyTV Channel 24/WUTB plans its first digital subchannel. African American-oriented Bounce TV will launch later this year, we're told. DC's Channel 9/WUSA added the network, which runs reruns of "Soul Train," via one of its digital subchannels in late 2011.....
> 
> http://www.dcrtv.com/index.html



any news on when Verizon is adding this channel?


----------



## Dave Loudin

WJLA and WUSA crapped out about 11:30. That means only one thing - tropo! Nice locks on WAVY, WWBT, WHRO, WBAL, and WRLH. WJLA and WUSA returned at midnight.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/21708199
> 
> *Bounce TV To 24* - 2/28 - Baltimore's MyTV Channel 24/WUTB plans its first digital subchannel. African American-oriented Bounce TV will launch later this year, we're told. DC's Channel 9/WUSA added the network, which runs reruns of "Soul Train," via one of its digital subchannels in late 2011.....
> 
> http://www.dcrtv.com/index.html



I watched it last week on WUSA 9.2 It carried some pretty good "Blacksploitation" films, if you go for that kind of thing.


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/21708695
> 
> 
> any news on when Verizon is adding this channel?



FWIW, since you are in Capital Heights, you could probably get it on WUSA channel 9.2 by sticking a paper clip into what is likely the unused RF input on your TV set.


I'm still rooting for WDCA or whomever to add MeTV, which has the best 1970s reruns. Washington, DC is the only one of the top 14 DMAs that doesn't make it available. The nearest affiliates are in Red Lion, Pennsylvania and now Richmond, Virginia.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/21714120
> 
> 
> I watched it last week on WUSA 9.2 It carried some pretty good "Blacksploitation" films, if you go for that kind of thing.
> 
> 
> 
> FWIW, since you are in Capital Heights, you could probably get it on WUSA channel 9.2 by sticking a paper clip into what is likely the unused RF input on your TV set.
> 
> 
> I'm still rooting for WDCA or whomever to add MeTV, which has the best 1970s reruns. Washington, DC is the only one of the top 14 DMAs that doesn't make it available. The nearest affiliates are in Red Lion, Pennsylvania and now Richmond, Virginia.



I get it OTA, just wondering when Verizon will add it to their lineup. Looking for more channels in the Extreme HD lineup. They're actually deleting channels like FUNimation even though I never watched.


----------



## StevenJB

I have a couple of questions for anyone who can receive Azteca America WQAW-LD 20 OTA mapped to 69 from Lake Shore, MD. Is WQAW-LD 69-1 broadcasting a 720p or 1080i 16:9 HD picture or 4:3 480i SD? Are there any SD subchannels and what do they feature? Verizon FiOS does carry WQAW-LD 69-1 on FiOS Channel 27 as an SD channel. Thanks.


----------



## Trip in VA

When I was last sent data on WQAW in November, it was in 4:3 SD.


- Trip


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/21715988
> 
> 
> When I was last sent data on WQAW in November, it was in 4:3 SD.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Thanks. Are there subchannels?


----------



## Trip in VA

There were, but none of them were airing anything besides either color bars or a "this channel is for lease" slide.


- Trip


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr* /forum/post/21708199
> 
> *Bounce TV To 24* - 2/28 - Baltimore's MyTV Channel 24/WUTB plans its first digital subchannel. African American-oriented Bounce TV will launch later this year, we're told. DC's Channel 9/WUSA added the network, which runs reruns of "Soul Train," via one of its digital subchannels in late 2011.....
> 
> http://www.dcrtv.com/index.html



WUTB-DT 24-2 is now broadcasting Bounce TV.


----------



## pclement

I did a rescan but I did not detect a 24-2 subchannel. Is this information correct?


----------



## Digital Rules

If you were already getting 24.1, 24.2 should automatically add to your channel list. (It's the same channel, just now divided into 2 streams) What brand TV are you using?


----------



## mdviewer25

how do we get Verizon to add Bounce (9.2) to their lineup?


----------



## Lxloco

Hello, all.

*Question: Did any Comcast subscriber lose the NFL Network HD, Channel 246?*


Some time in the late afternoon/early evening of March 19 I lost the NFL Network. During a live chat, a Comcast rep stated that the NFL Network was available as part of some sports package. Numerous other channels were part of that package -- channels that I was not receiving. The rep seemed perplex at how it was possible that for several years I was receiving the NFL Network yet not these other stations. Furthermore, the rep could offer no definite explanation as to why I lost the channel yesterday -- as opposed to last week, last month, last year.


Might anyone have some insights?


Thanks,

Lex


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25* /forum/post/21798283
> 
> 
> how do we get Verizon to add Bounce (9.2) to their lineup?



When you get that figured out and you actually are able to reach someone at Verizon, please ask Verizon to correct several other errors, omissions, and anomalies on the Baltimore-Washington-Northern Virginia channel lineup, including:


1. WQAW-LD, Azteca America, on Channel 27, has not been given a name or program description. For months, it has been listed as, "Program Information Not A...", and it is not listed in the channel menu. Please ask Verizon to correct this anomaly.


2. WHUT-HD is a full time 1080i HD channel. Verizon carries WHUT-HD as an HD channel on the SD tier. Please ask Verizon to move WHUT-HD from Channel 470 on the SD channel tier to Channel 532 on the HD channel tier, where it belongs.


3. WNVC and WNVT broadcast a total of 10 channels OTA on 30.1 through 30.10. Verizon only carries eight of them on 451 through 458. Two of WNVT's channels, 30.9 and 30.10 are not carried by Verizon. Please ask Verizon to add these two WNVT sub-channels.


Thanks, and of course, good luck!


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB* /forum/post/21805926
> 
> 
> When you get that figured out and you actually are able to reach someone at Verizon, please ask Verizon to correct several other errors, omissions, and anomalies on the Baltimore-Washington-Northern Virginia channel lineup, including:
> 
> 
> 1. WQAW-LD, Azteca America, on Channel 27, has not been given a name or program description. For months, it has been listed as, "Program Information Not A...", and it is not listed in the channel menu. Please ask Verizon to correct this anomaly.



This station is not listed with TMS (Tribune Media Services). Almost all cable/sat/IPTV providers use TMS for their Onscreen Guides... zap2it.com is owned by Tribune...


----------



## PaulGo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Lxloco* /forum/post/21805795
> 
> 
> Hello, all.
> 
> *Question: Did any Comcast subscriber lose the NFL Network HD, Channel 246?*
> 
> 
> Some time in the late afternoon/early evening of March 19 I lost the NFL Network. During a live chat, a Comcast rep stated that the NFL Network was available as part of some sports package. Numerous other channels were part of that package -- channels that I was not receiving. The rep seemed perplex at how it was possible that for several years I was receiving the NFL Network yet not these other stations. Furthermore, the rep could offer no definite explanation as to why I lost the channel yesterday -- as opposed to last week, last month, last year.
> 
> 
> Might anyone have some insights?
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Lex



As usual the CSR does not know what he is talking about - I have digital preferred service and get the NFL Network on channel 246. The NFL Redzone is the channel that is part of the sports package.


----------



## carlsbadd1

Hello all, I have not visited this thread in ages, I had to create another account becuase of some rule changes here.


Anyway I changed my set up and not have a antenna rotor (remote controlled) and uhf antenna collecting dust, it anyone wants it (free) contact me @ [email protected] 

I am in annandale va 22003. I wanted to give back somthing to the community that has served me so well over the years.


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carlsbadd1* /forum/post/21810610
> 
> 
> Hello all, I have not visited this thread in ages, I had to create another account becuase of some rule changes here.
> 
> 
> Anyway I changed my set up and not have a antenna rotor (remote controlled) and uhf antenna collecting dust, it anyone wants it (free) contact me @ [email protected]
> 
> I am in annandale va 22003. I wanted to give back somthing to the community that has served me so well over the years.



I have just sent you an email. Thanks..


----------



## Dave Loudin

WRC filed for Special Temporary Authority to operate at lower power into a different antenna at the site while a new transmitter is connected to the regular antenna. Temporary operations will be 291 kW @ 159 meters vice 813 kW @ 242 meters starting Wednesday for no more than 30 days.


----------



## aaronwt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WRC filed for Special Temporary Authority to operate at lower power into a different antenna at the site while a new transmitter is connected to the regular antenna. Temporary operations will be 291 kW @ 159 meters vice 813 kW @ 242 meters starting Wednesday for no more than 30 days.



Ouch. Thanks for the heads up.


----------



## jgantert

Looks like I should switch my recordings from 4 to 11. Thanks!


----------



## Lxloco




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PaulGo* /forum/post/21807674
> 
> 
> As usual the CSR does not know what he is talking about - I have digital preferred service and get the NFL Network on channel 246. The NFL Redzone is the channel that is part of the sports package.



Paul, please accept my apology for this tardy thank you. I had some computer issues -- but that's a story for a different forum.


Returning to the matter at hand, oddly enough I have Digital Starter and was receiving the NFL Network. The only thing unusual about my situation is that one of my cable boxes is clamshell and connected to a non-hd tv; whereas the the tv that was receiving Channel 246 was an hd-tv, connected to an HD cable box.


This experience has left me wondering if I am receiving other channels that I shouldn't be. Why, a few months ago I lost CMT. Yet, this last week I noticed that I picked up C-Span3. Curiouser and curiouser.


----------



## FixCaptchaSystem

Anyone here using ClearQAM? All my channels except 32_1 (WHUT-HD) went away recently. I've tried scanning from two different TV tuner cards. I get a bunch of garbage channels.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin* /forum/post/21828099
> 
> 
> WRC filed for Special Temporary Authority to operate at lower power into a different antenna at the site while a new transmitter is connected to the regular antenna. Temporary operations will be 291 kW @ 159 meters vice 813 kW @ 242 meters starting Wednesday for no more than 30 days.



Oh joy!

I can barely get WRC as it is here in Germantown. Will the new transmitter make it easier to get than pre-lower power?

J


----------



## FixCaptchaSystem

Maybe I'm not posting in the right thread...


Could someone with Comcast please check to see if they are still able to receive ClearQAM channels. If so, which system/modulation are you using? Cable HRC and 64/128/256 modulation yields only 32_1 for me.


Thanks in advance.


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *FixCaptchaSystem* /forum/post/21860364
> 
> 
> Anyone here using ClearQAM? All my channels except 32_1 (WHUT-HD) went away recently. I've tried scanning from two different TV tuner cards. I get a bunch of garbage channels.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *FixCaptchaSystem* /forum/post/21864521
> 
> 
> Maybe I'm not posting in the right thread...
> 
> 
> Could someone with Comcast please check to see if they are still able to receive ClearQAM channels. If so, which system/modulation are you using? Cable HRC and 64/128/256 modulation yields only 32_1 for me.
> 
> 
> Thanks in advance.



Hmmmm. Sounds like you have "Five Finger"







Comcast Cable service else you would be calling them? Correct? Don't think there is a thread for stealing Cable.


----------



## FixCaptchaSystem




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *E55 KEV* /forum/post/21864683
> 
> 
> Hmmmm. Sounds like you have "Five Finger"
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Comcast Cable service else you would be calling them? Correct? Don't think there is a thread for stealing Cable.



Brilliant assumption, moron.


I am a paying customer with Comcast, but their technical support is horrendous. It's so painful getting them to do anything correctly (ex: trading in a Pace STB for a Motorola so it would work with my HD-PVR), that I figured it would be worth asking on here.


So... the question still remains.


Can anyone verify that ClearQAM channels are still working correctly for them? I can only receive WHUT (32_1) at the moment.


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *FixCaptchaSystem* /forum/post/21860364
> 
> 
> Anyone here using ClearQAM? All my channels except 32_1 (WHUT-HD) went away recently. I've tried scanning from two different TV tuner cards. I get a bunch of garbage channels.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *FixCaptchaSystem* /forum/post/21864521
> 
> 
> Maybe I'm not posting in the right thread...
> 
> 
> Could someone with Comcast please check to see if they are still able to receive ClearQAM channels. If so, which system/modulation are you using? Cable HRC and 64/128/256 modulation yields only 32_1 for me.
> 
> 
> Thanks in advance.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *FixCaptchaSystem* /forum/post/21866748
> 
> 
> Brilliant assumption, moron.
> 
> 
> I am a paying customer with Comcast, but their technical support is horrendous. It's so painful getting them to do anything correctly (ex: trading in a Pace STB for a Motorola so it would work with my HD-PVR), that I figured it would be worth asking on here.
> 
> 
> So... the question still remains.
> 
> 
> Can anyone verify that ClearQAM channels are still working correctly for them? I can only receive WHUT (32_1) at the moment.



3 posts in 3 days with no help probably means no one else is having this issue. This comes to mind:


"Insanity - doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results."


So who's the moron?


----------



## Skeptic Tank




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *E55 KEV* /forum/post/21866878
> 
> 
> 3 posts in 3 days with no help probably means no one else is having this issue. This comes to mind:
> 
> 
> "Insanity - doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results."
> 
> 
> So who's the moron?



This thread has nowhere near the number of people who used to post here and those that do probably don't read it on a daily basis. That's no reason to call those asking for help names. As a former Comcast customer who also tuned in QAM channels, I understand the futility of asking Comcast customer service about QAM channels. I had better luck contacting engineering at one of the stations when I lost its QAM signal. Cable company customer service usually doesn't know about QAM or doesn't want to admit that it exists because they'd rather rent you extra set top boxes.


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Skeptic Tank* /forum/post/21868157
> 
> 
> That's no reason to call those asking for help names..



You got it wrong buddy. He called me a moron in post 13072:



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *FixCaptchaSystem* /forum/post/21866748
> 
> 
> Brilliant assumption, moron..


----------



## Skeptic Tank




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *E55 KEV* /forum/post/21868267
> 
> 
> You got it wrong buddy. He called me a moron in post 13072:



Only after you called him a thief by (falsely I'm sure) accusing him of stealing cable service. Not a very friendly way to greet a new member.


I don't think he's a thief and I don't think you or he is a moron or insane. He came here for help. You jumped to a conclusion. He reacted. You reacted. I reacted.


I'm gonna chill.


----------



## FixCaptchaSystem

E55 KEV has some sand in his vagina.


----------



## FixCaptchaSystem




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Skeptic Tank* /forum/post/21868333
> 
> 
> Only after you called him a thief by (falsely I'm sure) accusing him of stealing cable service. Not a very friendly way to greet a new member.
> 
> 
> I don't think he's a thief and I don't think you or he is a moron or insane. He came here for help. You jumped to a conclusion. He reacted. You reacted. I reacted.
> 
> 
> I'm gonna chill.



Spot on, brother. Amazing how asking for help in here means I'm a thief, and asking more than once means I'm an idiot. This guy is a real piece of work. Ohh, and his web site looks like GeoCities circa 1995.


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *FixCaptchaSystem* /forum/post/21869227
> 
> 
> E55 KEV has some sand in his vagina.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *FixCaptchaSystem* /forum/post/21869240
> 
> 
> Spot on, brother. Amazing how asking for help in here means I'm a thief, and asking more than once means I'm an idiot. This guy is a real piece of work. Ohh, and his web site looks like GeoCities circa 1995.



You got very thin skin! I was joking about stealing cable. I actually tried to help as I checked out Comcast QAM but found no problems. Then you continue to call names (vagina - that's funny) and bash my website like I care what you think. What's my website got to do with anything?


My Comcast QAM works great! How about yours?


----------



## aaranddeeman

I have a question (may be little OT)


If you have (only) internet from comcast, is it (/not) legal to connect your TV to get the un-encrypted channels?

I would love to do it if it is legally allowed..


----------



## Digital Rules

WWTD-49 (RF 14) is now broadcasting actual programming, but on 49.2 only.

New Tang Dynasty Television


----------



## PaulGo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaranddeeman* /forum/post/21872043
> 
> 
> I have a question (may be little OT)
> 
> 
> If you have (only) internet from Comcast, is it (/not) legal to connect your TV to get the un-encrypted channels?
> 
> I would love to do it if it is legally allowed..



Since you are not paying for the service it is not legally allowed. However you probably paying a extra premium for internet only service. You may be able to get a package deal with limited basic service that would cost about the same price. Also Comcast is asking the FCC for permission to encrypt everything so possible in a few month getting any channels without a DTA may be impossible.


----------



## compubit

Actually, my package with "basic" cable (locals & a box) an Internet was $10 cheaper/month than the same level of Internet only... Plus I have access to Comcast on Demand with the box to catch up on the shows I miss during the week...


J


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> WRC filed for Special Temporary Authority to operate at lower power into a different antenna at the site while a new transmitter is connected to the regular antenna. Temporary operations will be 291 kW @ 159 meters vice 813 kW @ 242 meters starting Wednesday for no more than 30 days.



Oddly, I'm getting WRC as well as ever. With the lower power, I expected to not get it at all.

J


----------



## OldHud




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/21878733
> 
> 
> Oddly, I'm getting WRC as well as ever. With the lower power, I expected to not get it at all.
> 
> J



Same here. No problem out in the fringe.


----------



## fmw63




Digital Rules said:


> WWTD-49 (RF 14) is now broadcasting actual programming, but on 49.2 only.
> 
> 
> I just noticed it there. But, the picture is breaking up and pixelating like the signal strength/quality is low, but it's showing 75 @ 60%, which is usually very good reception here. Could they be re-broadcasting an off-air signal?


----------



## Trip in VA

They could be picking it up with a poorly-aimed satellite dish, or a dish that is too small. NTDTV is on Galaxy 19 Ku, which I can see with a 75cm (30") dish, but if the alignment is off, it will break up.


- Trip


----------



## Dave Loudin

Forgot to mention that the STA was cancelled a couple of days later. Apparently the transmission line work went well.


----------



## fmw63




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA* /forum/post/21880681
> 
> 
> They could be picking it up with a poorly-aimed satellite dish, or a dish that is too small. NTDTV is on Galaxy 19 Ku, which I can see with a 75cm (30") dish, but if the alignment is off, it will break up.
> 
> 
> - Trip



See, that's why I hang out here! Always somebody who knows just what's up.


----------



## Trip in VA

I don't know for sure, just suggesting one possibility.










- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules




fmw63 said:


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules* /forum/post/21873772
> 
> 
> WWTD-49 (RF 14) is now broadcasting actual programming, but on 49.2 only.
> 
> 
> I just noticed it there. But, the picture is breaking up and pixelating like the signal strength/quality is low, but it's showing 75 @ 60%, which is usually very good reception here. Could they be re-broadcasting an off-air signal?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The picture looks good for 480i with no break-ups here.
Click to expand...


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Skeptic Tank* /forum/post/21868157
> 
> 
> ....I understand the futility of asking Comcast customer service about QAM channels. I had better luck contacting engineering at one of the stations when I lost its QAM signal.



I'm laughing over the idea that ANYONE at Comcast would have a clue. A neighbor switched to RCN after 25 outages and 14 truck rolls over 4.5 months. He's never been happier.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaranddeeman* /forum/post/21872043
> 
> 
> I have a question (may be little OT)
> 
> 
> If you have (only) internet from comcast, is it (/not) legal to connect your TV to get the un-encrypted channels?
> 
> I would love to do it if it is legally allowed..



I am not an attorney, so my answer is not based on any legal experience or knowledge.


If Comcast provides you with an RG-6 cable into the privacy of your house for internet-only service then I cannot see how you are breaking any law by attaching that cable to the RF input of your TV. I could be wrong and I have been known to be wrong on many an occasion but you are in the privacy of your home. If Comcast doesn't want you to receive unencrypted signals then it is their responsibility to not provide them to you. Comcast has the ability as well as the legal right to attach a signal block on your line at the lawn pedestal if it wants to block your access to unencrypted signals. If they choose not to block your access then I cannot see how you can be held liable for cable theft if Comcast does not care enough to choose to block your access. Just my two cents worth!


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaranddeeman* /forum/post/21872043
> 
> 
> I have a question (may be little OT)
> 
> 
> If you have (only) internet from comcast, is it (/not) legal to connect your TV to get the un-encrypted channels?
> 
> I would love to do it if it is legally allowed..



Last I looked the cost for the lowest basic TV service plus internet was not much (if any) more than internet on its own. There is a premium in the internet-only price if you don't have anything else. Take a look at the costs and you might just do it legally anyway.


----------



## MrHifi

Comcast charges that ridiculously high internet only price because they figure customers are watching the government required unencrypted channels . Anyone thinking this is any kind of illegal should have their paranoia checked.


----------



## wmcbrine

I'm excited to see that 4-2 is now airing in 16:9, widescreen SD. First time I've seen that since Fox went HD. They haven't got it completely worked out yet -- I saw Cash Cab in postage stamp format.


----------



## mdviewer25

posted in the verizon forum and posting here in the local forum, why is MASN2/MASN2HD not available on verizon?


----------



## wmcbrine

AFAIK, MASN2 is a part-time channel; Verizon airs it on Fios 1 (501 HD), which until recently it shared with CSN+, as well as original programming.


----------



## mdviewer25

just found out by accident, must have hit one by mistake on the remote and saw the end of the orioles loss. thanks


----------



## aptt

Bounce TV is now on 459 on Verizon FiOS.


----------



## mkfs

Looks like the encoder on WJLA has the day off. I get a generic
Code:


Code:


DTV program

on the guide tonight....


----------



## danboot

FIOS just became available in my neighborhood and I decided to sign up. We are currently with Cox and will be making the switch towards the end of May. I would like to get some feedback on FIOS from you folks out there.

How is the quality, the level of service etc...

Thanks.


----------



## Dave Loudin

LiveWell is finally coming to WJLA as 7.3. Say buh-bye to RTV.


----------



## geostone




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *danboot* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> FIOS just became available in my neighborhood and I decided to sign up. We are currently with Cox and will be making the switch towards the end of May. I would like to get some feedback on FIOS from you folks out there.
> 
> How is the quality, the level of service etc...
> 
> Thanks.




On the plus side here in Fairfax County, you'll love the fast internet speeds! The TV picture quality is outstanding, and I've had fewer outtages than With Cox. The latest Motorola 7232 DVR provides about 72 hours of HDTV recording time. The techs who do installation have been great.


Low points: rates are higher than Cox and keep increasing year after year. It's always a crap shoot when you call VZ...still a phone company at heart. I returned a couple of DVRs and am still being charged a monthly rental for one that VZ claims they didn't receive, even though they sent me the return box and pre-pay UPS label. This has been going on for about a year now. Not sure if I'll ever get it resolved. Oh...VZ always tries to push you into subscribing to some add-on whenever you call. Be cautious!


I only have one DVR, and opted to install a roof antenna to feed the other TVs in the house. I also have Roku for streaming, which works great over FiOS internet.


I'm in the Centreville area and have had VZ FiOS for four years.


George Stone


----------



## E55 KEV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin* /forum/post/21986147
> 
> 
> LiveWell is finally coming to WJLA as 7.3. Say buh-bye to RTV.



I'll be de-selecting that one. I prefered RTV. The lineup of shows is un-inspiring to me.

http://livewellnetwork.com/index


----------



## ProjectSHO89




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *E55 KEV* /forum/post/21987266
> 
> 
> I'll be de-selecting that one. I prefered RTV. The lineup of shows is un-inspiring to me.
> 
> http://livewellnetwork.com/index




Ditto. It's been on here in St Louis for quite a while. Never watched it. My opinion is it's a complete waste of bandwidth.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *danboot* /forum/post/21983086
> 
> 
> FIOS just became available in my neighborhood and I decided to sign up. We are currently with Cox and will be making the switch towards the end of May. I would like to get some feedback on FIOS from you folks out there. How is the quality, the level of service etc...Thanks.



The FiOS picture quality is actually better than outstanding. The HD picture has "pop" to it. It comes right out at you. But, of course, that all depends on your equipment. The SD picture is excellent and quite usable. I've had Dishnetwork before. Verizon FiOS beats the Dish PQ hands down on both HD and SD! BTW, FiOS HD and SD audio is excellent, as well. Verizon has a policy and reputation for giving its customers full bandwidth for HD. The cable companies and satellite providers have had bad reputations for starving bandwidth causing artifacts, pixelation, and macro blocking.


Make sure that you get a QIP-7XXX series STB and not a QIP-6XXX STB if you get a Motorola STB. The 7XXX's are built for MP4 and have excellent response time to remote control commands. The 6XXX STB's are built for MP2 only and are much much slower in responding to remote control commands. I suspect that eventually Verizon will be switching over to an MP4 system in order to maximize bandwidth utilization. The 7XXX STB picture is better than the 6XXX STB picture. The 7XXX STB will provide you with a 16 x 9 aspect ratio program guide whereas the 6XXX STB limits you to only a 12 x 9 (4:3) aspect ratio program guide.


Internet speeds are staggering. I subscribe to 35 mB download but consistently get >42mB. Verizon advertises consistent speeds that exceed nominal speeds by 20%. They are true to their word.


I have the full service package from Verizon. Their internet, digital phone, and television services are extremely reliable. I've had maybe two service interruptions since I've has FiOS and that is around eight years or so.


Customer service is top notch. They are very polite and always try to help you whenever possible. My service has been so good that I hardly ever have to speak to them for any problem.


Consider yourself extremely lucky that you can get FiOS in your neighborhood. Millions upon millions of satellite and cable customers would give just about anything to be in your position. Good luck and enjoy FiOS.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin* /forum/post/21986147
> 
> 
> LiveWell is finally coming to WJLA as 7.3. Say buh-bye to RTV.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *E55 KEV* /forum/post/21987266
> 
> 
> ...I prefered RTV....



Me, too. I'll miss The Saint and Da Vinci's Inquest.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin* /forum/post/21986147
> 
> 
> LiveWell is finally coming to WJLA as 7.3. Say buh-bye to RTV.



I wonder if they'll be offering the special low-bandwidth HD feed, or if it'll be in SD only.


And I'll miss RTV too, but our cable company never picked it up so it was a hassle to watch, and Antenna TV is a decent substitute.


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike* /forum/post/21995515
> 
> 
> Me, too. I'll miss The Saint and Da Vinci's Inquest.



I'll miss I Spy & Intelligence, but I've now seen every Da Vinci twice....


But I agree there's no reason to even keep 7.3 on my adapter.



> Quote:
> and Antenna TV is a decent substitute.



Hmm, I see nothing there I'm looking to watch.


----------



## mchief99

WatchESPN is apparently now available to COMCAST. However, when I try to set it up @ ESPNNetworks/setup I get an error retrieving providers when I enter the billing zipcode 22304. Has anyone been successful setting it up??


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mkfs* /forum/post/22001117
> 
> 
> Hmm, I see nothing there I'm looking to watch.



AntennaTV has WKRP! Sunday evenings, definitely worth checking out.


----------



## tvdrew

Anyone have an idea why WJLA-HD (Ch. 7) never has sports highlight in HD? It's not just events (are there any) that are in SD only, but also ones that clearly were in HD. Yet they provide SD highlights. This isn't like the field reporters where they have limited numbers of HD crews/cameras.


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mkfs* /forum/post/21981995
> 
> 
> Looks like the encoder on WJLA has the day off. I get a generic
> Code:
> 
> 
> Code:
> 
> 
> DTV program
> 
> on the guide tonight....



And today, it's showing time as 6 minutes fast.....


----------



## wmcbrine




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/22007527
> 
> 
> AntennaTV has WKRP! Sunday evenings, definitely worth checking out.



Original music?


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *wmcbrine* /forum/post/22022981
> 
> 
> Original music?



Unfortunately, no.


----------



## Knicks_Fan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tvdrew* /forum/post/22013755
> 
> 
> Anyone have an idea why WJLA-HD (Ch. 7) never has sports highlight in HD? It's not just events (are there any) that are in SD only, but also ones that clearly were in HD. Yet they provide SD highlights. This isn't like the field reporters where they have limited numbers of HD crews/cameras.



WJLA has a half-assed HD news setup. I never watch ABC-7 as I can't stand most of their field reports and sports highlights STILL in SD. They are lagging behind the other DC stations by a mile.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert* /forum/post/22024737
> 
> 
> Unfortunately, no.



That pretty much kills it for me.










On a separate note, WETA is going to be replacing Create with BBC. Any idea what they will be showing?

J


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/22036648
> 
> 
> WETA is going to be replacing Create with BBC. Any idea what they will be showing?
> 
> J



Can't findmuch info out there, but DCRTV says *"WETA UK will feature drama, action, romance, mystery, and humor shows.*


----------



## pamajestic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/22036648
> 
> 
> 
> On a separate note, WETA is going to be replacing Create with BBC. Any idea what they will be showing?
> 
> J



On their web-site they have a promo video and a schedule.

http://www.weta.org/tv/uk


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pamajestic* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> 
> On their web-site they have a promo video and a schedule.
> 
> http://www.weta.org/tv/uk



Thanks for the link. Doesn't look all that thrilling.

J


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/22034007
> 
> 
> WJLA has a half-assed HD news setup. I never watch ABC-7 as I can't stand most of their field reports and sports highlights STILL in SD. They are lagging behind the other DC stations by a mile.



My cable provider just added co-owned Newschannel 8 HD, and their local programming seems to be a totally random mix of HD and SD. One newscast will be in HD, and the next newscast 30 minutes later will inexplicably be in SD, seemingly originating from the same studio.


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J* /forum/post/22038545
> 
> 
> Thanks for the link. Doesn't look all that thrilling.
> 
> J



Au Contraire! They'll have Foyle's War _*and*_ Prime Suspect!


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost* /forum/post/22046172
> 
> 
> One newscast will be in HD, and the next newscast 30 minutes later will inexplicably be in SD, seemingly originating from the same studio.



Hey, they run out of bits, and have to hoard them until more trickle in!


----------



## andyz111

Why is 49-2 crashing my KWorld SA 290 TVbox?


----------



## tvdrew




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Knicks_Fan* /forum/post/22034007
> 
> 
> WJLA has a half-assed HD news setup. I never watch ABC-7 as I can't stand most of their field reports and sports highlights STILL in SD. They are lagging behind the other DC stations by a mile.



I can kinda/sorta understand SD field reports, but sports highlights I just don't understand. Do they have to pay CSN or ESPN more to use HD highlights? Or are they just being too lazy to downconvert the HD sports broadcast to SD for the highlights package?


----------



## GregAnnapolis

Been a while since I've been around, so I apologize if this isn't news... but it appears that WBAL is finally passing DD5.1 from the NBC network. I had stopped checking long ago; it was DD2.0 years after it reasonably should have been (in my opinion, anyway). Glad to see it!


----------



## F_man8326

Just noticed that Fox Soccer Channel HD was added on Xfinity/Comcast. Channel 842. Long over due, in my opinion.


----------



## Marcus Carr


Fox Soccer Channel HD added in Baltimore City yesterday.

 

 


> Quote:
> Most of the DC/MD/VA areas (suburbs of Washington, DC) of Comcast are expected to add Fox Soccer Channel HD on a rolling schedule throughout June 2012


 

http://forums.comcast.com/t5/Channels-and-Programming/FSC-HD-Fox-Soccer-Channel/m-p/1297793#M21326


----------



## carltonrice

So with this new format for AVS Forum, how do you get it to display the most recent posts at the top for the topics you want to follow?


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13120_10#post_22106712
> 
> 
> So with this new format for AVS Forum, how do you get it to display the most recent posts at the top for the topics you want to follow?


Amen!


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mkfs*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13110#post_22048415
> 
> 
> 
> Au Contraire! They'll have Foyle's War _*and*_ Prime Suspect!



Plus a whole lot of shows PBS showed 30 years ago.

To the Manor Born, Are You Being Served, Benny Hill... *really*?

J


----------



## carltonrice

My mother lives on the 14th floor of a high rise in downtown Columbia, MD. Any ideas on a good indoor antenna for receiving OTA signals from Baltimore and DC?


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13110#post_22123978
> 
> 
> My mother lives on the 14th floor of a high rise in downtown Columbia, MD. Any ideas on a good indoor antenna for receiving OTA signals from Baltimore and DC?



I never knew there was a 14 story high rise in downtown Columbia MD. I used to service the Vantage House master antenna system there until the digital transition, but they never had me convert it to the new channel frequencies, and before that I had done antenna work for the Columbia Inn. Have you tried anything there yet? Baltimore of course has two VHF highband channels, which are a little "iffier" than UHF when you are in an apartment complex. It will take more luck than science to reliably get her Washington signals with an indoor antenna.


Did her building have an off-air antenna system that was never upgraded?


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13110#post_22106788
> 
> 
> Amen!



Besides the fact it BLARES at you... this was the first shortcoming I found.


----------



## Dave Loudin

My subscriptions show up about halfway down the home page, ordered from most recent. To see the unread posts, you need to click on the thread title twice.


----------



## wmcbrine

I'm noticing what looks, just visually, like an insanely reduced bitrate on WPXW-DT 2 and 3, via Fios (491 and 492). It looks like it's the same way on broadcast 66-2 and 66-3, although it's a marginal station for me, so it's hard to be certain.


Does anyone know what they might be sparing the bits for?


----------



## Trip in VA

Many large market ION stations do:


1x 720p HD

2x 480i SD

1x Mobile DTV

8x MPEG-4 SD (AirBox)


Lots going on there.


- Trip


----------



## TheKrell

After Googling AirBox, I see that WPXW is indeed one of the Ion affiliates offering this service. It also states that two of the subchannels are unencrypted. Have to see what I can see on my Dish Network mpeg-4 receiver.


----------



## Trip in VA

The two unencrypted ones are gone now. They have been for some time.


- Trip


----------



## aaranddeeman

I have installed outdoor antenna (about 15 feed above ground) sometime before spring (when there were no leaves on the trees behind my house).

I used to get clear reception of almost all the channels. After the leaves have grown (that is my suspition), few of the channels either keep breaking up or do not come at all.

I know the best (or ideal) option is to raise the antenna to above roof.

But as a temporary major, if I install in-line amplifier, would that help improve the situation?

Appreciate your response..


----------



## ProjectSHO89

No, an amp most likely won't help but you can try it, if you want to


Signals coming through trees can be trashed. Amplifying them only makes a"bigger pile of trash".


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ProjectSHO89*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13140#post_22182968
> 
> 
> No, an amp most likely won't help but you can try it, if you want to
> 
> Signals coming through trees can be trashed. Amplifying them only makes a"bigger pile of trash".



Hmm. Makes sense..


So going on the roof seems to be the only options. Second best is the attic I guess..


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaranddeeman*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13140#post_22182981
> 
> 
> Hmm. Makes sense..
> 
> So going on the roof seems to be the only options. Second best is the attic I guess..


Keep in mind, aluminum siding will kill antenna reception in an attic (or so was my experience here in Columbia). I had to use a roof antenna, even an indoor antenna didn't work for me.


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13140#post_22184041
> 
> 
> Keep in mind, aluminum siding will kill antenna reception in an attic (or so was my experience here in Columbia). I had to use a roof antenna, even an indoor antenna didn't work for me.



I have vinyl.. So seems that is not an issue (or who knows).

I would love to mount it atop roof, but I am **** scared to even go there...


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13140#post_22184041
> 
> 
> Keep in mind, aluminum siding will kill antenna reception in an attic (or so was my experience here in Columbia). I had to use a roof antenna, even an indoor antenna didn't work for me.



My antenna is the one like CM4221.

I also have the mast which looks like CM1810.

If anyone has any link on how to use the mast CM1810 for installing CM4221, I would really appreciate your help.


----------



## jgantert

Looks like 7-3 switched from RTN to LWN. Bummer, same programming as 2-2 now.


----------



## mrvegas1

I live in Upper Marlboro now. I have DirecTV but I am not that happy with broadcast quality of sporting events, like NBA and NFL.


If I get Verizon FIOS, do you think the picture quality is better for fast-moving sports?


----------



## Digital Rules

FIOS is as good as it gets, so you should notice a difference. FIOS adds no additional compression, so you will see the highest quality available from the _*source*_.

*All* broadcast & cable _*sources*_ inherently already have varying amounts of compression, so the quality will never be as good as Blu-ray, regardless of your particular provider.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13140#post_22188957
> 
> 
> Looks like 7-3 switched from RTN to LWN. Bummer, same programming as 2-2 now.



Actually, the Baltimore and Washington stations were carrying different afternoon shows when I checked yesterday or the day before, but they both were targeting the "Oprah" audience.


I miss "Police Story" already. They had the coolest bunch of repeat guest stars of any TV show ever. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069620/fullcredits#cast


----------



## Frankie20

I de-programed 7-3 off my DTV boxes yesterday, no point in having duplicate channels...


----------



## mkfs

I'm happy with 26-2/WETA-UK, esp the original Foyle's War & Prime Suspect.....


But the subcarrier seems to be weak in the audio dept. Does anyone else have this issue?


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Frankie20*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13140#post_22190900
> 
> 
> I de-programed 7-3 off my DTV boxes yesterday, no point in having duplicate channels...


Nod... While it was far better when it had _Rockford Files_ & other NBC-Universal product, I did enjoy seeing _I Spy_ again & will miss _Intelligence_.


Now there is nothing at all......



BTW, WJLA hardly seem proud of this; I can not find Word One re: 7-2 on their web page.....


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mkfs*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13140#post_22191393
> 
> 
> I'm happy with 26-2/WETA-UK, esp the original Foyle's War & Prime Suspect.....
> 
> But the subcarrier seems to be weak in the audio dept. Does anyone else have this issue?



I can't comment on the sound.

Since so many of the shows (if not most) are 30-40 years old, perhaps they haven't bothered to put much effort into SQ.

J


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast has added Olympic Soccer Channel HD and Olympic Basketball Channel HD at channels 843 and 847 in Baltimore.


From my bill:


IMPORTANT INFO: On or shortly after August 22, TBN HD on

channel 798 will no longer be available.


----------



## AntAltMike

Slow thread. Anyone know what is coming on 30.11? I see test bars there.


I sure miss Police Story at 9:00 PM and The Saint at 10:00 PM.










BTW, what a seriously deficient assortment of available Graemlins this new software has!


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13140#post_22230394
> 
> 
> Anyone know what is coming on 30.11? I see test bars there.


30.11 is using RF24, the same RF channel as WNVC-DT is using for 30.1 through 30.5. I can't be positive, but it appears that WNVC may have increased their ERP from 160kW. The FCC records do not show any application or increase over WNVC's listed 160 kW ERP. Reception tonight is simply unbelievable at 95-100 and over a 31db s/n ratio. Maybe, it's just atmospheric enhancement I am experiencing tonight. That +31db s/n ratio rivals my strongest reception of any other station in Baltimore or Washington and yet my outdoor rooftop antenna happens to be aimed away from NoVA and towards Baltimore. I live in central Montgomery County. WNVT-DT is the station which could use the additional power. They're way down there near Ft. Belvoir in Goldvein, VA and much much farther away for me then WNVC, located in Fairfax. WNVT is transmitting 160 kW on RF30 and maps to 30.6 through 30.10.


BTW, if WNVC-DT has added 30.11 to RF24 to join present 30.1 through 30.5 then that would make six 480i SD subchannels for RF24. I was under the assumption that there was room only for a total of five 480i SD subchannels per digital RF channel. I appear to be mistaken. How many subchannels using 480i SD can fit onto one 6 mHz wide digital RF channel? Anyone here know? Most TV stations have one 720p or 1080i HD channel and several 480i SD subchannels. WNVC-DT and WNVT-DT are the only stations that I know of that do not use 720p or 1080i for any HD channel but feature only 480i SD channels on their bandwidth.


----------



## Trip in VA

There's effectively no upper limit on channels; you could run 98 if you wanted, but none of them would be watchable. The only limit is how good the encoder is.


KAXT-CD in San Francisco runs 12 SD channels.


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13140#post_22237689
> 
> 
> WNVT-DT is the station which could use the additional power. They're way down there near Ft. Belvoir in Goldvein, VA and much much farther away for me then WNVC, located in Fairfax.


WNVT is actually just south of Manassas . It's on the same tower as the former analog channel 53.


----------



## AntAltMike

I saw a 20.2 off-air today, which was carrying WTTG's rgeular programming. Anyone know what the long run plans are for 20.2? This market needs MeTV and RTV.


----------



## Trip in VA

MundoFox, most likely.


- Trip


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13140#post_22238092
> 
> 
> WNVT is actually just south of Manassas . It's on the same tower as the former analog channel 53.



Why does Goldvein (actually just a store and a few houses) have this station? Channel 53 was originally a non-commercial allotment for Fredericksburg. Changing the community of license to Goldvein was possible as a) a transmitter there could deliver adequate (not sure if A or B service was required) signal to F-burg and b) there was a channel 69 allotment for Fredericksburg. With the COL in Goldvein, the transmitter could be located further north, having only to deliver Grade A service to Goldvein and meet separation standards to other stations. Boom! Now you have a semi-DC station.


----------



## fmw63

For the first time, I'm getting WBOC (on 21.1), and FOX21 (21.2) in Landover (PG co.) So, WBOC is a CBS and FOX station? Also 30.11 is showing up (VTV4 coming soon).


For the past few days, channel 30.11 was showing a signal strength that was the same as 30.1 - 30.5 out of Arlington(?) - 90%. Tonight it's showing a signal strength that's the same as 30.6 - 30.10 (65%). Did they move it to the other transmitter?


----------



## Remoteless

20.2 MundoFox starting August 13


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmw63*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13140#post_22247910
> 
> 
> For the past few days, channel 30.11 was showing a signal strength that was the same as 30.1 - 30.5 out of Arlington(?) - 90%. Tonight it's showing a signal strength that's the same as 30.6 - 30.10 (65%). Did they move it to the other transmitter?


Yes, it does look like 30.11 has been moved to the Independent Hill transmitter (WNVT)


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13140#post_22250434
> 
> 
> Yes, it does look like 30.11 has been moved to the Independent Hill transmitter (WNVT)



The last I saw, they were showing color bars. Are they broadcasting anything?

J


----------



## Digital Rules

Nope, still just color bars.


----------



## AbMagFab

Quick question - I've been using a CM4221 for years, and have had perfect reception of all the major DC networks. I live in upper MoCo.


Over the last couple weeks, I have basically lost reception of WJLA and WUSA. They either don't come it at all, or I get blocky reception. FOX, WB50, and channel 20 come in perfectly with a strong signal.


Nothing has changed on my side, and I double checked my antenna which is still in the attic exactly where it's always been.


Only think I noticed was a gradual loss of WJLA in the previous weeks, but I chalked that up (at the time) to poor OTA broadcasting on their side. Now I wonder if it's related.


Any ideas? Did something change on the broadcast locations of these folks? Any idea what this might be a symptom of?


Thanks!

Mark


----------



## Justkelly

It could be just the hot weather and humidity we've been having lately. Sometimes WRC for me has been sketchy lately, but I seriously doubt the stations have changed anything. More than likely, you're being affected by a combination of temperature inversion and maybe trees in the path.


----------



## Dave Loudin

The 4221 is primarily a UHF antenna, so if either local noise has gone up or the propagation path has changed somehow, there is not enough antenna gain for channels 7 and 9 to overcome it. If those channels don't come back soon, you should consider adding a high-VHF antenna.


----------



## tylerSC

High heat and humidity are affecting signals. Possibly a preamp or dist amp would help, but go to Radioshack and get the VHF only rabbit ears and the UHF/VHF signal combiner. Combine with the 4221 UHF antenna and that should solve the problem. Or if necessary get a stonger 7-13 VHF antenna. Might even get Baltimore.


----------



## Big J

Just out of curiosity, what's up with 11.3 and 11.4? I only get 11 occasionally, but when I did they seemed identical to 11.1 and 11.2-11.3 was even in HD. Not sure what the purpose is, if they just mirror the first two subchannels.

J


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AbMagFab*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13140#post_22256276
> 
> 
> Over the last couple weeks, I have basically lost reception of WJLA and WUSA. Only think I noticed was a gradual loss of WJLA in the previous weeks, but I chalked that up (at the time) to poor OTA broadcasting on their side.


Channel 7 & 9 seem about the same as usual at my test location about 70 miles southwest of DC.


I suggest augmenting your 4221 with the Antennacraft Y5-7-13 antenna. Combine the 2 antennas with a UVSJ .


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13170#post_22262226
> 
> 
> Just out of curiosity, what's up with 11.3 and 11.4?


Just had 11 on this morning on 2 diffferent tuners & only saw 11.1 & 11.2.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13170#post_22262402
> 
> 
> Just had 11 on this morning on 2 diffferent tuners & only saw 11.1 & 11.2.


OK, that's even weirder. I did a channel scan about 2 weeks ago, and 11.3, 11.4 popped. up. They were blank, so I didn't think anything of it. Then, Last Saturday watching the Olympics I flipped to 11 instead of 4 to see if the reception was better. 11.3, and 11.4 were mirroring .1 and .2. Odd. Could it be a fluke of my tuner?

J


----------



## Digital Rules

Could be your tuner, but not necessarily anything wrong with it.


My Insignia displays WHAG-25 as 26.5 since there is already another virtual 25.1 stored in the memory. All other tuners in the house have the ability to store 2 different 25.1 channels.


----------



## Trip in VA

If your TV happened to scan when WBAL was having an issue with the PSIP computer, then it would have scanned in WBAL as 11.3 and 11.4 and when the PSIP returned, may have provided a set of duplicates on 11.1 and 11.2. I've heard of this happening with WWBT-12 in Richmond.


- Trip


----------



## Big J

OK. I thought it was kind of odd, but that makes sense.

J


----------



## AntAltMike

I just spoke with someone at WNVC/WNVT and they said that 30.11 is going to be VTN 4, which I think is the same Vietnamese channel they used to carry.


----------



## Digital Rules

 Me-TV is coming to WBAL-11. No date has been announced yet.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13100_100#post_22250434
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmw63*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13140#post_22247910
> 
> 
> For the past few days, channel 30.11 was showing a signal strength that was the same as 30.1 - 30.5 out of Arlington(?) - 90%. Tonight it's showing a signal strength that's the same as 30.6 - 30.10 (65%). Did they move it to the other transmitter?
> 
> 
> 
> Yes, it does look like 30.11 has been moved to the Independent Hill transmitter (WNVT)
Click to expand...




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13100_100#post_22265873
> 
> 
> I just spoke with someone at WNVC/WNVT and they said that 30.11 is going to be VTN 4, which I think is the same Vietnamese channel they used to carry.



30.6 moved from RF30 Independent Hill to RF24 Merrifield.

30.11 and 30.12 are now on RF30.

30.11 is VTV4, Vietnamese channel previously carried.

30.12 is MHz Worldview national feed.

http://www.mhznetworks.org/news/371/


----------



## StevenJB

30.11 is now using the WNVC RF24 transmitter at Merrifield, which is the same being used by 30.1 through 30.5. Signal levels for 30.11 are consistent with 30.1 through 30.5. Because of PSIP issues, 30.11 is showing up on RF24.6 for me on one of my TV's. It is CCTV-9 from China.


30.12 is using the WNVT RF30 transmitter at Independent Hill, which is the same being used by 30.6 through 30.10. 30.12 is carrying the same programming normally found on 30.6, Worldview. 30.6 physically shows no programming, at present.


20.2, which I assume can be called WDCA-SD, is broadcasting the exact same programming that WTTG-HD, 5.1, 720p, 16:9, does. 20.2 is broadcasting in 480i SD using a 16:9 aspect ratio.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13170#post_22270324
> 
> Me-TV is coming to WBAL-11. No date has been announced yet.



Awesome! Seems better than the watered down version of RTN we had the last year or so...


----------



## compubit




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13170#post_22279298
> 
> 
> 20.2, which I assume can be called WDCA-SD, is broadcasting the exact same programming that WTTG-HD, 5.1, 720p, 16:9, does. 20.2 is broadcasting in 480i SD using a 16:9 aspect ratio.



I'm guessing that they're "filling" the signal until MundoFox kicks off.


J


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13100_100#post_22279298
> 
> 
> 30.11 is now using the WNVC RF24 transmitter at Merrifield, which is the same being used by 30.1 through 30.5. Signal levels for 30.11 are consistent with 30.1 through 30.5. Because of PSIP issues, 30.11 is showing up on RF24.6 for me on one of my TV's. It is CCTV-9 from China.
> 
> 
> 30.12 is using the WNVT RF30 transmitter at Independent Hill, which is the same being used by 30.6 through 30.10. 30.12 is carrying the same programming normally found on 30.6, Worldview. 30.6 physically shows no programming, at present.


Your VCTs are messed up; you need to clear and rescan.


CCTV-9 Documentary is on VC 30.6, RF24, Merrifield.


30.11 and 30.12 are on RF30, Independent Hill, as reported previously.

30.11 is VTV4, 30.12 is Worldview.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13170#post_22284225
> 
> 
> Your VCTs are messed up; you need to clear and rescan.
> 
> CCTV-9 Documentary is on VC 30.6, RF24, Merrifield.
> 
> 30.11 and 30.12 are on RF30, Independent Hill, as reported previously.
> 
> 30.11 is VTV4, 30.12 is Worldview.


You better replace your equipment. 30.11 clearly shows a Physical Channel of 24 on my diagnostics screen. I own two top quality Sony XBRs. They both have diagnostics programs for each digital channel. Both Sonys clearly show Channel 24 for the Physical Channel for 30.11. The signal level is 84-87 and which is exactly the same as 30.1 through 30.5.


----------



## StevenJB

My apologies to you. I spoke to soon. I just did a rescan and 30.11 is back on Physical Channel 30. My bad.


My rescan confirms that 30.6 is not putting out any PSIP data. That causes it to default to its physical channel which is 24.6.


It appears that there will be 12 channels now instead of 10. Once 30.6 goes back on line it will switch to 24 from 30. That means that 30.1 through 30.6 will use 24 and 30.7 through 30.12 will use 30. Just my two cents worth.


----------



## rory21




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13170#post_22270324
> 
> Me-TV is coming to WBAL-11. No date has been announced yet.



Does anyone have any advice on the simplest way to pick this up from very near Falls Church? I currently just have a flat antenna that picks up only the DC stations. Is there a really good indoor antenna that could pick up the signal from 40 miles away as the crow flies? Second choice would be an indoor antenna in my unfinished attic, which has a window that looks toward Baltimore. Or is an outdoor antenna needed?


Me-TV said over on a Facebook page that service will begin around October 1. Thanks for any ideas!


----------



## Digital Rules

WBAL will likely be tough to recieve reliably with anything other than an outdoor antenna. Where exactly are you located? Not sure if you can post a TV FOOL report until you have at least 5 posts?????


----------



## rory21

I think this is a link to the TV Fool report:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d9900f1466bff78 


It seems to list it as an attic-mount location, but bordering on an outdoor mount.


Thanks for your reply!


----------



## Digital Rules

Yep, I put up a large outdoor antenna @ Falls Church City Sunoco & WBAL is iffy. The TV Fool at that location is only slightly worse than yours. You can borrow my Winegard 7694 to experiment with if you would like. It's about the smallest solution that may work for you.


----------



## rory21

Thanks for the offer! It's a couple months away, though, so I'll just let it slide for a while. Me-TV might well be announced in DC by then -- it seems they've cleared almost the whole country now.


Thanks!


----------



## joblo

*Fun with VCs*

(I really wish we could still put titles on posts… -sigh- )

*StevenJB*:


All 12 MHz channels are online already, and have been since August 1, just as previously reported and documented at the web address I gave in my first post on this subject.


So let’s take this by the numbers…











> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13100_100#post_22285204
> 
> 
> You better replace your equipment. 30.11 clearly shows a Physical Channel of 24 on my diagnostics screen. I own two top quality Sony XBRs.



Ok, point 1: never pontificate about PSIP based on data from a single manufacturer’s tuners. Even if you have two different models, they probably use the same or very similar algorithms to populate their virtual channel tables (VCTs) so any idiosyncratic/erroneous behavior will manifest identically on both.



> Quote:
> They both have diagnostics programs for each digital channel. Both Sonys clearly show Channel 24 for the Physical Channel for 30.11. The signal level is 84-87 and which is exactly the same as 30.1 through 30.5.



I don’t own a Sony, but here’s a plausible explanation:


Start with VC 30.1-30.5 on RF24, 30.6-30.10 on RF30.


The station moves 30.6 to RF24 and adds VCs 30.11 and 30.12 to RF30.


You tune your set to a VC it thinks is on RF 24, and the tuner learns about the new subchannel with VC 30.6.


But not having tuned RF 30, the tuner still thinks VCs 30.6 – 30.10 are in use on RF 30.


Now at this point, some tuners, such as my TiVoHDs and Insignia CECBs, would simply add a second VC 30.6 to the VCT for the new RF 24 sub.


But other tuners, like my Dish CECB (made by CM, iirc) and apparently, your Sonys, want all VCs to be unique, so they create their own internal/fake VCs for the new/duplicate sub. The Dish/CM box actually creates a fake major number as well, so I had a VC 70.6 for a while on that box until I cleaned it up.


But the Sonys, apparently, simply counted up from 30.6 to the first available/unused VC, which, again, because they didn’t yet know about the changes on RF 30, was 30.11.


And thus you ended up with a 30.11 label for what was supposed to be 30.6.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13100_100#post_22285234
> 
> 
> My apologies to you. I spoke to soon. I just did a rescan and 30.11 is back on Physical Channel 30. My bad.
> 
> 
> My rescan confirms that 30.6 is not putting out any PSIP data. That causes it to default to its physical channel which is 24.6.



So either you chose, or the Sony software defaulted to, a non-destructive scan, meaning the VCT was not actually cleared and fully repopulated, but simply scanned for new channels to be added.


The scan would have hit RF 24 first, with the same results as above, but when it later hit RF 30 and detected the new VCs 30.11 and 30.12, the software gave priority to the “real” 30.11 over its internally generated “fake” 30.11.


If the software were really smart, it might have looked at RF 24 again, or generated a new fake VC for the displaced RF24 sub, but probably the authors didn’t feel like writing an AI program just to populate a VCT, so they simply left the fake 30.11 “orphaned”, and thus accessible only via it’s real RF, as 24.6.


My guess would be that VC 30.6, if it’s there at all, is still stuck pointed at RF 30, whether the diagnostic screen reveals that or not, but because the real sub ID that it points at is no longer there on RF 30, all you can get is a black screen.



> Quote:
> It appears that there will be 12 channels now instead of 10. Once 30.6 goes back on line it will switch to 24 from 30. That means that 30.1 through 30.6 will use 24 and 30.7 through 30.12 will use 30. Just my two cents worth.



Again, all the channels are online already.


Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to get your Sonys in sync with the rest of the world.


If the rescan actually removed the old 30.6 from the VCT when it hit RF 30, a second rescan may be all you need to do to find the new one.


Failing that, if the Sonys have an option to add and delete individual channels, I suggest you individually delete all the VCs associated with RF 24 and 30, then unplug your TVs for a minute or two, and then rescan.


Or if you chose an incremental scan, or a scan for new channels only, try a full rescan to delete and repopulate the whole VCT.


If all of that doesn’t get you all 12 MHz channels on the proper VCs, you may have no choice but to do as I’ve occasionally had to do on my “top quality” Panasonics, i.e. do a factory reset and start over.


Good luck!


----------



## ak3883

Hi everyone,


Who gets DC stations from the farthest distance away, in Central Virginia?


I'm looking for some insight as to how far I'd have to go to get basically anything from DC in the far Eastern part of Orange County(Lake of the Woods/Locust Grove). I ran TVFool and the best values were for NBC29 and CBS19 out of Charlottesville.


Would I even be able to get anything from DC with attic-mounted or would I have to mount something outside? Trying to help my parents out who just bought a house but aren't moving there full time for at least 5 years, so cable/sat is really not an option for visiting once every few weeks, it would be nice to have something, anything really. I'm visiting in the fall and will try a couple indoor antennas and my laptop with a portable OnAir GT tuner but based on the numbers I think it would be very hard to get anything without at least an attic antenna? Does anyone live in that general area and have any comments/suggestions? The first thing I will try is the cable outlet to make sure it's not still active, or if it's trapped at the pole and can just get the locals in HD, that would be so great.


Thanks!


----------



## Digital Rules

Not too far north of you in Madison county, my friend has a set-up like in my avatar & many of the DC channels are watchable most of the time. Richmond is much more reliable & Charlottesville is solid. FOX is also in HD on channel 27 from Charlottesville.


The antennas are about 10-15 above the roof, which puts them about 600 feet above sea level.


----------



## Dave Loudin

#ak3883, post the URL for the TVFool report so we have more details to work with.


----------



## tylerSC

Digital Rules has probably the best distant fringe set up there, which is 2 separate antennas for UHF and HiVHF. Looks like a 91XG from Antennas Direct, and a Winegard 1713. And you would need a good low noise preamp and a rotor. You could also consider a combo antenna such as the Winegard 7698 or Antennacraft HBU55, but the Digital Rules set up would probably provide best results. Perhaps he could share what type of preamp he is using. And at your location, your antenna should definitely be outside.


----------



## jgantert

Strange, 4.2 had the Redskins pre-season game in widescreen SD. Years prior they only had 4:3 SD on 4.1. Thanks, Olympics!


I wonder if it will go back to 4:3 SD on 4.1 once the Olympics are over?


----------



## herr_howard

All I know is that the broadcast quality of the game itself was booty! My kids actually pulled the plug on watching the game because it was hurting their eyes. Probably the closest they've ever come to having to watch a TV show through static!


----------



## Dave Loudin

WRC 4.2 is always in Widescreen SD.


----------



## compubit




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *herr_howard*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13170#post_22296242
> 
> 
> All I know is that the broadcast quality of the game itself was booty! My kids actually pulled the plug on watching the game because it was hurting their eyes. Probably the closest they've ever come to having to watch a TV show through static!



I tuned in to 4.2, then changed over to CSN on Satellite after scrolling through the guide to see if it was on CSN. It appeared that 4.2 was having an issue with properly dealing with the interlacing of the incoming feed. Bad WRC! Bad!


J


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *compubit*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13200#post_22297193
> 
> 
> I tuned in to 4.2, then changed over to CSN on Satellite after scrolling through the guide to see if it was on CSN. It appeared that 4.2 was having an issue with properly dealing with the interlacing of the incoming feed. Bad WRC! Bad!
> 
> J


Wow, so all that was in the feed? I thought it was just the storms in the area messing with my reception! haha silly me...


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13170#post_22296546
> 
> 
> WRC 4.2 is always in Widescreen SD.



I wish that more over-the-air broadcasters would realize that it's possible to transmit in this mode, now that pretty much all new TVs are of the 16:9 aspect ratio.


----------



## Marcus Carr

Comcast added new HD channels in Baltimore this morning (unnanounced of course):


351 The Movie Channel

914 Nat Geo Wild

915 Smithsonian

922 Bloomberg

924 GSN

930 BBC America

931 Oxygen

934 The Hub

935 Sprout

940 TV Guide

941 CSPAN

942 CSPAN 2


----------



## yesongs

Anyone having issues with 45-1, 45-2, 54-1 and 54-2?


I have a direcTV HR-20, and these have suddenly gone missing


Thanks


E


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *yesongs*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13200#post_22312638
> 
> 
> Anyone having issues with 45-1, 45-2, 54-1 and 54-2?
> 
> I have a direcTV HR-20, and these have suddenly gone missing
> 
> Thanks
> 
> E


45.1, 45.2, 45.3, 54.1, and 54.2, all OTA, are alive and well.


----------



## rviele

sinclair and directv are still fighting over money thats why you aren't getting them.


----------



## jgantert

Redskins back to 4:3 SD on 13.1 and 4.1. Oh well, took the Delorean back to 1989, I guess.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *compubit*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13170#post_22279548
> 
> 
> I'm guessing that they're "filling" the signal until MundoFox kicks off.


So any idea when 20.2 will start airing MundoFox? Also, any idea if there will be a second english audio channel or english closed captions (guessing not)?


----------



## rustycruiser




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13200#post_22319618
> 
> 
> Redskins back to 4:3 SD on 13.1 and 4.1. Oh well, took the Delorean back to 1989, I guess.


CSN has exclusive HD rights.


----------



## PaulGo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13200#post_22311571
> 
> 
> Comcast added new HD channels in Baltimore this morning (unnanounced of course):
> 
> 351 The Movie Channel
> 
> 914 Nat Geo Wild
> 
> 915 Smithsonian
> 
> 922 Bloomberg
> 
> 924 GSN
> 
> 930 BBC America
> 
> 931 Oxygen
> 
> 934 The Hub
> 
> 935 Sprout
> 
> 940 TV Guide
> 
> 941 CSPAN
> 
> 942 CSPAN 2



Same additions in Montgomery County, MD.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rustycruiser*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13200#post_22321491
> 
> 
> CSN has exclusive HD rights.


They could have at least shown 16:9 SD like last week!


----------



## artwire




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13170#post_22279298
> 
> 
> 30.11 is now using the WNVC RF24 transmitter at Merrifield, which is the same being used by 30.1 through 30.5. Signal levels for 30.11 are consistent with 30.1 through 30.5. Because of PSIP issues, 30.11 is showing up on RF24.6 for me on one of my TV's. It is CCTV-9 from China.
> 
> 30.12 is using the WNVT RF30 transmitter at Independent Hill, which is the same being used by 30.6 through 30.10. 30.12 is carrying the same programming normally found on 30.6, Worldview. 30.6 physically shows no programming, at present.
> 
> 20.2, which I assume can be called WDCA-SD, is broadcasting the exact same programming that WTTG-HD, 5.1, 720p, 16:9, does. 20.2 is broadcasting in 480i SD using a 16:9 aspect ratio.



For some reason I can't pick up 30 -12 over the air on any of my recorders or tvs , and Comcast isnt carrying them. The main problem, for me, is that MHZ is running the midnight repeats of their regular worldview programs ( International Mystery) on 30-12 ... rather than on the same station (30-1) on which it originally broadcasts, and they are running some sort of Vietnamese programming on MHZ 30.1 at midnight instead (even tho they added 30.11 for their Asian lineup). Since I can pick up 30.1 - 5 on all antennas, but sometimes have trouble with 30 -6 - .10, your info about transmitters explains why I cant get 12. (but it doesn't explain where 30- 11 went... ) I"m still searching for it - in the hope that -12 will show up nearby. I will also rescan using the 'other antenna" (the one that can sometimes pick up 30-6 -10). Maybe -12 will appear with that antenna... but for now, I'm out of luck.


I just don't understand the rationale for bumping such popular reruns to a subchannel so few can pick up, nor do I understand why comcast DC hasn't yet added the additional MHz subchannels. Annoying as hell - the midnight re-run (still listed in the channel guide) was perfect for recording shows for later viewing. this is great international programming, but I can't totally ignore primetime for it. Well, *I* could, but there would be hell to pay!


----------



## Dave Loudin

@artwire, you need to read the answers to that post. 30.1-30.6 are on RF 24 and 30.7-30.12 are on RF 30.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Marcus Carr*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13140_20#post_22229166
> 
> 
> From my [Comcast] bill:
> 
> IMPORTANT INFO: On or shortly after August 22, TBN HD on channel 798 will no longer be available.



Was removed this morning.


----------



## artwire




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13200#post_22326310
> 
> 
> @artwire, you need to read the answers to that post. 30.1-30.6 are on RF 24 and 30.7-30.12 are on RF 30.



No luck - nothing on 24 and now I've lost 30. Not sure what's going on. I'm going to try a different antenna... and a different tuner. This is not working for me. I get 30-1 - 10 via cable. Over the air MHz seems to have gone missing.


----------



## AntAltMike

I just scanned a late model Insignia TV connected to an off-air rooftop antenna in College Park, Maryland, and it "found" eight 66.XXX channels, including Starz, CineMex and an NFL channel, but when I took the TV out of Menu mode, and used the channel up and channel down, it skipped them. What are they?


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13210_10#post_22331708
> 
> 
> I just scanned a late model Insignia TV connected to an off-air rooftop antenna in College Park, and it "found" I think eight 66.XXX channels, including Starz, CineMex and an NFL channel, but when I took the TV out of Menu mode, and used the channel up and channel down, it skipped them. What are they?


Mobile DTV???


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13200#post_22331708
> 
> 
> I just scanned a late model Insignia TV connected to an off-air rooftop antenna in College Park, Maryland, and it "found" eight 66.XXX channels, including Starz, CineMex and an NFL channel, but when I took the TV out of Menu mode, and used the channel up and channel down, it skipped them. What are they?



I went back to that TV and was able to select each 66-XXX channel listed in the Channels Found list, but when I did, the upper right hand channel identification display said "Audio Only" yet there wasn't even audio available


66-100 Airbox

66-101 Starz

66-200 NFL

66-201 RedZone

66-209 GolTV

66-300 TeleFox

66-301 CineMex

66-302 Pasions


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13200#post_22331720
> 
> 
> Mobile DTV???



That was my first guess, but so far I have only visited the WPXW Wikipedia page and they list half a dozen different channels as Mobile DTV. It could be that the Wikipedia page is outdated.


I just sent a query to: http://www.iontelevision.com , using their Contact Us service.


----------



## Trip in VA

It's Airbox.

http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=airbox 

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1374019/air-tv-as-found-on-select-ion-stations/0_100 


- Trip


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *artwire*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13200_100#post_22323791
> 
> 
> MHZ is running the midnight repeats of their regular worldview programs ( International Mystery) on 30-12 ... rather than on the same station (30-1) on which it originally broadcasts, and they are running some sort of Vietnamese programming on MHZ 30.1 at midnight instead [...]
> 
> 
> I just don't understand the rationale for bumping such popular reruns to a subchannel so few can pick up, nor do I understand why comcast DC hasn't yet added the additional MHz subchannels. Annoying as hell - the midnight re-run (still listed in the channel guide) was perfect for recording shows for later viewing. this is great international programming, but I can't totally ignore primetime for it. Well, *I* could, but there would be hell to pay!



Can’t speak for MHz Networks, but I think the rationale is fairly clear from the history.


VTV4 is 24-hour international service of Vietnam state television that MHz carried 12 hours per day on 30.6, then on RF30, until it was removed about a year ago to make room for CCTV’s news and documentaries channels.


Evidently, MHz wanted to restore VTV4 service without displacing any current services, but MHz already has 8-10 channels on the major cable systems in the area, and those systems did not want to give MHz another channel.


So MHz restored VTV4 as a 24/7 OTA-only subchannel, VC 30.11 on RF 30, and is simulcasting that programming for 7 hours per day on 30.1. 30.1 has the widest distribution of the MHz channels because it is available on DBS as well as digital cable, and there may even be a few small cable systems still carrying it in analog. So instead of 12 hours on digital cable and far suburban RF 30, VTV4 now gets 24 hours a day on RF 30 and 7 hours a day on DBS, cable, and the more centrally located RF 24.


30.1, meanwhile, has been largely a simulcast of MHz Worldview, which is distributed nationally on DirecTV and as a digital subchannel on many PBS and other noncommercial stations across the country. The Worldview national feed became available locally August 1, on over the air VC 30.12, RF 30. For DC area viewers with access to digital cable or the digital OTA signals, much of the Worldview schedule is redundant, as it simulcasts or delays programming available on other subchannels. The midnight programming is, as you note, simply a 3 hour delay of the prime time schedule, and as such, I think it is primarily there for west coast viewers and affiliates.


As it stands now, 30.1 simulcasts 30.11 for 49 hours a week (7 hours daily) and 30.12 for 86 hours a week (13 hours each weekday and slightly less on the weekend, including 6 pm to midnight every day), leaving only 33 hours a week of non-simulcast programming. The heavy simulcasting plus recent changes in must carry regulations make it unlikely that 30.11 and 30.12 will ever be added to cable lineups. In fact, the original news release that I linked – which apparently disappeared into the digital ether when MHz overhauled its web site last week – said clearly that these new channels would be available only over the air.


Your channel guide probably shows the Worldview schedule instead of the 30.1 schedule because Tribune Media Services erroneously lists the channel in the lineup as MHZWV instead of WNVCDT. Can’t say for sure if that’s what’s happening for you, because I don’t know your location or what equipment you are using, but TiVo listings for Verizon FiOS are similarly incorrect for this reason. TiVo listings for Cox are correct, however, and FiOS boxes themselves show correct listings, because Verizon apparently does not get its program data from Tribune.


MHz does have a statement about the midnight rebroadcasts on its new web site, which I will post here in its entirety lest it, too, should disappear into the great internet bit bucket.



> Quote:
> *August 13, 2012*
> 
> *International Mystery Encore Still Available in DC Viewing Area on MHz 1*
> 
> 
> FALLS CHURCH, VA – As a local over the air digital broadcaster, MHz works to diversify our programming to serve our local community.
> 
> 
> MHz added 4 blocks of VTV programming to the MHz schedule on August 1, one of which is in place of the typical International Mystery encore at midnight nightly on MHz 1 (30.1).
> 
> 
> The International Mystery encore may still be watched at midnight in the DC Metro area on MHz in two ways:
> 
> 
> -locally on over the air digital broadcast channel 30.12. (if you do not have an over the air set top box receiver, you will have to purchase one to view this way), or
> 
> -tune into our live stream of our national channel MHz Worldview at www.mhznetworks.org or via our Android and/or iOS apps at that time.
> 
> 
> Let us know if you have any additional questions at [email protected] or 703-770-7100. The MHz 1 schedule is also available at: http://www.mhznetworks.org/schedule/
> 
> 
> Contact:
> 
> Stephanie Misar
> 
> 8101 A Lee Highway
> 
> Falls Church, VA 22042
> 
> 703-770-7100
> www.mhznetworks.org
> 
> _MHz Networks is an independent, non-commercial television broadcaster delivering international programming and providing diverse cultural perspectives for a globally-minded audience.
> 
> 
> MHz Worldview, MHz Networks flagship channel, brings programming to globally-minded audiences in the US through affiliates, including cable, satellite and online. Also serving the Washington, DC area’s 4.9 million residents with ten local broadcast channels, MHz Networks features programs from around the world on-air in more than 20 different languages.
> _


 http://www.mhznetworks.org/about/press?field_archive_date_value=2012 
http://www.mhznetworks.org/about/press/international-mystery-encore-still-available-dc-viewing-area-mhz-1


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13200#post_22331939
> 
> 
> It's Airbox.
> http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=airbox
> http://www.avsforum.com/t/1374019/air-tv-as-found-on-select-ion-stations/0_100
> 
> - Trip



How do get to watch it? What hardware do I need? What subscriptions would I have to arrange and with whom? Is there a way for my customer with the Insignia TV that recognizes the data stream to watch it on his TV?


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13200_100#post_22332252
> 
> 
> How do get to watch it? What hardware do I need? What subscriptions would I have to arrange and with whom? Is there a way for my customer with the Insignia TV that recognizes the data stream to watch it on his TV?



Everything I know about it beyond the links I provided came from GridlockJoe: http://houstondtv.wordpress.com/2012/03/26/airbox-packages-announced/ 


Oh, and the Airbox website is apparently geo-locked to the Houston area.


- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13200#post_22332910
> 
> 
> Everything I know about it beyond the links I provided came from GridlockJoe: http://houstondtv.wordpress.com/2012/03/26/airbox-packages-announced/
> 
> Oh, and the Airbox website is apparently geo-locked to the Houston area.
> 
> - Trip



It looks like a Spanish version of defunct USDTV. They had Starz, too. The Wikipedia WPXW page alludes to a handful of "cable TV" channels, like MSNBC, being broadcast as WPXW subchannels, but that entry is a year and a half old, and when I followed some links, I got to a page that said that some service was no longer available in North and South America. I may investigate this furrter later today, or after I have heard from ion, and update the Wikipedia page myself.


I have almost no Spanish speaking customers in the multiple dwelling units where service the master antenna systems, and no one would be wiling to pay $100 for a dedicated tuner box that enabled them to subscribe to a low resolution Starz for $10 a month.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13200_100#post_22332930
> 
> 
> The Wikipedia WPXW page alludes to a handful of "cable TV" channels, like MSNBC, being broadcast as WPXW subchannels, but that entry is a year and a half old, and when I followed some links, got to a page that said that some service was no longer available in North and South America. I may investigate this furrter later today, or after I have heard from ion, and update the Wikipedia page myself.



That was from the Mobile DTV test. They were there for a long time in encrypted form, then pulled after the OMVC testing ended.


- Trip


----------



## StevenJB

It appears that WDDN-LD has resumed operations on Virtual Channel 23.1. WDDN-LD originally transmitted on RF Channel 22 but switched to RF23 after terminating its analog operations on RF23. Following this logic, I also noticed that WMDO-LD has applied to the FCC for a CP to abandon RF Channel 8 for RF Channel 22. WMDO-LD currently transmits on RF Channel 8 and maps to Virtual Channels 47.1 and 47.2. WMDO-LD probably would continue to map to Virtual Channel 47.1 and 47.2 since it also has a mirroring LP analog station operating on RF47. Continuing to follow the logic, WGAL-DT, RF Channel 8 and Virtual Channels 8.1 and 8.2, in Lancaster, PA, received an STA from the FCC and increased its ERP to 59 kW ND from 32.2 kW ND on RF Channel 8. That increase of ERP has placed WGAL-DT 's 36 dBu service contour almost to the Capital Beltway (I-495), just north of the District of Columbia. In fact, WGAL-DT was viewable for me several days ago on 8.1 and 8.2. This is the first time that I have ever received WGAL-DT on RF Channel 8 since WGAL-DT abandoned RF Channel 59 used prior to the June 2009 final transistion.


----------



## Dave Loudin

I've seen WGAL pop in twice here on the far south side of the DC metro.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13200#post_22347939
> 
> 
> I've seen WGAL pop in twice here on the far south side of the DC metro.


I find it fascinating looking at the original FCC engineering studies. The FCC engineering models for some reason failed to anticipate the true coverage of a hypothetical 8VSB ATSC Digital signal. In WGAL-DT's case, the FCC originally wanted to allow WGAL an ERP of only 5.40 kW ND. As you can see from their estimates, the FCC engineering study estimated that a 5.40 kW ND DTV ERP on RF Channel 8 would give WGAL-DT the same coverage as their 110 kW ND Analog ERP on Channel 8. I could always get some form of signal from WGAL-TV-8 analog at my home some 80 miles away. The UHF Channel 59 ATSC signal in use before the final June 2009 transition was much much less reliable than analog. The initial Channel 8 ATSC power of 5.40 kW followed by the 32.2 kW allowance was virtually worthless to me. At least on Channel 59, I could receive WGAL-DT intermittently as I finally now can with their new Channel 8 STA allowance.

http://transition.fcc.gov/dtv/markets/maps_current/Harrisburg-Lancaster-Lebanon-York_PA.pdf 


Mr. Loudin, if I'm not mistaken, you are an engineer or a professional in the technical aspects of Radio and TV. Am I correct? Am I missing something in my comments above? In my non-technical opinion, the FCC grossly overestimated the effective coverage of the 8VSB ATSC Digital signal especially on VHF-High. 8VSB ATSC VHF-Low is still a work-in-progress from a disaster. Why would the FCC"s engineering models fall so short? The FCC has now allowed WGAL-DT an ERP of 59 kW ND. That is now over 10 times more than the original CP had allowed. What is going on? How could the engineers at the FCC miss the mark that much?


----------



## tylerSC

The full power UHF DTV signals seem to perform very well, and usually equal if not improve upon their previous analog signals in many areas. Unless a station is restricted to side mounted or directional antennas, or limited power levels. But HiVHF signals were apparently underestimated with power levels too low and problems with noise and interference. But fortunately, many VHF stations have been allowed to increase power, including RF7 and RF9 in DC, which reportedly now have very good signals. But apparently RF11 and RF13 in Baltimore are still problematic, as they are limited to low power and directional antennas. But when I lived in Alexandria, VA back in the 90's, I got very good analog reception of both DC and Baltimore with an indoor antenna. Not sure how it is now. And they need to rebuild more Roy Rogers up there like they used to have everywhere.


----------



## artwire

Thanks, Joblo! That was *quite* a thorough reply, and I appreciate your taking the time to do so. (Not news I wanted to hear, but as good an explanation as I'm likely to ever get!)


I finally 'solved' the problem by dedicating a second recorder to only capture the 9:00 pm programming rather than wait for the 12am reruns when the main recorder wasn't busy.


Haven't tried recording two shows at the same time on the two different recorders using the passthrough and internal tuners on both the recorders, but I think this will be okay as I can always use an aux input from the cable box instead to grab the second program and leave the internal tuner set to MhZ. For some reason my comcast feed (to the tuner) has both Mhz and MPT at the same location (22.1, 22.2, 22.3 ) so I had been running into problems setting timer recordings... It seems to be working this way. I will touch nothing!


----------



## Dave Loudin

If there is _ever_ any doubt as to where a 30.x channel is being transmitted from, check at the top or bottom of the hour. Each subchannel has a station ID banner at the top of the screen.


----------



## Trip in VA

Can someone check and see if Cool TV gone from WNUV? Thanks.


- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13230#post_22362094
> 
> 
> Can someone check and see if Cool TV gone from WNUV? Thanks.
> 
> - Trip



I get a blank screen, but when I summon "info" on my Dunex, its time function indicator displaysthe current time, says it is in 704x480i, and says that the current show runs from 2:00AM to 3:00 AM.


It identifies the immediate programming to be Music Videos,FTA TV-PG, and describes the content as, "Artists perform".


54.1 is carrying America's Court with judge Ross, in 1280x720p


----------



## jgantert

TheCoolTV is gone from all Sinclair stations, as of yesterday afternoon (8/31/12). I think there is a thread/post somewhere here on AVS about it.


Just a black screen on 54.2 for me. I wonder what (if anything) will replace it?


----------



## AntAltMike

By my rough mental tally of the stations listed on Wikipedia's TheCoolTV affiliates page, there had recently been 50 affiliates, and at least 26 of them are or were sinclair stations, so the number of stations presently carrying TheCoolTV has been cut in half.


----------



## Mr Tony

actually going off trip's site (rabbitears) its more than that


CoolTV had 57 affiliates as of yesterday morning

now they have 20


37 Sinclair affiliates


----------



## PBelenky

Antenna for Hauppauge WinTV-HVR 2250


I'm in Washington DC (20015) and receive broadcast signals from a Tivax DT-01 amplified indoor antenna through a Tivax converter box. This setup has proven generally satisfactory for the channels we watch, almost all labeled yellow for our location. While WMPT 22.1 (RF channel 42) is listed as yellow, we rarely get it, but MHz (WNVC 30.1, RF channel 24) comes in clearly, even though it is labeled blue.


I just bought a Hauppauge WinTV-HVR 2250 computer card to record digital TV broadcasts and connected it to an identical Tivax antenna. Even when the two antennas are placed right next to each other, the scanner fails to identify many stations, either with the gain turned up or with it turned off. Since I know that this antenna will work through the converter box, should I assume that the Hauppauge receiver is weaker? If it is, is it possible to compensate by a stronger antenna? Would it be advisable to mount the same or another antenna in an upstairs room and run a long cable to the computer? I would be grateful for recommendations, particularly if any model of indoor antenna is superior (and not too expensive...). Alternatively, must I conclude that the choice is between connecting a powerful, expensive outdoor antenna to the receiver card and returning the card as an unwise purchase?


Thanks all.


----------



## carltonrice

Something odd going on with FiOS TV tonight. On my FiOS DVR, WUSA-HD is coming in on channel 504. WRC-HD is coming in on channel 492. And WUSA-Weather is coming in on 509. Even odder... the other FiOS set top box (non-DVR) has the channels in their proper places.


Anybody experienced this oddity before? What's the solution? Reset the DVR box?


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13200_100#post_22349435
> 
> 
> 
> I find it fascinating looking at the original FCC engineering studies. The FCC engineering models for some reason failed to anticipate the true coverage of a hypothetical 8VSB ATSC Digital signal. ....... The FCC has now allowed WGAL-DT an ERP of 59 kW ND. That is now over 10 times more than the original CP had allowed. What is going on? How could the engineers at the FCC miss the mark that much?




Good Question. I heard at the time that Cavel, Metz & Associates were doing a study, but that's all I know. I recall one speculation was the CECB's had crap front ends and were desensitized by FM broadcast nearby, but that did not hold water to me.


Sidenote: their fccinfo.com plugin is a great tool. I only wish it listed non-broadcast licenses as well, but their server would have no way to handle THAT load...


----------



## AntAltMike

I think that much of the criticism of the work that the FCC did is undeserved. The FCC had to cram 67 channels worth of spectrum usage into 49 channels of spectrum in such a way as to make sure that everyone within a certain "contour" was as likely to receive acceptable signal quality as they had been previously. One difficulty in doing that is that they are forced to make an apples and oranges comparison of signal quality sufficiency, in that, analog reception is deemed qualitatively adequate if it enables the reception site to develop "TASO Grade 1" pictures, having a 46 dB C/N ratio, whereas digital pictures are all virtually noise free but the disruptive effect of any noise that interdicts the processing of even one frame is wholly unacceptable.


If a plane flies overhead and, for one frame, an analog signal has a ghost image, it would be humanly impossible to notice that, but such a disruption of that short an interval of digital transmission would result in a one frame/one second video stutter, and the analog disruption would be even longer than that.


In Washington, DC, much of the city was within the Baltimore WMAR channel 2 analog grade A contour, but the pictures looked terrible because of impulse noise and there was absolutely no way to make that visual interference go away. In fact, back in 1994, I was part of the crew that installed cut-to-channel Baltimore antennas on The National Captioning Institute's headquarters in Vienna, Virginia and we were developing more than 10dBmV coming off the channel 2 antenna, meaning we theoretically had S/N rations of over 60dB, but we still had huge speckles. And that was a harbinger of things to come. We couldn't get their decaptioning boxes to work reliably on channel 2 because the captioning data was digitally imbedded in the vertical blanking pulse, but any time an impulse burst coincided with that data, it obliterated it.


WGAL is on channel 8, and there is a lot of impulse noise in VHF highband that has caused lots of problems for channels 7-13 nationally. Making matters worse is that fewer people have the gumption or inclination to install outdoor antennas than they used to, but VHF reception more often needs them.


I don't know what could theoretically have been done with forward error correction, but it seems to me that if there is a way to trade a little video bandwidth for a redundant dose of forward error correction, then it would be a tradeoff worth making, but chances are, "the horse is already out of the barn" as far as creative forward error correction is concerned.


----------



## Digital Rules

I personally feel the FCC could have planned better than they did regarding the digital VHF-Hi power allotments. Martinsburg WV's WWPX-RF 12 was receivable pre transition in downtown DC & could have been used to test real world signal reliability with various power levels.


From my own pre-transition observations of WWPX -TV, around 26kw should have been the minimum power level allotted for any of the pre transition full power analog stations.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rory21*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13170#post_22286728
> 
> 
> Me-TV said over on a Facebook page that service will begin around October 1.


Just noticed they updated their website, and it looks like that's their official estimate:
http://metvnetwork.com/wherewatch.php?marketID=209 


OTA 11.2, Comcast 208, Verizon 460.


----------



## Frankie20

I keep getting continuous dropouts in WZDC 25, is anyone else having the same problem??


----------



## fmw63




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Frankie20*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13230#post_22393404
> 
> 
> I keep getting continuous dropouts in WZDC 25, is anyone else having the same problem??




Yes, lots last night when I was watching, even thought signal was showing around 80%. Thought it was my antenna...


----------



## bxs122




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13230#post_22366143
> 
> 
> Something odd going on with FiOS TV tonight. On my FiOS DVR, WUSA-HD is coming in on channel 504. WRC-HD is coming in on channel 492. And WUSA-Weather is coming in on 509. Even odder... the other FiOS set top box (non-DVR) has the channels in their proper places.
> 
> Anybody experienced this oddity before? What's the solution? Reset the DVR box?




I didn't quite see the same but saw failure on WRC-DT related - I couldn't get anything on 4.1 or 504 for WRC-DT.


I have a media server with FIOS CableCard (thus the 504) as well as OTA ATSC Tuner cards (thus the 4.1). Generally I record my shows 4.1, 7.1 etc. And for premium channels I bounce to use CableCard. Windows Media Center does a good job of combining all the available channels into one guide.


Anyway, when tuning FIOS 504 I'd get a No Signal error. When tuning local 4.1 I'd get a corrupt Video Signal. Haven't checked this a.m. but assume it is still the same.


I do keep a Fios STB around as backup and when I turned that on and tuned to 504, it was able to lock the signal and play the live feed. That tells me the signal is there, just something has changed that is preventing Windows Media Center from decoding???


Anyone else?


----------



## nwar

Please forgive me if this is the wrong place to ask this. Over the past few months I've noticed random network (ABC, NBC, FOX) shows marked as copy protected over Comcast (Baltimore County). I'm unable to convert the wtv files that Windows 7 Media Center creates to dvr-ms files. Last night it was particularly bad as the entire WBFF primetime lineup was copy protected. I'm using the InfiniTV card and didn't want to play with firmware or other things unless that is clearly the problem. Is anyone else with Comcast seeing this behavior?


----------



## Frankie20




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *fmw63*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13230#post_22393458
> 
> 
> Yes, lots last night when I was watching, even thought signal was showing around 80%. Thought it was my antenna...



A week later WZDC went back to normal, but...


I've been problem receiving WZDC after adjusting my antenna yesterday, I haven't been able to get a solid lock anymore no matter what I do, the signal would stay good for about a minute or two then drop off.


I'm in Greenbelt, is anyone else having this problem?


----------



## Digital Rules

No change in WZDC here. Is has always been very weak here & disappears many nights when RF 25 from Richmond overrides it.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13230#post_22376490
> 
> 
> Just noticed they updated their website, and it looks like that's (October 1, 2012) their official estimate:
> http://metvnetwork.com/wherewatch.php?marketID=209
> 
> OTA 11.2, Comcast 208, Verizon 460.



It is now 6:48 PM on the evening of the announced launch date, but 11.2 is still an SD version of their 11.1 HD programming.


Now, here is some really bad news. MeTV has already dropped most of what I had considered to be its best programming

*Former programming*

*Comedy series*


Bosom Buddies (October 2–December 18, 2011)

Family Affair (December 21, 2010–August 31, 2012)

Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. (December 15, 2010-April 13, 2012)

Green Acres (June 20-September 1, 2012)

Happy Days (December 21, 2010–September 2, 2012)

Laverne & Shirley (December 21, 2010–September 2, 2012)

Love, American Style (September 26, 2011-April 13, 2012; June 19-August 28, 2012)

The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (June 22-August 31, 2012)

The Mothers-In-Law (June 19-September 2, 2012)

The Odd Couple (December 21, 2010-June 15, 2012)

Taxi (December 20, 2010-December 30, 2011)

*Drama/action series*


Cannon (December 15, 2010–August 31, 2012)

Honey West (December 20, 2010–September 2, 2012)

The Invisible Man (January 29-April 15, 2012; returns October 6, 2012))

The Rogues (October 1, 2011–September 1, 2012)

The Streets of San Francisco (December 15, 2010-September 23, 2011)

The Untouchables (December 15, 2010-August 31, 2012)
*

Westerns*


Marshal Dillon (early, half-hour episodes of Gunsmoke; December 15, 2010–November 26, 2011)

Rawhide (December 15, 2010–November 28, 2011)

Stagecoach West (December 20, 2010–September 23, 2011)


----------



## Digital Rules

Me TV started broadcasting on WBAL 11.2 @ 5:00 this morning with the Honeymooners. Still in glorious 480i.


----------



## AntAltMike

I just caught the closing credits of Make Room for Daddy this morning. MeTV is going to become my most watched weekend channel.


When I'm home during any weekdays, the Rockford Files at 11:00 AM, Book 'em Dano at noon, the Wild Wild West at 4:00 PM are probably better than any shows on cable in those time slots, and The Bob Newhart Show at 10:30 PM looks good for me, too.


----------



## jgantert

Good timing on MeTV, as AntennaTV has just wrapped up WKRP this week. Will give me a chance to start up a new show on MeTV!


----------



## jgantert

Bummer, looking at the Schedule, looks like WBAL pre-empts Cheers, The Bob Newhart Show, some M*A*S*H, My Three Sons, The Donna Reed Show, Sat 10am-1:00pm block, Sun 10am - 2:00pm block (Brady Bunch, some I Love Lucy)


Cheers, Bob Newhart and Brady Bunch would have been good to see.


----------



## rory21

I've been lobbying DC stations to add Me-TV for months. Their schedule at any given time (including now) has shows that have won 20-25 Emmys for best drama or comedy. They tend to rotate shows more often than most channels, so "dropped" shows may come back. The preemptions are bad news, though.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rory21*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13170#post_22286728
> 
> 
> Does anyone have any advice on the simplest way to pick this up from very near Falls Church? I currently just have a flat antenna that picks up only the DC stations. Is there a really good indoor antenna that could pick up the signal from 40 miles away as the crow flies? Second choice would be an indoor antenna in my unfinished attic, which has a window that looks toward Baltimore. Or is an outdoor antenna needed?
> 
> Me-TV said over on a Facebook page that service will begin around October 1. Thanks for any ideas!



Here's something cheap you can try. Channelmaster is closing out the last of its Jointenna series filters and is presently selling the channel 11 jointennas for just $3.99 each, plus shipping.

https://www.channelmasterstore.com/JOIN_TENNA_CM_0581_p/cm-0581.htm 


Your channel 11 field strength is about 50 dB below your Washington DC signals that come to you from the same general direction. If you use the Jointenna as just a bandpass filter, it should reduce every channel except channel 11 by about 20 dB, so the chances are you would lose Baltimore channels 2, 45 and 54, but keep all of your Washington channels even with that filter in line and your tuner may function better without the intermodulation of the stronger channels decimating the quality of your weak channel 11.


----------



## nabsltd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13240_40#post_22451501
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rory21*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13170#post_22286728
> 
> 
> Does anyone have any advice on the simplest way to pick this up from very near Falls Church? I currently just have a flat antenna that picks up only the DC stations. Is there a really good indoor antenna that could pick up the signal from 40 miles away as the crow flies? Second choice would be an indoor antenna in my unfinished attic, which has a window that looks toward Baltimore. Or is an outdoor antenna needed?
> 
> Me-TV said over on a Facebook page that service will begin around October 1. Thanks for any ideas!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Here's something cheap you can try. Channelmaster is closing out the last of its Jointenna series filters and is presently selling the channel 11 jointennas for just $3.99 each, plus shipping.
Click to expand...

I know it's not really a good idea, but I just used a combiner to join my DC and Baltimore antennas. I lost a bit of signal strength compared to straight in, but only the older tuners have issues (and then only on a couple of channels).


I have a Channel Master CM4221 and AntennaCraft Y5-7-13 (joined with a VHF/UHF combiner ) for Baltimore and a CM4228 for DC, all roof-mounted. The Y5-7-13 is small enough to easily fit in an attic, and then just figure out what kind of combiner works best with your existing antenna. Or, you could also use something like the CM4221 inside the attic as well. I'm 33.5 miles from the Baltimore towers, so it might work in Falls Church.


----------



## Digital Rules

You will absolutely need an outdoor antenna for any chance of receiving channel 11 in Falls Church.


----------



## Frankie20




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13230#post_22448723
> 
> 
> No change in WZDC here. Is has always been very weak here & disappears many nights when RF 25 from Richmond overrides it.



I'm guessing the problem was most likely the station itself, around Monday WZDC begin coming in very stable and hasn't changed since...


Anyway, I want to try to get WBAL now that they have MeTV on. I'm currently using a coat hanger bow tie antenna I made 2 years ago, I know it's UHF only but I didn't care about getting WBAL or WJZ. I currently have my antenna at a window (I live in a condo) pointing South.


If I were to build a Single Bay Gray-Hoverman antenna, would it do a better job at picking up WBAL?

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d2df9155e6b456b


----------



## Digital Rules

Sorry, not familiar with home made antennas. Even with a great signal, it will be tough getting channel 11 reliably with the signal on the other side of your building.


----------



## jgantert

FINALLY... MundoFOX on 20.2!


No English audio or Closed Captioning.


----------



## carltonrice

The use of scrolls by local affils is getting ridiculous. I guess there's some obligation to alert for extreme weather or other emergency situations, but does channel 9 really need to scroll across the screen every few minutes how they're in a dispute with Dish Network?


----------



## Mr Tony

its the same in Minneapolis with KARE11....both owned by Gannett


But why does it need to be 3 times the size of the scroll they use for severe weather?


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *unclehonkey*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13260#post_22468496
> 
> 
> its the same in Minneapolis with KARE11....both owned by Gannett
> 
> 
> But why does it need to be 3 times the size of the scroll they use for severe weather?



And why practically after every commercial break?


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13200_100#post_22468015
> 
> 
> The use of scrolls by local affils is getting ridiculous. I guess there's some obligation to alert for extreme weather or other emergency situations, but does channel 9 really need to scroll across the screen every few minutes how they're in a dispute with Dish Network?



Not to mention the spreading network crapola. Dancing figures along the bottom third of the screen, for example.


Watching via Hulu has multiple advantages.


----------



## TheKrell

Long term agreement reached between Dish and Gannett. Scroll should be gone.


----------



## dlarkin_dc

Hi ,


I'm south of DC in the Hybla Valley/Mt Vernon area and I'm hoping someone can help me with an OTA issue. Channel 48 (NBC 4.1) is something of a nemisis over the years. I'm using a homemade bow tie antenna (4 bay, 9.5" whiskers, w/solid reflectors that I made tuned to #48 even, and it's so forward gained that LOS side stations are lost) and everything comes in clear, most at 100% (per my TV signal meter)... except #48/4.1 that I usually get 76-82% on my television's signal rating.


82% wouldn't be so bad if it were steady, but air traffic to National Airport throws the signal off as each plane passes, serious casuing drop outs down into the 40's.


Why does this one station come in weaker and problematic when far lesser signals (per TV Fool) come in perfect? Anyone else have

or noticed #48 being tricky?


I'm considering a, full sized and tuned to #48, Yagi for grins and giggles to see what's the best I can get then find/make a jointenna. But not if I have too!


My TV Fool results...
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d2df96ff06516b8 



Anyone else in the same area with a perfect NBC 4.1? What antenna are you using?




Any and all help appreciated!!



DAve


----------



## Digital Rules

Have you tried different heights, or mounting locations? You likely just need to find a sweet spot for RF 48. Just a few inches can make a world of differnce with UHF.


----------



## dlarkin_dc

Yeah, I see what you mean about slight differences... probably doesn't help I've got solid reflectors for teh nessecary gain, but 1 degree off trashed the signal, as do placing, and pitch.


Thanks, I'll keep trying.


----------



## AntAltMike

dlarkin_DC doesn't have line of sight to most of the Washington towers, and since his WRC obstructions are costing him 20 dB, that means that the relative strength of strong multipath can easily corrupt the direct path signal, and since channel 4 is on a different tower than any of the other Washington stations, the reflection that hits him on channel 4 is unique to that transmission. Basically, without the benefit of a spectrum analyzer to evaluate his waveform, he will just have to get lucky in his placement. There is no guarantee that a "better" antenna will work better for him, though he might tend to fare better using two such antennas, pointed correctly, and then try continuously changing the spacing while recording the performance to select the likely optimal spacing.


----------



## AntAltMike

WRC 4.2 is presently "looping" its Chuck Todd interview. It must be shorter than half an hour, total length, because it just began again, for the third time this hour, at about 12:45 PM, and I have by now memorized his answers to all the question posed. Is this supposed to be more productive than the Olympic Sports they used to televise on 4.2?


----------



## AntAltMike

I experienced a lot of video break-ups on WTTG 5.1 during the Redskins game today, but it was rock solid on WBFF 45.1. I have a nice outdoor antenna and lots of signal strength, but the antenna is pointed to the north towards Baltimore, over 90 degrees off my Washington, DC path, so I might be more susceptiple to minor signal degradation than are most people over here in College Park, MD


----------



## AntAltMike

Looks like a "new" rerun sub-channel might be coming to WRC:


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *keyboard21*  /t/275729/new-york-ny-ota/16290#post_22509901
> 
> *Just saw this article on sitcomsonline about a new network showing classic TV. Its called Cozi and starts in January.
> 
> http://blog.sitcomso...on-cozi-tv.html
> 
> 
> We hinted on our message board earlier this week that a new over the air digital subchannel focusing on classic TV will be launching January 1, and now some info has been reported. The new network will be named Cozi TV and will be from NBCUniversal. It will be replacing digital subchannel Nonstop on the NBC Owned Television Stations. So if you're in the NBC owned markets and have Nonstop, you'll have Cozi TV come January 1. Among the series they will have at launch will include comedies like Burns & Allen, The Lucy Show, Ozzie & Harriet, Red Skelton, Groucho Marx; action dramas like Charlie's Angels, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, Magnum P.I., and classic family and western series like Lassie, The Roy Rogers Show, The Lone Ranger, The Virginian, The Adventures of Kit Carson and Alias Smith and Jones, Marcus Welby, M.D., and Highway to Heaven. A few movies will be featured in the afternoons. Currently, Highway to Heaven has been airing weekdays at 12 noon on Nonstop on all NBC Owned Television Stations, so it will likely remain at 12 noon when Cozi takes over the space on Jan. 1. Nonstop was first launched in New York in March 2009 and then expanded to the other NBC Owned Television Stations in 2010 and 2011. Of the ten markets that NBC owns, nine of them have a Nonstop station, with only the Hartford market not included. Thus, chances of Cozi TV in Hartford are not certain as the other nine markets NBC owns (NY, LA, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Washington DC, Dallas, Miami, and San Diego).
> 
> 
> Cozi TV will join the crowded digital subchannel world that includes fellow classic TV stations like Antenna TV, MeTV, THIStv, Bounce TV and RTV. Stay tuned for the official announcement and full details, like an actual schedule, as soon as it is announced. Much more to come, so get "cozi" and comfortable!*


----------



## AntAltMike

I see that RTN/RTV is down to just 64 affiliated markets (from Wikipedia list), nearly all serviced by low powered transmitters, and only 31 of them are carried on local cable , so it clearly is not sustainable, as any remaining program worth rebroadcasting would be better distributed by other means. I hope they go out of business soon, just so one of the other oldies channels can pick up The Saint and DaVinci's Inquest. I think their third best show might be "The Adventures of Robinhood"


----------



## Trip in VA

Thanks for the wishes that I become unemployed!










- Trip


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13270_10#post_22510700
> 
> 
> I see that RTN/RTV is down to just 64 affiliates, nearly all low-powered, and only 31 of them are carried on local cable, so it clearly is not sustainable, as any remaining program worth rebroadcasting would be better distributed by other means. I hope they go out of business soon...





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13270_10#post_22510797
> 
> 
> Thanks for the wishes that I become unemployed!


Ouch!


----------



## mweitz

There was a problem with Cox (in Washington DC) in the January/Feb 2012 timeframe that was eventually resolved until about mid August when I again started losing listings. Several emails backs and forth with Rovi and finally the response was that due to upgraded hardware at Cox the service was no longer available (this was when they moved several analog channels to different channel numbers). Oddly, at the end of September, 2012 I starrted getting listings again only to have them stop 3 weeks later. I have 2 Toshiba DVRs and did a hard reset on one of them after the problem in August and have never been able to get listings or even a channel lineup. On the other I still have my channel lineup but am no longer receiving listings. I can set recordings manually but it is a pain and is hard to tell what the recorded shows are since thre is only date/time but no title. I'm not hopefully either that the clock will update correctly for the daylight savings change in November.


----------



## jgantert

Anyone have any idea which DC channel is going to pick up TheCoolTV? It's been announced that it's going to be picked up, but no specifics.


----------



## dleedlee




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13260#post_22459356
> 
> 
> FINALLY... MundoFOX on 20.2!
> 
> No English audio or Closed Captioning.



A couple of the programs are rebroadcast w/subs. Corazones Blindados/Armored Hearts - Sat 2-7, El Capo 2, Sun 2-7.

I'm getting hooked on Corazones Blindados. It's a cop drama set in Bogota Columbia centering around a mixed gender duo. I'll stick with it for awhile. Sometimes the subs are repeated in delay so they reappear in the next scene. The last few episodes seemed fine however.



Also , last night I caught the middle of Tiempo Final, M-F, 10:30pm.


Chrome auto-translates:
_Plots of great suspense, most police with a tone and a dose of humor, are the characteristics of the series Final Time, a production that keeps the viewer glued to the TV. The story takes place in one place and with no more than three or four characters. This series struck by its originality, theme, and call acting. With different casts, producers began to play with the Latin American talent in every episode. It emphasizes the participation of prestigious actors and actresses of Chile, Peru, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela and Argentina, among others._




edit: A Mano Limpia @ 4pm also has subs

_Being young and full of energy can be a dangerous formula, at least it was for Manuel, "The Lion", an ex-con who returns to his neighborhood after spending five years in prison. Unhappy with the world is, and with the help of a new love, Manuel works hard to change things, opening a gym called "Clean Hand", a place that allows teens wanting to fight the opportunity to vent in a safe and controlled environment._


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13260#post_22510681
> 
> 
> Looks like a "new" rerun sub-channel might be coming to WRC:



Do we _really_ need another rerun/oldies channel?









J


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13260#post_22546691
> 
> 
> Do we _really_ need another rerun/oldies channel?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> J



I need one just for all the shows the other rerun channels have dropped or that my local affiliate pre-empts. The Bob Newhart Show, Mannix, the Rogues, the Streets of San Francisco, Honey West, The Guns of Will Sonnett...


----------



## mkfs


*EPG: Not Found*

 

Sigh; WDCA 20's encoder is dead again... or maybe they need to feed it more quarters...


----------



## mkfs

I are wrong. For some reason, my Digitalstream CECB does not see the Chan 20 encoder. But my Insignia does. But then, the Digitalstream also still insists 26.2 is CREATE not UK.....


----------



## Jimmy

Is anybody else seeing a problem with CBS last night and this morning? Something is wrong with their HDTV feed or it is Comcast (Frederick). Jagged edges, especially around banners, numbers and text. During the Ravens game, the scores were jagged, anything with numbers or text were screwed up but the faces and field were smooth. It shows on all my TVs and boxes so I suspect CBS or Comcast.


----------



## Mean Deuce

What is up with NBC4 and its live or archival footage during its newscasts? I'm pretty sure its not FIOS, but its the only channel that consistently drives my tv and speakers nuts with pops, clicks and buzzes.


If I switch channels the problems go away. If I'm going to have to listen to Pat Collins, at least it should be clean audio and video.


Anybody else experiencing this?


----------



## kalnel

I've been seeing that on Comcast in Montgomery County for several days. When I look at 9 in HD OTA, it's fine, so it must be Comcast.


----------



## CHG




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Jimmy*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13260#post_22626472
> 
> 
> Is anybody else seeing a problem with CBS last night and this morning? Something is wrong with their HDTV feed or it is Comcast (Frederick). Jagged edges, especially around banners, numbers and text. During the Ravens game, the scores were jagged, anything with numbers or text were screwed up but the faces and field were smooth. It shows on all my TVs and boxes so I suspect CBS or Comcast.



I have Comcast (Loudoun County) and am having the same problem.


I also have Dish, and also use OTA. No problem with either of those, so, it must be a Comcast issue.


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Mean Deuce*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13260#post_22633205
> 
> 
> What is up with NBC4 and its live or archival footage during its newscasts? I'm pretty sure its not FIOS, but its the only channel that consistently drives my tv and speakers nuts with pops, clicks and buzzes.
> 
> If I switch channels the problems go away. If I'm going to have to listen to Pat Collins, at least it should be clean audio and video.
> 
> Anybody else experiencing this?



WRC uses L, R, and Center of 5.1 audio for their newscasts. Live studio is always on Center with everything else in stereo. Do you use surround sound?


----------



## Mean Deuce




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13260#post_22634398
> 
> 
> WRC uses L, R, and Center of 5.1 audio for their newscasts. Live studio is always on Center with everything else in stereo. Do you use surround sound?



yeah, but I thought my receiver switched based on what it was being fed from the cable box? so maybe thats the problem.


----------



## Jimmy

Re the channel 9 issue, I sent some pictures to WUSA9 this morning showing the problem. I have not heard anything back from Comcast about my trouble report. I was wondering if anybody with Directv saw the same thing? I'm not sure how the broadcasters feed the individual cable providers but it seems logical that just the feed to Comcast could be bad. All my other channels are crystal clear so why would it be Comcast?


----------



## Jimmy

It's fixed! Picture is good again. Just got an email back from WUSA9 Community Relations VP and the Engoneering Dept. It appears the problem was a Comcast one. The two concerns communicated with each other and the problem seems to have come clear while testing. I used to work in the communications industry and " came clear while testing" was a favorite way to clear out a trouble report. No blame here!


----------



## csworldwide1

From this FCC paperwork posted on its website within the last two hours, Fox has applied to sell WUTB My 24 to Deerfield Media, which if the FCC does approve it, we will see a Sinclair Triopoly in its flagship city, Baltimore (joining flagship WBFF Fox 45 & Cunningham's WNUV CW 54).


----------



## Knicks_Fan

Now it's Gannett vs. DirecTV battling it out in fee negoitating. This is happening in all

cities where Gannett owns a station. WUSA has been running annoying crawls

during every CBS show telling their users to call DirecTv and complain. I put the

blame on greedy Gannett extorting money from cable and satellite operators.


If I lose WUSA, is there any chance I can call DirecTV and ask for an alternate

CBS station like WJZ?


Will NFL Sunday Ticket lift the blackout on games WUSA is showing on

Sunday since they wil not be available?


----------



## TheKrell

I don't think DirecTV can just swap stations like that, due to regulations.


----------



## tylerSC

You may be able to "move" to Baltimore by changing your zip code in your system settings set up. Then you would receive WJZ-13. I know people sometimes do this to receive alternate markets. But I remember that cable systems used to carry both DC and Baltimore stations. Not sure how it is now. And you could always add an outside antenna and ask DirecTV to integrate their OTA tuner with your receiver. Then you should get both DC and Baltimore HD channels.


----------



## shelby68gt500

Anyone have any idea why I'm getting a 100% on my RF signal and 0 for WRC on my SNR Artec T14A USB ATSC Tuner? All other DC stations come in at about 100/100 on my attic combo setup (4228/Y10-2-13). All my TV's seem to have no issues with WRC. Wondering if there is something very specific that could cause a low or non-existent SNR reading when the RF signal is so high...


My TV's will also pickup 45, 54 & 2 out of Baltimore, but the Artec doesn't sniff them. I'm assuming that is because the tuner in the Artec is probably crap compared to the tuners in the TV's...


----------



## Dave Loudin

Are you using a pre-amp? It's possible that the Artec's first stage cannot handle as strong a signal as your TVs do.


----------



## shelby68gt500

Yes, I use a preamp up in the attic right by the antenna. I then have a 1x8 DA in the basement to distribute to rooms in the house. Just seems strange that only WRC has this issue, all others run about 100/100 and look beautiful... If I put a couple of splitters in front of the artec, that should knock the signal down enough to see if that does it?


----------



## AntAltMike

I just serviced an Alexandria, Virginia customer who thought they were having trouble getting WRC 4.1. The problem was, during an auto-programming scan, their Access HD1080D tuner box had found WACP 4 in Philadelphia, 136 miles away, and assigned it 4.1 and 4.2, so when it then had gotten to UHF 48 WRC, it assigned it numbers 48.3 and 48.4 and this customer didn't think to look for it there. I rescanned, and now WACP is no longer in the channel list.


----------



## pclement




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tylerSC*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13290#post_22647023
> 
> 
> You may be able to "move" to Baltimore by changing your zip code in your system settings set up. Then you would receive WJZ-13. I know people sometimes do this to receive alternate markets. But I remember that cable systems used to carry both DC and Baltimore stations. Not sure how it is now. And you could always add an outside antenna and ask DirecTV to integrate their OTA tuner with your receiver. Then you should get both DC and Baltimore HD channels.



Does this work? I do not think you can get out of market locals through D*. You can get out of market channels via OTA via antenna in avariety of ways.


----------



## AntAltMike

To clarify what can be done physically or legally with DirecTV equipment, there is a difference between setting up a DirecTV off-air tuner to be able to tune adjacent market channels and changing a receiver's account status to make it part of a different DMA to enable satellite reception of those same out-of-market stations.


When DirecTV first started incorporating off-air tuners in its HDTV receivers, like the Hughes H-86 and I think the Sony Sat-100 (it had been a long time... I'm not even sure of those model numbers), it used to be that the off-air auto scan mapped al of the stations it found. Then, when they sent out software upgrades that included their "advanced program guide", the user could enter a primary and secondary area code before autoscanning, and the receiver would include any detected transmitters from either of those DMAs, but if they didn't enter that second zip code, those out of market transmitters would show up in the preliminary, actual transmitter channel frequency table, but not in the channels found list or guide.


But as far as getting an adjacent market by satellite, the spot beam carrying the local stations from the adjacent market is strong enough to be receivable but for legal reasons, DirecTV cannot authorize a receiver known to be at one physical address as part of a DMA of another zip code.


FWIW, Washington, DC standard definition locals are on transponder 18 and Baltimore standard definition locals are on transponder 26, and when you put a receiver in signal test, you can see that transponder 26 is as strong anywhere in the Washington, DC DMA as the so-called CONUS beams are. I do not know the spot beams assigned to the Washington or Baltimore high def channels, but you can find that out on lyngsat.com or elsewhere.


If you ever "move" to a address in the Baltimore DMA, you can speed up the process by informing DirecTV that you have self installed the system there and give them the address at which you want them to send the bill from now on. And since the person who will be taking over the property you will have moved out of will probably want to enjoy local broadcast HDTV immediately, before they decide what premium TV service to subscribe to, you might want to tell them that they can get their Washington DC locals just fine for free off the air.


----------



## tylerSC




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pclement*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13290#post_22668863
> 
> 
> Does this work? I do not think you can get out of market locals through D*. You can get out of market channels via OTA via antenna in avariety of ways.


I know of people who have done this changing zip codes technique in NC. But I guess it depends upon location and the available sat beams. And not really sure about the legalities involved. So which is why I prefer the OTA antenna method as you suggested.


----------



## pclement

Yes, this confirms what I thought. You can "trick" D* receivers for OTA, but not locals through D*. My H-20 receiver allows me to put in a zip code for the dish and a primary and a secondary for OTA. That will map the OTA for those zip codes (even if you can not actually receive the channels via your antenna). You can then scan for channels and view all the OTA you can receive. Channels outside of the zip codes will be viewable, but the receiver will not provide any program guides. What you can do with other D* receivers will vary and most later D* models do not support OTA.


----------



## shobuddy

Is there a consensus on which provides the better HD picture, Fios or Xfinity?


----------



## acraven

I'm a Comcast customer in DC. I do a lot of recording, mostly of analog output from the cable box and DTAs. When I'm out of town for more than a few days, I exceed the maximum of seven channel changes on my cable box and need to use the QAM tuner in my Magnavox 535 HDD DVR for additional recordings. I've successfully tested recordings on most of the available channels, but I'm stuck on two. Is there anyone here running the Comcast cable directly into a Magnavox 535 who can tell me where to find *WETAHD* and *WETAUK*?


The Magnavox does receive those channels; I can access them via Channel Up from the basic WETA channel (which is at 26.18), but the displayed channel numbers (26.1 and 26.2) do not work for timer recordings. I've checked everything between 26.1 and 26.40, plus a lot of other possbilities, without success. In the process, I did find WMPT22 and its subchannels at 133.1 - 133.3, so there's no telling where WETAHD and WETAUK may be hiding out. Btw, if anyone is looking for MHz1, it's at 22.3 (for the moment, at least).


Does anyone have a clue about WETAHD and--especially--WETAUK?


Many thanks.


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tylerSC*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13200_100#post_22349511
> 
> 
> But fortunately, many VHF stations have been allowed to increase power, including RF7 and RF9 in DC,


 

Not  fortunate for their power bills.... Was not one of the reasons some VHF stations (WUSA, WJAL) opted to stay there at the Great DTV Shuffle rather than move to UHF (al-la WRC) because in theory fewer PEPCO kilowatts would be needed by staying put?


----------



## ProjectSHO89

There's certainly a difference in power consumption.. You'd have to look at the transmitter TPO numbers rather than ERP numbers to make a comparison.


One of the biggest benefits was that the stations could re-use their old analog antenna with digital broadcasting.


----------



## carltonrice

So, I was watching the Wizards/Hawks game last night on Verizon FiOS Comcast SportsNet. (I know, I know... why would I torture myself that way?) But the game was actually pretty entertaining and the score was very close at the end of regulation. With less than 2 minutes left in the contest, the screen went dark and up popped this "EAS - Emergency Alert System" message. For the next few minutes, the STB was unresponsive. Couldn't change the channel, couldn't fast-forward. When the program returned they were 30 seconds into overtime. Is this normal for Verizon to interrupt a sports event with this stuff? Seems like an odd time to run a test.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tylerSC*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13200#post_22349511
> 
> 
> The full power UHF DTV signals seem to perform very well, and usually equal if not improve upon their previous analog signals in many areas. Unless a station is restricted to side mounted or directional antennas, or limited power levels. But HiVHF signals were apparently underestimated with power levels too low and problems with noise and interference. But fortunately, many VHF stations have been allowed to increase power, including RF7 and RF9 in DC, which reportedly now have very good signals. But apparently RF11 and RF13 in Baltimore are still problematic, as they are limited to low power and directional antennas. But when I lived in Alexandria, VA back in the 90's, I got very good analog reception of both DC and Baltimore with an indoor antenna. Not sure how it is now. And they need to rebuild more Roy Rogers up there like they used to have everywhere.


Did 11 and 13 ever increase their power? I remember one of them had a temporary increase but I didn't see any change. Right now I get 2, 45, and 54. In good conditions, with the antenna pointed in a certain direction, I get 24 which is an improvement. Does anyone know an indoor antenna that works better than a Terk HDTVa or an outdoor antenna that can also work indoors?


----------



## mdviewer25

Also, there are so many unused public access/local spaces on Verizon FiOS. Why can't they fill those with Baltimore stations


----------



## StantonGuy

Does anyone know what clear QAM stations we get in DC with Xfinity? I've got one cable box only but am setting up more than one TV. Thanks!


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ProjectSHO89*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13300_100#post_22717308
> 
> 
> There's certainly a difference in power consumption.. You'd have to look at the transmitter TPO numbers rather than ERP numbers to make a comparison.
> 
> One of the biggest benefits was that the stations could re-use their old analog antenna with digital broadcasting.


 

 

That was the incentive, of course... Same antenna, same feedline, {likely} the same transmitter...just a new exciter.

 

But that damned reality reared its ugly head, and bit back. I wonder how much WUSA, WJLA, and others ended up spending on their power upgrades... and what their ongoing power costs are now.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mkfs*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13290#post_22715607
> 
> 
> Not  fortunate for their power bills.... Was not one of the reasons some VHF stations (WUSA, WJAL) opted to stay there at the Great DTV Shuffle rather than move to UHF (al-la WRC) because in theory fewer PEPCO kilowatts would be needed by staying put?



I think the biggest factor in their decisions to stay on VHF for most stations were the beliefs thast they would have better coverage on their VHF channel,. first, because VHF bends over the terrain better and second, on an individual basis, sometimnes the UHF temporary assignment was geographically crimped due too conflicts with the next nearest stations using the same channel.


Unfortunately, it is now realized that VHF highband isnt as desirable as had been hoped because 1) there is more impulse noise disruption of VHF highband signals, particularly from lightning strikes, and 2) people with indoor antennas are disinclined to use antennas that are optimized in size for VBHF highband reception


----------



## AntAltMike

Cozi TV is now on WRC 4.2


Here is their Zap2it grid:
http://tvlistings.zap2it.com/tvlistings/ZCSGrid.do?fromTimeInMillis=1356930000000&stnNum=45736&channel=4.2&sgt=grid 


They checkerboard their programming blocks in prime time, but most often "Strip" program in the daytime.


Don't even bother with their official website. They make you watch a 20+ second commercial before you can see each 30 second series promo


Too many conflicts with MeTV for me:


Alias Smith and Jones opposite Rockford at 11:00 am, M-F

Marcus Welby versus Hawaii 5-0 at noon, M-F


Starting 8:00 PM, blocks :

Monday, Three Mystery Movies (Banacek, McCloud, McMilian)

Tuesday, Charlies Angels

Wednesday, Bionic Man

Thursday, Magnum PI


10PM Friday:The Bold Ones


Sunday Jan 6 at noon: JC Superstar, rebroadcast 2:00 AM Monday.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13290#post_22744740
> 
> 
> Cozi TV is now on WRC 4.2
> 
> Here is their Zap2it grid:
> http://tvlistings.zap2it.com/tvlistings/ZCSGrid.do?fromTimeInMillis=1356930000000&stnNum=45736&channel=4.2&sgt=grid
> 
> They checkerboard their programming blocks in prime time, but most often "Strip" program in the daytime.
> 
> Don't even bother with their official website. They make you watch a 20+ second commercial before you can see each 30 second series promo
> 
> Too many conflicts with MeTV for me:
> 
> Alias Smith and Jones opposite Rockford at 11:00 am, M-F
> 
> Marcus Welby versus Hawaii 5-0 at noon, M-F
> 
> Starting 8:00 PM, blocks :
> 
> Monday, Three Mystery Movies (Banacek, McCloud, McMilian)
> 
> Tuesday, Charlies Angels
> 
> Wednesday, Bionic Man
> 
> Thursday, Magnum PI
> 
> 10PM Friday:The Bold Ones
> 
> Sunday Jan 6 at noon: JC Superstar, rebroadcast 2:00 AM Monday.



I see some interesting programming there, but when I checked it out yesterday, the program being broadcast didn't match up with the guide, and the picture quality was really muddy and bad. Much worse than the old NBC Nonstop channel.


Edit: The picture quality would appear to be not so much WRC's fault, but a result of really bad source material. Some of these shows appear to be kinescopes or from film that was in really bad shape.


----------



## AntAltMike

This week, 4.2 Cozi is showing Lone Ranger movies in prime time. Next week, the zap2it grid says they will show similar movies in that time range, whereas the Cozi TV site says they will begin showing the 1970s/1080s action shows I listed in my above post.


----------



## bwallen

I'm having trouble pulling in channel 7 in Ashburn. I can get almost everything else (4,5,9,26 - even some from Baltimore). I'm already using an amp. What else can I do to improve my reception?


----------



## ProjectSHO89




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *bwallen*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13290#post_22762698
> 
> 
> I'm having trouble pulling in channel 7 in Ashburn. I can get almost everything else (4,5,9,26 - even some from Baltimore). I'm already using an amp. What else can I do to improve my reception?



What are you using for an antenna? it's usually more important than any amp.


----------



## KLEEEG

Called Comcast to ask if I could get another 3 free months of Streampix, and also asked when the DC area will be getting the X1 interface with cloud based DVR service. After being on hold for several minutes, the CSR said March for X1 and yes for 3 more free months of Streampix. I asked if X1 will only be offered to Triple-Play customers and he said no. Hope he is right, another reason to look forward to Spring!


Happy New Year,


Mike


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13300_100#post_22744740
> 
> 
> Cozi TV is now on WRC 4.2
> 
> Here is their Zap2it grid:


 

 

I looked and saw nothing I'd want to watch, save maybe an occasional Magnum....

 

I have to wonder how many rerun channels we need....


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mkfs*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13290#post_22779452
> 
> 
> 
> I looked and saw nothing I'd want to watch, save maybe an occasional Magnum....
> 
> 
> I have to wonder how many rerun channels we need....


Don't like Six Million Dollar Man or the original Bionic Woman? How about Charlie's Angels? Three great 70's shows right there!


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13300_100#post_22779736
> 
> 
> 
> Don't like Six Million Dollar Man or the original Bionic Woman? How about Charlie's Angels? Three great 70's shows right there!


 

 

Great shows of that era are Hill Street Blues, St. Elsewhere & Rockford..... at least IMHO.


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mkfs*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13320#post_22779795
> 
> 
> 
> Great shows of that era are Hill Street Blues, St. Elsewhere & Rockford..... at least IMHO.


We'll just have to agree to disagree then (except for Rockford).


----------



## ender p

Hi all,


Long time lurker, first time poster. I decided to try to cut cable in favor of a combo of OTA and streaming. I've been lurking for a bit to figure out the best way to do this, but my first try was a total flop. We live in Old Town Alexandria (east, three blocks from the water) in a townhouse -- only 10 or so miles from the main DC stations, which are all we really need. I tried out a Mohu Leaf first, thinking it would suffice at that distance, but I get no signal at all from anywhere. I tried it behind and above (9 feet?) our TV (unfortunately not really near a window or anything). We are the south half of a townhouse duplex, so the signal has to get through the other side of the townhouse, but I thought I'd see at least some signal even with that. What's the deal here? I didn't think we'd need a directional/outdoor setup this close in, but maybe so? Maybe I'm making some newbie mistake and I don't even know enough to know it...


Thanks in advance.


----------



## veedon


Since you know that you are 10 miles from the transmitters, I assume that you know about the TV Fool web site and the signal info and station coverage maps that it provides. You might want to try pointing the antenna northward toward the transmitters and then adjusting from there. Try to get the antenna as high above the ground as you can. Sometimes even five feet higher can make a big difference. You might also have multipath interference problems or some other kind of interference that is preventing your tuner from being able to tune the signals. If you have a long antenna cable run, make sure that you use good quality cable (RG6).


----------



## AntAltMike

I'm in the commercial and residential TV reception antenna business. A reliable customer told me that recently, the audio volume on the Jay Leno show on WRC-4 has been going up and down, whereas the volume on WBAL-11 is steady. At first I thought that was silly, but then it occurred to me that with the new mandate on commercials volume, different stations may be using different compression and safeguards. Has anyone noticed any audio fluctuation on WRC late at night or any other time?


----------



## nabsltd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13320_40#post_22786361
> 
> 
> Has anyone noticed any audio fluctuation on WRC late at night or any other time?


Fluctuation, no, but pretty much every channel has changed the "dialog normalization" setting on their AC3 encoders in the past few months.


Previously, most were set at 27 (a 4dB attenuation from max), while now I see shows that I record having the setting at 24 or even 21. Since the commercials are set the same, I don't see how this would help with compliance with the CALM act, but it does result in a overall lowering of the volume for all decoders that follow the spec.


The actual volume has been raised, though, as after I edit out commercials, I use a tool that resets the dialnorm to 31 (no attenuation) but doesn't change the actual stream in any other way. I have been doing so for years, and I can see that many shows that previously needed me to turn up the volume to hear the quiet audio now don't, and might even need the volume turned down. So, it looks like they have increased the volume on the actual audio, then set dialnorm to bring it back down to around the same as before after proper decoding. Again, this does nothing to make the commercials the same volume as the show, but it is a big change from years of what I had seen.


As a side note, I also get to see things like how they have tweaked their encoders to reduce the number of I-frames (WUSA has really stretched out the max distance and raised the "change threshold") to keep bitrates down to allow for all the subchannels that are getting added.


----------



## Dogodile

Anybody watching the game on WBAL hd. It seem every certain number of frames the image "flashes"(there is no visible flash but a noticeable change looking at it now it looks like it gets darker). It seems like it gets clearer when it flashes, kind of less pixelated. I don't know if it's the frames being sent in "packets" or what. Commercials are fine only the live video is affected which makes me believe it has something to do with the way the game is relayed to be broadcasted. I'm in harford county. Armstrong is my provider. Let me know if I'm in the wrong place please!


----------



## Slev

Anyone having problems with audio on WJZ-DT (13-1, Baltimore) ? Just got a really simple indoor antenna hoping to ditch comcast and all of the local networks come in great except WJZ. Video shows up perfect, just absolutely no audio. Any advice? My TV reports a good signal strength (88% whatever that means)


----------



## Trip in VA

Does your TV or receiver box have an Audio or SAP button on it? You may be on their secondary audio channel.


- Trip


----------



## Slev




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13320#post_22788643
> 
> 
> Does your TV or receiver box have an Audio or SAP button on it? You may be on their secondary audio channel.
> 
> - Trip



Ahhhh the SAP button did it. Didn't even think of that. Thanks a ton!!


----------



## Trip in VA

Is anyone seeing WIAV-LD 44 (possibly mapping to 44-1 or 58-1) on the air? They filed with the FCC to say they were on.


- Trip


----------



## ender p




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *veedon*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13320#post_22784895
> 
> 
> Since you know that you are 10 miles from the transmitters, I assume that you know about the TV Fool web site and the signal info and station coverage maps that it provides. You might want to try pointing the antenna northward toward the transmitters and then adjusting from there. Try to get the antenna as high above the ground as you can. Sometimes even five feet higher can make a big difference. You might also have multipath interference problems or some other kind of interference that is preventing your tuner from being able to tune the signals. If you have a long antenna cable run, make sure that you use good quality cable (RG6).



Yes, I checked TV Fool first, it had solidly in its green zone for the stations we want (22314 zip, and I put in my exact location). My first attempt, I just put the antenna as high over the TV as it would reach with the included cable (about 10 feet above ground level). Is zero signal weird given these conditions? Looks like I'm going to need to get additional cable and try this thing on the second story (does putting it in a window help?). Am I just going to have to string cable down the stairs, or is there a way to connect it somewhere outside the house (i.e., where my cable currently comes into the house?)? If these questions are too basic, a nice FAQ or guide to installation would be helpful (I haven't found a decent one that addresses these things). The next step, I guess, would be to try an outdoor or attic antenna, which is starting to sound like more trouble than this idea was worth...


----------



## pamajestic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ender p*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13320#post_22783685
> 
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> Long time lurker, first time poster. I decided to try to cut cable in favor of a combo of OTA and streaming. I've been lurking for a bit to figure out the best way to do this, but my first try was a total flop. We live in Old Town Alexandria (east, three blocks from the water) in a townhouse -- only 10 or so miles from the main DC stations, which are all we really need. I tried out a Mohu Leaf first, thinking it would suffice at that distance, but I get no signal at all from anywhere. I tried it behind and above (9 feet?) our TV (unfortunately not really near a window or anything). We are the south half of a townhouse duplex, so the signal has to get through the other side of the townhouse, but I thought I'd see at least some signal even with that. What's the deal here? I didn't think we'd need a directional/outdoor setup this close in, but maybe so? Maybe I'm making some newbie mistake and I don't even know enough to know it...
> 
> Thanks in advance.



Did you change the TV input to antenna then scan for channels after connecting the antenna?


----------



## mdviewer25

Recently gave up trying to get WBAL and WJZ OTA. The maximum signal I could get was 9 or 10 percent and it wasn't steady. I turned my indoor Terk HDTVa WSW and picked up 23-1, 25-1, and 49-1 and 2. Some things I noticed:

1.) Why is 49-1 a test pattern but there is programming on 49-2?

2.) WBFF still had a signal and I noticed they show Family Feud at 6:00pm in HD, MY20 WDCA showed it in HD at 7:00pm but in SD at 3:00pm, why?

3.) Why does WNUV CW 54 still have a blank open channel at 54-2? I know that used to be Cool TV. Are they holding out hope that it will come back or can we expect a new subchannel soon.


----------



## rory21




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13320#post_22799788
> 
> 
> 1.) Why is 49-1 a test pattern but there is programming on 49-2?
> 
> .



No idea, but they had Bridge on the River Kwai one morning, in English with Chinese subtitles.


----------



## ender p




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pamajestic*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13320#post_22795546
> 
> 
> Did you change the TV input to antenna then scan for channels after connecting the antenna?



I connected the antenna directly to the TV's antenna coaxial input, then changed to the antenna input and did the automatic channel scan (Panasonic HDTV), which found no channels.


----------



## ProjectSHO89




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ender p*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13320#post_22800956
> 
> 
> I connected the antenna directly to the TV's antenna coaxial input, then changed to the antenna input and did the automatic channel scan (Panasonic HDTV), which found no channels.



Depends on the age of your Panasonic. If it's more than 6 years old, it may be an analog-only tuner. If it's age is near that boundary, you'll need to check to see if it has an ATSC/8VSB tuner. See specifications.


Other possibilities might include the location of and construction of your building. If you're on the back side of a hill away from the signals or if your building's construction includes metal or masonry exterior or has radiant barrier insulation in the walls, you may find that the signal simply isn't reaching the antenna.


----------



## ender p




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ProjectSHO89*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13320#post_22804495
> 
> 
> Depends on the age of your Panasonic. If it's more than 6 years old, it may be an analog-only tuner. If it's age is near that boundary, you'll need to check to see if it has an ATSC/8VSB tuner. See specifications.
> 
> Other possibilities might include the location of and construction of your building. If you're on the back side of a hill away from the signals or if your building's construction includes metal or masonry exterior or has radiant barrier insulation in the walls, you may find that the signal simply isn't reaching the antenna.



The TV is a 2009 model I believe, so it has a digital tuner.


Location and construction could be the problem. No hill, but it's a brick duplex townhouse, and it's the south side unit, i.e., the other unit is north of it in the path of the antenna. I wasn't aware that masonry could so effectively block a signal, but maybe that's it. If so, my plan to put the antenna in a second-story, west-facing window might be futile given that the signal would still have to pass through the brick. Is the next step an outdoor (roof) antenna?


----------



## ADTech

Get a 50' (or so) cable, an F81 coaxial coupler, and an excuse (cake, cookies, BBQ, beer) to "borrow" your neighbor's north-facing window for a test.


Unless your Leaf is defective, that should tell you more about the reception in your immediate area.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ender p*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13300_100#post_22800956
> 
> 
> I connected the antenna directly to the TV's antenna coaxial input, then changed to the antenna input and did the automatic channel scan (Panasonic HDTV), which found no channels.



You changed to the coaxial input, or you changed that input from cable to antenna mode?


If the scan was done in cable mode, it might have looked only for the QAM signals used by cable rather than the 8VSB signals transmitted over the air.


----------



## AntAltMike

Yeah, to some people, changing "to the antenna input" might mean stepping from A/V to HDMI back to RF input.


----------



## ender p




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13320#post_22808652
> 
> 
> You changed to the coaxial input, or you changed that input from cable to antenna mode?
> 
> 
> If the scan was done in cable mode, it might have looked only for the QAM signals used by cable rather than the 8VSB signals transmitted over the air.



Ah, I physically screwed in the antenna to the jack, went to the TV (RF?) input, changed it to antenna mode, then scanned. I'm fairly certain I did the TV part of things correct; I'll double check tonight, and if so, I'll get a longer cable and try a different antenna location next.


Thanks for the help.


----------



## Big J

What's going on with WETA UK? They seem to be changing their scheduling, but aren't telling anyone. Have they decided to just drop Doctor Who? Its listed on Titan TV and WETA's website. Just curious, its the only show I watch on the channel.

J


----------



## rory21

Big J:


If you're on Facebook, WETA has a page there that seems to be monitored and responsive to questions/suggestions:

http://www.facebook.com/wetatvfm 


R.


----------



## Big J

Thanks for the post, but I'm not on facebook. When I get a chance, I may e-mail them and ask what's going on. Perhaps they are still feeling their way around as far as viewers goes.

J


----------



## acraven

WETA has had major scheduling issues since at least the summer, and in my experience they aren't limited to WETA-UK, though that subchannel may be the worst. It is frustrating to find incomplete info (no identification of the specific episode) or totally incorrect information even on the day of the broadcast. And there's nothing like waking up to check an overnight recording and finding that the program started 30 or 60 minutes later than indicated on the schedule, so your recording is incomplete even though you padded the recording time.


I suspect that the economic situation has resulted in severe staff cutbacks, so we may just have to be patient and hope for the best. One thing I do is try to catch the initial broadcast of anything I'm interested in so I have a good shot at finding a rerun if something goes wrong on the first attempt.


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13300_100#post_22824210
> 
> 
> What's going on with WETA UK? They seem to be changing their scheduling, but aren't telling anyone.
> 
> Good Question
> They have abandoned Foyles War halfway through it.
> They skipped the penultimate episode of Prime Suspect in its prime time slot....
> And I had such hopes for the channel....
> 
> I also agree re: announcing things -- WETA-UK refused to say "Prime Suspect 2, part 2 of 3" so you were always guessing which segment would be run when.


----------



## wmcbrine

New graphics on WUSA 9 News -- the exciting thing is that _they're not 4:3 safe_. It's strange; I think this is the first channel I've seen to really break out of that box. They don't seem to be framing the live action for 4:3 anymore, either.


----------



## Big J

I like the new graphics on channel 9. Its MUCH better than the clutter on the side they used to have-made it feel more like 4:3.

J


----------



## Digital Rules

 Me TV coming to DC; finally!!


----------



## rory21

Me-TV launching on Channel 7.2 on March 1. If you're concerned with just quality, ME-TV is probably the best network around, cable or OTA. Their weekly schedule usually features programs that have won 20-25 Emmys for best comedy or drama. It's all 30 or more years old, but even endless repeats of quality shows beat most reality programming.


----------



## tylerSC

Yes I believe MeTV is the best nostalgia TV network, although Antenna TV and Cozi TV can provide entertaining options as well. But most of today's reality programming is absolutely awful. Although I sometimes enjoy America's Got Talent, The Voice and Dancing with the Stars. And Idol started out good but now it's all about bickering judges rather than the talent competition. But these reality housewives and honey boo whos and Jersey Shore type shows appeal to the lowest levels and it amazes me that that pay these ordinary, non talented people millions of dollars to just follow them around with a video camera as they act stupid. And why are people so interested in those Kardashians? Who cares? I have never seen those shows but they are all the time being interviewed on the Today show and it amazes me as to why. Absolutely ignorant. But MeTV will be a great addition to WJLA.


----------



## riversend3

I am moving into a single family home SW of DC in about 10 days and am looking to do all TV related entertainment with OTA and streaming (fios for internet). This is a first for me and the family so I would like some recommendations to get started knowing I might have to play around with different hardware configurations to find the sweet spot. My OTA knowledge is limited, but I have been doing some reading here and elsewhere. Here is some info/parameters:


1) tvfool data. I should be able to point roughly NE to pick up stations, although hilly terrain is an issue.


2) Indoor antenna only, I should have attic access. Will not know for sure until I move in. Based on spectrum assignments, looks like I will need VHF hi and UHF antennas.


3) I would like to receive ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, PBS. Anything else is gravy.


4) I would like to DVR through WMC at some point. Unless I build an HTPC in the coming months, that would be done at a PC in a separate room from the TV. What would be the best route to accomplish that?


5) Initially I would probably stream (Hulu, Amazon, Netflix, etc.) through my laptop or tablet. WMC recordings are stored on a home server. Per 4 above, this will be temporary until after we have stabilized post-move.


6) Media consumption is performed on a single TV, PC, Android tablet, and laptop.


Not sure what else to feed you. Thanks for any help.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *riversend3*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13350#post_22883285
> 
> 
> ... a single family home SW of DC
> 
> 
> ...I might have to play around with different hardware configurations to find the sweet spot. ..
> 
> 
> 1) hilly terrain is an issue.
> 
> 
> 2) Indoor antenna only, I should have attic access. Will not know for sure until I move in. Based on spectrum assignments, looks like I will need VHF hi and UHF antennas.




With an estimated antenna height of five feet above average terrain, you will be hampered by the double whammy of also being blocked by any and all buildings on your transmirrion lines that is taller than a dog house.


All you can do is roll the dice. If you can't find a sweet spot, then you might benefit from a rotor or multiple antennas.


----------



## riversend3

I am hoping to get an antenna up into the attic,which would get me about 15' agl. Any antenna recommendations to start from? The side of the street I am on is on the side of a gentle slope up and away from the rest of the neighborhood which might help alleviate some near LOS concerns. Again I would like some help on figuring out how to get started evaluating what might work for my situation.


----------



## Digital Rules





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *riversend3*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13350#post_22883285
> 
> 
> 
> 1) tvfool data. I should be able to point roughly NE to pick up stations, although hilly terrain is an issue.
> 
> 
> 2) Indoor antenna only, I should have attic access. Will not know for sure until I move in. Based on spectrum assignments, looks like I will need VHF hi and UHF antennas.
> 
> 
> 3) I would like to receive ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, PBS. Anything else is gravy.


You'll need at least an attic antenna in Fairfax Station for reliable reception. Any indoor antenna lower than the attic level will be more of a source of frustration than anything else. I recommend this antenna if it will fit. The smaller HBU-22 may work, but afraid it will not provide enough margin during adverse weather conditions. The HBU-22 worked OK for DC when tested in my attic, but didn't really work on the Baltimore channels.

My TV Fool report here in Centreville is a bit worse than yours, but I get excellent reception with a good attic mounted antenna system here. Even a few of the Baltimore channels are somewhat reliable.


----------



## tylerSC

Antennacraft HBU-33 as mentioned or perhaps Winegard 7696. And possibly a Winegard 269 or 8700 preamp. That should work for DC but Baltimore may require a more involved set up if interested, unless you can find a sweet spot.


----------



## riversend3

Thanks for the suggestions. I suppose the preamp will be needed if I use an HDHomerun or a Hauppage in my PC.


----------



## jgantert

I'm moving to Aberdeen, MD and am wondering what type of antenna signal I will get up there. Here is the TV Fool report from the house (no address so I had to use lat/lon):
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d1ddac3297bf71b 


Looks like the Baltimore stations would be ok with a UHF/VHF-Hi antenna(s). However, I'm especially interested in receiving DC channels (5, 20) for the Redskins. Any idea if there's a chance, or are they just too far out?


Right now I'm in Columbia, and I'm using an 8-bay bow-tie and it works great for DC and Baltimore, but I'm a lot closer.


Thanks in advance!


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jgantert*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13350#post_22898352
> 
> 
> I'm moving to Aberdeen, MD and am wondering what type of antenna signal I will get up there.


If the TV Fool report is accurate, DC should be doable most of the time. I would try the 8 bay first & see what happens. It may work for your situation if 7 & 9 aren't on your must have list. I am assuming you plan on mounting on the roof? Do you have any kind of amplifier now?


----------



## jgantert




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13350#post_22898425
> 
> 
> If the TV Fool report is accurate, DC should be doable most of the time. I would try the 8 bay first & see what happens. It may work for your situation if 7 & 9 aren't on your must have list. I am assuming you plan on mounting on the roof? Do you have any kind of amplifier now?


I'm not going to move my current system (it's staying with the house). Right now I have the CM7775 pre-amp (low power UHF only pre-amp). Lots of 40 year old trees, plus my current location has much multi-path. My new location is a new construction neighborhood, so I shouldn't have those problems. And yes, plan to mount on the roof.


----------



## tylerSC

Hang on to that CM7775 preamp if it is performing well. It is the original low noise UHF design that is no longer manufactured. But it is not really low gain, as it is 26db. Best UHF preamp choices currently available are the Winegard AP4700 and AP4800, at 19db and 28db gain.


----------



## Frankie20




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rory21*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13350#post_22873625
> 
> 
> Me-TV launching on Channel 7.2 on March 1.



What is going to happen with the weather channel? Will it disappear or be moved to a new sub-channel?


----------



## Digital Rules

jgantert, if starting from scratch, I would use the AD 91XG UHF & Antennacraft Y10-7-13 VHF antennas for maximum signal gathering ability. Mount 10 feet above the roofline. Combine the 2 antennas with the Antennacraft 10G222 dual input pre-amp. Not sure if there are any WAF or HOA concerns as this set up is a bit on the large side. You could go with the smaller Y5-7-13 VHF antenna if 7 & 9 from DC aren't on your wish list.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Frankie20*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13350#post_22902847
> 
> 
> What is going to happen with the weather channel? Will it disappear or be moved to a new sub-channel?


According to DCRTV , the weather channel will be _*dropped*_.Too bad Live Well isn't being axed instead.


----------



## Digital Rules

Does anyone here recieve Smooth Jazz WMAL-HD2? I don't even see a blip of the signal here in Centreville, so not sure if WMAL is still doing HD? 106.7 WJFK is on the same tower & the HD signal is received just fine here.


----------



## tylerSC

Speaking of DC radio signals, why would the FCC allow a Richmond station to broadcast on the same 107.3 FM frequency as the Washington station? It creates major interference issues around Fredericksburg. I remember when Mix 107.3 used to reach into Richmond, Tidewater, and even parts of NC at times. They truly had an outstanding, far reaching signal until they allowed the Richmond station to sign on the same frequency about 15 or so years ago. Not a good move.


----------



## Digital Rules

An even worse example of that is WGRQ 95.9 near King George. A decent slice of potential audience is lost to W240BH near Haymarket. The Haymarket translator is hard to pick up unless very close, but it does make WGRQ nearly impossible to get in Northern VA even with a directional rooftop antenna. Too bad as it's the only half decent oldies station in the area.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tylerSC*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13300_100#post_22959634
> 
> 
> Speaking of DC radio signals, why would the FCC allow a Richmond station to broadcast on the same 107.3 FM frequency as the Washington station? It creates major interference issues around Fredericksburg. I remember when Mix 107.3 used to reach into Richmond, Tidewater, and even parts of NC at times. They truly had an outstanding, far reaching signal until they allowed the Richmond station to sign on the same frequency about 15 or so years ago. Not a good move.



The FCC licenses FM stations using a table of allotments with strict distance separation, as TV used to. As long as WBBT in Powhatan meets that distance requirement, which it does, then it is allowed to operate.


Of course, a number of stations licensed before 1964, when the FM separation rules were established, got short-spaced really badly. WJZ-FM 105.7 in Baltimore is, shall we say, too close to WQXA-FM 105.7 in York PA, both of which are big B-class signals. In my parents' neck of the woods, WXLK-FM 92.3 in Roanoke and WKRR-FM 92.3 in Asheboro/Greensboro battle it out near the VA/NC state line, making both stations unlistenable in that area.


- Trip


----------



## tylerSC

104.7FM in Charlotte and Columbia, SC are also too close together. But when 107.3 in Richmond signed on, it really limited the Washington station's signal to the south, as interference develops in Fredericksburg.


----------



## Dave Loudin

WGRQ is but a mile or two from me. They do hold a permit to move to a tower in Fredericksburg.


To add to what Trip said, implicit in the spacing rules for FM stations is a minimum signal level protected by interference. That level depends on the station's class. While signals weaker than the protected level are still receivable, protecting them would require thinning the band out by a LOT in the northeast. For example, no DC station has a service area that reaches Fredericksburg. In general, the southern edge is around Stafford Courthouse or the Dahlgren area of King George County.


----------



## Digital Rules

Thanks guys, what I don't understand is why 95.9 was chosen in Haymarket when there are quieter frequencies available? Even an adjacent channel allotment (102.1 for instance) would likely suffer much less from interference issues than a receivable co-channel station. I can't imagine a 4 watt signal causing much adjacent channel havoc unless right next to the tower.


----------



## rviele

believe it or not i live in the woods just outside aberdeen and w/o an amp can pull in 4,5,7,9 and sometimes 16 if weather is right. and i flip the switch for fm. being that 100.7 is my favorite oldies station.


----------



## slats7

Free, over-the-air broadcasts are supposed to be clearer than compressed cable broadcasts, right? Well, that's not the case with my local FOX station. The first jpeg is from a cable recording of last year's Seattle-Atlanta playoff game. The second jpeg is from my home recording. Click to enlarge. I use a Pinnacle USB HD tuner and I record the games to my PC as .ts files. I use a rabbit ears antenna that I place outside my first floor apartment window. I live in Takoma Park, MD, BTW. In the cable version, the FOX logo and the scoreboard graphic are a lot crisper than mine, which are a little grainy. Do you think I'd get better results if I used a real HD antenna instead of the rabbit ears? Just trying to figure out how my pure, uncompressed HD signal can look worse than compressed cable.


----------



## veedon




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *slats7*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13370_10#post_22995979
> 
> 
> Free, over-the-air broadcasts are supposed to be clearer than compressed cable broadcasts, right? Well, that's not the case with my local FOX station. The first jpeg is from a cable recording of last year's Seattle-Atlanta playoff game. The second jpeg is from my home recording. Click to enlarge. I use a Pinnacle USB HD tuner and I record the games to my PC as .ts files. I use a rabbit ears antenna that I place outside my first floor apartment window. I live in Takoma Park, MD, BTW. In the cable version, the FOX logo and the scoreboard graphic are a lot crisper than mine, which are a little grainy. Do you think I'd get better results if I used a real HD antenna instead of the rabbit ears? Just trying to figure out how my pure, uncompressed HD signal can look worse than compressed cable.


You're very close to the transmitters, but you have a couple of VHF stations (WJLA RF7 and WUSA RF9) so a dipole (rabbit ears) might be best for you. The OTA image does look slightly fuzzier, but the colors look nicer in the OTA image than in the cable image. Have you tried adjusting your set to get the nicest looking picture for OTA and then see how the cable images look with that calibration?


----------



## slats7




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *veedon*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13350#post_22996198
> 
> 
> You're very close to the transmitters, but you have a couple of VHF stations (WJLA RF7 and WUSA RF9) so a dipole (rabbit ears) might be best for you. The OTA image does look slightly fuzzier, but the colors look nicer in the OTA image than in the cable image. Have you tried *adjusting your set* to get the nicest looking picture for OTA and then see how the cable images look with that calibration?



I don't own an HDTV set. When the digital transition took place a few years ago, I decided to buy a huge monitor and watch all my live TV on my PC. They said rabbit ears would work well with HD signals, so that's what I stuck with. BTW, this graininess only happens with FOX. The graphics on CBS and NBC come in crystal clear. Maybe if I adjust the knob on the rabbit ears, that might improve the FOX situation.


----------



## Dave Loudin

ALL HD sources are compressed. There is not enough bandwidth in over-the-air channels to deliver data for each pixel on your screen. Neither is there enough bandwidth via cable or satellite. Even the data on Blu-ray discs is compressed.


With digital TV broadcasts, once your tuner can decode the data stream, you get the full quality of the broadcast. Additional signal strength does not change the resolution. Besides, an antenna simply captures RF signals. It does not care how the signal is modulated. You can attach your rabbit ears to an FM receiver and get reception.


In the early days of cable television, the operator had to get the broadcast stations over-the-air. Now, in most cases, local stations feed the cable companies via direct connections. This is important to know because all of our local stations do not use their entire bandwidth for the main HD broadcast. Additional services, like additional standard-def channels, mobile DTV channels, or other data, are multiplexed in. The impact to the main channel depends on the encoder the station uses to generate the data stream that is broadcast.


You're definitely going to notice this on CBS programming via WUSA, as it includes two subchannels (Bounce and a weather radar). Really fast scene changes or lots of motion will have noticible artifacts. FOX programming via WTTG should be cleaner, as there are fewer, for now, other services included. Looking at data rates, WUSA's main channel averages just under 12 Mbps while WTTG's main channel averages around 14.5 Mbps (source: rabbitears.info).


The direct feeds to cable companies do not necessarily have these issues, so they may be delivered at the "full" data rate of nearly 19 Mbps. That could be the difference you see.


----------



## nabsltd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *slats7*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13360_40#post_22995979
> 
> 
> Free, over-the-air broadcasts are supposed to be clearer than compressed cable broadcasts, right? Well, that's not the case with my local FOX station. The first jpeg is from a cable recording of last year's Seattle-Atlanta playoff game. BTW. In the cable version, the FOX logo and the scoreboard graphic are a lot crisper than mine, which are a little grainy.


There is no way to know what kind of processing the cable company did to the signal before they sent it to the customer. It could result in a "sharper" picture. As others have noted, the OTA color is far richer..


There was a lot of discussion a few years about about Fox doing the encoding at the network level and the "splicer" technology that allowed stations to do things like add logos without a full stream recompress. Fox may have changed their policy, but if not, here in DC, I believe you can consider the OTA signal to be "reference", as I believe because they are O&O, they just pass the ready-to-broadcast MPEG-2 stream from the network, especially for sports (where they don't even have to add a logo).


----------



## Digital Rules

Resolutionwise there is NO visible difference between Fios, Fox 5 OTA or Fox 45 OTA. The only difference being Fox 45 with it's slightly more saturated color on Fox network programming.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *slats7*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13300_100#post_22995979
> 
> 
> Free, over-the-air broadcasts are supposed to be clearer than compressed cable broadcasts, right? Well, that's not the case with my local FOX station. The first jpeg is from a cable recording of last year's Seattle-Atlanta playoff game.


The first jpeg is from mocksession:

http://30fps.mocksession.com/2013/01/13/fine-the-ball-is-snapped-and-foxs-clock-still-shows-001/ 


How do you know this is cable? Did you uplink it? If so, how did you record it, and from what cable system?


----------



## tylerSC

Generally speaking, NFL telecasts look sharper on CBS and NBC than Fox due to the difference in resolution. Fox broadcasts 720p, whereas CBS and NBC are 1080i. And each local affiliate may do a good or not so good job of encoding the picture and multiplexing the various subchannels. So pic quality can vary from market to market. And your individual TV itself may have different pic control settings for the cable box connection and the OTA input. Check and see if both inputs are adjusted the same in the pic control menu.


----------



## slats7




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13350#post_22996442
> 
> 
> ALL HD sources are compressed. There is not enough bandwidth in over-the-air channels to deliver data for each pixel on your screen. Neither is there enough bandwidth via cable or satellite. Even the data on Blu-ray discs is compressed.
> 
> 
> With digital TV broadcasts, once your tuner can decode the data stream, you get the full quality of the broadcast. Additional signal strength does not change the resolution. Besides, an antenna simply captures RF signals. It does not care how the signal is modulated. You can attach your rabbit ears to an FM receiver and get reception.
> 
> 
> In the early days of cable television, the operator had to get the broadcast stations over-the-air. Now, in most cases, local stations feed the cable companies via direct connections. This is important to know because all of our local stations do not use their entire bandwidth for the main HD broadcast. Additional services, like additional standard-def channels, mobile DTV channels, or other data, are multiplexed in. The impact to the main channel depends on the encoder the station uses to generate the data stream that is broadcast.
> 
> 
> You're definitely going to notice this on CBS programming via WUSA, as it includes two subchannels (Bounce and a weather radar). Really fast scene changes or lots of motion will have noticible artifacts. FOX programming via WTTG should be cleaner, as there are fewer, for now, other services included. Looking at data rates, WUSA's main channel averages just under 12 Mbps while WTTG's main channel averages around 14.5 Mbps (source: rabbitears.info).
> 
> 
> The direct feeds to cable companies do not necessarily have these issues, so they may be delivered at the "full" data rate of nearly 19 Mbps. That could be the difference you see.



So basically you're saying that a $100 outdoor HD antenna may not deliver better quality than the ol' rabbit ears. I've always been led to believe that OTA pic quality was superior to cable, but the "direct feed" theory has me thinking otherwise. I need to find someone in the DC area who recorded these games on Comcast or FIOS in order to compare quality.


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13380#post_22997009
> 
> 
> The first jpeg is from mocksession:
> 
> http://30fps.mocksession.com/2013/01/13/fine-the-ball-is-snapped-and-foxs-clock-still-shows-001/
> 
> 
> How do you know this is cable? Did you uplink it? If so, how did you record it, and from what cable system?



I emailed them but they never replied. I just assumed they used cable or perhaps satellite, because all they do is post screengrabs, and it helps if you have a steady signal. With OTA, you're at the mercy of the weather, swaying trees in the wind, etc.


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tylerSC*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13380#post_22997265
> 
> 
> Generally speaking, *NFL telecasts look sharper on CBS and NBC than Fox due to the difference in resolution. Fox broadcasts 720p, whereas CBS and NBC are 1080i*. And each local affiliate may do a good or not so good job of encoding the picture and multiplexing the various subchannels. So pic quality can vary from market to market. And your individual TV itself may have different pic control settings for the cable box connection and the OTA input. Check and see if both inputs are adjusted the same in the pic control menu.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13350#post_22996941
> 
> 
> Resolutionwise there is NO visible difference between Fios, Fox 5 OTA or Fox 45 OTA. *The only difference being Fox 45 with it's slightly more saturated color on Fox network programming*.



Top = FOX

Bottom = NBC


The Georgia Dome field is significantly greener in the FOX broadcast. The bad news is that the FOX oversaturation sort of blurs the players and the graphics. Kinda absurd that you get a different result depending on what city you live in.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *slats7*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13380_10#post_22997683
> 
> 
> So basically you're saying that a $100 outdoor HD antenna may not deliver better quality than the ol' rabbit ears.


No such thing as an "HD antenna." An antenna is an antenna. Some are much better than others...


----------



## slats7




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13380#post_22997692
> 
> 
> No such thing as an "HD antenna." An antenna is an antenna. Some are much better than others...



You know how a rabbit ears antenna has a knob/dial that you can set in like six or seven different positions? Will fiddling with that improve picture _quality_?


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *slats7*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13380_10#post_22997730
> 
> 
> You know how a rabbit ears antenna has a knob/dial that you can set in like six or seven different positions? Will fiddling with that improve picture _quality_?


_That_ -- I have no idea... sorry.


----------



## nabsltd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *slats7*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13360_40#post_22997730
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13380#post_22997692
> 
> 
> No such thing as an "HD antenna." An antenna is an antenna. Some are much better than others...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You know how a rabbit ears antenna has a knob/dial that you can set in like six or seven different positions? Will fiddling with that improve picture _quality_?
Click to expand...

Not for digital TV, in the sense that if you have no dropouts, etc., then you are getting a perfect copy of what was sent by the broadcaster.


----------



## tylerSC




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *slats7*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13380#post_22997730
> 
> 
> You know how a rabbit ears antenna has a knob/dial that you can set in like six or seven different positions? Will fiddling with that improve picture _quality_?


That may help the antenna tune to the RF channel a bit better, but it should not affect pic quality. With digital, you either get the pic or you don't. When signal is weak, the pic will start dropping out.


----------



## Dave Loudin

slats7,


1) larger outdoor antennas have more gain (are more sensitive) than rabbit ears. You're barely 3 miles from all the DC stations, so you have very strong signals and can use a less sensitive antenna. I'm 40+ miles south, so I need the larger antenna to get reliable reception.


2) you assume the mocksession folks have cable. I bet your OTA reception is darn near 100% reliable, so you could do screen grabs whenever. My reception is 90% or more reliable, so I could probably do much the same thing.


3) it's not really that absurd that you get differing picture quality across the country. It has ALWAYS been so, since every station is a unique combination of broadcasting equipment.


4) Let go of the notion that there is any relation between signal strength and picture quality. Remember that you area receiving a bitstream. Once you have enough signal for your tuner to decode those bits, that's it. Having more signal does not add more bits.


----------



## slats7




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13380#post_23000677
> 
> 
> slats7,
> 
> 
> 1) larger outdoor antennas have more gain (are more sensitive) than rabbit ears. You're barely 3 miles from all the DC stations, so you have very strong signals and can use a less sensitive antenna. I'm 40+ miles south, so I need the larger antenna to get reliable reception.



I'd only invest in an outdoor antenna if it would improve pic _quality_ (not pic stability), but I guess I'm getting the best quality that I can possibly get with the ol' rabbit ears. If only Fox came in as sharp as CBS and NBC.


> Quote:
> 2) you assume the mocksession folks have cable. I bet your OTA reception is darn near 100% reliable, so you could do screen grabs whenever. My reception is 90% or more reliable, so I could probably do much the same thing.



A lot of their screengrabs are from ESPN, so yes, they're either using FIOS, cable, or satellite.


> Quote:
> 3) it's not really that absurd that you get differing picture quality across the country. It has ALWAYS been so, since every station is a unique combination of broadcasting equipment.



understood


> Quote:
> 4) Let go of the notion that there is any relation between signal strength and picture quality. Remember that you area receiving a bitstream. Once you have enough signal for your tuner to decode those bits, that's it. Having more signal does not add more bits.



Understood. Still can't figure out why FOX has a cruddy picture despite no sub-channels hogging up their bitstream/bandwidth.


----------



## veedon




> Quote:
> Understood. Still can't figure out why FOX has a cruddy picture despite no sub-channels hogging up their bitstream/bandwidth.


 

You mean WTTG is exceptional in a bad way?

How does the PBS affiliate, WETA look?


----------



## slats7




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *veedon*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13380#post_23001848
> 
> 
> You mean WTTG is exceptional in a bad way?
> 
> How does the PBS affiliate, WETA look?



FOX has brighter colors but a fuzzier picture compared to CBS and NBC. WETA looks fine, but I don't watch it that often.


----------



## retiredengineer




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *slats7*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13380#post_23001583
> 
> 
> Understood. Still can't figure out why FOX has a cruddy picture despite no sub-channels hogging up their bitstream/bandwidth.



It's because FOX pre-compresses the picture before sending it out to their affiliates so they don't have to do any additional compression to add subchannels.


----------



## slats7

Really? News to me. Well, FOX 5 in DC must be doing something in addition to that to make it look worse than say FOX in Wichita.


----------



## veedon




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *slats7*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13390_10#post_23002159
> 
> 
> Really? News to me. Well, FOX 5 in DC must be doing something in addition to that to make it look worse than say FOX in Wichita.


Maybe WTTG is paying homage to its years as a DuMont affiliate.

They didn't have any subchannels back then.


----------



## Dave Loudin

WTTG is using some of its bandwidth for mobile DTV, which is an alternate format suited for portable devices. FOX is launching a movies subchannel that WTTG will carry.


----------



## tylerSC




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *slats7*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13380#post_23001583
> 
> 
> I'd only invest in an outdoor antenna if it would improve pic _quality_ (not pic stability), but I guess I'm getting the best quality that I can possibly get with the ol' rabbit ears. If only Fox came in as sharp as CBS and NBC.
> 
> A lot of their screengrabs are from ESPN, so yes, they're either using FIOS, cable, or satellite.
> 
> understood
> 
> Understood. Still can't figure out why FOX has a cruddy picture despite no sub-channels hogging up their bitstream/bandwidth.


Also has to do with how good the encoders are that they use.


----------



## aaranddeeman


I have UHF outdoor antenna and have trouble (of course) getting the ABC and CBS. CBS hardly appears. ABC is with breakup if I connect two TVs. If I connect one TV (and only one particular TV), I do get ABC.

I understand that ABC and CBS are on VHF. It is surprise that it even works with my UHF antenna.

 

Having said that, how can I make my UHF antenna VHF capable or getting the new antenna is the only solution. I live in zipcode 20136. If new antenna is the only solution, please recommend an appropriate model.


----------



## Digital Rules

You have 2 choices.


1. Augment your present UHF antenna with this & join then together with this . You could also get the compact C-5 VHF antenna , but it is a bit more pricey.


2. Buy a combo antenna to cover both bands. The appropriate model depends on whether or not you are looking to recieve anything from Baltimore.


----------



## tylerSC

Perhaps a Winegard 7698 or Antennacraft HBU55 if a UHF/HiVHF combo antenna is desired for both DC and Baltimore. And possibly a Winegard 8700 preamp. But if you use separate UHF/VHF antennas, both Winegard and Antennacraft offer dual input preamps from Solid Signal. But smaller 7696 and HBU33 antennas may work, but not sure of your location. And make sure the preamp is needed at your distance and does not overload. Sometimes they help, other times they do not.


----------



## Lxloco

Hi there.


I think I'm in a bit over my head. Just a quick question.


Has anyone in the Baltimore market lost TCM?


I am on Comcast. The Comcast line feeds into my Magnavox 2160. About a month ago I lost TCM. It was channel 114.6. That channel is now scrambled. I have re-scanned, using the Magnavox's automatic scan feature, and have yet to rediscover TCM.


Am I alone?


----------



## Potatoehead

Noticed that the software (and firmware) on my comcast box was updated to version a30 last night. This version is supposed to enable the use of an external hard drive to increase the storage. See comcast forums ( http://customer.comcast.com/help-and-support/cable-tv/external-dvr-storage/ ) for more information. Note I think the local offices have to do something before the external disc will work - may take a few more days. Unfortunately I have a DCX3400 which is not currently supported (but may work).


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13350#post_22963436
> 
> 
> Thanks guys, what I don't understand is why 95.9 was chosen in Haymarket when there are quieter frequencies available? Even an adjacent channel allotment (102.1 for instance) would likely suffer much less from interference issues than a receivable co-channel station. I can't imagine a 4 watt signal causing much adjacent channel havoc unless right next to the tower.



That translator is now off-air, and the owner has applied to change frequency.


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13300_100#post_23012268
> 
> 
> You have 2 choices.
> 
> 
> 1. Augment your present UHF antenna with this & join then together with this . You could also get the compact C-5 VHF antenna , but it is a bit more pricey.
> 
> 
> 2. Buy a combo antenna to cover both bands. The appropriate model depends on whether or not you are looking to recieve anything from Baltimore.


 

Thank you much... That seems a neat idea to join the two together...

This seems second best to the combined antenna offering..


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tylerSC*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13300_100#post_23012582
> 
> 
> Perhaps a Winegard 7698 or Antennacraft HBU55 if a UHF/HiVHF combo antenna is desired for both DC and Baltimore. And possibly a Winegard 8700 preamp. But if you use separate UHF/VHF antennas, both Winegard and Antennacraft offer dual input preamps from Solid Signal. But smaller 7696 and HBU33 antennas may work, but not sure of your location. And make sure the preamp is needed at your distance and does not overload. Sometimes they help, other times they do not.


 

 

Thanks. Those combos are bit pricey and huge size wise.

 

What I have now is something in line with CM 4221 and reception is pretty good (mounted just 15 feet from ground. Will move it upwards sometime). So pre-amp may not be needed.

 

Adding the VHF should do the trick.. (I guess).


----------



## nabsltd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaranddeeman*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13400_40#post_23024522
> 
> 
> What I have now is something in line with CM 4221 and reception is pretty good (mounted just 15 feet from ground.


I have both a CM4221 (currently pointed at Baltimore) and a CM4228 (currently pointed at DC). Regardless of which direction I pointed it, the CM4221 would not pick up any VHF channels, while the CM4228 picked up everything for the direction it was pointed.


I had to join the Y5-7-13 to the CM4221 so that I could pick up 11 and 13 from Baltimore. The CM4228 gets 5, 7 and 9 from DC with no problems.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13380#post_23022669
> 
> 
> That translator is now off-air, and the owner has applied to change frequency.


Thanks Dave, 95.9 just didn't seem like a very good choice. WGRQ is now coming in loud & clear. (Woo hoo)


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nabsltd*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13400_100#post_23025174
> 
> 
> 
> I have both a CM4221 (currently pointed at Baltimore) and a CM4228 (currently pointed at DC). Regardless of which direction I pointed it, the CM4221 would not pick up any VHF channels, while the CM4228 picked up everything for the direction it was pointed.
> 
> 
> I had to join the Y5-7-13 to the CM4221 so that I could pick up 11 and 13 from Baltimore. The CM4228 gets 5, 7 and 9 from DC with no problems.


The 4221 gets me 4,5,14,20,50 and much more.

The only issue is for 7 and 9. I felt the need as the Superbowl was on 9 and Oscars on 7..

Having said that as I stated before, one of my TV if connected alone gets 7 w/o any issue.


----------



## nabsltd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaranddeeman*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13400_40#post_23025289
> 
> 
> The 4221 gets me 4,5,14,20,50 and much more.
> 
> The only issue is for 7 and 9. I felt the need as the Superbowl was on 9 and Oscars on 7.


So, what you're saying is the only VHF channel that your CM4221 can pick up is 5. All the rest you list are UHF (NBC 4 is frequency 48), which it excels at.


----------



## Digital Rules

Channel 5 is on UHF 36. The only VHF channels inside DC are 7(7.1),8(47.1),9(9.1) & 12(66.1).


Oops forgot about analog 6 in Arlington.


----------



## Trip in VA

Good morning,


I've relocated to Alexandria to take a new job in DC, and I've put up my antenna. I need to tweak the positioning and whatnot, but here's my TVFool plot and a live plot of what I receive, in case any are interested:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d1dda192498e045 

http://kb8u.ham-radio-op.net/tvdx/one_tuner_map/1019EECD/tuner1 


I also receive WZDC but since the TSID and channel label are both wrong, the software that autoscans doesn't include it. Anyone have any contact information for WZDC engineering?


(I know the map shows WWPX from Martinsburg and not from DC, working on that.)


- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13410#post_23026305
> 
> 
> ...I also receive WZDC but since the TSID and channel label are both wrong, the software that autoscans doesn't include it. Anyone have any contact information for WZDC engineering?..



Your best bet might be to contact the WDCW engineer, since their transmitters share the same tower. I haven't had occasion to communicate with WDCW since they changed call letters from WBDC in 2006, but before that, their station engineer was always cooperative and responsive.


WZDC come up as 25.1 on all the TVs and CECBs I've found it on.


I think today is the announced launch day for WJLA's MeTV subchannel, but I am out of the area at the moment. Is it up, and, if so, did they in fact eliminate Weather Now?


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13400_100#post_23026553
> 
> 
> Your best bet might be to contact the WDCW engineer, since their transmitters share the same tower. I haven't had occasion to communicate with WDCW since they changed call letters from WBDC in 2006, but before that, their station engineer was always cooperative and responsive.



FCC records indicate WZDC-CD is on the WRC/WFDC/etc tower. Is that in error? (Wouldn't surprise me.)


> Quote:
> WZDC come up as 25.1 on all the TVs and CECBs I've found it on.



Yes, it comes up as 25.1 here as well, but as W*C*DC-CD instead of W*Z*DC-CD. My auto-scanner doesn't know what to do with that.


> Quote:
> I think today is the announced launch day for WJLA's MeTV subchannel, but I am out of the area at the moment. Is it up, and, if so, did they in fact eliminate Weather Now?



So far, still weather on 7-2.


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13410#post_23026598
> 
> 
> FCC records indicate WZDC-CD is on the WRC/WFDC/etc tower. Is that in error? (Wouldn't surprise me.)


Pretty sure it is on the WRC tower.I always had to turn my antenna a bit more to the North to receive WZDC from my North Arlington location.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13410#post_23026598
> 
> 
> FCC records indicate WZDC-CD is on the WRC/WFDC/etc tower. Is that in error? (Wouldn't surprise me.)
> 
> Yes, it comes up as 25.1 here as well, but as W*C*DC-CD instead of W*Z*DC-CD. My auto-scanner doesn't know what to do with that.
> 
> So far, still weather on 7-2.
> 
> 
> - Trip



I was relying on the information in your TVfool chart, which puts it in the same place as WDCW, which is the tower on the corner of Georgia Ave and Peabody... the one that looks like the Eiffel tower. I receive WZDC in College Park with a Winegard combo that is pointed 120 degrees away from the WDCW tower, as it is pointed towards Baltimore. I'll have to look into this.


Update: I just ran my address through TVfool and it, too, puts the WZDC transmitter on the same tower lot as WDCW


----------



## Trip in VA

The analog is shown on WDCW's tower, but the digital is shown on the WRC tower.


- Trip


----------



## nabsltd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13400_40#post_23026182
> 
> 
> Channel 5 is on UHF 36. The only VHF channels inside DC are 7(7.1),8(47.1),9(9.1) & 12(66.1).


Doh! Of course, you're right, so it's even worse, as that means his CM4221 doesn't receive any VHF, just like mine.


----------



## Dave Loudin




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13380#post_23025190
> 
> 
> Thanks Dave, 95.9 just didn't seem like a very good choice. WGRQ is now coming in loud & clear. (Woo hoo)



This was the result of WGRQ citing listener complaints. Primary stations are protected from interference from translators even outside their service area.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13400_100#post_23026553
> 
> 
> I think today is the announced launch day for WJLA's MeTV subchannel, but I am out of the area at the moment. Is it up, and, if so, did they in fact eliminate Weather Now?



Last week, TMS-based guides said 6 am this morning, but now they say 6 am March 13. FiOS guide says 12:30 am March 13.


The person who answered the phone today at WJLA, after putting me on hold to check with someone else, said March 11.


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nabsltd*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13400_100#post_23028069
> 
> 
> 
> Doh! Of course, you're right, so it's even worse, as that means his CM4221 doesn't receive any VHF, just like mine.


 

Not 100%. I do get the 7(ABC) provided I connect only one (particular (Olevia) not one of the two) TV. When I connect both there are breaks.

9 (CBS) is inconsistent. I have not figured out when it comes clean, what makes it to do so. That is rare of course..

And yes, the antenna is not roof mounted, juts mounted on the side about 15 feet from ground.


----------



## aaranddeeman


Has anyone used RCA ANT751R. This is available at Bestbuy hence it is easier to return just in case it does not work as expected.

This is UHF/VHF, but not sure how it will perform...


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaranddeeman*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13410#post_23035845
> 
> 
> Has anyone used RCA ANT751R. This is available at Bestbuy hence it is easier to return just in case it does not work as expected.
> 
> This is UHF/VHF, but not sure how it will perform...


I've used the ANT-751 at a few different locations around Manassas with good results. The only marginal channel has been 50 in some spots.


----------



## tylerSC




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaranddeeman*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13410#post_23035845
> 
> 
> Has anyone used RCA ANT751R. This is available at Bestbuy hence it is easier to return just in case it does not work as expected.
> 
> This is UHF/VHF, but not sure how it will perform...


It is a decent suburban antenna for use in strong signal areas. Compact size but good performer. Made for Audiovox by Winegard and sold under RCA brand. A step up would be Winegard 7694 or Antennacraft HBU-22. These are a bit larger but more gain and still a small antenna.


----------



## tylerSC




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13410#post_23026305
> 
> 
> Good morning,
> 
> 
> I've relocated to Alexandria to take a new job in DC, and I've put up my antenna. I need to tweak the positioning and whatnot, but here's my TVFool plot and a live plot of what I receive, in case any are interested:
> 
> http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d1dda192498e045
> 
> http://kb8u.ham-radio-op.net/tvdx/one_tuner_map/1019EECD/tuner1
> 
> 
> I also receive WZDC but since the TSID and channel label are both wrong, the software that autoscans doesn't include it. Anyone have any contact information for WZDC engineering?
> 
> 
> (I know the map shows WWPX from Martinsburg and not from DC, working on that.)
> 
> 
> - Trip


Hi Trip. Hope you're glad to be back in Va. Have you stated what type of job you now have? Hope it works out ... When I lived in Alexandria/Landmark area in the 90s, I got both DC and Baltimore channels with an indoor antenna. But I realize digital reception from Baltimore is a bit more problematic, especially 13 and 11. But 2, 45, and 54 may be easier on UHF. Are you able to use an outdoor antenna or restricted to indoor? DC reception should be good unless you have multipath. And lucky for you they still have Roy Rogers in Alexandria, which is one of my favorite fast food restaurants.


----------



## Trip in VA

Hey:


Yep, glad to be in Virginia. I'll be working as an Electronics Engineer at the FCC, working on the interference study software. I already have the new software running on my laptop, as opposed to the old software which only ran on a Sun Sparc machine.


I've got my DigiTenna DUV-XF and KT-200 amp running right now. Still need to fidget with the positioning on it. I just need to find the right antenna position to get everything.










- Trip


----------



## tylerSC




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13410#post_23042874
> 
> 
> Hey:
> 
> 
> Yep, glad to be in Virginia. I'll be working as an Electronics Engineer at the FCC, working on the interference study software. I already have the new software running on my laptop, as opposed to the old software which only ran on a Sun Sparc machine.
> 
> 
> I've got my DigiTenna DUV-XF and KT-200 amp running right now. Still need to fidget with the positioning on it. I just need to find the right antenna position to get everything.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> - Trip


Good for you. But tell your friends at the FCC to leave the broadcast spectrum alone. But if it goes to Congress maybe nothing will happen as it that seems par for the course on Capitol Hill these days.


----------



## veedon




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tylerSC*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13420_10#post_23042951
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13410#post_23042874
> 
> 
> Hey:
> 
> 
> Yep, glad to be in Virginia. I'll be working as an Electronics Engineer at the FCC, working on the interference study software. I already have the new software running on my laptop, as opposed to the old software which only ran on a Sun Sparc machine.
> 
> 
> I've got my DigiTenna DUV-XF and KT-200 amp running right now. Still need to fidget with the positioning on it. I just need to find the right antenna position to get everything.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> - Trip
> 
> 
> 
> Good for you. But tell your friends at the FCC to leave the broadcast spectrum alone. But if it goes to Congress maybe nothing will happen as it that seems par for the course on Capitol Hill these days.
Click to expand...

It was Congress that passed the legislation authorizing the spectrum auctions.

The FCC's role is merely to make sure that the auctions are conducted in accordance with the law and then to handle the repacking of the channels in a fair way that minimizes interference and allows for the best possible reception.

 

The whole matter of spectrum auctions was debated in Congress last year.


----------



## tylerSC




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *veedon*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13410#post_23043147
> 
> 
> It was Congress that passed the legislation authorizing the spectrum auctions.
> 
> The FCC's role is merely to make sure that the auctions are conducted in accordance with the law and then to handle the repacking of the channels in a fair way that minimizes interference and allows for the best possible reception.
> 
> 
> The whole matter of spectrum auctions was debated in Congress last year.


I figured as much. And Congress can't seem to do anything right these days.


----------



## centricle

Apologies if this exact question has been asked in the previous 13,000 posts, but I'm hoping there's somebody in my area who can advise whether I should be focusing my efforts on Baltimore (closer) or DC (more stations). I live in Arnold, MD, and it doesn't look like I'll be able to receive from both:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d1ddae9a08e976b 


Thanks for any tips.


----------



## nabsltd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *centricle*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13400_40#post_23047655
> 
> 
> whether I should be focusing my efforts on Baltimore (closer) or DC (more stations).


You are just about the reverse of me. I'm closer to DC, but the distances are about the same, and I also have almost exactly a 90° angle between the two sets of towers. You likely won't need a huge antenna based on your distances. Even a 2-bay bowtie will get you most of either direction.


So, find the antenna that gets you the channels you want (both DC and Baltimore have important channels on VHF, so you need to think about that), and then put it up and test. My CM4221 pointed straight at Baltimore gets me all Baltimore UHF and almost all of DC (despite being perfectly off-axis). Maybe you will get similarly lucky when you try. See if you can get a real signal meter (not just bars, but S/N readings and maybe even error information), like that in the MDP-130 PC card or the HD Homerun, and then move the antenna around and see what happens.


----------



## centricle

Thanks for the info. I think I care more about Baltimore, but will definitely try both. Do you get any VHF at all with the CM4221?


----------



## pamajestic

You really need a VHF-High/UHF combo antenna to do this right. If you only want Baltimore the AntennaCraft HBU-22 should work fine. If you want to try for both Baltimore and Washington maybe move up to the HBU-33 or HBU-44. The best pricing is usually Solid Signal, but the AntennaCraft line can be found at Radio Shack.


----------



## tylerSC

Similar Winegard models have better build quality and will hold up better during snow, wind, and ice. Consider 7696 or 7698. And possibly a low gain preamp such as Winegard 269. Not much amp should be needed. And there is a new Mohu Sky which is supposedly omnidirectional, but not sure how well it performs for VHF.


----------



## nabsltd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *centricle*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13400_40#post_23055142
> 
> 
> Do you get any VHF at all with the CM4221?


When I tested towards DC, 7 and 9 were both OK, with dropouts about every 10 minutes. I couldn't get a reliable signal at all for 11 and 13, which is why I added the AntennaCraft 5-7-13. Those are farther away, and even with the join of the VHF antenna, 11 is pretty spotty. To be honest, the CM4228 was only generally a tiny bit worse for me when pointed at Baltimore, but with the distance longer, it was too directional to get both tower clusters.


I think you'll do fine with a combo antenna like others have mentioned, as I'm at 100% signal quality on all my DC stations through the antenna poining that way, while I'm only down about 30% on those stations with the antenna pointed at Baltimore. You *should* be the exact reverse, where an antenna that isn't *too* directional should give you Baltimore perfectly, and some decent DC as well. You could also do the same thing as I do, and add a smaller antenna to point at DC. I use a pair of HDHomerun boxes with each one connected to a different antenna, but the software allows you to enable/disable channels on each tuner, then creates a combined list and automatically picks the right tuner/antenna when you want to view that channel.


----------



## centricle

Thanks again. I'm leaning toward focusing on DC (even thought it's farther away) simply because there are significantly more channels available. I'm concerned about dropouts, but figure I can alway fall back to Baltimore if it's a problem. Somebody on another forum recommended a ClearStream C5, which seems like it'd be a lot easier to install than wrestling with a 10' boom on my rooftop.


----------



## nabsltd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *centricle*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13400_40#post_23061967
> 
> 
> Somebody on another forum recommended a ClearStream C5, which seems like it'd be a lot easier to install than wrestling with a 10' boom on my rooftop.


I went with the bowties because wind loading with the long moment arm worried me too much. Although the old antenna never came down, it did move a lot more. Even with the 5-7-13 added on top, it's not as bad. An eight-bay bowtie will likely give you all channels (including VHF) at your range, and it would be about the same size as the VHF-only C5.


----------



## AntAltMike

7.2 was carrying The Big Valley on MeTV at 3:00 PM today. The audio broke up a little in the first few minutes, but was stable after that. Hopefully, WJLA will not pre-empt as much meTV programming as WBAL does.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13410#post_23068445
> 
> 
> 7.2 was carrying The Big Valley on MeTV at 3:00 PM today. .



Now I don't have a channel I can switch to, to see what time it is.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13410#post_23071526
> 
> 
> Now I don't have a channel I can switch to, to see what time it is.



Have you considered getting a clock?









J


----------



## badboy808

Looking to Get My Samsung PN51E8000 Calibrated. Located in Maryland. Send me a Private a Message.


----------



## AntAltMike

There have been twenty-one changes to the Washington/Baltimore station subchannels since the list in the opening post of this thread was last updated. I made a revised list this morning and sent it to CycloneGT, but I have since discovered that he was last online two months ago and hasn't posted since late last year. Is there any way a moderator can update the list?


*Listing of Digital stations in the Washington / Baltimore Region:*

(Updated March 17, 2013)

002-01 38 ABC WMAR-DT HDTV DD5.1 Local news in HDTV
002-02 38 ABC WMAR-DT Live Well Network SD
004-01 48 NBC WRC-DT HDTV DD5.1 Local news in HDTV
004-02 48 NBC WRC-SD Cozi TV
005-01 36 FOX WTTG-DT HDTV DD5.1 Has local news in HDTV
007-01 07 ABC WJLA-DT HDTV DD5.1 Has local news in HDTV
007-02 07 ABC WJLA-DT MeTV
007-03 07 ABC WJLA-DT Live Well Network SD
009-01 09 CBS WUSA-DT HDTV DD5.1 Has local news in HDTV
009-02 09 CBS WUSA-DT Bounce TV
009-03 09 CBS WUSA-DT Doppler
011-01 11 NBC WBAL-DT HDTV Has local news in HDTV
011-02 11 NBC WBAL-SD MeTV, Local News
013-01 13 CBS WJZ-DT HDTV DD5.1 Has local news in HDTV
014-01 15 UNI WFDC-DT HDTV
020-01 35 MyNet WDCA-DT HDTV
020-02 35 MyNet WDCA-DT MundoFox
022-01 42 PBS WMPT-DT MPT-HD DD5.1
022-02 42 PBS WMPT-DT MPT 2
022-03 42 PBS WMPT-DT MPT V-me
024-01 41 MyNet WUTB-DT HD
024-02 41 MyNet WUTB-DT Bounce
026-01 27 PBS WETA-DT HDTV DD5.1
026-02 27 PBS WETA-DT UK (British)
026-03 27 PBS WETA-DT Kids
026-04 27 PBS WETA-DT TV 26 SD
030-01 24 MHz WNVC-DT MHz1 MHzDC
030-02 24 MHz WNVC-DT MHz2 NHK World - Japanese
030-03 24 MHz WNVC-DT MHz3 MCN - Metro Chinese Network
030-04 24 MHz WNVC-DT MHz4 RT - Russia Today (in English)
030-05 24 MHz WNVC-DT MHz5 Al Jazeera English
030-06 24 MHz WNVC-DT MHz6 CCTV Documentary
030-07 30 MHz WNVT-DT MHz7 France 24
030-08 30 MHz WNVT-DT MHz8 Russia Today (in Spanish)
030-09 30 MHz WNVT-DT MHz9 Arirang (in English)
030-10 30 MHz WNVT-DT MHz10 Ethiopian Television (in Amharic)
030-11 30 MHz WNVT-DT MHz11 VTV4 (in Vietnamese)
030-12 30 MHz WNVT-DT MHz12 WorldView
032-01 33 PBS WHUT-DT HDTV
032-02 33 PBS WHUT-DT SD
045-01 46 FOX WBFF-DT HDTV DD5.1 Has local news in HDTV
045-02 46 Fox WBFF-DT ThisTV SD
045-03 46 Fox WBFF-DT The Country Network SD
050-01 50 CW WDCW-DT HDTV DD5.1
050-02 50 Fox WDCW-DT AntennaTV SD
050-03 50 Fox WDCW-DT ThisTV SD
054-01 40 CW WNUV-DT HDTV DD5.1
054-02 40 CW WNUV-DT (Vacant: formerly CoolTV)
062-01 28 PBS WFPT-DT MPT-HD DD5.1
062-02 28 PBS WFPT-DT MPT 2
062-03 28 PBS WFPT-DT MPT V-me
066-01 34 ion WPXW-DT ion
066-02 34 ion WPXW-DT qubo
066-03 34 ion WPXW-DT ion Life
066-04 34 ion WPXW-DT Worship
067-01 29 PBS WMPB-DT MPT-HD DD5.1
067-02 29 PBS WMPB-DT MPT 2
067-03 29 PBS WMPB-DT MPT V-me




When I paste my properly formatted list to this "reply" window, it loses the formatting and color info, but I can e-mail it as an attrachment to any moderator who might make use of it.


----------



## gray9965

I live in Silver Spring and have been getting ABC 7-1 just fine until all of a sudden, it stopped working. Now it is just one dark screen. I tried the 2-1 from Baltimore--same deal. Nothing. No ABC for me all of a sudden! Any ideas as to what would have happened? Thanks! All other channels still come in crisp clear---weird.


Just tested signal strength--it registered at 91, so the signal is great. Now it is even harder to figure out!


----------



## rory21




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13440#post_23090365
> 
> 
> There have been twenty-one changes to the Washington/Baltimore station subchannels since the list in the opening post of this thread was last updated.



I'm not sure if it's relevant to your purpose, but in Falls Church I receive a Channel 49. 49.1 is, I think always a set of color bars, but 49.2 has programming at least sometimes. It's usually in Chinese, but I've also seen western movies with Chinese subtitles.


----------



## slats7




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *gray9965*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13440#post_23096741
> 
> 
> I live in Silver Spring and have been getting ABC 7-1 just fine until all of a sudden, it stopped working. Now it is just one dark screen. I tried the 2-1 from Baltimore--same deal. Nothing. No ABC for me all of a sudden! Any ideas as to what would have happened? Thanks! All other channels still come in crisp clear---weird.
> 
> 
> Just tested signal strength--it registered at 91, so the signal is great. Now it is even harder to figure out!



I live in Takoma Park, and WJLA (OTA) works just fine for me.


----------



## AntAltMike

The administration at AVSForums has assigned me "ownership" of the opening post (offers, anyone?) that I was attempting to revise, so I have updated it as I had prescribed in post #13441.


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rory21*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13440#post_23099326
> 
> 
> I'm not sure if it's relevant to your purpose, but in Falls Church I receive a Channel 49. 49.1 is, I think always a set of color bars, but 49.2 has programming at least sometimes. It's usually in Chinese, but I've also seen western movies with Chinese subtitles.



At present, I'm just trying to maintain that list as its originator, CycloneGT had, and he had chosen to leave that channel out, as well as the low powered ones (23.1, 25,1, etc.) As I recall, there was some kind of a dispute over the ultimate ownership of that transmitter license (actually broadcast on UHF channel 14) and I don't think it has been even indexed by any of the guide services, but I know it has been transmitting a signal that measures within about 10dB of the signal strength of Univision 14.1 measured at the highrise antenna systems I maintain in the metro DC area, for at least a year now (they are broadcast on adjacent, UHF channels, and I frequently view them on my spectrum analyzers), so perhaps it is time to elevate its status here. If I can confirm that it carries regularly scheduled programming, that might tend to justify its inclusion, but it is difficult for me to do that observationally because, except when they show something with English dialog and Chinese subtitles, I don't know what it is that I am watching.


Do you know if any local cable companies are carrying it?


----------



## dleedlee

_The station currently broadcasts color bars on channel 49.1, and New Tang Dynasty Television on channel 49.2._

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWTD-LD


----------



## Trip in VA

NTDTV doesn't appear to be on local cable, but is carried on cable in other areas.


- Trip


----------



## Dave Loudin

WWTD often shows up here in the south side of the metro area (King George).


----------



## AntAltMike

The linked Wikipedia entry for WWTD-LD has it at 15 watts, so I won't be putting it on the main list, but I might start a low-powered list and put it on that.


----------



## Dave Loudin

15 *kilo*watts. There'd be no way in hell I'd be able to see it here with only 15 watts.


----------



## Trip in VA

I would argue that all the local stations should be listed, including LPTV stations. Telemundo and UniMás are both on LPTV stations, and in HD, and both are weaker than WWTD-LD.


Also, the list seems to exclude the Hagerstown stations even though those are in the DMA and this is the proper place to discuss them.


- Trip


----------



## dleedlee

_030-03 24 MHz WNVC-DT MHz3 MCN - Metro Chinese Network_ - 30.3 is actually China's CCTV-4 news channel, in English

_030-12 30 MHz WNVT-DT MHz12 WorldView_ - is now Today's Ireland


Today’s Ireland the newest global content initiative of MHz Networks, launches as a full channel in the D.C. area March 17 on MHz 12 (over the air digital broadcast channel 30.12).


Launching initially with six hours of programming daily, starting at 3 PM each day, TI will build to a 24/7 channel within a year.

http://www.mhznetworks.org/about/press 
http://todaysireland.tv/


----------



## rory21




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13440#post_23099516
> 
> 
> Do you know if any local cable companies are carrying it?



No, I don't.


The MHz conglomerate used to show a bit of hurling and Irish football, and I think they kept that up through their streaming service. It would be great to see that back on the air.


----------



## AntAltMike

I listed 66.4 as Worship only because it had been so listed previously, but I see that, interspersed between infomercials, it is presently running The Big Voice and My Generation shows from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM that are not the same episodes being concurrently shown on 66.3, and there is no identifier "bug" in the corner of the screen. Right now, it looks like 66.4 is being run as an infomercial channel, with ionLife rebroadcasts being used as filler. I'll have to send an e-mail to Zamfir and tell him there may be some broadcast time available cheap.


----------



## fmsjr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *centricle*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13410#post_23047655
> 
> 
> Apologies if this exact question has been asked in the previous 13,000 posts, but I'm hoping there's somebody in my area who can advise whether I should be focusing my efforts on Baltimore (closer) or DC (more stations). I live in Arnold, MD, and it doesn't look like I'll be able to receive from both:
> 
> http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d1ddae9a08e976b
> 
> 
> Thanks for any tips.



Sorry for the late reply. We're in Arnold, just off College Parkway and get both DC and Baltimore, using 2 Winegard HD1080s stacked at right angles to each other. They are joined with just a regular splitter (and a CM7777? preamp - the VHF/UHF one.) Last time I aligned them, both DC and Baltimore Fox were a little tricky with occasionaly breakups but got the antennae so most everything else is rock-solid. Hardly watch OTA anymore but anytime I've checked, reception is still good. If you are down low by the Magothy you might have trouble getting DC over the ridge.


FiOS is available just about everywhere in Arnold







with nearly all of the DC and Baltimore stations (but no DC 20!)


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13440#post_23102321
> 
> 
> I would argue that all the local stations should be listed, including LPTV stations. Telemundo and UniMás are both on LPTV stations, and in HD, and both are weaker than WWTD-LD.
> 
> 
> Also, the list seems to exclude the Hagerstown stations even though those are in the DMA and this is the proper place to discuss them.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Trip,


I noticed that RabbitEars has WMDO-LD being (eventually) switched to RF22 from RF8. Do you have any information as to when this might take place. Thanks.

http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=167370&sorting=physical


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13440#post_23154149
> 
> 
> Trip,
> 
> 
> I noticed that RabbitEars has WMDO-LD being (eventually) switched to RF22 from RF8. Do you have any information as to when this might take place. Thanks.
> 
> http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=167370&sorting=physical



I entered the WMDO call letters into the FCC site and clicked open a few files regarding the station licensing. WMDO claims that channel 22 is clear enough to allow them to operate a transmitter that is about 50 times as strong as the one they now operate on channel 8, and that it would be free of the interference that it is presently inhibited by from adjacent WJLA-7,and WUSA-9, and co-channel interference from channel 8 in Lancaster PA.


I don't have the wherewithal to click open all the links within that file, but here is the "Informal Objection" filed by WOGF in May of 2011: http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getimportletter_exh.cgi?import_letter_id=25959 . I didn't see any newer activity, but didn't click open all the other relevant links.


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13440#post_23154650
> 
> 
> I entered the WMDO call letters into the FCC site and clicked open a few files regarding the station licensing. WMDO claims that channel 22 is clear enough to allow them to operate a transmitter that is about 50 times as strong as the one they now operate on channel 8, and that it would be free of the interference that it is presently inhibited by from adjacent WJLA-7,and WUSA-9, and co-channel interference from channel 8 in Lancaster PA.
> 
> 
> I don't have the wearwithal to click open all the links within that file, but here is WMDO's 2011 reply to an objection filed by channel 23 WDWA, a lpow power sreligious station that was (isw?) apaparently transmitting on channel 23. I didn't see any newer activity, but didn't click open all the other relevant links.



WDWA-LP's owner, WORD OF GOD FELLOWSHIP, INC. also owns WDDN-LD, which transmits on digital RF23 and also uses 23-1 as its virtual channel. I believe that WDWA, which is still now analog RF23, would like to flash cut to digital RF23 and broadcast exactly what WDDN now is broadcasting on digital RF23. Why WDWA would object to WMDO using digital RF22, I don't know. WDDN abandoned digital RF22 for digital RF23 about a year ago leaving it open. WDDN used to be analog RF23 until they flash cut to digital RF23 and abandoned digital RF22 over a year ago. I would like to see WMDO vacate digital RF8 for digital RF22 in order that I can rescan for WGAL which uses digital RF8 from Lancaster, PA.


----------



## CycloneGT

Hi Mike,


Glad to see that someone took over the "First Post". Sorry that I did not reply, but it has been awhile since I was last on here. Since I have not posted in a while, I did not have my browser "logged in", so I didn't get the PM notification even when I did visit.


It looks like you have things well in hand for the first post. I apologize that I did not keep it updated, but after HD went mainstream I began to divert my attention to other things and I eventually stopped. It just wasn't the same as the early days of getting all worked up over a new single HD channel carriage announcement, seeing a Caps game in HD on WB50 or lameting the addition of a bandwidth consuming sub channel. Now HD is plentiful.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13400_100#post_23154149
> 
> 
> Trip,
> 
> 
> I noticed that RabbitEars has WMDO-LD being (eventually) switched to RF22 from RF8. Do you have any information as to when this might take place. Thanks.
> 
> http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=167370&sorting=physical



The application has yet to be granted by the FCC, so there is no telling.


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13400_100#post_23155559
> 
> 
> WDWA-LP's owner, WORD OF GOD FELLOWSHIP, INC. also owns WDDN-LD, which transmits on digital RF23 and also uses 23-1 as its virtual channel. I believe that WDWA, which is still now analog RF23, would like to flash cut to digital RF23 and broadcast exactly what WDDN now is broadcasting on digital RF23. Why WDWA would object to WMDO using digital RF22, I don't know. WDDN abandoned digital RF22 for digital RF23 about a year ago leaving it open. WDDN used to be analog RF23 until they flash cut to digital RF23 and abandoned digital RF22 over a year ago. I would like to see WMDO vacate digital RF8 for digital RF22 in order that I can rescan for WGAL which uses digital RF8 from Lancaster, PA.



What actually happened is Daystar lit up their Chicago and DC digital channels, then forgot to file the paperwork with the FCC. The permits lapsed, and both frequencies were then re-filed for by other broadcasters. Not sure how Daystar managed to keep their channel in Chicago, but in DC they apparently gave up and moved to 23.


The opposition to WMDO could be in hopes of getting 22 back for WDDN.


- Trip


----------



## nottenst

Anyone know anything about MASN2 being removed from Comcast Limited Basic? It seems to have been removed without any notice in the PG County area.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13440#post_23175487
> 
> 
> Anyone know anything about MASN2 being removed from Comcast Limited Basic? It seems to have been removed without any notice in the PG County area.


Apparently there was supposed to be a note in my March bill (there wasn't) about it being moved to a higher tier.


----------



## OldHud

Just to let y'all know:


Down here in the boondocks of Westmoreland County, I have recently been receiving channel 25 (both virtual and actual channel), WZDC-CD, broadcasting Telemundo. The updated first post doesn't list this channel, but the post was updated just before I started receiving it. Any idea what the "CD" means?


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *OldHud*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13460_10#post_23187488
> 
> 
> Just to let y'all know:
> 
> 
> Down here in the boondocks of Westmoreland County, I have recently been receiving channel 25 (both virtual and actual channel), WZDC-CD, broadcasting Telemundo. The updated first post doesn't list this channel, but the post was updated just before I started receiving it. Any idea what the "CD" means?



DT = Digital television station

CD = Digital Class A television station

LD = Digital Low Power Television station


Class A is a step higher than a low power TV station...


----------



## slats7

The sudden decline in quality of Fox5's HD signal is worse than I thought. Here are some screengrabs of Fox5 NFL games from previous seasons (click to enlarge). I've used the same antenna and capture device for the last five years, and I'm using VLC player to make the screengrabs.

 

 

 

 


Here are some grabs from 2012 games on Fox5:

 

 

 

 

 


As you can see, the 2012 games are _much_ grainier/blurrier compared to previous seasons.


Just for kicks, I recorded portions of last weekend's Detroit-NY game on Baltimore's Fox channel and DC's.

 

 


If you look at the Fox bug in the upper right hand corner and the "MLB on Fox" graphic on the bottom, you can discern that WBFF is definitely crisper than WTTG. WTTG does not have any bandwidth-hogging sub-channels that I know of, so I'm not sure what would cause such a decline in quality. Should I contact their engineering dept and ask what's up?


----------



## nabsltd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *slats7*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13440_40#post_23192828
> 
> 
> If you look at the Fox bug in the upper right hand corner and the "MLB on Fox" graphic on the bottom, you can discern that WBFF is definitely crisper than WTTG. WTTG does not have any bandwidth-hogging sub-channels that I know of, so I'm not sure what would cause such a decline in quality. Should I contact their engineering dept and ask what's up?


Sports on Fox are generally encoded at the network in a "ready to broadcast" format. WTTG is O&O, so they shouldn't re-encode.


So, yeah, it's probably good to see what their engineering department thinks. Perhaps they are re-encoding when they shouldn't be.


----------



## Gerald C

Anyone else experiencing recent reception issues with WRC-DT-48? Just yesterday, for the first time in 10 years or so, I'm having signal strength problems (poor audio & video lock) on multiple OTA tuners. Any chance they are performing maintenance at reduced power levels?


----------



## Digital Rules

WRC-48 seems fine here in Centreville. It actually works here with an attic mounted FM only antenna.


----------



## Gerald C

Thanks. The problem, whatever it was, went away a day later. For the record, I experienced it on Thurs, April 11, and it was back to normal on Fri, April 12. Could have been some local interference or brief transmitter maintenance.


----------



## OldHud

Has anyone else noticed a problem with WMPT - ch 22? My old LG tuner has trouble with the program guide; it displays 22-3 twice and has other issues, too. My other tuner, an old Samsug, won't receive 22 at all. The problem started a few days ago.


----------



## StevenJB

WWTD-LD RF14 and Virtual 49 is now carrying QVC on 49.3. 49.1 is still color bars and 49.2 is still New Tang Dynasty. All are 4:3 480i SD.


----------



## Trip in VA

TSReader doesn't show anything wrong with WMPT.


- Trip


----------



## OldHud

Well, something changed. The WMPT problem remained until last night and then all the symptoms went away. I didn't do anything to the tuners, so it must have been the broadcast that changed.


----------



## Tomar

Hello - I recently connected a UHF/VHF antenna to my Directv HR20 receiver. I can get the UHF channels but I can't get the VHF channels (like WJLA channel 7). When I view the signal strength for WJLA, it is a solid 80+% but yet I get no picture. When I feed the OTA signal directly into my TV, I get a picture. Has anyone else experienced a problem receiving VHF using an HR20?


----------



## carltonrice




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Tomar*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13470#post_23290188
> 
> 
> Hello - I recently connected a UHF/VHF antenna to my Directv HR20 receiver. I can get the UHF channels but I can't get the VHF channels (like WJLA channel 7). When I view the signal strength for WJLA, it is a solid 80+% but yet I get no picture. When I feed the OTA signal directly into my TV, I get a picture. Has anyone else experienced a problem receiving VHF using an HR20?



The issue is probably that the H20 is an older model DTV tuner. Over the years, the digital tuner technology has improved significantly and I notice that newer HDTVs I've owned offer tuners that are more sensitive and better at interference rejection than the ones I owned back in the early days of DTV.


----------



## csworldwide1

It looks like Sinclair's Triopoly is one step closer to reality.


The FCC has greenlighted the assignment of license of WUTB 24 from Fox Television Stations to Deerfield Media.


I would assume after consummation, 24 could move where 45 & 54 is.


----------



## AntAltMike

My audio has been out on broadcast reception of 26.1 and 26.4, starting with the promos following Washington Week in Review at about 8:25 and continuing through Inside Washington.


Just came back at 9:00 PM, sort of...now there are two ovelapping sound streams, one in Spanish.


----------



## joblo

My OTA TiVo recordings of tonight's "Inside Washington", both from 26.1 and 26.4, sound fine, nothing unusual at all.


"Inside Washington" replays tomorrow at 6 pm on 22-2, 26-1, and 26-4.


An edited version also airs at 9 am Sunday on 7-1, and on cable NewsChannel 8 at 11 am and 9 pm Sunday, and 9 am Monday.


----------



## AntAltMike

False alarm. My new 32" "Seiki" TV (HHGregg special $189.99) processes its audio selections differently than other TVs I've owned. It seems that a few days ago, when I was groping in the dark for the "previous channel" button, I must have changed the language preference to Spanish by pressing the MTS button, but I didn't notice because as soon as I hit the correct button, I would have returned to a channel where the audio selection was irrelevant, as 26.1, 26.4 and 5.1 are the only three channels out of the 60 comprising my selection list on which having selected Spanish as my preferred language affectes me. On some major networks, the selection of Spanish audio gets English audio, and on most other channels the request for Spanish audio is simply ignored.


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *csworldwide1*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13470#post_23293503
> 
> 
> It looks like Sinclair's Triopoly is one step closer to reality.
> 
> 
> The FCC has greenlighted the assignment of license of WUTB 24 from Fox Television Stations to Deerfield Media.
> 
> 
> I would assume after consummation, 24 could move where 45 & 54 is.



Would this mean better reception or worst reception for DC suburbs?


----------



## AntAltMike

WDCA has moved Mundofox to 20.3 and is showing color bars on 20.2 and now labels that channel "movies". Similar subchannel rearrangement has been reported with WNYW in New York City, but no one has yet reported on the new "movies" channel content in that thread.


It is also reported in the Philadelphia locals thread here that Fox 29 now has movies on 29.2 and has moved Mundofox to 29.3 on that transmitter, and the Boston thread reported that it will be on 25.2 in Boston, but still no one in those threads has posted any program information


----------



## dleedlee




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13470#post_23349859
> 
> 
> WDCA has moved Mundofox to 20.3 and is showing color bars on 20.2 and now labels that channel "movies". Similar subchannel rearrangement has been reported with WNYW in New York City, but no one has yet reported on the new "movies" channel content in that thread.
> 
> 
> it is also reported in the Philadelphia locals thread here that Fox 29 now has movies on 29.2 and has moved Mundofox to 29.3 on that transmitter.



Noticed the same last night. Lucky, I had to reprogram my DVR to record a Korean soap (dubbed in Spanish, subbed in English) that I've been following.










Could it be this:
http://www.foxmoviechannel.com/schedule.php 



Updated: And now programming for 20.2 = 20.1


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> ...Could it be this:
> http://www.foxmoviechannel.com/schedule.php ...



Nope, it's this: http://moviestvnetwork.com/schedule.php 


Their website is not extensively developed at the moment, only showing one week of scheduled programming, and with no clickable link to the movie synopses


High Anxiety and Silent Movie are scheduled.


----------



## dleedlee




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13470#post_23351911
> 
> 
> Nope, it's this: http://moviestvnetwork.com/schedule.php
> 
> 
> Their website is not extensively developed at the moment, only showing one week of scheduled programming, and with no clickable link to the movie synopses
> 
> 
> High Anxiety and Silent Movie are scheduled.



Thanks!


Looks like it's switched over. Running previews of upcoming movies right now.


----------



## AntAltMike

They were still running trailers at 8:15 AM today, but when I checked again just before noon, the movie Backlash was on. Strangely, it ended half an hour ahead of schedule and was followed by Michael Shane: Private detective at 1:55 PM, even though their website said it would be starting at 2:25 PM.


----------



## riversend3

I moved into my house in Feb, and began exploring options for cutting cable and going OTA.


Here is my TVFool report.


I found an old Archer antenna hooked to an old preamp in the attic. After finally making sense out of the squirrel's nest of cables in the attic I found one that could run from the antenna down to my TV in the living room. I connected it up without the pre-amp and only received three or four stations reliably. I brought the preamp downstairs (there is no identifying information on the pre-amp) and ran in between the wall outlet from the attic and the cable running to the TV. Now I pick up quite a few stations, pretty much all the digital stations in the green. However, not all of them are stable, the signals are choppy in some cases, and depending on the weather (wind mostly) about half will become very choppy to unwatchable.


I would like to run the antenna to two different tuners: 1) my current TV and 2) a TV Tuner for PC (probably an HDHomerun unit) to run to an HTPC with WMC.


Is it worth it to try a different preamp? Is there a risk with going to a stronger preamp due to signal strength of any of the stations?


Any enlightening information would be great, even a link to a guide I could read. Thanks.


RE3


----------



## AntAltMike

More WDCA 20.2 "Movies" schedule departures. It looks like they are now showing "The Hot Rock", when the site schedule says they had scheduled "The Man Who Wouldn't Die"..


----------



## dleedlee




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13470#post_23361641
> 
> 
> More WDCA 20.2 "Movies" schedule departures. It looks like they are now showing *"The Hot Rock",* when the site schedule says they had scheduled "The Man Who Wouldn't Die"..



That's pathetic. How shoddy. Nothing like first impressions to show that you care.









Fox is behind this, eh?


----------



## dleedlee




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13470#post_23361087
> 
> 
> They were still running trailers at 8:15 AM today, but when I checked again just before noon, the movie Backlash was on. Strangely, it ended half an hour ahead of schedule and was followed by Michael Shane: Private detective at 1:55 PM, even though their website said it woould be starting at 2:25 PM.



I noticed that, too. I was watching the tail end of Backlash and then Shayne started. I was going to record it on my DVDR but wasn't ready. Try again tomorrow but who knows when it will begin.


Also, nowhere during the broadcast, i.e., commercials, do they tell you what's playing. Duh. I'm going to stick to Antenna-TV (50.2) if this keeps up.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *riversend3*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13470#post_23361427
> 
> 
> I found an old Archer antenna hooked to an old preamp in the attic.


Does the antenna look like this ? Is the antenna mounted up high, or just laying on the rafters? Any aluminum siding on the house? Have you tried fine tuning the aim? You shouldn't have too much trouble in Fairfax Station other than


-occasional signal interruption from aircraft _*approaching*_ Dulles. (not much you can do with this one)

-very windy days, but shouldn't be too bad with proper antenna if set up correctly.

-proximity to the large tower @ 123 & the FC Parkway (easily resolved with an FM trap)


----------



## riversend3

Digital Rules, thanks for the response.


The antenna is partially covered with a plastic casing for what I suppose is a control box, probably for a motor drive. It has wide oval antenna on the rear and another antenna protruding out the front. I cannot find anything similar online (ebay or elsewhere). It does pickup VHF-hi and UHF.


It is mounted in the dead space between the rafters on a long mounting pole from one of the rafters. It is pointing through the roof (shingles, not sure if there is much metal under those on this house). No aluminum siding. I used a compass to get the signal direction within a few degrees, but your point about fine tuning is a good one. I'll try to get up there in a couple of weekends to do slight adjustments on the weakest station and see what that does.


I think we are fairly well down from the tower near 123 and FC parkway ( I am southeast of 123 and Lee Chapel road). What is the best way to see if that is an issue?


Any thoughts on a pre-amp if I am going to split the signal?


RE3


----------



## nabsltd

WJLA is now stretching all the programming on MeTV (7.2) .


I can never understand why stations do this, as every 16:9 TV has the ability to do the stretching if the user wants to, but *no* TV has an "unstretch" function.


I was watching quite a bit of programming on that channel, but not anymore.


----------



## Trip in VA

Just now looking at WJLA's transport stream and 7-2 is definitely flagged 4:3.


- Trip


----------



## nabsltd




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13480_40#post_23405191
> 
> 
> Just now looking at WJLA's transport stream and 7-2 is definitely flagged 4:3.


Well, that is strange.


One (and only one) of my DirecTV receivers decided that it wasn't, and I had to force that one to display with sidebars, while all the rest are displaying correctly with no changes to their config.


----------



## JPolin

I'm a relative newbie to the antenna world, but I'm aiming to get channels from both Washington, DC and Baltimore. If it's possible to get channels even further out (such as Hagerstown or York, PA), I'd be interested in that too. In short, I'd like to figure out how best to upgrade my equipment and where to locate it (attic vs. chimney). I have a limited budget and even more limited expertise. If I can get both DC and Baltimore strongly and cheaply, that would likely be the best option. If I can get the stations that are much further away without too much additional expense, I'm open to pursuing that, though.


Here's my location and setup information:


I live in the Wheaton Hills neighborhood of Wheaton. Unfortunately, I'm near the bottom of one of said hills, and there is substantial tree cover all around my house. The only location that rises above nearly all of the tree cover is on the top of the chimney. The DC channels are 6-7 miles away and at approximately 190 degrees from my location. The Baltimore channels are 30 miles away at approximately 47 degrees.


To date, I've been using a Mohu Plus in my basement and a regular Mohu on the main level of my home. I pull in the majority of the Washington channels using this setup (WRC, WTTG, WJLA, WUSA, WFDC, WDCA, WETA, WHUT, WDCW, WNVC, WPXW). Two low-powered stations (WDDN, WWTD) are inconsistent. I don't receive the other low-powered stations. I have been unable, so far, to get anything from Baltimore.


My antennas are located near windows toward the rear of my home, facing in the direction of the NW DC towers. That is the only direction not heavily surrounded by the trees. I don't have any windowed access in the direction of the Baltimore towers - just the walls, the brick exterior, and a bunch of trees.


Thanks in advance for your advice.


----------



## dleedlee

I've been noticing the ads this past weekend for the upcoming new Fox Sports Network (Aug.17). I guess that means even less sports programming (ESPN has already scooped up a lot of previously-on-ABC/NBC/CBS network sports events, e.g., Wimbledon, BCS,) for those of us on OTA.

Fox Sports Announces Sports 1 network 


Fox Sports 1 network to launch Aug. 17, challenge ESPN 
_Fox owns rights to many Big 12, Pac-12 and Conference USA basketball and football games. Its soccer deals include UEFA Champions League and the men’s and women’s World Cups from 2015-22.

Starting in 2014, FS1 will start broadcasting Major League Baseball games, including part of the postseason. It will show some NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races as early as 2015, with other NASCAR events on the air from the startup._


Oh, well.


----------



## rory21

I'm not sure if Fox Sports will have much impact. It's mostly a rebranding of the Fox Soccer Channel, which has lost the English Premier League and some other content to newer soccer providers.


----------



## dleedlee




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rory21*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13470#post_23420166
> 
> 
> I'm not sure if Fox Sports will have much impact. It's mostly a rebranding of the Fox Soccer Channel, which has lost the English Premier League and some other content to newer soccer providers.



Ah, I see. EPL was also on regular Fox occasionally, too, wasn't it?


And on the other hand, MundoFox carries UFC on Saturday nights.


----------



## dmorack




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rory21*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13470#post_23420166
> 
> 
> I'm not sure if Fox Sports will have much impact. It's mostly a rebranding of the Fox Soccer Channel, which has lost the English Premier League and some other content to newer soccer providers.



Fox Sports 1 is a rebranding of Speed. Fox Soccer will become FXX. I wonder if Cox will finally fix the Dolby Digital 5.1 audio on Fox Soccer HD when it becomes FXX.


----------



## mkfs


WETA-UK scrambles all the bits Yet Agane.

 

They have dropped Foyles War and Scott&Bailey on Monday nights, midway through their runs. It seems this is going to be their SOP.

 

Oh well, there's always Hulu/Netflix/ etc....


----------



## pclement




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Tomar*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13470#post_23290188
> 
> 
> Hello - I recently connected a UHF/VHF antenna to my Directv HR20 receiver. I can get the UHF channels but I can't get the VHF channels (like WJLA channel 7). When I view the signal strength for WJLA, it is a solid 80+% but yet I get no picture. When I feed the OTA signal directly into my TV, I get a picture. Has anyone else experienced a problem receiving VHF using an HR20?



Your post is a little dated, but I thought i would respond that I have two D* HR20. I can get WJLA fine on both. I live in southern PA and have an outdoor VHF/UHF with an amplifier. You will need to set up zip codes for DC and Baltimore and then do a rescan. You cannot move the antenae and update the scan as it will over write your previous scan. The zip code channels will not be lost. You may need to do this several times (when receiption is excellent to get the channels outside of the zip codes into the receiver). I usually do zip codes for DC and Baltimore and scan for the PA channels. You can use different zip codes and get different channels (For example a Bowie, MD zip code may list different channels than a Alexandria, VA zip code - but both are DC).


----------



## Big J

Has any one else been having problems getting WETA? These last few weeks, its been dead to me. They've always been quite reliable for me until now.

J


----------



## TheKrell

WETA was working fine for me last night...


Edited to add: I just cranked up my PC tuner and it's working right now too.


----------



## csworldwide1

Sinclair Broadcast Group, owner of Baltimore's WBFF Fox 45 acquires Washington's WJLA ABC 7 and other television stations owned by Allbrittion for $985 million.


More News on WJLA's webpage .


----------



## AntAltMike

Any ideas on how that may affect the WJLA subschannel selection?


WJLA has MeTV on 7.2 and Live Well Network on 7.3.

WBFF Baltimore has Antenna TV, which is not carried on any Washington, DMA stations, on 45.2, and on 45.3, it carries ThisTV, which is presently on Washington' DC's WSUA 9.3.


----------



## oriolesmagic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13500#post_23575427
> 
> 
> Any ideas on how that may affect the WJLA subschannel selection?
> 
> 
> WJLA has MeTV on 7.2 and Live Well Network on 7.3.
> 
> 
> WBFF Baltimore has Antenna TV, which is not carried on any Washington, DMA stations, on 45.2, and on 45.3, it carries ThisTV, which is presently on Washington' DC's WSUA 9.3.



WDCW (DC 50) has Antenna TV on its 50.2 subchannel.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *oriolesmagic*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13500#post_23575704
> 
> 
> WDCW (DC 50) has Antenna TV on its 50.2 subchannel.



Oops. It is ThisTV and a country music station on WBFF.


----------



## tylerSC




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *csworldwide1*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13500#post_23575107
> 
> 
> Sinclair Broadcast Group, owner of Baltimore's WBFF Fox 45 acquires Washington's WJLA ABC 7 and other television stations owned by Allbrittion for $985 million.
> 
> 
> More News on WJLA's webpage .


I commend Allbritton for hiring the top talent from WUSA that Gannett had dismissed, and running a quality news operation at WJLA. I hope Sinclair will continue.


----------



## oriolesmagic

This is likely terrible for everyone involved.


Sinclair is known for cheapening newscasts, trying to standardize their platform, having master control done from Hunt Valley, and pushing controversial editorials within their newscasts like FOX.


Basically, the end result to WJLA is people losing their jobs from the behind the scenes folk to expensive on-air personalities, biased and low-cost news, and reduced quality subchannels, if any.


Sinclair's antics won't compete well against 2 O&O stations and Gannett. Spending all the money in the world as Allbritton did never got them much out of 3rd in the DC news race. Their antics are a loser for WJLA, beneath a market with the size and scope of DC and its viewers.


----------



## tylerSC

Well I appreciate that WJLA hired Gordon Peterson, Maureen Bunyan, and Doug Hill from WUSA. And Bob Ryan from WRC. These are established professionals they recognized, rather than just younger faces. But I am concerned that going forward Sinclair may cheapen the product at ABC-7.


----------



## oriolesmagic

Bob Ryan knew to retire when he did. The other 3 will probably be smart to go ahead and leave before Sinclair makes it happen for them.


----------



## tylerSC

I thought WRC-4 had a great team back when they had Jim Vance, Doreen Gentzler, Bob Ryan, George Michael and Arch Campbell.


----------



## dleedlee

Does anyone know what I might be seeing on analog Ch. 6 (I think)? I stumbled upon it this week and it looks like it's airing Charlie Chaplin and/or Keystone Kops shorts from what I can see through the fuzzy blur.


----------



## Trip in VA

WDCN-LP. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WDCN-LP 


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules

You are seeing analog channel 6, transmitting from North Arlington (WETA tower on George Mason Dr) It is really an FM radio station, but the FCC requires video to be broadcast also since it is broadcast on an actual TV frequency.


Oops, Trip beat me to it!!


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dleedlee*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13500#post_23585488
> 
> 
> it looks like it's airing Charlie Chaplin and/or Keystone Kops shorts from what I can see through the fuzzy blur.



They use silent movies for the video because the audio is meant to be heard on FM radios.


So it's really two separate services on the same channel.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tylerSC*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13500#post_23578444
> 
> 
> Well I appreciate that WJLA hired Gordon Peterson, Maureen Bunyan, and Doug Hill from WUSA. And Bob Ryan from WRC. These are established professionals they recognized, rather than just younger faces. But I am concerned that going forward Sinclair may cheapen the product at ABC-7.



Yeah, that's my concern. We'll probably lose Peterson's _Inside Washington_ program, among other things.


----------



## dleedlee




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13500#post_23585551
> 
> 
> WDCN-LP. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WDCN-LP
> 
> 
> - Trip





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13500#post_23585554
> 
> 
> You are seeing analog channel 6, transmitting from North Arlington (WETA tower on George Mason Dr) It is really an FM radio station, but the FCC requires video to be broadcast also since it is broadcast on an actual TV frequency.
> 
> 
> Oops, Trip beat me to it!!





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13500#post_23585948
> 
> 
> They use silent movies for the video because the audio is meant to be heard on FM radios.
> 
> 
> So it's really two separate services on the same channel.



Cool. Thanks for the explanations , too.


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13500#post_23585948
> 
> 
> They use silent movies for the video because the audio is meant to be heard on FM radios.
> 
> 
> So it's really two separate services on the same channel.



I thought that the FCC was going to close the loophole that allowed channel 6 TV stations to be operated as radio stations on the edge of the FM band.


----------



## ADTech




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *machpost*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13500#post_23589246
> 
> 
> I thought that the FCC was going to close the loophole that allowed channel 6 TV stations to be operated as radio stations on the edge of the FM band.



It will close automatically the end of September, 2015 when all analog broadcasts must cease.


----------



## StevenJB

From Wikipedia:


"Analog broadcasting did not cease entirely following the June 12, 2009 deadline: under the provisions of the Short-term Analog Flash and Emergency Readiness Act, approximately 120 full-power stations briefly maintained analog "nightlight" service, ending no later than July 12, 2009. In a separate category, low power television stations will be permitted to continue analog broadcasts for several more years. In September 2010, the FCC announced a proposal to set a hard deadline of 2012 for low power stations to broadcast in digital. On July 15, 2011, the FCC posted the required transition deadlines for low power television. Stations broadcasting on channels 52 to 69 were required to vacate those channels by December 31, 2011. By order of the United States government, all analog television transmitters must shut down by September 1, 2015."


How can anyone ever forget that distant hard to get snowy analog channel? You turned the antenna rotor or moved the rabbit ears to try and lock the vertical hold. I started watching television in 1948. Washington had four channels. Baltimore had three. Some channels didn't sign on until 2:00 in the afternoon and only broadcast just a few hours daily. What ever happened to that Indian head test pattern? One upon a long time ago there was a Channel 1. Then came along UHF all the way up to 83! No more snowy television in the USA after midnight August 31, 2015. I feel old!


----------



## StevenJB

I wasn't aware of this:


Per Wikipedia:


"On August 22, 2011, the United States' Federal Communications Commission announced a freeze on all future applications for broadcast stations requesting to use channel 51, to prevent adjacent-channel interference to the A-Block of the 700 MHz band."


I guess that this means that WETA-DT on RF27, or any other station in this area wishing to use RF51, will not be allowed to move to RF51.


----------



## Trip in VA

WETA's petition to move to 51 was rejected before that, as I recall, due to the mutual exclusivity with WWPX's petition to move to 51. It was never resolved and both were dismissed, I think.


- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13500#post_23590952
> 
> 
> I wasn't aware of this:
> 
> 
> Per Wikipedia:
> 
> 
> "On August 22, 2011, the United States' Federal Communications Commission announced a freeze on all future applications for broadcast stations requesting to use channel 51, to prevent adjacent-channel interference to the A-Block of the 700 MHz band."
> 
> 
> I guess that this means that WETA-DT on RF27, or any other station in this area wishing to use RF51, will not be allowed to move to RF51.



Yeah, I called the engineer at WETA a couple of years ago to see what was happening with their channel 51 application, and he told me the same thing.


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> 
> You are seeing analog channel 6, transmitting from North Arlington (WETA tower on George Mason Dr) It is really an FM radio station, but the FCC requires video to be broadcast also since it is broadcast on an actual TV frequency.


 

 

 

Actually, it's the cross-polarized Yagis on ASR 1049508 , the old 275 ft AT&T tower along Lee Highway. Now known as American Tower # 88278

 

I believe the license name is Signal Above.

 

Amusing story. I was on site doing some other work when VEPCO arrived and pulled the meter. {I know what *THAT* means.} An hour later, an associate from a McLean law firm arrived with Verizon to find the issue. I told her what had happened; both left. She was soon back within the hour with a check, awaiting VEPCO's return. We chatted & I asked how she could ever make partner sitting at a tower site. She responded "It's what the client needs & it's billable hours..." which is quite true. I was quite impressed the counsel knew what "cross-polarized Yagis" were and why they'd been used....

 

History: That tower was the original feed for TV into DC from NYC, circa 1950. It came down from Yellow Springs MD. It also fed Goddard Space Flight Center, and carried NASCOM traffic for manned missions. [All non-video i..e voice & data went via Goddard, the headquarters for NASCOM.]


----------



## StevenJB

WDCA-DT Channel 20, to their credit, broadcasts full screen 16:9 480i on both of their sub-channels, 20.2 and 20.3. 20.2 is a movie channel and 20.3 is Spanish-speaking Mundo Fox. WRC-DT Channel 4's COZI TV on 4.2 also uses full screen 16:9 480i. Why don't more broadcasters use this technology instead of windowboxing their 16:9 programming to fit a 4:3 format? Windowboxing on a digital flatscreen TV gives you the black bars across the top and bottom and on the sides. Why doesn't the FCC encourage broadcasters to use a full screen format when 16:9 aspect ratio material is being broadcast in 480i. I know that 16:9 full screen 480i doesn't look as good as 16:9 720p HD or 16:9 1080i HD but windowboxing is a waste of screen space and I don't want to have to zoom my picture just to fill out the screen!


----------



## Trip in VA

The only subchannel network available in 16:9 but not carried that way locally is Live Well on WJLA. The rest of them are only provided to the local stations in 4:3 to start with. (Me-TV, Bounce, Antenna TV, This TV, V-Me, etc.)


The one that really kills me though is MPT. I have seen all manner of butchered aspect ratios on both 22-1 and 22-2. I wish they'd just do everything in 16:9 and make 22-2 a 16:9 SD subchannel so at least it's consistent. Glad I watch everything on my computer so I can manually fix the picture when the aspect ratio is wrong on MPT.


- Trip


----------



## acraven

I'm having trouble with vertically-stretched video on both 20.2 and 4.2. I have an analog TV, but the raw digital video looks OK when viewed on my HTPC (Hauppauge capture card). Unfortunately, both my cable box and VideoReDo alter the aspect ratio to give the tall-and-thin look. I assume there's some sort of incorrect header information being transmitted that confuses them. It's strange, but my little digital adapters do not distort the aspect ratio of the very same broadcasts. Does anyone know whether this problem would be caused by Comcast or by the original feed? I don't know to whom I should complain, but I'm guessing it's a Comcast problem.


Out-of-sync audio is also a very, very frequent problem for me on 20.2 and 4.2.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mkfs*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13500#post_23595298
> 
> 
> 
> 
> History: That tower was the original feed for TV into DC from NYC, circa 1950. It came down from Yellow Springs MD. It also fed Goddard Space Flight Center, and carried NASCOM traffic for manned missions. [All non-video i..e voice & data went via Goddard, the headquarters for NASCOM.]


Good catch, didn't know that stripped down tower was used for anything more than cell phone antennas. I believe XM satellite has a terrestrial repeater there as well.


The FM interference was huge in that area before the WBIG/WAVA tower was taken down a few years ago. I wonder how much it cost to have the tower removed & who paid for it? It was quite a sight watching them remove the tower piece by piece.


----------



## tylerSC

I remember the old "Fun all morning, music all day, 105-WAVA" from back in the day. Great morning show and newsreader, and great hit music station.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *acraven*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13500#post_23598980
> 
> 
> I'm having trouble with vertically-stretched video on both 20.2 and 4.2. I have an analog TV, but the raw digital video looks OK when viewed on my HTPC (Hauppauge capture card). Unfortunately, both my cable box and VideoReDo alter the aspect ratio to give the tall-and-thin look. I assume there's some sort of incorrect header information being transmitted that confuses them. It's strange, but my little digital adapters do not distort the aspect ratio of the very same broadcasts. Does anyone know whether this problem would be caused by Comcast or by the original feed? I don't know to whom I should complain, but I'm guessing it's a Comcast problem.
> 
> 
> Out-of-sync audio is also a very, very frequent problem for me on 20.2 and 4.2.



I don't watch those channels all that often, but I do once in a while. I get them OTA, and haven't noticed any issues with the aspect ratio-ie tall and thin.

J


----------



## ejb1980




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Big J*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13530#post_23607989
> 
> 
> I don't watch those channels all that often, but I do once in a while. I get them OTA, and haven't noticed any issues with the aspect ratio-ie tall and thin.
> 
> J



You won't if your TV is set to 16x9. But then, ALL subchannels are stretched. When you set your TV to display the channels in proper aspect (ie, the way the broadcaster flags them), then they are messed up. It's a tragic, nationwide issue.


Not all TVs let you do it "correctly" - LG TVs call the proper aspect mode "Set by program."


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ejb1980*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13530#post_23608068
> 
> 
> You won't if your TV is set to 16x9. But then, ALL subchannels are stretched. When you set your TV to display the channels in proper aspect (ie, the way the broadcaster flags them), then they are messed up. It's a tragic, nationwide issue.
> 
> 
> Not all TVs let you do it "correctly" - LG TVs call the proper aspect mode "Set by program."


All Sony Digital Flatscreen TVs always inform you as to what the broadcast is sending to you. You are told whether the picture is either 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, or 1080p and whether it is either 4:3 or 16:9. In order to automatically guarantee that all 480i 16:9 widescreen broadcasts are presented properly, the Settings/Screen/Auto Wide asks you whether you want the Auto Wide set to "off" or to "on". If "off" is chosen then *all* 480i broadcasts are set and locked into a 4:3 aspect ratio. Setting the Auto Wide to "on" automatically allows each 480i 16:9 broadcast to automatically display in a 16:9 full screen format. All other 480i 4:3 broadcasts automatically remain in the 4:3 aspect ratio.


----------



## mkfs




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13500#post_23604117
> 
> 
> 
> Good catch, didn't know that stripped down tower was used for anything more than cell phone antennas. I believe XM satellite has a terrestrial repeater there as well.
> 
> 
> The FM interference was huge in that area before the WBIG/WAVA tower was taken down a few years ago. I wonder how much it cost to have the tower removed & who paid for it? It was quite a sight watching them remove the tower piece by piece.


 

Yes, there's also a XM repeater on the tower. And a bunch of other stuph.

Did you mean AM or FM interference?

 

The saga on the WAVA tower is long & involved. As told to me:

 

WAVA had guy points on AT&T land; there was a lease with AT&T for ?$1.00/yr? or such. WAVA seldom paid, and AT&T Long-Lines never cared.
Then AT&T sold the site to American Tower Inc., property, building and tower. ATI sold the property sans tower to a developer.
The developer wanted the guy anchor points gone, but WAVA waved the lease around. Court soon was in session.
His Honor finally said "No money, no lease.." and WAVA started building a free-standing tower.
Then the developer uncovered & starting cutting all WAVA's ground radials.
WAVA eventually gave up and moved their FM transmitter to the WETA tower . Not sure where the AM went.

 

The developer tore down the 1950 AT&T building, and all the tower users were confined to their huts, built within the tower footprint. He put in a bunch of houses.  Google Earth's Historical Imagery will show the building coming down and the houses being built.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Garden_City.kml.zip 1k .zip file

 

 

 

 

 

BTW, the tower parcel was buffered with enough developer land so iffen it ever was torn down, the developer could use *that* land and build one more McMansion.

 

 

ps: WAVA AM seems to have gone to Bethesda; Kenwood Golf and Country Club, 5601 River Road to be precise. It's ~100 meters tall, built in 2001.


----------



## abinitio

I'm moving into the Login Circle area of DC in a couple of weeks.


Apparently, the options in my apartment building are: Comcast, Verizon (not FiOS), and RCN.


At first glance, RCN seems to offer the best cable speeds with basic digital cable. Essentially, I just want respectably fast internet and general HD programming. Any advice as to which is the best of the three?


----------



## PaulGo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *abinitio*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13530#post_23631981
> 
> 
> I'm moving into the Login Circle area of DC in a couple of weeks.
> 
> 
> Apparently, the options in my apartment building are: Comcast, Verizon (not FiOS), and RCN.
> 
> 
> At first glance, RCN seems to offer the best cable speeds with basic digital cable. Essentially, I just want respectably fast internet and general HD programming. Any advice as to which is the best of the three?



They all run promotions for new customers. See which one will gibe you the best deal for what you want. If you do get Verizon get the agreement in writing as to what you are getting and how much you will be paying. Verizon generally has the most billing complaints.


----------



## AntAltMike

Aljazerra is GONE from MHz 30.5. I noticed it at 3:30 AM today. That channel now carries Blue Ocean Network, a Chinese owned, "private" news network.


I Googled for Blue Ocean Network and MHz Networks, and found that on July 10, 2013, there was a press release on Yahoo saying that Blue Ocean Network would air daily in a 30 minute segment on MHz WorldView, but I never deliberately tune to that channel. The MHz page has not been updated to reflect this, and I am too busy today to research this further.


----------



## Trip in VA

I was afraid this would be coming.









http://www.mhznetworks.org/blog/al-jazeera-english-departs-mhz-august-20 


- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike

It has been reported recently that Al Jazerra had hired four cable TV newscaster veterans who has been let go elsewhere due to cutbacks, and I'm sure that most of the regular viewers of this forum know that Russia Today recently gave Larry King its coveted 9:00 PM slot to reprise his canceled CNN interview show. Last night his guest was Oprah Winfrey. Unfortunately, Al Jazerra is now going to become more and more like other cable channels. It will still maintain a pro-Arab/anti-Israeli slant, but beyond that, it is just a matter of time before they run their first Lindsey Lohan story.


I suppose that could be good for me. I still don't know who Joey Buttafuco is.


----------



## machpost

Is MASN replacing the ESPNEWS simulcast on MASN2 with Fox Sports programming? It could very well be a mistake on Zap2It, but this is what I'm seeing:


----------



## dleedlee




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13530#post_23647754
> 
> 
> Aljazerra is GONE from MHz 30.5. I noticed it at 3:30 AM today. That channel now carries Blue Ocean Network, a Chinese owned, "private" news network.
> 
> 
> I Googled for Blue Ocean Network and MHz Networks, and found that on July 10, 2013, there was a press release on Yahoo saying that Blue Ocean Network would air daily in a 30 minute segment on MHz WorldView, but I never deliberately tune to that channel. The MHz page has not been updated to reflect this, and I am too busy today to research this further.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13530#post_23647878
> 
> 
> I was afraid this would be coming.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.mhznetworks.org/blog/al-jazeera-english-departs-mhz-august-20
> 
> 
> - Trip



I'm missing AJE already. as an OTA-only viewer I relied on AJE as my 24/7 world news source. I still remember their round the clock coverage of the Chilean miners rescue. Certainly, no network, with their short clip-oriented newscasts between entertainment cross-promotions, is going to cover the Arab Spring/Egypt/Syria/Mid East as thoroughly


Watching BON, it's not bad; covering hot topics on Weibo ("the Chinese Twitter"), fluffy pop/lifestyle, food and news (e.g., the Bo Xilai trial). But the white guy with the bad hair piece is really distracting.


----------



## AntAltMike

Here's a link to free, streamed Al Jazerra English.

http://www.zahistations.com/watch-al-jazeera-english-live 


The visually obscuring link to Facebook goes away after about a minute. I had to re-click it after minute or so after that, but it now has been running for me without refreshing for over five minutes. Yesterday, someone in another thread said he had to re-click it every few minutes.


----------



## dleedlee




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13530#post_23660770
> 
> 
> Here's a link to free, streamed Al Jazerra English.
> 
> http://www.zahistations.com/watch-al-jazeera-english-live
> 
> 
> The visually obscuring link to Facebook goes away after a minute or so. I had to re-click it after a minute or so, but it now has been running for me without refreshing for over five minutes. Yesterday, someone in another thread said he had to re-click it every few minutes.



Thanks for the link! I will add it to my bookmarks. I have a gimpy 3G ISP so I can't stream for extended periods.


----------



## dleedlee

Does anyone know why WRC/Redskins Broadcast Network airs their Skins pre-season games in 4:3? This has been going on for years; it looks just awful , even on my pathetic CRT TV. Hey, if I had cable, don't you think I'd be watching, Danny? I assume it looks better on the Comcast cable channel?


...Damn, I just realized the Bucs game Thursday is also ch. 4. And I thought the pain was over for another year.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dleedlee*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13530#post_23674821
> 
> 
> Does anyone know why WRC/Redskins Broadcast Network airs their Skins pre-season games in 4:3? This has been going on for years; it looks just awful , even on my pathetic CRT TV. Hey, if I had cable, don't you think I'd be watching, Danny? I assume it looks better on the Comcast cable channel?



Comcast requires the exclusive to the full HD. It has been a bone of contention with broadcast viewers for some time now.


----------



## ejb1980

The Redskins preseason games also appear OTA all the way down here in North Carolina. WSOC Charlotte and WSLS Roanoke, VA air them where I live. That question was asked in the Charlotte thread and the answer given was the Redskins games are only available in HD on CSN-MA and OTA affiliates only get SD 4:3. But the CSN-MA feed is blacked out down here, so there's no way to see it in HD until the NFL Network repeat. Even the repeats on CSN are blacked out.


----------



## slats7

Meanwhile we get Ravens games in full HD in the DC market. Unbelievable.


----------



## dleedlee

In my case, it doesn't matter if it's HD, it's the windowboxing pillarboxing(?) that's driving me crazy. For the Steelers game, what did ch.20/WDCA do?


This leads me to another queston: What about Cozi (4.2), MeTV (7.2) and Movies (20.2), HD or SD?

According to wiki, they are 480i, 16:9 (not sure about Cozi); That's all I'm asking for. Couldn't WRC do they same for the games and still be contractually compliant?


----------



## slats7




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dleedlee*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13530#post_23675127
> 
> 
> In my case, it doesn't matter if it's HD, it's the windowboxing that's driving me crazy. *For the Steelers game, what did ch.20/WDCA do?*
> 
> 
> This leads me to another queston: What about Cozi (4.2), MeTV (7.2) and Movies (20.2), HD or SD?
> 
> According to wiki, they are 480i, 16:9 (not sure about Cozi); That's all I'm asking for. Couldn't WRC do they same for the games and still be contractually compliant?



it was full HD


----------



## ejb1980

Many subchannels are sent to stations 480i 16:9 but they broadcast it 4:3 by stations. Many smush it to fill the screen, some window box. Smushing (anamorphic) is awful because you have to use 'stretch' mode to fix it and those that broadcast 4:3 correctly then get distorted. There are a few subchannels correctly broadcasting 16:9 SD when they should be.


----------



## rtw53

*New OTA Channel 56(phy)/56-1(virt)?*


I'm seeing a _very_ strong signal in the Urbana/Ijamsville, MD area (southern Frederick County) on physical channel 56, ID'ing as virtual 56-1. It's 480p, 4:3, and shows a white "dish" network logo (lower-case letters d sh, with a picture of a dot over a stack of crescents representhing the "i" betwee d and s) on a black background, with silence in the audio. Any idea what this is? Dish is a paid satellite service, what are they doing on an OTA broadcast channel? Why such a lo-res signal and no subs? Any idea what they will be putting there once they stop their logo broadcast, which, I presume, is just a test pattern?


My TV set reports 8VSB modulation, 19 dB SNR, +10kHz frequency offset.


----------



## Trip in VA

 http://www.rabbitears.info/blog/index.php?post/2013/05/15/Echostar-Expands-Channel-56 
http://www.rabbitears.info/echostar.php?request=list 
http://www.rabbitears.info/blog/index.php?post/2013/06/17/Three-Quick-Updates 


- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike

MeTV has changed its prime time programming for the Fall season. It now has Gilligan's Island from 8:00 to 9:00 PM, followed by Hogan's Heroes and F Troop on Monday through Friday, but then, at 10:00 PM, they change to checkerboard scheduling rather than block scheduling, and run back-to-back episodes of Mary Tyler Moore, Taxi, The Bob Newhart Show, Rhoda, and Dick Van ****, one night each.


Sunday afternoon is revamped with the Love Boat at 2:00 PM, followed by 7 hours of detective shows, including the Streets of San Francisco. Michael Douglas used to look like Kirk Douglas, then he didn't, and now he does again, only now it is no longer a compliment.


The current network schedule is here: http://metvnetwork.com/schedule_print.php 


The local affiliates bump some network programming for local news and sports. WJLA's (7.2) schedule can be found here: http://tvlistings.zap2it.com/tvlistings/ZCSGrid.do?stnNum=46847 and WBAL's (11.2) here: http://affiliate.zap2it.com/tvlistings/ZCSGrid.do?stnNum=48570&lineupId=PC:21211&zipcode=21211&channel=


----------



## mkfs

Along with the scheduling issues with WETA UK, they seem to spin a wheel of misfortune to decide what aspect ratio they will set for a given show.


It's a good thing my set has a remote button to cycle through all the rarios/sizes to find one watchable; it's too bad they can't get a clue.....


----------



## carltonrice

Anyone else notice that WDCW messed up the first 5 minutes of the debut of The Arsenio Hall Show last night? They letter boxed the 16x9 in a 4x3 window. I guess they realized the error after a few minutes and corrected it.


----------



## Marcus Carr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13540_20#post_23722088
> 
> 
> Anyone else notice that WDCW messed up the first 5 minutes of the debut of The Arsenio Hall Show last night? They letter boxed the 16x9 in a 4x3 window. I guess they realized the error after a few minutes and corrected it.



WBFF showed it in stretch-o-vision last night. Tonight there was no picture or sound for the first few minutes before coming on in HD.


----------



## Trip in VA

Perhaps there was a problem with the feed if both had a problem with it at the same time. WBFF may have switched to the SD feed in a hurry and stayed there for the duration just in case it went out again, while WDCW could have started with the SD feed and then switched to the HD when it became available.


I remember when I worked at a TV station, the HD feed (prerecorded show, not live) died right as the credits started to roll, but the SD feed was fine. Since there was more than 10 hours until the show aired, the HD feed was used right up until the credits, then the SD feed used for the piece that got missed.


- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike

I surfed into Arseneo and figured that WDCW had bought it as a syndicated rerun, but I eventually noticed that his suit was of current vintage. Maybe WDCA can reprise Thicke of the Night.


----------



## fmw63




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13530#post_23694450
> 
> 
> MeTV has changed its prime time programming for the Fall season.



They actually ran one of the hour-long Twilight Zone episodes the other night!


----------



## jgantert

Anyone have trouble with WJZ on Monday night? I DVR'd 2 Broke Girls and Mom, but neither had sounds. Both had pops and audio cracking, but no sounds. This is on Comcast Harford County.


----------



## Trip in VA

So, not sure anyone else noticed, but suddenly WIAV-LD 58.1 (RF 44) is on the air. This morning, it was running Spanish-language E/I programming in widescreen 480i, but now I'm getting like 5% symbol quality (100% signal quality--which is greater than 35 dB MER--go figure) and a continuous blur of pixels.


- Trip


----------



## dleedlee

FYI, from their website:


MHz Networks 30.1-30.6 Off Air Due to Tower Maintenance

Beginning at 10 AM ET on Thursday, October 3, MHz Networks digital broadcast channels 30.1-30.6 will be off air due to scheduled maintenance on our WNVC broadcast tower in Falls Church.


Pending successful work completion, MHz channels should return on air by the end of the day, around 5 PM ET.


In lieu of watching via broadcast in the DC area, MHz Worldview is available via iOS and Android apps, Google TV, Roku, and online.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13560#post_23775472
> 
> 
> So, not sure anyone else noticed, but suddenly WIAV-LD 58.1 (RF 44) is on the air. This morning, it was running Spanish-language E/I programming in widescreen 480i, but now I'm getting like 5% symbol quality (100% signal quality--which is greater than 35 dB MER--go figure) and a continuous blur of pixels.



I'm measuring the expected signal strength of digital 44 relative to channel 48 which both broadcast from the towers by American University. I'm nine miles East-Northeast of those transmitters. My 44 is about seventeen dB weaker than my 48, but even though my Sencore 1453i calculates fewer than one emulated bit error per 100,000,000 bits, and a C/N ratio of 26dB, the picture is totally broken up as you described earlier this week.


----------



## AntAltMike




----------



## dleedlee




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13560#post_23799502
> 
> 
> Back on. Any new word on when 14.2 will be coming on?



What is 14.2 supposed to be? When I enter it in, it switches to 49.2 (New Tang Dynasty). 49.1 is QVC, while 49.3 is black but shows QVC as the id. This, on my Magnavox/Funai DVDR.


----------



## AntAltMike

GetTV , a new television network owned by Sony Picture Entertainment, is expected to begin Washington, DC carriage broadcast on WDFC 14.2 (virtual), which is broadcast on UHF 15, some time this October. Its content will primarily be feature films.


----------



## dleedlee




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13560#post_23802738
> 
> 
> GetTV , a new television network owned by Sony Picture Entertainment, is expected to begin Washington, DC carriage broadcast on WDFC 14.2 (virtual), which is broadcast on UHF 15, some time this October. Its content will primarily be feature films.



Thanks, I did not know this. Any idea how their programming might differ from AntTV which also shows Sony movies? Maybe the licensing is expiring?


----------



## AntAltMike

At about 5:15 PM, I just began watching my first relatively stable programming on WIAV 58.1 It is a low budget interview show called Valderrama's America. The interviewee is Keith Washington, said to be the Deputy Director of Prince George's Country's Homeland Security Department, but since there is a banner making reference to an upcoming September, 2006 election for the House of Delegates, 26th District, this interview is just some kind of test broadcast.


The audio is scratchy, and the picture breaking up just a little, even though the signal strength in dBmV, S/N ratio and emulated bit error rate are all good. I'm measuring -25dBmV coming off an 8-bay Antennas Direct antenna outside of College Park, MD, 9 miles to the east by northeast of the transmitter. The signal level is 25 dB less than UHF 48, which travels over the same signal path, but as I have reported elsewhere in these forums, my signal goes through a lot of vegetation, so it is only a line of sight signal path if suburban Maryland were defoliated. 6:02 PM update, the picture and audio are now perfectly stable.


There is a horizontal crawl overlay making reference to an upcoming, a September 2006 primary for the Maryland House of Delegates, in which the interviewee is a candidate, and then it cut to an election ad of sorts for another Valderrama.


David Valderrama was listed in the credits as the interviewer, Kris Valderrama as the east coast reporter and Vida Valderama as their west coast reporter.


Update at 6:02. Two guys are seated in an office, talking in Spanish, and each has manuscripts in front of him. Unfortunately, like a lot of Americans, when I hear Spanish, I can only pluck out a few nouns here and there. This interview is being captured by a single camera, albeit with an operator, who occasionally widens the shot to include both participants and then zooms in on one when he is speaking at length.


A fixed banner went up on the bottom of the screen with a 202- phone number, followed by "OFFICINA". Now it says "ABOGADO" where it had previously said officina.


Wikipedia says Kris Valderrama is female, and won that 2006 election and subsequent re-elections and presently serves in the Maryland House of Delegates.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13560#post_23823746
> 
> 
> ...The interviewee is Keith Washington, said to be the Deputy Director of Prince George's Country's Homeland Security Department, but since there is a banner making reference to an upcoming September, 2006 election for the House of Delegates, 26th District, this interview is just some kind of test broadcast....



I did not recognize the name of Keith Washington, who I now see was convicted less than two years later for shooting two furniture deliverymen, was sentenced to 45 years in jail, and, more recently, had another of his motions for retrial turned down. While I will investigate this further for my own purposes, I will not be posting my additional findings on that matter here.


----------



## dleedlee

MHz Network's 30.12 is now 12-hour Turkish, 12-hour Nigerian/African programming.


_Viewers can watch the channel 12 hours daily, from noon to midnight each day, on digital broadcast channel 30.12.


TRT Turk, the international TV channel of the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation, was created to enhance the understanding of the possibilities Turkey and Turkic Republics possess in various business fields through programs aiming at the Caucasus and Central Asia.


The channel also promotes Turkish people and culture in broadcasts comprised of education, drama, entertainment, music programs and news._

_ARISE News was founded by Nigerian publisher Nduka Obaigbena, who dreamed of creating a global news channel connecting all the “colors and shades of news” around the globe with an emphasis of reporting about Africa. With a team of world-class journalists, behind-the-scenes and in front of the camera, ARISE News covers the compelling issues of our time from every angle.
_

http://www.mhznetworks.org/about/press


----------



## AntAltMike

Back in the late 1990s, when I used to advertise my satellite antenna service business heavily in the Yellow Pages, I got a call from someone who wanted to know if I could get him Nigerian television via satellite. I told him I didn't know of any such channel but that he should call the Nigerian Embassy and ask them, because if such a source existed, they'd have to know about it. He replied, "This _is_ the Nigerian Embassy". As you might imagine, the project went no further than that..


----------



## Jake V


I posted this already over at

 

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1496231/need-antenna-recommendation-for-northern-virginia#post_23875872

 

but was told to also post it here.  

 

I would like an antenna recommendation for attic installation (attic first because there is already a coax cable available from there to the tv).

 

TV Fool: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d46ae9ea40ec79c   [it's to my actual address in zip 22032

 

- 2 stations are LOS, the rest are 1Edge or 2Edge]

 

I was intrigued by the Mohu Leaf Ultimate HDTV Antenna and bought one to try next to the tv (I've had cable for 20 years). It gives me some of the local channels (facing east or north works best, not NE as I expected):

 

Strong: WTTG 5.1 (FOX), WUSA 9 (CBS), WDCA 20 (MyN), WNVC 30.1 (MHz)

Weak (Often loose signal): WRC 4 (NBC), WETA 26 (PBS)

Very Weak (comes in once in awhile): WJLA 7 (ABC), WHUT 33 (PBS)

 

There are several "green" channels that I expected to pull in but could not (no matter the placement of the Leaf Antenna).

 

Since there was an existing coax from the tv to the attic I decided to experiment by putting the Leaf Antenna in the attic. No matter the direction I pointed it (generally NE, trying NNE to ENE) I got poorer results than when it was next to the tv (still got the strong stations but could not pull in weak ones at all). It claims to get a 15 DB gain.

I've looked at a number of antennas, but I'm not sure which one would work best in my circumstance. At a minimum I'd like to get all the DC stations (green and maybe all the yellow). Ideally, I'd like to also pull in the Baltimore stations (about 50 miles). Any recommendations (and can you please state why you recommend one antenna over another)?

 

Recommendations on the other thread were:

- HBU-22 (70" boom length) and Winegard 7694 (78" boom length) for DC Stations

- HBU-33 (80" boom length) and Winegard 7696 (99" boom lenght) for Baltimore Stations.

 

I need to check if they will fit into the attic if they are aimed NE (not sure I want to put it on the roof).

 

My research suggested the Clearstream 2V (C2-V-CJM) might work well (and it is certainly a size that will easily fit in the attic), but one comment was that it would be good for the DC stations but not for the Baltimore stations.

 

Can anyone in 20032 (near Target) share what works for them? Thanks!

 

Thanks!


----------



## TheKrell

I used to live in 22032 and had an antenna in my attic that worked well. I was high enough that I had LOS to all Washington stations, and with modest amplification I could get Baltimore stations too.


Or are you really in 20032? You wrote both numbers above.


----------



## AntAltMike

I used to maintain a dozen, cut-to-channel antennas for The Fairfax at Ft. Belvoir in area cide 22032, a 500+ occupant assisted care facility, and while they all worked well, you certainly wouldn't be inclined to replicate that installation. They switched the entire property over to franchised cable about four years ago.


----------



## TheKrell

But but... Ft. Belvoir is not in 22032.


----------



## StevenJB

AntAltMike,


Could you add all of the low-power digital stations that are now available in the region to your listing on Post #1, if possible? You might indicate in your comments whether they are in the application stage or they are licensed and whether they are actively on the air.


Thanks


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13560#post_23884529
> 
> 
> AntAltMike,
> 
> 
> Could you add all of the low-power digital stations that are now available in the region to your listing on Post #1, if possible? You might indicate in your comments whether they are in the application stage or they are licensed and whether they are actively on the air....



I don't have the resources to do a comprehensive job of contemperaneously maintaining such a list that is developed from FCC filings, but I could maintain a list of member-submitted notifications regarding their own observations, similar to what this opening thread maintained long before I inherited it and streamlined its format. I could post a suggested format for members forwarding their information to me that includes where and when they were observed to be operational, as well as any user-supplied links to published information regarding their operation.


----------



## mdviewer25

Does anyone else experience the signal for WNUV CW 54 Baltimore completely dropping at around 12:10am. It happens to me every night around that time and I'm wondering if they are doing work on their antenna. Seems weird that it would go out at that time and it's been doing for the past couple of weeks.


----------



## Trip in VA

WNUV has experimental authority to test with DVB-S2 modulation over night. My auto scanner stopped running some time last night but I see where it was undecodable but still with lots of signal strength after midnight the night before.


- Trip


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13560#post_23953770
> 
> 
> WNUV has experimental authority to test with DVB-S2 modulation over night. My auto scanner stopped running some time last night but I see where it was undecodable but still with lots of signal strength after midnight the night before.
> 
> 
> - Trip



I figured they had to be testing something. Of course the night I posted this it worked fine. Figures!!!


----------



## quentenstash

When did WETA start transmitting in 1080i? I know it was 720p for most of this year. It's the reason I watch Masterpiece on MPT because it's 1080i.


----------



## Big J




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *quentenstash*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13560#post_24040048
> 
> 
> When did WETA start transmitting in 1080i? I know it was 720p for most of this year. It's the reason I watch Masterpiece on MPT because it's 1080i.



Yes, MPT shows many of the same shows, and in 1080i. Perhaps that's why they switched.

J


----------



## armand1

Over the Air Antenna Question:

I live in Bethesda and want to watch the Ravens on Monday Night Football 12/16. Can anyone get WBAL-TV channel 11 from the DC area? I have never been able to during the analog days or post digital days. The tower looks to be the same as channel 13. I get 13 most of the time so why can I not get channel 11?


The only reason I switched to antenna 5 years ago was to watch the Ravens on HDTV. since the lame DC stations never showed the Ravens until this year (after they became the Superbowl champs).


P.S. MY antenna is the Winegard 7694 from 4-5 years ago


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *armand1*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13500_100#post_24066839
> 
> 
> I live in Bethesda […] I get 13 most of the time so why can I not get channel 11?



Probably because the strong signals from 7 and 9 produce a beat on 11 that destroys the Baltimore signal, in which case you need a channel 9 trap, or channel 11 bandpass, or other filter system to equalize strong and weak signals.


Other posters here might have or know where to get such.


----------



## Trip in VA

I live in Alexandria and get WBAL and WJZ. I don't have the best VHF antenna, so they both teeter near the edge of decoding, but the signal is such that if I put it higher and had a better antenna, I'm sure I could stabilize them both.

http://www.rabbitears.info/tvdx/signal_graph/1019EECD/tuner1/WBAL-TV 
http://www.rabbitears.info/tvdx/signal_graph/1019EECD/tuner1/WJZ-TV 


I tend to agree with joblo, if only because it impacts 11 but not 13. If it was second harmonics from FM, I'd expect to see it on both, same for noise, etc. I think you'll just have to fidget with the positioning, or at least, that's what I would do to start with.


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *armand1*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13560#post_24066839
> 
> 
> Can anyone get WBAL-TV channel 11 from the DC area? I have never been able to during the analog days or post digital days. The tower looks to be the same as channel 13. I get 13 most of the time so why can I not get channel 11?


Could be interference from channel 12 or possibly 2nd harmonic interference from the screechy 99.5 HD transmitter in Bethesda. Are you still using the FM trap? Is the antenna in the attic? I am assuming the antenna is pointed towards Baltimore.


As Trip mentioned, there is plenty of decodeable signal available on WBAL, even in Northern VA. I even see it way out in Centreville with an attic antenna, but not very watchable due to Dulles airport & aluminum siding.


----------



## beboram

What is happening at WUSA? I have had near zero signal in Damascus MD since last night; swung the antenna 1-360 degrees no luck. Their signal strength have been weak and intermittent for a while now. All other Washington stations except channel 7) are showing 90+ signal strength on my TV. Channel 7 is aout 70+.


----------



## armand1




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13560#post_24068287
> 
> 
> Could be interference from channel 12 or possibly 2nd harmonic interference from the screechy 99.5 HD transmitter in Bethesda. Are you still using the FM trap? Is the antenna in the attic? I am assuming the antenna is pointed towards Baltimore.
> 
> 
> As Trip mentioned, there is plenty of decodeable signal available on WBAL, even in Northern VA. I even see it way out in Centreville with an attic antenna, but not very watchable due to Dulles airport & aluminum siding.




Yes, thanks again for the advice from couple of years ago, the $5 FM trap worked well for channel 13 reducing interference from FM 107.3, but now not as much anymore. I'm not sure if the large oak trees north of my house have grown blocking anything north of me or other interference. Maybe you are right about 99.5, that station comes in very strong around my house . What can I do about that ? Bigger antenna or could you recommend a specialized FM trap?


I am within a mile of 4, 5, 7, and 9 . I also looked at my signal meter strength info on the TV and I get:

Channels 4, 5, 7, and 9 SNR(dB) = between 25 to 35 good reception all the time

Channel 13 SNR(dB) = between 10 to19, usually early in the morning when it's above 15 i get reception

Channel 11 SNR (dB)= 2- 5 , no reception


----------



## AntAltMike

You can buy a cheap channel 11 bandpass filter here for four bucks http://www.channelmasterstore.com/JOIN_TENNA_CM_0581_p/cm-0581.htm It should weaken every possible interfering channel except channel 12 by about 20dB.


It will allow you to determine whether the degradation is caused by out of band signals or from multipath. If it works for you, we might be able to help you develop a cheap solution. You might want to buy a channel 13 jointenna at the same time, because it would only cost you another $4 and you'd probably get a break on combined shipping.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13500_100#post_24072470
> 
> 
> You can buy a cheap channel 11 bandpass filter here for four bucks http://www.channelmasterstore.com/JOIN_TENNA_CM_0581_p/cm-0581.htm It should weaken every possible interfering channel except channel 12 by about 20dB.



All of my Join-tennas are at least 20 years old; do they still have plastic cases?


Within a mile of full power transmitters, I would want filters, traps, amps, and everything else encased in metal.


Also, for more complete FM rejection, I would recommend one or more HLSJs in lieu of FM traps, and I would recommend quad-shielded coax in pristine condition for transmission line.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13560#post_24072763
> 
> 
> All of my Join-tennas are at least 20 years old; do they still have plastic cases?



I suspect that all Jointennas are 20 years old, and that ChannelMaster has been selling off its, "New, old stock" since the 1990s.


> Quote:
> Within a mile of full power transmitters, I would want filters, traps, amps, and everything else encased in metal.



It is less important now with digital signals than with analog ones. What bothers me more is that the Winegard UT-2700 UHF notch traps are in unshielded cases, because unshielded components are more efficient as UHF antennas than as VHF antennas. That, and the fact that Winegard more than doubled their price half a dozen years ago. Nevertheless, I always make sure I put the unshielded, cheap traps at the "top" of any filtering chain I make. I had about twenty, tuned cylinder trap pairs made up by CE Filters before they went out of business to pass 7-9 and 11-13, but in downtown DC environments, too much 9 makes it through the channel 11 highpass filter, and so I put a channel 9 Jointenna ahead of it to knock down channel 9 another 20dB. If I put the Jointenna after the shielded cylinder, the ingress would be a problem.


Similarly, with the old Tru Spec UHF BPFs, I always install them "upside down", using the connector labeled as the output as my input, because the shielding is better on the end of the filter that is labeled input.


> Quote:
> Also, for more complete FM rejection, I would recommend one or more HLSJs in lieu of FM traps, and I would recommend quad-shielded coax in pristine condition for transmission line.



That's what I was going to recommend once we got to the point where we had determined that out-of-band signals were contributing to his problem, but beyond that, I am skeptical about intermodulation being his problem, I've never had combined 7 and 9 damage the 11 such that it made the difference between reception and no reception. I think he more likely has multipath aggravated by an obstructed transmission path. Unfortunately, with digital signals, we can't see the ghost images like we could with analog, so even after we have remedied a problem, we often don't know for sure how much each element of our remedy contributed to our success.


----------



## AntAltMike

Inside Washington will be airing its final episode next week. It has run for 25 years with its current host and is the successor of Agronski and Company, which had premiered in 1969.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13560#post_24072763
> 
> 
> 
> Also, for more complete FM rejection, I would recommend one or more HLSJs in lieu of FM traps


That is where I would start too. I would use 2 HLSJ's,


----------



## tylerSC




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13590#post_24073055
> 
> 
> Inside Washington will be airing its final episode next week. It has run for 25 years with its current host and is the successor of Agronski and Company, which had premiered in 1969.


That was a very good political program and I remember when it was on WUSA-9 and hosted by Gordon Peterson.


----------



## armand1

Thank you both for the filter recommendation and other ideas. I'll try them, but maybe not in time for this Monday night football to be broadcast on WBAL-TV channel 11.


I think second harmonics from the FM 99.5 tower may be the cause since Channel 11 seems to be on the 200MHz band about double 99.5 and also north of me.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *armand1*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13590#post_24075637
> 
> 
> I think second harmonics from the FM 99.5 tower may be the cause since Channel 11 seems to be on the 200MHz band about double 99.5 and also north of me.


Plus 99.5's HD signal runs all the way up to 99.7. The HD is strong enough to make FM 99.7 from Staunton, Va difficult to receive here without careful aim & I'm 20+ miles away from Bethesda.


Also, do you receive channel 60 (RF 12) when you run a scan?


----------



## AntAltMike

I've lost my broadcast TV audio on 45.1 on my Seiki 32" TV. I have sound on 45.2 and 45.3, the TV is not on Spanish or SAP/MTS and the CC is off. I rescanned but the problem persists. I've also tried "Restore Default" with no change. Has anyone else lost their audio on 45.1 broadcast?


----------



## Trip in VA

TSReader is showing the 0x0034 audio PID, normally flagged as "ENG", is now flagged as "SPA." The normal Spanish audio PID (0x0035) is missing. Something isn't right but I'm not sure what.


- Trip


----------



## DaveT

I was doing an outdoor installation in Ashburn today and saw a OTA channel 56-1. It just showed a Dish Network logo. Never saw it before. Had to get to another job and did not have any time to check out what channel it was broadcasting on. But if I see it again I will try to get more info.


----------



## Trip in VA

It was RF56. Dish has a transmitter in Dickerson. I expect all 12 or so of the Dish 56 transmitters to go off the air sooner rather than later in favor of providing LTE on that frequency.


- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike

WIAV-LD 58.1 (RF 44) has been rock solid for a few days now. Not that I'd have any reason to watch it.


Vietv has been running music videos on virtual 49-4 (RF15) for a few days, also.


I e-mailed WBFF yesterday to see what they could do about my loss of audio on 45.1 on my Seiki TV, but they haven't yet replied or remedied it. I get the audio on my other TVs. If don't eventually hear from them or get it remedied, do have the means to electronically shift the WBFF UHF 46 to another UHF channel and scan for it there, as well as to take any other ATSC signal and shift it to 46, which could rescan for, to help me determine if my TV is malfunctioning or if WBFF is the sole cause of the problem, but realistically, this is not the 1960s, where a 32" TV would have cost... Wait a minute! in the 1960s, there was no such thing as a 32" TV. Our first color TV, maybe a 25" model, cost my father a month's salary, whereas can replace this 32" TV with another cheapie for what I get paid for two hours of field service.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13590#post_24084333
> 
> 
> E-mailed WBFF yesterday to see what they could do about my loss of audio on 45.1 on my Seiki TV, but they haven't yet replied or remedied it. get the audio on my other TVs.


Maybe Santa will bring you a new TV. A co-worker bought a Seiki TV & it didn't even last 1 year.










Insignia is a good low price option, but a bit slow when changing channels, especially on QAM channels.


----------



## AntAltMike

On the subject of cheap TVs, I heard on the news yesterday that Coby stopped "making" TVs, which was newsworthy because there was a safety recall of one of their products that was being handled by another company. I have to wonder what it means to be "making" TVs anymore. I figured by now that a few factories in Korea or Mexico were making nearly all of them and just stamping names on them of companies that were marketing them under their own brand name. Cripes, twenty years ago, just about any 25" TV you would see in a department store looked exactly like any other 25" TV, except for the brand name, and the instruction booklets just said "Color TV" on their covers and advised the owner to contact Philips for service and support.


----------



## tylerSC

Somebody said the Hisense TVs at Walmart are decent, and they seem to get good reviews on Amazon. And some of the Vizio and Insignia TVs allegedly use LG panels.


----------



## AntAltMike

*Godspell* is on WRC 4.2 right now (began at 8:00 PM Friday), and, will be rebroadcast at:


Saturday, December 21, 2013 at 2:30 PM

Sunday, December 22, 2013: noon and again at 10:00 PM


Your local times may vary but can be learned here: http://www.cozitv.com/tv-listings/ 


For those of you who don't remember, or never knew, this is a really mediocre movie, except for the one song you won't be able to get out of your hear when you hear it again. The video from the movie has been pulled from youtube.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13590#post_24077847
> 
> 
> I've lost my broadcast TV audio on 45.1 on my Seiki 32" TV. I have sound on 45.2 and 45.3, the TV is not on Spanish or SAP/MTS and the CC is off. I rescanned but the problem persists. I've also tried "Restore Default" with no change. Has anyone else lost their audio on 45.1 broadcast?





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13590#post_24078080
> 
> 
> TSReader is showing the 0x0034 audio PID, normally flagged as "ENG", is now flagged as "SPA." The normal Spanish audio PID (0x0035) is missing. Something isn't right but I'm not sure what.
> 
> 
> - Trip



The sound on 45.1 on my Seiki TV finally came back today. Did WBFF change the flag? They never responded to my e-mail.


----------



## Trip in VA

Yes, it looks like 0x0034 is back to ENG and 0x0035 is back as SPA.


- Trip


----------



## rviele

I had that problem during the ravens game two weeks ago lasted the entire first half. first I thought it was fios but it wasn't . never did figure what happened.

rjv


----------



## StevenJB




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *rviele*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13590#post_24106656
> 
> 
> I had that problem during the ravens game two weeks ago lasted the entire first half. first I thought it was fios but it wasn't . never did figure what happened.
> 
> rjv



This is what happened to me for about a month. I am a Verizon FiOS customer, as well. When FiOS introduced IMG Software Version 1.9.5 this past summer, they provided a new feature called DVS which is the acronym for Descriptive Video Services. They turned this feature "ON" when 1.9.5 was downloaded. This caused Verizon FiOS Channel 509, WUSA-TV HD to default to the Spanish language SAP for all NFL AFC football games. This also caused FiOS Channel 507, WJLA-HD to default to its SAP which resulted in no volume but instead an intermittent beeping tone on all WJLA local programming. Make sure that the DVS is set to "OFF" and everything will return to the normal English FAP on these channels. Go to Menu > Settings > Accessibility > DVS and set DVS to "OFF" which I did and I did not have any more problems.


----------



## dleedlee




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *StevenJB*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13470#post_23277889
> 
> 
> WWTD-LD RF14 and Virtual 49 is now carrying QVC on 49.3. 49.1 is still color bars and 49.2 is still New Tang Dynasty. All are 4:3 480i SD.



I just noticed this weekend a new channel on 49.4. It is Vietnamese language programming, VIETV. Don't know how long it's been on.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dleedlee*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13590#post_24123679
> 
> 
> I just noticed this weekend a new channel on 49.4. It is Vietnamese language programming, VIETV. Don't know how long it's been on.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13590#post_24084333
> 
> 
> ...Vietv has been running music videos on virtual 49-4 (RF15) for a few days, also......


----------



## dleedlee




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13590#post_24124494
> 
> 
> ..Vietv has been running music videos on virtual 49-4 (RF15) for a few days, also......



Yeah, I guess it was Christmas Eve or Christmas night that I noticed it - it just felt like a weekend.

I saw a Chinese TV series dubbed in Vietnamese late at night.


----------



## clskinsfan

Money issues are forcing me to go to completely OTA. I live in Winchester, VA. I was wondering if anyone out here is able to get any FOX channel and if so what are you using for an antenna. I am using an old pair of rabbit ears right now and get 13 channels. But I cannot pick up FOX, CBS or ABC. FOX and CBS are a necessity for me for Football. Any info is greatly appreciated.


----------



## veedon




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *clskinsfan*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13610_10#post_24134432
> 
> 
> Money issues are forcing me to go to completely OTA. I live in Winchester, VA. I was wondering if anyone out here is able to get any FOX channel and if so what are you using for an antenna. I am using an old pair of rabbit ears right now and get 13 channels. But I cannot pick up FOX, CBS or ABC. FOX and CBS are a necessity for me for Football. Any info is greatly appreciated.


 

According to TV Fool.com and Wikipedia, WHSV (virtual channel 3), licensed to Harrisonburg, VA is operating a fill-in translator on RF42 at a location 18 miles away from Winchester, VA.

 

According to Wikipedia, WHSV carries ABC as its main channel, 3.1. The subchannel 3.2 is a simulcast of a FOX standard definition transmission from a low-power station called WSVF, and the subchannel 3.4 carries MyTV and Me-TV in standard def.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHSV-TV

 

So, if you can receive that RF 42 signal, you'll have several networks right there.

PBS seems to have a transmitter for WVPY on RF 21 located at the same place as the WHSV translator.

So that just leaves NBC. Your nearest NBC affiliate seems to be WHAG on RF 26, but that is more distant, about 35 miles from you. If you're using an indoor antenna, an amplifier could help, but an outdoor antenna (without an amplifier) would be more reliable.

 

 

You might want to write to your congressmen and senators to see if they can pass some legislation or encourage the FCC to give the broadcasters a little nudge to build some more transmitters or repeaters to serve your valley region.

 

After the broadcast spectrum auctions, when there are fewer frequencies left, it may become very common for rival networks (CBS, FOX, ABC, NBC) to share the same RF channel, as is already happening in some small markets. It should be possible to get two 720p HD feeds and one SD feed onto a single RF channel.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *clskinsfan*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13600_100#post_24134432
> 
> 
> Money issues are forcing me to go to completely OTA. I live in Winchester, VA. I was wondering if anyone out here is able to get any FOX channel and if so what are you using for an antenna. I am using an old pair of rabbit ears right now and get 13 channels. But I cannot pick up FOX, CBS or ABC. FOX and CBS are a necessity for me for Football. Any info is greatly appreciated.



Normally, I would say to post a TVFool. But the modeling used will not show the DC stations are available, even though I've seen them there first-hand. You'll probably need an outdoor antenna (attic antenna at a bare minimum) to do it, but if you want anything more than PBS, ABC, and maybe NBC in HD (plus FOX in SD), you will need to go that way.


What 13 channels are you getting? I'm trying to figure out how you get to 13 without WHSV, which has ABC-HD and FOX-SD.


WVPY (3 channels)

WAZW (1)

WHAG (1)

WWPX (5)

WWPB (3--and hard to get there) or WHSV (3)


- Trip


----------



## tylerSC




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *clskinsfan*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13590#post_24134432
> 
> 
> Money issues are forcing me to go to completely OTA. I live in Winchester, VA. I was wondering if anyone out here is able to get any FOX channel and if so what are you using for an antenna. I am using an old pair of rabbit ears right now and get 13 channels. But I cannot pick up FOX, CBS or ABC. FOX and CBS are a necessity for me for Football. Any info is greatly appreciated.


I thought you could pick up the DC stations and possibly Baltimore in Winchester. But maybe I am thinking of the analog days. But I am almost certain they also used to have translators for the DC stations in that area.


----------



## clskinsfan

Thanks for all of your replies! The first scan I ran gave me 8 channels. But by moving around the antenna I was able to receive 12. As of today I can receive:



25:1 WHAG-DT

31-1 MPT-HD

31-2 MPT2

31-3 VME

42-1 WVPY-HD

42-2 CREATE

42-3 VME

60-1 ION

60-2 qubo

60-3 Ion Life

60-4 shop

60-5 HSN


2 of these are spanish language stations. So they do me no good. Oddly I cannot pick up the closest tower to me that has FOX and ABC. And that still doesnt solve the issue with CBS. I am thinking of trying a MOHU Leaf. They seem to get pretty good reviews. What do you all think?


----------



## Trip in VA

Ah, that makes sense.


You need an outdoor (or attic) antenna if you want CBS. The Mohu Leaf will not do the job.


- Trip


----------



## veedon




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *clskinsfan*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13610_10#post_24135965
> 
> 
> Thanks for all of your replies! The first scan I ran gave me 8 channels. But by moving around the antenna I was able to receive 12. As of today I can receive:
> 
> 
> 
> 25:1 WHAG-DT
> 
> 31-1 MPT-HD
> 
> 31-2 MPT2
> 
> 31-3 VME
> 
> 42-1 WVPY-HD
> 
> 42-2 CREATE
> 
> 42-3 VME
> 
> 60-1 ION
> 
> 60-2 qubo
> 
> 60-3 Ion Life
> 
> 60-4 shop
> 
> 60-5 HSN
> 
> 
> 2 of these are spanish language stations. So they do me no good. Oddly I cannot pick up the closest tower to me that has FOX and ABC. And that still doesnt solve the issue with CBS. I am thinking of trying a MOHU Leaf. They seem to get pretty good reviews. What do you all think?


Indoor antennas are always dicey, especially when you get over 15 miles from the transmitters.

When you get beyond 30 miles, it's almost impossible except when atmospheric conditions are ideal.

Try to get the antenna as high as possible and as close as possible to a window that faces in the direction of the transmitters.

 

The WHSV fill-in translator signal (virtual 3, RF 42) that carries ABC and FOX,  which you have not been able to receive, is actually broadcasting from the same location as the WVPY (virtual 42, RF 21) signal that you are able to receive.

 

According to TVFool, the WHSV signal is just a lot weaker (for some reason) for your location than the WVPY signal.

 

You might consider how directional your antenna is.

Since you are getting WHAG and WWPB (MPT, Maryland Public Television), I'm guessing that you have the antenna pointed toward Hagerstown (at azimuth 18 degrees) and are receiving WVPY (at azimuth 210) off the back end. WHSV might be too weak to receive with the antenna pointed toward the Hagerstown area.

 

I am really surprised that CBS does not seem to have any translators near you.

I guess you would have to try to get WUSA on RF 9 via an outdoor antenna.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *veedon*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13600_100#post_24136342
> 
> 
> I am really surprised that CBS does not seem to have any translators near you.
> 
> I guess you would have to try to get WUSA on RF 9 via an outdoor antenna.



Despite what Longley-Rice (the model TVFool, RabbitEars, and the FCC all use) would tell you, the DC stations do get to Winchester. Longley-Rice doesn't deal well with knife-edge diffraction, which allows the DC signals to make it to Winchester, Hagerstown, and areas in between, but it does happen in the real world. But it requires an outdoor antenna to make it usable.


- Trip


----------



## clskinsfan

I was doing a little research and it appears our ABC/FOX channel went out of business on December 5th. That would explain why I am unable to receive it. I cannot have a roof antenna because of HOA rules. I will give an attic antenna a shot. But I am holding out little hope to be able to receive CBS out here. Thanks for all of your input.


----------



## Trip in VA

Only one of the subchannels (3-3) went out of business. I've heard nothing to indicate that the rest of the feeds on that transmitter were turned off.


You most certainly can ignore that HOA rule. http://www.fcc.gov/guides/over-air-reception-devices-rule 


- Trip


----------



## veedon




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13620_10#post_24137408
> 
> 
> Only one of the subchannels (3-3) went out of business. I've heard nothing to indicate that the rest of the feeds on that transmitter were turned off.
> 
> 
> You most certainly can ignore that HOA rule. http://www.fcc.gov/guides/over-air-reception-devices-rule
> 
> 
> - Trip


 

There is a somewhat confusing news story that at first read would make it sound as though WHSV has completely abandoned the OTA market around Winchester. The story says that the news show that focused on Winchester has closed down, and the sales office as well. So, it is possible that the fill-in translator on RF 42 will be shut down and the area will be left with only the main transmitter on RF49 broadcasting from a more distant location. But it is also possible that WHSV will keep the fill-in translator on RF42 going, but it just doesn't want to spend any money on a news operation and sales staff.

 

http://www.nvdaily.com/news/2013/12/tv3-winchester-bids-adieu.php

 

Frankly, areas like the Shenandoah Valley are areas where Congress needs to step in and find ways to keep OTA broadcasting viable or else give the local community government the right to cap the prices that the cable companies can charge for the most basic cable package. The federal government mandated the switch to digital broadcasting. Now it needs to follow through to make it viable in as many locations as possible.

And the federal government needs to make sure that the local communities, not the state legislatures, get to set the caps. If the state legislatures are given the power, they will always ignore portions of a state and do the will of the lobbyists that have the most money.


----------



## tylerSC




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13590#post_24136404
> 
> 
> Despite what Longley-Rice (the model TVFool, RabbitEars, and the FCC all use) would tell you, the DC stations do get to Winchester. Longley-Rice doesn't deal well with knife-edge diffraction, which allows the DC signals to make it to Winchester, Hagerstown, and areas in between, but it does happen in the real world. But it requires an outdoor antenna to make it usable.
> 
> 
> - Trip


That is what I thought. DC reception is possible in Winchester with a good antenna, depending upon location. So I would suggest an Antennas Direct 91XG and a Winegard YA-1713, a Holland UVSJ, and a Kitztech 200 preamp. And possibly an FM trap from RadioShack, and RG6 cable. Or, a Winegard 7698 combo antenna or Antennacraft HBU-55. And I remember there used to be translators for the DC stations in the Shenandoah Valley, but perhaps they were not converted to digital.


----------



## oprocket


I live just east of Winchester and I can easily pick up WHAG and WHSV with a CM4220HD antenna mounted outside.  Unfortuately those stations are 25 and 225 degrees from me so sometimes the backside station has dropouts (have tried it both ways). Probably removing the reflector would solve that issue.

 

I took an old CM4228 to the attic and my DTT901 tuner can get a lock on Baltimore's WMAR and WNUV as well as MHz networks WNVC/WNVT. It shows 40-50% signal strength but can't quite get WJLA and WUSA, but i feel confident a VHF antenna mounted outside would pick them up.  Many people in the area seem to have VHF antennas pointed east.

 

More thoughts - ever since TV3 winchester went away, FOX 3.2 seems to have switched from SD to HD.  I can also pick up analog 63 and 68 (simulcasts of WTTG and WRC) but they are fuzzy and I have no idea where the signal originates from.


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *oprocket*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13620_10#post_24154449
> 
> 
> More thoughts - ever since TV3 winchester went away, FOX 3.2 seems to have switched from SD to HD.  I can also pick up analog 63 and 68 (simulcasts of WTTG and WRC) but they are fuzzy and I have no idea where the signal originates from.


Is 3.2 possibly doing 480i 16x9?


----------



## oprocket




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *VARTV*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13620#post_24155334
> 
> 
> 
> Is 3.2 possibly doing 480i 16x9?


You are correct.  My directv guide says 3.2 shows are in HD which i do not recall seeing before 3.3's listings changed to "sign off" but when i connected the antenna directly to my sony tv a few mins ago, 3.1 was 720p and 3.2 was 480i.  sorry for the confusion.


----------



## Trip in VA

I wonder if they'll put the CBS feed up on 3-3 at some point. That would be a good use of the bandwidth.


- Trip


----------



## Trip in VA

So, today's high winds pulled my antenna down. It got all bent up and broke into two pieces. (DigiTenna DUV-XF.) I am pretty sure it's my fault; the concrete bucket is bulged out on the bottom and my girlfriend speculates that there was water that froze in the bottom, a decent guess I think. But given that I now have the half with the connector attached sitting on the ground propped up against the bucket, I'm surprised that I've only lost that I got before are WMAR (almost decodes), WBAL, and WJZ (almost decodes). I suspect I could clean up all of them if I went out and played with it, but I'm not doing that now. (I've not received WMDO, WWPX, WDDN, or WMPB reliably since shortly after I moved in.)


I guess I'll be mixing a new concrete bucket and putting up a replacement antenna. Any recommendations?


- Trip


EDIT: Forgot my question!


----------



## ProjectSHO89




> Quote:
> I guess I'll be mixing a new concrete bucket and putting up a replacement antenna. Any recommendations?



Try this:


----------



## Trip in VA

Haha, already got that part down. Perhaps this time I'll manage to do it correctly!










- Trip


----------



## tylerSC




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13620#post_24157019
> 
> 
> Haha, already got that part down. Perhaps this time I'll manage to do it correctly!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> - Trip


Why is your antenna in a concrete bucket? That is not a typical arrangement. Can it be mounted upon the roof or the side of the building? But I guess if it works in the bucket, so be it.


----------



## Trip in VA

Because this is a rental property and I don't intend to live here too terribly long. I technically "moved in" on March 1 last year but didn't live here full time until my girlfriend moved in at the end of June. I don't own a ladder and don't want to do any kind of permanent installation that I'll just be taking down again. Once I buy a place and move in there, I'll do a permanent setup with the works.


Plus, that installation got me everything I wanted anyway.










- Trip


----------



## ProjectSHO89

Don't buy your new place without checking reception first!


----------



## Trip in VA

Don't worry, I checked both reception and satellite view before renting this place! I'm only looking at places on top of hills.










- Trip


----------



## mdviewer25




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *mdviewer25*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13560#post_23961811
> 
> 
> I figured they had to be testing something. Of course the night I posted this it worked fine. Figures!!!



I can't believe they are still running tests. I have a complete drop out at around midnight almost every night. Are they thinking of adding a subchannel or just wasting time?


----------



## JohnGZ28

Does anyone have a contact at Fox WBFF out of Baltimore? There was a shooting at Columbia Mall today that they did not cover while all the infomercials were running. Once the live coverage of the 24 Hours of Daytona started they decided to break in with coverage of press conferences that happened hours ago. Guess the shooting was not more important than infomercials.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *JohnGZ28*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13620#post_24264610
> 
> 
> Does anyone have a contact at Fox WBFF out of Baltimore? There was a shooting at Columbia Mall today that they did not cover while all the infomercials were running. Once the live coverage of the 24 Hours of Daytona started they decided to break in with coverage of press conferences that happened hours ago. Guess the shooting was not more important than infomercials.



Was the story covered live on the three other network news outlets?

http://www.foxbaltimore.com/station/ 


FWIW, when I contacted them a few weeks ago to report an audio problem, they didn't reply, though they did eventually remedy the problem.


----------



## JohnGZ28




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13620#post_24264734
> 
> 
> Was the story covered live on the three other network news outlets?
> 
> http://www.foxbaltimore.com/station/
> 
> 
> FWIW, when I contacted them a few weeks ago to report an audio problem, they didn't reply, though they did eventually remedy the problem.



Yes, the other networks were on top of it with reporters on scene, live coverage of the press conference and WJLA had aerial shots from their 'copter later on in their coverage.


I sent an e-mail to their main inbox.


----------



## compubit




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13620#post_24158496
> 
> 
> Don't worry, I checked both reception and satellite view before renting this place! I'm only looking at places on top of hills.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> - Trip


Although at the top of a hill, don't look to Shirlington - being a National Historic Site, no outside antennas... (and no FiOS, as Verizon doesn't want to deal with the paperwork to tear up the neighborhood to lay the fiber - though I think most of the community would just at the competition in a heartbeat). Once I get in and settled, I'll let you know how things are in the attic with a real antenna - I get the same Baltimore stations in the bedroom with rabbit ears I currently get on my south-facing apartment with an antenna on the balcony.


Any suggestions on an antenna? It will be inside an attic with a slate roof and I'm on a ridge overlooking DC (albeit with other townhomes - same height - between me and Baltimore). DC stations all come in at 100% signal strength/quality in TS Reader - most even without the antenna connected...


Jim


----------



## veedon


Just take a look at who owns WBFF, and then look at who owns WMAR, WBAL, and WJZ.

Then draw your own conclusion about which of those stations are likely to give good, reliable news coverage.

Those companies have track records and reputations, and not all are the same.


----------



## mdviewer25

Left feedback on the CWBaltimore website about the issue of the signal completely dropping out at midnight every night. Waiting on a reply. Does anyone know how long they are running whatever tests they run that makes the signal go out at midnight every night.


----------



## mdviewer25

Received this reply to my feedback on the CWBaltimore website:


"Thanks for your email. The black is due to midnight acrodyne testing. It could go on for some time, possibly about 1.5 years or more. We apologize for any inconvenience."


Don't know what acrodyne testing is and hope it does not last that long.


----------



## Trip in VA

Acrodyne is the transmitter company that Sinclair owns.


- Trip


----------



## Neil Griffin

I saw an article about Sinclair's involvement with ATSC 3.0 recently. Might they be doing some testing at night?

http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/73516/sinclair-developing-nextgen-tv-standard


----------



## Trip in VA

Sorry, didn't notice your post earlier.


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *compubit*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13600_100#post_24265587
> 
> 
> Although at the top of a hill, don't look to Shirlington - being a National Historic Site, no outside antennas... (and no FiOS, as Verizon doesn't want to deal with the paperwork to tear up the neighborhood to lay the fiber - though I think most of the community would just at the competition in a heartbeat).



My girlfriend lived in Park Fairfax, so I know. It was where signals came to die--using the antenna was so troublesome. I found a position where WJLA was stable, and that was the best I could really do.


> Quote:
> Once I get in and settled, I'll let you know how things are in the attic with a real antenna - I get the same Baltimore stations in the bedroom with rabbit ears I currently get on my south-facing apartment with an antenna on the balcony.
> 
> 
> Any suggestions on an antenna? It will be inside an attic with a slate roof and I'm on a ridge overlooking DC (albeit with other townhomes - same height - between me and Baltimore). DC stations all come in at 100% signal strength/quality in TS Reader - most even without the antenna connected...



I haven't really played with many antennas that I haven't built myself. I ordered myself an HBU44 today which I'm hoping will be here in time to play with this weekend. I'll let you know how it turns out.


On an unrelated note, WFDC now has PSIP for GetTV, Sony's new movie channel, which will be on 14-3. No audio or video feeds are present for it yet.


- Trip


----------



## dfclin073


I need a little help with the set up of my ota hdtv antennas. Here is what I have so far.

  Room #1 has a Philips SDV2210/27 HDTV/UHF/VHF/FM Indoor TV Antenna with a Motorola Signal Booster BDA-S1 1-Port Cable Modem TV HDTV Amplifier. The run from the antenna to the tv is about 30 feet, the antenna sits about six feet off the ground and the antenna is facing North. The reception in this room is awesome, no issues.

 

 Room#2 has a ClearStream Micron Indoor Long-Range Digital TV Antenna that sits about 10 feet off the ground(in the attack) facing north. I get half the channels and the ones I get cut out often. the run from the antenna to tv is about 10 feet.

 

The two channels I would like to get in room #2 that I don’t already are 11(NBC) and 13 (CBS)

 

here is the output of my signal analysis from tvfool:

 

 * http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d5b945b72996acc *

 

I just needs some suggestions to improve my reception in room#2 thank you.


----------



## carltonrice

Has Sinclair Broadcasting already closed the deal with WJLA? I noticed last week with the shooting at the Columbia Mall that FOX 45 (owned by Sinclair) was using WJLA's video feed.


----------



## Dixie1


Mike, I'm so happy I found you on this site.  I need your help!  Would you be willing to speak with me regarding IPTV, Pro:idiom, Veramatrix, headend systems, etc in the hospitality market? My company manufactures cardio equipment for the hotel fitness center and we are banging our heads agains t the wall to work in conjunction with all of these tricky ecription issues.  If interested, I can send you a private message with my phone number.


----------



## dleedlee




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13620#post_24274943
> 
> 
> Sorry, didn't notice your post earlier.
> 
> My girlfriend lived in Park Fairfax, so I know. It was where signals came to die--using the antenna was so troublesome. I found a position where WJLA was stable, and that was the best I could really do.
> 
> I haven't really played with many antennas that I haven't built myself. I ordered myself an HBU44 today which I'm hoping will be here in time to play with this weekend. I'll let you know how it turns out.
> 
> 
> On an unrelated note, WFDC now has PSIP for GetTV, Sony's new movie channel, which will be on 14-3. No audio or video feeds are present for it yet.
> 
> 
> - Trip


I just noticed that getTV is on 14-3 . Running an old movie. (The Strange Loves of Martha Ivers. ) Bug says coming February 2014.Running a parallel test before switching to 14 -2?

Wikipedia page says launch set for February 3.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dfclin073*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13600_100#post_24276475
> 
> 
> Room #1 has a Philips SDV2210/27 HDTV/UHF/*VHF*/FM Indoor TV Antenna with a Motorola Signal Booster BDA-S1 1-Port Cable Modem TV HDTV Amplifier. The run from the antenna to the tv is about 30 feet, the antenna sits about six feet off the ground and the antenna is facing North. The reception in this room is awesome, no issues.
> 
> 
> Room#2 has a ClearStream Micron Indoor Long-Range Digital TV Antenna that sits about 10 feet off the ground(in the attack) facing north. I get half the channels and the ones I get cut out often. the run from the antenna to tv is about 10 feet.
> 
> 
> The two channels I would like to get in room #2 that I don’t already are 11(NBC) and 13 (CBS)



Unlike the Philips, which has rods to handle VHF, the Micron is not well designed for VHF reception, so it isn’t surprising it doesn’t get 11 and 13. You might play around a bit with the location and orientation of the Micron and get lucky, but the more straightforward approach would be to replicate what works.


One option would be to replace the Micron with a second Philips. You can test this option with the Philips you have. You really shouldn’t need an amplifier for a single TV, even with a 30-foot run, much less 10.


But since you already have an amplifier, the output of which should be more than sufficient for two TVs, option 2 would be to split the output of that amplifier and run a line from room 1 to room 2.


===============================



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13600_100#post_24279313
> 
> 
> Has Sinclair Broadcasting already closed the deal with WJLA? I noticed last week with the shooting at the Columbia Mall that FOX 45 (owned by Sinclair) was using WJLA's video feed.



From TVNewsCheck :



> Quote:
> FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has put a hold on station sale applications that include shared services agreements that allow broadcasters to set up sidecar companies to control key aspects of multiple TV stations in the same market — until he decides how he wants to handle sidecar deals in the future, Washington communications attorneys say.
> 
> . . .
> 
> One pending deal that could be affected by the hold in Sinclair Broadcast Group's $985 million purchase of Allbritton Communications. It includes sharing arrangements involving stations in two markets — Harrisburg, Pa., and Charleston, S.C.



===============================



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dleedlee*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13600_100#post_24284885
> 
> 
> I just noticed that getTV is on 14-3 . Running an old movie. (The Strange Loves of Martha Ivers. ) Bug says coming February 2014.Running a parallel test before switching to 14 -2?
> 
> Wikipedia page says launch set for February 3.



TiVo has added listings for WFDCDT3 to the Cox Fairfax lineup on channel 817. Program listings start at 6am on the 3rd, and consist entirely of 1930s-60s movies except for a 3-hour kids block on Friday morning, presumably to comply with FCC rules.


14-2 is probably reserved for something else.


----------



## Trip in VA




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dleedlee*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13600_100#post_24284885
> 
> 
> I just noticed that getTV is on 14-3 . Running an old movie. (The Strange Loves of Martha Ivers. ) Bug says coming February 2014.Running a parallel test before switching to 14 -2?
> 
> Wikipedia page says launch set for February 3.



Some markets have been running the GetTV public domain movie loop for months now while waiting for the network to launch. That's what you're seeing prior to actual launch.


I assume 14-2 is reserved for some future service. For example, if they one day decide to simulcast WMDO's Unimas feed, that would presumably go on 14-2.


- Trip


----------



## dleedlee




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13650#post_24286509
> 
> 
> Some markets have been running the GetTV public domain movie loop for months now while waiting for the network to launch. That's what you're seeing prior to actual launch.
> 
> 
> I assume 14-2 is reserved for some future service. For example, if they one day decide to simulcast WMDO's Unimas feed, that would presumably go on 14-2.
> 
> 
> - Trip



Wikipedia still lists 14-2 as the designation for getTV, so I ASSumed...










I also noticed that 14-1, Univision, now has 3 audio options, Spanish, Spanish stereo and English (no audio).


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dixie1*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13620#post_24280172
> 
> 
> Mike, I'm so happy I found you on this site.  I need your help!



There are a few Mikes who participate in this thread. I sent you a PM, but if you don't log in, you wouldn't see the PM notice.


I thought I has made a similar reply post last night, but it does not appear in this thread. Maybe I neglected to click "submit".


----------



## machpost




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *carltonrice*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13620#post_24279313
> 
> 
> Has Sinclair Broadcasting already closed the deal with WJLA? I noticed last week with the shooting at the Columbia Mall that FOX 45 (owned by Sinclair) was using WJLA's video feed.



It's far from done. It sounds like FCC ownership rules and the increased enforcement of which could keep the sale from happening at all.


----------



## Trip in VA

Got my HBU44 and tried to put it up this evening... didn't realize the U-bolts would be ever so slightly too small for my pole. Sigh. So I'm going to try to get a slightly smaller one over the weekend.


That said, it's performing REALLY well considering it's lying on the ground instead of bolted up on the pole like the tiny one was: http://m.rabbitears.info/index.php?request=tvdx_one&tid=1019EECD&tno=1 


- Trip


----------



## tylerSC




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13650#post_24289998
> 
> 
> Got my HBU44 and tried to put it up this evening... didn't realize the U-bolts would be ever so slightly too small for my pole. Sigh. So I'm going to try to get a slightly smaller one over the weekend.
> 
> 
> That said, it's performing REALLY well considering it's lying on the ground instead of bolted up on the pole like the tiny one was: http://m.rabbitears.info/index.php?request=tvdx_one&tid=1019EECD&tno=1
> 
> 
> - Trip


I assume you are wanting better VHF capability than the Digitenna. Are you trying to receive 11 and 13 from Baltimore?


----------



## Trip in VA

I actually had them with the DigiTenna. Had it not snapped in half, I wouldn't have bought the new one.


But since I had to buy a new one anyway, I decided to try to get more out of them than the 55-60% (50% minimum for decode) I had before.


- Trip


----------



## dfclin073




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13650#post_24285437
> 
> 
> 
> Unlike the Philips, which has rods to handle VHF, the Micron is not well designed for VHF reception, so it isn’t surprising it doesn’t get 11 and 13. You might play around a bit with the location and orientation of the Micron and get lucky, but the more straightforward approach would be to replicate what works.
> 
> 
> One option would be to replace the Micron with a second Philips. You can test this option with the Philips you have. You really shouldn’t need an amplifier for a single TV, even with a 30-foot run, much less 10.
> 
> 
> But since you already have an amplifier, the output of which should be more than sufficient for two TVs, option 2 would be to split the output of that amplifier and run a line from room 1 to room 2.
> 
> 
> ===============================
> So I took your advice, when I switched antennas I found no change. The I split the output from the Micron with the amp and room one looked awesome room 2 sucked. So my conclusion is tuner in the room #2 tv sucks, its a Coby.  Can I get around this by buying a better antenna instead of a new tv?  I was looking at a Terk HDTVi or a Winegard FreeVision FV-30BB any opinions?


----------



## dleedlee

Anyone notice that getTV's audio has gone out since around 10:25am? Started with what sounded like the emergency broadcast tone, then no sound at all. Video is okay, fwiw.



...And audio back at 12:50.


Maybe my email to them 30 minutes prior woke someone up?


----------



## dfclin073


Any suggestions on an antenna with better VHF reception?


----------



## AntAltMike

I've had no sound on gettv 14-3 on either of my TVs, a Westinghouse and a Seiki, all day, and the MTS buttons on both remotes do not ovver me any language options. Anyone else having this problem?


----------



## dleedlee




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13650#post_24395551
> 
> 
> I've had no sound on gettv 14-3 on either of my TVs, a Westinghouse and a Seiki, all day, and the MTS buttons on both remotes do not ovver me any language options. Anyone else having this problem?


I just checked and no audio here either. Only one audio track available according to my DVR's tuner.


All day? That's pretty bad.


----------



## dleedlee




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dleedlee*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13650#post_24395835
> 
> 
> I just checked and no audio here either. Only one audio track available according to my DVR's tuner.
> 
> 
> All day? That's pretty bad.


So,I send an e-mail and half an hour later audio comes back. Coincidence? Again. If not, scary.


----------



## AntAltMike

I sent them mine a couple of hours earlier, at 10:24 PM, but they haven't replied. I told them I was AntAltMike of AVSForum fame. That must have done it.










Back in 1999, when the HDTV test signal was broadcast on UHF 35 carrying PBS programming from a temporary transmitting antenna on the WRC tower, that test signal was wreaking havoc on a demonstration I was doing for a gazillionaire in Potomac Maryland. I called the station and the engineer volunteered to shut it off for an hour. It made me look like a bigshot.


----------



## dleedlee

I wonder, was the problem across all getTv stations or just local? Surely, there must be an engineer on duty somewhere. Too busy playing Candy Crush?


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dleedlee*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13650#post_24397109
> 
> 
> I wonder, was the problem across all getTv stations or just local? Surely, there must be an engineer on duty somewhere. Too busy playing Candy Crush?



I searched all Local forums for gettv, but no other DMA reported a problem


----------



## dleedlee




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13650#post_24398971
> 
> 
> I searched all Local forums for gettv, but no other DMA reported a problem



Yeah, I did the same. Even checked Twitter, though I guess there isn't a great overlap in the demographics.









If it was only a local issue, who/where is the master control then?

And if I was a paying advertiser I wouldn't have been too pleased.


No acknowledgment e-mail this morning either , unlike the last time.


----------



## aaranddeeman


I was looking to replace my UHF only outdoor antenna with UHF/VHF and came across some at ebay like below. Are these any good? (the question is because they seem way too cheap). I am not really looking for rotor and such. But all of these are equipped with rotor and remotes.

These claim a range of 150 miles and such.

 

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Quantum-FX-ANT-105-HD-DTV-UHF-VHF-FM-360-Degree-Motorized-Rotating-Antenna-/111252203251?pt=US_Antennas_Dishes&hash=item19e725e6f3

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-DTV-BOX-UHF-FM-Outdoor-HDTV-HD-Rotor-TV-Antenna-/110728929981?pt=US_Antennas_Dishes&hash=item19c7f562bd

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HDTV-Outdoor-Amplified-Antenna-HD-TV-36dB-Rotor-Remote-360-UHF-VHF-FM-150-Miles-/190993510230?pt=US_Antennas_Dishes&hash=item2c7819af56


----------



## ProjectSHO89




> Quote:
> Are these any good?



They're all cheaply made junk from China with outrageous performance claims intended to ensnare the gullible and naive.


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ProjectSHO89*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13600_100#post_24430739
> 
> 
> 
> They're all cheaply made junk from China with outrageous performance claims intended to ensnare the gullible and naive.


 

Thanks.

 

That's what I thought... If its' too good to be true....

 

Any suggestions you may have for UHF+VHF. I have CM-4221 (like) currently. Just neel the need for VHFs so trying to look for some decent one.


----------



## pamajestic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaranddeeman*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13650#post_24434662
> 
> 
> 
> Any suggestions you may have for UHF+VHF.



Just add an AntennaCraft Y5-7-13 or Y10-7-13 to your Channel Master joined with a UVSJ.


----------



## ProjectSHO89




> Quote:
> Any suggestions you may have for UHF+VHF. I have CM-4221 (like) currently. Just neel the need for VHFs so trying to look for some decent one.



How about posting the link to your TVFool plot so we can see better what your requirements might be. You might need a simple dipole or a 10-element big guy, we don't have the information to make an informed recommendation.


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ProjectSHO89*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13600_100#post_24436714
> 
> 
> 
> How about posting the link to your TVFool plot so we can see better what your requirements might be. You might need a simple dipole or a 10-element big guy, we don't have the information to make an informed recommendation.


Here it is..

 

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d5b9442ccd5ddf6


----------



## ProjectSHO89




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaranddeeman*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13650#post_24436914
> 
> 
> 
> Here it is..
> 
> http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d5b9442ccd5ddf6



The dipole would probably work,


However, using either a 5-element AntennaCraft or a ClearStream 5 should do the job.


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ProjectSHO89*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13600_100#post_24439877
> 
> 
> 
> The dipole would probably work,
> 
> 
> However, using either a 5-element AntennaCraft or a ClearStream 5 should do the job.


 

Thanks.. 

Would CM-4228 work or is a overkill? (I was looking more for a one antenna than two)


----------



## pamajestic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaranddeeman*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13650#post_24440067
> 
> 
> Thanks..
> 
> Would CM-4228 work or is a overkill? (I was looking more for a one antenna than two)



The CM-4228 is also UHF only. Small combo antennas to consider would be the AntennaCraft HUB11 or HUB22, Winegard HD 7694P or RCA ANT751.


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pamajestic*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13600_100#post_24440296
> 
> 
> 
> The CM-4228 is also UHF only. Small combo antennas to consider would be the AntennaCraft HUB11 or HUB22, Winegard HD 7694P or RCA ANT751.


 

Thanks. But the CM website says it is UHF/VHF  (oh may be the CM-4228HD is different than CM-4228??)

 

http://www.channelmasterstore.com/Digital_HDTV_Outdoor_TV_Antenna_p/cm-4228hd.htm


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaranddeeman*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13600_100#post_24440581
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks. But the CM website says it is UHF/VHF  (oh may be the CM-4228HD is different than CM-4228??)
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.channelmasterstore.com/Digital_HDTV_Outdoor_TV_Antenna_p/cm-4228hd.htm


 

BTW. What I currently have is exactly the following. (Given away by a fellow AVS member.. )

 

http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?mc=03&p=CM-3021&d=Channel-Master-CM4221-4Bay-Bowtie-UHF-TV-Antenna-%28CM4221%29&c=TV%20Antennas&sku=


----------



## tylerSC

The CM-4228HD can receive HiVHF, but it is optimized for UHF. But it should get RF7 and RF9 in most strong signal areas, as well as UHF channels. But it is not ideal for VHF in fringe areas.


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tylerSC*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13600_100#post_24442172
> 
> 
> The CM-4228HD can receive HiVHF, but it is optimized for UHF. But it should get RF7 and RF9 in most strong signal areas, as well as UHF channels. But it is not ideal for VHF in fringe areas.


 

Oh okay. Thanks.

 

I would also like to mention that my CM-4221 feeds to 2 TVs via splitter (no booster/amplifier etc.). One of the TV (Olevia) gets the #7 w/o any issues. It also gets the #9 many times (some times it is choppy). But my second TV (Westinghouse) does not get either of them.

So is it that the antenna is able to get VHF channels, but the second TV's tuner is weak?


----------



## Dave Loudin

Your antenna is only a little sensitive to VHF compared to how sensitive it is to UHF. Apparently, it plucks just enough signal to show the difference in the performance of the two TVs.


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Dave Loudin*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13600_100#post_24446122
> 
> 
> Your antenna is only a little sensitive to VHF compared to how sensitive it is to UHF. Apparently, it plucks just enough signal to show the difference in the performance of the two TVs.


Okay. Got it. Thanks..

So back to antenna research again...


----------



## esknights


Hello all,

 

I've just recently cut the cable and switched to an antenna. We live Northwest of DC close to Frederick MD. We are approximately equidistant to Baltimore and Washington. The only channels we need to make this work are ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC. 

 

I live in a townhouse with an HOA so I am trying the indoor antenna first. The current antenna we are testing is the Winegard Flatwave Amplified antenna with a ~50-mile reception.

 

I am able to get very good reception for 5-1 Fox, 7-1 ABC, and 9-1 CBS. The one channel I get nothing on is NBC 4-1. I've also tried to get the Baltimore and Hagerstown NBC station with no luck.

 

I did search and read in this thread about WRC-DT having issues northwest of the DC. When looking at TVFool 5-1, 7-1, and 9-1 are all ~30 miles away at 154 degrees; the same as 4-1. I'd like to know if anyone in my area came up with any solutions to this problem.

 

I'm not very experienced at this so I don't understand whey those other 3 come in fine and the NBC station gets zero reception.

 

Any ideas that can make this work? I don't care if the NBC station is out of Baltimore, Hagerstown, or DC.

 

Thanks for any help.


----------



## tylerSC

You may want to consider a better indoor antenna. That Winegard Flatwave does perform well in some locations, but it still may have limitations. You could consider a Terk HDTVa or a Clearstream 2V indoors. The CS2 is sold at Walmart, and they also carry an RCA inline amp which may be helpful.


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tylerSC*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13600_100#post_24454077
> 
> 
> You may want to consider a better indoor antenna. That Winegard Flatwave does perform well in some locations, but it still may have limitations. You could consider a Terk HDTVa or a Clearstream 2V indoors. The CS2 is sold at Walmart, and they also carry an RCA inline amp which may be helpful.


 

I saw CS2v at Best Buy as well.. (if that helps)


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *esknights*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13600_100#post_24451950
> 
> 
> 
> Hello all,
> 
> 
> 
> I've just recently cut the cable and switched to an antenna. We live Northwest of DC close to Frederick MD. We are approximately equidistant to Baltimore and Washington. The only channels we need to make this work are ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC.
> 
> 
> 
> I live in a townhouse with an HOA so I am trying the indoor antenna first. The current antenna we are testing is the Winegard Flatwave Amplified antenna with a ~50-mile reception.
> 
> 
> 
> I am able to get very good reception for 5-1 Fox, 7-1 ABC, and 9-1 CBS. The one channel I get nothing on is NBC 4-1. I've also tried to get the Baltimore and Hagerstown NBC station with no luck.
> 
> 
> 
> I did search and read in this thread about WRC-DT having issues northwest of the DC. When looking at TVFool 5-1, 7-1, and 9-1 are all ~30 miles away at 154 degrees; the same as 4-1. I'd like to know if anyone in my area came up with any solutions to this problem.
> 
> 
> 
> I'm not very experienced at this so I don't understand whey those other 3 come in fine and the NBC station gets zero reception.
> 
> 
> 
> Any ideas that can make this work? I don't care if the NBC station is out of Baltimore, Hagerstown, or DC.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for any help.


 

I am seriously looking at HDB8x. Plan is to use it in separate mode (not use the combiner at the antenna). Just feed the two to the two TVs.


----------



## ProjectSHO89




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaranddeeman*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13680#post_24455748
> 
> 
> I am seriously looking at HDB8x. Plan is to use it in separate mode (not use the combiner at the antenna). Just feed the two to the two TVs.



What do you plan on doing for VHF (7 & 9). That's a UHF-only antenna.


----------



## tylerSC




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ProjectSHO89*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13680#post_24455861
> 
> 
> What do you plan on doing for VHF (7 & 9). That's a UHF-only antenna.


You may need to add a HiVHF 7-13 antenna with a UVSJ. Although some of those 8-bays will receive HiVHF in a strong signal area.


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ProjectSHO89*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13600_100#post_24455861
> 
> 
> 
> What do you plan on doing for VHF (7 & 9). That's a UHF-only antenna.


It does say it is a UHF/VHF antenna on the amazon page..

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CX6UJ5K/ref=dra_a_cs_mr_hn_it_P1400_1000?tag=dradisplay-20


----------



## tylerSC




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaranddeeman*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13680#post_24456999
> 
> 
> 
> It does say it is a UHF/VHF antenna on the amazon page..
> 
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CX6UJ5K/ref=dra_a_cs_mr_hn_it_P1400_1000?tag=dradisplay-20


It may receive HiVHF in a strong signal area, but it is primarily a UHF antenna.


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tylerSC*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13600_100#post_24457706
> 
> 
> 
> It may receive HiVHF in a strong signal area, but it is primarily a UHF antenna.


 

Darn... I thought my search is (almost) over..

 

Thanks for pointing that out though..


----------



## tylerSC

Good HiVHF/UHF antennas are the Winegard 7696 or Antennacraft HBU-33. And the larger versions 7698 and HBU-55. And sometimes a preamp may help, such as Winegard LNA-200 or the RCA version.


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tylerSC*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13600_100#post_24461452
> 
> 
> Good HiVHF/UHF antennas are the Winegard 7696 or Antennacraft HBU-33. And the larger versions 7698 and HBU-55. And sometimes a preamp may help, such as Winegard LNA-200 or the RCA version.


 

Thanks. I was initially looking at the HBU33. But the boom length of 83" is kinda of worries me in terms of stability (on those windy days). Hence I was ignoring it and looking for the vertical panel types.

Nevertheless there seem to be no other option though..


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tylerSC*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13600_100#post_24461452
> 
> 
> Good HiVHF/UHF antennas are the Winegard 7696 or Antennacraft HBU-33. And the larger versions 7698 and HBU-55. And sometimes a preamp may help, such as Winegard LNA-200 or the RCA version.


 

I think I should go for either HBU33 or C290. What do you recommend? Below is the tvfool report for reference.

 

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d5b941242d2b4c1


----------



## ProjectSHO89




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaranddeeman*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13680#post_24456999
> 
> 
> 
> It does say it is a UHF/VHF antenna on the amazon page..
> 
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CX6UJ5K/ref=dra_a_cs_mr_hn_it_P1400_1000?tag=dradisplay-20



That same page also says it has 25 dB of gain when the panels are aligned. Anyone who knows anything about antennas knows that such a claim is so far off the charts that it borders on just plain stupid.


> Quote:
> I think I should go for either HBU33 or C290.



I think you should allow the experienced members here to make your recommendations for you. The HBU33 is very appropriate for your a location, the C290 is a poor choice. Another option would be the 7694 or, perhaps, the smaller HBU22. Alternatively, you could try the C2V, but I'd rate it as a much lower odds proposition than the much larger combos. You'll likely need more than a single VHF element since you're in a valley relative to the DC transmitters.


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ProjectSHO89*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13600_100#post_24462637
> 
> 
> 
> That same page also says it has 25 dB of gain when the panels are aligned. Anyone who knows anything about antennas knows that such a claim is so far off the charts that it borders on just plain stupid.
> 
> I think you should allow the experienced members here to make your recommendations for you. The HBU33 is very appropriate for your a location, the C290 is a poor choice. Another option would be the 7694 or, perhaps, the smaller HBU22. Alternatively, you could try the C2V, but I'd rate it as a much lower odds proposition than the much larger combos. You'll likely need more than a single VHF element since you're in a valley relative to the DC transmitters.


 

I know the 25dB gain may be an outrageous claim, but I was just trusting the name "SolidSIgnal". But anyways..

Thanks for helping me eliminate C290. Yes I am looking at the recommendations made by fellow members here. Was just trying to avoid very large hardware..

I will take a look at 7694 as well..

Thanks..


----------



## tylerSC




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaranddeeman*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13680#post_24461525
> 
> 
> Thanks. I was initially looking at the HBU33. But the boom length of 83" is kinda of worries me in terms of stability (on those windy days). Hence I was ignoring it and looking for the vertical panel types.
> 
> Nevertheless there seem to be no other option though..


The panel type of antennas are not designed for VHF and are optimized for UHF. The 7696 or HBU-33 would be the best choices, although you could try the smaller versions 7694 orHBU-22. And possibly add a preamp.


----------



## ProjectSHO89




> Quote:
> I know the 25dB gain may be an outrageous claim, but I was just trusting the name "SolidSIgnal". But anyways..



Frankly, I don't believe much of the marketing stuff that SS has been putting out under their own name plate for their TV antennas. I guess they should have stuck with Winegard instead of buying from China. It seems almost as if the person doing the "Extreme" marketing doesn't know an antenna from an antler.



If you want compact antennas, that's possible although they will be the most expensive. The ClearStream 5 for high-VHF plus either a ClearStream 4 or a DB4e (twice as tall as a C4). They are excellent antennas for their size.


When it comes to pre-amps, it's ironic that one of the more capable and flexible models is one of the least expensive. An RCA TVPRAMP1 is less than $25 if ordered through Walmart's website and picked up in store. It features separate UHF/VHF inputs, has a switchable FM trap, is decently sensitive (low noise figure), and is really hard to overload.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaranddeeman*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13600_100#post_24436914
> 
> http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d5b9442ccd5ddf6





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaranddeeman*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13600_100#post_24461676
> 
> http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d5b941242d2b4c1



???


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13600_100#post_24465232
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ???


 

Ok. First was with just zip code the second being actual address.. (Was that your question?)


----------



## pamajestic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaranddeeman*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13680#post_24466581
> 
> 
> Ok. First was with just zip code the second being actual address..



My recommendations last week were based on the original TVFool. Now looking at the current one I would go no smaller than the 7696 or HBU-33.


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pamajestic*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13700_100#post_24466907
> 
> 
> 
> My recommendations last week were based on the original TVFool. Now looking at the current one I would go no smaller than the 7696 or HBU-33.


 

Sorry for creating the confusion. At first I did a quick check using zipcode only and later on realized that I should have been more precise.

 

Thank you for taking time to look at it and your recommendations.

 

I am almost settled on HBU33...


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaranddeeman*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13600_100#post_24429545
> 
> 
> I was looking to replace my UHF only outdoor antenna with UHF/VHF
> 
> 
> I am not really looking for rotor and such.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaranddeeman*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13600_100#post_24434662
> 
> 
> I have CM-4221 (like) currently.





> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaranddeeman*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13700_100#post_24467987
> 
> 
> I am almost settled on HBU33...



One caveat:


Do all of the UHF channels you watch come from the same direction?


If they do, then a high-VHF/UHF combo is fine, but if they don’t, you really should keep that 4221 and just add a high-VHF-only antenna.


4-bay bowties like the 4221 have a very wide beamwidth; their pattern is essentially similar to a dipole with an attenuated rear lobe. Almost any other decent fringe antenna will have a much narrower beamwidth, which is a good thing if you have multipath and/or all your channels are in the same direction, but a very bad thing if you are receiving off-axis channels and want to continue receiving those channels.


You can, for instance, use a 4228HD for high-VHF if you have enough signal; I once used an 8-bay bowtie to receive high-VHF plus UHF on an apartment balcony. But an 8-bay is two 4-bays horizontally stacked, which narrows the horizontal beam width across the target band considerably and introduces nulls into the pattern.


At high-VHF, however, an 8-bay behaves like a dipole, with a very wide pattern and not much gain. I always figured the reason they worked at all was because the horizontal stacking elements essentially turned them into glorified dipoles at high-VHF, a theory supported by design changes in more recent versions of the 4228, as well as comparison tests you can find here:

http://www.antennahacks.com/AntennaComparison.htm 


Finally, the second TVFool report shows way too much edge diffraction to be a reliable predictor of actual reception at your location.


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13700_100#post_24474455
> 
> 
> 
> Finally, the second TVFool report shows way too much edge diffraction to be a reliable predictor of actual reception at your location.


 

Sorry for dumb question. But what does this mean. Did I enter anything incorrect while generating the report?

Kindly elaborate..


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaranddeeman*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13700_100#post_24474591
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13700_100#post_24474455
> 
> 
> Finally, the second TVFool report shows way too much edge diffraction to be a reliable predictor of actual reception at your location.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sorry for dumb question. But what does this mean. Did I enter anything incorrect while generating the report?
> 
> Kindly elaborate..
Click to expand...


No, you didn't do anything wrong.


The terms “1Edge” and “2Edge” in the “Path” column mean the signals are passing over 1 or more obstructions, like hills or mountains, between the transmitter and your house, by a phenomenon known as edge diffraction, or knife edge diffraction. Modeling of edge diffraction is imprecise at best, especially with more than one edge, so real world behavior might vary considerably from these predictions.


TV Fool is pretty good when most of the paths are line of sight (LOS), as in the first report you posted, but not as good when they are not, as in the second report.


Read the TV Fool “Signal Analysis FAQ” and google “knife edge diffraction” for more info.


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13700_100#post_24474878
> 
> 
> 
> No, you didn't do anything wrong.
> 
> 
> The terms “1Edge” and “2Edge” in the “Path” column mean the signals are passing over 1 or more obstructions, like hills or mountains, between the transmitter and your house, by a phenomenon known as edge diffraction, or knife edge diffraction. Modeling of edge diffraction is imprecise at best, especially with more than one edge, so real world behavior might vary considerably from these predictions.
> 
> 
> TV Fool is pretty good when most of the paths are line of sight (LOS), as in the first report you posted, but not as good when they are not, as in the second report.
> 
> 
> Read the TV Fool “Signal Analysis FAQ” and google “knife edge diffraction” for more info.


 

I have lot of trees behind my house and this the direction the antenna need to be pointed. Not sure if that gets factored in in the tvfool report.


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13700_100#post_24474455
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> One caveat:
> 
> 
> Do all of the UHF channels you watch come from the same direction?
> 
> 
> If they do, then a high-VHF/UHF combo is fine, but if they don’t, you really should keep that 4221 and just add a high-VHF-only antenna.
> 
> 
> 4-bay bowties like the 4221 have a very wide beamwidth; their pattern is essentially similar to a dipole with an attenuated rear lobe. Almost any other decent fringe antenna will have a much narrower beamwidth, which is a good thing if you have multipath and/or all your channels are in the same direction, but a very bad thing if you are receiving off-axis channels and want to continue receiving those channels.
> 
> 
> You can, for instance, use a 4228HD for high-VHF if you have enough signal; I once used an 8-bay bowtie to receive high-VHF plus UHF on an apartment balcony. But an 8-bay is two 4-bays horizontally stacked, which narrows the horizontal beam width across the target band considerably and introduces nulls into the pattern.
> 
> 
> At high-VHF, however, an 8-bay behaves like a dipole, with a very wide pattern and not much gain. I always figured the reason they worked at all was because the horizontal stacking elements essentially turned them into glorified dipoles at high-VHF, a theory supported by design changes in more recent versions of the 4228, as well as comparison tests you can find here:
> 
> http://www.antennahacks.com/AntennaComparison.htm
> 
> 
> Finally, the second TVFool report shows way too much edge diffraction to be a reliable predictor of actual reception at your location.


 

I had asked the question to HDB8x manufacturer and what I got is below.. 

 

*Bowtie antennas in general pick up high VHF fairly well.    But this is just high-VHF. 7-13.  9-13 are picked up even easier.  If this antenna goes up to 70 UHF I would say it goes up to 40 VHF.  This is just from my hands on experience.  And this goes for most bowties.  If it does not receive how you want it to you can definitely return it, even if its installed.*


----------



## Mr Tony




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaranddeeman*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13680#post_24475531
> 
> 
> I had asked the question to HDB8x manufacturer and what I got is below..
> 
> _Bowtie antennas in general pick up high VHF fairly well.    But this is just high-VHF. 7-13.  9-13 are picked up even easier.  If this antenna goes up to 70 UHF I would say it goes up to 40 VHF.  This is just from my hands on experience.  And this goes for most bowties.  If it does not receive how you want it to you can definitely return it, even if its installed._



as someone who owns one of these I can attest that VHF, while it kinda works, the signal is really low and not as good as a combo VHF/UHF or separate antennas. I'm here in Minneapolis, MN and we have Fox and NBC on VHF (9 & 11 respectively) and about the same distance from the towers as you are ( My TV Fool for comparison )


The signal on VHF HI on the Homeworx 150 was 64% on 9 and 69% on 11. My Panny plasma shows 67 and 78 for signal.

I added a Y5 7-13 VHF only antenna and now it shows on the HW150 90% on 9 and 100% on 11 and 100% on both on the plasma


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *unclehonkey*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13700_100#post_24475803
> 
> 
> 
> as someone who owns one of these I can attest that VHF, while it kinda works, the signal is really low and not as good as a combo VHF/UHF or separate antennas. I'm here in Minneapolis, MN and we have Fox and NBC on VHF (9 & 11 respectively) and about the same distance from the towers as you are ( My TV Fool for comparison )
> 
> 
> The signal on VHF HI on the Homeworx 150 was 64% on 9 and 69% on 11. My Panny plasma shows 67 and 78 for signal.
> 
> I added a Y5 7-13 VHF only antenna and now it shows on the HW150 90% on 9 and 100% on 11 and 100% on both on the plasma


 

Thank you for that info.

My intention of posting that response was just to share with everyone how twisted it could be. I don't intend to go for panels (alone) anymore. Thanks again..


----------



## Mr Tony

When I lived in my house (about 3 miles away from where I live now) I had a Antennacraft HBU-33 on the roof of the house (I saw it was mentioned before).

I'm in an apartment now and it didnt fit in the walk in closet correctly for optimum signal. (too long). The combo I have now works real well for me.










And I agree with your statement. If you've ever seen the infomercial/commercial for "ClearTV" some folks will believe anything someone says


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pamajestic*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13680#post_24466907
> 
> 
> My recommendations last week were based on the original TVFool. Now looking at the current one I would go no smaller than the 7696 or HBU-33.


Exactly, I already let the OP try my spare HBU-22 & it wasn't enough antenna. The HBU-33 0r Winegard 7694 would be my minimum recommendation.


Also, the 4228 is designed for UHF & any VHF reception is incidental. Yes it may work for VHF, but only with a clean signal, so too much of a gamble in Bristow IMO.


It's like saying, yes a Corolla will go 100 MPH, just like a Camaro. But if you plan on going 100 MPH on a regular basis, which car would be the best choice? Of course you would choose the model that is designed to do the job best & avoid the frustration.


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13700_100#post_24476388
> 
> 
> 
> Exactly, I already let the OP try my spare HBU-22 & it wasn't enough antenna. The HBU-33 0r Winegard 7694 would be my minimum recommendation.
> 
> 
> Also, the 4228 is designed for UHF & any VHF reception is incidental. Yes it may work for VHF, but only with a clean signal, so too much of a gamble in Bristow IMO.
> 
> 
> It's like saying, yes a Corolla will go 100 MPH, just like a Camaro. But if you plan on going 100 MPH on a regular basis, which car would be the best choice? Of course you would choose the model that is designed to do the job best & avoid the frustration.


 

Hi there, as you can see I am still "finding" the right thing. Lol..

And I can not thank you enough for your help last spring..


----------



## dleedlee

Request:

Static on 30.1 and 30.5 ?


I'm wondering if someone can help me verify what I'm hearing on my OTA tuners. I've been noticing static-y/crackling audio on a couple Funai/Magnavox DVRs and a CECB on channels 30.1 and 30.5 (MHzNetwork). It started to catch my attention some time in February. I record a lot of the International Mystery programs and at first I thought the source might be my receiver, I have both DVRs' audio going through my ancient AV receiver. But checking the CECB box downstairs just now, I hear the same noise on the same channels. It's particularly loud and more noticeable on 30.5, though right now 30.1 is pretty noisy. On 30.1, it's less frequent and lower in volume but watching my (evening) recordings it's occasionally very jarring. I haven't noticed any noise on the other MHz channels 30.2-30.6 or any other channels but I watch them less regularly.


Thanks.


----------



## dleedlee











> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dleedlee*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13710#post_24481591
> 
> 
> Request:
> 
> Static on 30.1 and 30.5 ?
> 
> 
> I'm wondering if someone can help me verify what I'm hearing on my OTA tuners. I've been noticing static-y/crackling audio on a couple Funai/Magnavox DVRs and a CECB on channels 30.1 and 30.5 (MHzNetwork). It started to catch my attention some time in February. I record a lot of the International Mystery programs and at first I thought the source might be my receiver, I have both DVRs' audio going through my ancient AV receiver. But checking the CECB box downstairs just now, I hear the same noise on the same channels. It's particularly loud and more noticeable on 30.5, though right now 30.1 is pretty noisy. On 30.1, it's less frequent and lower in volume but watching my (evening) recordings it's occasionally very jarring. I haven't noticed any noise on the other MHz channels 30.2-30.6 or any other channels but I watch them less regularly.
> 
> 
> Thanks.



So, I sent a message to MHz Engineering and received the following reply:


_Our channels 30.1 and 30.5 are not experiencing problems with static. There has been some sun spot interference lately, but other than that all is well._


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *unclehonkey*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13700_100#post_24475886
> 
> 
> When I lived in my house (about 3 miles away from where I live now) I had a Antennacraft HBU-33 on the roof of the house (I saw it was mentioned before).
> 
> I'm in an apartment now and it didnt fit in the walk in closet correctly for optimum signal. (too long).



This is why I prefer separate, band-specific antennas; they offer so much more flexibility in terms of location and orientation.


Even outdoors, where there is multipath or other interference, best reception is sometimes achieved by aiming an antenna somewhat away from the desired stations, so as to put an undesired, interfering signal in a null, thereby maximizing the desired to undesired ratio. In such situations, separate antennas can be aimed differently, if necessary.




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaranddeeman*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13700_100#post_24478980
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13700_100#post_24476388
> 
> 
> I already let the OP try my spare HBU-22 & it wasn't enough antenna. The HBU-33 0r Winegard 7694 would be my minimum recommendation.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hi there, as you can see I am still "finding" the right thing. Lol..
> 
> And I can not thank you enough for your help last spring..
Click to expand...


Ok, please clarify “wasn’t enough antenna.” Was the 22, on UHF only, better than, the same as, or worse than the 4221 you have now?


Because the UHF section of the 33 appears to be nearly identical to the 22, with most of the difference in the VHF section. So unless the 22 at least matched the 4221 on UHF, I wouldn’t expect the 33 to be a good replacement for the 4221.


(And, of course, if the 22 “wasn’t enough antenna” on VHF, I think that pretty much rules out the 8-bay idea right there. But I have no experience with combo antennas of any sort, because as I said above, I don’t generally like them, so these comments are based on antenna design and theory.)


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13700_100#post_24482790
> 
> 
> Ok, please clarify “wasn’t enough antenna.” Was the 22, on UHF only, better than, the same as, or worse than the 4221 you have now?
> 
> 
> Because the UHF section of the 33 appears to be nearly identical to the 22, with most of the difference in the VHF section. So unless the 22 at least matched the 4221 on UHF, I wouldn’t expect the 33 to be a good replacement for the 4221.
> 
> 
> (And, of course, if the 22 “wasn’t enough antenna” on VHF, I think that pretty much rules out the 8-bay idea right there. But I have no experience with combo antennas of any sort, because as I said above, I don’t generally like them, so these comments are based on antenna design and theory.)


 

As I recall and see my PM exchange with Digital Rules, 22 could get 7 and 9 w/o any issues, but it had choppy 20 and 26. I did not have a way to A/B as I had mounted 22 by removing the 4221. But I suspected mostly the height. The antenna was (and is) mounted just about 12-15 feet above ground. (Now this is from backyard ground. But if you consider the front of the house it may be barely 1-2 feet above ground).

The plan that time (which did not materialize) was to mount the antenna on the roof at some point. I am planning to finish that plan this spring/summer and hence started on it again. As I will be mounting it on the roof, I thought I might as well get it done once and for all by using reasonably good antenna. (Going on the roof is another story so we'll talk about that later.. )


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaranddeeman*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13700_100#post_24483781
> 
> 
> The antenna was (and is) mounted just about 12-15 feet above ground. (Now this is from backyard ground. But if you consider the front of the house it may be barely 1-2 feet above ground).



Is your house on a hill? If so, is the antenna aimed up the hill or down the hill?


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13700_100#post_24484445
> 
> 
> 
> Is your house on a hill? If so, is the antenna aimed up the hill or down the hill?


I wouldn't call it a hill. But the terrain is kinda like that. Cul-De-Sac is the lowest. My house can be considered midway between the top and bottom of the terrain (all things considered).

But then again this all backs to the antenna. Antenna faces opposite of this towards the woods behind the house.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaranddeeman*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13700_100#post_24485155
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13700_100#post_24484445
> 
> 
> Is your house on a hill? If so, is the antenna aimed up the hill or down the hill?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I wouldn't call it a hill. But the terrain is kinda like that. Cul-De-Sac is the lowest. My house can be considered midway between the top and bottom of the terrain (all things considered).
> 
> But then again this all backs to the antenna. Antenna faces opposite of this towards the woods behind the house.
Click to expand...


Ok, but what I am trying to nail down is the orientation of the antenna and/or the signals you want to receive w/r/t the slope you are on.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaranddeeman*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13700_100#post_24483781
> 
> 
> The plan that time (which did not materialize) was to mount the antenna on the roof at some point. I am planning to finish that plan this spring/summer and hence started on it again. As I will be mounting it on the roof, I thought I might as well get it done once and for all by using reasonably good antenna. (Going on the roof is another story so we'll talk about that later.. )



From what you’ve written, I’m not sure you need a roof antenna to get the signals you want. It might not even be a good idea to put the antenna(s) on the roof. Generally speaking, more height is better, but as is generally the case with generalizations, there are exceptions. If the additional height increases an interfering signal more than a desired signal, your reception could actually get worse.


Bottom line: if you like the UHF reception you have, and you want to keep the UHF reception you have, the best way to insure that is to keep the UHF antenna you have, and leave it right where you have it.


As for VHF, the HBU22 apparently – but I’d like more info about that – gets satisfactory VHF reception at the same spot, and even the 4221, which is a poor VHF antenna in my experience, gets you some VHF, without a preamp and through a splitter, at least on one TV. The difference between the two TVs could be because the signal is marginal, but it could also be that the two tuners are not equally effective at handling multipath, because the 22 should be much better at reducing that than the 4221.


To help clarify matters:


How long did you use the HBU22? Did you leave it up for a few days and check reception at all hours of the day, or did you make an immediate assessment and then put the 4221 right back? How close are the trees in back and did they have leaves on them when you tested the 22?


Is your current antenna attached to some fixed structure in your back yard, or do you have the freedom to move it from side to side or front to back to find a sweet spot?


Same question for the roof, could you put an antenna anywhere on your roof, or would you be limited to where there is a chimney or similar structure?


Do you have an attic where you could put an antenna and if so, how much flexibility would that offer in terms of antenna placement?


How many stories is your house, and is the roofline above or below the crest of the slope that your house is on? (I’m guessing the current location of the antenna is below that point, based on the difference in height between the front and back; correct?)


When you aimed the 4221, did you do that with TVFool and a compass and take the reception you got, or did you use a signal meter of some kind and put the antenna where you thought you got the best signal, regardless of compass setting?


And back to the orientation of the slope, is your antenna aimed down the slope, up the slope, along the slope, more up than down, more down than up, etc.?


Finally, I did an FMFool report on your zip code, but I’d like to see one on your exact location to see FM stations in the 87-90 and 93-96 ranges that might generate harmonics on channels 7 and 9. And you should run FMFool and TVFool at different heights to get an idea of whether moving to your roof could change any of your signal paths from edge diffraction to line-of-sight, both for the stations you want and any potentially interfering signals.


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13700_100#post_24496904
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ok, but what I am trying to nail down is the orientation of the antenna and/or the signals you want to receive w/r/t the slope you are on.
> I would say it is pointing towards the downwards slope
> From what you’ve written, I’m not sure you need a roof antenna to get the signals you want. It might not even be a good idea to put the antenna(s) on the roof. Generally speaking, more height is better, but as is generally the case with generalizations, there are exceptions. If the additional height increases an interfering signal more than a desired signal, your reception could actually get worse.
> Ah. I never know that. I always thought "Higher is better"
> Bottom line: if you like the UHF reception you have, and you want to keep the UHF reception you have, the best way to insure that is to keep the UHF antenna you have, and leave it right where you have it.
> Yes. But during summer it is a bit choppy. I presume it is due to the trees right in front of it (about 30 feet in front). That is why I wanted to mount it higher..
> As for VHF, the HBU22 apparently – but I’d like more info about that – gets satisfactory VHF reception at the same spot, and even the 4221, which is a poor VHF antenna in my experience, gets you some VHF, without a preamp and through a splitter, at least on one TV. The difference between the two TVs could be because the signal is marginal, but it could also be that the two tuners are not equally effective at handling multipath, because the 22 should be much better at reducing that than the 4221.
> 
> 
> To help clarify matters:
> 
> 
> How long did you use the HBU22? Did you leave it up for a few days and check reception at all hours of the day, or did you make an immediate assessment and then put the 4221 right back? How close are the trees in back and did they have leaves on them when you tested the 22?
> May be just a day as I recall. Then I put back the 4221. Because some of the UHF those were clean using 4221 were choppy with HBU22. But then again this may be user error related to (im)perfect orientation of the HBU22.
> Is your current antenna attached to some fixed structure in your back yard, or do you have the freedom to move it from side to side or front to back to find a sweet spot?
> I am using (previous owner's) dish mount (attached to the back wall) with little bit of my contraption to mount it. In short there is very little room to move it.
> Same question for the roof, could you put an antenna anywhere on your roof, or would you be limited to where there is a chimney or similar structure?
> I am planning to use the dish mounts that are there (these are from my dish TV subscription)
> Do you have an attic where you could put an antenna and if so, how much flexibility would that offer in terms of antenna placement?
> I did think about that option, but is not very convenient.
> How many stories is your house, and is the roofline above or below the crest of the slope that your house is on? (I’m guessing the current location of the antenna is below that point, based on the difference in height between the front and back; correct?)
> 2 Stories (+ basement that is walkout). Roofline I would say is above or at least level of the crest. The current antenna is at the floor level of the main level of the house.
> When you aimed the 4221, did you do that with TVFool and a compass and take the reception you got, or did you use a signal meter of some kind and put the antenna where you thought you got the best signal, regardless of compass setting?
> I actually used the antennaweb.com orientation and some guesswork. No instrumentation used.
> And back to the orientation of the slope, is your antenna aimed down the slope, up the slope, along the slope, more up than down, more down than up, etc.?
> This is the hardest part to explain. But let me try. If you stand in my front door facing the road (with your back to the door), the slop runs below on right. The antenna is mounted at the right hand back corner and points approximately 180 degree from the corner (where side and back wall meet)
> Finally, I did an FMFool report on your zip code, but I’d like to see one on your exact location to see FM stations in the 87-90 and 93-96 ranges that might generate harmonics on channels 7 and 9. And you should run FMFool and TVFool at different heights to get an idea of whether moving to your roof could change any of your signal paths from edge diffraction to line-of-sight, both for the stations you want and any potentially interfering signals.
> I will PM you those reports for review. I will assume current height = 10ft and roof height = 30ft


 

   Edit : Forgot to mention one thing. This week-end I used an external tuner (Sansonic ATSC SD tuner that I had got dome point when Analog to Digital transition was taking place) to connect to the TV that has issues with VHF channels, just to check. And I found it could get all possible channels (7 and 9 included) but only in SD (as the tuner is not HD). Not sure if this a mere Homeworks HD-150PVR or similar should also do the trick with the current 4221.


----------



## tylerSC

I believe the Sansonic had a very good type of tuner that was a bit different from some of the other converter boxes. Which brings up the point that some TV tuners are more sensitive than others when dealing with weak signals or multipath. What type of TVs are connected to the antenna? And if you purchase an external tuner, then I like the PHD-208 better than those cheaper boxes. Good tuner and better menu interface with program info. And if you need to connect 2 different antennas, then the PHD-VRX2 has 2 antenna inputs. It is problematic as a DVR but makes a good dual tuner box.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaranddeeman*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13700_100#post_24500343
> 
> 
> Edit : Forgot to mention one thing. This week-end I used an external tuner (Sansonic ATSC SD tuner that I had got dome point when Analog to Digital transition was taking place) to connect to the TV that has issues with VHF channels, just to check. And I found it could get all possible channels (7 and 9 included) but only in SD (as the tuner is not HD). Not sure if this a mere Homeworks HD-150PVR or similar should also do the trick with the current 4221.



I compared the FMFool reports to some addresses I’m familiar with, and even though there are green signals at problem frequencies, I don’t think they are strong enough to cause problems. But the strongest problem signals are from the west and line-of-sight, so if I understand your description correctly, they would be more likely to cause problems on the roof than at the 10-foot location, where they are coming through your house. An FM trap or an HLSJ would solve that problem easily, though.


Re trees and choppy signals in summer, you should make thorough notes of your signals on all the channels you care about at various times of the day, over several days, before the leaves come out, and see if the signals weaken with leaves. If they do, then getting above the trees should help.


But there could be other reasons for summer signal problems. If your signals are generally worst in the middle of the afternoon when signals are generally weakest, then probably your signals are marginal, and additional height should help. But if you have more problems early in the morning or late at night, that could be interference from distant signals due to tropospheric enhancement. You can look for that by searching channels you don’t normally receive for out of town stations you don’t normally see. If the interfering signals are from the northeast but somewhat off axis, a more directional antenna might help, and being on the roof may help, but if the signals are from the south or west, you might be better off at 10 feet, where your house and the terrain help block those signals.


I have almost zero experience installing antennas on roofs, so I’ll leave that discussion mostly to the pros, but I don’t have a good feeling about using a dish mount on a roof. Roof antennas are designed to operate in free space, not right next to buildings. That means getting a few feet above the apex of a slanted roof, not right down next to the roof like a dish.


I have played with a lot of small antennas in attics, closets, back yards, balconies, cars, walking up and down hills, etc., and the most important thing is location, location, location. A sweet spot at 10 feet will easily beat a dead spot at 30 feet. From all the evidence, it seems like you’ve got a pretty good location now, so if you move the antenna you have from the 10 foot dish mount to the 30 foot dish mount, I’d put the odds of improvement at maybe 75% on UHF, higher if leaves do affect your signal. But on VHF, I think your current reception is a total fluke, better than it should be, and moving to the roof is a 50-50 proposition at best unless you get an actual VHF antenna and mount it correctly.


The first thing I’d do, though, in your situation, is make a channel 7-9 dipole out of rabbit ears, attach it to a wooden yard stick, broom handle, etc., connect it with a balun and coax to a digital converter box and/or portable TV with a good signal meter, and try that in various locations in close proximity to your current antenna, and see it there’s location where you can get a better signal than you have now. If you put it above, below or to the side of the 4221, it probably won’t interact with it much, but if put it in front, you’ll need to check that you don’t damage your UHF in the process. If you find a location that works, and you can rig it there permanently, you can use a UVSJ or a preamp with separate U/V inputs to join the two antennas.


And I think a low-noise preamp is generally a good idea whenever you split a signal and you don’t get the same reception at both or all of the sets, because it changes the weak link from the noise figure of the tuner to the noise figure of the preamp. It won’t help if your problem is multipath, but if your problem is a marginal signal, that should solve it.


Here’s some info about using rabbit ears as a dipole:

http://www.kyes.com/antenna/rabbitear.html


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13700_100#post_24510205
> 
> 
> 
> I compared the FMFool reports to some addresses I’m familiar with, and even though there are green signals at problem frequencies, I don’t think they are strong enough to cause problems. But the strongest problem signals are from the west and line-of-sight, so if I understand your description correctly, they would be more likely to cause problems on the roof than at the 10-foot location, where they are coming through your house. An FM trap or an HLSJ would solve that problem easily, though.
> 
> 
> Re trees and choppy signals in summer, you should make thorough notes of your signals on all the channels you care about at various times of the day, over several days, before the leaves come out, and see if the signals weaken with leaves. If they do, then getting above the trees should help.
> 
> 
> But there could be other reasons for summer signal problems. If your signals are generally worst in the middle of the afternoon when signals are generally weakest, then probably your signals are marginal, and additional height should help. But if you have more problems early in the morning or late at night, that could be interference from distant signals due to tropospheric enhancement. You can look for that by searching channels you don’t normally receive for out of town stations you don’t normally see. If the interfering signals are from the northeast but somewhat off axis, a more directional antenna might help, and being on the roof may help, but if the signals are from the south or west, you might be better off at 10 feet, where your house and the terrain help block those signals.
> 
> 
> I have almost zero experience installing antennas on roofs, so I’ll leave that discussion mostly to the pros, but I don’t have a good feeling about using a dish mount on a roof. Roof antennas are designed to operate in free space, not right next to buildings. That means getting a few feet above the apex of a slanted roof, not right down next to the roof like a dish.
> 
> 
> I have played with a lot of small antennas in attics, closets, back yards, balconies, cars, walking up and down hills, etc., and the most important thing is location, location, location. A sweet spot at 10 feet will easily beat a dead spot at 30 feet. From all the evidence, it seems like you’ve got a pretty good location now, so if you move the antenna you have from the 10 foot dish mount to the 30 foot dish mount, I’d put the odds of improvement at maybe 75% on UHF, higher if leaves do affect your signal. But on VHF, I think your current reception is a total fluke, better than it should be, and moving to the roof is a 50-50 proposition at best unless you get an actual VHF antenna and mount it correctly.
> 
> 
> The first thing I’d do, though, in your situation, is make a channel 7-9 dipole out of rabbit ears, attach it to a wooden yard stick, broom handle, etc., connect it with a balun and coax to a digital converter box and/or portable TV with a good signal meter, and try that in various locations in close proximity to your current antenna, and see it there’s location where you can get a better signal than you have now. If you put it above, below or to the side of the 4221, it probably won’t interact with it much, but if put it in front, you’ll need to check that you don’t damage your UHF in the process. If you find a location that works, and you can rig it there permanently, you can use a UVSJ or a preamp with separate U/V inputs to join the two antennas.
> 
> 
> And I think a low-noise preamp is generally a good idea whenever you split a signal and you don’t get the same reception at both or all of the sets, because it changes the weak link from the noise figure of the tuner to the noise figure of the preamp. It won’t help if your problem is multipath, but if your problem is a marginal signal, that should solve it.
> 
> 
> Here’s some info about using rabbit ears as a dipole:
> 
> http://www.kyes.com/antenna/rabbitear.html


 

Thank you so much for the analysis and information.

 

It is really good to know that I may not get any improvements by going on roof. I might try the porch roof instead that will give may be say another 5-7 feet height than the current location.

 

Like you I have zero experience and knowledge in roof mounting the antenna and I am bit concerned about the possible leak and how to avoid it.. But that is a different problem to deal.

 

As you have suggested I will try the rabbit ears (It's hard to find those these days)..

 

Again thank you. I will try to find the best spot.

 

What I lack is signal strength meter. I will see of that sansonic box has anything of that sort..

 

Edit : I have a question about the preAmp that you mentioned. I wanted to try it out but am not sure how it will work with the splitter in the middle. I believe there will be a power unit that will be inline and will be indoors. But does it matter if it is on one of the split lines?


----------



## Trip in VA

I've never seen being outside produce worse reception than being inside. I won't disagree that height isn't necessarily everything, and joblo is right that a sweet spot near the ground can be much better than a dead spot high up. But if you have the option of going outdoors, I would say to do it.


Anecdote time: I visited someone who was trying to use an indoor antenna on the ground floor at 50 miles. Used my spectrum analyzer with my antenna indoors, at the window, and had terrible results. Couldn't get any signals to look good, and only a few would look usable at a time. The low-VHF PBS station was completely missing. Took my same antenna right outside that same window and had perfect reception on all channels, even the low-VHF one. He now has a similar antenna mounted directly outside his ground floor window with excellent results.


The issue is that indoors, you get a lot of reflections and noise and things that simply don't exist outside. Even if you have FM overload or tropospheric issues or whatever, each of those is easier to resolve than trying to dance around reflections indoors. Doesn't matter if you're on the ground floor or the attic, those things still exist.


Glad to hear you're still considering going outdoors with it.


- Trip


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13700_100#post_24510994
> 
> 
> I've never seen being outside produce worse reception than being inside. I won't disagree that height isn't necessarily everything, and joblo is right that a sweet spot near the ground can be much better than a dead spot high up. But if you have the option of going outdoors, I would say to do it.
> 
> 
> Anecdote time: I visited someone who was trying to use an indoor antenna on the ground floor at 50 miles. Used my spectrum analyzer with my antenna indoors, at the window, and had terrible results. Couldn't get any signals to look good, and only a few would look usable at a time. The low-VHF PBS station was completely missing. Took my same antenna right outside that same window and had perfect reception on all channels, even the low-VHF one. He now has a similar antenna mounted directly outside his ground floor window with excellent results.
> 
> 
> The issue is that indoors, you get a lot of reflections and noise and things that simply don't exist outside. Even if you have FM overload or tropospheric issues or whatever, each of those is easier to resolve than trying to dance around reflections indoors. Doesn't matter if you're on the ground floor or the attic, those things still exist.
> 
> 
> Glad to hear you're still considering going outdoors with it.
> 
> 
> - Trip


Thanks.

May be you missed the bits of the conversation. I am already outdoors. I was just trying to see if I get benefit by going higher..

 

Joblo will comeback when he sees my post, but could you please let me know how one can use the pre-amp with the splitter in the middle. I am bit confused on that. Just to give an idea, my connections are like below.

 

Antenna---------30ft------------->2Way Splitter------------>TV1

                                                                   |_________>TV2

 

|| |


----------



## Trip in VA

Yes, guess I missed that bit.










I've only ever used a pre-amp before a splitter. Which is to say, I have the antenna -> amp -> amp power supply (if separate) -> splitter. So I don't think I can help you on that one.


- Trip


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13700_100#post_24510205
> 
> 
> 
> I compared the FMFool reports to some addresses I’m familiar with, and even though there are green signals at problem frequencies, I don’t think they are strong enough to cause problems. But the strongest problem signals are from the west and line-of-sight, so if I understand your description correctly, they would be more likely to cause problems on the roof than at the 10-foot location, where they are coming through your house. An FM trap or an HLSJ would solve that problem easily, though.
> 
> 
> Re trees and choppy signals in summer, you should make thorough notes of your signals on all the channels you care about at various times of the day, over several days, before the leaves come out, and see if the signals weaken with leaves. If they do, then getting above the trees should help.
> 
> 
> But there could be other reasons for summer signal problems. If your signals are generally worst in the middle of the afternoon when signals are generally weakest, then probably your signals are marginal, and additional height should help. But if you have more problems early in the morning or late at night, that could be interference from distant signals due to tropospheric enhancement. You can look for that by searching channels you don’t normally receive for out of town stations you don’t normally see. If the interfering signals are from the northeast but somewhat off axis, a more directional antenna might help, and being on the roof may help, but if the signals are from the south or west, you might be better off at 10 feet, where your house and the terrain help block those signals.
> 
> 
> I have almost zero experience installing antennas on roofs, so I’ll leave that discussion mostly to the pros, but I don’t have a good feeling about using a dish mount on a roof. Roof antennas are designed to operate in free space, not right next to buildings. That means getting a few feet above the apex of a slanted roof, not right down next to the roof like a dish.
> 
> 
> I have played with a lot of small antennas in attics, closets, back yards, balconies, cars, walking up and down hills, etc., and the most important thing is location, location, location. A sweet spot at 10 feet will easily beat a dead spot at 30 feet. From all the evidence, it seems like you’ve got a pretty good location now, so if you move the antenna you have from the 10 foot dish mount to the 30 foot dish mount, I’d put the odds of improvement at maybe 75% on UHF, higher if leaves do affect your signal. But on VHF, I think your current reception is a total fluke, better than it should be, and moving to the roof is a 50-50 proposition at best unless you get an actual VHF antenna and mount it correctly.
> 
> 
> The first thing I’d do, though, in your situation, is make a channel 7-9 dipole out of rabbit ears, attach it to a wooden yard stick, broom handle, etc., connect it with a balun and coax to a digital converter box and/or portable TV with a good signal meter, and try that in various locations in close proximity to your current antenna, and see it there’s location where you can get a better signal than you have now. If you put it above, below or to the side of the 4221, it probably won’t interact with it much, but if put it in front, you’ll need to check that you don’t damage your UHF in the process. If you find a location that works, and you can rig it there permanently, you can use a UVSJ or a preamp with separate U/V inputs to join the two antennas.
> 
> 
> And I think a low-noise preamp is generally a good idea whenever you split a signal and you don’t get the same reception at both or all of the sets, because it changes the weak link from the noise figure of the tuner to the noise figure of the preamp. It won’t help if your problem is multipath, but if your problem is a marginal signal, that should solve it.
> 
> 
> Here’s some info about using rabbit ears as a dipole:
> 
> http://www.kyes.com/antenna/rabbitear.html


 

I made an attempt last night to see the signal levels reaching the TV using the sansonic SD tuner. This was done @ 11:30 PM last night.

Sansonic reports it in %ge with two parameters. SIgnal Strength and Signal Quality.

For most of the channels the signal strength was 70% to 100% (For couple of the channels it was 40% to 60% and was fluctuating)

SIgnal quality found to be varying. Again more than half showed was 80-90%, about half were 50%. A couple being 25%. Those show lower quality (like 50% and below) had lot of fluctuations.

 

I will do some measurements this afternoon as well to see how it goes. (Yes I am making a table)


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13700_100#post_24515137
> 
> 
> Yes, guess I missed that bit.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I've only ever used a pre-amp before a splitter. Which is to say, I have the antenna -> amp -> amp power supply (if separate) -> splitter. So I don't think I can help you on that one.
> 
> 
> - Trip


Yeah. I would have done that. But unfortunately all my internal cables come outside the house and have leads there. I have to install the splitter outside.


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13700_100#post_24515137
> 
> 
> Yes, guess I missed that bit.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I've only ever used a pre-amp before a splitter. Which is to say, I have the antenna -> amp -> amp power supply (if separate) -> splitter. So I don't think I can help you on that one.
> 
> 
> - Trip


I think I may have found the answer. I need to use a bidirectional splitter like this , that will pass the power to preamp.


----------



## joblo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *aaranddeeman*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13700_100#post_24521387
> 
> 
> I think I may have found the answer. I need to use a bidirectional splitter like this , that will pass the power to preamp.



If you use a splitter that passes power on both legs, you''ll need a voltage block on one side. There are also splitters available that only pass power on one leg. Don't have time right now to find a reference, but I know you can get them.


----------



## tylerSC




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13710#post_24523256
> 
> 
> If you use a splitter that passes power on both legs, you''ll need a voltage block on one side. There are also splitters available that only pass power on one leg. Don't have time right now to find a reference, but I know you can get them.


Go to Denny's Antenna site and he has diagram explaining how to install a preamp with splitters and a DC voltage block. Or you will need a splitter with only one port power pass.


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tylerSC*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13700_100#post_24524874
> 
> 
> 
> Go to Denny's Antenna site and he has diagram explaining how to install a preamp with splitters and a DC voltage block. Or you will need a splitter with only one port power pass.


 

Thanks. found that info .


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *tylerSC*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13700_100#post_24524874
> 
> 
> 
> Go to Denny's Antenna site and he has diagram explaining how to install a preamp with splitters and a DC voltage block. Or you will need a splitter with only one port power pass.


I am really impressed with Denny's quick responses in spite of what he is going through now.


----------



## ProjectSHO89




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *joblo*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13710#post_24523256
> 
> 
> If you use a splitter that passes power on both legs, you''ll need a voltage block on one side. There are also splitters available that only pass power on one leg. Don't have time right now to find a reference, but I know you can get them.



If you use one of the satellite-rated splitters that have DC pass-through, you don't need any voltage blocks as the splitters already have a diode in each leg's circuit.


----------



## aaranddeeman




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ProjectSHO89*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13700_100#post_24531017
> 
> 
> 
> If you use one of the satellite-rated splitters that have DC pass-through, you don't need any voltage blocks as the splitters already have a diode in each leg's circuit.


Oh. I never knew you could use the satellite splitters for OTA.

Thanks.

 

Last week end I installed FM tramp (Rshack), but it did not improve anything on VHF on the TV1

Today I tried an RCA VH100 before the TV1 and could get the 2 VHF channels (7 and 9). Though 7-1 was minutely choppy intermittently.

So it looks like TV1 tuner needs certain signal strength to lock on and product the picture.

I am not too sure what the situation would be once the leaves come out on the trees. (But I guess tress are transparent to VHS as I read somewhere).

 

I wanted to try the RCA antenna preamp TVPRAMP1R (with splitter , voltage block etc.) if that is better option than VH100. What is every ones opinion?

Appreciate your help.

 

 

Edit : Denny has recommended EZ HD antenna for my location. SO may be the EX HD antenna and the preamp combo would be better option.


----------



## KLEEEG

Comcast Blast download speed doubled after modem reboot, was 50/10.

http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/3410804318


----------



## PaulGo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *KLEEEG*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13710#post_24555958
> 
> 
> Comcast Blast download speed doubled after modem reboot, was 50/10.
> 
> http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/3410804318



Were you informed of this speed increase? What service do you have (Double Play or Triple Play)?


----------



## KLEEEG

No notification, double play.


----------



## CycloneGT

Read on DCRTV that WUSA has put "Weather Nation" on their radar sub-channel. So long final weather radar.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *CycloneGT*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13710#post_24581808
> 
> 
> Read on DCRTV that WUSA has put "Weather Nation" on their radar sub-channel. So long final weather radar.



I'm watching it right now. Frankly, local weather "on the fives" will serve tourists and hotel guests better than any other available television alternative.


----------



## Trip in VA

Is it just me, or has WUSA stretched a letterboxed image into 16:9?


- Trip


----------



## PaulGo

Comcast just doubled my speed from 57mbs to 121mbs in Montgomery County, MD. I just needed to unplug my SB6141 modem. My upload speed so far has not change ti remains at 11.7mbs. I did not need to contact Comcast. I am on Double Play with Blast.


----------



## AntAltMike

I'm on a Comcast WiFi in Berwyn Heights, Maryland that is furnished by my not to geeky landlord and it is slow. How do I access the system service screen? I can do a wired connection to the modem if need be.


----------



## dleedlee




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13740#post_24586828
> 
> 
> I'm on a Comcast WiFi in Berwyn Heights, Maryland that is furnished by my not to geeky landlord and it is slow. How do I access the system service screen? I can do a wired connection to the modem if need be.



Have you tried just rebooting the modem? That happens sporadically when I visit my father. Now I automatically do a SpeedTest first thing when I go see him..


----------



## Trip in VA

Anyone west of the beltway seeing WDWA-LD 23 on the air? (Not WDDN-LD, from DC.) My tuner claims it scanned in WDWA-LD around 7:30PM last night: http://m.rabbitears.info/index.php?request=tvdx_grid&tid=1019EECD&tno=1&sort=all&hours=24&tzone=ET 


- Trip


----------



## Trip in VA

Used a different antenna with a different tuner and, sure enough, to the southwest is WDWA-LD on the air.


- Trip


----------



## dleedlee




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PaulGo*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13740#post_24586092
> 
> 
> Comcast just doubled my speed from 57mbs to 121mbs in Montgomery County, MD. I just needed to unplug my SB6141 modem. My upload speed so far has not change ti remains at 11.7mbs. I did not need to contact Comcast. I am on Double Play with Blast.



_Comcast announced it is increasing the speeds of two of its tier plan to customers in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia, at no additional cost to users.


In a press release, the company said the Xfinity Internet Blast tier now offers speeds up to 105 Mbps and the Xfinity Extreme 105 tier offers speeds up to 150 Mbps. This is the second time in two years Comcast has raised the speed in those tiers.


To get access, Comcast said most customers will just re-start their modems. Some customers may need to upgrade their modems to be able to accommodate the higher speeds.


Customers who lease modems from Comcast will be upgraded at no additional charge._
http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Comcast-Raises-Internet-Speeds-for-Some-Customers-255072961.html


----------



## PaulGo

I have my own modem and I was upgraded. In other areas of the country Comcast is also upgrading the performance tier to what was the old Blast tier (50mbs) if you have double or triple play. Hopefully Comcast will be doing the same for the Northeast Division especially since Verizon is offering a two year speed increase to 50mbsat no cost for customers who switch to FiOS.


----------



## mallow

Hello all-


Here is my TV Fool report
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3de1c60f84c9a0b9 


I have an RCA ANT751 installed in my attic with a direct line of about 30-40ft to the basement connceted to a a Tablo (OTA DVR, tablotv.com, its a new device). I get 14 channels crystal clear, except WBFF (digital channel 45, UHF 46). The Tablo doesn't even pick up WBFF-45. Should I invest in a preamp to help? The channels I am getting all come in great, no hiccups at all.


Thanks!


----------



## Mister B

Have you tried connecting the antenna directly to your TV's tuner to see if the same problem occurs? Some of these lesser known or newer tuners have been reported to be incompatible with a particular station. I tried a DVR a few years ago that would pixilate on my local FOX affiliate every 30 seconds when that had never been seen on the other TVs.


----------



## Cal68

Can someone who watches WETA-UK Channel 26.2 in the Clarksburg/Urbana/Frederick area of Maryland tell me how good the OTA signal is and what kind of antenna they use to receive this signal? I recently moved from Comcast to Direct TV so I am not able to watch WETA-UK anymore. I am thinking of buying an indoor antenna and seeing if I can receive this station. Any help would be much appreciated.


Cal68


----------



## pamajestic




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Cal68*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13740#post_24654607
> 
> 
> Can someone who watches WETA-UK Channel 26.2 in the Clarksburg/Urbana/Frederick area of Maryland tell me how good the OTA signal is and what kind of antenna they use to receive this signal? I recently moved from Comcast to Direct TV so I am not able to watch WETA-UK anymore. I am thinking of buying an indoor antenna and seeing if I can receive this station. Any help would be much appreciated.
> 
> 
> Cal68



Post a Tvfool report for your exact location and we can give it a look.


----------



## Cal68




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *pamajestic*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13740#post_24656382
> 
> 
> Post a Tvfool report for your exact location and we can give it a look.



I'm not computer savvy enough to know how to post the TV Fool report here, but WETA showed up as green in the report. However, it did not specifically call out WETA-UK in the report (just WETA) so that is why I posted the message. Can I assume that if WETA is green, then all WETA channels should be accessible at my house?


Thanks my friend.


Cal68


PS: Maybe the link below will show you the information for my house. I hope so!


http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3de1c6b1c080facf


----------



## ProjectSHO89

WETA is unlikely to be received reliably with an indoor antenna. A larger rooftop antenna will be needed.


TVFool dos not concern itself with the sub-channels. Only the main channel of a station is listed.


----------



## MrHifi

I live 8 miles West of Annapolis and must use a rooftop medium gain antenna to receive all the WETA's.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Cal68*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13740#post_24654607
> 
> 
> Can someone who watches WETA-UK Channel 26.2 in the Clarksburg/Urbana/Frederick area of Maryland tell me how good the OTA signal is . . . .



IMO you have zero chance of receiving WETA as you have a transmitter only 1/2 mile away on an adjacent channel


----------



## Cal68

Hi All


Thanks for your feedback regarding receiving WETA at my house. I was hoping that I could get this channel using an indoor antenna, but everyone seems quite certain that it is not going to happen. Oh well!


If that is the case, then I have no urgent reason to spend $40-80 buying an amplified indoor antenna. Unless one of you can twist my arm and convince me that I really need one!











Thanks for all your help.


Cal68


----------



## MaceFremonti

Has anyone else noticed that on Xfinity/Comcast all of the commercials on the HD channels have a waaaay better feed/picture quality than the show that you are watching?


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MaceFremonti*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13750_10#post_24679464
> 
> 
> Has anyone else noticed that on Xfinity/Comcast all of the commercials on the HD channels have a waaaay better feed/picture quality than the show that you are watching?


Yeah... They're using DirecTV to feed those TVs in the commercials...


----------



## nottenst

Just got a notice from Comcast that on "June 3, 2014 Comcast will start encrypting Limited Basic service on your cable system." So, I guess no more just using the HDTV QAM tuner to get WETA-UK and network channels. Apparently I may be able to receive a device "free" for up to two years to decrypt their signal.


On their website , they say "This will provide customers with more convenient self-service options." It does say "An HD digital adapter is available upon request with this offer regardless of your service level."


As far as to what happens after two years:

"Local market pricing will apply after the two year period. You will receive a notification 30 days prior to these charges being applied to your account."


----


I just noticed an article from about a year ago about when the FCC allowed cable companies to make this change .


----------



## Cal68




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13740#post_24686477
> 
> 
> Just got a notice from Comcast that on "June 3, 2014 Comcast will start encrypting Limited Basic service on your cable system." So, I guess no more just using the HDTV QAM tuner to get WETA-UK and network channels. Apparently I may be able to receive a device "free" for up to two years to decrypt their signal.
> 
> 
> On their website , they say "This will provide customers with more convenient self-service options." It does say "An HD digital adapter is available upon request with this offer regardless of your service level."
> 
> 
> As far as to what happens after two years:
> 
> "Local market pricing will apply after the two year period. You will receive a notification 30 days prior to these charges being applied to your account."
> 
> 
> ----
> 
> 
> I just noticed an article from about a year ago about when the FCC allowed cable companies to make this change .



I've come to the conclusion that one needs to switch cable/satellite providers every 2 years or so in order to get the best rates. The operators are more interested in attracting new customers than giving their existing customers a reasonable deal. I was a Comcast subscriber in Maryland for 9 years and saw my cable bill go up every year. When it finally reached $200+ per month (without a single premium channel), I decided to switch to Direct TV. I'm currently paying $65 per month for essentially the same service. When my promotional period ends in another year, I'll switch to Verizon or Comcast unless Direct TV gives me a competitive rate.


It is a hassle switching from one operator to another, but if it results in decent savings, I'm willing to invest the time and effort to make the move.


Cal68


----------



## nottenst

Interestingly enough, I just called the Bowie Franchise Authority and gave them a whole bunch of questions to ask Comcast about their change to encrypting all video. One matter at issue is they are supposed to first tell the Franchise Authority that they are making such a change. The first the Franchise Authority heard about it is when someone brought the letter from Comcast in today.


----------



## AVKurt

Hi. Speaking of OTA WETA reception, I was wondering if anybody living just north of Baltimore City (Towson area) has had any luck receiving either WETA or WHUT with an outdoor antenna?


I put up an Antenna's Direct 91xg antenna with a Winegard LNA-200 preamp and receive many of the DC UHF stations ( Virtual 4,14,20,50, 66) with few dropouts, if any.


According to my TV fool report, I should be able to receive WHUT with an outside chance at WETA but never have gotten a signal from either of the stations. I noticed that WPXW (Virtual Ch. 66) which i receive clearly (between 70-85% signal strength on my TV), is located on the same tower as the 2 PBS stations but seems to transmit with much more power than the other two. I was wondering if that was why I cannot receive them or if I should go on the roof any do some more tweaking with the antenna orientation.


Can anybody give me hope of reception and convince me to go back up on the roof?


----------



## Jake V


AVkurt,

 

Go to tvfool.com, click on "TV Signal Locator" and enter your address and then post the link here. You might also post it on the Forum at tvfool.com - they have several really knowledgeable advisers on what works and what doesn't. Generally speaking, the Antennas Direct 91Xg is very directional - meaning you might have to point it directly at the WETA towers. Be sure to give the current direction with your report.

 

Good luck,

Jake


----------



## Trip in VA

Am I the only one with no audio on 45-1? After having had SAP audio on Sunday?


Oh, and I already checked, SAP is not turned on.


- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AVKurt*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13740#post_24693404
> 
> 
> 
> Can anybody give me hope of reception and convince me to go back up on the roof?


I suspect overload. The LNA-200 is not ideal for use in urban areas, regardless of Winegards advertising hype.


Have you ever tested reception with one TV connected directly to the antenna? (No splitter, no preamp)


----------



## AVKurt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13740#post_24694655
> 
> 
> I suspect overload. The LNA-200 is not ideal for use in urban areas, regardless of Winegards advertising hype.
> 
> 
> Have you ever tested reception with one TV connected directly to the antenna? (No splitter, no preamp)



Hi Digital Rules.


I did test the reception with no preamp. Only got intermittent signals from a few of the DC stations. No WHUT or WETA either.


I picked the LNA-200 because I was concerned about overload from the Baltimore stations since I am close to them all. Would there be any other preamp you would recommend to try?


----------



## AVKurt

Hi Jake.


Thank you for the reply.


Here's the TV fool link for my location:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3de1c6e51a0624f7 


I did try to position the antenna to receive the strongest signal on Virtual Channel 66 which is on the same tower as WHUT and WETA, but have never received even an image from either station.


I probably should do a little more tweaking with the xg91 since leaves have come out on the trees now and put up the antenna last month, so I'm wondering if it is worthwhile to spend the effort in trying to receive WHUT or if it is even feasible from my location from the experience of others.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AVKurt*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13740#post_24698772
> 
> 
> Would there be any other preamp you would recommend to try?


Here are 2 choices for minimizing overload risk in super strong signal areas like yours.


1. Channel Master 3414 amplified splitter- have used this only a few miles from transmitters with excellent results. This is the 4 output version, but Channel Master does make models for different needs. I would still recommend the 3414 model because it works so well & is bulletproof.


2. RCA TVPRAMP1R pre-amp- Get's rave reviews for overload resistance, but some users are seeing early failures, so not 100% sold on this one.


I would also recommend ordering an HLSJ to effectively attenuate strong FM signals. Do you have any kind of VHF antenna connected to your system?


----------



## tylerSC

The CM-3414 is indeed very resistant to overload and does a good job at reducing distortion from a mix of strong and weak signals. I have used one with very good results, and it performed better than the 2 port 3412 version. I suppose because the 4 way split has lower power gain on each output so less likely to overload. Just enough of a boost that is needed, but not too much. I used 2 of the 4 ports and terminated the other 2. But to use as a preamp you will also have to separately order a remote power supply from PCT or other sources. Sometimes the PCT version is priced a bit lower.


----------



## ProjectSHO89




> Quote:
> I suppose because the 4 way split has lower power gain on each output so less likely to overload.



Nope, that's not how they work.


All of the CM34xx distribution amps have the same 15 db amplifier module. For the output, its either a straight-through, 2-way, 4--way, or 8-way splitter which provides a post-amplification insertion loss of 0, 3.5, 7, or 10.5 dB.


----------



## tylerSC

Well, the 3414 seemed to perform best, for whatever technical reason. Good overload resistance and tolerant of both strong and weak signals.


----------



## AVKurt




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Digital Rules*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13740#post_24699668
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Do you have any kind of VHF antenna connected to your system?



No, f the DC stations I were mostly interested in receiving were in the UHF band.


Do you mean to mount the Channel Master 3414 as you would a preamp?


I really don't have a problem with overloading on the Baltimore stations with the 91xg, so are you implying that a too strong a signal from an adjacent Baltimore station might be preventing me from receiving WHUT? I'm not too well versed to the finer points of Electromagnetic Wave propagation










Thank you for your help


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AVKurt*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13770#post_24702974
> 
> 
> 
> I really don't have a problem with overloading on the Baltimore stations with the 91xg, so are you implying that a too strong a signal from an adjacent Baltimore station might be preventing me from receiving WHUT?
> 
> 
> Thank you for your help


Absolutely, the *weaker* stations are affected most by overload.


The CM 3414 is the only amp I found that would not lose the weak WUTB 24 signal when I lived 4 miles from the DC transmitters. Distribution amps in general are a better choice with a mix of strong & weak signals.


----------



## tylerSC

The CM-3414 can be used as a preamp or distribution amp. If you need to place it at the antenna as a preamp, then you will also need to order the remote power supply from PCT. It is sold on Amazon through CableTV Amps vendor for about $4.99. Or from PCT Store online which is the manufacturer of the Channel Master dist amps. Which are among the better products currently offered by the current Channel Master company.


----------



## AVKurt

Thank you for the advice *TylerSC* and *Digital Rules*....


I'll give the CM-3414 a try as a distribution amplifier and see how that goes ..


----------



## AntAltMike

The voice audio on Mr. Lucky (MeTV, 2:30 AM) sounded like Alvin and the Chipmunks, both on 7.3 (WJLA) and 11.2 (WBAL). Two of the actors with unnaturally shrill, high voices were Ross Martin (AKA Artemis Gordon of the Wild, Wild West) and Edward Platt (Chief on Get Smart), so I know what their voices are supposed to sound like, Might the show have been sped up to generate more coommerciial time? I heard a few years ago that when someone wanted to squeeze another commercial in Star Trek: The Next Generation, they did it by shortening the pause intervals between remarks.


BTW, I only recently learned that Platt committed suicide back in 1974 at age 58.


----------



## PaulGo

Comcast now has HD DTAs available in Montgomery County, MD. I just swapped out my three SD DTAs for the HD version. It took Comcast a while to get the codes correct so I could get the HD channels, but these boxes work very well and provide all the HD channels except for the Digital Preferred tier channels. The music (400 series) channels are also excluded.


----------



## AntAltMike

WPXW now has QVC on 66.6. I first noticed in a week ago. What other sub channels gave up bandwidth to make room for it?


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AntAltMike*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13770_10#post_24732051
> 
> 
> WPXW now has QVC on 66.6. I first noticed in a week ago. What other sub channels gave up bandwidth to make room for it?


This shouldn't be new...


----------



## Trip in VA

It is new. WWTD-LD was the QVC affiliate here.


- Trip


----------



## VARTV




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Trip in VA*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13780_10#post_24735238
> 
> 
> It is new. WWTD-LD was the QVC affiliate here.
> 
> 
> - Trip


Ah, OK... I noticed the HSN (O&O) translator around here moved to showing HSN2 (ION has HSN on xx.5)


----------



## AntAltMike

I consistently see a six minute differential between the time displayed on WMAR 2 and WJLA 7. My TV is a Seiki. Is this what everyone else is seeing? I first noticed that time differential about a month ago


----------



## REDSKINSFAN47

I have an antenna question ,im having a problem with reception on some channels most noted channel 7 wjla ,I live in Woodbine , MD and have never had trouble before, I have a medium sized vhf/uhf antenna ,I have this problem on all TVs, Wiring goes from antenna to splitter then to each tv I have changed the splitter that doesn't help , the antenna has a matching transformer on it could that be the problem , what else might be wrong? does the matching transformer amplify , the problem isn't real bad just a little worse those days . the antenna is 10 years old


----------



## retiredengineer

If the matching transformer is also 10 years old, then it is possible the spade lugs that attaches it to the antenna is corroded causing signal loss. Replace it with a new one since you have to go onto the roof anyways to inspect the antenna. No it does not do any amplification.


----------



## Digital Rules




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *REDSKINSFAN47*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13770#post_24741362
> 
> 
> Wiring goes from antenna to splitter then to each tv I have changed the splitter that doesn't help.


2 way, 3 way, 4 way splitter? How many TV's are connected? Have you tried connecting just one TV directly to the antenna & tested reception? Has the antenna aim changed?


----------



## John_D




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AVKurt*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13740#post_24693404
> 
> 
> Hi. Speaking of OTA WETA reception, I was wondering if anybody living just north of Baltimore City (Towson area) has had any luck receiving either WETA or WHUT with an outdoor antenna?
> 
> 
> I put up an Antenna's Direct 91xg antenna with a Winegard LNA-200 preamp and receive many of the DC UHF stations ( Virtual 4,14,20,50, 66) with few dropouts, if any.
> 
> 
> According to my TV fool report, I should be able to receive WHUT with an outside chance at WETA but never have gotten a signal from either of the stations. I noticed that WPXW (Virtual Ch. 66) which i receive clearly (between 70-85% signal strength on my TV), is located on the same tower as the 2 PBS stations but seems to transmit with much more power than the other two. I was wondering if that was why I cannot receive them or if I should go on the roof any do some more tweaking with the antenna orientation.
> 
> 
> Can anybody give me hope of reception and convince me to go back up on the roof?



I'm in Carney and receive both channels. I have a custom 4-bay UHF antenna and an older Winegard AP-4700 amp that is split once. I even receive the MHz channels out of Fairfax with it. If my larger 4-bay gets it then I would think the 8-bays would too.


----------



## mkfs

I just had something weird happen on 7.2...


I have a Digitalstream and a Apex CECB; both feed my VCR. What can I say, I'm a retro guy. [The Aprex replaced an Insignia that would crash, and core-dump to the screen. Plus the Apex has Svideo output!]


Tonight I was trying to set up recording Rockford Files when I noticed that I could not get either CECB to change "zoom" ratio. Further, the Apex would repeatedly create a black box on the LH side of the screen, about 2/3's of the way up.


This was only on 7.2.


Anyone have any ideas?


----------



## Digital Rules

CECB boxes will only zoom on the main *.1* channel. I have never seen one that would zoom on the .*2, .3, .4* . . . channels.


----------



## dbodeenisudm

Anyone having problems with WNVC [RF24 56.1] or WZDC[RF25 25.1]? I am Takoma Park with a HD7698 antenna and not receiving either of those but have before.


----------



## AntAltMike




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dbodeenisudm*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13770#post_24767565
> 
> 
> Anyone having problems with WNVC [RF24 56.1] or WZDC[RF25 25.1]? I am Takoma Park with a HD7698 antenna and not receiving either of those but have before.



I'm presently watching WNVC 30.4 in College Park on an unamplified Winegard HD7694, which I primitively combine with another, amplified Winegard HD7694 pointed at Baltimore. Funny thing is, I get intermittently poor reliability of all my Washington, DC stations, even though I am certain I have line of sight to those transmitters. There is about a five degree spread between the northernmost Wisconsin Ave tower and the more southern WRC tower from where I am and since the nearest block or two along those paths is residential and beneath me, elevation-wise, I have yet to develop a plausible theory to explain the occasional intervals of chronic dropouts that I experience, as they never affect the Baltimore stations, which are measurably weaker (I own about $10,000 of signal measurement test gear).


When I began composing this post about fifteen minutes ago, I was watching Russia Today on 30.4 and it was rock solid, and then I switched to 25.1 and that was solid also. But now, ten or fifteen minutes later Russia Today did glitch a few times, but when I went to 4.2 and 20.2, which are the Washington channels that do occasionally glitch for me, they were solid and now 30.4 is solid again. It is so hard to meaningfully compare simultaneously the performance of digital channels, because of their avalanche failure characteristic and because the samples I observe are not made at exactly the same time.


Back in analog days, I used to have severe reception problems at Cherry Hill Park at 9800 Cherry Hill Road. We had the campground's antennas on the highest land, but our problem was we were getting reflections off Byrd Stadium which, back in analog days, created double or ghost images. We have since moved the antennas twice, once to avoid the double images and more recently, to accommodate their major property upgrading (shameless plug) and now, a couple hundred yards from the earlier location and at a signifiicantly different azimuth with respect to Byrd Stadium, we frequently experience freeze ups. I can tell that vegetation is a problem at this new antenna location because I can see the signal waveforms fluctuate greatly on my spectrum analyzer.


Update:


I just switched channels to The Rockford files on 4.2 and it is now glitching also.


----------



## mkfs

> CECB boxes will only zoom on the main .1 channel.


I can't say I'd ever noticed that, but why were the boxes stuck in anamorphic mode?

That was not the case on adjacent channels.


----------



## AntAltMike

World Cup broadcast TV question.


I have read that WFDC Univision will be carrying World Cup ganes, albeit with Spanish language audio only. I have read that some other games are going to be carried on a service called UniMás, Does anyone know if thise games are concurrent with games on Univision, which is to say, are two games ever played at the same time, and if so, is there likely to be a local broadcast source for those UniMás games?


----------



## Trip in VA

UniMás is on WMDO-LD 8 (47-1), which is in HD. It's a really tough signal to grab but is definitely there.


- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike

"Clear" Comcast?


I just got a service call from a Washington, DC condominium owner telling me she had lost her local TV channels over the past weekend. She is in a building that is wired for Comcast, for DirecTV and for off-air broadcast antenna. Unfortunately, the building only provides one single coax home run to each residential unit, so while we can diplex core satellite DirecTV with Comcast services it is not possible to mix Comcast with the free building antenna,m which uses UHF broadcast frequencies.


This resident was under the misapprehension that she had been getting her free digital local broadcast channels from the building's master antenna system. I figured that either she was getting them from Comcast as unscrambled digital signals or since she is withintwo miles of the local transmitting towers and on the side of the building facing them and high up, that maybe the local broadcast signals were just leaking in.


I saw that her TV tuner was set on "cable", and she told me that she was getting over 60 local digital channels, and since that is more than she'd get with the building antenna and more than she'd get with a set top antenna, I have concluded she had been getting her locals from Comcast. Did they recently begin scrambling their local digital signals in Washington, DC? She is in zip code 20009.


I stuck a paper clip in her TV's coax input port an she is now getting rock solid reception of the six local commercial stations and the two local PBS stations, and while she is fairly satisfied with that, she might like to get the additional stations she is now missing, like WMPT, WNVC and WNVT. Her cable bill says she is getting Xfinity internet. Does Xfinity bundle internet and what we used to call a "lifeline" or sub basic service?


----------



## PaulGo

In Montgomery County, MD they have started making HD DTAs available which is something Comcast does before they scramble all channels. Comcast does not provide any video channels with Internet only service. Limited basic will provide all the local channels plus free HD of the local channels (with a free HD DTA) plus all the municipal channels (and in some localities a few more channels). Comcast usually offers a "package" so the cost of limited basic and Internet costs almost the same as Internet alone.


----------



## AntAltMike

I went to Comcast's site and it looks like their rates are commonly $50 for internet versus $80 for internet plus 140+ channel basic, so I have to suspect that she will choose to pay the extra $30 a month.


What is HD DTA?


----------



## PaulGo

An HD DTA is small one way device that can receive all the HD and SD channels. Through HDMI it can output 1080i and 720p HD resolutions as well as 480p. The only channels it currently cannot receive is the preferred digital channels and ON Demand. If you are on the limited basic tier it it is free for up to three boxes. For the other tiers it is free for two boxes for two years and then $1:99 each per month. For the first box you should get a standard HD box since any tier above limited basic incurs a $9.95 HD tech fee which pays for the first box.


----------



## nottenst




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *PaulGo*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13770#post_24804925
> 
> 
> An HD DTA is small one way device that can receive all the HD and SD channels. Through HDMI it can output 1080i and 720p HD resolutions as well as 480p. The only channels it currently cannot receive is the preferred digital channels and ON Demand. If you are on the limited basic tier it it is free for up to three boxes. For the other tiers it is free for two boxes for two years and then $1:99 each per month. For the first box you should get a standard HD box since any tier above limited basic incurs a $9.95 HD tech fee which pays for the first box.


Are you sure about the getting HD channels free without paying the HD tech fee? Is there some documentation about this that I can quote when discussing this with Comcast?


All the stories I have heard in other jurisdictions said they had to pay the monthly HD fee to get the channels in HD. On June 3 my limited basic turned scrambled and with my HD DTA I only get the SD versions of the local broadcast channels. There is a message for channels that aren't included, but the HD version of local broadcast channels just doesn't come in at all - it reverts back to the previous tuned channel. Note that the secondary channels for the local broadcast stations do come in (e.g. WETA-UK and WETA-Kids).


----------



## PaulGo




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *nottenst*  /t/793124/washington-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv/13770#post_24813183
> 
> 
> Are you sure about the getting HD channels free without paying the HD tech fee? Is there some documentation about this that I can quote when discussing this with Comcast?
> 
> 
> All the stories I have heard in other jurisdictions said they had to pay the monthly HD fee to get the channels in HD. On June 3 my limited basic turned scrambled and with my HD DTA I only get the SD versions of the local broadcast channels. There is a message for channels that aren't included, but the HD version of local broadcast channels just doesn't come in at all - it reverts back to the previous tuned channel. Note that the secondary channels for the local broadcast stations do come in (e.g. WETA-UK and WETA-Kids).



Limited basic subscribers are a special category of customers. Back in January I received a rate sheet from Comcast. They show the HD Technology fee of $9.95 with a footnote stating "Not available to customers with limited basic only" From other threads they have confirmed that the limited basic customers get HD on the local channels without paying the HD technology fee. Comcast needs to update your codes to get the HD local channels. If you go to the Comcast site and find your channel lineup you will see the local HD channels checked off as being included in limited basic.

http://forums.comcast.com/t5/Channels-and-Programming/Local-HD-channels-with-limited-basic-Minneapolis-SW-suburbs/m-p/1931445#M41554 


_ComcastTeds

Official Employee

Posts: 4,860

Registered: ‎01-09-2012

Re: Local HD channels with limited basic, Minneapolis SW suburbs

Options


‎11-25-2013 11:02 AM



ComcastTeds wrote:


A limited basic only customer with an HD DTA is not subject to the monthly HD Tech Fee to receive the limited basic channels in HD..


If a customer wanted an HD cable box, then they would be subject to the regulated equipment rate for that service.


Is a customer with an HD DTA subject to the monthly HD Tech Fee to receive the limited basic channels in HD? Is not a Digital Starter customer (without HD Service) entitled to receive local channels in HD with an HD DTA? Or is Comcast really as GREEDY as they appear to be?


As I wrote above, it depends on the level of service.




For Limited Basic only customers, the local HD broadcast channels are expected to be included with an HD DTA at no additional charge.




The HD Technology Fee would apply for Digital Starter customers who want HD channels. HD equipment is also required to receive HD channels.
_


----------



## nottenst

Thanks for that confirmation. I also saw an article from last year which first said the fee would apply but then at the end had some corrections:


> Quote:
> I spoke to Comcast’s Vice President of Public Relations, Bob Grove, who corrected a few inaccuracies provided by the representative I spoke to. The encryption does, in fact, affect those customers who utilize Comcast’s QAM signals instead of using Comcast equipment. Those QAM users can get up to two free digital adapters and these customers are not limited to standard definition adapters. HD adapters are also fair game and will not cost $2.99 but are instead free, just like the SD adapters. Also, there is no HD Technology fee for Limited Basic customers — that fee is only assessed on higher-tier cable packages.



So, I guess this gives me what I need to make the call to have them turn on the HD codes.


----------



## nottenst

Well, I was on the phone with Comcast most of last night. They were unable to get me my HD channels on my HD DTA and ultimately suggested I get a new DTA. I'll see how that works.


----------



## nottenst

I got the new HD DTA yesterday and tried again this morning and even though the service person had the HD channels on my lineup ( she was unable to really do anything. Various signals were sent to the box and it was reinitialized at least once more. Maybe the channels will show up during the day while I am work but I doubt it. 

From the FCC page allowing encryption: "Encryption of all-digital cable service will allow cable operators to activate and deactivate cable service remotely, thus relieving many consumers of the need to wait at home to receive a cable technician when they sign up for or cancel cable service, or expand service to an existing cable connection in their home. " Yeah, right.


----------



## PaulGo

nottenst said:


> I got the new HD DTA yesterday and tried again this morning and even though the service person had the HD channels on my lineup ( she was unable to really do anything. Various signals were sent to the box and it was reinitialized at least once more. Maybe the channels will show up during the day while I am work but I doubt it.
> 
> From the FCC page allowing encryption: "Encryption of all-digital cable service will allow cable operators to activate and deactivate cable service remotely, thus relieving many consumers of the need to wait at home to receive a cable technician when they sign up for or cancel cable service, or expand service to an existing cable connection in their home. " Yeah, right.


I think Comcast does not have the correct codes in for the HD DTA that authorizes HD. A have Preferred Service and one of my HD DTAs did not receive any HD channels. Fortunately I had a free install but the install tech had to make many calls to finally get the correct codes on the HD DTA to authorize HD. You can press an hold "7" on the remote until a service menu comes up. I will bet that HD is not authorized on the HD DTA.


----------



## nottenst

PaulGo said:


> I think Comcast does not have the correct codes in for the HD DTA that authorizes HD. A have Preferred Service and one of my HD DTAs did not receive any HD channels. Fortunately I had a free install but the install tech had to make many calls to finally get the correct codes on the HD DTA to authorize HD. You can press an hold "7" on the remote until a service menu comes up. I will bet that HD is not authorized on the HD DTA.


Thanks. I think you would win that bet. I'll be interested in seeing what comes up on that service menu. I really don't want to pay for a service call.

Looking elsewhere I see a similar situation: 



So the question is how I could get someone in tech support high enough to help out.


----------



## PaulGo

nottenst said:


> Thanks. I think you would win that bet. I'll be interested in seeing what comes up on that service menu. I really don't want to pay for a service call.
> 
> Looking elsewhere I see a similar situation:
> 
> 
> 
> So the question is how I could get someone in tech support high enough to help out.


Try: *[email protected]*, they have very skilled employees who can really help.


----------



## nottenst

PaulGo said:


> Try: *[email protected]*, they have very skilled employees who can really help.


I did write but haven't heard back yet.



PaulGo said:


> You can press an hold "7" on the remote until a service menu comes up. I will bet that HD is not authorized on the HD DTA.


I did that and you won the bet. "HD Capability" is set to "OFF"


----------



## nottenst

I called again this morning and the tech person tried to get the HD channels authorized on my box. He said it could take anywhere up to an hour and a half for it to work. I don't know if what he did actually succeeded because I was called by someone who heard about my problem from writing to [email protected]. This was about a 40 minutes after the end of my previous call. After less than 2 minutes after he called the HD channels were now working. I think it was him and not the delayed result from the earlier phone call, but I can't be certain. In any case, I have the channels. Thanks for the help.


----------



## PaulGo

I agree it was the call from we can help. For a HD DTA the loading of the channel info is almost instantaneous.


----------



## Frankie20

What happened to WZDC 25? Since Friday I can no longer receive the channel.

Is anyone else have problems with WZDC?


----------



## AntAltMike

Frankie20 said:


> What happened to WZDC 25? Since Friday I can no longer receive the channel.
> 
> Is anyone else have problems with WZDC?


I've lost it here in Berwyn Heights, just to the east of College Park. I have a chimney-mounted Winegard directional antenna and it is always reliable here.


----------



## Trip in VA

Looks like it went out around 1PM on Friday the 13th. http://www.rabbitears.info/tvdx/signal_graph/1019EECD/tuner1/WZDC-CD

- Trip


----------



## dtv_junkie87

WNUV, one of the three Sinclair stations in its home market of Baltimore, to get *getTV* on a subchannel soon:

http://www.tvtechnology.com/news/0086/sonys-gettv-gets--sinclair-stations/271009

Now the Baltimore/DC area will have TWO getTV affiliates! Who says you can't have too much of a good thing?

dtv_junkie87


----------



## StevenJB

dtv_junkie87 said:


> WNUV, one of the three Sinclair stations in its home market of Baltimore, to get *getTV* on a subchannel soon:
> 
> http://www.tvtechnology.com/news/0086/sonys-gettv-gets--sinclair-stations/271009
> 
> Now the Baltimore/DC area will have TWO getTV affiliates! Who says you can't have too much of a good thing?
> 
> dtv_junkie87


Channel 54-2, WNUV-DT, GET-TV became operational on or about 01 Jul 14.


----------



## AntAltMike

StevenJB said:


> Channel 54-2, WNUV-DT, GET-TV became operational on or about 01 Jul 14.


It's schedule information is incorrect at the moment. It indicated that Crash Landing would end at 9:55 PM this evening, when in fact it ended at 10:35, and it said it would be followed by Crime and Punishment, when it in fact was followed by Hellcats of the Navy. WFDC 14.3 has the content and time correct. The mismatch of time and content could be due to the Nancy Davis (Reagan) marathon, if it is superseding the previously scheduled programming.


----------



## mkfs

Chan 20's encoder seems to be SOL tonight. No program guide.....


----------



## Trip in VA

Wow.

So I moved two streets over to a new house which I have bought, and I now have better reception with the temporary indoor antenna than I did with the outdoor antenna/amp at the old place. And I lost elevation in the move. I hadn't seen WMDO-LD for more than a few minutes in the past year, now it's solid. The only stations I lost were WNVT and WUTB, and WUTB wasn't solid at the old location.

Going to stick an antenna in the attic and see if it grabs WWPX, WUTB, and WNVT, and if it stabilizes WJZ. If it does those things, I will just leave it there.

- Trip


----------



## PaulGo

Comcast has not encrypted all channels in Montgomery County, MD.


----------



## StantonGuy

I cut the Comcast cord again--the TV service was fine, but the internet was completely unreliable. I plugged the rooftop antenna back into the old tube TV via the digital converter box and wasn't that happy with the number of channels. Then I remembered I had a cheap on-hand splitter on the cable to run one to the bedroom and one to the living room so I removed the splitter. Wow! 

My current channel list:
2
4
5
7
9
11
13
14
20
22
23
25
26
30 (only .1-.6, may have been because I scanned late last night)
32
45
47
49 (.1-.4, weird ones when there)
50
54
58
60 & 66 both but the same.

Location http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=e1c67875a23269

Omnidirectional MS-1000 antenna attached to the chimney on the roof.

Very happy. Now I realize I need to get a better splitter to make the same channels available throughout the house. Channel Master CM3418 or would the 8-way splitter on Denny's site be sufficient. Also considering getting a 16-way splitter to reach all of the runs (or most of them anyway) and just capping the ends at the wall where not being used. 

Picking up this conversation that was interrupted with two years of Comcast.



CLT OTA Nut said:


> Quote:Originally Posted by *StantonGuy*
> 
> I'm running a lot of cables too (two to each room, one each side, or more in the living room and to the basement apartment so maybe 16 locations when all is said and done--though obviously not watching TV in all 16 at one time).
> 
> If only DC, I still don't know about a 16 way unamplified splitter, but you should be alright.
> 
> You might want to checkout a 2 way splitter off of the antenna going to 2 CM 3418 which are 8 way amplified "splitters" or distribution amps... Depending on how long the runs are this may help, and you may be able to have everything live at once.
> 
> You may still overload the RF with any amplification...
> 
> Are all 16 feeds going to a central junction?


Yes, if I understand it right, all 16 feeds would be to a central junction: antenna on the roof down to central location then dispersed from there throughout the house. 

So should I go with an unamplified 8 or 16-way splitter, a CM3418 (or two) or something else?



AntAltMike said:


> Digital broadcast frequencies only go up to 698 MHz, and in this market, the highest frequency used is 692 MHz. While many old cable TV systems only carried channels up to 450 MHz, splitters rated to that frequency are very uncommon, as the previous incarnation of splitters were rated to 890 MHz (UHF channel 83). Splitters commonly rated to 806 MHz (UHF channel 69), 864 MHz (cable channel 135) or 890 MHz are all ideal for off-air use.


Mike, do you recommend a specific splitter?

Thanks for all of the help!


----------



## AntAltMike

I just checked the Redskins/Patriots preseason game on WRC, and at 10:25 PM, just after the game ended but still part of the broadcast, it was being televised in 1080i. I thought that for the last free _few_ years, Comcast cable had the exclusive on the Redskins preseason HDTV distribution.


----------



## carltonrice

*WMAR-DT Flashing Problem*

I was watching WMAR-DT during ABC's primetime this evening and there was a problem with almost constant intermittent flashing going on. Seemed to be there whether or not they were doing the ABC feed or the local feed. Didn't see anything like that on any other station, so I don't think it's my reception or HDTV.

Anybody else seeing this problem?


----------



## VARTV

AntAltMike said:


> I just checked the Redskins/Patriots preseason game on WRC, and at 10:25 PM, just after the game ended but still part of the broadcast, it was being televised in 1080i. I thought that for the last free years, Comcast cable had the exclusive on the Redskins preseason HDTV distribution.


They changed it for this season. Our local station also showed in HD for the first time...


----------



## AntAltMike

The time displayed on my Seki 32" HDTV is 40 minutes fast on WZDC-CD 25-1 and 15 minutes fast on WFDC-DT 14.1, and has been for at least several weeks. Is anyone else experiencing this problem?


----------



## AntAltMike

The WFDC subchannel names now read 14.2 GET-TV, which presently displays a blank screen, and 14.3 now reads GRITtv, but that sub-channel is still carrying GET-TV programming. Grittv has been mentioned recently in other Local HDTV Info and Reception subforums.


----------



## dleedlee

AntAltMike said:


> The time displayed on my Seki 32" HDTV is 40 minutes fast on WZDC-CD 25-1 and 15 minutes fast on WFDC-DT 14.1, and has been for at least several weeks. Is anyone else experiencing this problem?


Yep, 14.1, 14.3 are 15 minutes fast on my iView3500STB, wreaking havoc on my timed recordings if they are the last (off) or current (on) channel.


----------



## AntAltMike

WFDC subchannel 14.4 is now labeled Escape, but it, too, displays just a blank screen. Escape has been referenced in other Local HDTV Info and Reception subforums here in conjunction with the addition of GRITtv.


----------



## dleedlee

"New national digital networks Escape and Grit will flip the on switch August 18 at 12 Noon Eastern."

http://classictvblog.com/tag/grit-tv-network/


----------



## AntAltMike

dleedlee said:


> "New national digital networks Escape and Grit will flip the on switch August 18 at 12 Noon Eastern."
> 
> http://classictvblog.com/tag/grit-tv-network/


From the linked page:



> Escape will air female-skewed movies and off-cable true crime series.


Oh, boy! Another Lifetime Movies channel!



> Grit will program action and adventure movies skewing to men... Grit kicks things off with the classic Gary Cooper western High Noon.


I haven't seen High Noon since, since... uh, since it aired last week on 20.2 Movies!


----------



## mkfs

AntAltMike said:


> From the linked page:
> 
> Oh, boy! Another Lifetime Movies channel!
> 
> I haven't seen High Noon since, since... uh, since it aired last week on 20.2 Movies!


 With gender appropriate ads on each, of course. You gotta know those ZuperBaiterProstrate spiels will be out in farce err force.


----------



## AntAltMike

Promos are now up on 14.3 Grittv and 14.4 Escape. Gettv has been renumbered to 14-2.


----------



## AntAltMike

I have Spanish audio on both the English and Spanish audio selections on 45.1's NFL football game last night at 11:00 PM.

14.3 Grittv and 14.4 Escape came on as scheduled, but the clock didn't get reset. it is still at least fifteen minutes fast.


----------



## AntAltMike

Redskins/Ravens were on 4.1 (1080i), 7.1 (720p) and 54.1. How did they come to be carried by two channels in the same DMA?


----------



## CycloneGT

*Guessing here*

I'm going to guess and say that WRC has the rights to Redskins games in the DC market, and WJLA has Ravens game rights in the DC market.

Perfect storm of pre-season scheduling. Likley not worth fighting over so it aired on both channels.


----------



## nottenst

CycloneGT said:


> I'm going to guess and say that WRC has the rights to Redskins games in the DC market, and WJLA has Ravens game rights in the DC market.
> 
> Perfect storm of pre-season scheduling. Likley not worth fighting over so it aired on both channels.


And tonight they are both showing pre-season games of the Redskins and Ravens - only this time it is two different games.


----------



## pamajestic

I now see Bounce TV on WMAR 2.3 and still on WUTB. The same network on two channels in the same market?


----------



## AntAltMike

pamajestic said:


> I now see Bounce TV on WMAR 2.3 and still on WUTB. The same network on two channels in the same market?


I'm seeing it too. FWIW, WMAR has the more powerful transmitter and wider coverage, but since its coverage totally overlaps WUTBs, then I will speculate that WUTB's affiliation will end soon though I have not as yet found either station's immediate sub-channel plans.


----------



## AntAltMike

pamajestic said:


> I now see Bounce TV on WMAR 2.3 and still on WUTB. The same network on two channels in the same market?


I just attempted to send a query to WUTB viafeature on their website but got an invalid recipient rejection notice twice. I did successfully send a similar query to WMAR and await their response.


----------



## AntAltMike

WUTB 24.2 is now blank, but the identifier is still holding that sub-channel's place.


----------



## crbaldwin

I am having reception difficulties with WUSA just during the day: ~ 12PM - 5PM. I am about 50 miles away in southern Stafford County with an AntennaCraft Y5-7-13 VHF antenna in my attic. My HDHomerun always reports > 90% signal strength and signal quality but when I am having troubles the symbol quality mostly stays below 50%. I have no problems with Primetime tuning on WUSA and no problems with any of the other channels. I just bought a new HDHomerun (to compare to the original version) to see if a supposedly better tuner would help but it has the same problem. Anyone else have this problem or know what might be causing "interference" during the day? Thanks.


----------



## stringpower

Hey guys, 

Thank God I found a forum that can help me with my problem. I am originally from Northern Virginia (Redskins fan  ) I moved to Maryland but I think I am pretty far to catch the redskins games on Fox 5 (WTTG Fox HD) or abc 7(WJLA -ABC HD).

So I think there are a couple of people in my same situtation and I can see that you are catching the games with no problems. 
I have done some research and visited antennaweb.org

According to them in order to see WTTG-DT 5.1 FOX RF Channel: 36 which is 28 miles at 227 degrees I need to get a large directional antenna with a preamp to reach the violet areas.

Now my big question is which antenna should I get?

I don't think I can install it on my roof because of my strict HOA committee but thankfully I have an attic that I can mount it too. Couple of questions for you guys if you don't mind.

1. Based on your experience, what is a good antenna that can help me. I live in Halethorpe, MD 21227 trying to get to FOX 5 WTTG about 28 miles away.

2. What is a good preamp for this antenna.

3. I will setup this on my attic, you think it will be ok?

4. I'm sure that an antenna might be the only way, but is there a website or other cheap service that can help me watch the redskins games on the fox, abc and nbc stations for Washington, DC?


Thanks a million guys. I really appreciate your feedback and help.


----------



## Jake V

stringpower said:


> Hey guys,
> 
> Thank God I found a forum that can help me with my problem. I am originally from Northern Virginia (Redskins fan  ) I moved to Maryland but I think I am pretty far to catch the redskins games on Fox 5 (WTTG Fox HD) or abc 7(WJLA -ABC HD).
> 
> So I think there are a couple of people in my same situtation and I can see that you are catching the games with no problems.
> I have done some research and visited antennaweb.org
> 
> According to them in order to see WTTG-DT 5.1 FOX RF Channel: 36 which is 28 miles at 227 degrees I need to get a large directional antenna with a preamp to reach the violet areas.
> 
> Now my big question is which antenna should I get?
> 
> I don't think I can install it on my roof because of my strict HOA committee but thankfully I have an attic that I can mount it too. Couple of questions for you guys if you don't mind.
> 
> 1. Based on your experience, what is a good antenna that can help me. I live in Halethorpe, MD 21227 trying to get to FOX 5 WTTG about 28 miles away.
> 
> 2. What is a good preamp for this antenna.
> 
> 3. I will setup this on my attic, you think it will be ok?
> 
> 4. I'm sure that an antenna might be the only way, but is there a website or other cheap service that can help me watch the redskins games on the fox, abc and nbc stations for Washington, DC?
> 
> 
> Thanks a million guys. I really appreciate your feedback and help.


String,

1) Go to http://www.tvfool.com 

2) Then go to http://www.tvfool.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29 , enter your information and antenna height, and click "Find Local Channels". Post a link to the final "Radar Plot". It will give a good guideline to your signal strength. 

Unless you're behind a large hill or mountain or in a hole your location is very do-able. Since you're close to Baltimore, but between Baltimore and Washington, you could probably benefit with an antenna aimed at DC but which can get all the Baltimore channels from the backside (since they are very powerful at your zip code). Assuming again that you're not actually in a hole.

You might also post your request on the forum there, as there is a group of experts who give great antenna advice.

Jake


----------



## stringpower

Jake V said:


> String,
> 
> 
> 
> Unless you're behind a large hill or mountain or in a hole your location is very do-able. Since you're close to Baltimore, but between Baltimore and Washington, you could probably benefit with an antenna aimed at DC but which can get all the Baltimore channels from the backside (since they are very powerful at your zip code). Assuming again that you're not actually in a hole.
> 
> You might also post your request on the forum there, as there is a group of experts who give great antenna advice.
> 
> Jake


Hey Jake,

Thanks for your quick reply. I really appreciate your help. I am going to do that. I don't have an antenna yet. Which one would you recommend I get. I want one that actually works. Thanks.


----------



## Jake V

stringpower said:


> Hey Jake,
> 
> Thanks for your quick reply. I really appreciate your help. I am going to do that. I don't have an antenna yet. Which one would you recommend I get. I want one that actually works. Thanks.


String,

It's impossible to make a suggestion without seeing your TV Fool Report. If you're in a hole or at the bottom of a hill the recommendation can be very different than it would be on top of a hill. I'd post your TV Fool Report both here and the TV Fool forum. There are people who will give you better recommendations than I can.

BTW, attics are often not very friendly to antennas. If your house or roof is wrapped in anything with metal foil you might not receive anything with a large antenna (most attics block at least 30-40% of the signal in the best of conditions). A roof, eve, or chimney mounted antenna would be smaller and better. But you can certainly try it in the attic and then move outside if necessary.

John


----------



## stringpower

Jake V said:


> String,
> 
> It's impossible to make a suggestion without seeing your TV Fool Report. If you're in a hole or at the bottom of a hill the recommendation can be very different than it would be on top of a hill. I'd post your TV Fool Report both here and the TV Fool forum. There are people who will give you better recommendations than I can.
> 
> BTW, attics are often not very friendly to antennas. If your house or roof is wrapped in anything with metal foil you might not receive anything with a large antenna (most attics block at least 30-40% of the signal in the best of conditions). A roof, eve, or chimney mounted antenna would be smaller and better. But you can certainly try it in the attic and then move outside if necessary.
> 
> John


Hey Jake,

Thanks. Here is my TV fool report. Let me know what you think.


----------



## Jake V

WJLA-7 (ABC, real channel 7) is "yellow" and WTTG-5 (Fox, real channel 36) is "red", meaning that it would be more difficult to get Channel 5 with an attic antenna. 

I'm not an antenna expert (just a knowledgeable enthusiast) so I'll leave it to the real experts to make recommendations (there are 3 or 4 experts on TV Fool who will give you great advice). They are probably going to recommend a larger, directional antenna aimed at magnetic 238 degrees that is also capable of receiving the strong Baltimore stations from the backside.


----------



## AntAltMike

AntAltMike said:


> I have Spanish audio on both the English and Spanish audio selections on 45.1's NFL football game last night at 11:00 PM..



It happened again, during yesterday's Ravens game on 45.1 If I'm the only one having this problem during Ravens games, then it must be my TV. I got English audio on 5.1.


----------



## Digital Rules

stringpower said:


> 3. I will setup this on my attic, you think it will be ok?


If you can't mount an antenna on the roof, I wouldn't bother. Unfortunately the TV FOOL report indicates borderline / too weak DC signal strengths for an attic install.


----------



## carltonrice

stringpower said:


> Hey Jake,
> 
> Thanks. Here is my TV fool report. Let me know what you think.


If the attic doesn't work for you, you should know that legally an HOA cannot stop you from mounting an antenna on your roof.


----------



## StevenJB

For all of you analog television aficionados, this past September 1st marked the one-year countdown to the final death of commercial analog television broadcasting in these here United States. Low-power (LPTV) analog stations are facing the dropping of the second shoe on September 1, 2015, when all commercial analog television transmissions must cease. The first shoe, of course, dropped June 12, 2009, with the termination of full power analog television broadcast stations on Channels 2 through 69. Here is the announcement for the termination of analog LPTV stations:

"The FCC has established *September 1, 2015*, the date for the termination of all analog low power television service. After that date, analog television will no longer be broadcast in the United States. Until that time, low power television stations may continue to operate their analog facilities. 

"Low power television stations have the opportunity to seek either an on-channel digital conversion of their existing analog facilities (“flash cut”) or may construct and operate a second digital companion channel during the remainder of the digital transition. However, all low power television stations will be required to decide a single digital channel to continue to operate after the September 1, 2015 transition date." 

Locally, in the Washington, DC area, to my knowledge, only two remaining LPTV analog stations will be affected by the September 1, 2015 deadline. They are WDCN-LP, analog Channel 6, Fairfax, VA, and WMDO-CA, analog Channel 47, Washington, DC. WDCN has a CP on file with the FCC for WDCN-LD, digital RF Channel 43, probably with the intent to map to digital virtual Channel 6. WMDO-LD is also currently actively broadcasting on digital RF Channel 8, while mapping to digital virtual Channel 47. It is my understanding that WMDO-LD has a CP on file with the FCC to vacate digital RF Channel 8 for digital RF Channel 22, and to continue to map to digital virtual Channel 47. One immediate benefit for residents in the southern and central portions of Montgomery County, MD, is that by WMDO-LD's vacating digital RF Channel 8, that it will eliminate WMDO's interference with WGAL-DT, RF Channel 8 in Lancaster, PA, in parts of Montgomery County, MD, which can receive both stations on digital Channel 8. WGAL-DT sends out a huge 59 kW ERP non-directional digital signal, which almost reaches the Capital Beltway just north of DC.


----------



## oaks

stringpower said:


> Hey Jake,
> 
> Thanks. Here is my TV fool report. Let me know what you think.


I'm a few miles south of BWI and have a very similar TVFOOL profile.

I've had great success with a Winegard HD-1080 antenna with Channel Master CM-7777 preamp. I get a stable signal on all full strength stations in DC and Baltimore (including WTTG and WJLA) in all but the worst weather in a challenging situation: attic mounted, aluminum siding, big trees, close to airport. The amp is only needed for the DC stations. It took some patience to find the sweet spot for the antenna that worked best, which turned out to be due west, hanging by some twine from the rafters.


----------



## Digital Rules

Sorry, the HD 1080 is a terrible choice given the OP's location. While I like the 1080, it is not gonna work for DC with that TV Fool report.

Besides the OP is looking for someone to tell him that an attic antenna will work, so no sense going any further till he is ready to tell his HOA where to stick it.


----------



## tylerSC

Digital Rules said:


> Sorry, the HD 1080 is a terrible choice given the OP's location. While I like the 1080, it is not gonna work for DC with that TV Fool report.
> 
> Besides the OP is looking for someone to tell him that an attic antenna will work, so no sense going any further till he is ready to tell his HOA where to stick it.


I think he should consider a Winegard 7696 or Antennacraft HBU-33 antenna, and a Channel Master 7778 preamp or 3414 distribution amp. Or possibly a Winegard LNA-200 preamp. Not too much amp is needed. And of course outside is better, but I don't know why he would have a weak signal report at 28 miles for full power stations. But he could try the attic and see what happens.


----------



## jwspiker

*just moved to potomac falls, va*

just moved to potomac falls, va, into a townhome, have 1 tv that i'm trying to get as many channels as i can, right now can only get 4.1 and 5.1 consistently, the Homeworx HW110AN is what i have, and i'm curious if folks that are on here, that live in the area have had good results with indoor antenna's. TV is on an eastern facing wall, on second floor, so i could get the antenna about 18-20 feet high indoors. Coax in the walls looks original and probably needs to be replaced to get optimal signal from attic and dish cable runs that were done. 

has anyone in the potomac falls, VA /Northern Sterling area had much luck with indoor antenna's?

here's the tvtool listing for an attic install of antenna at 35 feet(3 story townhome)
can't post the tvool link at this time because this is only my 3rd post.


----------



## Tom Harms

*UHF & VHF Channels*

4.1 (NBC) and 5.1 (FOX) are UHF channels. ABC (7.1) & CBS (9.1) are VHF and more challenging for some indoor antennas.


----------



## tylerSC

Tom Harms said:


> 4.1 (NBC) and 5.1 (FOX) are UHF channels. ABC (7.1) & CBS (9.1) are VHF and more challenging for some indoor antennas.


Yes, and flat panel antennas such as the Homeworx are designed for UHF and are not optimized for VHF. I would go to Radioshack and get a basic rabbit ears and loop antenna, or possibly the amplified version. The rabbit ears are more crucial to receive 7 and 9 which are VHF. Or try a Terk HDTVa from HHG which also has rabbit ears and is a good indoor antenna.


----------



## AntAltMike

I've been without 45.1-45.3 WBBF here in College Park for a few hours now, but I'm getting 67.1 reliably even though it is further away but on the same reception path. I rescanned and went from "no signal" to having the channel eliminated from my channel list.


----------



## Trip in VA

Looks like there was a brief outage.

http://www.rabbitears.info/tvdx/signal_graph/10317DF4/tuner1/WBFF

- Trip


----------



## mjnoles1

Anyone close to Northern, VA area (Specifically Woodbridge) to check out a Samsung PN51F8500 tv for me?

I can buy one for $799. Can anyone check it out for me before purchase?


----------



## Smitty2k1

All - I moved from my 2br Fairfax apartment to a small 550sqft 1br with my girlfriend in the city. I need to sell my Denon 789 AVR and Ascend Acoustics 5.0 setup since there is no room. Any of you locals interested? I sold my Epik Empire sub a few years back to a local and it worked very well for both of us!

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/209-a...9-avr-ascend-acoustics-340-170-5-0-setup.html


----------



## AntAltMike

mjnoles1 said:


> Anyone close to Northern, VA area (Specifically Woodbridge) to check out a Samsung PN51F8500 tv for me?
> 
> I can buy one for $799. Can anyone check it out for me before purchase?


Not that I'm offering, but what is it about it that you want checked out?


----------



## mjnoles1

AntAltMike said:


> Not that I'm offering, but what is it about it that you want checked out?


It seems like one of those "too good to be true" deals. The Samsung F8500 is the top rated TV the past 2 years, the 51" has been hanging around the discounted price of a little less than $1,600 for some time, it just recently dropped to a little less than $1,400 (as Samsung is stopping production this November). 

These TVs are really sought after, that it is hard to find open box or used ones available. This seller has two open box Samsung F8500 from Best Buy, according to the seller. It just seems too good to be true, and thus, I want to make sure it is actually legitimate before I make any type of purchase.


----------



## AntAltMike

I don't see what anyone can do for you that you can't do for yourself. I guess you would just have to arrange for all of the inputs you plan on using to be available when you test it.

Can you obtain serial numbers before purchasing so that you can run them by the manufacturer and law enforcement?


----------



## AntAltMike

30.1-30.6 and 30.7-30.12 have both been out for at least an hour, 

Also, I had a blank screen for 2.1 Castle and now have a blank screen for 2.1 Paid Programming, even though the TV's signal meter reads "good" and WMAR's other two subchannels are operating properly.


----------



## dlarkin_dc

Recently come back to battling my nemesis, channel 48 (NBC 4.1), which never comes in well. All the other stations broadcasting from the same location, also upper UHF, and with lower signal strength (per TVFool and FCC) come in stronger and steady. So what gives with 48?!

I'm in Mt Vernon 23308 using a bay bowtie 4-bay in-attic. Everything else comes in exactly as predicted by aiming, etc. Just getting a moderate signal and regular drop-outs dropouts on 48.

Anyone else having probs with 48, know if anything about this station is different, or solved this problem?

Dave


----------



## AntAltMike

AntAltMike said:


> 30.1-30.6 and 30.7-30.12 have both been out for at least an hour,
> 
> Also, I had a blank screen for 2.1 Castle and now have a blank screen for 2.1 Paid Programming, even though the TV's signal meter reads "good" and WMAR's other two subchannels are operating properly.


All back on at 6:00 AM.


----------



## AntAltMike

dlarkin_dc said:


> Recently come back to battling my nemesis, channel 48 (NBC 4.1), which never comes in well. All the other stations broadcasting from the same location, also upper UHF, and with lower signal strength (per TVFool and FCC) come in stronger and steady. So what gives with 48?!
> 
> I'm in Mt Vernon 23308 using a bay bowtie 4-bay in-attic.
> 
> Dave


23308 is Bloxom Virginia. Did you mis-type a digit?

Someone roughly due south of the Washington, DC transmitters sometimes finds that there is a tall, "Charles Smith" building directly on their reception path. Do you also have trouble with WFDA 14.1-14.4? They will have about the same transmission path to Mt. Vernon. Until recently, it carried no English programming, so many people have deleted it from their channel list and are therefore not aware of its new content.


----------



## dlarkin_dc

Yeah, no coffee yet this morning... 22308

I regularly styop by 14.2-4 nice new channels. They come in 100%, TV signal rating. 48 at best ever hits mid 80s, often lingers in upper 70s with drops to 50s, macroblocking artifacts and loss of picture.

I checked, it seems I'm west enough to miss the Chas Smith bldg, if its the one in Crystal City... but I am sure that low planes in/out of Natl can cause signal drops, on 48 only!


----------



## captain_video

I'm currently using an Antennas Direct Clearstream 2 antenna aimed at Baltimore (approx. 46 degrees from my location) and a Clearstream 4 antenna aimed at Washington (approx. 218 degrees). Both are mounted on masts on my roof. The two are combined using a splitter/combiner and sent to a distribution amp where it's split between three Hauppauge 2250 PCIe dual tuners in a Windows Media Center PC and a HDHomeRun Dual tuner. The house is on the low side of a sloped cul de sac so the top of my roof is maybe 10-15' lower than the house next door at the top of the road. When I bought the antennas I could have sworn they were for both UHF and VHF but I just recently found they were for UHF only.

The way I'm currently set up I am unable to receive channel 7 (WJLA ABC affiliate) in D.C. and I get a lot of pixilation from channel 2.1 (ABC, Baltimore) and 54.1 (The CW, Baltimore). These are listed as the two strongest stations in my area so I assume that they're over-driving my tuners. I'm only 10 miles from the Baltimore towers and about 25 miles from the ones in D.C.

I've attached my TV Fool printout. I'm looking for any antenna recommendations from people in the area that are getting good reception from the major networks in both markets (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, The CW, and PBS).


----------



## Digital Rules

I would personally first try for a one antenna solution. Combining 2 antennas with a reversed splitter rarely provides reliable reception.

Try just the Clearstream 4 antenna aimed at DC connected to 1 tuner (no splits/no amp) & see what you get. Since Balimore is exactly 180° opposite DC, you have a very good chance of receiving it off the back of the C-4.

What distruibution amp are you using? How close are the antennas to each other?

The C-4 is designed for UHF, but can sometimes work OK for VHF with a clean (multipath free) signal.


----------



## captain_video

The antennas are on separate masts about four feet apart. The distribution amp is a ChannelPlus DA-506BID with six outputs. I'm going to replace it with a 4-output amp from Antennas Direct that I have on order. I'm only using four outputs and the CP likely has an extra set of splitters for the two extra outputs.

I'll try your suggestion of using a single antenna this weekend. I am essentially right in between the main towers for each market so it may work as you indicated. My main concern was the lack of reception for WJLA in D.C. since it's in close proximity to the other towers. It's broadcast in VHF, as is one other D.C. channel and two of the Baltimore stations. I was hoping for a combined VHF/UHF antenna to ensure reception of these four channels in addition to the UHF stations.


----------



## Trip in VA

Looks like WBFF dumped Zuus Country, bumped This TV from 45-2 to 45-3, and put WeatherNation on 45-2.

- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules

captain_video said:


> I'm going to replace it with a 4-output amp from Antennas Direct that I have on order.


You have more of an antenna issue than anything else. Focus on getting a good signal to ONE tuner before throwing money at the problem. With the signal strengths shown in the report an amp may be unnecessary.


----------



## tylerSC

captain_video said:


> The antennas are on separate masts about four feet apart. The distribution amp is a ChannelPlus DA-506BID with six outputs. I'm going to replace it with a 4-output amp from Antennas Direct that I have on order. I'm only using four outputs and the CP likely has an extra set of splitters for the two extra outputs.
> 
> I'll try your suggestion of using a single antenna this weekend. I am essentially right in between the main towers for each market so it may work as you indicated. My main concern was the lack of reception for WJLA in D.C. since it's in close proximity to the other towers. It's broadcast in VHF, as is one other D.C. channel and two of the Baltimore stations. I was hoping for a combined VHF/UHF antenna to ensure reception of these four channels in addition to the UHF stations.


You can get a UHF/VHF signal joiner from Radioshack and add a VHF antenna to the CS4. That should help with 7 and 9 from DC, and 11 and 13 from Baltimore. Possibly the YA-713 from Antennacraft, or even the RCA ANT-751 could work, as the UVSJ will filter out the additional UHF. Just find a sweet spot to aim between the towers.


----------



## captain_video

Digital Rules said:


> You have more of an antenna issue than anything else. Focus on getting a good signal to ONE tuner before throwing money at the problem. With the signal strengths shown in the report an amp may be unnecessary.


I agree with everything you're saying and I'm trying to work the antenna issue. However, each of the tuners is a dual tuner model and has an internal splitter. The original signal would get split 8 ways so a distribution amp isn't just throwing money at the problem but a necessary piece of hardware to ensure I still have a usable signal for each tuner.

FWIW, the loss of WJLA was a tradeoff as I had to aim the antenna for the best overall coverage. I'm able to get all of the other D.C. channels with no problem. If I aimed it to pick up WJLA, at least one or two other channels would drop off. I found this a bit perplexing based on the compass headings as they are all in the same general vicinity. The two Baltimore channels I'm having issues with are on the exact same compass heading as the other stations. I'm close enough that I can probably pick them up with a set of rabbit ears so the antenna I'm using should be more than adequate. OTOH, since I'm so close to the towers maybe I'm getting too strong of a signal with the distribution amp. It can't hurt to try a 4-way splitter and see how it goes.



tylerSC said:


> You can get a UHF/VHF signal joiner from Radioshack and add a VHF antenna to the CS4. That should help with 7 and 9 from DC, and 11 and 13 from Baltimore. Possibly the YA-713 from Antennacraft, or even the RCA ANT-751 could work, as the UVSJ will filter out the additional UHF. Just find a sweet spot to aim between the towers.


Thanks for the suggestions. I'm going to play with the alignment a bit more this weekend as well as various combinations of existing antennas and splitters or distribution amps.


----------



## fmw63

StevenJB said:


> Locally, in the Washington, DC area, to my knowledge, only two remaining LPTV analog stations will be affected by the September 1, 2015 deadline. They are WDCN-LP, analog Channel 6, Fairfax, VA, and WMDO-CA, analog Channel 47, Washington, DC. WMDO-LD is also currently actively broadcasting on digital RF Channel 8, while mapping to digital virtual Channel 47. It is my understanding that WMDO-LD has a CP on file with the FCC to vacate digital RF Channel 8 for digital RF Channel 22, and to continue to map to digital virtual Channel 47.


I sent an email to WMDO about the change to RF22, and the reply was "Didn't know it was happening. Did you see something?"


----------



## AntAltMike

Trip in VA said:


> Looks like WBFF dumped Zuus Country, bumped This TV from 45-2 to 45-3, and put WeatherNation on 45-2.
> 
> - Trip


It strikes me as odd how poor a market this region is for country music. I think country music even has a larger audience in New England just from people who got discharged from the military while stationed at bases in New England and never bothered to go "home".


----------



## Trip in VA

fmw63 said:


> I sent an email to WMDO about the change to RF22, and the reply was "Didn't know it was happening. Did you see something?"


There's an application on file, but not yet a permit. Absent a permit, they cannot construct RF22.



AntAltMike said:


> It strikes me as odd how poor a market this region is for country music. I think country music even has a larger audience in New England just from people who got discharged from the military while stationed at bases in New England and never bothered to go "home".


I doubt this has anything to do with the region. None of these music video services have made it. Think back to "The Tube" and then to "The Cool TV," and even on cable almost every actual video channel has since transformed into something else. I'm surprised ZUUS Country has lasted this long. I'm guessing Sinclair is about to start dropping the service across the country when it picks up Grit.

- Trip


----------



## fmw63

Trip in VA said:


> There's an application on file, but not yet a permit. Absent a permit, they cannot construct RF22.
> - Trip


Yeah, I just figured the chief engineer would know something about it, though. Maybe the idea has been dropped?


----------



## AntAltMike

fmw63 said:


> Yeah, I just figured the chief engineer would know something about it, though. Maybe the idea has been dropped?


Do low powered stations really have chief engineers? I used to do some work for one low powered analog station in the Washington, DC market 20 years ago, and their only "engineer" was whomever they picked out of the Yellow Pages to service their malfunctioning equipment that day.

I remember calling WHUT a few times over a stretch of a few years to find out what progress they were making towards boosting their power from I think 90KW to 1,000 KW, as the FCC website said they were authorized to do, but never spoke to anyone who knew anything about it.


----------



## AntAltMike

fmw63 said:


> I sent an email to WMDO about the change to RF22, and the reply was "Didn't know it was happening. Did you see something?"


Reminds me of the time I got a call, asking whether there was any way to get Nigerian programming by satellite. I told them to call the Nigerian Embassy to see if they were getting any, and the caller replied, "This _is_ the Nigerian Embassy"/


----------



## Digital Rules

dlarkin_dc said:


> Recently come back to battling my nemesis, channel 48 (NBC 4.1), which never comes in well. So what gives with 48?!


The antenna is likely sitting in a dead spot for 48. You may only need to raise or lower the antenna a few inches to resolve the issue. If this doesn't work, try different locations around the attic to find the best sweet spot.


----------



## AntAltMike

Digital Rules said:


> The antenna is likely sitting in a dead spot for 48. You may only need to raise or lower the antenna a few inches to resolve the issue. If this doesn't work, try different locations around the attic to find the best sweet spot.


I was going to recommend that he move it directly towards or away from the transmitter in increments of an inch or two at a time and to record the numerical signal quality. From that. he may find a spot or range where the phasing of the desired and reflected signal are in sync and do not degrade one another.


----------



## dlarkin_dc

Digital Rules said:


> The antenna is likely sitting in a dead spot for 48. You may only need to raise or lower the antenna a few inches to resolve the issue. If this doesn't work, try different locations around the attic to find the best sweet spot.


Yeah, I've tried that a few times over the years and I'm already in the sweetest spot, orientation, and tilt I've been able to find. I agree, one poor reception looks like siting the antenna and it have seen for my self how much a single inch here or there can make a difference.


----------



## dlarkin_dc

AntAltMike said:


> I was going to recommend that he move it directly towards or away from the transmitter in increments of an inch or two at a time and to record the numberical signal quality. Form that. he may find a spot or range where the phasing of the desired and reflected signal are in sync and do not degrade one another.


Hmm, that's worth a try.

Thanks!


----------



## fmw63

dlarkin_dc said:


> Recently come back to battling my nemesis, channel 48 (NBC 4.1), which never comes in well. All the other stations broadcasting from the same location, also upper UHF, and with lower signal strength (per TVFool and FCC) come in stronger and steady. So what gives with 48?!
> 
> Anyone else having probs with 48, know if anything about this station is different, or solved this problem?
> 
> Dave


I'm in Landover Hills, MD and I have lots of problems trying to keep Ch4, too.


----------



## carltonrice

Digital Rules said:


> The antenna is likely sitting in a dead spot for 48. You may only need to raise or lower the antenna a few inches to resolve the issue. If this doesn't work, try different locations around the attic to find the best sweet spot.


Probably if you take the antenna out of the attic and put it on the roof, the problem will be solved because you'll get more signal.


----------



## Digital Rules

carltonrice said:


> Probably if you take the antenna out of the attic and put it on the roof, the problem will be solved because you'll get more signal.


Agree, but assuming the roof isn't an option for whatever reason. More often than not a WAF thing, so not even gonna touch that one.


----------



## dlarkin_dc

fmw63 said:


> dlarkin_dc said:
> 
> 
> 
> Recently come back to battling my nemesis, channel 48 (NBC 4.1), which never comes in well. All the other stations broadcasting from the same location, also upper UHF, and with lower signal strength (per TVFool and FCC) come in stronger and steady. So what gives with 48?!
> 
> Anyone else having probs with 48, know if anything about this station is different, or solved this problem?
> 
> Dave
> 
> 
> 
> I'm in Landover Hills, MD and I have lots of problems trying to keep Ch4, too.
Click to expand...

Yikes, you even have a few degrees either side of 4 from other broadcasters! 'Makes me wonder if there isn't something up with that channel, like the polarization being slightly off or something like that. What are your 4 symptoms?

Dave


----------



## mkfs

*blotches*

I'm watching Route 66 on 7.2 & it's covered with artifacts - turquoise blotches scattered around the scene on my Olevia set. Was this some fault in the digitization process or..? I assume DTV has no way to drop the colors subcarrier, err bit, & force only monochrome. [As if there was such in the standard......]


----------



## Digital Rules

dlarkin_dc said:


> Yikes, you even have a few degrees either side of 4 from other broadcasters! 'Makes me wonder if there isn't something up with that channel, like the polarization being slightly off or something like that. What are your 4 symptoms?
> 
> Dave


I too have noticed how channel 4 can be finicky in certain closer in locations. In Manassas I have run into problems more than once, but raising/lowering the antenna 6-12 inches always resloved any issues. 

OTOH, at the fringes of reception to the west beyond Culpeper, Channel 4 still holds it's own well. Channel 50 is too weak to decode while channel 66 is still strong. Channel 4 is even more reliable than powerhouse channels 7 & 9 once 65+ miles out in that direction.


----------



## fmw63

dlarkin_dc said:


> Yikes, you even have a few degrees either side of 4 from other broadcasters! 'Makes me wonder if there isn't something up with that channel, like the polarization being slightly off or something like that. What are your 4 symptoms?
> 
> Dave


Signal strength fluctuation, and sometimes just not there at all. There is a line of trees behind the houses across the street that probably are the cause...


----------



## jwspiker

*Sterling, VA*

Thanks for the details about UHF vs VHF, I acquired amazon basics 50 miler, and I get most channels, 4.1,4.2,5.1, 7.3,7.4,7.5, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3. 20.1, 50.1 all come in, which is better than i was getting before.

I guess 7.1 is harder to get than the others? Any suggestions? 

The house has coax runs through out from DTV setup outside, I'm tempted to mount an external antenna but that's on the west side of the house, and HOA says it needs to stay below roofline, i'm tempted to push that and raise a mount from the DTV that i'll yank out and put something up using the existing wiring, any suggestions? Only issue is the cable is just running along the gutter and it's not really secure. 

So close to being able to simply use existing coax. No coax is running into attic so i'd need to run new coax for that. 

I'll try to move the antenna around some more to see if i can get 7.1, annoying, and I also tried the Radio shack amped antenna with the circlular antenna, and didn't have any luck with the UHF stations. I actually have better signal, or get more channels when running the amazon basics 50 mile antenna (with amp) through a splitter then into TV.


----------



## jwspiker

it would seem that 7.3 = 7.1 on my xbr4 tuner, so seems im good, my 52xbr4 tunes 7.1 to 7.3 and 7.2 to 7.4 and 7.3 to 7.5, any one else see that in this region?


----------



## mkfs

*bloom/blotches*

My 37" Olevia just recently developed redish blotches/blooms, on dimmer scenes. I first noticed them on Route 66 on 4.2, but then also on I Spy. Now, I'm seeing it on Grimm. I can't see I've seen it on any other station.

It's an orphan; Olevia lasted through one Black Friday/Christmas then vanished. 

Is there any good news for me? Could it be something unique to WRC?


----------



## StantonGuy

AntAltMike said:


> 30.1-30.6 and 30.7-30.12 have both been out for at least an hour


I generally get 30.1-30.6, but I've never been able to pick up 30.7-30.12 and had figured (wrongly it seems) that it was one or the other.

Is there some trick to getting the other half?


----------



## StevenJB

StantonGuy said:


> I generally get 30.1-30.6, but I've never been able to pick up 30.7-30.12 and had figured (wrongly it seems) that it was one or the other.
> 
> Is there some trick to getting the other half?


There is no trick or secret about receiving Channels 30-7 through 30-12. It's always about your location and what equipment you are using to achieve your goal. Maybe you are aware or then again maybe you are unaware that Channels 30-1 through 30-6 and Channels 30-7 through 30-12 are broadcast from separate transmitters located some 20+ miles apart. WNVC-DT, Digital Channel 24, which broadcasts MHz1 through MHz6, is located west of the District next to the Capital Beltway in Merrifield, VA, whereas WNVT-DT, Digital Channel 30, which broadcasts MHz7 through MHz12, is located to the SW of Merrifield just west of Dale City, VA. Both transmitters use the same 160 kW ERP with similar antenna height above average terrain. I can receive an excellent signal for both WNVC and WNVT in central Montgomery County some 40 miles away from WNVT. Then again, I am very high up in elevation and use an outdoor VHF/UHF antenna along with a distribution amp.


----------



## Justkelly

mkfs said:


> My 37" Olevia just recently developed redish blotches/blooms, on dimmer scenes. I first noticed them on Route 66 on 4.2, but then also on I Spy. Now, I'm seeing it on Grimm. I can't see I've seen it on any other station.
> 
> It's an orphan; Olevia lasted through one Black Friday/Christmas then vanished.
> 
> Is there any good news for me? Could it be something unique to WRC?


A broadcaster wouldn't be putting red blotches of blooms on your TV display. Sounds like there is a problem with the screen.


----------



## Justkelly

jwspiker said:


> Thanks for the details about UHF vs VHF, I acquired amazon basics 50 miler, and I get most channels, 4.1,4.2,5.1, 7.3,7.4,7.5, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3. 20.1, 50.1 all come in, which is better than i was getting before.
> 
> I guess 7.1 is harder to get than the others? Any suggestions?
> 
> 
> I'll try to move the antenna around some more to see if i can get 7.1, annoying, and I also tried the Radio shack amped antenna with the circlular antenna, and didn't have any luck with the UHF stations. I actually have better signal, or get more channels when running the amazon basics 50 mile antenna (with amp) through a splitter then into TV.


If you're getting 7.2 and 7.3, then you should be getting 7.1 since they're all on the same stream. I'd stay away from Radio Shack amps or coax. Their coax has poor shielding, causing what amounts to multipath through the jacket. Multipath is a DTV signal quality killer. The Radio Shack amps I've tested don't have the higher frequency bandwidth to pass DTV stations in the 600Mhz range. Channel Master amps are typically the best, if you need to use an amp.

Good Luck!


----------



## mkfs

*4.2 is DOA*

WRC 4.2 (rf: 48) went black & silent at 2355 [Run for your Life] and now {0014} is still that way. The encoder works; I can see I'm missing Scottie and Kelly.


----------



## Trip in VA

It appears to be back as of 5:50AM, though I was asleep when you posted. No telling how long it's been back up.

- Trip


----------



## mkfs

I gave up about 12:30


----------



## Trip in VA

So yesterday I finally got my antenna out of the attic and onto the roof. I originally called up Fairfax Antenna and proceeded to get into an argument about the antenna I wanted put up, so I ruled them out. I wound up going with this company: http://getwiredup.tv/

Murphy's Law was in full effect, including a broken ground nut (they ran to Lowes), a mount pole that was just slightly too large for the antenna (a manual override was employed), and I even broke an element off my antenna (which I should be able to repair), but the job was done well and I'm exceptionally pleased. I'll post a picture once I take one. 

In the move outside, I lost WUTB which had been just barely above decoding some of the time, and did not gain WNVT as hoped, but now all the signals I considered "must have" (WJZ, WBFF, WMPT, WETA) seem to be more reliable with fewer drop-outs, though I could only spot-check them.

I will probably go back up there and play with it as time goes on. Among other things, I will probably try to figure out how to make the mast taller and get the antenna higher off the roof, among other things.

EDIT: Forgot the link! http://m.rabbitears.info/index.php?...F4&tno=1&sort=all&hours=24&tzone=ET&unit=dBmV

- Trip


----------



## tylerSC

Trip in VA said:


> So yesterday I finally got my antenna out of the attic and onto the roof. I originally called up Fairfax Antenna and proceeded to get into an argument about the antenna I wanted put up, so I ruled them out. I wound up going with this company: http://getwiredup.tv/
> 
> Murphy's Law was in full effect, including a broken ground nut (they ran to Lowes), a mount pole that was just slightly too large for the antenna (a manual override was employed), and I even broke an element off my antenna (which I should be able to repair), but the job was done well and I'm exceptionally pleased. I'll post a picture once I take one.
> 
> In the move outside, I lost WUTB which had been just barely above decoding some of the time, and did not gain WNVT as hoped, but now all the signals I considered "must have" (WJZ, WBFF, WMPT, WETA) seem to be more reliable with fewer drop-outs, though I could only spot-check them.
> 
> I will probably go back up there and play with it as time goes on. Among other things, I will probably try to figure out how to make the mast taller and get the antenna higher off the roof, among other things.
> 
> EDIT: Forgot the link! http://m.rabbitears.info/index.php?...F4&tno=1&sort=all&hours=24&tzone=ET&unit=dBmV
> 
> - Trip


So what model antenna did you put up, and did you use a preamp? And what did antenna did Fairfax want you to use?


----------



## Trip in VA

I put up my HBU44 with my Kitztech amp in the attic just inside the house. Fairfax Antenna wanted to sell me a Winegard 7694, and wasn't going to reduce the price if I already had my own antenna (which I did, and was already in my attic). Actually, they wanted to charge me more than if I used their antenna.

EDIT: I just rescanned one of my Samsung TVs and it actually scanned in WUTB, WNVT, and WDDN, though they were not watchable. That suggests I should be able to play with it and pull them in.

- Trip


----------



## Jake V

jwspiker said:


> The house has coax runs through out from DTV setup outside, I'm tempted to mount an external antenna but that's on the west side of the house, and *HOA says it needs to stay below roofline*, i'm tempted to push that and raise a mount from the DTV that i'll yank out and put something up using the existing wiring, any suggestions? Only issue is the cable is just running along the gutter and it's not really secure.


FCC regulations specifically prohibit HOA's from regulating antennas that are less than 12' above the roof line. Regular TV antenna length is not limited, but reading is generally that if you are in townhome/condo it can't hang over your neighbor's house. So feel free to re-use your old dish mount if it is sturdy enough to hold your antenna.

FCC Regs: http://www.fcc.gov/guides/over-air-reception-devices-rule

Find your best antenna choices: tvfool.com (make a station plot and post it on the forum there for antenna advice).


----------



## shobuddy

I live on the ground floor of an apartment building in Ellicott City, MD. This week I purchased a Mohu Leaf 30. According to the Mohu website, I would get all the four major broadcast channels from Baltimore and D.C. After hooking it up, I'm finding that I get no D.C channels nor do I get the Baltimore CBS and NBC channels. All toll I get 12 channels where the website says I should get 46. I've tried playing around with the location of the antenna. It is currently located next to a glass sliding door that leads outside. My question is, can anyone recommend an indoor antenna that would pickup both the D.C and Baltimore ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX channels?


----------



## tylerSC

shobuddy said:


> I live on the ground floor of an apartment building in Ellicott City, MD. This week I purchased a Mohu Leaf 30. According to the Mohu website, I would get all the four major broadcast channels from Baltimore and D.C. After hooking it up, I'm finding that I get no D.C channels nor do I get the Baltimore CBS and NBC channels. All toll I get 12 channels where the website says I should get 46. I've tried playing around with the location of the antenna. It is currently located next to a glass sliding door that leads outside. My question is, can anyone recommend an indoor antenna that would pickup both the D.C and Baltimore ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX channels?


Perhaps the Mohu 50 amplified version would work better. But those Mohu antennas are not optimized for your VHF channels. I would consider a Terk HDTVa sold at HHG. It has rabbit ears for VHF, a good UHF element, and an amp. But see if they will price match an online vendor. And that antenna may now be called Terk Log Antenna.


----------



## E55 KEV

shobuddy said:


> I live on the ground floor of an apartment building in Ellicott City, MD. This week I purchased a Mohu Leaf 30. According to the Mohu website, I would get all the four major broadcast channels from Baltimore and D.C. After hooking it up, I'm finding that I get no D.C channels nor do I get the Baltimore CBS and NBC channels. All toll I get 12 channels where the website says I should get 46. I've tried playing around with the location of the antenna. It is currently located next to a glass sliding door that leads outside. My question is, can anyone recommend an indoor antenna that would pickup both the D.C and Baltimore ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX channels?


I gotta ask a dumb question but many people fail to do this. After you connected the antenna did you scan the channels from the setup menu? If so, also run a channel scan each time you change the antenna location. 

I use this one and I get Baltimore channel but have some trouble getting B-Mores channel 11.1 and 13.1:

http://www.costco.com/Winegard-Flat...ndoor-Antenna-FL5050C-.product.100047906.html

An amplified version of the Winegard is also available.


----------



## Mike Freas

I will be moving to Lusby MD next summer and I'm tired of paying 200 bucks per month for cable. I want to go with OTA and internet for my media. 

I've checked a few sights and it seems I'm on the raged edge of reception. I've looked at several high gain antennas on Amazon but wanted to see if anyone has some advise. Looks like I'll be almost 50 miles from the towers. I'll be renting so permanent mounting isn't an option. Not sure if I can get away with an attic mount. Thanks.


----------



## shobuddy

tylerSC said:


> Perhaps the Mohu 50 amplified version would work better. But those Mohu antennas are not optimized for your VHF channels. I would consider a Terk HDTVa sold at HHG. It has rabbit ears for VHF, a good UHF element, and an amp. But see if they will price match an online vendor. And that antenna may now be called Terk Log Antenna.


Any chance you could link me to the antenna? I searched HHG's website but could not come up with anything resembling your description.


----------



## shobuddy

E55 KEV said:


> I gotta ask a dumb question but many people fail to do this. After you connected the antenna did you scan the channels from the setup menu? If so, also run a channel scan each time you change the antenna location.
> 
> I use this one and I get Baltimore channel but have some trouble getting B-Mores channel 11.1 and 13.1:
> 
> http://www.costco.com/Winegard-Flat...ndoor-Antenna-FL5050C-.product.100047906.html
> 
> An amplified version of the Winegard is also available.


I did the channel scan a few times after moving the antenna location. I even tried those channels manually. 11.1 and 13.1 are the ones I mentioned in my post that I do not receive and after tyler pointed it out, I see they are VHF so I think I would need an amplified antenna that does VHF well.


----------



## Digital Rules

Mike Freas said:


> I will be moving to Lusby MD next summer . . . . Not sure if I can get away with an attic mount.


Maybe . . . . .Maybe not?? Hard to say without a TV Fool report.


----------



## Mike Freas

I don't have a specific address yet but here is the report.


----------



## sastanley

Mike Freas said:


> I will be moving to Lusby MD next summer and I'm tired of paying 200 bucks per month for cable. I want to go with OTA and internet for my media.
> 
> I've checked a few sights and it seems I'm on the raged edge of reception. I've looked at several high gain antennas on Amazon but wanted to see if anyone has some advise. Looks like I'll be almost 50 miles from the towers. I'll be renting so permanent mounting isn't an option. Not sure if I can get away with an attic mount. Thanks.


Mike, I am in Southern Maryland (California, MD, a few miles from Lusby). We are on the ragged edge. I have a 91-XG for UHF and the Winegard 1713 for VHF with a CM 7777 amp. My antenna is roughly 40' above ground level (mounted on a pole on the roof), which is probably 100' above sea level. I am still fiddling with it..it unfortunately is not reliable enough to replace DTV (and my wife watches too many non-OTA channels), but the picture is spectacular when it works.

Believe it or not, the closest towers are on the Eastern Shore (roughly 80° in your tvfool report), but I am generally aimed at D.C. and Baltimore...I am 53 miles away from the D.C. towers. I have better reliability with the Hi-VHF signals than the UHF. Unfortunately, the two networks I watch most frequently are NBC & FOX, which are both UHF.


----------



## Smithsburg Ben

shobuddy said:


> I live on the ground floor of an apartment building in Ellicott City, MD. This week I purchased a Mohu Leaf 30. According to the Mohu website, I would get all the four major broadcast channels from Baltimore and D.C. After hooking it up, I'm finding that I get no D.C channels nor do I get the Baltimore CBS and NBC channels. All toll I get 12 channels where the website says I should get 46. I've tried playing around with the location of the antenna. It is currently located next to a glass sliding door that leads outside. My question is, can anyone recommend an indoor antenna that would pickup both the D.C and Baltimore ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX channels?


The apartment may have foil-backed insulation, which would block much of the signal. Try temporarily moving the antenna outside.


----------



## Mike Freas

sastanley said:


> Mike, I am in Southern Maryland (California, MD, a few miles from Lusby). We are on the ragged edge. I have a 91-XG for UHF and the Winegard 1713 for VHF with a CM 7777 amp. My antenna is roughly 40' above ground level (mounted on a pole on the roof), which is probably 100' above sea level. I am still fiddling with it..it unfortunately is not reliable enough to replace DTV (and my wife watches too many non-OTA channels), but the picture is spectacular when it works.
> 
> Believe it or not, the closest towers are on the Eastern Shore (roughly 80° in your tvfool report), but I am generally aimed at D.C. and Baltimore...I am 53 miles away from the D.C. towers. I have better reliability with the Hi-VHF signals than the UHF. Unfortunately, the two networks I watch most frequently are NBC & FOX, which are both UHF.


Drats! Well, I guess I have two choices then. Ditch TV all together or get the most basic cable package available. Seems the ISP there charges a good chunk of money for slow internet. I'm spoiled here with fiber 75 up and down. Still, I'm paying 200 bucks per month which is a rip off.


----------



## mkfs

Trip in VA said:


> It appears to be back as of 5:50AM,
> 
> - Trip


 And tonight it is hung; this time showing an PI ad for _grab bags_ ... It's been about an hour. 

[The vendor pays zip to run an ad. The station has a contract where they get paid Per Inquiry aka calls to the 800# or web hits...] So they fill up the air time with the ads.


----------



## armand1

E55 KEV said:


> I gotta ask a dumb question but many people fail to do this. After you connected the antenna did you scan the channels from the setup menu? If so, also run a channel scan each time you change the antenna location.
> 
> I use this one and I get Baltimore channel but have some trouble getting B-Mores channel 11.1 and 13.1:
> 
> http://www.costco.com/Winegard-Flat...ndoor-Antenna-FL5050C-.product.100047906.html
> 
> An amplified version of the Winegard is also available.


The problem with Baltimore channel 13.1 in the DC area is that the signal is on 214 Mhz and the strong FM station 107.3 Mhz in our area interferes with it (double of 107=214 ). I think it is called double harmonics. An amplifier makes things worse. Someone on this forum had suggested a $3.50 FM trap from RadioShack and it works very well.

I'm in Chevy Chase and since this past Spring or so channel 4 has been getting weaker. I'm not sure if it is the tress around my house growing over the years or is there something up with Channel 4? I do not get it anymore, but I do get all the rest of the DC stations including Baltimore stations 2, 45 and 13. I've been getting all these channels fine since 2008 with a rooftop installed Winegard HD 7694P antenna.

So what gives with WRC-TV, channel 4 ?


----------



## dlarkin_dc

armand1 said:


> The problem with Baltimore channel 13.1 in the DC area is that the signal is on 214 Mhz and the strong FM station 107.3 Mhz in our area interferes with it (double of 107=214 ). I think it is called double harmonics. An amplifier makes things worse. Someone on this forum had suggested a $3.50 FM trap from RadioShack and it works very well.
> 
> I'm in Chevy Chase and since this past Spring or so channel 4 has been getting weaker. I'm not sure if it is the tress around my house growing over the years or is there something up with Channel 4? I do not get it anymore, but I do get all the rest of the DC stations including Baltimore stations 2, 45 and 13. I've been getting all these channels fine since 2008 with a rooftop installed Winegard HD 7694P antenna.
> 
> So what gives with WRC-TV, channel 4 ?



Hi Armand1


You're not alone, I'd love to know that gives with NBC in DC!


I'm really beginning to think there's something wrong with the signal or transmitter. Your signal in Chevy Chase is vastly stronger than mine here in Mount Vernon and I've been wrestling with keeping that channel watchable for years by modifying my antenna gain, polarization, tilt and location, as well as amps. Meanwhile, other channels from the same location and with same strength have always come in perfect without any circus. I get some far weaker Baltimore and Delaware stations with same antenna. I have seen tropospheric ducting effect NBC/4/48 by correlating signal strength with tropo data. I'm not an expert but that makes me think something is unique with that channel.

The other thing I've noticed, from here and other forums, the posters to east & west don't have same problems with NBC, but we're to the north and south of the transmitter.. coincidence?

I'll try an FM trap, just in case there's FM interference.


Dave


----------



## dleedlee

armand1 said:


> I'm in Chevy Chase and since this past Spring or so channel 4 has been getting weaker. I'm not sure if it is the tress around my house growing over the years or is there something up with Channel 4? I do not get it anymore, but I do get all the rest of the DC stations including Baltimore stations 2, 45 and 13. I've been getting all these channels fine since 2008 with a rooftop installed Winegard HD 7694P antenna.
> 
> So what gives with WRC-TV, channel 4 ?


I've noticed the same thing, too, here in Fairfax Co. It's been playing havoc on my attempts to record vintage episodes of The Avengers on 4.2, much less watch the nightly news or Today show. It's particularly noticeable downstairs but observable upstairs - both with indoor antenna.


----------



## dlarkin_dc

dleedlee said:


> I've noticed the same thing, too, here in Fairfax Co. It's been playing havoc on my attempts to record vintage episodes of The Avengers on 4.2, much less watch the nightly news or Today show. It's particularly noticeable downstairs but observable upstairs - both with indoor antenna.


dleedlee,


What part of Fairfax County? Just your zip code might help!


Thanks,


Dave


----------



## dleedlee

dlarkin_dc said:


> dleedlee,
> 
> 
> What part of Fairfax County? Just your zip code might help!
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> 
> Dave


20191.
Of course, I check it after posting and the signal is pretty solid today. I had pretty much quit trying in the past few weeks out of frustration.


----------



## dlarkin_dc

dleedlee said:


> 20191.
> Of course, I check it after posting and the signal is pretty solid today. I had pretty much quit trying in the past few weeks out of frustration.


Your zip is due west, so that blows the theory of direction being a factor.


I checked here too... 4 is steady and watchable for me today, at the usual maximum signal I get, that is 20% below other adjacent channels/transmitters. Probably the cloud cover.


To help figure out what's up with NBC, I had planned to make a custom yagi just for channel 48. That sounds like a good wet afternoon project for today.


----------



## armand1

Last night WRC-TV, channel 4 did not come in at all, but other days it's fine. For me the weather is not a factor, the channel 4 tower is only 1.6 miles southeast of me. There must be some other factor since I have had no problem for the past 6 years until now.

Update: I looked up on TVfool that NBC's Channel 4 antenna is on the same tower as WFDC Univision's Channel 14. I get Channel 14 at 100% signal just fine, and it is listed as transmitting with less power. So it does not make sense that I can get Univision channel 14 just fine but not NBC channel 4.

There must be something affecting Channel 4's signal intermittently.


----------



## AntAltMike

WMDE, virtual 36.1, real 5(?) was auto added to the channel line-up of my Seki (am I a cheapskate or what?) TV. It is being received off my Wineguard combo that is pointed at Baltimore, at about 30 degrees, or north by northwest, whereas TV Fool says its heading for WMDE's transmitter from my residence is about due east.

The signal has been rock solid for a couple of hours now, but based on the limited transmitter info I have gleaned in my searches, I don't expect it to be reliably received here in College Park.

The programming is said to be "Soul of the South", and a recent web article says they now have penetration into nine of the ten largest DMAs.

Update at noon: it is still rock solid.


----------



## Trip in VA

You sure it's the RF 5 signal? WWTD-LD has a subchannel mapped to 36-1 with the WMDE label as well.

- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike

Trip in VA said:


> You sure it's the RF 5 signal? WWTD-LD has a subchannel mapped to 36-1 with the WMDE label as well.
> 
> - Trip



Actually, I'm not sure, as I can't confirm it by entering the channel digit "5" via my remote without the TV switching me directly to Fox WTTG. If I can find a convenient high pass filter, I'll see if it still comes in with the filter on the line.

FWIW, my WWTD 49.X subchannels have changed, from 49.1 - 49.4, to now 49.2 - 49.5.


----------



## Trip in VA

Yes, 49-1 is now mapped to 36-1 instead.

- Trip


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## AntAltMike

Woefully bad entertainment programming on 36-1 Soul of the South. The weekday schedules typically consist of half infomercials and a couple of hours of Judge Someone-I've-Never-Heard-Ofs, but they do feature five hours of "live" news. I haven't watched their news yet, but unfortunately, the easiest stories to produce right now that will be of interest to their audience will surely focus on police abuse.

FWIW, I just visited the "Arise TV" website, a national, Black news channel from which Soul of the South will be carrying a daily show, and they were running a really well produced panel interview that was comparable in quality to what I'd expect to see on PBS.

They are running a basketball game tonight involving Mt. St. Mary's and Old Dominion. On Thursday, they will be televising a PBL men's professional basketball league that consists largely of teams that were rejected by the NBA when they reconstituted their "Development League".

Last night, Sunday, they did run some movies, and one featured Richard Prior, but the print was so bad it made my uncle Eli's home movies that he used to shoot with his Bell and Howell 8mm camera back in the early 1960s look good.

I don't know what they are hoping to get for entertainment content, as what I have seen or read of so far wouldn't cut the muster for Bounce TV. I'd say that the only way they can succeed is if they find a niche with their news audience.


----------



## AntAltMike

I'm watching the Old Dominion/Mt. St. Mary's game on WWTD 36.1 as I type this. Its starting time was delayed an hour, and they may have shortened the halftime just a little to more comfortably squeeze it into the allocated, two hour time block.

What they did not more comfortably squeeze, however, was their bitstream. It is B-A-D! It is the second most compressed broadcast TV program I have ever seen. The most compressed was the old Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom on WUSA. When they would show a leopard, its spots would change from round to square whenever it moved even the slightest.


----------



## Trip in VA

I've heard Soul of the South is fed by Internet stream. No telling what type of encoding is being used on that end.

The station is giving it more than 3 Mbps which would seem like it should be enough to not be too poor-looking otherwise.

- Trip


----------



## dleedlee

Any one else notice that MHz (30.1-30.6) is sending out the wrong time (sorry, don't know the proper terminology)? It's now roughly 1.5 hrs fast. A week or so ago, I noticed it was an hour fast. It's probably been off since switching back to standard time. It's wreaking havoc on my timed recordings on my iView box. A timed recording will kick off prematurely even if I'm just watching one of these channels because of their clock. Recording with the iView is haphazard enough without MHz adding to my difficulties!


----------



## AntAltMike

dleedlee said:


> Any one else notice that MHz (30.1-30.6) is sending out the wrong time (sorry, don't know the proper terminology)? It's now roughly 1.5 hrs fast. A week or so ago, I noticed it was an hour fast.


30.7-30.12 are time synchronized with 30.1-30-6 and are similarly mistimed.

The clock settings are pretty shabby all around:
11.1 WBAL: + 2 to 3 minutes
14.1 WFDC: + 9 minutes (they are a serial offender)
23.1 WDDN is in a time warp. Date: 1980/02/15, daily time off by nearly six hours
25.1 WZDC: - (minus) 3 minutes
45.1 WBFF: + 2 minutes
54.1 WNUV: + 2 minutes
58.1 WIAV: + 7 minutes


----------



## dleedlee

AntAltMike said:


> 30.7-30.12 are time synchronized with 30.1-30-6 and are similarly mistimed.
> 
> The clock settings are pretty shabby all around:
> 11.1 WBAL: + 2 to 3 minutes
> 14.1 WDFC: + 9 minutes (they are a habitual offender)
> 23.1 WDDN is in a time warp. Date: 1980/02/15, daily time off by nearly six hours
> 25.1 WZDC: - (minus) 3 minutes
> 45.1 WBFF: + 2 minutes
> 54.1 WNUV: + 2 minutes
> 58.1 WIAV: +7 minutes


Yeah, I noticed 14.1,14.2 a while back too. Forgot about that. 
I guess no one cares since cable is the presumed and dominant delivery method.


----------



## AntAltMike

AntAltMike said:


> Woefully bad entertainment programming on 36-1
> 
> ...They are running a basketball game tonight involving Mt. St. Mary's and Old Dominion. On Thursday, they will be televising a PBL men's professional basketball league that consists largely of teams that were rejected by the NBA when they reconstituted their "Development League"....


Some Eisenhower cabinet member once said, "He said to me, 'Cheer up. It could get worse.' so I cheered up, and it got worse"

Tonight, it got worse. Instead of carrying the PBL mens profesional basketball game that had been scheduled, they had a rebroadcast of Monday's Mt. St. Mary's versus Old Dominion game, and the picture was having analog video problems symptomatic of losing the color burst signal, and otherwise, it looked like it was a tape recording made on an old 2-head VHS recorder.


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## AntAltMike

24.2 WUTV is now GRIT, which is calling itself, "Television with backbone".

I hope they show the Stephen Segal movie where he plays a tough guy and goes around beating the crap out of everybody.


----------



## mvcg66b3r

Potential Sinclair subchannel shuffle in Baltimore:
WBFF: 45.1 FOX (720p HD), 45.2 MNT (720p HD), 45.3 WxNation (480i SD)
WNUV: 54.1 CW (720p HD), 54.2 GetTV (480i SD), 54.3 Grit (480i SD)
WUTB (spun off): 24.1 ????
ThisTV moved to WMAR 2.2 or WBAL 11.3


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## AntAltMike

mvcg66b3r said:


> Potential Sinclair subchannel shuffle in Baltimore:
> WBFF: 45.1 FOX (720p HD), 45.2 MNT (720p HD), 45.3 WxNation (480i SD)
> WNUV: 54.1 CW (720p HD), 54.2 GetTV (480i SD), 54.3 Grit (480i SD)
> WUTB (spun off): 24.1 ????
> ThisTV moved to WMAR 2.2 or WBAL 11.3


????? Based on what?

It should be pointed out here that Live Well Network, produced by ABC and presently carried locally on 2.2 and 7.3, will be discontinued this month. ABC has said its intention is to use that subchannel space for locally produced programming on its "Owned and operated" stations, but neither of our local ABC affiliates are so owned and operated.

By MNT, I take it you mean MyNetwork which is presently carried on 24.1 in 720P. FWIW, 24.2 just began carrying GRIT a few days ago.

Has 24.1 been sold? It's transmitter situation has often been described as "short-spaced", meaning that it cannot transmit at a power level adequate to saturate its coverage area without encroaching on another stations territory, so anytime that a network can move away from it and to another Baltimore transmitter, it will reach a larger broadcast audience.

Baltimore still has no Movies! (20.2 in DC), or Antenna TV (50.2/DC) or CoziTV (4.2/DC) , or Escape (14.4/DC), or Soul of the South (36.1/DC) for that matter, and neither market presently has RTV, (which is no great loss), so there is alternate programming available.


----------



## Mr Tony

AntAltMike said:


> ????? Based on what?.


not a damn thing

disregard what he is saying. He is living in "mythical land" that any current Sinclair duopoly will be nuked.

Apparently he feels the need to poison each market with a Sinclair station with that crap (folks seem to do that at radiodiscussions)


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## mvcg66b3r

The posts I made here and on other threads are just pure speculation on just what might happen in these markets, with the FCC's crackdown on JSAs/SSAs and the impending incentive auction. Some of you may have been offended, and for that I apologize.


----------



## AntAltMike

I actually had surmised that it was intended as an expression of your own speculation, We used to do a lot more of that here and elsewhere, especially when new technologies were unfolding and regrouping.

I don't remember the exact details of this, but some 30 years ago, I think Pat Robertson or someone was trying to buy up some shopping channels and someone started circulating an anonymous petition claiming that the FCC was outlawing singing Christmas carols on TV or something like that, and it went viral, and I mean viral, before there was any such thing as going viral, other than what real viruses do. It ran for over a decade, and the FCC was spending over a million dollars a year just manning switchboards with operators whose sole job it was to reassure the callers that there was no such regulation pending. It got written up in Newsweek and so I then made myself one of the callers and was assured by one of the FCC's anti-hoax specialists that nothing like it was in effect or pending.

The telltale indication that the petition my mother had gotten from church was fishy, other than its poor spelling and grammar and lack of specificity, was that it referenced the Madalyn Murray O'Hair Supreme Court decision, outlawing organized prayer in school, as having happened, I think, just nine years earlier, but the petition was being circulated about twenty years after that decision.

Of course, the saving grace of the internet is that even though rumors can and do take off faster, they also get debunked, or in this case, clarified, quicker and more thoroughly as well. At the risk of starting another, myself, I will mentioned here that in checking out the local ABC affiliate ownership, I see that there is some affiliation between WJLA and Sinclair's fledgling college sports network, American Sports Network, that I will speculate may, to some extent, displace Live Well when it is discontinued later this month.


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## AntAltMike

BU-Navy is being carried live simultaneously this evening on Baltimore's 24.1 and 45.3, as well as with an hour delay on Washington, DC 36.1. I had no idea that Navy basketball was a big draw.


----------



## AntAltMike

I was just poking around the internet, trying to find out what WMAR-2 and WJLA-7 were going to do when Live Well Network is discontinued and see that, contrary to prior announcements, it will not end on January 19th. According to the WBAY, Green Bay website, it will run for at least another couple of months.

I see that CBS and Weigel Broadcasting will be launching a re-run channel to be called Decades on May 25, 2015. According to the Wikipedia article, they are planning to distribute it on all 16 CBS owned and operated stations and further syndicating it to other stations as well, so that means that Baltimore WJZ-13 will finally have a subchannel.

Most of their programs will be the same ones that have been in passed from re-run channel to re-run channel already, but most interesting to me are that they will have all five Star Trek series as well as, War of the Worlds and Friday the 13th, the series. They also will be showing the 1950s show, The Millionaire. I used to watch that regularly when it was first run, but I have to wonder if those stories will still hold my interest.


----------



## AntAltMike

AntAltMike said:


> I was just poking around the internet, trying to find out what WMAR-2 and WJLA-7 were going to do when Live Well Network is discontinued and see that, contrary to prior announcements, it will not end on January 19th. According to the WBAY, Green Bay website, it will run for at least another couple of months.


We now know that WMAR will be replacing it with LAFF comedy channel.











*ABC, Scripps to Carry New Broadcast Network Dedicated to Comedy*

January 18, 2015

ATLANTA (January 18, 2015) – The country’s first-ever, over-the-air broadcast television network devoted to comedy around-the-clock will launch this spring when Katz Broadcasting debuts LAFF on  April 15, 2015, it was announced today.

LAFF will feature a mix of contemporary off-network sitcoms and popular theatrical motion pictures, with a target audience of adults 18-49. The LAFF brand will cross multiple platforms, with the linear network carried on the signals of local broadcast television stations and corresponding cable carriage while companion digital content will be available at LAFF.com and via the LAFF app.

The ABC Owned Television Stations will carry LAFF in New York (WABC-TV), Los Angeles (KABC-TV), Chicago (WLS-TV), Philadelphia (WPVI-TV), San Francisco (KGO-TV), Houston (KTRK-TV), Raleigh (WTVD-TV) and Fresno (KFSN-TV). 
The E.W. Scripps Company will also launch LAFF on its stations in Detroit (WXYZ-TV), Phoenix (KNXV-TV), Tampa (WFTS-TV), Denver (KMGH-TV), Cleveland (WEWS-TV), Indianapolis (WRTV-TV), Baltimore (WMAR-TV), San Diego (KGTV-TV), Kansas City (KSHB-TV), Cincinnati (WCPO-TV), West Palm Beach (WPTV-TV), Buffalo (WKBW-TV) and Tulsa (KJRH-TV).

These initial agreements will make LAFF available to more than 35% of the country, with more distribution additions expected to be announced shortly.

More...


----------



## linuxguymd

shobuddy said:


> I live on the ground floor of an apartment building in Ellicott City, MD. This week I purchased a Mohu Leaf 30. According to the Mohu website, I would get all the four major broadcast channels from Baltimore and D.C. After hooking it up, I'm finding that I get no D.C channels nor do I get the Baltimore CBS and NBC channels. All toll I get 12 channels where the website says I should get 46. I've tried playing around with the location of the antenna. It is currently located next to a glass sliding door that leads outside. My question is, can anyone recommend an indoor antenna that would pickup both the D.C and Baltimore ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX channels?


I live on the "western" side of Ellicott City near Glenelg and the Mohu didn't work for me. A better antenna (Antennas Direct C2-V-CJM ClearStream 2-V) pulls in Baltimore and some Washington stations. I'm going to try a pre-amp to see if that improves the number of stations.


----------



## rsmt2000

*ABC channel quirk in northern virginia*

Hi 

I am in a 3 level west facing town home in Herndon. Tv fool says I should be able to pull 43 channels at my location. At the third level having the antenna on the east facing window I get 40 channels ALL except the ABC channels 7-1,7-2,7-3.

On the second level of the house I get only 3 channels some times upto 7 which include the ABC channels but nothing else.
My zipcode is 20171
I tried amazonbasics 25 mile,35 mile and mohu amplified 50 mile- amplified. More or less they have the same behaviour mohu being the worst which picked up only 3 at second level And less than 10 at 3 rd level. 

The windows are exactly on the same vertical line looking from outside. I called Amazon tech support to see why the weird problem with ABC channels and they didn't have a clue. I am new to the VHF/UHF terms. Will I be better served with a different antenna? 

I just ordered a winegard from Costco to see what it does? But can any of you experts tell me why an antenna would drop ABC channels from 24 feet from ground vs pick the same 3 and drop the rest from 18 feet from the ground when facing the same direction on two different floors. I tried changing the antenna all across the windows and scan the channels every time I moved them.

Thanks in advance
Ron


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## Digital Rules

Unfortunately this is typical with indoor antennas in the digital TV age. Any chance you can get an antenna in the attic? Anything less will be a crap shoot way out in Herndon.


----------



## netryeder

*Antenna Advice*

I live south of Baltimore in Riviera Beach (21122) and would like to be able to pickup both Baltimore and Washington stations. I can roof mount about 18' above the ground line. Very flat community near the water, I am on somewhat of a hill compared to the waterfront homes (50' above sea level) and no trees close by to block a signal in any direction. The signal will be split 3 ways, 2 tv's and a Channel Master DVR+ feeding my projector. Small house so no cable runs over 50'.

What would be a good antenna that could pickup both the Baltimore and D.C. stations? Any help is greatly appreciated, I am tired of outrageous monthly bills and I am looking forward to a non compressed HD signal. Also, what splitters are recommended, would and amp be needed?

I will post my TV Fool in my next post since I only have 4 posts so far.


----------



## netryeder

netryeder said:


> I live south of Baltimore in Riviera Beach (21122) and would like to be able to pickup both Baltimore and Washington stations. I can roof mount about 18' above the ground line. Very flat community near the water, I am on somewhat of a hill compared to the waterfront homes (50' above sea level) and no trees close by to block a signal in any direction. The signal will be split 3 ways, 2 tv's and a Channel Master DVR+ feeding my projector. Small house so no cable runs over 50'.
> 
> What would be a good antenna that could pickup both the Baltimore and D.C. stations? Any help is greatly appreciated, I am tired of outrageous monthly bills and I am looking forward to a non compressed HD signal. Also, what splitters are recommended, would and amp be needed?
> 
> I will post my TV Fool in my next post since I only have 4 posts so far.


TV Fool: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=2c1582709ded44


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## shobuddy

For those interested, there is an excellent deal on the Mohu Leaf 50 right now. 
http://store.gomohu.com/the-leaf-ultimate-hdtv-antenna-open-box.html
Enter promocode Super25 at checkout for an extra $10 off plus free shipping.

Would this be able to pickup DC and Baltimore channels in Ellicott City?


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## Smithsburg Ben

shobuddy said:


> For those interested, there is an excellent deal on the Mohu Leaf 50 right now.
> http://store.gomohu.com/the-leaf-ultimate-hdtv-antenna-open-box.html
> Enter promocode Super25 at checkout for an extra $10 off plus free shipping.
> 
> Would this be able to pickup DC and Baltimore channels in Ellicott City?


I strongly suggest you try an antenna outside, to eliminate the possibility of some kind of foil or metal based insulation or siding in the apartment. Also, please post a TV Fool report so we can see what you are dealing with. Despite its proximity to Baltimore, Ellicott City is near the Patapsco River and many residents near the river probably have poor reception. Keep in mind that several of the major networks in Baltimore and DC are on high VHF.

https://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29


----------



## shobuddy

Smithsburg Ben said:


> I strongly suggest you try an antenna outside, to eliminate the possibility of some kind of foil or metal based insulation or siding in the apartment. Also, please post a TV Fool report so we can see what you are dealing with. Despite its proximity to Baltimore, Ellicott City is near the Patapsco River and many residents near the river probably have poor reception. Keep in mind that several of the major networks in Baltimore and DC are on high VHF.
> 
> https://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29


Thanks Ben, here is the TV Fool report.


----------



## Smithsburg Ben

shobuddy said:


> Thanks Ben, here is the TV Fool report.


It would be far more useful if you entered your address or geographical coordinates, instead of the zip code. To show you what I mean, I entered 21041, which is a valid zip code for Ellicott City and I get a totally different report.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=2c1503e2212e73

TV Fool also has a map feature.

https://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=90

You can switch to satellite view, then zoom in, drag the teardrop to your exact location and generate a new report.


----------



## shobuddy

Smithsburg Ben said:


> It would be far more useful if you entered your address or geographical coordinates, instead of the zip code. To show you what I mean, I entered 21041, which is a valid zip code for Ellicott City and I get a totally different report.
> 
> http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=2c1503e2212e73
> 
> TV Fool also has a map feature.
> 
> https://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=90
> 
> You can switch to satellite view, then zoom in, drag the teardrop to your exact location and generate a new report.


Thanks again Ben, I entered the address in the report I posted so not sure why it didn't show up. In any case, the address displays a not so exact location so the coordinates are 39.289177,-76.81742. I'm not really versed on interpreting the report so please let me know your thoughts based on the coordinates. An outdoor antenna would be ideal, no doubt, but we are not planning to be here but for another four months so I was looking at an indoor option.


----------



## Smithsburg Ben

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=2c15289aba8f9a

If temporarily moving the antenna outside is impractical, try it on another television in another room, if possible. An extension for the coax might be helpful.

https://www.google.com/?complete=0#complete=0&q=rg6+extension&spell=1

Aluminum siding and foil-backed insulation will effectively block television signals, even strong ones. Incidentally, I can see why you are disappointed. When I enter 21043 into the Mohu web site, it indicates 48 channels should be received. Note that they count subchannels, which means, for example, that WMAR counts as three. Ordinary rabbit ears might work better, especially for WBAL and WJZ. Be sure to use one with a UHF loop for the other stations.


----------



## AntAltMike

WUSA replaces 9.3 Weather Nation with Justice. From WUSA's website:



" The Justice Network launched on WUSA9's digital subchannel 9.3 on February 10th at 6 p.m. Featured will be more than 500 hours of crime and mystery programming, including shows such as Alaska State Troopers, Body of Evidence, LA Forensics, Masterminds and more.

...For more information on the Justice Network, visit the network's website or Facebook page. Cable and satellite viewers are encouraged to check with their provider for availability.

*Tune to 9.3 over the air or note the following channel numbers:*
Over-the-air - 9.3
Comcast - 203
Cox - 805
FIOS - 461
RCN - TBA
Antietam Cable - 176 (Hagerstown, MD)
Atlantic Broadband Cable - N/A (Cumberland MD& Moorefield, WV)
Open Band Multi-Media - 379 (Landsdowne, VA)
Shentel Cable - 147 (Shenandoah, VA)
MetroCast Communications - 124 (St. Mary's County, MD)
Anne Arundel Broadband - 164 (Anne Arundel County, MD)
Easton Utilities - N/A (Easton, MD)
DISH - N/A
DirecTV - N/A "


----------



## doctorwizz

I am about to cut the cord and get rid of Dish. Paying 105/mo. Contract is up.
Going to get a roof antenna professionally installed by Fairfax Antenna or Action. Action said 549 plus tax for antenna and rotor. Fairfax didn't reply yet but they advertise the Winegard HD-7697 for 524. 
Anyone have advice which installer to use? I am in northern Calvert county. 
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=2c156151d2776f

I will either get a DVR+ or Roamio. 
Also looking at the simply.tv's. How do these sellers on ebay sell the lifetime sub for less than $10?


----------



## Digital Rules

Do you have an attic? You should be able to get at least the DC stations with such a good report with a decent attic antenna if nothing is in the way.

$524 seems a lot for a house that is pre-wired.

You can get a killer antenna at Radio Sheck for $50.00 or less before they close. I am buying an HBU55 today for only $50.00. HBU 33's are selling for 40.00. Get em before they are gone . . . . . .


----------



## doctorwizz

Digital Rules said:


> Do you have an attic? You should be able to get at least the DC stations with such a good report with a decent attic antenna if nothing is in the way.
> 
> $524 seems a lot for a house that is pre-wired.
> 
> You can get a killer antenna at Radio Sheck for $50.00 or less before they close. I am buying an HBU55 today for only $50.00. HBU 33's are selling for 40.00. Get em before they are gone . . . . . .


I have a small attic. House has vaulted ceilings. I would not know how to get the wire to basement where the TV is. Fairly clear around here, just some trees. House is in a slight depression. I was hoping to get Baltimore stations too.


----------



## Digital Rules

Getting both would be a challenge as 11 & 13 are quite a bit weaker than 7 & 9. Plus attics are not rotor friendly. 

Just thought you might want to try it with such good antenna pricing. Unfortunately not many options to getting someone to install it on the roof.


----------



## AntAltMike

Digital Rules said:


> ...You can get a killer antenna at Radio Sheck for $50.00 or less before they close. I am buying an HBU55 today for only $50.00. HBU 33's are selling for 40.00. Get em before they are gone . . . . . .


I remember when Radio Shack first discontinued the VU-210, and then the VU-190. They sold off one model for $5 and the other for $10. They probably needed to be discontinued because larger antennas are more likely to be returned due to customer dissatisfaction, as the customers sometimes bought them in hopes of them meeting their unreasonable performance claims, and others may have been displeased with their insufficient structural strength with respect to the environmental stress they incur due to their length. I was considering driving around and scoffing up a dozen or more, since they still made great attic antennas where the was room for them.


----------



## Digital Rules

Get em while they're hot. Picked up a rotator for 29.99 Saturday.


----------



## tylerSC

These clearance deals at RadioShack are only good at the stores that are closing. There are a few stores remaining open and that inventory remains full price. But the majority of stores in each market seems to be closing, which is sad to see. I hope the surviving stores will continue to carry antennas and reception products. Meanwhile, they also now have great prices on accessories such as splitters, UVSJ, FM traps, amplifiers, and cables.


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## Digital Rules

Everything should at least 40% retail off in the stores. HBU 55 retails for $99.00, selling for $79.00 online & 50.00 if in stock at the store.


----------



## pamajestic

As luck would have it the 3 stores closest to me are staying open, so I was planning road trip to see what I can find for Tuesday, but with the snow that may need to be delayed.


----------



## Knicks_Fan

*WUSA First Alert Weather Banner*

Anyone else as perturbed as I am about WUSA's spamming my screen with a weather banner constantly showing temperature, wind chill, and air quality on the bottom of all programming? They have also added black space on the sides of the screen. I have complained vigorously about this to station personnel, with no luck. Apparently this was the station manager, Bill Lord's idea ([email protected])


----------



## AntAltMike

Knicks_Fan said:


> Anyone else as perturbed as I am about WUSA's spamming my screen with a weather banner constantly showing temperature, wind chill, and air quality on the bottom of all programming? They have also added black space on the sides of the screen. I have complained vigorously about this to station personnel, with no luck. Apparently this was the station manager, Bill Lord's idea ([email protected])


WUSA's weather channel went of the air ion February 10 at 6:00 PM, and since then they have had a seemingly continuous need to furnish weather reports, so it may be that his is a temporary thing... but of course that you can make it more temporary that complaining, and letting them know that you can watch the same network programming on WJZ-13. 

I would think that in the long run, their interests would better be served by running a weather banner on their Justice subchannel. Are they already running it there as well?


----------



## dleedlee

Knicks_Fan said:


> Anyone else as perturbed as I am about WUSA's spamming my screen with a weather banner constantly showing temperature, wind chill, and air quality on the bottom of all programming? They have also added black space on the sides of the screen. I have complained vigorously about this to station personnel, with no luck. Apparently this was the station manager, Bill Lord's idea ([email protected])


I didn't notice until you pointed it out at DCRTV a few days ago (guess I rarely watchy ch.9 anymore except the news) but didn't see it yesterday or now (Dr Phil). Is it all programming?

9's weather channel stunk, imo. Wasn't it taped even when it was doing Local Weather? I liked WJLA's weather channel and it went downhill when they added the webcams (even if I was interested, it was useless at night!).


----------



## Knicks_Fan

dleedlee said:


> I didn't notice until you pointed it out at DCRTV a few days ago (guess I rarely watchy ch.9 anymore except the news) but didn't see it yesterday or now (Dr Phil). Is it all programming?
> 
> 9's weather channel stunk, imo. Wasn't it taped even when it was doing Local Weather? I liked WJLA's weather channel and it went downhill when they added the webcams (even if I was interested, it was useless at night!).


I did not see the banner while watching "NCIS" on Tuesday. Maybe they got enough disgruntled viewers calling them up and got the message. Yes, that was me on DCRTV!


----------



## Knicks_Fan

dleedlee said:


> I didn't notice until you pointed it out at DCRTV a few days ago (guess I rarely watchy ch.9 anymore except the news) but didn't see it yesterday or now (Dr Phil). Is it all programming?
> 
> 9's weather channel stunk, imo. Wasn't it taped even when it was doing Local Weather? I liked WJLA's weather channel and it went downhill when they added the webcams (even if I was interested, it was useless at night!).


When the banner was on Sunday and Monday, it was on all programing. The air quality is GOOD! They seem to have backed off as I did not see it Tuesday watching "NCIS". Put the weather banner on 9.3! I e-mailed/called a lot of people the last few days complaining about it and also wrote the network. I suspect many other viewers did as well and Lord's experiment blew up on him.


----------



## Digital Rules

Looks like Channel 9 is starting local news @ 4 AM. Not sure if this is just due to the weather or trying to get a leg up on the competition?


----------



## doctorwizz

They have another annoying ticker too that mentions the WUSA weather APP.

The annoying weather banner is on this morning.

Last time I emailed Topper Shut, I guess I insulted him. Told him to watch WGN's meteorologist Tom Skilling to see how a real meteorologist prepares and presents a proper weather forecast. He did reply that he is a meteorologist and felt insulted. And that Skilling gets as much air time as needed.


----------



## dleedlee

doctorwizz said:


> They have another annoying ticker too that mentions the WUSA weather APP.
> 
> The annoying weather banner is on this morning.
> 
> Last time I emailed Topper Shut, I guess I insulted him. Told him to watch WGN's meteorologist Tom Skilling to see how a real meteorologist prepares and presents a proper weather forecast. He did reply that he is a meteorologist and felt insulted. And that Skilling gets as much air time as needed.


Yeah, don't know why he'd feel insulted. 

WUSA's First Alert: on Let's Make a Deal right now...and The Price is Right...


----------



## dleedlee

Digital Rules said:


> Looks like Channel 9 is starting local news @ 4 AM. Not sure if this is just due to the weather or trying to get a leg up on the competition?


They do that sometimes for 'extreme' weather events. So maybe for the cooold blast?


----------



## Knicks_Fan

dleedlee said:


> I didn't notice until you pointed it out at DCRTV a few days ago (guess I rarely watchy ch.9 anymore except the news) but didn't see it yesterday or now (Dr Phil). Is it all programming?
> 
> 9's weather channel stunk, imo. Wasn't it taped even when it was doing Local Weather? I liked WJLA's weather channel and it went downhill when they added the webcams (even if I was interested, it was useless at night!).





dleedlee said:


> Yeah, don't know why he'd feel insulted.
> 
> WUSA's First Alert: on Let's Make a Deal right now...and The Price is Right...


Good Lord (pun intended) it's back on again. Bill Lord needs a good kick in the a**. It's cold out, we get it. And who gives a f*** about air quality. Please, anyone who reads these posts, go to WUSA9.com and contact station management, programming and the news department. Bombard them with complaints.


----------



## dleedlee

Odd, I glanced up from my laptop, over to the TV and noticed that there was no banner for the close of The Price is Right.


----------



## dleedlee

Only 11 days until Daylight Savings Time. 
Will MHZNetworks' clock: a) remain 1 hour slow, b) fall 2 hours behind, or c) be correct for the first time since fall 2014?


----------



## doctorwizz

dleedlee said:


> Only 11 days until Daylight Savings Time.
> Will MHZNetworks' clock: a) remain 1 hour slow, b) fall 2 hours behind, or c) be correct for the first time since fall 2014?


Daylight Saving Time begins on March 8
17 days


----------



## dleedlee

doctorwizz said:


> Daylight Saving Time begins on March 8
> 17 days


I ran out of fingers !


----------



## carltonrice

Knicks_Fan said:


> Anyone else as perturbed as I am about WUSA's spamming my screen with a weather banner constantly showing temperature, wind chill, and air quality on the bottom of all programming? They have also added black space on the sides of the screen. I have complained vigorously about this to station personnel, with no luck. Apparently this was the station manager, Bill Lord's idea ([email protected])


Totally agree! Why on earth do these folks at WUSA think that everyone in the viewing area needs to constantly know what the temperature and wind chill are outdoors?


----------



## Knicks_Fan

carltonrice said:


> Totally agree! Why on earth do these folks at WUSA think that everyone in the viewing area needs to constantly know what the temperature and wind chill are outdoors?


I did not see the banner during _The Big Bang Theory_ last night. I also got an e-mail from their "community relations director", Khalif, chiding me for bombarding the e-mails of station personnel and assuring me they were listening to their viewers' negative reaction to the "First Alert Weather" banner. Carlton, e-mail the station and let them know how you feel. I think they are still doing the banner during daytime programming. Why do we need to know the air quality?


----------



## carltonrice

Knicks_Fan said:


> I did not see the banner during _The Big Bang Theory_ last night. I also got an e-mail from their "community relations director", Khalif, chiding me for bombarding the e-mails of station personnel and assuring me they were listening to their viewers' negative reaction to the "First Alert Weather" banner. Carlton, e-mail the station and let them know how you feel. I think they are still doing the banner during daytime programming. Why do we need to know the air quality?


OK. I emailed them just now.


----------



## R. Aster

*WUSA-TV Picture Quality*

Since you guys are having so much fun ragging on WUSA ...

Anyone else observe poor PQ on WUSA? I notice it most on Hawaii Five-0. Lots of artifacts in the picture that I take to be macroblocking. Seems about the same on OTA and Comcast cable, so I assume this is due to compression at WUSA or CBS. 

What's odd is that during commercials the PQ seems much better, even ones like car ads with plenty of movement. This would imply that it's just the H50 source material that's over-compressed, but that seems impossible. Where in the chain would CBS need to over-compress an expensive prime time show like this? 

Other CBS shows (like the Thursday comedies) seem much better (less challenging, I know). Letterman, however, also seems pretty lousy, kinda grainy (smaller defects than the macroblocks). 

Anyone? Thanks.


----------



## dleedlee

R. Aster said:


> Since you guys are having so much fun ragging on WUSA ...
> 
> Anyone else observe poor PQ on WUSA? I notice it most on Hawaii Five-0. Lots of artifacts in the picture that I take to be macroblocking. Seems about the same on OTA and Comcast cable, so I assume this is due to compression at WUSA or CBS.
> 
> What's odd is that during commercials the PQ seems much better, even ones like car ads with plenty of movement. This would imply that it's just the H50 source material that's over-compressed, but that seems impossible. Where in the chain would CBS need to over-compress an expensive prime time show like this?
> 
> Other CBS shows (like the Thursday comedies) seem much better (less challenging, I know). Letterman, however, also seems pretty lousy, kinda grainy (smaller defects than the macroblocks).
> 
> Anyone? Thanks.


No, I haven't noticed. More sporadic issues with 4 and 7 but mostly I attribute it to the current weather/winds (I'm OTA).


----------



## Digital Rules

Some of what you are seeing is likely CBS itself. The Price is Right is filled with compression artifacts/mosquito noise at times on both channel 9 & 13 OTA.


----------



## R. Aster

Interesting. I'll see if I can verify that the PQ is 100% identical OTA and Comcast, which would narrow it to WUSA and CBS. I can also try to point my antenna at Baltimore and see if I can get CBS there and maybe eliminate CBS as a culprit.

All that said, if it is WUSA I could complain a little to them. But if it is really CBS I am astounded and assume that they have some reason to over-compress. (I have a 65" LCD-LED so the flaws are highlighted. On my 46", never noticed.) 

Thanks for the input.


----------



## dleedlee

R. Aster said:


> Interesting. I'll see if I can verify that the PQ is 100% identical OTA and Comcast, which would narrow it to WUSA and CBS. I can also try to point my antenna at Baltimore and see if I can get CBS there and maybe eliminate CBS as a culprit.
> 
> All that said, if it is WUSA I could complain a little to them. But if it is really CBS I am astounded and assume that they have some reason to over-compress. (I have a 65" LCD-LED so the flaws are highlighted. On my 46", never noticed.)
> 
> Thanks for the input.


Could it be some of the bandwidth has been added to 9.3 to boost the new Justice channel, formerly the weather channel?


----------



## Digital Rules

I don't think WUSA added any bandwidth to 9.3. Tried watching yesterday & just horrible PQ with tons of macro blocking. Don't see how anyone with anything larger than maybe a 19 inch set could stand to watch it.


----------



## joblo

Digital Rules said:


> Some of what you are seeing is likely CBS itself. The Price is Right is filled with compression artifacts/mosquito noise at times on both channel 9 & 13 OTA.


 Don’t know about PiR, but I generally find the picture on 13 has fewer digital artifacts than the picture on 9, and the audio quality is dramatically better on 13 then 9.

In fact, I find audio differences between DC and Baltimore stations more obvious than video differences on all of the big 4 commercial nets.

As I write this, The Oscars sound almost monaural on channel 2, while there’s so much surround on 7 I’m wondering if it’s synthetically enhanced. And channel 7 is all about that bass, no treble.

(This is OTA, running TiVo left and right analog through pro-logic with phantom center. MVPD and/or 5.1 mileage may vary.)


----------



## mrvideo

Digital Rules said:


> Some of what you are seeing is likely CBS itself. The Price is Right is filled with compression artifacts/mosquito noise at times on both channel 9 & 13 OTA.


Sorry, but the CBS network feeds are not filled with compression artifacts/mosquito noise. CBS feeds high bitrate 4:2:2 MPEG-2 video. The quality of programs like _The Price is Right_ is beyond what is actually transmitted.

So, I hope you mean the local CBS *affiliate*. There is a difference between CBS and CBS affiliates.


----------



## joblo

mrvideo said:


> There is a difference between CBS and CBS affiliates.


There's also a difference between an affiliate and an O&O, as I'm sure you know.

13 in Baltimore is an O&O.

So it really *is* CBS. Not the net, maybe, but definitely the company.


----------



## mrvideo

joblo said:


> There's also a difference between an affiliate and an O&O, as I'm sure you know.
> 
> 13 in Baltimore is an O&O.


IIRC, CBS O&Os do not have subchannels. I also understand that will be changing in the future.



> So it really *is* CBS. Not the net, maybe, but definitely the company.


I read the subject matter of these posts to be along the lines that the image quality is bad on CBS stations, specifically affiliates. So, it isn't the CBS network's fault that the video sucks on affiliates that have subchannels. Once subchannels show up on CBS O&Os, they too will have video that is subpar.

BTW, even if a station were to give the HD stream all of the available bits (no subchannels), 1080i still can be bit-starved, as our ATSC system just doesn't have the bits to do MPEG-2 1080i video justice. If only we had 8 MHz wide channels and used H.264 video, then things would look much better. That is until station owners add lots of subchannels to bit-starve the HD stream.

I don't know how the audio can be better on CBS O&Os over CBS affiliates, when all the stations get the same high quality Dolby-E audio. There is no reason for all CBS affiliates to do horrible audio processing that CBS O&Os don't do. You can't put all affiliates into the same pigeon hole.


----------



## joblo

mrvideo said:


> IIRC, CBS O&Os do not have subchannels. I also understand that will be changing in the future.


 Correct. 13 is the only full power station in DC/Baltimore that has neither subs nor mobile. And yes, unfortunately, I believe that will be changing.



> I don't know how the audio can be better on CBS O&Os over CBS affiliates,


 I don’t know the how of it, either. All I know is when I switch between DC and Baltimore stations, I can easily hear the difference on every net I watch except PBS.



> There is no reason for all CBS affiliates to do horrible audio processing that CBS O&Os don't do. You can't put all affiliates into the same pigeon hole.


 I made no generalization re affiliates vs. O&Os. You said, essentially, don’t blame CBS, and I said if someone doesn’t like the PQ on 13, there’s nobody to blame but CBS.

But I’m not the one who took issue with the PQ on 13. For my money, the AQ and PQ on 13 are the best in the DC/Baltimore market. The DC affiliate looks just as sharp to me but has more artifacts, and the DC affiliate is louder but it lacks treble and doesn’t sound as full as the Baltimore O&O.

On NBC, otoh, I prefer the sound on the Baltimore affiliated station to the DC O&O, because it sounds fuller, with more treble. A lot of people don’t like 11 because it doesn’t do 5.1, but I’d rather have 2 channels of 20-20 frequency response and a pro-logic decoder than 5.1 channels that sound like AM radio. I don’t see a difference in PQ on the NBC stations, though.

On ABC, the Baltimore affiliate looks sharper to me than the DC affiliate, and Baltimore has more treble, but DC has more surround.

On FOX, the Baltimore affiliate looks sharper than the DC O&O, but DC has fuller sound.

On PBS, MPT looks sharper than DC’s 26 and 32, but I think 26 might have the best color. And all three sound the same to me.

These comparisons are all OTA. I could never tell any difference between OTA and FiOS when I had it, but TiVo disk usage suggests that Cox compresses some stations.

Finally, I have to say that AQ and PQ deficiencies don’t bother me that much anymore, because about the only things I still watch on broadcast, or even basic cable, are news, the NFL, and specials like the Grammys and Oscars. With snipes, hashtags, network bugs, station bugs, weather bugs, weather crawls, time, temperature, wind chill, school closings, lottery numbers, and other garbage superimposed regularly over the programming, why worry about AQ and PQ? Channel 9 actually threw a crawl on top the Grammys at one point that said “WIN *$5000* RIGHT NOW GO TO THE WUSA9 *MOBILE APP NOW*”.

Which is why I get most of my scripted programming from Netflix these days, which looks and sounds better than anything on broadcast or cable, not just because of its superior AQ and PQ, but also its complete lack of superimposed screen clutter, aka *NOISE*.


----------



## dleedlee

Is there any update on when WJLA 7.3 will change from Living Well Channel to whatever is replacing it? Thought it was supposed to have happened by now.


----------



## AntAltMike

mrvideo said:


> IIRC, CBS O&Os do not have subchannels. I also understand that will be changing in the future.





AntAltMike said:


> ...CBS and Weigel Broadcasting will be launching a re-run channel to be called Decades on May 25, 2015. According to the Wikipedia article, they are planning to distribute it on all 16 CBS owned and operated stations and further syndicating it to other stations as well, so that means that Baltimore WJZ-13 will finally have a subchannel..





dleedlee said:


> Is there any update on when WJLA 7.3 will change from Living Well Channel to whatever is replacing it? Thought it was supposed to have happened by now.


Live Well network got about a three month "stay of execution" to abet the transition to LAFF by ABC O&O's that had previously been planning to air locally originated programs, and that extension bought time for the other maybe 40 Live Well network affiliates to plan their own transitions.



AntAltMike said:


> We now know that WMAR will be replacing (Live Well Network) with LAFF comedy channel.
> 
> 
> *ABC, Scripps to Carry New Broadcast Network Dedicated to Comedy*
> 
> January 18, 2015
> 
> ATLANTA (January 18, 2015) – The country’s first-ever, over-the-air broadcast television network devoted to comedy around-the-clock will launch this spring when Katz Broadcasting debuts LAFF on April 15, 2015, it was announced today.
> 
> LAFF will feature a mix of contemporary off-network sitcoms and popular theatrical motion pictures, with a target audience of adults 18-49. The LAFF brand will cross multiple platforms, with the linear network carried on the signals of local broadcast television stations and corresponding cable carriage while companion digital content will be available at LAFF.com and via the LAFF app.
> 
> The ABC Owned Television Stations will carry LAFF in New York (WABC-TV),
> 
> The E.W. Scripps Company will also launch LAFF on its stations in Detroit (WXYZ-TV), Baltimore (WMAR-TV),...
> 
> These initial agreements will make LAFF available to more than 35% of the country, with more distribution additions expected to be announced shortly.
> 
> More...



WJLA already bumps some Live Well Network programming for College Basketball. They seem to be a prime candidate for LAFF starting on April 15, except that LAFF might tend to favor affiliation with a local subchannel that will commit to it for 24/7.


----------



## Trip in VA

But WJLA isn't owned by ABC or Scripps, so we will have to see what Sinclair does with it. WJLA is Sinclair's only Live Well affiliate, with KATV in Little Rock having switched it to Grit at the beginning of the year. 

I would be amused and not terribly surprised if WeatherNation was what landed on 7-3, since Sinclair has launched WeatherNation in several markets now including Baltimore.

- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike

AntAltMike said:


> WJLA already bumps some Live Well Network programming for College Basketball. They seem to be a prime candidate for LAFF starting on April 15, except that LAFF might tend to favor affiliation with a local subchannel that will commit to it for 24/7.





Trip in VA said:


> But WJLA isn't owned by ABC or Scripps, so we will have to see what Sinclair does with it.


That's the snag. The sporadic College Basketball programming I alluded to that presently bumps Live Well Network on WJLA is from Sinclair's own American Sports Network, so any subchannel that they might substitute would have to accept having its programming bumped, but LAFF, with its interactive programming, might be catering to an audience that considers it Must-See-TV and if so, they would tend to be averse to a shared subchannel.



> I would be amused and not terribly surprised if WeatherNation was what landed on 7-3, since Sinclair has launched WeatherNation in several markets now including Baltimore....


I'd certainly like to see it there. I service some Washington, DC metro area hotel TV system headends that liked having WUSA's localized Weather Nation on 9.3 it as their local weather channel. I've switched them to WBFF 45.3 where possible, but it doesn't serve their guests as well a did WUSA's localized presentation.


----------



## mrvideo

joblo said:


> I made no generalization re affiliates vs. O&Os. You said, essentially, don’t blame CBS, and I said if someone doesn’t like the PQ on 13, there’s nobody to blame but CBS.


As I've said, the CBS network feed cannot be to blame. The network feed is 38 Mbps 4:2:2 MPEG-2 with 2.3 Mbps Dolby-E. Any video artifacts and/or audio issues will be the result of the particular station.



> On NBC, otoh, I prefer the sound on the Baltimore affiliated station to the DC O&O, because it sounds fuller, with more treble. A lot of people don’t like 11 because it doesn’t do 5.1, but I’d rather have 2 channels of 20-20 frequency response and a pro-logic decoder than 5.1 channels that sound like AM radio. I don’t see a difference in PQ on the NBC stations, though.


I do now know the frequency response of the NBC audio feed. It is 6 channels (via three stereo pairs) of MPEG audio. I'd have to do a capture of the C-band feed in order to run a FFT on it (I can't get the primary Ku feed). Strange that there are stations that still do not do 5.1.



> On ABC, the Baltimore affiliate looks sharper to me than the DC affiliate, and Baltimore has more treble, but DC has more surround.


ABC uses the same technology as ABC for the audio. I have no idea how a station can have more surround than another, considering both are getting the same sat feed. Someone has mucked with the levels of the two surround channels (one sat feed stereo pair).



> On FOX, the Baltimore affiliate looks sharper than the DC O&O, but DC has fuller sound.


Now this really doesn't make any sense. Both stations air the exact same audio. Neither station can get at the video, or the audio. The feed goes from the IRD, thru the splicer, out to the transmitter. The Fox network controls the path from their master control room in L.A. to the station's transmitter. The audio AC3 stream is done in LA and directly applied to the station's transmitter.



> Finally, I have to say that AQ and PQ deficiencies don’t bother me that much anymore, because about the only things I still watch on broadcast, or even basic cable, are news, the NFL, and specials like the Grammys and Oscars. With snipes, hashtags, network bugs, station bugs, weather bugs, weather crawls, time, temperature, wind chill, school closings, lottery numbers, and other garbage superimposed regularly over the programming, why worry about AQ and PQ? Channel 9 actually threw a crawl on top the Grammys at one point that said “WIN *$5000* RIGHT NOW GO TO THE WUSA9 *MOBILE APP NOW*”.


I've been screaming about screen clutter and the lack of program material (too many commercials and promos) for ages. That is why I do not get my programming from OTA either (I do not have cable or DBS). I only watch local news, Nightline and sometimes 20/20. I watched the Grammys via the backup sat feed from L.A. No local crap to deal with. Actually, I watched the local station and captured the sat feed. Any performances I wanted to keep (there were three), were from the sat feed. No bugs, no snipes and no artifacts.


----------



## AntAltMike

30.1-30.6 are out here in College Park. When I rescanned, the tuner did halt at UHF 24 for about a minute before moving on with no channels found, which is indicative of a signal that is detected but too weak to decode.


----------



## AntAltMike

AntAltMike said:


> 30.1-30.6 are out here in College Park. When I rescanned, the tuner did halt at UHF 24 for about a minute before moving on with no channels found, which is indicative of a signal that is detected but too weak to decode.


Now working.


----------



## dleedlee

AntAltMike said:


> Now working.


AND the clock is now correct!


----------



## AntAltMike

dleedlee said:


> Any one else notice that MHz (30.1-30.6) is sending out the wrong time...? It's now roughly 1.5 hrs fast...





AntAltMike said:


> 30.7-30.12 are time synchronized with 30.1-30-6 and are similarly mistimed.
> 
> The clock settings are pretty shabby all around:
> 11.1 WBAL: + 2 to 3 minutes
> 14.1 WFDC: + 9 minutes (they are a serial offender)
> 23.1 WDDN is in a time warp. Date: 1980/02/15, daily time off by nearly six hours
> 25.1 WZDC: - (minus) 3 minutes
> 45.1 WBFF: + 2 minutes
> 54.1 WNUV: + 2 minutes
> 58.1 WIAV: + 7 minutes





dleedlee said:


> AND the clock is now correct!



Back in the late 1950s, my father had a once-a-week job of winding the church tower clock across the street. They used to use a clever "escape mechanism" that assured a constant release of stored energy that kept that clock more accurate than these PSIP(?) times are. Of course, I used to get more kick out of my four barrel carburator back then than I do out of my fuel injector now, too. Ah, the good old days.

WBAL: + 2 to 3 minutes* Now accurate *
14.1 WFDC: + 9 minutes (they are a serial offender) *Now +14 min*
23.1 WDDN is in a time warp. Date: 1980/02/15, daily time off by nearly six hours *Keeping pace but still 25 years behind*
25.1 WZDC: - (minus) 3 minutes *Now (minus) 6*
45.1 WBFF: + 2 minutes *Now +3*
54.1 WNUV: + 2 minutes *Now+ 3*
58.1 WIAV: + 7 minutes *No change*


----------



## dleedlee

I'm using a very liberal definition of 'correct' , i.e., +/- 15 minutes.
Let's see what happens come Daylight Savings Time.


----------



## AntAltMike

Was 1980 a leap year? I think WDDN is going to lose another day at the end of this month.

Back in 2001 and 2002, I used to do some repair work for InnRoomVideo, a hotel PPV movie provider. They had COBOL software that couldn't overcome the Y2K problem, so they simply set their system clock back to some year in the 1900s when the days and dates were synchronized with the current year. Maybe WDDN is using COBOL!


----------



## AntAltMike

dleedlee said:


> I'm using a very liberal definition of 'correct' , i.e., +/- 15 minutes.


WNVC 30.1-30.6 is now 1.5 minutes fast, whereas WNVT 30-7-30.12 is just ten seconds fast.


----------



## dleedlee

AntAltMike said:


> WNVC 30.1-30.6 is now 1.5 minutes fast, whereas WNVT 30-7-30.12 is just ten seconds fast.


That's pretty good. Tempted to turn off the iView on 30.1 tonight and see if my timed recordings go off on schedule.


----------



## ProjectSHO89

> 23.1 WDDN is in a time warp. Date: 1980/02/15, daily time off by nearly six hours *Keeping pace but still 25 years behind*


Must be another time warp. I counted on my fingers and toes (TWICE!) and came up with 35 years ... and 5 toes left.


----------



## AntAltMike

ProjectSHO89 said:


> Must be another time warp. I counted on my fingers and toes (TWICE!) and came up with 35 years ... and 5 toes left.


I was an extra for the movie, Deliverance.


----------



## AntAltMike

WWTD-LD UHF 14 is now carrying RetroTV on 49.4 and Rev'n on 49.5, though at this moment, the video on Rev'n 49.5 is frozen.

RetroTV's national schedule is here: http://classic.myretrotv.com/prog_schedules/RTV-National-Eastern.pdf . At present, however, they seem to be broadcasting their Sunday movie three hours late.

I'll probably watch Mystery Science Theater at 8:00 PM Saturday and 5:00 Sunday, and maybe Davinci's Inquest at midnight, but little else.

Update: All scheduling bets are off. Mystery Science Theater just started at midnight, seven hours behind schedule, which is fine with me but I don't have the wherewithal to develop my own local schedule.

Here is Rev'n's national schedule: http://www.revntv.com/#schedule


----------



## AntAltMike

AntAltMike said:


> ...I see that CBS and Weigel Broadcasting will be launching a re-run channel to be called Decades on May 25, 2015. According to the Wikipedia article, they are planning to distribute it on all 16 CBS owned and operated stations and further syndicating it to other stations as well, so that means that Baltimore WJZ-13 will finally have a subchannel.


WJZ 13.2 is now on and running what it is calling "Countdown to Decades", featuring randomly sequenced episodes of The Lucy Show.

The countdown counter says it will launch in 82 days and, as of this moment, 19+ hours. If ProjectSHO89 can take his socks off again, he might count it all the way out to about 11:00PM Eastern on May 24th. I think their counter left out the Daylight Savings Time adjustment.


----------



## dleedlee

AntAltMike said:


> WWTD-LD UHF 14 is now carrying RetroTV on 49.4 and Rev'n on 49.5, though at this moment, the video on Rev'n 49.5 is frozen.
> 
> RetroTV's national schedule is here: http://classic.myretrotv.com/prog_schedules/RTV-National-Eastern.pdf . At present, however, they seem to be broadcasting their Sunday movie three hours late.
> 
> I'll probably watch Mystery Science Theater at 8:00 PM Saturday and 5:00 Sunday, and maybe Davinci's Inquest at midnight, but little else.
> 
> Update: All scheduling bets are off. Mystery Science Theater just started at midnight, seven hours behind schedule, which is fine with me but I don't have the wherewithal to develop my own local schedule.
> 
> Here is Rev'n's national schedule: http://www.revntv.com/#schedule


I really loved Da Vinci's Inquest. Watched the whole series when one of the retro TV channels first aired it back when they were short of content. Also aired Da Vinci's City Hall. Even back then, 2011 when I watched it, one of the hot topics cross-training firefighters and EMS struck a DC chord. Now, even more so.


----------



## barefeetrule

*Buzzr TV coming to WTTG*

Hey everyone!

I live in Baltimore and am seriously considering getting an outdoor antenna capable of receiving "violet" stations due to WTTG getting Buzzr TV, which will be the only OTA channel for classic game shows. If I recall, this will be WTTG's first substation? Also, would anyone be able to recommend a good antenna that I can mount on the roof? I have attached my TVfool results. Thanks!


----------



## Digital Rules

If in your shoes, the minimum antenna I would consider would be a 7694. If you can go 1 to 2 steps larger, I recommend either the HBU33 or HBU44.

Regardless of what you get, an FM trap is mandatory due to the searing levels of FM coming from TV hill.


----------



## doctorwizz

I got this antenna as a experiment. 
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LAA45PA/

Was hoping I could get at least one HD station to see how it looked upscaled to 4K resolution compared to Dish TV. 

After trying many positions in my finished basement, I taped it to the a west facing wall. About 6.5' off the floor. That is about 3' above the ground outside. I can get ch. 4 , 5, 14, 22, and 50. And all the sub channels. They work great. 
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=2c156151d2776f
Northern Calvert county.

Ch. 9 will only tune if I move the antenna lower. But then I lose ch. 4, 5, and 50. I can't get ch. 7 at all. 

With those channels, I can see a big improvement in picture quality over Dish locals. I was amazed by increased PQ!
On Dish, Ch. 4 and 9 look excellent, while 5 and 7 don't look very good. 7 looks the worst.

I'm still considering options for antenna's. I might try to install an attic antenna. Most likely I'll get a roof antenna installed.


----------



## yesongs

I hope I'm not asking this in the wrong forum 

10 years ago DirectTV installed a roof antenna on my town home 

It is the grey, rectangular, wing like unit 

Just got back from vacation and I saw the mount was loose and I had a roofer get up on my unit and he told me that the attaching hinge is cracked, as is the wire where it connects to the antenna 

He reinstalled the mount, so basically all I need is a new antenna, and the installer to re-strip the end of the wire and put a new connector on I'm in Ellicott City, can anyone recommend a good antenna as a replacement and a good installer? 

TIA, I'm kind of lost without OTA 

E


----------



## doctorwizz

I moved that antenna around today. Now I also get ch. 2, 20, 45, and 54. Still don't get ch. 7 or 9. 
I am amazed that this antenna can get Baltimore from 45 miles.


----------



## yesongs

My update 

I replaced my original antenna, which turned out to be a Winegard wing type unit, with an RCA 751r 

Got the new one for $42 on a price match at Lowes, and it's giving me stronger signal strength than the Winegard supplied. 

I'm again getting all area Balt / DC channels, happy camper 

E


----------



## yesongs

Just noticed something looking at the channel list on the first page

I get 20.1 no issue but I don't see the new movie channel 20.2 in my guide and I can't access it

I have directv, and use HR-20's

Any suggestions appreciated


----------



## doctorwizz

Wow Ch. 2 ABC Baltimore looks fantastic upscaled to 4K! I can't get ch. 7 so I can't compare. Can anyone comment on OTA PQ between ch. 2 and 7?
7 looks like crap on Dish. 
Ch. Fox 45 has better PQ than Fox 5.
On Dish, Fox 5 looks worse than OTA.


----------



## Digital Rules

Channel 2 is much better. Channel 7 is softer with more noticeable artifacts.

I even see a difference between Newschannel 8 & channel 7 when they simulcast on Fios.


----------



## doctorwizz

I have Fairfax Antenna coming to install on the 17th!

Edit: Make that the 20th

2nd Edit: Coming Thurs 19th.


----------



## Dave Loudin

Just one more quick thought about the audio quality discussion. Audio processing is done at the transmitter, so stations airing the same network programming can and do sound differently.


----------



## pointthinker

Dave Loudin said:


> Just one more quick thought about the audio quality discussion. Audio processing is done at the transmitter, so stations airing the same network programming can and do sound differently.


I noticed that when I got PBS from DC and Maryland. WETA transmitted far better audio then MPT. MPT sounds like a pillow is over the speaker. No dynamic range or clarity like on WETA.


----------



## b5fan001

*Antenna with ghetto reflector.........*



doctorwizz said:


> I got this antenna as a experiment.
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LAA45PA/
> 
> Was hoping I could get at least one HD station to see how it looked upscaled to 4K resolution compared to Dish TV.
> 
> After trying many positions in my finished basement, I taped it to the a west facing wall. About 6.5' off the floor. That is about 3' above the ground outside. I can get ch. 4 , 5, 14, 22, and 50. And all the sub channels. They work great.
> http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=2c156151d2776f
> Northern Calvert county.
> 
> Ch. 9 will only tune if I move the antenna lower. But then I lose ch. 4, 5, and 50. I can't get ch. 7 at all.
> 
> With those channels, I can see a big improvement in picture quality over Dish locals. I was amazed by increased PQ!
> On Dish, Ch. 4 and 9 look excellent, while 5 and 7 don't look very good. 7 looks the worst.
> 
> I'm still considering options for antenna's. I might try to install an attic antenna. Most likely I'll get a roof antenna installed.


Hi,

I cut the cord a few weeks ago. I have an antenna very much like the one you bought. I live in Sterling, VA. I don't live very far away from the transmitters (about 17 to 20 miles) but I have my home theater set up in my basement. There is no clear view DC from the low position I'm in. The window in my basement faces DC thankfully, but I had devil of a time bring in all the DC channels at one time. I had some of the same results you are having even using the supplied amplifier. 

After doing a bit of reading about topics like making my own antenna, I found out about reflectors and what they do. Upon discovering that aluminum foil works as a reflector, I made one out of an old shoebox and aluminum foil. I put the makeshift foil reflector behind the antenna (as shown in the pictures attached). All my channels from DC came in except 50........sometimes........couldn't put my finger on the issue. I put the amplifier that came with the antenna back in place, I got everything. 

I know it doesn't look great but it worked for me. It is kinda hard to see since I took the pics from outside the window in daylight. But, I think with the size of the pictures you can get an idea of what I did. 

-B


----------



## doctorwizz

b5fan001 said:


> Hi,
> 
> I cut the cord a few weeks ago. I have an antenna very much like the one you bought. I live in Sterling, VA. I don't live very far away from the transmitters (about 17 to 20 miles) but I have my home theater set up in my basement. There is no clear view DC from the low position I'm in. The window in my basement faces DC thankfully, but I had devil of a time bring in all the DC channels at one time. I had some of the same results you are having even using the supplied amplifier.
> 
> After doing a bit of reading about topics like making my own antenna, I found out about reflectors and what they do. Upon discovering that aluminum foil works as a reflector, I made one out of an old shoebox and aluminum foil. I put the makeshift foil reflector behind the antenna (as shown in the pictures attached). All my channels from DC came in except 50........sometimes........couldn't put my finger on the issue. I put the amplifier that came with the antenna back in place, I got everything.
> 
> I know it doesn't look great but it worked for me. It is kinda hard to see since I took the pics from outside the window in daylight. But, I think with the size of the pictures you can get an idea of what I did.
> 
> -B


Yeah kinda ugly but functional. Wife would kill me if I did that. 

I just my antenna install appointment with Fairfax Antenna changed to tomorrow. Thurs 20th. Snow and rain Thurs. night and Fri.
Got a Tivo Roamio OTA that I upgraded the hard drive with a 3TB drive. And I just recieved one Tivo mini v1. Works great!
Also got a simple.tv on Ebay for $60. And a lifetime sub for $4. It will be just for watching TV on PC's or tablets. 
OTA looks amazing on my UHDTV!


----------



## b5fan001

doctorwizz said:


> Yeah kinda ugly but functional. Wife would kill me if I did that.
> 
> I just my antenna install appointment with Fairfax Antenna changed to tomorrow. Thurs 20th. Snow and rain Thurs. night and Fri.
> Got a Tivo Roamio OTA that I upgraded the hard drive with a 3TB drive. And I just recieved one Tivo mini v1. Works great!
> Also got a simple.tv on Ebay for $60. And a lifetime sub for $4. It will be just for watching TV on PC's or tablets.
> OTA looks amazing on my UHDTV!


I got the TiVo Roamio for OTA as well and I have to agree that the picture is wonderful. I didn't upgrade my hard drive. With all the streaming content available from HULU, Amazon Prime and Netflix, I don't need the extra room......yet! My only issue is the loss of ABC Family, FX, TNT and USA networks. I will have to wait until their programs are available streaming. If you or anyone else has a way to get those networks even though they are not available on Hulu, please drop me a line! 

Let me know how the new antenna turns out. I should have mentioned that I do NOT get any Baltimore stations. 

-B


----------



## doctorwizz

b5fan001 said:


> I got the TiVo Roamio for OTA as well and I have to agree that the picture is wonderful. I didn't upgrade my hard drive. With all the streaming content available from HULU, Amazon Prime and Netflix, I don't need the extra room......yet! My only issue is the loss of ABC Family, FX, TNT and USA networks. I will have to wait until their programs are available streaming. If you or anyone else has a way to get those networks even though they are not available on Hulu, please drop me a line!
> 
> Let me know how the new antenna turns out. I should have mentioned that I do NOT get any Baltimore stations.
> 
> -B


I figured I might as well upgrade the Roamio hard drive now. You can't keep any recordings when upgrading. I like to save a lot recordings and record everything. 
It is so easy too. Few torque screws and drop a drive (3TB max) in and go. The Tivo does all the work. Plug n play.


----------



## doctorwizz

Got the antenna installed! Winegard HD-7697 with RCA amp.
Fairfax AVI don't install rotors anymore. I wanted one but, oh well. They say that they are unreliable and not needed like they were back when multi-path was a factor. Does that sound right? I get Balt and DC and some Salisbury stations. 
I get about 70 channels. I'll rescan later. I have great signals. They took over an hour to find best signal for DC and Balt.
Here is a pic. I picked the highest mount. There is a slight tilt in the mount that they said helped the signal.


----------



## Digital Rules

Nice job. Like that they put the amp down low where it is easy to service. Kinda sucks about the rotor, but decent rotors ain't cheap anymore. Did they split the aim between Baltimore & DC?


----------



## b5fan001

doctorwizz said:


> Got the antenna installed! Winegard HD-7697 with RCA amp.
> Fairfax AVI don't install rotors anymore. I wanted one but, oh well. They say that they are unreliable and not needed like they were back when multi-path was a factor. Does that sound right? I get Balt and DC and some Salisbury stations.
> I get about 70 channels. I'll rescan later. I have great signals. They took over an hour to find best signal for DC and Balt.
> Here is a pic. I picked the highest mount. There is a slight tilt in the mount that they said helped the signal.


*Awesome! You know, when I was fighting to get my antenna to work, I ended up doing a strange tilt a couple times that allowed me to get a channel it wasn't getting normally. Attaching the reflector behind it helped out tremendously in getting all the DC channels. Unfortunately, I rent, so I cannot put up a big antenna.

-B *


----------



## doctorwizz

Digital Rules said:


> Nice job. Like that they put the amp down low where it is easy to service. Kinda sucks about the rotor, but decent rotors ain't cheap anymore. Did they split the aim between Baltimore & DC?


Yes. They did take a long to get it right. The installers were great! They loved my setup.


----------



## Digital Rules

Now you will REALLY be able to see the difference between ABC-2 & ABC-7!! 

Saw Jeopardy on Fox 45 last night & it was unbelievable how much better it looked than on WJLA. Just put my antennas back up last weekend since I heard that Fios may be dropping QAM channels soon.


----------



## Trip in VA

I had called Fairfax Antenna to do my antenna installation and wound up in an argument with the guy on the other end who said they wouldn't install an antenna they didn't provide without charging through the nose and on and on and on. I wound up having someone else do my install, which has been outstanding.

Just because you can't see multipath doesn't mean it's not there. If you get random unexplained dropouts, that's multipath. A good rotor definitely isn't cheap, and I don't have one yet, but I do plan to get one down the road.

- Trip


----------



## doctorwizz

Digital Rules said:


> Now you will REALLY be able to see the difference between ABC-2 & ABC-7!!
> 
> Saw Jeopardy on Fox 45 last night & it was unbelievable how much better it looked than on WJLA. Just put my antennas back up last weekend since I heard that Fios may be dropping QAM channels soon.


Yes, I can see a huge improvement. Fox 45 too looks soo much better than Fox 5. 
When I first got my UHDTV last April, I was really disappointed how bad Dish looked. PQ was greatly improved by the TV's firmware updates. But when I got that cheap antenna and saw how amazing OTA looked, I was hooked. 

Just called Dish an cut the cord! They tried to give discounts and free pay channels.


----------



## doctorwizz

Trip in VA said:


> I had called Fairfax Antenna to do my antenna installation and wound up in an argument with the guy on the other end who said they wouldn't install an antenna they didn't provide without charging through the nose and on and on and on. I wound up having someone else do my install, which has been outstanding.
> 
> Just because you can't see multipath doesn't mean it's not there. If you get random unexplained dropouts, that's multipath. A good rotor definitely isn't cheap, and I don't have one yet, but I do plan to get one down the road.
> 
> - Trip


Haven't seen any dropouts yet. Most of my signals are above 70 with the Tivo signal meter.


----------



## doctorwizz

Baltimore signals droped to 32 with this this small thunderstorm this morning. DC's stations signals did not drop at all. 
Looks like my antenna is pointing exactly towards DC. Installers said it is in-between DC and Balt. There is no way that is true. My lowest Balt signal is 11-1 which is low 50s on a good day. 
Does tilting the antenna back help signals? Not sure I like it tilted since it would not be good for installing a rotor. This antenna mount is a tripod. Have to level it out when installing a rotor?


----------



## Digital Rules

Are you experiencing any drop-outs? Are you seeing any of the low power DC stations like 25or 49?


----------



## doctorwizz

Digital Rules said:


> Are you experiencing any drop-outs? Are you seeing any of the low power DC stations like 25or 49?


I don't get 25 or 49. I can't check the signal level now. Wifes soap is recording.
I only get drop outs on Baltimore Stations.


----------



## Digital Rules

I wouldn't worry too much if you don't see any dropouts. 

What is the lowest station on the TV Fool report you receive? Surprised you aren't seeing anything from WWTD-49, although it doesn't come in here any more either. Not sure if anything has changed on their end?


----------



## doctorwizz

Lowest is WBOC in Salisbury. I guess I get that because the back of the antenna points towards the SE. I just realized it is almost exactly opposite of DC. 

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=2c156151d2776f


----------



## doctorwizz

I can get 25.1 tonight. I had it before. Doesn't always tune in.


----------



## Digital Rules

Hi doctorwiz, today is a good day to evaluate reception with the dry windy conditions. Are you seeing any dropouts or wild signal swings?


----------



## doctorwizz

Digital Rules said:


> Hi doctorwiz, today is a good day to evaluate reception with the dry windy conditions. Are you seeing any dropouts or wild signal swings?


Dropouts or breakups on Ch 11.1 Signal down to 43-50. Usually on a good day is about 48-54. Seems to be varying a lot today. Reception was better yesterday in the rain. 
Ch 13 signal is 46-50 today but no breakups right now. 
Ch 25.1 is low at 34. 
All the DC stations are rock solid at 72 or higher. They are always perfect.


----------



## dleedlee

MHz Network has been teasing a 'major announcement' on April 15 recently. They also have a website for it http://mhz415.com/


----------



## AntAltMike

dleedlee said:


> MHz Network has been teasing a 'major announcement' on April 15 recently. They also have a website for it http://mhz415.com/


I haven't yet figured out from the articles I've read what kind of content it will be carrying, but it sure would be easy to script a bunch of international, "Ripped from the headlines" themed, Burke's Law formatted "Who killed....?" episode titles. We'd be glued to the set each week, trying to guess if the murderer was the CIA or the KBG.


----------



## dleedlee

AntAltMike said:


> I haven't yet figured out from the articles I've read what kind of content it will be carrying, but it sure would be easy to script a bunch of international, "Ripped from the headlines" themed, Burke's Law formatted "Who killed....?" episode titles. We'd be glued to the set each week, trying to guess if the murderer was the CIA or the KBG.


What have you read? I haven't seen anything yet.


----------



## AntAltMike

dleedlee said:


> What have you read? I haven't seen anything yet.


I read whatever came up when I googled it. Nothing substantive.


----------



## AntAltMike

36.1, the Washington, DC area retransmission of WMDE's Soul of the South , by WWTD-LD (UHF 14) has displayed no programming for at least three days now. The signal quality is evaluated as "good" by my TV, it gets reincluded in my channel line-up when I rescan, and al of the 49.X subchannels from the same carrier are present and operating normally. Can anyone determine if WMDE in Salisbury, MD itself is currently transmitting?


----------



## doctorwizz

AntAltMike said:


> 36.1, the Washington, DC area retransmission of WMDE's Soul of the South , by WWTD-LD (UHF 14) has displayed no programming for at least three days now. The signal quality is evaluated as "good" by my TV, it gets reincluded in my channel line-up when I rescan, and al of the 49.X subchannels from the same carrier are present and operating normally. Can anyone determine if WMDE in Salisbury, MD itself is currently transmitting?


Isn't WMDE 36.1 out of Dover?
Signal 32%
SNR 13dB

I can get 16.1 from Salisbury. But not anything from Dover.


----------



## Trip in VA

Yes, and its signal in DC is so poor (it *is* a low-VHF, after all) that they simulcast on WWTD-LD.

- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike

Salisbury/Dover is one Nielsen market, and I hastily appended it inaccurately. Nevertheless, it it still transmitting? The signal quality of rebroadcast 36.1 as received here in College Park is more than adequate for reliable reception.


----------



## Trip in VA

No, it looks like the WMDE subchannel on WWTD-LD has now vanished.

- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike

Trip in VA said:


> No, it looks like the WMDE subchannel on WWTD-LD has now vanished.,,


The content is not there, but the identifier still is. The local, 36.1 subchannel is still included in my TV's channel list when I rescan, like 54.2 was for months on end after WNUV dropped CoolTV.


----------



## StevenJB

WMDE is still being carried and still displays programming on Verizon FiOS Channel 502. I say this just so that you will know that maybe it's only the OTA signal that is affected.


----------



## doctorwizz

Today I am unable to get channels 5.1, 9.1, 32.1 from DC. Signal show 32 with SNR 14. WTH? It was fine last night.
Ch 4 and 7 show my normal signal strength at 72
3 different tuners have same symptoms. 
RCA mast attached preamp go bad?


----------



## AntAltMike

doctorwizz said:


> Today I am unable to get channels 5.1, 9.1, 32.1 from DC. Signal show 32 with SNR 14. WTH? It was fine last night.
> Ch 4 and 7 show my normal signal strength at 72
> 3 different tuners have same symptoms.
> RCA mast attached preamp go bad?


You'll get more responses if you post this in the HDTV Technical subforum.


----------



## doctorwizz

They are coming back. 32 and 5 are back. 9 just started coming back. Must be atmosphere conditions? Weather was not bad this morning. 
I don't want start a new thread. Got to go.
I just dont understand how such a good signal can drop to nothing like that. While others are still the same.


----------



## Trip in VA

Where in MD are you? Interference from other stations seems like a likely candidate for your issues. WTTG is on the same channel as WITF and WMGM, while WUSA is on the same channel as WBPH. Not sure what would be impacting WHUT, off-hand.

- Trip


----------



## doctorwizz

Trip in VA said:


> Where in MD are you? Interference from other stations seems like a likely candidate for your issues. WTTG is on the same channel as WITF and WMGM, while WUSA is on the same channel as WBPH. Not sure what would be impacting WHUT, off-hand.
> 
> - Trip


Chesapeake Beach

Never seen any issue with an DC channels. Signals are always rock steady. Even in a recent small thunderstorm.
I can't think of anything that would cause this.


----------



## doctorwizz

There is nothing around me except a Naval Research Facility.

http://www.nrl.navy.mil/field-sites/chesapeake-bay-det./


----------



## dleedlee

No sound or picture for Get,Grit and Escape subchannels (14.2-.4) but guide still working.


----------



## AntAltMike

dleedlee said:


> No sound or picture for Get,Grit and Escape subchannels (14.2-.4) but guide still working.


Same here.Meanwhile, Get and Grit are working OK on 54-2 and 24-2


----------



## doctorwizz

dleedlee said:


> No sound or picture for Get,Grit and Escape subchannels (14.2-.4) but guide still working.


Yep, confirmed. You know when it started?


----------



## dleedlee

doctorwizz said:


> Yep, confirmed. You know when it started?


I noticed it this morning, around 7-8am.


----------



## dleedlee

Seems like the ch.14 sub-channels are back. I caught the tail end of a crawl that said something about tests until 4pm.


----------



## AntAltMike

AntAltMike said:


> We now know that WMAR will be replacing it with LAFF comedy channel.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *ABC, Scripps to Carry New Broadcast Network Dedicated to Comedy*
> 
> January 18, 2015
> 
> ATLANTA (January 18, 2015) – The country’s first-ever, over-the-air broadcast television network devoted to comedy around-the-clock will launch this spring when Katz Broadcasting debuts LAFF on April 15, 2015, it was announced today...


It is on WMAR 2.2 at this moment. The schedule on LAFF's Official Website begins on April 30th.


----------



## Trip in VA

Is it just me, or has WMDO-LD 8 been off the air since Tuesday 4/28? Just asking in case this is them completing their relocation to channel 22.

- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules

I wasn't seeing any whiffs of 8 this weekend. It is never decodeable, but the Zenith converter would always see it before then.


----------



## AntAltMike

I never see it here in College Park, so I have no change to report, but I do see that their analog 47 is much clearer than usual. It is always overwhelmed by out-of-band noise from WRC UHF-48.


----------



## Digital Rules

I am seeing activity on RF8. WMDO must still be on the air.


----------



## Trip in VA

I've picked up WGAL several times since WMDO-LD disappeared. 

http://www.rabbitears.info/tvdx/signal_graph/10317DF4/tuner1/WGAL

- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules

Hmm, never thought WGAL would show up here with an attic antenna @ a 90° angle. I guess that's it since there are no other 8's around.


----------



## barefeetrule

*Action Antenna Install*

Hey everyone,

I scheduled an appointment with Action Antenna to install an Antennacraft model next week on my roof. They didn't tell me what model it was going to be, but I told them I want the heaviest duty best to get DC stations. Here's my TVFool report. What do you think about Antennacraft products and how far down the spectrum do you think I'll be able to get channels? I really hope they'll use the HD1850 model that I've read great things about.


----------



## Trip in VA

It's very hard to say, mostly because the Baltimore signals are so strong that you may overload your receiver(s). I think you're just going to have to wait and see.

- Trip


----------



## tylerSC

barefeetrule said:


> Hey everyone,
> 
> I scheduled an appointment with Action Antenna to install an Antennacraft model next week on my roof. They didn't tell me what model it was going to be, but I told them I want the heaviest duty best to get DC stations. Here's my TVFool report. What do you think about Antennacraft products and how far down the spectrum do you think I'll be able to get channels? I really hope they'll use the HD1850 model that I've read great things about.


Well the HBU55 is more ideally suited for the current channels which are High VHF and UHF. Or a Winegard 7698. And if overload is a concern, you may need to use attenuators or filters. Especially if using an amp for DC, which could cause overload from Baltimore. A Channel Master 3414 distribution amp or Clearstream Juice amp may be considered here because they are resistant to overload. But still may not be recommended.


----------



## AntAltMike

AntAltMike said:


> 36.1, the Washington, DC area retransmission of WMDE's Soul of the South , by WWTD-LD (UHF 14) has displayed no programming for at least three days now. The signal quality is evaluated as "good" by my TV, it gets reincluded in my channel line-up when I rescan, and al of the 49.X subchannels from the same carrier are present and operating normally....


Virtual channel 36.1 Soul of the South, broadcast on WWTD-LD UHF 14, is now gone, and it has been replaced with virtual channel 49.1 MiCasa Network, carrying general entertainment Latino programming. Official website: http://www.mcbntv.com/ .


----------



## Trip in VA

And WMDO-CD is now on channel 22. It looks like it signed on around 2:30 this afternoon.

- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike

Trip in VA said:


> And WMDO-CD is now on channel 22...


I'm receiving it just east of College Park, Maryland with a chimney-mounted Winegard PR-9022. It is mapped to 47.1, branded UniMas, and 47.2 is LATV.


----------



## Trip in VA

TSID is wrong on it too, so my scanner won't pick it up properly.

- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules

Trip in VA said:


> And WMDO-CD is now on channel 22. It looks like it signed on around 2:30 this afternoon.
> 
> - Trip


Wonder why WMDO even bothered switching to RF22? If anything, the coverage area is smaller. I guess a few more people can receive it with rabbit ears than when on 8.


----------



## Trip in VA

The WMDO signal on channel 8 was being swamped by 50% interference. Remember that when it went on the air in 2008, WGAL had a permit for 7.5 kW, WJLA for 30 kW, and WUSA for 18 kW, and all three were operating as analogs. Now, WJLA and WUSA are both at 52 kW, WGAL is at 59 kW, and all are digitals. Even leaving aside the VHF problem, it was being swamped on all sides by signals much stronger than WMDO and, due to WGAL, WMDO had no ability to increase its own power to compensate.

The signal on channel 22 will be easier to receive on indoor antennas and has no adjacent-channel interference. The nearest signals on channel 22 are also much further away (WRIC Richmond, WNJS Camden).

And once the Incentive Auction is over, presumably WMDO will be able to increase power by up to 10 or 12 dB making its UHF signal much better than the VHF ever was. 

- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules

I guess it will make sense if they increase power. Never noticed any issues receiving 8 around the immediate DC area with a decent antenna & FM trap. 

ATSC tuners are very tolerant of all but the most extreme splatter.


----------



## Trip in VA

A typical receiver can deal with a power differential of about 30-33 dB between adjacent channels, and the FCC protects stations at the more protective 26-28 dB. The difference between WJLA/WUSA at 52 kW and WMDO-LD at 0.198 kW is 24 dB, assuming line of sight to both. Given how much lower in height WMDO-LD is, terrain will start knocking the WMDO-LD signal down long before WUSA/WJLA get knocked down, meaning large parts of the area were probably in excess of 30 or 35 dB lower.

- Trip


----------



## doctorwizz

doctorwizz said:


> Today I am unable to get channels 5.1, 9.1, 32.1 from DC. Signal show 32 with SNR 14. WTH? It was fine last night.
> Ch 4 and 7 show my normal signal strength at 72
> 3 different tuners have same symptoms.
> RCA mast attached preamp go bad?


Could this have been caused by condensation ingress at the coax connectors? The signals seemed to come back when the clouds went away and the sun started shining that morning.
I saw channel 5 signal get low this morning. It was foggy and cars had condensation.
When they installed the antenna, there were no weather boots installed on the connectors at the preamp or the antenna connector. 
And I now know that that RCA preamp comes with boots. Aren't they needed?


----------



## Trip in VA

Possible, if water got into the connections, but reception was screwy this morning anyway due to the tropical weather down south. My WTTG signal was way down this morning due to interference from WITF, I lost WMPT entirely due to WTXF, and I decoded WNJT Trenton, WGAL Lancaster, and WPHL/KYW/WPSG Philly.

- Trip


----------



## doctorwizz

Trip in VA said:


> Possible, if water got into the connections, but reception was screwy this morning anyway due to the tropical weather down south. My WTTG signal was way down this morning due to interference from WITF, I lost WMPT entirely due to WTXF, and I decoded WNJT Trenton, WGAL Lancaster, and WPHL/KYW/WPSG Philly.
> 
> - Trip


I was getting Some Philly and Landcaster PA stations this morning too in the fog.
I like to look for signals with HD Homerun scanner.


----------



## doctorwizz

Found this site this morning

http://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo.html

Is that site useful in signal analyis?


----------



## Digital Rules

Yes, a useful site to reference when conditions are like we have been seeing the last few days.


----------



## doctorwizz

They must have installed outdoor coax compression connectors to my preamp and antenna. That must be why the boots were not installed. I still wish they were.
I can't imagine they wouldn't use outdoor connectors.


----------



## carltonrice

I have a friend who lives in a condo high rise at 4500 South Four Mile Run Drive in Arlington, VA. She's on the 11th floor, so height is not an issue, but she's on the south side of the building and obviously most of the DC transmitter are due north of her. With an indoor antenna for her HDTV, she can pick up most of the DC stations, but stability is a problem with 7 and 9. Oddly, we tried a UHF only antenna and it performed a bit better than a rabbit ears UHF loop antenna. I'm guessing that because she's on the side of the building away from the towers she has to pick up her signal from reflection mostly. In fact, probably because it's on the UHF band, she gets better signal strength on 2 out of Baltimore (40 miles further away) than on 7.

Can anyone recommend an indoor antenna that might give us some more stability on 7 and 9?


----------



## AntAltMike

carltonrice said:


> I have a friend who lives in a condo high rise at 4500 South Four Mile Run Drive in Arlington, VA. She's on the 11th floor, so height is not an issue, but she's on the south side of the building and obviously most of the DC transmitter are due north of her.


The Brittany? I last serviced their master antenna system back in 1995. The manager's first name was Vera. I thought it was an apartment complex back then. When did it "go condo"?

There is no magic bullet for VHF on the back side of a building, but if their distribution wiring has remained intact, I could make them a nice deal restoring it. As I recall, they had good Baltimore reception as well using cut to channel antennas and ChannelMaster "Jointennas" so if I pump that rooftop signal into their old wiring, all the cable TV subscribing residents would benefit from having all the Baltimore stations available, which are not on their cable system. Hint, hint.


----------



## E55 KEV

carltonrice said:


> Can anyone recommend an indoor antenna that might give us some more stability on 7 and 9?


Antennas are a buy and try product. I get good reception with both amped and non amped Winegard FlatWave models:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/winegar...enna/2938685.p?id=1219083881817&skuId=2938685

I've not tried the Mohu Leaf:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/mohu-le...hite/3488006.p?id=1219091715162&skuId=3488006

I recommend placement in a window and always re-scan channels after moving.


----------



## tylerSC

Reportedly the Winegard Flatwave is better designed for High VHF than the Mohu Leaf. But it is all trial and error, and based upon location. And sometimes an amp helps, sometimes it does more harm than good. You could also try a Terk HDTVa which has basic rabbit ears and a UHF element.


----------



## carltonrice

AntAltMike said:


> The Brittany? I last serviced their master antenna system back in 1995. The manager's first name was Vera. I thought it was an apartment complex back then. When did it "go condo"?
> 
> There is no magic bullet for VHF on the back side of a building, but if their distribution wiring has remained intact, I could make them a nice deal restoring it. As I recall, they had good Baltimore reception as well using cut to channel antennas and ChannelMaster "Jointennas" so if I pump that rooftop signal into their old wiring, all the cable TV subscribing residents would benefit from having all the Baltimore stations available, which are not on their cable system. Hint, hint.


The Brittany is the other building in the complex; she's in the Carlton. I asked her if the building had any antennae on the roof that were being distributed through the building coax and she didn't know, but it may be that the building is using that coax now for cable instead. One day when I'm over there, I'll have to see if there's anything coming out of those coax wall sockets.


----------



## tylerSC

Most of those high rise apartments in Northern Virginia used to have master antenna systems on the roof that received both DC and Baltimore channels available free of charge to all residents. But that was during the analog days. Don't know how it is now with digital. Or they could have changed to cable or satellite.


----------



## AntAltMike

tylerSC said:


> Most of those high rise apartments in Northern Virginia used to have master antenna systems on the roof that received both DC and Baltimore channels available free of charge to all residents. But that was during the analog days. Don't know how it is now with digital. Or they could have changed to cable or satellite.


Most of those were not updated to support the current channel assignments, so even if their headend components are stil working, they will ordinarily get just Washington, DC channels 7 and 9, and possibly Baltimore channels 11 and 13 "natively" and if someone is real lucky, the digital 26.1, which is now on UHF 27 and 50.1, which is still on UHF 50, MIGHT survive the beating they would take in old fashioned analog frequency converters and be tunable.


----------



## AntAltMike

Washington DC's WTTG 5.2 briefly displayed Buzzr, a game show channel. The screen is now blank but the channelization information remains displayed. The formal launch date is June 1, 2015.

Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Show_Network 

Official website: http://www.buzzrplay.com/


----------



## mvcg66b3r

AntAltMike said:


> Washington DC's WTTG 5.2 briefly displayed Buzzr, a game show channel. The screen is now blank but the chanelization information remains dsplayed. The formal launch date is June 1, 2015.
> 
> Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzzr
> 
> Official website: http://www.buzzrplay.com/


Fixed.


----------



## Digital Rules

Radio Shack in Chantilly is closing. Still have a few Antennacraft outdoor antennas left @ 70% off. Picked up a HBU 55 for $30.00 & 2 rotors for $18.00 each. They have a few HBU 33's as well.


----------



## Trip in VA

I got a rotor similarly cheap from a Radio Shack near me a few weeks ago but haven't put it up yet. I need to make another run to it now that the end date is even closer to see if anything else is marked down any lower.

- Trip


----------



## b5fan001

*Compass and*

Using this map:
http://www.antennaweb.org/Stations.aspx?Address=&City=Sterling&State=VA&ZIP=20164&Housing=S&Accuracy=4&Height=6&Obstructed=False&StationList=&Lat=39.0129178&Lon=-77.3956004

*and* my Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Android phone with a compass app, I was able to get more solid stronger signal reception with a basement mounted indoor antenna. The antenna was able to get all the Washington area stations. Channel 50 still has issues but any shows I would normally watch on the WB, I can pick up on Hulu the next day...so it is not loss. 

-B


----------



## StevenJB

Here’s a question for anyone out there familiar with FCC regulations, if any, or requirements on display channels. Does the FCC regulate what channel a broadcaster is allowed to display or map its physical channel to? Case in point: W22DA-LD in Frederick, MD will begin digital operations in the near future on physical channel 16 because it is being displaced from its analog operations on channel 22. W22DA allegedly will map to display channel 22-1.

"The FCC has established September 1, 2015 date for the termination of all analog low power television service. After that date, analog television will no longer be broadcast in the United States. Until that time, low power television stations may continue to operate their analog facilities.

"Low power television stations have the opportunity to seek either an on-channel digital conversion of their existing analog facilities (“flash cut”) or may construct and operate a second digital companion channel during the remainder of the digital transition. However, all low power television stations will be required to decide a single digital channel to continue to operate after the September 1, 2015 transition date.”

W22DA will choose physical channel 16, because of the unavailability of channel 22, which was awarded to WMDO-LD, which vacated channel 8. Channel W22DA will broadcast its digital signal from NW of Frederick to and through the city of Frederick directionally to the SE. Its signal will enter the service area of WMPT-HD in Annapolis. WMPT already uses display channel 22-1. Will W22DA be allowed to display on 22-1? Why is it not using 16-1 as a display channel, which is currently available?


----------



## Mr Tony

StevenJB said:


> Does the FCC regulate what channel a broadcaster is allowed to display or map its physical channel to?


no. You can display whatever channel number you want. There is a station in San Fran that maps to channel 1 as example



> "The FCC has established September 1, 2015 date for the termination of all analog low power television service. After that date, analog television will no longer be broadcast in the United States. Until that time, low power television stations may continue to operate their analog facilities.
> 
> "Low power television stations have the opportunity to seek either an on-channel digital conversion of their existing analog facilities (“flash cut”) or may construct and operate a second digital companion channel during the remainder of the digital transition. However, all low power television stations will be required to decide a single digital channel to continue to operate after the September 1, 2015 transition date.”


That is Class A stations. The station you are referring to is a translator (translator stations have numbers in their call sign) and are exempt from the Sept 1 deadline. 



> W22DA will choose physical channel 16, because of the unavailability of channel 22, which was awarded to WMDO-LD, which vacated channel 8. Channel W22DA will broadcast its digital signal from NW of Frederick to and through the city of Frederick directionally to the SE. Its signal will enter the service area of WMPT-HD in Annapolis. WMPT already uses display channel 22-1. Will W22DA be allowed to display on 22-1? Why is it not using 16-1 as a display channel, which is currently available?


I would assume they would stay on 16-1. I know the 3ABN affiliate in Minneapolis (where I am from) when they switched to digital mapped to 33-1 (their RF number) instead of the analog number (forget what it was). Same with EWTN. They were analog 19 and when they went digital they stayed on 16-1 (the RF station).


----------



## AntAltMike

If a low powered UHF channel 22 transmitter in the Washington/Baltimore market uses 22-1 as its virtual channel, then that guide channel number will not be available when the scan gets to WMPT's real frequency of UHF 42, and the receiver will be forced to give WMPT's channels alternate assignment numbers.

A couple of years ago, one of my customers rescanned one of their CECBs during tropo-ducting and it detected a VHF channel broadcasting from New Jersey, about 135 miles away, and assigned it 4.1 and 4.2, so when their scan got to UHF channel 48, which is used by WRC, it instead mapped it to 48.3 and 48.4. Unfortunately for me and for the irate customer, when they then tuned to watch 4.1, they only got a "signal weak" or "no signal" message, and had no reason to look to see if WRC could be tuned elsewhere.

Possibly further complicating a reassignment of WMPT's channels is that they may have loaded their PSIP information differently than most. A couple of years ago, I was programming some sophisticated channel guides in a hotel's 2006 manufacture Philips commercial televisions, and the three WMPT subchannels appeared in reverse order, with vMe on 42.1, MPT2 on 42.2 and MPT on 42.3.


----------



## Trip in VA

StevenJB said:


> "The FCC has established September 1, 2015 date for the termination of all analog low power television service. After that date, analog television will no longer be broadcast in the United States. Until that time, low power television stations may continue to operate their analog facilities.


The deadline was suspended indefinitely for all LPTV stations that are not Class A (like WMDO-CD) pending the incentive auction.



> W22DA will choose physical channel 16, because of the unavailability of channel 22, which was awarded to WMDO-LD, which vacated channel 8.


W22DA applied to move off of 22 long before WMDO-CD went there. I suspect they had other issues in mind, perhaps interference concerns with WVPY on 21. 

In any case, the FCC has not granted the channel 16 application and probably won't due to interference concerns with public safety operations on channel 17.



unclehonkey said:


> no. You can display whatever channel number you want. There is a station in San Fran that maps to channel 1 as example


This is incorrect. The FCC does indeed regulate where stations map to, see here for a very recent case: https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-15-662A1.pdf

(The channel 1 mapping you reference was approved by the FCC.)

The FCC rules incorporate ATSC A/65C by reference. Annex B of that document dictates how virtual channels are assigned. (Here's the 2006 version of the document, the one incorporated into the FCC rules: http://atsc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/A_65Cr1_with_amend_1.pdf )



> I would assume they would stay on 16-1. I know the 3ABN affiliate in Minneapolis (where I am from) when they switched to digital mapped to 33-1 (their RF number) instead of the analog number (forget what it was). Same with EWTN. They were analog 19 and when they went digital they stayed on 16-1 (the RF station).


I agree. W22DA will not be allowed to use 22, but if granted channel 16, then the station will most likely use 16-1. If it wound up on a channel that is already in use as a virtual channel, say channel 4 or channel 49 for the sake of argument, then it gets more complicated. If 4, it would map to 48-1. If 49, I don't know where it would land. The station would have to devise a solution and then ask the FCC to approve it. The FCC usually does as long as it's sensible. For example, the station could ask to use 15-1 since it can't use 49-1 due to WWTD-LD 14 and can't use 14-1 due to WFDC 15. Or it could ask to use 17-1 since no stations are allowed to operate on that channel due to public safety use, so it could never cause a conflict.



AntAltMike said:


> Possibly further complicating a reassignment of WMPT's channels is that they may have loaded their PSIP information differently than most. A couple of years ago, I was programming some sophisticated channel guides in a hotel's 2006 manufacture Philips commercial televisions, and the three WMPT subchannels appeared in reverse order, with vMe on 42.1, MPT2 on 42.2 and MPT on 42.3.


I have to admit I'm a bit stumped as to what could cause that on WMPT, because for as long as I've known it, the subchannels were in the correct order in the PMT. The only thing I can figure is that the Source IDs were out of order, which I wouldn't remember, and if that was the case it appears to have been fixed now.

- Trip


----------



## mdviewer25

Has anyone here tried the Clear Stream 2V antenna as an indoor antenna? If so, what were your results? Thinking purchasing one to replace a Terk HDTVa antenna and trying to get WBAL and WJZ in Capitol Heights. Not worried about WJLA and WUSA since I have FiOS.


----------



## Digital Rules

Haven't ever owned a Clear Stream 2V, but have experimented with it briefly. It's not really ideal for weaker VHF stations, but impressive on UHF given it's size.

I'm guessing that it won't work for Baltimore at your location unless outside in the clear. At a minimum, I would suggest an ANT751. You could alos try the Antennas Direct C-5, but it is a bit pricey.


----------



## tylerSC

mdviewer25 said:


> Has anyone here tried the Clear Stream 2V antenna as an indoor antenna? If so, what were your results? Thinking purchasing one to replace a Terk HDTVa antenna and trying to get WBAL and WJZ in Capitol Heights. Not worried about WJLA and WUSA since I have FiOS.[/QUOTE
> What about a Winegard Freevision? There may be a bit more VHF gain than the C2V, not sure. But it is cheaper, only $34 at Home Depot.


----------



## AntAltMike

AntAltMike said:


> WBAL: + 2 to 3 minutes* Now accurate *
> 14.1 WFDC: + 9 minutes (they are a serial offender) *Now +14 min*
> 23.1 WDDN is in a time warp. Date: 1980/02/15, daily time off by nearly six hours *Keeping pace but still 35 years behind*
> 25.1 WZDC: - (minus) 3 minutes *Now (minus) 6*
> 45.1 WBFF: + 2 minutes *Now +3*
> 54.1 WNUV: + 2 minutes *Now+ 3*
> 58.1 WIAV: + 7 minutes *No change*


Update:
14.1 WFDC: +6 Minutes
23.1 WDDN: Time warp is regrettably stable. Still 35 calender years off, daily time still six hours off.
24.1 WUTB: Unfortunately, I no longer receive it with my new antenna orientation
25.1 WZDC: +57 minutes
45.1 WBFF: +4
54.1 WNUV: +5
58,1 WIAV: +9

All the rest are on time.


----------



## ADTech

> What about a Winegard Freevision? There may be a bit more VHF gain than the C2V, not sure


I can assure you that the Freevision doesn't have any greater gain anywhere in its design bands than does a C2V, whether VHF or UHF... It also has an unexpected quirk in that it's peak VHF gain on some channels is off the back rather than the front where most people would expect it to be.

Click on the attachment below for a graph I did earlier this month.


----------



## mdviewer25

ADTech said:


> I can assure you that the Freevision doesn't have any greater gain anywhere in its design bands than does a C2V, whether VHF or UHF... It also has an unexpected quirk in that it's peak VHF gain on some channels is off the back rather than the front where most people would expect it to be.
> 
> Click on the attachment below for a graph I did earlier this month.


Checked on the Wineguard since I work at Home Depot and on the box it says its range is 30 miles which is less than the Terk that I already have. Still waiting on a few more opinions before I pull the trigger on buying the C2V.


----------



## Digital Rules

Someone has a C2V new in the box for $35.00 near GWU.
http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/ele/5088847477.html


----------



## AntAltMike

AntAltMike said:


> ...CBS and Weigel Broadcasting will be launching a re-run channel to be called Decades on May 25, 2015. According to the Wikipedia article, they are planning to distribute it on all 16 CBS owned and operated stations and further syndicating it to other stations as well, so that means that Baltimore WJZ-13 will finally have a subchannel....


I haven't been able to get mentally attuned to Decades (Baltimore 13.2) since it went from pre-launch binge to whatever juke box scheduling format it is on now. It seems that when they pick an old show to temporarily feature, they run the same, single episode four times in one, twenty-four hour interval, so even if I stumble onto one that piques my interest, I can't make immediate plans to see any more episodes of it because they will only be showing that same one before abandoning it.

I think Buzzr (5.2) will be a dead loser, too. Other than the 1970s Match Game, the rest of their shows are bland and uninteresting.


----------



## mdviewer25

Didn't Gordon Peterson retire? Why does channel 7 still have this information in the system? I'm not sure if it's Verizon's fault or ABC 7 WJLA but it needs to be updated


----------



## yesongs

I posted a while back but haven't seen any response so I'd like to ask again

I'm a DirecTV subscriber

None of the more recent channel OTA additions, (13.2, 20.2 for example), appear in my guide and I cannot access them

I've redone "initial set up" so it's been re-scanned, still nothing

Any info would be appreciated


----------



## AntAltMike

yesongs said:


> I posted a while back but haven't seen any response so I'd like to ask again
> 
> I'm a DirecTV subscriber
> 
> None of the more recent channel OTA additions, (13.2, 20.2 for example), appear in my guide and I cannot access them
> 
> I've redone "initial set up" so it's been re-scanned, still nothing
> 
> Any info would be appreciated


DirecTV doesn't carry all the local subchannels, and I think some of them are carried as Network programs rather than local.

You'll get more responses if you ask at DBSTalk.com . Have you tried calling DirecTV and asking?


----------



## rviele

*baltimore chan.13*



AntAltMike said:


> Update:
> 14.1 WFDC: +6 Minutes
> 23.1 WDDN: Time warp is regrettably stable. Still 35 calender years off, daily time still six hours off.
> 24.1 WUTB: Unfortunately, I no longer receive it with my new antenna orientation
> 25.1 WZDC: +57 minutes
> 45.1 WBFF: +4
> 54.1 WNUV: +5
> 58,1 WIAV: +9
> 
> All the rest are on time.


i have a question for mike.
how can i get channel 13 in havre de grace, md ican get chan.2 and chan.11 fine. suguestions as always would be helpful.
rjv


----------



## Tomar

Is there anyone near Dulles airport that can share their experiences with OTA reception? I'm curious to know if the airplane causes dropouts. I'm considering either an attic or roof top antenna install.


----------



## AntAltMike

rviele said:


> i have a question for mike.
> how can i get channel 13 in havre de grace, md ican get chan.2 and chan.11 fine. suggestions as always would be helpful.
> rjv


We need a TV fool report for your exact location as well as a physical description of your situation, like home or apartment, and which side your unit is on if you are in an apartment house, whether you can mount on a rooftop, whether there are manmade obstructions on your transmission path that would not show up in a terrain data base.


----------



## rviele

AntAltMike said:


> We need a TV fool report for your exact location as well as a physical description of your situation, like home or apartment, and which side your unit is on if you are in an apartment house, whether you can mount on a rooftop, whether there are manmade obstructions on your transmission path that would not show up in a terrain data base.


mike- since i don't know to do a tv fool. my physical address is 2211 sherwood lane havre de grace,md 21078. i live out in the country about 5 miles fromthe town of aberdeen. description of the house is a single story rancher in the woods. antenna is a channelmaster with two bent elements. i believe it is a 4428. funny thing is i get every channel i want except for chan 13 yet they are all on the same heading.
rjv


----------



## Digital Rules

Tomar said:


> Is there anyone near Dulles airport that can share their experiences with OTA reception? I'm curious to know if the airplane causes dropouts. I'm considering either an attic or roof top antenna install.


Yes, the planes can be problematic depending on where you live. Areas along & just west of route 28 are the most affected. What area are you near?


----------



## Tomar

Digital Rules said:


> Yes, the planes can be problematic depending on where you live. Areas along & just west of route 28 are the most affected. What area are you near?


West of route 28...I'm in Ashburn. The planes typically cross the line of sight of my antenna. I have an outdoor antenna but it is mounted at ground level so its placement is not optimal. Now I'm wondering if it is worth the money to have Fairfax Antenna install a roof mounted antenna if I get dropouts due to air traffic. Are you using a roof mounted antenna? How often do you experience these dropouts? Once during a 1 hour show?


----------



## Digital Rules

Ouch, Ashburn seems to be just as bad as for super low flying aircraft. How is your reception with the antenna near the ground? What antenna are you using?

I have the antenna's in the photo mounted in the attic & unfortunately do see frequent interruptions with _*approaching*_ aircraft. (even on the DC channels) _*Departing*_ aircraft is not nearly as bad. Mounting on the roof will likely reduce aircraft induced multipath. I doubt it would not _*completely*_ avoid it with planes so low they shake the ground.


----------



## Tomar

Digital Rules said:


> Ouch, Ashburn seems to be just as bad as for super low flying aircraft. How is your reception with the antenna near the ground? What antenna are you using?
> 
> I have the antenna's in the photo mounted in the attic & unfortunately do see frequent interruptions with _*approaching*_ aircraft. (even on the DC channels) _*Departing*_ aircraft is not nearly as bad. Mounting on the roof will likely reduce aircraft induced multipath. I doubt it would not _*completely*_ avoid it with planes so low they shake the ground.


I have a Channel Master 4221 4-bay antenna. I believe it is UHF. I get ABC, CBS and CW. I can't seem to pull in FOX or NBC. ABC and CBS are hit or miss. I can see the planes on their approach which concerns me. 

I plan to look for homes in my area with antennas and ask the owners about their reception. If I'm going to pay someone hundreds of dollars to install an antenna, I really want to work and work well.


----------



## Tomar

Does attic temperature affect signal reception? I was told that the heat in an attic has the potention to increase noise thus reducing signal quality.


----------



## Digital Rules

Tomar said:


> Does attic temperature affect signal reception? I was told that the heat in an attic has the potention to increase noise thus reducing signal quality.


Heat has no affect on reception if you are considering an attic antenna. You will need a VHF capable antenna to receive 7 & 9 reliably if so. I have a small one you can try if you want. It works well here. (HBU 22)

I put up a small outside antenna at a house near Aldie (Braddock & Gum Springs) & it works well. DC stations are unaffected by planes, but Baltimore is.


----------



## AntAltMike

rviele said:


> mike- since i don't know to do a tv fool. my physical address is 2211 sherwood lane havre de grace,md 21078. i live out in the country about 5 miles from the town of aberdeen. description of the house is a single story rancher in the woods. antenna is a channelmaster with two bent elements. i believe it is a 4428. funny thing is i get every channel i want except for chan 13 yet they are all on the same heading.
> rjv


Are you sure it isn't a ChannelMaster 4228? If so, that is a UHF (channels 14-69) antenna that is not designed to receive channels 2-13, though the original model that uses two separate reflector screens will often work better on channels 7-13 if you last the two reflector screens together with bare wire so that they will become one, electrically. Channel 2.1 is actually broadcast on UHF channel 38, so you only have two local VHF channels, 11 and 13, and you are missing one of them.

You've got a line line of site transmission reception path to the Baltimore transmitters, which are just 30 milkes away, so any VHF-UHF directional combo antenna should do, like any Winegard HD769X antenna. I am the same distance from Baltimore that you are but directly opposite, near Washington, DC, and am receiving 11 and 13 reliably with my rooftop HD7694.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d8e03b9d7a58c35

The above posted URL will not work as an image for me by pasting it directly into the image function window.


----------



## rviele

AntAltMike said:


> Are you sure it isn't a ChannelMaster 4228? If so, that is a UHF (channels 14-69) antenna that is not designed to receive channels 2-13, though the original model that uses two separate reflector screens will often work better on channels 7-13 if you last the two reflector screens together with bare wire so that they will become one, electrically. Channel 2.1 is actually broadcast on UHF channel 38, so you only have two local VHF channels, 11 and 13, and you are missing one of them.
> 
> You've got a line line of site transmission reception path to the Baltimore transmitters, which are just 30 milkes away, so any VHF-UHF directional combo antenna should do, like any Winegard HD769X antenna. I am the same distance from Baltimore that you are but directly opposite, near Washington, DC, and am receiving 11 and 13 reliably with my rooftop HD7694.
> 
> http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d8e03b9d7a58c35
> 
> The above posted URL will not work as an image for me by pasting it directly into the image function window.


mike- according to your tv fool report i have a cm3020 antenna not a 4228. my guess at antenna was a wee bit off. sorry 'bout that. would the trees have anything to do with not being able to get ch13.
rjv


----------



## AntAltMike

My TV fool report does not specify an antenna. I just viewed an image of a CM3020 and while you don't need its VHF lowband (2-6) capability, that is not hurting you UNLESS YOU ARE USING A PREAMP that does not have an FM filter. Are you using a preamp? If so, your channel 13 may be getting degraded by an FM harmonic intermodulation and if so, you should ether remove the preamp or put in an FM filter.

Vegetation can make a difference, and if it does, there is no magic bullet.


----------



## rviele

AntAltMike said:


> My TV fool report does not specify an antenna. I just viewed an image of a CM3020 and while you don't need its VHF lowband (2-6) capability, that is not hurting you UNLESS YOU ARE USING A PREAMP that does not have an FM filter. Are you using a preamp? If so, your channel 13 may be getting degraded by an FM harmonic intermodulation and if so, you should ether remove the preamp or put in an FM filter.
> 
> Vegetation can make a difference, and if it does, there is no magic bullet.


mike- no preamp. i have trees. but on a side note i hooked up another sony and it gets ch13. i wonder if it could have a stronger tuner.
rjv


----------



## Tomar

Digital Rules said:


> Heat has no affect on reception if you are considering an attic antenna. You will need a VHF capable antenna to receive 7 & 9 reliably if so. I have a small one you can try if you want. It works well here. (HBU 22)
> 
> I put up a small outside antenna at a house near Aldie (Braddock & Gum Springs) & it works well. DC stations are unaffected by planes, but Baltimore is.


Sure, I'll give it a try. Do you install antennas for a living? Do you want to PM me a location?


----------



## b5fan001

*Sterling VA area antenna install*

I live in Sterling VA area. I'm thinking of buying the parts necessary for an outside antenna installation. I need to find an installer. I'd be grateful for a recommendation. 

-B (babylon5fanjunkaol.con (mispelled on purpose......)


----------



## AntAltMike

b5fan001 said:


> I live in Sterling VA area. I'm thinking of buying the parts necessary for an outside antenna installation. I need to find an installer. I'd be grateful for a recommendation.


Try Craigslist, or ask your friends. A professional installer prices his services to make an amount of money for an amount of work, so they aren't going to let you save much if anything by buying your own hardware, any more than you can go to Pep Boys, buy parts there cheap, and then have your local garage install them for you.

You need a wrenches and connector installation tools. And maybe a ladder, maybe a drill to make a hole for the downlead to enter the house, maybe a hammer to nail in come cable clips. It isn't that difficult.


----------



## MRG1

*Another list - cross linked with Comcast Cable channels for PG County*

I maintain another list of channels here:
http://mgrunes.com/comcastNum.html

The integral channels are from Comcast Cable, for College Park, MD (in PG County). (Our office is in Lanham, MD). The Channel-subchannel form (e.g. 4-1) is for broadcast channels from our attic unidirectional antenna. Presumably you get more channels if you have a rooftop directional antenna, and it points in the proper direction for the channel you want. 

However, as discussed another thread, we get different channels at different times of day. Very few of the broadcast channels are reliable at all times of day with our current setup.


----------



## Digital Rules

Tomar said:


> Sure, I'll give it a try. Do you install antennas for a living? Do you want to PM me a location?


I sent you a PM yesterday.


----------



## AntAltMike

What is coming on 54-3, presently labeled WNUV-GR? Will it be Grit? They just relabeled 54-2 to be WNUV-GE, which is surely an abbreviation for GetTV


----------



## Trip in VA

In my auto-scanner logs, I have 54-3 as WNUV-GR back in 2014, so maybe they just fired up the 54-3 encoder without changing the PSIP.

- Trip


----------



## mdviewer25

Using Clearstream C2V as an indoor antenna. Improved signal for WBAL and WJZ slightly. Still need to try different position for WUTB, no signal improvement


----------



## b5fan001

*RCA Compact Outdoor Yagi HDTV Antenna*

I was using an indoor antenna for several months until the leaves came into the trees and it became impossible to watch OTA HDTV. 
I had to wait a while but I finally bought this little gem. It works extremely well. I live a little more than 17 miles away from the towers, but I'm behind several rows of townhouses. 
My home theater is in the basement of my rental townhouse. I didn't put the antenna on the roof but I placed it on the backyard fence. It is about five feet above the seven foot fence. 

The difference of the signal levels is better than I hoped for. See Below! Very Happy! Hey Many Thanks to Digital Rules for great advice!! 


Signal levels are from signal meter built into the TIVO Roamio.

_Old Signal Level_
4.1 - 60
5.1 - 42
7.1 - 55
9.1 - 38
20.1 - 35
50.1 - 45
66.1 - 39


*New Antenna - *RCA Compact Outdoor Yagi HDTV Antenna

_New Signal Level_
4.1 - 62
5.1 - 48
7.1 - 85
9.1 - 72 to 85
20.1 - 58 to 60
50.1 - 72
66.1 - 77


Signal levels are from signal meter built into the TIVO Roamio.
-B


----------



## b5fan001

Tomar said:


> Is there anyone near Dulles airport that can share their experiences with OTA reception? I'm curious to know if the airplane causes dropouts. I'm considering either an attic or roof top antenna install.


I live in Sterling and I just posted this last night:
http://www.avsforum.com/forum/45-lo...on-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv-472.html#post36379578

-B


----------



## Tomar

b5fan001 said:


> I live in Sterling and I just posted this last night:
> http://www.avsforum.com/forum/45-lo...on-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv-472.html#post36379578
> 
> -B


 Hey b5fan001, I saw your post earlier but I didn't realize you are in Sterling. I'm glad to hear that your new antenna is working well for you. I borrowed an antenna from one our members. I also live in a townhouse and I have temperarily put the antenna on my deck (about 15-20' off the ground). The performance improvement is great. I was originally using a 4 bay UHF antenna so when certain stations went to VHF, I was out of luck. Now I am picking them up again plus channels in other markets. The only "problem" I seem to be having so far is with NBC 4.1. I believe I am experiencing multipath because the picture will hiccup a couple of times. I have sat through an entire show on 4.1 so I can say how often it happens. I'll have to do more testing (i.e. - watching TV) to get a better feel of the performance.


----------



## b5fan001

Tomar said:


> Hey b5fan001, I saw your post earlier but I didn't realize you are in Sterling. I'm glad to hear that your new antenna is working well for you. I borrowed an antenna from one our members. I also live in a townhouse and I have temporarily put the antenna on my deck (about 15-20' off the ground). The performance improvement is great. I was originally using a 4 bay UHF antenna so when certain stations went to VHF, I was out of luck. Now I am picking them up again plus channels in other markets. The only "problem" I seem to be having so far is with NBC 4.1. I believe I am experiencing multipath because the picture will hiccup a couple of times. I have sat through an entire show on 4.1 so I can say how often it happens. I'll have to do more testing (i.e. - watching TV) to get a better feel of the performance.



Did you see on my report that the signal improvement for Channels Four and Five were negligible? Although, I will say that Channel 5 seemed to have more dropouts with the old antenna. What I found originally with the flat indoor antenna was that if I turned it to get great Channel 9, Channel 4 was problematic and if I turned it to get great Channel 4, Channel 9 was problematic. 


What channels in other markets are you gettting signal for? If any channels are UHF, I'd like to see if I can get them too!


-B


----------



## Tomar

b5fan001 said:


> Did you see on my report that the signal improvement for Channels Four and Five were negligible? Although, I will say that Channel 5 seemed to have more dropouts with the old antenna. What I found originally with the flat indoor antenna was that if I turned it to get great Channel 9, Channel 4 was problematic and if I turned it to get great Channel 4, Channel 9 was problematic.
> 
> 
> What channels in other markets are you gettting signal for? If any channels are UHF, I'd like to see if I can get them too!
> 
> 
> -B


Yes I read your report. Like you I have played around with indoor antennas, but I have learned that directional outdoor antennas are really the way to go. The new market I saw was some town/city in PA. It was not familiar to me so I can't remember the name. I don't know to determine which channels are coming from that area. I'll see if I can find out.


----------



## AntAltMike

b5fan001 said:


> Did you see on my report that the signal improvement for Channels Four and Five were negligible? Although, I will say that Channel 5 seemed to have more dropouts with the old antenna. What I found originally with the flat indoor antenna was that if I turned it to get great Channel 9, Channel 4 was problematic and if I turned it to get great Channel 4, Channel 9 was problematic.


You should not overlook the fact that channels 7.1 and 9.1 are really broadcast on VHF channels 7 and 9, whereas channels 4.1 and 5.1 are virtual channels that are broadcast on UHF channels 48 and 36 respectively, and so you might fare better by coupling a "rabbit ears" or tubular or wand shaped antenna for 7 and 9 with a smaller, loop or square shaped antenna for your other channels, and then not only would you be using optimal hardware for each, you could also peak their performance separately. If you do that, be sure to couple them with a joiner called a UVSJ, or UHF/VHF band joiner.


----------



## b5fan001

AntAltMike said:


> You should not overlook the fact that channels 7.1 and 9.1 are really broadcast on VHF channels 7 and 9, whereas channels 4.1 and 5.1 are virtual channels that are broadcast on UHF channels 48 and 36 respectively, and so you might fare better by coupling a "rabbit ears" or tubular or wand shaped antenna for 7 and 9 with a smaller, loop or square shaped antenna for your other channels, and then not only would you be using optimal hardware for each, you could also peak their performance separately. If you do that, be sure to couple them with a joiner called a UVSJ, or UHF/VHF band joiner.


Dang it!!! I thought it was the other way around with the channels. I thought I would see great improvement in UHF and some improvement with VHF. But instead, 4 and 5 UHF was steady while 7 and 9 VHF improved greatly. 

Anyone have any idea why that might have happened? 

If I start have anymore freezes and/or drop-outs, I will look into the joiner. As it is so far.......no problems!! 

-B


----------



## mdviewer25

Is it me, or is the signal for WMAR weaker now. Does anyone know if they are working on their antenna and why does it go completely dark around midnight?


----------



## Trip in VA

Not seeing anything obvious here. http://www.rabbitears.info/tvdx/signal_graph/10317DF4/tuner1/WMAR-TV

- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules

WMAR is nice & strong here in Chantilly tonight with attic antenna. Reception of ALL Baltimore channels is great tonight (except WUTB)


----------



## mdviewer25

Digital Rules said:


> WMAR is nice & strong here in Chantilly tonight with attic antenna. Reception of ALL Baltimore channels is great tonight (except WUTB)


It was better last night, still some breakups. Don't get me started on WUTB, that's another issue altogether. Actually picked it up a few weeks ago at night.


----------



## mdviewer25

Don't know if it's the atmosphere or the east wind or something that happens around midnight, but it is currently 12:06am 9/5/2015 and WMAR is completely blank. It's the only channel that has Laff as a subchannel.


----------



## AntAltMike

I just checked the primitive signal bar meter on my TV and 2.1 was displaying the same "good" indication that it does during the day. I'll measure the signal strength in dBmV tomorrow with a digital meter and compare it with later, night time readings.

Back in the analog era, if something came on that was generating bursts of interference, we could see it in the form of snowflake speckles. I used to service a master antenna system in Wheaton, and when certain exterior signage was turned on at dusk by a darkness sensor, one of the signs emitted bursts of interference that rendered channels 4 and 5 unwatchable. I reported it to the FCC and they took care of the matter.. Baltimore channel 2.X is broadcast on UHF channel 38, however, and I never had similar problems with UHF signals, though if I had, it would have been a lot more difficult for me to visually confirm that interference.


----------



## AntAltMike

66.X, which is very strong coming off a rooftop, 8-bay bow-tie here near College Park with unobstructed line-of-site, went completely out at about 10:03 PM and came back on at about 10:08 PM


----------



## RedLeadered

*Help with Getting OTA Broadcasts from D.C., Harrisburg PA*

Not sure if this post belongs here or should be in a different thread, or a new thread (Mods, please move if it belongs elsewhere).

I live in Westminster MD and am able to pick up all of the Baltimore TV stations using an indoor antenna and a winegard low-noise amplifier. I am looking to upgrade my existing antennas / OTA system in order to bring in channels from D.C. and/or Harrisburg/York/Lancaster/Lebannon PA, while still getting all of the stations from Baltimore. Looking for suggestions as to what antenna(s), amps, etc. to get and how to set them up.

TVFool report here: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=8e03fcd69eacde

The TVFool report is pretty pessimistic regarding the D.C. stations, but I find that hard to believe. The first antenna I purchased was a flat-panel Radioshack Amplified Outdoor HDTV Antenna. I got it on sale not really expecting to pick up any channels. I put it on my TV stand, pointing at the ceiling and hooked it up, expecting to pick up nothing. To my surprise it picked up many channels, including some from Washington D.C. I later moved it around, trying to optimize reception for Baltimore stations, and lost the D.C. stations that I had previously found, which was o.k since at the time I was only going for Baltimore stations. But, it proves that I can probably grab some D.C. stations with the right antenna.

I am also pretty optimistic that I can get Harrisburg stations since my current antenna, a simple GE Enhanced HTDV Easy Adjust Indoor Antenna (advertises range of 25 miles) can occasionally pick up WHP-TV out of Harrisburg and WGAL out of York (though admittedly with poor signal quality).

I was thinking of getting one of those antennas that can point in 2 different directions as I would prefer to not have to fool with a rotor.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance for the replies!


----------



## b5fan001

b5fan001 said:


> Signal levels are from signal meter built into the TIVO Roamio.
> 
> _Old Signal Level_
> 4.1 - 60
> 5.1 - 42
> 7.1 - 55
> 9.1 - 38
> 20.1 - 35
> 50.1 - 45
> 66.1 - 39
> 
> 
> *New Antenna - *RCA Compact Outdoor Yagi HDTV Antenna
> 
> _New Signal Level_
> 4.1 - 62
> 5.1 - 48
> 7.1 - 85
> 9.1 - 72 to 85
> 20.1 - 58 to 60
> 50.1 - 72
> 66.1 - 77
> 
> 
> Signal levels are from signal meter built into the TIVO Roamio.
> -B


After dealing with some signal dropouts over the Summer, I finally decided tonight to see if moving the antenna would help. Well.......it helped a great deal. Still checking though.
*New Antenna/Adjusted Position - *RCA Compact Outdoor Yagi HDTV Antenna

_New Signal Level_
4.1 - 73
5.1 - 55-69 (Strange)

Others steady if not a little higher. I will try to check tomorrow or on a clear day......_not_ when it is raining like now. 

-B


----------



## Digital Rules

RedLeadered said:


> I was thinking of getting one of those antennas that can point in 2 different directions as I would prefer to not have to fool with a rotor.


Unfortunately that type of antenna won't work. You'll need an antenna like this guy is selling. It will need to be mounted on the roof for any chance of reliably receiving Harrisburg or DC.


----------



## RedLeadered

Digital Rules said:


> Unfortunately that type of antenna won't work. You'll need an antenna like this guy is selling. It will need to be mounted on the roof for any chance of reliably receiving Harrisburg or DC.


Will this antenna (Antennacraft HBU55) be able to get both Baltimore and D.C.? Or just one? I guess I don't know the width of this antenna's reach (is that the beam width? I am obviously a newbie on some of the terminology). Is there any antenna that will reliably pick up both Baltimore and D.C. without using a rotor from my location?

Thanks again for any tips / comments / suggestions.


----------



## Digital Rules

No, you will need a rotor or more than one antenna. There is no magic antenna that can pick up in multiple directions with such weak signals.


----------



## dleedlee

Just read this morning that MundoMax/MundoFox (20.3) will be switching over to the Heroes and Icons (?) channel Oct.1. Apparently Fox sold their share in MundoFox, hence the name change to Max. Too bad, I enjoyed the Colombian programming, especially when they originally supplied English subs.


----------



## AntAltMike

dleedlee said:


> ...MundoMax/MundoFox (20.3) will be switching over to the Heroes and Icons (?) channel Oct.1...


According to the Wikipedia article, Heroes and Icons has Mannix, NYPD Blue, and Hill Street Blues and will be carrying the Star Trek suite.

Mannix had a great run on TV Land but as far as I know, hasn't been seen since. I don't recall any cable channel carrying NYPD Blue. "Ipsa this...!"

Renegade (Reno Raines) 11:00 AM and noon, daily; NYPD Blue 11:00 PM, midnight, daily. Both good time slots for me.


----------



## RedLeadered

Digital Rules said:


> No, you will need a rotor or more than one antenna.


I am open to the idea of using multiple antennas and combining the signals. Anyone have a recommended set-up for this?

I have read that combining signals can create problems, or cause certain channels to be 'cancelled out'. Still, if it is feasible I am probably willing to give it a go.

Alternatively I guess I could have multiple antennas and run different lines and use a switch. I really just don't want to fool with a rotor.

Thanks in advance for any help.


----------



## dleedlee

AntAltMike said:


> According to the Wikipedia article, Heroes and Icons has Mannix, NYPD Blue, and Hill Street Blues and will be carrying the Star Trek suite.
> 
> Mannix had a great run on TV Land but as far as I know, hasn't been seen since. I don't recall any cable channel carrying NYPD Blue. "Ipsa this...!"
> 
> Renegade (Reno Raines) 11:00 AM and noon, daily; NYPD Blue 11:00 PM, midnight, daily. Both good time slots for me.


MundoMax currently still on.


----------



## AntAltMike

dleedlee said:


> ...MundoMax/MundoFox (20.3) will be switching over to the Heroes and Icons (?) channel Oct.1...


As of 2:00 PM today October 1, they are still broadcasting Mundo programming. The identifier says 20.3 MundoFox, but the screen bug now says MundoMax.


----------



## dleedlee

AntAltMike said:


> As of 2:00 PM today October 1, they are still broadcasting Mundo programming. The identifier says 20.3 MundoFox, but the screen bug now says MundoMax.


It's switched. Now showing 21 Jump Street.


----------



## AntAltMike

Channel shuffling on WNVT MHz (30.7-30.12): Russia Today/Spanish and Ethiopian TV now gone.



030-07 (30) MHz WNVT-DT MHz7 France 24
-----08 ----------- WNVT-DT MHz8 CNC World
-----09 ----------- WNVT-DT MHz9 Arirang TV - Korean content
-----10 ------------WNVT-DT MHz10 SUR (in Spanish)  (English website)
-----11 ------------WNVT-DT MHz11 Ukraine Today Ukraine and Eastern Europe news
-----12 ----------- WNVT-DT MHz12 Netviet  (in Viet w/Eng subtitles): Culture, news and gen. ent. prog.


The MTS (SAP) button on my Seike HDTV now reveals, "Other 1" and, "Other 2" as alternate audio program selections for all twelve MHz channels, but none are presently offering alternate language audio. It certainly would make sense for RT 30.4 to have alternate, Spanish audio available to continue to serve their Spanish broadcast viewers.


----------



## MRG1

*ANOTHER AREA LIST OF OTA AND COMCAST CHANNELS
*
I have a web page that lists both the channels I get in College Park, MD, and the COMCAST cable channels available in that area. It also indicates equivalences between the two lists, so you can see which cable channels are available OTA, and what the equivalent channel numbers are.

http://mgrunes.com/comcast.html

Note that I now get more OTA channels well - because I am using a bare wire antenna in the attic in place of a somewhat fancier antenna. (The bare wire antenna works better, as mentioned at http://www.avsforum.com/forum/25-hdtv-technical/2177705-bare-wire-antenna-works-very-well.html )

NOTE also that Comcast has dropped many channels over the past week - presumably because they mostly duplicated other channels with the same resolution.


----------



## MRG1

A summery of my results (detailed at web site listed above) for Local reception in College Park, MD, from an attic antenna, created by stripping the last 7 or 8' of shield from a cheap coax cable. Cable was simply strung on top of the highest cross braces. Total cost: $5 - $10 for the cable. The other end of the cable was plugged into my DVR, a TIVO Series 3 box.

Note that many network affiliates actually create their own programming in early morning, and that PBS affiliates schedule times independently, and include a lot of their own programming. 

Many network affiliates create or buy their own programming for use on subchannels other than 1. Most of these are not carried by the COMCAST cable network. 

Abbreviations

*Ch# = Channel numbers, in nominal "channel-subchannel" form.
Fr = Analog channel frequency band, from pre-HD days.
Q = Quality: A=reliable, B=mostly reliable, C=erratic, D=rarely.
Resl = Resolution, in vertical lines, p for every frame, i for interleaved frames.
Name = Station name, and/or network affiliation.

Ch# Fr Q Resl Name

2-1 38 A 720p WMAR (ABC) 
2-2 38 A 480i LAFF
2-3 38 A 480i Bounce
4-1 48 A 1080i WRC (NBC)
4-2 48 A 480i COZI
4-3 48 A 480i Independent (Special - usually off air)
5-1 36 A 720p WTTG (FOX)
5-2 36 A 480i BUZZR
7-1 7 A 480i WJLA (ABC)
7-2 7 B 480i Me-TV (Memorable Entertainment TV)
7-3 7 B 480i LWN Live Well
9-1 9 C 1080i WUSA (CBS)
9-2 9 C 480i Bounce TV
9-3 9 C 480i TJN (Justice TV)
11-1 11 B 1080i WBAL (NBC)
11-2 11 B 480i Me-TV (Memorable Entertainment TV)
13-1 13 C 1080i WJZ (CBS)
13-2 13 C 480i Decades
14-1 15 A 1080i WFDC Univision (SI) (In Spanish)
14-2 15 A 480i Get-TV
14-3 15 A 480i GRIT
14-4 15 A 480i Escape
20-1 35 A 720p WDCA (MNT=MyNetworkTV=My20)
20-2 35 A 480i MOVIES!
20-3 35 A 480i H&I Heroes & Icons
22-1 42 A 480i MPT (Maryland Public TV) (PBS)
22-2 42 A 480i MPT2 (MPT Select)
22-3 42 A 480i MPT V-me (Mostly in Spanish)
23-1 23 D 720p Daystar TV
23-2 23 D 480i Independent?
24-1 41 D 720p WUTB (MNT=MyNetworkTV=My20)
24-2 41 D 480i GRIT
25-1 25 D 480i WZDC (Telemundo)
26-1 27 A 1080i WETA (PBS)
26-2 27 A 480i WETA UK (WETA2)
26-3 27 A 480i WETA Kids (WETA3)
26-4 27 A 480i Same as 26-1

MHz Network (Mostly foreign news broadcasts) channels
30-1 24 C 480i MHz1 MHz Worldview (Foreign News Channel) Station WNVC
30-2 24 C 480i MHz2 NHK World (Japanese)
30-3 24 C 480i MHz3 CCTV News (In Chinese, some English)
30-4 24 C 480i MHz4 Russia Today 
30-5 24 C 480i MHz5 Blue Ocean Network (Chinese)
30-6 24 C 480i MHz6 CCTV Documentary (Chinese)
30-1 30 D 480i MHz1 MHz Worldview (Foreign News Channel) Station WNVT
30-7 30 D 480i MHz7 France 24 
30-8 30 D 480i  MHz8 CNC World News
30-9 30 D 480i MHz9 Arirang (South Korea) 
30-10 30 D 480i MHz10 TeleSUR (Venezuela) (In Spanish)
30-11 30 D 480i MHz11 Ukraine Today 
30-12 30 D 480i MHz12 Vietnet: VTC12 (Vietnam)

32-1 33 A 1080i WHUT (PBS)
32-2 33 A 480i Same as 32-1
36-1 5 D 480i Doctor Television (Leased access)
45-1 46 B 720p WBFF (FOX)
45-2 46 B 480i Fox 45 Weather
45-3 46 B 480i This TV
47-1 47 D 480i WMDO 47 Telefutura (UNIMAS-E) LATV (In Spanish)
47-2 47 D 480i Same as 47-1
49-1 14 D 480i Independent
49-2 14 D 480i Independent
49-3 14 D 480i Independent?
49-4 14 D 480i Retro 
49-5 14 D 480i Rev'n
49-6 14 D 480i Independent
50-1 50 A 1080i WDCW (CW)
50-2 50 A 480i Antenna TV
50-3 50 A 480i This TV
54-1 40 A 720p WNUV (CW)
54-2 40 A 480i Get-TV
58-1 44 D ? WIAV Independent WIAV (In Spanish)
62-1 28 D ? WFPT (PBS)
62-2 28 D ? Independent?
62-3 28 D ? Independent?
66-1 34 A 720p WPXW (ION)
66-2 34 A 480i qubo 
66-3 34 A 480i Ion Life
66-4 34 A 480i Independent
66-5 34 A 480i Home Shopping Network
66-6 34 A 480i QVC
67-1 29 C 480i WMPB (PBS)
67-2 29 C 480i Independent
67-3 29 C 480i ? (In Spanish)
68-1 39 D ? WJAL Independent

Am I correct in saying that is more channels than most attic antennas get? How does it compare to directional antennas, especially rooftop antennas? I noticed that I get more channels the higher I mounted it, but kept it in the attic to avoid lightning strikes - not that we get many lightning strikes here.

*


----------



## Digital Rules

MRG1 said:


> *Am I correct in saying that is more channels than most attic antennas get? *


Yes, you should patent that wire immediately so you can put all the other antenna manufacturers out of business.

But seriously there is NO WAY you would get channel 68 this far out w/o some extreme tropo activity. I'm sure AntAltMike has never decoded 68 from the MANY high rise buildings he has been on.


----------



## b5fan001

Looking that the list of stations and the resolution for them, I saw that Channel 7 in Washington DC is listed as 480i. 

Is that how it has always been? 

Do they broadcast in 480i always?

-Will-


----------



## Digital Rules

7.1 is 720p, but doesn't look nearly as good as WMAR. WJLA's equipment is FAR from state of the art. OTOH, the same programming looks great on Newschannel 8.


----------



## AntAltMike

Digital Rules said:


> Yes, you should patent that wire immediately so you can put all the other antenna manufacturers out of business.
> 
> But seriously there is NO WAY you would get channel 68 this far out w/o some extreme tropo activity. I'm sure AntAltMike has never decoded 68 from the MANY high rise buildings he has been on.


AntAltMike gave me permission to post through his member account after he was admitted to a local hospital this morning for treatment of self-inflicted damage he did to his tongue after reading post #14,159, but I am concerned that if he ever visits the mgrunes(dot)com/comcast linked page upon his release that we will lose him again when he is forcibly admitted to Bellevue.

It is fortunate that those results were posted before the sun came up, as otherwise, Mike might have broken his neck trying to replace his Winegard PR-9032 and his CM-4228 in the dark.


----------



## joblo

MRG1 said:


> A summery of my results (detailed at web site listed above) for Local reception in College Park, MD, from an attic antenna, created by stripping the last 7 or 8' of shield from a cheap coax cable. Cable was simply strung on top of the highest cross braces. Total cost: $5 - $10 for the cable. The other end of the cable was plugged into my DVR, a TIVO Series 3 box.


Ummmm... ahem...

So everyone understands...

That long list of channels comes from TiVo's database.

It is most definitely NOT, repeat NOT, a list of channels being received by the antenna.

So I wouldn't rush to the patent office just yet...


----------



## MRG1

Not so. 

I listed reliability (A, B, C, D), as I received them. Some of the D's I haven't received, but most of them I have received once. A is always there, B usually is. C is somewhere around 50%, so I ignore C and D channels, and only use B when I must. Channel 68 is D, and I've never received it. 

Also, I corrected what TIVO said, regarding channel names. I should, however, correct a few more channel listings, but haven't got around to it.

As far as patents - I think bare wire is a pretty old idea, that dates back to Marconi, maybe even to Tesla.  A ham radio operator tells me that it is very common to string a wire up to a tree branch, and back down, in an inverted V pattern. It's not very directional, and isn't precisely tuned to your frequency, but is otherwise very effective. Sometimes they get fancy and create a true center-tap dipole, and they usually match impedance and ground part of it, but I'm lazy.

Also, someone I know who worked in the comm station on an aircraft Carrier during the Vietnam war tried replacing the Navy's fancy antenna with bare wire, and it worked better there too, though of course they went back to the Naval spec'd antenna. So the idea is at least that old.

My personal conclusion is that a lot of antenna ads are pure hype - especially the unidirectional indoor antenna ads. One doesn't really need a $40 - $60 amplified antenna that one casually mounts behind the TV.

OTOH, not everyone has an attic. And the biggest factor in signal strength seemed to be how high I mounted the antenna. So it's almost certain that a well-designed roof-top antenna must do better than anything in the attic. I wouldn't trust a simple bare wire anywhere it could be hit by lightning.


----------



## joblo

MRG1 said:


> *Q = Quality: A=reliable, B=mostly reliable, C=erratic, D=rarely.*





MRG1 said:


> I listed reliability (A, B, C, D), as I received them. Some of the D's I haven't received,


 
“Rarely” is not the same as “never”. Some of those channels you will *never* receive, because they don’t exist as listed. They are errors in TiVo’s database.

And to suggest or imply that that list represents “local reception in College Park, MD” is grossly misleading, plain and simple.


----------



## dleedlee

I just noticed that channel 7.3 has now switched over to Comet TV. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_(TV_network)


----------



## AntAltMike

dleedlee said:


> I just noticed that channel 7.3 has now switched over to Comet TV.
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_(TV_network)


It is also on 54.3.


----------



## DrOct

Is anyone else having issues with WRC/NBC (4.1) and WUSACBS (9.1), particularly at night? I've recently made a fair number of changes to my wiring set up, so the issue may be somewhere in my new equipment, but I've noticed over the past several nights that at night both of these stations seem to be coming in much much worse than the others, (though they all seem to drop in quality at night). This is using an Antennacraft HBU-33 antenna in my attic. It's worked reasonably well for a long time, though it's possible some of this stuff has been going on since before the changes to my equipment and I simply didn't notice (haven't really watched many shows on CBS in a long time, and NBC has usually come in reasonably well for watching but has occasionally had problems in the past (I also haven't been watching any shows on NBC regularly in a year or so).

Anyway, I'm still trying to evaluate if it's some of the new wiring or the new distribution amplifier that's causing these problems, but I wanted to check to see if anyone else was having issues.

Here's my TV Fool report in case it's helpful: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=8e0310c9f131d3


----------



## AntAltMike

DrOct said:


> Is anyone else having issues with WRC/NBC (4.1) and WUSACBS (9.1), particularly at night? I've recently made a fair number of changes to my wiring set up, so the issue may be somewhere in my new equipment, but I've noticed over the past several nights that at night both of these stations seem to be coming in much much worse than the others, (though they all seem to drop in quality at night). This is using an Antennacraft HBU-33 antenna in my attic. It's worked reasonably well for a long time, though it's possible some of this stuff has been going on since before the changes to my equipment and I simply didn't notice (haven't really watched many shows on CBS in a long time, and NBC has usually come in reasonably well for watching but has occasionally had problems in the past (I also haven't been watching any shows on NBC regularly in a year or so).
> 
> Anyway, I'm still trying to evaluate if it's some of the new wiring or the new distribution amplifier that's causing these problems, but I wanted to check to see if anyone else was having issues.
> 
> Here's my TV Fool report in case it's helpful: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=8e0310c9f131d3


Why are you using a distribution amplifier? What model? What previous model? What kind of reception do you get if you take the amplifier out?


----------



## AntAltMike

Comet TV 7-3, 54-3 has the poorest programming of any re-run channel I have ever seen. Their 8PM-12PM window is nearly all Outer Limits and Stargate SG-1

http://comettv.com/Comet-Schedule-2-Nov-2-8.pdf


----------



## DrOct

AntAltMike said:


> Why are you using a distribution amplifier? What model? What previous model? What kind of reception do you get if you take the amplifier out?


Thanks for the quick reply.

I'm only just starting to investigate the issue, so I haven't tested everything, but I'm using at distribution amp (8 way) because I'm feeding to 6 outlets (soon to be 7). I'm currently using this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000WDR94U?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00, and was previously using something very similar to this one: http://www.radioshack.com/radioshack-1-in-4-out-bidirectional-3ghz-cable-tv-amplifier/1500473.html.

I haven't yet tested what happens if I connect the antenna directly to my main source (in this case an HDHomerun Dual), mostly because at the start of all of this I was having some issues with the connector on the end of the coax, and so once I got things more or less working I didn't want to mess with that part too much. Hopefully I'll have some time to do more thorough testing in the next week. So far I'm just trying to eliminate variables as much as I can while I'm at work and not able to spend time with the wiring at home. I figured if others were having the same issue it might offer me some kind of clue.

What seems so odd to me is the way the signal seems to vary so much with the time of day. Everything seems to be worse at night, but those two channels in particular have been giving me trouble.

I'll give some background on what's changed and why:

We recently had a big renovation done to our kitchen and upstairs bathroom. During said renovation I decided to try to make the wiring situation in the house a bit more straightforward and had them run a wire directly from the basement utility room to the attic, and add in some new coaxial jacks in a number of rooms throughout the house, all coming back into the basement utility room.

Previously we had coax cable that dropped out of the attic vent, and then went to a two way splitter which fed into one of the bedrooms upstairs, and then back around the outside of the house down to the ground and finally into the basement, where it was attached to a radioshack 4 way distribution amplifier (similar to this one: http://www.radioshack.com/radioshack-1-in-4-out-bidirectional-3ghz-cable-tv-amplifier/1500473.html), though only three of the outputs were in use at theime (the last one was terminated). the run from the attic to the basement was much longer and ran along the outside of the house.

Unfortunately I didn't take as good a note of how things were doing before I started switching things out, though subjectively everything seemed pretty good, but again we weren't watching as many shows on those two channels then, so it's possible they weren't doing well in the last year or two and we simply didn't notice at the time.


----------



## Digital Rules

AntAltMike said:


> Comet TV 7-3, 54-3 has the poorest programming of any re-run chanel I have ever seen. Their 8PM-12PM window is nearly all Outer Limits and Stargate SG-1
> 
> http://comettv.com/Comet-Schedule-2-Nov-2-8.pdf


Too bad WJLA didn't pick up the _*Laff*_ _*Channel*_ instead.


----------



## mvcg66b3r

*Experimental ATSC 3.0 station shows up on RabbitEars*



> 43	43	WI9XXT	DC & BALTIMORE	MD	Off the air ATSC 3.0 TEST


http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=6#station

And here's the FCC grant:
https://apps.fcc.gov/els/GetAtt.html?id=166312&x=


----------



## DrOct

Ok, a bit of an update. I just hooked the (new) coax from the antenna directly into my HDHomerun. Signal quality was roughly the same to slightly worse for all channels, so I think I can eliminate the distribution amp as the source of the problem (of the signals getting much worse at night). At some point I'll try to hook everything up through the old coax cable and see what happens, though the last time I did that I found it to be roughly the same as the new coax, but it's also possible I didn't have a solid connection on one end or the other.

Which reminds me that I'm now remembering that the last couple of times I was up in the attic hooking the coax up to the antenna it felt like it was tough to get a good connection to the matching transformer hanging off the antenna, I may see about ordering a new one and seeing if that improves things...


----------



## MRG1

*Updated Bare Wire Attic Antenna Channel List, College Park, MD
*
Since folk didn't like that I listed channels that my TIVO box thought I should get, but didn't, I've updated this. I also removed some channels that I recently only got for a few minutes. And for some reason, channels 66-1 - 66-6 used to be completely reliable, but aren't any more.

I have also updated http://mgrunes.com/comcastNum.html, which includes COMCAST channels too.

Please note channel reliability in the Q column - some of these channels are unreliable.

Since I can't figure out how to format this, I have attached OTA.txt, with columns aligned.

------------------------------------

A summery of my results (detailed at web site listed above) for Local reception in College Park, MD, from an attic antenna, created by stripping the last 7 or 8' of shield from a cheap coax cable. Cable was simply strung on top of the highest cross braces. Total cost: $5 - $10 for the cable. The other end of the cable was plugged into an old TIVO series 3 DVR.

Note that many network affiliates actually create their own programming in early morning, and that PBS affiliates schedule times independently, and include a lot of their own programming. 

Many network affiliates create or buy their own programming for use on sub-channels other than 1. Most of these are not carried by the COMCAST cable network. 

Abbreviations

Ch# = Channel numbers, in nominal "channel-subchannel" form.
Fr = Analog channel frequency band, from pre-HD days.
Q = Reliability: A=100%, B=90-100%, C=40%-90%, D=


----------



## MRG1

*What is "signal strength" on a TIVO 3 DVR?*

What is "signal strength" on a TIVO 3 DVR?

There is a value my TIVO DVR gives, between 0 and 100, for each channel, if you select the "signal strength meter". 

For the best reception channels it is in the 95-98% range. For the worst that I reasonably often receive, it peaks around 25%-30% (varies a lot). The highest signal strength channels tend to be the most reliable, but that isn't a perfect correlation. E.g., on my older antenna, the values were lower - 30% on the most reliable - and they were very reliable, whereas 30% channels on the better (bare wire) antenna are unreliable.

At first I assumed it was proportional to the antenna signal amplitude or power. But that makes no sense. I remember reading (in the old analog days) that any receiver has an amplifier with an Automatic Gain Control that covers a few orders of magnitude of signal strength - that I assume applies on a per-channel basis. I assume this is still true.

(Though an electrical engineer who did analog chip design tells me circuits have changed in the "modern" era - i.e., reception for each channel is no longer done using a tuned circuit, with something like a variable capacitor. Now the input signal is mixed (heterodyned) with a frequency near the carrier, in several stages, to produce intermediate frequency bands, and the upper or lower frequencies selected, to produce the final result. I suppose the AGC might now be set by the strongest channel, over the entire TV spectrum, rather than each channel - but that would seem sub-optimal, since it would make it hard to receive weak channels.)

Is "signal strength" on some sort of logarithmic scale, or is it a noise/signal amplitude or power ratio?


----------



## b5fan001

DrOct said:


> Is anyone else having issues with WRC/NBC (4.1) and WUSACBS (9.1), particularly at night?


I live in Eastern Loudoun County. At this point, I'm only having issues with Channel Five. I have a RCA Compact Outdoor Yagi HDTV Antenna about 15 feet or so off the ground pointing at DC. I found that if I took some time and carefully worked with the antenna using the strength meter in the TiVo to get the best reception. Channels Nine and Four have not been problematic for me lately. 

-B


----------



## DrOct

b5fan001 said:


> I live in Eastern Loudoun County. At this point, I'm only having issues with Channel Five. I have a RCA Compact Outdoor Yagi HDTV Antenna about 15 feet or so off the ground pointing at DC. I found that if I took some time and carefully worked with the antenna using the strength meter in the TiVo to get the best reception. Channels Nine and Four have not been problematic for me lately.
> 
> -B


Interesting, Channel Five is probably the channel that comes in the most clearly and consistently for me. I never have any trouble with it. The past few days and nights things have been generally better reception-wise. With the exception of Monday night, when it was in the lower 60's, occasionally dipping into the upper 50's of signal quality, Channel Nine has mostly come in pretty well, in the 70's to 90's most of the time, occasionally dipping into the upper 60's (on signal quality). Channel Four (WRC/NBC) is still giving me trouble though. Some nights or during some portions of the night it'll mostly move around the upper 60's to upper 70's (like last night), but occasionally drop well below that, sometimes down to zero, or into the mid 30's. Other times it'll struggle to stay in the upper 50's and frequently drop well below that. 

I'm trying to pay close attention to the weather to see if I can pinpoint what's changing, and on clear days and nights it seems everything comes in much better, but even on some cloudy days and nights it seems ok.

On the last bad night I had I tried plugging the antenna cord directly into the HD Homerun, and things were pretty close to the same (if slightly worse). I'll try to find some time to do that when the signal is good and see what happens, but I don't think my distribution amp is the problem. 

I have, what I think is a pretty powerful antenna for what I'm trying to do, pointed at true north (where the vast majority of stations I'm trying to get are located). Is it possible some of these problems are from getting too strong signals? Generally I'm not getting signal strengths that are crazy high (especially on the channels that aren't coming in so well) Or is it possible that I'm having issues with FM interference? The variability of all of this is what's really maddening.


----------



## genacgenac

*Roof TV antenna replacement - bad decision?*

Hi everyone,
Good news: *I have local reception after cutting the corporate cable TV* cord and paying a (professional?) technician to reattach some premise wiring and run coax from my roof. 

Bad news(?): I let him *replace my ancient but probably superior rooftop antenna with the cheapest Chinese product* on the market. I figure I got 80$ worth of service from him anyway -- found him on Craiglist -- and I achieved goal of reliable local HD broadcast reception. 

My cause for second-guessing include:
- cheapie will break in two at the first 40 kph gust -- its remote rotator does not work; got him to knock off 20$ consequently
- I missed opportunity to reach broadcast 35 mi away in Wash DC and maybe 75 mi from Harrisburg

Basically I'm wondering if I should 
- keep the old antenna around for the inevitable day when the new one breaks
- reinstall the old one myself
- have a pro reinstall the old one to ensure it's properly grounded and securely affixed to the pole, which was not replaced
- trash the old one since it's rusty and may fail
- mount the old one on my brick wall as the coolest home decor on the block, and go the rest of my life without a girlfriend

The installer said he couldn't attach new coax to the existing ribbon cable. I understand it might be a challenge, but certainly worth a try giving cost is a 3$ balun transformer. Do you agree?

I'm also concerned about the thin (RG-58?) coax he ran from the roof to the basement. Works fine for now but would older antenna work with same cable? About a 30' run outdoors and another 30' indoors to TV.

FYI, the new antenna received one DC channel 33 mi away until the guy, trying to get the remote rotator to work, repositioned the antenna slightly. I'll try to move it manually to get more from DC but I'm convinced the old one would get DC, probably Harrisburg and maybe Buffalo %^O. 

Thanks all! RMO


----------



## richart

genacgenac said:


> Hi everyone,
> Good news: *I have local reception after cutting the corporate cable TV* cord and paying a (professional?) technician to reattach some premise wiring and run coax from my roof.
> 
> Bad news(?): I let him *replace my ancient but probably superior rooftop antenna with the cheapest Chinese product* on the market. I figure I got 80$ worth of service from him anyway -- found him on Craiglist -- and I achieved goal of reliable local HD broadcast reception.
> 
> My cause for second-guessing include:
> - cheapie will break in two at the first 40 kph gust -- its remote rotator does not work; got him to knock off 20$ consequently
> - I missed opportunity to reach broadcast 35 mi away in Wash DC and maybe 75 mi from Harrisburg
> 
> Basically I'm wondering if I should
> - keep the old antenna around for the inevitable day when the new one breaks
> - reinstall the old one myself
> - have a pro reinstall the old one to ensure it's properly grounded and securely affixed to the pole, which was not replaced
> - trash the old one since it's rusty and may fail
> - mount the old one on my brick wall as the coolest home decor on the block, and go the rest of my life without a girlfriend
> 
> The installer said he couldn't attach new coax to the existing ribbon cable. I understand it might be a challenge, but certainly worth a try giving cost is a 3$ balun transformer. Do you agree?
> 
> I'm also concerned about the thin (RG-58?) coax he ran from the roof to the basement. Works fine for now but would older antenna work with same cable? About a 30' run outdoors and another 30' indoors to TV.
> 
> FYI, the new antenna received one DC channel 33 mi away until the guy, trying to get the remote rotator to work, repositioned the antenna slightly. I'll try to move it manually to get more from DC but I'm convinced the old one would get DC, probably Harrisburg and maybe Buffalo %^O.
> 
> Thanks all! RMO


People can give you some better responses if you can include a link to your TV Fool report (as detailed in the sticky at the top of the forum).


----------



## b5fan001

DrOct said:


> Interesting, Channel Five is probably the channel that comes in the most clearly and consistently for me. I never have any trouble with it. The past few days and nights things have been generally better reception-wise. With the exception of Monday night, when it was in the lower 60's, occasionally dipping into the upper 50's of signal quality, Channel Nine has mostly come in pretty well, in the 70's to 90's most of the time, occasionally dipping into the upper 60's (on signal quality). Channel Four (WRC/NBC) is still giving me trouble though. Some nights or during some portions of the night it'll mostly move around the upper 60's to upper 70's (like last night), but occasionally drop well below that, sometimes down to zero, or into the mid 30's. Other times it'll struggle to stay in the upper 50's and frequently drop well below that.
> 
> I'm trying to pay close attention to the weather to see if I can pinpoint what's changing, and on clear days and nights it seems everything comes in much better, but even on some cloudy days and nights it seems ok.
> 
> On the last bad night I had I tried plugging the antenna cord directly into the HD Homerun, and things were pretty close to the same (if slightly worse). I'll try to find some time to do that when the signal is good and see what happens, but I don't think my distribution amp is the problem.
> 
> I have, what I think is a pretty powerful antenna for what I'm trying to do, pointed at true north (where the vast majority of stations I'm trying to get are located). Is it possible some of these problems are from getting too strong signals? Generally I'm not getting signal strengths that are crazy high (especially on the channels that aren't coming in so well) Or is it possible that I'm having issues with FM interference? The variability of all of this is what's really maddening.



I looked at the HD Homerun website to check out the product. It is interesting, but the lack of a DVR would be a drawback for me. But nonetheless, there are people in this forum that should be able to help you out. There are some pretty smart folks here. 

The only other idea I have is to use the tuner in the TV,_ if you have you have a TV with a tuner_, to see if the situation changes. 

-B


----------



## DrOct

b5fan001 said:


> I looked at the HD Homerun website to check out the product. It is interesting, but the lack of a DVR would be a drawback for me. But nonetheless, there are people in this forum that should be able to help you out. There are some pretty smart folks here.
> 
> The only other idea I have is to use the tuner in the TV,_ if you have you have a TV with a tuner_, to see if the situation changes.
> 
> -B


So I'm actually using the HdHomerun in conjunction with DVR software on my computer (which then feeds over to my AppleTV, it's an odd setup but it works well for us).

I have actually tested on some of the TV tuners I have in the house and they all seem to give me roughly the same to slightly worse results at any given time (it's a little tough to say for sure as as far as I know my TV doesn't give me exact figures for signal quality, just a little 4 bar graphic to give me a rough idea of signal quality, mostly I just look to see if the channel seems to be coming in consistently. The HD Homerun seems to do slightly better than the tuner in the TV I use most often for testing).


----------



## DrDon

Read the stickies before posting, please. You're losing time by not having done that.


----------



## genacgenac

Got it Don, thanks. http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=8e03ba494b4b7e


----------



## DrDon

Moved to DC/Baltimore thread


----------



## tylerSC

genacgenac said:


> Hi everyone,
> Good news: *I have local reception after cutting the corporate cable TV* cord and paying a (professional?) technician to reattach some premise wiring and run coax from my roof.
> 
> Bad news(?): I let him *replace my ancient but probably superior rooftop antenna with the cheapest Chinese product* on the market. I figure I got 80$ worth of service from him anyway -- found him on Craiglist -- and I achieved goal of reliable local HD broadcast reception.
> 
> My cause for second-guessing include:
> - cheapie will break in two at the first 40 kph gust -- its remote rotator does not work; got him to knock off 20$ consequently
> - I missed opportunity to reach broadcast 35 mi away in Wash DC and maybe 75 mi from Harrisburg
> 
> Basically I'm wondering if I should
> - keep the old antenna around for the inevitable day when the new one breaks
> - reinstall the old one myself
> - have a pro reinstall the old one to ensure it's properly grounded and securely affixed to the pole, which was not replaced
> - trash the old one since it's rusty and may fail
> - mount the old one on my brick wall as the coolest home decor on the block, and go the rest of my life without a girlfriend
> 
> The installer said he couldn't attach new coax to the existing ribbon cable. I understand it might be a challenge, but certainly worth a try giving cost is a 3$ balun transformer. Do you agree?
> 
> I'm also concerned about the thin (RG-58?) coax he ran from the roof to the basement. Works fine for now but would older antenna work with same cable? About a 30' run outdoors and another 30' indoors to TV.
> 
> FYI, the new antenna received one DC channel 33 mi away until the guy, trying to get the remote rotator to work, repositioned the antenna slightly. I'll try to move it manually to get more from DC but I'm convinced the old one would get DC, probably Harrisburg and maybe Buffalo %^O.
> 
> Thanks all! RMO


By all means do not discard that original antenna. It is indeed far superior to that newer Chinese made product, and it looks like an original Channel Master UHF/VHF combo model which is no longer made. Those UHF diamond elements indicate Channel Master, and they had very good gain. While you may no longer need low VHF, it is still a good antenna. But for a newer replacement antenna, a Winegard 7697 or 7698 would be a better choice. And possibly a Winegard LNA-200 preamp to get distant channels from DC, but be careful with overload from Baltimore.


----------



## dleedlee

MHz 30.1-30.6 off air since mid-morning. Don't know about .7-.12 since I can never receive them.


----------



## Trip in VA

dleedlee said:


> MHz 30.1-30.6 off air since mid-morning. Don't know about .7-.12 since I can never receive them.


Looks like it came back up in the past few minutes. http://www.rabbitears.info/tvdx/signal_graph/10317DF4/tuner1/WNVC

- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike

dleedlee said:


> MHz 30.1-30.6 off air since mid-morning. Don't know about .7-.12 since I can never receive them.


I was watching Russia Today at about 10:15 AM when I embarked to do some business this morning, and it is on now, at full strength. 30.7-30.12 is also performing normally.

If anyone would like to see the, "Propaganda bullhorn that is the state sponsored Russia Today" that John Kerry derided, the video of which that channel plays over and over as a badge of honor, you will get to see the "other side" of Turkey's shooting down of the Russian plane. Some of it is insightful, some is preposterous. As usual. 

Short version of Kerry's tirade: 



(Longer versions available)

Live RT America newscast: https://www.rt.com/on-air/rt-america-air/


----------



## dleedlee

Trip in VA said:


> Looks like it came back up in the past few minutes. http://www.rabbitears.info/tvdx/signal_graph/10317DF4/tuner1/WNVC
> 
> - Trip


Yep, sure enough.



AntAltMike said:


> I was watching Russia Today at about 10:15 AM when I embarked to do some business this morning, and it is on now, at full strength. 30.7-30.12 is also performing normally.
> 
> If anyone would like to see the "Propagana bullhorn that is the state sponsored Russia Today" that John Kerry derided the video of which that channel plays over and over as a badge of honor, you will get to see the "other side" of Turkey's shoting down of the Russian plane. Some of it is insightful, some is preposterous. As usual. That is why I call Russia Today


Same here. I was following the news on RT.

The Paris attacks last Friday broke just as France24 came on for their evening programming on 30.1. It went well past midnight superseding MHz's regular entertainment programs.


----------



## AntAltMike

AntAltMike said:


> I was watching Russia Today at about 10:15 AM when I embarked to do some business this morning, and it is on now, at full strength. 30.7-30.12 is also performing normally.
> 
> If anyone would like to see the, "Propaganda bullhorn that is the state sponsored Russia Today" that John Kerry derided, the video of which that channel plays over and over as a badge of honor, you will get to see the "other side" of Turkey's shooting down of the Russian plane. Some of it is insightful, some is preposterous. As usual.
> 
> Short version of Kerry's tirade: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL1pYGzUR2w(Longer versions available)
> 
> Live RT America newscast: https://www.rt.com/on-air/rt-america-air/





dleedlee said:


> ...Same here. I was following the news on RT.


Now I'll have to watch Ukraine Today on 30.11 to find a news source that cuts it right down the middle.:wink:


----------



## MRG1

AntAltMike said:


> I was watching Russia Today at about 10:15 AM when I embarked to do some business this morning, and it is on now, at full strength.


Incidentally, at least in College Park, Mhz Network, DC's local Russia Today [RT] broadcaster, doesn't have reliable reception, at least with my bare-wire attic antenna. Sometimes I get MHz, sometimes not. OTOH, Comcast delivers it fine. 

But RT seems to spend all it's time criticizing the U.S. and its government. I personally don't find RT very interesting. I'm sure there is much about the U.S. to be criticized, but, once in a while, we must get something right. They would be more convincing if were less obviously biased.


----------



## dleedlee

MRG1 said:


> But RT seems to spend all it's time criticizing the U.S. and its government. I personally don't find RT very interesting. I'm sure there is much about the U.S. to be criticized, but, once in a while, we must get something right. They would be more convincing if were less obviously biased.



I find their segmented documentaries interesting. Recently saw one on a female Kurdish militia, and another on kidnapped Yazidi women.


----------



## DrOct

DrOct said:


> Ok, a bit of an update. I just hooked the (new) coax from the antenna directly into my HDHomerun. Signal quality was roughly the same to slightly worse for all channels, so I think I can eliminate the distribution amp as the source of the problem (of the signals getting much worse at night). At some point I'll try to hook everything up through the old coax cable and see what happens, though the last time I did that I found it to be roughly the same as the new coax, but it's also possible I didn't have a solid connection on one end or the other.
> 
> Which reminds me that I'm now remembering that the last couple of times I was up in the attic hooking the coax up to the antenna it felt like it was tough to get a good connection to the matching transformer hanging off the antenna, I may see about ordering a new one and seeing if that improves things...


I just wanted to give a bit of an update, as I realized I never did so.

I seem to have basically solved my issues. A few weeks ago I did a number of things, and now reception seems to be basically perfect for the DC stations and I even get a few Baltimore stations in reasonably ok most of the time.

So the things I did:

1) I replaced the (very old rusted and full of large holes, so kind of worthless anyway) screen on our attic vent with some new fiberglass (ie non-metal) screen. That was something I'd been meaning to do once I got the new coax run inside the house (the old one was running through one of those holes in the screen out the vent and down the side of the house). Originally I was going to use some metal screen I had left over from another project, but realized that maybe having a square of metal screen almost directly in front of the antenna wasn't the best idea.

2) While I was working on the screen I was looking at the antenna and realized that the a section in the front part of the boom was actually slightly bent in a downward direction. It must have gotten bumped when I was originally bringing the antenna up to the attic, but it was slight enough that I never really paid it much attention. Anyway luckily it was fairly easy to bend it back so it was straight (or at least very close to perfectly straight).

3) I also got a new matching transformer/balun and it came with a boot for the coax connector to protect it from weather while hooked up to the balun. And decided to put that in while I was up there too. While I was putting the boot on the cable I accidentally bent the wire on the end of the cable. I was worried I'd made things worse but decided to try bending it back and putting it in the old balun before cutting the cable and starting over. I couldn't quite get it perfectly straight again but gave it a try anyway. Lo and behold it was a much more secure in the balun and my reception was significantly better on all channels. I went ahead and replaced the balun anyway since the boot fit on it a bit more securely, but reception remains great, and i guess I can always go back to the original balun if something goes wrong with the new one.

I'm sure all of the above contributed to better reception, but I think it was number 3 that really did it. I had always felt like the connection to the balun from the coax cable felt a little loose and the slightest jostle of the connection seemed to change the reception I would get (sometimes worse, sometimes better). Now, thanks to the slight bend the two feel very solidly connected, and i can move things around quite a bit (I also routed the coax cable along the ceiling and down the mast so it's out of the way of anyone doing anything up there) with no change in reception. Heck now things are good enough that the antenna can get moved around a bit and reception on the main DC stations doesn't really seem to suffer. They all come in at, or extremely close to, 100% quality (and generally a similar signal strength), even if the antenna isn't aimed perfectly. Weather doesn't seem to make any real difference either. Right now I think I'm getting better reception than I ever have in the past! 

I get a couple of Baltimore stations reasonably well (WBAL particularly), and I imagine if there was some reason that I really wanted to get them better for some event or something I could re-aim the antenna. I don't really get MPT too well but that's not surprising as their tower is in a completely different direction from any of the other towers I'm trying to get. Besides I get both WHUT and WETA in crystal clear. 2 PBS stations is probably plenty!

I'm not sure I'd recommend bending the wire at the end of your coax cable just to try to get better reception (unless perhaps you're prepared to have to cut, strip, and start over with it again in the likely event that you'll actually make things worse), but it seemed to work out well for me!

Anyway, just wanted to give an update now that things are working great, and share a bit of what seemed to have made the difference for me.


----------



## dleedlee

Anyone else having problems getting the program guides for Ch.4.1 and 4.2? Been missing for me the past few days. I keep getting the message: Searching...


----------



## AntAltMike

dleedlee said:


> Anyone else having problems getting the program guides for Ch.4.1 and 4.2? Been missing for me the past few days...


It has been missing for me, too. Over the weekend there were also a few times I was missing other guide information, but I attributed that to on-the-fly scheduling of some college football games, where the station would delete the originally scheduled programming before replacing it with the game information, but that was just a guess on my part.


----------



## dleedlee

AntAltMike said:


> It has been missing for me, too. Over the weekend there were also a few times I was missing other guide information, but I attributed that to on-the-fly scheduling of some college football games, where the station would delete the originally scheduled programming before replacing it with the game information, but that was just a guess on my part.


Looks like it's back now.


----------



## doctorwizz

Something wrong with 7.1 this morning?

I have full signal with 100% symbol quality in HD Homerun Config. 

Tivo shows
Signal lock: Yes
Program Lock No 
RS Uncorrected: 0
Signal Strength: 72% (which is really 100%)
SNR 29dB (which is good)

Can't get a signal lock with Tivo. (Problem with the signal on this channel. V53)
WMC using HD Homerun can't get signal.(There is currently no TV signal detected for this channel.)
HD Homerun View for windows 7.1 works.
TV's tuner can get 7.1.

All working fine last night. Never has this issue before. 

Edit: I can get 7 on 7.3 on the Tivo now. 
Noticed that the program on 7.2 yesterday was off and I could see it on 7.4 or 7.5. Didn't pay much attention. 
Just re scanned on the Homerun and Comet is on 7.5 ?
Going to re scan on the Tivo. Will edit


----------



## AntAltMike

doctorwizz said:


> Something wrong with 7.1 this morning?


Yeah. Five bimbos on The View are all yakking at the same time. Same problem on 2.1. My workaround is "Channel Up" / "Channel Down".


----------



## AntAltMike

It was explained here a few years ago how or why sometimes main channels begin with X.3 instead of X.1 It used to be quite common for the PSIP info to be decoded that way by some tuners. Someone here probably knows. There is some extra step that had/has to be taken by the TV station to make the data uniformly digestible to all tuners.


----------



## doctorwizz

AntAltMike said:


> Yeah. Five bimbos on The View are all yakking at the same time. Same problem on 2.1. My workaround is "Channel Up" / "Channel Down".


Did a rescan on the Tivo. 
I get channel 7 only on 7.3
MeTV 7.4 
Comet on 7.5

Been working fine since March until today.

This will make it impossible to record programs from channel 7 since 7.3 has guide data for MeTV


----------



## dleedlee

doctorwizz said:


> Did a rescan on the Tivo.
> I get channel 7 only on 7.3
> MeTV 7.4
> Comet on 7.5
> 
> Been working fine since March until today.
> 
> This will make it impossible to record programs from channel 7 since 7.3 has guide data for MeTV


This on my iView 3500:
Last night, 7.1 was acting very oddly, kept dropping out (5-7pm-ish before I gave up for good). Every 2-3 seconds losing signal completely, going black. I checked 7.2 and 7.3, both were perfectly fine. Not the usual weather-related reception-type issues. Today, just too windy out.


----------



## DrOct

When I get home I"ll check on my recordings. I had Agents of Shield scheduled to record last night on 7.1/WJLA, I hope it came in clearly!


----------



## doctorwizz

I reported the issue and how to fix it to Tivo's Report a Lineup Issue


----------



## Trip in VA

This isn't TiVo's problem to fix, it's WJLA's. They've got the PAT TSID set to 0 but the TVCT TSID set (correctly) to 533. Once the PAT TSID is fixed (set to 533), everything will start to work again.

- Trip


----------



## doctorwizz

Trip in VA said:


> This isn't TiVo's problem to fix, it's WJLA's. They've got the PAT TSID set to 0 but the TVCT TSID set (correctly) to 533. Once the PAT TSID is fixed (set to 533), everything will start to work again.
> 
> - Trip


Dang. I'll try to cancel my support ticket. 
Any idea how long it would take WJLA to fix?


----------



## Trip in VA

Should be a matter of minutes once the right person gets the message. I sent a note to someone I know at Sinclair in hopes that it will be fixed in a hurry.

- Trip


----------



## doctorwizz

trip in va said:


> should be a matter of minutes once the right person gets the message. I sent a note to someone i know at sinclair in hopes that it will be fixed in a hurry.
> 
> - trip


tyvm!


----------



## doctorwizz

Still not fixed. 
I'll have to record the wife's 2 O'clock soap from 7.3


----------



## doctorwizz

Trip in VA said:


> This isn't TiVo's problem to fix, it's WJLA's. They've got the PAT TSID set to 0 but the TVCT TSID set (correctly) to 533. Once the PAT TSID is fixed (set to 533), everything will start to work again.
> 
> - Trip


The issue still exists. Guess it won't be fixed anytime soon. 
Were you able to get a message to the right person?


----------



## Trip in VA

I sent the e-mail but received no reply. It's possible he's out of the office this week.

Someone should probably try to call the station directly.

- Trip


----------



## doctorwizz

So this JLA thing doesn't affect cable or satellite subscribers? Seems to be only affecting Tivo tuners.
Can anyone here reproduce the issue?
I'd like to understand what is going on before I contact them. I know when I call they will blame Tivo or my equipment. 
So far it seems like I am the only one that has a problem.


----------



## Trip in VA

It will affect more than just TiVo, but it's hard to say which receivers and under what circumstances.

Each full-power station, as well as LPTV/Class A stations that request one, is assigned a TSID. This is a unique ID number that identifies the station to your tuner. TiVo matches stations to their listings using the TSID to guarantee the listings are for the right station, as just one example of how it is used. In WJLA's case, their TSID is 533. 

The TSID appears in two different places. There's a spot for it in the PAT which, to oversimplify, is the container for everything else in the stream. This identifies the stream overall. In addition, there are also spots for it in the TVCT which is a part of the PSIP data. The TVCT is essentially where the virtual channel information which maps, as an example, WTTG on 36 Program 3 to 5-1. Each subchannel has a TSID entry in the TVCT.

What has happened is that the PAT TSID, the TSID identifying the whole stream, is now set to 0. The TSID values in the TVCT are still 533. This means that a receiver might look at the TVCT, say, "oh, 7-1 should be in the station whose PAT has TSID 533," but when it looks at the PAT TSID, it sees 0 and says, "I guess that's not the right station."

Now if both TSID values were set to 0, while this would still be incorrect and the TiVo still might not register (since it can't match 0 to WJLA's assigned TSID value of 533 for guide data), other receivers should generally be able to use it, because the two TSID values would at least match. However, in this case, they don't, so in theory it should be impacting more receivers.

Does that help?

- Trip


----------



## doctorwizz

I sent an email to [email protected] describing the problem as best I could.


----------



## doctorwizz

Got a fast reply

Hi Steve,
Thanks for the note. We are aware of the issues and are working on them. Hopefully we will have them resolved shortly.
Thanks again and sorry for the inconvenience.
Simon


----------



## Trip in VA

I got a reply to my note that it was fixed as of about half an hour ago. Looks better at my house, how about for you?

- Trip


----------



## doctorwizz

Trip in VA said:


> I got a reply to my note that it was fixed as of about half an hour ago. Looks better at my house, how about for you?
> 
> - Trip


Not fixed yet.
Edit:Seems to be fixed on windows media center
Might need to re scan on tivo. Scanning...


----------



## doctorwizz

Fixt! 
Working as it should after channel scan on Tivo.
Thank you Trip for all your help!


----------



## doctorwizz

Discovered another bug on WJLA 7.1 that started December 2nd. I just noticed it yesterday.
The .1 subwoofer channel is missing on all programming. They are sending Dolby Digital 5.0 (L,C,R, SR, and SL). 
I have 2 Denon AVR's that display the input channel map. So it is very easy for me to tell which channels are being input. All my recordings before Dec 2nd have the .1 channel.


----------



## doctorwizz

Discovered another bug on WJLA 7.1 that started December 2nd. I just noticed it yesterday.
The .1 subwoofer channel is missing on all programming. They are sending Dolby Digital 5.0 (L,C,R, SR, and SL). 
I have 2 Denon AVR's that display the input channel map. So it is very easy for me to tell which channels are being input. All my recordings before Dec 2nd have the .1 channel.


----------



## doctorwizz

emailed [email protected] this morning. No response...


----------



## al.rob

*Dolby 5.1 sound on MPT Channel 22*

Until a few weeks ago, I used to get sound out of the rear and center channel speakers on MPT. Recently I have only gotten front main channel stereo. I can record the same shows on WETA and get the Dolby 5.1 sound. I emailed MPT and received the following response:


"I am sorry to say that we have not aired any programming in 5.1 surround. We just have not been set up for that capability.

That being said, we are now in the process of integrating new equipment that will allow us to air in 5.1 surround. I can only guess that you were hearing a stereo fill from us before.



By this spring we hope to have our programming going out in 5.1 when it is available.


Thank you for watching and if you have any question please feel free to call me.


Regards,


Chad Hooker



*Chad Hooker
*
*Chief Engineer - Production & Maintenance
*
*Maryland Public Television
*
*410-581-4043 office
*
*443-900-3021 cell
*
*[email protected]"*


I am almost positive I always used to get 5.1 sound on MPT, and the listing of area channels at the beginning of this thread states that the MPT stations are in 5.1 on the main channel. Now, I just tried it this morning and the rear speakers appear to be working, and the sound out of them is completely different than that from the front speakers, so it appears the 5.1 is working again. But, it doesn't make sense that they would tell me they have never broadcast in 5.1 sound. I don't know what the upgrade is that they are talking about. Strange.
Thanks,


Al


----------



## doctorwizz

al.rob said:


> Until a few weeks ago, I used to get sound out of the rear and center channel speakers on MPT. Recently I have only gotten front main channel stereo. I can record the same shows on WETA and get the Dolby 5.1 sound. I emailed MPT and received the following response:
> 
> "I am sorry to say that we have not aired any programming in 5.1 surround. We just have not been set up for that capability.
> 
> That being said, we are now in the process of integrating new equipment that will allow us to air in 5.1 surround. I can only guess that you were hearing a stereo fill from us before.
> 
> By this spring we hope to have our programming going out in 5.1 when it is available.
> 
> Thank you for watching and if you have any question please feel free to call me.
> 
> Regards,
> Chad Hooker
> 
> *Chad Hooker
> *
> *Chief Engineer - Production & Maintenance
> *
> *Maryland Public Television
> *
> *410-581-4043 office
> *
> *443-900-3021 cell
> *
> *[email protected]"*
> 
> 
> I am almost positive I always used to get 5.1 sound on MPT, and the listing of area channels at the beginning of this thread states that the MPT stations are in 5.1 on the main channel. Now, I just tried it this morning and the rear speakers appear to be working, and the sound out of them is completely different than that from the front speakers, so it appears the 5.1 is working again. But, it doesn't make sense that they would tell me they have never broadcast in 5.1 sound. I don't know what the upgrade is that they are talking about. Strange.
> Thanks,
> 
> 
> Al


I have seen that rear center on my AVR's channel map a few times with WETA. Don't have a rear center. Never knew if it was active.
Used to see it occasionally on CNN when I had cable. 

WJLA still has not fixed the .1 subwoofer channel.


----------



## AntAltMike

al.rob said:


> Until a few weeks ago, I used to get sound out of the rear and center channel speakers on MPT. Recently I have only gotten front main channel stereo. I can record the same shows on WETA and get the Dolby 5.1 sound. I emailed MPT and received the following response:
> 
> 
> "I am sorry to say that we have not aired any programming in 5.1 surround. We just have not been set up for that capability.
> 
> That being said, we are now in the process of integrating new equipment that will allow us to air in 5.1 surround. I can only guess that you were hearing a stereo fill from us before.
> 
> 
> 
> By this spring we hope to have our programming going out in 5.1 when it is available.
> 
> 
> Thank you for watching and if you have any question please feel free to call me.
> 
> 
> Regards,
> 
> 
> Chad Hooker
> 
> 
> 
> *Chad Hooker
> *
> *Chief Engineer - Production & Maintenance
> *
> *Maryland Public Television
> *
> *410-581-4043 office
> *
> *443-900-3021 cell
> *
> *[email protected]"*
> 
> 
> *I am almost positive I always used to get 5.1 sound on MPT, and the listing of area channels at the beginning of this thread states that the MPT stations are in 5.1 on the main channel...*
> 
> 
> Al


The local broadcast list in the masthead post was originated by AVS Forum member CycloneGT, who maintained it faithfully for several years, but whose involvement here had dropped off, and so the AVS Forum administration arranged for me to acquire editing power of it by re-assigning it to me on March 3, 2013. See:


Forum Operations Center > *Updating a masthead post that has been abandoned * 
http://www.avsforum.com/forum/43-fo...pdating-masthead-post-has-been-abandoned.html


Since then, I have made alterations to its content as matters come to or are brought to my attention. I have not changed any Dolby audio information in the post as I had inherited it because I have no personal familiarity with Dolby and no one has previously called any inaccuracies to my attention. If there is an undisputed consensus here that WMPT, WFBT and WMBT do not offer Dolby 5.1, then I will amend those entries to reflect that.


----------



## doctorwizz

Right now on WMPT 22.1, I see 5.1 plus rear center channel on my AVR's channel map. But there is only sound coming from the left and right front speakers.


----------



## Trip in VA

For a very long time the MPT stations showed in TSReader as providing 3.0 channel audio. Not sure why 3.0, exactly, but that's what it showed. Some time recently, it started showing as 5.1, which may have coincided with the new master control. It's possible that when they were broadcasting in 3.0 your receiver was producing the extra channels, but now that they're sending 5.1 (possibly with only 2.0 channels active) it's trusting that there's audio in those channels even though there's nothing there.

- Trip


----------



## al.rob

Trip in VA said:


> For a very long time the MPT stations showed in TSReader as providing 3.0 channel audio. Not sure why 3.0, exactly, but that's what it showed. Some time recently, it started showing as 5.1, which may have coincided with the new master control. It's possible that when they were broadcasting in 3.0 your receiver was producing the extra channels, but now that they're sending 5.1 (possibly with only 2.0 channels active) it's trusting that there's audio in those channels even though there's nothing there.
> 
> - Trip


 Yes, I think that is what happened - they started sending out 5.1 on the transmitter but are most of the time only actually using the two front channels, which makes the system think the program is in 5.1 so it doesn't turn on its own stereo fill and I hear nothing from the center or rear speakers. Not too long ago I was watching Motorweek and they must have been sending the program's rear channels out over the front channels by mistake, so you couldn't hear any of the speech, only the rear "ambience-type" sounds, making the show useless to watch. So, I guess they are messing with things, and maybe they will eventually get it to work. In the meantime, I will record music programs on WETA when possible.


----------



## CycloneGT

I just read that NewsChannel 8 has been added to the Dish Network line up. About time.


----------



## b5fan001

CycloneGT said:


> I just read that NewsChannel 8 has been added to the Dish Network line up. About time.


 Anyone know why they don't add it one of the WJLA 7.x HD subchannels too? 

-B 

_P.S. Probably been asked before...please forgive my ignorance._


----------



## AntAltMike

WNUV 54.2 changed from GetTV to Antenna TV, and WUTB 24.2 changed from GRIT to GetTV, on December 28, 2015. So the Baltimore DMA gained Antenna TV while losing GRIT... for now.


----------



## Trip in VA

The missing network is on 24-4 from what I was told. (I no longer receive it reliably.)

- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike

AntAltMike said:


> ...So the Baltimore DMA gained Antenna TV while losing GRIT... for now.





Trip in VA said:


> The missing network is on 24-4 from what I was told. (I no longer receive it reliably.)...


I don't get 24 here in College Park with my exceptional, 3 antenna array, but the WUTB Wikipedia page also says GRIT is now on 24.4, so I am amending the masthead post to include it. I will try to develop temporary channel 24 reception here so I can see if there is anything on 24.3. Nature abhors vacuums.


----------



## Trip in VA

I think it's probably going to be a stand-alone channel for ASN. I know Sinclair is set up for that on WPNT in Pittsburgh.

- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike

I just confirmed that 24.3 presently does not get found in a channel scan.


----------



## Trip in VA

AntAltMike said:


> I just confirmed that 24.3 presently does not get found in a channel scan.


http://americansportsnet.com/asn-launches-247-broadcast-network-on-monday/

- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike

Trip in VA said:


> I think it's probably going to be a stand-alone channel for ASN. I know Sinclair is set up for that on WPNT in Pittsburgh.
> 
> - Trip





Trip in VA said:


> http://americansportsnet.com/asn-launches-247-broadcast-network-on-monday/
> 
> - Trip


That is a seriously deficient newtork for the A-10 conference. Here are the affiliates.



*Baltimore: WUTB-3*
*Charleston-Huntington, W.Va.: WVAH-2*
*Cincinnati: WKRC-3*
*Columbus: WTTE-3*
*Greensboro-High Point-Winston, N.C.: WXLV-2*
*Myrtle Beach-Florence, S.C.: WWMB-3*
*Nashville: WNAB-2*
*Pittsburgh: WPNT-2*
*Portland-Auburn, Maine: WGME-3*
*Raleigh-Durham, N.C.: WLFL-2 
*

I don't have the wherewithal to make a map contrasting transmitters and home stadiums, but for off-air delivery of the conference games to the natural geographic viewership, this line-up is lame. They better have made some inconvenient carriage arrangements with local cable companies that might otherwise neglect or exclude some of those stations.


----------



## Trip in VA

Sinclair carries the games themselves on all its local stations already, this is just a 24/7 network on which to air them without interrupting programming elsewhere.

- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike

I think the A-10 teams play their games on the same courts that are used for gym class, with cinder block walls at both ends. God forbid that Sinclair might otherwise have to preempt any country music videos on their ZUUS sub channels


----------



## AntAltMike

Trip in VA said:


> I think it's probably going to be a stand-alone channel for ASN. I know Sinclair is set up for that on WPNT in Pittsburgh.
> 
> - Trip


I'm watching AMCC versus LU right now. 

The picture alternates between being rock solid and blinking out two or three times a second, but my primitive TV signal quality evaluator says the signal is "good" second best of four categories) and the programs are rock solid on the other three subchannels, so that seems to be a production problem of some sort. I'd say the programming from the site is having the problem, but the ASN studio and local commercials are fine.



AntAltMike said:


> I think the A-10 teams play their games on the same courts that are used for gym class, with cinder block walls at both ends. God forbid that Sinclair might otherwise have to preempt any country music videos on their ZUUS sub channels


I figured out who LU is because their name is painted on the court. They have a few rows of seats at each end of the court, but I doubt the total attendance breaks 100.


----------



## AntAltMike

Big night for Washington, DC TV, as another virtual void gets filled.

49.1 is now MBC. There are several broadcasting entities using that three letter abbreviation. For now, I'm going with Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation

Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munhwa_Broadcasting_Corporation#MBC_programs


Official site: http://www.imbc.com/


Might be South Korean drama and entertainment, with English subtitles.

I never heard why the Soul of the South subchannel got canceled in such short order. It's Arise News was a real, PBS quality production.


----------



## Trip in VA

MBC was added around 1/1.

As far as Arise News, that aired on one of the MHz channels for a while. Not sure it's still running, though.

http://www.arise.tv/

Soul of the South as a whole failed because it lost a bunch of money. There are a number of articles about lawsuits and the like, one of which is here: http://www.broadcastingcable.com/blog/station-station/its-sos-soul-south/139483

Another is here: http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlo...estment-in-soul-of-the-south-tv-network-sours

Part of the launch team was Larry Morton, who was part of Equity Broadcasting, if you happen to remember what happened to them.

- Trip


----------



## dleedlee

How long has Ant-Tv (50.2) been broadcasting without any audio? Noticed it the past half hour, I'm not a regular viewer.


----------



## AntAltMike

dleedlee said:


> How long has Ant-Tv (50.2) been broadcasting without any audio? Noticed it the past half hour, I'm not a regular viewer.


I'm not home, but you might want to check the setting of your SAP (second audio program) for that channel.


----------



## doctorwizz

Yeah there is no audio on 50.2 There is no alternate audio.
There is DD 2.0 being broadcast, but no audio is sent.

And still no low frequency audio channel (.1) on 7.1 since Dec 02...


----------



## dleedlee

Checked on two different tuners.
But just came back on now.


----------



## AntAltMike

WFDC's subchannels now are displayed on my Seiki TV as 15.2, .3 and .4 with "No Event Information". For the past week, they were virtually, 14.2, .3, .4, but with no channel name of information..


----------



## dleedlee

AntAltMike said:


> WFDC's subchannels now are displayed on my Seiki TV as 15.2, .3 and .4 with "No Event Information". For the past week, they were virtually, 14.2, .3, .4, but with no channel name of information..


Same with my Samsung. The iView box still showing 14.n with channel names, however.


----------



## doctorwizz

With TiVo I see 2 each of ch 14.1 and 14.2 with guide but all 4 channels are blank with 72% signal. No program lock, but has signal lock.
I also get WFDCDT3 14-3 and WFDCDT4 14.4 with guide. Both channels work.


----------



## dleedlee

Today: 14.1 and 14.3 both Grit TV, 14.2 and 14.4 Escape, 15.1 Univision, 15.2 Get Tv


----------



## AntAltMike

Progress is beaing made with WFDC. 14.1-14.4 have programming info. 15.1 and 15.2 still exist without programming info. But the sound assignments are mixed up on 14.2, where the SAP audio choice of English 1 gets me 14.4 Escape audio, whereas English 2 gets me the correct audio, and on 14.1 selecting Spanish or Other gets me the correct audio, whereas selecting English gets me 14.3 GetTV audio.

It sure would be nice if the Spanish channels could give us English as alternate audio, but they can't because they are paying much less for the rights to distribute programming in Spanish than they would to show the same programming in English... though as I recall, they paid several times as much to carry the World Soccer games in Spanish than ESPN paid to carry them in English.


----------



## b5fan001

buri said:


> Hello,
> 
> I'm trying to receive OTA signals in the Church Mills subdivision of Sterling, VA (near Church Rd & Sterling Blvd) but am not having any luck. I'm up on a hill and can receive analog just fine, but don't pick up a single digital channel.
> 
> I have the "TERK HD-TVS Slim Profile Outdoor HDtv Antenna" (medium directional) attached to a Sony Bravia TV. I've tried the roof of my two-story house as well as the attic, using the orientations specified by AntennaWeb, as well as pretty much every angle in the general direction of D.C.
> 
> Has anyone in my area had luck with OTA? What should my next step be, a pre-amp?
> 
> Thanks for helping out a newbie!
> BU



I'm in Woodstone off Frederick Road and I get all the DC stations that I look for just fine. I use a RCA Compact Outdoor Yagi HDTV Antenna about 15 feet or so off the ground pointing at DC. I found that if I took some time and carefully worked with the antenna using the strength meter in the TiVo to get the best reception. 

I was using a amplifier with my old flat wall antenna. It wasn't very helpful. I don't need it for the RCA.


----------



## mkfs

*Single-channel antenna suppliers?*

There's lots of discussions here about specific antennas. In decades past, there were manufacturers of channel-specific antennas, typically used by MATV systems in fringe areas. A friend needs one.

Are such still available? Sources?


----------



## AntAltMike

mkfs said:


> There's lots of discussions here about specific antennas. In decades past, there were manufacturers of channel-specific antennas, typically used by MATV systems in fringe areas. A friend needs one.
> 
> Are such still available? Sources?


There isn't much out in the way of cut-to-channel antennas being made these days, and the only ones I'm familiar with are commercial grade products that are favored for use in harsh environments due to their durability, rather than their technical performance. If you use TVFool.com to develop an analysis of your reception situation and post your results, we can better advise you regarding what contemporary products best meet your needs.


----------



## mkfs

Well, I'm at 30.150999, -82.664807, with a 50 ft tower. Our interests are:

WFOX RF32, 66 miles -90.7 dBm.
WOGX RF31, 58 miles, -84 dBm.

Both of these are marginal with the current Stacker. 
Plus, they are in different directions.....
We can go up another 10-15 ft, perhaps.


----------



## AntAltMike

mkfs said:


> Well, I'm at 30.150999, -82.664807, with a 50 ft tower. Our interests are:
> 
> WFOX RF32, 66 miles -90.7 dBm.
> WOGX RF31, 58 miles, -84 dBm.
> 
> Both of these are marginal with the current Stacker.
> Plus, they are in different directions.....
> We can go up another 10-15 ft, perhaps.


Vacation home? Is that in swampland or something? I've never seen anyone with 2-edge reception in two directions at those distances in Florida before.

You will do better reposting this under its own, "I'm in the boonies" thread in the HDTV technical sub-forum, as there are not many antenna junkies here, and there is really no reason to believe the do-it-yourselfers in Jacksonville or Ocala will have the expertise you seek.

What are you using for a pre-amp, and about how long is your downlead, from the antenna to the house input point, and beyond?

Who climbs the tower?

For my money (well, for your money) I'd use the highest gain UHF antenna at 30/31 I could find, and have a bandpass filter right before your preamp. Others can put their fingers on the highest gain 30/31 antenna, and since you are in Florida and this is on a tower, you'd be well advised to pick a preamp that is historically, and by design, least vulnerable to lightning damage, as I think it has been reported here that the lowest noise figure preamplifiers are of a design that makes them more susceptible to lightning damage.


----------



## RedPenguin2

My apologizes if this is not the correct thread, but this is the closest one I can find to cover Grasonville, MD which for Atlantic Broadband seems to use DC and Baltimore stations.

Anyway, I'm trying to find out if Atlantic Broadband still supposedly uses Clear QAM as the delivery method for Value channels.

Supposedly they did in Miami even for HDs but I didn't get any answer in the Miami forum when I tried asking there.

My area of Johnstown is being converted now and while all the simulcast channels were encrypted except for Locals it seems like they might have decided to leave encryption off some non-locals.

But then again this area they pushed the DTAs but didn't flat out say like in other areas, "The DTA is required" or "The DTA is only required for non-digital TVs".


----------



## Chancellor Todd

al.rob said:


> Until a few weeks ago, I used to get sound out of the rear and center channel speakers on MPT. Recently I have only gotten front main channel stereo. I can record the same shows on WETA and get the Dolby 5.1 sound.



So channel WETA, channel 26.1, should be in 5.1 sound? I only ever get 2-channel sound OTA.


----------



## doctorwizz

Chancellor Todd said:


> So channel WETA, channel 26.1, should be in 5.1 sound? I only ever get 2-channel sound OTA.


26.1 transmits Dolby Digital 2.0


----------



## al.rob

Chancellor Todd said:


> So channel WETA, channel 26.1, should be in 5.1 sound? I only ever get 2-channel sound OTA.


I get sound out of all speakers on WETA. I can't tell if it is actually 5.1 with my system, though. On WMPT main channel I get sound only out of the 2 main front speakers, as they must turn on the 5.1 but send nothing out of the other channels. On WMPT sub-channels I get sound out of all speakers since they must not send out a 5.1 signal on those so the system puts in its own "fill" for the missing speakers.


----------



## doctorwizz

al.rob said:


> I get sound out of all speakers on WETA. I can't tell if it is actually 5.1 with my system, though. On WMPT main channel I get sound only out of the 2 main front speakers, as they must turn on the 5.1 but send nothing out of the other channels. On WMPT sub-channels I get sound out of all speakers since they must not send out a 5.1 signal on those so the system puts in its own "fill" for the missing speakers.


You are just getting an upmix on 26.1 from 2.0 to 5.1.
On 22.1 they have misconfigured audio. They send DD 6.1, but only output audio from LF and RF channels. That will not be upmixed by Dolby PLII to other channels. But on an ATMOS AVR, those 2 channels are also sent to the Atmos Height channels. So I get LF, RF, Top L, and Top R.
Checkout WJLA 7.1, they are currently sending DD 5.0. They are missing the low frequency .5 channel since Dec 2 2015.


----------



## Eben

Another thing MPT does on its main channel is randomly four-side box 16:9 content. E.g., the British show _New Tricks_ is 16:9 and MPT often correctly transmits it so, but once in a while passes it "boxed" on all four sides.


----------



## smithre4

Configuration: Windows 7 Media Center
Verizon FiOS Baltimore County DIgital, ID: 164804725

Since at least January* I have been unable to record any show on my local Fox affiliate, Fox 45 (channel 510). Recordings fail to start with errors "Recording of this content is prohibited by the content provider." It doesn't matter if it is a scheduled recording or a manually initiated recording. Nor does it matter what I attempt to record (local news, any prime time show, day time show, etc.).

I called into Verizon today and had them validate that my cablecard was authorized. That didn't resolve the issue.

Anyone have any thoughts? Anyone else out there unable to record Fox 45 shows?

* I noticed when X-Files began, it may have started earlier but with no new shows in December, it's hard to say exactly.


Ross


----------



## doctorwizz

smithre4 said:


> Configuration: Windows 7 Media Center
> Verizon FiOS Baltimore County DIgital, ID: 164804725
> 
> Since at least January* I have been unable to record any show on my local Fox affiliate, Fox 45 (channel 510). Recordings fail to start with errors "Recording of this content is prohibited by the content provider." It doesn't matter if it is a scheduled recording or a manually initiated recording. Nor does it matter what I attempt to record (local news, any prime time show, day time show, etc.).
> 
> I called into Verizon today and had them validate that my cablecard was authorized. That didn't resolve the issue.
> 
> Anyone have any thoughts? Anyone else out there unable to record Fox 45 shows?
> 
> * I noticed when X-Files began, it may have started earlier but with no new shows in December, it's hard to say exactly.
> 
> 
> Ross


Records fine with Win8.1 WMC using OTA with HD Homerun.
Must be a Verizon issue I would think.


----------



## smithre4

doctorwizz said:


> Records fine with Win8.1 WMC using OTA.
> Must be a Verizon issue I would think.


That's what I figured, but an hour on the phone today and I got zero help. But thank you for confirming that OTA does record.


----------



## smithre4

smithre4 said:


> That's what I figured, but an hour on the phone today and I got zero help. But thank you for confirming that OTA does record.


Looks like my tuner needed a firmware update. Unfortunately, for some reason Ceton didn't advertise this firmware as available in their diagnostics app. This firmware appears to resolve the issue as I was just able to record a show - http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/viewtopic.php?f=68&t=8352.


----------



## mvcg66b3r

It's WMGM all over again.



> *Official: NBC affiliation ending with WHAG-TV*
> 
> After more than four decades together, WHAG-TV and NBC will part.
> 
> Details of the break have not been made public, but Lauren Skowronski, vice president of corporate communications for NBC, said in a one-sentence email Thursday: "I can confirm that the affiliation is ending this summer."
> 
> Hugh Breslin, general manager of WHAG-TV, said Thursday night that "we have plans to make a major announcement about exciting changes to our service and programming next week."
> 
> NBC also owns and operates WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. Hagerstown and the nation's capital are considered to be in the same market, known as a "Designated Market Area," according to the Nielsen ratings maps.


http://www.heraldmailmedia.com/news...cle_77461d4a-d6a9-11e5-88eb-0fedba025d11.html

The article also says:



> WHAG-TV, Channel 25, is the only licensed broadcast television station in Hagerstown.


Wrong! There's also independent station WJAL, with transmitter near Chambersburg PA.

So this summer, Hagerstown will have two independents and would have to rely on DC for network programming. I wonder what led to the breakup? And will Nexstar drop NBC on other stations in retaliation?


----------



## doctorwizz

Weird reception today. Ch. 7's signals are 47-50 on Tivo. Total breakup. Usually perfect at 72. 
HD Homerun shows:










All other channels are fine. Even the Delaware stations.
Weird..


----------



## keeper

Been messing around with my attic antennas again after several years- I live in Dillsburg, pa by the mountain. Got some elevation on my side. Getting all Baltimore stations pretty strong even ch 13. Figured out a problem that I had on VHF break ups- interference. Ended up being Led can lights in another room. I am able to lock on some DC stations ch.20, 50, and sometimes 7. If I aimed my antennas towards DC I am sure I could receive those channels pretty well. I wish manufactures would make a 2 antenna input stb that incorporates both inputs. I use the Hopper. Need to adjust my UHF antenna as 45 is coming in a little low. Could be co channel interference from fox 43 in Lancaster.


----------



## doctorwizz

doctorwizz said:


> Weird reception today. Ch. 7's signals are 47-50 on Tivo. Total breakup. Usually perfect at 72.
> HD Homerun shows:
> 
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> All other channels are fine. Even the Delaware stations.
> Weird..


7.1 is still hosed.
Anyone in the fringe have issues with 7.1? Or anyone notice a drop in signal quality?
Isn't 9.1 close to 7.1's actual frequency? 
9 looks like this. 7 is the same normally.


----------



## Digital Rules

7 still good & strong here with an attic antenna. Sounds like some kind of local interference. Any new electronics around the house? 

I tried to help someone in Fairfax with a channel 7 issue, which we never resolved. (He uses WMAR-2 for ABC) Still think it had something to do with his wireless home alarm sending units. All other channels were perfect, but the signal meter bounced from zero to 100% every few seconds on 7.


----------



## tylerSC

mvcg66b3r said:


> It's WMGM all over again.
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.heraldmailmedia.com/news...cle_77461d4a-d6a9-11e5-88eb-0fedba025d11.html
> 
> The article also says:
> 
> 
> 
> Wrong! There's also independent station WJAL, with transmitter near Chambersburg PA.
> 
> So this summer, Hagerstown will have two independents and would have to rely on DC for network programming. I wonder what led to the breakup? And will Nexstar drop NBC on other stations in retaliation?


Apparently WHAG will expand local news programming to fill the void. Since DC and Baltimore stations cover more of the immediate suburbs rather than the distant areas. And interesting NBC is also dropping affiliation with WNCN in Raleigh-Durham, which is now being acquired by Nextar. As a major coup they have signed with WRAL which is dropping CBS.


----------



## doctorwizz

Digital Rules said:


> 7 still good & strong here with an attic antenna. Sounds like some kind of local interference. Any new electronics around the house?
> 
> I tried to help someone in Fairfax with a channel 7 issue, which we never resolved. (He uses WMAR-2 for ABC) Still think it had something to do with his wireless home alarm sending units. All other channels were perfect, but the signal meter bounced from zero to 100% every few seconds on 7.


Nothing new lately. I do have a wireless alarm. Don't think it's that. It has to be something local outside. I usually suspect the Naval research center not far from here. I have my doubts about that since nothing else is affected. Nothing else around here. It's very rural. 
IDK if the FM trap is on in my preamp. Don't know if that could affect it. No FM transmitters near here. 
Checked all connections and ground. All looks good. Turned stuff off. Unplugged the preamp for a while. 
Signal quality got a little better last night for a bit. But today just like yesterday's signal. Something is causing the SNR to go down only on ch7 which is causing total breakup.


----------



## doctorwizz

So I have been monitoring ch 7's signal levels since getting low signal on Friday. 
It has been pretty consistently low. Signal quality between 64-66%. With occiasional peaks to 71% using the HDHomrun app. It is a great app to do live monitoring of signal levels. When the signal quality drops below 68%, picture breakup happens. At 66%, the symbol quality drops like a rock to zero. 68% and over is perfect with zero breakup. 

So this morning I check signal on 7 and it's 65% constant. Go get my coffee at 650am and it's totally back to normal! It is like they were transmitting lower power since Friday. And they just turned it back up or something. I can't explain it. It was not my equipment. I don't see how some local interference could affect one channel's signal like that.


----------



## doctorwizz

Ch. 7 faded again to a constant 64% at 915PM tonight from it's usual rock solid 98%. 
I even got 98% last night in a heavy t-storms. Great antenna right?
No other stations are affected. 
So strange as I have a great antenna with a preamp. All utilities are underground. This is rural area. 
I can unplug the preamp and still get ch.7 and 9. 7 still has breakup. 9 works fine. Can't get 4 or 5 with it unplugged. 
I even tried tuning 174 to 180Mhz on a wide range receiver to see if I could hear any interference. Can't tell. It's digital and IDK.
I used a frequency counter to see if anything in the house is transmitting around those frequencies. Nothing detected. 
Any theories?


----------



## Digital Rules

7 seems to always be a bit more fussy than 9. 

Is the antenna pointed towards DC? Any FM stations near 88 MHZ within 10 miles. 

You may need to tweak the height of the antenna either higher or lower a few inches to find a better sweet spot for 7. A move of just 1 inch is enough for me to lose any of my weak stations.


----------



## AntAltMike

Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't fuzzy, was he?


----------



## doctorwizz

Digital Rules said:


> 7 seems to always be a bit more fussy than 9.
> 
> Is the antenna pointed towards DC? Any FM stations near 88 MHZ within 10 miles.
> 
> You may need to tweak the height of the antenna either higher or lower a few inches to find a better sweet spot for 7. A move of just 1 inch is enough for me to lose any of my weak stations.


Signal was back to rock solid 98% this morning. 
It is pointed towards DC. The installers took a long time to find the sweet spot on the roof. They tilted it back slightly too. I wouldn't want to try to adjust it myself. I would mess it up. I wonder whether the FM trap on the preamp is on. I don't want to go up there. Could one be added after the preamp?
There is a 92.7 that is not far from here looks like. Could that cause interference?
http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/patg?id=WWXT-FM
That is the only one near me. I didn't know that station existed. 
http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/lo...&is_fb=Y&format=&dx=0&radius=&freq=&sort=freq


----------



## tylerSC

I think it may be better to add the FM trap before the preamp as you are trying to block rather than amplify the FM signal.


----------



## doctorwizz

tylerSC said:


> I think it may be better to add the FM trap before the preamp as you are trying to block rather than amplify the FM signal.


My preamp has one built in. Not sure if it's on or off. I'm not going up there to find out.
Just wondering if one could be added after.


----------



## keeper

Anyone experiencing audio DD dropouts with WJZ13? Picture seems fine but I lose audio here and there for a second.


----------



## dleedlee

MHz channel updates:

Effective Tuesday, March 1st at 12 AM Eastern Time,* Deutsche Welle TV will replace Ukraine TV on MHz11* in the Washington DC metro area. DW-TV is a news, information and cultural broadcaster from Germany, and presents the latest in politics, business, arts, sports and social issues. At the heart of Europe, DW-TV covers the latest events and developments in Europe from its Berlin, Brussels and Moscow offices.

Also effective Tuesday, March 1st at 12 AM Eastern Time, *Africa Today TV will replace BON TV on MHz5* in the Washington DC metro area. With its one billion inhabitants and huge untapped natural resources, the continent plays an increasingly significant geostrategic role. Africa Today TV is dedicated to celebrating Africa’s talent, creativity and achievements.


----------



## AntAltMike

I had noticed 30.5, formerly BON, "out of service" late last night or early this morning, but I don't ordinarily scroll above 30.7 for France5, so I missed the demise of Ukraine on 30.11, which was a nice, responsible (dull) news channel that had no following.

Deutsche Welle has had a strong following for a long time. It used to be available on analog Ku band on an Atlantic satellite that was down around 20 degrees elevation from the east coast. I had to use that one to bring it into Johns Hopkins language lab when it was not being carried by DISH Network.

As for Africa Today, I predict that will last until whomever is underwriting it determines they no longer are getting enough personal benefit to continue subsidizing something that almost no one is interested in. What was that cab driving quiz show that was syndicated for a few years recently? Cash Cab? They could run an Ethiopian Cash Cab and get some viewers, and maybe an elephant preservation show, and then what? Updates on half a dozen war torn countries? A month ago, when there was a terrorist attack in an African country I had never heard of, I looked it up and found out that it had been Upper Volta when I last owned a globe, so I mentioned that to a Nigerian college student, as it bordered on Nigeria, and he said he never knew it to be anything other than Burkina Faso. There is no _little_ audience for Al Jazeera American/English in this country, so there cannot possibly be a market for news of African countries that are less topical to us than the ones we now neglect on other channels.


----------



## dleedlee

AntAltMike said:


> I had noticed 30.5, formerly BON, "out of service" late last night or early this morning, but I don't ordinarily scroll above 30.7 for France5, so I missed the demise of Ukraine on 30.11, which was a nice, responsible (dull) news channel that had no following.
> 
> Deutsche Welle has had a strong following for a long time. It used to be available on analog Ku band on an Atlantic satellite that was down around 20 degrees elevation from the east coast. I had to use that one to bring it into Johns Hopkins language lab when it was not being carried by DISH Network.
> 
> As for Africa Today, I predict that will last until whomever is underwriting it determines they no longer are getting enough personal benefit to continue subsidizing something that almost no one is interested in. What was that cab driving quiz show that was syndicated for a few years recently? Cash Cab? They could run an Ethiopian Cash Cab and get some viewers, and maybe an elephant preservation show, and then what? Updates on half a dozen war torn countries? A month ago, when there was a terrorist attack in an African country I had never heard of, I looked it up and found out that it had been Upper Volta when I last owned a globe, so I mentioned that to a Nigerian college student, as it bordered on Nigeria, and he said he never knew it to be anything other than Burkina Faso. There is no audience for Al Jazeera American/English in this country, so there cannot possibly be a market for news of African countries that are less topical to us than the ones we now neglect on other channels.


Deutsche Welle Live is on MHz1 for 2.5 hrs daily. I wonder if that will be replaced now that it has a devoted channel.

I remember MHz had a channel dedicated to Nigerian news a few years back. The picture quality was terrible.

And I still keep hoping that they will bring back Al Jazeera English.


----------



## AntAltMike

dleedlee said:


> Deutsche Welle Live is on MHz1 for 2.5 hrs daily. I wonder if that will be replaced now that it has a devoted channel.


(edit) I see that they still have it scheduled from 3:00PM to 5:30 PM each day.



> I remember MHz had a channel dedicated to Nigerian news a few years back. The picture quality was terrible.


Back when I featured commercial C-band service and used to advertise heavily in the Yellow Pages, I got a call from someone who wanted to know if I could get them any Nigerian TV. I recommended that they call the Nigerian Embassy and see what they were getting. The guy said, "This is the Nigerian Embassy"



> And I still keep hoping that they will bring back Al Jazeera English.


http://www.zahitvstation.com/watch-al-jazeera-english-live

It seems like a natural when they are no longer constrained by the cable carriage contracts, but it might have to be on the Manassas/Goldvein transmitter.


----------



## dleedlee

The Africa Today TV team: http://africatodaytv.com/about-us/team/

Pretty awful content from what I've sampled so far. Taped speeches from economic development conferences in ballrooms isn't my idea of destination TV. Not sure who the target audience is supposed to be.


----------



## rkolsen

Eben said:


> Another thing MPT does on its main channel is randomly four-side box 16:9 content. E.g., the British show _New Tricks_ is 16:9 and MPT often correctly transmits it so, but once in a while passes it "boxed" on all four sides.


I haven't been on here in ages but saw your comment. I've noticed the changes as well. I believe it has been this way since they switched to outsourced master control to Public Media Management. Public Media Management is a partnership between WGBH and Sony out of Boston. Apparently when the article was written they were running systems simultaneously since May 2015 and I think they went "live" around September. I've noticed more mistakes like blank screens for a while an promotions that were pillar and letterboxed as you say. 

Anyway I came on here to mention that WBAL or Comcast has fixed an issue where all their SD programming has been center cut. Now for the most part most of their programming the AFD has been fixed with local news, NBC programming being letters boxed and when told during syndicated programming. I normally watch HD but have an HD set with one of their DTA boxes because my grandmother probably couldn't figure it out and the added remote buttons would confuse her. 

Now WJZ's programming seems to be the only one that's center cut through out their broadcast day.


----------



## Eben

rkolsen said:


> I haven't been on here in ages but saw your comment. I've noticed the changes as well. I believe it has been this way since they switched to outsourced master control to Public Media Management. Public Media Management is a partnership between WGBH and Sony out of Boston. Apparently when the article was written they were running systems simultaneously since May 2015 and I think they went "live" around September. I've noticed more mistakes like blank screens for a while an promotions that were pillar and letterboxed as you say.


Good to know; wish they'd cut it out and stick to 16:9.


----------



## doctorwizz

My low signal on ch 7 WJLA never came back. It only happened twice. 
Got a chance to connect my Weingard 7697P antenna to my Denon x4200 AVR today to see if the FM trap is on or off. I would have to say the FM trap is off. I get every FM station possible. 
It was one year ago today that the 7697 was installed.


----------



## AntAltMike

RetroTV 49.4 and Rev'n' 49.5 have had no programming for several days now, while the signal measures strong and the other four subchannels are reliable. I had previously noticed that they had also gone blank for a day about a week and a half ago but came back on. I found no reportage of either of those channels having any kind of national problems.


----------



## Chancellor Todd

You're not alone. I have nothing on 49.4 or 49.5 either, and get the other subchannels with no problems.


----------



## VARTV

AntAltMike said:


> RetroTV 49.4 and Rev'n' 49.5 have had no programming for several days now, while the signal measures strong and the other four subchannels are reliable. I had previously noticed that they had also gone blank for a day about a week and a half ago but came back on. I found no reportage of either of those channels having any kind of national problems.


Time to reboot the computer...


----------



## MRG1

Note that broad channels 49-n are being added.

Also, there seems to be a second channel 14 (on frequency channel 14, instead of 15), though I don't quite get it in College Park. 

Anyway, I've updated my list of OTA and Comcast channels for College Park at 

http://mgrunes.com/comcastNum.html

I've include more WWW links, for people who prefer to view shows on-line.


----------



## Tomar

Can anyone recommend an antenna installer or is Fairfax Antenna (Fairfax AVI) the only deal in town? I'm looking to mount an antenna on the roof of my house.


----------



## MRG1

Tomar said:


> Can anyone recommend an antenna installer or is Fairfax Antenna (Fairfax AVI) the only deal in town? I'm looking to mount an antenna on the roof of my house.


I can't. But I suggest you clarify whether you want to install an OTA antenna, a satellite TV antenna (and which service), or both.

A *Maryland* licensed unlimited master electrician told me that virtually all antenna installers violate the National Electric Code. In particular, they only read the antenna section of the NEC. He says that outdoor rooftop wiring must comply with the high voltage and grounding portions too. E.g., that an antenna may not lie over the roof, but must be offset from it, and that the ground wire must be of a certain size, and must run straight down to the ground. No one does that, and it is not enforced. Then again, we are not in a super-high lightening area.


----------



## Chancellor Todd

Service on the 49.4 and 49.5 subchannels appears to have been restored.


----------



## AntAltMike

Tomar said:


> Can anyone recommend an antenna installer or is Fairfax Antenna (Fairfax AVI) the only deal in town? I'm looking to mount an antenna on the roof of my house.


As late as about 2006, I was buying about $20,000 a year of Yellow Pages advertising under the Antennas heading in I think eleven local phone directories, and my company was typically the third or fourth largest advertiser. I just checked the current, Verizon Yellow Pages for PG County, and they don't even have an "Antennas" category anymore. They, Verizon and One Book, used to have to send me "proof" copies of all eleven, and they were nice to use as jack stands when I worked on my vehicles.

I was stunned when Davis Antenna exited the antenna sales and installation business. I've spoken to Buddy Davis a few times since then, but I didn't think to ask him why his company stopped pursuing antenna sales and service. I can tell you that, thanks to the internet, my telephone sales business had become an arguing/haggling business. I imagine that Capital Antenna and Hargrove Communication experienced the same thing. There was no longer a mark-up to be had because anyone could buy the same parts online for nearly the same prices I was paying, and, due to the sporadic nature of digital signal failures, customers were forever making undocumentable complaints and convincing themselves that they knew more than I did, or at least, knew enough to argue with me about how an installation should be done. Basically, residential work was not worth the headache, and even with my remaining commercial, high-rise customers, it seems like every year, when one or two change building engineers or maintenance directors, I acquire a new adversary... a guy who sees himself competing with me and intent on "learning what I know" so he can do what I do the next time antenna system service is needed. Many have destroyed their well engineered signal distributions, and even if I could convince them of that, they would have to hide that fact from their employer, and in so convincing them, I would just be directing them in their further efforts to self-correct them.

There is a link to Action Antenna in the masthead post on this thread, which I took over when the thread originator lost interest in these matters, but I have largely confined my revisions of that post to updating programming, so I don't know if they are still providing residential broadcast antenna service. I see that at the bottom of their linked Home Page, that that page was last revised in December of 2009.


----------



## Ad-Rok

AntAltMike said:


> As late as about 2006, I was buying about $20,000 a year of Yellow Pages advertising under the Antennas heading in I think eleven local phone directories, and my company was typically the third or fourth largest advertiser. I just checked the current, Verizon Yellow Pages for PG County, and they don't even have an "Antennas" category anymore. They, Verizon and One Book, used to have to send me "proof" copies of all eleven, and they were nice to use as jack stands when I worked on my vehicles.
> 
> I was stunned when Davis Antenna exited the antenna sales and installation business. I've spoken to Buddy Davis a few times since then, but I didn't think to ask him why his company stopped pursuing antenna sales and service. I can tell you that, thanks to the internet, my telephone sales business had become an arguing/haggling business. I imagine that Capital Antenna and Hargrove Communication experienced the same thing. There was no longer a mark-up to be had because anyone could buy the same parts online for nearly the same prices I was paying, and, due to the sporadic nature of digital signal failures, customers were forever making undocumentable complaints and convincing themselves that they knew more than I did, or at least, knew enough to argue with me about how an installation should be done. Basically, residential work was not worth the headache, and even with my remaining commercial, high-rise customers, it seems like every year, when one or two change building engineers or maintenance directors, I acquire a new adversary... a guy who sees himself competing with me and intent on "learning what I know" so he can do what I do the next time antenna system service is needed. Many have destroyed their well engineered signal distributions, and even if I could convince them of that, they would have to hide that fact from their employer, and in so convincing them, I would just be directing them in their further efforts to self-correct them.
> 
> There is a link to Action Antenna in the masthead post on this thread, which I took over when the thread originator lost interest in these matters, but I have largely confined my revisions of that post to updating programming, so I don't know if they are still providing residential broadcast antenna service. I see that at the bottom of their linked Home Page, that that page was last revised in December of 2009.


Wow, thanks for sharing your tale of (hopefully not indefinite) woe. I can't help but feel that we will come to regret losing so many veteran RF wizards in the future. I still find the dynamics of radio frequency transmission and reception fascinating though I never had the math brain to get into the full physics of it. 

I'm also happily receiving all available broadcast stations in the DC area in full HD using 15 year old Rat Shack rabbit ears, which honestly surprised me. 

I do hope you continue to do well in your business. Maybe when I can swing it, you could come hook me up with a directional system that can grab Baltimore transmissions too.


----------



## Tomar

AntAltMike said:


> There is a link to Action Antenna in the masthead post on this thread, which I took over when the thread originator lost interest in these matters, but I have largely confined my revisions of that post to updating programming, so I don't know if they are still providing residential broadcast antenna service. I see that at the bottom of their linked Home Page, that that page was last revised in December of 2009.


I called Action Antenna and they no longer service my area. I will say that I had a great conversation with one of the owners about the subject matter. If anyone is in their service area, you may want to check them out.


----------



## Tomar

MRG1 said:


> I can't. But I suggest you clarify whether you want to install an OTA antenna, a satellite TV antenna (and which service), or both.


I mean an over the air antenna for local broadcasts.


----------



## Tomar

My HOA just denied my application for an antenna install. They said the antenna had to be less then 1 meter (39") on the diagonal (I'm not sure what is considered the diagonal of an antenna). The antenna I submitted was the Winegard HD 7694 which 65" (length of boom). I have heard people say that we are protected under the FCC so I read the Over-the-Air Reception Devices Rule. The part that concerns me states, "The rule applies to individuals who place antennas that meet size limitations on property that they own or rent and that is within their exclusive use or control, including condominium owners and cooperative owners, and tenants who have an area where they have exclusive use, such as a balcony or patio, in which to install the antenna. The rule applies to townhomes and manufactured homes, as well as to single family homes." The "size limitations" are the same dimensions used by my HOA. My only recourse would be to use antenna performance to justify the necessity for a larger antenna. Has anyone dealt with the HOA on these matters and won? I'd like to know your strategy. Can anyone recommend a 39" directional antenna that has given them good performance?


----------



## Trip in VA

The 39" size limitation is for satellite dishes, not TV antennas. They're looking at (1) and (2) but it is (3) that is relevant, and there is no size limitation in (3).

- Trip


----------



## Tomar

Trip in VA said:


> The 39" size limitation is for satellite dishes, not TV antennas. They're looking at (1) and (2) but it is (3) that is relevant, and there is no size limitation in (3).
> 
> - Trip


Hey Trip - I took another look at the wording and I think you are right. I guess I got hung up on the use of the word "antenna". Since it appeared in all three bullet points, I assumed they were using the term generically. Thanks for the clarification!


----------



## Frankie20

Is anyone else having problems receiving WFDC 14?


----------



## Trip in VA

Frankie20 said:


> Is anyone else having problems receiving WFDC 14?


Looks like they need to reboot their encoder. The video streams are present, as is the PSIP, but the PMT which actually identifies the video streams is missing. Without that, there may as well not be any video streams for all the good it does most receivers.

- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike

Frankie20 said:


> Is anyone else having problems receiving WFDC 14?


It has been nutzo for several days. It confuses the tuner in my Seiki so bad that it locks up and I have to jump through hoops to unlock it. I finally managed to get into menu mode and relegate those four scanned sub-channels to "Don't Show" status to avoid the lock-ups when I scroll through them in the channel sequence. I had been having problems with it off and on for several days before they became chronic and debilitation. Too bad, because I watch a lot of GetTV and Grit.


----------



## Trip in VA

I just sent a note to the person I spoke with when WMDO-CD moved to channel 22 last year in the hopes that he will be able to get it fixed.

- Trip


----------



## dleedlee

AntAltMike said:


> It has been nutzo for several days. It confuses the tuner in my Seiki so bad that it locks up and I have to jump through hoops to unlock it. I finally managed to get into menu mode and relegate those four scanned sub-channels to "Don't Show" status to avoid the lock-ups when I scroll through them in the channel sequence. I had been having problems with it off and on for several days before they became chronic and debilitation. Too bad, because I watch a lot of GetTV and Grit.


Odd, I have not noticed anything lately on either my iView or Maggie PVR. And right now, it seems fine. I normally only watch 14.1/Univision. Tonight: USA v. Argentina in Copa America semifinal!
14.2-14.4 also seem fine, too.


----------



## Frankie20

I think it depends on the device, right now my computer (WMC) and CM-7000 converter is detecting a signal but not showing any video. However my Insignia NS-DXA1 is showing video with no problems.


----------



## kwr

Frankie20 said:


> I think it depends on the device, right now no computer (WMC) and CM-7000 converter is detecting a signal but not show any video. However my Insignia NS-DXA1 is showing video with no problems.


Using Samsung TV, I have video, but no sound or electronic program guide on 14.1 thru 14.4. Been this way for about 4 days.


----------



## dleedlee

kwr said:


> Using Samsung TV, I have video, but no sound or electronic program guide on 14.1 thru 14.4. Been this way for about 4 days.


I just switched to (Samsung) TV downstairs and everything still seems fine on all four channels.


----------



## Frankie20

I notified WFDC's Operations Manager and got a response.



> Hello, we are experiencing technical difficulty. Our engineering staff is working on the issue.
> 
> Regards,
> Cathy


----------



## Frankie20

The WFDC is working again...



> Problem resolved. Let me know if you have any issues with our signal.
> 
> Regards,


----------



## carltonrice

I just bought a CM DVR Plus yesterday and when I was setting it up and doing the channel scan, it did not find channel 14 at all which I thought was odd. Maybe since there are others having issues, it will return sometime. One of the Baltimore stations that I get also has GetTV.


----------



## Frankie20

carltonrice said:


> I just bought a CM DVR Plus yesterday and when I was setting it up and doing the channel scan, it did not find channel 14 at all which I thought was odd. Maybe since there are others having issues, it will return sometime. One of the Baltimore stations that I get also has GetTV.



Yeah 14 did went down again today, I wasn't able to record Airwolf. WFDC notified me that they were still having problems. At 4:55p I got a message saying the problem was fixed.

Looks like it's up right now.


----------



## AntAltMike

I rescanned in the early afternoon, and experienced one minor hangup with WFDC 14.X, which I was able to surf out of, but it has been good for me this evening.


----------



## Mr Tony

I see in zap2it the changes for WHAG 25 when they switch to H&I on 7/1 at 4AM. But looks like H&I will fill some of what was NBC programming

Just looking at schedule from 6/30 to 7/1 shows the differences
7-8 was Today...will be more local news
8-11 was Today...now H&I
1-2 was Days...now paid programs
2-3 was paid programs..now Christina
3-4 was Judge Cristina Perez...now Mablean
4-5 was Judge Mablean...now Doctors (which was on early mornings)
6:30-7 was NBC nightly news...now an extra 1/2 hour local news
7:30-8 was Insider...now news
8-10 was NBC...now H&I
10-11 was NBC...now news
11:30 was Fallon...now Insider
midnight was NBC...now H&I

so looks like H&I is on
M-F Midnight-4AM, 8-11a, 8-10p
weekend from noon-6 and here and there

http://tvschedule.zap2it.com/tvlist...annel=25.1&sgt=grid&aid=tvschedule&type=print


----------



## dleedlee

Just noticed that MHz's (30.1-30.6) clock is about 15 minutes fast. Who knows how long it's been that way. Probably wreaked havoc on my iView's timed recordings.


----------



## MRG1

As of May, I get over 50 channels in north College Park, with 90% reliability or above, from a bare wire attic antenna:

http://mgrunes.com/comcastNum.html

(Look at the first table, underlined channels, labelled A or B quality.)

But an awful lot of them duplicate content, or are mostly ads, or old re-runs, or religious programming. There isn't much that is interesting to me any more.

Maybe most broadcast networks - even ABC, which used to be huge - don't make enough money anymore to create much original content, especially in comparison to cable channels.

It doesn't help that it is summer.

But I've recently enjoyed watching a couple old movies on COMET channels.


----------



## dleedlee

dleedlee said:


> Just noticed that MHz's (30.1-30.6) clock is about 15 minutes fast. Who knows how long it's been that way. Probably wreaked havoc on my iView's timed recordings.


MHz's clock is now 17 minutes fast. Tried to contact their Engineering Services via email Friday but it's now restricted so going through their 'General Support' email. Closed on weekends.

4:30pm, now 18 minutes fast !


----------



## Mr Tony

some more info on the WHAG changeover to Independent/H&I
https://changingnewscasts.wordpress.com/2016/06/27/whag-adding-expanding-news-in-big-way/


----------



## dleedlee

dleedlee said:


> MHz's clock is now 17 minutes fast. Tried to contact their Engineering Services via email Friday but it's now restricted so going through their 'General Support' email. Closed on weekends.
> 
> 4:30pm, now 18 minutes fast !


MHz responded this afternoon and fixed the clock error. It was up to 20 minutes fast this morning.


----------



## AntAltMike

unclehonkey said:


> some more info on the WHAG changeover to Independent/H&I
> https://changingnewscasts.wordpress.com/2016/06/27/whag-adding-expanding-news-in-big-way/


Intensive local news coverage in the 169th largest metropolitan market of 260,000, with a hub city of under 40,000? Does that work?


Did NBC pull the plug on them, or vice versa?


----------



## AntAltMike

unclehonkey said:


> some more info on the WHAG changeover to Independent/H&I
> https://changingnewscasts.wordpress.com/2016/06/27/whag-adding-expanding-news-in-big-way/


Intensive local news coverage in the 169th largest metropolitan market of 260,000, with a hub city of under 40,000? Does that work?


Did NBC pull the plug on them, or vice versa?


----------



## Mr Tony

AntAltMike said:


> Intensive local news coverage in the 169th largest metropolitan market of 260,000, with a hub city of under 40,000? Does that work?
> 
> 
> Did NBC pull the plug on them, or vice versa?


NBC declined not to renew the affiliation with them. Hagerstown is part of the Washington DC market so you still get NBC but it would only be the other Washington DC local. 

Since DC NBC is O&O Comcast flexed their ownership 'muscle'....like they did in Philly when they pulled the affiliation from co-market affiliate wmgm.


----------



## AntAltMike

22-4 is presently MPT-2SD. It is presently airing what seems to be a condensed coverage of Maryland broadcast television news Emmies "No Event Information"

It is not in their guide: http://www.mpt.org/schedule/ , nor are any results found when I used their site search for MPT-2SD or MPT2SD .


----------



## Trip in VA

Looks like 22-2 is running in 720p.

- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike

Trip in VA said:


> Looks like 22-2 is running in 720p


Versus what, normally?

22-2 is now running the same awards show as 22-4, but in different resolution.. They carried different programming half an hour ago.


----------



## Trip in VA

AntAltMike said:


> Versus what, normally?


When I collected new TSReader data from WMPB and WFPT on Tuesday, it was widescreen 480i. Got my fingers crossed that they might be adding World Channel. One can hope.

- Trip


----------



## tylerSC

unclehonkey said:


> NBC declined not to renew the affiliation with them. Hagerstown is part of the Washington DC market so you still get NBC but it would only be the other Washington DC local.
> 
> Since DC NBC is O&O Comcast flexed their ownership 'muscle'....like they did in Philly when they pulled the affiliation from co-market affiliate wmgm.


Did cable carry both WHAG and WRC previously in Hagerstown? I could see it would be in the competitive interest for NBC-Universal do drop affiliation with WHAG in favor of its O&O affiliate WRC. But can antenna viewers in Hagerstown receive WRC from DC or WBAL from Baltimore?


----------



## Mr Tony

tylerSC said:


> Did cable carry both WHAG and WRC previously in Hagerstown?


yes. Cable in Hagerstown proper gives them DC nets. Baltimore ABC & CBS, WHAG and the Independent (WJAL) nearby



> I could see it would be in the competitive interest for NBC-Universal do drop affiliation with WHAG in favor of its O&O affiliate WRC.


just like they did in Atlantic City when they dropped WMGM because of Philly NBC.



> But can antenna viewers in Hagerstown receive WRC from DC or WBAL from Baltimore?


running even a 40 foot tv fool says no. I know Trip has mentioned it **might** be possible but reading comments from folks in Hagerstown proper saying they only get "5 channels" which would be WHAG, Maryland PBS (and 2 subs) and WJAL the "family station" that carried the "triangle of trash"  in the morning (Jerry, Steve, Maury) and at night the "Seth McFarlane series of ****" with Family Guy, Cleveland show and America dad. They do have religious stuff on Sundays and do carry some other syndicated fare. 

Someone with an outdoor setup mentioned they get PBS, WHAG, WJAL, Ion (WWPX in nearby Martinsburg, WV) and "another PBS" which would probably be a translator of WV PBS in Martinsburg
Closest NBC that **might** be possible is WGAL 8 in Harrisburg, PA (65 miles away)..they use RF8


----------



## rory21

Does anyone know if WWTD (Channel 49) changed or improved its signal? I'm in the little bit of Fairfax County between Tysons Corner and Falls Church City. I've had Channel 49 and its subchannels on my presets just because I had room for them, and would once in a blue moon get a flicker of an image of a QVC-type thing or some such. The last ten days or so, I've received a signal about half the time, including the Retro TV network on 49.4. Today, on a rainy 4th of July, I'm getting no picture, and the subchannels are identifying on my screen as a second 14-1 and 14-2, and then 14-5 through 14-8. Thanks!


----------



## dleedlee

dleedlee said:


> MHz responded this afternoon and fixed the clock error. It was up to 20 minutes fast this morning.


Freakin' A, MHz Network is 15 minutes fast again !!!

*update: seems they've fixed it today, for now. (sent them another email yesterday)

**7/11: clock has drifted 7 minutes fast again since Fri., 7/8


----------



## Tomar

What mounting hardware is recommended to install an antenna on the roof? I live in a 3 story townhouse. I was going to go with a j-mount but then I started reading about tripods. What is the preferred method?

Thanks


----------



## Tomar

Has anyone had experience with the Channel Master 7777HD amplifier with LTE filter? I'm considering this or the Channel Master 7777 Titan 2 amplifier.


----------



## Jake V

Tomar said:


> What mounting hardware is recommended to install an antenna on the roof? I live in a 3 story townhouse. I was going to go with a j-mount but then I started reading about tripods. What is the preferred method?
> 
> Thanks


It depends on the antenna you are using. If it's smallish, like the Antennas Direct Clearstream 2V (20"L x 35.5"W x 6.5"D) then the J-Mount is sufficient, provided that you are bolting it into solid wood (i.e., 2"x 4" or bigger) and not just trim wood.


----------



## Tomar

Hey Jake V

I decided to go with the Winegard HD7694P. I also ordered a 3' j-mount. I looked around my neighborhood and I saw one neighbor with a similar setup.


----------



## Jake V

Tomar,

I'm curious. Can you post your TV Fool Report ( http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=14508 ) and a list of channels you are hoping to receive? 

Jake


----------



## Tomar

Sure...I'm mainly interested in 4.1, 5.1, 7.1, 9.1, 20.1, 50.1. The rest is gravy.


----------



## Jake V

Tomar,

I did not read all your previous posts, so I might be missing some information. Earlier you mentioned that you would be using an amplifier. Your plot is a good one for the DC stations. You should be able to get most or all of the "green" and "yellow" stations with the Winegard HD7694P without the need for an amplifier. Unless, of course, you have a super long run or are driving numerous televisions. I'd probably try the set up without the amplifier first and then see if you need it. I'd also walk the roof to see if there is a sweet spot. Sometimes the spot that is easiest is not the best.

For the DC stations I'd point the antenna at about 107 degrees. But the Winegard HD7694P has a decent beam width, so you might try pointing them midway between the DC and Baltimore stations (at about 90 degrees) to check if you can find a happy spot to get all of the DC stations plus some of the Baltimore stations. Use a real compass for pointing (cell phone compasses are not very accurate). Or at least look at a good map program and zoom in to locate objects to the east that you can point at.

Jake


----------



## Tomar

Hey Jake - Yes, I was trying to get feedback on Channel Master's new adjustable amplifier with a built-in LTE filter. I went ahead and bought it figuring that it would be better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. I live in a 3 story townhouse, so technically, the antenna would be 4 stories up. The line will run from the roof to the ground floor and into a 4-way amplified splitter (Channel Master 3414). The antenna will feed 4 TVs and one of them is on the 3rd floor. So the longest run will be from the roof, down 4 stories to the ground and back up 3 stories to the TV. I may be overdoing it with the amplifiers because I will have the adjustable amplifier feeding the 4-way amplified splitter. I imagine that if I need to remove one of them, it should be the adjustable amplifier as opposed to the splitter?

Thanks for your suggestions on placement! The guy I'm hiring to install the antenna told me he was going to use the signal strength meter on the TV to determine placement. I had some concerns about this approach initially but at the end of the day, I guess the receiver is the determining factor. Does this make sense or am I oversimplifying it? He used to install satellite dishes and he tells me antennas are easy...


----------



## MRG1

Tomar said:


> I live in a 3 story townhouse, so technically, the antenna would be 4 stories up.


If you really mean 4 stories, stacked - not a split level - that's about 40 feet, plus about 4 - 6' attic height. I bet you'd do pretty well with an attic antenna. I did it in a College Park, MD 2 story home, with nothing but bare wire, and no amps. I just took a 50' coax antenna cable (between $5 and $10), and stripped the cable end, insulation and ground shield off one almost roof-length end, and ran it near the top-of-roof line, over the struts. I played a bit with placement. No amp or mounting hardware needed, and a trial with a top quality amp provided absolutely no benefit, but I only ran it down to the top story - using about half the cable unstripped. A lot cheaper than a roof-top antenna, and it's almost omni-directional, so it doesn't need to be turned. I get over 50 channels, counting sub-channels.

But maybe if you split it 4 ways, and run one line down to the bottom, you do need an amplified splitter... Also, College Park is in the DC - Baltimore line, which might yield more channels than where you are.

If your guy does mount a roof-top antenna, talk to him about mounting the antenna offset from the roof, and running the ground line vertically straight down to the ground, without a bend. Otherwise, as best as I can find out, you are be high enough up to attract lightning. In theory that's the way all rooftop antennas should be done, so says my electrician - but most antenna installers put the antenna over the roof itself, and put bends in the wire, which lightning often doesn't follow. Even a minor strike could take out everything electronic. Also, some run the electrical ground through metal plumbing pipes in the home instead of using a separate offset line: a plumber told me that messes up plumbing lines in the long run, and is a terrible idea.


----------



## tylerSC

The new CM-7777HD Amplify has adjusable gain, either 17 db or 30db. So that would probably be a good choice, as well as the built in LTE filter. The other 7777 preamp has a fixed gain of 30db which would overpower and cause signal disruption. It is a bit confusing since they keep using the same model number for different products, going back to the original 7777 with the dual inputs. Or you could manage with the CM-7778 with 16db gain, or the Clearstream Juice amp with 19db gain and has good overload protection. But if you go with a distribution amp, then the Channel Master or PCT versions are good choices. And as suggested you could probably receive both DC and Baltimore signals with the right set up.


----------



## Tomar

MRG1 - I was only trying to say that because the antenna is going on the roof, it is going above the 3rd floor. My installer put it on the roof. I thought about mounting it on the side of the house (mainly because I didn't want to put more holes in the roof) but that was not possible.

tylerSC - The installer used the CM-7777HD and set the gain to low. He thought I might be better off without the 4-way amplified splitter and I think he is right. 

He didn't spend a lot of time pointing the antenna. As a matter of fact, he guesstimated the general direction for DC and pointed the antenna in that direction. My Tivo was pulling in 67 channels with my 2nd floor mounted CM-4221 but now with the roof mounted HD-7694P, I'm getting 75 channels. I think the extra 8 channels is a bit misleading because they a likely on the hair edge and not very watchable. The major networks are coming in strong. NBC (4.1) at 100% on some of my TVs while the problem child, CBS (9.1) at 93%. I'm not sure if the LTE filter is really making a difference because I have not used this antenna without the filter. I have struggled with multipath using the CM-4221 so my theory/hope is that using a directional antenna will minimize impact of the reflected paths. It's too early to call. I have to watch for a while to determine if this still an issue. 

Thanks everyone for your feedback and suggestions


----------



## MRG1

75 channels OTA sounds great! Especially if you are talking 90% and above good reception, which is all I was counting.

Yeah, we all know the channels duplicate each other a lot. But a lot of local stations don't duplicate each other in the morning, even if they are part of the same network.

One great thing about the TIVO boxes - you get to see programs scheduled on other-than sub-channel 1, which is what generally appears on listing websites. However, if you look for a frequent category like "science fiction", TIVO stops looking after 2 - 3 days into the future, because it can't handle too many listings. It does help to uncheck all but one channel from each network - though that kills getting the local programs. It also helps to exclude program names you don't want in your Wishlist searches - e.g., all those old "Star Trek" reruns that you've seen a million times before. That way you might get 3 - 4 days into the future (for sci-fi). 

Too bad the TIVO box doesn't know how to point your antenna, or to use multiple antenna inputs. I'm pretty sure a smarter DVR that could take advantage of an "array antenna" (an array of dipoles, whose signals are adaptively added with weightings and time delays designed to simulate a directional antenna) could eliminate almost all multi-path interference, and distinguish a lot more channels clearly. But I'm not sure they exist. Almost no one worries about OTA anymore, because we are all supposed to pay $200 - $300 / month for cable or satellite.

Sorry you couldn't put the antenna on the side of the house. Oh well, roof-top is what almost everyone does. Maybe it isn't too bad. If you tell all your neighbors to try the same thing, maybe the lightning will hit their antenna instead.  And I hope your installer used a lightning arrester, or equivalent.


----------



## carltonrice

Anyone else noticing that with WBAL, the audio and video are slightly out-of-sync?


----------



## AntAltMike

carltonrice said:


> Anyone else noticing that with WBAL, the audio and video are slightly out-of-sync?


I caught a few minutes of local news and thought it might have been off a little, but the Today Show seems synced up OK.


----------



## AntAltMike

Heroes and Icons, 20-3, just this minute started going bonkers, with green bursts across the screen and audio interruptions as well. 20-1 and 20-2 remain rock solid.


----------



## AntAltMike

AntAltMike said:


> Heroes and Icons, 20-3, just this minute started going bonkers, with green bursts across the screen and audio interruptions as well. 20-1 and 20-2 remain rock solid.


It is back to normal. The Commish is on. Because I surfed off the channel, I do not know if the problem ended with the conclusion of NYPD Blue or if it was otherwise simply repaired.


----------



## AntAltMike

The Rockford Files pilot episode, Backlash of the Hunter, part 2 guest starring Lindsay Wagner is on 13.2 Decades. Parts 1 will be rebroadcast at 9:00 PM, followed by part 2 at 10:00 PM

Noah Beery is not Rocky. I don't recognize the guy who is. A Robert Donley.

I don't know whether that can be posted in HDTV programming, because it isn't. HD. Decades is formatted 480i widescreen, but I assume the episodes are in 3x4.

The six hour block begins with James Garner's Dick Cavett interview and his pilot is followed by three of his appearances on Cheyenne, including the 1955 pilot of that show, which was Garner's first credited TV appearance.


----------



## AntAltMike

AntAltMike said:


> Heroes and Icons, 20-3, just this minute started going bonkers, with green bursts across the screen and audio interruptions as well. 20-1 and 20-2 remain rock solid.





AntAltMike said:


> It is back to normal. The Commish is on. Because I surfed off the channel, I do not know if the problem ended with the conclusion of NYPD Blue or if it was otherwise simply repaired.


And now, tonight at between 7:30 and 8M, it is sporadically doing it again, during Have Gun Will Travel as well as during some commercials. It just stopped a few minutes ago, so I hope to doesn't screw up my evening Star Trek viewing.


----------



## R. Aster

AntAltMike said:


> And now, tonight at between 7:30 and 8M, it is sporadically doing it again, during Have Gun Will Travel as well as during some commercials. It just stopped a few minutes ago, so I hope to doesn't screw up my evening Star Trek viewing.


Spoiler -- 



Spoiler



Bones' old girlfriend is the salt monster!


----------



## Mr Tony

apparently WHAG has added Escape and Grit as part of the big Katz/Nexstar agreement

Someone posted it on the WHAG facebook page

*Hi WHAG ! We like that you are offering TWO MORE entertainment broadcast channels, "Escape" and "Grit" seem pretty good*

I guess 25-2 is Escape and 25-3 is Grit


----------



## Trip in VA

Spotted it this morning while passing through (I'm in Clarksburg, WV this evening) and will update RabbitEars tomorrow. WJAL is running two additional subchannels as well; both were infomercials at 8AM.

- Trip


----------



## Mr Tony

Trip in VA said:


> Spotted it this morning while passing through (I'm in Clarksburg, WV this evening) and will update RabbitEars tomorrow. WJAL is running two additional subchannels as well; both were infomercials at 8AM.
> 
> - Trip


Looking up on TitanTV they show a 68-2 listed as WMDE (68-1 being WJAL)


----------



## Gerald C

Anyone else having signal strength reception problems with WRC-DT (48) this afternoon (Monday, Aug 29)? I can barely tune 4.1 or 4.2 inside the beltway!


----------



## Trip in VA

Strength is still good but quality is way down. Wonder what's up.

- Trip


----------



## dleedlee

Gerald C said:


> Anyone else having signal strength reception problems with WRC-DT (48) this afternoon (Monday, Aug 29)? I can barely tune 4.1 or 4.2 inside the beltway!


Both seem fine here, in Reston. Switched between TV tuner and iView tuner, no noticeable difference. This, using a basic indoor Silver Sensor clone.

*update: no problems upstairs either, tv or magnavox dvr; watched an hour of Shaq and Bear Gryllis Running Wild last night w/o issue. Again, with a cheapie $10 indoor antenna.


----------



## Gerald C

My Tivo tuner is showing 32% signal strength, with 13dB SNR. See screen grab.


----------



## DrOct

Trip in VA said:


> Strength is still good but quality is way down. Wonder what's up.
> 
> - Trip


I'm getting pretty good strength, though slightly lower than normal (92% vs. near 100 most of the time), and quality of 85-86% which is usually usable, but way lower than normal. Weird.


----------



## Gerald C

Oh, how I long for the days when I could just email Chuck Lindner (former chief engineer at WRC) and get an answer! I suspect WRC-DT is on a backup transmitter and/or antenna, which is just enough to cause a problem for me. I would be willing to concede that something could be wrong with my antenna network, but when WMPT-DT Annapolis comes in loud and clear, I doubt I have a local problem. Multiple ATSC tuners are affected as well.


----------



## pamajestic

Gerald C said:


> Anyone else having signal strength reception problems with WRC-DT (48) this afternoon (Monday, Aug 29)? I can barely tune 4.1 or 4.2 inside the beltway!


I got it back sometime today, but had nothing Monday and Tuesday. WRC is my strongest Washington channel at 64 miles north.


----------



## Gerald C

pamajestic said:


> I got it back sometime today, but had nothing Monday and Tuesday. WRC is my strongest Washington channel at 64 miles north.


Same experience here. It may have restored late Tues evening. I'm glad I wasn't the only one affected!


----------



## patpend

Has anyone else had problems receiving FOX5DC over the air? It's Sat Sept 3, 2016. They ARE on cable, just not over-the-air.


----------



## dleedlee

patpend said:


> Has anyone else had problems receiving FOX5DC over the air? It's Sat Sept 3, 2016. They ARE on cable, just not over-the-air.


Working for me. Samsung TV and iView tuner.


----------



## Trip in VA

patpend said:


> Has anyone else had problems receiving FOX5DC over the air? It's Sat Sept 3, 2016. They ARE on cable, just not over-the-air.


All's well here.

- Trip


----------



## doctorwizz

patpend said:


> Has anyone else had problems receiving FOX5DC over the air? It's Sat Sept 3, 2016. They ARE on cable, just not over-the-air.


I noticed it last night. I only have OTA. I couldn't get 5.1 through Windows Media Center. But it worked on Tivo and HDHomerun View. 
Checked the signal in Tivo and it showed 36.3 as the channel. 
HDHomerun Config did not show 5.1 or WTTG-DT like in the screenshot below. It just showed 3.0 in the program box. And 4.0 for 5.2. It is back to normal now.


----------



## doctorwizz

Anyone notice that WJLA 7.1 is missing the low-frequency subwoofer audio channel (.5) since December 2nd 2015? 
I have emailed them and they never reply.


----------



## dleedlee

I have an antenna question.
Yesterday, I attached an old antenna to a spare backup dvr/tv tuner and it worked wonderfully. Previously, I had jerry-rigged it directly to a TV and it worked only nominally, probably because of its placement. The antenna, I think it's called a folded dipole probably came with an old tube TV but I'm not positive. Since it worked so well, better than my other cheapo indoor antennas, and it picks up both uhf and vhf channels, I thought I might try picking up another one if it can be had for cheap. 

The question: should I look for a 300 or a 75 ohm version? I think for tv, 300 ohm is normal but I'm not sure. The one I'm currently using has a balun(?) and size-wise it's about a handspread wide and about 4' long. I've seen 75 ohm FM dipole antennas for sale, can I use that and attach it to an appropriate(?) balun?

Thanks.

Update: Just to close the loop, I managed to accomplish what I needed to. One FM dipole antenna and one rca transformer attached works as a tv antenna for my Maggie DVR/Tuner.

These are the two parts:
https://www.amazon.com/Axis-PET-10-...5786594&sr=1-1&keywords=fm+dipole+antenna+pet
https://www.amazon.com/Unknown-VH58...id=1475786619&sr=1-3&keywords=rca+transformer

ref. Over-my-head related discussion here:
http://www.avsforum.com/forum/25-hd...ns-300-ohm-75-ohm-easy-understand-manner.html


----------



## MRG1

Cool. Almost all the channels I receive on my attic antenna (67, if I count right, including subchannels and duplication) in College Park, Maryland are working almost 100% of the time. That's comparable to what some small town cable systems used to get.

Must have something to do with the weather.


----------



## carltonrice

Any HDTV viewers in the Baltimore/DC area? Has anyone else noticed that WBAL-DT's sound and picture are not in sync? It always appears to me as if the picture is just slightly ahead of the sound. That's the only station I've noticed having this issue. I notice this on both my DVR Plus and on my HDTV. What is the issue with WBAL?


----------



## AntAltMike

carltonrice said:


> Any HDTV viewers in the Baltimore/DC area? Has anyone else noticed that WBAL-DT's sound and picture are not in sync? It always appears to me as if the picture is just slightly ahead of the sound. That's the only station I've noticed having this issue. I notice this on both my DVR Plus and on my HDTV.?


It's off a hair on my Seiki, too.

49.4 and 49.5 have been unwatchably bad for a couple of weeks now, even though their signal quality is good and the other four 49.Xs are stable.


----------



## carltonrice

AntAltMike said:


> It's off a hair on my Seiki, too.


I sent a message to their engineering staff through their website. Let's hope they fix it soon.


----------



## carltonrice

*WBAL-DT's Audio/Video Sync Issue*

I sent a message to WBAL-DT via their website and one of their engineers called to ask me about the issue of video/audio sync. While I was on the phone with him, he had me check both 11.1 and 11.2. I noticed that the audio is perfectly in sync for 11.2, but there was still a definite audio delay on 11.1. He said they would look into it over the next few days and get back to me. I was pretty impressed when they called, because I'd just sent the message through their website about a half an hour earlier!


----------



## AntAltMike

AntAltMike said:


> ...49.4 and 49.5 have been unwatchably bad for a couple of weeks now, even though their signal quality is good and the other four 49.Xs are stable.


I sent a message to [email protected] at 2:30 Saturday afternoon, telling them that their two channels have been unwatchable for three weeks, and, boom, both are now rock solid, but they didn't reply to my communication.


----------



## mortonthecow

*OTA Antenna and Tablo/Severn http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id*

Link to TV fool in title 

I could use some help - before I throw something!
I have a Mohu Sky 60 in the attic running down about 30 feet of coax cable to the bedroom below the attic (basically in the middle, it would be almost impossible to get to the edge) where it is connected to its provided amplifier and then into the 4 tuner Tablo. 

The problem is the reliability of the signal. I seem to get WBAL clearly, but last night every other channel was a challenging. The Tablo just continued loading, loading, loading. 

It also kept saying "Reconnecting to Tablo" which may have been wi-fi related but I'm not clear. 

The house did have dish previously, I could mount it outside in the same location (15 degrees I think). 
Is the amplifier that came with the Mohu Sky 60 overkill?

Any help is appreciated


----------



## doctorwizz

Link to TVFool is invalid.


----------



## b5fan001

Does anyone know if WJLA CHannel 7 has any plans to fix/upgrade their fuzzy so-called Hi-Def?


----------



## doctorwizz

b5fan001 said:


> Does anyone know if WJLA CHannel 7 has any plans to fix/upgrade their fuzzy so-called Hi-Def?


Yeah it's a low quality 720P video. Other 720 channels are higher quality like Ch 2 in Balt.
Have you noticed they no longer have a .1 subwoofer audio channel? Been missing since December 2, 2015.


----------



## doctorwizz

I got hold of Ernie Ensign, the director of engineering at Ch 7 WJLA describing the subwoofer channel issue. He replied on Nov 7th:

"I’ve confirmed we are sending out all 6 channels and I’m seeing all 6 channels on our over the air signal. What are you using to decode?
We get error reports anytime any part of our signal is missing. I’ve gone back through our logs and I don’t see any of the 5.1 missing over the last year."

I replied with my setup list and config. And today the subwoofer .1 channel is finally fixed!

@Trip in VA
This started happening at the same time that (Dec 03 2015) the "PAT TSID set to 0 but the TVCT TSID set (correctly) to 533. Once the PAT TSID is fixed (set to 533)". When 7.1 was on 7.3. 
Maybe related to the sub channel?

Edit:
I'd have to guess it is related. Ernie replied and said, "One of our backup OTA encoders had the LFE turned off."


----------



## Eben

doctorwizz,
Thank you for taking the time to track this down and to get a fix from WJLA!


----------



## doctorwizz

Eben said:


> doctorwizz,
> Thank you for taking the time to track this down and to get a fix from WJLA!


Did you notice it? I probably would have never noticed it but I have 2 AVR's that have audio channel input indicators. It was very easy to see it was missing. I can definitely hear the difference now that it is fixed. 
The first 2 emails I sent were ignored. Probably thought it was user error.


----------



## b5fan001

doctorwizz said:


> Did you notice it? I probably would have never noticed it but I have 2 AVR's that have audio channel input indicators. It was very easy to see it was missing. I can definitely hear the difference now that it is fixed.
> The first 2 emails I sent were ignored. Probably thought it was user error.


I didn't notice it because my eyes were bleeding because of the terrible 720P picture I was enduring.  

Thanks for all you guys have done to get WJLA to come into the 21st Century!


----------



## Cheesewizzard

*Wash DC So MD antenna*

I'm looking for a solid antenna to pick up my Wash DC local stations 39 miles away. It will go on the roof in place of my sat dish. The RG-6 path from dish to TVs is a very long path; from dish across attic, down to basement distribution box and back up through house. I believe there is currently an inline amp in the attic installed by DTV. Below a pic looking at 313 degrees toward DC. Advice appreciated. 

-M


----------



## Cheesewizzard

view from roof @ 313, some trees.


----------



## Calaveras

Please post a link to your TV Fool report using your actual address. The one you have may not be accurate. If you don't have 5 posts then PM Dr. Don to do it for you.


----------



## rabbit73

Welcome to the forum, M
INFO from previous post:

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/45-lo...on-dc-baltimore-md-hdtv-480.html#post48657217


Cheesewizzard said:


> I'm looking for a solid antenna to pick up my Wash DC local stations 39 miles away. It will go on the roof in place of my sat dish. The RG-6 path from dish to TVs is a very long path; from dish across attic, down to basement distribution box and back up through house. I believe there is currently an inline amp in the attic installed by DTV. Below a pic looking at 313 degrees toward DC. Advice appreciated.
> 
> -M


Your attachment doesn't work; edited and reattached here. 

Lots of trees toward 313. Trees block TV signals.
http://www.hdtvprimer.com/antennas/siting.html
scroll down to Trees and UHF

Nice helpful photo though reception might not be as "solid" as you would like when the leaves return.


----------



## rabbit73

This is the active link extracted from page 1 of your pdf report, but it is still only resolved to block level.


http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=dfaf5e417f2ed9


----------



## Cheesewizzard

What I am considering...
1byone
60 Miles Digital Outdoor / Roof HDTV Antenna with Motorized 360 Degree Rotation for VHF / UHF Signals
RCA
TVPRAMP1Z Preamplifier
CM3414 4-Port Distribution Amplifier


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Calaveras

Cheesewizzard said:


> What I am considering...
> 1byone 60 Miles Digital Outdoor / Roof HDTV Antenna with Motorized 360 Degree Rotation for VHF / UHF Signals


Antennas are not rated in miles. That is entirely marketing.

That antenna is too small. You need a Winegard HD7698P and even then I'm concerned that when all those trees leaf out you'll have a problem.

The amps are okay.


----------



## holl_ands

Only use Preamp or DistroAmp.....you only NEED one or the other [Preamp preferred] and using BOTH is likely to cause Overload Desensitization.


----------



## DrDon

Moved to DC thread. Redirect left in Technical.


----------



## dleedlee

Boo. Channel 30.2/MHz-2 has dropped NHK programming:

_TRT World In English To Replace NHK On MHz2

For our Washington, D.C. metro area viewers, as of December 20th, NHK is no longer available on MHz2 through local cable/satellite providers. TRT World in English (news from Turkey), will launch on MHz2 in early January. In the interim, Arirang TV will replace NHK on MHz1/MHz Worldview from 6am to 9am temporarily until TRT World in English is available._

Looks like it is currently duplicating Ch 30.1 programming.


----------



## Trip in VA

dleedlee said:


> Boo. Channel 30.2/MHz-2 has dropped NHK programming:


I think it's the opposite; I think NHK pulled their programming. It's now on MPT. Try 22-4 or 67-4 or 62-4, whichever you receive.

- Trip


----------



## dleedlee

Trip in VA said:


> I think it's the opposite; I think NHK pulled their programming. It's now on MPT. Try 22-4 or 67-4 or 62-4, whichever you receive.
> 
> - Trip


Kind of surprised. NHK has been a stalwart partner since as long as I can remember.

And I can't pick up any of those three channels either.


----------



## Frankie20

Trip in VA said:


> I think it's the opposite; I think NHK pulled their programming. It's now on MPT. Try 22-4 or 67-4 or 62-4, whichever you receive.
> 
> - Trip



Wow, thanks for the heads up. I removed all the channels that are duplicates, I didn't know NHK moved to 22-4.


----------



## dleedlee

MHz-3, formerly CCTV News/CCTV-9 has rebranded itself to CGTN - China Global Television Network.
http://www.mhznetworks.org/blog/cgtn-replaces-cctv-news-mhz-networks-3-january-1-2017

MHz-2 hasn't switched over to Turkish programming yet. Just a permanent slide saying: TRT World Coming Soon to MHz2.


----------



## AntAltMike

dleedlee said:


> Kind of surprised. NHK has been a stalwart partner since as long as I can remember.
> 
> ...I can't pick up any of those three channels either.


You must be in nowheresville.That's a lot of coverage area from those three locations: Annapolis, north of Baltimore, and I think, Frederick. Are you in northern Virginia?


----------



## dleedlee

AntAltMike said:


> You must be in nowheresville.That's a lot of coverage area from those three locations: Annapolis, north of Baltimore, and I think, Frederick. Are you in northern Virginia?


Yep, Reston.


----------



## Cheesewizzard

Calaveras said:


> Antennas are not rated in miles. That is entirely marketing.
> 
> 
> 
> That antenna is too small. You need a Winegard HD7698P and even then I'm concerned that when all those trees leaf out you'll have a problem.
> 
> 
> 
> The amps are okay.




Thank

I understand that my HOA cannot keep me from putting it up outside but what about the limiting the size? This one IS big. My options are to ignore HOA and put this up outside; put it in my attic or look for a smaller one less than 1 meter (per "the rule"). I believe the rear mid peak of my house is pretty well hidden from the front street view angles so Im struggling with a reason not to go outside. At the same time, taking it down and hearing my wife say I told you so... would not be good.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Calaveras

Cheesewizzard said:


> Thank
> 
> I understand that my HOA cannot keep me from putting it up outside but what about the limiting the size? This one IS big. My options are to ignore HOA and put this up outside; put it in my attic or look for a smaller one less than 1 meter (per "the rule"). I believe the rear mid peak of my house is pretty well hidden from the front street view angles so Im struggling with a reason not to go outside. At the same time, taking it down and hearing my wife say I told you so... would not be good.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



The "1 meter" size applies to satellite dishes, not TV antennas. Reread the FCC publication. You can put up whatever size TV antenna that is required to receive your stations.

Holl_ands has come up with a number of 13 +/- 7 dB for attenuation in an attic. Most people report a huge improvement when moving the antenna outdoors. There's no guarantee that any particular antenna will work anywhere but outdoors is always your best bet.

"Big" is relative. I come from the amateur radio world and consider "big" to be when the boom is over 20' long or the elements are over 30' long. I consider all TV antennas to be small.


----------



## AntAltMike

Any ideas on why I now get the WWTD channels 49.1 to 49.6 programming also on 31.1 to 31.6? The signal strengths are not identical, so I doubt it is a simple mirrored mapping. I am located in College Park, with one broadband antenna pointed West at the Washington transmitters and another broadband pointed north by northwest at Baltimore. I do have a third antenna pointed at Annapolis coupled in, but that uses a channel 42 Jointenna, so it is not likely coming from that one.

The Turkish channel has not yet been placed on 30.2.


----------



## Trip in VA

Perhaps WRZB-LD is finally on the air.

- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike

Trip in VA said:


> Perhaps WRZB-LD is finally on the air.
> 
> - Trip


Seems plausible. Tonight, I'll put a channel 32 bandpass filter on my antenna line and see if 32(31.X) is still tunable with 14(49.x) filtered off.

It measures weaker on my TV's primitive signal strength indicator. I haven't yet located the transmitters to see whether the transmitter location is (edit) _less_ favorable to me.

They have done nothing to remedy the gawd awful audio, which is so overdriven that I can't remedy it just by turning down the volume. Maybe if we're lucky, this will result in a new contact address.

BTW, is this messaging composition software really clunky, or is it just my computer?


----------



## AntAltMike

AntAltMike said:


> Seems plausible. Tonight, I'll put a channel 32 bandpass filter on my antenna line and see if 32(31.X) is still tunable with 14(49.x) filtered off.
> 
> It measures weaker on my TV's primitive signal strength indicator. I haven't yet located the transmitters to see whether the transmitter location is (edit) _less_ favorable to me.
> 
> They have done nothing to remedy the gawd awful audio, which is so overdriven that I can't remedy it just by turning down the volume. Maybe if we're lucky, this will result in a new contact address.
> 
> BTW, is this messaging composition software really clunky, or is it just my computer?


The WWTD UHF channel 14 transmitter is now off. All pictures on virtual channels 31.1 through 31.6 say "Test Signal On".

A few hours ago, there was [edit] _*no*_ programming on XX.4 RTV or XX.5 Revin'. I hope they've been paying their bills. I still watch RTV now and then.

Stay tuned.


----------



## Trip in VA

I can't receive WRZB-LD here. I'm also seeing WWTD-LD as off the air.

- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike

Trip in VA said:


> I can't receive WRZB-LD here. I'm also seeing WWTD-LD as off the air.
> 
> - Trip


I'm actually in Berwyn Heights, same zip code as College Park. I'm about half a mile south of Greenbelt Road, and a quarter of a mile west of Kenilworth Avenue. Channel 32 is about 20dB weaker here than channel 33. What tower is the transmitter on?


----------



## Trip in VA

AntAltMike said:


> I'm actually in Berwyn Heights, same zip code as College Park. I'm about half a mile south of Greenbelt Road, and a quarter of a mile west of Kenilworth Avenue. Channel 32 is about 20dB weaker here than channel 33. What tower is the transmitter on?


It's supposed to be coming off the WRC tower, same as WWTD-LD. In fact, the application implies it might be the exact same antenna as WWTD-LD, and they have a permit for the exact same 15 kW ERP.

- Trip


----------



## dleedlee

AntAltMike said:


> The Turkish channel has not yet been placed on 30.2.


I saw a graphic last week saying it was coming on around 2/14 or 2/15.


----------



## dleedlee

Seems like WJLA's 7.1 and 7.2 are having issues this evening - at least for me. No picture or sound but the programming guide is still up. ABC Evening News was in and out before freezing and disappearing.
7.3 Comet is still airing fine.

Also, I notice a new(?) 7.4 WJLATBD with audio from 7.3, the Comet channel. Has this been mentioned previously?


----------



## Trip in VA

Seeing them both right now, albeit in screenshot form.

TBD is a new network due to launch on 2/28 from what I've been able to learn. I've been so far unable to get an affiliate list out of Sinclair, but I guess the question answered itself in DC.

- Trip


----------



## dleedlee

Trip in VA said:


> Seeing them both right now, albeit in screenshot form.
> 
> TBD is a new network due to launch on 2/28 from what I've been able to learn. I've been so far unable to get an affiliate list out of Sinclair, but I guess the question answered itself in DC.
> 
> - Trip


Yep, just came back on. And 7.4 has disappeared.


----------



## AntAltMike

I lost 7.1 and 7.2 but gained a 7.6, got 7.1 and .2 back, now have a non existent 7.4. I have a hunch they are working on it.


----------



## dleedlee

Upstairs now. Seeing 7.3 and 7.4 black screen, no sound. 7.1 and 7.2 normal.


----------



## AntAltMike

TBT commonly means, "to be determined".


----------



## dleedlee

7.4 airing Me-TV program now.


----------



## AntAltMike

Infomercial on 7.2 10 to 11, now MeTV on both. 

If I recall correctly, before Comet, WJLA had a college sports subchannel that was not full time. American Sports Network or something? My guess is that WJLA is establishing a channel number for occasional college basketball programming, but that's just a guess.


----------



## dleedlee

AntAltMike said:


> Infomercial on 7.2 10 to 11, nw MeTV on both.
> 
> If I recall correctly, before Comet, WJLA had a college sports subchannel that was not full time. American Sports Newtowrk or something? My guess is that WJLA is establishing a channel number for occasional college basketball programming, but that's just a guess.


Yeah, I remember that. Can't say that I watched more than a couple minutes of it though. Atlantic 10 conference basketball is my recollection.


----------



## Trip in VA

TBD is an actual network Sinclair is launching, as I noted above. 

http://tbd.com/

- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike

T(oo)B(a)D. I was hoping for a Big Ten affiliation. Judging by the vagueness of their website, maybe Big Ten can rent some time on it.


----------



## dleedlee

Trip in VA said:


> TBD is an actual network Sinclair is launching, as I noted above.
> 
> http://tbd.com/
> 
> - Trip


Found this:

"TBD will feature various web-originated films, scripted and non-scripted series, and featurettes."

"To assemble programming for TBD and help provide creative support to the network, Sinclair has retained the services of The QYOU, a Dublin, Ireland-based company co-founded and headed by Curt Marvis that curates various online video content for overseas audiences. TBD is The QYOU's first venture into advertiser-supported broadcast TV"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TBD_(TV_network)


----------



## Frankie20

This channel seems similar to "Local Point TV" from a couple of years back. I wonder how long TBD can last before the content becomes dull.

BTW is anyone else having problems with WFDC 14? Two of my DTV boxed TVs are showing a black screen on WFDC, but the signal is coming in strong.


----------



## AntAltMike

Frankie20 said:


> BTW is anyone else having problems with WFDC 14? Two of my DTV boxed TVs are showing a black screen on WFDC, but the signal is coming in strong.


Nope. Como dice el dicho looks as passionate as ever.


----------



## dleedlee

Looks like TBD is now live on 7.4. Seems to be the QYOU-based programming as described in the Wiki.


----------



## AntAltMike

Looks like a loser to me. I think the audience for that kind of programming doesn't need broadcast or cable TV to find it.


----------



## dleedlee

Mostly.
But I liked the Lizzie Bennett Diaries I just watched, a web series based on Pride and Prejudice. Probably only of interest to Jane Austen readers. And I'm going to record the documentary, Dear Mr Watterson, about the creator of Calvin and Hobbes.
The rest will be relegated to background noise while I'm on the web. 

The audio could be better.


----------



## StantonGuy

Just re-scanned and now picking up channels 31.1-6 with 31.5 broadcasting fine the REV'N channel (not showing in the first message of the thread)

I think this is the most channels I've ever got. Not getting channel 24 nor the 30 channel ones from Fairfax though.


----------



## dleedlee

Me-TV (7.2) looks to be changing over to the Charge! Action Network beginning Feb. 28 if the tv listings are to be believed.


----------



## rory21

Anyone know the MeTv/Charge! story on WJAL? The station's wikipedia article says the change has been made, but MeTV remains on the air and now channel listings (e.g., zap2it) are showing MeTV again. It looks like the original launch was around March 11, 2013, so I'm wondering if maybe they have a few days to go to run out a contract?


----------



## AntAltMike

31.1 - 31.6 has been out for me in College Park for at least 3 days. 

58.1 has been out about that long. FWIW, the last time I noticed programming on it, it was some lame sit com from the 1950s or 1960s: maybe Ozzie and Harriet.


----------



## AntAltMike

rory21 said:


> Anyone know the MeTv/Charge! story on WJAL? The station's wikipedia article says the change has been made, but MeTV remains on the air and now channel listings (e.g., zap2it) are showing MeTV again. It looks like the original launch was around March 11, 2013, so I'm wondering if maybe they have a few days to go to run out a contract?


That's WJLA in Washington. WJAL 68.1 serves Hagerstown. 

One news story I found said the transition of WJLA 7.2 from MeTV to Charge! would be "late this quarter".


----------



## StantonGuy

Article on new stations, but not DC specific

http://cordcuttersnews.com/three-new-air-tv-networks-recently-launched/


----------



## mkfs

Anyone else hear static-filled audio on H&I: 20.3 
It started Friday & continues...
20.1 is OK.


----------



## Jake V

Yes, I heard the static on 20.3 H&I last night.


----------



## carltonrice

*FCC Repacking of Channels*

Anyone know what local Baltimore/Washington stations will be affected by the FCC's repacking of frequencies. I'm guess that the higher UHF stations will be moving their frequencies. That would include presumably channels 4, 50, 42, etc.


----------



## rgieg

hi i just bought a indoor antenna from amazon that had a 25 mile distance. I live in chantilly VA and cheked and found that the towers were around 22 miles away from me. I couldnt get any of the major networks and could only get channels 30 and above. 

If i bought a 50 mile antenna would i be able to get the vhf channels like abc, nbc etc.. 

Thank you very much.


----------



## Jake V

Go to TV Fool and make a report using the following directions: http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=14508

In Chantilly chances are that a small indoor antenna is only going to give you a full channel. You will likely need a larger antenna (like the Antennas Direct C2V or something of that size). Mounted in attic, closet or (best) on the roof. 

What is the brand and model number of the antenna you tried?


----------



## rgieg

Jake V said:


> Go to TV Fool and make a report using the following directions: http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=14508
> 
> In Chantilly chances are that a small indoor antenna is only going to give you a full channel. You will likely need a larger antenna (like the Antennas Direct C2V or something of that size). Mounted in attic, closet or (best) on the roof.
> 
> What is the brand and model number of the antenna you tried?


Thanks for the reply. here is the report:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=e6a4b8b9aecbb1

Also i tried the 1byone 25 mile antenna as well as the winegard 50m 

https://www.amazon.com/Winegard-Fla...F8&qid=1488856996&sr=8-5&keywords=winegard+50

https://www.amazon.com/1byone-Ampli...488857048&sr=8-1&keywords=1byone+antenna&th=1

The winegard with the 50m range did give me one or 2 major networks (nbc and fox)

is there any hope for me to try with other indoor antennas. Outdoor is really not an option. Thank you.


----------



## Jake V

Neither of the antennas you linked are appropriate for your situation. At best they will give you a few channels. [I am assuming that you 'aimed' the flat side towards the east and placed it as high on the wall as you could, and not in front of a window with a metal screen or e-glass which blocks the signals.] 

Your TV Fool Report includes a message that it is only approximate. If you did not enter your exact address and move the cursor over your actual house then it may or may not be accurate. Just to be sure, you might wish to re-do it with the instructions in the link I posted above. Drag the little red cursor and place it over your actual house (use "Satellite View" at the top left and the "+-" buttons at the bottom right to help place the cursor at the exact spot). Then make and post a new link. This is important because if there is a small hill to the east of you then you may have much less signal to work with.

If your new TV Fool report looks anything like the one you posted you can probably use an antenna like the Antennas Direct C2V aimed at about 94 degrees (using a magnetic compass). Your results will depend on what is between you and the east. Another house or building in the vision of the antenna looking east will block the signals. Some people have great results placing it a closet near the television (it's not tiny at 18"L x 35.5"W x 5"D). Most people in your area, however, need to place it higher (attic or rooftop). Attic installations may or may not work, depending on your house construction (i.e., brick, stucco, house-wrap with metal, certain roofing types can block the signal). So if you're going to try an attic installation it's best to just run a cable from the antenna down into the hall while you patiently find a good spot through trial and error (before mounting anything). -- But having said that I'd first assembly the antenna and try it with a short length of coax and experiment with it next to the TV having it face east.


----------



## tylerSC

carltonrice said:


> Anyone know what local Baltimore/Washington stations will be affected by the FCC's repacking of frequencies. I'm guess that the higher UHF stations will be moving their frequencies. That would include presumably channels 4, 50, 42, etc.


Reportedly channels 38 and above have been required to move. And certain lower channels may also move to help make room for some of the other channels being repacked. The FCC is expected to release this information at the end of the month or early in April.


----------



## tylerSC

rgieg said:


> hi i just bought a indoor antenna from amazon that had a 25 mile distance. I live in chantilly VA and cheked and found that the towers were around 22 miles away from me. I couldnt get any of the major networks and could only get channels 30 and above.
> 
> If i bought a 50 mile antenna would i be able to get the vhf channels like abc, nbc etc..
> 
> Thank you very much.


Those Leaf style flat antennas can be problematic and have certain limitations. In some cases they work; others they don't. For convenience, I would say go to Best Buy and try a Clearstream 4V antenna, and stop by Home Depot and pick up a Winegard LNA200 preamp. Otherwise, check out MCM online for inexpensive antenna options. 

As for indoor antennas, I have always had good luck with the Terk HDTVa sold at HHG or Amazon. Now called LOGTVa antenna.


----------



## Chancellor Todd

I second the recommendation for one of the Antennas Direct models. I was able to get an open box C2V at Best Buy for half price at $50. One of the best purchases I ever made!


----------



## carltonrice

tylerSC said:


> Reportedly channels 38 and above have been required to move. And certain lower channels may also move to help make room for some of the other channels being repacked. The FCC is expected to release this information at the end of the month or early in April.


So that would include:

Baltimore - WMAR (38), WNUV (40), WBFF (46), WUTB (41), WMPT (42)

Washington, DC - WDCW (50), WRC (48)

Will be interesting to see where they end up.


----------



## joblo

tylerSC said:


> channels 38 and above have been required to move. And *certain lower channels may also move* to help make room for some of the other channels being repacked.


Early indications are that many, if not most, lower channels are also moving.

All six MPT channels are moving, for instance: 42 to 31, 44 to 29, 29 to 22, 28 to 21 (both), and 36 to 26.

We don't know yet about any other area stations, but we're 6 for 6 moving on the ones we know.

And it appears co- and adjacent channel short spacing is being preserved, which is not good.

. . . . .

Meanwhile, TRT World is up (finally) on 30-2 (RF 24), so maybe that means MHz channels will be staying around?


----------



## AntAltMike

TRT World means we'll now get to hear one side of the Turkish situation, which at least is one more side than I know about right now. 

"War is God's way of teaching us geography"
- Comedian Paul Rodriguez, 1987 (commonly misattributed to Ambrose Bierce) 

I guess WNVC is viable as long as several tenants will pay for their subchannels. Russia Today can afford theirs, as Putin is richer than Trump, for now anyway, though he did throw in the towel with the Spanish version on 30.8. I never knew why they didn't/don't just use SAP for Spanish on 30.4. *¡Nosotros te enterraremos!*

Africa Today is painful to watch. I'd rather have to live the Clockwork Orange indoctrination scene... or watch my uncle Eli's 8mm Bell and Howell home movies from the 1950s. France 24 and Deutsche Welle are more palatable and professional, but I have to think that the broadcast audience is now so minuscule that improving their broadcast reception in this market is virtually irrelevant to their operating decisions, as it may be that being on that inconvenient Goldvein tower adequately serves their purpose of forcing inclusion into some Washington DC market cable systems.


----------



## joblo

carltonrice said:


> So that would include:
> 
> Baltimore - WMAR (38), WNUV (40), WBFF (46), WUTB (41), WMPT (42)
> 
> Washington, DC - WDCW (50), WRC (48)
> 
> Will be interesting to see where they end up.


Per http://www.nab.org/repacking/clearinghouse.asp:

Baltimore/Annapolis:

In transition phase 4: 29 to 22, 38 to 27, 40 to 25, 42 to 31, 46 to 26

In transition phase 9: 11 to 12, 13 to 11

No info re WUTB (41)

No DC info except 7 staying on 7.

There is some nonsensical info on this site re other markets, so take all this with a grain of salt.

- - -

Per phone call to WETA, they "did not participate" in auction, so presumably are staying on UHF, but they also told me they would be staying on 27, which cannot happen if WMAR moves there, so...


----------



## rory21

AntAltMike said:


> One news story I found said the transition of WJLA 7.2 from MeTV to Charge! would be "late this quarter".


zap2it.com schedule is now showing the changeover at 6 am on March 28. It's been wrong once before, of course.


----------



## AntAltMike

rory21 said:


> ...It's been wrong once before, of course.


I was wrong once, too. I thought I had made a mistake...but I hadn't.


----------



## mkfs

Jake V said:


> Yes, I heard the static on 20.3 H&I last night.


And for the last 2 days, it's been broken up video. Not the pixelization of below the threshold RF level, but a "Boy is our encoder hosed" or "We're only getting half the bits we need" display. (Besides, 20.1 & .2 are fine here...)

Anyone else suffering?


----------



## AntAltMike

mkfs said:


> And for the last 2 days, it's been broken up video. Not the pixelization of below the threshold RF level, but a "Boy is our encoder hosed" or "We're only getting half the bits we need" display. (Besides, 20.1 & .2 are fine here...)
> 
> Anyone else suffering?


Symptom not observed here, and I'm temporarily connected to an antenna misaimed by about 100 degrees, and getting a multipath signal component off Byrd Stadium Maryland Stadium, to boot. Can you hook up another tuner to that antenna and see if it exhibits the same symptom?


----------



## mkfs

AntAltMike said:


> Symptom not observed here, and I'm temporarily connected to an antenna misaimed by about 100 degrees, and getting a multipath signal component off Byrd Stadium Maryland Stadium, to boot. Can you hook up another tuner to that antenna and see if it exhibits the same symptom?


Only one set here but I'll try a CECB some time. How could weak signals not also afflict 20.1 & 20.2 as well?

Oh, and it was not an issue at 9pm for ST:NG but was at 11 for Voyager.


----------



## dleedlee

rory21 said:


> zap2it.com schedule is now showing the changeover at 6 am on March 28. It's been wrong once before, of course.


Someone over at dcrtv.com posted that ME TV will be moving to channel 5.3 (!) early next week.


----------



## AntAltMike

dleedlee said:


> Someone over at dcrtv.com posted that ME TV will be moving to channel 5.3 (!) early next week.


WBAL runs news on 11.2 at 10:00 PM, but WTTG 5.1 is already carrying news at 10:00 PM on 5.1, so it should be able to carry the MeTV programming in that time slot.

I think during football season, WBAL sometimes carries some Ravens shows on 11.2, but last I knew, the Redskins pre-season rights were held by WRC-4, so there should not be a similar conflict on WTTG.

WJLA presently has infomercials at 9:00 AM. Hopefully we will wind up with complete availability of the MeTV programming when the new affiliation begins.


----------



## StantonGuy

AntAltMike said:


> Africa Today is painful to watch.


Yes, I was kind of excited to get sort of an African CNN, then realized it was more like an African CSPAN until I finally came to the conclusion it was more like African community access quality.


----------



## rory21

dleedlee said:


> Someone over at dcrtv.com posted that ME TV will be moving to channel 5.3 (!) early next week.


From the commercial, I wasn't sure if they were saying that MeTV would be on 5.3 on Tuesday, just that they were leaving 7.2 that day. We shall see. 5.3 had previously been announced for Light TV, a channel of family entertainment from MGM's libraries.


----------



## AntAltMike

The CHARGE! logo and programming are now on 7.2, but the guide info on broadcast TV still says it is carrying Perry Mason.

No 5.3 yet.

My tuner detects a second "ion" source, mapped to 60.1-60.6. For now, I don't know what its real channel is. With this TV, I'd have to watch it report scan results and see when the total number of channels unexpectedly jumps by six.


----------



## AntAltMike

Official website: watchcharge.com

From, About Us:
"CHARGE! is a new free broadcast network featuring action programming including movies, series and sports entertainment. Watch action stars, every-day heroes and insane athletes engaged in battles, chases, showdowns and so much more. CHARGE! Ready for Action.:

Schedule, May 28
12:00 AM Gangland
2:00 A Bullet for Pretty Boy

That's all there is on their site's schedule, for now.


----------



## Mr Tony

AntAltMike said:


> My tuner detects a second "ion" source, mapped to 60.1-60.6. For now, I don't know what its real channel is. With this TV, I'd have to watch it report scan results and see when the total number of channels unexpectedly jumps by six.


its RF12. The "mothership" is WWPX in Martinsburg, WV but it looks like they also have a 150 watt translator near DC on the same RF station

http://rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=wwpx#station
https://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?facid=23264


----------



## AntAltMike

unclehonkey said:


> its RF12. The "mothership" is WWPX in Martinsburg, WV but it looks like they also have a 150 watt translator near DC on the same RF station
> 
> http://rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=wwpx#station
> https://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?facid=23264


They used to broadcast on channel 12 from somewhere in or near DC about half a dozen years ago, back when I think their main transmitter was on broadcast channel 43 in Manassas. I'm not sure of that, so if I am in error, I'm sure someone will tell me.


----------



## rory21

rory21 said:


> 5.3 had previously been announced for Light TV, a channel of family entertainment from MGM's libraries.


WTTG Wikipedia page now has MeTV destined for 5.3 and Light for 5.4.


----------



## AntAltMike

AntAltMike said:


> The CHARGE! logo and programming are now on 7.2, but the guide info on broadcast TV still says it is carrying Perry Mason.
> 
> No 5.3 yet.
> 
> My tuner detects a second "ion" source, mapped to 60.1-60.6. For now, I don't know what its real channel is. With this TV, I'd have to watch it report scan results and see when the total number of channels unexpectedly jumps by six.


1. There was no guide info beyond 4:00 PM because they run six hours of infomercials from 4:00 to 10:00

2. Still no 5.3, or 5.4 Light, but I'll be looking forward to Pink Panther cartoons

3. I confirmed that virtual 60.1-60.6 are being transmitted on VHF 12, but if WBAL 11 is committed to moving to 12, then I don't see how it could endure or what purpose it is serving


----------



## Trip in VA

The MeTV website agrees that 5.3 will be the new home. http://www.metv.com/wheretowatch/affiliate/511

The WWPX-12 signal from DC has been there for years. It was operating when I moved here in 2013.

- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike

Trip in VA said:


> The WWPX-12 signal from DC has HAD been there for years. It was operating when I moved here in 2013.


As far as I know it has been gone for a few years. I can't recall the last time I scanned from anywhere and detected it.


----------



## Trip in VA

AntAltMike said:


> As far as I know it has been gone for a few years. I can't recall the last time I scanned from anywhere and detected it.


It's been there for most of the past year, at least. The last time I detected WWBT or WHYY was September 2015, and here's my log since October 2015:

https://www.rabbitears.info/tvdx/render_graph/10317DF4/tuner1/12/-78weeks/now

Signal's been right there most of that time. (That hole is when the server was dead for a while.)

- Trip


----------



## dleedlee

Looks like 5.3 is now live.


----------



## AntAltMike

dleedlee said:


> Looks like 5.3 is now live.


I was going to watch it, but Carol Burnett came on.


----------



## AntAltMike

Trip in VA said:


> It's been there for most of the past year, at least. The last time I detected WWBT or WHYY was September 2015, and here's my log since October 2015:
> 
> https://www.rabbitears.info/tvdx/render_graph/10317DF4/tuner1/12/-78weeks/now
> 
> Signal's been right there most of that time. (That hole is when the server was dead for a while.)
> 
> - Trip


What does it take for your equipment to "detect" it? Does it have to have fully loaded PSIP information? Until the other day, it had not been showing up in my scans.

Could they have been sending it out with blank programming? 

Could they have turned the transmitter to some low power level such that, they would maintain a tenuous claim to that channel that they might be susceptible to losing if they went completely dark?


----------



## Trip in VA

If it has that blue line, it means the signal was decoding or close to decoding (50% is about the cut-off for decoding versus not). That could mean blank programming, but usually does not. For whatever reason, my auto-scanner has never properly identified WWPX as it should, and I'm not entirely sure why, but the signal was there.

That being said, I've definitely flipped past it on my TV several times in the past few years and the infomercials and home shopping have been there. My TSReader data for it is from October 2015 (I haven't bothered updating it) and I have other data from January 2017. 

- Trip


----------



## Trip in VA

Sounds like WNVC and WNVT are not long for the world. http://ideastations.org/spectrumauction

- Trip


----------



## dleedlee

Trip in VA said:


> Sounds like WNVC and WNVT are not long for the world. http://ideastations.org/spectrumauction
> 
> - Trip


Crushing news.
:crying::crying::crying:
Probably continue on as MHz Choice, their online streaming service.


----------



## AntAltMike

dleedlee said:


> Crushing news.
> :crying::crying::crying:
> Probably continue on as MHz Choice, their online streaming service.


I think that Russia Today values its inclusion on Washington, DC cable systems enough to pay for broadcast bandwidth if it can find any for sale. I could see them being willing to pay more than the least valuable shopping channel on WWPX. 

The new Turkish channel is interesting, as was the Ukraine channel, and if there were a hundred hours in a day, I'd find time to watch both of them.


----------



## dleedlee

AntAltMike said:


> I think that Russia Today values its inclusion on Washington, DC cable systems enough to pay for broadcast bandwidth if it can find any for sale. I could see them being willing to pay more than the least valuable shopping channel on WWPX.
> 
> The new Turkish channel is interesting, as was the Ukraine channel, and if there were a hundred hours in a day, I'd find time to watch both of them.


Yeah, it's not bad but it tends to repeat. I also like France24 on the main channel. But mostly I'll miss the hours of International Mystery series. And hopefully they'll squeeze in the 6th season of the war drama A French Village before it all goes belly up.


----------



## al.rob

Below is the list of stations going off the air in our area as a result of the recent spectrum auction, pasted out of the FCC's list (http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2017/db0413/DA-17-314A2.pdf). The dollar amounts are the compensation each channel received. The no and yes at the end are whether the station has a channel sharing agreement before and then after the auction. I would assume that since WDCA is also owned by Fox, that some of their content will move over to WTTG. Does anyone know where everything else is going to end up? It looks like we will be losing subchannels. Other channels not listed here will be moving frequencies, but if they go to equivalent space in the same band they aren't on this list. For example, WETA is moving from RF27 to RF14. All channels above 36 are given up from the broadcast spectrum.




WUTB 60552 Baltimore, MD Deerfield Media (Baltimore) Licensee, LLC 0022739833 UHF Go off-air $ 122,912,964 Yes Yes


WAZF-CD 57907 Washington, DC WMTM, LLC 0023631377 UHF Go off-air $ 513,526 No Yes


WDCA 51567 Washington, DC Fox Television Stations, LLC 0005795067 UHF Go off-air $ 118,834,183 No Yes


WDCW 30576 Washington, DC WDCW, LLC 0021781786 UHF Go off-air $ 121,992,349 Yes Yes


WJAL 10259 Washington, DC Entravision Holdings, LLC 0001529627 UHF Go off-air $ 25,492,333 Yes Yes


WMDO-CD 38437 Washington, DC Entravision Holdings, LLC 0001529627 UHF Go off-air $ 58,231,415 No Yes


WNVC 9999 Commonwealth Public Broadcasting Corporation Washington, DC 0006692347 UHF Go off-air $ 124,801,961 No Yes


WNVT 10019 Commonwealth Public Broadcasting Corporation Washington, DC 0006692347 UHF Go off-air $ 57,154,459 No Yes


WZDC-CD 50347 Washington, DC Onda Capital, Inc. 0011007515 UHF Go off-air $ 66,182,037 No Yes


----------



## rory21

So how does the spectrum auction play out? Channel 20 has a channel sharing agreement with Channel 5 - does Channel 20 just become a subchannel* of Channel 5? Each of Channel 5 and Channel 20 have two subchannels (and Channel 5 was slated to go to three subchannels) - will the shared channel still be able to carry all of these different signals?

*I'm not sure if it would still be called Channel 20 or not, but understand all the signals would be coming from the same place.


----------



## carltonrice

*Layer 3 TV Anyone?*

Has anyone in the DMV had any experience with this new cable company that's been advertising online called Layer 3 TV (http://www.layer3tv.com)? They are offering HDTV and Internet at 100MBps at a bundled price of about $135 per month. No phone service included, but this seems worth exploring or is it too good to be true?


----------



## dleedlee

carltonrice said:


> Has anyone in the DMV had any experience with this new cable company that's been advertising online called Layer 3 TV (http://www.layer3tv.com)? They are offering HDTV and Internet at 100MBps at a bundled price of about $135 per month. No phone service included, but this seems worth exploring or is it too good to be true?


Here's an article from January WaPo:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...-beamers-to-your-door/?utm_term=.59e69cf859eb

Looks like they use Comcast for the final mile into the home. Read the article comments also.


----------



## carltonrice

For some reason, all of a sudden, this evening channel 7 was so unstable that it was unwatchable. It's usually rock solid for me, but not tonight.


----------



## AntAltMike

Anyone having any trouble with Channel 4? Two people have asked me about it, one yesterday, one today, but I didn't notice any problems when I watched it a little last night.


----------



## doctorwizz

AntAltMike said:


> Anyone having any trouble with Channel 4? Two people have asked me about it, one yesterday, one today, but I didn't notice any problems when I watched it a little last night.


Getting lots of signal fluctuation and breakup only on 4. Just saw the signal drop to 40 and go up to 72. 72 is like 100% signal on a Tivo OTA. All other DC main networks are rock solid at 72. 
Ch. 4 has been tuned for 27 hours on my Tivo. And I have over 43,000 RS Uncorrected. That is a ton of breakup. 
I keep the 4 Tivo tuners on 4, 5.1, 7.1 and 9.1 as much as possible. The other 3 tuners show zero RS Uncorrected. 
Could be just me as I am in Calvert about 35 miles from a tower. But usually, 4 is solid at 72.

Edit: Can see the breakup on different tuners too. Like HD Homerun Extend. And a wildly fluctuating signal.


----------



## AntAltMike

Regarding WDCW-50, they just informed me that they expect to receive their payment for giving up their transmitter in one to three months, and they will then have six months from that date to implement their new transmission arrangement. They have not announced their new, real UHF channel but said it will be a full powered transmitter, and that the PSIP will still identify it as 50.1


----------



## StevenJB

After a sizable delay, I just had my antenna rotor and control repaired. At this time, I can now report and confirm a solid signal coming from what is likely WRZB-LD to my home in Olney, MD. The signal measures decent around 55 to 60 and is coming to me from near 180 degrees from the south and about 14.5 miles distant according to the TV Fool website. The transmitter is using RF32 and is telecasting color bar test patterns on 31.1, 31.2, and 31.3. Program description is described as, “TBA” and is using 480i SD and a wide screen 16:9 aspect ratio.


----------



## mdviewer25

Still waiting on MeTV to be added to Verizon. Anyone have any updates? I will also post in the Verizon forum because I want the Laff subchannel to be picked up by one of our local affiliates since it is the same as Blue Highways TV which is blocked out.


----------



## AntAltMike

Shuffling on 49.X underway. Earlier today 49.1, .2 and .3 were gone. Now they're back

49.5 identifier says SonTV, but with no programming at present. Formerly Rev'n.

Googling "sontv" brought me to some Indian Sony pages, but none explicitly contained the exact term, sontv, and the domain name sontv.com "may be for sale", so says one of my Google search results.

49.9 WWTD4 - No programming
49-10 WWTD7 - No programming.

Has anyone gotten the definitive word on where WETA will relocate to, or whether WHUT will stay on 33? I queried both but got replies from nether.


----------



## Trip in VA

WETA was reassigned to 14 but has sought to move to another channel, if available. WHUT will stay on 33.

- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike

Trip in VA said:


> WETA was reassigned to 14 but has sought to move to another channel, if available. WHUT will stay on 33.
> 
> - Trip


As I recall from long ago, a TV station on UHF 14 has to maintain tighter, adjacent channel filtering standards than on higher channels, making it a little less desirable than it might otherwise be. 

I had WFDA moving to 14. Will they be sharing it with WETA?

When I last corresponded with WDCW, they said that they would be sharing a full power transmitter with one of the other stations, but had not announced the new transmitting channel. They said it won't matter to viewers because the viewer's tuner will map it to 50.X automatically, but it matters to me because I point dedicated antennas to support each tuner.

I will probably be updating the masthead post of this thread with the channel moves shortly.


----------



## Trip in VA

WFDC is staying on 15. Here's the list for DC:

https://www.rabbitears.info/repackchannels.php?city=&state=&mktid=11&owner=&sort=

And Baltimore:

https://www.rabbitears.info/repackchannels.php?city=&state=&mktid=31&owner=&sort=

- Trip


----------



## Mr Tony

AntAltMike said:


> Shuffling on 49.X underway. Earlier today 49.1, .2 and .3 were gone. Now they're back
> 
> 49.5 identifier says SonTV, but with no programming at present. Formerly Rev'n.
> 
> Googling "sontv" brought me to some Indian Sony pages, but none explicitly contained the exact term, sontv, and the domain name sontv.com "may be for sale", so says one of my Google search results.


probably Sonlife (the Jimmy Swaggart Network)

The satellite that Luken broadcasts from had a failure (not their fault) a couple days ago so they moved the programming to another satellite. Its possible that the owner of the station hasnt moved the dish to the new satellite


----------



## carltonrice

Anyone here know why WBAL is moving from 11 to 12 and WJZ is moving from 13 to 11 in the repacking exercise? What would be the benefit to the two stations to make that change?


----------



## Mr Tony

carltonrice said:


> Anyone here know why WBAL is moving from 11 to 12 and WJZ is moving from 13 to 11 in the repacking exercise? What would be the benefit to the two stations to make that change?


Trip has mentioned it elsewhere but its due to interference. There are some stations that took money and are going from UHF to VHF High which requires a shuffling of some stations. 

It usually has to do with the technical parameters of the station (like one having a shorter tower) so station A cant stay on say RF12 but station B in the same area could use RF12 because they use less power


----------



## Trip in VA

WACX in Orlando, FL, WNCN in Raleigh, NC, WHFL-CD in Goldsboro, NC, WTSF in Ashland, KY, and WNYI in Ithaca, NY will move from UHF to VHF. To accommodate them, there's a ripple of channel changes stretching from Orlando to Canada.

The question you're asking, I think, is why WJZ moves from 13 to 11 *and* WBAL from 11 to 12, when it might appear to make more sense to move WJZ from 13 to 12 directly. The answer is that WVPT in Staunton got moved from 11 to 12, and WVPT is currently co-channel with WBAL; in the repacking process, the FCC permitted existing short-spacings (or short-spacing equivalents) to continue, but did not create new ones. As such, WJZ and WVPT cannot be co-channel, so WJZ couldn't move to 12. WBAL had to be swapped to 12 to maintain the short-spacing with WVPT, and WJZ got dropped on the now-more open channel 11.

If I've lost you, I can try again.

- Trip


----------



## carltonrice

Trip in VA said:


> WACX in Orlando, FL, WNCN in Raleigh, NC, WHFL-CD in Goldsboro, NC, WTSF in Ashland, KY, and WNYI in Ithaca, NY will move from UHF to VHF. To accommodate them, there's a ripple of channel changes stretching from Orlando to Canada.
> 
> The question you're asking, I think, is why WJZ moves from 13 to 11 *and* WBAL from 11 to 12, when it might appear to make more sense to move WJZ from 13 to 12 directly. The answer is that WVPT in Staunton got moved from 11 to 12, and WVPT is currently co-channel with WBAL; in the repacking process, the FCC permitted existing short-spacings (or short-spacing equivalents) to continue, but did not create new ones. As such, WJZ and WVPT cannot be co-channel, so WJZ couldn't move to 12. WBAL had to be swapped to 12 to maintain the short-spacing with WVPT, and WJZ got dropped on the now-more open channel 11.
> 
> If I've lost you, I can try again.
> 
> - Trip


After reading this super slowly, I think I got it! But Staunton, VA is so far away from Baltimore, MD, and since WBAL and WJZ are on the same transmitter (TV Hill) it just seems like it wouldn't make much difference. Thanks, Trip, for the detailed explanation!


----------



## Trip in VA

carltonrice said:


> After reading this super slowly, I think I got it! But Staunton, VA is so far away from Baltimore, MD, and since WBAL and WJZ are on the same transmitter (TV Hill) it just seems like it wouldn't make much difference. Thanks, Trip, for the detailed explanation!


I decided to double-check my work this morning and I was wrong. WVPT was not the deciding factor--WVEC in Norfolk was. It got moved from 13 to 11. Since WJZ and WVEC are already co-channel, while WBAL is not co-channel with a Norfolk station, the existing relationship had to be maintained.

Sorry about that. Same principle, different station.

- Trip


----------



## Mr Tony

Trip in VA said:


> The answer is that WVPT in Staunton got moved from 11 to 12, and WVPT is currently co-channel with WBAL; in the repacking process, the FCC permitted existing short-spacings (or short-spacing equivalents) to continue, but did not create new ones.


Thanks Trip for the explanation. I wondered why there were changes like this where station A is moving to a different RF station but then station B moves to the same RF channel that station A is currently at


----------



## carltonrice

*Channel Repack/Sharing in Baltimore*

Dave Hughes posted this on his blog...

http://www.dcrtv.com



> Sinclair Announces Channel Sharing Arrangement For Baltimore - 7/4 - Sinclair has announced its channel sharing agreement for its Baltimore station, Channel 24/WUTB, and a revised over-the-air channel lineup for its Baltimore stations, Channel 45/WBFF and Channel 54/WNUV. WUTB, Baltimore's My TV affiliate, will be on a subchannel of WNUV. The Grit and Charge channels will be gone in Baltimore for the time being. The new lineup includes: 54-1 WNUV-HD, 54-2 WUTB, 54-3 American Sports Network, 45-1 WBFF, 45-2 Comet TV, 45-3 This TV, 45-4 Antenna TV.....


So, I'm wondering if the stations who move to a subchannel like WUTB will no longer be in HD.


----------



## rory21

Does anyone know what's going on with DC channel 20-4, Light TV? The website has shown it as a Light TV affiliate since early 2017, but it doesn't seem the channel even exists.


----------



## Mr Tony

rory21 said:


> Does anyone know what's going on with DC channel 20-4, Light TV? The website has shown it as a Light TV affiliate since early 2017, but it doesn't seem the channel even exists.


The LightTv website is wrong. It only lists the FOX O&O stations that are suppose to carry it but other than NY & LA the only other affiliates on air are non FOX O&O
(I've been waiting in Minneapolis for it to light up too on FOX O&O KMSP)


----------



## pkpaul

unclehonkey said:


> The LightTv website is wrong. It only lists the FOX O&O stations that are suppose to carry it but other than NY & LA the only other affiliates on air are non FOX O&O
> (I've been waiting in Minneapolis for it to light up too on FOX O&O KMSP)


Greetings all
I am seeing LightTV on 35-6 after a re-scan on two tuners. PSID says RF35-6 and screen logo says LIGHTtv. This was not there this morning.

Also
ShopLC on 31-4 with weak signal but PSID says ShopLC. This was on this morning. 

anyone else?

pkpaul
Newbie in Falls Church


----------



## Trip in VA

There is no PSIP on it, thus why it's appearing as 35-6 on your receiver, but it is there now.

I can't receive WRZB-LD so I can't see what's on 31-4.

- Trip


----------



## StevenJB

carltonrice said:


> So, I'm wondering if the stations who move to a subchannel like WUTB will no longer be in HD.


Subchannels can be in HD. I receive MPT service from Annapolis (22), Baltimore (67), and Frederick (62). Each location broadcasts MPT-2 on its .2 subchannel. MPT-2 is broadcast in 720p HD 16:9 from each location and the main .1 channel is broadcast in 1080i HD 16:9.


----------



## Mr Tony

carltonrice said:


> So, I'm wondering if the stations who move to a subchannel like WUTB will no longer be in HD.


yes they can. We have 3 examples like that in Minneapolis (where I live)
KTCA RF34 has 2 HD and 1 SD stations on it
2-1 PBS HD
2-4 PBSKids HD
2-5 Aeronautical weather
Their sister station KTCI (RF23) both stations are in 1080i HD
2-2 Minnesota Channel
2-3 TPT LIfe (a mix of create/kids/replays of PBS shows and some new stuff like BBC News)

WFTC RF29 which is a My station (FOX O&O) has 
9-1 FOX HD
9-2 MY HD
9-3 Movies!
This is so they can get FOX & MY in HD on their translators across Northern MN (which is still the Minneapolis market). Ironically the FOX O&O (KMSP) has Buzzzr on 9-4 and FOX on 9-9 so yes in Minneapolis FOX is in HD on 2 separate RF stations.

In smaller markets where they use to be short markets (before DTV) more often both the of networks are in HD


----------



## pkpaul

Trip in VA said:


> I can't receive WRZB-LD so I can't see what's on 31-4.
> 
> - Trip


ShopLC is a shopping channel called "Liquidation Channel". The web site doesn't mention anything about any OTA broadcast channels, only cable and satellite channels. 
Channels 31.1-31.3 continue to show color bars test patterns.


----------



## pkpaul

Trip in VA said:


> There is no PSIP on it, thus why it's appearing as 35-6 on your receiver, but it is there now.
> 
> - Trip


It is on 20-4 now.


----------



## dleedlee

pkpaul said:


> It is on 20-4 now.


Are you sure? I still see it on 35.6.


----------



## Trip in VA

dleedlee said:


> Are you sure? I still see it on 35.6.


Checking now that I'm home, I see the PSIP now as well.

- Trip


----------



## mkfs

pkpaul said:


> It is on 20-4 now.


 I saw it last night. But it's already joined the many other subchannels I have negative interest in....


----------



## mkfs

*Moves and Channels*



> Sinclair Announces Channel Sharing Arrangement For Baltimore - 7/4 - Sinclair has announced its channel sharing agreement for its Baltimore station, Channel 24/WUTB, and a revised over-the-air channel lineup for its Baltimore stations, Channel 45/WBFF and Channel 54/WNUV. WUTB, Baltimore's My TV affiliate, will be on a subchannel of WNUV. The Grit and Charge channels will be gone in Baltimore for the time being. The new lineup includes: 54-1 WNUV-HD, 54-2 WUTB, 54-3 American Sports Network, 45-1 WBFF, 45-2 Comet TV, 45-3 This TV, 45-4 Antenna TV.....


Question: With repacking, do subchannels keep their virtual "channel"numbers? 
I hear RF35 (20.x) was sold off and some content will be subchannels of 5.1/RF36. 
Will they be rebranded as "5"?


----------



## Trip in VA

mkfs said:


> Question: With repacking, do subchannels keep their virtual "channel"numbers?
> I hear RF35 (20.x) was sold off and some content will be subchannels of 5.1/RF36.
> Will they be rebranded as "5"?


They can keep them, but if they're co-owned like WTTG and WDCA, they don't have to.

- Trip


----------



## mkfs

Trip in VA said:


> They can keep them, but if they're co-owned like WTTG and WDCA, they don't have to.
> 
> - Trip


But "channel" equals branding, & we _know_ how beancounters covet same...


----------



## carltonrice

mkfs said:


> Question: With repacking, do subchannels keep their virtual "channel"numbers?
> I hear RF35 (20.x) was sold off and some content will be subchannels of 5.1/RF36.
> Will they be rebranded as "5"?


Channel 20 is already re-branding itself as Fox 5 Plus.


----------



## dleedlee

Trip in VA said:


> Checking now that I'm home, I see the PSIP now as well.
> 
> - Trip


I checked the Magnavox tuner upstairs and I see it on 20.4 but the iView downstairs still recognizes as 30.6 w/o the PSIP.
But, likewise, I don't think I'll be watching this channel either.


----------



## mkfs

carltonrice said:


> Channel 20 is already re-branding itself as Fox 5 Plus.


Hence my query..... Were they pushed or did they jump?


----------



## carltonrice

mkfs said:


> Hence my query..... Were they pushed or did they jump?


It's kind of moot since both FOX 5 and DC 20 are owned by FOX and have been on the same transmission tower since the digital switch. I guess ME-TV and some of the other sub channels will be disappearing...


----------



## mkfs

carltonrice said:


> I guess ME-TV and some of the other sub channels will be disappearing...


But will they be missed?

The subchannel I wish bad things on is 4.2/COZI. They chop so much from each hour it's "Hi, this is Jim Rock.." and that's it. Whole plot points vanish like Nixon's 16 ½ minutes.

Plus the obnoxious commercials on infinite recycle; you end up with the same ones again and again and again; every break. It's clear they are hurting for revenue....


----------



## Mr Tony

mkfs said:


> But "channel" equals branding, & we _know_ how beancounters covet same...


moot point. They can call it whatever they want and have different PSIP numbers. Our FOX (KMSP) and My (WFTC) are co-owned (O&O) and even though they are on 2 separate RF numbers (9 & 29) a couple years ago they mixed the PSIP together
9-1 FOX HD (FOX 9)
9-2 MY HD (MY 29)

They still call it My 29 even though the only spots that have it on 29 is satellite and some newer cable companies.


----------



## carltonrice

unclehonkey said:


> They still call it My 29 even though the only spots that have it on 29 is satellite and some newer cable companies.


Given the whole advent of PSIP and DTV, it's not clear to me that the channel numbers make any sense at all from a branding perspective. From a website perspective, they seem to be going with nbcwashington as opposed to nbc4. Technically, they have been on channel 4 for over a decade now and will never be back on that frequency.


----------



## pkpaul

pkpaul said:


> ShopLC is a shopping channel called "Liquidation Channel". The web site doesn't mention anything about any OTA broadcast channels, only cable and satellite channels.
> Channels 31.1-31.3 continue to show color bars test patterns.


The following PSIPs are now being displayed on 3 of my tuners:
31.1 Escape
31.2 LAFF
31.3 HSN2
31.4 ShopLC
There aren't any more color bars but no programing either, except for a very weak ShopLC on 31.4
None of their web sites mention any OTA broadcast outlets in DC.
pk


----------



## StevenJB

carltonrice said:


> Given the whole advent of PSIP and DTV, it's not clear to me that the channel numbers make any sense at all from a branding perspective. From a website perspective, they seem to be going with nbcwashington as opposed to nbc4. Technically, they have been on channel 4 for over a decade now and will never be back on that frequency.


In the near future, the OTA digital television broadcasters will be limited to just 35 RF broadcast channels. I agree with you that the virtual channel numbers do not make any sense at all from a branding perspective. I can imagine that back in 1948, it was prestigious to identify your TV channel as Channel 1, but those days are gone. Low VHF RF TV digital channels (2 through 6) aren’t in much demand these days for full power digital television, are they?

Personally, I would like to see the virtual channels abandoned as a branding identifier. They are confusing to me especially during the digital scanning process. Why continue to use them? There are soon to be only 35 channels to choose from. Why can’t WRC in Washington begin to embrace Channel 34? WHUT in Washington has called itself Channel 32 for close to four decades. Would WHUT suddenly lose viewers and sponsors if they announced that they were actually on Channel 33?

Concerning the use of Low VHF RF Channels 2 through 6, why can’t they be used more than they are at present for full-powered digital broadcasting? The FCC can authorize increased power levels to overcome electrical interference, can’t they? WPVI on Channel 6 in Philadelphia is now using 63 kW ERP. Is this an adequate power? Why doesn’t WRC want to return to digital RF channel 4? Maybe some of you engineers can tell me what the issues are that still remain for Low VHF digital TV and what can be done to alleviate them so that they can be more fully utilized for full power digital broadcast television.


----------



## Trip in VA

StevenJB said:


> They are confusing to me especially during the digital scanning process. Why continue to use them?


You are in the minority. The vast majority of people would be confused by all of their stations suddenly changing channels. Worse, since NBC and Fox would change, but ABC and CBS wouldn't, the Tegna and Sinclair would go up in the ratings while NBC and Fox would go down, as evidenced by ratings following past affiliation swaps in other markets. 

Additionally, every other TV provider does not use real channels, so why should OTA? On FiOS, NBC is on channel 71-1004, and CBS is on channel 71-1013. But on the actual receiver, they show as 504 and 509, respectively. On Dish, it's on 61.5 degrees west, transponder 18, channel 6361. On the actual receiver, it's shown as channel 4. We would not require the cable company to put NBC on 71-1004 or 61.5-18-6361, so why would we do it for OTA?



StevenJB said:


> There are soon to be only 35 channels to choose from. Why can’t WRC in Washington begin to embrace Channel 34?


Because more than 60 years of branding and good will would be flushed down the toilet. If required to do so, NBC would sue and the FCC would lose. 



StevenJB said:


> WHUT in Washington has called itself Channel 32 for close to four decades. Would WHUT suddenly lose viewers and sponsors if they announced that they were actually on Channel 33?


WHUT isn't a good example. A better example would be in Detroit, where WXYZ would go from being "ABC 7" to "ABC 41" (or 25, post-repack) while Fox would go from "Fox 2" to "Fox 7". The potential problems there are obvious.



StevenJB said:


> Concerning the use of Low VHF RF Channels 2 through 6, why can’t they be used more than they are at present for full-powered digital broadcasting? The FCC can authorize increased power levels to overcome electrical interference, can’t they? WPVI on Channel 6 in Philadelphia is now using 63 kW ERP. Is this an adequate power? Why doesn’t WRC want to return to digital RF channel 4? Maybe some of you engineers can tell me what the issues are that still remain for Low VHF digital TV and what can be done to alleviate them so that they can be more fully utilized for full power digital broadcast television.


WPVI requested, but was not granted, 62.9 kW. It is running 34 kW, and no, it is not enough. The lower gain due to larger size of low-VHF antennas means the transmitters start to get unreasonably large to make ERP values that high, so many stations would not run that much power. Additionally, most viewers no longer have antennas capable of low-VHF reception, which means a large advertising campaign (and not on your own airwaves) to teach viewers about replacing their antennas, assuming viewers are even willing to do so.

What would need to happen is that millions of consumer electronics devices would need to be replaced with models that are more expensive due to lower spurious RF radiation, massive power increases sought and approved, and the laws of physics changed. In short, Low-VHF is all but dead to broadcasting for the foreseeable future.

- Trip


----------



## tylerSC

carltonrice said:


> Given the whole advent of PSIP and DTV, it's not clear to me that the channel numbers make any sense at all from a branding perspective. From a website perspective, they seem to be going with nbcwashington as opposed to nbc4. Technically, they have been on channel 4 for over a decade now and will never be back on that frequency.


The analog branding has always been very important to heritage stations from a marketing and promotional perspective. WRC has always been identified as NBC-4. CBS and ABC are associated with channels 9 and 7. And WTTG is well known as FOX-5. It would be confusing to viewers to lose that brand identity. However, in some markets, if the channel brand was not a strong identity or a lower channel, a marketing decision may have been made to abandon channel based branding for certain stations. Often these may not be the higher rated channels. For example, in Charlotte, NC WCNC no longer uses Channel 36 or NBC-36 as part of their branding. They are now known as WCNC or NBC Charlotte. But CBS and ABC affiliates WBTV and WSOC are very well known by their analog identifiers of Channel 3 and Channel 9, so those are unlikely to be abandoned. In Greenville, SC WHNS is known as FOX Carolina rather than 21, but in Charlotte WJZY is FOX-46. Those marketing decisions vary by market and may be based on the strength of the original analog branding.


----------



## AntAltMike

pkpaul said:


> The following PSIPs are now being displayed on 3 of my tuners:
> 31.1 Escape
> 31.2 LAFF
> 31.3 HSN2
> 31.4 ShopLC
> There aren't any more color bars but no programing either, except for a very weak ShopLC on 31.4
> None of their web sites mention any OTA broadcast outlets in DC.
> pk


What is the actual UHF channel?
Where is the transmitter located?
What are its call letters?
What is its wattage?

I'll include it in this thread's masthead post when I have more information.


----------



## Trip in VA

AntAltMike said:


> What is the actual UHF channel?
> Where is the transmitter located?
> What are its call letters?
> What is its wattage?
> 
> I'll include it in this thread's masthead post when I have more information.


32
Same tower as WWTD-LD
WRZB-LD
15 kW (supposedly, though its signal sure doesn't act like it)

- Trip


----------



## pkpaul

AntAltMike said:


> What is the actual UHF channel?
> Where is the transmitter located?
> What are its call letters?
> What is its wattage?
> 
> I'll include it in this thread's masthead post when I have more information.


Actual channel is 32
There is programming and a slightly stronger signal now
None are high definition at this time

pk


----------



## vmalhotra

*OTA installer recommendations in DMV area*

Very hard to find, any recommendations for antenna installers and servicemen.

Thanks


----------



## pkpaul

vmalhotra said:


> Very hard to find, any recommendations for antenna installers and servicemen.
> 
> Thanks


I am very satisfied with Fairfax Antenna/Video Integrators 
Springfield, VA 22150
703-912-1300
They did my roof antenna install in Falls Church a few months ago.
www.fairfaxantenna.com

pk


----------



## Trip in VA

vmalhotra said:


> Very hard to find, any recommendations for antenna installers and servicemen.
> 
> Thanks


I had mine installed by these guys:

http://getwiredup.tv/

I was very happy with their work.

- Trip


----------



## mdviewer25

This came out of nowhere:

WUSA Channel Removals:

On or after September 30, 2017, USA will remove Bounce TV (ch. 459) and The Justice Network (ch 461) programming from Fios TV and the channels will be removed from the lineup.


----------



## mdviewer25

Wonder what happened?


----------



## pkpaul

mdviewer25 said:


> This came out of nowhere:
> 
> WUSA Channel Removals:
> 
> On or after September 30, 2017, USA will remove Bounce TV (ch. 459) and The Justice Network (ch 461) programming from Fios TV and the channels will be removed from the lineup.


My OTA data service "Schedules Direct" shows no programming data after 30 Sept. for those channels.

They must be making way for WJAL "Family 68".

pk


----------



## dleedlee

pkpaul said:


> My OTA data service "Schedules Direct" shows no programming data after 30 Sept. for those channels.
> 
> They must be making way for WJAL "Family 68".
> 
> pk


Yep, 9-2 (Bounce) and 9-3 (Justice) are no longer to be found.


----------



## mkfs

Trip in VA said:


> The question you're asking, I think, is why WJZ moves from 13 to 11 *and* WBAL from 11 to 12, when it might appear to make more sense to move WJZ from 13 to 12 directly. The answer is that WVPT in Staunton got moved from 11 to 12, and WVPT is currently co-channel with WBAL; in the repacking process, the FCC permitted existing short-spacings (or short-spacing equivalents) to continue, but did not create new ones. As such, WJZ and WVPT cannot be co-channel, so WJZ couldn't move to 12. WBAL had to be swapped to 12 to maintain the short-spacing with WVPT, and WJZ got dropped on the now-more open channel 11.
> 
> If I've lost you, I can try again.
> 
> - Trip


 This is starting to resemble


----------



## mkfs

20.3 has crackly audio tonight. 
First time I've heard that.....


----------



## dleedlee

Someone at dcrtv.com posted:
_WUSA's subchannels are not "down". They have changed though. WUSA is now channel sharing with WJAL. WJAL is the only subchannel but the PSIP data identifies it as 68.1. Bounce is now a subchannel of WFDC. I am not sure of justice is currently being broadcast in the area. Perhaps someone else knows. This is all part of the great repack experiment. enjoy. _

So, 14-4 is now Bounce, not Escape (the onscreen bug says Bounce, but the ID still says Escape).
68.1 shows LATV a Latin-oriented station in English and Spanish. I don't know if it's new or was always there before. No clue where Justice is, if it still exists.


----------



## Mr Tony

dleedlee said:


> 68.1 shows LATV a Latin-oriented station in English and Spanish. I don't know if it's new or was always there before. No clue where Justice is, if it still exists.


68.1 is new to the DC area. They use to be based in Hagerstown but sold to the FCC and got a partner in WUSA to carry them.

They use to claim "family friendly" program but other than some religious stuff and movies they carried stuff like Jerry and Maury during the day and the Seth McFarland "crapfest" (IMO) at night (Family Guy, American Dad, Cleveland show)

zap2it still shows most of the old schedule as posted below


----------



## dleedlee

unclehonkey said:


> 68.1 is new to the DC area. They use to be based in Hagerstown but sold to the FCC and got a partner in WUSA to carry them.
> 
> They use to claim "family friendly" program but other than some religious stuff and movies they carried stuff like Jerry and Maury during the day and the Seth McFarland "crapfest" (IMO) at night (Family Guy, American Dad, Cleveland show)
> 
> zap2it still shows most of the old schedule as posted below


LATV currently airing World Class Boxing featuring a match between two Mexican boxers. Before that, an in studio music program with live performance in Spanish. 

http://latv.com/

Lucha Libre Sunday nights. Count me in.

TitanTV seems to have the correct listings.
https://www.titantv.com/programming...988-4ab2-b39b-ec12518194d8/date/201710021600/


----------



## mdviewer25

On the Wizards website they have renamed CSN Mid Atlantic NBCSWA. Must stand for NBC Sports Washington. Also, did a rescan and get 9-1 and 68-1 but skipped 14.


----------



## Mr Tony

mdviewer25 said:


> On the Wizards website they have renamed CSN Mid Atlantic NBCSWA. Must stand for NBC Sports Washington.


Correct
NBC renamed all the Comcast SPorts Networks as "NBC Sports ______"
Bay Area
California
Chicago
Washington (DC)
Boston
Northwest (not on satellite)
Philadelphia

Also The Comcast Network will be renamed NBC Sports Washington + & NBC Sports Philadelphia +

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBC_Sports_Regional_Networks


----------



## Trip in VA

dleedlee said:


> So, 14-4 is now Bounce, not Escape (the onscreen bug says Bounce, but the ID still says Escape).


And 14-4 is missing its PSIP for some reason. If it doesn't appear by tomorrow, I'll write a note to my friend at Univision.

- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike

I'm now getting identical LATV programming on both 47.2 and 68.1.


----------



## Trip in VA

Trip in VA said:


> And 14-4 is missing its PSIP for some reason. If it doesn't appear by tomorrow, I'll write a note to my friend at Univision.


This was evidently fixed overnight.

- Trip


----------



## dleedlee

n/m*


----------



## mkfs

*20/5 etc*

So with 20 being assimilated by 5, has there been any word on which subchannels will be kept/dumped? 
(I'm interested in 20.3 for Star Trek, and 20.1 for X-Files.)


----------



## AntAltMike

Has the new destination of WDCW 50 been announced?


----------



## AntAltMike

AntAltMike said:


> Has the new destination of WDCW 50 been announced?


From Wikipedia:
On August 31, 2017, it was announced that WDCW had entered into a channel sharing agreement with Univision owned-and-operated station WFDC-DT.


----------



## AntAltMike

Funny that WUSA VHF 9 would drop two subchannels to make room for WJAL which is in 480i. They may be negotiating to see who will accept the most favorable terms when 5.1 consolidates with 20.1, and 14.1 consolidates with 50.1. That leaves, by my count, nine 480i subchannels in need of bandwidth. I'm guessing that MeTV and Heroes & Icons are the most valuable of those channels, but who knows?


----------



## AntAltMike

With its relocation to Washington, DC on a shared, full power transmitter, does WJAL acquire any must-carry rights or privileges that it didn't have and wouldn't have had as a low powered station?


----------



## mvcg66b3r

AntAltMike said:


> With its relocation to Washington, DC on a shared, full power transmitter, does WJAL acquire any must-carry rights or privileges that it didn't have and wouldn't have had as a low powered station?


WJAL was never a low-power station. You must be speaking of WMDO.


----------



## mkfs

20.3's snap-crackle-pop audio is back. Yet 20.2 & 20.1 are fine.....so I can't believe it's on my end....


----------



## dleedlee

mkfs said:


> 20.3's snap-crackle-pop audio is back. Yet 20.2 & 20.1 are fine.....so I can't believe it's on my end....


I'll confirm that.


----------



## pkpaul

AntAltMike said:


> Funny that WUSA VHF 9 would drop two subchannels to make room for WJAL which is in 480i. They may be negotiating to see who will accept the most favorable terms when 5.1 consolidates with 20.1, and 14.1 consolidates with 50.1. That leaves, by my count, nine 480i subchannels in need of bandwidth. I'm guessing that MeTV and Heroes & Icons are the most valuable of those channels, but who knows?


Justice is back on channel 9.2 and the program listings have resumed.

pk


----------



## MRG1

*Removing my "OTA Broadcast and Comcast Digital Cable Channels College Park, MD"*

I no longer use Comcast cable TV, and cannot mount an OTA antenna in a practical location.

So my pages, listing Comcast and OTA available in my area, to which I previously posted links here,

http://mgrunes.com/comcast.html
http://mgrunes.com/comcastNum.html
http://mgrunes.com/comcastCat.html

will shortly be removed. So download private copies if you like. 

I very much believe in OTA TV, and wish it were easier for me to get in my basement apartment. I would truly love to be able to mount an antenna on my home without annoying my landlord, to pick up local channels. But I've been pleasantly surprised at the number and quality of channels that are now available on-line - so many of which are free. I still think it is possible and cheap to mount a dish-shaped passive reflector in a tree, to bounce signals to my apartment, but am unsure of lightning safety.

So I am replacing the old pages with a list of on-line streaming TV resources, classified by program category and whether free, at http://mgrunes.com/MusVidTV.html.


----------



## dleedlee

Someone posted this on dcrtv.com:_

I don't know if this has already been reported, but I found out yesterday that MHz will cease their virtual CH 30 12 channel operations *on March, 2018. *_

Also, MHz Worldview in NJ ceased broadcasting last month; Chicago will at the end of this month.
_


As of 10/26/17, WNYJ has ceased broadcasting. The station's license was acquired in the recent FCC auction process. At this time, we're unsure if MHz Worldview will be picked up by another local NYC affiliate. 

On 11/27/17, WYCC in Chicago will cease broadcasting. The station's license was acquired in the recent FCC auction process. At this time, we're unsure if MHz Worldview will be picked up by another local Chicago affiliate. _


----------



## pkpaul

*ROKU Menu Screen on 49.6*

An interesting ROKU menu screen has been on 49.6 for several days. 
It is supposed to be JTV Jewelry TV.

pk


----------



## Jazzman_1

*Low signal strength for ch 26 and 32*

Within the last few weeks, I have been noticing lower signal strength on channels 26 and 32. I believe they broadcast from the same tower. I was wondering if anyone has an info on what might be going on and/or if they are seeing a similar reduction in signal strength for these two channels


----------



## Trip in VA

Jazzman_1 said:


> Within the last few weeks, I have been noticing lower signal strength on channels 26 and 32. I believe they broadcast from the same tower. I was wondering if anyone has an info on what might be going on and/or if they are seeing a similar reduction in signal strength for these two channels


No change for either one for me.

http://www.rabbitears.info/tvdx/signal_graph/10317DF4/tuner1/WETA-TV
https://www.rabbitears.info/tvdx/signal_graph/10317DF4/tuner1/WHUT-TV

- Trip


----------



## rviele

Trip in VA said:


> No change for either one for me.
> 
> http://www.rabbitears.info/tvdx/signal_graph/10317DF4/tuner1/WETA-TV
> https://www.rabbitears.info/tvdx/signal_graph/10317DF4/tuner1/WHUT-TV
> 
> - Trip


trip- i noticed when i was scanning for channels in the baltimore area there was a channel 68.1 any thoughts on what was there.
rjv


----------



## Jazzman_1

The data doesn’t lie. It’s just that the SNR on my sony is under 20 dB. In October it generally was around 25 or above. I’m in the Fairfax, VA area. With the coming of autumn, I was hoping that there’d less interference because of the lack of foliage. Most of the other DC stations are above 30 dB SNR, with only Channel 4 being the lowest at 28 dB. Thanks for looking.


----------



## Trip in VA

rviele said:


> trip- i noticed when i was scanning for channels in the baltimore area there was a channel 68.1 any thoughts on what was there.
> rjv


https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=wusa

- Trip


----------



## tylerSC

rviele said:


> trip- i noticed when i was scanning for channels in the baltimore area there was a channel 68.1 any thoughts on what was there.
> rjv


WJAL is the old Hagerstown station that moved to Silver Spring. The signal is now shared on Channel 9 from WUSA but still identifies as 68. But in this case there must be a loss or change of coverage area, as the old WJAL signal on 39 reached western Maryland and parts of Pennsylvania. While I have heard WUSA can reach into PA, the new signal for WJAL is probably now more concentrated in metro DC and perhaps parts of Baltimore.


----------



## dleedlee

MHz 30.5 seems to have dropped Africa Today. Now mirroring 30.1 programming.

** Looks like regular Africa Today programming is back.


----------



## AntAltMike

Jazzman_1 said:


> The data doesn’t lie. It’s just that the SNR on my sony is under 20 dB. In October it generally was around 25 or above. I’m in the Fairfax, VA area. With the coming of autumn, I was hoping that there’d less interference because of the lack of foliage. Most of the other DC stations are above 30 dB SNR, with only Channel 4 being the lowest at 28 dB. Thanks for looking.


What you are reporting is "data" of unknown technical validity or precision. If I could get technically reliable S/N levels from a few cents worth of electronics incorporated into a TV tuner's circuitry, then I wouldn't need to pay a thousand dollars or more each for the meters I use.

During the foliage season, or maybe, since we're not analyzing this as tourists, the defoliage season, different species of trees shed their leaves at different times. At any given time, your antenna receives signals from a transmitter both on the direct path, as well as on reflective paths. The receiver takes that aggregate of in phase and out of phase signal and processes it to the best of its ability. With analog video, we used to see the reflected signal as a ghost image shifted slightly to the right of the desired image. With digital, which we consider to be much more "robust", the circuitry can usually reliably decode the binary data to the total exclusion of the invasive, out of phase components, but not always.

Where I live, just east of College Park, I supposedly have line-of-sight reception of the Washington transmitters but the transmission path models presume a bald earth, and I know that my direct path signals pass through vegetation, and I get reflected signal off Byrd Stadium that also passes through vegetation. As the leaves begin to fall, there will be times where I develop a more stable signal to lock onto coming off Byrd than from the direct path, and then, as more leaves fall, my direct path signal improves to its natural level of primacy.

God only knows how the Sony product's internal S/N "meter" evaluates an aggregate signal that includes a significant, out-of-phase component. I used to regularly service a lot of high rise buildings where I had true, visible line-of-sight reception paths that I could use to definitively check out reported residential reception anomalies, but I no longer actively service those accounts. I don't know how pure Trip's reception path is, but even if it were impeded by vegetation, then a noisy transmitter or weakened transmitter still would have showed up on his monitoring system.


----------



## tylerSC

^^Since you mention the high rise buildings, I remember when I lived in Northern Virginia, many of the highrise apartment buildings had master antenna systems that received all the DC and Baltimore stations, so you didn't have to pay for cable. But that was during analog. Did they maintain those systems for digital, or switch to cable or satellite? Just curious.


----------



## AntAltMike

tylerSC said:


> ^^Since you mention the high rise buildings, I remember when I lived in Northern Virginia, many of the highrise apartment buildings had master antenna systems that received all the DC and Baltimore stations, so you didn't have to pay for cable. But that was during analog. Did they maintain those systems for digital, or switch to cable or satellite? Just curious.


I upgraded fewer than a dozen to broadcast on-channel VHF/UHF, and another half dozen had me install cheap, digital-to-analog "CECB" converter boxes in their headends,

The Washington, DC metro area high rise buildings probably had better master antenna systems than any other major market because the area was so late to franchise cable TV. I think Washington, DC and Milwaukee were the last two major cities to get wired, in the mid 1980s. In fact, Washington, DC had a building code enacted in 1960 that required any multiple family dwelling with more than 100 units to have a master antenna system that met stringent requirements, including coax distribution lines (antenna companies still mostly used twin lead back then). All the Charles Smith high rise buildings in Arlington had systems installed by Antronnix of Silver Spring, Maryland, and they continued to maintain them right up to the analog shut-off in 2009.

Many residents had A/B switches to flip over when cable was out, which was common everywhere until the cable companies replaced their original hardware in the early 2000s. Even then, a lot of units used the master antenna to watch different major league sports games from the Baltimore stations. In addition to different NFL games, the Baltimore Fox station tended to favor American League teams when selecting its Saturday baseball Game of the Week.


----------



## pkpaul

*DECADES on 31.5*

DECADES is now up and running on 31.5

pk


----------



## AntAltMike

pkpaul said:


> DECADES is now up and running on 31.5


I incorporated that listing into this thread's masthead post. A few weeks ago, I also removed the "blank screen" notation regarding Escape and LAFF

Are any local cable companies carrying the WRZB programming? I regrettably don't know anything about what rights low powered stations have, if any, to demand carriage by cable companies.

31.1------(32)--------WRZB-LD Escape
31.2-------------------WRZB-LD LAFF
31.3-------------------WRZB-LD HSN2: Time shifted Home Shopping Network
31.4-------------------WRZB-LD ShopLC: Shopping/jewelry
31.5-------------------WRZB-LD Decades: Historically grouped programming


----------



## pkpaul

AntAltMike said:


> I incorporated that listing into this thread's masthead post. A few weeks ago, I also removed the "blank screen" notation regarding Escape and LAFF
> 
> Are any local cable companies carrying the WRZB programming? I regrettably don't know anything about what rights low powered stations have, if any, to demand carriage by cable companies.
> 
> 31.1------(32)--------WRZB-LD Escape
> 31.2-------------------WRZB-LD LAFF
> 31.3-------------------WRZB-LD HSN2: Time shifted Home Shopping Network
> 31.4-------------------WRZB-LD ShopLC: Shopping/jewelry
> 31.5-------------------WRZB-LD Decades: Historically grouped programming


That's a good question. 
Low power WWTD-LD channel 49 [RF14] has been on for a long time now. 
Are any of those sub-channels on cable/satellite?


----------



## pkpaul

*WMDO has moved from RF22 to sharing channel RF44*

So we now have RF44:
RF44.1 Faith Television Network 58.1 
RF44.2 JTV 58.2 
RF44.3 UniMás 47.1 

WMDO and 47.2 are gone from RF22:
https://rabbitears.info/tvdx/signal_graph/10317DF4/tuner1/WMDO-CD

And WIAV [RF44] has a stronger signal now
https://rabbitears.info/tvdx/signal_graph/10317DF4/tuner1/WIAV-LD

pk


----------



## pkpaul

*Some Changes in Balto*

Channel 2 [RF38] added Escape Channel on 2.4

Channel 45 [RF46]:
WUTB replaces WeatherNation on 45.2
TBD [TV network] replaces thisTV on 45.3

Channel 24 [RF41] still showing:
WUTB on 24.1
Grit on 24.2
Stadium on 24.3
Get TV on 24.4


----------



## StevenJB

WMDE, Virtual Channel 36 [RF5], broadcasting from the Delmarva Eastern Shore near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, is showing up with a strong signal in central Montgomery County, MD, tonight. 

WMDE 36.1 1080i 16:9
WMDE 36.2 480i 4:3
WMDE 36.3 480i 4:3
WMDE 36.4 480i 4:3

All four channels carry infomercials.

WMDE in HD is also carried by Verizon FiOS on Channel 502 in the Washington, DC market. Located in Delmarva and licensed to Dover, DE, it must be considered a must-carry channel for Verizon FiOS to be carried on Washington area cable.


----------



## Trip in VA

pkpaul said:


> Channel 45 [RF46]:
> WUTB replaces WeatherNation on 45.2
> TBD [TV network] replaces thisTV on 45.3
> 
> Channel 24 [RF41] still showing:
> WUTB on 24.1
> Grit on 24.2
> Stadium on 24.3
> Get TV on 24.4


I'm wondering if the story is over for Sinclair's stations in Baltimore. I won't be surprised to see Grit and Get TV vanish, since they have vanished on many other Sinclair stations, but Stadium could land on a yet-to-be-launched 54-4. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to see a 45-4 launch either.

- Trip


----------



## KEVINL71

WMDE-TV...isn't that supposed to be NBC for southern Delaware and Salisbury, MD? I was told that cable in Salisbury has always carried NBC from Baltimore.


----------



## Trip in VA

You're thinking of WRDE-LD. 

- Trip


----------



## pkpaul

*4.3 EPG begins 1 January*

My EPG [Schedules Direct] lists Telemundo programming beginning 1 Jan 2018 on WRC channel 4.3 [RF48].

pk


----------



## AntAltMike

Does anyone here know if WRC ever had a repeater in the pre-cable days that might have serviced Ocean City? About 20 years ago, someone called me to see what it would take for her to get WRC at her cottage near Ocean City, She swore up and down that long ago, she used to be able to get it from her antenna there. I told her that based on what little information I had available (Contour map, NIA table), it wouldn't be worth my time even driving out for a site survey.


----------



## VARTV

AntAltMike said:


> Does anyone here know if WRC ever had a repeater in the pre-cable days that might have serviced Ocean City? About 20 years ago, someone called me to see what it would take for her to get WRC at her cottage near Ocean City, She swore up and down that long ago, she used to be able to get it from her antenna there. I told her that based on what little information I had available (Contour map, NIA table), it wouldn't be worth my time even driving out for a site survey.


Could she possibly get two LD stations based in Onancock VA? They do SD versions of stations from Norfolk...


----------



## Trip in VA

AntAltMike said:


> Does anyone here know if WRC ever had a repeater in the pre-cable days that might have serviced Ocean City? About 20 years ago, someone called me to see what it would take for her to get WRC at her cottage near Ocean City, She swore up and down that long ago, she used to be able to get it from her antenna there. I told her that based on what little information I had available (Contour map, NIA table), it wouldn't be worth my time even driving out for a site survey.


I could imagine good atmospheric conditions bringing it in. I can't say I've ever heard of a WRC translator out that way. That said, I did a bit of digging and tripped over an article about a set of translators for what is now WUSA out that way.

http://www.americanradiohistory.com...2-06-BC-OCR-Page-0072.pdf#search="translator"

Not sure if it was ever approved.

- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike

I'm pretty sure that customer call came in before DirecTV started carrying Washington, DC based locals, which was probably 2002. She was insistent that it was NBC from Washington that she had received near Ocean City, some years back, rather than from Baltimore or elsewhere, because she was a Washington, DC market resident and was familiar with the local newscasters, and she claimed the reception had been reliable.

I don't have any compelling contemporary interest in this; it's just that as I was scrolling through the last few months of posts, the comments about the low powered Salisbury transmitter got me thinking about it. Twenty years ago, I did have one residential customer in the back side upper Marlboro who used to like to spin his antenna to the west in the morning to catch channel 16, but I had no reason to give any thought what it or any other stations from that side of the state might have had for programming or geographic reach.


----------



## oaks3

Looks like Baltimore's UHF 41 (old WUTB) stopped broadcasting today. There's a note about rescanning at the mytvbaltimore dot com website. (I can't post links yet.)

UHF 46 has updated its PSIP a bit:

45.1 = WBFF
45.2 and 24.1 = MY TV
45.3 = WUTB (Still carries the TBD channel)

Some good atmospherics today maybe thanks to the bitter cold front over us currently. Picking up some of the DC channels and WMJF-CD from Towson, here near BWI on my little Mohu Leaf antenna which I don't normally see.


----------



## Cheesewizzard

*Wash DC OTA reception help from*

I installed a lava 2605 pointed 324 degrees toward DC and am picking up WRC/nbc, Wttg/Fox and wjla /ABC pretty great; no luck with wusa/cbs. Ideally I am wanting to receive these 4 without having to rotate the antenna so that I can add an Ota DVR with my Rokus. I Turned off the amp and wusa came in only for a few seconds, (the other channels not so good). Wusa should be at 324 also per the report, so I don’t understand what my issue is. Also WRC does not even show in the report, thought I would need to go to 5 degrees for WBAL. Is this report not accurate?

Using about 40’ of RG6 directly to the a/rotor control box then 6-8 feet out to the tv. iPhone compass app was used to direct antenna to 324 magnetic. We are in Huntingtown MD 39 miles SE of DC.

Any advice is much appreciated.


----------



## pkpaul

oaks3 said:


> Looks like Baltimore's UHF 41 (old WUTB) stopped broadcasting today. There's a note about rescanning at the mytvbaltimore dot com website. (I can't post links yet.)
> 
> UHF 46 has updated its PSIP a bit:
> 
> 45.1 = WBFF
> 45.2 and 24.1 = MY TV
> 45.3 = WUTB (Still carries the TBD channel)
> 
> Some good atmospherics today maybe thanks to the bitter cold front over us currently. Picking up some of the DC channels and WMJF-CD from Towson, here near BWI on my little Mohu Leaf antenna which I don't normally see.


Welcome
My tuners are seeing a new 24.1 
The old 24.1 no longer works, nor does 24.2-4
So what RF channel is the new 24.1 on? 
just curious
pk


----------



## Mr Tony

pkpaul said:


> Welcome
> My tuners are seeing a new 24.1
> The old 24.1 no longer works, nor does 24.2-4
> So what RF channel is the new 24.1 on?
> just curious
> pk


RF46...same as WBFF.

http://mytvbaltimore.com/station/contact/time-to-rescan-for-mytv-baltimore


----------



## Cheesewizzard

Cheesewizzard said:


> I installed a lava 2605 pointed 324 degrees toward DC and am picking up WRC/nbc, Wttg/Fox and wjla /ABC pretty great; no luck with wusa/cbs. Ideally I am wanting to receive these 4 without having to rotate the antenna so that I can add an Ota DVR with my Rokus. I Turned off the amp and wusa came in only for a few seconds, (the other channels not so good). Wusa should be at 324 also per the report, so I don’t understand what my issue is. Also WRC does not even show in the report, thought I would need to go to 5 degrees for WBAL. Is this report not accurate?
> 
> Using about 40’ of RG6 directly to the a/rotor control box then 6-8 feet out to the tv. iPhone compass app was used to direct antenna to 324 magnetic. We are in Huntingtown MD 39 miles SE of DC.
> 
> Any advice is much appreciated.


Saturday morning Wusa was coming in great as well as the others. Very overcast, less than 1/2” snowfall last night. Sunday am and no CBS again.


----------



## dleedlee

From a post on dcrtv.com:

_Jan. 18, 2018 is the deadline for any TV station owner that accepted government money at the outset of the TV repack to turn in their TV channel and/or license. Not all accepted the money initially, so it will vary by market. But in this area, WDCA 20, WDCW 50, WUTB 24, WNVC & WNVT MHz Networks are all going dark from their current transmitters and sharing unless they’ve applied for some extension, although I’ve seen no such filings so far. Nothing will change on cable TV with those stations except that their previous sub-channel networks might be gone temporarily or for good. GET-TV & GRIT-TV as well as STADIUM seem to be most at risk of disappearing in DC & Baltimore. WTTG/WDCA and WFDC/WDCW and been curiously silent about what they’re going to do with their sub-channels._

Anyone know more?

Also, this:

_Sure looks like NBC's takeover of WZDC will happen tomorrow. On Sunday morning, two additional subchannels appeared on WRC: 4.3 "WZDC" in 1080i, and 4.4 "XITOS" in 480i. Both are carrying TeleXitos for the moment which is more or less Telemundo's equivalent to UniMas. NBC's new "Telemundo 25" website (telemundowashingtondc.com) has had a countdown to January 1 since the sale was announced in November. It's on 4.3 and not 25.1 for the moment as NBC hasn't completed the process of moving channels just yet._


----------



## Trip in VA

Ignore BaltoMedia. There's almost nothing correct in that post. 

- The date should be January 23, not sure where January 18 came from. 
- No clue what "not all accepted the money initially" means, but all channel sharing stations were paid on the same date back in the summer except for a single Class A station in North Carolina.
- Except for WDCW and WUTB, all of those stations sought and received extensions until April. WUTB is already gone. Not sure why BaltoMedia is unable to find this information.
- Get, Grit, and Stadium are already gone in Baltimore. I'm not sure why further speculation is required.
- The WDCA extension request clearly says that some of the WTTG/WDCA subchannels will go away, but without specifying which.
- I am a bit puzzled about why WDCW hasn't put anything on their website yet. The other Tribune-involved channel shares have had information about it for months.

I've taken to ignoring the DCRTV Mailbag, for the most part. It's largely uninformed speculation and half-truths mixed with people arguing with each other.

- Trip


----------



## mkfs

> _On Sunday morning, two additional subchannels appeared on WRC: 
> 4.3 "WZDC" in 1080i, and 4.4 "XITOS" in 480i. _

Would that somehow lower the S/S+N ratio? Can't see how but today 4.x seems to be dropping below usable minimums with the usual symptoms.

And on 20, any indications of which subchannel content will be dumped vs. moved? I'd miss the X-Files for one thing.


----------



## Cheesewizzard

Cheesewizzard said:


> Saturday morning Wusa was coming in great as well as the others. Very overcast, less than 1/2” snowfall last night. Sunday am and no CBS again.


3 dB attenuator solved my problem and now getting a bunch more channels.


----------



## merman9393

Am a bit confused,... I am desperately looking for solution for receiving WWTD in Old Town Alexandria. I have a townhouse by the water, and there is large decline east of Washington St, so LOS is an issue.

I assume from reading here that channel 49.1- 49.5 is actually a low freq. UHF, channel 14, changed to 49 by PSIP. 

I was receiving it perfect for over a year with attic antenna, ( not movable, or even accessible by me), then audio went on older Sony so, Had to replace TV with newer Sony. All other OTA are exactly same, but 49.1- 49.5 not even weak signal, nothing. Hooked back up older tv and scanned and I receive them fine. 

Would cost more than new tv was, to have audio card replaced on the older set, but, I miss my shows.

Any advice? Was going to buy a Channel Master Pre-Amp but was told if I have no signal it won't help.


----------



## StevenJB

On Page One (1) of this AVSForum, under TV Band Repack Channel Destinations, AntAltMike has WETA-TV [Virtual 26] moving from RF-27 to RF-14.

In the Washington, DC Repack Plan and in the Digital TV Market Listings for Washington, DC, RabbitEars (Trip) has WETA-TV [Virtual 26] moving from RF-27 to RF-31.

Which is correct?

AntAltMike has WMPT-TV [Virtual 22] moving from RF-42 to RF-31.

Trip has WMPT-TV [Virtual 22] moving from RF-42 to RF-21.

Which is correct?

AntAltMike has WUTB-TV [Virtual 24] moving from RF-41 to RF-25.

Trip has WUTB-TV [Virtual 24] moving from RF-41 to RF-26.

Which is correct?

Thanks for the information.


----------



## Trip in VA

The FCC approved changes to the channels of WETA, WMPT, WFPT, and WCPB (Salisbury) late last week, so the RabbitEars information is correct.

WUTB was originally announced as sharing on WNUV, but is now actually sharing on WBFF.

- Trip


----------



## StevenJB

Trip,

Thanks for the info and corrections.

Do you have any advance info on what will happen to WQAW [Virtual 69] RF-20, WMDE [Virtual 36] RF-5, WWTD [Virtual 49] RF-14, WDDN [Virtual 23] RF-23, WRZB [Virtual 31] RF-32, and WIAV/WMDO [Virtual 58/47] RF-44 after the repack takes affect?

Thanks.


----------



## Trip in VA

Nothing changes for WMDE and probably WWTD-LD. WIAV-CD has a permit to move to 30. No idea about the rest.

- Trip


----------



## pkpaul

*Channel 50.3 Dark*

Channel 50.3 ThisTV has gone dark
AntennaTV is on 50.2

pk


----------



## howie14

*Losing WETA*

Hi everyone, 

I haven't posted in this forum for about a decade, but I'm a little confused. I live in Eldersburg MD west of Baltimore and generally keep my antenna turned toward DC to pick up the most stations. I have a traditional style Radio Shack long range outdoor antenna and a Channel Master pre amp both dating back to 1995 and analog signals. Sorry, I don't know model numbers or the proper terminology to describe the antenna-it's the kind we all had on our roofs back in the pre cable days. Recently the rotor, over forty years old, gave up the ghost.

I'm having a problem where during the last two cold snaps WETA starts breaking up and the SNR drops to where picture just isn't possible. And since I can't turn the antenna I can't check to see if a different location would help, but the antenna is pointed to DC based on my compass.

My questions are:
1) Does anyone know why I'm losing WETA in cold weather? (My wife lives for WETA UK.)

2) Would I be better served getting a new rotor or a more modern antenna? I noticed a lot of new motorized amplified 360 degree antennas that are cheaper than a new rotor, but I have no idea if they are any good.

3) Would my reception actually improve if I bypassed the preamp on the thought that the preamp may actually be driving up the noise? That would be the toughest option for me because the mast is high above my chimney. 

Thank you.


----------



## MRG1

howie14 said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> I haven't posted in this forum for about a decade, but I'm a little confused. I live in Eldersburg MD west of Baltimore and generally keep my antenna turned toward DC to pick up the most stations. I have a traditional style Radio Shack long range outdoor antenna and a Channel Master pre amp both dating back to 1995 and analog signals. Sorry, I don't know model numbers or the proper terminology to describe the antenna-it's the kind we all had on our roofs back in the pre cable days. Recently the rotor, over forty years old, gave up the ghost.
> 
> I'm having a problem where during the last two cold snaps WETA starts breaking up and the SNR drops to where picture just isn't possible. And since I can't turn the antenna I can't check to see if a different location would help, but the antenna is pointed to DC based on my compass.
> 
> My questions are:
> 1) Does anyone know why I'm losing WETA in cold weather? (My wife lives for WETA UK.)
> 
> 2) Would I be better served getting a new rotor or a more modern antenna? I noticed a lot of new motorized amplified 360 degree antennas that are cheaper than a new rotor, but I have no idea if they are any good.
> 
> 3) Would my reception actually improve if I bypassed the preamp on the thought that the preamp may actually be driving up the noise? That would be the toughest option for me because the mast is high above my chimney.
> 
> Thank you.


I'm not an expert on antennas, so I can't answer your question - but I bet there is no way to know what the problem is other than trying the other solutions in turn. It is also possible one or more of your electrical connections (on the mast, preamp, somewhere inside the house, to the rotor, etc.) has started to go bad.

I'm sure you realize that such cold weather is sufficiently infrequent in DC that if you think that is the problem, you could just wait a few days. 

I will send you a private message with some Internet options that might or might not help.


----------



## pclement

howie14 said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> I haven't posted in this forum for about a decade, but I'm a little confused. I live in Eldersburg MD west of Baltimore and generally keep my antenna turned toward DC to pick up the most stations. I have a traditional style Radio Shack long range outdoor antenna and a Channel Master pre amp both dating back to 1995 and analog signals. Sorry, I don't know model numbers or the proper terminology to describe the antenna-it's the kind we all had on our roofs back in the pre cable days. Recently the rotor, over forty years old, gave up the ghost.
> 
> I'm having a problem where during the last two cold snaps WETA starts breaking up and the SNR drops to where picture just isn't possible. And since I can't turn the antenna I can't check to see if a different location would help, but the antenna is pointed to DC based on my compass.
> 
> My questions are:
> 1) Does anyone know why I'm losing WETA in cold weather? (My wife lives for WETA UK.)
> 
> 2) Would I be better served getting a new rotor or a more modern antenna? I noticed a lot of new motorized amplified 360 degree antennas that are cheaper than a new rotor, but I have no idea if they are any good.
> 
> 3) Would my reception actually improve if I bypassed the preamp on the thought that the preamp may actually be driving up the noise? That would be the toughest option for me because the mast is high above my chimney.
> 
> Thank you.


 I would suggest you do a rescan first and see if that resolves your problems. As noted above their have been a lot of changes where stations are transmitting from and a what frequency they are transmitting at. If you have a Radio Shack VU-190 and a CM-7777 pre-amp that should work to get an adequate signal. There is no difference in an analog and digital antenna in picking up the signals assuming you have both a VHF and UHF antenna. I would suggest you invest in a remote control rotor and replace you failed unit (Channel Master makes a good one) when weather permits.


The FCC requiring stations to relocate their transmitting locations may also be creating some signal interference that you did not previously have. A lot of these changes just went into effect, so that could be an issue as well.


----------



## howie14

MRG1 said:


> I'm not an expert on antennas, so I can't answer your question - but I bet there is no way to know what the problem is other than trying the other solutions in turn. It is also possible one or more of your electrical connections (on the mast, preamp, somewhere inside the house, to the rotor, etc.) has started to go bad.
> 
> I'm sure you realize that such cold weather is sufficiently infrequent in DC that if you think that is the problem, you could just wait a few days.


Thanks to both you and PClement for the replies. In answer to your second paragraph, the station popped back on this afternoon when the SNR on my 2006 Hitachi TV hit 43 after jumping between 0, 7 and 23 for two days. I am going to take PClement's advice and replace the rotor in spring since my current antenna-he got the model number right, I recognized it-is still considered up to the challenge.


----------



## MRG1

howie14 said:


> Thanks to both you and PClement for the replies. In answer to your second paragraph, the station popped back on this afternoon when the SNR on my 2006 Hitachi TV hit 43 after jumping between 0, 7 and 23 for two days. I am going to take PClement's advice and replace the rotor in spring since my current antenna-he got the model number right, I recognized it-is still considered up to the challenge.


You could just check your electrical contacts first, including to that rotor. Your system is old enough that they could have gone bad - especially with the temperature change, and especially if a conductive grease (like Alcon DeOx) wasn't used in the install to keep out the water, and something wasn't done to prevent the connection from loosening. An electrician told me that it's asking a lot of an electrical connection to stay good outdoors over an extended time. Apparently, contacts easily corrode (oxidize), or shake a little loose. 

While you are at it, you could check that the grounding on the antenna is still good. As best I understand it (definitely not an expert), good grounds not only reduce lightning damage to the home, should lightning hit, but they also create a ground plane, which improves signal strength - so if the connection to ground has gone bad, your signal strength, and with it your SNR, might have worsened.

Of course, if cold has caused the signal to skip differently off the atmosphere, so that most of the signal misses your antenna, all the antenna and rotor work in the world might not fix that, unless you raise the antenna a lot. Likewise if trees have grown up and now partially block your reception path. There are so many factors that affect reception, especially if you don't have line-of-sight to the transmission tower, that a combination of factors might mess you up when the weather changes.


----------



## MRG1

I'm curious. How many of you folks do OTA do it because you think it's fun, rather than primarily to save money? 

I played for a while with a homemade attic antenna, even when I had Comcast cable, because I wanted to see if I could do it. I was pleasantly surprised to realize that local broadcasting stations, even ones affiliated with national networks, frequently offered additional shows and movies. Alas, living in a basement, without access to the attic, in a house that doesn't get cable or satellite, that fun has gone away.

I sure wish there were legit ways to stream stations from remote antennas over the Internet. Killing that was one of the worst decisions made, for the TV and radio consumer.


----------



## AntAltMike

StevenJB said:


> On Page One (1) of this AVSForum, under TV Band Repack Channel Destinations, AntAltMike has WETA-TV [Virtual 26] moving from RF-27 to RF-14.
> 
> In the Washington, DC Repack Plan and in the Digital TV Market Listings for Washington, DC, RabbitEars (Trip) has WETA-TV [Virtual 26] moving from RF-27 to RF-31.
> 
> Which is correct?
> 
> AntAltMike has WMPT-TV [Virtual 22] moving from RF-42 to RF-31.
> 
> Trip has WMPT-TV [Virtual 22] moving from RF-42 to RF-21.
> 
> Which is correct?


1. The WETA repack channel of 14 I entered in that list came from a post on this forum last year. I just visited the WETA Wikipedia page, and it has an unsourced, repack destination of 31. I have changed the repack destination in the masthead post from 14 to 31, but I will try to make time to investigate it further. 

2. Regarding WMPT, I thought I had gotten that repack destination of channel 31 from someone here who has business relations with WMPT at the time I produced that list. Regrettably, while I update the latest revision date for that masthead post each time I edit it, I do not note what the edit was or what it's source was.

The WMPT Wikipedia page does not give a Repack destination , but this site, FCCInfo.com, http://www.fccinfo.com/CMDProEngine.php?sCurrentService=TV&tabSearchType=Appl&sAppIDNumber=1261425 still says 31 for WETA, and when I used its "New Search" and "Search by Station Call Sign", but it also says that WMPT is going to channel 31. Regrettably, it does not include a source or a latest revision date for either destination.

One plausible reconciliation is that the site's WETA designation of 31 is wrong. Another is that its WMPT repack designation of 31 is wrong. Another is that WETA and WMPT will be sharing the bandwidth of channel 31. I no longer have the contacts I once had to just call up someone I know and ask them. Stay tuned.


----------



## Trip in VA

AntAltMike said:


> 1. The WETA repack channel of 14 I entered in that list came from a post on this forum last year. I just visited the WETA Wikipedia page, and it has an unsourced, repack destination of 31. I have changed the repack destination in the masthead post from 14 to 31, but I will try to make time to investigate it further.
> 
> 2. Regarding WMPT, I thought I had gotten that repack destination of channel 31 from someone here who has business relations with WMPT at the time I produced that list. Regrettably, while I update the latest revision date for that masthead post each time I edit it, I do not note what the edit was or what it's source was.
> 
> The WMPT Wikipedia page does not give a Repack destination , but this site, FCCInfo.com, http://www.fccinfo.com/CMDProEngine.php?sCurrentService=TV&tabSearchType=Appl&sAppIDNumber=1261425 still says 31 for WETA, and when I used its "New Search" and "Search by Station Call Sign", but it also says that WMPT is going to channel 31. Regrettably, it does not include a source or a latest revision date for either destination.
> 
> One plausible reconciliation is that the site's WETA designation of 31 is wrong. Another is that its WMPT repack designation of 31 is wrong. Another is that WETA and WMPT will be sharing the bandwidth of channel 31. I no longer have the contacts I once had to just call up someone I know and ask them. Stay tuned.


Mike,

My quote here, from 1/10, should help:



Trip in VA said:


> The FCC approved changes to the channels of WETA, WMPT, WFPT, and WCPB (Salisbury) late last week, so the RabbitEars information is correct.


- Trip


----------



## StevenJB

MRG1 said:


> I'm curious. How many of you folks do OTA do it because you think it's fun, rather than primarily to save money?


I like OTA because I will never allow any cable or satellite provider to dictate to me what local channels I am allowed to receive where I live. The Washington-Baltimore region is very unique for local television. I may be wrong and Trip (RabbitEars) can correct me if I am but I believe that the Washington-Baltimore region is the only DMA in the U.S. which has its own dedicated set of network channels for each city. I get duplicates of every network channel. Both cities are very close to each other, geographically yet each city has its own separate set of network channels. Dallas-Fort Worth. Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Seattle-Tacoma, or San Francisco-Oakland do not have separate network channels for each city.

None of the cable companies or satellite providers where I live in Montgomery County, MD, will carry both cities local network channels to me even though I am only 25 miles from Baltimore and 15 miles from Washington. Verizon, Infinity, DirecTV, and Dish, all will only provide to Montgomery County the Washington local channels to me. Baltimore locals are not available to me except for Maryland Public Television from Annapolis.

With my outdoor antenna, rotor, and pre-amp, I receive Northern Virginia, Frederick, Washington, and Baltimore locals very strongly. I receive most of the low power digital stations from Washington. In the warmer weather, I reliably receive Channel 8 from Lancaster, PA, 80 miles away. I can watch local news and programming and different NFL games not carried by cable or satellite providers. My neighbors, who lack outdoor roof antennas, cannot.


----------



## AntAltMike

StevenJB said:


> I like OTA because I will never allow any cable or satellite provider to dictate to me what local channels I am allowed to receive where I live. The Washington-Baltimore region is very unique for local television. I may be wrong and Trip (RabbitEars) can correct me if I am but I believe that the Washington-Baltimore region is the only DMA in the U.S. which has its own dedicated set of network channels for each city.


Except that Washington-Baltimore is not one DMA. It is two DMAs, but surely the geographically closest DMAs, such that millions of people can get reliable signals from both markets with inexpensive antennas.

When I lived in the New Hampshire seacoast region, we could get all the major network stations from both Boston, Massachusetts and Portland, Maine, though it did usually require a good rooftop antenna and a rotor. In the 1960s few TVs had remotes, so it was important to watch games at a house where someone could station his kid brother to flip between channels and spin the rotor on command.


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## AntAltMike

AntAltMike said:


> Except that Washington-Baltimore is not one DMA. It is two DMAs, but surely the geographically closest DMAs, such that millions of people can get reliable signals from both markets with inexpensive antennas.....


Distance from Washington, DC to Baltimore, MD 35 miles. From Boston, MA to Providence, RI, 41 miles.

Still, Baltimore/Washington is most useful DMA pair because they have different pro football and pro baseball teams.


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## Trip in VA

StevenJB said:


> I like OTA because I will never allow any cable or satellite provider to dictate to me what local channels I am allowed to receive where I live. The Washington-Baltimore region is very unique for local television. I may be wrong and Trip (RabbitEars) can correct me if I am but I believe that the Washington-Baltimore region is the only DMA in the U.S. which has its own dedicated set of network channels for each city. I get duplicates of every network channel. Both cities are very close to each other, geographically yet each city has its own separate set of network channels. Dallas-Fort Worth. Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Seattle-Tacoma, or San Francisco-Oakland do not have separate network channels for each city.


Washington and Baltimore are separate DMAs, just very close together geographically.

Markets with similar close spacing include Boston and Providence, Cincinnati and Dayton, and Hartford and Springfield MA.

- Trip


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## MRG1

StevenJB said:


> I like OTA because I will never allow any cable or satellite provider to dictate to me what local channels I am allowed to receive where I live...


Good reason! Especially for sports fans concerned with sports blackouts.

However, don't sports blackout laws and limits on what stations a cable system can carry relate more to federal law than to the decisions of the cable operator?

For what it is worth, not all of the IPTV aggregators count "local" channels the same. For example, I live near the University of Maryland. Sling TV and DirecTVNow only let me watch some of the major broadcast networks (which I count as ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CW). YoutubeTV lets me watch all of them, though some of them are only live, or some programs within the network are only live, rather than on demand, which I prefer.

However, none of those services let me watch more than one station per major network - so none would do what you want.

Some time ago, before there were retransmission fees, and limits on what broadcast channels a cable system could carry, many cable systems let people watch several stations / network. In addition, there were typically no boxes, so every TV or VCR in the house could share the same cable connection, without paying extra - and there was nothing to block VCRs from recording programs. (I think sports blackouts weren't present a few decades ago either, but am not sure.) 

From my point of view, the HDTV revolution has been negative in almost every respect - a perfect example of FCC administrators picking the interests of the broadcasters and wireless companies, who pay the user fees that pay for their jobs and those of their underlings, over those of the general public. Higher resolution looks nice, and makes it easier to read text that shows on-screen during movies - but that is the only plus, not enough to make up for all the disadvantages. For that matter, old SD signals were usable over longer distances than new HD signals (though I suspect a sophisticated receiver could be designed that could deconvolute most of the problem). I wonder if that has helped drive up the price of cable and other aggregator TV, despite competition from satellite TV, which should have brought cable prices down, because you need a much better antenna to receive HDTV broadcasts over long distances.


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## Trip in VA

MRG1 said:


> From my point of view, the HDTV revolution has been negative in almost every respect - a perfect example of FCC administrators picking the interests of the broadcasters and wireless companies, who pay the user fees that pay for their jobs and those of their underlings, over those of the general public. Higher resolution looks nice, and makes it easier to read text that shows on-screen during movies - but that is the only plus, not enough to make up for all the disadvantages. For that matter, old SD signals were usable over longer distances than new HD signals (though I suspect a sophisticated receiver could be designed that could deconvolute most of the problem). I wonder if that has helped drive up the price of cable and other aggregator TV, despite competition from satellite TV, which should have brought cable prices down, because you need a much better antenna to receive HDTV broadcasts over long distances.


So, the addition of extra programming via subchannels is not a plus? Surround sound audio is not a plus? Perfect clarity is not a plus? Digital error correction is not a plus? Providing a method of watching TV that is actually competitive with cable and satellite services in terms of quality is not a plus?

And besides, your sole negative is overstated. Saying that signals "don't travel as far" is to misunderstand how they work. People who received signals that the FCC would have considered viewable continued to receive them in most cases, though some needed VHF/UHF antennas instead of VHF-only antennas, and many stations moved from VHF to UHF, which covers a shorter range but provides better service throughout the somewhat smaller coverage area, so it's a trade-off. People who watched signals that were barely viewable by squinting through static or ghosts lost them, yes, but those people never had great service to begin with, or simply never bothered to install something better. And some of those people actually had perfectly passable signals, but on low-VHF in particular, the antennas were too electrically short and couldn't properly capture the signal. Now that they're on UHF or high-VHF, it's better.

That's not to say our digital TV standard is by any means perfect, as 8VSB has significant flaws that ATSC 3.0 will, hopefully, help correct. But for many people it constitutes a significant improvement.

- Trip


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## AntAltMike

The FCC cannot mandate that an IP aggregator include all local broadcast channels. Last I knew there was a rule that the local franchised cable companies had to include all local channels provided that a broadcaster wanted them carried and that the broadcaster provided and maintained a reception antenna at the cable headend facility that developed signals in the range of -4dBmV to 0dBmV, depending on the frequency. Now, I know that sounds ridiculously impractical, and I don't know of any cable company where the broadcasters actually maintain their own reception antennas, but last I knew, that's what the regulation said, but it was the cable companies themselves that all maintained the reception antennas just because it was and is more practical to do so.

As far as splitting the signals is concerned, in the 1970s and 1980s, it was illegal for households to install splitters in their cable lines to support additional TVs without paying the per set fee. I don't remember if splitting was first allowed during the mid 1980s deregulation or the early 1990s reregulation, which affirmed the cable company's right to have monopolistic control of the descrambling boxes, albeit with regulated rental rates based on historic and projected cost of supplying and supporting them.

As far as having your local cable company carry adjacent market signals is concerned, when I first moved to the DC area, most DC market cable companies carried some but not all of the Baltimore channels. I think it was a matter of the local cable companies not agreeing to mutually beneficial financial terms with the stations to include them.


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## KEVINL71

Of course SYNDEX would kill it off, but...

I stayed at a hotel in the Rosslyn section of Arlington, VA in August of 1989 (close to the Key Bridge). The cable at that time carried the "big 3" and the smaller FOX from Baltimore, despite clearly being in the Washington DMA. WWOR-TV channel 9 from the New York City DMA was carried. I distinctly remember them airing Mets vs Padres that weekend!

Today in the area I live, central Connecticut, it depends on your provider. Comcast in New Britain and Hartford only carries PBS from Springfield, MA for out-of-market stations. A relative who has Frontier (same county) doesn't get the Springfield station. However, due to the package they have, _do_ get the big stations from New York City and channel 50 from Montclair, NJ (PBS?) in HD and with no blackouts. Strange!


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## AntAltMike

KEVINL71 said:


> Of course SYNDEX would kill it off, but...
> 
> I stayed at a hotel in the Rosslyn section of Arlington, VA in August of 1989 (close to the Key Bridge). The cable at that time carried the "big 3" and the smaller FOX from Baltimore, despite clearly being in the Washington DMA. WWOR-TV channel 9 from the New York City DMA was carried. I distinctly remember them airing Mets vs Padres that weekend!


Nearly all hotels got their "cable" TV channels from big dish, C-band antennas and got their lowband signals from their broadcast TV antennas back then. As recently as a decade ago, most of those hotels had converted their headends to DirecTV yet many still used broadcast analog as their local TV source and often continued to maintain their older strip amps for Baltimore channels 2, 11 and 13. 

I installed a headend in a Washington, DC hotel in 2013 in which I combined broadcast digital with analog DirecTV, though I didn't get the customer to spring for the cost of the Baltimore channels, which I was receiving and processing on the roof with my test TV. A couple of years earlier, I had installed an analog headend for them at another one of their hotels in Arlington and they were amenable to having me add the Baltimore and Washington stations in broadcast digital, but what broke the deal was that while they had clear, line of site reception from Baltimore, their Washington stations were blocked by a building ten stories higher to the north, and they weren't going to commission an expensive upgrade just to bring in enhanced quality signals from their secondary market while having just analog, modulated standard definition Washington locals sourced by DirecTV.


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## KEVINL71

Wow! That sucks about the building! As for the cable line-up at that time, it sure looked like the local Arlington Cable lineup! I checked it with one of the local papers and pretty much everything matched up. I had the Washington locals, MPT, and the big Baltimore stations. I don't remember if channels 24 or 54 from Baltimore were on that lineup or not.


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## StevenJB

MRG1 said:


> For that matter, old SD signals were usable over longer distances than new HD signals (though I suspect a sophisticated receiver could be designed that could deconvolute most of the problem). I wonder if that has helped drive up the price of cable and other aggregator TV, despite competition from satellite TV, which should have brought cable prices down, because you need a much better antenna to receive HDTV broadcasts over long distances.


It would be helpful for you when stating your arguments to better understand the basic technology of what you are trying to describe. Your argument is confusing. You are conflating the old NTSC analog system with the new ATSC digital system by describing the old analog television as SD. SD refers to the newer Standard Definition ATSC digital broadcasting system using 480i or 480p vertical resolution which is used in the U.S. HD refers to High Definition ATSC digital broadcasting using 720p, 1080i, and 1080p vertical resolution.

Your allegation that NTSC analog signals were usable over longer distances than ATSC digital signals is an oversimplification. It depends upon what you consider “usable”. Sure, I could regularly receive analog signals from over 100 miles away but a “snowy” picture was always a constant factor. Fade in and fade out was pernicious. Getting the vertical and horizontal hold to stabilize was always a challenge.

Perhaps, the FCC will entertain increasing the allowable transmission power for each remaining digital channel after the re-pack is complete. That would go a long way in addressing your concerns.


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## AntAltMike

KEVINL71 said:


> Of course SYNDEX would kill it off, but...
> 
> I stayed at a hotel in the Rosslyn section of Arlington, VA in August of 1989 (close to the Key Bridge). ... WWOR-TV channel 9 from the New York City DMA was carried. I distinctly remember them airing Mets vs Padres that weekend!


In 1989, there were six television stations that made their signals available on C-band satellite: WPIX and WWOR from New York City, WGN from Chicago, WTBS from Atlanta, WSBK from Boston and I think the call letters for the Los Angeles station was KTLA. All six of those stations carried lots of local MLB games.

There were contractual exclusivity issues pressed by the local broadcasters who believed their own syndicated programming carriage agreements were being violated. Those six stations were said to be "grandfathered" in some sense, which I think meant that any residential customer who had subscribed to them could continue to receive them but new customers could not sign up. An alternative that WGN and WTBS decided to pursue was to simply eliminate the offending carriage. I think Happy Days reruns had to be dropped on the C-band satellite versions of the local broadcast channels.

Apart from that, I think the professional sports leagues pressured WGN to reduce its MLB and Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks games by maybe a dozen or so each year from year to year, while Turner Broadcasting took advantage of the situation to move much of the sports to its new channel, TNT, making it more desirable to commercial headend customers.


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## StevenJB

MRG1 said:


> . . . because you need a much better antenna to receive HDTV broadcasts over long distances.


The same exact antenna that you once used for analog television works perfectly for digital television. Marketers or antenna salesmen who use the term "digital" antenna are simply conning you into removing your old Low VHF/High VHF/UHF antenna that you used for analog television. In fact, I would strongly recommend to you or anyone else in keeping that old Low VHF antenna. I have always used mine for receiving excellent FM analog broadcasting and now the new FM digital broadcasting called "HD Radio" or iBiquity in-band on channel (IBOC) digital radio. For the uninitiated, Low VHF Television Channel 6 is located between 82 mHz and 88 mHz. Old analog Television Channel 6 used an FM frequency of 87.75 mHz for audio. The FM Broadcast Band is located between VHF frequencies 88 mHz to 108 mHz. So, save that old Low VHF antenna! My OTA antenna when teamed up with a rotor and pre-amp not only gets me excellent digital television reception which I have described previously but excellent FM analog and digital radio broadcast reception, as well.


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## AntAltMike

StevenJB said:


> It would be helpful for you when stating your arguments to better understand the basic technology of what you are trying to describe. Your argument is confusing. ...
> 
> Your allegation that NTSC analog signals were usable over longer distances than ATSC digital signals is an oversimplification. It depends upon what you consider “usable”. Sure, I could regularly receive analog signals from over 100 miles away but a “snowy” picture was always a constant factor. Fade in and fade out was pernicious. Getting the vertical and horizontal hold to stabilize was always a challenge.


Unfortunately for those of us who were in the residential antenna reception business at the time of the digital transition, we went from being in the installation business to being in the arguing business. People could and would tolerate graininess, ghost images and airplane reflections that might have disrupted only one 1/30 of a second frame, and many were use to seeing visual snowflake-like interference on their lowest VHF channels, but with digital, one master frame disruption can visually destroy a picture for an entire second, and can disrupt the audio, which is compressed, for an interval of several seconds.

What was even more inane was the "competition" we incurred with the customers and their alternative sources of wisdom. I would install antennas in harsh reception situations, and when the customers were dissatisfied with the imperfect reliability of his reception, they could ask around and find out that other people said they were getting "better" reception with different hardware, and if they tweaked their own antennas, they could conclude, to their own satisfaction, that they had made their reception better, when quite often, they were favoring their results in their assessments, or they might have compared the incidence of failure during a sporting event where the forward error correction does not keep up with the frame-to-frame data changes, whereas during the commercials, and even during time outs, the error correction easily keeps up.

All but one of the old antennas companies in the Washington, DC market exited the business, and the one remaining one changed its name and emphasis. I was carrying about $20,000 in Yellow pages advertising in about a dozen metropolitan area phonebooks, but I wound up dropping it all because the new customer calls I got weren't even worth taking.



> Perhaps, the FCC will entertain increasing the allowable transmission power for each remaining digital channel after the re-pack is complete. That would go a long way in addressing your concerns.


I doubt it. We have been all 8VSB digital for seven and a half years now so whatever reception MRG1 has experienced is about the best that he will likely enjoy in the future.


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## StevenJB

AntAltMike said:


> As far as having your local cable company carry adjacent market signals is concerned, when I first moved to the DC area, most DC market cable companies carried some but not all of the Baltimore channels. I think it was a matter of the local cable companies not agreeing to mutually beneficial financial terms with the stations to include them.


During the 1980's, the original cable television provider in Montgomery County, MD, was called Cable TV Montgomery or Montgomery TV Cable. Initially, they carried every Baltimore local including at the time Channels 2, 11, 13, 22, 45, and 54. I do not believe that 24 was as of yet broadcasting at that time. Then slowly but steadily each and every channel disappeared except for 22. I can only surmise that the local Washington stations pressured the cable providers servicing the Washington-area jurisdictions to drop their Baltimore counterparts. In fact, about three years ago, Verizon FiOS carried NBC Channel 25 WHAG-TV (now WDVM) from Hagerstown, MD, into Montgomery County. NBC-owned WRC-4 was powerful enough to get Verizon to drop WHAG. That soured me forever with local television on cable. That is why I use an OTA antenna.


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## tylerSC

KEVINL71 said:


> Wow! That sucks about the building! As for the cable line-up at that time, it sure looked like the local Arlington Cable lineup! I checked it with one of the local papers and pretty much everything matched up. I had the Washington locals, MPT, and the big Baltimore stations. I don't remember if channels 24 or 54 from Baltimore were on that lineup or not.


I remember back in the 90's many hotels and cable systems in Northern Virginia and Maryland carried both Baltimore and DC channels. I am not sure how it is today. Many high rise apartments also had master antennas that carried both DC and Baltimore. And you could pick up Baltimore in Alexandria Va. with rabbit ears and loop amplified antenna. I am hoping to visit the area soon and I may bring an antenna and small TV to play around with. And I will definitely find a Roy Rogers to visit as they are slowly but surely making a successful comeback in several suburban locations in Virginia and Maryland. They were always my favorite fast food restaurant and they failed only after being converted to Hardee's.


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## AntAltMike

tylerSC said:


> ,,,I will definitely find a Roy Rogers to visit as they are slowly but surely making a successful comeback in several suburban locations in Virginia and Maryland. They were always my favorite fast food restaurant and they failed only after being converted to Hardee's.


Most of the local Roy Rogers here were converted to McDonald's about a decade and a half ago. The nearest one I continued to encounter was on US Route 1, either in southern Alexandria or northern Ft. Belvoir, but I haven't been that way in years. "Real food for real people."


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## tylerSC

StevenJB said:


> The same exact antenna that you once used for analog television works perfectly for digital television. Marketers or antenna salesmen who use the term "digital" antenna are simply conning you into removing your old Low VHF/High VHF/UHF antenna that you used for analog television. In fact, I would strongly recommend to you or anyone else in keeping that old Low VHF antenna. I have always used mine for receiving excellent FM analog broadcasting and now the new FM digital broadcasting called "HD Radio" or iBiquity in-band on channel (IBOC) digital radio. For the uninitiated, Low VHF Television Channel 6 is located between 82 mHz and 88 mHz. Old analog Television Channel 6 used an FM frequency of 87.75 mHz for audio. The FM Broadcast Band is located between VHF frequencies 88 mHz to 108 mHz. So, save that old Low VHF antenna! My OTA antenna when teamed up with a rotor and pre-amp not only gets me excellent digital television reception which I have described previously but excellent FM analog and digital radio broadcast reception, as well.


Those large UHF/VHF combo antennas are indeed excellent for FM radio reception and HD Radio. And in some markets some channels may move to Low VHF after the repack. So they remain very useful, and the older versions from Channel Master, Winegard, and Antennacraft (Radioshack) remain very useful and functional. But if cosmetics is a concern, some of the smaller antennas may work, such as the Clearstream 4V. But they are more optimized for UHF with the loops but they do have a dipole for VHF. Although higher VHF gain may be needed at certain distances.


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## tylerSC

AntAltMike said:


> Most of the local Roy Rogers here were converted to McDonald's about a decade and a half ago. The nearest one I continued to encounter was on US Route 1, either in southern Alexandria or northern Ft. Belvoir, but I haven't been that way in years. "Real food for real people."


After the Hardee's conversion failed, they were sold to McDonald's. The Frederick, MD franchise operator now owns the brand and is rebuilding locations in Northern Virginia and Maryland, and has locations in Alexandria, Manassas, Gaithersburg, Rockville, and all around Frederick. They are back in New Jersey and looking to return to Pennsylvania. And they still have some in the travel plazas in Jersey and Pa, but I don't recommend those.


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## Trip in VA

AntAltMike said:


> Most of the local Roy Rogers here were converted to McDonald's about a decade and a half ago. The nearest one I continued to encounter was on US Route 1, either in southern Alexandria or northern Ft. Belvoir, but I haven't been that way in years. "Real food for real people."


It's on Route 1 right before the turn onto Jeff Todd Way (which is, itself, the eastern boundary of Fort Belvoir North). My wife and I tried it one day and didn't see what all the fuss was about.

- Trip


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## tylerSC

Trip in VA said:


> It's on Route 1 right before the turn onto Jeff Todd Way (which is, itself, the eastern boundary of Fort Belvoir North). My wife and I tried it one day and didn't see what all the fuss was about.
> 
> - Trip


Their roast beef was a better grade than Arby's, their fried chicken beat KFC in taste tests, and their burgers were better than McDonald's. And they had a fixins bar to fix your sandwich the way you like it. I always found them to have good variety and good quality, and they were once very prevalent in the Mid Atlantic and the Northeast. There even used to be a location in Greensboro, NC that my grandparents always took me to when visiting years ago. I was disappointed when Marriott sold them to Hardee's, but glad they are now slowly making a successful comeback.

But to get back to topic, do you know when WDCA will go dark and start channel sharing with WTTG? And what about WMYT and WJZY? Has that been decided yet?


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## Trip in VA

At present, they have until 4/23 to go off the air.

- Trip


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## MRG1

I know that a lot of people love to point out the resolution of their UHD TV sets. But to me, resolution - and old-style analog ghosting - are largely irrelevant. I don't really notice resolution after the first few minutes, and I didn't pay a lot of attention to ghosting either, because it didn't much affect the understand-ability of the shows. OTOH, new style sets often completely drop the program for long time stretches if they get an imperfect signal, often making it impossible to understand what is going on. So, from my perspective, old style analog did go much farther. And I loved that a simple VHS tape deck could record everything, before DMCA and encryption got into the game.

More channels isn't always better. I think there are only so many good script writers and good producers - so what has happened now is that you need to receive a lot more channels to get the same number of the good shows. It used to be that if you got ABC, CBS, and NBC, and maybe PBS, you got just about everything worth while. I'm also under the impression that each major network now shows a lot more reruns, and less new content.

Maybe I'm just an old codger dreaming of the imaginary "good old days". But much of the OTA community seems a lot like that. They work so very hard to avoid paying for cable or satellite TV, that it seems somewhat like a hobby that they have come to enjoy.

BTW, do the best new "digital" YAGI antennas have fewer antenna elements than the old "analog" YAGI antennas, because current ATSC channels include fewer frequencies than NTSC channels did in its heyday?


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## tylerSC

MRG1 said:


> I know that a lot of people love to point out the resolution of their UHD TV sets. But to me, resolution - and old-style analog ghosting - are largely irrelevant. I don't really notice resolution after the first few minutes, and I didn't pay a lot of attention to ghosting either, because it didn't much affect the understand-ability of the shows. OTOH, new style sets often completely drop the program for long time stretches if they get an imperfect signal, often making it impossible to understand what is going on. So, from my perspective, old style analog did go much farther. And I loved that a simple VHS tape deck could record everything, before DMCA and encryption got into the game.
> 
> More channels isn't always better. I think there are only so many good script writers and good producers - so what has happened now is that you need to receive a lot more channels to get the same number of the good shows. It used to be that if you got ABC, CBS, and NBC, and maybe PBS, you got just about everything worth while. I'm also under the impression that each major network now shows a lot more reruns, and less new content.
> 
> Maybe I'm just an old codger dreaming of the imaginary "good old days". But much of the OTA community seems a lot like that. They work so very hard to avoid paying for cable or satellite TV, that it seems somewhat like a hobby that they have come to enjoy.
> 
> BTW, do the best new "digital" YAGI antennas have fewer antenna elements than the old "analog" YAGI antennas, because current ATSC channels include fewer frequencies than NTSC channels did in its heyday?


Some of the smaller antennas marketed as digital have fewer elements because they are primarily optimized for UHF. More elements are added for High VHF and Low VHF, and some of these antennas are still made. And in general a fringe antenna will have more elements to receive further distant signals. None of this has changed. A small thin, "digital" antenna is the Mohu Leaf. But a better compact antenna is the Clearstream 4MAX or Clearstream 2MAX, with UHF loops and a VHF dipole. But an even larger antenna for High VHF and UHF is the Winegard 7698, or the all band Winegard 8200, which adds more elements for Low VHF and FM radio. Often these larger antennas are needed for reliable digital reception, especially in the fringe. And with the upcoming repack, the traditional large 8200 style antenna may be needed again, as some channels may return to Low VHF. But these large antennas are also excellent for FM radio, including HD Radio.


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## tylerSC

Speaking of antennas, there used to be large installers in the DC area such as Fairfax Antenna in Virginia, and Davis Antenna in Waldorf, Maryland. Are any of these companies still around?


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## aaronwt

Did the CW change broadcast frequencies? 

I was wondering why I had no signal for the last couple of nights on my TiVo. And their website says to do a re-scan. Fortunately my OTA recordings are just backups for my FiOS recordings.


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## poppagene

aaronwt said:


> Did the CW change broadcast frequencies?
> 
> I was wondering why I had no signal for the last couple of nights on my TiVo. And their website says to do a re-scan. Fortunately my OTA recordings are just backups for my FiOS recordings.



They changed from 50 to 15. TiVo guide hasn't got it sorted out yet. If you go to the tivo channel list (not the guide) there are 2 instances of 50-1 and 2 instances of 50-2. The first of each corresponds to the guide and one pass info. The second two are the channels that actually get the video signal -- too bad there isn't any guide data yet to go along with the video signals.


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## DrOct

poppagene said:


> They changed from 50 to 15. TiVo guide hasn't got it sorted out yet. I you go to the tivo channel list (not the guide) there are 2 instances of 50-1 and 2 instances of 50-2. The first of each corresponds to the guide and one pass info. The second two are the channels that actually get the video signal -- to bad there isn't any guide data yet to go along with the video signals.


Good to know! I was a bit concerned when just a few minutes ago I wasn't getting any signal on 50.1! I actually just moved a bunch of my coax this week and was sure I had tested that channel but was suddenly worried I'd need to start testing every connection and/or reaim my antenna! Glad I thought to come here and check with you knowledgeable folks.

thankfully I also get the Baltimore CW station pretty well and my DVR was smart enough to fall back to that for recordings.


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## carltonrice

poppagene said:


> They changed from 50 to 15. TiVo guide hasn't got it sorted out yet. I you go to the tivo channel list (not the guide) there are 2 instances of 50-1 and 2 instances of 50-2. The first of each corresponds to the guide and one pass info. The second two are the channels that actually get the video signal -- to bad there isn't any guide data yet to go along with the video signals.


I wondered where they went. Glad it's not just me. I will do the rescan tomorrow and hopefully they'll be back.


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## AntAltMike

tylerSC said:


> Speaking of antennas, there used to be large installers in the DC area such as Fairfax Antenna in Virginia, and Davis Antenna in Waldorf, Maryland. Are any of these companies still around?


Fairfax Antenna is now operating as Fairfax AVI. Their link in the masthead post on this thread still works. The last time I spoke to anyone from that company was when someone there called me up to tell me that Davis Antenna's phone was disconnected. The Action Antenna link in the masthead post still works, too, but I didn't test the phone numbers. 

Davis, and Capital Antenna of Hyattsville, each discontinued installation operations about half a decade ago. I scoffed up some of Davis's inventory of old stuff that otherwise would have been dumpster material because I like having it just in case someone wants me to restore an old system that has served the customer adequately. Peake Communications of Silver Spring ceased operations about 20 years ago, and Antronnix, also of Silver Spring and in the same industrial Park as Peake, repurposed as a highrise fire alarm system company and stopped servicing antennas when I left them in 1995.

As I mentioned a few posts above, with the advent of digital transmission, we went from being in the installation business to being in the arguing business and there was just no way that any of us could keep selling residential and keep our sanity. On top of that, everyone customer acquired the means to immediately "price check", and often demanded to pay the same price for the hardware we were installing and selling them that they could pay if they had obtained it directly, which made the installation price schedules unsustainable.

It was even worse for Davis, because they had a substantial resale business, and UPS would sometimes double and triple shipping rates for fragile antenna boxes without advance notification. Sometimes, UPS would all-of-a-sudden start charging one antenna shipping company three times as much to ship antennas as it was charging another, probably just because their shipments had reached a trigger level of customer damage claims. I remember once I ordered two Winegard antennas from North American Cable, about 100 miles away, and they wanted $90 to ship them, while Solid Signal could ship me the same two antennas for $20.

But mostly, the problem was that the customer could see definitive, if infrequent, defects in digital pictures that they felt the professional installer should be able to totally eliminate, and dealing with each dissatisfied customer's complaints totally wiped out the profits on several successful installations.


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## carltonrice

Another question on the WDCW frequency change. I did a rescan and things seem to be coming in very well on the channel 15 frequency. I wondered if (in addition to changing the frequency) they have changed the transmitter site. Are they now broadcasting channel 15 on their old transmitter (which I think was in Silver Spring) or have they moved to share the tower that channels 7 and 9 are on? This would make sense because of Sinclair's ownership of channel 7 (WJLA) and their purchase of the Tribune stations which owns WDCW. And it would fit with my improved reception when the antenna is aimed at the other DC network affiliates.


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## AntAltMike

carltonrice said:


> Another question on the WDCW frequency change. I did a rescan and things seem to be coming in very well on the channel 15 frequency. I wondered if (in addition to changing the frequency) they have changed the transmitter site. Are they now broadcasting channel 15 on their old transmitter (which I think was in Silver Spring) or have they moved to share the tower that channels 7 and 9 are on? .


I will defer to anyone more knowledgeable on this matter, but as I understand it, they are no longer operating a transmitter. I think that their local CW network and Antenna TV broadcasts are now simply mixed in with WFDC's four channels and modulated for broadcast together.

That does mean that UHF channel 15 is carrying two 720p HDTV channels along with four 480i. SDTV channels. That is more data than we had originally expected them to be able to squeeze into one 6MHz channel. The possibilities I can contemplate are, 1) that data compression has evolved, or 2) that they are perhaps using a little less forward error correction.


----------



## carltonrice

AntAltMike said:


> I will defer to anyone more knowledgeable on this matter, but as I understand it, they are no longer operating a transmitter. I think that their local CW network and Antenna TV broadcasts are now simply mixed in with WFDC's four channels and modulated for broadcast together.
> 
> That does mean that UHF channel 15 is carrying two 720p HDTV channels along with four 480i. SDTV channels. That is more data than we had originally expected them to be able to squeeze into one 6MHz channel. The possibilities I can contemplate are, 1) that data compression has evolved, or 2) that they are perhaps using a little less forward error correction.


So their transmitter did move. They are now broadcasting on the same transmitter as channel 14 (frequency 15). Although I looked up on Wikipedia and it shows different longitude/latitude coordinates for them. But, that would make sense as I've always had strong signal on that channel.


----------



## Trip in VA

AntAltMike said:


> The possibilities I can contemplate are, 1) that data compression has evolved, or 2) that they are perhaps using a little less forward error correction.


ATSC 1.0 doesn't give you the ability to adjust the FEC, so it's #1 .

- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike

carltonrice said:


> So their transmitter did move. They are now broadcasting on the same transmitter as channel 14 (frequency 15). Although I looked up on Wikipedia and it shows different longitude/latitude coordinates for them. But, that would make sense as I've always had strong signal on that channel.


I don't think their transmitter moved. Their signal's point of transmission moved, but the electronics called a transmitter, that has been on that tower on or near American University for a decade, stays the same. I think WDCA's transmitter that they had been using to broadcast an 8VSB signalk from their Peabody St. tower, has been shut down for good.


----------



## MRG1

AntAltMike said:


> That does mean that UHF channel 15 is carrying two 720p HDTV channels along with four 480i. SDTV channels. That is more data than we had originally expected them to be able to squeeze into one 6MHz channel. The possibilities I can contemplate are, 1) that data compression has evolved, or 2) that they are perhaps using a little less forward error correction.


I haven't actually read the ATSC standard, so I can't speak authoritatively (and I only ever worked on single image compression/decompression, not audio/video compression), but I think the data compression algorithm was built into the ATSC standard, when it was first created. According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATSC_standards the ATSC 2.0 standard is supposed to be backward compatible. Many people would be very unhappy if old ATSC TVs and DVRs couldn't receive new ATSC signals (which is supposed to be true of ATSC 3.0 - but I don't think it is in much if any use yet?). 

However, as best I understand it, there are a variety of factors within ATSC that can be adjustable, that affect the bits/second. E.g., frame rate, resolution, weighting table... I don't know much about sound compression, but that may be adjustable too. (And things like the weighting table may be generated more adaptively, to fit better the type of video imagery being transmitted - and it may be also picked so as to generate fewer bits / second, on average.) 

I.E.., they may simply be creating lower quality broadcasts than many people thought most people would accept. I notice that some of low res subchannels on many stations are much worse quality than NTSC used to be - they look very blurred, which is exactly what you would expect if the weighting table was picked to reduce the bits sent / DCT coefficient. (As I said, I haven't read ATSC - but on JPEG, the weight table is a table of divisors, which are applied to the results of a 2D DCT of an image. If you pick large divisors, the coefficients are represented inaccurately, and the high frequency coefficients, which contain most of the detail, but are generally smaller in amplitude, are left out. ATSC must be more complicated, because of motion, and inter-frame interpolation, but the idea of a weighting table is probably much the same.) That would indeed blur the images. Also pick a low frame rate, a low resolution to start with, take yourself back to 4/3 aspect ratio, which is fine for old SD reruns, and don't use progressive scan, and you could drop the bits / second a lot.

(Of course, I think the ATSC standard included room for expansion, in terms of data packet types that are ignored by old TVs - which ATSC 2.0 takes advantage of - to provide new interactive services. But I doubt that is the issue here.)

That said, I don't get channel 15, so I can't test at it with an old receiver - e.g., my old TIVO series 3. But, AFAICT, when I had a better antenna location, in late 2016, I was able to receive all the sub-channels on most of the stations I could receive at all with that TIVO. Some stations had about 5 - 10 subchannels. Even with my current lousy basement location, I easily receive all 6 subchannels of channel 66 (WPXW) - and yes, they are all on frequency 34.


----------



## AntAltMike

Of course, they could be starving the bits on the SD channels, too. A decade or more ago, someone used to post how much "bandwidth" each subchannel was using. I think they had a "reader" program analyzing the demodulated data stream. For some reason, the number 19.2MBPS comes to mind. I don't believe that each channel gets a slice of the band, but rather an apportionment of the data stream. 

I remember watching Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom on WUSA one Sunday morning, and there was this leopard sitting down in the grass, and when he got up and slowly sauntered, his spots would become squares, and then go back to being spots when he'd stop.


----------



## MRG1

AntAltMike said:


> Of course, they could be starving the bits on the SD channels, too.


On the channels I've looked at, it is the SD channels that look the most blurred, so I assume that is normal - little priority is given to the SD channels by those broadcasters. 



AntAltMike said:


> I remember watching Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom on WUSA one Sunday morning, and there was this leopard sitting down in the grass, and when he got up and slowly sauntered, his spots would become squares, and then go back to being spots when he'd stop.


Very cool!

It makes sense, if you are techie. More or less squares are a common artifact of DCT-based compression, because a 2D DCT is done by taking a cosine transform (pseudo-fourier transform, but real rather than complex, so you need more frequencies to capture the same data) along each dimension in sequence - so if you only get a few low frequency components (in each 8x8 pixel block, for JPEG - I'm not sure about MPEG or ATSC, but it might be the same size - not generally as good as with larger blocks, but fast to compute), you often end up with rectangular shapes. But with less inter-frame (perhaps I should say inter-master-frame? - I don't know exactly how motion is handled in ATSC) motion to code, it is likely that more bits are available to code each frame, so you get a better results. In addition, one often sees the boundaries of each 8x8 pixel area very clearly, because many of the bits go to code the DC value - i.e., the average pixel value, than to code the intra-block variation.

Or, perhaps the leopard really does change its spots. 

One might assume that if they were showing fish. They are very good at camouflage. They often do change their colors and spot shapes to match the background.


----------



## AntAltMike

Russia Today on 30.4 had been blank for some time now. I was out of town since Tuesday, so I don't I don't know its recent history. There is no Wikipedia page update, or mention of transmitter status that I can find on their website.


----------



## Trip in VA

It's completely gone from the transport stream. Looks like it vanished at 1PM yesterday.

Assuming it's not an equipment failure, it won't be the last channel on MHz to vanish in the next few months.

- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike

Trip in VA said:


> It's completely gone from the transport stream. Looks like it vanished at 1PM yesterday.
> 
> Assuming it's not an equipment failure, it won't be the last channel on MHz to vanish in the next few months.


I don't see why they would discontinue their operation before D-Day, unless they are in the process of implementing their alternative transmission plan. They have made a name for themselves in the political news market, and I can't see them giving up broadcast TV availability in the Washington, DC market.


----------



## Trip in VA

AntAltMike said:


> I don't see why they would discontinue their operation before D-Day, unless they are in the process of implementing their alternative transmission plan. They have made a name for themselves in the political news market, and I can't see them giving up broadcast TV availability in the Washington, DC market.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwnOJQffrv0


Who is "they" in this case? Wherever WNVC/WNVT winds up sharing, they almost certainly won't be able to keep all their subchannels. Some number of them will have to go away. The only question really is which ones.

- Trip


----------



## dleedlee

AntAltMike said:


> Russia Today on 30.4 had been blank for some time now. I was out of town since Tuesday, so I don't I don't know its recent history. There is no Wikipedia page update, or mention of transmitter status that I can find on their website.


I noticed it went off around Wed., I think. My Samsung TV gives a cryptic 'mode not supported' message. It is still on Comcast cable though, saw it yesterday over at my parents' house.


----------



## AntAltMike

Trip in VA said:


> Who is "they" in this case? Wherever WNVC/WNVT winds up sharing, they almost certainly won't be able to keep all their subchannels. Some number of them will have to go away. The only question really is which ones.
> 
> - Trip


The "they" I was referring to was RT/Russia Today. Alternatively I could have called Russia Today, "it".

I don't see the ownership of WNVC/WNVT being the key player in what happens to their (its?) "tenants" unless WNVC/WNVT's status as a displaced license holder gets them some kind of relocation preference that they can confer to the benefit of their tenants.


----------



## TheKrell

AntAltMike said:


> I remember watching Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom on WUSA one Sunday morning, and there was this leopard sitting down in the grass, and when he got up and slowly sauntered, his spots would become squares, and then go back to being spots when he'd stop.


I remember seeing some WETA nature broadcasts where in fast moving scenes (such as panning the camera left to right or even somebody nodding their head) caused _people's faces_ to lag. It was quite disconcerting.


----------



## tesla1886

I live in Winchester VA, about an hour and half from Washington DC.

I may be wrong but I believe a directional antenna is better to use then an omni antenna in this area. However, I am sure like most people I have OTA signals coming from several directions. Although the antenna I have is adjustable with a remote, in today's world of DVRs and / or multiple people watching different TVs, I do not think it is optimal. Even with out DVRs or multiple TVs there is no way of knowing the position of the antenna with out seeing it. The remote is best used for fine tuning the adjustment to get the maximum signal.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=9038751992631f

What is the best way to handle this situation? I have read that it is possible to combine the signals from multiple antennas, but I have also read that doing so could be a problem if the combine signals are out of phase.

Is it possible to combine the signals from multiple antennas into one cable? If so what is the best way to do so

Thank You 

Kevin


----------



## Jake V

tesla1886,

The choice of antennas depends on the signals you want. Go to http://www.tvfool.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=90 . Make a plot and post the URL (enter the address and click "Map This", then use the tools on the map to go to satellite view, zoom in and place the marker over your house.Set the height for the antenna before clicking on "Make Radar Plot" and post the URL from the browser bar. That will give us a good look at what is possible at your location.

Signals arriving at Winchester can be very different due to the terrain. Some people can get Washington, DC stations, others can get some of the Hagerstown Stations, and some Harrisonburg. It all depends on location. 

Jake


----------



## DrDon

Link for @tesla1886: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=9038751992631f

Also edited into his post.


----------



## tesla1886

tesla1886 said:


> I live in Winchester VA, about an hour and half from Washington DC.
> 
> I may be wrong but I believe a directional antenna is better to use then an omni antenna in this area. However, I am sure like most people I have OTA signals coming from several directions. Although the antenna I have is adjustable with a remote, in today's world of DVRs and / or multiple people watching different TVs, I do not think it is optimal. Even with out DVRs or multiple TVs there is no way of knowing the position of the antenna with out seeing it. The remote is best used for fine tuning the adjustment to get the maximum signal.
> 
> What is the best way to handle this situation? I have read that it is possible to combine the signals from multiple antennas, but I have also read that doing so could be a problem if the combine signals are out of phase.
> 
> Is it possible to combine the signals from multiple antennas into one cable? If so what is the best way to do so
> 
> Thank You
> 
> Kevin





Jake V said:


> Make a plot and post the URL (enter the address and click "Map This", then use the tools on the map to go to satellite view, zoom in and place the marker over your house.Set the height for the antenna before clicking on "Make Radar Plot" and post the URL from the browser bar. That will give us a good look at what is possible at your location.


I have done what you asked above. However as I do not have enough post yet to post the link. I have sent DrDon a message asking him to add it. But I do not see much of a difference then what is in the first link.



Jake V said:


> Signals arriving at Winchester can be very different due to the terrain. Some people can get Washington, DC stations, others can get some of the Hagerstown Stations, and some Harrisonburg. It all depends on location.


One day a couple weeks ago I spent a few hours pointing the antenna in pretty much every direction to see what else I could get. While their were duplicates, however there were some new ones. I can get at least some from Hagerstown, Harrisonburg and DC if I can either combine antennas or get one omni that is strong enough.

Thank You

Kevin


----------



## tesla1886

Jake V said:


> The choice of antennas depends on the signals you want. Make a plot and post the URL (enter the address and click "Map This", then use the tools on the map to go to satellite view, zoom in and place the marker over your house.Set the height for the antenna before clicking on "Make Radar Plot" and post the URL from the browser bar. That will give us a good look at what is possible at your location.


I have done what you asked above. However as I do not have enough post yet to post the link. I have sent DrDon a message asking him to add. But I do not see much of a difference then what is in the first link.



Jake V said:


> Signals arriving at Winchester can be very different due to the terrain. Some people can get Washington, DC stations, others can get some of the Hagerstown Stations, and some Harrisonburg. It all depends on location.


One day a couple weeks ago I spent a few hours pointing the antenna in pretty much ever direction to see what else I could get. While there were duplicates, however there were some new ones. I can get at least some from Hagerstown, Harrisonburg and DC if I can either combine antennas or get one omni that is strong enough.


----------



## DrDon

I think it's pretty much the same as the prior link: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=9038c28af388af


----------



## Jake V

Tesla1886,

There's a lot to think about here. Be aware that the TV Fool plot does not account for things between the TV broadcast towers and your antenna (thinks like large buildings and trees). There are no guarantees. 

Since you already have an antenna that you've pointed in various directions I'd try that experiment again, but this time recording your results.

1. Identify your antenna (brand, model number and whatever details you know about it).

2. Point your antenna in the three major directions (Hagerstown at 18 degrees, Harrisonburg at 229 degrees and Washington, DC at 115 degrees). Do a channel search and record the stations you get (use your TV Fool plot as a guide).

3. I'd print a paper copy of your plot and add three columns, one for each of the directions the antenna is pointed in. Record a "Yes" or "No" for whether that channel comes in when the antenna is pointed in that direction.

This will be a very useful experiment, as it will provide the details as to what you receive with a known antenna. 

Generally speaking, anything in pink on the plot is going to take a more powerful antenna to get. Signals in gray will be very difficult to receive. 

My first thought would be a two antenna system. You have two difficult VHF-HI channels in Washington, DC, 7 (ABC) and 9 (CBS). For this, maybe the Stellar Labs 30-2476 VHF-HI antenna. For UHF (everything else), maybe the Antennas Direct DB-8e, set up so that one panel faces DC and the the other (with reflector removed to make it bi-directional) at exactly 90 degrees to that.

But there are options.


----------



## MRG1

Jake V said:


> Tesla1886,
> 
> There's a lot to think about here. Be aware that the TV Fool plot does not account for things between the TV broadcast towers and your antenna (thinks like large buildings and trees). There are no guarantees.
> 
> Since you already have an antenna that you've pointed in various directions I'd try that experiment again, but this time recording your results.
> 
> 1. Identify your antenna (brand, model number and whatever details you know about it).
> 
> 2. Point your antenna in the three major directions (Hagerstown at 18 degrees, Harrisonburg at 229 degrees and Washington, DC at 115 degrees). Do a channel search and record the stations you get (use your TV Fool plot as a guide).
> 
> 3. I'd print a paper copy of your plot and add three columns, one for each of the directions the antenna is pointed in. Record a "Yes" or "No" for whether that channel comes in when the antenna is pointed in that direction.
> 
> This will be a very useful experiment, as it will provide the details as to what you receive with a known antenna.
> 
> Generally speaking, anything in pink on the plot is going to take a more powerful antenna to get. Signals in gray will be very difficult to receive.
> 
> My first thought would be a two antenna system. You have two difficult VHF-HI channels in Washington, DC, 7 (ABC) and 9 (CBS). For this, maybe the Stellar Labs 30-2476 VHF-HI antenna. For UHF (everything else), maybe the Antennas Direct DB-8e, set up so that one panel faces DC and the the other (with reflector removed to make it bi-directional) at exactly 90 degrees to that.
> 
> But there are options.


Another thing to consider: There is a difference between "magnetic north" that a compass shows, and "true north" that appears on the plots. What is more, your house probably alters magnetic north, so you can't just apply the local "magnetic anomaly". 

One way to correct for the problem may be to print a local map from, say, maps.google.com, recognize that north is up by default, rotate your map so it matches the local roads, rotate your plot of station directions so it's north matches up on the map, and use the resulting directions.

A better way, that costs money: Commercial antenna installers buy "signal strength meters", and try to point the antenna to maximize signal strength. If you have a small TV (or a laptop PC with TV tuner dongle), you can look at the picture on the screen, and futz around until the signal is strong.

Yet another way: get an electronic rotor on your antenna. Rotate it until the signal is strong. 

Good luck!


----------



## MRG1

Another thing to consider: There is a difference between "magnetic north" that a compass shows, and "true north" that appears on the station position plots. What is more, your house and antenna probably alters local magnetic north, so you can't just apply the local "magnetic anomaly" that you can look up.

One simple way to find true north is be to print a local map from, say, maps.google.com, recognize that north is up by default, rotate your map so it matches the orientation of local roads, rotate your plot of station directions so it's north matches up on the map, and use the resulting directions.

If you are a stargazer, you can look for the direction of the north star...

Another way, that costs money: Commercial antenna installers buy "signal strength meters", and try to point the antenna to maximize signal strength. If you have a small TV (or a laptop PC with TV tuner dongle), connect the antenna to your little TV, look at the picture on the screen, and change antenna orientation until the signal is best.

Yet another way: get an electronic rotor on your antenna. Rotate it until the signal is best. Write down the orientation.

Good luck!


----------



## tesla1886

Jake V said:


> Tesla1886,
> 
> There's a lot to think about here. Be aware that the TV Fool plot does not account for things between the TV broadcast towers and your antenna (thinks like large buildings and trees). There are no guarantees.
> 
> Since you already have an antenna that you've pointed in various directions I'd try that experiment again, but this time recording your results.
> 
> 1. Identify your antenna (brand, model number and whatever details you know about it).
> 
> 2. Point your antenna in the three major directions (Hagerstown at 18 degrees, Harrisonburg at 229 degrees and Washington, DC at 115 degrees). Do a channel search and record the stations you get (use your TV Fool plot as a guide).
> 
> 3. I'd print a paper copy of your plot and add three columns, one for each of the directions the antenna is pointed in. Record a "Yes" or "No" for whether that channel comes in when the antenna is pointed in that direction.
> 
> This will be a very useful experiment, as it will provide the details as to what you receive with a known antenna.
> 
> Generally speaking, anything in pink on the plot is going to take a more powerful antenna to get. Signals in gray will be very difficult to receive.
> 
> My first thought would be a two antenna system. You have two difficult VHF-HI channels in Washington, DC, 7 (ABC) and 9 (CBS). For this, maybe the Stellar Labs 30-2476 VHF-HI antenna. For UHF (everything else), maybe the Antennas Direct DB-8e, set up so that one panel faces DC and the the other (with reflector removed to make it bi-directional) at exactly 90 degrees to that.
> 
> But there are options.


Thank You for your help.

So it sounds like taking the output of multiple antennas and combining them into one cable is possible. What is the best way to do this?


----------



## tesla1886

MRG1 said:


> Another thing to consider: There is a difference between "magnetic north" that a compass shows, and "true north" that appears on the plots. What is more, your house probably alters magnetic north, so you can't just apply the local "magnetic anomaly".
> 
> One way to correct for the problem may be to print a local map from, say, maps.google.com, recognize that north is up by default, rotate your map so it matches the local roads, rotate your plot of station directions so it's north matches up on the map, and use the resulting directions.
> 
> A better way, that costs money: Commercial antenna installers buy "signal strength meters", and try to point the antenna to maximize signal strength. If you have a small TV (or a laptop PC with TV tuner dongle), you can look at the picture on the screen, and futz around until the signal is strong.
> 
> Yet another way: get an electronic rotor on your antenna. Rotate it until the signal is strong.
> 
> Good luck!


Thank you for the additional input.

I have a PVR with a Hauppauge Tuner card in it. When I need to readjust my current antenna because the wind move it, I use Hauppauge signal meter program


----------



## Jake V

It's common to combine a VHF with a UHF antenna. You use a special combiner that has separate inputs for each. The line for VHF will filter out the UHF signals and the one for UHF will filter out the VHF signals.

Combining UHF signals can be very difficult, since if the signal arrives at one antenna a split second after it arrives at the second antenna it can mean disaster (as the TV can't make sense of the signals). The DB-8e is designed with two panels that can be pointed in two different directions. It does not work in every situation. Mostly it works when the panels themselves are set to point 90 degrees apart (say, for example, one north and the other east). In your situation it's an experiment. It may or may not work. 

Don't consider just putting up different antennas and combining them. It won't work.

If you only have one television you could use a larger VHF-HI/UHF antenna with a rotor. The downside is that need to re-point it every time you change the channel, and some televisions require a re-scan each time you re-point the antenna.

I'd be interested to see the results of the experiment I mentioned earlier. It would be useful in estimating your situation better.


----------



## tesla1886

Jake V said:


> It's common to combine a VHF with a UHF antenna. You use a special combiner that has separate inputs for each. The line for VHF will filter out the UHF signals and the one for UHF will filter out the VHF signals.
> 
> Combining UHF signals can be very difficult, since if the signal arrives at one antenna a split second after it arrives at the second antenna it can mean disaster (as the TV can't make sense of the signals). The DB-8e is designed with two panels that can be pointed in two different directions. It does not work in every situation. Mostly it works when the panels themselves are set to point 90 degrees apart (say, for example, one north and the other east). In your situation it's an experiment. It may or may not work.
> 
> Don't consider just putting up different antennas and combining them. It won't work.
> 
> If you only have one television you could use a larger VHF-HI/UHF antenna with a rotor. The downside is that need to re-point it every time you change the channel, and some televisions require a re-scan each time you re-point the antenna.
> 
> I'd be interested to see the results of the experiment I mentioned earlier. It would be useful in estimating your situation better.


Where can I get one of the combiners that you mentioned or what are they called or model number so I can Google it?

I am interested in the results as well, I am also eager. Unfortunately this project will have to wait. The two antennas you mentioned are about $170 combined before shipping plus what ever the cost of the combiner and cable etc. It is something I want to do as soon as I can. I use the antenna to supplement Direct TV (or maybe it is the other way around). I would like to be able to get rid of the DC stations on Direc TV and safe a little money if I can get them on the antenna reliably enough. I do get channels 4 and 5. As you said it is channels 7 and 9 that are the issue.

Since I put up the antenna I have, I have been able to record programs that are not available on Direct TV, including some of my all time favorites and some I have never heard of. I am hoping that I can get more programs that are not available on Direc TV if I can get some of the other channels. 

This is the antenna I currently have.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004NQMCDK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

Thank You again for your help


----------



## Jake V

Antennas Direct has the best quality VHF/UHF Combiner that I'm aware of. But you would probably do well with the one sold at many hardware stores.

The antenna your using is certainly not near the top of the pack. I've never seen any published, measured gain from that antenna. Much of its gain is from an amplifier. It's usually decent when the signal levels are strong. Consider that a larger sail captures more wind than a smaller sail.

Is the antenna currently mounted? If yes, where? Roof? Attic? Back porch? Kitchen? That would be useful information. 

Washington DC channels 4 and 5 broadcast on real channels 48 and 36, respectively. During the repack of channels Channel 4 will move from UHF 48 to UHF 34. Your plot shows them at -3.9 and -6.0, so the fact that you receive them is promising.

Channels 7 and 9 broadcast on VHF 7 and 9, respectively. It's not surprising that your antenna doesn't pick them up. 

I'll look forward to your post with the full results of the experiment, should you get a chance to do it.

Also, you may want to keep an eye out to see if any of your neighbors have rooftop antennas, and what kind they have.


----------



## tesla1886

Jake V said:


> Is the antenna currently mounted? If yes, where? Roof? Attic? Back porch? Kitchen? That would be useful information.


It is mounted about as high as I can get it at the peak of the roof.



Jake V said:


> I'll look forward to your post with the full results of the experiment, should you get a chance to do it.


I will post them as soon as I can. I did record the results of what I did a few weeks ago pointing the antenna I have in several directions.



Jake V said:


> Also, you may want to keep an eye out to see if any of your neighbors have rooftop antennas, and what kind they have.


Unfortunately non of my neighbors have any antennas, at least not the ones on my street. Not sure about any others in the development but I doubt it.


----------



## Jake V

I was just thinking about this. When you do your test record a yes or no for all the all the channels on your list for each direction (you'll probably want to do a re-scan or manually enter the real channel number for each).

I am especially curious to know what Hagerstown and Harrisonburg channels you get when the antenna is pointed at DC. The DB-8e has the most gain for UHF, but can be pretty blind to signals not right in front of it. It's certainly possible something like the DB-4e (and others) might be more suitable (and cheaper), and get DC plus the stations in green and yellow from Hagerstown and Harrisonburg.


----------



## dleedlee

Looks like it's official:


As of April 1, 2018, the over-the-air broadcast frequencies for WNVC and WNVT will no longer be available in the Washington, D.C. metro area. MHz Networks utilized these two frequencies to broadcast its international programming known as MHz Worldview.

http://www.mhznetworks.org/blog


----------



## TheKrell

dleedlee said:


> Looks like it's official:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> As of April 1, 2018, the over-the-air broadcast frequencies for WNVC and WNVT will no longer be available in the Washington, D.C. metro area. MHz Networks utilized these two frequencies to broadcast its international programming known as MHz Worldview.
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.mhznetworks.org/blog
Click to expand...

Very sad. It appears that Commonwealth PBS sold the frequencies. https://current.org/2017/03/virgini...rom-sale-of-two-stations-in-spectrum-auction/ Can anybody tell who they sold those frequencies to, and if some other TV will be broadcasting in the place of MHz Networks?


----------



## Trip in VA

They were sold to the FCC in the Incentive Auction. The TV band is being repacked and stations will be changing channels over the next several years. Spectrum purchased from WNVC/WNVT as well as WUTB, WDCA, WDCW, WZDC-CD, and WMDO-CD, among others, has been sold to wireless companies including T-Mobile and Dish.

- Trip


----------



## aaronwt

dleedlee said:


> Looks like it's official:
> 
> 
> As of April 1, 2018, the over-the-air broadcast frequencies for WNVC and WNVT will no longer be available in the Washington, D.C. metro area. MHz Networks utilized these two frequencies to broadcast its international programming known as MHz Worldview.
> 
> http://www.mhznetworks.org/blog


Thanks. Well at least now I will know what happened when they disappear.


----------



## TheKrell

Trip in VA said:


> They were sold to the FCC in the Incentive Auction... Spectrum purchased from WNVC/WNVT as well as WUTB, WDCA, WDCW, WZDC-CD, and WMDO-CD, among others, has been sold to wireless companies including T-Mobile and Dish.


Interesting. I think that means the rather impressive TV antenna for WNVC won't be needed any more and could be removed.


----------



## MRG1

If anyone really wants RT America, try

https://www.rt.com/usa

which still has a lot of stores and video, as well as the live feed at

https://www.rt.com/on-air/rt-america-air

The main website, https://www.rt.com, is somewhat different.

Likewise, all or most of the MHz network channels have their own websites.


----------



## mkfs

TheKrell said:


> Interesting. I think that means the rather impressive TV antenna for WNVC won't be needed any more and could be removed.


 Do tell more. What makes it so impressive??


----------



## Valyard

MRG1 said:


> If anyone really wants RT America, try
> 
> https://www.rt.com/usa
> 
> which still has a lot of stores and video, as well as the live feed at
> 
> https://www.rt.com/on-air/rt-america-air
> 
> The main website, https://www.rt.com, is somewhat different.
> 
> Likewise, all or most of the MHz network channels have their own websites.


When we heard about this last year on NPR, we were very Dissapointed. This was announced literally days after we had cancelled Xfinity Cable TV, and were dependent on OTA and Streaming Apps on devices. We were never able to receive the "higher MHZ section", and depending on weather, even the primary channels were not consistent, and upgrading antennas for only a few months broadcasts seemed irresponsible. The MHZ website has mentioned losing and then gaining new affiliates in other markets, but wasn't acknowledging anything about the loss of their home stations, nor returned emails requesting information. In some other markets the MHZ 1 broadcast has been picked up on PBS diginets.

Most of the "rebroadcast" channels, RT, France 24, etc are available via free apps on AppleTV and AndroidTV, but our most watched "curated" shows were on MHZ 1. 

The MHZ Choice app on AppleTV, and Android TV, ( including Amazon devices which use Android OS), has most of International Mystery, Drama-Crime series we have watched, and enjoyed. The subscription price is rather steep however, higher than BritBox or Acorn subscriptions, with considerably less content than either. As the $8.99 Subscription is Monthly, we have been cancelling as we devour the limited but enjoyable content, then re-subscribing when newer content has replaced what we have already viewed.


----------



## mkfs

Valyard said:


> When we heard about this last year on NPR, we were very Dissapointed. This was announced literally days after we had cancelled Xfinity Cable TV, and were dependent on OTA and Streaming Apps on devices. We were never able to receive the "higher MHZ section", and depending on weather, even the primary channels were not consistent, and upgrading antennas for only a few months broadcasts seemed irresponsible.


FWIW:

MHZ was actually 2 transmitters at 2 different locations, set up to appear to be a sole "Channel 30" to the viewer.


----------



## dleedlee

I will certainly miss my International Mysteries on MHz. That and the breaking news coverage from around the world on the other sub-channels. NHK was great, too, but they moved on last year. I cut the cord some 30+ years ago when I moved to Fairfax and MHz was my lifeline to entertainment and news. Michael Jeck, hosted international movies by 'little known directors' Akira Kurosawa and Hou Hsiao-Hsien every Sunday. That was it. Anyone remember their local sports call-in show with Chick and ?. I once sent away for their free comprehensive World Cup program in the '80s because they were they only ones that covered the World Cup in the area back then.

*sigh*


----------



## TheKrell

mkfs said:


> Do tell more. What makes it so impressive??


If I am reading my search result correctly, it's a 221m mast located in plain sight near the beltway... No, that's the total elevation. I am unclear on what"site elevation" means. Have a look here: http://www.fccinfo.com/CMDProEngine.php?sCurrentService=TV&tabSearchType=Appl&sAppIDNumber=1317626


----------



## Trip in VA

TheKrell said:


> If I am reading my search result correctly, it's a 221m mast located in plain sight near the beltway... No, that's the total elevation. I am unclear on what"site elevation" means. Have a look here: http://www.fccinfo.com/CMDProEngine.php?sCurrentService=TV&tabSearchType=Appl&sAppIDNumber=1317626


The number you want is "R/C AGL" reflecting Radiation Center Above Ground Level. That's 200.5 meters. But WNVC is not the only station on that tower. Also found on it are WMAL-FM (105.9) and WJFK-FM (106.7). AT&T and Sprint also have antennas on that tower for cell service. 

- Trip


----------



## mkfs

TheKrell said:


> If I am reading my search result correctly, it's a 221m mast located in plain sight near the beltway...



See http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=120169 

It's 188 meters of tower AGL, and 22 meters of antenna atop it.



The other transmitter is in Manassas, I think.


----------



## mkfs

Trip in VA said:


> The number you want is "R/C AGL" reflecting Radiation Center Above Ground Level. That's 200.5 meters. But WNVC is not the only station on that tower. Also found on it are WMAL-FM (105.9) and WJFK-FM (106.7). AT&T and Sprint also have antennas on that tower for cell service.
> 
> - Trip


Would you know of a public source for who occupies a tower? The broadcast stations are in the FCC's ULS, as are any STL links, but I've not found any way of identifying cellcos besides visiting and reading the markings on the electric meter, etc.

(BTW, the FCCInfo plugin to Google Earth is excellent; check it out.)


----------



## Trip in VA

mkfs said:


> Would you know of a public source for who occupies a tower? The broadcast stations are in the FCC's ULS, as are any STL links, but I've not found any way of identifying cellcos besides visiting and reading the markings on the electric meter, etc.


https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/fido/permits/search.aspx?pgmcat=permit&pgmtype=address

Fairfax County building permits are great for that. To use it, enter 8101 and Lee in the address parts, then make sure you change the "From" year to 2011 or so. Two antenna permits in that time frame, both for AT&T. The Clearwire equipment (now owned by Sprint) has been up there for a while.

- Trip


----------



## TheKrell

Trip in VA said:


> The number you want is "R/C AGL" reflecting Radiation Center Above Ground Level. That's 200.5 meters. But WNVC is not the only station on that tower. Also found on it are WMAL-FM (105.9) and WJFK-FM (106.7). AT&T and Sprint also have antennas on that tower for cell service.


Is that enough business to support a 200m tower?


----------



## Trip in VA

I don't see why not.

- Trip


----------



## StevenJB

mkfs said:


> The other transmitter is in Manassas, I think.


The other transmitter, that of WNVT (RF: 30 and Virtual: 30.7 through 30.12 PSIP), is located in Goldvein, VA, about 20 miles SSW of WNVC.

https://www.fcc.gov/media/radio/map...LDVEIN&state=VA&fileno=BLEDT-20031230AAR&.map


----------



## mdviewer25

Attention NBC Sports Washington and/or Verizon Fios, your on screen info for the Wizards game is incorrect. The Wizards actually beat the Timberwolves 92-89 on Nov 28th so they are actually trying to end the trend of alternating wins since 2009.


----------



## TheKrell

Trip in VA said:


> I don't see why not.


Land valuation?


----------



## Trip in VA

FM stations still have value above and beyond the value of the land under the tower, unlike the AM towers you frequently hear about. 

The FM stations probably can't move any closer to DC because they're "grandfathered short-spaced" stations with respect to WJZ-FM and WWMX in Baltimore and probably also WWEG in Myersville. Any move to another tower would likely require shrinking their coverage areas.

- Trip


----------



## mkfs

To dredge up an old topic...

When D-Day hit, many a VHF station discovered their coverage had fallen through the floor, with complaints everywhere about bad reception. WUSA and WJLA were two of many.

There were frantic STA's to raise power levels, scrambling to find UHF frequencies, and much hand-wringing. I seem to recall Cavell Mertz got a contract to study the issue.

So when the dust settled, I wonder what the outcome was; both why the predictions failed and what to do about it....


----------



## Trip in VA

Well, for WJLA/WUSA, the outcome was that they added some vertical power and got boosts to 52 kW, above the 30 kW limit. 

As to what happened, wishful thinking and failure to understand how viewers watch TV happened. People with outdoor antennas generally did okay; the problems were generally with indoor antennas which had the double-whammy of poor VHF performance plus noise from noisy electronics. I predicted it would be a problem, but as a college student at the time, nobody listened to me. 

In 2008 or so, a friend of mine on here on AVS bought a bunch of 10 dB attenuators and inserted them one by one, comparing the DTV reception to the analog. When the analog got to a certain point, the digital signals were all gone, and he said, "well, nobody watches signals like this." My response was something to the effect of "you call it unwatchable; I call it UPN." That was based on reception at my parents' house and how I had watched Star Trek on UPN for many years. And I knew plenty of other people who watched signals that looked just like it, both on VHF and UHF. We agreed there were going to be substantial problems.

The solution, generally, was more power. Some stations moved to UHF, where they could.

- Trip


----------



## tylerSC

Trip in VA said:


> FM stations still have value above and beyond the value of the land under the tower, unlike the AM towers you frequently hear about.
> 
> The FM stations probably can't move any closer to DC because they're "grandfathered short-spaced" stations with respect to WJZ-FM and WWMX in Baltimore and probably also WWEG in Myersville. Any move to another tower would likely require shrinking their coverage areas.
> 
> - Trip


I never understood why they allowed a radio station on 107.3 in Richmond when they already had 107.3 in DC with a strong signal that reached the fringes of Richmond. Now there is bad mutual interference around Fredericksburg. And if I remember there were several Baltimore and DC radio stations that overlapped coverage areas, including 107.3 and 97.1. And these days they keep allowing more LPFM and translator stations that interfere with distant reception of the full power stations which used to be clear and I find this very annoying as sometimes you prefer to listen to the distant station beyond the arbitrary market boundaries. Especially in the car. Now these low power stations tend to interfere.


----------



## tylerSC

Trip in VA said:


> Well, for WJLA/WUSA, the outcome was that they added some vertical power and got boosts to 52 kW, above the 30 kW limit.
> 
> As to what happened, wishful thinking and failure to understand how viewers watch TV happened. People with outdoor antennas generally did okay; the problems were generally with indoor antennas which had the double-whammy of poor VHF performance plus noise from noisy electronics. I predicted it would be a problem, but as a college student at the time, nobody listened to me.
> 
> In 2008 or so, a friend of mine on here on AVS bought a bunch of 10 dB attenuators and inserted them one by one, comparing the DTV reception to the analog. When the analog got to a certain point, the digital signals were all gone, and he said, "well, nobody watches signals like this." My response was something to the effect of "you call it unwatchable; I call it UPN." That was based on reception at my parents' house and how I had watched Star Trek on UPN for many years. And I knew plenty of other people who watched signals that looked just like it, both on VHF and UHF. We agreed there were going to be substantial problems.
> 
> The solution, generally, was more power. Some stations moved to UHF, where they could.
> 
> - Trip


I heard WUSA and WJLA significantly improved after the increase in power. And WXIA in Atlanta has a strong power level also and has a good signal. So hopefully going into the repack the VHF signals will have the proper balance of power level and antenna pattern. But some signals may remain problematic such as WLOS in Asheville, which has a directional pattern with nulls in certain areas. But what is the peak power limit for VHF, as 1000kw is the top power for UHF?


----------



## mkfs

Trip in VA said:


> Well, for WJLA/WUSA, the outcome was that they added some vertical power and got boosts to 52 kW, above the 30 kW limit.


 And I thought one reason some stations chose to stay on VHF was lower PEPCO bills......


----------



## dleedlee

MHz Networks Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Washington – MHz Networks will end its broadcast and cable distribution of their international news channels in the Washington, D.C. market on March 31, 2018. The move represents a change in television technologies as the company grows into the digital streaming world with MHz Choice and MHz Worldview.

“The broadcast and cable television industries have undergone major changes, and challenges, during the past ten years”, said Frederick Thomas, President of MHz Networks. “Faced with the economics involved in acquiring a new broadcast platform and facility, while also growing a subscription streaming service (MHz Choice) and a national network (MHz Worldview) we had to make a realistic and difficult decision.”

After the spectrum that carried WNVC and WNVT was sold in the FCC spectrum auction, MHz had to find a new broadcast home for its D.C. channels. “In the last 8 months we have tried multiple approaches to keep the international channels alive in D.C.,” says Thomas. “We looked at acquiring another license and to other providers for channel carriage. The former ended in too many moving pieces and the latter proved difficult for the cable systems without a must-carry broadcast partner.”

There are, however, options for fans of MHz in the Washington, D.C. area, MHz Choice and MHz Worldview.

MHz Choice is the critically-acclaimed subscription streaming service available in the U.S. and Canada providing viewers with on-demand access to MHz’s expansive library of exclusive dramas, mysteries, and comedies. The MHz Choice app is available via Amazon Channels, Roku, iTunes, Android with several other platform launches slated for 2018.

MHz Worldview is the linear TV network available in select markets featuring blocks of international news channels and some of MHz’s entertainment collection. “Refocusing our efforts and resources along with new efficient delivery methods will allow us to extend our reach even farther throughout the U.S.,” said Thomas. MHz Worldview remains available nation-wide on DirecTV and many public television stations. It will continue to be carried Cox Communications in the D.C. area after April 1, 2018. Discussions continue with the other cable providers to keep MHz Worldview on air and available for regional viewers.

For more information contact Lance Schwulst here.

About MHz Networks
MHz Networks offers U.S. viewers access to a library of the best international television mysteries, dramas, comedies and documentaries subtitled in English on DVD and its digital platform, MHz Choice. MHz Networks’ unique international programming is also available on its national channel, MHz Worldview. MHz Worldview is available nationwide on DirecTV channel 2183 and on 25+ select public television affiliates.

New MHz Choice customers receive a free 30-Day Trial. For more information or to subscribe, go to mhzchoice.com.


----------



## StevenJB

WZDC-CD, which is under a channel-sharing agreement with WRC-TV4 to use the WRC signal on RF-48, has a Virtual presence on both 4.3/4.4 and 44.1/44.2 for Telemundo/TeleXitos.

As I remember, WZDC moved to RF-48 in December and began virtual broadcasts on Virtual 4.3/4.4 as well as maintaining a separate Telemundo telecast on RF-25/Virtual 25.1. Sometime in early March, WZDC shut down its RF-25/Virtual 25.1 telecast and began broadcasts on RF-48/Virtual 44.1 and 44.2. Why Virtual 44 and not Virtual 25? Well, it gets complicated for the former Virtual 25.1.

According to Wikipedia: “As the channel-share went into effect, WZDC's virtual channel number of 25 presented an issue. Virtual channel 25 is already in use by WDVM-TV (Hagerstown, MD). The conflict resolution prescribed by the PSIP standard – assigning virtual channel 26 since WDVM-TV broadcasts on physical channel 26 – is not applicable since WETA-TV already uses virtual channel 26 in the market. A second option was virtual channel 64, corresponding to WZDC-CD's original analog channel. This (virtual) channel is also already in use by WDPB (Seaford, DE on RF-44/Virtual 64), which overlaps the eastern portion of WRC-TV's coverage area. In this case, the same PSIP rule assigns the available virtual channel 44.” Confused?

I would imagine that eventually WRC will terminate virtual telecasts on 4.3/4.4 now that 44.1/44.2 is operational.


----------



## Trip in VA

The 4.3 and 4.4 have been gone for more than a week. Your receiver must need to be rescanned.

- Trip


----------



## StevenJB

Trip in VA said:


> The 4.3 and 4.4 have been gone for more than a week. Your receiver must need to be rescanned.
> 
> - Trip


Thanks for the info. I've been hesitant about rescanning because I might lose my reception for WGAL-TV8 in Lancaster, PA in the process.


----------



## Trip in VA

StevenJB said:


> Thanks for the info. I've been hesitant about rescanning because I might lose my reception for WGAL-TV8 in Lancaster, PA in the process.


It's not hurting anything, so if you don't want to rescan, you don't have to.

- Trip


----------



## Mr Tony

Thats odd. Both of my TV's (and my out of commission Panny plasma) would automatically update PSIP info when a station is added/changed/dropped as long as I tuned to that station.


----------



## Trip in VA

unclehonkey said:


> Thats odd. Both of my TV's (and my out of commission Panny plasma) would automatically update PSIP info when a station is added/changed/dropped as long as I tuned to that station.


Different TVs do different things.

- Trip


----------



## tylerSC

StevenJB said:


> Thanks for the info. I've been hesitant about rescanning because I might lose my reception for WGAL-TV8 in Lancaster, PA in the process.


Depending upon the TV, you may be able to go in the menu under Channel Edit or Channel Guide and have the option to delete undesired channels without having to rescan.


----------



## Mr Tony

Trip in VA said:


> Different TVs do different things.
> 
> - Trip


Fully understood. Just making a point that some TV's auto update


----------



## pkpaul

StevenJB said:


> Thanks for the info. I've been hesitant about rescanning because I might lose my reception for WGAL-TV8 in Lancaster, PA in the process.


I receive a surprisingly strong WGAL-TV8 signal in Falls Church but only when it rains and for about 1 hour after it stops. 
What percentage of time are you getting a usable signal in Olney?
I am considering an antenna for it.
thanks
pk


----------



## StevenJB

pkpaul said:


> I receive a surprisingly strong WGAL-TV8 signal in Falls Church but only when it rains and for about 1 hour after it stops.
> What percentage of time are you getting a usable signal in Olney?
> I am considering an antenna for it.
> thanks
> pk


Sorry for the delay in answering you.

I receive a reliable if not moderate signal of from WGAL-TV during the late Spring to early Fall. In the dead of Winter, reception is very spotty to nonexistent. This pattern seems to follow the same results and variables when I used to receive WGAL-TV's analog signal prior to June 2009. Of course, analog had its advantages in that a snowy NTSC analog picture was better than not any picture at all with a weak ATSC digital.

If you have the opportunity and resources to erect an outside VHF/UHF antenna with antenna rotor then by all means go for it. Also, include an inline distribution amplifier with your setup. The results can be astounding. Every full power Baltimore and Washington station that I receive is at a minimum of not less than 90 out of 100 for me. The Washington stations are always at 100.

My results for analog and digital FM broadcasting are equally astounding. I reliably receive FM from Delmarva, central Pennsylvania, central Virginia. and West Virginia. Make sure that your antenna is equipped for Low VHF channels 2 through 6 in order to maximize your FM reception.

Regards


----------



## MRG1

mkfs said:


> See http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=120169
> 
> It's 188 meters of tower AGL, and 22 meters of antenna atop it.


On this Google Maps image, 
https://www.google.com/maps/place/3...5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d38.874555!4d-77.2232222

the red teardrop marks the nominal position - and you can clearly see the tower right next to it.

It appears to stand above nearby buildings, and the beltway itself, so you can probably see it from the beltway without much difficulty.


----------



## pkpaul

I receive a reliable if not moderate signal of from WGAL-TV during the late Spring to early Fall. In the dead of Winter, reception is very spotty to nonexistent. This pattern seems to follow the same results and variables when I used to receive WGAL-TV's analog signal prior to June 2009. Of course, analog had its advantages in that a snowy NTSC analog picture was better than not any picture at all with a weak ATSC digital.

If you have the opportunity and resources to erect an outside VHF/UHF antenna with antenna rotor then by all means go for it. Also, include an inline distribution amplifier with your setup. The results can be astounding. Every full power Baltimore and Washington station that I receive is at a minimum of not less than 90 out of 100 for me. The Washington stations are always at 100.

Regards[/QUOTE]

Thanks

We will add a rotor antenna system.

pk


----------



## pkpaul

*MHz China Content to 32?*

Schedules Direct has 3 new OTA channels with program listings for WHUT 32 [RF 33] 32.3, 32.4 & 32.5. The program listings on all three channels is Chinese content, although 32.3 has some Africa content.
I assume that it will be the 3 China based channels from MHz networks; CGTN America, CGTN Documentary, CNC World.
And maybe some Africa Today TV.
But no OTA broadcast yet, and no other information/confirmation as of Saturday.

pk


----------



## pkpaul

pkpaul said:


> Schedules Direct has 3 new OTA channels with program listings for WHUT 32 [RF 33] 32.3, 32.4 & 32.5. The program listings on all three channels is Chinese content, although 32.3 has some Africa content.
> I assume that it will be the 3 China based channels from MHz networks; CGTN America, CGTN Documentary, CNC World.
> And maybe some Africa Today TV.
> But no OTA broadcast yet, and no other information/confirmation as of Saturday.
> 
> pk


Also in Zap2it.com listings


----------



## jcorwin

I’m about to move back to Howard County after 10 years in NYC. I’m trying to decide between Comcast and Verizon and am trying to find accurate channel lineups. From what I’ve seen so far, it appears that Comcast does not provide the DC local stations in HD. If true, that’s completely a dealbreaker. Can anyone verify this? Thanks.


----------



## dleedlee

jcorwin said:


> I’m about to move back to Howard County after 10 years in NYC. I’m trying to decide between Comcast and Verizon and am trying to find accurate channel lineups. From what I’ve seen so far, it appears that Comcast does not provide the DC local stations in HD. If true, that’s completely a dealbreaker. Can anyone verify this? Thanks.


I don't have Comcast, or any cable, but I'm pretty sure that Comcast has both SD and HD versions of the local channels. My parents in MoCo have it, though dad still insists on watching the SD channels cause he's used to the old channel numbers. Of course, you have to have the HD cable box. He has one and two of the 'free' SD boxes for other parts of the house. For instance, CBS is on 29 (SD), 809 and 1009 are HD. Not sure what the difference is between 809 and 1009.

https://www.tvtv.us/ Enter your zip. It seems to match what I see in MoCo. You'll have to scroll through at the bottom of the page.


----------



## aaronwt

jcorwin said:


> I’m about to move back to Howard County after 10 years in NYC. I’m trying to decide between Comcast and Verizon and am trying to find accurate channel lineups. From what I’ve seen so far, it appears that Comcast does not provide the DC local stations in HD. If true, that’s completely a dealbreaker. Can anyone verify this? Thanks.


Comcast has them in HD in Northern Virginia and Prince Georges County. No idea about Howard county though. But i would expect it to be the same.

But the bigger issue with Comcast is that they down rez their channels to 720p and lower the bitrate by alot. Even though the quality from FiOS has gone downhill too, it is still noticeably better than what Comcast sends out now.


----------



## carltonrice

jcorwin said:


> I’m about to move back to Howard County after 10 years in NYC. I’m trying to decide between Comcast and Verizon and am trying to find accurate channel lineups. From what I’ve seen so far, it appears that Comcast does not provide the DC local stations in HD. If true, that’s completely a dealbreaker. Can anyone verify this? Thanks.


I think that Comcast in Howard County does provide the DC locals in HD based on my mother's HDTV which is on Comcast in that county. I know, for example, that channel 5 is on Comcast channel 196 and although it has a low channel number on Comcast, the channel is still in HD.


----------



## jcorwin

carltonrice said:


> I think that Comcast in Howard County does provide the DC locals in HD based on my mother's HDTV which is on Comcast in that county. I know, for example, that channel 5 is on Comcast channel 196 and although it has a low channel number on Comcast, the channel is still in HD.


Thanks. I’m hoping to be able to shop for price instead of channel selection.


----------



## mdviewer25

Did something happen to WBFF's signal? Can no longer pick it up or MyTV Baltimore.


----------



## Trip in VA

Not seeing it here either.

https://www.rabbitears.info/tvdx/signal_graph/10317DF4/tuner1/WBFF

Looks like it went out an hour ago, and was out for a while overnight as well.

- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike

WBFF is gonzo here in College Park, MD, too.

I have a small Winegard HD7694 combo pointed towards Baltimore:
Here are my UHF downlead readings taken on a Blonder Tongue, BTPDA-4 meter:

26 (designated repack of 45.X) no measurable signal.
29 (67.X) -23dBmV
38 (2.X) -11.5dBmV
40 (54.X) -10.2dBmV
42 (22.X) - 11.2dBmV
46 (45.X, 24.1) no measurable signal


----------



## Trip in VA

Looks like it came back an hour ago.

- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike

Any word on when WRC is going to move off 48? I'm going to have to adjust some dedicated channel converters in some hotels when it does.


----------



## Trip in VA

WRC is in phase 4, which ends 8/2/2019.

- Trip


----------



## dleedlee

Channel 68.1, formerly LATV, is now Heartland TV.
http://www.watchheartlandtv.com/


----------



## AntAltMike

dleedlee said:


> Channel 68.1, formerly LATV, is now Heartland TV.
> http://www.watchheartlandtv.com/


Reincarnation of TNN; The Nashville Network.

Get your daily fix of classic, Crook and Chase at 1:00 PM weekdays.


----------



## AntAltMike

At around 7 AM today, channel 5.3 and 20.3 lost their video and 20.2 displayed a frozen picture... which could have been the last frame stored by my TV rather than a transmitted frozen frame, for all I know. Then, they came back on within half an hour. Did 20.X move from UHF 35 to UHF 36? It would take some effort for me to determine that with my current set-up.


----------



## Trip in VA

No, everything is still as it was.

- Trip


----------



## StevenJB

AntAltMike:

Unless I am mistaken, your listing of digital stations on Page 1 should read:

044-01 (48) WZDC-HD Telemundo
-----02 ------WZDC-SD TeleXitos

Delete 004-03 and 004-04.

Delete 25.1 (25) WZDC-CD.

58.2 is WIAV and not WAIV.

60.1 through 60.6 is WWPX and not W???.

54.4 is WNUV and not WUNV.


----------



## rviele

*Havre de Grace, MD: Trees and preamp question*

is it worth it to put up a preamp just for the summer to get one channel that will return when the leaves fall.
rjv


----------



## DrDon

We'd need to know a lot more about your setup, but the best advice is "try it and see." Read THIS THREAD for more


----------



## Calaveras

rviele said:


> is it worth it to put up a preamp just for the summer to get one channel that will return when the leaves fall.
> rjv



Probably not because not only do trees attenuate the signal, they distort it in a way that looks like multipath and a preamp can't do anything about that.


----------



## rabbit73

In 2015 you said:



rviele said:


> .....since i don't know to do a tv fool.....


If you still live at 2211, this would be your report:
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=90381e553d941e

I see a LOT of trees around you in that area. Your report indicates that a preamp is not needed, but the trees might make the signals weaker. Adding a preamp would be a gamble; it might not help. If you are willing to try, I suggest an Antennas Direct Juice preamp mounted near the antenna. It is resistant to overload, but your tuner isn't. If the signals are too strong for your tuner, you can add an attenuator between the power inserter for the preamp and the tuner.



















http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/siting.html
scroll down to Trees and UHF

Your antenna is aimed directly at the trees for the Baltimore channels.


----------



## DrDon

Thread title edited.


----------



## rviele

rabbit73 said:


> In 2015 you said:
> 
> If you still live at 2211, this would be your report:
> http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=90381e553d941e
> 
> I see a LOT of trees around you in that area. Your report indicates that a preamp is not needed, but the trees might make the signals weaker. Adding a preamp would be a gamble; it might not help. If you are willing to try, I suggest an Antennas Direct Juice preamp mounted near the antenna. It is resistant to overload, but your tuner isn't. If the signals are too strong for your tuner, you can add an attenuator between the power inserter for the preamp and the tuner.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Your antenna is aimed directly at the trees for the Baltimore channels.


thats what i figured. no use wasting 200 bucks on a channel that is only used for a backup.
rjv


----------



## DrDon

merged


----------



## tylerSC

If I lived in Havre de Grace, Maryland I would use several high gain UHF and VHF antennas and preamp and try to receive multiple markets, such as Baltimore, DC, and Philadelphia. And perhaps even pull in NYC at times.


----------



## KEVINL71

I wonder if H.D.G. could have a chance with Harrisburg/Lancaster, assuming you shoot up the Susquehanna River?


----------



## rviele

KEVINL71 said:


> I wonder if H.D.G. could have a chance with Harrisburg/Lancaster, assuming you shoot up the Susquehanna River?


on occasions i get ch.8 which is out of lancaster. one time i even got wboc which is out of salisbury. the one i have the most trouble with is wbff out of baltimore.
rjv


----------



## HDTV Sparky

rviele said:


> on occasions i get ch.8 which is out of lancaster. one time i even got wboc which is out of salisbury. the one i have the most trouble with is wbff out of baltimore.
> rjv


I'm in Hanover Pa. but have much better reception from the Baltimore stations.
Since I have 6 TV's scattered about the house, I have two roof top antennas, one at each end of the house. The one with two trees blocking has really been a problem lately.. Started with Ch 54 being hit and miss. Now this morning, Ch 2 , 45 and 54 affected. Ofcourse, the with an unobstructed view is great. Very strange to loose Ch. 2 though. I was going to check it out today, but at 75 years old, wife isn't crazy about me getting on the roof ! Thought I'd check here to see if others are reporting a problem. Also wondering if the heat and humidity are contributing to the problem.


----------



## Trip in VA

Atmosphere has been very active over the past few days. A friend in Ohio picked up DC and Maryland stations yesterday.

- Trip


----------



## rviele

Trip in VA said:


> Atmosphere has been very active over the past few days. A friend in Ohio picked up DC and Maryland stations yesterday.
> 
> - Trip


trip-- besides the trees does this hot weather have anything to do with signal loss?
rjv


----------



## AntAltMike

Trip in VA said:


> Atmosphere has been very active over the past few days. A friend in Ohio picked up DC and Maryland stations yesterday.
> 
> - Trip



It happens at this time of year, or a couple of weeks earlier. In 1978, back when most TV stations went off the air at night, I had just put Winegard's biggest combo on my roof and got the New York City stations from about 250 miles away. I thought "Holy s#it!" and I wrote a letter to TV guide to subscribe to the New York City edition, but I didn't have a stamp so it didn't go out with the mail which was just as well, because that reception was gone the next night. Same thing happened the next two years.


----------



## rviele

rabbit73 said:


> In 2015 you said:
> 
> If you still live at 2211, this would be your report:
> http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=90381e553d941e
> 
> I see a LOT of trees around you in that area. Your report indicates that a preamp is not needed, but the trees might make the signals weaker. Adding a preamp would be a gamble; it might not help. If you are willing to try, I suggest an Antennas Direct Juice preamp mounted near the antenna. It is resistant to overload, but your tuner isn't. If the signals are too strong for your tuner, you can add an attenuator between the power inserter for the preamp and the tuner.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/siting.html
> scroll down to Trees and UHF
> 
> Your antenna is aimed directly at the trees for the Baltimore channels.


based on my observed topography do you recommend a preamp and if you do who do you know that would install it?
rjv


----------



## rabbit73

rviele said:


> based on my observed topography do you recommend a preamp and if you do who do you know that would install it?
> rjv


I would like to give you a guarantee that a preamp would help, but I can't do that; I can only say that it might help.

There is a small hill just before your location, but the WJZ signal just clears it with your antenna at 25 feet.










However, there are still trees in the signal path from Baltimore.

The only thing I am fairy certain about is that you would have good reception if your antenna (in good condition) was on a tower tall enough so that the antenna was above the trees. But, that would be $$$expensive$$$.










TV antenna installers are harder to find now than years ago before cable TV. Since I don't live in your area, I would have to do a Google search.
https://www.google.com/search?ei=4n...22...0i13k1j0i7i30k1j0i7i5i30k1.0.CehDnbm19To

Maybe some of the other posters on this local thread can suggest an installer for Havre de Grace MD.

Or maybe what you need is a tree guy with a chain saw to remove the trees just in front of the antenna.


----------



## rviele

rabbit73 said:


> I would like to give you a guarantee that a preamp would help, but I can't do that; I can only say that it might help.
> 
> There is a small hill just before your location, but the WJZ signal just clears it with your antenna at 25 feet.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> However, there are still trees in the signal path from Baltimore.
> 
> The only thing I am fairy certain about is that you would have good reception if your antenna (in good condition) was on a tower tall enough so that the antenna was above the trees. But, that would be $$$expensive$$$.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> TV antenna installers are harder to find now than years ago before cable TV. Since I don't live in your area, I would have to do a Google search.
> https://www.google.com/search?ei=4n...22...0i13k1j0i7i30k1j0i7i5i30k1.0.CehDnbm19To
> 
> Maybe some of the other posters on this local thread can suggest an installer for Havre de Grace MD.
> 
> Or maybe what you need is a tree guy with a chain saw to remove the trees just in front of the antenna.


i ordered an antennas direct juice today so we will see what happens. now if i could find someone to put it on the antenna!
rjv


----------



## rabbit73

rviele said:


> i ordered an antennas direct juice today so we will see what happens. now if i could find someone to put it on the antenna!
> rjv


Until you find someone who can safely put the preamp near the antenna, try putting it in the coax line as close as you can to the antenna without risking injury to yourself. The power inserter goes inside out of the weather.


----------



## rviele

rabbit73 said:


> Until you find someone who can safely put the preamp near the antenna, try putting it in the coax line as close as you can to the antenna without risking injury to yourself. The power inserter goes inside out of the weather.


two problems as i see them.
first- how far away on the pole can i put the preamp
second- i'm trying to get away from making another splice in the line
rjv


----------



## rabbit73

rviele said:


> two problems as i see them.
> first- how far away on the pole can i put the preamp
> rjv


The most effective location is near the antenna; the least effective location is near the TV, but it might help there.


> second- i'm trying to get away from making another splice in the line


Understood
If the antenna was installed properly, there should be a grounding block in the coax just before it goes inside. You can try it there. If there is no grounding block, you need a TV tech or an electrician.










Your system should be like this now:
Antenna > coax > grounding block > coax > TV

Ideal:
Antenna > preamp > coax > grounding block > coax > power inserter > TV

Least effective but easiest:
Antenna > coax > grounding block > coax > preamp > power inserter > TV

Maybe you can put it here for a test:
Antenna > long coax > preamp > short coax > grounding block > coax > power inserter > TV

When you use a short RG6 coax jumper, it will not be necessary to make a splice. 

*How long is the coax from the antenna to the TV?*

If the antenna is outside, the coax shield should be grounded with a grounding block that is connected to the house electrical system ground with 10 gauge copper wire for electrical safety and to reject interference. For further compliance with the electrical code (NEC), the mast should also be grounded in a similar manner to drain any buildup of static charge which will tend to discourage a strike, but the system will not survive a direct strike.


----------



## keeper

So it appears that WJZ will be ditching their directional antenna for a non directional antenna when they move to 11. This could be good news for many as their signal tends to be the weakest of the major networks out of Baltimore. I live in Dillsburg and can get all Baltimore stations well. Wjz is my most problematic. They transmit a weak signal n/w. Hopefully things will greatly improve.

Crazy DXing this morning. Getting strong signal from WUNC in NC.


----------



## VARTV

keeper said:


> Crazy DXing this morning. Getting strong signal from WUNC in NC.


Happening this morning too. Getting a Lynchburg, VA and Greensboro, NC station...


----------



## rviele

rabbit73 said:


> Until you find someone who can safely put the preamp near the antenna, try putting it in the coax line as close as you can to the antenna without risking injury to yourself. The power inserter goes inside out of the weather.


how much signal will i lose when i splice the coax?
rjv


----------



## rabbit73

rviele said:


> how much signal will i lose when i splice the coax?
> rjv


A splice using an F-81 adapter will lose less than 1/2 dB, but I don't know where you are putting it. I showed you a way to avoid a splice using a short RG6 coax jumper that already comes with connectors on it.










Show me how your system is connected now and how long the coax lines are. Then show me where you want to put the preamp for a test, like I showed you in my previous post with line lengths added.

For example:
Now, before test
Ant > 25' coax > grounding block > 25' coax > TV

as a test
Ant > 25' coax > preamp > 3' coax > grounding block > 25' coax > power inserter > 10' coax > TV


----------



## rviele

rabbit73 said:


> A splice using an F-81 adapter will lose less than 1/2 dB, but I don't know where you are putting it. I showed you a way to avoid a splice using a short RG6 coax jumper that already comes with connectors on it.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Show me how your system is connected now and how long the coax lines are. Then show me where you want to put the preamp for a test, like I showed you in my previous post with line lengths added.
> 
> For example:
> Now, before test
> Ant > 25' coax > grounding block > 25' coax > TV
> 
> as a test
> Ant > 25' coax > preamp > 3' coax > grounding block > 25' coax > power inserter > 10' coax > TV


i found the ground block o thats where i'm going to put the preamp. that way i won't have a splice.
rjv


----------



## rviele

rabbit73 said:


> A splice using an F-81 adapter will lose less than 1/2 dB, but I don't know where you are putting it. I showed you a way to avoid a splice using a short RG6 coax jumper that already comes with connectors on it.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Show me how your system is connected now and how long the coax lines are. Then show me where you want to put the preamp for a test, like I showed you in my previous post with line lengths added.
> 
> For example:
> Now, before test
> Ant > 25' coax > grounding block > 25' coax > TV
> 
> as a test
> Ant > 25' coax > preamp > 3' coax > grounding block > 25' coax > power inserter > 10' coax > TV


i intalled the antennas direct juice tonight so we'll see how every goes in a couple of days. thanks again for your help.
rjv


----------



## carltonrice

*FOX 5 Plus*

Fox 5 Plus (formerly WDCA-DT) is running commercials advising viewers who receive them off-the-air (OTA) to do a rescan on 7/19/18 after 12 PM. I guess they're moving/combining their signal with Fox 5 (on channel 36) at that time?

http://www.fox5dc.com/about-us/rescan-your-tv-to-see-fox-5-plus-wdca


----------



## Mr Tony

correct


----------



## AntAltMike

UHF-14 WWTD’s channel identifiers went nutso late last night and early this morning, temporarily, and to our benefit. The heretofore missing NTDTV Chinese channel forced its way into my TV’s channel guide at 14.2, with Gettv temporarily displaced to channel 15.2, and Retro TV, which had been blank on 49.4 for the most recent few months, and which had defective, “hot” audio for years before that, was on 14.6 with perfect audio. Also, the recent 49.1, .3, and .5 subchannel programming was temporarily remapped to 14.10, .12 and .14.

Bear in mind that some of these relocations may have been the result of my television resolving its own channel placement conflicts, so if you had rescanned this morning, you might have encountered a different jumble.

Now, the UHF-14, WWTD channels are mapped back to the 49.X suite, with the Chinese channel gone again, and while RetroTV has re-established its 49.4 identifier, it is showing a blank screen.


----------



## Jazzman_1

*Any ideas for PBS reception for in the Northern Sheanandoah Valley*

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone has any ideas for OTA PBS reception in the Northern Shenandoah Valley, north of Harrisonburg, VA, now that WVPY is no longer broadcasting out of Front Royal, VA. Prior to June 11, 2018, we were getting a strong signal on RF 21 at our home in Mount Jackson, VA with a simple rabbit ears UHF/VHF antenna. After June 11th, nothing.

An email into WVPT (the parent station) has not been responded to.

Thanks.


----------



## Trip in VA

Jazzman_1 said:


> I was wondering if anyone has any ideas for OTA PBS reception in the Northern Shenandoah Valley, north of Harrisonburg, VA, now that WVPY is no longer broadcasting out of Front Royal, VA. Prior to June 11, 2018, we were getting a strong signal on RF 21 at our home in Mount Jackson, VA with a simple rabbit ears UHF/VHF antenna..



You will likely need an outdoor high-VHF antenna aimed at Elliot Knob west of Staunton, and whether or not that works will be location-dependent. Plug your exact location into TVFool.com and post the bolded link it provides. That'll give an idea of how strong your signal is and what might need to be done.


- Trip


----------



## Jazzman_1

Trip in VA said:


> You will likely need an outdoor high-VHF antenna aimed at Elliot Knob west of Staunton, and whether or not that works will be location-dependent. Plug your exact location into TVFool.com and post the bolded link it provides. That'll give an idea of how strong your signal is and what might need to be done.
> 
> 
> - Trip


Hi Trip,

Thanks for responding. The TV-Fool link (after the web address is): 
?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d9038ffb4e0b08d

The forum won't let me post links yet.
BTW it still has RF 21 on it, which I don't believe is broadcasting anymore, at least that's what WVPT's website indicates. Thanks again.


----------



## Trip in VA

Jazzman_1 said:


> Hi Trip,
> 
> Thanks for responding. The TV-Fool link (after the web address is):
> ?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d9038ffb4e0b08d
> 
> The forum won't let me post links yet.
> BTW it still has RF 21 on it, which I don't believe is broadcasting anymore, at least that's what WVPT's website indicates. Thanks again.


Yeah, TVFool has gotten somewhat out of date and has various database problems. It's good enough for most uses though.

http://tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=9038ffb4e0b08d

That's... pretty bad. That's worse than the generic one I'd run to see what the overall environment looked like. I would definitely argue for some type of large outdoor antenna with high-VHF and UHF capability aimed just west of due south. WHSV is going to be moving to Elliot Knob as well, unsure how soon exactly, and while they have plans to put a translator at the current site, there could be a gap between the move and the translator. You may also need an amplifier, but start without one and see.

I tried to pick out something nearby that you could buy and return if it doesn't work for you. Lowes in Harrisonburg has this, according to the website: https://www.lowes.com/pd/RCA-Outdoor-Digital-HDTV-VHF-UHF-Fm-Yagi-Type-Antenna/3548988 Nothing else on the Lowes site is big enough.

- Trip


----------



## Jazzman_1

Trip in VA said:


> Yeah, TVFool has gotten somewhat out of date and has various database problems. It's good enough for most uses though.
> 
> That's... pretty bad. That's worse than the generic one I'd run to see what the overall environment looked like. I would definitely argue for some type of large outdoor antenna with high-VHF and UHF capability aimed just west of due south. WHSV is going to be moving to Elliot Knob as well, unsure how soon exactly, and while they have plans to put a translator at the current site, there could be a gap between the move and the translator. You may also need an amplifier, but start without one and see.
> 
> I tried to pick out something nearby that you could buy and return if it doesn't work for you. Lowes in Harrisonburg has this, according to the website: .... Nothing else on the Lowes site is big enough.
> 
> - Trip


It may be that WHSV is already transitioning. We used to be able to pick it up fairly easily along with WVPY with a 10 dB RF amplifier between the rabbit ears and the TV. Now there's nothing, although during the scan, the TV will linger on RF 49 for a good 30 seconds before moving on.


----------



## dleedlee

dleedlee said:


> Channel 68.1, formerly LATV, is now Heartland TV.
> http://www.watchheartlandtv.com/





AntAltMike said:


> Reincarnation of TNN; The Nashville Network.
> 
> Get your daily fix of classic, Crook and Chase at 1:00 PM weekdays.


So, 68.1 is now SBN SonLife Broadcasting Network. The Christian Television Network of Jimmy Swaggart Ministries.


----------



## Chancellor Todd

AntAltMike said:


> Now, the UHF-14, WWTD channels are mapped back to the 49.X suite, with the Chinese channel gone again, and while RetroTV has re-established its 49.4 identifier, it is showing a blank screen.



I have been concerned about Retro TV, as the DC station is no longer listed on the network's website.


----------



## Jazzman_1

Trip in VA said:


> Yeah, TVFool has gotten somewhat out of date and has various database problems. It's good enough for most uses though.
> 
> http://tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=9038ffb4e0b08d
> 
> That's... pretty bad. That's worse than the generic one I'd run to see what the overall environment looked like. I would definitely argue for some type of large outdoor antenna with high-VHF and UHF capability aimed just west of due south. WHSV is going to be moving to Elliot Knob as well, unsure how soon exactly, and while they have plans to put a translator at the current site, there could be a gap between the move and the translator. You may also need an amplifier, but start without one and see.
> 
> I tried to pick out something nearby that you could buy and return if it doesn't work for you. Lowes in Harrisonburg has this, according to the website: https://www.lowes.com/pd/RCA-Outdoor-Digital-HDTV-VHF-UHF-Fm-Yagi-Type-Antenna/3548988 Nothing else on the Lowes site is big enough.
> 
> - Trip


Well, I heard back from the Chief Engineer at WVPT and the news isn't good:

"With respect to your original question, there is no signal from WVPT at your address. The transmitter is 54 miles away on Elliott Knob, west of Staunton, with 10,000 watts on VHF 11. It has a pattern to protect the Green Bank Radio Observatory, which reduces the power to 185 watts in your direction. Indoor antennas would be impossible, and any signal there is so far below the noise floor that I could not even recommend a deep fringe outdoor VHF antenna. That area is completely terrain shielded, and you'd need a tower over 300' high to clear the obstructions. Signal is -119 dBm there, and the TV needs at least -80 dBm to decode the signal. There are no consumer antennas with enough gain to make that work."​My guess is that WVPT has decided to write-off the Northern part of the Shenandoah Valley from Strasburg to Harrisonburg for OTA reception. I also pointed out in my email to him that,

"I think it’s pretty disingenuous of WVPT to state on their webpage that "WVPY began operations on channel 51.2 (RF channel 11) serving New Market, on June 11, 2018” when no one in and around the New Market area can actually receive the signal. The statement, "There are currently no known issues with WVPT transmitters at this time”, while probably an accurate description of the transmitters, doesn’t take into account the thousands of people who can longer receive the signal emanating from those transmitters. By ceasing transmissions from the Front Royal tower, without a viable alternative, WVPT is neglecting the Northern half of the Shenandoah Valley, which by the way is NOT designated as part of the Hagerstown / Washington D.C. designated market area. The towns of Edinburg, Woodstock, Mount Jackson, New Market, etc. deserve to have a viable alternative rather than paying high prices for dish or cable."​The Chief Engineer did say he would relay my concerns to WVPT management, and he stated, "As for the discontinuation of channel 21 (42) transmissions, and relocating WVPY to the WVPT channel serving New Market, I can do nothing more than agree that removing PBS from such a large coverage area is disappointing."


----------



## AntAltMike

Chancellor Todd said:


> I have been concerned about Retro TV, as the DC station is no longer listed on the network's website.



It's baaaaaaak! I just watched part of the Murcock Mystery. The sound is a little loud, but not unbearably so, as it had been previously.


I got 20.3 back when I rescanned, but it would take a of of work for me to see if the 20.X channels are now on UHF 36. Can someone tell me?


----------



## Trip in VA

Yes, they're on 36. 35 is now dead--until WPXW moves there next year.

https://www.rabbitears.info/atscinfo/dc-dca/22207-0_0.htm

- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike

UHF-14 WWTD, AKA 49.1-49.6, was gone completely this morning. Strange that they would have made some effort to repair their subschannel structure just before going off the air completely, which gives rise to hope that it will resurface somewhere.


----------



## Trip in VA

WWTD-LD is on now.

- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike

Trip in VA said:


> WWTD-LD is on now.
> 
> - Trip



I was waiting until I had a chance to confirm that it is still being broadcast on UHF 14, which I have now confirmed. Has its repack destination been determined yet?


----------



## Trip in VA

AntAltMike said:


> I was waiting until I had a chance to confirm that it is still being broadcast on UHF 14, which I have now confirmed. Has its repack destination been determined yet?


It's not moving.

- Trip


----------



## MRG1

I hope this isn't too far off-topic, but how big a deal is lightning?

In other words, if you position your TV or satellite antenna beside your home (not in the middle of your roof (which an electrician told me probably violates the NEC, though all the satellite companies do it that way), ground your antenna right - i.e., that the wire from the mast comes down in a direct vertical line to the ground, and the resistance is within NEC rules, and use an ordinary surge protector (such as is built into an ordinary several hundred watt UPS), how likely is a lightning strike to damage your equipment or your home? E.g., are there any percentages available?

I know that there are "superbolts" with power comparable to atomic bombs (or at least they produce a comparable flash), but I assume those are extremely uncommon. I'm talking about ordinary typical lightning strikes on your antenna, or on the ground nearby.

If it makes a difference, I'm somewhat south of the University of Maryland / College Park, near the border with University Park, MD. We are about 10-15' lower in terrain our neighbors to the east. Add to that that I live in a basement, and don't have access to the attic, and you can guess why I am considering an outdoor antenna. (Where I used to live nearby, an attic antenna reliably picked up over 40 channels, including all the major broadcast networks.) There are trees on the property much taller (65 - 70'?) than any antenna I would install. So lightning strikes to the antenna aren't super-likely to begin with.

I'm not supposed to install an antenna, per landlord restrictions. But one wall of our home is covered with wires from a previous cable installation, along with telephone wires (I don't know if that could pass modern electric code; we also don't appear to have a grounding rod - though there is one on an electric pole at the end of the block. I guess the cable and phone installers did it because the wall is brick, which is hard to drill through) With all those wires, no one would notice if I replaced the terminator on the now-unused cable line with a simple bare wire antenna, and some sort of simple ground, especially since there are climbing vines.


----------



## LiQiCE

Hello all,

I have an antenna in the attic (not sure which model, previous owner installed it a long time ago - definitely before 2010 when I bought the house, probably sometime between 2000-2010). The antenna looks sort of like this - but I haven't looked at it carefully enough to know for sure - https://www.channelmaster.com/Digital_HDTV_Outdoor_TV_Antenna_p/cm-2016.htm

The previous owner had a printout of an antennaweb.org map and used that to aim the antenna (unfortunately it is not on a mast, it is basically resting on the rafters of the roof).

I recently hooked it up to a WinTV QuadHD tuner to try to grab some locals and record them with Plex.

I get a good signal for all of the major networks (CBS, ABC, FOX, CW) - but I cannot receive WRC-DT (NBC Affiliate) at all. The annoying thing is both Plex and the WinTV software only allow me to scan for channels and tune to them if they're detected. If they're not detected by the scan then I can't try tuning to one or manually configuring a channel to attempt to tune to (anyone know how to force it to try to tune to Real Channel 48 UHF?)

I bought a Winegard LNA-200 to see if amplifying the signal would help, since the antenna is in the attic, I am losing a bit of signal with the coax run down to the basement where all of the coax cables collect and then the coax runs back up 1 floor to the office where my main PC is.

Anyone have any ideas or tips on what I can do to help receive WRC-DT? I found this old thread on TVFool.com (can't post there because my account isn't approved to post yet) - http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=14257 but nothing jumped out as the right solution to me. I don't think WAZW (now WAZT) in Winchester is still using channel 48 (according to TV Fool it says it is now using Channel 46).

The weird thing is Channels 35 (20.1 MyN) and Channel 50 (50.1 CW) both come in fine and are at roughly the same distance and same direction. I only live ~16-17 miles away from WRC-DT, so it should be possible to receive this station.

Here is a map of results from my TVFool Signal Analysis: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=9038cf38889d41

The DC stations are all Southeast of my house, and there is a tall tree about 50 feet away from the house, southeast from the antenna. The house itself though is taller than average (10' ceilings and the basement is almost completely above ground, so it is almost like a 3-story house). The tree itself though is taller than the house...

Any suggestions? I watch a bunch of different NBC shows, so being able to receive WRC-DT would be really nice.


----------



## Jake V

First, I'd check that your antenna is actually pointing to about 128 degrees, measured with a real compass. A cell phone compass is not all that accurate but can be used as a guide (moving it a bit each way until you find a sweet spot). While you're doing that check that all connections are nice and tight.

Second, I'd try different locations in the attic. Sometimes moving it a few inches or a few feet makes all the difference. Antennas work best when not looking though stuff that blocks signals, like asphalt shingles or trees. Also, if you have aluminum siding or a foil-backed wrap around the house it can interfere with the signal. 

Many (maybe most) televisions allow you to tune to the real channel by entering the number. Enter "48" for WRC and see what happens. On my Samsung television it would tune in the channel, very quickly show 4.1 and then add it it to memory. 

After all that it tried you could try an amplifier. The LNA-200 is an outdoor model. Since you're antenna is in the attic you can use an indoor model.


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## LiQiCE

Jake V said:


> First, I'd check that your antenna is actually pointing to about 128 degrees, measured with a real compass. A cell phone compass is not all that accurate but can be used as a guide (moving it a bit each way until you find a sweet spot). While you're doing that check that all connections are nice and tight.
> 
> Second, I'd try different locations in the attic. Sometimes moving it a few inches or a few feet makes all the difference. Antennas work best when not looking though stuff that blocks signals, like asphalt shingles or trees. Also, if you have aluminum siding or a foil-backed wrap around the house it can interfere with the signal.
> 
> Many (maybe most) televisions allow you to tune to the real channel by entering the number. Enter "48" for WRC and see what happens. On my Samsung television it would tune in the channel, very quickly show 4.1 and then add it it to memory.
> 
> After all that it tried you could try an amplifier. The LNA-200 is an outdoor model. Since you're antenna is in the attic you can use an indoor model.


Thanks - I'll have to fiddle with it and see, do you have a recommended amplifier for an attic antenna?


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## AntAltMike

LiQiCE said:


> Thanks - I'll have to fiddle with it and see, do you have a recommended amplifier for an attic antenna?


In your situation, I'd try an 8 bay bow-tie antenna and move it around a lot. The exact aim is relatively unimportant. I've done antenna work for over 40 years and I don't use a compass. A map is every bit as reliable. You will need to do a disciplined job of recording your "results" at different spots, and you may find a more favorable region within the attic and should then confine your further tweaking to there.

Back in the analog day (pre 2009), we could see "ghost images" on our test TVs and steer the antenna to minimize them, but there is no comparable way to do that with digital signals... not even with a spectrum analyzer.


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## AntAltMike

MRG1 said:


> I hope this isn't too far off-topic, but how big a deal is lightning?.



Not a big deal to me! I've done antenna work for decades, including on over a hundred high rise buildings where the antenna is a more inviting target than on a home, and the only lightning damage I have incurred is that some lightening bolts have blown the impedance matching transformers to smithereens.


"The Code" is a fire and safety code that is not intended to protect your electronics from damage. The grounding of the mast theoretically makes it less likely to be hit by lightning (lots of physicists disagree) and the grounding of the coax is better suited to drawing off current from line voltage electrical wires that might contact your downlead.


The Code is almost universally unenforced. It's right up there with the tag on your mattress that you're not supposed to remove. If your landlord says you can't have an outside antenna, then I'd say your biggest problem will be mounting it where he doesn't notice it.


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## Aerocraft67

*Splitting reception between markets in different directions*

I’ve had a Clearstream 2V on my roof near Annapolis for a few years as a proof of concept and backup, but just started relying on it after cutting cable TV this month. I’ve settled on a configuration to receive parts of both D.C. and Baltimore markets. It’s an interesting case splitting two major markets including important VHF content, so I thought I’d share. 

Here’s the TV Fool link: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=9038adccc76608

The Washington, D.C., market has more stations, but Baltimore is closer and less obstructed. The markets are about 75° apart from my location. Pointing directly at DC wasn’t optimal, probably because of trees across the street. I actually got better reception of the generally good signal from WRC on RF 48 when pointed less directly, but with clearer line of sight. I also couldn’t get the ABC and CBS affiliates on high VHF reliably when optimizing for DC. 

Baltimore doesn’t pose much trouble, but WBAL on RF 11 is the most vulnerable when I hedge direction for DC, even though it’s essentially co-located with the better WJZ signal, also high VHF at 13. On a good day I can pull in all the high VHF from both markets from one direction, but something inevitably drops out. UHF is much less sensitive, but exhibits similar traits. 

The 2V antenna came with a separate VHF module (with a built-in diplexer) that can point in a different direction than the main UHF apparatus. But I had the module mounted to the reflector, committing it to the same direction as UHF, and the OEM mast wasn’t long enough to mount the VHF separately. Unfortunately the mast is not a standard 3/4" pipe that I could extend with metal electrical conduit or plumbing, and the manufacturer deliberately didn’t have an extender to avoid overloading the mount. I wound up sticking a 1/2" PVC pipe inside the mast, leaving just enough extension to clear the reflector and mount the VHF unit above. 

I mapped out the channels and made a priority list, maximizing unique content, minimizing redundancies, and rejecting unwanted broadcasts. This taught me a lot about the virtual and actual channel relationships and network affiliations, many of which are unique to OTA. I decided to make do with the modest rig I had rather than go hog wild combining multiple Yagi UHF/VHF antenna combos just to maximize total reception. 

My top priority came down to preserving the high VHF CBS affiliate WJZ in Baltimore and hedging the UHF content between markets as best I could. I could concede WBAL given NBC and MeTV coverage elsewhere, but hedging the VHF toward DC wasn’t worthwhile, because WJLA and WUSA signals are too unreliable, and I can get most of their programming over stronger signals.

Rather than rely solely on an iPhone compass, I used the distance function in Google Maps to triangulate the stations with my house, then calculated a weighted average of the station’s distance apart (roughly 60/40 favoring DC), and plotted that bearing over a nearby landmark using the satellite view to aim the antennas. The calculated bearing also matched a pretty clear line of sight. I pointed the UHF unit there, and the VHF directly toward the two Baltimore stations in that band. 

I’m not sure how much the reflector was contributing to the VHF performance, but I suspect the reflector primarily aids the UHF section. I get the signal I need from Baltimore, even with the VHF misaligned with the reflector. 

Here are some notes about the reception, including references to my TV’s signal meter on a day I tested, plus a bit more short term viewing observations. I don’t know what the meter measures, but steady readings above 60% stay intact, yet volatile readings become more prone to dropouts when the low end dips below 70%. Readings below 50% are unwatchable. 

VHF:

DC’s RF 7 WJLA is detectable but unwatchable, RF 9 WUSA doesn’t come in. So much for ABC and CBS in DC.
WBAL on RF 11 is very good, 84%-92%, but not totally immune to blips of degradation
WJZ 13 is bang on 100%, as desired

UHF:

WWTD on RF 14 comes in poorly, as expected from broadcast data. I’m missing a bit of unique content here, but not wildly desirable. It’s not worth sacrificing reception from Baltimore to improve it to “almost watchable”
WFDC/WDCW on RF 15 is among the weaker of the strong UHF signals—but steady. Meter stayed 75%-77%. Shows degradation depending on conditions
WETA on RF 31 has more upside than 15 but also a bit more downside. Reads 73%-85% and degrades/drops at least as often as RF 15
I don’t get a trace of WRZB on RF 32, unsurprisingly, but I’m not missing anything here. I’ve pulled traces in other configurations
WHUT on RF 33 is excellent, as suggested by TV Fool, but better than Antennaweb’s “blue” categorization (most are red)
RF 34 & 36, WPXW/WTTG/WDCA in DC, very good (92%-96%) and excellent (100%), respectively. 
WMAR on RF 38, key ABC affiliate lacking WJLA in DC, comes in very well, 83%-92%
WNUV and WBFF on RF 40 & 46 are flakier than I’d like given their robust profile on TV Fool, 66%-79% & 63%-92%, respectively. I may fine tune direction back toward them, as some of the DC content I’d degrade is redundant and the less reliable of the two.
WRC is good at 67%-92% and a high quality station with some unique subchannels. 
WMPT on 42 is a slam dunk, 7 miles away in the direction of the hedged UHF (but not too close)

Other directions:

I do get WMDE off the back of the VHF unit, in the low VHF on RF 5 at that, and I always stop by the Korean channel it carries. It’s come in better in other configurations. Watchable but low quality, steady at 75%-77%
I don’t get WQAW RF 20 in the same direction. 
I’ve received WBOC on 21 off the back, but not in this configuration.

I did re-cable the antenna with a single run of new cable rather than the two spare segments I had initially. I also have access to the wiring in a crawl space, so I tidied up a few of those with home runs and proper terminations. From antenna to house entry is roughly 75 feet, with runs to each of three TVs of 50-100 feet. I have a Winegard LNA-200 preamplifier and use a 3.5 dB two-way splitter to serve the longest run (that also has an extra splice) on one port, then the other two shorter runs from the other port via another cascaded two-way splitter. That saves the long run a few dB vs. the 7.5 dB four-way splitter I have on hand. I even shortened the jumper cables between splitters (teach a guy to use a compression tool, and every problem becomes a termination). 

Not much else on my agenda, although I’m tempted to extend the mast height a bit. I may try the very small direction bias back toward Baltimore, but it’s pretty well dialed in, and I’m already splitting fair-to-good reception on RF 15 in DC and RF 40 in Baltimore, for instance, and I'd rather not degrade WRC.

Hope you enjoyed reading if you follow the local thread and that this informs a few searches about various aspects of the project.


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## LiQiCE

So I took a small TV upstairs that had a built in Signal Meter for Digital TV and moved the antenna around - and I was able to get >80% signal strength from CBS, ABC, FOX and CW and what seems like a solid 65-70% signal from NBC (WRC-DT). At first it seemed like it was dropping out a lot, but after adjusting it, I watched for maybe 5 minutes with a signal staying in the 60-70% range. I wasn't able to ever get WRC-DT to a higher signal strength than 70% though.

However, when I reconnect the antenna back to the long coax run down to the basement and back up to the office where the WinTV QuadHD is - the other channels seem fine (The WinTV SNR reports 20-25 for CBS, ABC, FOX and CW) but NBC reports a SNR of around 18 with it dropping down to 15 or below on occasion which causes errors and the video to dropout.

I tried removing the LNA200 but the signal was significantly lower without it (I didn't receive WRC-DT at all on the WinTV). I moved the LNA200's power inserter up into the attic instead of being in the basement and that seemed to help - but WRC-DT is still not stable and cuts out while watching TV.

Is there a better pre-amp / amplifier I should buy instead of the LNA200?

I feel like the signal is pretty strong in the attic but not strong enough once it gets to my WinTV.

Thanks!


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## Jake V

Aerocraft67: Very nice, well-composed write up.


Some thoughts:
- The C2V is an excellent antenna, but a bit out of its depth for the VHF stations in DC. The single bar that serves as a VHF antenna has only ~2.6 dBi gain (compared to ~8.7 for UHF). Something like an Antennas Direct C5 with a gain of 7.5 dBi aimed at or just above DC might just give you the DC Stations 7-ABC & 9-CBS. The Baltimore stations 12-NBC and 13-CBS are much stronger and should be picked up from the side of the antenna. There are also other options.


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## aaronwt

LiQiCE said:


> So I took a small TV upstairs that had a built in Signal Meter for Digital TV and moved the antenna around - and I was able to get >80% signal strength from CBS, ABC, FOX and CW and what seems like a solid 65-70% signal from NBC (WRC-DT). At first it seemed like it was dropping out a lot, but after adjusting it, I watched for maybe 5 minutes with a signal staying in the 60-70% range. I wasn't able to ever get WRC-DT to a higher signal strength than 70% though.
> 
> However, when I reconnect the antenna back to the long coax run down to the basement and back up to the office where the WinTV QuadHD is - the other channels seem fine (The WinTV SNR reports 20-25 for CBS, ABC, FOX and CW) but NBC reports a SNR of around 18 with it dropping down to 15 or below on occasion which causes errors and the video to dropout.
> 
> I tried removing the LNA200 but the signal was significantly lower without it (I didn't receive WRC-DT at all on the WinTV). I moved the LNA200's power inserter up into the attic instead of being in the basement and that seemed to help - but WRC-DT is still not stable and cuts out while watching TV.
> 
> Is there a better pre-amp / amplifier I should buy instead of the LNA200?
> 
> I feel like the signal is pretty strong in the attic but not strong enough once it gets to my WinTV.
> 
> Thanks!


I'm using a 29dB Winegard pre-amp in my setup. With a less pre-amp, I don't get some of the stations. But I got it back in 2004. So I'm not sure if Winegard still makes a preamp with that much gain.

EDIT: maybe it was a channel master pre-amp? Not sure. I haven't touched it in fourteen years and has been outside working great all this time.

EDIT: I just checked one of the old threads here. I have a Winegard 8275 preamp.


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## Aerocraft67

Jake V said:


> Something like an Antennas Direct C5 with a gain of 7.5 dBi aimed at or just above DC might just give you the DC Stations 7-ABC & 9-CBS. The Baltimore stations 12-NBC and 13-CBS are much stronger and should be picked up from the side of the antenna.


I had called Antennas Direct about my project, to see if they had an extender for the 2V mast, and explore my options. The rep did mention the C5, along with suggesting the separate direction for the VHF module on my 2V. He noted that a C5 would have to be a few feet from the C2 (or maybe he meant the 2V combo). He otherwise didn't sell it too hard and seemed to think the 2V should suffice--which it does, in one direction or the other. 

Mounting another antenna was more involved than I wanted to get at the time, but the nearly 3x increase in VHF gain could indeed be worthwhile. I've already shown I can get all the high-VHF channels, just not reliably and all at once. But I've also shown I can't reliably get all the UHF either, even with that 8.7 dBi gain. Which gets me thinking hog wild with big combos in both directions again. The C5 does have a UHF section, maybe I could combine both the UHF and VHF sections from the C5 to DC and 2V to Baltimore.


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## LiQiCE

aaronwt said:


> I'm using a 29dB Winegard pre-amp in my setup. With a less pre-amp, I don't get some of the stations. But I got it back in 2004. So I'm not sure if Winegard still makes a preamp with that much gain.
> 
> EDIT: maybe it was a channel master pre-amp? Not sure. I haven't touched it in fourteen years and has been outside working great all this time.
> 
> EDIT: I just checked one of the old threads here. I have a Winegard 8275 preamp.


In doing some reading - right now with the LNA-200 at the antenna along with the power inserter, it seems like the 20dB gain is OK for my distance, but the signal is becoming weak by the time it gets to my tuner. Would it make sense to buy an amplifier instead of a pre-amp and place it in the basement where I'm connecting the antenna to the coax in my office?

The recommended replacement from solidsignal for the Winegard 8275 is this: https://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?p=cm-7777 which has a 30dB Gain but on Amazon's page for the same product it warns that it should only be used for 80+ mile distances to stations and that it will over amplify any strong signals.

(this is what it says: Warning: Because of the high gain output, the CM-7777 is recommended for applications where ALL broadcast towers are 80+ miles away. Just one high power signal or broadcaster in close proximity can cause over-amplification, which can result in the loss of reception. For 98% of (short range) consumer applications, the CM-7778 Medium Gain Preamplifier is recommended. )

Or should I ignore that since I am using an attic antenna instead of a roof mounted one?


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## Jake V

Aerocraft67: 

- What does your antenna look through? Oftentimes with an attic antenna moving it a few inches or a few feet can do wonders. I also have an attic antenna. If it is placed where it looks through the vinyl siding the signal is good. But if it's looking through the shingles channels are lost. Also, if there is anything metal in front of it (even off to the side) it can cause interference as signals can bounce and get confused.

- If you're looking to go bigger, combining two UHF antennas can be a pain. I'd first try something like the Antennas direct DB-4e or the Stellar Labs 30-2426. Both have about an 11-14 dBi gain on UHF (depending on channel) and (like your C2V) can "see" a 60 degree area. The longer monsters usually have a much narrower area that they can "see". 

- As to your VHF Hi stations, if you are up to a cheap experiment pick up an old "rabbit ears" type antenna from Walmart and connect it where your VHF stick antenna from the C2V connects to the main part of that antenna. It does not have any more gain than the VHF antenna on the C2V but would allow you much more flexibility in aiming and positioning. Plus, if you are careful and the experiment is a bust you can always take it back.


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## Aerocraft67

Jake—thanks for the suggestions. My antenna is on the roof, not the attic. 

I've managed to point the VHF module of the 2V anywhere I'd like in the horizontal plane. I tried logical directions and got the results I reported. 

I do have an old set of rabbit ears (replete with the forked wire terminals that require a coax adapter—which I also have), so I could try some directional fine tuning on a TV indoors without busting out the ladder for the umpteenth time—assuming I could get any signal at all indoors. The rabbit ears telescope, so I could even match the wavelength fraction of a specific VHF channel. 

Single-channel VHF add-on was yet another dimension I explored. Turns out there's nothing commercially available (Blonder Tongue used to offer them). Homemade dipole didn't seem worthwhile. But, perhaps I could rig a crude half-wave contraption and keep it in the attic rather than make it weatherproof and all. But then I'd have coupling problems with the roof rig.

That's the vexing thing about our markets, critical channels in high VHF, but with the bulk of content in UHF, and the antenna market focuses on the latter. I've considered the EZ HD Dual TV Antenna System from Denny's, which kept coming up in my searches. In the meantime, I'm trying to hedge something simpler with the kit I have.


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## Brian in CT

Aerocraft67 said:


> My antenna is on the roof, not the attic.


I have been following your plight with interest. Why not buy an antenna rotator instead of possibly buying a second antenna? My first rotator lasted 13 years, and I have a heavy antenna. Is there a problem in getting a professional to install one?


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## Aerocraft67

Brian in CT said:


> Why not buy an antenna rotator instead of possibly buying a second antenna?


Another reasonable suggestion. I barely considered a rotator because I want to minimize active components in the system. I also flit through the channels a lot, and I doubt a rotator would fit well with my watching habits. Nearly all my content is grouped tightly in just two directions, so I only need two bearings or a compromise split, rather than 360° of freedom. I'll reconsider if I get serious about a second antenna, though.


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## Aerocraft67

LiQiCE said:


> Would it make sense to buy an amplifier instead of a pre-amp and place it in the basement where I'm connecting the antenna to the coax in my office?


Adding a distribution amp to your preamp may be your best bet. You've got a good preamp for your long run to the hub; not sure you can improve much on that. If that's not powering the good signal you've confirmed through to your TVs well enough, adding a distribution amp should compensate for your long runs from the hub without adding too much noise. At least that's what it's designed to do. 

I've considered a distribution amp myself for a fairly long run from antenna to hub, splits, and long home runs to TVs. I may test one of my TVs again without the splits in the line to see if that helps. If it does, that strengthens the case for distribution amp. 

Maybe try the HDA-100 to complement your LNA-200. That's what I'll do if my experiment pans out.


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## LiQiCE

Aerocraft67 said:


> Adding a distribution amp to your preamp may be your best bet. You've got a good preamp for your long run to the hub; not sure you can improve much on that. If that's not powering the good signal you've confirmed through to your TVs well enough, adding a distribution amp should compensate for your long runs from the hub without adding too much noise. At least that's what it's designed to do.
> 
> I've considered a distribution amp myself for a fairly long run from antenna to hub, splits, and long home runs to TVs. I may test one of my TVs again without the splits in the line to see if that helps. If it does, that strengthens the case for distribution amp.
> 
> Maybe try the HDA-100 to complement your LNA-200. That's what I'll do if my experiment pans out.


Thanks! I ordered an amplifier - hopefully it helps keep the signal stable.


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## Aerocraft67

LiQiCE said:


> the other channels seem fine (The WinTV SNR reports 20-25 for CBS, ABC, FOX and CW) but NBC reports a SNR of around 18 with it dropping down to 15 or below on occasion which causes errors and the video to dropout.


I just realized that WRC is on the highest frequency in the market, which is most prone to signal attenuation from cable length. For 100' of RG-6 cable, the attenuation for channel 48 is 5.2 dB, whereas for channel 7 it's only 2.2 dB. Granted, WDCA is on channel 36 with 4.9 dB loss at 100' and you're getting that fine, but the WRC frequency might be contributing to your problem receiving it over the longer runs vs. the others. 

Let us know how the amp does!


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## tylerSC

Regarding preamps, I have found the Channel Master Amplify to be a solid performer with better results than the LNA200. It has adjustable gain, as well as an FM trap and LTE filter. Sold directly from Channel Master website for $69. I also use a Channel Master 3414 distribution amp further down the line. Works very well.

Also it may be of benefit to combine separate UHF/HighVHF combo antennas for DC and Baltimore since the signals are located in different directions.Although sometimes combining antennas can be tricky and must be done very carefully. Perhaps Winegard 7694 antennas.


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## carltonrice

Aerocraft67 said:


> I just realized that WRC is on the highest frequency in the market, which is most prone to signal attenuation from cable length. For 100' of RG-6 cable, the attenuation for channel 48 is 5.2 dB, whereas for channel 7 it's only 2.2 dB. Granted, WDCA is on channel 36 with 4.9 dB loss at 100' and you're getting that fine, but the WRC frequency might be contributing to your problem receiving it over the longer runs vs. the other.


Don't forget, though, some of the stations in our market will be moving to lower frequencies shortly. WRC is moving from 48 to 34.


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## aaronwt

LiQiCE said:


> In doing some reading - right now with the LNA-200 at the antenna along with the power inserter, it seems like the 20dB gain is OK for my distance, but the signal is becoming weak by the time it gets to my tuner. Would it make sense to buy an amplifier instead of a pre-amp and place it in the basement where I'm connecting the antenna to the coax in my office?
> 
> The recommended replacement from solidsignal for the Winegard 8275 is this: https://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?p=cm-7777 which has a 30dB Gain but on Amazon's page for the same product it warns that it should only be used for 80+ mile distances to stations and that it will over amplify any strong signals.
> 
> (this is what it says: Warning: Because of the high gain output, the CM-7777 is recommended for applications where ALL broadcast towers are 80+ miles away. Just one high power signal or broadcaster in close proximity can cause over-amplification, which can result in the loss of reception. For 98% of (short range) consumer applications, the CM-7778 Medium Gain Preamplifier is recommended. )
> 
> Or should I ignore that since I am using an attic antenna instead of a roof mounted one?


In my situation I'm only around 25 miles from the DC area antennas. Using a lower gain preamp resulted in reception of fewer channels. The higher gain one was the only way for me to reliably get all the DC channels with my two combined square shooter antennas. 

I have a three way split after it enters my home and I've been using it for over fourteen years now. So at least in my setups it's never caused any issue.


----------



## aaronwt

carltonrice said:


> Don't forget, though, some of the stations in our market will be moving to lower frequencies shortly. WRC is moving from 48 to 34.


I hope that doesn't negatively affect me. Since right now, WRC is very strong and a solid signal. 

I only wish WJLA and WUSA would move back to UHF. I have a low signal strength on WJLA and WUSA. But WJLA is still rock solid all year round. WHile WUSA will sometimes have issues, depending on the amount of foliage on the trees. 

WUSA used to be my strongest station until they went to VHF, then it became the weakest. But considering that my Square shooter antennas aren't even supposed to work well with VHF, I guess I can't complain much.


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## MRG1

This is mostly just curiosity, because I'm not currently in a good location for antennas. 

For all of these questions I would be looking for very reasonably priced systems, consistent with viewing OTA as a cheaper alternative to cable, etc., not expensive systems only a commercial cable system can afford.

1. All of the antenna signal amplifiers I've had apply one gain factor to all the frequencies. Thus, it is impossible to get both distant stations and nearby ones well. This seems to be a problem a lot of people share.

Is there a good quality signal amplifier that applies an automatic gain control on each frequency separately?

I realize TVs themselves apply an AGC to the current channel, but my impression is that the built in AGC in my TV and in my (Series 3 TIVO) DVR don't handle the less powerful signals very well. In addition, it really should be closer to the antenna, like a real antenna amplifier, before the cable to the TV degrades signal strength.

2. Also, is there a good quality signal amplifier that can take inputs from two or more antenna, pointing in different directions, and lets you choose which to use, or lets you permanently map which to use by frequency?

3. Taking it a step further, though I realize this is more like a commercial cable system, are there similar systems that can remap frequencies, so if there two stations of the same frequency, from different antenna directions, they will appear on different frequencies?

4. As a separate issue, TV's and DVRs don't seem to deal well with multi-path reception, where you receive more than one copy of the signal, including signals that have skipped off the atmosphere or bounced off a building, which add together to create a mixed signal that confuses these devices. In principle dis-entangling multi-path reception is a soluble problem, similar to standard signal processing algorithms - i.e., if you view receiving multiple as a weighted time-convolution of the signal, all you need to do is to apply the reverse convolution.

Are there devices that do this?

****

As stated, I"m talking about CHEAP solutions.


----------



## AntAltMike

MRG1 said:


> 1. Is there a good quality signal amplifier that applies an automatic gain control on each channel separately?
> 
> I realize TVs themselves apply an AGC to the current channel, but my impression is that the built in AGC in my TV and in my (Series 3 TIVO) DVR don't handle the less powerful signals very well. In addition, it really should be closer to the antenna, like a real antenna amplifier, before the cable to the TV degrades signal strength.
> 
> 2. Also, is there a good quality signal amplifier that can take inputs from two or more antenna, pointing in different directions, and lets you choose which to use, or lets you permanently map which to use by frequency?
> 
> 3. Taking it a step further, though I realize this is more like a commercial cable system, are there similar systems that can remap frequencies, so if there two stations of the same frequency, from different antenna directions, they will appear on different frequencies?


You can use a Johannson Profiler 6600. I've bought over half a dozen. The current price on "the 'net" is just over 200 Euroes, whatever that is. Plus any import tax that you-know-who might tweet onto it. 

As far as frequency shifting, I've done it a lot in commercial systems for hotels and multiple dwelling units, but it is too expensive for home use.


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## tylerSC

The RCA preamp and the new Channel Master 7778 Amplify pro grade preamp have dual inputs for separate UIHF and VHF antennas. The RCA is much cheaper, although Channel Master may be designed better. But the Channel Master 7777HD Amplify is a solid performer for $69, but it only has one input but it does have adjustable gain.


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## LiQiCE

Aerocraft67 said:


> I just realized that WRC is on the highest frequency in the market, which is most prone to signal attenuation from cable length. For 100' of RG-6 cable, the attenuation for channel 48 is 5.2 dB, whereas for channel 7 it's only 2.2 dB. Granted, WDCA is on channel 36 with 4.9 dB loss at 100' and you're getting that fine, but the WRC frequency might be contributing to your problem receiving it over the longer runs vs. the others.
> 
> Let us know how the amp does!


So I got the amp yesterday, it is a +8db 4-port amp. I put terminators on the unused ports - but the amp made no difference. My SNR numbers from the WinTV were the same.

Over time, despite adjusting the antenna to get a decent signal from NBC, when I checked again - I had lost NBC and CBS suddenly had a bad signal. I'm guessing this has to do with the time of day that I'm trying this (on weekdays it is normally during primetime, but on the weekends it is during the day). I seem to recall that stations increase their broadcast power during prime time - but maybe I'm wrong. It could simply be due to weather.

When I originally positioned the antenna is was during primetime, and I got a 70-80% signal from FOX, CBS, WB and settled for a 60% signal from NBC. 

I tried another suggestion which was to hook the TV up at the end of the coax run to see if maybe the tuner was just better in the TV versus my WinTV tuner. The results were basically the same, NBC got 0 signal today, FOX, WB, CBS had a ~60% signal (so it was lower from the long coax runs).

So back to the drawing board - I noticed Winegard has an AR (altered reality) app called Winegard - TV Signal Finder that allows you to point your phone and it will show you where different stations are. Since NBC was the biggest problem child, I used that as the reference.

With the app, I was able to adjust the antenna a little further (the antenna itself is sort of trapped in the rafters of the roof, so it limits just how much I can move the antenna) - and using the small TV I brought up to the attic (this time hooked up behind the LNA-200) - I got a 70-80% signal with NBC, 90-100% signal with CBS, 70-80% with FOX but the signal for ABC and WB were down in the 60% range.

Kind of strange because ABC and CBS are the same direction, will see during primetime if ABC is better. WB makes more sense since it is a little bit off from the path of the other channels.

After hooking everything back up, on my WinTV I have a really strong signal with FOX and NBC (25+ SNR), a good signal with NBC (21 SNR) and ABC/WB both seem to still be decent too around a 20-21 SNR.

Will have to wait a few days and see through different times, weather conditions, etc if everything is stable - but hopeful that this will work!

Here is a picture of the antenna in my attic - before I moved it.

https://i.imgur.com/mqC5iem.jpg


----------



## MRG1

>tylerSC wrote


> The RCA preamp and the new Channel Master 7778 Amplify pro grade preamp have dual inputs for separate UHF and VHF antennas. The RCA is much cheaper, although Channel Master may be designed better. But the Channel Master 7777HD Amplify is a solid performer for $69, but it only has one input but it does have adjustable gain.


I'm not looking to use separate UHF and VHF antennas - I'm looking to use broadband antennas for multiple directions.

Actually, an interesting possibility would be to have two crossed antennas. Different linear combinations of their signals would effectively create a synthetic antenna pointing in arbitrary directions. But that wouldn't be as high gain as a good directional antenna. One really should have something more like an antenna array.



AntAltMike said:


> You can use a Johannson Profiler 6600... The current price on "the 'net" is just over 200 Euroes, whatever that is. Plus any import tax that you-know-who might tweet onto it.


200 Euros=$216 [USD], plus shipping and import duties - quite a lot, when looking for cheap alternatives to cable, etc. I can't even find any English language pages selling it, which is odd.

What I'm look for seems pretty obvious, and it ought to exist off the shelf for the consumer market - but I guess OTA is now a pretty small market, compared to cable, satellite, and streamers, and doesn't attract companies willing to put much money into it.

While looking around I did find one amusing thing that surprised me - "flagpole antennas" which at first glance look like ordinary flagpoles, complete with flags - I guess the idea is that your nosy neighbors won't think to look twice and realize you have put up a tall antenna. In Japan they even have antennas that look like trees.


----------



## AntAltMike

There haven't been any "affordable" tunable bandpass filters made since the early 1990s. Even then, they didn't have width adjustments: they were simple, single channel bandpass, so none of those old products could pass, say channels 33-36 together, as this market needs. or 38 to 40, 41 or 42.


I tried to get Pico/Tru Spec to manufacture me some of their discontinued UHF-BPFs, but they said that they no longer had the "tooling" so I would have to order 1,000 to make it worth their while. I was willing to take maybe 200, and so I called a lot of installation companies I had relations with but none of them would commit to the purchase of more than a few, so for the next few years, I just scoffed up all the ones I could find on eBay, but they hardly ever can be found there anymore.

More recently, some European company was making tunable combiners, I think for under a hundred bucks, but I don't know what I'd use for search terms. If you go to the AVS Hardware thread and ask there, one of the regular posters might be able to furnish you with contact information. Tin Lee in Canada is the only other company I know of who will custom tune filters, but if you need two, you'd do better with the Profiler. I paid $700 for my first and second PFA-6600s, When North American Cable decided the product was a loser, they blew out their inventory of forty-something units for $100 each and had egg on their face when the demand for that product came back.

Back around 2005, I had one of the cable filter "trap" manufacturers make me up pairs of 7Hi/9Lo and 11Hi/13Lo cylindrical filters that they actually tuned together for me, but the 11/13 low end rolloff was not sharp enough to scrape off as much channel 9 signal as I needed for the Washington DC market, so I sometimes had to augment it with a rather expensive MWT-3 tunable notch filter.


----------



## AntAltMike

From Slovakia.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/jan_jenca/...rom=R40&rt=nc&_ipg=200&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

The one on the left is Buy it Now for $37.90, the one on the right is $85. 

I can make a two antenna array that would work with those because I have a spectrum analyzer and can make sure that the bandpassed signals overwhelm the undesired co-channel signal coming off an unfiltered antenna, but it would be a little harder to do that reliably without the proper measurement equipment.


----------



## keeper

Anyone have issues with upper vhf 11,13 during storms? It seems like I get breakups during lightning storms. Could be the distance also as I’m 58 miles from Baltimore.


----------



## carltonrice

keeper said:


> Anyone have issues with upper vhf 11,13 during storms? It seems like I get breakups during lightning storms. Could be the distance also as I’m 58 miles from Baltimore.


I think that this is pretty much normal to get some fluctuations during violent storms. Normally, 11 and 13 are rock solid for me, but I can get some pixelation during a storm or on a very windy day.


----------



## keeper

carltonrice said:


> I think that this is pretty much normal to get some fluctuations during violent storms. Normally, 11 and 13 are rock solid for me, but I can get some pixelation during a storm or on a very windy day.


Thanks for the reply.


----------



## MRG1

AntAltMike said:


> From Slovakia.
> https://www.ebay.com/sch/jan_jenca/...rom=R40&rt=nc&_ipg=200&_trksid=p2047675.l2562
> 
> The one on the left is Buy it Now for $37.90, the one on the right is $85.
> 
> I can make a two antenna array that would work with those because I have a spectrum analyzer and can make sure that the bandpassed signals overwhelm the undesired co-channel signal coming off an unfiltered antenna, but it would be a little harder to do that reliably without the proper measurement equipment.


That seems like the right idea - but it's not programmable. 

I guess what I'm looking for isn't available at the price I want. It used to be people would just buy multiple cheap VCRs and plug one into each antenna... But cheap VCR replacements for modern digital OTA channels don't really exist now. Even the old Series 3 TIVO boxes that include Lifetime service, like the one I bought on Craigslist, are fairly expensive. 

I guess the obvious way to do this would be to build one's own antenna - and point elements for each frequency band at the transmitting tower for the station you want at that frequency, with sufficient gain on each element to make them all about the same power level. YAGI look simple - maybe it could even be done with cheap parallel wires - but I don't know enough to do it right. Might be fun, though, if I had the technical skills. If I had the electronics knowledge, I suspect that even frequency shifting isn't that hard if you can start with the basic chips.

Another thing that would be fun to try, if I had the knowledge, would be to set up a set of passive reflector parabolic antenna in a tree top, all focused on single antenna next to a window, bouncing signals from each tower. Make the antennas out of cheap chicken wire, or something like it.

But it seems like fancy OTA stuff, beyond using one simple antenna, is mostly in the domain of the hobbiest/enthusiast now, like ham radio stuff, or is done by commercial companies, like you.

It's unfortunate that the whole remote-antenna-over-the-internet thing was killed by the courts. And that joint neighborhood antenna systems are killed by licensing and re-transmission fee rules. A lot of needless resources are wasted by not doing the easy joint cooperative things.


----------



## Trip in VA

What you could do is get multiple HDHomeRun receivers and hook a different antenna to each one. Then if you want a DVR use a central one, or if not just use something like the Fire TV at each TV to watch directly from the HDHRs.

- Trip


----------



## MRG1

Trip in VA said:


> What you could do is get multiple HDHomeRun receivers and hook a different antenna to each one. Then if you want a DVR use a central one, or if not just use something like the Fire TV at each TV to watch directly from the HDHRs.


Thanks. HDHomeRun, Live TV, Plex, and networked hard drives are worlds I haven't explored at all. Looks a bit complicated, but I guess they are cheaper than TIVO boxes with subscriptions. Though I'm a bit confused - it looks like some or all of them require a subscription to an expensive EPG (electronic program guide), just like TIVO.

If I use them to record and playback OTA broadcasts, are they completely legal in the U.S. for non-commercial use within a home? (I assume "place shifting" to watch it outside the building with the antenna, like other remote antenna use, is not legal, unless licensed by the content provider.) 

One issue no one has touched is sophisticated TV signal processors to remove multi-path reception problems, which I assume is the main reason my TIVO and/or TV sometimes see a fairly strong signal, but can not view it. Are devices to do that even out there? 

I assume the commercial cable world has found expensive solutions - but maybe they just bypass OTA and transmit from content providers through the Internet, and/or they can afford to build antenna so high, directional and active-pointed that they get clean line-of-sight signal paths, so multi-path reception doesn't occur in their world? 

What about for the "little guy" who can't get all of his/her channels by line-of-sight?

There "ought" to exist a reasonably priced off-the-shelf complete OTA solution for the non-tech-savvy little guy - say, a high self-grounding flagpole antenna, with wires to the home, or to, avoid lightning issues, solar cells and optical cable or WiFi, plus semi-automated reception boxes which set themselves up to handle channel selective amplification, signal processing to remove multi-path, recording, and playback, and some sort of EPG. Maybe there are enough OTA customers to justify someone doing that... Especially since there don't seem to be a lot of people like AntAltMike any more who go around and set up custom OTA systems for customers.


----------



## VARTV

MRG1 said:


> I assume the commercial cable world has found expensive solutions - but maybe they just bypass OTA and transmit from content providers through the Internet, and/or they can afford to build antenna so high, directional and active-pointed that they get clean line-of-sight signal paths, so multi-path reception doesn't occur in their world?


Most MVPDs have fiber connections from the local stations but not always the case. Until recently, DIRECTV in the Norfolk market picked up locals OTA...


----------



## Aerocraft67

LiQiCE said:


> With the app, I was able to adjust the antenna a little further (the antenna itself is sort of trapped in the rafters of the roof, so it limits just how much I can move the antenna) - and using the small TV I brought up to the attic (this time hooked up behind the LNA-200) - I got a 70-80% signal with NBC, 90-100% signal with CBS, 70-80% with FOX but the signal for ABC and WB were down in the 60% range.
> 
> Kind of strange because ABC and CBS are the same direction, will see during primetime if ABC is better. WB makes more sense since it is a little bit off from the path of the other channels.
> 
> After hooking everything back up, on my WinTV I have a really strong signal with FOX and NBC (25+ SNR), a good signal with NBC (21 SNR) and ABC/WB both seem to still be decent too around a 20-21 SNR.
> 
> Will have to wait a few days and see through different times, weather conditions, etc if everything is stable - but hopeful that this will work!
> 
> Here is a picture of the antenna in my attic - before I moved it.
> 
> https://i.imgur.com/mqC5iem.jpg


Glad you found a solution, even if it wasn't the amp we thought might help. Has it remained stable?

That antenna photo is an inspiration. So is the Winegard app. The app helped me tune things up, too. I'll post separately.


----------



## Aerocraft67

*Splitting markets with the CM-4228HD*

I didn’t take long to reconsider my humble rig hedging the DC and Baltimore markets from Annapolis. Imperfect reception of Baltimore VHF (particularly RF 11) that should be pretty easy to pull in nagged at me, and occasionally watchable VHF from DC (such as WUSA on RF 9—with my little dipole pointed to Baltimore), as well as RF 14 in DC, taunted me. 

My baseline is the C2V, 10 dBi and 2.5 dBi UHF/VHF, on the roof with UHF pointed to DC and VHF pointed to Baltimore. So what about a proper VHF antenna?

The Clearstream 5 is the modern answer to high VHF. It cites a modest 8 dBi of high-VHF gain, but that’s as good as it gets without a long beam antenna. Not really up for a honking Yagi on the roof, although I’m tempted to put one in the attic, maybe sneak a Winegard HD8200U up there piece by piece past the wife. But even that might be too directional for my market split and bested by a comparatively modest antenna on the roof. I could combine the C5 with my C2 for pretty even gain across the spectrums, but that’s another mast and mounting job.

Another hedge is the Channel Master 4228HD. Comparing specs and the antennahacks.com shootout suggests that the CM-4228HD has similar gain for Baltimore RF 11-13 and less gain for DC RF 7 & 9 than the C5, but still a class better than my 2V dipole. The 4228 also bumps up the UHF gain considerably over my C2, which I could put to use for my challenges with RF 14 and 15. This may be the best way to go, but I’m a bit uncertain about the beam width and hedging both markets from one direction. It makes a one-unit compromise, but at a cost that comes with that. Another long-term ploy would be to stack two of them in different directions!

Another all-in approach would be to combine the C5 with the DB8e. The DB8e seems purpose-built for my two-market application, but looks a little rickety for a rooftop. I could stash the antenna farm in the attic, which would have a side benefit of reducing cable runs, but generate in-wall fishing projects and probably not offset rooftop performance enough to make that worthwhile. I’m also wondering if Antennas Direct will update the DB8e to focus on channels 36 and below (it’s otherwise stronger in the not-long-for-TV channels above than the 4228).

The 4228HD was on sale, so I snagged one and got it on the roof today. I know this is a long post so I’ll highlight the differences from the two-direction C2V rig. I have 4228 pointing directly toward DC between trees (thanks to the Winegard app). I tried it without my LNA-200 preamp; I got reception but it’s much better with the amp.

I’m getting watchable RF 7 & 9, where I had little to no signal before, but there are dropouts. I maintained RF 11 in Baltimore, weaker but no dropout during the test (a very steady 66% on my TV meter). RF 13 in Baltimore dropped to an unwatchable 40%, which was my highest priority before I could get a decent RF 9 signal from DC. That remains the big sticking point. 

The “big win” is RF 14 in DC, where I had little to no signal before. Quite steady 60%-66%. RF 15 is weaker than before, watchable with dropouts, in a big 43%-69% range. WETA on RF 26 got a similar top end but more downside, seems at least as watchable as before. Similarly, RF 46 nudged down a bit with some drops. 

On the back side, I lost RF 5, and couldn’t pick up RF 20 or 21.

The 4228HD wasn’t a bust but not the boom I was hoping for. I’ll try tuning it toward Baltimore to see if I can improve those channels without losing what I gained in DC, but it’ll be tough. Maybe I can catch a lobe just right. 

It would also be tough to integrate my C2V. I could dedicate that to a TV itself, which would free up a bit of splitting loss. Curious to see how the 4228 fares in the winter, too. If it improves, that’s less incentive to put up another 4228 and point one in each direction.


----------



## LiQiCE

Aerocraft67 said:


> Glad you found a solution, even if it wasn't the amp we thought might help. Has it remained stable?
> 
> That antenna photo is an inspiration. So is the Winegard app. The app helped me tune things up, too. I'll post separately.


Thanks - it is seemed to be pretty stable, with the occasional hiccup that I'm not sure I can avoid 100% - during thunderstorms, certain stations (CW in particular) - loses its signal, but during most other situations the signal remains usable and I've been able to DVR lots of TV with Plex, so I am pretty happy with the overall setup.

The amp may end up being useful, as I start the split the signal. Right now, I have the WinTV Quad hooked up and also added a 2-tuner HDHomeRun so I can record 6 things at once essentially allowing me to record all 5 (NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, CW) of the Primetime TV stations if I wanted as new pilots starts in September (kind of like Dish TV can do).

Glad to hear the Winegard app helped you too!


----------



## MRG1

VARTV said:


> Most MVPDs have fiber connections from the local stations but not always the case. Until recently, DIRECTV in the Norfolk market picked up locals OTA...


Of course there is no wire or cable connecting broadcasters to satellites (  ), so in at least that sense, all satellite TV providers must receive OTA signals, though that needn't mean commercial satellites aim lots of on-board antennas at individual broadcast station antennas. (If they did, the satellite would be ridiculously big, heavy, and expensive to launch.)


----------



## Aerocraft67

*Channel 7 in DC vs. 13 in Baltimore*

Took this screenshot this morning of Signal GH app measuring RF channels 7 from DC and 13 from Baltimore using HDHomerun tuner in Annapolis. The antenna direction is weighted 55% toward DC to match the weaker signal reaching my house based on TVFool NM.

The 13 signal in gold was initially not receivable, but then it improved to match channel 7, which continued to degrade to nearly unwatchable after the screenshot. They measured near the same level afterward, just above the red line of receivability, and then 13 tracked better for while. I'm getting them both now.

I was surprised how much relative medium-term variability there was between the signals, which are generally more stable than weak UHF signals. Also interesting that some step changes affected both signals, and others only one. Both channels 9 in DC and 11 in Baltimore were stronger, by the way. Last night, all my VHF was dark, so clearly there are issues that affect the whole band. Looks like it's as dialed in as can be, but at first I thought I had to nudge it back to Baltimore. I suppose there could be variation within the HDH tuner or SGH app producing the differences, too. 

By the way I found Signal GH in my search for a portable signal monitor to help optimize the antenna direction from the roof rather than run down and check the mystery monitor in my TV after every antenna tweak. I wasn't even aware of HDHomerun. It works pretty well for diagnostics and of course the intended purpose to carry OTA on the home network and view on mobile devices. I see potential for reducing cable runs and splits for multiple TVs, too, but I don't want to burden the network with OTA too much. I only have one compatible streaming device dedicated to one of the TVs, and I haven't even sprung for the $25 Channels app yet to use it.


----------



## Trip in VA

The neat thing about the HDHomeRun is that you could theoretically have two antennas, one for Baltimore and one for DC, each attached to a different HDHR. Then, using the HDHR App (which is free, but only available on certain devices like the Kindle Fire TV) it will show you the channels available on both.

The down side is, yes, you need a decent network. Mine is a wired Gigabit network, but one TV is using Wi-Fi without issue.

- Trip


----------



## merman9393

MRG1 said:


> Thanks. HDHomeRun, Live TV, Plex, and networked hard drives are worlds I haven't explored at all. Looks a bit complicated, but I guess they are cheaper than TIVO boxes with subscriptions. Though I'm a bit confused - it looks like some or all of them require a subscription to an expensive EPG (electronic program guide), just like TIVO.


If you are interesting in HDHomerun, and inexpensive DVR subscription, I Reccomend keeping an eye on their Refurbished hardware outlet. Generally over a period of 2 weeks they will have a 2 tuner Connect for anywhere from $35-$46. I have purchased several for myself and siblings who became interested after seeing my setup.

It does require you have a home network. It connects by Ethernet to your router, but can use wifi to connect to a client, a fire tv, android tv, or other devices to view on your tv. It can get more complicated to set up a DVR system, but can be as simple as connecting a USB drive to your client. Their DVR subscription with a 14 day guide is $35 per year, ( that averages to less than $3 a month), considerably less than the $15 per month my TiVo subscription was. 

There are options to record with no fees through TVHeadend and a PC, but for $35 a year it was not worth the headache.

https://shop.silicondust.com/shop/product-category/refurbished-hardware/#main


----------



## Aerocraft67

Trip in VA said:


> The neat thing about the HDHomeRun is that you could theoretically have two antennas, one for Baltimore and one for DC, each attached to a different HDHR.


I like it! Skips the complications of combining antennas, and I could repurpose my C2V. I'd just have to do a second cable run to the second antenna. 

I also have a wired gigabit network. I sprung for the HDH Extend (used on eBay) so it plays nice over the wifi to the mobile devices. I could add a cheaper HDH device for the second rig.


----------



## MRG1

merman9393 said:


> Their DVR subscription with a 14 day guide is $35 per year, ( that averages to less than $3 a month), considerably less than the $15 per month my TiVo subscription was.
> 
> There are options to record with no fees through TVHeadend and a PC, but for $35 a year it was not worth the headache.


If you have multiple HDHomeRuns, that you want to record from, would each HDHomeRun require a separate subscription?


----------



## merman9393

MRG1 said:


> If you have multiple HDHomeRuns, that you want to record from, would each HDHomeRun require a separate subscription?


No , it's by household.

Just last night they added major new feature, Premium TV,..https://www.silicondust.com/premium-tv/

Looks interesting, Cordcutters using their HDHomerun devices for OTA can now add Premium networks, CNn, Fox, MSNBC, TNT, AMC, etc. with an integrated guide of all OTA and Premium TV.

If you already have their DVD service, the Premium channels can also be recorded.

.https://forum.silicon-dust.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=119&t=69230

A plus for me, all recordings can be backed up, saved to a nas. Android is generally restrictive about backups, and it isn't easy to backup TIVO recordings , but it can be done.

Not too much info about this yet, but it checks all my boxes.


----------



## MRG1

merman9393 said:


> Just last night they added major new feature, Premium TV


Interesting. Now if only they also sold the broadcast channels I can't get.

What I really want is something closer to a la carte. I know we can't get that - each of the major content providers insists on bundling what they provide together. But it ought to be possible to select which content providers you want, and which bundle level you want. Also, they should be willing to charge less for fewer streams, and for device-locked viewing, because that reduces sharing. But that is wishful thinking.


----------



## Trip in VA

MRG1 said:


> What I really want is something closer to a la carte. I know we can't get that - each of the major content providers insists on bundling what they provide together. But it ought to be possible to select which content providers you want, and which bundle level you want. Also, they should be willing to charge less for fewer streams, and for device-locked viewing, because that reduces sharing. But that is wishful thinking.


I got Philo earlier this month and really like it. As someone who does not watch sports and wants none of my money to go toward it, it's perfect. $20/month gets me all the programming I would actually want out of a subscription. (Food Channel, Cooking Channel, BBC America, occasional Science Channel or Discovery.)

- Trip


----------



## MRG1

Trip in VA said:


> I got Philo earlier this month and really like it...


I mostly watch Science Fiction. My favorite channel is SyFy, which they don't carry. So I've usually gone with the cheapest way to get SyFy, namely Sling Blue, though I am temporarily on DTVN instead, to watch two shows, on CBS and TVLand, that Sling Blue doesn't include. Maybe I should buy those two shows individually instead.

But this is off-topic.

My next favorite channels are CW and CBS. If only my landlord would let me set up an outdoor antenna... (CW OTT is free, but shows more ad than program. SOME CBS OTT is free, but I think they are pushing that program to CBS All Access subscription.)

My current project is figuring out how to set up a stealth outdoor antenna, to record CW and CBS. Because I'm in a basement, on the wrong side of the house, my ClearStream 4 antenna isn't reliable indoors, even if I put it next to the window, as high as I can. But it is possible I could set up a stealth outdoor antenna high up enough to get decent signal. I've already tried an indoor bare wire antenna, and inductive antenna links to the AC electrical system, and to the heating duct. Those are said to work in some homes, but not in mine. But finding way around the restrictions is starting to turn into a silly but fun game.

I suspect a lot of people who do OTA are in it just to see if they can too.


----------



## TampBayOTA

MRG1 said:


> That seems like the right idea - but it's not programmable.
> It's unfortunate that the whole remote-antenna-over-the-internet thing was killed by the courts. And that joint neighborhood antenna systems are killed by licensing and re-transmission fee rules. A lot of needless resources are wasted by not doing the easy joint cooperative things.


I agree with your points on Aero and MATV, but I for one would not want a MATV, as its a system that I don't have full control over.  I might consider it as an option in addition to mine own antenna(s) or in specific hard cases...or I was in charge of it!   

Personally the whole retrans thing needs to be reworked. Period. No fees, ever period! The TV stations are using a privilege to use PUBLIC AIRWAVES! 

BUT

The bigger gorilla lurking in the room , is the anti antenna nazi hoa's!     

MATV's would give them possible ways to curtail antennas even under 47 CFR 1.4 OTARD. Which I am not going to allow any erosion of that be it for TV/WISP, or LMR, ARS (Which no OTARD doesn't cover   but should!) These people get any room to find a way to not allow stuff they will!    

You can't give these groups a micron, or you will be screwed.

Then from MATV its just a few small steps to a private CATV system, that is your only choice and forced on you like it or not, want it or not!   

I don't have any paid video services, and have zero intention of adding anything I pay for period.

MATV's need to be very highly restricted to being that and only that, and optional.


----------



## TampBayOTA

MRG1 said:


> I
> 
> My current project is figuring out how to set up a stealth outdoor antenna, to record CW and CBS. Because I'm in a basement, on the wrong side of the house, my ClearStream 4 antenna isn't reliable indoors, even if I put it next to the window, as high as I can. But it is possible I could set up a stealth outdoor antenna high up enough to get decent signal. I've already tried an indoor bare wire antenna, and inductive antenna links to the AC electrical system, and to the heating duct. Those are said to work in some homes, but not in mine. But finding way around the restrictions is starting to turn into a silly but fun game.


 //

What restrictions??? Unless you are renting? This sets off my HOnAzi alarm!   Full attack mode on!   Anti antenna groups and people get me rowd up!  



MRG1 said:


> I
> I suspect a lot of people who do OTA are in it just to see if they can too.


Nope, cut, cut cut no $$$ to any body for video services, nothing! Keep my $$$$ period.

Now what would be fun is if I got another antenna and pointed it the direction of the other market, although most of these are listed as way out of range by various coverage maps I've reviewed.. That would be fun to see. No benefit as it would just be dupes of stuff I already get.

I noticed a lot of antennas pointed that way the other day on some travels, not that far from my location, but which still show way out of range for most of that market... One area which is way higher than most, and on a good 75-100 foot tower I could see a possibly maybe kind of get some of them... but at ground +5-10feet... in areas lower ... hmmm... 

Like I said that would be the fun part to try it at least... Maybe I get some more time to experiment like that later.


----------



## MRG1

TampBayOTA said:


> //
> What restrictions??? Unless you are renting?...


I am renting a basement apartment in a private home. In addition, we are about 10 or 15' lower then the houses to the east of us. I asked about setting up an outdoor antenna, or running a line to an attic antenna, but the answer was no.

It's not the only issue. My only Internet connection is a FIOS WiFi wireless router, and it has no end of problems. 

Where I used to live, I was allowed to connect up an antenna in the attic (got about 45 channels), the house shared Comcast/XFinity cable TV (ridiculously expensive, but everything worked) and wired Internet. It worked so much better. But that landlord died, the estate sold the house, and I had to move in a hurry.

Wired is always better!

Oh well. No home is perfect.


----------



## pkpaul

pkpaul said:


> Schedules Direct has 3 new OTA channels with program listings for WHUT 32 [RF 33] 32.3, 32.4 & 32.5. The program listings on all three channels is Chinese content, although 32.3 has some Africa content.
> I assume that it will be the 3 China based channels from MHz networks; CGTN America, CGTN Documentary, CNC World.
> And maybe some Africa Today TV.
> But no OTA broadcast yet, and no other information/confirmation as of Saturday.





pkpaul said:


> Also in Zap2it.com listings


 
The listings have stopped on schedulesdirect.org & Zap2it.com. 
So I guess this isn't happening.


----------



## VARTV

pkpaul said:


> The listings have stopped on schedulesdirect.org & Zap2it.com.
> So I guess this isn't happening.


Zap2It "should" have the most accurate information. Zap2It is own by the company these TV stations list their schedules...


----------



## AntAltMike

I still expect RT - Russia Today - to surface somewhere. This market is too important to them to give up their FTA availability.


----------



## mkfs

VARTV said:


> Zap2It "should" have the most accurate information. Zap2It is own by the company these TV stations list their schedules...


 I gave up on Zap2It. They keep updegrading to where it's not usable. I do not want a site I must log into to use. I want to choose the channels I see. ....


----------



## Trip in VA

Okay, so this is interesting. WBFF has added a 45-4 carrying Stadium, but it's in MPEG-4. That's... unexpected. 

- Trip


----------



## Trip in VA

All my TVs are Samsung, so I just rescanned one of them and it successfully received the MPEG-4 Stadium transmission on 45-4.

Any other TVs able to decode it?

- Trip


----------



## AntAltMike

Trip in VA said:


> All my TVs are Samsung, so I just rescanned one of them and it successfully received the MPEG-4 Stadium transmission on 45-4.
> 
> Any other TVs able to decode it?
> 
> - Trip


On my 2 year old, $180, 32" Seki, it tunes to 45-4 Stadium Programming, but it is displaying a black screen, and it says the audio is L/R, but it does not give a video resolution as all the other fully functional channels do.


----------



## pkpaul

Trip in VA said:


> All my TVs are Samsung, so I just rescanned one of them and it successfully received the MPEG-4 Stadium transmission on 45-4.
> 
> Any other TVs able to decode it?
> 
> - Trip



My Vizio TV decodes it.


Although my Magnavox STB sees channel 45-4, it says "audio only" and there is no picture.


----------



## pkpaul

pkpaul said:


> My Vizio TV decodes it.
> 
> 
> Although my Magnavox STB sees channel 45-4, it says "audio only" and there is no picture.


I see another new one just popped up between scans.
"Faith"
on channel 31.6 


Color bars test pattern


----------



## Trip in VA

pkpaul said:


> I see another new one just popped up between scans.
> "Faith"
> on channel 31.6
> 
> 
> Color bars test pattern


It looks like it was added right after I went to bed last night. It's up and running this morning with what appears to be a Canadian religious network.

- Trip


----------



## doctorwizz

45.4 works on Tivo OTA. Info screen says x264, and AC-3 (two channel)


----------



## AntAltMike

I can't get the faithtv.com website to work


----------



## doctorwizz

AntAltMike said:


> I can't get the faithtv.com website to work


Is it this?
https://www.myfaithusa.com/


----------



## AntAltMike

doctorwizz said:


> Is it this?
> https://www.myfaithusa.com/



Yep. The free, streamed video matches the broadcast programming, and I recognized Kenny Copeland half an hour ago.


----------



## AntAltMike

31.1,2,3 all stable. 31.4,5,6. All breaking up somewhat.


----------



## pkpaul

Trip in VA said:


> All my TVs are Samsung, so I just rescanned one of them and it successfully received the MPEG-4 Stadium transmission on 45-4.
> 
> Any other TVs able to decode it?
> 
> - Trip


The Channel Master CM7003 OTA converter box 

which has both composite and HDMI outputs 

decodes 45-4 okay.


----------



## mdviewer25

seeing 45-4 too says audio only, sounds like sports talk now, they were talking about the Browns game


----------



## Jazzman_1

*Decades 31.5 unwatchable, but Laff 31.2 is fine*

Recently, I’ve been having problems picking up Decades channel 31.5, but Laff TV channel 31.2 comes in fine. Any ideas what could be causing this? Decades was fine at the beginning of September. Thanks.


----------



## JeffersonLX

Looking for some recommendations for an attic antenna: 

TV Fool Report: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=903814d5d9cdea


I am happy to see this forum is still active. After being fed up with FIOS TV (Kept Internet), I cut the cord last week, and am now scrambling to get local channels. 



We live in Aldie, Northern Virginia in a new construction community, and due to my HOA rules, we cannot place an antenna outside of the house. In an attempt to keep things simple, I tried a MOHU Leaf mounted in my office this weekend, and picked up 6 channels - none of which were the main networks. Now I am looking at outdoor antennas placed in my attic (New single family home - mostly wood, Shingles, Vinyl siding, and not in the shadow of any structures - and want to make sure I get the right gear this time. 



I don't want to get bigger than necessary, but I am looking at the Winegard HD8200U or CM-3020.


Are these overkill assuming proper installation? Also, any recommendations for additional antennas to consider, and reliable places to purchase? I have checked Micro Center, Lowes, Home Depot, and Wal-Mart; none of which stock anything that I think will meet my requirement.


Thanks in advance.


----------



## aaronwt

AntAltMike said:


> 31.1,2,3 all stable. 31.4,5,6. All breaking up somewhat.


What happened with all of these? I used to be able to pick all of them up. But the last time I looked I wasn't able to receive any of them.

Or maybe I am mixing those up with another channel? I'm think about the one that had ten sub-channels. Five sub-channels on each transmitter I believe?


----------



## AntAltMike

aaronwt said:


> What happened with all of these? I used to be able to pick all of them up. But the last time I looked I wasn't able to receive any of them.
> 
> Or maybe I am mixing those up with another channel? I'm think about the one that had ten sub-channels. Five sub-channels on each transmitter I believe?



You are likely mixing them up with 30.1-30.6, broadcast from Falls Church and 30.7-30.12 broadcast from Goldvein, which I guess is near Manassas.


These 31.X channels are coming from a low power transmitter in DC. While I have sophisticated signal measurement equipment, I had not taken a channel 31 measurement off the antenna I am using so as to have it available for reference purposes, but the primitive signal strength meter on my TV shoes a strong enough signal, so the problems those channels are experiencing more likely had to do with how they are presently being multiplexed together.


----------



## Brian in CT

JeffersonLX said:


> Looking for some recommendations for an attic antenna:
> 
> TV Fool Report: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=903814d5d9cdea
> 
> I am happy to see this forum is still active. After being fed up with FIOS TV (Kept Internet), I cut the cord last week, and am now scrambling to get local channels.
> 
> We live in Aldie, Northern Virginia in a new construction community, and due to my HOA rules, we cannot place an antenna outside of the house. In an attempt to keep things simple, I tried a MOHU Leaf mounted in my office this weekend, and picked up 6 channels - none of which were the main networks. Now I am looking at outdoor antennas placed in my attic (New single family home - mostly wood, Shingles, Vinyl siding, and not in the shadow of any structures - and want to make sure I get the right gear this time.
> 
> I don't want to get bigger than necessary, but I am looking at the Winegard HD8200U or CM-3020.
> 
> Are these overkill assuming proper installation? Also, any recommendations for additional antennas to consider, and reliable places to purchase? I have checked Micro Center, Lowes, Home Depot, and Wal-Mart; none of which stock anything that I think will meet my requirement.
> 
> 
> Thanks in advance.


The CM-3020 is DEFINITELY overkill unless you want to pull in Baltimore stations. Since you are less than 30 miles LOS from the Washington, DC. stations, you might be able to get all those with only the CM-3016, but easily with the CM-3018. Look on the internet for local dealers that not only sell antennas, but have knowledge about reception issues down there.


I just want to let you know, the ATSC 1.0 signal is very temperamental. Many types of interference (ie. co-channel, multipath) can make the signal drop out. It's something you'll have to watch out for until ATSC 3.0 improves everything.


----------



## MRG1

JeffersonLX said:


> We live in Aldie, Northern Virginia in a new construction community, and due to my HOA rules, we cannot place an antenna outside of the house.


BTW, there are "flagpole antennas", and even tree-like antennas, that make it so your neighbors don't know you have an antenna. But if they did figure it out, I guess the HOA could try to get nasty.

I'm not a lawyer, but I think that due to FCC rules, your HOA cannot legally restrict antennas that meet certain size rules.

e.g., see 
http://www.hoaqanda.com/satellite_rules.html (The page is about satellite antennas, but I think it applies to all TV antennas)

The FCC itself is a more authoritative source:
https://www.fcc.gov/media/over-air-reception-devices-rule 

You could try pointing this out to your HOA. But if they want to fight it, it may not be worth the effort.

BTW, if you have metal in your roof, or blocking anything in your attic, it is quite possible an attic antenna won't perform well. In fact, any roof blocks signal a little, and it is also true that an antenna higher than your roof is likely to perform better. Also, within an attic, you should try moving the antenna, and its orientation, around, and see how well you do. It would be helpful if you can actually take a TV up there with you, to make experimenting with position and orientation faster.

It is my personal observation based on admittedly little data that the height of an antenna matters a very great deal - even a foot or two within an attic matter a lot in a residential area. AFAICT, things like cars and trucks on nearby roads, trees, and other buildings can block or reduce signal strength and usability a lot. So a rooftop antenna would probably be a lot better. That said, it may be worth a try.

In theory, a high gain directional antenna can do a lot better. But if you are reasonably close to several TV transmission towers, you may find it more convenient to use an omnidirectional antenna so you can easily hook it up one relatively inexpensive DVR and record everything without redirecting the antenna. 

I once tried a bare wire antenna. All I did was to take coaxial antenna cable, and cut off one end, and stripped off the outer shield off the last 8-10'. I hung it from the highest rafters in the attic, and played around with placement a bit. In the area I was in it worked very well, giving me about 45 channels (including sub-channels). But where I live now, within a basement, I do not have access to the attic, and it did not work very well.  I found a free Clearstream 4V indoor/outdoor antenna on Freecycle - a lot more impressive looking than the 1' square or less toys you see in Best Buy stores, though I'm sure it isn't nearly as good as a high gain YAGI. I looked up my location on Antenna Web and TVFool, found that most of the stations I might be able to receive from an antenna at at near-ground-level were in about the same direction, pointed the antenna roughly at the direction, played around a little with placement and orientation, and I do receive all the major broadcast networks - though reception depends on weather, time of day, etc. However, I also find it very convenient to supplement it with a relatively cheap Internet subscription service (partly because I watch several shows on SyFy), of which there are several to try - different subscription services give you different "local" channels.

If you are good with tools and want to experiment you could try making your own YAGI antenna (see Wikipedia, etc.). They don't actually look complicated or expensive to build - maybe you could make one from a few cheap lengths of wire, though maybe I am missing something, and haven't tried it myself.

An antenna is effectively a grounded conductor. So if you are in an area (like the top of a big hill, or on top of a metal ore deposit, or almost anywhere in Southern Florida) that gets a lot of lightning, an attic antenna is a bad idea, at least in theory. (In fact, in much of Florida, as well as in many coastal areas with sandy soil in the DC area, grounding is prohibited - an local variance from the National Electric Code - because they get hit with lightning so often, that the sandy soils around ground rods turns into non-conductive glass.) But by the same token, so is running electrical wires in your attic, and most people do that. So I guess lightning isn't all that big a problem in most of the DC area. But it's your decision. But technically, even in an attic, if you aren't in an area with said local variance, if your antenna is on a mast, it must be grounded in specific ways that are essentially impossible in an attic. (BTW I'm not an electrician or an expert on NEC.) I wonder if an insurance company could claim lightning fire was your fault...


----------



## tylerSC

JeffersonLX said:


> Looking for some recommendations for an attic antenna:
> 
> TV Fool Report: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=903814d5d9cdea
> 
> 
> I am happy to see this forum is still active. After being fed up with FIOS TV (Kept Internet), I cut the cord last week, and am now scrambling to get local channels.
> 
> 
> 
> We live in Aldie, Northern Virginia in a new construction community, and due to my HOA rules, we cannot place an antenna outside of the house. In an attempt to keep things simple, I tried a MOHU Leaf mounted in my office this weekend, and picked up 6 channels - none of which were the main networks. Now I am looking at outdoor antennas placed in my attic (New single family home - mostly wood, Shingles, Vinyl siding, and not in the shadow of any structures - and want to make sure I get the right gear this time.
> 
> 
> 
> I don't want to get bigger than necessary, but I am looking at the Winegard HD8200U or CM-3020.
> 
> 
> Are these overkill assuming proper installation? Also, any recommendations for additional antennas to consider, and reliable places to purchase? I have checked Micro Center, Lowes, Home Depot, and Wal-Mart; none of which stock anything that I think will meet my requirement.
> 
> 
> Thanks in advance.


Do you need Low VHF? Otherwise consider Winegard 7694 or 7698 for High VHF and UHF. In terms of more compact size, you may be able to manage with a Clearstream 4MAX, or Antop 400BV. With the 4MAX you may need a preamp such as Channel Master Amplify or Winegard LNA200.


----------



## MRG1

tylerSC said:


> With the 4MAX you may need a preamp such as Channel Master Amplify or Winegard LNA200.


While I'm not that much an expert, here is my take:

The primary problem with preamps is that, unless you go with expensive pro grade stuff, that is likely to cost thousands of $, the gain is limited by the strength of the strongest channel. So if there is even one channel being received received strongly, the preamp won't do any good. In fact, unless it is a very good quality pre-amp, it will add a lot of noise, and create more problems. Plus, the amplifier doesn't clean up multi-path problems and outright blockages or interference which are very often more important than signal strength - amplifiers follow the garbage-in garbage-out rule. All TV receivers and DVRs already have an AGC (automatic gain control) which controls an internal amplifier - so another amplifier rarely helps.

I use my 4V without an amp, after trying it with one. But, I only have a 25' coax (antenna wire) feed - if I had a much longer feed, maybe a pre-amp right next to or mounted on the antenna would help, so there weren't big signal strength losses in the coax feed. That is the one major exception to my claim that another amplifier rarely helps.

I'm not sure this is always true, but you may be better off in terms of both cost and performance, getting a better antenna, like the high gain YAGIs designed for outdoor use, than adding a pre-amp. Especially since space probably isn't a premium in most peoples' attics. And even better, to convince the HOA they don't have a legal right to bar you from putting up an antenna above your home.

It may even make sense to point one antenna at each major direction of receivable broadcast towers, and attach them to different DVRs.

A different type of amp - a distribution amp - may possibly help if you are splitting the signal among several TVs and/or DVRs, because unamplified splitters reduce signal strength a lot. Again, it is extremely important that you get a very good low noise amp - say something in the $75+ range if my several year old info is still valid - basically low end pro-grade equipment, which is rarely sold at the big box stores. (And not needed if each antenna feeds a different DVR, because then it is the DVR signal you are splitting - which is always quite strong.)


----------



## AntAltMike

AntAltMike said:


> 31.1,2,3 all stable. 31.4,5,6. All breaking up somewhat.



Now all are stable.


----------



## AntAltMike

Start TV is now on 49.2. 

Official site https://www.starttv.com/


Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Start_TV

From Wikipedia:
_*Start TV* is an American digital broadcast television network that is owned by Weigel Broadcasting. Primarily carried on the digital subchannels of its affiliated television station in most markets, it primarily airs classic television drama series from the 1980s through the 2000s, with a focus on dramas, police and legal procedurals geared toward female audiences._

The programming may be more female audience oriented that that of the other "rerun" channels.


----------



## AntAltMike

AntAltMike said:


> 31.1,2,3 all stable. 31.4,5,6. All breaking up somewhat.





AntAltMike said:


> Now all are stable.



31-1 Escape and 31-2 Laff have been chronically halting for the last two days, even from two different antennas. 31-3,4,5 and 6 are all perfectly stable. Signal strength is good on all six.


----------



## wmcbrine

Trip in VA said:


> All my TVs are Samsung, so I just rescanned one of them and it successfully received the MPEG-4 Stadium transmission on 45-4.
> 
> Any other TVs able to decode it?


 (Late reply, I know...) It's coming in fine on my 2018 model LG. But I know of no way to tell the codec from the TV.


----------



## wmcbrine

I'm not sure when this happened, but News Channel 8 has rebranded as WJLA 24/7 News. Am I crazy for thinking this might presage it being added to their OTA subchannels?


----------



## AntAltMike

WWTD, 49.X, UHF 14 has been out since at least Thursday evening.


----------



## AntAltMike

AntAltMike said:


> WWTD, 49.X, UHF 14 has been out since at least Thursday evening.



Back on. 49.4 still too loud, as it has been for, oh, four or five years now.


----------



## AntAltMike

I lost 7, 9, 31 and 47 either late last night or very early this morning and they were sill out several hours later.


I am not near a TV at the moment. Are they still out?


----------



## Trip in VA

My auto-scanner shows no outages on 7 or 9/68. 31 and 47/58 briefly lost signal late last night for a few minutes.

- Trip


----------



## Jazzman_1

*9,5,4,20,26 Periodically lose power*

Lately I've been noticing while watching channel 9 that it will degrade in quality periodically. Channel 5 follows suit, as does 26, and sometimes 4 and 20. Channel 7 and 50 stay rock solid when this happens. The outage generally lasts less than 5 minutes. At first I thought it might be my equipment, but the fact that channel 7 and 50 are solid leads me to believe there's nothing wrong on my end. Anyone else experiencing similar problems?


----------



## aaronwt

The only Problem I have noticed is the crap quality for the DC stations now. I had to pull up an old recording from just a few years ago to make sure it wasn't my imagination. It was so bad I watched a couple of shows from Hulu last night instead of from my TiVos. And there was a Stark contrast between them. The difference didn't used to be so great. But even the Hulu quality now blows away what I see from OTA around here. It's gotten to the point of almost being vomit inducing.

If this keeps up I might not have a choice but to drop ota, cable, and my TiVos and switch to one of the streaming services for broadcast content..

Sent from my Nexus 7(16GB) using Tapatalk


----------



## VARTV

aaronwt said:


> The only Problem I have noticed is the crap quality for the DC stations now. I had to pull up an old recording from just a few years ago to make sure it wasn't my imagination. It was so bad I watched a couple of shows from Hulu last night instead of from my TiVos. And there was a Stark contrast between them. The difference didn't used to be so great. But even the Hulu quality now blows away what I see from OTA around here. It's gotten to the point of almost being vomit inducing.
> 
> If this keeps up I might not have a choice but to drop ota, cable, and my TiVos and switch to one of the streaming services for broadcast content..
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 7(16GB) using Tapatalk


Interesting you brought this up. I noticed down here in SE VA a lot of "noise" around graphics and football players on our local FOX station (WVBT). I decided to pull up the FOX Sports app on Roku to watch the same game. PQ was NOTICABLE better than OTA! Sharper pic with no "noise." I was shocked. And I did the same thing as you. Subbed to Hulu Live TV for a week for a test. UNFORTUNATELY, the PQ of our locals looked like a slightly compressed version of the OTA signals. I'm going to try others (Sling, YT, DIRECTV Now, etc) when I get some free time...

How do these OTT providers get the locals? OTA? A direct fiber feed to a hub??

With the Big Game in February coming up on CBS, I wonder if the PQ is better on their app (CBS All Access) vs OTA??? Our local CBS station runs 2 subchannels...


----------



## Brian in CT

aaronwt said:


> If this keeps up I might not have a choice but to drop ota, cable, and my TiVos and switch to one of the streaming services for broadcast content..


Be patient aaronwt, ATSC 3.0 should be coming to the rescue in a few years. The new broadcasting standard will be able to fit much more information into a 6 Mhz. channel, including UHD picture quality. So don't get rid of your antenna.


----------



## VARTV

Brian in CT said:


> Be patient aaronwt, ATSC 3.0 should be coming to the rescue in a few years. The new broadcasting standard will be able to fit much more information into a 6 Mhz. channel, including UHD picture quality. So don't get rid of your antenna.


It'll be the same thing as now but they will be able to squeeze more data/info in a station's bandwidth...


----------



## keeper

I thought the Steelers vs Raiders game looked pretty bad on Balt 45. Channel 13 still looks good though.


----------



## nottenst

keeper said:


> I thought the Steelers vs Raiders game looked pretty bad on Balt 45. Channel 13 still looks good though.


By the way, anyone know why live events on Balt 45 are behind DC 5? There seems to be at least a 30 second difference between the two stations. I called 45 and they were quite uncooperative about it.


----------



## MRG1

Brian in CT said:


> Be patient aaronwt, ATSC 3.0 should be coming to the rescue in a few years. The new broadcasting standard will be able to fit much more information into a 6 Mhz. channel, including UHD picture quality. So don't get rid of your antenna.


Will you need to buy a new TV or adapter box to use it?

See https://www.atsc.org/newsletter/atsc-3-0-where-we-stand


> ATSC 3.0 is likely to be incompatible with current broadcast systems


That doesn't say anything about current receiver systems, but if you look at that site, it sounds like they might be talking about something incompatible with current receivers too - though I'm not an engineer, and don't follow everything they are saying.

It would also imply a fairly slow roll-out, over many years, just as ATSC 1.0 did, because broadcasters won't want to lose too many of their existing customers.

And just imagine how people who bought current generation DVRs, devices for distributing TV through their homes, HD receivers and video projectors are going to feel about this. They'll feel a lot like people did when broadcasters switched from NTSC to ATSC. Except, now, a lot of people spent thousands or tens of thousands of dollars on what will soon be outdated home theater systems.

Oh well.

Let's hope that they don't create a standard (say, with a slightly higher video rate) that makes it hard to create a relatively inexpensive adapter box.


----------



## Brian in CT

MRG1 said:


> Will you need to buy a new TV or adapter box to use it?
> 
> Let's hope that they don't create a standard (say, with a slightly higher video rate) that makes it hard to create a relatively inexpensive adapter box.


You are right about compatibility MRG1, ATSC 1.0 and ATSC 3.0 are not compatible systems. The problem is that ATSC 1.0 has many drawbacks compared even to NTSC. Think of ATSC 1.0 as the lame, mercury containing, energy saving light bulbs that tried to replace incandescent lights (think NTSC), but are now being replaced by LED lights (think ATSC 3.0). ATSC 3.0 will enable 4k picture quality, and greatly improve many of ATSC 1.0's drawbacks with reception (like multipathing). This is their best shot in trying to save OTA TV.

If the FCC was smart, they would direct TV makers to have external tuners on all new ATSC 3.0 televisions. The tuners would be something like a thumb drive. Years from now, when they develop ATSC 3.0's successor, people would just pull out the old tuner, and put in a new one. I could dream, can't I?


----------



## MRG1

Brian in CT said:


> Think of ATSC 1.0 as the lame, mercury containing, energy saving light bulbs that tried to replace incandescent lights (think NTSC), but are now being replaced by LED lights (think ATSC 3.0).


(This is incidental, but LED light bulbs do not last as long as incandescents in some older fixtures designed for incandescents, especially if they look down, because the base gets very hot, and needs good ventilation. Also, they cannot handle much voltage fluctuation.)



> If the FCC was smart, they would direct TV makers to have external tuners on all new ATSC 3.0 televisions. The tuners would be something like a thumb drive. Years from now, when they develop ATSC 3.0's successor, people would just pull out the old tuner, and put in a new one. I could dream, can't I?


So, you want the external tuner to output an analog video signal, along the lines of a high res VGA or coax, right? (In case you don't know, there have been a few very high res VGA-cable and coax-cable based displays, used for things like medical and space imagery. Never became popular in the broader market.)

But the whole point of HDMI from the content providers perspective was that there was NO simple analog signal to record, and that they could instead provide copy protection. So I think what you want won't happen, at least not in the U.S.

Some of the earliest "HD-ready" TVs (I had one, for a while) couldn't input HD broadcast signals, but were able to input VGA and/or composite video at HD resolutions and speeds from an external tuner or set top box. But I guess they were killed because the analog signals would have been too easy to record.

BTW, is there really that much market for "4K" UHD video? From what I can tell, only a few people are buying 4K TVs, projectors, and movies - just like very few people bought the 3D stuff that I thought was much more cool, though I couldn't afford it either. (Though 3D VR headsets are a slight fad for the moment, despite the dorky appearance, perhaps because all you need is a $5 Google cardboard device to put around your smartphone.) True 3D TV seems all but dead, and I wonder if 4K will go the same way.

It's possible "4K" will be second quality compared to the "8K" (7680 x 4320 pixels, plus 22.2 audio channels, I think, though that sounds implausible) TV system that Japan has supposedly already started to broadcast. Maybe the true hi-res aficionados will buy the Japanese system instead, since the FCC isn't forcing broadcasters to switch to ATSC 3.0?

What really surprised me is that most of the video projectors I see being advertised for "Home Theater" use don't even do true 1080p resolution - I guess many of the buyers do not understand the difference between high resolution "support" and true "native" resolution, and spend thousands of dollars putting together fancy Home theater systems based around low-res displays, that they then proudly show off to their friends.  If you don't have a display system that can take advantage of "4k", there may not be much point to the new ATSC 3.0 standard.


----------



## doctorwizz

He never said he wanted an analog signal. He wants an up-gradable tuner.
Only a few are buying 4K TV's?
4K TV's are cheap and flying off the shelf's and account for nearly of all TV sales. Don't be so negative.
8K is going to be great! 8K Resolution can produce 4,000 nit peak brightness — a standard met by most film studios.


----------



## Brian in CT

doctorwizz said:


> He never said he wanted an analog signal. He wants an up gradable tuner.


BINGO!

MRG1: Consumers will buy anything that is the "newest" or the "latest" in technology. In the mid-to-late aughts, people were starting to buy HD (1080p) televisions in huge numbers. Of the homes and businesses I visited with these HDTVs during that time, the vast majority had them connected to analog SD (480i) cable boxes. So they bought these nice TVs, but didn't bother to upgrade to an HD cable box. The aspect ratio was usually off, too. 

I'm hoping the people today buying 4k UHD televisions won't have to wait too long to enjoy them to their fullest extent. I'm also hoping that the roll out of ATSC 3.0 will be part of that solution. That is if the FCC and broadcasters get their act together.


----------



## MRG1

BTW, analog signals can be very, very good - e.g., in many respects, the top end analog image processing displays, with extremely high video resolutions, which were often driven by image processing systems with 3*12 bit DACs(4096 levels in each of Red, Green and Blue, or in another analog space, giving 68+ billion colors), were better than the HDMI displays that largely replaced them in the consumer market. For a small number of applications, where those things matter, it's possible that such things still exist, just as Daguerreotype-like photographic plates may still exist for a few ultra-high resolution markets, like some types of high precision optical astronomy.

If the government had actually wanted to be consumer friendly, rather than MPAA-friendly, they would have required all HD tuners to be able to output to component video or VGA outputs, so they could use existing monitors, and simple recording devices. (They could also have output to composite video, though none of the high resolution displays of the time that I personally was aware of used composite video.) HDMI is such a pain in the neck - I've had many HDMI cables fail, and even when they work, the connections are super-finicky.



doctorwizz said:


> He never said he wanted an analog signal. He wants an up gradable [sic] tuner.


Then what will they output?

I think all TVs eventually feed analog signals to their displays, one way or another. If the tuners output anything else (unless it is something like a simple digitized pixel sequence, which wouldn't be copy protected), especially if that anything else is something complex enough to incorporate copy protection, they must include an encoder to convert the decoded signal into that copy protected something else, and the TV has to include another decoder to convert it back to analog, which means, in both cases, more circuitry, and greater cost. 

Of course, you could argue that is exactly the way HDMI 1 and HDMI 2 currently work - because hardware providers in the U.S. were more or less required by law to do it that way, at extra cost and inconvenience to consumers, because people like the MPAA lobbied for it. (Though, I think, if you watch TV through a PC browser, and that PC has a VGA port, it outputs an unencrypted analog signal through the VGA, which I suppose could be recorded with relatively simple hardware. Too bad most modern TVs don't accept VGA input, though, oddly enough, some projectors do, and there do exist VGA-to-HDMI convertors. For that matter, I used a Comcast/Motorolla set top box that output 1080p to unencrypted analog component video - until Comcast did a software upgrade that limited component video resolution, presumably to comply with legal restrictions. )

Anyway, if, indeed, people thoughtlessly flock to the latest gadgets, then why would a TV maker include an external tuner that could be replaced when the next standard becomes current? They make more profit by pushing people to buy more modern hardware every few years.

I went against the grain when I bought a non-smart 1080p HDTV on clearance, and used a succession of streaming devices to handle the smarts, on the cheap. It made economic sense to me - but it made no sense to the HDTV smart TV manufacturers. That's not what you as a consumer are "supposed" to do to keep the economy strong.


----------



## carltonrice

I see WNUV has moved from RF 40 to their repack RF 25. Don't know when it happened because I just discovered it the other day when I noticed I'd lost the station.


----------



## Trip in VA

It happened in September.

- Trip


----------



## carltonrice

Trip in VA said:


> It happened in September.
> 
> - Trip


Then shouldn't somebody change the beginning note in this thread to reflect that instead of showing still showing RF 40?


----------



## mdviewer25

So Verizon reaches an agreement with Disney to keep channels on air. Did not know they also had a dispute with TEGNA, owner of WUSA 9 locally. That channel is currently blocked out with message about TEGNA rejecting their offer. Did not know local channels could be affected like this. Hope it is settled before the weekend's NFL playoffs not to mention the Super Bowl in a month. Still want then to put the Weather Channel back on.


----------



## carltonrice

mdviewer25 said:


> So Verizon reaches an agreement with Disney to keep channels on air. Did not know they also had a dispute with TEGNA, owner of WUSA 9 locally. That channel is currently blocked out with message about TEGNA rejecting their offer. Did not know local channels could be affected like this. Hope it is settled before the weekend's NFL playoffs not to mention the Super Bowl in a month. Still want then to put the Weather Channel back on.


It'll be interesting to see if WUSA and CBS get back on Verizon in time for the NFL playoffs.


----------



## KEVINL71

@mdviewer25: Are you able to pull in WJZ-TV (CBS) channel 13 from Baltimore?


----------



## mdviewer25

KEVINL71 said:


> @mdviewer25: Are you able to pull in WJZ-TV (CBS) channel 13 from Baltimore?


Yes, I have an antenna hooked up to my TV so it didn't affect me, parents have old CRT so they couldn't see it. Doesn't matter now since it's back up and running on Verizon as of around 5pm. Verizon has to update their guide info because now it says "This channel has been removed"


----------



## pclement

[ Is anyone able to get a video signal for channel 45-4 (Stadium)? I can get audio, but no video. I have tried rescanning without any success on different TVs..


----------



## doctorwizz

pclement said:


> [ Is anyone able to get a video signal for channel 45-4 (Stadium)? I can get audio, but no video. I have tried rescanning without any success on different TVs..


Works fine for me on Tivo and HDHomerun


----------



## Mr Tony

pclement said:


> [ Is anyone able to get a video signal for channel 45-4 (Stadium)? I can get audio, but no video. I have tried rescanning without any success on different TVs..


If I remember right, Trip mentioned its MPEG4 video

edit: per rabbitears it is MPEG4 video (note the green thing between the physical channel and video type. Hover and it says MPEG4 video)

https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=wutb


----------



## VARTV

pclement said:


> [ Is anyone able to get a video signal for channel 45-4 (Stadium)? I can get audio, but no video. I have tried rescanning without any success on different TVs..





doctorwizz said:


> Works fine for me on Tivo and HDHomerun





unclehonkey said:


> If I remember right, Trip mentioned its MPEG4 video
> 
> edit: per rabbitears it is MPEG4 video (note the green thing between the physical channel and video type. Hover and it says MPEG4 video)
> 
> https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=wutb


Is it certain TV sets/tuners that have mpeg4 decoding? Our TV is a bit older, I'm assuming ours couldn't do mpeg4 video...


----------



## pclement

VARTV said:


> Is it certain TV sets/tuners that have mpeg4 decoding? Our TV is a bit older, I'm assuming ours couldn't do mpeg4 video...


 Yes, that is the issue. When I scanned the OTA channels on my new 65" TCL I was able to view the MPEG4 video for 45.4. None off my older TV's can do MPEG4. Thanks for everyone's input.


----------



## MRG1

*TILT THE ANTENNA!*

Aha! I figured out how to dramatically improve reception on my in-basement TV antenna, which even at the highest available point in my basement apartment, is just above street level.

I played around with orientation, and ended up tilting the antenna about 30 degrees upwards.

So - it isn't enough to experiment with antenna placement and horizontal orientation. You should also play with vertical orientation.

I don't know whether that means that TV signals diffract around houses, or whether I am taking advantage of atmospheric skip - but line of sight probably doesn't work very well for me, because cars, houses and trees are in the way. 

But could this also be true for people with attic or roof-top antennas?

It probably helps that all the channels I can receive at my location, due to terrain, are in approximately one direction.


----------



## doctorwizz

MRG1 said:


> *TILT THE ANTENNA!*
> 
> Aha! I figured out how to dramatically improve reception on my in-basement TV antenna, which even at the highest available point in my basement apartment, is just above street level.
> 
> I played around with orientation, and ended up tilting the antenna about 30 degrees upwards.
> 
> So - it isn't enough to experiment with antenna placement and horizontal orientation. You should also play with vertical orientation.
> 
> I don't know whether that means that TV signals diffract around houses, or whether I am taking advantage of atmospheric skip - but line of sight probably doesn't work very well for me, because cars, houses and trees are in the way.
> 
> But could this also be true for people with attic or roof-top antennas?
> 
> It probably helps that all the channels I can receive at my location, due to terrain, are in approximately one direction.


Fairfax antenna tilted my roof antenna up too. They said it improved signals. Looks like it is at least a 20-30 degree tilt. Winegard HD7697


----------



## MRG1

1. What station is display channel 3?

My (old Series 3) TIVO says it has display subchannels 1,2,3,4; and is on physical channel 42. 

My TIVO thinks it is WHSV, but that is in Harrisonburg, VA, whereas everything else I get is in DC.

Also, https://www.whsv.com/content/news/IMPORTANT-NOTICE-WHSV-Channel-Change-499430771.html makes it appear that WHSV is no longer on physical channel 42.

BTW, although it has a very strong signal, I do not see any picture or hear any sound.

2. The same is true of display channel 42, display subchannels 1-4, physical channel 42, though I sometimes see NHK World on 42-4, which suggests it is really WMPT - see https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=wmpt - in fact maybe display channel 3 is too, but just hasn't had its channel line-up finalized. Does anyone know what display channel 42 is?

3. How about display channel 15, display subchannels 1-6, physical channel 15? I'm guessing this is really part of WFDC, which also has physical channel 15, but am not sure. Again, very strong signal, but nothing I can see or hear.

4. It is such a pain that the display channels and display subchannels don't have to match the physical channels and subchannels - especially since a lot of TVs and DVRs only list the display channel, and there are duplicate display channels with different physical channels. What a mess!


----------



## MRG1

MRG1 said:


> *TILT THE ANTENNA!*...


Oops! It looks like all the channels I can see (the various subchannels from WRC, WTTG, WUSA, WFDC, WDCA, WMPT, WDDN, WHUT, whatever 42-4/42 is, WWTD, WDCW, WPXW, WJAL) are all from D.C., in the opposite direction from what I thought. The antenna is actually tilting downwards - maybe I am getting a reflection from the ground under the house...

(I'm using a ClearStream 4 antenna)


----------



## doctorwizz

MRG1 said:


> Oops! It looks like all the channels I receive are from D.C. in the opposite direction from what I thought. The antenna is actually tilting downwards - maybe I am getting a reflection from the ground under the house...
> 
> (I'm using a ClearStream 4 antenna)


LOL
Maybe I can turn mine 180 so it points down. No rotor though. They would not install one. 

(; ͡° ͜y ͡°)-----cξ~~


----------



## Trip in VA

MRG1 said:


> 1. What station is display channel 3?
> 
> My (old Series 3) TIVO says it has display subchannels 1,2,3,4; and is on physical channel 42.



That's WHSV from the Front Royal translator. The Big Mountain transmitter is the one that changed channels; to my knowledge, the Front Royal transmitter is still on channel 42. Of course, you would never receive this due to WMPT.




MRG1 said:


> 2. The same is true of display channel 42, display subchannels 1-4, physical channel 42, though I sometimes see NHK World on 42-4, which suggests it is really WMPT - see https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=wmpt - in fact maybe display channel 3 is too, but just hasn't had its channel line-up finalized. Does anyone know what display channel 42 is?



WVPY in Front Royal was RF21, display 42. Went off the air last year. In either case, it sounds like an error in the database.




MRG1 said:


> 3. How about display channel 15, display subchannels 1-6, physical channel 15? I'm guessing this is really part of WFDC, which also has physical channel 15, but am not sure. Again, very strong signal, but nothing I can see or hear.



Not sure about this one. Sounds like a database error in any case.




MRG1 said:


> 4. It is such a pain that the display channels and display subchannels don't have to match the physical channels and subchannels - especially since a lot of TVs and DVRs only list the display channel, and there are duplicate display channels with different physical channels. What a mess!



The bigger pain is that your TiVo is not doing a scan. If it did a scan, you would only have channels listed that you are able to receive, rather than a tangle of listings that may or may not be valid.


- Trip


----------



## Brian in CT

MRG1 said:


> I don't know whether that means that TV signals diffract around houses, or whether I am taking advantage of atmospheric skip - but line of sight probably doesn't work very well for me, because cars, houses and trees are in the way.


No, not atmospheric skip. You probably are still getting your D.C. stations via line of sight with maybe a bounce off a hard object or two. Non-terrain related obstructions like structures, cars, trees and such will interfere with or weaken a signal, but not necessarily kill it. Concrete/cinder block structures and a thick stand of trees WILL kill VHF and UHF signals respectively.

From your description, you must be within "rabbit ear" range (20 miles for ATSC 1.0) of the D.C. transmitters to be receiving them from an antenna in your basement. The signals must be strong enough to keep from pixelating every time a car goes by.

Just curious, why is your antenna in the basement and not on the roof or in the attic?


----------



## Baymavision

Hey all -- I don't understand what's happening with my reception of WUSA. Here's my TV Fool map. EDIT -- can't post a link but cut & paste this after putting in tvfool dot com -- /?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d9038e58427b5f7


I have excellent reception from every other channel in the area (and from some Baltimore & Frederick stations) but I get zippy from channel 9 despite the tower being 9 miles away and line of sight.


My next door neighbor uses flat panel antennas and said she occasionally has it disappear but just has to rescan. I've rescanned five times since setting this up today and still get nothing.


I'm going to try a different antenna just for kicks, but anyone have any ideas?


----------



## aaronwt

I'm still pissed about WUSA moving from UHF to VHF. It went from my strongest station to my weakest. So there are times when I cannot get a good signal. Usually during the winter when the foliage is off the trees. It can be strong enough one day, and weak the next where I get breakups. But once the foliage is back on the trees I get a stable signal.

Although I don't know why I even care any more. The video quality from all the local stations is terrible. So I watch everything I can from streaming services now. Since they put DC OTA video quality to shame now. And the video quality from FiOS cable channels are just as bad now.


----------



## dleedlee

Baymavision said:


> Hey all -- I don't understand what's happening with my reception of WUSA. Here's my TV Fool map. EDIT -- can't post a link but cut & paste this after putting in tvfool dot com -- /?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d9038e58427b5f7
> 
> 
> I have excellent reception from every other channel in the area (and from some Baltimore & Frederick stations) but I get zippy from channel 9 despite the tower being 9 miles away and line of sight.
> 
> 
> My next door neighbor uses flat panel antennas and said she occasionally has it disappear but just has to rescan. I've rescanned five times since setting this up today and still get nothing.
> 
> 
> I'm going to try a different antenna just for kicks, but anyone have any ideas?


I lose ch.9 sporadically, too, since around the fall I think. It's only one of my two Samsungs, using indoor antennas. Odd because I feed a separate tuner into it and that tuner doesn't lose the channel. Only happens about once every few weeks at most. I just rescan.


----------



## carltonrice

aaronwt said:


> I'm still pissed about WUSA moving from UHF to VHF. It went from my strongest station to my weakest. So there are times when I cannot get a good signal.


I'm perturbed about it because when all the stations were on UHF, I bought a UHF antenna with rotor and I thought that with some of them moving to VHF that my antenna would become obsolete. However, I've been able to still continue receiving 7, 9, 11, and 13 even with just the UHF antenna when it's correctly aimed. In my case, 7 is weaker than 9 and 13 is strongest. I always assumed it was because 7 is the lowest frequency outside of what the antenna was built for. I've not noticed a difference based upon the time of the year.


----------



## Brian in CT

Baymavision said:


> Hey all -- I don't understand what's happening with my reception of WUSA. Here's my TV Fool map. EDIT -- can't post a link but cut & paste this after putting in tvfool dot com -- /?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d9038e58427b5f7
> 
> I have excellent reception from every other channel in the area (and from some Baltimore & Frederick stations) but I get zippy from channel 9 despite the tower being 9 miles away and line of sight.
> 
> My next door neighbor uses flat panel antennas and said she occasionally has it disappear but just has to rescan. I've rescanned five times since setting this up today and still get nothing.
> 
> I'm going to try a different antenna just for kicks, but anyone have any ideas?


I'll give it a shot. I'm assuming you get WJLA on RF channel 7 with no problems. You also say that you get some Baltimore stations. Do these include WBAL-11 and WJZ-13? If so, then you have a good antenna for VHF with a nice range. If your setup includes an amplifier, then because you are only 9 miles away from WUSA, your signal maybe "too hot" for the chip in your television to handle. An ATSC 1.0 signal that is over amplified can cause reception to fail. The reason you still get channel 7 is due to the signal being just under this threshold.

OR

If you are using a flat panel antenna like your neighbor, you definitely don't get WBAL and WJZ. This type of antenna is notoriously bad with VHF reception. An old set of rabbit ears would likely do better. If you're going to try a different antenna, try one that is good with both VHF & UHF signals.

OR

If you are already using an indoor VHF/UHF antenna, there might be some electronic device in your home that is leaking RF and interfering with your reception of WUSA. If you have, for instance, security cameras, you might want to turn them off and see if that makes a difference with your reception.

I hope this helps. The ATSC 1.0 signal is very temperamental. Any type of interference can kill reception. This is why I hope broadcasters roll out ATSC 3.0 soon. By the way, the TVFool database is almost 3 years out of date and is missing some stations. Keep that in mind when you use it in the future.


----------



## Trip in VA

Anecdotally, I've always heard more complaints about WUSA than WJLA, which is strange because they're at the same ERP coming out of the same antenna. People either seem to have VHF problems that kill both signals, or have problems with just WUSA. I am not sure I've ever heard of someone who gets WUSA and not WJLA.

It makes me wonder if there isn't something more fundamentally wrong with WUSA, but I don't know what it could possibly be. I, personally, have not had any problem with WUSA since moving to the area in 2013.

- Trip


----------



## aaronwt

carltonrice said:


> I'm perturbed about it because when all the stations were on UHF, I bought a UHF antenna with rotor and I thought that with some of them moving to VHF that my antenna would become obsolete. However, I've been able to still continue receiving 7, 9, 11, and 13 even with just the UHF antenna when it's correctly aimed. In my case, 7 is weaker than 9 and 13 is strongest. I always assumed it was because 7 is the lowest frequency outside of what the antenna was built for. I've not noticed a difference based upon the time of the year.


My two antennas(squareshooters) are also mainly designed for UHF. But channel 7 is rock solid for me. Even though it's at the low end of what my antennas can receive.


----------



## AntAltMike

WJLA's time has been four minutes behind for at least a couple of weeks now.


----------



## AntAltMike

According to the Control Panel, I am subscribed to 56 AVSForums threads, including this one, but I just searched through my auto-stored inbox e-mail folder, which goes back to 2010, and there is not one single e-mail notification to me of activity in any of my AVS subscribed-to thread.

All 56 of my subscribed threads are notification-categorized, “instant”. Beneath that notification column, there is a, “Selected Threads”, pop open window that seemingly empowers me to, “Delete Subscription”, or to "Update Subscription Type" to Instant, Daily, Weekly or No e-mail notification, so I already have the promptest one for each and every one of my subscribed-to threads.

Are the rest of you getting your selected e-mail notification regarding activity? Any ideas on what the problem is? If I continue to have this problem, I might delete the subscription and then resubscribe for daily notification and see what happens.


----------



## TheKrell

AntAltMike said:


> Are the rest of you getting your selected e-mail notification regarding activity? Any ideas on what the problem is?


Mine has always worked fine. Are you sure your spam settings allow email from AVSforums?


----------



## AntAltMike

Oops! I had searched my e-mail, folder for AVSForums rather than AVSForum. 

I see now that I just hadn't got any notifications this year, but that can be explained by my having accessed this thread without logging in, and I think the way the notifications here work is, once you get notified of a post in a subscribed-to thread, you don't get any more subsequent notices until you visit the thread as a logged in member.

(img) https://preaprez.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/6a00d8341bf80c53ef015390e305b6970b-320wi.jpg (/img)















https://preaprez.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/6a00d8341bf80c53ef015390e305b6970b-320wi.jpg


It took me three tries to post this image by manually formatting the insertion


----------



## VARTV

AntAltMike said:


> ... and I think the way the notifications here work is, once you get notified of a post in a subscribed-to thread, you don't get any more subsequent notices until you visit the thread as a logged in member.


Learned this the hard way. Not sure how many emails you get before they stop sending without the user visiting the subscribed thread/s...


----------



## dleedlee

AntAltMike said:


> WJLA's time has been four minutes behind for at least a couple of weeks now.


I thought it was my aux tuner. I keep readjusting my recording times for Danger Man on 7.2.

OTOH, ch 7 and 9 and coming in fine on this gusty day.


----------



## AntAltMike

AntAltMike said:


> WJLA's time has been four minutes behind for at least a couple of weeks now.





dleedlee said:


> I thought it was my aux tuner. I keep readjusting my recording times for Danger Man on 7.2.
> 
> OTOH, ch 7 and 9 and coming in fine on this gusty day.



I sent an e-mail so-informing them to this address: [email protected]. Maybe if they get more than one...


"Drake. (pause) John Drake"


----------



## aaronwt

AntAltMike said:


> According to the Control Panel, I am subscribed to 56 AVSForums threads, including this one, but I just searched through my auto-stored inbox e-mail folder, which goes back to 2010, and there is not one single e-mail notification to me of activity in any of my AVS subscribed-to thread.
> 
> 
> 
> All 56 of my subscribed threads are notification-categorized, “instant”. Beneath that notification column, there is a, “Selected Threads”, pop open window that seemingly empowers me to, “Delete Subscription”, or to "Update Subscription Type" to Instant, Daily, Weekly or No e-mail notification, so I already have the promptest one for each and every one of my subscribed-to threads..
> 
> 
> 
> Are the rest of you getting your selected e-mail notification regarding activity? Any ideas on what the problem is? If I continue to have this problem, I might delete the subscription and then resubscribe for daily notification and see what happens.


I wish I only had 56 subscribed threads. I have over twelve hundred fifty subscribed threads. And that is after paring it down to under a hundred a few years ago. I eventually disabled the email notifications for new posts. Since I typically just go to the subscribed thread page anyway.

Sent from my Galaxy S8 using Tapatalk


----------



## dleedlee

AntAltMike said:


> I sent an e-mail so-informing them to this address: [email protected]. Maybe if they get more than one...
> 
> 
> "Drake. (pause) John Drake"


I sent them a note.


----------



## TheKrell

I was surprised to find WDVM out of Hagerstown showing up on my Hopper 3, even though I live in northern VA. I'm getting perfect reception, too. Anybody else?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WDVM-TV

Never mind... The reason I get perfect reception is that this station (and a few others) are really coming off the satellite rather than OTA. The black OTA icon is apparently a Dish mistake. (Normally the OTA icon is yellow with "Over the Air" printed underneath.)


----------



## pclement

I was getting WDCA 20-1 fine before the first of the year, but now I cannot seem to pull in the signal. Did something change after January 1, 2019?


----------



## Trip in VA

pclement said:


> I was getting WDCA 20-1 fine before the first of the year, but now I cannot seem to pull in the signal. Did something change after January 1, 2019?


Rescan. If you're receiving 5-1, you should receive 20-1; WDCA is now channel sharing on WTTG. (It actually happened last summer, as I recall.)

- Trip


----------



## pclement

Trip in VA said:


> Rescan. If you're receiving 5-1, you should receive 20-1; WDCA is now channel sharing on WTTG. (It actually happened last summer, as I recall.)
> 
> - Trip


Thanks Trip. I have try rescanning and I do not get either 5-1 or 20-1. I always had trouble getting 5-1 but not 20-1. I will work on the antennae once the weather gets better.


----------



## StantonGuy

wmcbrine said:


> I'm not sure when this happened, but News Channel 8 has rebranded as WJLA 24/7 News. Am I crazy for thinking this might presage it being added to their OTA subchannels?


Any update on this idea--it would be great!


----------



## dleedlee

Looks like WJLA finally reset their clock. Just noticed. Hadn't checked since 3/31.

Came across this in another forum:


FCC Document A/69:2009, 25 December 2009:

• System Time Table (SST). The System Time is required to be accurate to within plus or minus one second. It should be checked daily and, ideally, locked to GPS time. See Section 6.6. A/65 recommends that the STT be inserted into the TS a few milliseconds before each seconds-count increment of the house time with the to-be-valid value.


----------



## pkpaul

*There is a new sub-channel 2.5 
CourtTV
*


----------



## AntAltMike

Yikes. I got a call to install a replacement residential antenna in Annandale from a customer whose antenna was recently removed by his roofing company and discarded. He says he had been getting solid reception of all of his Washington and Baltimore stations from a fixed orientation without tweaking with his rotor so I planned to just be installing a fixed Winegard HD-7694, but I was curious to see 1) how far off axis WMPT/Annapolis would be and, 2) how strong repeaters WMPB/Baltimore 67.1, UHF-22 and WFPT/Frederick 62.1, UHF-28 might be if there was a WMPT/Annapolis 22.1, UHF-42 reception problem, so I ran his address through tvfool and I was perplexed and dismayed by its results. 


The table it generated did not include WMPT, or any Maryland Public Television stations for that matter, and the data base it used has not been updated since July 24, 2017, so it includes defunct channels 24 and 30, and has incorrect transmitter frequencies for several others. Has TVFool been updating any of the other market’s data bases, or has any alternative signal analysis site emerged as better updated one?


Edit. I neglected to mention in the initial incarnation of this post that his Baltimore stations are all two edge, and VHF channels WBAL 11.1, VHF 12's and WJZ 13.1, VHF 13's calculated signal strengths are -87dBm and -90dBm respectively. If his "two edges" are woods, then I shudder at the thought of how much the channel 12 and 13 signals will weaken as the foliage seasonally thickens.


http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=90388a780d6ff4


----------



## Trip in VA

TVFool hasn't been updated in a while. I've attempted to contact Andy to try to get it updated, but with no response. 



You might consider using the RabbitEars search tool's TVStudy mode.


- Trip


----------



## TheKrell

AntAltMike said:


> The table it generated did not include WMPT, or any Maryland Public Television stations for that matter, and the data base it used has not been updated since July 24, 2017, so it includes defunct channels 24 and 30, and has incorrect transmitter frequencies for several others. Has TVFool been updating any of the other market’s data bases, or has any alternative signal analysis site emerged as better updated one?



That is distressing. I used TVfool to point my antenna pretty much due NW because our Washington stations and Baltimore are all in that direction from my home in Annandale. I did not realize 22 was out of Annapolis (possibly because it's missing from the TVfool report). It _usually _comes in perfectly, but I do have a pretty strong antenna at about 25' elevation.


----------



## Brian in CT

TVFool not only has not been updated in two years, some TV stations in the database are missing. Trip, please hurry up with perfecting your search tool. The TV masses need a reliable replacement!



AntAltMike said:


> I neglected to mention in the initial incarnation of this post that his Baltimore stations are all two edge, and VHF channels WBAL 11.1, VHF 12's and WJZ 13.1, VHF 13's calculated signal strengths are -87dBm and -90dBm respectively. If his "two edges" are woods, then I shudder at the thought of how much the channel 12 and 13 signals will weaken as the foliage seasonally thickens.


Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's the UHF signals that are negatively influenced by trees and leaves. VHF signals should be fine if that is the case.


----------



## Trip in VA

Brian in CT said:


> TVFool not only has not been updated in two years, some TV stations in the database are missing. Trip, please hurry up with perfecting your search tool. The TV masses need a reliable replacement!


It works as it is, it's just hard to share links. Rabbit73 on here takes a screenshot of it, which is a decent stopgap.

- Trip


----------



## Brian in CT

Trip in VA said:


> It works as it is, it's just hard to share links. Rabbit73 on here takes a screenshot of it, which is a decent stopgap.
> 
> - Trip


Fine, but I'm hoping you can still add an entry by coordinates. This would be more accurate than having to use an address. Also, I still think the strength tool should be able to be accessed from the homepage of your website. I'd put the link for it below your blog link.


----------



## tvoax

Trip in VA said:


> TVFool hasn't been updated in a while. I've attempted to contact Andy to try to get it updated, but with no response.
> 
> 
> 
> You might consider using the RabbitEars search tool's TVStudy mode.
> 
> 
> - Trip



The FCC has a nice mapping tool these days that can take the place of TVFool. After entering your address, click on the callsigns to see the bearing, repack, and other info for that station.

www-fcc-gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps


----------



## statmanmi

https://www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps 

And I’ll add that with the fcc site (live link above), one can move the pin within the map if desired.


----------



## pkpaul

pkpaul said:


> There is a new sub-channel 2.5
> CourtTV


CourtTV also appears on 31-1 now, replacing Escape. 

Escape is still on 2-4.

Correction: Escape is on 2-4 and 31-2.
It was Shop LC that got dropped or moved.


----------



## pkpaul

pkpaul said:


> CourtTV also appears on 31-1 now, replacing Escape.
> 
> Escape is still on 2-4.
> 
> Correction: Escape is on 2-4 and 31-2.
> It was Shop LC that got dropped or moved.


 
Shop LC moved to 49-6 replacing JTV Jewelry TV [which also disappeared from 58-1 many months ago]


----------



## Trip in VA

Brian in CT said:


> Fine, but I'm hoping you can still add an entry by coordinates. This would be more accurate than having to use an address. Also, I still think the strength tool should be able to be accessed from the homepage of your website. I'd put the link for it below your blog link.


You can modify the coordinates manually right now after it does the computation based on the address; just modify the URL accordingly. Once I have a way to do that directly, and there's a way to link to them without sharing your address and/or coordinates, it will be added to the front page.



tvoax said:


> The FCC has a nice mapping tool these days that can take the place of TVFool. After entering your address, click on the callsigns to see the bearing, repack, and other info for that station.
> 
> www-fcc-gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps





statmanmi said:


> https://www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps
> 
> And I’ll add that with the fcc site (live link above), one can move the pin within the map if desired.


I'm familiar with the FCC tool, having been involved in writing the software that powers it. When you enter an address, it resolves to the nearest pre-calculated point, which could be more than a half kilometer away.

- Trip


----------



## wmcbrine

I just noticed tonight -- on Comcast, at least here, WMPT, WETA and WHUT are now in 720p. (I'll have to check the codecs later.) They're still 1080i OTA. WRC and WUSA are also still 1080i on Comcast. (And in what I assume is an unrelated move, I also discovered that WDCW is 720p on both Comcast and OTA, whenever that happened -- maybe when they moved to 15?)


----------



## wmcbrine

wmcbrine said:


> I just noticed tonight -- on Comcast, at least here, WMPT, WETA and WHUT are now in 720p. (I'll have to check the codecs later.)


Confirmed, these (and WDCW) are also now H.264 on Comcast (still MPEG2 OTA).


----------



## Mr Tony

So looking at titantv and come July 1st WDVM (former WHAG Hagerstown) is dropping H&I and replacing it with syndicated programming so being a true Independent

H&I during the week was from midnight-5, 9-11a, and 8-9pm (more on weekends). Syndicated shows added are some of those lower level judge shows like Lauren Lake's Paternity Court, Couples Court with the Cutlers, but also Dateline, Chicago PD and double runs of Impractical Jokers, Cops and Pawn Stars.

It is still news heavy


----------



## idreos

*OTA antenna installation Rockville Maryland*

Am looking at cutting the cord and having an OTA antenna installed on my roof in Rockville, MD which is in the DC broadcast area. 
Have any forum members had this done?

Can anyone recommend installer in this area? Thanks for your help


----------



## DrDon

Threads merged.


----------



## dleedlee

Don't know if this is old news or not:

The FCC has required that some television stations across the country transition to a new broadcast frequency. WETA is one of those stations and will make the transition on July 29. 
While cable and satellite viewers will not be affected, viewers using an over-the-air antenna will need to rescan their television on or after July 29.


https://weta.org/tv/repack/faq


----------



## gregchak

In the past week I've noticed my signal strength of WRC drop by half. Usually I receive a very strong signal between 90-95%. Now its between 40-55%. I see that WRC is part of the FCC repack. I wasn't sure if this drop in signal strength is due to work they are doing to get ready for the change. Or is it just me? Has anyone else seen this change?


----------



## Trip in VA

https://www.rabbitears.info/tvdx/signal_graph/10317DF4/tuner1/WRC-TV

Yes, I see the drop as well. Likely repack-related.

- Trip


----------



## gregchak

Trip in VA said:


> https://www.rabbitears.info/tvdx/signal_graph/10317DF4/tuner1/WRC-TV
> 
> Yes, I see the drop as well. Likely repack-related.
> 
> - Trip


Thanks for the info Trip. I didn't know this kind of data was out there.


----------



## al.rob

I have completely lost WETA Channel 26. Has its power also been reduced as part of the repack as discussed below for WRC Channel 4? My reception otherwise seems to be the same as before, but WETA is gone on all my TVs. A rescan was unsuccessful.


----------



## Trip in VA

WETA looks unchanged to me.

https://www.rabbitears.info/tvdx/signal_graph/10317DF4/tuner1/WETA-TV

They will be moving to a temporary facility after the change in channel, rather than before like WRC.

- Trip


----------



## al.rob

al.rob said:


> I have completely lost WETA Channel 26. Has its power also been reduced as part of the repack as discussed below for WRC Channel 4? My reception otherwise seems to be the same as before, but WETA is gone on all my TVs. A rescan was unsuccessful.


I think I found the answer. From WETA's website I got the following:

"WETA will be operating at a temporary broadcast tower while engaging in construction at our main facility in order to broadcast at our new frequency. Work is expected to be completed in the Fall of 2019. It is possible that some over-the-air viewers using a TV antenna will have trouble receiving the signal at our temporary site, or once our broadcasts resume at our main facility in the Fall of 2019. These viewers may need to adjust antenna orientation and/or rescan their televisions once more. We apologize for the inconvenience during this time."

So perhaps the location of this temporary tower means I can no longer receive their signal. I will just have to wait. I can still get WHUT and WMPT, so it's not as bad as it could be.

WETA says rescan TV after July 29, and WRC says to rescan after 8/1. I guess we will be doing a bunch of rescanning.


----------



## al.rob

Trip in VA said:


> WETA looks unchanged to me.
> 
> https://www.rabbitears.info/tvdx/signal_graph/10317DF4/tuner1/WETA-TV
> 
> They will be moving to a temporary facility after the change in channel, rather than before like WRC.
> 
> - Trip


Thanks for your reply. So, it is unclear why WETA went away for me. Interestingly, I can still get WRC at the reduced power - I hadn't noticed a problem with it.


----------



## dleedlee

gregchak said:


> In the past week I've noticed my signal strength of WRC drop by half. Usually I receive a very strong signal between 90-95%. Now its between 40-55%. I see that WRC is part of the FCC repack. I wasn't sure if this drop in signal strength is due to work they are doing to get ready for the change. Or is it just me? Has anyone else seen this change?


Saw this on dcrtv
_
WRC is moving from channel 48 to channel 34 this month so there will be testing and down time on both channels this month. They will permanently be on channel 34 by the end of the month, Aug. 2 at the latest unless there are problems which are unlikely. _
_
WRC-4 has started rescan announcements pointing toward August 1. The one we saw on July 4 featured Doug the chief meteorologist. We continue to receive WRC on channel 48 at our location east of McDaniel College in Carroll County MD, 44 air miles from the transmitter. If WRC is using an auxiliary antenna at a lower height, could it be from the 60+year-old "short" tower that served analog channel 4 decades ago?_


----------



## Mr Tony

al.rob said:


> Thanks for your reply. So, it is unclear why WETA went away for me. Interestingly, I can still get WRC at the reduced power - I hadn't noticed a problem with it.


WRC normally broadcasts at 813,000 watts
WETA normally broadcasts at 73,000 watts

Good news is the construction permit for WETA on RF31 jacks the power up to 1 million watts


----------



## mdviewer25

Something minor, but annoying. Here in the DC area on Verizon we have Bounce tv on channel 459. However, the info bar and guide shows the logo for Univision? Had to say something hoping it would be corrected.


----------



## crbaldwin

The stength and quality of WRC is so poor now that I can't receive/watch it anymore. Is it going to be this way until the end of the month?

Also, is there a list of impacted channels due to the repack that someone can point me to?


----------



## Trip in VA

DC: https://www.rabbitears.info/repackc...state=&mktid=11&owner=&sort=&ph=&lss=&status=

Baltimore: https://www.rabbitears.info/repackc...state=&mktid=31&owner=&sort=&ph=&lss=&status=

- Trip


----------



## crbaldwin

Thanks for the links. What does WDCW going "Off-Air" mean? Are they combining with some other channel?


----------



## Trip in VA

They already did. WDCW's programming is now on WFDC's transmitter.

- Trip


----------



## joblo

*Phase 4 changes*



al.rob said:


> WETA says rescan TV after July 29, and WRC says to rescan after 8/1. I guess we will be doing a bunch of rescanning.


To clarify:

WRC says "NBC4 and Cozi are moving to a new frequency on Aug. 2."

WETA says they "will make the transition on July 29", and rescan "on or after July 29", so I think that means they will move in the wee hours that Monday morning. 

And there is this from MPT:



> Schedule for frequency changes
> 
> Midnight 12:01AM
> Friday, August 2, 2019
> Annapolis WMPT 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4
> Frederick WFPT 62.1 62.2 62.3 62.4
> Oakland WGPT 36.1 36.2 36.3 36.4
> Salisbury WCPB 28.1 28.2 28.3 28.4
> 
> March 3, 2020 (tentative)
> Owings Mills WMPB 67.1 67.2 67.3 67.4
> 
> May 1, 2020 (tentative)
> Hagerstown WWPB 31.1 31.2 31.3 31.4



Also, WPXW must move before or at the same time as WRC, and WDVM must move no later than August 2nd because it is part of large phase 4 linked set.



Trip in VA said:


> [WETA] will be moving to a temporary facility after the change in channel, rather than before like WRC.


Will that be at their new AUX at the Arlington FM site?



Trip in VA said:


> DC: https://www.rabbitears.info/repackc...state=&mktid=11&owner=&sort=&ph=&lss=&status=
> 
> Baltimore: https://www.rabbitears.info/repackc...state=&mktid=31&owner=&sort=&ph=&lss=&status=
> 
> - Trip


Don't see Local Media's WIAV-CD in the DC list, but they are class A, right? So do they have to move in phase 4, or have they been granted an extension of some sort?

Also Local Media's other class A stations in DC DMA have CPs expiring August 2nd, according to RabbitEars. Any idea if they actually plan to light up either of those channels by then?


----------



## Trip in VA

joblo said:


> To clarify:
> 
> WRC says "NBC4 and Cozi are moving to a new frequency on Aug. 2."



I've been hearing August 1 despite what that web page says. I wish I could confirm it.




joblo said:


> Will that be at their new AUX at the Arlington FM site?


As far as I know, yes.



joblo said:


> Don't see Local Media's WIAV-CD in the DC list, but they are class A, right? So do they have to move in phase 4, or have they been granted an extension of some sort?
> 
> Also Local Media's other class A stations in DC DMA have CPs expiring August 2nd, according to RabbitEars. Any idea if they actually plan to light up either of those channels by then?



WIAV-CD was not a Class A station as of the qualifying date for the auction, so it was not included in the repack. They have a standard 3-year construction permit not tied to any particular phase. I believe they've said they want to move in Phase 4, but I'm not sure they can without stepping on WMPB who doesn't move until Phase 8.


The other two have gone off the air already from what I understand. I would expect them to light up sooner rather than later though.


- Trip


----------



## joblo

Trip in VA said:


> WIAV-CD was not a Class A station as of the qualifying date for the auction, so it was not included in the repack. They have a standard 3-year construction permit not tied to any particular phase. I believe they've said they want to move in Phase 4, but I'm not sure they can without stepping on WMPB who doesn't move until Phase 8.


Thanks. That makes sense.

Speaking of stations stepping on each other, can the DC area LP stations on 23 and 32 continue operating as they are now after nearby full power and class A are repacked onto those channels?


----------



## Trip in VA

WRZB-LD on 32 filed a mod to make it possible to stay put. It was dismissed for being filed at the wrong time; I'd expect them to refile it at some point.


Can't speak to Daystar on 23 though. They've not filed anything.


- Trip


----------



## crbaldwin

Trip in VA said:


> DC: https://www.rabbitears.info/repackc...state=&mktid=11&owner=&sort=&ph=&lss=&status=


I was hoping WUSA would be changing from VHF because I often have inexplicable reception issues in early afternoon on the weekends (right during sporting events).


----------



## Trip in VA

The repack did not contain a mechanism for stations to move from VHF to UHF.

- Trip


----------



## pkpaul

Trip in VA said:


> The repack did not contain a mechanism for stations to move from VHF to UHF.
> 
> - Trip


Is anyone else having trouble accessing RabbitEars?


----------



## Trip in VA

pkpaul said:


> Is anyone else having trouble accessing RabbitEars?


Working fine for me at the moment. What are you seeing?

- Trip


----------



## pkpaul

Trip in VA said:


> Working fine for me at the moment. What are you seeing?
> 
> - Trip


I will try rebooting then. Thanks.


----------



## Trip in VA

pkpaul said:


> I will try rebooting then. Thanks.


It's working on my end. It's possible there was a short-term hiccup, unless you're still seeing it after your reboot. Let me know.

- Trip


----------



## pkpaul

The problem persists. 
Anyone else?


----------



## Rick313

I was also having trouble getting to rabbitears.info, so I checked isitdownrightnow.com which confirmed that the server is not responding. If Trip says that it's up, I wonder if there is another internet routing issue like there was for google a few weeks ago?


----------



## PlnOTA

Also unable to access RabbitEars here in North Texas. Was working when I checked it ~2AM CT today, but no-go as of 12PM CT today. Chrome returns "ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED", Firefox returns "Firefox can’t find the server at rabbitears.info."


----------



## Trip in VA

The DNS is down. Server is up and running, but nobody can see it.

- Trip


----------



## Trip in VA

Okay, DNS should be fixed now. It may take a few minutes to a few hours to propagate through the Internet. Let me know if you still can't see it after a while.



- Trip


----------



## pkpaul

Yes, It's working now. Thanks.


----------



## TheKrell

I think RabbitEars is hosted on Scott Grescowski's web servers, is it not? He originally intended to upgrade the O/S only on Saturday, but had issues and rolled that back. Then Anthony (don't know his last name) attempted the upgrade or a partial upgrade again on Sunday morning and really screwed it up! They are still working on the Satelliteguys database, but it's load grows and grows until it is no longer serving web pages. I can only occasinally access SG. I'm glad RabbitEars is back in operation.


----------



## Trip in VA

Yes, but my problem was solely that my DNS was hosted on the server in question. The machine I use was unaffected by the upgrades beyond the DNS issue. I reverted to using my domain registrar's DNS server to resolve the issue.

- Trip


----------



## TheKrell

Great workaround, Trip. Satelliteguys.us is again completely inaccessible, other than the upgrade notification page.


----------



## MRG1

Any of you guys tried Locast (which provides local channels over the Internet, in SOME cities) and FitzTV (which can record it)?

I reviewed them both here.

So, finally, I can get local channels reliability, despite living in a basement. I live in College Park, MD, near the University of Maryland, and Locast gives me

Channel # call sign network

4, WRC NBC
5 WTTG Fox 
WDCA Fox Extra
7 WJLA ABC
9 WUSA CBS
? WFDC Univision
? WETA PBS
? Telemundo
? WDCW CW 
? WPXW ION

However, FitzTV adds

COMET
Charge
Rev'n
TBD
Buzzr
Light TV
NewsMax
Chedder
NBC News
CBS News
ABC News
France 24
NewsNat
ET Live
Court TV
CBS Sports HQ
Stadium
PBS Kids
Adult Swim
conTV
Dove Channel
NASA TV
QVC
HSN
Evine

The channels do come in nice and reliably. I don't know how to tell if they are HD.

Locast is free, but they pester you to donate money. FitzTV DVR service starts at $5/month, but is free without DVR.


----------



## Trip in VA

Not sure anyone has noticed, but WETA turned on the new auxiliary channel 31 signal from the WETA-FM tower in Arlington around mid-day on Monday the 22nd. 

https://www.rabbitears.info/tvdx/render_graph/10317DF4/tuner1/31/-120hours/now

It's been on the air (without PSIP) ever since. They turn off the old channel 27 signal on Monday the 29th, and then remain on the WETA-FM tower until the combiner is replaced at the shared facility in DC later this year.

The current signal on 27 is 833' 73 kW, while the auxiliary facility is 564' 240 kW. It is somewhat smaller than the current coverage, and most of the losses should be closer to Baltimore. When it moves back to the shared tower later this year, it'll boost to 833' 1000 kW.

- Trip


----------



## keeper

MRG1 said:


> Any of you guys tried Locast (which provides local channels over the Internet, in SOME cities) and FitzTV (which can record it)?
> 
> I reviewed them both here.
> 
> So, finally, I can get local channels reliability, despite living in a basement. I live in College Park, MD, near the University of Maryland, and Locast gives me
> 
> Channel # call sign network
> 
> 4, WRC NBC
> 5 WTTG Fox
> WDCA Fox Extra
> 7 WJLA ABC
> 9 WUSA CBS
> ? WFDC Univision
> ? WETA PBS
> ? Telemundo
> ? WDCW CW
> ? WPXW ION
> 
> However, FitzTV adds
> 
> COMET
> Charge
> Rev'n
> TBD
> Buzzr
> Light TV
> NewsMax
> Chedder
> NBC News
> CBS News
> ABC News
> France 24
> NewsNat
> ET Live
> Court TV
> CBS Sports HQ
> Stadium
> PBS Kids
> Adult Swim
> conTV
> Dove Channel
> NASA TV
> QVC
> HSN
> Evine
> 
> The channels do come in nice and reliably. I don't know how to tell if they are HD.
> 
> Locast is free, but they pester you to donate money. FitzTV DVR service starts at $5/month, but is free without DVR.


Darn I tried signing up for Locast. I live in York and wanted Baltimore. No go.


----------



## mkfs

Trip in VA said:


> Not sure anyone has noticed, but WETA turned on the new auxiliary channel 31 signal from the WETA-FM tower in Arlington around mid-day on Monday the 22nd.


 What's the backstory on this saga? What's the end game?


----------



## Trip in VA

Not sure what your question means. It's part of the repack, like other stations in the area, and is moving from channel 27 to channel 31 from an auxiliary antenna on the WETA-FM tower until the combiner at the current tower can be replaced later this year.

- Trip


----------



## mkfs

Will they stay on 31? Did they sell off 27 in that reverse auction? Is there a list of the DC area Musical Chairs?


----------



## Trip in VA

https://www.rabbitears.info/repackc...state=&mktid=11&owner=&sort=&ph=&lss=&status=

- Trip


----------



## mkfs

Thanks, that makes it clearer. I'd not grasped that WDCW was going dark.


----------



## KyL416

WDCW already went "dark" back in January 2018, it's now spectrum sharing with WFDC on RF 15.

All the stations that are listed as moving to RF 0 have already started spectrum sharing:
WMDO-CD -> Spectrum sharing with WIAV-CD on RF 44 (Moving to RF 30)
WZDC-CD -> Spectrum sharing with WRC on RF 48 (Moving to RF 34)
WDCA -> Spectrum sharing with WTTG on RF 36
WDCW -> Spectrum sharing with WFDC on RF 15

While the former MHz stations are no longer available in Metro DC since they changed their city of license to communities in the fringes of the DMA and are spectrum sharing with stations in neighboring markets:
WNVC -> Spectrum sharing with WHTJ in Charlottesville on RF 26
WNVT -> Spectrum sharing with WCVE in Richmond on RF 22


----------



## aaronwt

crbaldwin said:


> I was hoping WUSA would be changing from VHF because I often have inexplicable reception issues in early afternoon on the weekends (right during sporting events).


I hated when they moved from UHF to VHF. They went from being my strongest and most reliable station, to the weakest and least reliable. Although I've been able to get a decent signal from them this Summer.


----------



## aaronwt

KyL416 said:


> WDCW already went "dark" back in January 2018, it's now spectrum sharing with WFDC on RF 15.
> 
> All the stations that are listed as moving to RF 0 have already started spectrum sharing:
> WMDO-CD -> Spectrum sharing with WIAV-CD on RF 44 (Moving to RF 30)
> WZDC-CD -> Spectrum sharing with WRC on RF 48 (Moving to RF 34)
> WDCA -> Spectrum sharing with WTTG on RF 36
> WDCW -> Spectrum sharing with WFDC on RF 15
> 
> While the former MHz stations are no longer available in Metro DC since they changed their city of license to communities in the fringes of the DMA and are spectrum sharing with stations in neighboring markets:
> WNVC -> Spectrum sharing with WHTJ in Charlottesville on RF 26
> WNVT -> Spectrum sharing with WCVE in Richmond on RF 22


It's part of the reason the video from stations in the DC area looks like ass. It's partly why I started watching most of my content from streaming services.

The other reason is because the video quality from all FiOS cable channels are terrible now too. So I will mostly watch news from the local stations and cable channels.

I am more likely to watch an SD show from the local broadcasts on the sub-channels than watch the main HD channel now. Since the HD is almost vomit inducing. The same goes for FiOS cable networks.


----------



## machpost

aaronwt said:


> It's part of the reason the video from stations in the DC area looks like ass. It's partly why I started watching most of my content from streaming services.
> 
> The other reason is because the video quality from all FiOS cable channels are terrible now too. So I will mostly watch news from the local stations and cable channels.
> 
> I am more likely to watch an SD show from the local broadcasts on the sub-channels than watch the main HD channel now. Since the HD is almost vomit inducing. The same goes for FiOS cable networks.


What happened with Fios? I can remember when they were known for having the highest quality video.


----------



## mkfs

I forget. What are the limits on a broadcast ATV channel? How many 1080's, 720's fit? Mhz previously had five 720's on each channel, didn't it?


----------



## mkfs

unclehonkey said:


> WRC normally broadcasts at 813,000 watts
> WETA normally broadcasts at 73,000 watts
> 
> Good news is the construction permit for WETA on RF31 jacks the power up to 1 million watts


 That's good news for PEPCO, but expect more fund drives to pay for it.......


----------



## pclement

mkfs said:


> That's good news for PEPCO, but expect more fund drives to pay for it.......


August 2, 2019 is Rescan Friday!


Will let you know how that goes.


----------



## wmcbrine

Trip in VA said:


> When [WETA] moves back to the shared tower later this year, it'll boost to 833' 1000 kW.


Nice. I assume there's no date for this yet?


----------



## Trip in VA

wmcbrine said:


> Nice. I assume there's no date for this yet?


No, depends on when the new equipment arrives.

- Trip


----------



## wmcbrine

mkfs said:


> I forget. What are the limits on a broadcast ATV channel? How many 1080's, 720's fit? Mhz previously had five 720's on each channel, didn't it?


 I think MHz only had 480i subchannels.


The limit is mainly what you can stand to look at in terms of PQ. There's 19.2 Mbps to work with, and you're encoding with MPEG-2 (although there are a few H.264 subchannels around now, e.g. Stadium on 45.4 in Baltimore). Most channels still do only a single HD, and fill in with SD subs. But MPT has one 1080i, one 720p, and two 480i's.


----------



## keeper

Did a rescan and found a channel I’ve never seen before from Red Lion. W14df-d? It’s says programming coming soon. Any info on this channel?


----------



## dleedlee

Looks like Ch. 4 has switched over. I just manually added it.


----------



## aaronwt

machpost said:


> What happened with Fios? I can remember when they were known for having the highest quality video.


Yes, they used to. But four or so years ago they started stuffing more and more channels in per QAm. So the video quality went downhill. It's not as bad a Comcast yet. But they seem to be racing to get there.


----------



## holl_ands

Fol. is list showing ONE station with FOUR (!!!!) 1080i on a single channel (wonder how THAT looks!!!!), ONE with 1080i plus TWO 720p, FIVE Stations with two 1080i (+ more) on a single channel ONE with 1080i plus ONE 720p, and SIX with two 720p (+ more):
https://www.rabbitears.info/oddsandends.php?request=dualhd

But you'll have to do your own research to find out how WELL this works....bearing in mind that MPEG2 Encoders and StatMuxes have made significant improvements over the past 5-10 years:
https://tvnewscheck.com/article/87813/mpeg-2-channel-sharing-just-got-easier [Aug 2015]

And also note that upcoming ATSC 3.0 uses HEVC, which is about 4X more efficient than MPEG2, so each program only needs 1/4 as high a bitrate for the "same" PQ....and consequently will have a LOT more Channels across which bitrates can be Dynamically assigned on the fly, so much less likely that rapid movements at same time on TWO Channels will overload the system....


----------



## machpost

NBC 4 and Telemundo 44 both share the same frequency, and they're both 1080i with 480i subchannels.


----------



## al.rob

*Channel 4 after frequency change*

I rescanned yesterday and Channel 4 returned, but the reception is now marginal. I had no problems with Channel 4 even when they reduced power temporarily, but now my reception is not as good as before. Are they at their final power, or is my rooftop antenna just not as good at receiving RF 21 as it was at receiving RF 48?


----------



## fri1038

Howdy. New forum member located a few miles south of BWI airport, here.

Did my rescan first thing this morning, and wow! What happened in Philly last night? I picked up five stations from up that way - most ever. But just a coincidental atmospheric boost from the passing weather front, I guess. Signals are gone a few hours later.


I've been seeing the repacked WRC on 34 since last night without problems. Same with WMPT now on 21.

WPXW which was to shift from 34 to 35 is missing in action, though, since WRC moved.

Can't see WETA on 31 on their temp tower, which is no surprise, I guess.

WHUT on 33 is missing, too, which is not expected. Was receiving it just fine last night.

WBFF was running a scroll last night on all their subchannels around midnight that they were "working on this channel" - don't know what that was about. Didn't see a problem.

I see all the other DC and Baltimore stations just fine. 


Lower power WQAW is putting out PSIP of 20.1 through 20.4 which is confusing my old TV, mixing it with WDCA. If I could find contact info for them, I'd send them a note about it.


----------



## al.rob

fri1038 said:


> Howdy. New forum member located a few miles south of BWI airport, here.
> 
> Did my rescan first thing this morning, and wow! What happened in Philly last night? I picked up five stations from up that way - most ever. But just a coincidental atmospheric boost from the passing weather front, I guess. Signals are gone a few hours later.
> 
> 
> I've been seeing the repacked WRC on 34 since last night without problems. Same with WMPT now on 21.
> 
> WPXW which was to shift from 34 to 35 is missing in action, though, since WRC moved.
> 
> Can't see WETA on 31 on their temp tower, which is no surprise, I guess.
> 
> WHUT on 33 is missing, too, which is not expected. Was receiving it just fine last night.
> 
> WBFF was running a scroll last night on all their subchannels around midnight that they were "working on this channel" - don't know what that was about. Didn't see a problem.
> 
> I see all the other DC and Baltimore stations just fine.
> 
> 
> Lower power WQAW is putting out PSIP of 20.1 through 20.4 which is confusing my old TV, mixing it with WDCA. If I could find contact info for them, I'd send them a note about it.


Woops, my bad on WRC - they did move to 34, which is when I started having problems. However, WPXW is still fine, and so is WETA on Channel 31. I need to rescan today to see if WMPT comes back, as I think they switched over last night. I still get WHUT, but they did not and are not changing frequency. I wonder if we are having adjacent channel interference problems, since channels 33, 34 ,and 35 are all next to each other and after the move one channel may be too strong compared to the adjacent ones.


----------



## Trip in VA

WPXW could be adjacent-channel issues, as they're at very low power right now. WHUT shouldn't be.


- Trip


----------



## fri1038

Trip in VA said:


> WPXW could be adjacent-channel issues, as they're at very low power right now. WHUT shouldn't be.
> 
> 
> - Trip



I was able to get WHUT back by moving my ChannelMaster Stealthtenna a bit. Seems more finicky now, however. I'll need to find a new sweet spot for the antenna once all the transmitters are in their final state.


----------



## TheKrell

mkfs said:


> Mhz previously had five 720's on each channel, didn't it?



My memory has six 480i subchannels on both it's frequencies, for a total of 12 channels.


----------



## thebutlerdidit

Trip in VA said:


> No, depends on when the new equipment arrives.
> 
> - Trip


Is WTTG RF 36 operating at full power? I read somewhere that they are relocating their main transmitter site, and their signal is awfully glitchy lately. I'm having no trouble with WRC, WJLA or WUSA. WETA's new signal is a bit unstable but I gather they are increasing power later this year.


----------



## Trip in VA

thebutlerdidit said:


> Is WTTG RF 36 operating at full power? I read somewhere that they are relocating their main transmitter site, and their signal is awfully glitchy lately. I'm having no trouble with WRC, WJLA or WUSA. WETA's new signal is a bit unstable but I gather they are increasing power later this year.


To my knowledge, nothing has changed at WTTG yet. The construction of the new facility shouldn't impact their current facility, since I expect it will be all new gear at the new site.

WETA is currently coming off the WETA-FM tower in Arlington, and it will remain there until new equipment arrives at the shared DC tower site later this year.

- Trip


----------



## thebutlerdidit

Trip in VA said:


> To my knowledge, nothing has changed at WTTG yet. The construction of the new facility shouldn't impact their current facility, since I expect it will be all new gear at the new site.
> 
> WETA is currently coming off the WETA-FM tower in Arlington, and it will remain there until new equipment arrives at the shared DC tower site later this year.
> 
> - Trip


Thanks. WTTG used to be one of the strongest signals off my antenna. Now it keeps falling off the cliff.


----------



## richwine4

thebutlerdidit said:


> Thanks. WTTG used to be one of the strongest signals off my antenna. Now it keeps falling off the cliff.


Same here. It got spotty at my house last fall and still hasn't recovered. WTTG's S/N for me had been in the mid-20s, but now it averages just above 15, with frequent dropouts. (I'm in Calvert County.)


----------



## Mr Tony

WDVM (former WHAG) moved to 23 from 26 but has a STA right now for 18.4kw side mounted antenna until they can get the top mount finished

https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/d...&id=25076ff36c4dc2ee016c4ef0682a09ff&goBack=N


----------



## TheKrell

Trip in VA said:


> WETA is currently coming off the WETA-FM tower in Arlington, and it will remain there until new equipment arrives at the shared DC tower site later this year.


Just rescanned on my Dish Hoppper. It was showing 100% before, and now it's 100% on the new frequency. I thought I'd see a drop at the new location. But it is a tad closer to me.


----------



## fri1038

fri1038 said:


> ...
> 
> 
> Lower power WQAW is putting out PSIP of 20.1 through 20.4 which is confusing my old TV, mixing it with WDCA. If I could find contact info for them, I'd send them a note about it.



Maybe WQAW is supposed to be 20.1 - 20.4 nowadays. See the attached station id. Also the most recent FCC docs linked to from rabbitears.info don't mention virtual 69, leaving that field blank. Odd, but not a big deal, I suppose.


----------



## pkpaul

fri1038 said:


> Maybe WQAW is supposed to be 20.1 - 20.4 nowadays. See the attached station id. Also the most recent FCC docs linked to from rabbitears.info don't mention virtual 69, leaving that field blank. Odd, but not a big deal, I suppose.


I saw that too, on 7 July.


----------



## fri1038

fri1038 said:


> Maybe WQAW is supposed to be 20.1 - 20.4 nowadays. See the attached station id. Also the most recent FCC docs linked to from rabbitears.info don't mention virtual 69, leaving that field blank. Odd, but not a big deal, I suppose.





pkpaul said:


> I saw that too, on 7 July.





I wonder how long WDCA and its virtual 20 channels are obligated to exist after the spectrum auction and co-location with WTTG. It is marketed as Fox 5 Plus these days and its channel 20 identity seems redundant.


----------



## aaronwt

TheKrell said:


> Just rescanned on my Dish Hoppper. It was showing 100% before, and now it's 100% on the new frequency. I thought I'd see a drop at the new location. But it is a tad closer to me.


I can't get PBS at all any more. I used to have rock solid reception here in Woodbridge.

At least the TiVo guide is populated now with the new frequency for WRC TV. My GF will be happy about that.

I'll need to check her TiVos to see how her reception is after all of this. But she is closer to Dc than me. And can also pick up some of the Baltimore stations at her location in Prince Georges County.


----------



## TheKrell

aaronwt said:


> I can't get PBS at all any more. I used to have rock solid reception here in Woodbridge.


That sucks. Can you stream WETA or move recordings between your GF's Tivo and your own?


----------



## aaronwt

TheKrell said:


> That sucks. Can you stream WETA or move recordings between your GF's Tivo and your own?


I could if I wanted to since her TiVos are on my account. Or I could just transfer the shows to a PC and strip the .tivo extension and have the transport stream file(.ts extension) to put on a portable hard drive. But my biggest issue is the lower quality video from OTA in DC now. So I'll typically buy a show outright or watch it from a streaming service instead of watching it from a local broadcast from FiOS or OTA.


----------



## Trip in VA

fri1038 said:


> Maybe WQAW is supposed to be 20.1 - 20.4 nowadays. See the attached station id. Also the most recent FCC docs linked to from rabbitears.info don't mention virtual 69, leaving that field blank. Odd, but not a big deal, I suppose.


It's definitely not supposed to be 20-1. If I remember, I'll send a note to my contact at HC2 when I'm home later today.

- Trip


----------



## megabyte24

*Location: Rockville*

We had WETA 26.1-.4 on Thursday, but as of Friday cannot get it on either the VHF/UHF Yagi pointed due south from Zip 20853, or rabbit ears the 10 miles we are away from where https://www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps says it is coming from (Bethesda). We can get WRC-TV, WHUT-TV, WUSA, and a few others from this same direction on either antennas without issue. We have performed a rescan and a "double rescan" (per PBS' instructions) without change to WETA reception. I saw the post above that transmission has moved to Arlington temporarily, but am not confident on extrapolating angle to point the Yagi in (it is moveable so can readjust for other Bethesda transmitted channels) from our location, and besides, why wouldn't rabbit ears pick up WETA a mere 10 miles away from the transmission tower, when it can every other station that the FCC tool says we should be able to pick up also with a strong signal? Any advise on either question would be appreciated!


----------



## fri1038

Sometimes, moving an antenna a short distance in elevation and/or horizontally will do the job. If you haven't already, try setting your TV to channel 31 then moving the antenna around in search of a signal instead of doing a full rescan. If no luck, you might find your PBS programs on WMPT and WHUT until WETA returns to its normal location.



megabyte24 said:


> We had WETA 26.1-.4 on Thursday, but as of Friday cannot get it on either the VHF/UHF Yagi pointed due south from Zip 20853, or rabbit ears the 10 miles we are away from where ...


----------



## rabbit73

megabyte24 said:


> We had WETA 26.1-.4 on Thursday, but as of Friday cannot get it on either the VHF/UHF Yagi pointed due south from Zip 20853, or rabbit ears the 10 miles we are away from where https://www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps says it is coming from (Bethesda)......why wouldn't rabbit ears pick up WETA a mere 10 miles away from the transmission tower, when it can every other station that the FCC tool says we should be able to pick up also with a strong signal? Any advise on either question would be appreciated!


https://weta.org/tv/repack/faq


> *I’ve already rescanned my television on or after August 2 but WETA channels haven’t come back. What can I do?*
> WETA will be operating at a temporary broadcast tower while engaging in construction at our main facility in order to broadcast at our new frequency. Work is expected to be completed in the Fall of 2019. It is possible that some over-the-air viewers using a TV antenna will have trouble receiving the signal at our temporary site, or once our broadcasts resume at our main facility in the Fall of 2019. These viewers may need to adjust antenna orientation and/or rescan their televisions once more. We apologize for the inconvenience during this time.


The aux transmitter in Arlington is only running 1/4 power of the Bethesda transmitter.
https://www.rabbitears.info/tvq.php?request=items&facid=65670


> I saw the post above that transmission has moved to Arlington temporarily, but am not confident on extrapolating angle to point the Yagi in (it is moveable so can readjust for other Bethesda transmitted  channels) from our location


 Note that the coordinates of the two transmitters are given. You can plot the azimuth from your location to the aux transmitter.

If you live here:
39.102868, -77.096736 

WETA aux:
38.891667, -77.131667 
distance: 14.69 mi
bearing: 187 deg










and if this were your house, you could use the green signal lines to help you aim:


----------



## Trip in VA

rabbit73 said:


> https://weta.org/tv/repack/faq
> The aux transmitter in Arlington is only running 1/4 power of the Bethesda transmitter.



It's actually more than 3 times the power of the channel 27 signal it replaced (73 kW). The new 31 signal will be 4 time stronger than the current aux signal.


- Trip


----------



## Trip in VA

WMPT has just filed a new STA. Apparently, WMPT is operating on its STA facility on the lower antenna right now, and has filed a new STA to move to its new top-mount antenna at reduced power while a transmitter issue is sorted out. So all hope is not yet lost for those like me with WMPT signal issues like myself.


- Trip


----------



## megabyte24

rabbit73 said:


> https://weta.org/tv/repack/faq
> The aux transmitter in Arlington is only running 1/4 power of the Bethesda transmitter.
> https : / / www . rabbitears . info / tvq . php ? request=items&facid=65670
> Note that the coordinates of the two transmitters are given. You can plot the azimuth from your location to the aux transmitter.
> 
> If you live here:
> 39.102868, -77.096736
> 
> WETA aux:
> 38.891667, -77.131667
> distance: 14.69 mi
> bearing: 187 deg
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> and if this were your house, you could use the green signal lines to help you aim:



Hi Rabbit73,


I had already read the FAQ page you linked to (inferred from my mention of using the PBS' instructions to double rescan our TV), and the unhelpful mention that one may need to reorient their antenna [in some blinking direction].


Not that I am opposed to community updated content, but why doesn't fcc.gov list 26.x as coming from this aux location? I didn't go any further than this, because I trusted this was the penultimate source of updated info.


Thanks for the note about the reduced power output of the aux transmitter, the screenshots of both a website (I presume) that will extrapolate angles given two long/lat coordinates, and the one that looks to be a guide of channels one can reasonably expect to receive at ones location, from what angle, and darker+thicker lines indicating level of signal, but where did these come from, so I (as you suggest) can use them to obtain angles from my place...


----------



## megabyte24

fri1038 said:


> Sometimes, moving an antenna a short distance in elevation and/or horizontally will do the job. If you haven't already, try setting your TV to channel 31 then moving the antenna around in search of a signal instead of doing a full rescan. If no luck, you might find your PBS programs on WMPT and WHUT until WETA returns to its normal location.



Thanks Fri1038,


While we can change to any channel on our inexpensive TV by entering in the channel number, I had not thought about doing this and moving the antenna around. Hopefully the firmware doesn't prevent signals from being received on a non-scan-found channel, though then I would hope they wouldn't allow one to select these other channels. I will try your suggestion!


We have WHUT, but not able to receive WMPT, and know that the former very rarely have the same programs, but thanks for the suggestion!


----------



## rabbit73

megabyte24 said:


> Not that I am opposed to community updated content, but why doesn't fcc.gov list 26.x as coming from this aux location? I didn't go any further than this, because I trusted this was the penultimate source of updated info.


The FCC DTV map site hasn't been updated yet. It shows WETA coming from Bethesda. I used this example address for the FCC map:
15016 Westbury Rd, Rockville, MD 20853 

So, it's the 2nd penultimate source. The 1st penultimate source would be the rabbitears.info search map:
https://www.rabbitears.info/searchmap.php

which shows WETA with the new channel coming from Arlington:
https://www.rabbitears.info/searchmap.php?request=result&study_id=2860

Note the R in the report for reduced coverage.

Trip in VA runs the rabbitears.info site and he also works for the FCC.



> Thanks for the note about the reduced power output of the aux transmitter, the screenshots of both a website (I presume) that will extrapolate angles given two long/lat coordinates, and the one that looks to be a guide of channels one can reasonably expect to receive at ones location, from what angle, and darker+thicker lines indicating level of signal, but where did these come from, so I (as you suggest) can use them to obtain angles from my place...


You can get the azimuth here if you enter the two coordinates:
https://www.gpsvisualizer.com/calculators
*Calculate the great circle distance between two points*

use Leaflet map and miles

you can also get azimuth from the rabbitears.info search map

The satellite view with the green signal lines came from here:
http://www.tvfool.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=90

If you send me your address and antenna coordinates in a PM to protect your identity, I can redo the reports.


So, now you might have 4 handicaps:
1. Antenna in the attic
2. Solar panels in the signal path
3. Trees possibly in the signal path
4. Interference from inverters if your solar panels are solar electric instead of solar thermal


----------



## megabyte24

rabbit73 said:


> The FCC DTV map site hasn't been updated yet. It shows WETA coming from Bethesda. I used this example address for the FCC map:
> 15016 Westbury Rd, Rockville, MD 20853
> 
> So, it's the 2nd penultimate source. The 1st penultimate source would be the rabbitears.info search map:
> https://www.rabbitears.info/searchmap.php
> 
> which shows WETA with the new channel coming from Arlington:
> https://www.rabbitears.info/searchmap.php?request=result&study_id=2860
> 
> Note the R in the report for reduced coverage.
> 
> Trip in VA runs the rabbitears.info site and he also works for the FCC.
> 
> You can get the azimuth here if you enter the two coordinates:
> https://www.gpsvisualizer.com/calculators
> *Calculate the great circle distance between two points*
> 
> use Leaflet map and miles
> 
> you can also get azimuth from the rabbitears.info search map
> 
> The satellite view with the green signal lines came from here:
> http://www.tvfool.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=90
> 
> If you send me your address and antenna coordinates in a PM to protect your identity, I can redo the reports.





Rabbit73,


Not sure how one is supposed to tell what is old (i.e, not updated yet) and new (i.e., updated) from either the FCC website or the RabbitEars sites. To my understanding the changes that happen with channel number, transmission location, power, etc, etc, etc have to go through the FCC for approval, and hence that *should* be the most up to date source of info. Also, as WETA very unhelpfully didn't state WHERE the aux transmitter was broadcasting from, and said you "may" have to change your antenna's orientation (this word implies to me fringe cases), also not sure how one couldn't assume that it didn't actually move locations (perhaps only a antenna that is pointing in an ever so slightly different direction), and the other sources of info that aren't the FCC are the outdated ones.



So, this R means reduced coverage from the new transmission position (making more of those in Eastern MD in the fringe zone), or the reduced output you contend from the aux location, or not if Trip in VA is correct about the 3 times increase in signal that the prior to Aug 2nd transmission location provided?


Thanks for the links, but think I can manage inputting my own info into them and getting the required angle to point my antenna to, to get the desired channels.


----------



## rabbit73

megabyte24 said:


> Not sure how one is supposed to tell what is old (i.e, not updated yet) and new (i.e., updated) from either the FCC website or the RabbitEars sites. To my understanding the changes that happen with channel number, transmission location, power, etc, etc, etc have to go through the FCC for approval, and hence that *should* be the most up to date source of info.


The rabbitears search map gives you much more up to date information than the FCC DTV map, if you practice further. 

https://www.rabbitears.info/searchmap.php?request=result&study_id=2860

I call your attention again to the fact that Trip in VA who runs the rabbitears.info site ALSO works for the FCC. With so many changes from Repack, there is no more authoritative source.


This is the repack plan for Washington DC
https://www.rabbitears.info/repackc...state=&mktid=11&owner=&sort=&ph=&lss=&status=



> Thanks for the links, but think I can manage inputting my own info into them and getting the required angle to point my antenna to, to get the desired channels.


Good; may we then see your signal report as required by the sticky for antenna questions?
https://www.avsforum.com/forum/25-h...all-ota-threads-rabbitears-info-1st-post.html


----------



## megabyte24

rabbit73 said:


> The rabbitears search map gives you much more up to date information than the FCC DTV map, if you practice further.
> 
> https://www.rabbitears.info/searchmap.php?request=result&study_id=2860
> 
> I call your attention again to the fact that Trip in VA who runs the rabbitears.info site ALSO works for the FCC. With so many changes from Repack, there is no more authoritative source.
> 
> 
> This is the repack plan for Washington DC
> https://www.rabbitears.info/repackc...state=&mktid=11&owner=&sort=&ph=&lss=&status=
> 
> Good; may we then see your signal report as required by the sticky for antenna questions?
> https://www.avsforum.com/forum/25-h...all-ota-threads-rabbitears-info-1st-post.html





I see that Trip in VA works for the FCC, which is even more confusing that his.her side project would be more up to date than the govt. agency that is responsible for changes to the way the U.S., uses the electromagnetic spectrum. Let's try this thought experiment. Fast forward to when WETA moves back to their Bethesda transmission location, and rabbitears updates faster than FCC, how is one supposed to tell which is the most up to date info? At that time WETA would have been coming from Bethesda for far longer than coming from Arlington, so without looking into more technical details it would be reasonable to assume without confidence in the data of, from the looks of it, a community updated website like Rabbitears, that with the FCC info that may very well still point to WETA being transmitted from Bethesda, on it's original channel, Tx power, etc, is accurate, because one has read that it was going to switch back. Both sources will show the same transmission location, just different Tx powers and the like, which not everyone using the FCC website will know how to interpret. Without being involved in this community/being an enthusiasts in this subject, one would be hard pressed to know which source of info to believe. The FCC website, which unless you tell me otherwise, was involved with the auction/channel switch around, should be the most up to date source of info, especially as the general public are not likely going to be able to digest the advanced details on the likes of the RabbitEars website.

I am sorry, I am only seeing the requirement to state my area (which I will go back and edit my initial post now to fulfill), not a requirement to post a signal report which I can see as a way to extract a fairly accurate location for where I live, which I am not comfortable with.


----------



## KyL416

TV reception can vary from block to block or even house to house because of varying terrain, elevation and things in the path between you and the towers, while zip codes tend to map to the location of either the post office or the center of the large area the zip code covers. Even a few feet in elevation can be the difference of only needing a cheap indoor antenna vs needing something in the attic or roof, so if you want accurate advice we need a report from your specific location. The search option they linked to on Rabbitears will hide your true location from the report as long as the "Shift Shown Location for Privacy" is set to yes:
https://www.rabbitears.info/searchmap.php


The FCC's database is very complicated. Between stations operating at reduced power temporarily while they finish their buildouts, stations that have construction permits to boost their power, backup auxiliary facilities, and stations that have yet to be moved there are numerous duplicate entries for a given station. Sadly their site isn't designed to clearly indicate the difference. Their site also doesn't present all the technical details that are in the raw database files or burried in their licensing system. Trip has been running RabbitEars long before he worked for the FCC and provides more info than what's in their database, like subchannel affiliations, which stations translators are associated with and any unique channel numbers they might have, virtual major-minor numbering for each subchannel, picture resolutions and birates, along with additional search tools. His job at the FCC is a more technical one and doesn't involve the design and function of their website, which is why his personal website has more features that cater specifically to people trying to get technical information about TV reception.


As for WETA, try contacting the station on their website and pass along that feedback to them. You're right, if they took the time to post info about the transition, they should at least have posted some details about their reduced power so people don't think that something's wrong with their setup if they can't get it at first, and maybe a timetable on when it will be finished and/or reasons for a delay. Not everyone knows to look at the station's FCC filings to find the reasons and see how reduced their coverage currently is.


----------



## Mr Tony

WDVM suposedly going to full power (800kw) tomorrow per facebook post

*As part of FCC-mandated repack, we are currently on a temporary transmitter/antenna. Engineers are scheduled to move us to our permanent transmitter tomorrow, August 6 which should improve our signal for many viewers.*

Right now they are at 18.4kw on a temp antenna 200 feet below their old and new antenna


----------



## rabbit73

megabyte24 said:


> I see that Trip in VA works for the FCC, which is even more confusing that his.her side project would be more up to date than the govt. agency that is responsible for changes to the way the U.S., uses the electromagnetic spectrum.


It's he; Trip is more dedicated. The FCC is lucky to have him, and we are lucky to have him here.



> Let's try this thought experiment. Fast forward to when WETA moves back to their Bethesda transmission location, and rabbitears updates faster than FCC, how is one supposed to tell which is the most up to date info?.....The FCC website, which unless you tell me otherwise, was involved with the auction/channel switch around, should be the most up to date source of info, especially as the general public are not likely going to be able to digest the advanced details on the likes of the RabbitEars website.


I understand your desire to have easy access to the details from the FCC, but that doesn't coincide with reality. Just because you want it so, doesn't make it so. It is much easier to find the details on the rabbitears.info site than in obscure documents in FCC files.

I find it ironic that you criticize the FCC about a dearth of details when you have provided few details about your reception location making an accurate analysis difficult. You have spread your questions over three threads and I had to make a wild guess about where you were located to give an accurate answer about WETA.



> I am sorry, I am only seeing the requirement to state my area (which I will go back and edit my initial post now to fulfill), not a requirement to post a signal report which I can see as a way to extract a fairly accurate location for where I live, which I am not comfortable with.


My interpretation of the sticky doesn't agree with yours.
https://www.avsforum.com/forum/25-h...all-ota-threads-rabbitears-info-1st-post.html
*NOTE: Put YOUR LOCATION in the TITLE of ALL OTA threads & RabbitEars info in 1st post*


> *Go to RabbitEars and run a report for your location. Copy the link url in your report and paste it into your initial post.*


However, it is your right to refuse to give a signal report for your location to protect your identity. But vague information will result in vague answers*; GIGO.*

Small changes in location can make a big difference in reception. If you click on the WETA distance in the report you will see a terrain profile that puts you behind a hill in the signal path. Wouldn't that make a difference in reception?


----------



## pkpaul

rabbit73 said:


> Trip is more dedicated. The FCC is lucky to have him, and we are lucky to have him here.


I concur.


----------



## megabyte24

rabbit73 said:


> It's he; Trip is more dedicated. The FCC is lucky to have him, and we are lucky to have him here.
> 
> I understand your desire to have easy access to the details from the FCC, but that doesn't coincide with reality. Just because you want it so, doesn't make it so. It is much easier to find the details on the rabbitears.info site than in obscure documents in FCC files.
> 
> I find it ironic that you criticize the FCC about a dearth of details when you have provided few details about your reception location making an accurate analysis difficult. You have spread your questions over three threads and I had to make a wild guess about where you were located to give an accurate answer about WETA.
> 
> My interpretation of the sticky doesn't agree with yours.
> https://www.avsforum.com/forum/25-h...all-ota-threads-rabbitears-info-1st-post.html
> *NOTE: Put YOUR LOCATION in the TITLE of ALL OTA threads & RabbitEars info in 1st post*
> However, it is your right to refuse to give a signal report for your location to protect your identity. But vague information will result in vague answers*; GIGO.*
> 
> Small changes in location can make a big difference in reception. If you click on the WETA distance in the report you will see a terrain profile that puts you behind a hill in the signal path. Wouldn't that make a difference in reception?



Rabbit73,


Thanks for the clarification on the gender of Trip. Was just making sure to cover all basis, but see my slash between him, and her was replaced by a . upon posting. As he updates his info faster than his employer, I would have to agree that he is an asset to humanity for their need for accurate info on TV reception, and to this forum.



It is not a desire; It is the way it should be. Surely one wouldn't expect to learn about drug info/approvals from wegiveyoudruginfo.ar, instead of the FDA. There has to be an authoritative source on info, and surely this should be the agency that is darn well the gatekeeper for all changes. Just because it isn't so, doesn't mean it shouldn't be.



I have re-read my original question, and while it might read from an specialist in this subject to ask for a topographical survey of the path between any and all stations from their transmitting locations, to my house, I assure you I was only wondering why my Yagi antenna pointed due south could not pick up WETA which FCC still lists as coming from Bethesda (answered - FCC info is outdated, and actually coming from Arlington), and how *I* can extrapolate the angle to point my antenna in to get WETA now (answered by providing links to tools for me to use).


I posted about local reception in the "Local HDTV Info and Reception" thread; About interference of neighbouring objects near my antenna, and how solar panels will affect reception for attic-bound antennas in the "HDTV Technical" thread, as neither of these posts supply details about what I am trying to receive locally, and could apply to any pipe, and any solar panels, anywhere in the world, not necessarily locally to me.


Garbage in, garbage out. Not sure I agree this is what was provided. I provided a zip, distance to understood transmission tower for desired channel, the type of antenna I was using (and as you found my other questions you can like extrapolate at least the UHF gain, if not figure the antenna and therefore the VHF gain without all the elements in frame in the picture), the channels I can otherwise get, and what happens when I follow advise on PBS' website (instead of "it doesn't work", which I dread hearing in my professional life in IT). Just because I don't provide my exact latitude and longitude, doesn't make all other info provided "garbage". It makes it less than ideal to help with, which, as above, is not the level of help I was expecting or desired.


Without my exact location, not sure how it has been determined I have a hill of significant height between me and the Arlington aux transmission antenna of WETA? As for the question though, of course it makes a difference, but clearly so does (within reason) how high my antenna is mounted. Though as I have read elsewhere this is not an exact science, so at some point you need to point ones antenna in the correct direction, and see what is received. Of course there is also these solar panels, if I am unable or unwilling to put a mast on the side of our roof, and then what do we do about the signal degradation through solar panels that don't have any testing to establish. To my mind there is only so much one can and should calculate in terms of TV reception sans life and death situations.


----------



## megabyte24

KyL416 said:


> TV reception can vary from block to block or even house to house because of varying terrain, elevation and things in the path between you and the towers, while zip codes tend to map to the location of either the post office or the center of the large area the zip code covers. Even a few feet in elevation can be the difference of only needing a cheap indoor antenna vs needing something in the attic or roof, so if you want accurate advice we need a report from your specific location. The search option they linked to on Rabbitears will hide your true location from the report as long as the "Shift Shown Location for Privacy" is set to yes:
> https://www.rabbitears.info/searchmap.php
> 
> 
> The FCC's database is very complicated. Between stations operating at reduced power temporarily while they finish their buildouts, stations that have construction permits to boost their power, backup auxiliary facilities, and stations that have yet to be moved there are numerous duplicate entries for a given station. Sadly their site isn't designed to clearly indicate the difference. Their site also doesn't present all the technical details that are in the raw database files or burried in their licensing system. Trip has been running RabbitEars long before he worked for the FCC and provides more info than what's in their database, like subchannel affiliations, which stations translators are associated with and any unique channel numbers they might have, virtual major-minor numbering for each subchannel, picture resolutions and birates, along with additional search tools. His job at the FCC is a more technical one and doesn't involve the design and function of their website, which is why his personal website has more features that cater specifically to people trying to get technical information about TV reception.
> 
> 
> As for WETA, try contacting the station on their website and pass along that feedback to them. You're right, if they took the time to post info about the transition, they should at least have posted some details about their reduced power so people don't think that something's wrong with their setup if they can't get it at first, and maybe a timetable on when it will be finished and/or reasons for a delay. Not everyone knows to look at the station's FCC filings to find the reasons and see how reduced their coverage currently is.



KyL416,


Thanks for putting similar info to Rabbit73 in a less critical way.


Thanks also for the note about the location shifting setting. However, as just explained to Rabbit73, while I appreciate the level of detail members on this forum seemingly are happy to go into for fellow forum members, my expectation was not to that degree. I am fine with finding the correct orientation to point my antenna at, and to fiddle around with location on my property, and potential amplification, myself. The risks of revealing anything more than my zip and city on a publicly accessible site doesn't outweigh the value of extra info that is on offer with these details. Should I feel differently on this subject in the future, you can be sure I will supply a report and invite more info to be conveyed based on it.


My expectation for FCC is to have accurate consumer-friendly info. Personally I don't consider FCC reporting that WETA is broadcasting from Bethesda currently, when it is actually doing so from Arlington, accurate info. I appreciate that seeing as FCC doesn't provide a way for technically minded consumers to get very detailed info, like provided on RabbitEars, that this website exists. If it didn't I would expect FCC to expose this level of detail to the public. With FCC providing accurate basic details, other sites can pick up the slack in terms of more info (which was the progression I would have made if I had seen WETA was no longer broadcasting from the location I had my antenna pointed), but not without that basic accurate detail on FCC. Hopefully we can agree that construction permits, moves under way but not yet complete, etc, don't matter so much to the average joe, so long as they are informed when a change is due, and where to then point their antenna. Perhaps reduced signal strength is helpful to know, but I expect most consumers will not want to delve in to the rabbit hole of upgrading antenna, mounting it in attic/roof, etc, that this could spawn. Just info that relates to where a station is currently being broadcast from would seem ideal to the average joe.



Hopefully it wasn't taken that I was inferring Trip is the only one responsible for the state of the FCC reception website.


Have already passed along this feedback to WETA. Hopefully they will take it on board


----------



## rabbit73

megabyte24 said:


> Rabbit73,
> .....what happens when I follow advise on PBS' website (instead of "it doesn't work", which I dread hearing in my professional life in IT).


That reminds me of what happened yesterday. I got two error codes from Norton Security. It told me to RnR. I downloaded the tool. It removed but didn't replace my Norton Security. Tried it twice. Called support; they gave me a link by email. That didn't work either. I removed it myself and went to their site to download a replacement. The whole thing took 4 hours; yuck.


> Though as I have read elsewhere this is not an exact science, so at some point you need to point ones antenna in the correct direction, and see what is received.


Exactly; the correct solution is the one that works. Good luck.


Best regards,
rabbit


----------



## megabyte24

rabbit73 said:


> megabyte24 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Rabbit73,
> .....what happens when I follow advise on PBS' website (instead of "it doesn't work", which I dread hearing in my professional life in IT).
> 
> 
> 
> That reminds me of what happened yesterday. I got two error codes from Norton Security. It told me to RnR. I downloaded the tool. It removed but didn't replace my Norton Security. Tried it twice. Called support; they gave me a link by email. That didn't work either. I removed it myself and went to their site to download a replacement. The whole thing took 4 hours; yuck.
Click to expand...

Ahha, now I am in a position to give you advise. Lol. Use Linux 🙂 Virtually no issues with virus', free, open source, and as do it yourself (most distributions) or not (Zorin) as you would like.


----------



## crbaldwin

Did anyone else suddenly lose WRC today? It seemed fine for several days after the rescan, but this morning it is gone.


----------



## fri1038

Trip in VA said:


> WMPT has just filed a new STA. Apparently, WMPT is operating on its STA facility on the lower antenna right now, and has filed a new STA to move to its new top-mount antenna at reduced power while a transmitter issue is sorted out. So all hope is not yet lost for those like me with WMPT signal issues like myself.
> 
> - Trip



WMPT appears to be off the air today, due to this work, I reckon. All good at WMPB, Owings Mills.


----------



## Trip in VA

My signal level for WRC took a hit at 9:40AM. https://www.rabbitears.info/tvdx/signal_graph/1062ADBE/tuner1/WRC-TV


And yes, it looks like WMPT went off at 10AM. https://www.rabbitears.info/tvdx/render_graph/1062ADBE/tuner1/21/-12hours/now Hopefully when they come back, the new antenna will be in use.


- Trip


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## Useeme1234

Wmpt thats maryland pbs, I use to receive mpt ch22 back on analog days from queens,ny also wboc ch16 from Dover, another station on ch28. good tropo on analog signal transmitting at 5 megawatts during the evening use to go a long way.


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## al.rob

Trip in VA said:


> WMPT has just filed a new STA. Apparently, WMPT is operating on its STA facility on the lower antenna right now, and has filed a new STA to move to its new top-mount antenna at reduced power while a transmitter issue is sorted out. So all hope is not yet lost for those like me with WMPT signal issues like myself.
> 
> 
> - Trip


Hmmm, WMPT got a lot stronger for me after they moved to RF 21. I am in South Arlington near Crystal City.


----------



## Trip in VA

al.rob said:


> Hmmm, WMPT got a lot stronger for me after they moved to RF 21. I am in South Arlington near Crystal City.



WMPT was always very borderline for me, in part because I've got my antenna balanced to get WMPT and WWTD-LD/WRZB-LD at the same time, which means it's a compromise position. (And works poorly for both; I should probably just put up two antennas and be done with it.) I was hoping the RF21 signal would be a substantial improvement, but so far, I'm not seeing it. It's back on the air now and doesn't look any different from this morning.


- Trip


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## fri1038

WMPT back on at 2:15. 



WRC back to normal signal strength around the same time. Very difficult to lock on to it ~26 miles NE at the lower power.



Thanks for sharing the graphs!


----------



## al.rob

Trip in VA said:


> WMPT was always very borderline for me, in part because I've got my antenna balanced to get WMPT and WWTD-LD/WRZB-LD at the same time, which means it's a compromise position. (And works poorly for both; I should probably just put up two antennas and be done with it.) I was hoping the RF21 signal would be a substantial improvement, but so far, I'm not seeing it. It's back on the air now and doesn't look any different from this morning.
> 
> 
> - Trip


When they were up on RF 42, I had to have a separate antenna for WMPT, as my main one is aimed due north for the DC stations and WMPT is closer to east for me. After the move to RF 21, I am able to pick it up with the main antenna even though it is not aimed properly for it. Back in the analog days, WMPT on RF 22 was one of my stronger stations when the antenna was aimed at it (back when my rotor still worked). The roof top main antenna is over 20 years old and will need to be replaced soon. A few of the rods have broken off, but fortunately only the long ones for VHF-LO which is no longer needed.

Al


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## crbaldwin

WRC signal is weak again. I hope this will not be a daily occurrence.


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## aaronwt

crbaldwin said:


> WRC signal is weak again. I hope this will not be a daily occurrence.


I was just coming here to ask this. My signal was fine from WRC until around 6:30PM. Then the signal dropped from both my OTA TiVos.


----------



## carltonrice

Shouldn't the moderator of this group update the beginning post that details the virtual actual channels as they continue to change? The stations all suggest doing a total rescan which is how some of my HDTVs work, but my Channel Master DVR allows one to do a manual update for a specific actual channel which is better for me.


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## KyL416

Subchannels change so often it will be nearly impossible for a single moderator to keep on top of every change nationwide.

If you want something more up to date, go to RabbitEars and look at the list for the Washington, Hagerstown and Baltimore areas:
https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?mktid=11
https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?mktid=31
https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?mktid=12

Trip pulls the technical data directly from the FCC's database to automatically take care of any changes, along with regular updates made from contributors across the country.

Really though, in the case of the repack, it's much more better to do a full rescan, it will remove the old RF numbers from the memory and prevent conflicts in instances where RF numbers had to be swapped to keep coverage areas the same.


----------



## StevenJB

Does anyone know if stations WJLA-7 (7) and WFDC-14 (15) are having any problems with their OTA signals? I know already that WRC-4 (34) and WPXW-66 (35) are operating under temporary lower power. What about WJLA and WFDC?


These are my current reception results for the local Washngton channels with a max of 100 (%):


4/44 (34) 55%


5/20 (36) 100%


7 (7) 75%


9/68 (9) 100%


14/50 (15) 68%


22 (21) 100%


26 (31) 100%


32 (33) 95%


66 (35) 44%

As you can see, I am getting maximum or near maximum signal reception from all of the channels with the exceptions of 7 and 14. Channels 4 and 66 have been accounted for. Is anyone aware of any issues with 7 or 14? In light of the other channels that are at or near 100%, channels 7 and 14 should be reading close to the same as the others. They normally do. Thanks for any information.


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## KyL416

Nothing filed for either station, they don't even come from the same tower and they are the few stations who aren't changing their RF number.

WFDC is on the same tower as WRC, so it's possible they have to temporarily reduce their power if crews are working on the tower.

WJLA is on the same tower as what will be WETA's final facility, so the same might apply there too. But then again WUSA and WHUT are also on that tower, and from those readings they don't appear to be affected.


----------



## carltonrice

KyL416 said:


> Really though, in the case of the repack, it's much more better to do a full rescan, it will remove the old RF numbers from the memory and prevent conflicts in instances where RF numbers had to be swapped to keep coverage areas the same.


So, I live between Baltimore and Washington and use a rotor with my antenna. And I find that if I do a full rescan, then if the antenna is aimed at Baltimore, I only get the Baltimore stations in the memory and if the antenna is aimed at DC, I only get the DC stations. So I can't get both cities in the DVR in a single scan. The only way to get both cities' stations in the DVR is to scan then add whatever didn't show up because of the antenna position when that scan is done. Or can someone think of a way around this issue.


----------



## StevenJB

carltonrice said:


> So, I live between Baltimore and Washington and use a rotor with my antenna. And I find that if I do a full rescan, then if the antenna is aimed at Baltimore, I only get the Baltimore stations in the memory and if the antenna is aimed at DC, I only get the DC stations. So I can't get both cities in the DVR in a single scan. The only way to get both cities' stations in the DVR is to scan then add whatever didn't show up because of the antenna position when that scan is done. Or can someone think of a way around this issue.



I also live between Baltimore (25 miles) and Washington (15 miles). I also use a rotor with my VHF/UHF antenna. I do a single main scan aimed at Lancaster which gives me Lancaster (8) plus all of the Baltimore channels and some of the Washington channels. The main scan erases my entire existing database and then creates a new database. I then do several add-scans aimed at Annapolis, Washington, and Frederick to add everything else available. Doing add-scans will add additional channels to my main scan. No channels originally established by the main scan will be erased as the result of an add-scan. I do not understand why you have a problem.


----------



## carltonrice

StevenJB said:


> I then do several add-scans aimed at Annapolis, Washington, and Frederick to add everything else available. Doing add-scans will add additional channels to my main scan. No channels originally established by the main scan will be erased as the result of an add-scan. I do not understand why you have a problem.


I have Samsung TVs and I am not aware of an option to do an "add-scan". There's only a total scan available on the set. My DVR allows for both a full scan or manual scan. My point was in response to the comment that a full scan was best, but not if you need to have several different antenna positions to get every station. It would seem like the manufacturers would know this.


----------



## fri1038

carltonrice said:


> I have Samsung TVs and I am not aware of an option to do an "add-scan". There's only a total scan available on the set. My DVR allows for both a full scan or manual scan. My point was in response to the comment that a full scan was best, but not if you need to have several different antenna positions to get every station. It would seem like the manufacturers would know this.



On my Samsung and Panasonic, after an "auto-scan", I can just tune to a specific channel's actual RF channel to add it. It will register with its virtual digital channel in the TV's tuner. For example you do a scan on Baltimore, reorient your antenna to DC, then tune to channel 34 (WRC) with your remote. If you have a good signal it will register 4.1, 4.2, 44.1, 44.2 in your set and not delete the Baltimore stations.


You can find the actual channels in post #1 , here. Or rabbitears.info. Or FCC.gov.


https://www.rabbitears.info/


https://www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps


----------



## carltonrice

fri1038 said:


> On my Samsung and Panasonic, after an "auto-scan", I can just tune to a specific channel's actual RF channel to add it. It will register with its virtual digital channel in the TV's tuner. For example you do a scan on Baltimore, reorient your antenna to DC, then tune to channel 34 (WRC) with your remote. If you have a good signal it will register 4.1, 4.2, 44.1, 44.2 in your set and not delete the Baltimore stations.


Yes. Thanks for the reminder that you can do that if you know the RF for the station. But I guess the stations would rather you remember their virtual channel numbers instead of their real RF.


----------



## AntAltMike

crbaldwin said:


> Did anyone else suddenly lose WRC today? It seemed fine for several days after the rescan, but this morning it is gone.



I saw it was off in the wee hours of the morning.


A decade ago, I made a presentation of sorts to the FCC staffers who were charged with taking the calls regarding the transition (I imagine some of them were temps, but I never learned that for sure), and I wanted to do some demonstrations regarding different antennas and antenna orientations, and it turns out that they do not have access to their own rooftop, and to get me up there, a management company or entity has to be given 24 hours notice. All I had to work with was one UHF-only downlead, with no idea what it was connected to, and I could only guess at its orientation, so I left the show-and-tell part completely out of my very modest presentation.


Actually I was kind of a flop all around that day, because my Chevy-10 van with a ladder rack on top wouldn't fit in their underground parking garage, so I had to circle for another half an hour until a space opened up.


----------



## fmw63

With the change in frequencies last week, I had lost a couple of channels - 4, 22, 26 and 44. When I did an "add channels" scan, it didn't bring them back, but added channel 36 (WMDE), which was good because I missed having Arirang. But then, 
I did a full scan. That brought back all of my missing channels, but now 36 was gone. Broadcasting on RF5, and having a virtual channel of 36, that coincides with Channel 5 & 20 (WTTG and WDCA here, which broadcast on RF36, so however I enter the numbers, (like: 5.1 or 36.1) I always get channel 5 & 20. Is there any way around this?


----------



## fri1038

fmw63 said:


> With the change in frequencies last week, I had lost a couple of channels - 4, 22, 26 and 44. When I did an "add channels" scan, it didn't bring them back, but added channel 36 (WMDE), which was good because I missed having Arirang. But then,
> I did a full scan. That brought back all of my missing channels, but now 36 was gone. Broadcasting on RF5, and having a virtual channel of 36, that coincides with Channel 5 & 20 (WTTG and WDCA here, which broadcast on RF36, so however I enter the numbers, (like: 5.1 or 36.1) I always get channel 5 & 20. Is there any way around this?



The 5-36 paradox. Depends on the receiver.



On my Panasonic I would go into the manual programming and change analog 5 to Yes, save, tune to 5, and it should register as 36.1 if there is a signal to lock on to. (See attached image.)



I don't see a way to do this easily on my Samsung. I would clear the tuner with a reset or a full scan without an antenna. Reattach the antenna, then manually add all the channels wanted as described in my post a few back, starting with WMDE's RF 5. (EDIT: Sorry - that won't work either since trying to go to 36 would take you to 36.1. You'll just need to find a good spot for the antenna where you can pick up both RF5 and RF36 so an full scan picks them both up.)



Also gets interesting with WQAW on RF 20 declaring itself 20.1 conflicting with WDCA. But it is so weak, that is seldom a problem.


----------



## Brian in CT

carltonrice said:


> So, I live between Baltimore and Washington and use a rotor with my antenna. And I find that if I do a full rescan, then if the antenna is aimed at Baltimore, I only get the Baltimore stations in the memory and if the antenna is aimed at DC, I only get the DC stations. So I can't get both cities in the DVR in a single scan. The only way to get both cities' stations in the DVR is to scan then add whatever didn't show up because of the antenna position when that scan is done. Or can someone think of a way around this issue.


That stinks. I don't understand why more TV & DVR makers don't have manual tuning options. I have a Zenith set top box and two LG televisions that allow you to add/delete by RF channel number. The only DVR I have comes with my cable connected TV (need my sports networks), so I can't help you there. Hope you find a way to clear up the issue in the future.


----------



## fmw63

fmw63 said:


> With the change in frequencies last week, I had lost a couple of channels - 4, 22, 26 and 44. When I did an "add channels" scan, it didn't bring them back, but added channel 36 (WMDE), which was good because I missed having Arirang. But then, I did a full scan - That brought back all of my missing channels, but now 36 was gone. Broadcasting on RF5, and having a virtual channel of 36, that coincides with Channel 5 & 20 (WTTG and WDCA here, which broadcast on RF36, so however I enter the numbers, (like: 5.1 or 36.1) I always get channel 5 & 20. Is there any way around this?


Slight correction - entering 36.1 or 36.2 shows no video, except the diagnostics show that it's tuned to 605mhz, and with a s/n of 31. That's not rf5 for sure, but there's no video. If I put in 36.3, I get 5.1, 36.4 gets 20.1, 36.5 gets 5.2, 36.6 gets 5.3, 36.7 gets 20.2, and 36.8 gets me 20.3! I think maybe getting Channel 36 was just temporary...


----------



## fmw63

Just did another "add digital channel" scan. Anybody want to guess what happened?


----------



## rabbit73

carltonrice said:


> I have Samsung TVs and I am not aware of an option to do an "add-scan". There's only a total scan available on the set. My DVR allows for both a full scan or manual scan. My point was in response to the comment that a full scan was best, but not if you need to have several different antenna positions to get every station. It would seem like the manufacturers would know this.


Some TV set manufacturers either don't care or don't fully understand the OTA reception problem.

With some Samsung TVs it is possible to enter the real RF channel number of the missing desired channel; try it.
https://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/81...07-atsc-tuners-hdtvs-see-samsung-poll-58.html



carltonrice said:


> Yes. Thanks for the reminder that you can do that if you know the RF for the station. But I guess the stations would rather you remember their virtual channel numbers instead of their real RF.


Yeah, they would; it's part of their identity and is displayed by the TV. The advertisers also like that continuity which continues from analog TV days.

If that doesn't work, I suggest two antennas, one for each direction. The main antenna is connected to the TV antenna input and the second antenna is connected to a separate tuner (converter box) with its output connected to the aux input of the TV.

Then you don't need to use a rotor or know the real channel number to add a channel.

If you don't like that idea, the only option left for you is to buy a TV, like a Sony, that will allow you to add a channel after scan. Then, you can use a rotor with one antenna, or an A/B switch with two antennas.


----------



## TheKrell

fmw63 said:


> Just did another "add digital channel" scan. Anybody want to guess what happened?



Magic smoke billowed out the back?


----------



## StevenJB

TheKrell said:


> Magic smoke billowed out the back?



I was going to guess that Howdy Doody, Buffalo Bob, and Clarabell magically appeared on his screen, but, I digress. I may be giving away my age but life and television was so much simpler back in the tv's good old analog days. I would manually turn on my 16-inch black and white television and manually tune to Washington's Channel 4, WNBW-TV, to watch Howdy with Dilly Dally, Flub-a-Dub, and Phineas T Bluster. Maybe, I would have to turn the rabbit-ears to lock the vertical and horizontal hold, twist to adjust the fine tuning knob, but life was so much simpler back then. No messy scans, no color or tint to worry about, and no changing batteries for a non-existent remote. But, I digress. Comes and goes with the age.


----------



## Philip Hamm

This is probably not news here, but I just called the number that WRC Channel 4 has on their web site, and they told me that the antenna is "under maintenance". it will be back to full strength later this week. It is a very weak broken up signal for me here in Ashburn, the old pre-rescan Channel 4 was so strong that I had to install an attenuator on my Dish Network tuner.


----------



## fri1038

fmw63 said:


> Slight correction - entering 36.1 or 36.2 shows no video, except the diagnostics show that it's tuned to 605mhz, and with a s/n of 31. That's not rf5 for sure, but there's no video. If I put in 36.3, I get 5.1, 36.4 gets 20.1, 36.5 gets 5.2, 36.6 gets 5.3, 36.7 gets 20.2, and 36.8 gets me 20.3! I think maybe getting Channel 36 was just temporary...



Exactly as it should be for RF36 WTTG/WDCA.



https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=wttg


----------



## fmw63

TheKrell said:


> Magic smoke billowed out the back?


Hahaha not yet. Channel 36 came back with the "add channel" scan this time - a bit weak, when it's there.
Signal strength 49 (not there) to 56 (there, but breaks up often).


----------



## fri1038

For those looking to Towson's 39.4 Ion as a substitute for WPXW, its video feed seems to be broken for a week or more. I get only audio for it on several receivers. The other 39.* channels look fine to me. I sent a note to Ion on their website a week ago, but nil heard.


I thought they may have gone MPEG-4 like Stadium on 45.4, but I see that channel just fine.


----------



## mdviewer25

Isn't there a website to check the signal output of a tv station. The reason I ask is because WJZ 13 seemed stable until around 5pm then it just went out. Also, I thought WBAL and WJZ were broadcast from the same antenna. Why does WBAL seem so much stronger?


----------



## pkpaul

mdviewer25 said:


> Isn't there a website to check the signal output of a tv station. The reason I ask is because WJZ 13 seemed stable until around 5pm then it just went out. Also, I thought WBAL and WJZ were broadcast from the same antenna. Why does WBAL seem so much stronger?



Try: 

https://rabbitears.info/tvdx/one_tuner_map/10317DF4/tuner1


https://rabbitears.info/tvdx/signal_graph/10317DF4/tuner1/WJZ-TV


----------



## mdviewer25

pkpaul said:


> Try:
> 
> https://rabbitears.info/tvdx/one_tuner_map/10317DF4/tuner1
> 
> 
> https://rabbitears.info/tvdx/signal_graph/10317DF4/tuner1/WJZ-TV


Thanks


----------



## StevenJB

mdviewer25 said:


> I thought WBAL and WJZ were broadcast from the same antenna. Why does WBAL seem so much stronger?



They are on the same antenna, but, WJZ uses a directional antenna:


https://www.rabbitears.info/pattern...6ac4d4d0484c1cf6212b6c0ea&rotation=0&erp=33.8


WBAL uses a non-directional antenna.


Your location in Virginia is on the weaker side of the WJZ coverage pattern.


After WJZ moves to RF11 from RF13 on May 1, 2020, it will be use a a new non-directional antenna. WBAL will move from RF11 to RF12, also on May 1, 2020, and will continue to use a non-directional antenna.


----------



## fri1038

fri1038 said:


> For those looking to Towson's 39.4 Ion as a substitute for WPXW, its video feed seems to be broken for a week or more. I get only audio for it on several receivers. The other 39.* channels look fine to me. I sent a note to Ion on their website a week ago, but nil heard.
> 
> I thought they may have gone MPEG-4 like Stadium on 45.4, but I see that channel just fine.





WMJF 39.4 Ion has video again, as of this morning.


In DCRTV's mailbag, on 8/12, someone notes that Ion is delaying its full power repack transmitters in several cities until Jan 2020. http://dcrtv.com/mailbag.html


Maybe WPXW should have sold their channel 34 transmitter to WRC  It was always the strongest DC station up my way. And WRC one of the most finicky to lock onto - which continues today.


----------



## StantonGuy

rabbit73 said:


> Trip is more dedicated. The FCC is lucky to have him, and we are lucky to have him here.


Indeed


----------



## Mr Tony

WDVM apparently moved to their new antenna

https://www.facebook.com/wdvm.localdvm/posts/10156406579207011
*
WDVM moved to its new transmitter today, August 16.

Viewers who watch through a digital antenna can rescan NOW and receive our channel again.

This should fix all reception issues viewers with a digital antenna may have been experiencing this month.

At 1 p.m., WDVM was taken off the air for the move.*


----------



## StevenJB

unclehonkey said:


> WDVM apparently moved to their new antenna.



Glad that you mentioned this. 


I have a question for you engineers out there concerning WDVM after the repack. As you are or are not aware, WDVM, as a result of the repack, moved from RF26 to RF23. They also increased their ERP from 400kW to 800kW while also increasing their antenna height, as well.


https://www.rabbitears.info/pattern...915f5883d0015f661f69fb29c5&rotation=0&erp=800


Meanwhile, WDDN-LD transmits from Silver Spring, MD, also on RF23. WDDN has a 10 kW DA pattern. 



https://www.rabbitears.info/pattern...3ee434b4eac83cf6212b6c0ea&rotation=205&erp=10



My question is whether these two stations, being on the same RF channel, will interfere with each other?


----------



## KyL416

There is some overlap in the fringes of the two signals where interference would be an issue:
https://www.rabbitears.info/contour...9aebf2dc79a548d0a49bcf6212b6c0ea&cir=&circen=


----------



## Mr Tony

StevenJB said:


> My question is whether these two stations, being on the same RF channel, will interfere with each other?


If WDDN causes too much interference (more than .5%) they will have to either move to a different channel or adjust their antenna with a null towards the northwest. Full power stations get priority over low powered/translators and if the low powered station causes too much interference they have to do something unless the full powered station agrees to the interference.


----------



## pkpaul

unclehonkey said:


> If WDDN causes too much interference (more than .5%) they will have to either move to a different channel or adjust their antenna with a null towards the northwest. Full power stations get priority over low powered/translators and if the low powered station causes too much interference they have to do something unless the full powered station agrees to the interference.



The repack plan has WMJF-CD RF39 Towson moving to RF23 as well.


----------



## mdviewer25

StevenJB said:


> They are on the same antenna, but, WJZ uses a directional antenna:
> 
> 
> https://www.rabbitears.info/pattern...6ac4d4d0484c1cf6212b6c0ea&rotation=0&erp=33.8
> 
> 
> WBAL uses a non-directional antenna.
> 
> 
> Your location in Virginia is on the weaker side of the WJZ coverage pattern.
> 
> 
> After WJZ moves to RF11 from RF13 on May 1, 2020, it will be use a a new non-directional antenna. WBAL will move from RF11 to RF12, also on May 1, 2020, and will continue to use a non-directional antenna.


Not sure why Virginia was still there, my location is actually Capitol Heights, MD but thanks for the info. Can't wait til May 1


----------



## pkpaul

49-4 has gone dark. 

The channel title changed from "Retro" to "TEST"


----------



## Philip Hamm

AntAltMike said:


> I saw it was off in the wee hours of the morning.
> 
> 
> A decade ago, I made a presentation of sorts to the FCC staffers who were charged with taking the calls regarding the transition (I imagine some of them were temps, but I never learned that for sure), and I wanted to do some demonstrations regarding different antennas and antenna orientations, and it turns out that they do not have access to their own rooftop, and to get me up there, a management company or entity has to be given 24 hours notice. All I had to work with was one UHF-only downlead, with no idea what it was connected to, and I could only guess at its orientation, so I left the show-and-tell part completely out of my very modest presentation.
> 
> 
> Actually I was kind of a flop all around that day, because my Chevy-10 van with a ladder rack on top wouldn't fit in their underground parking garage, so I had to circle for another half an hour until a space opened up.


Ahh, the Portals..... I remember that building fondly. Hope you at least found someplace good to eat lunch. It's a restaurant wasteland in that corner of Southwest, at least it used to be....


----------



## Trip in VA

Philip Hamm said:


> Ahh, the Portals..... I remember that building fondly. Hope you at least found someplace good to eat lunch. It's a restaurant wasteland in that corner of Southwest, at least it used to be....


It's now possible to walk to L'enfant or the Wharf, but otherwise, there's still not much immediately around. The new pizza place isn't very good IMO, and there's Potbelly (which is good), and there are food trucks. That's about it.

- Trip


----------



## mikemikeb

al.rob said:


> The roof top main antenna is over 20 years old and will need to be replaced soon. A few of the rods have broken off, but fortunately only the long ones for VHF-LO which is no longer needed.


From where you are, a simple, small channel 7-51 antenna like the RCA Yagi or GE "Attic Mount" Outdoor will probably work, especially if you have line of sight to the transmitters. One advantage to a smaller antenna is that there's less surface area for stuff to hit it. However, both of these antennas have weaknesses. The first one is that they both may be too directional to pick up MPT 21.

Secondly, the RCA and GE have notable flaws. The RCA requires a 300-75 ohm transformer that is difficult to install and potentially manage. I'd install it with an aftermarket transformer with caulk placed where the 300-ohm line meets the cylinder (in case it isn't naturally water-resistant; the aftermarket one I'm linking to isn't), and let that set before installation. Highly-rated transformer two-pack on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Fancasee-Matching-Transformer-Converter-Connector/dp/B07BW9YS4Q/ Make sure to tightly ziptie the RG-6 cable to the mounting pole so the transformer has a little give, so the transformer is not placed under excess strain in wind.

The GE has a built-in RG-6 output, but has plastic that holds the UHF reflector into the main section, which may not survive through multiple winters like your current antenna. Its failure will make the antenna less directional, less potent in receiving signals in the direction the antenna is pointed at, and more prone to UHF multipath dropouts in wind, and otherwise wouldn't affect operation.

Either way, I'd just keep what you have until it finally fails. It might be another decade or more before it fails; you never know! You'll probably know it's time when channels 7 and 9 no longer come in. In the meantime, more optimized channel 7-36 antennas may become available that make reception in the channel 14-36 spectrum better than what is currently available.


----------



## Philip Hamm

I'm rescanning my tuners about once a week these days. I can get 4 again more or less consistently. Happily it appears I can get 22 well on at least one of the tuners in my house here in Ashburn! I have a fairly straightforward VHF/UHF Channel Master combination (circa 2003) in my attic and it works pretty well even through the shingles.


----------



## pkpaul

There is a new channel on 13.3 called DABL
It is currently dark


----------



## carltonrice

Philip Hamm said:


> I'm rescanning my tuners about once a week these days. I can get 4 again more or less consistently. Happily it appears I can get 22 well on at least one of the tuners in my house here in Ashburn! I have a fairly straightforward VHF/UHF Channel Master combination (circa 2003) in my attic and it works pretty well even through the shingles.


NBC 4 seems stronger for me now that they've changed to their repack frequency.


----------



## pkpaul

pkpaul said:


> There is a new channel on 13.3 called DABL
> It is currently dark


 
It's Lit-up now; 
www.dabl.com
Yet another life-style type network.


----------



## RedLeadered

*Rooftop Antenna or Wait Until ATSC 3.0*

No idea where to post this. Sorry if in the wrong place.


I've got several attic antennas - a pair of Solid Signal Xtreme Signal HDB8X 8-bays, an Antennas Direct Clearstream 5, and an extra not hooked up - a Stellar Labs 30-2475 Fringe Directional VHF-Hi. Amps on all of them (Winegard Boost XT LNA-200s on 2, and an LNA-100 on the other). For the time being my Clearstream 5 is pointing at Baltimore and combined with one of my 8-bays (pointing at D.C.) via a Pico Macom UVSJ VHF-UHF combiner, while my other 8-bay is pointing at Harrisburg and hooked up to a different TV.



Rabbit Ear link: *https://www.rabbitears.info/searchmap.php?request=result&study_id=12612
*


Despite the results on the chart, I am able to get consistent reception on several channels from Harrisburg (WHP CBS and WXBU Comet), but struggle to get consistent signal from D.C. I can pick up the channels but who knows whether they will work on any given day. Meanwhile my Baltimore UHF channels are solid, but VHF is not as consistent as I would like, considering I have an (allegedly) VHF specialized antenna pointing directly at the towers.


All this has led me to want to take the plunge and finally mount something on the roof. As I have no desire to clamber about on my roof, I'll be outsourcing it to a pro.


But then I got to thinking. ATSC 3.0 is rolling out . . . soon? Maybe? I hear by end of 2020 it will be in several markets. Though doubtless it will take years for the transition to be complete. Nevertheless, the technology is supposed to be better at penetrating building materials and allow for increased reception. I am wondering, is it worth it to pay $ to mount an antenna, or is it better to just wait and see how good ATSC 3.0 really is, and then re-evaluate? Anyone have any data as to how much better reception is with ATSC 3.0?


Another point would be, what if ATSC 3.0 lends itself to different types of antennas to optimize performance?



Anyway looking for advice on whether to invest in a big antenna rig now, or hold off for maybe a couple years. What do you folks think?


----------



## RedLeadered

fri1038 said:


> I thought they may have gone MPEG-4 like Stadium on 45.4, but I see that channel just fine.



Can you elaborate on this? For some reason I get no video on Stadium 45.4 on one of my tvs, but I get video on the other. I have never been able to figure out why. I even emailed the station but got no response.


Rabbit Ear link (per forum rules): *https://www.rabbitears.info/searchmap.php?request=result&study_id=12612*


----------



## RedLeadered

StevenJB said:


> They are on the same antenna, but, WJZ uses a directional antenna:
> 
> 
> https://www.rabbitears.info/pattern...6ac4d4d0484c1cf6212b6c0ea&rotation=0&erp=33.8
> 
> 
> WBAL uses a non-directional antenna.
> 
> 
> Your location in Virginia is on the weaker side of the WJZ coverage pattern.
> 
> 
> After WJZ moves to RF11 from RF13 on May 1, 2020, it will be use a a new non-directional antenna. WBAL will move from RF11 to RF12, also on May 1, 2020, and will continue to use a non-directional antenna.



So, WJZ's antenna is weaker to the west and stronger to the east, based on the link above? That might explain why I have more trouble picking that station up than any of the other Baltimore stations.


Rabbit Ear link: *https://www.rabbitears.info/searchmap.php?request=result&study_id=12612*


----------



## KyL416

RedLeadered said:


> Can you elaborate on this? For some reason I get no video on Stadium 45.4 on one of my tvs, but I get video on the other. I have never been able to figure out why. I even emailed the station but got no response.


45.4 uses MPEG4 for video instead of MPEG2, not all TVs support MPEG4 video.


----------



## Trip in VA

So has anyone else noticed that WFDC/WDCW hasn't had a PAT all day, so a bunch of receivers won't pick it up, or is it just me?

- Trip


----------



## pkpaul

Trip in VA said:


> So has anyone else noticed that WFDC/WDCW hasn't had a PAT all day, so a bunch of receivers won't pick it up, or is it just me?
> 
> - Trip



No signals here in Falls Church either.


----------



## pkpaul

pkpaul said:


> No signals here in Falls Church either.



Signal is back now.


----------



## Trip in VA

Indeed. Have to wonder how much monitoring they're doing that it was allowed to run like that all day.

- Trip


----------



## RedLeadered

*Westminster, MD*

Rabbit Ear link: *https://www.rabbitears.info/searchma...study_id=12612
*

Trying to determine whether it is worth it to pay $ to roof mount an antenna now, or is it better to just wait and see how good ATSC 3.0 really is, and then re-evaluate? Anyone have any data as to how much better reception is with ATSC 3.0?

I've got multiple attic antennas. I am unsatisfied with my reception on the Baltimore VHF stations and on the D.C. stations in general. Roof mounting would probably solve both of those problems. Anyway looking for advice on whether to invest in a big antenna rig now, or hold off for maybe a couple years. What do you folks think?


----------



## rabbit73

RedLeadered said:


> Rabbit Ear link: *https://www.rabbitears.info/searchma...study_id=12612
> *
> Trying to determine whether it is worth it to pay $ to roof mount an antenna now, or is it better to just wait and see how good ATSC 3.0 really is, and then re-evaluate? Anyone have any data as to how much better reception is with ATSC 3.0?


Hello, RedLeadered

Thank you for the signal report.










Your previous thread about attic install for reference:
https://www.avsforum.com/forum/25-h...stall-more-signal-loss-through-roof-wall.html

It's a little too early to tell about ATSC 3.0, it's now in testing stage and the only tuners available are expensive prototypes. It should be able to handle multipath better, but otherwise an optimum attic install for ATSC 1.0 should be optimum for ATSC 3.0.



> I've got multiple attic antennas. I am unsatisfied with my reception on the Baltimore VHF stations and on the D.C. stations in general. Roof mounting would probably solve both of those problems. Anyway looking for advice on whether to invest in a big antenna rig now, or hold off for maybe a couple years. What do you folks think?


I suggest you try to improve your present attic antenna system for Baltimore, D.C. will never be perfect for you, even with an outdoor antenna because you are behind a hill for D.C. signals. If you click on the WTTG Transmitter Distance in your report, you will see this:










What antennas are you using now? For best reception, the antenna must be aimed at the transmitter. You would need two antennas, one for Baltimore and one for D.C. It is usually necessary to try different locations in an attic to find the best location for reception.

If you aren't able to get the Baltimore channels OK in the attic, THEN you must go outside.

There are many channel changes now because of Repack by the FCC; at least wait until that is over.

Baltimore Repack Plan:
https://www.rabbitears.info/repackc...state=&mktid=31&owner=&sort=&ph=&lss=&status=

Repack Transition schedule; Baltimore will be Phase 8 and 9:
https://www.fcc.gov/about-fcc/fcc-initiatives/incentive-auctions/transition-schedule

D.C. Repack Plan:
https://www.rabbitears.info/repackc...state=&mktid=11&owner=&sort=&ph=&lss=&status=

The moderator might move your post to HDTV Technical or a specific reception area thread, but you've been there and done that before.


----------



## videobruce

*RedLeadered;*
There was no mention exactly what your house is like. Is the "attic" a true direct walk up or is it a 'crawl space' thru a closet or hall ceiling access where you (try) to step on the ceiling joists to maneuver around?
A typical suburban 1 1/2 story, 'ranch' type that you can reach the walk-able roof with a 24' extension ladder?


----------



## rabbit73

RedLeadered said:


> I've got several attic antennas - a pair of Solid Signal Xtreme Signal HDB8X 8-bays, an Antennas Direct Clearstream 5, and an extra not hooked up - a Stellar Labs 30-2475 Fringe Directional VHF-Hi. Amps on all of them (Winegard Boost XT LNA-200s on 2, and an LNA-100 on the other). For the time being my Clearstream 5 is pointing at Baltimore and combined with one of my 8-bays (pointing at D.C.) via a Pico Macom UVSJ VHF-UHF combiner, while my other 8-bay is pointing at Harrisburg and hooked up to a different TV.
> 
> Despite the results on the chart, I am able to get consistent reception on several channels from Harrisburg (WHP CBS and WXBU Comet), but struggle to get consistent signal from D.C. I can pick up the channels but who knows whether they will work on any given day. Meanwhile my Baltimore UHF channels are solid, but VHF is not as consistent as I would like, considering , both aimed at D.C.I have an (allegedly) VHF specialized antenna pointing directly at the towers.


 Try the HDB8X and AD CS5 combined with the UVSJ and both aimed at Baltimore. If the VHF channels aren't good enough, replace the CS5 with the 30-2475.

For D.C. try the HDB8X and 30-2475 with both aimed at D.C.



> Another point would be, what if ATSC 3.0 lends itself to different types of antennas to optimize performance?


I doubt it; as far as the antenna is concerned, it's pretty much the same RF signal.


----------



## dleedlee

Looks like ch. 49.1 the Korean MBC channel is gone. 49.2-49.6 are still there.


----------



## fri1038

Is WFDC/WDCW having problems again/still? I haven't seen it in a week or so. I usually have no problems picking it up.


----------



## Trip in VA

It looks okay to me. https://www.rabbitears.info/tvdx/signal_graph/10317DF4/tuner1/WFDC-DT

- Trip


----------



## fri1038

fri1038 said:


> Is WFDC/WDCW having problems again/still? I haven't seen it in a week or so. I usually have no problems picking it up.



I see it okay this morning. Thanks for checking.


----------



## dcscene

*Arlington VA 22204*

Hello,
We're renovating our house in Arlington 22204 and it's time to add an antenna. I'm pretty sure we're going to go roof mount because the attic is extremely small, and I'd rather be confident that the antenna is going to work. I put in 25 feet for height, but it may be a bit higher.

For my location, it's id-14663 on rabbitears.info, but I'm unable to post the link.
I'm most concerned with getting the DC and Baltimore stations

I will be connecting 2 televisions, both directly under the antenna - 1-two floors below, and one in the basement. There will be coax throughout the house. One of the TV's is an older Sharp Aquos from the early 2000's, and the 2nd tv will be a new purchase.
We are on a hill that runs downward from the ENE to WSW, and we are close to the top of that hill at approximately 230' above sea level.

We'd prefer a small, inexpensive antenna that should last a long time, but I know those things don't always go together.

Please let me know what you would recommend or let me know if there is other information I can provide.

Thank you!


----------



## johnny antenna

dcscene said:


> Hello,
> We're renovating our house in Arlington 22204 and it's time to add an antenna. I'm pretty sure we're going to go roof mount because the attic is extremely small, and I'd rather be confident that the antenna is going to work. I put in 25 feet for height, but it may be a bit higher.
> 
> For my location, it's id-14663 on rabbitears.info, but I'm unable to post the link.
> I'm most concerned with getting the DC and Baltimore stations
> 
> ...


First post in 12 years... see you on your next post in 2031.
Link for your rabbitears report: https://www.rabbitears.info/searchmap.php?request=result&study_id=14663


----------



## Trip in VA

Here's your link: https://www.rabbitears.info/searchmap.php?request=result&study_id=14663

The DC stations should be a piece of cake. Even Baltimore doesn't look bad, though I expect you'll end up doing what I do and aiming for Baltimore with DC being less favorable. 

Like any other antenna recommendation, you should save receipts and return it if it doesn't work. I'd say you should start with something small like the RCA 751. If that doesn't work for you, return it and go bigger from there. WMAR/WBAL/WJZ are likely to be your trouble cases, so you may end up needing something beefier for them--especially for WBAL/WJZ on VHF.

- Trip


----------



## dcscene

Trip in VA said:


> The DC stations should be a piece of cake. Even Baltimore doesn't look bad, though I expect you'll end up doing what I do and aiming for Baltimore with DC being less favorable.
> 
> Like any other antenna recommendation, you should save receipts and return it if it doesn't work. I'd say you should start with something small like the RCA 751. If that doesn't work for you, return it and go bigger from there. WMAR/WBAL/WJZ are likely to be your trouble cases, so you may end up needing something beefier for them--especially for WBAL/WJZ on VHF.
> 
> - Trip


Thank you for your help. I'll try the RCA 751 first and see if that does the trick and will report back but as the house is still under construction - it will be a while.


----------



## dcscene

dcscene said:


> Thank you for your help. I'll try the RCA 751 first and see if that does the trick and will report back but as the house is still under construction - it will be a while.


I've already run into a snag. The contractor I was going with to do all of my low-voltage cabling doesn't do antenna installations. Any recommendations?


----------



## Philip Hamm

dcscene said:


> I've already run into a snag. The contractor I was going with to do all of my low-voltage cabling doesn't do antenna installations. Any recommendations?


Have them run the cable then get someone else out to install the antenna.


----------



## RedLeadered

videobruce said:


> *RedLeadered;*
> There was no mention exactly what your house is like. Is the "attic" a true direct walk up or is it a 'crawl space' thru a closet or hall ceiling access where you (try) to step on the ceiling joists to maneuver around?
> A typical suburban 1 1/2 story, 'ranch' type that you can reach the walk-able roof with a 24' extension ladder?



The attic is a 'crawl space' through a ceiling access. Your words captured my attic antenna install experiences beautifully. Trying to step on ceiling joists to maneuver around, while crouching so as not to jab my head on the ends of nails sticking through the roof.


For what it's worth, I have tested almost every conceivable location in my attic. I think I have found the best spots for reaching Baltimore, D.C., and Harrisburg PA.


Thank you for your help!


----------



## RedLeadered

rabbit73 said:


> Hello, RedLeadered
> 
> I suggest you try to improve your present attic antenna system for Baltimore, D.C. will never be perfect for you, even with an outdoor antenna because you are behind a hill for D.C. signals. If you click on the WTTG Transmitter Distance in your report, you will see this:



Thank you for your help! I must confess, I have no idea how to interpret that chart. What does it mean?


----------



## RedLeadered

rabbit73 said:


> Try the HDB8X and AD CS5 combined with the UVSJ and both aimed at Baltimore. If the VHF channels aren't good enough, replace the CS5 with the 30-2475.
> 
> For D.C. try the HDB8X and 30-2475 with both aimed at D.C.



Is the 30-2475 a significant upgrade over the CS5? My attic space is limited and the CS5 does have a small profile, whereas the 30-2475 is much longer. In fact it is longer to the point where the tips of the dipoles will likely be touching the roof. I don't know if that is bad or not but I've read that you want to have some space between the wall/roof and the antenna.


Again thank you very much for your help!


----------



## rabbit73

RedLeadered said:


> Thank you for your help! I must confess, I have no idea how to interpret that chart. What does it mean?


 Sorry I didn't make it clear. It means that signals from D.C. have a hard time getting to your antenna because there is a hill in the way. Is this any better?


----------



## rabbit73

RedLeadered said:


> Is the 30-2475 a significant upgrade over the CS5?


Yes, a lot more gain.


RedLeadered said:


> The attic is a 'crawl space' through a ceiling access. Your words captured my attic antenna install experiences beautifully. Trying to step on ceiling joists to maneuver around, while crouching so as not to jab my head on the ends of nails sticking through the roof.


That doesn't sound very safe. When I have to work in in attic like that, I put down sheets of plywood which is a lot of trouble, but not as much trouble as falling through.



> My attic space is limited and the CS5 does have a small profile, whereas the 30-2475 is much longer. In fact it is longer to the point where the tips of the dipoles will likely be touching the roof.
> 
> I don't know if that is bad or not but I've read that you want to have some space between the wall/roof and the antenna.


If the antenna is near metal, it can affect reception; if it's near wood you should be OK.

Did you try the HDB8X and AD CS5 combined with the UVSJ and both aimed at Baltimore, as I suggested?

I can't predict the result of a test for you; my crystal ball isn't that accurate. The choice is up to you. 

If that combination isn't good enough for Baltimore, you can either try the HDB8X combined with the 30-2475, be happy with what you have in the attic, or make plans to put your antenna/antennas outside.


----------



## 4HiMarks

Is there something unique or special about WJZ? I have a Dish Hopper 3 with OTA module and a roof antenna. I live in Laurel, almost exactly halfway between Baltimore and DC. My antenna is pointed towards Baltimore. When I run a scan, I pick up strong signals from both cities, on every channel except WJZ, which is nowhere to be found. I sure would like to get it in time for the Ravens/Steelers game on Sunday. Any advice?


----------



## fri1038

4HiMarks said:


> Is there something unique or special about WJZ? I have a Dish Hopper 3 with OTA module and a roof antenna. I live in Laurel, almost exactly halfway between Baltimore and DC. My antenna is pointed towards Baltimore. When I run a scan, I pick up strong signals from both cities, on every channel except WJZ, which is nowhere to be found. I sure would like to get it in time for the Ravens/Steelers game on Sunday. Any advice?



Nothing special from my perspective. If you get WBAL, WJZ should be doable - same tower and similar frequency. A minor antenna adjustment might fix it. For a quick fix to see that game, try a good old fashion rabbit ears antenna.


----------



## 4HiMarks

fri1038 said:


> Nothing special from my perspective. If you get WBAL, WJZ should be doable - same tower and similar frequency. A minor antenna adjustment might fix it. For a quick fix to see that game, try a good old fashion rabbit ears antenna.


Rabbit ears aren't going to cut it. My Hopper and TV are located in the basement on the south side of the house, and the north side is covered with aluminum siding for a near-perfect Faraday cage. No reception of anything down there. Need to use my roof antenna.


----------



## fri1038

A couple tidbits I read on http://dcrtv.com and http://baltomedia.net :

- WPXW should go to full power on RF35 on Oct 15 according to https://iontelevision.com/rescan

- WBAL and WJZ will run at reduced power on auxiliary transmitters on their repacked frequencies from May (repack delayed from March) for a couple months while they upgrade their primaries. (edit: corrected/clarified this sentence.)


And I drove by WMPT's tower just off I-97 in Crownsville the other day. Their new orange antenna really stands out. You can see a large side mounted antenna on the west side of the tower near the top - MPT's auxiliary? I reckon WQAW uses the smaller antennas half way down the tower given the challenge of receiving them just 9 miles away.

Some pics I found of the replacement process:

https://www.capitalgazette.com/news...-44yveoe6d5ba3esxypc644ajdm-photogallery.html


----------



## Brian in CT

4HiMarks said:


> Is there something unique or special about WJZ? I have a Dish Hopper 3 with OTA module and a roof antenna. I live in Laurel, almost exactly halfway between Baltimore and DC. My antenna is pointed towards Baltimore. When I run a scan, I pick up strong signals from both cities, on every channel except WJZ, which is nowhere to be found. I sure would like to get it in time for the Ravens/Steelers game on Sunday. Any advice?


Hmm. Channel scans don't always go to perfection. They sometimes skip very viable TV stations. Since you probably did yours over and over, it might be a flaw in the tuner's software. Who knows how much quality control Dish Hopper 3 put into its OTA module. I have a manual tuning function on my TVs, so I rarely "scan for channels." Unfortunately, most TV models don't have that function. You may be able to force your tuner to go to RF channel 13 (WJZ) by inputting "13" on your remote. I have heard that works on some TV models, even without "manual tuning." Maybe it will work with your Dish Hopper.

If you eventually tune into RF 13, and the signal of WJZ is still not decoding, then there may be a longshot reason why it doesn't. Do you have a really strong FM radio station between 105 & 108 MHz broadcasting nearby? If so, it may be interfering with channel 13, because the channel's frequency range (210-216 MHz) would be on a harmonic of said FM station. If you can figure out if this is the case, a good FM trap for your antenna feed would be needed. I hope this helps.


----------



## tesla1886

I originally posted about this on February 7, 2018. Link to the page with my original post here. I was not sure how to pick this subject back up again as their were a lot of posts by several people. Which is the reason I posted the link to the page of the forum where the original post I made was.

I put up a Stellar Labs 30-2476 and an Antennas Direct DB-8e as suggested by @Jake V.

The Stellar Labs some what accomplished what I wanted it to. It pulls in channels 7 and 9 although at times the signal contains errors, some correctable some are not, according to the Hauppauge signal monitor. Sometimes one or the other or both are unwatchable. I have a Hauppauge tuner card in a custom built PVR. 

With the DB-8e I am able to get ION (60), WDVM (25) (formerly WHAG), and MPT (31), but nothing else.

The antenna I replaced with the DB-8 in addition to the ones listed above (with exception to 7 and 9) I was also able to receive channels WMAR (2), NBC 4, Fox 5 DC, Univision (14) and Fox 5 Plus, and at times WDCW (50). The previous antenna had an amplifier. Would purchasing an amplifier aid in pulling these other channels in as well as helping with channels 7 an 9?

Jake mentioned to put the two panels on the DB-8e at a 90 degree angle to each other. Could I purchase another antenna like I had before and put them at 90 degrees to each other?

One thing that may be affecting the results of this project is I don't believe I have a good compass. The one I have I bought at Walmart for $5. Trying to use it I get erratic results. Seems like something is interfering with it. Anyone have a recommendation for a good one.

Updated TV Fool analysis results can be found here

Thank You again


----------



## 4HiMarks

4HiMarks said:


> Is there something unique or special about WJZ? I have a Dish Hopper 3 with OTA module and a roof antenna. I live in Laurel, almost exactly halfway between Baltimore and DC. My antenna is pointed towards Baltimore. When I run a scan, I pick up strong signals from both cities, on every channel except WJZ, which is nowhere to be found. I sure would like to get it in time for the Ravens/Steelers game on Sunday. Any advice?


Update:
I rotated my antenna about 20 degrees farther east, and it picked up WJZ weakly. I don't have a real-time signal strength meter to get it dialed in for maximum signal, but at least I'm in the ballpark. It looks like the only other conflict is in week 11, but BAL/HOU isn't as crucial a matchup as the steelers, so I can miss it in favor of what could be the game that decides who gets the first pick in the 2020 draft.


----------



## Brian in CT

tesla1886 said:


> I originally posted about this on February 7, 2018. Link to the page with my original post here. I was not sure how to pick this subject back up again as their were a lot of posts by several people. Which is the reason I posted the link to the page of the forum where the original post I made was.
> 
> I put up a Stellar Labs 30-2476 and an Antennas Direct DB-8e as suggested by @Jake V.
> 
> The Stellar Labs some what accomplished what I wanted it to. It pulls in channels 7 and 9 although at times the signal contains errors, some correctable some are not, according to the Hauppauge signal monitor. Sometimes one or the other or both are unwatchable. I have a Hauppauge tuner card in a custom built PVR.
> 
> With the DB-8e I am able to get ION (60), WDVM (25) (formerly WHAG), and MPT (31), but nothing else.
> 
> The antenna I replaced with the DB-8 in addition to the ones listed above (with exception to 7 and 9) I was also able to receive channels WMAR (2), NBC 4, Fox 5 DC, Univision (14) and Fox 5 Plus, and at times WDCW (50). The previous antenna had an amplifier. Would purchasing an amplifier aid in pulling these other channels in as well as helping with channels 7 an 9?
> 
> Jake mentioned to put the two panels on the DB-8e at a 90 degree angle to each other. Could I purchase another antenna like I had before and put them at 90 degrees to each other?
> 
> One thing that may be affecting the results of this project is I don't believe I have a good compass. The one I have I bought at Walmart for $5. Trying to use it I get erratic results. Seems like something is interfering with it. Anyone have a recommendation for a good one.
> 
> Updated TV Fool analysis results can be found here
> 
> Thank You again


First of all, ditch TV Fool. Their database is two years out of date. Use RabbitEars.info instead. That website is up to date and has all the bells and whistles that TV fool has. Once you put your RabbitEars signal map up on this site, I'm sure there will be many antenna experts willing to help you.

BTW, do you have your antennas set up in your attic? If that is true and your attic is surrounded by or has metal in it, then that could cause a compass to act erratically and also negatively affect your TV reception. Do you have a smartphone? Mine (an iPhone) has a compass that you can set to true north.


----------



## tesla1886

Brian in CT said:


> First of all, ditch TV Fool. Their database is two years out of date. Use RabbitEars.info instead. That website is up to date and has all the bells and whistles that TV fool has. Once you put your RabbitEars signal map up on this site, I'm sure there will be many antenna experts willing to help you.


Here is the link to my Rabbit Ears report



Brian in CT said:


> BTW, do you have your antennas set up in your attic? If that is true and your attic is surrounded by or has metal in it, then that could cause a compass to act erratically and also negatively affect your TV reception. Do you have a smartphone? Mine (an iPhone) has a compass that you can set to true north.


No they are not in the attic. They are at the peak of my roof. I live in a 1 story ranch so the are approximately 30 feet or so off the ground. I want to measure but with work I have not had a chance.

I even tried taking my compass out in the middle of the street and still got erratic results.

I actually already had an app, Swiss Army Knife, on my phone that has a compass "applete". I use this app all the time, just not the compass so I forgot about it. It actually does what I was hoping, tells the actual degree it is facing so no guesswork like with my other one. It is only marked every 30 degrees, IE 30 degrees, 60, 90 etc, but there are only 5 notches between the markings. I guess I would be able to get close with it, but the app will be precise!

Thanks for the help and suggestions


----------



## TheKrell

4HiMarks said:


> Is there something unique or special about WJZ? I have a Dish Hopper 3 with OTA module and a roof antenna. I live in Laurel, almost exactly halfway between Baltimore and DC. My antenna is pointed towards Baltimore. When I run a scan, I pick up strong signals from both cities, on every channel except WJZ, which is nowhere to be found. I sure would like to get it in time for the Ravens/Steelers game on Sunday. Any advice?


I live in Fairfax and I can point my rooftop antenna at Washington and get Baltimore just fine. MPT occasionally breaks up, though. Do you have the newest dual tuner USB adapter from Dish? It runs cooler and is more sensitive than the old dual-tuner or single-tuner adapter. I bought mine from AirTV since it's only $30 and has the same guts. The only difference is it's white.


----------



## 4HiMarks

TheKrell said:


> I live in Fairfax and I can point my rooftop antenna at Washington and get Baltimore just fine. MPT occasionally breaks up, though. Do you have the newest dual tuner USB adapter from Dish? It runs cooler and is more sensitive than the old dual-tuner or single-tuner adapter. I bought mine from AirTV since it's only $30 and has the same guts. The only difference is it's white.


I don't know what kind it is. Dish was offering a promotion earlier this year for a free module, antenna, and installation. I didn't need the antenna since my roof antenna is much better, so he just installed the USB module. He messed up the cabling on my HDMI switch box and unplugged my external hard drive without telling me, so the overall experience was less than ideal.


----------



## TheKrell

4HiMarks said:


> I don't know what kind it is. Dish was offering a promotion earlier this year for a free module, antenna, and installation. I didn't need the antenna since my roof antenna is much better, so he just installed the USB module. He messed up the cabling on my HDMI switch box and unplugged my external hard drive without telling me, so the overall experience was less than ideal.


Good grief! One wonders why they unplugged your EHD. That makes no sense since the H3 has 2 USB ports on the back and one more on the front. I think only one of them (bottom/back?) is USB3... Maybe he thought that was where the USB adapter goes and unplugged your EHD and failed to plug it back in again.


I have read good things on Satelliteguys.US regarding the Televes Diginova Boss antenna: https://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?p=144180. Why do you think your antenna is better than that one? The Televes is considered a "medium directional" antenna. Perhaps yours has a more peaked sensitivity distribution.


----------



## 4HiMarks

TheKrell said:


> Good grief! One wonders why they unplugged your EHD. That makes no sense since the H3 has 2 USB ports on the back and one more on the front. I think only one of them (bottom/back?) is USB3... Maybe he thought that was where the USB adapter goes and unplugged your EHD and failed to plug it back in again.
> 
> 
> I have read good things on Satelliteguys.US regarding the Televes Diginova Boss antenna: https://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?p=144180. Why do you think your antenna is better than that one? The Televes is considered a "medium directional" antenna. Perhaps yours has a more peaked sensitivity distribution.


My H3 is in a stand, so he probably unplugged it to move it out, but forgetting to plug it back in, or even telling me so I could do it myself is unforgivable. At first I thought the drive had failed and I lost all my recordings. The switch box was even more egregious though, because all the cables were connected. He had plugged the output cable into one of the unused input ports, so when i tried to change my TV to input from the switch box, I got nothing.


----------



## Brian in CT

tesla1886 said:


> Here is the link to my Rabbit Ears report


Wow, you are almost 60 miles from the D.C. TV transmitters. Just so you know, I'm no antenna guru, but I do know that your Stellar Labs antenna receiving the UHF D.C. stations from that far away (and over a ridge to your SE) is a great achievement. I'm assuming you are receiving these signals by "knife edge diffraction." In case you didn't know, if you click on the mileage under "transmitter distance" on your signal report, you will get a terrain profile between you and the transmitter for that station. On many of the D.C. stations you can see exactly how you were receiving them with a blue line. Unfortunately, there are NO reception models that can accurately predict the field strength of diffracted TV signals. So those numbers can be off for the better... or worse.

The bottom line is yes, you will definitely need an low noise preamplifier to receive any TV stations from D.C. RF channels 7 & 9 will only be improved by an antenna with a high VHF gain, and your DB-8e probably won't cut it, since it has mostly UHF elements (from what I see). The fact that your Stellar Labs VHF antenna pulled in some UHF stations from D.C. is a bonus.

If it were me, I would get a duel band (VHF-Hi/UHF) antenna with a deep fringe rating for both bands and a preamp. I wouldn't want to deal with two antennas if I don't have to. Just remember, this will end up being one BIG antenna. Keep the receipts just in case you need to return everything, and of course, make sure you are allowed to return it from where you got it to begin with. Of course, you can keep the two that you have and point the Stellar Labs at D.C. and the other pointed at whatever UHF station(s) you want.

That is all I can think of. Just beware that you might be asking too much to receive even more of the stations from D.C. Good luck with your endeavor.


----------



## MRG1

Unless I missed it no one responded to the question about antennas for ATSC 3.0

I'm not an expert, and don't know the details of ATSC 3.0, but it is unlikely that it will require or be optimized for a different antenna, because the frequency ranges allocated to TV will probably still be the same.

Just like there is no difference between the old school NTSC antenna and the new school ATSC 1 and ATSC 2 antenna. If you were told otherwise, it was just marketing. It is conceivable the signal strength needs to be a little stronger to get a signal you can see and hear, just as it was for ATSC 1.0, but that just means you should get a good antenna.


----------



## VARTV

MRG1 said:


> Unless I missed it no one responded to the question about antennas for ATSC 3.0
> 
> I'm not an expert, and don't know the details of ATSC 3.0, but it is unlikely that it will require or be optimized for a different antenna, because the frequency ranges allocated to TV will probably still be the same.
> 
> Just like there is no difference between the old school NTSC antenna and the new school ATSC 1 and ATSC 2 antenna. If you were told otherwise, it was just marketing. It is conceivable the signal strength needs to be a little stronger to get a signal you can see and hear, just as it was for ATSC 1.0, but that just means you should get a good antenna.


I get a kick out of seeing "HD antenna" or "digital." It's just a plain ol' antenna.

BTW, there is/was no ATSC 2.0. It jumped from 1.0 to 3.0...


----------



## RedLeadered

rabbit73 said:


> Sorry I didn't make it clear. It means that signals from D.C. have a hard time getting to your antenna because there is a hill in the way. Is this any better?



That is much clearer. Your labels really helped me understand. Looks like there is a big hill between my house and the tower! Not sure how I'm going to fix that. Maybe concentrating on improving Baltimore reception or Harrisburg reception would be better.


Thank you again for your help.


----------



## Frankie20

My CM-7000 is showing Justice on 9-1 and no other WUSA channels (re-scanning didn't help). However my flat-panel TV isn't having any problems.

What's going on with WUSA?


----------



## Trip in VA

Frankie20 said:


> My CM-7000 is showing Justice on 9-1 and no other WUSA channels (re-scanning didn't help). However my flat-panel TV isn't having any problems.
> 
> What's going on with WUSA?


Something's wrong with the PSIP. Both CBS and Justice are showing as 9-1 WUSA-HD right now.

EDIT: I just called and notified someone.

- Trip


----------



## Philip Hamm

RedLeadered said:


> That is much clearer. Your labels really helped me understand. Looks like there is a big hill between my house and the tower! Not sure how I'm going to fix that. Maybe concentrating on improving Baltimore reception or Harrisburg reception would be better.
> 
> 
> Thank you again for your help.


Reading this made me look at my house on rabbitears.com. Some of the stations I get great show up as behind a hill, but the hill isn't right near my house it's much further away.

https://www.rabbitears.info/searchmap.php?request=result&study_id=21286

A bunch of stations that show up as "Fair" come up GREAT in my location using separate Channel Master UHF and VHF antennas in my attic and a Channel Master 8 port amplifier/distribution box. I would love to get some of the "Poor" stations.

I'm using this guy:


Early in the DTV transition when the stations were broadcasting both analog and digital I was able to get 11 and 13 fairly well here in Ashburn but when they moved to their permanent digital only location I lost both. :-( 

The Channel Master online antenna finder tool indicated that I may be able to get 11 with a "preamp" in my attic near the antenna.


----------



## KyL416

Any chance you could mount that distribution amp somewhere else that isn't right on top of the electrical wiring? I find there's a lot of noise when you're that close to the electrical wiring, which might affect your chances of getting those "poor" VHF stations.

You might want to replace some of those connectors with compression ones too since that's another spot where noise can get in.


Unfortunately analog and digital have different levels of acceptable. What was a snowy but watchable distant signal during the analog era isn't a clean enough signal for digital. Then you throw in multipath issues, and what would be minor ghosting on analog is enough to cancel out the digital signal. Plus VHF is a lot more affected by noise related electrical interference than UHF, something that only got worse in the past decade with the rise of cheap off-brand LED light bulbs and poorly shielded power supplies.


----------



## Brian in CT

Philip Hamm said:


> I'm using this guy:
> 
> 
> The Channel Master online antenna finder tool indicated that I may be able to get 11 with a "preamp" in my attic near the antenna.


Considering you use an 8-way signal splitter, you should definitely get a preamp for your antenna if you want any chance of getting those "poor" signal TV stations. With a two way splitter, you lose about 3.5 dB of signal strength after the split. With a four way, it's 7 dB. So in your case, by using an 8-way, your signal loss for each line is 14 dB. That is a lot of loss after the gain you get from your antennas.

Unfortunately, your antennas are in your attic. That's bad for preamps because they have a temperature range they need to be in to operate correctly. Most attics on hot summer days can easily exceed 140 degrees. That would put the preamps I know of outside their operational range.

The bottom line is that you will probably need a rooftop instillation (with preamp) to receive channels 11 & 13 from Baltimore. That is usually what's needed to receive any "poor" signal as listed in one of Rabbit Ears signal "results list."


----------



## Philip Hamm

Brian in CT said:


> Considering you use an 8-way signal splitter, you should definitely get a preamp for your antenna if you want any chance of getting those "poor" signal TV stations. With a two way splitter, you lose about 3.5 dB of signal strength after the split. With a four way, it's 7 dB. So in your case, by using an 8-way, your signal loss for each line is 14 dB. That is a lot of loss after the gain you get from your antennas.


I don't think there's any loss that matters. It's a powered distribution amplifier. See that little green LED - that means it's plugged in and powered.

https://www.channelmaster.com/Antenna_Cable_TV_Amplifier_p/cm-3418.htm


Brian in CT said:


> Unfortunately, your antennas are in your attic. That's bad for preamps because they have a temperature range they need to be in to operate correctly. Most attics on hot summer days can easily exceed 140 degrees. That would put the preamps I know of outside their operational range.
> 
> The bottom line is that you will probably need a rooftop instillation (with preamp) to receive channels 11 & 13 from Baltimore. That is usually what's needed to receive any "poor" signal as listed in one of Rabbit Ears signal "results list."


I don't think I'll bother. I get all the "Fair" stations perfectly for the most part, and that's enough. I liked having another CBS option for Sunday football back in the day when that worked, but I don't really watch football enough these days to care about that. I get a jillion channels OTA perfectly including what really matters to me: clean PBS signals.


----------



## Brian in CT

Philip Hamm said:


> I don't think there's any loss that matters. It's a powered distribution amplifier. See that little green LED - that means it's plugged in and powered.


Ahh! I can't believe I missed seeing that telltale green light. Great choice in equipment. I'm curious though, how does it hold up when your attic is really hot? I've never used any sort of powered splitter/distribution device, so I'm not sure how they handle the heat.

I have a rooftop antenna with a preamp. Before I had the preamp installed, I used a line amp in my attic before splitting the signal. That didn't last long. The line amp would DIE on hot summer days, weakening my reception (this was in the analog era).


----------



## Philip Hamm

Brian in CT said:


> Ahh! I can't believe I missed seeing that telltale green light. Great choice in equipment. I'm curious though, how does it hold up when your attic is really hot? I've never used any sort of powered splitter/distribution device, so I'm not sure how they handle the heat.
> 
> I have a rooftop antenna with a preamp. Before I had the preamp installed, I used a line amp in my attic before splitting the signal. That didn't last long. The line amp would DIE on hot summer days, weakening my reception (this was in the analog era).


It's in the basement. A cable comes down from the attic to the basement and that's where the distro is.


----------



## pkpaul

FYI New sub channel on WUSA 9,
Quest on 9.3


www.questtv.com/


----------



## MRG1

tesla1886 said:


> I even tried taking my compass out in the middle of the street and still got erratic results.




I suggest you base your directions on a local map (e.g., maps.google.com), and the orientation of the streets, rather than a magnetic compass, because there are many reasons why a magnetic compass might not point to true north at any given location.

If you are an astronomy buff, you could instead use The North Star - which is pretty close to true north.

A still better method, if your TV (or DVR) has a signal strength detection mode, is to connect it to the antenna, and see which direction gives the strongest and most reliable signal.


----------



## mkfs

Friends 5 stories up next door to [ex]Intelstat wanted to dump FIO$.

I got them a bow-tie, we hung it in the window, and bingo 99 1/3 OTR channels. 
They unplugged their Samsung in May, came back from their summer place, & it had forgotten the scan.

They rescanned and it found lots of channels but *not* WETA. 
Defaulted the set to factory and tried again, still NFG.

I can't imagine why that is, unless WETA has dropped to QRP signal levels or such.
I recall WETA moved RF frequency but did they also move transmitter location?
They can get 22 but WETA has Newshour at 7pm.


----------



## Trip in VA

WETA is temporarily operating from the WETA-FM tower in Arlington. It moves back to the shared tower in DC some time in the next few months.

- Trip


----------



## KyL416

WETA's latest progress report says they expect to have their final facility done in December 2019 when construction on their new transmitter building is finished.


----------



## mkfs

Thanks for the enlightenment.

I was aware of the WAMU and WETA-FM work but the TV aspect escaped my attention. So I spent the last hour looking at WETA pages but found nothing obvious. So I wonder where you found the update.


----------



## KyL416

The progress reports are in their FCC applications:
https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/public/tv/publicFacilityDetails.html?facilityId=65670


----------



## wmcbrine

mkfs said:


> So I spent the last hour looking at WETA pages but found nothing obvious. So I wonder where you found the update.



This is WETA's page on the subject, AFAIK, although it only says this:


"WETA will be operating at a temporary broadcast tower while engaging in construction at our main facility in order to broadcast at our new frequency. Work is expected to be completed in the Fall of 2019."


There's more info earlier in this thread.


----------



## qonder

Personally, I can't wait until WETA comes back. I'm in Pasadena, MD. I lost WETA reception when they moved. It was spotty to begin with (attic antenna). Hopefully I will be able to pick them up again. 26.2 the UK channel is my primary interest. Lots of good programs (although most are years old).


----------



## captain_video

I'm in Ellicott City (zip 21043) about 10.3 miles from the Baltimore broadcast towers to the southwest and about 30-35 miles from the DC towers on the northeast side. I'm currently using a ClearStream 4MAX antenna aimed at DC and an older ClearStream 2 antenna aimed at Baltimore, both mast-mounted on the roof. The outputs of the two antennas are combined using a standard VHF/UHF splitter/combiner. I can get most of the DC channels just fine, with the exception of channel 7.1. If I adjust the antenna to get WJLA I tend to lose channel 9.1 (WUSA) which is totally weird considering that they are on the same compass heading from my location. I can get channels 2.1, 4.1, and 5.1 with no problem but 11.1 and 13.1 have always been pixelated and break up. I'm using a HTPC with Windows 7 and WMC with both a Ceton InfiniTV 6 tuner for FIOS and a SiliconDust HDHomeRun Quatro tuner for OTA. I was thinking that maybe the signal was too strong and overdriving the tuners so I tried a single Moho Leaf Thirty antenna in the attic but still have the same issues except that I have fewer DC channels now, which isn't unexpected. My 2-story house sits lower than the house to the south on the DC side and is below a rise on the north side facing Baltimore. I can't really go with higher masts (it's a wifey thing). I've tried various other antennas and preamps but nothing seems to fix channels 11.1 and 13.1, which seems ridiculous based on how close I am to the towers. I'm curious to know what others in the area use to pick up those channels.

Here's a link to the Rabbit Ears info for my local channels:

https://www.rabbitears.info/searchmap.php?request=result&study_id=30748


----------



## Brian in CT

captain_video said:


> I'm in Ellicott City (zip 21043) about 10.3 miles from the Baltimore broadcast towers to the southwest and about 30-35 miles from the DC towers on the northeast side. I'm currently using a ClearStream 4MAX antenna aimed at DC and an older ClearStream 2 antenna aimed at Baltimore, both mast-mounted on the roof. The outputs of the two antennas are combined using a standard VHF/UHF splitter/combiner. I can get most of the DC channels just fine, with the exception of channel 7.1. If I adjust the antenna to get WJLA I tend to lose channel 9.1 (WUSA) which is totally weird considering that they are on the same compass heading from my location. I can get channels 2.1, 4.1, and 5.1 with no problem but 11.1 and 13.1 have always been pixelated and break up.


It seems that you're receiving the UHF stations fine, but not getting a good lock on the VHF stations. The test you did with the Mohu Leaf is flawed, because they are designed for UHF, not VHF, so the signals from Baltimore coming through the roof antenna might still be overwhelming your tuner. If you try that test again, use an old rabbit ear antenna for VHF reception.

More likely, your problem has to do with some sort of interference. VHF TV signals can drop out due to solar panels, security cameras, LED lights, or any other "noise" emitting gadget. Do you have anything like that near your antenna? If so, that might be the cause. Also, since you have a house above you on one side and high terrain on the other, you might be experiencing signal multipathing. In the analog era, multipath would leave "ghosts" on your picture. With ATSC 1.0, if your signal meter is wildly fluctuating, that is a sign of multipath. Hope you soon find out what the culprit is. Your roof antennas should be receiving the Baltimore and D.C. stations easily.


----------



## captain_video

Brian in CT said:


> It seems that you're receiving the UHF stations fine, but not getting a good lock on the VHF stations. The test you did with the Mohu Leaf is flawed, because they are designed for UHF, not VHF, so the signals from Baltimore coming through the roof antenna might still be overwhelming your tuner. If you try that test again, use an old rabbit ear antenna for VHF reception.
> 
> More likely, your problem has to do with some sort of interference. VHF TV signals can drop out due to solar panels, security cameras, LED lights, or any other "noise" emitting gadget. Do you have anything like that near your antenna? If so, that might be the cause. Also, since you have a house above you on one side and high terrain on the other, you might be experiencing signal multipathing. In the analog era, multipath would leave "ghosts" on your picture. With ATSC 1.0, if your signal meter is wildly fluctuating, that is a sign of multipath. Hope you soon find out what the culprit is. Your roof antennas should be receiving the Baltimore and D.C. stations easily.


I placed the Mohu in the attic and it's not near any electronic devices of the nature you described. I didn't realize the Mohu was UHF only, but I still pick up the lower VHF channels just fine when using it. I also have a ClearStream 2MAX that I bought to replace the older ClearStream 2, the main difference being that it has a pair of dipole antennas in addition to the main antenna elements for a little better coverage. That's the one I'll be using to get the Baltimore stations so I'll swap that out when the weather clears up. It's raining today and tomorrow will be busy with Thanksgiving so it looks like a good excuse to stay out of the stores on Black Friday.


----------



## aaronwt

Is there an issue with the Ion station in DC? Channel 66.
My GF said she had been having issues receiving it. But at my place I was still receiving it fine.
Did anything change with their transmission power? I did see where they changed frequencies at some point.


----------



## fri1038

aaronwt said:


> Is there an issue with the Ion station in DC? Channel 66.
> My GF said she had been having issues receiving it. But at my place I was still receiving it fine.
> Did anything change with their transmission power? I did see where they changed frequencies at some point.



Nothing very recently that I know of, but they have been at reduced power for several months since the change from channel RF34 to RF35. The Ion website said they'd go full power on Oct 15, but didn't. Maybe they are waiting to move to a new tower, along with current tower-mate WTTG, one of these days, before going full strength again - just a guess.


Correction: WPXW is already on the River Road tower on a temp antenna. WTTG is supposed to move there, and WPXW go full power there, eventually.


----------



## aaronwt

fri1038 said:


> Nothing very recently that I know of, but they have been at reduced power for several months since the change from channel RF34 to RF35. The Ion website said they'd go full power on Oct 15, but didn't. Maybe they are waiting to move to a new tower, along with current tower-mate WTTG, one of these days, before going full strength again - just a guess.
> 
> 
> Correction: WPXW is already on the River Road tower on a temp antenna. WTTG is supposed to move there, and WPXW go full power there, eventually.


Ok. Thanks. The lower power should be the issue then. My GF only brought this up last week. But had been having the issue for awhile. She wanted to record a bunch of holiday shows/movies from that station. Which I guess I will have to do for her now instead. And burn them to DVDs for her watch.


----------



## Brian in CT

captain_video said:


> I placed the Mohu in the attic and it's not near any electronic devices of the nature you described.  I didn't realize the Mohu was UHF only, but I still pick up the lower VHF channels just fine when using it.


Lower VHF channels??? If you're talking about channel 2 from Baltimore and channels 4 & 5 from D.C., don't you realize that those TV stations are actually on the UHF band? WMAR (VC 2) is currently on RF channel 38 and will soon be moving to RF channel 27 as part of the repack. WRC (VC 4) & WTTG (VC 5) are on RF channels 34 & 36, respectively. The TV stations that you said you have trouble with (7 & 9 from D.C. and 11 & 13 from Baltimore) are still on the VHF band. Either you are having some interference problems with those stations, or your setup is not conducive to reliably receiving VHF signals.


----------



## captain_video

Brian in CT said:


> Lower VHF channels??? If you're talking about channel 2 from Baltimore and channels 4 & 5 from D.C., don't you realize that those TV stations are actually on the UHF band? WMAR (VC 2) is currently on RF channel 38 and will soon be moving to RF channel 27 as part of the repack. WRC (VC 4) & WTTG (VC 5) are on RF channels 34 & 36, respectively. The TV stations that you said you have trouble with (7 & 9 from D.C. and 11 & 13 from Baltimore) are still on the VHF band. Either you are having some interference problems with those stations, or your setup is not conducive to reliably receiving VHF signals.


Gotcha. That makes a lot more sense. I haven't looked at the actual channel frequencies vs. the virtual channels in quite some time so I assumed they had remained stationary for all of the VHF channels. I can still get the problem channels via FIOS but I would prefer to receive the ones from my antennas. I can actually get good reception on channel 9 from DC and I tend to use that one in favor of channel 13 from Baltimore. I also use channel 2 for ABC content and channel 4 for NBC. I'd like to be able to get channel 13 via antenna for the Ravens games instead of tying up my cablecard tuners. I plan on replacing the ClearStream 2 antenna with the 2MAX tomorrow, weather permitting. I need to run some new coax to the antennas so I don't have to keep climbing up into a cramped vaulted ceiling in the attic to access the connections. I'm not as young and agile as I once was.


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## Mr Tony

list of DC channels (physical and virtual)
https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?mktid=11

Baltimore (note Baltimore still has some channel changes to do but what is on UHF stays on UHF)
https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?mktid=31


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## Brian in CT

captain_video said:


> Gotcha. That makes a lot more sense. I haven't looked at the actual channel frequencies vs. the virtual channels in quite some time so I assumed they had remained stationary for all of the VHF channels.


Your assumption was partially correct. Most TV stations on VHF-Hi (channels 7-13) chose to stay on their current frequencies when the switch to digital happened. Conversely, practically all TV stations on VHF-Lo (channels 2-6) fled that part of the band after the switch. VHF-Lo in the digital era is a interference minefield. Broadcasters, with few exceptions, will only use these channels if they have no other choice.

I have no experience with ClearStream antennas, but I've read on this site that some of their models skimp on the VHF elements. Just make sure the antennas you use are good with VHF signals.


----------



## captain_video

Brian in CT said:


> Your assumption was partially correct. Most TV stations on VHF-Hi (channels 7-13) chose to stay on their current frequencies when the switch to digital happened. Conversely, practically all TV stations on VHF-Lo (channels 2-6) fled that part of the band after the switch. VHF-Lo in the digital era is a interference minefield. Broadcasters, with few exceptions, will only use these channels if they have no other choice.
> 
> I have no experience with ClearStream antennas, but I've read on this site that some of their models skimp on the VHF elements. Just make sure the antennas you use are good with VHF signals.


I chose the ClearStream models because they almost always showed up as the antenna of choice when putting in my address in the various websites to determine which antenna was best for my location. I'm going to swap out my ClearStream 2 for the old ClearStream 4 that I had been using for the DC stations and aim it at Baltimore to see if it will boost the signal enough to get rid of the pixelation I've been seeing. I assume that the sites that spit out the antenna choices don't take into account the actual elevation of the properties in relation to the surrounding environment or obstructions such as other structures or trees.


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## captain_video

I swapped out the ClearStream 2 with the ClearStream 4 and set it up using my signal strength meter. The ClearStream 4 is the one on the right with the wire mesh reflector whereas the ChearStream 4MAX is the one on the left with the two small dipole antennas and no wire mesh reflector. The meter was pegged at max so I adjusted the direction right in the middle between the point where it started to drop off on either side. I now get channel 11.1 from Baltimore quite clearly with no artifacts. Unfortunately I still get a lot of pixelation on channel 13.1. This is very frustrating considering my close proximity to the towers and the fact that both channel 2.1 and 11.1 broadcast from the same tower with the channel 45.1 tower just a couple hundred yards away, if that.


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## tylerSC

captain_video said:


> I swapped out the ClearStream 2 with the ClearStream 4 and set it up using my signal strength meter. The ClearStream 4 is the one on the right with the wire mesh reflector whereas the ChearStream 4MAX is the one on the left with the two small dipole antennas and no wire mesh reflector. The meter was pegged at max so I adjusted the direction right in the middle between the point where it started to drop off on either side. I now get channel 11.1 from Baltimore quite clearly with no artifacts. Unfortunately I still get a lot of pixelation on channel 13.1. This is very frustrating considering my close proximity to the towers and the fact that both channel 2.1 and 11.1 broadcast from the same tower with the channel 45.1 tower just a couple hundred yards away, if that.


Are you using a preamp? That may help with some of the problematic channels as long as you don't overload due to strong signals nearby. The Channel Master 7778 new version 3 preamp as 16db gain, which is more than adequate. But you may need a stronger High VHF antenna for 13 such as Winegard 7694 or the Stellar Labs 30-2475 High VHF antenna from Newark.


----------



## captain_video

tylerSC said:


> Are you using a preamp? That may help with some of the problematic channels as long as you don't overload due to strong signals nearby. The Channel Master 7778 new version 3 preamp as 16db gain, which is more than adequate. But you may need a stronger High VHF antenna for 13 such as Winegard 7694 or the Stellar Labs 30-2475 High VHF antenna from Newark.


I am not currently using a preamp, but it may be worth a shot. I am concerned about overloading the other channels that I do receive so it's a mixed bag. Like I said before, when I aligned the antenna the signal meter was pegged to the maximum signal strength so boosting the signal may mess up the good channels. I've already spent a small fortune on antennas and they're piling up in my shed. I can't really justify getting another one at this point. For now I can just record and watch channel 13.1 using the FIOS feed on HD channel 513. I think my biggest problem is that the top of the antenna mast is still below the tree line for LOS reception so the VHF signals from the Baltimore towers are being greatly attenuated. I'm not all that concerned about channels 7 or 9 since I don't watch the DC channels all that much and I already get a clear ABC signal on channel 2.1. I may have to adjust the antenna pointed towards DC to see if I can get channel 9.1 so I can record the CBS prime time programs. Otherwise I'll just keep using FIOS as my source.


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## Brian in CT

Ah, so THOSE are ClearStream antennas. Now things are coming into focus for me. The one on the right has basically no dedicated VHF elements, while the one on the left has just a dipole for VHF. That is why you're having problems with VHF reception. There is good news, though. The antenna with the dipole should work just fine for the Baltimore VHF stations. At about ten miles away, the signal you're getting from Baltimore doesn't even need to be amplified. If you have the antenna on the left pointed at D.C., then that simple dipole might not be enough to pull in those VHF stations. 

Since you say you don't care about the D.C. VHF stations, you should point the left antenna at Baltimore and the right antenna at D.C. If they are already set up that way, then the most likely reason RF channel 13 is pixelating is due to multipathing. You said you are located at a low point between higher terrain. You can have strong signals bouncing all over the place with your tuner being just able to lock in everything except channel 13.


----------



## tylerSC

captain_video said:


> I am not currently using a preamp, but it may be worth a shot. I am concerned about overloading the other channels that I do receive so it's a mixed bag. Like I said before, when I aligned the antenna the signal meter was pegged to the maximum signal strength so boosting the signal may mess up the good channels. I've already spent a small fortune on antennas and they're piling up in my shed. I can't really justify getting another one at this point. For now I can just record and watch channel 13.1 using the FIOS feed on HD channel 513. I think my biggest problem is that the top of the antenna mast is still below the tree line for LOS reception so the VHF signals from the Baltimore towers are being greatly attenuated. I'm not all that concerned about channels 7 or 9 since I don't watch the DC channels all that much and I already get a clear ABC signal on channel 2.1. I may have to adjust the antenna pointed towards DC to see if I can get channel 9.1 so I can record the CBS prime time programs. Otherwise I'll just keep using FIOS as my source.


Yea preamps can be helpful or problematic so it is trial and error due to overload. Perhaps a distribution amp may perform better down the line. Channel Master 3412 or 3414 depending upon the number of TVs connected. 

Also keep in mind 13-WJZ will repack next spring and convert to an omnidirectional antenna so the reception pattern may improve.


----------



## captain_video

Brian in CT said:


> Ah, so THOSE are ClearStream antennas. Now things are coming into focus for me. The one on the right has basically no dedicated VHF elements, while the one on the left has just a dipole for VHF. That is why you're having problems with VHF reception. There is good news, though. The antenna with the dipole should work just fine for the Baltimore VHF stations. At about ten miles away, the signal you're getting from Baltimore doesn't even need to be amplified. If you have the antenna on the left pointed at D.C., then that simple dipole might not be enough to pull in those VHF stations.
> 
> Since you say you don't care about the D.C. VHF stations, you should point the left antenna at Baltimore and the right antenna at D.C. If they are already set up that way, then the most likely reason RF channel 13 is pixelating is due to multipathing. You said you are located at a low point between higher terrain. You can have strong signals bouncing all over the place with your tuner being just able to lock in everything except channel 13.


Interesting. The antenna on the right used to be the one that I had pointed at DC. I had a similar model with just two circular elements (ClearStream 2) aimed at Baltimore. I do have a newer ClearStream 2MAX with the two circular elements plus the two dipole antennas minus the screen reflector that I had intended to use for the Baltimore stations. I may give that a try and see if it pulls in the Baltimore VHF channels any better.


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## Brian in CT

captain_video said:


> I do have a newer ClearStream 2MAX with the two circular elements plus the two dipole antennas minus the screen reflector that I had intended to use for the Baltimore stations. I may give that a try and see if it pulls in the Baltimore VHF channels any better.


Yes, use the 2MAX with the two dipoles for Baltimore. The circular elements are for UHF and do nothing for VHF. This will be your best shot at RF channels 11 & 13. If that fails, then it is probably multipath that is causing your trouble. Unfortunately, there is little you would be able to do about that.


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## captain_video

Brian in CT said:


> Yes, use the 2MAX with the two dipoles for Baltimore. The circular elements are for UHF and do nothing for VHF. This will be your best shot at RF channels 11 & 13. If that fails, then it is probably multipath that is causing your trouble. Unfortunately, there is little you would be able to do about that.


I'm inclined to try what was suggested earlier and swap the two ClearStream 4 antennas and point them in the opposite directions. The 4MAX isn't picking up channel 9 from DC like the older model 4 did. I think I read somewhere that the newer MAX versions lost some of their signal strength in favor of greater multi-directional capability. I assume that the loss of the mesh screen reflector has something to do with that. It's certainly the easiest solution to try since all I have to do is loosen the mast clamps enough to rotate the masts and point the antennas to the opposite set of towers. It will have to wait at least a couple of days with bad weather moving in. It's supposed to rain all day tomorrow and into Monday.


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## TheKrell

captain_video said:


> I assume that the loss of the mesh screen reflector has something to do with that.


I thought I saw a screen reflector in your picture... One wonders how that can work at all given how you point a loop antenna. From here: https://www.tutorialspoint.com/antenna_theory/images/polarized_radiation_pattern.jpg


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## captain_video

You are correct. One of the antennas in the photo has a reflector and the other does not. The ClearStream 4MAX is the one without the reflector screen but it also has the dipole antennas protruding from the sides. The older ClearStream 4 is the one with the wire mesh screen reflector. I connected a signal strength meter to the coax from the antenna and aligned it for maximum signal strength. I used a compass app on my phone to get it lined up with the towers and then used the meter to fine tune it.


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## mkfs

Has something happened to WMPT 22? 
My friends in DC [15123, etc upthread], awaiting WETA's return to Television Hill, now stopped getting 22 as well.

(Is this a sinister plot by VZ to force them to keep paying for FIOS?)


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## fri1038

mkfs said:


> Has something happened to WMPT 22?
> My friends in DC [15123, etc upthread], awaiting WETA's return to Television Hill, now stopped getting 22 as well.
> 
> (Is this a sinister plot by VZ to force them to keep paying for FIOS?)





No problems with their signal seen here, about ten miles northwest of their transmitter, on this wet and foggy day.


They did have a crawler saying they were experiencing technical problems around noon today, but I think that had to do with their feed of the congressional hearings as they cut away to other programming for a short time.


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## mkfs

fri1038 said:


> No problems with their signal seen here, about ten miles northwest of their transmitter, on this wet and foggy day.
> 
> 
> They did have a crawler saying they were experiencing technical problems around noon today, but I think that had to do with their feed of the congressional hearings as they cut away to other programming for a short time.


They were solid 5 stories up with a bow tie near the Intelsat campus.
Yesterday it did not show up on scans at all.


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## fri1038

The reception graphs, here, show a possible problem Sunday afternoon, but Trip has mentioned before that WMPT's signal is lacking at his location.



https://rabbitears.info/tvdx/signal_graph/10317DF4/tuner1/WMPT


Otherwise, don't know. Seems normal to me now.


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## Trip in VA

The other receivers look okay.

https://www.rabbitears.info/tvdx/signal_graph/10133F83/tuner0/WMPT

https://www.rabbitears.info/tvdx/signal_graph/1061FE57/tuner1/WMPT

https://www.rabbitears.info/tvdx/signal_graph/10497533/tuner1/WMPT

- Trip


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## captain_video

captain_video said:


> Interesting. The antenna on the right used to be the one that I had pointed at DC. I had a similar model with just two circular elements (ClearStream 2) aimed at Baltimore. I do have a newer ClearStream 2MAX with the two circular elements plus the two dipole antennas minus the screen reflector that I had intended to use for the Baltimore stations. I may give that a try and see if it pulls in the Baltimore VHF channels any better.


I rotated the two antennas so that they now point to the opposite sets of towers. The ClearStream 4MAX with the dipoles is now pointed towards Baltimore and the ClearStream 4 with the reflector is now pointed at DC. The only difference is that I am now getting channel 7.1 in DC, but not channel 9.1. Channel 13.1 in Baltimore is still breaking up on me. I'm a little discouraged by this considering that the repack of channels 11 and 13 are just shifting them to adjacent VHF channels instead of UHF. I'm hoping that they can boost their transmitter output after the switch. I thought I read that they are using a lower power output prior to the transition.


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## mkfs

So the friend rescanned the Samsung for the nth time, and bingo... 22 is back.

Also resolved is a mystery that plagued us Sunday. After attaching a D-A to the TOS output and running it to an old Sherwood amp, suddenly the remote's commands were delayed by 5-6 seconds:



Hit MUTE
count 12345
MUTE shows on screen.

Ditto raising/lowering the volume, etc.

BUT.. not if in the TV's setup menu pages. Go Figure.

But after removing the TOS D-A, resetting the remote, and power-cycling the TV did little good, the problem vanished after the rescan. All I say is: I see Rod Serling....


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## Brian in CT

captain_video said:


> I rotated the two antennas so that they now point to the opposite sets of towers. The ClearStream 4MAX with the dipoles is now pointed towards Baltimore and the ClearStream 4 with the reflector is now pointed at DC. The only difference is that I am now getting channel 7.1 in DC, but not channel 9.1. Channel 13.1 in Baltimore is still breaking up on me. I'm a little discouraged by this considering that the repack of channels 11 and 13 are just shifting them to adjacent VHF channels instead of UHF. I'm hoping that they can boost their transmitter output after the switch. I thought I read that they are using a lower power output prior to the transition.


Yikes, no CBS! I was perplexed as to why you are having trouble with RF channel 13 on your 4MAX (with the VHF dipoles) pointed at it from only ten miles away. I then reread your thread. You never answered on whether you could be having a problem with multipath. When you tune your TV to RF 13, do you get wild swings in strength on your signal meter? If so, that's a good sign you're experiencing a multipath problem. Since you're in a low spot between nearby obstructions on both sides of you, there is a good chance that could be possible.

By May 1st, both of the Baltimore VHF TV stations will have changed frequencies. Unfortunately, they will be at about the same power on their new channels. But, if WBAL (RF 11) is locking in for you now, then WJZ will likely do the same when they take over that frequency. Anyway, this would be SO much easier to diagnose if you can confirm whether or not you have multipathing problems at your location.


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## captain_video

Brian in CT said:


> Yikes, no CBS! I was perplexed as to why you are having trouble with RF channel 13 on your 4MAX (with the VHF dipoles) pointed at it from only ten miles away. I then reread your thread. You never answered on whether you could be having a problem with multipath. When you tune your TV to RF 13, do you get wild swings in strength on your signal meter? If so, that's a good sign you're experiencing a multipath problem. Since you're in a low spot between nearby obstructions on both sides of you, there is a good chance that could be possible.
> 
> By May 1st, both of the Baltimore VHF TV stations will have changed frequencies. Unfortunately, they will be at about the same power on their new channels. But, if WBAL (RF 11) is locking in for you now, then WJZ will likely do the same when they take over that frequency. Anyway, this would be SO much easier to diagnose if you can confirm whether or not you have multipathing problems at your location.


I was always under the impression that digital TV was more or less immune from multi-path interference, or at least less susceptible to it. I haven't checked the signal strength for channel 13.1 other than doing it in Windows Media Center which tends to scan through all of the channels and update each one as it rescans it. It appears that I'm getting a fairly strong signal (i.e., 5 or 6 out of 6 bars on pretty much every channel) when it scans the Baltimore VHF channels. The only weak channels are channels 7.1 and 9.1 out of DC. I only get one bar on each of them.


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## MRG1

captain_video said:


> I was always under the impression that digital TV was more or less immune from multi-path interference, or at least less susceptible to it.


If the multi-path signals are much lower in amplitude than the strongest amplitude path, they may not be strong enough to affect the final result at all. That's the good part.

Whereas you used to see "ghosting" and other artifacts on "analog" TV, even at low interference signal strengths.

But when multi-path or anything else does interfere, it tends to mess more up, partly because ATSC digital TV is compressed, which means that a very small number of bad bits can mess up everything completely for a while - even though, last I knew, if I have this right, everything was transmitted twice. The result is that "analog" TV was effectively more robust, in that you could often still figure out what was happening. 

Resistance to such problems isn't why the FCC chose digital - quite the contrary. They went digital to make it easier to perform high levels of compression, so that TV signals could be transmitted in less bandwidth, so that the FCC could auction off that bandwidth for other uses, providing more money to the FCC, which is not taxpayer supported. Compression also had the side effects of improving achievable resolution (# of pixels) within a given bandwidth, simplifying encryption (which various content providers and cable operators liked), and digitization and compression made it more practical to transmit the signal over digital networks, such as the Internet and some communications satellites. And it gave AV equipment and chip manufacturers a way to make extra money, because digital outdated a lot of old equipment. Perhaps most importantly, for a while at least, it mostly killed the VCR and DVR markets on OTA signals, making it harder to skip commercials, which the content providers and advertisers, who provide the user fees that largely support the FCC (along with income from auctioned bandwidth), loved.

Anyway, digital is not immune to interference in general. Just look at how sensitive HDTV is to minor HDMI cable connection problems.

Add to that: ATSC "digital" is actually analog-encoded-digital, and old NTSC "analog" contained some digital components, and included some forms of analog compression. Nothing is simple.


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## MRG1

By the way, I think you can usually reduce multi-path and signal strength problems by using a higher mounted and higher gain antenna. If you don't want to annoy your neighbors too much, you can disguise the antenna as a tree (or put it in a high tree), or a flagpole.  Just make sure you deal with lightning issues properly, because the higher up, the more likely an antenna is to be hit. High gain antennas also have a lot of sharp elements that concentrate electric fields, which can also attract lightning.

Someone should make a solar-powered tree-top antenna system that beams the antenna signal over IR to a IR receiver on a window!

If neighbors and nearby airports aren't a problem, you could also put a big antenna tower in your yard, like some ham radio operators have done. Higher is almost always better. 

(EDIT: I also love the idea of keeping a drone mounted antenna high above my home, which beams the signal back to me. Not sure I could make it work, and there are some dangers, but it would be fun to try. Alas, I'm planning to move somewhere in a valley it would have to be thousands of feet high in the sky to work.  The FAA would be seriously annoyed.)


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## Brian in CT

MRG1, well stated. Robust is a good word for the old NTSC analog system. In contrast, you can call ATSC 1.0 a temperamental transmission system. Much of the interference that caused artifacts on a NTSC picture, would cause an ATSC 1.0 signal to drop out entirely (especially in the VHF-Lo band). I'm waiting for ATSC 3.0 to roll out sooner rather than later.



captain_video said:


> It appears that I'm getting a fairly strong signal (i.e., 5 or 6 out of 6 bars on pretty much every channel) when it scans the Baltimore VHF channels. The only weak channels are channels 7.1 and 9.1 out of DC. I only get one bar on each of them.


In your last two posts, you said the RF channel 13 signal is coming in strong but pixelating. Before you do anything rash (or expensive), try bypassing your signal combiner and just hook your 4MAX antenna line directly to the TV. Any multipathing you are experiencing might be getting exacerbated by having the two antennas combined into one feed. I figure it's worth a shot. Using a VHF/UHF splitter to combine the signals of both antennas is not exactly textbook to begin with, so that might be part of the problem.


----------



## captain_video

Brian in CT said:


> In your last two posts, you said the RF channel 13 signal is coming in strong but pixelating. Before you do anything rash (or expensive), try bypassing your signal combiner and just hook your 4MAX antenna line directly to the TV. Any multipathing you are experiencing might be getting exacerbated by having the two antennas combined into one feed. I figure it's worth a shot. Using a VHF/UHF splitter to combine the signals of both antennas is not exactly textbook to begin with, so that might be part of the problem.


That thought had occurred to me too, which is why I replaced the splitter/combiner with a Channel Master CM-0500 JOINtenna TV Antenna Combiner. I did that at the same time that I reversed the direction of the two antennas to point at the opposite towers. Both antennas that I was originally using were directional and aimed almost 180 degrees apart so I figured any multi-path other type of interference would be minimal at best with this type of setup.

I can't put up a taller mast because the wife would have a cow and make me take it down. She's already on my case about having "ugly" antennas on the roof. A tower antenna in the back yard is totally out of the question because of the homeowner's association (and the wife). As much as I would love to cut the cord, the wife likes to watch certain channels on FIOS that aren't available via OTA or any streaming service so I'm still stuck with cable for now. The good news is that I can still get my CBS feed from FIOS.

I love the idea of using a drone at higher altitude, but it would be difficult to keep it aloft for extended periods. A tethered balloon would be an option as long as it's not too windy.


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## Brian in CT

captain_video said:


> That thought had occurred to me too, which is why I replaced the splitter/combiner with a Channel Master CM-0500 JOINtenna TV Antenna Combiner.


Sorry none of our tricks worked out for you. If I were you (and the wife doesn't mind), I'd keep the 4MAX antenna up there pointed at Baltimore as backup in case the FIOS goes out. When the Baltimore TV stations change frequency, you might luck out with better reception for the VHF stations. Since the VHF dipoles are not very directional, you might get the D.C. VHF stations off the back. Good luck.


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## captain_video

Brian in CT said:


> Sorry none of our tricks worked out for you. If I were you (and the wife doesn't mind), I'd keep the 4MAX antenna up there pointed at Baltimore as backup in case the FIOS goes out. When the Baltimore TV stations change frequency, you might luck out with better reception for the VHF stations. Since the VHF dipoles are not very directional, you might get the D.C. VHF stations off the back. Good luck.


I plan on keeping the current setup with the 4MAX pointed at Baltimore and the 4 aimed at DC. I may look into getting a dedicated VHF antenna to combine with the 4MAX to see if I can pick up channel 13.1 without the pixelation. 

Thanks for all of your suggestions. I learned a few things along the way so it wasn't all in vain.


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## captain_video

I decided to try a different antenna for the Baltimore channels. I found this one on Amazon that's supposed to be better suited for VHF but also gets the UHF channels and it's not too expensive:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0024R4B5C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I didn't want to get a huge Yagi antenna. This one is fairly compact but probably has more than enough range to pull in all of the Baltimore channels. I just need something that works well in the high VHF range. The UHF channels all come in with no problems. It's supposed to arrive on Sunday. I plan on replacing the 4MAX that's aimed at Baltimore with the RCA. Hopefully it will have enough gain for the VHF channels to pull in channel 13.1. I'll let you know how it goes.

After further research and consideration, plus reading a few recommendations over at the TV Fool forums, I'm thinking a ClearStream 5 antenna is just what I need. It's a relatively high gain antenna for the high VHF band which is where I'm having my issues. I'm thinking I can use it in conjunction with the Clearstream 2 antenna (or possibly keep the CS 4MAX but remove the two VHF dipole elements) for the Baltimore stations and then combine them with the Clearstream 4 aimed at DC. The 5 comes with a VHF/UHF combiner that I can use with the CS 2 and then output the combined VHF/UHF feed to the antenna combiner with the CS 4 for a single coax download to my tuners. This will only potentially solve my problem with the Baltimore channel 13.1, but at least it will get me CBS without having to rely on FIOS. I can probably readjust the CS 4 to bring in channel 9.1 from DC as I was able to get it quite clearly before I started moving things around. I'll try it without the CS 2 or 4MAX connected to see how it fares with the Baltimore UHF channels first as it is also supposed to receive UHF as well. I also have a preamp that I may insert into the line to see if that helps.


----------



## Brian in CT

captain_video said:


> I decided to try a different antenna for the Baltimore channels. I found this one on Amazon that's supposed to be better suited for VHF but also gets the UHF channels and it's not too expensive:
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0024R4B5C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
> 
> I didn't want to get a huge Yagi antenna. This one is fairly compact but probably has more than enough range to pull in all of the Baltimore channels. I just need something that works well in the high VHF range. The UHF channels all come in with no problems. It's supposed to arrive on Sunday. I plan on replacing the 4MAX that's aimed at Baltimore with the RCA. Hopefully it will have enough gain for the VHF channels to pull in channel 13.1. I'll let you know how it goes.


Now THAT looks like an antenna better suited for the job (at least for VHF). The 70 mile range boast is B.S. I have a large Channel Master antenna on my roof (and live on a hill), and it never had a 70 mile range in typical conditions. I'd say, just by looking at your new antenna, you would have a 35-40 mile range over FLAT TERRAIN. By comparison, the range of a cheap pair of rabbit ears would be 15-20 miles over FLAT TERRAIN. Unfortunately, you live in a low point between two obstructions. This antenna DOES give you a better chance at the Baltimore VHF stations, and I'm hoping I'm wrong about the extent of your multipathing problem, but keep the receipt just in case. Again, good luck.


----------



## captain_video

Brian in CT said:


> Now THAT looks like an antenna better suited for the job (at least for VHF). The 70 mile range boast is B.S. I have a large Channel Master antenna on my roof (and live on a hill), and it never had a 70 mile range in typical conditions. I'd say, just by looking at your new antenna, you would have a 35-40 mile range over FLAT TERRAIN. By comparison, the range of a cheap pair of rabbit ears would be 15-20 miles over FLAT TERRAIN. Unfortunately, you live in a low point between two obstructions. This antenna DOES give you a better chance at the Baltimore VHF stations, and I'm hoping I'm wrong about the extent of your multipathing problem, but keep the receipt just in case. Again, good luck.


I saw your reply and it took me a minute to realize you were talking about the RCA antenna and not the CS 5. I've actually ordered both of them but I will be more inclined to use the CS 5 vs. the RCA simply because it says it will work better for VHF even if there is lots of foliage between the antenna and LOS with the towers, which I have.

What's odd is that I have the Channels app on my iPhone that allows me to watch live TV via my HDHomeRun tuners and my wireless home network. I rarely use it but for some reason I was playing around with it and decided to try channel 13.1. I watched it for several minutes and the picture was rock solid with no pixelation. I decided to try it on my main TV and so far it's been running for over 10 minutes with a clear picture. It usually starts to pixelate within about 30 seconds or so but so far it looks stable. I'm really not sure what to do with it at this point, but I'm inclined to give the CS 5 a shot when it arrives and see how it goes. The weather is clear tonight so I'm sure that's helping with the reception. There's rain in the forecast for Tuesday so I'll check it then and see how the picture looks. I won't be home but I'll try to record some shows and see how they turn out. The CS 5 won't arrive before then anyway. It's coming from a dealer in Indianapolis. The RCA was purchased on Amazon so I can return that with no problem. 

I'm just here scratching my head wondering WTF is going on with this thing. It's enough to make me want to read a book instead of watching TV.

On top of that I decided to check out channels 7.1 and 9.1 and now both of them are coming in just fine. I watched a good part of the Chiefs-Broncos game Sunday afternoon on channel 13.1 and only saw a couple of minor glitches in about an hour that were pretty much negligible.

I tried recording and watching the Bills-Steelers game on channel 11.1 last night but got no signal. It was fine on channel 4.1 in DC. This is frustrating the heck out of me. Channels 13.1 and 11.1 broadcast from the same tower array so if I get one then I should be able to get the other. This isn't making any sense.


----------



## pclement

pclement said:


> Yes, that is the issue. When I scanned the OTA channels on my new 65" TCL I was able to view the MPEG4 video for 45.4. None off my older TV's can do MPEG4. Thanks for everyone's input.


 I am now able to get 45-4 on my older TVs. Guess they changed the output.


----------



## StevenJB

captain_video said:


> Channels 13.1 and 11.1 broadcast from the same tower array so if I get one then I should be able to get the other. This isn't making any sense.




If you are having problems with Channel 13 and not Channel 11, it may be due to your location.


WJZ-TV transmits on Digital RF Channel 13 and appears on Digital Virtual Channel 13. It transmits from the Television Hill candelabra tower array and uses a 33.8 kW *directional antenna* pattern. This is the WJZ-TV antenna pattern:


https://www.rabbitears.info/pattern...6ac4d4d0484c1cf6212b6c0ea&rotation=0&erp=33.8


WBAL-TV transmits on Digital RF Channel 11 and appears on Digital Virtual Channel 11. It also transmits from the Television Hill candelabra tower array and uses a 26.6 kW *non-directional* antenna pattern.


On May 1, 2020, WJZ-TV is scheduled to switch to RF 11 and maintain Virtual 13 and WBAL-TV is scheduled to switch to RF 12 and maintain Virtual 11. Both stations will broadcast 30 kW signals and use *non-directional* antenna patterns from the Television Hill candelabra tower array.


----------



## captain_video

StevenJB said:


> If you are having problems with Channel 13 and not Channel 11, it may be due to your location.
> 
> 
> WJZ-TV transmits on Digital RF Channel 13 and appears on Digital Virtual Channel 13. It transmits from the Television Hill candelabra tower array and uses a 33.8 kW *directional antenna* pattern:
> 
> 
> https://www.rabbitears.info/pattern...6ac4d4d0484c1cf6212b6c0ea&rotation=0&erp=33.8
> 
> 
> WBAL-TV transmits on Digital RF Channel 11 and appears on Digital Virtual Channel 11. It also transmits from the Television Hill candelabra tower array and uses a 26.6 kW *non-directional* antenna pattern.
> 
> 
> On May 1, 2020, WJZ-TV is scheduled to switch to RF 11 and maintain Virtual 13 and WBAL-TV is scheduled to switch to RF 12 and maintain Virtual 11. Both stations will broadcast 30 kW signals and use *non-directional* antenna patterns from the Television Hill candelabra tower array.


The irony here is that I had literally just climbed down off the roof after installing a new ClearStream 5 antenna (the one on the left in the attached photo) aimed at Baltimore when I got the email alerting me to your post. I appreciate your comment but I was already aware of everything you just posted. My previous post indicated that I had lost channel 11.1, but that was only temporary for some reason. I checked it the next day and it was back again.

Even though I was now able to get channels 11.1 and 13.1 in the clear, I still saw just a brief bit of pixelation on channel 13.1 when I watched it for about 45 minutes or so, but that was with perfectly clear weather. The ClearStream 5 is supposed to be better at picking up high VHF channels if you're in an area with tall trees, which I am. The signal strength meter didn't fluctuate even when I rotated the antenna in an arc of about 45-60 degrees before it dropped off so it was difficult to pinpoint the exact direction that I needed to aim it. I used the AntennaPoint app on my cell phone to aim the antenna in the general direction of the broadcast towers in Baltimore. Doing a cursory check of the Baltimore and Washington stations I am able to get channels 11.1 and 13.1 as well as 9.1 with a stable, clear picture. I can also get channel 7.1, but with a good bit of pixelation. I already get a good signal for ABC on channel 2.1 so 7.1 is basically redundant anyway. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I have finally achieved a stable solution to receive all of my local network stations. All of the local Baltimore UHF channels come in with no problem as well as most of the DC UHF channels. I don't have my guide setup to show channels 26.1 or 32.1 and their sub channels so I wasn't able to check them. I don't watch that much on PBS anyway so it's not a big deal for me.


----------



## StevenJB

captain_video said:


> I appreciate your comment but I was already aware of everything you just posted.



If you were indeed aware of everything that I had posted then at no time did your previous comments indicate to me that you were aware that WJZ-TV uses a directional antenna. Were you aware that WJZ uses a directional antenna? Were you aware that WBAL is omni-directional? Your comments had indicated to me only that you were perplexed as to why two separate channels with comparable broadcast power using the same broadcast tower should yield different reception performances. You made no mention of your knowledge of different broadcast patterns for the two channels. Correct me if I am wrong. Were you aware that your location is on the weak side of WJZ's signal? None of your previous comments gave me that confidence. In any event, good luck with your reception.


----------



## captain_video

StevenJB said:


> If you were indeed aware of everything that I had posted then at no time did your previous comments indicate to me that you were aware that WJZ-TV uses a directional antenna. Were you aware that WJZ uses a directional antenna? Were you aware that WBAL is omni-directional? Your comments had indicated to me only that you were perplexed as to why two separate channels with comparable broadcast power using the same broadcast tower should yield different reception performances. You made no mention of your knowledge of different broadcast patterns for the two channels. Correct me if I am wrong. Were you aware that your location is on the weak side of WJZ's signal? None of your previous comments gave me that confidence. In any event, good luck with your reception.


The only part of your previous response that had not already been discussed was the part about the directionality of the antennas. I was not aware that WBAL was omni-directional and WJZ was directional so thank you for that information. That certainly explains why I was having so much difficulty with reception on channel 13.1. Although looking at the signal map from the link you posted on rabbitears.info it's near impossible to tell where my location falls in relation to the beam pattern without having some sort of scale to judge distance and location. However, if I had to hazard a guess I would have to say that my location falls directly in the lower part of the broadcast beam that appears to be quite strong (I'm only about 10.3 miles from the broadcast towers). According to TVFool.com and other sites I am supposed to aim my antenna approximately 47 degrees to the northeast of my location. I had assumed that they all broadcast on an omni-directional array so that they could reach more viewers. 

Here's a quote from one of my previous posts regarding the repack of both WBAL and WJZ:



> I'm a little discouraged by this considering that the repack of channels 11 and 13 are just shifting them to adjacent VHF channels instead of UHF.


In any case, my current setup seems to have cured the problem for the time being. I'll have to keep a close eye on it to see if it fixes it in the long term.

I watched the entire Ravens-Browns game today on channel 13.1 without a single glitch. I checked all of my local VHF and UHF channels and their associated sub-channels and everything is coming through except for channel 7.1 which suffers from severe pixelation. I'm getting channels now that I didn't think I was able to receive in my location. Since I have access to two major markets I have a lot of redundant channels, but it's nice to have backups. Channel 7.1 is the ABC affiliate in DC whereas I get the Baltimore ABC channel on 2.1 which is actually on a UHF frequency so I haven't actually lost anything. The ClearStream 5 seems to be performing as advertised.


----------



## keeper

StevenJB said:


> If you are having problems with Channel 13 and not Channel 11, it may be due to your location.
> 
> 
> WJZ-TV transmits on Digital RF Channel 13 and appears on Digital Virtual Channel 13. It transmits from the Television Hill candelabra tower array and uses a 33.8 kW *directional antenna* pattern. This is the WJZ-TV antenna pattern:
> 
> 
> https://www.rabbitears.info/pattern...6ac4d4d0484c1cf6212b6c0ea&rotation=0&erp=33.8
> 
> 
> WBAL-TV transmits on Digital RF Channel 11 and appears on Digital Virtual Channel 11. It also transmits from the Television Hill candelabra tower array and uses a 26.6 kW *non-directional* antenna pattern.
> 
> 
> On May 1, 2020, WJZ-TV is scheduled to switch to RF 11 and maintain Virtual 13 and WBAL-TV is scheduled to switch to RF 12 and maintain Virtual 11. Both stations will broadcast 30 kW signals and use *non-directional* antenna patterns from the Television Hill candelabra tower array.


This is good information. Thanks for posting. I live in Dillsburg, pa. Have the huge antennacraft in my attack. I get both of these pretty well with occasional dropouts. According to the pattern for WJZ my area is hardly getting any signal. I’m really looking forward to the switch And increased power.


----------



## StevenJB

keeper said:


> This is good information. Thanks for posting. I live in Dillsburg, pa. Have the huge antennacraft in my attack. I get both of these pretty well with occasional dropouts. According to the pattern for WJZ my area is hardly getting any signal. I’m really looking forward to the switch And increased power.



You're welcome. Actually, the new approved ERP of 30 kW ND for WJZ for RF-11 is a 3.8 kW decrease from the present 33.8 kW DA ERP now on RF-13. You'll just be receiving a more evenly distributed signal. The new non-directional WJZ transmitter also will be placed 10 meters higher on the Television Hill candelabra tower than at present. It also occurs to me that the lower RF-11 channel frequency will be a slight advantage over RF-13. WBAL is moving from RF-11 to RF-12. Their present 26.6 kW ND ERP will increase to 30 kW ND ERP and the new transmitter will be placed 9 meters higher. At present, WJZ's directional antenna is designed to protect the lower RF-12 channel, WWPX in Martinsburg, WV. Since WWPX will be moving from RF-12 to RF-13 in order to accomodate WBAL's move from RF-11 to RF-12, WWPX's new directional pattern will now protect WBAL. Also, WHYY in Wilmington, DE, which is currently using RF-12 will also switch to RF-13. WHYY's new directional pattern will also now protect WBAL. It appears that the new WJZ and WBAL both non-directional will both be given a priority status in the region. Reception for both should be excellent.


----------



## keeper

StevenJB said:


> You're welcome. Actually, the new approved ERP of 30 kW ND for WJZ for RF-11 is a 3.8 kW decrease from the present 33.8 kW DA ERP now on RF-13. You'll just be receiving a more evenly distributed signal. The new non-directional WJZ transmitter also will be placed 10 meters higher on the Television Hill candelabra tower than at present. It also occurs to me that the lower RF-11 channel frequency will be a slight advantage over RF-13. WBAL is moving from RF-11 to RF-12. Their present 26.6 kW ND ERP will increase to 30 kW ND ERP and the new transmitter will be placed 9 meters higher. At present, WJZ's directional antenna is designed to protect the lower RF-12 channel, WWPX in Martinsburg, WV. Since WWPX will be moving from RF-12 to RF-13 in order to accomodate WBAL's move from RF-11 to RF-12, WWPX's new directional pattern will now protect WBAL. Also, WHYY in Wilmington, DE, which is currently using RF-12 will also switch to RF-13. WHYY's new directional pattern will also now protect WBAL. It appears that the new WJZ and WBAL both non-directional will both be given a priority status in the region. Reception for both should be excellent.


That’s what I am hoping for. I’ve had issues with both since they went digital. Not horrible but occasional dropouts. Of course I realize my antennas in the attic play a negative role in reception. According to your data both stations should improve. Unfortunately for me Harrisburg stations are blocked by the mountain so I have to aim for Baltimore. It will be interesting to see real world results when these stations move their frequencies. Thanks again for the information.


----------



## nottenst

I live in Bowie and was wondering whether anyone has a recommended indoor antenna for getting the major network signals. Ch 22 and 45 are really close and can come in with just about anything, but DC channels and a few other Baltimore are a bit problematic at times. 

I had some rabbit ears that I was using with an older TV and could usually adjust them, but there is no place to put those on this newer TV I just received today for use in the kitchen.

Thanks,

Neil


----------



## captain_video

Channel 45 is broadcast from a tower right next to channels 2, 11, and 13. The DC TV towers are on the opposite side of DC from you so you may need to get either a separate antenna aimed at them or one that's more omni-directional. If you can get channel 45 then you should also be able to get channel 2. An indoor antenna may not be what you need at your location, especially a set of rabbit ears. You should consider putting one in the attic or better yet on the roof.


----------



## fri1038

nottenst said:


> I live in Bowie and was wondering whether anyone has a recommended indoor antenna for getting the major network signals. Ch 22 and 45 are really close and can come in with just about anything, but DC channels and a few other Baltimore are a bit problematic at times.
> 
> I had some rabbit ears that I was using with an older TV and could usually adjust them, but there is no place to put those on this newer TV I just received today for use in the kitchen.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Neil



If rabbit ears aren't practical, what style of antenna might work for you?


I have good luck with a Channel Master Flatenna 35 and can pick up all the full power DC (26 miles) and Baltimore (13 miles) stations including VHFers 7, 9, 11, and 13, surprisingly. Not expensive to try. I found a sweet spot on a shelf near the TV for it that only needs minimal adjustments. 



https://www.channelmaster.com/Flatenna_Indoor_TV_Antenna_p/cm-4001hdbw.htm


Sharing the results from a https://rabbitears.info/ Search Map might be helpful for more advice.


----------



## nottenst

fri1038 said:


> If rabbit ears aren't practical, what style of antenna might work for you?
> 
> 
> I have good luck with a Channel Master Flatenna 35 and can pick up all the full power DC (26 miles) and Baltimore (13 miles) stations including VHFers 7, 9, 11, and 13, surprisingly. Not expensive to try. I found a sweet spot on a shelf near the TV for it that only needs minimal adjustments.
> 
> 
> 
> https://www.channelmaster.com/Flatenna_Indoor_TV_Antenna_p/cm-4001hdbw.htm
> 
> 
> Sharing the results from a https://rabbitears.info/ Search Map might be helpful for more advice.


I just don't have a place to affix or hold the rabbit ears on this new TV. Unless there is some rabbit ear holder you can buy somewhere.

That antenna looks promising and worth a try.

Here is the search map.

https://rabbitears.info/searchmap.php?request=result&study_id=37944

Thanks.


----------



## nottenst

I was just reading about rabbit ears and antennas and it said that it might do better further away from the digital TV. I have an RCA ANT1308 rabbit ears with a UHF loop on a base that has given me mixed results for years (on a different TV) that I was trying. I moved it about 3 feet away from this TV and closer to a window and in addition to Ch 2 (which I had been getting where it was), picked up Ch 4, 5 and 7 really well and Ch 9 okay. So, maybe I can just play with this and it will be good enough. Or I can get that Channel Master and perhaps get even better results.


----------



## TheKrell

nottenst said:


> I just don't have a place to affix or hold the rabbit ears on this new TV. Unless there is some rabbit ear holder you can buy somewhere.


Young whipper snapper.  What you need is one of these:










Note the missing loop antenna.​


----------



## fri1038

nottenst said:


> I was just reading about rabbit ears and antennas and it said that it might do better further away from the digital TV. I have an RCA ANT1308 rabbit ears with a UHF loop on a base that has given me mixed results for years (on a different TV) that I was trying. I moved it about 3 feet away from this TV and closer to a window and in addition to Ch 2 (which I had been getting where it was), picked up Ch 4, 5 and 7 really well and Ch 9 okay. So, maybe I can just play with this and it will be good enough. Or I can get that Channel Master and perhaps get even better results.



These flat panel interior antennas are not known for their VHF (7-13, in our area) performance, so "luck" is the operative word in my situation. It's on a shelf on an exterior wall on the side of the house nearest DC. It doesn't do so well in other rooms. But maybe it will work and be out of the way for you, too. Your rabbit ears reports shows you have pretty good line-of-sight to both DC and Balt towers. (Click on the distance fields in the chart it produces.)


----------



## nottenst

StevenJB said:


> If you are having problems with Channel 13 and not Channel 11, it may be due to your location.
> 
> ....
> 
> On May 1, 2020, WJZ-TV is scheduled to switch to RF 11 and maintain Virtual 13 and WBAL-TV is scheduled to switch to RF 12 and maintain Virtual 11. Both stations will broadcast 30 kW signals and use *non-directional* antenna patterns from the Television Hill candelabra tower array.


With different antenna in different locations and orientations I can sometimes get 13 and sometimes I can't, but 11 is more consistent. I really shouldn't absolutely need to see 13 (instead of 9) until the next regular football season in those cases when the Ravens aren't broadcast on the DC CBS station. If that change makes it easier, then I may be set with what I have.


----------



## Brian in CT

nottenst said:


> I just don't have a place to affix or hold the rabbit ears on this new TV. Unless there is some rabbit ear holder you can buy somewhere.
> 
> Here is the search map.
> 
> https://rabbitears.info/searchmap.php?request=result&study_id=37944
> 
> Thanks.


Thanks for posting your TV signal "Results List" from RabbitEars.info. If you are looking for an indoor antenna, you should change your "Receive Height" to something less than 30 feet above ground. A little height can sometimes make a big difference. Also, I assume you know you get a terrain profile when you click on each station's "Transmitter Distance."

For what kind of antenna to get, I have a rule of thumb you can use with the information in the "Field Strength" column. TV stations listed with "Good" (in green) signals usually can be received with a simple rabbit ears and loop combo. Stations listed with "Fair" (in yellow) signals likely need a more moderately sized antenna that might have to be put in the attic to receive them. Stations listed with "Poor" (in red) signals most likely need a large rooftop antenna to get reception. I concur with fri1038 that those flat antennas will do little for VHF reception. I hope this helps.


----------



## nottenst

Brian in CT said:


> Thanks for posting your TV signal "Results List" from RabbitEars.info. If you are looking for an indoor antenna, you should change your "Receive Height" to something less than 30 feet above ground. A little height can sometimes make a big difference. Also, I assume you know you get a terrain profile when you click on each station's "Transmitter Distance."
> 
> For what kind of antenna to get, I have a rule of thumb you can use with the information in the "Field Strength" column. TV stations listed with "Good" (in green) signals usually can be received with a simple rabbit ears and loop combo. Stations listed with "Fair" (in yellow) signals likely need a more moderately sized antenna that might have to be put in the attic to receive them. Stations listed with "Poor" (in red) signals most likely need a large rooftop antenna to get reception. I concur with fri1038 that those flat antennas will do little for VHF reception. I hope this helps.


Thanks for the advice. Not quite sure on receive height as we have a walk out basement, so one side of the house is "higher" above the ground than the other side. 

I'll have to read the site a bit more carefully to grasp the terrain profile, etc. The coverage maps provide some more information as well. As you say, all those in "Good" I can easily get, while the first set of "Fair" are more hit or miss and require some adjustment. If the flat antennas are not going to help with VHF, then I guess I will take a pass on that.

Thanks again everyone for the advice and resources.


----------



## mkfs

WETA was talking about being back in DC in December. But it appears that was optimistic. I don't see any sign of a move.


----------



## mkfs

Repacking: The industry has been playing musical chairs err frequencies to free spectrum up for CellCo's. But what's unclear to me is exactly what space is being emptied. I chase links about it and inevitably end up getting instructions on how to rescan, grrr. 



So exactly what spectrum is being emptied out and auctioned off?
Will it be nationwide or is the process regional?
What cell bands are being created from it?


----------



## Trip in VA

mkfs said:


> Repacking: The industry has been playing musical chairs err frequencies to free spectrum up for CellCo's. But what's unclear to me is exactly what space is being emptied. I chase links about it and inevitably end up getting instructions on how to rescan, grrr.
> 
> 
> 
> So exactly what spectrum is being emptied out and auctioned off?
> Will it be nationwide or is the process regional?
> What cell bands are being created from it?


Channels 38-51.
Nationwide, but the repack is happening in 10 phases to spread out the work.
Band 71, currently being used by T-Mobile, with some spectrum owned by Dish, US Cellular, and other smaller companies.

- Trip


----------



## mkfs

Trip in VA said:


> Channels 38-51.
> Nationwide, but the repack is happening in 10 phases to spread out the work.
> Band 71, currently being used by T-Mobile, with some spectrum owned by Dish, US Cellular, and other smaller companies.
> 
> - Trip


So we are down to CH 2-36; I seem to recall 37 is reserved as guard space.

That's up to 608MHz. 

Thanks. 

I'm also curious about the corporate side of the repack. If WQQQ sells off their RF, and moves onto WXXX's transmitter, is QQQ renting with a 30 day lease? Or are their cases where XXX sells half of the space to QQQ, etc? 

I assume many of the repacked 2-1 are like 20+5 here, the same owner. But others won't be. It could get messy.

BTW the Cell Band # vs Freq chart seems as befuddling as possible as well.


----------



## Trip in VA

mkfs said:


> I'm also curious about the corporate side of the repack. If WQQQ sells off their RF, and moves onto WXXX's transmitter, is QQQ renting with a 30 day lease? Or are their cases where XXX sells half of the space to QQQ, etc?
> 
> I assume many of the repacked 2-1 are like 20+5 here, the same owner. But others won't be. It could get messy.


The agreements are not public. Some are presumably leases of spectrum; others are more likely permanent arrangements where the auction revenue was split in exchange for a permanent spot.



mkfs said:


> BTW the Cell Band # vs Freq chart seems as befuddling as possible as well.


The LTE band numbers are really a reference to the order in which they were sought, and apply world-wide. So you'll never see Band 1 used in the US, because that's a non-US allocation of cellular spectrum. Band 2 is used in the US, and covers the original PCS spectrum. (Band 25 came later, and is a small extension of Band 2.) Band 3 is non-US, Band 4 is the US AWS-1 band (and Band 66 expands it into AWS-3 territory), Band 5 is the original cellular band in 850 MHz in the US (expanded by Band 26), etc.

There's not really a trick to it or anything, it just is what it is. The only real trick is that paired spectrum bands (separate uplink and downlink) end at 32 and pick up again at 65, with time-division spectrum in the band numbers 33-64.

- Trip


----------



## captain_video

I wanted to provide an update on my situation with the Baltimore VHF channels, particularly channels 11.1 and 13.1. After installing the ClearStream 5 antenna I am now getting all local channels perfectly clear with maybe an occasional bit of pixelation, but the occurrence is few and far between and essentially negligible. I recorded and watched the three NFL playoff games broadcast last weekend on channels 11.1, 13.1, and 45.1 and the picture was perfect for the entire duration of the games and the overtime periods. After several years of dealing with bad reception I seem to have finally found the cure. I chose the ClearStream 5 because the description said it had a much higher gain in the high VHF band. The other ClearStream models (i.e., the 2 and the 4) did a great job with the UHF channels, but the high trees between the antenna and the broadcast towers attenuated the VHF channels too severely for them to provide the gain I needed to receive them without degradation. I am still using the original ClearStream 4 to receive the DC channels and it's working just fine, even with channels 7.1 and 9.1, although I would only use them as a backup and even then my confidence factor is low for good reception. More likely I would rely on the FIOS channels in case there's an issue with OTA reception. 

I highly recommend the ClearStream 5 to anyone that is located in a low lying area or is surrounded by tall trees and suffering from poor reception of the high VHF band. Keep in mind that I am only a little over 10 miles from the broadcast towers. I can't vouch for your reception if you're further away. The antenna is supposedly rated for 70 miles, IIRC, but I think we all know that's more wishful thinking than actual quality of reception. I've gone through at least a half dozen different antennas, all of which were highly recommended by various websites like TVFool.com, antennaweb.org, and solidsignal.com, before finally hitting on one that fixed my problem.


----------



## fri1038

WPXW (RF35, 66.1 - 66.6, Ion, etc.) is back at full power as of yesterday, it appears. Here, near BWI airport, signal strength and quality is on par with the other full power DC stations.


----------



## Trip in VA

I'm not convinced it's at full power yet. It looks better than it's been, but weaker than it was before the repack. It's possible that I'm just not aimed properly for the new tower location, of course, but I wouldn't have thought it would have made that much of a difference. Alternatively, they may be turning it up gradually in order to make sure nothing is wrong.

- Trip


----------



## wmcbrine

fri1038 said:


> WPXW (RF35, 66.1 - 66.6, Ion, etc.) is back at full power as of yesterday, it appears.


I was gonna say, I picked it up with a rescan the other day.


----------



## Chancellor Todd

Is Channel 49.4 (Retro Television Network) dark right now? I just get a black picture, and there's a lone message on their website that says "Big things are on the horizon. Stay tuned."


----------



## KyL416

If it's still happening, it's probably a local issue. Retro's coming in just fine here in Eastern Pennsylvania via WDPN 2.5 Philly.


----------



## Signal

Chancellor Todd said:


> Is Channel 49.4 (Retro Television Network) dark right now? I just get a black picture, and there's a lone message on their website that says "Big things are on the horizon. Stay tuned."


It's been that way on my Tivo for months.

Also, why have WETA and MPT changed from 1080i to 720p? In addition, the compression has made the video quality of these over-the-air channels intolerable. Scenes with motion (especially panning) are just a blur. I miss the quality of the WETA HD demo loops nearly 20 years ago.


----------



## fri1038

Re MPT ... 22.1 is 1080i, 22.2 is 720p, 22.3 and 4 are 480i and picture quality seems good to me. Old programs sometimes suffer due to a lousy conversion to a digital format.



Don't know about WETA lately. Still out of range for me with their temp transmitter.


----------



## Trip in VA

I just checked, and that's odd about WETA, but WMPT looks to still be 1080i.

- Trip


----------



## Pb2nutter

What would be a good antenna for me. https://www.rabbitears.info/searchmap.php?request=result&study_id=48567
I'm thinking rca yagi ant751 , clearstream 4max or winegard hd7694p
The antenna will be installed my attic
Thanks


----------



## Brian in CT

Pb2nutter said:


> What would be a good antenna for me. https://www.rabbitears.info/searchmap.php?request=result&study_id=48567
> I'm thinking rca yagi ant751 , clearstream 4max or winegard hd7694p
> The antenna will be installed my attic
> Thanks


Since no one locally gave a reply, I'll try my best to help. Keep in mind that my knowledge of antennas is 20 years out of date. I looked at all three antennas you thought of getting. First, you should discount all mileage estimates. Those numbers would have been pushing it in the ANALOG era. I have a large Channel Master antenna mounted on my roof (for about 20 years), and it has an ATSC 1.0 signal range of about 60 miles in typical conditions. These three antennas obviously won't match that, but two are good enough according to the Rabbit Ears results list you included. Of course, interference and obstructions might affect your reception.

The antenna I'd not get is the 4max. The VHF dipole is an afterthought. WJLA (RF 7) & WUSA (RF 9) will PROBLABLY tune in with the 4max, but may not, and don't count on receiving WBAL (RF 11) & WJZ (RF 13) even with it pointed in that direction. The RCA yagi ant751 & Winegard HD7694 are your best bets to get all the TV stations in your results list table listed under "field strength" as "Good" (in green), and "Fair" (in yellow) that the antenna is pointed at. If you end up getting a rotor to receive both Washington & Baltimore, the Winegard model looks like it would be the better bet of the two for WBAL, and MIGHT be able to pull in WJZ. It will all depend on how much your attic installation affects your reception.

If your attic is surrounded by metal (ESPECIALLY aluminum siding), it may not be worth it to install it there. Even bits of metal near your antenna (like nails) may interfere with reception (more so with a preamp). In that case, you may need to move the antenna around the attic before you find the sweet spot for the best reception. I hope I've helped. Good luck.


----------



## pkpaul

49.4 is lit up with New Tang Dynasty TV


49.1 is still dark but has "Dabl" PSIP


----------



## dleedlee

pkpaul said:


> 49.4 is lit up with New Tang Dynasty TV
> 
> 
> 49.1 is still dark but has "Dabl" PSIP


DABL is on now.

https://www.dabl.com/schedule


----------



## mkfs

Trip in VA said:


> WETA is temporarily operating from the WETA-FM tower in Arlington. It moves back to the shared tower in DC some time in the next few months.
> 
> - Trip


Is the work hurting their FM side at all? My friends got a Sony STRDH590 and it comes not with a 300 ohm or 75 ohm antenna input, but a several foot long single wire antenna, and it's noisy as the dickers on 90.9. 

So, is there any hope things will improve once the TV moves back?


----------



## Digital Rules

I doubt it. WETA-FM still works fine on my smartphone with just the headphone wire acting as an antenna. 

The temporary TV antenna is nothing more than a small side mounted antenna right underneath the massive FM array. It looks like a cellular antenna panel.


----------



## mkfs

Digital Rules said:


> I doubt it. WETA-FM still works fine on my smartphone with just the headphone wire acting as an antenna.
> 
> The temporary TV antenna is nothing more than a small side mounted antenna right underneath the massive FM array. It looks like a cellular antenna panel.


Thanks.

I'm PO'd at Sony for doing something so stoopid.....


----------



## badgerdms

*Attic Antenna Recommendation--Fairfax*

I'm going to cut the chord this spring but wanted to get a solid antenna into my attic that would get all of the major local stations (and hopefully) the ones in Baltimore as well. I want to use this antenna to feed at least five locations in my house. I have an antenna up there already that was installed when all the HD signals were on UHF, so 4 & 5 come in (as does 2 in Baltimore) but nothing on all the ones now using high VHS signals. I'm in Fairfax and here is my Rabbit Ears report:

https://www.rabbitears.info/searchmap.php?request=result&study_id=60844

Is there an antenna that some of you in Northern Virginia like or have had good luck with? Would I be better off getting a stand alone High VHF antenna and merging the signal with my existing UHF antenna? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Dave


----------



## Brian in CT

badgerdms said:


> I'm going to cut the chord this spring but wanted to get a solid antenna into my attic that would get all of the major local stations (and hopefully) the ones in Baltimore as well. I want to use this antenna to feed at least five locations in my house. I have an antenna up there already that was installed when all the HD signals were on UHF, so 4 & 5 come in (as does 2 in Baltimore) but nothing on all the ones now using high VHS signals. I'm in Fairfax and here is my TV Fool report:
> 
> http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=9038393d835f98
> 
> Is there an antenna that some of you in Northern Virginia like or have had good luck with? Would I be better off getting a stand alone High VHF antenna and merging the signal with my existing UHF antenna? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
> 
> Dave


Sorry Dave, but TVFool is 2 1/2 years out of date. Try www.rabbitears.info instead. If you use the "Signal Search Map," you will get up-to-date information similar to what TV Fool had.

Unless you are in a deep terrain shadow, the D.C. TV stations should be easy. It's the Baltimore stations that are going to be hard to get. I can't recommend a particular antenna, but you'll need a preamp to get Baltimore if you plan on splitting the signal numerous times. Here's the rule of thumb on signal splitters: Every time the TV signal gets split you lose about 3.5 dB of signal strength (not including line loss). So splitting your signal eight ways (even with a single 8-way splitter) will have 10.5 dB of loss by the time the signal gets to your TVs. Your preamp should be able to make up for that loss.

I hope that helps. I'm sure there will be TV antenna aficionados that will respond to you soon.


----------



## badgerdms

Brian in CT said:


> Sorry Dave, but TVFool is 2 1/2 years out of date. Try www.rabbitears.info instead. If you use the "Signal Search Map," you will get up-to-date information similar to what TV Fool had.
> 
> Unless you are in a deep terrain shadow, the D.C. TV stations should be easy. It's the Baltimore stations that are going to be hard to get. I can't recommend a particular antenna, but you'll need a preamp to get Baltimore if you plan on splitting the signal numerous times. Here's the rule of thumb on signal splitters: Every time the TV signal gets split you lose about 3.5 dB of signal strength (not including line loss). So splitting your signal eight ways (even with a single 8-way splitter) will have 10.5 dB of loss by the time the signal gets to your TVs. Your preamp should be able to make up for that loss.
> 
> I hope that helps. I'm sure there will be TV antenna aficionados that will respond to you soon.


Thanks! made the change and used the Rabbit Ears report.


----------



## MRG1

Brian in CT said:


> splitting your signal eight ways (even with a single 8-way splitter) will have 10.5 dB of loss by the time the signal gets to your TVs. Your preamp should be able to make up for that loss.


I'm NOT an expert. I'm mostly only talking from past experience, which is out of date.

I know from past experience (though that was in analog TV days) that you probably want a very low noise pre-amp - probably a professional grade pre-amp, not something you buy at a consumer market store. Also, please know that a "distribution amp" is not the same thing, and may not do what you need - UNLESS it has all 5 outputs that you need, and maybe not even then, because it isn't designed to work with low power signals. Either way, buy pro-grade if you can. Otherwise the amp is likely to make things worse rather than better. I think TV reception, especially digital TV, is more likely to be limited by noise than by signal strength. (It may also be limited by multi-path interference - i.e., you are getting signals that arrive at different times after traveling through different paths. An EXTREMELY directional antenna, and/or trying many different antenna placements, MIGHT help with that - but I'm not sure how practical that is.)

However, in either case, the amp will have an AGC, which means that simultaneously receiving high amplitude signals will not allow the amplifier to give sufficient gain on low amplitude signals. That means you need a high gain (i.e., very directional) antenna, so you aren't picking up nearby stations signals at the same time you are trying to pick up far away stations. And you need a rotator, so you can turn the antenna to face the right broadcast tower. I do not know if any rotators can be programmed to face specific directions at specific times, so you can set up DVR recordings. The high gain antenna will also help if your more-distant stations are on the same frequencies as your close stations.

Another possibility, which might theoretically be better, is to use different antennas, and different DVRs if you are recording, for each broadcast tower, together with a switch to connect to your TV. More expensive, of course.

But I'm not an expert and cannot tell you what model of antenna to get.

And I can't tell you whether any affordable solution will let you reliably get Baltimore in Northern Virginia, with roof-top antenna(s). When I tried to pick up Northern Virginia from College Park (which is closer), the results depended a lot on weather - though that was with a low gain home-made attic antenna.

Good luck!


----------



## Brian in CT

I just would like to add one thing to what MRG1 said. Since you are close to the D.C. towers (about 14 miles), you MAY be able to get away with using just one duel-band antenna pointed at Baltimore and still receive the full power D.C. TV stations, too. From downtown Fairfax, the Baltimore and D.C. transmitters are directionally about only 25 degrees apart from each other, so the second antenna suggestion might not be necessary. Just remember that using an attic antenna to receive the Baltimore TV stations (almost 50 miles away) is going to be the hard part.


----------



## MRG1

Brian in CT said:


> I just would like to add one thing to what MRG1 said. Since you are close to the D.C. towers (about 14 miles), you MAY be able to get away with using just one duel-band antenna pointed at Baltimore and still receive the full power D.C. TV stations, too. From downtown Fairfax, the Baltimore and D.C. transmitters are directionally about only 25 degrees apart from each other, so the second antenna suggestion might not be necessary. Just remember that using an attic antenna to receive the Baltimore TV stations (almost 50 miles away) is going to be the hard part.


But if any of the stations in Baltimore and DC have the same frequencies, they could interfere with each other - or, more likely, since you are closer to DC, DC area stations will drown out the Baltimore stations. Even if they don't have the same frequencies, the strong signals from DC will cause the Baltimore stations not to be adequately amplified - so I would guess you need a strongly directional antenna to block the DC area stations when watching Baltimore stations. 

Also, I didn't see where you said the antenna would be in the attic. That's a lot harder to make work, for several reasons - e.g., it is less high, so lots more stuff will get in the way, and the roof might contain reflective surfaces that will kill your reception. Could you put the antenna on top? That could be a very big deal, especially for Baltimore stations. Though nothing can guarantee success.

You might consider getting professional help to set up the system. A roof-top antenna has to be setup and adequately grounded by a qualified licensed electrician, for legal and practical reasons. If you do it yourself you could destroy your home (from a lightning strike), be fined, and void your home insurance. Again, I'm not an expert, but I think an antenna on a mast (even a short mast with an attic antenna, for use with the rotator) may be subject to the same rules! An experienced antenna installer might also be be able to guess whether Baltimore can work in your area.

Have you looked into instead sharing a Locast.org account with a Baltimore area friend? It might be simpler than setting up antenna(s).


----------



## KyL416

MRG1 said:


> But if any of the stations in Baltimore and DC have the same frequencies, they could interfere with each other


Since Baltimore and DC are short spaced next to eachother that's not going to be the case. The only co-channel stations will be a bunch of low power and Class A stations with limited coverage areas, along with WDVM Hagerstown, who's signal doesn't reach the cities of DC or Baltimore. This will be the Baltimore/DC RF lineup when all the phases are finished:
7 - WJLA
9 - WUSA/WJAL
10 - W45DN-D
11 - WJZ
12 - WBAL
13 - WWPX
14 - WWTD-LD
15 - WFDC/WDCW
(17-18 reserved for Land Mobile use in DC)
20 - WAZT-CD Vienna or WQAW-LP Lake Shore
21 - WMPT
22 - WMPB
23 - WDDN-LD Washington or WDWA-LD Dale City or WMJF-CD Towson or WDVM Hagerstown
24 - WDCO-CD Woodstock or WWDD-LD Havre de Grace
25 - WNUV
26 - WBFF/WUTB
27 - WMAR
28 - WFPT
29 - WWPB
30 - WIAV-CD/WMDO-CD
31 - WETA
32 - WRZB-LD
33 - WHUT
34 - WRC/WZDC-CD
35 - WPXW
36 - WTTG



> Have you looked into sharing a Locast.org account with a Baltimore area friend?


That's not how Locast works. It uses your current location, not the location you were in when you signed up for an account. If your current IP address or GPS location resolves to a county in the DC market you get DC stations, if it resolves to a county in the Baltimore market, you get Baltimore stations, and if you block their location requests, you don't get anything.


----------



## tylerSC

KyL416 said:


> Since Baltimore and DC are short spaced next to eachother that's not going to be the case. The only co-channel stations will be a bunch of low power and Class A stations with limited coverage areas, along with WDVM Hagerstown, who's signal doesn't reach the cities of DC or Baltimore. This will be the Baltimore/DC RF lineup when all the phases are finished:
> 7 - WJLA
> 9 - WUSA/WJAL
> 10 - W45DN-D
> 11 - WJZ
> 12 - WBAL
> 13 - WWPX
> 14 - WWTD-LD
> 15 - WFDC/WDCW
> (17-18 reserved for Land Mobile use in DC)
> 20 - WAZT-CD Vienna or WQAW-LP Lake Shore
> 21 - WMPT
> 22 - WMPB
> 23 - WDDN-LD Washington or WDWA-LD Dale City or WMJF-CD Towson or WDVM Hagerstown
> 24 - WDCO-CD Woodstock or WWDD-LD Havre de Grace
> 25 - WNUV
> 26 - WBFF/WUTB
> 27 - WMAR
> 28 - WFPT
> 29 - WWPB
> 30 - WIAV-CD/WMDO-CD
> 31 - WETA
> 32 - WRZB-LD
> 33 - WHUT
> 34 - WRC/WZDC-CD
> 35 - WPXW
> 36 - WTTG
> 
> 
> That's not how Locast works. It uses your current location, not the location you were in when you signed up for an account. If your current IP address or GPS location resolves to a county in the DC market you get DC stations, if it resolves to a county in the Baltimore market, you get Baltimore stations, and if you block their location requests, you don't get anything.


Some of the cable and satellite systems in Maryland and Northern Virginia used to carry both DC and Baltimore stations due to prominent overlap. And many high rise residences used to have master antenna systems that carried both DC and Baltimore. I don't know how it is now, or if it is more strictly dictated by zip code. But I could pick up Baltimore with an indoor antenna when I lived in Alexandria Virginia, but that was back in the analog era. I would be curious what I could pull in if I were there now, using an Antop 800SBS which is a very good indoor antenna.


----------



## MRG1

I wrote:


> Have you looked into sharing a Locast.org account with a Baltimore area friend?





KyL416 said:


> That's not how Locast works. It uses your current location, not the location you were in when you signed up for an account. If your current IP address or GPS location resolves to a county in the DC market you get DC stations, if it resolves to a county in the Baltimore market, you get Baltimore stations, and if you block their location requests, you don't get anything.


I don't know exactly how Locast works, but I visited NY for about a month, and was able to continue to receive the DC area stations from Locast, directly, and through Fitzy TV, while there. I was quite surprised.

Then again, I deliberately used an old Android TV box to do it, that did not have built in GPS. In principle, they could trace packet routing and still figure it out, but maybe they didn't?? I didn't even use a VPN.

I also suspect it might depend on how long you stay at the out of town location. Eventually, they might figure it out. I've heard of people with family-shared smart phone accounts getting around it too, but don't know the details, or which streaming service they used.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if broadcast TV had to be legal to receive more or less everywhere, like it used to be, decades ago? Though I personally didn't watch live sports, so maybe sports blackouts were always there...

BTW, Locast has some issues - picture quality isn't always ideal, and sometimes they mess up. It was just a suggestion, to try, before putting together a very expensive antenna system that might not work.

Also - most directional antenna also receive signals 180 degrees opposite the pointed direction, to some extant, except the "dish" type. So you may not get exactly what is expected. I was once told that antenna design is a "black art", with somewhat unpredictable results, because it is so complicated. Add in the complexities of transmission through Earth's atmosphere, and it predictability gets even worse.

If they are just trying to watch a blacked out sports event maybe the o.p. could just visit an out-of-area friend to do it.  Or splurge for tickets to the game itself.


----------



## captain_video

tylerSC said:


> Some of the cable and satellite systems in Maryland and Northern Virginia used to carry both DC and Baltimore stations due to prominent overlap. And many high rise residences used to have master antenna systems that carried both DC and Baltimore. I don't know how it is now, or if it is more strictly dictated by zip code. But I could pick up Baltimore with an indoor antenna when I lived in Alexandria Virginia, but that was back in the analog era. I would be curious what I could pull in if I were there now, using an Antop 800SBS which is a very good indoor antenna.


Verizon FIOS here in Howard County carry both the Baltimore and DC stations and I'm pretty sure that Comcast does too. I used to have DirecTV but I dropped them because they would only provide the Baltimore stations due to my location. I think it's a legal issue for them, but it makes no sense because I can pick up both markets with an OTA antenna so it would seem logical that they could provide both markets via satellite. The lack of DC stations was only part of the reason I dropped them. They didn't provide all of the local channels from Baltimore. This was back before they all went digital so it must be a nightmare for them to try and provide all of the main and sub-channels for any given market. 

If you can't get your locals via antenna but have access to cable then that's the way to go. If you're out in the boonies and can't get signals via an antenna or don't have access to cable then satellite is your only option. Satellite is a last resort for me. It was fine in its day, but with digital cable and ATSC OTA TV I don't see how they can compete if customers have access to cable or OTA. I got tired of losing the signal during bad weather. That's when you really want to hunker down and veg out in front of the TV and not being able to do so was frustrating at times. It's great if you have no other options, but not if you can get your TV via other means.


----------



## MRG1

captain_video said:


> Satellite is a last resort for me. It was fine in its day, but with digital cable and ATSC OTA TV I don't see how they can compete if customers have access to cable or OTA. I got tired of losing the signal during bad weather.


Other people on AVSForum who have satellite TV have said that weather is not an issue at all in the DC area if your antenna is properly mounted and pointed, and the connections are all good. Maybe your set-up was done in a borderline fashion, or something came loose. If snow is a problem you could cover the dish with a peaked non-metallic cover to shed snow, possibly heated - like they sometimes do for high end satellite communications systems. 

But if you are happy with something else, that's fine. Dish TV and DirecTV are charging too much for satellite TV now. OrbY is cheaper, but doesn't have the channels I want. For now, I use Sling TV, Internet TV from the networks themselves, and Locast/Fitzy TV. If I could set up an outdoor antenna, I'd replace Locast/Fitzy TV with that.


----------



## captain_video

MRG1 said:


> Other people on AVSForum who have satellite TV have said that weather is not an issue at all in the DC area if your antenna is properly mounted and pointed, and the connections are all good. Maybe your set-up was done in a borderline fashion, or something came loose. If snow is a problem you could cover the dish with a peaked non-metallic cover to shed snow, possibly heated - like they sometimes do for high end satellite communications systems.


I've heard that, but I'm not buying it. I've seen loss of signal on DirecTV in too many local establishments during a heavy rain or snowstorm to believe it to be true. The newer dishes are much more sensitive than the older ones. They have to be precisely aimed using a signal strength meter. The older dishes could be aimed without a separate meter other than the one on the receiver with no problem. I've installed both DirecTV and Dish antennas and the older dishes were a piece of cake to align. You need professional installation for the current dishes, unless you want to shell out over $100 for a decent meter.


----------



## MRG1

captain_video said:


> I've heard that, but I'm not buying it. I've seen loss of signal on DirecTV in too many local establishments during a heavy rain or snowstorm to believe it to be true. The newer dishes are much more sensitive than the older ones. They have to be precisely aimed using a signal strength meter. The older dishes could be aimed without a separate meter other than the one on the receiver with no problem. I've installed both DirecTV and Dish antennas and the older dishes were a piece of cake to align. You need professional installation for the current dishes, unless you want to shell out over $100 for a decent meter.


But, if you have the right meter, so the antenna is properly pointed, is there a significant weather problem near DC?

Do many people install their own roof top antennas? An electrician told me that, legally, in most jurisdictions, the installer has to be licensed and insured to install antennas. And that if that isn't done, it could also void homeowners insurance, because of lightning. (Also that some electricians don't know how to make corrosion resistant outdoor connections.) Was he wrong?

It is a shame that the meters built into the receivers aren't adequate, if this is such a problem. Perhaps the satellite companies assume professional installation.

I see under-$11 cheap meters on eBay 

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=satellite+tv+signal+meters&_sacat=0&_sop=15

I assume they are light duty tools that require careful handling (which might be problematical - a roofer once told me that they have to learn how to fall without getting themselves seriously hurt), and a professional grade well calibrated meter might be better for determining how well an antenna would do in poor weather with obstructions like trees and tall buildings, but the cheap ones might do the basic job of finding the best pointing angle.


----------



## captain_video

MRG1 said:


> But, if you have the right meter, so the antenna is properly pointed, is there a significant weather problem near DC?


If there is significant interference to attenuate the signal you will lose the signal from any satellite, regardless of your location. Heavy rains, snow, or even dense cloud cover can attenuate the signal significantly to the point where you will get no signal on your receiver.



> Do many people install their own roof top antennas? My understanding was that, legally, in most jurisdictions, the installer has to be licensed and insured to install antennas. And that if that isn't done, it could also void homeowners insurance, because of lightning. Am I wrong?


I'm sure a lot of people install their own antennas. I can't answer anything about local laws because I'm sure they vary from place to place. Any antenna should be properly grounded regardless of any local laws or insurance requirements. All you need is a ground wire from the mounting bracket for the antenna mast tied to a copper water pipe or a grounding rod driven into the ground.



> It is a shame that the meters built into the receivers aren't adequate, if this is such a problem. Perhaps the satellite companies assume professional installation.


DirecTV and Dish want to install the dish for you to ensure you get the best signal, but there's no reason that you can't DIY if you have the proper knowledge and equipment. I haven't had DirecTV or Dish in about 20 years so I can't vouch for any of the newer receivers. Right before I dropped DirecTV and switched to FIOS I believe DirecTV was using satellites using both the Ka and Ku bands and they were more spread out physically in geosynchronous orbit. I believe the current satellites are located at 99, 101, and 103 degrees. The newer satellites may have higher powered transponders to combat signal loss in bad weather, but I still see it happening at the sports bars I frequent.



> I see under-$11 cheap meters on eBay
> 
> https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=satellite+tv+signal+meters&_sacat=0&_sop=15
> 
> I assume they are light duty tools that require careful handling, and a professional grade well calibrated meter might be better for determining how well an antenna would do in poor weather with obstructions like trees and tall buildings, but the cheap ones might do the basic job of finding the best pointing angle.


I had actually purchased a satellite signal strength meter so I could install a new DirecTV dish and I remember paying well over $100 for it at the time. I never got around to setting it up because FIOS moved into the area and I dropped DirecTV like a hot potato and signed up for FIOS. I sold the meter on ebay. I still have the dish out in my shed. I seem to recall that DirecTV was in the process of switching over to newer satellites and it would appear that the ones currently in the locations I indicated may be a mix of both newer and older birds. I haven't kept up with what's been happening in the DBS world for quite some time so I'm just going by what I can vaguely recall from many years ago. This was back when they were still transitioning to more HD channels and I believe they may have also been switching over to a newer compression method (mp4) to squeeze more channels into the same bandwidth. IIRC, they were using both Ka and Ku band satellites but have since switched over to Ka band exclusively, but don't quote me on that.


----------



## VARTV

captain_video said:


> This was back when they were still transitioning to more HD channels and I believe they may have also been switching over to a newer compression method (mp4) to squeeze more channels into the same bandwidth.


Speaking of cramming more channels into the same bandwidth (QAM)... hint: Verizon Fios. I have DIRECTV and it's extremely rare for sat outages. Plus I have their OTA tuner hooked into our STB. Never an issue of sat outages but more importantly (relatively speaking) local network carriage disputes. The PQ of DIRECTV vs the two local "cable" providers here in SE VA (VZ and COX) is no contest. I can't put a crappier picture on my $X,XXX 4K TV. As you might have mentioned or it was another poster - YES, DIRECTV is more expensive vs cable providers and streamers...


----------



## captain_video

VARTV said:


> Speaking of cramming more channels into the same bandwidth (QAM)... hint: Verizon Fios. I have DIRECTV and it's extremely rare for sat outages. Plus I have their OTA tuner hooked into our STB. Never an issue of sat outages but more importantly (relatively speaking) local network carriage disputes. The PQ of DIRECTV vs the two local "cable" providers here in SE VA (VZ and COX) is no contest. I can't put a crappier picture on my $X,XXX 4K TV. As you might have mentioned or it was another poster - YES, DIRECTV is more expensive vs cable providers and streamers...


I have noticed that the picture quality on FIOS has deteriorated over the years, probably due to what you alluded to. I've had them for over 10 years and I don't think I've had more than one or two brief outages in that entire time, probably because the fiber optic lines are buried and not hanging from a pole. I used to lose signal with Comcast pretty much anytime it rained. Like I said before, I have witnessed multiple outages with DirecTV at the sports bars I frequent. I can only assume that they are still using older receivers and dishes and that the latest hardware is less susceptible to outages. I haven't had DirecTV in over 20 years and don't ever plan on going back.


----------



## TheKrell

VARTV said:


> Speaking of cramming more channels into the same bandwidth (QAM)... hint: Verizon Fios. I have DIRECTV and it's extremely rare for sat outages. Plus I have their OTA tuner hooked into our STB. Never an issue of sat outages but more importantly (relatively speaking) local network carriage disputes. The PQ of DIRECTV vs the two local "cable" providers here in SE VA (VZ and COX) is no contest. I can't put a crappier picture on my $X,XXX 4K TV. As you might have mentioned or it was another poster - YES, DIRECTV is more expensive vs cable providers and streamers...


I haven't had cable since Media General days, but one of the reasons I went with Dish were the numerous outages Media General had back then, including one where we missed the season finale of X-Files. That was the last straw! Our Dish dish has very rarely suffered outages; only the worst downpours kill the signal. I think this is due to the high elevation angle (about 45 deg) of the dish. And on the rare occasions we do have an outage, either we watch OTA as you do, or a recording, or I stream with my Hopper.


----------



## VARTV

TheKrell said:


> I haven't had cable since Media General days, but one of the reasons I went with Dish were the numerous outages Media General had back then, including one where we missed the season finale of X-Files. That was the last straw! Our Dish dish has very rarely suffered outages; only the worst downpours kill the signal. I think this is due to the high elevation angle (about 45 deg) of the dish. And on the rare occasions we do have an outage, either we watch OTA as you do, or a recording, or I stream with my Hopper.


We haven't had "cable" for 15ish years. Even when FiOS became available, we didn't take their TV but we have had their Internet from day one.

I went to Circuit City (2005ish???) and dropped over a grand for start-of-the-art equipment from DIRECTV (Hahaha). Their Tivo-based HR10-250 could record two channels at once. You could hook up an antenna to the box and HD OTA channels could be recorded and integrated into the on-screen guide. This was at a time when no HD channels were on cable, well maybe PBS. This WAS top-of-the-line stuff. Plus, there was NFL Sunday Ticket. One could watch all the NFL games??? I was hooked.

Upgraded equipment to 4K in July 2019. Of course this started a 2-year agreement with them. We had no plans to leave anyways. When it's over in July 2021, I can see us finally pulling the plug on the sat. Sunday Ticket will either be gone from the service or available on other providers (cable or streamers). Streamers will be in a much different/better place (I think) in 15 months from now. This appears to be the direction TV entertainment is going. (We'll have to see how NextGen TV [ATSC 3.0] pans out. I'm ready for that if it really takes off...)


----------



## MRG1

captain_video said:


> If there is significant interference to attenuate the signal you will lose the signal from any satellite, regardless of your location. Heavy rains, snow, or even dense cloud cover can attenuate the signal significantly to the point where you will get no signal on your receiver.


Dense cloud cover? They must have used pretty junky hardware, or maybe something wasn't done right. I've worked with (non-consumer) satellite projects where that would not have been considered acceptable. But maybe the communications band was different.

It seems like the flood of low earth orbit satellites going up over the next few years might block the signals from geosynchronous satellites. Will the loss of signal be long enough to be noticed? I'd guess the new satellites are moving about 7-9 km/sec, and they are rather small, so they won't block the signal for long. With old style analog signals, a brief loss of signal wouldn't have mattered much. But with some forms of compressed digital video, I'm not sure. If they include adequate redundancy over the right times scales, it won't be an issue - but maybe some people would need to buy new satellite receivers. I don't know enough details to be sure.

FWIIW, FIOS Internet, where I live, seems to stop working for at least a few minutes every day. Where I used to live, Comcast Internet would stop working for 5-10 minutes at least once every 4-6 months - and it used to be a lot worse. And those were despite the fact that I gave up on the FIOS and Comcast nameservers. We were using Comcast TV too - and they had some lost time too. However, I suspect this depends on many local factors, and can't be generalized.


----------



## captain_video

MRG1 said:


> Dense cloud cover? They must have used pretty junky hardware, or maybe something wasn't done right. I've worked with (non-consumer) satellite projects where that would not have been considered acceptable. But maybe the communications band was different.


By that I mean heavy rain or storm clouds located between the dish and direct line of sight with the satellite. It doesn't have to be raining directly on top of you to interfere with the satellite signal, but more than likely that will be the scenario to dampen the signal enough to cause the receiver to lose it. You have to realize that I'm going by past experience with equipment I used over 20 years ago plus what I am currently witnessing firsthand in public establishments that have been in business for quite some time. Chances are they are all using older equipment that hasn't been upgraded in well over a decade.


----------



## mkfs

*Weta*

I'm annoyed and disappointed that WETA-TV is still out in Arlington. They initially said they'd be back on Television Hill in December....


----------



## mkfs

captain_video said:


> I have noticed that the picture quality on FIOS has deteriorated over the years, probably due to what you alluded to.


 My DC friends were shocked at the improved image quality with an indoor OTA loop vs. FIOS. Any hesitation re: dropping FIOS disappeared when we scanned, & looked.


----------



## captain_video

mkfs said:


> My DC friends were shocked at the improved image quality with an indoor OTA loop vs. FIOS. Any hesitation re: dropping FIOS disappeared when we scanned, & looked.


The one thing that keeps me with FIOS is that it's rock steady and rarely goes out. I've had it for over ten years and I don't think I've ever lost the TV signal or internet more than 2 or 3 times over that span. Even then it was a very short duration before it was back up and running again. I'd keep it just for their internet if nothing else. My wife likes to watch the classic movie channels so I keep it mostly for that. My TV viewing and recording is probably split 50/50 between cable and OTA. I always record network shows via OTA from Baltimore rather than FIOS now that I've finally found an antenna that works. I was able to get the DC channels in the past, but CBS was always an issue from either market until I installed the ClearStream 5. I had FIOS as a backup whenever I got poor reception on any of the Baltimore channels. 

I have a Ceton InfiniTV 6 cablecard tuner in my HTPC and a HDHomeRun Quatro tuner on my network as well as a HDHR Prime cablecard tuner. The Prime is used mainly for watching FIOS on the TVs throughout the house. The Quatro and the InfiniTV 6 are used for recording shows on my HTPC. I had to use the InfiniTV 6 for the majority of my recording chores when I was having issues with the antenna so it's nice to be able to split the recording chores between both types of tuners to ensure there are enough to go around. I pad all of my recordings by 10 minutes before and after so there's a lot of overlap and I need the extra tuners to allow each show to have a dedicated tuner to record from.


----------



## mkfs

captain_video said:


> The one thing that keeps me with FIOS is that it's rock steady and rarely goes out. I've had it for over ten years and I don't think I've ever lost the TV signal or internet more than 2 or 3 times over that span.


 I have TCP/IP only and they routinely take it down about 0130. You get no warning. Calling and complaining is pointless; it takes 20 minutes before you reach someone with clue as to the cause.


----------



## captain_video

mkfs said:


> I have TCP/IP only and they routinely take it down about 0130. You get no warning. Calling and complaining is pointless; it takes 20 minutes before you reach someone with clue as to the cause.


I assume you mean 1:30 am. I'm rarely up that late using the internet, but it has happened on occasion. I don't recall ever having a problem with FIOS going down at any time during the night, at least not while I've been awake. I have recorded shows around that time on FIOS and they always recorded with no problems. That sounds like an issue isolated to your local FIOS network.


----------



## MRG1

*Rain fade issues*



captain_video said:


> By that I mean heavy rain or storm clouds located between the dish and direct line of sight with the satellite. It doesn't have to be raining directly on top of you to interfere with the satellite signal, but more than likely that will be the scenario to dampen the signal enough to cause the receiver to lose it. You have to realize that I'm going by past experience with equipment I used over 20 years ago plus what I am currently witnessing firsthand in public establishments that have been in business for quite some time. Chances are they are all using older equipment that hasn't been upgraded in well over a decade.


At one point, I asked in a forum (not sure if it was Avsforum) whether people had weather related problems with satellite TV dishes. Most of the respondents said they had not seen many problems. Yet you are saying weather related problems are typical. And there a lot of technical discussions of "rain fade" on the WWW. So now I am confused.

Larger (1 - 1.5 meter) 3rd party antennas are available for Dish or DirecTV. I wonder if they would solve the problem most of the time.

Some in the RV community uses TWO antennas, one for "western arc satellites" and one for "eastern arc satellites". They pick the satellite(s) with the better signal. Some use radomes that cover the dishes (sometimes heated radomes in areas with snow), and spray-on coatings that help shed rain and snow, and some of them physically knock off any snow. Some spend a lot of money on mounts that automatically track the satellite. I'm not sure how well these ideas carry over to fixed-mount dishes, and of course they add a lot to cost.

I do notice that some people recommend "re-tuning" satellite antenna installation once/year. Not sure why that would be needed, if it is done right. Could get expensive, if done by a professional.

This site claims satellite dishes have less loss of signal problem than cable companies. Is that true?

With SlingTV-over-FIOS-Internet, I sometimes see problems every few days. I wouldn't be surprised if satellite TV is better than that.


----------



## captain_video

MRG1 said:


> At one point, I asked in a forum (not sure if it was Avsforum) whether people had weather related problems with satellite TV dishes. Most of the respondents said they had not seen many problems. Yet you are saying weather related problems are typical. And there a lot of technical discussions of "rain fade" on the WWW. So now I am confused.
> 
> Larger (1 - 1.5 meter) 3rd party antennas are available for Dish or DirecTV. I wonder if they would solve the problem most of the time.
> 
> Some in the RV community uses TWO antennas, one for "western arc satellites" and one for "eastern arc satellites". They pick the satellite(s) with the better signal. Some use radomes that cover the dishes (sometimes heated radomes in areas with snow), and spray-on coatings that help shed rain and snow, and some of them physically knock off any snow. Some spend a lot of money on mounts that automatically track the satellite. I'm not sure how well these ideas carry over to fixed-mount dishes, and of course they add a lot to cost.
> 
> I do notice that some people recommend "re-tuning" satellite antenna installation once/year. Not sure why that would be needed, if it is done right. Could get expensive, if done by a professional.
> 
> This site claims satellite dishes have less loss of signal problem than cable companies. Is that true?
> 
> With SlingTV-over-FIOS-Internet, I sometimes see problems every few days. I wouldn't be surprised if satellite TV is better than that.


I used to have a slightly larger dish back when I had DirecTV and it did seem to help some, but I still had issues with rain fade in a heavy downpour. I don't know if they offer larger dishes in the latest configuration because they have to cover a wider distance than the older dishes. I can see where two dishes might help since you can aim them directly at the individual satellites instead of trying to pick them all up from one dish. The newer dishes have to be fine tuned to be precisely aligned or you won't get all of the transponders. I don't see a need to re-tune the dish every year unless it gets knocked out of alignment by heavy winds or ice formations. Based on the fine adjustments required to align the dish it seems like it wouldn't take much to knock it out of alignment. You used to be able to simply turn the dish by hand to get a strong signal. I believe you have to use fine adjustment screws on the newer dishes to tune in the transponders. If the adjustment is borderline then it could account for the fact that some people have more issues with rain fade than others. Regardless of what people say about rain fade, I still see it on a regular basis in public establishments so it does exist. 

As to whether satellite has less problems with rain fade than cable companies it's like comparing apples to oranges. Cable companies still use satellite dishes to get their signals, but their dishes are many times larger and have much higher gain than residential dishes so saying that the dish on your roof will have fewer issues with rain fade seems a bit ludicrous. I think the real issue is whether you lose the signal from your cable company more often than a satellite during bad weather due to other factors. You are picking up the signal directly from a satellite with a dish whereas you have to go through miles of coaxial cables or fiber optic trunk lines to get your cable signal. Any number of things could go wrong between the head end from your cable company and your house. I used to lose my signal from Comcast during the rain all the time but rarely have that issue with FIOS, probably because FIOS buried all of their fiber optic cables and Comcast had theirs hanging from the utility poles. Downed trees during heavy wind and rain would routinely knock out a cable line somewhere.


----------



## fri1038

WMPB-67 repacked from RF29 to 22 this morning.


WBFF-45, moving from 46 to 26, (and tower-mate WNUV-54) went off the air at 10am but not back as of 1pm. 



I thought WMJF-39 would move from 39 to 23 today but no changes yet. 39.1 has been audio-only for at least a week. 39.4 had the same problem six months ago.


----------



## Trip in VA

WMJF-CD got a delay to Phase 9 and will not be moving today.

- Trip


----------



## fri1038

WNUV came back up ~1:45pm and WBFF, on RF26, at ~2:10pm.


----------



## MRG1

captain_video said:


> I used to have a slightly larger dish back when I had DirecTV and it did seem to help some, but I still had issues with rain fade in a heavy downpour...


Thanks for the benefit all of your expertise!

According to Wikipedia, a lot of professional level satellite communications (including much of the distribution network to OTA broadcast stations) is done at other frequencies whose wavelengths are larger than rain and cloud droplets, and snowflakes, so they do better at getting through the weather than Dish TV and DirecTV. Some time ago, when many people in rural areas had much larger satellite dishes (I thought of them as the West Virginia state flower  ) to receive those signals (which usually didn't used to be encrypted), perhaps those dealt with weather better. On the other hand, cleaning the snow off of a 10 meter dish must have been a nuisance, and maybe hail and lightning were still significant.

If I were in or near a hurricane, loosing satellite signal due to rain fade, or a satellite dish whose mount was affected by the wind could be very worrisome. But for most recreational TV use, satellites might be good enough. Where I expect to move soon, OTA TV stations don't exist, and the cable TV and Internet company can charge a lot, but recreational satellite TV and maybe Internet might still be possible. 

If I do that, I will look into getting one of the larger dishes. So what you have said has been very helpful to me, as weather issues hadn't occurred to me!


----------



## mrradiohead55

One thing about satellite TV reception that hasn't been mentioned is the difference of Ku band signals and C band signals. Ku band is the little dishes (Dish and DirecTV, and small Free-To-Air dishes, around 75-90 cm diameter). The C band is 5' and larger in diameter, known as the BUD (Big Ugly Dish) or as some like to call them, the West Virginia state flower.

Ku frequencies range from 10.7 GHz to 12.75 GHz, C band is 3.7 to 4.2 GHz. The higher the frequency (tighter bandwidth) the more susceptible it is to weather phenomena interference. Really the dish size has nothing to do with it. Ku frequencies can be received on a C band dish and when it rains and snows, the Ku frequencies will still suffer. I've also heard of Ku band users noting that when stormy weather with rain was to the south (general direction of the satellite arc), the dish had to receive through a greater density of weather and that caused signal interruption. I have six satellite dishes on my property, so I have had more than my share of weather interference to satellite signals.

Jim - Springfield, Missouri


----------



## captain_video

mrradiohead55 said:


> One thing about satellite TV reception that hasn't been mentioned is the difference of Ku band signals and C band signals. Ku band is the little dishes (Dish and DirecTV, and small Free-To-Air dishes, around 75-90 cm diameter). The C band is 5' and larger in diameter, known as the BUD (Big Ugly Dish) or as some like to call them, the West Virginia state flower.
> 
> Ku frequencies range from 10.7 GHz to 12.75 GHz, C band is 3.7 to 4.2 GHz. The higher the frequency (tighter bandwidth) the more susceptible it is to weather phenomena interference. Really the dish size has nothing to do with it. Ku frequencies can be received on a C band dish and when it rains and snows, the Ku frequencies will still suffer. I've also heard of Ku band users noting that when stormy weather with rain was to the south (general direction of the satellite arc), the dish had to receive through a greater density of weather and that caused signal interruption. I have six satellite dishes on my property, so I have had more than my share of weather interference to satellite signals.
> 
> Jim - Springfield, Missouri


DirecTV uses both Ka and Ku band satellites. The type of dish required depends on your location and type of service you desire. Actually, I believe the dishes are the same but the number of LNBs required is different. You can have up to five LNBs mounted on your dish. Here's a breakdown of the various satellites and locations used by both Dish and DirecTV:

http://www.dbsinstall.com/GeneralInfo/DBS_Satellites.asp

The above website has a lot of good info on DBS services if you want to look into it. I think we've gone a bit off topic for this thread.


----------



## MRG1

Yes, sat TV is a bit off topic. It's still "over the air" - but not local.

The websites you guys have mentioned have considerably augmented the info I got from Winegard's website. (Winegard sells a lot of antennas, including but not limited to OTA and satellite antennas.)

I didn't realize C-band antennas could bu used for Ka and Ku. Some C band antennas have been made from chicken wire, or might not be smooth enough to reflect the smaller wavelengths, and I suspect might not work very well. Anyway, if I remember right from basic physics, it is best to use an antenna and waveguides tuned to the specific frequencies you are looking for.

More on-topic, why don't more home OTA users use dish and parabolic antennas to receive TV and radio signals from distant broadcast towers? Can a Yagi antenna of similar size get as strong a signal, and be as directional?


----------



## mrradiohead55

MRG1 said:


> More on-topic, why don't more home OTA users use dish and parabolic antennas to receive TV and radio signals from distant broadcast towers? Can a Yagi antenna of similar size get as strong a signal, and be as directional?


MRG1, you should read the linked topic thread and look at the pics. Its on the Worldwide TV-FM Dx Association's (WTFDA) forum page...

http://www.wtfda.org/forums/forum/w...2753-channel-master-4251-horizontally-stacked

I'm a member of the WTFDA, so I pay attention to that *stuff* quite regularly. I would post one or two of the pics here, but they aren't my property and I don't have permission by the owner. Anyway, once you see the pics I think you will see the tremendous amount of work it takes to get that type of antenna set-up actually built and in the air. It can be expensive, time consuming and above the *pay scale* (knowledge) of most home users. That project was completed by a couple guys I know from Indy. They did that a short distance south of Chicago this past summer.

On your topic of *why more OTA users* don't do this would be - circa 2000 there were still companies making parabolic dishes but they have pretty much vanished. The popularity of *little dish* satellite service pretty much ate up their market, plus the fact that those type of antennas were so expensive, thus the market shrank away.

Jim - Springfield, Missouri


----------



## MRG1

mrradiohead55 said:


> MRG1, you should read the linked topic thread and look at the pics. Its on the Worldwide TV-FM Dx Association's (WTFDA) forum page...
> 
> http://www.wtfda.org/forums/forum/w...2753-channel-master-4251-horizontally-stacked


Thanks!

Unfortunately, the picture in that link is no longer present.

But let's see if I understand: Because the two antenna are in phase, meaning that they have the same time delays before being summed - not something your average signal strength meter can measure - the antenna stack is more directional, because if you go off-axis, there will be a phase difference. In effect, it is a two antenna version of a full blown antenna array:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antenna_arra

However, the two antenna aren't likely to be close to 180 degrees out of phase off-axis, so it isn't all that much more directional. For the most part, they are just increasing signal strength. You need something more sophisticated than just adding the two signals together to make a two antenna array much more directional. Something more like a phased array with many antennas. Almost like trying to build your own long baseline radio telescope.

But: if there were just one interfering broadcast tower on a specific frequency in approximately the same direction, you could try to tune the distance between the two antenna to the broadcast frequency and the known positions so the interfering tower was in an interference null - cool idea! , though you'd need a long baseline between them. And you mostly could only make it work perfectly for one frequency.

The FCC has rules making it often legal to install antennas on your home. E.g.,

https://www.fcc.gov/media/over-air-reception-devices-rule



> A: The rule applies to the following types of antennas:
> 
> (1) A "dish" antenna that is one meter (39.37") or less in diameter (or any size dish if located in Alaska) and is designed to receive direct broadcast satellite service, including direct-to-home satellite service, or to receive or transmit fixed wireless signals via satellite.
> 
> (2) An antenna that is one meter or less in diameter or diagonal measurement and is designed to receive video programming services via broadband radio service (wireless cable) or to receive or transmit fixed wireless signals other than via satellite.
> 
> (3) An antenna that is designed to receive local television broadcast signals.
> 
> In addition, antennas covered by the rule may be mounted on "masts" to reach the height needed to receive or transmit an acceptable quality signal (e.g. maintain line-of-sight contact with the transmitter or view the satellite). Masts higher than 12 feet above the roofline may be subject to local permitting requirements for safety purposes. Further, masts that extend beyond an exclusive use area may not be covered by this rule.


I'm not an expert, but I don't see anything about this rule to being restricted to just one antenna. Perhaps you can't restrict people from putting a full blown antenna farm on top of their homes? 

But just imagine what a typical homeowners' association would think about a few dozen parallel antennas. 

(Let's ignore cost for the moment, because this is a bit pie in the sky.)

As far as dish antenna availability, there are a few web pages on building your own satellite dish - which should be adaptable to building your own parabolic dish to receive terrestrial TV stations. E.g., see page 30 of 

http://www.survivorlibrary.com/library/73_magazine_1993_04_april.pdf 

I'm sure there are more specific directions available if you look hard enough. Also, I'm not sure if that design deals safely with grounding. If it isn't, that could be a major safety issue during thunderstorms. And, assuming the antenna is outdoors, I haven't checked if the referenced article deals with vibration and corrosion resistant electrical connections.

It might be easier to start with an off-the-shelf antenna and LNB, and put a second dish behind it which focuses on the same spot.

It is probably easier to build your own YAGI antenna, which will probably do the job well enough for most people. There are lots of web pages on that too.

But, obviously, building your own is beyond the effort that most home TV viewers who just want to watch a little TV are willing to go to. 

But I guess you can go to a variety of online sellers for pre-built YAGI antennas that are also good enough for most people, and that have done everything right for adequate grounding and corrosion resistance, if they are also installed right. 

Anyway, it's possible that terrain blocking is more of an issue for most people with antenna reception problems than directionality. A dozen antennas won't fix that. You need to put the antennas, or passive repeaters, on a blimp or drone in the sky above your home, something the FAA may not be happy with. (And that's the only thing that would work in the valley I expect to be moving to soon.)

So this sub-thread is all rather silly. I was just curious.


----------



## mrradiohead55

What is this, a thesis or term paper? No, just kidding.


I really wanted you to see the pictures. Not sure why they won't load in your computer, they are still there. I got permission from the owner to repost here. I think its an interesting concept but one hardly any home user would attempt to do.


Jim - Springfield, Missouri


----------



## pamajestic

mrradiohead55 said:


> I really wanted you to see the pictures.



Scroll down to the John Sherman pictures on this page and you will see a quad stack and a double stack on the same house.

http://www.rocketroberts.com/cm4251/cm4251.htm


----------



## tesla1886

*Home Theater Sub Connection*

This is not antenna related, but is related to TV, hopefully this is permitted

I am in the middle of hooking up a Home Theater System. The sub I have and the receiver use different connections. The receiver uses RCA ports while the sub has terminals for speaker wires. Is there an adapter that I can get to connect this sub with this receiver? Perhaps something like this link? If this won't work is there anything that will?


Thank You


----------



## mrradiohead55

tesla1886, I guess you realize this thread is for OTA television in the DC/Baltimore area. Maybe one of the moderators will redirect you.

You need this to be in this section...
https://www.avsforum.com/forum/155-diy-speakers-subs/


----------



## captain_video

tesla1886 said:


> This is not antenna related, but is related to TV, hopefully this is permitted
> 
> I am in the middle of hooking up a Home Theater System. The sub I have and the receiver use different connections. The receiver uses RCA ports while the sub has terminals for speaker wires. Is there an adapter that I can get to connect this sub with this receiver? Perhaps something like this link? If this won't work is there anything that will?
> 
> 
> Thank You


You don't need an adapter, you need a separate power amplifier for the subwoofer. Your receiver does not have an internal amplifier to power the subwoofer if it only has an RCA output. Most subwoofers have internal power amps and are connected via an RCA patch cable.


----------



## KyL416

Both WJZ Baltimore and WNET over in NYC filed a request to move to Phase 10. In their requests they indicated that WWPX, WMAR and WBAL will be doing the same:
https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/attachment/25076ff370ea88670170f43399f91506
https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/attachment/25076f9170ea8c7d0170f964a3b127b4


----------



## keeper

KyL416 said:


> Both WJZ Baltimore and WNET over in NYC filed a request to move to Phase 10. In their requests they indicated that WWPX, WMAR and WBAL will be doing the same:
> https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/attachment/25076ff370ea88670170f43399f91506
> https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/attachment/25076f9170ea8c7d0170f964a3b127b4


Kind of expected but sucks as I have been waiting to see how their move improves my signal.


----------



## tesla1886

captain_video said:


> You don't need an adapter, you need a separate power amplifier for the subwoofer. Your receiver does not have an internal amplifier to power the subwoofer if it only has an RCA output. Most subwoofers have internal power amps and are connected via an RCA patch cable.


I got it too work connecting the front speakers to a powered receiver.

Thanks for the help.


----------



## tesla1886

KyL416 said:


> Both WJZ Baltimore and WNET over in NYC filed a request to move to Phase 10. In their requests they indicated that WWPX, WMAR and WBAL will be doing the same:
> https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/attachment/25076ff370ea88670170f43399f91506
> https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/attachment/25076f9170ea8c7d0170f964a3b127b4


What is phase 10?


----------



## KyL416

Phase 10 is May 2nd-July 3rd


----------



## mkfs

*Weta*

My friends in DC report that WETA is back. Have they moved back to Television Hill? Or does COVID-19 improve propagation? (No word from WETA...)


----------



## Trip in VA

No change here in Alexandria.

https://www.rabbitears.info/tvdx/signal_graph/10317DF4/tuner1/WETA-TV

- Trip


----------



## mkfs

Trip in VA said:


> No change here in Alexandria.
> 
> https://www.rabbitears.info/tvdx/signal_graph/10317DF4/tuner1/WETA-TV
> 
> - Trip


 Smog blocks UHF TV? Or the lack of Teslas on the road reduces RFI? [FYI: Teslas do NOT have AM radios; guess why] ...


----------



## crbaldwin

Do we have any idea when WETA will be back?


----------



## KyL416

They haven't provided any recent updates, but it's probably delayed further because many crews stopped work and went back home, and several manufacturers have delayed shipments.

After their tolling request back in January, they got an extension until the end of July with an estimated timeline of late spring-early summer, you can see the reasons explained in depth here, but that was all pre-Covid 19:
https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/attachment/25076f916fee7913016ff37900cf2fac


----------



## fri1038

WPXW seems to be working on something. Signal was down yesterday at exactly 10 am for a few hours and again today.


WMJF's 39.1 video has been up and down lately. Last week it was up at 1080i. Just audio again today. Strange how I get a solid audio feed from it when the other 39 sub channels are weak and pixelated.


----------



## captain_video

I just got an email from SiliconDust about their new Kickstarter campaign for an ATSC 3.0 (i.e., 4k broadcast TV) networked tuner. It contains two 4k tuners and two ATSC 1.0 tuners. Here's the link to the markets targeted for 4k OTA transmission by the end of 2020:

https://www.tvtechnology.com/atsc3/...425180433&mc_cid=b0981e9dc3&mc_eid=04fa5140a6

You will note that Baltimore and Washington D.C. are in the 1st 40 markets. Unfortunately it does not specify which stations will be broadcasting in 4k in each market.


----------



## VARTV

captain_video said:


> I just got an email from SiliconDust about their new Kickstarter campaign for an ATSC 3.0 (i.e., 4k broadcast TV) networked tuner. It contains two 4k tuners and two ATSC 1.0 tuners. Here's the link to the markets targeted for 4k OTA transmission by the end of 2020:
> 
> https://www.tvtechnology.com/atsc3/...425180433&mc_cid=b0981e9dc3&mc_eid=04fa5140a6
> 
> You will note that Baltimore and Washington D.C. are in the 1st 40 markets. Unfortunately it does not specify which stations will be broadcasting in 4k in each market.


I just read about this same product yesterday too. Even though we have a traditional provider (DIRECTV), almost 100% of TV watching is local channels. Something we could be interested in.

Remember, over 99.9% of these new NextGen TV (ATSC 3.0) stations will not be doing 4K, they'll be network simulcasts either 720p or 1080i. Hopefully the new stations won't overcompress their new signals. I read that the the "old" ATSC 1.0 signals will most likely be doing at least 2 HD channels plus 2 or 3 subchannels with the much newer (ATSC 1.0) encoder equipment. There's a recent article online (sorry, no link of the top of my head) how the Portland, OR market is rolling out NextGen TV. Very fascinating read...


----------



## mrradiohead55

VARTV said:


> There's a recent article online (sorry, no link of the top of my head) how the Portland, OR market is rolling out NextGen TV. Very fascinating read...



Published on March 13th by TVTechnology - is it this one?

https://www.tvtechnology.com/news/meredith-nexstar-plan-atsc-30-rollout-in-portland

Whether it is or not, they also show the *plan* for Portland.


Jim - Springfield, Missouri


----------



## VARTV

mrradiohead55 said:


> Published on March 13th by TVTechnology - is it this one?
> 
> https://www.tvtechnology.com/news/meredith-nexstar-plan-atsc-30-rollout-in-portland
> 
> Whether it is or not, they also show the *plan* for Portland.
> 
> 
> Jim - Springfield, Missouri


I did read that one. I might be getting that piece and something else I read online mixed up/combined... not sure. It was pretty detailed what the 1.0 stations were going to do after they lit up 3.0 i.e. running two 720p streams with 3 (or 4) subchannels and two 1080i streams with 2 (or 3) subchannels. It mentioned that the major networks were concerned about PQ especially football (the NFL). With the 1.0 stations using the very latest encoders, they are "happy" with the results with running 2 HDs and two/three/four subchannels.


----------



## pkpaul

WETA TV 26 has been dark since 8:30 AM Monday.
What's going on?


----------



## Trip in VA

WETA looks fine here. https://www.rabbitears.info/tvdx/signal_graph/10317DF4/tuner1/WETA-TV

- Trip


----------



## pkpaul

wow okay 

That's pretty rare for WETA here in Falls Church. 

Still no signal on 3 tuners at 1 PM


----------



## pkpaul

WETA TV 26 [RF 31] signal is super strong now. Have they completed repack and move to Fort Reno?

Also WRZB 31 [RF 32] is stronger.


----------



## pkpaul

Schedules Direct and Zap2It.com have program guide listings for WRC TV 4 [RF 34] sub-channel WRCDT5 LX Network mainly beginning at 6:00 AM Tuesday 19 May.


----------



## fri1038

WRC 4.3 LX is on the air this morning. Launching next week?


----------



## scpivo21

First post and hello.

Has anyone had trouble lately picking up WBFF? I used to pick it up without much trouble here in NoVA but it's been hit-or-miss (mostly miss) since it moved to RF26.


----------



## Brian in CT

scpivo21 said:


> First post and hello.
> 
> Has anyone had trouble lately picking up WBFF? I used to pick it up without much trouble here in NoVA but it's been hit-or-miss (mostly miss) since it moved to RF26.


Welcome scpivo21. I have some ideas about your interference. Depending on where you live in northern Virginia, you could be experiencing co-channel interference from WHTJ out of Charlottesville. Even a weak signal from WHTJ (or any other RF channel 26) can make WBFF difficult to decode. Now that all TV stations will be squeezed in between channels 2-36, they're going to be more OTA viewers that will have to deal with CCI.

If it's not that, it could be LTE interference. There have been new 5G cell towers across the county coming on line in the past year using the sold off part of the UHF band. If you're close enough to one, they can still interfere with TV stations on the remaining part of the band. If that's the case, an LTE filter should fix that.

I hope that helps. The locals on this thread will come up with ideas I haven't thought of.


----------



## scpivo21

Brian in CT said:


> scpivo21 said:
> 
> 
> 
> First post and hello.
> 
> Has anyone had trouble lately picking up WBFF? I used to pick it up without much trouble here in NoVA but it's been hit-or-miss (mostly miss) since it moved to RF26.
> 
> 
> 
> Welcome scpivo21. I have some ideas about your interference. Depending on where you live in northern Virginia, you could be experiencing co-channel interference from WHTJ out of Charlottesville. Even a weak signal from WHTJ (or any other RF channel 26) can make WBFF difficult to decode. Now that all TV stations will be squeezed in between channels 2-36, they're going to be more OTA viewers that will have to deal with CCI.
> 
> If it's not that, it could be LTE interference. There have been new 5G cell towers across the county coming on line in the past year using the sold off part of the UHF band. If you're close enough to one, they can still interfere with TV stations on the remaining part of the band. If that's the case, an LTE filter should fix that.
> 
> I hope that helps. The locals on this thread will come up with ideas I haven't thought of.
Click to expand...

Brian,

Thanks for the input. I'd be surprised if WHTJ is interfering with WBFF given the Rabbit Ears signal results below, but I could be mistaken. Nothing much you can do about it if that's the case, correct?

My (very uneducated) guess is that WBFF isn't operating at full power given the issues the area has faced with the repack, but I didn't see that confirmed anywhere.

Also, I have an LTE filter on the antenna, so that shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks!

https://www.rabbitears.info/searchmap.php?request=result&study_id=92363


----------



## KyL416

WBFF shouldn't be affected by the ongoing repack related work for WMAR, WBAL and WJZ, it's on a seperate tower.


----------



## joblo

scpivo21 said:


> I'd be surprised if WHTJ is interfering with WBFF given the Rabbit Ears signal results below


Agree.



> Nothing much you can do about it if that's the case, correct?


INcorrect. IF that were your problem, the interfering signal is nearly 180 degrees off-axis, so there are definitely things you could do, but I agree that's UNlikely to be your issue, so let's not go there.



> My (very uneducated) guess is that WBFF isn't operating at full power given the issues the area has faced with the repack


I doubt it. My rf25 and rf26 look just as they should on my TiVos, given that 26 is approximately 2.5 dB weaker.

This is my rabbitears report, which you can see is very similar to yours:

https://www.rabbitears.info/searchmap.php?request=result&study_id=92405

How is your reception on WNUV, what antenna are you using, and where/how is it installed?



KyL416 said:


> WBFF shouldn't be affected by the ongoing repack related work for WMAR, WBAL and WJZ, it's on a seperate tower.


Agree.


----------



## fri1038

Is the WBFF reception worse during windy weather as we've had this week? If so, then probably multipath interference from trees blowing around.


I'm only 12 miles from the transmitter (compared to OP's 50) but WBFF has oddly seemed more prone to multipath at my house than WNUV even before the repack change. As I type on this windy morning I see WBFF's signal fluctuating between 80 and 100% while WNUV is a steady 100%.



Re the low power theory, in the Live Bandscan section of rabbitears.info WBFF looks marginally stronger from the Leesburg monitor and slightly worse from Alexandria since the mid-March repack. I see no weakness 12 miles out.


----------



## keeper

KyL416 said:


> WBFF shouldn't be affected by the ongoing repack related work for WMAR, WBAL and WJZ, it's on a seperate tower.


Have they started work on these towers?


----------



## KyL416

According to WJZ's progress report that they filed last week, they didn't begin tower work yet.

WBAL's progress report from May 4th says they'll transition to an auxiliary antenna at reduced power and won't complete their final facility until after July when their contractor can schedule a helicopter crew:
https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/attachment/25076ff371dbd95d0171e00e0ed9025f


----------



## keeper

KyL416 said:


> According to WJZ's progress report that they filed last week, they didn't begin tower work yet.
> 
> WBAL's progress report from May 4th says they'll transition to an auxiliary antenna at reduced power and won't complete their final facility until after July when their contractor can schedule a helicopter crew:
> https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/attachment/25076ff371dbd95d0171e00e0ed9025f


Thanks for the info.


----------



## scpivo21

joblo said:


> How is your reception on WNUV, what antenna are you using, and where/how is it installed?


Thanks for the feedback. My reception on WNUV is non-existent, similar to WBFF (from what I remember, I was picking WNUV up a few months ago, but nothing recently). I have a ClearStream 2Max, which is set up outside next to our deck door. It's about 13 feet off the ground and faces Northeast. I promised the Mrs. I won't put the antenna on the roof, so that's not an option.


----------



## Digital Rules

Yep, no 45 or 54 here either. They are both a tad weaker than channel 2 which is a bit too weak to decode as well. 54 used to be good here when on RF 40. OTOH MPT 22 is decode-able since the re-pack, even with the antenna pointed towards Baltimore.


----------



## Casey Hartman

I have a Terk MTVGLS that is picking up Baltimore stations and WMPT in Annapolis, but not DC ones. I might be able to setup a small outdoor antenna in my balcony. What antenna do you recommend I try?

My Rabbit Ears study ID is 93103.

Thanks!

Casey


----------



## fri1038

Do you get *any* DC stations? Is there anything especially challenging about your location - e.g., basement apartment? That is an amplified antenna. Can you try without the amplifier? You could be overloading your tv tuner, being so close to DC. A simple rabbit ears and loop, like this, should get you the DC stations, in theory.



https://www.walmart.com/ip/GE-Easy-...and-Rabbit-Ears-30-Mile-Range-33694/194842437







Casey Hartman said:


> I have a Terk MTVGLS that is picking up Baltimore stations and WMPT in Annapolis, but not DC ones. I might be able to setup a small outdoor antenna in my balcony. What antenna do you recommend I try?
> 
> My Rabbit Ears study ID is 93103.
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Casey


----------



## Casey Hartman

I am in a 15th floor unit and the compass app on my phone claims it is has an elevation of 140 feet. The unit faces away from the DC broadcast towers. I was mistaken, the Terk MTVGLS is able to pick up channels 50 and 66 with the amplifier plugged in. Today I am getting 14 as well. I have scanned for channels with it being unplugged and it was not able to pick up 4, 5, 7, 9 , 20, or 32. I might get some RG6 coax to be able to try the antenna on my balcony.



fri1038 said:


> Do you get *any* DC stations? Is there anything especially challenging about your location - e.g., basement apartment? That is an amplified antenna. Can you try without the amplifier? You could be overloading your tv tuner, being so close to DC. A simple rabbit ears and loop, like this, should get you the DC stations, in theory.


----------



## scpivo21

Digital Rules said:


> Yep, no 45 or 54 here either. They are both a tad weaker than channel 2 which is a bit too weak to decode as well. 54 used to be good here when on RF 40. OTOH MPT 22 is decode-able since the re-pack, even with the antenna pointed towards Baltimore.


I'm having the exact same experience as you. It used to be that I could pick up WBFF-45 without any problem, and MPT-22 was hit or miss. Now, I can't pick up 45 at all, and I pick up MPT-22 more often than WHUT-32.


----------



## Digital Rules

scpivo21 said:


> I'm having the exact same experience as you. It used to be that I could pick up WBFF-45 without any problem, and MPT-22 was hit or miss. Now, I can't pick up 45 at all, and I pick up MPT-22 more often than WHUT-32.


Too bad the re-pack has reduced power to areas that used to get a decent signal. Not sure why the FCC is so overly protective of TV signals and then seem to not protect the FM band with HD & LPFM stations?

Look at the coverage map for WWEG below. WJFK's HD signal wipes out a good chunk of the southeastern half of WWEG's listening area. I would think WWEG would not be too happy about this? How does this happen?

https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WWEG&service=FM


----------



## Trip in VA

Digital Rules said:


> Too bad the re-pack has reduced power to areas that used to get a decent signal.


Not quite clear what this means. Each station was replicated to a power that matched its pre-repack contour on the new channel. For WBFF, that 655 kW on channel 46 becamne 440 kW on channel 26. For some reason, they opted to build at only 420 kW, which is about 0.2 dB less--I can't imagine anyone would notice. For WNUV, the 845 kW on channel 40 became 620 kW on channel 25, but WNUV voluntarily increased power to 750 kW when they built it.

- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules

Trip in VA said:


> Not quite clear what this means. Each station was replicated to a power that matched its pre-repack contour on the new channel. For WBFF, that 655 kW on channel 46 becamne 440 kW on channel 26. For some reason, they opted to build at only 420 kW, which is about 0.2 dB less--I can't imagine anyone would notice. For WNUV, the 845 kW on channel 40 became 620 kW on channel 25, but WNUV voluntarily increased power to 750 kW when they built it.
> 
> - Trip


 Thanks Trip, I wasn't aware they were trying to replicate the previous coverage areas. For whatever reason I'm not getting any Baltimore channels now. There can be a lot of other factors that come into play as well. I am already on the edge of Baltimore's coverage anyway and the leaves on the trees aren't helping either.


----------



## Casey Hartman

Casey Hartman said:


> I am in a 15th floor unit and the compass app on my phone claims it is has an elevation of 140 feet. The unit faces away from the DC broadcast towers. I was mistaken, the Terk MTVGLS is able to pick up channels 50 and 66 with the amplifier plugged in. Today I am getting 14 as well. I have scanned for channels with it being unplugged and it was not able to pick up 4, 5, 7, 9 , 20, or 32. I might get some RG6 coax to be able to try the antenna on my balcony.
> 
> 
> 
> fri1038 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Do you get *any* DC stations? Is there anything especially challenging about your location - e.g., basement apartment? That is an amplified antenna. Can you try without the amplifier? You could be overloading your tv tuner, being so close to DC. A simple rabbit ears and loop, like this, should get you the DC stations, in theory.
> 
> 
> 
> A neighbor in a different building bought a Clearstream 2Max antenna and picks up 55 channels. I bought one since the dipoles and 2 round UHF portions could be an improvement over the flat amplified Terk antenna. Surprisingly the 2Max performed better as it was placed further away from the balcony. I have the antenna in the HVAC closet, where the in-wall coax cables originates, facing around 330 degrees and it is receiving 50 channels. The only major network I missing NBC. WRC NBC 4 broadcasts in the UHF band so I am surprised it doesn't come in and WBAL 11 broadcasts on VHF that doesn't reach Alexandria/Fairfax County. I'll have to share my findings with my Montebello Condo neighbors.
Click to expand...


----------



## Trip in VA

Casey Hartman said:


> I'll have to share my findings with my Montebello Condo neighbors.


Ah! I could just about throw a rock and hit you. This is a live list of what I receive off my roof antenna, which needs work:

https://m.rabbitears.info/index.php?request=tvdx_grid&tid=1062ADBE&tno=1

If you're on the wrong side of the building, you might be out of luck.

- Trip


----------



## Casey Hartman

Trip in VA said:


> Ah! I could just about throw a rock and hit you. This is a live list of what I receive off my roof antenna, which needs work:
> 
> 
> 
> If you're on the wrong side of the building, you might be out of luck.
> 
> - Trip


Howdy neighbor! I moved the antenna to the walk-in closet by the front door, which is slightly further north east portion of my unit. Now I can pick up NBC 4 and a few other stations. I may trim the coax cable I ran from the antenna to the in-wall coax origination since the big box retailer substituted a 100 ft roll for a 50 ft one. It looks a mess and the excess cable may allow signal degradation. My TV's signal meter shows some of the channels in the 40% range, lower than it the antenna connected directly to it.


----------



## KyL416

WBAL, WMAR and WJZ posted their rescan dates, 7/2 at 9am:
https://www.wbaltv.com/article/wbal-tv-rescan/32582927
https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2020/05/29/why-you-need-to-rescan-your-channels-on-july-2/
https://www.wmar2news.com/rescan

Ion's outdated rescan website still says 5/1 for WWPX, but since they have to coordinate with all those other swaps stretching from DC to NYC, they'll be doing it at the same time.


----------



## keeper

KyL416 said:


> WBAL, WMAR and WBZ posted their rescan dates, 7/2 at 9am:
> https://www.wbaltv.com/article/wbal-tv-rescan/32582927
> https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2020/05/29/why-you-need-to-rescan-your-channels-on-july-2/
> https://www.wmar2news.com/rescan
> 
> Ion's outdated rescan website still says 5/1 for WWPX, but since they have to coordinate with all those other swaps stretching from DC to NYC, they'll be doing it at the same time.


Thanks for the update. I hope these changes improve their signals.


----------



## fri1038

WBAL and WJZ reception may get worse before they get better as it sounds like they will need to run off backup hardware initially, as per baltomedia.net on May 28, due to lack of helicopter crews and needing to use cranes for the replacement antenna work.


----------



## StevenJB

KyL416 said:


> WBAL, WMAR and WBZ posted their rescan dates, 7/2 at 9am.



Thanks for this useful information but actually WBZ was part of Phase 4 and not Phase 10. It's also located in Boston, MA. Just having a little fun with you!


----------



## KyL416

Yeah, I meant WJZ, lol


----------



## mkfs

Titan-TV:

Even since Zap2It updegraded itself, I've been using TitanTV for schedules. 

But starting several months ago, it's been wrong re: WETA's programming. Mostly on WETA-UK but sometimes 26.1/3 is also wrong.

Just compare WETA's schedule page with TTV.

So I wrote to TTV and finally got an answer, in April!
They told me they were asking their supplier but that was the last I heard.

Where do they buy their schedule data, the Dollar Store?


----------



## ericlhyman

Is there any information on when the DC area stations will broadcast in ATSC 3.0 since some new tv models are including these tuners now?


----------



## KyL416

mkfs said:


> Where do they buy their schedule data, the Dollar Store?


TitanTV uses FYI Television for their data, which is perhaps the worst of the 3 major guide data providers.


----------



## mkfs

KyL416 said:


> TitanTV uses FYI Television for their data, which is perhaps the worst of the 3 major guide data providers.


So I _was_ right! Too bad it's got the most rational and readable UI.


----------



## mkfs

ericlhyman said:


> Is there any information on when the DC area stations will broadcast in ATSC 3.0 since some new tv models are including these tuners now?


How will this work? Will the ATSC 3.0 be in the same RF space as the existing? Or will there be another musical chairs game of temporary sites, etc?

And when will our existing sets and tuners be as useful as CECB's?


----------



## fri1038

From what I've read so far, two or more broadcasters will work together. One or more existing transmitter will carry all or most channels from all in ATSC 1.0. Another existing transmitter will carry them in ATSC 3.0.


EDIT: This is how Las Vegas is doing it now. Four stations working together. Three transmitters in ATSC 1.0, one in 3.0.

https://www.avsforum.com/forum/45-l...48479-las-vegas-nv-hdtv-384.html#post59708644


There is a general ATSC 3.0 thread to browse through for more info. Might be some DC rumors hiding in there.

https://www.avsforum.com/forum/25-hdtv-technical/1995418-atsc-3-0-a.html






mkfs said:


> How will this work? Will the ATSC 3.0 be in the same RF space as the existing? Or will there be another musical chairs game of temporary sites, etc?
> 
> And when will our existing sets and tuners be as useful as CECB's?


----------



## joblo

fri1038 said:


> From what I've read so far, two or more broadcasters will work together. One or more existing transmitter will carry all or most channels from all in ATSC 1.0. Another existing transmitter will carry them in ATSC 3.0.


So far, the main movers and shakers for 3.0 are Sinclair, the Pearl Consortium, of which Sinclair is a member, Univision, and Entravision, which operates a number of Univision stations under JSAs. No ABC/CBS/FOX/NBC O&Os, ION, or PBS stations have participated outside of the Phoenix model market. All the 3.0 transmissions so far are on UHF.

Full power virtual channels around here are as follows, more or less in order of likely participation based on the record so far:

Sinclair: DC 7, Baltimore 24, 45, 54
Other Pearl: DC 9, 50, Baltimore 2, 11, Hagerstown 25
Univision/Entravision: DC 14, 68
PBS: DC 26, 32, Maryland MPT
Major network O&Os: DC 4, 5, 20, 44, Baltimore 13
ION: DC 66, Martinsburg 60

Complete speculation based on the record so far:

Baltimore will go before DC because of Sinclair's presence there, flip Sinclair's RF 25 or 26 to 3.0, and divvy up its 1.0 contents among the other Sinclair and Pearl RFs.

In DC, Sinclair, Pearl, and Univision/Entravision will get together and flip RF 15.

When this will happen, if at all, I have no idea, except that covid will probably make it later than it otherwise would have been.

If/when these changes occur, MVPD subscribers will be unaffected, but OTA viewers will need to rescan. Basically, it will be like another repack, meaning more compression and PQ degradation for most viewers.

3.0 will be invisible except to OTA viewers with 3.0-cappable receivers, which are still few and far between.


----------



## Trip in VA

Agreed on Baltimore.

In DC, the smart thing to do would be to make WHUT the host station. 32-1 could go on WJLA's transmitter, while 32-2 could probably fit on WUSA's. That assumes WHUT decides to get involved, of course.

- Trip


----------



## mkfs

*WETA World*

WETA has announced a 3rd subchannel, WETA World. They previously had a SD version of the 26.1 channel and this replaces it.


----------



## mkfs

*What time is it?*

For some reason, my TCL set suddenly started showing time one hour behind what we think it is. I'm seeking the cause.

But I'm not clear what it uses as the source for time. I was looking at WETA at the time. (Who loves to play musical chairs with its schedule; so I was at first *really* confused....) I seem to recall that back in the Dark Ages of NTSC, it was PBS stations that propagated time announcements.

I'd think that with ATSC each station did so, but then it occurred to me that might be confusing for folks in Indiana getting stations from different directions.

Enlightenment sought.


----------



## KyL416

ATSC stations send their time out in UTC, it's up to the TV how they convert it, either via a menu selection so the end user can specify the timezone and DST, or they might bypass the TV stations entirely and use an internet time server. For those that use the ATSC signal it varies, some tuners just use the first station they found for the time, others will use the time transmitted by the station you're currently watching.

You would need something like TSReader or a TV that sets the clock based on the current channel you're watching to figure out which station is causing the problem.


----------



## mkfs

It's looking like WETA (update)

There's an on-set program guide. It is showing the previous hour's program on WETA; on other stations it's correctly showing the current hour. 

WUSA & WJLA have the same symptom. But others such as WRC & WDCA are on-time.

That's consistent irrespective of what time I display, manual or automatic.

Wonder how to ask WETA or (WJLA) about this.


----------



## VARTV

WJLA, WTTG to Trial 3.0 Advanced Emergency Alerting in D.C.

_Trial will be organized in four two-week blocks to test various aspects of the technology_

Two local television stations in the nation’s capital will conduct an eight week trial of ATSC 3.0’s advanced emergency warning capabilities, including text-based alerts and rich media, and the workflow needed to support the alerts...

Continue reading @TVTechnology


----------



## joblo

^^ I'm guessing that this a behind-the-scenes, offline sort of testing, and not an indication that Sinclair and Fox are going to partner to flip one of their DC channels to 3.0 sometime soon, right?

(Frankly, I've always wondered why in the world an improved emergency alert system, which we definitely need, requires a whole new and incompatible broadcast TV system. That's always struck me as the lamest of the 3.0 justifications.)


----------



## mkfs

joblo said:


> ^^ That's always struck me as the lamest of the 3.0 justifications.)


 Just wait, a lamer one is under design.


----------



## fri1038

I see that WMJF is on RF23 tonight. Probably moved this afternoon/evening. Much stronger signal near BWI than on their old RF39 transmitter, needing no futzing around with the rabbit ears. Indeed, I hadn't been able to pick it up on 39 since the trees leafed out this spring.


WTMD-FM, who shares a tower near Towson with WMJF, had announced yesterday on air that they were operating at lower power for scheduled tower maintenance, so that explains that.


----------



## captain_video

Last I heard was that we're supposed to do a channel rescan on July 2nd, correct? I think it's after 9am, IIRC.


----------



## KyL416

Yes, however WMAR, WBAL and WJZ will be transitioning to interim facilities with a reduced coverage area because the helicopter crew isn't scheduled to arrive until the end of July.


----------



## fri1038

WMAR, WJZ, and WBAL moved to their new channel assignments and aux antennas as scheduled at 9:00am this morning. No reception problems or changes at my location.


WJZ has a note on their website about moving to their new primary antenna on August 1. 

https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2020/05/29/why-you-need-to-rescan-your-channels-on-july-2/


----------



## howie14

At 9 AM, the WBAL signal was much weaker in Eldersburg MD where I live. One TV isn’t even finding 11.1 or 11.2 and the other is showing constant pixelation. 

It looks like I will need to move my roof antenna. PITB.


----------



## doctorwizz

Here in Calvert Co. signals are now
2.1: 0%
11.1: 32%
13.1: 0%

They used to be useable most of the time


----------



## howie14

Can someone explain this one thing about the repack which I can’t put my head around:

WBAL-DT moves from VHF 11 to VHF 12

WJZ-DT moves from VHF 13 to VHF 11.

Why? Why didn’t WJZ move from 13 to 12 while WBAL stayed put?

I assume I am missing something?


----------



## KyL416

They had to protect the existing coverage areas for stations in surrounding markets and the markets that surround them and make room so some UHF stations can move to VHF and keep their coverage areas.

i.e. much of these VHF moves stretching from the Mid-Atlantic to New England were a cascading effect so WGBY in Springfield could move from UHF 22 to VHF 13 and WNYI in Syracuse could move from UHF 20 to VHF 13. In order for that to happen stations in NYC, Albany and Scranton had to leave RF 13, in order for that to happen WHYY in Philly had to leave RF 12 for RF 13, in order for that to happen some swaps in the Baltimore/DC/Hagerstown area had to occur.


----------



## mdviewer25

howie14 said:


> Can someone explain this one thing about the repack which I can’t put my head around:
> 
> WBAL-DT moves from VHF 11 to VHF 12
> 
> WJZ-DT moves from VHF 13 to VHF 11.
> 
> Why? Why didn’t WJZ move from 13 to 12 while WBAL stayed put?
> 
> I assume I am missing something?


I wondered the same thing that makes more sense to me too. After rescan today, completely lost WBAL and WJZ is weaker but still has a signal with more breakups. WMAR still strong even though their news and weather has the smallest focus area compared to the other two.


----------



## Trip in VA

howie14 said:


> I assume I am missing something?


Yes. WJZ and WVEC (in Norfolk) are short-spaced. The repack moved WVEC from 13 to 11. Because WBAL was not short-spaced to a Norfolk station, it needed to be moved off 11 to accommodate WVEC. So WJZ ended up on 11, preserving the short-spacing, while WBAL ended up on 12 (rather than 13, since 12 comports with the moves that accommodated WGBY moving to 13).

- Trip


----------



## captain_video

I'm sure it's already been explained elsewhere in this thread so forgive me if I'm being redundant. Why exactly are they replacing the main antennas for WBAL, WMAR, and WJZ? Does it have to do with ATSC 3.0 or are they just looking to improve their coverage area?


----------



## MadMan400096

captain_video said:


> I'm sure it's already been explained elsewhere in this thread so forgive me if I'm being redundant. Why exactly are they replacing the main antennas for WBAL, WMAR, and WJZ? Does it have to do with ATSC 3.0 or are they just looking to improve their coverage area?


A lot of stations across the country have been applying for new antennas since the repack. Changing frequencies is a complicated beast, and not all of the older transmitters are necessarily up to the task.


----------



## captain_video

MadMan400096 said:


> A lot of stations across the country have been applying for new antennas since the repack. Changing frequencies is a complicated beast, and not all of the older transmitters are necessarily up to the task.


I understand about the transmitters and frequency changes, but if they're still broadcasting in the VHF band I'm not sure why they would need to upgrade the antenna. There has to be some underlying reason for that. I thought I read a post a while back that indicated the new antennas would have a different radiation pattern than the current ones.


----------



## Trip in VA

Most broadcast antennas in the United States are single-channel antennas. So if you move even one channel away, the antenna is no longer tuned for the frequency and will either perform poorly or blow up the transmitter.

- Trip


----------



## mdviewer25

Completely lost WMAR early this morning after first rescan. Scanned again a few hours later, it's back not as strong. WJZ was solid earlier now has more breakups. WBAL still missing.


----------



## Digital Rules

Seeing signal from 2, 11 & 13 here in Chantilly. 2 and 11 are weaker than before but 13 seems slightly better. Have only been able to decode channel 13 so far with a little help from some weak tropo.

Now that our RF 38 is cleared I guess T-Mobile can start cranking up band 71 in the area sooner than later. They have been quite aggressive with it so far in the rest of the country.

Spectrum starved Verizon Wireless really needs to step up their game buying more spectrum ASAP. T-Mobile will soon surpass them in all but the deepest rural areas. Now if we could just get AT&T to let more devices use VoLTE they could join in on the game.


----------



## Trip in VA

T-Mobile has had Band 71 running in this area since last summer. When Phase 4 passed, enough of the band opened up (WNUV was already off 40, but then WMPT left 42, WRC left 48) that they could slot some Band 71 LTE in.

- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules

Good info Trip. I'm guess they can now take advantage of the additional bandwidth since it's opened up?


----------



## Trip in VA

One imagines. They're dedicating most of the spectrum to 5G-NR though, I think, so it may not make much of a difference on LTE.

- Trip


----------



## joblo

howie14 said:


> At 9 AM, the WBAL signal was much weaker in Eldersburg MD where I live. One TV isn’t even finding 11.1 or 11.2 and the other is showing constant pixelation.
> 
> It looks like I will need to move my roof antenna. PITB.


You might want to wait a bit. They aren't at full power yet, even on the aux. They still need some equipment they're expecting next week.


----------



## fri1038

WMAR down since 7:00 am.


----------



## fri1038

fri1038 said:


> WMAR down since 7:00 am.



Comment on Facebook posted around noon:



"WMAR-2 News Baltimore Hello. As Part of WMAR’s effort to build A new state of the art transmission facility, we are performing some unscheduled maintenance. We hope this outage will be short, And we will alert you when we are back up transmitting our over the air signal."


----------



## mkfs

captain_video said:


> I understand about the transmitters and frequency changes, but if they're still broadcasting in the VHF band I'm not sure why they would need to upgrade the antenna. There has to be some underlying reason for that. I thought I read a post a while back that indicated the new antennas would have a different radiation pattern than the current ones.


 At what they pay for antennas, I would assume they are custom made for one frequency and one tower with X, Y & Z other arrays nearby. I know the saga of the WCLV FM antenna on the Terminal Tower. It was very expensive, as in $100K range 50 years ago. It was so hi-Q that it need large three-phase 208V deicing heaters to keep the VSWR down. 

I doubt that TV antennas are any more generic. How far in the VHF band have they moved?


----------



## captain_video

mkfs said:


> At what they pay for antennas, I would assume they are custom made for one frequency and one tower with X, Y & Z other arrays nearby. I know the saga of the WCLV FM antenna on the Terminal Tower. It was very expensive, as in $100K range 50 years ago. It was so hi-Q that it need large three-phase 208V deicing heaters to keep the VSWR down.
> 
> I doubt that TV antennas are any more generic. How far in the VHF band have they moved?


OK, so if WBAL-DT moved to channel 12 and WJZ-DT moved to channel 11, couldn't WJZ use WBAL's old antenna? That would make sense from an economic standpoint unless WJZ wants to change the type of antenna they're currently using to change their area of coverage. WBAL would still need to upgrade their antenna for VHF channel 12.


----------



## KyL416

captain_video said:


> OK, so if WBAL-DT moved to channel 12 and WJZ-DT moved to channel 11, couldn't WJZ use WBAL's old antenna? That would make sense from an economic standpoint unless WJZ wants to change the type of antenna they're currently using to change their area of coverage.


They can't. WJZ's new RF 11 signal will have an eliptical polarization, WBAL's old RF 11 signal had a horizontal polarization, and they were mounted at different heights. So even if the polarization didn't change and they were able to reuse the antenna, helicopter work would still be needed to remove the antenna and remount it to the new height, and run a new transmission line to the new height.


----------



## captain_video

KyL416 said:


> They can't. WJZ's new RF 11 signal will have an eliptical polarization, WBAL's old RF 11 signal had a horizontal polarization, and they were mounted at different heights. So even if they were able to reuse the antenna, helicopter work would still be needed to remove the antenna and remount it to the new height, and run a new transmission line to the new height.


Thanks. I figured it had to be something along those lines.


----------



## fri1038

WMAR back up around 3:45pm.


Re the WBAL, WJZ repack, I believe the FCC reimbursed stations for any repack expenses they had forced upon them Paid out of the 600, 700 MHz bandwidth auction proceeds. Sounded like a cleanup of old antennae was needed up there on the candelabra, anyway. (ref dcrtv.com June 15 posts) Good for the long term.


----------



## mkfs

captain_video said:


> OK, so if WBAL-DT moved to channel 12 and WJZ-DT moved to channel 11, couldn't WJZ use WBAL's old antenna? That would make sense from an economic standpoint unless WJZ wants to change the type of antenna they're currently using to change their area of coverage. WBAL would still need to upgrade their antenna for VHF channel 12.


 I gather they are co-located on the same tower? Will they swap transmitter houses as well? Then what about the STL? Things get complicated fast.... 

(I see KyL416 had more specific answers.)


----------



## boostmiser

I’m around the Newark, DE area and used to receive digital 2.1 WMAR.
After the repack and several scans, no signal. Am I understanding this should clear up at the end of the month after maintenance on the candelabra?


----------



## fri1038

boostmiser said:


> I’m around the Newark, DE area and used to receive digital 2.1 WMAR.
> After the repack and several scans, no signal. Am I understanding this should clear up at the end of the month after maintenance on the candelabra?



WMAR (and WBAL and WJZ) are currently running on new backup antennas on their new channel assignments. They will install new primary antennas ~100 feet higher than the backups which will improve current coverage somewhat. Hopefully you'll get WMAR back after that.


Tip: you may be able to just punch in channel 27 (WMAR's new channel) on your TV rather than doing a full rescan and it will convert to 2.1 when you get a good signal. There is another channel 27, low power WPSJ-CD, in the Philly area, hopefully won't interfere.


----------



## Trip in VA

I'm told WMAR has had an equipment failure and is at much lower power than the 850 kW shown in the STA. 

- Trip


----------



## pamajestic

WMAR is a mess up here. It was fine Friday afternoon, but Saturday and Sunday have been garbage. I am 46 miles out 2-Edge.


----------



## Digital Rules

There has been a good bit of tropo this weekend which isn't helping either. Really strong flow from Richmond/Tidewater tonight.


----------



## pkpaul

Seeing WIAV 58.1, 47.1 and 47.2 on RF24 today [as opposed to RF44 or RF30]


----------



## Geronimo1067

WMAR seems a bit better today here in Northern Virginia.. An occasional breakup but nowhere near as bad as it has been. Having said that some of the low power stations in DC are breaking up. Hopefully things will get better by Aug. 1.


----------



## StevenJB

pkpaul said:


> Seeing WIAV 58.1, 47.1 and 47.2 on RF24 today [as opposed to RF44 or RF30]



My information has WIAV(58)/WMDO(47) moving to RF30 and WDCO(10) in Woodstock, VA moving to RF24. Does anyone else have any information?


----------



## Trip in VA

WIAV-CD had until Monday to vacate channel 44. If the new channel 30 gear wasn't ready yet, I could imagine them using WDCO-CD's channel 24 to keep the programming on the air since WIAV-CD and WDCO-CD ran the same programming except that WMDO-CD was also along for the ride on the WIAV-CD signal.

- Trip


----------



## scpivo21

Trip in VA said:


> WIAV-CD had until Monday to vacate channel 44. If the new channel 30 gear wasn't ready yet, I could imagine them using WDCO-CD's channel 24 to keep the programming on the air since WIAV-CD and WDCO-CD ran the same programming except that WMDO-CD was also along for the ride on the WIAV-CD signal.
> 
> - Trip


On a somewhat related note, with Sinclair purchasing WIAV and WDCO, is it possible they'll use one of these transmitters for ATSC 3.0?


----------



## fri1038

WBAL and WJZ's news were broadcast from alternative facilities (they didn't say where) today as they showed a helicopter and a tower crew removing all the old antennas from atop the candelabra. Live video at noon showed a crew of six being lowered from the tower in a bucket, so either done for the day or on lunch break. Not much schedule detail except that the replacements will take several days.



WJZ's aux signal seemed to be weaker for me. WMAR and WBAL the same as yesterday.


Some [finicky] video here: 


https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/video/4636023-watch-old-antenna-removed-from-wjzs-candelabra-tower/


----------



## KyL416

If it's like other helicopter lifts, they could be testing the new signal as early as next week, possibly sooner if the weather cooperates.


----------



## Trip in VA

I was there. They made very quick work of 9 lifts and cleared all three corners of the candelabra. I think some of the new antennas are going up this afternoon if the weather holds and the rest perhaps tomorrow.

- Trip


----------



## Trip in VA

Here it is going on right now: https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/live/channel/cbs-baltimore-live-video/

- Trip


----------



## VARTV

Trip in VA said:


> Here it is going on right now: https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/live/channel/cbs-baltimore-live-video/
> 
> - Trip


Wow... Gotta give it to them...


----------



## fri1038

Crews were coming down at 5:15pm after installing 2 of 3 new antennas. WBAL had temporary studios "in Hunt Valley". WJZ was at a "business just down the road."


----------



## fri1038

The third and final candelabra antenna was put in place at 8:10am today

The tower to the left is WBFF/WNUV's.

The last image is from WJZ's news opening showing the old configuration with two TV (and a few FM) antennas on each corner "stack". Now it's one TV each on top of new mini towers plus some FMers from what I've read elsewhere.

Image credits to the WJZ and WBAL-TV websites.


----------



## Trip in VA

fri1038 said:


> The third and final candelabra antenna was put in place at 8:10am today


Indeed.






- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules

_"Some interesting things are that WJZ and WMAR’s antennas were stacked on top of each other on one arm while WBAL’s analog and digital antennas were stacked similarly. The other arm apparently had WMAR’s analog antenna still. So, EVERYTHING had to come down, new pedestals had to be installed on each arm and each TV station is on a separate arm again by itself. And WIYY gets a new antenna, presumably on the WBAL arm. . . . ._" *Courtesy of DCRTV*

Pretty cool stuff. I guess this would explain why WIYY has also been weak recently?

I just can't imagine there are many out there that have the courage to be way up on top of those towers doing what they do. These guys (or gals) should be making money similar to Jeff Bezos!! Anyone know about how much one of those antennas weigh?


----------



## captain_video

Haven't seen a Sikorsky Skycrane since back in the day when I worked construction on the 2nd span of the Bay Bridge back in the summer of 1971. They used them to haul concrete out to the smaller support piers in a huge bucket. They'd have cement trucks lined up at Sandy Point State Park and the copter would lower the bucket next to the truck where they'd fill it up then haul it out to the pier where workers on barges would position it over the steel tubes and dump it using a release bar on the bucket. 

True story - One night one of the workers was using the porta potty on the barge and the copter flew too low. The downdraft from the copter blades was so strong it blew the porta potty with the guy still in it overboard into the bay. Kinda ruined his night to say the least.


----------



## pkpaul

Trip in VA said:


> WIAV-CD had until Monday to vacate channel 44. If the new channel 30 gear wasn't ready yet, I could imagine them using WDCO-CD's channel 24 to keep the programming on the air since WIAV-CD and WDCO-CD ran the same programming except that WMDO-CD was also along for the ride on the WIAV-CD signal.
> - Trip


WIAV 58.1, WMDO 47.1 and 47.2 are now on their assigned repack channel RF30.
Only WDCO is on RF24 now.


----------



## fri1038

WJZ posted a vertigo-inducing video taken from the antenna's perspective during the install:



https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/vide...ew-antenna-to-baltimores-candelabra-tv-tower/


They said on air they hope to have it in operation by the end of next week.


WBAL was back in their studio for the noon news yesterday. WJZ ran a pre-recorded weather program at noon but was back home for the 4:00 news. They thanked a nearby video production company for hosting them during the airlift.


----------



## carltonrice

I'm sure it's been explained before, but if WJZ was moving from 13 to 11 and WBAL was moving from 11 to 12, why didn't WBAL just stay on 11 and have WJZ move from 13 to 12? Seems like a huge expenditure to change out two antennae when you could get away with just changing one. What am I missing?


----------



## fri1038

carltonrice said:


> I'm sure it's been explained before, but if WJZ was moving from 13 to 11 and WBAL was moving from 11 to 12, why didn't WBAL just stay on 11 and have WJZ move from 13 to 12? Seems like a huge expenditure to change out two antennae when you could get away with just changing one. What am I missing?



See the posts on July 2.


----------



## carltonrice

fri1038 said:


> See the posts on July 2.


Thanks. I don't know what the term "short-spaced"means, and it's a bit hard to believe that stations as far away as Norfolk, VA and Springfield, MA are in the mix, but thanks for the reference. I missed that explanation earlier when reviewing the thread.


----------



## mkfs

Interestingly, tonight's lightning is taking out WETA; bursts of dropped packets on every stroke. Never before seen such on ATSC.


----------



## Geronimo1067

*Baltimore Candelaba Status*

I see the posts about the chopper work being complete. Any word on when the three stations (WMAR,WJZ, and WBAL) will be at full power and what power levels they might be at now?


----------



## mkfs

captain_video said:


> Haven't seen a Sikorsky Skycrane since back in the day when I worked construction on the 2nd span of the Bay Bridge back in the summer of 1971..


It could have been the same Skycrane; N6979R was built in 1968.


----------



## MRG1

mkfs said:


> Interestingly, tonight's lightning is taking out WETA; bursts of dropped packets on every stroke. Never before seen such on ATSC.


Wouldn't you expect lightning, which produces bursts of broad spectrum of semi-random radiation, to interfere with TV signals? I think I recall that every ATSC packet is transmitted twice (but not in cable TV QAM systems), but if the lightning lasts long enough, or multipath problems lengthen the burst, both packets could be affected. 

The storm was fairly severe. We lost power for a few tens of seconds during that storm, a little bit south of the University of Maryland. I'm glad I had my PC on a big UPS/surge protector, and all my AV equipment was surge protected too. I once lost a router that was on a smaller UPS/surge protector to a storm, and have become paranoid. 

In your case, losing a short block of TV signals, probably isn't a disaster.

Compressed digital datastreams, like ATSC, are in some ways more vulnerable to loss than uncompressed analog streams, because entire compressed blocks of data can get messed up. Plus, in compressed video signals, many frames of data may be lost or messed up if one frame is messed up. 

How do network TV stations and cable TV systems deal with the issue - do they have two spatially separated transmit and/or receive antennas, to redundantly transmit and receive the signal? Or do they just ignore it?


----------



## Digital Rules

Geronimo1067 said:


> I see the posts about the chopper work being complete. Any word on when the three stations (WMAR,WJZ, and WBAL) will be at full power and what power levels they might be at now?


AFAIK the new antennas are supposed to be up and running by late next week. All 3 stations are still using temporary side mounted antennas about 100 feet from the top.


----------



## mkfs

MRG1 said:


> Wouldn't you expect lightning, which produces bursts of broad spectrum of semi-random radiation, to interfere with TV signals?


I mentioned it because we've been through many storms since D-Day, and this is first time I've seen this disruption.


ps: WashPost commented on the storm.


----------



## Taltz

Digital Rules said:


> AFAIK the new antennas are supposed to be up and running by late next week. All 3 stations are still using temporary side mounted antennas about 100 feet from the top.


Howdy DR. I see we have the same antenna setup, except mine are hiding in an attic. How's your reception of Baltimore stations, pre-repack? I can get WMAR and WBFF with no issues, but never been able to get WBAL and WJZ. 

Interestingly, WJZ now shows up in my rescans since they moved to their aux antenna and new channel assignment. However, the quality is bad and unwatchable.


----------



## MRG1

mkfs said:


> I mentioned it because we've been through many storms since D-Day, and this is first time I've seen this disruption.


D-Day in World War II, or just the most recent channel repacking? 

Transmitter towers are so high, that I assume they, like airplanes, are frequently be hit by lightning. Even if the final amplifier stage still uses vacuum tubes (does it?), that should cause some loss of signal, and I assume even vacuum tubes, even with shunts, grounds, discharge devices, or whatever else engineers have thought of, in the electrical path, must have limits on what they can handle. After all, "superbolts" (which admittedly aren't very common) were once confused with atomic bomb explosions by satellites, so perhaps some of them briefly produce a roughly comparable power output. It's hard to imagine a reasonably priced electronic device standing up to that without at least a minor hickup. 


I was thinking about this in connection with the idea that someone could covertly put up a very, very high television antenna, to get an unobstructed line of site to distant transmitters, that masqueraded as a flagpole or tree, or sat in a real tree. ("Flagpole antennas." and "Faux tree antennas" do exist.) I wondered what kind of dangers that could create by attracting lightning. Presumably one could prevent damage to the home and maybe the receiver from striking the antenna by putting a small enough wire in the route that would melt before damage could be done at the other end. (What would you call that?) Maybe the current could be shunted harmlessly to ground before it got that far. But I'm not sure you could prevent secondary strikes to an area home, once the air is ionized by the first strike, or if the lightning jumped from the flagpole to a home. Engineers must have worked on this problem, because I think some skyscrapers have antennas on top.


----------



## mkfs

MRG1 said:


> D-Day in World War II, or just the most recent channel repacking?


 June 12, 2009 is what I meant.


----------



## MRG1

mkfs said:


> June 12, 2009 is what I meant.


Ah, the transition date to digital TV.

You answered me before I finished editing my post. Any comments about high faux flagpole or tree antennas, and the associated problems with lightning strikes?


----------



## mkfs

Making a UHF freq antenna look like a tree might be possible.

As for lightning protection, the SOP is a feedline spark gap from the center to the grounded outer conductor. Then on the equipment side of the gap, The coax maybe have several loops. Lightning has a sharp rise time, so the inductance of the loops impedes the spike from going indoors, and jumps the spark gap instead.


----------



## Digital Rules

Taltz said:


> How's your reception of Baltimore stations, pre-repack?


My antennas are tucked away in the attic as well. So far have only seen WJZ & WNUV since the re-pack, but only on some nights. Hoping 11 will come back once the new VHF antennas are running at full power.

Just for kicks I tried my FM antenna that points SW & saw channel 2 signal (virtual 29-Charottesville) but not quite strong enough to decode. Also tried the FM antenna pointed NW & was able to decode channel 13 (virtual 12-Martinsburg) 

Signals from the West are really good here for some reason. Staunton, Harrisonburg, Cumberland & Louisa are pretty good here on FM. 105.5 gets 3 different stations during the day (DC, Louisa & Berryville) At night the Louisa station (Sam FM) is so strong it covers up the other 2.


----------



## StevenJB

pkpaul said:


> WIAV 58.1, WMDO 47.1 and 47.2 are now on their assigned repack channel RF30.
> Only WDCO is on RF24 now.



Thank you for that heads-up. I just did an add-scan update and added WIAV/WMDO and WDCO. All three stations are being received solidly here in central Montgomery Co, MD. Adding back RF30 and RF24 kind of completes the OTA mosaic for the Washington, DC area although getting Baltimore's WMAR, WBAL, and WJZ antenna issues ironed out should finally complete the repack for the entire DMA. It's been a long and winding road for DTV, since June 12, 2009. One bit of nostalgia, though. In discussing RF30 and RF24, I really miss those former 12 channels of WNVC(RF30) and WNVT(RF24) sold in the re-pack. Does anyone know if the former transmitter sites in Merrifield, VA (WNVC) and Independent Hill, VA (WNVT) are being used anymore for radio or television?


----------



## Digital Rules

The Merrifield tower is the home of WMAL & WJFK FM. No TV or radio stations on the former WNVT tower.

Still not sure why the RF24 antenna is still on the tower? I'm assuming a brand new antenna would be more cost effective for someone that needed one elsewhere?


----------



## KyL416

WNVC's old tower has 106.7 WJFK-FM:
https://www.rabbitears.info/tower.php?request=site&asrn=1017638

WNVT's old tower doesn't have any current radio or TV stations licensed to it:
https://www.rabbitears.info/tower.php?request=site&asrn=1017639

Towers are more than just radio and TV though, they also contain antennas for cellular use, public and private sector communications, microwave relays, etc


----------



## Trip in VA

Digital Rules said:


> Still not sure why the RF24 antenna is still on the tower?


Why spend the money? If nobody needs the space on the tower, there's no sense in paying a crew to take it down.

- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules

Trip in VA said:


> Why spend the money? If nobody needs the space on the tower, there's no sense in paying a crew to take it down.
> 
> - Trip


That's what I was thinking.I wonder if they have to pay any kind of rent to have the antenna up there?


----------



## MRG1

mkfs said:


> Making a UHF freq antenna look like a tree might be possible.



Hmmm. https://sangaometal.en.made-in-chin...mouflaged-TV-Antenna-Communication-Trees.html


A lot of people simply mount their antennas on a high tree. I assume a lot of them ignore lightning rather than protect against it. If the feed is long enough, they need a signal amplifier. You could hide it from nosy neighbors and zoning boards if you surrounded the antenna by something more innocent, like a really big bird's nest. Or puzzle people by surrounding it by a very high tree house with no possible way to get up there. 

Likewise, you could have a high flagpole in which one or two poles holding the flag out is actually an antenna - but a YAGI is hard to disguise. 

I found a couple web pictures in which trees are used as HD antenna. Wouldn't surprise me if it doesn't work well at all frequencies.

There are lots of cell phone towers designed to look like very tall trees. But people are willing to spend real money on cell phone towers.

Since I live in a basement apartment, I thought about mounting a passive repeater in a tree, to reflect the signals from a particular transmitter tower down to my antenna next to a window 


I have no idea how practical this is, but people sell drone-mounted TV antennas:


https://www.tablotv.com/blog/introducing-tablo-ota-drone/


I imagine problems in high winds.


----------



## Trip in VA

Digital Rules said:


> That's what I was thinking.I wonder if they have to pay any kind of rent to have the antenna up there?


I would imagine they bought their way out of whatever contract they would have been in.

- Trip


----------



## Taltz

Digital Rules said:


> Signals from the West are really good here for some reason.


Perhaps you are on the western slope of ridge. I'm opposite, being on an eastern slope, I can get WBFF, WNUV, WMAR and the PBS station in Towson with little issues. Per rabbitears, if I was a few miles more east, I would be out of luck.

Any word on when the candelabra will be lit up? Also, I picked up a new VHF 10 on latest scan, but couldn't decode.


----------



## fri1038

WETA back on their primary Fort Reno antenna? Seeing a much stronger signal up BWI way since Tuesday 7/28 noon.


----------



## Digital Rules

fri1038 said:


> WETA back on their primary Fort Reno antenna? Seeing a much stronger signal up BWI way since Tuesday 7/28 noon.


Yes it appears that way.


I'm seeing full strength for the first time in a long time here too.


----------



## Digital Rules

Is it just me or is new not site not very mobile friendly? The formatting options are problematic on a small screen. It seems to always want to enter "code".


----------



## Digital Rules

Taltz said:


> Any word on when the candelabra will be lit up? Also, I picked up a new VHF 10 on latest scan, but couldn't decode.


Hopefully sometime this week since the weather seems to be cooperating. The channel 10 you are seeing is likely from Harrisburg, PA. That & channel 8 from Lancaster are seen frequently here in the summer months.


----------



## Digital Rules

How is a directional pattern created? Does the antenna have to designed that way, or is the pattern controlled electronically?

Thanks


----------



## Trip in VA

Digital Rules said:


> How is a directional pattern created? Does the antenna have to designed that way, or is the pattern controlled electronically?


The antenna is designed that way.

- Trip


----------



## Cbandscanner

MRG1 said:


> I have no idea how practical this is, but people sell drone-mounted TV antennas:
> Introducing Tablo OTA Drone | Over The Air (OTA) DVR | Tablo
> I imagine problems in high winds.


You might want to check the date on that post


----------



## mkfs

Digital Rules said:


> Is it just me or is new not site not very mobile friendly? The formatting options are problematic on a small screen. It seems to always want to enter "code".


I'm less than thrilled about the whole updegrade.


----------



## pkpaul

Any word on when the candelabra will be lit up? Also, I picked up a new VHF 10 on latest scan, but couldn't decode.
[/QUOTE]

Today we started picking up WBAL channel 11 for the first time since work began.


----------



## Geronimo1067

I am picking up WMAR-TV very solid all afternoon here in Falls Church VA. I have not rescanned to see if anything ese is coming in.


----------



## revengineer71

Indeed notable change in reception today. WJZ and WMAR work great 25 miles West of Baltimore. WBAL is terrible but until yesterday it was not decoded at all. My signal is a little weak but not terribly so. Symbol Quality however is 0% most of the time. Can I expect this to be the final result or are they still not broadcasting full power?


----------



## Digital Rules

revengineer71 said:


> Can I expect this to be the final result or are they still not broadcasting full power?


 I'd give it a few more days.


----------



## Taltz

Yes, I have WMAR solid as well, but the true test will be in the daytime. No luck on 11 and 13. Looking at rabbitears signal graphs, it does appear that all three have a stronger signal today than in the past few weeks, but not as much as pre-repack. Maybe they are ramping up the power? 

Not sure why I care about this so much....perhaps cabin fever?


----------



## n8hoo

I saw power increases around 4:30pm on 2 and 11, but not 13, so I definitely do not think the permanent facilities have been activated yet. 11 had been inexplicably far weaker for me than 13 until then, and now they are equal as they should be based on their licensed backup facilities. 2 is still weaker for me than the brief window post-repack when they had been operating at full power on their backup facility.

We knew 2 had been operating at ~75 kW for a while, and a couple of days ago told the FCC in an STA application they would be going to 250 kW. I think the most likely explanation is 11 had also been operating on reduced power and never filed an STA.

Long time lurker, first time poster, but I feed data to Trip's bandscanner: RabbitEars Mobile


----------



## Trip in VA

WJZ filed for Program Test Authority, so they should be at full power extremely soon if they're not already. I'd be surprised if WBAL and WMAR weren't at the same point in their own process.

- Trip


----------



## Geronimo1067

On a whim I rescanned my main TV and my DISH Hopper With Sling. I still have WMAR and gained at least guide data for WJZ but lost Baltimore's MPT station. The MPT loss is no big deal as it is a mirror of the Annapolis station.


We will see if things change in the next 48 to 72 hours


----------



## Taltz

Getting a fairly solid signal from WJZ and BAL out here in Centreville. We'll see if it just atmospheric conditions, or they actually flipped the switch.

Rabbitears graphs for WBAL shows a jump from 30% to about 70% over the past 24 hours.


----------



## Geronimo1067

Geronimo1067 said:


> On a whim I rescanned my main TV and my DISH Hopper With Sling. I still have WMAR and gained at least guide data for WJZ but lost Baltimore's MPT station. The MPT loss is no big deal as it is a mirror of the Annapolis station.
> 
> 
> We will see if things change in the next 48 to 72 hours



WMAR is still coming in fine. Not so much because oifa jump in signal level but more stability/ WJZ is still just teasing me.


----------



## Taltz

Digital Rules said:


> Signals from the West are really good here for some reason. Staunton, Harrisonburg, Cumberland & Louisa are pretty good here on FM. 105.5 gets 3 different stations during the day (DC, Louisa & Berryville) At night the Louisa station (Sam FM) is so strong it covers up the other 2.


That reminds me of back in the day (actually night) scanning the AM dial for KMOX and WLW for the Cardinal and Reds games.


----------



## Digital Rules

Taltz said:


> Getting a fairly solid signal from WJZ and BAL out here in Centreville. We'll see if it just atmospheric conditions, or they actually flipped the switch.


Same here, but thinking it is tropo. Will check again later today.


----------



## n8hoo

Very potent tropo through the night and this morning. I had WAVY in until almost 10 am which I don't think I've ever seen before.

Trip catching that 13 filed for PTA yesterday had me go back and look - I recorded a couple of remarkably high “blips” of signal from 13 between 3-4pm, when the band was otherwise dead. At first glance I would have blamed it on the weather, but maybe it was a brief test.


----------



## keeper

I believe it’s Tropo. It’s been very strong lately. I had a good signal this morning but lost WMAR at around 11am. WJZ and WBAL were also stronger but have decreased since I last checked. We should find out soon enough.


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## Trip in VA

I can only speak for myself, but I went from a solid month of no signal from WBAL to a signal that has varied in strength but otherwise been present since yesterday. I have to think WBAL, at least, is on the top-mount antenna, even if it's not yet at full power.





__





Signal graphs for WBAL-TV at Alexandria, VA-N4MJC on tuner1







www.rabbitears.info





- Trip


----------



## howie14

I just rescanned my weakest TV and WBAL has returned and is coming in nicely. I have occasional pixilation on WMAR and it’s companion channels, but that has always been the case with my antenna permanently turned toward DC. WJZ is also fine.

I have a question about WRC-DT, however. That used to be a tricky station for me to receive in Southeastern Carroll County going back to the beginning of digital broadcasts, but had improved in recent months. For the past two weeks or so, I am back to receiving a weal, unusable signal. Did anything change on the station’s end?


----------



## Taltz

n8hoo said:


> Very potent tropo through the night and this morning.


I was getting a strong signal from WRLH in Richmond, even though my antenna is pointed in the opposite direction.


----------



## Midshore

I live in southern Caroline county on the Eastern Shore and have had difficulty receiving WTTG, WDCA and WPXW for some time. I used to get strong and consistent reception from all three stations but the signals are all spotty now. Are those stations still in the midst of moving to a different tower and/or operating under reduced power or is this the final result and they have permanently reduced signals to the east?


----------



## n8hoo

Around 1:30 WMAR dropped back to where it was when it was on its low-low power STA - barely above background noise here. No change for WBAL or WJZ today. The waiting goes on...



howie14 said:


> I have a question about WRC-DT, however. That used to be a tricky station for me to receive in Southeastern Carroll County going back to the beginning of digital broadcasts, but had improved in recent months. For the past two weeks or so, I am back to receiving a weal, unusable signal. Did anything change on the station’s end?


No; solid as it's ever been on RF 34 here. I used to have a lot of trouble with the signal on RF 48 so I'd notice.



Taltz said:


> I was getting a strong signal from WRLH in Richmond, even though my antenna is pointed in the opposite direction.


WRLH is a very common visitor to these parts from Richmond, although less often now that WDCO-CD is at full power on RF 24. Even for me with an antenna pointed nearly due east. I used to get strong signals many summer mornings from WRIC and WTVR when they were on RF 22 and 25, too - not anymore now that they are co-channel with local stations (28 and 23 respecctively)



Midshore said:


> I live in southern Caroline county on the Eastern Shore and have had difficulty receiving WTTG, WDCA and WPXW for some time. I used to get strong and consistent reception from all three stations but the signals are all spotty now. Are those stations still in the midst of moving to a different tower and/or operating under reduced power or is this the final result and they have permanently reduced signals to the east?


WPXW went to full power at a tower on River Road in Bethesda, just over the line from the Fort Reno tower where it was before, in February. WTTG is moving there, but the permit expires in 2022 and I doubt there is any rush to start working on it. At that distance it's not hard to imagine something in your signal path changed.


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## Geronimo1067

WMAR was fine for me until about 2 PM. I guess we will have a better idea of the final picture this weekend.


----------



## fri1038

There haven't been any changes with those stations in quite a while and are at full power so far as I can tell. No changes at my location 26 miles to their NE.

WPXW "repacked" to channel 35 last August and ran at a lower power until Jan 2020 when they went to full strength, I believe. They moved to a different tower on River Rd, a mile west of DC, when they moved to 35, too.

WTTG hasn't changed since they lit up a digital signal on channel 36 more than 11 years ago as far as I know. WDCA shut down in July 2018 and shares channel 36 with WTTG now. They are both owned by the same company and they have a construction permit to move to that same River Rd tower one of these days.






Midshore said:


> I live in southern Caroline county on the Eastern Shore and have had difficulty receiving WTTG, WDCA and WPXW for some time. I used to get strong and consistent reception from all three stations but the signals are all spotty now. Are those stations still in the midst of moving to a different tower and/or operating under reduced power or is this the final result and they have permanently reduced signals to the east?


----------



## Trip in VA

WJZ and WBAL still look good here, but I also see the drop-off on WMAR. WMAR is having the worst luck.

- Trip


----------



## mkfs

Any official word on WETA?


----------



## Trip in VA

I've heard from a reliable source that WETA is done.

- Trip


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## keeper

At my location I am seeing improved signals from a week or two ago on wbal and wjz. About the same or worse prior to the antenna work. Hopefully they are not completely finished yet. Wmar is barely visible.


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## joblo

In Fairfax City, VA, using TiVos and an Insignia search CECB:

WBAL and WJZ now have SNRs within 1 dB of each other, as they should. WBAL was previously running 10 dB or more below WJZ.

WMAR is currently about 4 dB below WBFF. They were about 2 dB down on the evening of July 2, before their equipment failure, and then were 10 dB or more below WBFF for the rest of the month. I think the second aux delivered a little less signal here than the first aux.

WETA must be stronger now, because it came through yesterday morning's tropo with barely a dent, while all the LPs, CAs, and briefly even WHUT, got wiped out. WETA pegs the meters here even on the aux, so it's hard to tell. But within a week of phase 4 completion last year, it got taken out by tropo along with WHUT, so yesterday's performance was encouraging, especially if WTXF in Philly is at full power.

I hope WHUT's pending application for a power increase is approved, because WPSG in Philly is not yet at full power.

Prior to phase 4, in the 47 years off and on that I've been at this location, I've never seen a DC full power station taken out by tropo.

Tropo has been strong here the past couple mornings. WACP locked in from southern NJ for the first time ever, and WMBC from northern NJ locked in for the first time in about a year.


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## StevenJB

At my location in Olney, MD, and at this time, WMAR is pegging the meter with a S/NR of 34.30 maximum 100%. My Sony's built in meter will not go any higher than 34.30. WBAL and WJZ are now at 31.30 or 95%. Locally, the weather is producing a very fine mist. I have no knowledge as to how or whether a local mist will affect my reception. WNUV and WBFF/WUTB have been pretty much at 100% since they both changed assigned RF channels as a result of an earlier re-pack phase.

I have a question to anyone with the knowledge on how to read the technical data for a particular television station. I am unsure as to how much power that WGAL-TV, RF Channel 8, Lancaster, PA, is currently operating at. Is WGAL currently at 32.2 kW ND at 1375 feet or 59 kW ND at 1375 feet? If WGAL is at 32.2 kW then when will it be allowed to increase to 59 kW assuming that the 59 kW has been approved. WGAL had been granted an STA to operate at 59 kW and that that STA expires on 29Sep2020. What is WGAL’s current and future status? I am 80 miles from the tower. Reliable reception for me is limited to the summer months. Thanks.


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## Trip in VA

As far as I know, WGAL is at 59 kW. They've been renewing the STA every six months, as the application to make 59 kW permanent has not been granted.

- Trip


----------



## StevenJB

Trip in VA said:


> As far as I know, WGAL is at 59 kW. They've been renewing the STA every six months, as the application to make 59 kW permanent has not been granted.
> 
> - Trip


Thanks so much for that info, Trip. I always appreciate your continuing expertise and input on this site. You always make the hard to understand much easier to understand for the common everyday folk such as yours truly. Regards.


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## Geronimo1067

FWIW WMAR seems rock solid (I have said that before) but I am getting nothing for WBAL or WJZ.


----------



## Digital Rules

No UHF from Baltimore here since re-pack. None of them are even close to being decode-able during the day. On VHF 11 is about the same as before, but 13 is better. 

RF 13 (Virtual 60) is much improved. Did they move to a new location when they switched channels?

MPT Annapolis is better than before the re-pack for whatever reason.


----------



## Trip in VA

Digital Rules said:


> RF 13 (Virtual 60) is much improved. Did they move to a new location when they switched channels?
> 
> MPT Annapolis is better than before the re-pack for whatever reason.


Yes, WWPX moved. Old site was west of Martinsburg. New site: RabbitEars.Info

WMPT increased power from 516 kW to 1000 kW.

- Trip


----------



## mkfs

Trip in VA said:


> WMPT increased power from 516 kW to 1000 kW.
> 
> - Trip


Even if that's ERP, that will my electric bill look reasonable.


----------



## Trip in VA

mkfs said:


> Even if that's ERP, that will my electric bill look reasonable.


Yes, that's ERP. The TPO from the transmitter increased from 31.89 kW to 67.6 kW.

- Trip


----------



## Geronimo1067

Here in Falls Church VA WMAR is coming with a signal strength in the mid 90s. WBAL and WJZ are at about 70. I suspect I will lose the latter two tomorrow but it is nice.


----------



## fri1038

Another active tropospheric morning, today. Lost most of the DC stations and picked up KYW and WCAU from Philly on a rescan with a simple rabbit ears/loop antenna. Back to normal now. 

WETA continues to be very strong for me. Stronger than their original RF27 digital signal. I'm too close to judge the status of the Baltimore antennas - all looked good to me, even on the aux antennas.

--

So what's left on the local to-do list before the ATSC 3.0 shenanigans begin? WTTG moves down the road. WQAW has a long standing construction permit that would double their footprint. (I haven't picked them up in a year.)


----------



## fri1038

The picture quality on 5.2, 5.3, 20.2, and 20.3 is terrible this morning. Atari 2600 stuff. 5.1 and 20.1 are fine.


----------



## Digital Rules

Does anyone know if the cable companies get the same feed that OTA uses? I haven't done an A-B comparison between OTA and FiOS in quite a while.

I do like that FiOS still carries the locals unencrypted so you can use it with any newer TV.


----------



## Geronimo1067

Geronimo1067 said:


> Here in Falls Church VA WMAR is coming with a signal strength in the mid 90s. WBAL and WJZ are at about 70. I suspect I will lose the latter two tomorrow but it is nice.


 I lost a few points of signal today at around 10 AM. WMAR is fine. The other two are unwatchable pixelated messes. Maybe they will be reliable for evenings.


----------



## fri1038

fri1038 said:


> The picture quality on 5.2, 5.3, 20.2, and 20.3 is terrible this morning. Atari 2600 stuff. 5.1 and 20.1 are fine.


WTTG/WDCA had fixed the problem when I checked at 3pm. Picture was flashing all grey every ten seconds for a while there, too.


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## scpivo21

Question for those in the Fairfax/Centreville area:

Does anyone have their antenna in the attic and if so, what's the reception like? My antenna is currently on our back deck but I'm considering the attic to eliminate the eyesore and please the Mrs. I don't foresee having any trouble picking up the UHF stations based out of DC but I'm not sure how reliably I could get WJLA and WUSA on the VHF band. For reference, my Rabbit Ears link is below. I don't need to pick up any of the Baltimore stations, only those with "Good" Field Strength.





__





RabbitEars.Info


RabbitEars, where you can learn all about local, over-the-air TV channels.




www.rabbitears.info


----------



## Brian in CT

I'm not from your area, but I could add some insight for your situation. In the RabbitEars result table, any station listed with "good" field strength should be easy to receive. A mid-range sized antenna placed in the attic should also get you the stations listed as "fair" if you're pointed at them. VHF signals (especially VHF-Lo) are susceptible to interference from items such as LED lights, inverters, and security cameras. Since RF channels 7 & 9 have good signals at your location, and the antenna will be in the attic, I'm pretty sure they should come in fine. It just depends on the materials surrounding the attic. For example, if your attic is surrounded by just wood, you will have very little signal loss from penetration. On the other hand, if you have aluminum siding surrounding it, no signal will get through that. Concrete or cinder block will let the UHF signals through, but not the VHF ones.

Lastly, keep any metal items in your attic away from the antenna's LOS. You don't want possible reflections off those metal objects messing with your signals.


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## n8hoo

scpivo21 said:


> Does anyone have their antenna in the attic and if so, what's the reception like?


I’m farther out than you and have my Winegard 7694 pointed due east (DC is firmly SE) to catch Baltimore. You’ll be fine:





__





RabbitEars Mobile







m.rabbitears.info


----------



## Digital Rules

scpivo21 said:


> Question for those in the Fairfax/Centreville area:
> 
> Does anyone have their antenna in the attic and if so, what's the reception like.


If you are getting those stations now, the attic will likely work as well. You may have to try different spots if you run into any problem stations.

The biggest problem in this area is airplane flutter from planes approaching Dulles airport. Even with full strength signals from DC, occasional interruptions still happen here. Depending on exactly where you are this may not be an issue. Air traffic is WAY down right now which helps, but that is somewhat temporary.

Rabbit Ears report is here;




__





RabbitEars.Info


RabbitEars, where you can learn all about local, over-the-air TV channels.




www.rabbitears.info


----------



## Taltz

scpivo21 said:


> Question for those in the Fairfax/Centreville area:
> 
> Does anyone have their antenna in the attic and if so, what's the reception like?


You should be fine based on your report, especially the DC stations, and the fact that you can already pick them up. 
However, if you have a metal roof, then the attic is a non-starter. 

I'm also in centreville, and have separate UHF and VHF antennas in the attic. With this setup, I have no problems picking up all DC and some Baltimore stations. WBFF, WNUV, and WMAR (pre-repack) I get about 95+% of the time, and DC stations are never an issue. Also, my line of sight is semi-obstructed with branches and my VHF antenna is behind a cedar shake roof. 

For comparative purposes, here's my rabbitears report, and can see my reception is not as nice as yours.


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## n8hoo

WJZ filed for its L2C this morning. (This after filing a reimbursement form 399 with a date of 8/1 - Saturday - that said they are not done with construction yet.) It defies explanation that I have seen no change in their signal since 7/2, when there should be an increase from 6 kW to 30 kW in my direction, but there you have it.


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## Trip in VA

Just because they're at full power doesn't mean they're done submitting invoices for reimbursement.

- Trip


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## n8hoo

Trip in VA said:


> Just because they're at full power doesn't mean they're done submitting invoices for reimbursement.


Of course I know that, but the answer to "Construction of final facilities or all necessary modifications are complete" is also "No" on there...


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## Trip in VA

Once a station says on their 399 that they've finished construction, they're locked out of submitting invoices. (Unless the form has been changed since I last checked.)

- Trip


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## mkfs

Digital Rules said:


> I haven't done an A-B comparison between OTA and FiOS in quite a while.


FIOS visibly degrades the quality; my friends by the ex-Intelsat campus were astonished when I hung up a loop and they watched WETA OTA. FIOS lost a TV customer a few days later. 

You'd think that they (unlike decrepit HFC systems) would have the throughput to do it right.


----------



## Taltz

So how long from requesting a L2C until running at full power? A few more days?


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## Trip in VA

L2C is filed after full power. A station has 10 days after going to full power to file one.

- Trip


----------



## aaronwt

Digital Rules said:


> Does anyone know if the cable companies get the same feed that OTA uses? I haven't done an A-B comparison between OTA and FiOS in quite a while.
> 
> I do like that FiOS still carries the locals unencrypted so you can use it with any newer television. They even carry a few out-of-market channels from Richmond.


The last time I checked the quality was the same. My OTA recordings were basically the same size as my FiOS recordings. So they both basically looked like crap.


----------



## aaronwt

mkfs said:


> FIOS visibly degrades the quality; my friends by the ex-Intelsat campus were astonished when I hung up a loop and they watched WETA OTA. FIOS lost a TV customer a few days later.
> 
> You'd think that they (unlike decrepit HFC systems) would have the throughput to do it right.


I'll need to check my recent recordings. Because earlier this year, here in Northern VA, that was not the case. The FiOS video quality and recording size was basically identical to the OTA quality and recording size. All DC OTA video quality has looked terrible for awhile. Nothing like the OTA HD recordings I still have from the early 2000's.

I still remember August 2001. When I watched my first OTA HD recordings from WETA. And being floored with the HD quality. The few pieces of OTA recordings I still have from Summer 2001, put to shame anything broadcast in the area now.


----------



## n8hoo

Trip in VA said:


> L2C is filed after full power. A station has 10 days after going to full power to file one.


FWIW: although 11 hasn't filed any documentation, I just caught that someone posted to the DCRTV mailbag last week saying they contacted the station and confirmed they were on the new antenna. (yeah, yeah, massive grain of salt because it's the mailbag, but I'd believe it.) So with 13's L2C today it's reasonable to believe all 3 are finished building now, although I swear 2 might still be on their aux facility, I really can't remember back to 2 July that well lol.

I went and adjusted my antenna a little toward Baltimore and have borderline signals from 11 and 13 - 11 is slightly weaker - which is neat considering it's raining heavily right now. I definitely could never get pre-repack 11 (26.6 kW vs. 30) to decode, ever, but it came close. Although still doesn't explain why 13's signal didn't increase last week when the other two did...


----------



## Taltz

Guessing at this point that WBAL and WJZ are at full power. However, no luck here in Centreville in getting a reliable signal for both. WMAR is fine, even at reduced power. Since they are all on the same tower, I'm guessing that the propagation characteristics of VHF vs. UHF as well as the attenuation caused by my wooden shingle roof play a big role. However, no expert in antenna theory or signal propagation. 

Maybe this fall, I'll look into relocating the VHF antenna so that it is only behind vinyl siding and an insulation board. The downside is that it will be about 10 feet lower. Also, may look into taking out the preamp.

Growing up in the fringes and before cable, I always thought that the VHF signals traveled farther than UHF, but maybe things have changed in the digital world.


----------



## Trip in VA

VHF theoretically does travel further. This was more evident in analog, when a weak signal was easy to pick out, particularly on the audio side. 

With digital, however, because there's the 15 dB minimum SNR for a decode, many people who got by with sub-par VHF signals can no longer do so. Getting a clean VHF signal requires a large antenna with a low amount of electrical noise, both of which are challenges for different reasons. As such, VHF signals generally perform worse in digital than they did in analog, even close in, and even though the VHF signal theoretically travels further.

- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules

Taltz said:


> Guessing at this point that WBAL and WJZ are at full power. However, no luck here in Centreville in getting a reliable signal for both.


Do you have your VHF antenna as high as it will go in the attic? I get nothing from Baltimore unless I jam both antennas all the way to the top of the attic & have them in the "right" spots. 

I actually shortened my UHF antenna yesterday (removed the extension) so I can get it closer to the ridge of the roof & got back channel 2 & 54 which had disappeared after the re-pack. 45 is still bad so still experimenting.Thinking about trying that with the VHF antenna as well to see if 11 & 13 improve any.


----------



## Taltz

Trip in VA said:


> As such, VHF signals generally perform worse in digital than they did in analog, even close in, and even though the VHF signal theoretically travels further.


Thanks Trip for the explanation. Anecdotally, I've experienced this. My garage led lights would take out WJLA until I relocated the antenna, although it took awhile to figure this out. 



Digital Rules said:


> Do you have your VHF antenna as high as it will go in the attic?


Yes, the VHF is in the attic, but I have a hip roof and wood shingles so the signals need to travel at a 45 degree angle to penetrate the roof. I actually combined two of the deep fringe VHF antennas so it is something like 15 feet long. Honestly, I don't think it makes a difference either way. 

I couldn't be happier with my UHF setup. Although lower, it sits behind only vinyl siding and is aimed directly at my neighbor's roof ridgeline. He recently pruned the trees so it is practically a clear shot to the sky. With this, I can get all the DC and Baltimore UHF stations, even PBS 67, and with some pixelation, PBS 22. Also lucky that both the DC and Balto stations are in same direction.


----------



## Taltz

FYI, per baltomedia.net, WMAR went to full power yesterday.


----------



## revengineer71

Taltz said:


> FYI, per baltomedia.net, WMAR went to full power yesterday.


The same site now states that WBAL is at full power. I receive great signal for WJZ and WMAR. WBAL is ~75% signal strength and 60% signal quality, but symbol quality goes to 0% frequently on my HD Homerun. The picture is quality is pixelated and sound is stuttering. I wonder what is wrong here?


----------



## Brian in CT

Taltz said:


> Growing up in the fringes and before cable, I always thought that the VHF signals traveled farther than UHF, but maybe things have changed in the digital world.


Yes they have. There were some good reasons why VHF was superior to UHF in the analog era. The fact that a VHF signal could go much farther with much less power was just one. A big advantage was that analog VHF signals hugged terrain and got into its "nooks and crannies" much better than UHF signals. All the watchable snowy VHF reception in tough locations disappeared with ATSC 1.0, replaced with stark terrain shadows. Also, interference causing "static lines" on analog VHF TV signals back in the day now cause them to drop out with ATSC 1.0.

I'm hoping with the rollout of ATSC 3.0, there will be more parity between VHF-Hi and UHF TV signals. I think VHF-Lo digital signals will always be inferior no matter what.


----------



## Digital Rules

revengineer71 said:


> The same site now states that WBAL is at full power. . . WBAL is ~75% signal strength and 60% signal quality, but symbol quality goes to 0% frequently on my HD Homerun. The picture is quality is pixelated and sound is stuttering. I wonder what is wrong here?


Likely multipath interference. Is your antenna near any metal objects? Is it in the attic? Don't see any potential FM issues unless you live within a mile of 102.3 in Westminster.


----------



## revengineer71

Digital Rules said:


> Likely multipath interference. Is your antenna near any metal objects? Is it in the attic? Don't see any potential FM issues unless you right on top of 102.3 in Westminster.


The antenna is in the attic; the antenna is a GE33692 aatic mount antenna with 60 mile range. WBAL was good while broadcasting from the auxilliary antenna but I had the same issues before then when they were on channel 11. Now WJZ is broadcasting on this channel from the same location and that reception is great. I understand this is all anecdotal but the problem seems to have move with the WBAL station from channel 11 prior to repack to channel 12 after the repack. I am in Eldersburg, so I am almost as far from from Westminster as I am from television hill (~20 miles distance) in Baltimore.
EDIT: There are no metal objects nearby.


----------



## Digital Rules

Attics are havens for multipath (reflected signals) which doesn't help. The antenna is likely in a bad spot for that channel. The solution is to experiment with different heights/positions until you get a decent signal on ALL channels. Here is a quote from the GE antenna manual.

_"To improve reception you may need to reposition the antenna in different places and at varying heights until you get the channels you want."_


----------



## keeper

Digital Rules said:


> Likely multipath interference. Is your antenna near any metal objects? Is it in the attic? Don't see any potential FM issues unless you live within a mile of 102.3 in Westminster.


I saw this reported on homerun forum. Perhaps you? A few years ago I tried that device and wjz would bounce up and down constantly, other tuners had no problem Others also reported the same issues.


----------



## Digital Rules

keeper said:


> I saw this reported on homerun forum. Perhaps you? A few years ago I tried that device and wjz would bounce up and down constantly, other tuners had no problem Others also reported the same issues.


Hmmm, not me. I don't have a Homerun, but the USB/external tuners I have used in the past did not deal with multipath as well as internal TV tuners. . . . . _Especially_ when dealing with airplane flutter.


----------



## Taltz

Thanks to both for the VHF explanation.

Now, since you are both wise in the ways of science, I have another question. I understand the economic benefits of broadcasting in VHF vs UHF since you need less power in the VHF spectrum. For example, WMAR (UHF) transmits with 830kw while both WBAL/WJZ transmit with 30kw. So, I would think that, at least theoretically, VHF can transmit at a higher power than 30kw. 

Now, I live roughly 55 miles from the TV hill towers, and can get the UHF stations, but not the VHF ones. I'm guessing that there are a sizable number of folks in the same situation throughout the U.S., and further, may have complained to the FCC since it sounds like the digital VHF propagation is a known issue. 

So my question is simply why is there a 30kw limit? Also, are there any efforts to raise this?


----------



## revengineer71

Digital Rules said:


> Attics are havens for multipath (reflected signals) which doesn't help. The antenna is likely in a bad spot for that channel. The solution is to experiment with different heights/positions until you get a decent signal on ALL channels. Here is a quote from the GE antenna manual.
> 
> _"To improve reception you may need to reposition the antenna in different places and at varying heights until you get the channels you want."_


Thank you, I will try to modify the position. Of course, this is easier said than done because the antenna is mounted on a small poll bolted to one of the beams. I have a little bit of wiggle room and I will check if that does the trick.


----------



## revengineer71

keeper said:


> I saw this reported on homerun forum. Perhaps you? A few years ago I tried that device and wjz would bounce up and down constantly, other tuners had no problem Others also reported the same issues.


Yes, I am not yet convinced that the HD Homerun firmware is bug free. The tablo had a similar issue a few years ago and the vendor fixed that issue. On the other side, I used to have the issue for WBAL and WJZ on the old frequencies. It went away for both stations while on the auxiliary antenna. Now broadcasting on the new antennas, the problem remains solved for WJZ but is back for WBAL. So maybe this is more indicative of multipath. Unfortunately, my experience is limited and it seems trail and error is the only way to test.


----------



## mkfs

WETA has pushed 26.2 up to HD. 
Running promos to that effect.


----------



## Digital Rules

Taltz said:


> So my question is simply why is there a 30kw limit? Also, are there any efforts to raise this?


Likely because the VHF-Hi band is so crowded in the Northeast. I doubt they will be raised.

The current power levels are substantially higher than they originally were went VHF first went digital. (the VHF Nightmare era ) If I remember correctly the power levels were somewhere around 10kw for 7, 9, 11 & 13.


----------



## Trip in VA

Taltz said:


> Thanks to both for the VHF explanation.
> 
> Now, since you are both wise in the ways of science, I have another question. I understand the economic benefits of broadcasting in VHF vs UHF since you need less power in the VHF spectrum. For example, WMAR (UHF) transmits with 830kw while both WBAL/WJZ transmit with 30kw. So, I would think that, at least theoretically, VHF can transmit at a higher power than 30kw.
> 
> Now, I live roughly 55 miles from the TV hill towers, and can get the UHF stations, but not the VHF ones. I'm guessing that there are a sizable number of folks in the same situation throughout the U.S., and further, may have complained to the FCC since it sounds like the digital VHF propagation is a known issue.
> 
> So my question is simply why is there a 30kw limit? Also, are there any efforts to raise this?





Digital Rules said:


> Likely because the VHF-Hi band is so crowded in the Northeast. I doubt they will be raised.
> 
> The current power levels are substantially higher than they originally were went VHF first went digital. (the VHF Nightmare era ) If I remember correctly the power levels were somewhere around 10kw for 7, 9, 11 & 13.


The United States is split into three "zones" for television licensing purposes. Zone I ( https://www.rabbitears.info/Zone1.jpg ) is the northeast and Great Lakes region, where population density is high and cities are close together. Zone III is the area surrounding the Gulf of Mexico, while Zone II is "everywhere else". In Zone I, the power limits are lower than in Zone II because, as suggested, it is a crowded part of the country. WUSA and WJLA actually operate in excess of the 30 kW limit, having signed agreements with other impacted stations and received waivers to operate at 52 kW. 

As for attempts to raise it, the FCC proposed to do so in 2010 or so. It didn't go anywhere.



mkfs said:


> WETA has pushed 26.2 up to HD.
> Running promos to that effect.


Yes, and I also note they dropped 26-1 back to 720p once again. Looks like it was that way at least as far back as May and I just didn't notice at the time.

- Trip


----------



## Taltz

Thanks and that is interesting about the DC VHF stations. Since they are my primary CBS and NBC stations, I rather have them running at higher power.

On another note, appears that WMAR is currently having issues. I lost their signal earlier this morning, and checked a few nearby signal graphs (leesburg and alexandria) and they appear to lost WMAR as well.


----------



## n8hoo

Taltz said:


> Thanks and that is interesting about the DC VHF stations. Since they are my primary CBS and NBC stations, I rather have them running at higher power.
> 
> On another note, appears that WMAR is currently having issues. I lost their signal earlier this morning, and checked a few nearby signal graphs (leesburg and alexandria) and they appear to lost WMAR as well.


2 is where it was at on the 75 kW backup facility - barely above background noise here. 11 where it was on the side mount antenna. No real change in 13. Interestingly 2 filed its L2C today which is the last one left.

ETA: back already (1029)


----------



## Taltz

looks like they are back up now. 

n8hoo, it looks like you are just on the reception fringe for WBAL and WJZ. Do you think a different antenna location would put you over the threshold?

Being that close to getting reliable reception would drive me crazy.


----------



## n8hoo

Taltz said:


> looks like they are back up now.
> 
> n8hoo, it looks like you are just on the reception fringe for WBAL and WJZ. Do you think a different antenna location would put you over the threshold?
> 
> Being that close to getting reliable reception would drive me crazy.


It kind of does. It's a rental so it's in the attic - probably even being outside with the same antenna would do the trick. It's already pointed toward TV Hill as close as I can before the neighboring townhouse gets in the way, and it's jammed as close to the roof as possible. The antenna is a winegard 7694 and the transformer box is on the fritz, so I'd be open to suggestions when it comes to similarly-sized replacements...

However, the Baltimore channel that is most useful for me is WBFF for its early Jeopardy airing and NFL games so those two would really be gravy.


----------



## fri1038

The atmosphere has been so unstable in the past few weeks, and looks like it will continue to be so for a while, I wouldn't write off receiving the Baltimore stations once the weather settles and NFL season begins. I've often been losing the DC stations and sometimes WJZ and WBAL in the morning. But that's the way it goes OTA sometimes.

WUSA messed up 68-1's virtual station id when they updated Justice to Crime on Aug 1. Says UNKNOWN now.


----------



## Taltz

If you are OK with the winegard UHF reception, then I would suggest a dedicated VHF antenna. The Stellar Labs deep fringe VHF Hi (through Newark) is what I have. It is well worth the $35, a very solid build (all metal). It would be about 20" longer than your current setup, and guessing about the same width. You would also need a VHF/UHF combiner, which you can get on Newark for $10. They charge shipping, but is is reasonable and deliver within a two days or so. I say this because some resellers have the same antenna on Amazon for more inflated price. 

If it doesn't get you better reception, then you are only out $50. But since you are right on the threshold, I would say it is worth the gamble.


----------



## n8hoo

Taltz said:


> The Stellar Labs deep fringe VHF Hi (through Newark) is what I have.


Interesting, I wondered if it was worth a shot. I have their directional FM antenna up there and it can pull most of the 250-watt translators out of DC. (I don't have much need for it anymore since upgrading to an HD radio, though, so this could take its place.)


----------



## Digital Rules

n8hoo said:


> Interesting, I wondered if it was worth a shot. I have their directional FM antenna up there and it can pull most of the 250-watt translators out of DC. (I don't have much need for it anymore since upgrading to an HD radio, though, so this could take its place.)


I have an extra Stellar Labs Deep Fringe VHF-Hi antenna. Do you want to trade it for your FM antenna.


----------



## Digital Rules

What's the difference between actual power output & Effective Radiated Power? A promo on Charlottesville's WWWV says they have 50,000 watts, but everywhere I look only shows 8,900 watts. Not sure if I am missing something?


----------



## Trip in VA

Digital Rules said:


> What's the difference between actual power output & Effective Radiated Power? A promo on Charlottesville's WWWV says they have 50,000 watts, but everywhere I look only shows 8,900 watts. Not sure if I am missing something?


WWWV has been lying about their power level for a very long time. I called to complain about it when I was at UVA and got a very dismissive answer.

Essentially what they mean is that they're the equivalent of a Class B 50 kW station at max height of 150 meters. Because they're on Carters Mountain, much higher up than 150 meters, they have to reduce power to keep the same coverage they would have if they were 150 meters at 50 kW, which turns out to be 8.9 kW.

It's extremely misleading to the public but nobody there cares.

- Trip


----------



## Digital Rules

Thanks for the explanation Trip. Their signal is pretty darn good here given the distance & their sound quality is about the best i have heard on FM. They must have some pretty good audio equipment.


----------



## fri1038

WMJF's 39.1 (WMJF GR) is showing MeTV (in 480i) today instead of Grit (was 1080i.) MeTV is still on WBAL's 11.2, too.


----------



## fri1038

At 4pm today I noticed under WMJF's MeTV bug, briefly, "KXMP Harrison". That's in Arkansas. 🤪



fri1038 said:


> WMJF's 39.1 (WMJF GR) is showing MeTV (in 480i) today instead of Grit (was 1080i.) MeTV is still on WBAL's 11.2, too.


----------



## mkfs

During the NewsHour, WETA had a hard time tonight. I assume it's lightning related as T-storms were passing through, but it was interesting.

They dropped carrier a few times [understandable], but at other times the program content vanished, but with the WETA bug in the lower right corner still visible on their channels. I've not seen that before.


----------



## mkfs

Trip in VA said:


> [WETA]
> Yes, and I also note they dropped 26-1 back to 720p once again. Looks like it was that way at least as far back as May and I just didn't notice at the time.
> 
> - Trip


I'm not clear on what the BW limits are on one carrier. Is there a calculator for how many channels of each resolution are possible?


----------



## Trip in VA

No. You could have 99 1080i streams on a channel, though none of them would be watchable. There's just the trade-off between quantity and quality.

- Trip


----------



## dipdewdog

Has anyone heard any rumblings about lighting up ATSC 3.0 in our market? I know Sinclair is buying WDCO-CD and WIAV-CD, I assume they'll convert one or both to 3.0?


----------



## n8hoo

Very, very strong tropo to the northeast happening overnight and this morning. At my location the only usable stations between DC and Balt are 2 and 9, with everyone else wiped out or nearly so. I had locks on two NYC-market stations and WPVI overnight. Never seen it like this before!


----------



## jonnydeathrow

A crazy event! I am receiving pretty much all Washington DC over my locals here in York PA.


----------



## Casey Hartman

Are there any companies in addition to Fairfax Antenna located in northern Virginia or DC that install master antenna systems?


----------



## MRG1

n8hoo said:


> Very, very strong tropo to the northeast happening overnight and this morning. At my location the only usable stations between DC and Balt are 2 and 9, with everyone else wiped out or nearly so. I had locks on two NYC-market stations and WPVI overnight. Never seen it like this before!


Is a "tropo" a time of "tropospheric ducting", where the signal more or less skips off the atmosphere and/or bounces between an inversion layer and the ground?

I take it, by the way, that the air density at the tropopause, the start of a high inversion layer which exists most of the time over most places on earth, isn't high enough to reflect much TV signal, nor is it dense enough in the ionosphere to have to significant effect on TV signal propagation?


----------



## Brian in CT

MRG1 said:


> Is a "tropo" a time of "tropospheric ducting", where the signal more or less skips off the atmosphere and/or bounces between an inversion layer and the ground?
> 
> I take it, by the way, that the air density at the tropopause, the start of a high inversion layer which exists most of the time over most places on earth, isn't high enough to reflect much TV signal, nor is it dense enough in the ionosphere to have to significant effect on TV signal propagation?


Yes, tropospheric ducting is when a signal "bounces" (not quite, but let's go with that term) back down from an inversion layer toward your antenna from far past the radio horizon. From what I've read, an inversion layer can happen at very low altitude, especially over a large body of water. It's very weather dependent, and all TV signals are affected by this phenomena. Ionic skip happens when the ionosphere acts like a huge mirror (like with the AM & SW bands at night), and reflects VHF-Lo TV signals from THOUSANDS of miles away. Sunspot activity usually affects the severity of this kind of phenomena.


----------



## MRG1

And a "tropo" is when tropospheric ducting occurs?


----------



## Brian in CT

MRG1 said:


> And a "tropo" is when tropospheric ducting occurs?


Well, kind of. "Tropo" is shorthand for "tropospheric ducting." It takes much fewer keystrokes to type.


----------



## nottenst

Here is my rabbit ears report.





RabbitEars.Info


RabbitEars, where you can learn all about local, over-the-air TV channels.




www.rabbitears.info





I just did a rescan and all of the "good" appear to be coming in pretty well. During the previous football season WUSA (CBS) used to come in but I can't get that at all these days. It is a "fair" now. [Looking back it appears that the Baltimore CBS station did change things in May and it appears that may have been for the worst in my circumstances.]

Thanks.


----------



## Casey Hartman

I helped a couple of friends move to Sterling today. They are are looking at just getting internet service and watching OTA television. The beam width between the DC and Baltimore markets is about 50 degrees. I saw a post from someone in Sterling who uses a CM-4221 to receive both markets. Do you think a 4-bay antenna would work at my friends' home or is there a better solution? Here's the RabbitEars report for signals at their new home:






RabbitEars.Info


RabbitEars, where you can learn all about local, over-the-air TV channels.




www.rabbitears.info


----------



## Brian in CT

Casey Hartman, do your friends have a 70 foot tall tower, live in an apartment on the seventh floor, or are putting the antenna on the roof of a tall building? This will impact what you will be able to do. The middle situation would be more limiting than the others for optimal reception.

Nottenst, what kind of antenna are you using? If your antenna height AGL is correct (30 feet), then a typical rooftop antenna should be giving you reception of all the "fair" TV signals you're pointed at. Like I said above, if you are using an indoor antenna in a third floor apartment, that would limit what you can receive OTA.


----------



## nottenst

Brian in CT said:


> Nottenst, what kind of antenna are you using? If your antenna height AGL is correct (30 feet), then a typical rooftop antenna should be giving you reception of all the "fair" TV signals you're pointed at. Like I said above, if you are using an indoor antenna in a third floor apartment, that would limit what you can receive OTA.


Just a typical indoor rabbit ears antenna. Haven't tried to hook anything outside. It is just annoying that a channel which might have been good previously is now fair.


----------



## Casey Hartman

Brian in CT said:


> Casey Hartman, do your friends have a 70 foot tall tower, live in an apartment on the seventh floor, or are putting the antenna on the roof of a tall building? This will impact what you will be able to do. The middle situation would be more limiting than the others for optimal reception.
> 
> Nottenst, what kind of antenna are you using? If your antenna height AGL is correct (30 feet), then a typical rooftop antenna should be giving you reception of all the "fair" TV signals you're pointed at. Like I said above, if you are using an indoor antenna in a third floor apartment, that would limit what you can receive OTA.



Brian, I hit the wrong number on the keypad for height; it should be 40 instead of 70. An antenna installation would be easier in the attic although the husband would consider putting it on the roof.


----------



## n8hoo

Casey Hartman said:


> I helped a couple of friends move to Sterling today. They are are looking at just getting internet service and watching OTA television. The beam width between the DC and Baltimore markets is about 50 degrees. I saw a post from someone in Sterling who uses a CM-4221 to receive both markets. Do you think a 4-bay antenna would work at my friends' home or is there a better solution? Here's the RabbitEars report for signals at their new home:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> RabbitEars.Info
> 
> 
> RabbitEars, where you can learn all about local, over-the-air TV channels.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.rabbitears.info


FWIW: I'm farther out in Leesburg and have a Winegard HD7694 in the attic aimed roughly halfway between DC and Baltimore. Blocked by the next house or it would be pointed toward Baltimore more. I get everything but 11 and 13 reliably from there, plus every DC full power, plus LDs 14/31/47. I'd more than likely pull 11 and 13 if I could fit a 7698 or put the 94 outside. I wouldn't find the CM-4221 advisable considering the 4 VHF stations.

My band scanner: RabbitEars Mobile


----------



## Casey Hartman

n8hoo said:


> FWIW: I'm farther out in Leesburg and have a Winegard HD7694 in the attic aimed roughly halfway between DC and Baltimore. Blocked by the next house or it would be pointed toward Baltimore more. I get everything but 11 and 13 reliably from there, plus every DC full power, plus LDs 14/31/47. I'd more than likely pull 11 and 13 if I could fit a 7698 or put the 94 outside. I wouldn't find the CM-4221 advisable considering the 4 VHF stations.
> 
> My band scanner: RabbitEars Mobile


I appreciate your antenna suggestion and your live band scan results. I thought most yagi antennas had a beam width of 30 degrees and you get Balto and DC stations with a difference of 40 degrees between markets. The Winegard 7698 would at least get VHF and UHF stations from one of the markets as a UHF only antenna would exclude a CBS affiliate.


----------



## Brian in CT

nottenst said:


> Just a typical indoor rabbit ears antenna. Haven't tried to hook anything outside. It is just annoying that a channel which might have been good previously is now fair.


Unfortunately, a typical indoor rabbit ears antenna will likely receive only the "good" TV signals on your results table. To receive the "fair" signals, you'll need at least a moderate sized duel-band antenna that will need to be put in the attic (if not the roof). You still never said if you were in an apartment or house. Like I said in the last post, the former will limit what kinds of TV signals you can receive OTA.


----------



## Brian in CT

Casey Hartman said:


> Brian, I hit the wrong number on the keypad for height; it should be 40 instead of 70. An antenna installation would be easier in the attic although the husband would consider putting it on the roof.


Oh, that error makes a big difference. Since n8hoo is a local and has good information to give, he can help you better than I could. I'll leave you with this rule-of-thumb for signal strength on the RabbitEars results table. The "good" TV signals can usually be received with a typical rabbit ears (VHF) and loop (UHF) indoor antenna. For the "fair" signals, a moderate sized antenna placed in the attic should do the job. The "poor" signals will need a big rooftop antenna to receive most of them. Of course, obstructions can mess with even the strongest TV signals. This could be a hill, a nearby structure, or any pieces of metal near your antenna's LOS if you go with an attic installation. Good luck.


----------



## nottenst

Brian in CT said:


> Unfortunately, a typical indoor rabbit ears antenna will likely receive only the "good" TV signals on your results table. To receive the "fair" signals, you'll need at least a moderate sized duel-band antenna that will need to be put in the attic (if not the roof). You still never said if you were in an apartment or house. Like I said in the last post, the former will limit what kinds of TV signals you can receive OTA.


It is a house


----------



## Brian in CT

nottenst said:


> It is a house


Okay, then an attic installed medium sized antenna with some good VHF band elements should help with receiving WUSA. The only down side is that the DC & Baltimore TV stations are about 90 degrees apart where you are, and the larger antennas are more directional. There are two ways to approach this problem. First, you could point the better antenna toward Baltimore and hope you get the DC signals off the side. That might work with DC being pretty close. Second, you could keep your indoor antenna and combine it with the one for the attic I described above. The only problem with that is when a LOS signal hits one antenna while a reflected one from the same TV station hits the other. That can cause multipath which can lead to pixilation and even dropouts. Of course, you could put an antenna on your roof with a rotor to turn it, but that is a much more expensive solution.

So the bottom line is: How bad do you want WUSA? Lastly, make sure there's no "RF noise" emitting gizmo near your current setup. Anything like cheap LED bulbs or inverters can mess with VHF TV signals.


----------



## freezerman507

FWIW. My main stations are between 93 -123 deg.
I have a low power station at 183 deg.
There is a high VHF station RF11 at 100 deg.
The rest are all UHF. The main stations are 11-15 miles from me.
The one at 183 is only six miles from me but can be a pain because of it's location.
I use a CM4220 HD pointed at 137 deg.
I get all the stations.


----------



## Casey Hartman

Antennas Direct Clearstream 5 has a large beam width of 70 degrees. I'm only about 11 miles from the DC towers and my 2Max would either receive WUSA or WJAL well and not the other. I bought my C5 from someone locally using Facebook Marketplace. The C5 receives a high signal quality and strength from both as well as a decently picks up WBAL; too bad it doesn't get WJZ. I have it placed in one of my entryway closets.

Would a C5 allow nottenst to receive a reliable signal from WUSA while maintaining VHF stations in Baltimore?


----------



## Digital Rules

Casey Hartman said:


> Would a C5 allow nottenst to receive a reliable signal from WUSA while maintaining VHF stations in Baltimore?


Unfortunately that would be impossible to predict without trying, especially when inside an attic & dealing with VHF. Too many other factors involved. 

Reception is more art than science.


----------



## Casey Hartman

Digital Rules said:


> Unfortunately that would be impossible to predict without trying, especially when inside an attic & dealing with VHF. Too many other factors involved.
> 
> Reception is more art than science.



Very true. There's some signal refraction or bounce from the towers to my condo community that causes me to point my antennas not directly towards the towers to get optimal reception. 

Someone in York, PA is selling a C5 for $30. It's a bit of a drive although some former coworkers lived there and commuted to Ft Meade. It beats the $140 buying a new from from AD.


----------



## Digital Rules

Casey Hartman said:


> Someone in York, PA is selling a C5 for $30. It's a bit of a drive although some former coworkers lived there and commuted to Ft Meade. It beats the $140 buying a new from from AD.


Wow, $30 bucks is a steal!! Someone in Gaithersburg had both a C2 & C5 for about $50.00, but I don't see it anymore.


----------



## Taltz

Casey, if your friend has the attic space, another consideration is to go with separate UHF and VHF antennas. Then, you can tweak the direction for each to get optimal reception. Newark has the Stellar Labs VHF deep fringe for $35, and the combiner is about $20. They also have cheap UHF antennas, so it is not a heavy investment. This is the setup that I have and can get all DC and UHF Baltimore stations reliably, with Baltimore roughly 60 miles out. 

The VHF antenna is probably overkill, but may allow you to point at the Baltimore VHF stations and you may be able to get the DC ones off the side. 

I would think you should be able to get both DC/Balt, since you are relatively close to both. However, I did see that even at 70 feet, you are getting 1-edge signals from DC, so you won't have a direct line of sight. In other words, don't think you will know until you try it. As said so eloquently by DR, this is more of an art than a science.


----------



## Casey Hartman

Taltz said:


> Casey, if your friend has the attic space, another consideration is to go with separate UHF and VHF antennas. Then, you can tweak the direction for each to get optimal reception. Newark has the Stellar Labs VHF deep fringe for $35, and the combiner is about $20. They also have cheap UHF antennas, so it is not a heavy investment. This is the setup that I have and can get all DC and UHF Baltimore stations reliably, with Baltimore roughly 60 miles out.
> 
> The VHF antenna is probably overkill, but may allow you to point at the Baltimore VHF stations and you may be able to get the DC ones off the side.
> 
> I would think you should be able to get both DC/Balt, since you are relatively close to both. However, I did see that even at 70 feet, you are getting 1-edge signals from DC, so you won't have a direct line of sight. In other words, don't think you will know until you try it. As said so eloquently by DR, this is more of an art than a science.


My friends are unpacking and settling in this week. They may be ready for me to help set up an antenna this weekend or early next week. 

At my home, I am able to get Balto UHF stations very easily; Signal GH app shows strength but not quality for WJZ and the current tropo conditions may be enough to receive WBAL. My 2Max and C5 setup is probably overkill. I may try to simplify with a ANT751 or another compact yagi.


----------



## fri1038

Scripps (WMAR) to acquire Ion (WPXW & WWPX.) 

Scripps' stock rockets after $2.65 billion ION Media deal is backed by Warren Buffett

They could build a nice ATSC 3.0 hosting network with Ion's assets.


----------



## fri1038

More tropo wackiness this afternoon. Lost WETA and WHUT. Picked up WCAU and WPHL at 1:45pm.


----------



## Geronimo1067

WHUT has been hard to get for some time now.


----------



## fri1038

Usually I have no problem getting a strong WHUT signal (80% quality) here a couple miles south of BWI airport. Just that on the afternoon/evening of the 24th there were strong tropospheric conditions that allowed signals from Philly to reach this far south. Stations from there which broadcast on RF 31 and 33 cancelled out WETA and WHUT for me, I assume, and let me pick up others that didn't have same channel interference. Things were back to normal on the 25th.

WHUT has an application in to boost power, which may help reception eventually.


----------



## Casey Hartman

I don't watch WHUT very often, but my antenna usually receives a decent signal. Today it is receiving a signal quality of almost 100 although the strength is around 70. I am only 11 miles away from towers for DC stations.






Signal graphs for WHUT-TV at Huntington, VA on tuner0







www.rabbitears.info


----------



## fri1038

WQAW-LD filed a License to Cover indicating they are operating on their new antenna 500 feet higher than before on MPT's Annapolis tower. Their new broadcast pattern adds coverage to the south, with little change to the north.

I still can't see it 10 miles to the northwest, however. Maybe when the leaves have fallen ...


----------



## Casey Hartman

Does anyone know why WPXW-TV (RF 35, ION) has had issues today? I haven't received a signal since 5 am.





Signal graphs for WPXW-TV at Huntington, VA on tuner0







www.rabbitears.info


----------



## fri1038

WETA running some test programming on 26.5 this afternoon. "Metro"


----------



## n8hoo

Casey Hartman said:


> Does anyone know why WPXW-TV (RF 35, ION) has had issues today? I haven't received a signal since 5 am.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Signal graphs for WPXW-TV at Huntington, VA on tuner0
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.rabbitears.info


Didn't Trip say that a WTTG was moving there soon? WPXW has no backup facility, so if there is tower work going on they would have to go off the air. Still off as of now, nearly 36 hours later.



fri1038 said:


> WETA running some test programming on 26.5 this afternoon. "Metro"


Probably testing to see if their equipment can handle 3x720p subchannels. The programming is 26.1 and there is no subchannel I can find named Metro so those don't provide any clues.


----------



## Casey Hartman

n8hoo said:


> Didn't Trip say that a WTTG was moving there soon? WPXW has no backup facility, so if there is tower work going on they would have to go off the air. Still off as of now, nearly 36 hours later.
> 
> 
> I found a post stating WTTG is moving to River Road, but no timeline of the move.


----------



## n8hoo

No wonder I couldn't find it either; it was 3 weeks ago in the _Harrisburg_ thread, for whatever reason



Trip in VA said:


> The way I hear it, WTTG's tower is structurally unsound and thus is moving imminently.


----------



## Trip in VA

To be clear, I've heard that through the grapevine third-hand. But their actions do seem to imply they're planning to move sooner rather than later. They recently filed for an aux on the new tower, and modified the permit for the new tower to reflect a different model of antenna.

- Trip


----------



## Casey Hartman

WPXW's signal seems to have been restored late this afternoon.


----------



## fri1038

Another day, another odd WMJF problem. Today they are broadcasting something on RF23 but it's not something my TVs can decode. Their license was up for renewal today, and Oct 1 is a popular date to begin a new fiscal year and make changes, to add fodder to speculate ...


----------



## keeper

Anyone have an idea why my quality on some signals drop. This doesn’t happen all the time but I can’t seem to figure it out. Hdhomerun x2 no preamps in use at the moment. Interference or multipath? Wbal and Wjz are even worse. I don’t think the hdhomerun tuner handles multipath real well. Using two antennas pointed in different directions. WTTG is actually WPMT but that is another issue.


----------



## Casey Hartman

keeper said:


> Anyone have an idea why my quality on some signals drop. This doesn’t happen all the time but I can’t seem to figure it out. Hdhomerun x2 no preamps in use at the moment. Interference or multipath? Wbal and Wjz are even worse. I don’t think the hdhomerun tuner handles multipath real well. Using two antennas pointed in different directions. WTTG is actually WPMT but that is another issue.


I noticed my HDHomeRun does that as well. There are a few stations I receive a fair to good level of signal strength, but no signal quality. I'm using a 2Max and a C5, which have wide beam widths. I'm considering getting a more directional antenna to see if I am experiencing a multipath problem. Signal GH app shows a high signal strength on RF 39 so I am not sure if there could be some interference as well.

Are you using Signal GH? The version I have only shows one station at a time.


----------



## keeper

Casey Hartman said:


> I noticed my HDHomeRun does that as well. There are a few stations I receive a fair to good level of signal strength, but no signal quality. I'm using a 2Max and a C5, which have wide beam widths. I'm considering getting a more directional antenna to see if I am experiencing a multipath problem. Signal GH app shows a high signal strength on RF 39 so I am not sure if there could be some interference as well.
> 
> Are you using Signal GH? The version I have only shows one station at a time.


Yes that is signal gh on my ipad


----------



## keeper

Casey Hartman said:


> I noticed my HDHomeRun does that as well. There are a few stations I receive a fair to good level of signal strength, but no signal quality. I'm using a 2Max and a C5, which have wide beam widths. I'm considering getting a more directional antenna to see if I am experiencing a multipath problem. Signal GH app shows a high signal strength on RF 39 so I am not sure if there could be some interference as well.
> 
> Are you using Signal GH? The version I have only shows one station at a time.


I’ve seen posts through the years of people complaining about WjZ, Wbal not working on their hdhomerun units. Not sure why that would be. Now I have taken off my preamps to see if anything changes but the drops still occur. This doesn’t happen much or last long. For example quality is pegged at a 100 again with no drops. It just looks like a pettern. Wonder if it is interference of some type.


----------



## Casey Hartman

keeper said:


> I’ve seen posts through the years of people complaining about WjZ, Wbal not working on their hdhomerun units. Not sure why that would be. Now I have taken off my preamps to see if anything changes but the drops still occur. This doesn’t happen much or last long. For example quality is pegged at a 100 again with no drops. It just looks like a pettern. Wonder if it is interference of some type.


After adding a ClearStream 5 I was able to pick up WBAL with signal quality and strength in the 60s, but it only receives signal strength for WJZ. I bought an HLSJ thinking I had FM interference; it didn't improve anything, but it was only $13 including shipping. My antennas are near the input for in-wall coax so I might see how my 2012 Panasonic TV receives signals compared to the HDHR.


----------



## palikar

fri1038 said:


> Another day, another odd WMJF problem. Today they are broadcasting something on RF23 but it's not something my TVs can decode. Their license was up for renewal today, and Oct 1 is a popular date to begin a new fiscal year and make changes, to add fodder to speculate ...


I noticed that when I moved my indoor antenna around that the signal strength would vary, indicating that my tv was receiving a signal even though there was no picture or sound. But now after rescanning, I've lost their channel entirely. Since they haven't bothered to post a notice anywhere and there doesn't seem to be any way to contact them, I have no idea how to find out what's going on. Anyone have any ideas?


----------



## fri1038

You can look up WMJF on rabbitears.info and dig into the FCC records to find some email contacts if you are determined. Its subchannels are all duplicated by Baltimore and DC full power stations if the programming is important to you.

That station, and two others, are owned by an equity company that I suspect manages them remotely. In the past year they have had problems broadcasting Ion with video and no audio, audio and no video, and the peculiar replacement of Grit with a feed of an Arkansas MeTV station. The first two got fixed after a few weeks and they managed their repack to RF23 successfully, however, to their credit. The October 1 date of the most recent problem hints at a business or administrative problem, IMO.

I still see energy on RF23 but can't decode it. My Panasonic TV sees 60% signal strength but "poor signal quality." My Samsung set said "mode not supported" until I lost it altogether after a full rescan attempt. The Samsung also displays that message for WHUT's undisplayable data subchannels 33.8 and 33.9, FWIW.






palikar said:


> I noticed that when I moved my indoor antenna around that the signal strength would vary, indicating that my tv was receiving a signal even though there was no picture or sound. But now after rescanning, I've lost their channel entirely. Since they haven't bothered to post a notice anywhere and there doesn't seem to be any way to contact them, I have no idea how to find out what's going on. Anyone have any ideas?


----------



## Casey Hartman

WDDN in DC also broadcasts on RF 23.


----------



## machpost

fri1038 said:


> WETA running some test programming on 26.5 this afternoon. "Metro"
> 
> View attachment 3041577


Last Wednesday or Thursday RCN added this channel to the DC lineup in HD on 599. It was listed as "WETA Metro" then, but I just checked and now it just says "WETADT5." As of today there is program data listed in the guide which is different than what's on the main channel, but there is still no signal showing up over cable. I don't see any mention of it on WETA's website either.


----------



## Trip in VA

Clearly they've got a plan for this thing. I found a reference to it on a Facebook page: 

h t t p s : / / www. facebook. com/themasonplayers/photos/a.620907187963821/3412269675494211/?type=3&theater

(Broke the link intentionally because every time I pasted it, it converted to just "facebook.com" for some reason.

- Trip


----------



## palikar

Channel 39 WMJF is finally back, minus ION (for now anyway) but that's no problem if you can get ch. 66, which I can. 
So, right now it's 39.1 = MeTV, 39.2 = True Crime, 39.3 = QUEST, 39.4 = none, 39.5 = BUZR, and 39.6 = Heroes & Icons. 

As for ch. 26 WETA, if you receive it via antenna, then you'll see this crawler for ch. 26.5 METRO:
*WETA IS CONDUCTING A TEST OF OUR BROADCAST SIGNAL ON CHANNEL 26.5
THIS IS A TEST FOR FUTURE PROGRAMMING OPTIONS*
Right now they're just showing the same thing that's on ch. 26.1 as part of their test. Since it's called METRO, my guess is that when they're ready they'll start showing Metro DC oriented programming. But that's just a wild guess.


----------



## jmantothe64

Is WUSA on reduced power? I normally get it in at around 75%, but recently it has dropped to 50% and won't decode. Let me know if it is at reduced power please.


----------



## Casey Hartman

jmantothe64 said:


> Is WUSA on reduced power? I normally get it in at around 75%, but recently it has dropped to 50% and won't decode. Let me know if it is at reduced power please.


I am still receiving normal strength and quality levels.


----------



## machpost

jmantothe64 said:


> Is WUSA on reduced power? I normally get it in at around 75%, but recently it has dropped to 50% and won't decode. Let me know if it is at reduced power please.


I'm located about 2 miles southeast of their tower, and I'm also having reception issues these days.


----------



## machpost

It looks like WETA Metro 26.5 is now broadcasting programming separate from 26.1.


----------



## dipdewdog

machpost said:


> It looks like WETA Metro 26.5 is now broadcasting programming separate from 26.1.


According to their site: Channel Guide: TV

*WETA METRO*
Featuring PBS favorites with local flair.

Nothing showing up on a program guide yet, though.


----------



## fri1038

WMJF's 39.4 Ion is broadcasting audio but no video today like it did a while back.

And lookey there. It's WQAW-LD coming in with a steady 75% signal for me, compared to 0 a few days ago when I last checked. Either a critical mass of leaves fell from my trees this week or they put more tin foil on their new antenna or something. And they're using virtual 69.x and not 20.x like last time I spotted them a year ago. I drove by their tower off I-97 on Sunday and didn't spot anything new. MPT's primary on top, a side mounter just below I assume to be MPT's auxiliary, and nothing I could see below that where I expected WQAW's new antenna. Maybe I'm looking for the wrong thing. 69.1-69.6 all show as WQAW-LD. For those keeping score:

69.1 WQAW-LD 720p 16:9 Azteca
69.2 WQAW-LD 480i 4:3 Infomercials
69.3 WQAW-LD 480i 16:9 Cozi
69.4 WQAW-LD 480i 16:9 Cheddar
69.5 WQAW-LD 480i 4:3 Shop
69.6 WQAW-LD 480i 16:9 LX


----------



## fri1038

> And lookey there. It's WQAW-LD coming in ...


Easton MD bandscan showing their signal boost starting on Oct 7, so not autumn foliage related:






Signal graphs for WQAW-LD at Easton, MD-whiskeyone-WSW on ANT751Z aimed at 250 degrees







rabbitears.info


----------



## MRG1

palikar said:


> I noticed that when I moved my indoor antenna around that the signal strength would vary, indicating that my tv was receiving a signal even though there was no picture or sound.


With an indoor antenna, if it is at or below street level, a car or truck may block your signal, if it parks in the wrong place. If that is the case, Is there any way to move the antenna to an attic, or at least to the highest floor? It is my personal though admittedly limited experience that antennas tend to work a lot better around DC if you raise them.

If you doubt whether they are broadcasting or not, try Locast. I'm not certain, but I think Locast picks up their signals from antenna.


----------



## Casey Hartman

palikar said:


> I noticed that when I moved my indoor antenna around that the signal strength would vary, indicating that my tv was receiving a signal even though there was no picture or sound. But now after rescanning, I've lost their channel entirely. Since they haven't bothered to post a notice anywhere and there doesn't seem to be any way to contact them, I have no idea how to find out what's going on. Anyone have any ideas?


What indoor antenna are you using? How far are you from WMJF and WDDN? They both are on RF 23. The LiveBand map doesn't show anyone having a current decodable signal form WMJF although WhiskeyOne in Easton looks like he is receiving an undecodable one.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

fri1038 said:


> Easton MD bandscan showing their signal boost starting on Oct 7, so not autumn foliage related:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Signal graphs for WQAW-LD at Easton, MD-whiskeyone-WSW on ANT751Z aimed at 250 degrees
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> rabbitears.info


I'm receiving a very strong signal from WQAW-LD but I've been experiencing freezing and/or pixelation every few seconds (on both my TV and HDHOMERUN). The signal level & quality isn't changing at all when this happens, so I don't think it's me. I have an LTE filter as well.


----------



## fri1038

I'm seeing the same drop-outs, every ten seconds more or less, on two sets with separate antennas in different locations. Signal strength drops to zero for a second in my case however.



Steve_AA_Co_MD said:


> I'm receiving a very strong signal from WQAW-LD but I've been experiencing freezing and/or pixelation every few seconds (on both my TV and HDHOMERUN). The signal level & quality isn't changing at all when this happens, so I don't think it's me. I have an LTE filter as well.


----------



## fri1038

Tropospheric induced interference for me starting at 9 pm. WTTG, WETA, WHUT knocked out. WCPB and WCAU in. Maybe good conditions to do some DXing for a day or so.


----------



## HDTV Sparky

I'm in Pennsylvania and lost WBAL 11, and WNUV 54... Your post saved me from checking antenna and wiring.


----------



## fri1038

Yeah, when I lose a regular local station, and I punch in channel 28 and see WCAU I know the sky is acting up. (They were showing a replay of the Eagles-Steelers game on 10.2 Cozi.) Usually it's Philly versus Washington doing battle for me. It's been more frequent since there is more same channel interference post-repack. Not seeing anything distant this morning, however.

Other things to check that may show local tropo symptoms:

o Look at the black lines here, showing short term, long distance reception.

TV reception map

o And the current conditions and forecast here:

http://dxinfocentre.com/tropo.html


----------



## MRG1

How do drone-borne TV antennas handle high winds?

I've seen advertising for a drone-borne TV antenna that hovers over your house. Every once in a while it returns to your roof to recharge. If you don't think about it too hard, it sounds like a great idea, because high antennas can frequently receive stations that lower antennas can't.

I can't find the ad, but I think it was advertised at about $2000 - difficult to believe anyone would spend that much - seems like satellite TV would be a lot cheaper. Also, it would be a major theft target.

But it seems like it would get lost in high wind conditions. Also, I think a lot of people who saw a hovering drone nearby would shoot it down for privacy concerns. (I recall someone who flew a blimp telling me that every time it came down, they found new bullet holes.)

Does anyone know anything about this, and have any guesses about high wind conditions? Also, wouldn't it be a "retransmission", and therefore be illegal without a special license? Unless, of course, it was just a passive reflector.


Though a tethered drone could use a wired solution, without wireless retransmission. Maybe even a balloon would work.

The $2000 antenna solution is obviously silly, but I wonder if a cheaper DIY solution could be somewhat practical, and kind of fun. - in fair weather. Probably need active tracking techniques to maintain contact at both ends. But, at, say, a few hundred feet, I bet you could get a lot better reception in many areas. (Note: you'd have to be careful of FAA rules anywhere near an airport.)

There are two groups of people I imagine using his:
1. People who are in sports blackout areas. For some reason, some of these people go to surprising extremes to receive sports games.
2. People who live in hilly areas, where terrain blocking makes it impossible to receive stations despite being in the nominal service area. A lot of people I know in upstate NY are in this category.


----------



## n8hoo

Sinclair closed on WIAV-CD/WDCO-CD on the 15th. They started broadcasting TBD that day, but it's still seen on 7.4 as well. (Interestingly, when I checked yesterday WMDO was broadcasting the _Univision_ feed with a weak signal and no sound, as if someone accidentally hit some button on the satellite receiver)



MRG1 said:


> I've seen advertising for a drone-borne TV antenna that hovers over your house. Every once in a while it returns to your roof to recharge. If you don't think about it too hard, it sounds like a great idea, because high antennas can frequently receive stations that lower antennas can't.


thinking of this? look at the date: Introducing Tablo OTA Drone | Over The Air (OTA) DVR | Tablo


----------



## keeper

Is something up with WMAR? Their signal went to crap today. Been very steady for me since the repack.


----------



## Casey Hartman

keeper said:


> Is something up with WMAR? Their signal went to crap today. Been very steady for me since the repack.


My antenna is still receiving 100% for quality and strength in the Alexandria section of Fairfax County.


----------



## keeper

Casey Hartman said:


> My antenna is still receiving 100% for quality and strength in the Alexandria section of Fairfax County.


My hdhomerun has been pegged at 100 quality and 70 for strength since the work they did. Today it is much weaker at 66/40. Maybe I’m getting an interfering signal from somewhere.


----------



## mkfs

WETA has silently introduced a 5th channel: WETA Metro...
As per my TCL set:

26.1:1280 Main
26.2: 1280 UK
26.3 704 Kids
26.4: 704 World
26.5: 1280 Metro

I'm baffled about the 704 number but....


----------



## KyL416

mkfs said:


> I'm baffled about the 704 number but....


704x480i is one of the standard 480i resolutions. Most SD subchannels use either 704x480i, 720x480i or 640x480i.

For whatever reason your TCL is indicating them by the number of vertical lines instead of the number of horizontal lines


----------



## mkfs

KyL416 said:


> 704x480i is one of the standard 480i resolutions. Most SD subchannels use either 704x480i, 720x480i or 640x480i.
> 
> For whatever reason your TCL is indicating them by the number of vertical lines instead of the number of horizontal lines



That's just me; it's 704x480 & 1280x720. 
(I've only seen 720, not 704, elsewhere.)

I do find it interesting that Metro has more BW than World....


----------



## KyL416

Last I checked World doesn't even have a native HD feed, the few stations who have their World subchannel in HD like KPBS, PBS Vermont and NET Nebraska are just upconverting the SD feed and using it as filler whenever they aren't showing a locally produced channel like PBS Plus, Explore or State Legislature coverage in HD.

According to RabbitEars, there's multiple stations in the DC area doing 704x480, including all of WJLA's, WDCA's and WUSA's SD subchannels, along with Telexitos and Buzzr.


----------



## mkfs

I've heard of those stations. Don't they run commercials with brief interruptions for programs?


----------



## pkpaul

Program guide data for 26.5 Metro is now appearing on zap2it.com.


----------



## pkpaul

pkpaul said:


> Program guide data for 26.5 Metro is now appearing on zap2it.com.


Also on SchedulesDirect.org


----------



## MRG1

n8hoo said:


> thinking of this? look at the date: Introducing Tablo OTA Drone | Over The Air (OTA) DVR | Tablo


Looks like I remembered wrong. It is "only" $1000. Your article answers more questions than the one I saw, but I still don't see how it could handle high winds, and I still suspect it violates retransmission rules, and in many areas, FAA flight rules. And wonder if a fixed cabled treetop, faux-tree-top or high flagpole-top antenna wouldn't be more reliable, and cheaper.

Introducing Tablo OTA Drone shows an optional directional antenna. And I think it would accentuate high or turbulent wind problems. Maybe they should have hung the optional directional antenna from the bottom for stability.

It looks like a pretty modest gain antenna, even with the optional upgrade.

But I'm not an expert.

Any thoughts from people who understand antennas and FCC rules better?


----------



## KyL416

The motors on the drone will probably kill VHF reception.


----------



## n8hoo

Again, look at the date on the article. April 1, 2016.



pkpaul said:


> Program guide data for 26.5 Metro is now appearing on zap2it.com.


Having looked, it baffles me why 26.5 is even a thing. Timeshifted news programming already available on the other channels, an 8-11pm simulcast of 26.1 and what looks like completely random reruns seems like a total waste of bandwidth.


----------



## n8hoo

Pulled out the HDHR to check why I lost 47.1 (turns out the program nrs. changed from 2/3 to 18/19, and my TV isn't smart enough to pick up PSIP changes) - and it looks like WDVM's hitching a ride on the already overcrowded RF 15 pretty soon. It's there in the program list as 25.1 but no data yet.


----------



## mkfs

pkpaul said:


> Program guide data for 26.5 Metro is now appearing on zap2it.com.


I gave up on zap2it because their listings for WETA were so often wrong. I reported it and someone here mentioned who their data source was, a weak sister.

I use WETA own schedule and even it is wrong at times....


----------



## KyL416

n8hoo said:


> and it looks like WDVM's hitching a ride on the already overcrowded RF 15 pretty soon. It's there in the program list as 25.1 but no data yet.


Now that Nexstar owns WDCW, it looks like they're prepping to use their half of the RF 15 bandwidth to bring a SD simulcast of their sister station from Hagerstown to DC area viewers.


----------



## jmantothe64

WDVM-TV now has it's main .1 channel on RF15, never been able to pick up their own channel, being 30mi west of DC. However, I think that they're at reduced power, as only some of my TVs can pick it up, where normally I can pick up a very strong signal on all of them.


----------



## n8hoo

jmantothe64 said:


> However, I think that they're at reduced power, as only some of my TVs can pick it up, where normally I can pick up a very strong signal on all of them.


There is no such thing as reduced power for one subchannel; it is just a placeholder virtual channel with no audio or video data and I imagine that causes some TVs to ignore it on scanning.


----------



## jmantothe64

n8hoo said:


> There is no such thing as reduced power for one subchannel


I meant all of RF15, because some of my TVs are having issues picking it up. I guess I'm just a bit upset right now, as on one of my TVs I no longer have WDCW as I rescanned to try and update the channel list to include WDVM.


----------



## n8hoo

Rescan later, the weather is negatively affecting reception today. I noticed I had lost all the DC LDs plus WBFF while flipping around this morning


----------



## jmantothe64

n8hoo said:


> Rescan later, the weather is negatively affecting reception today. I noticed I had lost all the DC LDs plus WBFF while flipping around this morning


Thanks for letting me know, perhaps I could try some DXing today...


----------



## fri1038

You can probably just tune to 15 on your TV rather than doing a full rescan. It will load 14.x, 50.x, and now 25.1 to your tuner. My sets automatically add new subchannels after tuning to one of its RF channel siblings for a few seconds anyway. (My old Panasonic takes 20 minutes to do a full rescan - don't like to do that too often.)

No video or audio on 25.1 anyway now - just PSIP of WDVM-SD and the program guide data.


----------



## fri1038

WQAW looks interesting this afternoon. No digital signal that I can see - just this on RF20. The only Live Bandscan that normally sees it (in Easton, MD) seems to be down too. It still had its odd multipath-like drops outs last night.

WMJF 39.4 Ion still audio only.


----------



## fri1038

Seeing a Spanish-language game show on analog RF3 as of 6:15pm. Waiting for a station ID if it holds up. Cuba maybe?


----------



## KyL416

The boost conditions have been real interesting today. It's probably related to Epsilon in the ocean.

I'm getting something that looks like a baseball game on analog RF 5 in the Poconos, but it's very snowy and keeps on fading in and out. It might be Tele Rebelde from Cuba.


----------



## n8hoo

fri1038 said:


> Seeing a Spanish-language game show on analog RF3 as of 6:15pm. Waiting for a station ID if it holds up. Cuba maybe?


Yep, the Cubavisión schedule has the game show “Liga Juvenil de la Neurona” (Youth Brain League?) at 6pm and I’d bet that’s it from a cursory google. Nice catch.


----------



## fri1038

The signal faded before 7pm. The game show was followed by a cultural news show focused on Cuba. "NC" is the bug at lower left. The website shown in the background is "www dot acn dot cu" (Pardon my healthy paranoia with that link.) Was coming in clearer than WMAR analog RF2 back in the day, for a bit.

So cool. That is the first long distance VHF channel I've ever seen. You'd think I'd see WGAL once in a while, but never. No VHF-LO antenna here - just the little Channel Master Stealthtenna shown in my avatar I put up last month.

_sigh_. Now I have to rescan my Panasonic. ;-)





















http://imgur.com/NbhBr9T


----------



## KyL416

Until today, my VHF personal record was picking up WEDU from Tampa on Long Island back in the early-90s.


Channel 5 faded out around the same time too, but it was a mostly snowy picture with the occasional times where the audio came in. I think we were getting the channels from their Santa Clara transmitters:




__





West Indies TV Station List






www.dxinfocentre.com


----------



## fri1038

WDVM-SD 25.1 (sub on RF15) is broadcasting this afternoon.

WQAW is still down, still showing just that digital carrier, or whatever it is, on RF20.

WMJF 39.4 Ion still audio only.


----------



## n8hoo

fri1038 said:


> WDVM-SD 25.1 (sub on RF15) is broadcasting this afternoon.


Damn, they flipped the switch _just now_. I rescanned at 1400 (PSIP change on WIAV-CD caused me to lose UniMas again) and it wasn't up yet. Now all they need is some reruns worth watching, that's probably tough sledding if they have to compete with other DC stations for programming.


----------



## fri1038

WDVM's forte will be lots of local news, with programs tailored to WV, Nova, I-270, and the general region. Might be a refreshing change of perspective. The afternoon programming includes a couple judge shows, Seinfeld, and King of Queens. Not much else on their schedule rerun-wise.

See their schedule on zap2it for zip code 21740. TV Listings- Find Local TV Listings and Watch Full Episodes - Zap2it.com


----------



## KyL416

They're owned by Nexstar, so much of their syndicated lineup is the same stuff that their now sister station WDCW has but at alternate times.


----------



## Taltz

Anything up with WJLA? No reception at all since I first tried this morning. 

I think they share a tower with WUSA and WHUT, which are fine.


----------



## Trip in VA

WJLA is fine here. Signal graphs for WJLA-TV at Alexandria, VA-N4MJC on tuner1

- Trip


----------



## Casey Hartman

I am receiving WJLA's signal at 100%. I have noticed signals for other stations fluctuating the last 2 or 3 days.


----------



## Taltz

OK, thanks. Could be an errant LED somewhere in the house. It's happened before and seems to only affect VHF 7.


----------



## Digital Rules

Hi Trip, any idea how many much power Arlington's channel 6 Franken FM station broadcasts? Not sure if it could ever be an issue for anyone near the tower with channel 7 intermods.

When I lived there an FM trap was necessary for channel 8 due to WETA-FM being only a few blocks away.


----------



## n8hoo

Digital Rules said:


> Hi Trip, any idea how many much power Arlington's channel 6 Franken FM station broadcasts? Not sure if it could ever be an issue for anyone near the tower with channel 7 intermods.
> 
> When I lived there an FM trap was necessary for channel 8 due to WETA-FM being only a few blocks away.


WDCN-LP has the max allowed for VHF LPTV, 3 kW. FWIW I have friends who live on a 12th floor no more than a mile away, WDCN-LP was strong enough for their TV to scan in and they had no problems with 7. Big difference between 3 kW and 75 kW. (And I was kind of curious what video WDCN-LP broadcasts...just its own logo lol)


----------



## Digital Rules

Interesting on the power level allotment. 3kw is more than I thought. 3900 watt 93.1 FM from Staunton comes in surprisingly well here with a small attic antenna. I was guessing somewhere around 250 watts based on where the signal starts to die out past Manassas, although it may be directional.


----------



## n8hoo

It does have a rather interesting pattern...I would guess at least some of its purpose is to protect 88.1 FMs (I can think of those in Culpeper, U-Md. and Baltimore)


----------



## Trip in VA

Digital Rules said:


> Interesting on the power level allotment. 3kw is more than I thought. 3900 watt 93.1 FM from Staunton comes in surprisingly well here with a small attic antenna. I was guessing somewhere around 250 watts based on where the signal starts to die out past Manassas, although it may be directional.


If WSVO hits one of the sharper mountain ridges just right relative to you, then you're probably just catching the knife-edge diffraction just right. I've seen other cases like that; when I was at UVA, there was a spot in one of the dorm parking lots--and only that spot--where I could hear a Roanoke radio station I liked. There's now a translator on that frequency there.

But analog LPTV stations are allowed up to 3 kW on VHF, and while full-power stations had a limit on audio power that may be something like 22% or 10% of video power (I can't remember what it is and it's not worth looking up), no such restriction exists for LPTV, so they could run 3 kW on the audio side if they so chose.

Of course, WDCN-LD has filed to convert to digital on channel 8 from the old WNVC tower in Fairfax, and analog stations have to convert to digital by next July. So it won't be there too much longer.



n8hoo said:


> It does have a rather interesting pattern...I would guess at least some of its purpose is to protect 88.1 FMs (I can think of those in Culpeper, U-Md. and Baltimore)
> View attachment 3051647


Based on the timing of the permit and the license to cover, I'd bet it was protecting WPVI analog.

- Trip


----------



## fri1038

A couple of first time Tropo - induced sightings this morning, 9:15 AM: WPVI (RF6) out of Philly and WMBC (RF18) Newton NJ. EDIT: WHYY/WMCN on RF 13, too, at 9:40.

Wednesday morning I saw the frequent visitors WCAU and WPHL around 7 AM.

WTTG seems to be my canary in the coal mine for such conditions, as I usually watch their morning show. I haven't had reliable reception on it in a few days. I haven't yet figured out which regional channel 36 is to blame.

--

The odd signal on WQAW's RF20 I posted a few days ago is gone. Maybe they are down completely. Thinking about it, I recall similar patterns before they upgraded their antenna, when I tried to get a lock on them, so maybe it's an old problem revisited. Or poltergeists.


----------



## fri1038

Another morning of strong tropo conditions here just south of BWI airport. Added KYW - Philadelphia (RF30) and WCPB - Salisbury (RF16) and WLNY - Long Island (RF29) to the collection. WLNY was especially strong.

My antenna normally points SW towards DC so I am getting Philly and NY, off its backside from the NE. I spun it North just for kicks and saw WGAL (RF8.) WTTG is unobtainable unless I change to an interior loop or mudflap antenna.


----------



## jmantothe64

How do you DX so many stations? I have a pretty big UHF antenna, but the furthest I've gotten is WRIC out of Richmond. Probably due to the fact that my family AND our HOA prohibit outdoor antennas, so it's as high as I can get it indoors. It also doesn't help that WTTG comes in so strong around here that I can even pick it up with regular rabbit ears in my basement (I'm 30mi W of DC)


----------



## Trip in VA

jmantothe64 said:


> Probably due to the fact that my family AND our HOA prohibit outdoor antennas


As long as you control your roof or another exclusive use area, your HOA cannot prevent you from installing an outdoor antenna. Over-the-Air Reception Devices Rule

Can't help you on the family though.

- Trip


----------



## Casey Hartman

I have a small antenna inside home condo unit and my Live Band Scan results show during tropo conditions it picks up stations in Richmond, occasionally Hampton Roads, and to a less extent some further away areas.



jmantothe64 said:


> How do you DX so many stations? I have a pretty big UHF antenna, but the furthest I've gotten is WRIC out of Richmond. Probably due to the fact that my family AND our HOA prohibit outdoor antennas, so it's as high as I can get it indoors. It also doesn't help that WTTG comes in so strong around here that I can even pick it up with regular rabbit ears in my basement (I'm 30mi W of DC)


----------



## fri1038

jmantothe64 said:


> How do you DX so many stations? ...



Just luck and an active atmosphere. I wasn't really trying to get all those - just spotted them while troublshooting normally reliable DC stations. Philly just happens to be exactly in the opposite direction of DC, where the antennal is pointed. I was rotating the antenna a bit last week trying to get a more stable WTTG signal and that led to picking up those distant stations. The Cuba thing was a freak occurance. Notice the lack of ghosts in the pics I posted. The signal must have been coming straight down from space. I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary since Nov 7 when I had a strong signal on DC low power WWTD for a bit - first and only time for it. Reception of the distant stations rarely lasts more than an hour.

I'm in a rotten location, technically. In a low spot, surrounded by 60+ ft trees, aluminum sided house, airport a few miles north. I am able to get all the DC and Baltimore full power stations with a basic rabbit ears on the masonry mantle. But very prone to multipath when the wind blows the trees, making many channels unwatchable. I recently put the Stealthtenna on the corner of the house, only 15ft up, on a short mast to get it away from the siding, and that has eliminated multipath except on the windiest of days. I can reach the mast from my deck, so no need for a rotor. WTTG remains a problem, while all other DC stations are seen with 90+ % signal strength, so I can't continue to blame WMGM and the sky. I must try a vertical adjustment sometime or wait for them to move - future tower-mate WPXW is stable for me. Baltimore and Annapolis stations are all at a 100% off the side. Not bad for a dinky 2 ft antenna. I do have to rotate it to the north to get low power WMJF (when it's up,) however. Once upon a time I had a larger antenna with a pre-amp in the attic, but it was no better than the rabbit ears (except it managed to get WMDE.) 





__





RabbitEars.Info


RabbitEars, where you can learn all about local, over-the-air TV channels.




www.rabbitears.info





The antenna's view towards DC:


----------



## fri1038

WQAW still seems to be off the air. I read in the Albuquerque thread their owner, HC2, is in the FCC dog house and may lose some licenses, if that could be related.

WMJF fixed the video on their Ion 39.4 on Nov 6, but now they seem to be off the air, too. Haven't seen it since the 8th.


----------



## n8hoo

jmantothe64 said:


> How do you DX so many stations?


Frankly, the repack killed what was left of interesting DX, at least in NoVa. The only RF channels that are still "open" from my vantage point are 8, 16-19, and 29 -- and 8 and 29 will become home to DC-market LDs soon. So the only catches I ever see these days are WCPB and WTKR (16), WRAL-TV and WPHL (17), WMBC (18), WAVY (19), WCVW (29) and occasionally WCVE-TV (22) and KYW-TV (30) if they can overpower closer stations. Even then only 16/29 are common and it takes truly solid tropo to get any more than that.

The HDHR that ran my bandscanner died in Sept. and I have no plans to replace it unless ATSC 3.0 starts in Baltimore.


----------



## Brian in CT

Nice li'l antenna, fri1038. That should get you anything in green and yellow on those RabbitEars reception maps. People have told me that aluminum siding acts like a Faraday shield when it comes to TV and radio signals. The fact that you were able to get Baltimore and D.C. TV stations with a set of rabbit ears placed on your mantle tells me you might have been getting the signals through a beneficially located window and/or the brick fireplace itself (if that is where the mantle is). Even for a wood frame house, putting the antenna outdoors is still a little better than having it in the attic.


----------



## fri1038

Yep. Brick fireplace on the favorable west side of the house. No metal in the way. ~30 feet high in the attic puts the antenna in the leaf canopy plus the siding which sure doesn't help. The house blocks southeasterly signals as set up now, except the very close WMPT.

VHF-hi performance of the Stealthtenna is surprisingly good seeing how it's only 23" wide roughly and the channel 7 ideal is about 34", I think. If I needed more oomph I'd go with an RCA ANT751/752 at about 36" square. And the Stealthtenna seems tough enough to survive acorns, falling branches, overly optimistic rivals, and perhaps even evil gray squirrels. 






LOL. Video credit to YouTube's Antenna Man

PS. Channelmaster is bundling a free 3410 pre-amp this month if anyone is interested or can't resist a sale:









STEALTHtenna 50


Channel Master STEALTHtenna (CM3010HD) is a Digital HDTV Outdoor TV Antenna and picks up UHF, VHF, FM and HD signals with a signal range of 50 miles.




www.channelmaster.com


----------



## Brian in CT

fri1038 said:


> Yep. Brick fireplace on the favorable west side of the house. No metal in the way. ~30 feet high in the attic puts the antenna in the leaf canopy plus the siding which sure doesn't help. The house blocks southeasterly signals as set up now, except the very close WMPT.
> 
> VHF-hi performance of the Stealthtenna is surprisingly good seeing how it's only 23" wide roughly and the channel 7 ideal is about 34", I think. If I needed more oomph I'd go with an RCA ANT751/752 at about 36" square. And the Stealthtenna seems tough enough to survive acorns, falling branches, overly optimistic rivals, and perhaps even evil gray squirrels.


I just had installed a new Channel Master Advantage 60 recently. It replaces a CM Crossfire I've had up on the roof for 20 years. Over the years, CM products have never let me down. I'm waiting for their new combination preamp and LTE filter (for the new 600 Mhz. 5G band), which they said should be ready by next summer.


----------



## fri1038

WMJF is back up this morning. Still no sign of WQAW.



fri1038 said:


> WQAW still seems to be off the air. I read in the Albuquerque thread their owner, HC2, is in the FCC dog house and may lose some licenses, if that could be related.
> 
> WMJF fixed the video on their Ion 39.4 on Nov 6, but now they seem to be off the air, too. Haven't seen it since the 8th.


----------



## mkfs

Digital Rules said:


> Hi Trip, any idea how many much power Arlington's channel 6 Franken FM station broadcasts?


That's the "Signals Above" transmitter on the ASR 1049508 Long-LInes tower?

I was doing some work at the Long-Lines building before its destruction & saw that name on a VEPCO meter. I researched it later; the point of contact was a law firm in Langley that represented religious broadcasters.

While we were there a second time, VEPCO showed up, pulled and flipped their meter and put it back in, with a different color seal. I knew what that meant. 

Within a hour, a young woman appeared with a Verizontal craft worker and he was looking at their leased loop. I asked if they were working on Signals Above and she was surprised I knew of it. I related VEPCO's visit; she unlocked the "outhouse" under the tower and yep, blackout. They left but she came back later with a check in hand, saying VEPCO 
would return. After an hour of her waiting, I suggested she'd never make partner sitting there, and she replied "It's billable hours!"

I _was_ impressed when she pointed near the top and said "That's our cross-polarized Yagis."


----------



## ripflash

I'm getting an antenna for my attic in Arlington, VA. I'm not sure if I should go for a massive antenna such as the Wineguard 8200U in order to reliably get Baltimore channels. What do I get from Baltimore channels? I could get Ravens games. Are there good Baltimore channels or programming that would be non-redundant with what I could pick up from the DC channels with a smaller antenna?

Thanks for any opinions.


----------



## Casey Hartman

Baltimore's WMAR (virtual 2, real 27) subchannels have LAFF, Mystery, and CourtTV. There is also a CW that airs some shows at different times than the DC affiliate. I attached a screenshot of Baltimore stations I receive in the Huntington neighborhood although I have to rotate my antenna to get the MPT affiliate since it's tower is in Towson (I think). I noticed Baltimore affiliate will air Redskins games, but I haven't looked to see which network airs Ravens as I generally only watch the Super Bowl.

Baltimore stations broadcasting in UHF have pretty strong signals; you might only experience difficulty receiving WBAL and WJZ since they broadcast in VHF. A RCA Ant 751 available locally at a Home Depot might work depending on the material in your roof.



ripflash said:


> I'm getting an antenna for my attic in Arlington, VA. I'm not sure if I should go for a massive antenna such as the Wineguard 8200U in order to reliably get Baltimore channels. What do I get from Baltimore channels? I could get Ravens games. Are there good Baltimore channels or programming that would be non-redundant with what I could pick up from the DC channels with a smaller antenna?
> 
> Thanks for any opinions.


----------



## Jake V

ripflash said:


> I'm getting an antenna for my attic in Arlington, VA. I'm not sure if I should go for a massive antenna such as the Wineguard 8200U in order to reliably get Baltimore channels. What do I get from Baltimore channels? I could get Ravens games. Are there good Baltimore channels or programming that would be non-redundant with what I could pick up from the DC channels with a smaller antenna?
> 
> Thanks for any opinions.


Go to RabbitEars.Info -- At the top right of the map choose "HERE Satellite". Drag the marker over Washington then click the + at the top left to zoom. Place the cursor over your house. Then click "Go". The result will be a station list and map, including the estimate of the power for each channel at your location. 

Many locations in Arlington County are high enough in elevation to get good signals from Baltimore. Others are low and more difficult to receive. 

Post the link from the address bar in this thread so we can look at your exact situation.


----------



## fri1038

Stadium (sort of a budget sports network) is unique to Baltimore, too, on 45.4.

NFL coverage is often different. For example, on Fox, WTTG will show an early Washington game while WBFF shows a movie or something, then WBFF shows a late game and WTTG has non sports programming. Ravens are usually on WJZ but WUSA seems to carry them and the same out of area matches more often than not. WBAL or WMAR will show Ravens games when they are the Monday night game on cable.

MPT (PBS) is in Owings Mills (a bit West of Balt) and Annapolis (a bit East) and has some programming not seen on WETA or WHUT plus Japan's NHK network.
.


----------



## n8hoo

fri1038 said:


> NFL coverage is often different.


It boils down to this: 9 and 13 nearly always carry the same games. 45 passes on Washington as often as possible - if there is any better regional or AFC North game available - and if Fox has the singleheader will often carry the random 4:05 game (usually two way out-of-market teams not worth watching) to avoid competing with the Ravens at 1.

To OP's question, the most utility I get out of them is Jeopardy at 7 and different reruns on 24/45/54. Plus 54 has 5.1 sound vs. 50's stereo and terrible PQ and that is noticable. There's no additional worthwhile subchannels and 2/11/13 don't have different enough programming to be more than a novelty.


----------



## ripflash

Jake V said:


> Go to RabbitEars.Info -- At the top right of the map choose "HERE Satellite".


Thanks Casey, Jake, & fri1038. I like the idea of getting MPT.

Here's my rabbitears link:
RabbitEars.Info


----------



## Casey Hartman

The beam width from DC towers to WMPT in Annapolis is about 63 degrees, which is close to Antenna Direct's 2Max claimed beam angle of 60 degrees. It worked pretty well at my location, but I had to rotate it when I wanted to watch 7 or 9; I think their signals get defracted differently than UHF ones towards my or entering my condo building. Your location is a few miles closer and at a different azimuth than mine so it might work well in one position at your home.

I switched to a Televes Dinova BOSS and no longer use the 2Max. I still have it and if you would like to test it in your home or purchase it, let me know.



ripflash said:


> Thanks Casey, Jake, & fri1038. I like the idea of getting MPT.
> 
> Here's my rabbitears link:
> RabbitEars.Info


----------



## MadMan400096

WUTB is getting a fine for commercials aired during KidsClick back when the block was still running.


----------



## Brian in CT

ripflash said:


> Thanks Casey, Jake, & fri1038. I like the idea of getting MPT.
> 
> Here's my rabbitears link:
> RabbitEars.Info


Since you are are SO close to the DC transmitters, you might be able to get away with pointing a "mid-range" antenna at Baltimore, and still get the DC stations "off-the-side." Since you said you wanted to put an antenna in your attic, I doubt your receive height is correct. A lower AGL height (i.e. 20-25 feet) might put some more of the Baltimore stations in the "fair" range. The rule of thumb with the signal search function is that any TV station listed with "good" field strength can be received with a rudimentary (rabbit ears and loop combo) antenna, while stations listed with "fair" field strength will need something bigger with more gain.

Here is another reason to install an attic antenna that would give you reception of the Baltimore "big four." If a network show is preempted in DC (i.e. local news bulletin), you have a backup station to watch it on. If you do end up with an attic installation, make sure there is nothing in the antenna's LOS that would cause a reflection. Keep us posted on your progress.


----------



## ripflash

Brian in CT said:


> Since you are are SO close to the DC transmitters, you might be able to get away with pointing a "mid-range" antenna at Baltimore, and still get the DC stations "off-the-side."


Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I like the idea of aiming at Baltimore and getting DC stations off the side. Even though the antenna will be in the attic, it will lucky be about 25 ft up and has direct line of sight to the towers, depending on one tree's foliage.

I'm leaning toward Wineguard HD7694P as a good mid-range antenna. I think it gets low enough VHF channels. Any thoughts on the 7694?


----------



## Casey Hartman

The HD7694P is a good choice, has a lot of good reviews, and is only about $65. It's high VHF capabilities and your proximity to DC ought to have no problem receiving 7 and 9 and possibly 11 and/or 13 in Baltimore. My Clearstream 5 is able to pick up DC and channel 11 out of Baltimore. The 7694 should do very well at UHF stations in both markets as well although the low powered DC stations may be difficult to obtain a quality signal.

If the 7694's dimensions are a good fit in your attic, I would go for it.



ripflash said:


> Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I like the idea of aiming at Baltimore and getting DC stations off the side. Even though the antenna will be in the attic, it will lucky be about 25 ft up and has direct line of sight to the towers, depending on one tree's foliage.
> 
> I'm leaning toward Wineguard HD7694P as a good mid-range antenna. I think it gets low enough VHF channels. Any thoughts on the 7694?


----------



## fri1038

I noticed tonight WQAW-LD is back up after about a month. The periodic drop outs seen after their antenna mods have stopped with no changes on my end. Maybe slightly weaker signal for me. Easton bandscan shows it returned yesterday,






Signal graphs for WQAW-LD at Easton, MD-whiskeyone-WSW on ANT751Z aimed at 250 degrees







rabbitears.info


----------



## n8hoo

WDVM filed today to move much closer to DC - to the tower on the Loudoun/Clarke/Jefferson tripoint where WAZT-CD is currently parked. Should afford great coverage of Nova and distant-grade coverage of DC proper; it'll be a Hagerstown station on paper only. To my knowledge that'll require co-channel WDDN-LD to move channels as well.





__





Licensing and Management System


Licensing and Management System




enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov


----------



## Digital Rules

ripflash said:


> Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I like the idea of aiming at Baltimore and getting DC stations off the side. Even though the antenna will be in the attic, it will lucky be about 25 ft up and has direct line of sight to the towers, depending on one tree's foliage.
> 
> I'm leaning toward Wineguard HD7694P as a good mid-range antenna. I think it gets low enough VHF channels. Any thoughts on the 7694?


This would be a good antenna to try in your attic for a small investment. If you get creative you might even be able to mount this outside & it would be inconspicuous.









Winegard TV Antenna with Cable - electronics - by owner - sale


Winegard TV Antenna with Cable - Like New -



washingtondc.craigslist.org


----------



## MRG1

I admit Satellite Internet is a bit off-topic. But some of you guys seem very knowledgeable about antennas, atmospheric propogation, rain fade, etc., so maybe you can help. Besides, I wonder if they will also be used to deliver TV signals too - perhaps by IPTV, but perhaps more directly, since that is increasingly taking the lion's share of Internet use.

I've been reading about several planned low earth orbit satellite Internet constellations, like SpaceX's Starlink. Starlink is in beta test, due to incomplete satellite coverage.

Someone speculates on rain fade, for Starlink at
Starlink: Rain Fade – Will it Work?
That's the part that might amuse antenna freaks. If that person is right, Starlink might not work 5% of the time! I don't know how that compares to existing satellite Internet providers.

The starting prices Starlink cites at
SpaceX Starlink Internet (provider page) | SatelliteInternet.com
namely $499 for equipment and $99/month (during the beta test), are higher than the low data rate prices HughesNet and Viasat (that use geosynchronous orbit) charge. There are speculations that post-beta costs will be lower, but there is no hard data for that - and beta tests of many things are cheaper, not more expensive, than final system costs.

They claim 50-100 Mbps download, which would make them competitive at those data rates - except relatively few households use that high a rate.

They could be assuming that several neighbors will share a Starlink connection, but that could get messy - not only are rural households often far apart, but there are potential ground loop voltage problems if the connection is by wire - especially since I think rural electricity is often delivered using a system in which the return electric path is the ground itself, so the electric poles need carry one fewer electric wire. Widely spaced optical cabling would be more expensive than wired, I assume.

The only other possibility I can think of is that rather than feeding individual homes, they hope to feed small ISPs, apartment buildings, hotels, and the like.

Latency (time delay) times for low earth orbit should be lower than for geosynchronous orbit. But smart streaming software can compensate for latency, by sending requests before the prior packet arrives. Latency was very important when a lot of people used Telnet, but that isn't a big deal anymore. I suppose it matters a little, in terms of http responses to mouse clicks, and VOIP, but I just don't see latency as worth that much.

Would there probably be any other advantage? It seems unlikely that many beta testers will be willing to pay that much money when HughesNet and Viaset are cheaper, at least at the data rates most homes use.

Any other ideas? In what ways would Starlink be better than geosynchronous providers like HughesNet and Viasat?


----------



## n8hoo

WAZT-CD on RF 20 received approval for a move into Leesburg: it's the tower next to the county landfill which is occupied by an FM translator (101.7 W269DH tied to 1520 WTRI which plays Indian music). Worse site than their current one with bad coverage outside of the Leesburg-Reston-Chantilly triangle, you'd think it's just an intermediate step for an eventual move closer to DC. They already tried that move directly by claiming there was potential interference to public safety radio in Philadelphia (!) from the current site in WV - but the pesky FCC asked them for evidence it was happening and there wasn't, only a theoretical propagation study. Since Sinclair had no interest in that license I wonder who else could possibly be in the market.



FCCdata.org - powered by REC



Also absolutely bonkers weather right now. I've had usable signals from 11 and 13 all day, which I can never remember happening before. Can't really explain why...always thought winter + rain put the kibosh on good tropo.


----------



## fri1038

WAZT-CD would be bumping up against WQAW's turf in that proposal.

At 4:45pm, I see WGAL off the side of my antenna - a first. Must be a good VHF-hi tropo. And something is blocking WHUT for me, though it is my weakest DC station - doesn't take much. Nothing else out of the ordinary. Another potent rain front approaching.




n8hoo said:


> WAZT-CD on RF 20 received approval for a move into Leesburg: it's the tower next to the county landfill which is occupied by an FM translator (101.7 W269DH tied to 1520 WTRI which plays Indian music). Worse site than their current one with bad coverage outside of the Leesburg-Reston-Chantilly triangle, you'd think it's just an intermediate step for an eventual move closer to DC. They already tried that move directly by claiming there was potential interference to public safety radio in Philadelphia (!) from the current site in WV - but the pesky FCC asked them for evidence it was happening and there wasn't, only a theoretical propagation study. Since Sinclair had no interest in that license I wonder who else could possibly be in the market.
> 
> 
> 
> FCCdata.org - powered by REC
> 
> 
> 
> Also absolutely bonkers weather right now. I've had usable signals from 11 and 13 all day, which I can never remember happening before. Can't really explain why...always thought winter + rain put the kibosh on good tropo.


----------



## KyL416

It's not a proposal anymore, like n8hoo said, the FCC approved it today. Also WQAW-LD is a LPTV license, so it doesn't get the same level of interference protection that full power and Class A stations get. Full Power and Class A stations have a 0.5% threshold for interference, while LPTV stations have 2% threshold. The protected 51 dBu contours also don't touch eachother:
https://www.rabbitears.info/contour...25076f9174c22e5d0174d5e683b819bd&cir=&circen=


----------



## fri1038

WJZ showing a new subchannel tonight: 13.4 WJZ-DT 16:9 480i. Currently (11/12 7:45pm) showing CBSN, but I thought I saw somewhere here in the forums CBS-owned stations would be launching a new channel. Can't find the post or the new network name at the moment.

Edit: FAVE? 









Pittsburgh, PA - OTA


WOSC-CD just filed another tolling request to extend their deadline, they said they expect it be ready for testing around November 6. WPTG-CD also filed for an extension, they're using the same crew as WOSC-CD so their work should be going on at around the same time




www.avsforum.com


----------



## Trip in VA

"Fave TV" launched on WJZ at 9AM. Right before 9AM, I caught WJZ running a promo loop. The loop indicated programming such as:

TV Shows:
Run's House
The Challenge
Punk'd
The Family Hustle
Auction House
Bar Rescue
Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders: Making the Team

Movies
She's Out of My League
Love Don't Cost A Thing
Clue
B.A.P.S.
Total Recall
Face Off
The Karate Kid
The Karate Kid Part II
The Karate Kid Part III

Watching with it muted to see if there's any more information available during the breaks.









- Trip


----------



## greg9x2

MRG1 said:


> I admit Satellite Internet is a bit off-topic. But some of you guys seem very knowledgeable about antennas, atmospheric propogation, rain fade, etc., so maybe you can help. Besides, I wonder if they will also be used to deliver TV signals too - perhaps by IPTV, but perhaps more directly, since that is increasingly taking the lion's share of Internet use.
> 
> I've been reading about several planned low earth orbit satellite Internet constellations, like SpaceX's Starlink. Starlink is in beta test, due to incomplete satellite coverage.
> 
> Someone speculates on rain fade, for Starlink at
> Starlink: Rain Fade – Will it Work?
> That's the part that might amuse antenna freaks. If that person is right, Starlink might not work 5% of the time! I don't know how that compares to existing satellite Internet providers.
> 
> The starting prices Starlink cites at
> SpaceX Starlink Internet (provider page) | SatelliteInternet.com
> namely $499 for equipment and $99/month (during the beta test), are higher than the low data rate prices HughesNet and Viasat (that use geosynchronous orbit) charge. There are speculations that post-beta costs will be lower, but there is no hard data for that - and beta tests of many things are cheaper, not more expensive, than final system costs.
> 
> They claim 50-100 Mbps download, which would make them competitive at those data rates - except relatively few households use that high a rate.
> 
> They could be assuming that several neighbors will share a Starlink connection, but that could get messy - not only are rural households often far apart, but there are potential ground loop voltage problems if the connection is by wire - especially since I think rural electricity is often delivered using a system in which the return electric path is the ground itself, so the electric poles need carry one fewer electric wire. Widely spaced optical cabling would be more expensive than wired, I assume.
> 
> The only other possibility I can think of is that rather than feeding individual homes, they hope to feed small ISPs, apartment buildings, hotels, and the like.
> 
> Latency (time delay) times for low earth orbit should be lower than for geosynchronous orbit. But smart streaming software can compensate for latency, by sending requests before the prior packet arrives. Latency was very important when a lot of people used Telnet, but that isn't a big deal anymore. I suppose it matters a little, in terms of http responses to mouse clicks, and VOIP, but I just don't see latency as worth that much.
> 
> Would there probably be any other advantage? It seems unlikely that many beta testers will be willing to pay that much money when HughesNet and Viaset are cheaper, at least at the data rates most homes use.
> 
> Any other ideas? In what ways would Starlink be better than geosynchronous providers like HughesNet and Viasat?


Yes, OT..but responding since this is my field.

Yes, rain fade affects all frequencies if heavy enough weather..but K band and up is more susceptible. that is why DirecTV, etc lose reception in heavy weather. 

Know some said Low Earth Orbit networks wouldn't be profitable enough to keep operating... Starlink is a big experiment. There are a lot more 'moving parts' in a LEO system than traditional Geosync satellites. Will see how it plays out.


----------



## keeper

Unfortunately the streaming rate of WJZ has decreased from 15mbps to below 10. The addition of these sub channels continue to decrease quality. WBAL now sits at the top for picture quality for Baltimore.


----------



## jmantothe64

Has anyone been having issues with WJLA & WUSA tonight, because I have. One of my strongest tuners doesn't even detect a signal. Hoping it's just because of all the snow today...
(Yes my antenna is mostly UHF gain, but on a normal day I can pick up WJLA at 70% or more)
Edit: RF15 isn't coming in at all, and WHUT isn't coming in strong enough for a PSIP


----------



## Trip in VA

Looks okay here, but it does look like some things are weaker than usual. Probably atmospheric.

- Trip


----------



## n8hoo

No, but I lost my weakest signals (2 and 45) earlier. 4 inches of snow on the roof, I'm hardly surprised.


----------



## n8hoo

Comcast reached an agreement to keep 3 dozen distant network affiliates they were going to drop from various systems around the country this month. This includes several areas in Maryland and Delaware, as well as Harrisburg, where WBAL is carried alongside the in-market NBC station.

Looking at the entire list, one of the most mind-boggling changes was in Fulton County, PA (the only PA county assigned to the DC market, for a reason that is beyond me) where WGAL was to be _replaced_ with WRC-TV. Absolutely nuts.









Comcast Will Now Keep 35 'Neighboring' Local Channels - The TV Answer Man!


Comcast has reached an agreement with local broadcasters to continue carrying 35 local channels in 38 different markets which the cable operator said last month would be dropped on December 22. “We have come to an agreement with the owners of these stations that will allow us to offer them in...




tvanswerman.com


----------



## fri1038

n8hoo said:


> Absolutely nuts.


Because Comcast owns WRC? 

Echoes of WHAG's (now WDVM) NBC affiliation loss. I wonder if WDVM will ever make on to DC-area Comcast systems seeing how they are supposedly in the DC market. Wasn't on Prince William Co.'s as of last weekend.

Broadstripe Cable in Anne Arundel Co used to carry both all the DC and Baltimore OTA stations. And they still do, except for WRC. Dropped years ago because it competed with WBAL or somesuch.


----------



## jmantothe64

I'm in Prince William County and I can confirm WDVM is carried by Xfinity.
(By the way, I have an antenna for my "secondary TVs", and cable for the main ones)
Edit: Pretty sure only in SD, but still on the lineup


----------



## PaulGo

jmantothe64 said:


> I'm in Prince William County and I can confirm WDVM is carried by Xfinity.
> (By the way, I have an antenna for my "secondary TVs", and cable for the main ones)


If you have Comcast you can get a Roku device for your secondary TVs. The Roku has the Xfinity Sream app which can be used at no additional cost to recieve all the content you are recieving on you main box.


----------



## fri1038

jmantothe64 said:


> I'm in Prince William County and I can confirm WDVM is carried by Xfinity.
> (By the way, I have an antenna for my "secondary TVs", and cable for the main ones)
> Edit: Pretty sure only in SD, but still on the lineup


What channel, if you could check please? I see it listed on the xfinity site as available, but couldn't find it at my parents' in Manassas. I'll look again after I open my bag of coal on Christmas.


----------



## n8hoo

fri1038 said:


> Because Comcast owns WRC?


Well, of course; but only Comcast would yank one of the leading sources of local news for one that is completely irrelevant Because Money.



fri1038 said:


> Echoes of WHAG's (now WDVM) NBC affiliation loss. I wonder if WDVM will ever make on to DC-area Comcast systems seeing how they are supposedly in the DC market. Wasn't on Prince William Co.'s as of last weekend.


They are on Comcast (25) and Fios (31) here in Loudoun. It is not, to my knowledge, on Comcast in PW. When the transmitter move to Bluemont is approved, I assume they'll get on a lot more systems around here...


----------



## MadMan400096

fri1038 said:


> Because Comcast owns WRC?


This is what happens when cable operators become major entertainment conglomerates.😐


----------



## MRG1

(About starlink)



greg9x2 said:


> Know some said Low Earth Orbit networks wouldn't be profitable enough to keep operating... Starlink is a big experiment. There are a lot more 'moving parts' in a LEO system than traditional Geosync satellites. Will see how it plays out.


There are other LEO constellations which work fairly well. E.g., GPS, Weather satellites, etc. But none have this many satellites, nor were their satellites designed to be cheap. The interesting thing is that roughly a dozen other companies are making the same bet, according to some sources. Presumably each has investors willing to bet a lot of money on them.

Some positive preliminary results for Starlink have now been reported. However, there have been brief periods of service interruption. I assume video gamers, among the most obvious potential customers for a very pricey high speed low latency network, would be deeply troubled by loosing connection for even a brief period.

My personal hope still remains that these various players will compete to add add cheap or free TV services.

I personally consider satellite TV to be another form of OTA TV. Unfortunately the list of freely available satellite TV channels that can currently be received in the U.S.
FTAList - free Ku-band satellite channel list
doesn't include any of the major broadcast networks, except PBS.


----------



## KyL416

The major broadcast networks are still up there, but they aren't 24/7 feeds like the PBS national feeds, so FTAList doesn't list them as "channels". 

Most of ABC's feeds are on various Ku transponders on Galaxy 17, NBC and Cozi are on SES 3's Ku transponders, and CBS and CW's feeds are on various Ku transponders on Galaxy 16. Fox's feeds are also on Galaxy 16, but they might not be compatible with the average in home FTA receiver. NBC is mostly straight forward on what's East/Central/Mountain/West, but the others can vary because of regionalized sports coverage and stations opting for an alternate daytime or overnight schedule.


----------



## greg9x2

MRG1 said:


> (About starlink)
> 
> 
> 
> There are other LEO constellations which work fairly well. E.g., GPS, Weather satellites, etc. But none have this many satellites, nor were their satellites designed to be cheap. The interesting thing is that roughly a dozen other companies are making the same bet, according to some sources. Presumably each has investors willing to bet a lot of money on them.
> 
> Some positive preliminary results for Starlink have now been reported. However, there have been brief periods of service interruption. I assume video gamers, among the most obvious potential customers for a very pricey high speed low latency network, would be deeply troubled by loosing connection for even a brief period.
> 
> My personal hope still remains that these various players will compete to add add cheap or free TV services.
> 
> I personally consider satellite TV to be another form of OTA TV. Unfortunately the list of freely available satellite TV channels that can currently be received in the U.S.
> FTAList - free Ku-band satellite channel list
> doesn't include any of the major broadcast networks, except PBS.


Yeah, I meant LEO networks in the ISP/Data feed network sense. Have already dealt with one that didn't really make it too far. Elon has bigger pockets for this 'experiment', but that doesn't mean it will be profitable... have heard the numbers don't make sense, but will have to see.

I wouldn't expect too much free unless subsidized by a large corporation as a perk of some sort. Satellite bandwidth has a high cost per Mhz.


----------



## MRG1

greg9x2 said:


> Yeah, I meant LEO networks in the ISP/Data feed network sense. Have already dealt with one that didn't really make it too far.


Which one(s) failed?

When the Internet was fairly new, I signed up for a very cheap local dial-up ISP that failed. I didn't conclude the Internet was doomed.

Just like some people think that OTA TV is dying. But it seems to be making a comeback.

I bet it would make a bigger comeback if the FCC would let neighbors and communities share antenna use, without paying for or bidding against big cable companies for expensive licenses.


----------



## MadMan400096

MRG1 said:


> Which one(s) failed?
> 
> When the Internet was fairly new, I signed up for a very cheap local dial-up ISP that failed. I didn't conclude the Internet was doomed.
> 
> Just like some people think that OTA TV is dying. But it seems to be making a comeback.
> 
> I bet it would make a bigger comeback if the FCC would let neighbors and communities share antenna use, without paying for or bidding against big cable companies for expensive licenses.


I think that the main thing keeping OTA from growing faster than it has, beside the issues of perception and streaming, is that a lot of people don't even know it's an option, thanks to cable and internet companies telling you that subscribing to them is the only to get the content you want. Kinda reminds me of this joke from _The Simpsons_: 




In fact, when I was talking at the dinner table about the use of an antenna to get channels, my brother didn't even think that was still an option. Never mind that my mom's favorite network lately is Ion, which is available over the air in most places. Still, with more people growing more tech savvy, I expect that the OTA rebirth won't go away any time soon, though it'll probably still be somewhat slow, at least until 3.0 gets off the ground.


----------



## Casey Hartman

I've been trying to get my mom to ditch cable TV services for a few years. She and my nephew watch local stations that can be viewed with an antenna; they mostly watch ION, ABC, and LAFF networks. She has a decent deal from Comcast of Internet and TV for around $100 although there are limited cable specific channels. She's convinced herself dropping TV will cause the cost for Internet service to be almost as high as her current bill. Even a $30 savings per month would be worth it since her income is just Social Security.

When I visited her in July, I gave her an amplified Terk OMNITV5AZ antenna that I thought would pick up stations well since the KC market is only UHF, but it didn't perform as well as expected. If I have room in my suitcase, I am going to take a 2Max I no longer use with me when I go visit her next week.



MadMan400096 said:


> I think that the main thing keeping OTA from growing faster than it has, beside the issues of perception and streaming, is that a lot of people don't even know it's an option, thanks to cable and internet companies telling you that subscribing to them is the only to get the content you want. Kinda reminds me of this joke from _The Simpsons_:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> In fact, when I was talking at the dinner table about the use of an antenna to get channels, my brother didn't even think that was still an option. Never mind that my mom's favorite network lately is Ion, which is available over the air in most places. Still, with more people growing more tech savvy, I expect that the OTA rebirth won't go away any time soon, though it'll probably still be somewhat slow, at least until 3.0 gets off the ground.


----------



## greg9x2

MRG1 said:


> Which one(s) failed?


Well 'failed' too strong I guess... Was OneWeb, but seems got bought out of bankruptcy and started operations again .


----------



## MRG1

Is there a better forum than this to use for satellite dish antenna questions?



KyL416 said:


> The major broadcast networks are still up there, but they aren't 24/7 feeds like the PBS national feeds, so FTAList doesn't list them as "channels".


Oh! And they are freely viewable satellite feeds? So all anyone needs to get them is to install a satellite dish and receiver? Are the little satellite dishes used for Dish and DirecTV adequate, or do you need the old style big antennas?

Is there a more complete place than FTAList that gives what is freely available by satellite, including the major broadcast networks?

I'm planning to move to a place that I thought overpriced cable TV and IPTV are the only options. It would be very interesting if an old-style satellite dish (i.e., not Dish, DirecTV, OrbY) was a possible alternative.


----------



## MadMan400096

Casey Hartman said:


> I've been trying to get my mom to ditch cable TV services for a few years. She and my nephew watch local stations that can be viewed with an antenna; they mostly watch ION, ABC, and LAFF networks. She has a decent deal from Comcast of Internet and TV for around $100 although there are limited cable specific channels. She's convinced herself dropping TV will cause the cost for Internet service to be almost as high as her current bill. Even a $30 savings per month would be worth it since her income is just Social Security.


That's the same reason we still have cable at our place, though with our city starting up local fiber internet, it may not be as much of a concern in the future, since it'll mean better service for less money than what we pay Charter now.


----------



## greg9x2

MRG1 said:


> Is there a better forum than this to use for satellite dish antenna questions?
> 
> 
> 
> Oh! And they are freely viewable satellite feeds? So all anyone needs to get them is to install a satellite dish and receiver? Are the little satellite dishes used for Dish and DirecTV adequate, or do you need the old style big antennas?
> 
> Is there a more complete place than FTAList that gives what is freely available by satellite, including the major broadcast networks?
> 
> I'm planning to move to a place that I thought overpriced cable TV and IPTV are the only options. It would be very interesting if an old-style satellite dish (i.e., not Dish, DirecTV, OrbY) was a possible alternative.


That's all interesting list of channels, very targeted audiences for most outside PBS and QVC... Would have to be a very strong interest in them to go through hassel of buying/setting up/maintaining a satellite system. We use 4.5 meter dishes to simulate headends who receive feeds, not sure how small could go and reliably receive channels. Directv, etc use higher power to transmit to the small customer dishes.

They all looking for free distribution I guess, everything is generally encrypted.

And maybe start a thread for satellite, instead of us being off topic here


----------



## tylerSC

MRG1 said:


> Which one(s) failed?
> 
> When the Internet was fairly new, I signed up for a very cheap local dial-up ISP that failed. I didn't conclude the Internet was doomed.
> 
> Just like some people think that OTA TV is dying. But it seems to be making a comeback.
> 
> I bet it would make a bigger comeback if the FCC would let neighbors and communities share antenna use, without paying for or bidding against big cable companies for expensive licenses.


When I lived in Northern Virginia in the 90's, many of the high rise apartment buildings had master antenna systems that provided free coverage of Baltimore and DC channels. Did this carry over into the current digital transition? Or are these large apartment dwellings restricted to cable or satellite services now?


----------



## Casey Hartman

Montebllo Condos got rid of its MAS at some point and began an agreement with Cox for them to wire each unit. Part of the agreement included local channel lineup from Cox and a mini box. Since Verizon ran fiber in our buildings, we are not renewing the Cox contract. I hope the board considers getting a new MAS since not all units may receive quality signals.



tylerSC said:


> When I lived in Northern Virginia in the 90's, many of the high rise apartment buildings had master antenna systems that provided free coverage of Baltimore and DC channels. Did this carry over into the current digital transition? Or are these large apartment dwellings restricted to cable or satellite services now?


----------



## machpost

tylerSC said:


> When I lived in Northern Virginia in the 90's, many of the high rise apartment buildings had master antenna systems that provided free coverage of Baltimore and DC channels. Did this carry over into the current digital transition? Or are these large apartment dwellings restricted to cable or satellite services now?


My building in DC used to have a master antenna system, but it was inoperable when I moved here 20 years ago, and the various antennas have been removed or have gotten blown off the roof over the years.


----------



## Paul in Maryland

keeper said:


> Unfortunately the streaming rate of WJZ has decreased from 15mbps to below 10. The addition of these sub channels continue to decrease quality.


Yeah, here in metro DC, WETA public TV proudly introduced a new subchannel, 26-5 or WETA World. What they didn't tell you is that, to make room, they squeezed their two HD feeds---26-1 and 26-2 "WETA UK"---from 1080p down to 720p.
720p still looks great on my 75-inch Sony X900H with upscaling ("Reality Creation") set to 100 (Max). Sometimes I wonder how ATSC 3.0 will look any better.


----------



## n8hoo

WMDO-CD is hopping from WIAV-CD's signal to WDCO-CD. Looks like ATSC 3.0 stuff is afoot -- and it was nice having UniMas OTA for all of 6 months  Since Entravision (theoretically) gets the rights to the DC-market Univision affiliation back in a year, I wonder what their future plans are for that license.





__





Licensing and Management System


Licensing and Management System




enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov







Paul in Maryland said:


> What they didn't tell you is that, to make room, they squeezed their two HD feeds---26-1 and 26-2 "WETA UK"---from 1080p down to 720p.


26.2 was SD (480i) before this change, and 26.1 was 720p for a long time before going to 1080i only in the last year or so IIRC.


----------



## MRG1

Wouldn't they be crazy to


n8hoo said:


> WMDO-CD is hopping from WIAV-CD's signal to WDCO-CD. Looks like ATSC 3.0 stuff is afoot...


Are they buying a new frequency for ATSC 3.0? They would have to be crazy to substitute ATSC 3.0 for the older signal protocal that most people's hardware now supports, too soon.


----------



## greg9x2

MRG1 said:


> Wouldn't they be crazy to
> 
> 
> Are they buying a new frequency for ATSC 3.0? They would have to be crazy to substitute ATSC 3.0 for the older signal protocal that most people's hardware now supports, too soon.


Think stations are required to maintain ATSC 1.0 for at least 5 years. Will see a lot of broadcasters sharing RF frequencies to maintain both standards.


----------



## n8hoo

MRG1 said:


> Are they buying a new frequency for ATSC 3.0? They would have to be crazy to substitute ATSC 3.0 for the older signal protocal that most people's hardware now supports, too soon.


It seems certain WIAV-CD is going to be Sinclair's ATSC 3.0 "lighthouse" in DC - they dropped $9M (IIRC) on those two CDs earlier this year and would have no other use for those licenses. And WIAV-CD has 3x the ERP because it's next to 1 MW WETA-TV.

My point is WMDO-CD moving signals would seem to be a sign that the ATSC 3.0 conversion work is getting started in the near future.

As for 1.0 coverage, it wouldn't be necessary here (it's running Sinclair's TBD which is clearly a placeholder, and simulcast on WDCO-CD and WJLA .4 anyway) but in other markets the lighthouse has done channel-sharing, with subchannels sometimes ending up on multiple other signals...


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## MRG1

greg9x2 said:


> Think stations are required to maintain ATSC 1.0 for at least 5 years. Will see a lot of broadcasters sharing RF frequencies to maintain both standards.


I thought 5 years wasn't enough from a practical standpoint - because consumers aren't being forced to buy ATSC 3.0 equipment? In fact, a lot of consumers have sunk a lot of money into fancy home theaters, and some would be very unhappy.


----------



## greg9x2

MRG1 said:


> I thought 5 years wasn't enough from a practical standpoint - because consumers aren't being forced to buy ATSC 3.0 equipment? In fact, a lot of consumers have sunk a lot of money into fancy home theaters, and some would be very unhappy.


I'm sure it will probably be longer since the ATSC 3.0 roll out is taking longer than planned... guess will come down to operating cost for broadcasters whether they maintain 2 transmissions or not.

By the time 1.0 goes away, 3.0 tuner boxes will probably be pretty cheap to add to any home system. And 5+ years is quite a while, sure most will be due for TV upgrades before then anyway. But the tuner boxes will be an option for those who don't. At some point technology needs to move forward.


----------



## KyL416

Unlike 2009 where the switch to ATSC was mandatory, there is no mandate for stations to convert to ATSC 3.0. So no major station is going to voluntarily switch to ATSC 3.0 only operations unless NextGen tuner penetration is big enough that they, their networks, and their advertisers don't lose a significant portion of their OTA audience if they ditch ATSC 1.0. (i.e. ABC would likely strip their affiliation from Sinclair's WJLA if they prematurely went to ATSC 3.0 only operations in a major market like DC, and they already have working relationships with their rivals like Nexstar who would probably jump at the chance to have WDCW affiliate with ABC instead of The CW)

It also doesn't help that there are no plans to require that all TVs sold in the USA include ATSC 3.0 tuners by a certain date like there was for the 2009 DTV transition. So even if people are in the market for a replacement TV, unless they specifically look for a model with a NextGen tuner, chances are they're getting an ATSC 1.0 only model, especially if they don't have space in their room for a TV over 55 inches. As for converters, there's also no plans to have a coupon program for free converters like there was in 2009 either.


----------



## fri1038

fri1038 said:


> What channel, if you could check please? I see it listed on the xfinity site as available, but couldn't find it at my parents' in Manassas. I'll look again after I open my bag of coal on Christmas.


To answer myself, on PWC/Manassas Xfinity: WDVM 797 & 24, along with their feed of Mystery 210 and Grit 211. But no Laff. 

Price increase notice in their latest bill - should push their long time triple play close to $300. Grrr. Time to start playing Fios promotions against Xfinity promotions to keep the bill sane. If local baseball was OTA I'd put up an antenna.


----------



## MRG1

One other difference: In 2009 many cable companies told their customers they had to switch to "digital" TVs and to optical feeds, because they said the government required them to switch to digital signals. It mostly wasn't true - the big cable companies STILL lease boxes that work with the old NTSC TVs, and some of the old copper feeds are still there. But the new boxes encrypted everything, so you needed one box/TV, and the the optical feed prices mostly weren't regulated the same way the copper wire cable lines had been. It also made us lease the cable company's DVRs instead of our own VCRs. (The phone companies found other excuses to do much the same thing - copper line leased rates had been regulated, optical lines mostly weren't.)

I'm not sure that can pull that fast one twice. Because of the slower rollout, and the difficulty of fooling some of the same people twice, people on cable may figure out this time they don't need to switch TVs. And people on Internet streams won't worry about the tuners. Though some of them may be young enough not to know better.

But I'm sure the TV and tuner makers will try.

If I wanted a 4K TV and DVR, and lived in a place with better OTA reception, I might make the switch.


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## MRG1

fri1038 said:


> (about WDVM)
> What channel, if you could check please? I see it listed on the xfinity site as available, but couldn't find it at my parents' in Manassas. I'll look again after I open my bag of coal on Christmas.


The stations own site, at

www.localdvm.com/how-to-watch-dcw50

says



> *How to Watch DCW50*
> 
> *DCW50*
> 
> *CABLE PROVIDER**STANDARD DEFINITION**HIGH DEFINITION*Cox981098Comcast18814FIOS568Dish239239DirectTV307307


CW itself is available at cwtv.com.


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## Casey Hartman

The 2Max fit in my suitcase and is picking up all KC stations. I really like Samsung’s signal information tool shows SNR.










Casey Hartman said:


> I've been trying to get my mom to ditch cable TV services for a few years. She and my nephew watch local stations that can be viewed with an antenna; they mostly watch ION, ABC, and LAFF networks. She has a decent deal from Comcast of Internet and TV for around $100 although there are limited cable specific channels. She's convinced herself dropping TV will cause the cost for Internet service to be almost as high as her current bill. Even a $30 savings per month would be worth it since her income is just Social Security.
> 
> When I visited her in July, I gave her an amplified Terk OMNITV5AZ antenna that I thought would pick up stations well since the KC market is only UHF, but it didn't perform as well as expected. If I have room in my suitcase, I am going to take a 2Max I no longer use with me when I go visit her next week.


----------



## KyL416

That's their listing for WDCW, not WDVM and it's mostly wrong anyway since it looks like they copied the entries for WGN America when adding WDCW to their website after Nexstar purchased Tribune. For FiOS, Dish, DirecTV and Comcast's metro DC system those are the channel numbers for WGN America.

Here's the listing for WDVM, where they breakdown the coverage by individual systems:
https://www.localdvm.com/how-to-watch-wdvm/

I just checked the Manassas Comcast lineup, WDVM isn't carried at all, but that will likely change next time Comcast's contract with Nexstar is up for renewal now that they plan to move WDVM's signal closer to DC and added a SD simulcast to WDCW's signal.


----------



## fri1038

MRG1 brought WDCW into the conversation by mistake, I think.

I am in front of a TV on Comcast in Manassas as I type this. The info on the localdvm website is wrong in my case for both WDVM (797) and WDCW (803.) Maybe the WDVM stations were just added. Or perhaps I was searching the digital guide for DMV two weeks ago instead of DVM - I was processing a car sale at the time. 🤪 

Anyway, it's there. Was looking for a local news story at the time. Water under the bridge now.




KyL416 said:


> The listing on their website for WDCW is wrong, it looks like they copied the entries for WGN America when adding WDCW to their website after Nexstar purchased Tribune. For FiOS, Dish, DirecTV and Comcast's metro DC system those are the channel numbers for WGN America.
> 
> Here's the listing for WDVM, where they breakdown the coverage by individual systems:
> https://www.localdvm.com/how-to-watch-wdvm/
> 
> I just checked the Manassas Comcast lineup, WDVM isn't carried at all, but that will likely change next time Comcast's contract with Nexstar is up for renewal now that they plan to move WDVM's signal closer to DC and added a SD simulcast to WDCW's signal.


----------



## MRG1

fri1038 said:


> MRG1 brought WDCW into the conversation by mistake, I think.


Oops! WDCW might be owned or run by the same people as WDVM, because it was mentioned on their website.

So sorry! 

Does that mean that the similar info for WDVM on their own site:
www.localdvm.com/how-to-watch-wdvm
is also wrong?

In either case, if you care about watching the channel, you should probably contact them - if they provide incorrect information on how to watch them, that is obviously bad for business, and could hurt their ability to exist in the future.


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## n8hoo

This is unexpected: Sinclair applied for an experimental STA for a very low-powered ATSC 3.0 facility in Baltimore. 900W on RF 24 from what looks like the roof of their headquarters. It is explicitly to test reception on mobile devices, and also mentions that Sinclair is developing such an ATSC 3.0-enabled phone, which I'm not sure was public knowledge before.





__





Licensing and Management System


Licensing and Management System




enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov





Notably the documentation sure doesn't make it sound like real ATSC 3.0 broadcasts are coming to Baltimore any time soon (although they could just want to keep arrangements close to the vest)


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## fri1038

WMJF-CD updated their virtual channel data and made a typo I assume. 39.6 WMJF SH is now showing as 3*3*.1 WMJFHI. That sub channel changed from a shopping channel to H&I some months ago.


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## fri1038

And 39.1 is back to showing Grit in 1080i.



fri1038 said:


> WMJF-CD updated their virtual channel data and made a typo I assume. 39.6 WMJF SH is now showing as 3*3*.1 WMJFHI. That sub channel changed from a shopping channel to H&I some months ago.


----------



## keeper

Anyone use an HDhomerun unit in this thread? CBS and NBC football is nearly unwatchable because of deinterlacing issues. I researched and haven’t found much info on this problem.


----------



## KyL416

What hardware and software are you using to view the HDHomeRun's content?

If you're using certain Nvidia devices, there's an ongoing issue where they used chipsets with defective MPEG2 decoders that crap out on some interlaced channels and the only workaround is to use software decoding for MPEG2. In Kodi and VLC there are advanced options to turn off hardware decoding, I'm not sure if the option is available on other software like Plex or Emby.


----------



## Casey Hartman

I use a HDHR with a Tivo Stream 4K and utilize the Live Channels app. I switched to 4 and 9 for a couple of minutes each and I didn't notice any video problems.



keeper said:


> Anyone use an HDhomerun unit in this thread? CBS and NBC football is nearly unwatchable because of deinterlacing issues. I researched and haven’t found much info on this problem.


----------



## keeper

KyL416 said:


> What hardware and software are you using to view the HDHomeRun's content?
> 
> If you're using certain Nvidia devices, there's an ongoing issue where they used chipsets with defective MPEG2 decoders that crap out on some interlaced channels and the only workaround is to use software decoding for MPEG2. In Kodi and VLC there are advanced options to turn off hardware decoding, I'm not sure if the option is available on other software like Plex or Emby.


Well I use Nvidia Pro for the projector and 3 Firecubes for other TVs. I use Channels for the Nvidia and the hdhomerun app for the cubes. On most of the programming it isn’t noticeable. On football it really is.


----------



## keeper

Casey Hartman said:


> I use a HDHR with a Tivo Stream 4K and utilize the Live Channels app. I switched to 4 and 9 for a couple of minutes each and I didn't notice any video problems.


Regular programming it isn’t noticeable. On things like football it gets pretty bad.


----------



## MikeW.

Hello Everyone, I’m new to the forum and I have two problems I would like to get some information on.

I live in Woodbridge, VA 22193; we receive our broadcasting from the Washington, DC market. My goal is to also receive all (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, and CW) of the Baltimore, broadcasting as well. Currently, I have a Winegard HD7694P antenna, roof mounted 30 feet above ground; Antennas Direct Juice preamp and CDA4 distribution amplifier feeding 3 TV’s (Garage, Basement, and Family Room).

1st issue; channels 11.1 WBAL/NBC and 13.1 WJZ/CBS come in strong (crystal clear) about 60% of the time, then other times I get a lot of interference and pixilation (unviewable). Please note: the channels play best in the early mornings, mid-day, evening/primetime, but not consistently.

2nd issue; when I turn on the garage lights (4 fixtures 8 fluorescent 4ft tubes 54 watts) channels 11.1 WBAL/NBC and 13.1 WJZ/CBS immediately, 85% of the time these channels have very bad interference and unwatchable pixilation. This issue occurs on all 3 TV’s. All the other Baltimore and DC channels play with no issues at all (crystal clear). Also, as stated in the 1st issue early mornings, mid-day, evening/primetime is when the two channels play the best (crystal clear.) And sometimes (abut 15%) the channels will play well with no issues with the garage lights on or off. Please Note: I have also used 8 LED 14-watt tubes (thinking the reduction in wattage would help), but I get the same results as with the fluorescents tubes. Finally, when I disconnect (remove the bulbs) from one fixture at a time, the interference issues are reduced immensely. When only two fixtures are on (fluorescent or LED’s) there is no interference of any kind!!!

Please Note: all the TV’s are Sony’s 43”-2014 Garage; 55”-2012 Basement; and 65” A9G OLED – 2019 Family Room. When scanned, all three TV’s get 76 channels. Also, I did try installing a Channel Master Titan 2 High Gain preamp to get more signal strength (replacing the Juice), but it made things worse (major interference and pixilation, unviewable).

Overall, I know these two Baltimore channels a very weak VHF channels, but it appears to me that the broadcast signal comes in stronger at different broadcasting times and I have ideas about the Garage lights.

Any thoughts or opinions would be greatly appreciated, or suggestion on how I can improve on my situation.

MikeW.


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## fri1038

And today, no audio or video on 39.3 Quest.



fri1038 said:


> And 39.1 is back to showing Grit in 1080i.





fri1038 said:


> WMJF-CD updated their virtual channel data and made a typo I assume. 39.6 WMJF SH is now showing as 33.1 WMJFHI. That sub channel changed from a shopping channel to H&I some months ago.


----------



## keeper

I live in Pa and same thing. I get the UHF channels well but 11 and 13 are problematic. A lot of dropouts on some days. My signal quality is good from 30-32, 32 plus on my Sony tv is a superior signal. Strength is also good. I am about 55 miles from the transmitters. I’ve been trying to figure this out for years but haven’t. I think that vhf is very susceptible to noise and interference, something that you found out with your lights. Some days are decent but others are constant dropouts.


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## rabbit73

MikeW. said:


> I live in Woodbridge, VA 22193; we receive our broadcasting from the Washington, DC market. My goal is to also receive all (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, and CW) of the Baltimore, broadcasting as well.


Hello, Mike; welcome to the forum.

It would be helpful if you gave us the link to a signal report from rabbitears.imfo as required in the sticky:
NOTE: Put YOUR LOCATION in the TITLE of ALL OTA threads...

You can do a report here:
RabbitEars.Info

I did a generic signal report for Woodbridge, Va that might not be correct for your actual location:
RabbitEars.Info


> 1st issue; channels 11.1 WBAL/NBC and 13.1 WJZ/CBS come in strong (crystal clear) about 60% of the time, then other times I get a lot of interference and pixilation (unviewable). Please note: the channels play best in the early mornings, mid-day, evening/primetime, but not consistently.
> 
> 2nd issue; when I turn on the garage lights (4 fixtures 8 fluorescent 4ft tubes 54 watts) channels 11.1 WBAL/NBC and 13.1 WJZ/CBS immediately, 85% of the time these channels have very bad interference and unwatchable pixilation. This issue occurs on all 3 TV’s. All the other Baltimore and DC channels play with no issues at all (crystal clear). Also, as stated in the 1st issue early mornings, mid-day, evening/primetime is when the two channels play the best (crystal clear.) And sometimes (abut 15%) the channels will play well with no issues with the garage lights on or off. Please Note: I have also used 8 LED 14-watt tubes (thinking the reduction in wattage would help), but I get the same results as with the fluorescents tubes. Finally, when I disconnect (remove the bulbs) from one fixture at a time, the interference issues are reduced immensely. When only two fixtures are on (fluorescent or LED’s) there is no interference of any kind!!!


Since WJZ and WBAL are very weak VHF-High channels, they are likely to have electrical interference. Your only solution is to reduce the local electrical interference to TV reception by either eliminating the interference or moving your antenna away from the interference. The interference can come for your house, a neighbor's house, or the power lines.

As you found out, adding more amplification doesn't solve the problem because it makes the signals AND the noise stronger.


----------



## MikeW.

keeper said:


> I live in Pa and same thing. I get the UHF channels well but 11 and 13 are problematic. A lot of dropouts on some days. My signal quality is good from 30-32, 32 plus on my Sony tv is a superior signal. Strength is also good. I am about 55 miles from the transmitters. I’ve been trying to figure this out for years but haven’t. I think that vhf is very susceptible to noise and interference, something that you found out with your lights. Some days are decent but others are constant dropouts.


Keeper, thanks for the update, now I know I'm not the only one with this problem. It amazes me how some days 11 and 13 play better than the DC stations. I was told that I could try replacing my 3' mast with a 10' mast and that may give me better reception.


----------



## MikeW.

rabbit73 said:


> Hello, Mike; welcome to the forum.
> 
> It would be helpful if you gave us the link to a signal report from rabbitears.imfo as required in the sticky:
> NOTE: Put YOUR LOCATION in the TITLE of ALL OTA threads...
> 
> You can do a report here:
> RabbitEars.Info
> 
> I did a generic signal report for Woodbridge, Va that might not be correct for your actual location:
> RabbitEars.Info
> 
> 
> Since WJZ and WBAL are very weak VHF-High channels, they are likely to have electrical interference. Your only solution is to reduce the local electrical interference to TV reception by either eliminating the interference or moving your antenna away from the interference. The interference can come for your house, a neighbor's house, or the power lines.
> 
> As you found out, adding more amplification doesn't solve the problem because it makes the signals AND the noise stronger.
> 
> View attachment 3073773
> 
> 
> View attachment 3073778
> 
> 
> View attachment 3073779


Rabbit73, thank you so much for the information, I may install a taller mast (10' vs 3') for better reception. Also, it appears that at certain times of the day (5:00pm to 8:00pm) the signal comes in stronger because there is no interference at all on either 11 or 13; with or without the garage lights. I have checked for other items of Interference and non was found. I may be forced to live with the problem for now.

Thanks


----------



## keeper

MikeW. said:


> Keeper, thanks for the update, now I know I'm not the only one with this problem. It amazes me how some days 11 and 13 play better than the DC stations. I was told that I could try replacing my 3' mast with a 10' mast and that may give me better reception.


Higher is usually better. I am on the edge I guess of reception though I have elevation on my side. Like I said as far as quality goes - no problem. But something is interfering with my signals either close by or along the way. Though my local CBS Harrisburg is blocked by a mountain they have recently increased their power and I am able to receive them with a few blurbs here and there. So I swung my VHF away from Baltimore.
Another thing to consider. I noticed especially in the summer that since the repack I was getting a lot of interference from distant channels on same frequency. This may be what your experiencing some days at certain times. I mean I was locking on channels from Hampton Roads and further and I am from Dillsburg.


----------



## keeper

You can see my signals on Fox and ABC out of Baltimore. This is with no preamp just a large UHF antenna only.


----------



## MikeW.

Keeper, this is great information; I have only been using my antenna for about three months, so I guess I will have to see how signal is received for the remainder of the year. Maybe with a taller mast, time, and ATSC 3.0 my signal strength will get better. I will keep you posted on my progress.

Thank you so much


----------



## Casey Hartman

What type of coax are you using? I've read suggestions of RG6 double shield is good enough for most installations. I live in a high rise condo building so I went with quad shield in case any of my or neighbor appliances, lights, or other items have EMI that could cause interference. I don't remember a big price difference at the big box store.

I am in Huntington and I find WJZ difficult to receive, but I am able to receive WBAL although they are LOS and not 2-edge at my home.


----------



## dipdewdog

For anyone following ATSC 3.0 developments, I just saw this over at DCRTV.com:



> I’m glad i ticked someone off and accidentally got more information. Now we know you’ll be getting ABC, CBS, NBC, & FOX on WIAV 58 on RF channel 30 at 48kw in NextGen 4K TV soon. A lot of NextGen TV rollouts have started on LPTV stations, but WIAV is unique at 48kw, much more than 15kw. They have more power due to the WETA fiasco of switching to channel 31 at 1000kw. 15kw adjacent to 1000kw in close proximity would have had some problematic issues in ATSC 1.0, so WIAV got lucky by WETA being unlucky getting channel 14. ATSC 3.0 has much better adjacent channel rejection.


Now if Sony would just update X900H to activate the ATSC 3.0 tuner...


----------



## fri1038

Quest on WMJF's 39.3 is back up this afternoon.

*M*ichigan *J*. *F*rog's Looney Tunes premier was featured in MeTV's cartoon show preview last night, in the small world department. It's on again tonight at 7. 🤪



fri1038 said:


> And today, no audio or video on 39.3 Quest.


----------



## MikeW.

Casey Hartman said:


> What type of coax are you using? I've read suggestions of RG6 double shield is good enough for most installations. I live in a high rise condo building so I went with quad shield in case any of my or neighbor appliances, lights, or other items have EMI that could cause interference. I don't remember a big price difference at the big box store.
> 
> I am in Huntington and I find WJZ difficult to receive, but I am able to receive WBAL although they are LOS and not 2-edge at my home.


Good Afternoon, Paul in Maryland
I live in a two story single family house with basement and I'm using RG6 double shield from the roof mounted antenna to the 4 way distribution amplifier. From the amplifier I'm using RG6 quad shield coax cables (to the tv's in the garage and the family room). Yesterday afternoon both WJZ and WBAL both played perfect with no pixilation or interference and that was with the garage lights on or turned off. Later last night the when I check again, there was lots of interference with the garage lights on, but non with lights off. Then much later (about midnight) neither of the two station would come in at all. Also, when disconnect two of the fixtures I have no interference problems of any kind. maybe I just need to install a dimmer switch.

I believe because both of these stations broadcast on VHF they have weaker signals. But doing prime viewing times the stations broadcasting signal is much stronger. Also, living in Northern VA (Woodbridge) it's going to be hard to get a good signal all the time. My overall goal was to see the Baltimore Ravens and their associate broadcasting (pre-game, post game, etc. type shows).

Thank you for your help


----------



## joblo

dipdewdog said:


> For anyone following ATSC 3.0 developments, I just saw this over at DCRTV.com:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I’m glad i ticked someone off and accidentally got more information. Now we know you’ll be getting ABC, CBS, NBC, & FOX on WIAV 58 on RF channel 30 at 48kw in NextGen 4K TV soon. A lot of NextGen TV rollouts have started on LPTV stations, but WIAV is unique at 48kw, much more than 15kw. They have more power due to the WETA fiasco of switching to channel 31 at 1000kw. 15kw adjacent to 1000kw in close proximity would have had some problematic issues in ATSC 1.0, so WIAV got lucky by WETA being unlucky getting channel 14. ATSC 3.0 has much better adjacent channel rejection.
Click to expand...

Don't believe a word of this.

1. Nobody is broadcasting 4K in the U.S. nor expected to any time soon, 3.0/NextGen notwithstanding.

2. The chances of DC's Fox and NBC O&Os sharing with Sinclair on WIAV are remote at best.

3. RF 14 is currently transmitting 15kw while upper adjacent RF 15 is transmitting 1000kw from the same site.

DCRTV postings should always be taken with a grain of salt. A lot of the stuff there is just plain nonsense.


----------



## n8hoo

joblo said:


> Don't believe a word of this.
> [...]
> DCRTV postings should always be taken with a grain of salt. A lot of the stuff there is just plain nonsense.


God bless the cesspool that is the Mailbag*. *That guy has less than zero idea what he is talking about and Dave just posts it anyway - I was the one he "ticked off" because I waded in there to set the record straight lol.


----------



## greg9x2

MikeW. said:


> Good Afternoon, Paul in Maryland
> I live in a two story single family house with basement and I'm using RG6 double shield from the roof mounted antenna to the 4 way distribution amplifier. From the amplifier I'm using RG6 quad shield coax cables (to the tv's in the garage and the family room). Yesterday afternoon both WJZ and WBAL both played perfect with no pixilation or interference and that was with the garage lights on or turned off. Later last night the when I check again, there was lots of interference with the garage lights on, but non with lights off. Then much later (about midnight) neither of the two station would come in at all. Also, when disconnect two of the fixtures I have no interference problems of any kind. maybe I just need to install a dimmer switch.
> 
> I believe because both of these stations broadcast on VHF they have weaker signals. But doing prime viewing times the stations broadcasting signal is much stronger. Also, living in Northern VA (Woodbridge) it's going to be hard to get a good signal all the time. My overall goal was to see the Baltimore Ravens and their associate broadcasting (pre-game, post game, etc. type shows).
> 
> Thank you for your help


If your lights are causing interference, it's best to replace them. A dimmer isn't necessarily going to improve the problem. The lights or ballast are putting out a frequency that's interfering ... had same with LED bulb in my sons room, replaced it and is better, but still causes some issues, so will be swapping different types bulbs in until find one that isn't an issue. Try a different set of bulbs first, but a whole replacement may be needed.

Atmospheric conditions change throughout the day, so can get variances in signal reception at different times.


----------



## dipdewdog

n8hoo said:


> God bless the cesspool that is the Mailbag*. *That guy has less than zero idea what he is talking about and Dave just posts it anyway - I was the one he "ticked off" because I waded in there to set the record straight lol.


LOL - Serves me right, then. That site's really gone down the tubes since Dave put the mailbag on the front page. Does he even live in the area anymore?


----------



## n8hoo

dipdewdog said:


> LOL - Serves me right, then. That site's really gone down the tubes since Dave put the mailbag on the front page. Does he even live in the area anymore?


Yup. He moved several years ago which is why there is no more "news" - but there's little point to the site existing anymore if it's just going to be unmoderated discussion. IIRC he is somewhere in NC now.


----------



## MikeW.

greg9x2 said:


> If your lights are causing interference, it's best to replace them. A dimmer isn't necessarily going to improve the problem. The lights or ballast are putting out a frequency that's interfering ... had same with LED bulb in my sons room, replaced it and is better, but still causes some issues, so will be swapping different types bulbs in until find one that isn't an issue. Try a different set of bulbs first, but a whole replacement may be needed.
> 
> Atmospheric conditions change throughout the day, so can get variances in signal reception at different times.


Hey greg9x2, thanks for the atmospheric information; this explains why my signal reception varies throughout the day it, makes a lot of sense.

Also, I have tried both fluorescent (54w bulbs) and LED (26w bulbs), but I get the same results; bad interference most of the time and no interference other time with the lights on. I also believe when the signal is coming in strong this is when the lights on or off does not cause any interference with either of the Baltimore channels. 

I will try to find some lower wattage fluorescent tube bulbs.

Also, when I disconnect (remove the bulbs from 2 of the 4 fixtures) I have no problems with pixilation or interference and that's with the lights on or off. Sometimes 3 working fixtures is okay to.

I will keep you posted on my progress.

Thanks for your help


----------



## greg9x2

MikeW. said:


> Hey greg9x2, thanks for the atmospheric information; this explains why my signal reception varies throughout the day it, makes a lot of sense.
> 
> Also, I have tried both fluorescent (54w bulbs) and LED (26w bulbs), but I get the same results; bad interference most of the time and no interference other time with the lights on. I also believe when the signal is coming in strong this is when the lights on or off does not cause any interference with either of the Baltimore channels.
> 
> I will try to find some lower wattage fluorescent tube bulbs.
> 
> Also, when I disconnect (remove the bulbs from 2 of the 4 fixtures) I have no problems with pixilation or interference and that's with the lights on or off. Sometimes 3 working fixtures is okay to.
> 
> I will keep you posted on my progress.
> 
> Thanks for your help


Take a look at this:








Are My Bulbs RF Quiet? — 1000Bulbs.com Blog


How do you know if your bulbs are the cause of that annoying buzzing or humming in your sound system? The answer is in this post.




blog.1000bulbs.com





Read in a forum that bulbs from Home Depot/Lowes are frequently culprits in RF emissions, and that Walmart Great Value brand have (or used to have) very little. Maybe a trip to Walmart to test that theory.


----------



## MikeW.

greg9x2 said:


> Take a look at this:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Are My Bulbs RF Quiet? — 1000Bulbs.com Blog
> 
> 
> How do you know if your bulbs are the cause of that annoying buzzing or humming in your sound system? The answer is in this post.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> blog.1000bulbs.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Read in a forum that bulbs from Home Depot/Lowes are frequently culprits in RF emissions, and that Walmart Great Value brand have (or used to have) very little. Maybe a trip to Walmart to test that theory.


Thanks for the information it is very useful.

MikeW


----------



## ctbarker32

I've had my Silicondust 4k Quattro up and running for several months now. I just got a firmware update. I did an update scan but still no 4K ATSC channels to be found. I've searched the web but cannot find any information about possible launch dates for Nextgen TV in the DC metro area? I think 2021 is supposed to be the year but still no news?


----------



## fri1038

No ATSC 3.0 in this area yet. Keep an eye on this list:






RabbitEars.Info


RabbitEars, where you can learn all about local, over-the-air TV channels.




www.rabbitears.info





I wouldn't expect to see 4K video content when it does comes to town. Maybe better/smoother 1080/720 video streams thanks to better encoding algorithms, though.





ctbarker32 said:


> I've had my Silicondust 4k Quattro up and running for several months now. I just got a firmware update. I did an update scan but still no 4K ATSC channels to be found. I've searched the web but cannot find any information about possible launch dates for Nextgen TV in the DC metro area? I think 2021 is supposed to be the year but still no news?


----------



## n8hoo

fri1038 said:


> No ATSC 3.0 in this area yet. [...]
> 
> I wouldn't expect to see 4K video content when it does comes to town. Maybe better/smoother encoding of 1080/720 video streams thanks to better encoding algorithms, though.


Well, I posted last week about the curious application from WMDO-CD to tear up its channel-share and relocate from WIAV-CD to WDCO-CD. That has no logical explanation besides Sinclair preparing to start ATSC 3.0 conversion work at WIAV-CD. But even if they started tomorrow I'd imagine that's at the very least a months-long process.

Last week Sinclair applied for an experimental 3.0 facility at their HQ in Maryland, but the documentation made it sound like broadcast 3.0 is not coming to Baltimore anytime soon, even though Baltimore is on the list of launch markets.

What is certain is no one is going to have 4K for a _long_ time.


----------



## crbaldwin

Has anyone noticed FOX's video quality to have declined lately? Seems like too much compression maybe due to the extra subchannels? I can really notice it with blurry pixels around the FOX logo during NFL games.


----------



## Casey Hartman

Which Fox affiliate, DC or Baltimore? I didn't realize we gained a new sub channel on either. 



crbaldwin said:


> Has anyone noticed FOX's video quality to have declined lately? Seems like too much compression maybe due to the extra subchannels? I can really notice it with blurry pixels around the FOX logo during NFL games.


----------



## crbaldwin

Casey Hartman said:


> Which Fox affiliate, DC or Baltimore? I didn't realize we gained a new sub channel on either.


Sorry, I meant WTTG (DC). There a 2 subchannels now when I'm pretty sure there was 1 before.


----------



## n8hoo

crbaldwin said:


> Sorry, I meant WTTG (DC). There a 2 subchannels now when I'm pretty sure there was 1 before.


WTTG has had 6 subchannels (5.1-3, 20.1-3) for a couple of years. No recent changes.


----------



## ctbarker32

Casey Hartman said:


> Which Fox affiliate, DC or Baltimore? I didn't realize we gained a new sub channel on either.


I am glad to see someone else make this observation. I thought it so bad that I contacted WTTG engineering with frame grabs (HDHomeRun) of WTTG and WJLA (both 720p). I got complete silence. In the past, when I would contact the engineering department of a TV station about a topic I would at least get a perfunctory reply. Apparently, WTTG simply doesn't care?


----------



## Casey Hartman

I noticed degradation during Good Day DC the other day. I thought it might have been the atmospheric conditions, the Tivo Stream, or Live Channel app. 


ctbarker32 said:


> I am glad to see someone else make this observation. I thought it so bad that I contacted WTTG engineering with frame grabs (HDHomeRun) of WTTG and WJLA (both 720p). I got complete silence. In the past, when I would contact the engineering department of a TV station about a topic I would at least get a perfunctory reply. Apparently, WTTG simply doesn't care?


----------



## MRG1

MikeW. said:


> I live in Woodbridge, VA 22193; we receive our broadcasting from the Washington, DC market. My goal is to also receive all (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, and CW) of the Baltimore, broadcasting as well...


I assume you already know that all of those networks are available from the D.C. area and that you really do want the Baltimore stations.

Also that you have looked into streaming (e.g. WBAL news is free online).

AFAICT, your antenna is only rated for 45 miles. You are a lot further away - I'm amazed you can get Baltimore reliably (with the lights off). I wonder if replacing it with a longer range antenna (as well as raising it as high as you can, as you have suggested) would help.

I'm going to assume the antenna cable isn't picking up the signal. Then I wonder if you could shield your antenna from your lighting fixtures by placing sheet metal above the lights. But you don't want to overheat the lights by cutting air circulation. I'm not sure what putting a sheet of metal just below the antenna (but not touching or connected to the wires) would do - it might help, or might make things worse.

BTW, chicken wire might work as well as sheet metal. In any event, you could do a quick cheap test with aluminum foil. If that helps, a thicker metal sheet might do better.

At a guess (I could be wrong), wrapping the antenna wire with aluminum foil might help a bit, if the antenna wire is the problem. Or not.
Good luck!


----------



## MikeW.

MRG1, thanks for this information; I enjoy having the option of watching broadcasting in two different cities and watching the Baltimore Ravens (news). My installer recommended the Winegard HD7694P antenna and it works great when the signal is strong. The Baltimore channels play crystal clear; most of time they come in clearer then the DC channels which are 35 miles closer and that's with the lights on(when the signal is strong) or off. 

I think I will try the sheet metal, but I can only place it above two of the lights (no access from the attic for the other two. Also, my antenna installer told me he would put the antenna on a taller mast but could not guarantee a stronger reception.

I will keep you posted.

Thanks for your help


----------



## Paul in Maryland

NextGen will come to Baltimore and DC by late summer:








Broadcasters Eye ATSC 3.0 Rollout in 16 Additional Cities by End-of-Summer, Says Pearl TV


The launch of NextGen TV in the new markets will take the total above 40 cities




www.tvtechnology.com


----------



## crbaldwin

ctbarker32 said:


> I am glad to see someone else make this observation. I thought it so bad that I contacted WTTG engineering with frame grabs (HDHomeRun) of WTTG and WJLA (both 720p). I got complete silence. In the past, when I would contact the engineering department of a TV station about a topic I would at least get a perfunctory reply. Apparently, WTTG simply doesn't care?


That's disappointing. It is noticeably bad even with a 1080 display. I guess we will have to look forward to ATSC 3...


----------



## greg9x2

crbaldwin said:


> Has anyone noticed FOX's video quality to have declined lately? Seems like too much compression maybe due to the extra subchannels? I can really notice it with blurry pixels around the FOX logo during NFL games.


Was there a game in particular you noticed ? or just in general ? Some games seem better than others , but haven't seen a noticeable decline lately. Of course the 1080 stations look better than 720 FOX.

I do notice they use different quality cameras during games.. they'll cut to a camera and it looks horrible, but then to another and all looks fine again.


----------



## greg9x2

MRG1 said:


> I assume you already know that all of those networks are available from the D.C. area and that you really do want the Baltimore stations.
> 
> Also that you have looked into streaming (e.g. WBAL news is free online).
> 
> AFAICT, your antenna is only rated for 45 miles. You are a lot further away - I'm amazed you can get Baltimore reliably (with the lights off). I wonder if replacing it with a longer range antenna (as well as raising it as high as you can, as you have suggested) would help.
> 
> I'm going to assume the antenna cable isn't picking up the signal. Then I wonder if you could shield your antenna from your lighting fixtures by placing sheet metal above the lights. But you don't want to overheat the lights by cutting air circulation. I'm not sure what putting a sheet of metal just below the antenna (but not touching or connected to the wires) would do - it might help, or might make things worse.
> 
> BTW, chicken wire might work as well as sheet metal. In any event, you could do a quick cheap test with aluminum foil. If that helps, a thicker metal sheet might do better.
> 
> At a guess (I could be wrong), wrapping the antenna wire with aluminum foil might help a bit, if the antenna wire is the problem. Or not.
> Good luck!


Would be concerned that a large sheet of metal/wire/etc, would cause reflections that could interfere with reception.


----------



## keeper

greg9x2 said:


> Was there a game in particular you noticed ? or just in general ? Some games seem better than others , but haven't seen a noticeable decline lately. Of course the 1080 stations look better than 720 FOX.
> 
> I do notice they use different quality cameras during games.. they'll cut to a camera and it looks horrible, but then to another and all looks fine again.


The game on WBFF did not look good yesterday. Of course on a smaller tv it’s hard to tell sometimes. I was watching on my projector and a lot of artifacts could be seen. Flipped over to the Fox app and wow what a difference.


----------



## crbaldwin

greg9x2 said:


> Was there a game in particular you noticed ? or just in general ? Some games seem better than others , but haven't seen a noticeable decline lately. Of course the 1080 stations look better than 720 FOX.


It seems consistently bad on all recent games on WTTG. Constant blurry pixels around the FOX logo, score panel, player outlines, etc. I just noticed it recently but may have been going on for a while.


----------



## MRG1

greg9x2 said:


> Would be concerned that a large sheet of metal/wire/etc, would cause reflections that could interfere with reception.


Yes - which is why it and everything else is only worth trying and might or might not make things better - or worse.

Another thing fairly cheap and easy to try: Replace the lights with incandescents. Start with cheap lamp sockets on a cheap cord, and see if it makes any difference. That is, if you can find incandescent lights any more.


----------



## Brian in CT

MRG1 said:


> Another thing fairly cheap and easy to try: Replace the lights with incandescents. Start with cheap lamp sockets on a cheap cord, and see if it makes any difference. That is, if you can find incandescent lights any more.


There ARE "RFI safe" LED lights. Check the link in post #15686.


----------



## Brian in CT

MRG1 said:


> Another thing fairly cheap and easy to try: Replace the lights with incandescents. Start with cheap lamp sockets on a cheap cord, and see if it makes any difference. That is, if you can find incandescent lights any more.


There ARE "RFI safe" LED lights. Check the link in post #15686.

EDIT: Whoops. Double posted.


----------



## Geronimo1067

WDCN-LP has applied to move to channel 8 when they have to go digital. Is there any indication of what type of programming they intend to supply? The station is currently a Franken FM station using Channel 6.


----------



## MRG1

Brian in CT said:


> There ARE "RFI safe" LED lights. Check the link in post #15686.


Wonderful! 

Do you happen to know whether RFI unsafe bulbs are a big deal for anything other than borderline radio/TV reception cases? I tried to look up "RFI safe" bulbs, and found links to aerospace applications, which perhaps fall in the same category. E.g., could they significantly affect audio/video cable transmission quality even where the source is not a borderline-usable antenna? I've had to route HDMI and analog audio cables to avoid EM interference from other sources. It never occurred to me a light might matter.

I replaced the light bulbs where I live with CFL and LED bulbs some time ago. I have poor radio and TV reception, presumably because I live in a basement, at a terrain low point, and have currently disconnected my antenna. (I had great reception a few miles away, from an attic antenna.) Now you have tempted me to reconnect and test whether turning on the lights affects that reception. (A lost cause - my reception even depends on where people park their vehicles. But it is still an interesting question. It would also be an interesting science fair project for kids, perhaps combined with something else, like home-made antennas.)


----------



## Brian in CT

MRG1 said:


> Wonderful!
> 
> Do you happen to know whether RFI unsafe bulbs are a big deal for anything other than borderline radio/TV reception cases? I tried to look up "RFI safe" bulbs, and found links to aerospace applications, which perhaps fall in the same category. E.g., could they significantly affect audio/video cable transmission quality even where the source is not a borderline-usable antenna? I've had to route HDMI and analog audio cables to avoid EM interference from other sources. It never occurred to me a light might matter.
> 
> I replaced the light bulbs where I live with CFL and LED bulbs some time ago. I have poor radio and TV reception, presumably because I live in a basement, at a terrain low point, and have currently disconnected my antenna. (I had great reception a few miles away, from an attic antenna.) Now you have tempted me to reconnect and test whether turning on the lights affects that reception. (A lost cause - my reception even depends on where people park their vehicles. But it is still an interesting question. It would also be an interesting science fair project for kids, perhaps combined with something else, like home-made antennas.)


To answer your first question: Not that I know of. If you want to experiment, turn off all the LED lights and see if VHF (and AM/FM radio) reception improves. Unfortunately, with the "trifecta" of your being in a basement, at a terrain low spot, and having street level obstructions to deal with, don't get your hopes up. Any basement antenna setup needs to be really close to a transmitter (or get a lucky reflection) for reliable reception. Maybe the future switch to ATSC 3.0 will improve your situation.


----------



## MRG1

Thanks, Brian!

I don't expect to live here long enough now to worry about it. Someone should sell a solar powered IR transmitter, that beam the output from a tree-top antenna (we've got lots of tall trees) at a sensor mounted inside a window. I bet that could get something. I seriously though about quietly trying to put a few passive reflectors in the trees, but the landlord said no.

The house used to have cable TV and satellite TV, and there are antenna cables running all over one of the outside (brick) walls (incidentally without any obvious ground wires - I think the nearest ground is on an end-of-block electric pole). I thought about quietly connecting an antenna to one of those wires, but I couldn't figure out what cable went to what. Besides, if lightning struck my antenna, I would be to blame. As for running a cable up to an attic antenna, I can't even convince the landlord to let me run an ethernet cable up to the router - I'm on WiFi.

I guess people who really want to play with OTA pick their home accordingly.


----------



## n8hoo

Yesterday the dissolution of the WMDO-CD/WIAV-CD channel sharing agreement was granted. Today the new one with WDCO-CD was filed:





__





Licensing and Management System


Licensing and Management System




enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov





It is interesting the new CSA only runs through 31 December. That is the same day the WFDC JSA with Univision (which has been in effect since 1 Jan 06) expires. Theoretically Entravision would no longer have any use for WMDO-CD after that date, since it could move whichever of the Univision network affiliations it ends up controlling (presumably UniMas) to WJAL.

This also confirms that Sinclair is starting to convert WIAV-CD to ATSC 3.0 - although it was obvious that is what they were doing, I'm not sure that had shown up in a document submitted to the FCC before today.


----------



## fri1038

WQAW-LD 69.2 is now carrying GetTV in glorious 480i, replacing Infomercials. Switched over sometime since Jan 16 - I've been on the road.

WQAW's 69.2 - 69.5 have the worst, blocky picture quality in the BW area by far. Their Azteca and LX get the lion's share of the bandwidth it would appear.


----------



## n8hoo

Here we go:





__





Licensing and Management System


Licensing and Management System




enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov





Estimated start date of ATSC 3.0 on WIAV-CD is 2 March.


----------



## poppagene

Is anyone getting broadcasts from Start TV on 49.2? Stopped broadcasting for me sometime yesterday. The other subchannels are working fine. I haven't been able to find a phone number for the station -- WWTD.


----------



## n8hoo

poppagene said:


> Is anyone getting broadcasts from Start TV on 49.2? Stopped broadcasting for me sometime yesterday. The other subchannels are working fine. I haven't been able to find a phone number for the station -- WWTD.


It's listed on one of the local bandscanners as "no data", so, yeah, the feed died somehow. RabbitEars Mobile

This happens to WWTD/WRZB every so often. These things are normally just satellite receivers plugged into a transmitter so more than likely there is no person to contact.


----------



## poppagene

Back on line


----------



## fri1038

WQAW-LD is off air. Had icy weather last night in the area.

WBFF and WNUV swapped their x.4 subchannels. WBFF 45.4 is now Charge! and WNUV 54.4 is now Stadium. Pre ATSC 3.0 housekeeping? Can't imagine a reason otherwise.


----------



## n8hoo

fri1038 said:


> WBFF and WNUV swapped their x.4 subchannels. WBFF 45.4 is now Charge! and WNUV 54.4 is now Stadium. Pre ATSC 3.0 housekeeping? Can't imagine a reason otherwise.


That's....strange...since assuming WNUV is the one to get converted, its subchannels would end up in 1.0 on WBFF anyway - perhaps there's a want for Stadium to end up on the ATSC 3.0 signal though.


----------



## fri1038

WMJF-CD's 39.4 is showing Qubo instead of Ion tonight. PSIP is still WMJF IO. It's curious as Qubo, Ion Plus, and Shop Ion are supposed to shut down on Feb 28 as part of the Scripps/Ion shuffle.


----------



## fri1038

And this morning they're showing infomercials with teasers at the top of the hour for Ion and IonPlus programs. Different than WPXW's shopping channels. 🙄

EDIT: 39.4 is Ion Plus - for now.

EDIT #2: 11:00am. Now it's Qubo again - sometimes the intro to a cartoon ("When Pigs Fly"), mostly a black screen. Not in sync with 66.2. I'll follow up in March when the dust settles.




fri1038 said:


> WMJF-CD's 39.4 is showing Qubo instead of Ion tonight. PSIP is still WMJF IO. It's curious as Qubo, Ion Plus, and Shop Ion are supposed to shut down on Feb 28 as part of the Scripps/Ion shuffle.


----------



## fri1038

WMJF's 39.4 went dark at 7:30pm after playing Qubo all day. The IonPlus and Qubo bugs were randomly displayed.

TeleXitos on 44.2 is down today, too. Still see program data, though. There is no DC affiliate listed on their website, though I don't know if it ever did.

And Grit has TV-PG and CC icons constantly on all evening, over movies and commercials.


----------



## Captfailboat

Hi all, looking for advice on an antenna for my location. I know I’ll need an outdoor antenna, but unsure on the type and if it needs a pre amp or not. Cost isn’t a concern, I’d rather have more reception capabilities or a better made piece of hardware.

would be going on a 2 story house roof, I might be able to mount it to my chimney for added height. It will be connected directly to a Sony X90CH (Costco version of X900H). 

Only channels I care about are the major broadcasts: CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX. Unsure if I want to add PBS in or not. Any help is appreciated!


RabbitEars link : RabbitEars.Info


----------



## n8hoo

Captfailboat said:


> Hi all, looking for advice on an antenna for my location. I know I’ll need an outdoor antenna, but unsure on the type and if it needs a pre amp or not. Cost isn’t a concern, I’d rather have more reception capabilities or a better made piece of hardware.
> 
> would be going on a 2 story house roof, I might be able to mount it to my chimney for added height. It will be connected directly to a Sony X90CH (Costco version of X900H).


Hi from downtown Leesburg, I have a Winegard 7694 and their preamp (model # escapes me) in my attic. I think that would work fine for you and the major networks from DC + MPT should not be a problem.

FWIW the ridge west of Leesburg seems to screw up the predictive model - it underestimates how much I'm shielded from TV and radio stations to my west, but I've also found it works the other way and coverage on the Purcellville side is better than predicted (I can still get radio from Baltimore for instance when driving over there)


----------



## fri1038

Grit and TeleXitos fixed their problems. WMJF 39.4 is back to Ion, proper. WQAW still down.

EDIT: WQAW back up at 4:30pm.




fri1038 said:


> WMJF's 39.4 went dark at 7:30pm after playing Qubo all day. The IonPlus and Qubo bugs were randomly displayed.
> 
> TeleXitos on 44.2 is down today, too. Still see program data, though. There is no DC affiliate listed on their website, though I don't know if it ever did.
> 
> And Grit has TV-PG and CC icons constantly on all evening, over movies and commercials.


----------



## Captfailboat

n8hoo said:


> Hi from downtown Leesburg, I have a Winegard 7694 and their preamp (model # escapes me) in my attic. I think that would work fine for you and the major networks from DC + MPT should not be a problem.
> 
> FWIW the ridge west of Leesburg seems to screw up the predictive model - it underestimates how much I'm shielded from TV and radio stations to my west, but I've also found it works the other way and coverage on the Purcellville side is better than predicted (I can still get radio from Baltimore for instance when driving over there)


Thanks for your input. Any reason you went with an attic antenna? I ask because my house is luckily not in an HOA and my wife has no issue with a rooftop mount, so I thought I’d go for that since I don’t want to deal with a second install should an attic antenna not work for me.


----------



## n8hoo

Captfailboat said:


> Thanks for your input. Any reason you went with an attic antenna? I ask because my house is luckily not in an HOA and my wife has no issue with a rooftop mount, so I thought I’d go for that since I don’t want to deal with a second install should an attic antenna not work for me.


Haha, wasn't my choice - it's a rental and there was one up there and ready to go - although I've since replaced it as it was from the analog era and had significant trouble with upper-band UHF. pre-repack 4 on RF 48 was a constant issue....

If I had a choice I'd go outdoor, but because then I'd get 11 and 13, not because I have problems as is. I'd go for it in your case, absolutely.


----------



## Geronimo1067

11 and 13 aew problematic in Northern virginia.


----------



## MarkMosley

Hello,

I am hoping to get some advice on two things; stabilizing/improving my CBS signal and incorporating additional TVs. Advice is greatly appreciated.

I installed an RCA Outdoor Yagi -Mini/Suburban antenna on Saturday. It sits on my 32' Rooftop pointed toward 313, through a 20' strip of mature treetops about 75' away. I currently have about 50' of coax directly from antenna to TV with no pre amps or splitters (yet). I picked up 58 stations right away and was very pleased. (major locals, NBC, FOX, ABC and CBS are my primary interest). The last few days, CBS has been very poor, dropping out often more so in the evenings when I get no video at all. 

My home is wired with 5 feeds from Attic to the basement where I have distribution lines to just about every room in the house (I want to get to 4 sets). I have a Winegard 200 pre amp, 4 way splitter and an RCA 4 way distribution amp to try some different things, but I really would like to lock down CBS first. 

Curious if anyone else has run into similar issues with WUSA and if you have had any success resolving it. - Luckily it looks like CBSSports app will be streaming the superbowl live for free this weekend.

Thank you.

RabbitEars.Info


----------



## mrradiohead55

WUSA is on RF 9. Your RabbitEars signal study shows you are right at 40 miles for that signal. It's possible the RCA antenna just doesn't have enough signal collecting ability (design of antenna) at that distance to give you a really strong, steady signal. DTV signals are always more problematic on VHF than UHF, as this typically will show up in the evening hours, when tropospheric enhancement increases. The signal could be fluctuating in the evenings in strength; it could be another distant RF 9 signal is interfering. My suggestion would be a pre-amp (Channel Master 7777/Titan 2). But before you add any preamplifier, you might want to look at a good UHF/VHF combo antenna that has a longer boom, if your situation allows for it. Hopefully one of your local viewers can suggest things about the local signals.

Jim - Missouri


----------



## Digital Rules

MarkMosley said:


> I am hoping to get some advice on two things; stabilizing/improving my CBS signal and incorporating additional TVs. Advice is greatly appreciated.


 You may be getting some interference from 92.7 FM. The 2nd harmonic falls very close to WUSA's frequency range. (186/2=93) Does you know if your amplifier has an FM trap? 

Try putting your address into FM Fool & let us know how close you actually are to the tower.





__





FM Fool - FM Signal Locater






www.fmfool.com


----------



## fri1038

You are lucky to have line of sight to the towers in DC and Baltimore. (Click on the distance in your RabbitEars chart.)

The trees may be a factor when full of ice and snow (like the past few days) or blowing around (multipath interference.) Leaves may degrade the signal come Spring.

A small adjustment in direction and/or height might be a no cost fix for WUSA. Then I'd try adding your pre amp since you already have one. Then a larger antenna with better VHF-high performance as suggested. The Winegard 7694 is a popular choice in similar circumstances.

antenna -> preamp -> preamp powersupply -> splitter/distro amp -> tv

You might need power in your attic as you add devices up there.


----------



## Brian in CT

n8hoo said:


> FWIW the ridge west of Leesburg seems to screw up the predictive model - it underestimates how much I'm shielded from TV and radio stations to my west, but I've also found it works the other way and coverage on the Purcellville side is better than predicted (I can still get radio from Baltimore for instance when driving over there)


You are correct about the predictive models used by these signal tools. I've found that the more a TV signal is diffracted (like over that ridge) and/or reflected, the less accurate the predicted signal strength can be. The resulting error can go BOTH WAYS. There will always be a luck factor with OTA (especially with ATSC 1.0) that can't be quantified.



MarkMosley said:


> I am hoping to get some advice on two things; stabilizing/improving my CBS signal and incorporating additional TVs. Advice is greatly appreciated.


In addition to the good advice in the above three posts, there is one more thing to consider as a possible cause: LED lights. Cheaply made LED lights can interfere with VHF signals, even a "fair" WUSA one at your location. You say the dropouts usually happen at night, so that's why this could be the culprit if you have them illuminating your yard after dark. Next time when WUSA drops out, and any LED lights near your setup are on, turn them off to see if the signal decodes again. It's worth a try before doing something more drastic.


----------



## MarkMosley

Digital Rules said:


> You may be getting some interference from 92.7 FM. The 2nd harmonic falls very close to WUSA's frequency range. (186/2=93) Does you know if your amplifier has an FM trap?
> 
> Try putting your address into FM Fool & let us know how close you actually are to the tower.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> __
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> FM Fool - FM Signal Locater
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.fmfool.com


13.6 miles from 92.7.








Thank you all; -A number of good things for me to try. The pre amp that I have is not yet installed. It is a Winegard LNA-200 Boost XT HDTV Preamplifier, TV Antenna Amplifier Signal Booster, HD Digital VHF UHF Amplifier. I do not believe is has an FM trap. However I do have a trap that I purchased from Radio shack a few years back. I'm hesitant to put a larger antenna on the roof. Might a larger one or a second (larger) in the attic be of benefit?


----------



## MarkMosley

Brian in CT said:


> You are correct about the predictive models used by these signal tools. I've found that the more a TV signal is diffracted (like over that ridge) and/or reflected, the less accurate the predicted signal strength can be. The resulting error can go BOTH WAYS. There will always be a luck factor with OTA (especially with ATSC 1.0) that can't be quantified.
> 
> 
> In addition to the good advice in the above three posts, there is one more thing to consider as a possible cause: LED lights. Cheaply made LED lights can interfere with VHF signals, even a "fair" WUSA one at your location. You say the dropouts usually happen at night, so that's why this could be the culprit if you have them illuminating your yard after dark. Next time when WUSA drops out, and any LED lights near your setup are on, turn them off to see if the signal decodes again. It's worth a try before doing something more drastic.


OK thank you, I'll check this as well as Dogfence which operates on FM signal.


----------



## fri1038

PS. 

If you have a Super Bowl deadline, you can always try aiming for CBS out of Salisbury UHF-32 (LOS there too) or even Baltimore VHF-11 as a short term solution. You might get lucky.

And tvfool is hopelessly out of date - stick with rabbitears.


----------



## Digital Rules

MarkMosley said:


> 13.6 miles from 92.7.


You are good to go at that distance. When I plugged in your generic zip code, 92.7 shows up as 9 miles away.


----------



## tylerSC

The Winegard LNA200 has been proven a bit noisy for VHF, so you may want to consider another preamp. I think the RCA preamp is still sold at Lowe's, and Channel Master can be ordered online. I tried the LNA200 and it interfered with a VHF channel, so I switched to the Winegard LNA100 inline amp which worked excellent. And the Channel Master amps also perform well. You would probably only need the medium gain version, or the adjustable gain Amplify.


----------



## fri1038

WNUV is running a scroll about moving to ATSC 3.0 and to rescan on March 8 at 10:00am.









RESCAN DAY IS JUNE 8, 2021 FOR WNUV


RESCAN DAY IS JUNE 8, 2021 FOR WNUV. Antenna Viewers Must Rescan After June 8, 2021 at 10 A. M. WNUV-TV is moving frequencies to upgrade its signal to NextGen TV on June 8, 2021 at 10 A. M. If you use an antenna to watch TV for free, you must rescan your television after June 8, 2021 at 10 A. M...




cwbaltimore.com


----------



## StevenJB

"WNUV-TV is moving frequencies to upgrade its signal to NextGen TV on March 8, 2021 at 10 A.M. If you use an antenna to watch TV for free, you must rescan your television after March 8, 2021 at 10 A.M. to continue receiving this channel."

Is WNUV vacating RF25? Where is it moving to?


----------



## fri1038

StevenJB said:


> Is WNUV vacating RF25? Where is it moving to?


Yes, RF25 will convert to ATSC 3.0. The channel shuffle details haven't been announced as far as I know, nor what will be hosted on RF25. Scripps (WMAR,) Hearst (WBAL,) and Sinclair (WBFF, WNUV, WUTB) are in the Pearl NextGen TV consortium, so they would be logical destinations for WNUV's ATSC 1.0 subchannels.


----------



## n8hoo

StevenJB said:


> Is WNUV vacating RF25? Where is it moving to?


It'll more than likely end up being similar to Pittsburgh's arrangement: Sinclair's WPNT is the ATSC 3.0 lighthouse, carrying itself, their WPGH and Hearst's WTAE in 1080p. After converting, since it's required to channel share to maintain ATSC 1.0 service, WPNT .1 hitched a ride on WPGH and .2-.4 are on WTAE.


----------



## fri1038

Our low power troublemakers are at it again.

WMJF is broadcasting something on RF23 but nothing my tuners can decode. Same thing happened last October. (I see 70% signal strength so not likely it's one of the other RF23s in the area.)

WQAW has a hiccup on all subchannels almost exactly every ten seconds, like a buffering problem. Unlike a similar problem last October, signal strength isn't dropping to zero - just a second of video and audio drop out. I see it on two sets with different antennas, so probably not a personal problem.


----------



## Casey Hartman

Is the winter storm affecting Fox 45?


----------



## fri1038

Casey Hartman said:


> Is the winter storm affecting Fox 45?


WBFF is still blasting full strength up my way. Looking south, WHUT, my weakest, is knocked out, however. Other DCers look normal. Just very light snow here.


----------



## mkfs

MikeW. said:


> 2nd issue; when I turn on the garage lights (4 fixtures 8 fluorescent 4ft tubes 54 watts) channels 11.1 WBAL/NBC and 13.1 WJZ/CBS immediately, 85% of the time these channels have very bad interference and unwatchable pixilation. This issue occurs on all 3 TV’s.


The US is awash in cheap fluorescent switching ballasts and their LED replacements. In theory, all such devices have passed FCC certification re: their RF noise. I have found this to be anything but true.


----------



## Will Fairfax

We live near the bottom of a hill. When we went OTA with HDTV, we installed a Channel Master CM 2016 HDTV VHF/UHF antenna in our attic with a Channel Master CM-7778 preamp. Our reception has generally been good, other than pixilation caused by passing airplanes or high wind moving the nearby trees. We are having a new roof installed and the "architectural" shingles are supposed to be much thicker than the old 3-tab shingles. Does anyone know if they will impair our reception? If so, there will domestic disputes that I would prefer to head off in advance. Thanks for your advice.

*Shareable link: RabbitEars.Info*

Will


----------



## fri1038

Will Fairfax said:


> ... We are having a new roof installed and the "architectural" shingles are supposed to be much thicker than the old 3-tab shingles. Does anyone know if they will impair our reception? ...


As long as new metals (foil-backed insulation, ridge vents, attic fans) are not introduced I wouldn't expect any big changes - you have a strong signal coming in. But the effects will be random and unpredictable, really, with an attic install.


----------



## MRG1

Will Fairfax said:


> We live near the bottom of a hill. When we went OTA with HDTV, we installed a Channel Master CM 2016 HDTV VHF/UHF antenna in our attic with a Channel Master CM-7778 preamp. Our reception has generally been good, other than pixilation caused by passing airplanes or high wind moving the nearby trees...


If you do have a problem, or you want to possibly deal with the trees, that is an outdoor antenna. I suspect a professional installer could put it on the roof, on a mast tall enough to maybe get over the trees (but not the aircraft  ), and properly grounded and shunted to deal with possible lightning hits, and mounted well enough to so it doesn't move in the wind.

Of course, anything electrical left outdoors eventually corrodes, but if you have a problem, perhaps that is a solution to the signal strength problem. Maybe you would even get a few extra channels, because of the height.

Compared to the cost of a new roof, an antenna mount and ground, etc., is probably cheap. If you do want better reception, perhaps you could get a higher gain antenna at the same time.

I have wondered whether solar electric panels could interfere with attic antenna reception... Maybe even if the antenna is over the roof, because of the reflection from the roof causing multipath interference?

Nonetheless perhaps over the lifetime of the roof, a solar installation save you enough money to pay for an improved antenna and mount?

Of course, I am assuming that you wouldn't hate the appearance of the antenna and panels.


----------



## ksalno

Question about ATSC 3.0. Is there a list of DC area stations and when they plan to cut over or is there an FCC mandated deadline like there was with HDTV? I currently use a Tivo Bolt and a FireTV Recast for OTA tuner and DVR function. I can then connect any TV in the house to OTA signals using a network connection and a FireTV stick or Tivo mini. Will I have to replace the Tivo Bolt and Recast to tune the ATSC stations?

TIA


----------



## Trip in VA

ATSC 3.0 is voluntary. For five years minimum, a 1.0 simulcast must continue. 

WIAV-CD is supposed to move on 3/2 but the FCC has yet to approve that. WNUV is advertising 3/8 but hasn't submitted anything to the FCC yet. Programming from both stations will remain in 1.0.

- Trip


----------



## ksalno

Trip in VA said:


> ATSC 3.0 is voluntary. For five years minimum, a 1.0 simulcast must continue.


Thanks, Trip. I’m mostly interested in being able to get live sports in 4K, so I really want 3.0, not the 1.0 simulcast (I think).


----------



## bullwinklehdtv

ksalno said:


> Thanks, Trip. I’m mostly interested in being able to get live sports in 4K, so I really want 3.0, not the 1.0 simulcast (I think).


If you browse through the ATSC 3.0 forum, the general sense is that it will be years before there are any 4k broadcasts. It requires a huge investment in equipment upgrades with little potential for additional revenue. The most cynical view is that ATSC 3.0 is mostly about revenue from targeted advertising.


----------



## fri1038

Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation out there promising 4K broadcasts, which isn't happening yet. A commercial I saw last night for the "unlimited antenna" for example.

Folks will need to replace their tuner and display devices for 3.0 if they're not upgradable to support the new protocols.


----------



## ksalno

fri1038 said:


> Folks will need to replace their tuner and display devices for 3.0 if they're not upgradable to support the new protocols.


As I understand it, a new tuner will be needed but I can use a single HomeRun multi-tuner and serve every TV in the house as long as they have a network connection (limited to 2 different ATSC 3.0 broadcasts at the same time). But my TVs and projector are all 4K HDR capable, so I assume I can continue to use them until such time, if ever, they start broadcasting 8K. Is that right?


----------



## bullwinklehdtv

ksalno said:


> As I understand it, a new tuner will be needed but I can use a single HomeRun multi-tuner and serve every TV in the house as long as they have a network connection (limited to 2 different ATSC 3.0 broadcasts at the same time). But my TVs and projector are all 4K HDR capable, so I assume I can continue to use them until such time, if ever, they start broadcasting 8K. Is that right?


The HDHomeRun Connect 4K should work fine. It won't be able to do two way communication, which is part of the ATSC 3.0 hype, but that seems to be mostly a gimmick. I have one, so I'm hoping something starts in this area soon. The Silicon Dust forums are full of early adopter teething pains, primarily to do with audio. ATSC 3.0 uses Dolby AC-4 and a lot of existing equipment and apps don't support it yet or can't support it.


----------



## Brian in CT

Will Fairfax said:


> We live near the bottom of a hill. When we went OTA with HDTV, we installed a Channel Master CM 2016 HDTV VHF/UHF antenna in our attic with a Channel Master CM-7778 preamp. Our reception has generally been good, other than pixilation caused by passing airplanes or high wind moving the nearby trees. We are having a new roof installed and the "architectural" shingles are supposed to be much thicker than the old 3-tab shingles. Does anyone know if they will impair our reception? If so, there will domestic disputes that I would prefer to head off in advance. Thanks for your advice.
> 
> *Shareable link: RabbitEars.Info*
> 
> Will


With your setup, I'll assume you are receiving everything labeled as "fair" or better (on your RabbitEars results table) your antenna is pointed at. That said, a rooftop antenna wouldn't be gaining you anything additional from the D.C. TV market. If these architectural shingles are all wood or plastic, you should be fine. If they have metal in them, they could not only cut down on the signal that reaches your antenna, they might also cause signal reflections that can cause pixilation or dropouts. Slate or flagstone shingles would land somewhere in the middle. Just ask the installer what they're made of and go from there.

Do you receive any Baltimore TV stations? Reception of those stations are at the absolute limits of your setup. If you get any of them, I'd be worried about losing those stations before fretting about losing the D.C. ones.


----------



## Will Fairfax

fri1038 said:


> As long as new metals (foil-backed insulation, ridge vents, attic fans) are not introduced I wouldn't expect any big changes - you have a strong signal coming in. But the effects will be random and unpredictable, really, with an attic install.


No new metals listed, but the asphalt shingles are supposed to contain some copper solution to keep algae from growing.


----------



## Will Fairfax

Brian in CT said:


> With your setup, I'll assume you are receiving everything labeled as "fair" or better (on your RabbitEars results table) your antenna is pointed at. That said, a rooftop antenna wouldn't be gaining you anything additional from the D.C. TV market. If these architectural shingles are all wood or plastic, you should be fine. If they have metal in them, they could not only cut down on the signal that reaches your antenna, they might also cause signal reflections that can cause pixilation or dropouts. Slate or flagstone shingles would land somewhere in the middle. Just ask the installer what they're made of and go from there.
> 
> Do you receive any Baltimore TV stations? Reception of those stations are at the absolute limits of your setup. If you get any of them, I'd be worried about losing those stations before fretting about losing the D.C. ones.


Sorry, I should have specified that these are basic asphalt shingles, not a metal roof or slate or wood. However, they have been treated with a solution containing copper to retard algae growth. We do not get Baltimore stations, just the Washington Ones.


----------



## fri1038

WMJF came back up on Feb 11. WQAW has been down for a couple days. Recent ice and snow might be a factor.



fri1038 said:


> Our low power troublemakers are at it again.
> 
> WMJF is broadcasting something on RF23 but nothing my tuners can decode. Same thing happened last October. (I see 70% signal strength so not likely it's one of the other RF23s in the area.)
> 
> WQAW has a hiccup on all subchannels almost exactly every ten seconds, like a buffering problem. Unlike a similar problem last October, signal strength isn't dropping to zero - just a second of video and audio drop out. I see it on two sets with different antennas, so probably not a personal problem.


----------



## Brian in CT

Will Fairfax said:


> Sorry, I should have specified that these are basic asphalt shingles, not a metal roof or slate or wood. However, they have been treated with a solution containing copper to retard algae growth. We do not get Baltimore stations, just the Washington Ones.


Basic asphalt shingles, even treated with a copper solution, shouldn't cause any problem. Since the Baltimore TV stations are out of the equation, I doubt that any slight signal loss from the new roof will affect your locals. When you said "architectural" shingles, I thought about thick ornamental types made of materials like the ones I mentioned. Some of those can cause problems with range.


----------



## KyL416

The NextGen filings for Baltimore are starting to trickle in. WMAR (Scripps) made their filing to indicate they will be part of the ATSC 3.0 lighthouse on WNUV's RF 25 signal.


----------



## fri1038

WNUV now saying to rescan March *9 *at 1000 to find their ATSC 1.0 channels.

(They could have fixed the typos on that page while they were at it. Or maybe NextGen tuners will get a NextGen TV Commercial Service Guidelines and Marketing Tool Kit over the air. )



fri1038 said:


> WNUV is running a scroll about moving to ATSC 3.0 and to rescan on March 8 at 10:00am.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> RESCAN DAY IS JUNE 8, 2021 FOR WNUV
> 
> 
> RESCAN DAY IS JUNE 8, 2021 FOR WNUV. Antenna Viewers Must Rescan After June 8, 2021 at 10 A. M. WNUV-TV is moving frequencies to upgrade its signal to NextGen TV on June 8, 2021 at 10 A. M. If you use an antenna to watch TV for free, you must rescan your television after June 8, 2021 at 10 A. M...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> cwbaltimore.com


----------



## KyL416

KyL416 said:


> The NextGen filings for Baltimore are starting to trickle in. WMAR (Scripps) made their filing to indicate they will be part of the ATSC 3.0 lighthouse on WNUV's RF 25 signal.


WBAL (Hearst) made their filing today to indicate that they'll joining WNUV's lighthouse signal.

We still have to wait for WNUV to make their filing before we find out which specific stations will carry their subchannels in ATSC 1.0 for at least 5 years.


----------



## Trip in VA

WNUV's 3.0 host is... drumroll please... WMPT *and* WMPB. That's certainly a new one.

- Trip


----------



## n8hoo

Trip in VA said:


> WNUV's 3.0 host is... drumroll please... WMPT *and* WMPB. That's certainly a new one.
> 
> - Trip


If I'm reading it correctly, that's just 54.1. 54.2-4 will be split between WBAL and WMAR. Still, I said "whoa" out loud when I saw that. 

WBFF also filed paperwork to join the party. That just leaves WJZ-TV - IIRC from the last time I looked at Trip's list, WWJ-TV is the only CBS-owned station participating in 3.0 so far, even though it is in operation in other markets where they own a station.


----------



## Trip in VA

Yes, it's typical for a station's subchannels to be redistributed across multiple broadcasters.

This is new though; having two ATSC 1.0 host stations for the primary stream. Seems rather risky that Sinclair has already started advertising a date without knowing whether or not the FCC will accept this novel solution.

- Trip


----------



## KyL416

Yeah, basically they're using both WMPT Annapolis and WMPB Baltimore to replicate the coverage area of the RF 25 signal. Although having 54.1 on two overlapping signals is going to screw up things for people with tuners that can't handle duplicates, especially if they only blindly keep the first or last one it scanned and don't have some logic to only retain the signal with the strongest SNR, or do something weird like store the duplicates on their physical RF numbers or a fake major number above 69 like the DTV Pal's do.

So this is what the ATSC 1.0 simulcasts will be:
54.1 CW HD will be on both WMPB's RF 22 and WMPT's RF 21 signals
54.2 Antenna TV will be on WMAR's RF 27 signal
54.3 Comet will be on WBAL's RF 12 signal
54.4 Charge! will be on WBAL's RF 12 signal


----------



## fri1038

Good point about multiple virtual 54.1s. I get both WMPB and WMPT easily. I know it will mess up my Panasonic's tuner from when WQAW was putting out virtual 20.x in error, and some conflicts during last October's Tropopalooza. 

Charge is on WBFF's 45.4 currently. Stadium is on WNUV's 54.4.


----------



## KyL416

I was going by what they put in the multicast exhibit in their filing, so either they screwed up or a network swap between WBFF and WNUV will be happening in a few weeks.


----------



## n8hoo

Another surprise: MPT is joining the lighthouse. 





__





Licensing and Management System


Licensing and Management System




enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov


----------



## joblo

KyL416 said:


> having 54.1 on two overlapping signals is going to screw up things for people with tuners that can't handle duplicates


And some people with antennas aimed at TV Hill may not get either of the MPT signals at all, even if they are in the coverage area(s).

1.0 PQ on MPT, already over-compressed, is going to be terrible, and 3.0 PQ probably won't be great either with 5 HDs on one channel.

Can't say I like this plan much.


----------



## Casey Hartman

Will those of us in northern VA need a stronger VHF antenna to receive 54.3 and 54.4? My Clearstream 5 was pulling in WBAL at a decent signal strength and quality, but since the 11th I am not getting any signal quality. 



KyL416 said:


> So this is what the ATSC 1.0 simulcasts will be:
> 54.1 CW HD will be on both WMPB's RF 22 and WMPT's RF 21 signals
> 54.2 Antenna TV will be on WMAR's RF 27 signal
> 54.3 Comet will be on WBAL's RF 12 signal
> 54.4 Charge! will be on WBAL's RF 12 signal


----------



## n8hoo

Casey Hartman said:


> Will those of us in northern VA need a stronger VHF antenna to receive 54.3 and 54.4? My Clearstream 5 was pulling in WBAL at a decent signal strength and quality, but since the 11th I am not getting any signal quality.


There won't be any changes to WBAL's actual signal. But, worth noting both are on 7.2 and 7.3 so there's no reason to go out of your way to get them. 

If you lost channels recently, I'd blame the snow. Any snow on the roof here puts the kibosh on my weak signals for a couple days.


----------



## joblo

n8hoo said:


> There won't be any changes to WBAL's actual signal. But, worth noting both are on 7.2 and 7.3 so there's no reason to go out of your way to get them.


But 54.4 is Stadium right now, not Charge!, and not currently available in DC, afaik.


----------



## fri1038

Sinclair swapped 45.4 and 54.4, Charge and Stadium, a few weeks ago for some reason. I kind of figured Stadium would just go away in the ATSC 3.0 shuffle. It's freely available on Roku Live TV, chan 227.


----------



## Antenna Man PA

Wow a lot going on with this launch in Baltimore. I was planning on traveling to Pittsburgh to demonstrate 3.0 on my YouTube channel. That's been delayed because of what seems like never ending snow storms. I might just travel to Baltimore instead.


----------



## Geronimo1067

Antenna Man PA said:


> Wow a lot going on with this launch in Baltimore. I was planning on traveling to Pittsburgh to demonstrate 3.0 on my YouTube channel. That's been delayed because of what seems like never ending snow storms. I might just travel to Baltimore instead.


So can we get a picture of you and Trip together? 

I know I am sick.


----------



## bluescreenoftom

Antenna Man PA said:


> Wow a lot going on with this launch in Baltimore. I was planning on traveling to Pittsburgh to demonstrate 3.0 on my YouTube channel. That's been delayed because of what seems like never ending snow storms. I might just travel to Baltimore instead.


Big fan of your YouTube channel. Hope to see you down in Baltimore. I'd offer to buy you lunch if COVID wasn't a thing.


----------



## Antenna Man PA

bluescreenoftom said:


> Big fan of your YouTube channel. Hope to see you down in Baltimore. I'd offer to buy you lunch if COVID wasn't a thing.


Thanks! I was originally going to document the launch of 3.0 in Pittsburgh back in July. COVID stopped that. I'm going to reach out to the guys at Sinclair to see if it's possible this time in Baltimore. If not the video will likely be of me just playing around with the HDHomerun Connect 4K.

Does anyone know if this is the first case of PBS and an O&O to jump on 3.0? I haven't checked what stations are on in all other markets.


----------



## KyL416

Nope, Detroit has CBS and Fox O&Os, Seattle has their Fox and MyNet O&O, and Raleigh has their ABC O&O. None of the O&Os are participating as a lighthouse host though, just guest signals in exchange for hosting the ATSC 1.0 simulcasts.

The PBS station in Phoenix is participating too, although it's just the PBS Kids channel being carried in ATSC 3.0 at this time.


----------



## Antenna Man PA

KyL416 said:


> Nope, Detroit has CBS and Fox O&Os doing ATSC 3.0, Seattle has their Fox O&O, and Raleigh has their ABC O&O.
> 
> The PBS station in Phoenix is participating too, although it's just the PBS Kids channel being carried in ATSC 3.0 at this time.


Thanks for the info. Last year at CES I overheard one guy say they were having trouble getting O&Os on board. Good to hear some are jumping on!


----------



## joblo

PBS is also participating in Portland, Oregon. They have a state network like MPT.

According to a post at Balto Media, Baltimore's CBS O&O, WJZ, will *not* participate.

RabbitEars.Info has a full list of 3.0 stations nationwide here.


----------



## StantonGuy

fri1038 said:


> Usually I have no problem getting a strong WHUT signal (80% quality) here a couple miles south of BWI airport. Just that on the afternoon/evening of the 24th there were strong tropospheric conditions that allowed signals from Philly to reach this far south. Stations from there which broadcast on RF 31 and 33 cancelled out WETA and WHUT for me, I assume, and let me pick up others that didn't have same channel interference. Things were back to normal on the 25th.
> 
> WHUT has an application in to boost power, which may help reception eventually.


Is there any update on the application to boost power for WHUT? I live on the Hill not far from the university itself (though I realize that's not where the broadcast towers are), and my TV isn't picking it up at all.


----------



## n8hoo

joblo said:


> According to a post at Balto Media, Baltimore's CBS O&O, WJZ, will *not* participate.


BaltoMedia is about as trustworthy as the mailbag, which is to say not at all. I remember he got in a very heated argument with Fybush and Trip about some ridiculous assertion about the repack that was clearly wrong - little idea what he's talking about w.r.t. FCC applications and the like and refuses to ever admit it.

Granted, I don't think WJZ-TV is going to participate either, but I also don't think _he_ has any inside scoop. Keeps referring to this statement from CBS that as far as I can tell, does not exist -- notwithstanding that WWJ-TV _does_ participate in Detroit's lighthouse.



StantonGuy said:


> Is there any update on the application to boost power for WHUT? I live on the Hill not far from the university itself (though I realize that's not where the broadcast towers are), and my TV isn't picking it up at all.


Granted the 2 February but construction permits last 3 years so it's anyone guess when they actually get the work done. I'd try repointing your antenna, there's no reason you shouldn't get it at < 5 miles.


----------



## Brian in CT

StantonGuy said:


> Is there any update on the application to boost power for WHUT? I live on the Hill not far from the university itself (though I realize that's not where the broadcast towers are), and my TV isn't picking it up at all.


You still must be very close to the transmitter. Do you use an amplifier in your setup? If so, the resulting signal could be so strong, it's overwhelming your TV tuner, causing the station not to decode. If it's not that, you might be experiencing LTE interference. If you live within a mile of a 5G cell tower, you might need a LTE filter to keep the new 600 Mhz. band signals from interfering with UHF TV reception.


----------



## dipdewdog

What fortuitous timing - Sony just released an update to my TV that enables the ATSC 3.0 tuner


----------



## joblo

n8hoo said:


> BaltoMedia is about as trustworthy as the mailbag, which is to say not at all. I remember he got in a very heated argument with Fybush and Trip about some ridiculous assertion about the repack that was clearly wrong - little idea what he's talking about w.r.t. FCC applications and the like and refuses to ever admit it.


Never paid that much attention to Balto Media. Thanks for the info.



> Granted, I don't think WJZ-TV is going to participate either, but I also don't think _he_ has any inside scoop. Keeps referring to this statement from CBS that as far as I can tell, does not exist -- notwithstanding that WWJ-TV _does_ participate in Detroit's lighthouse.


DrDon suggested in the 3.0 thread that CBS wanted to work with the automakers in Detroit, and that sounds right to me. But Sinclair has no stations in Detroit, so WWJ is not working with Sinclair.


----------



## fri1038

WNUV rescan day pushed back to March 23.

edit: still saying March 9 on air. 









RESCAN DAY IS JUNE 8, 2021 FOR WNUV


RESCAN DAY IS JUNE 8, 2021 FOR WNUV. Antenna Viewers Must Rescan After June 8, 2021 at 10 A. M. WNUV-TV is moving frequencies to upgrade its signal to NextGen TV on June 8, 2021 at 10 A. M. If you use an antenna to watch TV for free, you must rescan your television after June 8, 2021 at 10 A. M...




cwbaltimore.com







fri1038 said:


> WNUV now saying to rescan March *9 *at 1000 to find their ATSC 1.0 channels.
> 
> (They could have fixed the typos on that page while they were at it. Or maybe NextGen tuners will get a NextGen TV Commercial Service Guidelines and Marketing Tool Kit over the air. )


----------



## hsweiss

Did anyone notice a dropout of both WBFF and WNUV last night around 10pm? Also it appeared that power levels were down on both WBAL and WJZ. At first I thought I lost my preamp but then by around 10:30pm all was back to normal.


----------



## n8hoo

My newly revived bandscanner does show an interesting drop on WBFF between 10 and 10:30:



https://rabbitears.info/tvdx/render_graph/10811324/tuner1/WBFF/-32hours/now



Same on WMAR, and also WNUV but not as pronounced. I was having a hell of a time with everything yesterday due to the high winds though.


----------



## Casey Hartman

Here are my graphs for WBFF and WNUV. My reception for WBFF didn't have any changes, but WNUV did. 




__





Signal graphs for WBFF at Huntington, VA on tuner0







www.rabbitears.info








__





Signal graphs for WNUV at Huntington, VA on tuner0







www.rabbitears.info


----------



## hsweiss

n8hoo said:


> My newly revived bandscanner does show an interesting drop on WBFF between 10 and 10:30:
> 
> 
> 
> https://rabbitears.info/tvdx/render_graph/10811324/tuner1/WBFF/-32hours/now
> 
> 
> 
> Same on WMAR, and also WNUV but not as pronounced. I was having a hell of a time with everything yesterday due to the high winds though.


It was strange - WBFF was flatlined during that period whereas WNUV was barely decodable. Both WBAL and WJZ are usually pegged but while watchable, power levels were low enough to make me believe that they were either on their back-up xmitters or antennas. Reminiscent of the summer days after the repack, but thankfully not quite that bad.


----------



## pkpaul

Amendment has been filed for experimental NexTGen TV ATSC 3.0 lab in Hunt Valley on RF24:
Licensing and Management System


----------



## n8hoo

fri1038 said:


> WNUV rescan day pushed back to March 23.
> 
> edit: still saying March 9 on air.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> RESCAN DAY IS JUNE 8, 2021 FOR WNUV
> 
> 
> RESCAN DAY IS JUNE 8, 2021 FOR WNUV. Antenna Viewers Must Rescan After June 8, 2021 at 10 A. M. WNUV-TV is moving frequencies to upgrade its signal to NextGen TV on June 8, 2021 at 10 A. M. If you use an antenna to watch TV for free, you must rescan your television after June 8, 2021 at 10 A. M...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> cwbaltimore.com


Everyone has now filed amendments to this effect. WIAV-CD is plowing ahead with the switch Tuesday at 10 AM.


----------



## fri1038

n8hoo said:


> Everyone has now filed amendments to this effect. WIAV-CD is plowing ahead with the switch Tuesday at 10 AM.


Have they been running any announcements on air, like WNUV - I rarely can pickup the DC low powers to see. Unimas and LATV still heading to RF24 WDCO as rumored? TBD already covered by WJLA's 7.4. 

Playing armchair engineer, WPXW's 66.5 and 66.6 stand out as more desirable destinations as Scripps takes over Ion, but possibly more money in continuing QVC and HSN.


----------



## n8hoo

fri1038 said:


> Have they been running any announcements on air, like WNUV - I rarely can pickup the DC low powers to see.


To my knowledge yes. There is also a page buried on WJLA's website. Do you watch WIAV via an antenna? You'll need to rescan on or after March 2



fri1038 said:


> Unimas and LATV still heading to RF24 WDCO as rumored?


Not rumor, the new channel-sharing agreement was filed and approved last month. There is just no reason to move until WIAV-CD transitions. The new agreement only lasts until 12/31/21. it would seem WMDO-CD is not long for this world - Entravision would theoretically be able to move UniMas to WJAL after that date.


----------



## dipdewdog

n8hoo said:


> To my knowledge yes. There is also a page buried on WJLA's website. Do you watch WIAV via an antenna? You'll need to rescan on or after March 2


"For those viewers with a new NextGen television set, WIAV will begin broadcasting the same programming using the NextGen TV transmission standard on March 2 on its existing channel."

Oh great, the excellent content of TBD in the shiny new ATSC 3.0 format. What a silly thing - wonder why WJLA isn't sharing immediately?


----------



## pkpaul

My Vizio TV tuner is seeing WMDO, LATV and WDCO on both virtual channel 10 [RF24] and 58/47 [RF30].


----------



## pkpaul

The HD HomeRun 4K sees those channels during scan only. It settles on only WDCO in the end, probably due to channel number conflicts.


----------



## fri1038

WPXW has (mostly) switched over to Scripps programming: PSIP and EPG data for 66.2 Mystery, 66.3 CourtTV, and 66.4 Laff. 66.2 programming is still informercials at the moment, not matching WMAR's Mystery yet.


----------



## Geronimo1067

fri1038 said:


> WNUV rescan day pushed back to March 23.
> 
> edit: still saying March 9 on air.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> RESCAN DAY IS JUNE 8, 2021 FOR WNUV
> 
> 
> RESCAN DAY IS JUNE 8, 2021 FOR WNUV. Antenna Viewers Must Rescan After June 8, 2021 at 10 A. M. WNUV-TV is moving frequencies to upgrade its signal to NextGen TV on June 8, 2021 at 10 A. M. If you use an antenna to watch TV for free, you must rescan your television after June 8, 2021 at 10 A. M...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> cwbaltimore.com



WNUV on air mesage now identifies march 23.


----------



## n8hoo

Keeping an eye on bandscanners and fcc.today this afternoon, WIAV and WDCO both left the air at 1343.

ETA: both returned at 1500. WDCO still with 3x 10.1...


----------



## pkpaul

"both returned at 1500. WDCO still with 3x 10.1... "

Yes, now all the 49 channels are missing.


----------



## wmcbrine

I wonder if I have any hope of picking up the DC lighthouse in Laurel. I don't get that station now, never have, but they do say 3.0 is supposed to be easier to receive... otherwise I guess it's the 23rd for me.


----------



## n8hoo

Well, it's past what I presume is the close of business and no action on WIAV-CD, so no 3.0 operation tomorrow, at least not legally. FWIW I went and checked back on the application and the proposed start date is now 25 March, but it most certainly was not that when it was filed, and there have not been any amendments since (as there have been to WNUV et al. to change the date) - very very strange

The rub is the population loss from simulcasting on WDCO-CD is higher than the 5% contemplated by the rules (15%, or 6.5% if excluding areas actually in the Baltimore market), which knocks it out of contention for "expedited review" (<= 15 business days)



wmcbrine said:


> I don't get that station now, never have, but they do say 3.0 is supposed to be easier to receive...


In my understanding this is not necessarily the case, while it deals with multipath better (which could very well make indoor reception easier) the signal/noise ratio required for successful decoding is the same.


----------



## pkpaul

10.1 is showing ABC7 [WJLA?] 6:00 pm news at 8:26.


----------



## pkpaul

At 8:31, channel 10.1 is back to being TBD.
And the 49s are back on.


----------



## n8hoo

pkpaul said:


> 10.1 is showing ABC7 [WJLA?] 6:00 pm news at 8:26.
> View attachment 3097806


I wondered when they did that. Both stations fill the required 3 hours/week quota of local programming by repeating WJLA newscasts at different times.


----------



## n8hoo

Another long outage for the two Class As this afternoon and WIAV-CD dropped the two WMDO-CD streams, so it's flying solo but obviously in 1.0. No change to WDCO-CD, which still has the three streams with VC 10.1.


----------



## Brian in CT

n8hoo said:


> In my understanding this is not necessarily the case, while it deals with multipath better (which could very well make indoor reception easier) the signal/noise ratio required for successful decoding is the same.


Yes and no on easier reception. From an online manual I've read on ATSC 3.0, the S/N ratio for decoding an HD quality picture is slightly worse (17.9 dB vs. 15.5 dB) than for ATSC 1.0. The upside is that you would still be able to decode the same stream in SD with a much worse S/N figure (5.9 dB). These figures can vary based on how the TV signal is configured by the station. When better handling of multipath and certain types of interference is factored in, I would call ATSC 3.0 an improvement overall.


----------



## StantonGuy

Brian in CT said:


> You still must be very close to the transmitter. Do you use an amplifier in your setup? If so, the resulting signal could be so strong, it's overwhelming your TV tuner, causing the station not to decode. If it's not that, you might be experiencing LTE interference. If you live within a mile of a 5G cell tower, you might need a LTE filter to keep the new 600 Mhz. band signals from interfering with UHF TV reception.


Thanks, no, not amplified. Apparently I'm 5.8 miles away. Omnidirectional antenna on the roof.


----------



## Brian in CT

StantonGuy said:


> Thanks, no, not amplified. Apparently I'm 5.8 miles away. Omnidirectional antenna on the roof.


That means the problem might be LTE interference. I'd also add multipath as a possible culprit, even though I find it odd that it would affect only one TV signal out of many from the same transmitter site. Wild swings in signal strength is a telltale sign of either problem, so you could look for that if you have a signal meter function on your television.

BTW, TV Fool is three years out of date. Use www.RabbitEars.info instead. That site is up to date and has most of the bells & whistles TV Fool has plus more.


----------



## n8hoo

WDVM-TV has filed a second amendment with additional information to its application to relocate to Bluemont. Looks like the FCC is skeptical about the loss of OTA coverage in PA/WV/MD, although Nexstar does have an argument that it is largely (population-wise) outside the Washington DMA and in areas with plenty of other OTA service.






Licensing and Management System


Licensing and Management System




enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov


----------



## fri1038

I'm seeing some upper UHF tropo effects tonight. Picking up KYW (RF30) and WCAU/WWSI (RF28) from Philly. DC stations on RF33, 34, 35, and 36 are all knocked out.

Added WPHL/WUVP RF17 and WHYY/WMCN RF13 to the mix around 9 pm.

The distant stations faded around 10pm for me. WHPX, New London CT, won the battle for RF28 for a while. DC's RF 33~36 still out. A potent event in the mid Atlantic maybe due to the unseasonably warm weather condition.

11:30pm - WBOC RF32 and WGAL RF8 seen.


----------



## n8hoo

fri1038 said:


> I'm seeing some upper UHF tropo effects tonight....


Good stuff. Interesting illustration of how localized it can be - I saw nothing out of the ordinary! Not even on RF 28, which normally WFPT (throwing just 6-7 kW in my direction) gets clobbered by the absolute weakest tropo


----------



## jmantothe64

fri1038 said:


> I'm seeing some upper UHF tropo effects tonight


I don't have much hope getting any tropo from the north, because I'm southwest of DC, and east of the mountains (still a far bit away, but it blocks almost all tropo from there)
EDIT: Looks like there's going to be some possible openings over the weekend, I'll have to move the antenna


----------



## n8hoo

Sinclair filed an amendment to designate WJLA 7.4 as the ATSC 1.0 replacement for WIAV-CD. 7.4 will begin airing the same nightly local news repeats as the two Class As currently do to satisfy the simulcasting rules. I guess they were not going to get approval to just relocate to WDCO-CD. Still on track for a 3/25 transition, as this will now fall under the expedited review process which in other cases has taken a few days at most.






Licensing and Management System


Licensing and Management System




enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov


----------



## fri1038

WNUV's ATSC 3.0 rescan date is June 8, 2021, now.









RESCAN DAY IS JUNE 8, 2021 FOR WNUV


RESCAN DAY IS JUNE 8, 2021 FOR WNUV. Antenna Viewers Must Rescan After June 8, 2021 at 10 A. M. WNUV-TV is moving frequencies to upgrade its signal to NextGen TV on June 8, 2021 at 10 A. M. If you use an antenna to watch TV for free, you must rescan your television after June 8, 2021 at 10 A. M...




cwbaltimore.com


----------



## joblo

fri1038 said:


> WNUV's ATSC 3.0 rescan date is June 8, 2021, now.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> RESCAN DAY IS JUNE 8, 2021 FOR WNUV
> 
> 
> RESCAN DAY IS JUNE 8, 2021 FOR WNUV. Antenna Viewers Must Rescan After June 8, 2021 at 10 A. M. WNUV-TV is moving frequencies to upgrade its signal to NextGen TV on June 8, 2021 at 10 A. M. If you use an antenna to watch TV for free, you must rescan your television after June 8, 2021 at 10 A. M...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> cwbaltimore.com


Oh. bleep! Bleepity, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleepity, bleepin' BLEEP!

Are you bleepin' kidding me?!?

So what, do they have a new plan? For how to achieve 95% 1.0 coverage? I mean, seriously, this is Sinclair's flagship market!!!!!! And this is the best they can do?!?!?!?

And fwiw, I don't see anything in LMS yet, that indicates this................


----------



## mrradiohead55

Sinclair filed the ATSC 3.0 / NextGen documents on February 25th (n8hoo already linked this) - you will find them here....






Licensing and Management System


Licensing and Management System




enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov





Look down at the bottom of that page for the PDF docs they filed.


----------



## n8hoo

joblo said:


> And fwiw, I don't see anything in LMS yet, that indicates this................


I'd expect them today or Monday...last time they delayed the website updated first and then the amendments rolled in 1-2 days later.

I don't think there is any alternative 1.0 host (except possibly WMAR) so I'm very curious what the reason is.


----------



## n8hoo

WMAR and WBAL-TV have filed second amendments updating the 3.0 transition date to 8 June. If a reason will ever enter the public record it'll be in WNUV's application...

No changes for WIAV-CD but no grant yet either.





__





Licensing and Management System


Licensing and Management System




enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov


----------



## n8hoo

Here's WNUV:





__





Licensing and Management System


Licensing and Management System




enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov





The amendment is to change WMPT to the sole simulcast host, mention WMPB only as a "supplemental" simulcast host (that I guess has no bearing in the eyes of the rules), and arguing that WMPT's coverage alone is sufficient because almost all of the population loss is outside the Baltimore DMA and covered by other CW stations. 

They go on to also illustrate that WMPT + WMPB combined pass the 95 per cent population requirement, but it's apparent because the rules don't contemplate multiple 1.0 hosts they had to come up with another argument. Hence the delay for the FCC to review everything. They actually do have 90 business days from now so it could be even longer.

Also confirmation that WJZ-TV was approached and declined to participate.


----------



## joblo

n8hoo said:


> __
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Licensing and Management System
> 
> 
> Licensing and Management System
> 
> 
> 
> 
> enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov


Oh, that's amusing... is it my imagination or does Sinclair seem slightly pissed at the FCC?


----------



## n8hoo

WIAV-CD *granted* authority to transition to ATSC 3.0.



joblo said:


> Oh, that's amusing... is it my imagination or does Sinclair seem slightly pissed at the FCC?


I definitely get that sense, lol.


----------



## KyL416

The feeling is likely mutual, especially after the debacle Sinclair has been causing for years with the FCC like their bogus divestment proposal involving their shell companies that led to the collapse of their planned Tribune takeover, along with them stretching the rules to get around the ownership caps with shell companies that "voluntarily" give up their network affiliations in favor of Sinclair's diginets and then opt not to seek cable and satellite carriage to remove themselves as competition.

The CW argument might work, but then again, the FCC doesn't regulate content on the network level and might see a problem with the loss of any syndicated and local content that isn't duplicated, which is why this isn't an open and shut case that will get rubberstamped like most other ATSC 1.0 hosting arrangements. Also Sinclair's shenanigans in Harrisburg led to the CW affiliation moving from the former WLYH that had a signal closer to Lancaster to a subchannel of WHP who transmits from a tower north of Harrisburg, so some of those terrain limited areas in Lancaster county might only get CW from WNUV right now, despite being within WHP's contour. (Since then, WLYH became WXBU, carrying one of Sinclair's diginets, and a few years later they cashed out in the auction and is now spectrum sharing with WHP)


----------



## fri1038

WQAW-LD is back up after five weeks of downtime. No odd stutters or dropouts thus far. Same channel line-up as before. From the Easton, MD....250-degree bandscan:






Signal graphs for WQAW-LD at Easton, MD-whiskeyone-WSW on ANT751Z aimed at 250 degrees







rabbitears.info







fri1038 said:


> WMJF came back up on Feb 11. WQAW has been down for a couple days. Recent ice and snow might be a factor.





fri1038 said:


> Our low power troublemakers are at it again.
> 
> WMJF is broadcasting something on RF23 but nothing my tuners can decode. Same thing happened last October. (I see 70% signal strength so not likely it's one of the other RF23s in the area.)
> 
> WQAW has a hiccup on all subchannels almost exactly every ten seconds, like a buffering problem. Unlike a similar problem last October, signal strength isn't dropping to zero - just a second of video and audio drop out. I see it on two sets with different antennas, so probably not a personal problem.


----------



## joblo

KyL416 said:


> The feeling is likely mutual


... which is why it's amusing. 




n8hoo said:


> They go on to also illustrate that WMPT + WMPB combined pass the 95 per cent population requirement, but it's apparent because the rules don't contemplate multiple 1.0 hosts they had to come up with another argument.


The real world problem with MPT, though, is that like many statewide PBS nets, their transmitters are off by their lonesome rather than with the main antenna farms. So sure, MPT technically "serves" all of Maryland, but the reality is they're a pain to get. Only reason I'm getting them again now is because my antenna's beam width is wider on channel 21 than on 42 and there's no longer a full power Philly station on the same channel. Really, I think people in the most populous areas of the state would be better off if both the Annapolis and Baltimore stations transmitted from TV Hill -- which would mean they could transition without a channel share -- and the Frederick station transmitted from River Road.

As for Sinclair, changing the argument doesn't change the plan a bit. As irritating as the 3.0 delay is, I still don't like Sinclair's plan, and it doesn't bother me a bit if the FCC gives them grief over it.

Also, Smith and Fisher's work is a little sloppy. They mislabeled the contours in Exhibits B and F.




n8hoo said:


> WIAV-CD *granted* authority to transition to ATSC 3.0.


That's good, at least. Wonder what they'll do with it. Lot of bandwidth for just TBD. So maybe they put up a super robust QAM16 and see how far the signal will go?


----------



## n8hoo

joblo said:


> That's good, at least. Wonder what they'll do with it. Lot of bandwidth for just TBD. So maybe they put up a super robust QAM16 and see how far the signal will go?


I get the sense yes and they're going to use it to experiment, but there would be nothing stopping them from relaying WJLA or other of their diginets on a subchannel - the simulcast requirement only pertains to the primary 1.0/3.0 stream (which clearly will be TBD)


----------



## dipdewdog

n8hoo said:


> I get the sense yes and they're going to use it to experiment, but there would be nothing stopping them from relaying WJLA or other of their diginets on a subchannel - the simulcast requirement only pertains to the primary 1.0/3.0 stream (which clearly will be TBD)


I'm not familiar enough with the FCC rules around NextGen to know, would they need to file anything with the FCC to begin a 3.0 simulcast of WJLA on WIAV-CD (and have it present as 7.1 on 3.0 tuners)?


----------



## n8hoo

dipdewdog said:


> I'm not familiar enough with the FCC rules around NextGen to know, would they need to file anything with the FCC to begin a 3.0 simulcast of WJLA on WIAV-CD (and have it present as 7.1 on 3.0 tuners)?


I'm not sure about that - but multiple co-owned stations have always been allowed to use the same major channel number, and as far as I know that rule has not changed, so I guess that's also theoretically possible. But they could go slap WJLA on virtual 58.2 tomorrow for sure.


----------



## greg9x2

joblo said:


> The real world problem with MPT, though, is that like many statewide PBS nets, their transmitters are off by their lonesome rather than with the main antenna farms. So sure, MPT technically "serves" all of Maryland, but the reality is they're a pain to get. Only reason I'm getting them again now is because my antenna's beam width is wider on channel 21 than on 42 and there's no longer a full power Philly station on the same channel. Really, I think people in the most populous areas of the state would be better off if both the Annapolis and Baltimore stations transmitted from TV Hill -- which would mean they could transition without a channel share -- and the Frederick station transmitted from River Road.


I'm in Frederick pointed at D.C. and get 2 MPT stations (4 PBS stations total) 62 and 67. 67 is supposed to be Baltimore which I don't get any stations from and pointed off from there, so not sure how getting it, must be a good reflection from somewhere.


----------



## fri1038

fri1038 said:


> WQAW-LD is back up after five weeks of downtime. No odd stutters or dropouts thus far. Same channel line-up as before.


Correction. 69.4 is now ShopHQ, replacing Cheddar.


----------



## fri1038

WMJF-CD scrambled their line up too, I noticed tonight.

39.1 WMJF GR 480i-w Ion (was Grit)
39.2 WMJF Ju 480i True Crime
39.3 WMJF Qu 480i-w Quest
39.4 WMJF IO 480i-w Grit (was Ion)
39.5 WMJF Bu 480i-w No Programming (was Buzzr)
33.1 WMJFHI 480i-w H&I


----------



## n8hoo

WIAV-CD transition date set for Thursday.









Do you watch WIAV via an antenna? You'll need to switch to channel 7.4 on March 25th


Attention over-the-air viewers: WIAV intends to discontinue ATSC 1. 0 operations and begin broadcasting in the NextGen TV transmission standard on this channel beginning March 25, 2021. If you currently use an antenna to receive WIAV and do not have a NextGen compatible television set, you will...




wjla.com







greg9x2 said:


> I'm in Frederick pointed at D.C. and get 2 MPT stations (4 PBS stations total) 62 and 67.


WMPB's transmitter is ~12mi to the NW of the other Baltimore stations (Reisterstown) so it's got that little bit of an advantage.


----------



## StantonGuy

Brian in CT said:


> That means the problem might be LTE interference. I'd also add multipath as a possible culprit, even though I find it odd that it would affect only one TV signal out of many from the same transmitter site. Wild swings in signal strength is a telltale sign of either problem, so you could look for that if you have a signal meter function on your television.
> 
> BTW, TV Fool is three years out of date. Use www.RabbitEars.info instead. That site is up to date and has most of the bells & whistles TV Fool has plus more.


My antenna is a Winegard Omnidirectional MS-1000 hooked up on the chimney (I am using a splitter)

Here's the RabbitEars info
(I get all of the stations down to and including 23--but not 32 just rescanned; I used to get Ion on 60 and 66)
*RabbitEars.Info*


----------



## Brian in CT

StantonGuy said:


> My antenna is a Winegard Omnidirectional MS-1000 hooked up on the chimney (I am using a splitter)
> 
> Here's the RabbitEars info
> (I get all of the stations down to and including 23--but not 32 just rescanned; I used to get Ion on 60 and 66)
> *RabbitEars.Info*


Even with a typical indoor antenna, you should receive all the TV stations with "Good" field strength in your RabbitEars results table. The fact you can't get WHUT (RF channel 33) and WPXW (RF 35) leads me to believe my above post about either LTE interference or multipath causing them not to decode is likely true. If you're willing to spend about $20 on an LTE filter (make sure it includes a block on the new 600 Mhz. wireless band), you could find out if that's the culprit. Since you live in DC, it's smart to have one installed anyway due to all the cell towers that must be in your vicinity. If the problem is multipath, you might need to adjust or move your antenna (Is it really 60 feet above ground level? Are there obstructions in its way?). I don't have any experience with the type of antenna you use, so I don't know if its design contributes to or minimizes the problem. I hope this helps.


----------



## StantonGuy

Brian in CT said:


> Even with a typical indoor antenna, you should receive all the TV stations with "Good" field strength in your RabbitEars results table. The fact you can't get WHUT (RF channel 33) and WPXW (RF 35) leads me to believe my above post about either LTE interference or multipath causing them not to decode is likely true. If you're willing to spend about $20 on an LTE filter (make sure it includes a block on the new 600 Mhz. wireless band), you could find out if that's the culprit. Since you live in DC, it's smart to have one installed anyway due to all the cell towers that must be in your vicinity. If the problem is multipath, you might need to adjust or move your antenna (Is it really 60 feet above ground level? Are there obstructions in its way?). I don't have any experience with the type of antenna you use, so I don't know if its design contributes to or minimizes the problem. I hope this helps.


I get WPXW on 66 just not on 60 anymore (I used to get both a few years ago). I used to get WHUT back then too (I still get PBS on 26 and 22).
60 feet was a total guess: it's on a post off of the chimney on top of a 2 ½ story row house.

I think I bought a filter a ways back, but I'm not sure if I installed it or not. Doubtful it would have included a block on the new 600 Mhz wireless band. That actually sounds as if it might be the culprit (only suggested "new" potential problem). Thanks!

EDIT: I should clarify I used to watch DOTA on both my TV and laptop, but the USB tuner I used to use no longer works for me (64 bit problem on Mac?), and for the last few years I rearranged the furniture in my room into a fort for two, then one, now none, senior dogs with seizures for one and blindness for the other--they lived to 15 ½ and over 18 years old, but my room is back to normal now.


----------



## jmantothe64

Well, I finally got some DX from the north. I was able to get a PSIP on WGAL-TV in Lancaster, but no luck on a picture. I really want to get a rooftop antenna set up (my parents won't let me and I'm a broke teen).


n8hoo said:


> WIAV-CD transition date set for Thursday.


As for WIAV's transition, I wish WJLA would at least broadcast TBD in 720p, because 480i on a 65" TV looks awful. I'd be happy WIAV is going 3.0, but I can't afford a $200 tuner (again, broke teen)


----------



## n8hoo

StantonGuy said:


> I get WPXW on 66 just not on 60 anymore (I used to get both a few years ago) [...]That actually sounds as if it might be the culprit (only suggested "new" potential problem). Thanks!


I have to second the thought about LTE interference. You never know what kind of localized interference cell towers can create...there's a Verizon tower in downtown Leesburg that completely kills 97.9 FM (!) while driving past.

Interesting about Ion - WWPX (the virtual ch. 60 license) pushed through a very very low powered DRT from Fort Reno (WJLA/WUSA tower) during the digital transition, claiming increased interference from the adjacent Baltimore stations. I had seen the paper but always wondered whether it actually existed. License would have expired sometime in 2013/14, obviously.


----------



## Casey Hartman

You're just a few miles away from me and I suspect a T-Mobile 5G tower is causing some interference, which can be solved with a Channel Master CM-3201 or SiliconDust LPF-608M. In an earlier post you mentioned only receiving stations down to 23, but I'm surprised WNUV, WMAR, and WBFF (RF 25-27) don't come in. 



StantonGuy said:


> I get WPXW on 66 just not on 60 anymore (I used to get both a few years ago). I used to get WHUT back then too (I still get PBS on 26 and 22).
> 60 feet was a total guess: it's on a post off of the chimney on top of a 2 ½ story row house.
> 
> I think I bought a filter a ways back, but I'm not sure if I installed it or not. Doubtful it would have included a block on the new 600 Mhz wireless band. That actually sounds as if it might be the culprit (only suggested "new" potential problem). Thanks!


----------



## fri1038

This may help figure out what LTE and 5G bands are in use nearby. Band 71 is the 600 MHz band.






T-Mobile USA (United States of America)Cell Tower Map


CellMapper is a crowd-sourced cellular tower and coverage mapping service.




www.cellmapper.net


----------



## fri1038

jmantothe64 said:


> Well, I finally got some DX from the north. I was able to get a PSIP on WGAL-TV in Lancaster, but no luck on a picture. I really want to get a rooftop antenna set up (my parents won't let me and I'm a broke teen).


Good deal. I saw last night there was some strong tropo all up the east coast on rabbitears.info band scan map, and the dxinfocentre site. But I have the mighty Stealthtenna oriented N-S instead of the usual SE-NE and didn't see anything out of the ordinary.


----------



## Digital Rules

fri1038 said:


> This may help figure out what LTE and 5G bands are in use nearby. Band 71 is the 600 MHz band.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> T-Mobile USA (United States of America)Cell Tower Map
> 
> 
> CellMapper is a crowd-sourced cellular tower and coverage mapping service.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.cellmapper.net


Unfortunately this map is far from accurate of where many sites actually are. Many are 1/8th+ mile off & some sites don't even show up.


----------



## Trip in VA

I know where many, though not all, T-Mobile (and other cellular) sites in the region are located from extensive studying of permitting documents and other public resources. I don't post it publicly lest the wireless guys get attorney-happy about it. If anyone wants to PM me with an address or coordinates, I can tell you what's around.

- Trip


----------



## greg9x2

n8hoo said:


> WMPB's transmitter is ~12mi to the NW of the other Baltimore stations (Reisterstown) so it's got that little bit of an advantage.


Well that makes it even more off axis for my antenna... Pointed at D.C. which is Magnetic 166 degrees, Most Baltimore stations (which don't get) are 108 degrees, and WMPB is 95 degrees. which makes it more to the side of my antenna and through neighbors roof (townhouse, and attic setup).

Just an oddity.... wish other stations benefited from that kind of bounce/reflection.


----------



## hsweiss

Does anyone know if WETA has been doing xmitter or antenna work lately? I'm south of BWI and have never had any problems receiving them but lately its been hit or miss. WETA, WRC, and WPXW have been my 'reliable' DC stations and WRC and WPXW remain reliable. But WETA, not so much lately. They were ok last night but previous nights it was a very weak signal resulting in inability to decode and loss of signal.


----------



## fri1038

hsweiss said:


> Does anyone know if WETA has been doing xmitter or antenna work lately? ...


I didn't observe any problems with WETA and I don't see anything interesting on the Bandscans on rabbitears.info. WETA's signal has been strong and reliable for me since they moved to their new transmitter last year.

Speculating, we had 2" of rain on the 24th. Some moderate tropospheric conditions along the east coast this week (weakening the signal at your location or allowing another RF31 from Philly or Norfolk to interfere.) Or some temporary or new source of interference specific to your location. If you have trees in your path to the transmitters there will always be some random effects from wind movement, moisture, leaves, fat squirrels, etc. Airplane traffic from BWI has noticibly picked up lately and was taking off to the south, strafing my neighborhood, for a few days until this morning, occasionally knocking out some DC stations for a few seconds.


----------



## n8hoo

WIAV-CD flipped the switch on 3.0 around 11:15:










One channel 58.1 with TBD in what I assume is 1080i, but I don't really know how to tell just from what VLC reports.

The one PLP:



Code:


$ hdhomerun_config FFFFFFFF get /tuner0/plpinfo
0: sfi=0 mod=qam16 cod=9/15 layer=core ti=cti lls=1 lock=1

Goes to show the robustness of 3.0's modulation scheme as I only rarely picked up the 1.0 signal (at 30 miles and antenna pointed straight at Baltimore), but have solid reception of this one. Even when planes fly over!


----------



## Trip in VA

I'm seeing it also, though I saw the ATSC 1 full time.

- Trip


----------



## dipdewdog

Checking in from far Northeast DC... my Sony X900H is receiving WIAV in 3.0 just fine, though the signal level was in the high 70s when it was running 1.0. 

It seems like there’s an issue with the caption signal at the moment. The set is also receiving some of the interactive features (STIRR XT and Radio) that are being transmitted in the signal. I’ll need to do some more digging to find out if those streams are transmitted in the ATSC 3.0 signal or if they’re provided OTT via our Internet connection.


----------



## pkpaul

I see only one channel on the HDHomerun







:


----------



## greg9x2

dipdewdog said:


> Checking in from far Northeast DC... my Sony X900H is receiving WIAV in 3.0 just fine, though the signal level was in the high 70s when it was running 1.0.
> 
> It seems like there’s an issue with the caption signal at the moment. The set is also receiving some of the interactive features (STIRR XT and Radio) that are being transmitted in the signal. I’ll need to do some more digging to find out if those streams are transmitted in the ATSC 3.0 signal or if they’re provided OTT via our Internet connection.
> 
> View attachment 3115125
> 
> 
> View attachment 3115126
> 
> 
> View attachment 3115127
> 
> 
> View attachment 3115128
> 
> 
> View attachment 3115129


Way too weak to pick it up in Frederick. But at least the ball is getting rolling in this area.


----------



## n8hoo

dipdewdog said:


> The set is also receiving some of the interactive features (STIRR XT and Radio) that are being transmitted in the signal. I’ll need to do some more digging to find out if those streams are transmitted in the ATSC 3.0 signal or if they’re provided OTT via our Internet connection.


Interesting - I think this is the second market where we know they are doing Stirr audio, after Seattle. Those streams are over-the-top so I assume the signal just contains some bootstrapping data for the TV app. In Seattle, where Sinclair actually owns a radio cluster in addition to TV stations, there are plans for simulcasts of those stations directly in the OTA stream.









Sinclair Readies ATSC 3.0 Simulcast of Seattle Radio Stations


The broadcaster’s rollout of OTA-delivered ATSC 3.0 radio simulcasts advances its automotive strategy




www.tvtechnology.com


----------



## jmantothe64

hsweiss said:


> Does anyone know if WETA has been doing xmitter or antenna work lately?


I've not had any issues, but like I said in my post on Tuesday, we've had some intermittent tropo around here over the last few days, and a weak out-of-market signal on RF31 may be causing problems. It's possible that they're doing work, but I remember the last time they were on low power for an extended time (I believe it was summer 2019), I couldn't get the signal at all, so it's probably not.

EDIT: it's already been answered, my bad


----------



## Trip in VA

n8hoo said:


> Interesting - I think this is the second market where we know they are doing Stirr audio, after Seattle. Those streams are over-the-top so I assume the signal just contains some bootstrapping data for the TV app. In Seattle, where Sinclair actually owns a radio cluster in addition to TV stations, there are plans for simulcasts of those stations directly in the OTA stream.


I dumped out the files (since I have the Dev unit) and I don't actually see anything included, not even a pointer, but I'm not sure how abstracted away the HDHR actually is or if there's something being filtered out. I'll have to ask.

What did catch my eye though is that the manifest.xml file seems to imply the video is actually in 1080p. 

<Representation bandwidth="7500000" codecs="hvc1.2.4.L123.11" frameRate="60000/1001" height="1080" id="Video1_1" sar="1:1" scanType="Progressive" width="1920">

- Trip


----------



## fri1038

Great minds think alike. ;-)

Seeing some tropo effects as I type this. WHUT RF33 is knocked out. Unusually strong WMJF RF23 signal with antenna pointed the wrong way. Nothing from out of area, though.






VHF Propagation Map







aprs.mennolink.org







jmantothe64 said:


> I've not had any issues, but like I said in my post on Tuesday, we've had some intermittent tropo around here over the last few days, and a weak out-of-market signal on RF31 may be causing problems. It's possible that they're doing work, but I remember the last time they were on low power for an extended time (I believe it was summer 2019), I couldn't get the signal at all, so it's probably not.
> 
> EDIT: it's already been answered, my bad


----------



## hsweiss

fri1038 said:


> Great minds think alike. ;-)
> 
> Seeing some tropo effects as I type this. WHUT RF33 is knocked out. Unusually strong WMJF RF23 signal with antenna pointed the wrong way. Nothing from out of area, though.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> VHF Propagation Map
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> aprs.mennolink.org


Thanks for the replies. I wanted to see if its me or them. Tropo effects can be weird but I find it strange that WRC (RF 34) and WPXW (RF 35) are great whereas WETA (RF 31) is troublesome - all of them high power and high antennas. My antenna is pointed towards DC so I "see" WMJF but can almost never decode them (no loss on my part). WHUT, because of their low power (100 kW according to RabbitEars) has always been difficult for me to receive.


----------



## KyL416

WTXF Philadelphia is on RF 31, so if there's a boost favoring signals from the Philly area it can wipe out reception of WETA.

WPPX Wilmington is also on RF 34, but they are at reduced power while they deal with engineering design issues related to their final post-repack mount, so there would have to be massive boost for it to currently cause issues with WRC. Their final signal will also be highly directional with a north/south pattern to protect other RF 34 channels like WRC.

The RF 35 in Philly is the 15 kW WFPA-CD, so there would have to be some extreme boost conditions for it to affect WPXW.


----------



## dipdewdog

Trip in VA said:


> I dumped out the files (since I have the Dev unit) and I don't actually see anything included, not even a pointer, but I'm not sure how abstracted away the HDHR actually is or if there's something being filtered out. I'll have to ask.
> 
> What did catch my eye though is that the manifest.xml file seems to imply the video is actually in 1080p.
> 
> <Representation bandwidth="7500000" codecs="hvc1.2.4.L123.11" frameRate="60000/1001" height="1080" id="Video1_1" sar="1:1" scanType="Progressive" width="1920">
> 
> - Trip


I disconnected the TV from the Internet and the interactive features became unavailable, so I think it’s pretty clear that the content is delivered Over-the-Top. The app itself (or maybe my set) is really slow and glitchy.

I’m seeing the video stream as 1080i. Gotta love the content on TBD... 🙄


----------



## bullwinklehdtv

dipdewdog said:


> I disconnected the TV from the Internet and the interactive features became unavailable, so I think it’s pretty clear that the content is delivered Over-the-Top. The app itself (or maybe my set) is really slow and glitchy.
> 
> I’m seeing the video stream as 1080i. Gotta love the content on TBD... 🙄
> View attachment 3115185


I'm getting HDR using the HDHomeRun app on an LG OLED and Silicon Dust tuner. I think its 1080p.


----------



## ksalno

pkpaul said:


> I see only one channel on the HDHomerun
> View attachment 3115151
> :


This is the same as what I'm getting on HDHomerun using Silicondust 4K tuner. My Samsung says it is UHD resolution.


----------



## dipdewdog

bullwinklehdtv said:


> I'm getting HDR using the HDHomeRun app on an LG OLED and Silicon Dust tuner. I think its 1080p.





ksalno said:


> This is the same as what I'm getting on HDHomerun using Silicondust 4K tuner. My Samsung says it is UHD resolution.


I would not at all be surprised if my set was reporting it incorrectly.


----------



## Trip in VA

VLC is telling me the video is 1080. The manifest.xml file appears to indicate it's progressive, but I have no way of knowing if I'm interpreting that properly. I need to read the ATSC 3.0 standards, if I ever find the time.

- Trip


----------



## KyL416

VLC uses FFmpeg to decode HEVC, which doesn't currently support interlaced HEVC, so if it were 1080i, the video would show up as a squished 1920x540p image on VLC and other software powered by FFmpeg like FFplay, Kodi and Plex.


----------



## Trip in VA

KyL416 said:


> VLC uses FFmpeg to decode HEVC, which doesn't currently support interlaced HEVC, so if it were 1080i, the video would show up as a squished 1920x540p image on VLC and other software powered by FFmpeg like FFplay, Kodi and Plex.


I've heard conflicting things about that, so I'm not really clear if that's always the case or not.

- Trip


----------



## StantonGuy

Casey Hartman said:


> You're just a few miles away from me and I suspect a T-Mobile 5G tower is causing some interference, which can be solved with a Channel Master CM-3201 or SiliconDust LPF-608M. In an earlier post you mentioned only receiving stations down to 23, but I'm surprised WNUV, WMAR, and WBFF (RF 25-27) don't come in.


Thanks for the specific recommendations! And happy there's something of a consensus that makes sense.

Channels, hmm, not sure everything's been clear with that so here's a list of what I get:

2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 31, 44, 45, 47, 50, 54, 58 (currently not available), 66, 68 
(And subchannels for those, obviously)


----------



## Scott Bonney

Has anyone seen a timetable for the roll out (and participating stations in the DC area) for ATSC 3.0 NextGen TV? As a cord cutter, without cable TV (but very fast Verizon FIOS internet only), it would be great to watch the upcoming Tokyo Olympics over-the-air on NBC in 4K120 HDR on my new LG GX65 OLED. I read that ATSC 3.0 in the DC is one of the regions scheduled to roll out this summer.


----------



## KyL416

Read the past few pages. The "good" news is ATSC 3.0 already launched in DC, the "bad" news, it's just Sinclair's Class A station WIAV-CD showing a 1080p version of TBD on RF 30 along with internet delivered content from their streaming service STIRR.

Baltimore is slated to get it this summer via WNUV's RF 25, but because of Sinclair playing shenanigans once again by trying to get around the 95% coverage requirement for the ATSC 1.0 simulcasts, their current plan isn't going to get an expedited approval from the FCC like other rollouts. (San Antonio's rollout is being delayed for similar reasons)

Don't hold your breath on 4K anytime soon. The ATSC 3.0 rollout is nothing like ATSC 1.0 where stations all had seperate digital signals to co-exist with their analog signals. Instead the stations in a given market get together and pick one station to convert to ATSC 3.0 and share that signal for at least 5 years, so there isn't enough bandwidth for 4K when 4-5 HD stations will be sharing one signal. NBC's 4K olympics coverage will likely be cable/sat/FiOS only like previous years, with the possibility of 4K streaming via the NBC Sports app on some Smart TV platforms.


----------



## Casey Hartman

You receive great reception. WHUT, virtual channel 32, is the only one missing from the DC and Balto markets. 



StantonGuy said:


> Thanks for the specific recommendations! And happy there's something of a consensus that makes sense.
> 
> Channels, hmm, not sure everything's been clear with that so here's a list of what I get:
> 
> 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 31, 44, 45, 47, 50, 54, 58 (currently not available), 66, 68
> (And subchannels for those, obviously)


----------



## Scott Bonney

KyL416 said:


> Read the past few pages. The "good" news is ATSC 3.0 already launched in DC, the "bad" news, it's just Sinclair's Class A station WIAV-CD showing a 1080p version of TBD on RF 30 along with internet delivered content from their streaming service STIRR.
> 
> Baltimore is slated to get it this summer via WNUV's RF 25, but because of Sinclair playing shenanigans once again by trying to get around the 95% coverage requirement for the ATSC 1.0 simulcasts, their current plan isn't going to get an expedited approval from the FCC like other rollouts. (San Antonio's rollout is being delayed for similar reasons)
> 
> Don't hold your breath on 4K anytime soon. The ATSC 3.0 rollout is nothing like ATSC 1.0 where stations all had seperate digital signals to co-exist with their analog signals. Instead the stations in a given market get together and pick one station to convert to ATSC 3.0 and share that signal for at least 5 years, so there isn't enough bandwidth for 4K when 4-5 HD stations will be sharing one signal. NBC's 4K olympics coverage will likely be cable/sat/FiOS only like previous years, with the possiblity of 4K streaming via the NBC Sports app on some Smart TV platforms.


Thanks! Did a retune, and now get 58.1 in 1080p, my first ATSC 3.0 channel. Hopefully more will come over time. Sorry I didn’t do more searching before posting a question...


----------



## StantonGuy

Casey Hartman said:


> You receive great reception. WHUT, virtual channel 32, is the only one missing from the DC and Balto markets.


Thanks, yes, it's important to have the Jewelry channel, QVC, etc. /sarc
Yeah, WHUT is the only one I'm missing, but I'd watch that one! Lots of new(er) channels from a few years ago, but missing (I can't remember the name of it) low powered station (from Fairfax maybe) that had a bunch of subchannels in different languages, but I only ever used it for RAI (Italian) and they stopped broadcasting over the air long before that station that carried it did. 
I asked a lot of questions here before getting the antenna I did--great resource here (and recommendations!)


----------



## KyL416

Last month WHUT was granted a construction permit to increase their power from 100 kW to 416 kW, so whenever they finish that, it should improve WHUT for you. It's using the same tower and antenna they have now, so hopefully it shouldn't take too long before they get whatever transmitter parts are needed to implement the power increase.

WHUT and PBS Kids also have free livestreams via the PBS app and their websites, so that's another option.


----------



## Trip in VA

StantonGuy said:


> Lots of new(er) channels from a few years ago, but missing (I can't remember the name of it) low powered station (from Fairfax maybe) that had a bunch of subchannels in different languages, but I only ever used it for RAI (Italian) and they stopped broadcasting over the air long before that station that carried it did.


WNVT/WNVC sold off the stations' spectrum in the Incentive Auction and have been gone for a few years. A while later, MHz Networks which provided the programming ceased OTA operation altogether and is now streaming-only.

- Trip


----------



## StantonGuy

Trip in VA said:


> WNVT/WNVC sold off the stations' spectrum in the Incentive Auction and have been gone for a few years. A while later, MHz Networks which provided the programming ceased OTA operation altogether and is now streaming-only.
> 
> - Trip


Yes, MHz, that was it, thanks!


----------



## KyL416

Also, WNVT and WNVC still exist on the books as the .3 subchannels of WCVE Richmond and WHTJ Charlottesville now carying the World Channel after MHz Worldview ceased. Their new community of licenses Spotsylvania and Culpeper are still technically part of the DC-Hagerstown DMA, but because their host stations are in Richmond and Charlottesville, no one in metro DC can pick them up, which is now a moot point after the switch to World Channel which is already available in DC via WETA 26-4.

They still qualify for must carry status on cable and satellite in the DC market, but the rules are the station must supply an alternative source if the OTA signal is out of range of the receive facilities, which they have no interest in doing after MHz cashed out and gave the licenses to Virginia Public Media.


----------



## n8hoo

Noticed a big jump in my SNR from WIAV-CD this morning:






Signal graphs for WIAV-CD at Leesburg, VA-N8HOO-4K on tuner1







www.rabbitears.info





Modulation changed to QPSK/4-QAM from 16-QAM. And the SS is the lowest it's ever been...



Code:


$ hdhomerun_config FFFFFFFF get /tuner0/plpinfo
0: sfi=0 mod=qpsk cod=7/15 layer=core ti=cti lls=1 lock=1

With someone on the mailbag just reporting that they were able to decode the 16-QAM signal at 52 miles (!), I wonder how robust it is _now_...


----------



## Trip in VA

The bitrate is now 3-3.5 Mbps for WIAV-CD. 

At QPSK and 7/15, I can't say for certain without knowing the exact settings, but the minimum SNR is in the 4 dB range.

- Trip


----------



## fri1038

Edit: deleted incorrect information 🤪


----------



## wmcbrine

I'm picking up WIAV this morning, for the first time ever! Here's what the "Show stats" option in Channels looks like:










It looks pretty good for ~1Mbps.


----------



## wmcbrine

WIAV still working in Laurel... several hours and not a hint of breakup. I dunno how to access anything but the basic TBD stream, though.


----------



## pkpaul

Seeing another channel "WIAVMMT" 150.3. Same as TBD:


----------



## wmcbrine

I also picked up 150.3 (about a day after pkpaul posted), but this morning they were both back to "Weak Signal".


----------



## pkpaul

9.4 Twist channel is lit-up.


----------



## Balto-Media

Sinclair has lit up its ATSC 3.0 cell phone test channel 24 from the top of the Sinclair HQ building in Hunt Valley, MD. It's very low power, but it's only temporary and designed to test the One Media cell phone (not yet commercially available) which has an actual ATSC 3.0 tuner chip and antenna in it to receive live broadcast TV. When the test is over, channel 24 will switch to channel 25 and be part of Baltimore's NextGen SFN system that launches on June 8.


----------



## Trip in VA

Balto-Media said:


> When the test is over, channel 24 will switch to channel 25 and be part of Baltimore's NextGen SFN system that launches on June 8.


There is no solid information to back up this timeline. They say it will ultimately be part, but it seems unlikely that it would launch on June 8 as such. I suspect they'll add it at a later date.

- Trip


----------



## Balto-Media

Trip in VA said:


> There is no solid information to back up this timeline. They say it will ultimately be part, but it seems unlikely that it would launch on June 8 as such. I suspect they'll add it at a later date.
> 
> - Trip


I'm only reading their own attachments. Whether it will be on channel 25 on June 8, I agree might be unlikely, but clearly they have set this up for that purpose in addition to the One Media phone testing on channel 24. This also means WWDD-LD will not likely be received in a good chunk of Baltimore County until they turn this channel 24 or switch it to 25.


----------



## n8hoo

WRZB-LD has dropped the 3 Katz subchannels that are now duplicated with WPXW (31.1 CourtTV, 31.2 Mystery and 31.3 Laff)...according to the bandscanners 31.1 is blank "ComingS[oon]" while the other two are missing. 31.4/5 are still there.

Also, the mailbag has a picture of WTTG's new antenna getting lifted onto the River Road tower. Probably it'll be lit up soon.


----------



## tylerSC

n8hoo said:


> WRZB-LD has dropped the 3 Katz subchannels that are now duplicated with WPXW (31.1 CourtTV, 31.2 Mystery and 31.3 Laff)...according to the bandscanners 31.1 is blank "ComingS[oon]" while the other two are missing. 31.4/5 are still there.
> 
> Also, the mailbag has a picture of WTTG's new antenna getting lifted onto the River Road tower. Probably it'll be lit up soon.


What is the story with the WTTG antenna? Did they not change with the repack? I remember hearing something about the tower being an issue.


----------



## KyL416

WTTG didn't change RF numbers during the repack, their digital signal has always been on RF 36, even during the DTV transition. They're switching from a horizontal to an elipitcal model antenna and moving to a tower in Bethesda. (The same tower that has WPXW). The change in site is likely because their current tower is at their studio in DC (where they have been located since the MetroMedia days), and they are in the process of relocating their operations to a new office tower in Bethesda.

Manufacturers were already running behind with the repack, and the pandemic made things worse since the manufactuer of their antenna Dielectric had to temporarily shutdown their factory because of an outbreak among workers. They have until 2022 to complete the work in their construction permit, but considering that the antenna lift is happening now, and as long as all the on the ground work in the transmitter building is complete, they should be able to start testing it in the near future.


----------



## n8hoo

FWIW I also remember Trip saying something about structural issues with the DC tower, though it would seem that just sped up the timeline instead of being _the_ reason.


----------



## fri1038

Some potent tropo effects this morning around 7am, especially on the VHF bands. Saw WDPN (RF2) and WACP (RF4) for the first time. WPVI (RF6) and WHYY (RF13) also coming in strong and might be the last to fade. WMBC (RF18) and KYW (RF30) seen, also, from the Philly area.

WBFF was knocked out or a while by another RF26 which was a first for me - was how I noticed something was going on up there. It's just 13 miles away.


----------



## n8hoo

Woo! First tropo opening of the year. There is an Class A on RF 26 (WQAV-CD) in the Philly market so that's the likely culprit. I lost WBFF around 7:00 and it still isn't back.

Right now still have WNJS in on RF 23 over both Daystar stations. Earlier saw WCVW (common) and WLFL (first time), as well as WHYY-TV and WPHL.


----------



## jmantothe64

I think I was able to get the last catch of this opening, had a solid 70% on WPHL for almost a half hour, I plan to upload it (sorta like what Ryan Grabow does) if anyone would like a link sometime later. The tropo's also been incredibly strong from here to Baltimore. On a day with no tropo, I can't pick up baltimore stations, besides MPT, but I'm getting 80-99% on all stations. The weird thing is that the DX info centre says we should be experiencing little to no tropo right now


----------



## fri1038

9am rescan had things looking back to normal for me other than WTTG and WHUT still cancelled out. I added WPHL and WLNY to the list. And maybe a weak WMDE - tuner saw something on RF5 and saw 36.x but never got a lock on it.

---

In other news, or lack there-of, Twist has not yet made it onto WQAW. WMJF's H&I has been showing a test pattern for the past two weeks.


----------



## jmantothe64

The tropo's starting to fade away now, WUTB is no longer coming in strong enough to decode, and WDWA-CD (or maybe WDDN-LD) is trying to come in, but I don't have the antenna pointed in the right direction. I really need to mount an antenna outside soon...


----------



## Balto-Media

jmantothe64 said:


> The tropo's starting to fade away now, WUTB is no longer coming in strong enough to decode, and WDWA-CD (or maybe WDDN-LD) is trying to come in, but I don't have the antenna pointed in the right direction. I really need to mount an antenna outside soon...


 WBFF was off the air apparently. If you lose WBFF, you lose WUTB, same antenna/transmitter.


----------



## Balto-Media

Something that will soon happen that I posted about on BaltoMedia.net. Scripps will be yanking all the Katz Broadcasting networks that they just purchased off of all non-Scripps owned stations in various markets to put on Scripps stations for free instead of paying for the transmission. This affects both DC and Baltimore as both now have Scripps owned stations, WMAR and WPXW/WWPX. As for WMJF, they probably don't even know H&I is gone. I think master control is in Florida and there's virtually no way to contact them. So good luck on that.


----------



## KyL416

That was revealed back in September when Scripps detailed their plans to purchase Ion, and it's not so much of an immediate nationwide "yanking", it's more of them not renewing contracts as they expire over the next 5 years. i.e. Univision's (and Entravision's) contracts for the Katz networks don't expire until August 2024. So far it only happened with the ABC O&O's, who were the launch partners for Laff 6 years ago, while later this summer their deal with Nexstar's original stations expire, which will affect WDVM Hagerstown. The ex-Tribune stations have a different expiration date, but that doesn't apply to WDCW who dropped everything except for Antenna TV when they needed to make room for WFDC, so they never made a deal for CourtTV like many of the other ex-Tribune stations did.

In the meantime they already launched the ones with non-exclusive deals on the Ion stations at the end of February when they pulled the plug on Qubo, Ion Plus and Ion Shop.

The next thing to lookout for DC and Baltimore will be this summer when Scripps launches their two new diginets, and then in October when they relaunch Newsy as a diginet.


----------



## Balto-Media

KyL416 said:


> That was revealed back in September when Scripps detailed their plans to purchase Ion, and it's not so much of an immediate nationwide "yanking", it's more of them not renewing contracts as they expire over the next 5 years. i.e. Univision's (and Entravision's) contracts for the Katz networks don't expire until August 2024. So far it only happened with the ABC O&O's, who were the launch partners for Laff 6 years ago, while later this summer their deal with Nexstar's original stations expire, which will affect WDVM Hagerstown. (The ex-Tribune stations have a different expiration date, but that doesn't apply to WDCW who only has Antenna TV as a subchannel)
> 
> In the meantime they already launched the ones with non-exclusive deals on the Ion stations at the end of February when they pulled the plug on Qubo, Ion Plus and Ion Shop.
> 
> The next thing to lookout for DC and Baltimore will be this summer when Scripps launches their two new diginets, and then in October when they relaunch Newsy as a diginet.


Thanks for the updated info. Scripps has a Washington Bureau, but both WMAR and WPXW are very underpowered staff wise as Newsy affiliates for any breaking story. Scripps doesn't even currently have any chopper access in DC or Baltimore. I hope they have big plans, but those two stations are certainly weak links at the moment.


----------



## n8hoo

Applications from WFPT and WMPB to replace their antennas and change from horizontal to elliptical polarization. I'm no expert, but I guess that might have the effect of making indoor reception easier?





__





Licensing and Management System


Licensing and Management System




enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov








__





Licensing and Management System


Licensing and Management System




enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov


----------



## wmcbrine

Balto-Media said:


> Thanks for the updated info. Scripps has a Washington Bureau, but both WMAR and WPXW are very underpowered staff wise as Newsy affiliates for any breaking story. Scripps doesn't even currently have any chopper access in DC or Baltimore. I hope they have big plans, but those two stations are certainly weak links at the moment.


Eh, have you seen Newsy? I don't think that's how they operate.


----------



## fri1038

Balto-Media said:


> As for WMJF, they probably don't even know H&I is gone. I think master control is in Florida and there's virtually no way to contact them. So good luck on that.


Someone is working on it this afternoon - changes happening as I type this. Test pattern is gone, replaced with a black screen and H&I's audio. And a hyphen was added to the PSIP label: "WMJFHI-" They corrected its virtual channel from 33.1 back to 39.6.

The label for 39.1 is now "WMJF IO" and 39.4 is "WMJF Gr" lining up with the recent Ion and Grit swap. 

And their Quest channel was just restored after being down for a couple days. It was suffering from video problems, lots of green lines and artifacts, for a while.


----------



## Balto-Media

wmcbrine said:


> Eh, have you seen Newsy? I don't think that's how they operate.


I was referring to like when Fox News or MSNBC has a live feed from its LA or NY or DC Owned & Operated station, they'll go to it live, but those local stations have huge news departments too so they're kind of reliable for the networks. The stations Scripps bought in ION have no local news departments, but many Scripps stations do have large news operations, just not WMAR in Baltimore.


----------



## KyL416

Scripps doesn't have any local news stations in the top 10 markets, their highest ranked DMA is #11 Phoenix. For about a year they had WPIX from NYC, but they were just babysitting the channel as part of the Tribune divestitures until Nexstar made a few more moves that allowed their shell company Mission to purchase it, which also allowed Scripps to purchase the Ion stations in Philly, Minneapolis and Bay Area. For national news stories their stations rely on their network news partners like ABC News One, NBC News Channel, Fox News Edge, CBS Newspath, CNN Newsource, etc.

Don't expect them to use Ion to launch local news divisions, these are budget stations, the most "local" content you'll see is their weekly public affairs show, that many times is a co-production with other local non-Ion stations. (i.e. Hartford's Ion station WHPX shares a public affairs show with WZME, an independent station based in the Connecticut portion of the NYC DMA)

Newsy isn't really a live breaking news channel. It's closer to what CNN Headline News used to be. If something of interest happens in a city where they have a local station, you may see reports filed from those stations, but most of the time it's just someone in their newsroom/studio reading over pool/file footage.


----------



## fri1038

fri1038 said:


> Someone is working on it this afternoon - changes happening as I type this. Test pattern is gone, replaced with a black screen and H&I's audio. ...


WMJF's 39.6 H&I video is currently mpeg4. No wonder it was audio only on my old Panasonic and Samsung sets. The newish Aluratek tuner could see it. A sample recording in VLC showed it was mpeg4.


----------



## Balto-Media

Draper is proposing to build a new taller tower for its WRDE translator station WSJZ-LD with 15kw omni near Milton, DE. I believe it's about 100 foot taller than the current WXDE FM tower, nearly 500 foot tall. I would think it would be a better signal all around southern Delaware and reach Dover better, but still won't help me when I'm at the beach. WRDE's weakest signaled area is still Ocean City.








Thanks Tripp for the LR.


----------



## fri1038

WQAW-LD's 69.5 switched to Twist from ShopLC today.


----------



## wmcbrine

Today, I see:

150.3 WIAVMNT
158.1 WIAV
158.3 WIAVMNT

all with the same content, so far. (The numbers reported by the HDHR 4K are PSIP + 100 for ATSC 3 channels.)


----------



## pkpaul

At some point after 22 April, WIAVMMT changed from 150.3 to 158.3.
So there is just the two channels.


----------



## mkfs

mkfs said:


> {hour-off times}


So I threw up a Radios Hack powered panel I bought at a hamfest. No surprise, it's better than the 30 y.o. Yagi, and its 30 y.o. RG59; especially as it is pointing the wrong way thanks to that derecho.

So the rescan {again...} showed me all sorts of subchannels that I am re-marking _skip, skip, skip._

But while doing so I am looking at my displayed time corundum. 

Thus far:

68.1
50.1,2
25.1
23.1,2,3
14.2,3,4
9.1,2,3,4
are displaying an hour behind EDT. I'm listing subchannels only because I was working through them.

So I wonder if others see this or is my TCL set bonkers?

Also, the only 68.1 I find with TV Fool is WJAL 80 miles away. This strikes me as improbable. It's a religious broadcast displaying a "SBN" logo. The TCL does not seem to tell me the RF channels anywhere I see, and I've not found a FCC lookup from virtual channels.


----------



## Casey Hartman

My HDHomeRun recorded some incorrect shows a couple of times I think due to the time being off. Son Of Life network broadcasts on 68.1. I don't know the correlation of it to WJAL since WUSA broadcasts on RF 9.



mkfs said:


> So I threw up a Radios Hack powered panel I bought at a hamfest. No surprise, it's better than the 30 y.o. Yagi, and its 30 y.o. RG59; especially as it is pointing the wrong way thanks to that derecho.
> 
> So the rescan {again...} showed me all sorts of subchannels that I am re-marking _skip, skip, skip._
> 
> But while doing so I am looking at my displayed time corundum.
> 
> Thus far:
> 
> 68.1
> 50.1,2
> 25.1
> 23.1,2,3
> 14.2,3,4
> 9.1,2,3,4
> are displaying an hour behind EDT. I'm listing subchannels only because I was working through them.
> 
> So I wonder if others see this or is my TCL set bonkers?
> 
> Also, the only 68.1 I find with TV Fool is WJAL 80 miles away. This strikes me as improbable. It's a religious broadcast displaying a "SBN" logo. The TCL does not seem to tell me the RF channels anywhere I see, and I've not found a FCC lookup from virtual channels.


----------



## fri1038

Time looks good on my Samsung on those channels - can't see that particular 23, however. (We have so many around here.) Maybe check the daylight savings time setting if your set has that.

TVFool is way out of date. Here is the current Washington market channel spread: Run a Signal Search
Map there sometime for your location.





__





RabbitEars.Info


RabbitEars, where you can learn all about local, over-the-air TV channels.




www.rabbitears.info





Like Casey said, 9 (WUSA) and 68 (WJAL) channel share on RF9. Likewise, 14 (WFDC,) 25 (WDVM,) and 50 (WDCW) on RF15. 68.1 recently updated their displayed callsign to Entra, but still shows the SBN network.


----------



## mkfs

fri1038 said:


> Time looks good on my Samsung on those channels - can't see that particular 23, however. (We have so many around here.) Maybe check the daylight savings time setting if your set has that.


That would affect all my channels, not just those few.


----------



## fri1038

mkfs said:


> That would affect all my channels, not just those few.


Wasn't clear initially if it was an all or some problem.

Some googling implies tcl roku tv clock behavior is different when connected to the internet versus OTA-only. Connected? Might have to manually set the timezone if no internet, for example. Some have had firmware problems that made the time setting menu vanish. Or it's just bonkers - I can sympathize. FWIW I booted up my old Magnavox OTA DVR which lets me specify which channel from which to set the time. Timezone is manual, set to Eastern. DST is on. Again, 9 and 14 sourced time looked good.

===

Noticed Buzzr was down on both WTTG and WMJF this morning. Was still working online. WMJF's is back up this afternoon.


----------



## mkfs

fri1038 said:


> Time looks good on my Samsung on those channels - can't see that particular 23, however. (We have so many around here.) Maybe check the daylight savings time setting if your set has that.


That would affect all my channels, not just those few. Hence my confusion.
I've also solved my confusion on why I get 25.1 but not .2 etc. It seems the 25.1 is simulcast at low resolution by WDCA. That strikes me as ..unusual..


----------



## KyL416

It's not that unusual, many stations do things like that if they have a sister station that broadcasts from the fringes of the DMA and doesn't reach the main city. So now that they are sister stations, WDCW's RF 15 signal added a SD simulcast of WDVM 6 months ago. But since they are spectrum sharing RF 15 with WFDC, they don't have the bandwidth to carry the simulcast in HD or any of WDVM's subchannels. And even if they had the bandwidth available, adding WDVM's subchannels to WDCW's signal would be a moot-point anyway, Nexstar's contract for the Katz networks are expiring this summer in favor of Scripps moving them in house to Ion stations like WWPX and WPXW.

Plus, WDVM's subchannels are already available on other signals in the DC area:
25-2 Mystery -> now available via WPXW 66-2
25-3 Grit -> already available on the same RF 15 signal via WFDC 14-3, and their contract for the Katz networks doesn't expire until 2024
25-4 Laff -> now available via WPXW 66-4

Also as for the time issue only affecting a few stations. It depends on what those stations have in their PSIP data. If they have an incorrect DST status value in their STT table, it can result in some tuners displaying the wrong time while you're tuned to that station or having the PSIP listings offset by an hour.


----------



## joblo

KyL416 said:


> Plus, WDVM's subchannels are already available on other signals in the DC area:
> 25-2 Mystery -> now available via WPXW 66-2, and also via WRZB 31-2 for now
> 25-4 Laff -> now available via WPXW 66-4, and also via WRZB 31-3 for now


Nope, been gone from WRZB for several weeks now:



n8hoo said:


> WRZB-LD has dropped the 3 Katz subchannels that are now duplicated with WPXW (31.1 CourtTV, 31.2 Mystery and 31.3 Laff)...according to the bandscanners 31.1 is blank "ComingS[oon]" while the other two are missing. 31.4/5 are still there.


And those bandscanners are right:

RabbitEars Mobile


----------



## mkfs

Question:

What's the history/backstory on the new {to me} high virtual channel numbers?


----------



## KyL416

Earlier this year Scripps purchased Ion Media and is moving their Katz diginets (Laff, Bounce, CourtTV, Mystery and Grit) to Ion stations so they no longer have to pay 3rd party broadcasters to clear them. After the contracts expire over the next 5 years, in most markets they'll only be available via Ion stations and other Scripps owned stations. The process began at the end of February when they killed off Qubo, Ion Plus and Ion Shop to make room for whatever Katz networks didn't have exclusive deals locally.

In DC, WPXW replaced Qubo with Mystery, Ion Plus with CourtTV and Ion Shop with Laff, QVC and HSN will be replaced with some new networks Scripps is launching this summer and fall, and eventually Grit and Bounce will join too when Univision's contract expires in 2024.


----------



## mkfs

KyL416 said:


> It's not that unusual, many stations do things like that if they have a sister station that broadcasts from the fringes of the DMA and doesn't reach the main city. So now that they are sister stations, WDCW's RF 15 signal added a SD simulcast of WDVM 6 months ago.


What was unusual to me is that, thanks to ASTC, both the primary and simucasting transmitters can use the same virtual channel number; the average viewer has no way of knowing which they are receiving.

I wonder how a receiver in the coverage area of both copes during the scan?


----------



## pclement

Is there something going on with 004.01 WRC-HD? I haven't been able to get a signal now in SE PA for a few weeks. Always used to come in fairly strong. Tried a re-scan but no luck.


----------



## n8hoo

mkfs said:


> What was unusual to me is that, thanks to ASTC, both the primary and simucasting transmitters can use the same virtual channel number; the average viewer has no way of knowing which they are receiving.
> 
> I wonder how a receiver in the coverage area of both copes during the scan?


IIRC older receivers tended to have problems with two signals with the same VC and name - it is still not uncommon to see digital replacement translators shift the minor number upward (for example 2.1-4 for the main tx, 2.5-8 for the DRT) to prevent this and for ease of picking the best signal

I think if any modern TV scanned both 25.1 it would handle it fine. It helps one is "WDVM-DT" and the other is "WDVM-SD".



pclement said:


> Is there something going on with 004.01 WRC-HD?


There hasn't been any recent change in that signal and my bandscanner doesn't show anything that would point to lowered power or something similar


----------



## KyL416

pclement said:


> Is there something going on with 004.01 WRC-HD? I haven't been able to get a signal now in SE PA for a few weeks.


Where in Southeast PA are you? One of WLYH's translators recently moved to Red Lion on RF 34 and puts out a decent signal up to the PA/MD border.


----------



## n8hoo

KyL416 said:


> Where in Southeast PA are you? One of WLYH's translators recently moved to Red Lion on RF 34 and puts out a decent signal up to the PA/MD border.


Oh, good catch that's definitely it. Talk about barely following the rules...


----------



## Trip in VA

If it meets 0.5% interference, it meets the rule.

- Trip


----------



## KyL416

You can see the TVStudy that they submitted with the application here, pages 10-12 have the entries for WRC-TV:
https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/attachment/25076f9178cd433c0178d750b9271839


----------



## pclement

n8hoo said:


> IIRC older receivers tended to have problems with two signals with the same VC and name - it is still not uncommon to see digital replacement translators shift the minor number upward (for example 2.1-4 for the main tx, 2.5-8 for the DRT) to prevent this and for ease of picking the best signal
> 
> I think if any modern TV scanned both 25.1 it would handle it fine. It helps one is "WDVM-DT" and the other is "WDVM-SD".
> 
> 
> 
> There hasn't been any recent change in that signal and my bandscanner doesn't show anything that would point to lowered power or something similar


Thanks. I will keep trying to receive it. It is not a vegetation issue as nothing blocks the antennae.


----------



## fri1038

pclement said:


> Thanks. I will keep trying to receive it. It is not a vegetation issue as nothing blocks the antennae.


You might have missed a post, above, about a new station in Red Lion on RF34, like WRC, that could be interfering. Is 34.1 WLYH new to you, if you see it? Other regional RF34s via rabbitears.info:


----------



## Casey Hartman

I setup an Antennas Direct 2Max at a friend's apartment today and it's picking up an analog station on channel 6 that looks like is airing a slideshow with Spanish music. It's a very snowy picture, but I can make at Nueva 877 on one of the slides.


----------



## KyL416

Yeah, it's WDCN-LP, one of those franken FMs who put more power on their 87.75 MHz audio carrier than they do on their 83.25 MHz video carrier to extend the range of their "FM" signal. As of now they have until July to either convert to digital or go off air entirely until they do.


----------



## n8hoo

Transmitter is, I believe, near Ballston. Recently abandoned a permit for RF 8 to flash-cut on RF 6 instead...deadline to be early 2022, although they will have to cease analog operations on 13 July regardless.

I remember the bad old days (10ish years ago) when they carried D.C. United and was the only source of live coverage for a good chunk of their schedule...


----------



## Digital Rules

n8hoo said:


> Transmitter is, I believe, near Ballston.


Pretty sure it is on the WETA-FM tower on George Mason Drive. Strange thing is my Sony HD Radio won't really pick it up. It acts like they are transmitting off the center frequency.


----------



## fri1038

I hear it okay up my way on 87.75 MHz, if you can fine tune in .05 MHz increments. Lots of electronic hum on top of the audio on 87.7. No hint of anything on TV 6.

===

Was experimenting with an RCA 751E antenna I picked up at a neighborhood yard sale. Got me WGAL and WWTD in the middle of the day, in addition to those the CM Stealthenna pulled in. But it didn't help with a flakey WTTG through all the trees and leaves. Something about its location and mine. Nor does a 600 MHz filter help. WPXW is stable so we shall see if WTTG's eventual transmitter move to the same tower helps.


----------



## KyL416

It depends on how your TV does their analog scan. The norm for analog TV is to have more power on the video carrier and less on the audio carrier, but Franken FM stations do the reverse. So if your TV relies on the video carrier, it might ignore it during a scan. And if you manually tune to Analog 6, it might replace it with a blue screen with no audio even though the audio carrier is strong. Some TVs have an advanced setting to disable the blue screen on "weak" channels since during the analog era those blue screens also prevented people in fringe areas from viewing snowy but watchable channels.

The audio carrier for RF 6 is on 87.75, for most FM tuners that's close enough to 87.70, but if it's a tuner designed to completely reject out of band signals, it can be a problem. Although, tuners like that are great if you want to listen to a distant 98.1 when there are closer stations on 97.9 or 98.3.


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## Balto-Media

fri1038 said:


> You might have missed a post, above, about a new station in Red Lion on RF34, like WRC, that could be interfering. Is 34.1 WLYH new to you, if you see it? Other regional RF34s via rabbitears.info:


And Draper's WSJZ-LD on 34 is applying to move northwest at a higher power (15kw), so no one on the mid shore will likely ever get WRC NBC 4 anymore if they even were still able to. NBC Coast TV should also have a stronger signal in Dover, DE than WCAU NBC 10 on 28. Rumor has it that Draper is buying another FM, so another WRDE signal maybe be moving too soon. Philly's WPPX on RF 34 will be another casualty in Dover too.


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## Balto-Media

n8hoo said:


> Transmitter is, I believe, near Ballston. Recently abandoned a permit for RF 8 to flash-cut on RF 6 instead...deadline to be early 2022, although they will have to cease analog operations on 13 July regardless.
> 
> I remember the bad old days (10ish years ago) when they carried D.C. United and was the only source of live coverage for a good chunk of their schedule...


I asked Trip about WDCN and he made me realize that there is no application on file for flash cutting to RF 6 or any specs for one either. They only mention it in their extension request, which is simply an application to stay a radio station past July 13. I'm told their powerful lobbyists are pressing hard to keep analog channel 6 indefinitely. We shall see.


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## Antenna Man PA

Balto-Media said:


> I asked Trip about WDCN and he made me realize that there is no application on file for flash cutting to RF 6 or any specs for one either. They only mention it in their extension request, which is simply an application to stay a radio station past July 13. I'm told their powerful lobbyists are pressing hard to keep analog channel 6 indefinitely. We shall see.


It's funny you mention this. I just spent all day creating a video I'll be posting tomorrow on the exact subject. Venture Technologies Group, owner of several Franken FMs, proposed a solution with the FCC. It consists of a NextGen TV signal on the lower portion of RF 6 (since it's more efficient than ATSC 1.0) and then a secondary analog audio signal on 87.75MHz. I'm told the FCC is allowing them to continue this temporarily on one station but hasn't made any rules for the other Franken FMs.


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## joblo

KyL416 said:


> The audio carrier for RF 6 is on 87.75


Only if there's no 10 KHz offset. WFIL/WPVI in Philly was on 87.74, WTVR Richmond was on 87.76, and I actually had an analog FM tuner decades ago that could be detuned to the left or right such it could get either one at the same time when there was sufficient tropo enhancement. It wasn't really that hard because the deviation for TV sound was only 25 KHz, not the 75 KHz of FM radio.

WDCN is clearly using 75 KHz deviation (along with FM-style stereo and it's 19 KHz subcarrier), which makes it ridiculously LOUDER than normal if you do manage to tune it in on a TV tuner. A few years ago, my TiVos could tune it, and I've got a recording to prove it, but today the video is too weak to lock, even though the audio seems as strong as ever.



Antenna Man PA said:


> Venture Technologies Group, owner of several Franken FMs, proposed a solution with the FCC. It consists of a NextGen TV signal on the lower portion of RF 6 (since it's more efficient than ATSC 1.0) and then a secondary analog audio signal on 87.75MHz.


But if they are going to deliberately put an FM audio signal on a 3.0 TV channel, why stay at 87.75? Why not just use 87.70, or better still, 87.90?


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## Balto-Media

Antenna Man PA said:


> It's funny you mention this. I just spent all day creating a video I'll be posting tomorrow on the exact subject. Venture Technologies Group, owner of several Franken FMs, proposed a solution with the FCC. It consists of a NextGen TV signal on the lower portion of RF 6 (since it's more efficient than ATSC 1.0) and then a secondary analog audio signal on 87.75MHz. I'm told the FCC is allowing them to continue this temporarily on one station but hasn't made any rules for the other Franken FMs.


I personally think that channel 6 should be used for All Digital radio and not using the ancient IBOC system, but based on more modern digital tech used in ATSC 3.0 audio. I know that WPVI technically has nowhere to go, but problems like this have been solved before. I don't see it as insurmountable. Most of the other channel 6s only did it for the cash and could move to another channel.


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## Casey Hartman

My friend has a Samsung, but I didn't look for the year or model number on the back. I think it's pretty old as I couldn't find a signal meter in the menu options. 



KyL416 said:


> It depends on how your TV does their analog scan. The norm for analog TV is to have more power on the video carrier and less on the audio carrier, but Franken FM stations do the reverse. So if your TV relies on the video carrier, it might ignore it during a scan. And if you manually tune to Analog 6, it might replace it with a blue screen with no audio even though the audio carrier is strong. Some TVs have an advanced setting to disable the blue screen on "weak" channels since during the analog era those blue screens also prevented people in fringe areas from viewing snowy but watchable channels.
> 
> The audio carrier for RF 6 is on 87.75, for most FM tuners that's close enough to 87.70, but if it's a tuner designed to completely reject out of band signals, it can be a problem. Although, tuners like that are great if you want to listen to a distant 98.1 when there are closer stations on 97.9 or 98.3.


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## Balto-Media

Antenna Man PA said:


> It's funny you mention this. I just spent all day creating a video I'll be posting tomorrow on the exact subject. Venture Technologies Group, owner of several Franken FMs, proposed a solution with the FCC. It consists of a NextGen TV signal on the lower portion of RF 6 (since it's more efficient than ATSC 1.0) and then a secondary analog audio signal on 87.75MHz. I'm told the FCC is allowing them to continue this temporarily on one station but hasn't made any rules for the other Franken FMs.


I respectfully disagree with your assessment that the Channel 6s should be kept on the air. They were designed to be minority owned low power TV stations. Then they sold them to non-minority companies to continue to operate them as radio stations. The do in fact interfere with NPR radio stations, especially the ones on 88.1 FM. The one near me is overmodulated, twice the volume, and a distraction when driving because the volume startles me. People who break the rules should not be rewarded. If the FCC wants to make channel 6 entirely FM or Digital FM radio for minorities or niche programming, I'm on board, but these stations are wasting valuable TV spectrum not operating as a TV station, a complete waste of the now tightened bandwidth. Keeping them on the air would be lunacy. But the government never ceases to surprise me with stupidity, so I wouldn't be surprised if they keep the bad tech around.


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## pclement

fri1038 said:


> You might have missed a post, above, about a new station in Red Lion on RF34, like WRC, that could be interfering. Is 34.1 WLYH new to you, if you see it? Other regional RF34s via rabbitears.info:


Yes, I think this is the issue. During a storm this weekend I saw channel 34.1 mapping to 4.1. So I guess the signals are cancelling each other out most of the time. I am in York County just across the Mason-Dixon line. This is disappointing since I liked getting NBC out of DC. 34.1 is just Songs & Scriptures (nothing else at this time and I already get that out of Harrisburg, PA). When the digital signals started I was able to get the major networks out of MD, PA and DC. Over time I am getting fewer major network stations and multiple minor networks. Very frustrating. I used to get about 80 plus channels (including subchannels). Now I get about 70 channels. The closet major station to my house is Fox-43 in York, PA (15 miles). They are still in York, but they now transmit out of Harrisburg, PA (45 miles) and I no longer get their signals. When will the madness stop!


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## Antenna Man PA

pclement said:


> Yes, I think this is the issue. During a storm this weekend I saw channel 34.1 mapping to 4.1. So I guess the signals are cancelling each other out most of the time. I am in York County just across the Mason-Dixon line. This is disappointing since I liked getting NBC out of DC. 34.1 is just Songs & Scriptures (nothing else at this time and I already get that out of Harrisburg, PA). When the digital signals started I was able to get the major networks out of MD, PA and DC. Over time I am getting fewer major network stations and multiple minor networks. Very frustrating. I used to get about 80 plus channels (including subchannels). Now I get about 70 channels. The closet major station to my house is Fox-43 in York, PA (15 miles). They are still in York, but they now transmit out of Harrisburg, PA (45 miles) and I no longer get their signals. When will the madness stop!


This is the result of the FCC selling a big chunk of the TV spectrum to cell phone companies. Less spacing between co channels resulting in people losing both stations if they're between markets. I wouldn't be surprised if they try it again in a few years.


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## KyL416

Their plan still hasn't been approved yet, but today WNUV filed another amendment to change the date of ATSC 3.0 from 6/8 to 6/24.

Everything else remains the same when it comes to the proposed hosting arrangements.


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## Brian in CT

Antenna Man PA said:


> This is the result of the FCC selling a big chunk of the TV spectrum to cell phone companies. Less spacing between co channels resulting in people losing both stations if they're between markets. I wouldn't be surprised if they try it again in a few years.


In the analog (NTSC) era, full power TV stations sharing the same channel had to be at least 160 miles away from each other. If a TV applicant wanted to "short space" a co-channel in tighter (say 140 miles away), they had to jump through hoops with the FCC to possibly get the proposal granted. After the switch to ATSC, "allowable interference" became normalized when every station had to repack below RF channel 51. With the last repack, the interference problems have only been made worse. Mild atmospheric enhancement can cause locals to dropout.

If the FCC tries another repack, at least a hundred TV stations would have to go dark to get just enough bandwidth to make it worthwhile. They can't stuff the remaining stations in any tighter, unless they're willing to make the TV bands worse than AM radio.


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## KyL416

The Northeast corridor between DC/Baltimore to Boston alone would be impossible to repack because you have multiple major markets with a full set of network stations and independents right next to eachother with medium sized markets like Scranton, Hartford, Harrisburg and Providence and small markets like Salisbury and Springfield filling in the gaps between them. Southern to Central Florida between Miami/West Palm Beach and Orlando/Tampa and Canadian border areas like Toronto/Buffalo and Burlington/Montreal might be a problem too.

The Pacific corridor between San Diego/Tijuana up to the Bay Area (SF and Sacramento) would be hard too. San Diego is already stretched thin because they have to split the available allocations with Tijuana so they have a situation where CW/MyNet and Ion are on subchannels, Univision and UniMas are not on full power signals, and several diginets like H&I, Decades, StartTV and Heartland don't have any clearance. San Francisco and Sacramento are pretty much in the same boat as DC and Baltimore, two cities that are close enough that they could have been one market, but each city is large enough to warrant their own set of allocations and network affiliates.

The land mobile/T-Band also limits the available RF numbers in major makets, so a combo of channels between RFs 14-20 are not usuable in a radius around those cities. They were planning on getting rid of it and auctioning it off, but any alternative band wouldn't be able to replicate the current level of service for first responders, especially in cities like NYC where the T-band is better at penetrating skyscrapers than the higher frequency bands.


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## Balto-Media

Brian in CT said:


> In the analog (NTSC) era, full power TV stations sharing the same channel had to be at least 160 miles away from each other. If a TV applicant wanted to "short space" a co-channel in tighter (say 140 miles away), they had to jump through hoops with the FCC to possibly get the proposal granted. After the switch to ATSC, "allowable interference" became normalized when every station had to repack below RF channel 51. With the last repack, the interference problems have only been made worse. Mild atmospheric enhancement can cause locals to dropout.
> 
> If the FCC tries another repack, at least a hundred TV stations would have to go dark to get just enough bandwidth to make it worthwhile. They can't stuff the remaining stations in any tighter, unless they're willing to make the TV bands worse than AM radio.


The original goal for the Repack was to compress the TV band to 2-30, but that was deemed not possible without a large loss of TV stations. If there ever is another repack it, it won't be until the NextGen TV transition is over and all ATSC 1.0 signals are gone for good. At that point, every market has new channel sharing opportunities for new TV channels within the extra in-band bandwidth. Of course, most will use all of their own, but there could be some incentive at that point to lease out your extra bandwidth all over again to remove another 6 TV channels. I personally don't like the idea, but I could see the FCC doing it unless ATSC 3.0 takes off in more surprising directions.


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## Antenna Man PA

Balto-Media said:


> The original goal for the Repack was to compress the TV band to 2-30, but that was deemed not possible without a large loss of TV stations. If there ever is another repack it, it won't be until the NextGen TV transition is over and all ATSC 1.0 signals are gone for good. At that point, every market has new channel sharing opportunities for new TV channels within the extra in-band bandwidth. Of course, most will use all of their own, but there could be some incentive at that point to lease out your extra bandwidth all over again to remove another 6 TV channels. I personally don't like the idea, but I could see the FCC doing it unless ATSC 3.0 takes off in more surprising directions.


If there's another repack I'll hopefully have a million viewers by that time to speak out against it. When the FCC announced the last repack (2015/2016?) various groups were against it. They warned it would cause reception problems from STAs and co channel interference. Like most issues in our political system - the groups were ignored and ended up being correct.


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## pclement

I think that broadcast TV as we know it will disappear over the next decade or two. Everything will be via streaming once high speed internet is available everywhere (thanks to Biden). I live in an internet hole (no cable, no FIOS, nothing but wireless via Verizon or Hugh's Net - neither of which is very good). I am optimistic eventually we will get a reliable internet.


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## Balto-Media

pclement said:


> I think that broadcast TV as we know it will disappear over the next decade or two. Everything will be via streaming once high speed internet is available everywhere (thanks to Biden). I live in an internet hole (no cable, no FIOS, nothing but wireless via Verizon or Hugh's Net - neither of which is very good). I am optimistic eventually we will get a reliable internet.


God help us all if that happens. No local community news. Woke & supremacist people streaming Fake News from Youtube. Like we need more Millennial thinking in the public interest, the kids who all got Participation Awards in school and think we only have 12 years left to live because the earth is going to burn up. Local news is still some of the highest rated and ad supported free content available. I will not pay people to lie to me online. ATSC 3.0 is designed to prevent just such a horror story that you predict and we better pray to God it succeeds. Think about it. Where outside of broadcast TV and struggling newspapers is there any real journalism?


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## Mike Lang

Complaints received - Post your political concerns elsewhere please. Kindly stay on the topic of local reception info sans any politics.

Thanks


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## Balto-Media

Mike Lang said:


> Complaints received - Post your political concerns elsewhere please. Kindly stay on the topic of local reception info sans any politics.
> 
> Thanks


I totally agree. No more talk of Biden or Trump or anything political. But it's important to note that predicting the end of Broadcast TV is simply against the mission of this site even. That is why we're here.


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## pclement

Balto-Media said:


> I totally agree. No more talk of Biden or Trump or anything political. But it's important to note that predicting the end of Broadcast TV is simply against the mission of this site even. That is why we're here.


Sorry if I offended anyone (that was not my intent). But I do think technology will change how we receive our entertainment via TV. I plan to use broadcast TV as long as possible and appreciate this forum. But I do believe there will be major changes in the very near future.


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## Antenna Man PA

pclement said:


> Sorry if I offended anyone (that was not my intent). But I do think technology will change how we receive our entertainment via TV. I plan to use broadcast TV as long as possible and appreciate this forum. But I do believe there will be major changes in the very near future.


The changes will likely come with NextGen TV. I predict some O&Os offering premium cable channels over the air alongside the free over the air channels - like ESPN as a subchannel on certain ABC stations. If NextGen TV proves to be efficient enough I can see the FCC selling more spectrum to cell phone companies (again). I don't think broadcast TV is going to go away - at least not in most of our lives. We tend to forget the benefits on the broadcasters end - the fact an over the air signal in a market gives them either must carry or retransmission fee revenue from cable/satellite providers.


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## Balto-Media

Antenna Man PA said:


> The changes will likely come with NextGen TV. I predict some O&Os offering premium cable channels over the air alongside the free over the air channels - like ESPN as a subchannel on certain ABC stations. If NextGen TV proves to be efficient enough I can see the FCC selling more spectrum to cell phone companies (again). I don't think broadcast TV is going to go away - at least not in most of our lives. We tend to forget the benefits on the broadcasters end - the fact an over the air signal in a market gives them either must carry or retransmission fee revenue from cable/satellite providers.


I agree. Why do people assume that cable TV is growing? It is not. It is shrinking at an alarming rate. And streaming is picking up most of its losses, but not all. Last I checked, the Word Series and Super Bowl are still on broadcast TV and soon 4K broadcast TV as well as the Olympics. So Broadcast TV is slowly growing again and with ATSC 3.0, you'll be able to get it live on your phone or anywhere in your house without antennas on every TV. This is not your father's rabbit ears anymore.


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## fri1038

Last night's strong tropo event on the east coast continues this morning. WLNY (Long Island) has been strong since 11pm last night. Saw a station from south of DC the first time, WAVY (Norfolk, VA) even with my aluminum sided house blocking that direction. Plus my regulars from Lancaster, Philly, and Salisbury.


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## jmantothe64

When did it come around? I was scanning around 9:30pm but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Too bad I'm not at home right now, so I can't join in on the fun D:


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## pclement

Antenna Man PA said:


> The changes will likely come with NextGen TV. I predict some O&Os offering premium cable channels over the air alongside the free over the air channels - like ESPN as a subchannel on certain ABC stations. If NextGen TV proves to be efficient enough I can see the FCC selling more spectrum to cell phone companies (again). I don't think broadcast TV is going to go away - at least not in most of our lives. We tend to forget the benefits on the broadcasters end - the fact an over the air signal in a market gives them either must carry or retransmission fee revenue from cable/satellite providers.


I think the safety net for broadcast TV will be PSA and Emergency Broadcasts (although I get the latter on my cell phone). FCC will want to keep those available.


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## fri1038

jmantothe64 said:


> When did it come around? I was scanning around 9:30pm but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Too bad I'm not at home right now, so I can't join in on the fun D:


I first saw WPHL and WCAU around 9:30pm last night. WLNY, WPVI, WHYY around 11:00pm. WAVY didn't last long this morning at 8am. WLNY finally faded away just now. WGAL and WCPB popped in there too at various times.

I have been seeing the PA stations regularly 8am-10am and 8pm-10pm the past couple weeks as the summer weather settles in. I have my antenna pointed NE towards Philly at the moment.


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## n8hoo

WDCN-LP activity this week: the request to extend construction time on RF 6 digital into 2022 was granted 19 May.





__





Licensing and Management System


Licensing and Management System




enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov





An STA request to continue analog operations was originally added to this, and then withdrawn on 14 May - it would have been denied in any case.





__





Licensing and Management System


Licensing and Management System




enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov





It will still lose authority for analog operation on 13 July, and the extension does not change this.


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## fri1038

Just a quick observation before the data ages off, regarding ATSC 3.0 resistance to tropo-induced co-channel interference. 

Strong tropo event on 4/20/2021 around 0800. KYW on RF30, among others, coming in strong in Maryland. Possibly knocked DC's WIAV out at that time, as shown in several northern Virginia 4K bandscanners' plots, light green area in week 16. 5/16/2021 and 5/17/2021 were also strong KYW mornings for me, but didn't see any effects in the plots. One of them from rabbitears.info:

Maybe similar events this summer will add to the data points, if anyone cares to follow, and my interpretation of events isn't BS. 

===

I had a sighting of low-VHF WMDE on 5/16. Hadn't seen them since their Soul of the South days years ago. Some minor updates for the channel line up on rabbitears.info. (Those not listed are accurate.) 

36.1 "WMDE.1" showing Infomercials
...
36.6 "WMDE 36" For Rent
36.7 "CRTV" showing Timeless TV
...
36.9 "WMDE 36" For Rent


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## joblo

fri1038 said:


> Strong tropo event on 4/20/2021 around 0800. KYW on RF30, among others, coming in strong in Maryland. Possibly knocked DC's WIAV out at that time, as shown in several northern Virginia 4K bandscanners' plots, light green area in week 16.


That's not 4-20, that's several days later when WIAV was apparently not broadcasting a decodable signal.

WIAV is way too robust to be knocked out in Fairfax or Alexandria by a little tropo from Philly.


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## joblo

n8hoo said:


> WDCN-LP activity this week: the request to extend construction time on RF 6 digital into 2022 was granted 19 May.
> 
> It will still lose authority for analog operation on 13 July, and the extension does not change this.


Doesn't make lot of sense though. If the plan is to continue FM service in the 3.0 guard band, why silence it for six months? Unless the goal is to deprive them of revenue to implement the plan.


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## Trip in VA

If the permit wasn't extended, the license would vanish entirely after 7/13. The extension guarantees they'll have a license on 7/14, even if they're off the air then.

- Trip


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## fri1038

Sometimes after a scan I see things like the attached for a weak signal that didn't resolve to a virtual channel. Is there a better way to search rabbitears for a physical sub channel, like 14.20? I just looked through the raw subchannel listing and matched that up with Denver's KZDN, which would be remarkable. It's the only RF14 I found that uses the even number scheme. WFDC virtual channels overrode some of the channel listing there.

I sometimes see DC's WWTD on RF14, but wrong number of channels and numbering.

35.3 - 35.5 is another I've seen which was likely WGAL on RF35 in Harrisburg.

The only out-of-towner I saw last night and this morning was Richmond's WWBT.


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## Trip in VA

fri1038 said:


> Sometimes after a scan I see things like the attached for a weak signal that didn't resolve to a virtual channel. Is there a better way to search rabbitears for a physical sub channel, like 14.20? I just looked through the raw subchannel listing and matched that up with Denver's KZDN, which would be remarkable. It's the only RF14 I found that uses the even number scheme. WFDC virtual channels overrode some of the channel listing there.


Unfortunately, no, I don't have a better way to search. That's a good idea though; something I'll keep in mind for a future addition. Until then, I usually advise people to use the Allocation Map: https://www.rabbitears.info/allocationmap.php?circoc=&ciradj=&channel=14&dto=Y&adj=N&all=Y

I am actually wondering whether that was WLZH-LD. WWTD-LD doesn't fit that pattern, I have more recent data for W14DK-D so it's not likely to be that one, and there's really not much else it could be. WRDC and WNLO-CD are both running ATSC 3.0. 

- Trip


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## GaryGnu

I live in eastern Ellicott City MD. I am just under 10 miles from the Baltimore towers, and I receive the Baltimore local channels easily 2,11,13,45,54,67 etc. I am really struggling with the DC channels. My location is such that the Baltimore and DC signals are near 180 degrees apart. I have a simple RCA Yagi antenna pointed north east to TV Hill in Baltimore and I even get WGAL channel 8 in Lancaster, PA which is 55 miles away.

*I am strictly mounting antennas in my attic*, which is my only option for now. I have a clear view north for Baltimore. Southbound I have some tall trees near my house but otherwise I don't know of any big hills in the way. I am at about 460 feet elevation.

With this Yagi antenna pointed towards Baltimore I can sometimes get DC channel 7. If I move the direction 45 degrees one way I can pick up DC channel 5 somewhat.

I decided to try an entirely different antenna. I bought an Antennas Direct 8 element Bow Tie. I was able to point 1 side south and 1 side north. This is a UHF only antenna, but I was able to still get Baltimore channels 11 and 13 which surprised me. I also installed a VHF kit (in hopes of getting DC channels 7 and 9). The results were spotty at best. Depending on slight adjustments I could pick up 4,5,7,9,20 in DC but never strong enough for any use and never all of them at once. I also lost WGAL northbound. This giant contraption was a big bust for me.

I also have a Clear Stream Eclipse 35 mile range antenna which is just a 10 inch flat circle simply hanging on a nail in my attic and that picks up more channels than the 8 element bowtie antenna. Currently I have the the Clear Stream and the Yagi combined and I can pick up DC channels 5 and 20 with about half strength barely watchable.

I'm new to all this and I am struggling to figure why I have so much trouble picking up strong channels that are only about 26 miles away to the south, yet I can receive one 55 miles away to the north.

I'm thinking about picking up a stronger clear stream antenna, and using a pre-amp on that side to combine with the Yagi on the other. Or possible 2 Yagis. Trying not to abuse Amazon's return policy, I figure I will try a few more things before I give up on the DC channels.

Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks.

Gary


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## fri1038

GaryGnu said:


> I live in eastern Ellicott City MD....


Run a Signal Search Map at rabbitears.info and share the link, here. Clicking on the mileage in the chart it creates will show any geographic obstacles. E.C. is a hilly area with river valleys so you might just be in an unlucky spot. Metal siding or foil insulation plus close, leafy trees will degrade the signal. 

Distances are about the same for me near BWI. 26 miles to DC to the SW and 13 to Baltimore to the N. I point my outside antenna towards DC and get Baltimore off the side. I have to point it N to get WGAL (sometimes) and WMJF reliably.

Edited to add that I had an attic antenna for a while but because of metal siding and it being in the tree canopy it was no better than rabbit ears on the first floor mantle. I ended up installing a discrete, little channelmaster stealthtenna outside to solve most issues. Windy weather blowing trees causing multipath intereference is still a problem. I am currently testing the slightly larger RCA ANT751E which is a little better perfomance wise. That one may end up at my parents' house in Manassas.


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## GaryGnu

fri1038 said:


> Run a Signal Search Map at rabbitears.info and share the link, here. Clicking on the mileage in the chart it creates will show any geographic obstacles. E.C. is a hilly area with river valleys so you might just be in an unlucky spot. Metal siding or foil insulation plus close, leafy trees will degrade the signal.


Here are the results. Thanks.





__





RabbitEars.Info


RabbitEars, where you can learn all about local, over-the-air TV channels.




www.rabbitears.info





DC looks like a clear shot unless I am missing something. OTOH, the WGAL channel, labeled poor, has obstacles. No metal siding or roofing. The leafy trees are about 50-70 feet from my antenna to the south, and there are many of them. There is really no way to get around them.


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## Casey Hartman

GaryGnu said:


> I live in eastern Ellicott City MD.


Did you point the RCA yagi towards DC? It's surprising the Eclipse worked better than the DB8e, which might make the 2Max viable to receive UHF stations in both markets; the dipole isn't strong enough to pull in VHF stations from both or at least not from my side of the Potomac. To receive WJAL and WUSA a Clearstream 5 or Televes V-Zenit High VHF antenna would need to be combined with a UHF antenna; both of those are small compared to other VHF only antennas. I happen to have a Clearstream 2Max and a Televes V-Zenit that I'm not using; the Clearstream 5 works better in my condo to pick up DC and Balto VHF stations. If you are interesting in trying them, let me know.


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## GaryGnu

Casey Hartman said:


> Did you point the RCA yagi towards DC?


Funny, you should mention that, because I just tried it. These are the best results I've had yet. I have only the Yagi active and pointing south to DC, and I can get 4,5,(not 7),9,20, and other UHF from DC with wavering signal strength (wondering if an amplifier could help here). I still get the Baltimore channels at full strength, but not WGAL 8.

I will let you know. Thanks.


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## qonder

I live in Pasadena MD and also wanted to pickup both Baltimore and Washington DC stations. I ended up using 3 antennas in my tiny attic. One high band VHF yagi (amplified) and one UHF (amplified) pointing at DC and a Wineguard 7550 pointed at Baltimore. That worked fairly well until I had a new roof installed last April. That wiped out all my DC stations. Initially I suspected all the banging from the roofers caused my antennas to fall over (they were just sitting on boxes pointed at Washington). But after I checked, everything in the attic was as it should be. Next I thought maybe the amplifier went up, so I substituted an old amplifier - same results. Finally it occurred to me that the foil back underlayment on my new roof was blocking all but the strongest signals. I ended up buying a second Wineguard 7550, which I mounted outdoors near the peak of my roof. Presto, all my Washington stations came back.

I also have a couple of leftover antennas and amplifiers in my attic if you think you want to try them out for your installation.


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## Balto-Media

According to Rabbitears, Baltimore might soon be getting a new Low Power TV station. Channel 18 (RF14)) WLZH-LD is proposing to more to a tower in Jacksonsville, MD. I thought at first it wouldn't work with WWTD 49 (RF 14) near DC, but I'm told it passes TV Study on interference, so it might happen. Right now they're broadcasting religious and also WHTM ABC 27, but obviously that would have to stop.


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## KyL416

The station is owned by WLYH's and WBPH's owners. They simulcast WLYH and WHTM on their UHF LPTV signals in the Harrisburg DMA because WLYH's main signal spectrum shares with WHTM on VHF 10. WLZH-LD's 18.x programming is the Katz networks, but those will likely go away too post move in favor of only carrying WLYH/Lighthouse TV and RadiantTV. (Lighthouse TV and WBPH/Bethlehem are mostly simulcasts, except for things they can't clear outside of WBPH's viewing area like Lafayette College Sports and WFMZ News en Espanol)

The TVStudy passes since the limit is 2% interference for LPTV signals and the study predicts 1.56% new interference to WWTD-LD.


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## Balto-Media

KyL416 said:


> The station is owned by WLYH's and WBPH's owners. They simulcast WLYH and WHTM on their UHF LPTV signals in the Harrisburg DMA because WLYH's main signal spectrum shares with WHTM on VHF 10. WLZH-LD's 18.x programming is the Katz networks, but those will likely go away too post move in favor of only carrying WLYH/Lighthouse TV and RadiantTV. (Lighthouse TV and WBPH/Bethlehem are mostly simulcasts, except for things they can't clear outside of WBPH's viewing area like Lafayette College Sports and WFMZ News en Espanol)
> 
> The TVStudy passes since the limit is 2% interference for LPTV signals and the study predicts 1.56% new interference to WWTD-LD.


As Baltimore is an underserved market in the number of TV stations for the market size, I expect that WLZH will get offers to show other networks not in the market. Competition is good.


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## Balto-Media

It appears that Washington DC's NextGen TV rollout has been revealed by WHUT 32. Apparently, they are going to be the ATSC 3.0 host station for WRC 4, WTTG 5, WJLA 7, WUSA 9 and WHUT 32 while WJLA 7 will carry the WHUT ATSC 1.0 lighthouse signal. No FCC app as of yet, but it must be planned or they wouldn't have posted this online and still have it up. Curiously, WETA, DC's original PBS TV station is not included nor Nexstar's WDCW CW 50.








NextgenTV | WHUTtv


WHUT - Howard University Television, 3part Series Sponsored by Howard University, NAB, WHUT. - ATSC 3.0 aka NEXTGENtv




www.whut.org


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## dipdewdog

Balto-Media said:


> It appears that Washington DC's NextGen TV rollout has been revealed by WHUT 32. Apparently, they are going to be the ATSC 3.0 host station for WRC 4, WTTG 5, WJLA 7, WUSA 9 and WHUT 32 while WJLA 7 will carry the WHUT ATSC 1.0 lighthouse signal.


I didn't see that coming!

I wonder if Sinclair will ever put anything more than TBD on WIAV-CD's ATSC 3.0 signal, and whether WETA will eventually participate in this or another sharing arrangement.


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## KyL416

Balto-Media said:


> Curiously, WETA, DC's original PBS TV station is not included nor Nexstar's WDCW CW 50.


5 HD is pretty much the limit for most ATSC 3.0 signals these days, unless you switch the PLP configuration to a SNR that really limits the reach of your signal. Like an ATSC 3.0 signal could theoretically have around 57 Mbps, but it would have to be set at something so bad that no one more than 5-10 miles away from the tower can decode it.


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## fri1038

Trip called it a year ago. ;-)









Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD - HDTV


Yep, no 45 or 54 here either. They are both a tad weaker than channel 2 which is a bit too weak to decode as well. 54 used to be good here when on RF 40. OTOH MPT 22 is decode-able since the re-pack, even with the antenna pointed towards Baltimore. I'm having the exact same experience as you...




www.avsforum.com





===

WNUV started running their rescan promos again this week. Still June 24.


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## KyL416

Sinclair's ATSC 1.0 simulcast plan still hasn't been approved yet, so that date could change again.


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## Balto-Media

dipdewdog said:


> I didn't see that coming!
> 
> I wonder if Sinclair will ever put anything more than TBD on WIAV-CD's ATSC 3.0 signal, and whether WETA will eventually participate in this or another sharing arrangement.


Keep in mind, no FCC application has been filed yet, so no, I didn't see this coming either. I think they might have taken the web page live by accident. But obviously, it is the plan. I'm most interested in seeing CBS and NBC in 1080p if possible. ABC and FOX most likely will still be 720p, no change. Hopefully, WETA 26 and WDCW CW 50 will end up in NextGen via WIAV-CD too soon.

And I believe this is the first NBC O&O to switch to ATSC 3.0.

Now I wish I understood what was holding up the Baltimore NextGen transition for 3 months now. Ugh. 

Also, of note today is that Baltimore was approved for a new LPTV, channel 18 (RF 14).


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## Balto-Media

KyL416 said:


> Sinclair's ATSC 1.0 simulcast plan still hasn't been approved yet, so that date could change again.


I understand that the FCC rules were based simply on 1 station replicating an ATSC 1.0 signal nearly fully, but Baltimore is a special case where it will simply will require 2 stations to do that, at least at full power since there are so few full power TV stations in the market and the PBS stations are in odd locations nowhere near TV Hill. So is this application going to be eternally stuck in government paperwork hell?


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## n8hoo

While the bad weather wreaks havoc on OTA reception tonight, WUSA just stopped broadcasting any PSIP around 1900. So that signal is unusable at the moment!


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## IM42A

I absolutely detest the repack down into, for all practical purposes, channels 7-36. Without getting into any expressly political aspects, I have wondered if the "end game" is to make it impossible to receive any out-of-market "spillover" stations, thus solidifying existing DMAs, aside from situations where the core cities of two (or more) markets are so close together, that it can't be prevented, such as Washington/Baltimore, Cincinnati/Dayton, Pittsburgh/Wheeling, Detroit/Toledo, and so on. If you stop and think about it, as a general rule, TV markets east of the Rockies tend to break at roughly 90-150 mile distances. Even in the Midwestern states where you have "state networks" (Kansas, the Dakotas, to some extent Nebraska, and so on), you still have that 90-150 mile break between, for instance, Wichita and Dodge City, or Williston and Minot. The same situation exists in Montana. Actually, Cincinnati and Dayton were an interesting situation, in that Cincinnati had three single-network stations (WLWT, even though an NBC affiliate, was the flagship of the Crosley and later Avco network, and originated tons of local programming), but Dayton's three stations at one time each carried programs from all three networks in a complicated "cherry-picking" arrangement, along with time-shifting IIRC. Perhaps they were trying to differentiate the Dayton stations so that they would be a viable viewing alternative to Cincinnati and Columbus? Dayton's naturally occurring market is to its north and west, in that it breaks halfway between Cincinnati and Dayton, and Columbus "bobtails" it to some extent in the east.

But to circle back to the point, not only have people lost several out-of-market stations they received before, but it causes reception problems even for the local stations, especially if you are a short distance out of town in the direction of a market that shares an OTA channel with one of your locals. For instance, my local WZRB-47 OTA 25 here in Columbia is pinched in between WJZY/WMYT in Charlotte and WCSC in Charleston. I am six miles from the WZRB stick, yet unless I have my antenna shining directly at the WZRB tower, I can't get it. Of course it is a Televes antenna, which is no slouch, and will pick up even weak signals from 70-90 miles away with no problem during optimal atmospheric hours (from early evening until early-to-mid-morning). I took my antenna (not the Televes, a small GE high VHF/UHF antenna) out to Winnsboro, about 20 miles out of town towards Charlotte, and even though I received all other major Columbia and Charlotte stations, WZRB was gone. Just too close to WJZY.


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## KyL416

Balto-Media said:


> I understand that the FCC rules were based simply on 1 station replicating an ATSC 1.0 signal nearly fully, but Baltimore is a special case where it will simply will require 2 stations to do that, at least at full power since there are so few full power TV stations in the market and the PBS stations are in odd locations nowhere near TV Hill. So is this application going to be eternally stuck in government paperwork hell?


One of the big regulatory problems is that while the primary simulcast on a non-commercial station (WMPT) is okay as it still falls under WNUV's license, they are wording the secondary simulcast as if it will be a commercial subchannel under a non-commercial licensee (WMPB), so it can't be expedited like other Next Gen applications. If they had a commercial host, or even just put one of their diginets on the MPT stations instead of their main CW feed it would have an easier time getting approved as the FCC is more lenient when it comes to subchannels losing some coverage vs the primary feed losing coverage.

Also, Sinclair is one of the broadcasters who suggested these rules to the FCC when they were being drafted, so they are essentially violating the requirements they came up with. Even their original WIAV application to use WDCO-CD as the ATSC 1.0 host was in violation, so they changed it to WJLA. They have another Next Gen application for KMYT in San Antonio that has been sitting in limbo since November because their proposed ATSC 1.0 host KABB doesn't even come close to meeting the 95% requirement, while over in Columbus they started making on air and online announcements before they even made the filing, so of course they missed the first date they advertised.


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## IM42A

pclement said:


> I think the safety net for broadcast TV will be PSA and Emergency Broadcasts (although I get the latter on my cell phone). FCC will want to keep those available.


I have wondered if broadcast TV will eventually morph into more of a local news delivery source, and less of an entertainment medium, with programs such as talk shows, court procedurals, and reality shows as filler in between newscasts. IOW, there might be two or three single-channel broadcast stations in a market, organized along the same lines as KRON in San Francisco, KUSI in San Diego, or WJXT in Jacksonville, news-intensive independents. Smaller cities might have a single news channel, again, with a lot of cheap cookie-cutter filler to pad out the broadcast day. You might be able to think of it as a video version of AM talk radio. And of course there is the mandate to provide public broadcasting and educational programming --- PBS might survive in more or less its present form, albeit with fewer subchannels.


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## Balto-Media

By the way, the link to DC's NextGen transition has been removed by WHUT 32, so somebody f'd up. HAHA!
Here's the google cache for those that missed the DC NextGen announcement that was supposed to not be known apparently. hehe
https://webcache.googleusercontent....gentv+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=safari[/URL]


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## Balto-Media

IM42A said:


> I have wondered if broadcast TV will eventually morph into more of a local news delivery source, and less of an entertainment medium, with programs such as talk shows, court procedurals, and reality shows as filler in between newscasts. IOW, there might be two or three single-channel broadcast stations in a market, organized along the same lines as KRON in San Francisco, KUSI in San Diego, or WJXT in Jacksonville, news-intensive independents. Smaller cities might have a single news channel, again, with a lot of cheap cookie-cutter filler to pad out the broadcast day. You might be able to think of it as a video version of AM talk radio. And of course there is the mandate to provide public broadcasting and educational programming --- PBS might survive in more or less its present form, albeit with fewer subchannels.


I respectfully disagree. You do not take away something that is free that easily, let alone the fact that it is federally mandated. And if the Feds start deleting more local TV stations, you will see public outrage at some point. Cord cutting is growing, antenna use is on the rise, and cable TV is in a serious decline as cable rates have exploded. It's all about the money in the end. This is why I think free Broadcast TV will survive and possibly flourish under ATSC 3.0. The advertising community alone is salivating over geographically targeted TV ads and their impact on TV and advertising. The networks might not be so excited so far as they are run by media content conglomerates largely, but the TV station ownership groups are bullish on NextGen TV in a big way and are the driving force. Yes, Sinclair, Nexstar, Tegna, Hearst, Scripps. These and others need Broadcast TV to survive. They might own some content sources, but not enough to survive without broadcast TV. I can see some streaming content also coming to Broadcast TV on a pay basis too as that is allowed under the standard.


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## greg9x2

Balto-Media said:


> It appears that Washington DC's NextGen TV rollout has been revealed by WHUT 32. Apparently, they are going to be the ATSC 3.0 host station for WRC 4, WTTG 5, WJLA 7, WUSA 9 and WHUT 32 while WJLA 7 will carry the WHUT ATSC 1.0 lighthouse signal. No FCC app as of yet, but it must be planned or they wouldn't have posted this online and still have it up. Curiously, WETA, DC's original PBS TV station is not included nor Nexstar's WDCW CW 50.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> NextgenTV | WHUTtv
> 
> 
> WHUT - Howard University Television, 3part Series Sponsored by Howard University, NAB, WHUT. - ATSC 3.0 aka NEXTGENtv
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.whut.org
> 
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 3138928


That's a lot of eggs in one basket.

WHUT is one of my stronger stations though, so hopefully it will go well and solve my loss of 4 in the winter, and intermittent 7/9.

Would really like a 3.0 station to receive and see what issues there are/aren't.


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## IM42A

Balto-Media said:


> I respectfully disagree. You do not take away something that is free that easily, let alone the fact that it is federally mandated. And if the Feds start deleting more local TV stations, you will see public outrage at some point. Cord cutting is growing, antenna use is on the rise, and cable TV is in a serious decline as cable rates have exploded. It's all about the money in the end. This is why I think free Broadcast TV will survive and possibly flourish under ATSC 3.0. The advertising community alone is salivating over geographically targeted TV ads and their impact on TV and advertising. The networks might not be so excited so far as they are run by media content conglomerates largely, but the TV station ownership groups are bullish on NextGen TV in a big way and are the driving force. Yes, Sinclair, Nexstar, Tegna, Hearst, Scripps. These and others need Broadcast TV to survive. They might own some content sources, but not enough to survive without broadcast TV. I can see some streaming content also coming to Broadcast TV on a pay basis too as that is allowed under the standard.


I can see now that I didn't make my reasoning detailed enough. I was thinking in terms of all programming eventually being available as streaming video over the Internet, whether behind a paywall or not. With programming migrating over to online, broadcast stations would have little reason to exist other than as local content providers. I do not have the statistics in front of me, to know what percentage of people are cutting the cord and going to OTA. You have a lot of people who either cannot or will not seek OTA programming --- they're used to cable or dish and don't want to part with it. My own elderly parents would be a case in point. I got them the simplest Insignia DTV I could, no "smart" features, just a plain generic digital OTA TV. I showed them how with rabbit ears, we get 98% of what they watch anyway. They don't care. They're used to their channel numbers, they know where to find their programs, and they have no concept of "smart TV" or streaming video. I had originally gotten them a TCL Roku TV and they disliked it very much --- the TCL Roku TV has no channel keypad, which I find disagreeable as well, but they told me they couldn't make the TV work, so I got them an Insignia to replace it, and took theirs for my own den. A lot of people, especially those of older generations, also don't want to fool with antennas, they find them ugly or out of sync with their decor, if they're indoors.


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## Balto-Media

IM42A said:


> I can see now that I didn't make my reasoning detailed enough. I was thinking in terms of all programming eventually being available as streaming video over the Internet, whether behind a paywall or not. With programming migrating over to online, broadcast stations would have little reason to exist other than as local content providers. I do not have the statistics in front of me, to know what percentage of people are cutting the cord and going to OTA. You have a lot of people who either cannot or will not seek OTA programming --- they're used to cable or dish and don't want to part with it. My own elderly parents would be a case in point. I got them the simplest Insignia DTV I could, no "smart" features, just a plain generic digital OTA TV. I showed them how with rabbit ears, we get 98% of what they watch anyway. They don't care. They're used to their channel numbers, they know where to find their programs, and they have no concept of "smart TV" or streaming video. I had originally gotten them a TCL Roku TV and they disliked it very much --- the TCL Roku TV has no channel keypad, which I find disagreeable as well, but they told me they couldn't make the TV work, so I got them an Insignia to replace it, and took theirs for my own den. A lot of people, especially those of older generations, also don't want to fool with antennas, they find them ugly or out of sync with their decor, if they're indoors.


ATSC 3.0 fixes the antenna problem. Set up an antenna to maybe one TV and a router and every TV has all the channels. One time set up, still hit your channel numbers. My elderly parents keep asking me about streaming and I know they can barely operate the cable TV remote so I know it will not work, but if their TVs were all connected to one antenna via a central router, most everything they watch is still on network TV. And I firmly believe that some of these streaming packages will be on NextGen TV sub-channels eventually as Pay TV options. That is something they would understand. Using an app is not in their ball park. ATSC 3.0 is a work in progress, but the possibilities are endless to make things more seamless to compete with streaming content. The most dreaded button on my parents TV is the INPUT SOURCE BUTTON. Every time they accidentally hit that button, I'm either called on the phone, woken from sleep, or yelled at. LOL


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## Balto-Media

IM42A said:


> I can see now that I didn't make my reasoning detailed enough. I was thinking in terms of all programming eventually being available as streaming video over the Internet, whether behind a paywall or not. With programming migrating over to online, broadcast stations would have little reason to exist other than as local content providers. I do not have the statistics in front of me, to know what percentage of people are cutting the cord and going to OTA. You have a lot of people who either cannot or will not seek OTA programming --- they're used to cable or dish and don't want to part with it. My own elderly parents would be a case in point. I got them the simplest Insignia DTV I could, no "smart" features, just a plain generic digital OTA TV. I showed them how with rabbit ears, we get 98% of what they watch anyway. They don't care. They're used to their channel numbers, they know where to find their programs, and they have no concept of "smart TV" or streaming video. I had originally gotten them a TCL Roku TV and they disliked it very much --- the TCL Roku TV has no channel keypad, which I find disagreeable as well, but they told me they couldn't make the TV work, so I got them an Insignia to replace it, and took theirs for my own den. A lot of people, especially those of older generations, also don't want to fool with antennas, they find them ugly or out of sync with their decor, if they're indoors.


There is also an essential difference in what we're both saying. Free Broadcast TV is Federally mandated. Unless there is major change, there will be no free streaming of TV content ever to anyone. I know, yes there is TUBI now, but remember, HULU started out free too, but where did that end up? Plus, even if the content is free, the internet is not. OTA TV, at least in America, will likely always be free and this is the essential reason why I don't think it will go away.


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## IM42A

Balto-Media said:


> ATSC 3.0 fixes the antenna problem. Set up an antenna to maybe one TV and a router and every TV has all the channels. One time set up, still hit your channel numbers. My elderly parents keep asking me about streaming and I know they can barely operate the cable TV remote so I know it will not work, but if their TVs were all connected to one antenna via a central router, most everything they watch is still on network TV. And I firmly believe that some of these streaming packages will be on NextGen TV sub-channels eventually as Pay TV options. That is something they would understand. Using an app is not in their ball park. ATSC 3.0 is a work in progress, but the possibilities are endless to make things more seamless to compete with streaming content. The most dreaded button on my parents TV is the INPUT SOURCE BUTTON. Every time they accidentally hit that button, I'm either called on the phone, woken from sleep, or yelled at. LOL


You too, eh?

I have said "TV - power" and "cable - power" more times than I can imagine. My advice (for using multi-unit remotes) is, "if in doubt, press the input button first, then channel, volume, power, or whatever".

I did not realize that ATSC 3.0 had the possibilities that you describe. It looks as though delivery of TV to homes may end up being re-imagined with broadcast TV as the medium rather than cable or satellite dish, hand-in-hand with online delivery. I guess I just had a bit of tunnel vision in thinking that OTA spectrum is a valuable resource to be mined for mobile telecommunications, with leaving spectrum for terrestrial TV broadcasters as a kind of afterthought. The TV markets are more or less set in stone (with some residual nibbling around the edges for counties that might still remain in play, such as Athens County in Ohio between the Columbus and Charleston-Huntington markets) and the big broadcast chains (Tegna, Gray,_ et al_) aren't just going to roll over and play dead, saying "broadcast TV is dead, times have changed, gotta move on". There's too much money and too many careers involved, and I don't doubt their lobby in Washington is powerful.


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## IM42A

Balto-Media said:


> There is also an essential difference in what we're both saying. *Free Broadcast TV is Federally mandated.* Unless there is major change, there will be no free streaming of TV content ever to anyone. I know, yes there is TUBI now, but remember, HULU started out free too, but where did that end up? Plus, even if the content is free, the internet is not. OTA TV, at least in America, will likely always be free and this is the essential reason why I don't think it will go away.


This is at the core of what I am saying. However, a mandate for free broadcast TV doesn't mean that TV broadcasters have to provide four major networks, and a host of smaller diginets, free to everyone for all time. My original thought was more along the lines of broadcast TV being left behind as a minimal, locally-oriented news and information service, in keeping with that mandate, similar to the role that AM radio fulfills now, with other types of programming sliding over to online, and being offered via cable or dish for those who prefer that delivery method. AM radio still exists, and is alive and well, but people don't tune into AM radio stations for drama and entertainment every evening as they did in the 1940s (think Burns and Allen or Fibber McGee and Molly).

Before it ever got to that point, terrestrial broadcasters would probably assert the public interest of, and lobby the federal government to protect, major-network commercial TV broadcasting made available free to anyone who can afford a television set. Again, America being America, there's just too much money involved in it, and America has a robust tradition of local television that some other countries do not. We're not some small, centralized state where the Ministry of Telecommunications could dictate "we get our TV online or via non-terrestrial delivery methods from now on". (Think Switzerland.)









Switzerland to end terrestrial television


Swiss public broadcaster SRG will terminate digital terrestrial TV broadcasting (DVB-T) next year without replacement. There will be no transition to DVB-T2 as in neighbouring Germany and Austria.




www.broadbandtvnews.com


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## Balto-Media

IM42A said:


> This is at the core of what I am saying. However, a mandate for free broadcast TV doesn't mean that TV broadcasters have to provide four major networks, and a host of smaller diginets, free to everyone for all time. My original thought was more along the lines of broadcast TV being left behind as a minimal, locally-oriented news and information service, in keeping with that mandate, similar to the role that AM radio fulfills now, with other types of programming sliding over to online, and being offered via cable or dish for those who prefer that delivery method. AM radio still exists, and is alive and well, but people don't tune into AM radio stations for drama and entertainment every evening as they did in the 1940s (think Burns and Allen or Fibber McGee and Molly).
> 
> Before it ever got to that point, terrestrial broadcasters would probably assert the public interest of, and lobby the federal government to protect, major-network commercial TV broadcasting made available free to anyone who can afford a television set. Again, America being America, there's just too much money involved in it, and America has a robust tradition of local television that some other countries do not. We're not some small, centralized state where the Ministry of Telecommunications could dictate "we get our TV online or via non-terrestrial delivery methods from now on". (Think Switzerland.)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Switzerland to end terrestrial television
> 
> 
> Swiss public broadcaster SRG will terminate digital terrestrial TV broadcasting (DVB-T) next year without replacement. There will be no transition to DVB-T2 as in neighbouring Germany and Austria.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.broadbandtvnews.com


I do believe that streaming content will be offered by Broadcasters in the future via ATSC 3.0. ATSC 3.0 is two way communication, IP-based, therefor there is a way to incorporate Pay-TV or streaming content too. But I never use Switzerland for comparative purposes because, let's face it. If we listened to Switzerland, we'd all be speaking German right now. The other thing about ATSC 3.0 that few people understand is that the standard is upgradeable. Every ATSC 3.0 tuner TV can be software updated. It's not nearly as hardware bound as ATSC 1.0. For instance, Sinclair is testing radio in Seattle via ATSC 3.0 in equipped cars. Any NextGen station could add that software to their TV broadcast if they wanted to. In India, this software will be used for instance to be able to reach the country's nearly 200 different language dielects. When single frequency networks get up and running, it's also possible to run different advertisements and/or programs to one part of a market, but not another. In a very large market like New York City, you could have for instance Long Island News for those out there, while others around New York City would simply get NYC news. Orlando is also another good example. WESH 2 is licensed to Daytona Beach, but really in Orlando. With an SFN, they could do a Daytona Beach news broadcast, while everyone else gets the Orlando news. Same thing in DC. Things that pertain to Virginia while others would see things pertaining to Maryland or the District. This is evolving literally as we speak.


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## IM42A

Balto-Media said:


> I do believe that streaming content will be offered by Broadcasters in the future via ATSC 3.0. ATSC 3.0 is two way communication, IP-based, therefor there is a way to incorporate Pay-TV or streaming content too. But I never use Switzerland for comparative purposes because, let's face it. If we listened to Switzerland, we'd all be speaking German right now. The other thing about ATSC 3.0 that few people understand is that the standard is upgradeable. Every ATSC 3.0 tuner TV can be software updated. It's not nearly as hardware bound as ATSC 1.0. For instance, Sinclair is testing radio in Seattle via ATSC 3.0 in equipped cars. Any NextGen station could add that software to their TV broadcast if they wanted to. In India, this software will be used for instance to be able to reach the country's nearly 200 different language dielects. When single frequency networks get up and running, it's also possible to run different advertisements and/or programs to one part of a market, but not another. In a very large market like New York City, you could have for instance Long Island News for those out there, while others around New York City would simply get NYC news. Orlando is also another good example. WESH 2 is licensed to Daytona Beach, but really in Orlando. With an SFN, they could do a Daytona Beach news broadcast, while everyone else gets the Orlando news. Same thing in DC. Things that pertain to Virginia while others would see things pertaining to Maryland or the District. This is evolving literally as we speak.


Not following what you mean by the Switzerland and "speaking German" observation, but I do agree, this is evolving quickly. I did not know that ATSC 3.0 had all of these capabilities. As long as it is not *mandatory *to have one's ATSC 3.0 receiver connected to the internet --- I have an issue with having my viewing habits monitored and being sent content "based on where I am" without my consent --- this is indeed an exciting new world. This could augur well for areas that need customized newscasts, for instance, "orphan counties" that could now get news specific to their state --- I have in mind WSAZ-3 Huntington WV, which covers a fairly large area of northeastern Kentucky and southeastern Ohio that cannot get in-state news OTA, but could get a supplemental in-state newscast relayed from Gray sister stations WKYT-27 in Lexington KY and WXIX-19 in Cincinnati respectively. Viewers in the _southern _half of Eastern Kentucky are in the catbird seat with OTA access to WYMT-57 in Hazard, one of the finer rural and small-town news operations in the US, but for those folks north of I-64, they're just a little too far from Lexington to get WKYT OTA, and a little bit too geographically (and culturally) distinct from the WYMT viewing area, even if it could be picked up OTA. And believe me, every square mile of Eastern Kentucky is "Kentucky to the bone", those people bleed Big Blue. Just one possibility for enhanced OTA viewing with the capabilities that ATSC 3.0 will be able to offer.


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## KyL416

The TV situation in Switzerland and most other European countries is nothing compared to how it is USA. Over there they have a mostly uniform national model of TV instead of local stations with various owners affiliating with different networks in each city. They also don't have ownership caps that prevent one company from owning stations in every city like we do here, and their local equivalents of the FCC regulate and license every channel, not just broadcast TV.

Switzerland was very unique. Their terrestrial TV only had their public broadcasters, it didn't contain any commercial stations like neighboring France, Italy, Germany and Austria have on their terrestrial networks. Access to cable and broadband internet is nearly universal in Switzerland, so by the end only 1.9% of Swiss households relied on terrestrial TV. When it was time for their "repack" to free up the 700 MHz band, it wasn't worth it to rebuild the entire terrestrial network and convert it to DVB-T2 like neighboring countries are doing. All cable providers are also required to carry the Swiss public broadcasters, so it wasn't like here where people might want to suppliment OTA to get additional diginets and LPTV stations that aren't available on cable, DirecTV or Dish.

Those who couldn't get, or didn't want cable could get a free conditional access card mailed to them and receive all the Swiss public broadcasters via Ku-Band satellite from 13 E. RAI's domestic channels also transmit free to air from the same slot for Italian speakers, and with a relatively inexpensive multi-LNB kit, they can also get most of the popular German language stations free to air from 19.2 E, like ARD, ZDF, RTL, MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, Disney Channel, DMAX, TLC and Eurosport. The major international news channels like BBC World, Euronews, France 24, DW, Bloomberg, CNBC Europe, CNN International and Sky News are also free to air from the same slots.


----------



## Balto-Media

IM42A said:


> Not following what you mean by the Switzerland and "speaking German" observation, but I do agree, this is evolving quickly. I did not know that ATSC 3.0 had all of these capabilities. As long as it is not *mandatory *to have one's ATSC 3.0 receiver connected to the internet --- I have an issue with having my viewing habits monitored and being sent content "based on where I am" without my consent --- this is indeed an exciting new world. This could augur well for areas that need customized newscasts, for instance, "orphan counties" that could now get news specific to their state --- I have in mind WSAZ-3 Huntington WV, which covers a fairly large area of northeastern Kentucky and southeastern Ohio that cannot get in-state news OTA, but could get a supplemental newscast from Gray sister stations WKYT-27 in Lexington KY and WXIX-19 in Cincinnati respectively. Viewers in the _southern _half of Eastern Kentucky are in the catbird seat with OTA access to WYMT-57 in Hazard, one of the finer rural and small-town news operations in the US, but for those folks north of I-64, they're just a little too far from Lexington to get WKYT OTA, and a little bit too geographically (and culturally) distinct from the WYMT viewing area, even if it could be picked up OTA. And believe me, every square mile of Eastern Kentucky is "Kentucky to the bone", those people bleed Big Blue. Just one possibility for enhanced OTA viewing with the capabilities that ATSC 3.0 will be able to offer.


The Switzerland comment was simply a bad WWII joke. As for being connected to the internet, that is not required to receive an ATSC 3.0 signal, but it would be necessary for a software update if a station, say adds a new feature or capability, say another supported resolution or audio codec. Technically, I imagine even the video codec could be updated, but I can't imagine something that big happening since its all brand new right now and it will likely take 10 years for it to be in everyone's home. Since there is no government coupon this time, it might even take longer. Tuners right now are kind of pricy at $200 starting price and all of the TV are the high end over $1000, but I'm sure that will come down in time.


----------



## Brian in CT

Balto-Media said:


> The Switzerland comment was simply a bad WWII joke.





Balto-Media said:


> I never use Switzerland for comparative purposes because, let's face it. If we listened to Switzerland, we'd all be speaking German right now.


Off subject, but still an important history lesson about WWII: The "neutral" Swiss helped finance the German war machine. That was the basis of Balto-Media's joke. Now back to our regular programming.


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## IM42A

Balto-Media said:


> The Switzerland comment was simply a bad WWII joke. As for being connected to the internet, that is not required to receive an ATSC 3.0 signal, but it would be necessary for a software update if a station, say adds a new feature or capability, say another supported resolution or audio codec. Technically, I imagine even the video codec could be updated, but I can't imagine something that big happening since its all brand new right now and it will likely take 10 years for it to be in everyone's home. Since there is no government coupon this time, it might even take longer. Tuners right now are kind of pricy at $200 starting price and all of the TV are the high end over $1000, but I'm sure that will come down in time.


Has the FCC, or whichever government entity would be handing them out, expressly said they're not going to do coupons, to upgrade everyone to ATSC 3.0?

At this point back when DTV ATSC 1.0 was being introduced, converters were kind of pricey too, my first one was about $300 IIRC. Perhaps similar economies of scale will emerge this time as well. Or have the Feds said "you're on your own this time"?


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## KyL416

Those expensive early boxes weren't the same things you got with the coupon program. They were targetted towards early adopters who got HDTV sets that didn't come with a built in ATSC tuner. The Zapperbox plans to target a similar early adopter market who got a HDR or 4K set before NextGen tuners became available. The coupon boxes came out much later closer to the 2009 deadline and didn't output HD, they only had a RF 3/4 output and RCA, so they were cheaper to manufacture.

Having an ATSC 3.0 converter box for the "masses" in the event ATSC 1.0 goes away entirely will likely be harder. Not only will it need to output HD, it will still need to output SD for the numerous SD only sets still out there, include component outputs for older pre-HDMI TVs, HDMI passthru so it will work with lower end TVs that don't have extra HDMI inputs, support HDCP and DRM (one of the main things that's delaying the zapperbox), support interlaced HEVC (which many 3rd party decoders don't currently support) and decode AC-4 audio (the other thing delaying the zapperbox).

As of now there are no plans or any talk of starting a coupon program, no plans to make the switch to ATSC 3.0 mandatory, or any plans to force manufacturers to include them in all models sold by a certain date. So if someone needs to replace their TV this year, and don't have room for a 55"+ set, odds are they're not going to get a NextGenTV.


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## Balto-Media

KyL416 said:


> Those expensive early boxes weren't the same things you got with the coupon program. They were targetted towards early adopters who got HDTV sets that didn't come with a built in ATSC tuner. The Zapperbox plans to target a similar early adopter market who got a HDR or 4K set before NextGen tuners became available. The coupon boxes came out much later closer to the 2009 deadline and didn't output HD, they only had a RF 3/4 output and RCA, so they were cheaper to manufacture.
> 
> Having an ATSC 3.0 converter box for the "masses" in the event ATSC 1.0 goes away entirely will likely be harder. Not only will it need to output HD, it will still need to output SD for the numerous SD only sets still out there, include component outputs for older pre-HDMI TVs, HDMI passthru so it will work with lower end TVs that don't have extra HDMI inputs, support HDCP and DRM (one of the main things that's delaying the zapperbox), support interlaced HEVC (which many 3rd party decoders don't currently support) and decode AC-4 audio (the other thing delaying the zapperbox).
> 
> As of now there are no plans or any talk of starting a coupon program, no plans to make the switch to ATSC 3.0 mandatory, or any plans to force manufacturers to include them in all models sold by a certain date. So if someone needs to replace their TV this year, and don't have room for a 55"+ set, odds are they're not going to get a NextGenTV.


Most of the current ATSC 3.0 sharing deals are set to last 5 years, the plan for outdating ATSC 1.0. ATSC 1.0 is not slated to stick around simultaneously forever and will be sunset eventually. But it's market driven, so no date is known yet. It all depends on the adoption rate. As for coupons, there is no current legislation to offer one, but that could change. If you think about it, there is definitely not enough channel space for every TV station to broadcast in two different formats at the same time forever. The current sharing deals are all temporary to allow time for every broadcaster to go through the transition. Most are only 5 year deals. Soon, no new ATSC 1.0 TV stations will even be licensed anymore. Smaller NextGen sets are planned for next year by the way. This is only Year #1. The TV stations that have invested money in ATSC 3.0 are not going back to ATSC 1.0 after investing all this money. While there is no cut off date by the FCC yet, there will be soon. This is not a test. Testing is over.


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## Antenna Man PA

Balto-Media said:


> Most of the current ATSC 3.0 sharing deals are set to last 5 years, the plan for outdating ATSC 1.0. ATSC 1.0 is not slated to stick around simultaneously forever and will be sunset eventually. But it's market driven, so no date is known yet. It all depends on the adoption rate. As for coupons, there is no current legislation to offer one, but that could change. If you think about it, there is definitely not enough channel space for every TV station to broadcast in two different formats at the same time forever. The current sharing deals are all temporary to allow time for every broadcaster to go through the transition. Most are only 5 year deals. Soon, no new ATSC 1.0 TV stations will even be licensed anymore. Smaller NextGen sets are planned for next year by the way. This is only Year #1. The TV stations that have invested money in ATSC 3.0 are not going back to ATSC 1.0 after investing all this money. While there is no cut off date by the FCC yet, there will be soon. This is not a test. Testing is over.


I think it's going to be a lot longer than five years. Think back to ATSC 1.0 in the 90s. It wasn't until over a decade later that the analog signals were shut off. It's going to take a while for people to get new equipment that simply is not here yet. Broadcasters won't immediately drop support of 1.0 just because they would lose those who don't have NextGen tuners which in turn affects their ad revenue. 

Also take a look at the DTV transition for low powered TV stations. Even though they were allowed to transition to digital in 2009 many did not shut off their analog signals until 2012-2015. Some are still even broadcasting in analog to this day. We're still in the very early stages of this thing taking off. While it is possible, I highly doubt broadcasters will be quick to turn 1.0 off.


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## Balto-Media

Antenna Man PA said:


> I think it's going to be a lot longer than five years. Think back to ATSC 1.0 in the 90s. It wasn't until over a decade later that the analog signals were shut off. It's going to take a while for people to get new equipment that simply is not here yet. Broadcasters won't immediately drop support of 1.0 just because they would lose those who don't have NextGen tuners which in turn affects their ad revenue.
> 
> Also take a look at the DTV transition for low powered TV stations. Even though they were allowed to transition to digital in 2009 many did not shut off their analog signals until 2012-2015. Some are still even broadcasting in analog to this day. We're still in the very early stages of this thing taking off. While it is possible, I highly doubt broadcasters will be quick to turn 1.0 off.


Oh, I definitely think we're looking at 10+ years until the TV set saturation gets high enough. This is literally year #1 after the testing stages. However, the station ownership groups are promising nearly 70% ATSC 3.0 availability for those looking for it in the country. The timing of the repack has sped that up as many TV station owners already bought ATSC 3.0 equipment as part of the repack when they had to change RF channels. So that is a good head start on the transmission end of it. If anything, the broadcasters are far ahead of the general public in readiness to transmit as opposed to the reception end. Sinclair is promising some ATSC 3.0 reception equipment in cars as an option for 2022. I just hope the FCC doesn't let this technology languish like HD-Radio until it is irrelevant.

I also hope the government does a coupon program to jumpstart it too. So far the FCC has made the regulatory end helpful but otherwise been rather passive. A TV set mandate needs to come next year.

Most of the current signal sharing deals will likely be extended after 5 years, but these companies are all independent companies so they will start lobbying to go it alone with their own equipment instead of relying on, say Sinclair for their transmissions. Every time there is some breakdown, imagine the blame game that will go on. This will grow tiring over the years.


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## machpost

pclement said:


> I think the safety net for broadcast TV will be PSA and Emergency Broadcasts (although I get the latter on my cell phone). FCC will want to keep those available.


I wonder if the cellular emergency alerts are even considered reliable enough to replace those on radio and TV broadcasts. I have a Verizon phone, and my wife has AT&T. more often than not, when she gets an alert and I'm in the same room, either the alert is significantly delayed for me, or more often than not, I never receive the alert.


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## Balto-Media

machpost said:


> I wonder if the cellular emergency alerts are even considered reliable enough to replace those on radio and TV broadcasts. I have a Verizon phone, and my wife has AT&T. more often than not, when she gets an alert and I'm in the same room, either the alert is significantly delayed for me, or more often than not, I never receive the alert.


That's a great question. The other issue is that most radio and TV stations have some type of power backup in place except for long periods of time, whereas the average cell phone tower is strictly dependent on local electric in the place the emergency might be taking place. So what good is it? This is why I have always argued that the FCC should mandate FM reception in cell phones, but they don't seem to have the will to do that against large companies that want streaming money from music not competing with free radio.


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## mrradiohead55

Balto-Media said:


> That's a great question. The other issue is that most radio and TV stations have some type of power backup in place except for long periods of time, whereas the average cell phone tower is strictly dependent on local electric in the place the emergency might be taking place. So what good is it? This is why I have always argued that the FCC should mandate FM reception in cell phones, but they don't seem to have the will to do that against large companies that want streaming money from music not competing with free radio.


The fact that radios are not available in a cell phone became a hot issue in SW Missouri after the F5 tornado hit Joplin in May 2011. Shortly after the tornado event became news, ALL cell phone circuits (all cellular services) became log jammed and NOBODY could make a call on a cellular phone, whether you were trying to check on a family member or friend affected by the tornado or were just trying to make a phone call. I live 60 miles away from Joplin. The tornado occurred on a Sunday afternoon. It was impossible to make a cellular phone call, even 60 miles away from the tornado. The fact that cellular phone service became ineffective even made the local news, alongside the news of the tornado. They mentioned on the news that the effectiveness of the EAS system via cellular phones was also compromised. All of the city of Joplin (50,000 pop) was without power so no one was watching TV for any news, including those that worked at the TV stations.

My understanding is that not all cellphones have the ability to offer FM radio and in the ones that do, service providers in the US refuse to activate the tuner for the aforementioned reasons.

Jim - Springfield, Missouri


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## Casey Hartman

My uncle, aunt, and cousins in Joplin experienced that too.



mrradiohead55 said:


> The fact that radios are not available in a cell phone became a hot issue in SW Missouri after the F5 tornado hit Joplin in May 2011. Shortly after the tornado event became news, ALL cell phone circuits (all cellular services) became log jammed and NOBODY could make a call on a cellular phone, whether you were trying to check on a family member or friend affected by the tornado or were just trying to make a phone call. I live 60 miles away from Joplin. The tornado occurred on a Sunday afternoon. It was impossible to make a cellular phone call, even 60 miles away from the tornado. The fact that cellular phone service became ineffective even made the local news, alongside the news of the tornado. They mentioned on the news that the effectiveness of the EAS system via cellular phones was also compromised. All of the city of Joplin (50,000 pop) was without power so no one was watching TV for any news, including those that worked at the TV stations.
> 
> My understanding is that not all cellphones have the ability to offer FM radio and in the ones that do, service providers in the US refuse to activate the tuner for the aforementioned reasons.
> 
> Jim - Springfield, Missouri


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## n8hoo

Dragging this back on topic...

WAZT-CD went silent on 26 May ahead of construction of its proposed facility very near Leesburg. This was the one of the 3 licenses (WIAV/WDCO) that whoever the owners are were _not_ able to unload to Sinclair. It's still been pumping out Jewelry TV to no one from on top of the ridge by Bluemont (same location as RF 13 WWPX). I don't think it can move any closer to DC from here.





__





Licensing and Management System


Licensing and Management System




enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov





WDCN-LP re-filed for STA to continue analog service after previously withdrawing it. My interpretation of the rules is they will not get that granted but they might as well try I guess.

No action yet on either of the pending applications here (WDVM-TV relocation and WNUV)


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## Trip in VA

Looks like WNUV tested 3.0 overnight:





__





Signal graphs for WNUV at Alexandria, VA-N4MJC-HDHR4K on tuner1







www.rabbitears.info





- Trip


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## KyL416

The July 13th 2021 hard deadline for analog LPTV operations to cease was announced back in 2017. Back in 2015 the FCC announced that the deadline would be 51 months after the release of the incentive auction results, so these franken FM's had more than enough time to plan the build out of their digital signals, and could have flashcut to digital at any point over the past decade. They are the ones who chose to wait until the last minute so they can continue to milk every dollar they can from whatever 3rd party programmer they leased their 87.75 audio carrier to, even though the FCC has yet to guarantee that they will authorize FM operations to continue as an ancillary service past that date.

i.e. WNYZ-LP in NYC has held a construction permit to flashcut to digital since 2015. Yesterday they filed an amendment to their CP extension request, which itself was filed late without the required information, and in one of the exhibits they basically admit that their reason for a delay isn't financial strain like they claimed in the extension request, it's that they didn't bother getting quotes on equipment until a month ago, so any shipment wouldn't arrive until after the July 13th deadline.

If the FCC decides to reject 87.7 FM operations, those 3rd party programmers have other options to continue to reach their audience, like leasing a HD Radio subchannel to feed a FM translator, buying air time on a station that has brokered programming, or go streaming only and use their smartphone app to reach in car listeners.


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## DrDon

Some off-topic and erroneous posts removed. Stick to facts, not opinions. This is a technical forum.


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## pclement

Antenna Man PA said:


> I think it's going to be a lot longer than five years. Think back to ATSC 1.0 in the 90s. It wasn't until over a decade later that the analog signals were shut off. It's going to take a while for people to get new equipment that simply is not here yet. Broadcasters won't immediately drop support of 1.0 just because they would lose those who don't have NextGen tuners which in turn affects their ad revenue.
> 
> Also take a look at the DTV transition for low powered TV stations. Even though they were allowed to transition to digital in 2009 many did not shut off their analog signals until 2012-2015. Some are still even broadcasting in analog to this day. We're still in the very early stages of this thing taking off. While it is possible, I highly doubt broadcasters will be quick to turn 1.0 off.


As a side note, I got a coupon eligible Zenith box that I still use and has a better tuner for digital signals than any of my new TVs. It also allows you to add channels (rather than just a rescan to replace channels). Not sure why more TVs do not have that feature. Unfortunately, it does not have an HDMI or HD output.


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## TheKrell

pclement said:


> Unfortunately, it does not have an HDMI or HD output.


Unfortunately, the subsidized boxes were all SD boxes to accommodate old TVs. I do not recall ever seeing an HD-capable box with a subsidy.


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## IM42A

pclement said:


> As a side note, I got a coupon eligible Zenith box that I still use and has a better tuner for digital signals than any of my new TVs. It also allows you to add channels (rather than just a rescan to replace channels). Not sure why more TVs do not have that feature. Unfortunately, it does not have an HDMI or HD output.


Some of those coupon boxes were the most minimalist things imaginable. The Magnavox box (I still have a couple after all these years) will not allow you to add channels without rescanning everything, does not have analog passthrough (not as though that is really needed anymore), and will not allow you to skip subchannels --- you either have to take all channels that an OTA broadcasters offers, or skip the channel entirely. They were the DTV converter equivalent of Muntz TVs. All about the Benjamins.


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## tylerSC

IM42A said:


> Some of those coupon boxes were the most minimalist things imaginable. The Magnavox box (I still have a couple after all these years) will not allow you to add channels without rescanning everything, does not have analog passthrough (not as though that is really needed anymore), and will not allow you to skip subchannels --- you either have to take all channels that an OTA broadcasters offers, or skip the channel entirely. They were the DTV converter equivalent of Muntz TVs. All about the Benjamins.


Well they now have cheap tuner boxes from iView, Mediasonic, Ematic, and even RCA and they now offer HD output via HDMI. Sold at Walmart and Amazon. But no ATSC 3.0 of course. Still waiting on the Zapperbox, but the price needs to drop.


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## IM42A

tylerSC said:


> Well they now have cheap tuner boxes from iView, Mediasonic, Ematic, and even RCA and they now offer HD output via HDMI. Sold at Walmart and Amazon. But no ATSC 3.0 of course. Still waiting on the Zapperbox, but the price needs to drop.


Are these the ones that supposedly have a DVR capability? The ones I have in mind are, of course, Chinese-made, have different names and slightly different cosmetic appearances, but all use the same, fairly crude, graphic user interface. I have had three of these (!) and had to take each one back. They were garbage and could not be counted upon to record reliably.

For the moment, I've given up on trying to record digitally. If I absolutely, positively have to record something OTA, I have a Zenith box running into a Sharp multisystem VCR (made for the Hong Kong market with those huge British-style electrical plugs, dual voltage, I use an adapter to knock it down to the North American two-blade plug). Kind of primitive, but it gets the job done, albeit in 480i resolution.


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## Antenna Man PA

IM42A said:


> I have had three of these (!) and had to take each one back. They were garbage and could not be counted upon to record reliably.
> 
> For the moment, I've given up on trying to record digitally.


You can't expect too much from a $30 digital converter box with very very basic recording function. There are many other OTA DVRs out there that work much better. The Tablo, Air TV, Amazon Fire TV Recast, and TiVo Edge are just some examples. I have reviews of each one on my YouTube channel. Consider getting a real DVR. No one should be recording on a VCR in 2021.


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## IM42A

Antenna Man PA said:


> You can't expect too much from a $30 digital converter box with very very basic recording function. There are many other OTA DVRs out there that work much better. The Tablo, Air TV, Amazon Fire TV Recast, and TiVo Edge are just some examples. I have reviews of each one on my YouTube channel. Consider getting a real DVR. No one should be recording on a VCR in 2021.


Quite aware of that, but it's free and easily at hand. I still have three functioning VCRs. They are also good for recording TV DX (distant reception) "on the fly" when a DVR might not be able to decode it. For ID purposes, all you need is a pilot signal that excites PSIP enough to display the channel and call letters. I read the reviews of the Tablo and IIRC there were isolated issues --- it's $199 and not enough of a priority for me, right now, to justify that expense.


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## jmantothe64

IM42A said:


> Some of those coupon boxes were the most minimalist things imaginable. The Magnavox box (I still have a couple after all these years) will not allow you to add channels without rescanning everything...


I have two of the Insignia NS-DXA1 boxes (also sold as the Zenith DTT901) I bought because they are pretty much the gold standard for things like TV DX, because it has manual RF search, one of the most sensitive tuners out there, and are relatively plentiful because they were one of the coupon eligible boxes during the DTV transition. I've heard from many people that have both one of these and one of the newer Mediasonic or iView boxes that the old one picks up more channels than the new ones, so if you're ok with standard def, I'd recommend one of those.


IM42A said:


> For the moment, I've given up on trying to record digitally. If I absolutely, positively have to record something OTA, I have a Zenith box running into a Sharp multisystem VCR (made for the Hong Kong market with those huge British-style electrical plugs, dual voltage, I use an adapter to knock it down to the North American two-blade plug). Kind of primitive, but it gets the job done, albeit in 480i resolution.


If I absolutely NEED to record something, I usually just get my USB tuner out or hook my capture card up to the Insignia box, but something I'd like to try in the future is use my LG DVD/VCR unit that has both ATSC and an HDMI output, and get a cheap HDMI capture card to record it, because the tuner inside is very sensitive, and it's UI, while not the best, is still relatively easy to navigate.


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## al.rob

I think one of the best tools for recording OTA TV is Windows Media Center, with a tuner card in the PC. Microsoft stopped supporting this when support for Windows 7 ended, but it is still unofficially supported via The Green Button forum, and there is an accompanying program guide for it called epg123, that can be set up using Schedules Direct for $25/year. I can just surf the program guide and select programs to record, and the PC wakes up and records them automatically, in the same resolution they are broadcast in. Someone has created a standalone version of Media Center that installs onto Windows 10. It has worked well for me for about 10 years now (starting with Windows XP Media Center Edition), and if I run out of space I can just add another hard drive and/or replace with a bigger one. I use it mostly for music programs, some of which I recorded a decade ago, that I still watch. It has grown to several terabytes of stuff by now.


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## al.rob

al.rob said:


> I think one of the best tools for recording OTA TV is Windows Media Center, with a tuner card in the PC. Microsoft stopped supporting this when support for Windows 7 ended, but it is still unofficially supported via The Green Button forum, and there is an accompanying program guide for it called epg123, that can be set up using Schedules Direct for $25/year. I can just surf the program guide and select programs to record, and the PC wakes up and records them automatically, in the same resolution they are broadcast in. Someone has created a standalone version of Media Center that installs onto Windows 10. It has worked well for me for about 10 years now (starting with Windows XP Media Center Edition), and if I run out of space I can just add another hard drive and/or replace with a bigger one. I use it mostly for music programs, some of which I recorded a decade ago, that I still watch. It has grown to several terabytes of stuff by now.


I also have a couple Zenith DTT 901s, and although they can only output in RF or SD composite video, at least they have the ability to output in 16:9. I keep one hooked up to one of my TVs, which has a crappy tuner, so I can at least watch in SD stations that the tuner in the TV cannot receive. As someone else mentioned, the Zenith CECB has a very good tuner, and it is nice to be able to scan for channels without removing the ones that are already stored.


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## fri1038

WMJF-CD labeling and line-up changes today:

39-1 WMJF-CD .. Ion
39-2 TruCrim .. True Crime
39-3 Quest .. Quest
39-4 Grit .. Grit
39-5 Buzzr .. Buzzr
39-6 ShopLC .. Shop LC

39-1 is 720p The rest are 480i 16:9. All MPEG2 - no more MPEG4 H&I.


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## Balto-Media

al.rob said:


> I think one of the best tools for recording OTA TV is Windows Media Center, with a tuner card in the PC. Microsoft stopped supporting this when support for Windows 7 ended, but it is still unofficially supported via The Green Button forum, and there is an accompanying program guide for it called epg123, that can be set up using Schedules Direct for $25/year. I can just surf the program guide and select programs to record, and the PC wakes up and records them automatically, in the same resolution they are broadcast in. Someone has created a standalone version of Media Center that installs onto Windows 10. It has worked well for me for about 10 years now (starting with Windows XP Media Center Edition), and if I run out of space I can just add another hard drive and/or replace with a bigger one. I use it mostly for music programs, some of which I recorded a decade ago, that I still watch. It has grown to several terabytes of stuff by now.


Connected to my Apple Mac Pro, I use a Honestech Vidbox to record live TV, but alas it's only analog 480i, but it does make nice compact .mp4 files without any DRM. I appreciate all the information into other methods though. Thanks all.


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## Balto-Media

fri1038 said:


> WMJF-CD labeling and line-up changes today:
> 
> 39-1 WMJF-CD .. Ion
> 39-2 TruCrim .. True Crime
> 39-3 Quest .. Quest
> 39-4 Grit .. Grit
> 39-5 Buzzr .. Buzzr
> 39-6 ShopLC .. Shop LC
> 
> 39-1 is 720p The rest are 480i 16:9. All MPEG2 - no more MPEG4 H&I.


I'm curious what Scripps is going to do with ION in Baltimore since they own WMAR. Being a proposed ATSC 1.0 lighthouse station for WNUV's diginets makes me think they might not be able to add ION in 720p any time soon? Anyone have any thoughts on that? Scripps has made it pretty clear that wherever they can they're not going to pay anybody to carry ION and keep in in-house, so I'm thinking WMJF is on the chopping block at some point, whenever technically possible.


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## fri1038

Scripp's WMAR won't be able to host all nine of Scripps diginets plus ABC and WNUV's AntennaTV for the Baltimore market. Seems WMJF and perhaps WQAW would get some of them. WMJF seems to have gone to some trouble lately to get Ion on its dot one channel for some reason.

WBFF, which gave birth to Sinclair, is conspicuously absent from the local ATSC 3.0 plans so far and may yet play some role.

On that note, I wonder if MPT will change their HD resolutions to make room for WNUV's CW in 720. Currently 1080/720/480/480. Maybe end up like WETA:720/720/480/480/720.


----------



## pkpaul

I went to Hunt Valley today to see if any ATSC 3.0 testing was in progress. There was, but I couldn't see any of it because my smartphone and tablet are both android and I got an error message "[android] video codec failed". But I could see channel 67 MD public TV channels just fine:


----------



## IM42A

al.rob said:


> I think one of the best tools for recording OTA TV is Windows Media Center, with a tuner card in the PC. Microsoft stopped supporting this when support for Windows 7 ended, but it is still unofficially supported via The Green Button forum, and there is an accompanying program guide for it called epg123, that can be set up using Schedules Direct for $25/year. I can just surf the program guide and select programs to record, and the PC wakes up and records them automatically, in the same resolution they are broadcast in. Someone has created a standalone version of Media Center that installs onto Windows 10. It has worked well for me for about 10 years now (starting with Windows XP Media Center Edition), and if I run out of space I can just add another hard drive and/or replace with a bigger one. I use it mostly for music programs, some of which I recorded a decade ago, that I still watch. It has grown to several terabytes of stuff by now.


Dumb question, is there a way to download, or obtain in some other fashion (program CDs/DVDs on eBay, etc.), the Windows Media Center program, for Windows 7 and other versions of Windows? I have an HP desktop PC, purchased 2007, that I have basically had to rebuild from scratch, new motherboard, new hard drive, and it still has the media card, just no WMC program, as I lost that when I had to replace the hard drive. It had a dual analog tuner but no digital tuner. If I could connect one of my Zenith boxes to it (I have two), I could record. Any way to resurrect this dinosaur?


----------



## GaryGnu

qonder said:


> I live in Pasadena MD and also wanted to pickup both Baltimore and Washington DC stations. I ended up using 3 antennas in my tiny attic. One high band VHF yagi (amplified) and one UHF (amplified) pointing at DC and a Wineguard 7550 pointed at Baltimore. That worked fairly well until I had a new roof installed last April. That wiped out all my DC stations. Initially I suspected all the banging from the roofers caused my antennas to fall over (they were just sitting on boxes pointed at Washington). But after I checked, everything in the attic was as it should be. Next I thought maybe the amplifier went up, so I substituted an old amplifier - same results. Finally it occurred to me that the foil back underlayment on my new roof was blocking all but the strongest signals. I ended up buying a second Wineguard 7550, which I mounted outdoors near the peak of my roof. Presto, all my Washington stations came back.
> 
> I also have a couple of leftover antennas and amplifiers in my attic if you think you want to try them out for your installation.


I have a question. I just got a Wineguard 7550 (for south to DC) to combine with my Yagi (to north for Baltimore). The Wineguard is powered and has the inline thing to plug into USB or 120V outlet. I have a Wineguard coupler CC-7780. Where do I put the inline thing from the Wineguard antenna? Does it go up in my attic before the coupler? On the passive side of the coupler? Or does it go after the coupler combines the signal closer to the TV? This antenna has given me the best results for DC channels. Thanks for the recommendations.

Gary


----------



## n8hoo

GaryGnu said:


> I have a Wineguard coupler CC-7780. Where do I put the inline thing from the Wineguard antenna?


there is AC passthrough from the downlead to one of the antenna inputs (it's marked) so the injector doesn't necessarily have to go in the attic, just wherever it's easiest


----------



## fri1038

IM42A said:


> Dumb question, is there a way to download, or obtain in some other fashion (program CDs/DVDs on eBay, etc.), the Windows Media Center program, for Windows 7 and other versions of Windows? I have an HP desktop PC, purchased 2007, that I have basically had to rebuild from scratch, new motherboard, new hard drive, and it still has the media card, just no WMC program, as I lost that when I had to replace the hard drive. It had a dual analog tuner but no digital tuner. If I could connect one of my Zenith boxes to it (I have two), I could record. Any way to resurrect this dinosaur?


Probably better asked in one of the Technical Threads ... WMC was the bee's knees but might be overkill if you just want to record off the composite or RF3 inputs from an external tuner. The manufacturer 's software for the tuner cards might be sufficient if you can still get it. There was a recent post about alternative WMC resources recently but I can't find it now. TheGreenButton.tv - Index page was one of the links I can recall. Otherwise find an old copy of Win7 somewhere.


----------



## fri1038

n8hoo said:


> there is AC passthrough from the downlead to one of the antenna inputs (it's marked) so the injector doesn't necessarily have to go in the attic, just wherever it's easiest


Yeah, just so you aren't sending power to a device that shouldn't get it. Example, if you have a splitter to 2 TVs, put it between the coupler and the splitter so you don't send power to one of the TVs. Or if both antennas have their own amp, between coupler and amp.


----------



## IM42A

fri1038 said:


> Probably better asked in one of the Technical Threads ... WMC was the bee's knees but might be overkill if you just want to record off the composite or RF3 inputs from an external tuner. The manufacturer 's software for the tuner cards might be sufficient if you can still get it. There was a recent post about alternative WMC resources recently but I can't find it now. TheGreenButton.tv - Index page was one of the links I can recall. Otherwise find an old copy of Win7 somewhere.


Thanks. I didn't know that Windows 7 came with WMC bundled within it --- am I understanding that scenario correctly? I actually did get an old copy of Windows 7 to resurrect another computer of mine, so I will check at my other house to see if I can do anything with it.


----------



## fri1038

IM42A said:


> Thanks. I didn't know that Windows 7 came with WMC bundled within it --- am I understanding that scenario correctly?


I don't recall [if part of the basic installation media or a separate download pkg.] Like I said, if you have any OS to install, the Hauppauge or whatever software might be enough without WMC.


----------



## bullwinklehdtv

IM42A said:


> Thanks. I didn't know that Windows 7 came with WMC bundled within it --- am I understanding that scenario correctly? I actually did get an old copy of Windows 7 to resurrect another computer of mine, so I will check at my other house to see if I can do anything with it.


Yes, WMC was definitely included in Windows 7. It was an addon in Windows 8 that I think cost $10. There are more modern alternatives, but WMC works flawlessly-I'm still using it. The WMC program guide is no longer supported by Microsoft, but there is an alternative called epg123. The program is free but it requires a $25 annual subscription to Schedules Direct.


----------



## IM42A

bullwinklehdtv said:


> Yes, WMC was definitely included in Windows 7. It was an addon in Windows 8 that I think cost $10. There are more modern alternatives, but WMC works flawlessly-I'm still using it. The WMC program guide is no longer supported by Microsoft, but there is an alternative called epg123. The program is free but it requires a $25 annual subscription to Schedules Direct.


Whoa Nellie! I just checked, and it is indeed part of Windows 7 on the computer where I recently installed it. It would require a card with 75-ohm cable input (which I don't have on this machine), or else I can get another copy of Windows 7 and install it on the machine that I rebuilt, that does have that kind of card. This may be a good cheap fix to a big problem. I can run the Zenith box into it, and tune to NTSC output channel 3 or 4, even though it downgrades to analog, still, better than nothing. Thanks so much.


----------



## greg9x2

fri1038 said:


> Yeah, just so you aren't sending power to a device that shouldn't get it. Example, if you have a splitter to 2 TVs, put it between the coupler and the splitter so you don't send power to one of the TVs. Or if both antennas have their own amp, between coupler and amp.


Yeah, or may need to get a splitter that passes power on one port and blocks it on the other (DC pass/block, or a DC block insert) so that power only goes to the side that needs it. Power going where it shouldn't isn't good.

Ex: Splitter


----------



## joblo

Balto-Media said:


> By the way, the link to DC's NextGen transition has been removed by WHUT 32


It's back.


----------



## n8hoo

joblo said:


> It's back.


interesting there are no dates anywhere - seems as if it’s still not intended for public consumption yet


----------



## jmantothe64

joblo said:


> It's back.


WHUT just went out a moment ago, and I don't have an ATSC 3.0 tuner yet, so I can't say for certain what's happening. WJLA, however, does NOT have any sign of carrying WHUT


----------



## KyL416

The various DC area live bandscans don't show anything off for WHUT:
Huntington, VA
Alexandria, VA
Fairfax City
Stone Ridge, VA

They haven't made any NextGen or program test authority filings with the FCC, so they can't be testing it yet. Considering what's happening with WNUV, they're probably waiting until all the i's are dotted and t's are crossed before they publically reveal a date.


----------



## n8hoo

Mine is 3.0:





__





RabbitEars Mobile







m.rabbitears.info





we’d be talking about a fall/winter transition at a minimum though and that’s if they file the paperwork like next week. This is more than likely a long way off.


----------



## Balto-Media

n8hoo said:


> interesting there are no dates anywhere - seems as if it’s still not intended for public consumption yet


It's kind of hard to put the genie back in the bottle when Google Cache still has it up and I posted that link all over too. Also, I do not think this was Sinclair's original plan, but it just fell into their lap and they wanted it to be kept secret for awhile since they were probably negotiating with WETA and WDCW CW 50 too.


----------



## KyL416

n8hoo said:


> we’d be talking about a fall/winter transition at a minimum though and that’s if they file the paperwork like next week. This is more than likely a long way off.


As long as the filings pass all the checks, like 95% coverage for the ATSC 1.0 simulcasts, they will be expedited.

i.e. WAXN in Charlotte will be converting on 6/15, they made their filing on 5/25 and the applications were granted this past Monday on 6/7. Meanwhile, Sinclair has an application to convert KMYS in San Antonio with an ATSC 1.0 host that doesn't even come close to putting a city grade signal over their community of license, so it has been pending since November.


----------



## jeffsk

KyL416 said:


> The July 13th 2021 hard deadline for analog LPTV operations to cease was announced back in 2017. Back in 2015 the FCC announced that the deadline would be 51 months after the release of the incentive auction results, so these franken FM's had more than enough time to plan the build out of their digital signals ...


I heard there was a possibility that they could keep their 87.7 analog FM frequency and convert to ATSC 1.0 or 3.0 with the remaining bandwidth. How feasible is this (I'm not an engineer)? Are there down sides? It seems like an incentive for some stations to move to Ch 6 to free up more spectrum for the future. Of course, this would have been a better idea before the repack.


----------



## fri1038

jeffsk said:


> I heard there was a possibility that they could keep their 87.7 analog FM frequency and convert to ATSC 1.0 or 3.0 with the remaining bandwidth. How feasible is this (I'm not an engineer)? Are there down sides? It seems like an incentive for some stations to move to Ch 6 to free up more spectrum for the future. Of course, this would have been a better idea before the repack.


KBKF is doing this now, I think. See the recent posts in the San Fran thread.

Locally the radio station appears to be centered on 87.75 which many radios have trouble with.


----------



## fri1038

WMJF-CD down since around 2:30pm when Towson was getting clobbered by a lightning storm. WTMD-FM (same tower) still up, FWIW.


----------



## fri1038

Ah, ok. WBFF isn't mentioned in WNUV's paperwork, nor are they hosting any of WNUV's subchannels. Unless you count Charge! which they got a few months ago and isn't on WNUV and is supposed to go to WBAL. 🤪 Maybe WMPB's new elipitcal antenna will help that coverage problem a smidge.


----------



## fri1038

I'm seeing a station from Cuba on analog RF3 at 9:25 am here in MD if any DXers want to look. I'll upload a couple pics later.

Cubavision. Started with Cuba por la VIda then cartoons on Mundo de Colores. Still watchable at 10:20 am. Something weaker on RF2 I can't get a lock on.

edit 2: Guessing RF2 is Tele Rebelde, a sports channel. Caught some glimpses of baseball and the opening of a program Los Grandes, or similar with more baseball. Comes and goes before I can get my camera open. edit3: Yep, found their schedule: Confesiones de Grandes was the program.

Something on RF4, too.

Signals faded away around 11:15. 

Raining and 66F here this morning, after a week of 90s, high humidity, and storms last night. Nothing remarkable, tropo-wise, in the eastern part of the country.


----------



## al.rob

IM42A said:


> Dumb question, is there a way to download, or obtain in some other fashion (program CDs/DVDs on eBay, etc.), the Windows Media Center program, for Windows 7 and other versions of Windows? I have an HP desktop PC, purchased 2007, that I have basically had to rebuild from scratch, new motherboard, new hard drive, and it still has the media card, just no WMC program, as I lost that when I had to replace the hard drive. It had a dual analog tuner but no digital tuner. If I could connect one of my Zenith boxes to it (I have two), I could record. Any way to resurrect this dinosaur?


What version of Windows does it have? Windows 7 came with Media Center built in. For Windows 10, you can go The Green Button.tv and download a version of Media Center that runs in Windows 10 and maybe Windows 8, but I don't think anyone does that. There is also a program guide. I would get an ATSC tuner card instead of trying to use an old analog card with an external tuner. They are not that expensive. That way, you can set it up to automatically record all the shows that you select from the program guide automatically, and they will be in full resolution.


----------



## joblo

n8hoo said:


> interesting there are no dates anywhere - seems as if it’s still not intended for public consumption yet


Well, they don't seem to be able to make up their minds.

Now the password screen is back:

NextgenTV | WHUTtv

Cached:

NextgenTV | WHUTtv

But here's something interesting. Three hours of seminars available at their web site and on YouTube:

NEXTGEN Seminars | WHUTtv


----------



## fri1038

Turned the TV back on at 1:15 pm, there was The Social from Canada's CTV on analog 2 and 3. My best guess is CITO and CHBX in Ontario. Gone at 2:00 pm.






List of television stations in Canada - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org


----------



## jmantothe64

WDWA's .3 subchannel is no longer showing color bars and is now running Jewelry TV


----------



## n8hoo

WAZT-CD is on the air from Leesburg. But it seems that it's broadcasting no data whatsoever. Whoops...










ETA: Looks like it was lit up Thursday night so I'd guess it'll keep pumping out that unusable signal for a while to come.


----------



## DrDon

A number of off-topic and argumentative posts have been removed, along with posts containing unsubstantiated claims and accusations. Offending members have lost posting access in this thread. 

This is not Facebook. It's a technical forum.


----------



## n8hoo

I saw a noticeable jump in my signal from WTTG overnight - looks like the move to the River Road tower is complete. A rescan is in order if you've been having problems.


----------



## Trip in VA

My strength and quality dropped, but it's now basically on-par with WPXW, which isn't a surprise.

- Trip


----------



## greg9x2

n8hoo said:


> I saw a noticeable jump in my signal from WTTG overnight - looks like the move to the River Road tower is complete. A rescan is in order if you've been having problems.
> 
> View attachment 3144649


Damn ! WTTG was my one solid major network station year round...now it is borderline and taking hits. 

ATSC 3.0 switch over needs to happen soon , as WHUT is a better signal and will hopefully stay that way when switch occurs.


----------



## LaserBeamSC

When I see chat about WTTG it reminds of seeing the Eastern NC TV Guide listings in the early to mid 80’s and seeing the great programming it had. It was possibly as good as WTBS if not better and wondered why it was in the ENC listings but looking back I suppose it was on some cable companies. While I could only dream of getting an awesome OTA station like that back in the day, I sure enjoyed reading what they were airing!


----------



## n8hoo

LaserBeamSC said:


> When I see chat about WTTG it reminds of seeing the Eastern NC TV Guide listings in the early to mid 80’s and seeing the great programming it had.


yes, WTTG was a regional superstation back in the day. I think I’ve read of it being carried on cable as far south as Charlotte.

Obviously that’s long gone, but when I lived in Charlottesville it was still on basic cable — the last vestige of the time when that place only had OTA service from NBC (+ ABC on a translator)


----------



## KyL416

WTTG was one of many regional superstations in the late 70s-early 80s. In the 70s HBO was basically the only real national cable channel, the rest of the lineup was mostly filled with neighboring locals and independent "superstations" who either broadcasted nationally via satellite or regionally via microwave relay.

Once Fox launched, most of the affiliated stations like WTTG, WNEW, KTTV and KTVU stopped their distribution. Their coverage was already dwindling by then since cable companies started dropping the regional superstations to make room for newly launched cable channels.


----------



## fri1038

More 'e-skip' from Cuba this morning around 9:00 AM. Looks like the same channels as a few days ago on RF 2 and 3 and maybe 4. I saw something on 4 yesterday around 3:30 pm but couldn't ID it: man that looked like Dr. Phil talking to a blonde-haired lady. Didn't get any audio. The DX logs and other info on the dxinfocentre website helps with the ID sometimes, so thanks to them for the excellent resource.

update: Cuba still coming at 1:15pm. RF3 especially strong. Funny I don't see any USA low-VHF stations like so many in the Live Bandscans.

update: Cuba stations lasted until 5pm. That was the Dr. Phil show yesterday, looking closely at a video I snagged and matching it to their website. CJCB, CTV, in Sydney Nova Scotia on analog 4 seems to be the only candidate for that, though the timing doesn't quite match - schedule shows it starting at noon there and I saw it at 3:30. It was CKYB (aka CKY-DT) in Brandon Manitoba. Everything lines up with that. 1358 miles! dxinfocentre's dx log tipped me to that A-4 station I missed in my other searches. 

===

WMJF still down, since the June 10 lightning storm.

===

I was out adjusting my antenna to try for a more stable WTTG signal assuming they are on their new transmitter. WTTG and WPXW were mutually exclusive before. It seems a little better on this calm, clear day, but the trees win the battle at my house. The signal strength still bounces around a lot. This is my current rig - two little directional Stealthennas with a Jointenna - to try and cut through the tree-induced multipath. It helps keep the Baltimore UHFs locked compared to getting them off the side of a single DC-aimed antenna. But the DC UHFers are still problematic in wet and windy weather, except for WRC. Probably the best I can do here without removing trees or putting up an 80-foot tower.


----------



## fri1038

WMPB lit up 22-5 as a WNUV simulcast just now. Its 67-2 now 480i instead of 720p. No changes to WMPT.

edit at 11:00: test over. things back as they were before.


----------



## fri1038

I learned this trick to manually scan channels on a Samsung TV (2010 in my case,) an annoyance discussed here before. This mostly deletes the tuner's memory, except for the x.1 digital channels. Then you can use the Channel up/down buttons to move through RF2 - RF36. You'll have to do a full rescan to get your old digital subchannels back. This was helpful in scanning for distant analog signals this morning or cases like when you want to look at RF14 but there is a virtual 14.1 in the way.

CH LIST -> TOOLS -> Select All, then TOOLS -> Delete, then EXIT. Then punch in RF channel 37 or some unoccupied channel, and press CH up/down.

My primary set, an old Panasonic, goes to a black screen on weak or fleeting signals which make it tough to watch Hello Kitty from Havana. ;-) The Samsung lets me watch through the static.


----------



## n8hoo

fri1038 said:


> WMPB lit up 22-5 as a WNUV simulcast just now. Its 67-2 now 480i instead of 720p. No changes to WMPT.
> 
> edit at 11:00: test over. things back as they were before.


they must know they're going to get approval this week if they're going ahead with testing (both today and running 3.0 on the morning of the 4th)


----------



## aaronwt

greg9x2 said:


> Damn ! WTTG was my one solid major network station year round...now it is borderline and taking hits.
> 
> ATSC 3.0 switch over needs to happen soon , as WHUT is a better signal and will hopefully stay that way when switch occurs.


This comment got me a little worried. But I just checked a couple of OTA recordings from WTTG last night and they were fine.

I was worried that I would have an issue similar to WUSA. They were the best station I could receive and were always rock solid. But after they switched to VHF they became my worst. While WJLA on UHF was fine and was still fine after they switched to VHF.

But then my OTA TiVos are a backup to my TiVo on FiOS. And my TiVo on FiOS is a backup to watching most shows from streaming sources. So I don't typically watch from my OTA recordings. But if things keep changing with FiOS, I will drop their TV service and again rely on OTA for more of my content. 

But I'm hoping that won't happen until the changeover to ATSC 3.0. And then I can figure out a DVR solution for that. A solution that will also work with AC-3 audio. Since my first choice would be to use the Plex DVR for ATSC 3.0. SInce I have a lifetime Plex Pass.


----------



## joblo

It's official:

HOWARD UNIVERSITY NEXTGEN TV BROADCAST COLLABORATIVE’ BRINGING ATSC 3.0 SERVICE TO NATION’S CAPITAL IN LANDMARK PROJECT INVOLVING BROADCASTERS, EDUCATORS, PROFESSIONAL EQUIPMENT AND CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES - ATSC : NextGen TV


----------



## fri1038

And the link is back on whut.org - under What We Do




joblo said:


> It's official:
> 
> HOWARD UNIVERSITY NEXTGEN TV BROADCAST COLLABORATIVE’ BRINGING ATSC 3.0 SERVICE TO NATION’S CAPITAL IN LANDMARK PROJECT INVOLVING BROADCASTERS, EDUCATORS, PROFESSIONAL EQUIPMENT AND CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES - ATSC : NextGen TV


----------



## greg9x2

aaronwt said:


> This comment got me a little worried. But I just checked a couple of OTA recordings from WTTG last night and they were fine.
> 
> I was worried that I would have an issue similar to WUSA. They were the best station I could receive and were always rock solid. But after they switched to VHF they became my worst. While WJLA on UHF was fine and was still fine after they switched to VHF.
> 
> But then my OTA TiVos are a backup to my TiVo on FiOS. And my TiVo on FiOS is a backup to watching most shows from streaming sources. So I don't typically watch from my OTA recordings. But if things keep changing with FiOS, I will drop their TV service and again rely on OTA for more of my content.
> 
> But I'm hoping that won't happen until the changeover to ATSC 3.0. And then I can figure out a DVR solution for that. A solution that will also work with AC-3 audio. Since my first choice would be to use the Plex DVR for ATSC 3.0. SInce I have a lifetime Plex Pass.


Guess depends on location...i'm up Frederick way, and definite drop for me. 

Have an attic setup, and had roof replaced last week...was happy still had good reception after replacement, then 'crap !' this week.


----------



## fri1038

WMJF is back up this morning, after going down on the 10th.



fri1038 said:


> WMJF-CD down since around 2:30pm when Towson was getting clobbered by a lightning storm. WTMD-FM (same tower) still up, FWIW.


----------



## n8hoo

WNUV's STA applicaiton to simulcast on both MPT stations changed status from "pending" to "review" last night, as well as a similar one from WOFL in Orlando (but only for its non-primary subchannels) - might be a decision is coming?






Licensing and Management System


Licensing and Management System




enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov


----------



## GaryGnu

I have been fiddling with my new antenna(s) set up in my attic and am definitely a newbie with this. The other day, I was able to pick up WPHL 17 near Philadelphia. It was a clear picture for awhile, and now I have lost it. There is about 100 miles and a lot of earth curvature between Ellicott City, MD and this tower. How was I able to pick this up at all? I do have a clear shot out of my house to the north but this seems crazy.


----------



## KyL416

There were some decent atmospheric boost conditions a few days ago when that front was going through the area. People as far away as North Carolina and Connecticut picked it up:
https://m.rabbitears.info/index.php...lsign=WPHL&sort=date&hours=all&tzone=ET&unit=

It also helps that RF 17 is reserved for land mobile use in the DC area, so there are no other stations on RF 17 in the vicinity:
https://www.rabbitears.info/allocationmap.php?circoc=&ciradj=&channel=17&adj=N&all=Y


----------



## KyL416

WPXW and WWPX will launch Scripps new diginets on July 1st:
Defy will replace HSN on their .5
TrueReal will replace QVC on their .6

I don't know if they have plans for Baltimore yet.


----------



## fri1038

I see the Philadelphia stations many mornings and evenings this time of year, and on the edges of weather fronts, thanks to tropo thermal conditions. WCAU on RF28 is my most common, followed by WPHL RF17 and KYW RF30 and WPVI RF6. WGAL RF8 in Lancaster and a couple from Salisbury, too. My tropo record is WHPX from Hartford at 278 miles. The E-skip phenomenon that lets low-VHF bounce 1000 miles +/- off the ionosphere is active lately as we approach the solstice, I read. You can see it reflected in the rabbitears.info national bandscan map. I mentioned my Cuba and Canada sightings a few days back. I like to manually add the locally unoccupied channels to my tuner, so I'll notice new stations as a I spin the dial - which sometimes causes me to have a late start to the day as a result. Often more interesting than the actual programming. ;-)




GaryGnu said:


> I have been fiddling with my new antenna(s) set up in my attic and am definitely a newbie with this. The other day, I was able to pick up WPHL 17 near Philadelphia. It was a clear picture for awhile, and now I have lost it. There is about 100 miles and a lot of earth curvature between Ellicott City, MD and this tower. How was I able to pick this up at all? I do have a clear shot out of my house to the north but this seems crazy.


----------



## fri1038

One note of interest in that STA amendment is that WMPT's CW will be 54.1 and WMPB's CW will be 54.11.



n8hoo said:


> WNUV's STA applicaiton to simulcast on both MPT stations changed status from "pending" to "review" last night, as well as a similar one from WOFL in Orlando (but only for its non-primary subchannels) - might be a decision is coming?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Licensing and Management System
> 
> 
> Licensing and Management System
> 
> 
> 
> 
> enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov


----------



## jmantothe64

Seeing some tropo right now, all of the full-power Baltimore stations as well as DC's LDs are coming in strong, and WPHL and WCAU also came in. I think KYW is trying to come in, but WIAV-CD's signal is overpowering it. Also seeing some breakup on WJLA, which is usually very strong, perhaps WABC is interfering?


----------



## n8hoo

I caught WGAL for the first time ever at night in memory. the most fascinating part of having this bandscanner is setting the effect after a front sweeps through like that

WIAV-CD may have fallen victim to the weather as it's been off the air (or not broadcasting a usable signal) since 8 pm last night...WDCO is alive though


----------



## n8hoo

WNUV legal STA (ATSC 1.0 simulcast arrangement) *granted*

I'd expect the other license modifications to follow.






Licensing and Management System


Licensing and Management System




enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov





ETA: WNUV 3.0 license modification granted ~noon:






 Licensing and Management System


Licensing and Management System




enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov


----------



## joblo

n8hoo said:


> the most fascinating part of having this bandscanner is setting the effect after a front sweeps through like that


Yeah, the storm effect last night was pretty dramatic.



n8hoo said:


> WIAV-CD may have fallen victim to the weather as it's been off the air (or not broadcasting a usable signal) since 8 pm last night


I don't see any significant signal level changes on any of the area band scanners, so I think it's just broadcasting something the HDHR-4K can't recognize.

Anybody with a 3.0-capable TV seeing anything on RF30?


----------



## pkpaul

joblo said:


> Anybody with a 3.0-capable TV seeing anything on RF30?


I have HDHR 4K. 
It stopping seeing 158.1 WIAV and 158.3 WIAVMMT.


----------



## n8hoo

joblo said:


> I don't see any significant signal level changes on any of the area band scanners, so I think it's just broadcasting something the HDHR-4K can't recognize.
> 
> Anybody with a 3.0-capable TV seeing anything on RF30?


Yeah I realized the loss of decode was right at 8pm exactly so that would seem to be something human (i.e., testing) instead of the weather. It's been mentioned on the SD forums that there are tons of 3.0 features that have not been seen "in the wild" yet so not hard to imagine the 4K HDHRs aren't perfect yet.

Aside: 45.1 short name changed from "FOX" to "WBFF45" at noon...odd timing.


----------



## aaronwt

jmantothe64 said:


> Seeing some tropo right now, all of the full-power Baltimore stations as well as DC's LDs are coming in strong, and WPHL and WCAU also came in. I think KYW is trying to come in, but WIAV-CD's signal is overpowering it. Also seeing some breakup on WJLA, which is usually very strong, perhaps WABC is interfering?


Wow!! I still fondly remember checking the Tropospheric Ducting Forecast regularly in the early 2000's. So I could find out when I could record from the Baltimore ABC station. From my GFs house. If I remember correctly, the DC ABC station only had stereo audio while the Baltimore one was in 5.1 at the time. And ABC was broadcasting many shows in HD and 5.1 audio.

So I setup a PC at my GFs house with a HiPix ATSC tuner for the HD recordings. Then I had a docking station for a removeable hard drive. So I could swap out between the two 80GB drives I used to shuttle the content home. Where I had another PC with a HiPix card. I recorded the content at my GFs house until 2004, when I finally found an antenna, the square shooter antenna. That was unobtrusive enough for me to mount outside my condo(Plus, that year, TiVo came out with their first box that could record HD ATSC broadcasts, as well as HD from DirecTV). That could also pull in the DC stations. Although I did end up installing two of them in 2004 and combining their signal. And surprisingly they are still working fine. Seventeen years later.


----------



## pkpaul

158.1 WIAV & 158.3 WIAVMMT are back up at 14:55


----------



## n8hoo

As expected the remaining 3.0 license modifications were granted late yesterday. All of a sudden the Baltimore 3.0 cutover is a go for tomorrow at 10am...


----------



## Scott Bonney

Sorry if this has been discussed, but is it possible that NBC will be operating in the DC area on ATSC 3.0 in time to view the Tokyo Olympics in 4K HDR?

I have an LG GX 65 with a built in ATSC 3.0 tuner, and only live about 3 miles to north of the WHUT transmission tower that I believe will also broadcast NBC, (and Fox5, CBS, ABC and WHUT PBS). I live in an apartment that faces north, away from the transmission tower, but get a very strong ATSC 1.0 signal using a compact amplified RCA antenna placed in the north facing window. No line of sight to the transmission tower, but I have lots of glass buildings nearby that seem to reflect the signal back to the north side.


----------



## n8hoo

Scott Bonney said:


> is it possible NBC will be operating in the DC area on ATSC 3.0 [...]


this is a certainty, considering that WBAL is firing up its 3.0 signal tomorrow



Scott Bonney said:


> [...] in time to view the Tokyo Olympics in 4K HDR?


4K content over-the-air is years away if it ever happens at all.


----------



## Scott Bonney

n8hoo said:


> this is a certainty, considering that WBAL is firing up its 3.0 signal tomorrow
> 
> 
> 
> 4K content over-the-air is years away if it ever happens at all.


So no currently operating ATSC 3.0 stations in the US are broadcasting 4K HDR? Wouldn’t NBC be anxious to showcase the Tokyo Olympic’s in 4K? I read that they were sending 4K content from Tokyo, and the broadcasters hear had a choice on how to distribute it in the US. Why couldn’t NBC take advantage of this 4K signal for this special event?


----------



## Scott Bonney

Scott Bonney said:


> So no currently operating ATSC 3.0 stations in the US are broadcasting 4K HDR? Wouldn’t NBC be anxious to showcase the Tokyo Olympic’s in 4K? I read that they were sending 4K content from Tokyo, and the broadcasters hear had a choice on how to distribute it in the US. Why couldn’t NBC take advantage of this 4K signal for this special event?


I thought 4K HDR and enhanced Dolby Audio was the big reason to upgrade to ATSC 3.0, at least according to all the marketing buzz…


----------



## n8hoo

Scott Bonney said:


> I thought 4K HDR and enhanced Dolby Audio was the big reason to upgrade to ATSC 3.0, at least according to all the marketing buzz…


every OTA station in America is capable of max 1080i right now - the equipment upgrades required for 4K would be _massive _with frankly not enough upside, at least not now. just because it's _technically_ possible doesn't mean there's the appetite or resources to do it

Now NBC is making 4K HDR of certain things (eg the opening ceremony) available to cable and satellite which I always thought was the more likely outlet. could there be legit 1080p HDR over WBAL? possibly


----------



## Scott Bonney

n8hoo said:


> every OTA station in America is capable of max 1080i right now - the equipment upgrades required for 4K would be _massive _with frankly not enough upside, at least not now. just because it's _technically_ possible doesn't mean there's the appetite or resources to do it
> 
> Now NBC is making 4K HDR of certain things (eg the opening ceremony) available to cable and satellite which I always thought was the more likely outlet. could there be legit 1080p HDR over WBAL? possibly


So why the big push to ATSC 3.0 if the picture remains essentially the same as ATSC 1.0?


----------



## greg9x2

Scott Bonney said:


> So why the big push to ATSC 3.0 if the picture remains essentially the same as ATSC 1.0?


Have to start somewhere... But ATSC 3.0 will also allow for interactive services, subscription services, data delivery, more sub channels, etc. It's not only about 4K.

As said, there is a whole infrastructure that needs to be upgraded for 4K OTA... Lots of money to invest, they need a reason to invest it.

Do you think a station would rather change to a 4K resolution, or put 3 more lower resolution sub channels they can sell advertising on ?
If something about 4K can be shown to make them money, then they will make it happen.

Edit: And oh yeah.... Data collection and targeted advertising are also 'features' of 3.0.

I'm wanting it for hopefully better reception.


----------



## wmcbrine

Scott Bonney said:


> Wouldn’t NBC be anxious to showcase the Tokyo Olympic’s in 4K?


You'd think so, but last I heard, they weren't even going to make that available on Peacock. Just Comcast and DirecTV, IIRC.


----------



## Digital Rules

greg9x2 said:


> I'm wanting it for hopefully better reception.


Me too!! 

Less compression would be nice, but would be thrilled with better reliability. . .


----------



## fri1038

WTTG/WDCA was granted their License to Cover, making their move to the River Rd tower official.


----------



## fri1038

Looks like the WNUV transition is in progress. WMAR and WBAL carrying Antenna, Comet, and Stadium starting around 0915. WMPT and WMPB have Create (22.2 and 67.2) in 480 but no 54.1 yet. Judge Jerry should sign them off soon.


Saw WUTB referred to as "EBFF (MyTV)" in a program teaser on WNUV this morning. First seen for that. Maybe related to the WBFF45 re-label.


----------



## twobucktoll

fri1038 said:


> Looks like the WNUV transition is in progress. WMAR and WBAL carrying Antenna, Comet, and Stadium starting around 0915. WMPT and WMPB have Create (22.2 and 67.2) in 480 but no 54.1 yet. Judge Jerry should sign them off soon.
> 
> 
> Saw WUTB referred to as "EBFF (MyTV)" in a program teaser on WNUV this morning. First seen for that. Maybe related to the WBFF45 re-label.


Where I am (at work in Tysons) I see 54.1 on the same frequency as MMPT (9:38 am). When I first set up my listening station at ~9:15 am I got 54.1 with a ton of breakups but I don't know what frequency that was and I have done a couple of rescans since. I suspect the ratty 54.1 was from the old frequency. I am anxious to see if the 3.0 signal gets to me better. There is a high rise hotel near my office very near my LOS to WNUV and I suspect some kind of interference from it.


----------



## pkpaul

54.11 From Falls Church:


----------



## fri1038

Yup. 54-1 and 54-11 CWWNUV on the MPT stations, now, too, in 720p.


----------



## fri1038

And that's that. WNUV ATSC 1.0 on RF25 went dark at 1002. No Nextgen tuner here to watch the rest of the show.


----------



## Trip in VA

It's off the air right now. Will probably take a few minutes to get everything swapped out.

- Trip


----------



## twobucktoll

@fri1038 Were you watching when the original 54.1 went dark? Was there a message advising viewers to re-scan immediately?


----------



## n8hoo

while we wait...24.1 was renamed "WUTB" (45.2, which points to the same audio and video streams, is still "MyTV") -- and TBD on 45.3 disappeared entirely which is interesting


----------



## fri1038

twobucktoll said:


> @fri1038 Were you watching when the original 54.1 went dark? Was there a message advising viewers to re-scan immediately?


No. They just cut away as Judge Mathis approached the bench.

Edit: But they did run their usual rescan message at 0945.


----------



## n8hoo

And we're off! looks like the other feeds are not operational yet


----------



## Trip in VA

They're on different PLPs (looks like there are three) and by default, it only locks PLP0 unless a higher PLP is manually selected.

EDIT: WNUV is on PLP0, WBFF is on PLP1, and the rest are on PLP2.

[email protected]:~$ hdhomerun_config 10805D4A get /tuner0/plpinfo
0: sfi=0 mod=qam16 cod=11/15 layer=core ti=none lls=1
1: sfi=0 mod=qam64 cod=11/15 layer=core ti=none lls=0
2: sfi=1 mod=qam256 cod=11/15 layer=core ti=none lls=0

- Trip


----------



## n8hoo

Trip in VA said:


> They're on different PLPs (looks like there are three) and by default, it only locks PLP0 unless a higher PLP is manually selected.
> 
> - Trip


Oh, that'll be fun...considering they haven't added that feature to the Linux config utility yet!


----------



## Digital Rules

Will there be any difference on the 1.0 version of channel 54, or does this only pertain to 3.0 viewers?

Thanks


----------



## n8hoo

Digital Rules said:


> Will there be any difference on the 1.0 version of channel 54, or does this only pertain to 3.0 viewers?


not besides the fact that it's now on two different transmitters (54.1 WMPT and 54.11 WMPB), but after that rescan nothing will appear to be changed


----------



## pkpaul

Another HDHR 4K snapshot now with the HEVCs:


----------



## Trip in VA

n8hoo said:


> Oh, that'll be fun...considering they haven't added that feature to the Linux config utility yet!


I had no issues using the config utility and hitting "View." It must be smart enough to activate the proper PLP when video is requested.

- Trip


----------



## twobucktoll

In my marginal location the new 54.1 is coming in with occasional freezes. I haven’t been able to get the others.


----------



## n8hoo

Trip in VA said:


> I had no issues using the config utility and hitting "View." It must be smart enough to activate the proper PLP when video is requested.
> 
> - Trip


Now that I'm home and tried it, that's exactly what it does...neat!

WBFF's QAM64 PLP is nearly the same as its 1.0 signal:










The QAM256 one won't quite decode right now but will probably (hopefully) come in with the usual weather-related enhancement at night:


----------



## pkpaul

Channel 45.3 TBD has disappeared.


----------



## fri1038

On RF26 at 6pm:

24-1 WUTB showing TBD in 480i
45-2 MyTV showing MyTV in 720p


----------



## GaryGnu

WMAR channel 2 struggling to get a signal on my TV currently. Previously never been anything but full bars. Anything going on?


----------



## Digital Rules

GaryGnu said:


> WMAR channel 2 struggling to get a signal on my TV currently. Previously never been anything but full bars. Anything going on?


Seems normal here in Chantilly 10 PM.


----------



## jmantothe64

I don't know if anyone said this yet about RF26, but 45.1 no longer has "FOX" for a PSIP, but now has "WBFF45", and also, with 45.3 being on 24.1, 45.4 didn't move down to 45.3, so now there's just a gap in the numbers (I may just be a bit OCD about it)


----------



## jmantothe64

GaryGnu said:


> WMAR channel 2 struggling to get a signal on my TV currently. Previously never been anything but full bars. Anything going on?


I'm also having some issues trying to pick it up, and WMAR is usually the strongest Baltimore station, but WBFF is coming in fine, so maybe there's another RF27 knocking it out?


----------



## fri1038

WMAR 100% to the south as always. On their auxiliary antenna maybe? Can't seem to find that pattern att. Only nearby RF27 is a low power in Phila. Lots of tropo last night and this morning. My overnight sightings: WBOC, WCAU, WGAL, KYW, WACP.


----------



## n8hoo

I don't see anything out of the ordinary re: WMAR last night or this morning - I would definitely lose it if they are on reduced power

Elsewhere: WAZT-CD is going to hop into DC. I guess WQAW-LD is just out of luck? I thought there were some protections for LDs with regard to new interference...





__





Licensing and Management System


Licensing and Management System




enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov





Also, Sinclair's website has changed to list WUTB as a TBD affiliate. It would seem TBD has permanently relocated there and MyTV remains on 45.2.


----------



## pkpaul

n8hoo said:


> Elsewhere: WAZT-CD is going to hop into DC. I guess WQAW-LD is just out of luck? I thought there were some protections for LDs with regard to new interference...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> __
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Licensing and Management System
> 
> 
> Licensing and Management System
> 
> 
> 
> 
> enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov


I see this as still pending. Am I missing something?


----------



## n8hoo

pkpaul said:


> I see this as still pending. Am I missing something?


No, the application is brand new. FWIW they have filed one before that got dismissed (tried to hop straight from Bluemont to DC by claiming they were causing land-mobile interference in _Philadelphia_) so I probably shouldn't have phrased it as a certainty


----------



## KyL416

WHUT made their Next Gen filing, they're targetting a 7/1 date for ATSC 3.0:
https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/d...&id=25076ff378f161f90179055d19251674&goBack=N


----------



## GaryGnu

jmantothe64 said:


> I'm also having some issues trying to pick it up, and WMAR is usually the strongest Baltimore station, but WBFF is coming in fine, so maybe there's another RF27 knocking it out?


I did a rescan. I'm still having the issue with WMAR 2. Additionally, I am having a similar problem with WNUV 54. I'm less than 10 miles from the tower with nothing in the way.


----------



## fri1038

GaryGnu said:


> I did a rescan. I'm still having the issue with WMAR 2. Additionally, I am having a similar problem with WNUV 54. I'm less than 10 miles from the tower with nothing in the way.


WNUV 54.1 is hosted by WMPT RF21 just north of Annapolis since WNUV's RF25 signal converted to ATSC 3.0 yesterday morning. WMPB RF22 in Owings Mills also hosts it as 54.11. 

54.2 Antenna is hosted by WMAR. 54.3 and 54.4, Comet and Stadium, are carried by WBAL.

WMAR's signal shouldn't have been impacted by any of that.


----------



## Digital Rules

GaryGnu said:


> I did a rescan. I'm still having the issue with WMAR 2. Additionally, I am having a similar problem with WNUV 54. I'm less than 10 miles from the tower with nothing in the way.


Combining 2 antennas with a conventional splitter makes them susceptible to multipath, even worse in an attic. You will likely have to play around with positioning to get those channels back. 

I use an A-B switch between my different antennas but that might not work for your situation.

Others here may have solutions for your issue as well.


----------



## GaryGnu

jmantothe64 said:


> I'm also having some issues trying to pick it up, and WMAR is usually the strongest Baltimore station, but WBFF is coming in fine, so maybe there's another RF27 knocking it out?


I did a rescan. I'm still having the issue with WMAR 2. Additionally, I am having a similar problem with WNUV 54. I'm less than 10 miles from the tower with nothing in the way.


Digital Rules said:


> Combining 2 antennas with a conventional splitter makes them susceptible to multipath, even worse in an attic. You will likely have to play around with positioning to get those channels back.
> 
> I use an A-B switch between my different antennas but that might not work for your situation.
> 
> Others here may have solutions for your issue as well.


What else can I try? I have a Winegard 7550 paired with a RCA Yagi. The coupler I have has a pass through for the Winegard amp, and both my cables are 10 feet leading into the coupler. The antennas are about 10 feet apart in my attic. The Winegard faces south, the Yagi north.


----------



## greg9x2

GaryGnu said:


> I did a rescan. I'm still having the issue with WMAR 2. Additionally, I am having a similar problem with WNUV 54. I'm less than 10 miles from the tower with nothing in the way.
> 
> 
> What else can I try? I have a Winegard 7550 paired with a RCA Yagi. The coupler I have has a pass through for the Winegard amp, and both my cables are 10 feet leading into the coupler. The antennas are about 10 feet apart in my attic. The Winegard faces south, the Yagi north.


Have you tried disconnecting one antenna to see if can get good lock ? Divide and conquer.


----------



## fri1038

I've been tinkering with an old HDHR3 I picked up off ebay last week. After I got it out of a reboot loop (firmware update problem,) and got a wireless bridge working to provide an ethernet drop (antenna corner is opposite internet corner in my house,) I was disappointed to learn that model is not compatible with the Roku HDHR app, wrecking some plans. Shame on me for not doing my homework on that. Playback still works via the iPhone app and VLC on a PC.

Here is a zip file (and the .htm originals) with TSReader data from the Baltimore-area stations after last week's shake up for those that want the gory details. OneDrive link since .htm and .zip files are not easy to share:









TV


Folder



1drv.ms





Some interesting (to me) takeaways in the scan log: seeing the 600+ MHz cell phone usage on channels 39-42. The CM-3201 600 MHz filter knocks those signal strength (ss) numbers into to the teens. The Jointenna I have in place at the moment, also filters FM and 700+ MHz. And the background noise on low-VHF.

Keeping an eye on WHUT to decide my next move.


----------



## Casey Hartman

I was using a Roku before I bought a HDHR, but the app didn't work on it so I got a Tivo Stream 4k. I haven't had any big issues with the TS4k although I wish it had more storage. The number keys make it a keeper.



fri1038 said:


> I was disappointed to learn that model is not compatible with the Roku HDHR app, wrecking some plans. Shame on me for not doing my homework on that. Playback still works via the iPhone app and VLC on a PC.


----------



## jmantothe64

So recently, I took a trip to WDCN-LP's transmitter to get a recording, and I sent it to Ryan Grabow for his _Analog to the End_ series of videos. Here's a link if you'd like to see it!






Along with saying that, I thought you guys might want to hear the small nightmare I had to go through to get a good recording:

The first time, I had only brought my USB tuner, and I was having issues with it not freezing up with analog TV.

The second time I tried to just get within a few miles of the tower, but it wasn't enough to get a clear signal, and while this time I brought a VCR, it locked the hold signal halfway down the screen.

Then, After going through all that and more, I went straight to the tower and was finally able to get a clear signal, but my VCR wouldn't let the audio through because WDCN-LP's audio carrier is set up for FM, not TV. Luckily, the audio signal is strong enough that I can get a stereo signal when I tuned it in on my receiver.

The video had some weird interference about 1/3 and 2/3 down the screen, and most of my TVs thought they were vertical blanking pulses, and caused the picture to go crazy. Luckily, my AV capture card was able to just lock on to the strongest one, and that's how I got the recording!


----------



## n8hoo

Oh this is very very cool. Thanks for posting!

It's interesting you had so much trouble getting the signal in, a friend of mine lives in a high-rise about a mile away and it actually scanned in to her TV and tuned without any problems...


----------



## pkpaul

Some pending changes on 66;
66.2 Mystery becomes Bounce
66.5 HSN becomes Mystery
66.6 QVC becones DeFy TV


----------



## jmantothe64

pkpaul said:


> Some changes on 66;
> 66.2 Mystery becomes Bounce
> 66.5 HSN becomes Mystery
> 66.6 QVC becones DeFy TV


The PSIPs have changed, but the programming remains the same, Mystery still on 66.2, HSN still on 66.5, and QVC still on 66.6

I'll keep an eye out for it to see if they change the programming later today


----------



## pkpaul

jmantothe64 said:


> The PSIPs have changed, but the programming remains the same, Mystery still on 66.2, HSN still on 66.5, and QVC still on 66.6


I checked the EPG and the change-over is set for 1 July.


----------



## twobucktoll

From my WNUV fringe location in Northern VA -- just over 50 miles from the tower according to rabbitears.info -- I spent the weekend trying to optimize my setup to get the ATSC 3.0 channels on the WNUV signal. I am seeing that my HDHR reports different Signal Quality measures for the different channels. WNUV reports at the highest level (usually in the 80s). WBFF is next (60s and 70s) and the other three are the least good (50s and 60s). WNUV Symbol Quality is pretty stable, WBFF has occasional drops of Symbol Quality but is generally watchable, and the other three have frequent drops while watching. Is it a coincidence that quality is related to the PLP assignments? What could explain the difference in the signal quality? Is there a different amount of error correction per channel?

I also discovered that a ratty HEVC channel can crash the Channels app on my iPad. The HD Homerun app is more stable, but makes a loud annoying noise during periods of rattiness.


----------



## n8hoo

twobucktoll said:


> Is it a coincidence that quality is related to the PLP assignments? What could explain the difference in the signal quality? Is there a different amount of error correction per channel?


Yes that is exactly it - WNUV is on PLP0 (QAM16), WBFF is on PLP1 (QAM64) and the other 3 are on PLP2 (QAM256) -- the higher-order QAM allows higher data throughput at the cost of a higher error rate, and thus 1 and 2 need a higher SNR to decode. WIAV-CD also uses QAM16.


----------



## Digital Rules

twobucktoll said:


> From my WNUV fringe location in Northern VA -- just over 50 miles from the tower according to rabbitears.info -- I spent the weekend trying to optimize my setup to get the ATSC 3.0 channels on the WNUV signal.


In general how does 3.0 reliability compare to what you were getting on 1.0 so far?


----------



## joblo

n8hoo said:


> Yes that is exactly it - WNUV is on PLP0 (QAM16), WBFF is on PLP1 (QAM64) and the other 3 are on PLP2 (QAM256) -- the higher-order QAM allows higher data throughput at the cost of a higher error rate, and thus 1 and 2 need a higher SNR to decode. WIAV-CD also uses QAM16 uses QPSK, which is even more robust than QAM16.


Fixed.


----------



## n8hoo

Digital Rules said:


> In general how does 3.0 reliability compare to what you were getting on 1.0 so far?


For me, WNUV is way better and WBFF is nearly comparable to 1.0. the other 3 can decode with a lower SNR than 1.0. It seems to be less susceptible to planes flying over. i'm interested why the reports to the bandscanner look so unstable because that doesn't really seem to be the case in practice.



joblo said:


> Fixed.


Right...they've changed it at least 3 times lol. QPSK = 4-QAM


----------



## joblo

n8hoo said:


> i'm interested why the reports to the bandscanner look so unstable because that doesn't really seem to be the case in practice.


When I was testing with the WIAV signal a while back, I found that it took rather more SNR for the HDHR scan command to detect the 3.0 signal than it did to lock the channel if tuned directly. I suspect it's a timing issue; i.e. 3.0 signals take longer to acquire and lock than 1.0 and the scan goes too fast.

Haven't done the same tests on WNUV yet; that's still on my todo list. Maybe later today.


----------



## twobucktoll

Thanks for the explanation. Does the PLP number imply a QAM level or can it be set by PLP?

What I have noticed in my slightly more than 50 mile location from WNUV is that the old 1.0 signal was marginal -- the last quality I recorded was 52%. During perfect conditions I could watch 54.1 but some days it wasn't decodable at all and other days it had a lot of breakups and dropouts. With the 3.0 signal, 54.1 is solid, even before I tweaked my setup. Immediately post WNUV conversion 45.1 on the 3.0 signal still dropped out for me every few minutes but after improving my setup (added an LTE filter, swapped out a coax cable, swapped out the flat wire used to pass through an attic door to the one AntennaMan recommended) and now 45.1 from the 3.0 signal is more stable than the 45.1 from WBFF's 1.0 signal. WMAR is also better on the 3.0 signal. 

When WIAV went to 3.0 for me it went from spotty to rock solid. I am about 24 miles from its tower.I can now watch people falling down all day in glorious 1080p60.


----------



## pkpaul

pkpaul said:


> Some pending changes on 66;
> 66.2 Mystery becomes Bounce
> 66.5 HSN becomes Mystery
> 66.6 QVC becones DeFy TV
> View attachment 3148894





pkpaul said:


> I checked the EPG and the change-over is set for 1 July.


They just changed today at 3:00 PM. 
DeFy TV is just running promotional previews.


----------



## joblo

KyL416 said:


> WHUT made their Next Gen filing, they're targetting a 7/1 date for ATSC 3.0:
> https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/d...&id=25076ff378f161f90179055d19251674&goBack=N


7/1 date must be a mistake. Probably should be 8/1.

The FCC gave itself 15 business days (3 calendar weeks -- paragraph 34) even for expedited processing, and there's a 30 calendar day requirement (paragraph 87) for daily on-air notices. I set up a recording to monitor WHUT and I see no notices whatsoever this past weekend, over 50 hours.


----------



## n8hoo

pkpaul said:


> They just changed today at 3:00 PM.
> DeFy TV is just running promotional previews.


Bounce is still on 14.4, too...



joblo said:


> 7/1 date must be a mistake. Probably should be 8/1.
> 
> The FCC gave itself 15 business days (3 calendar weeks -- paragraph 34) even for expedited processing, and there's a 30 calendar day requirement (paragraph 87) for daily on-air notices. I set up a recording to monitor WHUT and I see no notices whatsoever this past weekend, over 50 hours.


Well, approval has taken only a handful of days in other markets where there were no issues. Pittsburgh comes to mind — I think that was 4 or 5 days.

But presumably that station was already running notices…and the WHUT website does not have a date at all!


----------



## greg9x2

joblo said:


> 7/1 date must be a mistake. Probably should be 8/1.
> 
> The FCC gave itself 15 business days (3 calendar weeks -- paragraph 34) even for expedited processing, and there's a 30 calendar day requirement (paragraph 87) for daily on-air notices. I set up a recording to monitor WHUT and I see no notices whatsoever this past weekend, over 50 hours.


Hope it's 7/1... none of the D.C. major 4 channels are playing nicely lately, especially since the WTTG move. Really hoping 3.0 going to make things better.


----------



## RBBrittain

greg9x2 said:


> Hope it's 7/1... none of the D.C. major 4 channels are playing nicely lately, especially since the WTTG move. Really hoping 3.0 going to make things better.


Hoping it goes smoothly even here from Little Rock, AR, whose own 3.0 launch is set for the day before. A key issue we've discussed about DC in the LR thread is whether or not WHUT will actually be allowed to go live as the 3.0 lighthouse for commercial stations in DC, as some still try to argue the congressional ban on commercials in NCE spectrum prohibits NCE stations from hosting commercial stations during the transition -- even though the FCC's own transition licensing rules suggest otherwise, WNUV is now being hosted on two MPT transmitters in 1.0, and WHUT plans to host DC's big four commercial stations in 3.0 thru an educational consortium backed by both NAB and public TV interests. (Little Rock's ABC & CBS affiliates are owned by Sinclair & Tegna respectively, same as DC; indeed WJLA may have gotten its first "standard" ABC Circle 7 from Little Rock's KATV, which has used it since the 1960's despite never having been an ABC O&O.) It is public record here that Arkansas PBS wants in on the Little Rock 3.0 transition, but without mutual 1.0 / 3.0 hosting with the Nexstar/Mission CW station on the same tower as AR PBS' flagship, well away from the mountaintop used by the major Little Rock stations, it may be hard if not impossible; our initial 3.0 lighthouse is a Nexstar station on that mountaintop that will host the other two Nexstar & Mission stations (as well as Sinclair & Tegna) in reportedly one of only two "virtual quadropoly" markets in the entire country (Sinclair in Mobile/Pensacola is the other but its towers are more concentrated than ours). Speed of FCC application approval is also a possible issue in Little Rock; though our other applications were all approved the CBS affiliate was late filing its application & may not make the initial Wednesday launch.


----------



## KyL416

Trip who works for the FCC can clarify, but that whole NCE signal hosting a commercial guest thing was settled during the repack and isn't an issue for ATSC 3.0. We already have numerous cases of non-commercial stations hosting commercial guests. i.e. WBTS-CD NBC Boston is hosted by WGBX, and one of the spectrum speculators donated the license of WFXZ-CD to WGBH who now carries the commercial network BizTV on it. Over in Connecticut, CPTV's Fairfield signal WEDW is hosting WZME and temporarily hosting HC2's WTXX-LD until HC2 builds out their own post-repack signal. In Philly, WHYY is hosting WMCN which carries nothing but brokered programming and shopping channels, including WMCN 44.2 which is nothing but a "pay us to carry your network here" slate.

The main hold up with Baltimore was that the FCC's system only allowed one ATSC 1.0 host, and WMPT alone wouldn't have met the 95% coverage requirement so they needed to use WMPB to complete the rest of the northern coverage area. So it didn't qualify for expedited processing and they had to come up with a waiver to allow dual hosts.


If WHUT ends up delaying the 7/1 date, it has nothing to do with them being NCE. It's because they only filed the application last week, they have yet to start the on air 30 day notices, the STA to not include the multicast channels on the ATSC 3.0 signal has yet to be filed, and the other participating stations have yet to make their NextGen filings.


----------



## twobucktoll

A couple of questions on the WNUV et. al. RF 25 ATSC 3.0 signal: 

1) Do we know how much of the potential data bandwidth is currently being used? Is there headroom in case another station wants to join someday or for experimental streams like mobile-optimized ?

2) Is closed captioning information being broadcast? I cannot get captions to appear using the HDHR native app on the iPad and I am trying to figure out if it is because of the broadcast, HDHR, or me.


----------



## pkpaul

twobucktoll said:


> 2) Is closed captioning information being broadcast? I cannot get captions to appear using the HDHR native app on the iPad and I am trying to figure out if it is because of the broadcast, HDHR, or me.


I couldn't get the CC to function on the ATSC 3.0 channels but on the ATSC 1.0 channels it worked fine.


----------



## KyL416

WHUT filed an amendment to correct the date to 8/13:
https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/d...&id=25076ff37a530461017a5e13c5c71e0d&goBack=N


----------



## greg9x2

KyL416 said:


> WHUT filed an amendment to correct the date to 8/13:
> https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/d...&id=25076ff37a530461017a5e13c5c71e0d&goBack=N


Dang ! . Was hoping to check it out tonight.


----------



## fri1038

WMJF's 39.6 is back to showing H&I, in mpeg2 this time. Still labeled as ShopLC.

I've seen e-skip on low-VHF analog channels every day this week. Canada one day, Cuba the next. This morning it was the CTV's Marylin Denis show on A-4, CJCB in Sydney, NS presumably. 966 miles.


----------



## jmantothe64

fri1038 said:


> WMJF's 39.6 is back to showing H&I, in mpeg2 this time. Still labeled as ShopLC.
> 
> I've seen e-skip on low-VHF analog channels every day this week. Canada one day, Cuba the next. This morning it was the CTV's Marylin Denis show on A-4, CJCB in Sydney, NS presumably. 966 miles.


When? I'd like to know the "prime hours", so I can leave my TV on ch2 in the background while I'm doing schoolwork

Also, all of the TBD feeds are out, WJLA, WUTB, and probably WDCO/WIAV, but I can't pick those up


----------



## KyL416

TBD on WPSG and WPIX were out too, while the webstream was stuck on the logo loop they put up during commercial breaks.


----------



## fri1038

jmantothe64 said:


> When? I'd like to know the "prime hours", so I can leave my TV on ch2 in the background while I'm doing schoolwork
> 
> Also, all of the TBD feeds are out, WJLA, WUTB, and probably WDCO/WIAV, but I can't pick those up


I've noticed between 10am and noon, most often, with channel 3 most common, sometimes 2 and 4. Seeing a horizonal black bar is usually the first sign there is something there. Seldom get audio.

TBD is up and running again this morning.

WQAW has had problems since the morning of the 1st. Subchannels 3, 5, 6 were frozen mid-program. Then all six were badly garbled. Then off the air entirely for a few hours. Currently back to the freeze frame on .3, .5, and .6.


----------



## ericlhyman

KyL416 said:


> WHUT filed an amendment to correct the date to 8/13:
> https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/d...&id=25076ff37a530461017a5e13c5c71e0d&goBack=N


 Is there any information on what ATSC 3.0 features will be implemented when WHUT starts using it and whether this will result in any picture quality improvements in the usual reception area? What other stations will be using the WHUT facility?


----------



## Scott Bonney

ericlhyman said:


> Is there any information on what ATSC 3.0 features will be implemented when WHUT starts using it and whether this will result in any picture quality improvements in the usual reception area? What other stations will be using the WHUT facility?


The WHUT site says that ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox will be included on the tower.


----------



## ericlhyman

Scott Bonney said:


> The WHUT site says that ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox will be included on the tower.


Does WETA have separate plans?


----------



## Scott Bonney

This explains what we know at this point about WHUT and ATSC 3.0 in DC so far,









NextgenTV | WHUTtv


Welcome to the home page of the WHUT - Howard University Television, NEXTGEN tv Collaborative




www.whut.org


----------



## twobucktoll

It looks like WBFF's signal was down this morning (7/5). Here is a typical bandscan showing an outage:





__





Signal graphs for WBFF at Easton, MD-whiskeyone-WSW on ANT751Z aimed at 250 degrees







rabbitears.info





Right now (10:30 am) at my 50+ mile distance in Nova it is going in and out of the channel scan and when it shows up I can't get a lock. It is coming in well over the WNUV ATSC 3.0 signal.

ETA: Thanks @fri1038 -- it looks like Rabbit Ears itself was down this morning so I was wrong about the WBFF signal being off the air.


----------



## twobucktoll

Digital Rules said:


> In general how does 3.0 reliability compare to what you were getting on 1.0 so far?


I collected some data from my just-over 50 miles away, 1-Edge location comparing WBFF 45.1 on the WNUV ATSC 3.0 signal and on its own 1.0 signal. I don't have fancy equipment; I just used the Signal GH app on my iPhone to collect data from my HDHR Connect 4K. This was yesterday 7/4 about 5:30 pm -- before the WBFF signal issues from today.

First at a point-in-time:










The top number shows the quality and strength of 45.1 from the ATSC 3.0 signal (74%/79%). The second row is I believe 54.1 on the same 3.0 signal (89%/79%). (For some reason the app labels both these streams on the bottom as WBFF). The third line is the WBFF 45.1 1.0 signal (51%/81%).

Here is a graph over a few minutes, ending with the point-in-time from above:









Top is WNUV 54.1 in 3.0, middle is WBFF 45.1 in 3.0, bottom is WBFF 45.1 in 1.0.

I watch 45.1 often during the game show block in the evenings and my subjective experience is that I get fewer and shorter dropouts using the 3.0 signal. I get planes flying over from Dulles airport and the 3.0 channels hold up better when a plane is in the area: WNUV is very solid, WBFF under 3.0 is good but not rock solid, and the other three channels in the WNUV signal are susceptible to dropping out.


----------



## fri1038

All stations show an outage around 4-6 am, so guessing the rabbitears.info server was down.

From 7-9am there were some strong tropospheric conditions. I saw several stations from Philly and the DC stations were weaker for me during that time. Might be a lot more of that in the next couple days, according to the dxinfocentre forecast. 

Good to know WNUV's 3.0 signal was working during that time.


----------



## n8hoo

fri1038 said:


> From 7-9am there were some strong tropospheric conditions. I saw several stations from Philly and the DC stations were weaker for me during that time. Might be a lot more of that in the next couple days, according to the dxinfocentre forecast.


Back at it this morning...KYW-TV in here over WIAV about half an hour ago, first time that's happened post-transition. Otherwise just the usual suspects.


----------



## dipdewdog

The ATSC 3.0 tuner in my set (Sony X900H) is doing some weird stuff with WNUV's signal. It doesn't seem to register the WNUV 3.0 stream at all, just the 1.0 stream on WMPT. It does see WMAR, WBAL, WBFF and WMPT's 3.0 streams, but only successfully locks on WBFF. I'm about 32 miles from the transmitter in NE DC, and WNUV's 1.0 signal was always pretty reliable at this location.


----------



## greg9x2

dipdewdog said:


> The ATSC 3.0 tuner in my set (Sony X900H) is doing some weird stuff with WNUV's signal. It doesn't seem to register the WNUV 3.0 stream at all, just the 1.0 stream on WMPT. It does see WMAR, WBAL, WBFF and WMPT's 3.0 streams, but only successfully locks on WBFF. I'm about 32 miles from the transmitter in NE DC, and WNUV's 1.0 signal was always pretty reliable at this location.


For fun I did a scan during the storm last week and it detected 5 Baltimore stations getting reflected by the storms since I am pointed at DC from Frederick.
Also have 900H... The only station of those 5 that got lock on was WBFF (my first 3.0 lock). Don't know if the other stations just weren't good signal or if other issue with TV.

The signal didn't look pretty at the time for WBFF:









Still see the spectrum after the storm, but about 10dB lower and no lock.

Thinking about repointing my antenna to Baltimore and seeing how things look that way


----------



## jmantothe64

(I WAS GOING TO POST THIS MORNING, BUT AVSFORUM WAS DOWN)
I'm seeing some really strong tropo down south of me, WWBT was coming in, even when the antenna was pointed in the opposite direction. WCPB in Salisbury was also coming in strong (too bad WTKR couldn't overpower it and give me something I can't already watch), and I'm seeing other RF channels popping in and out


----------



## Frank Monroe

I wonder how long it will be before we get surround on the new Baltimore ATSC 3.0 channels.


----------



## aaronwt

Wow!! I wish reception was like this all the time. My channels are rock solid tonight with the favorable tropospheric ducting.

Sent from my Tab S6 Lite Blue


----------



## pclement

Scott Bonney said:


> The WHUT site says that ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox will be included on the tower.


When should I scan to receive the WHUT ATSC 3.0?


----------



## n8hoo

pclement said:


> When should I scan to receive the WHUT ATSC 3.0?





KyL416 said:


> WHUT filed an amendment to correct the date to 8/13:
> https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/d...&id=25076ff37a530461017a5e13c5c71e0d&goBack=N


If we learned anything from Baltimore, it could slide...


----------



## TheKrell

I for one am surprised that PBS stations are trying out ATSC3 so early. What's in it for them?


----------



## Frank Monroe

TheKrell said:


> I for one am surprised that PBS stations are trying out ATSC3 so early. What's in it for them?


In WHUT's case, they aren't just trying it out, they are the hosting transmitter for most of the DC ATSC 3.0 stations.


----------



## TheKrell

Frank Monroe said:


> In WHUT's case, they aren't just trying it out, they are the hosting transmitter for most of the DC ATSC 3.0 stations.


I believe you put your finger on the answer I was looking for. I don't know this for certain. But I'll bet WHUT gets paid to host commercial stations. I still worry about overcompression whoever is hosting all these channels.


----------



## Frank Monroe

TheKrell said:


> I believe you put your finger on the answer I was looking for. I don't know this for certain. But I'll bet WHUT gets paid to host commercial stations. I still worry about overcompression whoever is hosting all these channels.


Well, they do get new equipment and a signal boost.


----------



## twobucktoll

TheKrell said:


> I for one am surprised that PBS stations are trying out ATSC3 so early. What's in it for them?


In addition to what others have said, it looks like this is an opportunity for Howard to do research into uses of the new technology and also an opportunity for its students to get some cutting-edge experience. 









Washington's WHUT to play central role in partnership launching local ATSC 3.0 signals - Current


WHUT's broadcast signal will get new equipment and a power boost to serve as the ATSC 3.0 host station, carrying not only its own programming but streams from four major commercial stations.




current.org


----------



## N5XZS

Don't forget KNMD-DT a PBS station in Albuquerque is using ATSC 3.0 on RF ch. 8 right now carrying KNME-DT's main PBS, PBS Kid and FNX along side with KNMD-DT's PBS World and PBS Create.

Can't think of other PBS stations other than WHUT-DT and KNMD-DT using ATSC 3.0 at this time...🙂


----------



## Frank Monroe

N5XZS said:


> Can't think of other PBS stations other than WHUT-DT and KNMD-DT using ATSC 3.0 at this time...🙂


According to Wiki, these are also: WMPT, WUNK, KAET, KOPB, WUNC.


----------



## n8hoo

Frank Monroe said:


> According to Wiki, these are also: WMPT, WUNK, KAET, KOPB, WUNC.


Among these, only WUNK is a host (until WHUT joins the party anyway) - it's a redundant station in the UNC-TV network and they just converted it for science, it seems. Greenville/New Bern NC is certainly the smallest market to get 3.0 service (and will be for quite some time)

WTTG filed its license modification with the same 13 August date:






Licensing and Management System


Licensing and Management System




enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov





And WAZT-CD's application to move to the Nebraska Ave tower is granted. I guess that means WQAW-LD is going to be displaced?


----------



## Trip in VA

Class A cannot displace LPTV. 

- Trip


----------



## n8hoo

Trip in VA said:


> Class A cannot displace LPTV.
> 
> - Trip



I didn't really think so, which begs the question what is going on here?


----------



## Trip in VA

WQAW-LD receives only 0.86% new interference from the WAZT-CD permit, which is less than the 2% allowed. WQAW-LD has a lot of pre-existing interference.

- Trip


----------



## fri1038

Speaking of WQAW-LD, they are fully back on the air - again - this morning. They had just restored their Cozi, Twist, and LX subs on the 7th after a week being down, when they went completely off the air for more than a day. I find myself watching LX more lately so it is nice having them as a backup to WRC's instance if you can get them.

The RF23 picture around DC will look cozy, too, when WDVM moves their transmitter to Kabletown. [Insert ironic 30 Rock reference here. ;-) ]

Zap2It is listing WMJF-CD's 39.5 as being Defy TV, so maybe that will replace Buzzr eventually.

Last evening was Canadian e-skip time, with several analog CTV stations seen on RF2, 3, and 4 between 5 and 7 pm.


----------



## Frank Monroe

__ https://www.facebook.com/BaltoMedia/posts/4165987710134394


----------



## KyL416

The applications started being filed several weeks ago with WHUT, followed by their amendment to correct the date to 8/13. And WHUT's website said about a month ago that WRC, WTTG, WJLA and WUSA will be participating as part of the share, so the rest of the nextgen filings are just more of a formality and not really telling us things that haven't already been announced.


----------



## Frank Monroe

KyL416 said:


> The applications started being filed several weeks ago with WHUT, followed by their amendment to change the date to 8/13. And WHUT said about a month ago that WRC, WTTG, WJLA and WUSA will be participating as part of the share, so the rest of the nextgen participation filings are just more of a formality and not really telling us things we didn't already know.


Understood. I was just posting because of the HDR mention.


----------



## KyL416

That's just something nearly every application mentions as a boiler plate listing of things that can potentially be done with ATSC 3.0 in the exhibit. Some applications also mention being able to provide UHD, even though that is something that won't be happening anytime soon because they need to share the bandwidth with 5 HD channels.


----------



## jmantothe64

WDCN-LP is now off the air, not sure if they turned their -LD signal on, but either way, NTSC in the DC area had a great 75 year run, and it's sad to see it be gone for good...


----------



## Digital Rules

jmantothe64 said:


> WDCN-LP is now off the air, not sure if they turned their -LD signal on, but either way, NTSC in the DC area had a great 75 year run, and it's sad to see it be gone for good...


Have all Franken FM's vacated analog?

I tried tuning in this morning around Reston/Tysons & there was something very weak on 87.7. Didn't sound like Spanish music, just some of the crap that is considered music these days. . . . .


----------



## jmantothe64

Digital Rules said:


> Have all Franken FM's vacated analog?


Yes, besides the couple that have the FCC's blessing to try and do a hybrid 87.7/ATSC 3.0, such as KBKF-LD, they all had until midnight last night to shut off


Digital Rules said:


> I tried tuning in this morning around Reston/Tysons & there was something very weak on 87.7. Didn't sound like Spanish music, just some of the crap that is considered music these days. . . . .


I stayed up last night, and when it shut off, i heard a weak christian station, and thought it was maybe Salisbury, MD's Franken-FM still on the air, but then I heard the ID and it was a harmonic frequency of 92.5 WAIW in Winchester, so yeah, unfortunately in the US, analog is officially dead 
D:


----------



## n8hoo

Digital Rules said:


> Have all Franken FM's vacated analog?
> 
> I tried tuning in this morning around Reston/Tysons & there was something very weak on 87.7. Didn't sound like Spanish music, just some of the crap that is considered music these days. . . . .


If anyone is still operating, it's _definitely_ illegal...

Not hard to imagine you could very well be hearing someone's car or house FM transmitter - doubt you'd be close enough to any full-powered FM to get someone's harmonic


----------



## fri1038

*@jmantothe64 *- I'm seeing e-skip on RF 2 and 4 (strongest) as of 1115, if you are in DX mode. Looks like Whoopi on The View, so they are CTV stations from Canada.

I haven't seen that much TV from out of market lately except some tropo from SE PA this morning, but last night on FM around 9pm I was picking up stations from Carthage MS to Carthage TX. Some from IA and AR, too. One station was overriding the other before I could ID them. The dx log on dxinfocenter shows it was a very active day.

edit: more of the same on fm today. hearing kisd 98.7 from pipestone, mn, overriding wmzq just now.


----------



## jmantothe64

fri1038 said:


> *@jmantothe64 *- I'm seeing e-skip on RF 2 and 4 (strongest) as of 1115, if you are in DX mode. Looks like Whoopi on The View, so they are CTV stations from Canada.


Too bad, I'm in the car on the way to Walmart (I'm the passenger, don't worry), so hopefully there will be some later today


----------



## mikemikeb

KyL416 said:


> That's just something nearly every application mentions as a boiler plate listing of things that can potentially be done with ATSC 3.0 in the exhibit. Some applications also mention being able to provide UHD, even though that is something that won't be happening anytime soon because they need to share the bandwidth with 5 HD channels.


Actually, UHD is technically possible if you lower the frame rate to 24 or 30 FPS. ATSC 3.0 allows for seamless resolution and frame rate changes, and 1080p/60 and 4K/30 use about the same bitrates. So UHD content would likely be limited to scripted primetime fare.


----------



## n8hoo

WDCN-LD is going to go the ATSC 3.0 route to continue FM service, as the other couple of franken-FMs have:





__





Licensing and Management System


Licensing and Management System




enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov





Also WIAV-CD is now barely decoding for me -- looks like the coding rate went up to 11/15 from 6/15. Looks like they also added a second 256-QAM PLP that I assume contains 58.3 because it will not decode for me at all. Any changes for those who are closer?


----------



## dipdewdog

n8hoo said:


> WDCN-LD is going to go the ATSC 3.0 route to continue FM service, as the other couple of franken-FMs have:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> __
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Licensing and Management System
> 
> 
> Licensing and Management System
> 
> 
> 
> 
> enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Also WIAV-CD is now barely decoding for me -- looks like the coding rate went up to 11/15 from 6/15. Looks like they also added a second 256-QAM PLP that I assume contains 58.3 because it will not decode for me at all. Any changes for those who are closer?


I'm 4.7 miles from WIAV-CD. I just did a re-scan on my Sony X900H, and don't observe any changes to the channel map - still just 58.1.


----------



## joblo

n8hoo said:


> WDCN-LD is going to go the ATSC 3.0 route to continue FM service, as the other couple of franken-FMs have:


Spoke to someone connected to WDCN this morning, and yes, I think they're serious about that, stay tuned...



> Also WIAV-CD is now barely decoding for me -- looks like the coding rate went up to 11/15 from 6/15. Looks like they also added a second 256-QAM PLP that I assume contains 58.3 because it will not decode for me at all. Any changes for those who are closer?


Both PLPs decode here, but one of them appears to have no channels in it, per HDHR gui. Doesn't make sense, but I'm probably just confused, will have to look into it further later, when I have more time.


----------



## jmantothe64

n8hoo said:


> WDCN-LD is going to go the ATSC 3.0 route to continue FM service, as the other couple of franken-FMs have:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> __
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Licensing and Management System
> 
> 
> Licensing and Management System
> 
> 
> 
> 
> enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov


So if they're going to be doing the hybrid signal, will they have to broadcast in ATSC 1.0 in the mean time? Just wondering if the FCC would require them to broadcast something until they begin broadcasting in ATSC 3.0. Either way, it's just another reminder that I need to get an HDHR box soon... 

Another thing it makes me wonder is what will they broadcast on the ATSC 3.0 signal? Will they update it to be more like WRME's video signal when they were still on the air? Will they have any subchannels? Also makes me wonder if KNZO in Los Angeles will go hybrid, or just straight up digital, because the host was always on the video signal, so maybe they'll just act like an independent TV station in the future.


----------



## Newton-second

jmantothe64 said:


> So if they're going to be doing the hybrid signal, will they have to broadcast in ATSC 1.0 in the mean time?


Per RabbitEars, WDCN has until January 10, 2022 to get a digital signal on the air (that is when their construction permit expires).


jmantothe64 said:


> Another thing it makes me wonder is what will they broadcast on the ATSC 3.0 signal?


KBKF-LD in San Jose, CA was granted an STA under the condition that they "will provide at least one stream of synchronized video and audio programming on the ATSC 3.0 portion of the spectrum on a full time (24x7) basis". From what I understand this synchronized audio/video stream in the ATSC 3.0 digital portion does not have to match the FM carrier.


----------



## Digital Rules

n8hoo said:


> If anyone is still operating, it's _definitely_ illegal...
> 
> Not hard to imagine you could very well be hearing someone's car or house FM transmitter - doubt you'd be close enough to any full-powered FM to get someone's harmonic


Someone on DCRTV reported hearing a weak urban station on 87.7 north of Baltimore this morning. Wondering if it was the same thing I was hearing yesterday due to tropo?


----------



## n8hoo

Digital Rules said:


> Someone on DCRTV reported hearing a weak urban station on 87.7 north of Baltimore this morning. Wondering if it was the same thing I was hearing yesterday due to tropo?


Could very well be WMTO-LP Norfolk, which is (was) urban "Streetz" and there was decent tropo to the south this morning. They attempted to get an STA in to keep operating just in FM while converting to ATSC 3.0 but it was not granted in time. FWIW they were cited for not operating within the terms of their license a few years ago (wrong antenna and power too high IIRC) so that doesn't surprise me if they just kept on going.

Same guy who owns WWTD-LD and WRZB-LD incidentally.


----------



## jeffsk

That person on DCRTV was me. It was in Long Green, MD and it was really difficult to make out what they were saying because of the static. I heard a hint of it this morning too and I think they mentioned Norfolk in a commercial, so I think that's the station. Maybe I'll bring up the stream and see if I can match it if I hear it again. BTW, your post was on Antenna Man's video:


----------



## aaronwt

So will the DC stations start Broadcasts in ATSC 3.0 in August? If so I guess I need to see about getting a tuner soon. I was looking at the SiliconDust HDHomeRun Flex 4K and using it with Plex. But then I read about the AC-4 decoding issue with Plex.


----------



## Frank Monroe

aaronwt said:


> So will the DC stations start Broadcasts in ATSC 3.0 in August? If so I guess I need to see about getting a tuner soon. I was looking at the SiliconDust HDHomeRun Flex 4K and using it with Plex. But then I read about the AC-4 decoding issue with Plex.


I think the date in DC is August 13th. The Baltimore ATSC 3.0 stations still do not have surround sound. I. have a Flex 4k. Right now, I don't watch the ATSC 3.0 channels because they aren't good enough yet.


----------



## jeffsk

I was able to confirm that it was WMTO on 87.7 FM by comparing it to their online stream. I got it in better when I was in Abington, MD late last night, which helped too. I couldn't get it on my TV because I was getting a strong signal from WPVI, Philadelphia.


----------



## n8hoo

Weird what looks like an equipment failure at WNUV...the transmitter is off (recieved signal here is "background noise" level), but briefly powers up to a normal level for ~1 second every 6-7 seconds. Then back to background noise. Been like that since shortly after midnight.


----------



## joblo

n8hoo said:


> Weird what looks like an equipment failure at WNUV...
> Been like that since shortly after midnight.


Or maybe they were testing something or other... back to normal shortly after 10 am...


----------



## n8hoo

WUSA's license modification:






Licensing and Management System


Licensing and Management System




enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov





The proposed start date is 16 September.


----------



## n8hoo

WRC-TV's license modification. Also 16 September. So that seems to be the day.






Licensing and Management System


Licensing and Management System




enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov


----------



## greg9x2

n8hoo said:


> WRC-TV's license modification. Also 16 September. So that seems to be the day.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Licensing and Management System
> 
> 
> Licensing and Management System
> 
> 
> 
> 
> enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov


☹. What happened to mid August for transition ?

Seriously, all the majors are hitting up constantly for me... Hopefully they don't mess up the current WHUT reception when change.


----------



## KyL416

greg9x2 said:


> Hopefully they don't mess up the current WHUT reception when change.


WHUT's 32.1 and 32.2 are moving to WJLA's RF 7 signal for ATSC 1.0 viewers, so they'll have the same signal strength as WJLA after the switch


----------



## greg9x2

KyL416 said:


> WHUT's 32.1 and 32.2 are moving to WJLA's RF 7 signal.


I mean the current RF reception for channel that WHUT is on now since it should give me acceptable margin on 3.0 stations.

Also thought WHUT was going to have a 3.0 on current channel also.


----------



## n8hoo

greg9x2 said:


> I mean the current RF reception for channel that WHUT is on now since it should give me acceptable margin on 3.0 stations.


it might not be a giant improvement but it won't get _worse_...if anything there's a non-zero chance the power upgrade they're authorized for might also go through then (although they have until 2024)



greg9x2 said:


> Also thought WHUT was going to have a 3.0 on current channel also.


they will.


----------



## fri1038

WMJF-CD's 39-5 replaced Buzzr programming with DeFy this morning. Still labeled as Buzzr.


----------



## joblo

From Charlotte thread:



bdfox18doe said:


> NextGen TV Backers Seek Answers at Conferences
> 
> 
> ATSC set to meet Aug. 25-26 ahead of CEDIA, NAB Show in milestones for ATSC 3.0.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.tvtechnology.com


Note reference to WHUT 3.0 start in September, not August.


----------



## joblo

From dcrtv.com:



> This Aug. 4 article by Mark Miller of TVNewscheck seems to clarify a great deal of technical speculation, station participation and timing about DC's coming NextGen TV service. I've copied the text below the URL... tvnewscheck.com


https://tvnewscheck.com/tech/article/gatesair-transmitter-to-bring-nextgen-tv-to-dc/


----------



## n8hoo

joblo said:


> From dcrtv.com:
> 
> GatesAir Transmitter To Bring NextGen TV To DC


And that article says _October_!

I guess they'll just flip the switch one night and catch us all by surprise, lol...besides it seems to be the start date on the license modifications is just a "proposed" start date, not something hard and fast. Hopefully by then silicondust might finish whatever solution they're working on to transcode AC-4...


----------



## joblo

n8hoo said:


> And that article says _October_!


Yeah, but the ERP specified in their FCC 3.0 filing is 100 kW, which is their current ERP, not the 416 kW for which they have a CP, so maybe they don't need the new transmitter for the switch to 3.0, and will use it to increase power in October after going to 3.0 in September. In any case, it certainly doesn't look like anything is going to happen next week, so I expect we'll see an updated filing sometime soon.


----------



## n8hoo

WJLA license modification. Also 16 September start date.






Licensing and Management System


Licensing and Management System




enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov





WDCN-LD also anticipates construction to be completed by the end of September.






Licensing and Management System


Licensing and Management System




enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov


----------



## joblo

n8hoo said:


> WJLA license modification. Also 16 September start date.


Still not seeing on-air announcements. Definitely looking like September 16 at the earliest.


----------



## n8hoo

First 3.0 tropo catch this morning - strong enough to decode for a few minutes at 0845 and 1045:










Lots of regular old 1.0 catches from the south which haven't been in for a while.


----------



## hsweiss

Has anyone else had problems with WBAL reception in the last couple of days? I had been receiving a very strong signal from them (better than WJZ) but last night they were down in the noise whereas WJZ, WMAR, WBFF, etc and also the DC stations like WRC and WTTG were all fine. Does anyone know if they are having xmitter or antenna problems?


----------



## fri1038

WBAL ... Several Bandscans show a weaker signal starting on Aug 10. No idea why. Plenty of storms and tropo the past few days that might cause temporary drops, but this one seems to be sustained.






Signal graphs for WBAL-TV at Severn, MD on tuner1







www.rabbitears.info


----------



## n8hoo

hsweiss said:


> Has anyone else had problems with WBAL reception in the last couple of days? I had been receiving a very strong signal from them (better than WJZ) but last night they were down in the noise whereas WJZ, WMAR, WBFF, etc and also the DC stations like WRC and WTTG were all fine. Does anyone know if they are having xmitter or antenna problems?


Now that you mention this I do notice it as well - way lower received signal level compared to 2 and 13 in all conditions since the 10th. Right now with great tropo enhancement it's barely decoding whereas 13 is near perfect.


----------



## hsweiss

fri1038 said:


> WBAL ... Several Bandscans show a weaker signal starting on Aug 10. No idea why. Plenty of storms and tropo the past few days that might cause temporary drops, but this one seems to be sustained.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Signal graphs for WBAL-TV at Severn, MD on tuner1
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.rabbitears.info


I first noticed it on Aug 10 and I just assumed it was the storms. But it hadn't been fixed last night. Maybe a lightening hit?? Nothing on their web site to indicate broadcast problems.


----------



## n8hoo

hsweiss said:


> I first noticed it on Aug 10 and I just assumed it was the storms. But it hadn't been fixed last night. Maybe a lightening hit?? Nothing on their web site to indicate broadcast problems.


Could be but WIYY, which I believe is on the same arm of the tower, is booming in here still as well - my money is on some sort of repair/maintenance


----------



## hsweiss

n8hoo said:


> Could be but WIYY, which I believe is on the same arm of the tower, is booming in here still as well - my money is on some sort of repair/maintenance


It was a lightening strike - I just received a reply to my email asking what was going on (sent to the programming dept for lack of anything otherwise obvious):

Thank you for writing to the WBAL-TV Programming Department.
The WBAL-TV antenna experienced a lightning strike earlier this week.
While it is undergoing repairs, our signal is being sent via an auxiliary antenna at reduced power, which will impact reception to certain areas.
Repairs will be complete as soon as possible.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may experience.

Thanks for watching WBAL-TV.

Jerome


----------



## Meddle99

hsweiss said:


> The WBAL-TV antenna experienced a lightning strike earlier this week.


Nice of them to tell their viewers about this on the website! I lost them as well and have been perplexed about it.


----------



## hsweiss

Meddle99 said:


> Nice of them to tell their viewers about this on the website! I lost them as well and have been perplexed about it.


I suggested that they put something up on their website.


----------



## fri1038

Looks like WMAR and WJZ (same tower as WBAL) also made some adjustments today at 14:30. WBAL looked weaker from 14:30 to 17:00.

EDIT: Of course as soon as I posted that, WMAR and WJZ went back to normal. 






Signal graphs for WMAR-TV at Severn, MD on tuner1







www.rabbitears.info










Signal graphs for WJZ-TV at Severn, MD on tuner1







www.rabbitears.info





Something might have happened to WFDC around 9 this morning, too, just when the tropo event started to fade. For much of the morning I was receiving more watchable Philly stations than DC stations - just WFDC, WJLA and WUSA coming in. Very rare for WRC to be knocked out like that at my location.


----------



## fri1038

A couple changes at WQAW-LD.

Added 69-7 TrueReal in 720p and 69-8 Buzzr in 480i

One curious note. Their SD channels are a mix of 480i (.2, .4, .6, .8) and 480p (.3, .5) now. All were 480i in my last snapshot from June.

Here's a tsreader report - save and rename with .htm extension.


----------



## MapGuy11

fri1038 said:


> A couple changes at WQAW-LD.
> 
> Added 69-7 TrueReal in 720p and 69-8 Buzzr in 480i
> 
> One curious note. Their SD channels are a mix of 480i (.2, .4, .6, .8) and 480p (.3, .5) now. All were 480i in my last snapshot from June.
> 
> Here's a tsreader report - save and rename with .htm extension.


Why don't other subchannels do 480p instead of interlaced is it just not the standard?


----------



## fri1038

WMJF-CD update. 39-4 started airing Court TV Mystery last night in 480i (w). Still labeled as Grit. WMAR's 2-4 and WPXW's 66-5 also air Mystery at this time.




> Why don't other subchannels do 480p instead of interlaced is it just not the standard?


I don't know how or why 480i became the OTA SD standard. Maybe something to do with TV hardware performance 20 years ago. I can only vaguely recall the progressive/interlaced debate about DVD playback quality and computer CRTs. I only mentioned the WQAW 480p channels with it as they are first I've seen OTA. Might not have been done intentionally. My 11+ year-old TVs and even older eyes can't tell the difference.


----------



## Trip in VA

Looks like the former NewsChannel 8 is now running in ATSC 3.0 on WIAV-CD 58-4.

- Trip


----------



## fri1038

More WIAV news, EduCast, as mentioned by @IRJ in the Charlotte thread.









Charlotte, NC - OTA


First, let me apologize to all WSOC viewers concerning the Carolina Panthers game on Sunday, August 15th. It was bad, I am not debating that or running from the issue. While other social media sites have beat us up pretty bad, I am the head of the department so the buck stops with me. It was a...




www.avsforum.com


----------



## Brian in CT

fri1038 said:


> I don't know how or why 480i became the OTA SD standard.


Actually, 480i resolution goes back to near the beginning of television in the USA. It was implemented as a component of the NTSC standard on July 1, 1941! That replaced an RMA standard of 383i established by RCA a few years before. It should be safe to say that no future official TV standard will last nearly that long (67 years, 11 1/2 months).


----------



## fri1038

fri1038 said:


> WMJF-CD update. 39-4 started airing Court TV Mystery last night in 480i (w). Still labeled as Grit. WMAR's 2-4 and WPXW's 66-5 also air Mystery at this time.


WMJF's 39-4 is back to showing Grit. WQAW has been down since 9pm Wed night except for a few minutes this morning.

This isn't the first time those two stations have made changes or had problems around the same time. Maybe they share backend support somehow.


----------



## fri1038

Geez. WBAL/WJZ/WMAR at reduced power again this morning. That one we know about from the lightning strike. But WBFF and WNUV (RF25) are reduced too, on their adjacent tower. WMJF is broadcasting something undecodeable. And WQAW still off the air.

WMJF atm:


----------



## joblo

fri1038 said:


> But WBFF and WNUV (RF25) are reduced too, on their adjacent tower.


Nothing from TV Hill strong enough to decode a picture here, but:


> C:\Program Files\Silicondust\HDHomeRun>time
> The current time is: 11:29:59.57
> Enter the new time:
> 
> C:\Program Files\Silicondust\HDHomeRun>hdhomerun_config.exe 10802BCC get /tuner0/status
> ch=auto:25 lock=atsc3 ss=41(-84dBm) snq=6(12.6dB) seq=0 bps=0 pps=0
> 
> C:\Program Files\Silicondust\HDHomeRun>hdhomerun_config.exe 10802BCC get /tuner0/plpinfo
> 0: sfi=0 mod=qam256 cod=11/15 layer=core ti=none lls=0 lock=0
> 
> C:\Program Files\Silicondust\HDHomeRun>date /t
> 2021-08-21
> 
> C:\Program Files\Silicondust\HDHomeRun>time
> The current time is: 11:30:35.38
> Enter the new time:
> 
> C:\Program Files\Silicondust\HDHomeRun>


----------



## fri1038

> But WBFF and WNUV (RF25) are reduced too, on their adjacent tower.


And those two just came back.


----------



## jeffsk

I can’t get WMJF either, I have a decent attic antenna and am in the ”green” zone according to Rabbitears. My Dish Network 722K (w/OTA Module) gets a signal strength of 66%, but can’t decode it. I deleted WMJF and did a manual rescan on ch 23. It shows the channel number as 0 on the rescan screen, but doesn’t add any channels to the lineup. 

My Samsung TV doesn’t pick it up either.


----------



## fri1038

jeffsk said:


> I can’t get WMJF either, I have a decent attic antenna and am in the ”green” zone according to Rabbitears. My Dish Network 722K (w/OTA Module) gets a signal strength of 66%, but can’t decode it. I deleted WMJF and did a manual rescan on ch 23. It shows the channel number as 0 on the rescan screen, but doesn’t add any channels to the lineup.
> 
> My Samsung TV doesn’t pick it up either.


They've had problems like this before. Just have to wait it out. There is energy there on RF23, just no data on the signal.





__





Signal graphs for WMJF-CD at Severn, MD on tuner1







rabbitears.info


----------



## joblo

joblo said:


> Nothing from TV Hill strong enough to decode a picture here, but:
> 
> 
> 
> C:\Program Files\Silicondust\HDHomeRun>hdhomerun_config.exe 10802BCC get /tuner0/plpinfo
> 0: sfi=0 mod=qam256 cod=11/15 layer=core ti=none lls=0 lock=0
Click to expand...

Sinclair signals back about 1140, WJZ about 1145. 

Seems like plpinfo isn't reliable when plp0 won't lock:


> C:\Program Files\Silicondust\HDHomeRun>time
> The current time is: 12:03:55.63
> Enter the new time:
> 
> C:\Program Files\Silicondust\HDHomeRun>hdhomerun_config.exe 10802BCC get /tuner0/status
> ch=auto:25:0+1+2 lock=atsc3 ss=66(-69dBm) snq=95(31.5dB) seq=100 bps=0 pps=0
> 
> C:\Program Files\Silicondust\HDHomeRun>hdhomerun_config.exe 10802BCC get /tuner0/plpinfo
> 0: sfi=0 mod=qam16 cod=11/15 layer=core ti=none lls=1 lock=1
> 1: sfi=0 mod=qam64 cod=11/15 layer=core ti=none lls=0 lock=1
> 2: sfi=1 mod=qam256 cod=11/15 layer=core ti=none lls=0 lock=1
> 
> C:\Program Files\Silicondust\HDHomeRun>time
> The current time is: 12:04:12.50


----------



## Zootpix

Wow, I’m I just did a retune in downtown Bethesda an I’m now getting WHUT in full 4K 120 with Dolby Vision and Dolby Sound! The picture and sound are incredible! Strong ATSC 3.0 signals on 4.1, 5.1, 7.1, 9.1, 14.1, 20.1, 31.1, 32.1, 49.1, 62.1 and 66.1 with just a simple indoor antenna.

Everything worked great until I woke up. I’m spending too much time in this forum…


----------



## hsweiss

Update from Jerome @ WBAL-TV regarding the lightening strike to their antenna:

_Unfortunately, we do not have a date on when antenna repairs will be completed.
Lightning struck the tower a couple of weeks ago, and the damage is worse than anticipated.
The recent stormy weather also delayed repair work, but I assure we are working to get repairs completed as soon as possible.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause._


----------



## n8hoo

WIAV config changes:



Code:


$ hdhomerun_config FFFFFFFF get /tuner0/plpinfo
0: sfi=0 mod=qam16 cod=11/15 layer=core ti=none lls=1
1: sfi=1 mod=qam256 cod=8/15 layer=core ti=none lls=0 lock=0

plp0 is .1 and 1 is .4. whatever 58.3 was is gone...


----------



## joblo

n8hoo said:


> WJLA license modification. Also 16 September start date.


NextgenTV | WHUTtv:


> Why it is Important for Viewers That Have Their TVs Connected to an Antenna Must Rescan After September 26 at 12am
> 
> WHUT is moving frequencies to upgrade its signal to NextGen TV on September 26 at 12am. If you use an antenna to watch TV for free, you must rescan your television after (date) at (time) to continue receiving this channel. After this date, viewers with a NextGen TV receiver will receive an enhanced viewing experience.


Sooo.... do we believe this or is it a typo and it should say the 16th?

Anybody seen any on-air announcements?


----------



## n8hoo

joblo said:


> NextgenTV | WHUTtv:
> 
> 
> Sooo.... do we believe this or is it a typo and it should say the 16th?
> 
> Anybody seen any on-air announcements?


What reason would there be not to believe it? Lol

This is clearly the legally mandated announcement so that's the date. The date on the license modification is "proposed" and doesn't appear to be binding on anything (besides being "no earlier than", obviously)


----------



## fri1038

jeffsk said:


> I can’t get WMJF either...


WMJF came back up last night at 10:30, and WQAW at 10:30 this morning. No content changes.


----------



## pkpaul

Channel 11 WBAL-TV is back up. 18:54


----------



## joblo

n8hoo said:


> What reason would there be not to believe it? Lol
> 
> This is clearly the legally mandated announcement so that's the date. The date on the license modification is "proposed" and doesn't appear to be binding on anything (besides being "no earlier than", obviously)





joblo said:


> Anybody seen any on-air announcements?


Well, nothing to see, apparently... no on-air announcements in the 24 hours since I posted, so I guess it's September 26...

(At the earliest... )


----------



## hsweiss

pkpaul said:


> Channel 11 WBAL-TV is back up. 18:54


After receiving the not-so-upbeat response from WBAL, I was surprised (and pleased) to see them on the air with full power last night.


----------



## n8hoo

hsweiss said:


> After receiving the not-so-upbeat response from WBAL, I was surprised (and pleased) to see them on the air with full power last night.


Looks full power to me too. 

What's interesting to me is that 2 is still lower than normal here. Although they've had equipment failures that forced them to run at like 2/3 power before.


----------



## pkpaul

WDCO 10 performing sub channel test today at 06:56, "TEST006" visible only during the scan. Nothing to see otherwise.


----------



## Trip in VA

Actually coming from WMPT. There's some piece of equipment that defaults to 10.x and TEST00x when it's not configured properly, as I've seen that around the country.

- Trip


----------



## fri1038

WMPT: My different tuners see slightly different lineups, so things are a bit scrambled there. Programming is shifted on the sub channels, too, with NHK World on 54-1 and WNUV on 10-1, for example.

HDHR3: 22-1, 22-3, 22-4, 54-1, 10-1
Samsung: 21-5, 22-1, 22-2, 22-3, 22-4, 54-1 (22-1 and 22-2 same MPT-HD programming)
Panasonic: 22-2, 22-3, 22-4, 54-1, 10-1


----------



## pkpaul

After scanning, my Vizio TV displays two occurrences of 22.1 with PSIP & programming but the HDHR4k displays no 22.1 but has 22.2-4.


----------



## hsweiss

n8hoo said:


> Looks full power to me too.
> 
> What's interesting to me is that 2 is still lower than normal here. Although they've had equipment failures that forced them to run at like 2/3 power before.


I was seeing full power on WMAR 2 last night.


----------



## fri1038

WMPT got back to normal around 0845.

WMAR seems a bit low to me, too, compared to pre Aug 19 levels. More pronounced in fringe areas, of course.






Signal graphs for WMAR-TV at Severn, MD on tuner1







www.rabbitears.info










Signal graphs for WMAR-TV at Leesburg, VA-N8HOO-4K on tuner1







rabbitears.info


----------



## jmantothe64

WDWA's .3 subchannel has gone from (I believe) ShopLC back to color bars


----------



## tesla1886

I live in Winchester VA. One of the channels I watch the most is 25.4 LAFF as part of the WDVM channel lineup. WDVM is out of I have a routine setup in Alexa that wakes me up every morning tuning to 25.4. Tuesday morning I got a rude awaking as it appears that 24.4 is now the Home Shopping Network, 25.3 which was GRIT now seems to be another comedy channel like LAFF but with a different lineup. 25.2 is supposed to be Escape but the guide has To be announced continuously. After scanning for channels nothing has changed not even the logos or names for each channel. 

Are they in the middle of make channel changes? I can't find any information that they are.Anybody know what is going on? WDVM is out of Hagerstown and is owned by Nexstar

Thank You


----------



## KyL416

Nexstar's contracts for the Katz networks expired at the end of August, and Katz's parent company Scripps opted not to renew them in markets like DC/Hagerstown where they were able to move them to their newly acquired Ion stations.

25.2 is now SportsGrid
25.3 is now Rewind

Laff and CourtTV Mystery (Escape) are still available via WPXW 66.4 and 66.5 in the DC area and WWPX 60.4 and 60.5 in the Hagerstown area. While Grit is still available in the DC area on Univision's WFDC 14.3.


----------



## joblo

joblo said:


> NextgenTV | WHUTtv:
> 
> 
> 
> Why it is Important for Viewers That Have Their TVs Connected to an Antenna Must Rescan After September 26 at 12am
> 
> WHUT is moving frequencies to upgrade its signal to NextGen TV on September 26 at 12am.
> 
> 
> 
> Sooo.... do we believe this ... ?
Click to expand...




n8hoo said:


> What reason would there be not to believe it? Lol


Oh gosh, I dunno...

NextgenTV | WHUTtv:


> Why it is Important for Viewers That Have Their TVs Connected to an Antenna Must Rescan After OCTOBER 2021
> 
> WHUT is moving frequencies to upgrade its signal to NextGen TV in OCTOBER 2021.


----------



## greg9x2

joblo said:


> Oh gosh, I dunno...
> 
> NextgenTV | WHUTtv:




Damnit, leaves are going to start falling off the trees soon and I will lose stations. Thought this would be done deal by now.


----------



## n8hoo

New application in from WHUT: proposed start date changed to 16 September. (Also to confirm that 32.2 will be on WJLA as well which I guess they left off the initial filing.)

There had not been any activity _from them_ since the amendment filed in June, which set the launch date at 13 August. IIRC, everyone's applications now have the 16 September date.





__





Licensing and Management System


Licensing and Management System




enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov


----------



## joblo

n8hoo said:


> New application in from WHUT: proposed start date changed to 16 September.


So I called the tech folks listed in the filing. The first one that answered assured me that there is no certain date yet, but it will be mid-to-late October, and they will increase power in accordance with their CP *before* they flip to 3.0, which is one of the reasons for the delay.

Also spot checked on-air prior to previous post; no announcements near the top or bottom of preceding 24 hours.

_"Watch this space."_


----------



## Zootpix

joblo said:


> So I called the tech folks listed in the filing. The first one that answered assured me that there is no certain date yet, but it will be mid-to-late October, and they will increase power in accordance with their CP *before* they flip to 3.0, which is one of the reasons for the delay.
> 
> Also spot checked on-air prior to previous post; no announcements near the top or bottom of preceding 24 hours.
> 
> _"Watch this space."_


Thanks for your research!


----------



## n8hoo

If anyone else was having issues with WMAR, whatever was causing them to operate with _slightly_ lower power appears to have resolved itself yesterday ~1600. Solid here now.


----------



## n8hoo

Almost missed this but late yesterday WAZT-CD was sold to Weigel Broadcasting for $3mil. Since all of their networks are already carried here -- MeTV on 5, Movies and H&I on 20, Decades on 31, and Start on 13 and 49 -- it remains to be seen what they will stick on there...






Draft Copy « License Modernization « FCC


Licensing and Management System




enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov


----------



## n8hoo

All 3.0 license modifications granted this morning. Of course, as posted earlier, we're still a month-plus out from the transition.


----------



## wmcbrine

Sadly I've been unable to tune WIAV since they added NewsChannel 8. I'm assuming that they're using a less-robust, higher-bitrate encoding than they were before, at the same low power level. (?)

I wonder why they don't put it on a subchannel of 7, at least in SD. I know in the past there was talk of it being cable-exclusive by contract, but it's there on broadcast now, in ATSC 3.0 -- just not 1.0.


----------



## pkpaul

WJAL 68.1 has been broadcasting NTD network since 12:14 PM. It had been showing the SonLife network for a long time. The PSIP still says ENTRA.


----------



## fri1038

I tuned in at 4pm just in time to see an episode of Clutch Cargo. Not sure I needed the old memories of that crude cartoon dredged up. Any changes at WWTD (virtual 49.x) which carried NTD and SonLife? They need a good tail wind to be watchable up my way.

WMDE 36.6 is due to get DigiTV on Sep 27:



https://watchdigitv.com/markets



I imagine there will be some Scripps changes when Newsy OTA launches on Oct 1. Maybe one of the Bounces will be replaced.




pkpaul said:


> WJAL 68.1 has been broadcasting NTD network since 12:14 PM. It had been showing the SonLife network for a long time. The PSIP still says ENTRA.


----------



## Trip in VA

I have been told that WMDE will not be picking up Digi-TV.

- Trip


----------



## Jason Zarin

Anyone else having issues picking up WHUT lately? I haven't been able to pick it up with my roof antenna since earlier this week. (silver spring)


----------



## fri1038

The DC area Bandscans at rabbitears.info don't show any changes for WHUT.

They have plans to increase power, then change to ATSC 3.0, in the coming weeks. WJLA on RF7 will host WHUT's ATSC 1.0 signal, which will help considerably up my way.




Jason Zarin said:


> Anyone else having issues picking up WHUT lately? I haven't been able to pick it up with my roof antenna since earlier this week. (silver spring)


----------



## pkpaul

fri1038 said:


> Any changes at WWTD (virtual 49.x) which carried NTD and SonLife? They need a good tail wind to be watchable up my way.


NTD is still on 49.4
SonLife is still on 49.5


----------



## TheKrell

fri1038 said:


> I tuned in at 4pm just in time to see an episode of Clutch Cargo. Not sure I needed the old memories of that crude cartoon dredged up.


They trailblased synchro-vox.


----------



## greg9x2

Jason Zarin said:


> Anyone else having issues picking up WHUT lately? I haven't been able to pick it up with my roof antenna since earlier this week. (silver spring)


Still same signal level here in Frederick thankfully... depending on that 3.0 rollout.


----------



## Jason Zarin

greg9x2 said:


> Still same signal level here in Frederick thankfully... depending on that 3.0 rollout.


grumble ... maybe the antenna shifted in the latest storm. or i could just hold out until the repack. decisions decisions


----------



## n8hoo

WTTG apparently on backup facility since 1215.

ETA: back at 1530


----------



## Geronimo1067

fri1038 said:


> I tuned in at 4pm just in time to see an episode of Clutch Cargo. Not sure I needed the old memories of that crude cartoon dredged up. Any changes at WWTD (virtual 49.x) which carried NTD and SonLife? They need a good tail wind to be watchable up my way.
> 
> WMDE 36.6 is due to get DigiTV on Sep 27:
> 
> 
> 
> https://watchdigitv.com/markets
> 
> 
> 
> I imagine there will be some Scripps changes when Newsy OTA launches on Oct 1. Maybe one of the Bounces will be replaced.


You mention several sttions. Which one has Clutch Cargo? This is important. Paddlefoot may be in danger.


----------



## fri1038

WJAL 68.1 Entra (RF 9) at 4:30 pm weekdays. Enjoy!



Geronimo1067 said:


> You mention several sttions. Which one has Clutch Cargo? This is important. Paddlefoot may be in danger.


----------



## KyL416

For whatever reason Clutch Cargo qualifies as E/I, so NTD America airs it so affiliates that have them on a primary channel don't have to pre-empt other programming to meet the weekly quota.


----------



## JSPowerJR

Does anyone know where to find a "Guide" that displays where 3.0/NextGen will be broadcast? Baltimore here. I tried a few searches with no avail.

Happy Friday


----------



## fri1038

RabbitEars.Info


RabbitEars, where you can learn all about local, over-the-air TV channels.




www.rabbitears.info





Baltimore is market #29. RF25 is already up with 3.0 and most of the big networks.

WHUT in DC is coming soon, if you can receive it.




JSPowerJR said:


> Does anyone know where to find a "Guide" that displays where 3.0/NextGen will be broadcast? Baltimore here. I tried a few searches with no avail.
> 
> Happy Friday


----------



## fri1038

WBAL started airing The Grio on 11-4 this afternoon. Looks like they cut the resolution of Comet and Stadium to 640x480 from 704x480 in the process. Grio is also 640x480. MeTV remains at 704x480. The Addams Family looks a little fuzzy tonight.

---

Edited to add The Grio's owner, Allen Media, has partnered with an investment firm to bid on TEGNA, WUSA's owner. 









Byron Allen Among Bidders for Local TV Giant TEGNA


Allen and Ares Management have submitted a joint bid for the company, which owns 64 local stations, as have Apollo and Standard General.




www.hollywoodreporter.com


----------



## JSPowerJR

fri1038 said:


> RabbitEars.Info
> 
> 
> RabbitEars, where you can learn all about local, over-the-air TV channels.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.rabbitears.info
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Baltimore is market #29. RF25 is already up with 3.0 and most of the big networks.
> 
> WHUT in DC is coming soon, if you can receive it.


I worded my post wrong. The 4K content that is being broadcast. Where can I find that?

For example, is any of the NFL games this weekend 4K? I'm waiting for the right time to get a 3.0 tuner. If nothing is 4K, it's the wrong time.


----------



## greg9x2

JSPowerJR said:


> I worded my post wrong. The 4K content that is being broadcast. Where can I find that?
> 
> For example, is any of the NFL games this weekend 4K? I'm waiting for the right time to get a 3.0 tuner. If nothing is 4K, it's the wrong time.


There is no, and won't be any for a long while, 4K OTA broadcast.
Broadcasters will have to make a big investment in equipment to be able to broadcast 4K And they aren't going to do it unless they know they will make that money back.
Not as easy as streaming 4K (which is compressed anyway).

1080P is the best can hope for right now, and many 3.0 stations aren't even doing that.

As for football, think FOX still records games at 720P.. No 4K to be had anyway there.


----------



## fri1038

WMDE teasing DigiTV this morning on 36-6.


----------



## Jason Zarin

Jason Zarin said:


> grumble ... maybe the antenna shifted in the latest storm. or i could just hold out until the repack. decisions decisions


If anyone cares, the issue seems to have resolved itself. Which of course, is the best kind of solution


----------



## TheKrell

Jason Zarin said:


> If anyone cares, the issue seems to have resolved itself. Which of course, is the best kind of solution


I personally hate when that happens, because it leaves me wondering what went wrong, and how to fix it should it reoccur.


----------



## fri1038

Digi-TV launched on WMDE's 36-6 on 9/27. Still labeled as "WMDE 36"

Newsy coming to WPXW's 66-7 on 10/4.

WQAW has had a lot problems in the past month, like some other HC2 stations I read here in the forums: transmitter down, reduced power, or sending all nulls; various sub channels not sending data. Currently operating at 7/8ths with 69-4 ShopHQ dark. It was stuck on a single frame for a few weeks.


----------



## pkpaul

fri1038 said:


> Newsy coming to WPXW's 66-7 on 10/4.


They are broadcasting now - 1 October.

Newsy is also now on channel 2.6


----------



## Cbandscanner

Just tuned to Fox 5 and it looks like they have a syncing issue. The audio is slightly late on the news and commercials. This is at 1630 on 10/4.


----------



## joblo

Breaking!

Franken-FM 87.7 WDCN is back! 

As of 1100 this morning, apparently, and at 1400, they cranked up the power:

now (697×355) (rabbitears.info)

... but a bit distorted... and NO 3.0/1.0/analog decodable video in sight, at least not on my HDHR 4K or TVs...

... anyone else receiving, please report...


----------



## n8hoo

Hearing it on my stereo, weak but listenable...

Borderline 3.0 signal seen by my HDHR. Although I think PSIP would still show up if there were any video streams, no? Don't they have to broadcast _some_ video?


----------



## Trip in VA

Looks like it's too weak to lock. Same story here.

- Trip


----------



## pkpaul

I am less than 2 miles from Merrifield tower and radio FM 87.7 comes in loud an clear, but no TV channel 6 on the HDHR4K. So I took my portable HDHR4K rig to near the base [275 meters] of the tower but still no TV channel 6.


----------



## pkpaul

31.6 "Prg11" is showing JTV.


----------



## n8hoo

WAZT-CD on the air testing a couple of times today, from the Leesburg site from which it has permission to move. Still has JTV. Sale to Weigel hasn't gone through yet.



n8hoo said:


> Almost missed this but late yesterday WAZT-CD was sold to Weigel Broadcasting for $3mil. Since all of their networks are already carried here -- MeTV on 5, Movies and H&I on 20, Decades on 31, and Start on 13 and 49 -- it remains to be seen what they will stick on there...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Draft Copy « License Modernization « FCC
> 
> 
> Licensing and Management System
> 
> 
> 
> 
> enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov


----------



## joblo

joblo said:


> and at 1400, they cranked up the power


Now appears that was a local thing; neighbor a couple doors down from me had a huge tree trimmed yesterday. Directly in line with my antenna. Surprised it affected RF6 that way, but lots of other signals changed for me right at the same time, so the data doesn't lie. 

Trip's band scanner is a wonderful thing! Best diagnostic tool since sliced bread! If you've got an always-on computer and can spare an HDHR tuner, please consider joining:






RabbitEars.Info


RabbitEars, where you can learn all about local, over-the-air TV channels.




www.rabbitears.info







n8hoo said:


> Hearing it on my stereo, weak but listenable...
> 
> Borderline 3.0 signal seen by my HDHR. Although I think PSIP would still show up if there were any video streams, no? Don't they have to broadcast _some_ video?


Video is up:

The Country Network (tcncountry.net)


----------



## joblo

joblo said:


> Video is up:
> 
> The Country Network (tcncountry.net)


And now it's down, along with the rest of the signal... obviously a work in progress...


----------



## KyL416

n8hoo said:


> WAZT-CD on the air testing a couple of times today, from the Leesburg site from which it has permission to move. Still has JTV. Sale to Weigel hasn't gone through yet.


Whenever the sale is approved and is consummated, it will likely carry MeTV Plus at first, like their new O&O WZME does in the NYC DMA.

Since it's only a Class A signal, the rest of the networks will probably stay where they are, although they might use the opportunity to have MeTV's HD feed get an OTA presence in DC in addition to keeping a SD simulcast on WTTG 5.3 for full market OTA coverage and cable carriage.


----------



## pkpaul

joblo said:


> And now it's down, along with the rest of the signal... obviously a work in progress...


And back up again at 4:35:


----------



## greg9x2

Anyone else seeing drop in WHUT power level ? Used to run around '60' on TV strength indicator, now down to '41' and '40' is the borderline point on my TV. 
Concerning since was hopeful for the 3.0 cutover with the higher signal strength.


----------



## n8hoo

greg9x2 said:


> Anyone else seeing drop in WHUT power level ? Used to run around '60' on TV strength indicator, now down to '41' and '40' is the borderline point on my TV.
> Concerning since was hopeful for the 3.0 cutover with the higher signal strength.








Signal graphs for WHUT-TV at Leesburg, VA-N8HOO-4K on tuner1







www.rabbitears.info





steady as it comes - if it were actually running reduced power, i'd probably lose it


----------



## greg9x2

n8hoo said:


> Signal graphs for WHUT-TV at Leesburg, VA-N8HOO-4K on tuner1
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.rabbitears.info
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> steady as it comes - if it were actually running reduced power, i'd probably lose it


😔... Don't know what's going on then, WHUT was always better level than WRC (and now WTTG since move), it wasn't as affected by leaves falling off the trees, but now seems it is... But such a large drop compared to other stations confuses me, unless they repointed their antenna.


----------



## fri1038

WNUV's 54-2 Antenna, 54-3 Comet, and 54-4 Stadium are dark since at least Monday, possibly related to a supposed cyber attack. Program guide data is still there, however. 54-2 is hosted by WMAR and the other two are hosted by WBAL since WNUV switched to ATSC 3.0. The other Sinclair-owned stations/networks in the DC/Balt area (that I can receive) and Antenna TV on WDCW are working normally. I can't see the DC low power stations owned by Sinclair.









Sinclair Broadcast Group hit with ransomware attack


Sinclair Broadcast Group was the victim of a ransomware attack over the weekend, the company announced in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Monday.




abcnews.go.com





EDIT: The three are back up as of 11am today.


----------



## fri1038

WMPB (RF22, 67-x, 54-11) would seem to be running at reduced power the past few days. There is a brief note on the mpt.org website about transmitter repair work. They have an outstanding construction permit to install a new antenna.


----------



## n8hoo

fri1038 said:


> WMPB (RF22, 67-x, 54-11) would seem to be running at reduced power the past few days. There is a brief note on the mpt.org website about transmitter repair work. They have an outstanding construction permit to install a new antenna.


several MPT stations - I want to say all but WMPT but I could be wrong- have permits like this. Interestingly, after WFPT replaced theirs (L2C on 21 September), I _completely_ lost it. Not even a sniff of a decode on RF 28 any more unless WRIC is in. (Despite being the closest full-powered station to me, it was always a tough catch to begin with due to being in the exact direction of my neighbors' houses.)


----------



## fri1038

Owings Mills (Baltimore,) Frederick, and Salisbury were the three.

I had to dig out the FLATenna and find a sweet spot to get a very weak WMPB in Severn this morning, wondering what happened to it. Can't get it with my exterior antenna.

WCAU on RF28 is a frequent visitor here. Seeing it now, in fact. Only saw WFPB once, I think.

(I retired the Severn band scan while I do some renovations, if anyone misses it. 🤪)



n8hoo said:


> several MPT stations - I want to say all but WMPT but I could be wrong- have permits like this. Interestingly, after WFPT replaced theirs (L2C on 21 September), I _completely_ lost it. Not even a sniff of a decode on RF 28 any more unless WRIC is in. (Despite being the closest full-powered station to me, it was always a tough catch to begin with due to being in the exact direction of my neighbors' houses.)


----------



## fri1038

WMPB is back up in strength this afternoon, and looks normal in Severn. Guess we'll have to watch the FCC filings to see if they installed the new antenna, unless someone knows otherwise.

The outage notice on mpt.org is still there. They also ran the notice on WMPT last night at 8pm.

edit: "... to install new equipment ..."


__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1449745011063488522



fri1038 said:


> WMPB (RF22, 67-x, 54-11) would seem to be running at reduced power the past few days. There is a brief note on the mpt.org website about transmitter repair work. They have an outstanding construction permit to install a new antenna.


----------



## jonnydeathrow

fri1038 said:


> WMPB is back up in strength this afternoon, and looks normal in Severn. Guess we'll have to watch the FCC filings to see if they installed the new antenna, unless someone knows otherwise.
> 
> The outage notice on mpt.org is still there. They also ran the notice on WMPT last night at 8pm.


Yup, I noticed WMPB was gone earlier this week. Found out about their outtage via website. They are now at 56% signal strength (weaker than normal) here in Manchester PA. 2nd Edge, receiving with an attic antenna


----------



## wmcbrine

joblo said:


> So I called the tech folks listed in the filing. The first one that answered assured me that there is no certain date yet, but it will be mid-to-late October


Soooo, we're about to run out of October...


----------



## greg9x2

wmcbrine said:


> Soooo, we're about to run out of October...


Thought the same, but other post showed WHUT saying have to rescan after October.
Don't know if any new information about 3.0 activation.... Getting antsy since the 1.0 channels starting to go out more frequently.

Of course when ever there is a big play in sports broadcast is when lose lock... To the point of being comical now, it always happens 🙄.

Still lower signal reception on WHUT...still don't know why lost so much level on it compared to other channels. There was mention of power increase, so hoping that helps things.


----------



## KyL416

Sicne WJLA is going to be the ATSC 1.0 host for WHUT, the Sinclair ransomware attack from 2 weeks ago might have delayed DC's ATSC 3.0 rollout like it did in Green Bay and Greensboro.


----------



## aaronwt

Once they do switch to ATSC 3.0 I guess I will need to go ahead and pull the trigger on some ATSC 3.0 tuners?


----------



## wmcbrine

aaronwt said:


> Once they do switch to ATSC 3.0 I guess I will need to go ahead and pull the trigger on some ATSC 3.0 tuners?


Need? No. ATSC 1.0 isn't going anywhere. They'll run side-by-side for at least five years, IIRC.


----------



## keeper

People that have ATSC 3.0 is it worth it for Baltimore stations? Any PQ improvement?


----------



## wmcbrine

keeper said:


> People that have ATSC 3.0 is it worth it for Baltimore stations? Any PQ improvement?


None, sorry. I guess you could save a little space on your DVR by recording the HEVC versions of programs. 

Someday, stations will take advantage of ATSC 3 to provide higher resolutions, etc. Hopefully.


----------



## Frank Monroe

wmcbrine said:


> None, sorry. I guess you could save a little space on your DVR by recording the HEVC versions of programs.


And none of the stations in Baltimore have enabled any multi-channel audio on any of the ATSC 3.0 channels.


----------



## keeper

wmcbrine said:


> None, sorry. I guess you could save a little space on your DVR by recording the HEVC versions of programs.
> 
> Someday, stations will take advantage of ATSC 3 to provide higher resolutions, etc. Hopefully.


Thanks for your reply


----------



## pkpaul

New NexTGen/ATSC 3.0 channel: 158.5 "24/7MMT"
Same content as 158.4 "WJLA247"


----------



## aaronwt

wmcbrine said:


> Need? No. ATSC 1.0 isn't going anywhere. They'll run side-by-side for at least five years, IIRC.


The problem is the DC OTA ATSC 1.0 broadcasts have been crap for years now. The OTA ATSC 1.0 recordings I still have from 2001 to 2004 put to shame anything that has been broadcast in the DC area for years now.


----------



## BaltoMedia

aaronwt said:


> The problem is the DC OTA ATSC 1.0 broadcasts have been crap for years now. The OTA ATSC 1.0 recordings I still have from 2001 to 2004 put to shame anything that has been broadcast in the DC area for years now.


I agree, but it's not like COMCAST cable TV compression of HD signals has gotten any better right? In other words, they have a low standard to compare and compete with.

I'm wondering when WHUT is going to release a rescan date. Right now, Nextgen won't launch in DC until at least mid-December even thought the FCC apps say they should be up and running already.


----------



## captain_video

Unless the DC stations intend to start broadcasting in 1080p or 4k there's little reason to get excited about them launching until that happens. The Baltimore ATSC 3.0 stations I've seen that have gone online aren't showing anything that looks better than what you get on the ATSC 1.0 channels. I got all excited to see that they had launched, but when I got my channel lineups rescanned for my HDHomeRun tuners the program quality was actually worse than what I was getting on the regular HD channels in some cases. The CW broadcasts in Baltimore on ch 54.1 actually look pretty good right now compared to the other local OTA channels.


----------



## jeffsk

I live in Fallston, MD and have problems with WMPT & WMPB where I get 70-100% signal strength from my attic antenna (asbestos shingle siding), but have occasional pixelation and signal loss for a few seconds at a time and then the signal is back up to 70-100%. I don’t have these problems with any other channel. I installed an LTE filter, but that didn’t help.


----------



## fri1038

Multipath interference from trees moving in the wind, or airplanes, is a possibility. If your antenna is aimed at Television Hill for the rest of the Baltimore stations, meaning it is off the mark for the MPT stations in Owings Mills and Annapolis, that could make it more prone to multipath for those two stations.



jeffsk said:


> I live in Fallston, MD and have problems with WMPT & WMPB where I get 70-100% signal strength from my attic antenna (asbestos shingle siding), but have occasional pixelation and signal loss for a few seconds at a time and then the signal is back up to 70-100%. I don’t have these problems with any other channel. I installed an LTE filter, but that didn’t help.


----------



## fri1038

Speaking of WMPB, they were granted their License to Cover for their new elliptically polarized antenna this week. Ditto for WCPB in Salisbury. WFPT got theirs in September.

Reasons to make that change (the MPT stations were previously
horizontal) from what I could dig up: a few more db's in signal strength, more rounded performance for a variety of receiving antenna types, possibly less prone to multipath in urban environments,


----------



## greg9x2

BaltoMedia said:


> I'm wondering when WHUT is going to release a rescan date. Right now, Nextgen won't launch in DC until at least mid-December even thought the FCC apps say they should be up and running already.


Yeah, was looking yesterday to see if they were showing the notice.

Getting kinda silly they just keep missing dates and pushing it off. Typical DC way of doing things I guess.

Losing the 1.0 channels more everyday. 😔


----------



## Brian in CT

captain_video said:


> Unless the DC stations intend to start broadcasting in 1080p or 4k there's little reason to get excited about them launching until that happens.


ATSC 3.0 greatly improves reception in most cases of interference that would cause an ATSC 1.0 TV signal to pixelate or dropout. So, for example, someone experiencing multipath problems with an ATSC 1.0 station would generally benefit from a NextGen signal of the same station. I figure that's something to be excited about.


----------



## BaltoMedia

Since WHUT has not given an officially FCC recognized RESCAN date either on air or online, don't expect Nextgen in DC for at least 1 month, mid-December to early January. I have no idea what the hold up as as all the channel sharing agreements have long since been settled. I'm sure WETA is very unhappy about this agreement, especially being on the same tower, but not included! But Sinclair still has bigger plans for WIAV 58 (RF 30). They have much more available unused bandwidth.


----------



## BaltoMedia

captain_video said:


> Unless the DC stations intend to start broadcasting in 1080p or 4k there's little reason to get excited about them launching until that happens. The Baltimore ATSC 3.0 stations I've seen that have gone online aren't showing anything that looks better than what you get on the ATSC 1.0 channels. I got all excited to see that they had launched, but when I got my channel lineups rescanned for my HDHomeRun tuners the program quality was actually worse than what I was getting on the regular HD channels in some cases. The CW broadcasts in Baltimore on ch 54.1 actually look pretty good right now compared to the other local OTA channels.


I read an interview with Sinclair VP of technology Mark Aitken and I contacted him via email too and as far as I was told or read, all of the Sinclair ATSC 3.0 transitions included *HDR* which makes it still better than 1.0. Keep in mind, WNUV is only rebroadcasting what they are given too and only WBAL and WMPT are in true 1080. And no network is delivering 1080p or higher quality as we speak. But the others are the same 720p but w/ HDR. The IP aspect of 3.0 I think Sinclair is only testing on WIAV 58 in DC as of now, but they do have a test station on RF 24 in Baltimore testing cell phone reception around Towson/Hunt Valley area with OneMedia cell phones from South Korea. I'd love to get a hold of one of those few coveted devices that no one has seen. AFAIK, that testing is still ongoing until that interference agreement with WWDD expires. WWDD is currently operating under an STA. They previously attempted to move to the WJZ-FM 105.7 The Fan tower in northeast Baltimore, but the FCC knocked that one down, but they do have a construction permit to increase power and signal towards Baltimore after Sinclair ends testing on RF channel 24, which obviously interferes as you can see here.




__





RabbitEars.Info


RabbitEars, where you can learn all about local, over-the-air TV channels.




www.rabbitears.info


----------



## captain_video

Brian in CT said:


> ATSC 3.0 greatly improves reception in most cases of interference that would cause an ATSC 1.0 TV signal to pixelate or dropout. So, for example, someone experiencing multipath problems with an ATSC 1.0 station would generally benefit from a NextGen signal of the same station. I figure that's something to be excited about.


That sounds great in theory, but so far my experience has been less than favorable. I had all kinds of sparklies or sprites surrounding the players of an NFL game that made the reception unpleasant to watch. I've had severe pixelation and dropouts that was worse than the corresponding ATSC 1.0 station. I'll be checking on the ATSC 3.0 channels from time to time, but for now it's still a work in progress.


----------



## BaltoMedia

captain_video said:


> That sounds great in theory, but so far my experience has been less than favorable. I had all kinds of sparklies or sprites surrounding the players of an NFL game that made the reception unpleasant to watch. I've had severe pixelation and dropouts that was worse than the corresponding ATSC 1.0 station. I'll be checking on the ATSC 3.0 channels from time to time, but for now it's still a work in progress.


It's not totally a work in progress. The standard is set in stone as far as the COFDM transmission method. The ability to adjust data within the streams can change, but I doubt that will have a significant impact on reception. In theory, ATSC 3.0 is supposed to allow indoor reception even in basements, but the technology is designed to switch to lower resolutions in bad reception situations as in mobile phones or in a car. So in reality, it's not perfect, but it does mean you might get something. Also keep in mind, what WNUV and other Nextgen pioneers are doing is temporary. When WNUV is just WNUV CW 54 again in 5 years they will only have The CW and the lo-res sub-channels, not every other Baltimore TV station in HD, so it will only get better. Every Baltimore TV station will at least be in 1080p 24/7 if not during some big events, 4k. You'd have a hard case to make to say this isn't better than ATSC 1.0. This has me looking at new TVs.


----------



## Druitt

captain_video said:


> That sounds great in theory, but so far my experience has been less than favorable. I had all kinds of sparklies or sprites surrounding the players of an NFL game that made the reception unpleasant to watch. I've had severe pixelation and dropouts that was worse than the corresponding ATSC 1.0 station. I'll be checking on the ATSC 3.0 channels from time to time, but for now it's still a work in progress.


I’m new to the forums. Just got an ATSC 3.0 capable TV (Sony X90J) and have an inexpensive Best Buy non-amplified antenna indoors in a condo. Within 5 miles of several transmitters, but all I can see line-of-sight are tall buildings so I’m guessing all the signals I’m getting are reflections. Anyhow, no station exceeds about 60/100 (Sony) signal strength, but two ATSC 3.0 signals I can get are solid at 30/100, which would be unwatchable on ATSC 1.0 stations. These are WIAV (58.1) and WJLA247 (58.4), both of which indicate 1080p and look good (non-sports) after an initial buffering (?) period.

Definitely artifacts when large areas changing — camera moving, say — but ATSC 1.0 stations have whole-screen checkerboard affects with less. At least in my marginal use case.


----------



## Frank Monroe

BaltoMedia said:


> And no network is delivering 1080p or higher quality as we speak.


And all of them still have subpar audio.


----------



## greg9x2

Druitt said:


> I’m new to the forums. Just got an ATSC 3.0 capable TV (Sony X90J) and have an inexpensive Best Buy non-amplified antenna indoors in a condo. Within 5 miles of several transmitters, but all I can see line-of-sight are tall buildings so I’m guessing all the signals I’m getting are reflections. Anyhow, no station exceeds about 60/100 (Sony) signal strength, but two ATSC 3.0 signals I can get are solid at 30/100, which would be unwatchable on ATSC 1.0 stations. These are WIAV (58.1) and WJLA247 (58.4), both of which indicate 1080p and look good (non-sports) after an initial buffering (?) period.
> 
> Definitely artifacts when large areas changing — camera moving, say — but ATSC 1.0 stations have whole-screen checkerboard affects with less. At least in my marginal use case.


Sony's measure 1.0 and 3.0 stations differently for signal reception indication, so hard to compare between them apparently.

60/100 for 1.0 reception is pretty good, 40 is the drop out level for my X90CH, which I know very well as my majors (NBC, FOX, etc) are sitting at 40 and constantly hitting up. Why want this 3.0 transition to hurry up.


----------



## captain_video

BaltoMedia said:


> It's not totally a work in progress. The standard is set in stone as far as the COFDM transmission method. The ability to adjust data within the streams can change, but I doubt that will have a significant impact on reception. In theory, ATSC 3.0 is supposed to allow indoor reception even in basements, but the technology is designed to switch to lower resolutions in bad reception situations as in mobile phones or in a car. So in reality, it's not perfect, but it does mean you might get something. Also keep in mind, what WNUV and other Nextgen pioneers are doing is temporary. When WNUV is just WNUV CW 54 again in 5 years they will only have The CW and the lo-res sub-channels, not every other Baltimore TV station in HD, so it will only get better. Every Baltimore TV station will at least be in 1080p 24/7 if not during some big events, 4k. You'd have a hard case to make to say this isn't better than ATSC 1.0. This has me looking at new TVs.


I agree with everything you said. It's a work in progress from the standpoint that the stations are clearly still experimenting with the newer standard and have yet to fully implement the capabilities it offers. I just meant that I have yet to see the benefit of ATSC 3.0 with what is currently being broadcast nor do I really expect to at this early stage. It has the potential to be something far better than what we have now, but that's just progress and the way that technology develops. TV displays and broadcast technology has made huge leaps in the past couple of decades and it's happening faster than most people can or care to keep up with it. Nobody wants to spend thousands of dollars on a brand new TV only to have it become obsolete in just a few years. Current TVs are easily capable of displaying a 4k signal. They just don't have the internal electronics that would allow them to receive it. Right now, to the best of my knowledge, the only consumer level ATSC 3.0 tuner that is currently available is the SD HDHR 4K tuner. Most people aren't going to want to have to use a networked tuner to watch TV. There needs to be further development for add-on tuners similar to what they did for older analog CRT TVs when they made the switch to all digital broadcasts. I realize that ATSC 1.0 will still be around for quite some time, but it just seems like a good move to allow people to enjoy the newer ATSC 3.0 broadcasts on their current hardware and then they can move up to a newer ATSC 3.0 TV when they're ready. Consumers are getting tired of planned obsolescence just to make them upgrade their electronics every time a new technology or feature is introduced.


----------



## aaronwt

I could not imagine going back to using the tuner in a TV. With no way to time shift my TV watching. I stopped using TV tuners back in the 80's. ATSC 3.0 will be no different for me. If I can't time shift my TV watching then there is no point in me using a device with it.


----------



## Druitt

The tuner in the TV is free and is mainly useful for actual real-time stuff. Before the summer, we got rid of cable because we pretty much use an AppleTV for everything (Youtube, Amazon Prime, etc), but during the Fourth of July I found it was pretty much impossible to find the Fireworks in this world of internet. I agree that you don't want to have to watch things live, in general. (Though most things that are broadcast at inconvenient times are also not worth watching, in general.)


----------



## BaltoMedia

captain_video said:


> I agree with everything you said. It's a work in progress from the standpoint that the stations are clearly still experimenting with the newer standard and have yet to fully implement the capabilities it offers. I just meant that I have yet to see the benefit of ATSC 3.0 with what is currently being broadcast nor do I really expect to at this early stage. It has the potential to be something far better than what we have now, but that's just progress and the way that technology develops. TV displays and broadcast technology has made huge leaps in the past couple of decades and it's happening faster than most people can or care to keep up with it. Nobody wants to spend thousands of dollars on a brand new TV only to have it become obsolete in just a few years. Current TVs are easily capable of displaying a 4k signal. They just don't have the internal electronics that would allow them to receive it. Right now, to the best of my knowledge, the only consumer level ATSC 3.0 tuner that is currently available is the SD HDHR 4K tuner. Most people aren't going to want to have to use a networked tuner to watch TV. There needs to be further development for add-on tuners similar to what they did for older analog CRT TVs when they made the switch to all digital broadcasts. I realize that ATSC 1.0 will still be around for quite some time, but it just seems like a good move to allow people to enjoy the newer ATSC 3.0 broadcasts on their current hardware and then they can move up to a newer ATSC 3.0 TV when they're ready. Consumers are getting tired of planned obsolescence just to make them upgrade their electronics every time a new technology or feature is introduced.


Here is the essential point you are missing. ALL ATSC 3.0 TVs are upgradeable to say ATSC 3.1 or ATSC 4.0 via an internet connection, with different CODECS, features, etc that can be downloaded in the future. That was never the plan with ATSC 1.0, although there was an ATSC 2.0, but it really offered very few new features nor COFDM transmission. This is all in the standard from the ground up, so unless your TV breaks, your NextGen TV will be your last one for the future. That is not advertised on any website by the way because people like Sony don't even want you to know that because they need to keep selling TVs! I imagine that this is a feature that Sony doesn't even like, but it's all there codified!


----------



## Druitt

BaltoMedia said:


> Here is the essential point you are missing. ALL ATSC 3.0 TVs are upgradeable to say ATSC 3.1 or ATSC 4.0 via an internet connection, with different CODECS, features, etc that can be downloaded in the future. That was never the plan with ATSC 1.0, although there was an ATSC 2.0, but it really offered very few new features nor COFDM transmission. This is all in the standard from the ground up, so unless your TV breaks, your NextGen TV will be your last one for the future. That is not advertised on any website by the way because people like Sony don't even want you to know that because they need to keep selling TVs! I imagine that this is a feature that Sony doesn't even like, but it's all there codified!


I concur overall. We had a 40" HD TV that lasted us 15 years, and just a month ago replaced it with a 55" 4K (ATSC 3.0) TV, which could conceivably literally be the last TV I ever buy. It could easily last 20 years physically until maybe it breaks and I'd get a 65" nano-quantum-LED 8K TV. If I live that long -- I'm not a spring chicken. Upgradeable ATSC is cool.

However, I would temper it with the idea that manufacturers have tricks they can pull that could still render an ATSC 3.0 TV unable to become an ATSC 3.1 TV. Hopefully they will not, and they'll concentrate on other features (micro-LEDs), etc. But Sony could say, "Hey, your X90J TV features ATSC 3.0, true, but ATSC 3.1's cool new feature requires more RAM than the TV has so you'll also need to get a RAM upgrade, and after lost time, labor, etc, you may as well get a new TV with ATSC 3.1 installed and enough RAM for ATSC 4.0. We think, though maybe the CPU won't be powerful enough to handle it."


----------



## captain_video

I guess my question is, what exactly qualifies a TV to be considered ATSC 3.0 without an actual ATSC 3.0 tuner built in? I have several 4K HDTVs and just bought a new LG OLED 65" set about a year ago. I assume it will work just fine using my SD HDHR 4k tuner when they finally start broadcasting in 4k, but where does that leave me regarding the potential upgrades you're talking about? Will it be a firmware upgrade to the TV or the tuner?


----------



## Druitt

captain_video said:


> Will it be a firmware upgrade to the TV or the tuner?


At a minimum, your tuner would need to update. I think it's possible that the TV might also have to upgrade to fully enable some features -- depending on how the tuner communicates with the TV.


----------



## captain_video

The tuner is networked and communicates primarily with Nvidia Shields running Channels DVR as well as a Windows 10 HTPC that runs the DVR recording app. Channels is accessible over my home network using any compatible PC, Mac, Android, or IOS device. I also have a Windows 7 HTPC running Windows Media Center. All TVs are fed the video signal via an HDMI source.


----------



## n8hoo

WMDO-CD to terminate its channel-share with WDCO-CD when it expires at the end of the year:






Licensing and Management System


Licensing and Management System




enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov





It says only this about that license's future: "The reason for the delay in notification [is] that Entravision was not certain until this point in time whether it could secure another channel sharing or other form of arrangement in order to operate on a different channel."

Of note is the longstanding LMA that ties WFDC to Univision and WMDO-CD to UniMas also ends the same day, and also has not been extended (that we know of). Nothing stopping it from hitching a ride with WJAL, I think.


----------



## BaltoMedia

n8hoo said:


> WMDO-CD to terminate its channel-share with WDCO-CD when it expires at the end of the year:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Licensing and Management System
> 
> 
> Licensing and Management System
> 
> 
> 
> 
> enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It says only this about that license's future: "The reason for the delay in notification [is] that Entravision was not certain until this point in time whether it could secure another channel sharing or other form of arrangement in order to operate on a different channel."
> 
> Of note is the longstanding LMA that ties WFDC to Univision and WMDO-CD to UniMas also ends the same day, and also has not been extended (that we know of). Nothing stopping it from hitching a ride with WJAL, I think.


One thing of note in this is that WFDC doesn't have the technical ability to transmit Unimás in 1080i. They already have a whole lot going on in that bandwidth. No possible way, not unless they're dumping all the sub-channels en-masse.


----------



## pkpaul

WHUT Channel 32 Rescan Date/Time: "12/15 At 12:00 PM EST"
According to scroll message on screen.


----------



## BaltoMedia

That's good to know. I was starting to get worried. Hopefully, they have the new transmitter too with 416kw installed also. That would make it work brilliantly. They also put that date on their website to meet FCC regulations.


----------



## aaronwt

pkpaul said:


> WHUT Channel 32 Rescan Date/Time: "12/15 At 12:00 PM EST"
> According to scroll message on screen.


Is that also when the Lighthouse station will go live.


----------



## BaltoMedia

aaronwt said:


> Is that also when the Lighthouse station will go live.


By FCC rules, it has to, but as usual Sinclair is silent about things.


----------



## pkpaul

". . . After this date, viewers with a NextGen TV receiver will get an enhanced viewing experience. "


----------



## greg9x2

pkpaul said:


> WHUT Channel 32 Rescan Date/Time: "12/15 At 12:00 PM EST"
> According to scroll message on screen.


Well, another month without local broadcast guess then... Since leaves have fallen totally lost WTTG and WRC is out more than in... The VHF's are too random to depend on.

Hoping the move doesn't go south whenever it happens.


----------



## greg9x2

BaltoMedia said:


> That's good to know. I was starting to get worried. Hopefully, they have the new transmitter too with 416kw installed also. That would make it work brilliantly. They also put that date on their website to meet FCC regulations.


What is their current transmitter power ?


----------



## BaltoMedia

greg9x2 said:


> What is their current transmitter power ?


100kw is WHUT's current power as licensed, but I'm sure they're testing by now.


----------



## BaltoMedia

pkpaul said:


> ". . . After this date, viewers with a NextGen TV receiver will get an enhanced viewing experience. "


I'm not exactly sure who is running the show on this transition except that Sinclair's WJLA 7 is WHUT's ATSC 1.0 Lighthouse TV station. It's hard to say what features will be included, but Sinclair's VP of Technology, Mark Aitken, is on record stating that every Sinclair rollout would include HDR. It is Washington, DC though, so I would think all the industry partners would want to make a splash before Congress and all to demonstrate the technology to urge the FCC to promote the format more since the big networks are sort of slow walking this as far as programming distribution, which is the expensive elephant in the room that they are afraid of.


----------



## Frank Monroe

BaltoMedia said:


> It's hard to say what features will be included, but Sinclair's VP of Technology, Mark Aitken, is on record stating that every Sinclair rollout would include HDR.


The Sinclair stations, along with the rest in Baltimore, still don't have Dolby audio on the ATSC 3.0 channels.


----------



## BaltoMedia

Frank Monroe said:


> The Sinclair stations, along with the rest in Baltimore, still don't have Dolby audio on the ATSC 3.0 channels.


I'm only repeating what he said in an online interview and told me in an email. Directly, he told me that everything is a work in progress, meaning WNUV would have no SFN (Single Frequency Network) anytime soon even though Sinclair has studied an SFN for both DC and Baltimore. Aitken stated in an interview that DC would have to be an SFN for ATSC 3.0, but that was before WHUT got involved. The original plan was to use WIAV 58 and a mix of towers around it to boost the signal like cell phone coverage. Obviously that plan has been scrapped and it's totally unclear what Sinclair plans to do now with WDCO and WIAV. Now that the WMDO Sharing agreement is dissolved, it's even more murky.

One funny note. People often ask me, "How the hell did you get to talk to Mark Aitken, Senior VP of Technology at Sinclair?" And that's a good question as I'm not an engineer, but I have studied electrical engineering before choosing another field and have studied broadcasting, so I understand more than the average person. Aitken simply responded to a post I made on my blog about WNUV and Single Frequency Network studies & plans to tell me it wasn't happening any time soon. I had posted a long explanation of the plan with all the maps from the Dielectric website on engineering studies and I think he was just amused that a nobody found it and stole all the maps and pictures, which were PDFs designed not to be redistributed or shared.

And one final note, the originating stations on WNUV, i.e. WBAL, WMPT, WMAR have to supply the Dolby audio themselves first before WNUV can retransmit it, so it might not be Sinclair's fault. I'm sure they all agreed on this beforehand.


----------



## mkfs

Comet Strikes Again (As seen on WJLA 7.3)

About 10 days ago, they played the same 3 X-Files episodes as they did the previous day.

Today, it's Silent Movie night, I guess. No audio for at least the last ~90 minutes, sigh.
And no closed caption available.


----------



## BaltoMedia

mkfs said:


> Comet Strikes Again (As seen on WJLA 7.3)
> 
> About 10 days ago, they played the same 3 X-Files episodes as they did the previous day.
> 
> Today, it's Silent Movie night, I guess. No audio for at least the last ~90 minutes, sigh.
> And no closed caption available.


Does anyone even know if Sinclair has fixed, paid, or resolved the Ransomware hack as of now? I haven't really seen much about in the past week, but I know Master Control is living a life of hell at every Sinclair TV station.


----------



## mkfs

BaltoMedia said:


> Does anyone even know if Sinclair has fixed, paid, or resolved the Ransomware hack as of now?


Well, either there is something very wrong with my set, as it gets audio on 7.1,7.2 & 7.4; or Comet/Sinclair is in the barrel a 2nd day. (Who owns Comet?)


----------



## KyL416

mkfs said:


> Who owns Comet?


Sinclair


----------



## mkfs

re: COMET Audio

OK, when I'm wrong I'm willing to admit it.....

I was looking at hooking up a CECB to the TV RF input with composite to the set, just to see if the CECB heard any audio. I have a powered up the coax Radios Hack panel antenna. When I unplugged the power injector and restored it, the audio came back on 7.3.

Can someone explain how it could afflict only 7.3 but no other RF channel or subchannel? Because I sure cannot.


----------



## pkpaul

I had checked and lost audio on 7.3 as well. But only on the Magnavox CECB. All else works okay.


----------



## fri1038

Weird - Magnavox specific it seems. My old Magnavox DVR (mdr537h/f7) gets neither video nor audio on 7.3. Samsung and Panasonic TVs are fine. Comet on 54.3 is fine on all 3.

Edit: The HDHDR3 sees it okay too. Didn't see anything odd in TSReaderLite. Here's a dump fwiw. Save and rename as .htm)


----------



## KyL416

The only potential issue I see is that both audio streams are labeled English, so maybe some tuners that only parse the language label are automatically switching to the SAP feed?


----------



## pkpaul

I checked another Magnavox and it has the same problem, no audio on 7.3. 
Both model TB110MW9.


----------



## pkpaul

Comet Channel 54.3 in Balto has working audio on Magnavox.


----------



## Trip in VA

I see the problem in TSReader. The PIDs are mismatched between the PMT and TVCT for Comet on WJLA.

- Trip


----------



## mkfs

I thought Comet was available screening over Pluto, but I don't see it.
...
I got some hints and got Comet over STIRR, so I'm not that upset the 7.3 audio stopped again.

Thanks, Trip, for proving I'm not _*all*_ that crazy....
I called WJLA this afternoon but the only option was the News Desk. 
They asked for my # and promised a callback, but none so far.


----------



## Trip in VA

I just e-mailed the closed captioning contact, but of course, it's late on a Friday.

- Trip


----------



## mkfs

Trip in VA said:


> I just e-mailed the closed captioning contact, but of course, it's late on a Friday.
> 
> - Trip


So my question is: why does it seemingly only affect me? [Firestick..]

It didn't occur to me to try other languages, but English 1 & 2 are silent, English 3 & Spanish render English.


----------



## Trip in VA

Certain receivers aren't as good at working around certain problems than others. That's all I can really say about it. 

And it's not just you, others here are seeing it also on Magnavox gear.

- Trip


----------



## pkpaul

It is working now, 7 am Sat. 
I guess they gotta keep those infomercials working.


----------



## fri1038

Yep, it's working on my Magnavox recorder again. WJLA fixed the TVCT PCR PID.

Funai made the Magnavox equipment in question. Also some Philips and Sanyo stuff.


----------



## BaltoMedia

mkfs said:


> I thought Comet was available screening over Pluto, but I don't see it.
> ...
> I got some hints and got Comet over STIRR, so I'm not that upset the 7.3 audio stopped again.
> 
> Thanks, Trip, for proving I'm not _*all*_ that crazy....
> I called WJLA this afternoon but the only option was the News Desk.
> They asked for my # and promised a callback, but none so far.


Comet is available at CometTV.com also. Stirr is not necessary.


----------



## mkfs

BaltoMedia said:


> Comet is available at CometTV.com also. Stirr is not necessary.


Thanks, but I've never figured out how to point my firestick to a URL.
It may well be in the jungle of flashing everything somewhere, but I don't know where....


----------



## BaltoMedia

There doesn't seem to be any active Salisbury/OC TV group here that I can see, so I'll post this here.
WBOC TV CBS 16 had a catastrophic transmitter failure last week that took them off the air then at 363 KW, but I read on Friday that they are back to 1000 KW full power after completing repairs as of Wednesday, so that's pretty quick considering they themselves in the FCC STA request said was catastrophic. They now requested to cancel the STA on Friday.


----------



## n8hoo

Some new channels appearing on RF 20:

(program 8) 48.1 WAZT-CD: Decades
(9) 10.2 TEST002: HSN2
(10) 10.3 TEST003: blank
(11) 10.4 TEST004: DC Council Channel

Its sale to Weigel Broadcasting has not closed yet, although it has no right to use major channel 10 either... Nor has it moved to DC from Leesburg, as its signal is far too strong here (I barely get any other of the DC-based LDs)


----------



## MapGuy11

n8hoo said:


> Some new channels appearing on RF 20:
> 
> (program 8) 48.1 WAZT-CD: Decades
> (9) 10.2 TEST002: HSN2
> (10) 10.3 TEST003: blank
> (11) 10.4 TEST004: DC Council Channel
> 
> Its sale to Weigel Broadcasting has not closed yet, although it has no right to use major channel 10 either... Nor has it moved to DC from Leesburg, as its signal is far too strong here (I barely get any other of the DC-based LDs)


It did have a construction permit to move to DC at 15kW instead of Leesburg at 15kW.


----------



## BaltoMedia

MapGuy11 said:


> It did have a construction permit to move to DC at 15kW instead of Leesburg at 15kW.


WAZT was approved to move to the old WRC NBC 4 tower at Ward Circle and will soon I'm sure. I was talking to Trip about this. It was approved even though their channel 20 signal destroys much of WQAW 69's signal on channel 20.


----------



## machpost

n8hoo said:


> Some new channels appearing on RF 20:
> 
> (program 8) 48.1 WAZT-CD: Decades
> (9) 10.2 TEST002: HSN2
> (10) 10.3 TEST003: blank
> (11) 10.4 TEST004: DC Council Channel
> 
> Its sale to Weigel Broadcasting has not closed yet, although it has no right to use major channel 10 either... Nor has it moved to DC from Leesburg, as its signal is far too strong here (I barely get any other of the DC-based LDs)


Did you happen to notice which resolution the DC Council Channel was broadcasting in? It looks like their live stream is 1080p, though no local providers carry the HD version.


----------



## n8hoo

machpost said:


> Did you happen to notice which resolution the DC Council Channel was broadcasting in? It looks like their live stream is 1080p, though no local providers carry the HD version.


It's gone now (replaced by JTV) but it was definitely not 1080p. looked like it was letterboxed to 480i 4:3. probably just needed a free stream to test equipment with...


----------



## mkfs

BaltoMedia said:


> Comet is available at CometTV.com also. Stirr is not necessary.



I wish I found that route viable. Stirr is almost Keystone Kop'ish. They run a commercial 3x in a row. Next break, they run an ad, cut it off half way and run a different one, which is sometimes cut off as well. Other times, there's lots of dead-air, with a black background & a QR code asking you to fill out a Stirr survey.


----------



## BaltoMedia

mkfs said:


> I wish I found that route viable. Stirr is almost Keystone Kop'ish. They run a commercial 3x in a row. Next break, they run an ad, cut it off half way and run a different one, which is sometimes cut off as well. Other times, there's lots of dead-air, with a black background & a QR code asking you to fill out a Stirr survey.


STIRR barely even works at all on Apple Macs using Safari. Sinclair should be embarrassed.


----------



## BaltoMedia

The DC Nextgen launch is in less than 2 weeks now. Anybody notice any testing yet on WJLA or WHUT?


----------



## fri1038

WFDC's 14-4 Bounce cambió a UniMás hoy. ;-)

Edited to add 14-4 is currently showing station id as WMDO 47-1 at the top of the hour and running a scroll saying UniMas will be moving to 14-4. WMDO's channel share agreement with WDCO on RF24, their present home, ends at the end of the year, hence the move.


----------



## wmcbrine

BaltoMedia said:


> The DC Nextgen launch is in less than 2 weeks now. Anybody notice any testing yet on WJLA or WHUT?


According to my HDHomeRun, there have been three "500x" channels (5003, 5004 and 5005) on RF 33 for some time now. But they only show as blank.


----------



## BaltoMedia

wmcbrine said:


> According to my HDHomeRun, there have been three "500x" channels (5003, 5004 and 5005) on RF 33 for some time now. But they only show as blank.


I'm not sure technically they can test both at the same time. I'm pretty sure that's impossible. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I figured we'd see WHUT on WJLA first before any testing happens and overnight likely. I seem to remember that WNUV 54.1 started showing up days early on RF 22 and 21.


----------



## BaltoMedia

I had an interesting chat with someone from Sonshine Family Television about WLZH 18, Baltimore's soon to be newest TV station, so I'm hoping to find out more soon about what's going on with WLZH, which is supposed to move to Baltimore soon and he told me that the plan is still happening. I had suggested that WLZH 18 use another tower in Baltimore that would have a much better signal around the market than the County services tower in Jacksonville, MD, which has never been previously used for radio or TV that I'm aware of. I suggested he inquire about the former WBSB B-104 tower in Kingsville Maryland and he said he'd turn the info over to the consulting engineers, who will likely laugh at me, but it looked just by eyeballing it that it might be plausible. WZFT 104.3 FM no longer uses it for an AUX anymore. There's only cell phone and county services on it currently, none of which are at the top of the tower, which is 492 feet tall, not too shabby and 100 feet taller than the tower in their CP. I also suggested the WJZ-FM 105.7 The Fan tower on Gunther Hill in East Baltimore, but Trip told me that was a no go, within the 30 mile limit on the DC channel 14. So I did some fun with Photoshop from Kingsville.

CP in Yellow
Projected Red/Blue


----------



## KyL416

Weigel filed their consummation notice for WAZT-CD.


----------



## BaltoMedia

Trip assures me that this is legal and it was approved by the FCC, but the level of overlap that WAZT has now on channel 20 with WQAW is just mind boggling when it moves to Ward Circle on the old WRC 4 tower. The only advantage WQAW has is being nearly 750 feet on the MPT tower. But I think they should just give up and move to Baltimore. But I'm told a signal in Baltimore might be difficult because it must steer clear of the Philadelphia land mobile on channel 20.


----------



## BaltoMedia

Here's my prediction for WAZT 48 now that Weigel has control, pending FCC approval, which is a formality at this point. StartTV is a good bet. A 720p version of MeTV might be a good bet too since they did that in Chicago and they also have Heroes & Icons there too. Also MeTV Plus and Decades. I figure Weigel isn't going to want to pay other stations to carry any of these networks now that they own their own station, Weigel wants to keep MeTV, which is quite popular, on a full power TV station though, so it's unlikely they would cancel that deal with WTTG Fox 5, but who knows?


----------



## n8hoo

KyL416 said:


> Weigel filed their consummation notice for WAZT-CD.


No changes to programming: still Decades on 48.1, HSN2 on 10.2, 10.3 and 10.4 are blank.



fri1038 said:


> WFDC's 14-4 Bounce cambió a UniMás hoy. ;-)


about time...lol. Is UniMas still on 47.1? Seems like Entravision will just turn in that license at the end of the year now, with its UniMas affiliation contract (presumably) ending and its channel-share also being dissolved. (Believe it or not, that license dates to 1976!)


----------



## pkpaul

n8hoo said:


> Is UniMas still on 47.1?


UniMás is on both 14.4 and 47.1.


----------



## wmcbrine

I was watching WHUT last night, and they had a scroller saying that OTA viewers would need to rescan after Dec. 15th at noon. They also promised an "enhanced experience" for ATSC 3 viewers, but no details beyond that. And they told us to go to "NEXTGENTV / WHUT" for more info, which I guess was a failed attempt at a URL. (Probably they meant NextgenTV | WHUTtv ?)


----------



## BaltoMedia

n8hoo said:


> No changes to programming: still Decades on 48.1, HSN2 on 10.2, 10.3 and 10.4 are blank.
> 
> 
> 
> about time...lol. Is UniMas still on 47.1? Seems like Entravision will just turn in that license at the end of the year now, with its UniMas affiliation contract (presumably) ending and its channel-share also being dissolved. (Believe it or not, that license dates to 1976!)


Few companies ever turn in a TV license that is profitable, unless facing corporate bankruptcy so I expect they will pick up other programming and another sharing agreement before Dec. 31 and they do still have LATV.


----------



## BaltoMedia

wmcbrine said:


> I was watching WHUT last night, and they had a scroller saying that OTA viewers would need to rescan after Dec. 15th at noon. They also promised an "enhanced experience" for ATSC 3 viewers, but no details beyond that. And they told us to go to "NEXTGENTV / WHUT" for more info, which I guess was a failed attempt at a URL. (Probably they meant NextgenTV | WHUTtv ?)


This might be of interest to northern suburbs of DC: Harrisburg Nextgen launches on Dec. 20 with so far Nexstar's WHTM ABC 27 on the two Sonshine Family Television LPTVs, WLHY 31 and W16EJ 19, so I'm still wondering what Sinclair is going to do with WIAV 58 now? Are they going to host WETA and WDCW CW 50, not included in the current DC rollout? Sinclair already has ATSC 3.0 up and running so I cannot see why those stations wouldn't want to be involved along with WIAV or Scripps WPXW 66 or WFDC 14. It's really the only other option going forward for the next 5 years. God knows what WJZ 13 is going to do. They have no option really.


----------



## ericlhyman

wmcbrine said:


> I was watching WHUT last night, and they had a scroller saying that OTA viewers would need to rescan after Dec. 15th at noon. They also promised an "enhanced experience" for ATSC 3 viewers, but no details beyond that. And they told us to go to "NEXTGENTV / WHUT" for more info, which I guess was a failed attempt at a URL. (Probably they meant NextgenTV | WHUTtv ?)


Will we need to rescan any other DC area channels besides WHUT on that date?


----------



## fri1038

Depends on your tuner's capabilities.

WHUT's 32-1 and 32-2 ATSC 1 broadcasts will be hosted on WJLA's RF7 transmitter. If you don't see those automatically (after pausing on 7-1 for a few seconds) you'll need to rescan. (Can you rescan just one channel?)

If you end up with a phantom duplicate 32-1 and 32-2 from their RF33 days, a full rescan might be needed to purge those from your tuner.




ericlhyman said:


> Will we need to rescan any other DC area channels besides WHUT on that date?


----------



## BaltoMedia

No other ATSC 1.0 station is moving other the WHUT 32, but it's likely that Weigel's WAZT will be adding new channels in the next month also that you might want to rescan for.


----------



## fri1038

WMJF's 39-4 has been showing Laff instead of Grit the past few days. Still labeled as Grit. TitanTV listings reflect the change but not laff.com and zap2it. And 39-6 is blank. Was showing H&I while still labeled as ShopLC. Hard to know whether those are glitches or permanent changes with that station.

WQAW's 69-4 has been blank for a few months now. Used to be ShopHQ. They still show their goofy station ID at the top of the hour on it, though.


----------



## BaltoMedia

fri1038 said:


> WMJF's 39-4 has been showing Laff instead of Grit the past few days. Still labeled as Grit. TitanTV listings reflect the change but not laff.com and zap2it. And 39-6 is blank. Was showing H&I while still labeled as ShopLC. Hard to know whether those are glitches or permanent changes with that station.
> 
> WQAW's 69-4 has been blank for a few months now. Used to be ShopHQ.


I've been criticized for this previously, but I stand by calling WMJF as a zombie TV station. There is no phone number to call. You can email a lawyer for the corporation, but he knows nothing about the TV station. I serious doubt they meet local TV station requirements from the FCC nor do they even know when they're off the air half the time. I cannot wait until WLZH comes to town and cleans their clocks and steals all their networks away. At least the Sonshine Family people pay attention to their own TV stations. HME Equity Fund has no clue about Baltimore or even if WMJF is even on the air most of the time. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.

And about the image. That's not even the tallest building on the Towson University campus!


----------



## MapGuy11

BaltoMedia said:


> I've been criticized for this previously, but I stand by calling WMJF as a zombie TV station. There is no phone number to call. You can email a lawyer for the corporation, but he knows nothing about the TV station. I serious doubt they meet local TV station requirements from the FCC nor do they even know when they're off the air half the time. I cannot wait until WLZH comes to town and cleans their clocks and steals all their networks away. At least the Sonshine Family people pay attention to their own TV stations. HME Equity Fund has no clue about Baltimore or even if WMJF is even on the air most of the time. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.
> 
> And about the image. That's not even the tallest building on the Towson University campus!


Yeah, so they outsource their transmitting to a company where they pull all the channels iON, Laff, Grit, Rewind TV, etc. Then they choose one most of these systems are open to the public without a password and can be accessed very easily. Sonshine Media still does this on some of their stations also.


----------



## BaltoMedia

MapGuy11 said:


> Yeah, so they outsource their transmitting to a company where they pull all the channels iON, Laff, Grit, Rewind TV, etc. Then they choose one most of these systems are open to the public without a password and can be accessed very easily. Sonshine Media still does this on some of their stations also.
> View attachment 3207247


But I actually emailed someone at Sonshine Family Television and got a response from a real person, not a lawyer, but someone with knowledge of their TV stations and I know his name even. I was SHOCKED and surprised, but loved that he said to me, "Thanks for your interest and I'll get back to you on what my engineering team finds out." No one has ever gotten an answer to any email from HME Equity unless you were serving them a lawsuit notice and in that case a paralegal would likely get back to first before a real lawyer! LOL


----------



## MapGuy11

BaltoMedia said:


> But I actually emailed someone at Sonshine Family Television and got a response from a real person, not a lawyer, but someone with knowledge of their TV stations and I know his name even. I was SHOCKED and surprised, but loved that he said to me, "Thanks for your interest and I'll get back to you on what my engineering team finds out." No one has ever gotten an answer to any email from HME Equity unless you were serving them a lawsuit notice and in that case a paralegal would likely get back to first before a real lawyer! LOL


Did WMJF subchannels just go 640x480? Maybe it's just me but the quality looks like it went down.


----------



## KyL416

There's not much WMJF-CD can do to increase their coverage area. They're stuck between WDVM Hagerstown and WNJS in New Jersey and already have a highly directional north-south pattern so they can still be the maximum 15 kW. So going to a taller tower would likely force them to reduce their power to prevent any additional interference to WDVM. And since they are a class A signal, WDVM actually has to protect them in their planned move to get closer to DC, which is why WDVM is switching to a custom pattern if it's approved.



> I serious doubt they meet local TV station requirements from the FCC


According to their public file, they air an hour long locally produced program called “Urban Voices". Googling some of the guests they mention, they are all from the Baltimore area, which is a lot more than many other Class A operators do. i.e. HC2 meets their "community affairs" requirements by carrying a religious network like 3ABN on their Class A signals.


----------



## MapGuy11

KyL416 said:


> There's not much WMJF-CD can do to increase their coverage area. They're stuck between WDVM Hagerstown and WNJS in New Jersey.
> 
> 
> According to their public file, they air an hour long locally produced program called “Urban Voices". Googling some of the guests they mention, they are all from the Baltimore area, which is a lot more than many other Class A operators do. i.e. HC2 meets their "community affairs" requirements by carrying a religious network like 3ABN on their Class A signals.


Yeah I have seen it it looks really old and plays early mornings on Sunday and then hard cuts to the ION feed.


----------



## BaltoMedia

KyL416 said:


> There's not much WMJF-CD can do to increase their coverage area. They're stuck between WDVM Hagerstown and WNJS in New Jersey.
> 
> 
> According to their public file, they air an hour long locally produced program called “Urban Voices". Googling some of the guests they mention, they are all from the Baltimore area, which is a lot more than many other Class A operators do. i.e. HC2 meets their "community affairs" requirements by carrying a religious network like 3ABN on their Class A signals.


I've talked to Trip from Rabbitears about this. It's possible that the only channel left available for Baltimore in the future is channel 29, which WMDT and WWPB currently use but in a directional manner. But there is no open window to file a new TV application currently other than a new allocation request. Aside from that, there's only LPTV space. This is why I'm intrigued with WLZH on channel 14. The channel 14 in DC is not a Class A and has no special protections, so Baltimore will get this channel RF 14, but it will be called Channel 18 because of WFDC 14. Hehe


----------



## MapGuy11

KyL416 said:


> There's not much WMJF-CD can do to increase their coverage area. They're stuck between WDVM Hagerstown and WNJS in New Jersey and already have a highly directional north-south pattern so they can still be the maximum 15 kW. So going to a taller tower would likely force them to reduce their power to prevent any additional interference to WDVM. And since they are a class A signal, WDVM actually has to protect them in their planned move to get closer to DC, which is why WDVM is switching to a custom pattern if it's approved.
> 
> 
> According to their public file, they air an hour long locally produced program called “Urban Voices". Googling some of the guests they mention, they are all from the Baltimore area, which is a lot more than many other Class A operators do. i.e. HC2 meets their "community affairs" requirements by carrying a religious network like 3ABN on their Class A signals.


Where do I see what WPHA-CD has because I have never seen them have anything except a DVD/VHS player playing infomercials, not even a TOH ID.


----------



## KyL416

BaltoMedia said:


> This is why I'm intrigued with WLZH on channel 14. The channel 14 in DC is not a Class A and has no special protections, so Baltimore will get this channel RF 14


LPTV stations still get protection from other LPTV signals. So after they move to Baltimore, WLZH-LD can't cause more than 2% new interference to WWTD-LD. The TV Study they submitted shows it causes 1.56% interference to WWTD-LD along with 0.12% adjacent channel interference to WFDC.


----------



## BaltoMedia

KyL416 said:


> LPTV stations still get protection from other LPTV signals. So WLZH-LD can't cause more than 2% new interference to WWTD-LD after its move to Baltimore.


Yes, but Class A stations can stomp over simple LPTVs and WWTD is not a Class A, so that allows this move and why it was approved by the FCC. I mean, look at what WAZT just did to WQAW, basically ruined their signal.


----------



## BaltoMedia

MapGuy11 said:


> Where do I see what WPHA-CD has because I have never seen them have anything except a DVD/VHS player playing infomercials, not even a TOH ID.


Nexstar's WDVM 25 is trying to move closer to Washington DC, but so far complaints from Hagerstown have apparently delayed that. That will even further impede on WMJF's signal, so I hope it fails.


----------



## KyL416

BaltoMedia said:


> Yes, but Class A stations can stomp over simple LPTVs and WWTD is not a Class A


Class A stations are not allowed to displace LPTV signals for voluntairy modifications, only full power stations can. The repack was an exception because Class A stations got to preserve their existing coverage areas on their new RF numbers, while LPTV was stuck with the leftovers.



> I mean, look at what WAZT just did to WQAW, basically ruined their signal.


Trip explained the WQAW and WAZT situation in another post a few months ago. Basically the WAZT-CD application was approved because it only causes 0.86% new interference to WQAW-LD because of all the pre-existing co-channel and adjacent channel interference already affecting WQAW.

i.e. WAZT-CD's application mentions that the TVStudy they ran caused no more than 2% new interference to LPTV stations, while full power stations don't need to include LPTV signals in their TV Studies.


----------



## MapGuy11

KyL416 said:


> Class A stations are not allowed to displace LPTV signals for voluntairy modifications, only full power stations can. The repack was an exception because Class A stations got to preserve their existing coverage areas, while LPTV was stuck with the leftovers.
> 
> 
> Trip explained the WQAW and WAZT situation in another post a few months ago. Basically the WAZT-CD application was approved because it only causes 0.86% new interference to WQAW-LD because of all the pre-existing co-channel and adjacent channel interference already affecting WQAW.
> 
> i.e. WAZT-CD's application mentions that the TVStudy they ran caused no more than 2% new interference to LPTV stations, while full power stations don't need to include LPTV signals in their TV Studies.


So what you are saying is a full powered station can go overtop any lptv signal if the powered one is clear on interference or does the lptv have any recourse?


----------



## KyL416

MapGuy11 said:


> So what you are saying is a full powered station can go overtop any lptv signal if the powered one is clear on interference or does the lptv have any recourse?


LPTV has no recourse. All they can do is file for a displacement for a new RF number, which is what is currently happening in several markets across the country where VHF stations are filing to move to UHF. i.e. in Minneapolis KARE moved from RF 11 to RF 31, which displaced the LPTV Daystar station from RF 31 to RF 26.

None of those VHF->UHF moves are happening in this area because of how packed the band now is between DC-Baltimore-Philly-NYC along with all the land mobile protections for those cities.


----------



## fri1038

MapGuy11 said:


> Did WMJF subchannels just go 640x480? Maybe it's just me but the quality looks like it went down.


Yeah, 39-4 and 39-5 are 640x480 at the moment, down from 720x480. 39-1 had some video problems too when I just looked. I'm sure they'll sort it out eventually.

I've caught the old public affairs programs. From the high quality production values and the WMJF bug (which they don't show anymore) I am sure they are from the days when Towson University owned and operated the station. The font they use remind me of when they aired Fine Arts programming.


----------



## BaltoMedia

KyL416 said:


> Class A stations are not allowed to displace LPTV signals for voluntairy modifications, only full power stations can. The repack was an exception because Class A stations got to preserve their existing coverage areas on their new RF numbers, while LPTV was stuck with the leftovers.
> 
> 
> Trip explained the WQAW and WAZT situation in another post a few months ago. Basically the WAZT-CD application was approved because it only causes 0.86% new interference to WQAW-LD because of all the pre-existing co-channel and adjacent channel interference already affecting WQAW.
> 
> i.e. WAZT-CD's application mentions that the TVStudy they ran caused no more than 2% new interference to LPTV stations, while full power stations don't need to include LPTV signals in their TV Studies.


Just because something is government approved doesn't make it NOT WRONG or NOT IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST, but I'm sure Trip will disagree. But a picture tells a thousand words better than math. I studied Electrical Engineering, but I only got a B though. 

This is LEGAL, but is it good public policy to aggressively disenfranchise the Latino community watching Azteca for Jewelry TV?


----------



## n8hoo

WAZT-CD has (finally) gone silent from Leesburg at 3pm, a couple of days after filing for silent authority -- in which they said they did on the 6th lol


----------



## pkpaul

Test signal seen on channel 31.1 "ComingS" on both my Vizio TV and Magnavox STB, but _not_ on the HDHR4K:








And now it is gone.


----------



## n8hoo

Sinclair is gearing up to test a whole lot more ATSC 3.0 stuff - they just applied to add low-powered (1 kW) facilities on channel 25, 28, and 30 to the existing one on 24 in Hunt Valley. Obviously the one on 25 will be used to test a SFN scenario.






Licensing and Management System


Licensing and Management System




enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov


----------



## fri1038

WRZB on RF32 I guess. Some of the NoVa bandscans show a good signal since 10:30 AM. There is a wee bit of tropo this morning maybe giving it a boost, too.




pkpaul said:


> Test signal seen on channel 31.1 "ComingS" on both my Vizio TV and Magnavox STB, but _not_ on the HDHR4K:
> View attachment 3207903
> 
> 
> And now it is gone.


----------



## n8hoo

fri1038 said:


> WRZB on RF32 I guess. Some of the NoVa bandscans show a good signal since 10:30 AM. There is a wee bit of tropo this morning maybe giving it a boost, too.


It's been a while since i've seen WRZB-LD, but isn't 31.1 usually blank? I think that's what was noteworthy here.


----------



## pkpaul

True. 
31.1 is blank now and 31.6 "Prg11" has gone all dark now, 
while 31.4 "HSN2" & 31.5 "Decades" are still up okay.


----------



## BaltoMedia

n8hoo said:


> Sinclair is gearing up to test a whole lot more ATSC 3.0 stuff - they just applied to add low-powered (1 kW) facilities on channel 25, 28, and 30 to the existing one on 24 in Hunt Valley. Obviously the one on 25 will be used to test a SFN scenario.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Licensing and Management System
> 
> 
> Licensing and Management System
> 
> 
> 
> 
> enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov


An SFN isn't mentioned in the application, but Mobile TV is. It says the location near One Media, which is currently testing their ATSC 3.0 cell phone is the purpose of the application The channels will be tested at 1KW.


----------



## n8hoo

BaltoMedia said:


> An SFN isn't mentioned in the application, but Mobile TV is. It says the location near One Media, which is currently testing their ATSC 3.0 cell phone is the purpose of the application The channels will be tested at 1KW.


lmfao its literally why they're building it



> Applicant proposes to operate the Station using the
> ATSC 3.0 broadcast transmission standard to run a variety of tests in connection with a multi-
> phased test project targeted towards the future deployment of Single Frequency Networks
> (“SFNs”).
> Applicant’s primary goal is to test SFN technologies and scenarios in the context of the ATSC 3.0 use cases and, if it is determined to be useful, to provide guidance to broadcasters and equipment manufacturers for SFN deployments, including in connection with equipment, transmitter placement, power, and connectivity options. SFNs are an essential extension to a robust deployment of NextGen Broadcast features.


----------



## BaltoMedia

n8hoo said:


> lmfao its literally why they're building it


This is what they're testing specifically. It has a built in ATSC 3.0 tuner chip in it for live Mobile TV. I meant to say the general explanation mentions One Media more than the SFN.








ONE Media’s ATSC 3.0 Smartphone Becomes a Reality


The Mark One is a lynchpin in Sinclair’s strategy for making TV truly mobile




www.tvtechnology.com


----------



## Antenna Man PA

Great to hear mobile TV might make a comeback. What's interesting is from 2008-2013 I owned various phones with a built in analog TV tuner. The models from 2011-2013 were Android OS. I attached a picture of one of the models I owned. You can see the antenna in the bottom left corner. There were a few low powered analog stations in my area until 2015.



















For any of you interested, here's a video of an iphone rip off I owned in 2009. People were blown away that I was watching TV on my phone at a time when most people didn't even have a data plan. It could even take screen captures and record an ultra low 3GP file. The ghosting effect was always really cool to me.


----------



## pkpaul

The PSIP for channel 31.1 has changed from "ComingS" to "Grio".
Still blank though.


----------



## pkpaul

Channel 31.1 "Grio" is lit-up now.


----------



## BaltoMedia

What I wonder is what is going to happen with WDCO-CD in DC? On Jan. 1, they'll lose UniMas and LATV for good it seems, and TBD is already FCC mandated on WJLA as part of the previously planned Nextgen rollout that is now completely changed with WHUT switching to ATSC 3.0 tomorrow, so the question begs now as to what Sinclair is going to program on these 2 channels in 2022? Right now WDCO has no programming set up for next year and WIAV is just testing mostly. As always Sinclair is tight-lipped. I'd ask Senior VP of Technology Mark Aitken, but I know there won't be an answer. Aitken loves to send out quotes from Teddy Roosevelt in emails, but just feel like a lucky man if you ever get one from him or any response! This is why I know what Sinclair is doing with these Experimental permits. It's only partially about SFN testing. The more important thing that Sinclair is promoting is something no one else in the industry is right now, ATSC 3.0 tuner chips in cell phones, and their subsidiary One Media actually has such an ANDROID phone. Sinclair would love someone like Google or Apple to jump on board this, but Verizon, AT&T, & T-Mobile are just too big to allow this to happen sadly. They have too much influence on Washington and the FCC. But I feel this is part of the reason that Sinclair bought both WDCO-CD and WIAV-CD in DC. I expect that what they are testing in Baltimore will end up being shown to Congress via those TV channels in 2022. Stay tuned.


----------



## BaltoMedia

Antenna Man PA said:


> Great to hear mobile TV might make a comeback. What's interesting is from 2008-2013 I owned various phones with a built in analog TV tuner. The models from 2011-2013 were Android OS. I attached a picture of one of the models I owned. You can see the antenna in the bottom left corner. There were a few low powered analog stations in my area until 2015.
> 
> View attachment 3208145
> 
> 
> View attachment 3208146
> 
> 
> For any of you interested, here's a video of an iphone rip off I owned in 2009. People were blown away that I was watching TV on my phone at a time when most people didn't even have a data plan. It could even take screen captures and record an ultra low 3GP file. The ghosting effect was always really cool to me.
> 
> View attachment 3208133


AntennaMan PA. Did you ever get a chance to interview Mark Aitken, Senior VP at Sinclair? I know you went to Baltimore and tested Nextgen. I watched your video and all and loved it, but Sinclair is very elusive on disclosing technical details to people so I always wondered if you chatted with him. He seem to be the one who knows everything. Why he contacted me of all people still baffles me, but I found something online that apparently Sinclair wanted corrected. So he was nice to me, told me little, but made his corrections, and I'll likely never hear from him again.


----------



## n8hoo

New on RF 7:









No evidence of reciprocal testing on RF 33. Might just be pushing the big red button at midnight.

ETA: disappeared almost immediately after I posted this, lmao


----------



## Trip in VA

I'm seeing it now.

- Trip


----------



## pkpaul

The HDHR4K sees them, but then they disappear [because duplicates?].









The Visio TV sees them as duplicates, but keeps them.

The old names [RF33] are: 
WHUT HD
WHUTKid

The new names [on RF7] are
WHUT 
PBSKids


----------



## joblo

Storage comparison for recordings on VC 7.1 and 32.1:

7.1 day by day, 6:30PM-7PM, TiVo Roamio:
Friday: 1.84 GB
Monday (yesterday): 1.89 GB
Tuesday (today): 1.19 GB

32.1 parallel, 430PM-5PM today, TiVo HDXL:
RF33: 2.86 GB
RF7: 1.80 GB


----------



## wmcbrine

32-on-7 is up and running. RF33 seems to be completely off the air at this time.

Fuzzy pic on 32.1, but maybe it's just the program. (The logo looks sharper.)


----------



## n8hoo

here we go...WHUT off the air at 0941

(it was not off the air at any point prior to this)


----------



## twobucktoll

From Tysons Corner, 10:15 am -- I am seeing 32.1 and 32.2 on 177 Mhz -- WJLA's frequency. No sign of new HEVC channels on the HDHR scan.


----------



## n8hoo

off and running

plp0 (qam64): 7.1 WJLA (720p, prog 2)

plp1 (qam256): 32.1 WHUT (prog 1), 5.1 WTTG (prog 3), 4.1 WRC (prog 4), 9.1 WUSA (prog 5) -- all 1080i


----------



## twobucktoll

Got em here.


----------



## Frank Monroe

twobucktoll said:


> Got em here.


And with surround sound which Baltimore still does not have.


----------



## Trip in VA

I'm not seeing anything but WJLA on RF33.

- Trip


----------



## n8hoo

the other channels only appear when you lock plp0+1 which seems...not standard (at least that's not how baltimore is configured)

only locking plp0 does indeed get you WJLA and that's it


----------



## greg9x2

YAY !!! I have major networks again ! Been a long couple of months !

Anyone know if they plan on adding the 1.0 sub channels to the 3.0 feeds ?

Edit: Seems WJLA hasn't transitioned to 3.0 yet.

And WTTG upgrading to 1080P is nice ! See WRC and WUSA 1080P also.


----------



## wmcbrine

105.1 (as the HDHR calls it) is actually mirroring 20.1 (WDCA, "Fox 5 Plus") rather than 5.1 (WTTG-DT), so far. Except it's in 1080p.


----------



## greg9x2

wmcbrine said:


> 105.1 (as the HDHR calls it) is actually mirroring 20.1 (WDCA, "Fox 5 Plus") rather than 5.1 (WTTG-DT), so far. Except it's in 1080p.


Ok, see it is actually FOX5 Plus logo... the channel was labeled WTTG, so bit confusing. Channel is 5.1 on Sony 900H.


----------



## dipdewdog

My Sony X900H TV can't see the 7.1 stream for whatever reason (nor can it see 54.1 on WNUV for what is likely the same reason) but catches the others just fine. WHUT has some interactive features lit up already, including a functional video on demand portal.


----------



## twobucktoll

If you choose VOD from the interactive features, presumably this would come over the internet?

The WDCA for WTTG thing bugs me. There is no football to watch on WDCA.

WNUV on their 3.0 signal is also 720p like WJLA on theirs I believe -- perhaps that has something to do with your problems decoding them.


----------



## dipdewdog

twobucktoll said:


> If you choose VOD from the interactive features, presumably this would come over the internet?


Yep, the streams use my Internet connection.



twobucktoll said:


> The WDCA for WTTG thing bugs me. There is no football to watch on WDCA.


I imagine they'll fix this quite quickly.



twobucktoll said:


> WNUV on their 3.0 signal is also 720p like WJLA on theirs I believe -- perhaps that has something to do with your problems decoding them.


This TV's software has been a buggy mess, so I'm not surprised. The set doesn't even see the 7.1 and 54.1 ATSC streams as far as I can tell.


----------



## joblo

twobucktoll said:


> The WDCA for WTTG thing bugs me.


Likewise. It's not what's been advertised. Hopefully just temporary.

Also not crazy about Sinclair giving itself more robust signals with better coverage in market after market after market. I wonder why its competitors keep agreeing to this. 



twobucktoll said:


> There is no football to watch on WDCA.


Yeah, and it's an interesting counterpoint to CBS O&O in Baltimore. So we only have one 3.0 CBS and FOX station each between the two markets. But again, hopefully temporary in the case of FOX DC.


----------



## greg9x2

So those of us with Sony TV's not getting WJLA, does anyone's tuner tell them if it's using a different encoding scheme ? Wouldn't think just being 720P would cause issue. Another bug on the Sony 900H is that the Signal Information page does not give data for 3.0 signals, basically says there is no signal there.

Also, did WHUT do the power upgrade that was mentioned before ? Didn't see much margin increase on the signal before the switch.


----------



## Franklin54

greg9x2 said:


> So those of us with Sony TV's not getting WJLA, does anyone's tuner tell them if it's using a different encoding scheme ? Wouldn't think just being 720P would cause issue. Another bug on the Sony 900H is that the Signal Information page does not give data for 3.0 signals, basically says there is no signal there.
> 
> Also, did WHUT do the power upgrade that was mentioned before ? Didn't see much margin increase on the signal before the switch.


I have the exact same issues with my Sony 900H TV as stated above. I was looking forward to receiving WJLA 7.1 and tried several scans to no avail. At one point my set would stall half way through a channel scan, a TV reset resolved that issue. I think that this is my third software update from Sony and I wish I could go back to an earlier version to see if it made any difference. Has anyone contacted Sony?

I wonder too if WHUT is still operating at 100kW and if/when they will increase to 416kW as stated in their CP?


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

Strong tropo reception from WPSG out of Philly has overridden the new ATSC 3.0 signal from WHUT this morning in Anne Arundel County, MD.


----------



## pkpaul

New Channel on 31.2 "ThisTV"
Sometimes blank, as if testing.


----------



## dipdewdog

Franklin54 said:


> I have the exact same issues with my Sony 900H TV as stated above. I was looking forward to receiving WJLA 7.1 and tried several scans to no avail. At one point my set would stall half way through a channel scan, a TV reset resolved that issue. I think that this is my third software update from Sony and I wish I could go back to an earlier version to see if it made any difference. Has anyone contacted Sony?


I haven't contacted Sony and wading through the 1500+ page owners' thread is too daunting a task for me right now. Maybe I'll do one or the other if work calms down after the holidays.

It's a shame about this set, the hardware is great but the software is trash... and WJLA looks terrible in ATSC 1.0 now that the 32.1 and 32.2 streams have been added to the signal.


----------



## mkfs

I guess the shortcomings of my TLC set's code are coming to light.

At midnight, WJLA silently moved to 7.3, Charge to 7.4, Comet to 7.5 and 7.6 is TBD.
This was rather confusing to those of us watching the X-Files from 10pm-1am. 

Add the fact that STIRR continues its foodfight method of operation, where various channels such as COMET appear and disappear from its lineup like ghosts in a haunted house, and it's starting to really annoy me.


----------



## twobucktoll

Looks like WTTG Fox 5 is now in the WHUT 3.0 bundle, replacing WDCA Fox 5 Plus. I was starting to get worried. 

My next worry is whether I can pick it up at my new place after moving at the end of the year. I’ll still be west of DC In Loudoun County, but I won’t have a direct eastern view. I think I’ll have an angle to the WNUV signal from our apartment balcony. We aren’t allowed to have antennas on the balcony, but if I can make my antenna look like a bird feeder or something it’s on the fifth floor and I might get a stable signal.


----------



## Trip in VA

twobucktoll said:


> Looks like WTTG Fox 5 is now in the WHUT 3.0 bundle, replacing WDCA Fox 5 Plus. I was starting to get worried.
> 
> My next worry is whether I can pick it up at my new place after moving at the end of the year. I’ll still be west of DC In Loudoun County, but I won’t have a direct eastern view. I think I’ll have an angle to the WNUV signal from our apartment balcony. We aren’t allowed to have antennas on the balcony, but if I can make my antenna look like a bird feeder or something it’s on the fifth floor and I might get a stable signal.


Is your new balcony an area for your exclusive use? If so, you can put an antenna there. Installing Consumer-Owned Antennas and Satellite Dishes

- Trip


----------



## twobucktoll

It is! Thanks Trip and thanks FCC!


----------



## pkpaul

twobucktoll said:


> Looks like WTTG Fox 5 is now in the WHUT 3.0 bundle, replacing WDCA Fox 5 Plus. I was starting to get worried.


I still see 20.1 "Fox5 Plus" even after rescanning.


----------



## BaltoMedia

twobucktoll said:


> It is! Thanks Trip and thanks FCC!


I was going to say the same thing as Trip. But there is one caveat to keep in mind. The FCC won't be going to court with you should your association office attempt to fight you. But the good thing is that showing them the law might influence their decision making if they are smart. With some of these entities, they just assume you will back down without checking on it..


----------



## Franklin54

dipdewdog said:


> I haven't contacted Sony and wading through the 1500+ page owners' thread is too daunting a task for me right now. Maybe I'll do one or the other if work calms down after the holidays.
> 
> It's a shame about this set, the hardware is great but the software is trash... and WJLA looks terrible in ATSC 1.0 now that the 32.1 and 32.2 streams have been added to the signal.


I'm going to get my thoughts together and contact Sony, if it will do any good. Maybe this is the price we pay for being early adopters of new technology?


----------



## greg9x2

Franklin54 said:


> I'm going to get my thoughts together and contact Sony, if it will do any good. Maybe this is the price we pay for being early adopters of new technology?


As mentioned earlier, would need to know what's different about WJLA encoding wise to be able to tell Sony what's wrong. Sony is notoriously uncaring about OTA issues, imagine their response is gong to be 'Tough, that's a station problem." But if could tell them "Hey, this decoding format is missing in your ATSC 3.0" Maybe it would get escalated to actual engineers. Even if it is, imagine going to be a long time until corrected, if ever. 

Wonder if WJLA will change their broadcast encoding to match the other stations.


----------



## greg9x2

pkpaul said:


> I still see 20.1 "Fox5 Plus" even after rescanning.


Yeah, same.... not WTTG main channel still.


----------



## dipdewdog

greg9x2 said:


> As mentioned earlier, would need to know what's different about WJLA encoding wise to be able to tell Sony what's wrong. Sony is notoriously uncaring about OTA issues, imagine their response is gong to be 'Tough, that's a station problem." But if could tell them "Hey, this decoding format is missing in your ATSC 3.0" Maybe it would get escalated to actual engineers. Even if it is, imagine going to be a long time until corrected, if ever.
> 
> Wonder if WJLA will change their broadcast encoding to match the other stations.


I'd wager there's something with the modulation of the "stream" (not sure that's the right word for ATSC 3.0...) in common between 7.1 on WHUT and 54.1 on WNUV. My X900H doesn't recognize them at all. Now that the leaves are off the trees, my set can decode the 720p streams of 45.1 (WBFF) and 2.1 (WMAR) on WNUV just fine.


----------



## twobucktoll

Hmm, I know I clicked on 105.1 in Channels on my ipad and got the Wendy Williams show and the Fox 5 bug. Maybe I don’t know what I think I know.


----------



## Trip in VA

Sometime in the past few hours, WHUT changed something and I'm now able to see all the stations in the HDHR Config GUI, and the Live Bandscan is seeing them as well.

I am also seeing "FOX 5 PLUS" in the corner when I open WTTG on the 3.0 feed.

- Trip


----------



## n8hoo

now that i've gotten it into my channels app as well, it's definitely 20.1













Trip in VA said:


> Sometime in the past few hours, WHUT changed something and I'm now able to see all the stations in the HDHR Config GUI, and the Live Bandscan is seeing them as well.
> 
> I am also seeing "FOX 5 PLUS" in the corner when I open WTTG on the 3.0 feed.
> 
> - Trip


probably worth a rescan for everyone having issues...

ETA: in non-3.0 stuff, WDVM-TV has filed yet another addendum demonstrating service gains/losses from their proposed transmitter relocation. this is getting hilarious at this point






Licensing and Management System


Licensing and Management System




enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov


----------



## dipdewdog

n8hoo said:


> probably worth a rescan for everyone having issues...


Just did, still no 7.1. Sigh.


----------



## aaronwt

dipdewdog said:


> I haven't contacted Sony and wading through the 1500+ page owners' thread is too daunting a task for me right now. Maybe I'll do one or the other if work calms down after the holidays.
> 
> It's a shame about this set, the hardware is great but the software is trash... and WJLA looks terrible in ATSC 1.0 now that the 32.1 and 32.2 streams have been added to the signal.


So does it actually look worse now? Because it has looked terrible for many, many years. Nothing like what it looked like twenty years ago. Or even ten years ago.

I checked my TiVos last night at they were still receiving all the ATSC 1.0 channels. So I did not need to do a rescan. I'm still waiting to pull the trigger on an HD Homerun for ATSC 3.0. I was hoping I could get one on sale. But if it was, I must have missed it.


----------



## fri1038

I take it there are no ATSC 3.0 TSReader-like tools for the layman as yet to help look at the signal structure? I see one out there for ~$1000.

It is nice having a multipath-free WHUT now - but only because it's available on a strong VHF channel. Not the intended way 3.0 was going to fix that. ;-)

I had TSReader up for a bit to look at more WMJF-CD weirdness. 39-4 and 39-5 are at an odd 856x480 resolution, causing the the left-justification and 'smearing' to the right on a Panasonic. Other tuners display them normally. And 39-6 is still broken because of PID mismatches on the data streams.


----------



## mrradiohead55

fri1038 said:


> I take it there are no ATSC 3.0 TSReader-like tools for the layman as yet to help look at the signal structure? I see one out there for ~$1000.


Several months ago the developer of TSReader told me in an email that it's going to be very time consuming ($$$) for anyone to write a new program for ATSC 3.0 diagnosis and then make it available to mainstream TV viewers (such as TSReader Lite is for ATSC 1.0). He said that probably won't happen until NexGen has pretty much replaced the current version.

Jim


----------



## KyL416

The big issue is that the ATSC 3.0 signals don't use MPEG Transport Streams, they use DASH

The HDHomeRun4K's firmware converts the DASH stream to MPEG-TS to make it compatible with existing players (as long as they support HEVC and AC-4 audio), so you might be able to see something in TSReader if you use the HTTP source and enter the ATSC 3.0 channel's URL (i.e. http://hdhomerun.local:5004/auto/v132.1 for WHUT), but you won't be able to see the entire RF 33 mux.


----------



## dipdewdog

aaronwt said:


> So does it actually look worse now? Because it has looked terrible for many, many years. Nothing like what it looked like twenty years ago. Or even ten years ago.


If I'm honest, I guess I don't really know. On the rare occasion I watch something live on WJLA, it's via YouTube TV which gets its signal via fiber directly from Sinclair, and it actually looks pretty good. What I can tell you is that it's now a pixellated mess on the ATSC 1.0 signal, and that can't be made any better by the addition of the new WHUT HD and SD streams.


----------



## aaronwt

dipdewdog said:


> If I'm honest, I guess I don't really know. On the rare occasion I watch something live on WJLA, it's via YouTube TV which gets its signal via fiber directly from Sinclair, and it actually looks pretty good. What I can tell you is that it's now a pixellated mess on the ATSC 1.0 signal, and that can't be made any better by the addition of the new WHUT HD and SD streams.


At my location in Woodbridge, VA, the ATSC 1.0 signal was rock solid last night for WJLA. At least during the 30 minutes of ABC world news I watched from my ATSC 1.0 recording on my TiVo Roamio.

I also took a look at all the other ATSC 1.0 stations on my TiVo Roamio and Bolt. They were also rock solid when I looked at them last night.

Sent from my Galaxy S21


----------



## Trip in VA

fri1038 said:


> I take it there are no ATSC 3.0 TSReader-like tools for the layman as yet to help look at the signal structure? I see one out there for ~$1000.


I know there's at least one person looking into such a tool, but I don't have a sense he's anywhere close to having something release ready. It's a personal side project that he looks at every so often.

Otherwise, no. Nothing I know of. If Wireshark supported ALP in a straight-forward manner, maybe it'd be possible to get something useful out of it, but I haven't been able to get it to work properly for me, so I don't know if that's a sensible option or not.

- Trip


----------



## dipdewdog

aaronwt said:


> At my location in Woodbridge, VA, the ATSC 1.0 signal was rock solid last night for WJLA. At least during the 30 minutes of ABC world news I watched from my ATSC 1.0 recording on my TiVo Roamio.
> 
> I also took a look at all the other ATSC 1.0 stations on my TiVo Roamio and Bolt. They were also rock solid when I looked at them last night.
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy S21


The signal is fine here, everything is just soft and fuzzy especially -- I'm talking about compression artifacts, not necessarily a signal issue.


----------



## n8hoo

dipdewdog said:


> The signal is fine here, everything is just soft and fuzzy especially -- I'm talking about compression artifacts, not necessarily a signal issue.


i've noticed this too today - comparing 2.1 and 7.1 (now that both have 5 "subchannels") during network programming - 2.1 looks sharper to me. 7.1 has VERY noticeable compression artifacts


----------



## dipdewdog

Trip in VA said:


> I am also seeing "FOX 5 PLUS" in the corner when I open WTTG on the 3.0 feed.


This appears to be fixed as of this morning - I'm seeing Wendy Williams on the 3.0 feed, which matches up with the WTTG schedule.


----------



## Trip in VA

dipdewdog said:


> This appears to be fixed as of this morning - I'm seeing Wendy Williams on the 3.0 feed, which matches up with the WTTG schedule.


Same here.

- Trip


----------



## twobucktoll

I did some investigation as to how yesterday I could have thought I saw WTTG in the WHUT mux when everyone else still saw WDCA. My setup is that I use the Channels app on an ipad to connect to the two HD Homeruns on my network. I discovered that in this setup, sometimes when choosing an ATSC 3.0 channel, Channels will actually display a different stream that is identically named. I found this out by selecting an ATSC 3.0 stream, then asking Channels to show stats, and noticing that a different virtual channel number was being delivered. I specifically selected "145.1" last night to get the ATSC 3.0 version of WBFF, and the stats would sometimes show I was watching "45.1" with the ancient ATSC 1.0 stream encoding (and sometimes it would show an HEVC stream with a virtual ID of "145.1". I could see this every so often with 105.1/5.1 as well. I don't have enough tools or knowledge to know where the substitution was happening -- Channels or HDHR.

I have two HDHRs on the network -- one is a 4K and the other an older Duo with no ATSC 3.0 support. Maybe that is significant, I don't know.


----------



## Franklin54

greg9x2 said:


> As mentioned earlier, would need to know what's different about WJLA encoding wise to be able to tell Sony what's wrong. Sony is notoriously uncaring about OTA issues, imagine their response is gong to be 'Tough, that's a station problem." But if could tell them "Hey, this decoding format is missing in your ATSC 3.0" Maybe it would get escalated to actual engineers. Even if it is, imagine going to be a long time until corrected, if ever.
> 
> Wonder if WJLA will change their broadcast encoding to match the other stations.


I wonder if it's worth contacting Sony if they don't care about OTA issues. I don't have any info on WJLA encoding.

I lost the WHUT 3.0 signal altogether yesterday evening and even today, I'm still able to receive WNUV's 3.0 signal. I am 70.1 miles away from the WHUT transmitter with 1 edge and 68.7 miles away from WNUV's transmitter with 1 edge so you can see I'm in a fringe reception area.
When the signal propagation is marginal I can decode WBFF 45.1 but not WMAR 2.1, WBAL 11.1 and WMPT 22.1 3.0 streams but I can still receive the 1.0 signals.

From my experience the 3.0 signal is not as robust in distant fringe reception areas as the 1.0 signal was on WNUV & WHUT. When WNUV first went live with ATSC 3.0 the signal was solid but has degraded since. I notice that the 1.0 signal will give a warning when it's about to go over the cliff by pixelization, but the 3.0 signal just drops off with no warning.

We stream at least 90% of our TV viewing so I'm basically interested in the technology, When I see most of the programming on network TV I have to wonder why I even bother with OTA, but that's my opinion.

I'm not impressed with ATSC 3.0 so far, but I know we are only in the very early stages of its development and use in the US.


----------



## BaltoMedia

I noticed something interesting. The Los Angeles Nextgen rollout has Fox and The CW in 1080p!


----------



## greg9x2

Franklin54 said:


> I wonder if it's worth contacting Sony if they don't care about OTA issues. I don't have any info on WJLA encoding.
> 
> I lost the WHUT 3.0 signal altogether yesterday evening and even today, I'm still able to receive WNUV's 3.0 signal. I am 70.1 miles away from the WHUT transmitter with 1 edge and 68.7 miles away from WNUV's transmitter with 1 edge so you can see I'm in a fringe reception area.
> When the signal propagation is marginal I can decode WBFF 45.1 but not WMAR 2.1, WBAL 11.1 and WMPT 22.1 3.0 streams but I can still receive the 1.0 signals.
> 
> From my experience the 3.0 signal is not as robust in distant fringe reception areas as the 1.0 signal was on WNUV & WHUT. When WNUV first went live with ATSC 3.0 the signal was solid but has degraded since. I notice that the 1.0 signal will give a warning when it's about to go over the cliff by pixelization, but the 3.0 signal just drops off with no warning.
> 
> We stream at least 90% of our TV viewing so I'm basically interested in the technology, When I see most of the programming on network TV I have to wonder why I even bother with OTA, but that's my opinion.
> 
> I'm not impressed with ATSC 3.0 so far, but I know we are only in the very early stages of its development and use in the US.


Can try with Sony....but without much information of why there's an issue, don't see them putting much effort in to it. Why does one station have to do it differently than the others ?

Be nice if there was a forum or feedback channel with those running this project.

Also somewhat fringe in Frederick, and I am taking a few hits on the 3.0 signals, not nearly as bad as 1.0...but that's why curious if the power upgrade has occurred, 6dB more signal strength would help a lot would seem.



BaltoMedia said:


> I noticed something interesting. The Los Angeles Nextgen rollout has Fox and The CW in 1080p!


The WTTG signal is 1080P here.


----------



## BaltoMedia

Franklin54 said:


> I wonder if it's worth contacting Sony if they don't care about OTA issues. I don't have any info on WJLA encoding.
> 
> I lost the WHUT 3.0 signal altogether yesterday evening and even today, I'm still able to receive WNUV's 3.0 signal. I am 70.1 miles away from the WHUT transmitter with 1 edge and 68.7 miles away from WNUV's transmitter with 1 edge so you can see I'm in a fringe reception area.
> When the signal propagation is marginal I can decode WBFF 45.1 but not WMAR 2.1, WBAL 11.1 and WMPT 22.1 3.0 streams but I can still receive the 1.0 signals.
> 
> From my experience the 3.0 signal is not as robust in distant fringe reception areas as the 1.0 signal was on WNUV & WHUT. When WNUV first went live with ATSC 3.0 the signal was solid but has degraded since. I notice that the 1.0 signal will give a warning when it's about to go over the cliff by pixelization, but the 3.0 signal just drops off with no warning.
> 
> We stream at least 90% of our TV viewing so I'm basically interested in the technology, When I see most of the programming on network TV I have to wonder why I even bother with OTA, but that's my opinion.
> 
> I'm not impressed with ATSC 3.0 so far, but I know we are only in the very early stages of its development and use in the US.


As far as I know WHUT is still only at 100 Kw, not at the 416 Kw power they plan on doing, so it's possible the signal will get better. But in general, WHUT is lower powered than WETA, so it has nothing to do with ATSC 3.0 not being as robust as 1.0. In fact, it should be much better. But the Nextgen signals are on a weaker station and will be for the next 5 years until they move back to their own transmitters and channels in Nextgen.


----------



## JackSplat58

greg9x2 said:


> Can try with Sony....but without much information of why there's an issue, don't see them putting much effort in to it. Why does one station have to do it differently than the others ?
> 
> Be nice if there was a forum or feedback channel with those running this project.
> 
> Also somewhat fringe in Frederick, and I am taking a few hits on the 3.0 signals, not nearly as bad as 1.0...but that's why curious if the power upgrade has occurred, 6dB more signal strength would help a lot would seem.
> 
> 
> 
> The WTTG signal is 1080P here.


Might be a good starting point to identify the the issue with the WJLA encoding.

ATSC 3.0 QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS CONTACT:
Lou Crozier (202-806-3003) or Email Directly [email protected]


----------



## greg9x2

JackSplat58 said:


> Might be a good starting point to identify the the issue with the WJLA encoding.
> 
> ATSC 3.0 QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS CONTACT:
> Lou Crozier (202-806-3003) or Email Directly [email protected]


Sent WJLA a message on Facebook, but didn't hear anything back yet. Will give that address a try. Thanks !


----------



## greg9x2

Also, don't know if another Sony issue...but watching the NFL game on WTTG and getting a lot of screen freezes. Have to tune to another channel and back to get it going again. Haven't seen this on the 3.0 channels until this game.


----------



## BaltoMedia

greg9x2 said:


> Can try with Sony....but without much information of why there's an issue, don't see them putting much effort in to it. Why does one station have to do it differently than the others ?
> 
> Be nice if there was a forum or feedback channel with those running this project.
> 
> Also somewhat fringe in Frederick, and I am taking a few hits on the 3.0 signals, not nearly as bad as 1.0...but that's why curious if the power upgrade has occurred, 6dB more signal strength would help a lot would seem.
> 
> 
> 
> The WTTG signal is 1080P here.


Trip told me that a 1080p feed from FOX is likely not from the network, but upscaled at the station, WTTG FOX 5 in Bethesda.


----------



## greg9x2

BaltoMedia said:


> Trip told me that a 1080p feed from FOX is likely not from the network, but upscaled at the station, WTTG FOX 5 in Bethesda.


Assumed most network feeds are upscaled to 1080P... thought everything FOX was 720P before and upscaled. Is that what you meant that the LA broadcast was going to be native 1080P ?
All would depend on how the content is received at the station though wouldn't it ? Sure it's not all the same resolution.

All I know is that the received format is 1080P for the 3.0 stations I can get. Looks pretty good, although does seem there is a slight 'filter' effect don't remember from the 1.0 feeds, but can't do an A/B test... Maybe a result of the upscaling ?


----------



## BaltoMedia

greg9x2 said:


> Assumed most network feeds are upscaled to 1080P... thought everything FOX was 720P before and upscaled. Is that what you meant that the LA broadcast was going to be native 1080P ?
> All would depend on how the content is received at the station though wouldn't it ? Sure it's not all the same resolution.
> 
> All I know is that the received format is 1080P for the 3.0 stations I can get. Looks pretty good, although does seem there is a slight 'filter' effect don't remember from the 1.0 feeds, but can't do an A/B test... Maybe a result of the upscaling ?


I asked Trip about this and he said that none of the networks have really upgraded their transmissions as of yet. I assume they will at some point. I assume 720p upscaled would still look better, but not as much as an original broadcast in 1080p.


----------



## twobucktoll

I just noticed that Bounce is 720p on 66.2. Is this new or did it happen when WPXW added Newsy?


----------



## Franklin54

BaltoMedia said:


> As far as I know WHUT is still only at 100 Kw, not at the 416 Kw power they plan on doing, so it's possible the signal will get better. But in general, WHUT is lower powered than WETA, so it has nothing to do with ATSC 3.0 not being as robust as 1.0. In fact, it should be much better. But the Nextgen signals are on a weaker station and will be for the next 5 years until they move back to their own transmitters and channels in Nextgen.


I found this white paper from Gatesair: StackPath
maybe its been posted before but its very interesting. I don't claim to understand all of it and I don't plan to go into a deep study of it, so many times I go directly to the *Summary *page first. 
"The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the data rate have a direct relationship to the distance the ATSC 3.0 signal can be received. The lower the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) the more distance the signal can travel and be received. The higher the signal-to-noise ratio the less distance the single can travel and be received."

WETA is the strongest signal I can receive from Washington DC at our home near Greencastle, PA and would make a great host for ATSC 3.0. I doubt Hagerstown, MD will have a NextGen TV station anytime soon, but maybe I'm wrong?


----------



## pkpaul

twobucktoll said:


> I just noticed that Bounce is 720p on 66.2. Is this new or did it happen when WPXW added Newsy?


Bounce replaced Mystery on 66-2 on or about 26 June 2021.


----------



## twobucktoll

pkpaul said:


> Bounce replaced Mystery on 66-2 on or about 26 June 2021.


Thanks! Was it always 720p? That’s what caught me by surprise today. Rabbitears.info lists it as 480i(w) but I am getting it in 720p.


----------



## pkpaul

I only noted the date.


----------



## BaltoMedia

twobucktoll said:


> Thanks! Was it always 720p? That’s what caught me by surprise today. Rabbitears.info lists it as 480i(w) but I am getting it in 720p.


Trip told me he's been very busy lately, but you can always send Rabbitears an update on something at [email protected]


----------



## JackSplat58

My observation. Receive WHUT ATSC 1.0 at signal strength 50 and WHUT ATSC 3.0 at signal strength 79.


----------



## BaltoMedia

JackSplat58 said:


> My observation. Receive WHUT ATSC 1.0 at signal strength 50 and WHUT ATSC 3.0 at signal strength 79.


WHUT is likely testing 416kw power on and off at this point. They do not have a L2C for 416 Kw, so most of the time, they are likely only 100Kw. Think about that That is 10X weaker than WETA that is 1000 Kw.


----------



## n8hoo

BaltoMedia said:


> WHUT is likely testing 416kw power on and off at this point. They do not have a L2C for 416 Kw, so most of the time, they are likely only 100Kw. Think about that That is 10X weaker than WETA that is 1000 Kw.


"off and on"...there is not evidence for that. the evidence is that (and also logic would dictate) they fired up the 416 kW at the same time as the 3.0. fringe bandscanners show a noticeable increase in SS at that time.

see:
Signal graphs for WHUT-TV at Greenwich, VA-W8BT on tuner1





Signal graphs for WHUT-TV at Easton, MD-whiskeyone-WSW on ANT751Z aimed at 250 degrees







www.rabbitears.info









Signal graphs for WHUT-TV at Warrenton, VA-K1RA on tuner0







www.rabbitears.info


----------



## BaltoMedia

n8hoo said:


> "off and on"...there is not evidence for that. the evidence is that (and also logic would dictate) they fired up the 416 kW at the same time as the 3.0. fringe bandscanners show a noticeable increase in SS at that time.
> 
> see:
> Signal graphs for WHUT-TV at Greenwich, VA-W8BT on tuner1
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Signal graphs for WHUT-TV at Easton, MD-whiskeyone-WSW on ANT751Z aimed at 250 degrees
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.rabbitears.info
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Signal graphs for WHUT-TV at Warrenton, VA-K1RA on tuner0
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.rabbitears.info


All true, but WHUT is still 40% weaker signal than WETA 26 even at 416 Kw, so it's important to keep this in mind.

ATSC 3.0 is more robust but on a weaker signal with WHUT, but all the stations involved, you might not see much improvement yet. But the original Sinclair plan was WIAV 58, which would have been 48 Kw LPTV and a complicated costly SFN, so this is still much better.


----------



## joblo

n8hoo said:


> "off and on"...there is not evidence for that. the evidence is that (and also logic would dictate) they fired up the 416 kW at the same time as the 3.0. fringe bandscanners show a noticeable increase in SS at that time.


Absolutely right! That was my conclusion as well.



> see:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Signal graphs for WHUT-TV at Easton, MD-whiskeyone-WSW on ANT751Z aimed at 250 degrees
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.rabbitears.info


and see also:
Signal graphs for WHUT-TV at Easton, MD-whiskeyone on tuner0 (rabbitears.info)

The second is at the same location but presumably with an antenna aimed in a different direction such that it did not decode WHUT at 1.0 because of multipath, CCI, or simply reduced receive strength. But signal intensities for both graphs match very well, and the second one also showed a signal strength increase coincident with the start of 3.0 transmissions.

So it had been on my list for several days to call someone at WHUT to confirm this, which I finally did just a little while ago after reading this, and they did, in fact, confirm that WHUT has been, and is, operating at their new, higher power level.


----------



## JackSplat58

greg9x2 said:


> As mentioned earlier, would need to know what's different about WJLA encoding wise to be able to tell Sony what's wrong. Sony is notoriously uncaring about OTA issues, imagine their response is gong to be 'Tough, that's a station problem." But if could tell them "Hey, this decoding format is missing in your ATSC 3.0" Maybe it would get escalated to actual engineers. Even if it is, imagine going to be a long time until corrected, if ever.
> 
> Wonder if WJLA will change their broadcast encoding to match the other stations.


Not clear what the the issue is since WJLA on 58.4 is 1080P.


----------



## greg9x2

JackSplat58 said:


> Not clear what the the issue is since WJLA on 58.4 is 1080P.


Hmmm... people previously said it was 720P on the 3.0 broadcast (not that would cause the problem anyway). But there is something else different about their encoding (besides resolution) that the Sony 900H's cant tune it in.


----------



## Frank Monroe

Is it me or does WTTG have the SAP and English tracks reversed on the ATSC 3.0 channel during the game?


----------



## bluescreenoftom

Frank Monroe said:


> Is it me or does WTTG have the SAP and English tracks reversed on the ATSC 3.0 channel during the game?


I'm using an HDHR4K and I noticed that too. I pushed the SAP button in the app and it briefly switched to English, then back to Spanish. I hit it a few more times and it eventually stuck on English.

Separately, I watched something the night before and they had the descriptive audio channel on there. Not sure if these issues are a glitch in the Silicondust app or from the station.


----------



## twobucktoll

Frank Monroe said:


> Is it me or does WTTG have the SAP and English tracks reversed on the ATSC 3.0 channel during the game?


I saw this too. What I see is that the channels in the WIAV and WNUV muxes have audio programs with language names, while the WHUT channels do not. I think most of the time WTTG two audio programs are the same, though I think one is stereo and the other 5.1. During games one of them is used for the Spanish commentary, and this seems to be the “first” track and both my viewers selected it by default.


----------



## n8hoo

bluescreenoftom said:


> I'm using an HDHR4K and I noticed that too. I pushed the SAP button in the app and it briefly switched to English, then back to Spanish. I hit it a few more times and it eventually stuck on English.
> 
> Separately, I watched something the night before and they had the descriptive audio channel on there. Not sure if these issues are a glitch in the Silicondust app or from the station.


I remember the audio track flip happening when I lived in Charlottesville years ago and watched WTTG on cable for different NFL games...it's definitely not a new problem (nor an equipment problem)


----------



## greg9x2

Frank Monroe said:


> Is it me or does WTTG have the SAP and English tracks reversed on the ATSC 3.0 channel during the game?


It was normal for me on the Sony 900H. But still getting screen freezes during NFL games on WTTG.... Only during games on 3.0 broadcast


----------



## bullwinklehdtv

bluescreenoftom said:


> I'm using an HDHR4K and I noticed that too. I pushed the SAP button in the app and it briefly switched to English, then back to Spanish. I hit it a few more times and it eventually stuck on English.
> 
> Separately, I watched something the night before and they had the descriptive audio channel on there. Not sure if these issues are a glitch in the Silicondust app or from the station.


On the Silicon Dust forum they're saying there is a firmware fix coming for the SAP problem.


----------



## greg9x2

Did WHUT activate their 1.0 signal on the WJLA channel ? 

If so, another oddity as only see the 3.0 signal . Possibly related to not being able to receive WJLA 3.0.

Any other Sony TV owners with 3.0 tuners besides 900H here having issues ?


----------



## fri1038

greg9x2 said:


> Did WHUT activate their 1.0 signal on the WJLA channel ?


Yes, on Dec 15. 32-1 WHUT and 32-2 PBSKids are on RF7 in 1.0.


----------



## greg9x2

fri1038 said:


> Yes, on Dec 15. 32-1 WHUT and 32-2 PBSKids are on RF7 in 1.0.


Definitely some screwy stuff going on with this Sony then. Only see the 3.0 WHUT, but do see the 1.0 PBSKids. Not seeing the 3.0 WJLA, but still see the 1.0. When can tune in the other 1.0 version of stations like WTTG/WRC I see both 1.0 and 3.0 channels on them.  🤷‍♂️


----------



## dipdewdog

greg9x2 said:


> Definitely some screwy stuff going on with this Sony then. Only see the 3.0 WHUT, but do see the 1.0 PBSKids. Not seeing the 3.0 WJLA, but still see the 1.0. When can tune in the other 1.0 version of stations like WTTG/WRC I see both 1.0 and 3.0 channels on them.  🤷‍♂️


My X900H sees the 1.0 WHUT on WJLA, it just didn't add it to the channel list by default -- it only adds the 3.0 signals if there are duplicate 1.0 signals.


----------



## greg9x2

dipdewdog said:


> My X900H sees the 1.0 WHUT on WJLA, it just didn't add it to the channel list by default -- it only adds the 3.0 signals if there are duplicate 1.0 signals.
> View attachment 3213755


Yep, I see that now. As said, it was confusing when the other stations 1.0 broadcast were detected it showed both...but guess that is because it found them after the 3.0 stations were already detected.

So, now just back to no WJLA 3.0.


----------



## aaronwt

I just ordered the Silicondust HDHomeRun Flex 4k from Amazon. It had free overnight shipping so hopefully it arrives tomorrow and I can check out the DC ATSC 3.0 broadcasts.

I also got it from Amazon because they had a 4 year warranty available to purchase for it.


----------



## TimA

bluescreenoftom said:


> I'm using an HDHR4K and I noticed that too. I pushed the SAP button in the app and it briefly switched to English, then back to Spanish. I hit it a few more times and it eventually stuck on English.
> 
> Separately, I watched something the night before and they had the descriptive audio channel on there. Not sure if these issues are a glitch in the Silicondust app or from the station.


SiliconDust confirmed that this is an issue with the HDHR4K and a Firmware update should be available shortly.


----------



## TimA

Anyone have issues within the past month with WTTG 5.1? Since the leaves dropped, my signal strength and quality (HDHR4K) varies wildly and I get a pixilated picture. Doesn't happen all the time, but I can't correlate it with anything like the wind. I'm in Fredericksburg, VA (46 miles from tower) with a Televes Ellipse Mix VHF/UHF antenna mounted on the roof of a two story house. Had no issues with this setup before the leaves fell. Luckily the WHUT ATSC 3.0 re-broadcast just started (which comes in fine), so I've been using that for WTTG, but we do like to watch the ATSC 1.0 sub channels (MeTV). Is there anything I can do with my setup other than waiting for Spring to see if that corrects the problem?


----------



## greg9x2

TimA said:


> Anyone have issues within the past month with WTTG 5.1? Since the leaves dropped, my signal strength and quality (HDHR4K) varies wildly and I get a pixilated picture. Doesn't happen all the time, but I can't correlate it with anything like the wind. I'm in Fredericksburg, VA (46 miles from tower) with a Televes Ellipse Mix VHF/UHF antenna mounted on the roof of a two story house. Had no issues with this setup before the leaves fell. Luckily the WHUT ATSC 3.0 re-broadcast just started (which comes in fine), so I've been using that for WTTG, but we do like to watch the ATSC 1.0 sub channels (MeTV). Is there anything I can do with my setup other than waiting for Spring to see if that corrects the problem?


You are same situation as me... you get the signals off reflections when the leaves are on the trees, when they drop off you lose them.

WTTG was my good year round station until they moved towers recently, now they're gone in the winter too for 1.0 .


----------



## greg9x2

Edit: WTTG popping in occasionally, so guess a reception issue. But been pretty decent the last couple weeks. Did they switch to the lower power transmitter for any reason ?

Also WRC was out yesterday, but the other 3.0 stations can receive were ok.

So, all 3.0 stations gone this morning... anyone else ? Don't know if maintenance or reception issue.


----------



## aaronwt

Well I guess I'll wait to set up my HDHomeRun Flex 4k if the ATSC 3.0 stations are out?


----------



## aaronwt

I got it setup. I am receiving the DC ATSC 3.0 stations right now.


----------



## StantonGuy

StantonGuy said:


> My antenna is a Winegard Omnidirectional MS-1000 hooked up on the chimney (I am using a splitter)
> 
> Here's the RabbitEars info
> (I get all of the stations down to and including 23--but not 32 just rescanned; I used to get Ion on 60 and 66)
> *RabbitEars.Info*


Rescanned:
Now getting 32 again (yay!)
Picked up 10.1
Picked up 49 (all six subchannels)
Picked up 36.1 (shopping out of Delaware?)
Lost 58, oh well, no biggie, picked up 23


----------



## greg9x2

aaronwt said:


> Well I guess I'll wait to set up my HDHomeRun Flex 4k if the ATSC 3.0 stations are out?


Was just reception issue on my end looks like.... getting them now, but signal varying quite a bit, don't know why different today.

Do you have any comparison of receive levels on the HDHR compared to TV ? May be an option if things don't get resolved with WJLA. But have read the tuners in HDHR's are not as sensitive as ones in TV's.


----------



## beboram

WJLA 7.1 - anyone experiencing audio drops for at least the last week in around Damascus, MD? Video appears to be fine, signal strength is above 90 with rooftop antenna. All other channels are fine.


----------



## aaronwt

greg9x2 said:


> Was just reception issue on my end looks like.... getting them now, but signal varying quite a bit, don't know why different today.
> 
> Do you have any comparison of receive levels on the HDHR compared to TV ? May be an option if things don't get resolved with WJLA. But have read the tuners in HDHR's are not as sensitive as ones in TV's.


I can only compare it to my TiVos. Since I've never used the tuners in my TV. And nothing else I have has an ATSC 3.0 tuner. But the Flex 4K picks up the same atsc 1.0 channels that my TiVos do. 

Sent from my Galaxy S21


----------



## mkfs

RF 14/WWTD-LP seems to have taken off a few hours tonight. It went dark about 10:30 pm.


----------



## pkpaul

mkfs said:


> RF 14/WWTD-LP seems to have taken off a few hours tonight. It went dark about 10:30 pm.


Yes, lots of confusion, blank, and dark channels on the 49s at this time.


----------



## mkfs

pkpaul said:


> Yes, lots of confusion, blank, and dark channels on the 49s at this time.


I guess I should figure out how to use Trip's test rx's....


----------



## pkpaul

All the 49s and 31s have returned to normal now.


----------



## fri1038

It's been a tropo kind of morning with various SE Pennsylvania stations coming in strong. WPVI on RF6 was particularly strong and persistent with FM stations coming in clear, too.

---

WMJF-CD status: They restored the feed on 39-6 H&I on Dec 23, albeit with the same odd 856x480i resolution they have on 39-4 and 39-5 currently, that my Panasonic doesn't like. However 39-2 TrueCrime went out a few hours later and remains that way. TSReader shows a rogue 4 Mbps stream of nulls, unattached to any subchannel.


----------



## jmantothe64

I have been busy with other things, so I haven't been able to be a part of the conversation, but from Antenna Man's video I just heard that WHUT finally went 3.0, but only like 5 days ago I recall WHUT still being in 1.0 on RF33, when did they switch over? 

Hey, at least now that I'm finally working (I've mentioned before I'm only a teen) I can afford to get an ATSC 3.0 tuner!


----------



## KyL416

jmantothe64 said:


> I just heard that WHUT finally went 3.0, but only like 5 days ago I recall WHUT still being in 1.0 on RF33, when did they switch over?


They switched 13 days ago on the 15th:


n8hoo said:


> here we go...WHUT off the air at 0941
> 
> (it was not off the air at any point prior to this)





n8hoo said:


> off and running
> 
> plp0 (qam64): 7.1 WJLA (720p, prog 2)
> 
> plp1 (qam256): 32.1 WHUT (prog 1), 5.1 WTTG (prog 3), 4.1 WRC (prog 4), 9.1 WUSA (prog 5) -- all 1080i


----------



## aaronwt

Is there an issue with some audio tracks on ATSC 3.0? When I was checking out some of the ATSC 3.0 channels, it had descriptive audio or spanish sometimes. And changing between the SAP or the main audio track made no difference. This is with the HD Home run apps from the Flex 4K. Since Plex can't handle the AC-4 audio yet.

As far as the ATSC 1.0 channels, the Plex DVR seems to be doing a good job with it. I don't watch as much content from Broadcast any more. I could easily see dumping my TiVos and just using the Plex DVR with the Flex 4K. But since I just signed up for another two year deal on FiOS(To avoid a $9 increase), I probably won't think about dumping my TiVos again until the end of 2024. And will continue to record from FiOS and OTA with them.


----------



## KyL416

aaronwt said:


> Is there an issue with some audio tracks on ATSC 3.0?


Yes, ATSC 3.0 doesn't have "default" audio track like ATSC 1.0 has, instead it relies on what the device has set as the preferred language. The problem is some stations only have the language value located in a different field that they aren't currently parsing, so it's defaulting to whatever audio track is first, but they are working on a firmware update to pass the language value on these stations.


----------



## n8hoo

Reports are Dave Hughes of DCRTV passed suddenly from a heart attack last night. RIP.


----------



## pkpaul

n8hoo said:


> Reports are Dave Hughes of DCRTV passed suddenly from a heart attack last night. RIP.


Sad news indeed. Will miss him and DCRTV.
Per PBRTV, he passed on Monday 27 December 2021:
Remembering DCRTV Dave – “I don’t know, man…”


----------



## fri1038

WMJF-CD has all six subchannels up again after some fits and starts the past few days. They fixed the resolutions on 39-2 ~ 39-6 to 720x480. No sign of TrueReal on 39-7. It launched on 69-7 months ago - typo somewhere? Maybe next year.




fri1038 said:


> WMJF-CD status: They restored the feed on 39-6 H&I on Dec 23, albeit with the same odd 856x480i resolution they have on 39-4 and 39-5 currently, that my Panasonic doesn't like. However 39-2 TrueCrime went out a few hours later and remains that way. TSReader shows a rogue 4 Mbps stream of nulls, unattached to any subchannel.


----------



## pkpaul

EPG "Schedules Direct" shows channel 2.2 guide content changing on 7-8 PM Saturday 1 January. The content indicates that maybe Laff will be replaced by Grit. If so, TrueReal might take Grit's old slot on 39.


----------



## fri1038

Good catch. Zap2It has the western shows starting at 6 am Wed, Jan 5 on WMAR's 2-2 so I guess a Scripps shuffle is indeed coming. Laff has been running on 39-4 with the Grit label for a month or so.



pkpaul said:


> EPG "Schedules Direct" shows channel 2.2 guide content changing on 7-8 PM Saturday 1 January. The content indicates that maybe Laff will be replaced by Grit. If so, TrueReal might take Grit's old slot on 39.


----------



## pkpaul

fri1038 said:


> Good catch. Zap2It has the western shows starting at 6 am Wed, Jan 5 on WMAR's 2-2 so I guess a Scripps shuffle is indeed coming. Laff has been running on 39-4 with the Grit label for a month or so.


Per today's Schedules Direct EPG, the switch-over has been adjusted to 7pm Tuesday 4 January.


----------



## crbaldwin

I am considering trying the HDHR ATSC 3.0 tuner down here in Fredericksburg where I pick up the ATSC 1.0 channels pretty well most of the time (HDHR with attic antenna). Would the reception of the ATSC 3.0 channels be good enough this far out especially if they are lower-power now? Thanks.


----------



## greg9x2

crbaldwin said:


> I am considering trying the HDHR ATSC 3.0 tuner down here in Fredericksburg where I pick up the ATSC 1.0 channels pretty well most of the time (HDHR with attic antenna). Would the reception of the ATSC 3.0 channels be good enough this far out especially if they are lower-power now? Thanks.


Did you pick up WHUT well before the 3.0 activation ? That's probably the best barometer of how well will get the 3.0 channels now since they are all on that frequency.


----------



## crbaldwin

greg9x2 said:


> Did you pick up WHUT well before the 3.0 activation ? That's probably the best barometer of how well will get the 3.0 channels now since they are all on that frequency.


Yes, I had a solid signal on WHUT. I do not know if the signal propagation would be different with 3.0 and how the power level would affect that.


----------



## fri1038

If it helps, WHUT increased power from 100 kw to 416 kw when they went to 3.0.

WQAW was down for much of yesterday. They restored 5 of 8 subchannels eventually including the long missing ShopHQ. Get, Cozi, and Buzzr remain dark.


----------



## greg9x2

crbaldwin said:


> Yes, I had a solid signal on WHUT. I do not know if the signal propagation would be different with 3.0 and how the power level would affect that.


I received WHUT before change at couple dB margin above my drop out level (was 20 dB during the summer but dropped over a couple months, not sure why). After the switch I get the 3.0 channels at up to 9dB above my drop out (that's in line with the power increase it seems) , but it tends to fluctuate quite a bit at times... some drop outs every once in a while, but overall is ok. So if got well before, should get well now.

This is for an attic antenna setup... sure reflections are cause of fluctuations.


----------



## n8hoo

Bandscanners are showing 47.1/2 as blank this morning. Is that the case?

Of note, Entravision applied to dissolve that channel-share effective 12/31 and to waive the standard 90-day notification for cable providers (apparently only Comcast carries its OTA signal), but this was never granted. So it's sort of in limbo right now...


----------



## joblo

n8hoo said:


> Bandscanners are showing 47.1/2 as blank this morning. Is that the case?


Yes. Also gone from FiOS.


----------



## pkpaul

The HDHR4K scan sees channels 47.1 WMDO and 47.2 LATV but there is no video/audio.
On my Vizio TV, 47.1 was still there until yesterday but audio only and gone today.


----------



## n8hoo

joblo said:


> Yes. Also gone from FiOS.





pkpaul said:


> The HDHR4K scan sees channels 47.1 WMDO and 47.2 LATV but there is no video/audio.
> On my Vizio TV, 47.1 was still there until yesterday but audio only and gone today.


Yeah, looks like the PSIP is there and that's it. I missed that the original channel-share was to expire 12/31 and was not extended - so after that day it isn't authorized to operate anywhere. Probably a cancellation in its future then.


----------



## n8hoo

the plot thickens: Entravision just filed for remain-silent for WMDO

they are "seeking a new channel sharing arrangement" -- but there is nothing stopping them from entering into one with their own WJAL, is there?






Licensing and Management System


Licensing and Management System




enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov


----------



## KyL416

n8hoo said:


> but there is nothing stopping them from entering into one with their own WJAL, is there?


WJAL is a guest on WUSA's RF 9 signal, so they would have to modify their channel sharing agreement with Tegna to allow WMDO-CD to also join the share.


----------



## pkpaul

At 9:10 AM channel 2.2 "WMARDT1" switched programing from Laff to Grit.
And then updated the PSIP to "GRIT".


----------



## fri1038

Laff continues on WMJF's 39-4 with the Grit label. WMJF and WQAW have all their subchannels up again. No changes.

WBAL was teasing a big announcement the past week. It was their radio partnership with the Orioles. All TV broadcasts remain on cable's MASN.



pkpaul said:


> At 9:10 AM channel 2.2 "WMARDT1" switched programing from Laff to Grit.
> And then updated the PSIP to "GRIT".


----------



## twobucktoll

I am having a problem decoding WHUT this morning. My HDHR4K registers a signal of decent strength and quality (88/65) but can’t lock on a program. Two band scans on rabbit ears have been red since about midnight.


----------



## pkpaul

No RF33 & ATSC 3.0 here either.


----------



## aaronwt

The same here!


----------



## n8hoo

PSIP went poof. Let's see how long it takes them to notice...










ETA: Looks like it just came back ~1100


----------



## twobucktoll

I depend on that WHUT signal. Over New Years I moved from a house in Loudoun that had windows that that faced east where I put one antenna that gave me the DC stations (even the VHF ones) and an attic antenna that I could get WNUV on. My new apartment is two miles closer to DC and faces west. Indoor antennas do a pretty good job with 26, 5, and sometimes 66. I found a spot near a window with the antenna facing north and higher than the concrete walls used for my neighbor’s balcony that can get WHUT just good enough. That’s the only way I can get 7 and 9. It also brings in the ATSC 1 signal of 4 and as a bonus, 62. I had to switch my DVR from Plex to Channels to record the ATSC 3 signals. So far the recordings have been watchable.


----------



## dipdewdog

n8hoo said:


> PSIP went poof. Let's see how long it takes them to notice...
> 
> View attachment 3219778
> 
> 
> ETA: Looks like it just came back ~1100


I was hoping whatever they did would fix the issue I have with my Sony X900H TV not seeing the 7.1 stream, but that was wishful thinking.

I also seem to have list 4.1 for now - the TV will try to tune it, but the screen just stays black.


----------



## greg9x2

dipdewdog said:


> I was hoping whatever they did would fix the issue I have with my Sony X900H TV not seeing the 7.1 stream, but that was wishful thinking.
> 
> I also seem to have list 4.1 for now - the TV will try to tune it, but the screen just stays black.


Dang, was going to see if it worked when got home.

Has anyone been able to note a modulation difference between WJLA and other 3.0 channels ? The 900H doesn't give this info for the 3.0 channels.

The 1.0 channels will say '8VSB', etc

Edit:. Home now and WRC 4 1 is blank, was receiving it before.


----------



## greg9x2

greg9x2 said:


> Dang, was going to see if it worked when got home.
> 
> Has anyone been able to note a modulation difference between WJLA and other 3.0 channels ? The 900H doesn't give this info for the 3.0 channels.
> 
> The 1.0 channels will say '8VSB', etc
> 
> Edit:. Home now and WRC 4 1 is blank, was receiving it before.


WRC 4.1 is back today, but getting random freezing. It's obviously a TV/Tuner issue (channel change and back fixes it), but would seem _something _changed during the downtime that the Sony doesn't like.

Still no WJLA.


----------



## crbaldwin

Are the ATSC 3.0 signals returning to their ATSC 1.0 channels at some point? Sometimes I do not receive the ABC and CBS VHF channels very well and lately it has been pretty bad. I would rather not get invested in ATSC 3.0 just to return to reception problems in the future.


----------



## greg9x2

crbaldwin said:


> Are the ATSC 3.0 signals returning to their ATSC 1.0 channels at some point? Sometimes I do not receive the ABC and CBS VHF channels very well and lately it has been pretty bad. I would rather not get invested in ATSC 3.0 just to return to reception problems in the future.


The plan seems to be they stay 3.0 on same frequency for foreseeable future. They have to maintain the 1.0 channels for at least 5 years, and sure it will be longer. 

But would think eventually they were go to their own 3.0 frequencies so they can add the sub channels or features they want individually (provided 3.0 gains enough traction to make it worth the effort).

Not sure what current licenses/contacts state though.


----------



## wmcbrine

greg9x2 said:


> The plan seems to be they stay 3.0 on same frequency for foreseeable future. They have to maintain the 1.0 channels for at least 5 years, and sure it will be longer.


I dunno about that. Maintaining 1.0 doesn't mean maintaining them on the same frequency. My understanding, such as it is, is that -- depending on levels of 3.0 adoption -- the expectation is to finish up with a kind of inversion of the current system, where, instead of one physical "lighthouse" channel carrying all the 3.0 signals for a market, most physical channels are 3.0, with one "nightlight" channel carrying the residual 1.0 signals. This in turn _could_ be shut down at the end of the five years.

Note that the 1.0 mirror of the "primary" channel is not required to be HD (and probably wouldn't be, in the nightlight scenario).


----------



## twobucktoll

wmcbrine said:


> Note that the 1.0 mirror of the "primary" channel is not required to be HD (and probably wouldn't be, in the nightlight scenario).


I wonder if the VHF broadcasters could use this shift to get off their VHF signal and onto a UHF one. Like WUSA or WJLA could "sacrifice" their VHF frequency for the 1.0 nightlight. Or are the VHF broadcasters happy with their signal (which for me is blocked by drywall even in the green zone of signal strength)?


----------



## aaronwt

twobucktoll said:


> I wonder if the VHF broadcasters could use this shift to get off their VHF signal and onto a UHF one. Like WUSA or WJLA could "sacrifice" their VHF frequency for the 1.0 nightlight. Or are the VHF broadcasters happy with their signal (which for me is blocked by drywall even in the green zone of signal strength)?


They must be happy. Otherwise why did WUSA and WJLA switch from UHF to VHF in 2009? WUSA went from my strongest station to my weakest. While WJLA still had a good signal for me after the change.

They wanted to be back on their original channels 9 and 7 after the analog shutdown. But I would have preferred they stayed on UHF.


----------



## Trip in VA

aaronwt said:


> They must be happy.


This logic doesn't follow. If they were unhappy, what could they do about it? WUSA's pre-transition channel was given to WPXW, while WJLA's would have interfered with WMAR.

- Trip


----------



## wmcbrine

I'm picking up NewsChannel 8 (yeah, I'm always gonna call it that) OTA for the first time ever, this morning (ATSC 3, 158.4). It's borderline, dropping out a bit, but not too bad. Says 1080p but looks soft.


----------



## crbaldwin

Has anything happened to channels 7 or 9 that would cause reception problems lately? On New Year's Eve, the ch 7 signal was unwatchable and ever since then both 7 and 9 have been problematic. I used to have midday reception issues for ch 9, but now it seems to be worse for ch 7 and all the time. Looking at the signal on my HDHR, the "Symbol Quality" keeps dropping to 0?


----------



## fri1038

RF7 and RF9 are strong as ever in Severn, 26 miles NE of DC and on most Bandscans.

I recall you saying you are in Fredericksburg with an attic antenna from a recent post. Have you ever noticed if snow on the roof or a wet roof affects your VHF reception? I have observed how moisture in the trees affects UHF here in Sherwood Forest -- RF15 gets better, RF34 and RF35 get worse. I don't recall the VHF impact from my attic antenna days, but with an outside antenna, VHF isn't bothered by anything except airplanes. A months long drought finally ended in late Dec in this area, with cold temps and snow pack lingering more recently, and I've seen the UHF changes again.

That's my wacky theory of the day.

A good weather history site:









IEM :: BWI Data Calendar for Jan 2022


Iowa Environmental Mesonet of Iowa State University




mesonet.agron.iastate.edu


----------



## crbaldwin

fri1038 said:


> Have you ever noticed if snow on the roof or a wet roof affects your VHF reception?


I have not noticed any effect before, but we usually don't get this much snow . I also thought it was maybe due to snow accumulation on the roof but I still have the problems after the snow has melted. I think it was raining on New Year's Eve but I have not noticed that being a big problem before.

Oh well, I don't want to pay for it, but I might just have to switch to Youtube TV to avoid these reception headaches...


----------



## greg9x2

Anyone else lose all the D.C. 3.0 stations ? Saw end of Raiders/Bengals game on WRC, but now lost all 3.0 for last 20 minutes.

Edit: Still out 4 hours later...🤷‍♂️. Will see in morning.


----------



## pkpaul

They are working this morning, except for 106.1 WDCN.


----------



## ksalno

I watched the second half of the Bills game last night on channel 9 (109) with no issues. I have an attic antenna and leave in McLean. Watching the pre-game on Fox 5 now (105) and it looks great.


----------



## greg9x2

greg9x2 said:


> Anyone else lose all the D.C. 3.0 stations ? Saw end of Raiders/Bengals game on WRC, but now lost all 3.0 for last 20 minutes.
> 
> Edit: Still out 4 hours later...🤷‍♂️. Will see in morning.





ksalno said:


> I watched the second half of the Bills game last night on channel 9 (109) with no issues. I have an attic antenna and leave in McLean. Watching the pre-game on Fox 5 now (105) and it looks great.


Well obviously a TV issue then as still nothing this morning  . 1.0 stations still receivable (the ones can get anyway). Have rebooted TV few times....will try a factory reset.

Looks like an external tuner may be the way to go, as this Sony 900H isn't handling ATSC 3.0 very well. Guess if they fix it then external tuner can go up to the bedroom TV.


EDIT: The factory reset fixed things. Still going to look in to external tuner.


----------



## ksalno

greg9x2 said:


> Well obviously a TV issue then as still nothing this morning  . 1.0 stations still receivable (the ones can get anyway). Have rebooted TV few times....will try a factory reset.
> 
> Looks like an external tuner may be the way to go, as this Sony 900H isn't handling ATSC 3.0 very well. Guess if they fix it then external tuner can go up to the bedroom TV.


I'm using an HDHR external box. It has the benefit of being able to be used on every TV in the house.


----------



## aaronwt

Trip in VA said:


> This logic doesn't follow. If they were unhappy, what could they do about it? WUSA's pre-transition channel was given to WPXW, while WJLA's would have interfered with WMAR.
> 
> - Trip


I thought they chose to revert back to their VHF frequencies?


----------



## Trip in VA

aaronwt said:


> I thought they chose to revert back to their VHF frequencies?


They did, but now that they're there, it doesn't follow that they're happy. A number of stations in other places reverted to UHF (or moved to UHF for the first time). Sinclair, in particular, spent the money to move all but one of their stations off VHF right after the transition. (No other channel was available for WLOS.) Then they bought more, and are trying to get as many of those off VHF as they can now also. I imagine WJLA would have been on the list had there been anywhere to go.

- Trip


----------



## Smitty2k1

Hey all new home owner in Petworth DC here. Can anyone suggest a decent outdoor antenna to buy? I've seen some totally overkill setups but that won't fly with the other half. We have a small yard to the north side of our rowhouse or a roof on the 2nd floor to the east of the house. There's currently a DirecTV dish on the 2nd floor roof that we will be pulling off, so that's the logical place for a new antenna. However it seems most stations are to my west so not sure how the east side roof will work. There a 3rd story pop up blocking line of sight to the west. Something that's no more obtrusive than the current DirecTV dish would be the easiest sell. Currently using one of those little paper thin indoor jobs... Ouch. 

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk


----------



## fri1038

Here is a rabbitears.info signal report for Grant CIrcle. Only 5 miles W at most to the DC transmitters with line of sight not considering buildings. VHF-hi and UHF. Were you after the Baltimore (33 mi NE) or Annapolis (22 mi, WMPT) stations, too? Hard to predict what surrounding buildings will do to you - that might have to be a try it and see.






RabbitEars.Info


RabbitEars, where you can learn all about local, over-the-air TV channels.




www.rabbitears.info





I was going to recommend the Channelmaster Stealthtenna (CM-3010HD) which you see in my user pic, and works well 26 miles out, but it seems hard to come by today - maybe only available on the CM website now. It is simple and inexpensive. 2 foot maximum dimensions. Something like an Antop with the VHF dipole extensions would probably work too. Others with experience with them or similar can chime in.

edit: adding the clearstream 1max, or its bigger siblings, for consideration.



Smitty2k1 said:


> Hey all new home owner in Petworth DC here. Can anyone suggest a decent outdoor antenna to buy? I've seen some totally overkill setups but that won't fly with the other half. We have a small yard to the north side of our rowhouse or a roof on the 2nd floor to the east of the house. There's currently a DirecTV dish on the 2nd floor roof that we will be pulling off, so that's the logical place for a new antenna. However it seems most stations are to my west so not sure how the east side roof will work. There a 3rd story pop up blocking line of sight to the west. Something that's no more obtrusive than the current DirecTV dish would be the easiest sell. Currently using one of those little paper thin indoor jobs... Ouch.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk


----------



## Smitty2k1

fri1038 said:


> Here is a rabbitears.info signal report for Grant CIrcle. Only 5 miles W at most to the DC transmitters with line of sight not considering buildings. VHF-hi and UHF. Were you after the Baltimore (33 mi NE) or Annapolis (22 mi, WMPT) stations, too? Hard to predict what surrounding buildings will do to you - that might have to be a try it and see.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> RabbitEars.Info
> 
> 
> RabbitEars, where you can learn all about local, over-the-air TV channels.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.rabbitears.info
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I was going to recommend the Channelmaster Stealthtenna (CM-3010HD) which you see in my user pic, and works well 26 miles out, but it seems hard to come by today - maybe only available on the CM website now. It is simple and inexpensive. 2 foot maximum dimensions. Something like an Antop with the VHF dipole extensions would probably work too. Others with experience with them or similar can chime in.
> 
> edit: adding the clearstream 1max, or its bigger siblings, for consideration.


Thanks! That Clearatream seems like a great one to try first. Hopefully the DC stations are close enough that it won't be a problem putting it on my east roof with my 3rd floor blocking LOS to the west. Cables already ran there so too easy not to try. 

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk


----------



## GaryGnu

I'm about to cut the cord from Verizon Fios, and I've been evaluating content to switch to an OTA set up with HD Homerun plus Netflix and other apps. I'm having an issue with Picture Quality in that the Verizon Fios always seems like the better picture. But I also wonder if its my TV causing issues. I have a one year old Samsung 4K 65" TV, and it adjusts the picture automatically.

I can pick up all the OTA Baltimore channels (2,11,13, 45, 54) and some DC channels (4, 5, 20, 50). All the Baltimore channels are 100% signal quality.

With Fios, the picture is bright and clear always. My OTA picture is good, but the colors are not quite as alive. I was expecting the OTA picture to be better, honestly.

I have the DVR service with HD Homerun and if I compare pictures on identical programs, the Fios DVR always seems to win.

With some apps, the difference in picture is even more pronounced. For example when watching the Washington Capitals games on Fios, the ice is very bright and white. If I watch a game on ESPN+ or the NBC Sports Washington app, the colors are somewhat washed, and the ice looks dark. And when the source switches away from Fios, my TV is adjusting the picture by turning the brightness all the way up. So the colors look dark even with the brightness turned up to the max when Fios is not the source. With the brightness at 60%, the Fios picture looks bright and alive.

Am I expecting too much here? Could I be doing something wrong?

Any help would be appreciated.


----------



## twobucktoll

GaryGnu said:


> My OTA picture is good, but the colors are not quite as alive. I was expecting the OTA picture to be better, honestly.


By OTA do you mean watching the HDHR on your TV using some kind of app? What are you using to do that?

I use a Fire TV Stick 4K that I got late last year to replace an older Fire TV 4K. That newer stick seemed to help my picture quality in general across all apps. To watch my HDHR I use various apps on the Fire and notice different quality among them. I use the native HD HR app, Channels DVR, Plex, and VLC. The last two do not handle ATSC 3.0 so I don't use them much anymore since I can't get VHF signals in my apartment. Some do better at some tasks than others (like handle interlaced content or 480i streams) and some look better than others. Some crash less often (Channels less than HDHR) and some have noticeably fewer dropped frames on less than 100% signal quality for ATSC 3.0 (HDHR is better in that regard than Channels in my experience). On my iPad, the Channels app wins in pretty much all categories for me. I _think_ the different apps use different decoders on the Fire but others would know more about this than me.

For my setup, the absolute best picture quality for over-the-air is using the tuner in the TV.


----------



## n8hoo

GaryGnu said:


> With Fios, the picture is bright and clear always. My OTA picture is good, but the colors are not quite as alive. I was expecting the OTA picture to be better, honestly.


I totally expect this. OTA might have had superior picture quality in the early days of digital broadcast and digital cable (and I bet some old-timers here would tell you it did) but realize now there is a limited 19Mbps stream and it's crammed with subchannels and channel-shares. A 1080i stream might be limited to half that, and less if variable encoding kicks in. Fios, at least theoretically, has no such bandwidth limitation.

I agree that probably the best course of action re: picture quality is to use the tuner if it's possible. I split my cable run to feed my TV and an HDHR that in turn feeds a Channels server and that setup is pretty good.


----------



## GaryGnu

twobucktoll said:


> By OTA do you mean watching the HDHR on your TV using some kind of app? What are you using to do that?


I'm using the HD app for HDHR through Fire 4K Max TV and Apple 4K TV.


----------



## fri1038

My sets have independent picture settings for each input (antenna, hdmi, etc) so you might want to make sure those are set the same for a fair comparison of the sources.


----------



## Digital Rules

fri1038 said:


> My sets have independent picture settings for each input (antenna, hdmi, etc) so you might want to make sure those are set the same for a fair comparison of the sources.


Yep, each input needs to be tweaked individually. I personally see no difference between Fios & OTA.


----------



## GaryGnu

Digital Rules said:


> Yep, each input needs to be tweaked individually. I personally see no difference between Fios & OTA.


I'm willing to do that, but the Brightness is all the way up and the non Fios picture is still dark. What else could I change to make it brighter?


----------



## aaronwt

Digital Rules said:


> Yep, each input needs to be tweaked individually. I personally see no difference between Fios & OTA.


Yes. When I always compared my FiOS recoding size with my OTA recording size, they wer ealways basically the same. 

This was with my TiVos. I guess I need to take a look at my HDHomeRn recordings from my Flex 4K and Prime to see the difference now.


----------



## Digital Rules

GaryGnu said:


> I'm willing to do that, but the Brightness is all the way up and the non Fios picture is still dark. What else could I change to make it brighter?


Are both inputs set for
the same profile(Vivid, movie, standard, etc. . .)


----------



## GaryGnu

Digital Rules said:


> Are both inputs set for
> the same profile(Vivid, movie, standard, etc. . .)


I've done more investigating on this, and I can't find a difference in the video settings. All else is the same. The bottom line here is that anything connected via HDMI is somewhat darker. So, I'm going to make a post over on the Samsung board.

Another thing I did find, the picture on my HDHR using DLNA on my Samsung TV is awesome, probably better than the Fios picture. But if I switch over to the HDHR app on my Fire TV (or Apple TV), the picture is darker and I can't make it any brighter. The same is true and more pronounced for the NBC Sports App I have loaded on my Samsung vs what is loaded on the Fire TV/Apple TV.

Another thing I plan to do is split my signal and use my tuner as yet another option for Live TV.

Thanks all.


----------



## djlaz1818

Hello. - Hoping someone can assist; I have a Sony x85j that has an atsc 3.0 tuner. At this point, I only see the atsc 1.0 channels for the major networks, but I do have 58.1 and 58.4, both coming through in 1080p. Is there something I'm doing wrong? Should there be separate streams showing for the atsc 1.0 and atsc 3.0 channels?

I'm in Bethesda. Thanks so much!


----------



## wmcbrine

GaryGnu said:


> The bottom line here is that anything connected via HDMI is somewhat darker.


So, wait -- how is your Fios box connected?


----------



## fri1038

Here is a recent post about having to manually enable duplicated 1.0 and 3.0 channels in a similar Sony. Something to check ...









Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD - HDTV


Bounce replaced Mystery on 66-2 on or about 26 June 2021. Thanks! Was it always 720p? That’s what caught me by surprise today. Rabbitears.info lists it as 480i(w) but I am getting it in 720p.




www.avsforum.com








djlaz1818 said:


> Hello. - Hoping someone can assist; I have a Sony x85j that has an atsc 3.0 tuner. At this point, I only see the atsc 1.0 channels for the major networks, but I do have 58.1 and 58.4, both coming through in 1080p. Is there something I'm doing wrong? Should there be separate streams showing for the atsc 1.0 and atsc 3.0 channels?
> 
> I'm in Bethesda. Thanks so much!


----------



## greg9x2

djlaz1818 said:


> Hello. - Hoping someone can assist; I have a Sony x85j that has an atsc 3.0 tuner. At this point, I only see the atsc 1.0 channels for the major networks, but I do have 58.1 and 58.4, both coming through in 1080p. Is there something I'm doing wrong? Should there be separate streams showing for the atsc 1.0 and atsc 3.0 channels?
> 
> I'm in Bethesda. Thanks so much!


As mentioned above, check Show/Hide channels under the Channel options, see if you have 2 listings for the missing channels (the ones labeled *-HD are the 1.0 on mine, no -HD are the 3.0). Also try a full re scan, that usually will show the 3.0 channels and hide the 1.0 channels.

Will be curious if you get WJLA 3.0, since my Sony 900H won't tune it in. Also if you get more random freezes, lock ups when watching 3.0 channels.


----------



## djlaz1818

Thanks, I saw that. Unfortunately, it seems like the tv is not picking up the atsc 3.0 signals for any of the network stations. . . Except for 58.1 and 58.4

No double listings for channels. Perhaps my antenna isn't strong enough?


----------



## GaryGnu

wmcbrine said:


> So, wait -- how is your Fios box connected?


Good point. It's connected via HDMI also. So the brightness issue is just with anything other than Fios.


----------



## greg9x2

djlaz1818 said:


> Thanks, I saw that. Unfortunately, it seems like the tv is not picking up the atsc 3.0 signals for any of the network stations. . . Except for 58.1 and 58.4
> 
> No double listings for channels. Perhaps my antenna isn't strong enough?


Not sure where the 58's are broadcasting from (I don't receive them in Frederick)...maybe different direction than the WHUT transmitter the others are on ? If your in Bethesda would think could get good reception depending on your line of sight.


----------



## Digital Rules

GaryGnu said:


> Good point. It's connected via HDMI also. So the brightness issue is just with anything other than Fios.


Have you tried swapping inputs?


----------



## djlaz1818

greg9x2 said:


> Not sure where the 58's are broadcasting from (I don't receive them in Frederick)...maybe different direction than the WHUT transmitter the others are on ? If your in Bethesda would think could get good reception depending on your line of sight.


Thanks, that's possible - as I'm clearly not getting a hit from the WHUT transmitter that all the networks from DC are transmitting on. I'm going to try an amplifier with my antenna this week also.


----------



## Scott Bonney

djlaz1818 said:


> Hello. - Hoping someone can assist; I have a Sony x85j that has an atsc 3.0 tuner. At this point, I only see the atsc 1.0 channels for the major networks, but I do have 58.1 and 58.4, both coming through in 1080p. Is there something I'm doing wrong? Should there be separate streams showing for the atsc 1.0 and atsc 3.0 channels?
> 
> I'm in Bethesda. Thanks so much!


I am also in Bethesda, in a flat that faces north, five stories up. On my LG GX 65, the built-in ATSC 3.0 tuner now gets strong 1080P Dolby Audio signals on 4-1, 5-1, 9-1, 32-1, 58-1, 58-4 and 58.5. I get a nice clean image and sound on 7-1, but frequent signal breaks. I’m using a small amplified black plastic RCA antenna on the inside of a window. I still get all those channels on the standard ATSC 1.0 tuner, and all are strong, but some have lower resolutions like 480i, 720P and 1080i. The tuner in my LG allows auto scanning of ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 for the OTA antenna, and displays both in the channel guide, with a NextGen label on the ATSC 3.0 channels.

Not really much visual or audio difference between the ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 channels for me. Hopefully the promise of 4KHDR 120 FPS Dolby Digital broadcasts will pan out. I they can boost the signal for 7.1 as well.

Perhaps a rescan of your tuners would help. My set does separate passes for Cable, ATSC 1.0 OTA and NextGen ATSC 3.0 OTA, and oddly does a fourth pass for Cable NextGen, which doesn’t make any sense.


----------



## Scott Bonney

Scott Bonney said:


> I am also in Bethesda, in a flat that faces north, five stories up. On my LG GX 65, the built-in ATSC 3.0 tuner now gets strong 1080P Dolby Audio signals on 4-1, 5-1, 9-1, 32-1, 58-1, 58-4 and 58.5. I get a nice clean image and sound on 7-1, but frequent signal breaks. I’m using a small amplified black plastic RCA antenna on the inside of a window. I still get all those channels on the standard ATSC 1.0 tuner, and all are strong, but some have lower resolutions like 480i, 720P and 1080i. The tuner in my LG allows auto scanning of ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 for the OTA antenna, and displays both in the channel guide, with a NextGen label on the ATSC 3.0 channels.
> 
> Not really much visual or audio difference between the ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 channels for me. Hopefully the promise of 4KHDR 120 FPS Dolby Digital broadcasts will pan out. I they can boost the signal for 7.1 as well.
> 
> Perhaps a rescan of your tuners would help. My set does separate passes for Cable, ATSC 1.0 OTA and NextGen ATSC 3.0 OTA, and oddly does a fourth pass for Cable NextGen, which doesn’t make any sense.


In case you haven’t seen the DC area WHUT info:








NextgenTV | WHUTtv


Welcome to the home page of the WHUT - Howard University Television, NEXTGEN tv Collaborative




www.whut.org


----------



## aaronwt

Scott Bonney said:


> I am also in Bethesda, in a flat that faces north, five stories up. On my LG GX 65, the built-in ATSC 3.0 tuner now gets strong 1080P Dolby Audio signals on 4-1, 5-1, 9-1, 32-1, 58-1, 58-4 and 58.5. I get a nice clean image and sound on 7-1, but frequent signal breaks. I’m using a small amplified black plastic RCA antenna on the inside of a window. I still get all those channels on the standard ATSC 1.0 tuner, and all are strong, but some have lower resolutions like 480i, 720P and 1080i. The tuner in my LG allows auto scanning of ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 for the OTA antenna, and displays both in the channel guide, with a NextGen label on the ATSC 3.0 channels.
> 
> Not really much visual or audio difference between the ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 channels for me. Hopefully the promise of 4KHDR 120 FPS Dolby Digital broadcasts will pan out. I they can boost the signal for 7.1 as well.
> 
> Perhaps a rescan of your tuners would help. My set does separate passes for Cable, ATSC 1.0 OTA and NextGen ATSC 3.0 OTA, and oddly does a fourth pass for Cable NextGen, which doesn’t make any sense.


What promise of 4K HDR at 120fps? They plan on doing 1080P60 with HDR.


----------



## Scott Bonney

aaronwt said:


> What promise of 4K HDR at 120fps? They plan on doing 1080P60 with HDR.


I’m just referring to what’s possible with ATSC 3.0. Obviously not all will be implemented by WHUT, at least at first.

The first major benefit is picture quality. While the current ATSC 1.0 standard caps out at 1080i, the new standard allows for 4K UHD broadcasts. Other picture quality upgrades, including high-dynamic range (HDR), wide color gamut (WCG), and high frame rate (HFR) are all part of the new provision.
Right now, ATSC 3.0 uses the H.265 HEVC codec for video delivery because of its efficiency gains over the much older H.262 MPEG-2 codec used in ATSC 1.0.
ATSC 3.0 isn’t married to a single video format. Over time and through upgrades, it will be able to adopt new codecs like the recently finalized H.266 VVC codec, which is the leading candidate to usher in 8K when that time comes.
Currently, the only way to get 4K HDR content is via streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, or Disney+.
ATSC 3.0 also includes benefits for reception, meaning you should be able to receive more channels in higher quality without the need for a large antenna. Audio quality is increased as well. While ATSC 1.0 uses Dolby AC-3 — an audio format that is limited to 5.1 channel surround sound — ATSC 3.0 uses the newer Dolby AC-4, for broadcasts of up to 7.1.4 channel audio and support for object-based sound formats like Dolby Atmos.
Cleverly, AC-4 can adapt to your gear, so if your TV or A/V receiver can support 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos, and it’s available on the movie you’re watching, that’s what you’ll get — but lesser components still get a version they can reproduce, too.
In addition to the picture and audio improvements, ATSC 3.0 also makes it possible to watch broadcast video on mobile devices like phones and tablets, as well as in cars. Advanced emergency alerts are also part of the standard, including better geotargeting, which means advancements like the ability to broadcast evacuation routes to areas that need that information.


----------



## aaronwt

Right now very few devices can do anything with AC-4 audio. It will be awhile before the majority of devices are capable of decoding AC-4 audio.

I don't know what you mean when you say AC-4 can adapt to your gear. Because it certainly can't right now with ATSC 3.0. If your device is incapable of decoding AC-4 audio then you get no sound from the ATSC 3.0 channels. Which is the case with the vast majority of devices out there.

Unless some workaround is done. Like SilconDust does. Where, in realtime, the AC-4 audio is uploaded to the cloud and transcoded to DD. And then downloaded so the device can play it back. This is all done in realtime and actually works rather well.


----------



## Scott Bonney

aaronwt said:


> Right now very few devices can do anything with AC-4 audio. It will be awhile before the majority of devices are capable of decoding AC-4 audio.
> 
> I don't know what you mean when you say AC-4 can adapt to your gear. Because it certainly can't right now with ATSC 3.0. If your device is incapable of decoding AC-4 audio then you get no sound from the ATSC 3.0 channels. Which is the case with the vast majority of devices out there.
> 
> Unless some workaround is done. Like SilconDust does. Where, in realtime, the AC-4 audio is uploaded to the cloud and transcoded to DD. And then downloaded so the device can play it back. This is all done in realtime and actually works rather well.


Sorry, I should have indicated that this info was copied from www.digital trends.com. I was trying to indicate what future features might be possible with ATSC 3.0, with many broadcast and equipment upgrades. My LG GX 65’s built-in ATSC 3.0 tuner sound output seems to work fine, but I’m only using it with a Sono Soundbar and Sonos Play1 surrounds, so just 5.0.

Here is the full article:








ATSC 3.0: All you need to know about broadcast TV's next step | Digital Trends


ATSC 3.0 is increasing its footprint on the world of digital broadcasting. What exactly is ATSC 3.0, and how can you experience it? We've got the answers.




www.digitaltrends.com


----------



## Smitty2k1

fri1038 said:


> Here is a rabbitears.info signal report for Grant CIrcle. Only 5 miles W at most to the DC transmitters with line of sight not considering buildings. VHF-hi and UHF. Were you after the Baltimore (33 mi NE) or Annapolis (22 mi, WMPT) stations, too? Hard to predict what surrounding buildings will do to you - that might have to be a try it and see.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> RabbitEars.Info
> 
> 
> RabbitEars, where you can learn all about local, over-the-air TV channels.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.rabbitears.info
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I was going to recommend the Channelmaster Stealthtenna (CM-3010HD) which you see in my user pic, and works well 26 miles out, but it seems hard to come by today - maybe only available on the CM website now. It is simple and inexpensive. 2 foot maximum dimensions. Something like an Antop with the VHF dipole extensions would probably work too. Others with experience with them or similar can chime in.
> 
> edit: adding the clearstream 1max, or its bigger siblings, for consideration.


Just following up I got that Clearatream 1 Max and replaced the DirecTV dish on the roof with it and patched it into our homes existing network of coax cables.

I'm pulling 54 channels on both TV's using autoscan. This is the same number of channels I was getting from my paper thin amplified indoor antenna. Currently not using an amplifier on the Clearatream, nor have I done any tweaking or adjustments to position, I just pointed it north, as my roof blocks the west. There's also likely a few additional and unnecessary coax splitters in my system I need to remove. 

NBC 4.1 still cuts out for some reason, same problem we had with our little indoor antenna. 

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk


----------



## n8hoo

Smitty2k1 said:


> Just following up I got that Clearatream 1 Max and replaced the DirecTV dish on the roof with it and patched it into our homes existing network of coax cables.
> 
> I'm pulling 54 channels on both TV's using autoscan. This is the same number of channels I was getting from my paper thin amplified indoor antenna. Currently not using an amplifier on the Clearatream, nor have I done any tweaking or adjustments to position, I just pointed it north, as my roof blocks the west. There's also likely a few additional and unnecessary coax splitters in my system I need to remove.
> 
> NBC 4.1 still cuts out for some reason, same problem we had with our little indoor antenna.


tbh i'd try pointing west anyway just to see what you gain/lose -- i've always had the worst multipath issues with 4 so certainly being pointed in the wrong direction won't _help _any


----------



## twobucktoll

Smitty2k1 said:


> NBC 4.1 still cuts out for some reason, same problem we had with our little indoor antenna.


What kind of receiver are you using? If your 4.1 problems are due to multipath interference, you may be the ideal candidate to watch WRC off of the ATSC 3.0 bundle with an ATSC 3.0 capable receiver.

If they are due to cell phone interference, a filter might help.


----------



## Smitty2k1

twobucktoll said:


> What kind of receiver are you using? If your 4.1 problems are due to multipath interference, you may be the ideal candidate to watch WRC off of the ATSC 3.0 bundle with an ATSC 3.0 capable receiver.
> 
> If they are due to cell phone interference, a filter might help.


Just using the various TV built in tuners at the moment. Getting a 4k TV soon, so I assume that will have a compatible receiver.


----------



## aaronwt

Smitty2k1 said:


> Just using the various TV built in tuners at the moment. Getting a 4k TV soon, so I assume that will have a compatible receiver.


Only some UHD TVs have ATSC 3.0 tuners. Although more of the 2022 TVs will have ATSC 3.0 tuners.


----------



## Smitty2k1

aaronwt said:


> Only some UHD TVs have ATSC 3.0 tuners. Although more of the 2022 TVs will have ATSC 3.0 tuners.


Oh, darn. Neither of these do. Hisense 55" U8G and TCL 55" R646

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk


----------



## fri1038

Here ... Crutchfield lets you filter by tuner type. However, only a few brands carried there.









4K & 8K Ultra HD TVs, OLED TVs, and LED TVs


Shopping for TVs? Our Virginia-based experts love helping folks find the right gear. Get FREE 2-day shipping and free lifetime tech support with your order.




www.crutchfield.com








Smitty2k1 said:


> Oh, darn. Neither of these do. Hisense 55" U8G and TCL 55" R646


----------



## greg9x2

Smitty2k1 said:


> Oh, darn. Neither of these do. Hisense 55" U8G and TCL 55" R646
> 
> Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk


And be aware, have some issues with Sony 900H... Haven't gotten any confirmation if other Sony models have issues with 3.0 tuner


----------



## aaronwt

Smitty2k1 said:


> Oh, darn. Neither of these do. Hisense 55" U8G and TCL 55" R646
> 
> Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk


the 2022 Hisense version(U8H) will have an ATSC 3.0 tuner. Not sure about the 2022 TCL version though.

EDIT: It looks like TCL will still only use ATSC 1.0 tuners in their 2022 TVs. Hisense will have ATSC 3.0 tuners in their U7H, U8H, and U9H TVs. According to this CNET article.








All the 2022 TVs with NextGen ATSC 3.0 tuners


Attention, cord-cutters. More 4K antenna-friendly TVs and set-top boxes are on their way.




www.cnet.com


----------



## crbaldwin

crbaldwin said:


> Has anything happened to channels 7 or 9 that would cause reception problems lately? On New Year's Eve, the ch 7 signal was unwatchable and ever since then both 7 and 9 have been problematic. I used to have midday reception issues for ch 9, but now it seems to be worse for ch 7 and all the time. Looking at the signal on my HDHR, the "Symbol Quality" keeps dropping to 0?


I have an older Clearstream C4 antenna, a Winegard VHF-only antenna (unfortunately don't know the model #), and a Winegard amplified VHF/UHF combiner in my attic in Fredericksburg. I have had pretty solid reception until recently and the problems still exist after the snow is gone. Does anyone think a newer antenna might help with my signal issues? Some of them claim a 200+ mile range which sounds bogus to me but they may be "better enough" for my situation?


----------



## Digital Rules

crbaldwin said:


> Does anyone think a newer antenna might help with my signal issues?


Probably not. Are you still only having issues with 7 & 9?


----------



## crbaldwin

Digital Rules said:


> Probably not. Are you still only having issues with 7 & 9?


Pretty much, yes.


----------



## mrradiohead55

crbaldwin said:


> I have an older Clearstream C4 antenna, a Winegard VHF-only antenna (unfortunately don't know the model #), and a Winegard amplified VHF/UHF combiner in my attic in Fredericksburg. I have had pretty solid reception until recently and the problems still exist after the snow is gone. Does anyone think a newer antenna might help with my signal issues? Some of them claim a 200+ mile range which sounds bogus to me but they may be "better enough" for my situation?


I would suggest doing a little research about how close your address might be to any full power FM stations. You mention that you are using an amplified combiner and the problems are on 7 & 9 (high VHF). A nearby strong FM signal on 88 MHz can interfere with RF 7; the same goes for a strong FM signal on 94 MHz which can interfere with RF 9. The artifacts that can cause interference are 1st harmonics of the FM broadcast signals, especially when amplifying the antenna cable run. A quick test would be to bypass the amplifier and just check to see if the signals on those two channels changes any (improves?). It's best to eliminate potential problems before spending more money. If that doesn't have any direct effect, then you can move on to other things to check.


----------



## fri1038

FM locator:






Radio-Locator.com


Radio Station Search Engine




radio-locator.com





fmfool (and tvfool) are offline now. Was fmfool being kept up to date?


----------



## mrradiohead55

fri1038 said:


> FM locator:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Radio-Locator.com
> 
> 
> Radio Station Search Engine
> 
> 
> 
> 
> radio-locator.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> fmfool (and tvfool) are offline now. Was fmfool being kept up to date?


TVFool has been problematic in recent times so I would have to wonder if FMFool follows suit. FCCINFO is the other good website to use to locate FM licenses and their location...





__





FCCInfo Search


FCC Info is a Radio and Television Station Search Engine provided by Cavell, Mertz & Associates, Inc.



fccinfo.com


----------



## Antenna Man PA

mrradiohead55 said:


> TVFool has been problematic in recent times so I would have to wonder if FMFool follows suit. FCCINFO is the other good website to use to locate FM licenses and their location...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> __
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> FCCInfo Search
> 
> 
> FCC Info is a Radio and Television Station Search Engine provided by Cavell, Mertz & Associates, Inc.
> 
> 
> 
> fccinfo.com


I'm surprised TV fool worked as long as it did with an inaccurate database that hadn't been updated since 2017. The owners likely kept it going to milk some ad revenue off the website since I had recommended the site in some of my earlier videos. Hopefully it's shut down for good.


----------



## Digital Rules

crbaldwin said:


> Pretty much, yes.


 Any new electronics or LED bulbs since the change? At your distance VHF with an attic antenna is gonna be tricky. Have you tried moving it to a new area of the attic?

I started having issues with 7 & 9 about a year ago & had to move the VHF antenna to a different area of the attic to resolve the issue.

How close are you to 88.3 FM?






 WQIQ-FM Radio Station Coverage Map







radio-locator.com


----------



## crbaldwin

Digital Rules said:


> How close are you to 88.3 FM?


Just outside the red ring on that map. Did they just increase their power or something? The bad reception seemed to just happen suddenly - I did not add any electronics recently. I will try moving the VHF antenna.


----------



## crbaldwin

mrradiohead55 said:


> A quick test would be to bypass the amplifier and just check to see if the signals on those two channels changes any (improves?).


I will try this, but when I set it up years ago, the reception was poor without an amplifier of some kind.


----------



## Digital Rules

crbaldwin said:


> Just outside the red ring on that map.  Did they just increase their power or something? The bad reception seemed to just happen suddenly - I did not add any electronics recently. I will try moving the VHF antenna.


You would have to be within about a mile or two of the FM station for that to be an issue so we can count that out.
I suspect some type of new electronic interference or multipath. If you live in a townhouse it could be interference coming from your neighbor's house as well.


----------



## greg9x2

Digital Rules said:


> Any new electronics or LED bulbs since the change? At your distance VHF with an attic antenna is gonna be tricky. Have you tried moving it to a new area of the attic?
> 
> I started having issues with 7 & 9 about a year ago & had to move the VHF antenna to a different area of the attic to resolve the issue.
> 
> How close are you to 88.3 FM?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> WQIQ-FM Radio Station Coverage Map
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> radio-locator.com


Yeah, when 7/9 1.0 stations are working, the upstairs LED bulbs will cause interference. Heard the Walmart brand doesn't cause as much interference, but haven't swapped them out yet. If ever get WJLA 3.0 to tune in won't really need to though..


----------



## Newton-second

greg9x2 said:


> Yeah, when 7/9 1.0 stations are working, the upstairs LED bulbs will cause interference. Heard the Walmart brand doesn't cause as much interference, but haven't swapped them out yet. If ever get WJLA 3.0 to tune in won't really need to though..


From my experience, not all Walmart LED bulbs are low EMI/RFI. Your best bet is the more expensive, dimmable, all-glass ones (they look like regular light bulbs).

I had some of their cheaper 100 W equivalent non-dimmable plastic bulbs ( https://www.walmart.com/ip/113651797 ) which were causing interference with my VHF TV reception. Replaced them out with these https://www.walmart.com/ip/269135877 and that fixed the issue. From what I understand the glass ones have a design that doesn't include a transformer in the base, so that reduces EMI/RFI.


----------



## crbaldwin

After no changes by me, channel 7 and 9 reception is suddenly solid again for the last 12 hours?? We'll see if it lasts...


----------



## fri1038

Just noting some PSIP updates on WMDE: 36-2 = TrueRea and 36-6 = DigiTV. 

I found I can get a stable signal for them (RF5) with a simple rabbit ears placed in a second floor, south east window. They have some unique programming in the Balt/Wash/Salisbury area. DigiTV can also be seen on their website or with a Roku app if you want to check them out. Circle has many options online.

TSReader data with the gory details:


----------



## Scott Bonney

crbaldwin said:


> After no changes by me, channel 7 and 9 reception is suddenly solid again for the last 12 hours?? We'll see if it lasts...


Oddly, I have noticed that ATSC 3.0 7.1 takes a long time to lock on. At first a big glitch, then a few seconds later, another image and sound freeze, then a few seconds later a small glitch, then a very stable signal, that seems rock solid. No other ATSC 3.0 seem to have this rocky start up. Again, I’m in downtown Bethesda with a north facing interior RCA amplified antenna in a window.

Does the internet connection that is part of the ATSC 3.0 process somehow help sort out and stabilize weaker OTA signals?


----------



## Digital Rules

Scott Bonney said:


> Oddly, I have noticed that ATSC 3.0 7.1 takes a long time to lock on.


I wonder if it is some type of buffering that helps stabilize signal reliability?


----------



## Trip in VA

fri1038 said:


> Just noting some PSIP updates on WMDE: 36-2 = TrueRea and 36-6 = DigiTV.
> 
> I found I can get a stable signal for them (RF5) with a simple rabbit ears placed in a second floor, south east window. They have some unique programming in the Balt/Wash/Salisbury area. DigiTV can also be seen on their website or with a Roku app if you want to check them out. Circle has many options online.
> 
> TSReader data with the gory details:


File has too many errors to upload to RabbitEars but I've made updates with it. Glad to see it!

- Trip


----------



## fri1038

Trip in VA said:


> File has too many errors to upload to RabbitEars but I've made updates with it. Glad to see it!
> 
> - Trip


It started off cleanly, but BWI started sending planes over my neighborhood in the middle of that capture, and symbol quality remains poor. dxinfocentre forecasts some tropo in this area on wednesday - maybe a better session then.


----------



## greg9x2

Digital Rules said:


> I wonder if it is some type of buffering that helps stabilize signal reliability?


Know there is definitely some buffering on Sony 900H (not for 7, as won't tune it in, but all other 3.0 channels). Whether that is function of 3.0 or the TV itself not sure.


----------



## Digital Rules

Does anyone know if WHSV (RF 24) is using the same tower that WVPY (RF 21) was on a few years ago? Was thinking of trying to see if it is receivable here. 






RabbitEars.Info


RabbitEars, where you can learn all about local, over-the-air TV channels.




www.rabbitears.info


----------



## n8hoo

Digital Rules said:


> Does anyone know if WHSV (RF 24) is using the same tower that WVPY (RF 21) was on a few years ago? Was thinking of trying to see if it is receivable here.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> RabbitEars.Info
> 
> 
> RabbitEars, where you can learn all about local, over-the-air TV channels.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.rabbitears.info


oooh, good question. the answer must be yes because it definitely broadcast from signal knob and there is only one tower there. however WVPY may have been located further down the tower, because pulling up its DTV application from 2009 the heights don't match exactly. CDBS Print


----------



## Digital Rules

n8hoo said:


> oooh, good question. the answer must be yes because it definitely broadcast from signal knob and there is only one tower there. however WVPY may have been located further down the tower, because pulling up its DTV application from 2009 the heights don't match exactly. CDBS Print


Thanks for digging that up n8hoo!! I'm thinking RF 24 out of DC won't decode here because the Front Royal signal may be stronger. Will give it a shot & see what happens.


----------



## crbaldwin

For ATSC 3 users, is the Fox 5 lip/audio sync way off for everyone? It could be a function of my new HDHR Flex, but the other ATSC 3 channels are fine.


----------



## aaronwt

crbaldwin said:


> For ATSC 3 users, is the Fox 5 lip/audio sync way off for everyone? It could be a function of my new HDHR Flex, but the other ATSC 3 channels are fine.


It might be something with the fox 5 channel. Even my recording of the ATSC 1.0 Fox 5 news last night was slightly out of sync. A couple of weeks ago, the last time I watched their news, I did not have that issue. This was recorded either from my Flex 4k or my Prime on FiOS without a cable card.

I don't think I have a way to find out which tuner was used.


----------



## greg9x2

crbaldwin said:


> For ATSC 3 users, is the Fox 5 lip/audio sync way off for everyone? It could be a function of my new HDHR Flex, but the other ATSC 3 channels are fine.



I get lip sync issues in general with ATSC 3.0 on Sony 900H, but do notice it on Fox 5 usually. But think it's more of a TV issue, have had a lot of quirks since 3.0 went active... Think the TV software has issues. Random things to clear the sync issue include: changing to a 1.0 channel and back, power cycling the AVR, power cycling or rebooting the TV . Sometimes clears up right away, sometimes have to fight it for a while.

Mentioned before there is buffering with the 3.0 tuner... Usually if switch TV to Apps it happens right away, but when watching 3.0 channel it keeps playing for 5 seconds or so before switching. Don't know if that contributes to lip sync problems.

Update: Getting home tonight and FOX 5 3.0 is bad lip sync... changed to WUSA 3.0 and is ok. So does seem something with FOX 5.

And further update: The lip sync issue was happening during the local programming, when TMZ (Hey, TV was just on in background) came on, the lip sync seems to be correct now.

And when FOX 5 news came back on the lip sync is happening again.


----------



## mkfs

WDCN

I've not been following this saga, but 6.1 just showed up on Titan TV's schedule.

It _*was*_ a FrankenFM on ASR 1049508, owned by "Signal Above" and represented by A. Wray Fitch, III in McLean; they seemed to specialize in religious broadcasters. This 1951 AT&T "Garden City" Long Lines tower along Lee Highway is what first brought TV down from NYC, with coax across the river to the Long-Lines TV Ops center. The AT&T building was being demolished to build a housing development; with the owner's permission, we were salvaging Long-Lines artifacts.

(We had an encounter with the law firm while there. VEPCO showed up and pulled their meter, flipped it 180° and reinstalled it. I told my colleague "Someone didn't pay their bill..." Soon a VZ truck and a well-dressed woman drove up. When it was clear why they were there, I told them it was not a VZ issue, but a $$$ one. She was soon back with a check for VEPCO.) 

Now they are on ASR 1017638, and claiming to be The Country Network, but showing Heroes & Icons. Guess I'll need to rescan & see it.


----------



## joblo

mkfs said:


> WDCN
> 
> 6.1 just showed up on Titan TV's schedule.
> 
> It _*was*_ a FrankenFM
> 
> Now they are on ASR 1017638, and claiming to be The Country Network, but showing Heroes & Icons.


It still *is* a Franken-FM: La Nueva 87.7 FM radio, and it *is* showing The Country Network via ATSC 3.0 on 6.1.

I'm listening to it and watching it now.


----------



## Cbandscanner

aaronwt said:


> It might be something with the fox 5 channel. Even my recording of the ATSC 1.0 Fox 5 news last night was slightly out of sync. A couple of weeks ago, the last time I watched their news, I did not have that issue. This was recorded either from my Flex 4k or my Prime on FiOS without a cable card.
> 
> I don't think I have a way to find out which tuner was used.


I don't watch Fox very often, but I've seen it twice on the local news in the last few months on they ATSC1.0 signal. I think it's an issue with the station but a sporadic one. Last time I watched, I did not notice it. I posted about it once before.


----------



## mkfs

joblo said:


> It still *is* a Franken-FM: La Nueva 87.7 FM radio, and it *is* showing The Country Network via ATSC 3.0 on 6.1.


I imagine the spectral output must look ...interesting.... ASTC 3.0 and FM broadcast deviation audio....


----------



## Scott Bonney

Still having problems pulling in ATSC 3.0 7-1 on my LG GX with an RCA amplified interior antenna in a north facing window in downtown Bethesda. All other ATSC 3.0 stations are rock solid, but not 7-1. Signal buffering doesn’t seem to help and I get frequent glitches with video and audio breaks, and sometimes no signal at all.

Are all ATSC 3.0 stations in DC broadcast from the same tower? Is 7-1 somehow a lower power signal? The ATSC 1.0 version on 7-1 works fine.


----------



## greg9x2

Scott Bonney said:


> Still having problems pulling in ATSC 3.0 7-1 on my LG GX with an RCA amplified interior antenna in a north facing window in downtown Bethesda. All other ATSC 3.0 stations are rock solid, but not 7-1. Signal buffering doesn’t seem to help and I get frequent glitches with video and audio breaks, and sometimes no signal at all.
> 
> Are all ATSC 3.0 stations in DC broadcast from the same tower? Is 7-1 somehow a lower power signal? The ATSC 1.0 version on 7-1 works fine.


Interesting... Assume related to why can't get WJLA 3.0 at all on my TV.

Have seen a few blurbs that different PLP's can have different levels of receivablity. So, even though all on same RF frequency,. They are not all the same level of ability to tune in.

Question is, why is WJLA doing it different than the other stations ?

Really wish there was someone from behind the scenes here to give feedback about these things.
Would think they would want to know how the change over is going for different users.


----------



## Scott Bonney

greg9x2 said:


> Interesting... Assume related to why can't get WJLA 3.0 at all on my TV.
> 
> Have seen a few blurbs that different PLP's can have different levels of receivablity. So, even though all on same RF frequency,. They are not all the same level of ability to tune in.
> 
> Question is, why is WJLA doing it different than the other stations ?
> 
> Really wish there was someone from behind the scenes here to give feedback about these things.
> Would think they would want to know how the change over is going for different users.


I noted that the ATSC1.0 version of 7-1 is in 720P as is the new ATSC3.0 version of 7-1. The other five stations in ATSC3.0 are all 1080P, compared to 1080i or even 480i on some of the old ATSC 1.0 stations. It sound’s like our local ABC stations are somehow behind the times on broadcast resolution and signal strength.


----------



## Frank Monroe

Scott Bonney said:


> I noted that the ATSC1.0 version of 7-1 is in 720P as is the new ATSC3.0 version of 7-1. The other five stations in ATSC3.0 are all 1080P, compared to 1080i or even 480i on some of the old ATSC 1.0 stations. It sound’s like our local ABC stations are somehow behind the times on broadcast resolution and signal strength.


I have seen channel 7.1 in 1080p on the ATSC 3.0 channel. Right now its 720p probably because its running ABC network programming and thats the resolution ABC uses.


----------



## aaronwt

Scott Bonney said:


> Still having problems pulling in ATSC 3.0 7-1 on my LG GX with an RCA amplified interior antenna in a north facing window in downtown Bethesda. All other ATSC 3.0 stations are rock solid, but not 7-1. Signal buffering doesn’t seem to help and I get frequent glitches with video and audio breaks, and sometimes no signal at all.
> 
> Are all ATSC 3.0 stations in DC broadcast from the same tower? Is 7-1 somehow a lower power signal? The ATSC 1.0 version on 7-1 works fine.


I get the same signal strength from all of mine. They are all on the same frequency. I thought they were all being broadcast from the same tower?


----------



## KyL416

aaronwt said:


> They are all on the same frequency. I thought they were all being broadcast from the same tower?


An ATSC 3.0 signal can have multiple PLP layers with different modulation methods, this is how WHUT's RF 33 signal is configured:
plp0 (qam64): 7.1 WJLA
plp1 (qam256): 4.1 WRC, 5.1 WTTG, 9.1 WUSA, 32.1 WHUT


----------



## Brian in CT

KyL416 said:


> An ATSC 3.0 signal can have multiple PLP layers with different modulation methods, this is how WHUT's RF 33 signal is configured:
> plp0 (qam64): 7.1 WJLA
> plp1 (qam256): 4.1 WRC, 5.1 WTTG, 9.1 WUSA, 32.1 WHUT


Huh. I thought the station(s) assigned the lowest PLP on an ATSC 3.0 signal would be EASIER to receive. Some of the posters on this thread are proving that assumption wrong. Then again, it could be a software problem with certain receivers trying to "lock in" to a plp0 stream.


----------



## Scott Bonney

Frank Monroe said:


> I have seen channel 7.1 in 1080p on the ATSC 3.0 channel. Right now its 720p probably because its running ABC network programming and thats the resolution ABC uses.


That makes sense, thanks!


----------



## aaronwt

KyL416 said:


> An ATSC 3.0 signal can have multiple PLP layers with different modulation methods, this is how WHUT's RF 33 signal is configured:
> plp0 (qam64): 7.1 WJLA
> plp1 (qam256): 4.1 WRC, 5.1 WTTG, 9.1 WUSA, 32.1 WHUT


With my Flex 4K I get the same signal strength on all of them. 100%. But the signal quality is only 100% on WJLA. The other four ATSC channels have a signal quality between 85% and 95%. Would that be because of the QAM64 and QAM256 difference?

Although, it also has something called Symbol Quality. That is at 100% too for all five. But What is the Symbol Quality?


----------



## greg9x2

KyL416 said:


> An ATSC 3.0 signal can have multiple PLP layers with different modulation methods, this is how WHUT's RF 33 signal is configured:
> plp0 (qam64): 7.1 WJLA
> plp1 (qam256): 4.1 WRC, 5.1 WTTG, 9.1 WUSA, 32.1 WHUT


Thanks for that info, kind of stuff been trying to find out.. would think QAM64 would be easier to receive than QAM256...maybe it's the being on PLP0 that my TV is having issues with.


----------



## greg9x2

aaronwt said:


> With my Flex 4K I get the same signal strength on all of them. 100%. But the signal quality is only 100% on WJLA. The other four ATSC channels have a signal quality between 85% and 95%. Would that be because of the QAM64 and QAM256 difference?
> 
> Although, it also has something called Symbol Quality. That is at 100% too for all five. But What is the Symbol Quality?


The Symbol Quality usually means the amount of Errors or Noise in the signal that affect the data bits...at 100% means it's decoding everything without issues.


----------



## Newton-second

Brian in CT said:


> Huh. I thought the station(s) assigned the lowest PLP on an ATSC 3.0 signal would be EASIER to receive. Some of the posters on this thread are proving that assumption wrong. Then again, it could be a software problem with certain receivers trying to "lock in" to a plp0 stream.


It is possible for a 256QAM signal to decode more easily that a 64QAM signal if the 256QAM signal is using substantially more forward error correction (FEC).









Image source: StackPath

Looking at this plot, a 256QAM PLP with the most FEC allowed by the standard can be decoded at about 12 dB SNR while a 64QAM PLP with the least FEC can only be decoded at ~17 dB SNR.

Can anyone tell with HDHR diagnostics software what the "code rate" is for each channel? What that information I could probably tell you whether it is a software issue locking in plp0 or it is the 256QAM signal being more robust.


----------



## joblo

Newton-second said:


> Can anyone tell with HDHR diagnostics software what the "code rate" is for each channel?


11/15 on RF 25 (Baltimore) and 33, all PLPs; 7/15 on RF 6 and 30.


----------



## Scott Bonney

Newton-second said:


> It is possible for a 256QAM signal to decode more easily that a 64QAM signal if the 256QAM signal is using substantially more forward error correction (FEC).
> View attachment 3235355
> 
> 
> Image source: StackPath
> 
> Looking at this plot, a 256QAM PLP with the most FEC allowed by the standard can be decoded at about 12 dB SNR while a 64QAM PLP with the least FEC can only be decoded at ~17 dB SNR.
> 
> Can anyone tell with HDHR diagnostics software what the "code rate" is for each channel? What that information I could probably tell you whether it is a software issue locking in plp0 or it is the 256QAM signal being more robust.


I am constantly amazed at the level of knowledge about broadcast technology on this forum. Thanks to all for sharing their thoughts!


----------



## Newton-second

joblo said:


> 11/15 on RF 25 (Baltimore) and 33, all PLPs; 7/15 on RF 6 and 30.


Yeah, if the code rate is the same on all of RF 33's PLPs then the 64QAM should decode more easily than the 256QAM. So it seems like a receiver side issue. Could also be transmitter side if the station is somehow not transmitting the different PLPs exactly to ATSC 3.0 spec.

It's too bad we are seeing things like this. Hopefully these are just growing pains of the new standard and manufacturers can/will fix it in a software update soon.


----------



## GaryGnu

Can someone tell me the difference between Baltimore WNUV 54.1 and 54.11? Thanks.


----------



## mrradiohead55

GaryGnu said:


> Can someone tell me the difference between Baltimore WNUV 54.1 and 54.11? Thanks.


54.1 is from the WNUV ATSC 3.0 transmitter
54.11 is from the WMPB ATSC 1.0 transmitter.
Both should be identical programming, unless they offer additional services over the ATSC 3.0 signal.


----------



## fri1038

Adding a bit more info ...

In the ATSC 1.0 realm, same content, different transmitter. 54.1 is on WMPT's RF21. 54.11 on WMPB's RF22. Was rehosted in the two places to match WNUV's RF25 coverage area before it went ATSC 3.0. And the .1 and .11 thing was to ensure no tuner problems from having duplicate 54.1s.

The 3.0 WNUV is also 54-1 on RF25. (Or 154-1 on HDHR-4Ks, I think?)


----------



## GaryGnu

Since they made this change a few months ago, I don't get either at 100% Signal Strength through my HDHR. Before that I did get at 100% Signal Strength. All the other Baltimore channels are 100%. 54.11 is 85%. 54.1 is worse and less than 100% Signal Quality.


----------



## KyL416

Since MPT is a statewide broadcaster, their signals transmit from different tower sites to reach all of Maryland and don't come from Television Hill like the other Baltimore stations, so they needed to put WNUV's CW HD simulcast on two different MPT signals to reach everyone who previously got WNUV's RF 25 signal.

WMPT (RF 21) which has 54-1, transmits from a tower in Annapolis, while WMPB (RF 22), which has 54-11, transmits from a tower in Owings Mills. The rest of WNUV's subchannels are hosted by stations who transmit from Television Hill in Baltimore:
54-2 Antenna TV is on WMAR's RF 27 signal
54-3 Comet is on WBAL's RF 12 signal
54-4 Stadium is on WBAL's RF 12 signal


----------



## fri1038

Yep, WMPB and WMPT are in different directions and distances than TV Hill relative to E.C.

I had a sense of deja vu with this question. 🤪


----------



## mrradiohead55

RabbitEars shows WNUV in three locations...

ATSC 3.0 - 54.1 WNUV
ATSC 1.0 - 54.01 WMPT
ATSC 1.0 - 54.11 WMPB

I'm stopping now because if anyone else adds them this is going to get confusing.


----------



## GaryGnu

I am kind of a novice with OTA and antennas, etc.. I've spent some time with my antenna set up trying to maximize the number of channels I can receive on my HD Homerun. I live in Ellicott City and I am much closer to the Baltimore towers. My initial setup with a Yagi antenna pointed to Television Hill gave me all the Baltimore channels at 100%. I could also receive WGAL channel 8 in Lancaster at a reasonable strength. Also WMJF 39 was good.

When I couple a Winegard 7550 amplified antenna pointed towards DC, I gain a good signal for 4,5,14,20, 50 and 66. But I also get a weaker signal on WMAR 2 and WNUV 54 in Baltimore. I also completely lose 8 and 39. If I disconnect the power supply, the Baltimore channels are better and the DC channels are almost gone. I thought this would be a best of both worlds set up but it's not working out. I have tried moving the power supply - I've had it in the attic near the antennas and in the basement near the HDHR with better results in the basement. I have essentially brand new cables.

My wiring is as follows (wire length from both antennas is same):

Wingard 7550---Input 1 (Passive)-
---------Wingard 7870--------Power Supply------------40 feet------------HDHR Flex 4K (2 floors away)
Yagi-------------Input 2 (Blocked)-

Any ideas why I am having problems?

[Updated to correct wording amplifier vs power supply]


----------



## fri1038

GaryGnu said:


> ...
> When I couple a Winegard 7550 amplified antenna pointed towards DC...
> ...


Sounds like you are doing it right. I can only suggest making sure the antennas are separated at least 4 feet (opinions on that distance vary) then work on antenna placement though trial and error. 

The amp? Don't know. Could just be enhancing a multipath/nulling effect between the antennas or possibly overdriving your tuner with the stronger Baltimore signals. (Do you have two amps - one built into the 7550 antenna and another inline after the combiner? Or is that just the 7550 power supply drawn after the 7870 combiner?)

===

I tried to build an ideal system using a Jointenna (similar to the 7870) with identical length cables and two same model antennas separated by 4 feet - the most my mast will allow. But I find the antennas don't act independently. My last minor adjustment to my southwest/DC antenna, to accommodate WTTG's move, ended up degrading WMPB, coming from the north, for example. It took many trips up the ladder to find a happy medium with the two antennas.

Here is a good write-up on the subject I bookmarked once upon a time:









Stacking TV Antennas


You’ve probably heard the term antenna stacking, but what does it mean exactly, and is it a good idea? Let’s take a closer look at the concept and see some examples.




longrangesignal.com


----------



## GaryGnu

fri1038 said:


> Sounds like you are doing it right. I can only suggest making sure the antennas are separated at least 4 feet (opinions on that distance vary) then work on antenna placement though trial and error.
> 
> The amp? Don't know. Could just be enhancing a multipath/nulling effect between the antennas or possibly overdriving your tuner with the stronger Baltimore signals. (Do you have two amps - one built into the 7550 antenna and another inline after the combiner? Or is that just the 7550 power supply drawn after the 7870 combiner?)
> 
> ===
> 
> I tried to build an ideal system using a Jointenna (similar to the 7870) with identical length cables and two same model antennas separated by 4 feet - the most my mast will allow. But I find the antennas don't act independently. My last minor adjustment to my southwest/DC antenna, to accommodate WTTG's move, ended up degrading WMPB, coming from the north, for example. It took many trips up the ladder to find a happy medium with the two antennas.
> 
> Here is a good write-up on the subject I bookmarked once upon a time:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Stacking TV Antennas
> 
> 
> You’ve probably heard the term antenna stacking, but what does it mean exactly, and is it a good idea? Let’s take a closer look at the concept and see some examples.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> longrangesignal.com


The antennas are probably about 8 feet apart. That is the 7550 power supply drawn after the combiner. I was using the wrong wording. I will correct that. I will check out the link.

I wonder would it make sense to try and block the DC antenna from picking up the Baltimore signals?


----------



## GaryGnu

fri1038 said:


> Here is a good write-up on the subject I bookmarked once upon a time:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Stacking TV Antennas
> 
> 
> You’ve probably heard the term antenna stacking, but what does it mean exactly, and is it a good idea? Let’s take a closer look at the concept and see some examples.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> longrangesignal.com


This is the best article I have seen on this topic. One thing stood out for me:

"It’s therefore essential to connect the antennas to the combiner device with coaxial cables that are of the *same type and length*."

While the cables are the same length, they are a different style. I will make them the same exact type of cable and see if that helps.


----------



## greg9x2

So still have lip sync issues on WTTG 3.0...is all the time now it seems .
It's everyone else still seeing it ?


----------



## aaronwt

greg9x2 said:


> So still have lip sync issues on WTTG 3.0...is all the time now it seems .
> It's everyone else still seeing it ?


I remember seeing it a couple of weeks ago. But it's been awhile since I looked at the ATSC 3.0 feed.


----------



## fri1038

WETA is having problems this morning. I'm guessing they changed to their auxiliary transmitter as I can't get a lock on them up this way. Most Bandscans show them at reduced power.

edit: back to normal ~12:45pm.

Weather junkies can find Fox Weather on WDCA 20-1 this morning. Looks like Sat 10am - 1pm and Mon - Fri 11am-noon is their schedule.


----------



## greg9x2

greg9x2 said:


> So still have lip sync issues on WTTG 3.0...is all the time now it seems .
> It's everyone else still seeing it ?


And still have it... anyone else ? Don't want to have to factory reset again, but if only my TV may have to. Not sure how it would only be WTTG though.


----------



## doctorwizz

greg9x2 said:


> And still have it... anyone else ? Don't want to have to factory reset again, but if only my TV may have to. Not sure how it would only be WTTG though.


Don't reset. It is just WTTG 105.1 It is really bad. The 5.1 has it a tiny bit too.


----------



## twobucktoll

I too have had bad A/V sync on 3.0 WTTG; first noticed it during the NFC Championship game.


----------



## greg9x2

doctorwizz said:


> Don't reset. It is just WTTG 105.1 It is really bad. The 5.1 has it a tiny bit too.





twobucktoll said:


> I too have had bad A/V sync on 3.0 WTTG; first noticed it during the NFC Championship game.


Thanks for confirmation !

Found an Engineering email for WTTG few days ago and sent an email about it, but never got a response back.

Said before, can't believe there is no feedback forum or contact for whoever is running the project. Guess goes to show how low OTA broadcast are compared to Cable/Satellite.


----------



## Newton-second

greg9x2 said:


> Thanks for confirmation !
> 
> Found an Engineering email for WTTG few days ago and sent an email about it, but never got a response back.
> 
> Said before, can't believe there is no feedback forum or contact for whoever is running the project. Guess goes to show how low OTA broadcast are compared to Cable/Satellite.


This is disappointing, and I really wonder why some of these stations are bothering to switch if they're not really "supporting" the new standard. Maybe it is to push more people to cable/streaming where they get those sweet, sweet retransmission fees.


----------



## GaryGnu

GaryGnu said:


> I've done more investigating on this, and I can't find a difference in the video settings. All else is the same. The bottom line here is that anything connected via HDMI is somewhat darker. So, I'm going to make a post over on the Samsung board.
> 
> Another thing I did find, the picture on my HDHR using DLNA on my Samsung TV is awesome, probably better than the Fios picture. But if I switch over to the HDHR app on my Fire TV (or Apple TV), the picture is darker and I can't make it any brighter. The same is true and more pronounced for the NBC Sports App I have loaded on my Samsung vs what is loaded on the Fire TV/Apple TV.
> 
> Another thing I plan to do is split my signal and use my tuner as yet another option for Live TV.
> 
> Thanks all.


Answering my own questions here. The problem was with the Apple TV and Fire TV I was using. For the Fire TV there is a video setting Always HDR or Adaptive. Once I picked Adaptive, the brightness issue went away. For the Apple TV, there are numerous settings for video. HDR 60Hz was the setting. I changed it to SDR 60Hz and everything has been awesome since.

Cord has been cut. Internet upgraded. Been enjoying clear OTA signals for a few weeks now using an HDHR Flex 4K. I cannot get the WJLA and WUSA 1.0 signals but the 3.0 signals come in and are mostly watchable here in Ellicott City.


----------



## Cbandscanner

I finally bought myself an HD Home Run! It's great. I love that it integrates with Android TV and I don't need to use a different app on my TV.

I find the tuner is a little more sensitive than my television's tuner. Here in Annandale, I can receive a good signal with occasional break-up on Baltimore stations via my TV, but via the HD Home Run I'm getting a consistently good signal with no break up. I also have three ATSC 3.0 stations, DC, Baltimore and DC channel 6. It's occasionally scanning in WMDE, which I have never been able to see here via my TV. The signal isn't good enough to watch (and judging by the TV guide the programming doesn't meet that standard either) but it does come up every other day in the band scan.

I am shortly moving from here down to the Stafford-ish area so I hope this might help me if I get weaker TV reception. Judging by Rabbit Ears and my current location, I can get everything down to about 45dBuV/m.

There seems to be a way to unlock more stats and figures from the HD Home Run but I haven't found it yet.


----------



## greg9x2

Cbandscanner said:


> I finally bought myself an HD Home Run! It's great. I love that it integrates with Android TV and I don't need to use a different app on my TV.
> 
> I find the tuner is a little more sensitive than my television's tuner. Here in Annandale, I can receive a good signal with occasional break-up on Baltimore stations via my TV, but via the HD Home Run I'm getting a consistently good signal with no break up. I also have three ATSC 3.0 stations, DC, Baltimore and DC channel 6. It's occasionally scanning in WMDE, which I have never been able to see here via my TV. The signal isn't good enough to watch (and judging by the TV guide the programming doesn't meet that standard either) but it does come up every other day in the band scan.
> 
> I am shortly moving from here down to the Stafford-ish area so I hope this might help me if I get weaker TV reception. Judging by Rabbit Ears and my current location, I can get everything down to about 45dBuV/m.
> 
> There seems to be a way to unlock more stats and figures from the HD Home Run but I haven't found it yet.


Is the HDHR decoding 5.1 audio or is it only converting to Stereo in the 3.0 channels ?


----------



## Frank Monroe

greg9x2 said:


> Is the HDHR decoding 5.1 audio or is it only converting to Stereo in the 3.0 channels ?


For me I'm still getting stereo in the 3.0 channels when using the HDHR app. When using the Channels app, I'm getting 5.1 audio for the DC stations and still getting stereo for the Baltimore stations.


----------



## Cbandscanner

greg9x2 said:


> Is the HDHR decoding 5.1 audio or is it only converting to Stereo in the 3.0 channels ?


Sorry, I don't have a 5.1 set-up so I don't know what the audio is. My TV is reporting 5.1 Surround, but it seems to be reporting that on all HD HomeRun channels (including ATSC1.0) viewed through Android TV so I think that's a flag from the box rather than the broadcaster.


----------



## greg9x2

Cbandscanner said:


> Sorry, I don't have a 5.1 set-up so I don't know what the audio is. My TV is reporting 5.1 Surround, but it seems to be reporting that on all HD HomeRun channels (including ATSC1.0) viewed through Android TV so I think that's a flag from the box rather than the broadcaster.


Ok. The HDHR is said to not be able to decode AC-4 audio which is used on ATSC 3.0, so it sends the audio to it's servers to be decoded and sent back to your box, but it was said it only sends Stereo audio back.


----------



## Trip in VA

The HDHR doesn't decode the audio at all. It passes the video and audio to the TV set (or streaming device) to decode. If the set/device can't decode the audio and you're using the HDHR app, SiliconDust has gone above and beyond and only then will send the audio to be decoded remotely.

- Trip


----------



## greg9x2

Trip in VA said:


> The HDHR doesn't decode the audio at all. It passes the video and audio to the TV set (or streaming device) to decode. If the set/device can't decode the audio and you're using the HDHR app, SiliconDust has gone above and beyond and only then will send the audio to be decoded remotely.
> 
> - Trip


Ok, thanks for info. So much information is all over the place on it. Even the SiliconeDust reps in there forum were saying ATSC 3.0 channels were all stereo for DC market and that's why users were only getting stereo, but my TV shows all are 5.1.

Looking at HDHR in case Sony can't get it's act together and update the 3.0 tuner.


----------



## Frank Monroe

greg9x2 said:


> Even the SiliconeDust reps in there forum were saying ATSC 3.0 channels were all stereo for DC market and that's why users were only getting stereo, but my TV shows all are 5.1.


They may be getting confused with the Baltimore market as those ATSC 3.0 stations are still broadcasting without 5.1.


----------



## greg9x2

Frank Monroe said:


> They may be getting confused with the Baltimore market as those ATSC 3.0 stations are still broadcasting without 5.1.


Possibly. As said, I'm pretty confused on the issue. 

Edit:. Going to try one see how compares to the TV tuner. Need a 3.0 tuner for bedroom m TV anyway.


----------



## greg9x2

greg9x2 said:


> Possibly. As said, I'm pretty confused on the issue.
> 
> Edit:. Going to try one see how compares to the TV tuner. Need a 3.0 tuner for bedroom m TV anyway.


Dang...Amazon is crazy.. ordered HDHomerun at work few hours ago and it was on doorstep before even left work.

So finally got it working after TV reboot. Now can receive the WJLA 3.0 signal, so the Sony tuner is definitely not working correctly (900H model, not sure if other models).

Signal strengths on the 3.0 channels are around 73%, Signal Quality around 50%, and Symbol Quality is 100%. Guess the Signal Quality is due to the attic antenna The reception seems about equal to the TV tuner with the occasional hits, I expect this will improve when the leaves start coming back (along with 1.0 reception coming back).


But as was worried about, it seems all audio is 2 channel. Guessing that the AC4 decoding capability of the TV is limited to the tuner itself and will not decode AC4 from apps. 

Edit: And the TCL Roku TV in bedroom will play audio from 1.0 stations, but not audio from 3.0 stations. Technology is so fun.


----------



## pclement

March 1, 2022. Time to rescan in SE PA due to changes in broadcast signals. Will see what happens tonight.


----------



## greg9x2

WTTG ATSC 3.0 lip sync even worse now. Used to get it almost correct adding the max 500 ms audio delay in my receiver, but now even that is not enough.

Have tried engineering email address, Twitter, Facebook and the WHUT ATSC 3.0 email address, no response from any of them. Not sure how you get their attention.


----------



## aaronwt

They obviously don't care. Besides, how many people are watching their ATSC 3.0 feed? I'm sure it's a very small number.


----------



## greg9x2

aaronwt said:


> They obviously don't care. Besides, how many people are watching their ATSC 3.0 feed? I'm sure it's a very small number.


I know. Getting contact info for their advertisers would probably be the way to get them to address issue. Advertisers don't like when their commercials aren't perfect.


----------



## Frank Monroe

greg9x2 said:


> Is the HDHR decoding 5.1 audio or is it only converting to Stereo in the 3.0 channels ?


HDHomeRun released an update to the app today that says "Improvements to ATSC 3.0 audio support." However, from my testing on an Apple TV 4K, this wasn't fixed by the update.


----------



## greg9x2

Frank Monroe said:


> HDHomeRun released an update to the app today that says "Improvements to ATSC 3.0 audio support." However, from my testing on an Apple TV 4K, this wasn't fixed by the update.


Hmm... no Android update yet. Will need to check the Roku TV upstairs, that's the one with no 3.0 audio.


----------



## KyL416

For Android, if you can't wait for it to trickle down to you from the Play Store in the next few days, you can opt into the Beta from the Play Store or download the .apk file from HDHomeRun website and sideload it.

You're going to be out of luck with the Roku for now. Roku forces all developers to only use their internal player so the Roku app is basically a navigation skin that sends the HDHomeRun's stream to the player. And they are not allowed to bundle 3rd party decoding libraries to handle formats Roku's player can't natively decode like they can do on Windows, Apple and Android, and they can't implement the AC-4 cloud transcoding for Roku like they can on other platforms.

Only the newest Roku Ultra devices can natively decode AC-4 audio, while many of their other standalone devices can't even natively decode AC-3 and only support it via HDMI passthru mode.

Frankly you should avoid standalone Roku devices like the plague if you want to use a HDHomeRun, in addition to the AC-3/AC-4 issues, they also have a poorly designed MPEG-2 decoder that crashes anytime error correction needs to kick in, which is common with OTA signals. Streaming apps like Disney+, Netflix, Hulu etc can work around the limitations by providing alternate AAC/H264/HEVC/VP9 streams, but the HDHomeRun can only pass what it gets from the station's signal to the Roku which is MPEG-2/AC-3 for ATSC 1.0 and HEVC/AC-4 for ATSC 3.0.


----------



## greg9x2

KyL416 said:


> Frankly you should avoid standalone Roku devices like the plague if you want to use a HDHomeRun,


Well it's a Roku TV have had for a few years, ATSC 3.0 wasn't even a thought when got it.

Sucks about lack of support. Could live with only stereo on main TV for the one channel...but to not get any audio for 3.0 on the Roku TV, really makes the HDHR a questionable purchase. If Sony updates their tuner to get the missing WJLA, then it's really going to be pretty worthless as the reason that pushed me over to get it was the need for ATSC 3.0 tuner on that TV.


----------



## PaulGo

greg9x2 said:


> Well it's a Roku TV have had for a few years, ATSC 3.0 wasn't even a thought when got it.
> 
> Sucks about lack of support. Could live with only stereo on main TV for the one channel...but to not get any audio for 3.0 on the Roku TV, really makes the HDHR a questionable purchase. If Sony updates their tuner to get the missing WJLA, then it's really going to be pretty worthless as the reason that pushed me over to get it was the need for ATSC 3.0 tuner on that TV.


I just did a re-scan on my Sony TV after the firmware update and now it displays two WJLA 7.1 channels. One of them has the advanced audio which is only available with ATSC 3.0.


----------



## greg9x2

PaulGo said:


> I just did a re-scan on my Sony TV after the firmware update and now it displays two WJLA 7.1 channels. One of them has the advanced audio which is only available with ATSC 3.0.


Is this a 900H ? Had done a rescan after firmware update a week ago, but wasn't getting it then. Will check again.


----------



## PaulGo

greg9x2 said:


> Is this a 900H ? Had done a rescan after firmware update a week ago, but wasn't getting it then. Will check again.


 I have the 65A80J OLED which just got a firmware update.


----------



## greg9x2

PaulGo said:


> I have the 65A80J OLED which just got a firmware update.


So you did not receive WJLA previous to the update ?

Checked and 900H still not getting the 3.0 WJLA... our recent firmware update was kind of a BS one that didn't improve anything among all the issues. Hoping a real one comes soon and has ATSC update.


----------



## fri1038

WMJF-CD is broken again since at least yesterday morning if anyone is looking for it. Transmitter is up but sending no data. That old chestnut.


----------



## PaulGo

greg9x2 said:


> So you did not receive WJLA previous to the update ?
> 
> Checked and 900H still not getting the 3.0 WJLA... our recent firmware update was kind of a BS one that didn't improve anything among all the issues. Hoping a real one comes soon and has ATSC update.


Only ATSC 1.0.


----------



## greg9x2

Looks like WTTG 3.0 fixed the lip sync issue. See if it stays fixed.


----------



## fri1038

fri1038 said:


> WMJF-CD is broken again since at least yesterday [March 5] morning if anyone is looking for it. Transmitter is up but sending no data. That old chestnut.


And WQAW-LD went off the air during last night's gusty storm at 7:30pm.

These two stations seem to have problems - and get repaired - around the same time, strangely, even though they are 30 miles apart.

edit: wqaw back up 30 minutes after i mentioned it. 🤪

edit 2: wmjf fixed when checked at 1pm 3/8/22.


----------



## MRG1

I moved away from my rented basement in a depressed location to a second story place, still in College Park, MD, more or less opposite the University. Put my antenna (an old Clearstream 4, got it used free) on top of a bookshelf. My TIVO gets a bunch of channels. Of which I will only use ABC(7), CBS(9), CW(50), FOX(5), MNT(20), NBC(4), PBS (26) which so far work well, even though the antenna is pointed West, which is wrong. All of those are free online, but so nice to fast forward through the ads.


----------



## StantonGuy

Is anyone still maintaining the TV listings in the first post? It hasn't been updated in two years. I just rescanned and lost some stations. I'm wondering if it's just me or if they're gone. I get an impressive array of station so no worries.

I lost 6.1 H&I, 31.3 LAFF, 36.1 ShopHQ, 36.6 DigiTV, 45.3 Fox?, 49(1-6), 60.7 Newsy 
I get all of these (except ones I never watched) so no serious loss. Just curious. I generally get all of the DC and Baltimore stations, I think. 

Getting 47(1-2) but nothing there.


----------



## fri1038

I think the forum member who maintained that page posted he was moving on a couple years back.

Various reasons for the changes you mention. Some network changes, some transmitters off the air, some sub channels discontinued or moved. The 36-x (WMDE RF5 from across the bay) were still there this afternoon.

You can find the latest line ups on the market listings on rabbitears.info. Find Washington, Baltimore, or Hagerstown then expand all.


----------



## StantonGuy

fri1038 said:


> I think the forum member who maintained that page posted he was moving on a couple years back.
> 
> Various reasons for the changes you mention. Some network changes, some transmitters off the air, some sub channels discontinued or moved. The 36-x (WMDE RF5 from across the bay) were still there this afternoon.
> 
> You can find the latest line ups on the market listings on rabbitears.info. Find Washington, Baltimore, or Hagerstown then expand all.


thanks!

Are there guidelines on when best to scan to pick up the most channels? day/night, etc. (probably not best during an electrical storm)


----------



## wmcbrine

FWIW, here's the list of channels I can see with my HDHR5 (physical channel, virtual channel, callsign, encoding, other flags):



Code:


 7.0001  32.1 WHUT    MPEG2 AC3 HD 
 7.0002  32.2 PBSKids MPEG2 AC3    
 7.0003   7.1 WJLA    MPEG2 AC3 HD 
 7.0004   7.2 Charge! MPEG2 AC3    
 7.0005   7.3 Comet   MPEG2 AC3    
 7.0006   7.4 TBD     MPEG2 AC3    
 9.0001   9.1 WUSA-HD MPEG2 AC3 HD 
 9.0002   9.2 Crime   MPEG2 AC3    
 9.0003   9.3 Quest   MPEG2 AC3    
 9.0004   9.4 Twist   MPEG2 AC3    
 9.0005  68.1 Entra   MPEG2 AC3 HD 
11.0001  13.1 WJZ-TV  MPEG2 AC3 HD 
11.0002  13.2 StartTV MPEG2 AC3    
11.0003  13.3 Dabl    MPEG2 AC3    
11.0004  13.4 FaveTV  MPEG2 AC3    
12.0003  11.1 WBAL-DT MPEG2 AC3 HD 
12.0004  11.2 MeTV    MPEG2 AC3    
12.0005  54.3 Comet   MPEG2 AC3    
12.0006  54.4 Stadium MPEG2 AC3    
12.0007  11.4 TheGrio MPEG2 AC3    
12.0008  5000 Unknown MPEG2 AC3    
15.0001  14.1 WFDC-DT MPEG2 AC3 HD 
15.0002  14.2 getTV   MPEG2 AC3    
15.0003  14.3 GRIT    MPEG2 AC3    
15.0004  14.4 UniMas  MPEG2 AC3    
15.0005  50.1 WDCW-DT MPEG2 AC3 HD 
15.0006  50.2 Antenna MPEG2 AC3    
15.0007  25.1 WDVM-SD MPEG2 AC3    
20.1001  69.1 WQAW-LD MPEG2 AC3 HD 
20.1002  69.2 WQAW-LD MPEG2 AC3    
20.1003  69.3 WQAW-LD MPEG2 AC3    
20.1004  69.4 WQAW-LD MPEG2 AC3    
20.1005  69.5 WQAW-LD MPEG2 AC3    
20.1006  69.6 WQAW-LD MPEG2 AC3    
20.1007  69.7 WQAW-LD MPEG2 AC3 HD 
20.1008  69.8 WQAW-LD MPEG2 AC3    
21.0001  22.1 MPT-HD  MPEG2 AC3 HD 
21.0002  22.2 MPT-2   MPEG2 AC3    
21.0003  22.3 MPTKIDS MPEG2 AC3    
21.0004  22.4 NHK-WLD MPEG2 AC3    
21.0005  54.1 CWWNUV  MPEG2 AC3 HD 
22.0001  67.1 MPT-HD  MPEG2 AC3 HD 
22.0002  67.2 MPT-2   MPEG2 AC3    
22.0003  67.3 MPTKIDS MPEG2 AC3    
22.0004  67.4 NHK-WLD MPEG2 AC3    
22.0005 54.11 CWWNUV  MPEG2 AC3 HD 
25.5002 145.1 WBFF    HEVC         ATSC3
25.5003 111.1 WBAL    HEVC         ATSC3
25.5004 102.1 WMAR    HEVC         ATSC3
25.5006 122.1 WMPT    HEVC         ATSC3
25.5007 154.1 WNUV    HEVC         ATSC3
26.0002  5001 Unknown MPEG2 AC3 HD 
26.0003  45.1 WBFF45  MPEG2 AC3 HD 
26.0004  45.2 MyTV    MPEG2 AC3 HD 
26.0005  24.1 WUTB    MPEG2 AC3    
26.0007  45.4 Charge! MPEG2 AC3    
27.0003   2.1 WMAR-HD MPEG2 AC3 HD 
27.0004   2.2 GRIT    MPEG2 AC3    
27.0005   2.3 BOUNCE  MPEG2 AC3    
27.0006   2.4 MYSTERY MPEG2 AC3    
27.0007   2.5 CourtTV MPEG2 AC3    
27.0008   2.6 Newsy   MPEG2 AC3    
27.0009  54.2 Antenna MPEG2 AC3    
30.5001 158.1 WIAV    HEVC         ATSC3
30.5005 158.4 WJLA247 HEVC         ATSC3
30.5006 158.5 24/7MMT HEVC         ATSC3
31.0001  26.1 WETA-HD MPEG2 AC3 HD 
31.0002  26.2 WETA UK MPEG2 AC3 HD 
31.0003  26.3 KIDS    MPEG2 AC3    
31.0004  26.4 WORLD   MPEG2 AC3    
31.0005  26.5 METRO   MPEG2 AC3 HD 
33.0001 132.1 WHUT    HEVC         ATSC3
33.0002 107.1 WJLA    HEVC         ATSC3
33.0003 105.1 WTTG    HEVC         ATSC3
33.0004 104.1 WRC     HEVC         ATSC3
33.0005 109.1 WUSA    HEVC         ATSC3
34.0003   4.1 WRC-HD  MPEG2 AC3 HD 
34.0004   4.2 COZI    MPEG2 AC3    
34.0005  44.1 WZDC    MPEG2 AC3 HD 
34.0006  44.2 XITOS   MPEG2 AC3    
34.0007   4.3 LX      MPEG2 AC3    
35.0003  66.1 ION     MPEG2 AC3 HD 
35.0004  66.2 Bounce  MPEG2 AC3 HD 
35.0005  66.3 CourtTV MPEG2 AC3    
35.0006  66.4 Laff    MPEG2 AC3    
35.0007  66.5 Mystery MPEG2 AC3    
35.0008  66.6 Defy TV MPEG2 AC3    
35.0009  66.7 NEWSY   MPEG2 AC3    
36.0003   5.1 WTTG-DT MPEG2 AC3 HD 
36.0004  20.1 WDCA    MPEG2 AC3 HD 
36.0005   5.2 BUZZR   MPEG2 AC3    
36.0006   5.3 ME TV   MPEG2 AC3    
36.0007  20.2 MOVIES  MPEG2 AC3    
36.0008  20.3 HEROES  MPEG2 AC3

Along with the script I made to generate it (change ADDR as needed):



Code:


#!/usr/bin/env python

""" List virtual and physical channel numbers found by HDHomeRun """

import json
try:
    from urllib import request as r  # Python 3
except:
    import urllib as r               # Python 2

ADDR = '192.168.1.80'                # HDHomeRun IP
TEMP = 'http://%s/lineup.json?show=all&tuning'

# MHz to channel numbers 2-51

FREQS = {
    # low VHF
     57:  2,  63:  3,  69:  4,  79:  5,  85:  6,

    # high VHF
    177:  7, 183:  8, 189:  9, 195: 10, 201: 11, 207: 12, 213: 13,

    # core UHF
    473: 14, 479: 15, 485: 16, 491: 17, 503: 19, 509: 20, 515: 21,
    521: 22, 527: 23, 533: 24, 539: 25, 545: 26, 551: 27, 557: 28,
    563: 29, 569: 30, 575: 31, 581: 32, 587: 33, 593: 34, 599: 35,
    605: 36,

    # reserved
    611: 37,

    # shared with cell
    617: 38, 623: 39, 629: 40, 635: 41, 641: 42, 647: 43, 653: 44, 
    659: 45, 665: 46, 671: 47, 677: 48, 683: 49, 689: 50, 695: 51
}

def getf(num):
    return FREQS.get(num // 1000000, num)

def getn(item, name):
    return ['', name][item.get(name, 0)]

raw = r.urlopen(TEMP % ADDR).read()
data = json.loads(raw)

# Physical number, virtual number, name, codecs, flags

output = ['%2d.%04d %5s %-7.7s %-5.5s %-3.3s %-2.2s %s' % (
          getf(item.get('Frequency', 0)), item.get('ProgramNumber', 0),
          item.get('GuideNumber', ''), item.get('GuideName', ''),
          item.get('VideoCodec', ''), item.get('AudioCodec', ''),
          getn(item, 'HD'), getn(item, 'ATSC3')
          ) for item in data]

# HDHR reports in virtual channel order, but I want physical order

output.sort()

for item in output:
    print(item)

The main point of interest here is the frequency table -- the HDHR5's API reports the physical channels only in terms of frequency, rather than channel numbers. Otherwise it's fairly readable as-is.


----------



## twobucktoll

wmcbrine said:


> Along with the script I made to generate it (change ADDR as needed):


Why did you have to post this while I am at work? Now I have to make up an excuse to go home so I can try this out!


----------



## foxeng

wmcbrine said:


> FWIW, here's the list of channels I can see with my HDHR5 (physical channel, virtual channel, callsign, encoding, other flags):


Hat tip to you sir! Just ran a local run. This is slick! Thank you for writing it.


----------



## fri1038

StantonGuy said:


> thanks!
> 
> Are there guidelines on when best to scan to pick up the most channels? day/night, etc. (probably not best during an electrical storm)


Not really. Doing so on a clear, calm day will give you the most predictable results. There will always be some randomness to OTA reception due to weather, seasonal changes, trees and foliage, local structures, interference, etc.

If you are scanning for fun to see what you might temporarily spot from out of town, watch the Tropo Ducting forecasts and current conditions at dxinfocentre. Best conditions usually during the hot and muggy seasons as weather fronts pass though.


----------



## fri1038

I noticed WFDC's 14-4 UniMas changed to H.264 720p video from MPEG-2 480i. Probably some tuners out there that play it with audio and no video like my older Panasonic and Samsung.


----------



## KyL416

fri1038 said:


> H.264 720i video


It's 720p, the "0" next to the interlaced flag means it's progressive scanning.

Doing H264 lets them fit in a 3rd HD subchannel on the RF 15 signal they share with WDCW, since UniMas is their network that has a lot of live sports. But it comes at the expense of people using tuners that don't support H264. Newer TVs should be good, especially if they're smart models that support streaming apps.

A station in the Bay Area switched one of their subchannels to H264 over the summer, and the affected network recommended a cheap converter box for viewers whose TVs can't handle it


----------



## fri1038

> It's 720p, the "0" next to the interlaced flag means it's progressive scanning.


Thanks. Corrected my post. 

The soap opera that's on now does look really sharp on my PC. ;-)

A couple stations have experimented with H.264 in Baltimore but all went back to MPEG2. I picked up an Aluratek box at Best Buy to check it out on Stadium when it first launched. Same box, different name and cosmetics, I think.


----------



## aaronwt

StantonGuy said:


> thanks!
> 
> Are there guidelines on when best to scan to pick up the most channels? day/night, etc. (probably not best during an electrical storm)


Check the Tropospheric Ducting forecast to see when the weather conditions are most favorable. I used to check it all the time between 2001 and 2004. So I could record the HD shows from the ABC Baltimore station. Since they had 5.1 audio at the time. While the DC ABC station only had stereo audio.

Sent from my Tab S6 Lite Gray


----------



## Brian in CT

@StantonGuy - If you're interested in receiving distant TV signals, just be mindful that the vast majority of tropospheric ducting over land happens between sundown and sunrise. On the other hand, ducting over a water path can happen any time of day. The excellent website www.dxinfocentre.com explains that (and more) if you click the "Tropo DX Modes" link.

If you just want the best time to scan your locals for best results, any dry day should do. Dampness and humidity tend to negatively affect LOS coverage.


----------



## Smitty2k1

I'm beginning to think I don't have my antenna connected right. It's not amplified and on the roof of my 3 story + basement row home. TVs on each of the 4 floors. They all get different channels that drop out and sometimes if I'm too close to the TV it interferes with the signal. Pretty sure that shouldn't happen with an antenna on the roof. Wondering if the wiring in my walls is acting as a giant antenna. 

There's definitely several splitters and and overall long length of coax to reach all 4 TVs. Most of the coax is daisy chained in the walls, but one of the runs is a long exterior run that was added by the previous owner for his DorecTV. 

I purchased an amplifier on Amazon and the order was lost. The replacement just got stolen off my porch yesterday. I do like Amazon's policy of replacing items stolen off your porch at least. 

Also RCN has had significant stability and speed issues for me here in NE DC.

Coax is basically my nightmare right now. 

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk


----------



## mrradiohead55

Smitty2k1 said:


> I'm beginning to think I don't have my antenna connected right. It's not amplified and on the roof of my 3 story + basement row home. TVs on each of the 4 floors. They all get different channels that drop out and sometimes if I'm too close to the TV it interferes with the signal. Pretty sure that shouldn't happen with an antenna on the roof. Wondering if the wiring in my walls is acting as a giant antenna.
> 
> There's definitely several splitters and and overall long length of coax to reach all 4 TVs. Most of the coax is daisy chained in the walls, but one of the runs is a long exterior run that was added by the previous owner for his DorecTV.
> 
> I purchased an amplifier on Amazon and the order was lost. The replacement just got stolen off my porch yesterday. I do like Amazon's policy of replacing items stolen off your porch at least.


I really hate to say this (possibly you already know), EACH time coaxial cable hits a connection point there is a minimum signal loss of 3.5 dB (resistance), so the losses are going to stack up if you have very many _reconnects_. It also sounds like a grounding issue with the cable run. IF you have a LOT of cable to account for, the ground issue could be anywhere in the line. Hopefully it can be resolved without you losing all your hair. It sounds like you could use a pre-amplifier on your antenna system, plus trouble shooting all of your connection points.

Regarding the Amazon package loses, I would suggest one of those package lock boxes that is weather proof and designed to sit on your porch next to your door. It has an opening that allows the package delivery person to drop the package in. You retrieve your packages at the bottom through a doorway that is locked with a padlock. I know about them, as I'm a Amazon Flex delivery driver. BTW, there was a news story two weeks ago that said home package thefts are up 50% in the US since January 1st.

Jim


----------



## Smitty2k1

mrradiohead55 said:


> I really hate to say this (possibly you already know), EACH time coaxial cable hits a connection point there is a minimum signal loss of 3.5 dB (resistance), so the losses are going to stack up if you have very many _reconnects_. It also sounds like a grounding issue with the cable run. IF you have a LOT of cable to account for, the ground issue could be anywhere in the line. Hopefully it can be resolved without you losing all your hair. It sounds like you could use a pre-amplifier on your antenna system, plus trouble shooting all of your connection points.
> 
> Regarding the Amazon package loses, I would suggest one of those package lock boxes that is weather proof and designed to sit on your porch next to your door. It has an opening that allows the package delivery person to drop the package in. You retrieve your packages at the bottom through a doorway that is locked with a padlock. I know about them, as I'm a Amazon Flex delivery driver. BTW, there was a news story two weeks ago that said home package thefts are up 50% in the US since January 1st.
> 
> Jim


Thanks! The antenna is on the roof and immediately goes into an old DirecTV splitter that used to be amplified but broke. Excess splits capped with terminators. From there one line goes outside the house to the basement apartment. The rest go inside the house where each room is daisy chained. I think make two more two way splitters throughout that system. I got the antennas direct CDA4 that I was going to replace the old splitter with. 

Thanks for tip on drop box. We have been talking about getting one for a while, as this isn't the first package we have had stolen. Plenty of space on our porch for it. 

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk


----------



## Scott Bonney

mrradiohead55 said:


> I really hate to say this (possibly you already know), EACH time coaxial cable hits a connection point there is a minimum signal loss of 3.5 dB (resistance), so the losses are going to stack up if you have very many _reconnects_. It also sounds like a grounding issue with the cable run. IF you have a LOT of cable to account for, the ground issue could be anywhere in the line. Hopefully it can be resolved without you losing all your hair. It sounds like you could use a pre-amplifier on your antenna system, plus trouble shooting all of your connection points.
> 
> Regarding the Amazon package loses, I would suggest one of those package lock boxes that is weather proof and designed to sit on your porch next to your door. It has an opening that allows the package delivery person to drop the package in. You retrieve your packages at the bottom through a doorway that is locked with a padlock. I know about them, as I'm a Amazon Flex delivery driver. BTW, there was a news story two weeks ago that said home package thefts are up 50% in the US since January 1st.
> 
> Jim


Years ago, I replaced a cobbled network of coaxial cables daisy that were chained to my rooftop antenna to receive ATSC 1.0 signals from a large directional Channel Master motorized antenna. I pulled a single, long cable all the way from the roof to the external Samsung ATSC 1.0 tuner and was rewarded with a much stronger and more stable signal. Not sure about ATSC 3.0 signals though.


----------



## fri1038

Smitty2k1 said:


> .... I got the antennas direct CDA4 that I was going to replace the old splitter with ...


 I was about to suggest a distribution amp to replace the splitter closest to the antenna. A broken amp might be blocking your signal. I have one similar to this from Lowes. Eliminate the daisy chains with a single run of coax, if possible. The big box stores have quad shielded cables for that.

Amazon Hub Locker is handy, too, if there is one nearby. I lost my first parcel in 26 years, here, a couple weeks ago.


----------



## greg9x2

Smitty2k1 said:


> Thanks! The antenna is on the roof and immediately goes into an old DirecTV splitter that used to be amplified but broke. Excess splits capped with terminators. From there one line goes outside the house to the basement apartment. The rest go inside the house where each room is daisy chained. I think make two more two way splitters throughout that system. I got the antennas direct CDA4 that I was going to replace the old splitter with.
> 
> Thanks for tip on drop box. We have been talking about getting one for a while, as this isn't the first package we have had stolen. Plenty of space on our porch for it.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk


Yes... replace that first splitter. A broken amplified splitter is going to affect everything after it. Don't use any more outputs than needed, as mentioned, every extra tap on a splitter is more loss . But an amplified splitter will offset that first ones loss.


----------



## Smitty2k1

Scott Bonney said:


> Years ago, I replaced a cobbled network of coaxial cables daisy that were chained to my rooftop antenna to receive ATSC 1.0 signals from a large directional Channel Master motorized antenna. I pulled a single, long cable all the way from the roof to the external Samsung ATSC 1.0 tuner and was rewarded with a much stronger and more stable signal. Not sure about ATSC 3.0 signals though.


Yeah everything else is in walls and installed when the house was gut remodeled in 2005. I don't actually have a DVR or external tuner, each TV is getting it's own feed from the antenna so it's not practical to run new coax. Conveniently they ran cat5e at this time for phone lines, but I've been able to repurpose it as Ethernet. Requires a few switches here and there though. 

Kind of annoying as they installed a network closet and rack for the security cameras and in ceiling speakers, lol 

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk


----------



## pkpaul

"Story Television" just fired-up their signal on channel 11-3 at 2:15 PM Friday 25 March.
Content begins Monday 28 March.


----------



## Trip in VA

I'm not seeing it yet.

- Trip


----------



## pkpaul

It went dark after about 5 minutes.


----------



## beboram

*Looking for a rooftop antenna recommendation. I'd prefer to avoid a rotor if at all possible. What are my choices?*

The Washington DC stations are clustered around 170 degrees, Baltimore about 79 degrees, WPMT at 119 degrees from my location. The farthest out stations are about 36 miles away. 

Thanks.


----------



## fri1038

Guessing you mean WMPT (PBS/CW Annapolis) rather than WPMT (Fox/PBS Harrisburg.) WMPT is the same as WMPB in Owings Mill so it may be a redundant target seeing how you appear to be in western Howard county or thereabouts. Low power WQAW (broken again as of April 1, btw) is on WMPT's tower but is redundant with DC stations unless you want Azteca or TrueReal. Are you interested in ATSC 3.0 stations?

Sharing a rabbitears.info signal search result page will be helpful to you and those wanting to help you. Clicking on the mileage in the distance column will show you if you have line of sight or there are geographic elements in the way. Also share whether you have trees close by or any other structures that might block the signal or cause multipath interference.

That said, you need an antenna to handle channels 7-36, VHF-hi and UHF, for the DC and Baltimore markets. And it would need a ~90 degree beam width from what you shared. Possibly you can get away with one antenna pointed at the farthest/weakest area, and you can get the closer/stronger stations off the side. Or it would work, aiming in between. That worked for me, mostly, but having two directional antennas joined, minimized multipath interference from trees and helped with the weaker stations on the edge of one antenna's beam width.

So, fill in the blanks, and someone should chime in with more specific recommendations.

edit: it is also worth mentioning if you will be splitting the coax run from the antenna to multiple tuners or if great distance, say >50ft.



beboram said:


> *Looking for a rooftop antenna recommendation. I'd prefer to avoid a rotor if at all possible. What are my choices?*
> 
> The Washington DC stations are clustered around 170 degrees, Baltimore about 79 degrees, WPMT at 119 degrees from my location. The farthest out stations are about 36 miles away.
> 
> Thanks.


----------



## beboram

fri1038 said:


> Guessing you mean WMPT (PBS/CW Annapolis) rather than WPMT (Fox/PBS Harrisburg.) WMPT is the same as WMPB in Owings Mill so it may be a redundant target seeing how you appear to be in western Howard county or thereabouts. Low power WQAW (broken again as of April 1, btw) is on WMPT's tower but is redundant with DC stations unless you want Azteca or TrueReal. Are you interested in ATSC 3.0 stations?
> 
> Sharing a rabbitears.info signal search result page will be helpful to you and those wanting to help you. Clicking on the mileage in the distance column will show you if you have line of sight or there are geographic elements in the way. Also share whether you have trees close by or any other structures that might block the signal or cause multipath interference.
> 
> That said, you need an antenna to handle channels 7-36, VHF-hi and UHF, for the DC and Baltimore markets. And it would need a ~90 degree beam width from what you shared. Possibly you can get away with one antenna pointed at the farthest/weakest area, and you can get the closer/stronger stations off the side. Or it would work, aiming in between. That worked for me, mostly, but having two directional antennas joined, minimized multipath interference from trees and helped with the weaker stations on the edge of one antenna's beam width.
> 
> So, fill in the blanks, and someone should chime in with more specific recommendations.
> 
> edit: it is also worth mentioning if you will be splitting the coax run from the antenna to multiple tuners or if great distance, say >50ft.


Thanks for the advice.

Correct I want WMPT PBS Annapolis (Channel 22.x). Don't know Azteca or TrueReal what do they broadcast?

Yes, I want Nextgen (ATSC 3.0). 

Link to my Rabbitear signal search - RabbitEars.Info

No splitting signals.

I don't mind having two smaller directional antennas pointed at two different points for strong signals. I occasionally get distorted signal when either BWI or IAD sends flights near the house. I am in upper northern Montgomery. 

Also, would request recommendation of an installer.


----------



## fri1038

beboram said:


> Thanks for the advice....


Well, you have line-of-sight to the Balt, Wash, and Annap transmitters, unless you have trees or tall buildings nearby. Max distance about 30 miles. That's good. Again, WMPB, west of Baltimore is identical to WMPT in Annapolis, if that suffices.

WQAW is on the fringe for you, so that's a maybe. Links: Azteca and TrueReal. A pending same-channel RF20 station in DC might wipe that out for you anyway eventually.

Can't do much about airplane traffic if that is a serious problem, but ATSC 3.0 is designed to be more robust in dealing with multipath. So, at least many of the major networks have 3.0 signals available. Explore the links on the rabbitears site if you have a 3.0 tuner. In your chart, the stations that are green in the right-most columns are 3.0. Click on the callsign to see what channels they offer. 

No splitters and good signal strength forecasted, so a preamp or distribution amplifier shouldn't be necessary.

I don't have any installer info.

So, if it were me, I'd get a decent medium range VHF-hi + UHF antenna and try to find a sweet spot pointed east to south that works for all the stations. If that doesn't work out, add a second identical antenna, aim one at Balt and the other at Wash and joint them with a combiner (e.g., channelmaster CM-0500 and winegard CC-7870.) From experience, it can be a fussy arrangement to get right.

Antennas off the top of my head for that: RCA ANT751, Winegard YA-7000, AntennasDirect Clearstream Max series. Televes antennas are AVSForum favorites lately. The small antennas in my user pic are Channelmaster Stealthtennas - I think they are discontinued but are still on Amazon for cheap - might not be enough for your use case. My most distant is 26 miles, 1-Edge (one hill in the way) and work fine until the wind whips my forest of big trees around. Check out Antenna Man's YouTube reviews for more ideas. 

My gut tells me the Clearstream Maxes will have a wider beam width for that 80 degree spread you need. The other yagi-style antennas have a narrower signal view. More research needed on that point.

I've pretty much described what works for me in a similar situation. Hopefully there is something in there you can use.


----------



## fri1038

WQAW still broadcasting lots of nothing. Finally, the perfect TV station.


----------



## mrradiohead55

fri1038 said:


> WQAW still broadcasting lots of nothing. Finally, the perfect TV station.


The HC2 engineer gave the encoder a swift kick in the *@!%. He says it's working again. Anyone seeing results? YMMV

Jim


----------



## fri1038

mrradiohead55 said:


> The HC2 engineer gave the encoder a swift kick in the *@!%. He says it's working again. Anyone seeing results? YMMV
> 
> Jim


 Fixed at 9:37pm.


----------



## beboram

fri1038 said:


> Well, you have line-of-sight to the Balt, Wash, and Annap transmitters, unless you have trees or tall buildings nearby. Max distance about 30 miles. That's good. Again, WMPB, west of Baltimore is identical to WMPT in Annapolis, if that suffices.
> 
> WQAW is on the fringe for you, so that's a maybe. Links: Azteca and TrueReal. A pending same-channel RF20 station in DC might wipe that out for you anyway eventually.
> 
> Can't do much about airplane traffic if that is a serious problem, but ATSC 3.0 is designed to be more robust in dealing with multipath. So, at least many of the major networks have 3.0 signals available. Explore the links on the rabbitears site if you have a 3.0 tuner. In your chart, the stations that are green in the right-most columns are 3.0. Click on the callsign to see what channels they offer.
> 
> No splitters and good signal strength forecasted, so a preamp or distribution amplifier shouldn't be necessary.
> 
> I don't have any installer info.
> 
> So, if it were me, I'd get a decent medium range VHF-hi + UHF antenna and try to find a sweet spot pointed east to south that works for all the stations. If that doesn't work out, add a second identical antenna, aim one at Balt and the other at Wash and joint them with a combiner (e.g., channelmaster CM-0500 and winegard CC-7870.) From experience, it can be a fussy arrangement to get right.
> 
> Antennas off the top of my head for that: RCA ANT751, Winegard YA-7000, AntennasDirect Clearstream Max series. Televes antennas are AVSForum favorites lately. The small antennas in my user pic are Channelmaster Stealthtennas - I think they are discontinued but are still on Amazon for cheap - might not be enough for your use case. My most distant is 26 miles, 1-Edge (one hill in the way) and work fine until the wind whips my forest of big trees around. Check out Antenna Man's YouTube reviews for more ideas.
> 
> My gut tells me the Clearstream Maxes will have a wider beam width for that 80 degree spread you need. The other yagi-style antennas have a narrower signal view. More research needed on that point.
> 
> I've pretty much described what works for me in a similar situation. Hopefully there is something in there you can use.


Thanks so very much. I do not have tall trees near by - that's not an issue. Thanks for the antenna suggestions. I had seen the Clearstream antennas somewhere, I liked its compact design. I don't want the antenna to be the eyesore of my neighbors either two of them sit higher than my house and have clear view of the roof. I had wondered if two Clearstream 2Max antennas pointed at BALT and DC will also get me WMPT Annapolis without multipath/interference issues. I will check out Antennaman's reviews.

Azteca or Truereal would not be of any interest to me. Thanks for the links though. 

Again, thanks so much.


----------



## fri1038

It just clicked that you have the MPT station from Frederick, WFPT, in your back yard, too, so between it, Annapolis, and Owings Mills, you should have no problem getting Maryland Public Television. (Though only WMPT and WMPB host 54-1/11 CW in exchange for WNUV hosting MPT's ATSC 3.0 channel.) AntennaMan's videos will also show what to avoid in an antenna.


----------



## GaryGnu

beboram said:


> I don't want the antenna to be the eyesore of my neighbors either two of them sit higher than my house and have clear view of the roof.


Is installing in your attic an option?


----------



## beboram

fri1038 said:


> It just clicked that you have the MPT station from Frederick, WFPT, in your back yard, too, so between it, Annapolis, and Owings Mills, you should have no problem getting Maryland Public Television. (Though only WMPT and WMPB host 54-1/11 CW in exchange for WNUV hosting MPT's ATSC 3.0 channel.) AntennaMan's videos will also show what to avoid in an antenna.


Unfortunately anything directly North is blocked. My neighborhood is terraced - my house is on the middle terrace, the houses behind me (Frederick direction) are sitting about 30ft higher, the roof is about ground height from my neighbors driveway. However, I have clear line of sight from SE to SW.

I think I will ask Antenna man's advice he charges $40.00 for consultation. Antenna Man - Cut The Cord


----------



## beboram

GaryGnu said:


> Is installing in your attic an option?


Attic is possibly out. I will have solar panels soon, they will be on the South side of the roof, near 100% sun all seasons. The panels may block the TV signals. The roof antenna can be mounted on the North face just clearing the roof peak for least visibility from the street in front. I know they will not object - just trying to be a good neighbor.


----------



## poppagene

beboram said:


> I don't want the antenna to be the eyesore of my neighbors either two of them sit higher than my house and have clear view of the roof.


I'm not sure why anyone would think a rooftop antenna to be an eyesore.


----------



## greg9x2

WTTG 3.0 lip sync issue is back since yesterday at least.


----------



## crbaldwin

WTTG 105.1 is suddenly missing from the HDHomerun lineup?


----------



## aaronwt

crbaldwin said:


> WTTG 105.1 is suddenly missing from the HDHomerun lineup?


It's still in my lineup. I just selected it in the HDHomeRun Windows app and am able to view 105.1


----------



## crbaldwin

Sorry, my fault. A bunch of new channels were added to the lineup and I forgot that I disabled that channel before because the lip sync was so bad on 3.0.


----------



## JackSplat58

Saw this yesterday, wonder what the impact will be for all of us currently using ATSC 3.0 tuners. Doesn't sound like a firmware update will be an option to address the issue.

*Devices currently built for ATSC 3.0 won't actually be compatible with most ATSC 3.0 stations as soon as this summer.*

Over-the-air antenna television in the United States is in the early stages of transitioning to the ATSC 3.0 standard (sometimes called ‘NextGen’ TV), which enables interactive TV, 4K resolution support, and other features. Many broadcasters already support the new technology, and there are a few DVR boxes and TVs with compatible tuners, but the first generation of ATSC 3.0 devices could soon be blocked out from receiving the standard they were built for.









Tablo 4K OTA DVR delay reveals first generation of ATSC 3.0 devices could be downgraded soon


The new ATSC 3.0 standard brings 4K support to over-the-air TV in the US, but the first devices to support it might not last much longer.




www.xda-developers.com


----------



## n8hoo

JackSplat58 said:


> Saw this yesterday, wonder what the impact will be for all of us currently using ATSC 3.0 tuners. Doesn't sound like a firmware update will be an option to address the issue.
> 
> *Devices currently built for ATSC 3.0 won't actually be compatible with most ATSC 3.0 stations as soon as this summer.*
> 
> Over-the-air antenna television in the United States is in the early stages of transitioning to the ATSC 3.0 standard (sometimes called ‘NextGen’ TV), which enables interactive TV, 4K resolution support, and other features. Many broadcasters already support the new technology, and there are a few DVR boxes and TVs with compatible tuners, but the first generation of ATSC 3.0 devices could soon be blocked out from receiving the standard they were built for.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Tablo 4K OTA DVR delay reveals first generation of ATSC 3.0 devices could be downgraded soon
> 
> 
> The new ATSC 3.0 standard brings 4K support to over-the-air TV in the US, but the first devices to support it might not last much longer.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.xda-developers.com


eh, this article is reeeeeeeally reaching out there with the speculation...this sounds like tablo's problem, there's absolutely no factual basis to write an article going "this might affect every 3.0 device"



> If Tablo’s statement about broadcasters rolling out DRM support is accurate, and if existing boxes and TVs from other manufacturers can’t be updated with the DRM keys, devices currently built for ATSC 3.0 won’t actually be compatible with most ATSC 3.0 stations as soon as this summer.


fwiw, sure enough this has already come up on the SD forum and HDHRs won't have issues, should this come to pass


----------



## MRG1

I'm just curious. Do many people have tree-top antennas, or treetop passive reflectors, in neighborhoods where the trees are a lot taller than the houses? How practical are they?

And do some people go all out and build something like a tall cupula on top of their homes, just so they can receive OTA signals better? Obviously, that would be ridiculously expensive.

It's a shame neighborhoods have rules that prevent people from just erecting very tall antennas. It would be so much easier. Sure, you have to worry about lightning safety, but that can be done.

Over the past few years, people have built a lot of new dorms and apartment buildings in skyscrapers around College Park MD. I suppose they could put OTA antennas on top, and distribute the signals to their tenants. But maybe the tlal buildings also block other people's reception.

I deliberately chose a top floor room in a 3 story shared house to rent, in College Park, so I could put an antenna near the ceiling. But I don't use it much - I found a browser that somehow skips the ads in streamed reception of the network I watch most, and that's more reliable.


----------



## Brian in CT

MRG1 said:


> I'm just curious. Do many people have tree-top antennas, or treetop passive reflectors, in neighborhoods where the trees are a lot taller than the houses? How practical are they?


Not a good idea. In my town about ten years ago, some homeowner decided to put a TV antenna atop a 60 foot tall pine tree. Every time I drove by the place, I wanted to go knock on their door to tell the owner that they should move the antenna to a sturdy structure, but I minded my own business. After a year or so, following a strong nor'easter, I drove by to find the antenna bent in a "U" shape. It was barely still attached to the treetop. What a waste.


----------



## KyL416

You will also get constant dropouts anytime the tree sways in the wind.


----------



## Cbandscanner

MRG1 said:


> It's a shame neighborhoods have rules that prevent people from just erecting very tall antennas. It would be so much easier. Sure, you have to worry about lightning safety, but that can be done.


I'm lucky that I have never had to fight neighbors on antennas, but most neighborhood rules, such as HOA, are overridden by the FCC's OTARD rule that allows TV antennas and dishes under 1m. OTARD allows up to a 12ft mast. There are other rules that might be city-wide or there are restrictions governing antenna towers near airports, but a regular TV antenna on a house you rent or own, should be fine anywhere. On apartment buildings, I think it needs to be in an area you control like a private balcony, but not a common area like a roof.









Over-the-Air Reception Devices Rule


Over-the-Air Reception Devices Rule




www.fcc.gov


----------



## wmcbrine

MRG1 said:


> I'm just curious. Do many people have tree-top antennas, or treetop passive reflectors, in neighborhoods where the trees are a lot taller than the houses? How practical are they?
> 
> And do some people go all out and build something like a tall cupula on top of their homes, just so they can receive OTA signals better?


I've never heard of anyone doing either of those. Very rarely, I've seen full-on antenna towers.

Our antennas are attached to the chimney, which does put them higher than the rest of the roof. It's the only thing the chimney actually does these days, since they ran an alternate exhaust pipe for the new furnace.


----------



## MRG1

Cbandscanner said:


> I'm lucky that I have never had to fight neighbors on antennas, but most neighborhood rules, such as HOA, are overridden by the FCC's OTARD rule that allows TV antennas and dishes under 1m. OTARD allows up to a 12ft mast.


I don't mean a measly 12' mast. I mean something more like 100 or 200', maybe even higher. 

A lot of companies advertise flagpole antennas, though I'm not sure if any of them are usable for TV signals. It sounds from the ads like they are designed to hide the fact that you've put up a very high antenna. Of course that wouldn't reasonably give you 100 or 200', but it might be higher than 12'. Around relatively flat regions like the DC metro area, 200' might give you line of site to a lot more broadcast towers. 

In fact, if the electric power companies were able to mount antennas on their electric poles, and feed the results to their customers, even that would work better than rooftop antennas for many people, though they aren't as high as I would like.

Cell phone towers are sometimes sort of stealthed to look like very tall trees. But when they are substantially larger (and usually thinner) than nearby trees, it must be pretty obvious.

Swaying in the wind would indeed be a problem for a treetop antenna or passive reflector. It would have to be designed with an active control element to keep it pointed towards the broadcast tower.

Or - it could be an array antenna, using electronic pointing. I like that idea anyway - as the weather changed, it could actively track the direction of the broadcast signal. I think that is the technique used by the $500 antenna systems that track LEO satellites, like the Starlink (though I assume they also look at the orbital elements), but I might be wrong.

Oh well. I really wish the courts had sided with LOCAST.


----------



## tvmicrowave

WAZT-CD (now WDME) just signed on about an hour ago from its new location in Washington DC atop of the WRC-TV tower. RF channel 20. New home of MeTV HD beginning 5/9, MeTV+, Story Television, and Decades (beginning 5/1). 

Any signal reports?


----------



## n8hoo

Here's all the local bandscanners that see it: RabbitEars Mobile

I (now just a couple miles from Trip in Alexandria) don't see it but not a surprise as I don't get any of the other LDs


----------



## fri1038

Impact on WQAW-LD (also RF20, from near Annapolis) as seen in Severn. Seeing occasional breakups on the Panasonic TV.


----------



## pkpaul

Seen in Falls Church:


----------



## n8hoo

after rescanning, I also noticed a new 4.4 Oxygen. this is in fact a straight simulcast of the cable channel of the same name. SD widescreen.


----------



## jmantothe64

tvmicrowave said:


> WAZT-CD (now WDME) just signed on about an hour ago from its new location in Washington DC atop of the WRC-TV tower. RF channel 20. New home of MeTV HD beginning 5/9, MeTV+, Story Television, and Decades (beginning 5/1).
> 
> Any signal reports?


Did they move towers? Normally I can only get a PSIP, but I'm currently able to receive a signal strong enough to get a picture.


----------



## KyL416

jmantothe64 said:


> Did they move towers?


Yes, now it's a non-directional 15 kW signal from this tower on Nebraska Avenue in DC. It used to be on a tower in Leesburg.


----------



## fri1038

jmantothe64 said:


> ... Normally I can only get a PSIP, but I'm currently able to receive a signal strong enough to get a picture.


Looks like they've had technical problems since Saturday morning. You'll probably get the complete picture when that is fixed.





__





Signal graphs for WAZT-CD at Fairfax City, VA-avs joblo on tuner1







www.rabbitears.info





edit: nevermind. signal is okay. link to current wdme graph:





__





Signal graphs for WDME-CD at Fairfax City, VA-avs joblo on tuner1







www.rabbitears.info


----------



## Mike M.

tvmicrowave said:


> WAZT-CD (now WDME) just signed on about an hour ago from its new location in Washington DC atop of the WRC-TV tower. RF channel 20. New home of MeTV HD beginning 5/9, MeTV+, Story Television, and Decades (beginning 5/1).
> 
> Any signal reports?


I am picking it up in Falls Church. Strangely I cannot see the Decades coming soon screen on my Dish tuner. Only on my Sharp TV. Should I be worried that this is permanent?


----------



## Mike M.

poppagene said:


> I'm not sure why anyone would think a rooftop antenna to be an eyesore.


An eyesore is in the eye of the beholder.


----------



## Mike M.

MRG1 said:


> I'm just curious. Do many people have tree-top antennas, or treetop passive reflectors, in neighborhoods where the trees are a lot taller than the houses? How practical are they?
> 
> And do some people go all out and build something like a tall cupula on top of their homes, just so they can receive OTA signals better? Obviously, that would be ridiculously expensive.
> 
> It's a shame neighborhoods have rules that prevent people from just erecting very tall antennas. It would be so much easier. Sure, you have to worry about lightning safety, but that can be done.
> 
> Over the past few years, people have built a lot of new dorms and apartment buildings in skyscrapers around College Park MD. I suppose they could put OTA antennas on top, and distribute the signals to their tenants. But maybe the tlal buildings also block other people's reception.
> 
> I deliberately chose a top floor room in a 3 story shared house to rent, in College Park, so I could put an antenna near the ceiling. But I don't use it much - I found a browser that somehow skips the ads in streamed reception of the network I watch most, and that's more reliable.


The problem with mounting on a tree is that trees grow and it will not necessarily be straight up. It will work for awhile--- maybe for a few years but signal will likely degrade over time.


----------



## KyL416

fri1038 said:


> Looks like they've had technical problems since Saturday morning. You'll probably get the complete picture when that is fixed.
> 
> https://www.rabbitears.info/tvdx/signal_graph/10802BCC/tuner1/WAZT-CD


They're not having trouble. That signal graph only looks like that because the callsign is no longer WAZT-CD and is now WDME-CD, so after the database was updated on Saturday morning to reflect the change, you now have to use their new callsign to see the graph:
https://www.rabbitears.info/tvdx/signal_graph/10802BCC/tuner1/WDME-CD


----------



## greg9x2

For Sony 900H owners, todays firmware update fixes the WJLA 3.0 reception issue ! Also getting better lock at lower signal levels... Signal level of 40 was drop out before, getting steady lock at 34 on one channel and tuned in 13 more channels (Some are borderline though, but ones wanted are good now !)


----------



## beboram

beboram said:


> Unfortunately anything directly North is blocked. My neighborhood is terraced - my house is on the middle terrace, the houses behind me (Frederick direction) are sitting about 30ft higher, the roof is about ground height from my neighbors driveway. However, I have clear line of sight from SE to SW.
> 
> I think I will ask Antenna man's advice he charges $40.00 for consultation. Antenna Man - Cut The Cord


Channel Master CM-4228HD (Extremetenna 80 HD) is the choice. I cannot find an antenna installer who services Montgomery and immediate surrounding counties. Any recommendations for reputable installer will be appreciated. No luck with Angi or ThumbTack.


----------



## mrradiohead55

beboram said:


> Channel Master CM-4228HD (Extremetenna 80 HD) is the choice. I cannot find an antenna installer who services Montgomery and immediate surrounding counties. Any recommendations for reputable installer will be appreciated. No luck with Angi or ThumbTack.


Which are you closer to, Baltimore or DC? Or specific suburban area. Would help to know general location. Some installers don't want to drive very far.


----------



## MRG1

beboram said:


> Unfortunately anything directly North is blocked. My neighborhood is terraced - my house is on the middle terrace, the houses behind me (Frederick direction) are sitting about 30ft higher, the roof is about ground height from my neighbors driveway. However, I have clear line of sight from SE to SW.


So, if your antenna isn't high enough, and your neighbors park a car or truck in the "wrong" place, they will potentially block your reception.


----------



## JackSplat58

greg9x2 said:


> For Sony 900H owners, todays firmware update fixes the WJLA 3.0 reception issue ! Also getting better lock at lower signal levels... Signal level of 40 was drop out before, getting steady lock at 34 on one channel and tuned in 13 more channels (Some are borderline though, but ones wanted are good now !)


So now I get WJLA 3.0 reception but every 3.0 channel now displays "_No Signal. Antenna not connected or signal unavailable_" in the bottom right of the screen along with the picture. Also Channel Guide only displays info for 3.0 channels, all other channels display No Program Information Available. 1 step forward, 2 steps back.


----------



## beboram

mrradiohead55 said:


> Which are you closer to, Baltimore or DC? Or specific suburban area. Would help to know general location. Some installers don't want to drive very far.


Kind of equidistant. North of Germantown, Clarksburg. So perhaps a bit closer to DC depending on starting point. WH is about 30 miles, BWI the same. In either case relatively easily accessible from I 270 or I 70 about 10 miles from each relevant exit.


----------



## beboram

MRG1 said:


> So, if your antenna isn't high enough, and your neighbors park a car or truck in the "wrong" place, they will potentially block your reception.


Other than WMPT repeater out of FDK there is no other stations to the North anyway.


----------



## greg9x2

JackSplat58 said:


> So now I get WJLA 3.0 reception but every 3.0 channel now displays "_No Signal. Antenna not connected or signal unavailable_" in the bottom right of the screen along with the picture. Also Channel Guide only displays info for 3.0 channels, all other channels display No Program Information Available. 1 step forward, 2 steps back.


Odd, I still get all channels was getting before... a lot of the 13 extra channels that came in yesterday were result of the weather it seems, as lost some of those today.

But maybe try rescanning the channels again, and as usual with this TV try a reboot. As said, I haven't lost anything I was getting before the update.


----------



## LaserBeamSC

greg9x2 said:


> Odd, I still get all channels was getting before... a lot of the 13 extra channels that came in yesterday were result of the weather it seems, as lost some of those today.
> 
> But maybe try rescanning the channels again, and as usual with this TV try a reboot. As said, I haven't lost anything I was getting before the update.


I updated my Sony X900H yesterday and all the 3.0 stations I get about 75 miles away in South Carolina stopped coming in but were still on the channel list. After reading your post, I did a soft reset and they immediately started coming in again so thanks for the idea. The Sony 3.0 tuner is finicky to say the least but I do love the TV! It serves me well.


----------



## pkpaul

WDDN Channel 23 [RF23] made the following PSIP changes today:
23.2 changed from "WDDN" to "WDDN ES"
23.3 changed from "WDDN-ES" to "EAS" [channel is blank]








What is EAS? Emergency Alert System??


----------



## mrradiohead55

beboram said:


> Kind of equidistant. North of Germantown, Clarksburg. So perhaps a bit closer to DC depending on starting point. WH is about 30 miles, BWI the same. In either case relatively easily accessible from I 270 or I 70 about 10 miles from each relevant exit.


You might want to contact the Germantown Amateur Radio Society (ham club). Many times in amateur radio clubs there are members that regularly install masts, towers and large antennas. You might be able to locate someone close by that would talk to you about installing your antenna and would have knowledge of doing a ^thorough and safe install*. The GARS website with contact info can be found here >>>






Home


My site




wg8ars.org


----------



## fri1038

mrradiohead55 said:


> You might want to contact the Germantown Amateur Radio Society ...


GARS is in Germantown Ohio, not Maryland, unfortunately.


----------



## mrradiohead55

fri1038 said:


> GARS is in Germantown Ohio, not Maryland, unfortunately.


Yikes! When I Googled that I thought it was in Maryland. I specifically looked up Germantown MD and that's what came up. I guess I didn't LOOK CLOSE ENOUGH at the contact info before posting. Sorry for the mis-direction.

There is the Montgomery Amateur Radio Club, which IS based in Silver Spring, Maryland. There is a Contact Info page >>>



https://www.marcclub.org/


----------



## beboram

mrradiohead55 said:


> Yikes! When I Googled that I thought it was in Maryland. I specifically looked up Germantown MD and that's what came up. I guess I didn't LOOK CLOSE ENOUGH at the contact info before posting. Sorry for the mis-direction.
> 
> There is the Montgomery Amateur Radio Club, which IS based in Silver Spring, Maryland. There is a Contact Info page >>>
> 
> 
> 
> https://www.marcclub.org/


Thanks. Out of the box thinking!! Send their PIO an email. Hopefully there will be a positive answer.


----------



## MRG1

Beboram - I think a lot of electricians used to install TV antennas, when they were common. Have you tried contacting the older ones who might still know how? In fact, installation is covered by the National Electric Code, so maybe maybe any unlimited master electrician is supposed to have the knowledge, though not necessarily the experience. So would SOME limited master electricians.

The Maryland unlimited master electrician I used to know sometimes did it, but he's gone. And I do admit some may not want to work on a or near roof, for safety reasons. (Of course, the antenna doesn't technically need to be on or attached to your house.)

I admit a licensed general electrician may not be the cheapest option. And some of them don't have experience with outside work, where corrosion can be a significant issue if it isn't done right.

An amateur radio person, even if they are very knowledgeable, might not be licensed and "bonded" (insured) for electrical work, so if anything went wrong, and you had a fire or other lightning related damage, your fire insurance company could void your insurance. So if you use one, it makes sense to check that they are licensed and bonded.

I assume you already searched for

+"maryland" +"antenna installer"
and
+"maryland" +"antenna installation"

at Google, and contacted them all? Or are you looking for someone who comes recommended.


----------



## beboram

Any recommendation for the Coax and the rotator cable, make type, source? Let's assume a run length of 70ft. Obviously, they will be exposed to the sun, heat and winter cold.


----------



## Brian in CT

beboram said:


> Any recommendation for the Coax and the rotator cable, make type, source? Let's assume a run length of 70ft. Obviously, they will be exposed to the sun, heat and winter cold.


I don't know if the make matters as much as the type. The type I recommend is RG-6 coaxial cable.


----------



## mrradiohead55

beboram said:


> Any recommendation for the Coax and the rotator cable, make type, source? Let's assume a run length of 70ft. Obviously, they will be exposed to the sun, heat and winter cold.


As Brian in CT says, brands aren't really an issue. RG-6 is the standard for antenna coaxial cable. My suggestion is to stay away from twist on fittings (ferules), as they generally end up causing problems. Compression fittings are the best. You'll need wire cutters, coax strip tool and compression fitting tool. Home Depot and Lowes sell both of those tools in the electrical department. They also sell RCA rotator controller cable.


----------



## beboram

mrradiohead55 said:


> As Brian in CT says, brands aren't really an issue. RG-6 is the standard for antenna coaxial cable. My suggestion is to stay away from twist on fittings (ferules), as they generally end up causing problems. Compression fittings are the best. You'll need wire cutters, coax strip tool and compression fitting tool. Home Depot and Lowes sell both of those tools in the electrical department. They also sell RCA rotator controller cable.


Thanks gentlemen. In doing my research looks like there are two types of outdoor rated RG6 cables. The common ones are copper coated steel (e.g. Belden 9116) and the other copper inner conductor (e.g. Belden 9249) both are 18Ga. Shall I presume I should stay away from the copper coated steel?


----------



## greg9x2

beboram said:


> Thanks gentlemen. In doing my research looks like there are two types of outdoor rated RG6 cables. The common ones are copper coated steel (e.g. Belden 9116) and the other copper inner conductor (e.g. Belden 9249) both are 18Ga. Shall I presume I should stay away from the copper coated steel?


Yes, get the solid copper conductor, especially if going to use an amplifier with voltage fed over the RG6... also would recommend Quad shielded RG6, just make sure to get connectors that fit it.


----------



## aaronwt

greg9x2 said:


> Yes, get the solid copper conductor, especially if going to use an amplifier with voltage fed over the RG6... also would recommend Quad shielded RG6, just make sure to get connectors that fit it.


You should not need quad shielded any more. I know our vendors at work stopped recommending that a long time ago. Since everything went all digital.

Sent from my Tab A7 Gray


----------



## Digital Rules

aaronwt said:


> You should not need quad shielded any more


 Yes from my understanding
quad shield is mainly for cable TV applications where egress is a concern.


----------



## greg9x2

aaronwt said:


> You should not need quad shielded any more. I know our vendors at work stopped recommending that a long time ago. Since everything went all digital.
> 
> Sent from my Tab A7 Gray





Digital Rules said:


> Yes from my understanding
> quad shield is mainly for cable TV applications where egress is a concern.


🤷‍♂️... Given a choice, I'd rather have Quad shield. Digital signals are susceptible to interference also. Regular may work fine, but i've chased too many spurious signals with a bad shield, so better safe than sorry.


----------



## Mike M.

tvmicrowave said:


> WAZT-CD (now WDME) just signed on about an hour ago from its new location in Washington DC atop of the WRC-TV tower. RF channel 20. New home of MeTV HD beginning 5/9, MeTV+, Story Television, and Decades (beginning 5/1).
> 
> Any signal reports?


No Decades here.


----------



## Mike M.

Mike M. said:


> No Decades here.


Correction. No Decades through my Dish Joey. It comes in on all tuners. This is the same situation as Decades on 31.5


----------



## greg9x2

JackSplat58 said:


> So now I get WJLA 3.0 reception but every 3.0 channel now displays "_No Signal. Antenna not connected or signal unavailable_" in the bottom right of the screen along with the picture. Also Channel Guide only displays info for 3.0 channels, all other channels display No Program Information Available. 1 step forward, 2 steps back.


Ok, now had issue with the 'No Signal' box at bottom of screen (But still receiving channels, thought you had lost reception but understand now).... But a TV reboot fixed it. Hopefully won't be a reoccurring issue .


----------



## pkpaul

The following channels went dark today:
31.5 Decades
49.2 StartTV


----------



## Mike M.

pkpaul said:


> The following channels went dark today:
> 31.5 Decades
> 49.2 StartTV



We know that Decades has a new home. Not sure about Start TV. Is it possible Weigel has plans to it to a new home as well?


----------



## pkpaul

That makes sense since StartTV is owned by Weigel Broadcasting.


----------



## tvmicrowave

pkpaul said:


> That makes sense since StartTV is owned by Weigel Broadcasting.


Start TV will move to WTTG .2 on 5/9, the same day that MeTV moves off of WTTG’s .2 and to Weigel’a own WDME 48.1 (RF 20). MeTV will be in HD.


----------



## Digital Rules

tvmicrowave said:


> Start TV will move to WTTG .2 on 5/9, the same day that MeTV moves off of WTTG’s .2 and to Weigel’a own WDME 48.1 (RF 20). MeTV will be in HD.


Fios is dropping MeTV on the 9th as well. AFAIK there is no announcement if they will be bringing it back any time in the near future. . . . . .


----------



## fri1038

Digital Rules said:


> Fios is dropping MeTV on the 9th as well. AFAIK there is no announcement if they will be bringing it back any time in the near future. . . . . .


MeTV 5.3 has been running an announcement for customers to nag Fios to pick up 48.1. It said it will be on Comcast channel 1048.


----------



## fri1038

Not OTA news, but kind of interesting to see that Broadstripe cable, a smallish company which serves parts of Anne Arundel county (alongside Fios and Xfinity) is an internet only provider now. They refer you to streaming services like DirecTVstream. Broadstripe is being acquired by Astound (RCN) so maybe that will change.


----------



## machpost

fri1038 said:


> Not OTA news, but kind of interesting to see that Broadstripe cable, a smallish company which serves parts of Anne Arundel county (alongside Fios and Xfinity) is an internet only provider now. They refer you to streaming services like DirecTVstream. Broadstripe is being acquired by Astound (RCN) so maybe that will change.


I'm a former RCN subscriber and they offer both traditional digital cable and their own IP-based streaming service. I wouldn't be surprised if they're pushing new customers toward the latter, which they'll likely offer in AA County once the transition is complete.


----------



## fri1038

WQAW-LD seems to have gone down early this morning around 1:20am according to the Easton Bandscan. Stormy weather related? While looking into that, I had a brief lock on WDME-CD for the first time. Interference from WDME makes WQAW's signal more prone to multipath problems at my location, and is sometimes unwatchable. Rain, wind, trees leafing out, all playing havoc with the UHF channels lately on top of that.

edit: WQAW back up ~0845, May 9.

===

WMJF-CD's 39-4 (Laff) is goofed up. It is configured for 1080i lately. Used to be 480i. Makes for a very blocky picture somehow. There is a 3.5 Mbps null stream in the signal since at least January, looking at my last TSRreader save. Images from last weekend, but are still accurate.


----------



## fri1038

Cuba calling ... Seeing a bit of an analog signal on RF3 and 4 this morning. Another good e-skip day perhaps. (See the recent posts in the Nashville and Cleveland threads.) Had to unplug all the electronics in the room except the TV to avoid interference on low VHF.

edit: jinxed it. signal faded just after I posted that. 

===

And sadly, RIP Baltimore TV icon, Jimmy Uhrin.


----------



## bdowell

fri1038 said:


> And sadly, RIP Baltimore TV icon, Jimmy Uhrin.


----------



## Mike M.

tvmicrowave said:


> Start TV will move to WTTG .2 on 5/9, the same day that MeTV moves off of WTTG’s .2 and to Weigel’a own WDME 48.1 (RF 20). MeTV will be in HD.


It is on 5.3. 5.2 is still Buzzr.


----------



## howie14

Does anyone know how long it will take for the EPG on WDME 48 to catch up with the lineup change? The 48.1 guide is correct, but .2-.4 is for stations not present.

I would like a valid lineup for 48.4 in case I want to record something on my recast.


----------



## KyL416

Gracenote who powers zap2it and other services like Schedules Direct, HDHomeRun and Live Channels on Android TV recently created entries for WDMECD's channels, however there's usually a lag of a few weeks before they get added to all the zip code specific antenna lineups.


----------



## rstuv

Mike M. said:


> We know that Decades has a new home. Not sure about Start TV. Is it possible Weigel has plans to it to a new home as well?


Good morning. I am new to this forum, and I hope I am using it correctly. I was referred here by a poster at the MeTV website.

I live in the Washington DC area, where MeTV has been moved from channel 5.3 to 48.1. I did a scan for the new channel, and it turns out the signal is abysmally poor.

I plan to contact MeTV; so far I don't have contact info for WDME, the new MeTV station. If anyone has this info, or any other helpful suggestions, I would appreciate hearing them.


----------



## fri1038

Not in range of Baltimore's WBAL's 11-2 (broadcast on VHF RF12) I take it?

WDME has a much weaker signal (15 kW) than WTTG (1000 kW) and is owned by the same parent company as MeTV (Weigel.) You might get a sympathetic ear from them but nothing else they can do.

You'll have to share some details of your antenna set up and location to get reception help. Get a signal search report at rabbitears.info and share the link it creates. (It doesn't reveal your exact location, if that is a concern.)

There are some streaming options if you have a Roku or similar. (e.g., Frndly)




rstuv said:


> Good morning. I am new to this forum, and I hope I am using it correctly. I was referred here by a poster at the MeTV website.
> 
> I live in the Washington DC area, where MeTV has been moved from channel 5.3 to 48.1. I did a scan for the new channel, and it turns out the signal is abysmally poor.
> 
> I plan to contact MeTV; so far I don't have contact info for WDME, the new MeTV station. If anyone has this info, or any other helpful suggestions, I would appreciate hearing them.


----------



## rstuv

fri1038 said:


> Not in range of Baltimore's WBAL's 11-2 (broadcast on VHF RF12) I take it?
> 
> WDME has a much weaker signal (15 kW) than WTTG (1000 kW) and is owned by the same parent company as MeTV (Weigel.) You might get a sympathetic ear from them but nothing else they can do.
> 
> You'll have to share some details of your antenna set up and location to get reception help. Get a signal search report at rabbitears.info and share the link it creates. (It doesn't reveal your exact location, if that is a concern.)
> 
> There are some streaming options if you have a Roku or similar. (e.g., Frndly)


MeTV has instructions on their site on how to do a proper channel rescan. It was a little more involved than I thought, but not hard. I did it and now my signal is good. Thank you for your response.


----------



## fmw63

So, is MeTV really working on 48.1 now? I saw the 48.1-48.4 fine a few days ago before MeTV was supposed to start on 48.1 on the 9th, but now I get none of them. Re-Scanned a few times, different antennae, and even a different tv - seems to have just disappeared.


----------



## rstuv

fmw63 said:


> So, is MeTV really working on 48.1 now? I saw the 48.1-48.4 fine a few days ago before MeTV was supposed to start on 48.1 on the 9th, but now I get none of them. Re-Scanned a few times, different antennae, and even a different tv - seems to have just disappeared.


At first I did what I considered a normal rescan; the result I got for those channels was abysmally poor. MeTV's website has instructions on how to rescan (metv.com/rescan). There was a little more to it. Unplug your antenna from the TV, then do the rescan; it will say zero new channels found. Next, unplug the TV for thirty seconds. Replug the TV, replug the antenna, then do another rescan. In my case, it worked. (There was a little bit of signal breakup at first, but it's been mostly good since then for both MeTV channels).


----------



## fri1038

Did you used to pickup WQAW (69-x, Azteca ... Buzzr) out of Annapolis? They and WDME (48-x) are on the same broadcast frequency, so could be interference. WDME launched on 4/22. WQAW was off the air 5/7-5/9. Maybe those dates sync up with your 48-x reception observations.

I kind of guessed the PG / AA County line would be the interference zone but it seems greater.



fmw63 said:


> So, is MeTV really working on 48.1 now? I saw the 48.1-48.4 fine a few days ago before MeTV was supposed to start on 48.1 on the 9th, but now I get none of them. Re-Scanned a few times, different antennae, and even a different tv - seems to have just disappeared.


----------



## n8hoo

finally, an update to WDVM-TV's long running relocation saga: we find out that the FCC is refusing to grant it unless the population "served" (on paper, probably not in real life) by fewer than 5 stations as a result of them moving from Hagerstown is under 500. so they got it down to ~150 (all in rural PA) with a higher antenna and couple other technical changes, then filed an amendment. seems likely it'll go forward now.

this story is so old it was getting some pearl-clutching in the mailbag!






Licensing and Management System


Licensing and Management System




enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov







rstuv said:


> At first I did what I considered a normal rescan; the result I got for those channels was abysmally poor. MeTV's website has instructions on how to rescan (metv.com/rescan). There was a little more to it. Unplug your antenna from the TV, then do the rescan; it will say zero new channels found. Next, unplug the TV for thirty seconds. Replug the TV, replug the antenna, then do another rescan. In my case, it worked. (There was a little bit of signal breakup at first, but it's been mostly good since then for both MeTV channels).


this surely wouldn't make a difference vs. what you already did though? maybe you got unlucky with the weather the first time you tried it. glad it works regardless



fri1038 said:


> Did you used to pickup WQAW (69-x, Azteca ... Buzzr) out of Annapolis? They and WDME (48-x) are on the same broadcast frequency, so could be interference. WDME launched on 4/22. WQAW was off the air 5/7-5/9. Maybe those dates sync up with your 48-x reception observations.
> 
> I kind of guessed the PG / AA County line would be the interference zone but it seems greater.


that's probably it...but I'd think the line is at least the beltway (which doing some quick measurements seems to be largely equidistant from the two towers in PG)


----------



## fri1038

I wonder if rstuv's tinkering with the antenna cable was the real fix, instead of the rescan.

Maybe WQAW can swing a deal with that long pending RF10 station near Annapolis to address the RF20 conflicts. The W45DN saga in their FCC filings reads even longer than WDVM's. ;-)


----------



## fmw63

fri1038 said:


> Did you used to pickup WQAW (69-x, Azteca ... Buzzr) out of Annapolis? They and WDME (48-x) are on the same broadcast frequency, so could be interference. WDME launched on 4/22. WQAW was off the air 5/7-5/9. Maybe those dates sync up with your 48-x reception observations.


They sure do! 🤢


----------



## aaronwt

Is there something going on with the DC ATSC 3.0 channels. Right now I can only get video from wjla. The other ATSC 3.0 channels show up as "no video data" from my Flex4k.

Sent from my Tab S6 Lite Gray


----------



## Frank Monroe

aaronwt said:


> Is there something going on with the DC ATSC 3.0 channels. Right now I can only get video from wjla. The other ATSC 3.0 channels show up as "no video data" from my Flex4k.


I'm able to get video from all of them.


----------



## aaronwt

Frank Monroe said:


> I'm able to get video from all of them.


Thanks. I don't know what the issue was. But they are all coming in for me now.

Sent from my Tab S6 Lite Gray


----------



## foxeng

aaronwt said:


> Is there something going on with the DC ATSC 3.0 channels. Right now I can only get video from wjla. The other ATSC 3.0 channels show up as "no video data" from my Flex4k.
> 
> Sent from my Tab S6 Lite Gray


Do you have all the PLPs checked?


----------



## Trip in VA

Looks like dead air.

- Trip


----------



## pkpaul

n8hoo said:


> finally, an update to WDVM-TV's long running relocation saga: we find out that the FCC is refusing to grant it unless the population "served" (on paper, probably not in real life) by fewer than 5 stations as a result of them moving from Hagerstown is under 500. so they got it down to ~150 (all in rural PA) with a higher antenna and couple other technical changes, then filed an amendment. seems likely it'll go forward now.
> 
> this story is so old it was getting some pearl-clutching in the mailbag!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Licensing and Management System
> 
> 
> Licensing and Management System
> 
> 
> 
> 
> enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov


This was granted today.

WDVM


----------



## aaronwt

foxeng said:


> Do you have all the PLPs checked?


I was receiving everything prior to Saturday night/Sunday Morning. But then when I checked Sunday afternoon I was getting everything again.

I was still getting WJLA but none of the other ATSC 3.0 channels. And since they are all broadcast on the same frequency that seemed odd. Because if there was a reception issue I would expect that to affect all five stations.


----------



## pkpaul

The last time I saw the ATSC 3.0 channels of RF33, was about 8 PM Sunday, and no WJLA.


----------



## Mike M.

n8hoo said:


> finally, an update to WDVM-TV's long running relocation saga: we find out that the FCC is refusing to grant it unless the population "served" (on paper, probably not in real life) by fewer than 5 stations as a result of them moving from Hagerstown is under 500. so they got it down to ~150 (all in rural PA) with a higher antenna and couple other technical changes, then filed an amendment. seems likely it'll go forward now.
> 
> this story is so old it was getting some pearl-clutching in the mailbag!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Licensing and Management System
> 
> 
> Licensing and Management System
> 
> 
> 
> 
> enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> this surely wouldn't make a difference vs. what you already did though? maybe you got unlucky with the weather the first time you tried it. glad it works regardless
> 
> 
> 
> that's probably it...but I'd think the line is at least the beltway (which doing some quick measurements seems to be largely equidistant from the two towers in PG)



Hopefully I will be able to receive it after the move but who knows.


----------



## greg9x2

pkpaul said:


> The last time I saw the ATSC 3.0 channels of RF33, was about 8 PM Sunday, and no WJLA.


I am getting all the DC 3.0 channels on the TV tuner. Haven't checked the HDHR. If using TV tuner maybe need to reboot the TV.


----------



## pkpaul

I rebooted the HDHR and rescanned twice, still no 3.0 on RF33. I do have WDCN 106.1, WIAV 158.1 , WJLA247 158.4, 24/7MMT 158.5 and Baltimore's 3.0.
BTW, There is a new channel 66.8 "HSN".


----------



## pkpaul

I powered off for 15 minutes and did a blank rescan but that didn't help. And then tried the android app and it triggered strange activity on the PC app, but didn't fix the problem. I guess there is an update pending.


----------



## greg9x2

pkpaul said:


> I rebooted the HDHR and rescanned twice, still no 3.0 on RF33. I do have WDCN 106.1, WIAV 158.1 , WJLA247 158.4, 24/7MMT 158.5 and Baltimore's 3.0.
> BTW, There is a new channel 66.8 "HSN".


Ok, got home and checked the HDHR and also seeing no 3.0 channels (Do see 1.0 ) The TV tuner is getting all the 3.0 channels, so it is an HDHR issue.


----------



## StantonGuy

tvmicrowave said:


> WAZT-CD (now WDME) just signed on about an hour ago from its new location in Washington DC atop of the WRC-TV tower. RF channel 20. New home of MeTV HD beginning 5/9, MeTV+, Story Television, and Decades (beginning 5/1).
> 
> Any signal reports?


Thanks, I've been watching Story Television on 48.2.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

greg9x2 said:


> Ok, got home and checked the HDHR and also seeing no 3.0 channels (Do see 1.0 ) The TV tuner is getting all the 3.0 channels, so it is an HDHR issue.


It's not your HDHR. Mine has also lost WHUT's ATSC 3.0 service on RF 33. I've opened a ticket with Silicondust and have sent diagnostic information. Not sure what that'll be able to convey since the channel scan no longer finds WHUT's ATSC 3.0 service even though I'm receiving the signal well. I am getting every other channel out of DC and Baltimore as strongly as ever.


----------



## greg9x2

Steve_AA_Co_MD said:


> It's not your HDHR. Mine has also lost WHUT's ATSC 3.0 service on RF 33. I've opened a ticket with Silicondust and have sent diagnostic information. Not sure what that'll be able to convey since the channel scan no longer finds WHUT's ATSC 3.0 service even though I'm receiving the signal well. I am getting every other channel out of DC and Baltimore as strongly as ever.


Yeah, I meant HDHR in general. Mine finds no 3.0 channels anymore. I use the TV tuner mostly now, so didn't notice until the issue was brought up here.

Edit:. Saw the post on Siliconedust forum and sent them my logs


----------



## greg9x2

Ok everyone... worked with Nick at HDHR and did some troubleshooting on the D.C. 3.0 channels. According to him the 'LLS data' is missing from the broadcast, which is why they are not decoding.

Part of the troubleshooting I did a rescan on my Sony TV, after which I lost the 3.0 channels on it also.... he believes that the LLS data was cached on the TV which is why it was working before.

So, if anyone has contact information for WHUT or the other stations, please let them know it's messed up.


Edit: Don't rescan if you are currently receiving the 3.0 channels !


----------



## bullwinklehdtv

greg9x2 said:


> Ok everyone... worked with Nick at HDHR and did some troubleshooting on the D.C. 3.0 channels. According to him the 'LLS data' is missing from the broadcast, which is why they are not decoding.
> 
> Part of the troubleshooting I did a rescan on my Sony TV, after which I lost the 3.0 channels on it also.... he believes that the LLS data was cached on the TV which is why it was working before.
> 
> So, if anyone has contact information for WHUT or the other stations, please let them know it's messed up.
> 
> 
> Edit: Don't rescan if you are currently receiving the 3.0 channels !


The email contact on the WHUT nexgen tv webpage is listed as [email protected], but it actually sends to [email protected] when you click it. I sent an message asking that they notify engineering, but I have no idea if the email is actually monitored. They also list a telephone contact, Lou Crozier (202-806-3003) , if anyone wants to give it a try.


----------



## greg9x2

bullwinklehdtv said:


> The email contact on the WHUT nexgen tv webpage is listed as [email protected], but it actually sends to [email protected] when you click it. I sent an message asking that they notify engineering, but I have no idea if the email is actually monitored. They also list a telephone contact, Lou Crozier (202-806-3003) , if anyone wants to give it a try.


I've sent emails to that address before and never got a reply....but did so again also. Nick @ SiliconeDust said he was going to reach out also. But have seen others here have better luck or contact, so hope one of them will be able .


----------



## WHUT

bullwinklehdtv said:


> The email contact on the WHUT nexgen tv webpage is listed as [email protected], but it actually sends to [email protected] when you click it. I sent an message asking that they notify engineering, but I have no idea if the email is actually monitored. They also list a telephone contact, Lou Crozier (202-806-3003) , if anyone wants to give it a try.


lou crozier 202.372.5746


----------



## WHUT

working on it.


----------



## greg9x2

WHUT said:


> working on it.


Great to have a representative here ! Also, WTTG 3.0 has had lip sync issues again lately. Thank you !


----------



## fri1038

WQAW went down again at ~5:35pm tonight during a thunderstorm, if you want to test out that interference theory.

edit: wqaw back up 5/23 0700.



fmw63 said:


> They sure do! 🤢





fri1038 said:


> Did you used to pickup WQAW (69-x, Azteca ... Buzzr) out of Annapolis? They and WDME (48-x) are on the same broadcast frequency, so could be interference. WDME launched on 4/22. WQAW was off the air 5/7-5/9. Maybe those dates sync up with your 48-x reception observations.


----------



## pkpaul

The five NexTGen TV / ATSC 3.0 channels on RF33 are back on.
Thanks Lou Crozier & WHUT TV.


----------



## Steve_AA_Co_MD

fri1038 said:


> WQAW went down again at ~5:35pm tonight during a thunderstorm, if you want to test out that interference theory.


I am actually fairly close to WQAW in Southern Anne Arundel County. Since WDME started broadcasting on channel 20, I can no longer receive anything decodable on channel 20. WQAW used to be one of my strongest TV channels.


----------



## aaronwt

I just checked and see all the DC ATsC 3.0 stations now.

But what is going on with the Baltmore ATSC 3.0 stations? I also noticed that I am picking up several of those now.
Are they doing like DC with multiple stations on the same frequency? It doesn't t seem so since I can only pick up three of them,

Sent from my Tab S6 Lite Gray


----------



## KyL416

Baltimore's ATSC 3.0 channels are on WNUV's RF 25 signal, which has the following:
2-1 WMAR (ABC)
11-1 WBAL (NBC)
22-1 WMPT (PBS)
45-1 WBFF (FOX)
54-1 WNUV (CW)


As for why you can only get 3, it's because ATSC 3.0 can have multiple PLP layers with different modulation settings. The channels on the qam16 and qam64 layers are easier to receive, but with the tradeoff of having less bandwidth available, while the channels on the qam256 layer have a coverage area similar to their former ATSC 1.0 signal.


----------



## greg9x2

aaronwt said:


> I just checked and see all the DC ATsC 3.0 stations now.
> 
> But what is going on with the Baltmore ATSC 3.0 stations? I also noticed that I am picking up several of those now.
> Are they doing like DC with multiple stations on the same frequency? It doesn't t seem so since I can only pick up three of them,
> 
> Sent from my Tab S6 Lite Gray


I only see the D.C. Stations.. probably the storms in the area yesterday making the Baltimore stations temporarily tunable


----------



## pkpaul

I'm in Falls Church and the Baltimore ATSC 3.0 stations are coming in loud and clear on HDHR.



greg9x2 said:


> I only see the D.C. Stations.. probably the storms in the area yesterday making the Baltimore stations temporarily tunable


----------



## greg9x2

pkpaul said:


> I'm in Falls Church and the Baltimore ATSC 3.0 stations are coming in loud and clear on HDHR.


Yeah... I'm Frederick, so look angle is a factor also. I only see Baltimore stations when there is a weather event


----------



## jafa

greg9x2 said:


> Ok everyone... worked with Nick at HDHR and did some troubleshooting on the D.C. 3.0 channels. According to him the 'LLS data' is missing from the broadcast, which is why they are not decoding.
> Part of the troubleshooting I did a rescan on my Sony TV, after which I lost the 3.0 channels on it also.... he believes that the LLS data was cached on the TV which is why it was working before.


Thanks greg9x2 - good chatting with you the other day and thanks for getting me captures that I could diagnose. 

The LLS data contains the list of services (channels) present in the broadcast and for each one what multicast IP/port to listen on to find more information. ie LLS is roughly equivalent to a combined PAT+VCT in ATSC 1.0 terms.


----------



## greg9x2

jafa said:


> Thanks greg9x2 - good chatting with you the other day and thanks for getting me captures that I could diagnose.
> 
> The LLS data contains the list of services (channels) present in the broadcast and for each one what multicast IP/port to listen on to find more information. ie LLS is roughly equivalent to a combined PAT+VCT in ATSC 1.0 terms.


No prob..know how it is trying to get data to troubleshoot a problem. Glad it is resolved and got the channels back after that rescan lost them .


----------



## beboram

beboram said:


> Unfortunately anything directly North is blocked. My neighborhood is terraced - my house is on the middle terrace, the houses behind me (Frederick direction) are sitting about 30ft higher, the roof is about ground height from my neighbors driveway. However, I have clear line of sight from SE to SW.
> 
> I think I will ask Antenna man's advice he charges $40.00 for consultation. Antenna Man - Cut The Cord


Gentlemen, you may recall my series of posts in April about TV antenna install. Well search for an installer continues. Antenna man suggested Action Anettna, and OnTech. Action Antenna, I called them several times they ghosted me. OnTech only install on eaves and roof edge. Two other neighbors have CM4228HD antennas near on their second story roof - apparently that's the only place for good signals in my 'hood.


----------



## bdowell

beboram said:


> Gentlemen, you may recall my series of posts in April about TV antenna install. Well search for an installer continues. Antenna man suggested Action Anettna, and OnTech. Action Antenna, I called them several times they ghosted me. OnTech only install on eaves and roof edge. Two other neighbors have CM4228HD antennas near on their second story roof - apparently that's the only place for good signals in my 'hood.


Not exactly an Antenna installer, but would probably work for your needs -- consider something like Mr. Handyman if they service your area. You'd need to supply the equipment/materials and you would likely have to help them in terms of pointing the antenna/ getting it adjusted after you had it installed, but the physical work to get it installed on the mast, on the roof, etc., is something that would be the kind of work that they would handle.

Also ask around via Nextdoor.com to see if someone in your area has recommendations for potential installers. You might find someone recommended through same and be able to get the job done without too much expense.


----------



## Mike M.

Has anyone heard anything from WDVM indicating when they might implement their proposed move? I know it will not be for awhile. I am just curious.


----------



## MRG1

beboram said:


> Gentlemen, you may recall my series of posts in April about TV antenna install. Well search for an installer continues. Antenna man suggested Action Anettna, and OnTech. Action Antenna, I called them several times they ghosted me. OnTech only install on eaves and roof edge. Two other neighbors have CM4228HD antennas near on their second story roof - apparently that's the only place for good signals in my 'hood.


First off, some people never respond to calls - maybe they want texts.

Did you try calling various electricians?

I would guess that many places that sell or manufacture antennas either install them, or can give you referrals to people who do. Call them and ask.

I just did a quick web search - you can do a more thorough one.

E.g., Best Buy Geek Squad does installations. I don't know if you have to buy the antenna from them.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if Lowes and HomeDepot stores have a list of installers.

The web search also found

ANTENNA DESIGN & MANUFACTURING CORP. - Home 

TV Antenna Installation Services Maryland | Vip Telecom, LLC

Antennas Direct | Installer Network (type in your zipcode)

Best TV Antenna Installers Near Me - HomeAdvisor

I don't know anything about any of these people or places. Good luck.


----------



## mrradiohead55

MRG1 said:


> I wouldn't be at all surprised if Lowes and HomeDepot stores have a list of installers.


Both chains HAVE local installers for the products they sell. All installers have to be licensed, insured and bonded (local regulations apply) to be on the contractor's list. I can attest to this, as I was a Home Depot employee at one time.


----------



## joblo

arnoldevns said:


> Further complicating this issue is that the master control for WFAA is in North Carolina: Behind TEGNA’s ‘Hub-and-Spoke’ Master Control Facility | Radio & Television Business Report
> 
> It's clear this was a mistake.


..


----------



## fri1038

WQAW went down again 5/27 1:00pm during a storm. I'm sensing a trend. 🤪

WFDC was at reduced power most of the week (since Monday 5/23 0900) but seems to have ramped back up to near normal. Reception was marginal up my way until last night. WETA seems a bit weaker, too, all week, looking at various area Bandscans. Barely watchable here.



fri1038 said:


> WQAW went down again at ~5:35pm tonight during a thunderstorm, if you want to test out that interference theory.
> 
> edit: wqaw back up 5/23 0700.


----------



## fmw63

fri1038 said:


> WQAW went down again at ~5:35pm tonight during a thunderstorm, if you want to test out that interference theory.
> 
> edit: wqaw back up 5/23 0700.


 Must be interference. Tried WDME the other night and it was great - 87 signal strength. Today it's back to 37
What can be done about this? I already changed the antenna to a DB4...


----------



## fmw63

fmw63 said:


> Must be interference. Tried WDME the other night and it was great - 87 signal strength. Today it's back to 37
> What can be done about this? I already changed the antenna to a DB4...


AND how did they get FCC approval with another nearby station already on CH20?


----------



## KyL416

This was already explained by Trip a while back. Basically it's a combo of the pre-existing interference between the two stations being grandfathered and how a lot of those in between areas were out of range WDME-CD's previous Charles Town WV signal, so it didn't cause more than 2% new interference to WQAW-LD.


----------



## fri1038

Looks like WQAW came back up today 5/29 ~1000. Don't know the fix for you - a highly directional antenna aimed perfectly at Ward Circle, perhaps.

WDME-CD is a Class A station which can override a low power station like WQAW-LD per the FCC rules if I understand correctly, in addition to the info in the previous post. And then they just moved from far eastern WV (where WDVM is moving - future RF23 problems?) to downtown DC last month causing the current RF20 interference problem in MD.



fmw63 said:


> Must be interference. Tried WDME the other night and it was great - 87 signal strength. Today it's back to 37
> What can be done about this? I already changed the antenna to a DB4...





fmw63 said:


> AND how did they get FCC approval with another nearby station already on CH20?


----------



## KyL416

fri1038 said:


> WDME-CD is a Class A station which can override a low power station like WQAW-LD per the FCC rules if I understand correctly, in addition to the info in the previous post.


Class A stations cannot displace LPTV, only full power stations can.

It was allowed because of the grandfathered interference between the two meant the move didn't cause more than 2% new interference to WQAW-LD or any other LPTV or Class A signals, or more than 0.5% new interference to any full power signals.

Since these are areas that were out of range of WDME-CD's previous West Virginia signal they can't really do anything about it since they agreed to accept additional incoming interference as part of the move, but if WQAW-LD can demonstrate that enough people who previously received their Maryland signal on a regular basis are now having problems, they could potentially do something about it.


----------



## fri1038

Thanks for the clarification. I must be thinking of another past interference discussion - full power RF23 WDVM versus locals WMJF-CD/WDDN-LD/WDWA-LD perhaps.

FWIW, I can still get a stable WQAW in Severn, just not with my outside antenna since WDME went on the air in DC and coincidental leafing-out of trees in the past month. My house blocks line-of-sight to the WMPT/WQAW tower (10 miles straight ahead in my user pic) making it extra flaky. An inside loop antenna in a good spot usually works fine for WQAW here.


----------



## joblo

KyL416 said:


> a lot of those in between areas were out of range WDME-CD's previous Charles Town WV signal, so it didn't cause more than 2% new interference to WQAW-LD.


This logic is backwards.



KyL416 said:


> if WQAW-LD can demonstrate that enough people who previously received their Maryland signal on a regular basis are now having problems, they could potentially do something about it.


This is correct.

Point being, WQAW is clearly the injured party here, not WDME.


----------



## pkpaul

Today the following can be seen on RF23 while performing a scan on the SiliconDust HDHR4K Connect:








After the scan is completed, only the WDDN remains.


----------



## fri1038

It's an E-Skip evening. I see "Mesa Redonda" on Cubavision on analog RF3. Lots of long distance low-VHF action on Rabbitears' Bandscan.


----------



## Mike M.

Does anyone know what happened to WTTG Friday evening. Dish Network broadcast a card saying the chanel was not available and they were trying to restore it. OTA in Falls Church it was pixellating wildly.


----------



## joblo

Mike M. said:


> Does anyone know what happened to WTTG Friday evening. Dish Network broadcast a card saying the chanel was not available and they were trying to restore it. OTA in Falls Church it was pixellating wildly.


Don't know but every band scanner in the area showed a significant drop in signal quality but no drop in signal strength for 12.5 hours starting at 8 pm Friday evening, iirc. Very strange indeed.

The day before, on Thursday, WETA returned to 100 signal quality from mid 90s on many of those same scanners.


----------



## beboram

MRG1 said:


> First off, some people never respond to calls - maybe they want texts.
> 
> Did you try calling various electricians?
> 
> I would guess that many places that sell or manufacture antennas either install them, or can give you referrals to people who do. Call them and ask.
> 
> I just did a quick web search - you can do a more thorough one.
> 
> E.g., Best Buy Geek Squad does installations. I don't know if you have to buy the antenna from them.
> 
> I wouldn't be at all surprised if Lowes and HomeDepot stores have a list of installers.
> 
> The web search also found
> 
> ANTENNA DESIGN & MANUFACTURING CORP. - Home
> 
> TV Antenna Installation Services Maryland | Vip Telecom, LLC
> 
> Antennas Direct | Installer Network (type in your zipcode)
> 
> Best TV Antenna Installers Near Me - HomeAdvisor
> 
> I don't know anything about any of these people or places. Good luck.


Thanks for the suggestions. Following are my results -

Home Advisor had no response from any installer; Antenna Direct - none in my zip; Antenna Design and Manf - no help; TV antenna installation service Vip Telecom - don't reach down to where I am; 

My local Home Depot could not recommend anyone.


----------



## MRG1

beboram, maybe you could become the antenna installer for people in your area?  

Did you call a bunch of electricians and the local electrician's guild? And local HAM radio clubs, like someone suggested? And electronics parts stores? Also, don't limit yourself to one zipcode. I bet some installers travel. They might charge a little extra.

It's hard to believe it could be this hard, unless you are in the middle of nowhere, in which case an antenna may not work.

Maybe you could drive around and find people near you who have a rooftop antenna, and ask them who installed them? Some will say it was many years ago, but it's worth a try. 

If you get a referral from DishTV or DirecTV for a satellite antenna installer, maybe that person could do it?

I'm out of ideas.


----------



## pamajestic

beboram said:


> Thanks for the suggestions. Following are my results -
> 
> Home Advisor had no response from any installer; Antenna Direct - none in my zip; Antenna Design and Manf - no help; TV antenna installation service Vip Telecom - don't reach down to where I am;
> 
> My local Home Depot could not recommend anyone.


This guy is in PA, but I know he does work in northern Maryland. He regularly does antennas. Lots of pictures on his Facebook.







HD TV Antennas, Cell Boosters & Security - Frankton Telecom - York, PA


Frankton Telecom., Serving York PA, South Central PA & Northern MD. Best Cord Cutting TV Antennas, Cell Phone Boosters & Security Systems.




frankton.net










Войдите на Facebook


Войдите на Facebook, чтобы общаться с друзьями, родственниками и знакомыми.




www.facebook.com


----------



## wmcbrine

I used Action Antenna, based on a recommendation here. But, that was 12 years ago.

It's hard to believe that TV antennas have become _more_ obscure, here in what seems like it should be their heyday, but it's true, I think -- a lot of people got bad messaging on the analog shutdown, mistook it for a "broadcast TV shutdown", and we still haven't recovered. (TV stations making half their revenue from cable retransmission fees probably doesn't help.)


----------



## Mike M.

wmcbrine said:


> I used Action Antenna, based on a recommendation here. But, that was 12 years ago.
> 
> It's hard to believe that TV antennas have become _more_ obscure, here in what seems like it should be their heyday, but it's true, I think -- a lot of people got bad messaging on the analog shutdown, mistook it for a "broadcast TV shutdown", and we still haven't recovered. (TV stations making half their revenue from cable retransmission fees probably doesn't help.)


I am often told that my OTA antenna cannot possibly work, that it is illegal, or that the non existent HOA in my neighborhood will make me take it down.


----------



## Brian in CT

wmcbrine said:


> It's hard to believe that TV antennas have become _more_ obscure, here in what seems like it should be their heyday, but it's true, I think -- a lot of people got bad messaging on the analog shutdown, mistook it for a "broadcast TV shutdown", and we still haven't recovered. (TV stations making half their revenue from cable retransmission fees probably doesn't help.)


If you believe Nielsen statistics on the matter, antenna usage in American households has slowly rebounded since the end of NTSC. In 2010, the number of U.S. homes with an antenna bottomed out at 8 percent. By 2020, it has crept up to 16 percent. Of course, those numbers are nothing compared to percentages in the 20th century. Even after cable penetration reached 50% in 1987, there were still a fair number of households using portable TVs (i.e. on a kitchen counter) for awhile.


----------



## MRG1

Brian in CT said:


> If you believe Nielsen statistics on the matter, antenna usage in American households has slowly rebounded since the end of NTSC.


Are you implying that OTA usage dropped because people's NTSC equipment stopped working? 

I guess in one sense, cable and satellite TV made it possible to keep using the old NTSC hardware, but they have become so expensive that I'm not sure it makes sense to do that. 

But if it is true, the emergence of ATSC 3.0 might make older ATSC hardware less useful, and it might reduce the OTA market again...


----------



## captain_video

You would think that with all the hubbub about cutting the cord that OTA usage would skyrocket. I guess it just means that more people have gone to streaming networks than watching OTA channels. I think ATSC 3.0 is going to be a mixed bag among consumers unless cable providers can compete with it. I drive through my neighborhood and see very few rooftop antennas on houses these days. That could be because people have opted to use indoor antennas or they either stream or watch cable. I have two antennas on my roof so I can pick up stations from both Baltimore and DC, but we also get all of the main and sub-channels on FIOS. I have the HDHR ATSC 3.0 tuner that I use with Channels DVR but I rarely even tune to the ATSC 3.0 channels, mainly because every time I check them the picture quality is worse than the ATSC 1.0 channels I receive. I haven't checked them lately so maybe I should do that again.


----------



## Mike M.

captain_video said:


> You would think that with all the hubbub about cutting the cord that OTA usage would skyrocket. I guess it just means that more people have gone to streaming networks than watching OTA channels. I think ATSC 3.0 is going to be a mixed bag among consumers unless cable providers can compete with it. I drive through my neighborhood and see very few rooftop antennas on houses these days. That could be because people have opted to use indoor antennas or they either stream or watch cable. I have two antennas on my roof so I can pick up stations from both Baltimore and DC, but we also get all of the main and sub-channels on FIOS. I have the HDHR ATSC 3.0 tuner that I use with Channels DVR but I rarely even tune to the ATSC 3.0 channels, mainly because every time I check them the picture quality is worse than the ATSC 1.0 channels I receive. I haven't checked them lately so maybe I should do that again.


Does FIOS have MeTV back yet? Does it have Antenna TV?


----------



## captain_video

I need to retract the statement that we get all of the sub-channels on FIOS. We do get quite a few of them, but not all. I scrolled through my guide in Channels DVR and see multiple listings for the channels you mentioned, but they are all OTA sub-channels and not FIOS channels. I never watch any of them, but my wife does. If it's not in HD I have no interest in watching them.


----------



## fri1038

Mike M. said:


> Does FIOS have MeTV back yet? Does it have Antenna TV?


Yes. WDME's 48.1 is 523 on Fios - in Manassas, at least. Their other subchannels, Story, Decades, MeTV+, not there. They'd probably show up in the 450-500 range with the other local subchannels if Fios follows their convention, if and when. AntennaTV - 50.2 - is 482.


edit: the fios lineup would be different in the baltimore area, of course. 11-2 metv is 460, 54-2 antennatv is 479, according to zap2it.


----------



## Digital Rules

fri1038 said:


> Yes. WDME's 48.1 is 523 on Fios - in Manassas, at least.


 Yep, it is on both 23 & 523, but 523 is not HD. Maybe it will be in the near future . . . .


----------



## Brian in CT

MRG1 said:


> Are you implying that OTA usage dropped because people's NTSC equipment stopped working?


To some degree. In 2010 or 2011, I saw a pie chart on a TV business website showing (according to Nielsen) what OTA households ended up doing after the analog shutoff in 2009. IIRC, about 30% claimed to sign up for cable service. So there were a good number of people back then who simply didn't want to bother with converter boxes or buy new HDTVs. Also, ATSC 1.0 is quite temperamental with reception compared to NTSC. I'm sure there were some people, especially in fringe areas, who tried the boxes, but found that some (or most) of the TV stations they were receiving before the switch were not decoding in digital.


----------



## Antenna Man PA

Brian in CT said:


> I'm sure there were some people, especially in fringe areas, who tried the boxes, but found that some (or most) of the TV stations they were receiving before the switch were not decoding in digital.


My childhood house in the Poconos was in this situation. Although we had cable I experimented with several roof top antennas. Prior to the digital transition we got most channels out of NYC and the low VHFs out of Philadelphia. After the digital transition the only channel that would decode was WMBC and sometimes WNBC. Hopefully ATSC 3.0 brings back some coverage since it's more robust.


----------



## fri1038

WQAW-LD went down again in storms around 8:30pm last night.

While looking into that just now, I noticed WMPT (same tower) was showing up as virtual 21-x, not 22-x, on my Samsung set. Looking at RF21 in TSReader, they were sending WMP*B*'s TSID in the TVCT section of the structure. They corrected that just as I was taking a snapshot. Maybe they got zapped, too. I didn't notice any problems with MPT last night while watching Concert for George for the 37th time. Good stuff.


----------



## MRG1

One problem with the digital to analog converter boxes, was that they only decoded one channel at a time. So everyone who had VCRs and DVRs was very unhappy. Which was probably a pretty big portion of the OTA community. They were the equivalent of ad-free on demand - you could watch when you wanted and you could fast forward through ads. 

But with the conversion boxes, you had to tune your box to the channel, then program the VCR to record that channel at the appropriate time. If you wanted to record several programs on several different channels, you needed to get a distribution amplifier, and multiple converter boxes and VCRs - and realizing that, and setting it up was beyond the abilities of the typical consumer.

(Were there any that could be programmed to switch? Maybe. But again, that is getting way beyond the average consumer's abilities.)

To make matters worse, at the time it was virtually impossible to get a new VCR or DVR that worked with the new digital system. (There was at least one VHS recorder that could do it, and it did it on VHS tapes, but it was extremely expensive. I'm not even sure it was legal in the U.S.)

At the same time, my guess is that Blockbuster, Redbox and other video rental outlets probably increased their business, to take the place of VCR/DVR use that was crippled that way.

In addition, you needed a separate converter box for each TV.

Also, people started advertising antennas designed for HDTV, so people thought their old antennas wouldn't work. While it was true that you needed a fair bit stronger signal, to work at all with digital, except for that, the need for digital antennas wasn't (and isn't) true.

In my opinion, the switch to HDTV never was meant to be good for the typical consumer. It was meant, in the long term, to open up some of the TV electromagnetic spectrum for other uses. Maybe it was also meant to encourage people to buy more hardware, and be good to that industry. And to de-regulate cable TV prices. (E.g., our cable TV bill went from $40/month to over $300/month over the course of a few years. Before that, they were better regulated.) I think the increase in resolution was only an excuse.

I see ATSC 3.0 in much the same way. Most people won't really see it as a big benefit - only a similar consumer-unfriendly action.

I get that many (most?) of the people who participate in these forums love high resolution pictures and high end sound systems, and are willing and able to spend large amounts of money to get it. But that isn't the typical consumer. It isn't me.


----------



## fri1038

6/12/22 0815:

WQAW-LD still down.

WMJF-CD's transmitter up, but sending no data.

edit: WMJF-CD started sending data a few minutes after I posted. 39-1 Ion video is pausing for an instant, every five seconds, though.




fri1038 said:


> WQAW-LD went down again in storms around 8:30pm last night.


----------



## fri1038

No data on WMJF again since ??? I hadn't checked since Sunday morning.

No change in WQAW's status.

edit: WMJF came back up around 6/14 5:30pm. Sorry to be broken record about these two stations, but a mention here seems to help get their troubles noticed and fixed.

edit 2: WQAW back up 6/15 ~2:00pm.




fri1038 said:


> 6/12/22 0815:
> 
> WQAW-LD still down.
> 
> WMJF-CD's transmitter up, but sending no data.
> 
> edit: WMJF-CD started sending data a few minutes after I posted. 39-1 Ion video is pausing for an instant, every five seconds, though.


----------



## beboram

Mike M. said:


> I am often told that my OTA antenna cannot possibly work, that it is illegal, or that the non existent HOA in my neighborhood will make me take it down.











Over-the-Air Reception Devices Rule


Over-the-Air Reception Devices Rule




www.fcc.gov





HOA has no authority on TV reception antennas.


----------



## beboram

pamajestic said:


> This guy is in PA, but I know he does work in northern Maryland. He regularly does antennas. Lots of pictures on his Facebook.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> HD TV Antennas, Cell Boosters & Security - Frankton Telecom - York, PA
> 
> 
> Frankton Telecom., Serving York PA, South Central PA & Northern MD. Best Cord Cutting TV Antennas, Cell Phone Boosters & Security Systems.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> frankton.net
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Войдите на Facebook
> 
> 
> Войдите на Facebook, чтобы общаться с друзьями, родственниками и знакомыми.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.facebook.com


Thanks, I will give him a try. I may be out of range for him.


----------



## beboram

MRG1 said:


> beboram, maybe you could become the antenna installer for people in your area?
> 
> Did you call a bunch of electricians and the local electrician's guild? And local HAM radio clubs, like someone suggested? And electronics parts stores? Also, don't limit yourself to one zipcode. I bet some installers travel. They might charge a little extra.
> 
> It's hard to believe it could be this hard, unless you are in the middle of nowhere, in which case an antenna may not work.
> 
> Maybe you could drive around and find people near you who have a rooftop antenna, and ask them who installed them? Some will say it was many years ago, but it's worth a try.
> 
> If you get a referral from DishTV or DirecTV for a satellite antenna installer, maybe that person could do it?
> 
> I'm out of ideas.


Tried the HAM radio club - No reply. Called a few electricians - no one wants to go on top of the roof. One did but quoted $1500. 

I wish I can find a roofer who is willing to diversify into installing antennas. I'll be happy to tech them for free.


----------



## mrradiohead55

beboram said:


> Tried the HAM radio club - No reply. Called a few electricians - no one wants to go on top of the roof. One did but quoted $1500.
> 
> I wish I can find a roofer who is willing to diversify into installing antennas. I'll be happy to tech them for free.


Try contacting your local Home Depot or Lowes contractor desks (far end of the retail building, which is a separate entrance from the main entrance). Most of the stores have contractor installers for products they sell. I personally know a guy that installs flooring and works with several HD/Lowes stores in my area. At any rate, make sure IF you get any leads this way, to check them for a business license, liability insurance, and bonding, which most of those stores require anyway. And it wouldn't hurt to ask for at least three customer references to check quality of work.


----------



## aaronwt

beboram said:


> Over-the-Air Reception Devices Rule
> 
> 
> Over-the-Air Reception Devices Rule
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.fcc.gov
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> HOA has no authority on TV reception antennas.


That still doesn't stop them from sending threatening letters.


----------



## Frank Monroe

aaronwt said:


> That still doesn't stop them from sending threatening letters.


I had an apartment complex years ago try to claim I couldn't have dish inside my balcony. They only wanted to block it because they were getting a kickback from the local cable company. The FCC used to have a hotline number. I reported them and the FCC called them and that was the end of it.


----------



## MRG1

beboram said:


> Called a few electricians - no one wants to go on top of the roof. One did but quoted $1500.
> 
> I wish I can find a roofer who is willing to diversify into installing antennas. I'll be happy to tech them for free.


They don't need to go on top of your roof. Many antenna masts are mounted on the side of (and slightly offset from) the home, near the roof. The mast then extends upwards as far as needed. As best as I understand it, that also improves properly grounding the antenna. (Though it is possible it needs to be In over your current home grounding rod - I don't know the details.) particular, the ground wire can run vertically straight down to ground, which means that a lightning strike is more likely to follow it than if you run the wire over the roof. In fact, a wire run over the roof can attract lightning. . One of my relatives lived in a house in which a phone extension wire was illegally run over the roof. The phone wire was struck by lightning, causing a lot of electrical problems.

(BTW, some middle-of-roof antennas are grounded through metal plumbing pipes, which electrically might be as good as side-of-house mounting - but it potentially creates plumbing problems, because electricity tends to damage the solder that holds metal pipes to each other. As of what the electrician I knew told me, that was legal, but was not best practice.)

Most roofers aren't licensed to do electrical work. And I think (though I could be wrong) the person legally has to be a licensed electrician, to meet the National Electric Code - though they don't need to be general electrician; they could specialize in and only be licensed for antenna installation. If they aren't, not only could a lightning strike burn your house down, but having used an unlicensed (and unbonded) electrician would also likely void your home insurance.

Also I'm not sure of the details, but it is possible that a roofer could function as a "helper" to a licensed electrician without being licensed and bonded as an electrician, if the electrician was present, and did most of the electrical work. Of course, then you need to pay 2 professionals to visit your home at the same time, and coordinating that would be very difficult (trades professionals almost never specify an exact time they will come), unless they regularly work together. I guess the most likely such pairing would be if they both work for the same building contractor, or they are the building contractor.

There is a type of electrician who works on roofs a lot - namely people who install solar panels. I'm not sure if any of them could install an antenna. It is also possible they charge a lot. But maybe if they were installing solar panels at the same time... If what I have been told is right, with all the tax breaks, installing solar panels may actually make economic sense, if your roof is oriented right and is in good condition.

I haven't re-read all of your posts, but do you have access to your attic? Have you tried just putting an attic antenna in your current location? That should be very easy to try, no permanent installation needed, and you can easily move the antenna around to several locations within the attic (but near the roof is probably best). At one point (at a somewhat favorable location in College Park), I just stripped the insulation and ground shield off of about 8' off the end of an antenna wire, and cut off the connector on that end, and taped it to the boards that held up the roof. I tried a number of locations and orientations, and one eventually gave me over 40 channels, from DC, Silver Spring, Baltimore and a little from Virginia. I connected the other end of the wire to my TV, with no amplification. That was undoubtedly a pretty junky improvised antenna, but it was cheap, and if it works at all, you could improve it by using a decent commercial directional antenna, with a rotator to change the orientation.

Does it seem plausible to the rest of you folks that the o.p. should have so much trouble finding someone to do this? I know OTA antenna aren't in the majority of homes, but www.nexttv.com/news/nielsen-sees-uptick-in-over-the-air-households claims that 15% of American households use OTA antennas, though I admit a lot of those aren't on roofs.


----------



## Mike M.

beboram said:


> Over-the-Air Reception Devices Rule
> 
> 
> Over-the-Air Reception Devices Rule
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.fcc.gov
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> HOA has no authority on TV reception antennas.



Especiallo true of non existent HOAs.


----------



## MRG1

Mike M. said:


> >HOA has no authority on TV reception antennas.
> Especiallo true of non existent HOAs.


Non-existent HOAs can be said to have any rules the speaker wishes them to have.

As long as the person they are speaking to doesn't question that.


----------



## fri1038

More e-skip this afternoon as we approach the summer solstice on June 21. Here is Al Mediodia on Cubavision on analog 3 again at 1245pm. Something weaker on 2 I couldn't id. Saw the same yesterday between 1 and 3 pm.


----------



## jmantothe64

Wow, I have barely seen anything this year, yesterday was the first time I got any TV DX this year. I suppose I just need to keep my TV on more often!


----------



## fri1038

jmantothe64 said:


> Wow, I have barely seen anything this year, yesterday was the first time I got any TV DX this year. I suppose I just need to keep my TV on more often!


Yes, there was some pretty strong tropo yesterday morning. I caught WLNY and WMBC out of NY plus all the usual Lancaster/Philly stations. My reception of DC stations was affected. Even WJLA on RF7 was knocked out for a bit (by WABC?) which is rare for me.

One of my sets lets me add unused channels to the tuner list, like RF3, so I can sometimes catch the tropo or e-skip events as I spin the dial looking for something good to watch.


----------



## greg9x2

WTTG 3.0 lip sync issue seems fixed again for the moment...see how long it last.


----------



## Darin72

I will like for ME-TV to come back on my Xfinity tv soon by September thanks I looking forward to seeing my Shows Again thank you


----------



## fri1038

Darin72 said:


> I will like for ME-TV to come back on my Xfinity tv soon by September thanks I looking forward to seeing my Shows Again thank you


Xfinity was supposed to move it to channel 1048 in the DC region. Not there?


----------



## aaronwt

Darin72 said:


> I will like for ME-TV to come back on my Xfinity tv soon by September thanks I looking forward to seeing my Shows Again thank you


MeTV is on Comcast here in Woodbridge, VA. My Mom was wondering what happened to it. And when I looked it up on the MeTV site, it shows that it had moved to a channel number with four digits on Comcast. And, when we checked, Me-TV was actually at that location. So my Mom can get it now if she can remember the four digit number.

And it is also in 720P now. The same thing also happened on FiOS.

I had been wondering why my recordings weren't taking place from Me-TV. I did not realize it had been removed from OTA awhile ago.


----------



## machpost

aaronwt said:


> MeTV is on Comcast here in Woodbridge, VA. My Mom was wondering what happened to it. And when I looked it up on the MeTV site, it shows that it had moved to a channel number with four digits on Comcast. And, when we checked, Me-TV was actually at that location. So my Mom can get it now if she can remember the four digit number.
> 
> And it is also in 720P now. The same thing also happened on FiOS.
> 
> I had been wondering why my recordings weren't taking place from Me-TV. I did not realize it had been removed from OTA awhile ago.


Did they just recently switch it to HD? I saw it in my Fios lineup among the locals that are in HD, and programs are labeled as HD, but it definitely did not look like HD quality when I last checked it maybe a week ago.


----------



## KyL416

MeTV became available in HD in DC after it moved from WTTG 5.3 to WDME-CD 48.1 last month.

You have to watch shows like Svengoolie and Toon in With Me to see natively produced HD content. For older shows it depends on if they have HD copies from the film masters.


----------



## aaronwt

machpost said:


> Did they just recently switch it to HD? I saw it in my Fios lineup among the locals that are in HD, and programs are labeled as HD, but it definitely did not look like HD quality when I last checked it maybe a week ago.


Most of the stuff is old anyway. You can only do so much it. To me, the biggest difference is the higher bitrate with it on FiOS now. The quality is much better than when it was on the OTA sub-channel.

No idea if it actually looks better on Comcast. The TV my Mom mainly uses and what I saw Me-TV on is an old, small, tube TV(with a VCR). So things look like crap no matter what is viewed on it. I'll need to take a look at it one day on their basement TV. At least that is a Sony HDTV LCD set. But it's still so old it uses fluorescent back lighting.


----------



## Mike M.

aaronwt said:


> Most of the stuff is old anyway. You can only do so much it. To me, the biggest difference is the higher bitrate with it on FiOS now. The quality is much better than when it was on the OTA sub-channel.
> 
> No idea if it actually looks better on Comcast. The TV my Mom mainly uses and what I saw Me-TV on is an old, small, tube TV(with a VCR). So things look like crap no matter what is viewed on it. I'll need to take a look at it one day on their basement TV. At least that is a Sony HDTV LCD set. But it's still so old it uses fluorescent back lighting.


It is still an OTA subchannel. But i agree that it does look better now that the change has taken place.


----------



## sport06

aaronwt said:


> That still doesn't stop them from sending threatening letters.


But that's all they are, letters. They have no authority. Crumple them up and use them to start your fire pit (if you have one). Take a video and send it to the HOA mgmt. 

I dealt with this when I bought my house. I laughed at the Mgmt company rep and she just got madder and madder. Tried to convince me her "Lawyers knew what they were talking about" When I replied that "your lawyer's are fleecing you" she got really mad and hung up. I never heard from her again....


----------



## fri1038

e-skip from Canada tonight on analog 3 around 7:15pm. This is eTalk on CITO-TV from Timmins, ON (or CICI-TV-1 Elliot Lake, ON.) Strong enough to get color and sound, to help ID it. ~685 mi.

This and this are good wiki pages for Canadian channels to narrow down the source if you spot something. Then I search for the probable callsign and 'tvpassport' to find the schedule with timezone for that station to match up what I see.

Also caught WTHC-LD on RF3 from Atlanta around 3:30pm for a minute as did some Bandscanners. First time I caught a digital station at that distance. ~600 mi.


----------



## pkpaul

WBAL channel 11 [RF12] is now showing "QVC" on 11-5


----------



## pkpaul

Also on WUSA channel 9.5 [RF9]


----------



## Mike M.

pkpaul said:


> Also on WUSA channel 9.5 [RF9]


That must be recent. Not really worth rescanning but still good to know.


----------



## fri1038

QVC vanished from WBAL, yesterday, I guess. I noticed last night.


----------



## pkpaul

Odd. They are supposed to be there according to Trip & Gracenote.
Still on 9.5 & 49.3 though.


----------



## fri1038

WBAL/QVC still had an aspect ratio problem since launch, last I saw ... 16:9 image squished into a 4:3 box. Possibly related?


----------



## StantonGuy

In DC, antenna on roof (Winegard Omnidirectional MS-1000) and generally get all DC and Baltimore stations, just rescanned and picked up 49.1-6 (minus 49.2 for some reason) and signal for 47.1-2 but nothing broadcasting.

Picking up channels 2.1-6, 4.1-4, 5.1-3, 7.1-4, 9.1-5, 10.1, 11.1-4, 13.1-4, 14.1-4, 20.1-3, 22.1-4, 24.1, 25.1, 26.1-5, 31.1-4 (except 31.3), 32.1-2, 44.1-2, 45.1-4 (except 45.3), 48.1-4, 49.1-6 (except 49.2), 50.1-2, 54.1-4, 66.1-8, and 68.1

*


TV Fool



TitanTV Share Token: oQvqkhx7TZddL3343Xvj!MCiGT8oWjBti3OxSC4Bz9OfuqtXmVF38Q*


----------



## KyL416

StantonGuy said:


> picked up 49.1-6 (minus 49.2 for some reason)


That's because WWTD-LD removed 49.2 entirely in May after StartTV moved to WTTG 5.3 and MeTV moved to WDME-CD 48.1.



> signal for 47.1-2 but nothing broadcasting.


Those are remnants of WMDO-CD's channels. They are in the process of getting a new host, but their former host WDCO-CD never completely removed the entries from their virtual channel table, so no audio and video streams are mapped to the 47.x entries. UniMas is now on WFDC 14.4 (in MPEG-4), while LATV currently has no DC affiliate.



> 31.1-4 (except 31.3)


WRZB-LD removed 31.3 back in 2021 after Laff moved to WPXW 66.4, and they removed 31.5 after Decades moved to WDME-CD 48.3 in May.



> 45.1-4 (except 45.3)


WBFF no longer has a 45.3, its slot went to their guest station WUTB's 24.1




StantonGuy said:


> TV Fool


You should stop using TVFool, it's stuck on an outdated and broken database from before the repack, which is why your results show stations above RF 36. Use the RabbitEars search instead.


----------



## pkpaul

According to zap2it.com, Fox Weather channel is coming to WDCA channel 20-4:


----------



## joblo

pkpaul said:


> According to zap2it.com, Fox Weather channel is coming to WDCA channel 20-4:


Inasmuch as the Fox duopoly here is a shared channel, I wonder why 20-4 instead of 5-4?


----------



## Mike M.

aaronwt said:


> MeTV is on Comcast here in Woodbridge, VA. My Mom was wondering what happened to it. And when I looked it up on the MeTV site, it shows that it had moved to a channel number with four digits on Comcast. And, when we checked, Me-TV was actually at that location. So my Mom can get it now if she can remember the four digit number.
> 
> And it is also in 720P now. The same thing also happened on FiOS.
> 
> I had been wondering why my recordings weren't taking place from Me-TV. I did not realize it had been removed from OTA awhile ago.


It moved to a new frequency. It was not removed


joblo said:


> Inasmuch as the Fox duopoly here is a shared channel, I wonder why 20-4 instead of 5-4?


I sometimes wonder why they brand anything as 20. X.


----------



## aaronwt

Mike M. said:


> It moved to a new frequency. It was not removed
> 
> I sometimes wonder why they brand anything as 20. X.


With Comcast they said they needwd a new box to receive it. Only their main Comcast box can decode it. All their client boxes can't tune to it. Either they are too old or it's actually restricted to the main box that can decode more codecs.

Sent from my Galaxy S22


----------



## Mike M.

aaronwt said:


> With Comcast they said they needwd a new box to receive it. Only their main Comcast box can decode it. All their client boxes can't tune to it. Either they are too old or it's actually restricted to the main box that can decode more codecs. Sent from my Galaxy S22


 I do not understand.


----------



## KyL416

Most of Comcast's recent additions have been via IP only instead of QAM, so they might require their X1 box or the Xfinity app to view, while people with older boxes or 3rd party cable card based tuners are out of luck.


----------



## Mike M.

Because this is a threD about OTA TV i thought you were talking about OTA.


----------



## KyL416

The Washington, DC/Baltimore, MD thread is labeled as a general "HDTV" thread, it isn't OTA specific.


----------



## aaronwt

Mike M. said:


> I do not understand.


I thought Someone said MeTV was still OTA? Not sure. But I know things changed on both FiOS and Comcast for MeTV. It's an HD broadcast on both of them now, and I no longer see it from my OTA reception. 
With Comcast now, which my parents have, they can only view MeTV from their main box. Which has the six tuners. They can no longer view MeTV from their four client boxes. Like it's using a more modern codec, like HEVC, that the client boxes can't decode. No idea why though. Only that they can't view MeTV from their client boxes anymore. 

MeTV was a channel my Mom watched a lot. But she does 99% of her viewing on Comcast from a client box. So she can't watch it anymore.


----------



## KyL416

aaronwt said:


> I thought Someone said MeTV was still OTA? Not sure


It is, MeTV moved to 48.1 WDME-CD after their parent company Weigel purchased the station from Venture Technologies and moved it from Virginia to WRC's auxiliary tower, but it's a Class A signal that's co-channel with another LPTV signal in Maryland, so not everyone can get it.


----------



## Mike M.

I hope this is considered appropriate.

I live in Fairfax County near Falls Church. I replaced a Kitztech KT 200 pre amplifier with a Televes 560383. So far i am pleased. It seems to have improved the signals from WBAL and WJZ to make them watchable instead of a mass of pixels. 

I seem to have lost Channel 31 that is an acceptable trade.


Let's see if anything changes in the next several days.


----------



## fri1038

Shopping channel changes at WMDE. CRTV moved to 36-9 and JTV is on 36-7. Here's a new TSR report. (Save and rename with .htm)


----------



## fri1038

WMJF-CD needs a reboot. All six subchannels are stuttering and sputtering and look like this. Steady stream of continuity errors, even with an excellent signal, as shown in TSReader.


----------



## Mike M.

Mike M. said:


> I hope this is considered appropriate.
> 
> I live in Fairfax County near Falls Church. I replaced a Kitztech KT 200 pre amplifier with a Televes 560383. So far i am pleased. It seems to have improved the signals from WBAL and WJZ to make them watchable instead of a mass of pixels.
> 
> I seem to have lost Channel 31 that is an acceptable trade.
> 
> 
> Let's see if anything changes in the next several days.


Largely watchable only at night. I am impressed with the gain in signal strength though.


----------



## fri1038

QVC is back on WBAL's 11-5, in mpeg4 this time. (480i, but TSReader says 40:33 aspect ratio?)

JTV replaced ShopHQ on WQAW's 69-4.

WMJF still having problems.


----------



## Mike M.

KyL416 said:


> The Washington, DC/Baltimore, MD thread is labeled as a general "HDTV" thread, it isn't OTA specific.


I thought that since this entire foeum delas with local HDTV and reception that the infividual threads dealt with OTA. I guess not.


----------



## pkpaul

What is / was this? Channel 48.12 "EMLW":


----------



## n8hoo

well, WMLW is their station in milwaukee. caught some testing maybe?


----------



## pkpaul

The clock is CDT zone.


n8hoo said:


> well, WMLW is their station in milwaukee. caught some testing maybe?


----------



## fri1038

Some googling brings up some Weigel pdf documents linking that acronym to Movies! on their stations in Milwaukee and Racine. I'll roll the dice and guess that Movies! (50%/50% Fox/Weigel ownership) moves to WDME and Fox Weather goes live on WDCA in its place eventually.


----------



## KyL416

I don't think it's Movies related, since "EMLW" popped up on a .12 subchannel in nearly every Weigel market today, including stations that already have Movies like KFFV in Seattle, WJFB in Nashville and WHCT-LD in Hartford.


----------



## kedward777

I need help. I live in Frederick Maryland. I have an attic antenna with a CM-7778 preamp and power amp. I can pull in 48 channels from the DC area. Basically every channel EXCEPT fox, channel 5 and 20 !!! Could it be their 602 fequency? I have the RCA ANT752 TV Antenna, High VHF/UHF. Any and all assitance is appreciated!


----------



## mrradiohead55

kedward777 said:


> I need help. I live in Frederick Maryland. I have an attic antenna with a CM-7778 preamp and power amp. I can pull in 48 channels from the DC area. Basically every channel EXCEPT fox, channel 5 and 20 !!! Could it be their 602 fequency? I have the RCA ANT752 TV Antenna, High VHF/UHF. Any and all assitance is appreciated!


Do you have an LTE/5g filter also installed? The TMobile frequencies start at what was channel 38 and use multiple frequencies in that area of the spectrum. It's possible that you have a TMobile tower near you and the preamp is amplifying those frequencies also, which can cause interference to channels above RF 30.

Take one step at a time. That's the first thing I would check before looking at other things, IF you don't have that filter.

Jim
------------------









LTE/5G Filter


The Channel Master LTE Filter works with all TV antennas to remove growing LTE signal interference from the broadcast signal your antenna receives.




www.channelmaster.com


----------



## kedward777

hmmm, we do have a LTE/5g tower pretty close, I wil check out th filter! Thank you!


----------



## fri1038

WTTG/WDCA has been one of the fussier channels for me up near BWI. Best signal I get for it is with the antenna almost 30 degrees off target. Which then knocks out others, including its tower-mate and adjacent channel WPXW 66.x. Trees and building materials are a factor in all that. A minor adjustment in height, position, aim might help, too, as usual with UHF channels, if you haven't already tried that.


----------



## kedward777

I just ordered the less expensive but returnable Phillips 5g filter from amazon. It seems to make sense. I can receive every signal from towers very close to the WTTG Fox DC. The fact that WTTG is at 602mhz which is right on the border of the cell spectrum sure seems probable cause. Worth a shot. One thing that I am reading is that some reports are the 600mhz and above are now cell spectrum, so then why is WTTG at 602mhz ?? The Phillips allow only 5 to 608mhz. The Channel Master filter cut off at 609mhz









Amazon.com: Philips LTE Filter for TV Antenna, Filters 4G 5G LTE Signal to Reduce Interference and Pixilation for Clear Digital HD TV Reception, Frequency Range 5-608 MHz, Indoor Outdoor Installation, SDW1520/27 : Electronics


Buy Philips LTE Filter for TV Antenna, Filters 4G 5G LTE Signal to Reduce Interference and Pixilation for Clear Digital HD TV Reception, Frequency Range 5-608 MHz, Indoor Outdoor Installation, SDW1520/27: TV Antennas - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases



www.amazon.com


----------



## kedward777

also, I have another question. I have my antenna in the attic, with a channel master 7778 preamp. I just let it lie in the insulation. Is that a fire hazard? There is an amp/power it is connected to at the tv.


----------



## Brian in CT

kedward777 said:


> One thing that I am reading is that some reports are the 600mhz and above are now cell spectrum, so then why is WTTG at 602mhz ??


After the FCC reverse auction a few years ago, the UHF TV band was repacked to the 470-608 Mhz. range (RF channels 14-36). Everything above 614 Mhz. was bought by a few telecoms to expand their wireless service. The frequencies from 608-614 Mhz. (channel 37) are used for radio astronomy. That's why there has never been a NTSC TV station on channel 37. I assume the FCC settled on this setup due to the number of TV stations that sold out or agreed to channel share. In spite of this buffer, LTE signals can interfere with the UHF TV band. Like mrradiohead55 said, this kind of interference usually affects RF channels 30-36. Just remember to put any LTE filter you get between the antenna and your preamp.


kedward777 said:


> I have my antenna in the attic, with a channel master 7778 preamp. I just let it lie in the insulation. Is that a fire hazard? There is an amp/power it is connected to at the tv.


I thought insulation was fireproof. Or am I just thinking of the "pink brand?" Either way, amplifiers can overheat when the attic gets really hot. This happened to me with a line amp I used many years ago, and it affected my reception on hot days. I've had a preamp on the mast of my rooftop antenna ever since. Since your attic setup seems to be working fine for you (with the exception of WTTG), and you've had no problems with your preamp, I would leave things as is. Hope the LTE filter does the trick for you.


----------



## Casey Hartman

kedward777 said:


> I just ordered the less expensive but returnable Phillips 5g filter from amazon. It seems to make sense. I can receive every signal from towers very close to the WTTG Fox DC. The fact that WTTG is at 602mhz which is right on the border of the cell spectrum sure seems probable cause. Worth a shot. One thing that I am reading is that some reports are the 600mhz and above are now cell spectrum, so then why is WTTG at 602mhz ?? The Phillips allow only 5 to 608mhz. The Channel Master filter cut off at 609mhz
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Amazon.com: Philips LTE Filter for TV Antenna, Filters 4G 5G LTE Signal to Reduce Interference and Pixilation for Clear Digital HD TV Reception, Frequency Range 5-608 MHz, Indoor Outdoor Installation, SDW1520/27 : Electronics
> 
> 
> Buy Philips LTE Filter for TV Antenna, Filters 4G 5G LTE Signal to Reduce Interference and Pixilation for Clear Digital HD TV Reception, Frequency Range 5-608 MHz, Indoor Outdoor Installation, SDW1520/27: TV Antennas - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases
> 
> 
> 
> www.amazon.com


I bought a Phillips 5G filter a while back, but it didn't attenuate T-Mobile's signal enough. I bought a Silicon Dust 5G filter, which has the same specs as Channel Master's, that works well for me. I have a HDHR and I think I got some sort of deal on the filter since both are made by SD.


----------



## kedward777

thanks, those filters are just double the price, I can always return the phillips if I meet the same results, and then try the high cost filters... Dang, it just seems someone could make a complete 1 and done system to cover all the bases for OTA reception.... preamps, amps, spliters, combiners, powered spliters, 5g filters... you just about need a degree in electrical engineering..... Where is Steve Jobs when you need him...


----------



## greg9x2

kedward777 said:


> I need help. I live in Frederick Maryland. I have an attic antenna with a CM-7778 preamp and power amp. I can pull in 48 channels from the DC area. Basically every channel EXCEPT fox, channel 5 and 20 !!! Could it be their 602 fequency? I have the RCA ANT752 TV Antenna, High VHF/UHF. Any and all assitance is appreciated!


Also Frederick with similar setup.. a while back WTTG 1.0 moved tower locations, when they did that they became hard to receive here. Prior to the move it was one of my best received stations , now it's mostly unusable . Verified with spectrum analyzer they dropped like 10dB when they moved... With attic setup, most stations are borderline anyway.

The 3.0 stations have been much better reception. If you can get a 3.0 decoder it will probably be your better choice for the major broadcast networks .

I have filters in line and did not help with reception.

WTTG before move (far right carrier):









WTTG after move (right carrier, but different span):


----------



## kedward777

Good Info. Thank You. That is it. I am enrolling for my masters in electrical engineering. Do I read correctly that wttg is broadcasting in atsc 3.0? SO are you saying that the signal is better if I get a 3.0 decoder when the price becomes resonable?


----------



## greg9x2

kedward777 said:


> Good Info. Thank You. That is it. I am enrolling for my masters in electrical engineering. Do I read correctly that wttg is broadcasting in atsc 3.0? SO are you saying that the signal is better if I get a 3.0 decoder when the price becomes resonable?


Yes, back in December WHUT (RF channel 33) began hosting ATSC 3.0 for themselves, WTTG. WJLA, WRC and WUSA.

It has been a save for me on OTA reception as can get all the major networks now year round, where before the 1.0 versions were lost most of the year after the moves.

I have a TV with 3.0 decoder, also have a HD Homerun, but not currently using it as my bedroom Roku TV won't decode the audio from it. But it works for other TV's .
Broadcast are mostly 1080P (720p for WJLA) and AC4 5.1 audio.


----------



## kedward777

Great info again! and HD homerun sounds very interesting! No more running cables with splitters! I just wonder if I buy a ATSC tv with early ASTC 3.0 if I would pay price being an early adopter vs waiting ... this 3.0 tv looks good: Samsung QN90A Neo QLED TV


----------



## kedward777

The HD homerun looks good, but the downside looks like switching channels is slower and requires another remote


----------



## greg9x2

kedward777 said:


> The HD homerun looks good, but the downside looks like switching channels is slower and requires another remote


3.0 channel switching takes longer in TV too... Not sure if it's faster on any other TV/ tuners.

The HDHR is a network tuner... You put an app on your TV/stream device and change channels in the app. Upside is you can put the app on all your TV's, has two 1.0/3.0 tuners and two 1.0 only tuners, so can use those concurrently. But you do need an Ethernet connection and coax connection to it.

And also, if your TV can't decode AC4 audio, the sound gets sent to HDHR to be transcoded on the fly, but will only be stereo then . (Unless anything has changed since last tried it)


----------



## aaronwt

Or you use the HDHomeRun with something like Plex. Which is what I do for time shifting. I have a four tuner HDHomeRun Flex 4K for OTA(And three Primes for cable). Which has two ATSC 3.0 tuners and two ATSC 1.0 tuners. But since ATSC 3.0 uses AC-4 audio, the vast majority of devices out there cannot decode it. So I can't have audio from the ATSC 3.0 recordings with Plex.

The HDHomeRun has a workaround. Where it sends the info to the cloud, decodes it, and then sends it back. Which only takes a split second. So, surprisingly, there are no issues with audio delays. And it works very well. But, for me, I have no desire to watch live TV. And for me to record with the HDHomeRun app would incur another cost. I have a lifetime Plex license so I don't have any more costs involved with my TV time shifting. So hopefully plex will add AC4 decoding at some point in the future. So I can get audio with t eh ATSC 3.0 channels.


----------



## fri1038

Oh well, let's just do what we always do and launch another shopping channel. Yeah? Good. I shall name it ShoppieMe.



KyL416 said:


> I don't think it's Movies related, since "EMLW" popped up on a .12 subchannel in nearly every Weigel market today, including stations that already have Movies like KFFV in Seattle, WJFB in Nashville and WHCT-LD in Hartford.


----------



## fri1038

Meanwhile, over at WMDE, 36-6 DigiTV is kaput.


----------



## MRG1

I seem to


kedward777 said:


> Great info again! and HD homerun sounds very interesting! No more running cables with splitters! I just wonder if I buy a ATSC tv with early ASTC 3.0 if I would pay price being an early adopter vs waiting ... this 3.0 tv looks good:


Do I remember reading that the early generation ATSC 3.0 tuners (and presumably TVs that incorporate such tuners) have trouble or will have trouble with later ATSC 3.0 formats? I think it had something to do with encryption, so maybe it only applied to OTA channels you have to pay for. Or is there a wide variety of possible ATSC 3.0 formats, but early generation tuners will only handle a subset?

If that is true than the price of being an early adopter might not just be higher cost.

There was a lot to be said for the SD days when there was just one stable format, and a 20 or 30 year old TV could still see everything.


----------



## KyL416

That was mostly a false sky is falling panic, some of which was caused by a blog confusing a press release about Sinclair licensing *D*igital *R*adio *M*ondiale's technology to carry simulcasts of their former radio stations in Seattle with *D*igital *R*ights *M*anagement.

DRM (Digital Rights Management) is part of the ATSC 3.0 specs, so if you have a NextGen certified TV you already support it. SiliconDust also confirmed that every HDHomeRun 4K unit shipped with the required unique DRM keys.

It's the unreleased tuners who haven't gotten certified yet like Zapperbox (who was already delayed because of Dolby AC-4 licensing issues) and Tablo that decided to delay their release to implement it.


----------



## Mike M.

I believe that the Silicon Dust HDHR has two ATSC tuners not just one.


----------



## aaronwt

Mike M. said:


> I believe that the Silicon Dust HDHR has two ATSC tuners not just one.


The HDHomeRun Flex 4K, that I have, has two ATSC 3.0 tuners and two ATSC 1.0 tuners.
So you can record two ATSC 3.0 programs and two ATSC 1.0 programs concurrently. Or you can record up to four ATSC 1.0 programs concurrently.


----------



## greg9x2

Mike M. said:


> I believe that the Silicon Dust HDHR has two ATSC tuners not just one.


If your referring to me saying one 3.0 tuner, then yes, you are correct it has two 3.0 and two more 1.0 (Four total).. I misremembered when posted before.


----------



## Mike M.

Any update on WDVM-TV's move?


----------



## fri1038

I didn't find any updates on WDVM-TV's transmitter move when I was looking into WMJF-CD's (also RF23) ongoing problem. I did see that they revamped up their news programming with a 10pm show on sister station WDCW 50-1 and new studios in DC.

TitanTV shows Newsmax2 on WMJF's 39-8 now, along with the never seen TrueReal on 39-7. But still just the old six subchannels sputtering with that odd 40% null stream, possibly related to whatever ails them


----------



## JackSplat58

No longer able to tune in WUSA ATSC 3.0. Still receiving WJLA, WTTG and WRC 3.0. Rescanned, rebooted TV. It acts like no program is being broadcasted because I can see the navigation menu on the channel and select videos.


----------



## greg9x2

JackSplat58 said:


> No longer able to tune in WUSA ATSC 3.0. Still receiving WJLA, WTTG and WRC 3.0. Rescanned, rebooted TV. It acts like no program is being broadcasted because I can see the navigation menu on the channel and select videos.


Not seeing it either, but it's just a black screen, not getting the 'No Signal' message on TV. So seems it's there but no picture.


----------



## fri1038

I see video for WUSA in VLC played via hdhomerun_config_gui. In the Windows HDHomerun app, "Unable to play channel: Timeout"


----------



## greg9x2

Sent an email about WUSA 3.0...but we never got confirmation if that's a good email address. 

If anyone wants to try calling Lou:




bullwinklehdtv said:


> The email contact on the WHUT nexgen tv webpage is listed as [email protected], but it actually sends to [email protected] when you click it. I sent an message asking that they notify engineering, but I have no idea if the email is actually monitored. They also list a telephone contact, Lou Crozier (202-806-3003) , if anyone wants to give it a try.





WHUT said:


> lou crozier 202.372.5746


----------



## Mike M.

pkpaul said:


> What is / was this? Channel 48.12 "EMLW":
> View attachment 3312507
> 
> View attachment 3312508
> 
> View attachment 3312509


Right now it is nothing but infomercials. I have . In no idea what what diginet it might be.


----------



## fri1038

WUSA 3.0 working for everyone this morning? Looks good to me in the Windows and Android HDHomeRun apps.




JackSplat58 said:


> No longer able to tune in WUSA ATSC 3.0. Still receiving WJLA, WTTG and WRC 3.0. Rescanned, rebooted TV. It acts like no program is being broadcasted because I can see the navigation menu on the channel and select videos.


----------



## pkpaul

109.1 WUSA 3.0 coming in loud and clear in Falls Church.


----------



## Cbandscanner

greg9x2 said:


> 3.0 channel switching takes longer in TV too... Not sure if it's faster on any other TV/ tuners.


If you have an Android TV, you can add the HDHomeRun as a source in the Android Live Channels and all the channels appear in the TV's internal TV guide with the guide populated. Then just use the TV remote.


----------



## JackSplat58

fri1038 said:


> WUSA 3.0 working for everyone this morning? Looks good to me in the Windows and Android HDHomeRun apps.


Yaay, Yinz fixed it.


----------



## greg9x2

Cbandscanner said:


> If you have an Android TV, you can add the HDHomeRun as a source in the Android Live Channels and all the channels appear in the TV's internal TV guide with the guide populated. Then just use the TV remote.


Yes, I have that also...but still takes the same amount of time ~7-10 seconds to tune in a 3.0 channel as it does on the TV tuner.


----------



## fri1038

WUSA (1.0) and all its subchannels seem to have caught the same bug that WMJF has been suffering. Video breakups (but not audio) and a steady stream of continuity errors when viewed in TSReader. The 3.0 signal looks okay.

Edit: WUSA was back to normal when I checked at 2:30pm.


----------



## greg9x2

fri1038 said:


> WUSA (1.0) and all its subchannels seem to have caught the same bug that WMJF has been suffering. Video breakups (but not audio) and a steady stream of continuity errors when viewed in TSReader. The 3.0 signal looks okay.


There was a major solar storm hit yesterday and continuing a bit today... anything RF related could be because of it.


----------



## MRG1

This may be somewhat off topic (I'm not sure ARISS counts as over-the-air), but did you know people can sometimes send and receive radio signals by amateur radio (which I guess is the same as Ham Radio) at 122 MHz to and from the International Space Station (ISS)? And that Slow Scan Video (SSV) has also been sent from the ISS?

E.g.,
International Space Station: Girl, 8, chats to astronaut on amateur radio
Contact the ISS
ARISS-SSTV images

Now I have some questions, that I thought of while looking for ARISS:

1. This article says that HF band radio can sometimes be received long distances away, by "skipping" (refracting) off the ionosphere.

2. If that is correct, how similar is this to "tropo events" (which I assume means tropospheric ducting; the troposphere is a different atmospheric layer, the lowest, that non-astronaut human live in) that those of you who think it fun to receive unusually distant TV broadcasts talk about (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropospheric_propagation). Are they the same aside from frequency and atmospheric layer? Or does "duct" imply the signal stays within the same layer, while "skip" traverses layers?

3. Do some people speak of "tropospheric ducting" as "skipping" too?

4. Can signals that "skip" or "duct" reach satellites such as the ISS? I.E., can they skip or duct in the atmosphere above one location, then transmit through it above another location?

Anyway it's kind of a cool idea to converse with the ISS, though I suppose some might wonder if it is an efficient use of expensive public resources.


----------



## Brian in CT

I'll keep this short. E-skip can enable you to receive stations over thousands of miles away, while tropospheric ducting can for stations hundreds of miles away. Since ducting affects the lower atmosphere, I doubt it makes any difference when communicating with satellites or the ISS. That would be LOS from a ground station through any weather conditions in the troposphere.

BTW, if you want to learn more about ducting, try the website www.dxinfocentre.com. On the homepage, scroll down and click on the "Tropospheric Dx Modes" link. This will show you practically everything you want to know about the weather conditions that lead to all types of tropospheric ducting.


----------



## aaronwt

That looks like the same tropo site that was around in 2001? I used it regularly, in the early 2000's, to see when I could get good reception from the ABC Baltimore station, for my HD recordings. Since the DC ABC station only had stereo audio at the time. While the Baltimore ABC station had 5.1 audio.


----------



## Brian in CT

aaronwt said:


> That looks like the same tropo site that was around in 2001? I used it regularly, in the early 2000's, to see when I could get good reception from the ABC Baltimore station, for my HD recordings. Since the DC ABC station only had stereo audio at the time. While the Baltimore ABC station had 5.1 audio.


It probably is. It's been around for at least 20 years. The webmaster has added a lot of bells and whistles to the site since then. That includes the link (to how ducting works) I mentioned in my previous post.


----------



## greg9x2

Anyone else watch the Commanders/Ravens game on WRC 3.0 and get sub par audio ? Says it's a 5.1 audio broadcast, but I was only getting sound from front 3 speakers even when using an upmixer... Surrounds and Heights were silent. Are they only broadcasting a mono audio signal ? Changed to WJLA 3.0 and getting normal surround speaker usage.
Just wondering why it was like that.


----------



## Frank Monroe

greg9x2 said:


> Anyone else watch the Commanders/Ravens game on WRC 3.0 and get sub par audio ? Says it's a 5.1 audio broadcast, but I was only getting sound from front 3 speakers even when using an upmixer... Surrounds and Heights were silent. Are they only broadcasting a mono audio signal ? Changed to WJLA 3.0 and getting normal surround speaker usage.
> Just wondering why it was like that.


Yes. Thats why I switched to channel 7. The commercials on WRC are in 5.1. Its the game feed that is bad. This isn't new. I have always experienced sub par audio with Commanders pre season games.


----------



## greg9x2

Frank Monroe said:


> Yes. Thats why I switched to channel 7. The commercials on WRC are in 5.1. Its the game feed that is bad. This isn't new. I have always experienced sub par audio with Commanders pre season games.


Glad not just me then... so weird that even an upmixer that should use all speakers wouldn't even put out sound to the surrounds and heights...usually even works on stereo. Imagine it sees the surround channels but they have no audio in them so confuses everything.


----------



## Frank Monroe

greg9x2 said:


> Glad not just me then... so weird that even an upmixer that should use all speakers wouldn't even put out sound to the surrounds and heights...usually even works on stereo. Imagine it sees the surround channels but they have no audio in them so confuses everything.


Looks like 45 in Baltimore is better with the same feed.


----------



## fri1038

WMJF-CD was working on their systems this afternoon and is watchable again after about six weeks. Still a few continuity errors but nothing you'd notice when watching its video streams. 27% nulls now compared to 39% when they had more problems, if that was ever significant.



fri1038 said:


> WMJF-CD needs a reboot. All six subchannels are stuttering and sputtering and look like this. Steady stream of continuity errors, even with an excellent signal, as shown in TSReader.


----------



## bforeman

Has there been any changes in the HD signals in the DC Balt area in the past two months? My MIL lives in Columbia and last year I set up her home with an attic window HD antenna, signal booster, and coax into her TV. At the time she received about 75 channels, all the DC/Balt stations and their subchannels. Most were a high quality signal. It worked well for a year and then about 30 – 60 days ago she began complaining about signal quality. A rescan dropped the channels down to about 30 with many of those poor quality. Currently of the major networks she can get Channel 2, 5, 45 and sometimes 4. Figuring that some device was failing I started swapping out items without any improvement. At this point I have swapped out everything (TV, Antenna, signal booster, Coax) and moved the antennas to different locations. Still no improvement. I’m at a loss what to try next. Any ideas?


----------



## Newton-second

bforeman said:


> Has there been any changes in the HD signals in the DC Balt area in the past two months? My MIL lives in Columbia and last year I set up her home with an attic window HD antenna, signal booster, and coax into her TV. At the time she received about 75 channels, all the DC/Balt stations and their subchannels. Most were a high quality signal. It worked well for a year and then about 30 – 60 days ago she began complaining about signal quality. A rescan dropped the channels down to about 30 with many of those poor quality. Currently of the major networks she can get Channel 2, 5, 45 and sometimes 4. Figuring that some device was failing I started swapping out items without any improvement. At this point I have swapped out everything (TV, Antenna, signal booster, Coax) and moved the antennas to different locations. Still no improvement. I’m at a loss what to try next. Any ideas?


There are many possibilities, but I suspect that a cell site nearby may be causing interference. A few years ago, the 600 MHz band (TV channels 38-51) was reallocated for cellular use. T-Mobile is mainly using the 600 MHz band and has been adding it to towers across the country. If you are close to a cell site (not necessarily a freestanding tower, can be cellular antennas mounted atop a nearby roof), the interference can "bleed" over into the channels below 38 (much like how a nearby radio station on 98.1 can make a distant radio station on 97.9 hard to receive). Amplifiers or "signal boosters" make this bleeding effect much worse. You could try a 5G/LTE filter like this one https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JGSC5AO , making sure to place it before any booster (i.e., antenna -> 5G/LTE filter -> booster -> coax run -> TV).

Certain LED lighting can cause interference too, so I suggest turning the lights off to see if that makes a difference. Also, try removing the booster to see how that changes reception. From a RabbitEars query most of the TV signals are strong in Columbia, so the booster could be getting overloaded.

Lastly, if you want to see what is actually going on in the airwaves, I recommend getting the RTL-SDR USB for $30 (and a ~$7 adapter needed to connect it to F-type coax). With open-source software it can be used as a spectrum analyzer to optimize your setup. I made a YouTube video demonstrating how it can be used to diagnose issues and improve TV reception: 



 .


----------



## fri1038

Fox Weather is up and running on WDCA's 20-4 FOXWX this noon.


----------



## fri1038

bforeman said:


> Has there been any changes in the HD signals in the DC Balt area in the past two months? ... Any ideas?


No changes to the B-W transmitters (in opposite directions in Columbia) in a while. Also consider tree growth or new construction, in addition to electronic interference mentioned above, as possible changes to your local environment as the source of your troubles. Summer weather and moisture in the trees can be a factor too. Do/did you ever see the VHF-high channels - 7,9,11,13? It'd be helpful to know the model of antenna and the resulting link from a rabbitears.info search .


----------



## howie14

Does any know someone in the Baltimore area who still will straighten and reset a standard roof antenna with chimney straps? I had a new rotor installed by Action Antenna in May and it slid crooked by July. Action went out of business after 60+ years on June 1.


----------



## MRG1

greg9x2 said:


> Anyone else watch the Commanders/Ravens game on WRC 3.0 and get sub par audio ? Says it's a 5.1 audio broadcast, but I was only getting sound from front 3 speakers even when using an upmixer... Surrounds and Heights were silent. Are they only broadcasting a mono audio signal ? Changed to WJLA 3.0 and getting normal surround speaker usage.
> Just wondering why it was like that.


This is probably a dumb question, but why do you need surround sound from a football game? I would have thought the only sound you need is from the sportscasters, which I assume is center channel.

Or do you want to hear the fan cheers in surround sound?

Or is it the cheerleaders and/or the half-time show you want to hear in surround sound?

Or is this just a matter of you feeling cheated if you don't get to use all the expensive speakers you bought?


----------



## greg9x2

MRG1 said:


> This is probably a dumb question, but why do you need surround sound from a football game? I would have thought the only sound you need is from the sportscasters, which I assume is center channel.
> 
> Or do you want to hear the fan cheers in surround sound?
> 
> Or is it the cheerleaders and/or the half-time show you want to hear in surround sound?
> 
> Or is this just a matter of you feeling cheated if you don't get to use all the expensive speakers you bought?


Well for starters these OTA broadcast are 5.1, so I expect that.

Next, yes, I do like to hear the fans cheer in surround sound... it's not overwhelming, but adds the proper ambiance when watching the games. Hearing mono audio out of the center channel (with a bit in L/R) of just the sportscasters leaves a lot to be desired when used to the other way...immediately know something is 'wrong'.

And again, yes, I do want to get usage out of my system.... while not really in the 'expensive' category, I do have a mid level 5.1.4 system, and my AVR has Auro 3D upmixing which I enjoy because it's gets usage out of all the speakers in my system. I installed a surround system for a reason.

If you enjoy watching games with just the TV speakers, then that's good for you. I much prefer my setup.


----------



## Frank Monroe

greg9x2 said:


> Well for starters these OTA broadcast are 5.1, so I expect that.
> 
> Next, yes, I do like to hear the fans cheer in surround sound... it's not overwhelming, but adds the proper ambiance when watching the games. Hearing mono audio out of the center channel (with a bit in L/R) of just the sportscasters leaves a lot to be desired when used to the other way...immediately know something is 'wrong'.
> 
> And again, yes, I do want to get usage out of my system.... while not really in the 'expensive' category, I do have a mid level 5.1.4 system, and my AVR has Auro 3D upmixing which I enjoy because it's gets usage out of all the speakers in my system. I installed a surround system for a reason.
> 
> If you enjoy watching games with just the TV speakers, then that's good for you. I much prefer my setup.


Plus, its not just about surround. The Dolby audio is superior to standard stereo even if you are listening to the Dolby audio through only two speakers. Without Dolby, the audio sounds like a tunnel. With Dolby it does not.


----------



## palikar

fri1038 said:


> WMJF-CD was working on their systems this afternoon and is watchable again after about six weeks. Still a few continuity errors but nothing you'd notice when watching its video streams. 27% nulls now compared to 39% when they had more problems, if that was ever significant.


There are issues with the video again, with it constantly distorting mostly where there's motion or scene transitions. It reminds me of video that has been over compressed at too low of a bit rate, like the signal is bit-starved even though the signal strength is hovering around 70. At least it's now watchable, but hardly ideal.

edit--and now there's slight, intermittent audio skipping as if the signal is degrading...


----------



## fri1038

Yep, I see it too. The stream of continuity errors is back if you look at WMJF in TSReader. 🤷‍♂️



palikar said:


> There are issues with the video again, with it constantly distorting mostly where there's motion or scene transitions. It reminds me of video that has been over compressed at too low of a bit rate, like the signal is bit-starved even though the signal strength is hovering around 70. At least it's now watchable, but hardly ideal.
> 
> edit--and now there's slight, intermittent audio skipping as if the signal is degrading...


----------



## palikar

fri1038 said:


> Yep, I see it too. The stream of continuity errors is back if you look at WMJF in TSReader. 🤷‍♂️


 I really wish there was some way to alert WMJF to these problems. I never remembered any stations being off the air for _weeks _back in the good 'ole days of analog broadcasting. Sure we only had 7 channels back then, and 2 of them were redundant (PBS, so really only 6) but at least they were always on the air.

and thanks for replying


----------



## fri1038

WMJF and two other stations are owned by a holding company based in Orlando. Who knows who actually does the technical support for them. Maybe contact one of the networks (Ion, H&I, Quest, et al) since it's their product that isn't being delivered to the customer.



palikar said:


> I really wish there was some way to alert WMJF to these problems. I never remembered any stations being off the air for _weeks _back in the good 'ole days of analog broadcasting. Sure we only had 7 channels back then, and 2 of them were redundant (PBS, so really only 6) but at least they were always on the air.
> 
> and thanks for replying


----------



## StantonGuy

Scanned tonight and picked up 11.5 QVC and 20.4 Fox Weather (neither one of which show up in the my TitanTV listing page to add yet). And 47.1 WMDO and 47.2 LATV, but they "aren't available" yet.


----------



## KyL416

StantonGuy said:


> And 47.1 WMDO and 47.2 LATV, but they "aren't available" yet.


47.1 WMDO and 47.2 LATV are just remnants of their former spectrum sharing deal with WDCO-CD. For whatever reason WDCO-CD never deleted the entries from their virtual channel table after removing their audio and video streams.


----------



## palikar

fri1038 said:


> WMJF and two other stations are owned by a holding company based in Orlando. Who knows who actually does the technical support for them. Maybe contact one of the networks (Ion, H&I, Quest, et al) since it's their product that isn't being delivered to the customer.


I actually did contact all 6 of the networks through their web site's customer support/contact us pages when WMJF went down in early July. And it only took 5 weeks before the problem was fixed! (for all of 3 days no less!) So, swift response there!
/sarcasm 

Seriously though, you'd think whoever owns WMJF would want to provide _some_ way for their viewers to alert them to technical issues that arise (especially given their frequency)
I mean how long would it take to set up a Twitter and Facebook page?

BaltoMedia (who coincidentally has a Facebook page) suggests filing a technical complaint with the FCC because that will be certain to get their attention, and fairly quickly. 
Well, if that's the only way...


----------



## bdowell

Why the heck does FiOS have a channel, and guide entry, for 4K NFL broadcast tonight and yet they aren't actually showing same?! I swear that every. single. time. I have ever considered trying to catch a 4K broadcast on FiOS it just isn't there -- including last year's super b owl.


----------



## KyL416

No one had the Super Bowl in 4K as NBC didn't provide a 4K broadcast to TV providers. Some NFL Network games were in 4K last season, but that Thursday Night Football package is now exclusive to Amazon Prime.

FiOS will have 4K sports this Saturday
1496 will have ESPN's Baylor @ BYU at 10:15pm
1498 will have Fox's College Football games:
10:00am Big Noon Kickoff
12:00pm Alabama at Texas
3:30pm Washington State at Wisconsin


----------



## Mike M.

IS WMPT running at reduced power? I seem to have lost it here in Falls Church VA.


----------



## bdowell

KyL416 said:


> No one had the Super Bowl in 4K as NBC didn't provide a 4K broadcast to TV providers. Some NFL Network games were in 4K last season, but that Thursday Night Football package is now exclusive to Amazon Prime.
> 
> FiOS will have 4K sports this Saturday
> 1496 will have ESPN's Baylor @ BYU at 10:15pm
> 1498 will have Fox's College Football games:
> 10:00am Big Noon Kickoff
> 12:00pm Alabama at Texas
> 3:30pm Washington State at Wisconsin


That was a Sunday night football broadcast. In my area the listing is for WBAL 4K on 1491, but nothing seems to ever be broadcast on same despite the guide listings.


----------



## machpost

bdowell said:


> That was a Sunday night football broadcast. In my area the listing is for WBAL 4K on 1491, but nothing seems to ever be broadcast on same despite the guide listings.


Are you by chance using a TiVo? That channel location was a temporary one last used during the most recent Olympics. For some reason TiVo is really bad at keeping their channel lineup data up to date, despite the fact that they're owned by one of the major providers of guide data. The 4K Olympics channels were removed from Fios lineups back in February.


----------



## bdowell

machpost said:


> Are you by chance using a TiVo? That channel location was a temporary one last used during the most recent Olympics. For some reason TiVo is really bad at keeping their channel lineup data up to date, despite the fact that they're owned by one of the major providers of guide data. The 4K Olympics channels were removed from Fios lineups back in February.


Yes, TiVo edge customer. There's also another 4K channel with a listing for Olympics coverage that is separate from the one that I mentioned.


----------



## KyL416

Yeah, those channels were removed from the FiOS lineup after the Olympics. NBC has never provided Sunday Night Football in 4K. NBC's 4K sports coverage is mostly limited to the Olympics and some Premier League and Notre Dame games.

FiOS's own boxes use Gracenote/TMS for data instead of TiVo/Rovi, which is probably why the TiVo lineup is not up to date and has incorrect schedules for FiOS's 4K channels.

I'm not sure how TiVo handles CableCard setups, but if they offer a rescan option you might want to use that to remove the channels that no longer exist.


----------



## n8hoo

Mike M. said:


> IS WMPT running at reduced power? I seem to have lost it here in Falls Church VA.


doesn't appear so and I'm not that far from you:






Signal graphs for WMPT at Alexandria, VA-N8HOO-4K on tuner0







www.rabbitears.info


----------



## MRG1

> Seriously though, you'd think whoever owns WMJF would want to provide _some_ way for their viewers to alert them to technical issues that arise (especially given their frequency)
> I mean how long would it take to set up a Twitter and Facebook page?


If Wikipedia is right, WMJF's FCC license info, including phone, FAX and email contacts are at

publicfiles.fcc.gov/tv-profile/WMJF-CD

and

enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/public/tv/publicFacilityDetails.html?facilityId=191262

Is the contact info out of date?

Also, could the problem be that they are a low power station (again, based on Wikipedia), so that you just aren't receiving the signal well?

They have a Facebook page at www.facebook.com/wmjftv but I guess that was from when it was a student run organization at Towson University.

Wikipedia claims "Programming and operations are handled remotely via satellite feed." Is it hard to make remote handling work well?

In any event, I suspect most low power stations don't make a lot of money, so it may not be worth it to them to keep everything working well. Especially one like this whose main broadcast area is a university campus in Baltimore, and, at least based on the article, is unaffiliated and has no cable system carriage.

They seem to have an online site at

vimeo.com/watch

Though it looks like some of that content was from its student-run days.

Or maybe it still is student run. Perhaps the University gave up funding it, so a parent just bought the license so their kid (and others?) could keep contributing to it. In which case those students would have relatively little time to devote to it.

But this is all just a guess. I didn't look into it past the Wikipedia article.


----------



## jeffsk

Towson University sold it, continued to operate it under a LMA for a couple of years and I think it was resold at least once since then. The University doesn't have anything to do with the OTA TV station anymore, but still uses the WMJF Vimeo and Facebook page.


----------



## jeffsk

I noticed that the WMJF Closed Captioning contact is [email protected]. I wonder if that would be a good engineering contact. I tried going to digity.me and it took me to GoodCo Companies – Dean Goodman, which is a company that operates TV stations. On that page, there is a [email protected] email address listed, which might be a more updated email.


----------



## crbaldwin

I am still getting bad lip-sync issues on WTTG ATSC 3.0 (>1 sec off). Anyone know what is going on there? I will try the ATSC 1 channel to see how it compares.


----------



## Frank Monroe

crbaldwin said:


> I am still getting bad lip-sync issues on WTTG ATSC 3.0 (>1 sec off). Anyone know what is going on there? I will try the ATSC 1 channel to see how it compares.


I'm still getting this as well. In addition, the feed overall is 5-6 seconds behind the ATSC 1.0 channel. Also, the rear surround speakers are lower than the ATSC 1.0 channel. The video is 1080p though.


----------



## greg9x2

crbaldwin said:


> I am still getting bad lip-sync issues on WTTG ATSC 3.0 (>1 sec off). Anyone know what is going on there? I will try the ATSC 1 channel to see how it compares.


Yeah, they had it fixed for a while then back to lip sync issue. Don't know what setting they keep messing with, but seems they can't leave it correct.

At least now it's in correctable territory of 500ms can adjust on my AVR if something really want to watch. Amazon Thursday night Football is like 3-5 seconds off and can't do enough to fix it.


----------



## DrDon

Seattle reception discussion moved to ...Seattle. SMH.


----------



## joblo

TiVo today added to its OTA lineup "21-1 - WDVM; digital frequency 25 IND".

Does this make ANY sense whatso-bleeping-ever to anyone or is this just more typical TiVo idiocy?!?

(Keep in mind that TiVo still hasn't gotten the Baltimore OTA lineup right more than a year after the 3.0 launch in June 2021. They still do not list CW54 on virtual 54-11, rf 22.)


----------



## greg9x2

Oddness on the 3.0's tonight. WHUT, WJLA and WRC receivable, WTTG and WUSA no signal.


----------



## fri1038

greg9x2 said:


> Oddness on the 3.0's tonight. WHUT, WJLA and WRC receivable, WTTG and WUSA no signal.


WTTG 3.0 looks good to me this morning, but WUSA 3.0 has troubles. Looks like a repeat of the problem seen around Aug 12: hdhomerun apps on Windows and Tivo Stream 4K timeout trying to play WUSA 3.0, on Windows hdhomerun_config_gui -> VLC I can see video.


----------



## greg9x2

fri1038 said:


> WTTG 3.0 looks good to me this morning, but WUSA 3.0 has troubles. Looks like a repeat of the problem seen around Aug 12: hdhomerun apps on Windows and Tivo Stream 4K timeout trying to play WUSA 3.0, on Windows hdhomerun_config_gui -> VLC I can see video.


Checking tonight no WUSA on Sony TV or HDHR. WTTG on TV keeps going from ok to freezing, but on HDHR seems ok. Signal levels are about where they usually are. Weirdness.

But looks like Prime fixed lip sync issue so not worried about OTA tonight. 🤷‍♂️


----------



## greg9x2

greg9x2 said:


> Checking tonight no WUSA on Sony TV or HDHR. WTTG on TV keeps going from ok to freezing, but on HDHR seems ok. Signal levels are about where they usually are. Weirdness.


Down 4 days now... sent email, but still no idea if anyone reads them.

WTTG ok for most part besides lip sync.


----------



## fri1038

greg9x2 said:


> WTTG ok for most part besides lip sync.


With what tuner do you have the WTTG audio sync problem? I've never seen it with my hdhomerun. I checked several times today.


----------



## greg9x2

fri1038 said:


> With what tuner do you have the WTTG audio sync problem? I've never seen it with my hdhomerun. I checked several times today.


Sony 900H TV.... It's closer now than has been (usually 500ms off). But it is only WTTG, other 3.0 channels are ok.

But having said that, tired of fighting OTA for a while... Along with hockey starting up and go to streaming sites getting shut down, giving YouTube TV a try for a while. May be back to OTA in the future.


----------



## fri1038

I have DirectvStream's free 5-day trial going this weekend, coincidentally. Their Choice package is the only way to get MASN and MASN2 for the Nats and Os in-market without cable or satellite, that I know of. NBC Sports Washington for Caps and Wizards in there, too. Bit of a discount going on until 10/4 but probably more expensive than YouTube long term depending on the bundle. If anyone checks it out, make sure you have a compatible streaming device and to delete the one they sneak into your shopping cart. Roku and Fire okay. Seems you have to 'sideload' the app for Android gadgets like Tivo Stream 4k.

PS. You only get one city's locals, not both DC and Balt, so if you like to flip between Fox 5 and Fox 45 for their usually differing NFL games, you'd be out of luck with this service.


----------



## fri1038

DC's virtual 44-2 TeleXitos has been showing a test pattern since at least Oct 1 and it's not listed on their website as an affiliate, so could be gone - if not a technical problem related to hurricane Ian. I haven't spied any other new month changes in the area.


----------



## KyL416

It's likely technical difficulties as WZDC 44 is a NBCU O&O, so it's not in danger of losing the affiliation.

The website's affiliate selection is horribly outdated as it's missing their newer O&Os that were acquired from ZGS back in 2017 and doesn't list any of their 3rd party affiliates.


----------



## greg9x2

greg9x2 said:


> Sony 900H TV.... It's closer now than has been (usually 500ms off). But it is only WTTG, other 3.0 channels are ok.
> 
> But having said that, tired of fighting OTA for a while... Along with hockey starting up and go to streaming sites getting shut down, giving YouTube TV a try for a while. May be back to OTA in the future.


Even on Youtube TV there is a slight lip sync problem on WTTG, so guess it's not only their 3.0 feed. It's not the normal 500ms used to see on the 3.0 broadcast, seems somewhere under 100ms but can't get it excact. Do not see this on other channels. Guess have sensitivity to it due to the issues since 3.0 went live causing a bit of hyper focus on it.

Also the 3.0 feed is having issues again with WTTG not coming in or freezing when it does...along with WUSA, not sure if reception issue due to different ModCod's or a broadcast issue.


----------



## crbaldwin

Anyone else missing the English audio track on the Raven's game yesterday, WUSA, ATSC 3? Or was it just my recording messed up?


----------



## n8hoo

fri1038 said:


> DC's virtual 44-2 TeleXitos has been showing a test pattern since at least Oct 1 and it's not listed on their website as an affiliate, so could be gone - if not a technical problem related to hurricane Ian. I haven't spied any other new month changes in the area.


still going -- wonder if someone forgot to switch back the feed after the DC United game on saturday...


----------



## fri1038

n8hoo said:


> still going -- wonder if someone forgot to switch back the feed after the DC United game on saturday...


44-2 is back to normal when I checked just now - 1050 Monday.


----------



## fri1038

crbaldwin said:


> Anyone else missing the English audio track on the Raven's game yesterday, WUSA, ATSC 3? Or was it just my recording messed up?


What device(s)? Did you record silence or Spanish? WUSA 3.0 is still timing out for playback with my hdhr. When I was futzing with it yesterday I had to click on SAP to get English audio on WJZ 3.0's broadcast.

edit: lol. there is no wjz 3.0. it must have been some other football broadcast or maybe wjz 1.0.


----------



## greg9x2

crbaldwin said:


> Anyone else missing the English audio track on the Raven's game yesterday, WUSA, ATSC 3? Or was it just my recording messed up?


Are you using HDHR ? Frequently it defaults to Spanish audio and have to change to secondary audio to get English.


----------



## crbaldwin

The HDHR in Channels DVR. It showed both tracks, defaulted to English which was silent. Spanish track played fine. Another player only showed the Spanish track as available.


----------



## JackSplat58

greg9x2 said:


> Even on Youtube TV there is a slight lip sync problem on WTTG, so guess it's not only their 3.0 feed. It's not the normal 500ms used to see on the 3.0 broadcast, seems somewhere under 100ms but can't get it excact. Do not see this on other channels. Guess have sensitivity to it due to the issues since 3.0 went live causing a bit of hyper focus on it.
> 
> Also the 3.0 feed is having issues again with WTTG not coming in or freezing when it does...along with WUSA, not sure if reception issue due to different ModCod's or a broadcast issue.


I'm able to view WUSA 3.0 again.


----------



## fri1038

JackSplat58 said:


> I'm able to view WUSA 3.0 again.


Looks good to me, too, with the HDHR tonight. 

Someone on the SiliconDust support forum was in contact with WUSA who said they were working on it.

Regarding ModCod (Modulation and Coding) with this transmitter ... WJLA 3.0 is on the PLP0/qam64 pipe. The other four are all on the PLP1/qam256 pipe.


----------



## greg9x2

JackSplat58 said:


> I'm able to view WUSA 3.0 again.





fri1038 said:


> Looks good to me, too, with the HDHR tonight.
> 
> Someone on the SiliconDust support forum was in contact with WUSA who said they were working on it.
> 
> Regarding ModCod (Modulation and Coding) with this transmitter ... WJLA 3.0 is on the PLP0/qam64 pipe. The other four are all on the PLP1/qam256 pipe.


Yep, see it again also. Still weird about WTTG issues also, but is good now too and lip sync seems ok for the moment.


----------



## ksalno

fri1038 said:


> I have DirectvStream's free 5-day trial going this weekend, coincidentally. Their Choice package is the only way to get MASN and MASN2 for the Nats and Os in-market without cable or satellite, that I know of. NBC Sports Washington for Caps and Wizards in there, too. Bit of a discount going on until 10/4 but probably more expensive than YouTube long term depending on the bundle. If anyone checks it out, make sure you have a compatible streaming device and to delete the one they sneak into your shopping cart. Roku and Fire okay. Seems you have to 'sideload' the app for Android gadgets like Tivo Stream 4k.
> 
> PS. You only get one city's locals, not both DC and Balt, so if you like to flip between Fox 5 and Fox 45 for their usually differing NFL games, you'd be out of luck with this service.


Long time DTV satellite customer and was a beta tester for their streaming service (which has gone through at least 3 name changes). I ditched the sat service a couple of years ago and went with their streaming. It is the best package out there for sports. We use their Osprey box on two main TVs and their app on Roku, Fire, and Apple for others. Osprey seems to be a little better in terms of response to button push than the apps. I still watch the local games on my HDHR tuner. I keep hoping the NFL will someday go to 4K.


----------



## mkfs

49-2

So happened to look for 49-2 the other day. And it's gone.
I can remember I watched it a while ago but...
Antennaweb shows 49.1,3,4,5,6 on RF14. 
But TitanTV still shows 49.2 as Start-TV.
So what's the backstory here?


----------



## n8hoo

mkfs said:


> 49-2
> 
> So happened to look for 49-2 the other day. And it's gone.
> I can remember I watched it a while ago but...
> Antennaweb shows 49.1,3,4,5,6 on RF14.
> But TitanTV still shows 49.2 as Start-TV.
> So what's the backstory here?


Start moved to 5.3 as a replacement for Me? those sites are slow to update?


----------



## KyL416

mkfs said:


> 49-2
> 
> So happened to look for 49-2 the other day. And it's gone.
> I can remember I watched it a while ago but...
> Antennaweb shows 49.1,3,4,5,6 on RF14.
> But TitanTV still shows 49.2 as Start-TV.
> So what's the backstory here?


49.2 was removed entirely from WWTD-LD's RF 14 signal back in May after the StartTV affiliation moved to WTTG 5.3 and MeTV moved to WDME-CD, but many tuners will still display it until a rescan occurs.

3rd party sites are at the mercy of stations (and users) reporting changes to their guide data supplier. Use RabbitEars if you want an up to date subchannel list for DC, there's multiple live bandscans in the area reporting data in real time, plus the webmaster is local to the area.


----------



## mkfs

Thanks, I'm well aware of the superiority of RabbitEars over other sources. And that's not the only shortfall of Titan TV; their WETA lists are just plain wrong much of the time. But I like its layout, so I keep hoping they will improve.


----------



## KyL416

TitanTV uses FYI/Red Bee as their guide data supplier, which is perhaps the worst out of the 3 major suppliers who provide guide data for North America. Half the time they don't even have station specific entries for a subchannel and just reuse the entry of a random affiliate, which causes a cascade of failures when the station they were using switches networks.


----------



## mkfs

KyL416 said:


> TitanTV uses FYI/Red Bee as their guide data supplier, ...


Alternatives?


----------



## ota.dt.man

Is NextGenTV ATSC 3.0 Reception in *Frederick, MD* from either DC or Baltimore realistic? If yes, what antenna is most appropriate?

Per AntennaWeb, there are 10 NextGenTV channels available:
32.1, 7.1, 5.1, 4.1, 9.1, 54.1, 45.1, 2.1, 11.1, 22.1
However, they're all color-coded "_Violet - large directional w/pre amp_".

RabbitEars result list
("_if the last three columns are green, then the station is broadcasting in ATSC 3.0 (Next Gen TV)".

Thank you!_


----------



## greg9x2

ota.dt.man said:


> Is NextGenTV ATSC 3.0 Reception in *Frederick, MD* from either DC or Baltimore realistic? If yes, what antenna is most appropriate?
> 
> Per AntennaWeb, there are 10 NextGenTV channels available:
> 32.1, 7.1, 5.1, 4.1, 9.1, 54.1, 45.1, 2.1, 11.1, 22.1
> However, they're all color-coded "_Violet - large directional w/pre amp_".
> 
> RabbitEars result list
> ("_if the last three columns are green, then the station is broadcasting in ATSC 3.0 (Next Gen TV)".
> 
> Thank you!_


Yes, I am receiving the 3.0 D.C. stations in Frederick there are 5.... I cannot receive the Baltimore stations due to attic install and look angles.

I have the original Channel Master 4228 antenna, what is sold now is different with same number. I swapped out the original preamp with the Klitz KT-700, but not a major difference.

My neighborhood has elevation differences and Rabbitears.info shows my location as a Red (Poor) zone but I still get the 3.0 stations a bit above borderline...not strong, but good enough most of the time. If I moved it outdoors, i'm sure things would improve greatly. Antennaweb doesn't show any 3.0 stations receivable by me, so guess if it shows they are for you, you are in better reception area. It only shows 2 1.0 stations receivable by me in Violet, but they are very high signal for me and I get like 40 1.0 stations, so that site seems to greatly under estimate receive level.


----------



## ota.dt.man

greg9x2 said:


> Yes, I am receiving the 3.0 D.C. stations in Frederick there are 5.... I cannot receive the Baltimore stations due to attic install and look angles.
> 
> I have the original Channel Master 4228 antenna, what is sold now is different with same number. I swapped out the original preamp with the Klitz KT-700, but not a major difference.
> 
> My neighborhood has elevation differences and Rabbitears.info shows my location as a Red (Poor) zone but I still get the 3.0 stations a bit above borderline...not strong, but good enough most of the time. If I moved it outdoors, i'm sure things would improve greatly. Antennaweb doesn't show any 3.0 stations receivable by me, so guess if it shows they are for you, you are in better reception area. It only shows 2 1.0 stations receivable by me in Violet, but they are very high signal for me and I get like 40 1.0 stations, so that site seems to greatly under estimate receive level.


Thanks for the reply Greg. That’s certainly good news. The original Channel Master 4228 is definitely an excellent antenna. It’s also good to hear Antennaweb may greatly under estimate reception levels.

We have issues with ATSC 1.0 multipath from 35+ yr. old mature trees in the neighborhood during storms. Our mclapp M4 antenna w/ curved reflector and an original CM-7777 preamp is in a 2nd-story window. Putting it outside would no doubt improve reception.

I understand ATSC 1.0 is supposed to be prone to multipath interference unlike 3.0. Is that the case in your experience? What benefits have you found with ATSC 3.0 vs. 1.0? Would upgrading to a NextGenTV tuner/OTA DVR be beneficial for our reception? Thanks again!


----------



## greg9x2

ota.dt.man said:


> Thanks for the reply Greg. That’s certainly good news. The original Channel Master 4228 is definitely an excellent antenna. It’s also good to hear Antennaweb may greatly under estimate reception levels.
> 
> We have issues with ATSC 1.0 multipath from 35+ yr. old mature trees in the neighborhood during storms. Our mclapp M4 antenna w/ curved reflector and an original CM-7777 preamp is in a 2nd-story window. Putting it outside would no doubt improve reception.
> 
> I understand ATSC 1.0 is supposed to be prone to multipath interference unlike 3.0. Is that the case in your experience? What benefits have you found with ATSC 3.0 vs. 1.0? Would upgrading to a NextGenTV tuner/OTA DVR be beneficial for our reception? Thanks again!


I too have trees in my reception path, but it's opposite of usual in that I lose signal when the leaves fall off as seems get my signal off reflections. 
For 1.0 I used to get WTTG year round until they moved towers, so last winter before 3.0 went active I was not getting the major stations a lot of the time. The WHUT signal was ok for me, so when 3.0 went live it helped me tremendously (after some kinks got worked out with stations and my TV). It's not perfect, still get hits every once in a while, but 98% is better than 20%. Thing was more a signal improvement than multipath, but think it is some help. If you get 1.0 stations fairly well, should be good for 3.0

I have recently subscribed to YouTube TV, but still use the TV tuner when just turn the TV on for background. I also have a HD Homerun that is fairly redundant now, I found the reception pretty much the same as the TV. Can PM me if interested in it.


----------



## fri1038

How is your reception of WETA (RF31 26-x) and WBFF (RF26 45-x)? Might be a good hint of how the WHUT and WNUV 3.0 signals will look to you, being on similar frequencies and the same towers.

I wrote the following tome a few weeks back and never posted it. Guess this is as good a time as any to get it off my Desktop ...

===

Just my opinions, here, based on my personal experiences...

I bought an HDHR Flex 4K a couple months ago to test the multipath tolerance of ATSC 3.0 as my house is surrounded by a dozen 50+ foot oak trees. Stable 1.0 reception in windy conditions is a problem for UHF channels. VHF isn't significantly affected by the moving trees. I can see the 3.0 signals of WNUV RF25, WHUT RF33, and WIAV RF30. The latter is marginal and sometimes gets overwhelmed by KYW from Philadelphia.

Static multipath tolerance (buildings, still trees): Not enough 3.0 transmitters with a variety of frequencies and locations to make a conclusion if 3.0 helps. WNUV always blasted in strong here, and WHUT increased power when they went 3.0. Can't say if 3.0 helped it or not, as I saw it fine before. In calm weather, 3.0 is no better than 1.0 for me. 3.0 might be more tolerant when aiming an antenna. 

Dynamic multipath tolerance (windy tree motion, airplanes): Marginally better with 3.0 when the signal strength is flopping around due to the moving trees. But if levels fall below a tuner's required minimum every few seconds, as happens to me, no protocol will help. (Today is a good test of that, being clear with sudden bursts of wind. I have WJLA 3.0 up in the HDHR app on my PC as I type this, and the program is pausing and even changed SAP/language once as the signal broke up. Different tuners/playback devices will handle it differently, of course. 1.0 UHF channels just break up the old fashion way or not at all since they are on more powerful transmitters.)

More options for problem channels: I often watch WTTG's morning news program but its 1.0 RF36 signal is prone to tropo/weather interference at that time of day at my home. Having the option to watch on its 3.0 instance is the rare practical benefit of 3.0 for me. And WHUT 1.0 moving onto the powerful RF7 was a good thing.

Then there are some bleeding edge technology quirks with the Flex 4K and some playback devices. With my oldish Roku Express 3930R -- SD has improved Roku support recently -- 3.0 video isn't supported and no audio for 1.0 channels - an HDMI audio passthrough problem with my 15-year old TV, from what I can dig up on that. HDHR app playback works for both 1.0 and 3.0 channels with a Tivo Stream 4K (Android-based) but it has recently developed a problem where apps work only once before they go off to never never land until I reboot it - annoying, but not ATSC 3.0's fault. There many other devices out there to choose from, however. A robust home network is needed as the HDHR needs a wired ethernet connection, internet access is needed for the HDHR app, and it might use a cloud service to convert AC4 audio in real time to something your playback device can handle if necessary. Potential users should be tolerant of the extra layers of complexity with such a set up. So, some thorough homework needs to be done before shopping.

((edit 10/21/2022 - after a factory reset and reinstalling a few apps, my Tivo Stream 4K is behaving itself again.))

Wish I could say "It all just works" like Jerry Pournelle in his old Chaos Manor column, but for me, 3.0 isn't quite there yet. Sometimes I think, like good software, we should wait until version 3.1. ATSC 3.0 might be something you'll just have to try and see for yourself.


----------



## ota.dt.man

fri1038 said:


> How is your reception of WETA (RF31 26-x) and WBFF (RF26 45-x)? Might be a good hint of how the WHUT and WNUV 3.0 signals will look to you, being on similar frequencies and the same towers.
> 
> I wrote the following tome a few weeks back and never posted it. Guess this is as good a time as any to get it off my Desktop ...
> 
> ===
> 
> Just my opinions, here, based on my personal experiences...
> 
> I bought an HDHR Flex 4K a couple months ago to test the multipath tolerance of ATSC 3.0 as my house is surrounded by a dozen 50+ foot oak trees. Stable 1.0 reception in windy conditions is a problem for UHF channels. VHF isn't significantly affected by the moving trees. I can see the 3.0 signals of WNUV RF25, WHUT RF33, and WIAV RF30. The latter is marginal and sometimes gets overwhelmed by KYW from Philadelphia.
> 
> Static multipath tolerance (buildings, still trees): Not enough 3.0 transmitters with a variety of frequencies and locations to make a conclusion if 3.0 helps. WNUV always blasted in strong here, and WHUT increased power when they went 3.0. Can't say if 3.0 helped it or not, as I saw it fine before. In calm weather, 3.0 is no better than 1.0 for me. 3.0 might be more tolerant when aiming an antenna.
> 
> Dynamic multipath tolerance (windy tree motion, airplanes): Marginally better with 3.0 when the signal strength is flopping around due to the moving trees. But if levels fall below a tuner's required minimum every few seconds, as happens to me, no protocol will help. (Today is a good test of that, being clear with sudden bursts of wind. I have WJLA 3.0 up in the HDHR app on my PC as I type this, and the program is pausing and even changed SAP/language once as the signal broke up. Different tuners/playback devices will handle it differently, of course. 1.0 UHF channels just break up the old fashion way or not at all since they are on more powerful transmitters.)
> 
> More options for problem channels: I often watch WTTG's morning news program but its 1.0 RF36 signal is prone to tropo/weather interference at that time of day at my home. Having the option to watch on its 3.0 instance is the rare practical benefit of 3.0 for me. And WHUT 1.0 moving onto the powerful RF7 was a good thing.
> 
> Then there are some bleeding edge technology quirks with the Flex 4K and some playback devices. With my oldish Roku Express 3930R -- SD has improved Roku support recently -- 3.0 video isn't supported and no audio for 1.0 channels - an HDMI audio passthrough problem with my 15-year old TV, from what I can dig up on that. HDHR app playback works for both 1.0 and 3.0 channels with a Tivo Stream 4K (Android-based) but it has recently developed a problem where apps work only once before they go off to never never land until I reboot it - annoying, but not ATSC 3.0's fault. There many other devices out there to choose from, however. A robust home network is needed as the HDHR needs a wired ethernet connection, internet access is needed for the HDHR app, and it might use a cloud service to convert AC4 audio in real time to something your playback device can handle if necessary. Potential users should be tolerant of the extra layers of complexity with such a set up. So, some thorough homework needs to be done before shopping.
> 
> Wish I could say "It all just works" like Jerry Pournelle in his old Chaos Manor column, but for me, 3.0 isn't quite there yet. Sometimes I think, like good software, we should wait until version 3.1. ATSC 3.0 might be something you'll just have to try and see for yourself.


Thanks for sharing your highly detailed local 1.0 & 3.0 reception experience.


> How is your reception of WETA (RF31 26-x) and WBFF (RF26 45-x)?


WETA = 77%
WBFF = marginal 20-30%

*More detailed description:*
We have issues with ATSC 1.0 signal dropout during storms (primarily on NBC 4.1 WRC) on our Pana. Viera TC-P65ZT60. I suspect dynamic multipath from our neighbor’s 35+ yr. old very tall Norway Spruce windbreak. Our mclapp M4 (10 x9.5) with 40"H x 36"W w/curved reflector antenna and an original CM-7777 preamp is in a 2nd-story *S*-facing window aimed at DC. When 4.1 doesn’t come in, I rotate the antenna to the NE (away from the window through the 2nd floor of our house) to receive 8.1 WGAL 58 miles away! With our indoor location, 11.1 WBAL is much less reliable. Putting an antenna outside with all that involves would no doubt improve reception. However, a tower would be needed for a clear line of sight *S-SE* (toward DC) over the Norway Spruce windbreak, but that’s not in the budget.

Since ATSC 1.0 may be prone to multipath interference unlike 3.0, what is* most* likely to improve this issue?

A NextGenTV tuner/OTA DVR
A “repack ready” 7-36 Antenna
Moving the M4 to the attic
Moving the M4 to the roof
Something else?
Thanks again!


----------



## Brian in CT

ota.dt.man said:


> Since ATSC 1.0 may be prone to multipath interference unlike 3.0, what is* most* likely to improve this issue?
> 
> A NextGenTV tuner/OTA DVR
> A “repack ready” 7-36 Antenna
> Moving the M4 to the attic
> Moving the M4 to the roof
> Something else?
> Thanks again!


ATSC 1.0 is VERY prone to multipath (and other types of interference), so the more robust 3.0 should be at least a small improvement. Remember, foliage negatively affects UHF signals. If that spruce is swaying in the wind, you still might get some fits in reception with a NextGen tuner. I just assume it wouldn't be as bad.

If you click on the "transmitter distance" of most of the DC stations in your RabbitEars results table, you will notice some high terrain (located about halfway between you and the transmitters) diffracting those signals. With TV signals diffracted that much, not only is there less accuracy in the "field strength" numbers, but more height AGL may not be as effective as it would be for line-of-sight signals. So, between the four concrete choices above, first try a NextGen tuner to see if you can improve your reception of the four major networks and PBS with WHUT. Getting WNUV would be a bonus. Just keep your receipts.


----------



## ota.dt.man

Brian in CT said:


> ATSC 1.0 is VERY prone to multipath (and other types of interference), so the more robust 3.0 should be at least a small improvement. Remember, foliage negatively affects UHF signals. If that spruce is swaying in the wind, you still might get some fits in reception with a NextGen tuner. I just assume it wouldn't be as bad.
> 
> If you click on the "transmitter distance" of most of the DC stations in your RabbitEars results table, you will notice some high terrain (located about halfway between you and the transmitters) diffracting those signals. With TV signals diffracted that much, not only is there less accuracy in the "field strength" numbers, but more height AGL may not be as effective as it would be for line-of-sight signals. So, between the four concrete choices above, first try a NextGen tuner to see if you can improve your reception of the four major networks and PBS with WHUT. Getting WNUV would be a bonus. Just keep your receipts.


A hopefully less fragile transmitter signal certainly seems like a good place to start. It appears Silicone Dust, Tablo, & Zapper Box are / will be the initial choices for a 3.0 tuner/OTA DVR. The Tablo 3.0 model may have a picture quality advantage due to the HDMI output c/w a network model. However, it's launch has been _delayed _due to Digital Rights Management encryption. 3.0 Tivo? Any suggestions would be welcome. 

While I'm deciding on which tuner/DVR, perhaps I'll check out attic &/or roof reception quality. Any suggestions for a cost-effective portable antenna signal strength meter would also be appreciated. The CM-1005 & Psiber SS40 models are $400.

Thanks for suggesting _to click on "transmitter distance"_ regarding the diffraction issue and your explanation of its importance. I forgot that years ago, our TVFool results listed_ "Double edge diffraction"_ for nearly all our channels. Our area sits in a valley c/w the highest elevation on I-270 S toward DC and also I-70 E toward Baltimore. What are the best solutions for 2-edge diffraction, other than relocation?

Lastly, since 4.1 WRC is consistently our only network from DC w/ audio or signal dropout, are there any current issues with their signal?

Thank you!


----------



## greg9x2

ota.dt.man said:


> Lastly, since 4.1 WRC is consistently our only network from DC w/ audio or signal dropout, are there any current issues with their signal?
> 
> Thank you!


1.0 WRC became my hardest station to receive quite a while back, think they did a tower move. And a long time ago they use to run different coding than other stations that was harder to receive. Last couple years I could only get it 6-7 months of of the year with issues (when leaves were on trees). If your getting it with only occasional drops, your in much better situation.


----------



## Trip in VA

Huh?



greg9x2 said:


> 1.0 WRC became my hardest station to receive quite a while back, think they did a tower move.


WRC has been on the same tower for decades, going back to the analog days. They did change frequencies for the repack back in 2019, but it's at the same location.



greg9x2 said:


> And a long time ago they use to run different coding than other stations that was harder to receive.


Literally impossible in ATSC 1.0.

- Trip


----------



## greg9x2

Trip in VA said:


> Huh?
> 
> 
> 
> WRC has been on the same tower for decades, going back to the analog days. They did change frequencies for the repack back in 2019, but it's at the same location.
> 
> 
> 
> Literally impossible in ATSC 1.0.
> 
> - Trip


Back in early 2000's when HD wasn't even on cable yet, my HD tuner detected WRC at a different coding scheme or transmit polarity than the other channels, it was also more problematic to receive. Can't remember exactly, but know it was different.


----------



## fri1038

ota.dt.man said:


> ...
> While I'm deciding on which tuner/DVR, perhaps I'll check out attic &/or roof reception quality. Any suggestions for a cost-effective portable antenna signal strength meter would also be appreciated. The CM-1005 & Psiber SS40 models are $400.


Most TVs have a basic signal strength meter hiding the setup/diag menus somewhere. Might just be a simple bar graph. The ATSC 1.0 set top boxes from iview and mediasonic and others have a simple one, too. The software bundle for hdhomeruns includes a helpful utility. See attached. There are cell phone gadgets, too. Antenna Man on YouTube reviewed some.



ota.dt.man said:


> Thanks for suggesting _to click on "transmitter distance"_ regarding the diffraction issue and your explanation of its importance. I forgot that years ago, our TVFool results listed_ "Double edge diffraction"_ for nearly all our channels. Our area sits in a valley c/w the highest elevation on I-270 S toward DC and also I-70 E toward Baltimore. What are the best solutions for 2-edge diffraction, other than relocation?


A higher gain and carefully aimed directional antenna is your best bet to overcome the tree-induced multipath and weaker signal due to the 2-edge geography.



ota.dt.man said:


> Lastly, since 4.1 WRC is consistently our only network from DC w/ audio or signal dropout, are there any current issues with their signal?


If that is your biggest headache, I'd seek out a better location for your antenna before spending any money. Signal is normal with WRC.

How is your VHF reception for WJLA 7 and WUSA 9? An antenna more suited for VHF may help with them and WBAL and WJZ. Less windy tree multipath with VHF, too. I'm thinking something like the winegard hd7694p but that wouldn't fit in your window so well.  There are more vertically oriented, panel style antennas - clearstream 2max, 4max - that sort of thing.


----------



## ota.dt.man

*Update:*
Our Pana. Viera TC-P65ZT60 has a signal strength meter with both current & peak readings. Our CM-7000 CECB has a single signal meter.

The following positive report was made possible by a good friend, *rabbit73* who recommended an Apex DT502 to us years ago. He has written 80 posts that mention it.

Two days ago, I remembered we also have a DT502. (It was originally purchased as a gift for a family friend. It + her small TV didn’t fit too well on her kitchen countertop so she gave the CECB back to us.) I used it to investigate our reception as it has both signal *strength* & *quality* meters. What I found with 4.1 WRC was the signal strength was a consistent 55% & signal quality was quite variable. As the signal quality (bit error rate BER) dropped below 25%, the signal fell off the digital cliff despite 55% signal strength. Based on this experience, I experimented with repositioning the antenna to maximize signal quality. What I found through this process, was rotating more SE or more SW made* no* significant difference in signal quality. The degree of tilt away from perpendicular made *all* the difference in the signal *quality* value and signal *reliability*.

Could the need for *tilt* be due to the double-edge diffraction at our location*?*
Without the signal quality meter, I doubt I would have ever discovered the reason for this issue and what I *hope* is the solution.

*Thanks & Kudos **rabbit73**!
"*_If you can not measure it, you can not improve it.
Lord Kelvin, 1883"_

*Results:*

*Virtual Ch.*​*RF Ch.*​*% Sig. Quality*​*% Sig. Strength*​4.1​34​Highly variable​55​​​​​*Post-Optimized Tilt Angle for 4.1 (weakest ch.)*​4.1​34​62​55​5.1​36​90​58​7.1​7​100​59​9.1​9​100​59​14.1​15​100​58​20.1​36​89​58​25.1​23​100​58​26.1​31​100​60​32.1​33​100​60​44.1​34​70​58​50.1​15​100​59​62.1​28​100​60​66.1​35​72​56​68.1​9​100​60​49 total including sub-channels​
* 
The real test of signal reliability will be during the next storm.*


----------



## fri1038

A bit of tropo this morning. I'm seeing all the usual southeast PA stations and WMDE from across the bay. Looks like they dropped JTV on 36-7. The same updated vacancy slide is on the former DigiTV 36-6.

Haven't seen any new news regarding the Verizon-Nexstar negotiations, but WDCW, WDVM, and AntennaTV were all dark last weekend on Fios in Prince William County.

Not sure what's up with the RF10 channel (W45DN-D/W10DE-D) just south of Annapolis. They filed a license to cover, implying they were on the air, on Sep 6, same day their STA to go silent expired if I read their FCC filings correctly. They really underbuilt their transmitter at 59-feet and 100 watts, from what they were previously authorized -- unlikely I'll see it up my way. Maybe this is a temporary set up to keep their license alive? Are they ATSC 3.0? This station is part of the Ark Multicasting entity who had a lot of trouble obtaining transmitters, if you read through the filings. I'd love to read about real-life applications of such multicasting. Other than some experiments at WIAV, not much info out there. Too soon, I suppose.


----------



## Brian in CT

ota.dt.man said:


> What I found through this process, was rotating more SE or more SW made* no* significant difference in signal quality. The degree of tilt away from perpendicular made *all* the difference in the signal *quality* value and signal *reliability*.
> 
> Could the need for *tilt* be due to the double-edge diffraction at our location*?*


Hmm. If all of your Washington D.C. TV stations benefitted from tilting your antenna upward, then it's a possibility. It's just that most quality antennas shouldn't have to be contorted like a pair of rabbit ears to improve the signal. I'm thinking that if you had multipath problems before, the tilting somehow was enough to ease the problem to a point where your reception improved. Good luck with the altered setup.


----------



## ota.dt.man

Brian in CT said:


> Hmm. If all of your Washington D.C. TV stations benefitted from tilting your antenna upward, then it's a possibility. It's just that most quality antennas shouldn't have to be contorted like a pair of rabbit ears to improve the signal. I'm thinking that if you had multipath problems before, the tilting somehow was enough to ease the problem to a point where your reception improved. Good luck with the altered setup.


The antena aiming was to optimize reception on our weakest station WRC 4.1. Once in a while 20 & 66 haven't been 100% reliable. The rest of the DC stations are very reliable. Since adjusting the tilt there haven't been any issues. Time will tell, especially during a storm.

Keep in mind that this antenna is currently in a 2nd floor S-facing window, not ideally rooftop mounted.

mclapp 4-bay Antenna
M4 (10x9.5) with 40"H x 36"W curved reflector


https://photos.imageevent.com/holl_ands/multibay/4bayrefl/m410x95//PerDwgsM4_%2010x9_5_BowSwp_2.0in_DblAngldRefl_4_5in%20-%20UHF%20Raw%20Gain%20Max15-8.jpg




https://photos.imageevent.com/holl_ands/multibay/4bayrefl/m410x95//PerDwgsM4_%2010x9_5_BowSwp_2.0in_DblAngldRefl_4_5in%20-%20Hi-VHF%20Raw%20Gain.jpg


----------



## ota.dt.man

*Tilt Background*
In 2012, I received the following advice based on our TVFool image and a detailed description of our neighbor's continous Norway Spruce evergreen windbreak planted the enire perimeter of their backyard more than 35 years ago. These trees are directly between us & the DC transmitters:


300ohm said:


> Spruce trees hold a lot of water, so its almost like having a wire mesh curtain in front of you.
> 
> *Besides the trees, there are hills between you and Balt and DC. Try tilting the antenna upwards a bit, say 10 or 15 degrees*. You should be able to do that with most antennas by adjusting the ubolt and bracket.
> 
> I believe youll need a longer bottom ubolt, which is available at Home Depot. I would loosen the top ubolt, then install the longer bottom ubolt with a plastic or durable wood spacer in between the mast and the bracket. That will give you a tilt.


----------



## doctorwizz

Mine antenna was installed with a tilt. They said it improved the signal. I think it is tilted due to the way the base mount is installed.


----------



## ota.dt.man

That's a clean looking rooftop installation. With an HD-7697, how far away are you from the transmitters? Do have a clear line of sight or are there hills in between (1edge or 2edge reception)?


----------



## doctorwizz

ota.dt.man said:


> That's a clean looking rooftop installation. With an HD-7697, how far away are you from the transmitters? Do have a clear line of sight or are there hills in between (1edge or 2edge reception)?


DC is about 35. Balt about 46. 
I think it is clear. Some may have one edge. 


TV Fool


----------



## doctorwizz

Forgot to mention. The Baltimore stations are hit and miss with atsc 1.0. With atsc 3.0 it is perfect


----------



## KyL416

TVFool is running on a highly outdated and broken database that not only doesn't reflect the new RF numbers, but it also doesn't reflect the tower and antenna height changes and power increases many stations made during the maximization window of the repack, so most of their path and signal level predictions will be wrong. Use RabbitEars instead.


----------



## doctorwizz

Oh yeah i forgot






RabbitEars.Info


RabbitEars, where you can learn all about local, over-the-air TV channels.




www.rabbitears.info


----------



## KyL416

Yeah, one big example of the difference. WTTG changed tower sites in 2021, so you went from 1Edge on the old TVFool data to LOS on the updated RabbitEars data. WPXW also switched to that tower during the repack with an antenna mounted directly below WTTG's new antenna, so that also bumped you to LOS territory.


----------



## ota.dt.man

You're very fortunate to have so many LOS stations.


doctorwizz said:


> Forgot to mention. The Baltimore stations are hit and miss with atsc 1.0. With atsc 3.0 it is perfect


It's encouraging to hear ATSC 3.0 can improve reception. Hopefully, that also applies for those of us in more challenging reception areas.


----------



## ota.dt.man

*Rabbit Ears Predicts**LOS?**Actual**Field Strength**Reception**Virt Ch.**RF Ch.**% Sig. Quality**% Sig. Strength**(dBuV/m)**Experience*4.134Highly variable55*69.69* Fair2Edge*Least Reliable**Post-Optimized Tilt Angle for 4.1*4.1*34*6255*69.69* Fair2Edge
*Still an issue*5.1*36*905869.54 Fair2EdgeFairly Reliable7.17 VHF1005959.23 Poor2Edge*Consistently Reliable*9.19 VHF1005959.05 Poor2Edge*Consistently Reliable*14.1151005869.41 Fair2Edge20.1*36*895869.54 Fair2EdgeFairly Reliable25.12310058*48.18* Poor2EdgeFairly Reliable26.1311006067.48 Fair2EdgeConsistently Reliable32.1331006063.57 Fair2Edge44.1*34*705869.69 Fair2Edge50.1151005969.41 Fair2EdgeFairly Reliable62.12810060*89.27 *GoodLOSMost Reliable66.1*35*725669.24 Fair2EdgeFairly Reliable68.19 VHF1006059.05 Poor2EdgeConsistently Reliable49 total including sub-channels

*Comparing Rabbit Ears (RE) prediction w/ actual reception the following stand out:*

1. Our biggest conundrum: WRC 4.1, (*34 UHF*) the* 2nd strongest Field Strength* (69.69 dBuV/m) yet *is our most problematic *w/ frequent audio or signal dropouts especially during a storm.
Most likely reason?

Multi-path from trees,
2Edge terrain path profile
LTE or FM interference
Something else?

2. However, 5.1 & 20.1 (*36 UHF*) and 66.1 (*35 UHF*) with nearly the same Field Strength, have *higher "signal quality" *readings than WRC 4.1 *and are fairly reliable*. These results on UHF 35 & 36 make me think that the issue with WRC 4.1 (UHF 34) may not be 5G LTE interference.

4, 5, 20, from DC & 66 from MANASSAS , *are all at the upper-end of the repack UHF range* and they all are 2Edge signals.

3. *VHF* WJLA 7 (59.05 dBuV/m) & WUSA 9 (57.23 dBuV/m): Per R.E., are_ "poor" _signals, yet these stations* have been our most reliable* as long as we've lived here. Of course, the longer wavelength of VHF is less affected by trees c/w UHF.

Per R.E.:

_"the propagation model does not take into account tree cover, which can be a substantial cause of reduced signal in some instances."_
_"the Search Map does not calculate interference from any source, and strictly calculates the strength of each signal."_

Any thoughts or insights to the above would be greatly appreciated.


----------



## crbaldwin

Anyone seeing jerky playback in NFL football on WTTG ATSC 3.0? I guess it could be the hdhomerun but I don't have another tuner to test and the other programs on there seem to be ok.


----------



## greg9x2

ota.dt.man said:


> *Rabbit Ears Predicts**LOS?**Actual**Field Strength**Reception**Virt Ch.**RF Ch.**% Sig. Quality**% Sig. Strength**(dBuV/m)**Experience*4.134Highly variable55*69.69* Fair2Edge*Least Reliable**Post-Optimized Tilt Angle for 4.1*4.1*34*6255*69.69* Fair2Edge
> *Still an issue*5.1*36*905869.54 Fair2EdgeFairly Reliable7.17 VHF1005959.23 Poor2Edge*Consistently Reliable*9.19 VHF1005959.05 Poor2Edge*Consistently Reliable*14.1151005869.41 Fair2Edge20.1*36*895869.54 Fair2EdgeFairly Reliable25.12310058*48.18* Poor2EdgeFairly Reliable26.1311006067.48 Fair2EdgeConsistently Reliable32.1331006063.57 Fair2Edge44.1*34*705869.69 Fair2Edge50.1151005969.41 Fair2EdgeFairly Reliable62.12810060*89.27 *GoodLOSMost Reliable66.1*35*725669.24 Fair2EdgeFairly Reliable68.19 VHF1006059.05 Poor2EdgeConsistently Reliable49 total including sub-channels
> 
> *Comparing Rabbit Ears (RE) prediction w/ actual reception the following stand out:*
> 
> 1. Our biggest conundrum: WRC 4.1, (*34 UHF*) the* 2nd strongest Field Strength* (69.69 dBuV/m) yet *is our most problematic *w/ frequent audio or signal dropouts especially during a storm.
> Most likely reason?
> 
> Multi-path from trees,
> 2Edge terrain path profile
> LTE or FM interference
> Something else?
> 
> 2. However, 5.1 & 20.1 (*36 UHF*) and 66.1 (*35 UHF*) with nearly the same Field Strength, have *higher "signal quality" *readings than WRC 4.1 *and are fairly reliable*. These results on UHF 35 & 36 make me think that the issue with WRC 4.1 (UHF 34) may not be 5G LTE interference.
> 
> 4, 5, 20, from DC & 66 from MANASSAS , *are all at the upper-end of the repack UHF range* and they all are 2Edge signals.
> 
> 3. *VHF* WJLA 7 (59.05 dBuV/m) & WUSA 9 (57.23 dBuV/m): Per R.E., are_ "poor" _signals, yet these stations* have been our most reliable* as long as we've lived here. Of course, the longer wavelength of VHF is less affected by trees c/w UHF.
> 
> Per R.E.:
> 
> _"the propagation model does not take into account tree cover, which can be a substantial cause of reduced signal in some instances."_
> _"the Search Map does not calculate interference from any source, and strictly calculates the strength of each signal."_
> 
> Any thoughts or insights to the above would be greatly appreciated.


Well, already relayed my experiences. At some point you have to try things since even 2 people close together may have different equipment, reflections, etc and have 2 different experiences.

As I mentioned, WRC was definitely my most problematic channel over the years...but in the end there were issues with all the majors when the leaves fell. 3.0 stations are pretty decent though.


----------



## Brian in CT

ota.dt.man said:


> *Rabbit Ears Predicts**LOS?**Actual**Field Strength**Reception**Virt Ch.**RF Ch.**% Sig. Quality**% Sig. Strength**(dBuV/m)**Experience*4.134Highly variable55*69.69* Fair2Edge*Least Reliable**Post-Optimized Tilt Angle for 4.1*4.1*34*6255*69.69* Fair2Edge
> *Still an issue*5.1*36*905869.54 Fair2EdgeFairly Reliable7.17 VHF1005959.23 Poor2Edge*Consistently Reliable*9.19 VHF1005959.05 Poor2Edge*Consistently Reliable*14.1151005869.41 Fair2Edge20.1*36*895869.54 Fair2EdgeFairly Reliable25.12310058*48.18* Poor2EdgeFairly Reliable26.1311006067.48 Fair2EdgeConsistently Reliable32.1331006063.57 Fair2Edge44.1*34*705869.69 Fair2Edge50.1151005969.41 Fair2EdgeFairly Reliable62.12810060*89.27 *GoodLOSMost Reliable66.1*35*725669.24 Fair2EdgeFairly Reliable68.19 VHF1006059.05 Poor2EdgeConsistently Reliable49 total including sub-channels
> 
> *Comparing Rabbit Ears (RE) prediction w/ actual reception the following stand out:*
> 
> 1. Our biggest conundrum: WRC 4.1, (*34 UHF*) the* 2nd strongest Field Strength* (69.69 dBuV/m) yet *is our most problematic *w/ frequent audio or signal dropouts especially during a storm.
> Most likely reason?
> 
> Multi-path from trees,
> 2Edge terrain path profile
> LTE or FM interference
> Something else?
> 
> 2. However, 5.1 & 20.1 (*36 UHF*) and 66.1 (*35 UHF*) with nearly the same Field Strength, have *higher "signal quality" *readings than WRC 4.1 *and are fairly reliable*. These results on UHF 35 & 36 make me think that the issue with WRC 4.1 (UHF 34) may not be 5G LTE interference.
> 
> 4, 5, 20, from DC & 66 from MANASSAS , *are all at the upper-end of the repack UHF range* and they all are 2Edge signals.
> 
> 3. *VHF* WJLA 7 (59.05 dBuV/m) & WUSA 9 (57.23 dBuV/m): Per R.E., are_ "poor" _signals, yet these stations* have been our most reliable* as long as we've lived here. Of course, the longer wavelength of VHF is less affected by trees c/w UHF.
> 
> Per R.E.:
> 
> _"the propagation model does not take into account tree cover, which can be a substantial cause of reduced signal in some instances."_
> _"the Search Map does not calculate interference from any source, and strictly calculates the strength of each signal."_
> 
> Any thoughts or insights to the above would be greatly appreciated.


Wow. Nice presentation.

If I'd have to guess, I figure it's a multipath problem that somehow is affecting WRC more than the other D.C. TV signals. It could be as simple as a bad reflection off something nearby. Remember, WRC has a different transmitter site than most of the other Washington area TV stations, which would make its signal path to you slightly different. It still might be LTE, so if you're willing to get an LTE filter, you can at least narrow down possible causes if that doesn't do the trick. FM interference affects VHF reception, so that's not it. In any case, it's too bad you have to deal with a Norway spruce in your way as opposed to a deciduous tree. It would have been nice to see what happened after the leaves dropped. Oh well.


----------



## ota.dt.man

Brian in CT said:


> Wow. Nice presentation.


Thank you.


Brian in CT said:


> If I'd have to guess, I figure it's a multipath problem that somehow is affecting WRC more than the other D.C. TV signals. It could be as simple as a bad reflection off something nearby. Remember, WRC has a different transmitter site than most of the other Washington area TV stations, which would make its signal path to you slightly different..


 Good point.


Brian in CT said:


> It still might be LTE, so if you're willing to get an LTE filter, you can at least narrow down possible causes if that doesn't do the trick..


 Yes. Is there one that won't negatively impact UHF 36? 
Per rabbit73: CM-3201 "_It will attenuate channel 36 a little_" (which includes D.C. 5.1 & 20.1)


Brian in CT said:


> FM interference affects VHF reception, so that's not it.


 Agreed.


Brian in CT said:


> In any case, it's too bad you have to deal with a Norway spruce in your way as opposed to a deciduous tree. It would have been nice to see what happened after the leaves dropped. Oh well.


 Unfortunately, the entire perimeter of their backyard is a continuous Norway Spruce windbreak. 😟


----------



## ota.dt.man

Last night we wanted to watch NBC. 4.1 was a pixelated mess, Aiming NE at WGAL 8 VHF, our usual NBC "plan B", wasn't much better. Aiming E at WBAL 11 VHF, I was able to bring in a consistent (but low 30%) signal.


----------



## greg9x2

ota.dt.man said:


> Yes. Is there one that won't negatively impact UHF 36?


My preamp has built in filters and I have used other external filters in the past. None made any improvement for WRC reception.


----------



## ota.dt.man

greg9x2 said:


> My preamp has built in filters and I have used other external filters in the past. None made any improvement for WRC reception.


I see the KT-700 includes LTE & FM filtering.
Which external filters have you tried? It would be very helpful to know.
When you say, _"None made any improvement for WRC reception." _are you including the KT-700?
Did you ever find a reception solution to ATSC 1.0 WRC at your location?

Thanks!


----------



## ota.dt.man

I just checked the distance to our nearest cell tower and it's *0.6* miles away. 
- At what distance are they more likely to interfere with UHF TV reception? 
Thanks!


----------



## wmcbrine

WRC is the one station that I can say is consistently stronger for me on ATSC 3. It's always been kind of flaky on ATSC 1. I assumed that was because its broadcast antenna was at a slightly different angle from the other DC stations, but I dunno.


----------



## greg9x2

ota.dt.man said:


> I see the KT-700 includes LTE & FM filtering.
> Which external filters have you tried? It would be very helpful to know.
> When you say, _"None made any improvement for WRC reception." _are you including the KT-700?
> Did you ever find a reception solution to ATSC 1.0 WRC at your location?
> 
> Thanks!


Can't find the details, and the filters are up in the attic... was a guy on eBay from Yugoslavia who sold band pass filters for VHF and UHF. Got one for each especially since I have a fire station 1/4 mile away in my antenna direction. The emergency channel frequency under VHF Hi was 50+dB above everything else... even with the filter reducing it 40dB it was still same level as frequencies around it. But adding the filters did not affect any reception or improve noise/signal of any of the stations. I could see where it was filtering and it seemed to do it well.

The preamp had narrower filters, so took out the other filters.

Edit:. The filter seller on eBay is jan_jenca . He makes a lot of different filters for various needs


----------



## Frank Monroe

Thank you very much WMAR for not knowing how to get the 5.1 audio feed from Prime Video in your simulcast of the game tonight.


----------



## mkfs

Well, my TCL set has just gone pear-shaped. The left-half of the screen is color-shifted; there's a yellow stripe about an inch wide from center to the left.

So, the question is: Do I buy another ATSC-1 set, or are there now viable ATSC-3 sets that are not priced at 2X+ the price? I'm in the Wheaton area & watch DC stations, mostly WETA. I have a small Radios Hack amplified panel ~30 ft up. 

I know there's the ATSC-3 transmitter for Balt, but in DC?


----------



## fri1038

The three DC stations highlighted in light green here are ATSC 3.0. WHUT and WIAV should be an easy grab in Wheaton. WETA is not participating in 3.0 at this time. Least expensive 3.0 capable TV is a 43" Sony for about $450 at the moment.




mkfs said:


> Well, my TCL set has just gone pear-shaped. The left-half of the screen is color-shifted; there's a yellow stripe about an inch wide from center to the left.
> 
> So, the question is: Do I buy another ATSC-1 set, or are there now viable ATSC-3 sets that are not priced at 2X+ the price? I'm in the Wheaton area & watch DC stations, mostly WETA. I have a small Radios Hack amplified panel ~30 ft up.
> 
> I know there's the ATSC-3 transmitter for Balt, but in DC?


----------



## mkfs

fri1038 said:


> Least expensive 3.0 capable TV is a 43" Sony for about $450 at the moment.


That resolves THAT question. Thanks.


----------



## MRG1

ota.dt.man said:


> In 2012, I received the following advice based on our TVFool image and a detailed description of our neighbor's continous Norway Spruce evergreen windbreak planted the enire perimeter of their backyard more than 35 years ago. These trees are directly between us & the DC transmitters:


I suppose your neighbor wouldn't be willing to let you chop down his trees for an experiment. 

Could you raise your antenna? In some circumstances, that might reduce a multipath problem. E.g., If you could raise it significantly above your neighbor's trees, that might help. Unfortunately, there is no way to guarantee this would help. I do know that at an earlier location, where I had an attic antenna, raising it a few inches made a significant difference in many channels. But other people here could maybe guess how likely it is to help in your case.

In principle, a tilted antenna might reduce multipath problems too, because it would receive a less strong signal from a reflection off of the ground or other low object - so that is part of why I might assume raising the height could help. But I can't think of anything wrong with using a somewhat upward tilted antenna too. I assume the idea is to get the best possible signal, not to worry about whether the antenna "looks" like it is tilted flat? Unless you or your neighbors don't like the look.


----------



## fri1038

There were some SiliconDust firmware and software updates this week, even for old devices like the HDHR3, which had no updates in a long time. Lots of it related to IPv6 support which might help with modern home networking gear. So I am poking at the ATSC 3.0 stuff tonight while working off those leaf-raking endorphins.

I notice WNUV dropped its qam16 PLP that solely hosted WNUV (or was it WBFF?) and added a qpsk pipe like WIAV. I suspect WIAV is/was using that as their data channel/location beacon experiment. WIAV had two qpsk PLPs at one point earlier this year.

Here is the B-W ATSC 3.0 layout, minus WDCN RF6, as of 10/29/2022:

RF25 WNUV:
PLP0 qpsk ?
PLP1 qam64 5002-145.1-WBFF, 5007-154.1-WNUV
PLP2 qam256 5003-111.1-WBAL, 5004-102.1-WMAR, 5006-122.1-WMPT

RF30 WIAV:
PLP0 qpsk ?
PLP1 qam64 5001-158.1-WIAV, 5006-158.5-24/7MMT
PLP2 qam16 ?

RF33 WHUT:
PLP0 qam64 2-107.1-WJLA
PLP1 qam256 1-132.1-WHUT, 3-105.1-WTTG, 4-104.1-WRC, 5-109.1-WUSA


----------



## beboram

Reviving this old thread.

I (think) found a person who is willing to install replace the rooftop antenna and wiring. 

What is the wisdom of this expert crowd? Should the grounding wire be solid copper or stranded? Are there pro's and con's of each? I am at a decison impasse! Amazon has both types as ground wire.









Amazon.com: PHAT SATELLITE INTL - Pure Solid Bare Copper Grounding Wire, 10 AWG Core (#10 Gauge), THHN PVC Jacket, Satellite Antenna Electrical Surge Ground Protection Earth Wire (15 feet, Green) : Everything Else


Buy PHAT SATELLITE INTL - Pure Solid Bare Copper Grounding Wire, 10 AWG Core (#10 Gauge), THHN PVC Jacket, Satellite Antenna Electrical Surge Ground Protection Earth Wire (15 feet, Green): Everything Else - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases



www.amazon.com





Thanks.


----------



## fri1038

Stranded cable is more flexible so it just depends on which is easier to use for your installation. So long as it is #10 gauge or lower (i.e. thicker) to meet code.

Here is a sticky thread for grounding questions in the HDTV Technical area:









Grounding antenna masts and coax cable


I am attempting to cut the cord and got myself an Antennas Direct Clearstream 2 antenna. I also got a 10ft galvanized fence pole from Lowes and cut it down to 8ft to use as a mast. I mounted the antenna at the apex of my roof on the end side of the highest decorative eave post (I believe it's...




www.avsforum.com










beboram said:


> Reviving this old thread.
> 
> I (think) found a person who is willing to install replace the rooftop antenna and wiring.
> 
> What is the wisdom of this expert crowd? Should the grounding wire be solid copper or stranded? Are there pro's and con's of each? I am at a decison impasse! Amazon has both types as ground wire.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Amazon.com: PHAT SATELLITE INTL - Pure Solid Bare Copper Grounding Wire, 10 AWG Core (#10 Gauge), THHN PVC Jacket, Satellite Antenna Electrical Surge Ground Protection Earth Wire (15 feet, Green) : Everything Else
> 
> 
> Buy PHAT SATELLITE INTL - Pure Solid Bare Copper Grounding Wire, 10 AWG Core (#10 Gauge), THHN PVC Jacket, Satellite Antenna Electrical Surge Ground Protection Earth Wire (15 feet, Green): Everything Else - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases
> 
> 
> 
> www.amazon.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks.


----------



## tylerSC

WRC-NBC4 anchor Doreen Gentzler retiring after 33 years. Last of the legendary team with Jim Vance, Bob Ryan, George Michael and Arch Campbell. One of the all time best anchor teams in the nation; great chemistry, presentation and news coverage.


----------



## KyL416

WNUV just filed to convert their RF 25 NextGen signal to a DTS operation, site 1 will be their existing 750 kW Television Hill facility, site 2 will be a 7 kW directional signal from the WMJF-CD and WTMD tower in Towson.


----------



## fri1038

WFDC/WDCW/WDVM RF15 crashed at 9:03pm in the middle of the Latin Grammys Thurs night and came back at reduced power a bit later. 🤷‍♂️


----------



## mkfs

fri1038 said:


> Least expensive 3.0 capable TV is a 43" Sony for about $450 at the moment.


So I bought a LG 43UQ7590 at Microcenter; $250.

Battling the mount issue before I open it. Looking at this one vs. this.
Each has advantages & disadvantages.


----------



## ota.dt.man

ota.dt.man said:


> I just checked the distance to our nearest cell tower and it's *0.6* miles away.
> - At what distance are they more likely to interfere with UHF TV reception?
> Thanks!


For those who may be interested, I asked about this specific topic on the HDTV Technical forum: Distance to Nearest Cell Tower & LTE Filters?


----------



## ota.dt.man

Brian in CT said:


> If I'd have to guess, I figure it's a multipath problem that somehow is affecting WRC more than the other D.C. TV signals. It could be as simple as a bad reflection off something nearby. Remember, WRC has a different transmitter site than most of the other Washington area TV stations, which would make its signal path to you slightly different. It still might be *LTE*, so if you're willing to get an LTE filter, you can at least narrow down possible causes if that doesn't do the trick.


Thanks for your suggestion. 
To bring things full circle, here's how our reception issue turned out:








Distance to Nearest Cell Tower & LTE Filters?


At what distance are LTE filters (e.g. CM-3201, LPF-608M, etc.) more likely to be needed? Our nearest cell tower is 0.6 miles away. Thank you.




www.avsforum.com




To skip to the end result: Distance to Nearest Cell Tower & LTE Filters?


----------



## bdowell

Woohoo, but then again, whoops. Verizon FiOS, at least in Anne Arundel County, has added GAFAMHD-E at ch. 743, but unfortunately no guide data for TiVo at this time. Guide data is there at ch. 660 but that channel hasn't been used in over a year now. I've submitted a line-up change request at TiVo to try to get that resolved.

Meanwhile, Verizon booted OANHD from their system and for some reason or another has moved NEWSMXHD from it's old home at ch. 615 up to ch. 616. Guide data at TiVo hasn't followed that change. If you tune-in to ch. 615 you get a static screen telling you that the channel moved. If you tune to 616 you get the programming but the guide still shows programming info for OANHD. Again, I submitted a line-up correction request with TiVo but I don't know how soon it'll get looked at and possibly fixed.


I'm happy to see GAFAMHD-E available as it offers up a ton of Hallmark alternative movies. If the Mrs. gets bored with what's on Lifetime, or Hallmark, or UpTV she gets yet another choice.


----------



## beboram

WMAR (ABC Baltimore) - I am wondering if anyone in Germantown/Clarksburg area is receiving it with their antenna. My old TV never found it. My brand new Sony A95K scans it but no picture. I receive all other Baltimore Channels just fine. I have a Channel Master Extreme 80 mounted high on the rooftop. 

Appreciate any help.


----------



## beboram

tylerSC said:


> WRC-NBC4 anchor Doreen Gentzler retiring after 33 years. Last of the legendary team with Jim Vance, Bob Ryan, George Michael and Arch Campbell. One of the all time best anchor teams in the nation; great chemistry, presentation and news coverage.


Bob Ryan was in Boston before he moved here. Boston blizzard of 1977 he was the only meteorologist who called it right - all others including NWS were predicting it will blow out to the sea. He was famous after that.


----------



## ota.dt.man

beboram said:


> WMAR (ABC Baltimore) - I am wondering if anyone in Germantown/Clarksburg area is receiving it with their antenna. My old TV never found it. My brand new Sony A95K scans it but no picture. I receive all other Baltimore Channels just fine. I have a Channel Master Extreme 80 mounted high on the rooftop.
> 
> Appreciate any help.


I'm not too far from you in Frederick. WMAR is more difficult to receive c/w WBAL or WJZ.

2‑1 (27)​WMAR-TVABCBALTIMOREMD​​ 42​101.5°​112.1°​-72.79 dBm *Poor *​17.18​L​
Rabbit Ears WMAR coverage map


----------



## Trip in VA

Depending on exactly where you are, it may be getting swamped by WFPT on the adjacent channel.

- Trip


----------



## tylerSC

beboram said:


> Bob Ryan was in Boston before he moved here. Boston blizzard of 1977 he was the only meteorologist who called it right - all others including NWS were predicting it will blow out to the sea. He was famous after that.


Also if I remember at some point he traded places with Willard Scott. Willard was at WRC doing the weather and Bob Ryan was in New York at the Today Show. NBC made a decision for them to switch places with each other, and the rest is history. Willard became the beloved national weatherman and Bob Ryan became the longtime WRC weatherman in DC.


----------



## Mike M.

the last thing I heard about the relocation of WDVM was that it may be held up because of low powered stations in the DC area using RF 23. Can anyone comment on whether that is true and what the status of the move might be now?


----------



## KyL416

LPTV stations are not protected by moves from full power stations so they are not a factor. Daystar's WDDN-LD will have to file for a displacement if they cause too much interference to WDVM's proposed facility. The closest co-channel station they have to worry about is WMJF-CD and it only causes 0.10% interference to them, well below the 2% threshold for Class A stations.


----------



## Trip in VA

Class A stations are protected to 0.5%. 2% is for LPTVs.

- Trip


----------



## Mike M.

So what is the schedule?


----------



## fri1038

WDVM-TV's construction permit is good until May 2025. They filed an amendment to that this week fine tuning the design. Beyond that, you'll probably have ask them directly about a schedule.


----------



## Mike M.

They do not respond.


----------



## beboram

ota.dt.man said:


> I'm not too far from you in Frederick. WMAR is more difficult to receive c/w WBAL or WJZ.
> 
> 2‑1 (27)​WMAR-TVABCBALTIMOREMD​​42​101.5°​112.1°​-72.79 dBm *Poor *​17.18​L​
> Rabbit Ears WMAR coverage map


Thanks, I forgot about the Rabbitears.info. Just checked, I should have strong (green) signal, WMAR is at 89 degrees. 

2‑1 (27)​WMAR-TVABCBALTIMOREMD​​ 30.8​78.6°​*89.3°*​95.52 Good​55.47​​
Perhaps it is too far to the side of my rooftop antenna signal reception width which is pointed at 130 degrees and receives all of Washington DC, WMPT and Baltimore stations sans WMAR. I will rotate the antenna and report back.


----------



## ota.dt.man

beboram said:


> Thanks, I forgot about the Rabbitears.info. Just checked, I should have strong (green) signal, WMAR is at 89 degrees.
> 
> 2‑1 (27)​WMAR-TVABCBALTIMOREMD​​30.8​78.6°​*89.3°*​95.52 Good​55.47​​
> Perhaps it is too far to the side of my rooftop antenna signal reception width which is pointed at 130 degrees and receives all of Washington DC, WMPT and Baltimore stations sans WMAR. I will rotate the antenna and report back.


You're welcome, sounds like a plan.


----------



## beboram

ota.dt.man said:


> You're welcome, sounds like a plan.


Finally got around to pointing the antenna, at 90 degrees the TV picked up WMAR near full strength and additional 10 channels that are duplicates with the Washington DC area.


----------



## spankee2k

Sorry if this had been covered before, I have searched and couldn't find a definite answer. I am having trouble receiving ABC 7 and Wjla 9 OTA channels on both of my TV's. They are picked up in the channel scan and sometimes flash a pixelated picture.

One of my TV's is newer and has an ATSC 3.0 tuner built in. It receives both stations in nextgen with no problem. I'm in Fairfax and have a Televes Dinova Boss Mix UHF/VHF HDTV Antenna w/LTE Filter mounted on the roof of a two story house pointed straight at the towers. 

During the channel scan, it gets 70 channels total and some of them are further than the towers for ABC 7 and Wjla 9. Does anyone else have this issue?

TIA


----------



## Digital Rules

My guess is RF interference from a nearby device. 

Also could be electrical interference, but it would have to be intense. Try your cars AM radio & let us know if you get a lot of static.

Is this a new problem?

A few years ago I tried helping someone in Merrifield with a problematic channel 7, but we were never able to identify the source. . Channels 8, 9, 11, 12 & 13 work, but 7 would not decode.


----------



## Gerry1

spankee2k said:


> Sorry if this had been covered before, I have searched and couldn't find a definite answer. I am having trouble receiving ABC 7 and Wjla 9 OTA channels on both of my TV's. They are picked up in the channel scan and sometimes flash a pixelated picture.
> 
> One of my TV's is newer and has an ATSC 3.0 tuner built in. It receives both stations in nextgen with no problem. I'm in Fairfax and have a Televes Dinova Boss Mix UHF/VHF HDTV Antenna w/LTE Filter mounted on the roof of a two story house pointed straight at the towers.
> 
> During the channel scan, it gets 70 channels total and some of them are further than the towers for ABC 7 and Wjla 9. Does anyone else have this issue?
> 
> TIA


I take it that this has been an issue since you installed this antenna? If you are in Fairfax VA, you are fairly close to WJLA ( in the green zone). I understand that antenna works in "passive" mode, meaning you can try unplugging the preamp power cord. This will bypass the preamp and provide less gain from the antenna. Does that make any difference for the stations in question?


----------



## greg9x2

spankee2k said:


> Sorry if this had been covered before, I have searched and couldn't find a definite answer. I am having trouble receiving ABC 7 and Wjla 9 OTA channels on both of my TV's. They are picked up in the channel scan and sometimes flash a pixelated picture.
> 
> One of my TV's is newer and has an ATSC 3.0 tuner built in. It receives both stations in nextgen with no problem. I'm in Fairfax and have a Televes Dinova Boss Mix UHF/VHF HDTV Antenna w/LTE Filter mounted on the roof of a two story house pointed straight at the towers.
> 
> During the channel scan, it gets 70 channels total and some of them are further than the towers for ABC 7 and Wjla 9. Does anyone else have this issue?
> 
> TIA


They are VHF stations (everything else UHF) and harder to tune in if not in a strong signal area. They were always problematic for me even with dedicated VHF antenna.


----------



## Casey Hartman

spankee2k said:


> Sorry if this had been covered before, I have searched and couldn't find a definite answer. I am having trouble receiving ABC 7 and Wjla 9 OTA channels on both of my TV's. They are picked up in the channel scan and sometimes flash a pixelated picture.
> 
> One of my TV's is newer and has an ATSC 3.0 tuner built in. It receives both stations in nextgen with no problem. I'm in Fairfax and have a Televes Dinova Boss Mix UHF/VHF HDTV Antenna w/LTE Filter mounted on the roof of a two story house pointed straight at the towers.
> 
> During the channel scan, it gets 70 channels total and some of them are further than the towers for ABC 7 and Wjla 9. Does anyone else have this issue?
> 
> TIA


I am in Alexandria (Fairfax County) and I have a Dinova Boss Mix too. I've struggled receiving clear reception of 7 and 9 with dipoles (2Max and Dinova Boss Mix); one will come in great at the expense of the other. I use a Clearstream 5 to receive them and it can pick up the Baltimore VHF stations. If you would like to see how the C5 performs at your location, let me know.


----------



## beboram

spankee2k said:


> Sorry if this had been covered before, I have searched and couldn't find a definite answer. I am having trouble receiving ABC 7 and Wjla 9 OTA channels on both of my TV's. They are picked up in the channel scan and sometimes flash a pixelated picture.
> 
> One of my TV's is newer and has an ATSC 3.0 tuner built in. It receives both stations in nextgen with no problem. I'm in Fairfax and have a Televes Dinova Boss Mix UHF/VHF HDTV Antenna w/LTE Filter mounted on the roof of a two story house pointed straight at the towers.
> 
> During the channel scan, it gets 70 channels total and some of them are further than the towers for ABC 7 and Wjla 9. Does anyone else have this issue?
> 
> TIA


Possibly two issues - 1) likely signal over load you are very close to all the towers. If you can, try to point the antenna away from the signal direction or try a signal attenuator. If the antenna has a signal amplifier by-pass it, if possible. 2) RF interference as as Digital Rules said. You are very close to several highly sensitive security installations. 

I wonder do you really need a roof top antenna? I suspect rabbit ears will pull in all DC channels with no problems.


----------



## Casey Hartman

beboram said:


> Possibly two issues - 1) likely signal over load you are very close to all the towers. If you can, try to point the antenna away from the signal direction or try a signal attenuator. If the antenna has a signal amplifier by-pass it, if possible. 2) RF interference as as Digital Rules said. You are very close to several highly sensitive security installations.
> 
> I wonder do you really need a roof top antenna? I suspect rabbit ears will pull in all DC channels with no problems.


I don't think rabbit ears will pull in the Baltimore stations though. I certainly enjoy watching Seinfeld on CW Baltimore on weekday evenings. The Dinova Boss Mix is small enough for indoor use; mine is on the top of closet shelves. Unplugging the antenna will allow signals to passively go through the pre-amp with minimal signal loss.


----------



## spankee2k

Thank you so for the information. I checked the AM radio on the car and it works like a champ. The antenna was in the attic and pulling in the other stations, I thought it might be something with that so I moved it on the roof. That just have me a couple more stations but didn't fix the 7 and 9 issue. I suspect it has to do with what some of you said, too strong of a signal. I will unplug the preamp and see what happens and report back. Thanks again


----------



## Gerry1

spankee2k said:


> Thank you so for the information. I checked the AM radio on the car and it works like a champ. The antenna was in the attic and pulling in the other stations, I thought it might be something with that so I moved it on the roof. That just have me a couple more stations but didn't fix the 7 and 9 issue. I suspect it has to do with what some of you said, too strong of a signal. I will unplug the preamp and see what happens and report back. Thanks again


Also if those two stations are your only vhf channels, another possiblility is LED light bulbs used in the home. Certain brand bulbs can cause vhf interference. Recently I found the "CREE" brand in my home were knocking out my vhf stations when they were turned on. Replacing them with another brand that specifically stated on the box that they were FCC part 15 compliant took care of the issue.


----------



## machpost

Gerry1 said:


> Also if those two stations are your only vhf channels, another possiblility is LED light bulbs used in the home. Certain brand bulbs can cause vhf interference. Recently I found the "CREE" brand in my home were knocking out my vhf stations when they were turned on. Replacing them with another brand that specifically stated on the box that they were FCC part 15 compliant took care of the issue.


Very true. I had a very cheap old LED bulb from IKEA in a lamp next to a radio and it completely trashed FM reception.


----------



## spankee2k

I unplugged the preamp and ran another channel scan. Channel 7 is still not working. Channel 9 works with random stutters and pixelation. Some other channels that once had little glitches come in better now to. Channel 32 (which didn't work before) still doesn't work unless it's their nextgen broadcast.

Could the signal still be to strong and is there in inline attenuator that targets those frequencies only?


----------



## Gerry1

spankee2k said:


> I unplugged the preamp and ran another channel scan. Channel 7 is still not working. Channel 9 works with random stutters and pixelation. Some other channels that once had little glitches come in better now to. Channel 32 (which didn't work before) still doesn't work unless it's their nextgen broadcast.
> 
> Could the signal still be to strong and is there in inline attenuator that targets those frequencies only?


Are you able to get a signal strength reading at all on those two channels? If low signal with and without the preamp are you sure the "full length" of the dipole section is pointed toward the stations? If just one end of the dipole is pointed toward the tower your signal would be diminished. Now, if the signal is full strength without the preamp and still giving you trouble, the issue could be signal overload or signal interference.


----------



## b5fan001

Hello, 
I live in the Leesburg area of Loudoun County, VA. I point an antenna at the DC Area stations based on results from TVFool.com. 
Last Monday, I finally hooked up my HDHomerun to an antenna I had installed on my roof last year. The signal was excellent in the beginning. The ATSC 1.0 and ATSC 3.0 came in flawlessly. 

As of late last week and into this week, I have not been able to get *ATSC 3.0* channels. I talked to HDHomerun Technical support. The tech said that "stations occasionally pull down the ATSC 3.0 signals to work on them." 

Is anyone else having an issue with *ATSC 3.0* from the DC Area?

-B


----------



## greg9x2

b5fan001 said:


> Hello,
> I live in the Leesburg area of Loudoun County, VA. I point an antenna at the DC Area stations based on results from TVFool.com.
> Last Monday, I finally hooked up my HDHomerun to an antenna I had installed on my roof last year. The signal was excellent in the beginning. The ATSC 1.0 and ATSC 3.0 came in flawlessly.
> 
> As of late last week and into this week, I have not been able to get *ATSC 3.0* channels. I talked to HDHomerun Technical support. The tech said that "stations occasionally pull down the ATSC 3.0 signals to work on them."
> 
> Is anyone else having an issue with *ATSC 3.0* from the DC Area?
> 
> -B


Currently receiving the 3.0's fine on TV and HDHR. Maybe reboot/rescan ? The 3.0's are all on one RF channel, so may be issue with reception for it ?


----------



## Digital Rules

spankee2k said:


> Could the signal still be to strong and is there in inline attenuator that targets those frequencies only?


Are you within a mile of the large broadcast tower in Merrifield?


----------



## beboram

spankee2k said:


> I unplugged the preamp and ran another channel scan. Channel 7 is still not working. Channel 9 works with random stutters and pixelation. Some other channels that once had little glitches come in better now to. Channel 32 (which didn't work before) still doesn't work unless it's their nextgen broadcast.
> 
> Could the signal still be to strong and is there in inline attenuator that targets those frequencies only?











Amazon.com: Phillmore 3 dB Coax Cable TV Signal Attenuator Pad; 42-103 : Electronics


Amazon.com: Phillmore 3 dB Coax Cable TV Signal Attenuator Pad; 42-103 : Electronics



www.amazon.com





They are not frequency specific. I don't know if there are frequency specific or tunable attenuators commercially available.


----------



## spankee2k

Digital Rules said:


> Are you within a mile of the large broadcast tower in Merrifield?


I'm probably a good 8 miles from Merrifield. I'm about 2 miles west of Fair Oaks Mall.


----------



## spankee2k

beboram said:


> Amazon.com: Phillmore 3 dB Coax Cable TV Signal Attenuator Pad; 42-103 : Electronics
> 
> 
> Amazon.com: Phillmore 3 dB Coax Cable TV Signal Attenuator Pad; 42-103 : Electronics
> 
> 
> 
> www.amazon.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> They are not frequency specific. I don't know if there are frequency specific or tunable attenuators commercially available.



I already have a 2-way splitter that is connected to the antenna that attenuates the signal 7db. Is it recommended to attenuate the signal even more?


----------



## Digital Rules

spankee2k said:


> I already have a 2-way splitter that is connected to the antenna that attenuates the signal 7db. Is it recommended to attenuate the signal even more?


IMO, there is nothing near you that would overload a pre-amp or require attenuation. I'm convinced it's some type of interference, likely inside your house.

i.e. Light bulbs, computer speakers, soundbar, etc . . . .


----------



## Casey Hartman

spankee2k said:


> I already have a 2-way splitter that is connected to the antenna that attenuates the signal 7db. Is it recommended to attenuate the signal even more?


RabbitEars shows your area has having Fair reception for 7 and 9. I don't think you need to attenuate the signals more. You might have a similar problem as I do, which requires the UHF and VHF elements to not point in the same direction to receive all available channels.


----------



## Digital Rules

Do you have a lot of trees or heavy brush in front of the antenna? Could be multipath interference, especially with only 2 VHF elements.


----------



## fri1038

Yep, I was about to say you probably don't need to weaken the signal any more out that way. Some random thoughts...
Can you test before the splitter? Or use a simple coupler







to reduce the loss a bit? If that helps, maybe a distribution amplifier would be better than the splitter, so long as you get the placement right, downstream from the antenna power inserter. I use an RCA model found at Lowes. Most TVs and tuners have a simple signal strength tool hiding in the menus to help.

I have some GE LED bulbs that mess up WMDE on RF5 but don't bother RF7 or RF9. Things that affect them at my house include interference from the microwave oven, flicking on a florescent light fixture, multipath from airplanes, building materials (if you are aiming towards a nearby building or part of your own house.) And me moving around the room when I use an indoor antenna. Trees don't bother VHF like 7 and 9 for me - but certainly do for UHF channels.

Earlier this year I noticed 7 (and only 7) would go out if I moved a coax cable. Putting a new f-type connector fixed it. This would be the jiggle your cable test. 

WHUT-32 1.0 is hosted on WJLA's RF7 transmitter since their 3.0 conversion, btw.



Casey Hartman said:


> RabbitEars shows your area has having Fair reception for 7 and 9. I don't think you need to attenuate the signals more. You might have a similar problem as I do, which requires the UHF and VHF elements to not point in the same direction to receive all available channels.


----------



## fri1038

The 3.0 signals from WHUT RF33 and WNUV RF25 look fine to me too. But WIAV RF30 has been kind of flakey the past couple weeks. I see it as stuttering video and sometimes 'communication error' in the HDHR app, but rabbitears.info's bandscan has been showing it as undecodable off and on. When I checked it at 5:15pm tonight, 158.5 24/7MMT was missing - just 158.1 WIAV (TBD) was present. It was there a few hours ago, so maybe they are tinkering with it.

WIAV's start of problems kind of coincide with this news I first saw over on BaltoMedia's facebook blog.



https://www.tvtechnology.com/news/sinclair-eyes-tv-for-audio-delivery



EDIT: WNUV 3.0's subchannels aren't playing for me 12/15 2:30pm, even with a 100% signal. 'Communication error' in the HDHR app. -- fixed 3:15pm -- WHUT 3.0 is okay. WIAV 3.0 still with just the one subchannel.




greg9x2 said:


> Currently receiving the 3.0's fine on TV and HDHR. Maybe reboot/rescan ? The 3.0's are all on one RF channel, so may be issue with reception for it ?


----------



## Brian in CT

b5fan001 said:


> Hello,
> I live in the Leesburg area of Loudoun County, VA. I point an antenna at the DC Area stations based on results from TVFool.com.


TV Fool is over three years out of date. In the future, use the "Signal Search" tool at www.rabbitears.info for up-to-date information on reception of TV stations.


----------



## JackSplat58

machpost said:


> Very true. I had a very cheap old LED bulb from IKEA in a lamp next to a radio and it completely trashed FM reception.


The LED lights in my garage door opener wipe out my VHF reception. Took me awhile to figure that one out.


----------



## ota.dt.man

> DrDon said:
> You're also at the mercy of individual stations for channel guide information embedded in their signal. Web-connected DVRs typically load a couple weeks' worth of guide information.


Understood, & a very good point. - Thank you!



> DrDon said:
> In some markets, stations only load a day or two ahead.


 Is the Wash., DC market better about providing reliable OTA EPG PSIP data further in advance?
Thanks!


----------



## b5fan001

Brian in CT said:


> TV Fool is over three years out of date. In the future, use the "Signal Search" tool at www.rabbitears.info for up-to-date information on reception of TV stations.


Good Day, 

I checked the Rabbit Ears site (www.rabbitears.info). The only difference is that it tells me that magnetic north for my stations is 122 degrees rather than true north of 112 degrees. It doesn't seem like a big change but I know the further out you go, the bigger difference it will make. The site's readings state that I only need an internal antenna. 

That issue can not be corrected for some time to come. I'm too much of a chicken to get up on my roof myself. Heights and I are not on speaking terms. 

I wonder if there is someone in the Loudoun County area that will get up there for a nominal fee. 

Thanks! 

-B


----------



## fri1038

ota.dt.man said:


> Is the Wash., DC market better about providing reliable OTA EPG PSIP data further in advance?
> Thanks!


It varies by station. A quick spot check using TSReader Lite with an hdhomerun shows 12 hours to 4 days of EPG data. WJZ is the winner with the most. Low power stations might not have any EPG, such as WQAW and WMJF.

And then it depends on how much data your viewing/DVR device will actually load. And having to tune into each station for a moment so it can grab the data. I have an Aluratek tuner/recorder box which is a close cousin of the others you mentioned in other threads - it takes it sweet time to load the EPG and never got to the 4 days that WJZ appears to broadcast. Same with an old Samsung TV. I tend to just look at the two-week Zap2it listings and manually program my dumb DVRs. These headaches are why devices end up grabbing guide data over the internet.


----------



## ota.dt.man

fri1038 said:


> It varies by station. A quick spot check using TSReader Lite with an hdhomerun shows 12 hours to 4 days of EPG data. WJZ is the winner with the most. Low power stations might not have any EPG, such as WQAW and WMJF.
> 
> And then it depends on how much data your viewing/DVR device will actually load. And having to tune into each station for a moment so it can grab the data. I have an Aluratek tuner/recorder box which is a close cousin of the others you mentioned in other threads - it takes it sweet time to load the EPG and never got to the 4 days that WJZ appears to broadcast. Same with an old Samsung TV. I tend to just look at the two-week Zap2it listings and manually program my dumb DVRs. These headaches are why devices end up grabbing guide data over the internet.


Thanks for passing on the realities of PSIP data in the DC market. Reliable guide data is obviously essential for flexible programming.

Data Privacy:
When using internet guide data, is there a way to protect one's data from being sold to 3rd-parties especially since this service requires a paid subscription? Why should the providers get paid twice? Is there a DVR company that better respects their customer's privacy?


----------



## fri1038

b5fan001 said:


> I checked the Rabbit Ears site (www.rabbitears.info). The only difference is ...


Many channels are missing from tvfool, and most have the wrong 'real' broadcast channel listed. If all you want is the bearing to the tower, it can still do the job. But it's mostly stuck in 2017.


----------



## fri1038

ota.dt.man said:


> Data Privacy:
> When using internet guide data, is there a way to protect one's data from being sold to 3rd-parties especially since this service requires a paid subscription? Why should the providers get paid twice? Is there a DVR company that better respects their customer's privacy?


To what paid service are you referring? I don't have any internet connected DVRs so I haven't looked into it. I use an ancient Magnavox recorder when I (rarely) find something worth recording. You program it like an old VCR. But at least it sets its own clock. ;-)


----------



## ota.dt.man

fri1038 said:


> To what paid service are you referring? I don't have any internet connected DVRs so I haven't looked into it. I use an ancient Magnavox recorder when I (rarely) find something worth recording. You program it like an old VCR. But at least it sets its own clock. ;-)


Agreed, current OTA programing leaves much to be desired. However, there are still some programs that are enjoyable. The main benefit of DVRs for us:

a time shifting device to watch at a more convenient time
"Sweeps month" 4x per yr when networks compete w/ their best programing
to save 16 min./hr. by eliminating numerous commercials, (mostly RX w/ endless legal disclaimers )
See this post:

TABLO OTA DVR REVIEW PART 1
TiVo Privacy Policy
These Streaming Platforms and Devices Are the Worst for Your Privacy, August 31, 2021

"Most streaming platforms will collect your data, sell it to third parties, and track you around the web.
Apple is the only player that respects people’s privacy up to a point, but they aren’t very transparent about it.
Google on the other hand discloses everything on its policy but doesn’t follow the best practices."
Is there an Apple of DVR providers?

What are the current recommended strategies to protect one's privacy when using web-connected devices?


----------



## Casey Hartman

Are you receiving all of the available stations or just having issues with ATSC 3.0 channels?



b5fan001 said:


> Good Day,
> 
> I checked the Rabbit Ears site (www.rabbitears.info). The only difference is that it tells me that magnetic north for my stations is 122 degrees rather than true north of 112 degrees. It doesn't seem like a big change but I know the further out you go, the bigger difference it will make. The site's readings state that I only need an internal antenna.
> 
> That issue can not be corrected for some time to come. I'm too much of a chicken to get up on my roof myself. Heights and I are not on speaking terms.
> 
> I wonder if there is someone in the Loudoun County area that will get up there for a nominal fee.
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> -B


----------



## fri1038

ota.dt.man said:


> xxxxx
> 
> Is there an Apple of DVR providers?
> 
> What are the current recommended strategies to protect one's privacy when using web-connected devices?


I'm not familiar with those particular products so I'll leave it to you to wade through their policy gobbledygook and continue your search. Opt out of what data sharing that you can, and disconnect from the internet when not needed, is about all I can add.


----------



## ota.dt.man

"_gobbledygook"_ is right! 


fri1038 said:


> Opt out of what data sharing that you can, and disconnect from the internet when not needed


 Agreed. Thanks.


----------



## b5fan001

fri1038 said:


> Many channels are missing from tvfool, and most have the wrong 'real' broadcast channel listed. If all you want is the bearing to the tower, it can still do the job. But it's mostly stuck in 2017.


I just wanted bearing to the towers. I'm currently using the TVFool bearing to point my antenna now. TVFool and Rabbit Ears agree on the bearing for the old towers.
However, TVFool didn't give the bearing to the ATSC 3.0 signals. Rabbit Ears does.

O*ld towers had a bearing of about 112 degrees while the ATSC 3.0 bearing is *_*122 degrees*_*. *

I'm going to adjust my roof antenna slightly to try to get the sweet spot for both signals. I just don't know why I was getting the signals before, but not getting them now.
_Everyone, Any thoughts on my plan?_ If there is a mistake in my thinking about this, I'd like to know now.

Respectfully,
-B


----------



## MRG1

spankee2k said:


> I already have a 2-way splitter that is connected to the antenna that attenuates the signal 7db. Is it recommended to attenuate the signal even more?


I assume both branches are connected to something, right?

Otherwise, it may help to use a terminator on the unused branch. Or at least that is the way some websites say to connect things. But I'm not an expert.


----------



## greg9x2

b5fan001 said:


> I just wanted bearing to the towers. I'm currently using the TVFool bearing to point my antenna now. TVFool and Rabbit Ears agree on the bearing for the old towers.
> However, TVFool didn't give the bearing to the ATSC 3.0 signals. Rabbit Ears does.
> 
> O*ld towers had a bearing of about 112 degrees while the ATSC 3.0 bearing is *_*122 degrees*_*. *
> 
> I'm going to adjust my roof antenna slightly to try to get the sweet spot for both signals. I just don't know why I was getting the signals before, but not getting them now.
> _Everyone, Any thoughts on my plan?_ If there is a mistake in my thinking about this, I'd like to know now.
> 
> Respectfully,
> -B


If the 3.0 stations are your priority, then yes, point towards them. 

As for why.... For me I have issues with reception in that I get the signals from reflections... Trees play a large part and when the leaves fall off in the winter my reception suffers . But the 3.0 signal is better received at my location, so not as much loss as the 1.0 stations.

Do you know what your receive level was for the 3.0 channels when you were getting them ? 
Have you done a re scan ?


----------



## b5fan001

greg9x2 said:


> If the 3.0 stations are your priority, then yes, point towards them.
> 
> Do you know what your receive level was for the 3.0 channels when you were getting them ?
> Have you done a re scan ?


Hello,

For the record, I did multiple rescans over the days that I could not get a signal. I finally found the signal levels today,

The *ATSC 3.0* stations are working this evening. I've attached the signal levels while all the stations working today.
I'm interested in what the signal levels will be when the antenna is adjusted.

*-B*


----------



## greg9x2

b5fan001 said:


> Hello,
> 
> For the record, I did multiple rescans over the days that I could not get a signal. I finally found the signal levels today,
> 
> The *ATSC 3.0* stations are working this evening. I've attached the signal levels while all the stations working today.
> I'm interested in what the signal levels will be when the antenna is adjusted.
> 
> *-B*


Yeah, your borderline @ 50% signal strength.... I get ~65% and still take hits every once in a while... But I have an attic antenna, so get reflections which contributes to hits.


----------



## b5fan001

b5fan001 said:


> Hello,
> 
> For the record, I did multiple rescans over the days that I could not get a signal. I finally found the signal levels today,
> 
> The *ATSC 3.0* stations are working this evening. I've attached the signal levels while all the stations working today.
> I'm interested in what the signal levels will be when the antenna is adjusted.
> 
> *-B*

























Well, These are the readings after the antenna adjustment. Let me know what you think.

*-B*


----------



## fri1038

WIAV is up to something. "cast_era_2k" subchannel there this morning. Showing a loop of some old Tennis Channel video in 1080.

I get 'communication error' if I try to view in the Windows HDHR app. But I can see the video in VLC.

Cast.era is the partnership of Sinclair and SK Telecom.









CAST.ERA HOME | CAST.ERA - Enabling broadcasters' transition to NextGen ATSC 3.0 service


CAST.ERA is an industry-leading joint venture between Sinclair Broadcasting Group and SK Telecom that combines telecom with media broadcasting technology development. Our cloud-based solution is based on the telco-industry proven on-premise cloud platfor




castera.io





edit: the new channel was working normally in the hdhr app around 2:45pm. they updated the program number from "4" to "5003". 🤷‍♂️

edit2: show's over. the test channel was gone at 3:50pm. they are down to just one qam16 PLP that carried both channels for a short time -- as seen in image 2.

edit3: cast_era_2k is back as of 5:00pm, showing a loop of old sports news from WJLA 24/7 News this time. Enough for today ... 🤪


----------



## mrradiohead55

Sinclair owns the Tennis Channel, which held broadcast rights to the Australian Open (annual January event). Maybe they are testing the sub-channel to carry the tournament for in-house monitoring. Just a guess.


----------



## fri1038

WIAV seems to be Sinclair's test bed. I can only guess.

Their bandscans showed some frequent, intermittent undecodable signal starting around Thanksgiving which stopped with these recent changes a few days ago. And some SNR changes starting yesterday, which coincides with them switching to the single qam16 PLP. The WIAV subchannel was on a qam64 PLP.

There is this digital radio test reported a few weeks ago.

They put the tennis loop back on last evening which is still running as I type. It's in 1280x720 now.

The word "petosus" in their network bug turns up nothing.


----------



## Casey Hartman

b5fan001 said:


> Hello,
> 
> For the record, I did multiple rescans over the days that I could not get a signal. I finally found the signal levels today,
> 
> The *ATSC 3.0* stations are working this evening. I've attached the signal levels while all the stations working today.
> I'm interested in what the signal levels will be when the antenna is adjusted.
> 
> *-B*


The signal quality increased for WRC's ATSC 3.0 broadcast. I think your location might be capable of receiving signals better since I noticed the Stone Ridge tuner( on the Bandscan page) receives WRC at a higher signal strength and quality rate.The link to it's Bandscan results is:





RabbitEars Mobile







m.rabbitears.info


----------



## b5fan001

Casey Hartman said:


> The signal quality increased for WRC's ATSC 3.0 broadcast. I think your location might be capable of receiving signals better since I noticed the Stone Ridge tuner( on the Bandscan page) receives WRC at a higher signal strength and quality rate.The link to it's Bandscan results is:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> RabbitEars Mobile
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> m.rabbitears.info


Do you have any advice as to what I can do to improve reception? 

It doesn't appear that an amplifier will be helpful. From what I've read, an ampifier is only effective when you have a good signal that you need to split to multiple devices. 

-B


----------



## Casey Hartman

b5fan001 said:


> Do you have any advice as to what I can do to improve reception?
> 
> It doesn't appear that an amplifier will be helpful. From what I've read, an ampifier is only effective when you have a good signal that you need to split to multiple devices.
> 
> -B


What antenna do you have?


----------



## aaronwt

b5fan001 said:


> Do you have any advice as to what I can do to improve reception?
> 
> It doesn't appear that an amplifier will be helpful. From what I've read, an ampifier is only effective when you have a good signal that you need to split to multiple devices.
> 
> -B


What about a preamplifier? I've used a preamp with my two antennas for OTA, since 2004. And it has given me excellent results. While a distribution amp did nothing for me. So I was happy the preamp I got gave me a solid signal from the DC stations.


----------



## b5fan001

aaronwt said:


> What about a preamplifier? I've used a preamp with my two antennas for OTA, since 2004. And it has given me excellent results. While a distribution amp did nothing for me. So I was happy the preamp I got gave me a solid signal from the DC stations.


Could you provide a link to a preamplifier? I will take a look at one. 

-B


----------



## ota.dt.man

Hello B,

Calaveras is very knowledgeable on this subject. Here is his preamp performance comparison chart: Antenna Amplifier


----------



## b5fan001

aaronwt said:


> What about a preamplifier? I've used a preamp with my two antennas for OTA, since 2004. And it has given me excellent results. While a distribution amp did nothing for me. So I was happy the preamp I got gave me a solid signal from the DC stations.











Amazon.com: McDuory Digital HDTV Outdoor Amplified Antenna - 150 Miles Range - Mounting Pole & 40 feet RG6 Coaxial Cable Included - Optimized Performance in UHF & VHF - Tools Free Installation : Electronics


Amazon.com: McDuory Digital HDTV Outdoor Amplified Antenna - 150 Miles Range - Mounting Pole & 40 feet RG6 Coaxial Cable Included - Optimized Performance in UHF & VHF - Tools Free Installation : Electronics



smile.amazon.com




I have this antenna. I did not connect the included amp. I will have to look around for it.

-B


----------



## Casey Hartman

b5fan001 said:


> Amazon.com: McDuory Digital HDTV Outdoor Amplified Antenna - 150 Miles Range - Mounting Pole & 40 feet RG6 Coaxial Cable Included - Optimized Performance in UHF & VHF - Tools Free Installation : Electronics
> 
> 
> Amazon.com: McDuory Digital HDTV Outdoor Amplified Antenna - 150 Miles Range - Mounting Pole & 40 feet RG6 Coaxial Cable Included - Optimized Performance in UHF & VHF - Tools Free Installation : Electronics
> 
> 
> 
> smile.amazon.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I have this antenna. I did not connect the included amp. I will have to look around for it.
> 
> -B


The included amplifier is probably crap. I would use a Channel Master Amplify, Cleastream Juice, Wineguard LN-200, or Televes 560383 preamp. The 4-bay antenna has a wide beam width and I wonder if more directional antenna like the RCA ANT751 or Televes 149381 would perform better.


----------



## Brian in CT

b5fan001 said:


> Amazon.com: McDuory Digital HDTV Outdoor Amplified Antenna - 150 Miles Range - Mounting Pole & 40 feet RG6 Coaxial Cable Included - Optimized Performance in UHF & VHF - Tools Free Installation : Electronics
> 
> 
> Amazon.com: McDuory Digital HDTV Outdoor Amplified Antenna - 150 Miles Range - Mounting Pole & 40 feet RG6 Coaxial Cable Included - Optimized Performance in UHF & VHF - Tools Free Installation : Electronics
> 
> 
> 
> smile.amazon.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I have this antenna. I did not connect the included amp. I will have to look around for it.
> 
> -B


The fact that the antenna claims to have an "150-mile range" is a big red flag. Just from looking at the picture of your antenna, I would guess that it would have about a 50-mile range (without the preamp) over flat topography. I doubt it could outperform my Channel Master Advantage 60, especially with VHF signals.

It would be interesting to see your RabbitEars results list. We could then better diagnose your situation by using all the bells & whistles embedded in the table.


----------



## fri1038

Looks like that antenna has a built-in amp on the antenna itself, and the coax dongle is its power supply not the amp. Note the comments in the pics about ensuring *both *red lights are on. So maybe it will work better with power applied. Some amps won't pass any signal without power, but it works in this case. Here is their install video:


----------



## n8hoo

WMDO-CD filed to share RF 14 with WWTD-LD: Licensing and Management System

i'm somewhat surprised because the license is 10 days from being deleted, and with UniMas moving to 14.4 Entravision didn't seem to have a need for it anymore. (and the agreement contains the requisite clauses that it's null and void should the deadline hit and the license gets deleted, lmao) I unfortunately have too much multipath to get WWTD from here in Del Ray though keeping an eye on the other bandscanners.

and in a bit of trivia, this license returns to its original channel...its history dates to 1976(!) when it signed on from Arlington as W14AA, a translator for the old Northern Virginia Public Television (WNVT)


----------



## b5fan001

Brian in CT said:


> The fact that the antenna claims to have an "150-mile range" is a big red flag. Just from looking at the picture of your antenna, I would guess that it would have about a 50-mile range (without the preamp) over flat topography. I doubt it could outperform my Channel Master Advantage 60, especially with VHF signals.
> 
> It would be interesting to see your RabbitEars results list. We could then better diagnose your situation by using all the bells & whistles embedded in the table.


Hello, 

This is the Rabbit Ears Reading.


----------



## Brian in CT

b5fan001 said:


> Hello,
> 
> This is the Rabbit Ears Reading.
> View attachment 3376788


Because it seems you used a screen shot of your results table here, I couldn't click on the links embedded in the table. Since you said you are in Leesburg, I made my own table using a downtown location. The results were similar to your table, so I can safely assume that you have strong LOS (or close to it) TV signals coming in from DC. Signal strength should not be the problem. The ATSC 3.0 station on RF 33 should be multipath resistant, so that can't be the reason you lost it for a few days.

I believe fri1038 (above) might have the answer. Your antenna may not be functioning correctly without the power turned on. Most preamps don't let the signal pass through without them being connected to a power supply. The built-in preamp on your McDuory may behave similarly. Before doing anything else, I'd plug the antenna in and see if that improves your reception (and the signal strength numbers on your HD Homerun).


----------



## Trip in VA

Here it is: RabbitEars.Info

The ID number is under the "Network" header specifically for cases where someone posts a picture.

- Trip


----------



## fri1038

WQAW-LD went down yesterday (12/23 2:30pm) as the arctic weather front blasted through. WDME-CD reception might improve for some closer to DC until it's back up.

Haven't seen yet what will replace its Azteca America on 69-1 in the new year as they cease operation.


----------



## crbaldwin

Why is WTTG (3.0) still messing up the audio? The "lip sync" is still way off. This is the only ATSC 3.0 channel I have this problem with.


----------



## greg9x2

crbaldwin said:


> Why is WTTG (3.0) still messing up the audio? The "lip sync" is still way off. This is the only ATSC 3.0 channel I have this problem with.


Yeah, it'll be ok for a while then mess up again. It's currently ok for me. But i've also seen issues with WTTG on Youtube TV. Makes me wonder if they are doing something different with audio than everyone else that messes up decoding, or is it just their equipment.


----------



## fri1038

WWTD-LD added LATV as 47-1 ... today, I think. I've been seeing its weak signal come and go up my way the past few days. 480i. 

SCANNING: 473000000 (us-bcast:14)
LOCK: 8vsb (ss=42 snq=47 seq=0)
TSID: 0x1B9B
PROGRAM 4: 49.6 ShopLC
PROGRAM 6: 49.5 SonLife
PROGRAM 8: 49.3 QVC
PROGRAM 14: 49.1 DABL
PROGRAM 16: 49.4 NTDTV
PROGRAM 20: 47.1 LATV



n8hoo said:


> WMDO-CD filed to share RF 14 with WWTD-LD: Licensing and Management System
> 
> i'm somewhat surprised because the license is 10 days from being deleted, and with UniMas moving to 14.4 Entravision didn't seem to have a need for it anymore. (and the agreement contains the requisite clauses that it's null and void should the deadline hit and the license gets deleted, lmao) I unfortunately have too much multipath to get WWTD from here in Del Ray though keeping an eye on the other bandscanners.
> 
> and in a bit of trivia, this license returns to its original channel...its history dates to 1976(!) when it signed on from Arlington as W14AA, a translator for the old Northern Virginia Public Television (WNVT)


----------



## pkpaul

Confirming. All my sets are receiving LATV 47-1 as of today.


----------



## fri1038

WMDE's 36-3 dropped Dabl. 36-6 and 7 are also still vacant.


----------



## spankee2k

Okay, I have an update to my situation to not receiving channels 4, 7, and 9. I'm certain it has something to do with interference like someone else mentioned. 

During Christmas day and the 26th (Christmas observed), I had great, clear reception on all those channels. Today, they're back to before and having problems with receiving them.

Probably a high security complex around the area using the same frequencies. Oh well, I'll just have to watch those channels downstairs on the ATSC 3.0 side.


----------



## fri1038

spankee2k said:


> ...
> Probably a high security complex around the area using the same frequencies.
> ...


No, that isn't realistic. Extreme weather influence, interference from businesses that closed and reopened or neighbors that went away and returned, or just weak signals getting to your tuner. Something in there, more likely.


----------



## beboram

Casey Hartman said:


> The included amplifier is probably crap. I would use a Channel Master Amplify, Cleastream Juice, Wineguard LN-200, or Televes 560383 preamp. The 4-bay antenna has a wide beam width and I wonder if more directional antenna like the RCA ANT751 or Televes 149381 would perform better.


I have rooftop mounted Channelmaster Extremetenna 80 unamplified since 2015. Works very well from my location. Previously I had their Ultratenna 60 in the same location on the roof also unamplified it was a bit marginal on some stations about 40 miles away. My house is sits a bit lower than the surrounding. I'd suggest the tenna 80 without the amplifier first the add amplifier if needed. The way I see it rooftop antenna is an one time investment and not easy to reach once installed might as well the good stuff.


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## fri1038

WIAV put things back the way they were, mostly. WIAV (TBD) and 247MMT (WJLA 24.7 News) are back on qam64 PLP1. The cast_era_2k channel is still there but seems inactive. My fringe reception when they used qam16 was certainly more reliable. It held up very well in last weekend's blustery weather here in the trees.

===

WQAW (whose callsign letters were chosen by a very lazy, left-handed typist) is still off the air since 12/23. Zap2it and TitanTV now show "off the air" for 69-1 after Azteca America shuts down. They were already big on showing fish oil supplement infomercials in Spanish, so maybe they'll squeeze in more of those.

===

WJZ at 9 sent Marty Bass to the National Capital Radio & Television Museum in Bowie again, which might be of interest to local folks. Note their limited Fri-Sun hours.

===

So long as my favorite radio station never goes away, all will be right as rain in the new year airwaves.  Cheers and Happy 2023!


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## Trip in VA

fri1038 said:


> So long as my favorite radio station never goes away, all will be right as rain in the new year airwaves.  Cheers and Happy 2023!
> View attachment 3380293​


Er, I hate to be the bearer of bad news...









Peter & John Radio Fellowship Acquires WRNR-FM - RadioInsight


Steve Kingston’s Empire Broadcasting System is selling AAA 103.1 WRNR-FM Grasonville/Annapolis MD to Peter & John Radio Fellowship for $1.54 million. The buyer will add the Baltimore market rimshot to its holdings that include Christian AC “95.1 Bright-FM” WRBS-FM Baltimore and Christian...




radioinsight.com





- Trip


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## beboram

Pardon me for this extremely ignorant question - how do I know which stations are broadcasting NextGen (ATSC 3.0)? Rabbitears.info does not show it. My TV's station scan shows two entries for the x.1 channels, with the first entry showing no signal. For example Fox5 DC shows 5.1(no signal) and 5.1DT (tunes in); MPT 22.1 (no signal) and 22.1HD same for WETA etc. WJLA is shows two 7.1 entries with no qualifiers. The TV has ATSC 3.0 tuner built-in.


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## ota.dt.man

beboram said:


> Pardon me for this extremely ignorant question - how do I know which stations are broadcasting NextGen (ATSC 3.0)? Rabbitears.info does not show it. My TV's station scan shows two entries for the x.1 channels, with the first entry showing no signal. For example Fox5 DC shows 5.1(no signal) and 5.1DT (tunes in); MPT 22.1 (no signal) and 22.1HD same for WETA etc. WJLA is shows two 7.1 entries with no qualifiers. The TV has ATSC 3.0 tuner built-in.


Hello beboram,

Per RabbitEars.Info,


> if the last three columns are green, then the station is broadcasting in ATSC 3.0 (Next Gen TV).


Per Antenna Signal Prediction, there are 10 NextGenTV channels available in the Balt/Wash DC metro area: 32.1, 7.1, 5.1, 4.1, 9.1, 54.1, 45.1, 2.1, 11.1, 22.1

See also: Check Available Cities | Watch NextGenTV

You may also want to follow the ATSC 3.0 thread.


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## fri1038

beboram said:


> Pardon me for this extremely ignorant question - how do I know which stations are broadcasting NextGen (ATSC 3.0)? Rabbitears.info does not show it. My TV's station scan shows two entries for the x.1 channels, with the first entry showing no signal. For example Fox5 DC shows 5.1(no signal) and 5.1DT (tunes in); MPT 22.1 (no signal) and 22.1HD same for WETA etc. WJLA is shows two 7.1 entries with no qualifiers. The TV has ATSC 3.0 tuner built-in.


See this post on how 3.0 is displayed on various TV brands. Otherwise, you'll have to compare the displayed name ("WMAR" versus "WMAR-HD") with the listings on rabbitears.info if it still isn't clear. (And there are exceptions to that.)


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## fri1038

Circle is gone from WMDE's 36-4 this morning. And WPXW relabled 66-7 to SCRIPPS as part of Newsy's rebranding as Scripps News. WMAR hasn't gotten to that yet on 2-6. Those are the only OTA changes I see so far in 2023.

===



> Er, I hate to be the bearer of bad news...


Yes, I know, unfortunately. An attempt at ironic humor was made. (Which is also the title of my autobiography.) Times are tough I guess. Even radio's top money maker WTOP bought out a bunch of senior employees.


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## joblo

beboram said:


> For example Fox5 DC shows 5.1(no signal) and 5.1DT (tunes in); MPT 22.1 (no signal) and 22.1HD same for WETA etc. WJLA is shows two 7.1 entries with no qualifiers.


That's probably because you have enough 3.0 signal to decode WJLA7, because it is in a more robust PLP (physical layer pipe), but not enough 3.0 signal to decode the other stations, which are in a less robust PLP. Unfortunately, making their own stations easier to receive than others seems to be standard practice wherever Sinclair is involved in 3.0 lighthouse operations.



ota.dt.man said:


> Per Antenna Signal Prediction, there are 10 NextGenTV channels available in the Balt/Wash DC metro area: 32.1, 7.1, 5.1, 4.1, 9.1, 54.1, 45.1, 2.1, 11.1, 22.1


Also unfortunately, neither this site nor, as far as I know, any other site is tracking the robustness of 3.0 PLPs -- i.e their modcods -- or which stations are in which ones, so reliable predictions about 3.0 reception are essentially non-existent at this point.


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## ota.dt.man

joblo said:


> That's probably because you have enough 3.0 signal to decode WJLA7, because it is in a more robust PLP (physical layer pipe), but not enough 3.0 signal to decode the other stations, which are in a less robust PLP. Unfortunately, making their own stations easier to receive than others seems to be standard practice wherever Sinclair is involved in 3.0 lighthouse operations.
> 
> Also unfortunately, neither this site nor, as far as I know, any other site is tracking the robustness of 3.0 PLPs -- i.e their modcods -- or which stations are in which ones, so reliable predictions about 3.0 reception are essentially non-existent at this point.


The more complicated & less predictable they make ATSC 3.0 for the viewer, the more likely it will flop as a new broadcast standard. Why bother?


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## fri1038

CBS Deals seems to have been around since Aug 2022, but today was the first time I've seen one of their 60-second infomercials plopped in the middle of a newscast - not in a commercial block. A needed revenue stream, I guess. WJZ is CBS owned and operated.


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## fri1038

> Also unfortunately, neither this site nor, as far as I know, any other site is tracking the robustness of 3.0 PLPs ...


This PLP rundown is still accurate for the Baltimore-Washington 3.0 stations as of today. In general, qam16 modulation is more robust than qam64 which is more robust than qam256. Data capacity increases with the higher qam number so you'll end up seeing more streams on a qam256 PLP.


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## machpost

Trip in VA said:


> Er, I hate to be the bearer of bad news...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Peter & John Radio Fellowship Acquires WRNR-FM - RadioInsight
> 
> 
> Steve Kingston’s Empire Broadcasting System is selling AAA 103.1 WRNR-FM Grasonville/Annapolis MD to Peter & John Radio Fellowship for $1.54 million. The buyer will add the Baltimore market rimshot to its holdings that include Christian AC “95.1 Bright-FM” WRBS-FM Baltimore and Christian...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> radioinsight.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> - Trip


That's terrible news. Before long, FM will be known as the religious band.


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## beboram

joblo said:


> That's probably because you have enough 3.0 signal to decode WJLA7, because it is in a more robust PLP (physical layer pipe), but not enough 3.0 signal to decode the other stations, which are in a less robust PLP. Unfortunately, making their own stations easier to receive than others seems to be standard practice wherever Sinclair is involved in 3.0 lighthouse operations.
> 
> Also unfortunately, neither this site nor, as far as I know, any other site is tracking the robustness of 3.0 PLPs -- i.e their modcods -- or which stations are in which ones, so reliable predictions about 3.0 reception are essentially non-existent at this point.


I have a rooftop mounted Channelmaster eXtreme 80 antenna pointing at 133 degrees.


joblo said:


> That's probably because you have enough 3.0 signal to decode WJLA7, because it is in a more robust PLP (physical layer pipe), but not enough 3.0 signal to decode the other stations, which are in a less robust PLP. Unfortunately, making their own stations easier to receive than others seems to be standard practice wherever Sinclair is involved in 3.0 lighthouse operations.
> 
> Also unfortunately, neither this site nor, as far as I know, any other site is tracking the robustness of 3.0 PLPs -- i.e their modcods -- or which stations are in which ones, so reliable predictions about 3.0 reception are essentially non-existent at this point.


I don't know how much more signal I can get. The signal strength on all the DC stations are near max. I have rooftop mounted Channelmaster extreme 80 antenna pointed to the direction of the stations at about 171 degree magnetic according to Rabbitears.info


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## fri1038

Here is a write up on the WIAV/cast.era/et al mobility demonstration from a week or so ago. The major take-away seems to be they have a mobile gateway device that takes atsc 3.0 and 5g inputs and shares that via wifi to devices inside the vehicle. In the embedded video, TV-wise, I recognize the Tennis Channel loop WIAV was broadcasting, and the Today show from somewhere. They spoke of real time weather data and targeted, location-based ads, but I didn't spot those and it's not stated if those came via 5g or WIAV. Lots of "synergies." 🙄


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## Brian in CT

beboram said:


> I have a rooftop mounted Channelmaster eXtreme 80 antenna pointing at 133 degrees.
> 
> 
> I don't know how much more signal I can get. The signal strength on all the DC stations are near max. I have rooftop mounted Channelmaster extreme 80 antenna pointed to the direction of the stations at about 171 degree magnetic according to Rabbitears.info


I have a good feeling that you have enough signal strength (you said all the DC stations are near max strength) to easily receive all of the ATSC 3.0 subchannels on WHUT. Your problem could be buggy or misconfigured hardware. As of now, I don't own an HD HomeRun or any other type of ATSC 3.0 tuner, so I can't help you there. Hopefully someone on this thread will chime in on possible corrective action.


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